Humboldt's Letters. 335 



letter you addressed me, and to recommend urgently 

 the proposed "Private Secretary," and all this a few 

 days after I knew your intention. 



A German letter from Prince Metternich, expressing 

 sentiments full of graceful language, will interest you. 

 I present you the letter for your archival collection 

 The occasion was a moulding in plaster and copy, 

 partly by the Prince's own hand, of an old Egyptian 

 column of granite, which he had received twenty-five 

 years ago from Mehemed Ali. The old Prince gave me 

 this copy, three-fourths of a foot in height, to decipher 

 the long inscription in Demotic writing. This has been 

 done by Dr. Brugsch, the talented young Egyptologist, 

 author of a Demotic Grammar, universally admired in 

 other countries. Dr. Brugsch, who had the first edition 

 of his Grammar printed in Latin, when he was still in 

 the first class of August's Gymnasium* (the second 

 edition is written in French), has found a good deal of 

 very remarkable astronomy in the inscription; and in 

 order to give pleasure to the old Prince, Brugsch has 

 published the whole under the name of " Stele. Metter- 

 nich," in the " Journal for the Orient," and in the 

 " Athenee." Brugsch was in Egypt for two years, at 

 the expense of the King; he is the son of a poor 

 sergeant, and is familiar with Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, 

 Coptic, and Persian. 



* The Koelnische Gymnasium, Berlin, of which August was director. 



