WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 254, 6 March 1911, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen"]. THE ENGLISH IN LOVE. "The Soul of the English" is the title of a recently-published volume in Paris by Mdme. A. Uutteau, and which has evoked widespread curiosity. One of the most interesting chapters deals with love, on which the English are supposed to have a different point of view from the French and German nations. According to Mdme. Butteau, "the English love a man, a woman, a relation, a friend, God: tion of love, means passion only. And the author concludes that "we (French) recognise love by u certain type of emotion, while the English recognise it by a certain degree of intensity which emotions of every kind can reach."

"Among the English middle classes 'marriages of interest' evoke some contempt, and are rare as a rule. Such unions do necessarily occur in upper circles, where vanity and luxury impose their blunt laws, But I doubt whether the young English ladies who marry diamonds and castles, and at the same time a man whom they cannot love, are as quiet-hearted about it as the young ladies of other nations. The French girl, for whom her family has organised a sumptuous marriage Without being much concerned with the personal merits of the bridegroom, easily believes that she cherishes, or will cherish, the gentleman who showers (lowers and jewels upon her.' Her emotion at the thought of the com. ing change, the merry noise made by presents and sweet words in hes head—she thinks that all that is love, quite honestly. . . . The least clear-headed English girl knows wonderfully well whether she is in love or not, and realises that to marry without love is to give up what is really worth while in life. In England love dwells and remains in the most secret recess of the soul; it does not circulate about the air. That is why the' air in England is somewhat cold. And that is also why closed-up hearts there burn so intensely. For the English, love is not the delightful oecupation of youth; it is the very warp through which the whole of life is- woven. Numerous are those in every country who remain faithful to a being whom they loved when he or she was young •and beautiful, even when he or she has become old and plain; but the feeling becomes one of quiet friendship, of respect, 3f gratitude for happiness received in the past, of sweet indifference. . . The English remain" faithful to their love, are able to retain all its illusions and emotions to the very end. . .

And the author narrates tiie loilowmg incident to illustrate her meaning:— "It was in a Florence hotel. An aged and extremely plain English lady had left the dinner table. She was wrapped in 'dying'-bluc gauzes, and was loaded with strange necklaces of huge topazes and formidable amethysts. Behind her walked a robust, handsome man, still young, and having the appearance of cleanliness of body and soul which makes certain Englishmen so pleasant to look at. When he reached the end of the dining hall he went in front of the old fairy with the topazes, opened the door, and bowed as she passed with amusing majesty. He looked at her at that instant, and never did human eyes contain more fervor, devotion and tenderness. Because she had a son who thus worshipped her, the antique lady seemed less ridiculous to me. I heard later that the handsome man was not her son, but her husband. ~ . . 1 was stupid enough to laugh—a little at first, but I did not laugh long. . . ." In England the children are not, as in France, closely attached to their parents. The Englishman who has children is as anxious to remain himself as if he had not. A child is a incident in his life, not his whole life, fie makes a fortune for the benefit of all his children, of course, but for his own benefit first of all. If his children were a hindrance in his task, his (success, or his activities, he would soon set them back into their "proper" place. lie retains his tastes and habits; his duty towards himself comes first. On the" contrary, the i French father is entirely a different man from the one he was before he jhadi children. He becomes less active, gives' up many hobbies and pleasures; he becomes "diminished" as an individual; lie ceases to be self-centred: he subordinates himself to the new little being. In France the clmd is everything; to "continue" is more important than to be. In England the species is less important than the individual. One of the two always loves more than the other. It is everywhere, and has ever been so. The Frenchwoman loves better than the Frenchman, and the Englishman puts a higher sense of the ideal and more wholehearted devotion in love than the Englishwoman. "Man rules supreme in the 'English home. The constant aim of his mother, his sister, his lady friends, and, above all, his wife, is to spare him all domestic worries and material cares, to make him a comfortable and 'smooth' life, to facilitate his development, his career, his success, and to help him to be free. . . . But in spite of all this, I believe it is the man in England who loves best."

QUfiEN ALEXANDRA'S PLANS. Queen Alexandra lias now completed liey plans for lier future. "England," she remarked recently, "will always l)e my home." She will pass a life of complete retirement for the remainder of her year of deep mourning. After a fenmore weeks at Sandringhani her Majesty will go for a lengthy cruise in the Mediterranean in the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert, the principal object of wliieb will be a visit to her brother, the King; of the Hellens. From Athens the Queen will go to Corfu, returning to England in May. Her Majesty will then take up her residence at 'Marlborough House, which will by that time be quite ready for her rec'eption, haying been restored to very much the same appearance as it presented when Queen Alexandra spent so many happy years there as the Princess of Wales. Here she will remain until after the Coronation festivities. The absurd reports that were put into circulation a short time ago to the effect that Queen Alexandra would not be present at the crowning of King fieorge have (says the . London Observer) given the greatest pain and annoyance, to the Royal Family, since there was never at

j any time the slightest grounds for them. I The part her Majesty will play at the j actual ceremony in Westminster was definitely decided some months ago, when the matter first came under discussion. It will ,of necessity, not be a very prominent one, but at the same time it wii be one eminently befitting her exalte, ■rank. Once the Coronation is over, her Majesty's appearances at Court will be very infrequent, and will probably not take place more often than once a year. Her Majesty still retains bcr liking for music, and will be a constant visitor to Covent Garden next season, and this will be almost her sole relaxation. Her visits to town in future years will not be very lengthy, not more than a month or six weeks, at the outside, in the height of the season, and then she will return to her quiet life at Snndringham. It is nro•bable that she will not be seen again on a racecourse. Twice a year she will go cruising in the Victoria and Albert, which King George has placed at his mother's disposal. Queen Alexandra has a great love of yachting, and these cruises do her a great deal of good. When in London Queen Alexandra will be frequently seen driving in the park, this beino: almost the only form of exercise she now takes, and she will continue her round nf visits to the picture galleries, etc. Sh" is taking the greatest interest in the Festival of Empire to be held at the Crystal Palace, and will certainly visit it upon one occasion, while she wiil also witness a performance of the Royal Xavai and Military Tournament at Olympia, in the welfare of which the late King Edward took such a deep interest for so many years.