515. Predicate attached to First Subject. 'Their language was the same, their manners, their government, their superstition.'

The common predicate is fitted to the first of several subjects, and must be adapted to suit each of the others:

A. Their language was the same;

B. Their manners were the same;
C. Their government was the same;
D. Their superstition was the same.

In such cases, the sentence is usually inverted. Yet inversion may fail to influence the common verb form: as, 'Forgot were hatred, wrongs, and fears.'

516. Second Subject Contrasting or Illustrative. 'The law, and not the judge, condemns the prisoner.'

A. The law condemns the prisoner;

B. The judge does not condemn the prisoner. 'And' does not connect the law' and 'the judge' as conjoint subjects to 'condemns.' contrasted with each other. omitted.

The two subjects are really The formal link and' may be

'Asia, as well as Europe, was dazzled by the power and glory of our tyrants.'

There is but one principal fact; the case of Europe is parenthetically referred to as an illustration already known to the hearer, and the form is subordinate. (§§ 481-3).

Less commonly as well as becomes a single compound conjunction with the force of 'and' emphasised: Great caution as well as foresight are needed.'

EXERCISE 413.

General examples.

1. Two and three is five. 2. The peace and good order of society was not promoted by the feudal system. 3. My lord and master loves you. 4. So says the wisest poet, and perhaps the wisest statesman and politician of antiquity. 5. The author and source of all those miseries is the Duke of Buckingham.

6. Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,
And cheeks all pale which but an hour ago
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness.

7. Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there? 8. When the Duke

died, his son and namesake and successor was an infant. 9. Upon this there was a fearful cry from heaven, and great claps of thunder. 10. Where is Lysander and sweet Hermia? 11. Sleeping and eating, sleeping and eating, is the only work from morning till night in my house.

12. This murderous chief, this ruthless man,

This head of a rebellious clan,

Hath led thee safe.

13. His curiosity, as well as his anxiety, was highly excited. 14. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. 15. He drove a carriage and pair. 16. If the people of this town heard ye say such a word, your utility, and respect, and rank, and everything else, is clean gone. 17. With this universal liberty in respect of subject, there is combined a poignancy of derision and satire, a fecundity of imagination and variety of turns, and a richness of poetical expression-such as cannot be surpassed. 18. To hear the wind getting up out at sea, to know that a fog was creeping over the desolate flat outside, and to look at the fire and think that there was no house near but this one, and this one a boat, was like enchantment. 19. The inhabitants of Para present a most varied and interesting mixture of races. There is the freshcoloured Englishman, who seems to thrive here as well as in the cooler climate of his native country, the sallow American, the swarthy Portuguese, the more corpulent Brazilian, the merry Negro, and the apathetic but finely formed Indian.

20. Her track, where'er the goddess roves,
Glory pursue, and generous Shame,

Th' unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame.

EXERCISE 434.

General examples.

1. Weight and colour together are sufficient to detect a bad sovereign. 2. The soul and the body are inextricably united. 3. The simplest observation is a mixture of intuition and inference. 4. The spirit of religion and the spirit of chivalry concurred to exalt his dignity. 5. The Government and the Protestants had only one thing in common, hatred of the Papal power. 6. A king and a hostile Chamber cannot remain in permanent antagonism. 7. The covenant between Abraham and his Invisible Guide had been simple. 8. The public life and the private life of Charles I. present a strange contrast. 9. Activity and Sensibility are not developed in equal proportions in individual character. 10. The old drama and the new poem are fused into a single composition of thorough originality. 11. A man of genius and virtue is but a man. 12. The indignation excited by his claims and the scorn excited by his concessions went on growing together. 13. In our institutions, the advantages arising from innovation and the advantages arising from

prescription have been combined to an extent elsewhere unknown. 14. The struggle between the old and the new theology in our country was long. 15. In our minds, the Concrete and the Abstract are inextricably blended. 16. Cruel measures followed by cruel retribution, provinces wasted, convents plundered, and cities rased to the ground, make up the greater part of the history of those evil days. 17. It is the business of the logician to lay down the tests of true and false. 18. The King, the Lords, and the Commons constitute our Government. 19. Slow and steady wins the race. 20. An undisciplined army, a rotting fleet, an incapable council, an empty treasury, were all that remained.

21. Our own heart, and not other men's opinions,
Forms our true honour.

EXERCISE 435.

General examples.

1. Nature and justice alike called on me for revenge. 2. The minister's virtues and vices alike contributed to his ruin. 3. During the reign of Charles X., journalism and political literature were the surest roads to political power. 4. These adventurers at once pillaged and disgraced their country. 5. Town and country were alike crushed by heavy taxation. 6. Food and rest became alike distasteful to her. 7. Pride, illnature, want of sense, are the three great sources of ill-manners. 8. Alike in the whole Confederation and in the single Canton, re-election is the rule. 9. The country was in a situation at once degrading and perilous. 10. Dissipation of mind and length of time are the remedies to which the greatest part of mankind trust in their afflictions.

11. The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour.

12. Each man bears at his side the sword which the law at once commands him to carry and forbids him to draw. 13. To injure, to insult, and to save himself from the consequences of injury and insult by lying and equivocating, was the habit of his life. 14. The rise and fall of our amusements pretty much resembles that of empire. 15. Eight lispunds of butter and eight shillings sterling yearly is not too much? 16. One king, one law, one faith, was still the maxim universally accepted. 17. The long and the short of the matter is this. 18. The cottage, the palace, the dungeon, the cathedral, were all equally incapable of adding one ray of colour or one pencil of light to the supernatural halo. 19. The attempt and not the deed confounds us. (Macbeth, II. 2.)

20. High of mood, poor in goods, sword in hand,

Is the coat of arms of Guelderland.

Special Cases of Alternation.

517. Subject twice named.

'On the distant Mainland is seen the town or village of Stromness.'

"Town' and 'village' are merely alternative names for one subject. There is no real alternation of facts.

So -The ling or white fishery is the principal employment of the natives.' In most cases of bodily irritation, we can assign the place or seat of the disturbance.'

518. Alternated Subjects differing in NUMBER: Neutral Predicate Form desirable.

'Neither the boy nor his parents have come.'

A singular and a plural subject are alternated; and, as usual, the verb is plural, with the plural subject next to it. The singular verb is easily extracted for the singular subject: Neither A. The boy has come,

nor B. His parents have come.

With cumulation of subjects, a plural predicate is expected. But here the subjects are viewed in separation, and it seems an unnatural alliance when they nevertheless go shares in a predicate. The jarring is softened by interposing the plural subject between the singular subject and the plural verb common to them. The happy relief is fully attained when the verb form is flexionless; as, Neither the boy nor his parents came-did, will, should, must, can, &c., come.'

EXERCISE 436.

1. Neither the biographer of Alfred, Asserius, nor the existing laws of that prince, bear testimony to the fact. 2. Either the Prince or his advisers are responsible for this step. 3. One man or two boys were always present. 4. Now no longer the worship of the gods or their divinities were greatly regarded. 5. Respecting these points, neither the preacher nor his hearers could entrench themselves behind generalities. 6. Either the gardener or his men must know of it. 7. Whether the king or his enemies should triumph was long doubtful. 8. This is what neither he nor they seem to have known. 9. Nor foes nor fortune take this power away. 10. Neither his wife nor his children are here.

519. Alternated Subjects differing in PERSON : Neutral Predicate Form desirable.

'Either he or I is in the wrong':

Either A. He is in the wrong,

or B. I am in the wrong.

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'I or he am in the wrong':

A. I am in the wrong,

or B. He is in the wrong.

When singular alternated subjects to an inflected verb are of different persons, there is necessarily a compromise. To fit the verb to two discordant subjects is beyond the possibilities of Grammar. Grammarians have naturally been shy of this construction; few have ventured to lay down a rule, neither are these unanimous. The above examples are in accordance with Dr. Latham's decision: (1) When ‘either' or 'neither' precedes the subjects, the verb is in the third person; (2) Otherwise, the verb agrees with the first subject. Yet the presence or the absence of either' or 'neither' seems a somewhat unessential matter for the verb form to be ruled by. Again, we are instructed to make the verb agree with the nearest subject. Further, when the alternation is practically equivalent to one of us,' 'one of you,' the third person suits the common sense of the matter. Yet again, the verb may prefer the first person to the second, and the second to the third. Moreover, we may be able to separate the subjects; as, by an inversion, Does he or you expect to be present?' or, by giving at once a full predication as regards the first- Either he is in the wrong, or I am.' Finally, the best refuge attainable is a neutral predicate form—A FLEXIONLESS VERB.

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EXERCISE 437.

1. Either the Prior or thou has made some singular alterations in date and circumstances. 2. He or I opens the shop every morning. 3. I or my friend am ready to bear witness. 4. Whether he or I is to go, you must decide. 5. Neither you nor any one else can save her. 6. You or he are certainly right. 7. You or I are to be requested to be present. 8. Either you or she ought to be there. 9. Neither you nor I can afford to miss the chance. 10. Rest here till those arrive who are far more able to give your son help than either you or I are. 11. Nor heaven nor thou were made to gaze upon.

12. And whither ye have led me to what end

Nor I nor God knows better than I knew
Then when ye swore me safe.

520. Alternated Subjects (sometimes differing in GENDER) recalled: Neutral Pronoun desirable.

'Neither my father nor my mother ever wore powder in their hair.'

Neither A. My father ever wore powder in his hair,

Nor B. My mother ever wore powder in her hair.