The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-05

tai diversion he devoted himself TO as
tronomy and occasionally to veGsifying.
The secretary found mental relief in
playing a peculiar sort Of chess, where
the map of Europe took the place of thee
CHESS board, the knights were warriors,
the castles fortresses, the bishops the
commissary and hospital department
and the pawns were the people.
After: several more had advanced their
ideas Of the~proaer way to relax their
minds and bodies 1t was suggested that
Mr. y was yet TO be I.eard. -.
I fear you viii laugh at me- he said
smi,ngly, when [ tell you of my pei
hobby. don't believe 1 have ever men
toned it before. You all know that I
nave spent some fmty years OF my life
In public service. During tina: time [
Fave found it n,r essary to Study t1e
course or natioas from a somewhat phiIo-
sophlcal standpoint. The true way to
dye Of nations is to examine therr criti-
calIy' not with our judgments influenced
bY our passions and our personal infer
CSts, but as tn } Ugh the events with which
we are concerned had happened~a cen
1t has been the object of my life to
perfect myself i'll that art During nv
career IN congress and while In the cabi-
net l rad many occasions when 7 uas
called upon to demonstrate nv theory
ana 1t OFTEN worked out to my entire sat
fSfacuon- l have had MANY oDDort11ni
ties. as you know, to obtain information,
L nave amused myself by digesting the
unWfltten history of our country. as far
as possible. for the past forty years
WOULD NOT PUBLISH VOLUME
NOW.
although Mr.. X had already given
to TIE world some Interesting rCninfs-
cences, nc one had ever expected That he
had been engaged in preparing history.
ll9 Crslz
ments and personal knowledge which he
a.oEc possessed
" And do you intend to publish this in
tercsting volume, Monsieur X" inquired
the diplomat.
That l cannot answer at present.
he replied There are many things to
| be considered. A public man must guard
| his personal knowledge of his poIiticaI
| ard social associates with the greatest
care. By publishing such matter during
his lifetime he may mako for himself
| powerful enemies where he had stanch
! friends. You can never tell what may
| wound man even when on believe YOU
| are paying him compliment. If you
! publish them after ycu are dead, while
| you may escape their resentment your
! family may suffer, or il the man himself
| Is dead his family may suffer. Again, if
| they are published years after the death
Of the writer. when ali possibility of
| harm1ng any one IS vanished the oues-
ton arises, would any one be interested
in the matter? Would, for instance, the
| members of Alexander the q AT. of
| Pcricies, of Augustus Caesar, If published
| today, attract any mere than a passing
| notice even among scholars? Would tho
secret information of diplomatic intrigue
| possessed by Bismarck and Gladstone be
! of sufficient interest a century from now
to cause even a mild sensation? [ ,loubl
| if the authentic announcement IN Bis
| marck's memoirs that he caused the war
between Prussia and France by forging
a telegram would arouse the ranc0r of a.
| single Fre1lchman in the year 2b0O 1t
may even be possible that by that time
the two races will have been a;1alga-
mated or even swept away by some
| other, stronger race. So you see It IS a
81 rious problem as to what disposition
shall make Of the work on which 1
| have been engaged.
1" Further than that he continued, I
| have utilized my study of the conditions
Of the present to amusa myself with spec
| uiations concerning the future. At the
| rapid rate with which inventions are null
| tipIying the inhabitants of this earth In
| COCO will be surrounded by conveniences
of which we have not more than dreamed.
! Steam advanced the world a thousand
| years in hundred. Electricity has ad-
| vanced 1t 1000 in less than half a century
| Some new discovery, the propulsion Of
| machinery by ether. the diffusion Of lighG
| without heat or power. and so on, may
! advance it thousand years ina day
Based, then, on q study Of the effects
! which discoveries and Inventions have had
| on the human race up to date, ] nave ven
l tured 20 peer into the Culture and frame