aysons_" (the Italics are our own). In "Love's Labor's Lost," he
spells Biron _Birone_, (Chapman spelt it _Byron_,) as being nearer the
supposed pronunciation of Shakspeare's day; but finding it rhyming with
_moon_, he is obliged also to assume that _moon_ was called _mown_, and
is severe on Mr. Fox for saying _Touloon_. He forgets that we have other
words of the same termination in English for whose pronunciation Mr. Fox
did not set the fashion. The French termination _on_ became _oon_ in
_bassoon, pontoon, balloon, galloon, spontoon, raccoon_, (Fr. _raton_,)
_Quiberoon, Cape Bretoon_, without any help from Mr. Fox. So also
_croon_ from (Fr.) _carogne_,--of which Dr. Richardson (following
Jamieson) gives a false etymology. The occurrence of _pontoon_ in
Blount's "Glossographia," published before Mr. Fox was born, shows the
tendency of the language.[K] Or did Mr. Fox invent the word _boon_?

[Footnote K: Let us remark, in passing, that the spellings "Berowne,"
"Petruchio," and "Borachio" are strong indications that the manuscript
copies of the plays in which they occur were dictated to an amanuensis.]

The pronunciation of words in Shakspeare's time is a matter of no
particular consequence, except that it may be made the basis of
conjectural emendation. This consideration gives the question some
importance, and, as error is one of those plants which propagate
themselves from the root, it is well to attempt its thorough eradication
at the outset.

Autolycus sings,--

"If tinkers may have leave to live,
And bear the sow-skin _bowget_;

Then my account I well may give,
And in the stocks _avouch it_."

Upon this Mr. White has the following note:--

"'The sow-skin bowget':--i.e. budget; the change of orthography being
made for the sake of the rhyme; about which our early writers, contrary
to the received opinion, were very particular. Even Ben Jonson, scholar
and grammarian as he was, did not hesitate to make radical changes in
orthography to obtain a perfect, in place of an imperfect rhyme. The
fact is important in the history of our language." (Vol. V. pp. 398-9.)

Readers of our older literature are familiar with what the early writers
of treatises on poetry say upon this subject, concerning which, under
the head of _licentia poetica_, they give some rather minute directions.
But we think Mr. White's expression "_radical_ changes" a little strong.
The insurmountable difficulty, however, in the way of