A complete confirmation of the principal results, which I had some years since deduced, from an examination of the hieroglyphical monuments of ancient Egypt, having been very unexpectedly derived from the ulterior researches of Mr. Champollion, and from the singular good fortune of Mr. George Grey, I cannot resist the natural inclination, to make a public claim to whatever credit may be my due, for the labour that I have bestowed, on an attempt to unveil the mystery, in which Egyptian literature has been involved for nearly twenty centuries. If, indeed, I have not hitherto wholly withheld from the public the results of my inquiries, it has not been from the love of authorship only, nor from an impatience of being the sole possessor of a secret treasure; but because I was desirous of securing, at least, for my country, what is justly considered as a desirable acquisition to every country, the reputation of having enlarged the boundaries of human knowledge, and of having contributed to extend the dominion of the mind of man over time, and space, and neglect, and obscurity. _Corona in_ SACRIS CERTAMINIBUS _non victori datur, sed_ PATRIA _ab eo coronari pronuntiatur_. And whatever vanity or enthusiasm there might be in this sentiment, it was at least sincere and unaffected. In the mean time my Egyptian investigations had been as laborious as they had been persevering: and like many other pursuits, in which I have been engaged, they had been so little enlivened by any fortunate coincidences, or unexpected facilities, that having occasion to adopt a motto for the signatures of some anonymous communications, I had chosen the words FORTUNAM EX ALIIS, as appropriate to my own history. But the new lights, which Mr. Champollion has obtained, and the marvellous accident of the existence of a Greek manuscript, in perfect preservation, which I found, when Mr. Grey had obligingly left it for my examination, to be the translation of a unique hieroglyphic papyrus, lately purchased by the King of France; these circumstances have so far changed the complexion of my literary adventures, that if I remained any longer in masquerade, I should certainly be compelled to adopt the character of POLYCRATES or of ALADDIN.