FRENCHMEN AND "MRS. GRUNDY."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13814, 29 July 1908, Page 9

FRENCHMEN AND "MRS. GRUNDY."

Wi: talk about democracy, but there is more of real democracy in a square mile of France than in a .thousand square miles of the Empire. . On? . the other _-hand,Frenchmen do not 'stand in undue awe of their fellows. They are less afraid than we are of "Mrs. .Grundy/' They do as they like, regardless who is looking, and have even courage to show their feelings and to follow impute without a qualm. Hence their incomparable genius for ho i-dav-making;. The trouble with our holiday frolics is not lack of gaiety; it is our terror lest (Somebody will see us stand on our heads and think the less of us. We are not " solemn asses," but we pretend to be. 011 the*curious theory that to 'get mistaken for cold, lifeless, unfeeling clods, will win us admiration! Perhaps the French go too far in the opposite direction, and vet a, .little more disregard for the onlooker would improve us mightily.' The French have doubtless derived this charming independence from the life of he cafe. When two hundred people sit together in the open air, chatting, sipping ?i bocks," playing cards, writing letters, smoking, reading newspapers, or merely idling, they get used to being watched. At the same time they learn a jolly sociabilitv, which is not without its moral value, since it makes for friendliness and something very like democracy. They have made life itself an art— a fine art.—The World's Work.