learned so rapidly that he recommended him to a nobleman who resided in the neighborhood. He was as noble in mind as he was in birth, and he patronized him and sent him to school.

12. In the following story which Burton tells of Billy Williams, the comic actor, put Billy's remarks together and correct them:

"So down I goes to the stable with Tom Flynn, and told the man to put the saddle on him."

"On Tom Flynn?"

"No, on the horse; and then I shook hands with him and rode off."

"Shook hands with the horse, Billy?"

"No, with Tom Flynn; and then I rode off up the Bowery, and who should I meet in front of the Bowery Theater but Tom Hamblin; so I got off and told the boy to hold him by the head."

"What! hold Hamblin by the head?"

"No, the horse; and then we went and had a drink together." "What! you and the horse?"

"No, me and Hamblin; and after that I mounted him again, and went out of town."

"What! mounted Hamblin again?"

"No, the horse; and when I got to Burnham, who should be there but Tom Flynn, - he'd taken another horse and rode out ahead of me; so I told the hostler to tie him up."

"No, the horse; and we had a drink together."

“What! you and the horse?”

"No, me and Tom Flynn!”

Finding his auditors by this time in a horse laugh, Billy wound up with

"Now, look here,-every time I say horse, you say Hamblin, and every time I say Hamblin, you say horse. I'll be hanged if I tell you any more about it."

PRINCIPLE II.— Relative Pronouns.

EXAMPLE. He was arrested in bed, and attempted to commit suicide by firing a pistol at his head, which he had concealed among the bed-clothes.

To what does the relative which refer? From its position it ought to refer to head, but from the sense we know it refers to pistol. A slight change in the order will prevent the suggestion of another than the true meaning; thus, by firing at his head a pistol which he had concealed among the bed-clothes.

PRINCIPLE.-Indicate clearly the antecedent of relative pronouns. The "sin of whichcraft" may commonly be avoided by placing the relative close to its antecedent. Avoid not only such positions as would make the meaning doubtful, but also such as would suggest an impossible or absurd meaning. Do not, except as a last resort, rely upon the punctuation to make clear a doubtful passage.

Exercise 37.-Of the following examples, correct all that are faulty. Give reasons in full.

1. A little girl went to a neighbor's house that had light-blue eyes and golden curls. 2. A chair was sent to the joiner's that had a broken back. 3. Lost::- a white rabbit by a lady that has pink eyes and long ears. 4. During the procession a child was run over, wearing a short red dress, which never spoke afterward. 5. We have received a basket of grapes from our old friend Jones, for which he will accept our compliments, some of which are nearly two inches in diameter. 6. Besides this he had on a cloak extending half-way down his thigh which was colored crimson. 7. The Romans engaged in the Macedonian war in consequence of an attack on Athens by Philip which was an ally of Rome. 8. Her husband was a gallant colonel in full-bottomed wig and gold-laced hat, that was

killed abroad. 9. On each side are pavements for pedestrians that are from six to eight feet wide. 10. They forsook the officers commanding them who were killed. 11. A proclamation has been issued from Mecca, warning all true believers to prepare for the coming day, which has been widely circulated and has created a great deal of excitement. 12. To this group belongs the Iguanodon, of the Wealden beds, first made known by Dr. Mantell, whose body was twenty-eight to thirty feet long. 13. The fruit was in glass cans which we ate. 14. Two men opened a show-case, and removed $12,000 worth of diamonds and jewelry, just after the doors were opened, with which they walked away.

PRINCIPLE III.-Number of Relatives in a Sentence.

EXAMPLE.- In a pleasant district which lies in the southern part of York was an extensive forest, which in ancient days extended over a greater part of the country which lies between Sheffield and Doncaster.

It is often impossible to tell, where several pronouns are used in the same sentence, whether they all refer to the same or to different antecedents. Here the pronoun which has three different antecedents. This is very confusing. It is moreover very easy to go on in this way adding clause to clause until as in the famous, This is the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc., there is no proper connection between the beginning and the end. The example can be corrected by simply omitting the first and last which, together with the verb, thus: In a pleasant district in the southern part of York was an extensive forest, which in ancient days extended over a greater part "of the country between Sheffield and Doncaster.

PRINCIPLE.-Limit as far as possible the number of relatives in a sentence unless they all refer to the same

antecedent. If you must use more than one, use if possible different words; as which that; not which which. Remember to use that in restrictive clauses. Sometimes the excessive use of pronouns can be avoided by repeating the antecedent, sometimes by changing a clause to a phrase, and sometimes only by completely recasting the

sentence.

Exercise 38.-Correct all the faulty examples. Explain fully.

1. The mountain stream fell into the basin, which was black from the shadows of the mountains which surrounded it.

2. He had no weapon excepting a poniard which was suspended from a belt, which served to counterbalance the weight of the rusty keys which hung at his side.

3. Above all he had that unbending resolution with which Israelites have been frequently known to submit to the uttermost evils which power and violence can inflict upon them, rather than to gratify their oppressors by granting the demands which they make.

4. This had been settled in a council, in which, after a long and warm debate concerning the several advantages which each insisted upon having for his peculiar share in this audacious enterprise, they had at length determined upon the fate which should be awarded the unhappy prisoners.

5. His reign was like the course of a brilliant and rapid meteor, which shoots along the face of heaven, which sheds around an unnecessary and portentous light, which is instantly swallowed up by universal darkness.

6. The soft and gentle river Don sweeps through an amphitheatre in which cultivation is richly blended with woodland; and on a mount, which ascends from the river, which is well defended by its walls and ditches, rises this ancient edifice, which, as its Saxon name implies, was, previous to the conquest, a residence of the kings of England.

7. Mrs. Glegg inherited such a bone, which she had inherited

from her grandmother with a brocaded gown that would stand up empty, like a silver-headed walking-stick.

PRINCIPLE IV.-"And Which."

EXAMPLE. I have a book printed at Antwerp, and which was once possessed by Adam Smith.

And should join like elements, but here it joins a participle and a relative clause. To correct it we must convert these into like elements; thus, I have a book printed at Antwerp, and once possessed by Adam Smith; or, I have a book that was printed at Antwerp, and that was once possessed by Adam Smith.

PRINCIPLE. A co-ordinate conjunction, as "and," “but,” must not stand before a relative, unless the conjunction joins the relative clause to another relative clause. Sometimes the elements must be transformed, sometimes the and can be omitted.

Exercise 39.- Correct all the faulty examples. Explain fully.

1.. Miss Hardcastle is about to meet her future husband, Mr. Marlow, son of Sir Charles Marlow, and whom she has never seen. 2. He now visits Mrs. Cavendish who is quite delighted with him, and who reads him a letter from that "beggarly captain" and which she has just intercepted. 3. It is said that there was under the tree a dragon with a hundred heads, and fifty of which were always on the watch while the other fifty slept. 4. I saw her again laid up with a fever she had caught in her vacation and which proved fatal. 5. In his girdle stuck a large weapon bearing the name of a Sheffield whittle, and which was manufactured in the vicinity. 6. Mrs. Harriet Bowers, widow of Jonathan Bowers, and who has held the position of postmistress at Morrisville some nine years, died on Sun