Books and Habits | Page 8

century. since the time of
Richardson, and is likely to last for generations to come.
Now this is not the rule at all which governs making of novels in
France. French novels generally treat of the relations of women to the
world and to lovers, after marriage; consequently there is a great deal in
French novels about adultery, about improper relations between the
sexes, about many things which the English public would not allow.

This does not mean that the English are morally a better people than the
French or other Southern races. But it does mean that there are great
differences in the social conditions. One such difference can be very
briefly expressed. An English girl, an American girl, a Norwegian, a
Dane, a Swede, is allowed all possible liberty before marriage. The girl
is told, "You must be able to take care of yourself, and not do wrong."
After marriage there is no more such liberty. After marriage in all
Northern countries a woman's conduct is strictly watched. But in
France, and in Southern countries, the young girl has no liberty before
marriage. She is always under the guard of her brother, her father, her
mother, or some experienced relation. She is accompanied wherever
she walks. She is not allowed to see her betrothed except in the
presence of witnesses. But after marriage her liberty begins. Then she is
told for the first time that she must take care of herself. Well, you will
see that the conditions which inspire the novels, in treating of the
subjects of love and marriage, are very different in Northern and in
Southern Europe. For this reason alone the character of the novel
produced in England could not be the same.
You must remember, however, that there are many other reasons for
this difference--reasons of literary sentiment. The Southern or Latin
races have been civilized for a much longer time than the Northern
races; they have inherited the feelings of the ancient world, the old
Greek and Roman world, and they think still about the relation of the
sexes in very much the same way that the ancient poets and romance
writers used to think. And they can do things which English writers can
not do, because their language has power of more delicate expression.
We may say that the Latin writers still speak of love in very much the
same way that it was considered before Christianity. But when I speak
of Christianity I am only referring to an historical date. Before
Christianity the Northern races also thought about love very much in
the same way that their best poets do at this day. The ancient
Scandinavian literature would show this. The Viking, the old sea-pirate,
felt very much as Tennyson or as Meredith would feel upon this subject;
he thought of only one kind of love as real--that which ends in marriage,
the affection between husband and wife. Anything else was to him

mere folly and weakness. Christianity did not change his sentiment on
this subject. The modern Englishman, Swede, Dane, Norwegian, or
German regards love in exactly that deep, serious, noble way that his
pagan ancestors did. I think we can say that different races have
differences of feeling on sexual relations, which differences are very
much older than any written history. They are in the blood and soul of a
people, and neither religion nor civilization can utterly change them.
So far I have been speaking particularly about the differences in
English and French novels; and a novel is especially a reflection of
national life, a kind of dramatic narration of truth, in the form of a story.
But in poetry, which is the highest form of literature, the difference is
much more observable. We find the Latin poets of to-day writing just
as freely on the subject of love as the old Latin poets of the age of
Augustus, while Northern poets observe with few exceptions great
restraint when treating of this theme. Now where is the line to be drawn?
Are the Latins right? Are the English right? How are we to make a
sharp distinction between what is moral and good and what is immoral
and bad in treating love-subjects?
Some definition must be attempted.
What is meant by love? As used by Latin writers the word has a range
of meanings, from that of the sexual relation between insects or animals
up to the highest form of religious emotion, called "The love of God." I
need scarcely say that this definition is too loose for our use. The
English word, by general consent, means both sexual passion and deep
friendship. This again is a meaning too wide for our purpose. By
putting the adjective "true" before love, some definition is attempted in
ordinary conversation. When an