capriciously pronounced, and so differently modified, by accident
or affectation, not only in every province, but in every mouth,
that to them, as is well known to etymologists, little regard is
to be shewn in the deduction of one language from another.

Such defects are not errours in orthography, but spots of barbarity
impressed so deep in the English language, that criticism can
never wash them away: these, therefore, must be permitted to remain
untouched; but many words have likewise been altered by accident,
or depraved by ignorance, as the pronunciation of the vulgar has been
weakly followed; and some still continue to be variously written,
as authours differ in their care or skill: of these it was proper
to enquire the true orthography, which I have always considered
as depending on their derivation, and have therefore referred them
to their original languages: thus I write enchant, enchantment,
enchanter, after the French and incantation after the Latin; thus
entire is chosen rather than intire, because it passed to us not
from the Latin integer, but from the French entier.

Of many words it is difficult to say whether they were immediately
received from the Latin or the French, since at the time when we
had dominions in France, we had Latin service in our churches. It
is, however, my opinion, that the French generally supplied us; for
we have few Latin words, among the terms of domestick use, which
are not French; but many French, which are very remote from Latin.

Even in words of which the derivation is apparent, I have been
often obliged to sacrifice uniformity to custom; thus I write, in
compliance with a numberless majority, convey and inveigh, deceit
and receipt, fancy and phantom; sometimes the derivative varies