Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/200

164 of the world, was well read and well informed, and gave us much valuable information on various subjects. His daughters, though very young, were thoroughly up in French and German, and had been travelling and residing in those countries to perfect their knowledge of those tongues. Another American party consisted of a father and son from Chicago. The father was a Swede by birth, but had emigrated to America when young. He was from the ranks, but it is wonderful how little distinction there is in America between the different ranks in society. This grower of flowers and seeds, for such he was, was a thoroughly enlightened and well-informed man, had completed his education by travels, and his son was now in college, spoke several languages, and had vistited [sic] several countries of the world. An Indian cannot help feeling humbled when he sees the liberal system of education as it prevails in Europe and in America. While we spend the best part of our school and college days in mastering the difficulties of one European language, in Europe they learn the English, the French and the German as a matter of course, and what is of far greater importance, they perfect their education by travels.

Speaking of travelling there was one old American lady of our party who is probably the most enthusiastic traveller that I have seen. She had travelled all over Europe, even in Spain; and as she candidly said, she would feel miserable if she was not travelling, and would rather die travelling! This I think is carrying it to excess. But every educated man ought to travel to some extent