Prince Frederick of Orange to his brother, London, 7 May 1795

Summary. DECODE lists R2242 as a numerical substitution with no decryption. Its own note guesses that the writer is Prince Frederick of Orange (1774–1799) writing to his elder brother, and that the cipher is linked to the “Rassemblement” letter R1892. The link holds. Each letter is again a pair of digits 1–6 written top over bottom, and the square recovered ciphertext-only for R1892 deciphers all three cipher pages without change. Page 1 checks the key independently: a contemporary hand wrote the clear Dutch under its four cipher lines, and it agrees word for word, giving the values of a dozen word signs as well. Pages 3 and 4 are one continuous Dutch text. It reports that the officers and troops are scattered with “geen de minste saamenhang”, that the ratification (of the Prussian Peace of Basel) was published before it had arrived, and that ministers and ambassadors were sent to Paris with it. It also says that “they” persist in not recognising the present government unless no “Robespierismus” is introduced. About twenty word signs on those pages are not decoded, and the transcription from photographs of photocopies has doubtful pairs.

Page 1: four lines of vertical digit pairs and word signs, with clear Dutch written beneath — Page 1. Four cipher lines, and below them the clear Dutch: “als deezen brief geleesen hebt, dan genoomen en gebraaden…”. Image: Koninklijk Huisarchief, The Hague, Koning Willem I XVIII-3, p. 1, via DECODE R2242.

01 The document and the key

The record has four images. Page 1 holds four cipher lines and the clear text beneath. Page 2 is a clear Dutch letter headed “Den 7 Mey 1795”, beginning “Weest zoo goed en zegt aan mijn Broer dat hij een brief van mij onder couvert van mijn Banquier … ontfangen moet hebben”. It speaks of money drawn on the banker, a bill of exchange, and letters from Hamburg that never came. One word in it is ciphered: 24 43 25 55 15 15 65 = famille. Pages 3 (17 lines) and 4 (8 lines and a postscript) are all cipher.

The key is R1892’s (see that write-up): 11 t, 12 w, 13 ij, 15 l, 21 z, 22 o, 23 k, 24 f, 25 m, 31 d, 32 n, 33 v, 34 h, 35 b, 41 g, 42 u, 43 a, 44 s, 45 p, 51 c, 52 r, 55 i, 65 e; the circle with a dot is de.

02 Page 1, with its clear text

als deezen brief geleesen hebt, dan […] genoomen en gebraaden. Zo het niet verandert, moeten wy niet in de Zee. Als de Erfprins iets begeert, zoo zulks maar weet: ben tot zijn dienst, dood of zoo te leeven, is het zelfde.

“When you have read this letter, [it is] taken and roasted. If it does not change, we must not [go] to sea. If the Hereditary Prince wants anything, let him only know it: I am at his service; dead or alive, it is all the same.” Word signs fixed by this page: >⊙▱ als deezen brief; δ genoomen; H-bar zo/zoo; long S moeten; ⊙Y de Zee; >⊙♁ als de Erfprins; ÷ zoo; ɣ zulks; § maar; v tot; crossed 8 zijn; ʃ zelfde.

03 Pages 3 and 4

Deciphered with the key; | marks a word sign not decoded, [ ] a restoration.

… | onse alliansie met | geeft | ook verandering. Men heeft de officier[s] en de trouppes | wel | malkander gelegen … is | staat op veele der gedimitteerde offeciers te maaken; men zi[et] | niet veel | stellen. Ook is er geen de minste saamenhang tussen | [z]elve, zij [zijn] geheel verstrooijd … hooft … natuurlijk zoude | zig | zouden toonen hebben … de politiken ook | verslappen … op vertrouwen … men zig | niet te veel op[laten] … het point der coalitie met alle … men heeft de ratificatie ons met | gepubliceert, of schoon de ratificatie zelver nog niet gekoomen was … | Parijs | onse ministers … zijn nog | ambassadeurs gesonden om [de] ratificatie van onse | over te brengen … maar blijft persisteeren het tegenwoordig gouvernement niet te erkennen, dan zoo zij geen Robespierismus durven te introduceeren … zeer veel dispositie … is mijn respect … het geheele geselschap … groet mijn broe[der].

The news fits London in late April and early May 1795. Prussia had made peace with France at Basel on 5 April and ratified it that month; the Batavian Republic was negotiating the Treaty of The Hague (16 May); and the Orange émigré troops, dismissed or scattered after the flight of January, were the subject of R1892.

04 What remains uncertain

About twenty word signs on pages 3–4 (Λ, ∞, Δ, φ, script L, ⊥ and others) are not decoded; context proposes none of them with confidence.
The transcription was made by a language model from photographs of photocopies. Several pairs are doubtful: p3 line 1 (“wat ze id men”), p4 line 8, and single letters in saamenhang, ministers and coalitie (grade C). The overall sense of pages 3–4 is H; individual clauses between signs are M.
“Robespierismus” is clear (H); whose recognition of “the present government” is meant depends on a sign not decoded.

05 Sources

DECODE R2242, images I15891–I15894 (login); Koninklijk Huisarchief, The Hague, Koning Willem I, inv. XVIII-3.
The key: DECODE R1892, key recovered from the ciphertext alone in this project (write-up).

Transcriptions, decrypts and notes: r2242/ in the repository.