THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1910. SIMPLICITY OF FRENCH LIFE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9714, 9 February 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1910. SIMPLICITY OF FRENCH LIFE.

The "hustle" that marks life among citizens of the United States is unknown in the pleasant land of Prance; such, at any rate, one gathers from a delightful lecture on "The Art of Living in France," given 1 recently by Dr Sarolea, lecturer in French language and literature in the University of Edinburgh. Simplicity and peacefulness are the characteristics of French existence; while the English have oeen supreme in action and have "done things," the French have lived the contemplative life, and have achieved great things in the world of thought. This is a fundamental difference and accounts for the varying traits that an observer notes in the lives of the two people. The British race is renowned for its colonising achievements beyond j any other nation, and the reason is j that the British instinct is to come to grips with the brute forces of Nature, to overcome them, and tap and develop the resources of the globe. The ideal of the French, says Dr Sarolea, is rather to understand the world, themselves, and their own lives, than to master the forces of Nature. Cheerfulness and contentment are to be found everywhere in France, they form the national disposition, and they are the outward manifestaj tion of the mastery the French as a people have acquired in the art of living. A book entitled "The Simple Life" recently enjoyed an enormous vogue in America and Britian, but it attracted little attention in France, the explanation of the different rei ceptiuns accorded it being that in i France it is not neceisary to preach simplicity. It is significant that the word "cornfort" has been adopted from English by the French to express an idea the French language has no exact equi-alent for. "The little home circle of the Frenchman is self-certred and self-sufficient. He

does not live in a round of external amusements; a talk and a cup of coffee with a neighbour, a walk with his wife and children, exhaust the range of his amusements. The great j national institution is the cafe, the great national amusement is conversation, social converse, and the ex- j change of ideas." One direct result of this simplicity of life is that thrift is a national virtue in France, and order and economy mark the conduct of the French household. It ia interesting to learn from Dr Saroha that £2OO in France will go a great deal further than twice that amount in England, the causes of the difference being greater order and ingenuity, wiser administration, greater proficiency in the art of living. The lecturer points out that in spite of high wage, the British artisan is often wretchedly poor, while with low wages the French artisan is often prosperous and independent, owing to the simplicity of life, thrift, and orderly living.