ART OF LIVING

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18796, 7 February 1931, Page 7

ART OF LIVING

THE ENGLISHMAN’S SUCCESS. (By T.C.L.) The Englishman has developed the art of living to a degree unknown in any other part of the world. To him his home is his castle. He spends his money lavishly on his garden and parks, his lawns and walks. He forgets all about the sordid things of life when at home, and he loves to entertain friends at week-ends and holiday times. It is a new and delightful experience for the oversea visitor to be a guest at an English country home, to be taken by his host over the gardens and the parks or to the stretch of fishing water, and to participate in discussions uoon matters ouside the realms of business. On the lawns, in the shade of the umbrageous trees that give charm and distinction to the English countryside, tea is served amidst pleasant conversation. The Englishman and English woman in such environment are at their best. They aie very friendly and natural. They abhor smart talk as they abhor smart conduct. They are so sincere, genuine and unaffected. Compared with them we of the Dominions are rough, unpolished, sometimes discourteous without meaning to be. We are the product of a newer country the natural forces of which we and our fathers have been engaged m taming and shaping to our needs. We will in time develop conditions making for culture and fulness of living as obtain to-day in England. The upper middle class and the aristocrat are like the patricians of ancient Rome; they give backbone to the country; they are the. stable elements which can always be depended upon in times of crisis. These are the classes that gave Britain the stimulus and spirit to conquer—or die—in the greatest struggle in which the nation has ever engaged. The world has never had a finer lot of men and women, nor men more physically fit, high- minded and patriotic. These qualities were tested in wartime; they are being tested no less in these post-

war days. Formerly Englishmen had , things all their own way. Money • poured into them from the four cor- t ners of the earth, and this was used in opening and developing fresh avenues of trade and income, and strengthening their economic position i in the world. To-day things are different. Their , sources of wealth are not what they j were; cost of living has increased j enormously; taxation is crushing. Yet : the Englishman puts on a brave face, and “carries on” in the traditional way. He still indulges his love for the coun- ; try life and any sport it affords and still has his staff of servants to min- , ister to his needs. Maybe, too, he still maintains his London home or his . luxurious flat in Mayfair, and keeps membership with his favourite club. Having acquired the art of living, he is reluctant to give it up, despite the harder times. j With the Englishman meals are an ! institution, not to be lightly regarded, nor to be hurried. You take your seat at the table in the baronial hall along- ■ side other guests, to whom you may i have or may not have been previously | introduced and engage in conversation : to find subsequently that your neigh- | bours are important figures in even an important country like England. But they never betray the fact. They are modest as they are sincere, and quite to meet their humble Dominion brethren in an even footing. Your neighbour may even be an ex-Minister or a Minister of the Crown, for the English host arranges these dinner or luncheon parties with a nicety and . taste that are admirable.

The mind of the Englishman is cosmopolitan; it surveys the world, and is not confined to the British Empire, for j England is the financial, commercial and political centre of the world. For 1 that reason, the cultured Englishman is concerned with the affairs of the world, and he has an intimacy with j and a keen grasp of its main prob- j lems.

These informal dinner parties are , often something more than social gatherings. They may have a bearing upon political or international re- ■ lations, and result in a smoothing of the way to future diplomatic or poli- j tical action. In this national work the hostesses may play no unimportant part. Incidentally it is surprising how | well informed on political and econo- f mic matters are educated English I women.

Banquets form an essential part of i the life of the community. They are , not stiff and formal affairs but very friendly and human. In this, as in other conventions. His Majesty the King sets the example and gives the note. There is the wealth of plate, the decorations, the jewels and the uniforms—all are so uniquely English. So are the courses, the music and the speeches. They follow much the • some order and have much the same quality whether at Buckingham Palace the Guildhall, or the Savoy Hotel. The toastmaster, decked a glittering uni- , form and with a voice like a sergeant . major’s, is quite the most important looking person in the assemblage. The speeches are crisp and short, except when an errant Not even an orator of the first flight is expected to occupy more than ten minutes, yet colonials are known to have spoken for 40minutes—and tried the patience of their auditors w’ithout their betraying the fact.

It was a distinguished American who once said, “the intellectual Englishman is the most interesting study in the world.” He is. The genuineness of his courtesy, his real kindness and hospitality are beyond praise and without limit. The colonial who has seen him from the inside is gratified that his ancestors came from the same country and that he himself is of the same stock.