382 NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER 



find an excuse. "I think," he said, "you had better see him," 

 and when she further remonstrated he added, "Remember his 

 uncle" (a charming and gifted gentleman). "I do," was the 

 answer; "his uncle wouldn't have tolerated his nephew's 

 company for five minutes, much less for the whole evening." 

 "Then so much the worse for the uncle," was his final reply. 



Mr. Shaler had some curious experiences in his efforts to get 

 money for deserving students. Once he wrote to a wealthy and 

 influential friend, Mr. Forbes, who had made a fortune in the 

 Eastern trade, asking him to aid a young Chinese to finish his 

 education. The choleric gentleman promptly replied that he 

 would not give a cent to a Chinaman or to any other student, 

 that education was being run into the ground, and so forth. 

 Application was about to be made elsewhere when another letter 

 came containing a liberal check with the words: "I send this 

 money to your student with the greatest pleasure. The truest 

 gentleman and best friend I ever knew was a Chinaman." 



It was Mr. Shaler's privilege and pleasure to be much con- 

 cerned with this problem of helping men to attain their educa- 

 tion, and in the effort he spared neither time nor money. Much 

 is said of the rich man at Harvard, but few knew, as well as he 

 did, the dire poverty of many who entered its halls : of the close 

 calculation in families to meet the expense of tuition, or of the 

 outside labor of students themselves to eke out existence. Often 

 in his visits to their homes for the purpose of seeing them when 

 ill, or to consult with their parents, he saw much that was 

 pathetic. Sometimes he was convinced that ambition outran 

 capacity, and regretted the unprofitable strain to furnish a col- 

 lege education where manual training seemed fittest. 



The Russian Jews in their desperate fight for advancement 

 often awakened his profound admiration and sympathy. There 

 was one student of whom he sometimes spoke as typical of 

 many others. Observing that this young man was pale and 

 thin, he sought to know something of his circumstances and 

 found that he was actually suffering from the want of food. 



