I have just been exceedingly interested in reading a lecture on
the _Origin and Progress of the English Language_, delivered at
the Athenæum, Durham, before the Teachers' Society of the North
of England, by W. Finley, Graduate of the University of France.
The following passage well expresses a caution that should be always
kept in mind by the literary archæologist:
"In the orthography of English words derived from the Latin,
_one great and leading principle_ must be kept in view. If
the word is of new adoption, it is certain that its spelling
will be like that which appears in the original word; or if
it has come to us through the French, the spelling will be
conformable to the word in that language; thus, persecution
from _persequor_, pursue from _poursuivre_. Again, flourish
from _fleurir_, efforescent, florid, &c., from _floreo_. And
to establish our orthography on certain grounds, it ought
to be the business of the lexicographer to determine the
date of the first appearance of an adopted word, and thus
satisfactorily determine its spelling." (_Lecture_, p. 20.
footnote.)