The Grammar of English Grammars Part 127

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 _G.o.d 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 circ.u.mstances, a great _deal_ too, _is put_ upon us."--_Butler's a.n.a.logy_, 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 p.r.o.noun 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 p.r.o.noun_ EVERY, this _p.r.o.noun_ is as applicable to _the whole ma.s.s_ 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 p.r.o.noun_ 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 dest.i.tute 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 ent.i.tled 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."--_Oth.e.l.lo_.

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, ent.i.tled_, '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 pa.s.sion, _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 quant.i.ty, 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 pa.s.sage 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 haec."--"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, fort.i.tude, 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 Inst.i.tutes_, 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 repet.i.tion is still more emphatic, and perhaps more proper, than the elliptical form. The repet.i.tion 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_, x.x.xiii, 16. "_I_ and my _kingdom are_ guiltless."--_2 Sam._, iii, 28. "_I_, and _you_, and _Piso_ perhaps too, _are_ in a state of dissatisfaction."--_Zen.o.bia_, i, 114.

"Then _I_, and _you_, and _all_ of us, _fell_ down, Whilst b.l.o.o.d.y treason flourish'd over _us_."--_Shak., J. Caesar_.

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 a.s.sembled_ 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 a.s.semblies, _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 p.r.o.nominal adjective _that_, and therefore it may be thought more excusable; but I should prefer a repet.i.tion of the nominative: as, "We may observe, that the eloquence of the bar, _the eloquence_ of the legislature, and _the eloquence_ of public a.s.semblies, 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 Const.i.tution 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. Caesar_.

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 _p.r.o.nouns_; 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 G.o.d."--_John_, vi, 46. "Few can, _save he_ and _I_."--_Byron's Werner_.