Seward, which was appended to the Emancipation Proclamation of Mr.
Lincoln, printed in Cherokee. It was written thus: "O [wi] P[li] 4
[se] G [wa] 6 [te]," and might be anglicized Will Sewate. As has
been observed, there is no R in the Cherokee language, written or
spoken, and as for the middle initial of Mr. Seward's name, H.,
there being, of course, no initial in a syllabic alphabet, the
translator, who probably did not know what it stood for, was
compelled to omit it. It was in the year 1821 that the American
Cadmus completed his alphabet.

As will be observed by examining the alphabet, which is on the
table in the engraving, he used many of the letters of the English
alphabet, also numerals. The fact was, that he came across an old
English spelling-book during his labors, and borrowed a great many
of the symbols. Some he reversed, or placed upside down; others he
modified, or added to. He had no idea of either their meaning or
sound, in English, which is abundantly evident from the use he
made of them. As was eminently fitting, the first scholar taught
in the language was the daughter of Se-quo-yah. She, like all the
other Cherokees who tried it, learned it immediately. Having
completed it without the white man's hints or aid, he visited the
agent, Colonel Lowry, a gentleman of some intelligence, who only
lived three miles from him, and informed that gentleman of his
invention. It is not wonderful that the agent was skeptical, and
suggested that the whole was a mere act of memory, and that the
symbols bore no relation to the language, or its necessities. Like
all other benefactors of the race, he had to encounter a little of
the ridicule of those who, being too ignorant to comprehend,
maintain their credit by sneering. The rapid progress of the
language among the people settled the matter, however. The