English Traits
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson traveled extensively in England and Scotland in 1833 and again fifteen years later on a lecture tour. Drawing on his experience there and a thorough reading of British history, he summed up in English terms his view of the British as a nation. British features are an exploratory and distinctive depiction of British culture that offers an explanatory glimpse into American perspectives and concerns in the mid-nineteenth century today. It is also noteworthy that it reveals an interesting aspect of Emerson's complex character; here we find the practical Yankees Emerson, who analysed British power, creativity, determination and materialism.
