ition, the verb is in the singular
number.

s. 419. _Collectiveness as opposed to plurality._--In sentences like _the
meeting _was_ large_, _the multitude _pursue_ pleasure_, _meeting_ and
_multitude_ are each collective nouns; that is, although they present the
idea of a single object, that object consists of a plurality of
individuals. Hence, _pursue_ is put in the plural number. To say, however,
_the meeting were large_ would sound improper. 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.

_Sand and salt and a mass of iron _is_ easier to bear than a man without
understanding._--Let _sand and salt and a mass of iron_ be dealt with as a
series of things the aggregate of which forms a mixture, and the expression
is allowable.

_The king and the lords and commons _forms_ an excellent frame of
government._--Here the expression is doubtful. Substitute _with_ for the
first _and_, and there is no doubt as to the propriety of the singular form
_is_.

s. 420. _The reduction of complex forms to simple ones._--Take, for
instance, the current illustration, viz., _the-king-of-Saxony's
army_.--Here the assertion is, not that the army belongs to _Saxony_, but
that it belongs to the _king of Saxony_; which words must, for the sake of
taking a true view of the construction, be dealt with as a single word in
the possessive case. Here two cases are dealt with as one; and a complex
term is treated as a single word.

The same reason applies to phrases like _the two king Williams_. If we say
the _two kings William_, we must account for the phrase by apposition.

s. 421. _True notion of the part of speech in use._--In _he is gone_, the
word _gone_ must be considered as equivalent to _absent_; that is, as an
adjective. Otherwise the expression is as incorrect as the expression _she
is eloped_. Strong participles are adjectival oftener than weak ones: their
form being common to many adjectives.

_True notion of the original form._--In the phrase _I must speak_, the word
_speak_ is an infinitive. In the phrase _I am forced to speak_, the word
_speak_ is (in the present English) an infinitive also. In one case,
however, it is preceded by _to_; whilst in the other, the particle _to_ is
absent. The reason for this lies in the original difference of form.
_Speak_ - _to_ = the Anglo-Saxon _spr['e]can_, a