MINDFUL of the promise which I gave you ere we parted in London, that I would throw into some degree of order the rude notes I had made during our journey on the Continent in the summer of the present year, I hasten to commence my task, and purpose to transmit portions of the same for your perusal and that of your family as soon as my letters shall be enabled, by the reduction of the postage, to travel at the very moderate charge of one penny each.

I sincerely hope you may find some little amusement in the contents of these pacquets; but should they fail to interest you in the reading, they will not fail to interest me in the writing, as, by such means, I shall travel my journey over again, and with many advantages; for, if you will allow so homely a comparison, I would not be like one who takes a hasty snack rather than a substantial dinner. He who does

the former, contents himself with a slight relish en passant; but he who consults his health, with nothing less than a solid meal sufficient for the purposes of wholesome nutriment after good digestion.

Even so is it with the reflective traveller: the real benefit of his mental meal is not so much experienced at the moment as it is by his ruminations and his after-thoughts. Thus, for instance, he who sees the Jungfrau in Switzerland, and the magnificent scenes by which it is surrounded, would be apt, did he write on the spur of the moment, to pronounce such to be the finest in his mountain tour, till he subsequently visits Mont Blanc, when, though he still retains the highest admiration for the former, he feels that the "monarch of mountains" has, like a true sovereign in the midst of his domain, no equal.

Thus, then, the traveller who applies himself to work upon his notes after his return home has many advantages over him who merely writes at the moment. He has the power of retrospection and comparison; he can consult

previous travellers, and can thus, as it were, call up the evidence of accredited witnesses in support of his own testimony; or if he finds errors, can refute them by the statements of his own experience; whilst he retains all the warm expressions of his enthusiasm wherever he is convinced those expressions are not stronger than the subject which called them forth deserved: and thus, having leisure for the task, he exerts the powers and advantages above stated, to bring forward in a clearer view all those thoughts and observations which are the result of travel; when travel is undertaken as something of a more profitable nature than being "whirled through Europe in a post-chaise," or of getting rid of our time, money, and common sense, and all our honest and national prepossessions; so that we may be said, in something more than fable, to come home again like the monkey that has seen the world. Though Shakspeare makes Valentine say to Proteus,

Home-keeping youths have ever homely wits,"

yet he who brings not his heart home again

after travel, so as really to prefer the solid advantages and blessings of his own land to those of all others, gains little for his pains worthy the acquisition, in that moral estimate of character which makes the man, however much his wits may be sharpened or improved by the journey.

In respect to the letters I am about to send you, I purpose that they shall consist of my own observations and feelings, grounded on the rude notes I made on the spot. To these, I shall add extracts from Mr. Bray's journal which he kept during our tour, and called —“First Impressions of a Sexagenarian in a Tour on the Continent, 1839;" and as I write for your especial information and amusement, I shall strictly consider what would be likely the most to interest and amuse you, when I have to speak of

"Some rare note-worthy object in my travel,"

and wish “to make thee partaker in my happiness." Thus, I now and then shall give you a short extract from works so well known perhaps as Murray's "Hand-books,” (and those,

I can say from experience, are not merely the guides, but the friends and instructors, of the continental traveller, be his pursuits what they may;) for though such extracts would be superfluous to many who have travelled, they will be a novelty to you who have remained at home, and to whom I wish to convey all the information I can collect on such points as were of more than ordinary interest to us in our journey. I shall also be more personal when writing to you, than I otherwise should be were I writing to a stranger; for though to the latter it would be of little interest to know many a minor occurrence connected with ourselves, yet it will be otherwise with you, even as in a family circle the answer to the usual inquiries after health becomes of more deep concernment than the mere reply to a salutation of ceremony between persons who are scarcely more than strangers to each other.

Having now told you what I purpose doing, I proceed to the matter.

In order to join our expedition, my nephew came to town from Bury on Thursday, the