The masculine pronoun is often used in speaking of a company of both sexes; as, "The school cannot prosper unless each pupil shall study carefully his lessons."

The pronoun it is used in the beginning of a clause or sentence, and having reference to a masculine, or feminine object, and to one or more; as, It was he; it was they; it was she; it is a man; it is a woman

EXERCISES.

Change the nouns in Italics for those of a different Gender.

The Sultan of Turkey. He appointed his wife as his executor. The widower has just left town. I have sold the ram, the stag, the steer, the duck, the cat, and the horse. Would you like the reputation of a wizard? The Earl is not at home. The landlady has returned. I want a tailoress. The gander is very tough. What a fine beau you are! What nieces has she? The widow looked sad.

LESSON VII.

NOUNS.THEIR CASES.

1. The word case is applied to a noun to denote its condition, or the relation which it bears to some word or words with which it is connected.

In the sentence "John learns his lesson," the word John is that of which something is said—it is the subject of the verb learns, and is thus in the subjective case (condition), or nominative case, it is the name of the subject. Whereas, in the same sentence, the word lesson being that upon which the action expressed by the verb rests in other words, being the object of the verb-is said to be in the objective case, or condition.

2. When a person or thing is addressed, the name of such person or thing is in the nominative case independent; as, John, learn your lesson

3. As to form, the nominative and objective cases of nouns have the same. In pronouns the form is, in most cases, different; as, I, me; thou, thee; he, him; she, her; we, us; they, them.

4. Another case is the Possessive, and is used when the possessor, source, or author of a thing is denoted. It has a specific form-that of the nominative, followed by 's; or when the nominative ends in s, an apostrophe (') alone is added-so called because it is a turning off or elision of e, i, or y. The same character (') is also used for the possessive of the plural number where no vowel is omitted.

In compound words the sign of the possessive is placed at the end; as, father-in-law's books. The 's is a corruption or abbreviation of the old form of the Anglo-Saxon Possessive in es, is, ys.

5. A noun is in the nominative case, not only when used as the subject of a verb, but when it is in apposition to such a subject, denoting the same person or thing; as, "Cicero, the orator, flourished at Rome."

A noun is also in the nominative case when it forms a part of the predicate, or description of a subject, and denotes the same person or thing as the subject; thus, "Daniel Webster was a most remarkable man."

A noun is in the objective case, not only when it follows and depends upon a verb or participle, but when it follows a preposition. John gave the book to James. Beholding the sun.

EXERCISES.

Write out the nominative, possessive, and objective cases of the following nouns, both in the singular and plural numbers:

Wife, husband, knife, table, pony, hoof, muff, stony, tax, lady, church, sexton, ox, lash, valley, penny, Charles, fairy, hen, lynx, negro, thief, court-martial. Thus:

Nom. wife, Poss. wife's, Obj. wife; Nom. wives, Poss. wives', Obj. wives.

LESSON VIII.

PRONOUNS. PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

1. These are substitutes for nouns, and are used for the purpose of avoiding the disagreeable repetition of the name of a thing or person in a sentence. The literal meaning of Pronoun, is for-noun.

Its convenience and utility are apparent in the following sentences: "Then Judah came near unto him and said, O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger turn against thy servant. Thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your younger brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more." Without the pronoun, these sentences must read thus: "Then Judah came near unto Joseph, and said, O lord of Judah, let Judah the servant of Joseph, Judalı prays Joseph, speak a word in the ears of Judah's lord, and let not the anger of Joseph turn against the servant of Joseph. Joseph said unto the servants of Joseph, Except the younger brother of Judah, Reuben, Simeon, Levi," &c.

2. A Personal Pronoun is a substitute for the names of persons, or of things personified, i. e., of things spoken of or to as persons.

Of these pronouns there are five, I, thou, he, she, it; and their plurals, we, ye or you, they. These are used as the subjects of a verb.

When these pronouns indicate the possessor or source of any thing, they undergo a change of form; thus, my or mine; thy or thine; his, hers, its; our or ours; your or yours; their or theirs.

Personal Pronouns, when they stand for names that are the objects of an action or relation (standing after a verb, or a preposition), take the following forms: me, thee or you, him, her, it, us, them.

EXERCISES.

1. Write a phrase or sentence containing Personal pronouns of the first person, singular and plural, in the possessive case.

2. Containing pronouns of the second person, singular and plural, possessive case.

3. Containing pronouns of the third person, singular and plural, possessive case.

4. Containing pronouns, singular and plural, in the objective case of the first person, second person, third person. 5. Correct the personal pronouns that stand in the wrong

case.

Even good authors, quoted below, make frequent mistakes in this particular; as, "She suffers hourly more than me." It should be, "than I," that is, than I do, the word than being, in this sentence, only a conjunction. Than before whom is a preposition, and requires the objective case; as, "Than whom there is no bet. ter man." "All slept save she." It should be her, being the ob ject of the preposition save.

Write the following sentences correctly: There was no one in the house save we two. All, save I, were at rest. Nor hope to make others such as me. It is him who did this. It is not fit for such as us to sit with the rulers of the land Let he that looks after them, look on his hand. I will be her whose foot the waves wet not. She exclaimed on Hastings, you, and I. Ask the murderer, he who has steeped his hands, &c. Sorrow not as them who have no hope. Holland and thee did each in other live. We are alone, here's none but thee and I. Him shall never come again to we; but we shall surely one day go to he. She is sold like thou. He was much older than her. They were more terrified than us. It was thee who went hence. Unless you are the masters, and not me. They must have been as glad as us to escape. Stimulated by the approbation of better judges than them, she turned to their literature, &c. I know not whom else are expected. The village lawyer, whose Burns was him of the justice and law ecclesiastical.

6. As pronouns supply the place of nouns, it is essential to perspicuity that they should distinctly point to the nouns which they stand for.

The following passage from Goldsmith's History of Greece, is very faulty in this respect:-"He wrote to that distinguished phiosopher, begging of him to come and undertake his education, and to bestow on him those lessons of virtue which every great man ought to possess, and which his numerous avocations rendered impossible to him." Confusion follows from the different offices which the pronoun he is here made to perform: first, it stands for Philip, then for Aristotle, next for Alexander, again for Alexander, then twice for Philip. To clear the sentence of ambiguity, instead of "his education," it should have been "his son's education ;" and instead of "his numerous avocations," it should have been "his own numerous avocations."

7. In the following sentence there is also an ambiguous use of the personal pronoun:

"Jesus came from Nazareth, and was baptized of John in Jordan; and straightway coming up out of the water he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him." Does he refer to Jesus or to John, and on which did the Spirit descend? The passage itself does not clearly determine the question. It would seem to teach that Jesus saw the Spirit descending on John; but the meaning intended is that John saw the Spirit descending on Jesus."

8. Correct the ambiguity in the following passages:

"In his days Pharaoh-Nechoh, king of Egypt, went up against the King of Assyria, to the river Euphrates, and King Josiah went against him, and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.” -2 Kings xxiii. 29.

"The Son of Man shall be delivered up to the chief-priests, and to the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him," &c.

In the first of the above passages, is it taught that Pharaoh killed Josiah, or that Josiah killed Pharaoh? The context must be consulted, to make the requisite correction.

In the second passage, it is undecided whether the Gentiles alone, or the chief-priests and scribes also, mocked the Saviour.