English Traits

I have been twice in England. In 1833, on my return from a short tour in Sicily, Italy, and France, I crossed from Boulogne, and landed in…

The occasion of my second visit to England was an invitation from some Mechanics’ Institutes in Lancashire and Yorkshire, which separately…

Alfieri thought Italy and England the only countries worth living in; the former, because there nature vindicates her rights, and triumphs…

An ingenious anatomist has written a book1 to prove that races are imperishable, but nations are pliant political constructions, easily…

The Saxon and the Northman are both Scandinavians. History does not allow us to fix the limits of the application of these names with any…

I find the Englishman to be him of all men who stands firmest in his shoes. They have in themselves what they value in their horses, mettle…

The Teutonic tribes have a national singleness of heart, which contrasts with the Latin races. The German name has a proverbial…

The English race are reputed morose. I do not know that they have sadder brows than their neighbors of northern climates. They are sad by…

The English are a nation of humorists. Individual right is pushed to the uttermost bound compatible with public order. Property is so…

There is no country in which so absolute a homage is paid to wealth. In America, there is a touch of shame when a man exhibits the…

The feudal character of the English state, now that it is getting obsolete, glares a little, in contrast with the democratic tendencies.…

Of British universities, Cambridge has the most illustrious names on its list. At the present day, too, it has the advantage of Oxford,…

No people, at the present day, can be explained by their national religion. They do not feel responsible for it; it lies far outside of…

A strong common sense, which it is not easy to unseat or disturb, marks the English mind for a thousand years: a rude strength newly…

The power of the newspaper is familiar in America, and in accordance with our political system. In England, it stands in antagonism with…

It had been agreed between my friend Mr. C. and me, that before I left England, we should make an excursion together to Stonehenge, which…

In these comments on an old journey now revised after seven busy years have much changed men and things in England, I have abstained from…

England is the best of actual nations. It is no ideal framework, it is an old pile built in different ages, with repairs, additions, and…

A few days after my arrival at Manchester, in November, 1847, the Manchester Athenæum gave its annual Banquet in the Free-Trade Hall. With…