LECTURE IX.

Continuation of the same subject-Opinion of those who ascribe the invention of the alphabet to the Antediluvians-Scientific and literary productions of the old Egyptians-Books of Hermes-A short enumeration of their several classes, and of the priests who were to cultivate each of them—A further account of the scientific productions of the EgyptiansAuthorities of the classic writers-Libraries-Of Osymandias-Alexandria-An account of them-General observa

IN

tions.

In my last Lecture I endeavoured to explain how mankind came to the discovery of the alphabet. We saw that the original mode of writing was the exact figure of the object, and that this figure, for the sake of diminishing labour, became first a simple drawing of the outlines, then a sketch somewhat resembling the outlines, and ultimately an arbitrary mark, which produced the three different modes of writing existing amongst the Egyptians, generally designated by the appellations of hieroglyphic, demotic, and hieratic. We noted that these different characters had a sound attached to them, and were mostly expressed in the common language by monosyllables. By adding two of

these marks together, mankind came to form words of two syllables, which in writing, were represented by the addition of the two marks, each of which expressed one of these monosyllables. Thus, originally, each picture, or hieroglyphic, had the sound of a whole syllable, that is, a sound made up by a consonant and vowel: and, by degrees, by analyzing the sound of the vowels in which these monosyllables generally terminated, men came at last to find the consonants, that is, to consider these marks, which originally represented a monosyllable, or a sound of a consonant joined to a vowel, as representing the consonant only. To prove this theory, we had recourse to the Hebrew, Chinese, and Egyptian alphabets and languages, from which we derived several examples, by which I endeavoured to join the different links of the chain of our reasoning.

Turning afterwards to the country where this discovery was made, we gave the credit of it to the Egyptians, and quoted a remarkable passage of Plato. From this passage we deduced many important consequences, and principally that hieroglyphics were never intended for secrecy, and that they were in use amongst all the nations of the globe, long before the invention of the alphabet; and I concluded the Lecture by a promise to attempt at ascertaining whether the Egyptians had any literature or scientific productions.

Before however I fulfil this promise, I think it necessary to state to you another opinion, by

which some celebrated writers have accounted for the invention of the alphabet; an opinion which is often alluded to in works on antiquities, and is therefore apt to mislead those who have not paid much attention to the subject, inasmuch as it refers to times and to persons of whom no critical and authentic records have reached us; for it is pretended that the discovery of the alphabet preceded the flood, and is due to Enoch. It is said, in fact, that Enoch communicated this invention to Methuselah, and this patriarch to Noah, by whose family it was gradually spread among their descendants, and carried into the different countries which they went to inhabit, as they separated under their respective leaders. It is further stated, that Noah brought it into China, where it underwent considerable changes, without being much improved; that some of the descendants of Shem cultivated it amongst the Jews; while his son Elam imparted it to the Persians, whose language is pretended to be a dialect of the Hebrew; at the same time that the children of Joktan carried this alphabet into Arabia, whose language is also asserted to be another dialect of the Hebrew. In proof of this last assertion, the book of Job is quoted, which is said to have been written in this dialect. And lastly, that by Ham and his son Misraim this alphabet was introduced into Egypt, where, in process of time the priests, to conceal what they call abominable doctrines, substituted hieroglyphical for alphabetical characters.

Having thus disposed of all the African and Asiatic languages, to prevent the objection that might be urged from the difference of the European, which cannot be deduced from the Hebrew, it is stated that Cadmus first conceived the idea of generalizing this alphabet, by rendering it suitable to the characteristic principles of every distinct language. This he did by inventing sixteen letters, which he afterwards carried into Greece, and on which account he is considered as the inventor of the alphabet.

To complete the whole, it is finally urged, that the descendants of Japheth conveyed the same letters, and the same language, to the more remote parts of the world, differing from one another by the different shades arising from the fresh migrations, as they issued forth from the East, or from the colonies which had been planted in different countries from the parent stock.

To solve or prevent the objections that might be produced against this fanciful theory, the Hebrew language is made the mother tongue of all languages; and thus not only the Persian, the Phoenician, and the Arabic are considered as dialects, or corruptions, of the Hebrew, but also the Sanscript and Chinese; for it is taken for granted that Noah settled himself in China, where he died, not, however, before he had visited India.

To point out the tenth part of the endless absurdities attached to this jumble, a lecturer would require more time than I have, and be obliged to

undergo an herculean labour, which would deter many from applying to the task. I shall only observe, that to fix upon any of the languages still in existence, as the mother tongue of all others; or, in other words, to pretend to have found out which of the existing languages was the language spoken by mankind at the construction of Babel, would be as absurd as to declare one's self a witness of the first meeting between Adam and Eve; and to pretend that the invention of the alphabet preceded the birth of Noah, betrays such an ignorance of the origin of the arts and sciences, and of the manner in which they were invented and spread amongst mankind, as to preclude the possibility of reasoning with such men.

The whole, in fact, rests upon a vague and idle tradition which is found amongst the Jews, that Enoch wrote a book of prophecies, in which he spoke of the stars, of the descent of the angels upon earth, of their marriages with the daughters of men, of the dispersion of the Jews, of the last judgment, and other such like topics, intermixed with a great deal more than I can tell. It is further added, that this patriarch wrote this book in consequence of a vision, by which he was also directed to build a temple in the bowels of the earth, the entrances to which should be through nine several and distinct porticos, each supported by a pair of pillars, and curiously concealed from human observation, for the sake of preserving the ineffable characters he had seen in his vision, and