gives it the sweetmeats, or the person who, considering only its health, resists its importunities ?"--Opie. "He loads the animal he is shewing me with so many trappings and collars, that I cannot distinctly view it." —Murray.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

The pronoun it is often used without a definite reference to any antecedent, and is sometimes a mere expletive; as,

"Come, and trip it as you go

On the light fantastic toe."—Milton.

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

A singular antecedent with the adjective many, sometimes admits a plural pronoun, but never in the same clause; as,

"In Hawick twinkled many a light,

Behind him soon they set in night."—W. Scott.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE V.

Obs. 1.—The pronoun we is used by the speaker to represent himself and others, and is therefore plural. But it is sometimes used, by a sort of fiction, instead of the singular, to intimate that the speaker is not alone in his opinions. Monarchs sometimes join it to a singular noun; "We Nicholas, Autocrat of all the Russias." They also employ the compound ourself, which is not used by other people.

as,

OBS. 2.—The pronoun you, though originally and properly plural, is now generally applied alike to one person or to more. [See Obs. 2d, p. 45.] This usage, however it may seem to involve a solecism, is established by that authority against which the mere grammarian has scarcely a right to remonstrate. We do not, however, think it necessary or advisable to encumber the conjugations, as some have done, by introducing this pronoun and the corresponding form of the verb, as singular. It is manifestly better to say that the plural is used for the singular, by the figure enallage. This change has introduced the compound yourself, which is used instead of thyself.

Obs. 3.—When a pronoun represents the name of an inanimate object personified, it agrees with its antecedent in the figurative, and not in the literal sense; [See the figure Syllepsis, in Part IV.] as,

"Fortune her gifts may variously dispose."—Pope.

"Grim Darkness furls his leaden shroud."—Rogers.

Obs. 4. When the antecedent is applied metaphorically, the pronoun agrees with it in its literal, and not in its figurative sense; as, "Pitt was the pillar which upheld the state."—" The monarch of mountains rears his snowy head." [See Figures, in Part IV.]

Obs. 5.—When the antecedent is put by metonymy for a noun of different properties, the pronoun sometimes agrees with it in the figurative, and sometimes in the literal sense; as,

"The wolf, who [that] from the nightly fold,

Fierce drags the bleating prey, ne'er drunk her milk,
Nor wore her warming fleece."—Thomson.

"And heaven beholds its image in his breast."—Pope.

Obs. 6. When the antecedent is put by synecdoche for more or less than it literally signifies, the pronoun agrees with it in the figurative, and not in the literal sense; as,

"A dauntless soul erect, who smiled on death."—Thomson.

Obs. 7.—Pronouns usually follow the words which they represent; but this order is sometimes reversed: as, "Whom the cap fits, let him put it on."

Obs. 8.—A pronoun sometimes represents a phrase or sentence; and in this case, the pronoun is always in the third person singular neuter : as, "She is very handsome; and she has the misfortune to know it."— "Yet men can go on to vilify or disregard Christianity; which is to talk and act as if they had a demonstration of its falsehood."—Bp. Butler.

Obs. 9.—When a pronoun follows two words, having a neuter verb between them, and both referring to the same thing, it may represent either of them, but not with the same meaning; as, 1. "I am the man who command:" here, who command belongs to the subject I, and the meaning is, "I who command, am the man. (The latter expression places the relative nearer to its antecedent, and is therefore preferable.) 2. "I am the man who commands:" here, who commands belongs to the predicate man, and the meaning is, "I am the commander."

Obs. 10.—After the expletive it, which may be employed to introduce a noun or pronoun of any person, number, or gender, the above-mentioned distinction is generally disregarded: and the relative is made to agree with the latter word: as, "It is not I that do it." The propriety of this construction is questionable.

Obs. 11.—The pronoun it frequently refers to something mentioned in the subsequent part of the sentence. This pronoun is a necessary expletive at the commencement of a sentence in which the verb is followed by a clause which, by a transposition, may be made the subject of the verb; as, "It is impossible to please every one."—"It was requisite that the papers should be sent."

Obs. 12.—Relative and interrogative pronouns are placed at or near the beginning of their own clauses; and the learner must observe that, through all their cases, they almost invariably retain this situation in the sentence, and are often found before their verbs when the order of construction would reverse this arrangement: as, "He who preserves me, to whom I owe my being, whose I am, and whom I serve, is eternal."-Murray. "Who can tell us who they are ?"—Pope. "He whom you seek."—Lowth.

Obs. 13.—Every relative pronoun, being the representative of some antecedent word or phrase, derives from this relation its person, number, and gender, but not its case. By taking another relation of case, it helps to form another clause; and, by retaining the essential meaning of its

antecedent, serves to connect this clause to that in which the antecedent is found. Relatives, therefore, cannot be used in an independent simple sentence, nor with a subjunctive verb; but, like other connectives, they belong at the head of a clause in a compound sentence, and they exclude conjunctions, except when two such clauses are to be joined together: as, "Blessed is the man who feareth the Lord, and who keepeth his commandments."

But

OBS. 14. The special rules commonly given by the grammarians for the construction of relatives, are both unnecessary and faulty. It usually takes two rules to parse a pronoun; one for its agreement with the noun or nouns which it represents, and the other for its case. neither relatives nor interrogatives require any special rules for the construction of their cases, because the general rules for the cases apply to pronouns as well as to nouns. And both relatives and interrogatives generally admit every construction common to nouns, except appoLet the learner parse the following examples:

sition.

ner."

I. Nominatives by Rule 2d; "I who write—the animal which runs."— Dr. Adam. "He who does any thing which he knows is wrong, is a sin"What is sudden and unaccountable serves to confound."—Crabb. II. Nominatives by Rule 21st; 66 Who art thou ?"—"What were we?"—Bible. "Do not tell them who I am."—" Let him be who he may, he is not the honest fellow that he seemed."

III. Nominatives absolute by Rule 25th; "There are certain bounds to imprudence and misbehaviour, which being transgressed, there remains no place for repentance in the natural course of things."—Bp. Butler. This construction of the relative is a Latinism, and very seldom used by the best English writers.

IV. Possessives by Rule 19th; "The chief man of the island, whose name was Publius."—Acts. Despair, a cruel tyrant, from whose

prisons none can escape."—Dr. Johnson.

son.

46

V. Objectives by Rule 20th; "Those chom she persuaded."—Dr. John"The cloak that I left at Troas."—St. Paul. "By the things which he suffered."—Id. A man whom there is reason to suspect."—"What are we to do?"— Burke. Whomsoever you please to appoint."--Lowth. VI. Objectives by Rule 21st; "He is not the man that I took him to be."- -" Whom did you suppose me to be?"

"That

VII. Objectives by Rule 22d; "To whom shall we go?"—Bible. "The laws by which the world is governed are general.'—Butler. secret heaviness of heart which unthinking men are subject to."— Addison,

Obs. 17.—In familiar language, the relative in the objective case is frequently understood; as, "Here is the letter (which) I received." The omission of the relative in the nominative case is inelegant; as, "This is the worst thing [that] could happen." The latter ellipsis sometimes occurs in poetry; as,

"A load—would sink a navy, too much honour."—Shakspeare.

Obs. 18.—The antecedent is sometimes suppressed, especially in

poetry; as, "How shall I curse [him or them) whom God hath not cursed?"—Numb. xxiii. 8.

[He] "Who lives to nature, rarely can be poor;

[He] Who lives to fancy, never can be rich."—Young.

Obs. 19.—What is sometimes used adverbially; as, "Though I forbear, what am I eased?"—Job xvi. 6,—that is, how much? or wherein? "The enemy having his country wasted, what by himself and what by the soldiers, findeth succour in no place."—Spenser. Here what means partly,—wasted partly by himself and partly by the soldiers.

Obs. 20. What is sometimes used as a mere interjection; as, "What! keep a week away?"—Shakspeare.

"What! can you lull the winged winds asleep?"—Campbell.

NOTES TO RULE V.

Note I.—A pronoun should not be introduced in connexion with words that belong more properly to the antecedent, or to another pronoun; as,

"My banks they are furnish'd with bees."—Shenstone.

Obs.—This is only an example of pleonasm; which is allowable and frequent in animated discourse, but inelegant in any other. [See Piconasm, in Part IV.]

Note II.—A change of number in the second person is inelegant and improper; as, "You wept, and I for thee." Note III.—The relative who is applied only to persons, and to animals personified; and which, to brute animals and inanimate things: as, "The general who commanded" "The old fox who said the grapes were sour". horse which ran"—“The knife which I lost."

66

--

"The

OBS.-Which, as well as who, was formerly applied to persons; as, "Our Father which art in heaven."—Bible. It may still be applied to a young child; as, "The child which died."—Or even to adults when they are spoken of without regard to a distinct personality or identity; as, "Which of you will go?"

Note IV.—Nouns of multitude, unless they express persons directly as such, should not be represented by the relative who; to say, "The family whom I visited," would hardly be proper; that would here be better. When such nouns are strictly of the neuter gender, which may represent them; as, "The committees which were appointed." Note V.—A proper name taken merely as a name, or an appellative taken in any sense not strictly personal, must

be represented by which, and not by who; as, "Judas— which is but another name for treachery."

Note VI.—The relative that may be applied either to persons or to things. In the following cases it is generally preferable to who or which, unless it be necessary to use a preposition before the relative:—1. After an adjective of the superlative degree; as, "He was the first that came."— 2. After the adjective same; as, "This is the same person that I met before."—3. After the antecedent who; as, "Who that has common sense, can think so?"-4. After a joint reference to persons and things; as, "He spoke of the men and things that he had seen."—5. After an unlimited antecedent, which the relative and its verb are to restrict; as, Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.". 6. After an antecedent introduced by the expletive it; as, "It is you that command."—" It was I that did it."— 9. And, in general, where the propriety of who or which is doubtful; as, "The little child that was placed in the

66

midst."

Note VII.—When several relative clauses come in succession, and have a similar dependence in respect to the antecedent, the same pronoun must be employed in each; as, "O thou who art, and who wast, and who art to come!" "And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped."—Jer. viii. 2.

NOTE VIII.—The relative, and the preposition governing it, should not be omitted, when they are necessary to give connexion to the sentence; as, "He is still in the situation [in which] you saw him."

Note IX.—An adverb should not be used where a preposition and a relative pronoun would better express the relation of the terms; as, "A cause where [for in which] justice is so much concerned."

Note X.—Where a pronoun or a pronominal adjective will not express the meaning clearly, the noun must be repeated, or inserted instead of it. Example: "We see the