THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 621, 25 September 1909, Page 17

THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA.

. t ,;"Thb',Queen"'reviews;!at. someAength' a book (bearing.the: above'title by;. Miss. Maud: Diver, whose- novels,,"Captain.Desmond;' V.C.,". and "The Great-Amulet," are still having a,. : great ;.;[;' •.-:•.,. y\iyy.. ••;... -'.- ;-•;!;;" ... ;M'issvDiveri ! says "The- Queen" 'reviewer, ihas !an?itttactive.styl6 ; ;and-.a marked'literary: gift,, *(hich'. Makes ,;her;>,as :an,;author,. "good company": to her readers.'-; She has also the imaginative ;syrdi)athy : ;.wbich,enables.her -to write kindly and tolerantly of mhny: different people.. In,the present ;Vblumei, though- entitled '-'fll'ha Englishwoman' in Jndia," shehas included "five rather articles, for: it is 'in' that form that •.theyvhivei already 'appeared—which deal.with.some of ■■'the "chief. "Pioneer' Women of/India."., Thiii .it .becomes difficult (as, id-, deed, it-should:db) to think bf.tlib life led by' Anglo-Indiari; womeii without having likbwise present to ;the..-riiiiid tho -life Vdf'. ; the natiVb wdihen. .;... : v ... ...,/,:';„' ; ."•'...,''.■,■■ .'■,

-.The result of: Hie', inevitable. ■ comparison is not, always;, flattering, to ; our /own.■• countrywomen.'..Miss Diver-writes 'ohiirmihgly about thb merit of "being" rather'thin "doing/';and upon the art' pfi entertaining 1 a; ceaseless\ train of.; visitors.."; "In/this art/'; she observes; "the Anglo-Indian: woman," broadly speaking, excels. In. her cool; dim drawingroom, with its soft Carpets, and its .'rcposefal chairs, sho .seems the incarnation ,bf .ljm'itless./leisure—-a'.'leisnre in. 'which' intimate' talk ;bloss'bnis arid. 1 flourishes', uh'chille'd.by/ tho vacant eye; the.'unmeaning smile/the .vagn'o acquiescence of; her who itches to bbup/and doifjg,'-nrid is Making/a noble but futile; effort tp/coriceal ..tho' fact. ■:". All this,is rightly 'said,-, and: the art'of 'being, companion-' able.to people..is.nbt : one to despise./ Still, the.achievement"is 'hardly sufficiently considerable to: give• a' : woman the fight to be' ungrateful, towards, her servants/whose fatignirig;labours/she 'Scarcelyover-shares, of to speak'with/any : tone of ■• concerning the native women, ,wh6So lives,are.often f/ltiorially l ,cnipl6ye ! d. than 'liefs, /The' best that Miss ■■• Diver ■ finds: ■ to:-.:snr 'about: ; the.; average. •'Ah'glp-Indidn.lady: is/that she.is.often an /affectionate "ivifp;and a devoted mother,'pf her/young ,childrehi and. theVworst. that is. said'of .the 'less satisfactory and. probably l much: rarer '-type t >is s that, threogh. being only. th'e"\vif6Vof( some-' body and, what'.is called;on the /stago/''thb' mother ,'Of ; . his children,"'' she-lapses', into:,ani existence, of,; stupid of vicious frivolity. 'JNal'ufal employment, fbr, her as in.educated pefson .do'es.npt,.Offer,'itself:-readily.'.-'-It has. to'.be sought'for, .arid/can dnl)v be. fdtihd. if she .has more, than ordinary "and -the; physical energy".Avhich. can" "withsfahd^./tKe^'enervating climate. It/devolves on exceptional' toriien' to introduce/English ideas as to'-Indian jvomen... ' ■ It-is' riot surprising /nndef: all thb - circumstances.that,many Indion'men• are ; not so part-icularly-pleased, with the majority, of: Englishwoman they fccfe in India "asto desire that their, own should become Anglicised;; And tp many of;thef.women;.themse'lves.itheir-pre-sent mode of life commends, itself.' /Miss Diver instances' the: daughter.; of 7a maharafili 'of ' advanced views who,-.'instead, .'of following-her 'moth'ef'S' , lead/':has returned■ to' Eurdah'.life/ andiShe' femarkS that'."it is {tho women themselves who : are, most tenacious' of the;; old .order-;; and ';while,, they/ £6;. remain; ' a daring/example) here and/there! 'will': scarcely serve to leaven ;thc whole luinp»" -IV : ■It .would,.bo\disbeartenirii( ( however, to. Suggest/that the'worii'eii of;lndia-are perfnanentlv. debarred from obtaining/their liberty. If their progress comparatively, .little, to the social influence of iErigli6h,ladies residing in India/it is/.oertainlj being stimulated by'n few Eastern ■woriien who, hay* been ,in Europe''aha'.have:enjowd a larger;life./; The: -remarkable work which:is,being done j lit 'Cornelia. Sbfabji is a case/in ; i>oint. /This /means,., in /short, that .'ordinary, persons, living, under-, conditions hbWevwfaVonfable,,. are'not-likely-to'CbhVert other to'any < social; System. of. 'human, beings'must .-be! influenced by their ??'yral, leaders—the';anic'srd'eliteT-and-.tllcse,: preferably, of a race akin to : their own.: ,■ - -.',