The Grammar of English Grammars Part 121

OBS. 2.--Many of our grammarians say, "When a noun of mult.i.tude is preceded by a definitive word, which clearly limits the sense to an aggregate with an idea of unity, it requires a verb and p.r.o.noun to agree with it in the singular number."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 153; _Ingersoll's_, 249; Fisk's, 122; _Fowler's_, 528. But this principle, I apprehend, cannot be sustained by an appeal to general usage. The instances in practice are not few, in which both these senses are clearly indicated with regard to the same noun; as, "_Each House_ shall keep a journal of _its_ proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in _their_ judgement require secrecy."--_Const.i.tution of the United States_, Art. i, Sec. 5. "I mean _that part_ of mankind _who are known_ by the name of women's men, or beaux."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 536. "A _set_ of men _who are_ common enough in the world."--_Ibid._ "It is vain for _a people_ to expect to be free, unless _they_ are first willing to be virtuous."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 397. "For _this people's_ heart is waxed gross, and _their_ ears are dull of hearing, and _their_ eyes _they_ have closed."--_Matt._, xiii, 15. "_This enemy_ had now enlarged _their_ confederacy, and made _themselves_ more formidable than before."--_Life of Antoninus_, p. 62.

"Thus from the tents the fervent _legion swarms_; So loud _their_ clamour, and so keen _their_ arms."

--_Pope, Iliad_, B. xvi, l. 320.

OBS. 3.--Most collective nouns of the neuter gender, may take the regular plural form, and be represented by a p.r.o.noun in the third person, plural, neuter; as, "The _nations_ will enforce _their_ laws." This construction comes under Rule 10th, as does also the singular, "The _nations_ will enforce _its_ laws;" for, in either case, the agreement is entirely literal. Half of Murray's Rule 4th is therefore needless. To Rule 11th above, there are properly no exceptions; because the number of the p.r.o.noun is itself the index to the sense in which the antecedent is therein taken.

It does not follow, however, but that there may be violations of the rule, or of the notes under it, by the adoption of one number when the other would be more correct, or in better taste. A collection of things inanimate, as a fleet, a heap, a row, a tier, a bundle, is seldom, if ever, taken distributively, with a plural p.r.o.noun. For a further elucidation of the construction of collective nouns, see Rule 15th, and the observations under it.

NOTES TO RULE XI.

NOTE I.--A collective noun conveying the idea of unity, requires a p.r.o.noun in the third person, singular, neuter; as, "When a legislative _body_ makes laws, _it_ acts for _itself_ only; but when _it_ makes grants or contracts, _it_ acts as a party."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 40. "A civilized _people_ has no right to violate _its_ solemn obligations, because the other party is uncivilized."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 314.

NOTE II.--When a collective noun is followed by two or more words which must each in some sense agree with it, uniformity of number is commonly preferable to diversity, and especially to such a mixture as puts the singular both before and after the plural; as, "_That_ ingenious nation _who have done_ so much honour to modern literature, _possesses_, in an eminent degree, the talent of narration."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 364. Better: _"which has done."_

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XI.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The jury will be confined till it agrees on a verdict."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 145.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the p.r.o.noun _it_ is of the singular number, and does not correctly represent its antecedent _jury_, which is a collective noun conveying rather the idea of plurality. But, according to Rule 11th, "When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, the p.r.o.noun must agree with it in the plural number." Therefore, it should be _they_; thus, "The jury will be confined till _they_ agree on a verdict."]

"And mankind directed its first cares towards the needful."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 114. "It is difficult to deceive a free people respecting its true interest."--_Life of Charles XII_, p. 67. "All the virtues of mankind are to be counted upon a few fingers, but his follies and vices are innumerable."--_Swift_. "Every sect saith, 'Give me liberty:'

but give it him, and to his power, he will not yield it to any body else."--_Oliver Cromwell_. "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion."--_Numbers, xxiii_, 24. "For all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."--_Gen._, vi, 12. "There happened to the army a very strange accident, which put it in great consternation."--_Goldsmith_.

UNDER NOTE I.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"The meeting went on in their business as a united body."--_Foster's Report_, i, 69. "Every religious a.s.sociation has an undoubted right to adopt a creed for themselves."--_Gould's Advocate_, iii, 405. "It would therefore be extremely difficult to raise an insurrection in that State against their own government."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 104. "The mode in which a Lyceum can apply themselves in effecting a reform in common schools."--_New York Lyceum_. "Hath a nation changed their G.o.ds, which are yet no G.o.ds?"--_Jeremiah_, ii, 11. "In the holy scriptures each of the twelve tribes of Israel is often called by the name of the patriarch, from whom they descended."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, ii, 331.

UNDER NOTE II.--UNIFORMITY OF NUMBER.

"A nation, by the reparation of their own wrongs, achieves a triumph more glorious than any field of blood can ever give."--_J. Q. Adams_. "The English nation, from which we descended, have been gaining their liberties inch by inch."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 45. "If a Yearly Meeting should undertake to alter its fundamental doctrines, is there any power in the society to prevent their doing so?"--_Foster's Report_, i, 96. "There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother."--_Proverbs_, x.x.x, 11. "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness."--_Ib._, x.x.x, 12. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his G.o.d is with him, and the shout of a king is among them."--_Numb._, xxiii, 21. "My people hath forgotten me, they have burnt incense to vanity."--_Jer._, xviii, 15. "When a quarterly meeting hath come to a judgment respecting any difference, relative to any monthly meeting belonging to them," &c.--_Extracts_, p. 195; _N. E.

Discip._, p. 118. "The number of such compositions is every day increasing, and appear to be limited only by the pleasure or conveniency of the writer."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 37. "The church of Christ hath the same power now as ever, and are led by the same Spirit into the same practices."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 477. "The army, whom the chief had thus abandoned, pursued meanwhile their miserable march."--_Lockhart's Napoleon_, ii, 165.

RULE XII.--p.r.o.nOUNS.

When a p.r.o.noun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_, it must agree with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together: as, "_Minos_ and _Thales_ sung to the lyre the laws which _they_ composed."--STRABO: _Blair's Rhet._, p. 379. "_Saul_ and _Jonathan_ were lovely and pleasant in _their_ lives, and in _their_ death _they_ were not divided."--_2 Sam._, i, 23.

"_Rhesus_ and _Rhodius_ then unite their rills, Caresus roaring down the stony hills."--_Pope, Il._, B. xii, l. 17.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

When two or more antecedents 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 p.r.o.noun; as, "This great _philosopher_ and _statesman_ continued in public life till _his_ eighty-second year."--"The same _Spirit, light_, and _life, which enlighteneth_, also sanctifieth, and there is not an other."--_Penington_. "My _Constantius and Philetus_ confesseth me two years older when I writ _it_."--_Cowley's Preface_.

"Remember these, O _Jacob_ and _Israel_! for _thou_ art my servant."--_Isaiah_, xliv, 21. "In that _strength_ and _cogency which renders_ eloquence powerful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 252.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

When two antecedents connected by _and_ are emphatically distinguished, they belong to different propositions, and, if singular, do not require a plural p.r.o.noun; as, "The _butler_, and not the _baker_, was restored to _his_ office."--"The _good man_, and the _sinner too_, shall have _his_ reward."--"_Truth_, and _truth only_, is worth seeking for _its_ own sake."--"It is _the sense_ in which the word is used, and _not the letters_ of which it is composed, _that determines_ what is the part of speech to which it belongs."--_Cobbett's Gram._, -- 130.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

When two or more antecedents connected by _and_ are preceded by the adjective _each, every_, or _no_, they are taken separately, and do not require a plural p.r.o.noun; as, "_Every plant_ and _every tree_ produces others after _its_ own kind."--"It is the cause of _every reproach_ and _distress_ which _has attended_ your government."--_Junius_, Let. x.x.xv. But if the latter be a collective noun, the p.r.o.noun may be plural; as, "_Each minister_ and _each church_ act according to _their_ own impressions."--_Dr. M'Cartee_.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XII.

OBS. 1.--When the antecedents are of _different persons_, the first person is preferred to the second, and the second to the third; as, "_John_, and _thou_, and _I_, are attached to _our_ country."--"_John_ and _thou_ are attached to _your_ country."--"The Lord open some light, and show both _you_ and _me our_ inheritance!"--_Baxter_. "_Thou_ and thy _sons_ with thee _shall bear_ the iniquity of _your_ priesthood."--_Numbers_, xviii, 1.

"For all are friends in heaven; all faithful friends; And many friends.h.i.+ps in the days of Time Begun, are lasting here, and growing still: So grows _ours_ evermore, both _theirs and mine_."

--_Pollok, C. of T._, B. v, l. 335.

OBS 2.--The _gender_ of p.r.o.nouns, except in the third person singular, is distinguished only by their antecedents. In expressing that of a p.r.o.noun which has antecedents of _different_ genders, the masculine should be preferred to the feminine, and the feminine to the neuter. The pa.r.s.er of English should remember, that this is a principle of General Grammar.

OBS 3.--When two words are taken separately as nominatives, they ought not to be united in the same sentence as antecedents. In the following example, therefore, _them_ should be _it_: "The first has a lenis, and the other an asper over _them_."--_Printer's Gram._, p. 246. Better thus: "The first has a lenis _over it_, and the other an asper."

OBS. 4.--Nouns that stand as nominatives or antecedents, are sometimes taken conjointly when there is no conjunction expressed; as, "The historian, the orator, the philosopher, _address themselves_ primarily to the understanding: _their_ direct aim is, to inform, to persuade, to instruct."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 377. The copulative _and_ may here be said to be understood, because the verb and the p.r.o.nouns are plural; but it seems better _in general_, either to introduce the connective word, or to take the nouns disjunctively: as, "They have all the copiousness, the fervour, the inculcating method, that _is_ allowable and graceful in an orator; perhaps too much of it for a writer."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 343. To this, however, there may be exceptions,--cases in which the plural form is to be preferred,--especially in poetry; as,

"Faith, justice, heaven itself, now quit their hold, When to false fame the captive heart is sold."--_Brown, on Satire_.

OBS. 5.--When two or more antecedents connected by _and_ are nominally alike, one or more of them may be _understood_; and, in such a case, the p.r.o.noun must still be plural, as agreeing with all the nouns, whether expressed or implied: as, "But intellectual and moral culture ought to go hand in hand; _they_ will greatly help each other."--_Dr. Weeks_. Here _they_ stands for _intellectual culture_ and _moral culture_. The following example is incorrect: "The Commanding and Unlimited _mode_ may be used in an absolute sense, or without a name or subst.i.tute on which _it_ can depend."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 80. Change _it_ to _they_, or _and_ to _or_. See Note 6th to Rule 16th.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XII.

p.r.o.nOUNS WITH ANTECEDENTS CONNECTED BY AND.

"Discontent and sorrow manifested itself in his countenance."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 146.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the p.r.o.noun _itself_ is of the singular number, and does not correctly represent its two antecedents _discontent_ and _sorrow_, which are connected by _and_, and taken conjointly. But, according to Rule 12th, "When a p.r.o.noun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_, it must agree with then, jointly in the plural, because they are taken together." Therefore, _itself_ should be _themselves_; thus, "Discontent and sorrow manifested _themselves_ in his countenance."]

"Both conversation and public speaking became more simple and plain, such as we now find it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 59. "Idleness and ignorance, if it be suffered to proceed, &c."--JOHNSON: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 186. "Avoid questions and strife; it shows a busy and contentious disposition."--_Wm.

Penn_. "To receive the gifts and benefits of G.o.d with thanksgiving, and witness it blessed and sanctified to us by the word and prayer, is owned by us."--_Barclays Works_, i, 213. "Both minister and magistrate are compelled to choose between his duty and his reputation."--_Junius_, p. 9. "All the sincerity, truth, and faithfulness, or disposition of heart or conscience to approve it, found among rational creatures, necessarily originate from G.o.d."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 12. "Your levity and heedlessness, if it continue, will prevent all substantial improvement."--_Brown's Inst._, p.

147. "Poverty and obscurity will oppress him only who esteems it oppressive."--_Ib._ "Good sense and refined policy are obvious to few, because it cannot be discovered but by a train of reflection."--_Ib._ "Avoid haughtiness of behaviour, and affectation, of manners: it implies a want of solid merit."--_Ib._ "If love and unity continue, it will make you partakers of one an other's joy."--_Ib._ "Suffer not jealousy and distrust to enter: it will destroy, like a canker, every germ of friends.h.i.+p."--_Ib._ "Hatred and animosity are inconsistent with Christian charity; guard, therefore, against the slightest indulgence of it."--_Ib._ "Every man is ent.i.tled to liberty of conscience, and freedom of opinion, if he does not pervert it to the injury of others."--_Ib._

"With the azure and vermilion Which is mix'd for my pavilion."--_Byron's Manfred_, p. 9.

RULE XIII.--p.r.o.nOUNS.

When a p.r.o.noun has two or more antecedents connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together: as; "_James_ or _John_ will favour us with _his_ company."--"Neither _wealth_ nor _honour_ can secure the happiness of _its_ votaries."

"What _virtue_ or what mental _grace_, But men unqualified and base Will boast _it_ their possession?"--_Cowper, on Friends.h.i.+p_.