Society News

The party given by the "Lebanese Women's League" for Dr. Charles Malik and his wife, Mrs. Eva, was among the most charming of the parties held in honor of the Honorable Minister Plenipotentiary and his lady. The sumptuous hall of the "Saint-Georges" was thronged with the ladies of the League and the refined ladies of Beirut.

The president of the League, Mrs. Heneni Tarcha, together with a group of the League's ladies, received the arriving parties with great graciousness and warmth.

Great personalities attended the League's party, among whom we mention: Prime Minister Riad al-Solh, Emir Adel Arslan, the notable Omar Bey al-Daouk, and the ministers plenipotentiary of the foreign states.

The League's address was delivered by the refined Mrs. Ellen Rihan, welcoming the two guests and praising Dr. Malik's activity in raising Lebanon's standing, and the activity of his lady, who has represented the Lebanese woman in the capitals of the nations in the finest fashion. The speaker asked Mrs. Malik to carry the message of the woman of Lebanon to our emigrant brethren, and to make dear to them the return to the homeland that longs for them.

She was followed by a graceful address in French, full of elegance and taste, from Mrs. Laure Georges Tabet, who expressed her admiration for both sides of the two distinguished personalities. Among the things Mrs. Tabet said:

"Dr. Malik needs no introduction, for he is today the man of the hour... His pictures are in all the papers, and his speeches fill the columns... Lebanon is justly proud of this young man, Charles Malik. But Mrs. Malik — hardly anyone speaks of her, though the East has not yet borne a brighter star among its women..."

And Mrs. Tabet went on to enumerate Mrs. Malik's excellent qualities: her modesty, despite her university titles; and the elegance and tact that distinguish this lady, descended from an old mountain family.

The speaker pointed to Mrs. Malik's efforts in founding the "Lebanese Women's League."

The last word belonged to the Minister's wife, the guest of honor, who delivered a splendid address on Lebanese emigration, which she called "a tragedy in the history of Lebanon, whatever material gains it has brought us."

The speaker then pointed to the possibilities of working for Lebanon's sake abroad as well as at home.

Then she directed her words to the Lebanese woman, saying: "I have found you no less than the American woman in intelligence and activity, nor do elegance and taste escape you... How I have wished that you might enjoy all the liberties the Western woman enjoys, so that your high accomplishments in society might be complete."

The speaker pointed to the approaching United Nations "women's conference," to be convened in Lebanon next April, saying it is an opportunity in which woman will be given the chance to prove her effectiveness.

Then she pointed to the League's activity in the "kindergarten" and in the magazine The Woman's Voice, "which enjoys a high standing among those close to it."

In an atmosphere full of beauty and goodness the crowd dispersed, happy that the "Lebanese Women's League" is forever proving the general esteem in which it is held, and working in this country with zeal and sincerity, and without any fuss.

And at the party given by the lady widow of the late Mr. Boulos al-Khouli and her children, there shone forth the high and noble spirit of that genuine old house and its appreciation of learning and thought, embodied in the persons of Dr. Malik and his wife. It was attended by many of this country's men of politics, thought, and letters.