or takes from the universality of, the proposition contained in the preceding member of the sentence.  That it sustains its true character as a conjunction in all the examples under number 1, will be shown by the following resolution of them.—­“All were well but the stranger [was not well.”] “I saw nobody but [I saw] the stranger.”  “None deserve the fair but the brave [deserve the fair.”] “They postpone the thing which [they ought to do, and do not] but which [thing] they cannot avoid purposing to do.”  “This life, at best, [is not a reality,] but it is a dream.  It [affords not unbounded fruition] but it affords a scanty measure of enjoyment.”  “If he touch the hills, but exert no greater power upon them, they will smoke;”—­“If he exert no greater power upon the hills, but [be-out this fact] if he touch them, they will smoke.”  “Man is not a stable being, but he is a reed, floating on the current of time.”  This method of analyzing sentences, however, if I mistake not, is too much on the plan of our pretended philosophical writers, who, in their rage for ancient constructions and combinations, often overlook the modern associated meaning and application of this word.  It appears to me to be more consistent with the modern use of the word, to consider it an adverb in constructions like the following:  “If he but (only, merely) touch the hills they will smoke.”

Except and near, in examples like the following, are generally construed as prepositions:  “All went except him;” “She stands near them.”  But many contend, that when we employ but instead of except, in such constructions, a nominative should follow:  “All went but he [did not go.”] On this point and many others, custom is variable; but the period will doubtless arrive, when but, worth, and like, will be considered prepositions, and, in constructions like the foregoing, invariably be followed by an objective case.  This will not be the case, however, until the practice of supplying an ellipsis after these words is entirely dropped.

Poverty, under number 2, is governed by the preposition notwithstanding, Rule 31.  The adjectives wide, soft, white, and deep, under number 3, not only express the quality of nouns, but also qualify verbs:  Note 4, under Rule 18.—­What, in the phrases “what though” and “what if,” is an interrogative in the objective case, and governed by the verb matters understood, or by some other verb; thus, “What matters it—­what dost thou fear, though thou see the swelling surge?” “What would you think, if the foot, which is ordained to tread the dust, aspired to be the head?”

In the following examples, the same word is used as several parts of speech.  But by exercising judgment sufficient to comprehend the meaning, and by supplying what is understood, you will be able to analyze them correctly.