_or_ or _nor_, an explicit concord with each is impossible;
because the verb cannot be of different persons or numbers at the same
time; nor is it so, even when its form is made the same in all the persons
and numbers: thus, "I, thou, [or] he, _may affirm_; we, ye, or they, _may
affirm_."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 36. Respecting the proper
management of the verb when its nominatives thus disagree, the views of our
grammarians are not exactly coincident. Few however are ignorant enough, or
rash enough, to deny that there may be an implicit or implied concord in
such cases,--a _zeugma_ of the verb in English, as well as of the verb or
of the adjective in Latin or Greek. Of this, the following is a brief
example: "But _he nor I feel_ more."--_Dr. Young_, Night iii, p. 35. And I
shall by-and-by add others--enough, I hope, to confute those false critics
who condemn all such phraseology.

OBS. 4.--W. Allen's rule is this: "If the nominatives are of different
numbers or persons, the verb agrees with _the last_; as, he _or_ his
_brothers were_ there; neither _you nor I am_ concerned."--_English Gram._,
p. 133. Lindley Murray, and others, say: (1.) "When singular pronouns, or a
noun and pronoun, of different _persons_, are disjunctively connected, the
verb must agree with that person which is placed _nearest to it_: as, 'I or
thou _art_ to blame;' 'Thou or I _am_ in fault;' 'I, or thou, or he, _is_
the author of it;' 'George or I _am_ the person.' But it would be better to
say; 'Either I am to blame, or thou art,' &c. (2.) When a disjunctive
occurs between a singular noun, _or_ pronoun, and a plural one, the verb is
made to agree with the _plural_ noun _and_ pronoun: as, 'Neither poverty
nor riches _were_ injurious to him;' 'I or they _were_ offended by it.' But
in this case, the plural noun _or_ pronoun, when _it_ can conveniently be
_done_, should be placed next to the verb."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 151;
_Smith's New Gram._, 128; _Alger's Gram._, 54; _Comly's_, 78 and 79;
_Merchant's_, 86; _Picket's_, 175; and many more. There are other
grammarians who teach, that the verb must agree with the nominative which
is placed next to it, whether this be singular or plural; as, "Neither the
servants nor the master _is_ respected;"--"Neither the master nor the
servants _are_ respected."--_Alexander Murray's Gram._, p. 65. "But if
neither the writings nor the author _is_ in existence, the Imperfect should
be used."--_Sanborn's Gra