If you pay particular attention to this elucidation of the word that, you will find no difficulty in parsing it. When it is a relative or an adjective pronoun, it may be known by the signs given; and whenever these signs will not apply to it, you know it is a conjunction.

Some writers are apt to make too free a use of this word. will give you one example of affronted that, which may serve as a caution. The tutor said, in speaking of the word that, that that that that that lady parsed, was not the that that that gentleman requested her to analyze. This sentence, though rendered inelegant by a bad choice of words, is strictly grammatical. The first that is a noun; the second, a conjunction; the third, an adjective pronoun; the fourth, a noun; the fifth, a relative pronoun; the sixth, an adjective pronoun; the seventh, a noun; the eighth, a relative pronoun; the ninth, an adjective pronoun. The meaning of the sentence will be more obvious, if rendered thus; The tutor said, in speaking of the word that, that that that which that lady parsed, was not the that which that gentleman requested her to analyze.

WHAT. +

What is generally a compound relative, includ ing both the antecedent and the relative, and is equivalent to that which; as, "This is what I wanted;" that is, that which, or, the thing which I wanted!

What is compounded of which that. These words have been contracted and made to coalesce, a part of the orthography of both being still retained: what-which-t]hat; (which-that.) Anciently it appeared in the varying forms, tha qua, qua tha, qu'tha, quthat, quhat, hwat, and finally what.

What may be used as three kinds of a pronoun, and as an interjection. When it is equivalent to that which, the thing which, or those things which, it is a compound relative, because it in. cludes both the antecedent and the relative; as, "I will try what (that which) can be found in female delicacy; What you recollect with most pleasure, are the virtuous actions of your past life;" that is, those things which you recollect, &c.

When what is a compound relative, you must always parse it as two words; that is, you must parse the antecedent part as a noun, and give it a case; the relative part you may analyze like any other relative, giving it a case likewise. In the first of the preceding examples, that, the antecedent part of what, is in the obj. case, governed by the verb "will try;" which, the relative

part, is in the nom. case to "can be found.” "I have heard what (i. e. that which, or the thing which) has been alleged."

Whoever and whosoever (are also compound relatives, and should be parsed like the compound what; as, "Whoever takes that oath, is bound to enforce the laws. In this sentence whoever is equivalent to he who, or, the man who; thus, “He who takes that oath, is bound," &c.

Who, which, and what, when used in asking questions, are called interrogative pronouns, or relatives of the interrogative kind; as, "Who is he? Which is the person? What are you

doing?"

Interrogative pronouns have no antecedent; but they relate to the word or phrase which is the answer to the question, for their subsequent; as, "Whom did you see? The preceptor. What have you done? Nothing." Antecedent and subsequent are opposed to each other in signification. Antecedent means preceding, or going before; and subsequent means following, or coming after. What, when used as an interrogative, is never compound.

What, which, and that when joined to nouns, are specifying adjectives, or adjective pronouns, in which situation they have no case, but are parsed like adjective pronouns of the demonstrative or indefinite kind; as, "Unto which promise our twelve trihes hope to come;" "What misery the vicious endure! What havock hast thou made, foul monster, sin!"

What and which, when joined to nouns in asking questions, are denominated interrogative pronominal adjectives; as, "What man is that? Which road did he take?"

What, whatever, and whatsoever, which, whichever, and which soever, in constructions like the following are compound pronouns, but not compound relatives; as, In what character Butler was admitted, is unknown Give him what name you choose; Nature's care largely endows whatever happy man will deign to use her treasures; Let him take which course, or, whichever course he will." These sentences may be rendered thus; “That character, or, the character in which Butler was admitted, is unknown; Give him that name, or, the name which you choose; Nature's care endows that happy man who will deign, &c.; Let him take that course, or the course which he will." A compound relative necessarily includes both an antecedent and a relative. These compounds, you will notice, do not include antecedents, the first part of each word being the article the, or the adjective pronoun, that; therefore they cannot properly be denominated compound relatives. With regard to the word ever annexed to these pronouns, it is a singular fact,

that, as soon as we analyze the word to which it is subjoined, ever is entirely excluded from the sentence.

What is sometimes used as an interjection; as, "But what! is thy servant a dog, that he should do this What! rob us of our right of suffrage, and then shut us up in dungeons!"

You have now come to the most formidable obstacle, or, if I may so speak, to the most rugged eminence in the path of grammatical science; but be not disheartened, for, if you can get safely over this, your future course will be interrupted with only here and there a gentle elevation. It will require close appli cation, and a great deal of sober thinking, to gain a clear con ception of the nature of the relative pronouns, particularly the compound relatives, which are not easily comprehended by the young learner. As this VIII. lecture is a very important one, it becomes necessary for you to read it carefully four or five times over before you proceed to commit the following order. Whenever you parse, you may spread the compendium before you, if you please.

SISTEMATICK ORDER OF PARSING.

The order of parsing a RELATIVE PRONOUN, is-a pronoun, and why ?-relative, and why?gender, person, and number, and why ?-RULE · case, and why ?--RULE.-Decline it

"This is the man whom we saw."

Whom is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun-relative, it relates to "man" for its antecedent-mas. gend. third pers. sing. num. because the antecedent "man" is with which it agrees, according to

RULE 14. (Relative pronouns agree with their antecedents in gender, person, and number. Whom is in the objective case, the object of the action expressed by the active-transitive verb "saw," and governed by it, agreeably to

RULE 16. (When a nominative comes between the relative and the verb, the relative is governed by the following verb or some other word in ils own member of the sentence.

Whom, in the objective casc, is placed before the verb that governs it, according to NOTE 1, under Rule 16. (Repeat the Note, and decline who.)

"From what is recorded, he appears," &c.

What is a comp. rel. pron. includingboth the antecedent and the relative, and is equivalent to that which, or the thing whichThing, the antecedent part of what, is a neur, the name of a

thing-com. the name of a species-neuter gender, it has no sex-third person, spoken of sing. number, it implies but oneand in the obj. case, it is the object of the relation expressed by the prep. "from," and gov. by it: RULE 31. (Repeat the Rule, and every other Rule to which I refer.) Which, the relative part of what, is a pronoun, a word used instead of a nounrelative, it relates to "thing" for its antecedent-neut. gender, third person, sing. number, because the antecedent "thing" is with which it agrees, according to RULE 14. Rel. pron. &c. Which is in the nom. case to the verb " is recorded," agreeably to RULE 15. The relative is the nominative case to the verb, when no nominative comes between it and the verb.

"What have you learned? Nothing."

What is a pron. a word used, &c.—relative of the interroga tive kind, because it is used in asking a question-it refers to the word "nothing" for its subsequent, according to

RULE 17. When the rel. pron. is of the interrog. kind, it re fers to the word or phrase containing the answer to the question, for its subsequent, which subsequent must agree in case with the interrogative. What is of the neut. gen. third per. sing. because the subsequent "nothing" is with which it agrees; RULE 14. Rel. pron. agree, &c.-It is in the objective case, the object of the action, of the active-transitive verb "have learned," and gov. by it, agreeably to Rule 16. When a nom. &c. See NOTE 1, under the Rule.

NOTE 1. You need not apply gend. pers. and numb. to the interrogative when the answer to the question is not expressed.

WHO, WHICH, WHAT.

Truth and simplicity are twin sisters, and generally go hand in hand. The foregoing exposition of the "relative pronouns," is in accordance with the usual method of treating them; but if they were unfolded according to their true character, they would be found to be very simple, and, doubtless, much labour and perplexity, on the part of the learner, would thereby be saved.

Of the words called "relatives," who, only, is a pronoun; and this is strictly personal; more so, indeed, if we except I and we, than any other word in our language, for it is always restricted to persons. It ought to be classed with the personal pronouns. I, thou, he, she, it, we, you, and they, relate to antecedents, as well as who. Which, that, and what, are always adjectives. They never stand for, but always belong to nouns, either expressed or implied. They specify, like many other adjectives, and connect sentences.

Who supplies the place of which or what, and its personal

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noun. Who came? i. e. what man, what woman, what person; which man, woman, or person, came? They heard what I said"-they heard that (thing) which (thing) I said. "Take what (or whichever) course you please;"-take that course which (course) you please to take. "What have you done?" i. e. what thing, act, or deed have you done? "Which thing I also did at Jerusalem." "Which will you take?”—which book, hat, or something else? "This is the tree which (tree) produces no fruit.” "He that (man, or which man) acts wise

ly, deserves praise

دو

They who prefer this method of treating the "relatives," are at liberty to adopt it, and parse accordingly.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

The man who instructs you, labours faithfully. The boy whom I instruct, learns well. The lady whose house we occupy, bestows many charities. That modesty which highly adorns a woman, she possesses. He that acts wisely deserves praise. This is the tree which produces no fruit. I believe what he says. He speaks what he knows. Whatever purifies the heart, also fortifies it. What doest* thou? Nothing. What book have you? A poem. Whose hat have you? John's. Who does that work? Henry. Whom seest thou? To whom gave you the present? Which pen did he take? Whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. I heard what he said. George, you may pursue whatever science suits your taste. Eliza,take whichever pattern pleases you best. Whoever lives to see this republick forsake her moral and literary institutions, will behold her liberties prostrated. Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.

NOTE. The nominative case is frequently placed after the verb, and the objective case, before the verb that governs it. Whom, in every sentence except one, house, modesty, book, hat, pen, him, the third what and which, the relative part of the first two whats, are all in the objective case, and governed by the several verbs that follow them. See RULE 16, and NOTE 1. Tree is nom. after is, according to RULE 21. Thing, the antecedent part of whatever, is nom. to "fortifies ;" which, the relative part, is. nom. to "purifies." Nothing is governed by do, and poem, by have, understood. Henry is nomina. tive to does, understood. Whose and John's are governed according to RULE 12. I, thou, you, him, &c. represent nouns understood. Him, in the last sentence but five, is governed by declare, and I is nominative to declare. George and Eliza are in the nominative case independent: Rule 5. "Whatever science," &c. is equivalent to, that science which suits your taste;-" whichever pattern;" i. e. that pattern which pleases you best. Whoever is a com

*The second person singular of do, when used as a principal verb, is spelled with an e; thus, "What thou doest, do quickly;" but when employ ed as an auxiliary, the e should be omitted; as, "Dost thou not behold a rock with its head of heath ?"