156 Mr. Harvey's Obfervations 
includes three accidents in every letter; namely 
its written form, whereby it is recognifed by the 
fight; its elemental or fimple found, by which it 
reaches the mind, by means of the hearing; and its 
technical or memorial name, which fhould not, 
. however, exceed the length of one fyllable ; faying 
father fimply, ¢. than ade; in order to avoid the 
commixture of heterogeneous founds with the fimple, 
elementary parts of words, which, in fome languages, 
are fo often heavily and unnaturally incumbered. 
For what affinity have the intermediate letters of 
dAQe with the word, dewowxdc, unlefs, as it appears, 
it was fo named to diftinguifh the vowel in its double 
capacity of being long and broad, by its firft, and 
fhort and more flender, by its latter pofition? In 
naming the letters, as, a; be; ce; &c. the modern 
languages feem to have the fuperiority.* While 
the. 
“‘ nothing hath more contributed to bring literature into, 
** contempt, than.the cuftom, which the Wits and the 
«* fine Geniufes, real or pretended, have taken up to con- 
«* demn as fchool-learning and pedantry, citations from 
«* Greek and Latin authors, and philological remarks,” 
* Mr. Sheridan, in his very excellent Rhetorical Gram- 
mar, has judicioufly prefixed the vowel to all the letters, 
by which method of pronunciation they can beft coalefce 
with their adjoining letters. Indeed, his Grammar abounds 
with fuch a copious explanation of the principles of the 
Englifh Language, that having confulted it only fince the 
commencement of this Effay, I have much contraéted my 
original plan, 
