AND NOBODY EVEN GUESSED

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 119, 27 August 1910, Page 10

AND NOBODY EVEN GUESSED

CLOSE SECRETS DISCOVERED AFTER MANY YEARS. 'lt will be twenty-one years, in November next, since the famous Royal Commission on Parnell's alleged connection with the Phoenix Park murders ended its long sitting of 128 days by formally clearing the Irish leader'of all the charges made against him. The beginning of the agitation, which ended ill that Commission, was the publication in the Times of a series of anonymous articles on 'Tarnellisin and Crime,'' which constituted a tremendous indictment against the Irish Nationalist leaders.

During all the years that have since elapsed, tile authorship of these ar- [ tides has remained a mystery, and it is only lately that Sir Robert Anderson, who, from 1888 to I'JUI, was head of the Criminal Investigation Department, has acknowledged that he wrote some of the articles. In. these days, though many authors use a pen-name, very few make any attempt to preserve anonymity. The only case of recent years was that of "I'ionw, Maeleod." In ISiJ-I appeared "Pharais —A Romance of the Isles,'' and was followed by a number of romantic novels, which were widely read, i The lady's name appeared in "Who's Who," and her recreations were given as "sailing, hill walks, listening." No one ever supposed the writer to toe other than a woman, and her identity was successfully concealed for more than ten years, until the late Mr. William Sharp confessed that the lady and her books alike were creations of his own brain.

Perhaps the only case on record of an author being entirely successful in puzzling the public as to his identity was the famous "Junius." The "Letters of Junius" appeared in the Public Advertiser" between 17C9 and 1772, and the writer created considerable sensation by a letter addressed to King George ILL, {bidding 'him remember that "while the Crown was gained by one revolution, it might be lost toy another." The letters were attributed to a dozen different men, and, it seems likely, were actually wiltten by Sir Philip Francis. But to this day no on<? knows for certain. The secret is still a. secret after a century and a-half.

There is, indeed, only one other secret —popularly known to be a secret—* which ea.ii match the "Letters of Junius" in the length, of time during which it has been preserved inviolate. This is the First Lord Dundonald'is famous "secret war plan." It \va9 in 1812 that he first sulbmittecl it to our War Office, and again in 1846 committee considered it. It was openly declared, | at 'the time of the Crimean War, that, , toy ifs aid Oronstadt or Sebastopol could be annihilated within four (hours; but I it was condemned as "too inhuman, al- j though irresistible." 'No doubt the details still remain docketed in the archives of the War Office, and will provide splendid copy at a future date. The name of "Henry iSeton Merriman" i 9 much better known to the novel-read-injg public than that of Hugh Scott. The original reason why Mr. Scott adopted a nom-de-plume was that his father had put him to work at Lloyd's, and was very much down upon all attempts on 'his son's part at literary work. But young Scott stuck to his guns, and his first novel was accepted and published. Some time afterwards, he was on a visit home, when .conversation between him and his father turned upon books. "Now, if you could write a book like this," said the old gentleman, picking up a i|pvel from the table, "it would 'be another thing altogether." The book was "Young MMley," by H. Seton Merriman. Yet, even then the author did' not divulge his secret, and it was not until his father was dead, and five novels had been published under 'his assumed name, that Mr. Scott acknowledged! his identity as iSeton Merriman. Political secrets are notoriously difficult to keep, and yet there are, no doubt, scores of papers in the archives of Downing Street the publication of which would set the world by the ears. A certain London editor has for years boasted that 'he has in his possession a copy of a secret treaty between France and (Russia winch lie will produce at the right moment, if that moment ever comes. And there is a German editor who declares that at the time when we made peace with the Boers another and secret treaty was concluded, the details of which he knows, and will use when the time seems ripe. We paid heavily for the 'secrecy with which the Boers conducted their long preparation for war; and the late Sultan of Turkey paid with his throne for the amazing success of the organisation of the Young Turk party. Considering that the whole country teemed with, the Sultan's spies, the secrecy with w'hic'h Hilmi Pasha surrounded 'his plans for the regeneration of ihis country is one of the most amazing things in modern history. For more than eight years Hilmi, from his headquarters at Series., in Macedonia, plotted and planned;, and do w'hat they would*, the. Sultan s spies could not penetrate the web 'he was weaving. When the time came to move, everything ran as if iby .clockwork, and w itliiu a week Turkey shook off the cor ruption of ages, and took a new lease ot

life. , . _ The publication of the memoirs of a deceased, diplomat reveals some longtreasured secret. For instance, the "Hohenlohe Memoirs," which were given to the public in 1906, and which created absolute stupefaction in Germany, and made the Kaiser furious, told the world how very near Bismarck came to declaring war against France early m 18/o, andi how angry he was with England for 'her successful efforts to keep the peace. The memoirs of the late Italian Premier, iSignor Crispi, created an equal | sensation. In this book, the entire blame for the frightful Italian disaster in Abyssinia, for which Crispi himself lias always been blamed, is thrown upon the late King Humbert. Crispi leaves it on record that fee himself wished to recall General Baratieri, but that the King exercised his Royal prerogative, and retained Baratieri in command. The result was the Battle of Adua, in which 5000 Italian soldiers.were killed.