t application of
these pronouns, they invariably stand for, not only the person
possessing, but, also the thing possessed, which gives them a
_compound_ character. They may, therefore, be properly denominated
COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS; and, as they always perform a double
office in a sentence by representing two other words, and,
consequently, including two cases, they should, like the compound
relative _what_, be parsed as two words. Thus, in the example, "You
may imagine what kind of faith theirs was," _theirs_ is a compound
personal pronoun, equivalent to _their faith. Their_ is a pronoun, a
word used instead of a noun; personal, it personates the persons
spoken of, understood; third pers. plur. numb., &c.--and in the
possessive case, and governed by "faith," according to Rule 12.
_Faith_ is a noun, the name of a thing, &c. &c.--and in the
nominative case to "was," and governs it; Rule 3. Or, if we render
the sentence thus, "You may imagine what kind of faith _the faith of
them[4]_ was," _faith_ would be in the nominative case to "was," and
_them_ would be in the objective case, and governed by "of:" Rule
31.

[4] In the note next preceding, it is asserted, that my, thy, his,
her, our your, and their, are personal pronouns. What can more
clearly demonstrate the correctness of that assertion, than this
latter construction of the word theirs? All admit, that, in the
construction, "The faith _of them_," the word _them_, is a personal
pronoun: and for this conclusive reason:--it represents a noun
understood. What, then, is _their_, in the phrase, "their faith?" Is
it not obvious, that, if _them_ is a personal pronoun, _their_ must
be, also? for the latter represents the same noun as the former.

Objections to this method of treating these pronouns, will doubtless
be preferred by those who assert, that a noun is understood after
these words, and not represented by them. But this is assertion
without proof; for, if a noun were understood, it might be supplied.
If the question be put, whose book? and the answer be, _mine, ours,
hers_, or _theirs_, the word book is included in such answer. Were
it not included, we might supply it, thus, mine _book_, ours _book_,
hers _book_, and so on. This, however, we cannot do, for it would be
giving a _double_ answer: but when the question is answered by a
noun in the posses