rocks, Fisher’s island, Fulton’s invention, will long be retained after those whose names were given to distinguish these things, have slept with their fathers and been forgotten.  Blannerhassett’s Island, long since ceased to be his property or tranquil possession, by confiscation; but it will retain its specific name, till the inundations of the Ohio’s waters shall have washed it away and left not a wreck behind.

The distinctions I have made in the positions of nouns, will be clearly understood when we come to the verbs.  A few remarks upon pronouns will close the present lecture.

PRONOUNS.

Pronouns are such as the word indicates. Pro is the latin word for; pro-nomen, for nouns.  They are words, originally nouns, used specifically for other nouns, to avoid the too frequent repetition of the same words; as, Washington was the father of his country; he was a valiant officer. We ought to respect him.  The word we, stands for the speaker and all present, and saves the trouble of naming them; he and him, stand for Washington, to avoid the monotony which would be produced by a recurrence of his name.

Pronouns are all of one kind, and few in number.  I will give you a list of them in their respective positions.

Agents.      Objects.
{ 1st person,  I,             me,
{ 2d    "      thou,          thee,
Singular  { 3d    "  mas. { he,         him,
{       "  fem. { she,        her,
{              it,            it.

{ 1st person,  we,            us,
Plural   { 2d    "      ye, or you,    you,
{ 3d    "      they,          them,
who,           whom.

The two last may be used in either person, number, or gender.

The frequent use of these words render them very important, in the elegant and rapid use of language.  They are so short, and their sound so soft and easy, that the frequency of their recurrence does not mar the beauty of a sentence, but saves us from the redundancy of other words.  They are substituted only when there is little danger of mistaking the nouns for which they stand.  They are, however, sometimes used in a very broad sense; as, “they say it is so;” meaning no particular persons, but the general sentiment. It frequently takes the lead of a sentence, and the thing represented by it comes after; as, “It is currently reported, that things were thus and so.”  Here it represents the single idea which is afterward stated at length. “It is so.” “It may be that the nations will be destroyed by wars, earthquakes, and famines.”  But more of this when we come to speak of the composition of sentences.

The words now classed as pronouns were originally names of things, but in this character they have long been obsolete.  They are now used only in their secondary character as the representatives of other words.  The word he, for instance, signified originally to breathe.  It was applied to the living beings who inhaled air.  It occurs with little change in the various languages of Europe, ancient and modern, till at length it is applied to the male agent which lives and acts.  The word her means light, but is specifically applied to females which are the objects of action.