HIEROGLYPHICAL RESEARCHES. 287 



seminate his vile abuse of you ; and Jeffrey, who per- 

 mitted him to do so, should be condemned to hear your 

 praises upon all sides/ The tide had clearly turned in 

 Young's favour, even prior to his final and triumphant 

 vindication by Fresnel. From this time forward in- 

 scriptions of all kinds were sent to Young for discussion 

 or interpretation. They were found in numbers among 

 his papers after his death. 1 



It was a mind thus endowed and disciplined that 

 now turned to the formidable but fascinating task of 

 deciphering the hieroglyphics of Egypt. An adum- 

 bration of his researches, which must, under the cir- 

 cumstances, be weak and faint, I will endeavour to bring 

 before you. 



The famous Eosetta stone was discovered by the 

 French in Egypt in 1799. It bore three inscriptions : 



1 ' In the Appendix,' says Young's biographer, ' to Captain 

 Light's Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Palestine, and Cyprus, he furnished 

 translations and restorations of several Greek inscriptions ; and when 

 Barrow gave an account in the Quarterly Review of recent researches 

 in Egypt, more especially those of Caviglia on the Great Sphinx, it 

 was from Young that he obtained the restoration of the inscription 

 on the second digit of the great paw.' In the third volume of Young's 

 Works, this inscription, taken from the nineteenth volume of the 

 Quarterly Review, is given, with translations into modern Greek, 

 Latin, and English. The last-mentioned runs thus : 



Thy form stupendous here the gods have placed, 



Sparing each spot of harvest-bearing land ; 

 And with this mighty work of art have graced 



A rocky isle, encumber'd once with sand ; 



And near the Pyramids have bid thee stand : 

 Not that fierce Sphinx that Thebes erewhile laid waste, 



But great Latona's servant mild and bland ; 

 Watching that prince beloved who fills the throne 

 Of Egypt's plains, and calls the Nile his own. 

 That heavenly monarch [who his foes defies], 

 Like Vulcan powerful [and like Pallas wise].' 



