WILSON, the; man 125 



his own interest. To William Duncan he wrote, 

 "More than half of the roguery of one-half of 

 mankind is owing to the simplicity of the other 

 half." He distinguished clearly between the love 

 of church and the love of religion, "pietism" and 

 goodness; he was liberal in his views, but deeply 

 and sincerely religious in his feelings. Of his 

 patriotism we have already spoken. His love for 

 his native country and the still greater devotion 

 to the land of his adoption are expressed over 

 and over again in his writings. "Few Americans," 

 he wrote to a friend in Scotland, "have seen more 

 of their country than I have done, and none love 

 it better." George Ord, who knew him well, 

 summed up his character thus : "Mr. Wilson was 

 possessed of the nicest sense of honour in all his 

 dealings, he was not only scrupulously just but 

 highly generous. His veneration for truth was 

 exemplary. His disposition was social and affec- 

 tionate. His benevolence was extensive. He 

 was remarkably temperate in eating and drinking ; 

 his love for retirement preserving him from the 

 contaminating influence of the convivial circle. 

 But, as no one is perfect, Mr. Wilson partook, 

 in a small degree, of the weakness of humanity. 

 He was of the genus irritahile and was obstinate in 

 opinion. It ever gave him pleasure to acknowl- 

 edge error, when the conviction resulted from 

 his own judgment alone ; but he could not endure 

 to be told of his mistakes. Hence his associates 

 had to be sparing of their criticisms, through fear 

 of forfeiting his friendship. With almost all his 

 friends, he had occasionally, arising from some 



