suse of the article itself: "_the h_" which is
specified in the second and fifth sentences, is the "_silent h_" of the
first sentence; and this inaccurate specification gives us the two obvious
solecisms of supposing, "_if the [silent] h be sounded_," and of _locating
"words WHERE the [silent] h is not silent!_" In the word _humour_, and its
derivatives, the _h_ is silent, by all authority except Webster's; and yet
these words require _a_ and not _an_ before them.

OBS. 14.--It is the _sound_ only, that governs the form of the article, and
not the _letter_ itself; as, "Those which admit of the regular form, are
marked with _an_ R."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 101. "_A_ heroic poem, written
by Virgil."--_Webster's Dict._ "Every poem of the kind has no doubt _a_
historical groundwork."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 457. "A poet
must be _a_ naturalist and _a_ historian."--_Coleridge's Introduction_, p.
111. Before _h_ in an unaccented syllable, either form of the article may
be used without offence to the ear; and either may be made to appear
preferable to the other, by merely aspirating the letter in a greater or
less degree. But as the _h_, though ever so feebly aspirated has
_something_ of a consonant sound, I incline to think the article in this
case ought to conform to the general principle: as, "_A historical_
introduction has, generally, _a happy_ effect to rouse attention."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 311. "He who would write heroic poems, should make his
whole life _a heroic_ poem."--See _Life of Schiller_, p. 56. Within two
lines of this quotation, the biographer speaks of "_an_ heroic multitude!"
The suppression of the sound of _h_ being with Englishmen a very common
fault in pronunciation, it is not desirable to increase the error, by using
a form of the article which naturally leads to it. "How often do we hear
_an air_ metamorphosed into _a hair_, a _hat_ into a _gnat_, and a _hero_
into _a Nero!_"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 205. Thus: "Neither of them had
that bold and adventurous ambition which makes a conqueror _an
hero._"--_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 174.

OBS. 15.--Some later grammarians are still more faulty than Murray, in
their rules for the application of _an_ or _a_. Thus Sanborn: "The vowels
are _a, e, i, o_, and _u_. _An_ should be used before words beginning with
_any of these letters_, or with a silent _h._"--_Analytical Gram._, p. 11.
"_An_ is used before words beginning with _u_ long or with _h not si