122 To the River Plate and Back 



duced to me. Their manly frankness and poise was 

 delightful. They were indeed 'young gentlemen.' 

 One of them confided to me that he was deeply inter- 

 ested in the study of geology and paleontology, and of 

 course he was cordially invited to come to the Museum , 

 and learn a few things which might possibly interest 

 him. Another told me that it was his ambition, when 

 he had completed his course of study in La Plata, to 

 take a post-graduate course in North America, and 

 asked me to tell him about the great institutions of my 

 own land. We soon made friends. On this and sub- 

 sequently on frequent occasions the writer had oppor- 

 tunity to observe with pleasure the manner in which 

 Dr. Nelson and his associates, as the guardians of the 

 social life of the students in the college of the University, 

 are endeavoring to create in their minds a respect for 

 the higher ideals of a true democracy. The mainten- 

 ance of discipline and order is relegated very largely to 

 the students themselves, who constitute a miniature 

 republic, choosing their own officers, and laying down 

 their own laws, subject to the friendly advice and sug- 

 gestion of the Faculty. Dr. and Mrs. Nelson have both 

 lived and studied in the United States, and are endeav- 

 oring to apply the principles of advanced pedagogic 

 science to the practical problems before them. That 

 they are succeeding cannot be doubted, and in years to 

 come they will reap their reward in the gratitude of a 

 generation of men, upon whose shoulders the govern- 

 ment of the nation will then rest, and who will rise up 

 and bless them for the loving sympathy and inspiring 

 guidance which they received in their youth. 



A few days later we were invited to attend the Com- 

 mencement-exercises of the University. They recalled 

 those of similar institutions in our own land three or 



