The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1866-09-19
Correspondence Of tho New York o. server.
Johnathau. John Bull g. others
on their Travels.
GENEVA, Switzerland, }
August 6, 1866. (

the progress Of my journey. came to
Geneva, week ago, and have been
making excursions into the interior of
Switzerland with my friend Mr.. Alexan-
der Stuart, who has now returned to
America, leaving me alone in this far away
land. But an American cannot be long
alone in Europe this year. lie is among
his cuuntrymen constantly Eight hundred
of them dined together on the Fourth of
July in Paris. Here in Geneva, more
than fifty were at one dinner, and as many
more at another fete on the same day.
NV nearest ncighbUrs from {, Under the
Trees on the Hudson, met on the snoren
of Lake Lucerne few days ago. More
than half the guests in the hotels are sal
TO be Americans. The English complain
John is generally grumbling-that the
Americans get the best rooms at the
hotels, and that travelling on the Continent
is not half SO agreeable. 1t was my mis-
fortune to travel last week in the same
compartment OF the railcar with an Eng
lish clcrgym' and his wife, and by the
way she called him Mjty, for husband,
whenever she spoke to hlm. AN appeIla-
ton for the head of the house, that was
new to me, and not very agreeable
But was going to tell you of him. He
said he would write a lc,ter to the Times
that is an Engli,hmans universal refuge
when he thinks himself imposed upon in
travel. I" / shall write to the Times about
this country and l shall say that the
cookin' is cxcecdinly mean, the scenery
very dull, AMI the travelin' decidedly
uncomfortable" But he was as near
beng fool as a man could well be, and
he at large. His tongue ran necessarily
and he talked so loud that no other con
versaiion could be had, and every body
must listen to his twaddle and complaints
"The ills were too 'igh' for him 10 think
of cimbn' any of them, and not ''igh"
enough to interest him in lookin' at them
and on the VIII ,lc he thought Switzerland
IA failure. 1t is certainly sad to think
how deserted this glorious country will be
when that letter appears in the London
Times.
l have just seen in II London newspaper
among the advertisement of books the
following: "poor Letter IL Its Use and
& Co, 43 Pater Noster Row, London"
give the advertisement gratis Insertion
hoping it may meet the eye Of some of
my fellow travellers who seem to have no
idea of the force OF this much nisapplied
aspirate
1t is curious to observe how soon
Americans are known to be such, any
where in Europe. In England hotel
waiter or porter at II lodge or castle
would know you to be an American, Ger
tainly the moment you spoke, and perhaps
before. a woman said to me when had
said that | was an American, "You don't
speak like one" When pressed for an
answer TO the question, "What is the
difference between my speech and others"
she replied after much hesitation, "Why
| thought all your countrymcn talked
through the nose"
That educated Americans, and all
of them accustomed to good society II;
home, speak the English language with
as much propricty and purity us the most
cultivated Englshmen is certainly true,
and may safely be added that the masses
of the people in America, born to the
manner, speak il far better. Small us
England is, the dialects oi the provinces
are so diverse that one is often surely
puzzled TO unlcrstan "A common place
remark or inquiry. 1t was very amusing,
too, to pervlevc that many sdly pr .ses
or technical terms, that we had supposed
to be of local origin and use in the United
States, were us common in England a.
with us at home. you'll ave lots of
time" says the coachman. "lll pop out
your luggage" when he would tell us
that it would be done instantly, said the
conductor
But the language i. not more marked
by its peculiarilies than the manners
There are all sorts Of people in every land.
Some OF each variety 90 abroad. SO that
we must expect TO meet them, and it Z
very absurd to judge of the country by
the few specimens YOU meet on the road.
liut while am heartily ashamed of some
of my own countrymen who are abroad,
and make themselves ridiculous by an
extravaganza Of independence that amounts
to Il contempt of everything and every
body except themselves and their country,
still | think that as whole, they are the
best behaved people abroad. AT the Baur
du Lac Hotel, Zurich, day before yester-
day at breakfast, a German lady took
her seat at the head of a long table, rest
ell both elbows upon it and taking "A roll
of bread eight inches long, held it in both
hands and without taking it from her lips,
or taking her elbows down, she ate the
whole Of it from end to end. sat next
to her, on the corner, and saw it done.
She then took another roll, II round one,
and devoured that all this while waiting
for her coffee What more she ate, or
,, how, did not see, having turned away
in disgust. 1t is not probable that any
woman from America would go through
! such AN exercise at home or abroad.
Yesterday in the rail. car in which !
was riding, an English gentleman and
family entered the compartment in which
$ | was seated, the only passenger. There
4 were four seats, two on each side of the