Excerpt from Foreign Etchings: Or Outline Sketches of the Old World"s Pleasant Places
Nothing but the oft repeated requests of friends, could have induced me to publish these fragments. Sir Henry Wotton is said to have given this advice to Milton when a young man, and about to travel in Italy: "il viso sciolto ed i pensieri stretti" - "an open countenance, but close thoughts," or, in other words, "keep your thoughts to yourself, but let your eyes wander abroad." This advice of the old statesman, might be very well given to those tourists, who after skimming over the surface of things in Europe, return home full of the conceit, that they are qualified to enlighten their countrymen upon the social, civil and political history of the countries they have visited. A tour of six months, or a year, flitting from city to city, as a general thing, confers no qualification upon a tourist, for so grave an undertaking. In these pages no such attempt has been made. They arc mere outline sketches, thrown together at the solicitation of a few friends, upon whose indulgence I know I can throw myself for even the presumption of hearkening to their too partial requests.
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