ood Sense of such a Nation;
and consequently to arraign the good Sense or Language of any Nation,
is to cast upon it a great Reproach. Even private Men are most
jealous, of any Wound, that can be given them in their intellectual
Accomplishments, which they are less able to endure, than Poverty
itself or any other kind of Disgrace. This hath often occasion'd my
Admiration, that those Persons, who talk so much, of the Honour of our
Countrey, _of the correcting, improving and ascertaining_ of our
Language, shou'd dress it up in a Character so very strange and
ridiculous: or to think of improving it to any degree of Honour
and Advantage, by divesting it of the Ornaments of Antiquity, or
separating it from the_ Saxon _Root, whose Branches were so copious
and numerous. But it is very remarkable how Ignorance will make Men
bold, and presume to declare that unnecessary, which they will not be
at the pains to render useful. Such kind of Teachers are no new thing,
the Spirit of Truth itself hath set a mark upon them;_ Desiring to be
Teachers of the Law, understanding neither what they say, nor
whereof they affirm, I _Tim._ I. 7. _It had been well if those wise
_Grammarians_ had understood this Character, who have taken upon them
to teach our Ladies and young Gentlemen, _The whole System of an
English Education_; they had not incurr'd those Self-contradictions
of which they are guilty; they had not mention'd your self, and your
incomparable Treasury of _Northern Literature _in so cold and
negligent a manner, as betrays too much of an invidious Pedantry: But
in those Terms of Veneration and Applause which are your just Tribute,
not only from the Learned of your own Countrey, but of most of the
other Northern Nations, whether more or less Polite: Who would any of
them have glory'd in having you their Native, who have done so much
Honour to the Original of almost all the Languages in Europe.

But it seems you are not of so much Credit with these _Gentlemen_, who
question your Authority, and have given a very visible Proof of their
Ingenuity in an Instance which plainly discovers, that they cannot
believe their own Eyes.

The _Saxons_, say they, if we may credit Dr. _Hickes_, had
various Terminations to their Words, at least two in every
Substantive singular: whereas we have no Word now in use, except
the personal Names that has so. Thus Dr. _Hickes_ has made six
several _Declensions_ of the _Saxon_ Names: He gives them th