| Authorship Notes |
Although this disseration presents itself in the title as one that reached the Académie de Lyon for it to be considered for the 1785-1787 contest on the usefulness of travelling in education (see the various entries in this database), it was very clearly written already knowing the outcome of the contest. It clearly reacts in particular the attacks against as currently performed by the winner of the contest, the lawyer Turlin.
The book is dedicated to the finance minister Necker, who is quoted as an example of the progress of humanity - the author of the text seeks to illustrate that the negative vision of the present day in Turlin's dissertation is unjustified. One of his examples for this is the large number of charitable organizations created recently. In order to counter Turlin's statement ('Travelling is useful and should be forbidden' in this 'perverted century'), he collects best practices of travelling that he encountered various families of his knowing.
The young man should travel accompanied by a tutor, and (or in the same person) an interpreter - to learn all languages before travel would take too much time, German and English are sufficient.
After a lengthy preambule in defense of him writing this work, the advice written is mainly based on Rousseau's 'Emile' - the author indeed speaks to Emile at times. However, he is aware of the difference between the education of Emile (to perform this, one has to be Rousseau) and children of the real world. They should be accompanied by a tutor, preferably a parent or a friend of the family. The travel should be six years long, and carefully planned to avoid dissipation of interest: otherwise, the young man will just seek superficial pleasures, become a libertin, or a freemason. There is no need to travel to learn some fields such as law, where books make a perfect substitute: however, encountering men of merit of other countries is something that no books can replace. An example much praised is a father who takes his son with him to visit the manufactures and business partners of their family: in this way, the travel experience can be useful not only for the young man, but also to the country where he will contribute to the success of the factories.
There is also a slightly shorter 1789 edition, with no significant difference in the content. |
