1828-9. M-r. 55-56.] PROFESSOR YOUNG. 253 



assistance, for, to say the truth, our conferences have not 

 been very gratifying to my vanity. He has done so much 

 more and so much better than I had any reason to believe 

 he would or could have done, and, as he feels his own im- 

 portance more, he feels less occasion to be tenacious of any 

 trifling claims which may justly be denied him, and in this 

 spirit he has borne my criticisms with perfect good humour, 

 though Arago has charged me with some degree of undue 

 severity, and wanted to pass the matter over as not having 

 been published as mine ; but to this I could not consent : 

 and, supposing that Champollion might have been un- 

 acquainted with the remarks, I thought it a matter of 

 conscience to carry them to him this morning, before 1 

 allowed him to continue his profuse liberality in furnishing 

 me with more than I want. 



From Geneva Young sent Arago, at his request, a 

 statement of his claims. He gave full justice to Cham- 

 pollion. But when Arago, a few years later, read his 

 eloge of Young, he still said that Young's principle of 

 pbonetisation of the hieroglyphics was mixed with error, 

 chiefly by making symbols stand for words and sylla- 

 bles, instead of for letters only. He also denied Young's 

 knowledge of two or more signs for the same letter. 



His health up to this time, with the exception before 

 mentioned, had been perfect. During this summer 

 excursion he was most easily fatigued, and appeared to 

 age rapidly. 



In a letter written soon after his return he says : 



As for myself, I am perfectly content with the life I lead 

 walking on business of routine every day from eleven to 

 two, the rest of the day sitting over my hieroglyphics, or 

 my mathematics, and conversing in my library with people 

 beyond the Alps or the Mediterranean. I have lost all 



