the number of errors committed by misplacing the clauses introduced by relative pronouns is so great as to demand a separate section.

EXERCISE.

Reconstruct the following so as to express clearly the meaning intended:

1. A servant will obey a master's orders that he loves.

2. One should not marry a person in high life that has no

money.

3. A man has no right to judge another who is a party concerned.

4. The teacher dismissed the pupil without inquiry, who had never before done such an action.

5. He needs no spectacles that cannot see.

6. They were friends of my brother who came to visit us. 7. The fruit was packed in small baskets which we ate. 8. The rind of the orange which we threw away was quite thick.

9. Found, a little kitten, by a child, that is lame.

10. During the confusion a little girl was hurt with a red dress that fell on the floor.

11. Have you returned the book to the desk which I loaned you?

12. He put the chicken in the pen which I handed to him. 13. The tablet was erected in honor of Mary's sister who was first queen of England.

14. Solomon, the son of David, who built the temple at Jerusalem was a wise and powerful monarch.

15. The gentleman denied that he had ever used such language in an interview which a newspaper reporter had put in his mouth.

16. Every passenger must show a ticket that enters the

cars.

17. Each pupil must leave his book at his desk that comes to the class.

18. Ail ought to look to the comfort of their neighbors who have an abundance.

19. Wanted, a young man to take care of a horse, who is sober and industrious.

4. Improper Use of Pronouns.-Sentences are frequently rendered both ambiguous and obscure by carelessness in the use of pronouns. The embarrassment may be avoided in several ways.

1. By Changing the Number. Thus, in the sentence, "Men look with an evil eye upon the success of others, and think that their reputation obscures them," it is difficult to understand to what both "their" and "them" refer. By changing the number of one of the terms the meaning becomes clear. We may express the sentence as follows: "A man looks with an evil eye upon the success of others, and thinks that their reputation obscures him." Or the sentence may read, "Men look with an evil eye upon the success of another, and think that his reputation obscures them."

2. By Using Direct Discourse. Thus, in the sentence, "The farmer told his neighbor that his hogs were in his garden," it is impossible to tell the meaning. By using direct discourse we may reach the meaning at once. Thus, we may use any of the following, according to the sense intended:

The farmer said to his neighbor, "Your hogs are in my garden." The farmer said to his neighbor, "My hogs are in your garden." The farmer said to his neighbor, "Your hogs are in your garden.” The farmer said to his neighbor, "My hogs are in my garden."

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3. By Repeating the Antecedent.-Thus, in the sentence, "When the tramps complained of the farmer's dogs, he called them ill-bred curs", the meaning is ambiguous, because the term curs may be made to apply to either the dogs or the tramps. By repeating the antecedent the meaning is made clear; thus, "When the tramps complained of the farmer's dogs, he called the dogs ill-bred curs."

EXERCISE.

Reconstruct the following so as to express the meaning clearly:

1. Coming home late, he took the key from his pocket, unlocked the door and put it back in his pocket.

2. The young man said to his brother that he would bring his trunk the next time he came.

3. They told their visitor that they were very comfortable. 4. The little girl asked her mother if she might go with her, as she was going to get something for her.

5. He told his friend that he would have to remain quiet on the question under discussion.

6. The gentleman told his companion that he thought he had come too early.

7. A hand was thrust through the opening holding a pistol, and the captain stepped stealthily forward and took it.

8. The trees spanned the streets like arches, and when one stood and looked up and down one of them the curve at a distance seemed perfect.

9. A high hill at the end of the street formed a pleasing part of the scene, but the most pleasing part of it was the trees.

10. The clerk said to his employer that whatever he did displeased him.

11. Dr. Prideaux used to relate that when he brought the copy of his Connection of the Old and the New Testaments to the bookseller, he told him it was a dry subject, and the printing could not be safely ventured upon unless he could enliven the work with a little humor.

12. The soldier promised his father never to desert his friends. 13. The officer caught the thief and handcuffed him in his

own room.

14. He looked with no unfriendly eye on his brother, for he knew that his success was greater than his.

15. Ideas of animals and plants can also be given by descriptions and pictures of them.

16. When any one passed he gave him a kick.

17. We form the habit of believing certain things without

natural conviction.

18. When the officer struck the prisoner he called him a brute.

19. Pupils may also be led to see the caravans crossing the desert, with the camels and horses, now stopping at an oasis, and now overtaken by a storm of sand, from which they can escape only by dismounting and covering their faces, and by which they are often buried in a sandy grave.

20. Many men think unkindly of their neighbors, simply because they are more fortunate than themselves.

5. The Squinting Construction.-What the French term "the squinting construction " is one in which an expression is so placed in a sentence as to look two ways. That is, it may be taken to modify either what precedes or what follows.

Thus, in the sentence, "Yet we fancy that Franklin, the philosopher, in small things as well as great, rejoiced in his heart when house-cleaning day came," the phrase "in small things as well as great" may be taken to modify either the noun "philosopher" or the verb "rejoiced." The sentence is therefore ambiguous. The omission of the comma after philosopher will make the meaning of the sentence clear.

EXERCISE.

Reconstruct the following so as to make the meaning clear :

1. These errors in construction by degrees became more

numerous.

2. Tell the boys if they are in the office that I cannot see them.

3. When we arose from the table, to our surprise, the coach had already come.

4. The whole company after the excitement had subsided returned to their homes.

5. Substances that seem to be harmless in spring begin to create disease.

6. It shames man not to feel man's human fear.

7. Teach him if he is wrong that he should apologize.

8. It does not become a man who was born in America under any circumstances to lack patriotism.

9. When we hear one pronounce a name in reading in a way different from our own pronunciation, we should feel the importance of ascertaining the correct pronunciation.

10. One hour a day steadily given to a particular study will bring in time large accumulations.

11. He tells how to make the articles of apparatus almost literally without expense.

12. The force of habit in thought in some men often brings about very ludicrous things.

13. No employer will keep a man of superior talents in an inferior position.

14. We all move in a current of thought which we cannot stop, even in our dreams.

15. Alexander Hamilton was a sacrifice to a false sentiment, but now a man dare not thus sacrifice himself without being a murderer.

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EQUIVOCATION.

The second fault opposed to clearness is equivocation. Equivocation consists in the use of words which in the connection in which they are placed are susceptible of more than one interpretation.

It is not necessary in our efforts to avoid this fault that we discard all words having more than one signification. In such case our vocabulary would become very meagre and much of the language would be useless. A regard for clearness requires that we reject equivocal words unless their meaning is made perfectly clear by the use of the words with which they are associated. In most cases the connection with other words will make