THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN 69 



point of view was that of a stranger who was often 

 looked upon with the disapproval which is not infre- 

 quently met by the book agent, for such, doubt- 

 less, many then regarded Wilson. In spite of 

 this, however, when we have allowed for the con- 

 stitutional moods of the man, his powers of ob- 

 servation were remarkably keen, and the sincerity 

 and truthfulness of his purpose were always un- 

 impeachable. Everywhere he went he found 

 much both to praise and to censure. On his pil- 

 grimages he visited almost every college then of 

 importance in the country, and nearly every one 

 subscribed to his book for its library, receiving 

 its author with courtesy. At Princeton President 

 Smith received him kindly and was surprised and 

 pleased with the work. The professors of Col- 

 umbia were even more hearty in their commenda- 

 tion, especially the professor of languages, who, 

 "being a Scotchman and also a Wilson," would 

 have done him any favor in his power. The lit- 

 erati of New Haven received him with "politeness 

 and respect" and he described with interest the 

 "streets shaded with elm trees and poplars," the 

 large common covered with grass, and the four 

 or five wooden spires which had once been so in- 

 fested with woodpeckers that "it became neces- 

 sary to set people, with guns, to watch and shoot 

 these invaders of the sanctuary." 



Later he was honorably entertained by Presi- 

 dent Wheelock at Dartmouth, where the profes- 

 sors vied with each other in obliging him, and at 

 William and Mary on his later Southern trip he 

 was received with distinction by Bishop Madison. 



