:up: About 100 years ago, one could say 'Let him try
never so hard, he won't pass'. If you break that down like this, you can see why it's 'never':
A. However hard he tries, he won't pass.
B: But he should try harder; wouldn't he pass then?
A: He could never work so hard that he'd pass.
But because 'ever so' is a common collocation in other circumstances (e.g. 'If he worked ever so hard, he'd pass'), people trying to use the archaic 'Let him try...' construction often say 'ever'. In fact I fully expect that at least one reader will think (though maybe not
write ;-)) 'But
I'd say 'ever' there.'
b