To obviate, therefore, the exceeding difficulty of deciphering this species of cryptograph, on the part of the possessors of the key-phrase, and to confine the deep intricacy of the puzzle to those for whom the cipher was not designed, it becomes necessary that some _order_ should be agreed upon by the parties corresponding—some order in reference to which those characters are to be read which represent more than one letter—and this _order_ must be held in view by the writer of the cryptograph. It may be agreed, for example, that the _first_ time an _i_ occurs in the cipher, it is to be understood as representing that character which stands against the _first i_ in the key-phrase; that the _second_ time an _i_ occurs it must be supposed to represent that letter which stands opposed to the _second i_ in the key-phrase, &c. &c. Thus the _location_ of each cipherical letter must be considered in connexion with the character itself, in order to determine its exact signification. We say that some pre-concerted _order_ of this kind is necessary, lest the cipher prove too intricate a lock to yield even to its true key. But it will be evident, upon inspection, that our correspondent at Stonington has inflicted upon us a cryptograph in which _no_ order has been preserved; in which many characters, respectively, stand, at absolute random, for many others. If, therefore, in regard to the gauntlet we threw down in April, he should be half inclined to accuse us of braggadocio, he will yet admit that we have _more_ than acted up to our boast. If what we then said was not said _suaviter in modo_, what we now do is at least done _fortiter in re_. In these cursory observations we have by no means attempted to exhaust the subject of Cryptography. With such object in view, a folio might be required. We have indeed mentioned only a few of the ordinary modes of cipher. Even two thousand years ago, Æneas Tacticus detailed twenty distinct methods; and modern ingenuity has added much to the science. Our design has been chiefly suggestive; and perhaps we have already bored the readers of the Magazine. To those who desire farther information upon this topic, we may say that there are extant treatises by Trithemius, Cap. Porta, Vignere, and P. Niceron. The works of the two latter may be found, we believe, in the library of the Harvard University. If, however, there should be sought in these disquisitions—or in any—_rules for the solution_ of cipher, the seeker will be disappointed. Beyond some hints in regard to the general structure of language, and some minute exercises in their practical application, he will find nothing upon record which he does not in his own intellect possess. * * * * * EXTRACT FROM AN UNPUBLISHED POEM. BY THE AUTHOR OF HOWARD PINCKNEY, ETC. THE MEETING OF THE LOVERS.