The first series are those signed with the initials E. W., then E. J. W., and latterly with the writer’s full address—E. J. Wilson, Ennis, Ireland. His advertisements are headed by such a variety of names that, at first sight, we are apt to be misled, and do not think of connecting the writer of “Rouge et Noir” with that of “Indigo Blue” or “To the Equator.” Nevertheless they are all from the same source, as well as those headed “The Writer of the Anonymous Letter,” “Battledore and Shuttlecock,” “Flybynight,” “Egypte,” “Anchor,” “Circumspice,” “Au Simulacre,” “Decimals to Cheops,” “To Contre Coup,” “Tribe,” “Two Hundred Pounds Reward,” “Nicht eine Million,” “Nicht Zwei Millonen,” “Double Fin,” “Leb! Wohl,” “Poverty and Honour,” “Spurs and Skirts,” “A La Croix Rouge,” “To the Counterfeit,” “Alpha the First,” “To St. James,” “The Key,” “The Pillar,” “Honest Alexis,” “Hide and Seek,” “To a Christian,” “X Cheops X,” “X Tribe X,” “X Blue Eyes X,” “X Gamins X,” “My dearest Alice,” etc., some of which are signed “Cygne,” others “Egypte,” and the rest with the initials of name in full. His first advertisement ([No. 245]) appeared in 1851, and from that date they appeared continually during a period of six years. They ceased for a time, but commenced again in the year 1857. He seems to have been an unfortunate man, and evidently lost not only his fortune, but his daughter Alice, and his numerous appeals in the “Agony Column” are a curious mixture of business complications and entreaties for his lost child’s return. That his child was not lost by accident, but stolen by some one of evil intent, cannot fail to be apparent to even the most careless of my readers. One cannot help feeling an amount of sympathy with this unfortunate writer as we read advertisements [No. 995], [1001], and [1034], in which we learn what a large share of anxiety and suffering fell to his lot. The last of his advertisements appeared in 1870 ([No. 1753]), but unfortunately we cannot learn from its contents whether or not the tide of misfortune had turned for him at last.
The other remarkable series of advertisements to which I alluded are those signed “J. de W.” There is little doubt that mankind inherited a large amount of curiosity from our mother Eve; therefore advertisements, written in the ordinary intelligent manner, though they may be full of interest and amusement, do not strike us as forcibly as those couched in an unintelligible style like the ones to which I am now referring, and simply from the fact that we are unable to read them. For five years “J. de W.’s” advertisements appeared on or about the first of every month, commencing March 1st, 1850; and, as we follow them, we can conjure up for ourselves the stirring history and romance of a lifetime. It is somewhat difficult to determine whether or not the advertisements, written in the same type and signed “A. B. C.,” are answers to the others. It is quite possible that “J. de W.” might be able to receive letters without interference, but had no means of sending them without detection, and was therefore reduced to the medium of the Times. It seems quite impossible that any man, though possessed of unbounded faith and perseverance, would have struggled against fate so long. Would he not have given up in despair years before he did? So I think we may conclude that the messages signed “J. de W.” and “A. B. C.” are answers one to the other.
I have been able to show so many different ways in which our simple alphabet can be changed to form a language that will defy a large majority of the public, that I feel sure that all those who are denied the privilege of an open correspondence, might, with a little ingenuity, find a way of communication that would baffle those whose eyes they fear; but at the same time let them remember that parents, guardians, and friends will have discovered in my pages that what looks so unintelligible at first sight may, with a little patience, be read as easily as the plainest English printed in our newspapers.
THE AGONY COLUMN
OF THE “TIMES.”
1.—Monday, January 13, 1800.
THE ANSWER of a LETTER to an OFFICER at HEREFORD is, “That he Was.”