The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-09-15

| been money or jewels, Ii would nave
! been placed in the treasury under SINH
| lar conditions. If it had been relic or
relics there would have been no neces-
sity for keeping it recret' 1t weighed
only few pounds Everything went TO
| show that it was manuscript.
1T was suggested that it might have
! been Mark Twain's impressions OF Eu-
ropean monarchs which he has threat
| ened to leave for the people OF the
| twenty-first century. But this was cas-
| lily rejected on the ground that the box
! had been received before the time he
made the suggestion. The United
| States Secret Service was appealed to
for information as to the box, and as TO
| the possibility that it might contain the
history of some unrevealed crime. The
archives of the state department were
1 consulted; the library searched for any
account of q manuscript answering our
ideas, which might have been known
but never published; brides were Offered
| to employees of the library for scraps Of
information relating to the box; legisla-
| tors, statesmen and warriors were in
terviewed, but ell in vain. We came
back always to the fact that we must
lance justified it's being taken in trust
by Librarian Young, containing matter
of interest to our grandchildren,
| too important, probably too dangerous
to be revealed at present; and donated
to the Library of Congress by some one
whose standing must have been unm-
peachable.
con this foundation we built. 1T took
| year of work during which ! acted as
the legs and my friend as the brains Of
the combination. ] visited and
searched, While he remained at home,
examined the results and thought
How we found it we are not prepared
to tell at present, especially as 1T was
largely The result Of an accident but
here is the story.
"At a dinner table in washington
one evening about seven years ago
there We're seated a number of gentle
men. The host, whom we must desls-
nate as MIR. x, had been in public life
for many years. He had sat in both
branches Of congress, had been a men,
Der of the cabinet and had even had
higher aspirations. With him were,
! among others, a well-known Statesman
diplomat of more than usual ability
member Of the cabinet and several
senators. While not altogether a polit-
ical dinner it had that complexion, es-
pecially in view of the rumors of the
hosts desire to become chief magistrate
of the nation
During the evening the conversation
turned on the most suitable recreation
for men who worked with their brains
oioI Nv i,, 1ifa rThn iii
plomat confessed that he found outdoor
physical recreation in riding and indoor
in fencing The latter sport, he de-
| clared, was the proper relaxation for
men whose muscles were in danger Of
becoming st. For mental recreation
he preferred flirting to anything more
exhausting. His candor was greeted
with uproarious laughter.
1.-THE statesman said that for mental
diversion he devoted himself to as tron-
omy and occasionally to versifying.
The secretary found mental relief in
playing peculiar sort Of chess. where
the may of Europe took the place of
the chess board, the knights We're war
riors, the castles fortresses, the bish-
ops the commissary and hospital de-
partments andtthe pawns were the
people.
after several more had advanced
their ideas Of the proper way to relax
their minds and bodies it was suggest
ed that Mr. x. was yet to be heard.
"I fear you will laugh at me- he
said. smilingly, when | tell you my pet
hobby. / don't believe I have ever
mentioned 1t before You all know
that I have spent som e-forty years of
my life in public service.d During that
time I have found it necessary to study
the course Of nations from a somewhat
philosophical standpoint. The true way
to Judge of nations is to examine them
critically, not whit our judgments in
fuenced by our passions and our per-
sonal interests, but as though the events
with which we are concerned had hap
pened a century ago and nothing we
could do could alter the trend of events.
In other words, correctly to guage pub
lie sentiment, accurately to weigh the
influence something we are contempla-
ting doing will have on ourselves and
the world at large, we must isolate and
insulate ourselves and view it with the
calm and dispassonate mind of the i'm
partial historian.
ut has been the object of my life to
perfect myself in that art. During my
career in congress and while | sat In the
cabinet | had many occasions when l
was called upon to demonstrate my
theory, and it often worked out to my
entire satisfaction. I have had many
opportunities, as you know. to obtain
information denied to less fortunate in
dividuals, and have amused myself by
digesting the unwritteu history of our
country, as far as possible. for the past
forty years
although Mr.. x. had already given
to the world some interesting reminis-
cences no one had ever expected that
he had been engaged in preparing a
history, largely, it was suspected from
documents and personal knowledge
which he alone possessed.
And do you intend to publish this in
teresting volume, Monsieur Ky IN
qquqired the diplomat.
THAT I cannot answer at present,
he replied. There are many things to
be considered. A public man must
guard his personal knowledge of his
political and social associates with the
greatest care. BY publishing such
matter during his lifetime he may
make for himself powerful enemies
where he had stanch friends. You can
4. "A aN WAN