"
_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.
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