Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-05
STARTLING PARIS
A Dinner for Young People
and No Chaperons.
A COUNTESS GIVES IT
SHE MANAGED TO vANQUIsH
THE MATERNAL scRUPLEs..
Fears That French Girls Will Guido
the Americans in Their
tg. Liberty.
A COUNTESS GIVES IT
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

ess de Bianzay, something like month ago
sent out about forty invitations to a special
dinner party. Twenty of these invita-
lions were to young, unmarried girls the
ouds or high society; the other twenty We're
sent to young men-not middle-aged men,
but the slender youths Of their own set
with whom the aforesaid buds would pre-
fer to dance and chat If left to their own
| devices. And the invitations to the buds
| said Non accompag nees," unaccempanied
| by chaperon!
| For three weeks after there was high dis
/ cussion in the highest circles. Such a prom
| osition was unheard of. In England and in
/ Germany and in the United States partlcu-
larry such reunions of laughing and ra-
| diant youth without the shadow of a chan
I eroh were known to be extremely frequent,
| out IN Old France, the stronghold of par
| entail tyranny, the proposition seemed at
| least what they now call commencement
| de sleek, which is even step further on
| than the old Fin de steele"
Yet many influences have been quietly
| working during the past ten years in the
most exclusive Paris sets. When the list
of American girls who have cast in their
lot with great French titles comes to be
made up it is found to be long one: at
the present hour they constitute an infIu-
entail group of free-spirited young matrons
all the more dependent in their views for
some prejudice to marry in a foreign land
large-hearted, generous and strong their
influence is all on the side of freedom for
tne french girl, their cousin and their
slster-ln-law. Therefore, the second sur
prise was that caused by the success of
the daring dinner party.
Il have declined several such invita- tons
Tor my two daughters" explained the Mar
quise de V, in her old palace back of
the Boulevard Saint German -.and In one
or TWO cases, when they came from Ameri-
cans, parents of my daughters girl friends
there was almost rebellion in nv house
hold. My son, who is to marry an heiress
from Michigan sided with Jeanne and Mar
the: When Nine. de Blanzay's invitation
arrived there was another battle Nine.
de BIanzay herself came to plead for the
girls She promised that the dinner should
come off as perfectly as if the mother of
each girl should sit beside her Then she
took is from the point of view of prirc;ple
and argued that the Americans displayed
a deep knowledge Of the human heart in
trusting their young people. She had al
ready been to half lne mothers of the girls
She had invited; and when 1 heard the
names of those who had consented l gave
way. let my girls go. Why? Because |
trusted Nine. de Blanzay.'
Took Personal Appeals.
None but an enthusiast would do
what this great lady did to vanquish the
strong prejudice of Partisan mothers It is
SoiN that just DIS Sne visited the MarQulSe
de V SO she made personal appeals to
all the other parents. 1t therefore turned
out that Partisan society has a strange
new thing to talk about Seventeen young
girls Of the highest ton sat down to a for
NAL dinner side by side with TWENTY-FIVE
young men of their own age, and once the
dinner over they proceeded to informal but
delightful dancing.
1t will be hard to make Americans under
stand the immensely of this change, and yet
the causes that led up to 1t and made it
possible have been long working
1t Is the opening wedge SAYS one of
the most experienced of Paris clubmen,
who has moved in these sets since the mid
ole OF the second empire. l told him that
L mad come to interview him on the Ameri-
canization of the French young girl
For several years past" he went on
the surveillance which Paris mothers were
wont to so jealousy exercise over their I'M
married daughters has been reducing itself
to pretense of watchfulness with much
yawning behind fans. Discovering them
selves TO be much less useful than thew had
imagined, disillusioned on the Importance
of their maternal role, they have come to
thoroughly detest the white balls" In
winch they are supposed to act as mere
chaperonS.
dance of the Comtesse de Blanzay they
will now commence by feeling themselves
obliged to go and fetch their girls in per
son; then they VIII send a governess or
while madame-stil young when not placed
in direct competition with her daughter
will find herself more free to pursue her
own happiness. Monsieur, for his part will
chanSe none OF mis- fixed habits, and will
continue to pass pleasant evenings at the
club
What Will Happen.
What l fear is that we will become more
American than the Americans now that we
have started" said my clubman. LAS 1
myself am unmarried, I see clearly. The
original fault is with the Paris fathers who
desert their families for their clubs And
rather than resemble those unhappy hens
who have been set on duck eggs when they
agitate themselves upon the shore at the
sight of their ducklings making for the
water, will it not be better for our matrons
to courageouS!y assist in teaching the
young creatures how to swim? Their
fathers will not.
Recently l received great enlighten-
ment on this important subject from a
Boston mother" he continued. IN nv
presence she refused her seventeen-year
daughter permission to go walking with a
young man. her cousin.
She does not know how to take care of
herself yet" explained the Boston mother
The explanation is typical and merits to be
remembered. Unhappily, to train our girls
to take care of Observation-Disclosures
corollary of their liberty-we must resign
ourselves to let them acquire precise no.
llOHS on al Sorts or things or which for
merly they were supposed to be ignorant
Yet from what hear on all Sides" con-
tinued the philosopher, Il fear strongly
that our girls always learned in secret even
more things than were necessary Left TO
themselves, they would chat very freely |
and such inquisitive conversations recog-
nfzed as contraband, must be really more
pernicious than any tete-a-tete in public
with the average type of young man of
their own age Why, recently at family |
tea l heard a young girl very severely
brought up hooking very cleverly the in |
nocence Of a provincial married lady: while /
another, questioned as to the employment |
of her time through the summer spent al |
the chateau, said, L spend my time in writ |
ing what my mother f0rbids me to reaIr
Both girls belonged to the purest Faubourg |
Saint-Germain: and our worthy dowagers |
would be astounded to hear what the |
learned little creatures say among them |
selveS!
Summing It ALI Up.
''To sum up the question" concluded nv |
informant Just as sincere righteousness |
was adorable and ought to inspire In the |
happy bridegroom a generation whose re-
membrance ought to cast an aureole of |
tenderness on all his married life, so the /
hypocrisy of pretended innocence appears i
to me regrettable, abominable. How can a |
husband have entire confidence in his wife i