WHERE ENGLISH ARE LIKE CHINESE

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 111, 12 May 1934, Page 19

WHERE ENGLISH ARE LIKE CHINESE

"The English mask of immobility," writes Paul Cohen-Portherm: when discussing the Englishman, "is first cousin to tho Oriental's smilo that must never be taken*off in any circumstances in dealing with the outside world. Among tha, English all character .'training begins .with tho rule, 'Never lose your temper'; whether you are pleased or annoyed, lucky or unlucky, preserve at least tho appearance of equanimity, suid, if you can manage it, tho reality. The' first commandment is: Control thy-! self. Lack of control bespeaks the animal, and tho more controlled a man is the higher he stands; a gentleman always keeps control of himself, arid whether it is over sport, or polities, or business, neither victory nor defeat, neither good luck nor bad. disturbs his composure. -' Tho Englishman's view that all excess of emotion is absurd and undignified makes him misjudge foreigners (especially southerners), and they" him: they ' 'mistake the mask iqr the face, and even when they i-ecog-. jiise it as such, fail to understand the grounds for its use.

"It is, however, a great mistake to suppose that tho Englishman is really as cold and unimpassioned as he makes himself out, and one has only to observe the lower classes to become convinced of tho opposite. Being less severely repressed, and not dominated by the fear of being 'vulgar,' they reveal the great capacity for emotion that the English character has. The English, taken as a whole, make the most enthusiastic audiences in Europe, not even excluding the Italians. The enthusiasm of the spectators at any big sporting event is altogether unsur-' passable, and a London crowd on a holiday is incredibly noisy, jolly, and emotional. It is just because the Englishman is a man of very strong impulses that his education aims at subduing them, and because the unregenerate savage.within him is pretty strong .he k.cirps him chained up. "The. passion for liberty ami inclination to conventionality arc inextricably connected in the English. Absolute

liberty of the individual is impossible in any society, being tho same as anarchy; liberty kis only possible within a framework of laws, and English liberty consists iu\imposing these laws on oneself. They are tho conventions, obedience to which the Englishman demands o£ himself and his neighbour, and they are just as biriding as'the rules of a game, no gamo being possible without rules. No one in the world is more tolerant than tho Englishman as long as tho prescribed forms are observed: ho bothers very little about his neighbours, and even within tho family there is a very high degree of individual liberty; ho does not inquire, ami far prefers not to Imoiv,1 what other pcoplo are up to.

"In no other country arc there so fow official regulations, so little that one 'must' or 'must not' do. Tho.laws aro unwritten, and custom and usago are binding; tho Englishman automatically keeps to tho proper side of the road, does not push, and leaves tho best places to women and children; he ,s never inquisitive or importunate, and never tries to teach people their business before Jio is asked; Jio is always courteous, even to his subordinates and servants', and never forgets his 'please' and 'thank you'; he neither sbouts nor uses abusive language, any moro than he is exaggeratedly amiable, but is courteous and correct, and knows how to behave. 'What'can I .do for you?' asks tho English official of the member of tho public who comes to him about some business or other; it is only a form of words, of course, but it is highly characteristic of the official's attitude to the public. The Englishman's self-respect makes him respect his neighbour, just as his lovo of freedom makes him hnposo limitations on himself. The contacts and relations with strangers incidental to daily life pass off more pleasantly and with less friction in England than anywhere else, because good manners are moro highly valued, and bad manners more deeply Hooked down on than anywhere else."