120 grafmnatical disquisitions. Sept. l6. 



" Even thriftlefs furze his wandering steps detain, 

 •' And the rough barren rock grows pregnant wi;h delight. 



Shenstone. 



I am, Sir, your humble servant, B. A. 



GRAMMATICAL DISQUISITIONS. 



Continued from vol. x. p. 318. 



Observations on personal pronouns. 



L H£ following cfsay is intended to give a general 

 view of the efsential properties and pofsible varia- 

 tions of the personal pronouns, upon principles that 

 are not derived from the practice of any particular 

 language, with a few remarks on some words in the 

 Englilh language, that have been usually ranked as 

 pronouns. 



A PRONOUN is a word that may be occasionally 

 substituted in the place of a noun, and performs ia 

 language the same functions with the noun itself. 



When the subject is examined, we are easily led to 

 perceive that all nouns which can admit of a substi- 

 tute for them, must be in one or other of the three 

 following states, viz. 



1st, The pronoun may be employed as a substi- 

 tute for the party who speaks, or the party who ad- 

 drefses a discourse to another. The pronouns which 

 perform this office have been, in general, denomina- 

 ted pronouns of the Jirst person ; or, 



2d, It may represent the party addrefsed ; and ia 

 this predicament it afsumes the name of the pronoun 

 of the second person ; or, 



31^, It may represent objects at a distance, or not 

 present, to which the discourse refers ; and, in this 



