ceeded parchment, the papyrus of Egypt, and the inner bark of trees, as the first crude materials in the composition of books. The splendor increased. Poets and orators arose; till all which was great in conception, brilliant in action, or attractive in moral feeling, found advocates to record and transmit them, as models for imitation, to admiring posterity. These early productions are now lost, with the exception of a very small number; but those few will never be lost, while mankind continue to cherish genius, or hold in honor the most striking models of human character. If these writings were not intrinsically excellent, they would still be of vast interest, as the intellectual records of our race, at a time so remote, and under circumstances so different from the present condition of the world.

29. Of all the writings which have been transmitted to us, through the long train of ages, the book of Job is generally allowed to be of the greatest antiquity. The locality and the writer of this work are unknown; but the character of its style is of an extraordinary cast. Independent of its theology, the energy of thought, the original and bold imagery, the development of the early human character, displayed in this book, render it one of the most interesting pieces of composition, any where to be found. To whatever time or place it may be referred, it must have been written where written language had previously made very considerable progress. Whatever doubts may exist on other points, the book of Job itself affords evi'dence, that at the time of its composition, more than one kind of writing was known; for in the 19th chapter, we read the following passage: "O that my words were now written. O that they

were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen, and lead, in the rock for ever."

30. One of the immediate consequences of written language, was to increase the sphere of civilization; to give greater extension and system to governments; and to subject the mere personal strength of men, like that of horses and elephants, to the higher powers of intellect.

One set of writers attribute the first letters to Moses, either as his own invention, or as divinely communicated to him, for the purpose of writing the ten commandments. They allege, in support of this presumption, that the commandments, as written by the Jews, contain all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, except the teth. An other argument offered by these writers, in favor of their position, is the supposed fact that no book was previously written; but they appear to have overlooked the 21st chapter of Numbers, where we read: "Wherefore it is said, in the book of the wars of the Lord, what he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, and at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and leaneth upon the border of Moab."

Wherever the letters may have been invented, there appears to be no doubt that among those who early adopted their use, were particularly the Chaldeans and the Jews. The languages of these two nations were doubtless of common origin. Large specimens of both, in their early forms, are still preserved. They were very similar, in the mode of writing, from the right hand to the left, in the form of letters employed, and in their grammatical structure.

31. There is one important quality of the mind,

which is to be particularly noticed, in attending to language, under any of its forms. There is, every where, an aptitude in human talent, to conform to the necessity of circumstances. Our species, destitute of the best means of prosecuting desirable objects, resort to expedients, and acquire a degree of skill, which, without the trial, would seem beyond the compass of human power. A person deprived of sight or hearing, arrives at an acuteness in the exercise of his remaining senses, which excites the admiration of beholders. These principles apply, in a considerable degree, among a people destitute of written language. A great variety of devices have, at different times, been adopted, to remedy a want, which, in every unlettered community, must be severely felt. In addition to the various accounts handed down from antiquity, on this subject, the native Americans furnish many examples of recent date.

32. The emblematic paintings, the knots in strings, and various symbolic characters, among the Mexicans and Peruvians, displayed a considerable degree of mental refinement. Picture writing, in some form, has prevailed in nearly every age; and the present written languages of China and Japan are hieroglyphic, to a considerable extent, and not entirely arbitrary, as has been represented, in their structure and modifications.

The hieroglyphics of Egypt, from a common principle, must have had a tendency to retard the immediate adoption and progress of letters. This previous system of theirs must have been of course combined with their settled habits and prejudices. Being made familiar by use, they would not be likely to reject it, for a new system, though it might be one intrinsically better. For some reasons of

this kind, it doubtless happened that the Coptic alphabet was one of the latest formed, of any among the contiguous nations. It is probable also that the habits gained from hieroglyphic writing, tended to increase this Egyptian alphabet to the inconvenient number of two hundred and two letters, a large proportion of them representing syllables, instead of elementary sounds.

33. An other fact is very important, as explaining an extensive principle, running through the first forms of written language. The Syrians, and most of the contiguous nations, looked to the Egyptians, as teachers, in most of the sciences then known; and their communications to others were almost entirely through the medium of hieroglyphics. This system very naturally extended its influence to letter writing, as is strikingly shown in the names given to the alphabetic characters, and their adaptation, on hieroglyphic principles, to the great leading words in various ancient tongues.

Thus all the names of the letters themselves, in these languages, were pre-existing, significant words. Aleph in Hebrew, and Alpha in Greek, were only a modification of the same noun, and signified leader, precursor, chief. This first letter was also the number one, and represented the general idea of unity. In composition it entered into the name of the Deity, of light, wisdom, priority, and being in general. The other characters used in the early writings were also alphabetic and hieroglyphic at the same time.

34. Among nations destitute of any kind of writing, various devices are used, to aid the memory in preserving the knowledge of events. Among the ancient nations, the conditions of trea

ties were recited before large bodies of people; remarkable formalities were used to give them solemnity, and such standing monuments were erected, as might serve to keep them in remembrance. The old became the teachers and guides of the young; for the wise Author of Nature, here, as in all the dispensations of his providence, left not his rational creatures without some means of instruc tion. Those who had passed the vigor of manhood, delighted in recounting the scenes of former days, which were listened to with delight, by the eager curiosity of the young. Specimens of rude carving were resorted to, as memorials of important events. Under such circumstances, mere oral language acquires a form and consistency, of which, reasoning upon abstract principles, we should hardly conceive it capable. All these operative causes were necessary to secure the farther progress of human improvement; for considerable advances must have been made, in language and mental cultivation, before men could invent an alphabet and bring it into use.

35. The instruction to be gained from the intellectual contrivances of savage life, is a very interesting theme to the mental philosopher. Among the Indians of North America, it is common, in complex transactions, for the chief orator to recite the conditions, article by article, and on the statement of each, to deliver a string of wampum, to a chosen witness, in token that he is to keep that particular portion in strict remembrance.

36. Though alphabetic characters appear to have been, soon after their invention, adopted by several nations, their progress was very unequal. In some countries, their use for ages was exceed