"The two houses, in the act of king William, did not thank God that they had found a fair opportunity to assert a right to choose their own governors, much less to make an election the only lawful title to the crown. Their having been in a condition to avoid the very appearance of it, as much as possible, was by them considered as a providential escape." (Ib. p. 25.)

So Dr. Arnold, Hist. Rome, iii. 135:

"The importance of the Spanish war consisted not so much in the particular events, as in its being kept up at all."

Those who prefer to do so may usually without difficulty avoid a somewhat inelegant construction. Thus, in the three last quoted instances, it would be perfectly correct to say

"The fact that it was not done at the time

"The fact that they were in a condition .
"The fact that the war was kept up at all."

It may, perhaps, be assumed, that wherever a pronoun is legitimately used, the noun may be substituted for it. But it would be extremely inelegant, if not absolutely inadmissible, to say, "The war's being kept up,”"The thing's not having been done,"-"The two houses' having been in [such] a condition."

§ 71. Breach of Concord.-The concord of subject and predicate is strictly a matter rather of grammar than of composition. The student is supposed to be familiar with the practical rules on this subject (E. Gr. §§ 246-250); but as breaches of concord often arise from inadvertence, and are occasionally to be met with even in good authors, it may be useful to note some of the causes which lead to such inaccuracies.

§ 72. Sometimes the true subject is lost sight of, owing to the intervention of other words between it and the verb. This is, indeed, the most frequent source of errors of this kind; and the student must, therefore, be on his guard against being misled by his ear, and carefully keep the subject in view. The following instances may suffice to illustrate this point:

"The enormous expense of governments have provoked men to think, by making them feel." (Paine, Rights, p. 128.)

The increase of the bills stood thus: the usual number of burials in a week in the parishes of St. Giles's in the Fields and St. Andrew's, Holborn, were from twelve to seventeen. (De Foe, Plague, p. 3.)

...

"Everything which rancour, prejudice, ignorance, or knowledge could suggest, are poured forth in the copious fury of 400 pages." (Paine, Rights.)

Bring together in each instance Nominative case and verb, and the error is at once apparent :

"The usual number. . . were from twelve to seventeen."

"Everything . . . are poured forth . . ."

...

(Compare E. Gr. § 246, Obs. 3.)

§ 73. The like cause sometimes leads to the use of a plural for a singular pronoun, or vice versa : e.g.—

Repulsed from thence, the waves of insurrection rolled to the westward, and broke on the Palais Royal, where it was only averted by the firm countenance of the National Guard." (Alison, ch. xxvi.)

Here the writer appears to have quite lost sight of his plural subject "the waves.' The easiest correction is to read instead, "the wave of insurrection."

The following is a less gross example of the same fault:

"Perhaps at the same moment, as he [the traveller] casts his eye down some steep slope or almost unfathomable ravine on the margin of the road, he sees their depths glowing with the rich blooms and enamelled vegetation of the tropics." (Prescott, Mex. i. 6.)

Here the traveller is represented as "casting his eye" down some slope "or ravine-not of course down both at once. The plural pronoun is therefore wrong. It should be" its depths."

Passages like the following are common in our newspapers :

"It is stated that the Russian advanced corps was attacked near Yeni Saragh by the Turks. . . and were driven back to the Balkans, but that later in the day they returned with reinforcements," &c. (Daily Paper.)

The only security against such blunders lies in keeping a clear head while writing.

§ 74. The attention of the student has already been directed to the incorrect use of a singular verb after a relative with a plural antecedent, in such phrases asone of the wisest men that has ever lived" (§ 46). Here we may see the effect of the contrary process to that which has just been described. Intervening words

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essential to the grammatical construction have been lost sight of, and the verb is consequently attached to a word to which it does not properly belong.

§ 75. Irregularities often occur in the use of Collective Nouns. It will be a safe rule for the student always to use the singular after a Collective Noun, unless some obvious incongruity would result from doing so. It is the very essence of a Collective Noun to present to the mind a unified conception, not a number of distinct persons or things. If it is the intention of the writer to speak expressly of the distinct constituents, he should avoid the use of the collective noun altogether. Such a confusion as is seen in the following instance is in the highest degree objectionable :

"The congregation was not very nunerous, and when it broke up, several of them lingered behind." (Novel.)

It should have been rather-"Several persons "—or, "several of those who had formed part of it."

The following again is of doubtful propriety:

"The whole council were unanimously of opinion." (Alison, ch. xxv.)

In this case not only the collective noun council, but the adjective [whole] attached to it has a unifying force, and implies a merging of the individuals in the body. It should rather be, "the whole council was of opinion," or, "the members of the council were unanimously of opinion." In the following instance again the plural predicate seems out of place :

"In addition to this, a strong party in the chief towns, particularly Ant werp, Ghent, Bruges, and Brussels, composed of the richest and most eminent citizens, were desirous of resuming the connection with Holland. . . ." (Ib.)

Here again the very language used, "a party composed" of such and such elements, shows that the noun is used in its strictly collective sense, and should therefore be followed by a singular verb.

§ 76. Akin to the use of collective nouns is that of numbers expressive of quantity or weight. After such expressions it would seem to be more logical to use the singular. Mr. Prescott writes

"Fifty or sixty pounds were the usual load for a man." (Mex. i. 113.)

It would perhaps be better either to say was, or to avoid the difficulty by using an uninflected form, “Fifty or sixty pounds formed the usual load."

§ 77. Neither... nor.-Many examples may be collected to show that the use of singular or plural after subjects so connected, has been regarded as more or less an open question. The best authorities, however, are in favour of the singular (see E. Gr. § 249).

§ 78. A point somewhat analogous to those which have been considered, is the use of a plural in speaking of several things of the same kind belonging to different persons. The following instance will show what is

meant :

"However loudly the principles of non-intervention demanded an entire abstinence on either side (? on both sides) from any interference in the quarrels of Holland and Belgium, yet it was evident that such a course would at the moment be perilous to the government at the head of both." (Alison, ch. xxv.)

As this passage stands, it certainly implies that England and France (for these are the two powers referred to) were under one and the same government. The correction is easy for government read governments.

The following passage from Gibbon (Autobiog. p. 43) is open to a similar criticism :—

"I listened with more pleasure to the proposal of studying the law of nature and nations, which was taught in the academy of Lausanne." Here the correction is less easy. The writer apparently has in view the Latin "jus naturae et gentium." It would perhaps be better to say—“ natural and national law ; or "the law of nature and that of nations."

The following may perhaps be justified, but the plural would be more correct, and the use of the singular has rather a grotesque effect:

"More fuel, culinary implements, kitchen room; what! all these merely to tickle the palate of four or five people, and especially people who can hardly pay their way." (Cobbett, Advice to Young Men.)

Read "palates."

3. REPETITION OF ARTICLE OR PREPOSITION BEFORE TWO OR MORE NOUNS.

$79. When several Nouns denoting distinct things come together in enumerations, the same article is usually placed before each, as

"Their more useful arms consisted in a helmet, an oblong shield, light boots, and a coat of mail." (Gibbon, D. and F. 1.)

"Hadrian possessed the various talents of the soldier, the statesman, and the scholar." (lb.)

"In some of these fields," the rye, the pease, and the oats were high enough to conceal a man.' (Mac. H. E. i. 616.)

"Our streams yield nothing but the bull's head or miller's thumb, the trout, the eel, the lampern, and the stickle-back." (White, Selb. Letter 11.)

When the objects are represented not as perfectly distinct, but as closely connected with each other, the article is not repeated, as—

"The forests and morasses of Germany were filled with a hardy race of barbarians." (Gibbon, D. and F. i.)

Here the writer has no intention of distinguishing between "forests and "morasses," both of which are represented as largely making up ancient Germany.

"The recruits and young soldiers were constantly trained in the morning and the evening." (Ib.)

Here the Article is not repeated before the designation. young soldiers," these forming one body with the "recruits." On the other hand its repetition in the latter clause serves to call special attention to the assiduity of military training-" in the morning and the evening."

"The willow-wrens are horrid pests in a garden, destroying the pease, cherries, currants, &c." (White, Selb. Letter 16.)

Here again one Article is sufficient, the sundry items enumerated being thrown together, as making up the food of birds.

[See School Manual of English Grammar, §§ 227–229.]

$80. The same principles apply to the repetition or omission of a preposition. When each noun requires to be insisted upon separately, the preposition must be repeated,