lent_,
when the accent is on the second syllable; as, _an united_ people, _an
historical_ account, _an heroic_ action."--_Ib._, p. 85. "_A_ is used when
the next word begins with a _consonant; an_, when it begins with a _vowel_
or silent _h_."--_lb._, p. 129. If these rules were believed and followed,
they would greatly multiply errors.

OBS. 16.--Whether the word _a_ has been formed from _an_, or _an_ from _a_,
is a disputed point--or rather, a point on which our grammarians dogmatize
differently. This, if it be worth the search, must be settled by consulting
some genuine writings of the twelfth century. In the pure Saxon of an
earlier date, the words _seldom occur_; and in that ancient dialect _an_, I
believe, is used only as a declinable numerical adjective, and _a_ only as
a preposition. In the thirteenth century, both forms were in common use, in
the sense now given them, as may be seen in the writings of Robert of
Gloucester; though some writers of a much later date--or, at any rate,
_one_, the celebrated Gawin Douglas, a Scottish bishop, who died of the
plague in London, in 1522--constantly wrote _ane_ for both _an_ and _a_:
as,

"Be not ouer studyous to spy _ane_ mote in myn E,
That in gour awin _ane_ ferrye bot can not se."
--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 124.

"_Ane_ uthir mache to him was socht and sperit;
Bot thare was _nane_ of all the rout that sterit."
--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 160.

OBS. 17.--This, however, was a _Scotticism_; as is also the use of _ae_ for
_a_: Gower and Chaucer used _an_ and _a_ as we now use them. The Rev. J. M.
M'Culloch, in an English grammar published lately in Edinburgh, says, "_A_
and _an_ were originally _ae_ and _ane_, and were probably used at first
simply to convey the idea of unity; as, _ae_ man, _ane_ ox."--_Manual of E.
Gram._, p. 30. For this idea, and indeed for a great part of his book, he
is indebted to Dr. Crombie; who says, "To signify unity, or one of a class,
our forefathers employed _ae_ or _ane_; as, _ae_ man, _ane_ ox."--_Treatise
on Etym. and Synt._, p. 53. These authors, like Webster, will have _a_ and
_an_ to be _adjectives_. Dr. Johnson says, "_A_, an _article_ set before
nouns of the singular number; as, _a_ man, _a_ tree. This article has no
plural signification. Before a word beginning with a vowel, it is written
_an_; as, _an_ ox, _an_ egg; of which _a_ is the contraction."--_Quarto
Dict., w. A_.

OBS. 18.--Dr. Webster sa