these clauses are themselves subdivided by commas (Ex. 8), or when the pause between them is greater than that indicated by the comma (Ex. 3). The semicolon may be used between two independent clauses, when the second clause expresses an idea which is in contrast to the idea expressed in the first clause (Ex. 1), or a repetition (Ex. 2) or an explanation of it (Ex. 5). See Rules for Punctuation, VII. 1, 2, 3, Lessons XLIV. and XLV. LESSON VI. THE COLLECTIVE NOUN. A collective noun may be regarded as singular or plural; as singular, when stress is laid on the idea of the whole, as plural, when stress is laid on the parts which make up the whole. When the noun is regarded as singular, the verb which it governs should of course be singular; when the noun is regarded as plural, the verb also should be plural. In either case care must be taken to use the noun consistently throughout a sentence. Notice in the following examples that just as the number of the collective noun governs the number of its verb, so it determines the number of a pronoun or of a possessive adjective which refers to it. 1. Captain. EXAMPLES. "And now the house of York thrust from the crown By shameful murder of a guiltless king And lofty proud encroaching tyranny, Burns with revenging fire." King Henry VI., Pt. II. iv. 1. 2. "But call not thou this traitor of my house Who hath but dwelt beneath one roof with me, My house are rather they who sware my vows, Yea, even while they brake them, own'd me king." TENNYSON, Idylls of the King, The Passing of Arthur. 3. "She was the daughter of an ancient and once eminent family, which had fallen into poverty and decay, and left its last descendant no resource save the bounty of the King, nor any shelter except within the walls of the Province House." HAWTHORNE, Twice-Told Tales, Legends of the Province House. 4. "Or is the cause of the unfortunate Stewart family become less just, because their title has devolved upon an heir who is innocent of the causes of misgovernment brought against his father?" SCOTT, Waverley, Vol. I. Chap. xxvii. 5. "His servants all understand his ways, and, for the most part, have been accustomed to them from infancy; so that, upon the whole, his household presents one of the few tolerable specimens that can now be met with, of the establishment of an English country gentleman of the old school." WASHINGTON IRVING, Bracebridge Hall. 6. "Then, after agriculture, the art of kings, take the next head of human arts, weaving; the art of queens, honoured of all noble Heathen women, in the person of their virgin goddess-honoured of all Hebrew women, by the word of their wisest king,-'She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff; she stretcheth out her hands to the poor. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet.'" RUSKIN, The Mystery of Life and its Arts. 7. "The club of which I am a member, is very luckily composed of such persons as are engaged in different ways of life, and deputed, as it were, out of the most conspicuous classes of mankind.” ADDISON, The Spectator, No. 34, April 9, 1711. 8. "The whole club pay a particular deference to the discourse of this gentleman, and are drawn into what he says, as much by the candid, ingenuous manner with which he delivers himself, as by the strength of argument and force of reason which he makes use of." Ibid. 9. "He glanced, with a very critical eye, at all the flower-beds, and found that the flowers were seated quietly and demurely on their stalks, just as maidens should sit before they are engaged; but there was a great number of them, and it appeared as if his search would become very wearisome." ANDERSEN, The Butterfly. 10. "So the child and the stranger resumed their journey; and by and by, they came to a house by the roadside, where a number of people were making merry." HAWTHORNE, Little Daffydowndilly. 11. "Your fancy is pleased with the thought of being noble ladies with a train of vassals. Be it so: you cannot be too noble, and your train cannot be too great; but see to it that your train is of vassals whom you serve and feed, not merely of slaves who serve and feed you; and that the multitude which obeys you is of those whom you have comforted, not oppressed,-whom you have redeemed, not led into captivity." Sesame and Lilies, Lecture II. 12. "The promiscuous multitude arranged themselves upon large banks of turf prepared for the purpose, which, aided by the natural elevation of the ground, enabled them to overlook the galleries and obtain a fair view into the lists." SCOTT, Ivanhoe, Chap. vii. 13. "The main part of the army was still in Southern France, and there it was ordered to stay until the opening of spring should make it possible to advance against the Saxons." The Story of Roland. 14. Hotspur. "So are the horses of the enemy In general, journey-bated and brought low: The better part of ours are full of rest." SHAKESPEARE, 1 King Henry IV., iv. 3. Notice that the following sentences are incorrect because not all the pronouns that refer to the collective nouns agree with them in number. a. Before the youthful part of my female readers expresses its indignation at the abominable loss of time occasioned to the lovers of the preposterous notions of my old friend, they will do well to consider the reluctance which a parent feels at parting with his child. b. When a multitude meets together upon any subject of discourse their debates are taken up chiefly with forms and general positions. c. And early one April morning the great army, with Charlemagne and his peers at its head, filed out of the city and began their march toward the Rhine. d. As it was designed this neutral body should act with a regard to nothing but truth and equity, and divest themselves of the little heats and prepossessions that cleave to parties of all kinds, I have prepared for it the following form which may express their intentions in the most plain and simple manner. PUNCTUATION. When the subject is separated from the verb by a long modifying phrase or clause there is often a comma immediately before the verb (Ex. 1). See Rules for Punctuation, IV. 5 a, Lesson XL. The semicolon may be used between two independent clauses when the second clause expresses an idea that is the consequence or result of that expressed by the first (Ex. 5). Notice the manner of writing a date (Ex. 7). There should be a comma between the day of the month and the year. The comma as it were replaces "in the year"; i.e. "April 9 in the year 1711." For further comments on the punctuation of dates, refer to Rules for Punctuation, IV. 4, Lesson XL. The semicolon may be used between dependent phrases or clauses when these have a like dependence upon or relation to another phrase or clause at the beginning or end of the sentence (Ex. 11). For further examples of use of semicolons, see Rules for Punctuation, VII., Lessons XLIV. and XLV. The colon as well as the semicolon may be used between two independent clauses to indicate contrast (Ex. 14), repetition, explanation, or consequence. It may be used also to separate clauses subdivided by semicolons (Ex. 11). See Rules for Punctuation, VIII., Lesson XLVII. LESSON VII. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. I. The indefinite pronouns "either" ("neither "), "each," "any," are used in referring to persons (or |