OBS. 6.—­In opposition to the classification and doctrine adopted above, many of our grammarians teach, that my, thy, this, her, our, your, their, are adjectives or “adjective pronouns;” and that mine, thine, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, are personal pronouns in the possessive case.  Among the supporters of this notion, are D. Adams, Alden, Alger, Allen, Bacon, Barrett, Bingham, Bucke, Bullions, Cutler, Fisk, Frost, (in his small Grammar,) Guy, Hall, Hart, Harrison, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Lennie, Lowth, Miller, L. Murray, Pond, T. Smith, Spear, Spencer, Staniford, Webber, Woodworth.  The authority of all these names, however, amounts to little more than that of one man; for Murray pretended to follow Lowth, and nearly all the rest copied Murray.  Dr. Lowth says, “Thy, my, her, our, your, their, are pronominal adjectives; but his, (that is, he’s,) her’s, our’s, your’s, their’s, have evidently the form of the possessive case:  And, by analogy, mine, thine, may be esteemed of the same rank.”—­Lowth’s Gram., p. 23.[208] But why did he not see, that by the same analogy, and also by the sense and meaning of the words, as well as by their distinctions of person, number, and gender, all the other six are entitled to “the same rank?” Are not the forms of my, thy, her, our, your, their, as fit to denote the relation of property, and to be called the possessive case, as mine, thine, his, or any others?  In grammar, all needless distinctions are reprehensible.  And where shall we find a more blamable one than this?  It seems to have been based merely upon the false notion, that the possessive case of pronouns ought to be formed like that of nouns; whereas custom has clearly decided that they shall always be different:  the former must never be written with an apostrophe; and the latter, never without it.  Contrary to all good usage, however, the Doctor here writes “her’s, our’s, your’s, their’s,” each with a needless apostrophe.  Perhaps he thought it would serve to strengthen his position; and help to refute what some affirmed, that all these words are adjectives.

OBS. 7.—­Respecting mine, thine, and his, Lowth and L. Murray disagree.  The latter will have them to be sometimes “possessive pronouns,” and sometimes “possessive cases.”  An admirable distinction this for a great author to make! too slippery for even the inventor’s own hold, and utterly unintelligible to those who do not know its history!  In short, these authors disagree also concerning my, thy, her, our, your, their; and where two leaders of a party are at odds with each other, and each is in the wrong, what is to be expected from their followers?  Perceiving that Lowth was wrong in calling these words “pronominal adjectives,” Murray changed the term to “possessive pronouns,” still retaining the class entire; and accordingly taught, in his early editions, that, “There are