he does not corrupt the fountains of knowledge, which are in things themselves, yet he does, as much as in him lies break or stop the pipes whereby it is distributed to the public use and advantage of mankind."

ON THE SUBJECT AND THE VERB.

It has been already laid down that a noun and a verb are essential to the construction of every sentence, however simple-a verb as the affirming word, and a noun as the name of that of which the affirmation is made: the verb is governed by the noun which is connected with it as its nominative case, which latter is called the subject of the verb, or of the sentence, from sub-under, and jectum=to throw, being, as it were, the foundation on which the sentence is built.

The verb and the noun, it will have been seen from what has gone before, are inflected in number, and the verb in person too; the noun, moreover, changes its person according as it stands for the speaker, the person spoken to, or the person spoken of. Number and person are the only two accidents (so to speak) which the noun and the verb have in common; the verb wanting gender and case, which the noun has, and the noun wanting mood and tense, which the verb has. The verb accommodates itself to the noun in these two common particulars; that is, the verb is always in the same number and person as the subject, which is in the nominative case.

The subject and the verb being so essential to the formation of a sentence-being, in fact, the most important words therein the agreement between them is generally treated of first by grammarians, and the principle of their agreement is first laid down in the following formal rule :

RULE I.-The verb agrees with its nominative case in number and person. I walk-The men were found guilty -The house is finished, will serve as illustrations of this

principle. I walkest-I walks-The men was found guilty -The house are finished, are violations thereof, in one or other of the particulars of number and person, as will be seen on considering the number and person of the subjects severally, and referring to the conjugation of the verb.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE SUBJECT AND THE VERB.

1. The subject or nominative case it is which influences, in the aforesaid particulars, the verb; not the verb, the nominative case; hence, if it were required to correct the ungrammatical expression, "The sun shine," the verb must be operated on, not the subject; there are two ways of changing the expression, so as to make it conformable to good grammar, viz., The suns shine, or The sun shines, the question is, which is the correction? Evidently the latter; accommodating, as it does, the number and person of the verb to those of the subject, which, as first present to the mind, and that whereof something is to be asserted, cannot be altered.

2. It has been already stated that verbs and nouns are, in some instances, convertible: the infinitive mood especially may be placed in the position of a noun-to laugh

laughing; to read=reading; to see=seeing; hence it is that the infinitive mood is frequently used as the subject of a verb, as "To read is pleasant;" "Not to see is unpleasant."

3. With the infinitive in such a position, some other word or words necessary to complete the sense will generally be found associated; as, "To do wrong is never useful;" "To betray our country is a sin."

4. A complete sentence is sometimes used as the subject of a verb; as, "Let him come and take them," was the laconic reply of Leonidas to the Persian herald demanding him (Leonidas) to lay down his arms.

NOTE. The verb in the position referred to in Observations 2, 3, and 4, is in the singular number.

5. Two or more nominatives singular, connected by a copulative conjunction, have a verb plural; as, "Cicero and Demosthenes were great orators;' "The food which nourishes our bodies, and the care which protects us from harm, convince us of the goodness of our Creator."

6. They also have a plural pronoun to represent them; as, "Brutus and Cassius were the most eminent of the conspirators; they were distinguished for their love of justice."

NOTE. The foregoing observation (5), is given as it is generally laid down by grammarians: it is correct as far as it goes, but calculated to mislead, inasmuch as it asserts the necessity of the singular subjects being connected by a copulative conjunction-a necessity which does not exist; it is not necessary even that the several nouns forming the subject should be in the nominative case. With is a preposition: it will be seen hereafter that prepositions take after them nouns in the objective case; the noun or nouns, however, introduced by with, may form part of the subject; and, whether singular or plural, will, when associated with some nominative, cause the verb to be plural: thus-"Industrious application to business, with a frugal habit of life, generally produce independence." Care must be taken, however, to ascertain whether with introduces a noun which stands as a name for an individual taking part in the act expressed by the verb, or whether it introduces a word expressing the instrument or agent whereby such act is performed. In the former case, the verb may, with the strictest propriety, be plural; in the latter, it will be singular or plural, irrespectively of the noun or nouns succeeding with, and according as the word preceding it conveys singularity or plurality of ideas; as, "Luxurious living, with indolent pleasure, produce such satiety and languor as banish true enjoyment;" "The man with the poker has just broken the iron bars of his cellar door." With signifies sometimes along with, together with, &c. &c., and as such may be considered a copulative conjunction as well as and. Of both these particles, it may be further remarked, that they are probably the only ones which, as conjunctions, combine the agency of two or more in one. As well as, though apparently of nearly equal value to with, when a copulative particle, merely expresses a comparison, and does not exercise any influence on the number of the following verb; as, "Domitian, as well as Nero, was a persecutor of the Christians;" wherein, although the affirmation is equally made of both, the verb is governed by the number of the first subject, irrespectively of the

number of the latter, between the individual represented by which and the first subject the " as well as merely expresses a comparison.

7. The foregoing remarks having reference to a plural verb, may be thus comprehensively summed up-"The verb in the English language is plural when its subject is a plural noun or pronoun, or when two or more nouns or pronouns are so connected as to represent individuals, all of whom take part in, or receive the act expressed by the verb."

8. This rule is frequently violated even by the best writers, and the verb, though having different singular subjects copulatively connected, is made singular. The following violation thereof is from the pen of Whately :"The hardship and exposure of a savage life speedily destroys those who are not of a robust constitution." This construction of the verb should by no means be imitated, though it cannot be called grammatically incorrect, being defensible on the principle of the ellipsis, the verb in the singular being understood with one subject and expressed with the other; thus-"The hardship of a savage life speedily destroys those, &c. &c. and the exposure of a savage life speedily destroys." Such construction, moreover, is consonant with the usage, in many instances, of the classical languages, especially of the Latin.

9. Two or more singular nouns denoting the same person or thing take a verb singular; as, "That eminent lawyer and statesman has conferred great service on his country.'

10. When of two nouns the first is singular and the other plural or singular, and when they stand connected by and followed by not, the verb must be singular, as, “His money, and not his virtues, has procured him respect."

11. When nouns coupled with and are qualified by the distributive every, the verb is singular; as, "Every cat and dog in the city was destroyed by the plague.'

12. A noun of multitude, and a collective noun, though in the singular form, will require the verb to be plural, provided each individual of the aggregate suggested by such nouns be represented as performing or receiving the act; as, "My people do not consider." The word meeting

* The reason is obvious. Only one individual is spoken of, though by different names implying different properties.

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is a noun of multitude, and represents a number of indi viduals; yet it would be ungrammatical to write—“The meeting have unequivocally declared its sentiments;" one meeting, not two-unity, not plurality-being here suggested. Some words may be so used as to express unity in one instance, and plurality of idea in another; and the verb will be singular or plural, according to the idea which predominates: thus-"The infantry was swept off the field;""The infantry were annihilated to a man,”—are both equally correct. The following is the rule which Latham gives on this head:-"The number of the verb that shall accompany a collective noun depends upon whether the idea of the multiplicity of individuals or that of the unity of the aggregate shall predominate.

13. It should further be observed, that the same principle decides the number of the pronoun which is substi tuted for the noun- "My people do not consider, they have not known me;" "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign given to it."

14. Two or more singular nouns, connected by or or nor, require the verb and pronoun to be in the singular number; as, "Neither his money nor prodigality has procured him respect;" "Either his son or daughter was shut up in the

room."

NOTE. The reason of this usage is obvious: in such cases the assertion is not made of both nouns together, but only of one or the other; and hence the verb is singular.

15. A singular and a plural nominative, connected by or or nor, cannot have the verb to agree with both the verb, in such cases, is made sometimes to agree with the nominative coming next to it; as, "They or he was offended." The more generally adopted usage appears to be this: to cause the verb to agree with the plural nominative, which is placed last thus-"The deceitfulness of the world, or the cares of life, cause many men to renounce society, and withdraw themselves into the closet;" "Neither the builder nor the workmen were relieved of the responsibility."

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NOTE 1.-It being impossible, without a pedantic affectation of precision, to cause the verb to agree with both subjects, a considerable latitude is allowed in such cases, and the determination of the number of the verb depends on choice. Mr. Cobbett, however, who is as ignorant of