6. Whether we should say "The five first books," or "The first five books," is a species of question sometimes debated. In opposition to the former expression, some will say that there can be only one first book; while in vindication of it, others will allege that first signifies earliest. In opposition to the latter expression, it is declared improper to speak of the first five, if there be no second five; while in defence of it, we are reminded that, in any aggregate containing a first five, there must also be a last five. The latter expression is further vindicated by the circumstance, that we always adopt it with reference to a large number. We should not feel warranted by correct usage in saying "The fifty-three first names in a catalogue." 7. EXERCISES. An easy unforced strain of sentiment runs through their compositions. Hume. The six last books (of the Eneid) are said not to have received the finishing hand of the author. Blair. The last twelve books (of the Odyssey) are in several parts tedious and languid. Blair. Yon toilsome mountain lies before, A dreary treeless waste behind. The wind became unequal and variable. Miss Aikin. Robertson. The proof may seem to lie open to considerable objections. Thou hear'st thy wretched wife Horsley. Weep for her husband slain, her infant lost. Home. Philip concluded it impossible to make an attempt on the English camp. Hume. Every shade and hallowed fountain Murmured deep a solemn sound. Gray. The Prince of Wales concluded a two years' truce with France, which was become requisite, that he might conduct the captive king with safety into England. Hume. Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, Gray. Some of the stars grow periodically fainter and brighter. Whewell. Fallen cherub, to be weak is miserable. Milton. Persons born deaf acquire more acute perceptions of sight. Jardine. The good disposition of John made him fully sensible of the generous treatment. Hume. The time amounted not to a twelvemonth during the first twenty years. Hume. Many well-known specimens of this sort of literature are accessible in every family; nor need they be named. I. Taylor. It is impossible to look on any thing as trifling or contemptible that may be dangerous. Burke. Set Caliban and his companions free. The protector levied an army of eighteen equipped a fleet of sixty sail. Hume. With hasty steps the farmer ran, And close beside the fire they place The poor half-frozen beggar man, Shakspeare. thousand men, and With shaking limbs and pale blue face. Miss Aikin. Let the simple rule of proportion, as applicable to right-angled triangles, have been explained. I. Taylor. In this species of writing Plutarch has no small merit. The chequered earth seems restless as a flood Blair. Cowper. I saw the Queen crowned. They pronounced him guilty of perjury. Does not leap-year occur once in every four years? He left the door wide open. The above estimates are vast in amount. What think you of my friend singing at the next concert? The boys were just let loose from school. Misc. CHAP. III. THE ARTICLE. 1. ONE of the articles a, an, the, when placed with another adjective* before a noun, is generally the first word in the expression; as, "A wise son;""The three brothers." A few exceptions, however, will be met with. The adjectives What, Such, Many, and those which are modified by too, how, as, or so, take precedence of the indefinite article; as, "Such an individual;" "What a multitude!" "How great a multitude;" "Many a time;" "Too great a pressure;" "So respectable a person." The adjectives All and Both take precedence of the definite article; as, "All the people;" "Both the men.” 2. The Article a or an belongs properly to a singular noun; but formerly it was allowable to say "A many books t," and we still say "A few books," "A hundred books," ," "A great many books;" in these instances, many, few, and hundred, must be regarded as nouns, and the plural substantive as an objective governed by of understood. Instead of prefixing a to many, we now give many the precedence, and make the following noun singular; as, 66 Many a time." This more emphatically signifies the repetition of the aggregate parts that form the plural amount, than when we say "Many times ;" and in parsing such an * Almost the only adjectives that are not allowed to join with the article are these definitives-This, That, Yon; Some, Any, None; Each, Every, Either, Neither; Which, Whether. In Scripture we find which preceded by the (Gen. i. 29.); the same occurs in Shakspeare; and it is occasionally met with in more modern poets; The shameful yoke of slavery, the which he broke." — Coleridge. "The which to gain and keep he sacrificed all rest.”— Byron. t "A many of our bodies shall find native graves." 66 - Shakspeare. expression, it seems most natural to regard many as a distributive adjective. Between the expressions few and a few, little and a little, there is a conventional distinction of sense; a few and a little define a quantity comparatively small; few and little imply a quantity absolutely small. 3. The definite article is often prefixed to a comparative adjective, to denote that the degree expressed by the adjective corresponds to some other specified circumstance; as, "He is the happier for our encouragement;" "The older he is, the worse he grows." Comparative adjectives, when used adverbially, often retain the definite article; as, "The farther I go, the more I rejoice." The article, in such expressions, has reference to a noun which has been struck out from the original phrase; thus, the preceding example signifies "I rejoice with the more joy, as I go to the farther extent." Superlative adverbs also may be preceded by the definite article. 4. The definite article often precedes an adjective used elliptically as a noun; as, "The romantic pleases him;" "The wise shall inherit glory." In the former of these examples, the romantic means that which is romantic; in the latter, the wise means he that is, or they that are, wise, the plural being more naturally suggested. 5. Two adjectives or nouns, connected by a conjunction, may be defined by one article, if they are taken in close connexion; but if they are not so connected, the article should be supplied to each. Thus, "A black and white dog" denotes one animal; " A black and a white dog," or, better, "A black dog and a white one," denotes two. The following are therefore incorrect: "Will you have the fine or coarse?" " Regard the worthiness and not wealth of the man;"" The Old and the New Testaments." When, of two adjectives connected by a conjunction, the one is a comparative or superlative by inflexion, and the other is modified by the adverb more or most; then, if the modified adjective comes first, an article will sometimes be required to precede each; as, "A more virtuous and a wiser monarch." Otherwise; if the sense permit, the modified adjective may come last; as, "A wiser and more virtuous monarch." These arrangements obviate the tendency of an adverb to modify both the adjectives that follow it: "A more virtuous and wiser monarch" is a collocation equivalent to "A more virtuous and more wiser monarch;" and a double comparative or superlative is seldom justifiable. The more interesting such stories, the greater will be their influence. Cumberland. Nothing seemed now impossible to be achieved by the valour and fortune of the English. Hume. How small a portion of the universe our knowledge includes. Whewell. Be grateful that all the work is not to be done without you. Foster. One or two boats were sunk; and few of the brave men who occupied them survived to tell the tale. Gleig. The sea, that emblem of uncertainty, Changed not so fast, for many and many an age, The more I thought upon the subject, the more important it appeared. Goldsmith. The heart and the hand are alike pressed into the service of benevolence, under the guidance and at the bidding of virtuous principle. Chalmers. A field of the dead rushes red on my sight. Campbell. The better to deceive the enemy, a portion of the fleet sailed far above the town. Gleig. |