The it, at the beginning, is ambiguous, whether it mean the sun
     or the cold.—­Dr BLAIR

     In this definition, is the word “just,” or “legal,” finally
     to stand?—­RUSKIN.

     There was also a book of Defoe’s called an “Essay on Projects,”
     and another of Dr. Mather’s called “Essays to do Good.”—­B. 
     FRANKLIN.

[Sidenote:  Caution.]

20.  It is to be remembered, however, that the above cases are shiftings of the use, of words rather than of their meaning.  We seldom find instances of complete conversion of one part of speech into another.

When, in a sentence above, the terms the great, the wealthy, are used, they are not names only:  we have in mind the idea of persons and the quality of being great or wealthy.  The words are used in the sentence where nouns are used, but have an adjectival meaning.

In the other sentences, why and wherefore, When, Now, and Then, are spoken of as if pure nouns; but still the reader considers this not a natural application of them as name words, but as a figure of speech.

NOTE.—­These remarks do not apply, of course, to such words as become pure nouns by use.  There are many of these.  The adjective good has no claim on the noun goods; so, too, in speaking of the principal of a school, or a state secret, or a faithful domestic, or a criminal, etc., the words are entirely independent of any adjective force.

Exercise.

Pick out the nouns in the following sentences, and tell to which class each belongs.  Notice if any have shifted from one class to another.

1.  Hope springs eternal in the human breast.

2.  Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate.

3.  Stone walls do not a prison make. 
      Nor iron bars a cage.

4.  Truth-teller was our England’s Alfred named.

5.  A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.

6.  Power laid his rod aside,
     And Ceremony doff’d her pride.

7.  She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies.

8.  Learning, that cobweb of the brain.

9.  A little weeping would ease my heart;
      But in their briny bed
     My tears must stop, for every drop
      Hinders needle and thread.

10.  A fool speaks all his mind, but a wise man reserves something for hereafter.

11.  Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

12.  Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.

13.  And see, he cried, the welcome,
     Fair guests, that waits you here.

14.  The fleet, shattered and disabled, returned to Spain.

15.  One To-day is worth two To-morrows.