THE UNIVERSITY TEAS 



379 



had his active support was the Students' Reception Committee, 

 whose object it was to assist the newcomer to adjust himself 

 to his new surroundings and give him the feeling from the first 

 that the College was directly concerned in his comfort and suc- 

 cess. Out of this committee, or rather because of it, there sprang 

 up among the wives of the professors an association for giving 

 the students a chance to meet socially their teachers and their 

 teachers' families as well as any distinguished men who might 

 happen to be in Cambridge. The entertainments they set on 

 foot are known as "The University Teas," and are held in the 

 parlor of the Phillips Brooks House every Friday afternoon dur- 

 ing the winter months. It was realized that the afternoon tea 

 for students, to be anything else than an exhibition of unsuccess- 

 ful conscientiousness, must be entered upon with hope, faith, 

 and verve. There were at first gentle hints that except for the 

 concrete fact of chocolate and sandwiches this form of socia- 

 bility was all moonshine, but by and by a different sentiment 

 prevailed. The "teas" grew to be a success. The eagerness 

 with which the students gathered about their favorite teachers 

 showed that they did care for social fellowship with them, and 

 the geniality of all who came, from President Eliot to the 

 youngest usher, gave sign that the end for which they were 

 initiated had been attained. Mr. Shaler was intensely inter- 

 ested in the idea, and rarely failed to go to the "teas," though 

 he was not a friend in general of this form of entertainment. 

 Standing before the large open fireplace, he was sure to be the 

 centre of a group of young men who stood about him eager to 

 grasp his hand and listen to his stories. Many doubtless have 

 well fixed in their memories this picture of him. 



In the early days, when students of natural history were few, 

 it was easy to invite them to dinner or to a Sunday evening sup- 

 per, and in this way establish some friendly relations with them ; 

 but in the course of time the numbers so increased that it would 

 have taken almost every day of the college terms to entertain 

 them at table, especially since Mr. Shaler would allow no pick- 



