While the work of going from door to door and from office to
office is hard, disagreeable, and costly in bodily strength, yet it
has some compensations. Such work gives one a rare opportunity to
study human nature. It also has its compensations in giving one an
opportunity to meet some of the best people in the world -- to be more
correct, I think I should say _the best_ people in the world. When
one takes a broad survey of the country, he will find that the most
useful and influential people in it are those who take the deepest
interest in institutions that exist for the purpose of making the
world better.
At one time, when I was in Boston, I called at the door of a
rather wealthy lady, and was admitted to the vestibule and sent up my
card. While I was waiting for an answer, her husband came in, and
asked me in the most abrupt manner what I wanted. When I tried to
explain the object of my call, he became still more ungentlemanly in
his words and manner, and finally grew so excited that I left the
house without waiting for a reply from the lady. A few blocks from
that house I called to see a gentleman who received me in the most
cordial manner. He wrote me his check for a generous sum, and then,
before I had had an opportunity to thank him, said: "I am so grateful
to you, Mr.
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