the singular. Gibbon does so in every instance; while Macaulay and other eminent writers invariably use the conjunction "and," instead of the preposition "with," especially where the sense requires the plural, as in this example :

"This Thyre, surnamed Bolöxe, with her twelve children, were notorious robbers."-THORPE. Northern Mythology.

In this place were is absurd, because, grammatically speaking, its nominative is the singular "Thyre;" and was would be equally so, because it would not include "children." The fact is, all this absurdity arises from the great parent absurdity of employing the preposition "with,” instead of the conjunction "and." Schoolboys, before they are transformed into authors, generally write such sentences in the following unsophisticated fashion :

"This Thyre, surnamed Bolöxe, and her twelve children were notorious robbers."

Little.

“ Concerning some of them little more than the names are to be learned from literary history."-HALLAM. Literature of Europe.

"It is from no want of poetical disposition that there have been, since the rise of free institutions, so little real poetry in France."-ALISON. History of Europe from Fall of Napoleon.

Nothing.

"It would be worse than useless to enter into minute disquisitions on a subject where nothing but clearness and simplicity are desirable."-MAUNDER. English Scholar's Guide.

There are some who carry this confusion of singulars and plurals so far as to apply both to the same word. Examples:

"The Catholic party is by no means inferior in the felicities of their style."-D'ISRAELI. Curiosities.

"In every ward one of the king's council took every man's book, and sealed them, and brought them to Guildhall to confront them with the original.-Ibid.

"The Roman Saturnalia were latterly prolonged to a week's debauchery and folly."-Ibid.

"Such was the Roman Saturnalia, the favourite popular recreations of Paganism.”—Ibid.

Alison has some examples of the same fault :

"The study of a single character must, with her, be the work of nearly as much time and thought as their original conception by the dramatic poet."-Essay on the British Theatre.

"The Spanish government, exhausted by the exertions they had already made, was unable to maintain their forces at the former complement."-History of Europe.

"Seated in their high saddles, with stirrups so short that their knees are up to their elbows, and the reins of a powerful bit in their hands, the Turkish horseman pushes on with fearless hardihood at the gallop, confident in his sure-footed steed." -History of Europe from Fall of Napoleon.

Under this head may be classed the following instance, in which the same nominative is put in the plural with one verb, and in the singular with another :

"The masterly boldness and precision of his outline, which astonish those who have trodden parts of the same field, is apt to escape an uninformed reader."-HALLAM. Literature of Europe.

There is another form of phrase in which it should seem that neither the singular nor the plural can be properly employed. This occurs when two adjectives of different import are coupled with a noun singular. Here are some examples :

"We suppose in England that the abstract and the practical knowledge are at variance."-SIR B. LYTTON. England and the English.

"In the latter also religious and grammatical learning go hand in hand."-HALLAM. Literature of Europe.

"The blessings which political and intellectual freedom have brought in their train."-MACAULAY. History of England. "An English and a Frenchwoman are in fact destined to different functions in the system of society."-CHENEVIX. Essay on National Character.

"The king was an adept in necromancy, and a male and female devil were always in waiting for any emergency."D'ISRAELI. Curiosities.

In these sentences the grammar seems to require the verb in the singular. It sounds harsh to say "knowledge are," "learning go," "freedom have," "woman are," "a devil were." But the sense requires the plural, as this example will show:

"The logical and historical analysis of a language generally in some degree coincides."-LATHAM. The English Language.

Here the grammar is correct: "analysis" is in the singular, and so is "coincides." But the sense is sacrificed, inasmuch as the singular cannot properly express a coincidence," which

always implies two things, at least. In all such sentences, the difficulty is got rid of by repeating the noun which forms the nominative to the verb, as in the following:

"Roman Catholic Europe and Reformed Europe were struggling for death or life."- MACAULAY. History of England.

This sort of plural assumes another shape in such sentences as the following

"An officer on European and on Indian service are in very different situations."-SYDNEY SMITH. Essays.

"The praise of the statesman, the warrior, or the orator furnish more splendid topics for ambitious eloquence."VERPLANCK. The Schoolmaster.

"The literature of France, Germany, and England are at least as necessary for a man born in the nineteenth century as that of Rome and Athens.”—SIR B. LYTTON. England and the English.

In this last example the writer is opposed to himself: for, if he is correct in using the singular "that" with reference to the literature of Rome and Athens, then the plural "are" is incorrectly coupled with the same word in the beginning of the sentence.

To these I shall add an instance of a peculiar kind, which occurs in a speech made by Mr. Cobden at Manchester, in 1851. It is as follows:

"We have already made such progress, that some four or five millions of reduction in our expenditure has taken place."

Here it is intended that "reduction" should be the nominative case to "has;" and so, in

truth, the sense requires it. But the phrase is so constructed that "reduction" is governed by the preposition "of," while the real nominative to "has" is "millions." "Has" is therefore bad; and "have" would be equally bad, because it is not the "millions" that have taken place, but the "reduction." The sentence should stand

thus:

“We have already made such progress, that a reduction of some four or five millions in our expenditure has taken place."

Here is another example of the same fault :

"A few hours of mutual intercourse dispels the alienation which years of separation may have produced.”—ALISON. Essay on the Royal Progress.

So much for the confounding of singulars and plurals. It is not for me to explain how it comes to pass that a blunder, so offensive to the ear, should be so common even in our most distinguished writers. There is, however, one circumstance which obviously tends to its production, and which, as confirming the views already propounded respecting our indifference on the score of grammar, it is incumbent on me to lay before the reader. The mind of an educated Frenchman is so thoroughly alive to the grammatical difficulties of his native tongue, that, however involved a sentence may be, he always keeps in view the relative position of each of its members. Before he writes a verb, he ascertains the number of its