The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1893-06-15
THE PURL0INED LETTER
CONTINUED.

lllu UllLUlNLD LII lEIl
CONTINUED.
land the identification, l said. .sof
the reasoner's intellect with that of his
opponent depends, if / understand you
Alright, upon the accuracy with which
the opponents intellect is measuredy'
For its practical value it depends
upon this" replied Dupin, land the pre-
feet and his cohort fail so frequently,
first, by default of his Identification,
and, secondly, by i'll admeasurement or
rather through nonadmeasurment 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 faithful representative of
that of the mass. but when the cunning
Of the individual felon is diverse in char
acter 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 emer-
gency, 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 thi>
probing and boring and sounding and
scrutinizing with the microscope and
dividing the surface of the building in
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 inge-
nuity to which the project. in the long
routine of his duty, has been accus-
toned?
''Do youI not see he has taken it for
granted that all men proceed to conceal
letter not exactly in gimlet hole
bored in chair leg, but at least in some
out Of the way hole or corner suggested
by the same tenor of thought which
would urge man to secrete letter in q
gimlet hole bored in chair leg? And do
you not see also that such recherche
hooks 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 recherche 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 determine
ton of the seekers. And. where the case
is of importance -or what amounts to tho
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 pur-
loined letter been hidden anywhere with
in the limits of the projects examination
in other words, had the principle of its
concealment been comprehended within
the principles of the prefect- discov-
cry would have been matter altogether
beyond question. This functionary,
however, has been thoroughly mystifed,
and the remote source of his defeat lies
in the supposition that the minister is =
fool because he has acquired renown as
q poet. ALI fools are poets, This the pre-
feet feels, and he is merely guilty Of a
non distribute medii in thence inferring
that all poets are fools"
.sBut is this really the poet?' asked.
There are two brothers, know, and
both have attained reputation in letters.
The minister, believe, has writtse
learnedly on the 'Diferential Calculus.
He is a mathematician and no poet"
''You are mistaken. know him well.
He is both. As poet and mathematician
he would reason well. AS mere mathe-
matician he could not have reasoned at
all, and thus would have been at the
mercy of the prefect."
..You surprise me-" 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 g therea-
son par excellence"
..The mathematicians, grant you"
replied Dupin, .:haye done their best to
prnmulgste the popular error to which
you allude, and which is none the less
an error for it's PRONUNCIATION 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 term is
of any importance If words derive any
value from applicability-then analysis
conveys algebra about as much as, in
Latin, .anbitus' implies ambition re-
ligio' religion, Or shomines honesti. q
get Of honorable men,"
''You have quarrel ON hand. I see" "
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