178. The is often prefixed to the names of rivers; and when the word river is omitted, as "the Mississippi," "the Ohio," the article indicates clearly that a river, and not a state or other geographical division, is referred to.
No wonder I could face the Mississippi with so much courage supplied to me.—Thackeray.
The Dakota tribes, doubtless, then occupied the country southwest of the Missouri.—G. Bancroft.
To call attention to attributes.
179. When the is prefixed to a proper name, it alters the force of the noun by directing attention to certain qualities possessed by the person or thing spoken of; thus,—
The Bacon, the Spinoza, the Hume, Schelling, Kant, or whosoever propounds to you a philosophy of the mind, is only a more or less awkward translator of things in your consciousness.—Emerson.
With plural of abstract nouns.
180. The, when placed before the pluralized abstract noun, marks it as half abstract or a common noun.
His messages to the provincial authorities.—Motley.