A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue (1712) [ Concepts ]
… the Latin three hundred years before Tully was as unintelligible in his time, as the English and French of the fame period are now; and these two have changed as much since William the Conqueror (which is but little less than … or who had been altogether conversant in the dialect as those fanatic times; or young men, who had been educated in the fame country; so that the court, which used to be the standard of propriety and correctness of speech, was then, and, I … have no need to be at so much cost and care. It it the same thing with respect to the politer arts among us ; and the fame defect of heat which gives a fierceness to our natures, may contribute to that roughness of our language, which …
Corruption | Eloquence
Anthology