saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel."

If we now dismiss, for a while, the especial consideration of these difficulties, some light will perhaps be reflected upon them, as we proceed in the examination of other particulars.

Our next inquiry will be, In what language was the Pentateuch written? As I endeavored to show in the second lecture, it was probably first written, and arranged as it now stands, in Hebrew, by EZRA, the Jewish High Priest, who was (according to the general testimony of historians) the compiler and first publishing editor of the Old Testament scriptures.

But in what language was it originally written, either in part, or as a whole? The recorded mementoes, which, were they at this time distinctly traceable, would perhaps furnish us an adequate answer to this question, (although they were none too legibly inscribed at first) are now veiled in obscurity-well-nigh lost to us, at our remote point of view; so thickly have the mists gathered and filled the atmosphere that floats between the past and the present.

We should, doubtless, be furnished with the most direct means of obtaining some credible information on this point, could we ascertain, with any thing like an approach to exactness, the date or dates of time, at which the several books were written-i. e., supposing them to have been written in the regular form of a book, or books, previous to the time of Ezra; which some learned

and good men have believed, and others, equally learned and good, have honestly doubted.

Whatever authenticated historical statements respecting the origin of written language, we may gain access to, will render us the most efficient aid we can receive in our present investigations.

Various historical inquirers have indulged their minds in the formation of numerous conjectures and speculations, some of them more or less probable, while others are merely chimerical. Some, for instance, have supposed that when the Deity originally endowed man with the faculty of reason and the power of vocal utterance, he imparted to him the knowledge of some species of writing. But our own observation and experience, united with the testimony of such history as we know to be accurate, teach us that the various Arts came into existence gradually-a knowledge of them has been unfolded to the human mind, not instantaneously, but by degrees; and I see no good reason for believing that the art of writing forms an exception to this general rule of gradual, human progress.

Respecting the origin of Letters,-regular, alphabetic characters, I find that there is not a little contrariety of opinion among historians; even those reputed to be the most learned and reliable authorities, who have spent years of assiduous toil in the examination of the subject, with the most extensive libraries, and the best ancient MSS. in preservation, constantly at their command. Although some imagine that letters originated with the

patriarch Abraham, while others suppose that the honor of their invention belongs to Moses, and others still are inclined to think they may have been invented by the Egyptians, yet the only definite, positive assertion in which historians generally unite respecting the matter, is, that CADMUS, a Phoenician, introduced letters among the Grecians, (having brought them with him from Syria,) about 1519 years before Christ, and more than forty years after the death of Moses. It is supposed that Cadmus was either their inventor, or that he derivthe knowledge of them from some of his countrymen---among whom, it is presumed, they may have originated. The letters of his alphabet were but sixteen in number, eight others being added afterwards, and at different times. They are said to be identical with the characters of the language called the Hebrew,--the name, Hebrew, being given them at a subsequent period. This is in accordance with ROLLIN, one of the highest standard authorities, in regard to ancient history. It also harmonizes with Blair's Chronology.

Now the position, by some confidently assumed, that letters were known previous to the time of Cadmus, (which was nearly half a century after the death of Moses) rests almost entirely upon inference, or evidence which is but circumstantial and presumptive in its character. Be it observed, particularly, that I am now speaking of methodical, alphabetic language-not of the loose symbolic representation of ideas, (which doubtless came into existence with the first man, or soon after, in

some crude form) nor of that very ancient and somewhat more methodical picture-writing (of which I shall soon speak) called hyeroglyphics. Some of the premises, which, it is thought, lead directly to the conclusion, that letters were known a long while before their introduction into Greece, at the time I have mentioned, are the following:-The language in Genesis, xxiii. 20, is such as to convey the idea, to the general reader, that when the sons of Heth sold Abraham a parcel of ground for a burial-place, they gave him a bill of sale, or titledeed of some kind. This conjecture is favorably regarded by Dr. Jahn.* But, to my mind, the conclusion does not seem to be very strongly fortified. Let us read the passage under consideration. "And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham, for a possession of a burying-place, by the sons of Heth."† What is there in this phraseology which necessarily implies that a written guaranty was given at the transfer of the property? Nothing, that I can see. True, it is said the possession was "made sure unto Abraham." But this pledge of surety might be effectually given in some other way than by a written warranty deed. Security, abundantly satisfactory in its nature, and legally binding to all intents and purposes, might have been given symbolically-conveyed through the significant medium of some gift, of very trifling value in itself, but important as a tenure,-according to the custom of every rude nation, where the arts of civilized life have not been. * Biblical Archæology, Part 5, § 85. Gen. xxiii. 20.

cultivated. The North American Indians transacted all their commercial affairs in this way,-conveying all their unspoken messages, those relating to other matters than traffic, by strings of beads and wampum, by a feather, or by a sprig of some forest tree. They had no written language—I mean, no methodical dialect, governed by rules of etymology and syntax; although they may have had-probably did have-a crude method of writing, like the rough, unseemly figures etched upon the surface of the celebrated rock, in the town of Dighton, in this State, an accurate engraving and particular account of which may be found in Barber's Historical Collections of Massachusetts.

These considerations will be sufficient, I think, to show that the passage in Genesis which speaks of Abraham's purchase being "made sure" to him, does not, of necessity, yield any support to the idea that alphabetic letters of any kind were then in vogue. And even supposing that a recorded transfer were given, it might all have been written in hyeroglyphics.

Another reason which has been offered in favor of the hypothesis that letters must have been in use at a much earlier date than the time of Cadmus, is the circumstance that writing and books are particularly spoken of in the Pentateuch, in many instances, as in Exodus, xvii. 14: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua." But this and similar passages prove nothing, absolutely, concerning the employment of letters; because