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the great Siogulamy, by which the Chinese CharaUer s Differ from thosr ofall therest of the World. Andthis 1 conceive, has been the Reason, whyali People, and poflibly even the very Chinese themsclves have, and dobelieve it to be a Real and not Literal CharaUer : For if the PrimitiveLanguage, or Pronunciation of the CharaUers be lost (as 1 conceive itis) and that the Disposition, Order, Method, Texture, or Männer ofPlacing the more Simple in the more C omponnded Charetis ers be also Lost,Forgotten, or not Understood, then the whole Charaffert become a Realand not a Literal CharaUer ; And an Immethodical one to such as want theMethod, that must be Learnt by Roat and Depend wholly upon the Strengthof the Memory to retain it. But l conceive it might be at First either aLiteral CharaUer, and so the whole Stpuare CharaUer was compofed of somany Distinct Letters , or SjUablts, which compofed the Word signify’dthereby; and so there might be a Regulär Order of Placing these Letters inth e CharaUer That is, that the yhole Square being Divided into so manyparts, there was aRulewhich was the birst, 2 d. 3 d. and 4 th. Place: Sothat there being Plac’d in thole the scveral Letters that made up the Word,according to the Order they had in the Word, it was eafy by that Rule toDecspher the said CharaUer , and then ce to sind the Word and the Significa-tio«, as Regularly as if the Letters had been W ritten one aster anothcr,as raost other LiteralLbaraUerswe know are at this Day Written. Or Se-condly, it might be a Real CharaUer consisting of divers Marks or Letters,that Exprefled fo many Simple Notions, feveral of which joyn'd togethermight make up the more Compounded CharaUers, of which I have Addedforne Examples in the Viate, which may be also made Literal and Pro-nounceable, tho’ that Consideration were not made usc of when they wereFirst Invented. Wsiat things 1 have obscrved in my Chinese Looks that scemto respectthis Method, 1 will give more particulars of by Printing a Spe-cimen ofthe Book Ye-ktm, which Explicated by these Notions will I con-ceive appear more Intelligible, than by the Accounts we find given of itby the Chinese Commentators, and thosc that have Tranflated tliem intoLatin, who scem not to have understood the True Design thereof. Forboth the Chinese and Eureptan Commentators Affert it to be a Conjuring-Book, or a Book to teli Fortunes by, and to be made use of by the Chinesefor that purpose : Whereas by the sinall Specimen I have seen of ir, 1 con-ceive it to contain the whole Ground, Rule, or Grammar of their CharaUer ,Language, and Philosophy ; and that by the Understandhng of it, the Foun-dation and Rule of their Language, and CharaUer, may be wiihout muchDifficulty Deciphered and Understood.

The present Use of this CharaUer, I conceive to be Differing from what itwas at First, both as to the Position of Writing and Reading it ; and as tothe Expression and Pronunciation thereof. For the way of Writing and Read-ing it I conceive might at first be exactly the fäme with that of the Greeks, Ro-mans, Englifh , and all other European Nations, and also the ts£tbiopick andCo stick ; That is they began at the top of ehe Page towards the Lest Hand,

and