The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe
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" I_fear you_are right there," said the prefect ." and now, Dupin, what would you advise me to_do ? "

" to_make a thorough re- search of_the premises ."

" that_is absolutely needless," replied G-- ." I_am not more sure that I breathe than I_am that_the letter is_not at_the hotel ."

" I_have no better advice to_give_you," said Dupin ." you_have, of_course, an accurate description of_the letter ? "

"Oh yes ! " - and here the prefect, producing a memorandum- book proceeded to read aloud a minute account of_the internal, and especially of_the external appearance of_the missing document . soon after finishing the perusal of_this description, he_took his departure, more entirely depressed in spirits than I had ever known the good gentleman before . in about a month afterwards he paid us another visit, and found us occupied very nearly as before . he_took a pipe and a chair and entered into some ordinary conversation . at_length I_said, -

" well, but G--, what of_the purloined letter ? I presume you_have at last made up your mind that_there_is no such thing as overreaching the minister ? "

" confound him, say I - yes; I_made the re- examination, however, as Dupin suggested - but it_was all labor lost, as I_knew it would_be ."

" how_much was_the reward offered, did you say ? " asked Dupin .

" why, a very great deal - a very liberal reward - I don't like to_say how_much, precisely; but one_thing i_will say, that I wouldn't mind giving my individual check for fifty thousand francs to any_one who_could obtain me that letter . the fact is, it_is becoming of more and more importance every day; and_the reward has_been lately doubled . if_it were trebled, however, I_could do no more than I_have_done ."

" why, yes," said Dupin, drawlingly, between_the whiffs of_his meerschaum, "I really - think, G--, you_have_not exerted yourself - to_the utmost in_this_matter . you_might - do a little more, i_think, eh ? "

" how ? - in what way ? '

" why - puff, puff - you_might - puff, puff - employ counsel in_the matter, eh ? - puff, puff, puff . do_you remember the story they tell of Abernethy ? "

" no; hang Abernethy ! "

" to_be_sure ! hang him and welcome . but, once upon a time, a certain rich miser conceived the design of spunging upon_this Abernethy for a medical opinion .Getting up, for_this purpose, an ordinary conversation in a private company, he insinuated his case to_the physician, as_that of an imaginary individual .

" ' we_will suppose,' said the miser, ' that his symptoms are such and such; now, doctor, what would you_have directed him to_take ? '

" ' take ! ' said Abernethy, ' why, take advice, to_be_sure .' "

" but," said the prefect, a little discomposed, " I_am perfectly willing to_take advice, and to_pay for_it . i_would really give fifty thousand francs to any_one who_would aid me in_the matter ."

" in_that case," replied Dupin, opening a drawer, and producing a check- book, " you_may as_well fill me up a check for_the amount mentioned . when_you have signed it, i_will hand you the letter ."

i_was astounded . the prefect appeared absolutely thunder- stricken . for some minutes he remained speechless and motionless, looking incredulously at my friend with open mouth, and eyes that seemed starting from their sockets; then, apparently recovering himself in some measure, he seized a pen, and after several pauses and vacant stares, finally filled up and signed a check for fifty thousand francs, and handed it across the table to Dupin . the latter examined it carefully and deposited it in_his pocket- book; then, unlocking an escritoire, took thence a letter and gave it to_the prefect . this functionary grasped it in a perfect agony of joy, opened it with atrembling hand, cast a rapid glance at its contents, and then, scrambling and struggling to_the door, rushed at_length unceremoniously from_the room and from_the house, without having uttered a syllable since Dupin had requested him to_fill up the check .

when he had gone, my friend entered into some explanations .

" the Parisian police," he_said, " are exceedingly able in their way . they_are persevering, ingenious, cunning, and thoroughly versed in_the knowledge which their duties seem chiefly to demand . thus, when G-- detailed to_us his made of searching the premises at_the hotel D--, I_felt entire confidence in_his having made a satisfactory investigation - so_far as his labors extended ."

" so_far as his labors extended ? " said I .

" yes," said Dupin ." the measures adopted were_not only the best of_their kind, but carried out to absolute perfection . had the letter been deposited within_the range of_their search, these fellows would, beyond a question, have found it ."

I merely laughed - but he_seemed quite serious in all that he_said .

" the measures, then," he continued, " were good in their kind, and well executed; their defect lay in their being inapplicable to_the case, and to_the man .a certain set of highly ingenious resources are, with_the prefect, a sort of Procrustean bed, to_which he forcibly adapts his designs . but he perpetually errs by being too deep or too shallow, for_the matter in hand; and many aschoolboy is a better reasoner than he . I_knew one about eight years_of_age, whose success at guessing in_the game of ' even and odd' attracted universal admiration . this game is simple, and_is played with marbles . one player holds in_his hand a number of_these toys, and demands of another whether that number is even or odd . if_the guess is right, the guesser wins one; if wrong, he loses one . the boy to_whom I allude won all the marbles of_the school . of_course he had some principle of guessing; and this lay in mere observation and admeasurement of_the astuteness of_his opponents . for example, an arrant simpleton is his opponent, and, holding up his closed hand, asks, ' are they even or odd ? ' our schoolboy replies, ' odd,' and loses; but upon_the second trial he wins, for he then says to himself, ' the simpleton had them even upon_the first trial, and_his amount of cunning is just sufficient to_make him have them odd upon_the second; i_will therefore guess odd;' - he guesses odd, and wins . now, with a simpleton a degree above the first, he_would_have reasoned thus: ' this fellow finds that in_the first instance I guessed odd, and, in_the second, he_will propose to himself, upon_the first impulse, a simple variation from even to odd, as did the first simpleton; but then a second thought will suggest_that this_is too simple a variation, and finally he_will decide upon putting it even as before . i_will therefore guess even;' - he guesses even, and wins . now this mode of reasoning in_the schoolboy, whom his fellows termed ' lucky,' - what, in its last analysis, is_it ? "

" it_is merely," I_said, " an identification of_the reasoner's intellect with_that of_his opponent ."

" it_is," said Dupin; " and, upon inquiring, of_the boy by what means he effected the thorough identification in_which his success consisted, I received answer as follows: ' when i_wish to_find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how wicked is any_one, or what_are his thoughts at_the moment, I fashion the expression of_my face, as accurately as possible, in accordance with_the expression of_his, and then wait to_see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart, as_if to match or correspond with_the expression .' this response of_the schoolboy lies at_the bottom of all the spurious profundity which_has been attributed to Rochefoucault, to La Bougive, to Machiavelli, and to Campanella ."

" and_the identification," I_said, " of_the reasoner's intellect with_that of_his opponent, depends, if I understand you aright, upon_the accuracy with_which the opponent's intellect is admeasured ."

" for its practical value it depends upon_this," replied Dupin; " and_the prefect and_his cohort fail so frequently, first, by default of_this identification, and, secondly, by ill-admeasurement, or rather through non-admeasurement, of_the intellect with_which they_are engaged . they consider only their own ideas of ingenuity; and, in searching for anything hidden, advert only to_the modes in_which they_would_have hidden it . they_are right in_this much - that their own ingenuity is a faithful representative of_that of_the mass; but when_the cunning of_the individual felon is diverse in character from their own, the felon foils them, of_course . this always happens when it_is above their own, and very usually when it_is below . they_have no variation of principle in their investigations; at best, when urged by some unusual emergency - by some extraordinary reward - they extend or exaggerate their old modes of practice, without touching their principles . what, for example, in this_case of D--, has_been_done to vary the principle of action ? what_is all this boring, and probing, and sounding, and scrutinizing with_the microscope and dividing the surface of_the building into registered square inches - what_is it all but an exaggeration of_the application of_the one principle or set of principles of search, which are based upon_the one set of notions regarding human ingenuity, to_which_the prefect, in_the long routine of_his duty, has_been accustomed ? do_you not see he has taken it for granted that all men proceed to conceal a letter, - not exactly in a gimlet hole bored in a chair- leg - but, at_least, in some out- of- the- way hole or corner suggested by_the same tenor of thought which would urge a man to secrete a letter in a gimlet- hole bored in a chair- leg ? and do_you not see also, that such recherchs nooks for concealment are adapted only for ordinary occasions, and would_be adopted only by ordinary intellects; for, in all cases of concealment, a disposal of_the article concealed - a disposal of it in_this recherch manner, - is, in_the very first instance, presumable and presumed; and thus its discovery depends, not at all upon_the acumen, but altogether upon_the mere care, patience, and determination of_the seekers; and where the case is of importance - or, what amounts to_the same thing in_the policial eyes, when_the reward is of magnitude, - the qualities in_question have never been known to fail . you_will now understand what I meant in suggesting that, had the purloined letter been hidden any where within_the limits of_the prefect's examination - in other words, had the principle of_its concealment been comprehended within_the principles of_the prefect - its discovery would_have_been a matter altogether beyond question . this functionary, however, has_been thoroughly mystified; and_the remote source of_his defeat lies in_the supposition that_the minister is a fool, because he has acquired renown as a poet . all fools are poets; this the prefect feels; and he_is merely guilty of anon distributio medii in thence inferring that all poets are fools ."

" but is_this really the poet ? " I asked ." there_are two brothers, I_know; and both have attained reputation in letters . the minister I believe has_written learnedly on_the differential Calculus . he_is a mathematician, and no poet ."

" you_are mistaken; I_know him well; he_is both . as poet and mathematician, he_would reason well; as mere mathematician, he_could_not have reasoned at all, and thus would_have_been at_the mercy of_the prefect ."

" you surprise me," I_said, " by_these opinions, which_have been contradicted by_the voice of_the world . you_do_not mean to set at naught the well- digested idea of centuries . the mathematical reason has long been regarded as_the reason par excellence ."

" 'Il y aparir,' " replied Dupin, quoting from Chamfort, " 'que toute ide publique, toute convention reue EST une sottise, car elle aconvenue au plus grand nombre .' the mathematicians, I grant you, have_done their best to promulgate the popular error to_which you allude, and which_is none the less an error for its promulgation as truth . with an art worthy a better cause, for example, they_have insinuated the term ' analysis' into application to algebra . the French are the originators of_this particular deception; but if a term is of any importance - if words derive any value from applicability - then ' analysis' conveys ' algebra' about as_much as, in Latin, 'ambitus' implies ' ambition,' 'religio' ' religion,' or 'homines honesti,' a set of honorablemen ."

" you_have a quarrel on hand, I_see," said I, " with some_of_the algebraists of Paris; but proceed ."

"I dispute the availability, and thus the value, of_that reason which_is cultivated in any especial form other_than the abstractly logical .I dispute, in_particular, the reason educed by mathematical study . the mathematics are the science of form and quantity; mathematical reasoning is merely logic applied to observation upon form and quantity . the great error lies in supposing that even the truths of what_is called pure algebra, are abstract or general truths . and this error is so egregious that I_am confounded at_the universality with_which it_has_been received . mathematical axioms are notaxioms of general truth . what_is true of relation - of form and quantity - is often grossly false in regard to morals, for example . in_this latter science it_is very usually untrue that_the aggregated parts are equal to_the whole . in chemistry also the axiom fails . in_the consideration of motive it fails; for two motives, each of a given value, have_not, necessarily, a value when united, equal to_the sum of_their values apart . there_are numerous other mathematical truths which are only truths within_the limits of relation . but the mathematician argues, from_his finite truths, through habit, as if_they were of an absolutely general applicability - as_the world indeed imagines them to_be . Bryant, in_his very learned ' mythology,' mentions an analogous source of error, when he_says that ' although the pagan fables are_not believed, yet we forget ourselves continually, and make inferences from_them as existing realities .' with_the algebraists, however, who_are Pagans themselves, the ' pagan fables' are believed, and_the inferences are made, not so_much through lapse of memory, as through an unaccountable addling of_the brains . in short, I never yet encountered the mere mathematician who_could_be trusted out of equal roots, or one who did_not clandestinely hold it as a point of_his faith that x2+ PX was absolutely and unconditionally equal to q . say to one_of_these gentlemen, by way of experiment, if_you please, that you believe occasions may occur where x2+ PX is_not altogether equal to q, and, having made him understand what you mean, get out of_his reach as speedily as convenient, for,

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