eminary for Teachers at
Andover, (but no great grammarian,) in 1832, published a manual, called
"The Grammatical Assistant;" in which he says, "There are _at least five
cases_, belonging to English nouns, differing as much from _each_ other, as
the cases of Latin and Greek nouns. They may be called Nominative,
Possessive, Objective, Independent and Absolute."--P. 7. O. B. Peirce will
have both nouns and pronouns to be used in _five cases_, which he thus
enumerates: "Four simple cases; the Subjective, Possessive, Objective, and
the Independent; and the Twofold case."--_Gram._, p. 42. But, on page 56th,
he speaks of a "twofold _subjective_ case," "the twofold _objective_ case,"
and shows how the _possessive_ may be twofold also; so that, without taking
any of the Latin cases, or even all of Hall's, he really recognizes as many
as seven, if not eight. Among the English grammars which assume all the
_six cases_ of the Latin Language, are Burn's, Coar's, Dilworth's,
Mackintosh's, Mennye's, Wm. Ward's, and the "Comprehensive Grammar," a
respectable little book, published by Dobson of Philadelphia, in 1789, but
written by somebody in England.

OBS. 8.--Of the English grammars which can properly be said to be _now in
use_, a very great majority agree in ascribing to nouns three cases, and
three only. This, I am persuaded, is the best number, and susceptible of
the best defence, whether we appeal to authority, or to other argument. The
disputes of grammarians make no small part of the _history of grammar_; and
in submitting to be guided by their decisions, it is proper for us to
consider what _degree of certainty_ there is in the rule, and what
difference or concurrence there is among them: for, the teaching of any
other than the best opinions, is not the teaching of science, come from
what quarter it may. On the question respecting the objective case of
nouns, Murray and Webster _changed sides with each other_; and that, long
after they first appeared as grammarians. Nor was this the only, or the
most important instance, in which the different editions of the works of
these two gentlemen, present them in opposition, both to themselves and to
each other. "What cases are there in English? The _nominative_, which
usually stands before a verb; as, the _boy_ writes: The _possessive_, which
takes an _s_ with a _comma_, and denotes property; as, _John's_ hat: The
_objective_, which follows a verb or preposition; as, he honors _virtue_,