Note 116 — Chapter IX · OF CONJUNCTIONS.
Reading edition
An occurs frequently for if in the earliest English writers. Bacon frequently uses it in this sense. “Fortune is to be honoured and respected, an it be but for her daughters, Confidence and Reputation.” “And certainly it is the nature of extreme self-lovers, as they will set their house on fire, an it were, but to roast their eggs.”—Bacon’s Essays, Civ. and Mor. In the folio edition, printed in 1740, it is improperly spelled and. An for if is still retained in our address to royalty, An ’t please your majesty: and in Scotland is in general use.