90 ANT-IANA. 



of the Englisli language is now very much a matter of tradition, and if 

 something is not done for the improvement of its written forms we shall 

 eventually have a confusion little short of what may be imagined to 

 have prevailed at Babel when its impious builders looked in blank 

 amazement at each other. 



As to the changes in spelling we conceive that we are merely car- 

 rying out a reform commenced about the time of Spenser, but never 

 perfected, nor conducted upon rational principles. It is undoubtedly bet- 

 ter to change ie into y in bloodie and words of similar termination, and 

 also to drop the final e mute in crosse, deare, sioeete, Sfc. But ?* why is 

 not the same thing done in lore, remembrance, whose, sake, Sfc. ? Be- 

 cause the preceding vowel might be shortened in its pronunciation with- 

 out it. But that reason will not apply to such words as badge, true, 

 have, Sfc. and is at best but covering one fault (that of having several 

 sounds to the same letter) by another. 



Observe, secondly, that our first reformers of the English language 

 made changes that were actually for the worse. ^ Why was brest 

 changed into breast, or ? sovcraine into sovereign, hert into heart, vele 

 into veil,feend into Jiend, and the like. Surely ? we may be allowed 

 to correct these aberrations and make the language more consistent with 

 itself. 



Such a course has, to a limited extent, been pursued in defiance of 

 the high authority of Johnson and other admirers of the blemishes of 

 antiquity, in the rejection of k from rejMbUck, u from honour, and sim- 

 ilar self-evident anomalies. Yet this very movement has been made by 

 some a reason why we should stand still, and, doing nothing upon prin- 

 ciple, let the language take care of itself and work out its own purifica- 

 tion, 



ANT-IANA, NO. III. 



The extraordinary habits of the ant cannot fail to interest all who 

 have attentively observed them. The astonishing trait in the character 

 of some species to have ants of another kind to perform the labor of 

 mining, and rearing the young of those whose business seems to be 

 that of committing depredations on their neighbors, is one that would 

 almost stagger our belief, were it not confirmed by the observations of 

 naturalists. 



* The position of the note of interrogation lias long appeared to me most unnat- 

 ural. It is to denote the asking of a question, and requires the reader to modulate 

 his voice accordingly, but placed at the end of a sentence, we must first read the 

 sentence before we can do so. The reason for placing it where we have it is obvious. 



