(Vol. viii., p. 229.)
The recent attempt to introduce a mispronunciation of the word _humble_
should be resisted by every one who has learned the plain and simple rule
of grammar, that "_a_ becomes _an_ before a vowel or a silent _h_." That
the rule obtained a considerable time ago, we have only to look into the
Book of Common Prayer to prove, where the congregation are exhorted to come
"with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart," and I believe it
will be admitted that the compilers of that work fully understood the right
pronunciation.
It may assist to settle the question by giving the etymology of the word
_humble_. It is derived from the Celtic _uim_, the ground, Latin _humus_.
_Umal_ in Celtic is humble, lowly, obedient; and the word signifies the
bending of the mind or disposition, just as a man would kneel or become
prostrate before a superior.