acation from the University in 1902-3, he undertook a
great concert tour of the United States, going as far west as San
Francisco. In 1903 he visited England, and on May 14th played his
D minor pianoforte concerto at a concert of the Royal Philharmonic
Society in Queen's Hall, London.

In 1904 he resigned from Columbia because of a disagreement with
the faculty concerning the proper position of music and the fine
arts in the curriculum. His plans for a freer and greater
relationship between University teaching and liberal public
culture were considered impracticable and the authorities
rejected them. MacDowell's attitude in the matter was criticised,
misunderstood and misrepresented at the time. He was even accused
of neglecting the duties of the position he held, whereas, as it
afterwards transpired, he had laboured ungrudgingly at his task.
It is pleasant to know that his students were among the first to
uphold his character. His patience, his droll criticisms, and the
illuminating quality of his teaching endeared him to all who
studied under him.

MacDowell was bitterly disappointed and hurt at the unfavourable
reception of his reforming plans, but until the beginning of his
fatal illness shortly afterwards, he continued his teaching
privately, even giving free lessons to deserving students in
whose talent he had faith.

His lectures at Columbia University are preserved in permanent
form under the title of _Critical and Historical Essays_. In a
letter to the writer, Mrs. MacDowell says of the volume, "I think
my husband would have felt that just such a title implies a more
finished product than one finds, but after his death the demand
was very great among his old students that these notes might be
preserved in permanent form ... Mr. MacDowell had an extraordinary
memory, and seldom had more than mere notes in delivering his
lectures. Occasionally in preparing the lectures, without quite
realising it, he dictated far more than he had intended, not
always using this material in his class room. These Essays
represent the result of what he dictated to me as he walked up
and down his music room trying to crystallize his ideas; they were
printed unedited. I sometimes think one reads in between the lines
of these Essays a good deal of what the man was himself."

Although the time at his command was restricted, the eight years
of MacDowell's Columbia professorship saw the composition of most
of his finest works. For