FRANCE—THE TWO NATIONS.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In your issue of May 17th you give under the above heading an interesting account of the swing of the political pendulum in France, and of its meaning at the present time. You say that "as far as political vision can extend there always will be two French Nations." A propos of this it may be of use to recall that the national characteristic of duality, of sharp contrasts, has also been noted in other than political affairs. Madame Mary Duclaux writes of celebrities in France : "There are those admired by the bien peasant, and those peculiar to the intellectuels. You may be illustrious in one group and barely heard of in the other." Voltaire, perhaps the most typical Frenchman who ever lived, observes : "France, to Speak seriously, is the kingdom of wit and of folly, of skill and idleness, of philosophy and fanaticism, of gaiety and pedantry, of laws and abuses, of good taste and impropriety." Perhaps, too, the preceding passages give a clue towards understanding the cause of what Voltaire affirms elsewhere : "The French have, in their character, and too often in their government, something which does not allow them to form great favourable associations."—! am, Sir, &c.,
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