The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-03-21
LIFE IN FRANCE.
Some of the Contrasts Which I'm
press an American,
A HIGHLY SEASONED PEOPLE
And the Most Interesting Nationality
in:Europo..Par a cItyot Churches
Social Aspects Of French LIfc-Ex'
tremes Meet in Politics and Society
A Practical Illustration.
lD.eial CorraDondme. Of tAs hieQgsnoer.'

French life has impressed US more lorcl-
bly, than the many striking contrasts it
presents, We have always known that
humanity was a bundle Of contradic-
tions, but our studies Of French humans
ity have strengthened this conviction q
hundred fold. Assuming variety to be
the spice Of life, the French, it must be
admitted, are a highly seasoned people,
and 1t is perhaps not too much to say
that, from this point OF view, they are
the most interesting nationality in
Europe. Just as French artists excel in
the niceties Of light and shadow, so it is
in the daily life Of the French people as
o whole. Tho lights are very distinct
and these, unfortunately, are no more
pleasing than the shadows are repulsive
and ominous. To begin with material
things, it Is in France that You find
frugality more fully exempllhed
than in other modern nations.
and here also do you find the
love OF dress and the craving
for table indulgences carried to such an
unparalleled extent that 1t vitiates the
morals, and, as French writer's them.
selves do not hesitate to declare, acts as
a restraint on the natural growth one
ought to find in population. As to
moneH, people in France affect to scorn
it as q solace for blighted affections and
wounded honor. In affairs OF this kind
the revolver ia preferred to breach Of
promise suits, and cold steel to damages
for libel. None the less, however,
French shop keepers, to make all they
can out Of a rapacious public, do nearly
all their trade on the bargain and barter
principle, and the people generally are
such evident lovers OF tho filthy lucre
that even marriage is Invested with Q
distinctly mercantile aspect, while in
further proof, one needs only to recall
the Panama revelations, which indicate
at once the prevalence OF the gambling
instinct among the poor OF France, and
the fascination exercised by tho gains of
gambling over many who are better off
in the world.
CITY OF CHURCHES.
To skip from material to religious
tendencies, it may be- said Of the chief
city OF France il q city Of churches; and
yet 1t 10 Just as true, and far more Gus
tomary, to speak Of it as q city Of pleas
ure, not to mention the still more unsa-
worry names which are sometimes given
to It Our Lady Of Lourdes, with the
= superstitions which cluster about her
shrine, ia no more really a French char
acter than She lady OF fashion with
crowds Of weak-headed' masculinity
dragging In her train. How much OF
open and i~ncipient unbelief there is in
France Ia but too apparent on every
hand; yet side by side with this there
is 80 much faith in the supernatural
that religious retreats are still numer-
GUS, and men and women are. to be
found everywhere so absorbed In the
thought OF a future life that present
hardship Is q Joy to them. Aa an Eng
llsh writer has said: France is the
country OF the woman Of the world, Ia
monddine, and OF the Carmelite nun,
the one living in the utmost luxury,
and the other in the hardest austerity,
and n CLEAN OF hope or q cloud OF dlsap-
pointment in the life OF a young lady
may determine for her which Of the
two she is to be-"
Still looking for contrasts we turn
o to the social aspects OF, French
life, beginning as We ought, with
the home. Everybody knows how
strong and tonder are family ties in this
country, and tho most casual observer
must also see q painful lack there is Of
genuine home life. It is the country Of
which we are told that Its young men
have q remarkable tondness for their
mothers, and by q strange paradox, it
is also the country Of which we know
that tile place OF prediction for the
great mass Of Its young life ia, not the
home circle, but the cafe. In regard to
girlhood, the home and school surveil.
lance Ia so strict us TO SAVIOR somewhat
of the Oriental system, while as regards
a large section OF it's female society be-
yond the pale OF home life, the rules OF
conduct are so lax as to suggest Orien-
talism Of quite another kind. II 10 only
within recent years that Franco has had
divorce law. How she managed to
get along without ono was always a
mystery to us, and when We now learn
that the number OF divorces In 1901 was
5,752, with the annual output steadily
increasing, our surprise is d%eepened.
Against Engiand's annual showing Of
less than 800 divorces, these figures OK
hibit Franco in a dreadful light, and she
10 evidently worse behaved in this mat
tor. though not very much 90, than her
sister Republic over the seq.
SOCIAL CONTRASTS.
Looking now at social life in ita bread
er phases, the contrasts which meet US
are no loss striking than those afforded
in the family and domestic circles. I'm
less tho French are grossly overrated
they beat the world In politeness. For
that sort OF polish which qualities peo-
pie to glide easily through the forms
and requirements OF society, they have
no equals. Their language lends itself
to this accomplishment, and II would
Foem, too, na though q peculiar supple
moss and grace Of manner had been
given to them for tho same end. Never
theleHs, tho French can DO decidedly
rude when their feelings are touched;
and when one remembers how sensitive
they are, this means that they can often
he rude, and that q childish resentment
may sometimes be shown, rs their own
writer's admit, where there II no excuse
for II. Ono thing about the French
impreSses US very oddly, and that 10
thoiT habit Of kissing each other. Wo
mean, OF course, kissing between mem
the other form ia neither French, nor
continental, only human, But as to
kissing In France. ono has 10 remember
that this country, whore men are 90
effuaivoly sentimental as to gush In this
manner over their fellow mon, ID also
tho country where tho duel finds a con.
genial home, and whoro tho satne por.
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