Stillanotherpartofthesacredtheorynowreceiveditsdeath-blow。Closelyalliedwiththequestionoftheoriginoflanguagewasthatoftheoriginofletters。TheearlierwritershadheldthatletterswerealsoadivinegifttoAdam；butaswegoonintheeighteenthcenturywefindtheologicalopinionincliningtothebeliefthatthisgiftwasreservedforMoses。
This，aswehaveseen，wastheviewofSt。JohnChrysostom；andaneminentEnglishdivineearlyintheeighteenthcentury，JohnJohnson，VicarofKent，echoeditinthedeclarationconcerningthealphabet，that“MosesfirstlearneditfromGodbymeansoftheletteringonthetablesofthelaw。”Buthereadifficultyarose——thebiblicalstatementthatGodcommandedMosesto“writeinabook“hisdecreeconcerningAmalekbeforehewentupintoSinai。Withthisthegoodvicargrapplesmanfully。HesupposesthatGodhadpreviouslyconcealedthetablesofstoneinMountHoreb，andthatMoses，“whenhekeptJethro’ssheepthereabout，hadfreeaccesstothesetables，andperusedthematdiscretion，thoughhewasnotpermittedtocarrythemdownwithhim。”OurreconcilerthenasksforwhatotherreasoncouldGodhavekeptMosesupinthemountainfortydaysatatime，excepttoteachhimtowrite；andsays，“ItseemshighlyprobablethattheangelgavehimthealphabetoftheHebrew，orinsomeotherwayunknowntousbecamehisguide。”
Butthistheoryofletterswassoontobedoomedliketheotherpartsofthesacredtheory。StudiesinComparativePhilology，baseduponresearchesinIndia，begantobereenforcedbyfactsregardingtheinscriptionsinEgypt，thecuneiforminscriptionsofAssyria，thelegendsofChaldea，andthefolkloreofChina——whereitwasfoundinthesacredbooksthattheanimalswerenamedbyFohi，andwithsuchwisdomandinsightthateverynamedisclosedthenatureofthecorrespondinganimal。
But，althoughtheoldtheorywasdoomed，heroiceffortswerestillmadetosupportit。In1788JamesBeattie，inallthegloryofhisOxforddoctorateandroyalpension，madeavigorousonslaught，declaringthenewsystemofphilologytobe“degradingtoournature。”andthatthetheoryofthenaturaldevelopmentoflanguageissimplyduetothebeautyofLucretius’poetry。Buthismainweaponwasridicule，andinthisheshowedhimselfamaster。Hetellstheworld，“ThefollowingparaphrasehasnothingoftheeleganceofHoraceorLucretius，butseemstohavealltheelegancethatsoridiculousadoctrinedeserves“：
“WhenmenoutoftheearthofoldAdumbandbeastlyvermincrawled；