284 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



It is not too much to say that the most hopeful prospect of pene- 

 trating into the mysteries enshrined in the older stage of a forgotten 

 language, which has left a lineal descendant "with a grammar and 

 vocahulary at our disposal, lies in the thorough study of this modern 

 form. It may he that the Book of the Dead will never be made 

 intelligible, that Old-Egyptian grammar in its totality will never be 

 brought within the sphere of modern science ; but at any rate the 

 primal condition of e:ffective effort towards a successful solution of the 

 problem is the absolute mastery of the Coptic language, "the tongue 

 of the folk of Egypt". 



But to attain this, attention will have to be paid to the words of 

 the masters : Coptic Grammar is not now a matter of personal specu- 

 lation, but of formulated statement. 



