A new edition of Toland's History of the druids: - Free History Ebooks

60 THE HISTORYthe nominative case singular, can only be decidedby the Irish writings, as you may see demonstratedin the margin, where allgrammatical remarksshall be inserted among the other notes of the history,if they do not properly belong to the annexedDissertation concerning the Celtic Languages andColonies. This conduct I observe, to avoid anydisagreeable stop or perplexity in the work itself,by uncouth words, or of difficult pronunciation.For as every thing in the universe is the subject ofwriting, so an author ought to treat of every subjectsmoothly and correctly, as well as pertinentlyand perspicuously; nor ought he to be void of ornamentand elegance, where his matter peculiarlyrequires it. Some things want a copious style,some a concise, others tobe more floridly, othersto be more plainly handl'd, but all to be properly,methodically, and handsomely exprest.Neglectingthese particulars, is neglecting, and consequentlyaffronting the reader.Let a lady be aswell shap'd as you can fancy, let all her featureshe faultless, and her complexion be ever so deliauthors)whereof the nominative plural being Druidtr, h oughtby us to be used in that sense only : and so I conclude, that incur modern Latin compositions Druides and Druidce shouldnot be confounded, as they have frequently been by the transcribersof old writings, who mislead others. We are not to bemoved therefore by reading Druidce in any Latin author in themasculine gender, or in the Greek writers, who certainly usedit so. All ec[ui¥ocation at least will be thus taken away.