When Rawlinson was writing his Memoir in 1846 he remarked upon the singular fact that no Englishman except himself had yet taken part in the work of decipherment. Many had indeed occupied themselves in the more adventurous task of collecting the materials—among whom were Morier, Ouseley, Ker Porter, and Rich—but so far Rawlinson was alone among his countrymen as a decipherer. This special study arose first in northern Europe, and it is remarkable how large a share was borne by Denmark. Niebuhr, upon whose foundation all later scholars built, was born at Ludwigsworth in North Hanover; but he served under the king of Denmark, and his Travels were first published at Copenhagen. Münter, though a German by descent and birth, was brought up at Copenhagen, and passed his whole life in Denmark, where he died as Bishop of Seeland. Rask was a Dane, and he laboured throughout his life as a Professor at the University of Copenhagen. Westergaard belonged to the same nationality and, as in the case of Niebuhr, his journey to the East was due to the liberality of the Danish Government. Lassen was born and educated at Bergen, though, it is true, he left Norway at the age of twenty-two and passed the greater portion of his life at Bonn. Tychsen was also of Norwegian descent, but born at Tondern, in Schleswig. Grotefend was a Hanoverian, born at Münden. Beer, on the other hand, was an Austrian from Bötzen. France was as yet represented only by two scholars, St. Martin and Burnouf; Belgium by one, Jacquet; and England also by one, Rawlinson. But the latter was soon joined by two others, Hincks and Norris, both of whom, especially the former, were soon to acquire a brilliant reputation in cuneiform studies. The Rev. Edward Hincks belonged to a Chester family settled in Ireland since 1767. His father was a Presbyterian minister who for a time kept a school at Cork, and afterwards became classical master at the Belfast Academy (1821-36). He was a man of the most varied learning, who lectured with equal success on two such different subjects as Chemistry and Hebrew. He wrote a Greek Grammar, and was a frequent contributor to the proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. He married a Chester lady, by whom he had a numerous family, many of whose members rose to distinction. One son became Archdeacon of Connor, another Professor of Natural Science at Toronto, a third was well known in Canadian politics. He became Premier in 1851, and was called the ‘Colbert of Canada.’ He was afterwards appointed to a Colonial Governorship, and was made a K.C.B. in 1862. His brother Edward, the cuneiform scholar, was born in 1792, and after a distinguished career at the University of Dublin, he settled down in a remote country parish as Rector of Killyleagh in the county Down. In that inhospitable region he spent forty-one years, till his death in 1866. He first attracted attention by his papers on Egyptian hieroglyphics, contributed to the Irish Academy.