Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1900-02-10


sary to the successful working of the
plan.
~6N
The United States Treasury has a
curious account upon Its books. This
Is known as the Conscience Fund"
The sums entered to Its credit are re-
pentance-mOney received from persons
who ut some time or other have de-
fraudcd the government, and whose
conscienccs have compelled them to re-
store their dishonest gains. No qucs-
tons are asked when n penltent de-
clarcs his sin In this practical way.
Some penitents return the amounts I'M
lawfully taken. and leave them to tell
their own story: but Oftener letters OF
confession accompany the money.
These are kept on file. A letter from
a clergyman. who signed his name and
stated that the money was owed the
government as duty and accrued inter-
est on several cheap watches smuggled
into this country a number of years
ago by man who confessed his wrong
to him. "The man who pays this
money" writes the clergyman In sub.
stance. conferred upon religious life
few weeks ago. This net attests the
genuineness Of his purpose to live In
obedience to both human and Divine
law" Another letter from an old vet.
eran reads: "Sir: Please find my thlr-
~ dollars. 10 he placed to the credit Of
the Conscience Fund. from the awaken.
ed conscience of an old veteran. who
has been laying aside little at time
for some time. and who has not been
able to figure yet Just what II II, but
who hopes to light on the data yet. and
restore II before he is called to meet his
God" The simplest fact In an upright
| character Is It's acute sense of right and
wrong. AMI the honesty that pays Sc
crct us well as open debts.
%d
II has been said that much of the
modern willingness to get rid of the
mortal coil II due not so much to tangl-
bic woes rs to that intangible state
called cnnul. There II no apt English
equivalent for this French word. and
Tat state of mind called the blues Is
much too active u condition To express
the apnthctlc tOrpor whose tone Is a
prevailing gray. John Stuart Mill. In
his remarkable Autobiography" con.
fcsscs to having been subject to such
attacks when the fountains Of vanity
and ambition were dried up and when
neither selfish nor unscltish pleasures
were pleasures" Colcrlige. says Mill
best expressed this condition In the
lines In the ode TO Detection"
A grief without a pnng, void. dark and
dear,
A dfowsy, stiflc,, unimpnssioncd grief.
Which finds no natural outlet or relief
In word, or sigh, or tear.
The philosopher believed that with
him such mental state was due to q
premature habit Of sclf-analysls. ant
no doubt analysis does tend to destroy
feeling and capacity for enjoyment. A
modern poet, stephen Phillips. utter,
the same cry and protest:
My senses all like weapons rust
And lie disuscd In endless dust.
! may not love. ] may not hate;
Slowly l feel my life abatc.
Many people have confessed to hav
Ing endured these visitatlOns Of the en-
Eui microbes on a Sunday Afternoon
when, either because Of unwOntet
fcnstlng or lack Of mental stimulus
they become mere clOls. After all
both the blue ana the gray states ar,
but mother natures way Of gettinl
even with the nerve.exhausted indivld
unl who hns taxed her too heavily. Thu
best remedy lies In physical actlvit!
and effort, though effort ut such time
II difficult to command. Yet. as Mat
thew Arnold says:
- Tasks In hours Of insight wild
Can be through hours OF gloom fuiRll'd
The vagueness that so often charaC
terixes masculine description OF fem
lnlne garb extends to authors, ana eX
, acting women readers have been know
| to express wish that nOvelists wOul
take courses In dressmaking before a,
tempting to dress up their herOine'
Writers have been known to visit asy
J lums and hospitals In order to make
, study OF the physical and mental PHI
, nOmerM which they wished to descrlb'
, and why should they not be apprer
, tced to drcssmakers In order to under
, stand fully the equally difficult proi
, lens of cores and gathers? Even Herr
\ James, usually SO careful a student Q
, detail, has been guilty Of describing
, gown as being trimmed with "knots Q
: pale cOlored Ribbon" Naturally fen
!. mime reader would ask, What color. NJ
James? And TOlstOrs immortal Ann
!. Harenina wears velvet robe, ''adOrne
with Venetian guipure;" no mention
: made OF where the gulpure Is placed.
would be well for nOvelists to recognize
= the fact that indehnlteness on this sui
J, ject will no longer be accepted and thu
herOines arrayed In soft stuffs" wit
I impossible knots Of color at the thrOa
0 or ladies dressed In Indefinite shades {
u gray, with CLEANS OF white" ut til
u neck and wrists, Will meet with but
}. cold reception at the hands of critic,
feminine readers.
;. %eA
l. Americans are fond of abbreviatiOn
:. They desire to express their though
u | tnc,alx, aud Tint 1avt,a .ftan ,,ac,,lts