sive cases, but in forming
an implication of a noun, which the substitute already denotes, together
with the persons."--_Essay on Gram._, p. 110.

OBS. 14.--In his Syllabus of English Grammar, Dr. Wilson teaches thus:
"_My, our, thy, your, his, her, its, their, whose_, and _whosesoever_ are
possessive pronominal _adjectives. Ours, yours, hers_, and _theirs_ are
_pronoun substantives_, used either as subjects, or [as] objects; as
singulars, or [as] plurals; and are substituted both for [the names of] the
possessors, and [for those of the] things possessed. _His, its, whose,
mine_, and _thine_, are sometimes used as _such substantives_; but also are
at other times _pronominal possessive_ adjectives."--_Wilson's Syllabus_,
p. X. Now compare with these three positions, the following three from the
same learned author. "In Hebrew, the _adjective_ generally agrees with its
noun in gender and number, but _pronouns_ follow the gender of their
antecedents, and not of the nouns with which they stand. So in English,
_my, thy, his, her, its, our, your_, and _their_, agree with the nouns they
represent, in number, gender, and person. But _adjectives_, having no
change expressive of number, gender, or case, cannot accord with their
nouns."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 192. "_Ours, yours, hers_, and
_theirs_, are most usually considered possessive cases of personal
pronouns; but they are, more probably, possessive substitutes, not
adjectives, but _nouns_."--_Ib._, p. 109. "Nor can _mine_ or _thine_, with
any more propriety than _ours, yours_, &c. be joined to any noun, as
possessive adjectives and possessive cases may."--_Ib._, p. 110. Whoever
understands these instructions, cannot but see their inconsistency.

OBS. 15.--Murray argues at some length, without naming his opponents, that
the words which he assumes to be such, are really personal pronouns
standing rightfully in the possessive case; and that, "they should not, on
the slight pretence of their differing from nouns, be dispossessed of the
right and privilege, which, from time immemorial they have
enjoyed."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 53. Churchill as ably shows, that the
corresponding terms, which Lowth calls _pronominal adjectives_, and which
Murray and others will have to be _pronouns of no case_, are justly
entitled to the same rank. "If _mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs_, be
the possessive case; _my, thy, her, our, your, their_, must be the same.
Whether we say, 'It is _J