Emil Frey's first stay in America, his -apprenticeship-, is vividly described in his letters which are spirited, opinionated, observant though prejudiced, and sometimes highly amusing. They are also serious and full of good intentions to make the best of often trying circumstances. Frey was a complex and contradictory man - refined yet brutal, admittedly antislavery yet contemptuous of blacks, a man of professed principles yet a pragmatist. He mastered the art of realistic adaptation to circumstances."