exclaimed, 'No, we are not foreigners, we are English; it is you who are foreigners!' He adds: "France is, by its natural contrast, a kind of blackboard, on which the English character draws its own traits in chalk. This arrogance habitually exhibits itself in allusions to the French. I suppose that all men of English blood in America, Europe or Asia have a secret joy that they are not French natives." Closely allied to this omnipresent self-conceit-and, indeed, only a very disagreeable mode of expressing it-is another trait :

ENGLISH BRAGGADOCIO.

"But, beyond this nationality, it must be admitted that the island offers a daily worship to the old Norse god Brage, celebrated among our Scandinavian forefathers for his eloquence and majestic air. They tell you daily, in London, the story of the Frenchman and the Englishman who quarreled. Both were unwilling to fight, but their companions put them up to it. At last it was agreed that they should fight alone, in the dark, and with pistols. The candles were put out, and the Englishman, to make sure not to hit anybody, fired up the chimney, and brought down the Frenchman. They have no curiosity about foreigners, and answer any information you may volunteer with, 'Oh, oh!' until the informant makes up his mind that they shall die in their ignorance for any help he will offer."

Mr. Emerson finds thus much to say even in favor of this particular English trait: "There

is this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own ideal. Humor him by all means, draw it all out, and hold him to it. Nature makes nothing in vain, and this little superfluity of self-regard in the English brain is one of the secrets of their power and history. For it sets every man on being and doing what he really is and can. It takes away a dodging, skulking, secondary air, and encourages a frank and manly bearing; so that each man makes the most of himself, and loses no opportunity for want of pushing." The English have certainly lost nothing for want of pushing, though, perhaps, they are beginning to feel that they are like to lose by over-pushing, and by trying to hold on to what they have apparently won. Speaking of English rule abroad, and some kindred matters, Emerson says:

ENGLISH NARROWNESS.

"But this childish patriotism costs something, like all narrowness. The English sway of their colonies has no root of kindness. They govern by their arts and their ability; they are more just than kind, and whenever an abatement of their power is felt they have not conciliated the affection on which to rely. The English dislike the American structure of society, whilst yet trade, mills, public education, and Chartism are doing what they can to create in England the same social condition. America is the paradise of economists, is the favorable exception invariably quoted to the rules of ruin.

But, when he speaks directly of the Americans, the islander forgets his philosophy, and remembers his disparaging anecdotes."

One need not go far to find instances of the unkindness of England toward every people with whom she has had to do with power to execute her will, but it is not so easy to find examples of her justice. Mr. Emerson sums up pithily what he has to say in regard to the general relations of England to the rest of the world: “In short, I am afraid that the English nature is so rank and aggressive as to be a little incompatible with every other. The world is not wide enough for two"; that is, we suppose, for the English and anybody else.

Of the immense wealth accumulated in England Mr. Emerson speaks in terms of wonder, and he noticed particularly the universal homage paid to it.

ENGLISH HOMAGE TO WEALTH.

"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 evidences of a large property; as if, after all, it needed apology. But the Englishman has pure pride in his wealth, and esteems it a final certificate. A coarse logic rules throughout all English souls: 'If you have merit, can you not show it by your good clothes, and coach and horses? How can a man be a gentleman without a pipe of wine?' Haydon says, 'There is a fierce resolution to make every man live ac

cording to the means he possesses.' There is a mixture of religion in it. They are under the Jewish law; and read with sonorous emphasis that their days shall be long in the land; they shall have sons and daughters, flocks and herds, wine and oil.'

"In exact proportion is the reproach of poverty. They do not wish to be represented except by opulent men. An Englishman who has lost his fortune is said to have 'died of a broken heart.' The last term of insult is, 'a beggar.' Nelson said, 'The want of fortune is a crime I can not get over.' Sydney Smith said, 'Poverty is infamous in England.' And one of their recent writers speaks, in reference to a private and scholastic life, of 'the grave moral deterioration which follows an empty exchequer.' You shall find this sentiment, if not so frankly put, yet deeply implied in the novels and romances of the present century; and not only in these, but in biography, and in the notes of public men, in the tone of preaching, and in the table-talk."

Mr. Emerson is no despiser of wealth, but of the inordinate estimate put upon the personal possession of it, he says:

VALUES OF WEALTH.

"The creation of wealth in England during the last ninety years is a main fact in modern history. The wealth of London determines prices all over the globe. All things precious or useful or amusing or intoxicating, are sucked into this commerce, or floated into London. A hundred thousand palaces adorn the island. All that can feed the senses and passions; all that can succor the talent or arm the hands of the intelligent middle class, who never

share in what they buy for their own consumption; all that can aid science, gratify taste, or soothe comfort, is in open market. Whatever is excellent and beautiful in civil, rural, or ecclesiastical architecture; in fountain, garden, or grounds, the English noble crosses sea and land to see and copy at home. The taste and science of thirty peaceful generations are in the vast auction; and the hereditary principle heaps on the owner of to-day the benefit of ages of owners. The present generation of owners are to the full as absolute as their fathers in choosing and producing what they like."

THE BEST RESULTS OF ENGLISH WEALTH.

"But the proudest result of this creation has been the great and refined forces it has put at the disposal of the private citizen. In the social world an Englishman to-day has the best lot. He goes with the most powerful protection, keeps the best company, is armed by the best education, is seconded by wealth; and his English name and accidents are like flourish of trumpets announcing him. I much prefer the condition of an English gentleman of the better class to that of any potentate in Europe-whether for travel, or for opportunity of society, or for access to means of science or study, or for mere comfort and easy, healthy relation to people at home."

Yet under this mighty and seemingly so firm structure of British wealth are hidden manifold perils and evils. Most perilous of all is the fact that for every man who enjoys these undisputed advantages, there are a hundred, perhaps a thou