EXCEPTION FIRST.
The definite article used intensively, may relate to an adjective or adverb of the comparative or the superlative degree; as, "A land which was the mightiest."—Byron. "The farther they proceeded, the greater appeared their alacrity."—Dr. Johnson. "He chooses it the rather"—Cowper. See Obs. 10th, below.
EXCEPTION SECOND.
The indefinite article is sometimes used to give a collective meaning to what seems a plural adjective of number; as, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis."—Rev., iii, 4. "There are a thousand things which crowd into my memory."—Spectator, No. 468. "The centurion commanded a hundred men."—Webster. See Etymology, Articles, Obs. 26.