rbs govern the objective case_.

The noun _books_ is thus declined--Sing. nom. book, poss. book's, obj.
book--Plur. nom. books, poss. books', obj. books.

RULE 20. Transitive verbs _govern_ the objective case; that is, they
_require_ the noun or pronoun following them to be in that case; and
this requisition is government. Pronouns have a particular _form_ to
suit each case; but nouns have not. We cannot say, She _struck he_; I
gave the book _to they_. Why not? Because the genius of our language
requires the pronoun following a transitive verb or preposition (_to_ is
a preposition) to assume that _form_ which we call the _objective_ form
or case. Accordingly, the construction should be, She struck _him_; I
gave the book to _them_.--Read, again, the illustration of "government"
on page 52.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

_Nom. case.--Trans. verb--Poss. case--Obj. case._
Julius prints childrens' primers.
Harriet makes ladies' bonnets.
The servant beats the man's horse.
The horse kicks the servant's master.
The boy struck that man's child.
The child lost those boys' ball.
The tempest sunk those merchants' vessels.
Pope translated Homer's Illiad.
Cicero procured Milo's release.
Alexander conquered Darius' army.
Perry met the enemy's fleet.
Washington obtained his country's freedom.

NOTE 1. The words _the, that, those_, and _his_, you need not parse.
2. A noun in the possessive case, is sometimes governed by a noun
understood; as, Julia's lesson is longer than John's [lesson.]

As you have been analyzing nouns in their three cases, it becomes
necessary to present, in the next place, the declension of nouns, for
you must decline every noun you parse. _Declension_ means putting a noun
through the different cases: and you will notice, that the possessive
case varies from the nominative in its termination, or ending, but the
_objective_ case ends like the nominative. The nominative and objective
cases of nouns, must, therefore, be ascertained by their situation in
the sentence, or by considering the office they perform.

DECLENSION OF NOUNS.

SING. PLUR.

_Nom._ king kings
_Poss._ king's kings'
_Obj._ king. kings.

_Nom._ man men
_Poss._ man's men's
_Obj._ man. men.

Now, if you have parsed every word in the preceding examples, (except
_the, that, those_, and _his_) you may proceed with me and parse the
examples in the following exercises, in which are