The United Kingdom left the European Union almost two years ago, but apparently everything that befalls us is still the EU’s fault. There is a British, or more specifically English, attitude to the rest of Europe that William Hazlitt succinctly described in his 1816 essay Character of John Bull. Listen to the current UK government, most of the British press or one particular TV news channel and his words still seem to ring true.

‘John Bull is pleased with nothing, and that is a fault. He is to be sure,  fond of having his own way, till you let him have it. He is a very headstrong animal, who mistakes the spirit of contradiction for the love of independence, and proves himself to be in the right by the obstinacy with which he stickles for the wrong.’

‘You cannot put him so much out of his way, as by agreeing with him. He is never in such good humour as with what gives him the spleen, and is most satisfied when he is sulky. If you find fault with him, he is in a rage; and if you praise him, suspects you have a design upon him.’

William Hazlitt, Character of John Bull, The Examiner, 19th May 1816.

William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt (10 April 1778 – 18 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He is also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age. Despite his high standing among historians of literature and art, his work is currently little read and mostly out of print.