How

"I have heard how in Italy one is beset on all sides by beggars": read, "heard that ." "I have heard how some critics have been pacified with claret and a supper, and others laid asleep with soft notes of flattery."—Dr. Johnson. The how in this sentence also should be that . How means the manner in which . We may, therefore, say, "I have heard how he went about it to circumvent you." "And it is good judgment alone can dictate how far to proceed in it and when to stop." Cobbett comments on this sentence in this wise: "Dr. Watts is speaking here of writing. In such a case, an adverb, like how far , expre ive of longitudinal space, introduces a rhetorical figure ; for the plain meaning is, that judgment will dictate how much to write on it and not how far to proceed in it . The figure, however, is very proper and much better than the literal words. But when a figure is begun it should be carried on throughout, which is not the case here; for the Doctor begins with a figure of longitudinal space and ends with a figure of time . It should have been, where to stop. Or, how long to proceed in it and when to stop. To tell a man how far he is to go into the Western countries of America, and when he is to stop, is a very different thing from telling him how far he is to go and where he is to stop. I have dwelt thus on this distinction for the purpose of putting you on the watch and guarding you against confounding figures. The le you use them the better, till you understand more about them."