Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1865-08-04
Keeping Secrets.



7 With most persons, the art oS keeping secret is
ht a1ow enough. stage Of develepmsns.l With ut-i
cultivated, unrestraiEed people, aseGct isofteuhs
burden intolerable 70 be borne and this though the
secret be one 70 affect their fame, and even life,
We believe half te confessions Of gross crimes Ara
made, NOT frou. acniorss hat aipsply heeausc tho
criminal cannot keep his secpet; he wantsa presenb
gTatfsaisn, aRd prefers TO tell IL, and die. On-e.
IL is out, he may care for the punishment but is
easy about the crime tfe has satisfied the want Of
his souLa But happily stosts sse sst meni I'M
mems oadipa5E ys0ssPtancs any deep oppressive,
mystery and "keeping secrets" IpeaDs something
quite different from the dissimnlation of royal
schemers or the silence of moody consp pAatois otj
breakers of fhe law1 Our relation 70 secrets Is Of
two kinds, They may, be our own friends'.--,
Prudence or favorable circumstances may keep US
clear Of important secrets Of own but there is
always something which II is wise to keep TO our
selves, and most people know something or uaAeF
about their friends which they must not divulgc.--
Now It is clearly our duty to keep our friends seo
crcts, and II Is wisdom TO keep our own; but with
the majority, this Ia hard duty. Scnie, Indeed
feel physically ineapacitated from observing IT, We
all know people who can only regard secret az
something 70 tell. Their prccaution Is solely en-
gagged iu finding ft depositery; they regard Il as
an egg to be laid in some hidden safe place. And,
perhaps if they could be content with one teIIiae
they woad not suffer 50 ,innch from their fellows
for. very few people can; lock q thing that,
deeply interests and concerns them absolutely In
their own breasts but with them, The yearping to
tell continues on them so long as the secret inter.
ests themselves. They have no place TO keep 1t in
so they give II in our charge. Their minds ere .
thoroughfares through which they invite any one
to pass. All their stock Is IN the Window and our
secret Is only hung out swith the rest This mcfed
babbling- incontinenee Of a secret is difFerepta
thing ron that isys , Of mystery which tends % 50
; To be fond Of secrets leads, Of course, 70 the
manufacturing Of them; II Is to be fond not only
of hearing and telling; bnt o. haying them. Inss
deed the impulse to tell and to conceal ara IN this
case, kindred ones. People, in, this state Of mind,
don't care much for any infornaation that n nos
enveloped In mystery Their notion Of d pleasSg
ant conversation is Of telling things that ought not
70 be told Their notion Of acompliment is 70 ipa-
part something with the entreaty not to lei II 20
further Our 6rst introduction to this sort Of epn4
fdenee Is at once Hatterihg and embarrassing .a=
Our honor and discretion are appealed 70 with trust
and engaging reliance Of which It Is anxious work
TO show ourselves worthy. No doubt, gossip gains
q great deal in excitement when thus impaired, ~
but, in time, It becomes harrassment 70 q tender
conscience, which, for the life of it cannot recall
which was particular and which general informa-
Ition and fears lest what was confded under osths
of secrecy, should be, lot out nnawares.a But we
come in time to the conclusion that the person who
tells his secrets from no necessity, but, only 70
amuse himself at the time, cannot thus throw the
onus Of keeping IL on our shoulders He has no .
right to expect from Us more prudence than he haa
shown; while further experience makes it appa=,;
rent that our friend had only one notion OF teta
tets-as an opportunity for telling secret, "A vast
number Of secrets are current in society in this
hunt the slipper form Of circulation Nor docs it :
do to call 1t secret any longer II Is very fair
secret as the world goes 80 long rs IL isnot dis
cussed by threes and fours and SO long as the pes
son mainly concerned does not know that IL is
known This Is the real standing Of many relgi-r
lously kept,secrets. sas ieHne Y al youoa 7ird5
Secrets themselves vary very much 10 their keeps
ing power. There are secrets which there is no
temptation to tell from the absence of certain pop
uar qualites there are Others SO universally inter-
estng or curious, congenia To both tellers and
Nobody could have kept the secret Of Midas ears,
A slave has the blame Of letting II out; but II he
had waited, the monarchs wiscst and most ancient
councillors would have Whispered It, not 70 the
reeds but TO each other, under the excuse that u
was an affair Of states and ifthese had got no hint
of the wonder, the owner Of the ears would have
told it himself It Is just one Of those peculiarities
that cannot be borne alone Even if the perruqaeF
did his part to miracle, the secret Of awig would
never be kept Wherever the commoner fdrm Of
curiosity Is stimulated, it always gains its end-s
Tins no matrimonial engagement Is ever secret
even though--Fhich is not often the case--the
principal parties try to keep one. The secret that
is kept hest Is that what people don't 10 hear
and even here the possessor Is apt 10 divulge, fom
resentment at the neglect Of his mystery as h'idg
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