NATHANIEL THAYER. 439 



his friend. He was very clear and strong in his estimate of men, 

 wliich miide him a warm, sincere, and devoted friend to those whom 

 he received into his confidence ; and his relations with many whom 

 the community has most esteemed were especially pleasant and inti- 

 mate. The writer recalls the almost brotherly relations he held with 

 many who have been of most service to their day and generation. 



To make others happy was Mr. Thayer's highest enjoyment ; and 

 could the many he has assisted be gathered together, those who knew 

 him most would be surprised at the multitude. What has been done 

 by Mr. Thayer for Harvard College, for Lancaster (his native town 

 and the place of his summer residence), is well known in this com- 

 muuity ; but what he has done to assist young men to their education, 

 to aid tlie widows and families of needy friends and acquaintances, and 

 indeed in a hundred ways, will never be known. 



For many years Mr. Thayer, in partnership with his deceased brother, 

 constituted the firm of John E. Thayer and Brother, in Boston, a 

 firm chiefly concerned in the development of the railroad enterprises 

 which have opened the West to intercourse and traffic. Mr. Thayer 

 had the highest sense of business honor, and no name stood higher, 

 the world over, than that of his firm. The springs of action with him 

 were from a deep, conscientious appreciation of the duties attending 

 success, — which comes not of " luck," as so many think, but through 

 careful, well-matured, systematic conduct of business af!iiirs. It is 

 common for many to judge harshly the men who have been successful 

 in business, and one often hears that it is not possible to be an honest 

 man of business ; but they little understand that honor and honesty 

 go quite as far as capital in giving business men their standing. Those 

 who knew the subject of this article best need not to be told that he 

 never wilfully wronged any one. All are fallible, and may be in 

 error as to what will prove to be the best permanent investment of 

 money ; but he made fewer mistakes in this direction than most men 

 who have managed so large a business. 



In his family relations Mr. Thayer was all that was tender and 

 lovely, — thoroughly unselfish. His sympathies were always quick to 

 appreciate what would be for the permanent good of the community 

 and individuals, and he was always ready to assist what commended 

 itself to his judgment. He was strong, manly, self-reliant, pure- 

 hearted, — eager to do his part, and more than his part, to raise the 

 community to a higher level, by aiding institutions of learning, charity, 

 art, or science, and promoting with generous gifts all that the best citi- 

 zens most esteem. 



