National Republican (Washington City

How to Make the Most of It.

BY REV. R.B. HOWARD.

Having enjoyed a delightful summer's tour in Europe in company with a party of twenty-five, among whom were several citizens of Washington, I venture a little chat about it with Gazette readers. Mrs. J.W. Somers, of the Mount Vernon Seminary, Miss Anna B. Wilson, Miss Lizzie Bryan and Miss Mary Landers were of our party, which took the name of our conductor, Dr. L.C. Loomis, of Washington, D.C. The latter is a cultivated and traveled gentleman, whose life has been mainly spent in teaching, but whose latter years have been given up to travel and the study of art and artists. This was his fifth trip to Europe. We clip the following from the Cincinnati Gazette of the 16th instant: We left New York in the steamer Italy, of the National line, June 21, and returned September 14, making eighty-five days of journeying over nearly 10,000 miles of sea and land. We were a week in London, another week in Scotland, a few days in Belgium, others upon the Rhine, and at the cities of Cologne, Frankfort, and Heidelberg in Germany, more than a week among the mountains and lakes of Switzerland, three weeks in Italy (July 23 to August 14). This with a week at Paris and vicinity occupied our time, except the twenty-one days on the ocean. I am often asked such questions as these: How do you like traveling in parties? Is a conductor any real benefit? Is Italy comfortable or safe in summer? So many persons are happily determined to take a European trip, and so few comparatively have any experience, that I venture to write briefly on the points above suggested. First—How do I like traveling in parties? Of course there are pros and cons, but on reviewing the matter I am convinced of several things: 1. Expenses are lessened. 2. Care is reduced to minimum and comfort augmented by just as much. 3. Educative opportunities are multiplied. 4. Time is saved. 5. More is accomplished than could be for the same length of time in any other way. Second—Expenses.—One can travel in Europe, either alone or with a single friend, or in a very large party—such as Mr. Gaze, of London, so successfully sends out under guides—somewhat cheaper than in a personally-conducted party of twenty-five or thirty. In the former case the saving is made by personal economies that often cost thought, time and strength that are worth more than the money. In the latter case the greater number precludes personal attentions, but makes cheapness possible, as goods at wholesale cost less than at retail. Third—Care or worry.—There is enough of that at home. One wants to leave it all behind when he steps aboard the steamer, if he would get the most possible rest and recreation. We travel to enjoy and to learn. It is better for both purposes to give ourselves up, for the time being, to the individual pursuit of that which will add to both our information and pleasure. Well, to feel that your route is fixed in a wise, perhaps the wisest, way by an experienced and cultivated man; that your hotels are chosen beforehand by one who has tried them: that your tickets are purchased, baggage checked, carriages engaged, waiter feed, bills settled with no dispute or annoyance to any one but your friend the conductor; the art galleries, museums, castles, palaces, cathedrals and ancient ruins are all open and waiting for you; and especially as in our case, to feel certain that your welcome is assured because the responsible head of your party is known, recognized and respected wherever you may go—all this is worth more than money to a weary, a lazy, or a peace-loving man or woman. And all this a Loomis party enjoys. Fifth—Education.—One would hardly be anything better than a Frenchman or German to confess that recreation alone—i.e., a good time—took him anywhere or cost him anything. The American conscience needs to be pacified by at least a show of practical profit! Well, we had twenty-four chances to learn about things that we did not personally see. The chats at the table, the evening drives and walks, our conductor's and our own conversations in drawing-rooms, and during long days in compartments of railway cars, afforded those multiplied opportunities to give and receive the fruits of our personal observations. Pleasure we had in congenial society and a common language, but profit we did not lack. Professor Loomis was the meek, good-natured and cheerfully responsive object of a constant fire of questions which puzzled him far less to answer than they would Joseph Cook and Bronson Alcott. Besides this, his evening discourses on art and artists, and his kindly and discriminating criticisms in the presence of the world's masterpieces, were invaluable. We had a round of object-lessons with wise but unobtrusive comments by a connoisseur as unlike a professional guide as a nightingale is unlike a parrot. To be responded to in plain English, with a spice of Yankee idiom, is a luxury which one must go to Italy to appreciate. Sixth—Time.—This is best estimated when we contrast the work to be done with the few weeks appropriated. One wants to suffer as little as possible from the inevitable law of waste. Whatever tritles consume time or exhaust strength are to be avoided of course. If one had more time, he could leave the prescribed route to profit. If he knew foreign tongues, he need not be an hour breaking the shell and picking the sense out of a phrase. As with most people, the saving of time from frivolous and worrisome matters to devote to things beautiful, grand and instructive, is a prime consideration. It seems to me, in review, almost impossible to employ eighty-five days to greater advantage than in filling out our Itinerary under the guidance of its author. Seventh—The work accomplished, either recreative or instructive, depends on the considerations I have mentioned and a few others. We rested nights and Sundays, as a rule, never breaking that rule except from necessity, but we lost on account of weariness more than we gained in time. We were well in Italy and experienced less inconvenience from heat than usual in midsummer at home. The ancient ruins and damp cathedrals were more comfortable and less dangerous to health than in winter. The hotels were less crowded and our welcome more assured. We saw everything in the cities with less difficulty and better on account of the summer absences. There was enough to see, though some galleries are closed in midsummer. The country in Italy during harvest is not so beautiful as in May, but it is as instructive. We saw the gathered grain and partook of the marvelous variety of ripened fruits. I would like to go again in the same way but I feel more fully prepared to go on my own responsibility and visit obscure places because I have been in this way. To ladies without escort nothing can be compared to such a party as respects safety, health, economy and enjoyment. The majority of our party were of this class, and I confidently refer to them to confirm my words. The ocean voyage is never a perfect delight, but it is unique, restful and preparatory. It ought not to deter any one from the riches of nature and art that wait for inspection over the sea.