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PiJiUfh'i Jan'llSOa.by jmultFUetStrttc 
 
THE 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 WRITING, 
 
 AS WELL 
 
 HIEROGLYPHIC AS ELEMENTARY, 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS TAKEN FROM 
 
 MARBLES, MANUSCRIPTS AND CHARTERS, 
 
 ANCIENT AND MODERN: 
 
 ALSO SOME ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING. 
 
 By THOMAS ASTLE, Esq. F.R.S. F.A.S. 
 
 LATE KEEPER OF THE RECORDS IN THE TOWER OF LONDON. 
 
 ILontronj 
 CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1876. 
 

 JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 General Reflections. — Events which contributed to the decline and restoration of 
 Science. — Some account of the Work. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 01" HIBBOGLTPHICS. 
 
 Of Speech. — Of the origin of Hieroglyphics. — Of their different kinds. — Hiero- 
 glyphics common to all uncivilized Nations p. i 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 or THE ORIGIN OF LETTERS. 
 
 Variety of Opinions on this Subject. — Alphabetic Writing not first communicated to 
 Moses, nor of Divine Original. — General Reflections. — Progress of the human 
 Mind towards the Invention of an Alphabet. — How accomplished. — Of the 
 Composition and Notation of Language p. lo 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE ANTIQUITY OF WRITING. 
 
 The Claims of different Nations to the Invention of Letters ; namely, — Of the 
 Egyptians, — Phenicians, — Chaldeans, — Syrians, — Indians, — Arabians. — Observ- 
 ations and Reflections. — Of Antediluvian Writing P- ^7 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 GENERAL ACCOUNT OE ALPHABETS. 
 
 All Alphabets not derived from one. — Alphabets derived from the Phenician. ... p. 48 
 
CONTENTS. 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OE THE MANNER OE WBITING IN DIEEEEENT AGES AND 
 
 COTJNTEIES. 
 
 Forms of Letters.— Phenician Letters, and their Derivatives. — Pelasgic Letters, and 
 their Derivatives. — Roman Letters, and those derived from them. — Specimens 
 of ancient Alphabets and Writing P- 62 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OE CHARACTERS AND SIGNS. 
 
 Of the Chinese Characters. — Of Sigla, or literary Signs. — Of Notae used by Shorthand 
 Writers. — Of the various modes of secret Writing p. 1 63 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OE NUMERALS, AND OE NUMERAL CHARACTERS. 
 
 Numerals used by uncivilized Nations.' — Numerals, and Numeral Characters of dif- 
 ferent Nations. — Indian Numeral Characters. — When introduced into Europe. 
 
 p. 181 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 OE "WRITERS, ORNAMENTS, AND MATERIALS EOR WRITING. 
 
 Of the Librarii, Notarii, and Antiquarii. — Of Illuminators. — Of Paintings and Orna- 
 ments. — Of Materials for writing upon. — Of Instruments for writing with. — 
 Of Inks p. 190 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OE THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OE PRINTING. 
 
 Supposed to have been an Eastern Invention. — First practised in Europe in the 
 Fifteenth Century. — Progress of the Art. — Of Printing in England p. 213 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ON THE RADICAL LETTERS OE THE PELASGIANS, AND THEIR 
 
 DERIVATIVES. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ^HE noblest acquisition of mankind is speech, and the most useful 
 art is WRITING. The first, eminently distinguishes man from the brute 
 creation ; the second, from uncivilized savages. 
 
 The uses of writing are too various to be enumerated, and at the same 
 time too obvious to need enumeration. Bj^ this wonderful invention we 
 are enabled to record and perpetuate our thoughts, for our own benefit, or 
 give them the most extensive communication, for the benefit of others. 
 As without this art, the labours of our ancestors in every branch of know- 
 ledge would have been lost to us, so must ours be to posterity. Tradition 
 is so nearly allied to fable, that no authentic history can be compiled but 
 from written materials. 
 
 Fromthissource,andfromancient paintings, sculptures, and medals, have 
 philosophy, science, and the arts, derived all their successive improvements: 
 succeeding generations have been enabled to add to the stock they received 
 from the past, and to prepare the way for future acquisitions. In the com- 
 mon transactions of life, how limited must have been our intercourse, 
 whether for profit or pleasure, without the assistance of whiting. Whereas, 
 by this happy mode of communication, distance is as it were annihilated, 
 and the merchant, the statesman, the scholar, becomes present to every 
 purpose of utility, in regions the most remote. While lovers 
 
 " Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul. 
 And waft a sigh, from Indus to the Pole." 
 
 The practice of writing is of such remote antiquity, that neither sacred 
 
 nor prophane authors give any satisfactory account of its origin : it has 
 
 been so long known and used, that few men think upon the subject; 
 
 a 
 
ii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 so inattentive are we to the greatest benefits, from their having been long 
 enjoyed : but the philosopher will say with the poet, 
 
 " Whence did the wond'rous mystic art arise. 
 Of painting speech, and speaking to the eyes ? 
 That we by tracing magic Hnes are taught, 
 How both to colour, and embody thought ? " * 
 
 The faculty of imitation, so conspicuous in the human species, has 
 enabled men, in their most rude state, to delineate sensible or visible ob- 
 jects ; hence the origin of hieroglyphic representations : but it will appear, 
 that many great and learned men, in all ages, have been so sensible of the 
 difficulty of accounting for the invention of the art of exhibiting to the 
 sight, the various conceptions of the mind, which have no corporeal forms, 
 by a small number of elementary characters, or letters, that some have 
 supposed them to have been of divine origin, and others have confessed 
 themselves unable to account for their invention. The author felt himself 
 deeply impressed with the difficulties attending the investigation of this part 
 of his subject ; but, from the particular course of his studies, and literary 
 pursuits, he conceived he might enter upon it with some advantages 
 which others had not possessed. 
 
 One of the principal objects of the following work, is the illustration 
 of what has for near two centuries been called, the diplomatic science ; 
 the knowledge of which, will enable us to form a proper judgment of the 
 age and authenticity of manuscripts, charters, records, and other monu- 
 ments of antiquity. 
 
 The utility of this branch of knowledge, is fully confirmed by the testi- 
 monies of the learned, who have bestowed immense application in its cul- 
 ture ; from whence considerable advantages have been derived, which are 
 in the highest degree interesting to all orders and degrees of men, in every 
 community. 
 
 The archives, public libraries, and private collections, which are repo- 
 
 " Monsieur Breboeuf, speaking of the Phenicians, says, 
 
 C'est de lui que nous vient ces art ingenieux, 
 De peindre la parole & de parler aux yeux, 
 Et par las traits divers des figures trac^es 
 Donner de la couleur & du corps aux pensdes. 
 
INTRODUCTION. iii 
 
 sitories for objects of this study, contain the most authentic and important 
 records of power claimed or exercised by sovereigns ; they preserve their 
 treaties of peace and alliance, the privileges and rights of their people, 
 those that have been granted to the nobles and to cities, and the laws made 
 by particular legislative bodies ; they perpetuate those documents, which fix 
 the power of national assemblies; they display the origin of illustrious fami- 
 lies, their genealogies, their atchievements and alliances ; and they furnish 
 us with the surest lights, for acquiring a just knowledge of antiquity both 
 sacred and prophane» 
 
 They are the best guides for deciding with any certainty as to the power 
 of the clergy in former ages, and the use made of that power. 
 
 Princes may there discover the first traces of the elevation of their an- 
 cestors, the steps by which they ascended their thrones, and what causes 
 conspired to raise them to that summit of glory and power, which has been 
 transmitted to their posterity. The nobles may there find the titles of their 
 distinctions and possessions; and private persons those of their rights, liber- 
 ties, and properties. 
 
 The very high esteem in w^hich these monuments are held by most learned 
 nations, may be judged of from the emulation they have shewn, in publish- 
 ing various collections of records, calculated to elucidate the histories of 
 their respective countries, to ascertain the prerogatives of sovereigns, to 
 secure the rights of the people, and to restrain the unjust pretensions of in- 
 dividuals. England, France, Italy, and Germany, have enlightened the 
 world by works of this nature. The publication of the survey of England 
 b}?^ William I. called Domesday Book, and of the Rolls and Records of 
 Parliament, will reflect honour on the present reign to the latest posterity. 
 
 It is not necessary to enumerate all the benefits that have arisen to man- 
 kind from such labours : to them historians are particularly indebted for the 
 elucidation of numberless important facts. Most of the knowledge we at this 
 day possess of ancient times and manners, has been chiefly acquired by the 
 industry of those who, since the restoration of learning, have consulted the 
 inestimable treasures preserved in public libraries, religious houses, and pri- 
 vate collections : from this spirit of inquiry, and those records, is derived the 
 principal information we have of the rise and progress of empires, kingdoms, 
 and states ; of their laws, manners, customs, and mutual connections. 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The DIPLOMATIC SCIENCE, then, may be considered as a guide to all 
 others ; it has an intluence on politics, morality, literature, canon and 
 civil law, and even on divinity itself. The divine and the lawyer labour to 
 little purpose, unless they can shew that the testimonies which they adduce, 
 are accompanied by all the necessary marks of authenticity. For if the rules 
 of criticism adopted by learned antiquaries were arbitrary, and the epochas 
 established by them false, ancient writings would be of as' little authority 
 as fictions ; and were it impossible to ascertain the dates or ages of docu- 
 ments, all their labours would be idle and fruitless, and their productions 
 really be, what ignorance has often asserted them to be, nothing better 
 than the works of mere sportive fancy : but a true connoisseur in these 
 studies, will rather agree in opinion with Mr. Casley, who, in his preface 
 to the catalogue of the Royal library, p. 6, has the following w^ords : " I 
 have studied that point so much, and have so often compared manuscripts 
 without date, with those that happen to have a date, that I have little 
 doubt as to that particular." And he observes, that " he can judge of 
 the age of a manuscript as well as the age of man." Mr. Casley, however, 
 is not singular in this opinion : the same has been confirmed by Mabillon, 
 by the Benedictines at Paris, and by many other writers of the most dis- 
 tinguished reputation. Intelligent antiquaries have, in fact, sufficient lights 
 to clear up whatever doubts may arise in their own minds, and to remove 
 every objection, made by those, who depreciate the science from ignorance, 
 or a superficial acquaintance with its advantages. 
 
 The proofs of history cannot be built upon a more solid foundation, 
 than that of manuscripts and charters. Historical certainty is generally 
 founded on the evidence of one or two contemporary writers, equally 
 capable and credible, whose testimonies are not contradicted by superior 
 autiiority. The authenticity of original instruments, is proved by a variety 
 of concurrent circumstances, ceremonies, and formalities. AVhen those 
 documents are found supported by such indubitable testimonies, we may 
 safely declare that they have not been forged. On the contrary, when 
 these essentials are wanting, when a manuscript or charter contradicts 
 the established customs of the time in which it was pretended to have 
 been written, or even differs from them in any material particular, it can- 
 not possibly be authentic. 
 
INTRODUCTION. v 
 
 The DIPLOMATIC SCIENCE, then, treats of matters which are capable 
 of certainty : truth and falsehood are often manifestly distinguished by it. 
 When no other resource is left, than that of choosing what is more or less 
 probable, its decisions are then regulated by suspicions, doubts, conjectures, 
 and presumptive reasons, more or less cogent, which it collects and esti- 
 mates with due deliberation, never advancing any thing as certain, but 
 what is supported by the strongest proofs, and introducing what appears 
 more or less suspicious, with its distinctive characters ; for if the testimony 
 of contemporary writers is looked upon as the firmest bulwark of historical 
 truths, because they are witnesses of facts that happened in their own days, 
 original acts or writings, which have nothing to do with hearsay or tra- 
 ditional matters, where present events only are related, where every term 
 is weighed with scrupulous care and attention, and where no facts can find 
 admittance, but such as have been approved by the parties, are of a cer- 
 tainty superior to every objection. Most ancient muniments are distin- 
 guished by these precautions, or even greater circumspection ; and are 
 consequently preferable to the testimony of historians. 
 
 Having thus stated, and in some measure ascertained, the utility 
 of the DIPLOMATIC SCIENCE ; the disadvantages which have arisen from 
 the destruction of the works of the ancients, will justify our entering 
 upon a short view of the irreparable losses which mankind have thereby 
 sustained. 
 
 Many events have contributed to deprive us of a great part of the 
 literary treasures of antiquity. A very fatal blow was given to literature, 
 by the destruction of the Phoenician temples, and of the Egyptian col- 
 leges, when those kingdoms, and the countries adjacent, were conquered 
 by the Persians, about three hundred and fifty years before Christ. 
 Ochus, the Persian general, ravaged these countries without mercy, and 
 forty thousand Sidonians burnt themselves with their families and riches in 
 their own houses. The conqueror then drove Nectanebus out of Egypt, 
 and committed the like ravages in that country ; afterwards he marched 
 into Judea, where he took Jericho, and sent a great number of Jews into 
 captivity. The Persians had a great dislike to the religion of the 
 Phoenicians and the Egyptians ; this was one reason for destroying their 
 
VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 books, of which Eusebius (De Preparat. Evang.) says, they had a great 
 number. 
 
 Notwithstanding these losses, Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, 
 Avho reigned about two hundred years before the Christian sera, collected 
 the greatest library of all antiquity, which he deposited in his palace at 
 Alexandria, where it was burnt by Csesar's troops. 
 
 Another great loss was occasioned by the destruction of the Pytha- 
 gorean schools in Italy ; when the Platonic or new philosophy prevailed 
 over the former. Pythagoras went into Egypt, before the Persian con- 
 quests, where he resided twenty-two years ; he was initiated into the 
 sacerdotal order, and, from his spirit of inquiry, he has been justly said 
 to have acquired a great deal of Egyptian learning, which he afterwards 
 introduced into Italy. Polybius (lib. ii. p. 175) and Jamblichus (in 
 vita Pythag.) mention many circumstances, relative to these facts, 
 quoted from authors now lost ; as doth Porphyry, in his life of Pytha- 
 goras. 
 
 Learning, philosophy, and arts, suffered much by the loss of liberty 
 in Greece ; whence they were transplanted into Italy, under the pa- 
 tronage of some of the great men of Rome ; who, by their countenance 
 and protection, not only introduced them into their own country, but 
 even contributed to the revival of them in Greece. The love of learnino; 
 and of arts amongst the Romans was too soon neglected, through the ty- 
 rannjr of the emperors, and the general corruption of manners ; for in the 
 reign of Dioclesian, towards the end of the third century, the arts had 
 greatly declined, and in the course of the fourth, philosophy degenerated 
 into superstition. 
 
 Learning and the arts also received a most fatal blow by the destruction 
 of the heathen temples, in the reign of Constantine. The devastations 
 then committed, are depicted in the strongest and most lively colours by 
 Mr Gibbon, in the 28th chapter of his History of the Decline and Fall of 
 the Roman Empire, vol. iii. p. 77, & seq. 
 
 Many valuable libraries perished by the Barbarians of the North, 
 who invaded Italy in the fourth and fifth centuries. By those rude 
 hands perished the library of Perseus king of Macedon, \\hich Pau- 
 lus /Emilius brought to Rome with its captive owner; as did also 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 the noble library established for the use of the public, by Asinius 
 Pollio, which was collected from the spoils of all the enemies he had 
 subdued, and was greatly enriched by him at a vast expence. The 
 libraries of Cicero and Lucullus met with the same fate, and those of 
 Julius Caesar, of Augustus, Vespasian, and Trajan also perished, to- 
 gether with the magnificent library of the younger Gordian, founded 
 by his preceptor Simonicus, which is said by some to have contained 
 sixty thousand, and by others eighty thousand, volumes. The repository 
 for this vast collection is reported to have been paved with marble, and 
 ornamented with gold ; the walls were covered with glass and ivory, the 
 armories and desks were made of ebony and cedar. 
 
 The loss of Ptolemy's library at Alexandria had been in some measure 
 repaired, by the remains of that of Eumenes, king of Pergamus, which 
 Mark Anthony presented to Cleopatra, and by other collections, so that 
 a vast library remained at Alexandria, till it was taken by storm, and 
 plundered by the Saracens in the seventh century, a. d. 642. Though 
 the Saracens were at that time a barbarous people, yet Amrus (or Amru 
 Ebn al As) the commander of the troops who took this city, was a man of 
 good capacity, and greatly delighted in hearing philosophical points dis- 
 cussed by learned men. John the grammarian, called Philoponus from 
 his love of labour, lived in Alexandria at this time ; he soon became 
 acquainted with Amrus, and, having acquired some degree of his esteem, 
 requested that the philosophical books preserved in the royal library 
 might be restored. Amrus wrote to Omar, the Caliph, to know if his 
 request might be complied with ; who returned for answer, that " if 
 the books he mentioned agreed in all points with the book of God, the 
 Alcoran, this last would be perfect without them, and consequently 
 they would be superfluous ; but if they contained any thing repugnant to 
 the doctrines and tenets of that book, they ought to be looked on as 
 pernicious, and of course should be destroyed." As soon as the Caliph's 
 letter was received, Amrus, in obedience to the command of his sovereign, 
 dispersed the books all over the city, to heat the baths, of which there were 
 four thousand ; but the number of books was so immense, that they were not 
 entirely consumed in less than six months. Thus perished, by fanatical mad- 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ness, the inestimable Alexandrian librarj^ which is said to have contained 
 at that time upwards of five hundred thousand volumes ; and from this 
 period, barbarity and ignorance prevailed for several centuries. In Italy, 
 and all over the west of Europe, learning was in a manner extin- 
 guished, except some small remains which were preserved in Constan- 
 tinople. 
 
 In this city, the emperor Constantine had deposited a considerable 
 library, which was soon after enriched by his successor Julian, who placed 
 the following inscription at the entrance : 
 
 Alii quidem equos amant, alii aves^ alii feras; mihi vero a puerulo, 
 Minim acqairendi et possidendi libros insedit desiderium. 
 
 Theodosius the younger, was very assiduous in augmenting this library, 
 by whom, in the latter end of the fourth century, it was enlarged to one 
 hundred thousand volumes ; above one half of which were burnt in the 
 fifth century by the emperor Leo the first, so famous for his hatred to 
 images. 
 
 The inhabitants of Constantinople had not lost their taste for literature 
 in the beginning of the thirteenth century, when that city was sacked by the 
 Crusaders, in the year 1205 ; the depredations then committed, are related 
 in Mr. Harris's Posthumous Works, vol. ii. p. 301, from Nicetas the Cho- 
 niate, who was present at the sacking of this place. His account of the 
 statues, bustos, bronzes, manuscripts, paintings, and other exquisite re- 
 mains of antiquity, which then perished, cannot be read by any lover of 
 arts and learning without emotion. 
 
 The ravages committed by the Turks who plundered Constantinople, 
 in the year 1453, are related by Philelphus, who was a man of learn- 
 ing, and was tutor to ^neas Sylvius (afterwards pope, under the name 
 of Pius the second), and was an eye-witness to what passed at that time. 
 This author says, that the persons of quality, especially the women, still 
 preserved the Greek language uncorrupted. He observes, that though the 
 city had been taken before, it never suffered so much as at that time"^; and 
 adds, that, till that period, the remembrance of ancient wisdom remained 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 at Constantinople, and that no one among the Latins was deemed suffici- 
 ently learned, who had not studied for some time at that place, he expressed 
 his fear that all the works of the ancients would be destroj^ed. 
 
 Still however, there are the remains of three libraries at Constantinople : 
 the first is called that of Constantino the Great ; the second is for all 
 ranks of people without distinction ; the third is in the palace, and is 
 called the Ottoman librarj--, but a fire happened in 1665, which consumed 
 a great part of the palace, and almost the whole library, when, as is sup- 
 posed, Livy and a great many valuable works of the ancients perished. 
 Father Possevius has given an account of the libraries at Constantinople, 
 and in other parts of the Turkish dominions, in his excellent work 
 intituled. Apparatus Sacer. 
 
 INIany other losses of the writings of the ancients have been attributed 
 to the zeal of the Christians, who at different periods made great havock 
 amongst the Heathen authors. Not a single copy of the famous work 
 of Celsus is now to be found, and what we know of that work is from 
 Origen his opponent. The venerable fathers, who employed themselves 
 in erasing the best works of the most eminent Greek or Latin authors, 
 in order to transcribe the lives of saints or legendary tales upon the obli- 
 terated vellum, possibly mistook these lamentable depredations for works 
 of piety. The ancient fragment of the 91st book of Livy, discovered by 
 Mr. Bruns, in the Vatican, in 1773, was much defaced by the pious 
 labours of some well-intentioned divine. The Monks made war on books 
 as the Goths had done before them. Great numbers of manuscripts have 
 also been clestroj'^ed in this kingdom by its invaders, the Pagan Danes, and 
 the Normans, by the civil commotions raised by the barons, by the bloody 
 contests between the houses of York and Lancaster, and especially by 
 the general plunder and devastation of monasteries and religious houses 
 in the reign of Henry the Eighth ; by the ravages committed in the civil 
 war in the time of Charles the First, and by the fire that happened in the 
 Cottonian library, October 23, 1731. 
 
 In all this period of time, many others may be supposed to have 
 perished by that Hellito Uhroriim, tempiis edax reruiri. 
 
 Thus it appears, that more of the works of the ancients have perished, 
 than have reached us. To enumerate such as are known to have been 
 destroyed, or lost, in the various branches of science and polite literature, 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 would form a catalogue of considerable bulk ; but the most irreparable 
 and deplorable losses which mankind have sustained, are in the branch 
 of History, and therefore it may be proper to lay before our readers some 
 particulars concerning the works of ancient historians, many of which 
 are so mutilated, that the fragments which remain, serve only to increase 
 our regret for what have been lost or destroyed. 
 
 The History of Phenicia, by Sanconiatho, who was contemporary 
 with Solomon, would have been entirely lost to us, had it not been for the 
 valuable fragments preserved by Eusebius, which are mentioned in the 
 following sheets. Manetho's History of Egypt, and the History of Chal- 
 dea, by Berosus, have nearly met with the same fate. 
 
 The general History of Polybius, originally contained forty books ; but 
 the first five only, with some extracts or fragments, are transmitted to us. 
 
 The Historical library of Diodorus Siculus consisted likewise of forty 
 books, but only fifteen are now extant ; that is, five between the fifth and 
 the eleventh, and the .last ten, with some fragments collected out of 
 Photius and others. 
 
 Dionysius Halicarnassensis wrote twenty books of Roman antiquities, 
 extending from the siege of Troy, to the first Punic war a. u. c. 4(S8 ; but 
 only eleven of them are now remaining, which reach no farther than the 
 year of Rome, 312. 
 
 Appian is said to have written the Roman History in twenty-four 
 books ; but the greatest part of the works of that author are lost. 
 
 Dion Cassias wrote eighty books of history, but only twenty-five are 
 remaining, with some fragments, and an epitome of the last twenty by 
 Xiphilinus. 
 
 Many of the works of the most ancient Latin historians have either 
 perished, or are come down to us mutilated and imperfect. 
 
 Sallust wrote a Roman History, but there are only some fragments 
 of it preserved. 
 
 Livy's Roman History consisted of one hundred and forty, or as some 
 authors say, of one hundred and forty-two books ; of this excellent work 
 one hundred and seven books must have perished, as only thirty-five 
 remain. Though we have an epitome of one hundred and forty books, 
 yet this is so short, that it only serves to give us a general idea of the 
 subject, and to impress us with a more lively sense of our loss. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 The elegant compendium of the Roman History, by Velleius Pater- 
 culus, is very imperfectly transmitted to us, great part of that work 
 having perished. 
 
 The first and second books of Q. Curtius are entirely lost, and there 
 are several chasms in some of those which are preserved. 
 
 The emperor Tacitus ordered ten copies of the works of his relation 
 the historian, to be made every j'^ear, which he sent into the different 
 provinces of the empire ; and j^et, notwithstanding his endeavours to 
 perpetuate these inestimable works, they were buried in oblivion for 
 many centuries. Since the restoration of learning, an ancient ms. was 
 discovered in a monastery in Westphalia, which contained the most 
 valuable part of his annals ; but in this unique manuscript, part of the 
 fifth, seventh, ninth, and tenth books are deficient, as are part of the 
 eleventh, and the latter part of the sixteenth. This ms. was procured by 
 that great restorer of learning, pope Leo X., under whose patronage it 
 was printed at Rome, in 1515 ; he afterwards deposited it in the Vatican 
 library, where it is still preserved. Thus posterity is probably indebted 
 to the above magnificent Pontiff, for the most valuable part of the works 
 of this inimitable historian. 
 
 The epitome of Trogus Porapeius, by Justin, may be deemed only a 
 mere shadow of Trogus. 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus wrote thirty-one books, extending from the 
 accession of Nerva, to the death of Valens ; but the first thirteen are 
 wanting. 
 
 Many other losses are recorded in two excellent tracts, " De Historicis 
 Grsecis et Latinis," by the celebrated Gerard Vossius. To these might be 
 added, a sreat number of works in different branches of science and 
 
 polite arts. 
 
 The Justinian Code had been in a manner unknown from the sixth till 
 the twelfth century, when Amalji, a city of Calabria, being taken by the 
 Pisans, an original ms. was discovered there by accident. 
 
 Varro, who is styled the most learned of all the Romans, and who 
 excelled in grammar, history, and philosophy, is said to have written near 
 five hundred volumes, amongst which were the lives of seven hundred 
 illustrious Romans, enriched with their portraits. 
 
 Atticus, the great friend of Cicero, who was one of the most honour- 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 able, hospitable, and friendly men of the times in which he lived, wrote 
 many pieces in Latin and Greek, ^Yhich last language he cultivated much 
 after his retirement to Athens. The loss of his work on the actions of the 
 great men amongst the Romans, which he ornamented with their portraits, 
 is much to be deplored, as he had a great taste for the polite arts ; and 
 we may conceive, that both the portraits in Varro's work, as well as those 
 we are now speaking of, were well executed, because we cannot doubt 
 but those great men would employ the best artists ; and that there were 
 artists capable of producing the most excellent workmanship, appears 
 from the Roman coins of that age still extant, which must have been 
 drawn before they were engraven on metals. So much the more therefore 
 it is to be lamented, that these last works are irrecoverably lost. 
 
 It is now time to change the , painful task of recording the successive 
 disasters which have befallen the commonwealth of letters, for the 
 pleasing office of relating the events and circumstances which have con- 
 tributed to the revival and restoration of learnino;. 
 
 The Arabians or Saracens, whose wild and barbarous enthusiasm had 
 destroyed the Alexandrian library in the seventh century, were the first 
 people who were captivated with the learning and arts of Greece ; the 
 Arabian writers translated into their own language many Greek authors, 
 and from them, the first rays of science and philosophy began to enlighten 
 the western hemisphere, and in time, dispelled the thick cloud of igno- 
 rance, which for some ages had eclipsed literature. 
 
 The Caliph Almanzur was a lover of letters and learned men, and 
 science of every kind was cultivated under his patronage. His grandson, 
 Almamun, obtained from the Greek emperors copies of their best books, 
 employed the ablest scholars to translate them, and took great pleasure 
 in literary conversations. Under the patronage of the Caliphs, the works 
 of the most valuable Greek authors, in diiferent branches of science, were 
 translated into Arabic. In philosophy, those of Plato and Aristotle. In 
 mathematics, those of Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Diophantus, and 
 others. In medicine, Hippocrates, Galen, and the best professors in 
 this branch of science. In astronomy, Ptolemy, and other authors. The 
 Arabian literati not only translated the works of the Greeks, but several 
 of them composed original pieces; as, Abulfeda, Abulpharagius, Bohadin, 
 
INTRODUCTIO^N. xiii 
 
 and others. For an account of the Arabian writers and literature, see 
 Mr. Harris's posthumous works, vol. ii. chap. vi. vii. and viii. 
 
 It will hereafter appear, that it was from the Arabians that these 
 western parts became first acquainted with the Greek philosophy ; and 
 from them, several branches of science were introduced into Europe as 
 early as the ninth century, and even into Britain before the end of the 
 eleventh, in which, and in the three succeeding centuries, several English- 
 men travelled into Arabia and Spain, in search of knowledge ; amongst 
 others, Adelard, a Monk of Bath; Robert, a Monk of Reading; Reti- 
 nensis. Shelly, Morley, and others, of whom mention is made in the 
 seventh chapter of this work. 
 
 Several foreigners also travelled in search of science; amongst others, 
 Gerbert, a native of France, who enriched these western parts with the 
 knowledge which he had obtained from learned Arabians. The abilities 
 of this great man raised him to the Archiepiscopal See of Rheims, then 
 to that of Ravenna, and at length to the Papal Chair, which he filled 
 from the year 998 to 1003 : but such was the bigotry and superstition of 
 those times, that these great luminaries of science, though most of them 
 ecclesiastics, were accused of magic by the ignorant herd of their brethren. 
 Even pope Gerbert himself, as bishop Otho gravely relates of him, ob- 
 tained the pontificate by wicked means ; for the bishop assures us, that 
 he had given himself up wholly to the devil, on condition he might 
 obtain what he desired ; and that it was to this circumstance, and not to 
 the patronage of the emperor Otho III. who had been his pupil, nor to 
 that of Robert, the French king, his great benefactor, that he owed his 
 election. A cardinal Benno also accuses this great man of holding an 
 intercourse with Demons, nor did superstition and bigotry cease to per- 
 secute science and genius till the end of the seventeenth century. 
 
 Our Ro2;er Bacon, a Franciscan Monk, who flourished in the thir- 
 teenth century, was accused of magic ; and was cast into a French prison, 
 where he remained for many years. 
 
 Franciscus Petrarch was suspected of magic ; and John Faust, who 
 was either the inventor, or amongst the first practisers of the art of print- 
 ing, was obliged to reveal his art, to clear himself from the accusation 
 of having had recourse to diabolical assistance. 
 
 But the great Galileo met with the hardest fate, for he was not only 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 imprisoned by the inquisition, but was also under the necessity of pub- 
 lickly denying those philosophical truths which he had investigated ; and 
 what is worse for posterity, superstition and ignorance persecuted his fame 
 beyond the grave ; for the confessor of his widow, taking advantage of 
 her piety, obtained leave to peruse his manuscripts, of which he destroyed 
 such as in his judgment were not fit to be allowed. 
 
 This short digression will in some measure account for the slow pro- 
 gress towards the restoration of science, and therefore we must not expect 
 to find that many libraries were formed during the dark ages of Christi- 
 anity : some few manuscripts, however, escaped the general plunder of 
 the Roman libraries by the Goths. 
 
 Cassiodorus, the favourite minister to Theodoric, king of the Ostro- 
 goths, was a lover of learning ; he collected a hbrary, and wrote a book 
 on Orthography. Pope Hilary placed a collection of books in the church 
 of St. Hilary at Rome, about the year of Christ 465. 
 
 Some few learned men existed in different parts of Europe, through- 
 out these times of ignorance ; our countryman Bede, who was born about 
 661, and died in 724, was well versed both in sacred and prophane 
 history, as his numerous works testify. 
 
 St. Egbert, archbishop of York, was a disciple of venerable Bede ; he 
 was a man of great learning, and founded a noble library at York about 
 735, vvhich was casually burnt in the reign of king Stephen, with the 
 cathedral, the monastery of St. Mary's, and several other religious houses. 
 
 Alcuin, called also Albinus Flaccus, was born in Northumberland ; he 
 was the disciple of archbishop Egbert, whom he succeeded in the charge 
 of the famous school, which that prelate had opened at York. Alcuin 
 was in all respects the most learned man of the age in which he lived, he 
 was an orator, historian, poet, mathematician, and divine ; the fame of 
 his learning induced Charlemagne to invite him to his court ; by his 
 assistance that emperor founded, enriched, and instructed, the universities 
 of Tours and Paris. In 794 he was one of the fathers of the synod of 
 Francfort, and died at his abbey at Tours in 804. In his epistle to 
 Charlemagne, he mentions with great respect his master Egbert, and the 
 noble library which he had founded. (See bishop Tanner's Bibl. Brit.) 
 
 Towards the latter end of the same century, flourished our great kino- 
 Alfred, who engaged the learned Grimbald, and other forei^rners of 
 
INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 distinguished abilities, in his service ; he founded the university of Oxford, 
 and restored learnino; in Eno;land. 
 
 There were in the times of the Saxons several valuable libraries in this 
 island, amongst others, those at Canterbury and Durham, and in the 
 abbies of St. Alban and Glastonbury, were the most considerable. 
 
 About the middle of the eighth century, pope Zachary, who was a Greek 
 of much erudition, placed a library in the church of St. Peter at Rome. 
 
 The library at Fulda, near Hesse Cassel, was founded by Pepin, in the 
 pontificate of pope Zachary, in which many ancient manuscripts are still 
 preserved. Charlemagne, and his son Lewis the Pious, added much to 
 this library ; the former of these princes had a noble library at Barba, 
 near Lyons 
 
 There were a few learned men in different parts of Europe from the 
 time of Charlemagne, till the general restoration of learning in the fifteenth 
 century, but it would exceed the limits of our design to mention even 
 all those of our own country, and therefore we must refer our readers to 
 Cave's Historia Literaria, bishop Nicolson's Historical Library, and to 
 bishop Tanner's Bibliotheca Britannicu ; however, it may not be improper 
 briefly to mention a few of them. 
 
 Ingulphus tells us in his History, that he studied grammar at Westmin- 
 ster, and that he was afterward sent to Oxford, where he read the works 
 of Aristotle, and the rhetoric of Cicero. This writer says, that the Con- 
 fessor's queen Edgitha was admirable for her beauty, her literary accom- 
 plishments, and her virtue. He relates, that many a time when a boy, he 
 met the queen as he was coming from school, who would dispute with 
 him concerning his verses, that she had a peculiar pleasure to pass from 
 Grammar to Logic, in which she had been instructed, and that she 
 frequently ordered one of her attendants to give him two or three 
 pieces of money, or to be carried to the royal pantry, and treated with 
 a repast. 
 
 John of Salisbury, who lived in the reigns of Stephen and Henry the 
 Second, appears to have been very conversant in the Latin classics, as also 
 in grammar and philosophy. There were other respectable writers of the 
 eleventh century; an account of whom may be seen in lord Lyttelton's Life 
 of Plenry the Second, vol. iii. and in the Philological Inquiries of the late 
 Mr. Harris. 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Several writers of good repute flourished in this country in the twelfth 
 century ; amongst others, William of Malmesbury is said to have been a 
 learned man, as well as an historian ; and Simeon of Durham, was 
 reckoned one of the most learned men of that age. 
 
 Matthew Paris flourished in the thirteenth century ; he was remarkable 
 for his learning and ingenuity ; he was skilled in divinity, architecture, 
 mathematics, history, and painting ; he was a good poet and orator, tor 
 the age in which he lived. 
 
 Geoffrey Chaucer lived in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ; he 
 was not only an excellent scholar, but a mathematician, as well as a poet. 
 After he had finished his studies at Oxford, he travelled into foreign parts 
 in search of knowledge ; on his return to England, he became a student in 
 the Inner Temple, and in his latter days wrote his Treatise on the Astro- 
 labe, which was much esteemed. Many eminent writers are necessarily 
 omitted, but it is sufficient for the present design to have shewn, that the 
 lamp of learning was prevented from being intirely extinguished, by a 
 few ei'eat men who succeeded each other. 
 
 The taking of Constantinople, by the Turks, in the beginning of the 
 fifteenth century, as has been already related, was an event which con- 
 tributed to the general restoration of learning ; at that time many learned 
 Greeks fled for protection into Italy and Germany, where they were 
 kindly received, and where they diffused science with great success. 
 Amongst others, were Theodore Gaza, Emanuel Chrysoloras, George 
 Trebizonde, Lascaris, Besarion, and John Argyropilus, appointed pre- 
 ceptor to Laurence de Medicis, by his father Cosmo. 
 
 In a short time after this event, the inhabitants of the western parts of 
 Europe made great progress in all branches of literature, and the inven- 
 tion or introduction of printing, which soon followed, compleated the 
 triumph of learning, over barbarism and ignorance. 
 
 Much praise is due to the sovereigns who reigned in this and the 
 following century, whose generous patronage of letters and learned men 
 greatly contributed to the restoration of science. Learning, like a tender 
 plant, requires the cheering rays of royal sunshine. 
 
 The greatest discoveries and improvements in arts, sciences, and 
 literature, have ever owed their establishment to the encouragement and 
 protection of princes, who participated in the honour of those discoveries. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 and thereby acquired more real glory, than could have accrued to them, 
 by the most extensive conquests. 
 
 Many of the advantages proceeding from the taking of Constanti- 
 nople, and from the circumstances which attended it, will appear, from 
 a short account of the principal manuscript libraries which have been 
 formed since that event. 
 
 The chair of St. Peter was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries filled 
 by several pontiffs, who successively protected learning' and learned men. 
 NicholasV . Pius IL Leo X. Clement VII. and Sixtus V. willbe remembered 
 with gratitude by posterity, for the patronage they afforded to literature. 
 
 The first of these, may be considered as the founder of the Vatican 
 library at Rome ; the others were considerable benefactors to it, and by 
 their industry and influence, greatly enriched that inestimable repository ; 
 and many of the succeeding pontiffs, have with great success, followed 
 their example. 
 
 The Vatican library is divided into three parts. The first is public, 
 and every one has access to it at different hours upon certain days ; the 
 second is kept with more privacy ; and the third is only to be seen by 
 persons of certain distinctions, or by those who have express permission 
 for that purpose : this is called the sanctuary of the Vatican. 
 
 Several libraries were formed at Rome, as that in the church of St. 
 Peter, those of the fathers of St. Basil ; and the Dominicans of Sancta 
 Maria Sopra Minerva ; and those in the palaces of Ottoboni, Chiggi, 
 Barbarini, and Altieri. 
 
 Libraries were also formed in other parts of Italy ; in the royal palace 
 and university of Turin ; the noble library of the great duke at Florence ; 
 and those of the Laurentian, Benedictine, and Dominican monasteries 
 in the same city. Large collections of manuscripts were also placed in 
 the following libraries ; namely, in the convents of St. Severini, Monte 
 Cassini, Monte Oliveto, and St. John de Carbonara, at Naples ; the 
 Ducal palace at Modena ; the Ambrosian college of Milan ; the Ducal 
 palace at Parma ; St. Mark's at Venice ; the Canons Regular at Bologna; 
 those in Padua, Genoa, and in other places in Italy. 
 
 The sciences became so generally admired, that all the princes in 
 Europe endeavoured to promote them in their respective dominions. 
 Philip II. of Spain founded the Escurial library, in which he deposited 
 
xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that of Muley Cydam, king of Fez and Morocco, which contained up- 
 wards of four thousand volumes in the Arabic language ; he also brought 
 into Spain many manuscripts, which were found in several seminaries of 
 literature in Africa, to which were added a fine collection of eastern 
 manuscripts, as well as a great number of Greek and Latin, which are 
 very valuable : this library suffered much by lightning in I67O, but it has 
 since been greatly augmented by the kings of Spain. 
 
 The library at Salamanca contains a great number of Greek manu- 
 scripts, which Ferdinanda Nonius bequeathed to that University. At 
 Alcala is the valuable library collected by cardinal Ximenes. 
 
 Francis the First laid the foundation of the Royal library at Paris, 
 which has been continually increasing. Cardinal Fleury, and the great 
 Colbert, spared neither pains nor expence to enrich it. This library is 
 inestimable, and contains a great number of manuscripts in almost every 
 language. For particulars concerning this treasure of learning, the 
 reader is referred to the catalogue of father Montfaucon, and to Mons. 
 Galvis's treatise on French libraries, a new edition of which is wanted, 
 with accounts of those that have changed places and possessors. The 
 Jesuits had, in different parts of France, many fine libraries ; some account 
 of what is become of them would be useful. There were many noble 
 libraries in France, but our limits will not permit us to pay them the 
 attention they deserve; therefore the reader is referred to the second volume 
 of Montfaucon's Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum, published at Paris in 1739- 
 
 The emperor Maximilian the First followed the example of the other 
 princes in Europe, and in the year 1480 founded the Imperial library at 
 Vienna, which he enriched with a vast number of manuscripts taken from 
 the monasteries in his Austrian dominions, and with such other manu- 
 script collections as could be made by the German literati. 
 
 This inestimable repository of literary treasures was farther increased 
 by the acquisition of the once celebrated Buda library ; it has from time 
 to time been augmented with many other considerable libraries, and 
 lately with a great number of valuable and curious manuscripts, which 
 were preserved in the colleges and houses of the Jesuits within the Impe- 
 rial dominions. In the latter end of the last century, M. Lambecius 
 published at Vienna a catalogue of such manuscripts as were then de- 
 posited in the Imperial library; but an additional one, of the accessions 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XIX 
 
 to it since his time, would be very useful ; as would a catalogue of those 
 manuscripts that are preserved in the library at Brussels, founded by the 
 late empress queen, in which is deposited several of those lately belong- 
 ing to the Jesuits in the Austrian Netherlands. The other principal libra- 
 ries in Germany, are those of the king of Prussia, the elector of Bavaria, 
 the duke of Wolfenbuttel, the duke of Wirtemberg, the duke of Saxe- 
 Gotha; that at Strasburgh, founded by bishop Otho in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury ; and those at Anhalt, Helmstadt, Tubingen, Jena, Lavingen, and 
 Ratisbon. There are at Liege the libraries of St. James and St. Benedict, 
 and some mss. in the cathedral at Coloo-n. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, possessed himself of the Royal 
 libraries formerly at Prague and Dresden, which his daughter, queen 
 Christina, carried with her to Rome, and they are now preserved in the 
 Vatican ; as is likewise the noble library which was formerly at Heidelberg. 
 
 The most considerable manuscript libraries in the Netherlands, were 
 lately those of the Carmelites at Bruges ; of the Benedictines, the Domi- 
 nicans, and Carmelites at Ghent ; the Jesuits at Antwerp, which with 
 the magnificent library of printed books was, on the dissolution of that 
 order, purchased from the late emperor, by the Abbot of Tongerloo near 
 Louvain, for about two thousand four hundred pounds sterling ; the 
 public library, and those in several of the colleges at Louvain ; those of 
 Middleburgh, Tongeren, Utrecht, and Zutphen ; and those at Ilarderwick 
 and Leyden ; in which two last are a great number of Oriental manu- 
 scripts. A. Sanderus, a Monk of Affligem, near Brussels, published a 
 catalogue of the manuscripts in the different libraries of the Low-countries, 
 in 2 vols. 4to. Lisle 1641, l643, to which the reader is referred. 
 
 The northern parts of Europe are not without literary treasures. There 
 are two considerable libraries at Copenhagen ; one in the university, and 
 the other in the city, which last was founded by Henry Rantzau, a Danish 
 gentleman. There are still remaining some manuscripts in the library at 
 Stockholm, which was founded by Christina, queen of Sweden. 
 
 Poland has two considerable libraries: one at Wilna, enriched by several 
 kings of Poland, as we are told by Cromer and Bozius. The other is 
 at Cracow. 
 
 The duke of Holstein Gottorp hath a curious manuscript library. 
 There were but few valuable manuscripts in Russia till the reign of Peter 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Great, who founded many universities, and settled a large fund for a 
 library at Petersburgh, which is well furnished. 
 
 The royal library at Petershoft' is most splendid, and the late em- 
 press spared neither pains nor expence to enrich her country with ancient 
 marbles, pictures, medals, manuscripts, and whatever is magnificent. 
 
 There were several collections of manuscripts in England before the 
 general restoration of science in Europe, which had at different times been 
 brought hither by those who had travelled into foreign countries ; these 
 were chiefly preserved in the two universities, in the cathedral churches, 
 and religious houses : but in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries several 
 valuable libraries were formed in England. In the reign of king Henry VI. 
 Humphry, duke of Gloucester, made a collection of mss. for his library 
 at Oxford. King Edward IV, and Henry VII, greatly assisted the cause 
 of learning, by the encouragement they gave to the art of printing in 
 England, and by purchasing such books as were printed in other coun- 
 tries. William Warham, archbishop of Canterbury, purchased man}" 
 valuable Greek mss. which had been brought hither by the prelates and 
 others who came to this country, after the taking of Constantinople by 
 the Turks. King Henry VIII. may justly be called the founder of the 
 royal library, which was enriched with the mss. selected from those of 
 the religious houses, by that celebrated antiquary, John Leland. Matthew 
 Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, enriched the college of Corpus Christi, 
 in Cambridge, with a great number of ancient and curious mss. 
 
 In the reign of cjueen Elizabeth, Sir Thomas 15odley greatly increased 
 the public library at Oxford, which is now called by his name, This 
 great benefactor to mankind in general, and to his country in particular, 
 quitted the court, and applied himself wholly to the purchasing of books 
 and MSS. both at home and abroad. By these means he had the satis- 
 faction of furnishing that library with one thousand two hundred and 
 ninety-four mss. and, by the subsequent liberality of many great and 
 illustrious persons, has been since increased to more than eight thousand 
 volumes, including the mss. given by Thomas Tanner, bishop of Nor- 
 v,ich, and the valuable library bequeathed by the will of Dr. Richard 
 Rawlinson. 
 
 Considerable augmentations were made to the libraries of the several 
 colleges in the two universities, as also to those of our cathedral churches, 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 the palace at Lambeth, the inns of court, the college of arms, and others ; 
 catalogues of which were published at Oxford in 16.97, under the title of 
 Catalogiis Moiniscriptoniiii Aiiglice et Il/bernia. 
 
 Bodley's great contemporary. Sir Robert Cotton, is also intitled to 
 the gratitude of posterity for his diligence in collecting the Cottonian 
 library ; he was engaged in the pursuit of mss. and Records upwards of 
 forty years, during which time, he spared neither trouble nor expence. 
 
 The noble manuscript library founded by Robert Ilarley, earl of Ox- 
 ford, and greatly enriched by his son Edward, who inherited his father's 
 love of science, claims a distinguished place in every account which 
 may be given of the literary treasures of antiquity in general, and of this 
 country in particular. Posterity will ever be indebted to her Grace the late 
 duchess dowager of Portland, for securino- this inestimable treasure of 
 learning to the public, by authority of parliament, under the guardianship 
 of the most distinguished persons of the realm, both for rank and abilities ; 
 whose excellent regulations have made this librarj^, as also the Royal, 
 Cottonian, Sloanian, and others, now deposited in the British Museum., 
 easy of access, and consequently of real use to the Philosopher, the States- 
 man, the Historian, the Scholar, as well as to the Artist and the Mechanic. 
 
 It must give every one pleasure, who reflects on the improvements 
 which have been made in most branches of science in the three last centu- 
 ries, that learning and the arts will not as formerly be lost to posterity ; 
 because by the means of printing, and the improvements in education, 
 knowledge is diffused through most nations, and is attainable by the gene- 
 rality of the people in every free country ; whereby many individuals *ire 
 qualified to promote, in their respective stations, the arts, as well as the 
 interests, of each community. Science has hum.anized the mind, has 
 caused men in a great measure to lay aside their prejudices, and has 
 introduced a free intercourse between the literati of most countries, who 
 have united in promoting and improving knowledge and the arts, with- 
 out entering into the religious or political opinions of each other. The 
 true way of making others love us, will be to treat them with kindness 
 and humanity, and to observe the rule laid down by our great Master, of 
 doing to others, as z€e would tliey should do unto us ; we may then with 
 reason indulge a hope, that every succeeding age will increase the know- 
 ledge, the virtue, and the happiness of mankind. 
 
xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It now remains to give some account of the following work. 
 
 The first and second chapters are founded on principles of philosophy, 
 supported by facts, deduced from the histories of different nations. 
 
 In the third chapter, which treats of the antiquity of writing, it was 
 necessary to have recourse to the most ancient historians, both sacred and 
 prophane ; the latter of which are so involved in fable, that it was ex- 
 tremely difficult to separate the ore from the dross. However, the most 
 respectable authors have been consulted, from whom has been selected 
 such evidence, as appeared to be most rational, and to deserve the most 
 credit. Several particulars concerning the civilization of ancient nations, 
 occur in the course of this chapter ; which may appear interesting, not 
 only to the historian and antiquary, but also to the philosopher. 
 
 In the fourth chapter it appears, that all alphabets are not derived 
 from One, but that most of those now used, are derived from the Phe- 
 nician. This chapter contains a general account of such as are supposed 
 to have arisen from that source, which furnishes many important facts 
 relative to the history, population, and the progress of arts and sciences, 
 in the most celebrated nations. 
 
 The fifth chapter, contains the History of Writing in different ages 
 and countries, proved from ancient inscriptions, manuscripts, and other 
 authentic documents, of which engraved specimens are given, and several 
 rules are laid down, which may enable our readers to judge of their ao-e 
 and authenticity. This chapter necessarily contains much ancient his 
 tory, and establishes many important truths, hitherto little known or 
 attended to. 
 
 The history of writing in England is very copious, and a great num- 
 ber of authentic documents are engraven for the illustration of our 
 national records. It is observable from some of the engravings in the fol- 
 lowing plates, that the librarii or book writers, especially in very early 
 times, suffered mistakes to remain in their transcripts of ancient mss. 
 from which it seems to appear, that a few of the specimens above alluded 
 to, stand in need of correction, but they are in truth fac-similes of the 
 original mss. which the editor did not think himself warranted to cor- 
 rect. The writing which prevailed in this island from the time the 
 Romans left it, till the Norman conquest, I have divided into five kinds, 
 namely, Roman Saxon, Set Saxon, Running-hand Saxon, Mixt Saxon' 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 and Elegant Saxon ; from this last descended what has been called the 
 Monkish English ; a species of the writing usually termed Modern Gothic, 
 which was peculiar to this kingdom : various specimens of which are given 
 in the second column of the twenty-seventh plate (p. 150): The writing 
 used by the English lawyers, when they wrote in their own tongue, is 
 partly derived from the same source, and partly from another, which shall 
 be next mentioned. (See plate twenty, p. 108, from N° 13 to N° 19) 
 
 William I. introduced into this country corrupted Lombardic letters, 
 which before his time had prevailed in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, 
 and some other parts of Europe ; this has been called by us Norman 
 Writing, and was generally used in England for grants, charters, and 
 Law-proceedings more than two centuries and a half after the Conquest : 
 many specimens of Norman writing are given in the twenty-third, and 
 in the two following plates. 
 
 From the twelfth century, till after the invention of printing, the eccle- 
 siastics in this country, as well natives as foreigners, used the modern Gothic 
 characters, when they wrote the Latin language ; which characters were 
 generally made use of by the Ecclesiastics and Schoolmen in most parts of 
 Europe (see plate 27, p. 150, col. 1). Particular attention is paid to the 
 writing practised in the northern parts of Scotland and in Ireland, and 
 several specimens of mss. in the Gaelic and Iberno-Celtic language are 
 given, (see p. 115, pi. xxii). Our readers are referred to the work, for 
 the accounts of the writing practised in other parts of Europe, from the 
 earliest times, till the invention of printing. 
 
 The sixth chapter treats of the writing of the Chinese, and of various 
 Characters and Literary Signs, used both by the ancients and moderns, 
 for brevity, expedition, or secrecy. The facts which appear in the course 
 of this chapter, fully confirm the doctrine laid down in the second and 
 fourth chapters ; that all marks whatever are significant by compact, and 
 that LETTERS do not derive their powers from, their forms, but from the 
 sounds which men have agreed to annex to them. 
 
 The seventh chapter treats of Numerals, and of Numeral Characters, 
 which were probably used before letters. 
 
 The eighth chapter treats of the Librarii, Notarii, and Antiquarii, 
 amono- the ancients : of Paintings and Ornaments : of the Materials for 
 
xxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 writing upon : of Instruments for writing with : and some account of Inks 
 both ancient and modern. 
 
 The ninth chapter contains some account of the Origin and Progress 
 of Printing. 
 
 Several of the drawings from whence the engravings in the following 
 work are taken, were done at the expence of Edward earl of Oxford, 
 under the direction of the learned Dr. Ilickes, and Mr. Humphry Wanle5^ 
 librarian to the earl, a person well versed in ancient mss. These drawings 
 were purchased at the sale of the mss. of the late James West, Esq. and 
 are now in my library, but by far the greatest part I selected from ori- 
 ginal manuscripts, charters, and other ancient documents. 
 
 In an undertaking of this general nature, some incorrect works have 
 necessarily been referred to ; and amongst others, the English Universal 
 History, several parts of which are well compiled, and from the most 
 authentic materials. The facts, which I have stated, are derived from 
 such authors only, as in my judgment appeared to deserve credit, espe- 
 ciallyin the instances where I have had recourse to them. My thanks are 
 due to several of the officers in the British Museum, who have kindly 
 assisted me in searching after manuscripts, and printed books, relative to 
 the subject of my inquir3^ To the Rev. Mr. Price, keeper of the Bodleian 
 library, at Oxford, I am indebted for drawings from ancient manuscripts 
 preserved in that invaluable repository. The late Rev. Mr. Tyson, and 
 the Rev. Mr. Nasmith, of Corpus-Christi college, in Cambridge, furnished 
 me with drawings of ancient and curious manuscripts in that library. I 
 was much indebted to the late Rev. Mr. Owen Manning of Godelmino-, 
 for the assistance I received from him ; and to my friend John Topham of 
 Gray's Inn, Esq. for his kind offices. To the Rev. Mr. Maclagan of Blair 
 in Athol : to Mr. Stuart of Killin, Perthshire, and to colonel N^allancey I 
 am indebted for the translations of the specimens which I have inven of 
 Scotch and Irish manuscripts. To the Rev. Mr. Johnstone for the trans- 
 lation of those in the Islandic language ; and to several other learned 
 and ingenious gentlemen, as well natives as foreigners, from whose kind 
 assistance much information has been acquired. 
 
OF THE 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 WRITING. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OP SPEECH OF THE ORIGIN OF HIEROGLYPHICS — OF THEIR DIF- 
 FERENT KINDS — HIEROGLYPHICS COMMON TO ALL UNCIVILIZED 
 NATIONS. 
 
 J_ HE desire of communicating ideas, seems to be implanted in ever}?- 
 human breast. The two most usual methods of gratifying this desire, 
 are, by sounds addressed to the ear ; or, by representations or marks 
 exhibited to the eye ; or, in other words, by speech and writing. The 
 first method was rendered more complete by the invention of the second, 
 because it opened a door for communicating information, through 
 the sense of sight as well as that of hearing. Speech may be con- 
 sidered as the substance ; and writing, as the shadow which followed 
 it. — These remarks may be illustrated, by stating a few observations 
 concerning the former,^ which will naturally lead us to the origin of 
 the latter. 
 
 One of the greatest advantages which we possess is that of speech, or 
 the power of expressing the conceptions of the mind by articulate 
 sounds. By this faculty we are capable of social intercourse, of enjoying 
 the endearments of friendship and the communications of wisdom. 
 Without language, we should have been solitary in the midst of crowds ; 
 excluded from every kind of knowledge but what fell under our imme- 
 diate notice ; and should have been confined to dull and tedious efi"orts 
 
2 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. i. 
 
 of intimating our desires by signs and gestures ; — in short, without speech 
 we should scarcely have been rational beings. 
 
 Two things are essential to speech ; namely, mental conceptions, and 
 sounds articulate. The former are, by far, the most excellent, because 
 they originate in, and appertain to, tJie mind; whereas the latter are 
 nothing more than the operations of certain organs of the body. 
 
 Human voice is produced by two semicircular membranes in the middle 
 of the larynx, which form by their separation the aperture that is termed 
 the glottis. The space between these membranes is not one-tenth of an 
 inch, through which the breath, transmitted from the lungs, passes with 
 considerable velocity: in its passage it is said to give a brisk vibratory 
 motion to the membranous lips of the glottis, which produces the sound 
 called voice, by an operation similar to that \vhich produces sound from the 
 two lips of a hautboy. Galen and others affirm, that both, and the wind- 
 pipe co-operate in rendering the breath vocal ; but later authors do not 
 agree in this opinion. It seems however necessary for the production of 
 voice that a degree of tenseness should be communicated to the larynx, 
 or at least to the two membranes above mentioned. The voice thus 
 formed is strengthened and mellowed by a reverberation from the palate, 
 and other hollow places of the inside of the mouth and nostrils ; and as 
 these are better or worse shaped for this reverberation, the voice is said 
 to be more or less agreeable, and thus the vocal organs of man appear to 
 be, as it were, a species of flute or hautboy, whereof the membranous 
 lips of the glottis are the mouth or reed, and the inside of the throat, 
 palate and nostrils the body ; the windpipe being nothing more than the 
 tube or canal which conveys the wind from the lungs to the aperture of 
 this musical instrument.'' 
 
 The learned and ingenious author of Hermes,'^ with great strenoth 
 of argument, shews, that language is founded in compact, and not in 
 nature. His friend, lord Monboddo, with great learning and ingenuity, 
 supports the same opinion, and insists that language is not natural to 
 man; but that it is acquired: and, in the course of his reflections, 
 
 '^ See Dr. Beattie on the Theory of Language, p. 246, Lend. 1783, 410. 
 ^ See Hermes, by James Harris, esq. book iii. p. 314, 327. 
 
CHAP. I. OF WRITING. 3 
 
 he adduces the opinions not only of heathen philosophers, poets, and 
 historians, but of christian divines both ancient and modern. ■= 
 
 Though language, as it is generally considered by grammarians, is a 
 work of art ; yet it is evident that vocal sounds are founded in nature ; 
 and man would varj?^ those sounds, as impelled by his passions, or urged 
 by his necessities. This exercise of the organs of speech would produce 
 articulate voices, which are peculiar to the human species ; vocal sounds, 
 expressive of emotions, being natural to brutes as well as to men. These 
 articulate voices are the first advances towards the formation of a lan- 
 guage. The human organs are not, like those of most brutes, confined 
 to particular sounds ; but, as men are capable of learning to imitate the 
 several sounds of the brute creation, by that means they acquire a greater 
 variety of sounds than other animals. It is evident that children learn 
 to speak bj?^ imitation ; the}^ acquire articulate sounds before they com- 
 prehend the ideas of which those sounds are significant. 
 
 It would be digressing from the subject immediately before us, to say 
 more at present concerning the nature of speech, or audible language ; 
 our inquiry being into the origin of visible or written language. 
 
 It is obvious that men would soon discover the difficulty of conveying 
 new ideas by sounds alone ; for, as Mr. Harris observes,*^ " the senses 
 " never exceed their natural limits ; the eye perceives no sounds, the 
 " ear perceives no figures nor colours ; " therefore it became necessary to 
 call in the assistance of the eye where tlie ear alone was insufficient. 
 
 It will presently be demonstrated that men, even in their most un- 
 civilized state, display a faculty of imitation,'' which enables them to 
 
 <= This author is of opiaion that mankind took the hints of the most useful arts from 
 the brute creation, "for," saith he, "it may be that men first learned to build from the swallow; 
 "from the spider, to weave; and from the birds, to sing." See Monboddo on the Origin and 
 Progress of Language, books i. and ii. p. 237 and 375. 
 
 " The first words of men, like their first ideas," saith Mr. Harris, " had an immediate 
 "reference to sensible objects; and, in aftertimes, when men began to discover with their 
 "intellects, they took those words which they found already made, and transferred them, by 
 " metaphor, to intellectual conceptions." Hermes, p. 269. 
 
 <* Hermes, p. 334. 
 
 ' Aristotle says, man is the most imitative of all animals. 
 
4 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. i. 
 
 delineate objects, and communicate information by rude pictures or 
 representations.— For example, a man who had seen a strange animal, 
 plant, or any other new object, for which he wanted a name, would 
 have been almost mechanically led to illustrate his description by sigjis ; 
 and, if they were not readily comprehended, by a rude delineation in 
 the sand, on the bark of a tree, on a slate, or a bone, or on such ma- 
 terials as first presented themselves : these being handed about, naturally 
 suggested the hint of using this method of conveying intelligence to a 
 distant friend. The exercise of this faculty of imitation, so eminently 
 conspicuous in the human species, will be found, on an accurate in- 
 vestigation, to have been common to all nations, and perhaps coeval 
 with the first societies or communities of mankind. 
 
 It is not probable that the art of picture-writing was brought to any 
 degree of perfection by one man or nation, or even by one generation ; 
 but was gradually improved and extended, by the successive hands of 
 individuals, in the societies through which it passed ; and that more 
 or less, according to the genius of each people, and their state of 
 civilization ; the ruder nations requiring fewer signs or representations, 
 than the more cultivated. At first, each figure meant specifically what 
 it represented. Thus, the figure of the sun expressed or denoted that 
 planet orJy ; a lion or a dog, simply the animals there depicted : but, 
 in process of time, when men acquired more knowledge, and attempted 
 to describe qualities, as well as sensible objects, these delineations were 
 more figuratively explained ; then the figure of the sun, besides its 
 original meaning, denoted glory and genial warmth; that of the lion, 
 courage ; and that of the dog, fidelity. 
 
 A still further improvement in civilization occasioned these delineations 
 to become too voluminous ; every new object requiring a new picture, 
 this induced the delineator to abridge the representations, retainino- so 
 much of each figure as would express its species. Thus, for example, 
 instead of an accurate representation of a lion, a slight sketch, or 
 more general figure of that animal was substituted ; and for a serpent, 
 either a spiral or crooked line like the letter S. Besides this, as there 
 occurred a number of ideas, not to be represented by painting, for these 
 it was necessary to affix arbitrary signs. 
 
CHAP. I. OF WRITING. 5 
 
 This transition was not so great as at first it may appear. In all 
 probability, these signs were introduced slowly, and by degrees, and in 
 such manner, as to be always explained by the context, until generally 
 known and adopted. 
 
 That such was the origin and progress of this invention, history, 
 and the journals of travellers, furnish us with variety of proofs ; 
 hieroglyphics, in all their different stages, being found in very distant 
 parts otthe globe. Of these we shall mention some instances. 
 
 Joseph d'Acosta relates, that on the first arrival of the Spanish 
 squadron on the coast of Mexico, expresses were sent to Montezuma, 
 with exact representations of the ships, painted on cloth ; in which manner 
 they kept their records, histories, and calendars ; representing things 
 that had bodily shapes, in their proper figures ; and those that had 
 
 none, in arbitrary signifiicant characters. It is here to be observed, 
 
 that the Mexicans had long been a civilized people ; so that this kind 
 of writing may be considered among them as almost advanced to its 
 most perfect state. 
 
 Specimens of Mexican painting have been given by Purchas in 
 sixty-six plates. His work is divided into three parts. The first contains 
 the history of the Mexican empire, under its ten monarchs : the second 
 is a tribute-roll, representing what each conquered town paid into the 
 royal treasury ; and the third is a code of their institutions, civil, poli- 
 tical, and military.'" Another specimen of Mexican painting has been 
 published, in thirty-two plates, by the present archbishop of Toledo. 
 To all these is annexed a full explanation of what the figures were in- 
 tended to represent ; which was obtained by the Spaniards from Indians 
 well acquainted with their own arts. The stile of painting in all these is 
 the same ; and they may be justly considered as the most curious monu- 
 ments of art, brought from the new world. ^ 
 
 ^ The originals are in the Bodleian library at Oxford^ No. 3134, among Mr. Selden's mss. 
 In the same library, No. 2858, is a book of Mexican hieroglyphics painted upon thick skins, 
 which are covered with a chalky composition, and folded in eleven folds. No. 3135, is a book 
 of Mexican hieroglyphics painted upon similar skins, and folded in ten folds. No. 3307, is a roll 
 containing Mexican hieroglyphics, painted on bark. These paintings are highly worthy the 
 attention of the curious. 
 
 f Upon an attentive inspection of the plates above mentioned, we may observe some approach 
 
6 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. i. 
 
 Charlevoix and several other travellers testify, that this kind of 
 writing, or rather painting, was used by the North American Indians, to 
 record their past events, and to communicate their thoughts to their distant 
 friends. The same kind of characters were found by Strahlenberg 
 upon the rocks in Siberia; and the author of the book, intitled, De vet. 
 lit. Hun. Sci/th. p. 15, mentions certain innkeepers in Hungary, who used 
 hieroglyphic representations, not only to keep their accounts, but to 
 describe their debtors ; so that if one was a soldier, they drew a rude 
 kind of sword; for a smitli or carpenter, a hammer or an axe ; and, if a 
 carter, a whip. See Histoire Generale des Voyages, Paris, 1754, 4to. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Friendly Islands, visited by captain Cook, 
 in 1779, n ake a great number of rude figures, to represent their 
 deities. Captain King, who accompanied captain Cook on his last 
 expedition, brought from one of these islands a piece of cloth, made 
 of bark, on which several rude representations, of men, birds, and 
 
 to the plain or simple hieroglyphic^ where some principal part or circunistance of the stibject, is 
 made to stand for the whole. In the annals published by Purchas, the towns conquered by each 
 monarch are uniformly represented, in the same manner, by the rude delineation of a house; but, 
 in order to point out the particular towns, which submitted to their victorious arms, peculiar 
 emblems, sometimes natural objects, and sometimes artificial figures are employed. In the 
 Tribute-roll, published by the archbishop of Toledo, the house, which was properly the picture of 
 the town, is omitted; and the emblem alone is employed to represent it. The Mexicans seem 
 even to have made some advances beyond this, towards the use of the more_figuratiife and fa7ici- 
 J'ul hieroglyphic. In order to describe a monarch who had enlarged his dominions by force of 
 arms, they painted a target, ornamented with darts, and placed it between him and those towns 
 which he had subdued. But it is only in one instance, the notation of numbers, that we discern 
 any attempt to exhibit ideas which had no corporeal form. The Mexicans had invented artificial 
 marks, or signs of invention, for this purpose : by means of these they computed the years of their 
 kings' reigns, as well as the amount of tribute to be paid into the royal treasury : the fio-ure of a 
 circle represented a unit; and, in small numbers, the computation was made by repeating it. 
 Larger numbers were expressed by peculiar marks ; and they had such as denoted all integral 
 numbers, from twenty to eight thousand. The short duration of their empire prevented the 
 Mexicans from advancing farther in that long course, which conducts men, from the labour of 
 delineating real objects, to the simplicity and ease of alphabetic writing. Their records notwith- 
 standing some dawn of such ideas as might have led to a more perfect stile, can be considered as 
 nothing more than a species of picture-writing, so far improved, as to mark their superiority over 
 the savage tribes of North America; but still so defective, as to prove that they had not pro- 
 ceeded far beyond the first stage, in that progress which must be completed, before any people 
 can be ranked among polished nations. See Dr. Robertson's Hist, of America, vol. ii. p. 286 
 and note 54, p. 473 — 48a. 
 
CHAP. I. OF WRITING. 7 
 
 ornaments of dress, are depicted. Besides these, there are some de- 
 lineations, which have the appearance of arbitrary marks, 
 
 This cloth is divided into twenty-three compartments ; in one of 
 which, near the centre, is a rude figure, larger than the rest, perhaps 
 of some deity, having a bird standing upon each hand : that on the 
 right hand appears to be addressing itself to his ear. This figure is 
 surrounded by three smaller ones, which may be intended as ministers 
 or attendants. The great figure is much in the stile of the Mexican 
 hieroglyphic paintings at Oxford.^ 
 
 The Egyptians undoubtedly carried this art to its greatest extent; and 
 this is one reason why they have beezi generally considered as the inventors 
 of it ; every species of hieroglyphics being recorded in their historj-. 
 
 Hieroglyphic writing, strictly so called, is a simple representation, or 
 mere picture. The abridgments afterwards introduced may be divided 
 into three kinds. 
 
 First, when the principal circumstance was made to represent the zchole. 
 In order to signify a battle, two hands were delineated ; one holding a 
 bow, another a shield : a tumult, or popular insurrection, was expressed 
 by an armed man casting arrows ; and a siege, by a scaling-ladder. This 
 may be stiled a picture character; or, as the learned Dr. Warburton, 
 bishop of Gloucester, called it, "a Curiologic Hieroglyphic." 
 
 The second, and more artificial method of contraction, was, by putting 
 the instrument for the thing itself. Thus, an eye in the clouds, or eminently 
 placed, was designed to represent God's omniscience, as perceiving all 
 things ; an eye and sceptre, to represent a king ; and a ship and pilot, the 
 Governor of the universe. This may be called the Tropical Hieroglyphic. 
 The third, and still more artificial method of abridging picture-writing, 
 was, by conversion, or making one thing stand for, or represent another : for 
 example, the Bull Apis stood for Osiris, and not the picture or image of 
 Osiris. *" This hath been denominated The Symbolic Hieroglyphic' 
 
 g This cloth is now in my possession.' 
 
 ^ Some authors have said, that, at first, symbols had some quaint resemblance of, or analogy 
 to, what they represented. Thus, among the Egyptians, a cat stood for the moon; because the 
 Egyptians held, that the pupil of her eye was enlarged at the full moon, and was contracted and 
 diminished during its decrease : a serpent represented the divine nature, on account of its great 
 vigour and spirit, its long age and revirescence. 
 
 ' That these improvements are not imaginary, is proved from a fragment of Sanchoniatho, 
 
8 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. i. 
 
 This, and the enormous bulk of the picture volumes, produced a 
 further change in writing; the figures were totally rejected; and, in 
 their room, certain arbitrary marks were instituted, expressing not only 
 visible objects, but mental conceptions. These of necessity must be 
 exceedingly numerous, as is the case in the Chinese writings, in which 
 some authors have asserted, they could still trace out the remains of 
 the picture character. 
 
 The learned bishop of Gloucester, Dr. Warburton, in his Divine Le- 
 gation of Moses," observes, that all the barbarous nations upon earth, 
 before the invention or introduction of letters, made use of hieroglyphics, 
 or signs, to record their meaning. Such a general concurrence in the 
 method of preserving events, could never be the effect of chance, 
 imitation, or partial purposes ; but must needs be esteemed the uniform 
 voice of nature, speaking to the first rude conceptions of mankind ; 
 " for," adds this learned prelate, " not only the Chinese of the east, 
 " the Mexicans of the west, and the Egyptians of the south, but the 
 
 preserved by Eusebius, recording, " That Taautus, having imitated Ouranus's art of picture- 
 " writing, drew the portraits of the gods Cronus, Dagon, and the rest ; and delineated the 
 "sacred characters, which formed the elements of this kind of writing. For Cronus, par- 
 " ticularly, he imagined the symbols of royalty: four eves; two before, and two behind, of 
 "which two were closed in slumber; and on his shoulders four wings; two stretched out, as in 
 " the act of flying ; and two contracted, as in repose. The first symbol signified, that Cronus 
 " watched though he reposed, and reposed though he watched. The second symbol of the 
 " wings, signified, in like manner, that, even when stationed, he flew about ; and, when flyino-, 
 " he yet remained stationed. To each of the other gods he gave two wings on their shoulders • 
 "as the satellites of Cronus in his excursions, who had likewise two wings on his head to 
 "denote the two principles of the mind, reason and passion." — Here we see that Ouranus 
 practised a kind oi picture-writing, which Taautus afterwards improved. 
 
 Taautus, or Thoth, was the Mercury, on which name and family all the inventions of the 
 various kinds of writing, were very liberally bestowed; that here mentioned as the improvement 
 of Taautus, being the very hieroglyphics above described ; and that as before practised bv 
 Ouranus, the same with the simple American paintings. 
 
 Such then was the ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic ; and this the second mode of invention 
 for recording men's actions, not as hitherto thought a device of choice for secresy but an 
 expedient from necessity for general use. In process of time, their symbols and delineations 
 turning on the least obvious, or even perhaps on imaginary properties of the animal or thino- 
 represented, either to form or construe this, required no small degree of learning and 
 ingenuity. 
 
 '' Vol. iii. p. 97 to 305. 
 
CHAP. I. OF WRITING. 9 
 
 " Scythians likewise of the north, as well as those intermediate inhabitants 
 " of the earth, the Indians, Phenicians, Ethiopians, Etruscans, &c. all 
 " used the same wajr of writing, by picture and hieroglyphic." 
 
 AVe shall dismiss the present chapter, by endeavouring to impress 
 the minds of our readers with a distinction wdiich will be found to 
 be of great importance in the present inquiry; namely, the difference 
 between inntative characters and symbolic or arbitrary marks. 
 
 " Every medium," says Mr. Harris in his Hermes, p. 331, 332, 
 " through which we exhibit any thing to another's contemplation, is 
 " either derived from natural attributes, and then it is an Imitation ; 
 " or else from accidents quite arbitrary, and then it is a Symbol." The 
 former may be truly said to derive its origin from that imitative faculty 
 which is so conspicuous in the human species ; the latter is founded in 
 necessit}^ or convenience, and becomes significant by compact ; the one 
 hath only an immediate reference to sensible objects, which present them- 
 selves to the sight ; the other to mental conceptions : in short, the former 
 is applicable to hieroglyphic representations ; the latter comprehends 
 symbols and marks for sounds, significant of ideas by adoption. Hence we 
 may conclude, that all representations, marks, or characters, which were 
 ever used, by any nation or people, must have been either imitative or 
 symbolic.^ 
 
 ^ Aia(f)€peL be to 0M0IX2]MA rS 2TMB0A0T, kwOoctov to jj-ev 6/j.oi&)ju.a Tr]v (pvcriv avTriv r« 
 
 TTpayjxaTO'i (cara to hvvaTov a-neiyoviCecrOai jiikirai, km uk esTLV e(j)' r/ijuv avTO jXiTaTtKaaai. to he 
 
 ye avixSoXov, tJtoi, urjjj.e'iov to okov e<p' rjiilv ey^ei, are K.ai ex jxovi)i v<piSTaiu.evov Trjs ?;/xere'pas emvoCas' 
 
 A REPRESENTATION or RESEMBLANCE differs from a SYMBOL in as much as the resemblance 
 aims, as far as possible, to represent the very nature of the thing, nor is it in our power to shift 
 or vary it : but a symbol or sign, is wholly in our power, as depending singly for its existence on 
 our imagination. Amman, in lib. de Interp. p. 17, b. 
 
 The above is the meaning to be annexed to the word symbol, the principal use oi words being 
 to explain things ; but the great Lord Bacon truly observes, " That the first distemper of 
 " learning is, when men study words and not matter." Shaw's Bacon, vol. i. p. 25. That 
 excellent writer was so strongly impressed with this sentiment, that he makes the same 
 observation in different parts of his works. It is said of Plutarch, that, like a true philosopher, 
 he regarded things, more than words. 
 
10 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 OF THE ORIGIN OF LETTERS. 
 
 VARIETY OF OPINIONS ON THIS SUBJECT — ALPHABETIC WRITING 
 NOT FIRST COMMUNICATED TO MOSES, NOR OP DIVINE ORIGINAL 
 ^GENERAL REFLECTIONS — PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN MIND TO- 
 WARDS THE INVENTION OF AN ALPHABET — HOW ACCOMPLISHED 
 
 OF THE COMPOSITION AND NOTATION OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 1 HE art of drawing ideas into vision, or of exhibiting the concep- 
 tions of the mind by legible characters, may justly be deemed the 
 noblest and most beneficial invention of which human ingenuity can 
 boast : an invention which hath contributed more than all others to the 
 improvement of mankind. 
 
 The subject of this chapter hath engaged the attention, and perplexed 
 the sagacity, of many able and judicious persons for more than two cen- 
 turies : some of the most respectable writers have reasoned upon erroneous 
 principles, and, by their works, have obscured the true path which 
 might have led to the discovery of Letters. Monsieur Fourmont, bishop 
 Warburton, and Monsieur Gebelin, have endeavoured to shew, that 
 alphabets were originally made up of hieroglyphic characters, but 
 it will presently appear, that the letters of an alphabet were essentially 
 different from the characteristic marks deduced from hieroglyphics, 
 which last are marks for things and ideas, in the same manner as the 
 ancient and modern characters of the Chinese ; whereas the formei- 
 are only marks for sounds ; and, though we should allow it an easy 
 transition, from the Egyptian hieroglyphics, to the characteristic marks 
 of the Chinese, which have been demonstrated by Du Halde and 
 others to be perfectly hieroglyphic, yet, it doth not follow, that the 
 invention of an alphabet must naturally succeed these marks. It is true, 
 there is a sufficient resemblance between the Mexican picture-writimr, 
 the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the Chinese characters ; but these are 
 
Chap. ii. OF WRITING. u 
 
 foreign to alphabetic letters, and, in reality, do not bear the least rela- 
 tion to them. 
 
 The hieroglyphic characters of the Chinese, which are very nume- 
 rous, are in their nature imitative, and do not combine into words, like 
 arbitrary marks for sounds or letters, which are very few, and are of a 
 symbolic nature. We shall shew, that these authors, whose learning 
 and ingenuity entitle them to the highest respect, and whose writings 
 have furnished many useful hints towards the discovery of alphabetic 
 characters, have not filled up the great chasm between picture-writing 
 and letters, which, though the most difficult, was the most necessary 
 thing for them to have done, before they could attempt to account for 
 the formation of an alphabet. We shall demonstrate, that letters do not 
 derive their powers from their forms, and that originall}^ their forms in- 
 tirely depended on the fancy or will of those who made them.'' — Other 
 writers who have considered this difficult subject, have freely confessed 
 that it was above their comprehension.'' 
 
 Many learned men have supposed that the alphabet was of divine 
 origin ; and several writers have asserted, that letters were first commu- 
 nicated to Moses by God himself;" whilst others have contended, that 
 the Decalogue was the first alphabetic writing. 
 
 It is highly proper for us to inquire how far these opinions are well 
 founded ; for, if they can be supported, there is an end of our pursuit ; 
 but if it shall appear that they are warranted neither by reason nor 
 by scripture, we shall be at full liberty to pursue our inquiry ; for the 
 satisfaction therefore of those who have adopted these opinions, it is in- 
 cumbent on us to have recourse to the Holy Scriptures themselves. 
 
 ^ See Mons. Fourmont's Reflections crit. sur les Hist, des Anc. Peuple, torn. ii. a Paris 
 1735. — The. Divine Legation of Moses^ by the late Dr. Warburton, bishop of Gloucester, vol. 
 iii. p. 121. — Mons. Gebeiin's Monde Frimitif, vol. iii. Paris, 1775. 
 
 ^ Mr. Wise's Essay on the Origin of the Language and Letters of Europe, p. 92, 93. See 
 Universal History, vol. xx. p. 18, n. H. 
 
 ■= Of these opinions were St. Cyril, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, and Isidore of 
 Seville, amongst the fathers; and Mr. Bryant, Mr. Costard, Mr. Windar, with many others, 
 among the moderns. See St. Cyril against Julian, book viii. ; Clement of Alex, book i. stromal, 
 cap. 23; Euseb. Preparat. Evang. lib. ix. cap. 7; Isidore, Origin, lib. i. cap. 3; Mr. Bryant's 
 Ancient Mythology ; Mr. Costard's Letter to Mr. Halhcd ; and Mr. Windar's Essay on Know- 
 ledge, p. 2. ch. i. Univ. Hist. vol. iii. p. 212. Note T. 
 
12 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 The first mention of writing recorded in Scripture, will be found in 
 Exodus xvii. v. 14 ; " And the Lord said unto Moses, fVrite ^ this, for 
 " a memorial, in a hook ; and rehearse it in the ears of Joshia ; for I 
 " zcill utterly put out the 7'emembrance of Amalek from under heaven." 
 This comirand was given immediately after the defeat of the Ama- 
 lekites near Horeb, and before the arrival of the Israelites at Mount 
 Sinai. 
 
 It is observable, that there is not the least hint to induce us to be- 
 lieve that writing was then newly invented ; on the contrary, we may 
 conclude, that Moses understood what was meant by writing in a book ; 
 otherwise God would have instructed him, as he had done Noah in 
 building the ark ; " for he would not have been commanded to zcrite 
 in a book, if he had been ignorant of the art of writing : but Moses 
 expressed no difficulty of comprehension, when he received this com- 
 mand. We also find that Moses wrote all the words and all the iudtr- 
 ments of the Lord, contained in the twenty-first and the two follow- 
 ing chapters of the book of Exodus, before the two written tables 
 of stone were even so much as promisedJ The delivery of the tables 
 is not mentioned till the eighteenth verse of the thirty-first chapter, 
 after God had made an end of communing with him upon the mount,^ 
 though the ten commandments were promulgated immediately after his 
 third descent. 
 
 It is observable, that Moses no where mentions that the alphabet 
 was a new thing in his time, much less that he was the inventor of it ; 
 
 ^ The Hebrew word is 37^2, which word is generally used for drawing letters or literal cha- 
 racters; to write; Exod. xxiv. v. 4; and chap, xxxiv. v. 18. See Parkhiirst's Lexicon. 
 
 ' Gen. vi. ver. 14, 15, 16. 
 
 f "And Moses ivrote all the words of the Lord," &c. Exod. xxiv. v. 4. "And he took the 
 "book of the covenant, and read it in the audience of the people; and they said, All that the 
 "Lord hath said we will do, and be obedient." Ibid. v. 7. 
 
 s The different times of Moseses ascending and descending the Mount are distinguished in 
 the following passages. 
 
 First ascent. 
 Exod. xix. V. 3. 
 
 First descent. 
 Exod. xix. V. 7. 
 
 Second ascent. 
 Exod. xix. V. 8. 
 
 Second descent. 
 Exod. xix. V. 14. 
 
 Third ascent. 
 Exod. xix. V. 20. 
 
 Third descent. 
 Exod. xix. V. 25. 
 
 Fourth ascent. 
 Exod. xxiv. V. 17. 
 
 Fourth descent. 
 Exod. xxxii. v. 15. 
 
CHAP. II. OF WRITING. 13 
 
 on the contrary, he speaks of the art of writing, as a thing well known, 
 and in familiar use; for, Exodus xxviii. v. 21, he saj^s, " And the stones 
 " shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve ; according 
 *' to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, 
 " shall they be, according to the twelve tribes." And again, v. 36, " And 
 " thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the 
 *' engravings of a signet, holiness to the Lord." Can lano:ua2;e be 
 more expressive ? Would it not be absurd to deny that this sentence 
 must have been in uords and letters? But writing was known and prac- 
 tised by the people in general in the time of Moses, as appears from the 
 following texts, Deut. chap. vi. v. 9; chap. xi. v. 20; chap. xvii. v. 18 ; 
 chap. xxiv. v. 1 ; chap, xxvii. v. 3, 8. By this last text, the people are 
 commanded to write the law on stones ; and it is observable, that some of 
 the above texts, relate to transactions previous to the delivery of the law at 
 Mount Sinai- 
 
 If Moses had been the inventor of the alphabet, or received letters 
 from God, which till then had been unknown to the Israelites, it would 
 have been well worthy of his understanding, and very suitable to his 
 character, to have explained to them the nature and use of this invaluable 
 art which God had communicated to him; and may we not naturally 
 suppose, that he would have said, when he directed the workmen to 
 engrave names and sentences on stones and golds'" " And in these en- 
 " gravings you shall use the alphabetic characters which God hath com- 
 " municated to me, or which 1 have now invented, and taught you the use 
 " of? " But the truth is, he refers them to a model in familiar use, " like 
 " the engravings of a signet ; " for the ancient people of the east, engraved 
 names ^nd sentences on their seals in the same manner as is now prac- 
 tised by the great lama of Tartary, the princes in India, the emperor of 
 Constantinople, and his subordinate rulers. 
 
 In the State Paper office at Whitehall, are a great number of letters 
 from eastern princes to the kings of England, the seals of which have not 
 the likeness of any thing impressed upon them, but are inscribed with 
 
 ^ See inore texts on this subject in Genesis, chap, xxviii. verses 9, 10, il ; and chap, xxxix. 
 V. 30 j Dent. chap, xxviii. v. 58 and 61 ; and chap. xxix. 
 
14 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 moral sentences. This custom is not peculiar alone to the princes who 
 profess the Mahometan religion, but is common all over the east. 
 
 A letter from Shah Soleiman, king of Persia, to king Charles the 
 second, was inclosed in a silken bag, at the mouth of which is a signet or 
 privy seal of wax, impressed with the following sentence, in the Persian 
 language and characters, which are thus translated by Dr. Hyde : " Shah 
 " Soleiman is the sekvant or religion, \667." 
 
 At the bottom of the letter is the great seal, which is stamped or 
 printed on the paper with ink. Within a semi-circle, in the upper part of 
 the seal, is this sentence, in Persian : " Have God beeore thine eyes." 
 
 Round the seal, are words in Persian to the following purport: 
 " Praise be to God who hath bestowed upon us his servants the virtue of 
 " justice, and hath turned away many evils prom the successors op 
 '• mahomet and his family." 
 
 In the centre are the following words : " This is prom Soleiman, and 
 " IT is in the name op God gracious and merciful, 16"68." 
 
 The seal of the emperor of Morocco, stamped or printed on a letter 
 from him to queen Anne, written in the year 1706, is inscribed with words, 
 in the Arabic language and characters, to the following purport ; " The 
 " servant of the Majesty op the mighty under God. Aly Ben Abdalah 
 " El Hamamy whom God establish." In my collection are two seals of the 
 present great Lama of Tartary, inscribed with characters neai'ly Shanscrit. 
 There are also in the Bodleian and Sloanian libraries, and at the India 
 House, many seals of x'\siatic princes and potentates, inscribed with sen- 
 tences.' 
 
 If this art had been a new discovery in his time, he would probably 
 
 ' Pliny, lib. xxxii. chap. i. informs us, that the Oriental nations, and the Egyptians, 
 made use of letters only upon their signets. The industrious authors of the Nouveau 
 Traite de Diplomatique, (vol. iv. p. 75), say, That the ancient kings of Persia and the 
 Turkish emperors did the like. The learned abbot of Claraval, Monsieur dii Pin, in his 
 Universal Historical Library, p. q,\, supports these authorities; and adds, that there is an 
 infinite number of ancient and modern stones thus engraven, which were used for signets. 
 That signets were used by the Hebrews, before they went into Egypt, we learn from Gen. 
 chap, xxxviii. v. 18, where it appears, that Jndah gave Thamar his signet, Sec: and it is 
 reasonable to suppose, that this signet was similar to those used by the Israelites, and the other 
 neighbouring nations. 
 
CHAP. II. OF WRITING. 1.5 
 
 have commemorated it, as well as the other inventions of music, &c. ; 
 nor is there -any reason to suppose, that God was the immediate revealer 
 of the art ; for Moses could never have omitted to have recorded the 
 history of so important a circumstance, as the memory of it would have 
 been one of the strongest barriers against idolatry. 
 
 It is incumbent on us to mention, that several respectable prophane 
 authors, attribute the discovery of letters to the gods, or to some divine 
 man. Plato delivers his sentiments very plainly ^ upon this subject, 
 
 EttsiSt) (pfovTco OLTTBipov xaTsvor^tTBV s'Its Tig 0soj SITS itoLi 0£Of Av9-jSa)7roj. The same 
 
 author, in his Phajdrus, makes the god Theuth or Mercury, the inventor 
 of letters. Diodorus Siculus tells us, that Mercury invented the first 
 characters of writing, and taught men the rudiments of astronomy : ^ and 
 Cicero, in his Tusc. Quest, lib. i. delivers his opinion upon this subject in 
 the following words : " Quid ilia vis, quee tandem est, quae investigat 
 "occulta? — aut qui sonos vocis, qui infiniti videbantur, paucis literarum 
 " notis terminavit? — Philosophia vero omnium mater artium, quid est aliud, 
 nisi, ut Plato ait, donum, ut ego inventum Deorum ? " The same author, 
 in his Natura Deorum, lib. iii. says, that Hermes or the fifth Mercury, 
 whom the Egyptians called Thoth, first communicated letters to that 
 people. The Gentoos affirm, that letters were communicated to their 
 ancestors by the Supreme Being, whom they call Brahma." 
 
 Although, from these authorities, we may infer that the art of writing 
 is of great antiquity, yet they discover to us that the ancients had very 
 imperfect ideas of its true origin ; for Plato says,'^ that some, when they 
 could not unravel a difficulty, brought down a god, as in a machine, to cut the 
 knot: and the learned bishop of Gloucester observes, that the ancients 
 gave nothing to the gods, of whose original they had any records ; but 
 where the memory of the invention was lost, as of seed corn, wine, writing, 
 civil society. Sec. the gods seized the property, by that kind of right which 
 gives strays to the lord of the manor. ^ 
 
 * See vol. ii. p. i8; edit. Serran. '' Lib. i. sect. i. 
 
 " See Mr Halhed's preface to the Gentoo Laws. 
 
 •^ See the Cratylis edit. Fisc. p. 291. 
 
 ° Bishop Warburton's Divine Legation^ vol. iii. p. 62. 
 
16 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 The holy scriptures having left this subject open to investigation, and 
 the prophane writers having given us nothing satisfactory upon it, we are 
 at liberty to pursue our inquiry into the origin of letters ; but, in order to 
 qualify ourselves for this task, it may be proper to enter into a philoso- 
 phical contemplation of the nature of letters, and of i\\e\Y powers, which 
 will best enable us to discover the true origin of their invention. 
 
 A little reflection will discover, that men, in their rude uncultivated 
 state, had neither leisure, inclination, nor inducement, to cultivate the 
 powers of the mind to a degree sufficient for tlie formation of an alphabet ; 
 but when a people arrived at such a state of civilization, as required them 
 to represent the conceptions of the mind which had no corporeal forms, 
 NECESSITY, the mother of invention, would occasion further exertions 
 of the human faculties, and would urge such a people to find out a more 
 expeditious manner of transacting their business, and of recording their 
 events, than by picture-zeriting ; for the impossibility of conveying a 
 variety of intellectual and metaphysical ideas, and of representing sounds 
 by the emblematic mode of writing, would naturally occur, and therefore 
 the necessity of seeking out some other that would be more comprehen- 
 sive, would present itself. 
 
 These exertions would take place whenever a nation began to improve 
 in arts, manufactures, and commerce ; and the more genius such a nation 
 had, the more improvements would be made in the notation of their 
 language, whilst those people who had made less progress in civilization 
 and science, would have a less perfect system of elementary characters ; or 
 would for ages advance no further in this art, than the marks or characters 
 of the Chinese.' Hence it results, that the business of princes, and 
 the manufactures and commerce of each country, produced the necessity 
 of devising some expeditious manner of communicating information 
 to their subjects, or commercial correspondents at a distance. Such an 
 
 <■ If It should be asked, why the Chmese still adhere to the ancient mode of writins; 
 it may be answered, that their adherence to arbitrary marks, formed, and still continues 
 to form, a part of the civil and religious policy of their country ; in the same manner 
 as the prohibition of printing, forms a part of the civil policy within the dominions of the emperor 
 of Constantinople. 
 
 O 3 
 
CHAP. II. OF WRITING. 17 
 
 improvement was of the greatest use, not only to the sovereign and the 
 statesman, bat to the manufacturer and the merchant. 
 
 We shall for the present, omit the mention of the several modes of 
 writing which were practised by different nations, in the course of their 
 progress towards civilization, because the accounts will more properly 
 come under the history of the writing of each country ; particularly under 
 that of Egypt, whose inhabitants displayed every species of writing in 
 the course of their improvements. At present we shall pursue that part 
 of our inquiry which relates to the format lo?i of an alphabet. 
 
 Let us then in this place just premise, that arbitrary marks are of 
 different kinds. First, those used by the Chinese ; many of which were 
 originally picture-characters. Secondh/, those used by the notarii amongst 
 the ancients, and by the present short-hand writers ; and thirdly, marks 
 for sounds; such as elementary characters or letters, and musical notes. 
 
 The marks of the first and second kind are very numerous, as will 
 appear hereafter ; those of the third are very few, as will presently be 
 demonstrated. 
 
 It seems obvious, that whilst the picture or hieroglyphic presented 
 itself to the sight, the writer's idea was confined to the figure or object 
 itself; but when the picture was contracted into a mark, the sound 
 annexed to the thing signified by such mark, would become familiar ; 
 and when the writer reflected, how small a number of sounds he made 
 use of in speech to express all his ideas, it would occur, that a much fewer 
 number of marks than he had been accustomed to use, would be sufficient 
 for the notation of all the sounds which he could articulate. These con- 
 siderations would induce him to reflect on the nature and power of 
 sounds ; and it would occur, that, sounds being the .matter of audible 
 lanffuaae, marks for them must be the elements of words. 
 
 Aristotle justly observes, " that words are the marks of thoughts; and 
 " letters, of words." AVords are sounds significant, and letters are marks 
 for such sounds.^ 
 
 The learned author of Hermes above quoted, informs us,^ " That 
 " to about twenty plain elementary sounds, we owe that variety of arti- 
 
 e See lord Bacon's Works by Shaw, vol. i. p. 137. *> Book iii. chap. 2. p. 324. 
 
 D 
 
18 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 " culate voices which have been sufficient to explain the sentiments of 
 "so innumerable a multitude, as all the present and past generations 
 " of men." 
 
 As there are but a small number of marks for sounds, called notes in 
 music, so there are but a small number of distinct articulate sounds in 
 every language. In different languages their number differs ; and there 
 are but few sounds in any two languages that are exactly the same; 
 although by the great intercourse between the European nations, the 
 sounds of diflerent languages daily assimilate. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan says, that the number of simple sounds in our tongue 
 are tweiiti/-eight.' Doctor Kenrick says, we have only eleven distinct 
 species of articulate sounds, which even by contraction, prolongation, 
 and composition, are increased only to the number of sixteen ; every 
 syllable or articulate sound in our language, being one of this number.^" 
 ]^isho|D Wilkins, and doctor William Holder, speak of about thirt5^-two 
 or thirty-three distinct sounds. 
 
 It has been said, that among the Greeks and Romans, their written 
 alphabet exactly accorded to the several distinct sounds and modes of 
 articulation in their languages ; so that each sound had its distinct mark, 
 by which it was uniformly and invariably represented. Ten simple marks 
 or characters, have been found sufficient for all the purposes of numeri- 
 cal calculations, which extend to infinity. 
 
 Seven notes comprize the whole of music : these, by their different 
 arrangements, produce that variety of harmony which we so justly admire. 
 ]f we would ascend higher than eight notes, we only begin another series 
 of the same distances. — Again, the scale doth not admit of a division into 
 equal parts : this must correspond with the laws of sound : as every piece 
 of music is but these notes varied, it must come to a close in the lowest 
 note or its octave. 
 
 It is evident, that, from the confined nature of the organs, the simple 
 natural sounds to be distinct must be few ; and though artifice or affecta- 
 tion may invent a greater variety, they must be deficient in precision 
 
 ' See Sheridan's Rhetorical Grammar, prefixed to his Dictionary, printed at London in 1780. 
 » See Dr. Kenrick's Rhetorical Grammar, prefixed to his Dictionary. 
 
CHAP. II. OF WRITING. 19 
 
 as they increase in number. Indeed there are several sounds proceedino- 
 from inanimate objects ; as, the murmuring of a stream, &c. that are not 
 adapted to the human organs of utterance. 
 
 It would be digressing too far from our subject, to enter into a dis- 
 cussion concerning the number of sounds that are known to exist, nor is 
 this necessary ; for as sounds are few, the marks for them need not be 
 many ; but marks for things are very numerous. 
 
 It is however requisite for our readers to distinguish between visible 
 and audible language. This distinction is justly made by St. Augustine in 
 the following words : " Signa sunt verba visibilia, verba signa audibilia." 
 
 The articulate sounds of vocal or audible language are resolvable into 
 sentences, words, and syllables ; and the analysis of language into ele- 
 mentary sounds, seems first to have led to the invention of symbols, or 
 marks, for mental conceptions. This invention must have taken place 
 much about the time that men began to reform the barbarous jargon thejr 
 first spoke, and form a language ; for which purpose, the knowledge of 
 elementary sounds and their powers, was absolutely necessary. The pro- 
 gress in this science, as has been already observed, must have been by 
 degrees ; men would begin, no doubt, by distinguishing the sound of one 
 word from that of another, — this would not be difficult ; then they would 
 resolve words into syllables, which would not be so easy : but it is likely 
 that they stopt there for a long time, perhaps for ages, before they came 
 to the last resolution of syllables into the distinct sounds of which they are 
 composed. This was a very extraordinary work of art, which could only 
 be performed by those who had considered the laws of sounds ; and could 
 not be the result of chance, as some speculatists have imagined ; for this 
 was, in fact, the decomposition of a language into the sounds of which it 
 was composed. 
 
 The next step towards the jiotation of language, would be the deli- 
 neation of a separate mark or letter to denote or stand for each sound ; 
 which marks, though few in number, would admit of so great a variety 
 of arrangements and combinations, as would be capable of producing 
 an infinity of articulate sounds, sufficient for the composition of syllables, 
 words, and sentences ; and consequently for the notation of language. 
 
20 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 That able mathematician Tacquet informs us,^ that the various com- 
 binations of the twenty-four letters (without any repetition) will amount 
 to 620,448,401,733,239,439,360,000. Thus it is evident, that twenty- 
 four letters will admit of an infinity of combinations and arrangements, 
 sufficient to represent not only all the conceptions of the mind, but all 
 words in all languages whatever." 
 
 It is easy to conceive the astonishment of the human mind, at the 
 first discovery of the doctrine and powers of combinations, which imme- 
 diately led to the composition of written language, by the assistance of 
 a small number of marks or letters ; though the transferring of ideas by 
 these means from the ear to the eye, w^as a very extraordinary effort of 
 the human mind ; yet if we suppose that the analysis of the sounds of 
 language was already made, it was no more than finding out marks for 
 what was known before : and we have already shewn, in the preceding 
 
 '' Tacquet's ArithmeticcB Tkeor. p. 51 7^ edit. 
 Amst. 1704. — Clavius the Jesuit, who also 
 computes these combinations, makes them to 
 be only 5,852,616,738,497,664,000; but either 
 number will be sufficient to establish what is 
 here advanced. 
 
 ' The ingenious Wachter, in his Natura 
 et Scriptura Concordia, p. 64, endeavours to 
 shew, that ten marks, or characters, are suf- 
 ficient for this purpose. — His scheme is as 
 follows: 
 
 Genus- 
 
 Figura. 
 
 Potestas. 
 
 Vocal. 
 
 
 
 a. e. i. 0. u. 
 
 Guttural. 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 k. c. ch. 
 q- g. h. 
 
 Lingual. 
 
 ^ 
 
 1. 
 
 Lingual. 
 
 z 
 
 d. t. 
 
 Lingual. 
 
 — , 
 
 r. 
 
 
 Dental. 
 
 1 1 
 
 s. 
 
 Labial. 
 
 3 
 
 b.p. 
 
 Labial. 
 
 Tl 
 
 m. 
 
 Labial. 
 
 P 
 
 s. ph. V. w. 
 
 Nasal. 
 
 A 
 
 n. 
 
 Haec literarum formse, etiamsi numerum digitorum non excedant, quia scilicet natura diligen- 
 ter inspecta plures non suppeditat, sufficiunt tamen omnibus omnium linguarum vocibus scri- 
 bendis. Nam quK videntur deficere, sunt literse compositae, & novis formis non indigent. 
 
 Perhaps ten marks might be sufficient for the notation of any language, if the whole depended 
 solely upon the powers of combinations ; which is not the case. 
 
CHAP. II. OF WRITING. 
 
 21 
 
 chapter, that symbols were in general use among mankind, before they 
 knew the use of letters ; and therefore the invention of the latter, was 
 nothing more than the transferring the former method of representation, 
 to the elements of sound. If the notation of music had been invented 
 before letters, which might have happened, the discovery would have 
 been just as great as that of letters."^ 
 
 As there are more sounds in some languages than in others, it follows 
 of course that the number of elementary characters or letters, must vary 
 in the alphabets of different languages. The Hebrew, Samaritan, and 
 Syriac alphabets, have twenty-two letters ; the Arabic twenty-eight ; the 
 Persic, and Egyptian or Coptic, thirty-two ; the present Russian forty- 
 one ; the Shanscrit fifty ; the Cashmirian and Malabaric are still more 
 numerous. 
 
 •* It has been observed^ that the eye perceives no sounds^ the ear no figures nor colours; and 
 yet a piece of written music conveys ideas of sounds to the mind through the medium of sight, 
 which enables a proficient in music to produce vocal or instrumental harmony. Children learn 
 to speak, by imitating the sounds pronounced by those about them ; and when they begin to 
 readj they take their first rudiments from sounds, which they hear pronounced by the persons 
 who teach them. — A strong argument that speech, letters, and the knowledge of things, are first 
 acquired by children through the medium of sounds, to which they are taught to annex ideas. 
 
22 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 The following is the Scheme of the English Alphabet, as given by 
 Mr. Sheridan in his Hhetorical Grammar, p. 9- 
 
 NuMBEfi of simple sounds in our Tongue twenty-eight. 
 
 9 ' OWels, aaa eo o ejii 
 
 hall hat hate beer note noose bet fit but 
 
 w y 
 
 short 00 short ee 
 
 19 Consonants, \ ^^ f^ ^l ^S^^^> ^^ ^"^ ^" ^P ^^ ^^ ^^ ^v ez eth 
 ( eth esh ezn mg. 
 
 2 Superfluous, c, which has the power of ek or ess ; 
 q, that of ek before u. 
 
 2 Compoiind, j, which stands for edzh ; 
 X, for ks or gz. 
 
 1 No letter, h, merely a mark of aspiration. 
 
 CONSONANTS DIVIDED INTO MUTES AND SEMIVOWELS. 
 
 6 Mutes, eb ed eg ek ep et. 
 3 Ture Mutes, ek ep et. 
 
 3 Impure, eb ed eg. 
 
 13 Semivowels, ) r ^ 
 
 or liquids, \ ®^ ®"" ^" ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ eth esh ezh ing. 
 
 9 Vocal, el em en er ev ez eth ezh inc. 
 
 4 Aspirated, ef ess eth esh. 
 
 divided again into 
 4 Labial, eb ep ev ef. 
 8 Dental, ed et eth eth ez ess ezh esh. 
 4 Palatine, eg ek el er. 
 3 Nasal, em en ing. 
 
CHAP. II. OF WRITING. 23 
 
 Mr. Sheridan observes, that our alphabet is ill calculated for the 
 notation of the English tongue, as there are many sounds for which we 
 have no letters or marks ; and there ought to be ^line more characters or 
 letters to make a complete alphabet, in which every simple somid ought 
 to have a tnark peculiar to itself. The reason of the deficiency is, that 
 our ancestors adopted the Roman alphabet for the notation of our lan- 
 guage, though it was by no m.eans suited to it. 
 
 Every alphabet is to be considered as the elements of words, wherever 
 it may be received by compact : for our readers must not forget, that all 
 words, as well as symbols, letters, or elements of words, are significant 
 only by habit or agjreement. 
 
 As vocal or audible language is resolvable into sentences, words, and 
 syllables ; so written or visible language is composed of letters, syllables, 
 words, and sentences. 
 
 A letter is an arbitrary mark, made to signify or stand for a particular 
 sound significant by compact ; and may be properly termed a mark for 
 a certain known sound. ° 
 
 A determinate or established number of these marks, constitute the 
 elements or alphabet of written language. The combinations and arrange- 
 ments of these elements or letters, as settled by consent or compact, 
 compose the written languages of civilized nations. 
 
 The first step towards the composition of written language, is to con- 
 vey an idea of some sound ; either by a single mark or character, or by 
 writing two or more of them, which form a syllable : one or more of these 
 syllables make a word ; which is a voice articulate, and significant by com- 
 pact : a sentence is a compound quantity of sounds significant ; of which 
 certain parts are themselves also significant : several words make a sen- 
 tence, and several sentences a memoir or discourse. 
 
 Writing, then, may be defined to be the art of exhibiting to the sight 
 
 « Letters in Hebrew are calTeJ nVniN* Othioth, i. e. Signs, as being the signs or representations 
 of our words. — In Greek, letters are called TpaixfxaTa, from ypaMM'/, a line, because they are com- 
 posed of lines. The Latin Litero' is from Linea.—Tht Greeks used the word 2?)/j,€ia, i. e. signs, 
 to denote letters; which agrees with the Hebrew etymology. The Roman writers called them 
 Elementa ; — thus Horace says : 
 
 Ut pueris olim dant cmstula blandi 
 
 Doctores elementa velint ut discere prima. 
 
 See also Lucret. de Rerum Nat. lib. ii. and lib. v. v. 1444. 
 
24 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 the conceptions of the mind, by means of marks or characters significant 
 by compact of the sounds of language, which enable us to transfer ideas 
 from the eye to the ear, and vice versa/ 
 
 Thus it has been shewn how ideas may become the objects of vision, 
 and be exhibited to the eye in legible characters ; and that the notation 
 of language may be performed, by making a sufficient number of jnorks 
 for sounds, and by arranging and combining them properly.*^ 
 
 The elements of all written language are divided into vowels and con- 
 sonants ; the former of which, is defined to be a simple articulate sound, 
 uttered by a single impulse of the voice, and forming an articulate sound by 
 itself ; whereas a consonant forms no articulate sound of itself, but only 
 assists in forming a sound. 
 
 The vowels were probably invented first, but the consonants form the 
 body of language, and are properly termed the bones and sinews thereof. 
 
 The consonants are divided into mutes, and liquids, which will seldom 
 join together in the same syllable ; nor will any two of the mutes associate 
 in a syllable, either in English or in Latin. There are some exceptions 
 as to the association of the mutes. 
 
 The first composition of written language, is of letters into syllables ; 
 but it is observable, that all letters will not compound with all ; the 
 vowels will not only mix with each other, or form diphthongs ; but they 
 will compound in syllables with all the consonants so called, because 
 they sound in company with the vowels. But this does not hold of the 
 consonants with respect to one another ; for only some of them sound 
 together in syllables, whilst others cannot associate together in that 
 way ; the reason of which is, that the configuration of the mouth, and 
 the action of its organs, are so different in the pronunciation of some 
 
 '' For example^ if I read^ — the ideas of the author are impressed upon my mind throuo-h the 
 medium of sight by the marks for sounds ; and these ideas are impressed upon the minds of the 
 auditors, through the sense of hearing. On the other hand, if I dictate to an amanuensis, mij 
 ideas are conveyed to him, through the medium of sounds significant, which he draws into vision 
 by the means oi marks significant of those sounds. 
 
 s The great lord Bacon observes, that before a thing is effected we think it impossible; and 
 when It is done, we wonder it was not done before. Shaw's Bacon, vol. i. p. 29. And in another 
 place he says, — "When new things are demonstrated, the mind receives them by a kind of 
 "affinity, as if we had known them before." 
 
CHAP. II. OF WRITING. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 of them, that they cannot be joined together in the same enunciation, 
 nor without some rest or pause betwixt ; so that there must be time to 
 give a different configuration and action to the organs ; whereas, when 
 the pronunciation is not so different, the sounds may be so run together, 
 as to incorporate in one syUable ; and in this way, five, or even six con- 
 sonants, may be joined in the same sjdlable, as in the EngHsh word strength. 
 
 The next composition of articulate sounds, is of syllables into words ; 
 and the better the composers of such words were acquainted with the 
 nature and harmony of sounds, the more harmonious would be their written 
 language. On the contrary, a deficiency in the knowledge of sounds, is a 
 considerable obstruction to the discovery of what consonants will incorpo- 
 rate with each other ; and from this ignorance proceeds that redundancy 
 and superfluity of letters, which is conspicuous in many languages. *" 
 
 It is observable, that many of the consonants, which admit of a 
 junction in the same syllable, do not produce harmonious sounds. In 
 truth, the manliness or effeminacy, the harmony or harshness, of a written 
 language, will, in a great measure, depend upon the proper or improper 
 junction of letters in syllables. The proper arrangements and combina- 
 tions of letters, constitute that branch of science called Gra?nmar, which 
 consists of four parts ; namely, orthography, prosody, etymology, and 
 syntax. 
 
 Grammarians divide language into what they call parts of speech ; 
 but they differ as to the number of the parts, of which speech is com- 
 posed.' Mr. Harris clearly shews, that all words whatever, are either 
 
 ^ The extraordinary length of words, is a property common to all barbarous languages. 
 "The words of barbarous languages are long and full of vowels; not short and full of 
 " consonants, as hath been imagined." — See Monboddo on the Origin and Progress of Lan- 
 guage, second edit. vol. i. b. iii. p. 496, 5^2,, 539, 599. — See also the accounts given of the 
 languages of the inhabitants of the new discovered countries in the southern hemisphere, 
 by Dr. Forster and others.— See also Roger Williams's Key to the Language of America, 
 Lond. 1643. 
 
 The orthography of any language was very imperfect, till men had not only reduced their 
 language to certainty, by grammatical rules, but till they had polished the same, by rejecting 
 superfluous letters; thus in England, we had no certain rules for the orthography of our language, 
 so lately as the reign of king Henry the eighth. 
 
 ' Plato, in his Sophist, mentions only two parts of speech.— Aristotle four ;— the latter stoics 
 five ; — we say there are eight. 
 
 E 
 
26 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ii. 
 
 Substantives, Attributives, Definitives, or Connectives ; the substantives may 
 be called nouns ; the attributives, verbs ; the definitives, articles ; and 
 the connectives, conjunctions.'' As to the pronouns, adverbs, prepo- 
 sitions, and interjections, he is of opinion, that they must be found 
 included within the species above-mentioned.' 
 
 ^ All things whatever either exist as the energies or affections of some other things or 
 without being the energies or affections of some other thing. If they exist as the energies or 
 affections of something else^ then are they called Attributes. Thus^ to think^ is the attribute of 
 a man ; to be white^ of a swan ; to fly, of an eagle ; to be four-footed, of a horse. 
 
 If they exist not after this manner, then are they called Substances. Thus man, swan, eagle, 
 and horse, are none of them attributes, but all substances ; because however they may exist in 
 time and place, yet neither of these, nor of any thing else, do they exist as energies or affections. 
 
 And thus all things whatsoever, being either substances or attributes, it follows of course, that 
 all words, which are significant as principals, must needs be significant of either the one or the 
 other. If they are significant of substances, they are called Substantives; if of attributes, they 
 are called Attributives. So that all words whatever, significant as principals, are either substan- 
 tives or attributives. 
 
 Again, as to words, which are only significant as accessories, they acquire a signification, 
 either from being associated to one word, or else to many. If to one word alone then as 
 they can do no more than in some manner define or determine, they may justly for that 
 reason be called Definitives. If to many words at once, then, as they serve to no other purpose 
 than to connect, they are called for that reason by the name of Connectives. — Hermes p. 
 28 to 31. 
 
 ' Pronouns are evidently included in nouns, adverbs in verbs, and prepositions in conjunctions, 
 they being merely connectives.— (Hermes, ut supra).— Interjections are certain voices of nature 
 (rather than voices of art) expressive of emotions. — Hermes, p. 390. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 OF THE ANTIQUITY OF WRITING. 
 
 THE CLAIMS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS TO THE INVENTION OF LET- 
 TERS; NAMELY, OF THE EGYPTIANS — PHENICIANS — CHALDEANS 
 
 SYRIANS INDIANS ARABIANS. OBSERVATIONS AND REFLEC- 
 TIONS. — OF ANTE-DILirVIAN WRITING. 
 
 1 HE art of writing is of so great antiquity, and the written annals of 
 ancient nations are so imperfect or fabulous, that it will be extremely 
 difficult to decide to what nation or people the honour of the invention 
 belongs ; for, as Sir Isaac Newton justly observes, " there is the utmost 
 " uncertainty in the chronology of ancient kingdoms, arising from the 
 " vanity of each in claiming the greatest antiquity, while those preten- 
 " sions were favoured by their having no exact accounts of time." 
 
 It has already been observed, that Letters were the produce of a certain 
 degree of civilization among mankind ; and therefore it is most probable, 
 that we shall obtain the best information, by having recourse to the his- 
 tory of those nations who appear to have been first civilized. 
 
 As a great number of authors have decided in favour 
 of the Egyptians, who have an undoubted claim to an 
 early civilization, we shall begin our inquiries with that people; and, as 
 they displayed every species of writing in the course of their improve- 
 ments, we shall pursue the thread of their history, which will reflect con- 
 siderable light on what has been already advanced. 
 
 Dr. Warburton, bishop of Gloucester, affirms, that the Egyptians were 
 the first people who discovered the knowledge of the divine nature ; and 
 amongst the first who taught the immortality of the soul." In another 
 place he gives us an account of the state of their learning and superstitions 
 
 ^ Divine Legat. of Moses, vol. i. p. 165; vol. ii. p. 100 to 105; vol. iii. p. 17; ibid. p. 35 to 
 40. We are indebted to this prelate for great part of what is here said of the Egyptians. 
 
28 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 in the time of Moses. He contends, that Egypt was the parent of all 
 the learning of Greece, and was resorted to by the Grecian legislators, 
 naturalists, and philosophers. The same prelate, with great erudition, 
 and strength of argument, endeavours to prove, that Egypt was probably 
 one of the first civilized countries on the globe. 
 
 In order to give the reader a clear idea of the several kinds of Egyp- 
 tian writing, it will be proper to observe, that this writing was of four 
 kinds. The first, hieroglyphic ; the second, symbolic; the third, epistolic ; 
 and, the fourth and last, hierogrammatic. 
 
 Porphyry ,*" speaking of Pythagoras, informs us, " That he sojourned 
 ' with the priests in Egypt, and learnt the wisdom and language of the 
 ' country, together with their three sorts of letters ; the epistolic, the 
 ' hieroglyp/iic, and the symbolic ; of which, the hieroglyphic expressed 
 ' the meaning of the writer, by an imitation or picture of the thing 
 ' intended to be expressed ; and the symbolic, by allegorical enigmas." 
 Clemens Alexandrinus is larger and more explicit : — " Now those who 
 ' w^ere instructed in the Egyptian wisdom, learn, first of all, the method 
 ' of their several sorts of letters ; the first of which is called epistolic ; the 
 ' second, sacerdotal, as being used by the sacred scribes ; the last, with 
 ' which they conclude their instructions, kieroglyphical. Of these dif- 
 ' ferent methods, the one is in the plain and common way of writing by 
 ' the first elements of words, or letters of an alphabet ; the other, by 
 ' symbols. Of the symbolic way of writing, which is of three kinds ; 
 ' the first is, that plain and common one, of imitating the figure of the 
 ' thing represented ; the second is, by tropical marks ; and the third, in 
 ' a contrary way, of allegorizing by enigmas. 
 
 " Of the first sort, namely, by a plain and direct imitation of the 
 ' figure, let this stand for an instance :— to signify the sun, they made 
 ' a circle ; the moon, a half circle. The second, or tropical way of 
 ' writing, is by changing and transferring the object with justness and 
 ' propriety : this they do sometimes by a simple change, sometimes by 
 ' a complex multifarious transformation ; thus they have enoraven on 
 ' stones and pillars, the praises of their kings, under the cover of theo- 
 
 '' De Vita Pythag. cap. xi. and xii. p. 15. 
 
CHAP. III. OF \yillTING. 
 
 29 
 
 " logic fables. Of the third sort, by enigmas, take this example ; the 
 " oblique course of the stars, occasioned their representing them by 
 " the bodies of serpents ; but the sun they likened to a scarabeeus, 
 " because this insect makes a round ball of beasts dung, and rolls it 
 *' circularly, with its face opposed to that luminary." 
 
 These two learned Greeks, though not quite correct in their defini- 
 tions of writing, prove, that the several kinds above-mentioned were used 
 by the Egyptians. Indeed, they reckon but three kinds of writing, when 
 in fact, there were four. Porphyry names only three sorts ; epistoUc, 
 hieroglyphic, and sipnbolic : and this was not much amiss ; because the 
 fourth, the hierogrammatic or sacerdotal, not differing from the epistolic 
 in its nature, he comprised it under the general term of epistolic. — It is 
 observable, that Porphyry judiciously omits to explain epistolary writing, 
 as supposing it to be well known : but Clement adds to epistolic the 
 hierogrammatic, which was alphabetic, but being confined to the use of 
 the priests, was not so well known : he with equal judgment explains the 
 nature of these characters. 
 
 The Egyptians, as hath been observed, in the most early ages, wrote 
 like all other infant nations, by pictures ; of which rude original essays 
 some traces are yet remaining amongst the hieroglyphics of Horapollo, 
 who tells us, that the ancient Egyptians painted a man's two feet in 
 water to signify a /i^/Zer ; and smoke ascending to denote ^re.^ But to 
 render this rude invention less incommodious, they soon devised the 
 more artful and expeditious way of putting the principal part for the 
 whole, or by putting one thing of resembling qualities for another. 
 The former was the curiologic hieroglyphic ,• the latter, the tropical hiero- 
 glyphic ; which last was a gradual improvement on the first, as appears 
 both from the nature of the thing, and from the records of antiquity."^ 
 
 These alterations in the manner of delineating hieroglyphic figures, 
 produced and perfected another character, which hath been called the 
 running hand of hieroglyphics, resembling the Chinese writing, which 
 
 ' Lib. i. c. 65; Lib. ii. c. 16. 
 ^ Many instances of this kind may be found in Horapollo, lib. i. c. 14 and 40. Plutarch Is. 
 and Osir. Died. Sic. lib. i. 
 
30 OPxIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. in. 
 
 having been first formed by the out-lines of each figure,^ became at 
 length a kind of marks ; the natural effects of which were, that the con- 
 stant use of them, would take off the attention from the symbol, and fix 
 it on the thing signified ; by which means the study of symbolic writing 
 would be much abbreviated, because the writer or decypherer, would 
 have then little to do, but to remember the power of the symbolic mark : 
 whereas before, the properties of the thing or animal delineated were to 
 be learnt. This, together with their other marks by institution to design 
 mental conceptions, would reduce the characters to the present state of 
 the Chinese ;'^ and these were properly what the ancients call hierogra- 
 jjhical. Doctor Robert Huntington, in his account of the Porphyry 
 Pillars, tells us, that there are yet some ancient monuments of this kind 
 of writing remaining in Egypt/ 
 
 Apuleius*" describes the sacred book, or ritual of the Egyptians (as 
 partly written in symbolic, and partly in these hierographic characters of 
 arbitrary institution, resembling the Chinese), in the following manner. 
 " He (the hierophant) drew out certain books from the secret repositories 
 " of the sanctuary, written in unknown characters, which contained 
 " the words of the sacred formula compendiously expressed, partly by 
 " FIGURES of animals, and partly by certain marks or notes intricately 
 " knotted, revolving in the manner of a wheel, and crowded together, and 
 " curled inward like the tendrils of a vine, so as to hide the meanino- from 
 "the curiosity of the prophane." These hierographic characters are 
 mixed with the symbolic in the ritual of Apuleius, and in the Bembine 
 tables, as likewise on several of the obelisks, where they are found mixed 
 both with the proper hieroglyphic and with the symbolic. 
 
 That letters were of great antiquity among the Egyptians, may reason- 
 
 = The inquisitive reader, by comparing Kircher's Account of Egyptian Hieroglyphics with 
 those published by Purchas, will find that the former exactly resemble the Mexican, not only in 
 their use, but, as Purchas (p. 69) and Diodorus Siculus (p. 124) say, in their formsand figures. 
 
 f These arbitrary marks, or marks by institution, shall be further explained in the chapter on 
 Notce, or Short-hand. The notes of short-hand are marks for words, and the notes of hiero- 
 glyphics are marks for things. 
 
 e See his Account of the Porphyry Pillars, Philosoph. Transact. N° clxi. p. 624. 
 
 ^ Metamorphosis, lib. ii., where he speaks of his initiation into the mysteries of Isis. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 31 
 
 ably be supposed, because we have indubitable proofs of their early 
 civilization ; but there is strong evidence to induce us to believe they 
 were not the first inventors of an alphabet. — Mr. Jackson,' with great 
 learning, endeavours to shew, that letters were not invented or carried 
 into Egypt by Taaut, or Thoth, the first Hermes and son of Misraira, 
 who lived about five hundred years after the deluge; but that they were 
 introduced into that country by the second Hermes, who lived about 
 four hundred years after the former. This second Hermes is by Plato 
 called Theuth, who also styles him Counsellor and Sacred Scribe to king 
 Thamus. Diodorus relates, that this Egyptian Hermes was the inventor 
 of grammar and music, and that he added many words to the Egyptian 
 language : that he invented letters, rhythm, and harmony of sounds. 
 This was the Hermes so greatly celebrated by the Greek writers, who 
 knew no older Hermes than him. 
 
 Mr Wise*" insists, that Moses and Cadmus could not learn the alpha- 
 bet in Egypt ; and that the Egyptians had no alphabet in their time. 
 He adduces several reasons to prove that they had no alphabet till they 
 received what is called the Coptic, which was introduced either in the 
 time of the Ptolomeys, or earlier, under Psammitichus or Amasis ; and 
 these letters, which are the oldest alphabetic characters of the Egyptians 
 that can now be produced, are plainly derived from the Greek. It seems 
 to us, that if the Egyptians used letters before the time mentioned by 
 Mr. Wise, they were probably the characters of their neighbours the 
 Phoenicians. 
 
 Herodotus, the most ancient Greek historian whose works have 
 reached us,' seems very sincere in his Egyptian history ; for he ingenu- 
 ously owns, that all he relates before the reign of Psammitichus'" is 
 uncertain ; and that he reports the early transactions of that nation on 
 the credit of the Egyptian priests, on which he did not much depend. 
 
 ' See Chronological Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 93—95- 
 
 k See his Enquiries concerning the first inhabitants, language, Sec. of Europe, p. 104—109. 
 
 • He wrote his history in the first year of the eighty-fourth olympiad ; three hundred and ten 
 after the foundation of Rome; and four hundred and forty-four before Christ. 
 
 ^ He reigned about six hundred and sixty years before the christian sera. Syncellus 
 informs us, that the Greeks had very little commerce with the Egyptians till the reign of this 
 king. 
 
32 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap, hi- 
 
 Diodorus Siculus is also reported to have been greatly imposed upon by 
 
 the priests in Egypt. 
 
 Manetho, the oldest Egyptian historian, translated out of the Egyptian 
 into the Greek, the Sacred Registers of Egypt, which are said, by Syn- 
 cellus, to have been written in the sacred letters, and to have been laid 
 up by the second Mercury in the Egyptian temples. This work was 
 divided into three parts. The first, contained the history of the gods ; 
 the second, that of the demi-gods ; the third, the dynasties, which ended 
 in- Nectanebus king of Egypt, who was driven out by Ochus, three 
 hundred and fifty years before Christ. This author seems to have written 
 his dynasties about two hundred and fifty-eight years before the christian 
 gera, and, as Syncellus tells us," about ten years after Berosus had written 
 his Chaldean history.— Manetho allows the Egyptian gods to have been 
 mortal men ; but his history was very much corrupted by the Greeks, 
 and hath been called in question by several writers, from the account 
 which he himself gave of it. 
 
 The objections to Manetho's Chronology are well founded ; for his 
 number of three thousand Jive hundred and fifty years, belongs wholly to 
 the successors of Menes, though he is more modest than many other 
 writers of the Egyptian history.— Eusebius, in his Canon," omits the first 
 sixteen dynasties of Manetho, and begins their chronology with the 
 seventeenth. — After Cambyses had carried away the Egyptian records, 
 the Egyptian priests, to supply their loss, and to keep up their preten- 
 sions to antiquity, began to write new records, wherein they not only 
 unavoidably made great mistakes, but added much of their own inven- 
 tion, especially as to distant times. — Josephus, Plutarch, Porphyry, and 
 Eusebius, speak well of Manetho. The curious fragments transcribed 
 from him by Josephus, before his copies had been corrupted, seem to 
 confirm the good opinion of these authors. 
 
 ^ We shall next consider the claim of the Phenicians 
 
 Phenicians. , • • p 1 
 
 to the invention of letters, as we have the "strongest 
 
 proofs of the early civilization of this people. — Sanconiatho of Berytus, 
 
 the most ancient, as also the most celebrated Phenician historian, com- 
 
 " Chronograph, p. i8. ° Chron. Grasc. p. 89. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 33 
 
 piled the Phenician history with great exactness, from the monuments 
 and memoirs which he received from Jerobalus, priest of the god Jaco, 
 and from their registers, which, Josephus says,^ were carefully preserved 
 in the inner parts of the temples ; and in them were written the most 
 memorable events, with regard to themselves and others. 
 
 Philo of Byblus, a famous grammarian, who lived in the reigns of 
 Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan, and Adrian, translated Sanconi- 
 atho's history, out of the Phenician into the Greek tongue ; and reduced 
 it into eight books, but the original and the version are lost, — Eusebius, 
 who hath preserved several fragments of this history, gives the following 
 account of it from Porphyry, who was a Phenician of Tyre, and excel- 
 lently versed in all ancient learning. He says,^ that Sanconiatho of 
 Berytus related, in his history, the Jewish affairs with great veracity : — 
 that he dedicated his work to King Abibalus;*" and his history was 
 allowed to be true, both by the king, and by those who were appointed 
 by him to examine it. 
 
 This most ancient prophane historian expressly relates, that letters 
 were first invented in Phenicia, by Taaut, who lived in that country in 
 the twelfth and thirteenth generations after the creation.' " Misor was 
 " the son of Hamyn. The son of Misor was Taaut, who invented the first 
 " letters for writing." The Egyptians call him Thoth ; the Alexandrians 
 Thoyth, and the Greeks, Hermes, or Mercury. 
 
 ^ See Josephus against Apion, book i. 
 8 See Eusebius Prseparat. Evang. lib. i. c. 9. p. 30, &c. 
 ^ King Abibalus began to reign one thousand seventy-three years before Christ; he was the 
 father of Hiram, who was Solomon's ally. 
 
 ' The genealogy of Taaut, as given by Sanconiatho : 
 I Protogonus, 5 HrpsuRANius, or Memrumus, 9 Agroverus, (Noah,) 
 a Genus, 6 Agreus, 10 Amyn, (Hamyn, or Ham,) 
 
 3 Ur, Phos, 7 Chrysor, II Misor, or Misraim, 
 
 4 Cassius, 8 Technites, I3 Taaut. 
 
 This author makes mankind live in Phenicia; and places Hypsuranius at Tyre. The plan of 
 the history is quite different from that of Moses, and seems to be grounded upon a very different 
 tradition relating to the first ages. Some writers have attempted to prove the works of this 
 author spurious ; but their arguments are so frivolous that they scarcely deserve an answer.— See 
 many curious particulars concerning the author and his writings, in the Univ. Hist. vol. i. preface, 
 p. 10, and p. 33, 181, 187, 189, 303 to 320; vol. vi. p. S5> ^'o'- ^^'"- P- "*^ "°*^ D.— And 
 Jackson's Chronol. Antiq. vol. iii. p. 5 to 37. 
 
34 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 Sanconiatho is said to have derived his first books, of the Origin of 
 Gods and Men, from writings ascribed to Taaut the first Hermes ; he 
 makes Protogonus the first man, and iEon (or Life) the first woman. Of 
 Protogonus and ^on were begot two children, Genus and Genea, who 
 dwelt in Phenicia, and in time of a drought, prayed to the Sun, and 
 worshipped him, as the only God and Lord of heaven. From these 
 two persons Taaut is lineally descended, as we have just mentioned (in 
 note') ; this author carries the worship of the Sun to the second man 
 of human race. Philo observes, that the Greeks claimed most of San- 
 coniatho's history of the gods to themselves, to which they added many 
 pleasing fables. Hence it was, saith he, that Hesiod, and the itinerary 
 poets, sung about in their poems, generations of gods and battles of 
 giants and Titans ; and men being accustomed from their infancy to hear 
 nothing but these fictions, which gained credit from long continuance, 
 it was not easy to dispossess their minds of the belief of them. There is 
 no doubt, but the Greeks received the history of the gods from the 
 Phenicians and Egyptians, and applied them to their own either real or 
 feigned heroes. 
 
 In the time of this Taaut or Hermes, Phenicia, and the adjacent 
 country, was governed by Uranus ; and, after him, by his son Saturn, 
 or Cronus. He invented letters, saith Sanconiatho, either in the reign 
 of Uranus, or Cronus ; and staid in Phenicia, with Cronus, till the 
 thirty-second year of his reign. Cronus, after the death of his father 
 Uranus, made several settlements of his family," and travelled into other 
 parts ; and, when he came to the south country, he gave all Egypt to 
 the god Taautus, that it should be his kingdom. 
 
 Sanconiatho began his history with the creation, and ended it with 
 placing Taautus upon the throne of Egypt. He doth not mention the 
 deluge, but he makes two more generations in Cain's line, from Proto- 
 gonus to Agroverus (or from Adam to Noah) than Moses. 
 
 As Sanconiatho has not told us in what reign, whether of Uranus or 
 
 " "■ Out of Phenicia," (says Mens. Bochart, in his learned work^ intitled, Canaan), " issued 
 "a vast number of tribes, who settled themselves in all parts of the world, in Egypt, Asia, 
 " Cyprus, the Isles of the Mediterranean, Sicily, Sardinia, the African coast, Spain, and several 
 other countries." 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 
 
 35 
 
 Cronus, Taaut invented letters, he might have invented them in either 
 reign ; " and we cannot err much," says Mr. Jackson, (in his Chronol. 
 Antiq. vol. iii. p. 94,) " if we place his invention of them five hundred 
 " and fifty years after the flood, or twenty years after the dispersion ; 
 " and two thousand six hundred and nineteen years before the christian 
 " aera ; and six, or perhaps ten years, before he went into Egypt.'''' — 
 Taaut, and his posterity, for fifteen generations, ruled in the Upper 
 Egypt, at Thebes, which was built by the Mezrites. 
 
 That letters were invented in Phenicia, doth not depend solely upon 
 the testimony of Sanconiatho ; for several Roman authors attribute their 
 invention to the Phenicians.— Pliny says, the Phenicians were famed for 
 the invention of letterSj as well as for astronomical observations, and 
 naval and martial arts.*" — Curtius says, that the Tyrian nation are related, 
 to be the first, who either taught or learned letters ; '^ and Lucan says, 
 the Phenicians were the first who attempted to express sounds (or words) 
 by letters.' To these authorities may be added that of Eusebius,^ who 
 tells us, from Porphyry, that " Sanconiatho studied with great applica- 
 " tion the writings of Taaut, knowing that he was the first who invented 
 " letters ; " and on these he laid the foundation of his history. 
 
 It is observable, that the Greek writers seem to have known no older 
 Hermes than the second Hermes or Mercury, who is recorded to have 
 lived about four hundred years after the Mezrite Taaut or Hermes; which 
 second Hermes, Plato calls Theuth, and counsellor and sacred scribe to 
 king Thamus, but it is not said that he ever reigned in Egypt : whereas 
 the Mezrite Taaut, or Athothes, as Manetho calls him, was the imme- 
 diate successor of Menes, the first king of Egypt. The second Mercury, 
 if we believe Manetho, composed several books of the Egyptian history, 
 and many incredible things are attributed to him ; who being more 
 known, and more famous in Egypt than the Mezrite Hermes, and having 
 
 *" The author is mistaken in his calculation, as will presently appear by our remarks. 
 "= Ipsa gens Phaenicum in gloria magna literanim inventionis et siderum, navaliumque ac 
 bellicarum artium. Nat. Hist. lib. v. c. I3. 
 
 ^ Si fam» libet credere haec (Tvriorum) gens literas prima aut docility aut didicit, lib. vi. c. 4. 
 ■ Phoenices primi^ famae si creditur ausi. Mansuram rudibus vocem signare figuris, lib. iii. v. 
 
 aao, 221. 
 
 f De abstinent, lib. ii. sect. 56. 
 
36 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 improved both their language and letters, the Egyptians attributed the 
 arts and inventions of the former, to him.^ 
 
 The Phenician language has been generally allowed to be at least 
 a dialect of the Hebrew ; and though their alphabet doth not intirely 
 agree with the Samaritan, yet it will hereafter appear, that there is a 
 great similarity between them.*" Arithmetic and astronomy were much 
 cultivated by them, in the most early agesJ Their fine linen, their purple, 
 and their glass, were superior to those of any other people ; and their 
 extraordinary skill in architecture and other arts, was such, that what- 
 ever was great, elegant, or pleasing, whether in buildings, apparel, 
 vessels, or toys, were distinguished by the epithet of Tyrian or Sidonian.^ 
 
 The Sidonians or Phenicians were the first people who ventured out 
 to sea in ships ; ' they were the greatest commercial people of all an- 
 tiquity, and engrossed all the commerce of the western world. This very 
 early and high degree of civilization, justly entitles them to urge the 
 strongest pretensions to the first use of alphabetic characters."" 
 
 s Concerning this second Hermes^ see Du Pin's Universal Historical Library^ vol. i. p. 34 and 
 52 ; and Jackson's Chronol. Antiq. vol. iii. p. 94. 
 
 ^ They had circumcision, as well as other customs, in common with the Hebrews, saith 
 Herodotus. 
 
 ' They were from the beginning, as it were, addicted to philosophical exercises of the mind; 
 insomuch that a Sidonian, by name Moschus, is said to have taught the doctrine of Atoms, before 
 the Trojan war ; and Abdomenus of Tyre challenged Solomon, though the wisest king upon 
 earth, by the subtle questions he proposed to him. Phenicia continued to be one of the seats of 
 learning; and both Tyre and Sidon produced their philosophers of later ages; Boethus and 
 Diodatus of Sidon, Antipater of Tyre, and Apollonius of the same place, gave an account of the 
 writings and disciples of Zeno. Universal Hist. vol. ii. p. 346. 
 
 ^ Tyre and Sidon were the principal cities in Phenicia. — See the treaty which king Solomon 
 entered into with Hiram king of Tyre, for artificers, as it is recorded in a Chroti. chap. ii. v. 7 — 
 16. Hiram began to reign in the one thousand three hundred and twenty-ninth year after the 
 deluge, and one thousand and twenty years before the christian sera. Solomon also contracted 
 with king Hiram, for ships to bring gold and precious stones for ornamenting his buildings. 
 2 Chron. v. 18 ; and chap. ix. v. 10 and 18. 
 
 1 Sanconiatho says. That the Phenicians made ships of burden in which they sailed in the 
 time of Saturn, or Cronus. And Dionysius says, the Phenicians were the first who ventured to 
 sea in ships. Perieg. v. 907. 
 
 ■" The learned authors of the Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique, not only corroborate but illus- 
 trate this opinion. — Enfin, tout depose exclusivement en faveur de I'antiquite de la lano-ue Pheni- 
 cienne. Par la Phenicie on n'entend pas seulement les villes de la cote maritime de la Palestine 
 mais de plus la Judee & les pays des Chananeens & des Hebreux. Herodote lui-meme lib. ii. col. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 
 
 37 
 
 Chaldeans. ^^'^^^ respect to the claim of the Chaldeans, the Jews, 
 
 Arabians, and Indians, have it by tradition, that the 
 Egyptians were instructed in all their knowledge by Abraham, who was 
 a Chaldean. These traditions deserve, at least, as much credit as any 
 traditions of the Egyptians, however credited and adopted by the Greeks ; 
 because they are, in some degree, confirmed by most of the western 
 wTiters, who ascribe the inventions of arithmetic and astronomy to the 
 Chaldeans." Josephus, lib. i. cap. 9, is very express that the Egyptians 
 were ignorant of the sciences of arithmetic and astronomy before they 
 were instructed by Abraham ; and it is probable that the relation of the 
 Jewish historian, may have induced many succeeding writers to attribute 
 the invention of letters to that celebrated patriarch." Sir Isaac Newton 
 admits that letters were known in the Abrahamic line for some centuries 
 before Moses. 
 
 Though the cosmogony of the Chaldeans and Babylonians is deeply 
 involved in fables, as is the case with all ancient nations, yet they evince 
 that they cultivated the sciences in the most remote times. 
 
 The Chaldaic letters are derived from the ancient Hebrew, or Sama- 
 
 104^ par les Pheniciens designoit evidemment les Hebreux ou les Juifs, puisque, selon lui, les Phe- 
 niciens se faisoient circoncire, & que les Tyriens^ les Sidoniens, &c. n^etoient point dans cet 
 usage. Par ecriture Phenicienne, on entend done, la Samaritaine, c'est-a-dire I'ancien Hebreiij 
 Souciet, Dissertation sur les Medailles Hebraique, p. 4; different de I'Hebreu quarre ou Chal- 
 daiquCj qui est Je moderne, que les Juif's ont adopte depuis la captivite de Babylone, ainsi que 
 I'ont pensee S. Jerome, S. Irenee, S. Clement d'Alexandrie, &c. &c. 
 
 Les aiiteurs qui adjugent i'antiquite a I'ecriture Samaritaine sont sans nombre. Genebrard, 
 Bellannin, le P(ire Morin, M. Huet^ Dom. Montfaucon, Dom. Calmet, M. Renaudot, Joseph 
 Scaliger, Grotius, Casaubon, Walton, Bochard, Vossius, Prideaux, Capelle, Simon, &c. &c. se 
 sont hautement declares on faveur en ce sentiment; & ils sont appuyes sur les Auteurs anciens 
 & sur I'analogies des caract^res Samaritains avec les caract^res Grecs; resemblance necessaire 
 pour obtenir la gloire de I'antiquite puisque les derniers se pendent dans la nuit des temps, & que 
 cependant ce n'est point eux qui les ont inventees. 
 
 En combinant la descendance des lettres, il en resultera beaucoup de jour sur ce systeme, & 
 un nouvel appui pour le dernier sentiment. Diet. Dipl. torn. i. p. 416. 
 
 ° After the flood, all mankind lived together in Chaldea, till the days of Peleg. See Univ. 
 Hist. vol. iv. p. 2i3'2, 375; and Sir Isaac Newton's Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms, London, 
 1738, 4to. The tower of Babel, and the city of Babylon, were in the province which is now 
 called Erica Arabic. 
 
 ° Abraham did not retire from Ur, in Chaldea, to settle at Haran in Canaan, till he was 
 upwards of seventy years old. 
 
38 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 ritan, which are the same, or nearly so, with the old Phenician.^ The 
 prophet Ezra is supposed to have exchanged the old Hebrew characters, 
 for the more beautiful and commodious Chaldee, which are still in use. 
 
 Berosus, the most ancient Chaldean historian, was born (as he tells 
 us himself) during the minority of Alexander the great ; he wrote in 
 three books, the Chaldean and Babylonish history, which comprehended 
 that of the Medes. He is allowed to have been a very respectable 
 writer, but he does not mention that he believed the Chaldeans to have 
 been the inventors of letters.'' 
 
 Let us briefly examine the pretensions of some other na- 
 Strians. . , / „ , ,„, i • 1 1 • 
 
 tions to the early use or letters. — Ihe next nation that claims 
 
 attention is the Syrian. The language of the Syrians is mentioned in 
 the Universal History, vol. i. p. 347, 348 ; and was a distinct tongue in 
 the days of Jacob. It was also the language of Mesopotamia and 
 Chaldea. — At to the arts and learning of the Syrians, they were by some 
 anciently joined with the Phenicians, as the first inventors of letters ; but, 
 without entering into this matter, certain it is, that they yielded to no 
 nation in human knowledge and skill in the fine arts. From their happy 
 situation they may almost be said to have been in the centre of the old 
 world : and, in the zenith of their empire, they enriched themselves with 
 the spoils, tribute, and commerce, of the nations far and near, and arose 
 to a great pitch of splendour and magnificence, which are the chief 
 encouragers of ingenuity and industry.' Their language is pretended to 
 have been the vernacular of all the oriental tongues, which was divided 
 into three dialects : First, the Aramean, used in Mesopotamia, and by 
 the inhabitants of Roha, or Edesa, of Harram, and the Outer Syria : 
 Secondly, the dialect of Palestine, spoken by the inhabitants of Damas- 
 cus, Mount Libanus, and the Inner Syria : Thirdly, the Chaldee or 
 
 P Univ. Hist. vol. iii. p. 217. 
 
 1 Sec an account of him and iiis works in the Univ. Hist. vol. i. pret'. p. 13, and p. 29, 30 • 
 and the substance of the fragments of his history that are still remaining, at p. 192 195. 
 
 "■ The altar at Damascus, which so ravished Ahaz king of Judah, serves as a noble specimen 
 of the skill of their artificers. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 39 
 
 Nabathean dialect, the most unpolished of the three, and spoken in the 
 mountainous parts of Assyria, and the villages of Irac or Babylonia. 
 
 It hath been a received opinion, that no nation of equal antiquity 
 had a more considerable trade than the ancient Syrians. They had many 
 valuable commodities of their own to carry into other parts ; and, by 
 their vicinity to the river Euphrates, it is evident that they traded with 
 the eastern nations upon that river very early. The easy and safe navi- 
 gation of the Euphrates, when compared with that of the sea, may incline 
 us to consider them, as older merchants than the Edomites, or even the 
 Phenicians, who confessedly engrossed the trade of the western world. 
 The Syrians_jherefore are supposed to have been the first people who 
 brouo-ht the Persian and Indian commodities into the west of Asia. It 
 seems therefore that the Syrians carried on an inland trade, by engross- 
 ino; the commerce of the Euphrates ; whilst the Phenicians traded to the 
 most distant countries. 
 
 Notwithstanding the above circumstances, which may seem to favour 
 the claim of the Syrians, the oldest characters or letters of that nation 
 that are at present Jixiowji, are but about three centuries^efore^the^birth 
 of Christ. Their letters are of two sorts : the Estrangelo, which is the 
 more ancient ; and that called the Fshito, the simple or common charac- 
 ter, which is more expeditious and beautiful.' 
 
 The period of time is happily arrived, when the study of 
 Indians, ^^.^gj^i-^i literature is not only become useful, but fashionable. 
 The learned sir William Jones greatly facilitated the attainment of the 
 knowledge of the Persian language ; Mr Richardson that of the Arabic ; 
 and doctor Woide, the Egyptian and the Coptic ; by the publication of 
 their respective grammars. ]\Ii\_Halhed, thei^ditOT of AwpjJiJntitled the 
 Gentoo Laws, hath written a grammar of the^hanscrit language,' which, 
 he iHforms^s, is not only the grand source of Indian literature, but 
 the parent of almost every dialect from the Persian gulph to the Chinese 
 
 = See these characters in the Univ. Hist. vol. ii. p. 394. 
 
 t This ingenious gentleman, assisted by Mr. Wilkins, a descendant of the learned bishop ot 
 that name, not only formed the types of the Gentoo alphabet, but printed this grammar at 
 Hoogly, in Bengal, 4to. 1778. 
 
40 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 seas, and is a language of the most venerable antiquity ; and, although 
 at present shut up in the libraries of Bramins, and appropriated solely 
 to the records of their religion, appears to have been once current over 
 most of the oriental world, as traces of its original extent may still be 
 discovered, in almost every district of Asia. 
 
 "There is," says Mr. Halhed, " a great similarity between the Shan- 
 " scrit words and those of the Persian and Arabick, and even of Latin 
 " and Greek; and these, not in technical and metaphorical terms, which 
 " the mutation of refined arts and improved manners might have occa- 
 " sionally introduced, but in the main ground-works of language ; in 
 " monosyllables, in the names of numbers, and the appellations of such 
 " things as would be first discriminated, on the immediate dawn of 
 " civilization. The resemblance which may be observed in the characters 
 " upon the medals and signets of various districts of Asia, the light 
 " which they reciprocally reflect upon each other, and the general 
 " analogy which they all bear to the grand prototype, affords another 
 " ample field for curiosity. 
 
 " The coins of Assam, Napaul, Cashmiria, and many other king- 
 " doms, are all stampt with Shanscrit letters, and mostly contain allusions 
 " to the old Shanscrit mythology. The same conformity I have observed 
 " on the impressions of seals from Bootan and Thibet." 
 
 That part of Asia between the Indus and the Ganges, still preserves 
 the Shanscrit language pure and inviolate, and offers a great number of 
 books to the perusal of the curious, many of which have been religiously 
 handed down from the earliest period of their civilization. 
 
 There are seven different sorts of Indian hand-writings, all comprised 
 under the general term of Naagoree, which may be interpreted writing. 
 The elegant Shanscrit is stiled Daeb-uaagoree, or the writing of the im- 
 mortals ; - which may not improbably be a refinement from the more 
 simple Naagoree of the earliest ages. The Bengal letters are another 
 branch of the same stock. The Bengalise Bramins have all their Shan- 
 scrit books copied in this national alphabet; and they transpose into 
 them all the Daeb-naagoree mss. for their own perusal. The dialect 
 
 " The Bramins say, letters were of divine original. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 41 
 
 called by us the Moorish, is that species of Hindostanic which owes its 
 existence to the Mahometan conquests. 
 
 There are about seven hundred radical words in the Shanscrit lap.- 
 guage ; the fundamental part of which is divided into three classes. 
 
 First, Dhaat — or roots of verbs. 
 Second, Shubd — or original nouns. 
 Third, Evya — or particles. 
 
 The Shanscrit alphabet contains fifty letters ; viz. thirty-four con- 
 sonants, and sixteen vowels. The Indian Bramins contend, that they 
 had letters before any other peaple ; andnVIr. Halhed observes, that 
 sufficient grounds still exist for conjecturing, that Egypt has but a dis- 
 putable claim to its long boasted originality in civilization. The present 
 learned Rajah of Kishinagur affirms, that he has in his possession Shan- 
 scrit books, where the Egyptians are constantly described as disciples, 
 not as instructors, and as seeking that liberal education, and those 
 sciences in Flindostan, which none of their own countrymen had suffi- 
 cient knowledge to impart. Mr. Halhed hints, that the learning of 
 Hindostan might have been transplanted into Egypt, and thus have 
 become familiar to Moses. ^ However this may be, several authors agree 
 in opinion, that the ancient Egyptians possessed themselves of the trade 
 of the East by the Red Sea ; and that they carried on a considerable 
 traffic with the Indian nations before the time of Sesostris, who was 
 contemporary with Abraham.^ — The Red Sea was called by the ancients 
 the Indian Sea ; and they usually denominated the Ethiopians, and the 
 rest of the nations under the torrid zone, Indians.' 
 
 A translation of an Indian book called Bagavadam, one of the 
 eighteen Pouranam, or sacred books of the Gentoos, hath lately been 
 published in France. This translation was made by Meridas Poulle, 
 a learned man of Indian origin, and chief interpreter to the supreme 
 council of Pondicherry ; and was sent by him to M. Bertin, his protector, 
 in 1769. This Bagavadam, or divine history, claims an antiquity of 
 
 ■^ Preface to Gentoo Laws, p. 44. 
 
 d Rollin's Hist. p. 59, 60; and Universal Hist. vol. i. p. 513. 
 
 ' Preface to Gentoo Laws, p. 44. 
 
 G 
 
42 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 above five thousand years. Mons. Poulle tells us, in his preface, that 
 the book was composed by Viasser the son of Brahma, and is of sacred 
 authority amongst the worshippers of Vischnow. The language of the 
 original text is Shanscrit, but the translation was made from a version 
 in Tamoul. 
 
 There are several traditions and relations of the Indians calculated 
 to ascertain the antiquity of this book, and they all tend to. date its 
 composition three thousand one hundred and sixteen years before the 
 christian tera : but Mons. De Guines' hath not only invalidated these 
 traditions, but proves also, that the pretensions of this book to such a 
 remote antiquity are inconclusive and unsatisfactory. Hence we may 
 conclude, that though a further inquiry into the literature of the Indian 
 nations may be laudable, yet we must by no means give too easy credit 
 to their relations concerning the high antiquity of their manuscripts, and 
 early civilization. 
 
 The Persians had no great learning among them till the 
 time of Hystaspes, the father of the emperor Darius Hys- 
 taspes. The former, we are told, travelled into India, and was instructed 
 in the sciences by the Bramins, for which they were at that time famed.^ 
 The ancient Persians contemned riches, and were strangers to commerce ; 
 they had no money amongst them, till after the conquest of Lydia."" It 
 appears by several inscriptions taken from the ruins of the palace of Per- 
 sepolis, which was built near seven hundred years before the christian 
 a?ra, that the Persians sometimes wrote in perpendicular columns, after 
 the manner of the Chinese, This mode of writing was first used upon 
 the stems of trees, or pillars, or obelisks. As for those simple characters 
 found upon the west side of the staircase at Persepolis, some authors 
 have supposed them to be alphabetic ; others, hieroglyphic ; whilst 
 others have asserted them to be ante-diluvian : but our learned doctor 
 Hyde pronounces them to have been mere whimsical ornaments, thouoh 
 
 f See his reflections on this book, published in the 38th vol. of the Histoire de I'Academie 
 Royal, &c. Paris, 1777. 
 
 s Univ. Hist. vol. v. p. 130. h Ibid. p. 131, 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 43 
 
 a late writer' supposes they may be fragments of Egyptian antiquity, 
 taken by Cambyses from the spoils of Thebes. In the second volume of 
 Niebuhr's Travels in Arabia, p. 2.5, several of the inscriptions at Perse- 
 polis are engraven. This author says, that they furnish three different 
 alphabets, which have long been disused. They are certainly alphabetic, 
 and not hieroglyphic or mere ornaments, as some writers have supposed. 
 In fine, the learned seem generally agreed, that the ancient Persians were 
 later than many of their neighbours in civilization : it was never pretended 
 ihat they were the inventors of letters.'' 
 
 The Arabs have inhabited the country they at present 
 possess, for upwards of three thousand seven hundred years, 
 without having intermixt with other nations, or being subjugated by any 
 foreign power. Their language must be very ancient. 'J'he two prin- 
 cipal dialects of it, were those spoken by the Mamyarites, and oth'er 
 genuine Arabs ; and that of the Koreish, in which Malusmraed wrote the 
 Koran- The first is stiled by the oriental writers, the Arabic of llannjar ; 
 and the other, the pure, or deficatcd. — Mr. Richardson, in his Arabic 
 Grammar, observes, as a proof of the richness of this language, that it 
 consists of two thousand radical words. 
 
 The old Arabic characters are said to be of very high anticjuity ; for 
 Ebn Hashem relates, that an inscription in it was found in Yaman, as 
 old as the time of Joseph. These traditions may have given occasion to 
 some authors to suppose the Arabians to have been the inventors of 
 letters ; and Sir Isaac Newton ' supposes, that Moses learned the alphabet 
 from the Midianites, who were Arabians. 
 
 The Arabian alphabet consists of twentj'-eight letters, which are 
 somewhat similar to the ancient Kufic, in which characters the first 
 copies of the Alcoran were written. 
 
 The present Arabic characters were formed by Ebn Moklah, a learned 
 Arabian, who lived about three hundred years after Mahomet. We 
 learn from the Arabian writers themselves, that their alphabet is not 
 
 ' The author of Conjectural Observations on Alphabetic Writing. 
 '' See some remarks upon the old Persic letters in the Universal History, vol. xvui. p. 399. 
 
 1 Chronology of Egypt, p. 205, 8vo. edit. 
 
44 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 ancient.-AL Asmahi says, that the Koreish were asked, " From whom 
 " did you learn writing ? " and, that they answered, " From Hirah." That 
 the people of Hirah were asked, " From whom did you learn writing?" 
 and they said, " From the Anbarites."— Ebn Al. Habli and Al. Heisham 
 Ebn Admi relate, that Abi Sofian, Mahomefs great opposer, was asked, 
 " From whom did your father receive this form of writing ? " and that 
 he said, "From Ashlam Ebn Sidrah;" and, that Ashlara being asked, 
 " From whom did you receive writing ? " his answer was, " From the 
 " person that invented it, Moramer Ebn Morrah ; " and that they received 
 this form of writing but a little before Islamism/ 
 
 Before we conclude, we shall make a few re- 
 Obsebvations axd fl ti ^„ t|,e foregoing claims of different nations 
 
 REFLECTIONS. -, ,,,i • r i 
 
 to the invention of letters. I he vanity ot each 
 nation induces them to pretend to the most early civilization ; but 
 such is the uncertainty of ancient history, that it is difficult to decide to 
 whom the honour is due. It however should seem, from what hath been 
 advanced in the course of this part of our inquiry, that the contest may 
 be confined to the Egyptians, the Phenicians, and the Chaldeans. The 
 Greek writers, and most of those who have copied them, decide in favour 
 of Egypt, because their information is derived from the Egyptians them- 
 selves. The positive claim of the Phenicians, doth not depend upon the 
 sole testimony of Sanconiatho ; the credit of his history is so well sup- 
 ported by Philo of Biblus his translator. Porphyry, Pliny, Curtius, Lucan, 
 and other ancient authors, who might have seen his works intire, and 
 whose relations deserve at least as much credit as those of the Egyptian 
 and Greek writers. It must be allowed, that Sanconiatho's history con- 
 tains many fabulous traditions ; but does not the ancient history of the 
 Egyptians, the Greeks, and most other nations, abound with them to a 
 much greater degree ? The fragments which we have of this most ancient 
 historian, are chiefly furnished by Eusebius, who took all possible ad- 
 vantages to represent the Pagan writers in the worst light, and to render 
 their theology absurd and ridiculous. 
 
 <^ Wise on the first inhabitants, &c. of Europe, p. 99. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 45 
 
 Cicero^ distinguishes five Mercuries, two of which are Egyptian. 
 Authors are much divided as to the ages in which thejr lived, but the 
 most ancient is generally allowed to be the Phenician Taaut, who passed 
 from thence to Egypt. It is probable that he might teach the Egyptians 
 the use of letters ; and that the second Taaut, Mercury, or Hermes 
 Trismegistus, improved both the alphabet and language, as Diodorus 
 and others have asserted. The Phenician and Egyptian languages are 
 very similar, but the latter is said to be more large and full, which is an 
 indication of its beina; of later date. 
 
 The opinion of Mr. Wise, that the ancient Egyptians had not the 
 knowledge of letters, seems to be erroneous : as they had commercial 
 intercourse with their neighbours the Phenicians, they probably had the 
 knowledge of letters, if their policy (like that of the Chinese at this day) 
 did not prohibit the use of them. 
 
 The Chaldeans, who cultivated astronomy in the most remote ages, 
 used symbols, or arbitrary marks, in their calculations ; and we have 
 shewn that these were the parents of letters. 'I'his circumstance greatly 
 favours their claim to the invention, because Chaldea, and the countries 
 adjacent, are allowed by all authors, both sacred and prophane, to have 
 been peopled before Egypt ; and it is certain that many whole nations, 
 recorded to be descended from Shem and Japhet, had their letters from 
 the Phenicians, who were descended from Ham.j 
 
 It is observable, that the Chaldeans, the Syrians, the Phenicians, and 
 Egyptians, all bordered upon each other ; and as the Phenicians were 
 the greatest, as well as the most ancient commercial nation, it is very 
 probable, that they communicated letters to the Egyptians, the ports of 
 Tyre and Sidon, and those of the Egyptians, being not far distant from 
 each other. 
 
 ]Mr. Jackson is evidently mistaken, when he says, that letters were 
 invented two thousand six hundred and nineteen years before the birth 
 of Christ. The deluge, recorded by Moses, was two thousand three 
 
 ^ De Nat. Deor. lib. iii. 
 
 = Misraim, the son of Ham, led colonies into Egypt, and laid the foundation of a kingdom, 
 which lasted one thousand six hundred and sixty-three years; whence Egypt is, in the Holy 
 Scriptures, called the land of Ham. 
 
46 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. hi. 
 
 hundred and forty-nine years before that event; and if letters were not 
 invented till five hundred and fifty years after, as he asserts, we must 
 date their discovery only one thousai;d seven hundred and ninety-nine 
 years before the christian eera, which is four hundred and ten years after 
 the reign of Meries, the first king of Egypt, who (according to Geo. 
 Syncellus and others) is said to have been the same person with the Misor 
 of Sanconiatho, the Mizraim of the Scriptures, and the Osiris. of the 
 Egyptians ; but whether this be true or not, Egypt is frequently called 
 in the Scriptures, the land of Mizraim/ 
 
 'I'his Mizraim, the second son of Amyn or Ham, seated himself near 
 the entrance of Egypt at Zoan, in the year before Christ two thousand 
 one hundred and eighty-eight, and one hundred and sixty years after 
 the flood ; he afterwards built '['hebes, and some say Memphis. He is 
 by Herodotus, by Diodorus, Eratosthenes, and Africanus, by Eusebius 
 and Syncellus, called Menes.^ 
 
 Before the time that Mizraim went into Egypt, Taaut his son had 
 invented letters in Phenicia ; and if this invention took place ten years 
 before the migration of his father into Egypt, as Mr. Jackson supposes, 
 we can trace letters as far back, as the year two thousand one hundred 
 and seventy-eight before Christ, and one hundred and fifty after the 
 deluge recorded by Moses ; and beyond this period, the written annals 
 of mankind, which have been hitherto transmitted to us, will not enable 
 us to trace the knowledge of them, though this want of materials is no 
 proof, that letters were not known, until a century and a half after 
 the deluge. 
 
 As for the pretensions of the Indian nations, we must be better 
 acquainted with their records, before we can admit of their claim to the 
 first use of letters ; especially as none of their mss. of great antiquity 
 have as yet appeared in Europe. That the Arabians were not the in- 
 ventors of letters, hath appeared by the confession of their own authors. 
 
 Plato somewhere mentions Hyperborean letters, very difierent from 
 
 *■ Universal History, vol. v. p. 390. 
 
 g These authors say he went into Egypt twenty-one years sooner; but this account aorees 
 best w.th the Scriptures. See Stackhouse's Hist, of the Bible, p. 203.-Univ. Hist. vol. xxi. p. 3. 
 
CHAP. III. OF WRITING. 47 
 
 the Greek ; these might have been the characters used by the Tartars, 
 or ancient Scythians. 
 
 It may be expected, that something should be said 
 
 AnTE-DILUVIAN -iU 11 i.- 1 I ,1 
 
 Wetting concernmg those books, mentioned by some authors 
 to have been written before the deluge i"" but as Moses 
 is silent upon the subject, we have no materials that will enable us to 
 form an opinion. St. Jude, in his Epistle, v. 14, tells us, that Enoch 
 prophesied; but this apostle might quote a Jewish tradition, for he does 
 not sa\' that Enoch zcrote. The tales which have been told us concerning 
 the books of this patriarch, are too absurd to deserve serious' attention. 
 'With respect therefore to JVritings attributed to the ante-diluvians, it 
 seems not only decent but rational, to say, that we know lothing con- 
 cerning them ; though it might be improper to assert, that letters were 
 unknown before the deluge recorded by Moses. 
 
 As for the pillars, mentioned by Josephus to have been erected b)^ 
 the sons of Seth, whereon they wrote their invented sciences, we agree 
 with the learned abbot of Claraval, that the bare reading of Josephus, is 
 all that is requisite to prove them imaginary. 
 
 Upon the whole, it appears to us, that the Phenicians have the best 
 claim to the honour of the invention of letters, 
 
 ^ Amongst others, Dr. Parsons, who supposes that letters were known to Adam. — Remains 
 of Japhet, p. 346, 359. — The Sabeans produce a book which they pretend was written by Adam. 
 Univ. Hist. vol. i. p. 720, fol. edit. 
 
 ' Origen reports^ that certain books of Enoch were found in Arabia Felix, in the dominion of 
 the queen of Saba. Tertullian roundly affirms, that he saw and read several pages of them ; and, 
 in his Treatise de flabitu Mulierum, he places these books among the canonical : but St. Jerome 
 and St. Austin look upon them as apocryphal. William Postellus pretended to compile his works, 
 De Originibus, from the book of Enoch. Thomas Bangius published, at Copenhagen, in 1657, 
 a work which contains many singular relations, concerning the manner of writing among the 
 Ante-diluvians, wherein is contained several pleasant tales concerning the books of Enoch. 
 
43 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. iv. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF ALPPIABETS. 
 
 ALL ALPHABETS NOT DERIVED PBOM ONE — ALPHABETS DERIVED 
 
 PROM THE PHENICIAN. 
 
 We cannot agree in opinion with those who have asserted that all 
 alphabets are derived from ojie, because there are a variety of alphabets 
 used in different parts of Asia, which differ from the Phenician, ancient 
 Hebrew or Samaritan, in name, number, ffgure, order, and power. In 
 several of these alphabets, there are nuirks for sounds, peculiar to the 
 languages of the east, which are not necessary to be employed in the 
 notation of the languages of Europe. 
 
 Niebuhr has given several of these alphabets in the second volume 
 of his 'J'ravels in Arabia. That marked A is the alphabet of the Banians 
 in the province of Guzurat, which consists of 34 characters. 
 
 B the alphabet of the Indians Multani Ben Penjab, which contains 
 30 letters. 
 
 C is written by a native of Devuli. This alphabet contains 31 letters. 
 
 I), E, alphabets of the Parsis, or Worshippers of Fire ; D hath 25 
 letters, E 44. 
 
 F the alphabet of the Sabeans. Many other oriental alphabets are 
 engraven in the Encyclopedia, tom. ii. of the plates, Paris, 1763. 
 
 The characters and alphabets of all the countries east of Persia, have 
 no connection with, or relation to, the Phenician or its derivatives, 
 except only where the conquests of the Mahommedans have introduced 
 the use of the Arabic letters. The Shanscrit characters* are the proto- 
 type of the letters used in India ; namely, of the sacred diaracters of 
 
 ■^ Shanscrit or Suiigskrit^ means something brought to perfection, in contradistinction 
 to Pral<rit, or something vulgar and unpolished ; hence the fine, learned, religious language 
 and characters of India, are termed Sungskrit, and the illiterate idioms of the common people 
 Prakrit. 
 
 J 
 
CHAP. IV. OF WRITING. 49 
 
 T/tibet, the Cnnhniirian, Beiigale.se, Malaharic -dnd Tamoiil ; the Siiigalese, 
 the Siamese, the Ma/iarattaii, the Concanee, &c. The Tangutic or Tartar 
 characters, and the Shanscrit, seem to have proceeded from the same 
 source, as they are siraihir in their great outlines; but whether the former 
 is derived from the hitter, or the hitter from the former, is not easy to 
 determine. 
 
 In the Sloanian library, N" 2836, and 2837, are eight rolls, said to 
 have been found by the Muscovites beyond Siberia, in the south-east 
 parts of Tartary, written in the sacred characters of Thibet, or 'I'artary. 
 They are written on blue paper, some in letters of gold and some of 
 silver. N° 2838 in the same library, is a roll of blue paper, found as 
 above, written in common Tartar characters, of a gold colour ; and 
 N° 2835, contains six rolls of the same kind ; the paper is white, and 
 the characters are black. It is observable, that the common Tartar is 
 generally read from top to bottom. 
 
 There are several alj)habets used in different parts of Asia, which are 
 intirely different not only from the Shanscrit, and all those proceeding 
 from that source, but also from the Phenician, and all its derivatives : 
 we shall point out some of them. 
 
 There is in my library a ms. in the Pegu language, on palm leaves, 
 twenty-one inches long, and three and an half wide ; the ground is of 
 gold, richly ornamented ; the letters are made of a glutinous substance, 
 like black japan. In the Sloanian library, N° 4849, is a ms. on the same 
 materials, and in similar characters. In the same library, N° 4726, is a 
 MS. on bark, written in perpendicular columns, in the Batta characters, 
 which are used in the island of Sumatra : a ms. written in similar 
 characters, was in the library of the late Dr. Fothergill. — In the Sloanian 
 library, N" 4098, is a specimen of the Barman or Boman characters, 
 which are used in some parts of Pegu ; but they are very difllerent from 
 any of those above mentioned. More instances might be add ced, in 
 proof of what hath been advanced on this head, which we presume is 
 unnecessary. The names and powers of the letters, of- which these 
 alphabets are composed, are intirely different from the Phenician, or 
 those derived from them, and to assimilate their forms is impossible ; 
 indeed it is not easy to conceive, that the fifty Shanscrit letters could 
 
 H 
 
50 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap, iv. 
 
 be taken from the alphabet of the Phenicians, which originally consisted 
 of thirteen characters. It is more liberal, as well as more rational, to 
 suppose, that different men at different times thought of making marks 
 for sounds, instead of marks for things;'' but notwithstanding this opinion, 
 it is certain, that by far the greater part of the alphabets, now used in 
 different parts of the globe, are derived from the Phenician, ancient 
 Hebrew, or Samaritan. 
 
 Having first found letters among the Phenicians, we shall, in the 
 course of the present chapter, inquire what alphabets are derived from 
 that source. This inquiry will furnish our readers with several important 
 facts, relative to the population and civilization of the most celebrated 
 nations ; and will give them an historical account of the progress of 
 learning, and of writing, in a more clear and concise manner than could 
 have been done, if we had entered into the history of writing, and the 
 consideration of the fonns of letters, at the same time. 
 
 The following alphabets seem to be immediately derived from the 
 Phenician ; namely, the ancient Hebrew, or Samaritan, the Chaldaic, 
 the Bastiilan, the Funic, Carthaginian, or Silician, the Pelasgian Greek, 
 and its derivatives, which are written in the eastern manner, from right 
 to left, and the Ionic Greek, written from left to right. This last 
 mentioned branch from the Pelasgic stock, is the source from whence, 
 not only most of the alphabets of Europe are derived, but also of many 
 others which have been adopted in different parts of Asia and Africa. 
 
 ^ Univ. Hist. vol. i. p. 23. We shall illustrate these observations in the course (?f the next 
 chapter, where we shall speak particularly of the forms of letters. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF WRITING. 
 
 51 
 
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52 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. iv. 
 
 yi 
 
 The Chalditk may be divided into the square Hebrew, the round 
 Hebrew, and the more modern, or running hand Hebrew of the Rabbins. 
 'J'he alphabets derived from the Chaldaic, are the Syiiac, Estvangelo, and 
 Mejicheaii; the ancient and the modern Arabic. From the ancient Arabic 
 alphabet, are derived those of the Kufic, the Mauritaiiic, the African or 
 Saracen, and the Moorish : the Persian and Turkish are generally allowed 
 to have been derived from the modern Arabic, though authors are not 
 intirely agreed as to the derivation of the former. 
 
 The l^astuli were one of those colonies of Phenicians or '^Canaanites, 
 who settled themselves, in the most early ages, in that part of Spain 
 now called Andalusia and Grenada; they first began to settle near the 
 Streights of Gibraltar, and their principal port was Cadiz : these people 
 were conquered by the Moors in the eighth century. 
 
 The Punic letters are called 'J yrian, and are much the same as the 
 Carthaginian or Sicilian ; they were an early branch from the Phenician 
 stock : to make a complete Punic, Carthaginian, or Sicilian alphabet, 
 we must admit several pure Phenician letters.' 'J'he Pelasgi were of 
 Phenician original ; we learn from Sanconiatho, that the sons of the 
 Dioscuri and Cabiri wrote the first annals of the Phenician history, by 
 the command of Taaut, the first inventor of letters. These men made 
 ships of burthen, and being cast upon the coast near Mount Casius, 
 about forty miles from Pelusium, they built a temple i"^ this event hap- 
 pened in the second generation after the deluge recorded by Moses. 
 
 These Phenicians were called Pelasgi, from their passing by sea, and 
 wandering from one country to another.^ We learn from Herodotus, that 
 
 " The Estrangelo characters are descended from the ancient Syriac; some have supposed that 
 the Bramin characters are derived from them, and that they were introduced into India in the 
 time of Jenghiz-Khan; but letters were known in India long before the reign of that prince, and 
 these suppositions are not supported by proofs. 
 
 "^ Whether we call them Phenicians or Canaanites, is of little consequence, as far as concerns 
 our subject ; they were the same people. The Bastuli were said to have fled from Joshua. 
 
 = The I^mic language was at first the same with the Phenician, it is nearly allied to the He- 
 brew, and hath an affinity to the Chaldee and Syriac; there are some remains of it in the present 
 Maltese. — Univ. Hist. vol. xvii. p. 295. 
 
 f This was the temple of Jupiter Casius, and is perhaps the first temple mentioned in history. 
 Strabo, Pliny, and Stephens speak of it. 
 
 s Whence, as some say, the sea is called Pelagus from the Hebrew word Peleg, as dividing 
 
CHAP. IV. OF WRITING. 53 
 
 the Pelasgl were the descendants of the Phenician Cabiri, and that the 
 Samothracians receiv^ed and practised the Cabiric mysteries from the 
 Pehisgi, who, in ancient times, inhabited Samothrace.'' 
 
 The Phenician Pehiso;i settled colonies in several islands of the TEoean 
 sea ; as Samothrace, Leninos, Ihessaly,' all the old Hellas, Argolis, 
 Arcadia, and also the sea coast of the Peloponnese.'' 
 
 In the reign of Deucalion, about eight hundred and twenty years 
 after the deluge, and one thousand five hundred and twenty-nine before 
 the christian a^ra, the Pelasgi were driven from Thessaly or ^notria by 
 the Hellenes ; some of them settled at the mouth of the Po, and the 
 rest at Crotoii, now Cortona, in Tuscany. 
 
 The Pelasgic alphabet, which prevailed in Greece before the age of 
 Deucalion, consisted of sixteen letters. 'J'he Tyrrhenian alphabet, first 
 brought into Italy, preceded the reign of that prince, and it consisted 
 of thirteen letters only. 
 
 In order to prove this fact, it is incumbent on us to shew, that the 
 'i yrrheni, Tyrseni, or Hetrusci, settled in Italy long before the reign of 
 Deucalion. 
 
 Herodotus relates, that a colony went by sea from Lydiu into Iktly, 
 under Tyrrhenus ;' and Dion. Halicarnassensis proves, that many authors 
 called them Pelasgi. He particularly cites Hellanicus Lesbius, who was 
 somewhat older than Herodotus, to prove that they were first called 
 Felasgi Ti/rrheiii ; after they began to inhabit Italy, they settled in that 
 
 one country from another. The modern Greeks fancied they derived their name from Pelasgus, 
 the pretended founder of the Arcadians; we think the name is not derived from Peleg, as some 
 have imagined, for his posterity never went into Europe. The Pelasgi were so called from the 
 word TTeXayioi, wanderers by sea. 
 
 ^ Herodot. (lib. ii. c. 51) and Strabo say, the Cabiri, i.e. their descendants, inhabited Samo- 
 thrace. Georg. lib. x, p. 723, 724. c -• - 
 
 i They made one of their first settlements in Thessaly, as all writers agree ; one part ot which 
 
 was called Pelasgiotis from them, and also Pelasgia. 
 
 k The old Hellas was called from them Pelasgia, as Strabo informs us, lib. v. p. 237. The 
 same author says, that a part of Thessaly was called Pelasgian Argos, and so Homer calls it. 
 Iliad ii. Pliny tells us, that ^notria, w hich was the old name of Thessaly, was called Pelasgicum 
 Argos. Strabo likewise relates, that the Pelasgi inhabited Argos in Peloponnesus, and that the 
 whole country was called Pelasgia from them. Georg. lib. v. p. 337, 8, & 9. 
 
 1 This was about anno mundi 3011, and about one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three 
 years before the christian sera, which is upwards of three hundred and fifty years before the 
 Pelasgi went out of Greece. 
 
54 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. iv. 
 
 part called Etruria." The Tyrrheni or Tyrseni came into Italy before 
 the colony under Oenotrus ; for Strabo (1. v. p. 21) quotes a fragment of 
 Anticlides to prove, that there were Pelasgi dwelling in places about 
 Lemnos, and Imbrus, and that some of them sailed with Tyrrhenus, 
 the son of Atys, into Italy. Hence it may be inferred, that there were 
 Pelasgi, and some in Italy also, before the time of Oenotrus. 
 
 The Etruscan letters are Pelasgic, and several of the Etruscan in- 
 scriptions are written in the Pelasgic language. 'J'he Roman Letters are 
 Ionic. Signior Gorius very properly distinguishes between the Etruscan 
 and Latin or Roman letters. 
 
 The Oscan lansuao-e was a dialect of the Etruscan : their characters 
 are nearer ihe Ionic, or Roman, than the Etruscan. There is very little 
 difference between the Pelasgian, the Etruscan, and the most ancient 
 Greek letters, which are placed from right to left. 
 
 The Arcadians were ancient Greeks: they used the Ionic letters, but 
 at what time they first wrote from left to right is not known, as their 
 chronology is very uncertain. 
 
 The Etruscan, the Oscan, and the Samnite alphabets, are derived 
 from that of the Pelasgic ; they differ from each other more in 7iame than 
 in form ; but a far greater number are immediately derived from the 
 Ionic Greek ; namel}^ tlie Arcadian, the Latin or Roman, the ancient 
 Gaulish, the ancient Spanish, the ancient Gothic, the Coptic, the Russian, 
 the Ilhjrian or Sclavonian, the Bulgarian, and the Armenian ; the Runic 
 is immediately derived from the Gothic : Doctor Bernard and some other 
 respectable writers are mistaken as to the derivations of some of the 
 alphabets here mentioned ; particularly in the Ethiopic, the Armenian, 
 and the Runic ; all these shall be considered in order. 
 
 Though it may be inferred from what hath already been said, that 
 t\\3 Tyrrlieni and the Pelasgi introduced their letters into Italy; it is 
 necessary to be more explicit upon this head. 
 
 ■" Bishop Cumberland adduces many proofs to shew that the Tyrrheni came out of Lydia 
 into Italy. He also tells us when they came thither^ and in what places they settled. Orio-. Gent. 
 Antiq. p. 315 to 343. Several Roman authors speak of this Lydian colony. — Horace compliments 
 his patron Meecenas upon his Lydian descent ; 
 
 I.ydorum quicquid Etruscos 
 
 Incoluit fines, nemo generosior est te. 
 
CHAP. IV. OF WRITING. 
 
 OJ 
 
 Dionysius of Ilalicarnassus relates, Antiq. book i. sect, ii., that the 
 first Greek colony Avhich came into Italy, was of Arcadians, under 
 Oenotrus son of Lycaon, and the fifth in descent from Phoroneus, the 
 first king of Argos, who reigned about o6Q years before the taking of 
 'J'roy, or 1750 years before the christian a^ra." 
 
 These Oenotrians were called Aborigines; a-nd, after they had been 
 engaged for many years in a war with the SicuU, they entered into an 
 alliance with a colony of the Pelasgi, who came into Italy out of Thessaly, 
 they having been driven out of that country. This alliance was very 
 natural, as the Oenotrians were Pelasgi. 
 
 About the year before Christ 1476", a colony of the Pelasgi, who had 
 been driven out of Thessaly by the Ciiretes and Lelcges, arrived in Italy, 
 where they assisted the Aborigines in driving out the Sicitli ; they possessed 
 themselves of the greatest part of the country between the 'I'iber and 
 Liris, and built several cities. Dion, of Hal. {ut supra, sect, xvii.) says, 
 that a colony of Pelasgi who inhabited Thessaly, were carried into Italy 
 by Pelasgus, and landed at one of the mouths of the Po, called Spines. 
 (This was said to have been about one thousand three hundred and 
 eighty-five years before Christ.) Solinus and Pliny tell us, that the 
 Pelasgi first carried letters into Italy, and the latter distinguishes between 
 the Pelasgi and Arcades ; so the first letters which were carried into Italy 
 were not the Ionic Greek, but those more ancient Phenician letters, 
 which the Pelasgi carried with them into 'I'hessaly, before Deucalion and 
 Cadmus are said to have come into Boeotia and Thessaly." 
 
 The Siculi emigrated from Italy into Sicily about eighty years before 
 the war of Troy, and 1264 before the christian iaera. 
 
 Twenty years after the emigration of the Siculi into Sicily, another 
 colony of Arcadians, from Pallantium,^ a city of Arcadia, under Evander, 
 the son of Mercury and Themis, settled on one of the seven hills on 
 
 " Dion, is very correct in distinguishing this Greek colony from the Tyrrheni^ who went into 
 Italy by sea, about three hundred and fifty years before Oenotrus. 
 
 ° The story of Cadmus is much involved in fable; but it is agreed by most of the ancients, 
 that the children of Agaenor (namely, Cadmus, Europa, Phoenix, and Ciiix) carried, with them a 
 colony composed of Phenicians and Syrians, into Asia Minor, Crete, Greece, and Libya, where 
 they introduced letters, music, poetry, and other arts, sciences, and customs of the Phenicians. 
 
 P See Dionys. of Hal. lib. i. p. 24, 25. — See Dempster de Etrur. Regal, lib. i. chap. 6, 
 p. 20, 21. 
 
o 
 
 6 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. iv. 
 
 which Rome was afterwards built. The colony brought into Italy by 
 Evander from Arcadia, about twelve hundred and forty-four years before 
 Christ, is mentioned by Virgil, ^n. viii. 51.— Dionysius of Halicarnassus 
 says," that the Pelasgi worshipped Jupiter, Apollo, and the Cabiri ; and 
 that these Phenician deities were first brought by them into Italy. 
 
 AVe learn from the -same author,^ that a few years after Evander, 
 Hercules brought a colony of Greeks into Italy, who settled upon the 
 Capitoline Hill, then called Saturnius, three furlongs from Pallantium. 
 The colony brought by Hercules into Italy is also mentioned by Virgil, 
 iEn. vii. 661. Many particulars concerning the colony brought into 
 Italy by i^^'.neas from Troy, about one thousand one hundred and eighty- 
 one years before the christian a?ra, may be seen in Mr. Spelman's Dis- 
 sertation at the end of the first book of his translation of Dionysius. 
 This was about 1223 years before Christ ; for Dionysius says, that some 
 of the colony of Hercules were Trojans, whom he brought from Troy, 
 when he took that city and slew Laomedon, and made his son Priam 
 king, as Apollodorus relates (lib. ii. c. 6.). 
 
 Dionysius (p. 49) enumerates the following Greek colonies which 
 came into Italy. — First, the Aborigines, under Oenotrus from Arcadia. 
 Secondly, the Pelasgic colony, which came from Iloemonia or Thessaly. 
 Thirdly, a second Arcadian colony, which came with Evander from 
 I^dlantium. Fourthly, those who came from Peloponnesus with Hercules.' 
 Fifthly, those who came with iEneas from Troy. 
 
 This last colony greatly eclipsed the glory of the former, the latter 
 Romans choosing rather to derive their origin from the Trojans, than 
 from the Greeks. 
 
 It is not easy to discover when the Ionic way of writing, from left to 
 right, was first received in Italy ; but. it is certain, that it did not 
 vnkersalbj prevail, even in Greece, till ages after it was found out. The 
 Athenians did not comply with it till the year from the building of RomjC 
 
 "1 Dion, of Ha], p. 26. ■■ Ibid. p. 26, 27. 
 
 = Diod. Sic. lib. vi. relates, That Hercules passed out of Gaul into Italy. Solinus Polyhistor 
 reckons the Greek colonies to be, Aborigines, Aurunci, Pelasgi, Arcades, Siculi, c. viii. And 
 Pliny reckons them. Aborigines, Pelasgi, Arcades, Siculi, Aurunci, Rutuli, Osci, Volsci, and 
 Ausones. See Hist. Nat. lib. iii. c. 5. The Umbri and'Galli may be reckoned amongst the 
 most ancient inhabitants of Italy. 
 
CHAP. IV. OF WRITING. 
 
 57 
 
 three hundred and fifty. It was not practised by the Samnites so late as 
 the sixth century from the building of Rome, or about two hundred and 
 thirty years before Christ ; for Monsieur Gebelin, vol. vi. plate 2, gives 
 us the Samnite alphabet of that century, wherein the letters are placed 
 from right to left ; although the Ionic way of writing prevailed in some 
 parts of Italy in the third century from the building of Rome. 
 
 *' In time," says Pliny,' " the tacit consent of all nations agreed to 
 " use the Ionic letters. The Romans consented to this mode, about the 
 "time of Tarquinius Priscus, their fifth king."" The letters which 
 Damaratus the Corinthian, the father of Tarquin, brought into Italy, 
 Mr. Wise thinks, must have been the new or Ionic alphabet ; and not 
 the same as that brought by Evander above five hundred years before. 
 
 After the Romans had established the use of the Ionic letters, they 
 seem not to have acknowledged the Pelasgian and Etruscan to have been 
 Greek alphabets : the most learned of them knew none older than the 
 Ionic, as appears from the Greek Farnese inscriptions of Herodes Atticus." 
 This learned man, out of a sacred regard to antiquity, caused the oldest 
 orthography to be observed in the writing ; and the letters to be delineated 
 after the most antique forms that could be found ; and they are plainly 
 no other than the Ionic, or right-handed characters. 
 
 The ancient Gaulish letters are derived from the Greek, and their 
 writing approaches more nearly to the Gothic, than that of the Roman : 
 this appears by the monumental inscription of Gordian, messenger of the 
 Gauls, who suffered martyrdom in the third century, with all his family.'' 
 These ancient Gaulish characters were generally used by that people 
 before the conquest of Gaul by Caesar ; but after that period, the Roman 
 letters were gradually introduced. 
 
 The ancient Spaniards used letters nearly Greek before their inter- 
 
 ' Gentium consensus tacitus omnium conspiravit, ut lonum literis uterentur. Hist. lib. vii. 
 
 c- 57- 
 
 " He began to reign A.M. 3439 ; before Christ, 565. Damaratus of Corinth fled from the 
 
 tyranny of Cypselus, found an asylum at Tarquinium in Tuscany, and took the name of Tar- 
 quinius. 
 
 ^ Vid. CI. Sahriasii duarum inscriptionum veterum Herodis Attici & Regiliae conjugis expli- 
 catio. Lut. Paris, 1619. — Scaiiger Animadvers, in Eusebium, p. no.— Montfaucon Palaeogr. 
 Graec. p. 135.— Chishull Antiq. Asiat. p. 11. 
 
 y See N. T. Dipl. vol. i. p. 704. 
 
 I 
 
53 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. it. 
 
 course with the Romans, which may be seen in Nouveau Trait(^ de 
 Diplomatique, vol. i. p. 705. 
 
 The ancient Gothic alphabet is very similar to the Greek, and is 
 attributed to Ulphilas, bishop of the Goths, who lived in Maesia about 
 the year 370 after Christ. He translated the Bible into the Gothic tongue. 
 This circumstance might have occasioned the tradition of his having' 
 invented those letters ; but we are of, opinion that these characters were 
 in use lono; before his time. Some account of this ms. translation of 
 Ulphilas shall be given hereafter. 
 
 The Runic alphabet is derived from that of the ancient Gothic' 
 
 The Coptic letters are immediately derived from the Greek.— Some 
 authors have confounded them with those of the ancient Egyptians ; but 
 there is a very material difference between them : from this alphabet the 
 Ethiopic is said to have been deduced. 
 
 The alphabet descended from the Scythians established in Europe, is 
 that used by St. Cyril, called the Servien. The Russian, the Illyrian or 
 Sclavonic, and the Bulgarian, are all derived from the Greek. ^ 
 
 The Armenian letters differ greatly from their supposed parents the 
 Greek, and they vary much from those of the Latins. 
 
 We have treated generally of these alphabets, as it would exceed the 
 limits of our design, to enter more particularly into each of them at present. 
 
 We shall now speak of the alphabets derived from the Roman, which 
 are, the Lombardic, the Visigothic, the Saxon, the Galilean, the Franco- 
 Gallic or Merovingian, the German, the Caroline, the Capetian, and 
 the Modern Gothic. The first relates to the mss. of Italy ; the second, 
 to those of Spain ; the third, to the mss. of Great Britain ; the fourth 
 and fifth, to those of France; the sixth, to Germany; the seventh, 
 eighth, and ninth, to all the countries of Europe which read Latin. 
 
 The six former alphabets are before the age of Charlemagne; the 
 three latter follow it. The characters of the above alphabets are more 
 distinguished by their names than by their forms, which indicate that 
 they are all of Roman extraction. 
 
 Each nation, in adopting the letters of the Romans, added thereto a 
 taste and manner peculiar to itself, that obviously distinguished it from 
 the writings of all other people. Hence arose that difference of taste 
 
 '■ See more concerning this and other alphabets^ Chap. v. p. 88, 89^ 90^ & 91 
 " See some account of these alphabets in the N. T. Dipl. vol. i. p. 707 708 
 
CHAP. IV. OF WRITING. 50^ 
 
 in the writings of the Lombards, Spaniards, Saxons, French, Germans, 
 and Goths ; and all the strange turns observable in the ancient writings 
 of the Francic-Gauls or Merovingians, and those of the Carlovingians 
 their successors, may be traced to the same source. 
 
 From those distinctions proceed the name of National Writing. 
 
 Writing in Italy was uniform until the irruption of the Goths, when 
 it was disfigured by the taste of that barbarous people. In 069, the 
 Lombards, having possessed themselves of all that part of the empire, 
 except Rome and Ravenna, introduced another form of writing, which 
 WierxneA Lomhar die. As the popes used the Lombardic manner in their 
 Bulls, the appellation of Roman was sometimes given to it in the eleventh 
 century. Though the dominion of the Lombards continued no longer 
 than about two hundred and six years, the name of their writing was still 
 current beyond the Alps, from the seventh century to the beginning of 
 the thirteenth, and then ceased. — Learning having declined in Italy as in 
 other quarters, the art of writing degenerated there likewise into what we 
 call ISLodern Gothic, of which we shall speak presently. 
 
 The Goths or Visigoths, in their incursions into Spain, introduced 
 the Visigothic or Spanish Gothic form of writing into that country • but 
 it was abolished in a provincial synod, held at Leon in IO91, when the 
 Latin letters were established for all public instruments, though these 
 characters were occasionally used in private transactions, for upwards of 
 three centuries afterwards. 
 
 Saxon writing admits of various distinctions ; namely, the Anglo-Saxon, 
 Britanno-Saxon, and Dano-Saxon, of which we shall speak fully hereafter. 
 
 Writino' in France was more various. The Gauls, on their being 
 subjected by the Romans, adopted their manner of writing; but, by 
 addino- something of their own afterwards, they gave rise to the Galilean 
 or Roman Gallic mode. 
 
 The Franks, a people of Germany, having conquered part of Gaul, 
 displayed even in writing their love of ease, and aversion to all con- 
 straint. Their characters are called Franco-Gallic, or Merovingian, because 
 this kind of writing was practised under the kings of the Merovingian 
 race. It took place about the close of the sixth century, and prevailed 
 till the beginning of the ninth. 
 
 Charlemagne," zealous for the revival of learning, improved the 
 
 ^ He began to reign A.D. 814. 
 
 ( 
 
60 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. iv. 
 
 characters which before his time had been used in Germany ; and this 
 improvement occasioned another distinction in writing, called the Caroline, 
 which declined in the twelfth century, and totally disappeared in the 
 thirteenth, when it was succeeded in Germany by the Modern Gothic. 
 
 The Caroline ari/i^^- having degenerated, was restored by Hugh Capet, 
 about the year 987. This reformed mode of writing, hath acquired the 
 name of Capetian from its founder. It was much practised till about the 
 middle of the twelfth century, but in the thirteenth it degenerated into 
 the Modern Gothic. The writing called Capetian was used in England and 
 in Germany, as well as in France, during the period above mentioned. 
 
 The Modern Gothic, which spread itself all over Europe in the twelfth 
 and thirteenth centuries, is improperly so called, because it does not 
 derive its origin from the writing anciently used by the Goths and 
 Visigoths, in Italy and Spain, but this Modern Gothic is the most 
 barbarous or worst kind of writing ; it took its rise in the decline of the 
 arts, among the lazy schoolmen, who had the worst taste ; it is nothing 
 more than the Latin writing degenerated.— This writing began in the 
 twelfth century, and was in general use (especially among monks and 
 schoolmen) in all parts of Europe, till the restoration of the arts, in the 
 fifteenth century, and longer in Germany and the northern nations : Our 
 statute books are still printed in Gothic letters. 
 
 The most barbarous writing of the seventh, eighth, and ninth cen- 
 turies, was not so bad as the Modern Gothic. This kind of writino- is 
 so diversified, that it is not easy to describe its great variety ; the abbre- 
 viations introduced by the writers were so numerous, that it was difficult 
 to read them ; and this was one of the causes of the great ignorance of 
 those times. Those different forms, however, were not so exclusively 
 peculiar to the nations among whom they originated, as never to be 
 used by their neighbours ; on the contrary, we find Lom bardic and 
 Gothic sometimes in France : this would happen from ecclesiastics of one 
 nation being transplanted into another. Thus we find many mss. written 
 in England, in the Roman, Caroline, Capetian, and Modern Gothic letters, 
 which is easily accounted for, when we consider, that our bishops and 
 mitred abbots were frequently foreigners, who brought with them many 
 ecclesiastics from foreign parts ; these wrote the hands of the respective 
 countries where they had been educated. 
 
csAP. IV. OF WRITING. 61 
 
 The learned are not agreed with respect to the origin of what is 
 called National JViiting ; some will have it, that the Roman manner 
 prevailed throughout the west, until the irruption of the barbarous 
 nations of the north, in the fifth and sixth centuries ; the Goths (say 
 they) first introduced their mode of writing in Italy, instead of the Roman 
 manner; the Visigoths did the like-in Spain, the Franks in Gaul, and 
 the Saxons in England ; the Lombards having made themselves masters 
 of the country that bears their name, substituted their own peculiar 
 form of writing, and established it in every part of Italy. 
 
 According to others, the Romans were in possession of various forms 
 of writing ; but it is supposed, that the barbarous nations introduced 
 some of their own letters, in the writings composed of capitals and small 
 letters ; that the cursive form, or running-hand, peculiar to each nation, 
 was used in grants and contracts, and found admittance likewise in mss. 
 after the middle of the seventh century. 
 
 However, we are of opinion, that the different modes of writing 
 in Italy, Spain, France, England, and Germany, were derived from the 
 Roman alone. While Rome continued the centre of all the provinces of 
 the empire, her manner of writing generally prevailed in each ; but the 
 empire being dismembered, and all the western provinces disunited, a 
 change was produced ; not that the conquerors added any new characters 
 to the Roman writing, but they disfigured it ; and, by their false taste 
 and ignorance, distinguished their writing from that of their neighbours : 
 the genius and disposition of the different people, had no small share in 
 producing this diversity. 
 
 The idea that all the writings of the several nations last mentioned, is 
 derived from the Roman, is natural and satisfactory ; it tends to prove 
 the distinction of national writing, and is of great assistance towards dis- 
 covering the age of manuscripts : for, though we may not be able exactly 
 to ascertain the time when a ms. was written, we may nearly determine 
 its age.— For example, if a writing is Merovingian, it may be declared 
 without hesitation not to be subsequent to the ninth, nor prior to the 
 fifth century : if another is Lombardic, it may be affirmed to be posterior 
 to the middle of the sixth, and anterior to the thirteenth ; should it be 
 Saxon, it cannot be of an earlier date than the seventh, nor of a later 
 than about the middle of the twelfth, especially with regard to mss. 
 
62 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE MANNER OF WRITING IN DIFFERENT COUN- 
 TRIES AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF TIME. 
 
 FORMS OP LETTERS — PHENICIAN LETTERS, AND THEIR DERIVATIVES 
 
 PELASGIC LETTERS, AND THEIR DERIVATIVES — ROMAN LETTERS, 
 
 AND THOSE DERIVED FROM THEM — SPECIMENS OP ANCIENT ALPHA- 
 BETS AND WRITING. 
 
 JliLEMENTART characters or letters, being nothing more than marks 
 for sounds, as we have already demonstrated, the consideration of their 
 PORMS, hath not as yet been a necessary object of our attention ; for in 
 the point of view we have hitherto considered them, their forms were of 
 no importance, because it is from the sounds, of which they are signifi- 
 cant, and not from their forms, or even positions, that they derive their 
 powers ; for whether they are placed from right to left, as practised by 
 some Eastern nations, or from left to right, as is at present generally 
 practised in Europe, or in perpendicular lines, as in Tartary, and some 
 other parts of Asia, is not of the least consequence ; because these marks 
 will equally combine into words, significant of the sounds of language, 
 in whatever manner they may be placed. 
 
 The consideration of the forms and positions of letters, now naturally 
 presents itself; a competent knowledge of which, is absolutely necessary 
 for ascertaining the age and authenticity of inscriptions, manuscripts, 
 charters, and ancient records. 
 
 Many authors are of opinion, that letters derive their /o/v«s from the 
 positions of the organs of speech in their pronunciation. Monsieur Van 
 Helmont hath taken great pains to prove, that the Chaldaic characters 
 are the genuine alphabet of nature, because, according to him, no letter 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 63 
 
 can be rightly sounded, without disposing the organs of speech into an 
 uniform position with the figure of each letter.^ 
 
 The president De Brosse, in his work upon the theory of language, 
 supports this opinion. The author of a book, intitled, Conjectural 
 Observations on the Origin and Progress of Alphabetic Writing, (Lond. 
 1772, 8vo.) coincides with the above authors in their opinions. 
 
 Not long since, Mr. Nelme published a work, wherein he has laboured 
 to shew that all elementary characters or letters, derive their forms from 
 the Line and the Circle.'' 
 
 This author might have spared himself much trouble if he had con- 
 sidered that his hypothesis is self-evident ; as by a little reflection, he 
 might have discovered, that all arbitrary marks or characters whatever, 
 must necessarily be composed of Lines, or of Curves, or of both. 
 
 ISlonsieur Gebelin deduces them from hieroglyphic representations ; 
 and he hath given us several delineations of human figures, trees, &c. in 
 confirmation of his hypothesis." 
 
 It is not necessary to interrupt our inquiry by entering into the above 
 conjectures ; for letters being only marks for sounds, their forms intirely 
 depended upon the taste, fancy, will, or caprice, of those who first formed 
 them. In this point of view, they may be considered as mere arbitrary 
 marks, or secret cyphers, which, by being made known and adopted, 
 would become of general use, wherever they were received by agreement."* 
 
 » See Alphabet. Natiir. by F. M. B. Van Helmont. Saltzburgh, 1667. This author hath 
 anatomized the organs of articulation in support of his system. 
 
 *> The alphabet given by Mr. Neime consists of thirteen radical letters^ four diminished, 
 and four augmented. His radical letters are L, O, S, A, B, C, D, N, U, I, E, M, R. He 
 says, that H is derived from A ; P from B ; T from D ; and F from V : these he calls diminished 
 characters. Z is derived from Sj G from C; W from U; and Y from I : these, he says, are 
 augmented letters. 
 
 <= See Monde Primitif, torn. iii. Paris, 1775, 4to. 
 
 d One of the most simple alphabets has been formed by making two perpendicular, and 
 
 a I b I e 
 
 two horizontal lines, thus, SjTR from which may be deduced nine different characters or 
 
 g|h| i 
 
 letters, ^| m \^T\ M llFl m |T; nine more may be made, by adding a point 
 
 k I 1 I m 
 
 to each, n|o [p and as many more as may be necessary for the notation of any language, 
 
 q I r I s 
 by adding two or more points to each character.— Though these square characters are not 
 calculated for dispatch, yet they may be made as expeditiously, or more so, than the Tartar, 
 the Bramin, the Cashmirian, and many others. Writing composed of these characters, is at 
 
64 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Altho gh we have already shewn that all alphabets are not derived 
 from one, yet we have allowed that most of the alphabets now used in 
 Europe, as well as in several parts of Asia and Africa, are derived from 
 the Phenician : this will appear in the course of the present chapter. 
 
 The letters of the ten first alphabets in the first plate are so similar 
 in their general outlines, that we apprehend it will easily be admitted 
 that they are all derived from the same source. They are taken from 
 Monsieur Gebelin's Monde Primitif, vol. iii. plate 6. This author says, 
 that sixteen letters originally composed the primitive alphabets, and that 
 no more were for a long time used ; though the author of a work, on the 
 alphabet and language of the Phenicians, says, that the most ancient 
 Phenician alphabet consisted but of thirteen letters;" and the Primo- 
 genium Alphabetum Etruscorum, given us by Dr. Swinton and others, 
 was composed of the like number. The Phenician alphabet from the 
 inscription at Oxford, ditiers from that given by Monsieur Gebelin, yet 
 they are very similar. We have already shewn, that letters were known 
 in Phenicia about a century and a half after the deluge recorded b}^ 
 Moses, and two thousand one hundred and eighty years before Christ. 
 
 The general alphabet of the Phenician, ancient Hebrew or Samaritan, 
 is deduced from the Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique, vol. i. p. 656, and 
 from several coins, medals, and other most ancient documents ; as are 
 also the alphabets of the Punic, the Pelasgian, the Arcadian, and ancient 
 Gaulish. The pure Phenician characters, as also those of the Bastulan 
 and Punic, were lost in the Pelasgian. 
 
 The general alphabet of the Etruscans, at the bottom of the plate, 
 comprehends not only all the letters which we find in the Pelas'nan, but 
 also such letters as were afterwards introduced into Italy, before the Ionic 
 or Roman letters were received in that country. 
 
 first sight, ill some degree like the Hebrew. Mr. Dow, author of the History of Hindostan 
 lately formed a new language and alphabet. I have been informed by one who knew him 
 well, that this new language, and the characters formed for its notation, were so easy, that a 
 female of his acquaintance acquired the knowledge of them in three weeks, and corresponded 
 with him therein, during their intimacy. 
 
 = Del Alphabeto y Lengua de los Fenices, y de sus Colonias. Madrid, 1772, fol — This 
 author gives the pure Phenician alphabet, which consists of thirteen letters ;— the c'arthaoinian 
 or Sicilian Phenician, and the Bastulan or Spanish Phenician alphabets.— These differ very little 
 from each other in their forms. 
 
a 
 
 flextT-a cu^ Jill utra ifi exa / '^ t. 
 
 a tJim.ujt7}^. d 
 
 PhoeTiLcaLiiiHelrnexMeclal.Botjbvtlan.: ^hHMcuf^i. Gr'^ai^U'jji/ 
 
 JLati niCTn. Humicwm^, 
 
 1 A 
 
 ?> C 
 
 4 
 
 D 
 
 5 
 
 E 
 
 e 
 
 V 
 
 or 
 
 F 
 
 7 I 
 
 8 K 
 lO M 
 
 11 :n' 
 
 12 O 
 
 13 P 
 
 14 R 
 
 15- S 
 
 16 T 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 <\ 
 
 
 
 ^Z A 
 
 o 
 
 q 
 
 
 \ N -fj —I ^ ~i 
 
 A / 
 
 r 
 
 B 
 
 J 
 
 y 
 
 o 
 
 Y 
 9 
 
 X 
 
 X »^ ^^ 
 
 
 a 
 3 
 
 8 
 1 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 "1 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 A 
 J 
 
 n 
 
 A 
 
 3 
 
 (r 
 
 s 
 
 / 
 
 J 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 A 
 
 T 
 
 v/ 
 
 -muh^^^c/i<!hp; t/2"""" h '^ 
 
 J 
 
 A 
 B 
 
 r 
 
 E 
 
 r 
 
 K 
 
 ^. M 
 /^ NT 
 O 
 
 r n 
 
 P F 
 
 f T 
 
 ? 
 
 
 A 
 B 
 C 
 D 
 
 I 
 
 E 
 
 r 
 I 
 
 K 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 K 
 
 O 
 
 P 
 
 R 
 
 T 
 
 en 
 m 
 
 w 
 
 c^ ^^^ ■<<^ 
 
 r 
 
 B 
 P 
 
 v-- 
 
 n^c 
 
 1 
 
 >K 
 
 r 
 
 r i 
 
 R 
 "l J 
 
 -) 
 
 m ^ J 
 5 ^ =^ 
 
 
 •>^r^ Y ® 
 
 ^ . Ct) >o "^-^ ^ -y^ 
 
 V >■ '^^ HI (Q) — 7s 
 
 1^^ ffl g fi pq ^ ^ N K ^ H '^ 
 
la'tram 
 
 cit77? . C alvtccwnv . Teict&n i cii m 
 
 V 
 
 r 
 
 ) 
 
 V 
 
 -I 
 
 n 
 I 
 
 q? 
 
 X 
 
 D 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 7v 
 
 O 
 
 n 
 
 P 
 
 + 
 
 1 
 
 A 
 
 r 
 
 
 > 
 
 ^c 
 
 lad. I. p. 04. 
 
 JI 
 
 /^P^ 
 
 A 
 B 
 Gk 
 
 D 
 E 
 
 z 
 
 H 
 
 Tt 
 
 I 
 
 K 
 L 
 M 
 
 IST 
 
 s 
 
 o 
 p 
 
 Ts 
 Q. 
 
 R 
 
 T 
 V 
 
 ^untcionulilaocnan: Oocan ■ Ai'caclian: Galli-omtia : -^7^ 
 / / an tig: 
 
 tiix'a Sa ma Tita nujn ■ 
 
 f 
 
 9 
 4 
 \ 
 
 99 r 
 
 D 
 
 T 
 
 © O 
 
 prr 
 
 :13 d 
 
 3 3^ 
 
 V V 
 
 d 
 
 Q O 
 
 O 
 \ \ 
 
 3IM -^ 
 ^n| A 
 
 111 
 
 1 1 
 
 a 
 
 GH >I 
 C > 
 
 F 8 
 
 D B 
 f I 
 
 m 
 
 d q a 
 
 ^ X ^ o (T- ^ e- 
 
 FT 
 
 T 
 
 5: ^ 
 
 H- cy 
 
 £^^^-^C^ 
 
 ^^^7^ Ov ^ 5 t ^ 
 
 w\ 
 
 EI 5 A^ ^ r" ^ 
 
 
 CO (2© 
 
 :// C< c- >> >< OC 
 
 ^ ^ ^-M P^ g 
 
 ^ CK 
 
 ^ t ^ ^ 
 
 A A 
 
 6 D 
 
 V V 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 C 
 
 K (< 
 
 ss 
 
 p p 
 
 TT 
 
 TZ" 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 c 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 Gl. 
 Til 
 I 
 K 
 
 M 
 
 o 
 
 p 
 a 
 
 E 
 
 s 
 
 T 
 
 TJ 
 Y 
 
 cc c 
 
 t ^^ 
 N vr 
 
 K 
 
 jv| M 
 
 YY ^ 
 
 CD 00 
 
 T7 TT 
 
 % 
 PP 
 
 ^<^ 
 TTT 
 
 ai>y ^M 3 3 
 
 o^ g yj H-j g LL| L(/ 
 
 vooouz^ 000 
 f^YY^??f PP 
 
 A 
 J3 
 
 Gk 
 D 
 
 E 
 V] 
 
 z 
 
 H 
 E 
 
 Tk 
 
 I 
 
 K 
 
 M 
 
 S 
 
 o 
 p 
 
 Ts 
 
 Q. 
 R 
 
 T 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 <\ p 
 
 Vt; 
 
 ^ g 
 
 Si ■ 
 
 K . . ■ < 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 65 
 
 The most ancient inscriptions in the Pelasgian characters and language, 
 I have seen, are those found at Eugubium, a city in Umbria in the 
 Apennines, in the year 1456. Seven tables of brass were discovered ; 
 five of which were in Pelasgic or Etruscan characters, and two in Latin/ 
 The first of these Eugubian tables contains a poem or lamentation after 
 a pestilence, which was composed about one hundred and sixty-eight 
 years after the taking of Troy, or one thousand and sixteen before Christ, 
 and one thousand three hundred and thirty-two after the deluge. It 
 appears by these tables that the republic of Eugubium was much anterior 
 to Rome. 
 
 The Oscan alphabet in the same plate, is very similar to the Pelasgic 
 and Etruscan ; it is taken from an inscription on marble, in the Oscan 
 or Volscian tcfngue, now preserved in the museum of the seminary at 
 Nola, in Italy. This marble was found at Abella, a town not far distant 
 from Nola.^ Before the discovery of this inscription, we had no Oscan 
 letters, except a few on coins, or on precious stones, which were not 
 sufficient to furnish an alphabet : some of the letters have a resemblance 
 to the Roman. 
 
 This alphabet consists of sixteen characters ; the Osci seem to have 
 wanted the letters D, G, O, Q, X, and Z. The Oscan or Volscian language, 
 was chiefly spoken in Campania and Ausonia ; and Passer demonstrates, 
 that there is a great affinity between the Oscan and the Latin tongue.'' 
 
 ^ ^ The learned authors of the Nouveau Traite de 
 
 GrREEK Letters t^. , ,. , ^ • sit • i • 
 
 -tirr Diplomatique, (vol. i. p. 580), deliver it as their opin- 
 
 ANI) Weiting. .^^^ . .. 
 
 ion, which they support with great erudition, that the 
 
 ^ See a particular account of these tables given by Mons. Gebelin^ vol. vi. p. 222 to 224 ; 
 and see also Etrurie Royale by Gorius, Lucca, 1767, fol. (where the first table is engraved), and 
 Sir William Hamilton's Etruscan Antiquities^ vol. i. p. 2,6. 
 
 s It contains an Award made by one Tancinus, tribune of the people of Abella, who 
 was appointed umpire, to determine disputes between the inhabitants of Abella and Nola 
 concerning their boundaries. The inscription is imperfect; but fifty-seven lines are now remain- 
 ing, which are read from right to left. 
 
 '^ See J. Bapt. Passer's Etruscan Paintings, vol. iii. Rome, 1775, p. 75- — At p. 113 of this 
 work is a view of Hebrew words, from whence the Etruscan, and from thence the Latin, are de- 
 rived. — At p. 116, is an Etruscan Lexicon; and at p. 129, is a Lexicon, explaining the Etruscan 
 words which occur on the Eugubian Tables. 
 
 K 
 
66 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Greek letters were not derived from the Egyptian, as some have sup- 
 posed, ; but from the Phenician Pelasgi, who settled in Greece.' 
 
 The Greeks preserved the names of the Samaritan or Phenician letters. 
 Spanheim, Montfaucon, and others, say, with great probability of truth, 
 that the Greeks originally used the eastern manner of writing, from right 
 to left.'^ • , . , 
 
 Before we proceed to speak of the different modes of writing, it may 
 be necessary to observe, that all writing maybe divided into capitals, 
 uncials, and small letters. All ancient inscriptions on stones and marbles 
 belong to the first; mss. to the second; and, to the third, charters, 
 grants, and other matters of business. Before the middle of the fourth 
 century, small letters were very rarely used even in mss. Before the 
 eighth centurj^, they were common in particular mss. : in. that age they, 
 began" to prevail over capitals and uncials, which till then had been the 
 ruling form ; in the ninth century, small letters were generally used, and 
 in the tenth their triumph was complete. 
 
 The mode of writing called by the Greeks Bouj-^ocJjtjSov, which is. 
 backwards and forwards, as the ox plows, is of very high antiquity. 
 Of this writing there were two kinds; the most ancient commencing 
 from, right to left, and the other from left to right. 
 
 The oldest Greek letters, which are written from right to left, are 
 nearly Pelasgic, as appears, by comparing the first Greek alphabet in 
 plate I., with the Pelasgic alphabet in the same plate. The Greek alpha- 
 bet originally consisted of sixteen letters. Four double letters ; namely, 
 0, H, 4>, X, are said to have been added by Palamedes, about twenty years 
 before the taking of Troy, or one thousand one hundred and sixty-four 
 years before Christ. Simonides is generally supposed to have added the 
 letters Z, H, *, 12 : but some of these letters were used before the days 
 of .Palamedes and Simonides, for we find the letters H, 0, 4>, in that 
 most ancient inscription,, said by the Abbe Fourmont to have been found 
 
 ' ^hre_e_ opinions have prevailed concerning the origin of Greek letters; the first, that 
 Cadmus was the inventor; the second, attributes them to Cecrops;— and the third, with more 
 reason, to the Pelasgi. 
 ■' ^ Sef Spanheim on Medals, p. no.— Montfaucon's PalEeographife Grjeca, &c. 
 
J^ite J 
 
 'a iHLiii 
 
 ex. l(a/'/u.-p/3ISB. 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 m h3 X 3 03 txLX 
 
 ^PKTOKl>E 5^ -J O 
 
 ^^ 3 :^ 3 
 
 BeopoN poz 
 
 K'rlASe^ 
 
 TA,/E/CAoY 
 
 •j I opoiApohf^ii(A/-aay 
 
 W 
 
 j-^e 
 
 O;iO4'70T:^OTA*i>/ Cn^3 
 M © 3 K MWM (TTATe [ 1 A^ 
 
 e IM H o TTT o 'be V tJO »^ o -T^ I fcecn " 
 CYiOCnrovov^OYTOCeCT"! r-« 
 
 ^o ^ |::rTOAi © o ^ h^^ 
 
 ^y^ AS 
 
 
 S010NO6 
 
 Hmpei^eiNoo* 
 
 C)Tin\Govfd)He 
 
 \VTOMTATieiM0 
 
 •ftAeianicw 
 
 
 XttqrtTKA.NOHeC'TloWC ina)Hnp<x)N TCOH6N 6<i>ectAJ 
 
 /^ CVN6A.80K T^'iAj^ort^o-repoK 
 
CHAP. Y. OF WRITING. 67 
 
 at Amj^clea, in Laconia," which is supposed to have been written about 
 one hundred and sixty years before the siege of Troy, and one thousand 
 three hundred and forty-four before Christ." It is now preserved at 
 Paris, with some other pieces asserted to have been discovered by the 
 Abbe Fourmont. — See a specimen of this inscription, plate II. N° 1; the 
 reading of which is as follows : 
 
 MHEXAAIA TO AMOKEA TEEP EKAAIHAKS .... TO KAABIAKO MATEEP 
 
 AIAKIA TO KAAIMAKO MATEEP K KAPOAEPIS TO KAPPOAEPO MATEEP KA AMOMONA 
 TO AEP02E0 MATEEP NEPAIOMONA TO 
 
 Which, rendered into the ordinary Greek, will be read thus : 
 
 M75=vaX*a Toy Afj.oxs'X . . . resg, J^xaT^nraxg . . rou Ka7^i[xa.xou //.arssg, Mvaxtct 
 rou tLa'Kifj.axofj [xarsso x KaogoSsgig rou Ka^goSsgou ptarssg xa Ns^/Ao^oi/a tou Asgo- 
 (Tsou [J.OI.TSSP Nggjao^ova tou. 
 
 The Abb^ Barthelemy is of opinion, that this inscription was in- 
 tended to preserve the names of the priestesses of the temple of Apollo 
 at Amyclea." There is no il in this inscription, there are tw^o Omicrons 
 to distinguish between the long and the short O ; though another inscrip- 
 tion of about eight hundred years before Christ hath the ii. The H is 
 not used in this inscription, but it is supplied by the junction of the K 
 with the S. The * and the Z are not in this inscription, which is a strong 
 presumption, if genuine, that it is anterior to the introduction of these 
 letters into the Greek alphabet. The X is not in the inscription ; the K 
 is substituted for it. The three famous inscriptions of seven and eight 
 hundred years before Christ, published by the Abb6 Fourmont, have the 
 letter X, as also the * and the H.° 
 
 1 In this city was one of the most celebrated temples of all Greece, in which was a statue of 
 Apollo, thirty cubits high.— This place is now called Schabochori. 
 
 - Mons. Gebelin says, it was written about two hundred years before the Trojan war. 
 
 " Mem. de I'Acad. des Tnsc. & B. L. torn, xxxix. edit, in la. p. 139. 
 
 o See more concerning this inscription in the Nouveau Traite de Dipl. t. i. p. 615 to 636 ; 
 and Universal Hist. vol. xvi. p. 46, note D.-Mr. R. P. Knight with great strength of argument, 
 and critical acumen, invalidates the authenticity of the Marbles given by the Abbe Fourmont, 
 and insists on their being forgeries.-See his Analytical Essay on Greek Alphabets, p. iii to 130, 
 London, 1794. 4to. 
 
68 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 The second specimen in the same plate begins also from right to left ; 
 it is said by the Abbe Eourmont to have been found at Amyclea ; the 
 characters are not so rude as the former, and therefore it is supposed to 
 be more modern : the words are, 
 
 AAMONAKA AAMONAKO lEPEIA : 
 otherwise, Aajj-ovaxa AafMOvaxotj U^sta. 
 
 The above inscription is said to have been placed at the foot of some 
 statue, or bas-relief, representing Damonak offering a sacrifice. 
 
 The third specimen of the Boustrophedon, beginning from the right 
 hand, is taken from a marble in the National Museum at Paris. The 
 first two characters are monograms ; this, if authentick, is evidently of a 
 later date than the two former specimens. The words are, 
 
 TAAOS MANE0EKEN API2T0KIAES NOESEN ; 
 
 i. e. " Hyllus placed me — Aristocydes made me." 
 
 The fourth specimen in the same plate is taken from the famous 
 Sigean inscription, which was written more than five hundred years 
 before Christ. It is the first I have met with, which begins from the 
 left. The reading of this inscription is, 
 
 <I>ANOAIKO : EMI : TO HEPMOKPATOS : TO nPOKONESIO : KAEO : KPATEPA : 
 KAniSTATON : KAI HE0MON : ES nPTTANEION : K AOKA : MNEMA : 21- 
 TETETSI : EAN AE TI HASXO MEAEAAINEN : AE O SIEEIES : KAI MEOOEISEN : 
 HAI20n02 : KAI H AAEA<I>OI. 
 
 Id est, ^avo^ixou hiJ.) rou 'H^[xoH^arovg too H^oxovrjrriotj xdyw xpoClripa xa.7ri^a.Tov, xai 
 xa) [jJ e7roir}(rsv b 'Ai<rQTrog, xa) oi adsT^cpoi." 
 
 ' "I am the statue of Phanodicus, the son of Hermocrates the Proconesian. I gave a cup, 
 a saucer, and a strainer, to serve as a monument in the Council-house. If I meet with any acci- 
 dent, it belongs to you, O Sigeans, to repair me. I am the work of iEsop and his brethren." — 
 See some account of this inscription in ChishulFs Asiatic Antiquities. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 69 
 
 The Boustrophedon writing is said to have been disused about four 
 hundred and fifty-seven years before Christ ; inscriptions of the seventh 
 and eighth centuries before Christ are generally from left to right." 
 
 The fifth specimen is from the inscription found by Mons. Tournefort 
 at the foot of a statue in the Isle of Delos. It is engraven by Montfaucon 
 in his Palaeographia Graeca, p. 122 ; the reading is, 
 
 OANTO AI0O EMI ANAPIAS KAI TO 2<J>EAAS ; 
 Id est, 'Ev TcJo 'XiSco h[J.) av^^iag xoti to c^SsXaj. 
 
 It may be observed that writing from the left hand was current 
 amongst the Greeks a long time before the Boustrophedon writing was 
 entirely disused. This appears by the sixth, seventh, and eighth speci- 
 mens of the second plate, which are of the eighth and ninth centuries 
 before Christ, and which are published in the fifteenth volume of the 
 Memoirs of the Trench Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. 
 
 The reading of N° vi. is BA2IAEES. ©soVojaTroj N<;<aySgou, 'Axxa/tsi/rj? 
 
 Kings. Theopompus, son of Nicander; Alcamenes, son of Taleclus. 
 That of N° vii. is nearly the same. BASIAEES. SeoVoju-Troj N*xavSgou, 
 
 ' A7^xa[J.£vr}g TaXlxXoy. 
 
 The inscription N° viii. relates to the son and successor of Alcamenes: 
 
 BASIAEES. XioTTOfJiTrog N<xav8goi», UoT^vdoo^og 'AXxa/Aswso. 
 
 Kings- Theopompus, son of Nicander ; Polydore, son of Alcamenes. 
 
 Monograms and joined letters are of very high antiquity amongst 
 the Greeks. See plate II. N° 3 ; and plate VI. N° 1.— If it should be 
 asked, at what period of time joined letters were introduced in ancient 
 monuments ; it is evident, that this practice was universal in the most 
 early ages. Sufficient proofs of this fact appear in a work published at 
 Palermo in 1769, intitled, " Sicilia Vcterum Inscriptionum," &c. At 
 page 54 of this work, are many proofs of their being used in Syria, 
 
 P See the N. T. de Dip], vol. i. p. 614. 
 
70 ORIGIN' AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Egypt, and Greece ; which practice, will appear, was adopted by the 
 Etruscans, the Romans, the Saxons, and by most other nations. 
 
 The Mss. of the Greeks were usually written in capitals till the 
 seventh century, and generally without any division of words ; several 
 written- in this manner' are still remaining in England : for instance, 
 Plate III. contains a specimen of the Book of Genesis, which was 
 brought from Philippi by two Greek bishops, who presented it to king 
 Henry the Eighth, telling him at the same time, that tradition reported 
 it to have been "^Origen's own book. Queen Elizabeth gave it to Sir 
 John Fortescue, her preceptor in Qreek, who placed it in the Cottqnian 
 Library. It was almost destroyed by a fire which happened in that 
 Library in the year 1731 ; but the specimen here given, was made while 
 the writing was in its original state, and before the parchment was 
 contracted by the fire. This ms. contained one hundred and sixty-five, 
 folios, and two hundred and fifty most curious paintings, twenty-one 
 fragments of which were engraven by the Society of Antiquaries of 
 London. The specimen is taken from the 14th chapter of the book of 
 Genesis, v. 17, 18, 19, and 20 ; and is read as follows : 
 
 (17) E^rj7\.^sv Ss ^atriT^sug "S/O^oft-cov^ sig vvau 
 TTjcriv auTW jU,era ro wTroj-psxfya* aiirov 
 aTTO TT^g xoTrrjg too yra^a.'K'Ko'^o^oq xai 
 Tcov ^OLCTi'Keuiv rwv [xer aurou sig ttjv 
 xoiXoLda Trrjv (roiurj' touto vjv to ttb^iov 
 ^aa-i'Ksmv (i8) nai fj.e%-^Krs^sx. ^a<ri7^SDg 
 Xa'hr)!^ s^rjvsyxsv a^Toug xai oivov tjv 
 
 §£ i's^euj rou Bv rou ivf/jj-oy (19) xat suT^o-yTj 
 <rsv Tov 'A3gajU. xai etTrsv su7^oyr)fi.svog 
 A^^ap. TO) Qui iiypt^w (20) og skIktsv 
 
 i.Origen was born at Alexandria, A.D. 186; and died at Tyre, A.D. 255. See an account 
 of him and his works in Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Hist. vol. i. p. 198. Lond. 1774. 
 
 ' iia-vvarria-ip, lege ety avvavriqa-iv Sigma omissum est. 
 
_ TaI>:IIL.ji.jo. 
 
 inquv numerabantur I'olia i65. aU]^ ad illno'/mnJain Ja^j-toi-umv l^tcUc/-a^ z:,o 
 
 i J)& /u-L- chr/uY r. D^/h-erta/. Her. Heiv. OwaiMD. Loitd.lJ'i^ . 8" J 
 
 ttHKocNAe B^cl^eYccoAOMa3MelCYN^M 
 
 THCIN A^YTT^COMe'T'X'T^OVTrOCT'peS^A.IKYTON 
 
 /crroT M c KOTT^H c^o vv:oi!o^\ Koro MopKM 
 
 T^a3HaXCIAcea3MT"a3MMeXKVT'OYeiCTHN 
 KOlXAAjLT^HMC^VH-rOYT-OMM-raTreAlON 
 
 BAcivecjDN* iC3^iMeA.>!!c e.2i^eKRACi \eY^ 
 
 O^'^HMeiCHNerKeNKpTOYCKXIOl MON H N 
 
 ^eiepeYc^o yoytoyyS^ictoy KxieY^orn 
 ceNTONABf AM r^MeiTT'eN* evAorMMeMOc 
 KR]>XMT'ci3ac6T'a3Y>|>-iCT"a3- ooe^ KT'iceH 
 
 ^ocoecow'\'\crTOC^ oceA-O^KeHTOYce 
 ReN\Ynrcujs.ei<.xn"HNKTro'TT\N'rcoN- 
 
 M /in/"'-' f""'iii. i'r];/iui ■ 
 
 Q 5HA0eH\6-!SA^ci\eyccoAPMcoweiccyN 
 
 AMT H CIH AY ^OSM eTXTOXM XCTf e^\l \y TCP 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 71 
 
 Tov ov^avov xai T7)v yr\v xai suT^oyrj 
 Tog ^ ag ui^t^og' og s^cvxbv Tovg s 
 ^^poug (TOO oTTO^iztc/toug coc xai eSo) 
 X£V avTco ^sxa.Tr}V aTro iravTOiv' 
 
 E^rjA^-sv Se jdacnT^eog "SiodoiJiwv sig cvv 
 
 Although it is impossible to ascertain whether this book belonged to 
 Origen or not, we agree in opinion with the learned ' Dr. Owen, that 
 it is the oldest Greek ms. in England, and perhaps in Europe : the forms 
 of the letters are more ancient than the famous book of Genesis, preserved 
 in the Imperial Library at Vienna," which is generally allowed to be at 
 least fourteen hundred years old ; a specimen of which ms. is given at the 
 bottom of this plate. 
 
 We recommend to those who may transcribe the most ancient Greek 
 Mss. to take great care that they do not mistake one letter for another. 
 In this MS. the letters A, A, and A, are often so like each other as 
 scarcely to be distinguished. The same may be said of the T and the T; 
 indeed the librarii who transcribed the ancient Greek mss. for their 
 employers, very frequently mistook one of the above-mentioned letters 
 for the other. Dr. Owen points out several inaccuracies in the writing 
 of this MS. which are applicable to ancient Greek mss. in general ; as the 
 permutation, omission, and addition of consonants, the permutation of 
 vowels and diphthongs, of which he gives several instances. 
 
 The ninth specimen of plate II. is taken from the famous Codex 
 Alexandrinus, Avhich is reported to have been written about the middle 
 
 = ©s lege 6 s cum lineola superiori quas deest. 
 
 ' See Dr. Owen^s preface to his publication of Grabe^s Collation of this ms. p. 6. Lond. 
 1777. 8vo. 
 
 " See Lambecius-'s Cat. (vol. iii. p. 2.) This ms., says Lambecius, is above one thousand 
 three hundred years old, and is written upon purple vellum, in letters of gold and silver, and con- 
 sists of twenty-six leaves; the first twenty-four of which, contain fragments of the book of 
 Genesis, adorned with forty-eight pictures in water colours, which are engraven in vol. iii. of his 
 Catal. printed at Vienna, in 1670. 
 
72 ORIGIN. AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 of the fourth century, at Alexandria, by Thecla, a noble Egyptian lady. 
 This valuable ms. was sent by Cyril, patriarch of Constantinople, to king 
 Charles the first, about the year 1628, and is now preserved in the Royal 
 Library in the British Museiim ;'' this specimen is from the First Epistle 
 of St. John, chap. v. ver. 5, and is to be thus read : 
 
 Tig s^iv viKcov Tdv HO(rii.ov 
 St [i-rj TTig-sucov or; Ir](roug sg-iv 
 ohg Tou Qeoo ourog eg'iv 
 £7\.^a)v Si' u^arog xai ai^arog. 
 
 The fourth plate, is taken from the Acts of the Apostles in the 
 Bodleian Library at Oxford, and is believed to be the book which the 
 Venerable Bede made use of in the seventh centurj?", because it hath all' 
 those irregular Latin readings which, in his Commentaries on the Acts, 
 he says were in his book ; and no other ms. is now found to have them : 
 this"' MS. seems to have been written about the beginning of the fifth 
 century. ,.,.., 
 
 Plate fifth, is taken from a most ancient ms. in Greek and Latin, 
 in the "Public Library at Cambridge. This ms. is generally believed to 
 have been written in the fifth century ; it is now best known by the name 
 of Beza's Testament, because it was given by him to the University, in 
 1582.'' ' This specimen is taken from the third chapter- of St. Luke's 
 Gospel, ver. 22, and is to be thus read : 
 
 , oopocvov xai xara^7]V0Li to TveupLoi, 
 
 TO ayiov (rw[j.artxa) e«8e« cog Trspigspav 
 ■i • ' ' - - sig auTov xat ^wvrjv stt tou ovpotvou 
 yBVScr'^at utog [xou si <rv syco a-rj^spov 
 ysyBwriKOi <ts rjV 8s Irjg cog stcov-'K- 
 ap^oy.evog cog svof/.Ei^£TO sivai 
 
 ^ This MS. was published by the Reverend Mr. Woide, late one of the assistant librarians in 
 the British Museum, in fac simile characters. 
 
 ''.Concerning this ms. see Catal. _mss. Anglice & Hibernise^ pars ii. fol. 173; Blanchin's 
 Evangel. Quadruplex, p. 481. See also Wetstein's Prolegom. Nov. Test. p. 30^ et seqq. 
 
ihiK-jf.'/t.jy 
 
 JEx. JLibiv AM)rMihAposWlorurrh.Gr.L£ul::UhBibl.BodUuutaLaud. F.8ZN°m(). 
 
 5ieKjicn emp^ 
 
 \6iLU6 AIT 0^^ecj)H 
 
 CT p^uxjies KM n xnrapec 
 
 xuoi^e A.Koyo^T'e 
 
 uisusesn? idcJ^gh 
 
 p^.T'Ri Tconpi 
 
 WOSTTRO HIvrcUKi 
 
 Abe 6 epQ hi LciDM oj^q (tsxu vxyy^; 
 
 Alphabetum CocUcixi'Dioj'condLUJVL, in3ibl:C<x^.Vindohoiien,fi rur,iAD.303 AVtiiutaiu. 
 
 XBr \ez HaiK \M HXOirpcT y4^^ ^'ti^- 
 
7;i/'. V. ; 7v . 
 Ex Libre EVJLA'M^ : SS. MA TTH: MARCI elMT^M cvv ■ 
 
 fn BihJ: /iiihUca f\l,^'T,AB: qJ/servcdD. 
 
 TOA^nOM Ccor^Anr'rj<coeiA.eta3clrTepic'rep^M 
 etc /XV^O M K^lCp^^KJ H M eK T^oYOYJ'^ ^ oY 
 
 reMece,/>^ J y >oc Moyei cy^era:? ch m epoM 
 rereJNi^HK ^ceHMAeinc cocercoisi-x- 
 
 ;^j>XOH0Nioccoce MOMei'^eT'Oei m At 
 TOY lAKcDfV 
 
 Toy iviAeeAT^j 
 
 Toy eA^eA^Ap 
 
 TOY eAio'VA 
 
 ToY rAx:eiM 
 
 Toy OA/^^CDK 
 
 Toy A*2:cx)p 
 
 i5cB raeis^^HOifKAW^j^o n pcT>^ 4>>^Y ^" 
 c Aelu m oT descer-4 d eneypm 
 
 vSamCTUCYI COJ^POX/SliJ^lGUJ<j^qLiA5lCOLUCr)DACr) 
 
 jMetifnertJOcecndecAeio 
 _r ACTA CD J^ibuJroeoS ^TLiaQonodie 
 CCMuiTeeKATAun-eoo ih^q^^A-S'iANisiaj^uonxxx- 
 
 qLiijpui-r i>*coT3 
 
 qUlJ^UlT" ODATTbA^lN 
 
 qiuiJ=L»iT Bltud 
 
 quij=uiT .S"Adoc 
 qu 1 jpu IT AZ OJ^ 
 
 Abed e j^ q h 1 L on m o_p cj jp^ _s~ t u x -y :z;; 
 
 a u c 7^ e ^^ hi U en /J o I? cj )i ^r T u ^ ^ ^ 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 or A 
 
 WRITING. 
 
 
 viog 
 
 la)(rrj(p 
 
 
 TOO 
 
 laxo)^ 
 
 
 TOO 
 
 MaQSav 
 
 
 TOD 
 
 E7\,sa^ap 
 
 
 TOU 
 
 EXjooS 
 
 
 TOU 
 
 la^siv 
 
 
 TOO 
 
 'S/Oi.dwx 
 
 
 rou 
 
 A^wp- 
 
 73 
 
 Ccelum. Et dcscendere Spm Sanctum, corporaU Jigura, quasi columbam, 
 
 ill eum : et vocem de ccelo factam : Filius yneus est tu, ego hodie genui te. 
 
 Erat autem Jhs quasi annorum xxx. incipiens, iit videbatur essejilius Joseph, 
 
 qui fuit Jacob, qui fuit Matthan, qui fuit Eleazae, qui fivit Emud, qui 
 
 juit Jachin, qui fuit Sadoo, qui fuit Azob. 
 
 Greek mss. were generally written in capitals till the eighth century, 
 and some so late as the ninth, though there is a striking difference in the 
 forms of the letters after the seventh century ; several besides these above- 
 mentioned, are deposited in our public and private libraries : many more 
 are preserved in various foreign libraries : we shall point out a few of 
 them. — The fragment of St. Paul's Epistles, N" 202, inter mss. Coislinianse, 
 in the Royal Library at Paris, written in the fifth or sixth century. The 
 fine copy of the Greek Bible in the Vatican Library, N° 1209, written in 
 the beginning of the sixth century. The famous book in the library of 
 St. Basil in Switzerland, N° 145, written in the seventh century ; and the 
 Apocalypse in the same library, N° 105. The Codex Colbertinus written 
 in the eighth century, partly in round and partly in square characters. 
 The readings upon the Gospels, in the Vatican Library, N° 1067, written 
 also in the eighth century. The Four Gospels in the Royal Library at 
 Paris, (inter MSS. Colbert. N° 5149), written likewise in the eighth century : 
 specimens of all which, are given by Blanchin, in his Evangeliarium 
 Quadruplex, part i. from p. 492 to p. 542 ;' and part ii. p. 59L 
 
 ^ See Evang. Quadruplex Latinae versionis antiquee, Romas, 1748. 
 
 L 
 
74 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 We are of opinion that mss. written in capitals, without any division 
 of words, may be older than they are supposed to be ; for mss. that were 
 written^before the seventh century, differ very little from each other. In 
 all the Greek mss. above-mentioned are both round and cornered letters. 
 The letters of ancient Greek inscriptions are usually square or cornered ;" 
 those of the most ancient mss. are many of them round ; the reason is 
 obvious, because cornered letters are more easily carved upon hard 
 substances, and round letters are more expeditiously made upon papyrus, 
 vellum, or other soft materials. 
 
 Great alterations took place in the mode of Greek writing in the 
 eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries : towards the latter end of the last, 
 small letters were generally adopted. See specimens ten, eleven, and 
 twelve, in plate II. 
 
 The tenth specimen in plate II. is taken from a fragment of an 
 Evangelisterium in the Bodleian Library at Oxford ; (ms. Laud G. 92), 
 which may be read ; 
 
 Xa IH : ZH. Xa OIONOE 
 
 'H yap sxeivog 
 
 Ort TTO-S UI^WV £- 
 
 avTov TaTTSivu) » . . 
 
 This MS. was written in the ninth century ; the characters are very similar 
 to MS. N° 1522, in the Vatican library, a specimen of which may be seen 
 in Blanchinus's Evangeliarium Quadruplex, pars i. fol. 492. pi. II. 
 
 The eleventh specimen in the same plate is taken from an Evanoe- 
 listerium in the Bodleian library, (inter mss. Baroc. N° 202): this ms. 
 was written in the tenth century, and is to be read as follows ; 
 
 ^ This rule is not without exception ; for occasionally, round letters are to be found 
 upon Greek inscriptions. For instance; upon the Epitaph on Marcus Modius, in the time 
 of Augustus, preserved at Wilton, some sigmas are round, and some are cornered.— The 
 same may be observed, with respect to the most ancient inscription on the sarcophagus, 
 in the same collection, where Ceres is teaching the method of sowing corn ; there is not only 
 the round sigma, but the round epsilon alsoj and this inscription was made in the time of 
 their best work at Athens.— Vide the Wilton ms. in my library, p. 130, 131.— Other instances 
 of round and cornered letters upon marbles, appear in the Marmor. Oxon. &c. 
 
CHAP. V. or WRITING. 75 
 
 Ek xotTa. Magxo 
 
 Ejttsv Kw^joj -\- ogrig 
 
 QsXsi OTTKTUi 
 
 Moo axo'\ov'^eiv 
 aTra^VKracr^co e . . . 
 
 The twelfth and last specimen in plate II. is taken from a ms. in the 
 same Library, written in the year 904 or 905, and is to be thus read ; 
 
 K-avovsg rcov a- ayicov ttqwu tcov sv s(ps(r(o 
 
 (TDVsKBoVrcO . ^ TO TTpOTSpOV 
 
 'H Ttg sgiv rqiTf} otxoD[j,evixrj crvvo^' 
 
 Greek mss. written in and since the eleventh century, are in small 
 letters, and very much resemble each other, though exceptions to this 
 rule occasionally, yet rarely occur. In the library of Emanuel College 
 in Cambridge, is a ms. fragment of the Psalms, written in very singular 
 characters, partly Greek and partly Latin ; a specimen of which is given 
 in plate VI. N° 2 ; which may be read thus ; 
 
 E<J TO T£7\.0g UTTSp TU)V 
 
 7\.r}va)v ipa7\.[xog rat a(ratp' 
 AyaXA/ao-Q-e rm 9ai rw ^o'i 
 
 Bw t^cov : a'kaKa^iTe rco &m 
 
 Haxmjb 
 Aa/SsTs •vf/aXjU.cov xs dore rv[j.- 
 
 Travov -i/aKripiov repTrvov 
 
 fj.STa xt^apag 
 '%a7\.Tn<Tare ev vbo^Vio. «raA- 
 
 TTjyyj : sv SDa'7][j.u) ri^soa sop- 
 
 Toig r)[Ji(uv 
 
 Flourished letters sometimes, though seldom, occur in Greek mss. 
 of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries : those in plate VI. 
 N° 3, are taken from a Psalter in the Bodleian Library, ms. Cromwell, 
 (N° 13). This MS. was written in the year 1405." 
 
 ^ Lege a-vi'eXOovToiv. <= V. Cata]. mss. Angl. et Hib. p. 42, N° 389. 
 
76 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 There is a great variety of abbreviations in Greelc mss. written be- 
 tween the tenth and the fifteenth centuries- Those in plate VI. N°4, are 
 taken from Cromwell's Psalter above-mentioned, and from another Psalter 
 amongst Sir Thomas Bodley's mss, in the same library (NE. B. 2, n. 17) 
 written in the tenth century. These mss. contain, not only a. great 
 variety of abbreviations, but also a multitude of symbols and arbitrary 
 marks, which are ^ell worthy the attention of those, who are curious in 
 Greek mss."^ A Lexicon Diplomaticum for the Greek abbreviations, from 
 Greek mss. upon the plan of that published by Waltherus for the Latin, 
 would be highly useful.'' 
 
 A Lexicon of this kind was compiled by John Caravalla,'a Circasian, 
 for Dr. Mead, which was presented to me by the late lord Sandys, and 
 is in my mss. library. 
 
 Accents were used to mark the time and duration of sounds, heard 
 in succession ; they are rarely to be found in Greek mss. till the seventh 
 pr eighth centuries. The most ancient Greek poets were well versed in 
 rhythm, and accentuation; both Plato and Pythagoras speak of the 
 science. Hephestion, who lived in the time of the emperor Verus, in 
 the second century, composed rhythmical canons, which are still to be 
 found in his Manual.^ Aristides Quintilianus treats very particularly of 
 accents or rhythm. The ingenious Dr Burney' hath given us many 
 curious particulars concerning the science of rhythm among the ancients.^ 
 We are fully of opinion, that the use of accents among the Greeks, is 
 much more ancient than some writers will allow. 
 
 The Arcadians used the Ionic manner of writins; 
 Aecadian Letters. . , ,. ^i. • . • i , i 
 
 m earJy times. It is easy to conceive, that the 
 
 Corinthians were soon acquainted with the mode of writing practised by 
 
 their neighbours the Arcadians, as Arcadia was the inland part, and 
 
 Corinth was situated upon the Isthmus, of Peloponnesus. Damaratus 
 
 ^ Concerning abbreviations in Greek mss. see M ontfaucon's Palseographia Graca, p. 345 
 •to 370. 
 
 ' Lexicon Dip]. Gottingen, 1756^ F°. 
 
 f The work is de re metrica Suidas Jul. Capitolinus. 
 
 s See liis General History of Music, vol. i. from p. 71 to p. 86. 
 
•AnJ^iyte^m/rum Gra* 
 
 
 s ss jrs-5 
 
 H4KU/B; 
 f^'rcu la i^ajpoic : - 
 
 
 ^<3 ^ 
 
 ? " 1 5 >2 j: 
 
 IS 
 
 l<£;^ 
 
 
 ^^ -> ^ 
 
 ^ ■} * ' n 
 
 our V, 
 
 SLovCiccywug 
 
 ay H\tou 
 ©ocoau-ou 
 
 a 
 
 i'SV5 
 
 c/ if' C/- 
 
 
 
 rf/, rf7 V 
 
 A\ 
 
 3THcr 
 
 ^ ^-vS 
 
 
 0^ 
 
 axu)» 
 
 i'5'Aoi^'^ ** 
 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 77 
 
 of Corinth brought these letters to Tarquinium, where he settled ; and 
 his son Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the Romans, caused them 
 to be estabhshed in his dominions, about the year before Christ 560. 
 The Arcadian alphabet consists only of nineteen letters ; the G, of the 
 most ancient Roman form, stands in the place of the C ; V, V, in the 
 place of F; C in the place of K; and F, W, X, Y, Z, are not in this 
 alphabet. The Arcadian alphabet in plate I. is taken from the Nouveau 
 Traits de Diplomatique, plate VII. p. 654. The letters are the same as 
 those upon the Eugubian tables, which are written in Latin characters. 
 
 ^ ^ The most respectable authors both ancient and 
 
 Op the Latin or , „ 1 1 1 t • i 
 
 -n T- modern, are generally agreed, that the Latm letters 
 
 Roman Letters. 1 • 1 ^ 1 ^ 
 
 are derived from the Greek. Pliny (lib- vii. c. 58. 
 
 de Uteris antiquis), says, Veteres Grcecas fuisse easdem pene qua, nunc sunt 
 
 LatincE ; and Tacitus (Annal. lib. ii.) asserts, Et forma Uteris Latinis, qua 
 
 veterrimis Gracorum. The Latin alphabet is said to have originally 
 
 consisted of sixteen letters, as mentioned in plate I. The G at first was 
 
 supplied by C, which stands in its place, and K was continued in the 
 
 old Roman alphabet; but after G was added, C was generally used for 
 
 it, and then K was thought a superfluous letter. The letters F and H, 
 
 are frequently excluded the Latin alphabet. The Latins, in ancient 
 
 times, had no sound for the V, but that of a vowel : they supplied the 
 
 Greek T by their V, when they wrote Greek words in Latin characters. 
 
 The consonant V, was the jEolic Digamma, and answered in power 
 to the Phenician Vau, and the Latin F. The Latins used the F, to 
 express the sound of the V consonant, as Fotum, Fir go, for Votum, Virgo; 
 but when they used V for a consonant as well as a vowel, it afterwards 
 became an F, or the P aspirated, answering to the Greek <I>. The Greeks 
 rendered the V consonant, by the diphthong ou. 
 
 The Q was reckoned a double letter CV, and was anciently pro- 
 nounced like C ; the Sabines and Etrurians never used it, says Mr. 
 Jackson, (vol. iii. p. 177) ; but it was an ancient Latin letter, and, though 
 not in the primitive Latin alphabet, yet it is in the Arcadian. Peter 
 Diaconus, the grammarian, (inter Auctor. ling. Lat. p. 1498), says, that 
 
78 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Augustus first took the letters Y and Z from the Greeks, which were not 
 used by the Romans before his time ; but, instead of them, they wrote 
 SS for Z, and I for Y. Priscian, in his grammar, says, Y was added 
 to the five Latin vowels, for the notation of Greek proper names. 
 
 Peter Diaconus relates, that the letter X was introduced into the 
 Roman alphabet, in the time of Augustus ; and that before his reign, 
 the Romans supplied the want of it, by the letters C and S. Peter is 
 mistaken ; for we find the letter X, in the Duileian pillar, inscribed in 
 the year of Rome 494, and 259 before Christ. See more examples in 
 Norris's Cenotap. Pisan. (p. 447 to 449). Mr. Jackson shews that the 
 Y was also used before the reign of Augustus, though probably it was 
 not much older. 
 
 The double UU is a letter unknown, as to form and place, in the 
 alphabets of the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and Goths. This 
 letter is peculiar to the northern languages and people, and particularly 
 to the nations who are of Teutonic and Sclavonic original. 
 
 Having thus briefly spoke of the Roman letters, we shall now speak 
 of their writing in different ages.— To begin with writing in capitals, by 
 which is generally understood, a superior and majestic J^ind of writing ; 
 the name is derived from the custom of placing such characters at the 
 heads of books, chapters, and paragraphs. The most ancient mss. 
 were in capitals ; and characters of this kind were in general use for 
 records, &c. from the earliest times, to the middle of the fifth century; 
 though smaller characters were occasionally used, for ordinary subjects 
 that required dispatch. 
 
 Writing in capitals may be divided into various kinds ; into square, 
 which are found interspersed in several ancient monumental inscriptions, 
 and are very common on seals until the eleventh and twelfth centuries ; 
 round, which were used by the ancients in books and public monuments, 
 and were preferred to the square in the thirteenth century ; sharp, which 
 consist of oblique and angular lines ; cubical, which are very long, and 
 which have been used as initials in some jiss. Elegant capitals, which are 
 found on ancient marble and brass monuments, in scarce mss. and the 
 titles of the best printed books. The ancients chiefly used them on coins. 
 
CHAP. V. OF AVRITING. 79 
 
 These fine characters began to acquire graceful proportion, and make 
 near approaches to perfection, two centuries before Caesar. They had the 
 sole possession of medals, in which no other letters were admitted ; and 
 attained to the highest degree of beauty and elegance under Augustus. 
 Their forms were fixed and preserved, without any material change, to the 
 fifth century ; for though they were much less generally used from the 
 third century, they are not supposed to have been disused entirely, 
 before the time of Theodosius the younger, who reigned to the year 450. 
 
 The Rustic capitals were bold, negligent, and unequal, composed of 
 strokes generally oblique, sometimes extravagant, and always inelegant. 
 They appear to have constantly had admirers in Rome, and continually 
 displayed themselves on bronze and marble, though entirely excluded 
 from medals. Towards the middle of the second century they were so 
 far improved, as to have sometimes no unpleasing effect ; but, when 
 compared with elegant writing, they still appeared barbarous. The 
 general good taste that had displayed itself, even in rustic writing, was 
 soon followed by a glaring depravity, though with similar gradations. 
 It was introduced into mss. and constantly maintained its ground in 
 them, during a long succession of ages ; whilst regular and elegant 
 writing had a much shorter reign. It must, however, be confessed, that 
 it is rarely called Rustic with propriety in mss. and only on account of 
 a certain analogy in the cut and form : it flourished there for five or six 
 centuries, with a degree of elegance which it had not displayed on either 
 metal or stone. 
 
 Writing in Rustic capitals was constantly preserved, and with less 
 alteration than other modes, until the tenth or eleventh century : for 
 though Charlemagne, with judicious zeal, had introduced a happy 
 change in writing, this however was still in use in mss. 
 
 In the tenth and eleventh centuries it lost a part of the advantages 
 which supported it ; and, being much corrupted afterwards, was at 
 length confounded with the modern Gothic. This is understood to be 
 confined to inscriptions, and to the titles of mss. ; it is not to be sup- 
 posed that any manuscript was written entirely in capitals in the times 
 last mentioned. 
 
80 
 
 ORIGIN. AND PROGRESS 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 As to the forms of those letters which are termed National Capitals, 
 they are nothing more than the Roman capitals, adapted to the taste 
 and fancy of ditferent nations. It would be too tedious to enter into a 
 discussion of all those different variations ; it, is sufficient to observe, 
 that there are very few mss. posterior to the sixth century, entirely 
 written in capitals ; and it is to be presumed, that there can be none 
 of a later date than the eighth. The titles of the pages in capitals in 
 a MS. that is likewise in capitals, are strong indications of very high 
 antiquity. 
 
 The four first specimens of plate VIL are from mss. written in Roman 
 capitals. 
 
 N° I. is taken from a ms. in the Royal library at Paris (N° 152, 
 fol. 30). Explicit Commentariorum' in Hieremia Liber septus feliciter. Amen. 
 
 N° II. is taken from a ms- in the Abbey of St. Germain de Pres 
 (N° 718). These characters are somewhat rustic. De eo qicod scriptwn 
 est haec lex, peccati in loco in quo jugalantur holocausta accident, et id quo 
 peccati est, et cetera. 
 
 N° III. is taken from a very ancient ms. in the Royal library at 
 Paris (N° 8084) ; and it is written in rustic capitals, which characters are 
 entirely different from the writing called Uncial, or rounded letters. 
 
 HYMN US OMNIS HORAE. 
 
 Da puer plectrum choraeis 
 Ut canam fidelibus 
 Dulce carmen & melodumj 
 Gesta Xpi insignia : 
 
 Hunc Camoena nostra solum 
 Pangat, hunc laudet lyra. 
 Xps estj quem Rex sacerdos 
 Ad futurum protinus. 
 
 N" IV. is taken from the ms. Palatin. Virgil (N° 1631), in the Vatican 
 library, written in the fourth or fifth century. 
 
 Te quoque magna pales, et te memorande canemus 
 Pastor ab Amphyso suos silvae manesque Lycaei. 
 
 The fifth specimen is taken from the famous Florence Virgil, written 
 in the year 498. In this ms. the i is used for the e ; as omnis Vr omnes. 
 

 
 TieUClT61tAAAeKJ 
 
 CO 
 
 INOVlOmG/dANTUnHobocmSTAOCa bBSTHlb 
 C\UQ p £CCat)ESlirCEtm ^^ 
 
 ffl HY>AHNJ5O>AK]SH0KX? . ^ 
 
 DAP-v;ifl2LK;rKVJMCK0,JlAnSVTTC^NAMTl,D£LrB>X 
 
 DVllCf,ailMi N iTME,L0 D VTM,OrilA^'^I I N^ I C. N lA 
 KU^CA,MOiNA,MO^T5.A^<;oW,rANGi\XKwdAVDEllT 
 -aAXB£iIQ\J£MMXJACI^iOiA6luTVRXHF^OTINVJ5 
 
 i : — - — — — — 
 
 Ti^riQU0QlI£A\AfiNAlAlKlLLEM£AA.0B-ANDlCAN£AL\)5 
 :£ASIOR ABAAA.mT50^V05i ItVAf A\/l 1^ £SQD£lTCAf L 
 
 V HAIS'ATER.lTDlV\ExjESTR.V MCECIN ISSEPOEI^/v\ DviAASED£TETCR.AClLirivSCElL\MTEXl 
 Ttt1BlSCopriRmE3viostt}^EcBCiETi5MAoci]yi\G^H.o. G^LLocv\)v;vS^MOR:T^^rTvjM 
 AMHlCRE^ClTIt^HOR^S•QVl*XwIUMVfERE NO\40\irfLlDlsS^F5v46lClT?\lN VJ5 
 

CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 81 
 
 and the ae are alwaj^s distinct, and not a. ; the d is frequently written 
 instead of b. 
 
 Haec sat erit divae vestrum cecinisse poetam 
 Dum sedet. Et gracili fiscellam texit hibisco 
 PierideSj vos haec facietis maxima gallo. 
 Gallo cujus amor tantum mihi crescit in horas. 
 Quantum vere novo, viridis se subicit alnus. 
 
 The eighth plate contains specimens of the capital letters used in the 
 most ancient copy of the Rule of St. Benedict, which is said to have been 
 brought into England by St. Austin in the sixth century, and is now pre- 
 served in the Bodleian library among Lord Hatton's mss. (N° 93,) of 
 which MS. we shall speak presently. 
 
 This plate furnishes us with curious examples of the capital letters 
 used in Italy, in the decline of the Roman empire. 
 
 The term Uncial is of no great antiquity ; it was 
 introduced by those who have treated of ancient 
 writings, to distinguish those mss. which are written in large round cha- 
 racters, from those written in pure Capitals. The word Uncial, probably 
 took its rise from the mss. that were written in such letters as are gener- 
 ally used for the heads and titles of chapters, which were called by the 
 Librarii, or Book-writers, Literce hiitiales, but were not capitals, which 
 words the ignorant Monks and Schoolmen mistook for Litera Unciales.'' 
 
 In plate XVI. there are both Capitals, Initials, and Small Letters ; and 
 also in plate XVIII. (N" 3 and 5.) 
 
 Striking as the disparity appears between Capital and Uncial Letters, 
 they have been frequently confounded; the former are square, and the 
 latter for the most part round. It is true, indeed, that Uncials are large, 
 and so far resemble Capitals ; but they are otherwise not at all similar. The 
 
 "^ Mr. Casley truly says, that the letters i, m, n, and u, are usually written both in old 
 and modern mss. so as not to be distinguished, when they come together, but by the sense : 
 thus the word Minimum, is written with fifteen parallel strokes, all alike, joined together. 
 This might easily occasion the mistake of writing unciale, for initiate ; for as to the difference 
 of t and c, most writers from the twelfth to the fifteenth century made very little, and some none 
 at all ; and even those who did make a difference, commonly wrote initiate with a c. In the 
 twelfth century, some writers began to make a small hair-stroke over the i, sometimes straight, 
 but oftener oblique, which dwindled into a single point in the fifteenth century. See the preface 
 to the Catalogue of the Royal Library, pages 8 & i6. 
 
 M 
 
82 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 characteristic difference of Uncials, consists in the roundness of the nine 
 following letters, viz. A, D, E, G, H, M, Q, T, U ; the rest of the letters, 
 B, C, F, I, K, L, N, O, P, S, X, Y, Z, are common to both Uncials and 
 Capitals : this is proved by comparing the letters in plates VII. and 
 VIII. with those in plates IX- and X. 
 
 Uncial writing began to be adopted about the middle of the fifth 
 century; and, as it required little ingenuity and much patience, it was 
 preferred to the running hand in barbarous times. From the close of the 
 sixth century to the middle of the eighth. Uncial writing generally pre- 
 vailed, except amongst men of business in ordinary transactions, which 
 required dispatch. 
 
 If a MS. is entirely in Uncials, it may very well be supposed prior to 
 the close of the ninth century. A manuscript in Uncials, without any 
 ornaments to the titles of the books, at the beginning of a treatise, or 
 round the initials of a paragraph or break, is of good antiquity. 
 
 Ornaments to the titles of pages, and ornamented letters, are found 
 as early as the sixth century ; they were much in vogue in the eighth and 
 ninth, as will appear by inspecting plates IX. XIV. XV. XVII. and XVIII. 
 If the titles are in small Uncials, in a ms. of true Uncials, they are 
 marks of at least equal antiquity : See plate IX. N° I. 
 
 The fourth and fifth plates contain specimens of Uncial letters written 
 in the fifth century, which have been spoken of before. The first speci- 
 men in the ninth plate, is taken from a copy of the rules of St. Benedict, 
 preserved in the Bodleian library amongst Lord Hatton's mss. (N° 93,) 
 written in the fifth, or in the beginning of the sixth century, and is to be 
 
 read thus : 
 
 LXVIIII. Ut in Monas- 
 
 terionon praesuniat 
 
 alter alterum det'endere 
 
 recavendum est ne quavis occasione 
 
 praesumat alter alium defendere 
 
 Monachum in Monasterio. 
 
 The second specimen, in the same plate, is taken from a psalter in 
 the Cottonian library, {vesp. A. 1.) which is reported to have been brought 
 into England by St Augustin. 
 
 "Verba cantici hujus in die qua eripuit eum Dns 
 "De manu omnium icorum ejus et de manu Saul." 
 
JLXmijUar l^U^raram irwwrum M(hdiceEe(jidar:S3ettedictiuzBM(3odl: a/fenuk. 
 I^rM.SS.2).lfaUort]VFc)5. l^vil T7 UTT>J Ol O N 3LS 
 
 CO ATral^Te R^Li 
 
 en o isr AS T e 1^7 o^ 
 
 Ex 3ibUotheca. Cottoi^ia.j^ui^, VJESF.A..J . 
 
 U6RB7V cxisiTicj bu 1 u s J wT> 1 equ?s>. enip uit eocn^H s 
 i>60TrKNuoor)i^iuor) icqRucn e«JS e'T^e<D>:Nu s>:u!L 
 
 icLupu .,^,,^, -y 6T DIXIT •• 
 
 S'lkl.^ 
 
 K5C')5D^.i; 
 
 oDeucD emepicjucr) cDeaCD ' 
 TOTicoeus oscDCug,>BiaTOi^cneas 
 
 P INK isr OCI1L05 ■■' 
 
 RABlU/.TeSTlQ3 o™LTa>t>N G 
 
 '\,i^^A 'V™5^'^& P{T ^ i^ 7-CLpul 
 
 
 -. ilLYiih-xb' wee. 
 

 'y 
 
 ' in 
 
 7rm>- 
 
 H UTTbomOODlSSu^ 
 
 m. vii -w 
 
 *i VI 
 
 1 N paiNcipioeRXT 
 
 epxTuejiBum cnoKjucDurres 
 
 TDocei^3kfrjTsjpp.jN r~S 
 
 c;pjo3Lput$3ai \T""Tt>j 
 ocn^ jxpejijpsu^ 
 
 pxcaxsuTST 
 ersT^^ejpsopa^ 
 
 esTntsjjbjI^ 
 cjuoDp^uCTucnesT 
 
 JN ipsoaixayeiixr 
 
 COJKUCO 
 
 CTTei^^eBiixeea^cn 
 
 NON CONpj^cN 
 
 ,T^Ijil;tEvana;m3M.^odyi:^Med:i'U'e,fu/iraI>Ajt.ijq. 
 
 pRl N CI pi O dtXT 
 
 uejtBUco* 
 boc el^^a"|NpR|>^ cipio 
 
 O co^g TXpeRjpS wxr»pAc 
 
 AAI>CDrfpG(5HllTVI NO^ 
 
 RSTT^J^JX EH 
 
 2^ B c ?> e e p c^c bj Ll,cr) NNop 
 
CHAP, V. 
 
 OF WRITING. 
 
 83 
 
 ET DIXIT 
 
 Dilegam te Dne virtus mea, Dfie firmamentum meuirij et refugium meum et liberator meuSj 
 Deus meus, adjutor mens, sperabo in eum, 
 
 P EN A est oculos 
 
 Mirabilia testimonia tua Dne 
 ideo scrutata est ea anima mea 
 Declaratio sermonum tuorum 
 inluminat me, et intellectum dat 
 parvulis. 
 
 The tenth plate contains specimens of two manuscripts written in 
 Roman Uncials, which St. Gregory the Great sent into England by St. 
 Augustin, in the sixth century ; these were preserved in what was called 
 the Bibliotheca Gregoriana, in St. Augustin's abbey, at Canterbury, and 
 were always considered as the books of St. Augustin, as the annals of that 
 church testify. At the time of the dissolution of religious houses, 
 Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, removed the first of these 
 Mss. to the library of Corpus Christi College, in Cambridge, where it 
 now remains. The second fell into the hands of the Lord Hatton, and 
 was placed with the rest of his mss. in the Bodleian library. 
 
 The specimens here given, are taken from the beginning of S. John's 
 gospel, and are to be read thus : 
 
 In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud Dm, et Ds erat verbuin. Hoc erat in prin- 
 cipio apud Dm. Omnia per ipsu facta sunt^ et sine ipso factu est nihil quod factum est. 
 In ipso vita erat et vita erat lux hominum, et lux in tenebris lucetj et tenebrae eum non 
 comprehenderunt. 
 
 Fuit homo missus a Do cui homen erat Johannes. Hie venit in testimonium ut 
 tes 
 
 The second specimen in plate XIV. is taken from a part of the 
 gospels in the church of. Durham, written in Roman Uncials in the sixth 
 century. 
 
 Inde et secuti sunt eum 
 Multi et curavit eos 
 Omnes et praecipit eis 
 Nc manifestum eum 
 
 . . . Num quid hie est filius David 
 Pharissei autem audien- 
 tes dixerunt hie non jecit 
 Demones nisi in Belzebud. 
 
l^x^LihroJllvanqdioruni iiiBLbl. Coll. C C. ('ru/l/fl' 
 
 f ^ 
 
 
 I, 
 
 1AJ- 
 
 y 
 
 >nui- 
 
 NpaiNCTpTOeRXT 
 
 &Tuejcmxcoefv^ 
 
 epxTuej^Bum 
 T^ooe)^3krrj>jpp.jN 
 
 c;pjo3LpubS5i 
 ocnt^ j^Lpejijpsu^ 
 
 ersT>^ejpsop6f^ 
 esTnsjjbjI^ 
 
 cjuoDp3ucautnesT 
 JN ipsoan^^ieHXT 
 
 l^UCCT 
 
 
 
 H UTTboODOCDjSSug 
 
 y m '^ XibS^cuiNocneN 
 
 <»»- Vll f- 
 
 VI ej^ynob^NNes 
 
 hlCUeNJTJNTeSTD 
 
 ODOKjuoDurres 
 
 . JSxLihtEvarM:in3ihl^odt:lMed:i'ii^e»fujiraDAjt.M. 
 
 ""iTVpRl 7SI CI pi O eR, AT 
 
 hoc el^^a"|NpRl>5 cipio 
 a_pudd'3n5 
 
 O CO?g TXpeRipStLCOpAC 
 
 CTsrN erpsopxc^LT 
 e^Nrjb)M 
 cja od p^CTucneST.-^ 
 
 eTTeTsJCBi^xeea^ar) 
 
 AaI> CD ripG^HllTV) N 0{ 
 
 RSTTVI^JX: EH 
 2^Bc?)eepc5^bT Ll,co NNO^ 
 
CHAP, V. 
 
 OF WRITING. 
 
 83 
 
 ET DIXIT 
 
 Dilegam te Dfie virtus mea, Dne firmamentum meum, et refugium meum et liberator meus^ 
 Dens meuSj adjutor meuSj sperabo in eum. 
 
 P EN A est oculos 
 
 Mirabilia testimonia tua Dne 
 ideo scrutata est ea anima mea 
 Declaratio sermonum tiiorum 
 inluminat me, et intellectum dat 
 parvulis. 
 
 The tenth plate contains specimens of two manuscripts written in 
 Roman Uncials, which St. Gregory the Great sent into England by St. 
 Augustin, in the sixth century : these were preserved in what was called 
 the Bibliotheca Gregoriana, in St. Augustin's abbey, at Canterbury, and 
 were always considered as the books of St. Augustin, as the annals of that 
 church testify. At the time of the dissolution of religious houses, 
 Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, removed the first of these 
 Mss. to the library of Corpus Christi College, in Cambridge, where it 
 now remains. The second fell into the hands of the Lord Hatton, and 
 was placed with the rest of his mss. in the Bodleian library. 
 
 The specimens here given, are taken from the beginning of S. John's 
 gospel, and are to be read thus : 
 
 In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud 'Dm, et Ds erat verbum. Hoc erat in prin- 
 cipio apud Din. Omnia per ipsu facta sunt^ et sine ipso factu est nihil quod factum est. 
 In ipso vita erat et vita erat lux hominum^ et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eum non 
 comprehenderunt. 
 
 Fuit homo missus a Do cui homen erat Johannes. Hie venit in testimonium ut 
 
 tes 
 
 The second specimen in plate XIV. is taken from a part of the 
 gospels in the church of Durham, written in Roman Uncials in the sixth 
 century. 
 
 Inde et secuti sunt eum 
 Multi et curavit eos 
 Omnes et praecipit eis 
 Nc manifestum eum 
 
 . . . Num quid hie est filius David 
 Pharissei autem audien- 
 tes dixerunt hie non jecit 
 Demones nisi in Belzebud. 
 
84 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 The eleventh plate contains a specinien of a most ancient copy of the 
 four gospels preserved in the Harleian library, (N° 1775,) which Mr. 
 Wanley, with great reason, says, was written in Italy above eleven hun- 
 dred years ago/ 
 
 Quoniam quidam multi 
 conati sunt ordi- 
 nare narratione 
 quae in nobis con- 
 pletae sunt reru 
 Sicut tradiderunt 
 nobis 
 qui ab initio ipsi vide- 
 runt et minis- 
 stri fuerunt 
 Sermonis 
 Visum est et mihi 
 assecuto a principio 
 
 omnibus 
 
 diligenter ex ordine 
 
 tibi scribere 
 
 Optimo Theofile 
 
 ut cognoscas eorum 
 
 verborum de 
 
 quibus erudi- 
 
 tus es veritate 
 
 Puit in diebus Hero- 
 
 dis Regis Judeae 
 
 Sacerdos quidam 
 
 nomine Zaccharias/ 
 
 The nature of the vellum on which these mss. in Roman Uncials are 
 wTitten, the forms of the letters, and the colour of the ink, differ greatly 
 from the mss. which are known to have been written in England, as will 
 appear hereafter. Johannes Diaconus, in his life of Gregory the Great, 
 
 y Seethe catalogue of the Had. mss. N° 1775. I conceive this ms. was written about the 
 latter end of the sixths or the beginning of the seventh century. 
 
 ' The orthography of the original, though incorrect, is preserved. 
 
Tab.JT.pjSJ. 
 Esc vctiif'hjstnio UI'vo tjuatiLor Evczjzg e^lwi^unz- 
 
 111 
 
 3tl/Uotheca^ Harl^uiJ%LLN'' ni5 
 
 C ON KT) STJUTSTOTiC)) 
 q U.?ve:JNT^ OB) SCOTN^ 
 
 pi CT Ae sxi'TSTReua 
 NOBJS 
 
 q la) ?^B i>^ 1 Ti o 1 psi Lilt) e- 
 
 53 Ttl p XJL e RUJ>J ^ 
 
 scROooTsjisr 
 u jsu CO esxeT ooi33i 
 ?v^]2>seeu^T o A.pTi3>3 c i pio 
 
 OCOIMTBO-S 
 
 ?> 1 1- 1 q e jN T e Ti ejc o Ti.^i>i C' 
 UBiscRiBeTie' 
 opT 3 coo^Ti eof lie 
 
 ^T coc5>q OS c ?is eo uu-co 
 UL e RB OTiTju CO t> e- 
 cjvuiB CIS eRut>3 
 
 Fl las es vieRiTjvrre' 
 u^ jTi N T) ) e B u-s Id euo 
 ^j S 1^ e qi s ] u.Oejvc' 
 S ^ c ctO) o s cj u.iT> ^ 03 
 
 >i oooijN ex ?LccbAB'vS* 
 
 ]Vol€e sive Siala 
 
 77 r(^ 
 
 ^ r 8 v^ or C 
 
 -7 .1, '•' 7 r^ 
 
 )" ^ Htff JiJJZ. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 85 
 
 (cap. 37,) mentions the books which that Pope sent into England by St. 
 Augustin.^ 
 
 In the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, many mss. were written 
 in Italy, as well as in other parts of Europe, in characters which approach 
 nearer to small letters than those last described, called Demi-Uncials. 
 This form of writing was discontinued in the ninth century, and though 
 it had several letters of the Uncial kind, yet there is great difference in 
 the forms of many of them, as will appear by a comparison of plates IX. 
 X. and XI. with the specimen marked N° 2, in plate XV. which is taken 
 from fragments of the gospels of St. John and St. Luke, in the library of 
 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge : in the beginning of the book is the 
 following passage, in the hand writing of Matthew Parker, Archbishop 
 of Canterbury. Fvagmentum quatuor Evangeliorum. Hie liber ollm ynissus 
 a Gregorio Papa ad Augustinum Archiep' sed sic mutilatus. 
 
 This specimen is taken from St. John's gospel, chap. i. ver. 6, and 7, 
 and is to be read, 
 
 Fuit homo missus a Do, cui nomeii erat 
 Johannis. Hie venit in testimonium, ut 
 testimonium perhiberet de Lumino, ut 
 omnes crederent per ilium. Non erat 
 
 The words in this ms. are sometimes divided, and many letters are 
 parallel with each other, as in the words per ilium. 
 
 EoMAN SMALL The small letters succeeded the Demi-Uncial, and 
 Letteks. continued with many variations till the invention of 
 printing : they resemble very much the small characters, which our 
 printers call Roman. Many circumstances concur, to prove clearly, that 
 they were occasionally used before the subversion of the Roman empire, 
 in affairs of business which required dispatch. They were afterwards 
 adopted by all the nations of Europe, under different forms, according 
 to their respective taste and genius. Small letters were generally used in 
 the ninth century. The psalter of Alfred the Great, now in my library, 
 is written in Roman small letters, probably by some ecclesiastic from 
 
 ^ See some account of the mss. engraven in plates VIII. IX. and X. in Bede's Ecclesiastical 
 History, by Smith, 1. i. c. 29. app. p. 690, and in the Catal. lib. septentrionalis, by H. Wanley, 
 p. 171, 172, 173. See also Nasmith's Catal. of the mss. in C. C. Coll. library, Cambridge, 
 p. 330. 
 
86 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. y. 
 
 Italy in his service ; a specimen of which is given in plate XIX. N° 6.^ 
 D»e exaudi oration'e meam, et clamor mens ad te veniat. Another specimen 
 of Roman small letters of the tenth century is given in the twentieth 
 plate, from a psalter in the Lambeth library, (N° 1.) Dne exaudi ora- 
 tione. meam, et clamor mens ad te veniat ; non avertas faciem tuam a me, in 
 quacumq ; die trihulor inclina ad me aurem tua. 
 
 T,^ ^ During the ninth, tenth, and eleventh cen- 
 
 MlXED ChARACTEKS. , . •,. • t-. i i • 
 
 tunes, many mss. were written in Jiinglana in 
 characters similar to those used in France and in Italy in those ages; 
 they are of a mixed nature, and are partly Roman, partly Longobardic, 
 and partly Saxon. These mss. were probably written by ecclesiastics 
 who had been educated abroad. These observations will be verified, by 
 an inspection of plate XIX. N°' 2, 4, and 5, and the alphabets in plates 
 XII. and XIII. See also plate XX. N° 7, and several specimens of 
 charters in plate XXIII. which corroborate what is here asserted. 
 
 Having spoken of the Roman letters, the rest of the alphabets which 
 are supposed to be derived from the Greek, now require our attention. 
 
 The alphabet of the ancient Gaulish letters is given in the first plate, 
 and we have nothing to add concerning them, to what hath already been 
 said at p. bQ, 57, in the foregoing chapter. 
 
 The ancient Spaniards, before their intercourse with the Romans, 
 used letters nearly Greek. Don Nassarre, principal librarian to the king 
 of Spain, has given us this alphabet, consisting of twenty-four letters, 
 taken from coins and other ancient monuments." This last-mentioned 
 alphabet, is to be distinguished from those letters which were afterwards 
 brought into Spain by the Moors or Saracens, and which are imme- 
 diately derived from the Arabic,'^ and do not in the least resemble those 
 given us by Don Nassarre. 
 
 ^ The ancient Goths were converted to Christi- 
 
 Ancient Gothic. -^ , ,i /-^ , • , , 
 
 anity by the Greek priests, and they probably 
 
 introduced the letters with their religion, about the reign of Gallienus. 
 
 ^ The title is written in Roraan capitals of the ninth century. The interlineary Saxon version 
 shall be noticed in its proper place. 
 
 "= Vide Bib). Univ. de la Polygraph. Esp. prolog, fol. 6. ct seq. 
 ^ See N. T. Dipl. vol. i. p. 6'J5. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 87 
 
 Towards the middle of the third century, Ascholius, bishop of Thessa- 
 lonica, and a Greek priest named Audius, spread Christianity among 
 the Goths ; the former of these is much extolled by Basil the Great, and 
 the latter by Epiphanius.' The ancient Gothic alphabet is given in the 
 first plate, which consisted of sixteen letters ; they are so similar to the 
 Greek, that their derivation cannot be doubted. 
 
 Those writers are certainly mistaken, who attribute the invention of 
 the Gothic letters to Ulphilas, bishop of Moesia, who lived in the fourth 
 century. The gospels translated by him into the Gothic language, and 
 written in ancient Gothic characters about the year 370, were formerly 
 kept in the library of the monastery of Werden ; but this ms. is now 
 preserved in the library at Upsal, and is known among the learned, by 
 the title of the Silver Book of Ulphilas, because it is bound in massy 
 silver. Several editions of this ms. have been printed. See a specimen 
 of it in Hickes's Thesaurus, vol. i. pref. p. 8. Dr. Hickes positively dis- 
 allows this translation to be Ulphil's, but says it was made by some 
 Teuton or German, either as old, or perhaps older than Ulphil ; but 
 whether this was so or not, the characters are apparently of Greek 
 original. 
 
 Figure. 
 
 Power. 
 
 Figure. 
 
 Power. 
 
 A- 
 
 A. 
 
 ^ 
 
 0. 
 
 3S 
 
 B. 
 
 n 
 
 p. 
 
 r 
 
 G. 
 
 O 
 
 S- 
 
 a 
 
 D. 
 
 K. 
 
 R. 
 
 6 
 
 E. 
 
 S 
 
 S. 
 
 ^ 
 
 F. 
 
 T 
 
 T. 
 
 Q 
 
 G. J. or Y. 
 
 a» 
 
 TH. 
 
 ii 
 
 H. 
 
 n 
 
 U. 
 
 V &I 
 
 I. 
 
 u 
 
 CVV. and some 
 times in the 
 middle of 
 words c. 
 
 K 
 
 K. 
 
 V 
 
 W. and r^\n^K6v. 
 
 A. 
 
 L. 
 
 X 
 
 Ch. or X. 
 
 M 
 
 M. 
 
 X 
 
 Z. 
 
 N 
 
 N. 
 
 
 
 , See Mascou's Hist, of the ancient Germans, vol. i. p. 383, and vol. ii. p. 412. 
 
88 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Authors are much divided, as to the antiquity of the 
 
 E.UNIC. -r, . ^ . i1 i 1 -4. 
 
 Runic characters ; some suppose them to be very ancient, 
 whilst others contend, that they are more modern than the ancient 
 Gothic ; several writers affirm, that they were brought from Asia by the 
 celebrated Woden. Olaus Wormius and Rudbeck contend, that they are 
 older than the Greek. Mr. Wise (p. 126) says, that the Runic letters are 
 found on coins, and on stone monuments, some of which may be near 
 two thousand years old. He also supposes this alphabet to have been 
 exceedingly ancient, and that it was formed from some alphabet of the 
 Greeks, whilst it consisted of sixteen letters only, and before they had 
 left the Eastern way of writing, from the right hand. 
 
 The judicious Celsus was of opinion, that the Runic letters were 
 nothing more than Roman letters, with the curves changed into straight 
 lines, for the ease of engravins; on hard substances.*^ The celebrated 
 Mr. Gibbon, author of the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman 
 Empire (vol. i. p. 265,) says, that the oldest Runic inscriptions are sup- 
 posed to be of the third century ; and he adds, that the most ancient 
 writer, who mentions the Runic characters, is Venantius Fortunatus, who 
 lived towards the end of the sixth century. Our opinion on the evidence 
 before us, is, that the report of Woden having brought the Runic letters 
 from x-Ysia, is intirely fabulous ; that the tales of Rudbeck and Olaus 
 AVormius, do not deserve the least attention ; that Mr. Wise, though a 
 respectable writer, is mistaken as to the antiquity of the Runic letters; 
 that the opinion of the learned Celsus is nearly true, and that the Runic 
 characters are composed partly of ancient Gothic and Greek letters, and 
 partly of Roman, deformed and corrupted, probably by the Necromancers 
 of the north, who used them in their spells and incantations, to which 
 they were greatly addicted. The forms of several Runic letters compared 
 with the Greek and Gothic alphabets, as given in plate I., sufficiently 
 prove this observation. For instance, the Runic F or Fei, is a rude 
 imitation of the Roman F, with the same vocal powers. The O or Oys, 
 is an inverted digamma, with the power of the Roman U, that is, of ou 
 or JV. R or Ridhur, is evidently the Roman R, with the same powers. 
 I or lis, is the Gothic and Roman I. S or Sol, is a resemblance of the 
 
 ^ See Pelloutier's Hist, des Celtes, 1. ii. c. ii. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 OF WRITING. 
 
 89 
 
 ancient Greek % with the same power. T or Tyr is an imitation of the 
 Greek Tau, or Roman T. B or Biarkan is the Greek Beta, or Roman B ; 
 and L or Lagur appears to have been taken from the Grecian Lambda. 
 We are of opinion, that the resemblances above pointed out, sufficiently 
 evince, that the Runic characters are derived from the Greek, Gothic, 
 and Roman letters. 
 
 In the year 1001, the Swedes were persuaded by the Pope to lay 
 aside the Runic letters, and to adopt the Roman in their room. In the 
 year 1115, the Runic letters were condemned in Spain, by the council 
 of Toledo. They were abolished in Denmark in the beginning of the 
 fourteenth century, and in Iceland soon after. 
 
 The order of the old Runic alphabet,' which consisted of sixteen 
 letters, was as follows : F,U,D,0,R,K, H,N,I, A,S,T,B, L, M, YR. It 
 is not known when the order of the Runic alphabet was confounded, but 
 we do not suppose that it is of greater antiquity upon that account. 
 
 Coptic Letters. 
 
 The ancient Coptic alphabet, as given in plate I., 
 is manifestly derived from the Greek, to which 
 several letters were afterwards added, to express soicnds yfhich the Greeks 
 had not. The modern Coptic alphabet consists of the following thirty- 
 two letters : 
 
 Figure. Name. 
 
 Vv 
 "At. 
 Ge 
 
 ?? 
 Hh 
 
 ee 
 
 I I 
 
 Rk 
 
 Alpha 
 
 Bita 
 
 Gamma 
 
 Dalda 
 
 Ei 
 
 So 
 
 Zita 
 
 Hita 
 
 Thita 
 
 lauda 
 
 Kappa 
 
 Lauda 
 
 Ujlh; Mi 
 Hn Ni 
 B^ Xi 
 Oo O, 
 
 Power. 
 
 A. 
 
 B. V. 
 
 G. 
 
 D. 
 
 E. 
 
 S. 
 
 z. 
 
 I. JE. 
 
 Th. 
 
 I. 
 
 K. 
 
 L. 
 
 M. 
 
 N. 
 
 X. 
 
 O short. 
 
 Figure. 
 
 Tin- 
 'Cc 
 
 XX 
 ^:& 
 
 'ft 
 
 Name. 
 Pi 
 
 Ro 
 
 Sima 
 
 Tau 
 
 Ypsilor 
 
 Phi 
 
 Chi 
 
 O 
 
 Shei 
 
 Fei 
 
 Khei 
 
 Hori 
 
 Janja 
 
 Shiiiia 
 
 Dhei 
 
 Epsi 
 
 * ■■ Our readers will find the ancient Runic 
 bets in Hickes's Thesaurus, vol. ii. and N. T. 
 
 alphabet in the first plate, 
 de Dipl. torn. i. p. 710. 
 
 N 
 
 Power. 
 P. 
 
 R. 
 
 S. 
 
 T. 
 
 Y. U. 
 
 Ph. 
 
 Ch Greec. 
 
 O long. 
 
 Sh. 
 
 F. 
 
 Kh. 
 
 H. 
 
 J. 
 
 Sh. 
 
 Dh. 
 
 Ps. 
 
 See many Runic alpha- 
 
90 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
 
 CHAP. V- 
 
 Ethiopic Letters. 
 
 Mr. Edward Bernard derives the Ethiopic 
 alphabet from the Coptic, but the forms, names, 
 numbers, and powers of the Ethiopic letters differ so greatly from the 
 Coptic, that we are of opinion they are not derived from that source, 
 though we placed this alphabet under the Coptic, in the table at page 50. 
 The Ethiopic alphabet is Syllabic, which makes its characters more 
 numerous than any other except the Chinese. The learned Ludolphus 
 was of opinion, that the Ethiopian letters were invented by the Axumites 
 or Ethiopians themselves, and that they were much older than the Kufic 
 characters of the Arabs. It is observable that the Ethiopians wrote from 
 the left to the right, contrary to the custom of the Arabians, which 
 induces us to believe that their alphabet was not derived from that of the 
 Arabs, as some have imagined. When we reflect on the names and 
 forms of several of these letters, it may not seem improbable that some 
 of them were derived from the Samaritan and ancient Syriac' The 
 Ethiopic alphabet, as given by Ludolphus, is as follows : 
 
 igure. Name. 
 
 Power. 
 
 Figure. Name. 
 
 Power. 
 
 A 
 
 Alpf 
 
 A. 
 
 A 
 
 Lawy 
 
 L. 
 
 n 
 
 Bet 
 
 B. 
 
 era 
 
 Mai 
 
 M. 
 
 y 
 
 Geml 
 
 G. 
 
 5 
 
 Nahas 
 
 N. 
 
 i 
 
 Dent 
 
 D. 
 
 l^ 
 
 Saat 
 
 S. s. 
 
 rU 
 
 Haut 
 
 H. 
 
 \7 
 
 Ain 
 
 Heb. 
 
 ® 
 
 Waw 
 
 W. 
 
 z. 
 
 Af 
 
 F. 
 
 H 
 
 Zai 
 
 Z. 
 
 A 
 
 Tzadi 
 
 Heb. 
 
 -i 
 
 Hharm 
 
 H. H. 
 
 $ 
 
 Kopp. 
 
 K. 
 
 n\ 
 
 Tait 
 
 Teth. Heb. 
 
 z. 
 
 Rees 
 
 R. 
 
 p 
 
 Jam an 
 
 J. 
 
 U) 
 
 Saut 
 
 S. 
 
 i) 
 
 Caf 
 
 Ch. 
 
 t 
 
 Tawi 
 
 T.' 
 
 Th 
 
 eir 
 
 The above letters are for the learned language of Ethiopia 
 vulvar characters are different, and are called the Amharick. 
 
 The alphabets of the nations descended from the 
 Scythians established in Europe, namely, the Servien, 
 the Russian, the Sclavonian, and the Bulgarian, are all 
 derived from the Greek, as hath already been mentioned. The Servien 
 
 Servien, 
 Russian, &c. 
 
 ^ For a further account of the ancient Ethiopic letters and language^ see Ludolphus's Ethi- 
 opic History, Commentaries^ and Grammar, and the Universal History, vol. xviii. p. 290, and 
 the Encyclopedia, torn. ii. of the plates, Paris, 1763. 
 
 ' The Ethiopians place their letters in an order different from the alphabet above given. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 91 
 
 letters are called the Cyrillitan characters, from St. Cyril, who converted 
 the Moravians to Christianity ; smaller characters were afterwards intro- 
 duced, called Glogolitici. The Russian letters are immediately derived 
 from those used by St. Cyril. 
 
 The Illyrian or Sclavonian alphabet, is ascribed to St. Jerom. The 
 Bulgarian letters were originally the same with the Sclavonian." There 
 are several letters in these alphabets, which seem to be of northern 
 original, which are adapted to sounds peculiar to the languages of the 
 people descended from the Scythians who settled in Europe. 
 
 The Armenians had no characters peculiar 
 Armenian Letters. , ,, , -i 1 /- 1 1 
 
 to themselves until the rourth century, but 
 
 they used indifferently those of the Syrians, of the Persians, of the 
 Arabians, and of the Greeks. The present Armenian alphabet contains 
 thirty-eight letters, which they say were invented by one Mesrop or 
 Miesrob, minister of State, and secretary to Warasdates and Arsaces IV., 
 kings of Armenia. Some authors affirm, that this Mesrop afterwards 
 became a hermit, and corresponded with St. Chrysostom, who lived in 
 the fourth century ; though Angelus Roccha, in his discourse on the 
 books in the Vatican library, George, patriarch of Alexandria, and Sixtus 
 Senensis, assert, that St. Chrysostom was the inventor of the Armenian 
 characters," in whose time the Bible was translated into the Armenian 
 language, from the Greek Septuagint, by some of their doctors who had 
 learned the Greek language, and amongst others by one Moses the gram- 
 marian, and David the philosopher. Although the Armenian characters 
 are generally supposed to have been derived from the Greek, their forms 
 are very different, and their number exceeds those in the Greek alphabet, 
 by more than one third. The powers of the Armenian letters are pecu- 
 liarly adapted to the notation of that language, which is very unpolished, 
 and consequently very unlike the Greek.^ This alphabet contains several 
 letters or marks for sounds, which frequently occur in the Hebrew, Syriac, 
 Arabic, and Armenian languages, but are not found in the Greek. 
 
 " The ancient name of Bulgaria was Maesia. The ancient Gothic letters were disused, and 
 were succeeded by the Bulgarian. 
 
 ^ It is certain, that St. Chrysostont was banished from Constantinople by an edict of the 
 emperor, and that he finished his days in Armenia. 
 
 y The Armenians say, that Haik, who lived before the destruction of Babel, was the first who 
 spoke the Haikanian or Armenian language. 
 
92 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS' 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The Armenians have four kinds of ' writing : The first is called 
 Zakghachir, or flourished, used for the titles of books, and for the 
 beginning of chapters. 
 
 The second is called Erghathachir, writing with iron, or with a Sti/lus, 
 which has long been disused. 
 
 The third is called Poloverchir, or round, which is found in their 
 fairest mss. 
 
 The fourth is called Notrchir, or running hand, which is used for the 
 ordinary affairs of life. The names and powers of the Armenian letters 
 are as follow : 
 
 Names. 
 
 Powers. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Powers. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Powers. 
 
 A\h 
 
 A. 
 
 Dza 
 
 Dz Ze Arab. 
 
 IDsche 
 
 Dsch Arab 
 
 Bien 
 
 B as the Heb. Beth. 
 
 Kien 
 
 K Iberian. 
 
 Rra 
 
 Rr harsh the Gr. p. 
 
 Gim 
 
 G Heb. Gimel. 
 
 Hue 
 
 He Arab. Cha. 
 
 Se 
 
 S Arab. Sin. 
 
 Da 
 
 D hard. 
 
 Dsa 
 
 Ds zz Ital. 
 
 Wiew 
 
 W. Arab. Vau. 
 
 Jetsch 
 
 Je 
 
 Ghat 
 
 Gin Arab. G. 
 
 Tuin 
 
 T soft. 
 
 Sa 
 
 S soft. 
 
 Tee 
 
 Tc Die French. 
 
 Re 
 
 R. 
 
 E 
 
 E long. 
 
 Mien 
 
 M. 
 
 Tsue 
 
 Ts. 
 
 Jeth 
 
 E short. 
 
 Hi 
 
 I. 
 
 Huin 
 
 Y V Greek. 
 
 Thue 
 
 Thet Heb. 
 
 Nue 
 
 N. 
 
 Ppiur 
 
 P harsh. 
 
 Je 
 
 J as the French. 
 
 Scha 
 
 Sch in Heb. 
 
 Khe 
 
 Kh. Arab. Cha with 
 a point. 
 
 I 
 
 ' I vowel. 
 
 Ue 
 
 Que French. 
 
 Fe 
 
 F Arab. Phe. 
 
 Luin 
 
 L. 
 
 Tscha 
 
 Tsch. 
 
 O 
 
 0) Greek. 
 
 Chhe 
 
 X Greek. 
 
 Pe 
 
 P soft. 
 
 
 
 Having spoken of the letters usually supposed to have been derived 
 from the Greek, those descended from the Roman now claim attention. 
 
 lombabdio 
 Writing. 
 
 The Lombards who settled in Italy in the sixth 
 century, corrupted the Roman letters in their writing, 
 which is called Lombardic. This kind of writing was 
 called Roman in the eleventh century, because the Pope's Bulls were 
 written in" these charactets. The Lombardic capitals are plain, regular, 
 and broad at the extremities, as appears by the title of the first specimen, 
 and by the alphabet, N° 2, in the twelfth plate, and by that marked N° 4, 
 in the thirteenth plate," as also by the specimen of the mss. written partly 
 in Lombardic capitals, and partly in Uncial letters, in the eighth plate. 
 
 =^ The first of these alphabets is taken from a ms. in C. C. C. Cambridge^ L. ii. The second 
 is from another ms. in the same library, K. 8. 
 
X 
 
 ffi 
 
 ■fr do cute 
 
 tiiS^uiUL \J^-A 
 
 exaniu 
 
 cr- 
 
 Ml 
 
 A" 
 
 olip 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 1.. 
 
 isjmourr^le NiloiLooa^iDicoKp^^G 
 
 T17 .-fg^ 
 
 ^ N 
 
 AAB c CDd Hef 01 jinaiNop QiiTTu-y ^^ 
 
 Or 1^ &:! 6ni.'M^- ^- 4^- ^' ^ * H^^ 
 
 -jtXLCTIX. Off e.7- Ltltl. IlllltJ Lca /M7Jt tic/ C/lXI^H i^ COl/t tl7-v/~ n-m 7' ,,,. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 93 
 
 The Lombardic capitals which form the titles of mss. and the beginnings 
 of paragraphs, are generally emblazoned in various colours. See the 
 twelfth plate. 
 
 The first specimen of Lombardic writing in the 
 seventh plate, is taken from a ms. in the royal library 
 at Paris, (N° 3836,) and is said to have been written at Treves by St. 
 Athanasius during his exile. 
 
 Haec invini Treveris in uno libro scriptum. 
 Sic incipiente Dni ni Jhu Xpi et reliqua 
 Dm ni Jhu Xpi. 
 
 The second specimen in the same plate is taken from a ms. in the 
 library of St. Germain des Pres at Paris, (N° 760,) fol. 46. 
 
 Docete gentes haptizantes eos in nomine Patris et 
 Filii et Spiritus Sancti et ex verborum ordine 
 Differentiam divinse. 
 
 The third specimen is taken from a ms. in the royal library at Turin, 
 (N° 1025.) These characters vary somewhat from the two former, the 
 tops of some of the letters are longer than those last mentioned : 
 
 Longini militis et centurionis qui Dno latere lancea percussit. 
 
 The first specimen in the twelfth plate is written in 
 
 Lombardic Uncials; it is taken from a fine copy of the 
 
 gospel history in verse, by Calvetius Aquilinus Juvencus, written in the 
 
 eighth century, and preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, 
 
 in Cambridge, (N. 22.) The title, which is in capitals, is to be read thus: 
 
 Matheiis instituit virtu- 
 • tum tramite mores et bene. 
 
 The text is to be read, 
 
 Immortale nihil mundi conpage 
 tenetur ; non urbes^ non regna 
 hominum non aurea Roma^ 
 non mare, non tell us. 
 
 * The Lombardic capitals are sometimes composed of birds and fishes, and are ornamented 
 with flowers. See N. T. de Diplomatique, vol. ii. p. 88. 
 
94 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS cbap. v. 
 
 Our readers are presented with two alphabets composed of Lombardic 
 Uncial letters in the twelfth plate, N° 2, alphabets two and three. 
 These are extracted from the Hexameron Sancti Ambrosii, in the 
 library of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, (L. 11.) Another 
 alphabet in Lombardic Uncials, is given in the thirteenth plate, N° 4, 
 alphabet the second, which is taken from Origen's Homilies, in the same 
 library, (K. 8.) A different alphabet of Lombardic letters is given in 
 the same plate, N° 5, which is taken from a fragment of Cassiodorus's 
 history in the Bodleian library, (Roe 1.) Though the Lombardic writing- 
 is not often seen, except in mss. written in Italy, yet there are some 
 extant, which were written both in England and in France. The Lom- 
 bardic Uncial alphabet, N° 5, above quoted, differs much in form from 
 the others in the same plate, which may be attributed to the difference 
 of national taste and variation; and Mr. Wanley positively asserts, that 
 the MS. last quoted is written in Lombardic characters.*" 
 
 The forms of the Lombardic small letters were 
 
 „ T- thin and meagre ; the writing was somewhat elegant, 
 
 Small Letters. f i i , i -i mi 
 
 ■ many of the letters had long heads and tails. The 
 
 specimen marked three in the thirteenth plate, is of this kind ; it is taken 
 
 from the Hexameron of St. Ambrose above quoted, and is to be read. 
 
 Qui vindemiam colligit 
 vasa prius quibus vinum infunditur 
 mundare consuevit ne sors aliqua 
 vini gratiam decoloret. 
 Quid enim prodest ponere vitem ordine. 
 
 A great variety of Lombardic small letters are given in the tvi^elfth 
 and thirteenth plates. The whole specimen, N° 4, in this last plate, is 
 taken from Origen's Homilies on St. Luke, preserved in Corpus Christi 
 College in Cambridge, (K. 8.) This ms. is written in the Lombardic 
 running hand, which is very difficult to be read. Manuscripts written 
 in Lombardic small letters, abound in abbreviations ; several of these 
 appear in the twelfth and thirteenth plates. The first are selected from 
 
 ^ MS. in my library. 
 
11 
 
 lkls('ji/lilar^l%%.:LlTJEmiSJ^OMGOBAimiei^cxam 
 
 rWDEMI/lM GoUlUqiTT 
 ftcppuf qfui5uruinum|ii|unc{iair' 
 lnc[^,cperCBnfuculs[^1ae^lS^^^eLvcru^G 
 
 v^ 
 
 L. u 
 
 ^M 
 
 rv v^ 
 
 \] 
 
 <■'■ an e,i ill,) ,v ,iiji l<i iitii^j <ihjin ,,!,,■ /mm rliia' er (Jliouiajii tin- ,picJ <fuem e l citice e.jt lee 
 
 fo fill J la)' I A' r a if mu.^ utto in r f i-a' (linen i*h ti qi fem 
 
 ^c2iS^uo>c^xLmu-p'- \Jn <^<S- &? -nunc <iccufjX 
 
 or b c^^ e-f^Kll Im' nop c^ j'l^fortraX^y V'% I: 
 
 ti 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 95 
 
 St. Ambrose's Hexameron, (L. 11.) and the latter from Origen's Homilies, 
 (K. 8 ;) both which mss. are preserved in the library of Corpus Christi 
 College in Cambridge. 
 
 The reading of the specimen in the thirteenth plate, N° 4, is 
 
 Tarn eorum quae dicta sunt quam illorum 
 quae facta suggeruntur^ debet ratio esse 
 Sco spu digna, et Xpi fidem ad quam creden- 
 tes vocamur. Unde et nunc causa 
 quasrenda quare Maria post concep- 
 tum venerit ad Elisabeth et manserit. 
 
 Although the Lombardic small letters were of Roman original, yet 
 they were not used even in Italy in early times : we do not find them till 
 after the end of the ninth century, though they retained the name till the 
 thirteenth, and their forms longer, as hereafter will appear. 
 
 The Visigoths who conquered part of Spain in the 
 
 ViSIGOTHIC. „„, , ^ • 1 ■ 1 1 1 T-. 1 
 
 nith century, carried with them the Roman letters, 
 which being corrupted by them, were called the Visigothic or Spanish 
 Gothic, which was generally used in that country till the invasion of the 
 Saracens in the year 712. There are many mss. written in Visigothic 
 characters in the eighth century, which greatly resemble the first four 
 specimens of that century, in the twenty-third plate ; afterwards the 
 Visigothic writing in Spain was much more loosely written ; this last kind 
 of writing was called the Visigothic running hand. Although the Visi- 
 gothic writing ceased to be in common use in Spain in the twelfth 
 century, yet the running hand of this kind, was not intirely laid aside 
 till after the fifteenth. 
 
 The Visigothic writing also prevailed in France, particularly about 
 Tholouse, which was the chief seat of the Western Goths, who settled in 
 that part of France in the fifth century." 
 
 ■= There are several specimens of Visigothic writing in the N. T. de Diplomatique, vol. ii. p. 
 88, and vol. iii. p. 80, 2,2,1. 
 
96 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 ....... OF WRITING IN ENGLAND. 
 
 ApTER the most diligent inquiry it doth not appear, that the Britons 
 had the use of letters before their intercourse with the Romans. Although 
 alphabets have been produced, which are'Said to'have been used by the 
 Ancient Britons, yet no one ms. ever appeared that was written in them/ 
 Cunobelin, king of Britain, who lived in the reigns of the emperors 
 Tiberius and Caligula, erected different mints in this island, and coined 
 money in gold, silver, and copper, inscribed with Roman characters.^ 
 From the coming of Julius Caesar, till the time the Romans left the 
 island in the year 427, the Roman letters were as familiar to the eyes of 
 the inhabitants, as their language to their ears, as the numberless in- 
 scriptions, coins, and other monuments of the Romans still remaining 
 amongst us, sufficiently evince. '^ However, we are of opinion, that 
 writing was very little practised by the Britons, till after the coming of 
 St. Augustin, about the year 596. , 
 
 The Saxons, who were invited hither by the Britons, and who arrived 
 about the, year 449, were unacquainted with letters. The characters 
 which they afterwards used, were adopted by theni in .the ;island, and 
 though the, writing in, England from the fifth -to the middle of the, 
 eleventh century is called Saxon/ it wiU presently appear, that the letters, 
 used in this island were derived from the Roman, and were really Roman 
 ip. their origin, and Italian in their structure at first, but were barbarized 
 in their aspect by the British Romans and, Roman Britons. "^ A great 
 variety of capital letters ^v/ere used by the Saxons in their mss. of which 
 many specimens are given in our plates. 
 
 j; "^ I have several of these pretended alphabets in my collection j though they are only Roman 
 letters deformed. 
 
 ' Many of these coins are preserved in the elaborate dissertation of the Rev. Mr. Pegge^ on 
 the coins of Cunobelin; and many particulars concerning this prince appear iri the' Hist, of 
 Manchester, by Mr. Whitaker, vol. i. p. 284, 372, and in his corrections, chap. ix. 
 
 .', ^ See several monuments inscribed with Roman British characters in Borlace's Hist, of Corn- 
 wall, p. 391, 396. See more in Warburton's Vallum Romanum, London, 1753, 4to. 
 
 E The architecture in England, which preceded the Gothic, is usually called Saxon, but it is 
 in fact Roman. 
 
 ^ See Whitaker's Manchester, vol. ii. p. 329 ; where he shews that the opinion of Mr. Wan- 
 ley, that the Saxons brought letters with them into England, is ill-founded. 
 
Ex Bibliotlieca Cottomaiia Nero D iv 
 
 'L'al< . ..VH'. p'/f/f 
 
 i1*!StW^MS£*!i 
 
 ■ilyJ'.Sw. 
 
uf//miL 
 
 ^■^ 
 
 iiuuutiQiiimMj/ 
 
 
 I i''rr//(-// .1, 
 
T pcxiieRviofteucmies 
 
 I0OOODOOOO oD' 
 
 IpiuO*'*'! 
 
 hnh 
 
 ludaeoce saceudos 
 
 qutdocmtiomiviO' . 
 
 ;3xchocKiascletiiC6 cxbia 
 
 ^^°j noma, \m^ i^li^aheAv 
 
 eKctwtr(xutemiuf& omt o 
 acute dm 
 
 mcxudoos ra ufupcouo 
 uib^,dvii Sluecj^ua:a^^loc 
 
 r"^^ ivicooetisscipcecur-^ 
 
 r}om<^ S^tn 
 
 3"i-n 
 
 cud tieuiccuRCQjuTntxi u 
 pax7uolui4axstxia ^^ 
 
 pccwem uofatu m 
 
 t>avioois laotoie-' , , 
 Sjdemitx:ei40oist)eoT(:^ 
 
 urn-a. fuce- ue- 
 
 iviofcRiX 9iaut Ijos^^ 
 climixamu&"oebi*com o; 
 
 ^^ ne- UiL-*^ uptP 
 
 raj eii4 t)Ucocs 14 o « 
 
 ivixerrrcoxiOTqem , 
 se*Daoerux vioscmnalo 
 
 K /Mff.lOZ. 
 
 £x£lLllOi^ai £cc/6diIE^ CxiAy: J)lL726l7??a2Jld . 
 
 iNrbe QTsecuT'i9UNT^eua:> 
 Nreooa^isnpeB^rucD eucn 
 
 n^e s t)i7Ce RXi NiT^ hic KfONieci^r 
 ^eoooNj es NJ 1 SUN DeLz^ BX4 <> 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 97 
 
 The capital letters in plates fourteen A and B, 
 Saxon Capitals. . \ r n m 
 
 are taken Irom the Textus Sancti Cuthberti, 
 
 written in the seventh century, formerly preserved in the cathedral of 
 Durham, but now in the Cottonian library (Nero, D. 4). In this fine ms. 
 we find several of the capital letters, which were used by the Greeks, 
 the Etruscans, the Romans, the Visigoths, the Saxons, the French, and 
 the Germans. The ^, the parent of the Roman F, was not disused at 
 the time this ms. was written. The Roman F, and also the F used by 
 the northern nations, appear in the alphabet which we have engraven, 
 as doth the M of the Pelasgians, of the Etruscans, of the Oscans, and 
 of the Romans. The different forms of the letter 0, in this alphabet, 
 were also common not only to the people last mentioned, but likewise to 
 the Phenicians, and to the Greeks ; the Y is not unlike the Greek T. 
 This alphabet alone, bears strong testimonj^ that the letters used by our 
 Saxon ancestors, are derived from the Phenician, the Etruscan, and the 
 Greek letters, through the medium of those of the Roman. The capital 
 letters in the fifteenth plate, N° 1, which are taken from a ms. written in 
 the latter end of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century, con- 
 firm this opinion. It is observable that the Pelasgian JM, was used in mss. 
 so late as the eighth century. The third specimen in the eighteenth plate, 
 is taken from a copy of the four gospels in the royal library (1 B. 7.) 
 Our readers will observe both Roman and Saxon capital letters in this 
 specimen, the former are used in the canons of St. Eusebius, which were 
 probably written by some Roman Ecclesiastic, the latter by one who had 
 been educated in England. 
 
 In the seventh and eighth centuries square capitals were occasionally 
 used in England, specimens of which are given in the fifteenth plate, 
 N° 1, and in the title of N° 4, and an entire alphabet in the sixteenth 
 plate.' A great variety of capital letters used in England from the 
 seventh to the tenth century inclusive, are exhibited in the eighteenth 
 and nineteenth plates, which deserve the attention of those, who desire 
 to become acquainted with the manuscripts of our Saxon ancestors, and 
 to judge of their age and authenticitj\ 
 
 ' There are many square capital letters in St. Chad's G(jspels preserved in the cathedral at 
 Lichfield. 
 
 
 
98 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 The Saxon capitals which vary from those now used, are C, E, G, H, 
 M, and W. The small letters are, d, f, g, r, s, t, and w, which are all 
 Roman, except the p. p. and some notes of abbreviations used by the 
 Saxons as D s, f th, ^ that, &c. many other abbreviations used by the 
 Saxons appear in the eighteenth plate, N° 4. These notes of abbreviation, 
 are not the original members of an alphabet ; they were the result of later 
 reflection, and were introduced for dispatch. 
 
 By an attentive observation of the different specimens of writing 
 in England, we perceive the several gradations, by which one form of 
 a Roman character, has imperceptibly changed into another. The 
 Saxon p, says Mr. Whitaker,'' seems to have been only the Roman V 
 at first, and to have been lengthened into the Saxon character, and 
 enlarged into the present Roman W, by bringing the principal stroke 
 somewhat lower, and closing the top in the one, and by redoubling the 
 whole, in the other. The W is unknown, both to the Latin, and its 
 daughter languages, the Trench, the Spanish, and the Italian : it is com- 
 posed of two characters, namely of the V or U doubled.' 
 
 The writing which prevailed in England from the coming of St. 
 Augustin in 596, to the middle of the eleventh century, is generally 
 termed Saxon, and may be divided into five kinds, namely, the Roman 
 Saxon, the Set Saxon, the running hand Saxon, the mixed Saxon, and the 
 ELEGANT Saxon ; which shall be considered in order. 
 
 The Roman Saxon is that kind of writino; which 
 Roman Saxon. . • -i ^ .i n i ., , . 
 
 IS very similar to the noman, and prevailed in 
 
 England, from the coming of St. Augustin till the eighth century. Spe- 
 cimens of this kind of writing, are given in plate fifteen, N° 1. In this 
 MS. the H and the E, are more pure Roman, than those which follow; 
 this specimen is taken from the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, 
 formerly preserved in the Cott. lib. (Otho. c. 5.) which is said to have 
 been St. Augustin's book, but by the hand it seems to have been written 
 in England, probably in his time. This fine book perished by the fire 
 which happened in the Cottonian library in the year ITSl."" 
 
 ■^ Hist, of Manchester, Vol. ii. p. 333. 
 
 1 Mr. Wise (ut supra, p. 145) affirms that the Saxon P is of northern growth. 
 
 "■ The drawing was taken at the expence of Edward Earl of Oxford. 
 
cr56aB simjmpocteRi'DirmeDD 
 
 iciir Tfio 7ia 'ud eni^ iia 
 
 U77Z, cui 
 
 
 /•w— 
 
 F01t^"hopao rrnsuscdDo cumomeu eaoD 
 1 oTt ccHw 1 s inicueHxo Tm^suiTTiomtiTa TIC 
 tjesmuo-HTUTTi p oihxbeRetbecamTOo tig 
 OTTine^cueDeuewu pemuuTn-noweRocG 
 
 Jo-z^.V!. 
 
 jrrr.'H^ 
 
; 777//a7:/?.,'A>', 
 
 al)c^t)clep^hilonwnopq{j 
 
 lnccmnanor)i6 oun-no* clcc;>cLi:nin 
 Inoicaone- n* 1ti loco celebue cuis 
 iJOcabiiTiimv 'godmtniclQr locech 
 
 .■ n4-^.t)(yi^ifjt:.p.lO'A 
 
 
 IHEIPiTSliyrXClTl' 
 
 Susaprrrius ' S^Socng^OTrtT fibum 
 nfiisoce-^Cneoxunoce-^tSil^ilii^ dnvitit 
 gilntm ccecpxtts ombrnm occdtspfiTfaxDrLJ^vnr^^.i 
 
 
 deqiiiZ)US ctiiicItcus es ueTZioxxem:. j^. w ^7^^ 
 
 , y r)rei//J. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 99 
 
 The reading is, 
 
 " Cata Maecum abbas sirum Pater idumea 
 " Rosa slue terrena salone siue pacifica 
 " Tyro angustae Thabitha cum syris 
 " Puella surge traconitidis nen'otiatio/' 
 
 ID O 
 
 Another specimen in Homan Saxon characters, appears in the eigh- 
 teenth plate, N° 5, which is taken from a ms. of the four gospels, in the 
 royal library at London, (1 E. VI.) written in England in the seventh 
 century. The second page of this ms. is of a violet colour, in which are 
 several letters in gold and silver. Prefixed to the gospels, is St. Jerom's 
 epistle to Pope Damasus, from whence this specimen is taken : 
 
 "Novum opus me cogis facere ex veteri ut post exemplaria scribturarum toto orbe dispensa 
 quasi quidam arbiter sedeara^ et quia inter se variant quae sint ilia quae cum graeca consentiant 
 veritate decernam." 
 
 The alphabets are, first, of the capital letters, which were in gold 
 and silver ; secondly, of the letters in which the heads of the chapters 
 are written ; and thirdly, of the letters which compose the text. 
 
 The sixteenth plate furnishes a third specimen of Roman Saxon writ- 
 ing, which is taken from a fair copy of the four gospels of St. Jerom's 
 translation, written in England, in the latter end of the seventh century, 
 with an interlineary Saxon version, written in the tenth century by 
 Farmennus and Owunus, two priests. 
 
 This MS. is called the Codex Rushworthicmiis, because it belonged for- 
 merly to John Rushworth, of Lincoln's Inn, esq. It is now preserved in 
 the Bodleian library, at Oxford, (D. 24, N°3946.) Mr. Wanley says, it 
 is little inferior in age, to the Lichfield ms. or to St. Cuthbert's gospels, 
 Nero, D. IV. At the end of this book, is the following passage, written 
 in a hand similar to, and coeval with the text. " Macbegol dipinxit 
 hoc Evangelium. Quicumque legerit et intellegerit istam narrationem, 
 orat pro Macregitjl Scriptori." 
 
 The square or angular capital letters, are very similar to those which 
 appear in the Lichfield ms. and to those in the fifteenth plate, N° 1. 
 
100 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap, v- 
 
 The second alphabet, is of the initial or uncial letters, (as they are 
 usually called,) in which the titles of chapters are written; the third, is of 
 the Latin text, and the fourth, of the Saxon version. Concerning this 
 valuable ms. see Wanley's catal. page 81. 
 
 This specimen is to be read, 
 
 " Et egressus est rursus ad mare omnisque turba veniebat ad enm et docebat eos, et cum 
 practerire vidit levin Alphei sedentem ad telonum, et ait illi sequere me^ et surgens secutus est 
 eum ; et factutn est cum accumberet in domo illius multi puplicani" et peccatores simul dis- 
 cumbebant." 
 
 The fifth specimen in the fifteenth plate, is taken from a fine ms. 
 preserved in the church Of Lichfield, called, Textus Sci Cbdd^, or 
 St. Chad's gospels. This ms. was many years ago presented to the church 
 of Llandatl', by Gelhi, who gave for the purchase of it, one of his best 
 horses ; it was deposited in the cathedral church of Lichfield about the 
 year 1020, which being dedicated to St. Chad, the fifth bishop of that see, 
 it hath thence been called his book. This ms. was written in England 
 about the time of St. Cuthbert's gospels in the seventh century ; in the 
 margin whereof, are several annotations in Latin and Saxon, and some 
 in the ancient British or Welch, which last, Mr. Edward Lhuyd supposes 
 to be of about nine hundred years standing." The specimen is taken 
 from the first chapter of St. Luke's gospel, ver. 3, and 4. 
 
 "Et mibi adsecutoP a principio omnibus diligenter, ex ordine tibi scribere, obtime Theofile: 
 ut cognoscas eorum verborum, de quibus eruditus es veritatem." 
 
 The fourteenth plate contains the fifth and last specimen which w^e 
 have given of Roman Saxon writing, and is taken from the Textus Sancti 
 Cuthberti formerly preserved in the cathedral of Lindisfarn or Durham, 
 and is now in the Cottonian library (Nero, D. W). The time when this 
 most noble monument of Anglo-Saxon Calligraphy was written, is nearly 
 ascertained, by a Saxon note at the end of St. John's gospel, in the hand 
 
 " Pro publicani. 
 
 o V Ed. Lhuyd Archaeol. Brit. vol. i. p. 5, 226. CI. Wanleii Catal. Codd. Ling. Sept. vol. 
 p. 5> 236. 
 
 p Pro assecuto, obtime pro optime. 
 
lLccCodic&liu.yhworL-biaiw vivBLblwtheca^ 3odleca/tay.J) . Z4- 3^46 
 
 V/K-XVn>Jr 
 
 ^y fcfipXTi Z& 
 
 ■ntXrf a^zrtji j-cma, et to pef 
 
 ^alL 
 
 
 f 
 
 ^""^n^e^ 
 
 UIRerUiciK; teuin alphei s«3entjem ca3xeCoiium 
 
 Ip^l^T^um efc cum ccum5eRj& mdomo t2&us tnu ki 
 
 ^upacoon &pecccojORes simutDiscumoeoarrn 
 
 ./ 
 
 a 6 cr> d Eep"^hTD 1 to 
 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 101 
 
 Avi'iting of Aldrecl, who was bishop of Durham from the year 946 to 968,'' 
 whereby it appears, that the Latin text was written by St. Eadfrith, a 
 Monk of Lindisfarn, in the time of St. Cuthbert, who died in the year 
 687, when he, the above-mentioned St. Eadfrith, was elected bishop of 
 that see, which he held till the time of his death, in 721; and that the 
 curious and elaborate ornaments which are in this ms. the pictures of the 
 cross, and of the four evangelists, and the capital letters, were drawn by 
 St. Ethelwald, who was a contemporary Monk with bishop Eadfrith, and 
 who succeeded him in the bishopric of Lindisfarn, wherein he continued 
 till his decease in 737. Bishop Aldred adds, that Bilfrith, a Monk of 
 the same church, adorned the outside of the book, with a silver cover 
 gilt, set with precious stones; and that Aldred, a priest, added the in- 
 terlineary Saxon version with some marginal notes. 
 
 ^lany marvellous tales are related concerning this book ; amongst 
 others, Turgot gravely asserts, that when the Monks of Lindisfarn were 
 removing from thence, to avoid the depredations of the Danes, the vessel 
 wherein they were embarked oversetting, this carious book which they 
 were transporting with them, fell into the sea, and through the merits of 
 St. Cuthbert, the sea ebbing much further than usual, it was found upon 
 the sands, above three miles from the shore, without having received 
 injury by the water.' 
 
 This specimen is taken from the first chapter of St. Luke's gospel, 
 beginning at the fifth verse, which is to be read thus ; 
 
 " Fuit in diebus Herodis Regis Judaeae sacerdos quidam nomine Zacharias de vice Abia et 
 uxor illi de filiabus Aron et nomen ejus Elisabeth erant autem justi ambo ante Dm incedentes in 
 omnibus mandatis et justificationibus DnI sine quaerella. Et non erat illis filius eo.'"'' 
 
 The second column begins with, 
 
 " Pater noster qui es in Caelis sclficetur nomen tuum adveniat regnum tuum^ fiat voluntas 
 tua sicut in Cacio et in terra. Panem nostrum super substantiale da nobis hodei et demitte 
 nobis debita nostra sicut nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne inducas nos in temptationem 
 sed libera nos a malo." 
 
 The Saxon translation is interlined. 
 
 1 This note is printed in Wanley's Catalogue of Saxon mss. which forms the 3d vol. of 
 Hickes's Thesaurus, p. 252. St. Eadfrith is not mentioned in Heylin^s list of the bishops of Durham. 
 "■ Nullum per aquam laesionis signum monstratur. Wanley ut supra. 
 
102 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 It is observable, that the mss. which we have placed in the class of 
 Roman Saxon, are written partly in Uncial letters, and partly in Demi- 
 Uncial, with some small letters amongst them. The Roman Saxon writ- 
 ing is very similar to the Roman-Uncial. The letters, d, e, i, p, q, r, s, 
 are generally of that kind. 
 
 Towards the middle of the eighth century, the writing of the second 
 class, namely, Set Saxon, took place in England, which continued till 
 about the middle of the ninth, and which was not intirelj^ disused till the 
 beginning of the tenth century. 
 
 The first specimen of this kind of writing, is given in the fifteenth 
 plate, N° 3, from a charter of king Athelbald, dated A.D. 749, and in- 
 rolled in a MS. formerly preserved in the Cottonian library, (Otho. A. 1.) 
 This specimen is a mixture of Roman-Saxon and Set-Saxon letters, the 
 change from one mode of writing to that of another did not take place 
 immediately, but was gradual. 
 
 Hujus scedulae scriptio dominice incarnationis anno 749. Tndictione s, in loco celebre cuis 
 vocabulum est Godmundes — Laech XXXIII. anno Aedelbaldi Regis peraeta. 
 
 N° 11, in plate seventeen, exhibits a specimen of writing partly in 
 Roman-Saxon, and partly in Set-Saxon characters, taken from a copy of 
 the four gospels, in the Royal Library (1 B. 7.) and written in the eighth 
 century. 
 
 Quoniam 
 
 quidem multi co- 
 nati sunt ordinare 
 narrationem <^ 
 in nobis comple- 
 tae sunt rerum. 
 
 Plate eighteen, N° 3, contains several alphabets of capitals, initials, 
 or uncials, and small letters taken from this ms. 
 
 The first specimen in the seventeenth plate, is in Set-Saxon characters, 
 and is taken from a very fair ms. formerly belonging to St. Augustin's 
 abby, in Canterbury, which is now preserved in the library of Corpus 
 Christi College in Cambridge, (G. 2). This ms. was written in England in 
 the eighth century, though somewhat later than that last mentioned. It 
 
Tab.JM.p.ioz. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 103 
 
 contains the life of St. Paul the Hermit, and is worthy of attention, as 
 it gives a specimen of the drawings and ornamented letters, which are 
 frequently to be seen in Saxon mss. of the eighth and ninth centuries. 
 The figure is intended to represent the Hermit Paul, sitting in an ancient 
 chair, writing : whether the bird at his ear, is bringing him food, or in- 
 telligence, the life itself may determine, or perhaps it is a symbol of 
 inspiration. The words are, 
 
 Hieronimus Presbiter, natus a patre Eusebio hiinc librum scripsit in Bethleem in loco vide- 
 licet militum qui vocatur litostrotos; terminus ait. 
 
 N° 4, in the fifteenth plate, is taken from a ms. in the Harleian 
 library, (N° 2965), written in England in the eighth century, in strong 
 Set-Saxoji characters. It is observable, that square, or cornered charac- 
 ters, were not disused at this time, in titles of mss. The letter M, which 
 was used by the Pelasgians, the Oscans, aed the Etruscans, appears in 
 this MS. The letter R is scarcely to be distinguished from the N ; this 
 is common in mss. of the eio'hth and ninth centuries. 
 
 O" 
 
 The reading is, 
 
 Incipit Orat. Sci Augustil 
 
 in scis sollemnitatibu. 
 
 Ds dilecti et benedicti filii tui Jhu Xpi 
 
 Pater per quera tui agnitionem suscipiinus. 
 
 Ds angelorum et universae Creaturae visibiliu et invisibiliii. 
 
 Aequus conditor ac dispensator. 
 
 N° 1, in the eighteenth plate, is taken from a ms. in the Royal 
 library, (2 A. xx.) written also in the eighth century: the characters are 
 not so stiff, as those specimens which are given in the fifteenth plate ; 
 nor so loose as the running hand Saxon of the fourth specimen in this 
 plate, nor of several of those in the twenty-third plate. The Dragon, in 
 the ornamented letter, is the emblem of vigilance, and was used as such, 
 by the Phenicians, the Greeks, and the Romans." 
 
 = The three most ancient symbols are^ the Circle, the Serpent, and the Wings. The Circle 
 represented the Eternity of the Deity. The Serpent^ his Wisdom. The Wings^ his Providence 
 over, and protection of all created beings. The Dragon^ is the Serpent dignified. 
 
104 ^ ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 " In primis obsecro supplex obiiixis 
 pecibus summain et gloriosam Malestatem (majestatem) Di atque 
 inclytam scae individuaeq; trinitatis almitate. Ut me miseriim 
 indignumq; humuncuLum exaudire digiietur.-" 
 
 The second specimen in this plate is taken from a copy of St. Paul's 
 Epistle to the Ephesians in the Bodleian library, (Laud. E. 67- f- 69.) 
 written at the latter end of the eighth century. 
 
 " Paulus Apostolus Jhu Xpi p voluntate Di scis omnibus 
 qui sunt Ephesi et fideiibus in Xpo Jhii gratia vobis et pax a Do 
 patre ufo et Dno Jhu Xpo benedictus D§ et pater Dni Jhii Xpl qui 
 benedixit nos in omni benedictione spiritali in celestibus in Xpo Jhii." 
 
 The first specimen in the nineteenth plate, is taken from a copy of 
 venerable Bede's preface to his book concerning the miracles of St. 
 Cuthbert, in the library of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, (Sub. 
 D. 5.) which seems to have been written in the ninth century ; because 
 the genealogies of the kings of Britain which are in this book, are none 
 of them brought down beyond the year 850. 
 
 Dno Sco ac beatissimo patri Eadfrido Epo, sed et omni Congregationi fratrum^ qui In Lin- 
 dlsfarnensi Insula Xpo deserviunt Beda fidelis vf conservus salutem. 
 
 The Set-Saxon was used in Wales longer than in England, as appears 
 by the fourth specimen in the twentieth plate, which is taken from a copy 
 of St. Augustine dc Trinitute in the same library, N° 5, written in Wales 
 by John de Gente Ceretica (or Cardiganshire), in the time of Sulgen, who 
 was bishop of St. Davids, in the reign of king Edward the Confessor. 
 
 "Domino beatissimo et sincerissima auctoritate venerando 
 Sco patri et consacerdoti Pape Aurilio Augustinus in dno salutem. 
 Incipit ne prefatio sive prologus." 
 
 The Set-Saaon letters approach near to the Roman Saxon, but in this 
 kind of writing many puix Saxon letters occur, particularly the letters 
 e, F, 5, p, r. '^- 
 
W7?wl{( r 
 
 ^j 
 
 ptMtntS^ c??s&no ^pu^l^ olmi7Ci9' 
 iTiMttibttaaq^rraniaxn:^ dlmtnirif 
 
 t(«c."Ynr. 
 
 JOOO'jOOOOooOOaOOOO ooooo 
 
 Ooooooooo. 
 
 SfxcMJK. 
 
 ]pcixchak'Cb^ 
 
 m 
 
 'lo- uei 
 
 !!^- 
 
 
 '-' n O O iS) , -J O I'J '-*'-' ^ '''"■'■"'-'■-''-' -^ "3 O O O O -3 a O tJ o --J ■-' '-J j u 'j 'j ' j --^ ^ ^ rj cj §/ | ^^ ' 
 
 'OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OCOO^OOOO <Jj 
 
 p 
 
 t 
 
 HHPT 
 
 /W.EDEll)J/HNOJPCJJ!tXS T V 
 
 p-97- 
 
 qfuaB 
 
 

 Scecj:^.pJOS. 
 
 uutD Opus mecogs poccene^ue-cern uTSpofb e:xera 
 noc scni2)runocauTrixoxx) onbe c|irp6T|Aqucx:fiqruiclocm 
 i:fn sed eocmfrqaiiocylprtrifeuaTucxTix^ cfUoce5i}rGilla: 
 
 0CAB6eccclDT)eep'^gbHj] l^conp^o 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 105 
 
 Towards the latter end of the ninth century, learn- 
 
 The Saxon . j.^, j • t^ i j j ^i, • e 
 
 ino; was amused m Isnsland under the auspices or our 
 
 RUNNING HAND. ^ . ° . ^ 
 
 great king Alfred, in whose reign many books were 
 written in this island, in a more expeditious manner than formerly. This 
 kind of writing I call the running hand of the Saxons ; few mss. were 
 written in this hand before the reign of that monarch, though a free mode 
 of writing had been used in charters from the latter end of the eighth 
 century, as appears from the first column of the twenty-third plate. 
 
 The third specimen in the nineteenth plate, is written in a more free 
 manner than any of those above described ; it is taken from a ms. in the 
 Bodleian library, (Digby 63.) intituled, Liher de Compiito Ecclesiastico, 
 written by Regenbald (or Reginald), a priest of Winchester, between the 
 years 850 and 867. 
 
 Si cupis nosse qota sit Feria Kl lap. su- 
 me Annos Dili deduc-asse adde quartam 
 parte. Os patire ver vii quod rema- 
 net ipsa erit Feria. Si nihil remanserit^ 
 VII erit. Potest qui vult a Ciclo . . . 
 
 The fourth specimen in the eighteenth plate, is in the most expedi- 
 tious manner of writing practised by the Saxons ; it is taken from a ms. 
 in the library of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge (S. XI.) written 
 about the year 891.' The characters are loose and free, and the abbre- 
 viations are very numerous, which renders the reading of it difficult; 
 many of them are engraven with a view to facilitate the reading of mss. 
 written in England, in the time of the Saxons. 
 
 This specimen is taken from a tract, in the latter part of the volume, 
 intituled, C Sedulii opus Paschale, and is to be read as follows : 
 
 IV. Explicit Liber II. Incipit Liber III. 
 
 Has inter Virtutis opes, jam proxima Paschse 
 Coeperat esse dies .... cum gloria vellet 
 Ponere mortalem, vivamque resumere carnem 
 Non aliam, sed rursus eam quam^ munere plenam 
 
 ' Concerning this ms. see Wanley^s preface to his catalogue^ p. 130. 
 
 P 
 
106 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 LuciSj ab infernis relevans ad sidera duxit 
 Exclamansque palam, " Pater, ista memet in hora 
 "Salvifica; sed in banc ideo veni tamen boramj 
 " Clarifica," dixit. 
 
 The running hand Saxon letters are more like the pure or elegant 
 Saxon which succeeded them. These distinctions will appear, by care- 
 fully comparing the plates of these different kinds of writing with each 
 other. 
 
 We have already observed under the head of Roman writing, that in 
 the ninth, tenth, and in the beginning of the eleventh centuries, many 
 Mss. were written in England, in characters partly Roman, partlj^ Lom- 
 bardic, and partly Saxon, as will appear by comparing the alphabet in 
 the thirteenth plate, with the specimens in plates nineteen and twenty. 
 The second, fourth, and fifth specimens in the nineteenth plate are of 
 this kind. 
 
 The second specimen is taken from a copy of venerable Bede, upon 
 the canonical epistles, written in the year 818, and preserved in the 
 Bodleian library, (supra D. Art. sive. Med. 3.) 
 
 Incipit expositio Bedae Presbyteri in epistolam Job. iii^. 
 Senior gaio carissimo quem ego diligo in veritate. Qui vel qualis fuerit iste gavisin processu 
 eplae monstratusq; videlicet fidem Xpl quam perceperat bonis accumulabat actib: et si ipse ad 
 predicandum verbum minime sufficiebat eos tamen qui predicarent de f'acultatibus suis susten- 
 tare gaudebat Hunc autem esse gaium arbitraniur cujus in epla ad Romanos Paulus meminit 
 dicens Salutat vos gaius hospes ms ecclae et totius anno 818, ab incarnatione Dni ni^i Jhu Xpi. 
 Pascba vrl apl. Lun in Pascha 17. 
 
 The fourth specimen in the nineteenth plate is taken from a copy of 
 the canons, made in the council of Calcedon, written by the order of 
 pope John viii. by Ignat. Patr. C. P. between the years 872 and 878. 
 
 "Aetius Archidiaconus Constantinopolis novae Romae legit. Sea et magna 
 "universalis synodus quae scdm gratiam Di et sanctiones piissimorum 
 " Christianissimorumque Imperatorum Valentiniani et Martiani 
 "Augusto." 
 
 The fifth specimen in the same plate, is taken from St. Augustin's 
 exposition of the Revelations, written by the command of St. Dunstan, 
 
ar 
 
 I /I 
 
 'n 
 
 ^t 
 
 qoT»i -pnoxpiitn i:)ui1ntinZ)i6 :fOcmiebsi Insutct 
 
 Icn p op (LqR^l 
 
 ^foT^ 
 
 «=-^ 
 
 K£Be3^pO^TE)EO^pBK1 wepiMOO 
 
 efiu epCc:mcm|lri*Ar cjauicleucer'fiaem 
 m) : ecft ipfc^ adpciicatiJuruerfc um in imefup 
 
 trramui^ CUT'tnepla acfromanof pauiuf tnemtn iiT 
 cLcenf S *f"^«»^ uofq^muf tiofpepT)f eocIjExorUff. 
 
 ^71 B c b ecp f 6% T) 1 K i,LCY:) NT tr) 
 
 a^aabcdef^fullm n f^ o p c^ r frujK y- x 
 
 nnojjolif no u xe^ T^ tn 
 ^tr- ^^ca 4i ntCLgncc uniuf 
 
 fA-ncxionerpttfrim £jv-um 
 ft moral m qviCr impef-a^xot 
 
 iermntccni etynxrixccn 
 
 r^ 5^enti5tnt}ifionolit| 
 tnms 6ri:?o|u5.uqitinid;t 
 
 c xxtrSt^tlkQ S£)3rem-ld effect 
 nionum plthtru^tna- ol>yTCU|UK 
 u(tj- 0^ pecs Stone fir |ie5u|i|ic< 
 
ooj/j rat^. ^ S(X^oiiltd 
 
 IX ^'.t X. 
 
 
 -VT. 
 
 w Jit c^ 
 
 ztuxyzpr 
 
 S7S. 
 
 Ifiufnjqitpu 
 
 itejarmdinr 
 uxs nouum 
 gtidxiT In 
 
 rum* QuO^ 
 
 
 TIL. 
 
 i3ijfl)ii3tnki6'^|uicaJUio celabjimiDiy <:)tto^'yilU"pi'm(mfl- eye tibial 
 
 TSi.p.JOZ 
 
 y 
 
 Groa, JL-D. 
 JJ.JIO. 
 
 98S. 
 
 5TSKlHTMU:Eli)7eT 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 107 
 
 when Abbot of Glastonbury, which was between the years 940 and 962 . 
 The following entry is in a contemporary hand. " Dunstan Abbas himc 
 libellum scribere jussit." 
 
 "Et vidi supra dextram sedentis in throno librum scriptura intus 
 et foris. Utrumq ; testamentuni intellegCj a foris vetus ab intus novum 
 quod intra vetus latebat; signatum inquit sigiilis septem id est omnium 
 mysteriorum plenitudine obscuratiim. Quod usq; ad passione et re- 
 surrectionem Xpi mansit signatum." 
 
 The third and seventh specimens in the twentieth plate are also in 
 mixed characters. The third specimen is taken from a ms. in the library 
 of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge (N° 1?,) written in the tenth 
 century, which contains a copy of the works of Martianus Capella of 
 Carthage. 
 
 De Connubiis Deorum. De Nuptiis. De Grammatica. Dialectica. Rhetorici. Geo- 
 metria. Arithmetica. Astroiogia. Musica. 
 
 " Atque in psallentem thalamis quem matre camena. 
 " Progenitum perhibent copula sacra deum." 
 
 The seventh specimen in this plate, is taken from a copy of the 
 Gospels, in the same library (S. 4.), and is written about the time of king 
 Edward the Confessor. 
 
 Ego ^Ifricus scripsi hunc librum in Mona- 
 sterio Baththonio, et dedi Brithwoldo preposito. 
 Qui scripsit vivat in pace in hoc mundo et in 
 futuro sclo et qui legit legator in eteruum. 
 
 The seventh specimen, in the nineteenth plate, is taken from a ms. in 
 the Royal library (5. F. 3.) intituled Aldhelmi Shirburnensis Episcopi, de 
 Laude Virgiiiitatis, liber Prosaicus, ad Hildelitham Virgmem, <^c. 
 
 Mr. Casley is of opinion, that this ms. was written in the eighth cen- 
 tury, but we do not suppose it to have been written till the ninth, the 
 characters are rude and barbarous, and are very difficult to be read.' 
 
 Reverentissimis Xpi virginibus omnique devotae germanitatis 
 afFectu venerandis; et non solum corporalis pudicitiae praeconio 
 celebrandis quod plurimorG est, vernm etiam spiritalis castimoniae gratia 
 glorificandus quod paucorum est. 
 
103 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 The elegant Saxon writing which took place 
 Elegant Saxon. .^ England early in the tenth century, and which 
 lasted till the Norman conquest, but was not intirely disused till the 
 middle of the twelfth, is more beautiful than the writing in France, Italy, 
 and Germany, during the same period. Several specimens of this kind 
 of writing, are given in the twentieth plate, N°' 2, 5, 6, 9, and 10 ; and 
 in the last column of the twenty-first plate. N° 8, in the nineteenth plate, 
 is also of this kind. 
 
 N° 2, in the twentieth plate, is taken from a fair book of Saxon Homi- 
 lies in the Lambeth Library (N° 439), written in the tenth century. 
 
 Kl. Novembris Natal e omnium Sanctorum. 
 Halige lareowas rseddon that seo geleaffulle ge^athung thisne 
 daeg eallum halgu to wurthmynte msersie & arwurthlice freolsie, 
 forn-than-the hine mihton heora aelcum synderlice freols-tide 
 gesettan, ne nanu. 
 
 Which translated into modern English is, 
 
 The holy Doctors conjecture that the Congregation of the faithful celebrate this day, 
 and solemnly observe it as a feast in honour of all the Saints^ because they could not 
 appoint a festival to each of them separately, nor to none. 
 
 N° 5, in the same plate, is taken from the Homily of Elfric, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, intituled, De fide, which, Mr. Wanley is of opinion, 
 was written in the year 96O. 
 
 That that lator bith, that hsefth angin and God naefth nan angin 
 Nis na se Faether ana thrynys oSSe se sunu thrynys, oS^e se 
 halga gast thrynnys ; ac thas thry hadas syndon an God, on anre 
 Godcundnysse, thonne thu gehyrft nemnan thone Faether, thonne 
 understentst thu that he hsefth sunu; eft thonne thu cwyst sunu, 
 thu wast abuton tweon that he hsefth .... 
 
 Which translated into modern English is. 
 
 That which is latest (in order of succession) that hath beginning-, and God hath no 
 beginning. Now the Father alone is not the Trinity, or the Son the Trinitv', or the 
 Holy Ghost the Trinity. But these three Persons are one God in one Godhead. 
 When thou hearest speak of the Father, then understandest thou that he hath a Son. 
 Again, when thou namest the Son, thou knowest without doubt that he hath . . &c. 
 
% 
 
 ^:XEMPLAll'M^B.I2^-AwGLIA M 
 
 ''-1 d^ou-nj mttt- t»Ve? cxtme- 
 
 cumci '.* due TvSnloir indtnoadmeiiu 
 revnzuZ) 7>-^^- 
 
 IT' 
 
 
 Oc^ 
 
 quern to|al[enrwi xholarms 
 quern fnozne camerut.- 
 
 inexret)ep. tuna|^]xynyp c* 
 hoLgogixpr l^ftyntvyp tic 
 
 n^berv- ]?on unt>qv|rerit 
 
 6. 
 
 
 f two Wm^onio csrdedi l)pl]t 
 
 (^ 
 
 ®^T op U^uj* ^jKxl^Titypti anc Aticet 7h<c^m«ii 
 
 
 I 2yi,£gxrcinur"\sitmo jaktceiu • -, 
 
 /^.)ni^ pbeC^mu ca^dati^es fey mi^ pete c2inc)mtJe^biflieopcf.:?e^Iirtmne^e^^ 
 
 wnci/ 
 
oSSer i^eruniLWynyp ^^e^rer 
 rp|?dh ]^u:ge>Tiy|Y^ riemnxm]?one 
 
 TJr/rAl.p .108. 
 
 •^ 
 
 pJ08, 
 
 
 /'-7^^- 
 
 
 r inecemum*- 
 
 /P-z^7- 
 
 /^-, 
 
 p>144. 
 
 
 ^ pj4S. 
 
 i<^ne-jci|txertvGipaii -TCall«:^ljiier)liri^er jjerenaT 
 
 
 
 
 p.209. 
 
 awS^eoTi CO in$&t«nf Mt^-^^m 5of<>teM ^oJ^x^mm 
 
 ^-^^ 
 
 
 4;^^o offi£^^ (Xix&^s^&^vixi^f £*^f^^-Ufi^ 
 
 oR ^t ^^^vA «< Jtrd/cL^ 
 
 
CHAP. y. OF WRITING. 109 
 
 The sixth specimen, in the same plate, is taken from a ms. in the 
 Cottonian Library, (Claud. B. 4.) which was written in England a short 
 time before the Conquest- It contains extracts from the Pentateuch, and 
 the book of Joshua, in Saxon, and is dedicated by iElfric to iEthelward 
 the Alderman. In this ms. are many drawings. 
 
 Sothlice this synd ysrahela naman the inforon on Egypta land. He mid his Sunum. 
 Sephrum cenneda^ Ruben; Rubenes suna^ Enoh, and Phallu^ and Charm. Simeones 
 suna^ Gamuel, and Diamin, and Achod^ and Jachim^ and Sahefj and Saul Chananides 
 sunaj and Leuies Sues" suna Jerson and Chaath .... 
 
 Which translated into modern English is, 
 
 Verily these are the names of the Israelites that entered into the land of Egypt, he and 
 his sons. The first-born, Reuben; the sons of Reuben, Enoch, and Phallu, and 
 Charmi. The sons of Simeon, Gamuel, and Diamin, and Achod, and Jachim, 
 and Saher, and Saul son of a Canaanitish woman ; and the sons of Levi, Jerson and 
 Chaath. 
 
 N" 9i in this plate, is a specimen of the charter of king Henry I. to 
 the church of Canterbury. This charter is written in Latin and Saxon, 
 upon the same piece of parchment, in the centre of which, on the left 
 side, the great seal of king Henry I. is appendent. 
 
 H. thurh Godes genu ^nglelandes Kyning grete ealle mine Bissceopes, and ealle mine 
 Eorles, and ealle mine Sciegereuan, and ealle mine Thegenas, Frencisce and ^nglisce, 
 on tham Sciran the Willelm ^rceb. and se Hired set Xpes Circean on Cantwaraberig 
 habbath Land inne freondlice. 
 
 i. e. 
 
 H. Dei gratia Anglorum rex saluto omnes meos Episcopos, et omnes meos Comites, 
 et omnes meos Vice comites, et omnes meos thanos Francos et Anglos in istis comita- 
 tibus quibus Willelmus Archiep; et conventus apud Christ! Ecclesiam in Cantuaria 
 habent terras amicabiliter. 
 
 N° 10, is a specimen of the charter of king Henry II. to the same 
 church, written also in Latin and Saxon ; with the great seal appendent, in 
 the same manner as the last mentioned. These two are in the Author's 
 library. This second charter is made in favour of archbishop Theobald, 
 
 " See Genesis, ch. xlvi. v. 8, ii. 
 
no ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 and the Convent at Christ Church, this is nearly in the same words as 
 that last mentioned. 
 
 The eighth and last specimen in the nineteenth plate, may be classed 
 among the elegant Saxon writing, it is taken from Csedmon's Poetical 
 Paraphrase of the books of Genesis and Daniel, now preserved in the 
 Bodleian library at Oxford, (Junius 11) and was written towards the end 
 of the tenth century. 
 
 This book formerly belonged to archbishop Usher, who lent it to Mr. 
 Somner, by whom it was made use of in his Saxon dictionary. The arch- 
 bishop gave it afterwards to Fr. Junius, who published it without the 
 drawings, at Amsterdam, 1655. 
 
 About the year 1756, the drawings in this ms. were engraven by 
 J. Green, but as this was done by private subscription, a few copies only 
 were taken off. This specimen is to be read, 
 
 " Vs IS RIGHT MicEL THJET we rodera weard, wereda wuldor Cining wordum herigen, 
 modum lufien. He is maggna sped, Henfod ealra heah gesceafta, Frea selmihtig Naes him fruma 
 ffifre, or-geworden; ne nu ende cymth ecean Drilitnes fruma ffifre or-gewordenj ne nu ende 
 cymth ecean Drihtnes : ac he bith a rice ofer heofen stolas^ heagum thrymmum. Sothfaest and 
 
 swith ferom swegl-bosmas heold.' 
 
 1. e. 
 
 It is very right for us that we the Ruler of the skies, the glorious King of armies, should 
 extol with words, and love in our hearts. He is the pattern of excellence ; the supreme head 
 above all creatures; the Lord Almighty ! Never was to him a beginning, being uncreated; nor 
 yet shall an end ever come of the eternal Lord : but he shall be for ever ruler throughout the 
 mansions of Heaven with exalted majesty. Righteous and exceedingly powerful, he occupieth 
 the recesses of the sky, &c. 
 
 The twenty-first plate furnishes our readers with a variety of speci- 
 mens of writing in England, from about the year 693, to the middle of 
 the eleventh century. These are deduced from inrolments of proceed- 
 ings in the Saxon synods, councils, pitena-semotp or legislative assemblies, 
 and from Placita, Chartse, Testamentary dispositions, and other authentic 
 documents in the Author's library. "" 
 
 " Except N° 2 in the first column, which is taken from the Cottonian library, (Aug. a.) and 
 which seems to be a copy. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. Ul 
 
 We recommend to our readers to compare these specimens attentively 
 with those of the Anglo-Saxon writing in the preceding plates ; such 
 attention will be useful to those, who wish to be acquainted with the 
 different modes of writing practised by our remote ancestors, and will, 
 in our opinion, be the best method of enabling them to judge of their 
 age and authenticity. For although these charters, and conveyances of 
 property, are generally written in a more free and expeditious manner 
 than the books written in the same ages, j^et a similarity of character is 
 observable, between charters, and books, written in the same century, 
 and they authenticate each other ; but it will be necessary for the student 
 himself, to take some pains in contemplating the different forms of the 
 characters, used in the documents which we have delineated for his in- 
 formation, or he will not be an adept in this science. This attention will 
 assist him in judging of the age and authenticity of mss. written on the 
 Continent, as many of these hands were used in France and Germany, 
 between the seventh and eleventh centuries. 
 
 Explanation of the twenty-first plate. 
 
 ^ In nomine dni di nostri Jhu Xpi Ego Uihtredus Rex Cantuariorum Pro ignorantia 
 
 Literarum »J< Signum scae crucis express!^ A.D. dcxciii. 
 
 Quapropter Ego Offa caelica fulciente dementia Rex Merciorum, simulq; aliarum cir- 
 
 cumquaq; nationum Anno aut Dominice Incarnationis, dccxxx° conscripta est haec 
 
 Donatio »J< Ego Offa Dei dono Rex . . . 
 
 ^ In nomine Jhii Xpl Ego Offa Rex totiiis Anglorum patrise^ daho Anno Dominicae 
 
 Incarnationis, dcclxxiiii. 
 
 »J« In nomine unigeniti filij Dei Ego Offa Rex Merciorum Actum Anno Dominicae 
 
 Incarnationis, dcclxxxv. 
 
 In nomine Redemtoris Mundi. Ego Coenuulf gratia Dei Rex Merciorum Facta est 
 
 autem haec utcumque donatio Anno Dominicae Incarnationis, dccxcviiii. In \'icum Regio ast 
 Tome-Worth ige [Tamworth]. 
 
 ^ In nomine sci salvatoris Dei et Dm nri Jhii Xpi. Ego CoENuaLFUS gratia Dei Rex 
 Merciorum Actum est hoc Anno Dominicae Incarnationis, dcccxiiii. 
 
112 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 »J« Anno vero Dominicae Incarnationis, dcccxxiiii. Indie ii. Congregatum est synodus 
 in loco celebri ubi norainatur aet Clofeshoum. 
 
 >i< Regnante in perpetuum Dno Do ro Sabaotli Anno Dominicae Incarnationis, dcccxlv. 
 
 ^ In nomine almotrino divino Ego Elfred Rex cu consensu et licentia atque consilio 
 sapientum Anno Dominice ab Incarnationis, dccclxxiii. 
 
 Regnante in perpetuum Incarnationis Anno dcccciii Contigit quod ^thelfrido 
 
 Duci omnes hereditarij libri ignis vastatione combusti perierunt. Tali igitur necessitate. 
 
 In nomine See Trinitatis Ego Eadmundus Rex Anglorum Acta est haec prefata 
 
 donatio Anno ab Incarnatione DnI nri Jhu Xpi^ dccccxliiii. 
 
 >J« Annuente Ego Eadgar totius Brittanniae Basileus Anno Dni cae Incarnationis^ 
 
 DCCCCLxiii. Scripta est haec Carta. 
 
 Acta est autem haec prasfata emptio Anno Dominice Incarnationis, dcccclxxviii. 
 
 Hoc autem donum prerogative donationis Anno Dominicae Incarnationis^ dcccclxxxvi. 
 
 ^THELRED primiccrius et Basileus gentis Anglorum concedo Scripta est Anno Miii. 
 
 Indict. XV. Aepacte iv. Data Die v. Id. Jui. Luna xxvii. 
 
 Cnut Anglorum Rex venerabili Archiepo Aelfstano indorsed Scripta est haec Cartula 
 
 mille decursOj Anno xviii. 
 
 ^ In nomine Dei summi — —Ego Cnut divina mihi concedente dementia Rex Anglorum 
 
 Acta est hec prefata donatio Anno ab Incarnatione Dni Milesimo xxxV. His testibus 
 
 consentientibus. 
 
 The last column of the twenty-first plate is deduced from authentic 
 documents in the Saxon tongue, preserved in the Author's library, which 
 are to be read as follows : 
 
 ^ XF (Christus) Jc Elfred Dux hatu writan and cythan an thissum gewrite Elfrede Regi 
 and allum his Weotum, and Geweotan, and ecswylce minum megum and minum gefeorum tha 
 tha men the ic mines Erfes and mines Boclondes. 
 
- ^ . / :Eoc 07U^: in Bit't:T.^4/tU A 
 
 tilz-iu) in ^nglia aS^-A. 
 
 r7/z^: 
 
 CffO noscoo-nocao -^{^ovvco^cihono nt>c ad. 730. 
 
 =x^lU3^^DQl)o — cumor>OTntmc<]eTncctixnaxajcrm|^ 
 
 CCYl.!*^ f « felt C^^ii^ ^/^ c:)? Cdrj-j^Iiof^^i ft^ ^^ 
 
 IpfrYKlTi'C^ Vrt^P^Scoa — vn< 
 
 1 14iiomiiT6-*|^-cptttxitji 
 
 >4-< iTLnrm^fitce^— ea> I 
 =mnni<3e^ASrtleue — J) 
 
 ceririCaytriajcu>iii|'-?>c«xcl^ 
 rjoc {luzem boniunpnenjcra 
 oomtntcoer mcajutcxiiontr.*^ 
 
 /E^ElRe D prtmicertul 
 >J J NHO^UH^ tit svcy)< 
 
 Xxxv- tiifx^wufcotijertnennt 
 
w 
 
 iJbctotiip anno-doxciti. Con = 
 
 . y \A.ng63. 
 
 liHVTTI 
 
 ji.T>.^7a 
 
 jpcaup ^oncaxotiiS anno 
 
 i— ^ ^ 
 
 rdrbaJileafoerTa fano = 
 
 .3l£^J^j^li ^efhamentorum Cartavn riiq Ue,^LU iq ua 
 SaXOllica exerat? ^cc ortqiin TiibtiTAfhle "Arm: 
 
 . y^fl'^l'n^lllutTilii^t^iflw^iJap^irc^ IftCYbjrtc^witvuwwe- 'gun* 
 
 piemJ>iU arci)i epo.M^^T 
 
 miller c[iecurfb.^Lnnoxvm 
 
 |incafnaaxcmecJru-iuILc|tmo 
 
 ^ AJ0./036: 
 
 S^8. 
 
 ^T^ ^fyr\y\^y <fi^e^Lpyjib b|utce-^cfih lonbcC^ on 
 
 ^i>c9J:<?. 
 
 
 =Tm^ onpyjunr jK:;tmrce^-WiCTriine anjer-nnrmc cjrftDCb ^ 
 gp unnen boibC- 15>^^ ^^ lore'- *i min|ie^auleTD.u> 
 
 /^^7. 
 
 
 L4Z)./^32. 
 
 =:Op hceS ge^ unnan '^^^ 'I (cr iut^afane-.y-ce^ceixo/ La 
 =TToef tumn ntiroa/'^Sinui .*1 Wnaceoa^tjS uwxt vvpcri 
 
 i.lO/i0.el)l05Q. 
 
 "t C/ojOptttrte <^Tnx 5|i3fe WHfr'Tnin cKej- n tnme' €oji1aj^. "n tnme" 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. U3 
 
 i. e. 
 
 XF. I Alfred the Duke have directed it to be notified in this deed to Elfred the King^ and 
 to all his Council^ and also to my own kinsmen and bailiffs^ to what persons I bequeath the 
 principal part of my real estate. 
 
 a. *^ This is ^thelwyrdses Cwithe, mid gethaehte Odan ^rce-biscopas and thass hioredses set 
 Cristaes Cirican. That is thonne that ^thelwyrd bruce thaes landsesy on Geocham. 
 
 i. e. 
 
 This is ^thelwyrd's will^ with the consent of Odo the Archbishop and the Convent at 
 Christ-Church. That is, that ^Ethelwyrd shall enjoy the land at Geocham. 
 
 3. ^ Eadgifu cyth tham Arc-bisc and Cristes Cyrcean hyrede hu hire Land com aet Culingon. 
 That is thset hire Isefde hire Fseder land and hoc swa he 
 
 i. e. 
 
 Eadgif declares to the Archbishop^ and to the Convent at Christ-Churchy the manner in 
 which the lands at Cowling came to her, (to wit) that her father left to her the land and char- 
 ters as he^ 
 
 4. Gode ^Imihtigum rixiende the rset and gewissath, eallum gesceaftum thurh his agenne 
 Wisdom^ and he ealra cininga cynedom. 
 
 i. e. 
 
 To God Almighty the King, who ruleth and governeth all creatures through his own wisdom^ 
 and he all kingdoms. 
 
 5. *^ On Godes ^Imihtiges naman. Ic ^thestan ^theling geswutelige on thysum 
 gewrite. hu Ic mine are. and mine sehta. geunnen haebbe Gode to lofe and minre Saule to. 
 
 y Geocham his daeg on freodome. 
 Ickham for his life with freedom. 
 
 ^ Mid righte beget, and his yldran lesdon. 
 i. e. With right acquired them, and his ancestors left them to him. 
 
 Q 
 
114 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 i. e. 
 
 In God Almighty's name, I jEthelstan the Prince, declare in this writing, how I have dis- 
 posed of my substance and estates, for the praise of God, and the redemption of my Soul.a 
 
 6. Her is on sio swutelung hu ^lfhelm his are and his sehta geuadod haefth. for Gode and 
 for Wurulde. Thaet is, thonni serest his hlaforde an hund Mancosa Goldes, and twa Swurd, and 
 feower Scyldas, and feower Sweru, and feower 
 
 i. e. 
 
 Here is, within, the declaration how ^Ifhelm hath disposed of his goods and possessions with 
 respect to God and as to the world : That is, imprimis. To his Lord an hundred mancuses of gold, 
 and two swords, and four shields, and four spears, and four 
 
 7. Her ge swutelath on thisu gewrite that Cnut Kynig Iset that Land set Folkenstane into 
 
 i. e. 
 
 Here is declared in this writing that Cnut, King, granted that land at Folkstone unto 
 
 8. >J« Her swutelath on thisum gewrite that Eadsi Arce-bisceop hafth geunnan Gode and See 
 Augustine V ^cera landes butan reada gatan, and tha maeda withutan Wiwer. 
 
 i. e. 
 
 Here be it known by this writing, that Eadsi, the Archbishop, hath granted to God and 
 St. Augustine v acres of land without Riding-Gate (in Canterbury), and the meads without 
 Wiwer (Gate). 
 
 9. Eadweard Cynge gret ealle mine Beg and mine Eorlas and mine . . . 
 
 i. e. 
 
 I, Edward the King, greet all my Bishops, and my Earls, and my . . , 
 
 ^ The will goes on, and my father king iEthelred's from whom I received it. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 115 
 
 OF WEITING IN THE NORTHERN PARTS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 AND IN IRELAND. 
 
 Xhe mss. written in the .northern parts of Scotland and in Ireland, are 
 in characters similar to the Saxon, and therefore we shall speak of them, 
 before we treat of those which were written in England after the Norman 
 conquest. 
 
 It has already been observed that the Saxon, Irish, and other charac- 
 ters used by the western nations of Europe, were derived from the Roman. 
 The literati of Scotland generally subscribe to this opinion ; but as several 
 writers on the antiquities and learning of the ancient Irish have adopted 
 different sentiments, it may be necessary to enter into a more full dis- 
 cussion of this subject. We have shewn, that the ancient Britons had 
 no letters, till they borrowed the Roman alphabet from the Romans 
 themselves. The first characters found in Britain, as well on coins, as 
 on stone monuments,*' are Roman ; and these were extended over the 
 island of Britain, as is proved by Mr. Whitaker, (vol. i. p. 371 & seqq.) 
 who is of opinion, that from the shore of Caledonia, they were in a short 
 time wafted over into Ireland.^ 
 
 The early history of most nations abounds in fables, and it would be 
 extraordinary if the annals of Ireland were free from them ; but there 
 are so many absurd and improbable tales reported, concerning the early 
 population and civilization of that country, that the bare relation of 
 them must effectually destroy their credit. A book called Leabhuir 
 Dromnasnachta, or Book with the white cover, hath been quoted to 
 prove, that Cain's three daughters took possession of Ireland, and that 
 the eldest of these ladies, called Bamba, gave her name to that island. 
 Dr. Parsons says,"^ that Ireland was peopled about three hundred years 
 
 '' Borlase's Cornwall^ chap. vi. p. 391, on inscribed monuments^ and Whitaker^ vol. ii. 
 
 P-33I- 
 
 ' It is probable there was an early intercourse between the ancient inhabitants of Scot- 
 land and those of Ireland^ as it is but a few hours' sail from Port Patrick to Carrickfergus^ 
 Droghadee. 
 
 ^ Remains of Japhetj p. 153. 
 
116 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 after the flood. According to Doctor Keating the giant Partholanus, 
 who was descended in a right line from Japhet, landed on the coast of 
 Munster the 14th day of May, in the year of the world 1978. *" The same 
 learned Doctor, and likewise Mr. Toland, Dr. Parsons, and other modern 
 authors relate, that Fenius Farsaidh or Finiusa Farsa, great grandson to 
 Japhet, set up a school in the plains of Senaar or Shinar, about one 
 hundred and fifty years after the deluge, and first invented the Hebrew, 
 Greek, Latin, and Irish letters. '^ The works of Keating and Parsons 
 evince that they had a large portion of faith ; but it is singular, that 
 Toland, who was so exceedingly incredulous in many respects, and par- 
 ticularly in his belief of revealed religion, should profess to believe these 
 incredible stories concernino- the inhabitants of Ireland. 
 
 Such of our readers as may wish to know more relating to the tradi- 
 tions of Ireland, may find much entertainment in perusing the works of 
 Mr. O'Flaharty, Mr.O'Conner, and Mr. O'Halloran's History of Ireland.^ 
 This last author is superstitiously devoted to the legendary tales of his 
 country. His first book commences with the supposed landing of Partho- 
 lan about two hundred and seventy-eight years after the flood, and ends 
 with the Milesian expedition, about the year of the world 2736. He tells 
 us that Britain was peopled from Ireland, and adopts all the fabulous 
 opinions laid down by former writers. 
 
 As to the antiquity of the Irish mss. Keating says, that the psalter of 
 Tarn was written in the reign of Ollamh Fodhla about nine hundred and 
 twenty-two years before Christ, which Prince was the seventh in descent 
 from Milesius, and Dr. Parsons endeavours to support this opinion. 
 Our researches have not been so fortunate, for we have not been able 
 to discover an Irish ms. older than the tenth century ."^ 
 
 « See Dr. Keatiiig's History of Ireland, p. 13, 14. This author relates, that though Partho- 
 lanus succeeded in his enterprise, the loose behaviour of his wife rendered his domestic 
 life very unhappy, and provoked him to such a degree, that! he killed her favourite o-rev- 
 hound. This, the learned historian assures us, was the Jirst instance of female infidelity ever 
 known in Ireland. 
 
 f See Keating's History of Ireland, p. 59 to 64. Toland's Posthumous Works, torn. i. p. 38. 
 See also Innes's Essay on the ancient inhabitants of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 420, and more in the 
 Remains of Japhet by Dr. Parsons, p. 115. 
 
 e Two vols. 4to. 1778. 
 
 ^ Several alphabets have been engraven both in France and in Ireland of characters which 
 are called Irish, but I consider them of no authority, they being manifestly of Roman origin. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 117 
 
 General Vallancey delivers it as his opinion, that the Iberians 
 who mig;rated from the borders of the Euxine and Caspian Seas, and 
 settled in Spain, learned letters and arts from the Phenicians ; that a 
 colony of the ancient Spaniards, by the name of Scots or Scythians, settled 
 in Ireland about a thousand, or perhaps six hundred years before Christ, 
 and that they brought elementary characters with them into Ireland. He 
 observes, that the Irish alphabet differs from that of all other nations, in 
 name, order, number, and power, and supposes, that they might have 
 received their alphabet from the Carthaginians, who also settled a colony 
 in Ireland about six hundred years before Christ, and adds, that this 
 opinion is the more to be credited, as the Irish language appears to have 
 a radical identity with the Punic' 
 
 This author hath lately published a new edition of his Irish grammar,'' 
 to which is annexed a curious essay on the Celtic language. He shews, 
 that all the European languages are of Celtic origin, and he hath given 
 us a very learned account of the different dialects of the Celtic language ; 
 namely, of the Welch, Cornish, Armoric, and of the Irish. This gentleman 
 has established many useful and important facts, relative to the population, 
 and to the languages formerly spoken in most parts of Europe : but 
 although the Iberno-Celtic, or Irish language, hath in it many words which 
 are of Punic original, this by no means proves that the Punic letters were 
 carried immediately into Ireland by the Milesians ; the Iberno-Celtic 
 lancuao-e was spoken, long before it was written, and we cannot admit, 
 that what he hath advanced, will induce the historian or the critic to 
 allow, that the Milesians brought the Punic letters into Ireland. 
 
 As the western parts of Europe were probably first peopled by 
 emio-rators who had originally travelled from Phenicia and the ad- 
 jacent countries, it is obvious that these settlers would bring eastern 
 manners and customs with them, as many authors have proved. The 
 learned Mr. Borlase' gives a particular chapter, concerning the resem- 
 blance which the ancient Cimbri, or Celts, bore to the eastern nations ; 
 but though this inquiry may prove their eastern descent, it doth not 
 
 ' Vallancey's Irish Grammar, first edit. p. 8. ^ Dublin, 1783, 8vo. 
 
 1 Hist. Cornwall, chap. 6. p. 31. 
 
118 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 pretend to prove that they had the use of letters. The rude state of the 
 Britons was such, that thej^ had no use for letters ; besides we are told 
 that the British Druids did not commit their precepts to writing, but 
 impressed them on the memory of their pupils. 
 
 Mr. Borlase informs us"" that the Phenicians came to this island for 
 articles of commerce, more than six hundred years before Christ, but it 
 doth not appear that they taught the inhabitants the use of letters, indeed 
 the contrary hath been shewn by Mr. Whitaker and others ; and adds, 
 that they carried on their commerce with the Britains with the greatest 
 secrecy ; so much so, that a Phenician vessel, if pursued by a Roman, 
 chose to run upon a shoal and suffer shipwreck, rather than discover the 
 coast, track, or path, by which another nation might come in for a share 
 of so beneficial a commerce, and therefore it is to be presumed, that 
 their policy prevented them from instructing the ancient inhabitants of 
 Britain in the use of letters. 
 
 An opinion daily gains credit among the learned, that arts and letters 
 first took their rise in the northern parts of Asia, and that they were 
 cultivated in those parts, long before they were practised in Phenicia or 
 Egypt." Some travelled southwards, others staid behind, and those who 
 afterwards emigrated from the east, were generally called Scythians, and 
 sometimes Hunns, who overspread the northern parts of Europe. Many 
 settlements were made in Germany long before the Christian aera." 
 
 The most ancient Greeks comprehended two-thirds of Europe, under 
 the name of^ Celto-Sctth^ : Veteres Grcecorum scriptores (says Strabo, 
 lib. 2) universas geiites septentrionales Scythas et Celto-Scythas appellaverunt. 
 This author says in his first book, that the name of Celtiberians and Celto- 
 Scythians, were given to those people who lived towards the western 
 parts of Europe ; his words are, Celta et Iberi, ait't mixto tiomine Celtiberi 
 ac Celto-Scythce appellati sunt. It should seem that the provinces of 
 
 ™ Hist. Cornwall, p. a8 and 30. 
 
 ° See BufFon's Natural Hist. Strahlenberg's Travels. Mr. Wise has introduced several facts 
 which favour this opinion. 
 
 ° This is abundantly proved by Mascou's Hist, of the ancient Germans, and by Mr. 
 Gibbon in his History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, vol. ii. p. 561, 577, 583, and 
 vol. iii. p. 160. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 119 
 
 Europe, as well towards the west as the north, were, full of Celtse ; for 
 Ephorus, who lived before the reign of Alexander the Great, says, Celtica 
 was of a prodigious extent. 
 
 It is, in our opinion, probable, that the interior parts of Europe 
 were immediately peopled from the northern parts of Asia ; the mari- 
 time parts from Phenicia, and the southern and western parts of that 
 quarter of the globe. If this be so, it is not surprizing that some 
 eastern customs prevailed in Great Britain and in Ireland, and that 
 many Celtic words are still preserved both in the Irish and in the Welsh 
 languages ; in truth it would be extraordinary if it was otherwise. 
 
 In order to discover what real pretensions the Irish have to the early 
 use of letters, for which they so fervently contend, it is necessary to 
 examine their Stone Monuments, their Coins, their Manuscripts, and to 
 apply to the Historians of that country. 
 
 There are great numbers of pillars and monuments of stone in Ireland, 
 as well rude, as wrought with various knots, figures, and devices, and 
 some of these latter sort, are evidently of Pagan antiquity. There are 
 also a great number of inscribed monuments; but the letters upon 
 the most ancient of them, are apparently of Roman, and Roman- 
 British original ; and none of these inscribed monuments are so ancient, 
 as to prove that the Irish were possessed of Letters before the Romans 
 had intercourse with the Britons;'' though they prove that they had 
 Letters before the arrival of St. Patrick in that kingdom, which Mr. 
 Whitaker, with great probability of truth, says, were wafted over from 
 the Caledonians, who used the Roman Letters. The learned and in- 
 dustrious Sir James Ware, who was the Camden of his age and nation, 
 says, that the Irish Alphabet was borrowed from the British, and that 
 the Saxon characters were nearly the same as the Irish ; and adds, that 
 Mr. Camden inclined to this opinion.'^ 
 
 With respect to the ancient Coins of the Irish, the same learned 
 antiquary, Sir James Ware,' mentions several fabulous accounts of mints. 
 
 P See my two volumes of drawings of Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland ; and Sir J. 
 Ware's Antiquities of Ireland, edit. Harris, vol. ii. p. 137. 13^. 143, 144. 
 
 1 Ibid. p. 18. ■• Ibid. p. 204. 
 
120 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 for coinage of money amongst the Irish, before the Christian aera, which 
 he reprobates ; and adds, " These notions seem to have been taken up 
 " from a fondness to which the Irish have been much addicted, of strain- 
 " ing facts out of Etymologies ; " and observes, " that it would be more 
 " to the purpose to shew some specimens of the coins of this early 
 " mintage, which yet hath never been done, or attempted to be done, 
 " at least with any degree of certainty." He then proves, from the 
 Annals of Ulster, " that when gold and silver were paid and given upon 
 " different occasions, so late as the twelfth century, it was reckoned 
 " by weight ; and that it did not appear whether it was coined or 
 " not." 
 
 There are no Irish coins, inscribed with letters, till long after this 
 time, except the coins struck by some Saxon and Danish Kings, who 
 made incursions, or visited that country, and struck money there in the 
 Saxon or Danish manner." 
 
 Hence it appears, that the Irish have neither written monuments, 
 nor coins, to prove their pretensions to the use of letters at so early a 
 period as they contend for. The tables of Wood, upon which they are 
 said to have written, no author of any authority ever pretended to have 
 seen. But the evidence which we might have expected to have derived 
 from ancient manuscripts is defective indeed ; for the oldest Irish manu- 
 script which we have discovered is the Psalter of Cashel, written in the 
 latter end of the tenth century.* 
 
 We must have further recourse to the testimony of historians, con- 
 cerning the use of letters amongst the ancient Irish. The last mentioned 
 author observes, that the ancient history of Ireland is involved in fables ; 
 and he adduces strong arguments to prove, that Ireland 'was first peopled 
 from Britain ; but the Irish writers lay great stress upon the authority of 
 a book called Lecane" a ms. about three hundred and eighty years old ; a 
 
 = My late friend Mr. Duane informed me, that he hath seen coins struck in Ireland by Anlaf 
 king of Northumberland, Cythric, Ethelred, and Canute. 
 * Ware's Antiq. of Ireland, vol. iii. p. 64. 
 " This MS. Mr. E. Lhuyd (in his Archaeologia, p. 435) says, was in his time in the library of 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 121 
 
 miscellaneous collection which abounds so greatly in fables and absurdi- 
 ties, that an intelligent reader would as soon believe any of the tales 
 related in that collection, as the one so much insisted on by the Irish, 
 
 Trinity College^ in Dublin, (D. 19.) and as great stress has been laid upon it, by the 
 advocates for the fabulous histories of Ireland, oar curious readers may wish to see its 
 contents, which are as follow: i. A Treatise of Ireland, and its division into provinces, 
 with the history of the Irish Kings and Sovereigns, answerable to the general history; but 
 nine leaves are wanting, p. 10. — 2. How the race of Milesius came into Ireland, and of 
 their adventures, since Moses's passing through the Red Sea, 11. — 3. Of the descent and years 
 of the Ancient Fathers, 13. — 4. A Catalogue of the Kings of Ireland in verse, 41.- — 5. The 
 maternal genealogies and degrees of the Irish Saints, 43. — 6. The genealogies of our Lady, 
 Joseph, and several other Saints mentioned in scripture, 44. — 7. An alphabetical catalogue of 
 Irish Saints, ^6. — 8. The sacred antiquity of the Irish Saints in verse, 58. — 9. Cormac's 
 life, 59. — 10. Several transactions of the Monarchs of Ireland, and their provincial Kings, 
 60. — II. The history of Eogain Mor Knight, as also of his children and posterity, 62. — 
 12. O^Neil's pedigree, 64. — 13. Several battles of the Scept of Cinet Ogen, or tribe of Owen, 
 from Owen Mac Neil Mac Donnoch, 6'j. — 14. Mamie the son of king Neal, of the Nine 
 Hostages and his family, 69. — 15. Fiacha, the son of Mac Neil, and his scept, ib. — 16. Loe- 
 garius, son of Nelus Magnus, and his tribe, 71. — 17. The Connaught book, 72. — 18. The 
 book of Fiatrach, 78. — 19. The book of Uriel, 86. — 20. The Leinster book, 93. — 21. The de- 
 scent of the Fochards or the Nolans, 105.— 22. The descent of those of Leix, or the O'Mores, 
 106. — 23. The descent of Decyes of Munster, or the Ophelans, 109. — 24. The coming of 
 Muscrey to Moybreagh ; and of those of Muscretire, iia. — 25. A commentary on the anti- 
 quity of Albany, now called Scotland, 118. — 26. The descents of some Scepts of the Irish, 
 different from those of the most known sorts, that is, of the posterity of Lugad Firth, 119.— 
 27. The Ulster book, 123. — 28. The British book, 148. — 29. The Uracept, or a book for 
 the education of youth, written by K. Comfoilus Sapiens, 151. — 30. The genealogies of 
 St. Patrick, and other Saints; as also an etymology of the hard words in the same treatise, 
 
 163. 31. A treatise of several prophecies, 166. — 32. The laws, customs, exploits, and tributes 
 
 of the Irish Kings and Provincials, 184.— 33. The treatise of Eva and the famous women 
 of ancient times, 839. — 34. A poem that treats of Adam and his posterity, 198. — ^^. The 
 Munster book, 203. — 36. A book containing the etymology of all the names of the chief 
 territories and notable places in Ireland, 231. — 37. Of the several invasions of Clan Partho- 
 lan, Clannanvies, Fir. bolg. Tuatha de Danaan, and the Milesians into this land of Ireland, 
 264. 38. A treatise of the most considerable men of Ireland, since the time of the Mile- 
 sians, to the time of Dathi Mac Fiachrack king of Ireland, 286. — 39. The reigns of the 
 Kings of Ireland from the time of Leogarius, the son of Nelus Magnus, alias Neale of the 
 nine hostages, to the time of Roderick O'Connor, monarch of Ireland, 306. Bishop Nicol- 
 son says, that this book was not in the Dublin library in his time, and adds, that Dr. Raymond 
 assured him, that it was lodged at Paris, by Sir John Fitzgerald, in the reign of king James II. — 
 See Nicholson's Historical Library, part iii. p. 18 and 56. 
 
 B 
 
122 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 namely, that the Milesian Colony taught the use of letters in Ireland 
 many centuries before the Christian a^ra. Mr. Innes, in his Essay on 
 the Antiquities of Scotland and Ireland, and Mr. James Macpherson, in 
 the third edition of his Introduction to the History of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, produce incontestible evidence to invalidate the reports of the 
 Irish. These authors contend, that Ireland was first peopled from 
 Britain ; that the former nation was so far from being the seat of polite 
 learning for many ages before the neighbouring nations, or even Greece 
 itself, had emerged from ignorance, as hath been pretended, that they 
 were generally deemed by the most respectable writers of antiquitj^, to 
 have been less civilized than any of their neighbours. That the manners 
 of the old Irish were inconsistent with the knowledge of letters ; that the 
 Ogum was a species of Stenography, or writing in Cypher ; and these 
 authors conclude, with decisive proofs against the pretended literature 
 of the ancient Irish. They invalidate the accounts of the emigration of 
 the Milesian Colony, and dispute their pretended extraction from any 
 of the nations of Scandinavia. Great stress hath been laid, as appears 
 above, by the advocates for the antiquity of letters amongst the Irish, 
 that their alphabet differs from all others in name, order, number, and 
 power. These arguments were adopted by those who contended for 
 the antiquity of the Runic letters, which have been confuted. Mr. Innes, 
 in his essay above quoted, p. 446, delivers it as his opinion, that the 
 Beth Louis Nio7i, or Alphabet of the Irish, was nothing but an invention 
 of the Irish Seanachies, who, since they received the use of Letters, put 
 the Latin Alphabet into a new arbitrary order, and assigned to each 
 letter the name of some Tree; and that this was not a genuine alphabet 
 of the Irish in ancient times, or peculiar to them ; but was a bare inver- 
 sion of the Latin alphabet. 
 
 Colonel Vallancey gives three different alphabets of the Irish lan- 
 guage, which vary from each other in name, order, and number ; the 
 first consists of twenty-five letters, the second of twenty-six, and the last 
 of seventeen. As for the Irish letters being different in power from 
 those of other nations, it must be observed, that the powers of letters 
 
 '^ Irish Grammar, p. 9^ lo^ & a8. 
 
Chap. v. OF WRITING. 123 
 
 differ in every language, and the mode of pronouncing the same letters 
 is various in different countries : the Irish Characters are said to be of 
 Asiatic original — granted — But they appear to have been transmitted to 
 the inhabitants of that country from those who had adopted the Roman 
 letters. 
 
 We have given decisive proofs of this fact, from several Irish mss. 
 which are engraven in the twenty-second plate. It is singular, but it is 
 no less true, that the Norman characters were generally used in England 
 from the coming of William the First, and that the Saxon characters 
 were intirely disused in the very beginning of the twelfth century ; but 
 the Irish and Scots preserved the ancient forms of their characters till 
 the end of the sixteenth century.'' 
 
 The Gaelic, or Erse language, used in the Highlands of Scotland, 
 and the Iberno Gaelic, are nearly the same, and their letters are similar 
 to each other, as appears by comparing the different specimens in the 
 twenty-second plate.^ 
 
 In the first column of this plate, are specimens of eight different mss. 
 written in the Gaelic or Erse tongue, which is confessedly a dialect of 
 the Celtic. These mss. are now in my library, by the favour of some 
 friends, who procured them from the Highlands of Scotland.^ 
 
 The first and most ancient specimen of the Gaelic or Erse language 
 which I have seen, is taken from a fragment of a work, intituled, Eman- 
 niiel, which, from the forms of the letters, and from the nature of the 
 vellum, may be as old as the ninth or tenth century. 
 
 The reading is, 
 
 N° I. Nirsatimini curio annso. 
 
 Iriasin don inntimmairece urgaile ro fas iccriochaibh 
 na HaffraJci muinntiraibh nairigh ceadna IS amhlaidh 
 
 y The English Monks used corrupted Saxon Characters till the fifteenth century; but they 
 are so deformed that they have very little resemblance to their prototypes ; as will appear under 
 the head of modern Gothic Writing. 
 
 ^ N° lo, in this plate is in different characters, and was probably written by some foreign 
 Ecclesiastic, who was resident in Ireland, in the latter end of the ninth, or in the beginning of 
 the tenth century. 
 
 ^ N° 2. 7. 8. of these specimens relate to the affairs of Ireland, and may have been written 
 there, or transcribed from some more ancient copies. 
 
124 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 iaramh tarla sin. i. airigh duairrighaibh nocuir ceiss' 
 buadha agus leigioDj &g. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Observe this^ or Nota bene. 
 
 Such dissentions grew up between the nobles of Africa as had not happened be- 
 fore this time, i. e. a certain noble of power and of learning who had often been 
 victorious, &c. 
 
 The second specimen is taken from a ms, on vellum, in small quarto, 
 containing Annals of Ireland, and of some of the northern parts of 
 Scotland, genealogies of Scotch and Irish families, with relations of 
 atchievements performed by their ancestors. This ms. seems to have 
 been written in the thirteenth century. 
 
 It is to be read, 
 
 Ri ro gab astair righi for Eirinn feact naill iodhain 
 Eochaid feidlech mac Finn mac Roigeain ruaigh, mac 
 Easamhain eamhna do sil ri faith squit on tur neam 
 ruaigh alle orus do sil Rifaith squit gach gaibhail do 
 gabh Eirinn ach ceasair na ma. Is air at bearta 
 Eochaidh feidhleach each he. i. innraic la each in ri sin. 
 
 Translation, 
 
 There was formerly a King who reigned over Ireland, viz. Eochy Feileach, son of 
 Finn, son of Roigh ruaigh, son of Easaman Eamna of the seed of Rifaith Scuit, 
 from the Tower of Nimrod; for Ireland was never conquered but by the Seed of 
 Rifaith Scuit, except by Keasar. He was named Eochy Feileach, for his gene- 
 rosity, honesty, and faithfulness, and was beloved by all. 
 
 N° 3, is taken from a moral or religious tract, which seems to have 
 been written also in the thirteenth century, and is to be read, 
 
 A Thighearna cred he sud urt. Is i sud do phiansa agus 
 plan i marbhaidh dom hie asumhla ur in taisgeul. Gidh 
 
CHAP, v/ OF WRITING. 125 
 
 be do ni goid beg no mor aca nach inan pian doibh ach asi 
 sud is dighaltus do luchd bheireas ni a haitibh coisearca 
 ag.us cohairidhe in luchd .... 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Lord what is that from thee. That is the punishment appointed by thee, even 
 the punishment of death to the disobedient children of the Gospel. Whoever of 
 them shall steal less or more shall not be subjected to the same pains ; but that is 
 the vengeance appointed for such as shall steal any thing out of consecrated places, 
 and especially those .... 
 
 N° 4 is taken from a treatise on Grammar, written in the Gaelic or 
 Erse tongue in the latter end of the fifteenth century ; and is to be read, 
 
 Deinimh deineamh fear deanuimh deinimh beas 
 denta dhamh ni dhuit aca uile as fear deanta neith 
 me doibr cu as fear denaimh agus deanmha on denamh as 
 fear deanmha on deineamh as fear deinimh agus 
 deinmhe on deineamh as fear deinmhe on deinimh 
 anuair ata taoibhreim gan chasadh aca mion eadrum. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Deanamh, deineamh, masculine: deaiaimh, feminine. As denta dhamh ni 
 dhuit, (i. e. made for you, not for me) is common. As fear deanta neith me, 
 (i. e. I am a working man). As fear denaimh 7 deanmha, came from denam, 
 to do, to make, to work. So deinmhe fro7n deainim, when the genitive case 
 makes no alteration. 
 
 N" 5 is taken from a Glossary of the Irish language, a fair ms. on 
 paper, written in the latter end of the fourteenth, or in the beginning of 
 the fifteenth century, the initial letters of which are much ornamented. 
 The specimen is to be read : 
 
 Foghal foghail ort a tuag foghal agus ag foghail an 
 baile, C. pearsana oibridh gan do nith lad uile foghal 
 foghail faghal faghail, sealg seilg, uaiiv ed raineis 
 eirghe in meirghe teas bhail liamhuin (imhling 
 deithfir athchuinghidh oirbeart oirbht 't ob bron 
 dionim. 
 
126 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
 
 Translation. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Foghail, plunder; foghail ort, thou art plundered; atu ag foghall, {is here 
 written for ata tu ag foghail) thou art plundering, and robbing the town, are 
 the first persons active without dJ° 
 
 N' 6, is taken from a ms. containing some poems in the Gaelic or 
 Erse tongue, written in the fifteenth century. This specimen is to be 
 read, 
 
 unigh, 
 
 + Sgaoileann. 
 
 * OrMacMuir- Cathal Mac Muirnuigh* cecinit.'^ 
 Do islich onoir Gaoidheal^ 
 Snaidhm a raith do ro sgaoil,t 
 Seol an arduighthe ar n del diobh, 
 Ambun laghduighthe alain ghniomh. 
 Thug an eighnamh ceim argoul, 
 Ortha do fhill a bbfortun, 
 Crioch araith arn abhrath bheas ; 
 Do chaltb a rath a reimheas. 
 Do chlaochlo a los a leagtha 
 Cadhus Uird anuas J leachta ; 
 Nac II feas liaidh chabhartha a geneadh, 
 Ah diaidh an orcra anminead. 
 
 J Anuais 
 leachta 
 II Nach. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Cathal (Charles) Mac Muirunigh sung. 
 The honour (renown) of the Gael is lowered, 
 § Knot of their Their protectors § are dispersed wide, 
 
 prosperity is dis- . . r -i j i 
 
 solved. The method (means) of raising themselves has tailed them 
 
 Their chief (stock) of renowned actions is diminished. 
 Their wisdom has (stepped back) retired, 
 Fortune has turned upon them, 
 ** End. The special consequence** of our dark (black) morals; 
 
 Their prosperity has spent (run out) its period. 
 
 '' There appears a strange confusion of persons in this specimen. 
 
 <= A family of Mac Muirich's were bards to the family of Clanranold for centuries back, till 
 upon the death of the late Clanranold, the land was taken from their representative. Whether 
 one of them was the author of it^ is difficult to say. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 127 
 
 The priviledge of the order of their nobility,tt ft Nobles. 
 
 Was changed with the design of throwing it down ; 
 
 Will not relieving Physicians examine their wounds 
 
 After their sudden destruction. tt +t Or grief of 
 
 soul. 
 
 N° 7, is taken from a ms. containing some memoranda relative to 
 the affairs of Ireland and Scotland, written in the fifteenth century ; and 
 is to be read, 
 
 As so drong dona hug daraib ro choimhed seanchas na 
 
 rean o theachd mhac Milidhe innte gus an aimsirse 
 
 Eimhirigh in gluingheal mac Milidhe as ba e 
 
 Athuirne Ailgeasach 
 
 Seancha Mac Oille Alia 
 
 Ceannfaoladh Mac Oille Alia 
 
 Neidhe Mac Aghna 
 
 Fitheal fiorghaoth 
 
 Flaithri Mac Fithil 
 
 Ciothruadh Mac Firchogaidh 
 
 Roighne Rosgudhach 
 
 Laidhchenn Mac boirchedha 
 
 Torna. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 These are some of the authors by whom the history of 
 
 Ireland was recorded from the coming of Milesius's son 
 
 into it till the present time. 
 
 Eimhirg the white kneed^ son of Milesius who was called 
 
 Athuirne Ailgeasach 
 
 Seancha the son of Oile Alia 
 
 Ceannfaoladh the son of Oile Alia 
 
 Neidhe the son of Agna 
 
 Feircheirtne file 
 
 Fitheal fiorghaoth 
 
 Flaithri the son of Fitheal 
 
 Ciothruadh the son of Firchogaidh 
 
128 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. y. 
 
 Roighne Rosghudhach 
 Lachlane the son of Borchedha 
 Torna. 
 
 N° 8, is taken from a ms. containing annals of Ireland and Scotland; 
 the reading is, 
 
 Do ghabh Nuadhad fionn fail mac geallchosa 
 
 Anno Mundi, , , • , -r-- u • t>- u -c-- /r ui- u • 
 
 ' do shiol Eiremhoin Righe Lirenn oo bhaghuin 
 
 no fiche bliaguin gur thuit le Breisrig Mac Art. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 3304- 
 
 In the year of the 
 
 WORLD, 3304. 
 
 Nuadhad sionn fail the son of Gealchosa of the race of Heri- 
 monj enjoyed the kingdom of Ireland 60 years or 20 years; 
 he fell by Breisri the son of Art. 
 
 N° 9, is an alphabet collected from the specimen, N° 5 ; the abbrevi- 
 ations at the end are, ao, ei,fr, quam quod, qui, si. 
 
 The tenth specimen in this plate is taken from a ms. in the library of 
 Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, (O. 20.) which contains a copy of a 
 collection of Canons made in a synod of three bishops, namely, Patricius, 
 Auxilius, and Isserninus, for the use of the Irish. These Canons seem to 
 have been transcribed about the tenth century, by some Roman ecclesi- 
 astic who was resident in Ireland, because the title is in Uncials, and 
 the last line is in the mixed characters of that age, of which we have 
 spoken above. The rest of these Canons are written in the same charac- 
 ters as the last line of this specimen. 
 
 Gratias Agimus D5 Patri, et Filio et Spui Sco 
 Presbiteris et Diaconifc et omni Clero. Patricids, 
 Auxilius, Isserninus, Episcopi salutem. 
 Satuis nobis negligentes. 
 
 The eleventh specimen in this plate is taken from a ms. in the Bodleian 
 library, (Laud. F. 95, fol. 75.) which is to be read, 
 
 Hibernia insola, inter duos filios principales militis, id est Herimon & Eber in 
 duas partes divisa est. Eber hie australem partem Hiberniaeaccepit. Herimon 
 
ni 
 
 
 r<xara 
 
 //: 
 
 
 I S 5«» tJOpmnfil 6:-ptttnitndl)'vL 
 
 5mbe tiotitr;oibtJ%nottioM. Uf 
 nttcJnnttfrpmr»oilj &:ar si<»t^ 
 t>t5 airy "30 lu|='tj^|te«is»m uhci 
 fcib coiv(|icit-^coTmtnit)er t hip- 
 
 
 
 4, 
 
 cliiTi]tip'^iicj^.T.ata'T 
 
 TTie^iif ffea;\x)enajiTi zi5itp*ofinifei on Den 
 
 
 :|^<tr-cttytTgri'6 orjSroiphSf^/rr Mypm^cny-j^ 
 
 30/ 
 
 
 'P>iTn1ii^lTi-5Xuiii5-edt^i<itiTiirW'fe- 
 
 
 ( 
 
 GTOmN 
 
 episcc 
 
 
 
 
 Tji-ru^j ,C 
 
 ■b 
 
tr 
 
 S\J 
 
 MiBMMNicoimM, t/jm /i //(/m/ Latiwjl, of^jr/i MiiJimjmif^ / . ////v/Zv mjoar.pizs. 
 
 \C; TO) US T>0 ^l^TJVX 
 
 |LX0 eTSpuT SCO 
 
 1^5 IS s eufaxt^^^ 
 
 /J. 
 
 icmrK»^TrKur|:<aicTTi<ie-Dtiit)e<6Ti|W tixt^lctt^ti tint 
 
 ^^^^^l-ub-ulroo^^ trio|VT>o|tS>ai^-jt>c>i|iecup-yotiTH<bi-ft3^ 
 /J «X)tiit) c^tc:^b^coticol3cn|^^oitrn«nioilx!^<miOccr^^ Tnm 
 
 ticdmnHndti>outcc:]oktnTnaid) 
 
 
 0000 4 ^^O^i; , 
 
 
 i^t i<tTi^o -ovi].'^^. cccccl^.Tti/^b^t^:) 
 
 Tenwsot 
 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 129 
 
 quidem Septentrionalem partem cum Monarcia accepit. Herimon hie primus 
 de Scottis oamem Hibernian regnavit.'^ 
 
 The following account of this ms. is pasted within the cover. 
 
 " Oxford, August 9th, l673. 
 
 " This book is a copy of the greater part of the book of St. Machuda of 
 Rath, in c. Lismore, and the chronicle of Conga, wherein is contained 
 many divine things, and the most part of the antiquities of the ancientest 
 houses in Ireland ; a catalogue of their Kings ; of the coming of the 
 Romans into England ; of the coming of the Saxons, and of their lives 
 and reigns ; a noble calendar of the Irish Saints, composed in verse, eight 
 hundred years ago, with the Saints of the Roman Breviary until that time ; 
 a catalogue of the Popes of Rome ; how the Irish and English were con- 
 verted to the Catholic Faith : with many other things, as the reader may 
 find out, to understanding what they contain, let him remember 
 
 TULLY CONRY." 
 
 The twelfth specimen is taken from a ms. in my library, containing 
 two Treatises, the one on Astronomy, the other on the Art of Medicine, 
 written in the latter end of the thirteenth, or in the beginning of the 
 fourteenth century, which is to be read ; 
 
 Si autem sol minoris esset camditatis, &c. iodhainj Dam hadh lugha caindegheachd 
 na greine na na talmhuinn gach uile ni . . . do fulaingidh a Dubhra . . . leo 
 da thigemadhas ann oir da bith scaile na talmhuinn ag sir fhas air meid agus air 
 leadas on talamh amach go speir na n ard riunnacadh do a dhorchaidh se a chuid 
 budh mho aca agus do thigemhadh eclip. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 If the light of the sun was less than the earthy every thing would be covered with 
 its shade; as it would proceed northward, the shadow of the earth would be still 
 increasing in size and breadth from the earth forward to the firmament of the fixed 
 starSj and would darken the most of them, and there would be an eclipse. 
 
 ^ Mr. O'Halloran above quoted, gives a full account of the conquests and quarrels of Heber 
 and Herimon, which, as he says, distracted their posterity for thirty centuries afterwards. 
 
130 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 The figure described. 
 
 In the middle of the figure is terra, towards the lower part is sol; betwixt terra 
 and sol is, solus na greine, {the light of the sun.) To the right hand of which is, 
 Scaih na talmu'inn duhh ann sna reulana, {the shadow of the earth Hack among 
 the stars) ; and to the left is, Speir na greine {the firmament, or orbit of the sun.) 
 Within the outer circle, towards the right hand is Speir na nard riunnaga da- 
 iiigin, {the firmament of thefixt stars) ; and on the left is, Na h ard rinnaca air 
 nan dorchadh o scaih na talman, {the fixt stars darkened by the shadow of the 
 earth). 
 
 By the Latin text at the head of each chapter, the Astronomical 
 Treatise appears to be a translation ; yet by the argument, it should 
 seem that the writer was the author, because the words " ^5 I have often 
 said" frequently occur; yet it may be partly a translation, and partly 
 original. The titles of the chapters are in Latin, and the greatest part 
 of the work is in Irish. Many Latin words seem to have been transcribed 
 from some very ancient Latin ms. for I find CS used instead of X, as 
 macsimiun for maaimtim ; c is generally used instead of q, as catiior for 
 quatuor, aca for aqua, acarius for aquarius. Sec. ; d is written instead of t, 
 as sicud for sicut. The name of the writer or author of this treatise, 
 Donncha O'Connill, is written at the end in corrupted Roman capitals. 
 
 The medicinal treatise was written by Master Petrius Musantini, or 
 Musartini, and begins, Quoniam in arte niedicinali plura inveniiint, vocabla 
 obscura signijicationis. 
 
 The thirteenth specimen is taken from a ms. in the Harleian library, 
 (N° 5280) which contains several treatises, of which the following account 
 is given in a memoir prefixed to the volume. 
 
 " This MS. is a copy, as appears both by the note in fol. 65. and at 
 the bottom, wherein the transcriber gives his own name, viz. Gillo 
 Trancolourd, son of Tuathall, son of Teig, nicknamed the Crooked 
 O'Clery, and the contents, most of which are contained in other books 
 that are much older, but the language is all of the old stamp, and not 
 easily now to be mastered. It formerly belonged to Cassarlic Mac Naoisi 
 for so it is set down in the margins of folio 9, b. and folio 65, b. which 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 131 
 
 at first view, made me imagine it was written before the beg-innins; of the 
 eleventh century, at which time surnames came first to be generally used 
 in Ireland, Mac Naoisi being none, and consequently added, as it seemed, 
 by way of distinction to the proper name Cassarlic, as in like cases the 
 custom was before. 
 
 The book does not run much upon any one subject in the whole, 
 but a rhapsody or variety of small tracts, some romantic, some historical, 
 and some mixed of both ; some moral, and some that seem to be purely 
 legendary, as intirely depending upon the faith and veracity of the 
 authors of them. 
 
 The First treatise extends to folio 9, b. it contains seven months 
 sailing in the ocean, about the year of our Lord 700, and the wonderful 
 islands and things there seen during that course by the adventurers, 
 whereof Maolduing, descended of the Eugenian Sept, was the chief 
 leader, who seems to have been a Monk, of the order instituted by Colum 
 Cill, for manuscripts quoted by ('olgane and others appropriate the said 
 discovery and expedition to some of the followers of that Saint. 
 
 The Second is ecclesiastical, handles the books of the Old Testa- 
 ment, and especially that part of the book of Kings, which relates to the 
 Royal Prophet ; wherein the Nabla and other musical instruments used 
 in church service are described. This tract takes up three intire leaves, 
 that is, from the end of the former to folio 15. 
 
 The Third is historical, relating to Guary, son of Colman, prince 
 or governor of the province of Connaught, who flourished about the 
 beginning of the seventh century, and was a very pious man, as appears 
 by the passages here related of him. It takes up two leaves, and ends 
 at folio 17. 
 
 The Fourth is historical, and takes in many occurrences of the 
 administration of Canchobhar, prince of Ulster, who lived before the birth 
 of our Saviour. It has the description of the prime seat of that province, 
 called Eamiun Macha, and the exercises and functions of the Pugiles or 
 great Combatants in those parts, at that time. It ends at fol. 26, a. 
 
 The Fifth is ecclesiastical, relating to the discipline and canons of 
 the Swtican or Irish church. Ends in fol. 29, a. 
 
 *«^The Sixth is moral, and contains the pious admonitions and remarks 
 of Colman, the son of Beogna, a religious and holy man. 
 
132 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. t. 
 
 The Seventh is prophetical, and relates to some particular monasteries 
 and churches of Ireland, there named. It is the work of Beg, son of 
 Delth, to which is annexed a 'prophecy of the pious Fursa (whereof 
 venerable Bede gives an account) of the same kind, and after this a 
 moral poem of ihe abbot Adamnan, one of the successors of Colum Gill, 
 in the monastery of Ity, with whom the said Bede hath conversed, as 
 appears in his third book. Hist. Eccl. &c. These pieces stretch out to 
 part of the said page, fol. 32. 
 
 The Eighth is an old poem, containing the names of many of the 
 Irish Saints. 
 
 The Ninth is a moral treatise, part prose and part in metre, extend- 
 ing to fol. 34, a. The rest of that page is concerning the Ultonian 
 Pugiles aforesaid. The following page contains an historical poem of 
 some transactions of the reign of Aed Slaine, king of Ireland, in the 
 eighth century, or thereabouts. 
 
 The Tenth is a prophecy, foretelling a great calamity in Ireland. It 
 is couched by way of dialogue, between Bricin, or as he is commonly 
 called Barachan, a holy man, and an angel. It ends in fol. 38, a. 
 
 The Eleventh is historical, it relates to Dalmbuain and Dalcuerb, 
 two great families of the province of Ulster in those days ; to which is 
 annexed, part of the amours and courtship of Bais Bandruad, daughter 
 of Uchta Crummaoil and Fachtna Farrahach, fol. 38, b. 
 
 The Twelfth gives an account of the Irish militia, under Fion Mac 
 Cumhail, in the reign of Cormac Mac Airt, king of Ireland, and what 
 course of probation or exercise each soldier was to go through before his 
 admission therein, fol. 39, a. Hereunto is added, an account of the six 
 most famous places for hospitality of Ireland in the times of yore, being 
 in the nature of inns, wherein free entertainment was given at the chartyes 
 of the public, fol. 39, b. Also another historical poem of the slauohter 
 of three princes, each of them bearing the same name of baptism, viz. 
 Aed Slaine, king of Ireland, Aed nicknamed the Yellow King of Imany, 
 and Aed Ron, king of Italy, perpetrated by another Aed, foster brother 
 to Connal] Gutbing, a prince of the Cohatian Sept, and in different 
 places all in one day, 39, b ; here is a label or small piece inserted, which 
 contains an account of Niall, of the nine hostages, king of Ireland, and 
 his eight sons. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 133 
 
 The Thirteenth is historical, giving a passage of one Macdatho, a rich 
 inmate and sportsman of Lynster, who bred and reared up a greyhound, 
 which became so famous for beauty, strength, and swiftness, that it 
 outdid the rest of that kind in the island, whence it was sought for at 
 any price by the princes, so that at one time messengers both of Olil, 
 prince of Connaught, Meibhe his consort, and Conchobbar, king of 
 Ulster, happened to meet at said Mac Dathos house for the same pur- 
 pose, and this affair has occasioned a great misunderstanding between 
 the said princes. 
 
 The Fourteenth is called the concern, or grief of Ulster ; the subject 
 is a certain woman called Macha, wife to Crummhic Agnoin, which 
 being extolled, by her said husband, at a public meeting of Ulster, in 
 diminution of two choice coursers of Conchobhar, prince thereof, upon 
 their carrying a prize set from all the horses there at that time, as if the 
 said Macha could outrun them ; hereupon the man was seized in order 
 to be punished if he did not make good his words, to redeem whom his 
 wife was sent for ; the woman offered several excuses to avoid the match, 
 and amongst the rest, that she was then quick with child ; but the 
 husband's liberty being not otherwise to be had, she entered the lists at 
 last, and got the better of the steeds, but from the violence of the action 
 and pains following, she immediately miscarried, and died in a few 
 hours, leaving her curse to the said prince and province for ever, which 
 is said to have stuck close by both, and to have brought heavjr judg- 
 ments upon them, whence the reason of the title aforesaid, viz. The 
 concern or grief of Ulster, it ends folio 43, a. The rest of the page has 
 an account of Conaire, king of Ireland, and his long reign of seventy- 
 seven years, wherein some Irish writers place the birth of our Saviour. 
 
 The Fifteenth is historical, and comprehends the circuit of Ireland, 
 made by Athrinne, son of Fortcherne, a famous poet, who flourished 
 before the birth of Christ ; part of his poems and others of the same date 
 being here recited, it takes in some of the atchievements of the Ultonian 
 pugiles or combatants mentioned above. 
 
 The Sixteenth is a romance, the main subject being the taking and 
 sacking of the town or palace of Maolscothack, a fictitious name of a 
 prince, implying tongue charming, or of the sweet and prevailing elo- 
 quence. Maccoisi, a bard or poet, recites it to Domnal O'Neil, king 
 
134 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 of Ireland, it being so required by the said prince, who made choice of 
 this out of many there named by the bard, fol. 52, sub initium. 
 
 The Seventeenth is another romance, the title of it is the fight of Maige 
 Tuire, viz. (the name of a plain), wherein there is an account at large of 
 the Tuatha de Danans, the Clara Neimhs, and the Ferbolgs, supposed 
 to have successively had settlements in Ireland before the Milesians or 
 ancient Irish, which modern Irish writers, as it seems, took for good 
 history, and so paumed it upon many of the natives for such. It reaches 
 to the end of folio 59. 
 
 The Eighteenth is mixed of history and fable ; this part touches upon 
 the fatal stone, and the manner it was first brought into Ireland, by the 
 said Tuatha de Danans ; the other recites some passages of Coun Ceadca- 
 thack, king of Ireland, towards the beginning of the second age of 
 Christianity, and of some of his successors, giving the years of their 
 respective reigns, ends folio 61, b. 
 
 The Nineteenth treats of the Ultonian combatants in the reisn of 
 Conchobar so often mentioned ; to which is added, some account of the 
 royal palace of Tara, and a passage of Olil Olom, king of Munster, and 
 Saidh his consort, daughter to Conn Ceadcathack, king of Ireland 
 aforesaid. 
 
 The Twentieth seems to be romantic ; it relates to one Sanchan, a 
 native of Manning, called the Isle of Man in English, fol. 64, a. b. 
 
 The Twenty-first is historical ; which treats of an expedition of Caibre- 
 musc into North Britain, in the contemporary reigns of Cormac Mac Airt, 
 king of Ireland, and Olil Flannberg, king of Munster, ends folio 65, a. 
 
 The last is part fabulous and part historical ; the first relates to 
 Artaenir, king of Ireland, and a woman come from an isle where the 
 inhabitants are said to be always in their blooming youth, and never to 
 die, who gives him an account thereof. The second is a passage of the 
 poet Arthrinne, treated of in the sixteenth tract above, with which the 
 MS. ends." 
 
 From the above account of this ms. our readers will perceive that 
 little credit is to be given to books which abound in such marvellous and 
 absurd relations. The specimen is to be read ; 
 
 Poi ri aumraii aireagdai andeamhain macho fecht naild edhon Concophur mac 
 Fauctnae. Eai mar deamro inaflaith He hulto Pole siodh, ocus saine 7 suboidhe. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 135 
 
 Boi meass rgus claus ocus murthotadh Poi smacht 7 recht ocus dechflaithius rie 
 reimeass lia halto. Boi mor dordan 7 doirechus ocus 7 dimad isan richtoigh 
 andemhoin. As amhloidh ieromh boi in techsoin edhon in craebliruadh Con- 
 chobhoir fo intamhoil tighe midhcordai Noi nimdodai o tean co fraich. Triucho 
 troicchid ind airdiu cech airaenoice credlliimai boi isan tigh. Errscor didcciuar 
 and Stial Areabor. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 There was a noble and famous family of Eman Macho named Concop (Concob- 
 hac) Mac Factnae, in whose reign the Ultonians were a happy peoplCj enjoying 
 peace and tranquillity, and the land and the seas yielded their produce in abund- 
 ance. There was at that time law and good government among the Ultonians, 
 and crimes were severely punished, so that they lived in great love and friendship 
 among themselves. In Eamoin (i. e. Eman Macha) was a royal palace, abound- 
 ing in all things necessary; it was of the order of the Red-branch of Conncobar 
 (Connor). All people were there entertained with the necessaries of life, and no 
 house within the limits of the sea could be compared to it; it was thirty feet high, 
 the windows ornamented with credumai (copper manufactured, I believe brass) ; it 
 was a noble house (built) of yew timber, and black oaken floors. 
 
 The fourteenth specimen in the twentj^-second plate, is taken from 
 an ancient transcript of some of the old municipal laws of Ireland, and 
 a tract called the Great Sanction, new Law or Constitution of Nine, made 
 in favour of Christianity, by three kings, three bishops, and three sages. 
 At the top of pages four and eleven in this ms. are certain perpendicular 
 and parallel lines, which the Irish call Oghum, of which mode of writ- 
 ing we shall speak hereafter. This specimen is to be read, 
 
 Js asenchas mar conamus arnar 
 
 maith. i. e. eneclann mor dotidligeas enect beg no maith 
 enect, doule donti na dligheann enect, no diri aioie dop- 
 sain doeib uctha maith do ulce, 7 olc dimaith. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 This is the Seanchas mor, pointing out good from evil, and evil from good, &c.= 
 
 <= Colonel Vallancey has mentioned this book in a number of his " Collectanea de rebus 
 Hibernicis." — It is a very ancient code of laws, much referred to by the title of Seancas, or book 
 of great antiquity. 
 
136 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 N° 15, in the same plate, is taken from the Annales Tigernaci, amongst 
 the Clarendon mss. at Oxford (N° 3), which annals end in 1407- This 
 specimen is supposed to have been written about that year. 
 
 4 udcxi 
 
 Ki en. M°c°c°c°c°vii — Danenn mar ocus dith for ceithribh isin 
 bliaghain sin Mac Uilliem oig. i. concobhur ua Che allaidh 
 saidh an mic righ dir m", mathamhna. h. nechtain da marbhadh 
 la Fearadach mac mic Domhnaill. h. ceallaidh aclaind mic in 
 eagain a Fill. Catal. h. Concobhuir. mac Righ h. Failghi 
 saidh an mic righ^ h. gaisgedhach leithi niogha do mharbhadh 
 la clainn Fearais. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Kalends of January, 1407, very hard weather this year, in which great numbers 
 
 of cattle perished. 
 
 Mac William og. i. e. Conner O'Kelly, a noble gentleman, was murdered by 
 
 Fearadach, son of M'Donall O'Kelly, at Clann, M'Eogan. 
 
 Cathal O'Conner, son of the king of O'Faily, a generous noble, and the champion 
 
 of Leith. Mogha was murdered by the Clan Feorais.^ 
 
 The sixteenth and seventeenth specimens, are taken from the annals 
 of Ulster, in the Bodleian librarj^ amongst Dr. Rawlinson's mss 
 
 (N°31).^ 
 
 Kl Jan Anno Dni. Mccccclxxx°iiii°. 
 Brian mac Donnchaidh Meaguidhir 
 in mac righ dob fearr eineach & 
 Eanghnaina, Gal & gaisccidh 
 ogus do bhearr aithne air gach 
 nealadhain, a Eg in btr, ocus 
 
 = These Feorais afterwards took the name of Birmingham. 
 
 f This MS. is written on vellum, and was formerly in the possession of Sir James Ware- then 
 m the library of Henry earl of Clarendon, and was afterwards possessed bv the duke of Chandos 
 after whose death it was purchased by Dr. Rawlinson. See Innes's Essay p 453 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 137 
 
 tabhradh in ti leighfeas beand- 
 acht air Anmuin. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Kalends of January, in the year of our Lord 1484. 
 
 Brian Mac Donchu Mac Guire, a noble and valiant Prince, and skilled in all 
 
 sciences, died. Let the reader pray for his soul. 
 
 Ki Jan anno Dm. 1588. In Giolla 
 dubh m'= Seain mc philib m^ 
 guidhir do mharbhadh daonorchor 
 peileir le Saxonchaibh do bhi ag 
 oirghiall, ar ndol do ni'= Meaguidh- 
 ir. i. e. Aodh m= conchonnacht m<= 
 conchonacht, m'= conchonnacht air 
 creich orra, agus briseadh ar oir- 
 ghiollaibh agus ar Saxain doibh, 
 gan dioghbhail doibh psin duine 
 maith uasal sin. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Kalends of January, 1588. Giolla Dubh M-^ Seann M<= Phillip M<= Guire, was 
 killed by a bullet shot by a Saxon (Englishman) a hireling of the Orgiallachs in 
 Ulster, as M'= Guire, i. e. Hugh M-: Conconnact, son of Conconnact, was plun- 
 dering them. And the Orgiallachs and the English were defeated without any 
 other loss, but the death of this good gentleman. 
 
 The eighteenth and last specimen in the twenty-second plate, is taken 
 from a fragment of the Brehon laws, communicated by Lieutenant-Col. 
 Vallancey, which is to be read, 
 
 Dearbthar feitheam fortoig cuithe arach. 
 
 i. e. 
 
 Certain rules for the election of a' Chief. 
 
 T 
 
138 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Our thanks are due to the Rev. Mr. James Maclagan, Minister of 
 Blair, in Atholl, Perthshire, and to the Rev. Mr. Stuart, of Killin, Perth- 
 shire, and to Colonel Vallancey, for the translations of the Scotch and 
 Irish specimens engraven in the twenty-second plate. 
 
 The alphabet beneath the specimen last mentioned is selected from 
 this MS. and differs only from the alphabet N° 9 in the same plate, as 
 one hand-writing doth from another. The abbreviations are, ie, ae, do, 
 si, St, ar. 
 
 It is singular that in a work so magnificent and expensive as the 
 Diplomata Scotice, no specimens should have been given of the Gaelic 
 language and characters ; however it appears from the exemplars in the 
 twenty-second plate, that the letters used in the north of Scotland and 
 in Ireland are the same with the Saxon, but somewhat more rude and 
 angular in their forms. 
 
 To conclude this head, it is impossible to say, whether all which hath 
 been advanced, will operate upon the minds of those of the Irish nation, 
 who are superstitiously devoted to the legendary tales of their ancestors, 
 for it is in vain to oppose rational doubts, arguments, or even facts, to 
 popular credulity ; although we may with just reason suppose, that the 
 fictions which the vanity and patriotism of the Irish have been raising 
 for ages, will gain no credit with the sensible and judicious part of man- 
 kind, but will vanish before the strong beams of history and criticism : 
 in truth, all scepticism must vanish by an inspection of the twenty-second 
 plate, wherein we have ocular demonstration that the Erse and Irish 
 characters are the same ; and that they are similar to those used by the 
 Saxons in Britain, appears from several Saxon alphabets in the preced- 
 ing plates ; so that those who obstinately persist in asserting that the Irish 
 characters are not derived from the Roman, after what hath been said 
 on this head, must deny the evidence of their senses.^ 
 
 s Colonel Vallancey hath subjoined to the last edition of his grammar, several tables of 
 the abbreviations which occur in Irish mss. These will be very useful in facilitating the 
 reading of the ancient documents written in that country, and in the northern parts of 
 Scotland. The characters engraven by this author are similar to ours in plate twenty-two, 
 which are derived from the Roman. It appears from Bede's Eccl. Hist, that there were some 
 learned men in Ireland in the seventh century, but this doth not authenticate the Irish tradi- 
 tions concerning the Milesian colonies. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING, 139 
 
 OF NORMAN WRITING. 
 
 JnlAviNG shewn that the letters used in the northern parts of Scotland, 
 and in Ireland, for the notation of the Gaelic or Celtic language, are 
 derived from the Roman ; we shall proceed to speak of the several kinds 
 of writing which prevailed in England, from the coming of William the 
 First, till the seventeenth century. The writing introduced into England 
 by that prince, is usually called Norman, and is composed of letters 
 nearly Lombardic, which were generally used in grants, charters, public 
 instruments, and law proceedings, with very little variation, from the 
 Norman conquest till the reign of king Edward III., as will appear by 
 inspecting the specimens of royal charters in the twenty-fourth and 
 twenty-fifth plates. This kind of writing was generally practised by the 
 Irish when they wrote Latin, as appears from their mss. and records, 
 and in Scotland during the same period of time, as the numerous spe- 
 cimens published in Anderson's Diplomata Scotiae abundantly testifjr. 
 Several specimens of Norman writing, are given in the twenty-third 
 plate, with alphabets, both of capital and small letters ; the first of these 
 is taken from a fair book of inquisitions, made in the county of Lincoln, 
 which is preserved in the Cottonian library (Claud, c. 5). These inqui- 
 sitions were made in the reign of king Henry the First, for Robert of 
 Caen, the king's eldest natural son, is mentioned amongst the great land- 
 holders in the county.'' They must have been taken before the year 
 1104, because Stephen earl of Brittany, whose name appears in the 
 plate, died in that year ; from several circumstances, I conceive them to 
 have been taken in the first year of this king's reign, if so, they were 
 made about fourteen years after the compleating of Domesday book.' 
 
 ^ He Is called Rodbertus Filius Regis. See an account of him in Sandford's Genealogical 
 History, p. 45. 
 
 ' Dr. Smith, in his Catalogue of the Cottonian library, says, that these inquisitions were 
 taken in the reign of king Henry H., but he is evidently mistaken. 
 
140 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 This Specimen is to be read, 
 
 In Coringeham Wap Haben?. v. Hundf. 
 
 Nigellus de Albaneio habet in Glemesburc viii . c . 7 in Jultorp . i . c . in 
 
 Sumdebi . iiii . fe. 
 Comes StephaA Britannia in Le . 7 Smdebi . 7 Jopheim v . c . quas Goflfr fit 
 
 Treatune . ?J 
 Robt de Insula in Coringheha . 11 . c . quas . Ric dem . pine . tenet. 
 
 a 
 
 Eps Line in Greingheha . i. c . q Ric fit malg tenet'' 
 Ran Dunelmsis Eps in Cletha . Vi . b.' 
 Hugo de Vallo in Torp . vi . fe . 7 in Cletha . vi . fe. 
 
 Alan de Credun in Blituna . i, c . 7 . Vi . fe . 7 in Lactuna . in. c . 7 . 11 . b . 
 7 . in Scottuna . iiii fe. 
 
 The second and third specimens in the same plate, are taken from the 
 great roll of the pipe of the second year of king Henry II. remaining 
 amongst the records of the pipe at Westminster, and are to be read, 
 
 Hurtfordscira Ric de Luei redd: Comp. de firma de 
 
 Hurtfortsef et in el em novit. Const'. Militib' de Teplo xiii §. & iiij d. 
 
 In t!i. Ivj li. & XVII. g. et 
 
 Dorseta. Idem Ric redd Comp de firma de Dorseta. 
 
 A number of specimens of Norman writing are given in the twenty- 
 fourth and twenty-fifth plates, which we conceive, will give our readers 
 a clear idea of the kind of writing which prevailed not only in England, 
 but in different parts of Europe, from the tenth till the fourteenth 
 century."' 
 
 These plates are taken from original charters of the kings of England ; 
 they furnish authentic specimens of the modes of writing used in patents 
 and charters, from William 1. to Henry VIII. From them we learn the 
 
 ^ He is called Rodbertus in several places in the ms. He was bishop of Lincoln from 109a 
 to 1 1 23. 
 
 ' Ranulphus (or Ralph Flambard) he was consecrated June 5, 1099, so that these inquisitions 
 were taken after this time. 
 
 ™ See Walther's Lexicon Diplomaticum Gottingen^ 1756. 
 

 Tcuen 
 
 UtWo ic^tiaL In Utj). ^rt.^ Jtv vUclja' . <»)j P 
 
140 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 This Specimen is to be read, 
 
 In Coringeham Wap Haben?. v. Hundr. 
 
 Nigellus de Albaneio habet in Glemesburc viii . c . 7 in Jultorp . i , c . in 
 
 Sumdebi . iiii . fe. 
 Comes Stephan Britannic in Le . 7 Sindebi , 7 Jopheim v . c . quas Gofff fit 
 
 Treatune . t^ 
 Robt de Insula in Coringheha . 11 . c . quas . Ric dem . pine . tenet. 
 
 a 
 
 Eps Line in Greingheha . i. c . q Ric fii malg tenet'' 
 Ran DunelmsisEps in Cletha . VI . b.' 
 Hugo de Vallo in Torp . vi . fe . 7 in Cletha . vi . fe. 
 
 Alan de Credun in Blituna . i. c . 7 , vi . fe . 7 in Lactuna . ill. c . 7 , 11 . b . 
 7 . in Scottuna . nil fe. 
 
 The second and third specimens in the same plate, are taken from the 
 great roll of the pipe of the second year of king Henry II. remaining 
 amongst the records of the pipe at Westminster, and are to be read, 
 
 Hurtfordscira Ric de Luei redd Comp. de firma de 
 
 Hurtfortser et in elem novit. Const'. Militib' de Teplo xiii s. & iiij d. 
 
 In th. Ivj li. & XVII. s. et 
 
 Dorseta. Idem Ric redd Comp de firma de Dorseta. 
 
 A number of specimens of Norman writing are given in the twenty- 
 fourth and twenty-fifth plates, which we conceive, will give our readers 
 a clear idea of the kind of writing which prevailed not only in England, 
 but in different parts of Europe, from the tenth till the fourteenth 
 century."" 
 
 These plates are taken from original charters of the kings of England ; 
 they furnish authentic specimens of the modes of writing used in patents 
 and charters, from William I. to Henry VIII. Erom them we learn the 
 
 ^ He is called Rodbertus in several places in the ms. He was bishop of Lincoln from 1092 
 to 1133. 
 
 • Ranulphus (or Ralph Flambard) he was consecrated June 5, 1099, so that these inquisitions 
 were taken after this time. 
 
 ™ See Walther's Lexicon Diplomaticum Gottingen^ 1756. 
 
xiqp WtlT 4t ^a; mc WW^ Tiom W)o omtw 
 o^ Dmo banc tn ptni) cLTgntrssS tt^aU 3Uccopcac^ ccmoeUo 
 
 ^)o omtw £^b 
 
 6^w// •/ 
 
 I ohannis 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 141 
 
 styles and titles of each king." The reader will observe, that the diph- 
 thong.<2 is distinguished by a small stroke under the letter e, particularly 
 in the first specimen, though this distinction was soon afterwards omitted. 
 It is not necessary to say more concerning these plates, as they have been 
 already mentioned. 
 
 In Nomine Sanctae et individuae Trinitatis Ego Willelmus Dei gratia Rex Anglorum notnm 
 
 facio omnibus tarn posteris quam presentibus Archiepiscopis Huie igitur ^cclesise 
 
 Sancti Martini de Bello Hanc in primis dignitatem Regali auctoritate concede. 
 
 (GUIL. I.) 
 
 Henricus Rex Anglorum Ricardo Basset et Alberico de Ver et Vicecomitibus et Baronibus 
 et omnibus fidelibus suis Francis et Anglicis de Nortfolc, salutem Sciatis me dedisse— — Ebrardo 
 Episcopo de Nortwic Centum solidatas apud Westm. (Hen. i.) 
 
 Stephanus Rex Anglorum Archiepiscopis^ Episcopis, Abbatibus^ ComitibuSj Justiciarijs^ 
 VicecomitibuSj Baronibus et Ministris^ et omnibus fidelibus suis totius Anglie, salutem. Scia- 
 tis quia concessi Deo et Abbati et Monachis Cisterciensis Ordinis de Parco de Tama Teste 
 
 Roberto de Caisn^ (CaisinetOj i. e. Cheney) Archidiacono, et Ricardo de Luci^ Apud Oxen. 
 
 (S.TEPH.) 
 
 Henricus Rex Angliae et Dux Normanniae, Aquitaniae et Comes AndegaviEe— Archie- 
 piscopis Ministerium meum de Esnecca mea cum liberatione que pertinet Apud Oxine- 
 
 fordam. (Hen. ii.) 
 
 Ricardus Dei gratia Rex Angliae Dux Normanniae Aquitania; et Comes Andegaviae^ Archie- 
 piscopis, Episcopis, Abbatibus, Comitibus, Baronibus, Justiciarijs, Vicecomitibus et omnibus 
 Ballivis ac fidelibus suis, salutem. Sciatis nos concessisse et hac Carta confirmasse Gilleberto 
 Talebot' pro servicio suo Manerium de Linton'. (Ric. i.) 
 
 Johannes Dei gratia Rex Anglie Dominus Hibernie Dux Normannie Aquitanie et Comes 
 
 Andegavie ^Teste Galfridus filius Petri Comitis Essex'. Apud Westm' xi. die Junij 
 
 Anno Regni nostri primo. (Johannes.) 
 
 " The first specimen is taken from the Conqueror's foundation charter of Battle Abbey, 
 which is preserved in the Harleian library. The second is amongst the Charters in the Cottonian 
 library, and all the rest are from originals in the author's library. 
 
142 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Henricus Dei gratia Rex Angliae Dominus Hyberniae Dux Normannise, Aquitaniae, & 
 
 Comes Andegavias, Arciiiepiscopis, Episcopis Hijs testibus. Data, per manum nos- 
 
 tram apud Wodestok Vicesimo primo Die Augusti Anno Regni nostri Tricesimo secundo. 
 
 (Hen. III.) 
 
 Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Anglic Dominus Hibernias et Dux Aquitanise Omnibus — '■ In 
 
 cujus rei testimonium. — ^ Teste me ipso apud Cantuariam decimo Die Julij Anno Regni 
 
 nostri Tricesimo tercio. (Edw. i.) 
 
 Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Angliae Dominus Hiberni^ et Dux Aquitanias Omnibus — '■ In 
 
 cujus rei testimonium ^Teste me ipso apud Norhampton Undecimo Die Augusti Anno 
 
 Regni nostri secundo. (Edw. ii.) 
 
 Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Angliae Dominus Hiberniae et Dux Aquitanise Omnibus In 
 
 cujus rei Teste me ipso apud Westm' xvi Die Julij Anno Regni nostri Quarto. 
 
 (Edw. hi.) 
 
 Ricardus Dei gratia Rex Anglie et Francie et Dominus Hibernie Omnibus In cujus 
 
 Teste Vicesimo tercio Die Februarii Anno Regni nostri tercio. (Ric. ii.) 
 
 Henricus Dei gratia Rex Anglie et Francie et Dominus Hibernie Omnibus Ballivis et fide- 
 
 libus suis ad quos presentes litere pervenerint In cujus Teste me ipso apud Westm' 
 
 duodecimo die Junij Anno Regni nostri tercio. Per ipsum Regem Rome. 
 
 (Hen. v.) 
 
 HenricuSj &c. Script' &c. apud Bury Sancti Edmundi xxv Die Februarij Anno, &c. 
 ^^v- (Hen. VI.) 
 
 Henricus Dei gratia Rex Anglie et Francie et Dominus Hibernie Omnibus Ballivis et fideli- 
 
 bus suis In cujus Patentes. Teste me ipso apud Westm' Quinto Die Octobr' Anno 
 
 Regni nostri Quarto. (Hen. vii.) 
 
 Henricus Octavus Dei gratia Angl' et Franc' Rex, fidei defensor Dominus Hibernie in terra 
 
 supremum caput Anglicane Ecclesie Omnibus. Teste Ricardo Ryche Milite, apud Westm' 
 
 Vicesimo Dei Marcij Anno Regni nostri Tricesimo. (Hen. viii.) 
 
 About the reign of king Richard ii. variations took place in writing 
 records and law proceedings ; the specimens of the charters from the 
 

 ,7an.ni:p.J-j:-i. 
 
 G\ 
 
 te 
 
 
 
 otnitm 
 
 / 
 
 roUfb^ SW«^((^ ibtet'XSnS^'ftv — ^r|^ai?^-&ifttm> 
 
 (ttmv 
 
 (^^'"Tiftetnxr {p^u§) ffeftm^attiptmv 
 
 n7c>»ttS^ni3_"?Xe; fitgviflx -JAtmo l^gtrv ^Ti^T^^acttri^ - 
 
 ^ 
 
 EtJw.^, 
 
 
 S PT3xbtCrft U/ii\i LUati 
 
 1? 
 
 jtt ctu/'V 
 
 of 
 
 
 -kaj8ne^^c0jaa€L \jS2, ^^(jc;(2. -lA;i«t^(5 ^Jprfw^^um^ <^ifei6) CD^twi^ '^ 
 
 7??^.- 2 
 
 -;A<r»VMX»t^ 80/ 
 
 ^S^=P^ -^-H^^ 
 
 ^P^ <Si;;^^ <&0ln5- ^j^R^^C^ 
 
 (Ko 
 
 oO 
 
 He 71. : 7 
 
 Jlen.S 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 143 
 
 reign of king Richard II. to that of king Henry VIII. as given in the 
 twenty-fifth phite, are composed partly of characters called Set Chancery 
 and Common Chancery, and of some of the letters called Court-hand ; 
 which three different kinds of writing are partly from the Norman, and 
 partly from the modern Gothic. See the alphabets in the twenty-sixth 
 plate. The Chancery letters so called, were used for all Records which 
 passed the great seal, and for other proceedings in Chancery ; and the 
 Court-hand letters were used in the courts of King's Bench and Common 
 Pleas for fines, recoveries, placita, adjudicata, &c. 
 
 The specimen in the twenty-fifth plate of the 35th of king Henry VI. 
 is taken from an original letter of that king in the Author's library, 
 which is written in the running hand of that time. 
 
 Although the writing called the Law English, is much like the modern 
 Gothic, we shall mention it in this place, because the instruments written 
 by the English lawyers, in the English language, from the thirteenth to 
 the sixteenth century, are in characters very different from those used 
 hj our Ecclesiastics and Monks, which last is descended from the Saxon, 
 as will presently appear under the head of modern Gothic writing. The 
 twentieth plate contains several specimens of this first kind of writing. 
 The eleventh number in this plate, is taken from the Patent Roll of the 
 43d of king Henry III. (M. 15), and contains a curious specimen of the 
 English language of that time, which is to be read, 
 
 Henr thurg Godes fultume King on Engleneloande Lhoaverd on Yrland Duk 
 on Norm, on Aquitain 7 Eorl on Aniow. send igretinge to alle hise holde ilserde 
 7 ilaewedl on Huntendon Schir — that witen ge wel alle that we willen and unnen 
 that that ure raedesraen alle other the moare del of heom that heoth ichosen thurg 
 us and thurg thst loandes folk on ure kuneriche habbeth iden and schullen don 
 in the worthnesse of Gode and on ure treowthe for the freine of the loande thurg; 
 the besigte of than to foren iselde radesmen beo stedefast and ilestinde in all thinge 
 abuten aende. And we haaten alle ure treowe in the treowthe that heo us ogen 
 thaet heo stedefastliche heilden and sweren to healden and to werien the isetnesses 
 that been i maked and beon to makien thurg than toforen iseide raedesmen. 
 
 Which being translated into modern English is, 
 
 Henry, by God's help. King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy 
 and of Aquitain, and Earl of Anjou, sendeth greeting to all his faithful Clerks and 
 
144 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 Laics in Huntingdonshire : This know ye all well that we will, and grant, that 
 which our Counsellors all or the most part of them that be chosen by us and the 
 people of our land, have done and shall do for the honour of God, and of their 
 allegiance to us, for the benefit of the land, by the advice or consideration of our 
 foresaid Counsellors, be stedfast and performed in every thing for ever. And we 
 command all our liege people in the fealty that they owe to us, that they steadfastly 
 hold, and swear to hold and to defend the statutes which be made and shall be 
 made by those aforesaid Counsellors. 
 
 The thirteenth specimen in the same plate is taken from a deed in 
 Dr. Rawlinson's collection, now preserved in the Bodleian library, dated 
 the 14th of August, 18th Edw. III. (1347). This deed is a settlement 
 made upon the marriage of a son of Sir John Mowbray, Knt. with Mar- 
 gery the daughter of Sir John Depden, and is to be read, 
 
 This Indenture made the xiiii* day of August the xviii"> yere of 
 Kyng Edward the thred, Wittnesseth that it is convennted. 
 
 This instrument is engraven by Dr. Rawlinson, to which the seal of 
 Depden is appendent. We take this opportunity of observing, that 
 wills and settlements were first written in English in this reign, which 
 had been generally written in Latin from the Norman conquest. 
 
 The fourteenth specimen in the same plate, is written in the Chancery- 
 hand of the time ; it is taken from the Parliament Roll of the 21st of king 
 Richard II. and contains part of the confession of Thomas of Wood- 
 stock, duke of Gloucester, uncle to that king, which is to be read as 
 follows, 
 
 I Thomas of Wodestoke, the viii day of Septembre, the zeer of my Lord the 
 Kyng on and twenty, be the virtue of a Commission of my Lord the Kyng the same 
 zeer directed to William Rykyll justice, the which is comprehende more pleynly 
 in the forseyd commission, knowleche, that I was on wyth sterying of other men 
 to assent to the making of a Commission. 
 
 Also in that that I was in place ther it was communed and spoken in manere 
 of deposail of my lyege Loord. 
 
CHAP. V. or WRITING. 145 
 
 N° fifteen is taken from an original petition in parliament, in the 
 Tower of London, in the reign of king Henry IV., and is to be read, 
 
 Memorand that the kyng by th' advise of his coiinseil hath ordeined^ graunted and 
 appointed^ that al maner assignements by tallies rered or made. 
 
 N° sixteen is taken from another petition in the Tower, and is to be 
 read, 
 
 Besechith humbly youre poure servaunt Thomas Marchyngton, one of the Clerks 
 of your honorable Chapell to graunt hym the pension of Ely. 
 
 N" seventeen is from a petition in parliament in the reign of king 
 Edward IV., and is to be read, 
 
 Prouided also, that the acte of resumpcion, or any other acte, estatute, ordenaunce 
 or prouisioun, in this present Parliament made or to be made. 
 
 ]S° eighteen is taken from a pardon under the signet of king Henry 
 VII., granted in the twenty-first year of his reign to Thomas Barker, and 
 is to be read, 
 
 Henry, by the grace of God, king of Englond and of Fraunce, and Lord of Irland, 
 ro all our Officers true liege-men and subgetts. 
 
 N° nineteen is from an instrument of king Henry VIIJ. and is to 
 be read, 
 
 Henry the eight, by the grace of God, King of England and of Fraunce, defensor 
 of the feith. Lord of Ireland. 
 
 The twenty-sixth plate contains alphabets of the Modern Gothic, the 
 Old English, the set Chancery, the common Chancery, and the Court- 
 hand ; the first of which, began to take place in England in the twelfth 
 century, as will presently appear ; the second, about the middle of the 
 fourteenth century ; the third and fourth, in the decline of the same cen- 
 tury, and are still used in the inrolments of letters patents, charters, &c. 
 and in exemplifications of recoveries ; the fifth was contrived by the 
 English lawyers, and took its rise about the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, and continued till the beginning of the late reign, when it was 
 abolished by law. The Court-hand characters were nothing more than 
 the Norman characters corrupted and deformed to so great a degree, 
 that they bore very little resemblance to their prototypes. In the six- 
 
 u 
 
146 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 teenth century, the English lawyers engrossed their conveyances and 
 legal instruments in characters called Secretary, which are still in use. 
 
 The French call their writing, by the names of the 
 Weiting ^[ffQYent races of their kings in whose times they were 
 IN France. . _ n i\r ■ ■ ii, ri j • • 
 
 written : these were the Merovingian, the Carlovin§ia7ii 
 
 the Capetian, the Vaksian, and the Bourbonian. For instance, the writ- 
 ings of France, from the fifth to the middle of the eiighth cefitury, are 
 called Merovingian, because Merovaeus and his descendants, exercised 
 regal authority in France, during that period. 
 
 It has already been observed, that the Gauls adopted the Roman 
 letters ;" the forms of the letters used in France, from the beginning of the 
 eighth to the middle of the tenth century, are very similar to those used 
 in England during the same period, except in those instances where we 
 find the pure Saxon. This will appear, by comparing the specimens in 
 the twenty-third plate, with those given us by the learned authors of the 
 Nouveau traits de Diplomatique, in their history of the writings of 
 France. Various modes of writing were afterwards practised by the 
 French, of which several specimens are given in our twenty-seventh plate. 
 
 The writing called Merovingian began in France soon after the time 
 of Merovaeus, son of Pharamond, who was made king in the year of 
 Christ 460 ; this race ended with Childeric, who died in 752. The 
 Caroline or Carolinian race, properly began with Pepin, who was made 
 king of France, upon the death of Childeric. This prince was succeeded 
 by Charlemagne emperor of the west, a.d. 814, whose line in France 
 ended with Lewis V. a.d. 987- 
 
 ° The Sicambri from whom the present French kings are descended, were ori"-inalIy 
 Scythians; they were placed on the banks of the Danube; Antenor their first kino- died 
 ante Christ, 443. The last king of this race was Antharius, who began to reign about 
 seventy-four years before Christ, and was slain by the Gauls, thirty-nine years before the 
 Christian sera; after this king's reign, these people were called Franks, from his son and 
 successor Francus, who passed an edict for that purpose, at the request of his subjects. The 
 kingdom of the Franks ended with Marcomir, who was slain by the Romans, in 393, he 
 ordained, that the Franks should elect no m6re kings, but dukes. Pharamond, who married 
 Argotta, the grand-daughter of Marcomir, was made king of France, about the year 420, and 
 from him all the monarchs of France are descended. 
 
Tah.XKHp.'l^K 
 
 JjC?icrnMfe /c(/'l- 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 147 
 
 The Capetian race began with Hugh Capet, who succeeded Lewis V. 
 and ended with Charles IV. a.d. 1327- 
 
 The Valesian race began with Philip IV. the successor of Charles IV., 
 and ended with Henry III. the last of this line, who was slain in 1589. 
 
 The Bourbonian line began with Henry IV. a.d. 1589, whose de- 
 scendants filled the throne of France, till the late Revolution. 
 
 It is generally admitted, that the ancient 
 
 German Writing. ^ u j . .u ^ w+ k ^ 
 
 (jrermans had not the use or letters, beiore 
 
 their intercourse with the Romans ; the testimony of Tacitus is decisive 
 on this subject. " Literarum secreta viri pariter ac foemince ignorant." 
 Hence we conclude, that the Teutons, who anciently inhabited the 
 neighbouring coast, and islands of the Baltic Sea, had no letters, till 
 their descendants, who settled in Belgic Gaul, obtained them from the 
 Romans. The Teutonic alphabet given in the first plate, is evidently 
 deduced from the Roman, and is nothing more than the Roman varied 
 by the Germans, which, having been much deformed, was improved by 
 Charlemagne in the ninth century, and continued till the twelfth, when 
 this kind of writing was succeeded by the modern Gothic, which pre- 
 vails in Germany, and in several of the northern countries of Europe at 
 this time. 
 
 The writing called Modern Gothic, was first 
 
 Modern Gothic. .• i • /^ ^^ i. ^\. ^ ^. j r 
 
 practised m Germany about the latter end 01 
 
 the ninth, or in the beginning of the tenth century, though it did not 
 take place in the other nations of Europe till the twelfth. The letters in 
 the first specimen of the twenty-seventh plate, are some of them Lom- 
 bardic, and others approach towards the modern Gothic. This specimen 
 is taken from a ms. in the Cottonian library [Caligula A. 7-] written in 
 Germany, in the Franco-Theotisc or Teutonic'^ dialect, in the tenth cen- 
 tury, which was probably transcribed from one more ancient. 
 
 P The Franco-Teuton icj which was spoken in Germany and Gaul, is derived from the Mseso- 
 Gothicj formerly spoken in Bulgaria. The Tslandic, is derived from the Scando-Gothic. Hickes's 
 Grammatica Franco-Theotisca. 
 
148 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 All the nations of Europe afterwards adopted the form of writing, 
 which passes under the denomination of Modern Gothic, but with those 
 national variations, which the taste and genius of each country adopted ; 
 the Librarii, or writing Monks, who wrote books in the Latin tongue, 
 used nearly the same characters, in different parts of Europe, from the 
 twelfth till the fifteenth century, as appears by the specimens given in 
 the first column of the twenty-seventh plate. The letters used by the 
 English Monks, when they wrote in the English language, vary from 
 their Latin characters, because the former are derived from the Saxon. 
 
 Several variations took place in France during the twelfth and thir- 
 teenth centuries, and many diff"erent characters were used by the French 
 in the two succeeding centuries, as appears in the twenty-seventh plate, 
 under the head of French writing. The letters called Belgic, as well 
 as those used in Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland, are all derived from 
 the German. 
 
 The Latin specimens, number two, three, and four, in the twenty- 
 seventh plate, are written in characters which generally prevailed, not 
 only in England, but in several parts of Europe, in the twelfth, thir- 
 teenth, and fourteenth centuries ; in these specimens, the gradations 
 from the Roman prototypes are observable. In the second and third 
 specimens, which are of the twelfth century, some of the letters are 
 Roman, others Lombardic, with Modern Gothic aspects, and several 
 may with the greatest propriety, be termed Modern Gothic. The major 
 part of the characters, in the fourth specimen, are Modern Gothic, and 
 these were generally used by the Monks, during the thirteenth, four- 
 teenth, and part of the fifteenth centuries, in which last period, larger 
 characters, similar to those in the fifth and eighth specimens, were 
 commonly used. Still larger characters were adopted, about the middle 
 of the fifteenth, which continued until the latter end of the sixteenth 
 century, similar to those in the sixth and seventh numbers, in the plate 
 under consideration. 
 
 The second column of the twenty-seventh plate, contains specimens 
 of the Monkish English, or of the forms of writing practised by the 
 English Monks, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, inclusive. 
 Several of the characters in the specimen, N° 9, which is of the twelfth 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 149 
 
 century, are pure Saxon, others are Lombardic, and some approach 
 towards the English Gothic. 
 
 The twelfth specimen in the twentieth plate, is in the Monkish Eng- 
 lish of the thirteenth century ,■* when the Saxon characters were so much 
 deformed, that they scarcely resembled those which prevailed here till the 
 middle of the eleventh : in truth, the Saxon characters were rarely used, 
 except by the English Monks, after the coming of William the First,' 
 who introduced the Norman character, as we have already shewn ; 
 though the English Ecclesiastics, when writing in their own language, 
 never adopted those characters, but continued to use the corrupted Saxon 
 letters, specimens of which are given in the tenth, and in the seven 
 following numbers of the twenty-seventh plate. 
 
 The tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth specimens in this plate, 
 are from mss. written in the fourteenth century : the tenth was written 
 at the beginning, and the thirteenth at the very close of that century. 
 Those who examine these specimens with attention, will perceive a 
 manifest variation in the characters. 
 
 1 This is taken from a libellous Ballad in the Harleian library (N° 2353, § 23) made on 
 Richard, king of the Romans, and the royal party, in the reign of king Henry III. and is 
 a proof that the liberty assumed by the good people of England, of abusing their superiors 
 at pleasure, is of very long standing. This ballad was made soon after the defeat and cap- 
 ture of king Henry HI. his son prince Edward, and his brother Richard, at Lewes, in 1364. 
 For an account of which, see Reliques of ancient English Poetry, vol. ii. p. i. This writing 
 is not much later, than that of the eleventh specimen, in the same plate, which was writ- 
 ten in 1259. 
 
 It is to be read, 
 
 Sitteth alle stille, and herkneth to me; 
 The kyn of Alemaigne, bi mi leaute, 
 Thritti thousent pound askede he 
 For te make the pees in the countre. 
 
 And so he dude more, 
 Richard, that thou be auer trichard, 
 Tricthen shalt thou never more. 
 
 ■■ If this fact should be doubted, consult Ingulphi Historia a Gale, and Camden's Britannia, 
 pref. &c. 
 
150 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 In the thirteenth century the Saxon j,, (or tli) was corrupted, as appears 
 by the eleventh and twelfth specimens in the twentieth plate ; in the four- 
 teenth, it acquired the form of the Saxon p {w), and before the end of 
 the same century, that of the modern Gothic 2, which was discontinued in 
 the fifteenth century. See the specimens from the tenth to the fifteenth in 
 the twenty-seventh plate. The fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth speci- 
 mens in this plate, are taken from mss. in my library, written in England 
 in the fifteenth century ; the first of which was written about the year 
 1430, the second about 1450, and the third about 1480. The last of the 
 English specimens, is from a plate of brass placed in Macclesfield church 
 in Cheshire, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. 
 
 Various modes of writing took place in France, under the latter kings 
 of the Cupetian race, and the monarchs of the Valesian line, who flourished 
 from the middle of the twelfth to the sixteenth century ; specimens of 
 several of which, are engraven in the third column of the twenty-seventh 
 plate. The eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth specimens, are, what 
 the French call, Capetian writing, because used during the reigns of 
 that race of kings ; the first of which was written in the latter end of the 
 twelfth century; the second is dated in 1280, and the third in the begin- 
 ning of the fourteenth century. 
 
 The twenty-first and twenty-second numbers, are specimens of writing 
 which prevailed in France under the monarchs of the Valesian race, 
 namely, from 1327 to 1589 : though another kind of writing took place 
 in France in the fifteenth century, which continued till the great im- 
 provements made in the art, towards the latter end of the sixteenth, and 
 in the seventeenth century. Specimens of this last kind of writino- are 
 exhibited in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth numbers of this plate. 
 
 Explanation of the twenty-seventh Plate. 
 The first specimen in this plate, is taken from a ms. in the Cottonian 
 library (Caligula A. 7.) written in the Francic characters in the tenth 
 century,^ and in the Franco-Theotisc dialect, which was spoken in the 
 time of Charlemagne. 
 
 ^ Mr. Smith, in his Catalogue of the Cottonian library, calls them Dano-Francic but this is a 
 distmction without a difference, for the characters used by the Franks, were adopted in Denmark. 
 
1 
 
 I 
 
 Tiuc muMa^ lari<ZLafztr-^ xKiti netTr citLfo gi lefuia 
 uucrrct|blne-mancuTineti mccn\i<^(v\iuAa <^d 
 aivnahra for'<^e^an hahda, TWx hietf htmtbflc 
 bam hero 3 xiviuerol d\ i|' (elbef funo je-ndean 
 uuolda TlexKiu xkax hieliier alofcLi ctUiu^fca 
 irrna uuerod fbn uuixie 
 
 I^ A T I H . 
 
 [dumTarr«gnumxuumFtaxuoluTiT^fxiia'SictrciTicelo Si 
 tnTerra^Panemnoftnun ccmdmnxitn danoT)i5T)odter 
 
 ludeiJ^inquiT qtfi pamfceueerar- irr n rernanererrc in 
 crucercoipoi^iabaa) erar entmmagntirchcr ilUiabaxi: 
 
 E 
 
 
 
 )ete [on ^ S^un^feLf^ 
 
 
 lloft b«c uitb f eco^oftium aptutn tn celo ^ \x<x)c pma qui audim tanqtu tulekquenti me 
 
 eu^ qui featimt nidplaa pntificem tuu iititu 
 mem cvcomftimmmlis fiibuc ncbis Quefu 
 
 pis IMS I f( 
 
 ^$t t^inrtte irt:^ mm lit maraaf 
 1i)atvay'^Ba»e<jf ^tn feft-yc^i^tj? 
 
 cMiS ^j'C oown) e6* rt£C ^c «ic&i-C6 «mS ok^o-e^^ 
 
 fats' wc (^^jj'C fjc&of M<^ ^Mig) ahSi of mi^ (w**! 
 6ct4 OK9«'of>t-S'cf<mte cf 50i^Pu^mr«(£ Sn^cj^ij 
 
 .14 
 
 tcc6 yXic 6ti7a!(Tc of tPHi^lj 
 
 141. fl.^'akc ti^e-Htowv lU£b^ilil)ou(to»!J % 
 
 QV^^i^J'c ibo fbui-ttj foti &nti tjcK to % 
 )^ke after tljc ^ereffc cf 1)y© taMr tj 
 
 .17 
 
 ^1 Dayes of p^t)ott 
 
1^ 
 
 cf ftmiVe. if w o^\Ax 
 
 Z r 
 
 ■-c 
 
 Sffe Sonte • Gut ^t Ge t^a?(5 ^ f^ 
 
 ^M^nyn^at^^alltfl^ mam 
 I mas vamb nofi$/y>8iVf\^yXBas 
 
 pxnncxf 
 
 mS d^ t^cf o<5g§ V' ^■♦f'^ ■** g"^ ^ ^ g»'A.ca M^ 
 Sff to i-cccm) iJrj?''ffi0jpc^ vCMic cQ.Mj-UV^oji'-M.t to 
 
 t to 6^101130 po cinniTio^i' 
 
 » lidtie ft to l)oUl fro tJ)i«' "ifyy £d?^(Pfttb €»» 
 [Te dtiii in l^dtlje tote Wer^)ljttx;tt txl 
 
 ' F R E N C H', 
 
 uant il o^enc mangve lancel^ pioiale tx)^ qil Ufecjr 
 a^xccr cc^ armcs car tl uodm aler el to^aume de 
 logrc0 cm line fu plus a du an biau {ircfcrhnns 
 
 6JV 
 
 ^ " -, . A^ ecu |)err c m c le^utr d^xr 
 rtr Jgii^jpttliame par la Ittfframxcr^^^ 
 
 ion 
 
 2\ 
 
 
 ri 
 
 
 ^l oiiiM I2? tu tranftS 
 flic cA me en \>io{c 
 
 
 S>ahd^ lofjanccqmiCc 01^ 
 
 &ct cofma zbammnc oiz 
 
 S(t£^nialt zpzo(^/t 0^ 
 
 Omneefa mavCtvc6 ou^ 
 
 \jr — ir^y^o^ icroh/fc 
 
 Ji -i >- <'»^ /or? Tormev £x 
 
 010 » 
 
 
 E L G I C 
 
 in^ goMike dime ^aerboxiettirt^ eung^cDiiud^t^ate 
 
 26 
 
 Vex 
 
 I S JL A I^ 
 
 lbc«^^pfu( yrvnce PubarS late bul"^ of 
 
 f s ant) a qe^ is iqre'i tbouCarib 2e;Les anb- 
 
 a6^uuua Xa/9m|2Q!ce maTfo, gemie ofs oila/ate-xnm 
 lUa ^wl itola^yrJlaAgub^alla 
 
 wmmmmmwmmmm 
 mmm^mmommmmni 
 
 mmiummiimtmmimmsit 
 mxmmiimxMmmmBm 
 
 I^u7?j^??tci^. c"//: 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 151 
 
 I. Thuo muuas lang after thiu ncit allso gi lestid 
 uuard sohie mancunnea manuga huila God 
 almahti forgefean habda. That hie is himilisk 
 barn Herod tiu uerol di is selbes suno sendean- 
 uuolda Tethiu that hie hier alosdi alliud sta 
 mna uuerod fon uuitie. 
 
 2. The second specimen is taken from a psalter in the library of 
 Trinity college in Cambridge, written in the reign of king Stephen. 
 
 Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua sicut in Celo et 
 in Terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie 
 
 3. The third specimen is taken from St. Augustin on St. John's 
 gospel, preserved in the library of Christ college, Oxford. This ms. 
 appears to have been written in 1167? and formerly belonged to Bildewas 
 Priory, in Shropshire. 
 
 Judei ergo inquit quoniam parasceue erat ut non remanerent in 
 
 Cruce corpora sabato; erat enim magnus dies ille sabati : 
 
 Scriptus anno ab incarnatione Domini mclxvii. 
 
 4. The fourth specimen is taken from a ms. in the Lambeth library, 
 [N° 209] written in the thirteenth century. 
 
 Post hec vidi et ecce Ostium apertum in Celo et vox prima quam audivi tanquam 
 tube loquentis mecum dicens ascende hue et ostendam tibi que oportet fieri post 
 hec. Statim fui in spiritu et ecce sedes posita erat in Celo et supra sedem sedens. 
 
 5. The fifth specimen is taken from the parliament roll of the third 
 year of king Henry VI. 
 
 "Henricus quintus Rex Anglic qui nunc est." 
 
 6. The sixth specimen is of the sixteenth century, and is to be read, 
 
 Post veris equinoctium 
 Quere pie nilunium^ 
 Et sequent! Dominica 
 Sacrum celebra pascha. 
 
152 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 7- The seventh specimen hath a date. 
 
 Incipit collectarium temporale ad usum fratrum Guillermitarum Parisiensium — 
 Scriptum a fratre Petro Coarce — Conventum anno 1587. 
 
 By these two specimens, it appears that the hair strokes over the i, 
 were preserved till the decline of the sixteenth century, when the points 
 took place, 
 
 8. The eighth specimen is taken from a Missal, written in Flanders in 
 the fifteenth century. 
 
 Deus qui beatum Nicholaum Pontificem tuum innumeris decorasti 
 miraculis tribue nobis quesumus ut ejus meritis et precibus, 
 a Gehenne ignis. 
 
 9. The first specimen in the second column, and the ninth in the 
 twenty-seventh plate, is taken from a fair ms. in my library, written in 
 the rei2;n of king Stephen, or in that of king Plenry II. 
 
 [Ihoreiveji.) Of Strenthe. Fortitudo that is Codes strengthe . . is an other 
 
 hali mihte the is medfull to scilden Godes Temple fram alle unwines. 
 
 Of hire sath the profiete " Esto nobis dne turris fortitudinis." Hlaverd bie ure 
 
 towr of strengthe agean alle unwines. Thes ilche halige mihte hie is tower 8c 
 
 strengthe to alle tho mihte the tharinne bieth wunrgende & swa hie is alle Christes 
 
 gecorene. 
 
 10. The tenth specimen is taken from the Chronicle of Robert of 
 Gloucester, in the Harleian library, (N° 201.) 
 
 Engelond ys a wel god lond ith wene of eche lond best 
 Y set in the ende of the World as al in the West 
 The See goth hym al aboute, he stont as an Yle 
 Here son heo durre the lasse doute but hit be thoru gyle. 
 
 11. The eleventh specimen is taken from a ms. (N° 501?,) in the 
 Harleian library, containing the two books of the Maccabees, and the 
 New Testament of WicklifF's translation. 
 
 Here bigynneth the firste C of Joon. 
 
 In the biginyng was the Word and the Word was at God and God was the Word 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 153 
 
 this was in the biginyng at God alle thinges weren maid by him and withouten him 
 was maad no thing that thing that was maad, in him was liif and the liif was the 
 lizt of Men. 
 
 12. Number twelve is taken from Thomas Occleve's Poem de regi- 
 mine Principis, in the Harleian library, (N° 4866.) 
 
 Althogh his lyfe be queynt the resemblaunce 
 
 Of him hay in me so fressh lyf lynesse 
 
 That to putte othir Men in remembraunce 
 
 Of his Persone I have heere his lyi<nesse 
 
 Do make to this ende in sothfastnesse 
 
 That thei that have of him left thought and mynde 
 
 By this peynture may ageyn him fynde. 
 
 13. The thirteenth specimen is taken from a ms. in my library, con- 
 taining the claim of Henry IV. to the crown of England, in full parlia- 
 ment, after the deposition of his cousin Germain king Richard II. 
 
 In the name of the Fadir of the Son and the Holy Gost I Henry of Lancastre 
 chalange this Reme of Inglond and the Croun with all the membres and all the 
 appurtenance as that am descendit to right line of the blod comyng fro the good 
 lord kyng Henry thrid and thorowgh the rizt that God of his grace ath send me 
 with the help of my king' and of my Frends to recover it the whych Reme was 
 in poynt to ben ondoo for defaute of gouvernance and undoyng of that good law. 
 
 14. The fourteenth specimen is taken from an old English chronicle 
 on vellum, in my library, written in the reign of king Henry VI. 
 
 And whene the Emperour had wel restide him and seye the londe in dyvers parties 
 and to knowe the commoditees thene bi processe of tyme he toke his leeve of the 
 Kyng but or he zede he was made Knyzt of the Garteer. 
 
 15. The fifteenth specimen is taken from a ms. Rituale in usum 
 Sarum, written about the year 1450, and contains a part of the marriage 
 ceremony at that time. 
 
 ' Kin Kindred. 
 X 
 
154 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 I N. take the N. to my Weddid Housbond to have and to hold fro this day forth- 
 ward for better for wors for richer for porer in siknesse and in helthe to be boner 
 and buxum til deth us depart and therto I plight the my treuthe. 
 
 16. The sixteenth specimen is taken from the genealogies of the kings 
 of England, in my library, written about the year 1480. 
 
 Edwarde the fourth, son and heyr to the worshepful prynce Richard late Duke of 
 Yorke, after the decesse of his fadir was Duke of Yorke, and was crowned Kyng. 
 
 17. The seventeenth specimen is from a brass plate, placed in the 
 church of Macclesfield in the county of Chester, in the year 1506, as 
 appears by the date on the plate. 
 
 The pardon for saying of 5 pater nosters, 5 aves and a cred is 26 thousand Yeres 
 and 26 dayes of pardon. 
 
 The third column of this plate exhibits specimens of writing in France, 
 from the eleventh, to the sixteenth century inclusive. 
 
 18. Number eighteen, is from a fragment of a French ms. in my 
 library. 
 
 Quant il orent mangie Lancelot proia le Roy q'il li face aporter ces Armes, car il 
 vodra aler el Royaume de Logres ou il ne fu plus a d^un an biau sire fet li Rois. 
 
 19. The nineteenth number is from the statutes made by William 
 bishop of Norwich, for regulating the nunnery at Flixton, in the county 
 of Suffolk, dated in the year 1280. 
 
 En le honour de Deu pere e fiz e seynt esperit Nus Williame par la suffraunce de 
 Deu. 
 
 20. The twentieth specimen is from a book of prayers and chants 
 written in France in the beginning of the fourteenth century. 
 
 Haute Dame gloriouse 
 Ta joie fu merueilouse 
 Al oure Ir tu transis 
 De ceste vie en viose. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 155 
 
 21. The twenty-first number is taken from a ms. in the Harleian librarj'' 
 (N° 1319) written by Francis de la Marque, a French gentleman, who 
 attended king Richard II. during the latter part of his reign. This ms. 
 is written in French verse, and relates what passed in England, relative 
 to that unfortunate monarch from April 25, 1399> to the time of his 
 
 death. 
 
 Ainsi firent leur asamblee 
 Qui estoit de mal enpensee 
 A Wemonstre hors la Ville 
 De Londres ce n'est pas guille 
 Premerement tous les Prelas 
 Archevesques, Evesques (las)." 
 
 22. The twenty-second specimen is taken from an original letter of 
 Francis I. of France, to the bishop of Bayonne, and Mons. de Morett, 
 his ambassadors in England. 
 
 Messrs. Estant seur que ce sera singulier plaisir a mon bon frere et perpetuel 
 
 allye le Roy d'Angleterre^ et pareillement a Mons. le Legat. 
 
 23. Number twenty-three is taken from a ms. in the Cottonian library, 
 ( Caligula A. 5.) written about the middle of the sixteenth century, and is 
 decorated with several beautiful illuminations. 
 
 Aristote toutefois en son primer Livre d' Ethiques dit 
 Beati sunt viventes cum felicitas operatio sit. 
 
 24. The twenty-fourth specimen is taken from a French Missal, 
 written in the latter end of the sixteenth, or the beginning of the seven- 
 teenth century. 
 
 Sancte Johanes & Paule — or (pro nobis) 
 Set Cosma & Damiane- — or 
 Set Gervasi & Prothasi — or 
 Omnes sci Martires — or 
 
 " This MS. is ornamented with sixteen curious historical drawings, thirteen of which are 
 engraven by Mr. Strutt, in his Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities, 4to. 1773, pi. 30 to 33, and 
 p. 1 6 to 34. 
 
156 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 25. Number twenty-five contains a specimen of Belgic writing, taken 
 from a ms. in my library, written in Flanders, about the middle of the 
 fifteenth century. 
 
 Van S. Katelvn. 
 Kateline ionghe iuecht Die regneert. inde godlike dune 
 Daer bouen inde ewighe vruecht Dats. 
 
 26, 27. The twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh numbers are taken from 
 Mss. brought from Iceland by the President of the Royal Society, Sir 
 Joseph Banks, and deposited by him in the British Museum. These 
 MSS. seem to have been written about the fourteenth century. N° 26 
 is to be read, 
 
 Gud himnana, Grsedare mana, Geime oss alia ; Late mig Scilia, &c. i. e. God of 
 Heaven, Saviour of men, defend us all, forgive my sins, (or punishment). 
 
 N° 27 is written in pure Islandic, of the fourteenth century, and 
 is to be read, 
 
 Sa nadar-riikaste Gud og Drotteim seiger suo (miin hiarttguz Elsbu moder Rag- 
 neidur Eggerts dottur) fyrer mun Esaise spamans i LX Capitula. "Eg vil huggar 
 ydur, suo sem tha moderin huggar (sitt barn." i. e. The mercy-rich God and 
 Lord says so (my beloved Elizabeth mother of Ragneid, Eggert's daughter) by 
 tho mouth of Esaias the prophet, in the LXth chapter, " I will embrace you, so 
 as a mother embraceth (her child)." 
 
 28. The twenty-eighth number contains a singular specimen of 
 English characters, engraven on stone, in the church of Campsall, in 
 the county of York. 
 
 Let fal downe thy ne, 8c lift up thy hart. 
 Behold thy maker on yond Cros al to torn 
 Remember his Wondis that for the did smart, 
 Gotyn without syn, and on a Virgin born. 
 
 As the instruments which issue from the Roman 
 
 Chancery, called Papal Bulls, have been received 
 
 in every country where the Roman Catholic religion is established, it 
 
 may be proper in this place, to say something concerning them, and of 
 
 the characters in which they are written. They derive their name of 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 157 
 
 Bulls, from the seals appendant to them, and not from their contents. 
 Bulls were not confined to the Roman Pontiffs alone, but were also issued 
 under that name, by emperors, princes, bishops, and great men, who 
 till the thirteenth century, sometimes affixed seals of metal, as well as of 
 wax, to edicts, charters, and other instruments, though they were equally 
 called Bulls, whether they were sealed with the one or with the other ; 
 but the popes have continued to affix metal seals to their Bulls, to the 
 present time ; on all ordinary occasions these seals are of lead, but when 
 they bestowed particular marks of grace and favour on sovereign princes, 
 seals of gold were affixed. The Bull of pope Clement VII. conferring 
 the title of Defender of the Faith on king Henry VIII. hath a seal of 
 gold appendant to it.'' In early times, the seals of the popes varied in 
 their forms, but they have been much of the same make from the Pon- 
 tificate of Urban II. who was elected to the Papal Chair in 1088. On 
 the front of the seals, are the names and faces of St. Paul, and St. Peter, 
 separated by a cross, and on the reverse of each seal, is the name of the 
 Pope ; after the two letters P P, is the number in Roman numerals, 
 which distinguishes him from his predecessors of the same name. Bulls 
 containing matters of grace and favour, were suspended by strings of 
 red and yellow silk, but if they were mandates for punishment, they were 
 hung by hempen cords. 
 
 Papal Bulls are of different kinds, as small Bulls, or mandates of a 
 less solemn nature ; Consistorial Bulls, made in full consistory, which are 
 confined to affairs of religion, or to the Apostolic Chair; Pancartes, or 
 confirmations of grants to the church, and Bulls of Brivilege, which 
 granted particular immunities to cathedrals and abbies. The most ancient 
 Bulls were written in the Roman running hand, which mode of writing 
 shall be mentioned presently ; they were written in Lombardic characters 
 as early as the eighth century, which were preserved in Bulls till the 
 middle of the twelfth, though small Roman characters were occasionally 
 used,'' and a mixture of these two kinds of letters, were continued in Bulls 
 so late as the fifteenth century. The beginning of the Bulls of the Roman 
 Pontiffs, were written in long and indistinct letters, which are difficult 
 
 ^ The famous instrument of the emperor Charles IV. made in 1356^ with the consent qf 
 the princes of the empire, is called the Golden Bull^ from the gold seal appendant to it. 
 y See N. T. Dip!, vol. v. part iii. iv. v. 
 
158 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 to be read. The emperors, and the other princes on the continent of 
 Europe began their charters in similar letters, specimens of which are given 
 in the twenty-eighth plate. The first specimen of this plate is taken from 
 a Bull of pope Innocent II. in favour of Christ-church, near Aldgate. 
 
 Innocentius Episcopus servus servorum Dei. 
 
 Dilecto filio Normanno, Priori Ecclesiae Christi infra &.c. 
 
 in perpetuum. Apostolicae sedis clementise congruit 
 
 religiosas personas affectione — Data Viterbi per manum 
 
 Aimerici sanctae romanae eccle — Incarnat. Dnice Anno, M''c°x°xxvii. 
 
 The second specimen, in the same plate, is taken from a Bull of pope 
 Gregory IX. dated in the tenth year of his Pontificate, a. d. 1237, grant- 
 ing to the abbot and convent of Quarrer, in the Isle of Wight, the liberty 
 of choosing their own confessor. 
 
 Gregorius Episcopus servus servornm Dei. Dilectis 
 filiis Abbati et Conventui de Quarraria 
 Cistercien. Ord. Wintonien Dio . 
 salutem et Apostolicam benedictionem — Dat. 
 Interam vi. Ki. Feb Pontificat. nri Anno decimo. 
 
 The third specimen is taken from a Bull of Benedict XII. dated at 
 Avignon, in the third year of his Pontificate, a.d. 1337- 
 
 Benedictus Epus servus servo? Dei. Carissimo in 
 Xp5 filio Edwardo Regi Anglie illustf. salt, et 
 
 Ap' licam benedictionem Dat. Avinion ii. Id. 
 
 Martii Pontificatus nostri Anno tertio. 
 
 The fourth specimen is taken from a Bull of Martin III. dated in 1428. 
 
 Martinus Eps servus servorum Dei. Venerabili Fratri Archiepo 
 
 Eboracen salt, et Dat. Rom. apud sanctos Apostolos viii. Ki. 
 
 Julii Pontificatus nri Anno Undecimo. 
 
 The fifth specimen is taken from a Bull of pope Gregory XIII. dated 
 at Rome in 1575, appointing Patrick Laccnan titular bishop of Dromore, 
 in Ireland. 
 
 Dat. Rome apud Sanctum Petrum Anno Incarnationis Dnice Millesimo Quin- 
 gentesimo Septuagesimo Quinto. Decimo Kal. Februarij Pontificatus nri Anno 
 Quarto. 
 
 About the year 1450, a more strong and durable hand was used in Italy 
 for Bulls, and other instruments, which issued from the Roman Chancery, 
 
IT I. J.M :P a P All U IM 
 
 yP//^ XXV II J. jj. /.J'<y. 
 
 I i 
 
 1 
 
 7\ 
 
 I 
 
 '/ 
 
 L^)( 
 
 
 / 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 uw 
 
 71 
 
 i 
 
 Z' JS 
 
 Iffl/ 
 
 /IT 
 
 rr 
 
 L^ 
 
 n 
 
 , Ut-^^-t — ^\X]'jj\jf^x<:^Ybxsc 
 
 Lenent 
 
 A 
 
 J 
 
 \ 
 
 tion^ 
 
 / lu— u u ^ u.v/y«^ i^yyv^ i"*"' ^-- — -^ corioruvt'. rcu^volas perjond-^ 
 
 
 
 </ 
 
 D 
 
 erutis 
 
 V 
 
 
 uG - Ibbs 
 
 sctj 
 
 y (L o uu entvij ^QLti aitcoa Cv 
 
 
 
 
 rtei)( 
 
 v'] RT reb^. 'pomtKmr— ian Q^ 
 
 ruj 
 
 nuo 
 
 ^""S- 
 
 eamo. 
 
 Saic.:XIII. 
 
 o 
 
 cmiu^ 
 
 imo n 
 
 1 - ^ 
 
 
 ( 
 
 C^ba^T^ miau 
 
 4 
 
 ^i-tnnity Cf^ 
 
 -/ 
 
 eruu^ jcnrt^oxf ^ij iJ^C^cx^cim^X fvt^tvl 
 
 Ax'Anc 
 
 TOVil CtMl 
 
 "^i^rtir ct 
 
 J- 
 
 
 JLim,.pna& /"-'''>^ 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 159 
 
 different from those used before that period, and similar to those in the 
 fifth specimen, in the twenty-eighth plate. All the specimens in this 
 plate, except the first, are from the originals in my library. 
 
 This kind of writing was in use among the 
 
 Running-hand. „ i ^.u r ^.u i. •? i. 
 
 Romans, so early as the fourth century, if not 
 
 sooner. The learned editors of the Nouveau Traitd de Diplomatique* 
 
 have given us a number of authentic documents in proof of this fact, but 
 
 it appears to have been generally current in the eighth century. It 
 
 experienced the fate of their capitals and small letters, and suffered 
 
 various changes, according to the taste of the times, and genius of the 
 
 people, by whom it was adopted. 
 
 The Lombardic running-hand may be considered as a branch of the 
 Roman, modelled after that used in the sixth and seventh centuries. 
 There is a striking resemblance between the Lombardic and Merovingian 
 running hands. Lombardic characters are still to be seen in some char- 
 ters of the thirteenth century, even in Germany. 
 
 The affinity between the Roman, Lombardic, and the Merovingian 
 running-hands is so great, that they may be considered as one ; all the 
 difference consists in some few alterations, that time produces in every 
 mode of writing in different countries. The shades, by which they are 
 distinguished, were introduced after the middle of the sixth century. The 
 Merovingian continued from the middle of the seventh century, to the 
 reign of Pepin the Short, when it became more delicate, and less intricate. 
 
 The Saxon running-hand derived its origin likewise from the Roman. 
 It was already formed in the eighth century, and prevailed in England 
 until the eleventh, when it was superseded by the Norman or French 
 mode of writing, as has been already shewn. 
 
 The Visi-Gothic running-hand may have been distinguished from the 
 Roman, so early as the sixth century, but there are no examples prior to 
 the seventh. It continued until the thirteenth. 
 
 The Caroline running-hand is no more than a continuation of the Me- 
 rovingian. It first made its appearance in the eighth century, and was lost 
 among the small Roman letters in the twelfth. It experienced many ad- 
 vantageous, as well as many disadvantageous changes, at different periods. 
 
 * Vol. iii. chap. xi. p. 621, et seqq. 
 
160 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 The Capetian running-band bears a great resemblance to the Caroline, 
 under the first kings, of the third race in France, and even during part of 
 the reign of Robert II. In the eleventh century, its long sharp strokes 
 and flourishes, especially in mss. were the only marks of distinction, 
 between it, and the small letters of mss. In the twelfth century, it was 
 very rarely used, and gave way to small letters, almost on every occasion. 
 In the thirteenth century, it was lost in the Gothic small hand. 
 
 The running-hand practised in Germany was not so free and expedi- 
 tious, as the writings of Italy and France, but partook more of the small 
 corrupted Roman letters. 
 
 Several specimens of the different kinds of running-hand abovemen- 
 tioned, are given in the twenty-ninth plate. The. firstspecimen of Roman 
 running-hand is taken from a grant made to the church of Ravenna in the 
 sixth century ; it is written on Papyrus, and is engraven in the Nouveau 
 Traits de Diplomatique,^ and is to be read, 
 
 ^ In Christi nomine adqu'istus optionum e VIco Mediolan huic Chartulae dona- 
 tionis — portion! s. 
 
 The »^ at the beginning, stands for I. C. N {Li Christi Nomine), and this 
 we consider as one of the first Monograms, which we find in any charter. 
 
 MoNo&RAMS were used by the Roman Pontiff's and by sovereign, 
 princes on the Continent in very early times. They served the purpose 
 of royal signatures, though they were not written by the sovereigns them- 
 selves. A monogram, was a character composed of the several letters of 
 the name of the person who made any grant. Many of them are engraven 
 in Du Cange's Glossary, and in other works. 
 
 Monograms are not found in the charters or other instruments of the 
 kings of England to which their seals were appendant. From the time 
 of Edward the Confessor our monarchs spoke by their seals alone. After 
 the reign of king Richard the Second, royal signatures, since called signs 
 manual, because they were signed by the hand of the king himself, came 
 into use. The signature of Edward the Fourth, Richard the Third, and 
 Henry the Seventh, may be called monograms, although those princes 
 sometimes wrote their names at length ; but monograms were less used 
 
 a Tom. iii. pi. 6^, p. 62,6, et seqq. The original is preserved in a chrystal vase in the Vatican 
 library. It is said to have been written in the sixth year of the Post Consulate of Paulinus the 
 younger, which was in the year 540. 
 
U N W I W G H A N li 
 
 7'^f/>.JiXIKj>^0.- 
 
 
 pyYVmguC' Tntzyiu yt] 
 
 
 K 
 rf 
 
 Z^- .»,..,/. -<-.'•. 
 
CHAP. V. OF WRITING. 16L 
 
 in England, by the sovereigns or by their subjects, than in any other 
 country. See two plates of signatures of the kings of England in the 
 Antiquarian Repertory, vol. ii. London, 1779? 4to. 
 
 The second specimen is taken from a charter of the sixth century, 
 engraven from the sixty-fourth plate of the work last mentioned. 
 
 Notitia testium id est armatus V.D. schol. & coll . . . that is to say^ Vir Devotus 
 Scholaris et collectarius. There are many Sigla in this charter. 
 
 The third number contains a specimen of Lombardic running-hand, 
 which is taken from a charter of Grimoaldus, duke of Benevento, dated 
 in the fifth year of his reign, which was in the year 795- 
 
 In Nomine Domini Dei Jesu Christie nos vir gloriosissimus Grimoaldus Dei 
 providentia .... 
 
 The fourth number contains a specimen of Merovingian running-hand, 
 which is taken from a decree of Childebert III. in the year 703. 
 
 I. C. N. Childebertus Rex Francoriim Vir inluster cum nos in Dei nomine Carra- 
 ciaco Villa Grimoaldo majorem Domus nostri una cum nostris .... 
 
 The fifth number is in the Caroline running-hand, and is taken from 
 a charter of Charlemagne to the church of St. Marcellus, at Chalons. 
 
 I. C. N. Carolus gratia Dei Rex Francorum— quidem clemenciae cunctorum decet 
 accommodare aure benigna precipue quibus. 
 
 By this charter it appears, that good Latin and orthography were at 
 this time banished from charters and legal instruments ; aure henigna for 
 aiirem benignam. 
 
 The sixth number contains a specimen of the Capetian running-hand, 
 which is nothing more than the Caroline degenerated ; and is taken from 
 a fragment of a charter of the year 988, in favour of the abbey of St. 
 Colomb, at Sens. 
 
 In eisdem degentium orem (aurem) nostre celsitudinis impendimus regium procul 
 dubio exercemus munus . . . 
 
 This kind of French writing was not used in charters after the reign 
 of Robert,'' when they substituted small letters, which differed from those 
 
 •" Robert II. king of France, who died in 1033. 
 
162 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. v. 
 
 used in mss. by the tops being flourished, and the tails lengthened ; these 
 last were also lost in the modern Gothic in the thirteenth century. 
 
 The seventh number contains a specimen of German writing, which par- 
 takes so little of the freedom of running-hand, that it scarcely deserves the 
 name ; it is taken from the end of a charter of the emperor Conrad the 
 first, dated in the year 914, to the abby of St. Emraeran, at Ratisbon. 
 
 Et ut hoc complacitationis preceptum firmum stabileque permaneat manu nostra 
 subtus illud firinavimus Anulique nostri .... 
 
 The Visigothic running-hand prevailed longer in Spain, than in the 
 rest of Europe, for it was not till the latter end of the eleventh century, 
 that Alphonsus VI. introduced the French mode of writing into the king- 
 doms of Castile and Leon. 
 
 That the Roman running-hand was the source, from whence all national 
 variations of that kind of writing flowed, is obvious from the mixture of 
 Roman, Lombardic, Visigothic, Merovingian and Saxon letters, which 
 appear in the most ancient documents ; nay the resemblance is sometimes 
 so strong between them, that it is not easy to form a distinction. 
 
 The Roman running-hand experienced great alterations from one 
 age to another, especially that kind, which was used in the courts of 
 justice ; those alterations were more conspicuous after the sixth century ; 
 then, it seemed to degenerate into the Lombardic and Merovingian. 
 The latter, if the characters are strongly marked, must be at least of the 
 eighth century : when it is closely linked and complicated, it goes as far 
 back as the seventh. From the end of the eighth to the beginning of the 
 twelfth it approaches nearer to the small Roman letters. 
 
 There are two kinds of Lombardic running-hand, ancient and modern ; 
 the former is distinguished by long heads and tails, the latter is thicker. 
 From the tenth century it assumed a form, that led directly to the 
 modern Gothic. 
 
 The MSS. and Charters of the ninth and tenth centuries exhibit many 
 traces of Roman running-hand ; such appearances after the eleventh 
 would make them suspicious, but manuscripts in running-hand of the 
 ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, are not easily distinguished. 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. 163 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF CHARACTERS AND SIGNS. 
 
 OF THE CHINESE CHARACTERS — OP SIGLA OR LITERARY SIGNS 
 
 OP NOT^ USEB BY SHORT-HAND WRITERS OP THE VARIOUS 
 
 MODES OP SECRET WRITING. 
 
 XT has already been shewn, that all Symbols whatever are significant only 
 by compact or agreement, but it is to be observed, that these symbols 
 or marks are different in their operations. The Chinese Characters, which 
 are by length of time become symhoUc, were originally imitative f they 
 still partake so much of their original hieroglyphic nature that they do 
 not combine into words, like letters or marks for sounds, but we find one 
 mark for a man, another for a horse, a third for a dog, and, in short, a 
 separate and distinct mark for each thing which hath a corporeal form. 
 They are under a necessity of making separate marks for each district 
 and town. It is obvious that these marks must be exceedingly numer- 
 ous ; but how greatly must they be multiplied by the absolute necessity 
 of describing the properties and qualities of things ! 
 
 The Chinese also use a great number of marks intirely of a symbolic 
 nature, to impress on the eye, the conceptions of the mind, which have 
 no corporeal forms ; though they do not combine these last marks into 
 words, like marks for sounds or letters, but a separate mark is made to 
 represent or stand for each idea ; and they use them in the same manner 
 as they do their abridged picture-characters ; which, as has been observed, 
 wxre originally imitative or hieroglyphic. 
 
 The Chinese characters, according to some of their writers, amount 
 to twenty-five thousand ; to thirty or forty thousand according to others ; 
 but the later writers say, they amount to eighty thousand, although he 
 
 "^ Many of the original imitative characters of the Chinese, are to be found in Du Haide's 
 History of China; and several plates of them are engraven in the 59th vol. of the Philosophical 
 Transactions. 
 
164 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 is reckoned a very learned man, who is master of fifteen or twenty thou- 
 sand. The Chinese doctors, in order to facilitate the reading of their 
 language, have compiled lexicons and vocabularies, in which their variety 
 of characters is ranked in several classes. They have also keys to their 
 characters, which are divided into different classes : these keys are two 
 hundred and fourteen in number, and contain the general outlines of the 
 characters used in each class of writing ; thus, for instance, every thing 
 that relates to heaven, earth, mountain, man, horse, Sec. is to be looked for 
 under the character of heaven, earth, mountain, man, horse, &c.'^ 
 
 The most ancient characters of the Chinese are called Kou Ouen, and 
 are nearly hieroglyphic' They have no distinct knowledge of the invention 
 of writing ; one of their books mentions, that Fou hi, introduced eight 
 Koua or elementary characters for affairs of state, these put an end to 
 the use of knots upon cords, which had till that time been used. 
 
 A book called Tsee hio loang tsin, divides the Chinese characters into 
 six sorts, Liesu — y. The first is called Siang hing, which are true pictures 
 of sensible things. 
 
 The second is called Tchi che, or the indication of the thing, which 
 is made by an addition to the symbol. 
 
 The third is called Hoei-y, i. e. junction of ideas, or association, and 
 consists in joining to express a thing, which neither the one or the other 
 signifies separately. For example, they express misfortune by a character 
 which signifies house, and by another which denotes Jire, because the 
 greatest misfortune which can befall a man, is to have his house on fire. 
 
 The fourth is called Kiai-in, which is, explication, or expression of the 
 sound. 
 
 The fifth is called Kiai-sie, idea, or metaphor, which hath opened an 
 immense field to the manner of making use of their marks or characters : 
 by virtue of the Kia-sie, one character is sometimes taken for another ; 
 chosen to express a proper name ; turned aside to a sense allegorical, 
 metaphorical, or ironical ; and pushed even to an antiphrasis, in giving 
 it a sense opposite to that wherein it is employed elsewhere. 
 
 •^ One of these vocabularies is in my library. The imitative character is placed first, and the 
 corresponding or arbitrary mark opposite to it, so that they explain each other. 
 
 ' See these characters in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lix. plate 34, et seqq. ib. p. 494, 
 et seqq. 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. l65 
 
 The sixth is called Tchouen-Tchou, i. e. developement, explication, 
 which consists only in extending the primitive sense of a character or in 
 making detailed applications of it. Thus the same character is sometimes 
 verb or adverb, sometimes adjective or substantive : these six Liesii-y 
 above described, are the sources from whence flow all the characters of 
 the Chinese. 
 
 There are five different kinds of writing practised by the Chinese. The 
 first and most ancient is called Kou-ouen, which is of the hieroglyphic 
 kind, but hath long been obsolete ; the second Tchoang-tsec (also read 
 Tchoven-tsee) succeeded the Kou-ouen, and lasted even to the end of the 
 dynasty of the Tcheou. It was this which was in use from the time of 
 Confucius ; and of which the abbreviations and various readings have 
 been most fatal. The third Li-tsee began under the reign of Chi-hoang-ti, 
 the founder of the dynasty of the Tsin, and the great enemy of letters 
 and of learned men. The fourth, Hing-chou, is destined for impression, 
 as with us the Roman and Italic. The fifth sort, Tsao-tsee, was invented 
 under the Han. 
 
 This last is a kind of writing with the stroke of a pencil with a very 
 light and well experienced hand: but it disfigures the characters beyond 
 expression. It is only used for the prescriptions of Physicians, prefaces 
 to books, inscriptions of fancy, &c. 
 
 We agree with Dr. Warburton, that the Chinese are no Philosophers, 
 or they would have endeavoured to have Improved the two most useful 
 arts in life, speaking and writing : what some of the Jesuits heve said, con- 
 cerning the wonderful learning of the Chinese may justly be doubted •/ 
 for though they have some mechanic arts, and although the populousness 
 and vast extent of their country have obliged them to establish an exact 
 police, and to study the rules of good government, they are far from 
 being men of science ; they have till of late years been ignorant of the 
 principles of perspective, as their paintings evince. 
 
 It should seem, that it is a part of the civil and religious policy of the 
 Chinese still to adhere to their ancient usage of a multitude of marks for 
 
 f Du Halde, who was himself a Jesuit, differs in his account of the Chinese from several 
 of his brethren, for he tells us that they knew very little of the problems of geometry, and 
 Reriaudot says, that when the Jesuits explained to them the demonstrations of Euclid, they ad- 
 mired them as things altogether new to them. 
 
166 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 things ; for they must have seen the books dispersed in their country by 
 the missionaries for propagating the Gospel, and other works, which are 
 composed in elementary characters. 
 
 Thus it has been sufficiently shewn, that marks for words like the 
 Chinese must be very numerous ; and we have in a former chapter demon- 
 strated, that marks for sounds are very few ; but these last are capable of 
 such an infinity of combinations, that they answer every purpose of a 
 multitude of marks or characters.*' 
 
 The ('hinese books begin from the right hand ; their letters are 
 placed in perpendicular columns, of which there are generally ten in a 
 page ; they are read downwards, beginning from the right hand side of 
 the paper. Sometimes a title is placed horizontally, and this is likewise 
 read from the right hand. 
 
 OF SIGLA, OR LITERARY SIGNS. 
 
 -A. COMPETENT knowledge of the literary sigris, or verbal contractions 
 used by the ancients, is of the utmost importance to those who wish to 
 be familiarly acquainted with ancient history. These Sigla or Signs, 
 frequently appear on marbles, coins, and medals, and occur in those 
 inestimable volumes of antiquity, which have transmitted to us the most 
 important truths relative to the religion, manners, customs, arts, and 
 sciences, of ancient nations. These are keys, as it were, to unlock the 
 most precious volumes of antiquity ; they introduce us to a more speedy 
 acquaintance with all the various works of ancient artists and writers. 
 
 £ The Chinese language is very singular^ nor is any like it to be found on the globe; it 
 contains but about three hundred and thirty words: from hence the Europeans have con- 
 cluded that it is barren, monotone, and hard to understand, but they ought to know that 
 the four accents called p!72g uni (even) cluing eleve (raised) kiu diminue (lessened) joii ren- 
 trant (returning), multiply almost every word into four^ by an inflexion of voice, which it is 
 as difficult to make an European understand, as it is for a Chinese to comprehend the six pro- 
 nunciations of the French E ; their accents do yet more, they give harmony and pointed 
 cadence to the most ordinary phrases. It appears surprising that the Chinese, who have 
 nothing but irionosyllables in their language, should be able to express every difl^erent idea 
 and sensation which they can conceive; but they so diversify these monosyllables by the difl^erent 
 tones which they give them, that the same character differently accented signifies sometimes ten 
 or more different things. It is in this way that they in some degree supply the poverty of their 
 articulation (which is very great), and their want of composition. 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. 167 
 
 The instruction to be derived from this branch of polite learning, is of itself 
 a sufficient spur to stimulate attention and industry; but its utility, which 
 is no less obvious, is an additional incentive to augment our application 
 and desires, when we consider that there are no ancient documents, either 
 on metals, marbles, precious stones, bark, parchment, paper, or other mate- 
 rials, which do not abound with these literary contractions, and that it will 
 be very difficult to understand them without this necessary knowled<ye. 
 
 Many writers have employed their pens 
 Coins and medals. . , . , . , . , . , 
 
 m elucidatmg this subject ; among others, 
 
 Octavius de Strada /// Aurea Ninnismata, &c. where we read C. Cjiisae. 
 
 Divi. T. IMP. Cos. III. Vm R. P. C. that is. Cams Ccesar BiviJiUus im- 
 
 perator consul Triumvir reipicblicce constituendce. A number of similar 
 
 examples may be found in the same author, and in TEneas J'icus Parmoi- 
 
 sis de Auo;ustarum imu^inibus. 
 
 On medals and coins A frequently occurs for Aulus, A. F. for Auli 
 Jilius, A. L. for Auli Ubertus. A or An for Annis, Annos, or Annum, &c. 
 To avoid prolixity, the reader is referred to the alphabetical table of John 
 Xicolaus from p. 123 to 146 inclusive, and Gobu de Numismat. Antiqu. 
 Voillant. Prideaux on Osconian Marbles. Occonis Numismata. Sertorius 
 Ursatus. Selden's Titles of Honour, ^-c. 
 
 The practice of impressing literary signs on coins has been constantly 
 preserved to the present times. The medals or coins of the Grecian princes, 
 and of the Roman emperors, had their effigies and titles on one side, and 
 some hieroglyphical, emblematic, or historical representation on the other. 
 Their names were generally expressed by single letters, to which their 
 offices or principal dignities were annexed ; for example, on those of Julius 
 Caesar, we frequently read this inscription, C. IMP. quart. Augue Pont. 
 J\Ias. Cos. Quart. Dict. quart, that is, Ccesar Imperator quartum Augur 
 Pontifex Maximus Consul quartum Dictator quartum. The first word gives 
 the name, then follow the dignities and offices he possessed ; that is, he 
 was four times Augur, Supreme Pontiff, Consul, and Dictator. 
 
 In like manner we find impressed on the coins of Augustus, the 
 following literary signs. Aug. C. Divi. F. Imp. Augur Pont III Vir. 
 R. P. C. for Augustus Ccesaris Divi J uUi Jilius, Imperator, Augur, Pontifex, 
 Triumvir reipublicce constituendce ; and in short on most of the ancient coins 
 and medals we find names, titles, and epithets. 
 
168 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 It is observable, that Julius Ctesar was the first who had his image with 
 the title of perpetual dictator impressed on the Roman coin ; this honour 
 was conferred on him by a senatorial decree after the battle of Pharsalia. 
 His example was followed b}'^ Augustus and other emperors. Sometimes 
 two heads were stamped upon their coins, denoting they had a partner 
 in their dignity ; as appears from the coin of Constant. II. with his own 
 head, and that of his son Constantino ; and from that of another Constan- 
 tine, bearing his own with the image of his mother. Not only images, 
 but likewise surnames, titles, or epithets, such as pii/s, felix, Sec, were 
 impressed on coins. Some of the Christian emperors from motives of zeal 
 inscribed those honours to Christ. John Zimisces was the first who in- 
 troduced the custom, and impressed upon the coin, I.H.S. X.P.S. 
 
 The different oflfices had their particular inscriptions on Roman coins or 
 medals. Such as III viii or triumvirs. In the Cornelian family were to 
 be seen II virs and III virs of the colonies ; but on the imperial coins none 
 but the greater dignities appeared, such as Augur and Chief Pontiff, denot- 
 ing that the emperors by virtue of those offices had the supreme autho- 
 rity in all matters of religion. This dignity was enjoyed by the emperors 
 from the time of Augustus to the days of Gratian ; who laid it aside in 
 the latter part of his reign. The remarkable actions of the emperors were 
 sometimes either simply or figuratively impressed on coins and medals ; 
 as that of Trajan crowning the king of the Parthians, with these words, 
 Rex Parthis dedit. The principal virtues of the emperors were sometimes 
 celebrated on coins, as, Moderationi, Clementice, Justitice, &c. &c. It 
 would require a volume to enumerate all the particulars that relate to 
 this subject : an ample account may be found in Selden de titulis honor. 
 The inscriptions on the coins of the different states of Europe nearly 
 resemble those of the Romans, from whom the custom was borrowed. 
 
 As to epitaphs or sepulchral inscriptions. 
 Epitaphs and other 
 SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS. ^^ '^'^' commou to bcgiu them with these 
 
 literary signs, D.M.S. signifying Diis Ma- 
 nibm Sacrum, and, as still is customary with us on such occasions, the 
 glorious actions, praises, origin, age, and rank of the deceased, with the 
 time of his death, were set forth. 
 
 Sepulchral inscriptions were in use with the people of all nations, and 
 abounded with literary signs or abbreviations ; various examples of which 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. 169 
 
 may be seen in John Nicholaus's Treatise de .Si »■ /is Veterum, (p. 216, 217,) 
 and in his Alphabetical Table of Sepulchral literary contractions, (ibid. 
 p. 220.) 
 
 After the establishment of Christianity those, who professed that doc- 
 trine, though they continued the practice of literary signs, or verbal con- 
 tractions,deviated however from the Pagan form, and instead of the D.M.S. 
 or Diis Manihus Sacrum, or I.O.M.S. Jovi Optimo Maximo Sacrum, made 
 use of D.O.M.S. that is, Beo Optimo Maximo Sacrum. The general con- 
 clusion of almost all Christian monumental inscriptions is, Requiescat in 
 pace. They sometimes began with, Hie requiescit in pace. A table of 
 various literary signs found on Christian sepulchres may be seen in John 
 Nicholaus's de Siglis Veterum, (p. 248, <^ seq.) 
 
 It is a fact too well known to require any 
 Of literabt Signs ,. , ^ ■^ ^- ^^ ^ ■, 
 
 ON Sepulchrai; Urns. Particular elucidation, that it was customary 
 
 with the ancients to burn the bodies of the 
 
 dead, and to deposit the remains in urns or vessels, as appears from the 
 
 funeral obsequies of Patroclus and Achilles in Homer ; and numberless 
 
 other instances are to be found scattered in various Greek and Roman 
 
 authors. Of those vessels there were two kinds, the one called Ossuaria, 
 
 which contained the larger bones, and the other Cineraria, in which they 
 
 deposited the lesser, with the ashes. 
 
 Without dwelling upon a matter, that does not immediately concern 
 this part of our subject, which is principally confined to the literary in- 
 scriptions on urns, we shall proceed in our remarks on them. Those who 
 wish for particular information on the subject, will find it by consulting 
 Sir Thomas Brown de Hydriotaphia, or Urn Burial, and the Monumenta 
 Illustrium, published at Francfort, by S. Feirabendt, 1585. 
 
 Urns were marked with literary signs and images, whence expert antiqua- 
 ries are oftentimes enabled to discover the artist by whom they were formed, 
 and their antiquity, as we are told by Pliny in his preface to his Natural 
 History ; and Martial says, lib. 9- Epig. xlv. that statuaries, and other 
 artists, frequently inscribed their names on their works. Hence we learn that 
 inscriptions were usual on urns. V.S.L.M. is sometimes found upon sepul- 
 chral vessels, those literary signs are put for, Votiim solvit luhens merito. 
 
 Those, who dedicated urns to their relations and friends, marked them 
 
 z 
 
170 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 frequently with some of the following literary signs, Mar. Oil. D. Marito 
 ollam dedit. O.E. Ollam emit. 0.0. Olla Ossuaria. O.D.A.V. Olla data 
 a viro. 
 
 The Lachrymatories of the ancients bore also similar characters, and 
 were frequently deposited with the sepulchral urns. 
 
 Altars erected to the Supreme Being are of the 
 Of Altars. , . , ,•■,,, i ^ i •.■ i 
 
 highest antiquity, but by the ambition and corruption 
 
 of mankind were afterwards prostituted to flatter both the living and the 
 dead. Inscriptions, or literary signs, frequently appeared on those altars ; 
 as Ar. Don. D. that is, Aram dono dedit, and such like. Those altars were 
 often raised over, or placed near sepulchres, as may be seen in the ninety- 
 sixth letter of Seneca, where he mentions the altar erected to Scipio 
 Africanus. To avoid prolixity the reader is referred for a more ample 
 detail on this subject to John Nicholaus de Siglis Veterum, from p. 26l 
 to 264 ; Gruter's Inscriptions ; and Horsley's Britannia Ro7na?ia. 
 
 Public Statues were erected to kings, em- 
 
 Of literary Signs i ^v u ^t, u r ^ cl 
 
 c. perors, and others, both before and after 
 
 INSCRIBED ON STATUES. , . , , 
 
 their death, on which the names of the dedi- 
 cators were frequently inscribed in literary signs. As in this inscription. 
 Civ. Interamnanffi Civ. Utriusque Sex. Aer. Coll. Post Ob. H.P.D. that 
 is. Gives Tnteramnance civitatis utriusque sexus cere collato post ohitum hitjus 
 patrona dedicarunt. From the following literary signs, S.P.P.P.S.C. that 
 is, sua propria pecunia poni sibi curavit, we may know that the statue was 
 at the expence of the person to whom it was erected. 
 
 Pliny, in his thirty-fourth book, tells us, that in the infancy of Rome 
 the kings erected statues to themselves ; but, after they were expelled, 
 the Senate and People only had the power of conferring such honours. 
 This privilege continued in the possession of the Senate until the time of 
 the emperors. We frequently read in the inscriptions on public statues 
 those literary signs, S.P.Q.R.D. that is, Se7iatus Fopulusque Uomanus 
 decrevit. Relations or friends of deceased persons sometimes obtained 
 leave to erect statues to their memory. There were no statues, either 
 public or private, which had inscriptions, but what consisted at least in 
 part of literary signs. This is a fact so well known, that it is unnecessary 
 to expatiate further on it. 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. 171 
 
 ^ „ The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans used 
 
 Epistolary Signs, n ^ 1 i- i- 
 
 OR VERBAL CONTRACTIONS. *°^™^ °* saluting or Complimentary ex- 
 pressions at the beginning of their letters, 
 and then proceeded to the subject of the letters themselves. 
 
 The Latin method was to place the name of the writer first, afterwards 
 that of the person to whom the letter was addressed. The names were 
 either put simply without any epithet in literary signs, as, C. Att. S, that 
 is, Cicero Attico Sainton ; or the dignity or rank of the person was added ; 
 as, C.S.D. Plane. Imp. Cos. Des. that is, Cicero Salutem dicit Flanco Im- 
 peratori Consuli designato. The epistolary writings of the Romans abound 
 with examples of this kind. The epistles of Cicero in particular are full 
 of them ; he often added words expressive of tenderness and affection to 
 his wife, and other relations, that correspond with our vernacular terms, 
 dear, affectionate, &c. 
 
 The first part of the body of the letter generally consisted of literary 
 signs, as, S.V.G.E.V. that is. Si vales gaudeo, ego valeo. S.T.E.T.L. 
 N.V.E.E. Sua. C.V. that is, Si tu et Tullia Lux Nostra Valetis, ego et 
 suavissimiis Cicero valerniis. Roman epistles generally concluded with the 
 word Vale alone, or joined with some other expressions, — jBene Vale, Mi 
 Frater vale, and the like. Those words were either written at full length, 
 or in their initials only. 
 
 The literary signs used by the Hebrews in their epistolary writings are 
 expressive of peace, health, honour, and other friendly wishes to those 
 to whom their letters were addressed ; in the conclusion they prayed for 
 those friends, and sometimes used the most abject terms of humiliation, 
 as. Sic est precatio minimi discipulorum vermiculi Jacobi jilii, R. Isaac. 
 Their manner of dating their letters was nearly in the same order as is 
 practised with us. These signs are more fully explained by Buxtorff, in 
 Instit. Epistolari Hebraica, \629- 
 
 In juridical matters, the initials of words were frequently used by the 
 ancients for the words themselves. Thus in criminal causes of impor- 
 tance the Roman judges had three tablets given them, on each of which 
 was marked either the letter A, signifying acquittal or absolution; the 
 letter C, expressing condemnation or guilt ; or the letters N. L. implying 
 Nonliquet, that is, the matter is not clear. According as which kind of 
 those tablets was found most numerous in the urn, in which they were 
 
172 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 dropped by the judges, the criminal was either acquitted, condemned, or 
 brought to a new trial. 
 
 The practice of substituting letters for words in law-books was of very 
 pernicious tendency; it occasioned such frequent chicanery and evasion, 
 that the emperor Justinian and others prohibited it under severe penalties. 
 
 It would be an endless task to enumerate all the various contractions 
 used by the ancients, such as A for Augustalis, acta, auctoritas, aut 
 apud, &c. B.r.D. for beneficium dedit, B.F. for Bonajide, &c. 
 
 We find Sigla in the most ancient mss. some specimens of such as 
 were used in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, are given at the 
 bottom of the eleventh plate, (see p. 84). Some of these Sigla were made 
 by the Antiquarius who wrote the book, and others afterwards for the 
 illustration of the text. The Sigla in the plate, we are speaking of, may 
 be explained thus ; 
 
 N° I. H. S. i. e. Hie suppleas^ or haec supplenda. 
 
 2. H, D. i. e. Hie defieit, or hsec defieiunt. 
 
 3. Paragraphus. a note of division. 
 
 4. Diple, to mark out a quotation from the Old Testament. 
 
 5. Crisimon, being composed of X and P, which stands for Christ. 
 
 6. Hederacei folii Figura, an ivy leaf^ the ancient mark of division. 
 
 7. Ancora superior. To denote a very remarkable passage. 
 
 8. Denotes, the beginning of a lesson. 
 
 9. Signifies good. 
 
 10. Stands for something very kind, or benevolent. 
 
 11. Points out a fine or admirable passage. 
 13. L. D. lepide dictum. Finely said.'^ 
 
 The Military Sigla amongst the Romans are treated of by Vegetius 
 and Frontinus. 
 
 We quit this part of our subject with regret, but it would exceed the 
 limits of our plan to enter more fully into it ; our readers are therefore 
 referred to John Nicholaus, above mentioned, who hath written profess- 
 edly upon the Sigla of the Ancients.' 
 
 ^ Concerning these kind of notes see Isidor. Hist. Originib. et Etyniolog. lib. i. cap. aa de 
 notis vulgaribus. 
 
 ' J. Nicolai Tractatus de siglis veterum. Lugd. Bat. 1703, 4to. 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. 173 
 
 OF NOT^, OR MARKS USED BY SHORT-HAND WRITERS. 
 
 X HE origin of Notes for expeditious Writing is of very high antiquity : 
 they were known to the Greeks ; and, according to Laertius,'' Xenophon 
 the philosopher was the first of that nation who made use of them. 
 Plutarch fullj'^ explained the nature of these notes, by defining them as 
 signs or minute and short figures having the force of many letters^ Some 
 passages in the letters of Cicero to Atticus furnish additional arguments 
 to demonstrate, that the Romans derived the idea of Short-hand writing 
 from the Greeks, or that the art at least was first known to the latter. 
 
 S. Isidore, the Spaniard, however, and after him Petrus Diaconus," 
 attributes the invention of the first eleven hundred to the learned Ennius. 
 He says, that Tiro afterwards not only invented a greater number, but 
 was likewise the first who regulated the manner of ranging short-hand 
 writing, and the order to be observed in taking down public harangues. 
 Persannius may be deemed a third inventor of notes, as he was the author 
 of such, as expressed prepositions. Others were added by Philargirus, 
 and Aquila the freedman of Mecenas ; and Seneca augmented the num- 
 ber to five thousand. 
 
 The most general opinion is, that Tully first made use of notes or 
 short-hand writing in Rome, when Cato made an oration in order to 
 oppose the measures of Julius Csesar relative to the conspiracy of Catiline. 
 Cicero, who was at that time Consul, placed Notarii, or expert short- 
 hand writers, in different parts of the senate-house to take down the 
 speech ; and this was the first public occasion, which we find recorded, 
 of employing short-hand writers amongst the Romans. It is unnecessary 
 to observe, that hence proceeded the name of notary still in use. 
 
 There were three kinds of notes for short-hand writing used by the 
 ancients, either for dispatch or secrecy. The first and most ancient was 
 that of hieroglyphics, which are rather images or representations of 
 
 '' Vita Xenoph. ]. xi. s. 48. 
 
 ' Plutarch, torn. iv. p. 238, edit. Lond. 
 
 ■" Lib. de Not, Lit. Rom. 
 
174 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 things, than of words. The Chinese characters are of this kind, and may 
 with greater propriety be called Notae than Litterae, as appears from what 
 hath been already advanced. 
 
 The second were called SingularicBy from their expressing words 
 by single letters ; of which we have already spoken. Sertorius Ursatus 
 has compiled a very copious collection of such abbreviations, of which 
 work there are several editions. It is natural to suppose that this kind 
 of notes more generally prevailed with the ancients than any other, on 
 account of their great simplicity and expedition. In the early times, 
 before improvements were made in short-hand writing, it was usual to 
 take down speeches in the senate by writing the initials of all the words ; 
 for this we have the testimony of Valerius Probus : and the same is also 
 confirmed by those verses of Manilius, lib. 4. 
 
 Hie et scriptor erit velox^ cui litera verbum est, 
 Quique notis linguam superet cursumque loquentis 
 Excipiens longas nova per compendia voces. 
 
 The third kind of notes, called Nota. Tironiana, were so called from 
 Tiro, the freed man of Cicero, who was excellently skilled in this art ; 
 and it is to him that we are indebted for the preservation of Cicero's letters, 
 of which a great part still remain, and of them one intire book written to 
 Tiro himself. This excellent person was trained up in Cicero's family 
 among the rest of his young slaves, and made great progress in every kind 
 of useful and polite learning : being a youth of singular parts and industry, 
 he soon became an eminent scholar, and was extremely serviceable to his 
 master in all his affairs both civil and domestic. Tully speaks very re- 
 spectfully of him in his letters to Atticus ; and in his letters to Tiro him- 
 self." It is very apparent that notes, as they are found in ancient writings, 
 
 ° This letter shews not only how^ Tiro was beloved by his master, but how necessary he was 
 to him, and therefore Dr. Middleton's elegant translation is subjoined. 
 
 M. T. Cicero, to Tmo. 
 (Ep. Fam. i6. p. i.) 
 "I thought that I should have been able to bear the want of you more easily; but in 
 ''truth I cannot bear it: and though it is of great importance to my expected honour to 
 ''be at Rome as soon as possible, yet I seem to have committed a sin, when I left you. 
 ''But since you were utterly against proceeding in the voyage till your health was con- 
 " firmed, I approved your resolution; nor do I now think otherwise if you continue in 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. 175 
 
 were not invented either at one time, or by one person ; this may be seen 
 from various notes being made to express the same letter. Hence we may 
 presume, that notes were first used in an arbitrary manner, and that it 
 was some time before rules were laid down, or any formal system was 
 adopted for this kind of writing. 
 
 From books it appears, that notes were very frequent among the Ro- 
 mans, and that they continued in use to the tenth and eleventh centuries. 
 The emperors used them as well as their subjects ; they were taught in 
 the public schools ; and that they were used in examining criminals and 
 persons accused, as well as in the sentences of judges, hath been already 
 shewn, and additional instances may be gathered from the acts of the 
 Christian Martyrs. 
 
 We have indeed but few books remaining that are written in short- 
 hand, but this is not surprising, when such was the unhappy situation of 
 the early ages, that either superstition condemned them to the flames as 
 the works of impious magicians or necromancers, or they were left to be 
 devoured by vermin through ignorance and stupidity ; which was so very 
 great, that some people, as Trithemius affirms, looked upon notes in 
 those days as the elements of the Armenian language. It is probable 
 however, that there are writings of this sort still extant, which might con- 
 tribute to enrich the republic of letters. 
 
 "the same mind. But after you have begun to take meat again, if you think that you 
 " shall be able to overtake me, that is left to your consideration. I have sent Mario to 
 "■you with instructions, either to come vi^ith you to me as soon as you can, or if you 
 " should stay longer, to return instantly without you. Assure yourself however of this, 
 " that, as far as it can be convenient to your health, I wish nothing more than to have 
 "you with me; but if it be necessary for the perfecting your recovery, to stay a while 
 "longer at Patrce, that I wish nothing more than to have you well. If you sail imme- 
 "diately, you will overtake me at Leucas : but if you stay to establish your health, 
 "take care to have good company, good weather, and a good vessel. Observe this one 
 " thing, my Tiro, if you love me, that neither Mario's coming nor this letter hurry you. 
 "By doing what is most conducive to your health, you will do what is most agreeable 
 "to me: weigh all these things by your own discretion. I want you; yet, so as to love 
 "you; my love makes me wish to see you well; my want of you, to see you as soon 
 "as possible: the first is the better; take care therefore, above all things, to get well again: 
 "of all your innumerable services to me, that will be the most acceptable— The third of Novem- 
 " ber." Middleton's Life of Cicero, vol. ii. p. ^6. 
 
176 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 There are several mss. and instruments written in these kind of Notce, 
 in the Royal library at Paris. In the year 1747, the learned and ingenious 
 Mons. Carpentier, engraved and published at Paris a capitulary, and 
 fifty-four charters of Lewis the Pious, emperor and king of France, writ- 
 ten in these Notae Tironianae." To this work the learned editor hath pre- 
 fixed an Alphahetiim Tironianiim, together with a great number and variety 
 of notes or marks for the diiSerent parts of speech, and rules for acquiring 
 the art of writing in these kind of notes. Valerius Probus in his book, 
 De Uteris antlquis, explains many of the characters used by the short- 
 hand writers ; and there is a dictionary of them set forth by Janus 
 Gruterus. 
 
 In the thirtieth plate I have given a specimen of a ms. in my library, 
 written in very singular Notse or Characters; which seem to have been 
 used partly for expedition, like those now under consideration, and partly 
 for secrecy, like writing in Cypher ; because it should seem as if the 
 numeral characters which are placed from right to left, were to be em- 
 ployed when necessary among the Notae. 
 
 There have been many treatises on short-hand writing, which is now 
 so common, that any mechanic may both invent and write it." 
 
 ° This Lewis succeeded Charlemagnej in the kingdom of France^ in the year 840^ and died 
 in the year 877. 
 
 P In the year 1588, Dr. The. Bright^ a physician of Cambridge, published his Characte- 
 ria, or Art of short, swift, and secret writing. In 1590, Peter Bales published a Treatise on 
 Short-hand writing in his book called, The Writing Schoolmaster. In 1618, John Willis 
 published his Stenography; which was followed by Willoughby's Art of Short Writing 
 in 16^1. In 1633, Henry Dix published a work on Brachygraphy. In 1641, bishop 
 Wilkins published a work called Mercury, &c. Farthing, Ratcliffe, Metcalf, Shelton, and 
 Jeremiah Rich also wrote upon this Art, which last work had great success, for his pen's dex- 
 terity had the approbation of both Universities. Many other authors have also written 
 upon this subject, as Addy, Coles, Bridges, Everard, Heath, Mason, Lane, Weston, Steele, 
 Nicholas, Gurney, Annet, &c. but one of the most approved works on Short-hand writing 
 is that published by Mr. Macauly. 
 
SECRET Writing, 
 
 aP 3 
 
 L^e^.rc:=\\co_j::} Ccj-u^c— A n>cl c 
 L^ L A CO QO_£) c^ cl —A oo q::vcQ 9^^ 
 
 c LA ^ A j3 A QO-i:)^) _c) U ^ Q5 K 
 
 ■7a<SJf.YY./;y,-0' 
 
 Numeral Characters 
 
 / 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 A 
 
 a 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 B 
 
 
 c 
 
 H' 
 
 O 
 
 X 
 
 G 
 
 D 
 
 7 
 
 LJ 
 
 e 
 
 a) 
 
 5 
 
 (^ 
 
 r 
 
 E 
 
 8 
 V 
 
 F 
 
 / 
 
 G 
 
 <9 
 
 V 
 
 A 
 
 q 
 /. 
 
 I I I I I I 
 
 2 Jf'id (na/i h'/n£ on/ud . ita'?^a'nd'm^ ^/ud^ wi^ /le^'^hucs^ (Xitt^^ame ^i4a'nAs^ eiy?tc^-m'u -rno}^ Ae*7n^'^ ■necoTn/?ne'ri 
 
 / 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 A 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 10 
 
 
 Cj 
 
 3\^ 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 CC5 
 
 So 
 
 
 H 
 o 
 
 
 
 (^□3 r^^Tfo.-^ 
 
 ± 
 
 /ie9^ 
 
 
 ■ I T^^tSi/^ 
 
 
 ->n^?i 
 
 (^'7 '-^ 9- (^<{'.-<l i^ 2 : b-y+t -u~ 4^ izf -y 2 : W^ y & t H '^^ (S^ -U. 2 : LO-n -L-.Lf xj-Ai. 
 
 
 occaattan. 
 
 A. r-l ±:S:y .h 10. 6: C) f O M.~yD IT V S : 10 7r4 • C(J 7 S : ^ co A- : (5.1)770 n lO. W. :bq-c.- 
 
 .•^ /oMryDjrV' 
 
 -r^ 
 
 >^s-- 
 
 /(ne 
 
 Se- <^noy!ea!-^^<^ 
 
 ri^n& 
 
 
 ~tric>y'Z'cf<3;^tal 
 
 ^~<yt'c>c 
 
 eLe J)dr^r^}^zcr-o/srDcc>Jc}:>G -yPfp® com: 0-0 <^<!>t5"(9\x4^-3^ 
 
 J^f>n^ma&umt^t. 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING. 177 
 
 OF STEGANOaRAPHY, OR SECRET WRITING-. 
 
 X HE writing used by the Ancients not for expedition but for secrecy 
 was styled enigmatical; one species of it consisted in transposing the 
 letters of the alphabet. Julius Cissar often made use of it in v^riting to 
 his friends. Ovid in all probability alludes to this mode of writino- in 
 his 4th Epistle, where he says, 
 
 His arcana notis terra pelagoque feruntur. 
 
 This species of secret writing is of very great antiquity ; Polybius, who 
 hath given us an exact relation of the knowledge of antiquity in this art," 
 informs us, that ^neas Tactitus, upwards of two thousand years ago, had 
 invented twenty different manners of writing, which were not to be under- 
 stood, except by the parties admitted into the secret. Julius Africanus 
 and Philo-Mechanicus, two ancient Grecians, have likewise treated of 
 this subject ; Gruterus has also given a volume on this head. 
 
 De la Guilletiere, in his Lacedamon, says, that the ancient Spartans 
 were the inventors of writing in cipher. The Scytalce was the first sketch 
 of this art •. these Scytalae were two rollers of wood of equal length and 
 thickness, one of them kept by the Ep/iori, the other by their embassador, 
 or military commander. When any secret orders were to be communi- 
 cated, a slip of parchment was rolled very exactly about the Scytala 
 reserved by the writer, upon which the dispatch was written, which was 
 legible whilst the parchment continued upon the roller, but when it was 
 taken off, the writing was without connection, yet it was easj^ to be read 
 by the person for whom it was intended, upon rolling it round his Scytala. 
 Trithemius improved this art, on which he composed several works. 
 Boville, an ignorant person, and Possevin, wrote books to prove that 
 the works of Trithemius were full of diabolical mysteries. Soon after 
 which Frederick II. Elector Palatine ordered Trithemius's original work, 
 which was in his library, to be burnt. 
 
 Secret characters were used in the ninth century. Specimens of the 
 secret alphabet used by Charlemagne, and also of one from a ms. in the 
 
 q Poliorceticaj Hist. lib. x. 
 
 2a 
 
■v 
 
 178 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 Bodleian library, written in England in the time of king Alfred, and 
 perhaps used by him, are given in plate twenty-six/ 
 
 Several other authors have written upon this subject, as Theodorus 
 Bibliander, Baptista Porta, Isaac Casaubon, Joh. Walipius, G. Vossius, 
 D. Caramuel, Gaspar Schot a German Jesuit, WolfFang, Ernest Eidel ; and 
 one of the dukes of Lunenburgh published a book on secret writing in 1624. 
 Herman Hugo, the Jesuit," our great lord Bacon, and bishop Wilkins, have 
 also treated of this art.' Jaques Gesory hath published the principles of 
 deciphering in the French language. Many examples of Steganography 
 are to be found in the Mathematical Recreations of Ozanam. 
 
 Thuanus informs us, that Vieta, an eminent French Mathematician, 
 was employed by Francis I. in deciphering the intercepted letters of the 
 Spaniards which were written in marks, consisting of upwards of five hun- 
 dred characters, and that he was engaged in this service for upwards of 
 two years, before the Spaniards discovered the matter. 
 
 Several specimens of ciphers used by the English are given in the 
 thirtieth plate. N° 1, is taken from a ms. on vellum in my library, written 
 in the reign of Henry VI. N° 2, is the cipher used by Cardinal Wolsey at 
 the court of Vienna in 1524, and is to be read, 
 
 It is high time on his Ma'^" and my behalfe, with his Grace's condigne thankeSj and my 
 most humble recommendations, yee playnly shew and declare unto the Emperor, what hindrance 
 hath ensued, and dayly doth, unto the common affayres by reason things, &c. 
 
 N 3, is Sir Thomas Ghaloner's cipher from Madrid in 1564. N° 4, is Sir 
 Thomas Smith's cipher from Paris in 1563. N° 5, is that of Sir Edw. Staf- 
 ford from the same place in 1586. Vieta was certainly the most expert 
 person in this art before our Doctor Wallis, who was called the Father of 
 deciphering ; many circumstances concerning his skill in this art are re- 
 lated in his life, in the Biographia Britannica. Mr. Willes, the present 
 decipherer, is possessed of Dr. Wallis's keys and ciphers." 
 
 The mode of secret writing which has been adopted, and which is most 
 
 r Anglo Saxon Gram. p. i68. Franco Teutonic Gram. p. 3. 
 
 s De prima scribendi origine. Antwerp, 1617, 8vo. 
 
 * Mercury, or the Secret and Swift Messenger. Lond. 1641. 
 
 " The late lord Mendip assured me, that the late earl Granville, when Secretary of State, told 
 him, that when he came into office he had his doubts respecting the certainty of decipherino- 
 — That he wrote down two or three sentences in the Swedish language, and afterwards put 
 them into such arbitrary marks or characters, as his mind suggested to him, — That he sent the 
 
Taif.XXXrjziy<9. 
 
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 g) '^'"""^i ± /< S< /. X X X X fcJ:±:^:^&jhi i i if 
 
 ip fiiili iiii iiriMi i in iiiHii iiiTiiii iiiiriiii iiiii'ii/ii iiiiiFiiiii iiiiiliiiiii iiiiiiliiiiii Kiiiii i ii i ni 
 
 
 "b n- Tt 
 
 mr- 
 
 t Tjjian ■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 v:f - ?i , ^ , 
 
 : ^^^ 1 fi ii i ii^^^ . ^ 1 . . v% -Ht 
 
 ^;;;^-^ 1 11 
 
 T*>- o 
 
 II lll.llt. 
 
 T I I I I G , IIII 
 
 t:^^^^^ II \\\ .^tt 
 
 
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 7e- 
 
 maiia ele"P7"i''^e- ^manroA, irro^Tcr^X}^ iXmr>d:rrpdiX5^cx^-^^ovolr^a.r^x> Mri 4iai:- 
 
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 m 1 - 
 
 ^\ ml 1 ^^^ lll ■ M ^^^ 
 
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 ^^. 4^1-- C.C. ^ g ^^:y v^f .0^^^'^f % 0^. 
 
 ^ 4 i"1 
 
 CJ| dj i^U (^ 
 
 c<i-|Pe-c-i5n.-pttx] <u;1i'^ 
 
 ^i>^X 
 
 
 /i 
 
 • Vj) V_y -i-c^ yoAcb uch.x "jch TnTiu \f /• >/ 
 
 ■ / / _- ^ t'i .^ at ^ /- -^f -yy 
 
 I 
 
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 ^^7^ ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 X<?7^??^^ ^£^/ilJ, 
 
CHAP. VI. OF WRITING, 
 
 179 
 
 generally practised, by the princes and States of Europe, is that of writ- 
 ing in figures, or in numeral characters. 
 
 Oghams ^^® "^"^^ "*^^ °™'^ ^° mention a particular kind of Ste- 
 
 ganography, or Writing in Cipher, practised by the Irish, 
 called Ogham," of which there were three kinds ; the first was composed of 
 certain lines and marks, which derive their power from their situation and 
 .position, as they stand in relation to one principal line, over or under which 
 they are placed, or through which they are drawn ; the principal line is 
 horizontal, and serves for a rule or guide, whose upper part is called the 
 left, and the under side the right ; above, under, and through which line, 
 the characters or marks are drawn, which stand in the place of vowels, 
 consonants, diphthongs, and tiiphthongs. Some authors have doubted the 
 existence of this species of writing in cipher called Ogham among the 
 Irish, but these doubts are ill founded, as will presently appear. 
 
 Specimens of different kinds of Ogham writing, as practised in Ireland, 
 are given in the thirty-first plate. One of these specimens is taken from 
 SirJ. Ware's Antiquities of Ireland (vol. ii. p. 20). This Ogham, or Cipher, 
 is very simple, and is easy to be deciphered. The horizontal line is the 
 principal, and the perpendicular and diagonal lines, above, below, and 
 through the horizontal line, stand for twenty letters, which are in four 
 divisions of five letters each ; the first fifteen are for the consonants, the 
 last five for the vowels : for the diphthongs, and for the letter Z, are arbi- 
 trary marks. In the Ogham given by Colonel Vallancey, the diagonal 
 lines are for the vowels ; this was a change in the cipher, which is often 
 necessary. Diphthongs are not found in ancient mss. the vowels are 
 written separately, as A E not M, &c. ; therefore an Ogham or Cipher, 
 with marks for diphthongs, is not ancient. 
 
 A manuscript in the Harleian library (N° 432), from which we have 
 
 paper to the late Dr. Willes, who returned it the next day, and informed his lordship, that the 
 characters he had sent to him formed certain words, which he had written beneath the cipher, 
 but that he did not understand the language, and lord Granville declared, that the words were 
 exactly those which he had first written, before he put them into cipher. 
 
 ^ Colonel Vallancey says, that authors are at a loss for the derivation of this wordj which is 
 not to be found in any dictionary of the Irish : however he applies it to the elements of letters^ 
 and says it was practised by the Irish Druids, though he never saw any Druidical writings. 
 Irish Grammar, ad edit. p. 4, et seqq. Dublin, 1782, 8vo. 
 
180 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vi. 
 
 given a specimen in the twenty-second plate, and which is mentioned at 
 p. 135, contains an Ogham or cipher of this kind. 
 
 King Charles I. corresponded with the earl of Glamorgan, when in 
 Ireland, in the Ogham cipher, a specimen of which is given in the thirty- 
 first plate ; some of this correspondence is preserved amongst the royal 
 letters in the Harleian library.'' 
 
 The second and third kinds of Ogham used b}'^ the Irish, were called 
 Ogham-beith and Ogham-coll, or Craohh ; the former was so called from- 
 placing the letter Beith or B, instead of the letter A, &c. It was also 
 called Ogham Consoine, which was no more than to substitute consonants 
 in the place of vowels. 
 
 The latter called Ogham Coll, is composed of the letter C or Coll, and 
 is formed by substituting that letter for all the vowels, diphthongs, and 
 triphthongs, repeated, doubled, and turned, as in the specimens in the 
 plates above mentioned ; those Oghams in the latter are taken from a Ms. 
 lately presented to the British Museum by the late Rev. Dr. Milles, Dean 
 of Exeter, President of the Society of Antiquaries of London, which was 
 formerly in the library of Henry earl of Clarendon (N° 15). This ms. con- 
 tains several tracts, but that from which part of the thirty-first plate is 
 taken, is intituled, (" Anonymi Hiberni) Tractatus apud Hibenws veteres, 
 de occultis scribendi formulis seu artijiciis liibernice Ogum dictis." 
 
 ^ ,^ ,^ Signs or Marks for the notation of Musical 
 
 Of Mtjsioal Notes. ^ .,. „ , . , . . 
 
 Compositions, are ot very high antiquity; they 
 
 were used by the most ancient nations. The Hebrew musical notes con- 
 sisted only in accents over the words, whereas the Greeks and Romans 
 used letters as well as marks in the notation of their music ; but the 
 notation of music hath been so ably treated of by a variety of authors, 
 that it is unnecessary to enter fully into the subject. John Nicholaus, 
 so frequently mentioned, and Walterus in his Lexicon Biplomaticum 
 (Gottingen, 1756), have exhibited a variety of specimens of characters 
 used for the notation of music to the sixteenth century; and Sir John 
 Hawkins and Dr. Burney have given the history of this inchantino- art 
 to the present time, in which works the lovers of this science will find 
 much instruction and entertainment. 
 
 y Royal Letters^ vol. iii. N°" ii8, 119^ &c. 
 
CHAP. VII. OF WRITING. 181 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF NUMERALS AND OF NUMERAL CHARACTERS. 
 
 KUMERALS USED BY UNCIVILIZED NATIONS NUMERALS AND NU- 
 MERAL CHARACTERS OE DIEEERBNT NATIONS — INDIAN NUMERAL 
 CHARACTERS WHEN INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE. 
 
 1_ HE use of numbers is the foundation of all the arts of life : for we 
 cannot conceive that men can carry on any kind of business without the 
 practice of arithmetic or computation in some degree ; even in barter 
 between the American hunter and fisherman numbers are necessary ; and 
 it will presently appear, that men in their most rude and uncivilized state 
 have the use of numbers ; and therefore we shall not be surprised to find 
 numeral characters in use amongst the Mexicans and other nations, be- 
 fore they were acquainted with letters : the former were first invented, 
 because they were first necessary to mankind. 
 
 Although the language of the uncivilized Hurons in North America is 
 very imperfect, and they have made but little progress in arts, yet they 
 have a decimal arithmetic; as have also the Algonkins, who are in the 
 same uncivilized state. 
 
 The President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks, hath given 
 some account of the arithmetic of the inhabitants of the new-discovered 
 island of Otaheite In the South Seas; which is printed in lord Mount- 
 boddo's work on the Origin and Progress of Language.'' 
 
 ^ Vol. i. p. 54a, & seqq.; where an account is also given of the numerals and manner of com- 
 putation among the Hurons and Algonkins. See also Baron Hontan's Voyages^ vol. ii. p. 217. 
 
182 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vii. 
 
 The Otabeiteans count to ten, and then turn back as the Hurons and 
 Algonkins do ; when they come to twentj^ they have a new word. They 
 afterwards proceed not by tens, but by scores, and so on to ten score ; 
 then in the same manner to ten times ten score, that is, to two thousand ; 
 and then they go on to ten times that number, or twenty thousand ; and 
 after this they have no name for any number, though Sir J. Banks be- 
 lieves they count farther. 
 
 Bayer, in his Historia Reg7ii Gracorum Bactriani, hath given us the 
 names of numerals in the Indian languages.'' Colonel Vallancey hath 
 published the names of numerals in all the languages which he could 
 collect," and Mr. Forster hath given us ample accounts of the numerals 
 used by the uncivilized inhabitants of the southern Hemisphere, in his 
 relation of the voyage, wherein he accompanied captain Cook into those 
 parts.'' Dr. Parsons hath published the names of the numbers of several 
 of the North American Indian nations.' 
 
 The Mexicans, when we first discovered them, had not the use of 
 letters ; but they had numeral characters, which they used for computing 
 and keeping the accounts of tribute paid by the different provinces into 
 the royal treasury. The figure of a circle represented an unit, and in 
 small numbers the computation was made by repeating it. Larger num- 
 bers were expressed by peculiar marks or characters, and they had such 
 as denoted all integral numbers from twenty to eight thousand. ^ 
 
 The first and most natural method of counting seems to have been by 
 the fingers, which would introduce the method of numbering by decimals 
 practised both in Asia and in America, many of whose inhabitants give 
 a name to each unit from one to ten ; and proceed to add an unit to the 
 
 t Scythae Parthos Bactrianosque condidenmt (Justinus) Bractriani Scythse fuerunt — Parthi 
 quoque ipsi a Scythis originem trahunt. (Trog. Pomp.) 
 
 "= Collect, de rebus Hibernicis, N° XII. Dublin^ 1783, 8vo. 
 
 d Mons. Gebelin, in his Monde Primitif, hath given us the names of the numerals in fourteen 
 languages of the South Seas. 
 
 <= Namely, of the Mohawks, the Onondagas, Wanats, Shawanese, Delawares, and Carribeans. 
 Remains of Japhet, chap. x. 
 
 f See Dr. Robertson's History of America, vol. ii. p. 389. See also Histoire Gen^rale des 
 Voyages, Paris, 1754, 4to. 
 
CHAP. VII. OF WRITING. - 183 
 
 ten, till there are twice ten, to which last thej^^ give a peculiar name, and 
 so on to any number of tens. 
 
 The names of numerals are very different not only in several parts of 
 Asia, but in both North and South America, as appears from the authors 
 just quoted. 
 
 Small stones were also used amongst uncivilized nations : hence the 
 words calculate and calculation appear to have been derived from calculus, 
 the Latin for a pebble-stone. Alphabetic letters had a]#o a certain nume- 
 rical value assigned them, and several Greek characters were employed 
 to express particular numbers. 
 
 The combination of Greek numeral letters was not well known to the 
 Latins before the thirteenth century, although Greek numeral letters were 
 frequently used in France and Germany in episcopal letters, and con- 
 tinued to the eleventh century ; but of all the Greek ciphers the Episema 
 gau was most in use with the Latins ; it gradually assumed the form of G 
 with a tail, for so it appears in a Latin inscription of the year 296. It 
 is found to have been used in the fifth century in Latin mss. ; it was 
 reckoned for 6, and this value has been evinced by such a number of 
 monumental proofs that there is no room to give it any other. Some of 
 the learned, with even Mabillon, have been mistaken in estimating it 
 as 5, but in a posthumous work he acknowledges his error.= 
 
 Those authors were led into this error by the medals of the emperor 
 Justinian having the episema for 5 ; but it is a certain fact that the coiners 
 had been mistaken and confounded it with the tailed U; for the episema 
 was still in use in the fourth century, and among the Latins was estimated 
 as 6, but under a form somewhat different. Whenever it appears in other 
 monuments of the western nations of Europe of that very century, and 
 the following, it is rarely used to express any number except 5. 
 
 The Etruscans also used their letters for indicating numbers by writ- 
 ing them from right to left, and the ancient Danes copied the example 
 in the application of their letters. 
 
 The Romans, when they borrowed arts and sciences from the Greeks, 
 learned also their method of using alphabetical numeration. This custom 
 however was not very ancient among them. Before writing was yet 
 
 e Hist, of St. Denis, vol. ii. p. 346. 
 
184 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vii. 
 
 current with them they made use of nails for reckoning years, and the 
 method of driving those nails became in process of time a ceremony of 
 their religion. The former eight Roman numerals were composed of the 
 I and the V, the Roman ten, was composed of the V proper and the V 
 inverted ^, which characters served to reckon as far as forty, but when 
 writing became more general, I, V, X, L, C, D, and M were the only 
 characters appropriated to the indication of numbers. The above seven 
 letters in their most extensive combination produce six hundred and 
 sixty-six thousand ranged thus, DCLXVIM. Some however pretend 
 that the Romans were strangers to any higher number than 100,000. The 
 want of ciphers obliged them to double, treble, and multiply their 
 numeral letters four-fold ; according as they had occasion to make them 
 express units, tens, hundreds, &c. &c. For the sake of brevity they had 
 recourse to another expedient, by drawing a small line over any of their 
 numeral characters they made them stand for as many thousands as they 
 contained units. Thus a small line over M made it 1000, and over X 
 expressed 10,000, &c. 
 
 When the Romans wrote several units following, the first and last were 
 longer than the rest I""!, thus vir after those six units signified sex-vir. 
 D stood for 500, and the perpendicular line of this letter was sometimes 
 separated from the body thus jq without lessening its value. ]\[, whether 
 capital or initial, expressed 1000. In the initial form it sometimes 
 assumed that of one of those figures, CIO, CD, QO co . The cumbent ixj 
 was also used to signify a similar number. 
 
 As often as a figure of less value appears before a higher number, it 
 denotes that so much must be deducted from the greater number. Thus 
 I before V makes but four, I before X gives only nine, X preceding C 
 produces only 90, and even two XX before C reckons for no more than 
 80. Such was the general practice of the ancient Romans with respect 
 to their numerical letters, which is still continued in recording accounts 
 in our Exchequer. 
 
 In ancient mss. 4 is written I III and not IV, 9 thus Villi and not 
 IX, &c. Instead of V five units IIIIl were sometimes used in the eighth 
 century. Half was expressed by an S, which signifies Semis or half, at 
 the end of the figures, CIIS was put 102 and a half. This S sometimes 
 appeared in the form of our 5. 
 
CHAP. VII. OF WRITING. iSo 
 
 In some old mss. those numeral figures LXL are used to express 90. 
 The Roman numeral letters were generally used both in England, France, 
 Italy, and Germany, from the earliest times to the middle of the fifteenth 
 century. 
 
 The ancient people of Spain made use of the same Roman numerals 
 as we do. The X with the top of the right hand stroke in form of a 
 semi-circle reckoned for 40 ; it merits the more particular notice, as it 
 has misled many of the learned. The Roman numeral letters however 
 were continued in use with the Spaniards until the fifteenth century. The 
 Germans used the Roman numerals for a long time nearly in the same 
 manner as the French. 
 
 With respect to the dates of Charters, the use of Roman numerals 
 was universal in all countries ; but to avoid falling into error, it must be 
 observed that in such dates, as well as in those of other monuments of 
 France and Spain, number a thousand was sometimes omitted, the date 
 beginning by hundreds ; in others the thousands were set down, and the 
 hundreds left out ; and in the latter ages both thousands and hundreds were 
 alike suppressed, and they began with the tens ; as if — 78 was put for 
 1778 ; a practice now used in letters, and in affairs of trifling consecjuence. 
 
 It is also necessary to observe, that the ancients frequently expressed 
 sums by even numbers, adding what was deficient to complete them, or 
 omitting whatever might be redundant. This mode of reckoning is often 
 used in sacred writings, and was thence introduced into other monuments. 
 
 The ancient scribes or copyers, and even the more modern, committed 
 frequent mistakes in writing the Roman numeral letters, particularly with 
 regard to V, L, M, &c. 
 
 The points after the Roman numerals were exceedingly various, and 
 never rightly fixed. It is not known when the ancient custom was first 
 introduced of placing an O at top immediately after the Roman characters, 
 as A" M° L° Vr 8cc^ 
 
 These alphabetic letters were very ill suited to Algebraic calculations, 
 which were little known in Europe till after the Indian numbers were 
 
 h Many numeral contractions used by the Romans may be seen in Sertorius Ursatus de Notis 
 
 RomanOrum. ^ 
 
 2 B 
 
186 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vii. 
 
 brought from the East. The Romans in some measure supplied the 
 defects of their numeral characters by their Abacus or Counting Table.' 
 
 The Indians and Arabians were well skilled in the arts of astronomy and 
 of arithmetic, which required more convenient characters, than alphabetic 
 letters, for the expressing of numbers. Many opinions concerning their 
 origin, and the time of their introduction into Europe, have prevailed. 
 
 Some writers ascribe the honour of this invention to the Indians, and 
 say they communicated them to the Arabs, from whom the}^ were in- 
 troduced among us by the Moors. This Indian origin is generally con- 
 sidered as the best founded, and is most respected by men of learning. 
 Others insist they were derived from the Greeks, who communicated 
 them to the Indians, whence we received them. Matt. Paris, Bernard 
 Vossius, bishop Huet, and Ward, the Professor of Rhetoric in Gresham 
 college, London, support the latter opinion, which appears however to be 
 founded on mere arbitrary conjectures. Calmet advanced another, and 
 deduced those ciphers from a Latin source, contending that they are 
 nothing but the remains of the ancient signs of Tiro ; but, besides that 
 this fancied resemblance is far-fetched, the signs of Tiro were so far dis- 
 used in the tenth century, that there were scarcely any traces of them 
 to be seen after the beginning of the eleventh, unless the abbreviation 
 of and by 7 and of us at the end of a word by 9. 
 
 Some have attributed the honour of having first introduced the numeral 
 characters at present used in Europe to Planudes, a Greek Monk ; others 
 to Gerbert the first French Pope, styled Sylvester II. 
 
 The Spaniards contend, that they were first introduced by their king 
 Alphonsus X. on account of those astronomical tables named after him ; 
 but all these various pretensions appear to have been built upon very 
 vague foundations. 
 
 It is therefore necessary to endeavour to obtain better information 
 upon this subject. 
 
 The numeral figures, which have for some centuries prevailed in 
 Europe, are certainly Indian. The Arabians do not pretend to have 
 
 ' See an account of the Roman and Chinese Ahaais, in the abridgment of the Philosoph. 
 Transact, vol. iii. part ii. page 442, plate i. 
 
CHAP. VII. OF WRITING. isr 
 
 been the inventors of them, but they ascribe their invention to the In- 
 dians, from whom they borrowed them ; and it will presently appear 
 that the numeral characters used by the Bramins, the Persians, the 
 Arabians, and some other eastern nations are similar to each other ; and 
 that the same characters were introduced into Europe, where they pre- 
 vailed till the fifteenth century. 
 
 The learned Dr. Wallis of Oxford delivers it as his opinion,'' that the 
 Indian or Arabic numerals were brought into Europe together with other 
 Arabic learning about the middle of the tenth century, if not sooner. 
 
 We find that in the beginning of the twelfth century Adelard, a Monk 
 of Bath, travelled into Spain, Egypt, and Arabia, and translated Euclid, 
 and some other authors, out of Arabic into Latin ; it was not till long 
 after this time that Euclid's Elements was supposed to have been ori- 
 ginally written in Greek. His translation of Euclid from the Arabic into 
 Latin is now extant in the Bodleian library (N° 3359, Selden 29, and 
 N° 3623, S. 157). There is also in the same library (N° l6l2, Digby 11), 
 a Latin translation by Adelard of an Arabic book de Stellis ; and a trans- 
 lation by him from an Arabian ms. of a Treatise on Astronomy intituled, 
 Isagoge minor Japharis Mathematici, (N° l669, Digby 68) ; as also a 
 translation of another Arabic book intituled, Ezich el Kauresmi, N° 4137, 
 S. 5.) 
 
 Several other persons also travelled from England into the East in 
 search of learning, as Retinensis about the year 1140: Shelley about 
 1145 ; and Morley about 1180. Different authors who lived in the twelfth 
 and thirteenth centuries have written upon astronomical and algebraical 
 subjects, in which they have used the Indian numeral figures. Robertus 
 Cestrensis wrote a treatise of astronomical tables, adjusted to the begin- 
 ning of the year 1150- Jordanus wrote a treatise De Algorismo, about 
 the year 1200, says Vossius.' There are two treatises of John de Sacro- 
 Bosco, De Algorismo, yA\o wrote in 1232, and died in 1256. This author 
 wrote a book in 1235, intituled, De Computo Ecclesiastico, wherein Arabic 
 or Indian numerals are used. Robert Grosthead, bishop of Lincoln, 
 
 ^ See Wallis's Algebra, Oxon. 1685. 
 
 ' See some of his Tracts in the Bodleian Hbrary. N" 3633. 
 
188 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. vii. 
 
 also made use of these figures about the year 1240.^ Numeral characters 
 of the same form appear in Roger Bacon's Calendar, which was written 
 in the year 1292, and is now extant in the Cottonian library, which 
 characters continued to be used in England without alteration till the 
 fifteenth century." 
 
 These numeral characters were at first rarely used, unless in mathe- 
 matical, astronomical, arithmetical, and geometrical works. They were 
 afterwards admitted in calendars and chronicles, for they were not 
 introduced into charters before the sixteenth century ; the appearance of 
 such before the fourteenth would invalidate their authenticity. In the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth centuries they may be sometimes found, though 
 very rarely ; those exceptions, should they be discovered, would only 
 help to confirm the rule, that excludes them from appearing in instru- 
 ments previous to the sixteenth century. 
 
 They were not generally used in Germany, until the beginning of 
 the fourteenth century, or towards the year 1306 ; but in general the 
 forms of the ciphers were not permanently fixed there till after the year 
 1531. The Russians were strangers to them before Peter the Great had 
 finished his travels in the beginning of the present century. 
 
 In order to prove the similarity of the numeral characters in the East, 
 to those brought into this country by the persons abovementioned, we 
 have engraven several of them in the thirtieth plate from authentic 
 documents : 
 
 A is taken from an almanack in my library, written in Daeb-Naa- 
 gree characters, and in the Shanscrit language, in the year 1749. 
 The Bramins alledge, that neither the forms of their letters, nor 
 of their numeral characters, have ever been altered. 
 
 B Numeral characters, taken from the Zenda-Vesta at Oxford, which 
 is written in ancient Persian. 
 
 m The following works of this prelate are extant in the Bodleian library, Qusedam Arithme- 
 tica (No 1705, Digby 103). De Sphera, et de Cautelis Algorismi (N„ 1748). Computus Ec- 
 clesiast. (No 1792. Cons. Ep. Line. 1235, ob. 1253.) 
 
 " Some of them were altered so late as the sixteenth. See Phil. Trans. Abr. vol. x. part iv. 
 p. 12,61. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 189 
 
 C Maharrattan numeral characters from a ms. of George Perry, Esq. 
 
 D The numeral characters used in Tartary and Thibet, from another 
 of Mr. Perry's manuscripts. 
 
 E Bengalese numeral characters communicated by Nathaniel Brassey 
 Halhed, Esq. 
 
 jF Arabic numerals from a ms. in the British Museum. 
 
 G Numeral characters written in 1392 from Roger Bacon's calendar 
 in the Cottonian library. (Vesp. A. II.) 
 
 Colonel Vallancey says,° that the ancient Irish had numeral characters 
 of two kinds, the one resembling the Roman, except the X, the other 
 the Arabic, like those of John de Sacro-Bosco, who died in 1252, which, 
 except the figure 2, are exactly like those in Roger Bacon's calendar; 
 specimens of which are given in the thirtieth plate (G). 
 
 The Colonel observes, that the Irish numeral characters correspond 
 with those in Dr. Bernard's tables of the Spanish from the Arabic, and 
 that they are like those of the Palmyreans, also engraven in Dr. Bernard's 
 tables ; but we must remark, that there is so little difference between the 
 former of these, and those of John de Sacro-Bosco, and of Roger Bacon," 
 that they may with great propriety be called the same. As for the Pal- 
 myrenian characters, the first nine are manifestly the same as those used 
 by the Romans, being composed of the I and the V, but written in the 
 eastern manner. 
 
 The learned editors of the Nouveau TraiU de Diplomatique, (vol. iv. 
 pref. p. 7,) refer to several mss. in Italy and in France to prove that 
 Arabic numerals were used in both those countries in the latter end of 
 the tenth, and in the beginning of the eleventh century. 
 
 ° Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis, N„ XII. p. 571^ et seqq. Dublin^ 1783, 8vo. 
 
 They are engraven in the abridgment of the Philosoph. Transact, vol. ix. p. 432, in which 
 vol. Processor Ward shews, that the dates on a chimney-piece at Helmden, on a house at 
 Colchester, and others, are not so old as have been pretended. See also vol. x. of the same 
 abridgment, p. 1360. 
 
190 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap, viii 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 OF WRITERS, ORNAMENTS, AND MATERIALS FOR WRITING. 
 
 OP THE LIBEAEII, NOTARII, AND ANTIQITARII — OF ILLUMINATORS 
 
 OP PAINTINGS AND ORNAMENTS — OF MATERIALS FOR WRITING 
 
 UPON — OF INSTRUMENTS FOR WRITING WITH — OF INKS. 
 
 After having compleated our design concerning the origin, antiquity, 
 and progress of writing, and the national variations, together with the 
 Sigla or literary signs, and ciphers or numerals, used by the ancients, it 
 may be proper to treat of several other particulars which relate to the 
 subject of our inquiry. 
 
 The Librarii, or writers of books among the Romans, were generally 
 of a servile condition, and every man of rank, who was a lover of litera- 
 ture, had some of these Librarii in his house. Atticus trained up many 
 of his Servi or slaves to this service, and, when he resided at Athens, he 
 had several of them employed in transcribing Greek authors for his 
 emolument, many of which were purchased by Cicero, as appears in his 
 life by Dr. Middleton. Frequent mention is made of these Librarii by 
 several Roman authors, thus Horace de Arte Poetica, Ut Scriptor si 
 peccat idem Librarius usque, and Martial, Lib. II. Epigram viii., Non 
 meus est error: nocuit Librarius illis, and Lib. IV. Epigr. ult., 
 
 Jam Librarius hoc et ipse dicit^ 
 Ohe jam satis est, ohe Libelle. 
 
 The Librarii were afterwards formed into a particular company who 
 had several immunities, and they were regulated by certain laws. The 
 Roman emperors appointed Librarii to write for the Consuls, the Judges, 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 191 
 
 and the Magistrates, as appears in the Theodosian Code, Lib. I. De 
 DecuriuUbus iirbis Konue, et de Liiciis officiurioruin. The Librarii Horre- 
 orum were officers who kept the accounts of the corn received into, and 
 delivered out of, the public granaries. 
 
 The office of Scribe was an honourable post among the Jews. The 
 Scribes were employed by their kings to keep the national records, and to 
 transcribe copies of their laws ; they are mentioned in Numbers, chap. xxi. 
 V. 14, in Joshua x. v. 13, and Christopher Hen. Trotez, in his notes on 
 
 Herman Hugo de prima scribendi Orig. (p. 425) says, " Verum eqiii- 
 
 dem est Jiidaeontm scribas fiiisse eruditos et peritissimos ; immo adeo eleganter 
 et emendate scripsisse, ut ipse fere typographicae arti videantw^ eorum manu- 
 scripta praesertim legis praeferenda." 
 
 Anciently the Scribes or Secretaries were held in honour amongst 
 the Greeks, though not by the Romans. Cornelius Nepos in his life of 
 Eumenes of Cardia says, " Hie peradolescentulus ad amicitiam accessit 
 Philippi Amyntaejilii, brevique tempore in intimam pervenit familiaritatem ; 
 fulgebat enim jam in adolescentido indoles virtutis : itaque eum habiiit ad 
 manum Scribae loco ; quod miilto apud Graios honorijicentiiis est qiiam 
 apud Romanos ; nam apud nos revera, sicut sunt, merceiiarii scribae ex- 
 istimantur." 
 
 We have already spoken of the Notae used by the 
 
 xvOTAE-II. ■'I 
 
 Short-hand writers, who were called Notarii amongst 
 the Romans, because they were employed by them to take trials and 
 pleadings in their courts of judicature, or to write as amanuenses from 
 the mouth of an author, in these kind of notae or marks. 
 
 These Notarii amongst the Romans were also of servile condition. 
 Under the reign of Justinian they were formed into a college or corporate 
 body. Notarii were also appointed to attend the prefects, to transcribe 
 for them. There were likewise Notarii Domestici, who were employed in 
 keeping the accounts of the Roman nobility ; concerning whom see the 
 Theodosian Code, Lib. IL and IIL De Prhniceriis et Notariis. Pancirollus, 
 in Notit. Lnperatorum, bath given several particulars concerning these 
 Notarii, as hath Gutherius in his work, De Officiis Domus Augg. They 
 were afterwards versed in the laws of the empire, and were considered 
 
192 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. tiii. 
 
 as lawyers ; so early as in the seventh century they acted as notaries 
 public in civil affairs. 
 
 There were also Notaries for ecclesiastical affairs, who attested the 
 acts of archbishops, bishops, and other spiritual dignitaries. We find 
 ecclesiastical Notaries at Rome under pope Julius IV. and in the church 
 of Antioch, about the year 370.^ From these Notaries are derived the 
 office of chancellor to the bishops ; afterwards almost every advocate was 
 admitted a Notary. 
 
 After the decline of learning amonest the Romans, 
 
 AnTIQUAEII. , , T . 1 11 
 
 and when many religious riouses were erected, learn- 
 ing was chiefly in the hands of the clergy ; the greatest number of which 
 were Regulars, and lived in monasteries : in these houses were many in- 
 dustrious men, who were continually employed in making new copies of 
 old books, either for the use of the monastery or for their own emolu- 
 ment : these writing Monks were distinguished by the name of Antiquarii ; 
 they deprived the poor Librarii or common Scriptores of great part of their 
 business, so that they found it difficult to gain a subsistence for themselves 
 and their families. This put them upon finding out more expeditious 
 methods of transcribing books ; they formed the letters smaller, and 
 made use of more jugations and abbreviations than had been usual ; they 
 proceeded in this manner till the letters became exceedingly small ; the 
 abbreviations were very numerous, and extremely difficult to be read ; this 
 in some measure accounts for the great variety of hands in the species of 
 writing called Modern Gothic, of which we have already spoken. When 
 a number of copies were to be made of the same work, it was usual to 
 employ several persons at the same time in writing it ; each person, ex- 
 cept him who wrote the first skin, began where his fellow was to leave off. 
 
 ^ Besides the writers of books, there were artists 
 
 Illuminations. , ^ . 
 
 whose profession was to ornament and paint ma- 
 nuscripts, who were called Illuminators ; the writers of books first finished 
 their part, and the Illuminators embellished them with ornamented letters 
 and paintings. We frequently find blanks left in manuscripts for the 
 
 ^ Tillemont, T. xi. p. 406. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 193 
 
 Illuminators which were never filled up. Some of the ancient manuscripts 
 are gilt and burnished in a style superior to later times. Their colours were 
 excellent, and their skill in preparing them must have been very great. 
 
 ^ The practice of introducing;; orna- 
 
 Paintings, Ornaments, ^ 1 • ,1 ,• i ^ 
 
 -r ments, drawmgs, emblematical figures, 
 
 and Illuminations. . . & ' 
 
 and even portraits into manuscripts, is 
 
 of great antiquity. Varro wrote the lives of seven hundred illustrious 
 Romans, which he enriched with their portraits, as Pliny attests in his 
 Natural History (lib. xxxv. chap. 2). Pomponius Atticus, the friend of 
 Cicero, was the author of a work on the actions of the great men amongst 
 the Romans, which he ornamented with their portraits, as appears in his 
 life by Cornelius Nepos (chap. 18) ; but these works have not been trans- 
 mitted to posterity ; however there are many precious documents remain- 
 ino-, which exhibit the advancement and decline of the arts in different 
 at^es and countries. These inestimable paintings and illuminations display 
 the manners, customs, habits ecclesiastical, civil, and military, weapons 
 and instruments of war, utensils and architecture of the ancients ; they 
 are of the greatest use in illustrating many important facts relative to the 
 history of the times in which they were executed. In these treasures of 
 antiquity are preserved a great number of specimens of Grecian and 
 Roman art, which were executed before the arts and sciences fell into 
 neolect and contempt. The manuscripts containing these specimens form 
 a valuable part of the riches preserved in the principal libraries of Europe, 
 viz. the Royal, Cottonian, and Harleian libraries, as also those in the two 
 -Universities in England, the Vatican at Rome, the Imperial at Vienna, 
 the Royal at Paris, St. Mark's at Venice, and many others. 
 
 The fragment of that most ancient book of Genesis, which is 
 mentioned at p. 70, formerly contained two hundred and fifty curious 
 paintings in water colours. Twenty-one fragments, which escaped the fire 
 in 1731, are engraven by the society of antiquaries of London; several 
 specimens of curious paintings appear in Lambecius's catalogue of the 
 Imperial library at Vienna, particularly in vol. iii., where forty-eight draw- 
 ings of nearly equal antiquity with those in the Cottonian library above 
 referred to are engraven ; and several others may be found in various 
 
 2 c 
 
194 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 catalogues of the Italian libraries. The drawings in the Vatican Virgil 
 made in the fourth century, before the arts were entirely neglected, 
 illustrate the different subjects treated of by the Roman poet. A minia- 
 ture drawing is prefixed to each of the gospels brought over to England 
 by St. Augustin in the sixth century, which is preserved in the library of 
 Corpus Christi College, in Cambridge: in the compartments of those draw- 
 ings are depicted representations of several transactions in each gospel. 
 The curious drawings and elaborate ornaments in St. Cuthbert's gospels 
 made by St. Ethelwald, and now in the Cottonian library, which has been 
 already mentioned, exhibit a striking specimen of the state of the arts in 
 England in the seventh century. _ The same may be observed with respect 
 to the drawings in the ancient copy of the four gospels preserved in the 
 cathedral church of Litchfield, aad those in the Codex Rushworthianus, in 
 the Bodleian library at Oxford. The life of St. Paul the hermit, now 
 remaining in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (G 2), affords an example 
 of the style of drawing and ornamenting letters in England in the eighth 
 century, a specimen of which is given in the seventeenth plate (p. 102) : the 
 copy of Prudentius's Psychomachia in the Cottonian library (Cleop. c. 8), 
 exhibits the style of drawing in Italy in the ninth century. 
 
 Of the tenth century there are Roman drawings of a singular kind in 
 the Harleian library (N" 2820). 
 
 N°' 5280, 1802, and 432 in the same librarj?" contain specimens of 
 ornamented letters, which are to be found in Irish mss. from the twelfth to 
 the fourteenth century. 
 
 Caedmon's Poetical Paraphrase of the book of Genesis written in the 
 eleventh century, which is preserved amongst F. Junius's mss. in the Bod- 
 leian library, exhibits many specimens of utensils, weapons, instruments 
 of music, and implements of husbandry used by the Anglo-Saxons. The 
 like may be seen in extracts from the Pentateuch of the same age in the 
 Cottonian library (Claud. B. 4). The manuscript copy of Terence in the 
 Bodleian library (D. 1?) displays the dresses, masks, &c. worn by come- 
 dians in the twelfth century, if not earlier. The very elegant Psalter in 
 the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, exhibits specimens of the art 
 of drawing in England in the same century. 
 
 The Virgil in the Lambeth library of the thirteenth century (N° 471), 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 195 
 
 written in Italy, shews both by the drawings and writing, that the Italians 
 produced works much inferior to ours at that period. The copy of the 
 Apocalypse in the same library (N° 20.9) contains a curious example of 
 the manner of painting in the fourteenth century. 
 
 The beautiful paintings in the history of the latter part of the reio-n of 
 king Richard II. in the Harleian library (N° 1319), afford curious speci- 
 mens of manners and customs, both civil and military, at the close of 
 the fourteenth, and in the beginning of the fifteenth century. As does 
 (N° 2218) in the same library. 
 
 Many other instances might be produced ; but those, who desire farther 
 information, may consult Strutt's Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities, 4to, 
 and his Horda-Angel-cynnan lately published in three vols. The Abbd 
 Rive is now or was lately preparing, at Paris, a work on the Art of 
 illuminating and ornamenting Manuscripts, to be accompanied with 
 twenty-six plates in folio ; wherein are to be exhibited exact copies of 
 paintings, selected from miniatures preserved in some of the finest and 
 best executed manuscripts in Europe. 
 
 We shall conclude this head by observing, that from the fifth to the 
 tenth century, the miniature paintings which we meet with in Greek mss. 
 are generally good, as are some which we find among those of Italy, Eng- 
 land, and France. From the tenth to the middle of the fourteenth century 
 they are commonly very bad, and may be considered as so many monu- 
 ments of the barbarity of those ages ; towards the latter end of the four- 
 teenth the paintings in manuscripts were much improved ; and in the 
 two succeeding centuries, many excellent performances were produced, 
 especially after the happy period of the restoration of the arts ; when 
 great attention was paid to the works of the antients, and the study of 
 antiquity became fashionable. It would take up too much time to 
 enumerate the many curious illuminated manuscripts in our public 
 libraries, exclusive of those in several private collections. 
 
 The different materials, on which the ancients wrote, will be pre- 
 sently mentioned ; but it may be proper in this place to observe, that 
 it was usual for them to stain the paper or parchment, on which fine 
 manuscripts and instruments of sovereign princes were written, with 
 purple and other colours. 
 
196 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 Ovid, who lived at the time of the nativity of Christ, and in the 
 reign of the emperor Augustus, speaks of the usage of staining materials 
 for writing upon with purple, and alludes to the custom of tinging them 
 with an oil drawn from cedar wood to preserve them from corruption ; 
 he mentions the writing of the titles with red ink, and shews, that in his 
 time it was usual to write upon rolls, which was the ancient method. His 
 words are, 
 
 " Nee te purpureo velent vaccinia succo : 
 Non est conveniens luctibus ille color. 
 Nee titulus minio, nee cedro charta notetur : 
 Candida nee nigra eornua fronte geras : •" ' 
 
 and in another place of the same book, 
 
 " Sunt quoque mutatae ter quinque volumina formae." 
 
 St. Jerom, who lived in the fourth century, mentions, that there were 
 in his time books very pompously written on parchment of a purple 
 colour in letters of gold and silver ; and that the whole books were written 
 in large letters, such as are commonly used at the beginning of sentences, 
 by which we conceive he means Initial or Uncial letters. 
 
 His words are, 
 
 " Habeant qui volunt veteres libros^ vel in membranis purpureis Auro Argento- 
 que descriptoSj vel initialibus, ut vulgo aiunt, literis, onera magis exarata quani 
 Codices; dummodo mihi meisque permittant pauperes habere seedulas^ et non 
 tarn pulchros Codices quam emendates."'' 
 
 And in his epistle to Eustochius, he says, 
 
 " Inficiuntur Membranse colore purpureo, aurum liquescit in litteras." 
 
 The ancient Greek copy of the book of Genesis in the Imperial library 
 at Vienna, of which the third plate contains a specimen, is written on 
 vellum of a purple colour. The four gospels in the Royal library (1 E. vi.) 
 written in the eighth century, have several leaves of purple. Some of 
 
 ' Ovid, de Tristibus Eleg. ad Librum. ^ Prolog, ad lib. Job. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. JPT 
 
 the leaves, on which the fine book of the four gospels in the Harleian 
 library (N° 2788) is ^Yritten, are stained with purple, and the borders 
 ornamented with different colours. This book was written in letters of 
 gold in the eighth century. The four gospels in the Cottonian library, 
 (Tiberius A. 2.) which king iEthelstan appointed for the Saxon kings to 
 take their coronation oaths upon, hath some leaves of purple vellum in 
 it. The Vatican library, the Imperial library at Vienna, the Royal library 
 at Paris, and several other libraries in Italy, France, and Germany, con- 
 tain many manuscripts written both in Greek and Latin on purple vellum, 
 from the fourth to the tenth century ; specimens of several of which are 
 given in Blanchin's Evangeliarium (juadruplex, and many particulars 
 concerning them may be seen in the second volume of that work, part the 
 second (p. 492 et seqq.), under the article, De Codicihus aureis, argenteis, 
 ac purpureis ; and in Lambecius's catalogue of the Imperial library at 
 Vienna mention is made of several others : the learned Mabillon in his 
 work, De re diplomatica, gives an account of many more. 
 
 The eastern nations stain their paper of different colours. There is in 
 my library an Arabic manuscript, intituled, Regula seu modus bene loquendi, 
 by Sheick Mohamed ebn Melek. Some of the leaves are of a deep yel- 
 low, and other of a lilac colour. 
 
 The Romans deposited their most valuable works in cases or chests 
 made of cedar wood ; they also used an oil expressed from the cedar tree, 
 to preserve them from the worms, as appears by the following passages : 
 
 Speramus carmina fingi 
 
 Posse linenda cedro. Horace, Ars Poetica, v. 331. 
 
 Cedro nunc licet ambules perunctus. Martial, lib. iii. epigr. 3. 
 
 Hujus in arbitrio est, seu te juvenescere cedro, 
 
 Seu jubeat duris vermibus esse cibum. Ausonius, ad libellum suum. 
 
 Pliny tells us that Numa's books were rubbed with an essence called 
 Cedrium, which preserved them, though they had lain five hundred years 
 under ground. Vitruvius (cap. 11. lib. ii.) says, that from cedar is taken 
 an essence called Cedrium, and that books which are rubbed with it neither 
 
200 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 Table books were also known to the Jews, for Solomon advises his son, 
 " To write his precepts upon the Tables of his heart." ' And Habakkuk, 
 chap. ii. V. 2, " And the Lord answered and said, Write the vision, and 
 make it plain upon Tables, that he may run that readeth it." It is ob- 
 servable that Solomon lived a thousand years, and Habakkuk about six 
 hundred and twenty-six, before the Christian iEra. 
 
 These Table books were called by the Romans Pugillares, some say 
 because they were held in one hand ; the wood was cut into thin slices, 
 and finely plained and polished ; the writing was at first upon the bare 
 wood with an iron instrument called a Style ; in later time these tables 
 were usually waxed over, and written upon with that instrument ; the 
 matter written upon the tables, which were thus waxed over, was easily 
 effaced, and by smoothing the wax new matter might be substituted in 
 the place of what had been written before. 
 
 The Greeks and Romans continued the use of waxed table books long 
 after the use of papyrus leaves and skins became common ; because they 
 were so convenient for correcting extemporary compositions : from these 
 table books they transcribed their performances correctly into parchment 
 books, if for their own private use ; but if for sale, or for the library, the 
 Librarii had the office. The writing on table books is particularly recom- 
 mended by Quintilian in the third chapter of the tenth book of his 
 Institutions, to which we refer our readers. Ovid also in his story of 
 Caunus and Byblis"^ mentions some particulars which illustrate this sub- 
 ject: 
 
 "Dextra tenet ferruin^ vacuam tenet altera ceram ; 
 " Incipit, et dubitatj scribit, damnatque tabellas; 
 " Et notatj et delete mutat, culpatque probatque, 
 " Inque vicem sumptas ponit^ positasque resuniit. 
 
 And afterwards, 
 
 "Talia nequicquam perarantem plena reliquit 
 
 " Cera manum, summusque in margine versus adhaesit." 
 
 ' Proverbs, chap. iii. v. 3. See also Isaiah^ chap. xxx. v. 8. 
 " Metamorph. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 201 
 
 When epistles were written on tables of wood, they were usually tied 
 together with thread, the seal being put upon the knot; whence the 
 phrase Linum incidere, to break open a letter, was common amongst 
 the Romans. Some of these table books were large, and perhaps heavy; 
 for in Plautus a school boy of seven years old is represented breaking his 
 master's head with his table book. Priusquam septuennis est, si attingas 
 eum manu, extemplo puer paedagogo tahuld dirumpit caput. Bac. Seen. iii. 
 act 3. 
 
 Table books written upon with styles were not intirely laid aside in 
 the fifteenth century, if we may credit Chaucer, who in his Sompner's 
 Tale hath these lines : 
 
 " His fellow had a staffc tipped with hornej 
 "A paire of tables all of iverie : 
 "And a pointell polished fetouslie, 
 "And wrote alwaie the names, as he stood, 
 " Of all folke, that gave hem any good." 
 
 Table books of ivory are still used for memoranda, written upon 
 with black lead pencils. 
 
 The practice of writing on table books covered with wax was not 
 intirely laid aside, till the commencement of the fourteenth century.^ 
 
 Ivory was also used by the Romans for writing upon, as we are in- 
 formed by the learned editors of the Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique,' 
 who say there was a law among the Romans, which directed, that the 
 edicts of the senate should be written on books of ivory. 
 
 The bark of trees hath been used for writing upon in every 
 quarter of the globe, and it still serves for this purpose in 
 several parts of Asia ; one of these is in the Sloanian library (N° 4726), 
 written in perpendicular columns in the Batta character, used in the 
 island of Sumatra, on a long piece of bark folded up so as to represent 
 a book. Another specimen of writing on bark in India occurs in the 
 same library (N" 3478), which is a Nabob's letter, on a piece of bark 
 
 y Diet. Diplomatique, vol. i. p. 424. ^ lb. vol. i. p. 43^. 
 
 2 D 
 
202 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 about two yards long, and richly ornamented with gold. The people on 
 the Malabar coast also frequently write upon bark with the stylus, several 
 specimens of which are preserved in the British Museum, and in manj?^ 
 other public repositories, as well as in private collections. In the Bod- 
 leian library (N° 3207), is a book of Mexican hieroglyphics painted on 
 bark : it is observable, that the word Liber was used by the Romans as 
 well for the bark of a tree, as for a book. A specimen of Latin writing 
 on bark is preserved in the Cottonian library. 
 
 Leaves have also been used for writing upon in most 
 Leaves. ^. „,. , ,.,. . . . , 
 
 nations, rliny, whose diligence or inquiry and spirit or 
 
 research cannot be too much commended, speaking particularly of the 
 
 Egyptians says, that men at first wrote upon the leaves of palm trees. 
 
 The Sibyls' leaves referred to by Virgil prove that the use of leaves for 
 
 writing on was familiar to the Romans. 
 
 'is 
 
 Insanam vatem aspicies^ qu£e rupe sub ima 
 
 Fata canitj foliisque notas &; nomina mandat. 
 
 Quaecunque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo^ 
 
 Digerit in numerum, atque antro seclusa relinquit: 
 
 Ilia manent immota locis, neque ab ordine cediint. 
 
 Verum eadem verso tenuis cum cardine ventus 
 
 Impulit, 8c teneras turbavit janua frondes; 
 
 Numquam deinde cavo volitantia prendere saxo. 
 
 Nee revocare situs, aut jungere carmina curat. ^neid. 1. iii. v. 443. 
 
 The writing on leaves was also proverbial among the Romans ; thus 
 Juvenal : 
 
 Credite me vobis folium recitare Sibyllas. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus relates,^ that the judges of Syracuse were anciently 
 accustomed to write the names of those, whom they sent into banishment, 
 upon the leaves of olive-trees.'' 
 
 The practice of writing upon the leaves of palm-trees is still very 
 prevalent in different parts of the east. In the Sloanian library above- 
 
 * This fact is abundantly proved from lib. xi. cap. ^^. 
 
 •> This sentence was termed Petalism, from Trerakov, a leaf. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 203 
 
 mentioned are upwards of twenty mss. written in different parts of Asia, 
 in the Shanscrit, Barman, Peguan, Ceylonese, and other characters and 
 in those parts."" 
 
 _. ,^ The skins of beasts were also used for 
 
 Parchment and Vellum. . . . , . 
 
 writmg upon m the most early ages. Ihat 
 
 Eumenes, king of Pergaraus, who was cotemporary with Ptolomy-Phila- 
 delphus, was the first inventor of parchment, as some authors have 
 asserted, is contradicted both by sacred and prophane history .d Diodorus 
 Siculus says,' that the ancient Persians wrote their records on skins ; and 
 when Herodotus affirms, that the skins of sheep and goats were used for 
 writing upon in the most early times by the lonians, he is to be under- 
 stood to refer to a period of time many centuries prior to the reign of 
 Eumenes. It is probable that the art of preparing parchment for writing 
 upon was improved at Pergamus in the time of Eumenes ; which might 
 account for calling the best parchment Pei'gamena, this commodity being 
 one of the principal articles of commerce of that place. It is not necessary 
 to add more concerning the early use of parchment, as this fact is abund- 
 antly proved from the documents before referred to, and from the speci- 
 mens of ancient manuscripts given in the preceding plates. The Mexicans 
 used skins for their paintings, some of which are in the Bodleian library, 
 and have been mentioned in the first chapter. Linen and silk have also 
 been used for writing upon by different eastern nations.*^ 
 
 The Egyptian Papyrus, or Paper-rush, was manufactured 
 APTBUS. ^^ ^j^^ ancients for writing upon. Varro says, that in the 
 time of Alexander the Great the practice of writing on this plant was 
 first introduced into Egypt; which was found so convenient, that Ptolomy- 
 Philadelphus caused his books to be transcribed on Papyrus ; this plant 
 soon became a principal article of commerce, and was coveted by the other 
 nations of Europe, and Asia, who were all furnished with it from Egypt. 
 But although it may be admitted, that this was a great and beneficial 
 
 <= See Mr. Ayscough's catalogue of this library, p. 904, 905, 906. See above, p. 49. 
 d Isaiah, chap. viii. v. i. Jeremiah, chap, xxxvi. v. a. Ezekiel, chap. xi. v. 9. 
 e Lib. ii. f Universal Hist. Mod. p. vol. viii. p. aia. 
 
204 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 article of commerce, yet Pliny asserts (lib. xiii. c. 11 and 13), that it was 
 used by the Egyptians three centuries before the reign of Alexander. In 
 the description, which Pliny and other writers give of this plant, we are 
 informed that it abounds in marshy places in Egypt, where the Nile over- 
 flows and stagnates. It grows like a great bull-rush from fibrous reedy 
 roots, and runs up in several triangular stalks to the height of ten cubits, 
 according to Pliny ; but Theophrastus says,^ that it seldom exceeds three 
 feet ; the stalks grow somewhat tapering, and are about a foot and a half 
 in circumference in the thickest part. They have large tufted heads, 
 which being unfit for making paper, the stem only was slit into two equal 
 parts ; from which, when the outward rind or bark was taken off, they 
 separated the thin film, of which the stem is composed, with a sharp 
 pointed instrument ; the innermost coats were esteemed the best. These 
 pellicles, or thin coats, being flaked from the stalk, they laid upon a table 
 two or more over each other transversly, and glued them together either 
 with the muddy and glutinous water of the Nile, or with fine paste 
 made of wheat flower ; after being pressed and dried, they made them 
 smooth with a roller, or sometimes they rubbed them over with a solid 
 glass hemisphere. These operations constituted the Egyptian papyrus, 
 as far as the art of making it has been discovered. 
 
 The size of this paper seldom exceeded two feet, but it was oftentimes 
 smaller ; it had different names, according to its size and quality. The 
 first was called Imperial, which was of the finest and largest kind, and 
 was used for writing letters, by the great men amongst the Romans. The 
 second sort was called by the Romans the Liviaii paper, from Livia the 
 wife of Augustus ; each leaf of this kind was twelve inches. The third 
 sort was called the Sacerdotal paper, and was eleven inches in size. 
 
 The paper used in the amphitheatres was of the dimensions of nine 
 inches. Coarser kinds of papyrus were imported into Italy from Egypt 
 in early times ; for the particulars concerning which see the Dictionnaire 
 de Diplomatique, vol. ii. p. l66. There are several charters written on 
 papyrus extant both in Italy and in France, as has been already shewn 
 under the head of running-hand. ** 
 
 s Hist. Plant. I. iv. c. 9. 
 
 ^ There is a magnificent charter written on papyrus in the British Museum, which was 
 purchased at the sale of the Pinelli library. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. ^qo 
 
 From the Papyrus of Egypt the name of Paper was no doubt first 
 derived ; and the word Charta or Charter- common to all acts, probably 
 came from Carta, the word used by the Romans, for the paper of Egypt. 
 In the early ages all Diplomatic instruments were written upon this paper 
 preferably to every thing else on account of its beauty and size. In the 
 seventh century the papyrus was superseded by parchment, and after the 
 eighth it is rarely to be seen : it was however used in Italy for epistolary 
 writing in the time of Charlemagne, and by the popes even in the eleventh 
 century ; it was not intirely disused by them till the twelfth, as we find 
 by some specimens of bulls and other instruments engraven in the 
 Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique ; though Eustathius, who lived in that 
 century, remarks in his Commentary on the twenty-first book of the 
 Odyssey, that it was disused in his time ; therefore an instrument written 
 on this paper, and dated in the thirteenth century, must be deemed a 
 forgery. It does not appear, that the papyrus was ever used for writing 
 upon in England or in Germany. 
 
 Chinese Paper. J)^ ^^^"^'^ ™^^^ P^P^^ ^^ <^^^ bark of a tree, 
 
 called Ku-Chi, from the Chu-Ku tree, from whose 
 inner rind it is taken ; which tree in figure nearly resembles our mulberry, 
 but by its fruit is rather a kind of fig-tree ; the method of cultivating this 
 tree, and their manner of making the paper, may be seen in Du Halde's 
 History of China, and in the modern part of the Universal History 
 (vol. viii. p. 211). This paper is so thin and transparent, that it will not 
 bear being written upon except on one side ; but they frequently double 
 their sheets, and glue them together with a fine glue, which is scarce dis- 
 cernible ; the paper being so smooth and even, and the glue so thin 
 and clear, that it appears like a single leaf. The invention of paper in 
 China is said to have been about fifty years after the birth of Christ, 
 according to Kircher, Du Halde, Martini, and Le Compte ; but others 
 contend that it is of much earlier antiquity among that people. 
 
 The cotton paper, called Charta Bombysina, was 
 Cotton Papek. . . 
 
 an eastern invention ; and Montfaucon says,' it 
 
 was used in the ninth century : it was more common in the beginning of 
 
 ' Palaeograph. Graec. lib. i. c. a. 
 
~.y 
 
 206 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 the twelfth century, and was in general use about the beginning of the 
 thirteenth. This cotton paper was little made use of in Italy, except in 
 that part of the country which had intercourse with the Greeks, as Naples, 
 Sicily, and Venice ; but even they did not write their charters or records 
 upon it till the eleventh century : so that a Latin charter on cotton paper 
 of the tenth century would be suspected, though a Greek charter of that 
 age may be genuine. 
 
 The paper made of cotton in the east is so fine, that many have mistaken 
 it for silk : but Du Halde says, that silk cannot be beat into such a pulp 
 or paste as to make paper,'' though he afterwards mentions a strong and 
 coarse paper, which is made of the balls of silk-worms ; other authors 
 speak of silk paper, but we shall not here decide upon that matter. 
 
 The paper which we now use, and which is 
 
 PAPEE. made op j „ ,. 11 xv, 4. ■ ^ 
 
 ^ made or linen rass, surpasses all other materials 
 
 Linen Rags. ^ ,*.... 
 
 for ease and convenience or writing upon : per- 
 haps, says Mr. Chambers, the Chinese have the best title to this invention, 
 who for several centuries have made paper in the same manner as we do.' 
 There are many opinions concerning the use of this kind of paper in 
 Europe. Dr. Prideaux delivers it as his opinion, that it was brought 
 from the east, because most of the old mss. in the Oriental languages are 
 written on this kind of paper ; he thinks it most probable that the Sara- 
 cens of Spain first brought it out of the east into that country, from 
 whence it was dispersed over the rest of Europe." The same learned 
 author assures us, he had seen a register of some acts of John Cranden, 
 prior of Ely, made on paper, which bears date in the fourteenth year of 
 king Edward II. a.d. 1320; and in the Cottonian library are said to be 
 several writings on this kind of paper, as early as the year 1335, Mention 
 is made of an inventory in the library of the dean and chapter of Canter- 
 bury of the goods of Henry, prior of Christ Church, who died in 1340, 
 written on paper made with linen rags." 
 
 The editors of the Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique mention a charter 
 
 ^ Dcscript. of China, p. 360. 
 
 ' The first paper-mill in England was erected at Dartford by M. Spilman^ a German^ in the 
 year 1588. 
 
 " Prideaux's Connection, p. i. 1. vii. p. 710, &c. 
 " Philosoph. Transactions, N" 388. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 207 
 
 made by Adolphus, count of Schomberg, written on paper made of the 
 like materials, dated in the year 1239 ; and they are of opinion that it 
 was first introduced into Europe in the thirteenth century. 
 
 Although paper is now chiefly made of linen rags beaten to a pulp 
 in water, yet it may also be made of nettles, hay, straw, parsnips, turnips, 
 colewort leaves, flax, or of any fibrous vegetable. 
 
 It is obvious, that when men wrote, or rather 
 Instruments fob i 1 1 , 
 
 engraved, on hard substances, mstruments of 
 
 WRITING WITH. i 
 
 metal were necessary, such as the Chisel and the 
 Stijhis ; but the latter was chiefly used for writing upon boards, waxed 
 tablets, or on bark : these were sometimes made of iron, but afterwards of 
 silver, brass, or bone, called in Greek y^ct^iov, and in Latin Stylus ; though 
 the Romans adopted the Greek word, as appears by this verse in Ovid : 
 
 Quid digitos opus est graphium lassare tenendo ? 
 
 The Stylus was made sharp at one end to write with, and blunt at the 
 other to deface and correct what was not approved ; hence the phrase 
 vertere stylum, to blot out, became common among the Romans. The iron 
 styles were dangerous weapons, and were prohibited by the Romans, and 
 those of bone or ivory were used in their stead. Suetonius tells us, that 
 Caesar seized the arm of Cassias in full senate, and pierced it with his 
 Stylus. He also says that Caligula excited the people to massacre a 
 Roman senator with their styles. And Seneca mentions that one Erixo, 
 a Roman knight in his time, having scourged his son to death was 
 attacked in the forum by the mob, who stabbed him in many parts of 
 his body with the iron styles, which belonged to their Pugillares, so that 
 he narrowly escaped being killed, though the emperor interposed his 
 authority." Prudentius very emphatically describes the Tortures which 
 Cassianus " was put to by his scholars, who killed him with their pugil- 
 lares and styles : 
 
 Buxa crepant cerata genis impacta cruentis, 
 Rubetque ab ictu curva huniens paginaj 
 
 ° De dementia, lib. i. cap. 14. 
 
 P This Cassianus was the first bishop of Sibon, in Germany, where he built a church in 350 ; 
 but he was driven away by the Pagans, and fled to Rome, where he commenced schoolmaster for 
 a subsistence. In the year ^6^, he was, by the order of the emperor Julian, exposed to the merci- 
 less rage of his scholars. 
 
208 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 Inde alii stimuloSj et aciimina ferrea vibrant. 
 
 Qua parte aratis cera sulcis scribitur. llepl a-recjiavcav, p. 93. 
 
 ^ When the ancients wrote on softer materials than wood or metal, other 
 instruments were used for writing with, of which reeds and canes seem 
 to have been the first. Pliny says that Egypt furnished a great quantity 
 of the kind of reeds which were used for writing with ;'' and Martial hath 
 these words : 
 
 " Dat chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tellus." ' 
 
 Reeds and canes are still used as instruments for writing with by the 
 Tartars, the Indians, the Persians, the Turks, and the Greeks. Mr. 
 Halhed tells me that the two first of these nations write with small reeds 
 bearing the hand exceeding lightly. Tavernier in one of his voyages says 
 the same of the Persians. RauwolfF, who travelled in 1583, relates, that 
 the Turks, Moors, and eastern nations, use canes for pens, which are 
 small and hollow within, smooth without, and of a brownish red colour." 
 
 The canes in Persia are cut in March, which they dry in the smoak 
 for about six months ; those, which are covered with a fine varnish of 
 black and yellow, are esteemed the best for writing with. 
 
 The Indians more frequently write with the cane called Bamboo, which 
 are cut about the length and thickness of our pens. 
 
 Pencils made of hair are used by the Chinese for their writing : they 
 first liquify their ink, and dip their pencils into it. The large capital 
 letters similar to those in the eighth plate were made with hair pencils 
 from the time of the Roman emperors till the sixteenth century. After 
 the invention of printing they were drawn by the illuminators. 
 
 Quills of geese, swans, peacocks, crows, and other birds have been 
 used in these western parts for writing with, but how long is not easy 
 to ascertain. St. Isidore of Seville, who lived about the middle of the 
 seventh century, describes a pen made of a quill as used in his time. 
 
 « Pliny, Hist. 1. xvi. c. ^6. " Lib. xiv. Epigr. 34. 
 
 ' Rauwolff's Travels, p. 87. 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 209 
 
 Jmtrumenta scriba colamus et penna ; ex his enim verba paginis infiguntur ; 
 sed calamus arboris est, penna avis, ciijus acumen dividitur in duo.^ 
 
 Some of the instruments necessary for the occupation of a librarius or 
 book-writer are delineated in a book of the four gospels in the Harleian 
 library (N° 2820), written in Italy in the tenth century. The vellum, on 
 which this book is written, is stained of different colours at the beginning 
 of each gospel. 
 
 ^ J Ink has not only been useful in all ages, but still 
 
 continues absolutely necessary to the preservation and 
 improvement of every art and science, and for conducting the ordinary 
 transactions of life. 
 
 Daily experience shews, that the most common objects generally prove 
 most useful and beneficial to mankind. The constant occasion we have 
 for Ink evinces its convenience and utility. From the important benefits 
 arising to society from its use, and the injuries individuals may suffer 
 from the frauds of designing men in the abuse of this necessary article, 
 it is to be wished that the legislature would frame some regulation 
 to promote its improvement, and prevent knavery and avarice from 
 making it instrumental to the accomplishment of any base purposes. 
 
 Simple as the composition of Ink may be thought, and really is, it 
 is a fact well known, that we have at present none equal in beauty and 
 colour to that used by the ancients ; as will appear by an inspection of 
 many of the mss. above quoted, especially those written in England in 
 the times of the Saxons. What occasions so great a disparity ? Does it 
 arise from our ignorance, or from our want of materials ? From neither, 
 but from the negligence of the present race ; as very little attention would 
 soon demonstrate, that we want neither skill nor ingredients to make Ink 
 as good now, as at any former period. 
 
 It is an object of the utmost importance that the Records of Parlia- 
 ment, the Decisions and Adjudications of the Courts of Justice, Con- 
 veyances from man to man. Wills, Testaments, and other Instruments, 
 which affect property, should be written with Ink of such durable quality, 
 as may best resist the destructive powers of time and the elements. The 
 
 ' Isid. Hisp. Orig. lib. vi. cap. 14, 
 2 E 
 
210 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 necessity of paying greater attention to this matter may be readily seen 
 by comparing the Rolls and Records, that have been written from the 
 fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth, with the writings we have 
 remaining of various ages from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. Not- 
 withstanding the superior antiquity of the latter, they are in excellent 
 preservation ; but we frequently find the former, though of more modern 
 date, so much defaced, that they are scarcely legible. 
 
 Inks are of various sorts, as encaustic or varnish, Indian ink, gold 
 and silver, purple, black, red, green, and various other colours : there 
 are also secret and sympathetic Inks. 
 
 The Ink used by the ancients had nothing in common with ours, but 
 the colour and gum. Gall-nuts, copperas, and gum, make up the com- 
 position of our Ink; whereas soot, or ivory black, was the chief ingredient 
 in that of the ancients ; so that very old charters might be suspected, if 
 written with Ink intirely similar to what we use ; but the most acute and 
 delicate discernment is necessary in this matter, for some of the Inks form- 
 erly used were liable to fade and decay, and are found to have turned 
 red, yellow, or pale: those imperfections are however rare in mss. prior 
 to the tenth century. 
 
 There is a method of reviving the writing, but this expedient should 
 not be hazarded, lest a suspicion of deceit may arise, and the support 
 depended on be lost. 
 
 Golden Ink was used by various nations, as may be seen in several 
 libraries, and in the archives of churches. Silver Ink was also common 
 in most countries. Red Ink, made of vermilion, cinnabar, or purple, 
 is very frequently found in mss., but none are found written intirely with 
 Ink of that colour. The capital letters in the seventh plate are made 
 with a kind of varnish which seems to be composed of vermilion and 
 gum. Green Ink was rarely used in charters, but often in Latin mss., 
 especially in those of the latter ages : the guardians of the Greek em- 
 perors made use of it in signatures, till the latter were of age. Blue or 
 yellow Ink was seldom used but in mss. The yellow has not been in use, 
 as far as we can learn, for six hundred years. 
 
 Metallic and other characters were sometimes burnished. Wax was 
 used as a varnish by the Latins and Greeks, but much more by the latter, 
 
CHAP. VIII. OF WRITING. 211 
 
 with whom it continued a long time. This covering or varnish was very 
 frequent in the ninth century. 
 
 Colour "^^^^ colour of the Ink is of no great assistance in au- 
 
 thenticating Mss. and charters. There is in my library a 
 long roll of parchment, at the head of which, is a letter that was car- 
 ried over the greatest part of England by two devout Monks, requesting 
 prayers for Lucia de Vere, countess of Oxford, a pious lady, who died in 
 1199; who had founded the house of Ilenningham, in Essex, and done 
 many other acts of piety. This roll consists of many membranes, or skins 
 of parchment sewed together; all of which, except the first, contain 
 certificates from the different religious houses, that the two Monks had 
 visited them, and that they had ordered prayers to be offered up for the 
 countess, and had entered her name in their bead-rolls. It is observable, 
 that time hath had very different effects on the various inks, with which 
 these certificates were written ; some are as fresh and black as if written 
 yesterday, others are changed brown, and some are of a yellow hue. 
 It may naturally be supposed that there is a great variety of hand- 
 writings upon this roll ; but the fact is otherwise, for they may be reduced 
 to three. 
 
 The letter at the head of the roll is written in modern Gothic charac- 
 ters:" four-fifths of the certificates are Norman, which shews that this 
 mode of writing had then taken place of almost every other. Some of the 
 certificates are in modern Gothic letters, which we conceive were written 
 by English monks ; and a very few are in Lombardic small letters. It may 
 however be said in general, that black ink of the seventh, eighth, ninth, 
 and tenth centuries, at least amongst the Anglo-Saxons, preserves its 
 original blackness much better than that of succeeding ages ; " not even 
 excepting the sixteenth and seventeenth, in which it was frequently very 
 bad. Pale ink very rarely occurs before the four last centuries. 
 
 " The letter^ with an account of it, is in Weever's Funeral Monuments^ last edit. Lend. 
 1767, 4to. p. 379. 
 
 ^ The Texta Sancti Cuthberti in the Cottonian library (Nero D. 4), of which a specimen is 
 given in the fourteenth plate, and many other Anglo-Saxon mss. of which also specimens have 
 been given, demonstrate the truth of this assertion. 
 
212 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. viii. 
 
 Peter Caniparius, Professor of Medicine at Venice, wrote a curious 
 book concerning Inks, which is now scarce, though there is an edition of 
 it printed in London in I66O, 4to. The title is, De Atramentis cujuscun- 
 que generis opus sane novum. Hactenus a nemine promulgatum. This work 
 is divided into six parts. The first of which treats generally of Inks made 
 from pyrites, stones, and metals. 
 
 The second treats more particularly of Inks made from metals and 
 calxes. 
 
 The third, of Ink made from soots and vitriols. 
 
 The fourth, of the different kinds of Inks used by the librarii or book- 
 writers, as well as by printers and engravers, and of staining or writing 
 upon marble, stucco or scaliolia, and of encaustic modes of writing ; as 
 also of liquids for painting or colouring of leather, cloths linen and 
 woollen, and for restoring Inks that have been defaced by time ; as like- 
 wise many methods of effacing writing, restoring decayed paper, and 
 of various modes of secret writing. 
 
 The fifth part treats of Inks for writing, made in different countries, 
 of various materials and colours ; as from gums, woods, the juice of 
 plants, &c., and also of different kinds of varnishes. 
 
 The sixth part treats of the various operations of extracting vitriol, 
 and of its chymical uses. 
 
 This work abounds with a great variety of philosophical, chymical, 
 and historical knowledge, and we conceive will give great entertainment 
 to those who wish for information on this subject. Many curious particu- 
 lars concerning Ink will be found in JVeckerus de SecretisJ This gentleman 
 also gives receipts for making Inks of the colour of gold and silver, com- 
 posed as well with those metals as without them ; also directions for 
 making variety of Inks for secret writing, and for defacing of Inks. There 
 are many marvellous particulars in this last-mentioned work, which will 
 not easily gain credit with the judicious part of mankind. 
 
 y Printed at Basil in 1612, 8vo. 
 
CHAP. IX. OF PRINTING. ] 
 
 213 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF 
 
 PRINTING. 
 
 SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN AN EASTERN INVENTION — FIRST PRACTISED 
 
 IN EUROPE IN THE FIPTEBNTH CENTURY — PROGRESS OP THE ART 
 
 OP PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 
 
 as 
 
 As the invention or rather the introduction of printing into Europe h 
 been attended with the most beneficial advantages to mankind, some 
 account of the origin and progress of that art ma}^ be acceptable. 
 
 It has not been pretended that the art of printing books was ever 
 practised by the Romans, and yet the names they stamped on their 
 earthen vessels were in effect nothing else but printing, and the letters 
 on the matrices or stamps used for making these impressions were 
 necessarily reversed, as printing types ; several of these matrices are ex- 
 tant in the British Museum and in other places, which are cut out of, or 
 are cast in, one solid piece of metal. 
 
 Many hundred pieces of the Roman pottery impressed with these 
 stamps have been found in the sands near Reculver in Kent, and on the 
 eastern side of the Isle of Shepway, where they are frequently dragged 
 up by the fishermen. The art of impressing legends upon coins is nothing 
 more than printing on metals. 
 
 It is generally allowed, that printing from wooden blocks has been 
 practised in China for many centuries. According to the accounts of the 
 Chinese, and of P. Jovius, Osorius, and several other Europeans, print- 
 ing began there about the year of Christ, 927, in the reign of Ming- 
 Tcoung, the second emperor under the dynasty of Heou-Thang : several 
 
214 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ix. 
 
 of these blocks, which are cut upon ebony, or on wood exceedingly hard, 
 are now in England/ The Historia Sinensis of Abdalla, written in Persic 
 in 1317, speaks of it as an art in very common use.*" Our countryman. 
 Sir John Chardin, in his Travels confirms these accounts. 
 
 Printing then may be considered as an Asiatic, and not a European 
 invention. 
 
 The first printing in Europe was from wooden blocks, whereon a 
 whole page was carved exactly in the same manner as is now practised 
 by the Chinese, who print only on one side of their paper, because it is 
 so exceedingly thin, that it will not bear the impression of their characters 
 on both sides. 
 
 The early printers in Europe printed only on one side of the paper 
 for some time after the introduction of the art ; they pasted the blank 
 sides together, which made them appear as one leaf. 
 
 The European blocks were carved upon beech, pear tree, and other 
 soft woods, which soon failed, and the letters frequently broke ; this put 
 them upon the method of repairing the block, by carving new letters, 
 and gluing them in, which necessity seems to have suggested the hint 
 of moveable types of metal ; these were not so liable to break as the soft 
 European woods, which had been before used. 
 
 One great and obvious advantage of moveable types was, that by 
 separating them they would serve for any other work ; whereas the blocks 
 of wood served only for one work : though the use of moveable metal 
 types was a very fortunate discovery, yet they derived their origin rather 
 from the imperfection or unfitness of our woods for printing blocks, than 
 from any great ingenuity of those who first used them. In short, necessity, 
 the mother of all arts, introduced moveable types. 
 
 It has been a matter of contest, who first practised the art of print- 
 ing in Europe. Faust or Fust of Mentz, Gutenberg of Strasburgh, and 
 Coster of Haerlem, have each their advocates. The pretensions in favour 
 of Fust seem to be best supported ; but we shall not trespass upon the 
 patience of our readers by entering into a discussion of this matter, because 
 
 » Two of them were in the possession of the Rev. Dr. Lort, and one is in my collection. 
 See the Origin of Printing in two Essays by Mess. Bowyer and Nichols, Lond. 1776, 8vo. 
 
CHAP. IX. OF PRINTING. 215 
 
 such a discussion would in our opinion be of little importance, it hav- 
 ing been generally agreed, that printing with moveable types was not 
 practised till after the middle of the fifteenth century, although prints 
 from blocks of wood are traced as far back as the year 1423.= 
 
 It seems probable, that the art of printing might have been introduced 
 into Europe by some European who had travelled into China, and had 
 seen some of their printing tablets, as it is known that several Europeans 
 had been over-land into China before this time ; " and what strengthens 
 this probability is, the Europeans first printed on one side of the paper 
 only, in the same manner as the Chinese do at present, but, however this 
 may be, the progress of the art was as follows : 
 
 First, pictures from blocks of wood without text. 
 
 Secondly, pictures with text. 
 
 Thirdly, whole pages of text cut on blocks of wood, sometimes for 
 the explanation of prints which accompanied them. And, 
 
 Fourthly, moveable types. Specimens of all which are given in the 
 Idee Generate des jEstompes just referred to. 
 
 There are several ancient blocks extant which were used in the fifteenth 
 century; some are in the possession of Capt. Thompson, of Dulwich, in 
 Kent. 
 
 I presented a block to earl Spencer carved on a soft wood, which is 
 the second in the Historia Sancti Johannis EvangelisUe ejusque visiones 
 Apocali/pticce, generally called the Apocalypse.*" 
 
 = Those who wish for information concerning this contest, may peruse Mr. Meerman's 
 Origines Typographic^ : and Idee Generale d'un Collection complette d'Estampes, by Mons. 
 Christian Frederic Heineken, published at Leipsic and Vienna, in 1771. 
 
 ^ About the year 1260, Marco Paulo, a noble Venetian, travelled from Syria into Persia, 
 and from thence into China, which was called Caihay till the sixteenth century ; he wrote a 
 book intituled, De Regionihus Orientis, wherein he mentions the vast and opulent city of 
 Cambalu, or Khan-Balik, i. e. the imperial city which is now called Pekin. Hakluyt mentions 
 that one Odoric, a friar of the order of 'Minorites, travelled to Camhalu, which is known to be 
 Pekin, in China, of which city he gives a description. See Hakluyt's Voyages, p. 39 to ^^. 
 
 <= The following letter from my late friend Charles Rogers, Esq., containing an account of 
 this block, may be acceptable : 
 
 To Thomas Astle, Esq. 
 Dear Sir, . . J^n. 15, 1781. 
 
 Give me leave to congratulate you on your fortunate acquisition of a block, which was 
 d in the very infancy of printing, when the quotations and necessary explanations were 
 
 use 
 
216 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ix. 
 
 Two of the copies of the book, to which the block referred to belongs, 
 were formerly in the library of Mons. Gaignat : they are now in his Ma- 
 cut in the same piece of wood with the subject represented, before moveable types were 
 invented. 
 
 Yours, Sir, is for the second leaf of the " Historia Sancti Johannis Evangelists ejus- 
 que Visiones Apocalyptic^," generally called "The Apocalypse;" in the upper part of 
 which, St. John is represented carrying before the Praefect, with this inscription; " Traha- 
 mus Johannem ad Prjefectum qui Ydolorum culturam adnichilavit;" and in the lower, St. 
 John is embarking to be transported to Rome, over which is written, "S. Johannes Romam 
 "mittitur, ac Domiciano imperatori crudelissimo Christianorum persecutor! praesentatur." 
 
 This M. Maittaire (in his Annales Typographic!, p. 26) imagines to be the oldest of 
 the four books, which were the first attempts of the art of printing; the second being the 
 "Speculum humane Salvationis," illustrated with subjects from the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, and with the prologues and explanations in Latin rhymes (this is known by the 
 name of "Speculum Salutis" or "La Bible des Pauvres"); the third book is of the same 
 cuts with Dutch prose; and the fourth, the " Ars moriendi" or "Speculum morientium," 
 in which the good and bad angels are contending for the soul of a dying person. 
 
 Palmer,* who was himself a printer, gives the first place to the "Ars moriendi;" and the 
 second to the "Apocalypse" (p. 53-4); and tells us, that its "Paper has the mark of the 
 heifer's head and horns," which is allowed to be the mark in the paper Faust used, whose 
 first essays were, from 1440 to 1450. 
 
 We have therefore no reason to give any credit to those Dutch writers, who would com- 
 pliment their countryman, Laurence Coster, of Haerlem, with the invention of every branch 
 of the art of printing, and say that these books were printed so early as between 1428 and 
 1435; nor can it be allowed, that Coster was either a painter or engraver. (See " Idee Generale 
 des Estampes," p. 333.) 
 
 M. Chretien Frederic Heineken, inspector of the cabinet of prints and drawings of the 
 electoral gallery at Dresden, who has given us a large volume in octavo, 1771, under the title 
 of " Idee Generale d'une Collection complette d'Estampes," p. 334, &c., says, that he has 
 found six different editions of the "Historia Sancti Johannis Evangelistae, ejusque Visiones 
 Apocalypticae," which were all printed on one side of the paper only, with such a tool as the 
 makers of playing cards use ; the first of them he mentions, consists of forty-eight blocks, 
 most of which, like yours, is divided into two parts. A complete copy of this edition is in 
 the Imperial library at Vienna; the ink very pale, and the figures illuminated, as are those 
 of several other copies.f 
 
 Your print, Sir, belongs to the first edition; for in the second, the stem of the tree in the 
 upper part is strait, bearing three boughs; and in the lower, there are five ropes fastened to the 
 mast, instead of four, and the two trees are omitted. 
 
 The very early prints from wooden blocks, without the least shadowing or crossing of 
 strokes, we may conjecture were first schemed by the illuminators of mss. and the makers 
 of playing cards : these they inelegantly daubed over with colours, which they termed illu- 
 minating, and sold at a cheap rate to those who could not afford to purchase valuable mis- 
 sals, elegantly written and painted on vellum, and this conjecture seems to be corroborated 
 
 * Or rather Psalmanazar, who was avowedly the author of the book which goes under Palmer's name. 
 
 t Dr. Askew 's copy of this work was bought by Dr. Hunter. (Origin of Printing, by Bowyer and Nichols, 8vo. 1776, 
 P- I7S-) 
 
CHAP. IX. OF PRINTING. 217 
 
 jesty's library at the Queen's house.*^ These books are printed on one side 
 of the paper only. 
 
 The Speculum liuinance Snlvationis is also printed on one side of the 
 paper ; a copy of it is in earl Spencer's library, who has several of these 
 early books printed on one side of the paper. 
 
 The History of the Old and New Testament in folio is also printed 
 on one side of the paper. There is a complete copy of this work in his 
 Majesty's library,^ which was purchased from that of Mons. Gaignat. 
 Earl Spencer has also a copy. Mr. Heineken says, there is one copy of 
 this work in the library of the Senate of Leipsic, containing forty leaves ; 
 one was in that of the duke de la Valliere, which has only twenty-two 
 leaves ; and one in the Electoral library at Dresden, besides several others. 
 
 The Ars moriencli contains twelve leaves printed on one side of the 
 paper only ; there is a copy of the first edition of this work in the library 
 at Wolfenbuttel ; and there are seven leaves of this edition in the public 
 library at Memmingham. There are several other editions of this work ; 
 for an account of which see Heineken's Idee Generale d'Estampes above 
 quoted, p. 399 et seqq., in which mention is made of other books printed 
 on one side of the paper from carved blocks of wood, without dates, which 
 are supposed to have been printed between 1440 and 1450. 
 
 Fust and Guttenberg are reported to have printed the bible at Mentz 
 in 1450, or before the end of the year 1452, but several writers have 
 doubted the fact, and assert, that the first edition of the bible was in 1462. 
 Mons. de Bure says, that Fust and Guttenberg printed the bible in 1450, 
 thouo-h it is without a date, and that there are different copies of it ; one 
 in the king of Prussia's library ; one in the Benedictine convent near 
 Mentz ; and another was in the library of cardinal Mazarine ; but it is 
 probable that they omitted the 'Colophon in several copies, in order to 
 
 by their subjects being religious, and particularly by one of their books being called the 
 " Poor's Bible." I remain, Sir, &c., 
 
 Charles Rogers.-'-' 
 
 f Historia S. Joannis cum figuris Apocalypsis tabulis 48 ligno incisis expressa cum Latmis 
 argumentis iisdem tabulis incisis fbl. (sine anni vel loci impressa notitia). Historia S. Joannis 
 cum figuris Apocalypsis tabulis 47 ligno incisis et coloratis expressa cum Latinis argumentis iisdem 
 tabulis incisis altera editio, fol. (sine anni vel loci indicatione); but both these copies are imperfect. 
 
 e Historic veteris et novi Testamenti figuris ligno incisis expressae cum brevi explicatione 
 Latina fol (Edit, primffi vetustatis tentamen artis impressorise sine loco et anno.) 
 
 2 F 
 
218 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ix. 
 
 sell them as mss. which Fust afterwards attempted, particularly at Paris 
 in 1466. Fust and Guttenberg are also said to have used moveable types 
 of wood, but I cannot believe that more than a few pages were ever 
 printed by them with such types. 
 
 Guttenberg separated from Fust in 1455 ; and Fust with SchoefFer, 
 his servant and son-in-law, printed a Psalter at Mentz, in 1457, with 
 moveable types : the capitals were of wood, and the small letters of metal ; 
 but Meerman says, that these were cut types, and not the improved cast 
 types ; and asserts, that the first book printed with the latter, was, 
 Durandi Rationale, printed at Mentz, in 1459- 
 
 Heineken (p. 264) mentions several copies of the Psalter of Mentz, 
 particularly a very fair one in the Imperial library at Vienna ; at the end 
 of which are the following words : 
 
 Presens Psalmorum codex venustate capitalium decoratus rubricationibusque sufficienter 
 distinctus, ab inventione artificiosa imprimendi ac characterisandi, absque calami exaracione sic 
 effigiatuSj ab Eusebiam dei Industrie est consummatus per Joannem Fust civem Moguntinum, et 
 Petrum Schoeffer de Gernszheim, Anno Domini Miilesimo cccclvh. in Vigilia Assumptionis. 
 
 His Majesty has lately procured a fine copy of this rare book for his 
 noble library; and earl Spencer has also one very fair ; besides these, there 
 are only four others known te be extant. Earl Spencer has also another 
 edition of this Psalter, printed at Mentz in 1459- His lordship has also 
 an Indulgence printed in moveable metal types in 1455, during the pon- 
 tificate of Nicholas the Fifth. 
 
 In 1460 Fust and SchoefFer published with their improved types the 
 Catholicon, which hath the following Colophon : 
 
 Altissimi presidio, cujus nutu infantium lingue fiunt diserte. Quique numero sepe parvulis 
 revelatj quod sapientibus celat. Hie liber egregius Catholicon, Dominice incarnationis annis 
 M.cccc.Lx. alma in Urbe Moguntina Nationis indite Germanice, quam Dei dementia tarn 
 alto ingenii lumine donoque gratuito, ceteris terrarum Nationibus praeferre illustrareque dignatus 
 est. Non calami, styli aut penne sufFragio, sed mira patronarum formarumque concordia pro- 
 portione et modulo impressus atque confectus est. 
 
 There is a fine copy of this edition in his Majesty's library at the 
 Queen's house ; another copy is in the Royal library at Paris. 
 
 In 1462 Fust and SchoefFer printed an edition of the Bible at Mentz in 
 two volumes folio, in Gothic characters, which is justly esteemed a good 
 performance ; there are several copies of this edition extant, particularly 
 
CHAP. IX. OF PRINTING. 219 
 
 one in his Majesty's library, where there is a fair copy of the New Testa- 
 ment, of the same place and date, printed on vellum. If the assumed 
 edition of 1450 without the Colophon was compared with this of 1462, the 
 question, whether they are different editions or not, would be decided. 
 
 In 1465 Fust and Schoeffer printed at Mentz an edition of Tully's 
 Offices, and in the next year another edition of the same work. Some 
 have asserted, that these were one and the same book, but both the 
 editions are in his Majesty's library, which I have seen. The Colophon 
 to that first printed is as follows ; 
 
 Presens Marci Tullij clarissimu opus. Jo- 
 hannes Fust, Mogutinus civis. no atrame 
 to. plumali cana neq^ aerea. Sed arte qua- 
 dam perpulcra. Petri manu pueri mei feli- 
 citer efFeci finitum. Anno M. cccc. Ixv. 
 
 The second edition hath this Colophon : 
 
 Presens Marci Tullij clarissimu opus. Jo- 
 hannes Fust Mogiitinus civis. no atrame- 
 to, plumali cana neq^ aerea. Sed arte qua- 
 dam perpulcra. manu Petri de Gernshem 
 pueri mei feliciter efFeci finitum. Anno M. 
 cccc. Ixvi. quarta die mensis fehruarij , &c. 
 
 From the year 1463 the art of printing spread very rapidly through 
 Europe, and was encouraged by the sovereigns of every nation. In 1465 
 the Institutes of Lactantius were printed in the Sublacensian monastery 
 near Rome : this is said to have been the first attempt towards printing in 
 Italy ; a fair copy of this book is in his Majesty's library ; the letters are 
 partly Gothic. 
 
 John Bember printed at Augsburg in 1466. 
 
 In 1467, printing was practised at Rome by Sweynheim and Pannartz. 
 Their first book w^as Cicero's Familiar Epistles. In the next year they 
 printed several books. In 1469 they published an elegant edition of 
 Aulus Gellius. In the same year John de Spira produced from his press 
 at Venice his most beautiful edition of Pliny's Natural History ; which is 
 printed in elegant Roman types in a manner which would do credit to 
 the present times. In the course of the next year Spira published an 
 
220 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ix. 
 
 edition of Virgil, which though well printed is not to be compared with 
 the book last mentioned. 
 
 In the year 1472 Nicholas Jenson printed at Venice a most elegant 
 edition of Pliny's works ; he seems to have endeavoured to excel his 
 master Spira : both these beautiful editions of the works of Pliny are in 
 the Royal library at the Queen's house, and also in earl Spencer's library, 
 and they may be truly said to be in the perfection of the art. Jenson's 
 edition of Aulus Gellius, printed in the same year, doth him great credit. 
 
 In 1470 printing was practised at Paris, Cologne, and Milan. 
 
 In the year 1471, Sixtus Riessenger printed at Naples, and Andrew 
 Gallus at Ferrara. Henry Eggestein had a printing press at Strasburgh. 
 There were also presses in this year at Bologna and at Lubec. 
 
 In 1472, Bernard and Dominic Cenini printed at Florence: in the 
 same year printing presses were established at Padua, Parma, Mantua, 
 and Verona : in this year printing was practised in Saxony, and in a few 
 years afterwards in the most considerable parts of Europe. 
 
 Italy claims the honour of first printing in Greek characters. In the 
 edition of Lactantius's Institutes above mentioned, which appeared in 
 the year 1465, the quotations from the Greek authors are in very neat 
 Greek letters.*' Earl Spencer has a fair copy of this book. 
 
 The first whole book that was printed in that language, is supposed 
 to have been the Grammar of Constantinus Lascaris in 4to, produced 
 from the press of Dionysius Palavisinus at Milan in 1476. In 1481 the 
 Greek Psalter was printed in that city, as were iEsop's Fables in 4to. 
 
 In 1486 two Greek books were printed at Venice, namely, the Psalter, 
 and the Batrachomyomachia ; the former by Alexander, the latter by 
 Laonicus, both natives of Crete ; these books are printed in uncommon 
 characters, the latter of them with accents and spirits, and also with scholia. 
 Earl Spencer has a fair copy of this work. 
 
 The folio edition of Homer's works, which was produced from the 
 press of Demetrius, a native of Crete, who first printed Greek at Florence 
 m 1488, eclipsed all former publications in this language. A fine copy of 
 this edition is in the library of the Royal Society, and another in earl 
 Spencer's, and two more in the British Museum. 
 
 " The few Greek quotations, which appear in Tally's Offices printed at Mentz in 146^ are 
 so incorrect and barbarous, that they scarcely deserve to be mentioned. 
 
CHAP. IX. OF PRINTING. 
 
 221 
 
 In 1493, a fine folio edition of Isocrates was printed at Milan by Ger- 
 man and Sebastian. All the above works are prior in time to those of 
 Aldus, who is erroneously supposed to have been the first Greek printer ; 
 but the beauty, correctness, and neatness of his editions place him in a 
 much higher rank than his predecessors ; and his characters in general 
 were more elegant than any before used.' He was born in 1445, and died 
 in 1.515, and was the inventor of the Italic characters, which are still used, 
 called from him Akline or Cursive} The Greek editions of the celebrated 
 family of Stephens are much esteemed. 
 
 Printing in Hebrew was practised as early as 1477, when the Psalms 
 appeared in that language. In 1482 the Pentateuch was printed. In 1484 
 the prior Prophets ; the posterior, in 148S. The Hagiographia, in 1487, 
 and the whole Bible Text in one volume at Sancino with vowel points by 
 Abraham fil. Rabbi Hhaiim in 1488. 
 
 The first Polyglott work was printed at Genoa in 1516, by Peter Paul 
 Porrus, who undertook to print the Pentaglott Psalter of Augustin Jus- 
 tinian, bishop of Nebo. It was in Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldaic, and Greek, 
 with the Latin verses, glosses, and scholia, which last made the eighth 
 column in folio. In 1518 John Potken published at Cologne, the Psalter 
 in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Ethiopic. In the year 1522 the Complu- 
 tensian Bible, consisting of six large folio volumes, was printed under the 
 auspices of that great man, cardinal Ximenes. A polyglott Pentateuch 
 was printed at Constantinople in 1546, and another in 1547. 
 
 In the year 1636 the congregation, j:>ro propaganda Fide, at Rome, had 
 types for the Samaritan, for t'.,e Syriac, both Fshito, and Estrangelo, for the 
 Coptic, for the Armenian, and for the Heraclean or ancient language of the 
 Chaldees. Since which time they have cast types for the Gentoo, Tartar, 
 Bramin, Bengalese, Malabaric, and several other Asiatic languages. 
 
 Some years ago Ferdinand the late prince of Parma furnished that 
 University which he re-established, with the t5'^pes of twenty different 
 eastern languages, which appear in a most magnificent book printed at 
 Parma, at the Royal press, in 1775, on the marriage of the prince of 
 Piedmont with Mary Adelaide Clothilda of France, in twenty-four lan- 
 guages. This book is in his Majesty's library. 
 
 ' Aldus's Psalter was printed in 1495 or 1495. '^ Aldus first used these characters in 1501. 
 
222 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ix. 
 
 William Caxton hath been generally allowed to 
 Op Printing in ^^^^^ ^^^^ introduced and practised the Art of Print- 
 ing in England in the reign of king Edward IV. 
 He was born in the Weald of Kent, and was first a citizen and mercer of 
 London : at length he became a reputable merchant, and in 1464 he was 
 one of the persons employed by king Edward IV. in negociating a treaty 
 of commerce with the duke of Burgundy, and was afterwards patronised 
 by Margaret duchess of Burgundy, sister to that king. Caxton having 
 received a good education in his youth had a taste for learning, and made 
 himself master of the Art of Printing. He tells us himself that he began 
 to print his translation of " Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes," at Bruges, 
 in 1468, that he continued the work at Ghent, and that he finished it at 
 Cologne in 1471.' A fair copy of this book is in his Majesty's library. 
 
 The first book which Caxton printed in England, was the Game at 
 Chess, which was finished in the Abby of Westminster the last day of 
 March 1474. In 1475 he printed the Book of Jason. In 1477 the Bktes 
 and sayinges of the Philosophet^s. For an account of the other books printed 
 by Caxton, see Herbert's History of Printing. 
 
 The first letters used by Caxton were of the sort called Secretary, and 
 of these he had two founts : afterwards his letters were more like the 
 modern Gothic characters, written by the English Monks in the fifteenth 
 century. Of these he had three founts of Great Primer, the first rude, 
 which he used in 1474 ; another something better ; and a third cut about 
 the year 1488. Besides these he had two founts of English or Pica, the 
 latest and best of which were cut about 1482 ; one of Double Pica, good, 
 which first appeared in 1490 ; and one of Long Primer, at least agreeing 
 with the bodies which have since been called by those names ; all these 
 resemble the written characters of that asje, which have been distinguished 
 by the name of Monkish-English. Those characters nearly resemble their 
 prototypes used by the first printers in Germany." 
 
 ' See Ames's Typograph. Antiq. p. z and 3. 
 
 ™ About the time of the Restoration a book was taken notice of, which is dated at Oxford, 
 in 1468, and was said to have been printed there by Frederick Corsellis; but Dr. Middle- 
 ton and Mr. Lewis are of opinion that an X was dropped, either carelessly or by design ; 
 and that both the types and press-work are too well executed for that time, and deliver it as 
 their opinion, which they support with many strong arguments, that it could not have been 
 printed before 1478. Mr. Bryan Twyne, Mr. Richard Atkyns, and Mr. Meerman, endeavour 
 
CHAP. IX. OF PRINTING. 223 
 
 In the year 1478 printing was first practised in the two Universities 
 of Oxford and Cambridge ; and two years afterwards we find a press at 
 St. Alban's. Specimens of the first types used by Caxton, and by printers at 
 the places above mentioned, may be seen in Herbert's History of Printing. 
 Caxton lived till the year 1491, when he was succeeded by Wynkyn 
 de Worde, who had served him for many years, and was connected with 
 him in business at the time of his death. Wynkyn made considerable 
 advances in the Art of Printing, and enriched his foundery with a variety 
 of new types ; his letters were what are called the Old English (or Square 
 English), which have been the pattern for his successors for black letter 
 printing. He is said to have first brought into England the use of round 
 Roman letters, though it does not appear that he ever printed in those 
 letters. The first Roman, which I remember to have seen, is a marginal 
 quotation in Pica, at the latter end of the second part of a book intituled, 
 " the E.Ttirpatioji of Ignorancey compyled by Sir Paule Bushe, Preeste, and 
 Bonhome of Edyndon," printed by Pynson without a date; but in 1518 
 Pynson printed a book wholly in Roman types, as appears in Ames 
 (p. 120). Pynson's contemporary, William Faques, in 1503 made a fount 
 of English letters, equal, if not exceeding, in beauty any, which our 
 founders at this day produce. The favourite characters of these times 
 were large types, and particularly Great Primer. Although considerable 
 progress was made in the Art of Printing in the fifteenth century, yet the 
 Enolish presses produced no works in the Greek, or in the Oriental lan- 
 guages, till the sixteenth. The first Greek book I know of, that was printed 
 in England, is the Homilies set forth by Sir John Cheke, and printed at 
 London in 1543, by Reg Wolfe. It is true, that about the year 1523 
 Sibert of Cambridge printed a few Greek quotations interspersed among 
 his Latin ; but I do not find that he printed any whole book in the 
 
 Greek language. 
 
 About the year 1567 John Daye, who was patronised by archbishop 
 Parker, cut the first Saxon types which were used in England. In 
 this year Asserius Menevensis was published by the direction of the 
 
 to prove that the book was printed at Oxford by Corsellis at the time it bears date. Messrs. 
 Bowyer and Nichols in their work on the Origin of Printing have taken much pams to ek,cidate 
 this fact. I have considered all the evidence I could collect upon this subject; and I am firm y per- 
 suaded, that the Oxford book was not printed before 1478; and therefore I do not hesitate to 
 assert, that in my opinion Caxton was our first prmter. 
 
224 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS chap. ix. 
 
 archbishop in these characters ; and in the same year archbishop ^Elfric's 
 Paschal Homilj^ ; and in 1571 the Saxon gospels." Daye's Saxon types 
 far excel in neatness and beauty any which have been since made, not 
 excepting the neat types cast for F. Junius at Dort, which were given 
 by him to the University of Oxford. 
 
 Notwithstanding cardinal Wolsey founded a Hebrew lecture at Cam- 
 bridge in the beginning of the sixteenth century, no books were printed 
 here in Hebrew characters before the year 1592, when Dr. Rhese pub- 
 lished his Institutiones LinQ-uce Cambro-Britannica. 
 
 In the year 1657 the English Polyglott in six volumes folio was printed 
 at London under the auspices of archbishop Usher and bishop Walton. 
 This magnificent work was begun in l653, and contains the sacred text 
 in the Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac, Chaldean, Arabic, Persic, TEthiopic, 
 Greek, and Latin languages, all printed in their proper characters. Besides 
 the characters exhibited in the body of this great work, the Prolegomena 
 furnish us with more ; namely, the Rabbinical, the Hebrew, the Syriac 
 duplices, Nestorian, and Estraiigelan, the Armenian, the Egyptian, the 
 Illyrian, both Cyrilliaji and Hieronymian, the Iberian, and the ancient 
 Gothic. Most of the rare books above specified are to be found in his 
 Majesty's library at the Queen's house, in the British Museum, or in 
 that of earl Spencer. 
 
 The greatest difficulty, which the first letter-founders had to encounter, 
 was the discovery of the necessary number of each letter for a fount of 
 types in any particular language ; and in order to know this they would 
 endeavour to find out how much oftener one letter occurred than another 
 in such language. Perhaps this discovery was made by casting off the 
 copy, as the printers call it; which is, by calculating the number of 
 letters necessary for composing any given number of pages, and by count- 
 ing the number of each letter which occurs in those pages ; this would in 
 some degree have pointed out the proportional number of one letter to 
 another, but whether it was done by this, or by what other method, is 
 not easy to discover : however, it is generally supposed the letter-founder's 
 bill was made in the fifteenth century, but on what principle all writers 
 
 " A beautiful copy of these Gospels was in the library of the late Rev. Clayton Cracherode, 
 and is now deposited with the rest of his books and collections in the British Museum. There 
 is another copy in my library. 
 
CHAP. IX. 
 
 OF PRINTING. 
 
 225 
 
 are silent ; the various ligatures and abbreviations used by the early 
 printers made more types necessary than at present. 
 
 Printers divide a fount of letters into two classes, namely, the upper- 
 case and the lower-case. The upper-case contains large capitals, small 
 capitals, accented letters, figures, and marks of references. 
 
 The lower-case consists of small letters, ligatures, points, spaces, and 
 quadrates. 
 
 This may appear more clearly by exhibiting a Letter-founder's bill 
 for a fount of Pica Roman letters for the English language, shewing the 
 proportional number of one letter to another, with the number of types 
 proposed for making the English fount more perfect. 
 
 
 LOWER 
 
 CASE. 
 
 
 CAPITAL 
 
 s. 
 
 
 SPACES 
 
 • 
 
 
 Usual N» 
 
 Proposed 
 
 
 Usual N" 
 
 Proposed 
 
 
 
 Usual N» 
 
 
 cast. 
 
 Number. 
 
 
 cast. 
 
 Number. 
 
 
 
 cast. 
 
 a 
 
 7000 
 
 ... 7500 
 
 A 
 
 700 
 
 850 
 
 
 Thick 
 
 18000 
 
 b 
 
 1600 
 
 1200 
 
 B 
 
 500 
 
 450 
 
 
 Middle 
 
 12000 
 
 c 
 
 2400 
 
 ... 1500 
 
 C 
 
 600 
 
 800 
 
 
 Thin 
 
 8000 
 
 d 
 
 4000 
 
 ... 4800 
 
 D 
 
 600 
 
 • 450 
 
 
 Hair 
 
 4000 
 
 e 
 
 12000 
 
 ... 14000 
 
 E 
 
 700 
 
 700 
 
 
 m quad. 
 
 2500 
 
 f 
 
 2500 
 
 2500 
 
 F 
 
 500 
 
 • 450 
 
 
 n quad. 
 
 5000 
 
 g 
 
 1600 
 
 ... 1300 
 
 G 
 
 500 .. 
 
 600 
 
 
 
 
 h 
 
 6000 
 
 ... 6500 
 
 H 
 
 500 
 
 • 550 
 
 
 
 49500 
 
 i 
 
 6000 
 
 ... 5000 
 
 I 
 
 700 
 
 . 1000 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 500 
 
 300 
 
 J 
 
 300 
 
 500 
 
 
 QUADRATES. 
 
 k 
 
 800 
 
 900 
 
 K 
 
 400 
 
 ■ 450 
 
 
 2 m's 
 
 10 lb. 
 
 1 
 
 3S°° 
 
 ... 3000 
 
 L 
 
 500 
 
 600 
 
 
 3 tn's 
 
 4 m's 
 
 30 lb. 
 40 lb. 
 
 m 
 
 3000 
 
 2000 
 
 M 
 
 650 .. 
 
 800 
 
 
 n 
 
 6500 
 
 ... 6500 
 
 N 
 
 500 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 6500 
 
 7000 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 1600 
 
 1000 
 
 P 
 
 600 
 
 . 800 
 
 
 FIGURES. 
 
 q 
 
 r 
 
 500 
 
 300 
 
 a 
 
 250 
 
 • 300 
 
 
 Usual N» 
 
 Proposed 
 
 5000 
 
 ... 6000 
 
 R 
 
 500 . 
 
 600 
 
 
 cast. 
 
 Number. 
 
 f 
 
 2500 
 
 ... 2500 
 
 s 
 
 600 
 
 . 800 
 
 I 
 
 1200 
 
 1800 
 
 s 
 
 3000 
 
 2400 
 
 T 
 
 700 
 
 1000 
 
 2 
 
 1200 
 
 • 1300 
 
 t 
 
 7500 
 
 ... 7500 
 
 U 
 
 400 
 
 400 
 
 3 
 
 1200 
 
 • 1300 
 
 u 
 
 3000 
 
 aooo 
 
 V 
 
 iS° ■ 
 
 500 
 
 4 
 
 1000 
 
 II 00 
 
 V 
 
 1200 
 
 1000 
 
 w 
 
 500 
 
 600 
 
 5 
 
 1000 
 
 IIOO 
 
 w 
 
 1600 
 
 2000 
 
 X 
 
 200 
 
 • 3°o 
 
 6 
 
 1000 . 
 
 1200 
 
 X 
 
 400 
 
 400 
 
 Y 
 
 500 
 
 ■ 300 
 
 7 
 
 1000 . 
 
 1000 
 
 y 
 
 z 
 
 1800 
 
 2000 
 
 Z 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 8 
 
 1000 
 
 1000 
 
 250 
 250 
 
 92500 
 
 200 
 
 M 
 
 60 . 
 
 100 
 
 9 
 
 1000 
 
 1000 
 
 & 
 
 200 
 
 CE 50 . 
 
 12850 
 
 50 
 15050 
 
 
 
 1200 
 
 1800 
 
 
 92500 
 
 10800 
 
 12600 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 G 
 
 
 
 
 
226 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 DOUBLE 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 
 Usual N» 
 cast. 
 
 Proposed 
 Number. 
 
 ft 
 
 lOOO 
 
 ... 800 
 
 111 
 
 800 
 
 600 
 
 fl 
 
 500 
 
 ... 500 
 
 fi 
 
 500 
 
 . . . 400 
 
 fF 
 
 400 
 
 ... 300 
 
 ff 
 
 400 
 
 ... 150 
 
 fl 
 
 aoo 
 
 ... 150 
 
 fl 
 
 200 
 
 ... 150 
 
 ffl 
 
 50 
 
 ... 50 
 
 ffl 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 fli 
 
 150 
 
 200 
 
 ffi 
 
 150 
 
 ... 200 
 
 fb 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 Ik 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 a 
 
 40Q 
 
 ... 300 
 
 ffi 
 
 150 
 
 ... 150 
 
 oe 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 5300 
 
 4350 
 
 
 POINTS. 
 
 
 
 Usual N° 
 cast. 
 
 Proposed 
 Number. 
 
 > 
 
 5000 
 
 5000 
 
 5 
 
 1000 
 
 1000 
 
 : 
 
 1000 
 
 600 
 
 • 
 
 2500 
 
 2000 
 
 - 
 
 1500 ... 
 
 1000 
 
 ? 
 
 400 
 
 400 
 
 1 
 
 300 ... 
 
 200 
 
 t 
 
 80 ... 
 
 100 
 
 + 
 
 80 ... 
 
 100 
 
 * 
 
 80 ... 
 
 200 
 
 [ 
 
 200 
 
 200 
 
 ( 
 
 400 
 
 300 
 
 1 
 
 80 ... 
 
 100 
 
 § 
 
 50 ... 
 
 100 
 
 H 
 
 50 ... 
 
 50 
 
 12720 
 
 ^^350 
 
 
 Usual 
 Number. 
 
 Proposed 
 Number. 
 
 Lower-Case 
 
 92500 . 
 
 92500 
 
 Capitals 
 
 12850 . 
 
 ■ 15050 
 
 Double Letters 
 
 5300 ■ 
 
 ■ 4350 
 
 Figures 
 
 10800 . 
 
 12600 
 
 Points 
 
 12720 . 
 
 • II35O 
 
 Spaces 
 
 49500 . 
 
 • 49500 
 
 183670 
 
 185350 
 
CHAP. IX. 
 
 OF PRINTING. 
 
 227 
 
 A Letter-founder's bill for a fount of Roman letters for the French 
 language, taken from a curious work intituled, Manuel Typographique, 
 by Mons. Fournier the younger. Tom. i. p. 289.'' 
 
 dALI 
 
 . LETTERS 
 
 a 
 
 5000 
 
 b 
 
 1000 
 
 c 
 
 2600 
 
 9 
 d 
 
 3200 
 
 e 
 f 
 
 10500 
 1000 
 
 g 
 h 
 
 1000 
 800 
 
 i 
 
 J 
 k 
 
 5500 
 500 
 100 
 
 1 
 m 
 
 4000 
 2600 
 
 n 
 
 5000 
 
 o 
 P 
 
 4500 
 2000 
 
 q 
 
 r 
 
 1500 
 5000 
 
 s 
 f 
 
 1800 
 
 t 
 
 5000 
 
 u 
 
 5000 
 
 V 
 
 1200 
 
 X 
 
 y 
 
 z 
 
 400 
 300 
 400 
 
 DOUBLE LETTERS. 
 
 ae 
 
 100 
 
 oe 
 
 100 
 
 w 
 
 100 
 
 & 
 
 500 
 
 a 
 
 300 
 
 ft 
 
 600 
 
 fi 
 
 400 
 
 fi 
 
 500 
 
 fl 
 
 100 
 
 11 
 
 50 
 
 fF 
 
 300 
 
 ff 
 
 400 
 
 ffi 
 
 200 
 
 ffi 
 
 250 
 
 ffl 
 
 50 
 
 ^ 
 
 50 
 
 R 
 
 50 
 
 POINTS. 
 
 
 1800 
 
 
 400 
 
 
 300 
 
 
 1600 
 
 
 1000 
 
 ? 
 
 1000 
 
 \ 
 
 100 
 
 } 
 
 100 
 
 33 
 
 200 
 
 * 
 
 50 
 
 [ 
 
 50 
 
 ( 
 
 50 
 
 t 
 
 50 
 
 § 
 
 50 
 
 ^ 
 
 50 
 
 ACCENTS. 
 
 k 
 
 50 
 
 e 
 
 1600 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 6 
 
 50 
 
 d 
 
 50 
 
 a 
 
 500 
 
 e 
 
 300 
 
 i 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 11 
 
 100 
 
 a 
 
 100 
 
 e 
 
 35° 
 
 i 
 
 100 
 
 8 
 
 100 
 
 il 
 
 100 
 
 e 
 
 100 
 
 1 
 
 100 
 
 ii 
 
 100 
 
 ^ This curious work is in % vols, duodecimo, and contains letter-founders' bills for various 
 languages, which enable us to judge of, and compare the number of sounds that occur in each 
 language. It also exhibits a greater variety of alphabets and types than are to be met with in 
 any other book on the Art of Printing: though types in imitation of different kinds of writing 
 were cast in the infancy of the art. In 1561 Valerius Doricus printed at Rome a curious book 
 on all kinds of writing, ancient and modern. This book contains specimens of a great variety 
 of writing practised in different ages and countries; some of these specimens are printed from 
 types made to imitate writing, and others from carved blocks of wood. This book also contains 
 a Treatise on the Art of Writing in Cipher, and is a most curious specimen of early typography j 
 it was written by John Baptist Palatin, a citizen of Rome, about the year 1540. There are other 
 editions of this book, and some works of the like nature were published in Germany about the 
 same time. 
 
228 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OP PRINTING, chap. ix. 
 
 CAPITALS. 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 320 
 100 
 
 C 
 
 250 
 
 g 
 
 25 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 300 
 450 
 
 E 
 
 50 
 
 E 
 
 20 
 
 F 
 
 120 
 
 G 
 
 120 
 
 H 
 
 100 
 
 I 
 
 350 
 
 J 
 
 200 
 
 K 
 
 20 
 
 L 
 
 300 
 
 M 
 
 260 
 
 N 
 
 320 
 
 O 
 
 300 
 
 P 
 
 250 
 
 Q 
 
 200 
 
 R 
 
 320 
 
 S 
 
 320 
 
 T 
 
 320 
 
 U 
 
 300 
 
 V 
 
 250 
 
 X 
 
 lOQ 
 
 Y 
 
 80 
 
 Z 
 
 80 
 
 M 
 
 30 
 
 CE 
 
 3° 
 
 W 
 
 25 
 
 SMALL 
 
 CAPITALS 
 
 A 
 
 200 
 
 B 
 
 60 
 
 C 
 
 120 
 
 ? 
 
 15 
 
 D 
 
 150 
 
 E 
 
 350 
 
 E 
 
 50 
 
 E 
 
 20 
 
 E 
 
 20 
 
 F 
 
 60 
 
 G 
 
 60 
 
 H 
 
 50 
 
 I 
 
 250 
 
 J 
 
 100 
 
 K 
 
 20 
 
 L 
 
 180 
 
 M 
 
 150 
 
 N 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 P 
 
 120 
 
 Q 
 
 100 
 
 R 
 
 200 
 
 S 
 
 aoo 
 
 T 
 
 200 
 
 U 
 
 200 
 
 V 
 
 100 
 
 X 
 
 50 
 
 Y 
 
 40 
 
 z 
 
 40 
 
 M 
 
 20 
 
 CE 
 
 20 
 
 W 
 
 20 
 
 FIGURES. 
 
 I 
 
 250 
 
 2 
 
 250 
 
 3 
 
 200 
 
 4 
 
 200 
 
 5 
 
 200 
 
 6 
 
 200 
 
 7 
 
 200 
 
 8 
 
 200 
 
 9 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 SUPERIORS. 
 ^ 20 
 
 50 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 It is scarcely to be supposed, that the first Letter-founders were 
 versed in the analysis of the sounds of language ; but their bills are 
 highly worthy the attention of those who wish to be conversant in the 
 doctrine of Soimds. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 SINCE the Jirst publication of this Work the folloiving Dissertation was written, 
 which being illustrative of many particulars therein mentioned, and having been 
 enlarged and improved, it is thought proper to insert it in the present edition, 
 although part of it ivas printed in the Archceologia, vol. vii. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 RADICAL LETTERS OF THE PELASGIANS, 
 
 AND THEIR DERIVATIVES. 
 By Mr. ASTLE. 
 
 A KNOWLEDGE of the radical letters of any language, is the surest 
 means of obtaining information respecting the sounds of which such lan- 
 guage was composed, and of the state of it when these radical letters 
 only were used. This will best enable us to recover those which have 
 been for many ages so intirely neglected as to be in a manner effaced. 
 The utility which results from a distinction of the radical letters of such 
 languages from their derivatives is too obvious to need illustration ; the 
 separation of the one from the other, will assist in forming a right judg- 
 ment of the age and authenticity of coins, inscriptions, and other ancient 
 documents, and will be of the greatest use in distinguishing such as are 
 genuine from those which are spurious. The Pelasgian language and 
 letters had been intirely neglected and disused for so long a period of 
 time before the restoration of science in the fifteenth century, that they 
 were in a manner as much unknown as if they had never existed, although 
 they had been used in all the extensive countries settled by the Pelasgi 
 
230 ON THE RADICAL LETTERS 
 
 and their descendents, as well in Asia as in Europe, who for many ages 
 wrote from right to left, till their alphabet was improved by the lonians, 
 who reversing their letters, wrote from left to right, and in process of 
 time their method of writing was universally adopted in Europe, and in 
 some parts of Asia. 
 
 I conceive I have elsewhere proved, that the Pelasgi derived their 
 letters from the Phenicians, and that these Pelasgi were of Phenician 
 original/ They were certainly the most ancient inhabitants of Greece 
 of whom we have any account. The Phenician Pelasgi settled colonies in 
 several islands of the iEgean sea, as Samothrace, Lemnos, Imbrus, and 
 Scyros. They also spread themselves, not only on the maritime, but in 
 the inland parts of Greece, in Attica, Thessaly, all the old Hellas, Argo- 
 lis, and all over the Peloponnese ; and several colonies of them, particu- 
 larly from Lydia, Lemnos, Imbrus, Thessaly, and Arcadia, settled in 
 different parts of Italy, and possessed themselves of the greatest part of 
 that country, where of course they carried their language and letters. 
 
 Solinus Polyhistor relates, that the Greek colonies who settled in 
 Italy were Aborigines, Aiinmci, Pelasgi, Arcades, Siculi ; and Pliny *" says, 
 they were Aborigines, Pelasgi, Arcades, Siculi, Aurunci, Putuli, Osci, Volsci, 
 and Auso7ies. All these colonists wrote in the Pelasgian manner, from 
 right to left, till the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the 
 Romans, who began to reign five hundred and sixty-five years before 
 Christ ; although the Samnites continued to write in the ancient manner 
 so late as two hundred and thirty years before the Christian aera, as 
 appears by their coins and inscriptions. The Pelasgi who settled in 
 Etruria were called Etruscans ; the monuments discovered in that coun- 
 try, as also in Umbria, and in the other parts of Italy settled by the early 
 colonies of the Pelasgi, afford us the best information concernino- the 
 Pelasgian language and characters. 
 
 Tho five tables discovered at Eugubium, a city of Umbria, in the 
 year 1456, are of very high antiquity; and father Gori, with great strenoth 
 of argument, labours to prove, that they were written two centuries be- 
 fore the 'i'rojan war. However, three of them are written in the Pelasoian 
 
 » See Chap. iv. p. ^i, 8c seq. •= Hist. Nat. lib. iii. cap. 5. 
 
OF THE PELASGIANS. 231 
 
 language, and in characters similar to those found on several Etruscan 
 monuments preserved by Dempster, Gori, Passer, and others." 
 
 The alphabet which the Pelasgi first brought into Italy, and which 
 has been called their original alphabet, w^as probably carried out of Phe- 
 nicia before the Phenicians themselves had augmented the number of 
 the radical letters, of which it was originally composed. This alphabet 
 consisted of thirteen letters acording to Dr. Swinton ; but, according to 
 father Gori, who appears to have been better informed, the original 
 alphabet consisted only of twelve letters. As these authors differ mate- 
 rially it may be proper to give both alphabets. 
 
 According to Dr. Swinton. According to Father Gori. 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 3 
 
 E 
 
 V. V. 6. d 
 
 F 
 
 B 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 > 
 
 K 
 
 4 
 
 L 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 1 
 
 P 
 
 q 
 
 R 
 
 2 
 
 S 
 
 f 
 
 T 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 3 
 
 E 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 . i\. -> 
 
 K\ 
 
 J 
 
 L 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 'I 
 
 P 
 
 q 
 
 R 
 
 2 
 
 S 
 
 •f. 
 
 T 
 
 8.1 V 
 
 V 
 
 Father Gori tells us, that the Hra was afterwards added; and he also 
 shews that the double and aspirated letters 0, S, ^, and X, were admit- 
 ted among the later Etruscans. The double letters were not origmally 
 members of the Pelasgian alphabet: though, as they appear on Etruscan 
 monuments, we may conclude they existed before the time of Paiamedes, 
 
 e Two Other tables were found at the same time, written in Roman letters, but these do not 
 relate to the present subject. 
 
232 ON THE RADICAL LETTERS 
 
 who is said to have invented them about twenty years before the taking 
 of Troy, or 1164 years before Christ. 
 
 From the above alphabets we discover, that the Pelasgi had too few 
 original letters to express distinctly the several sounds of their language ; 
 they were therefore under the necessity of annexing several sounds to 
 one and the same letter ; but, as they improved their language, they, as 
 well as the Greeks, added other characters, significant of the sounds 
 thereof. 
 
 The letters r, A, Z, n, O, T, or il, were not originally in the Pelas- 
 gian alphabet ; neither are the letters r, A, Z, O, nor the ii, or any of the 
 double letters to be found on the Eugubian tables,'^ nor on the stone in 
 the Oscan language, some years since discovered at Abella,*" which is 
 evidently of much later date than the Eugubian tables. It is true, that 
 a character in form similar to the T (thus Y) had then obtained a place 
 in the Oscan alphabet, in which it had sometimes the power of the 
 iEolic digamma, or the V consonant, and occasionally that of the O, if 
 we may credit Gebelin. 
 
 The B had not obtained its proper form when the Eugubian tables 
 were written, nor doth it occur in the Sigean inscription. Its sound seems 
 to have been conveyed by the ^, ;i., or the iEolic digamma ; but it after- 
 wards obtained the sound of the augmented 11, its parent character. '^ 
 
 The r is the K diminished, and was formerly represented by the half 
 of that character thus I, as appears on a bronze lately found in Calabria 
 where the Doric dialect prevailed,^ which is supposed to have been made 
 
 '^ A letter like the Ionic theta © is found on these tables^ but it has the power of the aspi- 
 rate H. 
 
 ' A city of Campania near Nola in Italy, and published at Rome in 1774, with notes by 
 J. B. Passer. See more concerning this inscription in Gebelin's Monde Priniitif, vol. iv. p. 216, 
 et seq. 
 
 <■ Mr. Chishull supposes, that the n was the B diminished, whereas the latter is the 11 aug- 
 mented. 
 
 s This Bronze is preserved in cardinal Borgia's Museum at Veletri, and was by him kindly 
 communicated to me. I afterward submitted it to the inspection of Richard Payne Knight, Esq. 
 who has mentioned it in his very learned and curious Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet, 
 p. 4. 16. 68. Lond. 1791, 4to. Several particulars concerning this Bronze will be mentioned 
 hereafter. 
 
OF THE PELASGIANS. 233 
 
 five hundred years before Christ ; an exemplar of which will be given 
 hereafter. I find that the r was frequently supplied by the K in ancient 
 documents, particularly in the Sigean inscription where a)IVX or 2VKE 
 is written for Sty^. This inscription is in the iEolic dialect, and was writ- 
 ten in the five hundred and ninety-fourth year before Christ. 
 
 The A is derived from the T, which supplied its place till the former 
 character was admitted into the Greek alphabet, as appears by the Oscan 
 inscription above referred to, and by other ancient documents. 
 
 In times of very remote antiquity the Greeks had not a sufficient 
 number of letters for the notation of their language. A character some- 
 what like the a seems to have suppjied the place of the z. On a medal 
 struck at Zancle (now Messina), about the 28th Olympiad, it is written 
 AAXKAE ; and the same character is observable on the shield of Anaxida- 
 nnis, the son of Zeuaidamus, which is nearly of the same date, and is 
 written thus aetksiaamo. The character like the a was sometimes 
 converted into the p, for the ancient Greeks sometimes wrote petksi- 
 AAM02 and PANKAE. This shews the uncertainty of writing before they 
 had polished their language,*" although I find that the 2 and the a united 
 sometimes supplied the place of the z, yet I conceive this letter to be 
 only the s augmented ; for in early times its sound was conveyed by S2, 
 though some have deduced it from the Phenician Zain ; but this character 
 was not used by the Pelasgi. The zeta in its present form doth not 
 appear in the Marmor Sandwicense, which was written at the end of the 
 101st Olympiad, or three hundred and forty-four years before Christ, nor 
 in several of the ancient inscriptions preserved by Chishull, who says that 
 its ancient form was thus ffi.' 
 
 The in, H, or E long, sounded as an aspirate, is said to have been 
 introduced into the Greek alphabet by Simonides ; but it appears, by the 
 Eugubian tables, and other ancient monuments, that it was admitted 
 before his time. The literati have disputed whether the H should be 
 admitted as a letter, or be esteemed only as a mere sign, or note of aspi- 
 ration. Varro, and many who have followed him, consider it only as an 
 
 ^ See D'Hancarville's Recherches sur I'origine, Pesprit^ et les progres des arts de la Grece. 
 Vol. ii. plate xxi. London, 1785, 4to. 
 
 ' See Antiquitates AsiaticaCj p. 50, 68, 98. 
 
 2 H 
 
234 ON THE RADICAL LETTERS 
 
 aspirate. It is certainly of high antiquity, for it is found in the ancient 
 Phenician and Hebrew alphabets. Plato in his Cratylus truly says, that 
 the Athenians anciently wrote E and not H : his words are Ou yag H s^^(o[ji.s9a, 
 aXka E TO 7ra7s.a.iov I though it is Certain that this character had different 
 powers.^ 
 
 The Pelasgian 8 or F, was undoubtedly derived from the Phenician 
 Vau, and was at first supplied by the V, and when it was used as an aspirate, 
 it was inverted thus fi, I conceive it to be the parent of the Greek *, be- 
 cause it is found on the coins of the Basiuli who were Phenicians, on the 
 Eugubian tables, and on the most ancient Etruscan monuments, long 
 before the Greek * was used. These testimonies might induce Dr. Swin- 
 ton to consider the 8 or F as one of the original characters of the primitive 
 Etruscan alphabet ; but father Gori does not allow it to be such, and this 
 letter was pronounced like the V, a palatial aspirate.' The use of it as a 
 labial aspirate or <i> was of a later period, and the mode of pronouncing it 
 with the lips and teeth, as now practised, is of a still later age. 
 
 The T is derived from the Phenician Vau, sounded as the vowel U, It 
 was introduced to soften the harshness of the V consonant ; and afterwards 
 the Greeks rendered it by the diphthong oo. The O is said to have been 
 included in the T, but although this last character might convey the sound, 
 yet I find the former was introduced into the Phenician alphabet long 
 before the T, used as a vowel, appeared in its present form. It is in both 
 the Sigean inscriptions, and in the old cup mentioned by Achaeus in 
 Athenaeus, on which was inscribed AIONTSO. In this word the T is 
 distinguished from it, and here the last O is pronounced like ou, as 
 Athenaeus and others assure us from the best authorities:"" but notwith- 
 standing this, the letter O doth not appear in the Eugubian tables, nor 
 in the primary Pelasgian alphabet ; and if it was not derived from the 
 Phenician vau, when sounded as a vowel, I am at a loss to account from 
 what radix it is descended. In some of the old Phenician alphabets, its 
 form is that of the U vowel ; and when it was first admitted into the 
 Etruscan alphabet, it was sometimes like the inverted T thus jr, but 
 
 ^ See Antiquitates Asiatieae, p. ao. 
 
 ' See ChishulPs Antiquitates Asiaticse, p. 17, n. 31, and p. 19. 
 
 "" Jackson's Chronological Antiq. vol. iii. p. 166 et seq. 
 
OF THE PELASGIANS. 235 
 
 more generally like the inverted 8 thus r ; however it is certain, that the 
 sound of the long O existed before the addition of the mark Q, to the 
 Attic alphabet, which before was composed of two omikrons thus 00. 
 
 The different powers of Homer's O are proved by Dr. Taylor to be 
 three ; namely, O, a, and ou," though I much doubt whether these three 
 different characters existed in the Greek alphabet so early as the days of 
 Homer, because Pronopides his master, and also Orpheus and Thymsetes 
 of Lacedsemon, who were nearly his contemporaries, used the Pelasgian 
 characters." 
 
 The Pelasgian ) when guttural or hard had the power of K, when 
 soft, that of the %. We find that this character, like the Roman C, with 
 a reversed aspect, had the power of S near one thousand years before the 
 Christian aera,^ and perhaps this ancient Pelasgian character was the 
 parent of the more modern S of the Greeks, although the early colonists 
 who settled in Italy wrote the 2 as in the alphabet above given, which 
 was continued by the Romans, and is still in use with a reversed aspect. 
 
 I shall now speak of the aspirated and double letters, namely 0, 3, 4>, X, 
 and *, which appear on the later Pelasgian and Etruscan monuments. 
 The is the T aspirated, the S and the X are said to have been added 
 by Palamedes. They are found on some very early coins, and on 
 ancient inscriptions. The former of these letters was supplied by the 
 iunction of the K with the S, and the latter is the Phenician GH, which 
 the Etruscans softened into CH, as will hereafter appear. 
 
 Perhaps the K of the Eugubian inscriptions may be reckoned among 
 the double letters, as its figure is evidently composed of two distinct parts 
 thus )i, which seems to have been originally two distinct elements. The 
 one is the Jota, and the other the iEolic gamma, the parent of the Ro- 
 man C, and was probably pronounced CH, like the C of the modern 
 Italians. We find this character signifying CH, in the inscription on the 
 stone in the Oscan language above mentioned. 
 
 The derivative letters were introduced into the Pelasgian and Greek 
 alphabets at different periods. As those people polished their language, 
 they added new letters or marks for the better and more harmonious con- 
 
 n See Dr. Taylor^s Elements of Civil Law, p. 53^, 554, and 553, and Chishull ut supra. 
 
 o Recherches sur FOrigine, &c. des Arts de la Grece, par Mr. D'Hancarville, vol. ii. p. 320. 
 
 p See above, pi. ii. p. 66. D'Hancarville ut supra, p. aoa, 206, 242, 247, n. 100. 
 
336 ON THE RADICAL LETTERS 
 
 veying the sounds thereof. Several of them must have been introduced 
 long before the practice of writing from left to right was generally 
 adopted, because they found on many Phenician and Pelasgian coins 
 and inscriptions which are written from the right hand, from whence they 
 have been inserted into the alphabets of those nations, published by 
 several diplomatic writers." The Athenians wrote from the right hand, 
 near three centuries and a half after the building of Rome. The de- 
 scendents of the ancient Pelasgi, and particularly the Samnites, con- 
 tinued to write in this manner till the sixth century after that period, or 
 till about two hundred and thirty years before Christ, and the Osci still 
 later," although the lonians had practised the present mode of writing as 
 early as the third century after the building of Rome. 
 
 It has been already observed, that the Eugubian tables have not the 
 letters r, A, Z, O, T, or SI, nor the letters 0, H, <I>, X, or * ; whence we 
 may conclude, that they were unknown to the Umbrians when these 
 tables were written. 
 
 The Borgian inscription on the Bronze above referred to, was found 
 at Brutium in Calabria in the year 1783, and is now preserved in that 
 Museum at Velitri, engraven in characters partly Pelasgian, partly Etrus- 
 can, and partly Greek, which manifests that the Greek alphabet gradu- 
 ally took place of the two former, probably by some centuries before the 
 Christian aera. The abb6 Barthelmy delivers it as his opinion, that this 
 Bronze is of the fifth century before Christ, however it proves, that several 
 of the Pelasgian and Etruscan letters were not intirely disused in Calabria 
 when it was fabricated, as appears from the fac-simile herewith given. 
 It is observable that some of the double letters are in this inscription, 
 and that the r, the I, S, X, and ^, had not received the forms they 
 afterwards had, and still have in the Greek alphabet. 
 
 It is a Tessera Hospitalis which intitled the bearer to a hospitable 
 reception wherever he might require it. Sometimes they were given by 
 whole communities, and were termed Tesserae Publicae, at other times 
 by private persons, and were called Privatae, such being obtained from 
 the friends of the persons desiring them. 
 
 1 See Nouveau traite de Diplomatique^ vol. i. plate vii. p. 654^ and p. 64, of this work. 
 '^ See Monsieur Gebelin, vol. vi. ut supra. 
 
OF THE PELASGIANS. 237 
 
 EXEMPLAR 
 
 TESSERA HOSPITALES IN MUSEO BORGIANO ASSERVATO. 
 
 a«paK-$q 
 
 ^.^KA|^^m^ 
 
 ^^^H-iKc e 
 
 0EO2 . TTXA . 2A0TI2 . AIA 
 OTI . 2IKAINIAI . TAN . FOI 
 KIAN . KAI . TAAAA . RANT 
 A . AAMI0Pr02 . nAPArop 
 A2 . nPOSENOI . MINKON. 
 APM0HIAAM02 . AFAGAP 
 X02 . 0NATA2 . EOIKOP 
 02. 
 
 The above is thus translated : 
 
 Dea Fortuna. Servatrix 
 Sicaeniae domum 
 Et reliqua omnia. 
 Demiurgus Paragoras 
 Conciliatores, Mincon, 
 Armoxidamus, Agatharchus, 
 Onatas, Epicurus. 
 
 It is observable that the x on this inscription is represented thus \|/. The 
 S bears this form +, the r is written thus I, the I thus c,, the S thus M. 
 The letters H, 4>, and x-, appear on the celebrated Sigean inscription which 
 was written five hundred and ninety years before the Christian aera. 
 
 From what has been advanced I conclude, that the original alphabet 
 of the Pelasgians or Etruscans consisted of twelve radical letters, from 
 whence thirteen more characters or letters were derived. 
 
238 ON THE RADICAL LETTERS 
 
 Radicals 
 
 . 
 
 Derivatives. 
 
 f\ 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 E lengthened or 
 
 . aspirated 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 )l 
 
 K diminished 
 
 
 r 
 
 n| 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^n augmented 
 
 " 
 
 B 
 
 q 
 
 P 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 S augmented 
 
 
 z 
 
 t 
 
 T augmented 
 
 
 A 
 
 /- ^ or F of the Pelasgi and others. 
 V ^ U vowel ou or T. and the O short. 
 
 ^ O. O. long or CD. ii. 
 
 Double and aspirated Letters. 
 
 "J" T aspirated 
 ^ K X joined H 
 
 ^ 3 n aspirated <l> 
 
 * %{/ Gh softened into Ch X Chi. 
 
 n and X anciently supplied the 9. 
 
 It has been shewn that the Pelasgi were of Phenician original, and 
 therefore it is easy to conceive, that their languages were nearly allied to 
 each other. The proximity of the earliest Greek to the oriental languages 
 was well known to Isaac Casaubon, Erpenius, Gebelin, and others. 
 Monsieur Bourguet and father Gori shew, that the language of the Pelaso-i 
 differed but little from the Greek : but although their opinions have been 
 controverted, it must be allowed that the Greeks improved the language 
 of their Pelasgian ancestors to so great a degree, that the elegant ora- 
 tions spoken by Isocrates and Demosthenes, were as different from the 
 harsh dialects of the ancient Pelasgi, as was the English of Addison and 
 Pope, from that of Robert of Gloucester, Occleve, or Chaucer. It is 
 therefore manifest, that the rude language of the ancient Pelasgi was very 
 different from the later or Hellenic Greek. 
 
OF THE PELASGIANS. 239 
 
 The descendents of the Pelasgi who settled in Etruria, Umbria, and 
 in other parts of Italy, were celebrated for their knowledge in the arts 
 and sciences. Both Greeks and Romans sent their youth into Etruria for 
 education. A very interesting account of the learning and writings of the 
 Etruscans is given in the ancient part of the Universal History, vol. xvi. 
 from p. 57 to 62. The best writers agree, that the arts and sciences were 
 very conspicuous in Rome before its citizens had any intercourse with 
 the Greeks, and in these they must have imitated the Etruscans, of whose 
 skill and ingenuity we have so many proofs. 
 
 Their paintings are admirable, and the colours on their vases, which 
 have been executed above two thousand years, are as perfect as if they 
 had been the works of modern times. 
 
 The Pelasgian or Etruscan language was spoken in the Augustan age, 
 as we learn from Aulus Gellius, and Strabo.' It was, also patronized by 
 the emperor Claudius, as appears by a speech of that emperor recorded 
 by Tacitus,* in which he says, " Retidit ad senatum super collegio Haruspi- 
 " cum, ne vetustissima Italice discipUna per desidiam exsolesceret, quam tamen 
 ^' primores Etruria adhuc retinebant et in familias propagabant." It seems 
 extraordinary, that none of the mss, in the Pelasgian or Etruscan lan- 
 guage should have been transmitted to us ; for it appears by a passage in 
 Ammianus Marcellinus," that the Etruscan records were preserved in the 
 college of Augurs till the middle of the fourth century after Christ ; and 
 that the Augurs assisted the emperor Julian with the sacred discipline of 
 Etruscan letters and language. This was probably done when Julian 
 reformed the Pagan worship. 
 
 After the reign of thi^ prince we hear no more of the Etruscan records 
 or MSS., for Christianity being re-established in the reign of his successor, 
 and this Pagan learning being offensive to the Christians, they have, and 
 I fear with too much reason, been charged with having destroyed those 
 monuments of ancient learning. This was more the effect of zeal than of 
 prudence ; for the Etruscan records could not have contained any thing 
 that would have invalidated the truths of Christianity. However, from 
 
 = Aulus Gelliusj Noct. Atticae, 1. xi. c. 7. Strabo, 1. vii. 
 ' Ann. xi. 15. " Lib. xx. c. 5. 
 
240 ON THE RADICAL LETTERS, &c. 
 
 this period, the Pelasgian or Etruscan language was intirely disused, and 
 in a short time after was not understood by the inhabitants of Italy. 
 
 The ancient Pelasgian language has been disused for near thirteen 
 centuries ; but the study of it has of late become fashionable among the 
 literati, and it has been cultivated with great success by M. Bouguet, 
 the prelate Urbinas, father Gori, MafFei, John Christopher Amadutius, 
 John Baptist Passer, and other illustrious men, as well in Italy, France, 
 and Germany, as by our countryman the late Dr. Swinton, from all whose 
 labours it may be collected, that the Pelasgian language and characters 
 are preserved in the monuments which have been called Etruscan, and 
 that every thing relative to the religious, civil, military, and naval estab- 
 lishments among the Romans, was derived from the Etruscans, and the 
 other descendents of the ancient Pelasgi, who settled in different parts of 
 Italy. 
 
 The lonians, it has been observed, were the first Greeks who turned 
 their letters towards the right hand, and wrote from left to right. Homer 
 was a native of Ionia, where the Pelasgic alphabet was first "improved ; 
 but how many of the derivative letters were introduced into the Greek 
 alphabet in the days of Homer, cannot now be ascertained. The Athenians 
 adopted the Ionian letters in the ninety-fourth Olympiad, or about four 
 hundred and four years before Christ. The Arcadian letters are imme- 
 diately derived from the improved Ionian alphabet, and the Latin or 
 Roman from the Arcadian. 
 
 The alphabets derived from the Roman are the Lombardic, the Visi- 
 gothic, the Saxon, the Galilean, the Franco-Gallic or Merovingian, the 
 Teutonic or German, the Carolinian, the Capetian, and the modern 
 Gothic, as I have shewn in the fourth and fifth Chapters of the pre- 
 ceding work. 
 
 " He is said to have written about one hundred and sixty-eight years after the destruction 
 of Troy, or as some will have it, about nine hundred and seven before Christ. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS. 
 
 1^ 
 
m^mf