48. In the treatise called The Celtic Druids, I have proved, by a great variety of circumstantial and positive evidence, that the sixteen or seventeen letter-alphabet here given of the Irish, in its principle or system, was the same as those of the ancient Samaritan, the Phœnician, the Hebrew or Chaldee, the Persian, the Etruscan, the Greek, and the Latin. I have shewn that, however numerous the letters of these languages may be at this day, different learned men, without any intercourse with one another, or any idea that an universal system prevailed among them, have reduced them to, or proved that they were originally, only sixteen or seventeen in number. And these are, in all of them, the very same letters, as is ascertained by their having the powers of notation in a manner so similar as to put the identity of the principle or system out of all question.
49. Bishop Burgess, in his Introduction to the Arabic Language, without having the least idea of the general system which I have pointed out, has confirmed it in a very remarkable manner.[1] He has shewn that the Arabic had originally only seventeen letters, including the Digamma. The near approximation of the powers of notation, and the similarity of the names of the letters, shew that they are the same as the Irish, the Greek, and the Hebrew.
| Arabic. | Hebrew. | Greek. | Irish. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Alef | Aleph | Alpha 1 | Ailim. |
| 2 Ba | Beth | Beta 2 | Beth. |
| 3 Gim | Gimel | Gamma 3 | Gort. |
| 4 Dal | Daleth | Delta 4 | Duir. |
| 200 Ra | Resh | Ro 100 | Ruis. |
| 300 Shin | Shin | Sigma 200 | Suil. |
| 90 Sad | Tzadi | ||
| 400 Ta | Tau | Tau 300 | Teine. |
| 70 Ain | Oin | Omicron 70 | Oir. |
| 80 Fa | Pe | Pi 80 | Pieth-Bhog. |
| 20 Caf | Caph | Kappa 20 | Coll. |
| 30 Lam | Lamed | Lambda 30 | Luis. |
| 40 Mim | Mem | Mu or Mui 40 | Muin. |
| 50 Nun | Nun | Nu or Nui 50 | Nuin. |
| 6 Wau | Vau | F, formerly Vau, pronounced U, then V, afterwards Digamma 6 | Fearn |
| 5 Ha | He | Epsilon 5 | Eadha. |
| 10 Ya | Yod | Iota 10 | Jodha. |
| Upsilon | Uath. | ||
50. The Shin, Shin, and Sigma, I have substituted for the Sin, Samech, and Xi, which are in the Bishop’s table, and which is evidently a mistake, the Greek Χι being one of the new, and not one of the Cadmean or ancient Greek letters. This mistake is a most fortunate circumstance, because it proves that the Bishop did not know the principle of these alphabets which I have been explaining, and therefore cannot be suspected of having made his original letters to suit it. And it also renders it impossible for any one to say, that he has been contriving his seventeen primary letters to make them suitable to the Irish, whose letters he probably looked on with too much contempt to have considered them even for a single moment. This adds very materially to the value of his opinion.
51. The powers of notation are the same in all the ancient alphabets, with their increased number of letters, till they get to the nineteenth letter, Ra or Resh, when a variation takes place, which I have shewn probably arose in after times from the coming into use of the Greek Digamma.[2]
52. The following is the table of the Arabian system of numbers given by Bishop Burgess:
| Alif 1 | Ya 10 | 10 | Kaf 100 | 19 | |
| Ba 2 | Caf 20 | 11 | Ra 200 | 20 | |
| Gim 3 | Lam 30 | 12 | Shin 300 | 21 | |
| Dal 4 | Mim 40 | 13 | Ta 400 | 22 | |
| Ha 5 | Nun 50 | 14 | Tha 500 | 23 | |
| Wav 6 | Sin 60 | 15 | Rha 600 | 24 | |
| Za 7 | Ain 70 | 16 | Dhal 700 | 25 | |
| Hha 8 | Fe 80 | 17 | Dad 800 | 26 | |
| Ta 9 | 9 | Sad 90 | 18 | Da 900 | 27 |
| Ghain 1000 | 28 | ||||
C 2
