AS A LETTER-WRITER 217 



Individual," "The Neighbor," and "The Citizen." He turned 

 over many times the things which came to him in life, making 

 varied applications of the lessons he learned. The emotional 

 side of his nature, especially in early manhood, found vent 

 whether on a railroad train, while waiting in a station, or in 

 some lonely place, in a few lines of poetry; sometimes the 

 thought is extended to the limits of a sonnet, but seldom fur- 

 ther. After the moment's satisfaction of writing them these 

 fragments were cast aside and forgotten. They are generally in 

 the minor key, provoked by a bit of beautiful scenery, or by 

 some fleeting aspect of nature which called forth the idea of 

 death, an idea which was ever present with him, probably for 

 the reason that he was often ill, and also because neither parent 

 endowed him with the spirit of buoyancy. This was a cultivated 

 fruit of his advancing years. 



Besides Mr. Shaler's letters to his family but few have come 

 into my hands ; indeed, he was in no sense a letter- writer, and 

 late in life those with whom he might naturally have corre- 

 sponded he met in daily intercourse. Furthermore, although 

 his handwriting was beguilingly fair, instead of a key it became 

 almost a barrier to his thought, and for this reason, after the 

 gist of what he had to say was laboriously arrived at, few were 

 tempted to put aside his letters for future reading. But, even 

 if they had been preserved, it is doubtful whether they would 

 have furnished much of a personal nature. During one of his 

 visits to Europe his father writes : 



... I have received an appendix to one of Sophy's letters written on a 

 piece of paper about as big as your hand, without one word about your 

 health, or enjoyment, or sight of places, but an engineering disquisition 

 on the water-supply of Newport from the Licking River, which, at this time, 

 could not water a herd of buffalo. 



The fervid rate at which men lived in the early sixties of the 

 last century may be inferred from the events which took place 

 in Mr. Shaler's own life before he had reached the age of twenty- 

 two. He already had taken his S.B. degree with honors; had 



