made among the
ancient nations from the symbolic to the phonetic mode of writing, is
not now known. When in the flourishing periods of the Grecian and
Roman states, learned men explored the literary records of the various
nations of the East, writings were found in all, which were expressed
in phonetic characters, and the alphabets of these characters were
found to be so analogous to each other, in the names and order, and in
some respects in the forms, of the letters, as to indicate strongly
something like community of origin. All the attempts, however, which
have been made to ascertain the origin of the system, have wholly
failed, and no account of them goes farther back than to the time when
Cadmus brought them from Phenicia or Egypt into Greece.

The letters which Cadmus brought were in number sixteen. The following
table presents a view of his alphabet, presenting in the several
columns, the letters themselves as subsequently written in Greece, the
Greek names given to them, and their power as represented by the
letters now in use. The forms, it will be seen, have been but little
changed.

Greek letters. Greek names. English representatives.

[Greek: A] Alpha A
[Greek: B] Beta B
[Greek: G] Gamma G
[Greek: D] Delta D
[Greek: E] Epsilon E
[Greek: I] Iota I
[Greek: L] Lamda L
[Greek: K] Kappa K
[Greek: M] Mu M
[Greek: N] Nu N
[Greek: O] Omicron O
[Greek: P] Pi P
[Greek: R] Rho R
[Greek: S] Sigma S
[Greek: T] Tau T
[Greek: U] Upsilon U

The phonetic alphabet of Cadmus, though so vastly superior to any
system of symbolical hieroglyphics, for all purposes where any thing
like verbal accuracy was desired, was still very slow in coming into
general use. It was of course, at first, very difficult to write it,
and very difficult to read it when written. There was a very great
practical obstacle, too, in the way of its general introduction, in
the want of any suitable materials for writing. To cut letters with a
chisel and a mallet upon a surface of marble is a very slow and
toilsome process