years must have been an unfailing inspiration.
He was delicate at first, but owing to his mother's
care he later became as robust in body as he was
in mind. For an older brother, Enoch, the plan
was formed of sending him to college to prepare
for the ministry, a custom then prevalent among
many of the large and prosperous families in New
England. Nathan was at first destined for a
business life; but because of the urgent desire of
his mother, heartily seconded by that of his Grandmother
Strong, he was allowed to enter college
with his brother Enoch in 1769, when he was fourteen
years old; this was two years after the death
of his mother. Four of Mrs. Hale's immediate
relatives were graduates of Yale,--a fine illustration
of the value those progressive pioneers attached
to education.

As a boy Nathan was to his mother what he
later became to all who knew him; and the bond
between such a mother and such a son must have
been very tender and strong. It is a comfort to
those who know what such mothers desire for their
children, to remember the gladness and hope with
which this mother, overworked and dying long
before her time, looked forward to the days coming
to her children. For Nathan, through her influence,
was to become one of Yale's noblest sons.

[[7]]

p006 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p007w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p008

v?