Chapter V: Pronouns (2)

"Exactly like so many puppets, who are moved by wires."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 462. "They are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt."--_Leviticus_, xxv, 42. "Behold I and the children which God hath given me."--_Heb._, ii, 13; _Webster's Bible, and others._ "And he sent Eliakim which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe."--_2 Kings_, xix, 2. "In a short time the streets were cleared of the corpses who filled them."--_M'Ilvaine's Led._, p. 411. "They are not of those which teach things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 435. "As a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces."--_Micah_, v, 8. "Frequented by every fowl whom nature has taught to dip the wing in water."--_Rasselas_, p. 10. "He had two sons, one of which was adopted by the family of Maximus."--_Lempriere, w. Æmytius_. "And the ants, who are collected by the smell, are burned by fire."--_The Friend_, xii, 49. "They being the agents, to which this thing was trusted."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 139. "A packhorse who is driven constantly forwards and backwards to market."--LOCKE: _Joh. Dict._ "By instructing children, the affection of which will be increased."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 136. "He had a comely young woman which travelled with him."--_Hutchinson's Hist._, i, 29. "A butterfly, which thought himself an accomplished traveller, happened to light upon a beehive."--_Inst._, p. 143. "It is an enormous elephant of stone, who disgorges from his uplifted trunk a vast but graceful shower."--_Zenobia_, i, 150. "He was met by a dolphin, who sometimes swam before him, and sometimes behind him."--_Edward's First Lessons in Gram._, p. 34.

"That Cæsar's horse, who, as fame goes,
Had corns upon his feet and toes,
Was not by half so tender-hooft,
Nor trod upon the ground so soft."--_Hudibras_, p. 6.

UNDER NOTE IV.--NOUNS OF MULTITUDE.

"He instructed and fed the crowds who surrounded him."--_Murray's Exercises_, p. 52. "The court, who gives currency to manners, ought to be exemplary."--_Ibid._ "Nor does he describe classes of sinners who do not exist."--_Anti-Slavery Magazine_, i, 27. "Because the nations among whom they took their rise, were not savage."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 113. "Among nations who are in the first and rude periods of society."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 60. "The martial spirit of those nations, among whom the feudal government prevailed."--_Ib._, p. 374. "France who was in alliance with Sweden."--_Smollett's Voltaire_, vi, 187. "That faction in England who most powerfully opposed his arbitrary pretensions."--_Mrs. Macaulay's Hist._, iii, 21. "We may say, the crowd, _who_ was going up the street.'"--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶ 204. "Such members of the Convention who formed this Lyceum, as have subscribed this Constitution."--_New-York Lyceum._

UNDER NOTE V.--CONFUSION OF SENSES.

"The possessor shall take a particular form to show its case."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 53. "Of which reasons the principal one is, that no Noun, properly so called, implies its own Presence."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 76. "Boston is a proper noun, which distinguishes it from other cities."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 22. "Conjunction means union, or joining together. It is used to join or unite either words or sentences."--_Ib._, p. 20. "The word _interjection_ means _thrown among_. It is interspersed among other words to express sudden or strong emotion."--_Ib._, p. 21. "_In deed_, or in very deed, may better be written separately, as they formerly were."--_Cardell's Gram._, 12mo, p. 89. "_Alexander_, on the contrary, is a particular name, and is restricted to distinguish him alone."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 25. "As an indication that nature itself had changed her course."--_Hist. of America_, p. 9. "Of removing from the United States and her territories the free people of colour."--_Jenifer_. "So that _gh_ may be said not to have their proper sound."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p. 10. "Are we to welcome the loathsome harlot, and introduce it to our children?"--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 167. "The first question is this, 'Is reputable, national, and present use, which, for brevity's sake, I shall hereafter simply denominate good use, always uniform in her decisions?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 171. "Time is always masculine, on account of its mighty efficacy. Virtue is feminine from its beauty, and its being the object of love."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 37; _Blair's_, 125; _Sanborn's_, 189; _Emmons's_, 13; _Putnam's_, 25; _Fisk's_, 57; _Ingersoll's_, 26; _Greenleaf's_, 21. See also _Blair's Rhet._, p. 76. "When you speak to a person or thing, it is in the second person."--_Bartlett's Manual_, Part ii, p. 27. "You now know the noun, for it means name."--_Ibid._ "_T_. What do you see? _P_. A book. _T_. Spell it."--_R. W. Green's Gram._, p. 12. "_T_. What do you see now? _P_. Two books. _T_. Spell them."--_Ibid._ "If the United States lose her rights as a nation."--_Liberator_, Vol. ix, p. 24. "When a person or thing is addressed or spoken to, it is in the second person."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 7. "When a person or thing is spoken of, it is in the third person."--_Ibid._ "The ox, that ploughs the ground, has the same plural termination also, _oxen_."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 40.

"Hail, happy States! thine is the blissful seat,
Where nature's gifts and art's improvements meet."
EVERETT: _Columbian Orator_, p. 239.

UNDER NOTE VI.--THE RELATIVE THAT.

(1.) "This is the most useful art which men possess."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 275. "The earliest accounts which history gives us concerning all nations, bear testimony to these facts."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 379; _Jamieson's_, 300. "Mr. Addison was the first who attempted a regular inquiry" [into the pleasures of taste.]--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 28. "One of the first who introduced it was Montesquieu."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 125. "Massillon is perhaps the most eloquent writer of sermons which modern times have produced."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 289. "The greatest barber who ever lived, is our guiding star and prototype."--_Hart's Figaro_, No. 6.

(2.) "When prepositions are subjoined to nouns, they are generally the same which are subjoined to the verbs, from which the nouns are derived."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 157. "The same proportions which are agreeable in a model, are not agreeable in a large building."--_Kames, EL of Crit._, ii, 343. "The same ornaments, which we admire in a private apartment, are unseemly in a temple."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 128. "The same whom John saw also in the sun."--_Milton. P. L._, B. iii, l. 623.

(3.) "Who can ever be easy, who is reproached with his own ill conduct?"--_Thomas à Kempis_, p. 72. "Who is she who comes clothed in a robe of green?"--_Inst._, p. 143. "Who who has either sense or civility, does not perceive the vileness of profanity?"

(4.) "The second person denotes the person or thing which is spoken to."--_Compendium in Kirkham's Gram._ "The third person denotes the person or thing which is spoken of."--_Ibid._ "A passive verb denotes action received or endured by the person or thing which is its nominative."--_Ibid, and Gram._, p. 157. "The princes and states who had neglected or favoured the growth of this power."--_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 222. "The nominative expresses the name of the person, or thing which acts, or which is the subject of discourse."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 19. (5.) "Authors who deal in long sentences, are very apt to be faulty."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 108. "Writers who deal in long sentences, are very apt to be faulty."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 313. "The neuter gender denotes objects which are neither male nor female."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 26. "The neuter gender denotes things which have no sex."--_Kirkham's Compendium_. "Nouns which denote objects neither male nor female, are of the neuter gender."--_Wells's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 49. "Objects and ideas which have been long familiar, make too faint an impression to give an agreeable exercise to our faculties."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 50. "Cases which custom has left dubious, are certainly within the grammarian's province."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 164. "Substantives which end in _ery_, signify action or habit."--_Ib._, p. 132. "After all which can be done to render the definitions and rules of grammar accurate," &c.--_Ib._, p. 36. "Possibly, all which I have said, is known and taught."--_A. B. Johnson's Plan of a Dict._, p. 15.

(6.) "It is a strong and manly style which should chiefly be studied."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 261. "It is this which chiefly makes a division appear neat and elegant."--_Ib._, p. 313. "I hope it is not I with whom he is displeased."--_Murray's Key_, R. 17. "When it is this alone which renders the sentence obscure."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 242. "This sort of full and ample assertion, _'it is this which_,' is fit to be used when a proposition of importance is laid down."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 197. "She is the person whom I understood it to have been." _See Murray's Gram._, p. 181. "Was it thou, or the wind, who shut the door?"--_Inst._, p. 143. "It was not I who shut it."--_Ib._

(7.) "He is not the person who it seemed he was."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 181; _Ingersoll's_, p. 147. "He is really the person who he appeared to be."--_Same_. "She is not now the woman whom they represented her to have been."--_Same_. "An only child, is one who has neither brother nor sister; a child alone, is one who is left by itself"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 98; _Jamieson's_, 71; _Murray's Gram._ 303.

UNDER NOTE VII.--RELATIVE CLAUSES CONNECTED.

(1.) "A Substantive, or Noun, is the name of a thing; of whatever we conceive in any way to subsist, or of which we have any notion."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 14. (2.) "A Substantive or noun is the name of any thing that exists, or of which we have any notion."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 27; _Alger's_, 15; _Bacon's_, 9; _E. Dean's_, 8; _A. Flint's_, 10; _Folker's_, 5; _Hamlin's_, 9; _Ingersoll's_, 14; _Merchant's_, 25; _Pond's_, 15; _S. Putnam's_, 10; _Rand's_, 9; _Russell's_, 9; _T. Smith's_, 12; and others. (3.) "A substantive or noun is the name of any person, place, or thing that exists, or of which we can have an idea."--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. 6. (4.) "A noun is the name of anything that exists, or of which we form an idea."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 37. (5.) "A Noun is the name of any person, place, object, or thing, that exists, or which we may conceive to exist."--_D. C. Allen's Grammatic Guide_, p. 19. (6.) "The name of every thing that exists, or of which we can form any notion, is a noun."--_Fisk's Murray's Gram._, p. 56. (7.) "An allegory is the representation of some one thing by an other that resembles it, and which is made to stand for it."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 341. (8.) "Had he exhibited such sentences as contained ideas inapplicable to young minds, or which were of a trivial or injurious nature."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. ii, p. v. (9.) "Man would have others obey him, even his own kind; but he will not obey God, that is so much above him, and who made him."--_Penn's Maxims_. (10.) "But what we may consider here, and which few Persons have taken Notice of, is," &c.--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 117. (11.) "The Compiler has not inserted such verbs as are irregular only in familiar writing or discourse, and which are improperly terminated by _t_, instead of _ed_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 107; _Fisk's_, 81; _Hart's_, 68; _Ingersoll's_, 104; _Merchant's_, 63. (12.) "The remaining parts of speech, which are called the indeclinable parts, or that admit of no variations, will not detain us long."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 84.

UNDER NOTE VIII.--THE RELATIVE AND PREPOSITION.

"In the temper of mind he was then."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 54. "To bring them into the condition I am at present."--_Spect._, No. 520. "In the posture I lay."--_Swift's Gulliver_. "In the sense it is sometimes taken."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 527. "Tools and utensils are said to be _right_, when they serve for the uses they were made."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 99. "If, in the extreme danger I now am, I do not imitate the behaviour of those," &c.--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 193. "News was brought, that Darius was but twenty miles from the place they then were."--_Ib._, ii, 113. "Alexander, upon hearing this news, continued four days in the place he then was."--_Ib._, ii, 113. "To read, in the best manner it is now taught."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 246. "It may be expedient to give a few directions as to the manner it should be studied."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 9. "Participles are words derived from verbs, and convey an idea of the acting of an agent, or the suffering of an object, with the time it happens."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 50.

"Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal
I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 173.

UNDER NOTE IX.--ADVERBS FOR RELATIVES.

"In compositions where pronunciation has no place."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 101. "They framed a protestation, where they repeated their claims."--_Hume's Hist_. "Which have reference to Substances, where Sex never had existence."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 43. "Which denote substances where sex never had existence."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 38; _Fisk's_, 57. "There is no rule given how truth may be found out."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 160. "The nature of the objects whence they are taken."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 165. "That darkness of character, where we can see no heart."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 236. "The states where they negotiated."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 159. "Till the motives whence men act be known."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 262. "He assigns the principles whence their power of pleasing flows."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 19. "But I went on, and so finished this History in that form as it now appears."--_Sewel's Preface_, p. v. "By prepositions we express the cause why, the instrument by which, wherewith, or the manner how a thing is done."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 128; _John Burn's_, 121. "They are not such in the language whence they are derived."--_Town's Analysis_, p. 13. "I find it very hard to persuade several, that their passions are affected by words from whence they have no ideas."--_Burke, on the Sublime_, p. 95. "The known end, then, why we are placed in a state of so much affliction, hazard, and difficulty, is our improvement in virtue and piety."--_Butler's Anal._, p. 109.

"Yet such his acts, as Greeks unborn shall tell,
And curse the battle where their fathers fell."
--_Pope, Il._, B. x, I. 61.

UNDER NOTE X.--REPEAT THE NOUN.

"Youth may be thoughtful, but it is not very common."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p. 85. "A proper name is that given to one person or thing."--_Bartlett's School Manual_, ii, 27. "A common name is that given to many things of the same sort."--_Ibid._ "This rule is often violated; some instances of which are annexed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 149; _Ingersoll's_, 237. "This is altogether careless writing. It renders style often obscure, always embarrassed and inelegant."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 106. "Every inversion which is not governed by this rule, will be disrelished by every one of taste."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 62. "A proper diphthong is that in which both the vowels are sounded."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 9; _Alger's_, 11; _Bacon's_, 8; _Merchant's_, 9; _Hiley's_, 3; and others. "An improper Diphthong is one in which only one of the two Vowels is sounded."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 5. "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants, are called Hebrews."--_Wood's Dict._ "Every word in our language, of more than one syllable, has one of them distinguished from the rest in this manner."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 236. "Two consonants proper to begin a word must not be separated; as, fa-ble, sti-fle. But when they come between two vowels, and are such as cannot begin a word, they must be divided; as, ut-most, un-der."--_Ib._, p. 22. "Shall the intellect alone feel no pleasures in its energy, when we allow them to the grossest energies of appetite and sense?"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 298; _Murray's Gram._, 289. "No man hath a propensity to vice as such: on the contrary, a wicked deed disgusts him, and makes him abhor the author."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 66. "The same that belong to nouns, belong also to pronouns."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 8. "What is Language? It is the means of communicating thoughts from one to another."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 15. "A simple word is that which is not made up of more than one."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 4; _Gould's_, p. 4. "A compound word is that which is made up of two or more words."--_Ib._ "When a conjunction is to be supplied, it is called Asyndeton."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 235.

UNDER NOTE XI.--PLACE OF THE RELATIVE.

"It gives a meaning to words, which they would not have."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 244. "There are many words in the English language, that are sometimes used as adjectives, and sometimes as adverbs."--_Ib._, p. 114. "Which do not more effectually show the varied intentions of the mind, than the auxiliaries do which are used to form the potential mood."--_Ib._, p. 67. "These accents make different impressions on the mind, which will be the subject of a following speculation."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 108. "And others very much differed from the writer's words, to whom they were ascribed."--_Pref. to Lily's Gram._, p. xii. "Where there is nothing in the sense which requires the last sound to be elevated, an easy fall will be proper."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 250; _Bullions's E. Gram._, 167. "There is an ellipsis of the verb in the last clause, which, when you supply, you find it necessary to use the adverb not."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 176; _Murray's Gram._, 368. "_Study_ is singular number, because its nominative _I_ is, with which it agrees."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 22. "John is the person, or, thou art who is in error."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 136. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin."--_2 Cor._, v, 21.

"Take that of me, my friend, who have the power
To seal the accuser's lips."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 268.

UNDER NOTE XII.--WHAT FOR THAT.

"I had no idea but what the story was true."--_Browns Inst._, p. 144. "The post-boy is not so weary but what he can whistle."--_Ib._ "He had no intimation but what the men were honest."--_Ib._ "Neither Lady Haversham nor Miss Mildmay will ever believe, but what I have been entirely to blame."--See _Priestley's Gram._, p. 93. "I am not satisfied, but what the integrity of our friends is more essential to our welfare than their knowledge of the world."--_Ibid._ "There is, indeed, nothing in poetry, so entertaining or descriptive, but what a didactic writer of genius may be allowed to introduce in some part of his work."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 401. "Brasidas, being bit by a mouse he had catched, let it slip out of his fingers: 'No creature, (says he,) is so contemptible but what may provide for its own safety, if it have courage.'"--PLUTARCH: _Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 81.

UNDER NOTE XIII.--ADJECTIVES FOR ANTECEDENTS.

"In narration, Homer is, at all times, remarkably concise, which renders him lively and agreeable."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 435. "It is usual to talk of a nervous, a feeble, or a spirited style; which are plainly the characters of a writer's manner of thinking."--_Ib._, p. 92. "It is too violent an alteration, if any alteration were necessary, which none is."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 134. "Some men are too ignorant to be humble, without which, there can be no docility."--_Berkley's Alciphron_, p. 385. "Judas declared him innocent; which he could not be, had he in any respect deceived the disciples."--_Porteus_. "They supposed him to be innocent, which he certainly was not."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 50; _Emmons's_, 25. "They accounted him honest, which he certainly was not."--_Fetch's Comp. Gram._, p. 89. "Be accurate in all you say or do; for it is important in all the concerns of life."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 145. "Every law supposes the transgressor to be wicked; which indeed he is, if the law is just."--_Ib._ "To be pure in heart, pious, and benevolent, which all may be, constitutes human happiness."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 232. "To be dexterous in danger, is a virtue; but to court danger to show it, is weakness."--_Penn's Maxims_.

UNDER NOTE XIV.--SENTENCES FOR ANTECEDENTS.

"This seems not so allowable in prose; which the following erroneous examples will demonstrate."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 175. "The accent is laid upon the last syllable of a word; which is favourable to the melody."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 86. "Every line consists of ten syllables, five short and five long; from which there are but two exceptions, both of them rare."--_Ib._, ii, 89. "The soldiers refused obedience, which has been explained."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 128. "Cæsar overcame Pompey, which was lamented."--_Ib._ "The crowd hailed William, which was expected."--_Ib._ "The tribunes resisted Scipio, which was anticipated."--_Ib._ "The censors reproved vice, which was admired."--_Ib._ "The generals neglected discipline, which has been proved."--_Ib._ "There would be two nominatives to the verb was, which is improper."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 205; _Gould's_, 202. "His friend bore the abuse very patiently; which served to increase his rudeness: it produced, at length, contempt and insolence."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 50; _Emmons's_, 25. "Almost all compounded sentences, are more or less elliptical; some examples of which may be seen under the different parts of speech."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 217; _Guy's_, 90; _R G. Smith's_, 180; _Ingersoll's_, 153; _Fisk's_, 144; _J. M. Putnam's_, 137; _Weld's_, 190, _Weld's Imp. Ed._, 214.

UNDER NOTE XV.--REPEAT THE PRONOUN.

"In things of Nature's workmanship, whether we regard their internal or external structure, beauty and design are equally conspicuous."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 269. "It puzzles the reader, by making him doubt whether the word ought to be taken in its proper or figurative sense."--_Ib._, ii, 231. "Neither my obligations to the muses, nor expectations from them, are so great."--_Cowley's Preface_. "The Fifth Annual Report of the Anti-Slavery Society of Ferrisburgh and vicinity."--_Liberator_, ix, 69. "Meaning taste in its figurative as well as proper sense."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 360. "Every measure in which either your personal or political character is concerned."--_Junius_, Let. ix. "A jealous, righteous God has often punished such in themselves or offspring."--_Extracts_, p. 179. "Hence their civil and religious history are inseparable."--_Milman's Jews_, i, 7. "Esau thus carelessly threw away both his civil and religious inheritance."--_Ib._, i, 24. "This intelligence excited not only our hopes, but fears likewise."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 170. "In what manner our defect of principle and ruling manners have completed the ruin of the national spirit of union."--_Brown's Estimate_, i, 77. "Considering her descent, her connexion, and present intercourse."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 85. "His own and wife's wardrobe are packed up in a firkin."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part i, p. 73.

UNDER NOTE XVI.--CHANGE THE ANTECEDENT.

"The sound of _e_ and _o_ long, in their due degrees, will be preserved, and clearly distinguished."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 242. "If any person should be inclined to think," &c., "the author takes the liberty to suggest to them," &c.--_Ib., Pref._, p. iv. "And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it."--_1 Kings_, xxii, 43. "If ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."--_Matt._, xviii, 35. "Nobody ever fancied they were slighted by him, or had the courage to think themselves his betters."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 8. "And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son."--_Gen._, xxvii, 15. "Where all the attention of man is given to their own indulgence."-- _Maturin's Sermons_, p. 181. "The idea of a _father_ is a notion superinduced to the substance, or man--let man be what it will."--_Locke's Essay_, i, 219. "Leaving every one to do as they list."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 460. "Each body performed his part handsomely."--_J. Flint's Gram._, p. 15. "This block of marble rests on two layers of stone, bound together with lead, which, however, has not prevented the Arabs from forcing out several of them."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part i, p. 72.

"Love gives to every power a double power,
Above their functions and their offices."--_Shakspeare_.

RULE XI.--PRONOUNS.

When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, the Pronoun must agree with it in the plural number: as, "The _council_ were divided in _their_ sentiments."--"The Christian _world_ are beginning to awake out of _their_ slumber."--_C. Simeon_. "Whatever Adam's _posterity_ lost through him, that and more _they_ gain in Christ."--_J. Phipps_.

"To this, one pathway gently-winding leads,
Where march a train with baskets on their heads."
--_Pope, Iliad_, B. xviii, l. 657.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XI.

OBS. 1.--The collective noun, or noun of multitude, being a name that signifies many, may in general be taken in either of two ways, according to the intention of the user: that is, either with reference to the _aggregate_ as one thing, in which sense it will accord with the neuter pronoun _it_ or _which_; or with reference to the _individuals_, so as to accord with a plural pronoun _they, their, them_, or _who_, masculine, or feminine, as the individuals of the assemblage may happen to be. The noun itself, being literally singular both in form and in fact, has not unfrequently some article or adjective before it that implies unity; so that the interpretation of it in a plural sense by the pronoun or verb, was perhaps not improperly regarded by the old grammarians as an example of the figure _syllepsis_:.as, "Liberty should reach every individual of _a people_, as _they_ all share one common nature."--_Spectator_, No. 287.

"Thus urg'd the chief; _a generous troop appears_,
_Who spread their_ bucklers and _advance their_ spears."
--_Pope, Iliad_, B. xi, l. 720.

OBS. 2.--Many of our grammarians say, "When a noun of multitude is preceded by a definitive word, which clearly limits the sense to an aggregate with an idea of unity, it requires a verb and pronoun to agree with it in the singular number."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 153; _Ingersoll's_, 249; Fisk's, 122; _Fowler's_, 528. But this principle, I apprehend, cannot be sustained by an appeal to general usage. The instances in practice are not few, in which both these senses are clearly indicated with regard to the same noun; as, "_Each House_ shall keep a journal of _its_ proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in _their_ judgement require secrecy."--_Constitution of the United States_, Art. i, Sec. 5. "I mean _that part_ of mankind _who are known_ by the name of women's men, or beaux."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 536. "A _set_ of men _who are_ common enough in the world."--_Ibid._ "It is vain for _a people_ to expect to be free, unless _they_ are first willing to be virtuous."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 397. "For _this people's_ heart is waxed gross, and _their_ ears are dull of hearing, and _their_ eyes _they_ have closed."--_Matt._, xiii, 15. "_This enemy_ had now enlarged _their_ confederacy, and made _themselves_ more formidable than before."--_Life of Antoninus_, p. 62.

"Thus from the tents the fervent _legion swarms_;
So loud _their_ clamour, and so keen _their_ arms."
--_Pope, Iliad_, B. xvi, l. 320.

OBS. 3.--Most collective nouns of the neuter gender, may take the regular plural form, and be represented by a pronoun in the third person, plural, neuter; as, "The _nations_ will enforce _their_ laws." This construction comes under Rule 10th, as does also the singular, "The _nations_ will enforce _its_ laws;" for, in either case, the agreement is entirely literal. Half of Murray's Rule 4th is therefore needless. To Rule 11th above, there are properly no exceptions; because the number of the pronoun is itself the index to the sense in which the antecedent is therein taken. It does not follow, however, but that there may be violations of the rule, or of the notes under it, by the adoption of one number when the other would be more correct, or in better taste. A collection of things inanimate, as a fleet, a heap, a row, a tier, a bundle, is seldom, if ever, taken distributively, with a plural pronoun. For a further elucidation of the construction of collective nouns, see Rule 15th, and the observations under it.

NOTES TO RULE XI.

NOTE I.--A collective noun conveying the idea of unity, requires a pronoun in the third person, singular, neuter; as, "When a legislative _body_ makes laws, _it_ acts for _itself_ only; but when _it_ makes grants or contracts, _it_ acts as a party."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 40. "A civilized _people_ has no right to violate _its_ solemn obligations, because the other party is uncivilized."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 314.

NOTE II.--When a collective noun is followed by two or more words which must each in some sense agree with it, uniformity of number is commonly preferable to diversity, and especially to such a mixture as puts the singular both before and after the plural; as, "_That_ ingenious nation _who have done_ so much honour to modern literature, _possesses_, in an eminent degree, the talent of narration."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 364. Better: _"which has done."_

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XI.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The jury will be confined till it agrees on a verdict."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 145.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _it_ is of the singular number, and does not correctly represent its antecedent _jury_, which is a collective noun conveying rather the idea of plurality. But, according to Rule 11th, "When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, the pronoun must agree with it in the plural number." Therefore, it should be _they_; thus, "The jury will be confined till _they_ agree on a verdict."]

"And mankind directed its first cares towards the needful."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 114. "It is difficult to deceive a free people respecting its true interest."--_Life of Charles XII_, p. 67. "All the virtues of mankind are to be counted upon a few fingers, but his follies and vices are innumerable."--_Swift_. "Every sect saith, 'Give me liberty:' but give it him, and to his power, he will not yield it to any body else."--_Oliver Cromwell_. "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion."--_Numbers, xxiii_, 24. "For all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."--_Gen._, vi, 12. "There happened to the army a very strange accident, which put it in great consternation."--_Goldsmith_.

UNDER NOTE I.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"The meeting went on in their business as a united body."--_Foster's Report_, i, 69. "Every religious association has an undoubted right to adopt a creed for themselves."--_Gould's Advocate_, iii, 405. "It would therefore be extremely difficult to raise an insurrection in that State against their own government."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 104. "The mode in which a Lyceum can apply themselves in effecting a reform in common schools."--_New York Lyceum_. "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?"--_Jeremiah_, ii, 11. "In the holy scriptures each of the twelve tribes of Israel is often called by the name of the patriarch, from whom they descended."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, ii, 331.

UNDER NOTE II.--UNIFORMITY OF NUMBER.

"A nation, by the reparation of their own wrongs, achieves a triumph more glorious than any field of blood can ever give."--_J. Q. Adams_. "The English nation, from which we descended, have been gaining their liberties inch by inch."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 45. "If a Yearly Meeting should undertake to alter its fundamental doctrines, is there any power in the society to prevent their doing so?"--_Foster's Report_, i, 96. "There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother."--_Proverbs_, xxx, 11. "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness."--_Ib._, xxx, 12. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them."--_Numb._, xxiii, 21. "My people hath forgotten me, they have burnt incense to vanity."--_Jer._, xviii, 15. "When a quarterly meeting hath come to a judgment respecting any difference, relative to any monthly meeting belonging to them," &c.--_Extracts_, p. 195; _N. E. Discip._, p. 118. "The number of such compositions is every day increasing, and appear to be limited only by the pleasure or conveniency of the writer."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 37. "The church of Christ hath the same power now as ever, and are led by the same Spirit into the same practices."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 477. "The army, whom the chief had thus abandoned, pursued meanwhile their miserable march."--_Lockhart's Napoleon_, ii, 165.

RULE XII.--PRONOUNS.

When a Pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_, it must agree with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together: as, "_Minos_ and _Thales_ sung to the lyre the laws which _they_ composed."--STRABO: _Blair's Rhet._, p. 379. "_Saul_ and _Jonathan_ were lovely and pleasant in _their_ lives, and in _their_ death _they_ were not divided."--_2 Sam._, i, 23.

"_Rhesus_ and _Rhodius_ then unite their rills,
Caresus roaring down the stony hills."--_Pope, Il._, B. xii, l. 17.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

When two or more antecedents connected by and serve merely to describe one person or thing, they are either in apposition or equivalent to one name, and do not require a plural pronoun; as, "This great _philosopher_ and _statesman_ continued in public life till _his_ eighty-second year."--"The same _Spirit, light_, and _life, which enlighteneth_, also sanctifieth, and there is not an other."--_Penington_. "My _Constantius and Philetus_ confesseth me two years older when I writ _it_."--_Cowley's Preface_. "Remember these, O _Jacob_ and _Israel_! for _thou_ art my servant."--_Isaiah_, xliv, 21. "In that _strength_ and _cogency which renders_ eloquence powerful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 252.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

When two antecedents connected by _and_ are emphatically distinguished, they belong to different propositions, and, if singular, do not require a plural pronoun; as, "The _butler_, and not the _baker_, was restored to _his_ office."--"The _good man_, and the _sinner too_, shall have _his_ reward."--"_Truth_, and _truth only_, is worth seeking for _its_ own sake."--"It is _the sense_ in which the word is used, and _not the letters_ of which it is composed, _that determines_ what is the part of speech to which it belongs."--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶ 130.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

When two or more antecedents connected by _and_ are preceded by the adjective _each, every_, or _no_, they are taken separately, and do not require a plural pronoun; as, "_Every plant_ and _every tree_ produces others after _its_ own kind."--"It is the cause of _every reproach_ and _distress_ which _has attended_ your government."--_Junius_, Let. xxxv. But if the latter be a collective noun, the pronoun may be plural; as, "_Each minister_ and _each church_ act according to _their_ own impressions."--_Dr. M'Cartee_.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XII.

OBS. 1.--When the antecedents are of _different persons_, the first person is preferred to the second, and the second to the third; as, "_John_, and _thou_, and _I_, are attached to _our_ country."--"_John_ and _thou_ are attached to _your_ country."--"The Lord open some light, and show both _you_ and _me our_ inheritance!"--_Baxter_. "_Thou_ and thy _sons_ with thee _shall bear_ the iniquity of _your_ priesthood."--_Numbers_, xviii, 1.

"For all are friends in heaven; all faithful friends;
And many friendships in the days of Time
Begun, are lasting here, and growing still:
So grows _ours_ evermore, both _theirs and mine_."
--_Pollok, C. of T._, B. v, l. 335.

OBS 2.--The _gender_ of pronouns, except in the third person singular, is distinguished only by their antecedents. In expressing that of a pronoun which has antecedents of _different_ genders, the masculine should be preferred to the feminine, and the feminine to the neuter. The parser of English should remember, that this is a principle of General Grammar.

OBS 3.--When two words are taken separately as nominatives, they ought not to be united in the same sentence as antecedents. In the following example, therefore, _them_ should be _it_: "The first has a lenis, and the other an asper over _them_."--_Printer's Gram._, p. 246. Better thus: "The first has a lenis _over it_, and the other an asper."

OBS. 4.--Nouns that stand as nominatives or antecedents, are sometimes taken conjointly when there is no conjunction expressed; as, "The historian, the orator, the philosopher, _address themselves_ primarily to the understanding: _their_ direct aim is, to inform, to persuade, to instruct."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 377. The copulative _and_ may here be said to be understood, because the verb and the pronouns are plural; but it seems better _in general_, either to introduce the connective word, or to take the nouns disjunctively: as, "They have all the copiousness, the fervour, the inculcating method, that _is_ allowable and graceful in an orator; perhaps too much of it for a writer."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 343. To this, however, there may be exceptions,--cases in which the plural form is to be preferred,--especially in poetry; as,

"Faith, justice, heaven itself, now quit their hold,
When to false fame the captive heart is sold."--_Brown, on Satire_.

OBS. 5.--When two or more antecedents connected by _and_ are nominally alike, one or more of them may be _understood_; and, in such a case, the pronoun must still be plural, as agreeing with all the nouns, whether expressed or implied: as, "But intellectual and moral culture ought to go hand in hand; _they_ will greatly help each other."--_Dr. Weeks_. Here _they_ stands for _intellectual culture_ and _moral culture_. The following example is incorrect: "The Commanding and Unlimited _mode_ may be used in an absolute sense, or without a name or substitute on which _it_ can depend."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 80. Change _it_ to _they_, or _and_ to _or_. See Note 6th to Rule 16th.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XII.

PRONOUNS WITH ANTECEDENTS CONNECTED BY AND.

"Discontent and sorrow manifested itself in his countenance."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 146.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the pronoun _itself_ is of the singular number, and does not correctly represent its two antecedents _discontent_ and _sorrow_, which are connected by _and_, and taken conjointly. But, according to Rule 12th, "When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_, it must agree with then, jointly in the plural, because they are taken together." Therefore, _itself_ should be _themselves_; thus, "Discontent and sorrow manifested _themselves_ in his countenance."]

"Both conversation and public speaking became more simple and plain, such as we now find it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 59. "Idleness and ignorance, if it be suffered to proceed, &c."--JOHNSON: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 186. "Avoid questions and strife; it shows a busy and contentious disposition."--_Wm. Penn_. "To receive the gifts and benefits of God with thanksgiving, and witness it blessed and sanctified to us by the word and prayer, is owned by us."--_Barclays Works_, i, 213. "Both minister and magistrate are compelled to choose between his duty and his reputation."--_Junius_, p. 9. "All the sincerity, truth, and faithfulness, or disposition of heart or conscience to approve it, found among rational creatures, necessarily originate from God."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 12. "Your levity and heedlessness, if it continue, will prevent all substantial improvement."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 147. "Poverty and obscurity will oppress him only who esteems it oppressive."--_Ib._ "Good sense and refined policy are obvious to few, because it cannot be discovered but by a train of reflection."--_Ib._ "Avoid haughtiness of behaviour, and affectation, of manners: it implies a want of solid merit."--_Ib._ "If love and unity continue, it will make you partakers of one an other's joy."--_Ib._ "Suffer not jealousy and distrust to enter: it will destroy, like a canker, every germ of friendship."--_Ib._ "Hatred and animosity are inconsistent with Christian charity; guard, therefore, against the slightest indulgence of it."--_Ib._ "Every man is entitled to liberty of conscience, and freedom of opinion, if he does not pervert it to the injury of others."--_Ib._

"With the azure and vermilion
Which is mix'd for my pavilion."--_Byron's Manfred_, p. 9.

RULE XIII.--PRONOUNS.

When a Pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together: as; "_James_ or _John_ will favour us with _his_ company."--"Neither _wealth_ nor _honour_ can secure the happiness of _its_ votaries."

"What _virtue_ or what mental _grace_,
But men unqualified and base
Will boast _it_ their possession?"--_Cowper, on Friendship_.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XIII.

OBS. 1.--When two or more singular antecedents are connected by _or_ or _nor_, the pronoun which represents them, ought in general to be singular, because _or_ and _nor_ are disjunctives; and, to form a complete concord, the nouns ought also to be of the same person and gender, that the pronoun may agree in all respects with each of them. But when _plural_ nouns are connected in this manner, the pronoun will of course be plural, though it still agrees with the antecedents singly; as, "Neither _riches_ nor _honours_ ever satisfy _their_ pursuers." Sometimes, when different numbers occur together, we find the plural noun put last, and the pronoun made plural after both, especially if this noun is a mere substitute for the other; as,

"What's justice to a man, or laws,
That never comes within _their_ claws."--_Hudibras_.

OBS. 2.--When antecedents of different persons, numbers, or genders, are connected by _or_ or _nor_, they cannot very properly be represented by any pronoun that is not applicable to each of them. The following sentences are therefore inaccurate; or at least they contradict the teachings of their own authors: "Either _thou or I_ am greatly mistaken, in _our_ judgment on this subject."--_Murray's Key_, p. 184 "Your character, which _I, or any other writer_, may now value _ourselves_ by (upon) drawing."--SWIFT: _Lowth's Gram._, p. 96. "Either _you or I_ will be in _our_ place in due time."--_Coopers Gram._, p. 127. But different pronouns may be so connected as to refer to such antecedents taken separately; as, "By requiring greater labour from such _slave or slaves_, than _he or she or they_ are able to perform."--_Prince's Digest_. Or, if the gender only be different, the masculine may involve the feminine by implication; as, "If a man smite the eye of his _servant_, or the eye of his _maid_, that it perish, he shall let _him_ go free for _his_ eye's sake."--_Exodus_, xxi, 26.

OBS. 3.--It is however very common to resort to the plural number in such instances as the foregoing, because our plural pronouns are alike in all the genders; as, "When either _man or woman_ shall separate _themselves_ to vow a vow of a Nazarite."--_Numbers_, vi, 2. "Then shalt thou bring forth _that man or that woman_ unto thy gates, and shalt stone them with stones, till _they_ die."--_Deut._, xvii, 5. "Not on outward charms could _he or she_ build _their_ pretensions to please."--_Opie, on Lying_, p. 148. "Complimenting either _man or woman_ on agreeable qualities which _they_ do not possess, in hopes of imposing on _their_ credulity."--_Ib._, p. 108. "_Avidien_, or his _wife_, (no matter which,) _sell their_ presented partridges and fruits."--_Pope_, Sat. ii, l. 50. "Beginning with Latin _or_ Greek hexameter, _which are_ the same."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 79.

"Did ever _Proteus, Merlin_, any _witch_,
Transform _themselves_ so strangely as the rich?"
--_Pope_, Ep. i, l. 152.

OBS. 4.--From the observations and examples above, it may be perceived, that whenever there is a difference of person, number, or gender, in antecedents connected disjunctively, there is an inherent difficulty respecting the form of the pronoun personal. The best mode of meeting this inconvenience, or of avoiding it by a change of the phraseology, may be different on different occasions. The disjunctive connexion of explicit pronouns is the most correct, but it savours too much of legal precision and wordiness to be always eligible. Commonly an ingenious mind may invent some better expression, and yet avoid any syntactical anomaly. In Latin, when nouns are connected by the conjunctions which correspond to _or_ or _nor_, the pronoun or verb is so often made plural, that no such principle as that of the foregoing Rule, or of Rule 17th, is taught by the common grammars of that language. How such usage can be logically right, however, it is difficult to imagine. Lowth, Murray, Webster, and most other English grammarians, teach, that, "The conjunction disjunctive has an effect contrary to that of the copulative; and, as the verb, noun, or pronoun, is referred to the preceding terms taken separately, it must be in the singular number."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 75; _L. Murray's_, 151; _Churchill's_, 142; _W. Allen's_, 133; _Lennie's_, 83; _and many others_. If there is any allowable exception to this principle, it is for the adoption of the plural when the concord cannot be made by any one pronoun singular; as, "If I value my friend's _wife or son_ upon account of _their_ connexion with him."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 73. "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, _thou nor thy sons_ with thee, when _ye_ go into the tabernacle of the congregation."--_Levit._, x, 8. These examples, though they do not accord with the preceding rule, seem not to be susceptible of any change for the better. There are also some other modes of expression, in which nouns that are connected disjunctively, may afterwards be represented together; as "_Foppery_ is a sort of folly much more contagious THAN _pedantry_; but as _they_ result alike from affectation, _they_ deserve alike to be proscribed."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 217.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XIII.

PRONOUNS WITH ANTECEDENTS CONNECTED BY OR OR NOR.

"Neither prelate nor priest can give their flocks any decisive evidence that you are lawful pastors."--_Dr. Brownlee_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _their_ is of the plural number, and does not correctly represent its two antecedents _prelate_ and _priest_, which are connected by _nor_, and taken disjunctively. But, according to Rule 13th, "When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together." Therefore, _their_ should be _his_; thus, "Neither prelate nor priest can give _his_ flocks any decisive evidence that you are lawful pastors."]

"And is there a heart of parent or of child, that does not beat and burn within them?"--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 367. "This is just as if an eye or a foot should demand a salary for their service to the body."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 178. "If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee."--_Matt._, xviii, 8. "The same might as well be said of Virgil, or any great author, whose general character will infallibly raise many casual additions to their reputation."--_Pope's Pref. to Homer_. "Either James or John, one of them, will come."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 37. "Even a rugged rock or barren heath, though in themselves disagreeable, contribute by contrast to the beauty of the whole."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 185. "That neither Count Rechteren nor Monsieur Mesnager had behaved themselves right in this affair."--_Spect._, No. 481. "If an Aristotle, a Pythagoras, or a Galileo, suffer for their opinions, they are 'martyrs.'"--_Gospel its own Witness_, p. 80. "If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die; then the ox shall be surely stoned."--_Exodus_, xxi, 28. "She was calling out to one or an other, at every step, that a Habit was ensnaring them."--DR. JOHNSON: _Murray's Sequel_, 181. "Here is a Task put upon Children, that neither this Author, nor any other have yet undergone themselves."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 162. "Hence, if an adjective or participle be subjoined to the verb, when of the singular number, they will agree both in gender and number with the collective noun."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 154; _Gould's_, 158. "And if you can find a diphthong, or a triphthong, be pleased to point them out too."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 16. "And if you can find a diphthong, or a triphthong, a trissyllable, or a polysyllable, point them respectively out."--_Ib._, p. 25. "The false refuges in which the atheist or the sceptic have intrenched themselves."--_Christian Spect._, viii, 185. "While the man or woman thus assisted by art expects their charms will be imputed to nature alone."--_Opie_, 141. "When you press a watch, or pull a clock, they answer your question with precision; for they repeat exactly the hour of the day, and tell you neither more nor less than you desire to know."--_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 102.

"Not the Mogul, or Czar of Muscovy,
Not Prester John, or Cham of Tartary,
Are in their houses Monarch more than I."
--KING: _Brit. Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 613.