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LECT. early ages of the world; in order to extend farther the first method which they had employed of fimple pictures, or representations of visible objects. Indeed, in after-times, when alphabetical Writing was introduced into Egypt, and the hieroglyphical was, of course, fallen into difufe, it is known, that the priests still employed the hieroglyphical characters, as a facred kind of Writing, now become peculiar to themselves, and ferving to give an air of mystery to their learning and religion. In this ftate, the Greeks found hieroglyphical Writing, when they began to have intercourse with Egypt; and some of their writers miftook this ufe, to which they found it applied, for the cause that had given rife to the invention.

As Writing advanced, from pictures of visible objects, to hieroglyphics, or fymbols of things invifible; from these latter, it advanced, among fome nations, to fimple arbitrary marks which food for objects, though without any refemblance or analogy to the objects fignified. Of this nature was the method of Writing practifed among the Peruvians. They made ufe of fmall cords, of different colours; and by knots upon thefe, of various fizes, and differently ranged, they contrived figns for giving information, and communicating their thoughts to one another.

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Of this nature alfo, are the written charac- LEGT. ters which are ufed to this day, throughout the great empire of China. The Chinese have no alphabet of letters, or fimple founds, which compofe their words. But every single character which they ufe in Writing, is fignificant of an idea; it is a mark which ftands for fome one thing, or object. By confequence, the number of thefe characters must be immense. It must correfpond to the whole number of objects, or ideas, which they have occafion to exprefs; that is, to the whole number of words which they employ in Speech: nay, it must be greater than the number of words; one word, by varying the tone, with which it is spoken, may be made to fignify feveral different things. They are faid to have seventy thousand of those written characters. To read and write them to perfection, is the study of a whole life; which fubjects learning, among them, to infinite difadvantage; and must have greatly retarded the progrefs of all science.

CONCERNING the origin of these Chinese characters, there have been different opinions, and much controverfy. According to the moft probable accounts, the Chinese Writing began, like the Egyptian, with pictures, and hieroglyphical figures. These figures being, in progrefs, abbreviated in their form, for the fake of writing them eafily, and greatly enlarged

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LEC T. larged in their number, paffed, at length, into thofe marks or characters which they now use, and which have fpread themselves through feveral nations of the Eaft. For we are informed, that the Japanefe, the Tonquinefe, and the Corcans, who speak different languages from one another, and from the inhabitants of China, use, however, the fame written characters with them; and, by this means, correfpond intelligibly with each other in Writing, though ignorant of the Language spoken in their feveral countries; a plain proof, that the Chinese characters are, like hieroglyphics, independent of Language; are figns of things, not of words.

WE have one inftance of this fort of Writing in Europe. Our cyphers, as they are called, or arithmetical figures, 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. which we have derived from the Arabians, are fignificant marks, precifely of the fame nature with the Chinese characters. They have no dependence on words; but each figure denotes an object; denotes the number for which it ftands; and, accordingly, on being prefented to the eye, is equally understood by all the nations who have agreed in the use of these cyphers; by Italians, Spaniards, French, and English, however different the Languages of those nations are from one another, and whatever different names they give, in

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their respective Languages, to each numerical LECT. cypher.

As far, then, as we have yet advanced, nothing has appeared which refembles our letters, or which can be called Writing, in the fense we now give to that term. What we have hitherto feen, were all direct figns for things, and made no ufe of the medium of found, or words; either figns by reprefentation, as the Mexican pictures; or figns by analogy, as the Egyptian hieroglyphics; or figns by inftitution, as the Peruvian knots, the Chinese characters, and the Arabian cyphers.

Ar length, in different nations, men became fenfible of the imperfection, the ambiguity, and the tediousness of each of thefe methods of communication with one another. They began to confider, that by employing figns which should stand not directly for things, but for the words which they used in Speech for naming these things, a confiderable advantage would be gained. For they reflected farther, that though the number of words in every Language be, indeed, very great, yet the number of articulate founds, which are used in compofing these words, is comparatively small. The fame fimple founds are continually recurring and repeated; and are combined together, in various ways, for forming all the variety of words which

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LEC T. which we utter. They bethought themselves,

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therefore, of inventing figns, not for each word, by itself, but for each of those fimple founds which we employ in forming our words; and, by joining together a few of thofe figns, they faw that it would be practicable to express, in Writing, the whole combinations of founds which our words require.

THE firft ftep, in this new progress, was the invention of an alphabet of fyllables, which probably preceded the invention of an alphabet of letters, among fome of the antient nations; and which is faid to be retained, to this day, in Æthiopia, and fome countries of India. By fixing upon a particular mark, or character, for every fyllable in the Language, the number of characters, neceffary to be used in Writing, was reduced within a much smaller compafs than the number of words in the Language. Still, however, the number of characters was great; and must have continued to render both reading and writing very laborious arts. Till, at laft, fome happy genius arose; and tracing the founds made by the human voice, to their most fimple elements, reduced them to a very few vowels and confonants; and, by affixing to each of thefe the figns which we how call Letters, taught men how, by their combinations, to put into Writing all the different words, or combinations of found, which

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