arguments of the Elizabethan orations in praise of travel:

"Some to the warres, to try their fortune there;
Some, to discover Islands farre away;
Some, to the studious Universities;
For any, or for all these exercises,
He said, thou Proteus, your sonne was meet;
And did request me, to importune you
To let him spend his time no more at home;
Which would be great impeachment to his age,
In having knowne no travaile in his youth.
(Antonio) Nor need'st thou much importune me to that
Whereon, this month I have been hamering,
I have considered well, his losse of time,
And how he cannot be a perfect man,
Not being tryed, and tutored in the world;
Experience is by industry atchiev'd,
And perfected by the swift course of time."

                                                          (Act I. Sc. iii.)

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE BEGINNINGS OF TRAVEL FOR CULTURE

Pilgrimages at the close of the Middle Ages--New objects for travel in the fifteenth century--Humanism--Diplomatic ambition--Linguistic acquirement.

CHAPTER II

THE HIGH PURPOSE OF THE ELIZABETHAN TRAVELLER

Development of the individual--Benefit to the Commonwealth--First books addressed to travellers.

CHAPTER III

SOME CYNICAL ASPERSIONS UPON THE BENEFITS OF TRAVEL

The Italianate Englishman.

CHAPTER IV

PERILS FOR PROTESTANT TRAVELLERS

The Inquisition--The Jesuits--Penalties of recusancy.

CHAPTER V

THE INFLUENCE OF THE FRENCH ACADEMIES

France the arbiter of manners in the seventeenth century--Riding the great horse--Attempts to establish academies in England--Why travellers neglected Spain.

CHAPTER VI

THE GRAND TOUR

Origin of the term--Governors for young travellers--Expenses of travel.

CHAPTER VII

THE DECADENCE OF THE GRAND TOUR

The decline of the courtier--Foundation of chairs of Modern History and Modern Languages at Oxford and Cambridge--Englishmen become self-sufficient--Books of travel become common--Advent of the Romantic traveller who travels for scenery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

FOOTNOTES

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON
From an engraving by J. Hall, after Moses Griffith

EDWARD DE VERE, SEVENTEENTH EARL OF OXFORD
From an engraving by J. Brown, after G.P. Harding

FRANCIS MANNERS, SIXTH EARL OF RUTLAND

DUDLEY NORTH, THIRD BARON NORTH
From a print of an original picture in the collection of the Earl of Guildford

JOHN HARINGTON, SECOND BARON HARINGTON OF EXTON

FENCING

DANCING
An illustration from "Nuove Inventione di Balli," an Italian book of
instructions in dancing much prized by James I.

SKETCHING ON THE SHORES OF LAKE AVERNUS IN 1610

TENNIS AS PLAYED IN PARIS IN 1632

SIR THOMAS KILLIGREW
From a contemporary caricature

RIDING THE GREAT HORSE, AS TAUGHT BY ANTOINE
PLUVINEL, THE RIDING-MASTER OF LOUIS XIII.
From "Le Maneige Royal" by Antoine Pluvinel, 1624

AN ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS

CHAPTER I

THE BEGINNINGS OF TRAVEL FOR CULTURE

Of the many social impulses that were influenced by the Renaissance, by that "new lernynge which runnythe all the world over now-a-days," the love of travel received a notable modification. This very old instinct to go far, far away had in the Middle Ages found sanction, dignity and justification in the performance of pilgrimages. It is open to doubt whether the number of the truly pious would ever have filled so many ships to Port Jaffa had not their ranks been swelled by the restless, the adventurous, the wanderers of all classes.

Towards the sixteenth century, when curiosity about things human was an ever stronger undercurrent in England, pilgrimages were particularly popular. In 1434, Henry VI. granted licences to 2433 pilgrims to the shrine of St James of Compostella alone.^[2] The numbers were so large that the control of their transportation became a coveted business enterprise. "Pilgrims at this time were really an article of exportation," says