The subst. indifferency is also found in the Pr. Bk. of 1604, in the King's Proclamation for the Uniformity, etc., 'the inditlerency and upright- ness of our .Judgment.' Cf. Knox, Works, iii. 271, ' I knowledge and confcsse . . . the lacke of fer- vencye in reproving synne, the lacke of indillcr- ency in feedyng those that were hongrye, and the lacke of diligence in the execution of mine olfice.' But Hall uses the word nearly in the mod. sense ( Works, ii. 148), ' How many are there that thinke there is no wisdome but in a dull indilTereney ? '
J. Hastino.s.
INDITE. — To 'indite' a letter is now to write it, and even so the expression is somewhat old- fashioned ; but formerly it was to dictate or at least compo.se, and the 'inditer' is distinguished from the writer. Thus in Pref. to AV 1611, the Translators, describing the Scrijitures as ' a fount- aine of most pure water springing up unto ever- lasting life,' add, 'And what niarvaile? The originall thereof being from heaven, not from earth ; the authoiu being God, not man ; the enditer the holy spirit, not the wit of the Apostles or Prophets ; the Pen-men such as were sancti- fied from the wombe, and endewed with a prin- cipall portion of God's spirit." So in Ps 4.')' ' My heart is inditing a good matter,' is naturally followed by 'my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.'
The verb in the Heb. (rn"^ tneftiu to bubble up (like ft founuin) or boll over (like a pot of water) : LXX 'K{ii^k.;«T« r k.«pj.« imu Xtytt «>-xtfi> ; Viil^. ' KrucLuvit cor uiuuiu viTbura botuiin ' ; Wye. 'Mvn licrte IwwiJo out flisS "hath t«M out') » f--^ woord' : l.uth. ' Mein Hvn dichlet etn fvinre Ued' ; Cov. ■ My hen la (lytiiiK'o of » good mutter"; Great Hlble (Pr. Bk.X 'M> hert U eniivlitiif of a tfood matter * ; cieii. * Mine heart vrill uttet furthc a igooA matter'; Dou. ' Uy hart bath uttered a good
470
INFIDEL, INFIDELITY
INHERITANCE
word (with note ' I have received by divine inspiration In my hart and copitation a most high M.vsterie *) ; Bish. ' My heart ii inditing of a good matter.' Mod. expositors translates more literally : Del. ' My heart bubbles over with a goodly word ' ; Per. ' My heart is overllowing with a goodly matter ' ; Cheyne, *My heart bubbles with goodly words'; Kay, 'My heart is teeming with a good word'; Kirltp. ' ily heart bubbleth over with goodly words ' ; Kautzsch, ' Mein "Uerz wallt iiber von licblicner Rede'; Wellh.-Fumess, 'My heart overflows with a theme that is good' ; RV, • My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter ' ; I>rivcr, ' My heart is astir with a goodly matter.'
The Eng. word comes from Low Lat. indict are (a frequentative of indicere, to proclaim), and it entered the Eng. lang. at first in the Erencli form endicter, 'indite' being a later spelling in imita- tion of the Latin, while 'dite is a vernacular shortening. Knox has the form 'dite' (which he spells 'dj'te'), as Jlixt. 214, 'those Prayers were dytcd unto the peoi)le by the holy Ghost, before they came to the uttermost of trouble, to assure them, that God, by whose Spirit the Prayer was dyted, would not contemne the same in the midst of their calamities.' Thomas Fuller uses 'endite,' as in Ruly State, iv. 5 (p. 261), 'More hold is then to bo taken of a few words casually uttered, then of set solemn speeches, which rather shew men's arts then their natures, as endited rather from their brains then hearts.'
The same verb meant also to accuse (after the Lat.) ; but now a distinction is made, the verb to accuse, though pronounced the same, being spelt ' indict.' Golding, in Calvin's Job (on 32'''), has ' so then, what remavneth, but too leame first and formoate too conaemne our selves, and too bring our inditement alwayes readie made, when we come before God, and too say, that we be wretched sinners.' On the other hand, Elyot (TAe Governour, ii. 343) has 'Plato (or rather Socrates, Plato in- dictynge).' But Fuller, Soli/ Warre, iii. IG, p. 134, spells the word in the mod. way, ' indicted by his conscience for his cruelty. RV has ■ased the subst. 'indictment' in Job 31" 'O that I had one to hear me ! . . . and that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written ' for AV 'and that mine adversary had written a book.' J. Hastings.
INFIDEL, INFIDELITY.— An 'infidel' in our modem speech is one who deliberately rejects the Faith ; but at one time a person might be called an 'infidel' who had never heard it. Injidelis in eccles. Latin simply meant ' unbelieving,' and ' infidel ' carried the same purely negative meaning. Thus Tindale, in his general Prologe to the Pent., says, ' Behold how soberly and how circumspectly both Abraham and also Isaac behave them selves amonge the infideles'; and in Rhem. NT the tr° of Ro 15'' is ' Helpe me in your praiers for me to God, that I may be delivered from the infidels that are in Jewrie ' ; while Hooker (Eccles. Polity, III. viii. 6) speaks of ' Festus, a mere natural man, an infidel, a Roman, one whose ears were unacquainted with such matters.' Hence RV changes 'infidel' of 2 Co 6>', 1 Ti 5^ into ' unbeliever,' which is all that the Gr. word (dirto-Tos) means.