English and American by John Burroughs

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 23, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 28.

English and American.

By John Burroughs

WHEN I was in England, whether in lodgings or in a hotel, one of the hardest things to get at table was a teaspoon to eat my dessert or sweetmeats with. They always brought a dessert spoon, which usually seems large and awkward to the American mouth. Neither were there any small dishes, such as we have at home. They bring you jam, or preserves, or strawberries, on a plate as large as a dinner plate. This fact would not be worth mentioning, were it not characteristic of much that is seen there. In England, nearly all the arts and appliances of life show, to American eyes, a superabundance of material.

There is more timber and iron in the wagon, more bulk in the horse that draws the wagon, and more leather in the harness the horse wears. Yes, and more hair in the horse's coat. Our domestic animals, our tools, our vehicles, our architecture, and our women, look trim and slim compared with the English. There is probably material enough in an English van to make two of our farm wagons. It is a sight to behold. It looks like a pontoon boat mounted upon huge artillery wheels. It is usually drawn by three horses, tandem, with a boy walking by their side or riding the foremost. It would be quite useless in this country, as on our poorly made dirt roads it would be a load in itself.

The running works of the English dog-cart, a pleasure vehicle, would be considered nearly heavy enough for a light farm cart in this country. Easy roads and heavy vehicles are the rule in England, and poor roads and light vehicles with us. John Bull would hardly trust himself in our cob-web "buggies;" certainly not upon our outlandish roads. He does not know the virtues of hickory, a tree native to this country. Hickory gives us the most strength with the least bulk, and this is no doubt one reason of the lightness and slenderness of our tools and vehicles.

Compare an English ax with an American ax; how crude and awkward the former looks beside the latter; how shapely our tool is! Our tools suggest a more deft, supple, and a lighter, race. The tendency in us to pare down and cut away every superfluous ounce, is very marked. We are great whittlers. Did we not whittle away at the hulls of our ships until we made the swiftest sailing vessels in the world?

—John Burroughs, in Critic.