It is not difficult to see why the construction of sentences consisting of two propositions is open to an amount of latitude which is not admissible in the construction of single propositions. As long as the different parts of a complex idea are contained within the limits of a single proposition, their subordinate character is easily discerned. When, however, they amount to whole propositions, they take the appearance of being independent members of the sentence. § 478. _The concord of number._--It is believed that the following three rules will carry us through all difficulties of the kind just exhibited. _Rule 1._ That the verb agrees with the subject, and with nothing but the subject. The only way to justify such an expression as _the wages of sin is death_, is to consider _death_ not as the subject, but as the predicate; in other words, to consider the construction to be, _death is the wages of sin_. _Rule 2._ That, except in the case of the word _there_, the word which comes first is generally the subject. _Rule 3._ That no number of connected singular nouns can govern a plural verb, unless they be connected by a copulative conjunction. _The sun _and_ moon shine_,--_the sun _in conjunction with_ the moon shines_. § 479. _Plural subjects with singular predicates._--- The wages of sin _are_ death.--Honest men _are_ the salt of the earth. _Singular subjects with plural predicates._--These constructions are rarer than the preceding: inasmuch as two or more persons (or things) are oftener spoken of as being equivalent to one, than one person (or thing) is spoken of as being equivalent to two or more. Sixpence _is_ twelve halfpennies. He _is_ all head and shoulders. Vulnera totus _erat_. Tu _es_ deliciæ meæ. Ἑκτορ, ἀτὰρ σύ μοι ἐσσὶ πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ, Ἠδὲ κασίγνητος, σὺ δέ μοι θαλερὸς παρακοίτης. * * * * * CHAPTER XVII. ON THE GOVERNMENT OF VERBS. § 480. The government of verbs is of two sorts, (1.) _objective_, and (2.) _modal_. It is objective where the noun which follows the verb is the name of some object affected by the action of the verb,--as _he strikes me_; _he wounds the enemy_. It is modal when the noun which follows the verb is not the name of any object affected by the verb, but the name of some object explaining the manner in which the action of the verb takes place, the instrument with which it is done, the end for which it is done, &c. The government of all transitive verbs is necessarily objective. It may also be modal,--_I strike the enemy with the sword_ = _ferio hostem gladio_. The government of all intransitive verbs can only be modal,--_I walk with the stick_. When we say, _I walk the horse_, the word _walk_ has changed its meaning, and signifies _make to walk_, and is, by the very fact of its being followed by the name of an object, converted from an intransitive into a transitive verb.