Chapter 5

+Horace+, who tells us in his Epistle +de arte Poetica+, that Present Use is the final Judge of Language, (the Verse is too well known to need quoting) Words going off and perishing like Leaves, and new ones coming in their Places_, [60-62]

et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem si Graeco fonte cadent, parce detorta. quid autem Caecilio Plautoque dabit Romanus ademptum 55 Vergilio Varioque? ego cur, acquirere pauca si possum, invideor, cum lingua Catonis et Enni sermonem patrium ditaverit et nova rerum signatum praesente nota producere nomen. ut silvae foliis privos mutantur in annos, 60 prima cadunt ita verborum vetus interit aetas et iuvenum ritu florent modo nata vigentque.

_Il s’est formé_ ...

Except for clear typographical errors, the French text was left unchanged because it is impossible to know where the errors originated. All accents are as printed.

les Ducs [text has Dues] les Comites [spelling unchanged: modern form is Comtes] les Chevalier Windham [error for le] Fils du Garde des Seaux [Error for Sceaux? In modern French, “seau” is a coal-scuttle while “sceau” is a seal (here, Lord Keeper of the Seal)] Swif [error for Swift] Prior Arbuthnott [missing , or ; between names] Medicin du Duc [text has Due, as above; spelling “Medicin” unchanged] les Deux autre, [error for autres] s’assemblant tous les Jeudis [text has tons]