Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-11-30
THE RUB lIORGTE.
Edgar Allan Poe's Story Of the
Murders There.
A FAMOUS STORY OF BLOOD.

London.
What song the sirens sang, or what name
Achilles assumed when he hid himself among
women, although puzzng questions, are not be-
yond all conjecture-Sir Thomas Browne.
The mental features discoursed of as
the analytical are, in themselves, but
little susceptible of analysis. We appre-
ciate them only in their effects. We know
of them, among other things, that they
are always to their possessor, when inor-
dinately possessed, source of the live
lest enjoyment AS the strong man
exults in his physical ability, delighting
in such exercises as call his muscles into
action, so glories the analyst in that mental
activity which disadvantages. He derives
pleasure from even the most trivial occu-
pations bringing his talent into play. He
IS fond of enig1nas. of conundrums, of
hieroglyphics, exhibiting in his solutions
of each a degree of acumen which appears
to the ordinary apprehension preterna-
tural. His results, brought about by the
very soul and essence of method, have, In
the truth, the whole air of intuition.
The faculty of resolution is possibly
much invigorated by mathematical study,
and especially by that highest branch of
it which, unjustly, and merely on account
of its retrograde operations, has been
called, as if par excellence, analysis Yet
to calculate is not in itself to analyze. A
chess player, for example, does the one,
without effort at the other 1t follows
that the game of chess, in its effects upon
mental character, is greatly misunder-
stood. am not now writing a treatise,
but simply prefacing a somewhat peculiar
narrative by observations very much at
random. | will, therefore, take occasion
81 al Ia rrlo Of ha
reflective intellect are more decidedly and
more usefully tasled by the unostenta-
tious game of draughts than by all the
elaborate frivolity of chess. In this latter,
where the pieces have different and bizarre
motions, with various and variable values,
what is only complex is mistaken "a not
unusual error) for what is profound. The
attention is here called powerfully into
play If it flag for an instant an over
sight is committed, resulting in injury or
defeat The possible moves being not
only manifold, but involute, the chances
of such oversights are multiplied, and in
nine cases ont Of ten it is the more concen
trative rather than the more acute player
who conquers. In draughts, on the con-
trary, where the moves are unique and
have but little variation, the probabili-
ties of inadvertence are diminished and
the mere attention being left compare
lively unemployed, what advantages are
obtained by either party are obtained by
superior acumen. To be less abstract,
let us suppose a game of draughts where
the pieces are reduced to four kings, and
where, of course, no oversight is to be eX-
pected. 1t is obvious that here the vic
tory can be decided (the players being at
all equaD only by some recherche move
ment. the result of some strong eXertion
of the intellect. Deprived of ordinary re-
sources, the analyst throws himself into
the spirit of his opponent, identifies him
self Herewith, and not unfrequently sees
thus, at glance, the sole methods (some-
times indeed absurdly simple ones) by
which he may seduce into error or hurry
into miscalculation.
Whist has long been noted for its in
fuence upon what is termed the calculat-
ing power; and men Of the highest order
of intellect have been known to take an
apparently unaccountable delight in it,
while eschewing chess as frivolous. Be-
You'd doubt there is nothing of similar
nature so greatly tasking the faculty of
analysis The best chess player in Chris
tendon may be little more than the best
player of chess, but proficiency in whist
implies capacity for success in all these
more important undertakings where mind
fciency / mean that perfection in the
game which includes a comprehension of
all the sources whence legitimate advan-
tage may be derived These are not only
manifold, but multiform, and lie fire.
quently among recesses of thought alto
gether inaccessible to the ordinary under
standing. To observe attentively. is to
remember distinctly, and so far the con-
centrative chess player will do very well
at whist while the rules of Hoyle chem
selves based upon the mere mechanism of
the game) are sufficiently and generally
comprehensive. Thus to have reten-
tive memory. and to proceed by 1.-THE
book" are points commonly regarded as
the sum total of good playing, But it
is in matters beyond the limits of mere
rule that the skill of the analyst is
evinced. He makes, in silence, host of
observations and differences. &c. per-
haps, do his companions; and the differ
ence in the extent of the information OBJ
tanned lies not 50 much in the validity of
the inference as in the quality of the OBJ
servatioa. The necessary knowledge is
that of what to observe. One player con-
fines himself not at all; nor, because the
game i, the object, does he reject deduc-
tions from things external to the game.
He examines the countenance of his part
ner, comparing 1t carefully with that of
each of his opponents. He considers the
mode Of asserting the cards in each hand,
often counting trump by trump, and hon
or by honor, through the glances bestowed
by their holders upon each. He notes
every variation of face as the play pro-
gresses gathering a fund of thought
from the differences in the expression of
certainty, of surprise, of triumph, OF
chagrin. From the manner of gathering
up trick he judges whether the person
taking 1t can make another in the suit.
He recognizes what is played through
feint, by the air with which it is thrown
upon the table. A casual or inadvertent
word; the accidental dropping or turning
of a card, with the accompanying anxiety
or carelessness in regard to its conceal
ment; the counting Of the tricks, with
the order of their arrangement; embar.
rassment, hesitation, eagerness or trepi-
dation-all afford, to his apparently intu-
tive perception, indications of the true
state Of affairs The first two or three
rounda having 'heen Dlavad ba Ia In fu1l