Chapter VI: Verbs (4)

OBS. 21.--There is one other apparent exception to Rule 16th, (or perhaps a real one,) in which there is either an ellipsis of the preposition _with_, or else the verb is made singular because the first noun only is its true subject, and the others are explanatory nominatives to which the same verb must be understood in the plural number; as, "_A torch_, snuff and all, _goes out_ in a moment, when dipped in the vapour."--ADDISON: _in Johnson's Dict., w. All_. "Down _comes_ the _tree_, nest, eagles, and all."--See _All, ibidem_. Here _goes_ and _comes_ are necessarily made singular, the former agreeing with _torch_ and the latter with _tree_; and, if the other nouns, which are like an explanatory parenthesis, are nominatives, as they appear to me to be, they must be subjects of _go_ and _come_ understood. Cobbett teaches us to say, "The bag, _with_ the guineas and dollars in it, _were_ stolen," and not, _was_ stolen. "For," says he, "if we say _was_ stolen, it is possible for us to mean, that the _bag only_ was stolen,"--_English Gram._, ¶ 246. And I suppose he would say, "The bag, guineas, dollars, and all, _were_ stolen," and not, "_was_ stolen;" for here a rule of syntax might be urged, in addition to his false argument from the sense. But the meaning of the former sentence is, "The bag was stolen, with the guineas and dollars in it;" and the meaning of the latter is, "The bag was stolen, guineas, dollars, and all." Nor can there be any doubt about the meaning, place the words which way you will; and whatever, in either case, may be the true construction of the words in the parenthetical or explanatory phrase, they should not, I think, prevent the verb from agreeing with the first noun only. But if the other nouns intervene without affecting this concord, and without a preposition to govern them, it may be well to distinguish them in the punctuation; as, "The bag, (guineas, dollars, and all,) was stolen."

NOTES TO RULE XVI.

NOTE I.--When the conjunction _and_ between two nominatives appears to require a plural verb, but such form of the verb is not agreeable, it is better to reject or change the connective, that the verb may stand correctly in the singular number; as, "There _is_ a peculiar force _and_ beauty in this figure."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 224. Better: "There is a peculiar force, _as well as a peculiar_ beauty, in this figure." "What _means_ this restless stir and commotion of mind?"--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 242. Better: "What means this restless stir, _this_ commotion of mind?"

NOTE II.--When two subjects or antecedents are connected, one of which is taken affirmatively, and the other negatively, they belong to different propositions; and the verb or pronoun must agree with the affirmative subject, and be understood to the other: as "Diligent _industry_, and not mean savings, _produces_ honourable competence."--"Not a loud _voice_ but strong _proofs bring_ conviction."--"My _poverty_, but not my will, _consents_."--_Shakespeare_.

NOTE III.--When two subjects or antecedents are connected by _as well as, but_, or _save_, they belong to different propositions; and, (unless one of them is preceded by the adverb _not_,) the verb and pronoun must agree with the former and be understood to the latter: as, "_Veracity_, as well as justice, _is_ to be our rule of life."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 283. "The lowest _mechanic_, as well as the richest citizen, _may boast_ that thousands of _his_ fellow-creatures are employed for _him_."--_Percival's Tales_, ii, 177. "These _principles_, as well as every just rule of criticism, _are founded_ upon the sensitive part of our nature."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. xxvi. "_Nothing_ but wailings _was_ heard."--"_None_ but thou _can aid_ us."--"No mortal _man_, save he," &c., "_had e'er survived_ to say _he_ saw."--_Sir W. Scott_.

NOTE IV.--When two or more subjects or antecedents are preceded by the adjective _each, every_, or _no_, they are taken separately; and, (except _no_ be followed by a plural noun,) they require the verb and pronoun to be in the singular number: as, "No rank, no honour, no fortune, no condition in life, _makes_ the guilty mind happy."--"Every phrase and every figure _which_ he uses, _tends_ to render the picture more lively and complete."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179.

"And every sense, and every heart, _is_ joy."--_Thomson_.

"Each beast, each insect, happy in _its_ own."--_Pope_.

NOTE V.--When any words or terms are to be taken conjointly as subjects or antecedents, the conjunction _and_, (in preference to _with, or, nor_, or any thing else,) must connect them. The following sentence is therefore inaccurate; _with_ should be _and_; or else _were_ should be _was_: "One of them, [the] wife of Thomas Cole, _with_ her husband, _were_ shot down, the others escaped."--_Hutchinson's Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 86. So, in the following couplet, _or_ should be _and_, or else _engines_ should be _engine_:

"What if the head, the eye, _or_ ear repined,
To serve mere _engines_ to the ruling mind?"--_Pope_.

NOTE VI.--Improper omissions must be supplied; but when there occurs a true ellipsis in the construction of joint nominatives or joint antecedents, the verb or pronoun must agree with them in the plural, just as if all the words were expressed: as, "The _second_ and the _third Epistle_ of John _are_ each but one short chapter."--"The metaphorical and the literal meaning _are_ improperly mixed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 339. "The Doctrine of Words, separately consider'd, and in a Sentence, _are_ Things distinct enough."--_Brightland's Gram._, Pref., p. iv. Better perhaps: "The doctrine of words separately considered, and _that of words_ in a sentence, _are_ things distinct enough."

"The _Curii's_ and the _Camilli's_ little _field_,
To vast extended territories _yield_."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. i, l. 320.

NOTE VII.--Two or more distinct subject phrases connected by _and_, require a plural verb, and generally a plural noun too, if a nominative follow the verb; as, "_To be wise in our own eyes, to be wise in the opinion of the world_, and _to be wise in the sight of our Creator_, are three things so very different, as rarely to coincide."--_Blair_. "'_This picture of my friend_,' and '_This picture of my friend's_,' suggest very different ideas."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 71; _Murray's_, i, 178.

"Read of this burgess--on the stone _appear_,
How worthy he! how virtuous! and how dear!"--_Crabbe_.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XVI.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE VERB AFTER JOINT NOMINATIVES.

"So much ability and merit is seldom found."--_Murray's Key_, 12mo, p. 18; _Merchant's School Gram._, p. 190.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _is_ is in the singular number, and does not correctly agree with its two nominatives, _ability_ and _merit_, which are connected by _and_, and taken conjointly. But, according to Rule 16th, "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." Therefore, _is_ should be _are_; thus, "So much ability and merit _are_ seldom found." Or: "So much ability and _so much_ merit _are_ seldom found."]

"The syntax and etymology of the language is thus spread before the learner."--_Bullions's English Gram._, 2d Edition, Rec., p. iii. "Dr. Johnson tells us, that in English poetry the accent and the quantity of syllables is the same thing."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, ii, 213. "Their general scope and tendency, having never been clearly apprehended, is not remembered at all."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 126. "The soil and sovereignty was not purchased of the natives."--_Knapp's Lect. on Amer. Lit._, p. 55. "The boldness, freedom, and variety of our blank verse, is infinitely more favourable than rhyme, to all kinds of sublime poetry."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 40. "The vivacity and sensibility of the Greeks seems to have been much greater than ours."--_Ib._, p. 253. "For sometimes the Mood and Tense is signified by the Verb, sometimes they are signified of the Verb by something else.'"--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 254. "The Verb and the Noun making a complete Sense, which the Participle and the Noun does not."--_Ib._, p. 255. "The growth and decay of passions and emotions, traced through all their mazes, is a subject too extensive for an undertaking like the present."--_Kames El. of Crit._, i, 108. "The true meaning and etymology of some of his words was lost."--_Knight, on the Greek Alph._, p. 37. "When the force and direction of personal satire is no longer understood."--_Junius_, p. 5. "The frame and condition of man admits of no other principle."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 54. "Some considerable time and care was necessary."--_Ib._, ii 150. "In consequence of this idea, much ridicule and censure has been thrown upon Milton."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 428. "With rational beings, nature and reason is the same thing."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 111. "And the flax and the barley was smitten."--_Exod._, ix, 31. "The colon, and semicolon, divides a period, this with, and that without a connective."--_J. Ware's Gram._, p. 27. "Consequently wherever space and time is found, there God must also be."--_Sir Isaac Newton_. "As the past tense and perfect participle of _love_ ends in _ed_, it is regular."--_Chandler's Gram._, p. 40; New Edition, p. 66. "But the usual arrangement and nomenclature prevents this from being readily seen."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 3. "_Do_ and _did_ simply implies opposition or emphasis."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 41. "_I_ and _another_ make _we_, plural: _Thou_ and _another_ is as much as _ye_: _He, she_, or _it_ and _another_ make _they_"--_Ib._, p. 124. "I and another, is as much as (we) the first Person Plural; Thou and another, is as much as (ye) the second Person Plural; He, she, or it, and another, is as much as (they) the third Person Plural."--_British Gram._, p. 193; _Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 76. "God and thou art two, and thou and thy neighbour are two."--_The Love Conquest_, p. 25. "Just as _an_ and _a_ has arisen out of the numeral _one_."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo. 1850, §200. "The tone and style of each of them, particularly the first and the last, is very different."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 246. "Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten."--_Deut._, xiii, 22. "Then I may conclude that two and three makes not five."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 354. "Which at sundry times thou and thy brethren hast received from us."--_Ib._, i, 165. "Two and two is four, and one is five."--POPE: _Lives of the Poets_, p. 490. "Humility and knowledge with poor apparel, excels pride and ignorance under costly array."--_Day's Gram., Parsing Lesson_, p. 100. "A page and a half has been added to the section on composition."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, 5th Ed., Pref., p. vii. "Accuracy and expertness in this exercise is an important acquisition."--_Ib._, p. 71.

"Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing."--_Milton's Poems_, p. 139.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE VERB BEFORE JOINT NOMINATIVES.

"There is a good and a bad, a right and a wrong in taste, as in other things."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 21. "Whence has arisen much stiffness and affectation."--_Ib._, p. 133. "To this error is owing, in a great measure, that intricacy and harshness, in his figurative language, which I before remarked."--_Ib._, p. 150; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 157. "Hence, in his Night Thoughts, there prevails an obscurity and hardness in his style."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 150. "There is, however, in that work much good sense, and excellent criticism."--_Ib._, p. 401. "There is too much low wit and scurrility in Plautus."--_Ib._, p. 481. "There is too much reasoning and refinement; too much pomp and studied beauty in them."--_Ib._, p. 468. "Hence arises the structure and characteristic expression of exclamation."--_Rush on the Voice_, p. 229. "And such pilots is he and his brethren, according to their own confession."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 314. "Of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus: who concerning the truth have erred."--_2 Tim._, ii, 17. "Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan."--_1 Tim._, i, 20. "And so was James and John, the sons of Zebedee."--_Luke_, v, 10. "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing."--_James_, iii, 10. "Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good."--_Lam._, iii, 38. "In which there is most plainly a right and a wrong."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 215. "In this sentence there is both an actor and an object."--_Smith's Inductive Gram._, p. 14. "In the breast-plate was placed the mysterious Urim and Thummim."--_Milman's Jews_, i, 88. "What is the gender, number, and person of those in the first?"--_Smith's Productive Gram._, p. 19. "There seems to be a familiarity and want of dignity in it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 150. "It has been often asked, what is Latin and Greek?"--_Literary Convention_, p. 209. "For where does beauty and high wit But in your constellation meet?"--_Hudibras_, p. 134. "Thence to the land where flows Ganges and Indus."--_Paradise Lost_, B. ix, l. 81. "On these foundations seems to rest the midnight riot and dissipation of modern assemblies."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 46. "But what has disease, deformity, and filth, upon which the thoughts can be allured to dwell?"--_Johnson's Life of Swift_, p. 492. "How is the gender and number of the relative known?"--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 32.

"High rides the sun, thick rolls the dust,
And feebler speeds the blow and thrust."--_Sir W. Scott_.

UNDER NOTE I.--CHANGE THE CONNECTIVE.

"In every language there prevails a certain structure and analogy of parts, which is understood to give foundation to the most reputable usage."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 90. "There runs through his whole manner, a stiffness and affectation, which renders him very unfit to be considered a general model."--_Ib._, p. 102. "But where declamation and improvement in speech is the sole aim"--_Ib._, p. 257. "For it is by these chiefly, that the train of thought, the course of reasoning, and the whole progress of the mind, in continued discourse of all kinds, is laid open."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 103. "In all writing and discourse, the proper composition and structure of sentnences is of the highest importance."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 101. "Here the wishful look and expectation of the beggar naturally leads to a vivid conception of that which was the object of his thoughts."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 386. "Who say, that the outward naming of Christ, and signing of the cross, puts away devils."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 146. "By which an oath and penalty was to be imposed upon the members."--_Junius_, p. 6. "Light and knowledge, in what manner soever afforded us, is equally from God."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 264. "For instance, sickness and untimely death is the consequence of intemperance."--_Ib._, p. 78. "When grief, and blood ill-tempered vexeth him."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 256. "Does continuity and connexion create sympathy and relation in the parts of the body?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 111. "His greatest concern, and highest enjoyment, was to be approved in the sight of his Creator."--_Murray's Key_, p. 224. "Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?"--_2 Sam_, iii, 38. "What is vice and wickedness? No rarity, you may depend on it."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 107. "There is also the fear and apprehension of it."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 87. "The apostrophe and _s_, ('s,) is an abbreviation for _is_, the termination of the old English genitive."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 17. "_Ti, ce_, and _ci_, when followed by a vowel, usually has the sound of _sh_; as in _partial, special, ocean_."--_Weld's Gram._, p. 15.

"Bitter constraint and sad occasion dear
Compels me to disturb your season due."--_Milton's Lycidas_.

"Debauches and excess, though with less noise,
As great a portion of mankind destroys."--_Waller_, p. 55.

UNDER NOTE II.--AFFIRMATION WITH NEGATION.

"Wisdom, and not wealth, procure esteem."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 156. "Prudence, and not pomp, are the basis of his fame."--_Ib._ "Not fear, but labour have overcome him."--_Ib._ "The decency, and not the abstinence, make the difference."--_Ib._ "Not her beauty, but her talents attracts attention."--_Ib._ "It is her talents, and not her beauty, that attracts attention."--_Ib._ "It is her beauty, and not her talents that attract attention."--_Ib._

"His belly, not his brains, this impulse give:
He'll grow immortal; for he cannot live."--_Young, to Pope_.

UNDER NOTE III.--AS WELL AS, BUT, OR SAVE.

"Common sense as well as piety tell us these are proper."--_Family Commentary_, p. 64. "For without it the critic, as well as the undertaker, ignorant of any rule, have nothing left but to abandon themselves to chance."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 42. "And accordingly hatred as well as love are extinguished by long absence."--_Ib._, i, 113. "But at every turn the richest melody as well as the sublimest sentiments are conspicuous."--_Ib._, ii, 121. "But it, as well as the lines immediately subsequent, defy all translation."--_Coleridge's Introduction_, p. 96. "But their religion, as well as their customs, and manners, were strangely misrepresented."--BOLINGBROKE, ON HISTORY, p. 123; _Priestley's Gram._, p. 192; _Murray's Exercises_, p. 47. "But his jealous policy, as well as the fatal antipathy of Fonseca, were conspicuous."--_Robertson's America_, i, 191. "When their extent as well as their value were unknown."--_Ib._, ii, 138. "The Etymology, as well as the Syntax, of the more difficult parts of speech are reserved for his attention [at a later period]."--_Parker and Fox's E. Gram._, Part i, p. 3. "What I myself owe to him, no one but myself know."--See _Wright's Athens_, p. 96. "None, but thou, O mighty prince! canst avert the blow."--_Inst._, p. 156. "Nothing, but frivolous amusements, please the indolent."--_Ib._

"Nought, save the gurglings of the rill, were heard."--_G. B._

"All songsters, save the hooting owl, was mute."--_G. B._

UNDER NOTE IV.--EACH, EVERY, OR NO.

"Give every word, and every member, their due weight and force."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 110. "And to one of these belong every noun, and every third person of every verb."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 74. "No law, no restraint, no regulation, are required to keep him in bounds."--_Literary Convention_, p. 260. "By that time, every window and every door in the street were full of heads."--_N. Y. Observer_, No. 503. "Every system of religion, and every school of philosophy, stand back from this field, and leave Jesus Christ alone, the solitary example"--_The Corner Stone_, p. 17. "Each day, and each hour, bring their portion of duty."--_Inst._, p. 156. "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him."--_1 Sam._, xxii, 2. "Every private Christian and member of the church ought to read and peruse the Scriptures, that they may know their faith and belief founded upon them."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 340. "And every mountain and island were moved out of their places."--_Rev._, vi, 14.

"No bandit fierce, no tyrant mad with pride,
No cavern'd hermit rest self-satisfied."

UNDER NOTE V.--WITH, OR, &c. FOR AND.

"The side A, with the sides B and C, compose the triangle."--_Tobitt's Gram._, p. 48; _Felch's_, 69; _Ware's_, 12. "The stream, the rock, or the tree, must each of them stand forth, so as to make a figure in the imagination."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 390. "While this, with euphony, constitute, finally, the whole."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 293. "The bag, with the guineas and dollars in it, were stolen."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶246. "Sobriety, with great industry and talent, enable a man to perform great deeds."--_Ib._, ¶245. "The _it_, together with the verb _to be_, express states of being."--_Ib._, ¶190. "Where Leonidas the Spartan king, with his chosen band, fighting for their country, were cut off to the last man."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 203. "And Leah also, with her children, came near and bowed themselves."--_Gen._, xxxiii, 7. "The First or Second will, either of them, by themselves coalesce with the Third, but not with each other."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 74. "The whole must centre in the query, whether Tragedy or Comedy are hurtful and dangerous representations?"--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 215. "Grief as well as joy are infectious: the emotions they raise in the spectator resemble them perfectly."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 157. "But in all other words the _Qu_ are both sounded."--_Ensell's Gram._, p. 16. "_Qu_ (which are always together) have the sound of _ku_ or _k_, as in _queen, opaque_."-- _Goodenow's Gram._, p. 45. "In this selection the _ai_ form distinct syllables."--_Walker's Key_, p. 290. "And a considerable village, with gardens, fields, &c., extend around on each side of the square."-- _Liberator_, Vol. ix, p. 140. "Affection, or interest, guide our notions and behaviour in the affairs of life; imagination and passion affect the sentiments that we entertain in matters of taste."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 171. "She heard none of those intimations of her defects, which envy, petulance, or anger, produce among children."--_Rambler_, No. 189. "The King, with the Lords and Commons, constitute an excellent form of government."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 242. "If we say, 'I am the man, who commands you,' the relative clause, with the antecedent _man_, form the predicate."--_Ib._, p. 266.

"The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heav'ns, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim."
--ADDISON. _Murray's Key_, p. 174; _Day's Gram._, p. 92;
_Farnum's_, 106.

UNDER NOTE VI.--ELLIPTICAL CONSTRUCTIONS.

"There is a reputable and a disreputable practice."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 350. "This and this man was born in her."--_Milton's Psalms_, lxxxvii. "This and that man was born in her."--_Psal._ lxxxvii, 5. "This and that man was born there."--_Hendrick's Gram._, p. 94. "Thus _le_ in _l~ego_ and _l~egi_ seem to be sounded equally long."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 253; _Gould's_, 243. "A distinct and an accurate articulation forms the groundwork of good delivery."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 25. "How is vocal and written language understood?"--_C. W. Sanders, Spelling-Book_, p. 7. "The good, the wise, and the learned man is an ornament to human society."--_Bartlett's Reader_. "On some points, the expression of song and speech is identical."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 425. "To every room there was an open and secret passage."--_Johnson's Rasselas_, p. 13. "There iz such a thing az tru and false taste, and the latter az often directs fashion, az the former."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 401. "There is such a thing as a prudent and imprudent institution of life, with regard to our health and our affairs"--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 210. "The lot of the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah, however different in one respect, have in another corresponded with wonderful exactness."--_Hope of Israel_, p. 301. "On these final syllables the radical and vanishing movement is performed."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 64. "To be young or old, good, just, or the contrary, are physical or moral events."--SPURZHEIM: _Felch's Comp. Gram._, p. 29. "The eloquence of George Whitfield and of John Wesley was of a very different character each from the other."--_Dr. Sharp_. "The affinity of _m_ for the series _b_, and of _n_ for the series _t_, give occasion for other Euphonic changes."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §77.

"Pylades' soul and mad Orestes', was
In these, if we believe Pythagoras"--_Cowley's Poems_, p. 3.

UNDER NOTE VII.--DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.

"To be moderate in our views, and to proceed temperately in the pursuit of them, is the best way to ensure success."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 206. "To be of any species, and to have a right to the name of that species, is all one."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 300. "With whom to will and to do is the same."--_Jamieson's Sacred History_, Vol. ii, p. 22. "To profess, and to possess, is very different things."--_Inst._, p. 156. "To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God, is duties of universal obligation."--_Ib._ "To be round or square, to be solid or fluid, to be large or small, and to be moved swiftly or slowly, is all equally alien from the nature of thought."--_Ib._ "The resolving of a sentence into its elements or parts of speech and stating the Accidents which belong to these, is called PARSING."--_Bullion's Pract. Lessons_, p. 9. "To spin and to weave, to knit and to sew, was once a girl's employment; but now to dress and catch a beau, is all she calls enjoyment."--_Lynn News_, Vol. 8, No. 1.

RULE XVII.--FINITE VERBS.

When a Verb has two or more nominatives connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together: as, "Fear _or_ jealousy _affects_ him."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 133. "Nor eye, _nor_ listening ear, an object _finds_: creation sleeps."--_Young_. "Neither character _nor_ dialogue _was_ yet understood."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 151.

"The wife, where danger _or_ dishonour _lurks_,
Safest and seemliest by her husband stays."--_Milton, P. L._, ix, 267.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XVII.

OBS. 1.--To this rule, so far as its application is practicable, there are properly no exceptions; for, _or_ and _nor_ being disjunctive conjunctions, the nominatives are of course to assume the verb separately, and as agreeing with each. Such agreement seems to be positively required by the alternativeness of the expression. Yet the ancient grammarians seldom, if at all, insisted on it. In Latin and Greek, a plural verb is often employed with singular nominatives thus connected; as,

"Tunc nec mens mini, nec color
Certa sede _manent_."--HORACE. See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 133.

[Greek: "Ean de adelphos æ adelphæ lumnoi huparchosi, kai leipomenoi osi tæs ephæmerou trophæs."]--_James_, ii. 15. And the best scholars have sometimes _improperly_ imitated this construction in English; as, "Neither Virgil nor Homer _were_ deficient in any of the former beauties."--DRYDEN'S PREFACE: _Brit. Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 168. "Neither Saxon nor Roman _have availed_ to add any idea to his [Plato's] categories."--R. W. EMERSON: _Liberator_, No. 996.

"He comes--nor want _nor_ cold his course _delay_:
Hide, blushing Glory! hide Pultowa's day."--_Dr. Johnson_.

"No monstrous height, _or_ breadth, _or_ length, _appear_;
The whole at once is bold and regular."--_Pope, on Crit._, l. 250.

OBS. 2.--When two collective nouns of the singular form are connected by _or_ or _nor_, the verb may agree with them in the plural number, because such agreement is adapted to each of them, according to Rule 15th; as, "Why _mankind_, or such a _part_ of mankind, are placed in this condition."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 213. "But neither the _Board_ of Control nor the _Court_ of Directors _have_ any scruples about sanctioning the abuses of which I have spoken."--_Glory and Shame of England_, Vol. ii, p. 70.

OBS. 3.--When a verb has nominatives of different persons or numbers, connected by _or_ or _nor_, an explicit concord with each is impossible; because the verb cannot be of different persons or numbers at the same time; nor is it so, even when its form is made the same in all the persons and numbers: thus, "I, thou, [or] he, _may affirm_; we, ye, or they, _may affirm_."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 36. Respecting the proper management of the verb when its nominatives thus disagree, the views of our grammarians are not exactly coincident. Few however are ignorant enough, or rash enough, to deny that there may be an implicit or implied concord in such cases,--a _zeugma_ of the verb in English, as well as of the verb or of the adjective in Latin or Greek. Of this, the following is a brief example: "But _he nor I feel_ more."--_Dr. Young_, Night iii, p. 35. And I shall by-and-by add others--enough, I hope, to confute those false critics who condemn all such phraseology.

OBS. 4.--W. Allen's rule is this: "If the nominatives are of different numbers or persons, the verb agrees with _the last_; as, he _or_ his _brothers were_ there; neither _you nor I am_ concerned."--_English Gram._, p. 133. Lindley Murray, and others, say: (1.) "When singular pronouns, or a noun and pronoun, of different _persons_, are disjunctively connected, the verb must agree with that person which is placed _nearest to it_: as, 'I or thou _art_ to blame;' 'Thou or I _am_ in fault;' 'I, or thou, or he, _is_ the author of it;' 'George or I _am_ the person.' But it would be better to say; 'Either I am to blame, or thou art,' &c. (2.) When a disjunctive occurs between a singular noun, _or_ pronoun, and a plural one, the verb is made to agree with the _plural_ noun _and_ pronoun: as, 'Neither poverty nor riches _were_ injurious to him;' 'I or they _were_ offended by it.' But in this case, the plural noun _or_ pronoun, when _it_ can conveniently be _done_, should be placed next to the verb."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 151; _Smith's New Gram._, 128; _Alger's Gram._, 54; _Comly's_, 78 and 79; _Merchant's_, 86; _Picket's_, 175; and many more. There are other grammarians who teach, that the verb must agree with the nominative which is placed next to it, whether this be singular or plural; as, "Neither the servants nor the master _is_ respected;"--"Neither the master nor the servants _are_ respected."--_Alexander Murray's Gram._, p. 65. "But if neither the writings nor the author _is_ in existence, the Imperfect should be used."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 107.

OBS. 5.--On this point, a new author has just given us the following precept and criticism: "Never connect by _or_, or _nor_, two or more names or substitutes that have the same _asserter_ [i.e. _verb_] depending on them for sense, if when taken separately, they require different forms of the _asserters_. Examples. 'Neither you nor I _am concerned_. Either he _or_ thou _wast_ there. Either they _or_ he is faulty.' These examples are as erroneous as it would be to say, 'Neither _you am_ concerned, nor am I.' 'Either he _wast_ there, or thou wast.' 'Either _they is_ faulty, or he is.' The sentences should stand thus--'Neither of us _is_ concerned,' or, 'neither _are you_ concerned, nor _am I_.' 'Either _he was_ there, or _thou wast_.' 'Either _they are_ faulty, or _he is_. They are, however, in all their impropriety, writen [sic--KTH] according to the principles of Goold Brown's _grammar!_ and the theories of most of the former writers."--_Oliver B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 252. We shall see by-and-by who is right.

OBS. 6.--Cobbett also--while he approves of such English as, "_He, with them, are_ able to do much," for, "_He and they are_ able to do much"--condemns expressly every possible example in which the verb has not a full and explicit concord with each of its nominatives, if they are connected by _or_ or _nor_. His doctrine is this: "If nominatives of different _numbers_ present themselves, we must not give them a verb which _disagrees_ with either the one or the other. We must not say: 'Neither the halter _nor_ the bayonets _are_ sufficient to prevent us from obtaining our rights.' We must avoid this bad grammar by using a different form of words: as, 'We are to be prevented from obtaining our rights by neither the halter nor the bayonets.' And, why should we _wish_ to write bad grammar, if we can express our meaning in good grammar?"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 242. This question would have more force, if the correction here offered did not convey a meaning _widely different_ from that of the sentence corrected. But he goes on: "We cannot say, 'They or I _am_ in fault; I, or they, or he, _is_ the author of it; George or I _am_ the person.' Mr. Lindley Murray says, that we _may_ use these phrases; and that we have only to take care that the verb agree with that person which is _placed nearest_ to it; but, he says also, that it would be _better_ to avoid such phrases by giving a different turn to our words. I do not like to leave any thing to chance or to discretion, when we have a _clear principle_ for our guide."--_Ib._, ¶ 243. This author's "clear principle" is merely his own confident assumption, that every form of figurative or implied agreement, every thing which the old grammarians denominated _zeugma_, is at once to be condemned as a solecism. He is however supported by an other late writer of much greater merit. See _Churchill's New Gram._, pp. 142 and 312.

OBS. 7.--If, in lieu of their fictitious examples, our grammarians would give us actual quotations from reputable authors, their instructions would doubtless gain something in accuracy, and still more in authority. "_I or they were offended by it_," and, "_I, or thou, or he, is the author of it_," are expressions that I shall not defend. They imply an _egotistical_ speaker, who either does not know, or will not tell, whether he is _offended_ or not,--whether he _is the author_ or not! Again, there are expressions that are unobjectionable, and yet not conformable to any of the rules just quoted. That nominatives may be correctly connected by _or_ or _nor_ without an express agreement of the verb with each of them, is a point which can be proved to as full certainty as almost any other in grammar; Churchill, Cobbett, and Peirce to the contrary notwithstanding. But with which of the nominatives the verb shall expressly agree, or to which of them it may most properly be understood, is a matter not easy to be settled by any _sure_ general rule. Nor is the lack of such a rule a very important defect, though the inculcation of a false or imperfect one may be. So judged at least the ancient grammarians, who noticed and named almost every possible form of the zeugma, without censuring any as being ungrammatical. In the Institutes of English Grammar, I noted first the usual form of this concord, and then the allowable exceptions; but a few late writers, we see, denounce every form of it, exceptions and all: and, standing alone in their notions of the figure, value their own authority more than that of all other critics together.

OBS. 8.--In English, as in other languages, when a verb has discordant nominatives connected disjunctively, it most commonly agrees expressly with that which is nearest, and only by implication, with the more remote; as, "When some word or words _are_ dependent on the attribute."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 153. "To the first of these qualities, dulness or refinements _are_ dangerous enemies."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. ii, p. 15. "He hazards his own life with that of his enemy, and one or both _are_ very _honorably_ murdered."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 235. "The consequence is, that they frown upon everyone whose faults or negligence _interrupts_ or _retards_ their lessons."--_W. C. Woodbridge: Lit. Conv._, p. 114. "Good intentions, or at least sincerity of purpose, _was_ never denied her."--_West's Letters_, p. 43. "Yet this proves not that either he or we _judge_ them to be the rule."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 157. "First clear yourselves of popery before you or thou _dost throw_ it upon us."--_Ib._, i, 169. "_Is_ the gospel or glad tidings of this salvation brought nigh unto all?"--_Ib._, i, 362. "Being persuaded, that either they, or their cause, _is_ naught."--_Ib._, i, 504. "And the reader may judge whether he or I _do_ most fully acknowledge man's fall."--_Ib._, iii, 332. "To do justice to the Ministry, they have not yet pretended that any one, or any two, of the three Estates, _have_ power to make a new law, without the concurrence of the third."--_Junius_, Letter xvii. "The forest, or hunting-grounds, _are_ deemed the property of the tribe."--_Robertson's America_, i, 313. "Birth or titles _confer_ no preëminence."--_Ib._, ii, 184. "Neither tobacco nor hides _were_ imported from Caraccas into Spain."--_Ib._, ii, 507. "The keys or seed-vessel of the maple _has_ two large side-wings."--_The Friend_, vii, 97. "An example or two _are_ sufficient to illustrate the general observation."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang._, i, 58.

"Not thou, nor those thy factious arts engage,
_Shall_ reap that harvest of rebellious rage."--_Dryden_, p. 60.

OBS. 9.--But when the remoter nominative is the principal word, and the nearer one is expressed parenthetically, the verb agrees literally with the former, and only by implication, with the latter; as, "One example, (or ten,) _says_ nothing against it."--_Leigh Hunt_. "And we, (or future ages,) _may_ possibly _have_ a proof of it."--_Bp. Butler_. So, when the alternative is merely in the _words_, not in the _thought_, the former term is sometimes considered the principal one, and is therefore allowed to control the verb; but there is always a harshness in this mixture of different numbers, and, to render such a construction tolerable, it is necessary to read the latter term like a parenthesis, and make the former emphatic: as, "A _parenthesis_, or brackets, _consists_ of two angular strokes, or hooks, enclosing one or more words."--_Whiting's Reader_, p. 28. "To show us that our own _schemes_, or prudence, _have_ no share in our advancements."--_Addison_. "The Mexican _figures_, or picture-writing, _represent_ things, not words; _they_ exhibit images to the eye, not ideas to the understanding."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 243; _English Reader_, p. xiii. "At Travancore, _Koprah_, or dried cocoa-nut kernels, _is_ monopolized by government."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 12. "The _Scriptures_, or Bible, _are_ the only authentic source."--_Bp. Tomline's Evidences_.

"Nor foes nor fortune _take_ this power away;
And is my Abelard less kind than _they_?"--_Pope_, p. 334.

OBS. 10.--The English adjective being indeclinable, we have no examples of some of the forms of zeugma which occur in Latin and Greek. But adjectives differing in _number_, are sometimes connected without a repetition of the noun; and, in the agreement of the verb, the noun which is understood, is less apt to be regarded than that which is expressed, though the latter be more remote; as, "There _are one or two_ small _irregularities_ to be noted."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 63. "There _are one or two persons_, and but one or two."--_Hazlitt's Lectures_. "There _are one or two_ others."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 206. "There _are one or two_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 319. "There _are one or more_ seminaries in every province."--_H. E. Dwight: Lit. Conv._, p. 133. "Whether _one or more_ of the clauses _are_ to be considered the nominative case."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 150. "So that, I believe, there _is_ not _more_ than _one_ genuine example extant."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 10. "There _is_, properly, no _more_ than _one_ pause or rest in the sentence."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 329; _Blair's Rhet._, p. 125. "Sometimes a small _letter or two is_ added to the capital."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 223; _Gould's_, 283. Among the examples in the seventh paragraph above, there is one like this last, but with a plural verb; and if either is objectionable, _is_ should here be _are_. The preceding example, too, is such as I would not imitate. To L. Murray, the following sentence seemed false syntax, because _one_ does not agree with _persons_: "He saw _one or more persons_ enter the garden."--_Murray's Exercises_, Rule 8th, p. 54. In his Key, he has it thus: "He saw one _person_, or _more than one_, enter the garden."--_Oct. Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 189. To me, this stiff _correction_, which many later grammarians have copied, seems worse than none. And the effect of the principle may be noticed in Murray's style elsewhere; as, "When a _semicolon, or more than one_, have preceded."--_Octavo Gram._, i, p. 277; _Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 288. Here a ready writer would be very apt to prefer one of the following phrases: "When a semicolon _or two_ have preceded,"--"When _one or two semicolons_ have preceded,"--"When _one or more semicolons_ have preceded." It is better to write by guess, than to become systematically awkward in expression.

OBS. 11.--In Greek and Latin, the pronoun of the first person, according to our critics, is _generally_[398] placed first; as, "[Greek: Ego kai su ta dikaia poiæsomen]. Xen."--_Milnes's Gr. Gram._, p. 120. That is, "_Ego et tu justa faciemus_." Again: "_Ego et Cicero valemus_. Cic."--_Buchanan's Pref._, p. x; _Adam's Gram._, 206; _Gould's_, 203. "I and Cicero are well."--_Ib._ But, in English, a modest speaker usually gives to others the precedence, and mentions himself last; as, "He, or thou, or I, must go."--"Thou and I will do what is right."--"Cicero and I are well."--_Dr. Adam_.[399] Yet, in speaking of himself and his _dependants_, a person most commonly takes rank before them; as, "Your inestimable letters supported _myself, my wife_, and _children_, in adversity."--_Lucien Bonaparte, Charlemagne_, p. v. "And I shall be destroyed, _I_ and _my house_."--_Gen._, xxxiv, 30. And in acknowledging a fault, misfortune, or censure, any speaker may assume the first place; as, "Both _I and thou_ are in the fault."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 207. "Both _I and you_ are in fault."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. ix. "Trusty did not do it; _I and Robert_ did it."--_Edgeworth's Stories_.

"With critic scales, weighs out the partial wit,
What _I_, or _you_, or _he_, or _no one_ writ."
--_Lloyd's Poems_, p. 162.

OBS. 12.--According to the theory of this work, verbs themselves are not unfrequently connected, one to an other, by _and, or_, or _nor_; so that two or more of them, being properly in the same construction, may be parsed as agreeing with the same nominative: as, "So that the blind and dumb [_man_] both _spake_ and _saw_."--_Matt._, xii, 22. "That no one _might buy_ or _sell_."--_Rev._, xiii, 17. "Which _see_ not, nor _hear_, nor _know_."--_Dan._, v, 23. We have certainly very many examples like these, in which it is neither convenient nor necessary to suppose an ellipsis of the nominative before the latter verb, or before all but the first, as most of our grammarians do, whenever they find two or more finite verbs connected in this manner. It is true, the nominative may, in most instances, be repeated without injury to the sense; but this fact is no proof of such an ellipsis; because many a sentence which is not incomplete, may possibly take additional words without change of meaning. But these authors, (as I have already suggested under the head of conjunctions,) have not been very careful of their own consistency. If they teach, that, "Every finite verb has its own separate nominative, either expressed or implied," which idea Murray and others seem to have gathered from Lowth; or if they say, that, "Conjunctions really unite sentences, when they appear to unite only words," which notion they may have acquired from Harris; what room is there for that common assertion, that, "Conjunctions connect the same moods and tenses of verbs," which is a part of Murray's eighteenth rule, and found in most of our grammars? For no agreement is usually required between verbs that have separate nominatives; and if we supply a nominative wherever we do not find one for each verb, then in fact no two verbs will ever be connected by any conjunction.

OBS. 13.--What agreement there must be, between verbs that are in the same construction, it is not easy to determine with certainty. Some of the Latin grammarians tell us, that certain conjunctions connect "sometimes similar moods and tenses, and sometimes similar moods but different tenses." See _Prat's Grammatica Latina, Octavo_, Part ii, p. 95. Ruddiman, Adam, and Grant, omit the concord of tenses, and enumerate certain conjunctions which "couple like cases and moods." But all of them acknowledge some exceptions to their rules. The instructions of Lindley Murray and others, on this point, may be summed up in the following canon: "When verbs are connected by a conjunction, they must either agree in mood, tense, and form, or have separate nominatives expressed." This rule, (with a considerable exception to it, which other authors had not noticed.) was adopted by myself in the Institutes of English Grammar, and also retained in the Brief Abstract of that work, entitled, The First Lines of English Grammar. It there stands as the thirteenth in the series of principal rules; but, as there is no occasion to refer to it in the exercise of parsing, I now think, a less prominent place may suit it as well or better. The principle may be considered as being less certain and less important than most of the usual rules of syntax: I shall therefore both modify the expression of it, and place it among the notes of the present code. See Notes 5th and 6th below.

OBS. 14.--By the agreement of verbs with each other in _form_, it is meant, that the simple form and the compound, the familiar form and the solemn, the affirmative form and the negative, or the active form and the passive, are not to be connected without a repetition of the nominative. With respect to _our_ language, this part of the rule is doubtless as important, and as true, as any other. A thorough agreement, then, in mood, tense, and form, is _generally_ required, when verbs are connected by _and, or_, or _nor_; and, under each part of this concord, there may be cited certain errors which ought to be avoided, as will by-and-by be shown. But, at the same time, there seem to be many allowable violations of the rule, some or other of which may perhaps form exceptions to every part of it. For example, the _tense_ may be varied, as it often is in Latin; thus, "As the general state of religion _has been, is_, or _shall be_, affected by them."--_Butlers Analogy_, p. 241. "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which _art_, and _wast_, and _shall be_, because thou hast judged thus."--_Rev._, xvi, 5. In the former of these examples, a repetition of the nominative would not be agreeable; in the latter, it would perhaps be an improvement: as, "_who_ art, and _who_ wast, and _who_ shalt be." (I here change the pronoun, because the relative _which_ is not now applied as above.) "This dedication may serve for almost any book, that _has been_, or _shall be_ published."--_Campbell's Rhet._ p. 207; _Murray's Gram._, p. 222. "It ought to be, '_has been, is_, or _shall be_, published.'"--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 383. "Truth and good sense _are_ firm, and _will establish_ themselves."--_Blair's Rhet._ p. 286. "Whereas Milton _followed_ a different plan, and _has given_ a tragic conclusion to a poem otherwise epic in its form."--_Ib._, p. 428. "I am certain, that such _are not_, nor ever _were_, the tenets of the church of England."--_West's Letters_, p. 148. "They _deserve_, and _will meet with_, no regard."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 109.

"Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er _was_, nor _is_, nor e'er _shall be_."
--_Pope, on Crit._

OBS. 15.--So verbs differing in _mood_ or _form_ may sometimes agree with the same nominative, if the simplest verb be placed first--rarely, I think, if the words stand in any other order: as, "One _may be_ free from affectation and _not have_ merit"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 189. "There _is_, and _can be_, no other person."--_Murray's Key_. 8vo. p. 224. "To see what _is_, and _is allowed_ to be, the plain natural rule."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 284. "This great experiment _has worked_, and _is working_, well, every way well"--BRADBURN: _Liberator_, ix. 162. "This edition of Mr. Murray's works on English Grammar, _deserves_ a place in Libraries, and _will not fail_ to obtain it."--BRITISH CRITIC: _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, ii, 299.

"What nothing earthly _gives_, or _can destroy_."--_Pope_.

"Some _are_, and _must be_, greater than the rest."--_Id._

OBS. 16.--Since most of the tenses of an English verb are composed of two or more words, to prevent a needless or disagreeable repetition of auxiliaries, participles, and principal verbs, those parts which are common to two or more verbs in the same sentence, are generally expressed to the first, and understood to the rest; or reserved, and put last, as the common supplement of each; as, "To which they _do_ or _can extend_."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 77. "He _may_, as any one _may_, if he _will, incur_ an infamous execution from the hands of civil justice."--_Ib._, p. 82. "All that has usurped the name of virtue, and [_has_] deceived us by its semblance, must be a mockery and a delusion."--_Dr. Chalmers_. "Human praise, and human eloquence, may acknowledge it, but the Discerner of the heart never will" [_acknowledge it_].--_Id._ "We use thee not so hardly, as prouder livers do" [_use thee_].--_Shak._ "Which they might have foreseen and [_might have_] avoided."--_Butler_. "Every sincere endeavour to amend, shall be assisted, [_shall be_] accepted, and [_shall be_] rewarded."--_Carter_. "Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and [_will_] stand and [_will_] call on the name of the Lord his God, and [_will_] strike his hand over the place, and [_will_] recover the leper."--_2 Kings_, v, 11. "They mean to, and will, hear patiently."--_Salem Register_. That is, "They mean to _hear patiently_, and _they_ will hear patiently." "He can create, and he destroy."--_Bible_. That is,--"and he _can_ destroy."

"Virtue _may be assail'd_, but never _hurt_,
_Surpris'd_ by unjust force, but not _inthrall'd_."--_Milton_.

"Mortals whose pleasures are their only care,
First wish to be _imposed on_, and then _are_."--_Cowper_.

OBS. 17.--From the foregoing examples, it may be seen, that the complex and divisible structure of the English moods and tenses, produces, when verbs are connected together, a striking peculiarity of construction in our language, as compared with the nearest corresponding construction in Latin or Greek. For we can connect different auxiliaries, participles, or principal verbs, without repeating, and apparently without connecting, the other parts of the mood or tense. And although it is commonly supposed that these parts are necessarily understood wherever they are not repeated, there are sentences, and those not a few, in which we cannot express them, without inserting also an additional nominative, and producing distinct clauses; as, "_Should_ it not _be taken_ up and _pursued_?"--_Dr. Chalmers_. "Where thieves _do_ not _break_ through nor _steal_."--_Matt._, vi, 20. "None present _could_ either _read_ or _explain_ the writing-."--_Wood's Dict._, Vol. i, p. 159. Thus we sometimes make a single auxiliary an index to the mood and tense of more than one verb.

OBS. 18.--The verb _do_, which is sometimes an auxiliary and sometimes a principal verb, is thought by some grammarians to be also fitly made a _substitute_ for other verbs, as a pronoun is for nouns; but this doctrine has not been taught with accuracy, and the practice under it will in many instances be found to involve a solecism. In this kind of substitution, there must either be a true ellipsis of the principal verb, so that _do_ is only an auxiliary; or else the verb _do_, with its _object_ or _adverb_, if it need one, must exactly correspond to an action described before; so that to speak of _doing this_ or _thus_, is merely the shortest way of repeating the idea: as, "He _loves_ not plays, as thou _dost_. Antony."--_Shak._ That is, "as thou _dost love plays._" "This fellow is wise enough _to play the fool_; and, _to do that_ well, craves a kind of wit."--_Id._ Here, "_to do that_," is, "_to play the fool_." "I will not _do it_, if I find thirty there."--_Gen._, xviii, 30. Do what? Destroy the city, as had been threatened. Where _do_ is an auxiliary, there is no real substitution; and, in the other instances, it is not properly the verb _do_, that is the substitute, but rather the word that follows it--or perhaps, both. For, since every action consists in _doing something_ or in _doing somehow_, this general verb _do_, with _this, that, it, thus_, or _so_, to identify the action, may assume the import of many a longer phrase. But care must be taken not to substitute this verb for any term to which it is not equivalent; as, "The _a_ is certainly to be sounded as the English _do_."--_Walker's Dict., w. A_. Say, "as the English _sound it_;" for _do_ is here absurd, and grossly solecistical. "The duke had not behaved with that loyalty with which he ought to have _done_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 111; _Murray's_, i, 212; _Churchill's_, 355; _Fisk's_, 137; _Ingersoll's_, 269. Say, "with which he ought to have _behaved_;" for, to have _done_ with loyalty is not what was meant--far from it. Clarendon wrote the text thus: "The Duke had not behaved with that loyalty, _as_ he ought to have done." This should have been corrected, not by changing _"as"_ to _"with which"_, but by saying--"with that loyalty _which_ he ought to have _observed;"_ or, "_which would have become him"_.