( 1999 5 
Hands of England^ which about rhe year of our Lord 7^0 
was of three forts. ^ 
I. Th^ Roman Capitals^ ftill retainM^ and kept up by- 
the Antiqttanj^ m fonie Books and Charters. 
II. The more Sett Saxon Letters (which have a near affi- 
nity y^ith the more Antient Infi CharaSers^ as being with 
them derived from the i^i?/^^;^:,') which were ufed as th(?. 
Common Hand of the Age, by the Monks in their Books^ 
and fome Ckarterrof their Diftating and Writing. 
IlL The Running Saxon Letters^ fuller ot Abbreviations,, 
and fomerhing of km to the Longbardic and Franco-Gallic, 
f both vvhich,with this third fort, were alfo of Roma^' 
Original, ). and was ufed by^thefe iJbrar'^j in their Books - 
and in the Charters 5 aSvalfo hy fome Aiuhors - vvfao wrcfr; 
much, as Bede^ &c. 
There was another fort of BhkjiPrrkrs flil! in, life, nanie^ 
ly, the Notarij^ whofe Bafinefs it was to take Trjah and ■ 
Meadings at Courts of Judicature 5 to write -Ammuo^ifes- 
from the mourhofm- Auchor^ and, to take BamUies ana 
Sermons at Church, from-, the Mouth, of the.. Preacher^ 
Thefe NotariJ made ufe of Not£ or Marl{s infcead of Letters 
But when, in Procefs of Time, Letters were ufually writ- 
ten fmall and quick, and Abbreviations grew Gommoo^ 
the Notarij wexQ tntnd off, unlefs they would w^rite Books 
in Long handy as other Li harij did y and their Not^e gr^w 
out of ufe 5 and moft of their Performances in Notes or 
M^r^i" have been fince deftroy'd. 
Suppofe thon, my Lord, that a man had one Latin Book 
- of each of the four forts above-mentioned laid be{ore him^ 
written all at a time, and without any Date ov Note of 
the Age : Would not he be ready to fay that the three 
•firft were older than one another ? As that that in 
Gj)/Vtf/x was older than that in the Hand ^ and 
this again older than that in the Rnnm?ig and fmaller 
Hand? and that fuch a Bgok written in the Notte being 
all full of marks, was not Lafin^ but of foms other un* 
