134 Rev. Epwarp Hincks on the Number, Names, and Powers 
Dacier, in which he announced the phonetic powers of certain hieroglyphics, and 
applied them to the reading of Greek and Roman proper names. Had he been 
candid enough to admit that he was indebted to Dr. Young for the commence- 
ment of this discovery, and only to claim the merit of extending and improving 
the alphabet, he would probably have had his claims to the preceding and subse- 
quent discoveries, which were certainly his own, more readily admitted by 
Englishmen than they have been. In 1819 Dr. Young had published his 
article «*Egypt” in the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica; and it can- 
not be doubted that the analysis of the names “ Ptolemeus” and “ Berenice,” 
which it contained, reached Champollion in the interval between his publications 
in 1821 and 1822, and led him to alter his views. 
In the Précis du Systeme Hiéroglyphique, of which the first edition appeared 
in 1824, the two first of the three modes of writing above mentioned are recog- 
nized. Champollion had now discovered that not only the names of several of 
the ancient Pharaohs, but several words of the ancient language, were expressed 
phonetically. He was still, however, ignorant of the third mode, which is the 
most frequent of all. The discovery of it, including the theory of determinative 
signs, was made in the interval between the publication of the second edition of 
the Précis in 1828, and his last illness in 1831,—probably during his stay in 
Egypt. It is much to be regretted that he was cut off before he could com- 
pletely develope this his grand discovery ; and it is to be regretted also, that the 
illjudging anxiety of his friends to do justice to his memory, should have 
induced them to publish manuscripts of his, written previously to his having 
made it, and containing statements which he had ascertained to be erroneous. 
The “Grammaire Egyptienne’ ought to have been given to the public as his 
sole bequest in the department of Egyptian philology. It was published from a 
manuscript written in 1831, immediately before his last illness. Shortly before 
his decease, having carefully collected the sheets, he delivered them to his bro- 
ther, with the remark, ‘‘ Be careful of this; I trust that it will be my visiting 
card to posterity.” 
Even the warmest admirers of Champollion must admit that he left his system 
in a very imperfect state. Few, probably, will deny that he held many errors to 
the close of his life, both in what respects the reading of the characters, and in 
what respects the interpretation of the texts. In the present paper I confine 
