your
sail; account, that al doe follow; judgement, that al doe reverence;
wisdom, that al admire; learning, that stupified our scholes hearing
a king borne, from tuelfe yeeres ald alwayes occupyed in materes of
state, moderat in theological and philosophical disputationes, to the
admiration of all that hard him, and speciallie them quha had spent al
their dayes in those studies.

[Footnote 3: "An Alvearie or Quadruple Dictionarie, containing
four sundrie tongues, namelie, English, Latine, Greeke and French
... by Jo. Baret. _London_, 1580." Folio. An edition was published
in 1573, with three languages only, the Greek not being included.]

[Footnote 4: "De recta et emendata Linguae Anglicae Scriptione
Dialogus. _Lutetiae_, 1568." 4to.]

Accept, dred Soveragne, your pover servantes myte. If it can confer anie
thing to the montan of your Majesties praise, and it wer but a clod, use
it _and_ the auctour as your's. Thus beseeking your grace to accep my
mint, and pardon my miss, commites your grace to the king of grace, to
grace your grace with al graces spiritual _and_ temporal.

Your M_ajesties_
humble servant,
Alexander Hume.

OF THE ORTHOGRAPHIE

OF THE BRITAN TONGUE;

A TREATES, NOE

SHORTER

THEN NECESSARIE, FOR

THE SCHOOLES.

OF THE GROUNDES OF ORTHOGRAPHIE.

Cap. 1.

1. To wryte orthographicallie ther are to be considered the symbol, the
thing symbolized, and their congruence. Geve me leave, gentle reader,
in a new art, to borrow termes incident to the purpose, quhilk, being
defyned, wil further understanding.

2. The symbol, then, I cal the written letter, quhilk representes to the
eie the sound that the mouth sould utter.

3. The thing symbolized I cal the sound quhilk the mouth utteres quhen
the eie sees the symbol.

4. The congruence between them I cal the instrument of the mouth,
quhilk, when the eie sees the symbol, utteres the sound.

5. This is the ground of al orthographie, leading the wryter from the
sound to the symbol, and the reader from the symbol to the sound. As,
for exemple, if I wer to wryte God, the tuich of the midle of the tongue
on the roofe of the mouth befoer the voual, and the top of the tongue on
the teeth behind the voual, myndes me to wryte it g_o_d. The voual is
judged be the sound, as shal be shaued hereafter. This is the hardes