figus, fhould ever difcover a gradual method of paffing over to the ufe of alphabets, or fuddenly abandon their inveterate habits at the inftigation of any individual, who may have difcovered the fuperior excellency of that manner of denoting language. Thefe confiderations lead us to enquire, whether it is probable that men. in any fate of fociety, could have invented and introduced among their fellow citizens the ufe of an alphabet, without fupernatural affiltance; or whether it is probable that any progreffive improvement of the human mind, could change fymbelic or picture writing into that of alphabetical characters. i hat alphabets, as well as language, are of divine origin, is attempted to be fupported by the following confiderations: Much has been written, and numerous hypothefes propofed, to investigate the origin of alphabetic writing; to give even an abridged account of which, would far exceed the limits of this preface. Many nations have claimed the hon ur of this invention. The Greeks afcribed it to the Phenicians, and con fequently ufed the word doxy, to act the Phenician; in the fame fenfe with αναγινώσκειν to read; and Lucan ascribes the invention to the fame in genious people. That the Affyrian, Chaldaic, and Hebrew languages, were the fame, most of the learned are fixed in their opinions; and that their alphabets are of antediluvian antiquity, appears highly probable; for had an invention of fuch vaft importance to mankind been made fince that period, we conclude the author would have been commemorated in the annals of the country in which he lived. Jofephus, book 1, chapter 3, informs us, that Seth erected two pillars, one of brick and the other of flone, and infcribed upon them their aftronomical obferwatious, and other improvements; which fhews that there did exift fuch Among the European nations, we The Ethiopic differs more from the Hebrew, but lefs from the Arabie; all thefe languages have ifsued from the fame ftock, as the fimilarity of their formation, and the numberlefs words common to them all, fnfficiently evince. Alterations would naturally be produced, in proportion to the civilization of the feveral nations, and their intercourfe with others, which will account for the fuperior copioufnefs of fome above the reft, It appears. then, that all the languages in ufe among men, that have been conveyed in alphabetical characters, have been thofe of people connected ultimately or immediately with the Hebrews, to whom we are indebted for the earlieft fpecimens of the communication of ideas by wri ting. This propofition will be farther confirmed, by confidering the famenefs of the artificial denominations of the letters in the Oriental, Greek and Latin languages, accompanied by a fimilar arrangement, as alpha, beta, &c. It may ftill be objected, however, that the characters employed by 1 by the ancients to difcriminate their ple, terminating by an eafy tranfi letters, are entirely diffimilar: it may tion, in the detection of alphabetical be urged, why fhould not one nation characters: we believe the ftrength adopt from another the mode of ex- of this argument will be fairly appreffing the art, as well as the art it preciated from the following reprefelf? Such an effect would not be very fentation. likely to take place, before the art of printing had cftablished an uni formity of character, ladi The old Samaritan is precifely the fame as the Hebrew language; and the Samaritan Pentateuch does not vary a fingle letter in twenty words from the Hebrew; but the characters are very different; for the Jews adopted the Chaldaic letters during their captivity at Babylon, instead of thofe of their forefathers. What we know of thofe nations who have continued for many centu ries, unconnected with the rest of the world, ftrongly militates against the hypothesis of the human invention of alphabetical writing. The experiment has been fairly made upon the inge nuity of mankind, both Chinese and favage, for a longer period than that which is fuppofed to have produced alphabetic writing by regular grada tions, which decidedly concludes a gainst this art being of human inven The Chinese, a people famous for their difcoveries and mechanical genius, have made fome advances to ward the delineation of their ideas, by arbitrary figns; nevertheless, have been unable to accomplish this exqui fite device; and, after fo long a trial to no purpose, we may reafonably in fer, that their mode of writing, which is growing more intricate and voluminous every day, will never termi nate in fo clear, fo comparatively fim ple an expedient, as that of alphabetical characters." We fhall confider the argument on which the commonly received fup pofition entirely depends; that is, the natural gradation through the different fpecies of fymbols, acknowledged to have been in ufe with various peoEd. Mag. O. 1799. T A The first method of embodying ideas, would be by drawing a reprefentation of the images themselves; the imperfection of which method is very obvious, both on account of its tediousness, and inability to go be "yond external appearances, or to denote the abstract ideas of the mind. ' The next method would be fomewhat more general, and would substitute two or three circumftances for the whole tranfaction: fo two kings, for example, engaging each other with military weapons, might convey the idea of a war between two nations. This abbreviated method would be more expeditious than the former; but what is gained in concifeness would be loft in perfpicuity. It is a defcription more compendious in- " deed, but ftill a defcription of out ward objects only, to which head may be referred the picture writing of the Mexicans. I he next advance would be to the ufe of fymbols-the incorporation, as it were, of abftract and complex ideas in figures, more or lefs, generalized in proportion to the improvement of it. Thus, in the earlier ftages of this device, a circle might exprefs the fun, or a femicircle the moon, which is only a contraction of the foregoing method. This fymbol-writing, in its advanced state, would become more refined, but enigmatical and myfteri-1 ous in proportion to that refinement; hence it would be lefs fit for common ufe, therefore more particularly ap propriate to philofophy and religion. This method being ftill too fubtile and complicated for general ufe, the only plan to be purfued was a reduction of the firft ftage of the preceeding; thus a dot inftead of a cir cle might ftand for the fun, and a fi 00 milar milar abbreviation might be extended the leaft hint to induce us to believe to all the fymbols. On this fcheme,, Omitting the fabulous accounts, enumerated by the author, to corroborate the above opinions, we proceed to the following remarks. Many pious and learned authors have contended, that the alphabet was firt given with the law from Mount Sinai; but we prefume the following fate of facts will invalidate fuch an opinion. The firft mention of writing recorded in fcripture, will be found in Exodus xvi. 14. And the Lord faid unto Mofes, write this for a memorial, in a book; and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." This command was given immediately after the defeat of the Amalekites near Horeb, and before the arrival of the Ifraelites at Mount Sinai. It is obfervable that there is not that writing was then newly invent ed; on the contrary, we may con clude that Mofes underflood what was meant by writing in a book, otherwife the Almighty would have inftructed him, as he did Noah, in building the ark: for he would not have commanded him to write in a book, if he had been ignorant of the art of writing; but Mofes did not exprefs any difficulty of comprehenfion when he received this command. We alfo find, that Mofes wrote all the words, and all the judgments of the Lord, contained in the 21ft, and two following chapters of Exodus, before the two written tables of ftone were fo much as promifed. The de very of the tables is not mentioned til the 18th verfe of the 31ft chapter, after God had made an end of communing with him on the Mount, though the ten commandments were promulgated immediately after his third defcent. It is alfo obfervable, that Mofes no where mentions that the alphabet was a new thing in his time, much lefs that he was the inventer of it; on the contrary, he speaks of the art of writ ing, as a thing well known, and in familiar ufe; for Exodus xxviii. 21. he fays, "And the ftores fhall be with the names of the children of Ifrael, Twelve; according to their names, like the engravings of a fignet, every one with his name, fhall they be, according to the twelve tribes." And again, ver. 36. "And thou fhalt make a plate of pure gold, and gave upon it like the engravings of fignet, Holiness to the Lord"-Can language be more expreffive? Would it not be abfurd to deny, that this fentence mult have been in words and letters? But writing was known and practifed by the people in general, in the time of Mofes, as appears from the following texts, Deut. vi, 9. xi, 20. xvii, 18 xxiv, 1 xxvii, 3, 8. By the last text the people were com d manded manded to write the law on ftones: and it is to be noticed, that fome of the above texts relate to tranfactions previous to the delivery of the law at Mount Sinai. If we call the different dialects of the various nations that inhabit the known parts of the globe, languages, the number is truly great; and vain and afelefs would be his ambition who should attempt to learn them. We fhall begin with naming the prinpal, which are four, and may be term ed the original or mother tongues, and feem to have given birth to all that are fpoken in Europe, viz. the Latin, Celtic, Goth c and Sclavonian. It will not, however, be imagined, from the term original given to these languages, that we believe them to have been handed to us without any alteration, from the sonfufion of tongues at the building of the tower of Babel. We have expreffed our opinion, that there was but one tru FROM ACCOUNT OF MUNGO PARK AND HIS TRAVELS. Concluded from our last. p. 179. "ROM this inhofpitable fpot he proceeded to Sooha, and was there prefent at a Negro funeral. He then continued his route until he arrived at Koolikorro. At this time his principal fubfiftence arofe from writ ing Saphies. After many difficulties he came to Bammakoo after lofing his way thither. At Kooma he met with great kindness, but left that place on the 25th of Auguft and in the road was met by fome banditti, by whom he was robbed, ftripped, and plundered his horfe was taken from him, and nothing was left him but a thirt, a pair of trowfers, and his hat, in which he had kept his memorandums "After they were gone," fays he," fat for fome time looking around me with amazement Which ever way I turn ed, nothing appeared but danger and and terror. difficulty I faw myself in the midft of a valt wilderness, in the depth of toe rainy feafon : naked and alone; furrounded by favage animals, and men ftill more favage. I was five hundred miles from the nearest Eu ropean fettlement. All the fe circum- I was tions dooloo, as a return for his kindnef to him. He then profecuted his journey to Kamalia, where he was received with kindness by a Bufhreen, named Karfa Taùra, who was collecting a coffe of flaves, with a view to fell them to the Europeans on the Gambia. By this man he was fupplied with what ever he wanted, and by him he was perfuaded to wait until the next dry feafon, and then go to the Gambia. The terms propofed were agreed to, and Mr Park, during his ftay, fet himself to acquire a more accurate knowledge of the natives, and of the country. This enquiry, as far as a tions were, the extraordinary beauty of a small mofs, in fructification, ir. refiftibly caught my eye. I mention this, to fhew from what trifling circumftances the mind will fometimes derive confolation; for though the whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and capfula, without admiration. Can that Being (thought I) who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this ob. fcure part of the world, a thing which appears of fo fmall importance, look with unconcern upon the fituation and fufferings of creatures formed after his own image?-Surely not!-violent fever would permit, he con. Reflections like thefe would not al- tinued until the time of his departure. low me to defpair. 1 ftarted up, and, The refult of his euquiries is very cudifregarding both hunger and fatigue, rious' and circumstantial. travelled forwards, affured that relief was at hand; and I was not difappointed. In a fhort time I came to a fmall village; at the entrance of which I overtook the two fhepherds who had come with me from Kooma. They were much furprised to fee me; for they faid they never doubted that the Foulahs, when they had robbed, had murdered me. Departing from this village, we travelled over several rocky ridges, and at fun-fet arrived at ibidooloo; the frontier town of the kingdom of Manding. At Sibidooloo, he found the Chief disposed to redress the injuries he had teceived, and measures were taken to recover his horfe and effects; but there being a scarcity, approaching to a famine, all over the country, he was unwilling to trefpafs any longer on the generofity of his benevolent friend he therefore removed to Wonda, where he was feized by a fever. He here recovered his horfe and clothes; and, finding it impracti cable to proceed further with the animal, he prefented him to his landlord, and fent his faddle and bridle as a prefent to the Manfa of Sibi On the 19th of April he departed with Karfa from Kamalia, and continued his journey until the 2d of June, when he arrived at Jindey, where, eighteen months before, he had parted from his friend Dr Laidley; "an interval during which he had not beheld the face of a Chrifti. an, nor once heard the delightful found of his own native language." Being now within a short distance of Pilania, from whence his journey originally commenced, and learning that his friend Karfa was not likely to meet with an immediate opportunity of felling his flaves, he perfuaded him to leave them there, and accompany him the remainder of his journey. They accordingly fet forwards the 9th of June, and reached Tendecunda in the evening. On the 10th, Mr Robert Ainfly came to meet him, and invited him to ftay at Pifania until Dr Laidley's return. The novelty of every object had a fingular effect on Karfa. Mr Ainsley's fchooner then lying at anchor in a particular manner: This was the mot furprising object which Karfa had yet feen He could not eafily comprehend the ufe of the maits, |