Ralph Waldo Emerson set out on his first visit to Europe in 1831,passing throuth Italy,Switzerland and France to Britain,and visiting Landor,Coleridge,Wordsworth,and ,most important of all ,Carlyle,with whom he laid the foundation of a life-long friendship.On his return to America,he took up lecturing,and continued for nearly forty years to use this form of expression for his ideas on religion,politics,literature,and philosophy.He published a succession of volumes of essays,addresses and poems.T