摘要
This article is based on original research and analysis of multiple manuscript letters written by the Scottish Presbyterian minister Charles Nisbet （1736-1804）, who emigrated to America in 1785 to become the first principal of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. As an outspoken advocate for the American cause during the War of Independence, and a friend and colleague of John Witherspoon, Nisbet was the favorite choice for Benjamin Rush and the other trustees at Dickinson College. But soon after his arrival in Pennsylvania, Nisbet＇s relationship with Rush and the other trustees deteriorated. The new principal resented the absolute control of the trustees over the college, and quarreled with them for years about the late payments of his salary. Nisbet found America to be an overall distasteful place to live, especially for a man of letters living on the Pennsylvania frontier. Ignored by the trustees and feeling like an exile, Nisbet used his letters to lash out at the sources of his frustrations. This alleviated some of the tensions of living in America while also irritating the trustees at Dickinson College.
