“Told of a many thousand warlike French.”—­Shak.

OBS. 6.—­When the adjective is preceded by any other adverb than too, so, as, or how, the article is almost always placed before the adverb:  as, “One of the most complete models;”—­“An equally important question;”—­“An exceedingly rough passage;”—­“A very important difference.”  The adverb quite, however, may be placed either before or after the article, though perhaps with a difference of construction:  as, “This is quite a different thing;”—­or, “This is a quite different thing.”  “Finding it quite an other thing;”—­or, “Finding it a quite other thing.”—­Locke, on Ed., p. 153.  Sometimes two adverbs intervene between the article and the adjective; as, “We had a rather more explicit account of the Novii.”—­Philol.  Museum, i, 458.  But when an other adverb follows too, so, as, or how, the three words should be placed either before the article or after the noun; as, “Who stands there in so purely poetical a light.”—­Ib., i, 449.  Better, perhaps:  “In a light so purely poetical.”

OBS. 7.—­The definitives this, that, and some others, though they supersede the article an or a, may be followed by the adjective one; for we say, “this one thing,” but not, “this a thing.”  Yet, in the following sentence, this and a being separated by other words, appear to relate to the same noun:  “For who is able to judge this thy so great a people?”—­1 Kings, iii, 9.  But we may suppose the noun people to be understood after this.  Again, the following example, if it is not wrong, has an ellipsis of the word use after the first a: 

   “For highest cordials all their virtue lose,
    By a too frequent and too bold a use.”—­Pomfret.

OBS. 8.—­When the adjective is placed after the noun, the article generally retains its place before the noun, and is not repeated before the adjective:  as, “A man ignorant of astronomy;”—­“The primrose pale.”  In Greek, when an adjective is placed after its noun, if the article is applied to the noun, it is repeated before the adjective; as, “[Greek:  Hae polis hae megalae,]”—­“The city the great;” i.e., “The great city.” [337]

OBS. 9.—­Articles, according to their own definition and nature, come before their nouns; but the definite article and an adjective seem sometimes to be placed after the noun to which they both relate:  as, “Section the Fourth;”—­“Henry the Eighth.”  Such examples, however, may possibly be supposed elliptical; as, “Section, the fourth division of the chapter;”—­“Henry, the eighth king of that name:”  and, if they are so, the article, in English, can