Society Small Talk is very like a game of chess, "and all the men and women merely players," the author utilises the time-hallowed forms of Chess Manuals to give point to his suggestions. With the warning that Black stands for the male and White for the female interlocutor, he may be left to illustrate his method for himself, in the following extract: "We will begin with the moment when an opening is most sorely needed-that is, when Black is introduced to the lady he is to take down to dinner. And here let me say, that by far the best openings are those derived from, and suggested by, the situation itself. It is extremely crude and awkward, when you are going to take a lady down to dinner, to say with an ingratiating smile, as you offer your arm: It has been very foggy to-day!' as though the logical deduction from that remark must be, 'It has been very foggy, to-day, therefore let us go down the stairs in couples !'-which is absurd. This is better: "This game should be rapid and lively," is our author's comment, and I am disposed to agree with him; but even a smart skirmish such as this promises to be is better than the dulness of a silence varied only by disconnected sentences few and far between. And, after all, one never knows into what interesting topics it may branch out. Indeed, this is the great charm and beauty of our author's suggestion-that his "openings" are real openings on to the boundless sea of possible conversations. Were they but capable of adoption, they would undoubtedly tide us over the awkward moment when, like the novelist in embryo, we don't know how to begin, and would launch our bark of small talk, with the least possible friction, on to the great ocean of congenial subjects. The difficulty would seem to be that we can't keep the book to ourselves. And how shall we venture to use, for instance, "White's Playful Bread Opening" when our particular Black has likewise read his "Dullard's Handbook," and knows that our spontaneous banter is not original, but has been learnt up as a lesson for the occasion? Surely, like the augurs of old, we should find ourselves unable to continue the game without laughing, and that would spoil all-unless, indeed, as might not improbably turn out to be the case, our common consciousness of guilt formed a bond of sympathy between us, and so gave us a quite new opening uncontemplated by our author. For Perhaps, however, we are doing him a wrong in supposing that we are to take his suggestions in this literal fashion; and what he has really had in mind is to convey to us, under the guise of witty and good-natured chaff, that, after all, even small talk is a game, or an art, which deserves that we should take a little pains to play or to practise it with success. such a doctrine there is indeed a great deal to be said. No one would dream of taking a hand at whist with skilled players if he himself knew nothing of the main principles of the game; a beginner does not intrude himself into a set made up of firstrate lawn-tennis players; a cricketer does not expect to be given a place in his club eleven until he has learnt at least to bat and to field respectably. Those who wish to take part in these amusements are content to practise, in private or in company, with players of their own calibre until they have attained a certain degree of proficiency; they are at the pains to watch and learn from the play of those more skilful than themselves; they are eager to gather what hints they can from books. It is universally felt that no man or woman has the right to spoil the enjoyment of others by taking a hand in a game which he or she is incapable of playing with some degree of skill. Why should not the same rule hold good with the game of conversation? True, it is one which differs from all other social amusements, in that we are all obliged, whether we like it or no, to take part in it; but, on the other hand, it is one for which we all have considerable capacity, and abundant opportunities of practice. I imagine that if the veriest "duffer" among us knew that he would be compelled to play lawn-tennis or cricket every day of his life, whether he would or not, he would think it worth while, both for his own sake, and yet more for the sake of others, to spend some time in practising services, or to secure half an hour's daily batting practice "at the nets." Why, then, should we not in the case of the game of small talk give some thought, not only to the matter of our conversations, which is a more arduous undertaking, but also to their form; to the best and pleasantest method of establishing between ourselves and our interlocutors that electric "rapport" of sympathy, which alone makes real and enjoyable talk in any way possible. For opportunities of practice, they are easily found in the constant intercourse of home life, the machinery of which would surely work none the less smoothly because we took pains to be agreeable to one another; and for theory nothing could be more admirable than our Dullard's Handbook," if we are prepared to study it, not with slavish literalism, but with an intelligent desire to get at the best of its spirit. I, for one, can look back on many a "gaucherie" which might have been avoided, and many an awkward incident which might have been smoothed over, to the great enhancement of the pleasures of social intercourse, if the little dexterities and the happy turns suggested in this volume had been duly studied, digested, and put in use, And if any one complains that we are making too much of the frivolities of social intercourse, and claiming for mere banalities a quite disproportionate amount of care and attention, we shall reply that these frivolities and banalities of society are the entrance porch which leads to the solemn and serious things of life. How many a conversation begun in jest continues in earnest, and contributes, as only rich, suggestive, stimulating talk can contribute, to form and mould the thought, the growth of which within us is the main business of our lives! Even in the most commonplace people there are, if we can only find them, unfathomable depthspoints at which the most seeming shallow life touches the infinite. In the midst of the most superficial conversation we are like bathers on a shelving shore of sand, where the shallow wavelets ripple up all light and golden in the sunshine; but where at any step we may come to the sharp shoulder from which we plunge headlong into unknown depths. To get the utmost of stimulus and suggestion from every human being with whom we are brought into contact, is to get the fullest value out of life and out of society; and if the study of small talk will help us to this, then, even in the eyes of the most rigid of censors, the study of small talk is neither vain nor unprofitable. A NATIONAL ANACHRONISM. THE existence of an independent State in the recesses of the Pyrenees may be one of the facts which every schoolboy is supposed to know; but it is pretty safe to say that ninety-nine men out of a hundred could tell you less about Andorra than about the history of Montezuma. Yet Montezuma has been dead for centuries, and Andorra is as living an entity as it was a thousand years ago. The Republic of Andorra is one of those curious survivals of the past which link modern life with antiquity. It is an anachronism, and yet in some respects an embodiment of the political dream of ages. It is at once stagnant in its social affairs, and perfect in its political organisation. It is a complete realisation of Lincoln's definition of Republicanism-government of the people by the people for the people— yet the people themselves are as they were a thousand years ago, and are, therefore, a thousand years behind the age. Away up on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, and stretching from the borders of the Province of Catalonia to the French side on the border-line of the Department of the Ariége, is a carefully delimited territory of valleys and mountains some seventeen miles in length, and varying in width from nine to eighteen miles. This is Andorra, an independent Republic and also a feudatory State; managing its own affairs by popular representatives, yet paying annual tribute of a nominal amount to its feudal superiors, the Spanish Bishops of Urgel, and also to the French Government as the political successors of the Counts of Navarre, who became Kings of France. Something of a mountain basin is this territory, intersected by the River Valira, and watered by many rushing streams. As the Valira runs in three branches, Andorra may be said to consist of three valleys, framed in by the great chain of the Pyrenees, which send a spur half way through the country. The basins of the Valira and its branches form something like the letter Y, and if we dot the lines of the letter with villages, and suppose the whole encircled with high hills, we shall have a tolerably fair topographical conception of the country. The sides of these hills, however, are swept by innumerable streams, rushing in limpid purity over rocky beds, and, when the winter snows melt, with tremendous rapidity. Higher up among the hills is a chain of ten or a dozen lakes, amid the wildest surroundings; and elsewhere there are other considerable sheets of water well stocked with fish. In these hills it is said there are rich stores of iron, and lead, and copper, of granite, and of marble. There are, indeed, evidences of ancient working; but mining is practically dead, while even quarrying is little pursued. Wolves, bears, and wild boars once roamed these far solitudes in numbers, and even now are occasionally seen, while foxes abound. The eagle and the vulture find their homes on the peaks and crags, and among winged game there are partridges, woodcocks, snipe, quails, black fowl, wild geese, and wild ducks. It is, if not a paradise of sport, at least unbroken ground for the sportsman who is disposed to "rough it." The difficulty is to get there, and once there, to find accommodation, for there is only one hostelry with any pretence to civilisation, and that in the capital town. Not only are there no regular roads within the bounds of Andorra-what do they want with roads when they do not possess a single wheeled vehicle?-but there is no regular road connecting it with the outer world. There are mule-paths into Spain on the one side, and into France on the other, through mountain passes called "Ports," but most of these are closed by the snows and torrents of the winter and spring, The only road which may be relied on all the year is that which connects Andorra-la-Vella, the capital, with the Spanish town of Urgel; but Urgel itself has no carriage-road connecting it with the rest of Spain, and is the centre of an unruly district, the inhabitants of which, in strong contrast with those of Andorra, have an insatiate craving for revolutions and riots. Then the climate of Andorra is very cold in winter and very hot in summer, while in the autumn both characteristics are exhibited in hot days and cold nights. These are not attractions, certainly; but the visitor will not be annoyed by crowds of guide-booked tourists and staring idlers. He will probably find himself the only stranger, at freedom to roam among some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in Europe, contrasting with verdant smiling valleys, and green pastures bright with plenteous flocks and herds. He will find scenes of beauty and grandeur to gratify every æsthetic ssense; but more than all, he will find a people phenomenal in character, in condition, and in political history. They probably came out of Spain originally, for they speak the Catalan language, and their sentiments are more Spanish than French. Charlemagne is said to have rescued their country from the Moors, and bestowed it on the Bishops of Urgel. The ancient charter, however, was not a deed of gift, but a sort of rentcharge or tithe-charge, for while the Church was to get certain dues, and retain plenary jurisdiction, the people were to have unrestricted Home Rule. In process of time the rights of the Bishops of Urgel were assailed by some of the Spanish nobles, and assistance had to be craved from the other side of the Pyrenees, from the French Counts of Foix, in Ariége. By this alliance the claims of the Church were upheld, and in reward the Bishops of Urgel gave the Counts of Foix an equal share in the sovereignty of Andorra. Thus the Bishops and the Counts were Co-Princes, and the rights of the Counts of Foix descended to Henry of Navarre, through him to the Crown, and thence to the present Republican Government. But while Andorra has been feudatory to a double Princehood, she has also preserved a political independence, and sends ambassadors of a sort both to Spain and France. To France she pays a tribute of some thirty pounds per annum, and to the Bishops of Urgel about twenty pounds every second year. The only other way in which the double seigneury is exhibited, is in the administration of justice. This, by the terms of a joint agreement made some six hundred years ago, is vested in two judges or magistrates called Veguers, one appointed by each of the two co-seigneurs. For the purpose of enforcing law and order these Veguers have a certain control of the local militia. There is, also, a Judge of Appeals, who is appointed for life by the Cc-Princes alternately. The Veguers delegate small cases to bailiffs nominated by themselves, and in grave cases there is a right of appeal against the sentence of the Judge of Appeal to the CoPrince who appointed him. For the rest, however, the Andorrans are absolutely independent, and they do not seek or want alliance with any other State. They have their own national flag, their tree of liberty, their national arms, and a complete system of representative government. Although they pay tribute to France, and to the Bishop of Urgel, they will not allow either to take any part in the Government or to engage in any enterprise in their territory without permission. Once an attempt was made to put up a line of telegraph between France and Spain through Andorra, which the Andorrans quietly defeated by cutting down the poles, resenting both the innovation and the violation of their territory. And, curiously enough, notwithstanding the frequent conflicts between the two countries since Andorra acquired her charter from Charlemagne, there has been no attempt on the part of either France or Spain to " annex " this mountain State. The Carlists did make some unsuccessful attacks in 1874; but then they were rebels. The double feudal tie seems to have been a protection and an advantage, instead of an irksome yoke. A national army has been mentioned; but in the strict sense there is no army. Every able-bodied head of a family is a member of the militia force, and is bound to take his turn of duty and to furnish a gun and ammunition. This force is about six hundred strong, and it may be augmented, in case of need, by a call to arms of every male in the State. But this militia-army has neither uniform, nor pay, nor the usual accoutrements of an army; it has only rifles and the knowledge how to use them. The Government of the country is by elective bodies. The chief is El Consejo General, which may be called the Parliament of Andorra. It is composed of twenty-four members, representing the six provinces, or Paróquias, into which the country is divided, four to each; and two Syndics, and a Secretary, appointed by the elected members. These two Syndics occupy the posts of President and VicePresident respectively. Besides this, each province, or Parróquia, has a provincial elective council for local administration, something like our County Councils. In the five principal Parróquias there is a further sub-division into Caarts, with further delegation of local government, somewhat on the principle of the District or Parish Councils which have been proposed for England and Scotland. In short, Andorra seems to be ahead of the rest of the world in local government, while also preserving a demoeratic national Government. Yet, with it all, she is the most thoroughly conservative nation in the world. When, or at what period she perfected her present system of government, we are unable to say in more precise terms than that it was centuries ago. She has made no change since; and her social condition remains practically the same as it was a thousand years ago. Well, we Does this seem incredible? have the authority of one who has spent several years among the Andorrans, and who has studied them as they have never been studied before. No railway has ever invaded the domains, and there are no telegraphs, no carriage-roads, no canals; there is not a single wheeled vehicle, no steam-engine, no written laws, no standing army, no public debt, no paupers, no coinage, no postage stamps, no newspapers, no literature, no societies, clubs, or institutions, no asylums, no public com. panies, no dissent from the Roman Catholic religion, and no foreign commerce. A land of negatives this, but not unprosperous. It is, perhaps, hardly correct to say that there is no foreign commerce; for such of the necessaries of life as the Andorrans cannot produce for themselves, they are obliged to import from Spain or France. Then they act as intermediaries, in a way, between the two countries-buying young horses and mules at the French fairs, and, after a sufficient time of mountain pasture, selling them again to the Spanish dealers and carriers. They grow tobacco, too-more than they can consume, and the surplus they export on mule-backs to Spain, with a few other odds and ends, to pay for their cutlery, guns, cloth, etc. And timber, also, they send down to Catalonia in the same way. Their only manufacture - if we except saw-milling is a species of rough woollen clotb, out of which they make rugs and blankets for their own use; the machinery being worked by water-power. Some of them are engaged in smuggling-into Spain, not into Andorra, for Andorra is a land of free-trade-and some also in such legitimate carrying-trade as there is. But the bulk are engaged in purely agricultural and pastoral pursuits. The lands along the streams and in the valleys generally are fertile, supporting large herds of mules, horses, cows, and sheep, and admitting, in addition, of a limited cultivation of cereal crops, vegetables, and tobacco. They are an industrious, well-ordered, peaceable, and trustworthy people, and if reserved towards strangers, that must be accounted as but a natural consequence of their isolation. They are temperatealthough drunkenness is not unknownand moral-although crime is not altogether absent. There is only one jail in the country, and it is seldom occupied; and they are not prone to litigation, since litigants have to bear all the expenses of the administration of justice. That there is a certain dignity about their quiet, pastoral, independent life, unruffled by the storms of contending nations, and the paroxysms of political revolutions, cannot be denied. Sublimely indifferent to the rest of the world, they have worked out their own destiny for the last thousand years, and as yet they show few signs of change. But it must be confessed that there is a serious want in their social organisation. They live in a political Arcadia; but their very circumstances enshrine the elements of decay. They present a remarkable example of society without progress. For one thing, the Andorrans never travel, and thus they have no opportunity of seeing anything of the industrial and national developements elsewhere. Occasionally one of the richer of them may send his sons to college in France; but, as a rule, education does not proceed beyond the elementary stage. Even the few simple schools they have are not of long existence, and practically the Andorrans of to-day know little more than did their forefathers five or six hundred years ago. * Thus they have not only no newspaper and no literature, but also no printing-press. A very few of them may receive papers from France or Spain; but of the Andorrans generally, it may be said, that after leaving school they never read anything but their church missal. Some of the houses may have a few books of devotion, but it is doubtful if they are ever opened. So in their domestic arrangements. The progress of the centuries has brought no improvement in their houses, which are still small and poor, built of rough stone, without mortar, and without glass in the windows. Their furniture is of the meanest, and their pigs and poultry share the same roof as the family. The villages are irregular, mean-looking collections of houses, without any pretence of streets, and without drainage or lighting. The capital is the only place which may be called a town, and this owes its appearance more to natural situation on an imposing rock than to architectural effort. The Andorrans are intensely orthodox, and there is not the slightest difference of opinion on religious subjects. There are neither Protestants nor Dissenters, and there has never been any wave of religious revival sweeping over its peaceful area. For a thousand years, it is said, there has been nothing to break the continuity of their religious practice and sentiment; and if they have not been intolerant, it is probably because there has been nothing to test their tolerance. Having no They have neither poverty nor taxation, and the small expenses of Government are paid out of the rents charged for pasturage and timber cutting, on the lands belonging to the commonwealth. commerce to speak of, they have no currency of their own, and use with equal indifference the coinage of France and Spain. And having few foreign relations, they use the postage stamps of both nations for their correspondence. which relates to the country, but is a French (not "The Valley of Andorra" is a romantic tale an Andorran) publication. It has been admirably translated by Mr. F. H. Deverell (to whom we have to express our grateful indebtedness for much information about Andorra), and is published by Mr. J. W. Arrowsmith, Bristol. The reader who desires to know something more about life in Andorra, although somewhat idealised, should procure this interesting shilling romance. |