“And, be it again observed, optical combinations cannot throw one ray of light upon the main difficulty, the means of procuring the resemblance required of the absent person. I now give Mr. Lane’s solution of the whole mystery, in his own words, my note of which I submitted to him, and obtained his ready permission to make public in any way I might see fit. This Osman Effendi, Mr. Lane told me, was a Scotchman, formerly serving in a British regiment, who was taken prisoner by the Egyptian army during our unfortunate expedition to Alexandria, in 1807; that he was sold as a slave, and persuaded to abjure Christianity, and profess the Mussulman faith; that, applying his talents to his necessities, he made himself useful by dint of some little medical knowledge he had picked up on duty in the regimental hospital; that he obtained his liberty at the instance of the Sheik Ibraim, (M. Burckhardt,) through the means of Mr. Salt; that, in process of time, he became second interpreter of the British consulate; that Osman was, very probably, acquainted, by portraits or otherwise, with the general appearance of most Englishmen of celebrity, and certainly could describe the peculiar dresses of English professions, such as army, navy, church, and the ordinary habits of persons of different professions in England; that, on all occasions when Mr. Lane was witness of the magician’s success, Osman had been present at the previous occasions, had heard who should be called to appear, and so had, probably, obtained a description of the figure, when it was to be the apparition of some private friend of persons present; that, on these occasions, he very probably had some pre-arranged code of words, by which he could communicate secretly with the magician. To this it must be added, that his avowed theory of morals was, on all occasions, that ‘we did our whole duty if we did what we thought best for our fellow-creatures and most agreeable to them.’ Osman was present when Mr. Lane was so astonished at hearing the boy describe very accurately, the person of M. Burckhardt, with whom the magician was unacquainted, but who had been Osman’s patron, and who, also, knew well the other gentleman whom Mr. Lane states in his book that the boy described as appearing ill and lying on a sofa, and Mr. Lane added that he had, _probably_, been asked by Osman about that gentleman’s health, whom Mr. Lane then knew to be suffering under an attack of rheumatism. He concluded, therefore, by avowing that there was no doubt in his mind, connecting all these circumstances with the declaration the magician had just made, that Osman had been the confederate. Thus I have given in Mr. Lane’s words, not only with his consent, but at his ready offer, what he has no doubt is the explanation of the whole of the subject which he now feels to require no deeper inquiry; and which has been adopted by many as a marvel upon an exaggerated view of the testimony that he offered in his book