tion; as, "the grace of God." It was formerly written Godis grace: we now very improperly always fhorten it with an Apoftrophe, even though we are obliged to pronounce it fully; as, "Thomas's book:" that is, "Thomasis book;" not "Thomas bis book," as it is commonly fupposed [2].

[2] Chrift his fake," in our Liturgy, is a mistake, either of the Printers, or of the Compilers.

Donne.

"Where is this mankind now? who lives to age Fit to be made Methufalem his page ?” "By young Telemachus his blooming years." Pope's Odyffey. "My paper is the Ulyffes his bow, in which every man of wit or learning may try his ftrength." Addifon, Guardian No 98. This is no flip of Mr. Addison's pen: he gives us his opinion upon this point very explicitly in another place. The fame fingle letter [s] on many occafions does the office of the whole word, and represents the his and her of our forefathers." Addifon, Spect. No 135. The latter instance might have fhewn him, how groundless this notion is: for it is not easy to conceive, how the letters added to a Feminine Noun fhould represent the word-ker; any more than it Thould the word their, added to a Plural Noun ; as, “the children's bread." But the dirc&t derivation of this Cafe from the Saxon Genitive Cafe is fufficient of itfelf to decide this matter.

When

When the thing, to which another is faid to belong, is expressed by a circumlocution, or by many terms, the fign of the Poffeffive Cafe is commonly added to the laft term: as, "The King of Great Britain's Soldiers." When it is à Noun ending in s, the fign of the Poffeffive Cafe is fometimes not added; as, " for righteousness fake" nor ever to the Plural Number ending in s; as" on eagles wings." Both the "on Sign and the Prepofition feem, sometimes. to be used; as, "a foldier of the king's :" but here are really two Poffeffives; for it means," one of the foldiers of the king."

The English in its Subftantives has but two different terminations for Cafes; that of the nominative, which fimply expreffes the Name of the thing, and that of the Poffeffive Cafe.

Things are frequently confidered with relation to the diftinction of Sex or Gender; as being Male, or Female, or Neither C 2

the

the one, nor the other. Hence Subftantives are of the Masculine, or Feminine, or Neuter, that is, Neither, Gender: which latter is only the exclusion of all confideration of Gender.

: The English Language, with fingular propriety, following nature alone, applies the diftinction of Masculine and Feminine only to the names of Animals; all the reft are Neuter: except when by a Poetical or Rhetorical fiction things inanimate and Qualities are exhibited as Perfons, and con* fequently become either Male or Female. And this gives the English an advantage above most other languages in the Poetical and Rhetorical Style: for when Nouns naturally Neuter are converted into Maf culine and Feminine [3], the Perfonification is more distinctly and forcibly marked.

[3] "At his command th' uprooted hills retir'd
Each to his place: they heard his voice and went
Obfequious Heaven his wonted face renew'd,
And with fresh flowrets hill and valley fmil'd."

Milton, P. L. B. vi.

Some

Some few Subftantives are distinguished as to their Gender by their termination: as,

"Was I deceiv'd, or did a fable Cloud:

Turn forth her filver lining on the Night?".

Milton, Comus.

"Of Law no less can be acknowledged, than that her feat is the bofom of God; her voice, the harmony of the world. All things in heaven and earth do her homage; the very least, as feeling her care; not exempted from her power." Go to your Natural Religion: homet and his difciples arrayed in armour and in blood:

and the greatest, as Hooker, B. i. 16. lay before her Ma

fhew ber the cities which he fet in flames; the countries which he ravaged:- when he has viewed him in this fcene, carry her into his retirements; fhew her the Prophet's chamber, his concubines and his wives:when he is tired with this profpect, then shew her the Bleffed Jefus." See the whole paffage in the conclufion of Bp. Sherlock's 9th Sermon, vol. i.

Of these beautiful paffages we may observe, that as in the English if you put it and its inftead of his, she, her, you confound and destroy the images, and reduce, what was before highly Poetical and Rhetorical, to mere profe and common difcourfe; fo if you render them into another language, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, or German, in which Hill, Heaven, Cloud, Law, Religion, are conftantly Mafculine, or Feminine, or Neuter, refpectively, you make the images obfcure and doubtful, and in proportion diminish their beauty.

This excellent remark is Mr. Harris's, HERMES, p. 58.

C 3

prince,

prince, princess; actor, actress; lion, lioness; bero, heroine; &c. ·

The chief ufe of Gender in English is in the Pronoun of the Third Perfon, which must agree in that refpect with the Noun for which it ftands.

PRONOUN

A Pronoun is a word fstanding instead of

a Noun, as its Subftitute or Repre

fentative.

In the Pronoun are to be confidered the Perfon, Number, Gender and Cafe.

There are Three Perfons which may be the Subject of any discourse: first, the Perfon who speaks may fpeak of himfelf; fecondly, he may speak of the Perfon to whom he addreffes himfelf; thirdly, he may fpeak of fome other Perfon.

Thefe are called, respectively, the First, Second, and Third, Perfons and are expreffed by the Pronouns I, Thou, He.

As