ying the term _servant_ to himself, and to his brother Esau the
term _lord_: "Let _my lord, I_ pray _thee_, pass over before _his servant_:
and _I_ will lead on softly."--_Gen._, xxxiii, 14. For when a speaker or
writer does not choose to declare himself in the _first_ person, or to
address his hearer or reader in the _second_, he speaks of both or either
in the _third_. Thus Moses relates what _Moses_ did, and Caesar records the
achievements of _Caesar_. So Judah humbly beseeches Joseph: "Let _thy
servant_ abide in stead of the lad a bondman to _my lord_."--_Gen._, xliv,
33. And Abraham reverently intercedes with God: "Oh! let not _the Lord_ be
angry, and I will speak."--_Gen._, xviii, 30. And the Psalmist prays:
"_God_ be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause _his_ face to shine
upon us."--_Ps._, lxvii, 1. So, on more common occasions:--

"As will the rest, so _willeth Winchester_."--_Shak_.

"Richard of York, how _fares_ our dearest _brother_?"--_Id._[141]

OBS. 8.--When inanimate things are spoken to, they are _personified_; and
their names are put in the second person, because by the figure the objects
are _supposed_ to be capable of hearing: as, "What ailed thee, _O thou
sea_, that thou fleddest? _thou Jordan_, that thou wast driven back? _Ye
mountains_, that ye skipped like rams; and _ye little hills_, like lambs?
Tremble, _thou earth_, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the
God of Jacob."--_Psalms_, cxiv, 5-7.

NUMBERS.

Numbers, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish unity and
plurality.

There are two numbers; the _singular_ and the _plural_.

The _singular number_ is that which denotes but one; as, "The _boy
learns_."

The _plural number_ is that which denotes more than one; as, "The _boys
learn_."

The plural number _of nouns_ is regularly formed by adding _s_ or _es_ to
the singular: as, _book, books; box, boxes; sofa, sofas; hero, heroes_.

When the singular ends in a sound which will unite with that of _s_, the
plural is generally formed by adding _s only_, and the number of syllables
is not increased: as, _pen, pens; grape, grapes_.

But when the sound of _s_ cannot be united with that of the primitive word,
the regular plural adds _s_ to final _e_, and _es_ to other terminations,
and forms a separate syllable: as, _page, pages; fox, foxes_.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The distinction of numbers serves merely to show whether we speak
of one object, or of more