The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-02-01
DAILY PRESS.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1871.
"PoOr France.o
WHAT THE AUTHOR OF "JoHN HALIFAX
SAW AND UEARD
PORTLAND.

SAW AND HEARD.
MIS-. Muoch-Craik's pleasant vojnma on
titled "Fair France" is republisbed hv u,roor
q brothers. 1t will be read with Interest NOT
ior lts bearing upon the present condition of
AFFAIRS In France, but on account of its frost.
views OF the manners and customs of n Mao
pie whom the author rever saw until. as she
says, the experienced observation natural
and necessary to middle lile' gave her tho
power 10 think and weigh as well as TO SOC
Mrs. Craik dedicates .be volume as follovs
"I inscribe Fair France'-France of yester-
day-to those heroic and suffering souls in
the France of to-day, who yet suffer in hope.
seeing light through the darkness, and believ-
ing in new and nobler France of to-
morrow"
we eu'l lew vivacious passages from the
volume: which show that the author of "Jobn
Halifax" is good traveller and observer.
NEWLY MARRIED FRENCH COUPLE.
They we've, seemingly, a newlymarried
couple. lie must have been somewhere about
hve-and-thrty, with a fine, cear-cut, clever
face, or rather less merely "cleverr than in.
telectual-of the saoant kind, should saw.
He had also look of simplicity and good
ness, and certain largeness and nobility of
outline-Norman French, after the type of
the man in Mllais's picture of the Hunuenots
Indeed, there was an air of gentle blood about
nlm, down 10 hls very bands, which were
handsomer than one usually sees i'm Frencb.
men. For lPr-Sba VI
cate, large-eyed; scarcely out OF her teens. and
as tlmid.looklng as ayoung hare of the wood.
ope might never have been across her con-
vent gaze, or out OF her mothers sight till
now, aud she seemed to creep to her husband
Tor protection against this terrible upknown
outside world though she was little fright
ened OF him, too; stole at him glances of sbv
strangeness, and colored sensitively almost
every time be addressed her.
Obviously, one of those marriages. essen--
TALLY French, which we English regard with
such holy horror Theoretically; though. prac-
tlcally, many OF ours are not whit betteI-a
marriage de conUendnce, arranged by parents
and friends, in which the bride has no voice
whatever, nor dreams of having one. The
pair were exceedingly courteous TO one anoth-
er, but had by no means that air of complete
content-silly content-which our English
honeymoon couples show, perhaps a little
TOO plainly. Yet there was something very
touching in the quiet, protecting gravity of
tne ofldegroom, the shy, sweet look of the
bride. She did not dislike him. evidentlv-
this gentle, honest-looking man, with twice
her years, and probably thrice her cleverness;
whom, in all probability, she had scarcely
seen more than few formal times before she
was married to him. Poor little Grill | won.
dered what sort of woman she would crow mn
to, whether presently her shrinking sbvness
would all drop of, and she would blossom out
into the married woman-the married French
mountaineering to our English ideal of the
species which, however, may be different from
the reality)-lively, brilliant, entirely seIepos-
sessed; charming, and conscious of her
charms; clever, and making the utmost use of
her cleverness, and especially OF those QUAIL
Ties IN which she surpaSses all civilized wom-
en-tact, savoir fdire, and perfect knowledge
rf the world.
FRENCH DINNERS.
A word on French dinners. l own, at first
they were to me deep mystery. What could
be the use of taking twelve different mouth
fulS OF twelve successive dishes? Why on
earth could not one eat the meat and potatoes
together, instead of gazing hungrily at small
fragment OF r0ta sitting forlorn in the middle
OF ones plate, to be followed, at long Intervals
by bite OF fried potatoes and two teaspoons.
full of sorrel or spinach? 1t seemed such an
awful waste of time and appetite. will not
deny, there have been moments when a good
slice OF roast beef and two honest potatoes. or
even substantial piece OF bread and cheese
and glass os milk, and then to rise at once.
ones dinner done, would have been
state OF things quite paradisiacal.-
But shortly there grew to be certain
charm in these lengthy meals = these multi
farlous, varied, ldelicate-coCked dishes-in
which one was always wondering what was
to come next, and what it was made of when
1t did ccme. My dOmesti, and culinary spirit
began 10 have a secret admiration tor the
way in which French cooks contrive to make
something out of nothing-to evolve the tasti-
est OF dishes out ofthe most ordinary material;
also for certain refinement OF feeling, very
pleasant in its way-no greasy nastiness of
stews no gigantic, i'll cooked joints no swill
ing, during dinner and after, of heavy ale and
porter, or well-brandied wines. Undoubtedly,
as nation, our neishbors are more temper
ate than vein eating probably, most decd
ly in drinking. While a Briton luxuriates in
rich meat dinners, strong ales, and "beady"
wines, a Frenchman lives upon dainty dishes.
chiefly composed of vegetables, and drinks
the lightest OF cin ordinaire. OF course, eth
er follows his own way of living, and thinks it
the best way; still, on comparing the two, one
AANAhSN W oCHcNc IIldt Tue CUIUcPS OF u
healthy, enjoyable existence, blessed with a
clear head and stlong stomach, a~e rather in
favor of Monsieur
PARENTS AND CHILDREN.
A long, sunshiny, shut-up day in a railway
carriage is rather an alarming prospect. I'M.
less one is certain OF ones fellow passepcer RS.
or has the advantage of having none. We
glauced anxously at ours- an elderly mill
tary-looking gentleman and two youths. who
probably belonged to the Lycee at Caen. 1t
was eleven o'clock, the universal hour for de-
jeuner; so the three proceeded to regale them
selves in the temperance French fashion upon
roll OF dry bread apiece and then began 10 chat,
and Joke, and play together in most lively way
And here we could not help noticing-whar,
indeed, struck us wherever we went in France
the extremely free relations that exist be-
tween parents and children. In England, and
especially in Scotland, however deep and ten
der the love, there is always a certain distance
kept up Now these lads played tricks with
their father that would have made a British
parents hair stand on end with horror, fond
ling over him the while with kind OF rough
caresslng that was queer, certainly. to us un-
demonstrative islanCers; yet he seemed to
like it, and to be used to it. This was, pei
haps, an exceptional case; they might have
been the spoiled children OF his old age; but
among all French children we noticed toward
their elders, both IN speech and manner, a
sweet, frank liberty, which never dceenerated
into licenes. Throughout France ''lbe nur-
sery' is only room for the babies; as soon
as the little folk can toddle about or WELD a
knife and fork they are admitted freely both
to the salon and the sale a manger, and share
the occupations and amusements of the fam
lily in manner that with us is quite un-
known. Possibly, with some natures, this
may have its MISUNDERSTANDING them
men and women too soon; f; but it certainly
makes them little gentlemen and gentle
women, and it saves them entirely from that
mixture OF sbyness and underbredness which
is sometimes seen, for time, in very good
and sweet children who have been kept con-
tinually in their nurseries, and accustomed to
associate chiefly with servants.
"A Kansas paper makes the following re-