This certainly has an intricate appearance, and would prove a most difficult cipher to any one not conversant with cryptography. But it will be observed that _a_, for example, is never represented by any other character than ), _b_ never by any other character than (, and so on. Thus by the discovery, accidental or otherwise, of any one letter, the party intercepting the epistle would gain a permanent and decided advantage; and could apply his knowledge to all the instances in which the character in question was employed throughout the cipher. In the cryptographs, on the other hand, which have been sent us by our correspondent at Stonington, and which are identical in conformation with the cipher resolved by Berryer, no such permanent advantage is to be obtained. Let us refer to the second of these puzzles. Its key-phrase runs thus: _Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re._ Let us now place the alphabet beneath this phrase, letter beneath letter— S│u│a│v│i│t│e│r A│b│c│d│e│f│g│h i│n│m│o│d│o i│j│k│l│m│n f│o│r│t│i│t│e│r o│p│q│r│s│t│u│v i│n│r│e w│x│y│z We here see that a stands for ————— c d stands for ————— m e stands for g, n and z f stands for ————— o i stands for e, i, s and w m stands for ————— k n stands for j and x o stands for l, n and p r stands for h, q, v and y s stands for ————— a t stands for f, r and t u stands for ————— b v stands for ————— d In this manner _n_ stands for two letters, and _e_, _o_, and _t_ for three each, while _i_ and _r_ represent each as many as four. Thirteen characters are made to perform the operations of the whole alphabet. The result of such a key-phrase upon the cipher, is to give it the appearance of a mere medley of the letters _e_, _o_, _t_, _r_ and _i_—the latter character greatly predominating, through the accident of being employed for letters which, themselves, are inordinately prevalent in most languages—we mean _e_ and _i_.