Fig. 2

object of interest in the family to ascertain when and by what means the young birds would emerge from under the pot, and make their début. How long they might have continued in confinement, if left to themselves, it is impossible to say, as they were eventually indebted to female curiosity for their emancipation. A lady lifted up the pot, to see whether the birds were there; when the whole brood, taking advantage of so favourable an opportunity, made their escape, darting forth in all directions like rays from a centre.

SINGULAR NESTING-PLACE OF A BLUE TITMOUSE

The natural timidity of birds is greatly lessened, and in some cases almost entirely removed, during incubation. The blue titmouse has on many occasions furnished proof of this. A remarkable instance occurred a few years ago at Newland, in Gloucestershire. A pair of blue titmice built their nest in the upper part of an old pump, fixing it to the pin on which the handle worked. It happened that during the time of building and laying the eggs, the pump had been out of use; but at the time when the female was sitting, it was again set going, and it was naturally expected that the motion of the pump-handle would drive her away. But so determined was she in her work, that she remained sitting for the appointed period, and the young birds were safely hatched, with no other misfortune than the loss of a part of the tail of the sitting bird, which was rubbed off by the friction of the pump-handle.

6

The greater titmouse and the tomtit have been observed to choose a similar situation; indeed, it would appear that the groove in which the pump-handle works has some particular charm for these birds. Mr. Dovaston, of Westfalton, near Shrewsbury, gave, in 1832, an account of one of the greater titmice, who annually, or nearly so, built in his pump, "where," he says, "there is a nest of eggs at this moment. It is placed just under the top of the handle, where that lever bends, and is joined to the piston by a swivel. The only entrance the bird has is close over the handle, where the slit runs a little higher to allow it to rise above its fulcrum. This pump is used every hour, and is always accompanied with much noise and agitation; and, frequently, for negligent want of oil, will on its hinges grate like thunder,' yet the bird sits on, quiet and unmolested. If the handle be lifted up, and she be peeped at longer than she like, she merely puffs, blows, and snorts at the curious intruder." A great quantity of moss was used in the construction of this nest, and to prevent any of it falling into the tube or bucket, the sagacious bird placed small sticks as props; a material which she never employs under ordinary circumstances. When the young are hatched, one or more of them will sometimes crawl to the edge of the nest, and fall over into the water, and so get ejected through the spout. Under these circumstances "it greatly pleases me," says Mr. Dovaston, "to see my servants replace them gently in the nest, with kind soothings or facetious chidings; showing that natural humanity is innate in very many of the labouring classes, till effete for lack of nurture, or corrupted by evil communications."

At Springfield House, Warwickshire, a pair of redstarts once built their nest under an inverted garden-pot, accidentally left on a gravel walk, entering their habitation from above at the drain-hole. The nest attracted much attention, and was watched daily, as it became an

NESTING-PLACE OF A PAIR OF REDSTARTS.

A similar instance was given in the Preston ChroIn a garden belonging to E. nicle some years ago. Clayton, Esq., Bamberbridge, near Preston, a flower-pot was turned down over a tender plant in the early part of the spring, and shortly afterwards was removed, and placed in the same inverted position on a vacant part of the flower bed, near the verge of a gravel walk. Two small birds of the tomtit species having found their way into the pot through the opening at the bottom, made it their habitation. A carpet was laid in an inclined direction over the whole area, of fine fibrous moss; on which was constructed a little nest, in contact with the internal

side of the pot, and lined with a mixture of hair and feathers. When first discovered there were six eggs in it, which were soon augmented to ten, all of which were in due time hatched, and the birds on the wing.

Mr. Bree gives an account of the nesting-place chosen by a pair of robins. In the parish church of Hamptonin-Arden, Warwickshire, these birds, for two years in succession, affixed their nest to the church Bible, as it

lay upon the reading-desk. The worthy vicar would on no account have the birds disturbed; and accordingly introduced into the church another Bible from which to read the lessons. As if encouraged by this tolerance to commit further audacious acts, the birds actually plundered the rope-ends from the belfry to assist in the construction of their nest. The old women of the village, however, did not fully share the benevolent feelings of the vicar on the occasion; on the contrary, they took it into their heads that the circumstance of the robins' building on the Bible was highly ominous, and boded no good to their minister. Now it so happened that the worthy vicar fell ill, and died in the month of June of the second year of the birds building in the church; an event which confirmed their superstitions, and "will be remembered," says Mr. Bree, "and handed down to posterity, for the benefit of any future vicar, should the robins again make a similar selection."

At Knowle Hall, Warwickshire, as we learn from the same authority, a wren built its nest in the skeleton body of a heron which had been nailed up against a wall. A still more remarkable choice was that of a tomtit, which built its nest some years ago in the skull of a murderer, who had been gibbeted at Drinsey Nook, in Lincolnshire.

The following is an instance of the friendly confidence of a pair of swallows. In the summer of 1830, a pair of swallows commenced their nest upon the crank of a bellwire, in the passage of a farm-house at Crux Easton; the one end of which opened into a little garden, the other

BISHOP OF WINCHESTER.

A.D. 1555 TO 1626.

The year following a pair of birds, the offspring perhaps of the former occupants, were observed at the old haunt. They first attempted to fix their nest to a cupboard-door, immediately over the door leading into the kitchen; and the farmer's wife, fearing it might be shaken down from the closing and opening of the door, drove a nail beneath, to secure it in its position. However, the swallows did not approve of this interference: they forsook their nest, and commenced a second over the kitchen door; but this they could not secure. The thought now struck the farmer, that if the nest of 1830, which still remained on the bell-wire, were removed, the birds would adopt the old situation. This was accordingly done. The pair immediately profited by the farmer's suggestion; a nest was completed, and an egg deposited, in the short space of four days from the commencement of the new York. While the business of incubation was

going on, the farmer's sheep-shearing was accomplished, and the usual supper given to the labourers in the kitchen; but notwithstanding the confusion and smoke, and the constant opening and shutting of the door, the parent bird never moved off her nest. The haymaking feast arrived, when the young birds were hatched; and again, amid the noise and confusion, the old swallows unremittingly waited upon their offspring. The nestlings took flight, but until the period arrived for migration, they constantly returned to the passage for the night. At the beginning of the evening they perched on the edge of the nest, and, as the night advanced, as if for additional warmth, they sank down into the interior. As the season advanced, and they became full feathered, they deserted the nest altogether, and perched on the bell-wire. Here they perched during the conviviality of the harvest supper, perfectly regardless of the uproar, and here they were seen perched for their night's repose, by the narrator of their history, when visiting Crux Easton, on an evening in the middle of September, 1832.

THE GLADNESS OF NATURE.

Is this a time to be cloudy and sad,
When our mother nature laughs around;
When even the deep-blue heaven looks glad,

And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground?
There are notes of joy from the hang-bird and wren,
And the gossip of swallows through all the sky;
The ground-squirrel gaily chirps by his den,
And the wilding-bee hums merrily by.
The clouds are at play in the azure space,
And their shadows at play on the bright-green vale.
And here they stretch to the frolic chase,
And there they roll on the easy gale.
There's a dance of leaves in that aspen bower,

There's a titter of winds in that beechen tree, There's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower, And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea. And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles, On the dewy earth that smiles in his ray, On the leaping waters, and gay young isles Ay, look, and he'll smile thy gloom away.

C. BRYANT

THIS eminent divine, equally celebrated for his virtues and his universal learning, was born in London in 1555, and received the rudiments of his education at the freeschool of the Company of Coopers, in Ratcliffe Highway; from thence he was removed to Merchant-Taylors' School, where he made a great proficiency in the learned languages under Mr. Mulcaster, who recommended him to Dr. Watts, canon-residentiary of St. Paul's, and archdeacon of Middlesex, who had then lately founded some scholarships at Pembroke College, Cambridge, the first of which he bestowed on young Andrews. After he had taken the degree of bachelor of arts, he was chosen fellow of his college; in this situation he continued four years, applying himself chiefly to the study of divinity; at the usual time, he commenced master of arts, and was then chosen catechist of the college, which gave him an opportunity of reading lectures on the Ten Commandments on Saturdays and Sundays, to which great numbers resorted from the other colleges, and likewise young gentlemen and clergymen from the neighbourhood; and as he possessed a graceful address and a fine delivery, these, added to his abilities, procured him great reputation; the fame of which being circulated by those who attended his divinity lecture, soon reached lege, Oxford, who, without his knowledge, appointed him the ear of Mr. Hugh Price, the founder of Jesus Colone of his first or honorary fellows of that house. It was his custom, after he had been three years at Cambridge, and he continued it as long as he resided at

either of the universities, to make an annual visit to his notice, by his desire, used to prepare a private tutor, to parents at London, and his father having previous

instruct him in some branch or other of the sciences or arts, not taught in the universities; so that within a few years he had acquired the elements of all arts and sciences, and a competent knowledge of the modern languages. He performed his journeys on foot, till he was a bachelor of divinity; and he professed, that even then he would not have rode on horseback, but to avoid the imputation of walking merely to save charges. He his common exercise and amusement was walking, and never loved or used any games or ordinary recreations; he assigned the noblest reason for preferring it to all others; frequently declaring to his companions and friends, that to observe the grass, herbs, corn, trees, their natures, orders, qualities, virtues, and uses, was to cattle, earth, waters, and heavens, and to contemplate him the most exquisite of all entertainments.

His reputation increasing daily, he was not long withpresident of the north, with great judgment made choice out a patron; for Henry, earl of Huntingdon, lord of him as his chaplain, to attend him in his progress through that part of England, where by his preaching, and private conferences, he became highly useful to Government, by converting a number of Roman Catholics to the Protestant faith, and among these, several priests.

Such a seasonable service naturally recommended him to Sir Francis Walsingham, then Secretary of State, who procured him first a living in Hampshire, but being unwilling that such a promising genius should lie concealed in an obscure country village, resolved to provide for him in London; and accordingly, by the strength of his interest, Mr. Andrews was appointed vicar of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, and in a short time after, prebendary and residentiary of St. Paul's; also prebendary of the collegiate church of Southwell.

Being thus preferred, he distinguished himself as a diligent and excellent preacher, and he read divinity lectures three days in the week at St. Paul's, during term time. Upon the death of Dr. Fulke, he was chosen master of Pembroke Hall to which college hé

afterwards became a considerable benefactor. He was next appointed one of the chaplains in ordinary to Queen Elizabeth, who took great delight in his preaching, and promoted him to the deanery of Westminster, in 1601: he refused a bishopric in this reign, because he would not submit to the spoliation of the ecclesiastical revenue. In the next, however, he had no cause for such scruple, and having published an unanswerable defence of King James's book on the Rights of Sovereigns, against Bellarmine, he was advanced to the bishopric of Chichester, and at the same time appointed lord-almoner. Upon the vacancy of the see of Ely, he was translated to it in 1609; and the same year he was sworn of the king's privy council in England, as he was afterwards of Scotland, upon attending his majesty to that kingdom. When he had sat nine years in the see of Ely, he was translated to that of Winchester, and also appointed dean of the royal chapel; and to his honour it is recorded of him, that these preferments were conferred upon him without any court interest, or solicitations on the part of himself or his friends: it is likewise observed, that though he was a privy councillor in the reigns of James the First and Charles the First, he interfered very little in temporal concerns; but in all affairs relative to the church, and the duties of his function, he was remarkably diligent and active.

After a long life of honour and tranquillity, in which he enjoyed the distinguished esteem of three successive sovereigns, the friendship of all men of letters, his contemporaries, and the veneration of all good Christians, this learned and pious prelate died at Winchester House, in Southwark, in September, 1626. He was interred in the parish church of St. Saviour, where his executors erected to his memory a handsome monument of marble and alabaster, on which is an elegant Latin inscription, by one of his chaplains. Milton also wrote a beautiful elegy on the occasion of his death, in the same language, which is one of the earliest productions of that immortal bard, for he was but seventeen years of age when Bishop Andrews died.

Dr. Fuller observes, that King James had so great an awe of, and veneration for, Bishop Andrews, that in his presence he refrained from that mirth and levity in which he indulged himself at other times. His reputation, as a learned man, was well known in foreign countries; for, as he understood a great variety of languages, at least fifteen, and was conversant in the Oriental tongues, he was engaged in an extensive correspondence with all the literati of Europe.

favours. He bestowed a valuable living on Dr. Ward, the son of his first schoolmaster, at the Coopers' school. He also shewed every mark of personal esteem for Mr. Mulcaster, his schoolmaster at Merchant Taylors' school, always placing him at the head of his table; and though pictures were but little in use at that time, after his death, he had his picture placed over his study door. He also provided for his son, to whom he bequeathed a valuable legacy. He likewise inquired very carefully after the kindred of Dr. Watts, who first sent him to Pembroke Hall; and having found out a distant relation, he gave him great preferments in that college. The example of a good man has generally more influence on the minds of youth than precept; we shall therefore extend this article, though we should be liable to the imputation of tautology, by adding the following character of him, contained in the dedication of his sermons, published under the joint care and inspection of the Bishops of London and Ely: "The person whose works these are, was from his youth a man of extraordinary worth and note; a man, as if he had been made up of learning and virtue, both of them so eminent in him, that it is hard to judge which had precedency. His virtue, which we must still judge the more worthy in any man, was comparable to that which was to be found in the primitive bishops of the church; and had he lived among those ancient fathers, his virtues would have shined even among those virtuous men. And as for his learning, that was as well, if not better known abroad, than respected at home. And, take him in his latitude, we, which knew him well, knew not any kind of learning to which he was a stranger, but in his profession admirable. None stronger than lie, where he wrestled with an adversary; and that Bellarmine felt, who was as well able to shift for himself, as any that stood up for the Roman party. None more exact, more judicious than he, where he was to instruct and inform others; and that, as they knew who often heard him preach, so they may learn who will read this, which he hath left behind him. And yet this fulness of his material learning left room enough in the temper of his brain for selves: so that his learning had all the helps language could almost all languages, learned and modern, to seat themafford; and his languages learning enough for the best of them to express. His judgment, in the mean time, so commanding over both, as that neither of them was suffered idly or curiously to start from, or fall short, of their intended scope. So that we may better say of him, than it was sometime said of Claudius Drusus, 'he was of as many, and as great virtues, as mortal nature could receive, or industry make perfect.'

[Abridged, chiefly, from the British Plutarch.]

WRITING BY CIPHER; OR, SECRET
WRITING
I.

Another social virtue, for which this prelate has been justly admired, is gratitude, of which he had so warm a sense, that it extended to acts of kindness even to the relations of those from whom he had received any

But in the busy scenes of political life, this is not always the case. From the time when the different nations of Europe began to interfere in the settlement of each other's disputes, (and which may be dated from the expedition of Charles the Eighth to Naples, at the

end of the fifteenth century,) foreign courts have main- | tained a political correspondence with each other; and as the letters forming this correspondence have been frequently of such vast import as to decide the fate of nations and empires, a strong temptation was held out to the crafty and unscrupulous, to gain possession, by surreptitious means, of the contents of the letters. The more stormy and unsettled the state of affairs, the more likely was this breach of honour to occur. It is well known that great ingenuity is often shown in opening a letter without damaging the seal; and there is no doubt that some of these modes were often observed by unscrupulous politicians. But more frequently the bolder and more decisive plan was adopted, of intercepting a letter, and retaining it at once, by which its contents became known to one who could frustrate the objects of the writer. If political morality could once sanction this course, (and we are not here discussing how far it may be justifiable in certain cases,) it is evident that the security of a seal is nullified; and the only course left is to write in such a secret language as shall only be known to the writer and his correspondent. Here, then, we see the principal cause which led men to invent a written language to answer particular circumstances; and we shall find that this custom has been acted on to such an extent, as to form a page in the history of most civilized mations. We have said that the end of the fifteenth century was the period when the nations of Europe entered extensively into diplomatic arrangements, and when, consequently, letters began to pass frequently from one sovereign state to another; but long before this, the turbulent state of domestic politics in most countries had led to the employment of secret writing, sometimes with a good, at others with a bad object. Mr. Blair, in his elaborate inquiry into secret writing, has collected the secret alphabets, or ciphers, used by Pharamond, in the fifth century; by Charlemagne, in his private correspondence with his agents in the north of Europe; by Alfred the Great, or some of his agents, in England; by the Archduke Rodolph of Austria, in the fourteenth century; by Cardinal Wolsey, at the court of Vienna, in 1524; by Sir Thomas Smith, at Paris, in 1563; by Sir Thomas Chaloner, at Madrid, in 1564; by Sir Edward Stafford, also at Madrid, in 1586; and by many other

persons.

In proportion as peaceful and commercial relations exist between different countries, so will the necessity for the employment of secret writing cease; but we believe that there are still, attached to the diplomatic offices of many of the European courts, persons who, under the designation of decipherers, study the modes of secret writing; not only such as are adopted by their own courts, but all which may come under their notice. We will now, without alluding to courts or to individuals, more than may be necessary,-endeavour to convey an idea of the principles on which the various modes of secret writing have been founded, some of which are marked by great ingenuity: some persons, indeed, have dignified this art by the name of a science, under the various titles of cryptology, cryptography, polygraphy, steganography, &c.

One of the earliest specimens of concealed or secret writing, of which we have any knowledge, was the scytale, used by the Greeks, four centuries before the Christian era. When the state authorities sent out a fleet or an army, they prepared two cylindrical pieces of wood, similar to each other in length and in diameter; one of these was kept by the government, and the other was given to the admiral or general in command. When the government had any orders to communicate to their officer, they took a long narrow slip of parchment, and rolled it round the cylindrical staff or scytale, in a spiral form, one fold closely joining to another, but not overlapping; and then wrote their

communication upon the edges of the strip of parchment. When this strip was taken off the staff, the written characters must evidently have had a broken and illegible appearance. The scroll was sent to the officer; who, on receiving it, wound it round his staff, so as to connect the broken letters, and render their purport legible. This contrivance was used by the Athenians and the Lacedemonians, in the time of Alcibiades; and the secresy of it depended on this circumstance, that the diameter of the staff, by which the deciphering could be effected, was known only to the government and to their officer; but it has been observed that "this method would not be a sufficient security against detection in the present sharp-sighted age."

Æneas Tacticus is said by Polybius to have collected twenty different modes of writing, which could only be understood by those who were in the secret, and which were in use in his own time, or anterior to it. Some of these appear, to modern eyes, not very difficult of solution. One consisted in placing dots instead of vowels, the latter being represented by one, two, three, four, or five dots, respectively; as follows:

D .. :: N ::: S... :: S P.:: LCH · R,
for DIONYSIUS PULCHER.

Another method which he describes, is to send a book or epistle, on any common subject; and mark with a dot, or some other symbol previously agreed upon, such words as will, collectively, express the concealed sentiment or information; this we may illustrate by the following passage:—

The art of corresponding by visible signs may be supposed to have existed before the introduction of writing, and might have been practised by gestures or motions of the body; since infants are able to express themselves in this way, before they have acquired the faculty of speaking; but whether or not, the practice of holding secret communication by signs of this nature, was carried to any great extent among the ancients, we are unable to say.

Now, by reading the words which have a dash beneath them, we have, "The gestures of the body express the faculty of holding communications by signs;" but if we read the words having a dash over them, we have, “The art of writing might have been carried to great extent among the ancients." The reader will at once see in what manner this plan might be carried out; using, instead of dashes, small dots, placed between the letters in a way almost imperceptible.

A plan somewhat analogous to the one last described, was suggested by Baptista Porta, and has we believe been acted on in some diplomatic circles; viz., to take a certain book, (if a rare one, the better,) of which each party has a copy, and to select from that book the words which will express the meaning to be conveyed. These words may be designated by figures, expressing either the page of the book, the line of the page, and the word in that line, or else expressing the distance of the word from the beginning of the book. We will, as before, illustrate this by an example.

Suppose Addison's Spectator be agreed on, and a message is sent in the following form:—

"112.

1, 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 24, 28, 30, 37, 48, 74, 114, 115, 116." The correspondent turns to the 112th number of the Spectator, which is an Essay on a Country Sunday, but which might be made to express a very different sentiment, if only part of the words were used: if the words be taken in the order of the above numbers, the sense would be, "I am very well, and think it best that the people meet the whole week." We refer to a well known work in this instance, in order that the method may be more readily understood.