_"A" or "An."--Quem Deus vult perdere._--Allow me to refer your
correspondents "PRISCIAN" and "E.S. JACKSON" (of No. 22.), to the
_Selections from the Gentleman's Magazine_, London, 1814, vol. ii. pp.
333. and 162., for some interesting papers on the subjects of their
respective inquiries.
The paper first referred to, at p. 333., is certainly well worth
perusal, as the writer, "KUSTER," has examined the question with
considerable care, and proves, by many curious instances, that most of
those whom we have been taught to look up to as the greatest authorities
in English writing--Dryden, Swift, Pope, Johnson, and others--seem to
have had no fixed rule on the subject, but to have used "a" or "an"
before the same words with the most reckless inconsistency.
The second paper, at p. 162., gives a more detailed account of the
adage, "Quem Deus (potius _Jupiter_) vult perdere," &c., than "F.C.B."
(whose object, of course, was rather to compare _results_ than to trace
_derivations_) has supplied in his interesting communication.