King_;" and, "_The Lord mayor of London's
authority_," may quite as well be written, "_The authority of London's Lord
Mayor_." Blair, who for brevity robs the _Arch_bishop of half his title,
might as well have said, "_Fenelon's_ writings on eloquence." "_Propter
regnum Dei_," might have been rendered, "For the kingdom _of God_;"--"For
_the sake of_ the kingdom of God;"--or, "For the sake of _God's_ kingdom."
And in lieu of the other text, we might say, "Of the _Israelites'_ half."

OBS. 25.--"Little explanatory circumstances," says Priestley, "are
particularly awkward between the _genitive case_, and the word which
usually follows it; as, 'She began to extol the farmer's, _as she called
him_, excellent understanding.' Harriet Watson, Vol. i, p.
27."--_Priestley's Gram._, p 174. Murray assumes this remark, and adds
respecting the example, "It ought to be, 'the excellent understanding of
the farmer, as she called him.' "--_Murray's Gram._, p. 175. Intersertions
of this kind are as uncommon as they are uncouth. Murray, it seems, found
none for his Exercises, but made up a couple to suit his purpose. The
following might have answered as well for an other: "Monsieur D'acier
observes, that Zeno's (the Founder of the Sect,) opinion was Fair and
Defensible in these Points."--_Colliers Antoninus_, p. ii.

OBS. 26.--It is so usual a practice in our language, to put the possessive
sign always and only where the two terms of the possessive relation meet,
that this ending is liable to be added to any adjunct which can be taken as
a part of the former noun or name; as, (1.) "The _court-martial's_ violent
proceedings." Here the plural would be _courts-martial_; but the possessive
sign must be at the end. (2.) "In _Henry the Eighth's_ time."--_Walker's
Key, Introd._, p. 11. This phrase can be justified only by supposing the
adjective a part of the name. Better, "In the time of Henry the Eighth."
(3.) "And strengthened with a _year or two's age_."--_Locke, on Education_,
p. 6. Here _two's_ is put for _two years_; and, I think, improperly;
because the sign is such as suits the former noun, and not the plural.
Better, "And strengthened with _a year's age or more_." The word _two_
however is declinable as a noun, and possibly it may be so taken in
Locke's phrase. (4.) "This rule is often infringed, by the _case absolute's
not being properly distinguished_ from certain forms of expression
apparently _similar_ to it."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 15