Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1865-05-19
Keeping Secrets.

With most persons the art Of keeping
a secret Is at q low enough stage of de-
Ivelopment. With uncultivated, nnre-
strained people, " secret Ia often bur
den intolcrable to be borne, and this
though the secret be one To affect their
fame and even life. We believe half the
confessions Of gross crimes are made,
not from remorsc, but simply because
the criminal cannot keep his secret; he
wants a present qualification, and pre-
fers to tell il and die. Once 1t is out, lIe
may care for the punishment, but Is
easy about the crime. He has satisfied
the want of his soul. But, happily, q
secret does not mean, in mems ordinary
acceptance, any deep, oppressive mys-
terry ; and excepting secretsp means
something quite different from the dis
stimulation of royal schemers, or the 81
lcnce of moody conspirators or breakers
of the law. Our relations to secrets are
OF two kinds. They may be our own
or our friends. Prudence or favorable
circumstances may keep us clear of im-
nortant secrets OF our own, but there liz
always something which il IL wise to
keep to ourselves, and most people know
something or other about their friends
which they must not divulgc. Now IL
Is clearly n duty to keep our friends se-
crets, and 1t Is wisdom to keep our own;
but with the majority this is q hard du-
! ty. Some, indeed, seem physically in
capacitated from observing 1t. We all
know people who can only regard Sc
cret as something to tell. Their precau-
ton is solely engaged In finding n fit
depositary; they regard it rs an egg to
be laid in some hidden safe place. And,
! perhaps, If they could be content with
one telling, they would not differ so
much from their fellows, for very few
people can lock a thing that deeply in
| terests and concerns them absolutely in
their own breasts but with them the
| yearning to tell continues on them SO
| long as the secret interests themselves.
| They have no place to keep it in, 80
they give 10 in our charge. Their minds
are thoroughtares 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 BAH
! bling incontinence of q secret Is n diff
fcrent thing from that love of mystery
which tends to much the same result.
! To he fond OF secrets leads, of course, to
the manufacturing of them: II Is to bo
| fond, not only Of hearing and telling,
but of having them. Indeed, the inn
pulse to tell and conceal are, in this
case, kindred ones. People in this state
of mind don't much care for any infor-
nation that is not envcloped in mys-
terry. Their notion of II pleasant con-
vcrsation is of telling things that ought
not to be told their notion of n compli-
ment Is to impart something with tho
entreaty not to let 1T go further. Our
first introduction to this form of conf
dence is at once tiattering and embar-
RAISING. Our honor and discretion arc
appealed to with q trust aud engaging
reliance of which it is anxious work to
show ourselves worthy. No doubt gos-
sip gains a great deal in excitement
when thus impaired but, in time, II
! becomes u harrassment to n tender con-
science, which cannot for the life of 1t
recall which vas particular and which
general information, and fears lest what
was confided, under oaths of secrecy,
should be let out unawarcs, But we
come in time to the conclusion that the
person who tells his secret from no ne
ccssity, but only to amuse himself at
! the time, cannot thus throw the onus of
keeping il on our shoulders. Ile has
no right.to expect from VS. more pru-
dence than he has shown; while fur
ther experience makes it apparent that
our friend had only one notion OF q
! tetc-d-tete rs an opportunity for telling
a secret A vast number of secrets are
current in society In this hunt-the-slip-
per form of circulation. Nor does ii do
to coll 1t a secret any longer. It il IL
fair secret, as the world goes, 30 long as
1t IL not discussed by threes and fours,
and SO long as the person mainly con-
cerned does not know that IL IL known.
This is the real standing of many relig-
iously kept secrets.