The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-26

this sentence: Taxes throughout France
are collected with indescribable facility
and with q remarkable display Of good will
on the part Of the people,
The explanation Of his sentence is easy
Firstly, Jacques Bonhomme being q saving
far sighted mar has always money In his
pocket and Is always prepared for inevita-
BILE calls. And secondly, history and ar
ingenious device of his Legislators has
something to, do with this alaority, even
e~xhilaration, in taxpaying.
AS we all know, up TO the Revolution
jacques Bonhomme only existed 20 pay
taxes. The nobility and the clergy got Oh
scot free; on the shoulders Of the middle
and working Glasses lay, the entire fiscal
whatever in the Government.
So hateful had the very name intp0t or tax
become on thisa account that in the deciara-
ton Of the Rights Of Man, 1889. the word
Aenoeforth were to contribute ward the
national expenses, to consider themselves
voluntary taxpayers. in return enjoying
civic rights.
so called contributions implies deprivation
Of the most precious privilege q man can
enjoy. that Of full citizenship.
He is above al things q domestic being.
like good Mr.. Brooke; regarding things
Less romantic than John Bull, he does not
fan over head and ears In love with a girl
whose face 10 her fortune. Initiating the
Vicar OF Wakefield, he chooses a partner
as he does her gowns. for qualities that will
wear we'll; also for still more practical
reaso ms.
Believing in the adage that when poverty
comes in at the door loves hies out Of the
window. he listens to prudential. prompt
inRs. AS the uncovered maiden il an
exception in France, it is easier to fall in
love where money Is than where Ii is not.
French novelists have most cruelty be-
lied their country and country folk. No
where else do you find happier, more
oontented, better ordered homes, jacques
Bonhomme ever leaving TO Madame the en-
tire management OF household affairs.
The oleverest business woman in the world,
the French woman only thus attains what is
her due.
One curious feature Of .Anglo-French
relations is the way in which The two peoples
have p~ensistently initiated each other, and
often when at daggers drawn. The history
Of Anglomania in France deserves a chapter
Immediately on the heels OF Waterloo
everything English became not all the fash
ion but the hallmark of g~entility and bon
Ton. From 1914 dates the importation Of
and many Other insular institutions.
While the great world in England had
the shibboleth d Ia mode on its lips our neigh
boris aspired to be fashionable. d Ia mode
became out Of date. Ia fashion taking its
place. the words meaning 10 Anglioize one.
SELF as far as possible. Men were Ill dressed
unless they wore English made habiliments
and sven boots, they could not shave them-
selves except with Sheffield razors. ladies'
discarded Lyons silks for Manchester mus
lins and used only English needles.
The same nattering imitation has been
going on ever since. and Jacques Bon
homme, in adopting many, OF our words,
has adopted the things for which they stand:
NJ. ~wD m ut.tA hna ~ N M Ire
these importations, and words so sane
toned are introduced into French litera-
ture without inverted commas or italics.
A generation ago croquet certainly was
played by youths and maidens across the
water, but cricket. football and other ath.
letic sports were unknown. Scholars OF
the lycee walke up n down bare yards
and talked In hours of recreation! Nova
days outdoor sports are a~ssiduously pur-
sued in public schools, the late Pere Didon
with his soutane tucked up dellghting
to join in football with his boys.
Nor has imitation stopped short at pas
times. sailor hats and tailormade dresses,
lie tub and five O'CLOCK tea and the garden
names, are in high favor. Fond mammas
and papas call their little daughters Maud
and Mabel instead OF Jeanne and Marie
Louise, their boys become Charlie and
Jack.
Whimsical may appear such innovations, !
but a liking for English things 10 next door
to q liking Of English, folk. It t~estiies
moreover TO An instructive attraction. a
natural good will.
On a Lesser scale John Bull has been
an imitator OF his neighbor. The County
Council is a direct importation from France.
its functions being precisely those OF the
Conseil Municipal as laid down by the Con-
stituent Assembly In 1889 and remodelled
by successive Governments.
IL was a FTenciinIan under the DifeCtoiT1
In 1904 who set US the example OF an in
ternatlonAl exhibition, an idea fifty years
later 90 ~splendidly carried out az Hyde
Park. The inventor OF the industrial
worlds fair, Francois de N~eufchateau, !
Btrange TO say, remains unstatued!
With John Bull and jacques Bonhomme, |
indeed. IL. has been a perpetual give and
take. not only OF hard knocks but OF ideas
scientific. literary, artistic. This subject, J
and a very interesting one il 10. might well
fll a volume.
By way Of conclusion | will only add what
! know 20 be true from experience. namely. |
the desire for an entente cordiale with per-
fide Albion 10 no recent manifestation.
Twenty year, ago. when sta ying with
French friends in Anjou, the conversation
turned upon this topic.
There was a time" said one. when
something like rapprochement seemed
| mean Immediately after the
CHmean war. when our soldiers and yours
had fought side by side. But alnsl nothing
came Of It,"
AZ that time the most ~sanguine well
on butb sides Of the Channel hardly
hoped for vhathAs to-day become a reality