to wish that I could be more
happy.
(The key to the above letter is to omit every alternate line: reading the first, third, fifth, &c., consecutively.)
It is said that among ancient Christian devices the figure of a fish occurs very frequently, with the inscription anthropou (in Greek letters), signifying of man. The following explanation has been given: The Greek word for fish is ichthus, and each of the five letters composing the Greek word, (ch and th being each represented by only one letter,) is the initial of a significant word, as follows:
iesus—Jesus,
christos—Christ,
theou—of God,
uios—Son,
soter—Saviour.