6 on his reading frequently.' It would not be accurate to say, • Much will depend on the pupil composing,' &c. We also properly say, 'This will be the effect of the pupil's composing frequently;' instead of, Of the pupil composing frequently.' The participle, in such constructions, does the office of a noun, and should have a correspondent regimen. - Exercises in False Syntax. What can be the cause of parliament neglecting so important business? Much depends on this rule being observed. The time of William making the experiments at length arrived. If we alter the situation of any of the words, we shall presently be sensible of the melody suffering. - Such will be the effect of youth associating with vicious companions. LECTURE V. OF PRONOUNS. RULE V. When a Noun or Pronoun is the subject of a verb, it must be in the nominative case; as, "He walks; we run." Remarks. Every nominative case except the case absolute, and when an address is made to a person, should belong to some verb, either expressed or implied; as, 'Who wrote this book ?James,' that is, 'James wrote it.' To whom thus Adam,' that is, 'spoke.' One or two instances of the improper use of the nominative case, without any verb expressed or implied, to answer it, may be sufficient to illustrate the usefulness of the preceding observation. "Which rule, if it had been observed, a neighboring prince would have wanted a great deal of that incense which hath been offered up to him.' The pronoun it, is here the nominative case to the verb 'observed;' and which rule, is left by itself, a nominative case without any verb following it. This form of expression, though improper, is very common. It ought to be,' If this rule had been observed." 'Man, though he has great variety of thoughts, and such from which others as well as himself might receive profit and delight, yet they are all within his own breast.' In this sentence, the nominative, man, stands alone and unconnected with any verb, either expressed or implied. It should be, Though man has great variety, &c. Exercises in False Syntax.. Two nouns when they come together, and do not signify the same thing, the former must be in the possessive case.— - Virtue, however it may be neglected for a time, men are so constituted as to acknowledge and respect genuine merit. NOTE 1.—The relative pronoun is the subject of the verb, when no nominative comes between it and the verb; as, 'The master who taught us;' 'The trees which are planted.' When a nominative comes between the relative and the verb, the relative is governed by some word in its own member of the sentence; as, ' He who preserves me, to whom I owe my being, whose I am, and whom I serve, is eternal.' In the several members of the last sentence, the relative performs a different office. In the first member, it marks the agent; in the second, it submits to the government of the preposition; in the third, it represents the possessor; and in the fourth, the object of an action; and therefore it must be in the three different cases, correspondent to those offices. When both the antecedent and relative become nominatives, each to different verbs, the relative is the nominative to the former, and the antecedent to the latter verb; as, True philosophy, which is the ornament of our nature, consists more in the love of our duty, and the practice of virtue, than in great talents and extensive knowledge.' A few instances of erroneous construction, will illustrate both branches of this note. The three following refer to the first part. How can we avoid being grateful to those whom by repeated kind offices, have proved them selves our real friends?" These are the men whom, you might suppose, were the authors of the work;' 'If you were here, you would find three or four, whom you would say pass their time agreeably;'-in all these places it should be who instead of whom. The two latter sentences contain a nominative between the relative and the verb; and, therefore, seem to contravene the rule; but the student will reflect that it is not the nominative of the verb, with which the relative is connected. The remaining examples refer to the second part of the rule. 'Men of fine talents are not always the persons who we should esteem.' 'The persons who you dispute with, are precisely of your opinion.' 'Our tutors are our benefactors, who we owe obedience to, and who we ought to love.' In these sentences, whom should be used instead of who. Exercises in False Syntax. They, whom, in our youthful days, have labored to make us wise and good, are the persons who we ought to love and respect, and who we ought to be grateful to. That is the student who I gave the book to, and whom I am persuaded deserves it. The persons, who conscience and virtue support, may smile at the caprices of fortune. - NOTE 2. When the relative pronoun is of the interrogative kind, the noun or pronoun containing the answer, must be in the same case, as that which contains the question; as, 'Whose books are these? They are John's.' "Who gave them to him? We.' Of whom did you buy them? Of a bookseller, him who lives at the Bible and Crown. Whom did you see there? Both him and the shopman.' The learner will readily comprehend this rule, by supplying the words which are understood in the answers. Thus, to express the answers at large, we should say, 'They are John's books.' 'We gave them to him.' We bought them of him who lives, &c.' We saw both him and the shopman.' As the relative pronoun, when used interrogatively, refers to the subsequent word or phrase containing the answer to the question, that word or phrase may properly be termed the subsequent to the interrogative. 6 6 Exercises in False Syntax. Of whom were the articles bought? Of a mereer; he who resides near the mansion house. Was any person besides the mercer present? Yes, both him and his clerk. Who was the money paid to? To the mercer and his clerk. Who counted it? Both the clerk and him. Remarks. -- The nominative case is commonly placed before the verb; but sometimes it is put after the verb, if it is a simple tense; and between the auxiliary, and the verb or participle, if a compound tense; as, 1st. When a question is asked, a command given, or a wish expressed; as, Confidest thou in me? Read thou; Mayst thou be happy! Long live the King.' 2d. When a supposition is made without the conjunction if; as, 'Were it not for this; Had I been there.' 3d. When a verb intransitive is used; as, ' On a sudden appeared the king.' 4th. When the verb is preceded by the adverbs, here, there, then, thence, hence, thus, &c. as, 'Here am I; There was he slain; Then cometh the end; Thence ariseth his grief; Hence proceeds his anger; Thus was the affair settled; There needs no ghost come from the grave to tell us this.' 5th. When the sentence depends on neither or nor, so as to be coupled with another sentence, as, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' RULE VI. — When an address is made, the noun or pronoun is in the nominative case independent; as, "Adam, where art thou ?— George, study your lesson." Remarks. Nouns and pronouns, thus circumstanced, are said to be in the nominative case independent, (because they stand independent on the rest of the sentence, and unconnected with it. Thus in the preceding examples, Adam and George are the names of the persons addressed; and they are mentioned merely to designate the persons to whom the address is made. They do not stand as the nominatives to any verb; nor as connected with the words that follow them, either by government or agreement; and are therefore in the nominative case independent. RULE IX. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents, and the nouns for which they stand, in gender, number, and person; as, "This is the friend whom I love; That is the vice which I hate; The moon appears, and she shines, but the light is not her own; I who speak from experience; Thou who lovest wisdom." Remarks. Of this rule there are many violations to be met with; a few of which may be sufficient to put the learner on his guard. 'Each of the sexes should keep within its particular bounds, and content themselves with the advantages of their particular districts; better thus, 'The sexes should keep within their particular bounds,' &c. Can any one on their entrance into the world, be fully secure that they shall not be deceived?" 'On his entrance,' and 'That he shall.' One should not think too favorably of ourselves; Of one's self. He had one acquaintance which poisoned his principles;' Who poisoned.' 6 Pronouns are sometimes made to precede the nouns which they represent; as,‘If a man declares in autumn, when he is eating them, or in the spring, when there are none, that he loves grapes,' &c. But this is a con struction which is seldom allowable. When a pronoun stands for two or more nouns, connected by a copulative conjunction, it must be in the plural number; as, 'Socrates and Plato were wise, they were the most eminent philosophers in Greece.' But when the nouns are connected by a disjunctive conjunction, the pronoun must be in the singular number; as, 'A lampoon or a satire does not carry in it robbery or murder.' Every relative must have an antecedent to which it refers, either expressed or implied; as, 'Who is fatal to others is so to himself; that is, 'the man who is fatal to others.' Which and what appear to be sometimes used as adjective pronouns; as, I know not what impressions time may have made upon his person. We are at a loss which course to take.' Who, which, what, and the relative that, though in the objective case, are always placed before the verb; as are also their compounds, whoever, whosoever, &c. as, 'He whom ye seek; This is what, or the thing which, or that you want; Whomsoever you please to appoint.' What is sometimes applied in a manner which appears to be exceptionable; as, 'All fevers, except what are called nervous,' &c. It would at least be better to say,' except those which are called nervous.' What is frequently used as the representative of two cases; one, the objective to a verb, or preposition, and the other, the nominative to a subsequent verband sometimes, the objective also to a subsequent verb or preposition; as, I heard what was said I heard what he said; He related what was seen He related what he saw; According to what was proposed According to what they propose; We do not constantly love what has done us good.' This peculiar construction may be explained by resolving what into its principals, that which; as, 'I heard that which was said I heard that which he said,' &c. - In a few instances, the relative is introduced, as the nominative to a verb, before the sentence or clause, which it represents; as, 'There was therefore, which is all that we assert, a course of life pursued by them different from that, which they before led. Here the relative, which, is the representative of the whole of the last part of the sentence; and its natural position is after that clause. Whatever relative is used, in one of a series of clauses, relating to the same antecedent, the same relative ought generally to be used in them all. In the following sentence, this rule is violated; 'It is remarkable, that Holland, against which the war was undertaken, and that, in the very be ginning, was reduced to the brink of destruction, lost nothing.' The clause ought to have been, and which, in the very beginning,' &c. The relative frequently refers to a whole clause in the sentence, instead of a particular word in it; as, 'The resolution was adopted hastily and without due consideration, which produced great dissatisfaction: that is, 'which thing, namely, the hasty adoption of the resolution.' Exercises in False Syntax.— The exercise of reason appears as little in these sportsmen, as in the beasts whom they hunt, and by whom they are sometimes hunted.They which seek wisdom, will certainly find her.-The male amongst birds seems to discover no beauty, but in the colour of its species.- Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it towards heaven, in the sight of Pharaoh; and it shall become small dust.- Rebecca took goodly raiment, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob.-The wheel killed another man, which is the sixth, which have lost their lives by this means. The fair sex, whose task is not to mingle in the labours of public life, has its own part assigned it to act.-The mind of man cannot be long without some food to nourish the activity of his thoughts.—What is the reason, that our language is less refined than those of Italy, Spain, or France ?--I do not think any one should incur censure for being tender of their reputation.-Thou who has been a witness of the fact, canst give an account of it-In religious concerns, or what is conceived to be such, every man must stand or fall, by the decision of the Great Judge. Thou Great First Cause, least understood, Who all my sense confined, To know but this, that thou art good, Yet gave me in this dark estate, &c. What art thou, speak, that on designs unknown, NOTE 1. When a relative pronoun is preceded by two antecedents of different persons, it may agree in person with either, according to the sense; as, ' I am the man who command you; or, 'I am the man who commands you.'-The form of the first of the two preceding sentences expresses the meaning rather obscurely. It would be more perspicuous to say, 'I who command you am the man.' Perhaps the difference of meaning, produced by referring the relative to different antecedents, will be more evident to the learner, in the following sentences. I am the general who gives the orders to-day; I am the general who give the orders today; that is, 'I who give the orders to-day, am the general.' When the relative has been determined to agree with either of the preceding antecedents, that agreement must be preserved throughout the sentence; as in the following instance; 'I am the Lord, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone;' Isa. xliv. 24. Thus far is consistent; The Lord, in the third person, is the antecedent, and the verb agrees with the relative in the third person; 'I am the Lord, which Lord, or he that maketh all things.' If I were made the antecedent, the relative should agree with it in the first person; as, 'I am the Lord that make all things, that stretch forth the heavens alone.' But should it follow; 'That spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;' there would arise a confusion of persons, and a manifest solecism. Exercises in False Syntax. 1 acknowledge, that I am the teacher, who adopt that sentiment, and maintains the propriety of such measures.-Thou art a friend that hast often received me, and that has not deserted me now in the time of peculiar need. - I am the man who approve of wholesome discipline, and who recommend it to others; but I am not a person, who promotes useless severity or who object to mild and generous treatment. I perceive that thou art a pupil who possesses bright parts, but who hast cultivated them but little. -Thou art he, who breathest on the earth with the breath of spring, and who covereth it with verdure and beauty. I am the Lord thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, and who lead thee by the way thou shouldst go.. Thou art the Lord, who didst choose Abraham, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees. NOTE 2. Personal pronouns, being used to supply the place of the noun, they are not employed in the same part of the sentence as the noun which they represent; for it would be improper to say, 'The king he is just; I saw her the queen; the men they were there; Many words they darken speech. My banks they are furnished with bees.' These personals are superfluous, as there is not the least occasion for a substitute in the same part, where the principal word is present. The nominative case they, in the following sentence, is also superfluous; Who instead of going about doing good, they are perpetually intent upon doing mischief.' This rule is often infringed by the case absolute's not being properly distinguished from certain forms of expression apparently similar to it. this sentence, 6 The candidate being chosen, the people carried him in triumph,' the word candidate, is in the nominative case absolute; but in this sentence, 'The candidate being chosen, was carried in triumph by the people,' candidate is in the nominative to the verb, was carried, and is not, therefore, in the case absolute. Many writers, however, apprehending the nominative in this latter sentence, as well as in the former, to be put absolutely, often insert another nominative to the verb, and say, The candidate being chosen, he was carried in triumph by the people.' The general approving the plan, he put it in execution. The error, in each of these two sentences, is, that there are two nominatives used where one would have been sufficient, and consequently, that he is redundant. Exercises in False Syntax -Whoever entertains such an opinion, he judges erroneously. The cares of this world, they often check the growth of virtue. Disappointments and afflictions, however disagreeable, they often improve us. The fruit being ripe it was gathered. The ship having arrived, it was moored in the river. The goods having been stolen, they were advertised. The prisoner having been convicted, he was sentenced to be hung. NOTE 3. The pronoun, that, is frequently applied to persons as well as to things, but after an adjective in the superlative degree, and after the adjective pronoun same, it is generally used in preference to who or which; as, Charles XII. king of Sweden, was one of the greatest madmen, that the world ever saw.' 'Cataline's followers were the most profligate, that could be found in any city. He is the same man, that we saw before.' But, if after the word same, a preposition should precede the relative, one of the other two pronouns must be employed, the relative, that, not admitting of a preposition prefixed to it; as, 'He is the same man, with whom you were acquainted.' It is remarkable, however, that, when the arrangement is a little varied, the word that, admits the preposition; as, 'He is the same man, that you were acquainted with.' There are cases, wherein we cannot conveniently dispense with the relative that, as applied to persons; as, first, after who, the interrogative; 'Who, that has any sense of religion, would have argued thus ?' Second, when persons make but a part of the antecedent; The woman, and the estate, that became his portion, were rewards far beyond his desert.' In neither of these examples could any other relative have been used. Exercises in False Syntax. Moses was the meekest man, whom we read of in the Old Testament. Humility is one of the most amiable virtues, which we can possess. They |