The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

ont OF sight with Spartan reticence.
Hence the habit of mind and manners
which has created the tradition Of the
cold, impassive Englishman. Hence the
phase Of English living which the Eng
llsh themselves in the modern vernacu-
lar call "swank" and which simply
consists In Drawing the curiosity Of the
world and then defeating 1t, the never
ending bluff Of concealing everything
seamy about ones affairs aud somehow
appearing always better of than the
reality.
OF course this attitude is not pro.
ductive Of real cordlality OF feeling
toward the tenant of the spare bed
room. AS the members of the family
are always at bottom on their guard
against him. buckramed In their COM
pany manners. they are never quite
easy or natural in their tone The chill
dren catch the infection from their ell
ders and they are admonished to dis
erection. They grow up cautious and
hanging back. The habit OF uneasl-
ness, OF unnaturalness OF tone in inter
course with strangers becomes ma
tlonal Characteristic. The Engllshman
wears 1t so constantly at home that he
cannot throw 1t Off abroad. Therefore
he Is shy, embarrassed, retlcent in all
his relations with outsiders.
But the introduction Of strangers
into ones own home aud the constant
practice OF visiting lead to the for
nation OF strong and broad outside
ties The young people form their life
friendships outside the family circle,
thus RELOCATING aunts and uncles aud
cousins to a more frlgld circle Of in.
terest than prevails on the Continent,
where family solidarity is perhaps the
greatest bond Of society. This outside
cultivation of congenial spirits further
fosters the romantic courtship to the
exclusion of the arranged marriage.
But in fact, It is argued with surprIs-
ingly Gallic frankness the admission
of casual visitors TO the home intimacy
makes any marriage hut that OF love
impossible. The marriage OF reason
has for its logical consequence the
erection OF n barrier against the I'M
known peril from the wlckedness that
Is without
The spare bedroom Is the nursery of
! sentimentalism because 1t Is the limbo
TO which decadent household gods are
consigned on their way 10 the lum-
Der room. The reigning couple Of to-
day decorate It with the pictures, the
ornaments, the furniture Of their pred
| ecessors. things too sacred to part
with. yet not quite modish enough for
the drawing room. They know that
when they are no longer there to see
their own cherished objects OF art and
splendOr will find their way there,
making room for new set Of treas.
ures dear TO the hearts and eyes OF
their still more advanced children. II
is an honorable asylum, an easy stage
in an inevitable transition. Ii cannot
he visited without sigh and a tender
thought for something that time has
placed in sad perspective.
Thus 1t is argued the spare bedroom
is really the most important focus of
English life; II Is there that the Eng
l!shman and his home are shaped into
/ the truly British mould. Perhaps an
equally appealing argument might BE
made out in a reversed direction, con-
tending that the Engllshman was the
autogenous element and the spare room
the offshoot, that the race created the
room TO meet its own need and not
thnt the room fostered the man TO jus
tify its existence. At any rate the
discussion draws attention to an in
! teresting interrelatlon with many curl
Gus phases. The lead is not impossible
OF further development. In American
middle class life not Improbable in
quiry might be conducted regarding the
effect OF the front parlor upon both
the higher and minor morals in town
and country.