( 12 )
to mark it more plainly to the reader. In the preſent inſtance, however, this may not have been the caſe, for the word ſew was variouſly ſpelt in Shakſpeare's time, and Milton writes it, though improperly, ſow. Throughout my edition, as is mentioned in my preface, I have not adhered to ancient ſpelling, but adopted that which is now generally uſed, and which I conſidered as juſt. I have done ſo in this inſtance. With reſpect to the ſimilarity of ſound between ſew and ſo, there can be no doubt, from the paſſage before us, but that the two words were pronounced alike in Shakſpeare's days, as they are at preſent by all who do not deviate from received modes from affectation or ignorance.
2. Vol. II. p. 71. Meaſure for Meaſure.
"Let me hear you ſpeak further." "Both editions—farther, a word entirely different from further, though too frequently confounded with it by ignorant perſons."
Here is a queſtion merely of propriety in ſpelling, and whenever I have any doubts on that ſubject I ſhall take counſel from ſome other preceptor than this critick. In the authentick copy of 1623, the word is very frequently
ſpelt
