plural verb and pronoun to the one class, and a singular verb and pronoun to the other. We shall immediately perceive the impropriety of the following constructions: 'The clergy has withdrawn itself from the temporal courts;' 'The assembly was divided in its opinion;' &c."--Octavo Gram., p. 153. The simple fact is, that clergy, assembly, and perhaps every other collective noun, may sometimes convey the idea of unity, and sometimes that of plurality; but an "opinion" or a voluntary "withdrawing" is a personal act or quality; wherefore it is here more consistent to adopt the plural sense and construction, in which alone we take the collection as individuals, or persons.
OBS. 7.--Although a uniformity of number is generally preferable to diversity, in the construction of words that refer to the same collective noun: and although many grammarians deny that any departure from such uniformity is allowable; yet, if the singular be put first, a plural pronoun may sometimes follow without obvious impropriety: as, "So Judah was carried away out of their land."--2 Kings, xxv, 21. "Israel is reproved and threatened for their impiety and idolatry."--Friends' Bible, Hosea, x. "There is the enemy who wait to give us battle."--Murray's Introductory Reader, p. 36. When the idea of plurality predominates in the author's mind, a plural verb is sometimes used before a collective noun that has the singular article an or a; as, "There are a sort of authors, who seem to take up with appearances."-- Addison. "Here are a number of facts or incidents leading to the end in view."--Kames, El. of Crit., ii, 296. "There are a great number of exceedingly good writers among the French."--Maunder's Gram., p. 11.
"There in the forum swarm a numerous train,
The subject of debate a townsman slain."
--Pope, Iliad, B. xviii, l. 578.
OBS. 8.--Collective nouns, when they are merely partitive of the plural, like the words sort and number above, are usually connected with a plural verb, even though they have a singular definitive; as, "And this sort of adverbs commonly admit of Comparison."--Buchanan's English Syntax, p. 64. Here, perhaps, it would be better to say, "Adverbs of this sort commonly admit of comparison." "A part of the exports consist of raw silk."--Webster's Improved Gram., p. 100. This construction is censured by Murray, in his octavo Gram., p. 148; where we are told, that the verb should agree with the first noun only. Dr. Webster alludes to this circumstance, in improving his grammar, and admits that, "A part of the exports consists, seems to be more correct."--Improved Gram., p. 100. Yet he retains his original text, and obviously thinks it a light thing, that, "in some cases," his rules or examples "may not be vindicable." (See Obs. 14th, 15th, and 16th, on Rule 14th, of this code.) It would, I think, be better to say, "The exports consist partly of raw silk." Again: "A multitude of Latin words have, of late, been poured in upon us."--Blair's Rhet., p. 94. Better, perhaps: "Latin words, in great multitude, have, of late, been poured in upon us." So: "For the bulk of writers are very apt to confound them with each other."--Ib., p. 97. Better: "For most writers are very apt to confound them with each other." In the following example, (here cited as Kames has it, El. of Crit., ii, 247,) either the verb is, or the phrase, "There are some moveless men" might as well have been used:
"There are a sort of men, whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing pond."--Shak.
OBS. 9.--Collections of things are much less frequently and less properly regarded as individuals, or under the idea of plurality, than collections of persons. This distinction may account for the difference of construction in the two clauses of the following example; though I rather doubt whether a plural verb ought to be used in the former: "The number of commissioned officers in the guards are to the marching regiments as one to eleven: the number of regiments given to the guards, compared with those given to the line, is about three to one."--Junius, p. 147. Whenever the multitude is spoken of with reference to a personal act or quality, the verb ought, as I before suggested, to be in the plural number; as, "The public are informed."--"The plaintiff's counsel have assumed a difficult task."--"The committee were instructed to prepare a remonstrance." "The English nation declare they are grossly injured by their representatives."--Junius, p. 147. "One particular class of men are permitted to call themselves the King's friends."--Id., p. 176. "The Ministry have realized the compendious ideas of Caligula."--Id., p. 177. It is in accordance with this principle, that the following sentences have plural verbs and pronouns, though their definitives are singular, and perhaps ought to be singular: "So depraved were that people whom in their history we so much admire."--HUME: M'Ilvaine's Lect., p. 400. "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold."--Exodus, xxxii, 31. "This people thus gathered have not wanted those trials."--Barclay's Works, i, 460. The following examples, among others, are censured by Priestley, Murray, and the copyists of the latter, without sufficient discrimination, and for a reason which I think fallacious; namely, "because the ideas they represent seem not to be sufficiently divided in the mind:"--"The court of Rome were not without solicitude."--Hume. "The house of Lords were so much influenced by these reasons."--Id. See Priestley's Gram., p. 188; Murray's, 152; R. C. Smith's, 129; Ingersoll's, 248; and others.
OBS. 10.--In general, a collective noun, unless it be made plural in form, no more admits a plural adjective before it, than any other singular noun. Hence the impropriety of putting these or those before kind or sort; as, "These kind of knaves I know."--Shakspeare. Hence, too, I infer that cattle is not a collective noun, as Nixon would have it to be, but an irregular plural which has no singular; because we can say these cattle or those cattle, but neither a bullock nor a herd is ever called a cattle, this cattle, or that cattle. And if "cavalry, clergy, commonalty," &c., were like this
