THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1912. ASCENDANT FRANCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10643, 25 May 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1912. ASCENDANT FRANCE.

That Fr&lls?}'wli;cu,iiHlfen' under a cloud for thiS JMt three' or four decades, is iit itiie ascendant just now, is evident (from all thosW events whiioli in ii!he xiee and fall of nations are rer garded as portentous. On every hand there are irfulcations ..that this virilb nation will '.shortly occupy a very important place in ,the sphere of oommfercial 'and ether.' activity. It is fortunate for Great Britain that the ties' of affection that have united past generations of our Royal house with Firanoa are 1 as strong as ever in the present. The "Daily Mail" rightly says that if proof were needed it would ibe found in the fact that the' King has committed the Pi'iuce of .Wales, to the -guardianship - of a French nobleman,! aud has decided that His Royal iHis!i'nciss I ivur abroad ishall. (begin with a of some mon'fchs in Paris. The France of to-day is renewing lier mighty youth, .and it is well that the heir to the British throne should acquaint 'himself at 'first hand .with the new (forces iwihich are /stirring within her. From the humiliations of the past she has risen: supreme. 'Her airmen lead ■; itllie .whole world. The spirit and con- • ifidenoe of her people were admirably demonstrated in tine trials and auxie-; ties of last year. Her Army has proved a school of spiritual regeneration. J It is not a mere accident that so wise a critic as M. Sabatiei*. declares the' orientation of modern French thought ito be towards .religion, that M. Berg-, .son's philosophy, emphasises the limitations of 'sdiencej or tllmt M. C'liaumieix announces iffia't his country is weary' of the "sterile .scepticism" of M.. Anatoli France. -Look to what department of numan eneiigy we will, avo ; have to acknowledge that France is o'nee more playing ; a leading part, and that Hier .thinkers are exercising [ a salutary infknence an the 1 world. One df the isigns of ; tlhis new spirit is the; growing success of the French .in a'il. forans of manly spont. They are chal- ; lenging our ascendaincy and proving, themselves 'worthy rivals of our athletes. They are'adepts in the pe-; culiarly British sport of boxing.Tlvsy come very close to us 'n golf,

tenniis, jimd oroswxrantry runiferig. In fencing they "have atw4s»jbeen unaivalied. In a Meentj Riugby football iriatch, against the fine English team whk!i (has defeated Wales and IreMid, they made <a* .splendid' fight, and though they wore ibeaten by 18 points <to 8, those w(ho witnessed tlie game are (oonvirfced -that it will not be long before England will have to 'look seriously to her football laurels. (Remembering how recent is the introduction of tibis particular tfoaim of sport in France, 'flic performance of the French team was more than creditable.. The Frenchman of .to-day is mat a deeadMt but a .brave r?cldier, an intrepid airman, XO. a .believar in action and the Unsheltered life.