The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-17
YALE SUMNER SCHOOL ENGLISH.
A Defence and . DisquisltiOn ny n Learned
i. Nutmeg Grammarian.

To TIRE EprroR oR TIVE suN-Sr: In q
letter published in I'm sun a few days aSo
| quoted the following from the Yale summer
\ school circular for the purpose Of criticisinR
the last sentence Of the quotation;
In addition there are a great variety Of course'
which give teachers opportunity for personal cul
ture. These courses many OF them are intro.
ductory and require no previous special preparation.
20. n. M" in his letter in THE SUN Of july
u takes exceptions to my criticism. A. a.
explanation of the passag e criticised he says
that the author Of the circular starts out
with the sweeping assertion: These courses
are'-suddenly 1t occurs to him that the asser.
ton In too sweeping and he tones 1t down.
&c. In other words 20. n. NJ" means that
the author bites of more than he can chew
and then tones it down to swallow IL M.
see no signs OF such n change OF mind in
the language Of the circular. for there are
neither dashes nor In there a parenthesisto
Indicate II. And even II the author We're
enga ged in such a hazardous performance.
the punctuation marks would so disrupt. the
sentence that the concluding proposition
would apply TO the logical subject, These
courses. =" and not be limited to only those
in the complement. namely. many Of them
q. ". Ms" disposition of the matter gives
an entirely different meaning 10 the sentence
from that which he attributes 10 II. Are
many Of them Introductory and Ia thus
sidetracked. while these courses" make
clear connect ion with require. And ve'
that circumlocutory performance is, a.
&c. n. Nj" infers, in the interest, Of ,%"raciness
businessiike circular, which shows not The
slightest attempt to take on rhetorical
&c n NJ. states that the coordinate cor.
junction and" -has a mildly ~illstive force
that is too much for, me. for have slwaN'
iunctive force. so to speak. performing SIM.
lar ONCE in the expression OF a tram ~ ,thought
that the recently DISCARDED OLD coppi,ns lnh
In writing the Inst sentence did not m
tend to give s az ssn y 9f t :" much nTSIIn sS'
mires in the construction Of the. proposition
the courses are many Of them
po Whss Of ! 's e. FOR M %qss''Y letter t rhe in 'G %SicS Rs
himself turns critic against the Yale Summer
School circular by saying: The strange feat.
il that after so much fsultfndinG with me
really good English 81 the psssae &c he should
bbIundeT Which mars the opening sentence.
The merest tyro in English grammar would
not write Variety are the SPICE OF ne Bnt
are the; spice Of life. and even grammarilns
like g. H. r. are entrapped
Well, ! declare! That Ia rather rough on
Yale that issued a s~entence supposed by
90; y M, to be z parallel nna 10 h nck S No"ld
beloved Thames. laying. our, course for q
y. NJ" did not criticise the first sentence
DIN lmD uuONfu " W ~ I'HFH
and possiblvlD for = trap: and ! think ! os1
show II is &c. n. NJ. that Ii "entrapped
20. n. M" doesn't. seem TO realize that
variety" has several definitions, and for that
reason as well as another may have a verb
in either number 20 agree with II when n is
the spice Of life" is an abstract noun IN the
singular and must take a singular verb as a
predicate, for II simply means the state or
condition of being various or varied And
the attribute spice tends also TO suggest
But in the sentence that ! quote from the
circular variety" is a collective noun and
lively an easy matter 10 determine the num-
Der Of the verb that should go with Il as a
predicate. On this point the Century Dictlon.
airy, under the heading Of a collective noun.
gives the following clear rule:
Collectives as subjects can have their verbs
either In the singular or In the plural, the latter b.
preference in familiar style. but usage varies as
express more prominently a unity or q compleSiiN,
they take attributes. however, In the singular; az.
THE Jury meets or meet, " but this Jury meets
The word variety" is a little intricate.
like beauty" in its signincation. Coleridge
says OF the latter;
The old definition In the Roman school vss
multitude in unity; and there Is no doubt that
such Is the principle Of beauty.
As a common noun In the general or class
sense variety" also may be used 20 denote
q kind. as in the sentence: He bought a new
variety Of cloth"
The hrst sentence quoted from the Yale
Summer School circular. Notwithstanding
&c. N. MS" opinion, is undoubtedly correct,
for variety" as there used clearly indicates
plurality. c. II. I.