e and Misery _are_ abroad.--CARLYLE

But its authorship, its date, and its history _are_ alike a
mystery to us.--FROUDE.

His clothes, shirt, and skin _were_ all of the same color--SWIFT.

Aristotle and Longinus _are_ better understood by him than
Littleton or Coke.--ADDISON.

[Sidenote: _Conjunction omitted._]

The conjunction may be omitted, as in Sec. 440 (5, _b_), but the verb
is plural, as with a subject of plural form.

A shady grove, a green pasture, a stream of fresh water, _are_
sufficient to attract a colony.--GIBBON.

The Dauphin, the Duke of Berri, Philip of Anjou, _were_ men of
insignificant characters.--MACAULAY

(4) When a singular is joined with a plural by a disjunctive
word, the verb agrees with the one nearest it; as,--

One or two of these perhaps _survive_.--THOREAU.

One or two persons in the crowd _were_ insolent.--FROUDE.

One or two of the ladies _were_ going to leave.--ADDISON

One or two of these old Cromwellian soldiers _were_ still alive
in the village.--THACKERAY

One or two of whom _were_ more entertaining.--DE QUINCEY.

But notice the construction of this,--

A ray or two _wanders_ into the darkness.--RUSKIN.

AGREEMENT OF VERB AND SUBJECT IN PERSON.

[Sidenote: _General usage_.]

442. If there is only one person in the subject, the ending of the
verb indicates the person of its subject; that is, in those few cases
where there are forms for different persons: as,--

Never once _didst_ thou revel in the vision.--DE QUINCEY.

Romanism wisely _provides_ for the childish in men.--LOWELL.

It _hath_ been said my Lord would never take the
oath.--THACKERAY.

[Sidenote: _Second or third and first person in the subject_.]

443. If the subject is made up of the first person joined with the
second or third by _and_, the verb takes the construction of the first
person, the subject being really equivalent to _we_; as,--

I flatter myself you and I _shall_ meet again.--SMOLLETT.

You and I _are_ farmers; we never talk politics.--D WEBSTER.

Ah, brother! only I and thou
_Are_ left of all that circle now.
--WHITTIER.

You and I _are_ tolerably modest people.--THACKERAY.

Cocke and I _have_ felt it in our bones--_Gammer Gurton's Needle_

[Sidenote: _With adversative or disjunctive connectives_.]

444. When the sub