Of Travel
by
Francis Bacon
(Summary)
The essay deals with Bacon's ideas about
travelling. Through this essay, Bacon gives very practical advice and hints on
the subject of travel that would be useful to an inexperienced traveler.
According to him, the travelling is a part of education for the younger people
and an additional experience for the older people. He advises people who want
to go to a foreign country as: first to learn language of the country which
they to visit. Young people should travel under the supervision of a tutor or
of a trustworthy servant who knows the language of the country concerned and
who has visited that country before. The tutor or servant should be able to
tell the young man what things are worth seeing in that country, what kind of
acquaintances he should make, and what other benefits can be derived from
travelling in that country.
Bacon
also tells that when young people go for sea-voyages, they should keep and
write dairies because during these voyages as there is nothing to see except
the sky and the sea. But they should not maintain dairies in land-travel,
because there are many things to do and see. Bacon tells us what places and
scenes one should visit when travelling in a foreign land. The most important
things to visit in foreign countries are: the courts of princes, the courts of
justice, the churches, the monasteries, the monuments, the walls and the
fortifications, harbours and shipping, houses and gardens, arsenals and other
store-houses, exchanges and warehouse the libraries, the colleges and
treasuries of jewels and rarities. A traveler should carry a guide-book
describing the country which he is visiting. He should not stay long in the
same city. He should change his lodging from one part of the town to another. When
abroad, he should not stay in the company of his own countrymen, but in the good
company of the people he is visiting. He should get in touch with the people where
he goes, so that they can help him and know the things that he likes. In this way,
he does not waste any time. He should avoid the company of choleric and quarrelsome
people. When he returns home, he should not forget the places and manners of
the people where he stayed, but should maintain a contact with them by writing
letters to some of the acquaintances he made there. He tells, that travelling would
be fruitful if it appears in a man's talk rather than in his clothes or
gestures. In talking about his travels, a man should appear thoughtful rather
than over prompt to tell his experiences. He may borrow some foreign manners,
but he should not completely discard the manners of his own country. It is not
right for him to replace his native manners by foreign manners.
There
is nothing irrelevant in this essay. No digression is found. Each and every sentence
is related to the subject. It is packed with matter. Only advice is seen, no sign
of the learning which other essays have. It is completely free from Latin
phrases and expressions, classical quotations, biblical and historical
allusions and anecdotes. No figures of speech and it is written in very simple
language and tone. The style is accessible; almost anyone can read this essay,
understand it, and profit from it.
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