difficulty. We are told by this gentleman, (in language incorrigibly bad,)
that, "_Nouns_ which denote the genus, species, or variety of beings or
things, are always common; as, _tree_, the genus; _oak, ash, chestnut,
poplar_, different species; and _red oak, white oak, black oak_,
varieties."--_Ib._, p. 32. Now, as it requires _but one noun_ to denote
either a genus or a species, I know not how to conceive of _those_ "_nouns_
which denote _the genus_ of things," except as of other confusion and
nonsense; and, as for the three varieties of oak, there are surely no
"_nouns_" here to denote them, unless he will have _red, white_, and
_black_ to be nouns. But what shall we say of--"the Red sea, the White sea,
the Black sea;" or, with two capitals, "Red Sea, White Sea, Black Sea," and
a thousand other similar terms, which are neither proper names unless they
are written with capitals, nor written with capitals unless they are first
judged to be proper names? The simple phrase, "the united states," has
nothing of the nature of a proper name; but what is the character of the
term, when written with two capitals, "the United States?" If we contend
that it is not then a proper name, we make our country anonymous. And what
shall we say to those grammarians who contend, that "_Heaven, Hell, Earth,
Sun_, and _Moon_, are proper names;" and that, as such, they should be
written with capitals? See _Churchill's Gram._, p. 380.

OBS. 7.--It would seem that most, if not all, proper names had originally
some common signification, and that very many of our ordinary words and
phrases have been converted into proper names, merely by being applied to
particular persons, places, or objects, and receiving the distinction of
capitals. How many of the oceans, seas, lakes, capes, islands, mountains,
states, counties, streets, institutions, buildings, and other things, which
we constantly particularize, have no other proper names than such as are
thus formed, and such as are still perhaps, in many instances, essentially
appellative! The difficulties respecting these will be further noticed
below. A proper noun is the name of some particular individual, group, or
people; as, _Adam, Boston_, the _Hudson_, the _Azores_, the _Andes_, the
_Romans_, the _Jews_, the _Jesuits_, the _Cherokees_. This is as good a
definition as I can give of a proper noun or name. Thus we commonly
distinguish the names of particular persons, places, nations, tribes, or
sect