x76 on orthography, | June 6: 
livion, it would be necefsary to have them all ren- 
dered into Latin, and their use would be confined to a 
learned, quibbling, and designing set of statesmen and 
lawyers. 
The French have been as busy in altering their 
language as their constitution. It was when one of. 
their kings married an Italian princefs, that fhe chan- 
ged the sound of the terminatian ozs into that of ais ; 
and as it was fhorter and more melodious to the ear, 
thg sound was universally. adopted; but the people 
in those days had more sense than to think of losing 
all their books by changing their language; and 
therefore no one thought of changing the spelling till 
the great Voltaire, who, like every one else, had 
his follies, introduced the azs ; but yet it would not 
go down with the bulk of the nation till within these 
three or four years, when it would appear that the 
French looked on every thing that was old as detes~ 
tible: They not only adopted M. Voltaire’s zmprove- 
ment, but so many others, that I declare, though 
well versed in the French language, I cannot read a 
new French book without stammering at the sight of 
these absurdities. 
I fhall just farther remark that many of onr af- 
fected literati pretend to use such orthography, as 
honor, favor, &c. and fhould the final letter be, in 
course of time, omitted in pronounciation, which is 
by no means impofsible, by the same easy infatua- 
tion they may come to write ono, favo, and s0 on; 
adieu then to old Englifb! 
Avoid such innovations as a deadly poison to the 
valuable body of Englith literature, 
Leith 17°52. Av Ay Le 
