r "conjunctive expressions;" as, Can
you write your lesson? _Not yet quite well enough._ "_But and if_ that
evil servant,"[21] etc. Mr. Murray says, "the same word is occasionally
used _both as_ a conjunction _and as_ an adverb, and sometimes _as_ a
preposition.

Let these words be correctly defined, their meaning be ferreted out from
the rubbish in which they have been enclosed; or have their dismembered
parts restored to them, they will then appear in their true character,
and their connexion with other words will be found regular and easy.
Until such work is accomplished, they may as well be called
contractions, for such they _mostly_ are, as adverbs or any thing else;
for that appellation we regard as more appropriate than any other.

In the attempts we are about to make, we shall endeavor to be guided by
sound philosophic principles and the light of patient investigation; and
whatever advances we may make shall be in strict accordance with the
true and practical use of these words.

Let us begin with _Adverbs_.

I have not time to go into a thoro investigation of the mistakes into
which grammarians have fallen in their attempts to explain this "part of
speech." Mr. Murray says they "seem originally to have been _contrived_
to express compendiously in _one word_, what must _otherwise_ have
required two or more; as, "he acted _wisely_." They could have been
"_contrived_" for no such purpose, for we have already seen that they
are made up of various words combined together, which are used to
express relation, to define or describe other things. Take the very
example Mr. M. has given. _Wisely_ is made up of two words; _wise_ and
_like_. "He acted wisely," wise-like. What did he _act_? _Wisely_, we
are taught, expresses the "_manner_ or quality" of the verb _act_. But
_act_, in this case, is a neuter or intransitive verb, and _wisely_
expresses the _manner of action_ where there is none! But he must have
_acted something_ which was _wise_ like something else. What did he act?
If he produced no _actions_, how can it be known that he _acted_ wisely
or unwisely? _Action_ or _acts_ is the direct object of to _act_. Hence
the sentence fully stated would stand thus: "He acted _acts_ or
_actions_ like wise actions or acts." But stated at length, it appears
aukward and clumsy, like old fashioned vehicles. We have modified,
improved, cut down, and made eliptical, all of our expressions, as we
have previously observed, to sui