in that kingdom at that period, as they are given us by the author of
the article _(Langue) Romane_, in the French Encyclopedie.

To the comparison of the two Romances, and the similarity of their
origin, I may now with confidence add the authority of Fontanini[AR] to
prove, that they are one and the same language. This author, speaking of
the ancient Gallic Romance, asserts that it is now spoken in the country
of the Grisons; though, not attending to the variety of dialects, some
of which have certainly nothing of the Italian, he supposes it to have
been altogether adulterated by a mixture of that modern tongue.

Whilst the Grisons neglected to improve their language, and rejected, or
indeed were out of the reach of every refinement it might have derived
from polished strangers, the taste and fertile genius of the
Troubadours, fostered by the countenance and elegance of the brilliant
courts and splendid nobility of Provence, did not long leave theirs in
the rough state in which we find it in the ninth century. But the change
having been gradual and almost imperceptible, the French historians have
fixed no epocha for the transition of the Romance into the Provençal.
That the former language had not received any considerable alteration in
the twelfth Century may be gathered from the comparison in the appendix:
and, that it still bore the same name, appears from the titles of
several books which are said to have been written in, or translated
into, the Romance. But though mention is made of that name even after
this aera, yet upon examining impartially what is given us for that
language in this period, it will be found so different from the Romance
of the ninth century, that to trace it any further would be both a vain
and an extravagant pursuit.

Admitting, however, the universal use of the Romance all over France