CttAP. t] ttPlltti. £X£itrLiPl£a 225 



TVe herewith annex a fuller example of the cipher of 

 writing " omnia per omnia,** viz., an interior letter once sent 

 by the Ephores of Sparta in a scytale or round ciphered 

 Btaff:— 



" Perditae res. Minidarus cecidit. Milites esuriunt, neque 

 hinc nos extricare, neque hie diutius manere possumus.** 



The exterior letter in which the above is involved is 

 taken from the first epistle of Cicero. We adjoin it : — 



*' Ego omni oflGicio ac potius pietate erga te, cseteris satis- 

 facio omnibus; mihi ipse numquam satisfacio. Tanta est 

 enim magnitude tuonim erga me meritorum, ut quoniam tu 

 nisi perfecta re, de me non conquiesti. Ego quia non idem 

 tu tua causa efficio, vitara mihi esse acerbam putem. In 

 causa hsec sunt ; Ammonius regis legatus aperte pecunia non 

 oppugnat. Res agitur per eosdem creditores per quos, cum 

 tu aderas, agebatur regis causa, si qui sunt, qui velint qui 

 pauci sunt, omnes ad Pompeium rem deferri volunt. Sena- 

 tus religionis calumniam, non religione, sed malevolentia, et 

 illius regise largitionis invidia, comprobat, (fcc." 



The doctrine of ciphers has introduced another, relative to 

 it, viz., the art of deciphering without the alphabet of the 

 cipher, or knowing the rules whereby it was formed. This 

 indeed is a work of labour and ingenuity, devoted, as well its 

 the former, to the secret service of princes. Yet by a dili- 

 gent precaution it may be rendered uselese, though, as matters 

 now stand, it is highly serviceable : for if the ciphers in use 

 were good and trusty, several of them would absolutely elude 

 the labour of the decipherer, and yet remain commodious 

 enough, so as to be readily written and read. But through the 

 ignorance and unskilfulness of secretaries and clerks in the 

 courts of princes, the most important afiairs are genei-ally 

 committed to weak and treacherous ciphers. ^^ — And thus 

 much for the organ of speech. 



Key." The trustiness of this cipher depends upon a dexterous use of 

 two hands, or two different kinds of letters, in the same writing, which 

 the skilful decipherer, being thus advertised of, will be quicksighted 

 enough to discern, and consequently be able to decipher, though a 

 foundation seems here laid tor seyei-al other ciphers, that perhajis could 

 neither be suspected nor deciphered. Shaw. 



"= The art of ciphering is doubtless capable of great improvement. It 

 w s«Rid that King Charles I. had a cipher consisting only of a straight 

 Uxw differently iuclined ; and there are vays of ciphering by the mci* 

 -2 tt 



