268 GCA DM @ S. 
the ignorance of their anceftors, and for ever fhackle their 
minds with falfe and abiurd prejudices. 
Voltaire, that gilder in literature, who never wrote 
any thing folid upon any fubje&, but what may be attri-- 
buted to the much injured and obfcure Pere Adam, or the 
celebrated Durey de Morfan, gave fome piéces:in favor 
ofa reformation in fpelling, but did‘not exceed a few ter- 
minations of words, which-he urged to the French Acade- 
my; they however argued for the propriety of retaining 
the old mode, left they fhould not know the derivations 
of words; which are, indeed, as folely the- province of 
antiquarians, as the derivations of cuftoms and things; but 
were they really requifite to-Scholars, they have only to, 
turn to diCtionaries, and fag through a few references. 
Many urge the utility of the old‘orthography to prevent 
obfeurity in writing, but. «though half adozen words of 
different acceptation had the fame orthography, where 
would be the difficulty of obtaining the meaning? for in 
fpeaking we find none, and many words in Englifh have 
the fame found; for inftance beer to drink; and dver to car=. 
ry the dead upon; alfo bear the verb to carry, bear the 
beat, and dare naked, are never miftaken in converfation, 
the compofition of the fentences conveying perfe@ly the: 
diftinGtion. If any obfcurity be: perceived; an alteration: 
Should be made in the words themfelves, and the ortho- 
graphy regulated: thereby: inftances may be pointed out’ 
where it would be highly proper to adhere, not only to: 
particular diftinGions in the prefent orthography, but to 
conform to them in fpeaking—>« Jf you /peak like moderns, 
why would ye write like ante-chriftians ? pronounced, ante 
not antz, otherwife there would be no difference between, 
before Chrift, and againf? Chritt. 
Several of the Englifh argue’ for the -prefervation of 
derivatives, but it is the laft argument that ought to have 
been ufed, in delicacy to their own feelings, for none of 
their. 
