Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-06-18
John Bull Oh the Continent
By MAX 0RELL, Author Of Jonathan
and His Continent etc
- RESIDENT ABROAD

D~sp,s~d.
On the map- published In Great Britain
you may notice large slices 81 the earth's
surface marked In rel.
These represent the British Possessions
hut there are good many other BRIT.
ish possession. which are not markell In
rel. Some ~ them ar, IN France, where
numbers u the mos, delightful and
picturesque towns-such az Avranche-.
In Normandy; Dinan. Dinsrd and 81
ser,an. In brittany. Pau. In the Pyr--
nes-s. ETC., are inhabited by regular
English colony.
On entering thes. places the signs Of
English colonization viii strike you; the
English church. th. lawn tenni. ground.
and the cricket field. will announce 10
you that John bull has taken up his
Al.ple therr. The Union Jack does not
aoai over the town hall. Il u true, bat
you are pretty SURF. b-forc yea have gone
very Ear. % -. u flying FROM the sum
init % hou.. inhabited by snme titled
memhsr u the community. You will
not have b-sn many lay. In the town L.
fore you are presented With evangelical
tracts. either handed Ia YOU In the stree,
or quietly slippc'i under your front door.
Thc-. British colonies az. chiefly o..
cr,iitcd from the upper middle class ~
their mother countryi lrish landlords
whose rent rolls have shnink. officers on
half pay. unlucky Spectators, and vic.
tim. of the turf 90 ccarte.
They arc all people who canno, keep
their wonicd T-,.iti,n In q society where
they are judgySi by the length of their
purss. AMI whcr. poverty u a crime
To dig they are ashamed" all Kinds of
work ars dcrogaiory In their ewes, and
tho only thing Ia H. done Is to make the
most II what !. left to them. ~. quietly
they slip across the British channel. and
pitch their tent. In our fair land. where,
thank. h.. u 10 s,ill T-'ssible Ia live ~e'l
and chsaply
To any inquisi,iye friends !, 10 easy
enough to explain why they are In
France. "Our English climate u afro
oiou., YOU know. my lungs were getting
AN~.tei Hers am rrviSing Besides.
I want the children a. sp-ak French.
and the only way to grt the accent at sll
1. a. come AMI live over here.
That !, not all Life In Lonlon l.
awfully wearing. you know. Here !
shall enjoy complete ro-t. Everybody
ha. hi. hobby. Well. mins IL % rus,i.
cate philo-ophicAlly. Ia Rousseau. All
INV dear fellow. Jean Jacques was right
the simple pleasures ~ life. that Kind
% thing. don't you know John Bull
~ill tell you. a. BE- enlarge. on the sub
jcct ~ country life AMI a diet u dairy
produce and vegetables; II haven't felt
q touch u Dyspepsia since ~e came
over"
II would b. wonder n hs had.
"Ani the shooting aud fishing are
really capital. "a say nothing ~ the
primitive habit. - the Breton. Who 4,
quit. an interesting subject % study
tn. gu.sl man tell. the story ~ often,
that In the prccrss ~ humbus ing hi'
friends be- finishe. boy humbugginy him
.,lf. anl by AMI by ,clicyc. it !. all true
Tia. advantages II the move are mani
fold. Ia London the society iuan mus
dr--- thrc, time, day. In th--. plac-i
h. do,-. as he plrasc.. and that u one
81 the great charm, ~ life In LITTLE
French town. The inhabitant. do NOD
know him-no need to drc-s for them
III. compatriots. voluntary eSilcs Ike
himself. 10 know him no need to drcs'
for them.
Wherefore. behold. Johns st up l. q
compfuuiis. bstsc.n former grandeur
and present poverty. lie affects corduroy
and flannel The knickrrtockers and
Jacket ~ the former iook sportsnanlike.
and arr everlasting wear. the flannel shirt
!. comfortable. and shoriens the washing
bill. Tie aid knickertpcker. may L.
patchc.l. but they have a shooting pocket,
AMI although b. has one meal day les
than he cOuld easily manage, be- has q
shooting license.
Thee Britishers arc clannish, they a.
-cciais only among themselves, unless,
indeci. Il L. among the French ari.-
tocracy % the town and neighborlicod.
The chief qualification To H. a member
Of their 1T l. 90 DO nothing. know one
cas-. ~ an Englishman having bccn dis
covered to have accepted an agency from
some English firm. In order to allow his
family to live little bstter. lie Was
pit.ously "boycotted" as black sheep.
Yet these worthy folks are kind hearted
The J-,or,-st ~ them are often charitable.
Not Ia H. able To give Ia the poor would
have been the har,ics, priyatiOn resulting
from taeir r,lucc'i state. AtChristmas.
at any rate. they must permit themselves
the luxury Of rcgalins some Of the Pcor
old folks ~ the neighborhOod. Drar.
funny. Ioyablc snol,s' They may have
b.en taught "a despise wOrk-they may
have their whims and fails. but at the
core there is much that l. sweet and
Wholesome In them. and few of their
act. need be repudiated by the incest
gentleman ! remember once going To
an English church. with one ~ those s-lf
hanished Bntons. When the collection
bag cam. round he dropped la a sou.
which he had pulled cut Of his pocket In
mistak. for franc. There were prOba
bly very few coins Ia that pocket of his
| Al all events, before it was time 10 leave
he had discovered his mistake. and be-
fore We left he had rectiiied u, taking
the trouble % 20 all round the church to
flnd the person who had carried the bag
These people. plenty Of whom have
had luxurious homes In England. are
fain o. content themselves with little.
poorly Furnished house. for which they
pay forty or tifty francs n month. Are
there no carpets on the door. they con
sole themselves with the thought of the
dust those Injuries are apt 10 harbor. u
there little furniture in the drawing
room. they think Of the overcrowded
salons In South Kensington. and are al
mos, ready To look upon the possibility
Of free movement as blessing cheap nj
the price.
Thanks To the inborn talent English
women have for making their houses
pretty. the plain furniture Is -oon supple
mented by q hundred knicknacks. and
the aspect Of the place IL far from feing
uninviting. ! have ssvn some OF ihese
houses. with poverty plainly staring ous
from garret to ground door. yet looking
pretty, thanks To the women who lived
In them. Their own drawings. and
. few good photographs. elegantly
framed. frightened tho walls. and
drapery. cheap. but gracefully EN-
broidered and loopcd about the win.
II L. .l..-s~. .o.l ax...la<,u ~axa n reyf Ain