Those who pursue the former arrangement, allege,
that, in the examples, "You may imagine what kind of faith _theirs_
was; My pleasures are past; _hers_ and _yours_ are to come; they
applauded his conduct, but condemned _hers_ and _yours_," the words
_theirs, hers_, and _yours_, are personal pronouns in the possessive
case, and governed by their respective nouns understood. To prove
this, they construct the sentence thus, "You may imagine what kind
of faith _their faith_ was;--_her pleasures_ and _your pleasures_
are to come;--but condemned _her conduct_ and _your conduct_;" or
thus, "You may imagine what kind of faith the faith of them
was;--the pleasures of her and the pleasures of you, are to come;--
but condemned the conduct of her and the conduct of you." But these
constructions, (both of which are correct,) prove too much for their
purpose; for, as soon as we supply the nouns after these words, they
are resolved into personal pronouns of kindred meaning, and the
nouns which we supply: thus, _theirs_ becomes, their faith: _hers_,
her pleasures; and _yours_, your pleasures.
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