ther noun_ expressed or implied after it. That is, if it
denotes possession, it stands for the name of the possessor, and is
governed by the name of the thing possessed. Now do not _my, thy, his, her,
our, your, their_, and _mine, thine, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs_, all
equally denote possession? and do they not severally show by their forms
the person, the number, and sometimes also the gender, of whomever or
whatever they make to be the possessor? If they do, they are all of them
_pronouns_, and nothing else; all found in the _possessive case_, and
nowhere else. It is true, that in Latin, Greek, and some other languages,
there are not only genitive cases corresponding to these possessives, but
also certain declinable adjectives which we render in English by these same
words: that is, by _my_ or _mine, our_ or _ours; thy_ or _thine, your_ or
_yours_; &c. But this circumstance affords no valid argument for
considering any of these English terms to be mere adjectives; and, say what
we will, it is plain that they have not the signification of adjectives,
nor can we ascribe to them the construction of adjectives, without making
their grammatical agreement to be what it very manifestly is not. They
never agree, in any respect, with the nouns which _follow_ them, unless it
be by mere accident. This view of the matter is sustained by the authority
of many of our English grammars; as may be seen by the declensions given by
Ash, C. Adams, Ainsworth, R. W. Bailey, Barnard, Buchanan, Bicknell, Blair,
Burn, Butler, Comly, Churchill, Cobbett, Dalton, Davenport, Dearborn,
Farnum, A. Flint, Fowler, Frost, Gilbert, S. S. Green, Greenleaf, Hamlin,
Hiley, Kirkham, Merchant, Murray the schoolmaster, Parkhurst, Picket,
Russell, Sanborn, Sanders, R. C. Smith, Wilcox.

OBS. 6.--In opposition to the classification and doctrine adopted above,
many of our grammarians teach, that _my, thy, this, her, our, your, their_,
are adjectives or "adjective pronouns;" and that _mine, thine, hers, its,
ours, yours, theirs_, are personal pronouns in the possessive case. Among
the supporters of this notion, are D. Adams, Alden, Alger, Allen, Bacon,
Barrett, Bingham, Bucke, Bullions, Cutler, Fisk, Frost, (in his small
Grammar,) Guy, Hall, Hart, Harrison, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Lennie, Lowth,
Miller, L. Murray, Pond, T. Smith, Spear, Spencer, Staniford, Webber,
Woodworth. The authority of all these names, however, amounts to little
more than that of one man; fo