Editorial note — APPENDIX.
Reading edition
An is frequently used in the text as the equivalent of if or and if (in sentences expressing condition or purpose), so in this passage from Shakespeare:—
“He can’t flatter, he!
An honest mind and plain he must speak truth,
An they will take it so; if not, he’s plain.”
The two lines show a nice distinction in the use of the article and of the conjunction by the older writers.