ot say, they are of different genders? In this
instance, then, let the parser call those of the first person, masculine;
and those of the second, feminine:--

"_My_ mother! when _I_ learned that _thou_ wast dead,
Say, wast _thou_ conscious of the tears _I_ shed?"--_Cowper_.

OBS. 5.--That the pronouns of the first and second persons are sometimes
masculine and sometimes feminine, is perfectly certain; but whether they
can or cannot be neuter, is a question difficult to be decided. To things
inanimate they are applied only _figuratively_; and the question is,
whether the figure always necessarily changes the gender of the antecedent
noun. We assume the general principle, that the noun and its pronoun are
always of the same gender; and we know that when inanimate objects are
personified in the third person, they are usually represented as masculine
or feminine, the gender being changed by the figure. But when a lifeless
object is spoken to in the second person, or represented as speaking in the
first, as the pronouns here employed are in themselves without distinction
of gender, no such change can be proved by the mere words; and, if we allow
that it would be needless to _imagine_ it where the words do not prove it,
the gender of these pronouns must in such cases be neuter, because we have
no ground to think it otherwise. Examples: "And Jesus answered and said
unto _it_, [the barren _figtree_,] No man eat fruit of _thee_ hereafter
forever."--_Mark_, xi, 14. "O _earth_, cover not _thou_ my blood."--_Job_,
xvi, 18. "O _thou sword_ of the Lord, how long will it be ere _thou_ be
quiet?"--_Jeremiah_, xlvii, 6. In these instances, the objects addressed do
not appear to be figuratively invested with the attribute of sex. So
likewise with respect to the first person. If, in the following example,
_gold_ and _diamond_ are neuter, so is the pronoun _me_; and, if not
neuter, of what gender are they? The personification indicates or
discriminates no other.

"Where thy true treasure? Gold says, 'Not in _me_;
And, 'Not in _me_,' the diamond. Gold is poor."--_Young_.

THE DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS.

The declension of a pronoun is a regular arrangement of its numbers and
cases.

I. SIMPLE PERSONALS.

The simple personal pronouns are thus declined:--

I, _of the_ FIRST PERSON, _any of the genders_.[198]

Sing. Nom. I, Plur. Nom. we,
Poss. my, _or_ mine,[199] Poss. our, _or_ ours,