OBS. 20.--The verb after a relative sometimes has the appearance of

disagreeing with its nominative, because the writer and his reader disagree

in their conceptions of its mood. When a relative clause is subjoined to

what is itself subjunctive or conditional, some writers suppose that the

latter verb should be put in the subjunctive mood; as, "If there be any

intrigue _which stand_ separate and independent."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 457.

"The man also would be of considerable use, who should vigilantly attend to

every illegal practice _that were beginning_ to prevail."--_Campbell's

Rhet._, p. 171. But I have elsewhere shown, that relatives, in English, are

not compatible with the subjunctive mood; and it is certain, that no other

mood than the indicative or the potential is commonly used after them. Say

therefore, "If there be any intrigue _which stands_," &c. In assuming to

himself the other text, Murray's says, "_That_ man also would be of

considerable use, who should vigilantly attend to every illegal practice

that _was_ beginning to prevail."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 366. But this seems

too positive. The potential imperfect would be better: viz., "that _might

begin_ to prevail."

OBS. 21.--The termination _st_ or _est_, with which the second person

singular of the verb is formed in the indicative present, and, for the

solemn style, in the imperfect also; and the termination _s_ or _es_, with

which the third person singular is formed in the indicative present, and

only there; are signs of the mood and tense, as well as of the person and

number, of the verb. They are not applicable to a future uncertainty, or to

any mere supposition in which we would leave the time indefinite and make

the action hypothetical; because they are commonly understood to fix the

time of the verb to the present or the past, and to assume the action as

either doing or done. For this reason, our best writers have always omitted

those terminations, when they intended to represent the action as being

doubtful and contingent as well as conditional. And this omission

constitutes the whole _formal_ difference between the indicative and the

subjunctive mood. The _essential_ difference has, by almost all

grammarians, been conceived to extend somewhat further; for, if it were

confined strictly within the limits of the literal variation, the

subjunctive mood would embrace only two or three words in the whole

formation of each verb. After the example of Priestley, Dr. Murray, A.

Murray, Harrison, Alexander, and others, I have given to it all the persons

of the two simple tenses, singular and plural; and, for various reasons, I

am decidedly of the opinion, that these are its most proper limits. The

perfect and pluperfect tenses, being past, cannot express what is really

contingent or uncertain; and since, in expressing conditionally what may or

may not happen, we use the subjunctive present as embracing the future

indefinitely, there is no need of any formal futures for this mood. The

comprehensive brevity of this form of the verb, is what chiefly commends

it. It is not an elliptical form of the future, as some affirm it to be;

nor equivalent to the indicative present, as others will have it; but a

_true subjunctive_, though its distinctive parts are chiefly confined to

the second and third persons singular of the simple verb: as, "Though _thou

wash_ thee with nitre."--_Jer._, ii, 22. "It is just, O great king! that a

_murderer perish_."--_Corneille_. "This single _crime_, in my judgment,

_were_ sufficient to condemn him."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 82. "Beware that

_thou bring_ not my son thither."--BIBLE: _Ward's Gram._, p. 128. "See

[that] _thou tell_ no man."--_Id., ib._ These examples can hardly be

resolved into any thing else than the subjunctive mood.

NOTES TO RULE XIV.

NOTE I.--When the nominative is a relative pronoun, the verb must agree

with it in person and number, according to the pronoun's agreement with its

true antecedent or antecedents. Example of error: "The second book [of the

Æneid] is one of the greatest masterpieces _that ever was executed_ by any

hand."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 439. Here the true antecedent is

_masterpieces_, and not the word _one_; but _was executed_ is singular, and

"by any _hand_" implies but one agent. Either say, "It is one of the

greatest _masterpieces that_ ever _were executed_;" or else, "It is _the

greatest masterpiece that ever was executed by any hand_." But these

assertions differ much in their import.

NOTE II.--"The adjuncts of the nominative do not control its agreement with

the verb; as, Six months' _interest was_ due. The _progress_ of his forces

_was_ impeded."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 131. "The _ship_, with all her

furniture, was destroyed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 150. "All _appearances_ of

modesty _are_ favourable and prepossessing."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 308. "The

_power_ of relishing natural enjoyments _is_ soon gone."--_Fuller, on the

Gospel_, p. 135. "_I_, your master, _command_ you (not _commands_)"--

_Latham's Hand-Book_, p. 330.[390]

NOTE III.--Any phrase, sentence, mere word, or other sign, taken as one

whole, and made the subject of an assertion, requires a verb in the third

person singular; as, "To lie _is_ base."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 154. "When, to

read and write, _was_ of itself an honorary distinction."--_Hazlitt's

Lect._, p. 40. "To admit a God and then refuse to worship him, _is_ a

modern and inconsistent practice."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_, p. 30. "_We

is_ a personal pronoun."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 227. "_Th has_ two

sounds."--_Ib._, p. 161. "The _'s is annexed_ to each."--_Bucke's Gram._,

p. 89. "_Ld. stands_ for _lord_."--_Webster's American Dict._, 8vo.

NOTE IV.--The pronominal adjectives, _each, one,[391] either_, and

_neither_, are always in the third person singular; and, when they are the

leading words in their clauses, they require verbs and pronouns to agree

with them accordingly: as, "_Each_ of you _is_ entitled to _his_

share."--"Let no _one_ deceive _himself_."

NOTE V.--A neuter or a passive verb between two nominatives should be made

to agree with that which precedes it;[392] as, "Words _are_ wind:" except

when the terms are transposed, and the proper subject is put after the verb

by _question_ or _hyperbaton_; as, "His pavilion _were_ dark _waters_ and

thick _clouds_ of the sky."--_Bible_. "Who _art thou_?"--_Ib._ "The wages

of sin _is death_."--_Ib. Murray, Comly_, and others. But, of this last

example, Churchill says, "_Wages are_ the subject, of which it is affirmed,

that _they are_ death."--_New Gram._, p. 314. If so, _is_ ought to be

_are_; unless Dr. Webster is right, who imagines _wages_ to be _singular_,

and cites this example to prove it so. See his _Improved Gram._, p. 21.

NOTE VI.--When the verb cannot well be made singular, the nominative should

be made plural, that they may agree: or, if the verb cannot be plural, let

the nominative be singular. Example of error: "For _every one_ of them

_know_ their several duties."--_Hope of Israel_, p. 72. Say, "For _all_ of

them know their several duties."

NOTE VII.--When the verb has different forms, that form should be adopted,

which is the most consistent with present and reputable usage in the style

employed: thus, to say familiarly, "The clock _hath stricken_;"--"Thou

_laughedst_ and _talkedst_, when thou _oughtest_ to have been silent;"--"He

_readeth_ and _writeth_, but he _doth_ not cipher," would be no better,

than to use _don't, won't, can't, shan't_, and _didn't_, in preaching.

NOTE VIII.--Every finite verb not in the imperative mood, should have a

separate nominative expressed; as, "_I came, I saw, I conquered_:" except

when the verb is repeated for the sake of emphasis, or connected to an

other in the same construction, or put after _but_ or _than_; as, "Not an

eminent orator has lived _but is_ an example of it."--_Ware_. "Where more

is meant _than meets_ the ear."--_Milton's Allegro_. (See Obs. 5th and Obs.

18th above.)

"They _bud, blow, wither, fall_, and _die_."--_Watts_.

"That evermore his teeth they _chatter,

Chatter, chatter, chatter_ still."--_Wordsworth_.

NOTE IX.--A future contingency is best expressed by a verb in the

subjunctive present; and a mere supposition, with indefinite time, by a

verb in the subjunctive imperfect; but a conditional circumstance assumed

as a fact, requires the indicative mood:[393] as, "If thou _forsake_ him,

he will cast thee off forever."--_Bible_. "If it _were_ not so, I would

have told you."--_Ib._ "If thou _went_, nothing would be gained."--"Though

he _is_ poor, he is contented."--"Though he _was_ rich, yet for your sakes

he became poor."--_2 Cor._, viii, 9.

NOTE X.--In general, every such use or extension of the subjunctive mood,

as the reader will be likely to mistake for a discord between the verb and

its nominative, ought to be avoided as an impropriety: as, "We are not

sensible of disproportion, till the difference between the quantities

compared _become_ the most striking circumstance."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,

ii, 341. Say rather, "_becomes_;" which is indicative. "Till the general

preference of certain forms _have been declared_."--_Priestley's Gram.,

Pref._, p. xvii. Say, "_has been declared_;" for "_preference_" is here the

nominative, and Dr. Priestley himself recognizes no other subjunctive

tenses than the present and the imperfect; as, "If thou _love_, If thou

_loved_."--_Ib._, p. 16.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XIV.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--VERB AFTER THE NOMINATIVE.

"Before you left Sicily, you was reconciled to Verres."--_Duncan's Cicero_,

p. 19.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the passive verb _was reconciled_ is of the

singular number, and does not agree with its nominative _you_, which is of

the second person plural. But, according to Rule 14th, "Every finite verb

must agree with its subject, or nominative, in person and number."

Therefore, _was reconciled_ should be _were reconciled_; thus, "Before you

left Sicily, you _were reconciled_ to Verres."]

"Knowing that you was my old master's good friend."--_Spect._, No. 517.

"When the judge dare not act, where is the loser's remedy?"--_Webster's

Essays_, p. 131. "Which extends it no farther than the variation of the

verb extend."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 211. "They presently dry

without hurt, as myself hath often proved."--_Roger Williams_. "Whose

goings forth hath been from of old, from everlasting."--_Keith's

Evidences_. "You was paid to fight against Alexander, not to rail at

him."--_Porter's Analysis_, p. 70. "Where more than one part of speech is

almost always concerned."--_Churchill's Gram., Pref._, p. viii. "Nothing

less than murders, rapines, and conflagrations, employ their

thoughts."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 175. "I wondered where you was, my

dear."--_Lloyd's Poems_, p. 185. "When thou most sweetly sings."--_Drummond

of Hawthornden_. "Who dare, at the present day, avow himself equal to the

task?"--_Music of Nature_, p. 11. "Every body are very kind to her, and not

discourteous to me."--_Byron's Letters_. "As to what thou says respecting

the diversity of opinions."--_The Friend_, Vol. ix, p. 45. "Thy nature,

immortality, who knowest?"--_Everest's Gram._, p. 38. "The natural

distinction of sex in animals gives rise to what, in grammar, is called

genders."--_Ib._, p. 51. "Some pains has likewise been taken."--_Scott's

Pref. to Bible_. "And many a steed in his stables were seen."--_Penwarne's

Poems_, p. 108. "They was forced to eat what never was esteemed

food."--_Josephus's Jewish War_, B. i, Ch. i, §7. "This that yourself hath

spoken, I desire that they may take their oaths upon."--_Hutchinson's

Mass._, ii, 435. "By men whose experience best qualify them to

judge."--_Committee on Literature, N. Y. Legislature_. "He dare venture to

kill and destroy several other kinds of fish."--_Johnson's Dict, w. Perch_.

"If a gudgeon meet a roach, He dare not venture to approach."--SWIFT: _Ib.,

w. Roach_. "Which thou endeavours to establish unto thyself."--_Barclay's

Works_, i, 164. "But they pray together much oftener than thou

insinuates."--_Ib._, i, 215. "Of people of all denominations, over whom

thou presideth."--_The Friend_, Vol. v, p. 198. "I can produce ladies and

gentlemen whose progress have been astonishing."--_Chazotte, on Teaching

Lang._, p. 62. "Which of these two kinds of vice are more

criminal?"--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 115. "Every twenty-four hours affords

to us the vicissitudes of day and night."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 103.

"Every four years adds another day."--_Ib._ "Every error I could find, Have

my busy muse employed."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 335. "A studious scholar

deserve the approbation of his teacher."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 226.

"Perfect submission to the rules of a school indicate good

breeding."--_Ib._, p. 37. "A comparison in which more than two is

concerned."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 114. "By the facilities which

artificial language afford them."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 16. "Now

thyself hath lost both lop and top."--SPENSER: _Joh. Dict., w. Lop._ "Glad

tidings is brought to the poor."--_Campbell's Gospels: Luke_, vii, 23.

"Upon which, all that is pleasurable, or affecting in elocution, chiefly

depend."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 129. "No pains has been spared to

render this work complete."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram., Pref._, p. iv. "The

United States contains more than a twentieth part of the land of this

globe."--DE WITT CLINTON: _Cobb's N. Amer. Reader_, p. 173. "I am mindful

that myself is (or am) strong."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, § 500. "Myself _is_

(not _am_) weak; thyself _is_ (not _art_) weak."--_Ib._, §479.

"How pale each worshipful and reverend guest

Rise from a clergy or a city feast!"--_Pope_, Sat. ii, l. 75.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--VERB BEFORE THE NOMINATIVE.

"Where was you born? In London."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 133. "There is

frequent occasions for commas."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 281. "There

necessarily follows from thence, these plain and unquestionable

consequences."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 191. "And to this impression

contribute the redoubled effort."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 112. "Or if

he was, was there no spiritual men then?"--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 86. "So

by these two also is signified their contrary principles."--_Ib._, iii,

200. "In the motions made with the hands, consist the chief part of gesture

in speaking."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 336. "Dare he assume the name of a

popular magistrate?"--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 140. "There was no damages as

in England, and so Scott lost his wager."--_Byron_. "In fact there exists

such resemblances."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 64. "To him giveth all the

prophets witness."--_Crewdson's Beacon_, p. 79. "That there was so many

witnesses and actors."--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 37. "How does this man's

definitions stand affected?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 136. "Whence comes

all the powers and prerogatives of rational beings?"--_Ib._, p. 144. "Nor

does the Scriptures cited by thee prove thy intent."--_Barclay's Works_, i,

155. "Nor do the Scripture cited by thee prove the contrary."--_Ib._, i,

211. "Why then cite thou a Scripture which is so plain and clear for

it?"--_Ib._, i, 163. "But what saith the Scriptures as to respect of

persons among Christians?"--_Ib._, i, 404. "But in the mind of man, while

in the savage state, there seems to be hardly any ideas but what enter by

the senses."--_Robertson's America_, i, 289. "What sounds have each of the

vowels?"--_Griscom's Questions_. "Out of this has grown up aristocracies,

monarchies, despotisms, tyrannies."--_Brownson's Elwood_, p. 222. "And

there was taken up, of fragments that remained to them, twelve baskets."--

_Luke_, ix, 17. "There seems to be but two general classes."--_Day's

Gram._, p. 3. "Hence arises the six forms of expressing time."--_Ib._, p.

37. "There seems to be no other words required."--_Chandler's Gram._, p.

28. "If there is two, the second increment is the syllable next the

last."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, 12th Ed., p. 281. "Hence arises the

following advantages."--_Id., Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, 1849, p. 67.

"There is no data by which it can be estimated."--_J. C. Calhoun's Speech_,

March 4, 1850. "To this class belong the Chinese [language], in which we

have nothing but naked roots."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 27.

"There was several other grotesque figures that presented themselves."--

_Spect._, No. 173. "In these consist that sovereign good which ancient

sages so much extol."--_Percival's Tales_, ii, 221. "Here comes those I

have done good to against my will."--_Shak., Shrew_. "Where there is more

than one auxiliary."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 80.

"On me to cast those eyes where shine nobility."

--SIDNEY: _Joh. Dict._

"Here's half-pence in plenty, for one you'll have twenty."

--_Swift's Poems_, p. 347.

"Ah, Jockey, ill advises thou, I wis,

To think of songs at such a time as this."

--_Churchill_, p. 18.

UNDER NOTE I.--THE RELATIVE AND VERB.

"Thou who loves us, wilt protect us still."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 67.

"To use that endearing language, Our Father, who is in heaven"--_Bates's

Doctrines_, p. 103. "Resembling the passions that produceth these

actions."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 157. "Except _dwarf, grief, hoof,

muff_, &c. which takes _s_ to make the plural."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 19. "As

the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure."--

_Gen._ xxxiii, 14 "Where is the man who dare affirm that such an action is

mad?"--_Werter_. "The ninth book of Livy affords one of the most beautiful

exemplifications of historical painting, that is any where to be met

with."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 360. "In some studies too, that relate to taste

and fine writing, which is our object," &c.--_Ib._, p. 349. "Of those

affecting situations, which makes man's heart feel for man."--_Ib._, p.

464. "We see very plainly, that it is neither Osmyn, nor Jane Shore, that

speak."--_Ib._, p. 468. "It should assume that briskness and ease, which is

suited to the freedom of dialogue."--_Ib._, p. 469. "Yet they grant, that

none ought to be admitted into the ministry, but such as is truly

pious."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 147. "This letter is one of the best that

has been written about Lord Byron."--_Hunt's Byron_, p. 119. "Thus, besides

what was sunk, the Athenians took above two hundred ships."--_Goldsmith's

Greece_, i, 102. "To have made and declared such orders as was

necessary."--_Hutchinson's Hist._, i, 470. "The idea of such a collection

of men as make an army."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 217. "I'm not the first that

have been wretched."--_Southern's In. Ad._, Act 2. "And the faint sparks of

it, which is in the angels, are concealed from our view."--_Calvin's

Institutes_, B. i, Ch. 11. "The subjects are of such a nature, as allow

room for much diversity of taste and sentiment."--_Blair's Rhet., Pref._,

p. 5. "It is in order to propose examples of such perfection, as are not to

be found in the real examples of society."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p.

16. "I do not believe that he would amuse himself with such fooleries as

has been attributed to him."--_Ib._, p. 218. "That shepherd, who first

taughtst the chosen seed."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 238. "With respect

to the vehemence and warmth which is allowed in popular eloquence."--

_Blair's Rhet._, p. 261. "Ambition is one of those passions that is never

to be satisfied."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p. 36. "Thou wast he that

leddest out and broughtest in Israel."--_2 Samuel_, v, 2; and _1 Chron._,

xi, 2. "Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?"--_1 Kings_, xiii,

14.

"How beauty is excell'd by manly grace

And wisdom, which alone is truly fair."--_Milton_, B. iv, l. 490.

"What art thou, speak, that on designs unknown,

While others sleep, thus range the camp alone?"--_Pope, Il._, x, 90.

UNDER NOTE II.--NOMINATIVE WITH ADJUNCTS.

"The literal sense of the words are, that the action had been done."--_Dr.

Murray's Hist. of Lang._, i, 65. "The rapidity of his movements were beyond

example."--_Wells's Hist._, p. 161. "Murray's Grammar, together with his

Exercises and Key, have nearly superseded every thing else of the

kind."--EVAN'S REC.: _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, ii, 305. "The mechanism of

clocks and watches were totally unknown."--HUME: _Priestley's Gram._, p.

193. "The _it_, together with the verb _to be_, express states of

being."--_Cobbett's Eng. Gram._, ¶ 190. "Hence it is, that the profuse

variety of objects in some natural landscapes, neither breed confusion nor

fatigue."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 266. "Such a clatter of sounds

indicate rage and ferocity."--_Music of Nature_, p. 195. "One of the fields

make threescore square yards, and the other only fifty-five."--_Duncan's

Logic_, p. 8. "The happy effects of this fable is worth attending

to."--_Bailey's Ovid_, p. x. "Yet the glorious serenity of its parting rays

still linger with us."--_Gould's Advocate_. "Enough of its form and force

are retained to render them uneasy."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 261. "The

works of nature, in this respect, is extremely regular."--_Dr. Pratt's

Werter_. "No small addition of exotic and foreign words and phrases have

been made by commerce."--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 10. "The dialect

of some nouns are taken notice of in the notes."--_Milnes, Greek Gram._, p.

255. "It has been said, that a discovery of the full resources of the arts,

afford the means of debasement, or of perversion."--_Rush, on the Voice_,

p. xxvii. "By which means the Order of the Words are disturbed."--_Holmes's

Rhet._, B. i, p. 57. "The twofold influence of these and the others require

the asserter to be in the plural form."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 251.

"And each of these afford employment."--_Percival's Tales_, Vol. ii, p.

175. "The pronunciation of the vowels are best explained under the rules

relative to the consonants."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 7. "The judicial power of

these courts extend to all cases in law and equity."--_Hall and Baker's

School Hist._, p. 286. "One of you have stolen my money."--_Rational

Humorist_, p. 45. "Such redundancy of epithets, instead of pleasing,

produce satiety and disgust."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 256. "It has been

alleged, that a compliance with the rules of Rhetoric, tend to cramp the

mind."--_Hiley's Gram._, 3d Ed., p. 187. "Each of these are presented to us

in different relations"--_Hendrick's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 34. "The past

tense of these verbs, _should, would, might, could_, are very indefinite

with respect to time."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 33; 5th Ed., p.

31. "The power of the words, which are said to govern this mood, are

distinctly understood."--_Chandler's Gram._, Ed. of 1821, p. 33.

"And now, at length, the fated term of years

The world's desire have brought, and lo! the God appears."

--_Dr. Lowth, on "the Genealogy of Christ."_

"Variety of Numbers still belong

To the soft Melody of Ode or Song."

--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 170.

UNDER NOTE III.--COMPOSITE OR CONVERTED SUBJECTS.

"Many are the works of human industry, which to begin and finish are hardly

granted to the same man."--_Johnson, Adv. to Dict._ "To lay down rules for

these are as inefficacious."--_Dr. Pratt's Werter_, p. 19. "To profess

regard, and to act _differently_, discover a base mind."--_Murray's Key_,

ii, p. 206. See also _Bullions's E. Gram._, 82 and 112; _Lennie's_, 58. "To

magnify to the height of wonder things great, new, and admirable, extremely

please the mind of man."--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 152. "In this passage,

_according as_ are used in a manner which is very common."--_Webster's

Philosophical Gram._, p. 183. "A _cause de_ are called a preposition; _a

cause que_, a conjunction."--DR. WEBSTER: _Knickerbocker_, 1836. "To these

are given to speak in the name of the Lord."--_The Friend_, vii, 256.

"While _wheat_ has no plural, _oats_ have seldom any singular."--_Cobbett's

E. Gram._ ¶ 41. "He cannot assert that _ll_ are inserted in _fullness_ to

denote the sound of _u_."--_Cobb's Review of Webster_, p. 11. "_ch_ have

the power of _k_."--_Gould's Adam's Gram._, p. 2. "_ti_, before a vowel,

and unaccented, have the sound of _si_ or _ci_."--_Ibid._ "In words derived

from the French, as _chagrin, chicanery_, and _chaise, ch_ are sounded like

_sh_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 10. "But in the word _schism, schismatic_, &c.,

the _ch_ are silent."--_Ibid._ "_Ph_ are always sounded like _f_, at the

beginning of words."--_Bucke's Gram._ "_Ph_ have the sound of _f_ as in

_philosophy_."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p. 11. "_Sh_ have one sound

only as in _shall_."--_Ib._ "_Th_ have two sounds."--_Ib._ "_Sc_ have the

sound of _sk_, before _a, o, u_, and _r_."--_Ib._ "Aw, have the sound of

_a_ in hall."--_Bolles's Spelling-Book_, p. vi. "Ew, sound like

_u_."--_Ib._ "Ow, when both sounded, have the sound of _ou_."--_Ib._ "Ui,

when both pronounced in one syllable sound like _wi_ in _languid_."--_Ib._

"_Ui_ three several Sorts of Sound express,

As _Guile, rebuild, Bruise_ and _Recruit_ confess."

--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 34.

UNDER NOTE IV.--EACH, ONE, EITHER, AND NEITHER.

"When each of the letters which compose this word, have been

learned."--_Dr. Weeks, on Orthog._, p. 22. "As neither of us deny that both

Homer and Virgil have great beauties."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 21. "Yet

neither of them are remarkable for precision."--_Ib._, p. 95. "How far each

of the three great epic poets have distinguished themselves."--_Ib._, p.

427. "Each of these produce a separate agreeable sensation."--_Ib._, p. 48.

"On the Lord's day every one of us Christians keep the sabbath."--_Tr. of

Irenæus_. "And each of them bear the image of purity and holiness."--_Hope

of Israel_, p. 81. "Were either of these meetings ever acknowledged or

recognized?"--_Foster's Report_, i, 96. "Whilst neither of these letters

exist in the Eugubian inscription."--_Knight, on Greek Alph._, p. 122. "And

neither of them are properly termed indefinite."--_Wilson's Essay on

Gram._, p. 88. "As likewise of the several subjects, which have in effect

each their verb."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 120. "Sometimes when the word ends

in _s_, neither of the signs are used."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 21.

"And as neither of these manners offend the ear."--_Walker's Dict., Pref._,

p. 5. "Neither of these two Tenses are confined to this signification

only."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 339. "But neither of these circumstances

are intended here."--_Tooke's Diversions_, ii, 237. "So that all are

indebted to each, and each are dependent upon all."--_Am. Bible Society's

Rep._, 1838, p. 89. "And yet neither of them express any more action in

this case than they did in the other."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 201. "Each

of these expressions denote action."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 74. "Neither of

these moods seem to be defined by distinct boundaries."--_Butler's

Practical Gram._, p. 66. "Neither of these solutions are correct."--

_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 236. "Neither bear any sign of case at

all."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §217.

"Each in their turn like Banquo's monarchs stalk."--_Byron_.

"And tell what each of them by th'other lose."--_Shak., Cori._, iii, 2.

UNDER NOTE V.--VERB BETWEEN TWO NOMINATIVES.

"The quarrels of lovers is a renewal of love."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p.

156; _Alexander's_, 49; _Gould's_, 159; _Bullions's_, 206. "Two dots, one

placed above the other, is called _Sheva_."--_Dr. Wilson's Heb. Gram._, p.

43. "A few centuries, more or less, is a matter of small

consequence."--_Ib._ p. 31. "Pictures were the first step towards the art

of writing. Hieroglyphicks was the second step."--_Parker's English

Composition_, p. 27. "The comeliness of youth are modesty and frankness; of

age, condescension and dignity."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 166. "Merit and

good works is the end of man's motion."--_Lord Bacon_. "Divers

philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mind."--_Shakspeare_. "The

clothing of the natives were the skins of wild beasts."--_Indian Wars_, p.

92. "Prepossessions in favor of our nativ town, is not a matter of

surprise."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 217. "Two shillings and six pence is

half a crown, but not a half crown."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 150;

_Bicknell's_, ii, 53. "Two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the

voice, and uniting in one sound, is called a dipthong."--_Cooper's Pl. and

Pr. Gram._, p. 1. "Two or more sentences united together is called a

Compound Sentence."--_P. E. Day's District School Gram._, p. 10. "Two or

more words rightly put together, but not completing an entire proposition,

is called a Phrase."--_Ibid._ "But the common Number of Times are

five."--_The British Grammar_, p. 122. "Technical terms, injudiciously

introduced, is another source of darkness in composition."--_Jamieson's

Rhet._, p. 107. "The United States is the great middle division of North

America."--_Morse's Geog._, p. 44. "A great cause of the low state of

industry were the restraints put upon it."--HUME: _Murray's Gram._, p. 145;

_Ingersoll's_, 172; _Sanborn's_, 192; _Smith's_, 123; and others. "Here two

tall ships becomes the victor's prey."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ii, l. 1098.

"The expenses incident to an outfit is surely no object."--_The Friend_,

Vol. iii., p. 200.

"Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep,

Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep."--_Milton_.

UNDER NOTE VI.--CHANGE THE NOMINATIVE.

"Much pains has been taken to explain all the kinds of words."--_Infant

School Gram._ p. 128. "Not less [_time_] than three years are spent in

attaining this faculty."--_Music of Nature_, p. 28. "Where this night are

met in state Many a friend to gratulate His wish'd presence."--_Milton's

Comus_. l. 948. "Peace! my darling, here's no danger, Here's no oxen near

thy bed."--_Watts._ "But every one of these are mere conjectures, and some

of them very unhappy ones."--_Coleridge's Introduction_, p. 61. "The old

theorists, calling the Interrogatives and Repliers, _adverbs_, is only a

part of their regular system of naming words."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p.

374. "Where a series of sentences occur, place them in the order in which

the facts occur."--_Ib._, p. 264. "And that the whole in conjunction make a

regular chain of causes and effects."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 275. "The

origin of the Grecian, and Roman republics, though equally involved in the

obscurities and uncertainties of fabulous events, present one remarkable

distinction."--_Adam's Rhet._, i, 95. "In these respects, mankind is left

by nature an unformed, unfinished creature."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 144.

"The scripture are the oracles of God himself."--HOOKER: _Joh. Dict., w.

Oracle_. "And at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits."--_Solomon's

Song_, vii, 13. "The preterit of _pluck, look_, and _toss_ are, in speech,

pronounced _pluckt, lookt, tosst_."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 1850, §68.

"Severe the doom that length of days impose,

To stand sad witness of unnumber'd woes!"--_Melmoth_.

UNDER NOTE VII.--ADAPT FORM TO STYLE.

1. _Forms not proper for the Common or Familiar Style_.

"Was it thou that buildedst that house?"--_Inst._, p. 151. "That boy

writeth very elegantly."--_Ib._ "Couldest not thou write without blotting

thy book?"--_Ib._ "Thinkest thou not it will rain to-day?"--_Ib._ "Doth not

your cousin intend to visit you?"--_Ib._ "That boy hath torn my

book."--_Ib._ "Was it thou that spreadest the hay?"--_Ib._ "Was it James,

or thou, that didst let him in?"--_Ib._ "He dareth not say a word."--_Ib._

"Thou stoodest in my way and hinderedst me."--_Ib._

"Whom see I?--Whom seest thou now?--Whom sees he?--Whom lovest thou

most?--What dost thou to-day?--What person seest thou teaching that

boy?--He hath two new knives.--Which road takest thou?--What child teaches

he?"--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 66. "Thou, who makest my shoes, sellest many

more."--_Ib._, p. 67.

"The English language hath been much cultivated during the last two hundred

years. It hath been considerably polished and refined."--_Lowth's Gram.,

Pref._, p. iii. "This _stile_ is ostentatious, and doth not suit grave

writing."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 82. "But custom hath now appropriated

_who_ to persons, and _which_ to things."--_Ib._, p. 97. "The indicative

mood sheweth or declareth; as, _Ego amo_, I love: or else asketh a

question; as, _Amas tu_? Dost thou love?"--_Paul's Accidence_, Ed. of 1793,

p. 16. "Though thou canst not do much for the cause, thou mayst and

shouldst do something."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 143. "The support of so many

of his relations, was a heavy task; but thou knowest he paid it

cheerfully."--_Murray's Key_, R. 1, p. 180. "It may, and often doth, come

short of it."--_Campbell's Rhetoric_, p. 160.

"'Twas thou, who, while thou seem'dst to chide,

To give me all thy pittance tried."--_Mitford's Blanch_, p. 78.

2. _Forms not proper for the Solemn or Biblical Style_.

"The Lord has prepaid his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom rules over

all."--See _Key_. "Thou answer'd them, O Lord our God: thou was a God that

forgave them, though thou took vengeance of their inventions."--See _Key_.

"Then thou spoke in vision to thy Holy One, and said, I have laid help upon

one that is mighty."--See _Key_. "So then, it is not of him that wills, nor

of him that rules, but of God that shows mercy; who dispenses his

blessings, whether temporal or spiritual, as seems good in his sight."--See

_Key_.

"Thou, the mean while, was blending with my thought;

Yea, with my life, and life's own secret joy."--_Coleridge_.

UNDER NOTE VIII.--EXPRESS THE NOMINATIVE.

"Who is here so base, that would be a bondman?"--_Beauties of Shakspeare_,

p. 249. "Who is here so rude, that would not be a Roman?"--_Ib._ "There is

not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice."--_Murray's Gram._,

p. 300. "In order to adjust them so, as shall consist equally with the

perspicuity and the strength of the period."--_Ib._, p. 324; _Blair's

Rhet._, 118. "But, sometimes, there is a verb comest in."--_Cobbett's

English Gram._, ¶248. "Mr. Prince has a genius would prompt him to better

things."--_Spectator_, No. 466. "It is this removes that impenetrable

mist."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 362. "By the praise is given him for his

courage."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 214. "There is no man would be more

welcome here."--_Steele, Spect._, No. 544. "Between an antecedent and a

consequent, or what goes before, and immediately follows."--_Blair's

Rhet._, p. 141. "And as connected with what goes before and follows."--

_Ib._, p. 354. "There is no man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake."--_Lord

Bacon_. "All the various miseries of life, which people bring upon

themselves by negligence and folly, and might have been avoided by proper

care, are instances of this."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 108. "Ancient

philosophers have taught many things in favour of morality, so far at least

as respect justice and goodness towards our fellow-creatures."--_Gospel its

own Witness_, p. 56. "Indeed, if there be any such, have been, or appear to

be of us, as suppose, there is not a wise man among us all, nor an honest

man, that is able to judge betwixt his brethren; we shall not covet to

meddle in their matter."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 504. "There were that drew

back; there were that made shipwreck of faith: yea, there were that brought

in damnable heresies."--_Ib._, i, 466. "The nature of the cause rendered

this plan altogether proper, and in similar situations is fit to be

imitated."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 274. "This is an idiom to which our

language is strongly inclined, and was formerly very prevalent."--

_Churchill's Gram._, p. 150. "His roots are wrapped about the heap, and

seeth the place of stones."--_Job_, viii, 17.

"New York, Fifthmonth 3d, 1823.

"Dear friend, Am sorry to hear of thy loss; but hope it may be

retrieved. Should be happy to render thee any assistance in my power.

Shall call to see thee to-morrow morning. Accept assurances of my

regard. A. B."

"New York, May 3d, P. M., 1823.

"Dear Sir, Have just received the kind note favoured me with this

morning; and cannot forbear to express my gratitude to you. On further

information, find have not lost so much as at first supposed; and

believe shall still be able to meet all my engagements. Should,

however, be happy to see you. Accept, dear sir, my most cordial thanks.

C. D."--See _Brown's Institutes_, p. 151.

"Will martial flames forever fire thy mind,

And never, never be to Heaven resign'd?"--_Pope, Odys._, xii, 145.

UNDER NOTE IX.--APPLICATION OF MOODS.

_First Clause of the Note.--For the Subjunctive Present._

"He will not be pardoned, unless he repents."--_Brown's Institutes_, p.

191.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _repents_, which is here used to

express a future contingency, is in the indicative mood. But, according to

the first clause of Note 9th to Rule 14th, "A future contingency is best

expressed by a verb in the subjunctive present." Therefore, _repents_

should be _repent_; thus, "He will not be pardoned, unless he _repent_."]

"If thou findest any kernelwort in this marshy meadow, bring it to

me."--_Neef's Method of Teaching_, p. 258. "If thou leavest the room, do

not forget to shut that drawer."--_Ib._, p. 246. "If thou graspest it

stoutly, thou wilt not be hurt."--_Ib._, p. 196. "On condition that he

comes, I will consent to stay."--_Murray's Exerc._, p. 74. "If he is but

discreet, he will succeed."--_Inst._, p. 191. "Take heed that thou speakest

not to Jacob."--_Ib._ "If thou castest me off, I shall be miserable."--

_Ib._ "Send them to me, if thou pleasest."--_Ib._ "Watch the door of thy

lips, lest thou utterest folly."--_Ib._ "Though a liar speaks the truth, he

will hardly be believed."--_Common School Manual_, ii, 124. "I will go

unless I should be ill."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 300. "If the word or words

understood are supplied, the true construction will be apparent."--

_Murray's Exercises in Parsing_, p. 21. "Unless thou shalt see the

propriety of the measure, we shall not desire thy support."--_Murray's

Key_, p. 209. "Unless thou shouldst make a timely retreat, the danger will

be unavoidable."--_Ib._, p. 209. "We may live happily, though our

possessions are small."--_Ib._, p. 202. "If they are carefully studied,

they will enable the student to parse all the exercises."--_Ib., Note_, p.

165. "If the accent is fairly preserved on the proper syllable, this

drawling sound will never be heard."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 242. "One phrase

may, in point of sense, be equivalent to another, though its grammatical

nature is essentially different."--_Ib._, p. 108. "If any man obeyeth not

our word by this epistle, note that man."--_Dr. Webster's Bible_. "Thy

skill will be the greater, if thou hittest it."--_Putnam's Analytical

Reader_, p. 204. "Thy skill will be the greater if thou hit'st

it."--_Cobb's N. A. Reader_, p. 321. "We shall overtake him though he

should run."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 113; _Murray's_, 207; _Smith's_, 173.

"We shall be disgusted if he gives us too much."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 388.

"What is't to thee, if he neglect thy urn,

Or without spices lets thy body burn?"--DRYDEN: _Joh. Dict., w. What._

_Second Clause of Note IX.--For the Subjunctive Imperfect._

"And so would I, if I was he."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 191.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _was_, which is here used to

express a mere supposition, with indefinite time, is in the indicative

mood. But, according to the second clause of Note 9th to Rule 14th, "A mere

supposition, with indefinite time, is best expressed by a verb in the

subjunctive imperfect." Therefore, _was_ should be _were_; thus, "And so

would I, if I _were_ he."]

"If I was a Greek, I should resist Turkish despotism."--_Cardell's Elements

of Gram._, p. 80. "If he was to go, he would attend to your

business."--_Ib._, p. 81. "If thou feltest as I do, we should soon

decide."--_Inst._, p. 191. "Though thou sheddest thy blood in the cause, it

would but prove thee sincerely a fool."--_Ib._ "If thou lovedst him, there

would be more evidence of it."--_Ib._ "If thou couldst convince him, he

would not act accordingly."--_Murray's Key_, p. 209. "If there was no

liberty, there would be no real crime."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 118.

"If the house was burnt down, the case would be the same."--_Foster's

Report_, i, 89. "As if the mind was not always in action, when it prefers

any thing!"--_West, on Agency_, p. 38. "Suppose I was to say, 'Light is a

body.'"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 78. "If either oxygen or azote was omitted,

life would be destroyed."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 155. "The verb _dare_

is sometimes used as if it was an auxiliary."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 132.

"A certain lady, whom I could name, if it was necessary."--_Spectator_, No.

536. "If the _e_ was dropped, _c_ and _g_ would assume their hard

sounds."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 10. "He would no more comprehend it, than

if it was the speech of a Hottentot."--_Neef's Sketch_, p. 112. "If thou

knewest the gift of God," &c.--_John_, iv, 10. "I wish I was at home."--_O.

B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 260. "Fact alone does not constitute right; if it

does, general warrants were lawful."--_Junius_, Let. xliv, p. 205. "Thou

look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessest it."--_Putnam's Analytical

Reader_, p. 202. "Thou look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessedst

it."--_Cobb's N. A. Reader_, p. 320. "He fought as if he had contended for

life."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 92. "He fought as if he had been contending for

his life."--_Ib._, 92.

"The dewdrop glistens on thy leaf,

As if thou seem'st to shed a tear;

As if thou knew'st my tale of grief,

Felt all my sufferings severe."--_Alex. Letham_.

_Last Clause of Note IX.--For the Indicative Mood._

"If he know the way, he does not need a guide."--_Brown's Institutes_, p.

191.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _know_, which is used to express a

conditional circumstance assumed as a fact, is in the subjunctive mood.

But, according to the last clause of Note 9th to Rule 14th, "A conditional

circumstance assumed as a fact, requires the indicative mood." Therefore,

_know_ should be _knows_; thus, "If he _knows_ the way, he does not need a

guide."]

"And if there be no difference, one of them must be superfluous, and ought

to be rejected."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 149. "I cannot say that I admire

this construction, though it be much used."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 172.

"We are disappointed, if the verb do not immediately follow it."--_Ib._, p.

177. "If it were they who acted so ungratefully, they are doubly in

fault."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 223. "If art become apparent, it disgusts

the reader."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 80. "Though perspicuity be more

properly a rhetorical than a grammatical quality, I thought it better to

include it in this book."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 238. "Although the

efficient cause be obscure, the final cause of those sensations lies

open."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 29. "Although the barrenness of language, and

the want of words be doubtless one cause of the invention of

tropes."--_Ib._, p. 135. "Though it enforce not its instructions, yet it

furnishes us with a greater variety."--_Ib._, p. 353. "In other cases,

though the idea be one, the words remain quite separate"--_Priestley's

Gram._, p. 140. "Though the Form of our language be more simple, and has

that peculiar Beauty."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. v. "Human works are of no

significancy till they be completed."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 245. "Our

disgust lessens gradually till it vanish altogether."--_Ib._, i, 338. "And

our relish improves by use, till it arrive at perfection."--_Ib._, i, 338.

"So long as he keep himself in his own proper element."--COKE: _ib._, i,

233. "Whether this translation were ever published or not I am wholly

ignorant."--_Sale's Koran_, i, 13. "It is false to affirm, 'As it is day,

it is light,' unless it actually be day."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 246. "But

we may at midnight affirm, 'If it be day, it is light.'"--_Ibid._ "If the

Bible be true, it is a volume of unspeakable interest."--_Dickinson_.

"Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he

suffered."--_Heb._, v, 8. "If David then call him Lord, how is he his

son?"--_Matt._, xxii, 45.

"'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill

Appear in writing or in judging ill."--_Pope, Ess. on Crit._

UNDER NOTE X.--FALSE SUBJUNCTIVES.

"If a man have built a house, the house is his."--_Wayland's Moral

Science_, p. 286.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _have built_, which extends the

subjunctive mood into the perfect tense, has the appearance of disagreeing

with its nominative _man_. But, according to Note 10th to Rule 14th, "Every

such use or extension of the subjunctive mood, as the reader will be likely

to mistake for a discord between the verb and its nominative, ought to be

avoided as an impropriety." Therefore, _have built_ should be _has built_;

thus, "If a man _has built_ a house, the house is his."]

"If God have required them of him, as is the fact, he has time."--_Ib._, p.

351. "Unless a previous understanding to the contrary have been had with

the Principal."--_Berrian's Circular_, p. 5. "O if thou have Hid them in

some flowery cave."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 239. "O if Jove's will Have

linked that amorous power to thy soft lay."--_Milton, Sonnet_ 1.

"SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD: If thou love, If thou loved, If thou have loved, If thou

had loved, If thou shall or will love, If thou shall or will have

loved."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 71; _Cooper's Murray_, 58; _D.

Adams's Gram._, 48; and others. "Till religion, the pilot of the soul, have

lent thee her unfathomable coil."--_Tupper's Thoughts_, p. 170. "Whether

nature or art contribute most to form an orator, is a trifling

inquiry."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 338. "Year after year steals something from

us; till the decaying fabric totter of itself, and crumble at length into

dust."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 225. "If spiritual pride have not entirely

vanquished humility."--_West's Letters_, p. 184. "Whether he have gored a

son, or have gored a daughter."--_Exodus_, xxi, 31. "It is doubtful whether

the object introduced by way of simile, relate to what goes before, or to

what follows."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 45.

"And bridle in thy headlong wave,

Till thou our summons answer'd have."--_Milt., Comus_, l. 887.

RULE XV.--FINITE VERBS.

When the nominative is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality,

the Verb must agree with it in the plural number: as, "The _council were

divided_."--"The _college_ of cardinals _are_ the electors of the

pope."--_Murray's Key_, p. 176. "Quintus Curtius relates, that a _number_

of them _were drowned_ in the river Lycus."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p.

125.

"Yon _host come_ learn'd in academic rules."

--_Rowe's Lucan_, vii, 401.

"While heaven's high _host_ on hallelujahs _live_."

--_Young's N. Th._, iv, 378.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XV.

OBS. 1.--To this rule there are _no exceptions_; because, the collective

noun being a name which even in the singular number "signifies _many_," the

verb which agrees with it, can never properly be singular, unless the

collection be taken literally as one aggregate, and not as "conveying the

idea of plurality." Thus, the collective noun singular being in general

susceptible of two senses, and consequently admitting two modes of concord,

the form of the verb, whether singular or plural, becomes the principal

index to the particular sense in which the nominative is taken. After such

a noun, we can use either a singular verb, agreeing with it literally,

strictly, formally, according to Rule 14th; as, "The whole _number_ WAS two

thousand and six hundred;" or a plural one, agreeing with it figuratively,

virtually, ideally, according to Rule 15th; as, "The whole _number_ WERE

two thousand and six hundred."--_2 Chron._, xxvi, 12. So, when the

collective noun is an antecedent, the relative having in itself no

distinction of the numbers, its verb becomes the index to the sense of all

three; as, "Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the _remnant that_ IS

_left._"--_Isaiah_, xxxvii, 4. "Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the

_remnant that_ ARE _left_."--_2 Kings_, xix, 4. Ordinarily the word

_remnant_ conveys no idea of plurality; but, it being here applied to

persons, and having a meaning to which the mere singular neuter noun is not

well adapted, the latter construction is preferable to the former. The

Greek version varies more in the two places here cited; being plural in

Isaiah, and singular in Kings. The Latin Vulgate, in both, is, "_pro

reliquiis quæ repertæ sunt_:" i.e., "for the _remains_, or _remnants_, that

are found."

OBS. 2.--Dr. Adam's rule is this: "A collective noun may be joined with a

verb either of the singular or of the plural number; as, _Multitudo stat_,

or _stant_; the multitude stands, or stand."--_Latin and English Gram._ To

this doctrine, Lowth, Murray, and others, add: "Yet not without regard to

the _import of the word_, as conveying _unity or plurality of

idea_."--_Lowth_, p. 74; _Murray_, 152. If these latter authors mean, that

collective nouns are permanently divided in import, so that some are

invariably determined to the idea of unity, and others to that of

plurality, they are wrong in principle; for, as Dr. Adam remarks, "A

collective noun, when joined with a verb singular, expresses many

considered as one whole; but when joined with a verb plural, it signifies

many separately, or as individuals."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 154. And if this

alone is what their addition means, it is entirely useless; and so, for all

the purposes of parsing, is the singular half of the rule itself. Kirkham

divides this rule into two, one for "unity of idea," and the other for

"plurality of idea," shows how each is to be applied in parsing, according

to his "_systematick order_;" and then, turning round with a gallant tilt

at his own work, condemns both, as idle fabrications, which it were better

to reject than to retain; alleging that, "The existence of such a thing as

'unity or plurality of idea,' as applicable to nouns of this class, is

_doubtful_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 59.[394] How then shall a plural verb

or pronoun, after a collective noun, be parsed, seeing it does not agree

with the noun by the ordinary rule of agreement? Will any one say, that

every such construction is _bad English_? If this cannot be maintained,

rules eleventh and fifteenth of this series are necessary. But when the

noun conveys the idea of unity or takes the plural form, the verb or

pronoun has no other than a literal agreement by the common rule; as,

"A _priesthood_, such _as_ Baal's _was_ of old,

A _people_, such _as_ never _was_ till now."--_Cowper_.

OBS. 3.--Of the construction of the verb and collective noun, a late

British author gives the following account: "Collective nouns are

substantives _which_ signify _many in the singular number_. Collective

nouns are of two sorts: 1. Those which cannot become plural like other

substantives; as, nobility, mankind, &c. 2. Those which can be made plural

by the usual rules for a substantive; as, 'A multitude, multitudes; a

crowd, crowds;' &c. Substantives which imply plurality in the singular

number, and consequently have no other plural, generally require a plural

verb. They are cattle, cavalry, clergy, commonalty, gentry, laity, mankind,

nobility, peasantry people, populace, public, rabble, &c. [;] as, 'The

public _are_ informed.' Collective nouns which form a regular plural, such

as, number, numbers; multitude, multitudes; have, like all other

substantives, a singular verb, when they are in the singular number; and a

plural verb, when they are in the plural number; as, 'A number of people

_is_ assembled; Numbers _are_ assembled.'--'The fleet _was_ dispersed; a

_part_ of it _was_ injured; the several _parts are_ now collected.'"--

_Nixon's Parser_, p. 120. To this, his main text, the author appends a

note, from which the following passages are extracted: "There are few

persons acquainted with Grammar, who may not have noticed, in many authors

as well as speakers, an irregularity in supposing collective nouns to have,

at one time, a singular meaning, and consequently to require a singular

verb; and, at an other time, to have a plural meaning, and therefore to

require a plural verb. This irregularity appears to have arisen from the

want of a clear idea of the nature of a collective noun. This defect the

author has endeavoured to supply; and, upon his definition, he has founded

the two rules above. It is allowed on all sides that, hitherto, no

satisfactory rules have been produced to enable the pupil to ascertain,

with any degree of certainty, when a collective noun should have a singular

verb, and when a plural one. A rule that simply tells its examiner, that

when a collective noun in the nominative case conveys the idea of unity,

its verb should be singular; and when it implies plurality, its verb should

be plural, is of very little value; for such a rule will prove the _pupil's

being in the right_, whether he _should_ put the verb in the singular or

the plural."--_Ibid._

OBS. 4.--The foregoing explanation has many faults; and whoever trusts to

it, or to any thing like it, will certainly be very much misled. In the

first place, it is remarkable that an author who could suspect in others

"the _want of a clear idea_ of the nature of a collective noun," should

have hoped to supply the defect by a definition so ambiguous and

ill-written as is the one above. Secondly, his subdivision of this class of

nouns into two sorts, is both baseless and nugatory; for that plurality

which has reference to the individuals of an assemblage, has no manner of

connexion or affinity with that which refers to more than one such

aggregate; nor is there any interference of the one with the other, or any

ground at all for supposing that the absence of the latter is, has been, or

ought to be, the occasion for adopting the former. Hence, thirdly, his two

rules, (though, so far as they go, they seem not untrue in themselves,) by

their limitation under this false division, exclude and deny the true

construction of the verb with the greater part of our collective nouns.

For, fourthly, the first of these rules rashly presumes that any collective

noun which in the singular number implies a plurality of individuals, is

consequently destitute of any other plural; and the second accordingly

supposes that no such nouns as, council, committee, jury, meeting, society,

assembly, court, college, company, army, host, band, retinue, train,

multitude, number, part, half, portion, majority, minority, remainder, set,

sort, kind, class, nation, tribe, family, race, and a hundred more, can

ever be properly used with a plural verb, except when they assume the

plural form. To prove the falsity of this supposition, is needless. And,

finally, the objection which this author advances against the common rules,

is very far from proving them useless, or not greatly preferable to his

own. If they do not in every instance enable the student to ascertain with

certainty which form of concord he ought to prefer, it is only because no

rules can possibly tell a man precisely when he ought to entertain the idea

of unity, and when that of plurality. In some instances, these ideas are

unavoidably mixed or associated, so that it is of little or no consequence

which form of the verb we prefer; as, "Behold, the _people_ IS _one_, and

_they have all_ one language."--_Gen._, xi, 6.

"Well, if a king's a lion, at the least

The _people_ ARE a many-headed _beast_."--_Pope_, Epist. i, l. 120.

OBS. 5.--Lindley Murray says, "On many occasions, _where_ a noun of

multitude is used, it is very difficult to decide, whether the verb should

be in the singular, or in the plural number; and this difficulty has

induced some grammarians to cut the knot at once, and to assert that every

noun of multitude must always be considered as conveying the idea of

unity."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 153. What these occasions, or who these

grammarians, are, I know not; but it is certain that the difficulty here

imagined does not concern the application of such rules as require the verb

and pronoun to conform to the sense intended; and, where there is no

apparent impropriety in adopting either number, there is no occasion to

raise a scruple as to which is right. To cut knots by dogmatism, and to tie

them by sophistry, are employments equally vain. It cannot be denied that

there are in every multitude both a unity and a plurality, one or the other

of which must be preferred as the principle of concord for the verb or the

pronoun, or for both. Nor is the number of nouns small, or their use

unfrequent, which, according to our best authors, admit of either

construction: though Kirkham assails and repudiates _his own rules_,

because, "Their application is quite limited."--_Grammar in Familiar

Lectures_, p. 59.

OBS. 6.--Murray's doctrine seems to be, not that collective nouns are

generally susceptible of two senses in respect to number, but that some

naturally convey the idea of unity, others, that of plurality, and a few,

either of these senses. The last, which are probably ten times more

numerous than all the rest, he somehow merges or forgets, so as to speak of

_two classes_ only: saying, "Some nouns of multitude certainly convey to

the mind an idea of plurality, others, that of a whole as one thing, and

others again, sometimes that of unity, and sometimes that of plurality. On

this ground, it is warrantable, and consistent with the nature of things,

to apply a plural verb and pronoun _to the one class_, and a singular verb

and pronoun _to the other_. We shall immediately perceive the _impropriety_

of the following constructions: 'The clergy _has_ withdrawn _itself_ from

the temporal courts;' 'The assembly _was_ divided in _its_ opinion;'

&c."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 153. The simple fact is, that _clergy, assembly_,

and perhaps every other collective noun, may sometimes convey the idea of

unity, and sometimes that of plurality; but an "_opinion_" or a voluntary

"_withdrawing_" is a _personal_ act or quality; _wherefore_ it is here more

consistent to adopt the plural sense and construction, in which alone we

take the collection as individuals, or persons.

OBS. 7.--Although a uniformity of number is generally preferable to

diversity, in the construction of words that refer to the same collective

noun: and although many grammarians deny that any departure from such

uniformity is allowable; yet, if the singular be put first, a plural

pronoun may sometimes follow without obvious impropriety: as, "So Judah

_was_ carried away out of _their_ land."--_2 Kings_, xxv, 21. "Israel is

reproved and threatened for _their_ impiety and idolatry."--_Friends'

Bible, Hosea_, x. "There _is_ the enemy _who wait_ to give us

battle."--_Murray's Introductory Reader_, p. 36. When the idea of plurality

predominates in the author's mind, a plural verb is sometimes used _before_

a collective noun that has the singular article _an_ or _a_; as, "There

_are a sort_ of authors, _who seem_ to take up with appearances."--

_Addison_. "Here _are a number_ of facts or incidents leading to the end in

view."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 296. "There _are a great number_ of

exceedingly good writers among the French."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 11.

"There in the forum _swarm a numerous train_,

The subject of debate a townsman slain."

--_Pope, Iliad_, B. xviii, l. 578.

OBS. 8.--Collective nouns, when they are merely _partitive_ of the plural,

like the words _sort_ and _number_ above, are usually connected with a

plural verb, even though they have a singular definitive; as, "And _this

sort of_ adverbs commonly _admit_ of Comparison."--_Buchanan's English

Syntax_, p. 64. Here, perhaps, it would be better to say, "_Adverbs of this

sort_ commonly admit of comparison." "_A part_ of the exports _consist_ of

raw silk."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 100. This construction is

censured by Murray, in his octavo Gram., p. 148; where we are told, that

the verb should agree with the first noun only. Dr. Webster alludes to this

circumstance, in _improving_ his grammar, and admits that, "A part of the

exports _consists_, seems to be more correct."--_Improved Gram._, p. 100.

Yet he retains his original text, and obviously thinks it a light thing,

that, "in some cases," his rules or examples "may not be vindicable." (See

Obs. 14th, 15th, and 16th, on Rule 14th, of this code.) It would, I think,

be better to say, "The exports consist _partly_ of raw silk." Again: "_A

multitude_ of Latin words _have_, of late, been poured in upon

us."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94. Better, perhaps: "_Latin words, in great

multitude_, have, of late, been poured in upon us." So: "For _the bulk_ of

_writers_ are very apt to confound them with each other."--_Ib._, p. 97.

Better: "For _most writers_ are very apt to confound them with each other."

In the following example, (here cited as _Kames_ has it, _El. of Crit._,

ii, 247,) either the verb _is_, or the phrase, "_There are some moveless

men_" might as well have been used:

"There _are a sort_ of men, whose visages

Do cream and mantle like a standing pond."--_Shak._

OBS. 9.--Collections of _things_ are much less frequently and less properly

regarded as individuals, or under the idea of plurality, than collections

of _persons_. This distinction may account for the difference of

construction in the two clauses of the following example; though I rather

doubt whether a plural verb ought to be used in the former: "The _number_

of commissioned _officers_ in the guards _are_ to the marching regiments as

one to eleven: the _number_ of _regiments_ given to the guards, compared

with those given to the line, _is_ about three to one."--_Junius_, p. 147.

Whenever the multitude is spoken of with reference to a personal act or

quality, the verb ought, as I before suggested, to be in the plural number;

as, "The public _are informed_."--"The plaintiff's counsel _have assumed_ a

difficult task."--"The committee _were instructed_ to prepare a

remonstrance." "The English nation _declare_ they are grossly injured by

_their_ representatives."--_Junius_, p. 147. "One particular class of men

_are_ permitted to call _themselves_ the King's friends."--_Id._, p. 176.

"The Ministry _have_ realized the compendious ideas of Caligula."--_Id._,

p. 177. It is in accordance with this principle, that the following

sentences have plural verbs and pronouns, though their definitives are

singular, and perhaps ought to be singular: "So depraved _were that people_

whom in their history we so much admire."--HUME: _M'Ilvaine's Lect._, p.

400. "Oh, _this people have sinned_ a great sin, and have made them gods of

gold."--_Exodus_, xxxii, 31. "_This people_ thus gathered _have_ not wanted

those trials."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 460. The following examples, among

others, are censured by Priestley, Murray, and the copyists of the latter,

without sufficient discrimination, and for a reason which I think

fallacious; namely, "because the ideas they represent seem not to be

sufficiently divided in the mind:"--"The court of Rome _were_ not without

solicitude."--_Hume_. "The house of Lords _were_ so much influenced by

these reasons."--_Id._ See _Priestley's Gram._, p. 188; _Murray's_, 152;

_R. C. Smith's_, 129; _Ingersoll's_, 248; and others.

OBS. 10.--In general, a collective noun, unless it be made plural in form,

no more admits a plural adjective before it, than any other singular noun.

Hence the impropriety of putting _these_ or _those_ before _kind_ or

_sort_; as, "_These kind_ of knaves I know."--_Shakspeare_. Hence, too, I

infer that _cattle_ is not a collective noun, as Nixon would have it to be,

but an irregular plural which has no singular; because we can say _these

cattle_ or _those cattle_, but neither a bullock nor a herd is ever called

_a cattle, this cattle_, or _that cattle_. And if "_cavalry, clergy,

commonalty_," &c., were like this word, they would all be plurals also, and

not "substantives which imply plurality in the singular number, and

consequently have no other plural." Whence it appears, that the writer who

most broadly charges others with not understanding the nature of a

collective noun, has most of all misconceived it himself. If there are not

_many clergies_, it is because _the clergy_ is one body, with one Head, and

not because it is in a particular sense many. And, since the forms of words

are not necessarily confined to things that exist, who shall say that the

plural word _clergies_, as I have just used it, is not good English?

OBS. 11.--If we say, "_these people_," "_these gentry_," "_these folk_," we

make _people, gentry_, and _folk_, not only irregular plurals, but plurals

to which there are no correspondent singulars; but by these phrases, we

must mean certain individuals, and not more than one people, gentry, or

folk. But these names are sometimes collective nouns singular; and, as

such, they may have verbs of either number, according to the sense; and may

also form regular plurals, as _peoples_, and _folks_; though we seldom, if

ever, speak of _gentries_; and _folks_ is now often irregularly applied to

persons, as if one person were _a folk_. So _troops_ is sometimes

irregularly, if not improperly, put for _soldiers_, as if a soldier were _a

troop_; as, "While those gallant _troops_, by _whom_ every hazardous, every

laborious service is performed, are left to perish."--_Junius_, p. 147. In

Genesis, xxvii, 29th, we read, "Let _people_ serve thee, and nations bow

down to thee." But, according to the Vulgate, it ought to be, "Let

_peoples_ serve thee, and nations bow down to thee;" according to the

Septuagint, "Let _nations_ serve thee, and _rulers_ bow down to thee."

Among Murray's "instances of false syntax," we find the text, "This people

draweth near to me with their mouth," &c.--_Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 49.

This is corrected in his Key, thus: "_These_ people _draw_ near to me with

their mouth."--_Ib._, ii, 185. The Bible has it: "This people _draw near

me_ with their mouth."--_Isaiah_, xxix, 13. And again: "This people

_draweth nigh unto_ me with their mouth.,"--_Matt._, xv, 8. Dr. Priestley

thought it ought to be, "This people _draws_ nigh unto me with their

_mouths_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 63. The second evangelist omits some

words: "This people _honoureth_ me with their lips, but _their heart_ is

far from me."--_Mark_, vii, 6. In my opinion, the plural verb is here to be

preferred; because the pronoun _their_ is plural, and the worship spoken of

was a personal rather than a national act. Yet the adjective _this_ must be

retained, if the text specify the Jews as a people. As to the words _mouth_

and _heart_, they are to be understood figuratively of _speech_ and _love_;

and I agree not with Priestley, that the plural number must necessarily be

used. See Note 4th to Rule 4th.

OBS. 12.--In making an assertion concerning a number or quantity with some

indefinite excess or allowance, we seem sometimes to take for the subject

of the verb what is really the object of a preposition; as, "In a sermon,

there _may be_ from three to five, or six heads."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 313.

"In those of Germany, there _are_ from eight to twelve professors."--

_Dwight, Lit. Convention_, p. 138. "About a million and a half _was

subscribed_ in a few days."--_N. Y. Daily Advertiser_. "About one hundred

feet of the Muncy dam _has been swept off_."--_N. Y. Observer_. "Upwards of

one hundred thousand dollars _have been appropriated_."--_Newspaper_. "But

I fear there _are_ between twenty and thirty of them."--_Tooke's

Diversions_, ii, 441. "Besides which, there _are_ upwards of fifty smaller

islands."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 30. "On board of which _embarked_ upwards of

three hundred passengers."--_Robertson's Amer._, ii, 419. The propriety of

using _above_ or _upwards of_ for _more than_, is questionable, but the

practice is not uncommon. When there is a preposition before what seems at

first to be the subject of the verb, as in the foregoing instances, I

imagine there is an ellipsis of the word _number, amount, sum_ or

_quantity_; the first of which words is a collective noun and may have a

verb either singular or plural: as, "In a sermon, there may be _any number_

from three to five or six heads." This is awkward, to be sure; but what

does the Doctor's sentence _mean_, unless it is, that there _may be an

optional number_ of heads, varying from three to six?

OBS. 13.--Dr. Webster says, "When an aggregate amount is expressed by the

plural names of the particulars composing that amount, the verb may be in

the singular number; as, 'There _was_ more than a hundred and fifty

thousand pounds sterling.' _Mavor's Voyages_." To this he adds, "However

repugnant to the principles of grammar this may seem at first view, the

practice is correct; for the affirmation is not made of the individual

parts or divisions named, the _pounds_, but of the entire sum or

amount."--_Philosophical Gram._, p. 146; _Improved Gram._, p. 100. The fact

is, that the Doctor here, as in some other instances, deduces a false rule

from a correct usage. It is plain that either the word _more_, taken

substantively, or the noun to which it relates as an adjective, is the only

nominative to the verb _was_. Mavor does not affirm that there _were_ a

hundred and fitly thousand pounds; but that there _was more_--i.e., more

_money_ than so many pounds _are_, or _amount to_. Oliver B. Peirce, too.

falls into a multitude of strange errors respecting the nature of _more

than_, and the construction of other words that accompany these. See his

"Analytical Rules," and the manner in which he applies them, in "_The

Grammar_," p. 195 _et seq._

OBS. 14.--Among certain educationists,--grammarians, arithmeticians,

schoolmasters, and others,--there has been of late not a little dispute

concerning the syntax of the phraseology which we use, or should use, in

expressing _multiplication_, or in speaking of _abstract numbers_. For

example: is it better to say, "Twice one _is_ two," or, "Twice one _are_

two?"--"Two times one _is_ two," or, "Two times one _are_ two?"--"Twice two

_is_ four," or, "Twice two _are_ four?"--"Thrice one _is_ or _are_,

three?"--"Three times one _is_, or _are_, three?"--"Three times naught

_is_, or _are_, naught?"--"Thrice three _is_, or _are_, nine?"--"Three

times four _is_, or _are_, twelve?"--"Seven times three _make_, or _makes_,

twenty-one?"--"Three times his age _do_ not, or _does_ not, equal

mine?"--"Three times the quantity _is_ not, or _are_ not,

sufficient?"--"Three quarters of the men were discharged; and three

quarters of the money _was_, or _were_, sent back?"--"As 2 _is_ to 4, so

_is_ 6 to 12;" or, "As two _are_ to four, so _are_ six to twelve?"

OBS. 15.--Most of the foregoing expressions, though all are perhaps

intelligible enough in common practice, are, in some respect, difficult of

analysis, or grammatical resolution. I think it possible, however, to frame

an argument of some plausibility in favour of every one of them. Yet it is

hardly to be supposed, that any _teacher_ will judge them all to be alike

justifiable, or feel no interest in the questions which have been raised

about them. That the language of arithmetic is often defective or

questionable in respect to grammar, may be seen not only in many an ill

choice between the foregoing variant and contrasted modes of expression,

but in sundry other examples, of a somewhat similar character, for which it

may be less easy to find advocates and published arguments. What critic

will not judge the following phraseology to be faulty? "4 times two units

_is_ 8 units, and 4 times 5 tens _is_ twenty tens."--_Chase's Common School

Arithmetic_, 1848, p. 42. Or this? "1 time 1 is l. 2 times 1 are 2; 1 time

4 is 4, 2 times 4 are 8."--_Ray's Arithmetic_, 1853. Or this? "8 and 7 _is_

15, 9's out leaves 6; 3 and 8 _is_ 11, 9's out leaves 2."--_Babcock's

Practical Arithmetic_, 1829, p. 22. Or this again? "3 times 3 _is_ 9, and 2

we had to carry _is_ 11."--_Ib._, p. 20.

OBS. 16.--There are several different opinions as to what constitutes the

grammatical subject of the verb in any ordinary English expression of

multiplication. Besides this, we have some variety in the phraseology which

precedes the verb; so that it is by no means certain, either that the

multiplying terms are always of the same part of speech, or that the true

nominative to the verb is not essentially different in different examples.

Some absurdly teach, that an abstract number is necessarily expressed by

"_a singular noun_," with only a singular meaning; that such a number, when

multiplied, is always, of itself the subject of the assertion; and,

consequently, that the verb must be singular, as agreeing only with this

"singular noun." Others, not knowing how to parse separately the

multiplying word or words and the number multiplied, take them both or all

together as "the grammatical subject" with which the verb must agree. But,

among these latter expounders, there are two opposite opinions on the very

essential point, whether this "_entire expression_" requires a singular

verb or a plural one:--as, whether we ought to say, "Twice one _is_ two,"

or, "Twice one _are_ two;"--"Twice two _is_ four," or, "Twice two _are_

four;"--"Three times one _is_ three," or, "Three times one _are_

three;"--"Three times three _is_ nine," or, "Three times three _are_ nine."

Others, again, according to Dr. Bullions, and possibly according to their

own notion, find the grammatical subject, sometimes, if not generally, in

the multiplying term only; as, perhaps, is the case with those who write or

speak as follows: "If we say, 'Three times one _are_ three,' we make

'_times_' the subject of the verb."--_Bullions, Analyt. and Pract. Gram._,

1849, p. 39. "Thus, 2 times 1 _are_ 2; 2 times 2 _are_ four; 2 times 3

_are_ 6."--_Chase's C. S. Arith._, p. 43. "Say, 2 times O _are_ O; 2 times

1 _are_ 2."--_Robinson's American Arith._, 1825, p. 24.

OBS. 17.--Dr. Bullions, with a strange blunder of some sort in almost every

sentence, propounds and defends his opinion on this subject thus: "Numeral

_adjectives_, being _also names_ of numbers, are often used as nouns, and

so have the inflection and construction of nouns: thus, by _twos_, by

_tens_, by _fifties_. _Two_ is an even number. Twice _two_ is four. Four

_is_ equal to twice two. In some arithmetics the language employed in the

operation of multiplying--such as 'Twice two _are_ four, twice three _are_

six'--is incorrect. It should be, 'Twice two _is_ four,' &c.; for the word

_two_ is used as a singular noun--the name of a number. The adverb

'_twice_' is _not in construction with it_, and consequently does not make

it plural. The meaning is, 'The number two taken twice is equal to four.'

For the same reason we should say, 'Three times _two_ is six,' because the

meaning is, 'Two taken three times _is_ six.' If we say, 'Three times one

_are_ three,' we make '_times_' the subject of the verb, whereas the

subject of the verb really is '_one_,' and '_times_' is in the _objective

of number_ (§828). 2:4:: 6:12, should be read, 'As 2 _is_ to 4, so _is_ 6

to 12;' not 'As two _are_ to four, so _are_ six to twelve.' But when

numerals denoting more than one, are used as adjectives, with a substantive

expressed or understood, they must have a plural construction."--_Bullions,

Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, 1849, p. 39.

OBS. 18.--Since nouns and adjectives are different parts of speech, the

suggestion, that, "Numeral _adjectives_ are _also names_, or _nouns_," is,

upon the very face of it, a flat absurdity; and the notion that "the name

of a number" above unity, conveys only and always the idea of unity, like

an ordinary "singular noun," is an other. A number in arithmetic is most

commonly an _adjective_ in grammar; and it is always, in form, an

expression that tells _how many_, or--"denotes _how many things_ are spoken

of."--_Chase_, p. 11. But the _name_ of a number is also a number, whenever

it is _not made plural_ in form. Thus _four_ is a number, but _fours_ is

not; so _ten_ is a number, but _tens_ is not. Arithmetical numbers, which

run on to infinity, severally _consist_ of a _definite idea of how many_;

each is a _precise count_ by the unit; _one_ being the beginning of the

series, and the measure of every successive step. Grammatical numbers are

only the verbal forms which distinguish one thing from more of the same

sort. Thus the word _fours_ or _tens_, unless some arithmetical number be

prefixed to it, signifies nothing but a mere plurality which repeats

indefinitely the collective idea of _four_ or _ten_.

OBS. 19.--All actual _names_ of numbers calculative, except _one_, (for

_naught_, though it fills a place among numbers, is, in itself, a mere

negation of number; and such terms as _oneness, unity, duality_, are not

used in calculation,) are _collective nouns_--a circumstance which seems to

make the discussion of the present topic appropriate to the location which

is here given it under Rule 15th. Each of them denotes a particular

aggregate _of units_. And if each, as signifying one whole, may convey the

idea of unity, and take a singular verb; each, again, as denoting so many

units, may quite as naturally take a plural verb, and be made to convey the

idea of plurality. For the mere abstractness of numbers, or their

separation from all "_particular objects_," by no means obliges us to limit

them always to the construction with verbs singular. If it is right to say,

"Two _is_ an even number;" it is certainly no error to say, "Two _are_ an

even number." If it is allowable to say, "As 2 _is_ to 4, so _is_ 6 to 12;"

it is as well, if not better, to say, "As two _are_ to four, so _are_ six

to twelve." If it is correct to say, "Four _is_ equal to twice two;" it is

quite as grammatical to say, "Four _are_ equal to twice two." Bullions bids

say, "Twice two _is_ four," and, "Three times two _is_ six;" but I very

much prefer to say, "Twice two _are_ four," and, "Three times two _are_

six." The Doctor's reasoning, whereby he condemns the latter phraseology,

is founded only upon false assumptions. This I expect to show; and

more--that the word which he prefers, is wrong.

OBS. 20.--As to what constitutes the subject of the verb in multiplication,

I have already noticed _three different opinions_. There are yet three or

four more, which must not be overlooked in a general examination of this

grammatical dispute. Dr. Bullions's notion on this point, is stated with so

little consistency, that one can hardly say what it is. At first, he seems

to find his nominative in the multiplicand, "used as a singular noun;" but,

when he ponders a little on the text, "_Twice two is four_," he finds the

leading term not to be the word "_two_," but the word "_number_,"

understood. He resolves, indeed, that no one of the four words used, "is in

construction with" any of the rest; for he thinks, "The meaning is, '_The

number_ two _taken_ twice is _equal to_ four.'" Here, then, is a _fourth

opinion_ in relation to the subject of the verb: it must be "_number_"

understood. Again, it is conceded by the same hand, that, "When numerals

denoting more than one, are used as adjectives, with a substantive

expressed or understood, they must have a plural construction." Now who can

show that this is not the case in general with the numerals of

multiplication? To explain the syntax of "_Twice two are four_," what can

be more rational than to say, "The sense is, 'Twice two _units_, or

_things_, are four?'" Is it not plain, that twice two things, of any sort,

are four things of that same sort, and only so? Twice two duads are how

many? Answer: _Four duads_, or _eight units_. Here, then, is a _fifth

opinion_,--and a very fair one too,--according to which we have for the

subject of the verb, not "_two_" nor "_twice_" nor "_twice two_," nor

"_number_," understood before "_two_," but the plural noun "_units_" or

"_things"_ implied in or after the multiplicand.

OBS. 21.--It is a doctrine taught by sundry grammarians, and to some extent

true, that a neuter verb between two nominatives "may agree with either of

them." (See Note 5th to Rule 14th, and the footnote.) When, therefore, a

person who knows this, meets with such examples as, "Twice one _are_

two;"--"Twice one unit _are_ two units;"--"Thrice one _are_ three;"--he

will of course be apt to refer the verb to the nominative which follows it,

rather than to that which precedes it; taking the meaning to be, "_Two are_

twice one;"--"_Two units are_ twice one unit;"--"_Three are_ thrice one."

Now, if such is the sense, the construction in each of these instances is

right, because it accords with such sense; the interpretation is right

also, because it is the only one adapted to such a construction; and we

have, concerning the subject of the verb, a _sixth opinion_,--a very proper

one too,--that it is found, not where it is most natural to look for it, in

the expression of the _factors_, but in a noun which is either uttered or

implied in the _product_. But, no doubt, it is better to avoid this

construction, by using such a verb as may be said to agree with the number

multiplied. Again, and lastly, there may be, touching all such cases as,

"Twice _one are_ two," a _seventh opinion_, that the subject of the verb is

the product taken _substantively_, and not as a numeral _adjective_. This

idea, or the more comprehensive one, that all abstract numbers are nouns

substantive, settles nothing concerning the main question, What form of the

verb is required by an abstract number above unity? If the number be

supposed an adjective, referring to the implied term _units_, or _things_,

the verb must of course be plural; but if it be called a _collective noun_,

the verb only follows and fixes "the idea of plurality," or "the idea of

unity," as the writer or speaker chooses to adopt the one or the other.

OBS. 22.--It is marvellous, that four or five monosyllables, uttered

together in a common simple sentence, could give rise to all this diversity

of opinion concerning the subject of the verb; but, after all, the chief

difficulty presented by the phraseology of multiplication, is that of

ascertaining, not "the grammatical subject of the verb," but the

grammatical relation between the multiplier and the multiplicand--the true

way of parsing the terms _once, twice, three times_, &c., but especially

the word _times_. That there must be some such relation, is obvious; but

what is it? and how is it to be known? To most persons, undoubtedly,

"_Twice two_," and, "_Three times two_," seem to be _regular phrases_, in

which the words cannot lack syntactical connexion; yet Dr. Bullions, who is

great authority with some thinkers, denies all immediate or direct relation

between the word "_two_," and the term before it, preferring to parse both

"_twice_" and "_three times_" as adjuncts to the participle "_taken_,"

understood. He says, "The adverb '_twice_' is not in construction with

'_two_,' and consequently does not make it plural." His first assertion

here is, in my opinion, untrue; and the second implies the very erroneous

doctrine, that the word _twice_, if it relate to a singular term, _will

"make it plural_." From a misconception like this, it probably is, that

some who ought to be very accurate in speech, are afraid to say, "Twice one

_is_ two," or, "Thrice one _is_ three," judging the singular verb to be

wrong; and some there are who think, that "_usage_ will not permit" a

careful scholar so to speak. Now, analysis favours the singular form here;

and it is contrary to a plain principle of General Grammar, to suppose that

a _plural_ verb can be demanded by any phrase which is made _collectively_

the subject of the assertion. (See Note 3d, and Obs. 13th, 14th, 15th, and

16th, under Rule 14th.) _Are_ is, therefore, _not required here_; and, if

allowable, it is so only on the supposition that the leading nominative is

put after it.

OBS. 23.--In Blanchard's small Arithmetic, published in 1854, the following

inculcations occur: "When we say, 3 times 4 trees are 12 trees, we have

reference to the _objects_ counted; but in saying 3 times 4 _is_ twelve, we

mean, that 3 times the _number_ 4, _is the number_ 12. Here we use 4 and

12, not as numeral _adjectives_, but as _nouns_, the _names_ of particular

_numbers_, and as such, each conveys the idea of _unity_, and _the entire

expression_ is the subject of _is_, and conveys the _idea of unity_."--P.

iv. Here we have, with an additional error concerning "the entire

expression," a repetition of Dr. Bullions's erroneous assumption, that the

name of a particular number, as being "a singular noun," must "convey the

idea of unity," though the number itself be a distinct plurality. These men

talk as if there were an absurdity in affirming that "the number 4" is

_plural_! But, if _four_ be taken as only one thing, how can _three_

multiply this one thing into _twelve_? It is by no means proper to affirm,

that, "_Every_ four, taken three times, _is_, or _are_, twelve;" for three

instances, or "_times_," of the _figure_ 4, or of the _word four_, are only

three 4's, or three verbal _fours_. And is it not _because_ "_the number_

4" _is plural--is in itself four units_--and because the word _four_, or

the figure 4, conveys explicitly the _idea of this plurality_, that the

multiplication table is true, where it says, "3 times 4 _are_ 12?" It is

not right to say, "Three times one quaternion is twelve;" nor is it quite

unobjectionable to say, with Blanchard "3 _times the number_ 4, _is the

number_ 12." Besides, this pretended interpretation explains nothing. The

syntax of the shorter text, "3 times 4 _is_ 12," is in no way justified or

illustrated by it. Who does not perceive that _the four_ here spoken of

must be four _units_, or four _things_ of some sort; and that no _such_

"four," multiplied by 3, or _till_ "3 _times_," can "convey the idea of

unity," or match a singular verb? Dr. Webster did not so conceive of this

"abstract number," or of "the entire expression" in which it is multiplied;

for he says, "Four times four _amount_ to sixteen."--_American Dict., w.

Time._

OBS. 24.--In fact no phrase of multiplication is of such a nature that it

can, with any plausibility be reckoned a composite subject of the verb.

_Once, twice_, and _thrice_, are adverbs; and each of them may, in general,

be parsed as relating directly to the multiplicand. Their construction, as

well as that of the plural verb, is agreeable to the Latin norm; as, when

Cicero says of somebody, "Si, _bis bina_ quot _essent_, didicisset,"--"If

he had learned how many _twice two are_."--See _Ainsworth's Dict., w.

Binus._ The phrases, "_one time_," for _once_, and "_two times_" for

_twice_, seem puerile expressions: they are not often used by competent

teachers. _Thrice_ is a good word, but more elegant than popular. Above

_twice_, we use the phrases, _three times, four times_, and the like, which

are severally composed of a numeral adjective and the noun _times_. If

these words were united, as some think they ought to be, the compounds

would be _adverbs_ of _time repeated_; as, _threetimes, fourtimes_, &c.,

analogous to _sometimes_. Each word would answer, as each phrase now does,

to the question, _How often?_ These expressions are taken by some as having

a direct adverbial relation to the terms which they qualify; but they are

perhaps most commonly explained as being dependent on some preposition

understood. See Obs. 1st on Rule 5th, and Obs. 6th on Rule 7th.

OBS. 25.--In multiplying one only, it is evidently best to use a singular

verb: as, "Twice _naught_ is naught;"--"Three times _one is_ three." And,

in multiplying any number above _one_, I judge a plural verb to be

necessary: as, "Twice _two are_ four;"--"Three times _two are six_;"

because this number must be just _so many_ in order to give the product.

Dr. Bullions says, "We should say, 'Three times two _is_ six,' because the

meaning is, 'Two _taken_ three times _is_ six.'" This is neither reasoning,

nor explanation, nor good grammar. The relation between "_two_" and

"_three_," or the syntax of the word "_times_," or the propriety of the

_singular verb_, is no more apparent in the latter expression than in the

former. It would be better logic to affirm, "We should say, 'Three times

two _are_ six;' because the meaning is, 'Two (_units_), taken _for, to_, or

_till_ three times, are six.'" The preposition _till_, or _until_, is

sometimes found in use before an expression of _times numbered_; as, "How

oft shall I forgive? _till_ seven times? I say not unto thee, _Until_ seven

times; but, _Until_ seventy times seven."--_Matt._, xviii, 21. But here is

still a difficulty with repect to the _multiplying_ term, or the word

"_times_." For, unless, by an unallowable ellipsis, "_seventy times

seven_," is presumed to mean, "seventy times _of_ seven," the preposition

_Until_ must govern, not this noun "_times._" expressed, but an other,

understood after "_seven_;" and the meaning must be, "Thou shalt forgive

him until _seventy-times_ seven times;" or--"until seven _times taken for,

to_, or _till_, seventy times."

OBS. 26.--With too little regard to consistency. Dr. Bullions suggests that

when "we make '_times_' the subject of the verb," it is not "really" such,

but "is in _the objective of number_." He is, doubtless, right in

preferring to parse this word as an objective case, rather than as a

nominative, in the construction to which he alludes; but to call it an

"objective of _number_," is an uncouth error, a very strange mistake for so

great a grammarian to utter: there being in grammar no such thing as "_the

objective of number_:" nothing of the sort, even under his own "Special

Rule," to which he refers us for it! And, if such a thing there were, so

that a _number_ could be "_put in the objective case without a governing

word_," (see his §828,) the plural word _times_, since it denotes no

particular aggregate of units, could never be an example of it. It is true

that _times_, like _days, weeks_, and other nouns of _time_, may be, and

often is, in the objective case without a governing word _expressed_; and,

in such instances, it may be called the objective of _repetition_, or of

_time repeated_. But the construction of the word appears to be such as is

common to many nouns of time, of value, or of measure; which, in their

relation to other words, seem to resemble adverbs, but which are usually

said to be governed by prepositions understood: as, "Three _days_ later;"

i.e., "Later _by_ three days."--"Three _shillings_ cheaper;" i.e., "Cheaper

_by_ three shillings."--"Seven _times_ hotter;" i.e., "Hotter _by_ seven

times."--"Four _feet_ high;" i.e., "High _to_ four feet."--"Ten _years_

old;" i.e., "Old _to_ ten years."--"Five _times_ ten;" i.e., "Ten _by_ five

times;" or, perhaps, "Ten _taken till_ five times."

NOTE TO RULE XV.

A collective noun conveying the idea of unity, requires a verb in the third

person, singular; and generally admits also the regular plural

construction: as, "His _army was_ defeated."--"His _armies were_ defeated."

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XV.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The gentry is punctilious in their etiquette."

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _is_ is of the singular number, and

does not correctly agree with its nominative _gentry_, which is a

collective noun conveying rather the idea of plurality. But, according to

Rule 15th, "When the nominative is a collective noun conveying the idea of

plurality, the verb must agree with it in the plural number." Therefore,

_is_ should be _are_; thus, "The gentry _are_ punctilious in their

etiquette."]

"In France the peasantry goes barefoot, and the middle sort makes use of

wooden shoes."--HARVEY: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 188. "The people rejoices

in that which should cause sorrow."--See _Murray's Exercises_, p. 49. "My

people is foolish, they have not known me."--_Jer._, iv, 22; _Lowth's

Gram._, p. 75. "For the people speaks, but does not write."--_Philological

Museum_, i, 646. "So that all the people that was in the camp,

trembled."--_Exodus_, xix, 16. "No company likes to confess that they are

ignorant."--_Student's Manual_, p. 217. "Far the greater part of their

captives was anciently sacrificed."--_Robertson's America_, i, 339. "Above

one half of them was cut off before the return of spring."--_Ib._, ii, 419.

"The other class, termed Figures of Thought, supposes the words to be used

in their proper and literal meaning."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 133; _Murray's

Gram._, 337. "A multitude of words in their dialect approaches to the

Teutonic form, and therefore afford excellent assistance."--_Dr. Murray's

Hist of Lang._, i, 148. "A great majority of our authors is defective in

manner."--_James Brown's Crit._ "The greater part of these new-coined words

has been rejected."--_Tooke's Diversions_, ii, 445. "The greater part of

the words it contains is subject to certain modifications and

inflections."--_The Friend_, ii, 123. "While all our youth prefers her to

the rest."--_Waller's Poems_, p. 17. "Mankind is appointed to live in a

future state."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 57. "The greater part of human kind

speaks and acts wholly by imitation."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 169. "The

greatest part of human gratifications approaches so nearly to

vice."--_Ibid._

"While still the busy world is treading o'er

The paths they trod five thousand years before."--_Young._

UNDER THE NOTE.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"In old English this species of words were numerous."--_Dr. Murray's Hist.

of Lang._, ii, 6. "And a series of exercises in false grammar are

introduced towards the end."--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. iv. "And a

jury, in conformity with the same idea, were anciently called _homagium_,

the homage, or manhood."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 296. "With respect to the

former, there are indeed plenty of means."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 319.

"The number of school districts have increased since the last

year."--_Governor Throop_, 1832. "The Yearly Meeting have purchased with

its funds these publications."--_Foster's Reports_, i, 76. "Have the

legislature power to prohibit assemblies?"--_Wm. Sullivan_. "So that the

whole number of the streets were fifty."--_Rollin's Ancient Hist._, ii, 8.

"The number of inhabitants were not more than four millions."--SMOLLETT:

see _Priestley's Gram._, p. 193. "The House of Commons were of small

weight."--HUME: _Ib._, p. 188. "The assembly of the wicked have enclosed

me."--_Psal._ xxii, 16; _Lowth's Gram._, p. 75. "Every kind of convenience

and comfort are provided."--_Com. School Journal_, i, 24. "Amidst the great

decrease of the inhabitants of Spain, the body of the clergy have suffered

no diminution; but has rather been gradually increasing."--_Payne's Geog._,

ii, 418. "Small as the number of inhabitants are, yet their poverty is

extreme."--_Ib._, ii, 417. "The number of the names were about one hundred

and twenty."--_Ware's Gram._, p. 12; see _Acts_, i, 15.

RULE XVI.--FINITE VERBS.

When a Verb has two or more nominatives connected by _and_, it must agree

with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together: as, "True

rhetoric _and_ sound logic _are_ very nearly allied."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.

11. "Aggression and injury in no case _justify_ retaliation."--_Wayland's

Moral Science_, p. 406.

"Judges and senates _have been bought_ for gold,

Esteem _and_ love _were_ never to be sold."--_Pope_.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

When two nominatives connected by _and_ serve merely to describe one person

or thing, they are either in apposition or equivalent to one name, and do

not require a plural verb; as, "Immediately _comes a hue and cry_ after a

gang of thieves."--_L'Estrange_. "The _hue and cry_ of the country

_pursues_ him."--_Junius_, Letter xxiii. "Flesh and blood [i. e. man, or

man's nature,] _hath not revealed_ it unto thee."--_Matt._, xvi, 17."

Descent and fall to us _is_ adverse."--_Milton, P. L._, ii, 76. "This

_philosopher_ and _poet was banished_ from his country."--"Such a _Saviour_

and _Redeemer is_ actually _provided_ for us."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 386.

"Let us then declare what great things our _God and Saviour has done_ for

us."--_Dr. Scott_, on Luke viii. "_Toll, tribute_, and _custom, was paid_

unto them."--_Ezra_, iv, 20.

"Whose icy _current_ and compulsive _course_

Ne'er _feels_ retiring ebb, but _keeps_ due on."--_Shakspeare_.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

When two nominatives connected by _and_, are emphatically distinguished,

they belong to different propositions, and, if singular, do not require a

plural verb; as, "_Ambition_, and not the _safety_ of the state, _was

concerned_."--_Goldsmith_. "_Consanguinity_, and not _affinity, is_ the

ground of the prohibition."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 324. "But a

_modification_, and oftentimes a total _change, takes_ place."--_Maunder.

"Somewhat_, and, in many circumstances, a great _deal_ too, _is put_ upon

us."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 108. "_Disgrace_, and perhaps _ruin, was_ the

certain consequence of attempting the latter."--_Robertson's America_, i,

434.

"_Ay_, and _no_ too, _was_ no good divinity."--_Shakespeare.

"Love_, and _love only_, is the loan for love."--_Young_.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

When two or more nominatives connected by _and_ are preceded by the

adjective _each, every, or no_, they are taken separately, and do not

require a plural verb; as, "When _no part_ of their substance, and _no one_

of their properties, _is_ the same."--_Bp. Butler_. "Every limb and feature

_appears_ with its respective grace."--_Steele_. "Every person, and every

occurrence, _is beheld_ in the most favourable light."--_Murray's Key_, p.

190. "Each worm, and each insect, _is_ a marvel of creative power."

"Whose every look and gesture _was_ a joke

To clapping theatres and shouting crowds."--_Young_.

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

When the verb separates its nominatives, it agrees with that which precedes

it, and is understood to the rest; as, "The _earth is_ the Lord's, and the

_fullness_ thereof."--_Murray's Exercises_, p. 36.

"_Disdain forbids_ me, and my _dread_ of shame."--_Milton_.

"------Forth in the pleasing spring,

Thy _beauty walks_, thy _tenderness_, and _love_."--_Thomson_.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XVI.

OBS. 1.--According to Lindley Murray, (who, in all his compilation, from

whatever learned authorities, refers us to _no places_ in any book but his

own.) "Dr. Blair observes, that 'two or more substantives, joined by a

copulative, _must always require_ the verb or pronoun to which they refer,

to be _placed_ in the plural number:' and this," continues the great

Compiler, "is the _general sentiment_ of English grammarians."--_Murray's

Gram._, Vol. i, p. 150. The same thing is stated in many other grammars:

thus, _Ingersoll_ has the very same words, on the 238th page of his book;

and _R. C. Smith_ says, "Dr. Blair _very justly_ observes,"

&c.--_Productive Gram._, p. 126. I therefore doubt not, the learned

rhetorician has somewhere made some such remark: though I can neither

supply the reference which these gentlemen omit, nor vouch for the accuracy

of their quotation. But I trust to make it very clear, that so many

grammarians as hold this sentiment, are no great readers, to say the least

of them. Murray himself acknowledges _one_ exception to this principle, and

unconsciously furnishes examples of one or two more; but, in stead of

placing the former in his Grammar, and under the rule, where the learner

would be likely to notice it, he makes it an obscure and almost

unintelligible note, in the _margin of his Key_, referring by an asterisk

to the following correction: "Every man and every woman _was_

numbered."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii. p. 190. To justify this

phraseology, he talks thus: "_Whatever number_ of nouns may be connected

_by a conjunction with the pronoun_ EVERY, this _pronoun_ is as applicable

to _the whole mass_ of them, as to any _one of the nouns_; and _therefore_

the verb is correctly put in the singular number, and _refers to the whole_

separately and individually considered."--_Ib._ So much, then, for "_the

pronoun_ EVERY!" But, without other exceptions, what shall be done with the

following texts from Murray himself? "The flock, _and_ not the fleece,

_is_, or _ought_ to be the object of the shepherd's care."--_Ib._, ii, 184.

"This prodigy of learning, this scholar, critic, _and_ antiquary, _was_

entirely destitute of breeding and civility."--_Ib._, ii, 217. And, in the

following line, what conjunction appears, or what is the difference between

"horror" and "black despair." that the verb should be made plural?

"What black despair, what horror, _fill_ his _mind_!"--_Ib._, ii, 183.

"What black despair, what horror _fills_ his _heart_!"--_Thomson_.[395]

OBS. 2.--Besides the many examples which may justly come under the four

exceptions above specified, there are several questionable but customary

expressions, which have some appearance of being deviations from this rule,

but which may perhaps be reasonably explained on the principle of ellipsis:

as, "All work and no play, _makes_ Jack a dull boy."--"Slow and steady

often _outtravels_ haste."--_Dillwyn's Reflections_, p. 23. "Little and

often _fills_ the purse."--_Treasury of Knowledge_, Part i, p. 446. "Fair

and softly _goes_ far." These maxims, by universal custom, lay claim to a

singular verb; and, for my part, I know not how they can well be considered

either real exceptions to the foregoing rule, or real inaccuracies under

it; for, in most of them, the words connected are not _nouns_; and those

which are so, may not be nominatives. And it is clear, that every exception

must have some specific character by which it may be distinguished; else it

destroys the rule, in stead of confirming it, as known exceptions are said

to do. Murray appears to have thought the singular verb _wrong_; for, among

his examples for parsing, he has, "Fair and softly _go_ far," which

instance is no more entitled to a plural verb than the rest. See his

_Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 5. Why not suppose them all to be elliptical?

Their meaning may be as follows: "_To have_ all work and no play, _makes_

Jack a dull boy."--"_What is_ slow and steady, often _outtravels_

haste."--"To _put in_ little and often, _fills_ the purse."--"_What

proceeds_ fair and softly, _goes_ far." The following line from Shakspeare

appears to be still more elliptical:

"Poor and content _is_ rich, and rich enough."--_Othello_.

This may be supposed to mean, "_He who is_ poor and content," &c. In the

following sentence again, we may suppose an ellipsis of the phrase _To

have_, at the beginning; though here, perhaps, to have pluralized the verb,

would have been as well:

"One eye on death and one full fix'd on heaven,

_Becomes_ a mortal and immortal man."--_Young_.

OBS. 3.--The names of two persons are not unfrequently used jointly as the

name of their story; in which sense, they must have a singular verb, if

they have any; as, "Prior's _Henry and Emma contains_ an other beautiful

example."--_Jamieson's Rhetoric_, p. 179. I somewhat hesitate to call this

an exception to the foregoing rule, because here too the phraseology may be

supposed elliptical. The meaning is, "Prior's _little poem, entitled_,

'Henry and Emma,' contains," &c.;--or, "Prior's _story of_ Henry and Emma

contains," &c. And, if the first expression is only an abbreviation of one

of these, the construction of the verb _contains_ may be referred to Rule

14th. See Exception 1st to Rule 12th, and Obs. 2d on Rule 14th.

OBS. 4.--The conjunction _and_, by which alone we can with propriety

connect different words to make them joint nominatives or joint

antecedents, is sometimes suppressed and _understood_; but then its

effect is the same, as if it were inserted; though a singular verb might

sometimes be quite as proper in the same sentences, because it would merely

imply a disjunctive conjunction or none at all: as, "The high breach of

trust, the notorious corruption, _are stated_ in the strongest

terms."--_Junius_, Let. xx. "Envy, self-will, jealousy, pride, often

_reign_ there."--_Abbott's Corner Stone_, p. 111. (See Obs. 4th on Rule

12th.)

"Art, empire, earth itself, to change _are_ doomed."--_Beattie_.

"Her heart, her mind, her love, _is_ his alone."--_Cowley_.

In all the foregoing examples, a singular verb might have been used without

impropriety; or the last, which is singular, might have been plural. But

the following couplet evidently requires a plural verb, and is therefore

correct as the poet wrote it; both because the latter noun is plural, and

because the conjunction _and_ is understood between the two. Yet a late

grammarian, perceiving no difference between the joys of sense and the

pleasure of reason, not only changes "_lie_" to "_lies_," but uses the

perversion for a _proof text_, under a rule which refers the verb to the

first noun only, and requires it to be singular. See _Oliver B. Peirce's

Gram._, p. 250.

"Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense.

_Lie_ in three words--health, peace, and competence."

--_Pope's Ess._, Ep. iv, l. 80.

OBS. 5.--When the speaker changes his nominative to take a stronger

expression, he commonly uses no conjunction; but, putting the verb in

agreement with the noun which is next to it, he leaves the other to an

implied concord with its proper form of the same verb: as, "The man whose

_designs_, whose _whole conduct, tends_ to reduce me to subjection, that

man is at war with me, though not a blow has yet been given, nor a sword

drawn."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 265. "All _Greece_, all the barbarian _world,

is_ too narrow for this man's ambition."--_Ibid._ "This _self-command_,

this _exertion_ of reason in the midst of passion, _has_ a wonderful effect

both to please and to persuade."--_Ib._, p. 260. "In the mutual influence

of body and soul, there _is a wisdom_, a _wonderful wisdom_, which we

cannot fathom."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 150. If the principle here

stated is just, Murray has written the following models erroneously:

"Virtue, honour, nay, even self-interest, _conspire_ to recommend the

measure."--_Ib._, p. 150. "Patriotism, morality, every public and private

consideration, _demand_ our submission to just and lawful

government."--_Ibid._ In this latter instance, I should prefer the singular

verb _demands_; and in the former, the expression ought to be otherwise

altered, thus. "Virtue, honour, _and_ interest, all _conspire_ to recommend

the measure." Or thus: "Virtue, honour--nay, even self-interest,

_recommends_ the measure." On this principle, too, Thomson was right, and

this critic wrong, in the example cited at the close of the first

observation above. This construction is again recurred to by Murray, in the

second chapter of his Exercises; where he explicitly condemns the following

sentence because the verb is singular: "Prudence, policy, nay, his own true

interest, strongly _recommends_ the line of conduct proposed to

him."--_Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 22.

OBS. 6.--When two or more nominatives are in apposition with a preceding

one which they explain, the verb must agree with the first word only,

because the others are adjuncts to this, and not joint subjects to the

verb; as, "Loudd, the ancient Lydda and Diospolis, _appears_ like a place

lately ravaged by fire and sword."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 93. "Beattie,

James,--a philosopher and poet,--_was born_ in Scotland, in the year

1735."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 306. "For, the quantity, the length, and

shortness of our syllables, _is_ not, by any means, so fixed."--_Blair's

Rhet._, p. 124. This principle, like the preceding one, persuades me again

to dissent from Murray, who corrects or _perverts_ the following sentence,

by changing _originates_ to _originate_: "All that makes a figure on the

great theatre of the world; the employments of the busy, the enterprises of

the ambitious, and the exploits of the warlike; the virtues which form the

happiness, and the crimes which occasion the misery of mankind;

_originates_ in that silent and secret recess of thought, which is hidden

from every human eye."--See _Murray's Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 181; or

his _Duodecimo Key_, p. 21. The true subject of this proposition is the

noun _all_, which is singular; and the other nominatives are subordinate to

this, and merely explanatory of it.

OBS. 7.--Dr. Webster says, "_Enumeration_ and addition of numbers are

_usually_ expressed in the singular _number_; [as,] two and two _is_ four;

seven and nine _is_ sixteen; that is, _the sum of_ seven and nine _is_

sixteen. But modern usage inclines to reject the use of the verb in the

singular number, in these and similar phrases."--_Improved Gram._, p. 106.

Among its many faults, this passage exhibits a virtual contradiction. For

what "_modern usage_ inclines to reject," can hardly be the fashion in

which any ideas "_are usually expressed_." Besides, I may safely aver, that

this is a kind of phraseology which all correct usage always did reject. It

is not only a gross vulgarism, but a plain and palpable violation of the

foregoing rule of syntax; and, as such it must be reputed, if the rule has

any propriety at all. What "_enumeration_" has to do with it, is more than

I can tell. But Dr. Webster once admired and commended this mode of speech,

as one of the "wonderful proofs of ingenuity in the _framers_ of language;"

and laboured to defend it as being "correct upon principle;" that is, upon

the principle that "_the sum of_" is understood to be the subject of the

affirmation, when one says, "Two _and_ two _is_ four," in stead of, "Two

and two _are_ four."--See _Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p. 153. This

seems to me a "wonderful proof" of _ignorance_ in a very learned man.

OBS. 8.--In Greek and Latin, the verb frequently agrees with the nearest

nominative, and is understood to the rest; and this construction is

sometimes imitated in English, especially if the nouns follow the verb: as,

"[Greek: Nuni do MENEI pistis, elpis agape, ta tria tanta]."--"Nunc vero

_manet_ fides, spes, charitas; tria hæc."--"Now _abideth_ faith, hope,

charity; these three."--_1 Cor._, xiii, 13. "And now _abideth_ confession,

prayer, and praise, these three; but the greatest of these is

praise."--ATTERBURY: _Blair's Rhet._, p. 300. The propriety of this usage,

so far as our language is concerned, I doubt. It seems to open a door for

numerous deviations from the foregoing rule, and deviations of such a sort,

that if they are to be considered exceptions, one can hardly tell why. The

practice, however, is not uncommon, especially if there are more nouns than

two, and each is emphatic; as, "Wonderful _was_ the patience, fortitude,

self-denial, _and_ bravery of our ancestors."--_Webster's Hist. of U. S._,

p. 118. "It is the very thing I would have you make out: for therein

_consists_ the form, and use, and nature of language."--_Berkley's

Alciphron_, p. 161. "There _is_ the proper noun, and the common noun. There

_is_ the singular noun, and the plural noun."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 11.

"From him _proceeds_ power, sanctification, truth, grace, and every other

blessing we can conceive."--_Calvin's Institutes_, B. i, Ch. 13. "To what

purpose _cometh_ there to me incense from Sheba, _and_ the sweet cane from

a far country?"--_Jer._, vi, 20. "For thine _is_ the kingdom, _and_ the

power, _and_ the glory, forever."--_Matt._, vi, 13. In all these instances,

the plural verb might have been used; and yet perhaps the singular may be

justified on the ground that there is a distinct and emphatic enumeration

of the nouns. Thus, it would be proper to say, "Thine _are_ the kingdom,

the power, and the glory;" but this construction seems less emphatic than

the preceding, which means, "For thine is the kingdom, _thine is_ the

power, and _thine is_ the glory, forever;" and this repetition is still

more emphatic, and perhaps more proper, than the elliptical form. The

repetition of the conjunction "_and_," in the original text as above, adds

time and emphasis to the reading, and makes the singular verb more proper

than it would otherwise be; for which reason, the following form, in which

the Rev. Dr. Bullions has set the sentence down for bad English, is in some

sort a _perversion_ of the Scripture: "Thine is the kingdom, the power, and

the glory."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 141.

OBS. 9.--When the nominatives are of different _persons_, the verb agrees

with the first person in preference to the second, and with the second in

preference to the third; for _thou_ and _I_, or _he, thou_, and _I_, are

equivalent to _we_; and _thou_ and _he_ are equivalent to you: as, "Why

speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, _thou and Ziba divide_

the land."--_2 Sam._, xix. 29. That is, "divide _ye_ the land." "And _live

thou_ and thy _children_ of the rest."--_2 Kings_, iv, 7. "That _I_ and thy

_people have found_ grace in thy sight."--_Exodus_, xxxiii, 16. "_I_ and my

_kingdom are_ guiltless."--_2 Sam._, iii, 28. "_I_, and _you_, and _Piso_

perhaps too, _are_ in a state of dissatisfaction."--_Zenobia_, i, 114.

"Then _I_, and _you_, and _all_ of us, _fell_ down,

Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over _us_."--_Shak., J. Cæsar_.

OBS. 10.--When two or more nominatives connected by _and_ are of the same

form but distinguished by adjectives or possessives, one or more of them

may be omitted by ellipsis, but the verb must be plural, and agree with

them all; as, "A literary, a scientific, a wealthy, and a poor man, _were

assembled_ in one room."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 263. Here four different men

are clearly spoken of. "Else the rising and the falling emphasis _are_ the

same."--_Knowles's Elocutionist_, p. 33. Here the noun _emphasis_ is

understood after _rising_. "The singular and [the] plural form _seem_ to be

confounded."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 22. Here the noun _form_ is presented to

the mind twice; and therefore the article should have been repeated. See

Obs. 15th on Rule 1st. "My farm and William's _are_ adjacent to each

other."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 220. Here the noun _farm_ is understood after

the possessive _William's_, though the author of the sentence foolishly

attempts to explain it otherwise. "Seth's, Richard's and Edmund's _farms_

are those which their fathers left them."--_Ib._, p. 257. Here the noun

_farms_ is understood after _Seth's_, and again after _Richard's_; so that

the sentence is written wrong, unless each man has more than one farm.

"_Was_ not Demosthenes's style, and his master Plato's, perfectly Attic;

and yet none more lofty?"--_Milnes's Greek Gram._, p. 241. Here _style_ is

understood after _Plato's_; wherefore _was_ should rather be _were_, or

else _and_ should be changed to _as well as_. But the text, as it stands,

is not much unlike some of the exceptions noticed above. "The character of

a fop, and of a rough warrior, _are_ no where more successfully

contrasted."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 236. Here the ellipsis is

not very proper. Say, "the character of a fop, and _that_ of a rough

warrior," &c. Again: "We may observe, that the eloquence of the bar, of the

legislature, and of public assemblies, _are_ seldom _or ever_ found united

_to high perfection in_ the same person."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i,

p. 256. Here the ellipsis cannot so well be avoided by means of the

pronominal adjective _that_, and therefore it may be thought more

excusable; but I should prefer a repetition of the nominative: as, "We may

observe, that the eloquence of the bar, _the eloquence_ of the legislature,

and _the eloquence_ of public assemblies, are seldom _if ever_ found

united, _in any high degree_, in the same person."

OBS. 11.--The conjunction _as_, when it connects nominatives that are in

_apposition_, or significant of the same person or thing, is commonly

placed at the beginning of a sentence, so that the verb agrees with its

proper nominative following the explanatory word: thus, "_As a poet, he

holds_ a high rank."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 355. "_As a poet, Addison

claims_ a high praise."--_Ib._, p. 304. "_As a model_ of English prose, his

_writings merit_ the greatest praise."--_Ib._, p. 305. But when this

conjunction denotes a _comparison_ between different persons or things

signified by two nominatives, there must be two verbs expressed or

understood, each agreeing with its own subject; as, "Such _writers_ as _he

[is,] have_ no reputation worth any man's envy." [396]

"Such _men_ as _he [is] be_ never at heart's ease

Whiles they behold a greater than themselves."--_Shakspeare_.

OBS. 12.--When two nominatives are connected by _as well as, but_, or

_save_, they must in fact have two verbs, though in most instances only one

is expressed; as, "Such is the mutual dependence of words in sentences,

that several _others_, as well as [is] the _adjective, are_ not to be used

alone."--_Dr. Wilson's Essay_, p. 99. "The Constitution was to be the one

fundamental law of the land, to which _all_, as well _States_ as _people_,

should submit."--W. I. BOWDITCH: _Liberator_, No. 984. "As well those which

history, as those which experience _offers_ to our reflection."--

_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 85. Here the words "_offers to our

reflection_" are understood after "_history_." "_None_ but _He_ who

discerns futurity, _could have foretold_ and described all these

things."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 62. "That there _was_ in those times no

other _writer_, of any degree of eminence, save _he_ himself."--_Pope's

Works_, Vol. iii, p. 43.

"I do entreat you not a man depart,

Save _I_ alone, till Antony have spoke."--_Shak., J. Cæsar_.

OBS. 13.--Some grammarians say, that _but_ and _save_, when they denote

exception, should govern the objective case as _prepositions_. But this

idea is, without doubt, contrary to the current usage of the best authors,

either ancient or modern. Wherefore I think it evident that these

grammarians err. The objective case of _nouns_ being like the nominative,

the point can be proved only by the _pronouns_; as, "There is none _but he_

alone."--_Perkins's Theology_, 1608. "There is none other _but

he_."--_Mark_, xii, 32. (This text is good authority as regards the _case_,

though it is incorrect in an other respect: it should have been, "There is

_none but_ he," or else, "There is _no other than he_.") "No man hath

ascended up to heaven, _but he_ that came down from heaven."--_John_, iii,

13. "Not that any man hath seen the father, _save he_ which is of

God."--_John_, vi, 46. "Few can, _save he_ and _I_."--_Byron's Werner_.

"There is none justified, _but he_ that is in measure sanctified."--_Isaac

Penington_. _Save_, as a conjunction, is nearly obsolete.

OBS. 14.--In Rev., ii, 17th, we read, "Which no man knoweth, _saving he_

that receiveth it;" and again, xiii, 17th, "That no man might buy or sell,

_save he_ that had the mark." The following text is inaccurate, but not in

the construction of the nominative _they_: "All men cannot receive this

saying, _save they_ to whom it is given."--_Matt._, xix, 11. The version

ought to have been, "_Not all_ men can receive this saying, _but they only_

to whom it is given:" i.e., "they only _can receive it_, to whom _there is

given power to receive it_." Of _but_ with a nominative, examples may be

multiplied indefinitely. The following are as good as any: "There is no God

_but He_."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 27. "The former none _but He_ could

execute."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 317. "There was nobody at home _but

I_."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 95. "A fact, of which as none _but he_ could

be conscious, [so] none _but he_ could be the publisher of it."--_Pope's

Works_, Vol. iii, p. 117. "Few _but they_ who are involved in the vices,

are involved in the irreligion of the times."--_Brown's Estimate_, i, 101.

"I claim my right. No Grecian prince but _I_

Has power this bow to grant, or to deny."

--_Pope, Odys._, B. xxi, l. 272.

"Thus she, and none _but she_, the insulting rage

Of heretics oppos'd from age to age."

--_Dryden's Poems_, p. 98.

In opposition to all these authorities, and many more that might be added,

we have, with now and then a text of false syntax, the absurd opinion of

perhaps _a score or two_ of our grammarians; one of whom imagines he has

found in the following couplet from Swift, an example to the purpose; but

he forgets that the verb _let_ governs the _objective_ case:

"Let _none but him_ who rules the thunder,

Attempt to part these twain asunder."

--_Perley's Gram._, p. 62.

OBS. 15.--It is truly a wonder, that so many professed critics should not

see the absurdity of taking _but_ and _save_ for "_prepositions_," when

this can be done only by condemning the current usage of nearly all good

authors, as well as the common opinion of most grammarians; and the greater

is the wonder, because they seem to do it innocently, or to teach it

childishly, as not knowing that they cannot justify both sides, when the

question lies between opposite and contradictory principles. By this sort

of simplicity, which approves of errors, if much practised, and of

opposites, or essential contraries, when authorities may be found for them,

no work, perhaps, is more strikingly characterized, than the popular School

Grammar of W. H. Wells. This author says, "The use of _but_ as a

preposition is _approved_ by J. E. Worcester, John Walker, R. C. Smith,

Picket, Hiley, Angus, Lynde, Hull, Powers, Spear, Farnum, Fowle, Goldsbury,

Perley, Cobb, Badgley, Cooper, Jones, Davis, Beall, Hendrick, Hazen, and

Goodenow."--_School Gram._, 1850, p. 178. But what if all these authors do

prefer, "_but him_," and "_save him_," where ten times as many would say,

"_but he_," "_save he_?" Is it therefore difficult to determine which

party is right? Or is it proper for a grammarian to name sundry authorities

on both sides, excite doubt in the mind of his reader, and leave the matter

_unsettled_? "The use of _but_ as a preposition," he also states, "is

_discountenanced_ by G. Brown, Sanborn, Murray, S. Oliver, and several

other grammarians. (See also an able article in the Mass. Common School

Journal, Vol. ii, p. 19.)"--_School Gram._, p. 178.

OBS. 16.--Wells passes no censure on the use of nominatives after _but_ and

_save_; does not intimate which case is fittest to follow these words;

gives no false syntax under his rule for the regimen of prepositions; but

inserts there the following brief remarks and examples:

"REM. 3.--The word _save_ is frequently used to perform the office of a

preposition; as, 'And all desisted, all _save him_ alone.'--_Wordsworth_."

"REM. 4.--_But_ is sometimes employed as a preposition, in the sense of

_except_; as, 'The boy stood on the burning deck, Whence all _but him_ had

fled.'--_Hemans_."--_Ib._, p. 167.

Now, "BUT," says Worcester, as well as Tooke and others, was "originally

_bot_, contracted from _be out_;" and, if this notion of its etymology is

just, it must certainly be followed by the nominative case, rather than by

the objective; for the imperative _be_ or _be out_ governs no case, admits

no additional term but a nominative--an obvious and important fact, quite

overlooked by those who call _but_ a preposition. According to Allen H.

Weld, _but_ and _save_ "are _commonly_ considered _prepositions_," but "are

_more commonly_ termed _conjunctions_!" This author repeats Wells's

examples of "_save him_," and "_but him_," as being _right_; and mixes them

with opposite examples of "_save he_," "_but he_," "_save I_," which he

thinks to be _more right_!--_Weld's Gram._, p. 187.

OBS. 17.--Professor Fowler, too, an other author remarkable for a facility

of embracing incompatibles, contraries, or dubieties, not only condemns as

"false syntax" the use of _save_ for an exceptive conjunction. (§587. ¶28,)

but cites approvingly from Latham the following very strange absurdity:

"One and the same word, in one and the same sentence, may be a Conjunction

or [a] Preposition, as the case may be: [as] All fled _but_

John."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, § 555. This is equivalent to

saying, that "one and the same sentence" _may be two different sentences_;

may, without error, be understood in two different senses; may be rightly

taken, resolved, and parsed in two different ways! Nay, it is equivalent to

a denial of the old logical position, that "It is impossible for a thing

_to be_ and _not be_ at the same time;" for it supposes "_but_," in the

instance given, to be at once both a conjunction and _not_ a conjunction,

both a preposition and _not_ a preposition, "_as the case may be_!" It is

true, that "one and the same word" may sometimes be differently parsed _by

different grammarians_, and possibly even an adept may doubt who or what is

right. But what ambiguity of construction, or what diversity of

interpretation, proceeding from the same hand, can these admissions be

supposed to warrant? The foregoing citation is a boyish attempt to justify

different modes of parsing the same expression, on the ground that the

expression itself is equivocal. "All fled _but John_," is thought to mean

equally well, "All fled _but he_," and, "All fled _but him_;" while these

latter expressions are erroneously presumed to be alike good English, and

to have a difference of meaning corresponding to their difference of

construction. Now, what is equivocal, or ambiguous, being therefore

erroneous, is to be _corrected_, rather than parsed in any way. But I deny

both the ambiguity and the difference of meaning which these critics

profess to find among the said phrases. "_John fled not, but all the rest

fled_," is virtually what is told us in each of them; but, in the form,

"All fled but _him_," it is told ungrammatically; in the other two,

correctly.

OBS. 18.--In Latin, _cum_ with an ablative, sometimes has, or is supposed

to have, the force of the conjunction _et_ with a nominative; as, "Dux

_cum_ aliquot principibus capiuntur."--LIVY: _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 131. In

imitation of this construction, some English writers have substituted

_with_ for _and_, and varied the verb accordingly; as, "A long course of

time, _with_ a variety of accidents and circumstances, _are_ requisite to

produce those revolutions."--HUME: _Allen's Gram._, p. 131; _Ware's_, 12;

_Priestley's_, 186. This phraseology, though censured by Allen, was

expressly approved by Priestley, who introduced the present example, as his

proof text under the following observation: "It is not necessary that the

two _subjects of an affirmation_ should stand in the very same

construction, to require the verb to be in the plural number. If one of

them be made to depend upon the other _by a connecting particle_, it may,

_in some cases_, have the same force, as if it were independent of

it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 186. Lindley Murray, on the contrary,

condemns this doctrine, and after citing the same example with others,

says: "It is however, proper to observe that these modes of expression do

not appear to be warranted by _the just principles_ of construction."--

_Octavo Gram._, p. 150. He then proceeds to prove his point, by alleging

that the preposition governs the objective case in English, and the

ablative in Latin, and that what is so governed, cannot be the nominative,

or any part of it. All this is true enough, but still some men who know it

perfectly well, will now and then write as if they did not believe it. And

so it was with the writers of Latin and Greek. They sometimes wrote bad

syntax; and the grammarians have not always seen and censured their errors

as they ought. Since the preposition makes its object only an adjunct of

the preceding noun, or of something else, I imagine that any construction

which thus assumes two different cases as joint nominatives or joint

antecedents, must needs be inherently faulty.