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the signification of which is always precisely the same, to whatever species of substantives it is applied. When we say a great man,' 'a great woman,' the word great has precisely the same meaning in both cases, and the difference of the sex in the subjects to which it may be applied makes no sort of difference in its signification. Magnus, magna, magnum, in the same manner, are words which express precisely the same quality, and the change of the termination is accompanied with no sort of variation in the meaning. Sex and gender are qualities that belong to substances, but cannot belong to the qualities of substances."

116. But while the nature of the thing which the adjective is employed to express cannot be varied, yet it may exist in different proportions; and hence the adjective is varied to express different degrees of the quality indicated by it, and these variations are called Degrees of Comparison.

117. As qualities may exist in an infinite variety of proportions, there is no reason why the number of inflections to which the adjective shall be subjected should be three rather than five. It is a question of convenience to be solved by experience alone. Still it is remarkable that most languages have three forms in their adjectives, called degrees of comparison, and named respectively the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative.

118. When the simple quality is denoted, the adjective is said to be in the Positive Degree. When a higher degree is signified, the adjective is in the Comparative; and when the highest degree is expressed, it is said to be in the Superlative. Logically considered, indeed, the positive involves the idea of comparison as much as the comparative: thus, when we affirm of a mountain that it is lofty, we must have a tacit reference to other mountains; when we affirm of any particular river that it is rapid, we (unconsciously, perhaps, but yet actually) make a comparison between it and some other rivers.

119. So that in the use of words, apparently so simple as rapid, lofty, high, &c., much more in such words as learned, liberal, orthodox, &c., it is impossible to know what any one means except you know his standard of comparison. An Englishman and a Swiss, meeting among the mountains of

Scotland would not agree in the use of epithets, because, as compared with the gentle undulations to be found on "Albion's plain," the former would consider Ben Lomond "majestic," while the latter, comparing it with Mount Blanc, would hesitate to apply to it the term "lofty," and be perhaps inclined to consider it a mere molehill. This principle will explain the paradox, that people often use the same words without agreeing in sentiment, and are often agreed in sentiment when they use different words. It also proves that the Positive involves an idea of comparison, and makes it impossible to state any essential difference between it and the other degrees of comparison.

120. The common description of the Positive is, that it is "expressed by the adjective in its simple state," a definition which certainly throws no light on its nature, though it is not to be denied as a fact.

121. The Comparative Degree denotes that the quality expressed by it belongs to one of two objects in a greater degree than to the other; and the Superlative, that it belongs to one of several in a greater degree than to any of the rest. For example, when we say that the line Ais longer than the line B, the meaning is, that both lines have a certain quality, length, but that A has more of it than B. When the comparison is drawn between more things than two, we use the superlative. Thus, we say of the lines A- B

C

D

that

C is the longest. In the same way, speaking of stone and wood, we might say, "Stone is the harder body of the two ;" but if we are discoursing of iron, stone, and wood, we must use the superlative, and say, "Iron is the hardest body of the three."

122. No essential difference existing between the Comparative and Superlative, it is not to be wondered at that they are frequently confounded. The strict rule laid down by grammarians, that the comparative is to be used when two things are spoken of, and the superlative when more than two are the subject of discourse, has not been observed, even by the best writers, and still less by the best speakers, and need not now be insisted on. In the present state of the language, perhaps, it may be safe to say, that while in

colloquial language the superlative is used when two are implied, yet if two be distinctly expressed, the comparative is better. The true use of the comparative is seen in this verse from the "Song of the Greek Bard :"

You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet,
Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone?
Of two such lessons, why forget

The nobler and the manlier one?

Byron.

123. The whole class of Numeral Adjectives, from their very nature, cannot be in any other degree than the positive; and, with respect to Attributive Adjectives, it is to be observed that those only which express a quality that may exist in greater or less proportions can be compared : for instance, if the exact ideas represented by the words circular, square, triangular, and also such words as chief, extreme, universal, and eternal, be apprehended by the mind, by the very act of apprehension it will be seen that it would be contradictory to their nature to admit of any increase. Let the student reflect on this, and then he will be able to dispense with rules about the use of chief, perpendicular, &c., because he will see at once, from the nature of the idea suggested by the word, whether it admits of increase or diminution.

124. The Comparative is formed by adding er to the Positive, if it end with a consonant, and simply if it end in the vowel e; the Superlative, by adding st in the former case and est in the latter; thus, hard, harder, hardest; large, larger, largest. Adjectives compared in this manner are called Regular; but some adjectives follow no rule in forming their degrees of comparison, and these are called Irregular. The following are those most commonly in use :—

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125. Some grammarians, amongst others Mr Latham,

object to these being called irregular, as there may have

been a time when they were all formed according to rule. For instance, good may be a true positive which has lost its proper comparative and superlative; better may be a true comparative which has lost its positive and had its superlative contracted into best. They would therefore have such adjectives called defective, and not irregular ; but granting that there is some truth in the objection, it is not powerful enough to induce us to disturb the long established terms of grammar.

126. There would be nothing absurd in looking at the English language as it now stands, without any regard to its own history, or the state of allied tongues, yet the examination of these often explains what appears to us anomalous and irregular. To use the words of Mr Wiseman, as quoted in the "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation," "Our own language may sometimes receive light from the study of distant members of our family. Where, for instance, are we to seek for the root of our comparative better? Certainly not in its positive good, nor in the Teutonic dialects in which the same anomaly exists. But in the Persian we have precisely the same comparative, behter, with exactly the same signification, regularly formed from its positive, beh, good."

127. Sometimes the same idea is conveyed by prefixing an adverb to the adjective in its simple state: thus, instead of saying juster, we might say more just; but it is not therefore to be inferred that more just is the comparison of just. Were this principle admitted, we should soon have inextricable confusion. In such cases, more is an adverb in the comparative, qualifying the adjective just, and the two words should be parsed separately. The prefixing of an adverb cannot, according to the principles we have already explained, be called a variation of the adjective. There is a sort of comparison made by affixing ish, which lessens the signification of the positive: thus, black, blackish; white, whitish.

128. A few adjectives have a plural form, particularly the demonstrative, this and that; in the plural, these and those: one, other, and another, are also sometimes varied by number or case; as in this verse from Pope's Universal Prayer,

Teach me to feel another's wo';
To hide the fault I see ;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.

EXERCISE XV.

1. In how many ways may adjectives be varied? In what respect do adjectives in Latin or French differ from those in English? Which mode is more consistent with general grammar? State and illustrate the use of the different degrees of comparison. Is the number of degrees of comparison regulated by any principle? Ought the positive to be reckoned a degree of comparison? May the superlative be used with reference to two subjects? What sort of adjectives do not admit of comparison at all? In those which do, by what rules are the comparative and superlative regulated? What is meant by an irregular adjective? Has the term been objected to? By whom and on what principle? Can the irregularity of adjectives be explained? Is more just to be reckoned the comparative of just? What adjectives have a plural? Are any capable of having a case?

2. Point out adjectives, state the degree, and how formed :Scotland is the smaller portion of the island of Great Britain. The coasts of Scotland are mostly bold and rocky. Hannibal is one of the greatest generals of antiquity.

It is the fate of those who toil at the lower employments of life, to be rather driven by the fear of evil, than attracted by the prospect of good.-Johnson.

The garrison of Dunkirk, acting in concert with the external army, made a vigorous sally on the besiegers, with forces superior to their own, and exposed them to the most imminent peril.— Alison.

The other, and unhappily the nearer instance, is yet even more significant.-Arnold.

In a mind of the highest order, neither of these powers will be really deficient, and his own inductive method is at once the best exercise of both, and the best safeguard against the excess of either.-Hallam.

And know we not that from the blind have flowed
The highest, holiest raptures of the lyre,
And wisdom married to immortal verse ?

Wordsworth.

3. Compare the following adjectives, if they are capable of comparison, and if not, state why :-Good, wise, just, perfect, large, bad, long, new, magnanimous, perpendicular, narrow, humble,proud, daily, vast, lofty, green, greedy, mighty, honest, cool, happy, bright, superior, hot, many, triangular, wooden.

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