ASTLE’S ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF WRITING. 
alphabet, were also common not only to the 
people last mentioned, but likewise to the 
Pienictns, and to the Greeks ; the Y isnot 
unlike the Greek Y, - This alphabet alone 
bears strong testimony that the letters. used 
by our Saxon ancestors are derived. from the 
Phenician, the Etruscan, and the Greek let- 
ters, through the medium of those of the 
Roman. The capital letters in the fifteenth 
plate, No.1, which are taken from a MS. 
written in the latter end of the sixth or the 
beginning of the seventh century, confirm 
this opinion. It is observable that the Pe- 
Jasgian M, was used in MSS. s0 late as the 
‘eighth century. The third specimen in the 
‘eighteenth plate is taken from a copy of the 
four gospels in the royal library (1~B. 7). 
Our readers will observe both Roman and 
Saxon capital letters in this specimen, the 
‘former are used in the canons of St. Eusebius, 
which were probably written by some Roman 
ecclesiastic, the latter by one who had been 
educated in England. 
*« In the seventh and eighth centuries 
“square capitals were occasionally used in 
“England specimens of which are given in the 
fifteenth slates No.1, and in the title of No. 
4, and an entire alphabet in the sixteenth 
plate. A great variety of capital letters used 
‘in England from the seventh to the tenth 
* century inclusive, are exhibited in the eigh- 
*teenth and nineteenth plates, which deserve 
the attention of those who desire to become 
‘acquainted with the manuscripts of our 
. Saxon ancestors, and to judge of their age 
and anthenticity. 
« The Saxon capitals which vary from 
“those now used are C, E, G, H, M, 
sand W. The small letters are, d, f, g, 1, 
*s, t, and w, which are all Roman except 
‘the s and some notes of abbreviations used 
‘by the Saxons: many other abbreviatious 
used by the Saxons appear in the eighteenth 
plate, No. 4. These notes of abbrevia- 
tion are not.the original members of an 
alphabet ; they were the result of Jater 
* reflection, and were introduced for dispatch. 
~ By an attentive observation of the different 
» specimens of writing in England, we perceive 
the several gradations by which one form of 
‘va Roman character has imperceptibly chang- 
ed into another. The Saxon D, savs Mr. 
* Whitaker, seems to have been only the Ro- 
*' man V at first, and to have been lengthened 
into the Saxon character, and enlarged into 
the present Roman W, by bringing the prin- 
» cipal stroke somewhat lower, and closing the 
* ‘top in the one, and by redoubling the whole 
in the other. The W is unknown both to 
the Latin and its daughter languages, the 
- French, the Spanish, and the Italian: it is 
composed of two characters, namely, of the 
Vor U doubled. \ 
_» The writing which prevailed in Eng- 
land, from the coming-of St. Augustin «in 
_ 596, to the middle of the eleventh century, 
is generally termed Sa.ron, and may be divid- 
_ ‘ed into five kinds; namely, the Roman Savon, 
v 
7 
629 
the Sct Saxon, the Running-Iand Saxon,, 
the Mixed Saxon, and the Llegant Savon ; 
which shall be considered in, order. - are 
.* Roman Saxon. The Roman Saxon is that 
kind of writing whichis. very similar to the 
Roman, and prevailed in England, from the 
coming of St. Augustin till the eighth ‘cen- 
tury.’ Specimens of this kind of ‘writing ’are 
Eigen in plate fifteen, No. 1. In this MS>the 
2 and the Fare more pure Roman than those 
which follow; this specimen is- taken from 
the gospels: of St. PY per ipate and St. Mark, 
formerly preserved in, the Cottonian dibrary 
(Otho, c. 5.) which is said to haye been St, 
Augustin’s book, but by the hand it seems to 
have been written in England, probably dn 
his time. This fine book perished by the 
fire which happened in the Cottonian library 
in the year 1781. Y WEIMAR. 
«« Another specimen ia Roman Saxon cha- 
racters, appears in the eighteenth plate, No.6, 
which is taken from-a MS..of the four gos- 
pels, in the royal library at London(A E.V1L.) 
written in England in the seventh century, | 
The second page of this MS. is of a violet 
colour, in which are several letters in gold 
and silver. Prefixed to the gospels, is St. 
Jerom’s epistle to Pope Damasus.. 9 4): 
«« The alphabets are, ‘first; of the capital 
letters, which were in) gold-and silver 3) se- 
condly, of the letters in which, the heads of 
the chapters ate written ; and thirdly, of the 
letters which compose the text. , 
«« The sixteenth plate furnishes a third 
specimen of Roman Saxon writing, which is 
taken from a fair copy of the four gospels’of 
St. Jerom’s translation, written in England 
in the latter end of the seventh century, with 
an interlineary Saxon version, written in the 
‘tenth century by Farmennus and Osrunus, 
two priests. niin. (eet nelly’s 
«¢ This MS. is called the Coder Rusworth- 
ianus, because it belonged formerly to John 
Rushworth, of Lincoln’s-Inn, Esq. It is 
now preserved in the Bodleian library at 
Oxford (D. 24. No. 3946.) Mr. Wansey 
says, it is little inferior ¢n age to the Lich- 
ficld MS. or to St. Cuthbert’s gospels, Nero, 
D.1V.° At the end of this book, is the fol- 
lowing passage, written ina hand similar to 
and coeval with the text. ¢ Macregiul de- 
pinxit hoc Evangelium. Quicumque legerit 
et intellegerit istam narraiionem, orat pro 
Miacreziul Scriptori.’ ; 4 , 
«* The square or angular capital letters, 
are very similar to those which appear in the 
Lichfield MS. and to those in the fifteenth 
plate, No. 1. vse 
«© The second alphabet is of the initial or 
uncial letters, (as they are usually called) in 
which the titles of chapters are written ; the 
third, is of the Latin text, and the fourth, of 
the Saxon version. Concerning this valuable 
MS. see Wanley’s catal. page 81. 
«« The fifth specimen m the fifteenth plate 
jis taken from a fine MS. preserved in the 
church of Lichfield, called Teatus Sci.Cedde, 
or St. Chad's gospels. ‘This MS. was many 
Ss 3 . ‘ 
