( ioo6 ) 
nice and large as thofe of Vdinting and 7\lHfic. Now the 
oU and fage Men of thofe Profeffions are every where moft 
regarded, they are found to hav^ theripeft judgments, and 
they are defcrvedly employed in the moft weighty Affairs 
appensiining to their Profeffions. And it has been feea 
fas was partly faid before ) that fome Painters and Mafici- 
ans have not at all fail'd as they grew old, but kept that 
great Fveputation to the lafl:, which they had before ac- 
quired. 
My Lord, upon the whole, it feems to me (tho I know 
^ly Opinion is of no weight ) that there is a gradual and 
fenfible alteration in the appearance of things, and efpeci- 
cially in the Scripture or Hand-writing of MSS. Now 
thefe ought to be confider'd with refpeft to the particular 
f laces wherein they were written. 
Every Country is fuppos'd to have remaining in it, the 
greateft Variety and moft confiderable Monuments of its 
own Charafters 5 unlefs they are known to be carried 
away to other places. And therefore, if any man be de- 
firous of confidering the Letters of any Language that has 
been confin d to any one particular Region or Province 5 
'tis but going thither, and it's ten to one, but ( it he be 
diligent) he may fatisfie his Curiofity very well. For Ex- 
ample, Suppofe I fhould be willing to confider the Nature 
of the Irijh Letters^ their Original, Progrefs and Variati* 
ons, with their Relation to the Roman, Franco & Anglo- 
Saxon : this might be done by travelling Ireland princi* 
pally, by taking a trip into the Scotch Highlands^ and per- 
haps into the Ifle ofMan^ and by confulting fome EngUfi 
and otkr Libraries, whither fome Iri(h MSS have been car- 
ried. 
If I would confider the French^ Italian^ Spanlfh, or Bfs^ 
glijh Hands^ each Country affords fufBcient Helps. Bat if 
a Man would confider the Letters of a Dead or Living 
Language, which fpread far, and has heen^ or is tts'd in fe- 
v^ral Countries z he can't be luppos'd a peykd: Mafter in all 
