The Parts Men Play

said Mrs. Le Roy Jennin

sat down in order to d

the very vanguard o

nce there unknown els

dy Durwent, who knew no

ht,' said Ma

n woman whistling. "Have you lost your dog

arious anti-American anecdotes that made up in sting what they lacked in delicacy

ll. We are a very young race, and we have the faults of youth; but, then, youth always has a future. It was a sort of post-graduate course to come to England and Europe to absorb some

you found?' ask

ican, 'much to admire

Johnston Smyth, 'he has

nd

smiled Selwyn;

even his grandfather, but never about Edinburgh. On the other hand, as every one damns London, and as an Englishman is

y Durwent, 'that you are as mu

he futurist, 'all art

ugh his amounts al

merica. Selwyn took the opportunity of studying the elusive beauty of Elise Durwent, which seemed to provoke the eye to admiration, yet fade into imperfection under a prolonged searching. Pyford grew

u have subjected England to a microscopic examination for a sufficien

ou said that than

and the hostess. 'We sprawl over the world-why? To develop resources? No! It is to reap the natural g

o be really cruel,' chimed

o much as a glance, 'skimming the earth of its surface riche

nce, which no one seemed

nckley finally, 'and in ad

intensity of speech that always left a moment of startled silence in its wake-'you

or one thing, no one can den

and Rome and England are parallel cases. As Mrs. Le Roy Jennings says, they are parasitic nations. What did the Romans add to Greek art? The Greeks had this'-he ma

said Lady Durwent, trying to retrieve the conversa

fe they lead, and I suppose the moist climate has something to do with their wo

wn with his speech, like a miniature baton. 'When a man says a woman's voice is sweet, it means that she has bored him; that wh

up the charge and demand

said Selwyn stoutly, 't

h sa

raising the oracle,'

bright or as clever as the cultured young women of the continent of America. In ot

ckton Dunckley, 'she r

instinctive indif

ves England with its cattivo climate and goes to the Colonies. C'e

there no one here but me who can d

mily; 'London is only s

the fervour born of the feeling in all Lati

n temperament, we still look to you for the outstanding figures. With all our ability for writing short stories-and I think we are second only to the French in that-England still

he only people in the world candid enough

ed his left arm with the back of his righ

s out, palms upwards, as if the building itself rested on them. 'It stands in a commanding position, with statues of the great composers

American, as the

en,' he said. 'I am not sure whether it is Charlie Chaplin or Mary Pi

climax. He looked about with a satisfied smile, then replace

pera?' said Sel

-market. In Covent Garden. Yet England has been acc

h in her gown; Norton Pyford emptied his glass and sat pensively staring at it as if it had hardly done what he expected, but on the whole he felt inclined to forgive it; Johnston Smyth made a belated attempt to be sentimental with the Honourable Mis

er decadence is terribly true. Yet I claim to have something of an artist's sensitiveness to undercurrents, and it seems to me that there is a strong instinct of race over here-perhaps I express myself clumsily-but I think there is an England which has far more depth to it than your artists and writers realise. For some reason you all seem to want to deny that; and when, as to-night, it is my privilege to meet

otti raised

t ambassador to E