On the Records and Writings of the Earliest People; Their Form, and Method of Preservation.

Engraving, or sculpture on stone, appears to have been the first method of writing; the great and noble actions of nations and men were cut on entire rocks and mountains. In the darkness of ages, the arts and sciences generally have been enveloped in obscurity: of many, even the record of their existence, and of others, merely the passing mention of their once general prevalence, has been handed down to us. Considering these facts, and reasoning from the general improvement of society in all ages, where men have congregated together, it may be pronounced all but certain, that some degree of refinement, and a regard for learning, had been arrived at by the antediluvian world, particularly so when the general belief of the Mosaic account gives a period of 2000 years duration to the earth prior to the deluge.