The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1916-03-01
THE FRENCH home
= - ~
There the Servant Is Like a Men,
Der of the Family
IMPORTANCE OF THE NURSE.
She Is the. Real and Rational Ruler OF
the Turbulent Children Who, as
General Rule, Are Spoiled by Their
Too lnduIoent Parents.

Too InduIgent Parents.
The French people have not, so far.
produced a spiritually servile class.
The occupation most dangerous to the
souEthat of personal service-has not
resulted for the people Of France in
aunkyism on the one hand and su-
perior airs ON the other.
There is something in the poise and
motion of French working girls. in
their fearless eyes and vibrant voices.
that suggests Il fluid and mobile social
structure which !; deepens the impress
sion of rigidity in the) life across the
channel and beyond the Rhine. French
people of the more ia yored classes are
never heard bemoahing the decay of a
proper" servant class On the con.
trary. If you speak to them of the
striking contrast Derween the French
proletariat and that Of other countries
theirs so natural and gay, the others
so humble or so sullen or both-they
instantly expand. with pride. Exact
Tyr they exclaim, Our brave French
people. Just us good as monsieur. as
The status of the French domestic
derives I'm part at least from the weight
of responsibility under which she
serves For her mistress is neither a
careless .housekeeper nor an Indifferent
mother. 1t is precisely because the
Frenchwoman loves her children SO ar
IDENTIFY. so romantically, one might say.
and because her quick. intelligent grasp
of material situations makes her an
excellent economist at home that she
requires and establishes In the house
hold not Il common servant. not Il
mothers helper" but woman of in
telligence and character. woman Oft
en- young and untried. but with the
true ring, who Is or soon becomes ca
pable of assuming direct responsibility
for the care of the children and the
house-a woman who deserves and re-
ceives the consideration due to the
head of an important department in
the management of the family life.
French children are VIGOROUSLY spoil
ed. The little monarchs are kept ON Il
pedestal well into the age of moral re-
sponsibility. Father. mother. all the
older relatives. vie with one another in
admiring and indulging them. With
this understanding OF the term and
scope of the childs auto~ratic reign.
one can afford to laugh at turbulent.
scenes in which he puts to rout every.
adult in the house except his bonnie,
At the mere sight of her the little des-.
perado begins to quiet down, He is in,
L.
has. so far. exercised any rational au-
thority over him. the person before
whom he feels the beginnings of shame
at doing wrong
The bonnie is the most important per-
son in the family group. so far as it's
material we'll being is concerned And
morally. spiritually. she is true mem
Der of the family. 1t is not for nothing
that the word "bonne" means good"
as well as nurse"
1t may be that the prevailing good
relation between masters and servants
in France has very simple expiana
tion-simple and yet profound 1t may
be that it springs at bottom from the
warm affections of the people They
cannot live without love and senti
ment Better than any other people
they know how to keep alive the 70
nance of friendship. of love and even
of that inherently bad relation. master
and slave.
The French servant who has no fam
lily ties-and often the one who has
throws her whole heart and soul into
the family life of her master and mis-
treSS.
She must love-she must serve-she
must be loved. And the French master
and mistress understand Each one
idealizes the sentiments of the other
In word, the romance of the situa
ton grips them all. French literature
is crowded with examples of mistress
and servant whose intimacy shows NO
trace of condescension on the one side
or of servility ON the others.-J Fran
res Cooke in New Republic