s 
_ 
a verfe; and 
NUMBERS. 
the ufe of the golden number, putea in the Julian calendar, 
ferves to find the new m rg y ferves, in the Gregorian, 
to find the cycle of epa 
This number is faid ns “have had its name, golden, fi 
the extent of its ufe; or, otherwife, becaufe the Athe- 
nians ean it with fo much applaufe, that they had it 
written in the public aes in letters of goid. See Me- 
' tonic aa and Epac 
UMBER, i Creme is a modification of nouns, verbs, 
&c. to accommodate oe i — varieties of their objects, 
sac ee le regard to n 
names, cong - feveral things, may be con- 
fered e citer as applied to one of thofe things fingularly, or 
oa of them; and thofe either confidered as feveral, 
= unit reed. To aa jee ere cafes, two numbers have 
temple 
he n it pa gai aie objects, and ona as mein it 
is of the plura trees, or tem vhen 
: {peak se mye as eae part of eel eee, inftead 
» &e. 
°" The Greeks fle a third number, — they call a dual 
i Hebrews have fom 
or b ) > common an 
pelleciee names, they feem “a canely to require a plural 
number 3 ha a Ro feveral, which have none, as the name 
of gold, 
The Sifference of numbers in nouns is expreffed by a dif- 
ference of termination or endin ng. 
Tn Englifh, the nga is ufually Seana - ae 
by adding s; as t - hand, hands ; Wher 
the pp anerge equines it, as when the aie ends in s 
or- . Ja or ch, it is ufually done by the addition of es, in- 
flead of 5. 
The plurals of adjetives, though varied from the fingu- 
lars in moft other languages, yet in Englifh are = 
RHYTHM. 
It is of thefe numbers Virgil {peaks in his fourth eclogue : 
———-.“* Numeros memini, fi verba tenerem.”’ 
And again, in the fixth eclogue : 
«Tum vero in numerum faunofque ferafque videres 
Ludere.’ 
he numbers are what gran the = and pad sl 
denominate it {moo Ws 
rough, or fonorous. ‘The follo owing tines of iden Facaifh 
aa inftance of foft, eafy numbers 
s Then feed on thoughts, which voluntary move 
Harmonious numbers ; as the tuneful bird 
Sings darkling, .and, in fhadieft covert hid, 
Tunes her nogturnal note. ——= 
How different from the numbers of thefe ! 
ss Arms meet with arms, faucheons with saa clath, 
And a of fire, ftruck out from arm ie afh.”” 
Numsers, Rhetorical, 0 
erg harmony, 
fuch as is perceived, a 
The numbers are that, by which the ftyle is faid to be eafy, 
free, round, flowing, &c. See STYLE. 
fine inftance of numbers we have ia that paflage of 
Tully for Marcellus : « Nulla eft tanta vis, tantaque copia, 
que non ferro ac viribus debilitari frangique poffit.” All 
the beauty of which would be nceely loft to any ar 
ear, if the numbers were a little inverted, thus: ‘ Nulla 
vis tanta, et le tanta, que non poflit debilitari faa 
que oe 
ers are ne ba posers neceflary i : . yet 
aay — in all fpeech. Hence Ariftotle, Quin 
lian, &c. lay dow 
of a da&tyls, {pondees, anapefta, iambufes, cho- 
raic, and dichoraic moloffufes, 8c. in order to have the 
numbers perfect. 
The fubftance of what we have faid, is reducible to what 
follows : 
a ' y 
o Cefa: i gent immanitate rons _ 
tudine imamerables, locis infinitas, omni copiarum gen 
abundantes, 
Sometimes, indeed long or fhort 2 gee are defignedly 
thrown togethe without any fuch mixture, to paint 
_ celerity or awncta of a thing by that of the num- 
‘¢ Quadrupedante putrem fonitu quatit ungula campum.” 
fineid. 1. 8. 
‘¢ Ludtantes ventos, tempeftatefque fonoras.’? 
Id. 1. 1. 
2. Rene ftyle becomes numerous by the i arises 2 words 
eC, nal or more fyllables ; * Vivi vis 
ad depone am, = d ad confir 
i reque plc - Bae ba renders the 
; fe ‘pitifl and grating: ‘ Hac in re nos hic 
eri 
of o 
. t contributes greatly to ee numeroufnefs of a period ; 
to have it clofed by magnificent and well-founding words ; 
as, “ Qui locus quietis ac tranquillitatis pleniffimus fore vide- 
batur, in eo maximz moleftiarum, et turbulentiffime tempef- 
tates extiterunt.’’ 
4. The numbers depend not sage on the noblenefs of the 
words in the oo but on thofe of the aa ile tenor ie bas 
period ; asin that fine oration 5 Cice a Font a 
Patter of one ‘of the Veftal mai i i 
aras deorum immort. act, quotidiani 
bak ig emer iaache de veftro iii commoveri. 
e the period flow eafily and equably, the harfh 
neurrence © of letters and words is to be yh aie 
“ Africa ‘terribili tremit it hortida terra tumulta ;”’ 
and the frequent ufe of like ending words 5 > omnia ajue 
inca, prefiigiatrices, fuerunt. See JUNCTUR 
9 Laftly, 
