--_English Parser_, p. 38. "When the apostrophic _s_ is used, the
genitive is the former of the two substantives; as, '_John's_ house:' but
when the particle _of_ is used, it is the latter; as, 'The house _of
John_.'"--_Ib._, p. 46. The work here quoted is adapted to two different
grammars; namely, Murray's and Allen's. These the author doubtless
conceived to be the best English grammars extant. And it is not a little
remarkable, that both of these authors, as well as many others, teach in
such a faulty manner, that their intentions upon this point may be matter
of dispute. "When Murray, Allen, and others, say, 'we make use of the
particle _of_ to express the _relation_ of the genitive,' the ambiguity of
their assertion leaves it in doubt whether or not they considered the
substantive which is preceded by _of_ and an other substantive, as in the
_genitive_ case."--_Nixon's English Parser_, p. 38. Resolving this doubt
according to his own fancy, Nixon makes the possessive case of our personal
pronouns to be as follows: "_mine_ or _of me, ours_ or _of us; thine_ or
_of thee, yours_ or _of you; his_ or _of him, theirs_ or _of them; hers_ or
_of her, theirs_ or _of them; its_ or _of it, theirs_ or _of
them_."--_English Parser_, p. 43. This doctrine gives us a form of
declension that is both complex and deficient. It is therefore more
objectionable than almost any of those which are criticised above. The
arguments and authorities on which the author rests his position, are not
thought likely to gain many converts; for which reason, I dismiss the
subject, without citing or answering them.

OBS. 19.--In old books, we sometimes find the word _I_ written for the
adverb _ay_, yes: as, "To dye, to sleepe; To sleepe, perchance to dreame;
_I_, there's the rub."--_Shakspeare, Old Copies_. The British Grammar,
printed in 1784, and the Grammar of Murray the schoolmaster, published some
years earlier than Lindley Murray's, say: "We use _I_ as an Answer, in a
familiar, careless, or merry Way; as, 'I, I, Sir, I, I;' but to use _ay_,
is accounted rude, especially to our Betters." See _Brit. Gram._, p. 198.
The age of this rudeness, or incivility, if it ever existed, has long
passed away; and the fashion seems to be so changed, that to write or utter
_I_ for _ay_, would now in its turn be "accounted _rude_"--the rudeness of
ignorance--a false orthography, or a false pronunciation. In the word _ay_,
the two sounds of _ah-ee_ are plainly heard;