“That faction in England, who most powerfully opposed his arbitrary pretensions.”—Mrs. Macaulay. It ought rather to be, “that faction in England, which.” It is justly observed by Priestley, “that a term, which only implies the idea of persons, and expresses them by some circumstance or epithet, will hardly authorize the use of who.”
“He was certainly one of the most acute metaphysicians, one of the deepest philosophers, and one of the best critics, and most learned divines, which modern times have produced.”—Keith on the Life and Writings of Campbell.
“Moses was the mildest of all men, which were then on the face of the earth.”—Geddes.
“Lord Sidney was one of the wisest and most active governors, whom Ireland had enjoyed for several years.”—Hume.
In the two first of these passages, which is improperly applied to persons; in the last, the author has avoided this impropriety, and used whom. The pronoun that, however, is much preferable to who, or which, after a superlative.
“Such of the Morescoes might remain, who demeaned themselves as Christians.”—Watson’s Life of Philip III. Such is here improperly followed by who instead of as. The correlative terms are those who, and such as.
“It is hard to be conceived, that a set of men could ever be chosen by their contemporaries, to have divine honours paid to them, while numerous persons were alive, who knew their imperfections, and who themselves, or their immediate ancestors, might have as fair a pretence, and come in competition with them.”—Prideaux’s Connexion. The identity of subject, in the relative clauses of this sentence, requires the repetition of the same pronoun. It should be, “who themselves, or whose immediate ancestors.”
“If you were here, you would find three or four in the parlour, after dinner, whom you would say past their afternoons very agreeably.”—Swift. The pronoun whom should not be under the government of the verb would say, having no connection with it; but should be a nominative to the verb passed; thus, “who, you would say, passed their afternoons.”
“By these means, that religious princess became acquainted with Athenias, whom she found was the most accomplished woman of her age.” Whom, for the reason already assigned, should be who, being the nominative to the verb was. If it were intended to be a regimen to the verb found, the sentence should proceed thus, “whom she found to be.”
“Solomon was the wisest man, him only excepted, who was much greater and wiser than Solomon.” In English the absolute case is the nominative; it should, therefore, be, “he only excepted.”