French v. Americans.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 8229, 10 June 1895, Page 2

French v. Americans.

Mark Twain wrote a bitter attack upon Max O’RelTs recent book on America, and fell foul of French morality. Max O’Rell has made a smart reply in which he says : “The proportion of illegitimate children to legitimate ones is nine per cent, in Paris, twelve per cent, in New York, fifteen per cent, in Chicago, and more than thatin San Francisco. “ What could France teach America ?” exclaims Mark Twain. France can teach America all the higher pursuits of life, and there is more artistic feeling and refinement in a street of French working men than in many avenues inhabited by American millionaires. She can teach her, not perhaps how to work, but how to rest, how to live, how to be happy. She can teach her that the. aim of life is not money-making, but that money-making is only a means to obtain an end. She can teach her that wives are not expensive toys, but- useful partners, friends, and confidants, who should always keep men under their wholesome influence by their diplomacy, their tact, their common sense, without bumptiousness. These qualities, added to the highest standard of morality (not angular and morose, but cheerful morality), are conconceded to Frenchwomen by whoever knows some of French life outside of the Paris boulevards, and Mark Twain’s illnatured sneer cannot even so much as stain them. In France, a man who was seen tipsy in his club would immediately see his name cancelled from membership. A man who had settled his fortune on his wife to avoid meeting his creditors would be refused admission into any decent society. Many a Frenchman has blown his brains out rather than declare himself a bankrupt.