New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-08
FDTc tTION From TRtTEI.

IL has become a familiar commonplace that
a course Of foreign travel i liberal educa'
ton. II il be true, what advances in highc-
education have Americans been making during
recent years, Every season the movement ol
transatlantic travel seems 10 set III little
earlier. Twenty years ago July was the IA
voritc sailing month then the steamer day ;
in June received the preference Of fashion 4;
and now on the wings of the May brcczcs
American tourists direct their flight 10 Eu-
rope Known throughout the Continent. where
the EngiShman with his rcd-covcrcd Murray
was once the most familiar figure, is the Amcr-
can traveller II is his patronage that has
wrought a transformation in hotel diet and
shopping novelties throughout Europe Is well
aS stimulated the rivalry Of steamship lines.
shortened the time of the ocean passage two
days in twenty years. and supplied luxurious
appointments on shipboard. lie is the most
interchangeable traveller Of the period and con
scquently must be the most literally educated
man Of his generation. if there be substantial
accuracy in the commonplace which we have
quoted.
American society has been very quick. how
ever. to protect itself against the loquacv
Of returning travellers. II ceased long ago to
he considered good form for one to talk about
foreign journeys and experiences. A genera
tion ago IA man who had passed a year in Eu-
rope was regarded by his literary and social
acquaintance very much as a pilgrim coming
from Mecca was looked upon by pious Arabs
in villages Of the desert Now the returning
traveller is greeted with a suspicious and
cynical glance as one who will talk the com
pany TO death unless he be kept under rig0r-
Gus restraint. His friends will allow him to
give few comprehensive details about the
length Of the voyage. the best DAYS run Of the
steamer the dinners attended in London and
the PLAYS in Paris but if he ventures to pro-
long the recital cold gray look on the faces
of his lstlcss listeners warns him to dcsist
If he be so rash as TO remind any one Of the
associations of the stOricd past or To record
either his observations of quaint costumes or
bis emotions, upon tramping through cathcdralS
and picture galleries or standing beside the
graves OF illustriOUS men he will be marked
man in his club or in bis set and will never
have second opportunity for boring his
friends. The travelled man is expected to be
polite when he returns and 10 infer that every
body whom he meets has either seen every
thing in Europe or has been told all about il
a hundred times. If he be so indiscrcet rs TO
talk about his journey, he is regarded as a very
inexperienced and unbalanced traveller.
Practically, then. the liberal education which
is conferred by travel implies wcll-ordered self
restraint and genius for silence A genera
ton ago it was possible for an intelligent travel
Ter to become free conduit for commitment
ing the freshest thought and the best influences
Of other countries TO his own but now he can
only hold his tongue after mentioning such
triHes as the best brands of wine on the steam.
eli or repeating some Of the racy stories heard
in the smoking room. Society has decreed
that while it is well for anybody TO increase
his stock OF facts and TO study the character
istic traits and institutions of foreign conn
tries. il is necessary to suppress bOres. Useful
information can always be sought for in books
of travel by those who want it, and nobody
needs to expose himself to the discomfors Of
sea voyage and foreign diet in order to DOS.
sess it, If a traveller happens to assimilato
any of it during his journey, no harm has been
done; but he must not be allowed when be
returns to interfere with the functions of book