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RULE 3. The positive expreffes the quality of a thing'

simply, withoût compa'ring it to any thing'; a's, this'

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quality of the thing', a degree from the pofitive; a's,

that' pa'per is whit'er, la'rger, fmall'er, better than this'

RULE 5th. The fuperlative raises the fenfe of the

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pofitive to the highest, or diminishes it to the low'est

degree' poffible; a's, that' oth'er pa'per is the whit'eft,

the la'rgeft, the small'eft, the beft' of all'.

RULE 6th. The pofitive, ha'ving but one or two'

fyllables and ending with a con'sonant, ta'kes the fyl'la

ble er to fo'rm its compar'ative, and the fyllable eft to

fo'rm its fupe'rlative; but' if it e'nd with e fi'nal, it takes

o'nly r and st; as, long', long-er, long-eft; polite, po

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3

1

Rule 7th. The positive, ha'ving more than two fyl

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lables, fo'rms its compar'ative by prefix'ing more, and its

fupe'rlative by prefix'ing moft'; as, ex'-cellent, mo're ex

cellent, moft' excellent; a'miable, mo're a'miable, most'

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a'miable.

RULE 8th. But', as diffyllabic adjectives, accent'ed

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2

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on the firft' fyllable, would' foû'nd harfh' by the ad

ditions of er and eft, theŷ take more and most'; as, am'

ple, more am'ple, moft' am'ple; bar'ren, con'ftant,

doûbt'ful, ea'ger, fruit'ful, gall'ing, gallant, hairy, jeal

ous, kna'vish, lov'ing, mauled, nervous, o'pen, pee'v

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qûag"gy, rai'ny, rag"ged, fkil'ful, ta'rdy, useful,

verfed, want on, worth'y, youth'ful, zealous, and most'

RULE 9th. Som'e fuperlatives te'rminate in most';

dermoft, up"permoft, ut moft, uttermoft.

RULE 19th. Moff, very, extremely, &c. are prefix

ed to adjectives fo'rming ab'folute fupe'rlatives, i. e. fuch'

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332

I

as admit' of no' compar'ifon; as, fhe is moft' beautiful,

yet' most' meck' and lovely; fhe is ver'y witty, yet'

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ver'y wife; he is extremely rich', yet' fupe'rlatively

RULE 11th. Some adjectives, who'fe sig-ni-fi-ca` -tion

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3

can be neither increafed nor dimin'ifhed, are u'fed in the

pofitive o'nly; as liv'ing, dead', roû'nd, fqûa're, all', ev'

ery, much', man'y, &c. and all' num'eral adjectives; as,

one, two, &c. and oth'ers can be u'fed but in the fupe'r

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2

2

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lative o'nly; as, chief', prin'cipal, ete'rnal, infin'ite, ex

tre'me, immenfe, omnipotent, per'fect, &c.

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N. B. See Rules 3d. and 6th. p. 116 and 117, and

the art'icle does' bo'th; excep't ad'jectives of dimens'ion;

as, a pil'lar fif'ty feet' hi'gh, the ditch' tŵen'ty feet deep'

and ten' broad': and, that' the art'icle is often put

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3

aft'er the adjectives all, fuch', and aft'er tho'fe that are

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preceded by the ad'verbs, fo', as, how'; as, all' the gold,

all' the men', fuch' a man', fo' grea't a man', as hand

fome a wom'an, how good a man! It is barbarous to fa'y

two' foot', man'y a man'. We u'fe means in the plural,

with a pro'noûn or adjective of the fa'me nu'mber; as,

by the'fe mean's, by all mean's: for, ev'ery noun' must

in comparisons; as, good' and well', bet'ter, best'; ba'd,

e'vil and ill', worf'e, worst'; lit'tle, lefs', leaft'; much

and man'y, mo're, moft; nea'r, nearer, next

3

eft; late, lat'er and lat"ter, laft' and lat'eft: leff'er is a

2

a're very impro'per; as, mo're bra'ver, moft' bra'vest:

But the double fupe'rlative, the most highest, is, with

si'ng-ular propri'ety, appli'ed to the Supre'me Be'ing.

tives; as, the virtuous a're nev'er qûit'e mi'ferable, and,

in the e'nd, must be hap'py: the wicked a're fool's, be

cause they hurt' themfe'lves: Bo'th God' and man' re

wa'rd the good'; but pun'ish the ba'd: mo're has nev'er

3

enough': I ha've more-much-enough-all', &c.

RULE 15th. When the word' thing or thing's is a fub'

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ftantive to an ad'jective, it is el'egantly omit'ted, and the

adjective is put' ab'folutely; as, Who will fhow us an'y

good'? i. e. any good' thing': yet every adjective has a

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fub'stantive either expreffed or understood'.

The 4th Part of Speech'.

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A pro'noûn is u'fed inftead' of a noûn', to prevent'

the too frequent repetit'ion of the lat'ter; as, the gen'

tleman is mer'ry, becauf'e he is in good com'pany; the

lady is very han'dfome, because he is very good;

the book' is good', notwithsta'nding it's faults, for, it