Life, 1884-12-18 · page 3 of 16
Life — December 18, 1884 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "UN REGIME" - Life Magazine Page 345 This satirical cartoon depicts a romantic/domestic scene titled "Un Regime" (French for "A Diet" or "A Regime"). The dialogue shows a French officer telling a fair American woman he must leave to join his regiment at Aix-les-Bains. The humor works on multiple levels: the French phrase "un regime" suggests both military duty and romantic constraint. The poem below, "Die Erste Liebe Die Beste" (German: "First Love is Best"), presents a cynical meditation on love and infidelity, with the speaker recounting multiple romantic entanglements and acknowledging the woman is "only the fourth." The satire targets both French militarism and romantic hypocrisy among officers. The accompanying prose about Henry James provides literary context, though it appears disconnected from the main cartoon's subject matter.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
UN REGIME. French Officer: AW! MADAMOISELLE, I HAVE SO SORROW THAT YOU ARE TO GO. MUST IT HAVE BEEN SO? Fatr American (proud of her French); 0 OU1, MAMMA AND I MUST GO TO AIX-LES-BAINS, POUR SUIVRE UN REGIMENT. DIE ERSTE LIEBE DIE BESTE. The third was the winter that you were in France, And the “ buds" of that year were all bores, But one, and by her I was awfully struck ;— Well, her eyes, dear, were very like yours ! HE proverb is false ; ‘tis the last love that's best Why, before I loved you ;—let me see ! | There must have been dozens I cannot recall, rs . i But I'm sure that at least there were three. You ‘re pouting to think you are only the fourth, And so you must come after the rest ? Never mind! Thi ver will y fifth, You remember the first? the choir-girl, dear, | ° S the last | ae bai De ph Whom you courted for me, on the sly. #AnG Uhe Tash loves tar hears, 1s the Dest: 1 wrote you long letters about her from schiool— - 1. B.C You encouraged me there, by the by. | ENRY JAMES is still at work. After writing a certain number of pages he sends them to a publisher, who “T was when you were flirting so fiercely with Reed, gives them a title, binds them in book form, and calls them a I devoted myself to the next ; | story. This may be fun for James, but it is death to the She really was pretty, and very good form— dwindling class of readers who still believe he has something Just confess, now, how much you were vexed ! to tell them. comicbooks.com