miraculously preserved, from time to time, notwithstanding the havock made of them, and the sharp persecutions they underwent in almost every age; that they might remain living witneffes of the fource of revealed religion, to the end of the world. Hence it is probable, that the other nations formed new modes of writing peculiar to themselves; and, accordingly, we find that at this time, many of the more Eaftern nations have alphabets, which I cannot think to have arisen from the Hebrew, being quite different from it in every letter; and yet have a great agreement in their forms and complexion to one another. And this will be apparent to every reader, who will take the trouble of looking into Chamberlain's Oratio Dominica in diverfas omnium fere Gentium Linguas verfa, &c. of which the following will be a fufficient fpecimen :

The Syriac, vulgar.
Syriac, eftrangel.
Arabic.

Arabic, vulgar.

Arabic, the common
ftile in Barbary.
Perfic.

The Perfic, Juguthi charactere.

Turcic.

Tartaric.

Tartaric, Sinenfium ftilo.
Malaic, two tables.
Malabaric, two dialects.

AND the other alphabets of the Eastern world seem to differ from these, and indeed from one another; but perhaps men more learned, than I pretend to be, may be of another opinion, and may find an affinity between fome of them, where I cannot.

THE other original chain of letters is the Scythic, or Pelafgian alphabet, which I have all along contended for,

and

1

and fhall endeavour to give further proofs of in this place.

I HAVE added the Hebrew alphabet to the lift, by way of contrast, to shew that Henfelius, and every other writer, who afferts that all the alphabets in the world were taken from that, must be mistaken; for who, that views those other letters, with which it is placed, with any degree of impartiality, can say there is the least agreement between them? The forms of every letter are of a different air and complexion, not at all reconcileable to any of the other tables of the European letters; but, at first fight, the affinity of all the reft to their original appears most manifestly: just so it is also, with respect to the names of the numerals; there is no manner of fimilarity between those of the Hebrew and any European names of numerals, which the table clearly fets forth. This is the only use of my having introduced that alphabet here.

LET us now confider the nature of the other chains of letters, in the foregoing table, beginning with the first :

THIS is a most ancient set of letters, differing in their forms from every other in the world, except fuch as are derived from it. They differ in five refpects; in number, order, names, character and powers: to each of which, respectively, we shall pay some attention; and, first,

Of the number of the ancient Scythian, or Pelafgian

letters.

THE table fhews us, that they are but feventeen; and, in this circumstance, the history given us by the old Irish Filids, or philosophers, is verified by undoubted concurring teftimonies.

Ddd

teftimonies. Perhaps this has not been much attended to by the learned, because fo few of them have had any acquaintance with that language. Their education, or amusements, have been drawn from the study of what we commonly call the learned languages, which require many more letters for expreffing them; and this is the cafe of all the European tongues, in general, except the Magogian or Irish. This language never required more letters than seventeen to answer every purpose, either in poetry or oratory, as I have hinted before; whilft the rest, when they deviated from this, or were corrupted by the admixtion of exotic words, ftood in need of other letters, with new powers. It is no wonder, then, that fome of the most accomplished literasi fhould be furprized that Cadmus brought only fixteen letters with him into Greece; among whom, that confummate grammarian, the Reverend Mr. Anfelm Bailey, mentioned before, who is fo well acquainted with the powers of the letters in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and who, knowing that neither of these, nor any other of the modern European tongues, can do without the number they now employ, makes, this judicious enquiry, after he has enumerated the fixteen letters faid to be brought, by Cadmus, and the additional characters by others, which are already mentioned in this work." But (fays he) by "what genuine authority, or by what proof, is it said, "that the Greeks at firft ufed only fixteen letters? How, "alfo, is it confiftent with the affertion of Herodotus, that "the Greeks at firft ufed the fame letters as the Phæni"cians? Nay! how is it agreeable to reason, that they "should be able to exprefs all the fimple founds in their

"language

"language by only fixteen characters, unless fome cha"racters stood for two or three founds. Palamedes, and "the others, might indeed contribute to an alteration of "the letters, which should feem to be the cafe: for He"rodotus faith, that afterwards they underwent a change, "both in their form and found; which appeareth to be “so, in fact, by variety of infcriptions, and by the mo"dern alphabets. The Greeks at first not only used, but "writ letters, like the Hebrews, from right to left; but "afterwards they writ as the Europeans now do, from " left to right: this would naturally occafion a turn and (B change in the letters.”

My explanation of this matter, which I fhall make from undoubted authorities, will, I hope, clear up this author's doubts. He merits my utmost endeavours to fatisfy him; and, I flatter myself, that, to such an ingenuous mind as his, my proofs will be fatisfactory.

I HAVE before amply fhewn, from Holy Writ, who the firft Pelafgians and Scythians were; the former, the fons of Gomer, fettled in and overfpread Greece, the ifles of Elisha; the latter, the fons of Magog, fat down in the Northern quarters, above Greece. That all the offspring of Japhet spoke the same language; which I distinguish, however, in this work, by two appellations, from a change by some exotic words introduced into it in the eldest branch, the family of Gomer, upon the firft incurfion of Phoenicians and Egyptians into their country, before the Greek language was formed; but the difference is not capital, at this day and it is plain, that the ancient British language is now in the fame ftate it was in when they first landed Ddd 2.

:

in

in Britain. But the Magogians, or Scythians, had no fuch incurfions upon them, in their quarters; and therefore their language, now the Irish, remains yet free from any new words of that kind, and their characters are but feventeen: this is the reason why I call the one Gomerian, which the Welsh themselves do, to this day; and the other Magogian, though both originally Pelafgian.

Now, as to the number of the letters of each of the alphabets of Europe, the first line in the table has but feventeen and thefe I call the Pelagian and Scythian letters, which were always in Greece before the Deucalion deluge, and consequently before Cadmus, which is proved. in the foregoing chapter, and which I shall now give further evidence of.

THE agreement between these seventeen, and the fixteen letters of Cadmus, is very furprizing: and it is apparent, that the old authors were nearly right, as to the number; but ignorant, as to Cadmus's obtaining them; and it is confeffed, that he brought them from Phenicia. Now, how shall we reconcile the affertion of Herodotus, that Cadmus brought letters first into Greece, and that, before him, they were illiterate, with the opinion of Plato, in his Cratylus, that "they received letters éx Bagßágwv ?” ἐκ There can be no other way, than by confidering who they were that Herodotus himself called Barbari; and truely thefe were the Pelafgi and Scythians, in the Northern parts of Greece and elsewhere, who, he tells us, were speaking their own original language, which was common in all the neighbouring countries, even in his time: for he positively fays, in his Clio, page 21, Ed. H. Steph. cum interpret. Valla,