Prof. Wendell's Lecture Yesterday

Professor Barrett Wendell '77 delivered the third of his series of eight lectures on "Impressions of Contemporary France" in the Fogg Lecture Room yesterday afternoon, treating the special topic of "The French Family."

Emotion is a French national trait, he said. Frenchmen take an eager interest in their relatives, and even in the families of their friends, an attitude which differs widely from the one common in England and this country. Their spontaneous intensity and unity of family feeling is founded on a recognition of the laws of nature which bind irrevocably parents and children.

The foyer, or hearthstone, which has been the centre of the home life since time immemorial, has a sacred meaning to them like the significance to their Roman ancestors of the Lares and Penates. In keeping with this reverence there is an atmosphere of propriety shown in the home rather than abroad, which is diametrically opposed to our "company manners." Yet this atmosphere of propriety does not in the least preclude high spirits, amiability and wit at home, such as the Frenchman rarely shows outside. The family, in short, is a social organism rather than a collection of individuals as in our country, but at the same time it lacks our broader friendships. Ties of blood are to the Frenchman deeper than ties of affection. In France one must be a good son and a good father, before being a good husband.

In this connection the lack of individual freedom is often striking, as in the case of choosing a profession, when it is considered monstrous for a young man to decide for himself without the formal consent of his family. The whole emotional sentiment of the race makes a Frenchman regard the welfare of the community before his personal privileges and rights.

Tomorrow afternoon at 4.30 in the Fogg Lecture Room, Professor Wendell will deliver his fourth lecture of the series on "The French Temperament.