These arguments will receive additional weight from the proofs I shall
hereafter give of the great affinity there is between the language as it
is now spoken, and the Romance that was used in France nine centuries
ago.
When we further consider the facts I have above briefly related, the
wonder will cease, that in a cluster of mountains, situated in the
centre of Europe, a distinct language (not a dialect or jargon of those
spoken by the contiguous nations, as has been generally imagined) should
have maintained itself through a series of ages, in spite of the many
revolutions which frequently changed the whole face of the adjacent
countries. And indeed, so obstinately tenacious are these people of
their independency, laws, customs, and consequently of their very
language, that, as has been already observed, their form of government,
especially in judicial matters, still bears evident marks of the ancient
Tuscan constitution; and that, although they be frequently exposed to
inconveniences from their stubbornness in this respect, they have not
yet been prevailed upon to adopt the Gregorian reformation of the
calendar.
As to the nature of this language, it may now be advanced, with some
degree of confidence, that the _Cialover_ owes it origin to a mixture of
the Tuscan and of the dialect of the Celtic spoken by the Lepontii; and
that the introduction of the vulgar Roman affected it in some degree,
but particularly gave rise to the _Ladin_; the vocabulary of which, as
any one may be convinced by inspecting a few lines of the bible, has a
great affinity with that of the Latin tongue.
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