The intimate papers of Colonel House arranged as a narrative by Charles Seymour.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF WILSON

45

dently experienced an instinctive personal liking for the
other which ripened immediately into genuine friendship.
The first impressions of Wilson can only be deduced from the
almost affectionate tone of the letters that he wrote to House
after the interview. Those of the Colonel have been preserved in more definite form.
'He came alone to the Gotham quite promptly at four
[recorded House], and we talked for an hour. He had an engagement to meet Phelan, afterward Senator from California, at five o'clock, and expressed much regret that he could
not continue our conversation. We arranged, however, to
meet again within a few days, when at my invitation he came
to dine with me.
'Each time after that we met at the Gotham, as long as I
remained in New York that autumn and winter and whenever he came to the city.
'From that first meeting and up to to-day [1916], I have
been in as close touch with Woodrow Wilson as with any
man I have ever known. The first hour we spent together
proved to each of us that there was a sound basis for a fast
friendship. We found ourselves in such complete sympathy,
in so many ways, that we soon learned to know what each
was thinking without either having expressed himself.
'A few weeks after we met and after we had exchanged
confidences which men usually do not exchange except after
years of friendship, I asked him if he realized that we had
only known one another for so short a time. He replied,
"My dear friend, we have known one another always."
And I think this is true.'
It is curious to note that it was the personal amiability of
Mr. Wilson, rather than his intellectual qualities or political
ideas, which impressed House at the outset. He thus reported this first interview to his brother-in-law: