In  general  it  is  to  be  truly  said  that  no  more
important  invention  was  ever  made  than  that  of
alphabetical  characters.  They  stimulated  learn-
ing, and  rendered  possible  the  efforts  of  those
whose  works,  as  beacon  lights,  have  illumed  suc-
ceeding ages,  ennobled  the  mind  by  their  intrinsic
merit,  and  by  inciting  in  it  a  spirit  of  emulating
their  effulgent  splendors.  But  for  the  invention
of  letters  as  a  means  of  transmitting  intelligence,
posterity  would  evidently  have  known  but  little
of  the  achievements  of  the  eminent  historians,
poets,  orators,  scholars,  warriors,  philosophers,
rulers    and    statesmen.
The  facts  accumulated  by  the  extensive  re-
search and  travel  of  Herodotus,  the  "  Father  of
History,"  would  have  been  unrecorded.  The
songs  sung  by  Homer  would  have  little  more
than  survived  their  echo.     The    effects  of  the  elo-


i8

quence  of  Demosthenes,  that  roused  the  Athe-
nians to  battle  the  mighty  hosts  of  Macedon,
would  have  been  ephemeral.  The  lessons  of
Plato,  Aristotle  and  Socrates,  that  down  the
course  of  time  have  so  largely  shaped  the  des-
tinies of  the  world,  would,  at  best,  have  long
since  been  rendered  meaningless  by  distorted
and    confused    tradition.
