New-York tribune., 1911-01-14
A Friendly Study Of French
Thought and Character.

rur REAL. FRANCE. BY Lawrence coTn. JTI.
rold. Svo, pp. 2sS The Johh Lane O0''
pany.
FRANCE UNDER THE REPuBLRIC' ,ro- IS
lean Charlemagne Brace, INV, H. ~ ttas-
fessor of Romance Languages III n -.
sar College Svo, pp. " 80. Iia' ''7
Scribner's Sons
The definition OF national character
Is one of those hazardous underIahl's'
that but rarely succeed even IN sheht
measure. Mr.. Jcrrold may be ciasseu
sroone the small number o. lOrels"
writers who have achieved somelDihS
worth while within the attainable iiiill'9
set by the difficulties of the venture III
fact. his book is, on the Whoie' one VI
the best studies of France ana INe
I1ench written in recent years lhlS
hecause he takes for his point oil ue-
parture the firmly rooted rniscohceP'lo"
oe the country and its people heio most
strongly by the English. and IN Nat9I"e
measure. by the other nations OF EUROPE
as well. This total misreading or the
French character by foreigners VINO
haze not lived with II is but natural
since il is based on the only SIDE oi II
presented TO the casual visitor IN Paris
to whom the city is all France-and III
the sensational news Of the day. nohu-
cal and economic.
MIR. Jerrold succeeds BY pointing out
the fundamental duality OF the French
temperament and making it serve his
.nlightening purpose, enforcing its sig
nifcance here and there with English
comparisons. He says:
Aontmartre going mad in dozen night
cafes. and Paris up and out az dawn 10
work from homes neat MS bandboNes' tilesc t,
are miniature images Of France. EverE
PEOPLE plays and works. but none plays as
furfously and works as quietly as he
french: tho fever OF the game OF life runs
through their character. but beneath 1t
Jlods everywhere the labor OF living. .
The two moods OF the French temper ur-
derstand each other quite well For u rs Is
n question OF two moods ana even OF wv
permanent compartments Of the mind. II
can he said that the national French tralt
f. the combination Of mobility with sohdlty
mobility OF thought ana teennS WI.
solidity Of chaTactcr-and tho nice balance
between the mobile modes and the Sold
substance OF French life.
From the wild oats of the youth of the
QUARTER Latin, who IS the most duttui
OF sons at home, TO the vital questions Of
State and Church and society Mr.. Jer-
rold traces this equipOise. this control OF
mobility by solldty He gives strik-
ang concrete instance of it in NJ. BRAND.
who in 1902 advocated anti-militarism'
q general strike, the use Of rifles ana
bombs. but who eight years later as
Prime Minister, aimed at only one thing
the preservation Of the stability OF
France. "IIe simply and easily carried
into French politics the realism of
French life" Mr.. Jerrold sees this sta
bility. this instinct Of stability. this
souch Of "bOurgeoisie." also in the dis
contented French worklngman. Even
the nercest takers ot the Labor t,N-
change. he SAYS. the theoretical up
settlers Of society and plottcrs of reNo-
luton never forget 10 pay their rent.
and ne rcioices greatly over the an
srchist shoemaker Dclalt, accused ot
seditious Uttyrance, who kept the police
waiting when ,hey came To- arrest him
until he had conscieutiouslv finished a
pair Of boots ordered by an Infamous
bourgeois Stll there is serious danger
IN syndicalsm, and Mr. Jerrold does not
blink 80
llis book. composed OF contributions 10
various English periodicals. includes
chapters ON th' mine dislgtar 90 CoYr-
riaros. on LoufGs-, on "l,s ioucs' OF ten
yeors ago and now, and or the ruut,m-
Yul French drama. l.s aim ia uu.
Goo luud thD republic snd ifs people. ht
o. interpret th,n 8ul iu this Hr sue
cccds i,adiug his reader Co apply such
qualifications aH D., chooses after huN-
ing pointed ont to llm the uuy OFT meas
uf.uE their r.1i Importance lE French