It seems that the expression, _Queen's English_, is by no means of
modern date, as we have it as the _king's language_ at p. 2.

Hume laments, in his Dedication, the uncertainty of the orthography
prevailing at the time he writes, and yet we find him spelling words
several different ways, even within the compass of a single sentence,
without being able to lay the blame upon the printers; thus we find him
writing ju_d_gement on p. 11, ju_d_ge p. 8, and ju_d_g p. 33, but juge
p. 18; and there are numberless other instances that it would be tedious
to enumerate. Again, the author uses a mixture of Scotch and English, so
we have sometimes ane and sometimes one; nae on page 1 and noe on p. 2;
mare and mast, and more and most, even in the same sentence (p. 30); and
two is spelt in three different ways, tuae, tuo, and tuoe.

Our author's stay in England appears to have drawn his attention to the
differences between the two languages of Scotland and England, which he
distinguishes as North and South. He certainly shows, in some instances,
the greater correctness of the Scotch with regard to the spelling of
words derived from the Latin; as, retine instead of retain, corage
instead of courage, etc. (p. 20), in which words the redundant letters
that we Southerners have introduced are thrown out. He is, however, by
no means partial, and gives us praise when he thinks we deserve it.

Page 9. The arguments in favour of the sound given by the English
Universities to the Latin _i_ are curious: it is stated to have its
value in the Greek +ei+; but the author seems to have been in error as
to the English sounding mihi and tibi alike, or our pronunciation must
have changed since his time.

P. 10. The author speaks of the letter _y_ as being used by the South
for the sound now symbolized by _i_ with a final _e_ following the
succeeding consonant, as _will_ with an _i_, and _wile_ with a _y_ in
place of the _i_ and final _e_; thus in the same way he spells write,
_wryt_.

P. 11 (7). He gives food, good, blood, as examples of the same sound,
thus inferring that the English pronounced the two latter so as to
rhyme with food.

P. 11 (8). He objects to the use of _w_ for _u_ in the diphthongal
sound of _ou_, and therefore spells _how_, _now_, etc., _hou_, _nou_.

P. 11 (10). It is difficult here to see what the pronunciation of
_buu_ would be, which the author gives as the sound of bow (to bow).
Proba