Well, it is to be hoped that he will get on in his boat a little better than a bear; though why that animal is considered so peculiarly _at sea_ when on the water, we cannot tell. Man is the only sailor except the nautilus that we know of. Even the steer is no _steersman_. The bear, however, is an ill-conditioned, awkward creature, and very likely to upset the boat; while the more gentle _lamb_, whatever may be the perils of his situation, leaves the rudder alone, remains quietly in his place, and goes with the stream.
The relative and the verb, when the former is preceded by two nominatives of different persons, may agree in person with either, according to the sense: as, “I am the young gentleman _who do_ the lovers at the Wells;” or, “_who does_.”
Let this maxim be borne constantly in mind. “A _murderer_ of good characters should always be made an _example of_.”
Every adjective, and every adjective pronoun, relates to a substantive, expressed or implied: as, “Dando was an unprincipled, as well as a voracious man.” “Few quarrel with their bread and butter;” that is, “few _persons_.” “This is the wonderful eagle of the sun.” That is, “This _eagle_,” &c.
Adjective pronouns agree in number with their substantives: “This muff, these muffs; that booby, these boobies; another numscull, other numsculls.”
Some people say “_Those_ kind of things,” or, “_This_ four-and-twenty year,” neither of which expressions they have any business to use.
A good deal of speculation has been expended on the word _means_ in connection with an adjective pronoun. Some will have it that we should say, “By this mean;” “By that mean;” “By these means;” “By those means:” others, that we should say, “By _this means_,” and so on. The practical rule to be observed is, to treat the substantive, means, as a singular noun when it refers to what is singular, and when it relates to that which is plural, as a plural one. The word _mean_ is seldom used in the same sense with means. We have been induced to advert to this question, by the desire of giving the reader a caution respecting the use of this same word, _means_. It is not uncommon to hear it said in the streets and elsewhere, “Well, and then, you know, Jem was took afore the beak, _by means of_ which he had three months.” “Sall was quite intosticated, by _means_ of which (or vich) she wor fined five bob,” &c. We will not shock the refined grammarian by the multiplication of examples of this kind; suffice it to say, that the phrase “by means of which” is substituted for “in consequence of which,” or, “on which account,” by the lower or illiterate classes.