Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-06-11
ABORIGINAL LITERATURE.

In Mr.. Knapp's lectures on American lltera-
ture, there is a most interesting account OF the
invention of the Cherokee alphabet, by See-quah-
yah, a chief of that nation. The patient thought,
and unshrinkinc perseverance manifested by this
man, are really extraordinary. He may with
propriety be stiled the Cadmus of the new world,
for the invention Of this Cherokee alphabet is the
fruit of his unassisted mind alone, operating slow
ly but surely, and by dint of voluntary solitude
and severe and constant meditation, arriving at
the most glorious results. This obscure Indian,
in the retirement of his wigwam, achieved as
great a triumph of intellectual success as even
did Newton or Archimedes. Indeed the process
of his mind was not dissimilar to that OF the Brit
ish philosopher, who it is said ascrlbed to lnten-
sity Of thought the success of his conclusions.
Sir Isaac Newton saw an apple fall to the
ground, and from this simple incident resulted
his theory of the earth's attraction. Archlmedes
went into a bath, and it was from observing the
rise of the water as his body displaced 1t, that he
originated his, doctrine of specific GRANTEES
from the accidental finding of a letter on the per-
son of a prisoner to the Cherokees, See-quah-yah
was induced 10 turn his enquir1ng mint to the
mysterious power of : the talking leaf. Being tho
roughly impressed that this was not a gift OF the
Great Spirit to the whiteman, as some OF his tribe
maintained but a discovery BY the white man him.
self. rWenewv quote from Mr.. Knapp's highly In
~tereshng and curious account OF the process u TINS
invention, as he received it from the lips of See
quah-yah himself.
"This frequently became a subject of contem-
plation with him afterwards, as we'll as many
other things which he knew, or had heard, that
the white man could do: but he never sat down
seriously to reflect on the subject, until a swell
Ing in his knee confined him to his caoin, and
which at length made him a cripple for life, by
shortening the diseased leg. Deprived of the ex-
element of.war and the pleasures of the chase,
IN the long nights of his confinement, his mind
was again directed to the mystery of speaking
BY letters" the very name of which, of course,
was not to be found in his language. From the
cries of wild beasts, from the talent of the mock
Ing bird, from the voices of his children and his
companions, he knew that the feelings and pas
sions were conveyed by direct sounds from one
intelligent being to another. The thought struck
him to try to ascertain all the sounds in the Cher
okee language. His own ear was not remarkably
discriminating, and he called to his aid the more
acute ears of his wife and children.
"Whenhe thoughthe had distinguished all the
different sounds in their language, he attempted
to use pictorial signs, images of birds and beasts,
" CONVEY llOSt SUuIuS W OtiiCFS, vi W mai
them in his own mind. He soon dropped this
method, as difficult or impossible, and tried arEi-
trary signs, without any regard to appearances,
except such as might assist in recollecting them,
and distinguished them from each other. At first
these signs were very numerous; and when he
rot so far as to think his invention was nearly
accomplished, he had about 900 characters in
his alphabet. By the aid of his daughter, who
seemed to enter into the genius Of his labors, he
reduced them at last to eighty-six, the number he
ROW uses. He then set to. work to make these
characters more comely to the eye, and succeed
ed-as yet he had not the knowledge of the pen
as an instrument, but made his characters on a
piece of bark, with a knife or nail. At this time
he sent to the Indian agent, or some trader in the
nation for paper and pen. His ink was easily
made from some of the bark Of the forest trees,
whose coloring properties he had previously
known-and after seeing the construction of the
pen, he soon learned to make one, but at first he
made it without a slit; this inconvenience was,
however. quickly removed by his ~sagacity. His
next difficulty was to make his invention known
to his countrymen; for, by this time he had be-
come so distracted from his tribe and their usual
pursuits, that he was viewed with an eye of sus-
picion. His former companions passed his wig
vain without entering it, and mentioned his name
as one who was practising improper spells i0r no.
toIety or mischievous purposes, and he seems to
think that he should have been hardly dealt with
if his docile and unambitious disposition had not
been so generally acknowledged by his tribe
At length he summoned some of the most dis
tinguished of his nation, in order to make this
communication to them-and after giving the
best explanation of his discovery that he could,
stripped ofall supernatural influence. he proceed
ed to demonstrate to them in good earnest that
re had made a discovery. His daughter, who
was his only pupil, was ordered to go out of hear
ING. while he requested his friends to name a word
or sentiment, which he put down, and then she
was called in and read I. to them; then the ia
Their retired and the daughtcr wrote; the Indians
were wonder-struck. but not entirely satisfied.
See-quah-yah then proposed that the tribe should
select several youths from among their brightest
young men that he might communicate the mys-
terry to them. This WAS at length agreed to, al.
though there was some lurking suspicion of nee
romancy in the whole business. John Nav (his
Indian name | have forgotten a full blood, with
several others. were selected for this purpose
The tribe watched the youths for several months
with anxiety, and when they offered themselves