512 Herman's Cypher. — A Morning'' s Walk from Lovdon to Kew. [Oct. 1, 



InfoiT. There arc, in tlie parishes of 

 Waltliamstow and fiCyfon, four persons 

 •who undertake to sweep with niaehines, 

 such as have been, for twelve years past, 

 partially used in those parishes. 

 AvD-lw. A. Z. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



PERMIT mc to submit the follow^- 

 ing to tlie notice of youi- scientific 

 correspondents. 



In Dr. Tiiompson's " Annals" for Fe- 

 bruary a new cypher is proposed, where 

 it mentions one of p;rcat ingenuity, con- 

 trived by Professor Herman about the 

 year 1750 ; it excited the curiosity of the 

 learned of Europe, and was at last de- 

 cyphered by M. Bequelin, who read a 

 Jliemoir on the subject before the aca- 

 demy of Sciences at Berlin, which was 

 pu!)lished in their Transactions for the 

 year 17.58. The paper is described as 

 containinj^ " an explanation of the law of 

 cypher, and being- the most elegant spe- 

 ciuien of reasoning on the subject which 

 lias yet appeared." 



If any of your readers, through the 

 medinni of your miscellany, could fur- 

 nish me with some extracts from the 

 above-mentioned paper, or any informa- 

 tion respecting the cypher, I should be 

 much gratified. The one proposed by 

 Dr. Thompson's correspondent is worthy 

 of notice — and he observes, "To contrive 

 one which shall be at once secure from 

 detection and easy in its application, has 

 been considered a problem of some dif- 

 ficulty ; and, if wc may judge from the 

 failure of several very ingenious at- 

 tempts, such a cypher is still a deside- 

 ratum. J. S. 



For the Monthly Magazine. 

 CONTINUATION of a MORNING'S WALK 



from LONDON to kew. 



OVERTAKING three or four indi- 

 gent children, whose darned stock- 

 ings and carefully-patched clothes be- 

 spoke some strong motive for attention in 

 their parents, I was led to ask them 

 Bome questions. They told me they had 

 been to Mortlake School ; and I collect- 

 ed from them, that they were part of 

 two or three hundred who attend one of 

 Dr. Bell's schools, which had lately been 

 established for the instruction of poor 

 children in this vicinity. I found that, 

 until this establishment had been form- 

 ed, these children attended no school re- 

 gularly — and, in reply to a question, 

 one of them said, " Our father could 

 Bot afford to pay Mr, — sixpence 



a week for us, so we could not go at 

 all ; but now we go to this school, and it 

 costs I'alher nothing." This was as it 

 s!>ould be; the social state ought to 

 supply a (ireparatory education of its 

 members, for how can a government ex- 

 pect to find moral agents in an ignorant 

 population — how can it presume to in- 

 flict punishments on those who have not 

 been enabled to read the laws which 

 they are bound to respect — and how can 

 the professors of religion consider them- 

 selves as performing their duly, if they 

 do not enable all children to read the 

 sacred volume of divine Revelation? 

 Wc arc ass!ued by Mr. Lancaster, 

 that George the Third expressed the 

 benevolciit wish that every one of his 

 subjects should be enabled to read the 

 Bible ; and his successors will, it is to lie 

 hoped, not lose sight of so admirable a 

 principle. But a few ages a^o, to be able 

 to read conferred the privileges of the 

 clerical character, and exempted men 

 from capital punishments — how im- 

 proved, therefore, is the present state of 

 society, and how difl'ercut may it yet be- 

 come, as prejudices are disjiclled, and 

 as liberal feelings acquire their just 

 ascendancy among the rulers of ncations! 

 These boys spoke of their school witli 

 evident satisfaction; and one of them, 

 who ;iroved to be a monitor, was not a 

 little proud of the distinction. Whelhcr 

 the system of Mr. Lancaster or of Dr. 

 Bell enjoys the local ascendancy; and 

 whether these jmblic seminaries arc 

 "schools for all," or schools in which 

 the dogmas of some particular faith are 

 taught,. I am indillerent, provided there 

 arc schools, and that all children are en- 

 abled to read the Bible, and the Cate- 

 chism of their Social Rights and Duties. 

 Seeing several respectable houses 

 facing the meadow which led to the 

 Thames, I enquired of a passing female 

 the names of their owners, and learnt 

 that they were chiefly occuj)ied by wi- 

 dow ladies, to whom she gave the em- 

 phatic title o{ Madam — though she calj- 

 cd one of them Mistress. It ajjpcarcd 

 that those wtio were denominated 

 Madams were wiiiows of gentlemen 

 who, in their lives, bore the title 

 of Esr/iiires ; but that the 3Iistrcss was 

 an old maid, whom her neighbours 

 were ashamed longer to call by the 

 juvenile appellation of 3Iiss. Ma- 

 dam , whose name I ought not to 



have forgotten, has devoted a paddock 

 of four or five acres to tlie comfortable 

 provision of two superannuated coach- 

 horses. Que of tliem, 1 was assured, 



was 



