Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/90

 LET (44$)

Sounds or Letters as ire ufed in any Language. A thing of very confiderable Ufe ; a Specimen of which is g' us by Mr. Lodwick, in the Philosophical TranfaBions.

LET

There are few things on which there has been fo much written as on the Original Hebrew Letters ; fince Ortgen, Eufebtus Cxfariatfis, St. Jerom, Sic. have made it the Sub- ject of their Enquiry. If they don't always go back to the Beginning of the World, and the Origin of Letters, 'tis at leatt enquired what were the Characters made ufe of by Mofes to tranfmit the Law to Pofterity, or thofe ufed by the other Hiftorians and Prophets of the Old Teilamenr, or even thofe ufed by the Hebrews before the Babylonian Captivity. With regard to which, there are three principal Opinions: Some imagine the antient He- brew Letters the fame with thofe now in Ufe ; of this O- pinion are feveral Doctors of theThalmud, Poftellus, Bux- torf, &c. The fecond Opinion is of thofe who believe the Samaritan Letters the more antient ; which is now the more common Opinion, as without doubt it is the elder : Several Mifcbnique and Gemaric Doctors, many of the Rab- bins and Fathers, Origen, Jerom, Eufebtus, Beda, Gene- brard, Ramban, Bellarmine, Scaliger, Drufius, Capella, Bib- liander, Brerewood, Montanus, Walton, the two V opus's, Bo- chart and Bernard are of this Opinion. The third is, that from the beginning there were two Charaflers, the one facred, the other profane ; which is the Opinion of Aza- this Diftinffion of two kinds of CharactcrsYeems a mere Chimera. See P. Souciet on the Samaritan Medals, where he proves that the Letters in the Infcriptions of thofe Me- dals are the genuine original Hebrew Characters.
 * '"!' ■"* d . e Rt'tenora, Pofiel, Buxwrf, Conriniius, &c. But

As to the firft Letters, what they were; who firft in- vented them, and among what People they were firft in ufe, thefe is ftill room to doubt ; however, fetting afide Conjectures and Prejudice, the Bufmefs of Antiquity feemsto lie between the Egyptians and Chinefe. Fhi/o at- tributesthe firft Invention of Letters to Abraham ; Jofephus, S. Iretuvs, and others, to Enoch ; Bibliander, to Mam ; E,t- po/emes, Eiifebius, Clemens Alexandrinns, Corn. Agrippa, &c. to Mofes ; Pomponius Mela, Herodian, Rafm, Fejius, Pliny, Lucan, &c. to the Phoenicians ; S. Cyprian to Saturn i Taci- tus to the Egyptians, and fome to the Ethiopians.

The Egyptian Mummies and Obelisks prove a great Antiquity on the Side of the Hieroglyphics; but if the Chinefe Chronology may be credited, their Characters are vdftly more antient than thofe of the Egyptians. The Chinefe make I'ohi, the firft of their Kings," the Inventor cf their Letters, and compute him to have lived 2950 Years before Chriff. During all which time they pre- tend to have certain and written Accounts in their Books. If this holds trite, their Character muft be older than Mo-

muft be derived from the former; taking it as a Princi- ple, that thofe who derive any thing from another, poli/h and perfea ir. He even afferts, that by the Golden Ap- ples which Hercules was obliged to Heal, muft be under- itood the Letters m ufe among the Hyperboreans.

The Letters F,G, H, K.Q, X, Y,Z, were unknown to the antient Romans, as is proved by Dafoueius in his Orthogra- phy .where he traces the Origin of the feveral Letter,.

1 he Grammarians diftinguifh Lerterj into Vowels and Confonants ; into Mutes, Dipthongs, Liquids, and Cha- raflenftics. The Hebrews divide their Letters into Gut- tural, a h ch, gn, aleph, he, cheth, hain ; Dental, z, ts, r, zain, tfade, refch ; Labial, b, m, „,p, beth, mem, vau, phe ; Lingual, or thofe of the Tongue, d, t, I, ,,, daleth, tau, lamed, nun ; and thofe of the Palate, ;, /, c, k, ohimel jod, caph, coph. b

The Art of aflembling Letters to form Words, and of combining the one and the other into a number of different benfes, is a Secret unknown to the Chinefe. Inftead of the Letters of an Alphabet, they at firft, like the Egyp- tians, ufed Hieroglyphics ; they painted rather than wrote: driving by the Natural Images of Things drawn on Paper, to exprefs and communicate their Ideas to one another. To write a Bird, they were obliged to paint ita Figure ; and to fignify a Foreft, they drew a great numJ ber of Trees. A Circle ferved for the Sun, and a Cref- cent for the Moon. But this Manner of writing was-not only very incommodious, but alfo very imperfeft. For befides that they could but exprefs their Thoughts by halves, even that little that they could exprefs was but very imperfectly conceiv'd ; and it was fcarce poflible not to be frequently deceived in it. Further, they were under a necefiity of writing large Volumes to fay very little Matters, in regard their Pictures took up a great deal of room. To remedy thefe Inconveniences, they changed by little and little their Manner of Writing, making it more fimple, tho lefs natural. They even in- vented feveral Characters, to exprefs things that did not come within the reach of Painting to reprefenr, as Voice, Smell, Thoughts, Pafiions, and a thoufand other Objects' that have no Body or Figure. From feveral fimple Strokes, they afterwards framed others more compound, and in this manner multiplied their Letters and Characters to Infinity ; contriving one or more for every Word. This Abundance of Letters feems the Source of that Ignorance which we find among the Chinefe. Their whole Lives be- ing lpent in learning their Letters, they have no time to apply themfelves to the Study of Things, but think thcmfelves very learned when they are able to read. There are fcarce any of 'em that know all their Letters: They think 'tis a great progrefs they have made, when

r, - - -- - --- - *...~] I.....*., un A g»*-ii. Miugieis wicy nave made, wnen

Jes by ^ co Tears, and even before Menes the firft King of after forty or fifty Years hard Study they are able to un-

- derftand fifteen or twenty thoufand. But the Generality of their learned Men come far fhort of this : Father Is Compte is of opinion, that the greateft Doct or among 'em never underftood half of theit Letters well ; for the whole Number he reckons Eighty Thoufand. This is a prodi- gious Inconvenience to Foteigners, of which the Mifflona- ries into that Country make loud Complaints. Among the Chinefe Letters, there are fome now almoft wore out of ufe,^ and only preferved out of Refpect to Antiquity. There is a fecond Clafs much lefs antient than the former, as being prior to Mofes, and only ufed in public Infcriptions. A third much more re- great meafure wnile the Ifraehtes were gular and beautiful, ufed in Printing, andeven in otdinary m,^r,ci of cor.fequehix not well cjuS.tr- Writing. However, as the Strokes are to be diftinaiy

formed, they can't be wrote with any expedition. For this reafon they have invented a fourth kind, where the Strokes being dofer, and lefs diftant from each other, allow them to be writ with more eafe and readinefs. And this they call the running Letter.

The Americans had no Letters before the Difcovery of

that Country by the Spaniards. The Acaambas engrave

the Son of their Memorable Events and Epocha's on Stones and Me-

Egypt by 500 Years : So that theChinefe L etters appear to be the moft antient of that kind, and the Book Tekim, faid to be written by Fohi, the moft antient Book.

But as China is fo remote, and had fo little Communi- cation with thefe Parts of the World, we may reafonably make another Enquiry into the Original of Letters in the hither Parts of Afia, Egypt, and Europe. Here indeed the Egyptians feem to have the beft Title. 'Tis more than probable from the Obelisks, &c. that their Hierogly- phics were the firft manner of Writing, and the Original Characters in thefe Par- made, at leaft Slaves among them

fied fur Inventions fo very curious^ and judicious. Whe the.? Cadmus and the Phoenicians learnt Letters from the Egyptians, or from their nearer Neighbours of 3udah and Samaria, is a queflion ; fince fome of the Books of the Old Teftament being written in Letters, is more likely to have given them rhe Hint than the Hieroglyphics of Egypt. But when or wherefoever the Phoenicians learnt this Aft, it is generally agreed, that Cadmus, Aginor, firft brought Letters into Greece, whence, in the following Ages, they fpread over the reft of Europe.

According to Crinitus, Mofes invented the Hebrew Let- ters, Abraham the Syriac and Chaldee ; the Phoenicians that of Attica, brought into Greece by Cadmus, and thence by the Pelafgians into Italy ; Nicoftrata the Latin ; Ifis the Egyp- tian ; and Fitlfila that of the Goths.

Rudbccks, who in his Atlantica claims the Glory of all Inventions from all other Nations for the Swedes, maintains that the Vonians had Letters before Cadmus ; that at the time of the Siege of Troy, the Greek had but 15 Letters, whereas the Phoenicians had 22 : whence he concludes, that it was not either Cadmus or the Phoenicians who taught this Art to the Greeks. But in regard the antient Northern Na- tions had juft 16 Letters, like the Greeks, he concludes the Greeks muft either have taught them to the People of the North, or have learnt 'em of them. But becaufe the Form and Make of the Runic Letters is more coarfe than that of the Creek Letters, he concludes that thefe laft

tals. Their Songs fupply the reft. In Peru and Chili, to keep an Account of their Goods and Chattels, and to pre- ferve the Memory of their particular Affairs, the Indians have recourfe to certain Knots of Wool, which by the Va- riety of their Colours and Ties, ferve inftead of Charac- ters and Writing. The Knowledge of thefe Knots, which they call Quipos, is one of their great Sciences; but which is always kept as a Secret, and never revealed to the Children till the Fathers think themfelves at the end of their days.

The Printers diftinguifh their Letters into Capital, Ma- jufcule, or Initial Letters, which ferve for the Titles of Books, proper Names, &c. And Minufcule or Small Letters, which are again divided according to their Size, into Pearl, Nonpareil, Pica, Great Canon, &c. See Type and Printing. They have alfo their Hiftory or Figured Letters engraven on Wood or Metal, which take place of the Illumined Letters of the antient Manufcripts.

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