it may be taken as relating to them both:  “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.”—­Prov., vi, 10; xxiv, 33.  But by a common ellipsis, it is used as a noun, both with and without the article; as, “A little that a righteous man hath, is better than the riches of many wicked.”—­Psalms, xxxvii, 16.  “Better is little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble therewith.”—­Prov., xv, 16.  “He that despiseth little things, shall perish by little and little.”—­Ecclesiasticus.  It is also used adverbially, both alone and with the article a; as, “The poor sleep little.”—­Otway.  “Though they are a little astringent.”—­Arbuthnot.  “When he had gone a little farther thence.”—­Mark, i, 19.  “Let us vary the phrase [in] a very little” [degree].—­Kames, Vol. ii, p. 163.

OBS. 29.—­“As it is the nature of the articles to limit the signification of a word, they are applicable only to words expressing ideas capable of being individualized, or conceived of as single things or acts; and nouns implying a general state, condition, or habit, must be used without the article.  It is not vaguely therefore, but on fixed principles, that the article is omitted, or inserted, in such phrases as the following:  ’in terror, in fear, in dread, in haste, in sickness, in pain, in trouble; in a fright, in a hurry, in a consumption; the pain of his wound was great; her son’s dissipated life was a great trouble to her.”—­Churchill’s Gram., p. 127.

OBS. 30.—­Though the, an, and a, are the only articles in our language, they are far from being the only definitives.  Hence, while some have objected to the peculiar distinction bestowed upon these little words, firmly insisting on throwing them in among the common mass of adjectives; others have taught, that the definitive adjectives—­I know not how many—­such as, this, that, these, those, any, other, some, all, both, each, every, either, neither—­“are much more properly articles than any thing else.”—­Hermes, p. 234.  But, in spite of this opinion, it has somehow happened, that these definitive adjectives have very generally, and very absurdly, acquired the name of pronouns.  Hence, we find Booth, who certainly excelled most other grammarians in learning and acuteness, marvelling that the articles “were ever separated from the class of pronouns.”  To all this I reply, that the, an, and a, are worthy to be distinguished as the only articles, because they are not only used with much greater frequency than any other definitives, but are specially restricted to the limiting of the signification of nouns.  Whereas the other definitives above mentioned are very often used to supply the place of their nouns; that is, to represent them understood.  For, in