THE GAIETY OF NATIONS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10765, 13 May 1911, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE GAIETY OF NATIONS.

There is no quality of the human soul more shyly elusive than gaiety. It will visit none an unwilling guest, and he who forces it upon others commits as gross an outrage as the monster who unlocks his sorrows to the public eye. If it would bring us delight it must come and go as it pleases, flashing upon us like a bright-hued butterfly, and leaving us wiser and more joyous for its sudden apparition. This waywardness of gaiety does not suit the practical Teuton, who is so eagerly intent to demonstrate the superiority of Berlin that he would reduce the emotion, for the most of men a. hopo rather than a reality, to line and measure. All that is wanted to produce "gaiety," he says, is to instal the electric light, to lay on a, tap of Munich beer, to hire a troupe of Tziganes, and to keep your doors open, all night. Above all, late hours and an easy Licensing Act are essential. If these be granted,-then you shall la ; ugh as long and as loud as you like; in a, fine spirit of pot-valiance you shall turn night into day, and the merriment of beer shall lift from your shoulders all the heavy burdens of life. The method is too simple to inspire confidence, and before we pack our bags, in obedience to the Teuton, and take refuge in the beer-palaces of Berlin we might ask ourselves what we mean by gaiety. Look out the word "gay" in Johnson's Dictionary and you wSI find these apt equivalents: "Airy, cheerful, merry frolic." The virtues which these epithets denote are the virtues of the heart and mind. You cannot purchase them as you buy boots, in the common mart. Their acquisition is in your power and in the power of none other. They may be sought in solitude as easily as in the crowded haunt of pleasure-seekers. I can imagine gaiety in a desert or the inspissated gloom of misery in the splendid Panopticums of Berlin. . Nevertheless, it may be admitted that every nation has jts_own way of expressing gaiety. The French, before all, are masters of this delicate quality, and they are most apt to share it generously with others. Thackeray once said with perfect truth that he never landed at Calais without feeling that a weight of care had fallen from his shoulders like a discarded coat. There is something in the brisk and vivid air of France that forbids despondency. Even the unaccustomed traveller must rejoice with those about him. He must take his part in the keen curiosity and zest of life which no Frenchman escapes. And in Paris he cannot but be conscious that there prevails a sound, standard and measure of things. There is an atmosphere of art and letters which envelopes no corner of London. The poets of the quarter sing not that they may turn their songs to profit, but for love of their craft and pure joyousness of heart. You may find gaiety, if you will, at the next corner. You are not asked to pay for it. All that is required of yon before you enter into its full inheritance is-to put away sordid ambitions and to forget that the earth is a Tom Tiddlers Ground, where the serious ones scramble for gold. . .... Such are tho sentiments .whicli give to Paris a gaiety of heart which we miss sometimes in the bustle of London. And, if you will surprise the visible embodiment of this gaiety, go in the afternoon upon the boulevards, at the hour of absinthe, and watch what Johnson's Dictionary would call the "frolic" interchange, of wit and thought. There in its perfection is the talk, ardent and sincere, which makes for gaiety in a far higher sense than shows, theatres, or gin-palaces. And when night, has fallen upon the city, cross the river and visit some far-dis-tant cafe.;, where meet those cenacles of poetrv whose loyal members cheerfully cafrv aloft the banners of their school in "the very jaws - of poverty. There von may learn a lesson m high iii.iiits whicli all the racket of Montmsrtre cannot teach.:-; : _ " . It has been the misfortune of Paris that her loudly,advertised "gaiety" was 1-31Q Ejace discovered by; London, and

New York. Her northern heights have become tlio. goal of raffish pilgrimages. The sad trippers, who know not how to eiijov themselves, find bought pleasure s ready to their hand in the restaurants of Montniartre. There they can enjoy the privilege, so highly esteemed in Berlin, of sitting up all night in a heavily laden atmosphere of tobaccosmoke and champagne. There they can listen to an empty chatter, in which thev take no part, and smile hack at a laughter incomprehensible to their timid souls. It is but a shadow which thev grasp. The gaiety after which thev pino escapes them. How. indeed, should it thrive where its worshippers are "personally conducted:' And how shall London emerge from tiiis competition of gaiety? Very id, if wo wav believe the foreigners who sislt our "shores. Thev are convinced at a. first glance that the English still take their pleasures as they took them in the time of Froissart. There. &ro. no cafes in- London to tempt the hardy Teuton from his bed. An exorablq law closes the- doors .of all hostchies half an hour after midnight. It seems as though the curfew of William the Normin" was still in force. The poor tourist whose toes itch to join in the twinkling dance finds this simple pleasure cruelly denied him. No wonder lie sighs for the ampler license of his own .laud! No wonder he condemns his hosts in a fury of rage as killjoys closebound in the iron bonds fo Puritanisin i Yet his condemnation is undeserved, as he would speedily discover if he vrera permitted to look through' the windows of our clubs and houses. The life of modern London is like a Moorisn palace ; it shows only its darkest side to the wwkl Durfr.g \bo last centuries a complete change of manners has taken place in our metropolis. The rufFcrs, the roaring-boys, the blades, and the Mohocks have followed eacli other into the limbo of forgctfr.lnoss. : Bob Logic and Corinthian Tom no longer box the watch in the purlieus of Covent garden. The age of nighthouses is past. Our gaiety breathes a quieter and more private air. "We refuse, obstinately to exhibit to the eyes of strangers our emotions of joy as of grief. But the true gaiety of mind and spirit, cloistered though it bo, still flourishes in our midst. It may be difficult to defend our inveterate practice of keeping to ourselves the best of our pleasures. Not even the envious man who has more than a tourist's knowledge of London can deny that joy and hight-heartednoss sparkle there for those who seek them. Concerning the gaiety of Berlin there can be no doubt. It is of that poor kind that insists upon publicity. In the beer-halls, which sleep neither by day or night, there is an eager resolution to snatch every one of the four-and-twenty fleeting hours. On all sides are theatres, music-halls, cabarets, restaurants, to capture the wayward fancy of the citizen. It is as though every man you met slapped his chest and shouted in vour ear, "See how cheerful I can be!" As I walked down the Frieddiehstrasse, bright with all the glare and glitter of Panopticums, T remembered a picture. I think by Phil May, which appeared many years ago -m Punch. It represented two women, damp and draggled, standing at a street comer, under the rain ; and says one to the other: "How long have you been gay?" A. sardonic question ,_ which you would put to no other capital in Europe. t ■*,' ' '