His capture of the 18-gun sloop, Drake, of inferior force, the Captain and Lieutenant of which (George Burdon and William Dobbs) were killed, added very considerable éclat to his marauding excursion. One point must here be remarked upon as having given great advantages to Jones. His accurate knowledge of the coast of Scotland, upon which he was aware no adequate naval force was stationed, gave confidence to his proceedings, and assured success to his plans. He entered Brest harbour with his trophy of war, and his achievement was not suffered to languish under obscurity and neglect. The Drake was magnified until looked upon as a frigate, and the Ranger diminished in an equal ratio. His next essay was infinitely less successful, (thanks to the valour of Captain Pearson and his gallant crew,) though subjected also by the French to the same crescendo and diminuendo process we have just detailed; and it is possible another instance of his prowess might have been afforded, had it not been for the line of conduct Jones subse-. quently pursued. Haughty and overbearing in the extreme, he quarrelled with Capt. Landais, and attempted to take the Alliance from him; but the French Government supported Landais, and Jones soon found himself without the means of coping with the squadrons sent in pursuit of him. Thus the spirit of arrogance which had led him onwards to the position he gained proved a barrier to his further advancement; and his after career was marked by various degradations, which must, one would think, have been to him insupportable. Such was his appointment to diminish the benevolence of the heart, and set bounds to philanthropy. Before this war began, I had, at an early time of life, withdrawn from the sea service in favour of calm contemplation and poetic ease.' I have sacrificed not only my favourite scheme of life, but the softer affections of the heart, and my prospects of domestic happiness; and I am ready to sacrifice my life also with cheerfulness, if that forfeiture could restore peace and good will among mankind. As the feelings of your gentle bosom cannot but be congenial with mine, let me intreat you, malam, to use your soft persuasive arts with your husband to endeavour to stop this cruel and destructive war, in which Britain never can succeed. Heaven can never countenance the barbarous and unmanly practices of the Britons in America, which savages would blush at, and which, if not discontinued, will soon be retaliated in Britain by a justly enraged people. Should you fail in this, (for I am persuaded you will attempt it, and who can resist the power of such an advocate ?) your endeavours to effect a general exchange of prisoners will be an act of humanity which will afford you golden feelings on a death-bed. "I hope this cruel contest will soon be closed; but should it continue, I wage no war with the Fair. I acknowledge their power, and bend before it with profound sul mission; let not therefore the amiable Countess of Selkirk regard me as an enemy. I am ambitious of her esteem and friendship, and would do anything consistent with my duty to merit it. The honour of a line from your hand in answer to this, will lay me under a very singular obligation; and if I can render you any acceptable service in France or elsewhere, I hope you can see into my character so far as to command me without the least grain of reserve *. "I wish to know exactly the behaviour of my people, as I determine to punish them if they have exceeded their liberty. I have the honour to be, with much estcem, and with profound respect, Madam, "Your most obedient and most humble servant, "To the Right Hon. the Countess of Selkirk, St. Mary's Isle, Scotland." "JNO, P. JONES. * We do not remember to have seen anything at all approaching the above paragraph in egotism, ignorance, or impudence, except, perhaps, in the celebrated compositions of Tittlebat Titmouse, Esquire. the command of the Russian fleet. The officers, many of them English, on being made acquainted with the appointment, instantly resigned their commissions; and the Empress, fearing the dilemma in which she was about to be placed, decided on retaining her tried officers, and cancelled Jones's appointment. This remarkable man died at Paris, July 18, 1792, in the fortyfifth year of his age, according to the American accounts, but, by Mr. Craik's supposition, he must have been five years older. It is asserted by some authorities that he died in poverty, and by others that he had amassed considerable wealth; but it is difficult now to determine between the two opposite statements. The Biographie Universelle contains the following sketch of his person and character, and as the latter appears to be in a great degree unprejudiced, we think it acceptable in this place. "Paul Jones* was of middle stature and thickset, of a surly, taciturn, and harsh temperament; domineering, and eager for glory. He was so excessively vain that he attached no value to any plan which he had not himself originated; and if in execution it chanced not to succeed he invariably laid the blame of the failure either to the jealousy of his officers or mutinous behaviour of his crew. It cannot be denied that he was more than ordinarily brave, his bravery often bordering on temerity; and he also possessed an extensive knowledge of naval tactics, while his mind was capable of conceiving the boldest projects, which he was never at a loss in putting into practice." MEANS OF SECRET COMMUNICATION IN ANCIENT ARMIES. BY H. CURLING, H.P. 52nd. THE extraordinary means by which the warriors of the olden time contrived to communicate with each other whilst cooped up and sur-rounded by their adversaries in the beleaguered city, or the tented field, will be found, on perusal of those old worm-eaten works wherein such contrivances are dilated on, well worthy of the contemplation of the curious in military matters. It is my purpose in this paper to set forth some of the practices the "old soldier" resorted to when war (less civilized than in later days) was a war of extermination. At the same time, it was the business of life, and harness of proof "your only wear." In those days of iron men, then, it would appear that a considerable deal more ingenuity was wont to be displayed than is either customary or at all necessary in our own times; and the means used by the ancients to communicate their intentions, necessities, and perils, to their advancing or distant allies, so contrived, in many instances, that if, by adverse circumstances, the Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 501, pp. 263, 264, contains an account of Paul Jones, highly eulogistic, and to a certain degree interesting. The writer, how ever, to his eternal disgrace, if a subject of Great Britain, has had the audacity to conclude his article by stating-"He" (Paul Jones) "had all the spirit and all the talent which under favourable circumstances present to the world Bonapartes and' Nelsons." The Author of the Wooden Walls cannot but express his astonishment: at Messrs. Chambers for permitting such a gross profanation of the IMMORTAL NELSON'S name to stain the pages of their Journal. messenger and his letter happened to be intercepted, the communication being artfully worded, although it failed in the immediate purpose in hand, it yet might serve the turn of misleading the foe; by which means, when so completely blocked up and surrounded by fierce and savage foes, that (unless the bird of the air could take their message in his flight, or the blind mole burrow with it through the firm-set earth), their case seemed altogether hopeless, they have yet managed, by some swift and secret intelligence, either to obtain a diversion in their favour, or gain assistance from their friends. For example, an alphabet having been agreed upon amongst the host, ere separated and detached in a hostile country, with the letters so marked, or varied, as to be understood by themselves alone, it was frequently the custom of the ancients, in their extremity, to write that which, on being unluckily intercepted, would, as I have before said, although it failed in obtaining them the succours or assistance they required, at least, mislead their enemies as to their real situation. No. 1.-Involved Epistles of the Ancients. In the first place, then, we will exemplify the means resorted to in very early times of writing a letter, with the help of two alphabets-the letters of which were so nearly similar, that, unless previously agreed on and fully comprehended by the allies, it was almost impossible to detect the involved meaning of the scrawl. a b c d e f g a b c d e f g 1ST AND 2ND ALPHAbets. h i k l m n o p q r stu v wy z hik l m n o p q r st u V W x y z Now, if by these alphabets we write the following letter, it will be found to answer the purposes described above. FROM THE BESIEGED. Wee prosper still in our affaires and shall without hauing any further helpe endure the seige. Giving (as mentioned), in case of being intercepted, a false account of prosperous times and full granaries, where, in truth, there was nothing but " a bare-ribb'd death" in prospect; for if the letters of the second alphabet be picked out of this smiling and confident epistle, the situation of the garrison will be fully described with military brevity sufficient to satisfy the Great Captain of our own times— Wee perish with hunger helpe us. Another way of secret writing was to express all the letters by any five of them doubled; for instance, A B C D E doubled into the following alphabet K L M N 0 Q R S da A B C D E F G H I ed Z8 CC cd ce &c. By which contrivance, that which appeared an incomprehensible jumble of letters, "signifying nothing" if intercepted, might convey a certain and true account of the situation or wants of the besieged; for instance, "I am betrayed," may be thus written Bd aa cb ab ae dd db ая ec ae ad On reference to the alphabet above, this will be easily and plainly made out. Certes, it is an epistle to which the caution of Hamlet need not be given-namely, "Give it an understanding, and no tongue;" since I defy the inventors of the unknown tongues of more modern times to syllable it forth, however easily they might comprehend it. Again, three letters being transposed through three places were also used thus сса A B с D E F G H I K L M N O By which means, supposing the besieged to wish for the rapid advance of their friends, upon any sudden emergency, they might write it thus caa aaa bca bcb bba abb bcc abb bcb abc aba bba Two letters being transposed through five places may be also supplied A aaaaa M H I K L aabbb abaaa abaab ababa T V W B C Ꭰ E F G aaaab aaaba aaabb aabaa aabab aabba N O Р Q R S X ababb abbaa abbab abbba abbbb baaaa baaab baaba baabb babaa bababb From which, for instance, write to your friends, and tell them to cut their sticks, after this fashion-" with what flourish your nature will,” as the Immortal has it aabab ababa babba aaaaa babaa aaaaa babba Suetonius mentions that Julius Cæsar, when he wished to convey a private message, was sometimes wont to write it by making one letter stand for another: D for A, E for B, and so following, according to this alphabet def g h i k l m n o p q r s t u w x y z a b c a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p q r s tuv w x y z By which invention, if he wished to say "Hasten unto me," he wrote it thus Ldwxhq yg xr ph. The same author says that Octavius Augustus pursued a similar plan, setting down the second letter for the first, as в for A, C for B, and for A, XX. This again they rung the changes upon, and still further obscured. Notes of secresy and abbreviation in writing, as used by the Romans, are treated on by Valerius Probus. Cicero and Seneca are also said to have been amongst the first who invented some of these means of communication. No. 2.-The Artifices used for Delivery of Letters. The artifices, also, that the warriors of the olden time resorted to for the conveyance of these mysterious epistles will be found as well worthy of notice as the letters themselves. Some, for instance, have been put into the hands of men who, being boxed up in coffins, have been sent away as dead; others, again, have been fain to take on them the disguise and semblance of animals, as mentioned by Josephus, when, during the siege of Jotapata, soldiers were ordered to creep out of the city by night in the likeness of dogs. The Council of Ephesus, again, when Nestorius was condemned, being strictly debarred from all ordinary ways of conveyance, were fain to send to Constantinople by one disguised as a beggar, "ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth." Letters have also been conveyed by men to their imprisoned friends in the food they were to receive; and amongst other stories related, there is one of a person rolling up his letter in a wax candle, and desiring the messenger to tell the party who received it that the candle would give him light for his business. Harpagus, the Mede, when he wished to exhort Cyrus to conspire against the king his uncle, and being suspected so much that his every motion was jealously watched by "servants feed," managed yet to evade these dogged spies, and one day whilst hunting contrived to stow away his letters in the belly of a hare, and delivering them, together with his nets and other implements of the chase, to a trusty messenger, they were thus safely conveyed to Cyrus; by which adventure, Astyages was bereaved of his kingdom. Demæratus, king of Sparta, also, whilst "eating the bitter bread of banishment," being received at the Persian court, became aware there of the designs of Xerxes against Greece; upon which he immediately set his wits to work in order to advertise his countrymen of the mighty preparation. For this purpose, writing his epistle upon a tablet of wood, and covering the letters with wax, it was in that form conveyed safely to the magistrates of Lacedæmon, who on its receipt, although they had a shrewd suspicion that it "meant mischief," were for a long time unable to pluck out the heart of its mystery, till at length the king's sister, on its being shown her, picked off the wax and discovered the writing. The leaves of plants and trees were also made use of for the purpose of writing on, and being covered over some sore or ulcer, were thus carried and secretly delivered. Amongst, however, the most extraordinary of these kinds of inventions is one told of Hystiæus, who, whilst with Darius in Persia (being in communication with Aristagoras in Greece), desired to send him a secret message upon the subject of revolting from the Persian government. For this purpose, he undertook the cure of one of his household servants troubled with sore eyes; and persuading him of the necessity of having his head shaved and scarified (no bad remedy, by the way) during the operation, he took an opportunity of writing his intentious on the man's head. After which, keeping him confined for some days till his hair was somewhat grown, he desired him then (in order that he might be perfectly cured) to travel into Greece, and present himself before Aristagoras, who, by shaving his head a second time, would cer tainly restore his vision. When, again, it has been found impossible to communicate by land during a siege, the ancients have made the effort by water, by means of thin plates of lead fastened to the arms and thighs of expert swimmers. Lucullus is said to have communicated his approach to a beleaguered town by sending a common soldier disguised like some strange fish, and who, having his letters concealed in two bladders, by their help (being an expert swimmer) he managed to reach his destination. |