The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-07-17

ken N clear Of important soc1ets cfour own,
bat there is always something which it 10
wise TO keep to ourselves, and moss people
know something or other about their friends
which they must not divulge. Now, 1t "
closrly our duty to kesp our friend's secrets
ana 1t is wisdom to keep cur Own ent. WIZ
shs majority this j. ns.a dasy f soo%
.erying ii. We al know people who can
ONLY. regard secret as something 70 teiL--
Their pfscaution 10 solely engaged in finding
a &c depositary they regard it as an egg 70
be laid in some hidden safe place. And,
perhaps. if they could be content with one
telling, they would not suffer so much from
their fellows, for very few people can lock
thing that deeply interests and concerns
them absolutely in their own breasts. but,
with them. the yearning to tell continues on
them so long as the secret interests them
selves. They have no place 70 keep it IN,
so they give it in our charge. Their minus
are thoroughfares through which they Invite
any one to pass All their stock IS In the
window, and our secret is only hung out with
the rest. This mere babbling lncontinence
of a secret is a different thing from that love
of mystery which tends 80 much to the same
result.
To be fond of secrets leads, of course, to the
manufacturing of them it is to be fond, not
OILY VI ucdEiuR duu sCAAhkt be' "a A~'N-6
them. Indeed, the impulse to tell and to con-
ceal are, in this case, kindred ones. People,
| in this state of mind, don't care much for any
| information that is not enveloped in a myst-
| ery Their notion of q pleasant conversation
is of telling things that ought not to be told
| Their notion of a compliment Is to lmpart
something with the entreaty not to let 1t 90
| further. Our first introduction to this sort OF
| confidence is at once fiattering and embarras-
sing. Our honor and discr elton are appealed
| to with a trust and engaging reliance OF
| which it is anxious work to show ourselves
worthy, No doubt, gossip gains great deal
| in excitement when thus impaired but, In
| time, it becomes harrassment to a tender
conscience. which, tor the life of it, cannot
recall which was particular and which gener-
| al information, and fears lest what was con-
| fded, under oaths of secrecy, should be let
| out unawares. But we come In time to the
conclusion that the person who tells his Sc
orets from NO necessity. but only to amuse
| himself at the time, cannot thus throw the
| onus of keeping 1t on cur shoulders. de has
/ no right to expect from us more prudence
than he has shown; while further expert
ence makes it apparent that our friend had
only one notion of a tete a tete-as an oppor-
tunity for telling a secret A vast number of
secrets are current in society in this hun. the
slipper form of circulation. Nor does it do TO
call it a secret any longer. 1t is very fair
secret, as the world goes. 80 long as it is not
discussed by threes and tours. and so long as
the person mainly concerned does not know
that it is known. This is the real standing
of many religiously kept secrets.
| Secrets themselves vary very much in their
keeping power There are secrets which
there is no temptation to tell from the absence
of certain popular qualities; there are others
so universally interesting or curious, or so
| congenal to both teilers and hearers. that
they have no chance of being kept. Nobody
could have kept the secret of Midas ears
| A slave has the blame of letting it out; but,
If he had waited, the monarch's wisest and
most ancient councillors would have whisp-
cred it, not to the reeds. but to each other
under the excuse that it was an affair OF
state and if these had got no hint of the
wonder the owner of the ears would have
| told il himself. 1t is Just one of those pecu-
liarities that cannot be borne alone Even
| If the perrHquier did his part to q miracle,
| the secret of wig would never be kept -
| Wherever the commoner form of curiosity is
stimulated, it always gains its eud. Thus
no matrimonial engagement is ever secret
| even though-which is not often the case
the principal parties try to keep it one. The
secret that is kept best is that what people
don't care to hear and even here the pos.
SCISSOR is apt to divulge, from resentment at
the neglect of his mystery.
/