^^^ ^ . 
SyllableSjbut every diftinO: word & notion has a diftinfl: Cha- 
racter, & that all are primitive or in compofit^So that ifCak- 
fines Dictionary were to be tranflated into the C/?/;^f/^', 'twere 
necelTary to have as many diftincdRadicai Characters as there 
are words therein to be found.which accounts do (eem toinfin- 
" uate that^this Character is the moft Difficulty & the moft per- 
plexed peice of Learning in the World, & depends wholy up- 
on the ftrength of the memory in retaining the form & fignifi- 
cation of a perplexed fcraul. But whether they who gave 
us theft accounts did do it knowingly,is much to be doubted, 
my own obftrvations, at leaft, make me think otherwife. 
I have not yet been able to procure fufficlent helps to In- 
form my felf of the whole Art of Writing and Reading 
the Ch}nefe Character, and I fear the Relations I have hither- 
to met \Vith concerning it, were written by fuch as did not 
well underftand it, however from fuch helps as I had, 
what I collected or do conjecture, I lhall here relate. The 
beft help I had, was the Perufal of fbme Books Printed 
inC/!?/>/^, with the Pronuntiation and Signification of the 
Character in LatirieLetterSoBy thefe Books then lobferyed^ 
Firft, that every one of their Characters whether confifting 
of more or fewer ftrokes or marks, were comprifed within 
certain fquare fpace, which is proportioned according to the 
bignefs of the fize or manner of Writing, they defigne there 
to make ufe of, not that the whole Square is filled with eve- 
ry Character, but that no partof that Character does exceed 
the Limits of that Square, fb that though the Character have 
but one fttoak it takes as much room in the line as another 
that hath 20 or 30 ftveral marks, fo that their Characters are 
moft exactly ranged in Rank and File, not unlike our Num- 
bers in Arithmatick. 
Notwithftanding, which I find they do vary the bignefs 
of the Character upon ftveral OccafionS;^ as in the Titles of 
Books, in the Titles of the Chapters or Sections, in the Com- 
ments Explications or Notes, and upon ftveral- other occafi- 
ons of Variety, which they do at Pieaftr-e with their Pencil, 
as we uft variety of Letters in tlie Printing of a Book. The 
Titles 
