VOL. LXVI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 13 



logical inquiries are thus rendered intricate and unsatisfactory. And as to the 

 Ladin, though its derivation be more manifest, yet we are equally at a loss from 

 what period or branch of the Latin tongue to trace its real origin : for even the 

 vocabulary, in which the resemblance is most evident, differs equally from the 

 classical purity of TuUy, Caesar, and Sallust, as it does from the primitive Latin 

 of the 12 tables of Ennius, and the columna rostralis of Duillius, which has 

 generally been thought the parent of the Gallic Romance ; as also from the 

 trivial language of Varro, Vegetius, and Columella. May we not from this cir- 

 cumstance infer, that, as is the case in all vernacular tongues, the vulgar dialect 

 of the Romans, the sermo usualis, rusticus, pedestris, of which there are no 

 monuments extant, differed very widely, both in pronunciation and construction, 

 from that which has at any time been used, either in writing or in the senate .'' 



The grammatical variations, the syntax, and the genius of the language, must 

 in this, as well as in several other modern European tongues, have been derived 

 from the Celtic; it being well known, that the frequent use of articles, the dis- 

 tinction of cases by prepositions, the application of 2 auxiliaries in the conjuga- 

 tion, do by no means agree with the Latin turn of expression ; though a late 

 French academician, who hath taken great pains to prove that the Gallic Ro- 

 mance was solely derived from the Roman, quotes several instances in which even 

 the most classical writers have in this respect offended the purity of that refined 

 language. It cannot here be denied, that as new ideas always require new signs 

 to express them, some foreign words, and perhaps phrases, must necessarily, 

 from time to time, have insinuated themselves into the Romansh by the military 

 and some commercial intercourse of the Grisons with other nations ; and this 

 accounts for several modern German words which are now incorporated into the 

 language of the Engadine.* 



The little connection there is in mountainous countries between the inhabit- 

 ants of the different valleys, and the absolute independence of each jurisdiction 

 in this district, which still lessens the frequency of their intercourse, also ac- 

 counts, in a great measure, for the variety of secondary dialects subsisting in 

 almost every different community or even village. 



The oldest specimens of writing in this language, are some dramatical per- 

 formances in verse on scriptural subjects, which are extant only in manuscript. 

 The histories of Susanna, of the Prodigal Son, of Judith and Holofernes, and 

 of Esther, are among the first ; and are said to have been composed about the 

 year 156o. The books that have since been printed are chiefly on religious sub- 

 jects ; and among those that are not so, the only ones Mr. P. ever heard of, are 



* Tapferda, Tapferkeit, Bravery ; Narda, Narheit, Folly ; Elinot, Kleinod, a Jewel j Graf, 

 Graf, a Count ; Baur, Baur, a Peasant, &c. — Orig. 



