As the Speakers, the Persons spoken to,

and the other Perfons fpoken of, may bẹ many, fo each of thefe Perfons hath the Plural Number; We, Ye, They

The Perfons speaking and spoken to, being at the fame time the Subjects of the discourse, are supposed to be prefent, from which and other circumftances their Sex is commonly known, and: needs not to be marked by a diftinction of Gender in their Pronouns, but the third Perfon or thing spoken of being abfent and in many respects unknown, it is neceffary that it fhould be marked by a diftinction of Gender; at least when some particular Perfon or thing. is fpoken of, which ought to be more distinctly marked: accordingly the Pronoun Singular of the Third Perfon hath the Three Genders, He, She, It.

་

Pronouns have Three Cafes; the Nomi

native; the Genitive, or Poffeffive; like Nouns; and moreover a Cafe, which fol lows the Verb Active, or the Prepofition, expreffing

C 4

expreffing the Object of an Action, or of a Relation. It anfwers to the Oblique Cafes in Latin; and may be properly enough called the Objective Cafe.

PRONOUNS,

according to their Perfons, Numbers, Cafes, and Genders.

I, Thou, He; We, Ye or You, They.

Thou, Thine, Thee; Yeor You, Yours, You[4].

[4] Some Writers have used Ye as the Objective Cafe Plural of the Pronoun of the Second Perfon; very improperly and ungrammatically.

"The more fhame for ye: holy men I thought ye.' Shakespear, Hen. VIII.

Third Perfon.

-Mafc. He, His, Him;

Fem. She, Hers, Her; They, Theirs, Them. Neut. It, Its [5], It;.

"But Tyrants dread ye, left your juft decree
Transfer the pow'r, and fet the people free."

Prior.

"His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both." Milton, P. L. ii. 734.

Milton ufes the fame manner of expreffion in a few other places of his Paradise Loft, and more frequently in his Poems. It may perhaps be allowed in the Comic ' and Burlesque style, which often imitates a vulgar and incorrect pronunciation: as," By the Lord, I knew ye, as well as he that made ye." Shakespear, i Hen. IV. But in the ferious and folemn ftyle, no authority is fufficient to juftify for manifest a Solecism.

[5] The Neuter Pronoun of the Third Perfon had formerly no variation of Cafes. Inftead of the Poffeffive its they ufed his, which is now appropriated to the Mafculine. Learning hath his infancy, when it is but beginning, and almost childish; then his youth, I when it is luxuriant and juvenile; then his ftrength of years, when it is folid and reduced; and laftly his old age, when it waxeth dry and exhauft." Bacon, Effay 58. In this example his is evidently used as the Poffeffive Cafe of it: but what fhall we fay to the following, where ber is applied in the fame manner, and seems to

expreffing the Object of an Action, or of à Relation. It anfwers to the Oblique Cafes in Latin; and may be properly enough called the Objective Cafe.

PRONOUNS;

according to their Perfons, Numbers, Cafes,

I, Thou, He; We, Ye or You, They.

Thou, Thine, Thee; Yeor You, Yours, You[4].

[4] Some Writers have used Ye as the Objective Cafe Plural of the Pronoun of the Second Perfon; very improperly and ungrammatically.

"The more fhame for ye: holy men I thought ye." Shakespear, Hen. VIII.

Third Perfon.

-Mafc. He, His, Him;

Fem. She, Hers, Her; They, Theirs, Them. Neut. It, Its [5], It ;.

"But Tyrants dread ye, left your juft decree Transfer the pow'r, and fet the people free."

Prior.

"His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both.” Milton, P. L. ii. 734.

Milton ufes the fame manner of expreffion in a few other places of his Paradise Loft, and more frequently in his Poems. It may perhaps be allowed in the Comic and Burlesque style, which often imitates a vulgar and incorrect pronunciation: as," By the Lord, I knew ye, as well as he that made ye." Shakespear, 1 Hen. IV. But in the ferious and folemn ftyle, no authority is fufficient to juftify fo manifest a Solecifm.

[5] The Neuter Pronoun of the Third Perfon had formerly no variation of Cafes. Inftead of the Poffeffive its they ufed his, which is now appropriated to the Masculine. Learning hath his infancy, when it is but beginning, and almost childish; then his youth, I when it is luxuriant and juvenile; then bis ftrength of years, when it is solid and reduced; and lastly his old age, when it waxeth dry and exhauft." Bacon, Effay 58. In this example his is evidently used as the Poffeffive Cafe of it: but what fhall we fay to the following, where ber is applied in the fame manner, and seems to