Chapter XI: Section II: A Few Remarks on the Subject of Comparison

Lindley {040}Murray judiciously observes, that "if we consider the subject of comparison attentively, we shall perceive that the degrees of it are infinite in number, or at least indefinite:" and he proceeds to say, "A mountain is larger than a mite; by how many degrees? How much bigger is the earth than a grain of sand? By how many degrees was Socrates wiser than Alci-biades? or by how many is snow whiter than this paper? It is plain," quoth Lindley, "that to these and the like questions no definite answers can be returned."

No; but an impertinent one may. Ask the first news-boy you meet, any one of these questions, and see if he does not immediately respond, 'Ax my eye or, "As much again as half."

But when quantity can be exactly measured, the degrees of excess may be exactly ascertained. A foot is just twelve times as long as an inch; a tailor is nine times less than a man.

Moreover, to compensate for the indefiniteness of the degrees of comparison, we use certain adverbs and words of like import, whereby we render our meaning tolerably intelligible; as, "Byron was a _much greater_ poet than Muggins."

"Honey is _a great deal_ sweeter than wax."

"Sugar is _considerably_ more pleasant than the cane."

"Maria says, that Dick the butcher is _by far_ the most killing young man she knows."

The words very, exceedingly, and the like, placed before the positive, give it the force of the superlative; and {041}this is called by some the superlative of eminence, as distinguished from the superlative of comparison. Thus, Very Reverend is termed the superlative of eminence, although it is the title of a dean, not of a cardinal; and Most Reverend, the appellation of an Archbishop, is called the superlative of comparison.

A _Bishop_, in our opinion, is _Most Excellent_.

The comparative is sometimes so employed as to express the same pre-eminence or inferiority as the superlative. For instance; the sentence, "Of all the cultivators of science, the botanist is the most crafty," has the same meaning as the following: "The botanist is more crafty than any other cultivator of science." Why? some of our readers will ask--

Because he is acquainted with all sorts of _plants._