ON THE ALPHABETS OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 77& 
the organic and rhythmical classification. But two of the alphabets 
of Sumatra, the obsolete alphabet of Sumbawa, and the Javanese al¬ 
phabet have not adopted this arrangement. The last of these is the 
most remarkable instance, for it was the one of all the characters 
of the Archipelago most amenable to Hindu influence, as is suffi¬ 
ciently attested by the greater number of Sanskrit words in the lan¬ 
guage of Java, and by the existence in that island of numerous Hin¬ 
du monuments, including inscriptions in the Dewanagri, side by side 
with those in the ancient native writing. 
Some minor details many also have been borrowed from the Hin¬ 
dus, as the mark for eliding a vowel, the point over the consonants 
to express a nasal following a vowel and closing a syllable, the vi- 
sarga or mark of aspiration after a vowel, and, possibly, the mark 
for the vowel u. These, however, are by no means common to all 
the alphabets of the Archipelago. I do not consider the a inherent 
in every consonant to be taken from the Hindus, although it be 
common to their alphabets. It seems to be simply a rude and in¬ 
perfect manner of signifying all the vowels, before the discovery of 
marks for the vowels of less frequent occurrence, when it was ap¬ 
propriated to the principal vowel, a. 
In fact, the main characteristic of the Malayan letters, their dif¬ 
fering among themselves, and then differing equally from all foreign 
letters, leads to the inevitable conclusion, that each alphabet was a 
separate and independent invention, made, in all likelihood, in the 
localities in which we at present find them. If this be the case, the 
kind of fertility of invention which the fact evinces is a curious con¬ 
trast to the utter absence of it in rude and early Europe, which ne¬ 
ver invented an alphabet, although in substantial civilization, it is 
not to be imagined that the natives of Java and Sumatra two thou¬ 
sand years ago were superior to the energetic inhabitants of Germa¬ 
ny, Gaul and Briton. 
What causes conduced to this early invention of letters among 
Malayan nations, and at so many different and distant points, it is 
not very easy to say. It is certain that the discoveries must have been 
preceded by a very considerable advancement in civilization, such 
as would afford leisure to some class of men to attend to such things. 
That class was unquestionably a priesthood of some kind, and the 
first and earliest use of letters would assuredly be, not for the com¬ 
mon conveniencies of life, or even for its amusement, as in a more ad¬ 
vanced stage, but for the sheer purpose of conjuration or incantation. 
