A MEETING OF RIVALS 211 



older man was the more fortunate, for, as will be seen, 

 he found close by his door an excellent naturalist who 

 played the part of mentor. 



On February 14, 1802, while at Philadelphia, Wilson 

 wrote to Orr: 



On the 25th. of this month I remove to the schoolhouse be- 

 yond Gray's Ferry to succeed the present teacher there. I 

 shall recommence that painful profession once more with the 

 same gloomy, sullen resignation that a prisoner re-enters his 

 dungeon or a malefactor mounts the scaffold ; fate urges him, 

 necessity me. The agreement between us is to make the school 

 equal to 100 dollars per quarter, but not more than 50 are to 

 be admitted. The present pedagogue is a noisy, outrageous 

 fat old captain of a ship, who has taught these ten years in 

 different places. You may hear him bawling 300 yards off. 

 The boys seem to pay as little regard to him as ducks to the 

 rumbling of a stream under them. I shall have many diffi- 

 culties to overcome in establishing my own rules and authority. 



At Gray's Ferry, where he was then settled, Wilson 

 again wrote in July: "Leave that cursed town at least 

 one day. It is the most striking emblem of purgatory, 

 at least to me, that exists. No poor soul is happier to 

 escape from Bridewell than I am to smell the fresh air 

 and gaze over the green fields after a day or two's resi- 

 dence in Philadelphia . . ." 



George Ord, Wilson's staunch friend, literary execu- 

 tor, biographer, and editor of the last two volumes of 

 the American Ornithology, thus characterized him: "He 

 was of the genus irritabile, and was obstinate in opin- 

 ion." He would acknowledge error when discovered by 

 himself, "but he could not endure to be told of his mis- 

 takes. Hence his associates had to be sparing of 

 criticism, through fear of forfeiting his friendship. With 



