SOME PROMINENT NAMES 275 



illustration of Lis poetry. These stanzas on the sea were 

 written at Stateu Island : 



" My life is like a stroll upon the beach, 

 As uear the ocean's edge as I can go ; 

 My tardy steps its waves sometimes o'erreach, 

 Sometimes I stay to let them overflow. 



" My sole employment 'tis, and scrupulous care, 

 To place my gains beyond the reach of tides, 

 Each smoother pebble, and each shell more rare, 

 Which Ocean kindly to my hand confides. 



" I have but few companions on the shore : 



They scorn the strand who sail upon the sea ; 

 Yet oft I think the ocean they've sailed o'er 

 Is deeper known upon the strand to me." 



VI 

 Matthew Vassar 

 Among the men of Huguenot blood who have through Founder of 

 philanthropy written their names indelibly on history's ^*^^^''^°"^e'' 

 page must be placed Matthew Vassar, founder of Vassar 

 College, the original woman's college of the first order 

 established in any land. Matthew Vassar was born in 

 England, but came to America when a young child with 

 his parents. His father was the direct descendant of a 

 Huguenot exile who found a home in England. Mat- 

 thew's mother was led to brew English ale, in order to 

 stop the common drinking of whiskey by the farm hands. 

 Her brew was so popular that it largely replaced the 

 stronger liquor, and demands for it increased until the 

 son began to brew as a business. Out of this beginning 

 developed the Vassar brewery, which was famous for 

 many years, and which made a large fortune for the 

 family. 



Not a highly educated man himself, Matthew Vassar 

 appreciated education, and was of a philanthropic turn. 

 He wanted to do good with his money. He established a 



