324 MORE POT-POURRI 



tourist time. It is very modern in tone, and although 

 slightly affected, yet the enthusiasm and delight in Italy 

 are as great as, or even greater than, those of writers of 

 a past generation. His preface, which he calls ' Proem,' 

 is an apologia for writing at all on such well-known 

 ground, for he feels his book must risk the charge of 

 being ' a rechauffe of Paul Bourget and Walter Pater 

 with ana lightly culled from Syrnonds, and perchance 

 the questionable support of ponderous references out of 

 Burckhardt.' My journey was shortened for me by the 

 pleasure I got from reading this book, and it made me 

 feel glad as I sat in the train that I was on my way to 

 this Italy of undying interest. 



I had, of course, the usual luggage scare at the Custom 

 House at Modane in the middle of the night. I was idiotic 

 from sleep, and the officials declared my boxes were not 

 in the train. I felt like the French cabman with a 

 heavy load when a passing friend asked him how he was. 

 1 Pour moi, je suis plonge dans la misere jusqu'au cou.' 

 Just as the train was starting, to my intense relief I spied 

 my boxes, and could once more complacently smile and 

 remember a nice little story I had just been told. An 

 American lady, having lost all her luggage, said : ' Any 

 great trial sent by the Almighty I can bear, but these 

 collateral smacks are too much for anyone to endure.' 

 How true it is ! 



One of the drawbacks of the facility of modern travel 

 is that it enables people who have a short holiday say, of 

 three weeks to rush through Italy from place to place. 

 Disappointed with the climate, they imagine sunshine is 

 to be found farther on. I heard a young man who spent 

 his three weeks at Rome, Florence, and Venice, say that 

 he had ' done that tour, and that Florence was the vilest 

 climate on the face of God's earth.' Whereas a great 

 deal more pleasure is to be had, and one gains a much 



