is formed by adding _most_ to the
end of them; as, nethermost, uttermost or utmost, undermost,
uppermost, foremost.

5. In English, as in most languages, there are some words of very
common use, (in which the caprice of custom is apt to get the better
of analogy,) that are irregular in forming the degrees of
comparison; as, "Good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little,
less, least; much or many, more, most; near, nearer, nearest or
next; late, later, latest or last; old, older or elder, oldest or
eldest;" and a few others.

6. The following adjectives, and many others, are always in the
_superlative_ degree, because, by expressing a quality in the
highest degree, they carry in themselves a superlative
signification: _chief, extreme, perfect, right, wrong, honest, just,
true, correct, sincere, vast, immense, ceaseless, infinite, endless,
unparalleled, universal, supreme, unlimited, omnipotent, all-wise,
eternal_.

7. Compound adjectives, and adjectives denoting qualities arising
from the figure of bodies, do not admit of comparison; such as,
_well-formed, frost-bitten, round, square, oblong, circular,
quadrangular, conical_, &c.

8. The termination _ish_ added to adjectives, expresses a slight
degree of quality below the comparative; as, _black, blackish; salt,
saltish. Very_, prefixed to the comparative, expresses a degree of
quality, but not always a superlative degree.

Read this Lecture carefully, particularly the NOTES; after which you may
parse the following adjectives and neuter verb, and, likewise, the
examples that follow. If you cannot repeat all the definitions and
rules, spread the Compendium when you parse. But before you proceed,
please to commit the

SYSTEMATIC ORDER OF PARSING.

_The order of parsing an_ ADJECTIVE, is--an adjective, and why?--compare
it--degree of comparison, and why?--to what noun does it belong?--RULE.

That _great_ nation _was_ once _powerful_; but now it is _feeble_.

_Great_ is an adjective, a word added to a noun to express its
quality--pos. great, com. greater, sup. greatest--it is in the positive
degree, it expresses the quality of an object without any increase or
diminution, and belongs to the noun "nation," according to

RULE 18. _Adjectives belong to, and qualify, nouns expressed or
understood_.

_Was_ is a verb, a word that signifies to be--neuter, it expresses