Blair Collection > Celtic researches, on the origin, traditions & language, of the ancient Britons

A regularity of structure, discernible in the
ancient, and pure languages, demonstrates,
that such an art, as that of writing, and speak-
ing those languages, could not be indebted
for its birth, to chance; — that it must have
been formed by inferences of reasoning from
objects of nature; — formed with simplicity,
and calculated for precision.
This volume attempts, not only to investi-
gate those principles, but, in some degree,
to ascertain the means by which they unfolded
themselves into language, and supplied hints
for their o\vn visible shape, — in other words,
for the invention of speech, as analyzed into
a system.
This art originated in the earliest ages of
man. Its first, and simple essays, are lost ia
their antiquity.
Upon a topic of such difficulty, and of
such moment, in the history of man, evea