he said lake to the _most
north-western_ point thereof."--_Ib._

OBS. 4.--It may be remarked of the comparatives _former_ and _latter_ or
_hinder, upper_ and _under_ or _nether, inner_ and _outer_ or _utter,
after_ and _hither_; as well as of the Latin _superior_ and _inferior,
anterior_ and _posterior, interior_ and _exterior, prior_ and _ulterior,
senior_ and _junior, major_ and _minor_; that they cannot, like other
comparatives, be construed with the conjunction _than_. After all genuine
English comparatives, this conjunction may occur, because it is the only
fit word for introducing the latter term of comparison; but we never say
one thing is _former_ or _latter, superior_ or _inferior, than_ an other.
And so of all the rest here named. Again, no real comparative or
superlative can ever need an other superadded to it; but _inferior_ and
_superior_ convey ideas that do not always preclude the additional
conception of _more_ or _less_: as, "With respect to high and low notes,
pronunciation is still _more inferior_ to singing."--_Kames, Elements of
Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 73. "The mistakes which the _most superior_
understanding is apt to fall into."--_West's Letters to a Young Lady_, p.
117.

OBS. 5.--Double comparatives and double superlatives, being in general
awkward and unfashionable, as well as tautological, ought to be avoided.
Examples: "The Duke of Milan, and his _more braver_ daughter, could control
thee."--_Shak., Tempest_. Say, "his _more gallant_ daughter." "What in me
was purchased, falls upon thee in a _more fairer_ sort."--_Id., Henry IV_.
Say, "_fairer_," or, "_more honest_;" for "_purchased_" here means
_stolen_. "Changed to a _worser_ shape thou canst not be."--_Id., Hen. VI_.
Say, "a _worse_ shape"--or, "an _uglier_ shape." "After the _most
straitest_ sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee."--_Acts_, xxvi, 5.
Say, "the _strictest_ sect." "Some say he's mad; others, that _lesser_ hate
him, do call it valiant fury."--_Shak_. Say, "others, that hate him
_less_." In this last example, _lesser_ is used adverbially; in which
construction it is certainly incorrect. But against _lesser_ as an
adjective, some grammarians have spoken with more severity, than comports
with a proper respect for authority. Dr. Johnson says, "LESSER, _adj_. A
barbarous corruption of _less_, formed by the vulgar from the habit of
terminating comparatives in _er; afterward adopted by poets, and then by
writers of prose, till it