The convention then resolved themselves into a co.nmittee of

the whole.

The crowd was so great that the judges with difficulty made their way through them.

Parsing.

Parse cach pronoun and each collective noun in the above sentences.

Rule XVI.-Connected Antecedents.

When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by and, it must agree with them in the plural number; as. "James and John will favor us with their company."

Exceptions.

1. When two or more antecedents connected by and, serve merely to describe one person or thing; they are in apposition, and do not require a plural pronoun; as, "This great philosopher and statesman continued in public life till his eighty-second year."

2. When two antecedents connected by and are emphatically distinguished, they belong to different propositions, and (if singular) do not require a plural noun; as, "The butler, and not the baker, was restored to his office."-"The good man, and the sinner too, shall have his reward."

3. When two or more antecedents connected by and are preceded by the adjective each, every, or no, they are taken separately, and do not require a plural pronoun; as, "Every plant and every tree produces

others after its kind."

Observations.

1. When the antecedents are of different persons, the first person is preferred to the second, and the second to the third; as, "John, and thou, and I, are attached to our country."- "John and thou are attached to your country."

2. The gender of pronouns, except in the third person singular, is distinguished only by their antecedents. In expressing that of a pronoun which has antecedents of different genders, the masculine should be preferred to the feminine, and the feminine to the neuter.

[See the Notes under Rule X., most of which are applicable to the pronoun as well as to the verb.]

False Syntax.

EXAMPLE.-Discontent and sorrow manifested itself in his

countenance.

FORMULE.-Not proper, because the pronoun itself is of the singular number, and does not correctly represent its two antecedents discontent and sorrow, which are connected by and, and taken conjointly. But, according to Rule XVI., "When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by and, it must agree with them in the plural number." Therefore, itself should be themselves; thus, Discontent and sorrow manifested themselves in his countenance.

Your levity and heedlessness, if it continue, will prevent all substantial improvement.

Poverty and obscurity will oppress him only who esteems it oppressive.

Good sense and refined policy are obvious to few, because it cannot be discovered but by a train of reflection. Avoid haughtiness of behavior, and affectation of manners: it implies a want of solid merit.

If love and unity continue, it will make you partakers of one another's joy.

Suffer not jealousy and distrust to enter: it will destroy, like a canker, every germ of friendship.

Hatred and animosity are inconsistent with Christian charity;

guard, therefore, against the slightest indulgence of it. Every man is entitled to liberty of conscience, and freedom of

opinion, if he does not pervert it to the injury of others. Every plant, every flower, and every insect, show the wisdom of their Creator. (Exception 3.)

Truth, and truth only, are worth seeking for their own sake. (Exception 2.)

He and I love and obey their parents. (Obs. 1.)

You, your brother, and I must attend to their work.

The same spirit, light, and life which enlighten also sanctify. (Exception 1.)

Parsing.

Parse each of the pronouns in the above sentences, when corrected.

Rule XVII.-Connected Antecedents.

When a pronoun has two or more singular antecedents connected by or or nor, it must agree with them in the singular number; as, "James or John will favor us with his company."

Observations.

1. When a pronoun has two or more plural antecedents connected by or or nor, it is of course plural, and agrees with them severally. To the foregoing rule, there are properly no exceptions.

2. When antecedents of different persons, numbers, or genders, are connected by or or nor, they cannot, with strict propriety, be represented by a pronoun that is not applicable to each of them. The following sentence is therefore inaccurate: "Either thou or I am greatly mistaken in our judgment on this subject."-Murray's Key. But different pronouns may be so connected as to refer to such antecedents taken separately; as, "By requiring greater labor from such slave or slaves, than he or she or they are able to perform."-Prince's Digest. Or, if the gender only be different, the masculine may involve the feminine by implication; as, "If a man smite the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid that it perish, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake."-Exodus, xxi., 26.

False Syntax.

EXAMPLE-Neither wealth nor honor can secure the happiness of their votaries.

FORMULE.-Not proper, because the pronoun their is of the plural number, and does not correctly represent its two antecedents wealth and honor, which are connected by nor, and taken disjunctively. But, according to Rule XVII., "When a pronoun has two or more singular antecedents connected by or or nor, it must agree with them in the sin. gular number." Therefore, their should be its; thus, Neither wealth nor honor can secure the happiness of its votaries.

Neither Sarah, Ann, nor Jane, has performed their task.
One or the other must relinquish their claim.

A man is not such a machine as a clock or a watch, which will move only as they are moved.

Rye or barley, when they are scorched, may supply the place

of coffee.

A man may see a metaphor or an allegory in a picture as well as read them in a description.

Despise no infirmity of mind or body, nor any condition of life, for they may be thy own lot.

Have you seen my ox or my cow, which have strayed from

the pasture?

Neither Sarah nor her brother Charles seemed to know their lessons.

Either you or I must be mistaken in our opinion.

Parsing.

Parse al the pronouns in the above sentences, when corrected.

III.-COVERNMENT.

Covernment has respect only to nouns, pronouns, verbs, participles, and prepositions; the other five parts of speech neither govern nor are governed. The governing words may be either nouns, pronouns, verbs, participles, or prepositions; the words governed are either nouns, pronouns, verbs, or participles.

Rule XVIII.-Possessives.

A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the name of the thing possessed; as,

"Theirs is the vanity, the learning thine;

Touch'd by thy hand, again Rome's glories shine."

Observations.

1. When a noun or a pronoun in the possessive case is used as an attribute, it is governed by the subject to which it relates; as, "The book is mine, and not John's."

2. The sign of the possessive is omitted in some appositive or connected terms; as, "In her brother Absalom's house."-"David and Jonathan's friendship.”—“Adam and Eve's morning hymn."-"Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is the Lord's thy God."Deut., x.

3. Where the governing noun cannot be easily mistaken, it is often omitted by ellipsis; as, "At the aldermen's " [house].-"A book of my brother's" [books].—“ A subject of the emperor's " [subjects].

4. The possessive sign is sometimes annexed to that part of a compound name, which is, of itself, in the objective case; as, "The captain-of-the-guard's house."-Bible. "The Bard-of-Lomond's lay is done."-Hogg. "Of the Children-of-Israel's half thou shalt take one portion."-Num., xxxi. The hyphens, inserted here for illustration,

are not usually employed. In the following phrase, the possessive sign is awkwarly added to an adjective: "In Henry the Eighth's time." Better: "In the time of Henry the Eighth." In the following line, the adjective elegantly takes the sign, there being an ellipsis of both nouns:

"The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay."— Goldsmith.

5. To avoid a concurrence of hissing sounds, the s is sometimes omitted, and the apostrophe alone retained to mark the possessive singular; as, "For conscience' sake."-Bible. "Moses' minister."— Ibid. "Felix' room."-Ibid. "Achilles' wrath."-Pope. But in prose the full form should be used.

6. A participle is sometimes used to govern the possessive case, while retaining the government and adjuncts of a participle; as, "This will be the effect of the pupil's composing frequently."-Murray. "What can be the reason of the committee's having delayed this business ?"—Id. Sometimes this construction is awkward, and should be avoided. Thus, it would be better to say, "Why have the committee delayed this business?"

Notes, or Subordinate Rules.

I. In the use of the possessive case, its appropriate form should be observed; thus, write men's, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs; and not mens', her's, it's, our's, your's their's.

II.-When nouns of the possessive case are connected by conjunctions, or put in apposition, the sign of possession must always be annexed to such, and such only, as immediately precede the governing noun, expressed or understood; as, "John and Eliza's teacher is a man of more learning than James's or Andrew's."-"For David my servant's sake."-Bible. "Lost in love's and friendship's smile."-Scott.

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III.—The relation of property may also be expressed by the preposition of and the objective: as, "The will of man; for, "man's will." Of these forms, we should adopt that which