Ee a5), 1 
Burt long before it became a fubject of critical or grammatical 
inveftigation, Diodorus. Seculus * 
tells us the Pelafgians had: 
alphabetic elements which preceded the Cadmean. Euftathius t 
fays, the Pelafgians. preferved letters at the deluge of Deucaleon. 
What I have here tranflated /effers in the original are comac, ele- 
ments. ‘Thefe were the f articulations of the human voice, of 
which letters were the figns, the types or fchemes. Euftathius: 
therefore intimates, that thefe Pelafgic were the original elemen- 
tary Greek characters, which is true in fact. 
Tue Iliad and Odyfley offer numerous proofs of the. commer-- 
cial intercourfe between the early Greeks, Egyptians and Phoeni- 
cians ; and Diodorus Siculus and Eufebius agree in afcribing the- 
fuperior attainments of Orpheus, Mufzus, Dedalus and the other ~ 
lettered Greeks to their travels into the Eaft:.. Can we fuppofe 
thefe men, who at every hazard explored foreign climes in fearch. 
of wifdom, could be infenfible to the ufe and advantages of let- 
ters? The Greeks were too lively and ingenious-not inftantly to - 
have adopted the art and practice of writing. Diodorus Siculus 
feems therefore more correct than Herodotus in giving the ufe 
of letters to the Pelafgians, and I.am of opinion with him, that 
Cadmus § firft changed the Pheenician letters to the Greek enun- 
ciation, affixing to each a name and peculiar charafter.. Herodo- - 
tus : 
aLib: 3 eb sat 
+ Mira tov xaraxruopov cura ra sorxeie pores EAAnwr, Pact - In Iliad 2. Diod. Sic. Sup. . 
Tzetz. Chil, 5—10—12. ; 
t Tpappa sore Ssaepes” soxetoy LEY yeep Es wuTn n sxPwynors nas 0 Qboyyes. ¥ To YPO pape 
enpeioyy  Tumes, sx: Ammon. de differ. Vocab. 
§ Tpwror ers tmp EAAnuxny perabeinas diarcxter. Diod. Sic. lib. 3. 
