stnontmous Terms. m 



that fpecified belongs. It furpaffes the power of maximus, the 

 fuperlative from magnus, as the latter marks the greateft only 

 among the objects of a fpecies, in refpect to a quality, which, 

 though exifling in different degrees in each, admits comparifon 

 in all. The fuperiority of that denominated ingens, again, is 

 fo decided, as to eclipfe the reft that participate in its nature. 



Scilicet et fluvius qui non eft maximus, ei eft, 



Qui non ante aliquem majorem vidit : 



— — et omnia de genere omni, 

 Maxima quae vidit quifque haec ingentia fingit *. 



He. Quid jubeam ? Er. Ignem ingentem fieri. 

 He. Ignem ingentem f Er. Ita dico magnus 

 Utfitf. 



Ingens agrees with magnus in admitting an application to 

 objects, of which quantity is not an attribute. 



Thras. Magnas vero agere gratias Thais mihi I 

 Gnath. Ingentes \. 



Cicero comments upon this paflage in a way that puts the 

 precife difference between the terms in the cleared light pofTi- 

 ble. " Satis erat refpondere magnas : ingentes inquit. Semper 

 " auget affentatio id, quod is, cujus ad voluntatem dicitur, vult 

 " effe magnum §." 



During the Auguftan age, the profe-writers never ufed de- 

 grees of comparifon from ingens. When Virgil ftyles ^Eneas 

 " fama ingens, ingentior armis," his doing do muft be confider- 

 ed as a poetical licence, fuch as that of Milton fpeaking of 

 the leviathan, 



Hugeji of living creatures, in the deep 

 Stretch'd like a promontory, fleeps or fwims, 

 And feems a moving land. 



Th£ 



* Lucret. 6. 674. % Ten Eun. 3. 1. 1. 



\ Plaut. Capt. 4. l. 64. $ Cic. in Lsel. 26.. 



