“For will deign
To visit the dwellings of just men
Delighted, and with frequent intercourse
Thither will send her winged _messengers_
On errands of supernal grace.”
Carriers, in connection with letters, are modern appendages to the
post-office, and now form one of its most important branches. They are
indeed welcome messengers.
“The very carrier that comes from him to her is a most welcome guest;
and if he bring a letter she will read it twenty times over.”—_Burton._
_THE CARRIER-PIGEON._
The first mention we find made of the employment of pigeons as
letter-carriers is by Ovid, in his “Metamorphoses,” who tells us that
Taurosthenes, by a pigeon stained with purple, gave notice of his having
been victor at the Olympic Games on the very same day to his father at
Ægina.
Goldsmith, in his “Animated Nature,” says:—“It is from their attachment
to their native place, and particularly where they have brought up their
young, that these birds (pigeons) are employed in several countries as
the most expeditious carriers.”
When the city of Ptolemais, in Syria, was invested by the French and
Venetians, and it was ready to fall into their hands, they observed a
pigeon flying over them, and immediately conjectured that it was charged
with letters to the garrison. On this the whole army raising a loud
shout, so confounded the poor aerial post that it fell to the ground;
and, on being seized, a letter was found under its wings from its
Sultan, in which he assured the garrison that “he would be with them in
three days with an army sufficient to raise the siege.” For this letter
the besiegers substituted another to this purpose: “that the garrison
must see to their own safety; for the Sultan had such other affairs
pressing him it was impossible for him to come to their succor;” and
with this false intelligence they let the pigeon flee on his course. The
garrison, deprived by this decree of all hopes of relief, immediately
surrendered. The Sultan appeared on the third day, as promised, with a
powerful army, and was not a little mortified to find the city already
in the hands of the Christians.
In the East the employment of pigeons in the conveyance of letters is
still very common, particularly in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt. Every
bashaw has generally a basketful of them sent him from the grand
seraglio, where they are bred, and, in case of any insurrection or other
emergency, he is enabled, by letting loose two or more of these
extraordinary messengers, to convey intelligence to the government long
before it could be possibly obtained by other means.
The diligence and speed with which these feathered messengers wing their
course is extraordinary. From the instant of their liberation their
flight is directed through the clouds at an immense height to the place
of their destination. They are believed to dart onward in a straight
line, and never descend except when at a loss for breath; and then they
are to be seen commonly at dawn of day lying on their backs on the
ground, with their bills open, sucking with hasty avidity the dew of the
morning. Of their speed the instances related are almost incredible.
The Consul of Alexandria daily sends despatches by these means to Aleppo
in five hours, though couriers occupy the whole day, and proceed with
the utmost expedition from one town to the other.
Some years ago a gentleman sent a carrier-pigeon from London, by the
stage-coach, to his friend in St. Edmundsbury, together with a note
desiring that the pigeon, two days after their arrival there, might be
thrown up precisely when the town-clock struck nine in the morning. This
was done accordingly, and the pigeon arrived in London and flew to the
Bull Inn, Bishopsgate Street, into the loft, and was there shown at half
an hour past eleven o’clock, having flown seventy-two miles in two hours
and a half.
Carrier pigeons were again employed, but with better success, at the
siege of Leyden, in 1675. The garrison were, by means of the information
thus conveyed to them, induced to stand out till the enemy, despairing
of reducing the place, withdrew. On the siege being raised, the Prince
of Orange ordered that the pigeons which had rendered such essential
service should be maintained at the public expense, and at their death
they should be embalmed and preserved in the town-house as a perpetual
token of gratitude.
At Antwerp, in 1819, one of the thirty-two pigeons belonging to that
city, which had been conveyed to London and there let loose, made the
transit back—being a distance in a direct line of one hundred and
eighty miles—in six hours.
It is through the attachment of the animals to the place of their birth,
and particularly to the spot where they had brought up their young, that
they are thus rendered useful to mankind.
When a young one flies very hard at home, and is come to its full
strength, it is carried in a basket or otherwise about half a mile from
home and there turned out; after this it is carried a mile, two, four,
eight, ten, twenty, &c., till at length it will return from the
furthermost parts of the country.
_LETTERS._
The word _letter_ is derived from the Latin “_litera_,” of which Vossius
has not decided its etymology,—perhaps, from _litum_, past participle of
_linere_, to smear, as one of the oldest modes of writing was by graving
the characters upon tablets smeared over or covered with wax. From this
word comes that of _letters_; and, as they are more immediately
connected with our subject, we incline to the opinion of Pliny that the
word _linere_, to smear, is by far the most truthful definition. In this
respect—that of “smearing”—it has lost nothing of its original
character, if we were to judge from the appearance of many letters daily
passing through the post-office.
“Smeared o’er with wax” would not cause any great surprise to a modern
post-office clerk if a letter presented itself with this only on it; but
when in addition he could scarcely read the name through the mists of
blotted ink and bad spelling, we venture to say he would endorse Pliny’s
opinion, above that of all others, without the least hesitation.
An Oriental scholar, speaking upon the subject of writing as connected
with the ancients, makes use of this language:—“The origin of the art of
writing loses itself among the nebulous periods of man’s primeval
history. With the original ethnographic varieties of the human species,
the primitive distribution of mankind, the patriarchal fountains of a
once-pure religion, and the earliest sources of the diversity of
language, must be associated the first developments of this art which,
from the remotest periods, has enabled man to record his history, and to
overcome space and time in the transmission of his thoughts.”
Symbolical or hieroglyphic writing is also very ancient. It was the
ancient style of writing among the Egyptians. They were also termed
“sacred sculptured characters,” which was the original or, rather,
monumental method. The hieratic or sacerdotal was used by the scribes
and priests in literary pursuits prior to 1500 B.C.
There is a beautiful conceit of Lord Bacon’s,—“_Literæ Vocales_” (vocal
letters), the designation given by that philosopher to the popular
lawyers of the House of Commons in the reign of James I., meaning those
lawyers who were bold enough to speak their minds and to stand up for
the rights of their constituents.
Words, however, will pass away and be forgotten; but that which is
committed to writing will remain as evidence; for then you have them in
“black and white.”
“Litera scripta manet.”
_THE FIRST LETTER-WRITERS._
Jezebel, it seems, was the first—or, at least, we believe the first—that
is mentioned in the Bible as a letter-writer: “So she wrote letters in
Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto
the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with
Naboth.”—1 Kings xxi. 8.
For fear a wrong construction should be put upon this act of Jezebel,
and the cause of letters affected thereby, it may be well to state that
she was allowed to do so by him, and that his name and seal were to be
used as she pleased. She, however, used both for a bad purpose: hence
the name of Jezebel is synonymous with deceit and treachery.
Letter-writing is also alluded to in Nehemiah ii. 7: “Moreover I said
unto, the king, If it please the king, let _letters_ be given me to the
governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come
into Judah.” Also, in Esther i. 22: “For he sent letters into all the
king’s provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof,
and to every people after their language, that every man should bear
rule in his own house; and that it should be published according to the
language of every people.”
Hiram, King of Tyre, when he heard that Solomon succeeded to his
father’s kingdom, was very glad of it; for he was a friend of David’s.
So he sent ambassadors to him, and saluted him, and congratulated him on
the present happy state of his affairs. Upon which, Solomon sent an
epistle, the contents of which here follow:—
_SOLOMON TO KING HIRAM._
“Know thou that my father would have built a temple to God, but was
hindered by wars and continual expeditions; for he did not leave off to
overthrow his enemies till he made them all subject to tribute. But I
give thanks to God for the peace I at present enjoy, and on that account
I am at leisure and design to build a house to God; for God foretold to
my father that such a house should be built by me. Wherefore I desire
thee to send some of thy subjects with mine to Mount Lebanon, to cut
down timber; for the Sidonians are more skillful than our people in
cutting of wood. As for wages to the hewers of wood, I will pay
whatsoever thou shalt determine.”
When Hiram had read this epistle he was pleased with it, and wrote back
this answer:—
_HIRAM TO KING SOLOMON._
“It is fit to bless God that he hath committed thy father’s government
to thee, who art a wise man and endowed with all virtues. As for myself,
I rejoice at the condition thou art in, and will be subservient to thee
in all that thou sendest to me about; for when by my subjects I have cut
down many trees of cedar and cypress wood, I will send them to sea, and
will order my subjects to make floats of them, and to sail to what place
soever of thy country thou shalt desire, and leave them there; after
which, thy subjects may carry them to Jerusalem. But do thou take care
to procure us corn for this timber, which we stand in need of because we
inhabit an island.”[14]
Josephus says:—“The copies of these epistles remain at this day, and are
preserved not only in our books, but among the Tyrians also.” They were
at that period among the records in the city of Tyre. Other epistles are
also there recorded, among which were those written by Xerxes, King of
the Persians, to Ezra; Artaxerxes to the Government of Judea; Antiochus
the Great to Ptolemy Epiphanes; and of the Samaritans to Antiochus,
Alexander Balas to Jonathan, Onias to Ptolemy and Cleopatra, and many
others.[15]