R. T.
Now this letter was written according to a preconcerted cypher. Every third letter after a stop was to tell. In this way Sir John made out Panel at east end of chapel slides. On the following even, the prisoner begged to be allowed to pass an hour of private devotion in the chapel. By means of a bribe, this was accomplished. Before the hour had expired, the chapel was empty the bird had flown.
An excellent plan of indicating the telling letter or word is through the heading of the letter. Sir, would signify that every third letter was to be taken; Dear sir, that every seventh; My dear sir, that every ninth was to be selected. A system, very early adopted, was that of having pierced cards, through the holes of which the communication was written. The card was then removed, and the blank spaces filled up. As for example:
My dear X. [The] lines I now send you are forwarded by the kindness of the [Bearer], who is a friend. [Is not] the message delivered yet [to] my Brother? [Be] quick about it, for I have all along [trusted] that you would act with discretion and despatch. Yours ever,
Z.
Put your card over the note, and through the piercings you will read: The Bearer is not to be trusted.
The following letter will give two totally distinct meanings, according as it is read, straight through, or only by alternate lines:
Mademoiselle,
Je mempresse de vous écrire pour vous déclarer que vous vous trompez beaucoup si vous croyez que vous êtes celle pour qui je soupire. Il est bien vrai que pour vous éprouver, Je vous ai fait mille aveux. Après quoi vous êtes devenue lobjet de ma raillerie. Ainsi ne doutez plus de ce que vous dit ici celui qui na eu que de laversion pour vous, et qui aimerait mieux mourir que de se voir obligé de vous épouser, et de changer le dessein quil a formé de vous haïr toute sa vie, bien loin de vous aimer, comme il vous la déclaré. Soyez done désabusée, croyez-moi; et si vous êtes encore constante et persuadée que vous êtes aimée vous serez encore plus exposée à la risée de tout le monde, et particulièrement de celui qui na jamais été et ne sera jamais
Votre serteur M. N.
We must not omit to mention Chronograms. These are verses which contain within them the date of the composition. In 1885 I built a boathouse by a lake in my grounds. A friend wrote the following chronogram for it, which I had painted, and affixed to the house:
Thy breaD upon the Waters Cast
In CertaIn trust to fInd.
sInCe Well thou knowst Gods eye doth Mark,
Where fIshes eyes are bLind.
This gives the date.
D = 500 + W= 510 + C = 610 + I = 611
+ C = 711 + I = 712 + I = 713 + I = 714
+ C = 814 + W = 824 + M = 1824
+ W = 1834 + I = 1835 + L = 1885.
The W represents two Vs, i. e. 10.
A very curious one was written by Charles de Bovelle: we adapt and explain it:
Now, said I, the order of precedence among the letters, according to the frequency of their recurrence, is this, e a o i t d h n r s u y c f g l m w b k p q x z. This, however, is their order, according to the number of words begun by each respectively, s c p a d i f b l b t, etc. The most frequent compounds are th, ng, ee, ll, mm, tt, dd, nn. Pray, Matthew, do you see any one sign repeated oftener than the others in this cryptograph?
Yes, 8; it is repeated twenty-three times, said Fletcher, after a pause.
Then you may be perfectly satisfied that it stands for e, which is used far oftener than any other letter in English. Next, look along the lines and see what letters most frequently accompany it.
2 § undoubtedly; it follows 8 in several places, and precedes it in others. In the third line we have 2 § 8 82 § § 8 8 § 8 and then 2 § 8 again.
Then we may fairly assume that 2 § 8 stands for the.
The, to be sure, burst forth Fletcher. Now the next word will be money. No! it cant be, the e will not suit; perhaps it is treasure, gold, hoard, store.
Wait a little bit, I interposed. Now look what letters are doubled.
88 and 22, said my friend Mat.
And please observe, I continued, that where I draw a line and write A you have e, then double t, then e again. Probably this is the middle of a word, and as we have already supposed 2 to stand for t, we have ette , a very likely combination. We may be sure of the t now. Near the end of the third line, there is a remarkable passage, in which the three letters we know recur continually. Let us write it out, leaving blanks for the letters we do not know, and placing the ascertained letters instead of their symbols. Then it stands eχtheχeth heχeheχ ethe . Now here I have a χ repeated four times, and from its position it must be a consonant. I will put in its place one consonant after another. You see r is the only one which turns the letters into words. erthereth here. here the surely some of these should stand out distinctly separated er there th here. here the. Look! I can see at once what letters are wanting; th between there and here must be than, and then here is, must be, where. So now I have found these letters,