THIS is the very modest title of a book written by Mr. Edgar A. Poe of "Raven" notoriety. Like the sage of Samos he comes forth shouting 'Eureka' Not seldom is it nowadays that we hear this cry. Even now it is ringing in our ears from the distant Californian El Dorado.

But what is it that Mr. Poe has found? Is it the fountain of youth, the elixir of life, the philosopher's stone?

None of these. Mr. Poe's discovery is one before which, all other discoveries of all time must "hide their diminished heads." Mr. Poe has found the key, hear him announce it, of the "Physical, Metaphysical, and Mathematical, of the Material and Spiritual Universe, of its Essence, Origin, Creation, Present Condition and its Destiny.” Shades of Pythagoras, Kepler, and Newton! We conjure you, leave not the Elysian bowers, revisit not the "glimpses of the moon," if ye would not see your glories eclipsed in the splendor of this new lumi

nary.

To be candid and serious now, we have always considered Mr. Poe to be the most conceited, impudent fellow in existence. His works all "thunder in the index," and strut in the preface. We have had from him one or two short poetical pieces of superior excellence, as "Dream Land" and the "The Raven," but by far the greater portion of his writings, consists of the most harsh and bitter criticism, of monstrous tales and hoaxing stories. His genius delights in whatever is outre and extravagant. He has not that simplicity and naturalness about him, which ever belongs to the highest order of intellect. Mr.

Poe has once or twice before, deliberately hoaxed people, (witness the story about the case of Monsieur De Somebody, that came out in the Whig Review, a year or two since,) and it was not without some suspicions therefore, that we took up 'Eureka.' We have read it quite through, and it is our conviction that this time, Mr. Poe has egregiously hoaxed-not his readers-but himself. His iniquities have returned upon his own head.

However, the book shall speak for itself. We have done our best to extract the kernel of the nut, and will endeavor to serve it up to our readers, in such a way as to save them the inconvenience of smashing their fingers in getting at it.

The subject is The Universe.

The general proposition, the leading idea is this, " In the Original Unity of the First Thing, lies the Secondary Cause of All Things, with the Germ of their Inevitable Annihilation.”

Before proceeding with his subject proper, the author favors us with an extract or two, from a remarkable letter said to have been found floating in the "Mare Tenebrarum," and bearing date of A. D. 2848. "Long ago" says the letter writer, "in the night of time, the prevailing notion was, that there are only two roads to knowledge, the Deductive and Inductive, as they were called. Now Science as we have ascertained in later ages progresses by intuitive leaps, but in either of these roads she could only creep or crawl. A virtual stop was put to all true thinking. Philosophers looked at the road merely, and not the result."

"The vital taint of the Baconian method was, that it threw all the power into the hands of mere diggers and peddlers of facts."

"A greater set of bigots then these same Baconians, never existed. Their creed Text and Sermon was 'Fact.'

"No such thing as an axiom can exist." The writer is at some pains to prove this assertion about axioms. Take for example the axiom, 'A tree cannot be a tree and not a tree.' Now why can it not? The only possible answer to this question is that we find it impossible to conceive such a thing. But according to Mr. Mill, one of the cleverest of the ancient logicians, ability to conceive, is no criterion of axiomatic truth. Angels and Devils may be able to see how a tree can be a tree and not a tree at the same time. Q. E. D. Poh! Mr. Poe.

"Yet a few of these ancients succeeded in partially declaring their independence of mere words.

Kepler was one who did a little true thinking. He arrived at the great vital laws of the Universe not by Deduction or Induction, but by Intuition, by a triumphant Guess."

He,

By a volition of God, The normal one is forced A reaction is of course im

Here end our quotations from this remarkable letter. It is either entirely impertinent or must be considered as embodying Mr. Poe's peculiar views on Philosophic method. Let us follow his speculations and see. He shows at the outset, an indulgent regard for the feeble capacities of his readers. He makes no call upon them to entertain the impossible conception of Infinite Space, but only of a Universe of Space "the centre of which is every where, and the circumference nowhere." For our starting point, we assume the Deity. Of God we know absolutely nothing except that he is not matter. by a volition, created at some point of Space-matter, and this matter was in a state of the utmost conceivable simplicity. All that can be predicated of matter at this stage is Oneness. This will be found, says our author, the sole assumption of the discourse. Nor is it an assumption. An "irresistable intuition" forces him to the conclusion that it is true. Therefore it is true. "Irresistable" certainly is the evidence that Mr. Poe is a great way ahead of his age in Philosophy. To proceed-this Oneness will account for all the phenomena of matter, and is the germ of its annihilation. matter thus existing is diffused into space. into the condition of the abnormal many. plied. On the withdrawal then of the diffusive energy, there is a tendency to return from the abnormal to the normal state. This tendency we recognize as the Newtonian Gravity. But in order that this tendency may not be immediately gratified, that is to say, in order that gravity may be lasting, another principle is brought in—that of Heterogeneity. In their state of diffusion, difference is the character of these particles, just as no-difference was the essentiality of their source. An attempt to bring any two particles together developes this principle. Here then we have Electricity, and on Electricity depend the phenomena of vitality, consciousness, and thought, since all these proceed in the ratio of the Heterogeneous. Thus clearly, the two great laws Attraction and Repulsion are accounted for. Now for the modus operandi. And here our author in the plenitude of his selfcomplacency, indulges in a little glorification. "I design," says he, "to suggest, and to convince through the suggestion. I am proudly conscious that there exist many of the most profound and cautiously discriminative human intellects, which cannot help being abundantly con