New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-21

The Real Relations of the T7co
Peoples.
From The Pail Mall Gazette.

From The Pail Mall Gazette
Nine de StaeI wrote in "Corinne" that the
French and the English were the only peopie, IN
the world worth considering. and her OPINION
seems to prevail both in England and IN France.
The attitude of the two peoples TOWARD each
other is rather like that of oxford toward cam
bridge Their attitude toward other peoples.
however respectable. is rather like tnat OF OA-
ford and Cambridge toward such minor seats OF
learning as Durham and Lampeter and Aber-
deem. A British ambassador. Tor example, beiils
told by the Foreign Minister of Portugal that ne
would take a different view OF certain que s5
ton if he had been born portuguese Is saIu
to have replied that Il he had been porn d
Portuguese he would have cut his throat IN ms
cradle A similar arrogance is shown in the
we'll known French allegation that Holland is
composed of the mud of the French rivers Ep1-
grams of that sort have never disturbed anglo
French relations The dominant note is rather:
eff I were not Alexander I would be Diogenes-
This of course. is not what one would gather
from the neWspaPers-eSpeclalS IHe Fr oth,r
newspapers. There the suggestion Is rather
that when the two peoples are not embracing
with demonstrations of affection, they are squar-
ing up in pastures of defiance; ana TINS is, no
doubt true TO a certain extent, Of Downing
Street and the Quai d'Orsay England was
Louis Philippe's sponsor at the courts OF Eu-
rope but shortly afterward threatened him with
war in the matter OF the Spanish marriages.
Napoleon III never felt quite sure that he was
really an emperor until he had been received
at Windsor: but he had not been PACK at the
Tuileries very long before his colonies sent MN
their famous round robin proposing to prove
their martial ardor at our expense ana SO
sort of thing. both earlier and more recent.
That phrase the hereditary enemy has IT'S ms
torical justification. When the cadets OF st Cyr
set ont for their holidays. the song which they
sing in the train is 'Jamais en- France rAngla1s
ne regnera The curious. and satisfactory
thing is that this official animosity has hardly
ever been reflected in the personal relations be
tween individual citizens
There is an interesting and not very well
known instance of the persistence of this sort OF
friendship in the midst of actual war Flinders,
the naval officer whose name is associated with
Flinders Straits. captured by a French
frigate in the course of the Napoleonic wars ana
held as prisoner at Mauritius. When the news
came to England Sir Joseph Banks wrote to MS
friends Of the Institut de France asking them
TO use their influence with the Emperor TO Sc
cure the release of the distinguished explorer
They did exercise their influence. and the ex-
plorer was released. with compliments upon his
scientific services to the community at large
That is the sort OF incident that could only oc-
cur between peoples who fight in the spirit OF
athletes rather than of deadly enemies resolved
to bequeath legacy of hate to their descend
ants One may kind OF parallel 10 II IN tue
relations between Lord Kitchener and Major
Marchand who were anlicaply exchanging 1reSh
vegetables for old newspapers While the dlplo-
rnatists were discussing which of them should
retire to make room for the other Any one
however who has travelled abroad during Pc
RODS of diplomatic tension and has refrained
from trailing his coat provocatvely can recaH
many analogous experiences
It is always possible, of course, to have row
II YOU want one The French would 1orIeit d
good deal Of our esteem If they were not WILING
to meet us half way in such a matter. ana IL
was comparatively easy to have a row at the
time of the Dreyfus case. The only row OF the
sort that actually know OF arose W WI en- d
French lady taught her little girl of ten 10 pray
for the conviction OF Dreyfus every day at lunch
instead of saying grace and an Enghsh visitor
demonstrated; but no doubt there We're otheI
rows as well. On the other hand, the rows IhaL
take place are almost always ostentatiously in
vited When the late DR.. Tanner, for example,
shouted out IN the Boulogne Casino that the
French would never open their windows until
the Frussians came and made them. one
could fairly blame the French officer VINO TOOK
the matter up. And very often when there IS
q fair opening for row allowances are made
Once for instance ] was in a Paris cafe with
an eminent but intoxicated journalist. whose
name wild horses shall not drag from me- VINO
insisted on rising to address the meeting in
French on the subject OF the battle Of Waterloo:
The meeting could easily have overwhelmed
him bur II merely smiled at his inebriety IN
stead of resenting his sentiments When the
same man repeated his speech at the Petit Ca
vea,l in the Hales CentraIeS. I believe. he got
considerably mauled; but that is place where
an evening passed without row is reckoned
dull. and the journalist was probably regarded
as public benefactor IN leading up to one
OF the feeling that remains n France, IN
spite of Emperor Williams oVertures that the
, real enemy is not England. but Germany, nave
encountered many proofs. The most interesting
when ! rode the box seat Of a coach
from Sedan 70 Boullon. The driver answered
all my questions l. glum monosylables until
said something which revealed my nationality
"Oh, you are English he exclaimed I
thought you were dirty German" And then
he chartered affably for the remainder OF the
journey. One which the recollection
that really ranked. and what was the differ
ence between rivalry and race hatred
Another pleasant memory is Of a period
passed. out of the season. in a year Of inter
national strain, at small French watering
place on the coast Of Normandy. / was the only
Englishman there. and almost the only person
who spoke a word OF the English language.
One day two English firemen. discharged from