But in old books the forms of these two letters are continually confounded or transposed.

Hence it is, that our _Double-u_ is composed of two _Vees_; which, as we see in old books, were sometimes printed separately: as, VV, for W; or vv, for w.
3.

The _orthography_ of our language, rude and unsettled as it still is in many respects, was formerly much more variable and diverse.

In books a hundred years old or more, we often find the most common words spelled variously by the same writer, and even upon the very same page.

With respect to the forms of words, a few particulars may here be noticed: (1.) The article _an_, from which the _n_ was dropped before words beginning with a consonant sound, is often found in old books where _a_ would be more proper; as, _an heart, an help, an hill, an one, an use_.