Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-18
AS ONE WOMAN SEES IT
Clemenceau Reminds Her Of Her
French Governess. Who Chided
Her for Remissions. but Never
Quite Got the Range When
She Fired Her Hot Shots
by SARAH u. LOIyRiE

by SARAH u. LONKlE
TODAY n woman that ! had been con
! vcrsing with on the steps of the Academy
whcn last ] saw her as we stood waiting
Tor the doors to open on the Clcmcnrca,i
mee!lhg stopped me ID full career to ask
me how j had been impressed by what had
occurred inside the Academy the other day.
when we were told the truth about ourselves
from the viewpoint of the French nation.
sald that any one who has had n French
nurse or French governess, and could re-
member that far back. must have felt per-
tectiy familiar with the whole atmosphere
oi inc mornings discourse.
,rNcry Frcnchman may and probably does
iitfer from every other Frenchman. but
tnere Is French point Of view that np.
Psrehtiy All have in common: n language
vi vi inc mind, that is rs characteristic as the
,usnsni,gc OF the country. 50 that when any
rrphcnmnh addresses n foreigner he uses the
same ldloms OF speech and Of behavior.
g. when my French governcss found me
mecnant and wished to impress nc with
my haughtness she had a perfectly different
llnc OF approach from--let us say-thc Irish
nurse, or from my grandmother, or from
IN! !a,heri The undesirableness Of my char
actcr 10 the Others minds might lie in my
m'sch'cvousness. Or my disobtdence. or my
sauce but to the French mind it lny in
my ihck OF application to the imposed task
my ih'k "t seriousness in the undertaking
una 'ne want OF real stability of manner in
III! rc'h'lon To my teacher and to my lesson
was imp"litc not only To her. but to the
frehcii language in my careless attitude
toward the great art of finishing.
7 CAN NEVER remember feeling hurt or
= in the least ashamed after or during these
lectures. She might ''pop'' at me all she
pI'hSrd ] never thought that she got my
range. lie" SINS we're not my sins. ! knew
of plenty Of sins that were mine. 80 appar-
eni1S dih TIE Irish nurse: 50 only too
polgnantIy did my father. and 80 Nurpris-
iingly now. and then did my grandmolh"
But to feel guilty because of lack of finish.
or to be ashamed because where | could
delay tn" acquiring of Il complete romrre-
hcnsion of the French language by dullying
here and there. ! dallied-wel that was out
of the question.
Tn SHORT. became aware that the
L French point of view somehow never
could he tho American point of view. not
bocnus" it was less admirable but just be-
cause to us it was not SO important.
realized too. that even to the grownups
mhdemoiscle was not SO important as she
was to herself. and that what she claimed as
Difference due to herself because she was
French was in reality only shown her be-
cause >hc was rather straitcned, oldSh
woman who was earning her li.'ing and the
living of her family with great pluck and
considerable tenacity.
And boiled down to the bare facts, it
struck me that the big genial audience at
the Academy the other morning listened to
Clemenr"au with much the same detach.
mcnt that American children listen to their
French governcsscS. and for the same rca-
son. His points against us were not so
important to Us as they were to him. be-
hnt.
departure from the truly admirable rather
than American.
THE real interest to us lay. first. in seeing
L Ccmcnccau and pi"cing out in our minds
why he should have been SO formidable AS
tho dominating influence of the big Four
Why he should have placed President vii.
son at n disadvantage when it came TO
adding two and two and making twenty-five
instead of four.
Why. If he would let nothing come out
from those councils he was willing now to
come so far and to say SO much and to tell
the Forum what then he would not tell his
own Government
When Senator Pepper called everything
within sight that was sacred. from the
chandelier to the stockholders proscenium
box. to witness tha, We were in the pres
cnce of an Immortal. we all knew we were
We knew that that burly Frenchman. so
reminiscent of Bismarck above the rravat,
and of thousands of his own countrymen
below tive all knew that he had made
history and was in II sense more responsible
for what had happened after the armistice
than any one living. and we all liked him
for his pluck or his rcstlcssness in coming
over to scold us for not taking the situation
of France with proper Difference, and for his
reading us lecture on French idpalism
versus American irrcsponsibility, We let
him 'pop' at us and even applaudcd him.
because we felt safely ont of range. | doubt
If Il" stirred a single emotion of repentance
in US. however much we liked him. be.
cause If we had it TO do again we would
withdraw at precisely the same point that
did before, given the same situation of
adverse purposes among the Allies.
WHEN he chdcd us for coming late. and
w for going early. and for sending a bill
and for stopping credit. and for refusing to
use n big stick on Europe now, or tagging
our big stick with our Allies names for the
future. it was all reminiscent of our nursery
seedlings by mademoiselle. But there was
this great difference in the occasion: As
children the French point of view of our
selves had not interested us. but the other
morning Clemenceau'S point of view did
interest us. just because it was French. We
saw the mind Of France with little start Of
surprise that it should be after all 50 like.
II hide nothing from you." said Clcmcn-
rcau. What ! say mean. And." 10
added with all the authority Of C:eat
writer and great speaker and faclc de-
batter, as well ms a FrenchmHn, what I
mean | say
yTHERE we were back in the Schooroom
l. with all our slipshod ways Of expressing
ourselves in word and decd held up TO scorn
by one whose words were exactly fitted to
his meaning with no II mean to say or
'1hat sort Of thing" or "if' or "but'
about it. 1t is that finish, that almost "Iust
of finishing which is tn" essence of
France but which with MS. II race Of
ponoorS and adventures and advertisers
and enthusiasts Is non n-"Xislcnl. We admire
il in Frenchmen and buy their products, but
We do not cultivate it in ourselves nor par
ticularly desire it for our future
So that when Clemcnrcau preached it with
serious humor We listened with genial
humor and were glad that our City Trooncrs
looked 50 "ft," and our Mr.. Bok's Forum
had so many representative persons in il.