Thus, in the example, "You
may imagine what kind of faith theirs was," _theirs_ is a compound
personal pronoun, equivalent to _their faith. Their_ is a pronoun, a
word used instead of a noun; personal, it personates the persons
spoken of, understood; third pers. plur. numb., &c.--and in the
possessive case, and governed by "faith," according to Rule 12.
_Faith_ is a noun, the name of a thing, &c. &c.--and in the
nominative case to "was," and governs it; Rule 3. Or, if we render
the sentence thus, "You may imagine what kind of faith _the faith of
them[4]_ was," _faith_ would be in the nominative case to "was," and
_them_ would be in the objective case, and governed by "of:" Rule
31.
[4] In the note next preceding, it is asserted, that my, thy, his,
her, our your, and their, are personal pronouns. What can more
clearly demonstrate the correctness of that assertion, than this
latter construction of the word theirs? All admit, that, in the
construction, "The faith _of them_," the word _them_, is a personal
pronoun: and for this conclusive reason:--it represents a noun
understood.
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