474 Analysis of the Alphabet derived [June, 



The contents of the dharmalipi itself I must reserve for further exami- 

 nation with the aid of those who are more competent to analyze the 

 peculiarities of its phraseology. From the cursory view I have taken 

 of it with Ratna Paula, I may in some measure meet the curiosity of 

 the reader's inquiries, by stating that it treats of the fruits of virtue and 

 vice — that it points out what animals are to be cherished and what are 

 not proper for food — what days, of the lunar month, are to be esteem- 

 ed holy, &c. ; with much about the increase of virtue, but no mention 

 of the name of Buddha, Shakya, or Gautama — nor of any member 

 of the Hindu Pantheon. It is, however, quite impossible to say as yet 

 what are the contents of this genuine relic of antiquity, — perchance a 

 much more genuine relic of the Indian reformer tban any of the 

 bones, teeth or hair of this sacred personage that have bee^n preserved 

 in golden caskets or buried under stone pyramids in various spots ! 

 But its chief recommendation is the philological value it possesses, of 

 higher authority even than all the books of Nipdl or Ceylon, in deter- 

 mining the knotty dispute as to the language in which the reformed 

 religion of Shakya was preached and spread so effectually among the 

 people. It is now evident that, as with the Kabirpanthis, the Dadupan- 

 this, the Sikhs, the Rdmsanehis, and all the sects who have appealed to 

 the common sense of the people against the learning and priestcraft of 

 the schools, the language of the appeal employed by the disciples of 

 Shakya was the vernacular idiom of the day. 



A few words, in conclusion regarding the alphabet, of which I 

 have had a fount prepared while this article was setting up for press. 



There is a primitive simplicity in the form of every letter, which 

 stamps it at once as the original type whereon the more complicated 

 structure of the Sanskrit has been founded. If carefully analyzed, 

 each member of the alphabet will be found to contain the element of 

 the corresponding member, not only of the Deva-nagari, but of the 

 Canouj, the Pali, the Tibetan, the Hala Canara, and of all the deriva- 

 tives from the Sanskrit stock. 



But this not all : simplification may be carried much farther by due 

 attention to the structure of the alphabet, as it existed even at this 

 early stage, and the genius of its construction, ab initio, may in some 

 measure be recognized and appreciated. 



First, the aspirated letters appear to have been formed in most 

 cases by doubling the simple characters ; thus, fo chh is the double of 

 d c h; 0*h, is the double of ( t ; [) dh, is the half of this ; and 

 t h, is the same character with a dot as a distinguishing mark : (this 

 may account for the constant interchange of the ( , /^, Q, and 0, in 



