The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1869-02-27
A Modern Alphabet Inventor.

New York Tribune stated that literary
relic had been sold in that city for the
sum of 81, ,130-the highest price any book
has fetched in that country. 1t was a
copy of "EliOt's Indian Bible" book
that no man living can read. Eliot was q
Puritan Englishman, who emigrated to
New England on account of his religious
opinions, and died at Roxbury, where
handsome memorial was erected to his
memory by his admirers. Yin |tI-t .
This brought to my recollection the
labors Of another ingenious mind, known
by the name Of George Guess among the
people of the United States, He was an
indian, and his name Seequo-lah. If ever
arecord ofpatient industry, untiring perse-
Verance, and natural ingenuity deserves
record, 1t is this. Eliots Bible was in Mohe-
gan, with the usual Roman letters, with
different signs to denote the different in
Elections Of sounds. But See.quO.lah in
vented an alphabet for the use of his tribe.
His idea originated in the early French
and Indian wars. The Cherokees had
white prisoner, on whose person they
found a letter ; to satisfy his daptuEers,
the prisoner had to read it for their edif-
cation. But of course the tenor of his
reading differed greatly from whathe pre-
tended to read from. q, =. q
The talking leaf" had ever been a
mystery to these untutored minds Of the
prairie. They had long considered it
gift Of the Great Spirit, and held it in
great yeneration. But See-quolah, then
youth, knew better he maintained that
1t was purely mans invention, and the de-
sire to have awritten alphabet for his
tribe possessed him. For a long time the
idea lay dormant; the migrations of the
tribe or their predatory excursions left
him no leisure. But famed, and as 1t
proved, for life, the long hours of his
orced imprisonment brought forth the old
idea. His first attempt was to gather all
the. sounds of the Cherokee tongue; but
the result was far from encouraging. He
collected above two hundred His next
! difficulty was to place sign as equivalent
| to sound. Like the old Egyptians, and
probably like the first alphabet inventors,
/ whoever they may be, he made use of
hier0glyphics He embodied pictures of
birds, beasts, &C., which approximated
with the sounds, and served best as are
presentation. But the mind, before it
could realize such category, would re-
quire an immense amount Of training.
He looked over the extensive list with
some dismay, and endeavored to modify
| it. He was successful enough to abbreYi-
ate it to eighty-six He was able tQaaC.
Uump1Isn tlIls, because IN UnerOkee all syl-
tables have a vowel ending. An enumer-
alton and classification of these syllables
made, and sign for each, would complete
it. Thus there needed no distinction be-
tween voWels and consonants. A rather
unwieldly affair, no doubt but when the
system was learned, easier to spell by than
by using Eliot's method. The longest
word of this system contains but fourteen
signs or syllables, while the longest words
Of Eliot's have often over thirty.
1t took the ancient world ages before it
could entirely discard the picturesigns
for letters. The idea of simple letters
stole on imperceptibly, and is enveloped
in inexplicable mystery; But this poor
Indian at one stroke discarded his picture
signs, and invented an alphabet almost as
commodious as those of European nations.
His next difficulty was to make so many
signs dissimilar to each other Perhaps
he might have seen some English printed
matter, for some of his signs greatly re.
semble our letters. The figure 4 is promi,
nently used. Some signs are like Greek
or Asiatic letters, others like Slavonian
But they have far different sound from
their prototypes, if such they were. The
sign S sounds like thu, M like Iu, and the
rest are equally different. But most oi
, them are pure inventions. All are used
over again in different postures, so tC
speak-distorted inverted or abbreviated
His pen was a nail; he wrote on bark
Eventually (about 1825) he obtained per
and some paper from one Of those frontier
traders, but the pen was carefully pre-
served as guide to manufacture Others
n by. His ink he made himself from baTks
| His first pupil was his daughter
But, like Roger Bacon, Gutenberg
Z Calico, and others, his neighbors sus
, pected him Of practising the black art
| Doubtless he seldom left his hut; hi
! mind being in his work, his time woult
be taken up with it. His tribe, shunneC
him but his inoffensiYe, as well as hi
(. pitiable condition, preserved him from any
dire consequences. aa
} He was told that they would see tn
' fruits of his labors before they judged to-
harshly. The following year he brough
: his invention before the sachems of hi
Q tribe, causing his daughter to write iron
4 his dictation in an adjoining apartment
/ and 0ice SeTSa. The tribe were astonished
) and after little Wavering, and his assur
4 ance Of using nosupernatural power, the.
e allowed him TO instruct some OF the youth
Of the tribe. After several months inter
3 val, the youths were brought forward
: and amid great popular excitement, wer
|. tested and examined in as many ingenlou
? WAYS as the cunning Indians could sug
4 eest; but the youths proved themselVe
/ masters Of the new art.
K His discovery led to the printing OF tn
4 New Testament in the Cherokee language
! IN 1925 the United States cast fount q
a tvne from his invention, and even printed
newspaper from it { TIE Ph@Rir) The car
itals differ from the small letters only i
heino 4 little larger The missionarie
brought in use the Arabic numerals, a
& though See.quolah had Invented numeral
Q to correspond.
!. He afterwards expressed his regret tbs
! his invention should have been promote
/. 10 undermine the principles Of his India
Q religion. He never became Christian
e When his tribe were obliged to move OF
y Of Georgia, he accompanied them to the
d new home in Arkansas. We next hes
/ Of him in Northern Mexico, and then ,
e San Francisco, where he died at the age
o seventy eight, in August, 1S48,- Chamber
Journal.
Y SOME valiant Cincinnatians, full
y the stories which have found their wa
|. into the morning papers Of that city, abol
! foot-pads, highway rohberries, etc, wel
out on one Of the avenues the other nigh
! when they discovered q dark object mo-
\ ing toward them. Instantly they too
y 70 their heels, but returning, we're agai
. = attacked, and having discharged their r
!, yolvers at it, again left the scene preclp
y tately. The next morning dead Gov
y y perforated with several bullets, was ioun
"a in the street.
Il 4 qnooER once had but four weight