009_College lectures; Page 6

day use, the community confers some
measure of authority upon those
who have a just title to it, upon great
masters in the art of speech, upon
speakers whose eloquence carries captive
all hearts, upon writers whose power in
wielding the common instrument
of thought is felt and acknowledged
through all ranks."

"A great author may, by his single
authority, turn the trembling scale in
favor of the admission to good usage
of some popular word or phrase, born
of an original conception or blunder,
which had hitherto been frowned upon
and banned; nay even his mannerisms
and conceits may perhaps become
the law of the language. The
maxim usus norma loquendi,