he same thing may be as true of other prepositions;
as, "And this is a lesson which, to the greatest part of mankind, is, I
think, _very well worth_ learning."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 303. "He sees let
down from the ceiling, _exactly over_ his head, a glittering sword, hung by
a single hair."--_Murray's E. Reader_, p. 33. See Exception 3d to Rule
21st.

OBS. 9.--Both Dr. Johnson and Horne Tooke, (who never agreed if they could
help it,) unite in saying that _worth_, in the phrases, "Wo _worth_ the
man,"--"Wo _worth_ the day," and the like, is from the imperative of the
Saxon verb _wyrthan_ or _weorthan_, to _be_; i. e., "Wo _be_ [_to_] the
man," or, "Wo _betide_ the man," &c. And the latter affirms, that, as the
preposition _by_ is from the imperative of _beon_, to _be_, so _with_,
(though admitted to be sometimes from _withan_, to join,) is often no other
than this same imperative verb _wyrth_ or _worth_: if so, the three words,
_by, with_, and _worth_, were originally synonymous, and should now be
referred at least to one and the same class. The _dative case_, or oblique
object, which they governed as _Saxon verbs_, becomes their proper object,
when taken as _English prepositions_; and in this also they appear to be
alike. _Worth_, then, when it signifies _value_, is a common noun; but when
it signifies _equal in value to_, it governs an objective, and has the
usual characteristics of a preposition. Instances may perhaps be found in
which _worth_ is an adjective, meaning _valuable_ or _useful_, as in the
following lines:

"They glow'd, and grew more intimate with God,
_More worth to_ men, more joyous to themselves."
--_Young_, N. ix, l. 988.

In one instance, the poet Campbell appears to have used the word
_worthless_ as a preposition:

"Eyes a mutual soul confessing,
Soon you'll make them grow
Dim, and _worthless your possessing_,
Not with age, but woe!"

OBS. 10.--After verbs of _giving, paying, procuring_, and some others,
there is usually an ellipsis of _to_ or _for_ before the objective of the
person; as, "Give [_to_] _him_ water to drink."--"Buy [_for_] _me_ a
knife."--"Pay [_to_] _them_ their wages." So in the exclamation, "Wo is
_me_!" meaning, "Wo is _to_ me!" This ellipsis occurs chiefly before the
personal pronouns, and before such nouns as come between the verb and its
direct object; as, "Whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth [_to_]
_God_ service."--_John_, xvi,