The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-07-01

No one, OF course, would debar half educat-
cd people from travelling on the contrary.
there IL some ground for believing that exeur
sions beyond the narrow groove OF his vocation
may disclose to the average professional or
business man the limitations Of his knowledge.
But 1t is questionable whether such people
ought not to BE- prohibited By law from pub
lIshing the worthless outcome OF their shallow
attainments and trivial observations. for when
they securu. AZ they sometimes do. the i'm.
print OF respectable publisher. by agree
ing to bear the cost Of giving their
productions to the world. the ingenious reader.
allured by the aforesaid imprint. 10
really robbed Of his money under false
pretenees. 1t might DO thought. indeed. that
nowadays. when a trip to Europe il an indul-
genco Us common and as inexpensive as trip
TO Saratoga, few persons would have assurance
enough to imagine that their hasty Impressions
and lucubrations could possibly convey to
others anything Of novelty or value. But there
seems to bo nothing so incorriGibIe as the CON-
colt Of those imperieetly equipped intellects
which are continually nstonished at thcir own
Insignificant advances in the realm Of knowl-
edge and which cacEle over some common
place fact or thought that happens to be now
to them. as II II were = startling discovery.
Among the foolish books put forth by tray
ellers to cdify and dazzle those who are oven
leas well informed than they. We find nonu-
mental instance In = volume entitled From the
Fnrenees to the Pillars Of Hercules (Putnamsl and
purporting to offer observations Oh Spain
tts History and its People," by HENny DAY.
who is also. we regret to learn. author OF an
other book OF travels called Tho Lawyer
Abroad" Whether this particular lawyer went
abroad or stayed at homo would have been OF
NO consequence to anybody except himself
and his clients, had he not been haunted with
the delusion that he knew something about
history and ought TO give the world at large the
beneht OF his requirements.
Here is book Of some $50 pages that de-
votes nearly third Of its space to what pre-
tends to he historical matter. What Mr.. Day
says in his preface is true enough. that Spain
has wonderful history. which has not been
adequately expOundsd by English writer's.
That this remark. however. is quoted from
some guide book. and in no sense represents
conviction forced upon tho author by his own
researches. must BIO inferred from the fact that
Mr.. Days information with regard to Spain
seems to have been drawn exclusively from the
pages OF Prescott and Irving. and from Ford's
guide book. The author. indeed. acknowledges
his obligations to Ford without. apparently
perceiving that hushed guide book IL
not dish which the reader expects
to see SGT before him by reputable publisher
between the degrees OF erudition possessed by
the scholar and by the tyro Mr. Bay goes on
to aver that books OF travel can claim little
originality. SO Tar as they state facts. These"
he adds. are not manufactured, but gath
cred from all sources at command" The
lawyer abroad " has herein erred upon the
side Of modesty. We shall be able to show
that hc'can really claim . good deal Of orig
inality on the score OF his facts. not a fow OF
these being OF his own manufacture.
Thus. on page II we read that the i'm
mortal Cid " took Valencia from tho Moors In
1904. while on page 233 We learn that the Castil-
ian hero had died three years previously.
Apropos Of the same parsonage wo are told
that under st. Ferdinand. the iberator from
the yoke Of the Moors. the Cid was the cham
pion OF the kingdom" Now. In the first place.
It is ridiculous to speak OF ST. Ferdinand as
the libera.or from the yoke OF tho Moors"
without specifying how much of Spain he
liberated. and how large part OF 1t he loft un-
freed. In tho second place. the Cid had been In
MS grave about century when st. Ferdinand
was born On page ID the author informs
US that In the century between 1890
and 1890 the Jews and the Moors.
the most industrious classes in Spain, were
expelled. and trade and agriculture left 10 Ian
guish." II the writer had schoolboy's ac-
auaintanco with the history OF Spain. he would
know that the most sweeping expulsion OF tho
Moriscoss- tho most fatal blow to
Spanish industries-was delivered IN the frat
quarter Of the seventeenth century. and that
even Philip H.. bigot ~ he was. shr,,nk from
sjecting In u body his Morisco SUBJECTS on the
srorc OF imperfect conversion tn the Christian
hath.
Among other alleged fsess waica the law