contradicts his former declaration of the sense he intended, but,
with other seeming contradiction, joins the antecedent to the nearer verb,
and the substituted pronoun to the more distant.

OBS. 28.--Again, the following principles of this author's punctuation are
no less indicative of his false views of this matter: "RULE xiv.--Relative
pronouns in the nominative or [_the_] objective case, are preceded by
commas, when the clause which the relative _connects_ [,] ends a sentence;
as, 'Sweetness of temper is a quality, which reflects a lustre on every
accomplishment'--B. Greenleaf.' Self [-] denial is the sacrifice [,] which
virtue must make.' [_--L. Murray._] The comma is omitted before the
relative, when the verb which the antecedent governs, follows the relative
clause; as, 'He that suffers by imposture, has too often his virtue more
impaired than his fortune.'--_Johnson_." See _Sanborn's Analytical Gram._,
p. 269. Such are some of our author's principles--"the essence of modern
improvements." His practice, though often wrong, is none the worse for
contradicting these doctrines. Nay, his proudest boast is ungrammatical,
though peradventure not the less believed: "_No_ [other] _grammar in the
language_ probably contains so great a quantity of _condensed and_ useful
matter with so little superfluity."--_Sanborn's Preface_, p. v.

OBS. 29.--Murray's rule for the punctuation of relatives, (a rule which he
chiefly copied from Lowth,) recognizes virtually the distinction which I
have made above; but, in assuming that relatives "_generally_" require a
comma before them, it erroneously suggests that the resumptive sense is
more common than the restrictive. Churchill, on the contrary, as wrongly
makes it an essential characteristic of _all_ relatives, "to limit or
explain the words to which they refer." See his _New Gram._, p. 74. The
fact is, that relatives are so generally restrictive, that not one half of
them are thus pointed; though some that do restrict their antecedent,
nevertheless admit the point. This may be seen by the first example given
us by Murray: "Relative pronouns are connective words, and _generally
admit_ a comma before them: as, 'He preaches sublimely, who lives a sober,
righteous, and pious life.' But when two members, or _phrases_, [say
_clauses_,] are closely connected by a relative, restraining the general
notion of the antecedent to a particular sense, _the comma should be
omitted_: as, '_Self-denial_