Such examples as the following may be given and justified:—
1. Beauty and utility are combined in nature. 2. Either beauty or utility appears in every natural object. 3. Here is neither beauty nor utility. 4. Time and tide wait for no man. 5. Wisdom and prudence dwell with the lowly man. 6. Does either landlord or tenant profit by this bill? 7. Neither landlords nor tenants profit by this bill. 8. Every fly, bee, beetle, and butterfly is provided with six feet. 9. That desperate robber and murderer was finally secured. 10. That desperate robber and that murderer were finally secured. 11. The builder and owner of the yacht has sailed from Liverpool. 12. The builder and the owner of the yacht have sailed from Liverpool. 13. A lame and blind man was provided with food and lodging. 14. A lame and a blind man were provided with food and lodging.
Particular attention may be called to examples 9-14, that the pupils may note the effect of repeating that, the, and a.
Pupils should early learn that rules in grammar should not be followed rigidly and blindly, as they generally have variations and exceptions. Caution, however, should be used in presenting exceptions, lest the pupils become confused. They may be presented in reviews after the rules and general principles are well understood. They need not be formally stated, but may be introduced in the way of observation lessons that appeal to the judgment rather than to the memory. In this way such constructions as the following may be introduced:—
1. Neither he nor _I am _going. (Better—He is not going, nor am I.) 2. Neither John nor his sisters were there. 3. Action, and not words, is needed. 4. Bread and milk is good food. 5. The committee are unable to agree on their report. 6. The committee has made its report.
Other examples may be given till the pupils are led to discover that in examples like (1) and (2) the verb agrees with its nearest subject, and that the plural subject is usually placed next to the verb; that in (3) the verb agrees with the affirmative subject, another verb being understood with the negative subject; that in (4) "bread and milk" represents one article of food; and that in (5) the individuals of the committee are thought of, while in (6) the committee as a whole is thought of. In (5) and (6) the agreement of the pronoun may also be noted. Pronouns may be introduced into many of the preceding exercises and the pupils led to apply to the agreement of the pronoun with its antecedent what has been learned of the agreement of the verb with its subject. Let the pupils determine why the following connected subjects are arranged in the proper order:—
1. You and I are invited. 2. Mary and I are invited. 3. You and Mary are invited. 4. You and Mary and I are invited.
WRITING NAMES—CAPITALS AND ABBREVIATIONS. [Footnote: For list of abbreviations see p. 191.]
Pupils may copy the following list of names, and note all peculiarities in form:—
Texas, state, river, Red River, city, Albany, New Orleans, Kansas City, statesman, Thomas Jefferson, Thos. Jefferson, author, Charles Dickens, Chas. Dickens, writer, George William Curtis, Geo. Wm. Curtis, Geo. W. Curtis, poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, John G. Whittier, J. G. Whittier, gulf, sea, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, lake, Lake Erie, general, General Robert Edmund Lee, Gen. Robt. E. Lee, doctor, Doctor Valentine Mott, Dr. V. Mott, professor, Prof. Goldwin Smith.