on the Englifh Alphabet. 165 
and others of the fame kind? The knowledge of 
any learned language will be no affiftance in this 
refpect; for in the Latin, the words are) condignus, 
Jubtilis, &e. Italian, or French would bring him 
fomething nearer: but to arrive at the knowledge 
of the vernacular pronunciation, he muft be initi- 
ated into the myfteries: of the language; and then 
he will find that the G and B are in no degree 
founded. The words jail and jailer. are as often 
written gaol and gaoler. Shall they, therefore, be 
pronounced ga-ol and ga-oler?~ To affert, that 
the pronunciation is moft elegant, which deviates 
leaft from the written words, would be to fuppofe, that 
our alphabet is, like the alphabets of the Greek, 
Latin, Italian, and fome other languages, of an 
uniform pronunciation. But fo far, on the contrary, 
is the capricioufoefs of our language, that Mr. 
Sheridan reckons upwards of feventy different ways, 
which conflantly occur, for characterizing only nine 
of our vowel founds!* Moreover, for exprefiing about 
thirteen, 
* They who could wifh to be well acquainted with the 
analy fis of the Englifh Language, and the great varicty of 
modes of exprefling even the fimple founds, would find 
ample information in an attentive perufal of the Rheto- 
ae Grammar, before mentioned. 
+ In Bell's Edition of that beautiful piece of Philofophy, 
Pope’s “ Effay on Man,” Epift. ii. v. 237, the word goal, 
by no uncommon miftake, is printed thus: 
** Each individual feeks a fev’ral gaol; 
** But Heav’n’s great vicw is one, and that the whole.” 
Here 
