visible objects of nature; and in proof of this, we find that the characters which form one of the most ancient alphabets now extant, were designed from certain figures made by the stars, and hence it was denominated the Celestial Alphabet. The resemblance of the heavenly bodies will be most perfectly discerned in the alphabets used by the ancient Chaldeans. Gaffarel, in his volume entitled Unheard of Curiosities, has been most particular in the history of these singular characters. Most of the Eastern nations supposed the constellations to represent various figures significative of seasons, &c.; but the Hebrews considered them as words, formed not only by those distinguishing characters which they had attached to them, but also made up by the starry courses bringing different letters in contact, and thus forming different words. The reading of the stars, and whatever else is seen in the air, Gaffarel first assumes from Isaiah xxxiv. 4, where it is said, "the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll;" and from several similar passages of Scripture, that the skies are to be considered as a volume, and in it there must be of consequence, letters, words, and sentences, for the perusal of man. It would seem, that between this "Writing of the Angels," as it was anciently called, and the science of Astrology, there is a near connexion; because the nature and influences of the stars themselves; are to be taken into consideration, when the letters of heaven are read.— Throughout the whole system of this starry writing, a close coincidence with the Hebrew language may be observed; the sentences formed by it are short and abbreviated, and sometimes only the most prominent word is presented to the eye. Thus, a short time before the Babylonish captivity, five stars exactly above Jerusalem, formed the Hebrew word Nataq, which signifies, to drive out, break, and cast down. The number of letters as they rank in the Hebrew series, are also to be taken, to discover the time when their prophecies shall be accomplished; they amounted to five hundred and five, which designated the year when the Jewish kingdom was destroyed, counting from Saul to Zedichias. Most of the writers, however, who have touched upon this mysterious subject, have contributed greatly to bring it into disrepute, by connecting it with cabalism; and not unfrequently with magic.
Gilbert Wakefield, a man whose public character as a writer, was only equalled by his virtues as a man, in an admirable tract on Alphabetical Writing, has the following trite remarks. "The first five books of Moses, are acknowledged by all to be, not only the most ancient compositions, but also, the most early specimen of alphabetical writing, at present existing in the world : now taking for granted, the authenticity of the Mosaic records, if alphabetical writing be the result of human ingenuity, one great peculiarity distinguished it from all other human inventions whatsoever—the very first effort brought it to perfection. All the sagacity and experience of succeeding generations, illustrated by the vast influx of additional knowledge, beyond the most accomplished of their predecessors, have been unable, to superinduce any real improvement, upon the Hebrew alphabet. If alphabetical writing were a human invention, the natural result of ingenuity and experience, might we not expect that different nations would have fallen upon the same expedient, independently of each other, during the compass of so many ages, when the faculties of the mind are equally capable at all times, and in every comer of the universe; and when the habits of life, and modes of thought internally bear so great a resemblance to each other, in similar stages of society? This were but a reasonable expectation, which
