f two Exes as of two foxes, of two
Effs as of two skiffs; and there ought to be no more difficulty about the
correct way of writing the word in the one case, than in the other. In Dr.
Sam. Prat's Latin Grammar, (an elaborate octavo, all Latin, published in
London, 1722,) nine of the consonants are reckoned mutes; b, c, d, g, p, q,
t, j, and v; and eight, semivowels; f, l, m, n, r, s, x, z. "All the
mutes," says this author, "are named by placing _e_ after them; as, be, ce,
de, ge, except _q_, which ends in _u_." See p. 8. "The semivowels,
beginning with _e_, end in themselves; as, ef, _ach_, el, em, en, er, es,
_ex_, (or, as Priscian will have it, _ix_,) _eds_." See p. 9. This mostly
accords with the names given in the preceding paragraph; and so far as it
does not, I judge the author to be wrong. The reader will observe that the
Doctor's explanation is neither very exact nor quite complete: K is a mute
which is not enumerated, and the rule would make the name of it _Ke_, and
not _Ka_;--H is not one of his eight semivowels, nor does the name Ach
accord with his rule or seem like a Latin word;--the name of Z, according
to his principle, would be _Ez_ and not "_Eds_," although the latter may
better indicate the _sound_ which was then given to this letter.

OBS. 13.--If the history of these names exhibits diversity, so does that of
almost all other terms; and yet there is some way of writing every word
with correctness, and correctness tends to permanence. But Time, that
establishes authority, destroys it also, when he fairly sanctions newer
customs. To all names worthy to be known, it is natural to wish a perpetual
uniformity; but if any one thinks the variableness of these to be peculiar,
let him open the English Bible of the fourteenth century, and read a few
verses, observing the names. For instance: "Forsothe whanne _Eroude_ was to
bringynge forth hym, in that nigt _Petir_ was slepynge bitwixe tweyno
knytis."--_Dedis_, (i. e., _Acts_,) xii, 6. "_Crist Ihesu_ that is to
demynge the quyke and deed."--_2 Tim._, iv, 1. Since this was written for
English, our language has changed much, and at the same time acquired, by
means of the press, some aids to stability. I have recorded above the
_true_ names of the letters, as they are now used, with something of their
history; and if there could be in human works any thing unchangeable, I
should wish, (with due deference to all schemers and fault-finders,) that
these names might re