Rev., xix, 12. (2.) It is a pronominal adjective whenever it relates to a noun expressed or understood after it: as, "Thus with violence shall that great city, Babylon, be thrown down."--Rev., xviii, 21. "Behold that [thing] which I have seen."--Eccl., v, 18. "And they said, 'What is that[194] [matter] to us? See thou to that' [matter]."--Matt., xxvii, 4. (3.) In its other uses, it is a conjunction, and, as such, it most commonly makes what follows it, the purpose, object, or final cause, of what precedes it: as, "I read that I may learn."--Dr. Adam. "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious."--St. Paul. "Live well, that you may die well."--Anon. "Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob."--Genesis. "Judge not, that ye be not judged."--Matthew.
OBS. 18.--The word that, or indeed any other word, should never be so used as to leave the part of speech uncertain; as, "For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."--Gen., ii, 17. Here that seems to be a relative pronoun, representing day, in the third person, singular, neuter; yet, in other respects, it seems to be a conjunction, because there is nothing to determine its case. Better: "For in the day on which thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." This mongrel construction of the word that, were its justification possible, is common enough in our language to be made good English. But it must needs be condemned, because it renders the character of the term ambiguous, and is such a grammatical difficulty as puts the parser at a dead nonplus. Examples: (1.) "But at the same time THAT men are giving their orders, God on his part is likewise giving his."--Rollin's Hist., ii, 106. Here the phrase, "at the same time that," is only equivalent to the adverb while; and yet it is incomplete, because it means, "at the same time at which," or, "at the very time at which." (2.) "The author of this work, at the same time THAT he has endeavoured to avoid a plan, which may be too concise or too extensive, defective in its parts or irregular in the disposition of them, has studied to render his subject sufficiently easy, intelligible, and comprehensive."--Murray's Gram., Introd., p. 1. This sentence, which is no unfair specimen of its author's original style, needs three corrections: 1. For "at the same time that," say while: 2. Drop the phrase, "which may be," because it is at least useless: 3. For "subject," read treatise, or compilation. You will thus have tolerable diction. Again: (3.) "The participles of active verbs act upon objects and govern them in the objective case, in the same manner that the verbs do, from which they are derived. A participle in the nature of an adjective, belongs or refers to nouns or pronouns in the same manner that adjectives do; and when it will admit the degrees of comparison, it is called a participial adjective."--Sanborn's Gram., p. 38. This is the style of a gentleman of no ordinary pretensions, one who thinks he has produced the best grammar that has ever appeared in our language. To me, however, his work suggests an abundance of questions like these; each of which would palpably involve him in a dilemma: What is here meant by "objects," the words, or the things? if the former, how are they acted upon? if the latter, how are they governed? If "a participle is called an adjective," which is it, an adjective, or a participle? If "a participle refers to nouns or pronouns," how many of these are required by the relation? When does a participle "admit the degrees of comparison?" How shall we parse the word that in the foregoing sentences?
OBS. 19.--The word as, though usually a conjunction or an adverb, has sometimes the construction of a relative pronoun, especially after such, so many, or as many; and, whatever the antecedent noun may be, this is the only fit relative to follow any of these terms in a restrictive sense. Examples: "We have been accustomed to repose on its veracity with such humble confidence as suppresses curiosity."--Johnson's Life of Cowley. "The malcontents made such demands as none but a tyrant could refuse."--Bolingbroke, on Hist., Let. 7. "The Lord added to the church daily such [persons] as should be saved."--Acts, ii, 47. "And as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed."--Acts, xiii, 48. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."--Rev., iii, 19. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death?"--Rom., vi, 3. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ."--Gal., iii, 27. "A syllable is so many letters as are spoken with one motion of the voice."--Perley's Gram., p. 8. "The compound tenses are such as cannot be formed without an auxiliary verb."--Murray's Gram., p. 91. "Send him such books as will please him."--Webster's Improved Gram., p. 37. "In referring to such a division of the day as is past, we use the imperfect."-- Murray's Gram., p. 70. "Participles have the same government as the verbs from which they are derived."--Ib., Rule xiv. "Participles have the same government as the verbs have from which they are derived."-- Sanborn's Gram., p. 94. In some of these examples, as is in the nominative case, and in others, in the objective; in some, it is of the masculine gender, and in others, it is neuter; in some, it is of the plural number, and in others, it is singular: but in all, it is of the third person; and in all, its person, number, gender, and case, are as obvious as those of any invariable pronoun can be.
