Chap. XIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 261 



ed what they called modes, fuch as the Dorian, Phrygian, and Ly- 

 dian. 



Bfefore I come to fpeak of the invention of language, I will men- 

 tion another art, which has a much greater connexion with langu- 

 age than mulic ; for it is language itielf, only in a different form, 

 not being pronounced as language is. The art I mean is the writ- 

 ing art, which, though ii was invented in order of time after lan- 

 guage, yet, is fo conneded with that art, that I think it leads to 

 the difcovery of the invention of language. By language, as I have 

 faid, our ideas are made audible : But by the writing art they are 

 made vifible ; not directly and immediately, but by the intervention 

 of the founds of the words which are marked by certain characters, 

 that are perceived by the fight. As there muft have been a progreG 

 in all the arts, the writing art began by making the ideas themfelves 

 an objedt of fight, diredlly and immediately, without the intervention 

 of the founds by which they are exprefled. The firft writing, there- 

 fore, was a kind of painting, whereby the fubjeft of the idea v/as re- 

 prefented as it really exifted. In this way the Mexicans wrote when 

 the Spaniards firft came among them j and I am perfuaded this was 

 the firft writing in Egypt. But fuch writing could only reprefent cor- 

 poreal objedts, which had form and figure that could be painted; hut 

 could not reprefent things immaterial, fuch as the thoughts of men, 

 their fentiments and pafTions. This could only be done by figura- 

 tive, or fymbolical reprefentations of fuch things : And we are fure 

 that this was pradifed in Egypt, as there are many remains of it in 

 that country to be feen at this day ; and it was ufed in flicred thinf^s 

 even after the alphabetical writing was introduced, and from thence 

 it was called hieroglyphical writing. 



And here the reader may obferve, how wonderfully our intellec- 

 tual part is connected with our fenfitive. From our fenfes all our 



knowledfi:? 



