this preposition. Tooke is of opinion that for always signifies cause. For signifies merely before; and as the final cause is before the mind of the agent, for may in some cases be rendered cause. There are other cases in which the notion of a final cause does not seem involved in the signification of the word for. When we speak of fighting for the public good, we mean that the public good is before the mind of the combatant, as the final cause of his fighting. But in the following instances the notion of cause is not perceptible. "He is tall enough

for his age;" that is, having before your mind his age, he is tall enough. "He speaks one word for another;" that is, "he takes the wrong word first-he speaks one word before, or in place of another."

When for is used in the sense of equivalence, it signifies before. "An eye for an eye;" that is, considering that one eye has been wilfully destroyed, having this before you, another eye must be put out. "To translate line for line;" that is, "laying before you one line of the original, one line of the translation must follow."

The uses of for are manifold; it is a preposition, a conjunction, an adverb, an adjective, or a component particle of a word. When used without ellipsis as a preposition, it signifies a relation of place, of time, of rank, or order; of cause, motive, or object. We sailed for Geneva-for is applied to place; He is chosen for life—the duration of life is before the mind as the period of service. For applied to causation or motive. "Chelsea Hospital was built for disabled soldiers;" that is, the future accommodation of disabled soldiers was the object before the minds of those who planned and built the Hospital. The adverbial use of for is considered inelegant in composition. Instead

of saying "a writ was moved for," where for performs the function of an adverb, it would be advisable to say, "a motion was made for a writ."

For, when used as a component particle, is equivalent to fore, when used in the same manner; as, forbear, forbid, forget, forlorn, forsake, forswear; foreclose, forego, forespent, forestall. Dr Johnson says, for has in composition the sense of privation, as forbear; or depravation, as forswear.

The preposition of, and the preposition and adverb off, were anciently the same word; the subsequent variation of orthography was merely accidental. The adverb off is generally opposed to on-as, to lay on, to take off. On implies adhesion to, and off separation from--as, to stand on the floor, to fall off a table, to be fastened on, to be cut off, to flow on as a stream, to fly off as a bird.

Up, upon, above, over. The radix up implies superior elevation; it is commonly used as an adverb. As a preposition, it denotes that an action is directed from a lower to a higher part. "In going up a hill the knees will be most weary."-Bacon. By old English writers it was used as we now use upon, to signify the being actually placed above and resting on an object. Above, over, imply eminence, superiority; we say above in place, above in power, above in eminence, above in the sense of prevailing over, above in excellence, over and above in abundance, over in excess, and from that which is beyond in place to that which is beyond in quantity. To overlook is to look beyond, and therefore not to notice; to look over is to examine carefully, to inspect.

At, to, too. The origin of these prepositions is obscure; but we may reasonably presume that both sprung

from a common root. The primary conception, common to both words, seems to be that of touch. In English the preposition to is not commonly prefixed, as in German, to verbs in composition, but follows them-as, to fall to, to bring a ship to, and also in the interjectional phrase Go to!

The word too, denoting addition, is the same as to; and is so spelt in Anglo-Saxon and old English. The secondary meaning of too is excess-as, too bad, too great, too warm, too high. In the preposition unto, the syllable un, which seems to have been originally on, augments the force of to. For is improperly placed before to before an infinitive-as, for to go, now reckoned a vulgarism. From to is still more alien to the idiom of our language.

Till is used as a preposition or conjunction, but always with reference to time alone.

To is applied indifferently either to place or time, but till to time only, and never to place; for we may say "from morn to night, or from morn till night," but we "from France till England."

cannot say

Through is derived from the Anglo-Saxon throt, whence our noun throat. Our verb to drill a hole is from the Anglo-Saxon; hence nostril. That which is thoroughly effected, or that which has been gone through with is complete.

After. From the signification of that which is behind in place, follows the signification of that which is subsequent in time-as, the afternoon; hence also the adverb afterwards, and the obsolete adverb eftsoons shortly afterwards. As the effect comes after the cause, in order, and the copy after the model, we have the expressions, "after our righteousness," "after Rembrandt;" in Latin the same relation is expressed by the word secundum.

There are seeming contradictions in the use of some prepositions; for and after are of contrary origin and signification, meaning the same as the words fore and aft; yet we say "to seek for that which is lost," and "to seek after that which is lost." The thing sought is before the mind of the seeker, consequently the seeker is considered as after, or behind the thing sought; before is an apposition with the thing sought-after is an apposition with the seeker; before specifies the relation of which the thing sought is the subject; after specifies the relation of which the subject is the seeker.

Various prepositions may sometimes be used indifferently in a sentence; and sometimes a particular preposition is essential to the sense, from the nature of the relation to be expressed. Thus we cannot substitute in for out, or after for before, in speaking of visible objects and bodily actions; but when we come to speak of the mind the case is different. We may say that a person did a certain act in envy, or out of envy, or through envy, or from envy, or for envy, or with envy; but we cannot say of the same person, in similar circumstances, that he was in his house and out of his house, passing through the town and distant from the town, walking with another person, or a mile before him.

It is a possible, but a very useless labour, to ascertain what words have been used as prepositions in a dead language. The Greeks, it is said, had eighteen prepositions, the Latins forty-nine, and the French, according to different authors, thirty-two, forty-eight, and seventy-five. In a living language it is quite impracticable to ascertain their number, for every day may enhance their number by new combinations of thought and expression. It has been

aptly remarked that a preposition is not like a piece of money, stamped to pass for a certain value. It is a word to which a transient function is assigned, and which, as soon as it has discharged that office, becomes again available for its former purposes-as a noun, a verb, or other part of speech. "Most, if not all prepositions," says Harris,

of PLACE."

seem originally formed to denote the relations But though this was their original use, they could not be confined to this office only. By degrees they extended themselves to subjects incorporeal, and came to denote relations, as well intellectual as local. It is necessary that different objects should be bound together in speech as they are in nature; and that we should have words to express the relations which exist among things.

CONJUNCTION.

A conjunction is a word used to show the relation of sentence to sentence. Thus he danced and sung, combine the two sentences he danced and he sung. The distinguishing characteristic of the conjunction is, that it shows the relation of sentences, and not simply of words. The early grammarians included conjunctions and prepositions under the general name connectives. According to this definition, of is a connective in the phrase Secretary of State, for both secretary and state are separately significant; but by means of the connective of, they are so united as to produce a third significant expression. According to the same definition, but is a connective in the expression

John danced, but Peter sung;" for "John danced" is one significant expression, and "Peter sung" is another significant expression, and they are both united together so as to form one continued sense by the word but. Mo