b o o k . ufually employed in writing ; to which he added a few
» . others in order to exprefs feveral founds that were peculiar
to the Sclavonian language. Notwithftanding the difficulty
o f afcertaining the firft formation of any alphabet, the pro-
bability o f this account feems to be eftabliihed from the perfect
fimilarity which fubfifts between.the characters in the
moft antient ecclefialtical writings, and thofe in a copy-of a
Greek manufcript of the ninth century, .publiihed by Mont-
faucon *. Another proof that Cyril’s alphabet was formed
from the Greek, may be derived from the following.circum-
ftances, that moft of thofe Sclavonian nations, who- received
Chriftianity from the Greeks, and. have retained the Greek
religion, ftill make ufe o f his charaéters ;. while the other
people o f that tribe, who were either firft converted by the
Germans or Italians, or who afterwards adopted the Roman
Catholick tenets, employ either the German or Roman alphabet
t.
That tribe o f Sclavonians, called Ruffians, when they if-
fued from the banks o f the Danube in the ninth century ■
and laid the foundation of this empire, either brought with'
* Palaeographia Graeca, p . 408. A l th
o u gh I h a ve o n ly a fupe rfic ial knowled ge
o f f he Scla vonian a lphabet, y e t m ere ly from
th a t flig h t acqua intance upon comp aring
the above-mentioned G re e k man ufcript
w r it ten in the ninth c en tu ry w ith the C y -
rilian ch a r a f te r s ; I was, able to tra ce fo
p e r fe f t a fim ila r ity as to make gu t 'feveral
words, notwithftanding' th e abbreviations.
f Befide th e Ruffians , th e Sclavonians
dw e llin g in D a lm a t ia , and in th e Iflairds
under the dominion o f Venice-, who are o f
th e G re e k ‘(religion, ftill ufe the C y r ilian
ch a ra fte r s . T h e fame were emp loyed by
all the nations p f H u n g a ry , Sctavonia, C r o a
t ia , D a lm a tia , and oth ers in th e Auftrian-
t e r r ito r ie s ; b u t as th e Roman C a th o lic k
perfuafion has gained g roun d ajnongft them.,
th e y ha ve la te ly b egu n -to adopt th e R om an
le tte r s ; w h ile th e Sc la vonian p eop le , fub-
j e f t to th e T u rk 's , nam ely, th e inhabitants
o f A lb an ia , Servia, Bofnia, Bu lga r ia , who
are o f the G re e k re lig io n , preferve the C y -
rilian alph ab et. T h e Bohemians, w h o fbon
a fte r th e ir firft converfion quitted the G re e k
religion, and w ere afte rwa rds turned by the
G ermans to th e Roman C a th a lic k feft^ ufe
th e German- o r G o th ic k ch a ra fte r s , which
w ere alfo in ufe am on g the P o le s , equ ally
in d eb ted to the G ermans fo r the firft intro-
ditftion o f C h r ift ian ity am o n g lith em ; but
th e Foies h a v e la te ly , in moft o f th eir p u b lica
tion s , adopted the Roman a lp h ab et. See
th e Preface' t© th e N eu e Slavonifch und"
D eu tch e G ram m a t ik , p r in ted a t V ien n a ,
¡§|p
them,
them, i f they knew the ufe o f letters, the CyriKan alphabet, Arp-
or afterwards adopted it when converted to Chriftianity, and’— .— 1
when the Sclavonian Bible, tranflated by Cyril in the fame
century, was introduced atuongft them. Thefe characters
are occafionally written, like the oldeft Greek and Roman
manufcripts, o f equal fize, at equal dirtances, without connexion
or flops, and without diftindtion o f words.
The earlieft Sclavonian book ever publiihed was a Ruffian
tranflation o f the Pentateuch, printed in the Cyrilian alphabet
at Prague in 15 j 9 * : the fame letters were introduced
into Ruffia upon the eftabliffiment o f the firft prefs at Mof-
cow; and they continued to be ufed, not only for ecclefiaftical
publications, but alfo for all others, until 170 7 , when fome
new Ruffian types, confifting o f great and fmall letters, were
caft at Amfterdam for the printing-houfe at Mofcow, fimilar
to thofe which are now employed f . The language in which,
the church-fervicè is ftill performed is the fame which was
fpoken in the ninth century by the Sclavonians fettled upon
the banks o f the Danube, in the countries now called Hungary
and Bulgaria, from whom the Ruffians are undoubtedly
defcended. The tranflation o f the Bible made in that century,
being ftill in general ufe, has afcertained its original,
and preferved it in its priftine ftate ; and it is remarkable,
that the feveral dialeXs o f Sclavonian, fuch asPoIiih, Ruffian,
Bohemian, &x. have a greater refemblance to this mother
tongue than to each other J.
The Cyrilian alphabet employed by the Ruffian church
is compofed o f 39 characters, fome of which contained, according
to our mode o f fpelling, three or even four confo-
EfTai fur la Bib liothèque, p . 92.
t ^ee a Specimen o f th e Ruffian ch arafte r s, in v. I , p* 339.
I Schloe tze r P rô b , R u f. A n . p . 189..
A a a nants ;