The Grammar of English Grammars, page 540 by Gould Brown
<< Return to Title Details & Download541
lly a plural signification; and a few or a great many is not a collection so definite that we can well conceive of fews and _manies_; but both are sometimes construed substantively, though in modern English[139] it seems to be mostly by ellipsis of the noun. Example: "The praise of the judicious few is an ample compensation for the neglect of the illiterate many."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 278. Dr. Johnson says, the word many is remarkable in Saxon for its frequent use. The following are some of the examples in which he calls it a substantive, or noun: "After him the rascal many ran."--Spenser. "O thou fond many."--Shakspeare. "A care-craz'd mother of a many children."--_Id._ "And for thy sake have I shed many a tear."--_Id._ "The vulgar and the many are fit only to be led or driven."--South. "He is liable to a great many inconveniences every moment of his life."--Tillotson. "Seeing a great many in rich gowns, he was amazed."--Addison.
"There parting from the king, the chiefs divide, And wheeling east and west, before their many ride."--Dryden.
OBS. 28.--"On the principle here laid down, we may account for a peculiar use of the article with the adjective few, and some other diminutives. In saying, 'A few of his adherents remained with him;' we insinuate, that they constituted a number sufficiently important to be formed into an aggregate: while, if the article be omitted, as, 'Few of his adherents remained with him;' this implies, that he was nearly deserted, by representing them as individuals not worth reckoning up. A similar difference occurs between the phrases: 'He exhibited a little regard for his character;' and 'He exhibited little regard for his character.'"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 279. The word little, in its most proper construction, is an adjective, signifyi