96 ON THE DATE AND ORIGIN, &c. 
ence of authors in a phonetic alphabet to the time of Pherecides in 
Greece, and of Sanchoniatho®? in Pheenicia. 2nd, The almost si- 
multaneous and undisputed communication of that alphabet, soon after 
the time herein assumed for Sanchoniatho, over all the nations west 
of the Euphrates. 3rd, The actual existence of coins bearing that 
alphabetic legend as high as 600 years B.c. 
Of the latter or negative kind may be considered, Ist, There being 
no undisputed record of any author in the phonetic alphabet antece- 
dent to Sanchoniatho. 2nd, Our total ignorance of all human events 
antecedent to the herein assumed time of Sanchoniatho (who wrote a 
history of the Jews similar to that in Holy Writ, but which is gene- 
rally believed to have perished), except those handed down to us by 
the revelation of Jehovah himself. 3rd, The existence of coins prior 
to and some time after 600 B.c. which bear impressions, but no le- 
gends; as the Persian Daric and the Lydian coins. 4th, The un- 
disputed existence and use of the hieroglyphic writing prior to, and 
for a short time after, the date assumed for Sanchoniatho.—(See 
note 5+). 
6° Scaliger in the 16th, Vossius, Bochart, Cumberland, Dodwell, Stilling- 
fleet, in the 17th, and Warburton in the 18th centuries, were the first to 
contest the existence of this author, and the authority of his extracts as 
given in Eusebius. The discussion ran to many volumes, as might have hap- 
pened on the best accredited authors of antiquity. The dispute was fanned 
up by somewhat of religious zeal ; and it is easier to see clear without, than 
by, the light extricated in the conflict. The European, if his attention be 
diverted from his own to the distant shores of Palestine, is dazzled by the 
coruscations of heavenly light that are shed over them ; nor deigns his meed 
of applause, or his humbler tribute of gratitude, to the discoverer of the Pho- 
netic Alphabet. 
(To be continued ). 
