read. Yet it was the opinion of Bochart, that the invention of letters was not to be imputed to the Phoenicians; "literas tamen in ipfa Phoenice natas non crediderim fed a Syris," but from the Affyrians that knowledge was derived to the Phoenicians. In Plate ii. it will appear from infpection, that the Greek alphabet was derived from the Phoenician, obferving only that the letters are turned into oppofite directions; as for inftance, 9 being made B, and becomes r, alfo is the Greek E, &c. But how true foever it is, that the Greeks received their knowledge of letters from the Phoenicians, yet it is alfo true upon equal grounds of teftimony, that the original invention of letters was not confined to them. Diodorus fays, Σύρος μεν ευρεται γραμματων εισιν, the Syrians were the inventors of letters; and Eufebius faying the fame thing, concludes with this opinion, Σύροι δε αντιεν Ебрать. The Affyrians may also have been the Hebrews. It is obvious why the Hebrews have the faireft claim in appearance to have been the inventors of letters, because the writings of Mofes being the most ancient, and being in better preservation than might be expected from such vaft antiquity, we are able to trace ка in other cafern languages a vaft affinity to the Hebrew; from which our prejudice is apt to incline us to believe that other ancient languages were derived, because they were not kept in equal preservation, which we are ready to believe would have been the cafe, had the perfons who spoke these ancient languages been alfo acquainted with alphabetic writing. But this difficulty is answered when we are compelled to acknowledge, that previous to revelation, the priest-craft of the times was to keep, amongst other branches of useful knowledge, this of letters a perfect secret among themselves. But Mofes, as he had too much honefty to keep fecret any matter which could be useful to fociety, fo alfo he had too much candor to affume to himself an invention which he had before learned from others. Amittit merito proprium qui alienum adpetit. The great Jofeph Scalager, condemns in the most justly severe expreffions, the advocates for the primeval antiquity of the Hebrew letters: he has alfo exemplified, by inscriptions, the ancient Ionic letters having the evident marks of being derived from the old Phoenician characters, characters and has defcribed and explained thefe letters in the moft fatisfactory manner: The letter Alpha, in the Phoenician language, fignifies the head of an Ox, either to fhew its precedence to all other letters, according to Plutarch, or becaufe Cadmus was met by an Ox when he was about to build a city in Beotia. The firft Ionic figure is exactly the fame of the Phoenician; the fecond improved, by making it equicrural; and the third, more recent, exemplified by this infcription taken from a ftone in the poffeffion of the great Duke of Tuscany, I2OKPATHE |=|edadpor ΑΞΗΝΑΙΟΣ - Ισοκρατης Θεοδόρου Αθήναιος. There are many examples in old infcriptions of era being expreffed ; for fince e is a circle with a point or line in the centre, the old Phoenician O being a parallelogram, was made th, by These examples being fufficient for my intention, I refer the reader to Jofeph Scaliger's animadverfions, where he will be highly entertained and inftructed, and muft be thoroughly convinced of the impofition of Kircher, who would perfuade us, that the Greek letters are derived from the Coptic; whereas on the contrary, I do moft firmly believe, |