y_, which means _firmly_, is seldom used. In short, it
is, probably, from an idea, that no adverbs are to be compared by _er_ and
_est_ unless the same words may also be used adjectively, that we do not
thus compare _lately, highly, quickly, loudly_, &c., after the example of
Milton. But, however custom may sanction the adverbial construction of the
foregoing simple terms, the distinctive form of the adverb is in general to
be preferred, especially in prose. For example: "The more it was complained
of, the _louder_ it was praised."--_Daniel Webster, in Congress_, 1837. If
it would seem quaint to say, "The _loudlier_ it was praised," it would
perhaps be better to say, "The _more loudly_ it was praised;" for our
critics have not acknowledged _loud_ or _louder_ to be an adverb. Nor have
_slow_ and _deep_ been so called. Dr. Johnson cites the following line to
illustrate the latter as an _adjective_:

"Drink hellebore, my boy! drink _deep_, and scour thy brain. DRYDEN."
--_Joh. Dict., w. Deep_.

"Drink hellebore, my boy! drink deep, and _purge_ thy brain."
--_Dryd. IV. Sat. of Persius_.

OBS. 7.--In some instances, even in prose, it makes little or no difference
to the sense, whether we use adjectives referring to the nouns, or adverbs
of like import, having reference to the verbs: as, "The whole conception is
conveyed _clear_ and _strong_ to the mind."--_Blair's Rhet._, p, 138. Here
_clear_ and _strong_ are adjectives, referring to _conception_; but we
might as well say, "The whole conception is conveyed _clearly_ and
_strongly_ to the mind." "Against a power that exists _independent_ of
their own choice."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 46. Here we might as well say,
"exists _independently_;" for the independence of the power, in whichever
way it is expressed, is nothing but _the manner_ of its _existence_. "This
work goeth _fast_ on and prospereth."--_Ezra_. "Skill comes so _slow_, and
life so _fast_ doth fly."--_Davies_. Dr. Johnson here takes _fast_ and
_slow_ to be adjectives, but he might as well have called them adverbs, so
far as their meaning or construction is concerned. For what here qualifies
the things spoken of, is nothing but _the manner_ of their _motion_; and
this might as well be expressed by the words, _rapidly, slowly, swiftly_.
Yet it ought to be observed, that this does not prove the equivalent words
to be adverbs, and not adjectives. Our philologists have often been led
into errors by