Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/599

 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