1 00:00:01,159 --> 00:00:05,919 Speaker 1: The purloined letter by Edgar Allan Poe. At Paris, just 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,560 after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of eighteen, 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,119 I was enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and Amersham 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,320 in company with my friend see Augustine Dupin in his 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,519 little back library or book closet Altrosse Mae, number thirty three, 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:24,199 Rue Dunot, Farbourg, Saint Germain. For one hour at least 7 00:00:24,199 --> 00:00:27,000 we had maintained a profound silence, while each to any 8 00:00:27,039 --> 00:00:30,480 casual observer might have seemed intently exclusively occupied with the 9 00:00:30,559 --> 00:00:33,479 curling eddies of smoke that oppressed the atmosphere of the chamber. 10 00:00:34,119 --> 00:00:37,399 For myself, however, I was mentally discussing certain topics which 11 00:00:37,399 --> 00:00:39,920 had formed matter for conversation between us at an earlier 12 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,280 period of the evening. I mean the affair of the 13 00:00:42,359 --> 00:00:45,479 Rue Morgue and the mystery attending the murder of Marie Rogett. 14 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,719 I looked upon it therefore as something of a coincidence. 15 00:00:48,799 --> 00:00:50,799 When the door of our apartment was thrown open and 16 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,359 admitted our old acquaintance, Monsieur gi, the Prefect of the 17 00:00:54,399 --> 00:00:58,320 Parisian Police, we gave him a hearty welcome, for there 18 00:00:58,399 --> 00:01:00,560 was nearly half as much of the entertainer as of 19 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,240 the contemptible about the man, and we had not seen 20 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,439 him for several years. We had been sitting in the dark, 21 00:01:06,719 --> 00:01:08,760 and d Penn now rose for the purpose of lighting 22 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,040 a lamp, but sat down again without doing so, upon 23 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,439 g saying that he had called to consult us, or 24 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,000 rather to ask the opinion of my friend, about some 25 00:01:17,079 --> 00:01:19,599 official business which had occasioned a great deal of trouble. 26 00:01:20,519 --> 00:01:23,719 If it is of any point requiring reflection, observed du Penn, 27 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:26,519 as he forbore to unkindle the wick, we shall examine 28 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,319 it to better purpose than the dark. That is another 29 00:01:29,359 --> 00:01:31,799 of your odd notions, said the Prefect, who had a 30 00:01:31,799 --> 00:01:34,799 fashion of calling everything odd that was beyond his comprehension, 31 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,200 and thus lived amid an absolute legion of oddities. Very true, 32 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,680 said de Penn, as he supplied his visitor with a 33 00:01:41,719 --> 00:01:45,239 pipe and rolled towards him a comfortable chair. And what 34 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:47,640 is a difficulty, now, I asked, nothing more in the 35 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,680 assassination way, I hope, oh, no, nothing of that nature. 36 00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:54,920 The fact is the business is very simple, indeed, and 37 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,239 I make no doubt that we can manage it. Sufficiently 38 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,799 well ourselves. But then I thought Dupin would like to 39 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,239 hear the details of it, because it is so excessively odd, 40 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:08,360 simple and odd, said Dupin. Why yes, and not exactly 41 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,840 that either. The fact is, we have all been a 42 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,520 good deal puzzled because the affair is so simple and 43 00:02:13,599 --> 00:02:17,439 yet baffles us altogether. Perhaps it is a very simplicity 44 00:02:17,439 --> 00:02:19,800 of the thing which puts you at fault, said my friend. 45 00:02:20,599 --> 00:02:24,439 What nonsense you do talk, replied the Prefect, laughing heartily. 46 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,199 Perhaps the mystery is a little too plain, said Dupin. Oh, 47 00:02:29,199 --> 00:02:32,400 good heavens, who ever heard of such an idea? A 48 00:02:32,439 --> 00:02:37,120 little too self evident? Ha ha ho, roared our visitor 49 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,159 profoundly amused, Oh, Dupin, you will be the death of me. Yet, 50 00:02:41,879 --> 00:02:45,199 And what, after all is the matter at hand? I asked. Well, 51 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,520 I will tell you, replied the Prefect, as he gave 52 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,080 a long, steady and contemplative puff and settled himself into 53 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,879 the chair. I will tell you in a few words. 54 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,719 But before I begin, let me caution you that this 55 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,520 is an affair demanding the greatest secrecy, and that I 56 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,599 should probably lose the position I now hold were it 57 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,080 known that I confided it to any one proceed, said I, 58 00:03:06,879 --> 00:03:11,080 or not, said Dupin, Well, then I have received personal 59 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,000 information from a very high quarter that a certain document 60 00:03:14,039 --> 00:03:17,240 of the last importance has been purloined from the royal apartments. 61 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,680 The individual who purloined it is known, this is beyond 62 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,520 a doubt, he was seen to take it. It is 63 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,039 known also that it still remains in his possession. How 64 00:03:27,159 --> 00:03:31,199 is this known, asked Dupin It is clearly inferred, replied 65 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,960 the Prefect, from the nature of the document, and from 66 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,280 the non appearance of certain results which would at once 67 00:03:36,319 --> 00:03:39,280 arise from its passing out of the robber's possession, that 68 00:03:39,479 --> 00:03:41,639 is to say, from his employing it as he must 69 00:03:41,719 --> 00:03:44,680 design in the end to employ it. Be a little 70 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,120 more explicit, I said, well, I may venture so far 71 00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:50,280 as to say that the paper gives its holder a 72 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,039 certain power in a certain quarter, where such power is 73 00:03:53,039 --> 00:03:56,879 immensely valuable. The Prefect was fond of the cant of diplomacy. 74 00:03:57,439 --> 00:04:01,919 Still I do not quite understand, said dupet No. Well, 75 00:04:02,479 --> 00:04:05,080 the disclosure of the document to a third person, who 76 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,960 shall be nameless, would bring in question the honor of 77 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,400 a personage of most exalted station. And this fact gives 78 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,719 the holder of the document an ascendency over the illustrious personage, 79 00:04:14,719 --> 00:04:18,639 whose honor and peace are so jeopardized. But this ascendancy, 80 00:04:18,759 --> 00:04:21,360 I interposed, would depend upon the robber's knowledge of the 81 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:25,000 loser's knowledge of the robber. Who would dare the thief? 82 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:29,000 Said G is the Minister d who dares all things, 83 00:04:29,319 --> 00:04:32,399 those unbecoming as well as those becoming a man. The 84 00:04:32,399 --> 00:04:35,040 method of the theft was not less ingenious than bold. 85 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,480 The document in question, a letter to be frank, had 86 00:04:38,519 --> 00:04:41,040 been received by the personage rob while alone in the 87 00:04:41,079 --> 00:04:44,879 royal boudoir. During its perusal, she was suddenly interrupted by 88 00:04:44,879 --> 00:04:47,720 the entrance of the other exalted personage, from whom especially 89 00:04:47,759 --> 00:04:50,639 it was her wish to conceal it. After a hurried, 90 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,240 in vain endeavor to thrust it into a drawer, she 91 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,519 was forced to place it open, as it was upon 92 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,079 a table. The address, however, was uppermost, and the contents 93 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:03,720 thus unexposed. The letter escaped notice. At this juncture enters 94 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,319 the Minister d. His Lynk's eye immediately perceives the paper, 95 00:05:07,759 --> 00:05:11,600 recognizes the handwriting of the address, observes the confusion of 96 00:05:11,639 --> 00:05:15,800 the personage addressed, and fathoms her secret. After some business 97 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,439 transaction hurried through in his ordinary manner, he produces a 98 00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:22,439 letter somewhat similar to the one in question, opens it, 99 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:24,959 pretends to read it, and then places it in a 100 00:05:24,959 --> 00:05:28,480 close juxtaposition to the other. Again, he converses for some 101 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,160 fifteen minutes upon the public affairs at length. In taking leave, 102 00:05:32,199 --> 00:05:34,240 he takes also from the table the letter to which 103 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,360 he has no claim its rightful owner, Saul, but of 104 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,480 course dared not call attention to the act and the 105 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:41,800 presence of the third personage who stood at her elbow, 106 00:05:42,319 --> 00:05:45,160 the Minister de Campt, leaving his own letter one of 107 00:05:45,199 --> 00:05:49,560 no importance, upon the table here, then said Dependamy, you 108 00:05:49,639 --> 00:05:52,439 have precisely what you demand to make the ascendancy complete. 109 00:05:52,759 --> 00:05:56,439 The robber's knowledge of the loser's knowledge of the robber, yes, 110 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,560 replied the Prefect. And the power thus attained has for 111 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,480 some month been wielded for political purposes to a very 112 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,519 dangerous extent. The person who is robbed is more thoroughly 113 00:06:05,519 --> 00:06:08,319 convinced every day of the necessity of reclaiming her letter. 114 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,600 But this, of course cannot be done openly. In fine, 115 00:06:11,879 --> 00:06:14,600 driven to despair, she has committed the matter to me, 116 00:06:15,399 --> 00:06:18,480 than whom said du pinn amid a perfect whirlwind of smoke. 117 00:06:18,759 --> 00:06:21,720 No more sagacious agent could I suppose be desired, or 118 00:06:21,759 --> 00:06:25,560 even imagined. You flatter me, replied the Prefect. But it 119 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,399 is possible that some such opinion may have been entertained. 120 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,199 It is clear, said I, as you observe that the 121 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:33,680 letter is still in the possession of the minister. Since 122 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,360 it is this possession, and not any employment of the letter, 123 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:41,759 which bestows the power. With the employment, the power departs, true, 124 00:06:41,959 --> 00:06:45,399 said she, And upon this conviction I proceed. My first 125 00:06:45,399 --> 00:06:47,720 care was to make a thorough ser to the Minister's hotel, 126 00:06:48,319 --> 00:06:50,800 and here my chief embarrassment lay in the necessity of 127 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:54,040 searching without his knowledge. Beyond all things, I have been 128 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,240 warned of the danger which would result from giving him 129 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,519 reason to suspect our design. But said I, you are 130 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,800 quite off in these investigations. The Parisian police have done 131 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,160 this thing often before. Oh yes, And for this reason 132 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,560 I did not despair. The habits of the minister gave 133 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,600 me too a great advantage. He is frequently absent from 134 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,600 home all night. His servants are by no means numerous. 135 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,639 They sleep at a distance from their master's apartment, and 136 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,439 being chiefly Neapolitans are readily made drunk. I have keys, 137 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,000 as you know, with which I can open any chamber 138 00:07:24,079 --> 00:07:26,759 or cabinet in Paris. For three months a night is 139 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:28,800 not passed during the greater part of which I have 140 00:07:28,879 --> 00:07:32,720 not been engaged personally in ransacking the d Hotel. My 141 00:07:32,839 --> 00:07:35,600 honor is interested, and to mention a great secret the 142 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,720 reward is enormous. So I did not abandon the search 143 00:07:38,759 --> 00:07:41,040 until I have become fully satisfied that the thief is 144 00:07:41,079 --> 00:07:43,839 a more astute man than myself. I fancy that I 145 00:07:43,879 --> 00:07:46,360 am investigated every nook and corner of the premises in 146 00:07:46,399 --> 00:07:48,639 which it is possible that a paper can be concealed. 147 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,040 But is it not possible? I suggested that although the 148 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,279 letter may be in possession of the Minister, as an 149 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,680 unquestioningly is, he may have concealed it elsewhere than upon 150 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,360 his own premises. This is barely possible, said du Penn. 151 00:08:01,839 --> 00:08:04,959 The present peculiar condition of affairs at court, and especially 152 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,360 those entrings in which d is known to be involved, 153 00:08:07,759 --> 00:08:11,560 would render the instant availability of the document its susceptibility 154 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,800 of being produced at a moment's notice, a point of 155 00:08:13,839 --> 00:08:18,240 nearly equal importance with its possession, its susceptibility of being produced, 156 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:23,720 said I, that is to say, of being destroyed, said Dupin. True, 157 00:08:23,879 --> 00:08:26,839 I observed the paper is clearly then upon the premises. 158 00:08:27,399 --> 00:08:29,319 As for its being upon the person of the minister, 159 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,080 we may consider that as out of the question entirely, 160 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,000 said the Prefect. He has been twice waylaid as if 161 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,759 by footpads, and his person rigorously searched under my own inspection. 162 00:08:40,399 --> 00:08:43,320 You might have spared yourself this trouble, said Dupinn. D 163 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,799 I presume is not altogether a fool, and if not, 164 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,799 must have anticipated these waylayings. As a matter of course, 165 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,960 not altogether a fool, said g But then he's a poet, 166 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,759 which I take to be only one removed from a fool. True, 167 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,320 said de Penn, after a long and thought full WHI 168 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,159 from his Meersham. Although I have been guilty of a 169 00:09:03,159 --> 00:09:07,600 certain dogrel myself. Suppose you detail, said I, the particulars 170 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,000 of your search. Why the fact is, we took our time, 171 00:09:11,159 --> 00:09:14,320 and we searched everywhere. I have had long experience in 172 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,559 these affairs. I took the entire building, room by room, 173 00:09:17,879 --> 00:09:20,600 devoting the nights of a whole week to each We 174 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,840 examined first the furniture of each apartment. We opened every 175 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,440 possible drawer, And I presume you know that to a 176 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,159 properly trained police agent such a thing as a secret 177 00:09:29,279 --> 00:09:32,279 drawer as impossible. Any man is adult who permits a 178 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,000 secret drawer to escape him in a search of this kind. 179 00:09:35,279 --> 00:09:37,759 The thing is so plain. There is a certain amount 180 00:09:37,799 --> 00:09:40,600 of bulk of space to be accounted for in every cabinet. 181 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,000 Then we have accurate rules. The fiftieth part of a 182 00:09:44,039 --> 00:09:47,360 line could not escape us. After the cabinets, we took chairs. 183 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,320 The cushions we probe with fine long needles. You will 184 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,720 see me employ. From the tables we removed tops. Why so, 185 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,759 sometimes the top of a table or other similarly arranged 186 00:09:58,759 --> 00:10:01,480 piece of furniture is removed by the person wishing to 187 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,840 conceal an article. Then the leg is excavated, the article 188 00:10:04,879 --> 00:10:08,799 deposited within the cavity, and the top replaced. The bottoms 189 00:10:08,799 --> 00:10:10,879 and tops of bedpost are employed in the same way. 190 00:10:11,759 --> 00:10:14,440 But could not the cavity be detected by sounding? I asked, 191 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,320 by no means if when the article is deposited, a 192 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,600 sufficient wadding of cotton be placed around it. Besides, in 193 00:10:21,639 --> 00:10:25,200 our case, we were obliged to proceed without noise. But 194 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,320 you could not have removed You could not have taken 195 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,600 to pieces all articles of furniture in which it would 196 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:31,639 have been possible to make a deposit in the manner 197 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,320 you mentioned. A letter may be compressed into a thin 198 00:10:34,399 --> 00:10:37,360 spiral roll, not differing much in shape or bulk, from 199 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:39,759 a large knitting needle, and in this form it might 200 00:10:39,759 --> 00:10:41,799 be inserted into the rung of a chair, for example. 201 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,559 You did not take to pieces all the chairs, certainly not. 202 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,639 But we did better. We examined the rungs of every 203 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:51,320 chair in the hotel, and indeed the jointings of every 204 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,799 description of furniture, by the aid of a most powerful microscope. 205 00:10:55,279 --> 00:10:57,679 Had there been any traces of recent disturbance, we should 206 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,600 not have failed to detect it instantly. A single grain 207 00:11:00,639 --> 00:11:02,879 of gimlet dust, for example, would have been as obvious 208 00:11:02,879 --> 00:11:06,320 as an apple. Any disorder to the gluing, any unusual 209 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,279 gapping in the joints, would have sufficed to ensure detection. 210 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,559 I presume you looked to the mirrors between the boards 211 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:14,320 and the plate, seeing you probe the beds and the 212 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,759 bed clothes, as well as the curtains and carpets that, 213 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,200 of course, And when we had absolutely completed every particle 214 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:23,679 of the furniture in this way, then we examined the 215 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:27,559 house itself. We divided its entire service into compartments, which 216 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,559 we numbered so that none might be missed. Then we 217 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,320 scrutinized each individual square inch throughout the premises, including the 218 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,240 two houses immediately adjoining with the microscope. As before the 219 00:11:38,279 --> 00:11:41,159 two houses adjoining, I exclaimed, you must have had a 220 00:11:41,159 --> 00:11:44,559 great deal of trouble. We had, but the reward offered 221 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:49,120 as prodigious. You include the grounds about the houses. All 222 00:11:49,159 --> 00:11:52,200 the grounds are paved with brick. They gave us comparatively 223 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,080 little trouble. We examined the moss between the bricks and 224 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,600 found it undisturbed. You looked among these papers, of course, 225 00:11:58,639 --> 00:12:01,919 sent into the books of the library. Certainly we opened 226 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,120 every package and parcel. We not only opened every book, 227 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,440 but we turned over every leaf in each volume, not 228 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,080 contenting ourselves with a mere shake. According to the fashion 229 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:12,840 of some of our police officers, we also measured the 230 00:12:12,879 --> 00:12:15,799 thickness of every book cover with the most accurate ad measurement, 231 00:12:16,039 --> 00:12:18,960 and applied to each the most jealous scrutiny of the microscope. 232 00:12:19,399 --> 00:12:21,840 Had any of the bindings been recently meddled with, it 233 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,039 would have been utterly impossible that the fact should have 234 00:12:24,159 --> 00:12:27,519 escaped observation some five or six volumes just from the 235 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,080 hands of the binder. We carefully probed longitudely with the needles. 236 00:12:31,879 --> 00:12:35,720 You explored the floors beneath the carpets. Beyond doubt. We 237 00:12:35,759 --> 00:12:38,759 removed every carpet and examined the boards with the microscope 238 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:43,080 and the paper on the walls. Yes, you looked into 239 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,000 the cellars. We did. Then, I said, you have been 240 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,440 making a miscalculation, and the letter is not upon the 241 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,799 premises as you suppose. I fear you are right there, 242 00:12:52,879 --> 00:12:55,480 said the Prefect, And now do Penn. What would you 243 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,519 advise me to do to make a thorough research of 244 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:02,840 the premises? That is absolutely needless, replied g I am 245 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:04,480 not more sure than I breathe than I am that 246 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,279 letter as not at the hotel. I have no better 247 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,080 advice to give you, said Dupinn. You have, of course 248 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,759 an accurate description of the letter. Oh yes, and here 249 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,080 the Prefect, producing a memorandum book, proceeded to read aloud 250 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,440 of minute account of the internal and especially of the 251 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,960 external appearance of the missing document. Soon after finishing the 252 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,519 perusal of this description, he took his departure more entirely 253 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:28,600 depressed in spirits than I have ever known the good 254 00:13:28,639 --> 00:13:31,919 gentleman before. In about a month afterwards, he paid us 255 00:13:31,919 --> 00:13:35,120 another visit and found us occupied very nearly as before. 256 00:13:35,639 --> 00:13:37,679 He took a pipe in a chair and entered into 257 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,679 some ordinary conversation. At length, I said, well, but, g 258 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,159 what of the purloined letter? I presume you have at 259 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:45,879 last made up your mind that there is no such 260 00:13:45,919 --> 00:13:49,840 thing as overreaching. The minister confound him say, I, yes, 261 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,080 I made the re examination however, as Tupenn suggested, But 262 00:13:53,159 --> 00:13:55,399 it was all labor lost, as I knew it would be. 263 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,960 How much was the reward offered, did you say, asked Dupin. 264 00:13:59,519 --> 00:14:02,559 Why A very great deal, a very liberal reward. I 265 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,080 don't like to say how much precisely, but one thing 266 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,720 I will say that I wouldn't mind giving my individual 267 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,360 check for fifty thousand francs to anyone who could obtain 268 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,159 me that letter. The fact is it is becoming of 269 00:14:13,159 --> 00:14:15,679 more and more importance every day, and the reward has 270 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:18,679 been lately doubled. If it were troubled however, I could 271 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,559 do no more than I have done. Why, yes, said 272 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,559 de Penn, drawingly between the whists of his mersham, I 273 00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:27,320 really think, g you have not exerted yourself to the 274 00:14:27,399 --> 00:14:30,120 utmost in this manner. You might do a little more, 275 00:14:30,159 --> 00:14:34,320 I think, Eh, how in what way? Why you might 276 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,320 employ counsel in the matter? Eh? Do you remember the 277 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:42,279 story they tell of Abernathy? No, hang Abernathy, to be sure, 278 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,320 hang him and welcome. But once upon a time a 279 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,200 certain rich miser conceived the design of sponging upon this 280 00:14:48,279 --> 00:14:51,720 Abernathy for a medical opinion. Getting up for this purpose 281 00:14:51,799 --> 00:14:55,000 an ordinary conversation in a private company, he insinuated his 282 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:57,879 case to the position as that of an ordinary individual. 283 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,799 We will suppose, said the miser, that his symptoms are 284 00:15:00,799 --> 00:15:03,559 such and such. Now, doctor, what would you have directed 285 00:15:03,639 --> 00:15:06,960 him to take? Take? Said Abernethy? Why take advice? To 286 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,759 be sure? But said the prefect, a little discomposed, I 287 00:15:10,799 --> 00:15:13,200 am perfectly willing to take advice and pay for it. 288 00:15:13,759 --> 00:15:16,159 I would really give fifty thousand francs to anyone who 289 00:15:16,159 --> 00:15:19,480 would aid me in the matter. In that case, replied Dupinn, 290 00:15:19,559 --> 00:15:21,960 opening a drawer and producing a check book, you may 291 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,080 as well. Fhe me up a check for the amount mentioned. 292 00:15:24,519 --> 00:15:26,679 When you have signed it, I will hand you the letter. 293 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,639 I was astonished. The Prefect appeared absolutely thunder stricken for 294 00:15:31,679 --> 00:15:35,279 some minutes. He remained speechless and motionless, looking incredulously at 295 00:15:35,279 --> 00:15:37,840 my friend with open mouth and eyes at steam staring 296 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,480 from their sockets. Then, apparently recovering himself in some measure, 297 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,960 he seized a pen, and, after several pauses and vacant stairs, 298 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,039 finally filled up and signed a check for fifty thousand francs, 299 00:15:48,399 --> 00:15:51,399 and handed it across the table to dupin The latter 300 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,080 examined it carefully and deposited in his pocket book, then, 301 00:15:55,159 --> 00:15:58,039 unlocking an escritoire, took thence a letter and gave it 302 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,000 to the Prefect. This functionary grasp it in a perfect 303 00:16:01,039 --> 00:16:04,000 agony of joy, opened it with a trembling hand, cast 304 00:16:04,039 --> 00:16:06,799 a rapid glance at its contents, and then, scrambling and 305 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,919 struggling to the door, rushed at length, unceremoniously from the 306 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,879 room and from the house, without having uttered a syllable, 307 00:16:12,919 --> 00:16:16,000 since Dupenna requested him to fill up the check. When 308 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,360 he had gone, my friend entered into some explanations the 309 00:16:19,399 --> 00:16:22,639 Parisian police, he said, are exceedingly able in their way. 310 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,360 They are persevering, ingenious, cunning, and thoroughly versed in the knowledge, 311 00:16:27,399 --> 00:16:30,679 which their duties seemed chiefly to demand. Thus, when g 312 00:16:30,879 --> 00:16:33,320 detailed to us his mode of searching the premises at 313 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,360 the hotel d, I felt entire confidence in his having 314 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,080 made a satisfactory investigation, so far as his labors extended. 315 00:16:40,559 --> 00:16:44,120 So far as his labors extended, said I, yes, said 316 00:16:44,159 --> 00:16:46,840 de Penn. The measures adopted were not only the best 317 00:16:46,919 --> 00:16:50,360 of their kind, but carried out to absolute perfection. Had 318 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:52,720 the letter been deposited within the range of their search, 319 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,080 these fellows would beyond the question, have found it. I 320 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,759 merely laughed. But he seemed quite serious in all that 321 00:16:58,799 --> 00:17:02,279 he said. The measures, then, he continued, were good in 322 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,720 their kind and well executed. Their defect lay in their 323 00:17:05,759 --> 00:17:09,160 being inapplicable to the case and to the man. A 324 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:12,640 certain set of highly ingenious resources are with the prefect 325 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,240 a sort of procrustian bed to which he forcibly adopts 326 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,680 his designs. But he perpetually errs by being too deep 327 00:17:19,759 --> 00:17:22,440 or too shallow for the matter in hand. And many 328 00:17:22,519 --> 00:17:25,400 a schoolboy is a better reasoner than he I knew, 329 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:27,960 one of about eight years of age, whose success at 330 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,279 guessing in the game of even and odd attracted universal admiration. 331 00:17:32,039 --> 00:17:35,000 This game is simple and is played with marbles. One 332 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,359 player holds in his hands a number of these toys 333 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,400 and demands of another whether that number is even or odd. 334 00:17:40,799 --> 00:17:43,279 If the guess is right, the guests are wins one. 335 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,400 If wrong, he loses. One. The boy to whom I 336 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,279 allude when all the marbles of the school, of course, 337 00:17:49,319 --> 00:17:52,000 he has some principle of guessing, and this lay in 338 00:17:52,079 --> 00:17:55,519 mere observation and add measurement of the astuteness of his opponents. 339 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,359 For example, an errant simpleton is his opponent, and, holding 340 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,319 up his clothes hands, asked are they even or odd? 341 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,119 Our school boy replies odd and loses. But upon the 342 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,000 second trial he wins. For then he says to himself, 343 00:18:09,279 --> 00:18:12,000 the simpleton had them even upon the first trial, and 344 00:18:12,079 --> 00:18:14,319 his amount of cunning is just sufficient to make him 345 00:18:14,319 --> 00:18:17,359 have them odd upon the second. I will therefore guess odd. 346 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,960 He guesses odd and wins. Now with a simpleton a 347 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,960 degree above the first he would have reasoned. Thus this 348 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,720 fellow finds it in the first instance, I guessed odd, 349 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,640 and in the second he will propose to himself, upon 350 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,720 the first impulse, a simple variation from even to odd, 351 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,599 as did the first simpleton. But then a second thought 352 00:18:35,599 --> 00:18:38,440 will suggest that this is too simple a variation, and 353 00:18:38,519 --> 00:18:41,119 finally he will decide upon putting it even as before. 354 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:45,079 I will therefore guess even, He guesses even, and wins. 355 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,160 Now this mode of reasoning in the schoolboy, whom his 356 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:52,880 fellow is termed lucky, what in its last analysis is it? 357 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,759 It is merely, I said, an identification of the reasoner's 358 00:18:55,759 --> 00:18:58,759 intellect with that of his opponent, It is said de 359 00:18:58,839 --> 00:19:02,119 penn On. Inquiring of the boy by what means he 360 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,880 affected the thorough identification in which his success consisted, I 361 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,680 received an answer as follows. When I wish to find 362 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,160 out how wise or how stupid, or how good or 363 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,799 how wicked is anyone, or what are his thoughts at 364 00:19:13,799 --> 00:19:16,759 the moment, I fashion the expression of my face as 365 00:19:16,839 --> 00:19:19,799 accurately as possible, in accordance with the expression of his, 366 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,880 and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise 367 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,160 in my mind or heart, as if to match or 368 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:29,240 correspond with the expression. This response of the schoolboy lies 369 00:19:29,279 --> 00:19:31,640 at the bottom of all the spurious profundity which has 370 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:36,559 been attributed to Roushfakot, to Labugiv, to Machiavelli, and to Campignela. 371 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,480 And the identification I said, of the reasoner's intellect with 372 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,160 that of his opponent depends, if I understand, you are right, 373 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,000 upon the accuracy from which the opponent's intellect is at 374 00:19:46,039 --> 00:19:50,359 measured for its practical value. It depends upon this, replied Dupenn. 375 00:19:50,759 --> 00:19:53,559 And the Prefect and his cohorts fail so frequently, first 376 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,640 by default of this identification, and secondly by ill admeasurement, 377 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,400 or rather through noted measurement of the intellec like with 378 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,039 which they are engaged. They consider only their own ideas 379 00:20:04,039 --> 00:20:07,920 of ingenuity, and in searching for anything hidden, avert only 380 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:09,680 to the modes in which they would have hidden it. 381 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,000 They are right in this much that their own ingenuity 382 00:20:13,039 --> 00:20:15,720 is a faithful representative of that of the mass. But 383 00:20:15,839 --> 00:20:18,440 when the cunning of the individual felon is diversing character 384 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,960 from their own, the felon foils them. Of course, this 385 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:24,640 always happens when it is above their own, and very 386 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,799 usually when it is below. They have no variation of 387 00:20:27,799 --> 00:20:30,920 principle in their investigations at best, when urged by some 388 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,559 unusual emergency, by some extraordinary reward, they extend or exaggerate 389 00:20:35,599 --> 00:20:39,000 their old modes of practice without touching their principles. What, 390 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:41,599 for example, in this case of d has been done 391 00:20:41,599 --> 00:20:43,920 to vary the principle of action? What is all this 392 00:20:44,039 --> 00:20:47,160 boring and probing, and sounding, and scrutinizing with the microscope, 393 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,960 and dividing the surface of the building into registered square inches. 394 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,839 What is it but an exaggeration of the application of 395 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,680 one principle, or a set of principles of search, which 396 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,079 are based upon the one set of notions regarding human 397 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,160 ingenuity to which the Prefect in the Laws, a long 398 00:21:00,279 --> 00:21:03,039 routine of his day has been accustomed. Do you not 399 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:05,119 see he has taken it for granted that all men 400 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,039 proceed to conceal a letter not exactly in a gimlet 401 00:21:08,039 --> 00:21:10,240 hole board than a chair leg, but at least in 402 00:21:10,279 --> 00:21:12,640 some out of the way hole or corners suggested by 403 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:14,680 the same tenor of thought which would urge a man 404 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:16,440 to secret a letter in a gimlet hole board in 405 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,160 a chair leg. And do you not see also that 406 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:23,279 such researche nooks for concealment are adapted only for ordinary occasions, 407 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,039 and would be adopted only by ordinary intellects. For in 408 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,559 all cases of concealment, a disposal of the article concealed, 409 00:21:31,079 --> 00:21:34,200 a disposal of it. In this researche manner is in 410 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:38,079 the very first instance presumable and presumed, and thus its 411 00:21:38,079 --> 00:21:42,039 discovery depends not at all upon the acumen, but altogether 412 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,200 upon the mere care, patience, and determination of the seekers. 413 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,400 And where the cases of importance, or what amounts to 414 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:50,720 the same thing in the political eyes, when the reward 415 00:21:50,799 --> 00:21:53,599 is of magnitude, the qualities in question have never been 416 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,599 known to fail. You will now understand what I meant 417 00:21:56,599 --> 00:22:00,000 in suggesting that had the purloined letter been hidden anywhere 418 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,240 than the limits of the prefect's examination. In other words, 419 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,359 had the principle of its concealment been comprehended within the 420 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,079 principles of the prefect, its discovery would have been a 421 00:22:09,079 --> 00:22:14,319 matter altogether beyond question. This functionary, however, has been thoroughly mystified, 422 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,960 and the remote source of his defeat lies in the 423 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,839 supposition that the minister is a fool because he has 424 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,400 acquired renown as a poet. All fools are poets. This 425 00:22:23,559 --> 00:22:26,000 the Prefect feels and he is merely guilty of a 426 00:22:26,039 --> 00:22:29,319 non distributed o media, and thence inferring that all poets 427 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,359 are fools. But is this really the poet, I asked. 428 00:22:32,519 --> 00:22:34,960 There are two brothers I know, and both have attained 429 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,319 reputation in letters. The minister, I believe, has written learnedly 430 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:41,920 on differential calculus. He is a mathematician and no poet. 431 00:22:42,599 --> 00:22:45,119 You are mistaken. I know him well. He is both 432 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,359 as poet and mathematician. He would reason well. As mere mathematician, 433 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,759 he cannot have reasoned at all, and thus would have 434 00:22:51,799 --> 00:22:54,640 been at the mercy of the Prefect. You surprise me, 435 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,319 I said, by these opinions, which have been contradicted by 436 00:22:57,319 --> 00:22:59,599 the voice of the world, you do not mean to 437 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,680 set it not the well digested idea of centuries. The 438 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,160 mathematical reason has long been regarded as the reason par excellence. 439 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,359 Il Aya Perier replied du Penn, quoting from Champ four 440 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:16,440 catut id publique to conversion ricouteste un sotis carl aconvenu 441 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,440 al pragond numbre. The mathematicians, I grant you, have done 442 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,160 their best to promulgate the popular error to which you allude, 443 00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:25,079 and which is none the less an error for its 444 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,799 promulgation as truth with an art worthy of better cause. 445 00:23:28,839 --> 00:23:32,839 For example, they have insinuated the term analysis into application 446 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,480 to algebra. The French are the originators of this particular deception. 447 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,799 But if a term is of any importance, if words 448 00:23:39,799 --> 00:23:44,480 derive any value from applicability, then analysis conveys algebra about 449 00:23:44,519 --> 00:23:48,640 as much as in Latin Ambetus implies ambition, religio, religion, 450 00:23:48,839 --> 00:23:52,400 or haminas honesty a set of honorable men. You have 451 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:54,680 a quarrel on hand, I see said I with some 452 00:23:54,759 --> 00:23:58,720 of the algebraists of Paris. But proceed. I dispute the 453 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,640 availability and thus the value, of that reason which is 454 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:06,279 cultivated in any especial form other than abstractly logical. I dispute, 455 00:24:06,279 --> 00:24:10,319 in particular the reason adduced by mathematical study. The mathematics 456 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,359 are the science of form and quantity. Mathematical reasoning is 457 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,680 merely logic applied to observation upon form and quantity. The 458 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,200 great error lies in supposing that even the truths of 459 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,559 what is called pure algebra are abstract or general truths. 460 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,440 And this error is so egregious that I am confounded 461 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,920 at the universality with which it has been received. Mathematical 462 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,400 axioms are not axioms of general truth. What is true 463 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,279 of relation of form and quantity is often grossly false 464 00:24:35,319 --> 00:24:38,519 in regard to morals. For example, in this latter science, 465 00:24:38,599 --> 00:24:41,400 it is usually untrue that the aggregated parts are equal 466 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,799 to the whole. In chemistry, also the axiom fails in 467 00:24:44,839 --> 00:24:47,640 the consideration of motive. It fails for two motives, each 468 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,680 of a given value, have not necessarily a value united 469 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,680 equal to the sum of their values. Apart, there are 470 00:24:53,839 --> 00:24:56,960 numerous other mathematical truths which are only truths within the 471 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,960 limits of relation. But the mathematician argues from his finite 472 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,799 truths through habit as if they were of absolutely general applicability, 473 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,759 as the world indeed imagines them to be. Bryant, in 474 00:25:08,839 --> 00:25:12,279 his Very Learned Mythology, mentions an analogous source of error 475 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,960 when he says that although the Pagan fables are not 476 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,160 believed yet, we forget ourselves continually and make inferences from 477 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,920 them as existing realities. With the algebraist, however, who are 478 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:27,000 pagans themselves. The Pagan fables are believed, and inferences are 479 00:25:27,039 --> 00:25:30,039 made not so much through lapse of memory as through 480 00:25:30,039 --> 00:25:33,400 an unaccountable addling of the brains. In short, I never 481 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,160 yet encountered a mere mathematician who could be trusted out 482 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,960 of equal roots, or one who did not clandestinely hold 483 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,079 it as a point of faith that X two plus 484 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,880 p x was absolutely and unconditionally equal to Q. Say 485 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,160 to one of these gentlemen, by way of experiment, if 486 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,319 you please that you believe occasions may occur, or X 487 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,839 two plus p x is not altogether equal to Q, 488 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,160 And having made him understand what you mean, get out 489 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,759 of his reach as speedily as convenient, For beyond doubt, 490 00:25:58,839 --> 00:26:01,960 he will endeavor to knock you down. I mean to say, 491 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,440 continued Dupinn, while I merely laughed at his last observations 492 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,039 that if the Minister had been no more than a mathematician, 493 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,880 the Prefect would have been under known necessity of giving 494 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,240 me this check. I know him, however, as both mathematician 495 00:26:14,319 --> 00:26:17,240 and poet, and my measures were adapted to his capacity 496 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,039 with reference to the circumstances by which he was surrounded. 497 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:22,599 I knew him as a courtier too, and as a 498 00:26:22,599 --> 00:26:25,680 bold intrigument. Such a man I considered would not fail 499 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,960 to be aware of the ordinary political modes of action 500 00:26:28,599 --> 00:26:31,079 he could not have failed to anticipate, and events have 501 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,559 proved that he did not fail to anticipate. The way 502 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,599 layings to which he was subjected. He must have foreseen. 503 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,839 I reflected the secret investigations of his premises, his frequent 504 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,279 absences from home at night, which were hailed by the 505 00:26:43,319 --> 00:26:46,599 Prefect a certain aids to his success. I regard only 506 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,319 as ruses to afford opportunity for thorough search to the police, 507 00:26:50,799 --> 00:26:53,079 and thus the sooner to impress them with a conviction 508 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,640 to which g in fact didn't finally arrive, the conviction 509 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,599 that the letter was not upon the premises. I felt 510 00:26:59,599 --> 00:27:02,400 also that the whole train of thought which I was 511 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,039 at some pains in detailing to you just now, concerning 512 00:27:05,039 --> 00:27:08,599 the invariable principle of political action and searches for articles concealed, 513 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,559 I felt that this whole train of thought would necessarily 514 00:27:11,559 --> 00:27:14,720 pass through the mind of the Minister. It would imperatively 515 00:27:14,799 --> 00:27:17,640 lead him to dispense with all the ordinary nooks of concealment. 516 00:27:18,319 --> 00:27:20,759 He could not, I reflected, be so weak as to 517 00:27:20,839 --> 00:27:23,240 not see that the most intricate and remote recess of 518 00:27:23,279 --> 00:27:25,920 his hotel would be as open as his commonest closets 519 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,400 to the eyes, to the probes, to the gimlets, and 520 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,720 to the microscopes of the Prefect. I saw and find 521 00:27:31,799 --> 00:27:33,799 that he would be driven, as a matter of course 522 00:27:33,839 --> 00:27:36,720 to simplicity, if not deliberately induced to it as a 523 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,359 matter of choice. You will remember, perhaps, how desperately the 524 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,920 Prefect left when I suggested, upon our first interview that 525 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,519 it was just possible. This mystery troubled him so much 526 00:27:46,599 --> 00:27:50,359 on account of being so very self evident, Yes, said I, 527 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:52,960 I remember his merriment. Well, I really thought he would 528 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,559 have fallen into convulsions. The material world continued, dupenn abounds 529 00:27:57,559 --> 00:28:00,640 with very strict analogies to the material, and thus some 530 00:28:00,799 --> 00:28:03,240 color of truth has been given to the rhetorical dogma 531 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,039 that metaphor or simile may be made to strengthen an 532 00:28:06,079 --> 00:28:09,440 argument as well as to embellish a description. The principle 533 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,279 of the vis inertia, for example, seems to be identical 534 00:28:12,319 --> 00:28:15,480 in physics and metaphysics. It is not more true in 535 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,079 the former that a large body is with more difficulty 536 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:20,079 set in motion than a smaller one, and that its 537 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,319 subsequent momentum is commensurate with its difficulty than it is 538 00:28:23,319 --> 00:28:26,640 in the latter that intellects of the vaster capacity, while 539 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:30,359 more forcible, more constant, and more eventful in their movements 540 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,519 than those of inferior grade, are yet the less readily moved, 541 00:28:33,599 --> 00:28:36,200 and more embarrassed and full of hesitation in the first 542 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,799 few steps of their progress. Again, have you ever noticed 543 00:28:39,799 --> 00:28:41,640 which of the street signs over the shop doors are 544 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,759 the most attractive of attention? I have never given the 545 00:28:44,799 --> 00:28:47,880 matter a thought, I said. There is a game of puzzles, 546 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,000 he resumed, which is played upon a map. One party 547 00:28:51,039 --> 00:28:54,119 playing requires another to find a given word the name 548 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,559 of town, river, state, or empire, any word in short, 549 00:28:58,039 --> 00:29:00,759 upon the motley and perplexed surface of the chart. A 550 00:29:00,839 --> 00:29:03,480 novice of the game generally seeks to embarrass his opponents 551 00:29:03,519 --> 00:29:06,160 by giving them the most minutely lettered names. But the 552 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,359 adept selects such words as stretch in large characters from 553 00:29:09,359 --> 00:29:11,680 one end of the chart to the other. These, like 554 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,279 the over largely lettered signs in the placards of the street, 555 00:29:14,599 --> 00:29:18,160 escape observation by dint of being excessively obvious. And here 556 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,720 the physical oversight is precisely analogous with the moral inapprehension 557 00:29:21,759 --> 00:29:25,720 by which the intellect suffers to pass unnoticed those considerations 558 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,240 which are too obtrusive and too palpably self evident. But 559 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,079 this is a point it appears somewhat above or beneath 560 00:29:32,079 --> 00:29:35,160 the understanding of the Prefect. He never once thought it 561 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,519 probable or possible that the Minister had deposited the letter 562 00:29:38,599 --> 00:29:41,400 immediately beneath the nose of the whole world by way 563 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,079 of best preventing any portion of that world from perceiving it. 564 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,400 But the more I reflected upon the daring, dashing, and 565 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,640 discriminating ingenuity of d upon the fact that the document 566 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,200 must have always been at hand if he intended to 567 00:29:53,279 --> 00:29:56,319 use it for good purpose, and upon the decisive evidence 568 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:58,839 obtained by the Prefect that it was not hidden within 569 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,160 the limits of that dignitary ordinary search, the more satisfied 570 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,160 I became that to conceal this letter the Minister had 571 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,680 resorted to the comprehensive and sagacious expedient of not attempting 572 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,759 to conceal it at all. Full of these ideas, I 573 00:30:11,799 --> 00:30:14,720 prepared myself with a pair of green spectacles, and called 574 00:30:14,759 --> 00:30:17,839 one fine morning, quite by accident, at the Ministerial hotel. 575 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,960 I found d at home, yawning, lounging and dawdling as usual, 576 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,599 and pretending to be in the last extremity of Vonui. 577 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,440 He is perhaps the most really energetic human being now alive, 578 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,559 but that is only when nobody sees him to be. 579 00:30:31,599 --> 00:30:34,119 Even with him, I complained of my weak eyes and 580 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,279 lamented the necessity of the spectacles, under cover of which 581 00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:40,440 I cautiously and thoroughly surveyed the whole apartment, While seemingly 582 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,839 intent only upon the conversation of my host, I paid 583 00:30:43,839 --> 00:30:46,240 a special attention to a large writing table near which 584 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,880 he sat, and upon which lay confusedly some miscellaneous letters 585 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,559 and other papers, with one or two musical instruments, and 586 00:30:52,599 --> 00:30:55,920 a few books. Here, however, after a long and very 587 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,559 deliberate scrutiny, I saw nothing to excite particular suspicion. At length, 588 00:31:00,599 --> 00:31:02,839 my eyes, and going the circuit of the room, fell 589 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,960 upon a trumpery filigree card rack of pasteboard that hung 590 00:31:06,039 --> 00:31:08,359 dangling by a dirty blue ribbon from a little brass 591 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,000 knob just beneath the middle of the mantelpiece. In this rack, 592 00:31:12,039 --> 00:31:14,599 which had three or four compartments, were five or six 593 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,279 visiting cards and a solitary letter. This last was much 594 00:31:18,279 --> 00:31:21,119 soiled and crumpled. It was torn nearly in two across 595 00:31:21,119 --> 00:31:23,480 the middle, as if a design in the first instance 596 00:31:23,519 --> 00:31:26,000 to tear it entirely up as worthless had been altered 597 00:31:26,119 --> 00:31:29,160 or stayed. In the second. It had a large black 598 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,079 seal bearing the D cipher very conspicuously, and was addressed 599 00:31:33,119 --> 00:31:36,400 in a diminutive female hand to d the Minister himself. 600 00:31:37,119 --> 00:31:40,440 It was thrust carelessly, and even as it seemed contemptuously, 601 00:31:40,799 --> 00:31:43,559 into one of the uppermost divisions of the rack. No 602 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,319 sooner had I glanced at this letter than I concluded 603 00:31:46,359 --> 00:31:49,119 it to be that of which I searched to be sure. 604 00:31:49,119 --> 00:31:51,680 It was, to all appearance radically different from the one 605 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,160 of which the Prefect had read au so minute a description. 606 00:31:54,839 --> 00:31:57,440 Here the seal was large and black, with the D cipher. 607 00:31:58,119 --> 00:32:00,559 There it was small and red with a dew arms 608 00:32:00,599 --> 00:32:03,079 of the s family. Here the address to the Minister 609 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,759 diminutive and feminine. There the superscription to a certain royal 610 00:32:06,759 --> 00:32:10,880 personage was markedly bold and decided. The size alone formed 611 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:14,759 a point of correspondence. But then the radicalness of these differences, 612 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,359 which was excessive, The dirt, the soiled and torn condition 613 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,440 of the paper so inconsistent with the true methodical habits 614 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,279 of d and so suggestive of a design to delude 615 00:32:24,279 --> 00:32:27,079 the beholder into an idea of the worthlessness of the document. 616 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,119 These things, together with the hyperobtrusive's situation of this document 617 00:32:31,359 --> 00:32:34,000 full in the view of every visitor, and thus exactly 618 00:32:34,039 --> 00:32:36,960 in accordance with the conclusions to which I had previously arrived. 619 00:32:37,319 --> 00:32:40,599 These things, I say, were sternly corroborative of suspicion, and 620 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,359 one who came with the intention to suspect, I protracted 621 00:32:44,359 --> 00:32:47,000 my visit as long as possible, and while I maintained 622 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,640 a most animated discussion with the Minister upon a topic 623 00:32:49,759 --> 00:32:51,920 which I knew well to have never failed to interest 624 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,720 and excite him, I kept my attention really riveted upon 625 00:32:54,759 --> 00:32:58,079 the letter. In this examination I committed to memory its 626 00:32:58,079 --> 00:33:01,359 external appearance and arrangement in the rack, and also fell 627 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:03,720 at length upon a discovery which set at rest whatever 628 00:33:03,799 --> 00:33:07,480 trivial doubt I might have entertained. In scrutinizing the edges 629 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,920 of the paper, I observed them to be more chaffed 630 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,359 than seemed necessary. They presented the broken appearance which is 631 00:33:13,359 --> 00:33:16,480 manifested when a stiff paper having been folded and pressed 632 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:19,440 with a folder is refolded in a reverse direction in 633 00:33:19,519 --> 00:33:22,160 the same creases or edges which had formed the original fold. 634 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,759 This discovery was sufficient. It was clear to me that 635 00:33:25,759 --> 00:33:29,519 the letter had been turned as a glove, inside out, redirected, 636 00:33:29,599 --> 00:33:32,799 and resealed. I bade the Minister good morning, and took 637 00:33:32,839 --> 00:33:35,880 my departure at once, leaving a gold snuff box upon 638 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,880 the table. The next morning, I called for the snuff 639 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:42,039 box when we resumed quite eagerly the conversation of the 640 00:33:42,039 --> 00:33:46,119 preceding day. While this engaged, however, a loud report, as 641 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,759 if of a pistol, was heard immediately beneath the windows 642 00:33:48,759 --> 00:33:51,400 of the hotel, and was succeeded by a series of 643 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:54,839 fearful screams and the shoutings of a terrified mob. D 644 00:33:55,039 --> 00:33:57,319 rushed to the casement, threw it open, and looked out. 645 00:33:58,039 --> 00:34:00,400 In the meantime, I stepped to the card rack, took 646 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,559 the letter, put it in my pocket, and replaced it 647 00:34:02,599 --> 00:34:06,000 by a facsimile, so far as regards externals, which I 648 00:34:06,079 --> 00:34:09,440 carefully prepared at my lodgings, imitating the d cipher very 649 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,599 readily by means of a seal formed of bread. The 650 00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:15,079 disturbance in the street had been occasioned by the frantic 651 00:34:15,079 --> 00:34:17,599 behavior of a man with a musket. He had fired 652 00:34:17,599 --> 00:34:20,480 it among a crowd of women and children. It proved, however, 653 00:34:20,599 --> 00:34:23,079 to have been without ball, and the fellow was suffered 654 00:34:23,079 --> 00:34:25,199 to go his way as a lunatic or a drunkard. 655 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,639 When he had gone, D came from the window whither 656 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:31,639 I had followed him immediately upon securing the object in view. 657 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:36,119 Soon afterwards I bade him farewell. The pretended lunatic was 658 00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:39,079 a man in my own pay. But what purpose had you, 659 00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:42,079 I asked, in replacing the letter by a facsimile. Would 660 00:34:42,119 --> 00:34:44,159 it have not been better at the first visit to 661 00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:47,960 have seized it openly and departed? D replied, du Pinne 662 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,159 is a desperate man and a man of nerve. His hotel, too, 663 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,239 is not without attendance devoted to his interest. Had I 664 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,719 made the wild attempt you suggest, I might never have 665 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,960 left the ministerial presence alive. A good people of Paris 666 00:35:01,039 --> 00:35:03,480 might have heard of me no more. But I had 667 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:07,679 an object Apart from these considerations. You know my political prepossessions. 668 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:09,840 In this matter. I act as a partisan of the 669 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,920 lady concerned for eighteen months. The Minister has had her 670 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,920 in his power, she now has him in hers. Since, 671 00:35:16,039 --> 00:35:18,199 being unaware that the letter is not in his possession, 672 00:35:18,559 --> 00:35:22,039 he will proceed with his exactions as if it was. Thus, 673 00:35:22,079 --> 00:35:25,239 will he inevitably commit himself at once to his political destruction. 674 00:35:26,039 --> 00:35:29,159 His downfall, too, will not be more precipitate than awkward. 675 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,079 It is all very well to talk about the facilis 676 00:35:32,159 --> 00:35:34,840 the kansas of Verni, But in all kinds of climbing, 677 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,840 as Catalini said of singing, it is far more easy 678 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,719 to get up than to come down. In the present instance, 679 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:43,400 I have no sympathy, at least no pity for him 680 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:47,159 who descends. He is at monstrum horrendum, an unprincipled man 681 00:35:47,199 --> 00:35:50,840 of genius. I confess, however, that I should like very 682 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:53,400 well to know the precise nature of his thoughts. When 683 00:35:53,599 --> 00:35:57,039 being defied by her, whom the Prefect terms a certain personage, 684 00:35:57,199 --> 00:35:59,199 he is reduced to opening the letter which I left 685 00:35:59,199 --> 00:36:02,159 for him in the card raight. How did you put 686 00:36:02,199 --> 00:36:05,480 anything particular in it? Why it did not seem altogether 687 00:36:05,559 --> 00:36:08,199 right to leave the interior blank? That would have been insulting. 688 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,960 D At Vienna once did me an evil turn, which 689 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,559 I told him, quite good humoredly, that I should remember. So, 690 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,280 as I knew he would feel some curiosity in regard 691 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,559 to the identity of the person who had outwitted him, 692 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:22,679 I thought it a pity not to give him a clue. 693 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,000 He is well acquainted with my manuscript, and I just 694 00:36:26,039 --> 00:36:28,199 copied into the middle of the blank sheet the words 695 00:36:28,559 --> 00:36:33,599 and the san si funest sindanin datri aden Dethiist. They 696 00:36:33,599 --> 00:36:37,800 are to be found in Crebian's Atri end of the 697 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,239 Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe