communicated, from generation to generation, by tradition, or by means of hieroglyphics, which were known only to a few. In consequence of this want of written records, we are entirely ignorant of that race of people, who once inhabited the northern portion of the vast continent of America, and whose remains are at once a striking monument of their power, and of the vanity of all earthly things. Of the purposes for which these mounds or pyramids were erected, we are left entirely to conjecture.

Writing was, at first, in hieroglyphics, or by representations of material objects; thus, the figure of a man was used to express a man-the figure of a tree to express a tree, and so on through all the productions of nature. Thus also, if it were meant to intimate, that a man had been slain by a wild beast, the figure of a man extended on the earth, and the animal standing over .him, would be delineated. The origin of hieroglyphic writing has been generally ascribed to the Egyptians; but, whether they are entitled to the honor of the invention or not, their priests deserve the credit of forming it into something like a regular system, by means of which, they were enabled to trace the conceptions and operations of the mind, so as to be perfectly intelligible to each other. The Egyptian priests were a separate class of men, set apart for regulating and conducting religious ceremonies; they had acquired the reputation of superior wisdom, at a time when knowledge was extremely limited, and, with the ambition natural to man, they used every means that ingenuity could devise, to increase their influence with the people. They were closely united among themselves; a singleness of object and design governed and directed their actions, and the sacredness of character with which they were invested, enabled them to accomplish all they desired-obtaining an unbounded influence with every order of society, from the prince to the peasant. In the retirement of their temples, they pursued those researches which rendered them celebrated in other lands; but the particular fruits of their studies were placed beyond the reach of common ken, by the use of hieroglyphic characters, known only to themselves, or such as they thought proper to initiate into a knowledge of their mysteries. On the existing monuments of the ancient Egyptians, which strew the plains of Egypt, hieroglyphic characters abound, and still continue to attract attention, and exercise the ingenuity of travellers. On

the temples and other ruins of Luxore, they look as if but recently cut. "You see them," says the author of Scenes and Impressions in Egypt and Italy, "as Cambyses saw them, when he staid his chariot wheels to gaze up at them; and the Persian war cry ceased before these acknowledged symbols of the sacred element of fire."

Hieroglyphic writing not only prevailed among several ancient nations of the old world, but was even practised by the Mexicans, when their country was invaded by the Spaniards, as appears from the fact, that the inhabitants of the coast, in order to give information to Montezuma of the arrival of strangers, sent him white cotton cloths, on which were delineated figures of ships, horses, artillery and whatever else they had observed remarkable.* It is even practised at the present day among the aborigines of America, as is well known to those who have paid any attention to their manners and customs. The curious will find an illustration of this fact, by consulting "Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains," where is preserved a copy of a hieroglyphic record of an Indian battle, as delineated on a buffalo skin.†

Hieroglyphic writing is a difficult, imperfect and unsatisfactory mode of recording events, and the process of delineation laborious. Although, in a certain degree, it answered the purpose for which it was designed, the difficulties attending it must have induced those who practised it, to study some more easy and expeditious method of communicating their ideas; hence, we presume, one improvement succeeded another, until the system of alphabetic writing was invented and adopted. The Egyptian priests, however, long after the invention of letters, continued the use of hieoroglyphics, to conceal their learning and the mysteries of the priesthood, from the profane eyes of the uninitiated, in order to preserve and increase their authority.

With regard to the origin of alphabetic characters, so contrary and insufficient is the evidence, that it is impossible to fix the era of the invention, or ascertain the inventors who are thus deprived of the honors justly due to so important a discovery. The invention has been ascribed to different nations-the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Hebrews, the Chaldeans, the Indians, * Robertson's History of America, vol. 1, p. 396.

Long's Expedition, vol. 1, p. 159, 296, 440.

the Arabians, have each set up their claims, and each have had their advocates, who have urged their respective pretensions with great ingenuity, learning and ability.

The Greeks ascribed the invention to Cadmus, a Phoenician, who first made known the use of the alphabet in Greece; it then consisted of but sixteen letters, the rest having been added at subsequent and distant periods. Those who urge the claims of the Hebrews, say, that the Greeks confounded the Phoenicians with the Hebrews, in consequence of similarity of language, and that when they spoke of the Phoenician alphabet, they really meant the Hebrew. We think there is but little ground for the opinion, that Cadmus was the inventor of alphabetic writing; the honor of having accommodated the Phoenician or Hebrew characters to the Greek language, is all that he may fairly be considered entitled to; and this is no small honor-it shows him to have been one who possessed at least some of the learning of the times, and was willing to share it with others. The Egyptians, Phoenicians and Chaldeans, were neighboring nations, differing but little in their manners, customs and religion, and very similar in language. Their intercourse with each other favored the reciprocal communication of the knowledge possessed by each; so that it is difficult to decide which received the knowledge of letters from the other. To the Egyptian god Thoth, who is the same with the Phoenician Thaut, who is also the Hermes of the Greeks and Mercury of the Romans, the Phoenician historian Sanchoniathon ascribed the invention of letters. To him also it is ascribed by Diodorus Siculus.

The claim of the Indians is thought by some modern writers, to be entitled to great weight; but they have probably rested their opinions more upon the proud claims of the Hindoo writers to high antiquity, than any strict and close examination of a subject of so much intricacy. The Sanscrit, a polished and elegant tongue, but which has now ceased to be a living language, is supposed to be the root of almost every dialect, from the Persian gulf to the Chinese sea, thirty-two of which have been recognised and distinguished by the missionaries of Serampore. The Hindoos assert, that their ancient books describe the Egyptians and other ancient nations, as seeking amongst them that information their own country could not afford.

This uncertainty, with regard to the invention of alphabetic

characters, by any particular nation, has induced the opinion, that it is not a human invention, but of divine origin, and was delivered by God himself to his chosen people. The opinion is supported by the following arguments: 1st. The high antiquity of the use of letters; the Hebrew characters having existed when Moses composed the Pentateuch, (1450 years before Christ,) at which time it appears they were in as perfect a state, as in the days of Jewish splendor and glory. 2d. The similarity between the various alphabets of different nations, which, for the most part, are the same in order, power and even form of -their letters, with the Hebrew. 3d. The complete want of alphabetic characters among those nations which have been cut off from all communication with the ancient civilized world. 4th. The difficulty of the invention, considering the rude state of society at the time it must have been accomplished.* The arguments here stated, if they are not conclusive as to the origin of alphabetic writing, are at least plausible. One thing, however, we think may be regarded as certain, from various passages in the sacred volume, namely, that alphabetic writing existed before the delivery of the law to Moses; and if delivered by God himself, must have been delivered long antecedent to this time. Thus we find in the 17th chapter of Exodus, "the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorial in a book;" which direction was given before the law was delivered from Mount Sinai, and of course implies that writing was known before that time, the period at which its original delivery to man is assigned by some who contend for its divine origin. Although it is probable, that alphabetic writing is of divine origin, and delivered to some of the descendants of Adam, long before the time of Moses, yet, as we find no mention made of this circumstance in the sacred volume, the oldest record extant, we incline to the opinion, that it is of human invention, and was a natural consequence arising from the improvement of hieroglyphic or picture writing; and that Moses, who is said to have been "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," carried it with him out of Egypt.

Letters were originally written from the right hand towards the left, and without any of the stops and divisions practised in

Edin. Ency. art. Alphabet.

modern writing. This mode prevailed among the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Chaldeans and Arabians, and is still practised among the nations of the East. This mode also obtained, originally, among the Greeks, as it is very natural it should, if they received their knowledge of alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians. They afterwards adopted the method of writing from right to left, and from left to right, alternately, which continued until about the time of Solon, when the method of writing from left to right was finally adopted. The Greek alphabet, as before remarked, is undoubtedly of Phoenician origin, and consisted of but sixteen letters; to these, Palemedes, son of Nauplius, king of Euboea, about the time of the Trojan war, added four, and the poet Simonides, who lived in the time of Hipparchus, the son of Pisistratus, added four more. From the Greek alphabet, all the alphabets in use in modern Europe, have been derived.

The materials first used for writing, were the leaves or inner bark of trees, afterwards linen, and tables covered with wax. About the time of Alexander the Great, paper first began to be manufactured from the Egyptian plant called papyrus, (Cyperus papyrus.) This plant has several coats, one above another, like the coats of an onion, which being separated by a sharp instrument, and moistened with water, were put under a press and afterwards dried in the sun. Besides these several preparations, parchment, made of the skins of goats, was also used,, which continued in use, until the invention of paper from cotton by the Arabians, A. D. 706. In the thirteenth century, paper manufactories were established in the christian kingdom of Castile; and in the fourteenth century, the knowledge of the art found its way into Italy, after which time paper, manufactured from cotton and linen, came into general use. The long time which elapsed before the introduction of paper among the christians of Europe, affords a strong evidence of the low state of learning in the christian world. Had there been much zeal in the cause, a discovery so valuable would not have been so long neglected; for such was the scarcity of materials for writing, that many valuable ancient manuscripts were erased, to make way for the puerile productions of monkish superstition.

The ancient form of a book, was usually that of a roll, formed of several leaves of parchment, or paper made of papyrus,