The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-03-08

TREATMENT OF CHILDREN.
Speaking Of children, however, and
how they arc treated in the French
home, that which will seem to Ameri.
cans to be more reprehensible than
anything else, is the strict guardianship
exercised over growing daughters, and
the French notion that q young lady to
be properly raised must be kept in al
most perfect s~eclusion from young mon.
The chaperoT is pre-emtnentfy French
both in name and as q recognized fea-
ture OF family government. Where so
many women are accused OF being fast,
it seems very odd that the recognized
code does not allow young ladies to go
out, not even on a shopping expedition,
without some older person to keep
watch over them, and forbids that they
shall converse with unmarried men, ex-
cepting under tho same restrictions.
Such, however, the code is, and there
are many who think that this over zeal
ous provision for the protection OF girls
becomes in the end n snare and danger
to them, and Is accountable largely for
certain we'll known aspects Of French
life which it would not be pleasant for
US to dwell upon. ~
Hospitality in the broad sense OF that
term Is sadly lacking in the. French
home. The latcR string Is Sal%ays out
to the children, and on formal occa-
sions to the far reaching circle OF kin
dred. But the Frenchmun who should
wish IN outsider to dine with him
would DO more apt to invite him to n
cafe than to his own house. There are
exceptions, OF course, as our own exper-
fence has shown, but this is the rule.
The dinner parties to acquaintances
aud neighbors, 80 common and 80 de-
lightful in America, arc scarcely known
in France, and 1t Is also rare, excepting
in the mansions OF the wealthy, for
visitors to be offered lodging for the
night. In large cities the fiat system,
which usually means an insutliciency of
room, makes this almost impossible.
But 1t is the same, We are assured, in
the country, and even amongst peas
ants.
At marriage feasts there is IN ample
spread In tho peasants cottage, and
many are hidden. but beyond this the
peasants nearest neighbor, who ts
hardly aver more than q mile of, might
as well be a hundred miles distant, we
are told, so far as the exchange Of hos
pitality is concerned. 1t is declared,
too, that in cities You may know q man
intimately for years, and may even call
upon him, without ever meeting his
wife or being introduced to his daugh-
ters. This is owing, as one can easily
see, TO those French notions, almost
oriental in their severity, which tend 10
keep the two exc so much apart from
each other, aud which doom so many
properly behaved French women to
lives Of comparative secfusion.
WIVES PRIVILEGES.
But the French wife is not without
her privileges when II comes to footing
the bills. At this point indeed French
law lays its hand upon her and makes
her fellow sharer with the husband in
household expenses. Assuming that
she has an income, a most French
wives have, either from their labor or
from some other dowry inheritance
assuming this, she can be held RESPONSE
bic to the extent Of one.third Of such
income for whatever may be needed 10
support the family. This Is how French
law takes hold Of the woman In the case.
But there arc many ways In which II
also puts the man under bonds. In dis.
posing OF his property ho can do as no
pleasos only with n very small portion
OF It, His estate, real and personal, Is
rs much tho property Of his children,
and falling these, OF certain other rela.
tions, as II is his own. What Is moro,
ho can make no will which could pre-.
won't his children from being equal
sharers In II. He could not do this oven
by n decd OF gift during his life, for II
no gave away more than his own "dis.
posablo quota" as II ia called, tho OK.
cess could be recovered by process OF
law. When there 10 ono child this quota
(qtotib dIponibie) IL half tho property;
whom there are two children, a third;
whom there are throo or more, a fourth.
II seems very strange that q man
should be so restricted as all this i'm.
plios In disposlng OF his own property.
30, also, does II seem arrange that q
woman. In France should no required
by tho law TO wait ton months after DO.
ing divorced or widowed before Bho can
marry again, whilst tho man is per.
mtttod in such q case to follow tho do.
vices and desires OF his own hoart. But
this Is a strange country; at any ratio IL
"a different from OURS, and hence must
DO judged by somewhat different stand.
ards. We could hardly approve Of all
French customs, though others Of them
Two should BIO tho better for copying;
and 1t will surely appear from what We
have written upon the subject Tint
there arc some most Admirable and
really onvlablS things clustering about