COINCIDENCES, LUCK, CHANCE 



relationship to letter ** M " is very full, and therefore 

 probably too long for this communication, yet what R. A. 

 Proctor (who has a good chapter on coincidences), thought 

 an extraordinary story should be given in a condensed form 

 "Dr. T. Young was trying to interpret the famous Rosetta Stone. 

 Sir G. F. Graty offered to place in his hands the fruits of his 

 Egyptian finds, including a papyrus from Thebes. Before these 

 reached Young, a man named Casatic arrived in Paris, bringing 

 Egyptian MSB, among which ChampoUion noted one whose 

 preamble looked like the text on the Rosetta Stone. Dr. Young 

 then procured a copy from Casati, and while trying to translate it 

 Sir Gray's papyrus arrived, and to his delight he found it was a 

 translation of the Casatic MS. Young's comment was : ' The most 

 extroadinary chance had brought unto me the possession of a docu- 

 ment which was not very likely ever to have existed, still less 

 probable to have been preserved uninjured nearly two thousand 

 years ; but that this very extraordinary translation .should have been 

 brought safely to Europe, to England, and to me, at the very 

 moment when it was most of all desirable to me to possess it, as the 

 illustration of an orignal which I was then studying, but without 

 any other reasonable hope of comprehending it — this combination 

 would, in other times, h«ve been considered as affording ample 

 evidence of my having become an Egyptian sorcerer.' " 



Rose Eytinge, the actre.ss, says, six years ago in Lon- 

 don I knew two young men, modern editions of Damon and 

 Pythias. They had to part, and the evening before leaving 

 they supped with me. I rallied them on their melancholy 

 mood, and, merely to raise their spirits, without any 

 serious purpose, said, "we shall all be supping together 

 some eveniiig this month five j^ears hence." One twilight, 

 last summer, I was looking from the window of a Broad- 

 way hotel, when I saw Damon on the opposite side. He 

 recognized me, crossed over, sent up his card, and 

 eventually asked me to go with him to Delmonicos', this 

 being his first visit to America. After giving our order, I 

 a.sked about Pythias, and he was in the act of telling me 

 that he had not heard from him for a long time, when we 

 saw a gentleman enter the room, with the air of one who 

 finds himself in strange quarters. It was Pythias, who 



