nk not. To what then does _the_
refer, but to the proportionate degree of _deeper_ and _clearer_?

OBS. 11.--The article the is sometimes elegantly used, after an idiom
common in the French language, in lieu of a possessive pronoun; as, "He
looked him full in _the_ face; i. e. in _his_ face."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 150. "Men who have not bowed _the knee_ to the image of Baal."--_Rom._,
xi, 4. That is, _their knees_.

OBS. 12.--The article _an_ or _a_, because it implies unity, is applicable
to nouns of the singular number only; yet a collective noun, being singular
in form, is sometimes preceded by this article even when it conveys the
idea of plurality and takes a plural verb: as, "There _are_ a very great
_number_ [of adverbs] ending in _ly_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 63. "A
_plurality_ of them _are_ sometimes felt at the same instant."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 114. In support of this construction, it would be
easy to adduce a great multitude of examples from the most reputable
writers; but still, as it seems not very consistent, to take any word
plurally after restricting it to the singular, we ought rather to avoid
this if we can, and prefer words that literally agree in number: as, "Of
adverbs there _are_ very _many_ ending in _ly_"--"_More than one_ of them
_are_ sometimes felt at the same instant." The word _plurality_, like other
collective nouns, is literally singular: as, "To produce the latter, a
_plurality_ of objects _is_ necessary."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p.
224.

OBS. 13.--Respecting the form of the indefinite article, present practice
differs a little from that of our ancient writers. _An_ was formerly used
before all words beginning with _h_, and before several other words which
are now pronounced in such a manner as to require _a_: thus, we read in the
Bible, "_An_ help,"--"_an_ house,"--"_an_ hundred,"--"_an_ one,"--"_an_
ewer,"--"_an_ usurer;" whereas we now say, "_A_ help,"--"_a_ house,"--"_a_
hundred,"--"_a_ one,"--"_a_ ewer,"--"_a_ usurer."

OBS. 14.--Before the word _humble_, with its compounds and derivatives,
some use _an_, and others, _a_; according to their practice, in this
instance, of sounding or suppressing the aspiration. Webster and Jameson
sound the _h_, and consequently prefer _a_; as, "But _a humbling_ image is
not always necessary to produce that effect."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i,
205. "O what a blessing is _a humble_ mind!"--_Christian Experience_, p.
342.