almost perfuaded by fome of my own conjectures concerning them *, I am not willing, by an apparently forced and far-fetched derivation, to juftify your imputation of etymological legerdemain. Nor do I think any farther inquiry neceffary to juftify my conclufion concerning the prepofitions; having, in my opinion, fully intitled myself to the application of that axiom of M. de Broffes (Art. 215.) "La preuve connue d'un grand nombre de mots d'une "efpece, doit etablir un precepte generale fur les autres "mots de meme efpece, à l'origine defquels on ne peut "plus remonter. On doit en bonne logique juger des "chofes que l'on ne peut connoitre, par celles de même "efpece qui font bien connues; en les ramenant à un "principe dont l'evidence fe fait appercevoir par tout où "la vue peut s'etendre." * In the Gothic and Anglo-faxon ÏNNA, inna, means Uterus, vifcera, venter, interior pars corporis. (Inna, inne, is alfo in a secondary sense used for Cave, Cell, Cavern.) And there are some etymological reasons which make it not improbable that our derives from a word originally meaning Skin. I am inclined to believe that IN and OUT come originally from two Nouns meaning thofe two parts of the body. ΕΠΕΑ ΠΤΕΡΟΕΝΤΑ, &c. CHAP. X. OF ADVERBS. B. THE HE first general divifion of words (and that which has been and still is almost univerfally held by Grammarians) is into Declinable and Indeclinable. All the Indeclinables except the Adverb, we have already confidered. And though Mr. Harris has taken away the Adverb from its old station amongst the other Indeclinables, and has, by a fingular whim of his own, made it a fecondary class of Attributives, or (as he calls them) Attributes of Attributes; yet neither does he nor any other Grammarian seem to have any clear notion of its nature and character. B. Johnson* and Wallis and all others, I think, feem to confound it with the Prepofitions, Conjunctions and Interjections. * « Prepositions are a peculiar kind of Adverbs, and ought to be re"ferred thither." B. Johnson's Grammar. terjections. And Servius (to whom learning has great obligations) advances fomething which almost justifies you for calling this class, what you lately termed it, the common fink and repofitory of all heterogeneous, unknown corruptions. For, he says,-" Omnis pars orationis, quando "definit effe quod eft, migrat in Adverbium *.” H. I think I can tranflate Servius intelligibly-Every word, quando definit effe quod eft, when a Grammarian knows not what to make of it, migrat in Adverbium, he calls an Adverb. These Adverbs however (which are no more a separate part of speech than the particles we have already confidered) fhall give us but little trouble, and shall waste no time: for I need not repeat the reasoning which I have already used with the Conjunctions and Prepositions. Interjectio poffet ad Adverbium reduci; fed quia majoribus noftris "placuit illam diftinguere; non eft cur in re tam tenui hæreamus.” Caramuel "CHEZ eft plutôt dans notre langue un Adverbe, qu'une Particule." レ All Adverbs ending in LY (the most prolific branch of the family) are fufficiently understood: the termination (which alone caufes them to be denominated Adverbs) being only the word LIKE corrupted; and the corruption fo much the more eafily and certainly discovered, as the termination remains more pure and distinguishable in the other fifter languages, the German, the Dutch, the Danish and the Swedish; in which it is written lich, lyk, lig, liga. And the Encyclopædia Britannica informs us, that—" In "Scotland the word Like is at this day frequently used "instead of the English termination Ly. As, for a goodly "figure, the common people say, a goodlike figure." ADRIFT Is the past participle Adrifed, Adrif'd, Adrift, of the Anglo-faxon verb Dɲifan, Adɲiran, to Drive. "And quhat auenture has the hiddir DRIFFE?" i. e. Driffed or Driffen. Douglas. Booke 3. pag. 79. AGHAST, AGAST. May be the past participle Agazed. "The French exclaim'd-The Devil was in arms. "All the whole army ftood Agazed on him.” First part of Henry 6. A&t 1. Sce. 1. Agazed may mean, made to gaze: a verb built on the verb To gaze. In King Lear (A&t 2. Sce. 1.) Edmund says of Edgar, "GASTED by the noise I made, "Full fuddenly he fled." Gafted, i. e. made aghaft: which is again a verb built on the participle aghaft. This progressive building of verb upon verb is not an uncommon practice in language. In Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at feveral Weapons, (Act 2.)" Sir Gregory Fopp, a witless lord of land,” says of his clown, "If the fellow be not out of his wits, then will I never "have any more wit whilst I live; either the fight of the "lady has GASTERED him, or else he's drunk." I do not bring this word as an authority, nor do I think it calls for any explanation. It is fpoken by a fool of a fool; and may be fuppofed an ignorantly coined or fantaftical cant word; or corruptly ufed for Gafted. An objection may certainly be made to this derivation : because the word AGAST always, I believe, denotes a con fiderable |