St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-08
MADAME BLANC AND AMERICAN
FAMILY LIFE.

The March Forum contains an un-
usually interesting contribution from
Th. Bentzan (Madame Blanc), whose
articles upon THE Condition of Woman
in the United States" aroused so much
interest in France at the time of their
publication. Her present subject is
Family Life in America" and she
treats the theme with a sympathy and
comprehension extraordinary in writ
er of another nationality. 1t is precise
ly the things which are so evident to
ourselves that we never think to speak
of them that constitute the soul of our
living. and these are things it is next
to impossible for an alien to appre-
hend. What is possible in this line,
Nine. Blanc has done.
In contrasting French and American
life she places to the credit Of the
former the fact that family life in
France still retains a certain unity.
under the supreme authority of it's
head, which it seems to her to have
lost here. To the immaturity of our
civilization she attributes the promi-
nence of the young, who represent
progress, hope, intense life. Hence
the license Of children and young girls,
and the insignificant part played by
older persons" She regrets the insig-
nificance of the American man, who Is
too often relegated to the position of
mere bread winner and made of little
consequence, even in his own family,
and she believes that if well-to- do
American families spent more time at
home and less in Europe they would
keep closer ''to the true springs Of their
moral greatness" She finds that the
means Of culture are abundant here.
and that untraveled Americans fire.
quently have a charm of originality
lacking in the annual pilgrims to the
land of art. 'While friendships be-
tween mother and son seem to her less
frequent and tender than among her
own people, she acknowledges that she
has never seen anything more touch
Ing and perfect than the comradeship
existing between many fathers and
their unmarried daughters. -+-
Upon the matter of morals Nine.
Blanc touches lightly. Desiring to
avoid the supposition, which would be
very simple-minded," that high society
is more virtuous in one country than
in another, she yet is forced to be-
lieve that puritanical convictions still
rule American society as firmly as ever.
We are more perfectly homogeneous
that there are more happy marriages
in America than in any other country
on earth.
Both American men and women DOS
sess certain public spirit without it's
counterpart in France, where military
service is still the chief expression Of
patriotism" according to Nine Blanc
1t is not our habit to think that our
property-holding classes recognize fully
their duty toward the masses of peo-
pie, and 1t Is interesting to learn that
in the eyes of this Frenchwoman they
seem to set an example which the world
must eventually follow. After divers
reservations which refer chiefly to
superficial matters, she concludes: "I
for one, shall be delighted to see our
French society-that is to say, our
French family of today-become more
and more Americanized."
On the whole, it is long since we
nave had critic at once so gracious
and so just, and her censure is as intel
Hgent and we'll worth needing as her
praise