THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

DAVIS

LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

BENJAMIN

LATE PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, AND GEOLOGY IN
YALE COLLEGE.

CHIEFLY FROM HIS MANUSCRIPT REMINISCENCES, DIARIES,
AND CORRESPONDENCE.

GEORGE P. FISHER,

PROFESSOR IN YALE COLLEGE.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOLUME H.

NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER AND COMPANY.

124 GRAND STREET.
1866.

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
DAVIS

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

CHARLES SCRIBNER AND COMPANY.

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York

RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY

H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

PART in. (CONTINUED.)

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAREER AS A PUBLIC LECTURER
TO THE RESIGNATION OF HIS COLLEGE OFFICE.

1834-1853.

CHAPTER XVH.

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES.

PAGB

Course of Geology in Pittsburg. — Gratification of his Audience. —
Course of Geology in Baltimore. — Dr. Nathan R. Smith. — Suc
cess of the Course. — Social Civilities in Baltimore. — Journey to
the South. — Charleston. — Professor Shepard. — J. B. Legare, Esq.
— Colonel Ion. — Miss Bowman. — Society in Charleston. — His
Reception in New Orleans. — Notices of the Lectures in the News
papers. — Social Attentions. — Bishop Polk and Lady. — Lectures
in Mobile. — Lectures in Natchez. — Visit to Mr. Murdock's Planta
tion. — Lectures before the Smithsonian Institution. — Lectures in

St. Louis. — Bishop on Geology. — Remarks on his Work

as a Lecturer. — Connections of Science and Religion. — Corre
spondence with Professor Kingsley, &c 1

CHAPTER XVIH.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN.

Letters of Berzelius. — Berzelius proposes a Correspondence ; Allude?
to his own Work on Chemistry, to Professor Silliman's Experi
ments with the Deflagrator, to the "Journal of Science," to Dr.
Hare. — Letter from Dr. Henry. — Correspondence with Mr. Mac-
lure. — Mr. Maclure on the Subject of Education: Professor Silli-
man on Owen, on Speculative Opinions in Politics and Religion;
Recommends a Benefaction to Science ; on Mr. Lyell's Geology, on
European Politics, on the Tariff, Slavery, and Nullification. — Let-

I

vi CONTENTS.

PAGE

ters of Robert Bakewell. — Mr. Bakewell on the Mosaic Cosmog
ony, on Lyell and Buckland, on Ly ell's Geology, on his own Geology,
on Scientific Journals, on Oxford and Dr. Buckland, on Mantell and
Ms Museum, on Coal-Beds in America, on Storms, on Murchison's
Geological Work, on a Universal Language, on the Insect Tree. ... 35

CHAPTER XIX.

COLONEL, TKUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS.

Professor Silliman's Acquaintance with Colonel Trumbull. — His Inter
view with Colonel Trumbull, in 1830. — Purchase of Trumbull' s
Paintings by Yale College. — Colonel Trumbull on his Portrait of
Washington. — The Battle of Trenton. — The Battle of Bunker
Hill, and General Warren. — Anecdote of Colonel Small. — Paint
ing of the Battle of Princeton. — The Death of General Mercer. —
Anecdotes relating to this Painting. — Anecdote of General Mat-
toon and Colonel Trumbull. — The Surrender of Cornwallis 66

CHAPTER XX.

RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT DAY : DOMESTIC AFFLICTION.

Resignation of President Day. — Letter of Chancellor Kent. — Visit
to Boston : Agassiz. — Death of Mr. Elihu Chauncey. — Visit from
Agassiz. — Birthday Reflections (1848).— Death of Jeremiah Mason.

— Visit to his Early Home. — Proposal to Resign. — Death of Mrs.
Silliman. — Religious Thoughts. — Visit to Washington : President
Taylor; Secretary Clayton. — His Consent to withdraw his Resig
nation 79

I

CHAPTER XXI.
VISIT TO EUROPE: SECOND MARRIAGE: RETIREMENT FROM

OFFICE.

His Second Visit to Europe. — His Reception and his Travels. — Let
ters from Humboldt and Carl Ritter. — Letter from President Day.

— His Second Marriage. — Letters to Dr. John Griscom. — Death
of Professor Stuart. — Death of Professor Kingsley. — His Renewal
of his Resignation. — Interview with Daniel Webster. — Death of
Dr. Mantell. — Proceedings connected with his Retirement from

Office. — His Reflections on this Event 101

*

CHAPTER XXII.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK: LETTERS OF AGASSIZ.

Geology and Genesis. — Views of Professor Silliman. — Dr. Hitchcock
proposes to Study in New Haven; on the First Chapter of Genesis

CONTENTS. VU

PACtB

— Professor Silliman to Dr. Hitchcock on the Death of his Child;
on the Method of Studying Chemistry ; on Professor Stuart's Geolog
ical Remarks ; on the Bird-Tracks. — Dr. Hitchcock on his Geolog
ical Critics ; on the Spirit of his Writings. — Professor Silliman on
the Clergy; on Wiseman's Book; on the Bird-Tracks. — Letters to
Dr. Spring on Geology and Scripture. — Letters from Agassiz. —
Agassiz on his own Visit to England ; on his Studies ; on Mr. Red-
field; on the "Journal of Science"; on his Work on Glaciers ; on

his Proposed Visit to America; announces his Arrival in Boston. . . 132

CHAPTER XXIH.

LETTERS FROM LYELL, MURCHISON, OWEN, DAUBENY, HERSCHEL,
ETC.

Lyell on Professor Silliman' s Lectures; on his own Geology; on Pro
fessor Silliman's Influence; on Revisiting America; on Mantell.

— Lady Lyell on Professor Silliman's Travels; on the Marriage of
her Sister. — Murchison on the Geology of Russia and of America;
on Dana's Work on Corals; on Colonel Fremont. — Owen on the
Footprints of the Connecticut Valley; on his own Labors in Anat
omy. — Daubeny on his own Journal in the United States; on Lie-
big; on the Revolution in France (1848); on the Relations of Eng
land and America ; on Education at Oxford. — Sir J. F. W. Her-
schel on the late Mr. E. P. Mason. — Letter from Professor Haid-
inger. — Letter from Professor Coneybeare. — Letter from Pro
fessor J. F. W. Johnston on Russia. — Letter from Professor W. B.
Rogers 161

' CHAPTER XXIV.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL.

Origin of the Correspondence. — Dr. Mantell on the Vicissitudes of
Fortune among English Families ; on Tariffs. — Professor Silliman
on Nullification and Slavery; on Mrs. Trollope's Book on the United
States; on Captain Hamilton's Book on the United States. — Dr.
Mantell on the Duke of Wellington ; on Agassiz's Visit to him ; on
Mr. Lyell's History. — Professor Silliman on the Means of Health ;
on the Bird-Tracks of the Connecticut River Valley ; on the Visit
of Dickens, and that of Lyell, to the United States. — Dr. Mantell
on Mr. Bakewell, his Infirmities, his Death. — Professor Silliman on
Dr. MantelPs Disease.— Dr. Mantell on the MedaUof Creation;
on Sir R. Peel ; on Dr. Lardner. — Professor Silliman on Equiv
ocal Generation and the Nebular Theory; on Lyell's Visit. — Dr.
Mantell on the Potato-rot and the Condition of the English Poor;
on his Geology of the Isle of Wight. — Professor Silliman on Dr.
Mantell's Sufferings; on Mr. Lyell's Reference to Dr. Mantell (in

viii CONTENTS.

PAGB

his Geology, Second Edition) ; on the Mexican War and European
War. — Dr. Mantell on the Dinner of the Geological Society. — Pro
fessor Silliman on California. — Dr. Mantell on Faraday ; on the
Death of Sir Robert Peel; on his Annuity from the Queen. — Dr.
J. C. Warren on the Death of Dr. Mantell 183

PART IV.

FROM THE RESIGNATION OF HIS COLLEGE OFFICE TO HIS DEATH.
1853-1864.

CHAPTER XXV.

HIS LAST LECTURE IN COLLEGE: THE TROUBLES IN KANSAS:
SLAVERY.

Reception of his Travels in Europe : Letter from President Sparks. —
His Birthday, (1854). — Conclusion of his College Lectures. — Mr.
Gajani. —Death of Friends. — Induction of Mr. Dana into Office. —
Professor Silliman's Views on Slavery. — The Meeting in Aid of
the Kansas Settlers. — Encomium upon Professor Silliman hy Sen
ator Foster. — His Letter to the National Intelligencer. — Letter
from Senator Hale. — Letters from Josiah Quincy. — His Birthday
(1856). — Interviews with Washington Irving. — The New Year
(1857). — Letter on the Claims of Christianity. — The New Haven
Correspondence with Mr. Buchanan. — Vindication of Professor Sil
liman by Senator Dixon. — Letter from Senator Trumbull. — Letter
from Senator Sumner. — Letter to Dr. Hitchcock. — Letters, chiefly
on Politics and Slavery, to Mr. John Taylor 233

CHAPTER XXVI.
HIS CLOSING TEARS: THE WAR: HIS RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS-

The Agreeableness of his Home : His Occupations. — Progress of Science
in Yale College. — The Scientific School. — Benefactions of Mr.
Sheffield. — Honors from the Scientific Association. — Tributes of
Respect.— His Patriotic Interest in the War. — Letters to Miss Eliza
Quincy: Reminiscences of Lafayette; Emancipation; Character of
the Rebellion; Conduct of France and England; the Death of Pres
ident Quincy. — Letters to Rev. Dr. Sprague.— Letters to Miss Maggie
Lindsley, of Nashville. — The New Year (1861). — Death of Judge
Williams and President Felton. — Birthday (1862). — New Year

CONTENTS.

IX

(1863). — Birthday (1863). — Commemoration of his Grandfather,
(Mr. Fish,) at Stonington.— Letter from Dr. Hitchcock. — Letter
from Mr. S. F. B. Morse. — Birthday (1864). — Death of Dr.
Knight 271

CHAPTER XXVII.
HIS DEATH: HIS CHARACTER AND SERVICES.

His Last Days. — Circumstances of his Death. — His Funeral. — The
Character of his Mind. — His Work as a Man of Science : Remarks
of President Woolsey: Letter from Professor Jeffries Wyman: Ref
marks of Professor J. P. Cooke : Letter from Professor Joseph Henry.
—His Services to Yale College and Character as a College Officer:
Remarks of President Woolsey: Letter from Professor Thacher:
Letter from Professor Porter : Remarks of Dr. Bacon. — His Kind
ness: Letter from Dr. Charles Beck: Letter from Mr. S. F. B.
Morse. — The Courtesy of his Manners : Remarks of President Wool
sey: Letter from Rev. George Jones. — His Love of Esteem. —
His Domestic Virtues: Communications from Mrs. Church, Mrs.
Hubbard, and Mrs. Dana: Letter from Judge S. J. Andrews. —
His Impression upon others : Remarks of Professor Wyman : Letter
from Professor C. U. Shepard: Letter from Rev. Dr. Sprague 311

LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

CHAPTER XVII.

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES.

Course of Geology in Pittsburg. — Gratification of his Audience. — Course
of Geology in Baltimore. — Dr. Nathan R. Smith. — Success of the
Course. — Social Civilities in Baltimore. — Journey to the South. —
Charleston. — Professor Shepard. — J. B. Legare, Esq. — Colonel Ion.
— Miss Bowman. — Society in Charleston. — His Reception in New
Orleans. — Notices of the Lectures in the Newspapers. — Social Atten
tions. — Bishop Polk and Lady. — Lectures in Mobile. — Lectures in
Natchez. — Visit to Mr. Murdock's Plantation. — Lectures before the

Smithsonian Institution. — Lectures in St. Louis. — Bishop on

Geology. — Remarks on his Work as a Lecturer. — Connections of
Science and Religion. — Correspondence with Professor Kingsley, &c.

PROFESSOR SILLIMAN continues the narrative of
his public labors: —

I had now been nine years before the public as a lecturer
on science, to popular audiences, and had been successful
in making the subjects on which I had spoken intelligible
and attractive, without diminishing the dignity of science or
neglecting Yale College. With the exception of a single
spontaneous address before the Geological Association in
Philadelphia, in the spring of 1841, when I presided, my
efforts had been mostly confined to New England, — chiefly
to Massachusetts and the city of New York. By these and
similar labors of other gentlemen, both of earlier and co
incident periods, a strong impression had been produced
on the public mind, and overtures were made from time

VOL. II 1

2 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

to time for scientific lectures in other places. Among
them the City of Pittsburg offered strong claims, which
were presented by W. W. Wilson, Esq., in a correspondence
on behalf of his fellow-citizens. I felt myself drawn that
way by the interesting historical associations, and the rich
geological and picturesque features of that grand region.
No definite pecuniary offer was made. I was to take my
chance of success ; and, presuming that the lectures would
pay the expenses of the journey, I gave an affirmative

answer to the proposal of Mr. Wilson It was a

source of satisfaction to my good wife and my children, as
well as to myself, that I was not to travel alone. My kind
friend, Mr. Robert Bakewell, the skilful artist, to whom I had
been long indebted for many most useful as well as beauti
ful drawings, illustrative of geology, was willing to accom
pany me to Pittsburg, to which he was drawn by his
brother* and his family, who had made that city their
temporary home. Mr. William L. Kingsley, also, youngest
son of my friend and colleague, Professor James L. Kings-
ley, decided to accompany us over the mountains on his
way to the River Ohio.

Mr. Silliman proceeded to Washington, by the
way of Philadelphia and Baltimore, and thence to
Pittsburg.

I find the following in a rough sketch of part of the
course, under date of Saturday, May 6 : — " My second
week concluded with great mercy. I am well, and have
sustained my anxious but now successful labor. Great
interest is excited ; the regular attendance is about six
hundred ; people go an hour or more beforehand, and,
although the lectures are from an hour and a quarter to an
hour and three quarters long, they listen patiently, and are
very decorous, and as attentive as ever. Three lectures

more, and my work will be done

* The Rev. William L. Bakewell.

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN- CITIES. 3

May\\. — This evening my course was finished, and I
touched the polemical question more to my own satisfaction
than at any time before. I gave full scope to time prece
dent to man, but omitted any discussion of the days

At the conclusion, many persons pressed forward towards
me, and almost overwhelmed me with their affectionate
adieu, with their warm expression of approbation, and their
best wishes for my welfare. Many ladies came to bid me
farewell, and manifested strong emotion as they shook me
warmly by the hand. I was quite unmanned by such ex
pressions of grateful feeling, and wanted words adequately
to respond. I never ended any course of lectures with
such vivid demonstrations of kind and gratified feelings.
The gentlemen attending the course were not wanting in
similar demonstrations; and that evening has ever re
mained a bright spot in my reminiscences of life.

May 27, Saturday. — We arrived at our dear home to
dinner ; and, to our great joy, we found all well, especially
the beloved lady, and rejoicing in our safe return, and
grateful that, by the goodness of God, my tour of fifteen
hundred miles and forty-four days, by land and water, had
terminated prosperously, — without accident, or hindrance,
or molestation. In my numerous journeys already made,
and in other travels and labors that remain to be recorded,
I ever committed my dear wife and family, myself and my
companions in travel, devoutly to the care of a kind, pro
tecting Providence, and never did I fail to experience it in
every vicissitude. Certainly I was not indifferent to the
acquisition of means for the education of my children, and
for their outfit in life, as well as to fulfil all my other pecu
niary obligations ; but I can truly say that it was my delight
to honor God by unfolding, in the most lucid form of which
I was capable, the wonderful illustrations of His power, wis
dom, and goodness, which science reveals ; and no depart
ments of science are more rich in such proofs than those

4 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

which it was my duty to explain. Astronomy stands side
by side with them in these respects ; while, in grandeur
and awful sublimity, as it presents in the starry heavens a
splendid record of the thoughts of God, it takes rank of all
other departments of physical science.

Excepting a single spontaneous address before the Geo
logical Association in Philadelphia, in April, 1841, I had
never spoken, as a lecturer, in any place south of New
York, except when I was in Baltimore. On my tour to
Pittsburg in April, 1843, my good friend, Dr. Nathan R.
Smith, expressed a wish that I might lecture in Baltimore,
and intimated that he might originate an effort to have me
invited to address an audience in that city in the ensuing
year. To this suggestion I did not raise any objection, and
the effort was made by Dr. Smith and his friends, and
especially his son-in-law, Dr. Theobald, in the winter of
1843-44. Accordingly, in December, 1843, 1 received an
earnest invitation from Baltimore to deliver a course of
geological lectures there. The letter was couched in cour
teous language and in gratifying terms, and was signed by
seventeen of the most eminent citizens. Several of these
gentlemen were distinguished as men of science or for pro
fessional eminence, and most of thern by social position.

The course in Baltimore was opened on the 4th
of March, 1844.

My residence was, by previous invitation, at the house of
Dr. Nathan R. Smith, the most celebrated surgeon of this
part of the United States. Dr. Smith and his father and
family had been guests in my house, and they appeared, I
doubt not truly, to be happy in reciprocating the hospi
tality.

As at Pittsburg, I opened the entire subject, — the ob
ject of Geology, the means and the results already at
tained ; also, the relation of the subject to the interests of

LECTURES IX SOUTHERN CITIES. O

human society, both moral and physical. These topics,
with some aid from the charts, enabled me to speak with
freedom and evident effect. If I may judge from the
notices in the Baltimore prints, the first impression was
very favorable. " A large and highly respectable audience
greeted the distinguished Northern Professor at his intro
ductory lecture. His high reputation rendered it no easy
task to meet the expectations of such an auditory ; but they
were more than realized. The discourse was so philosoph
ical, yet so perspicuous and intelligible ; the style so un
affected, so easy, graceful, and impressive, as to rivet the
attention to the very moment of the conclusion. The lec
ture was, moreover, illustrated by a large collection of ex
ceedingly beautiful and instructive paintings, which added
greatly to the interest of every topic. " He dwelt on the
physical history of the earth as it is indelibly written in
the rocks ; on the means of inspecting the interior of the
globe, and of inferring its structure far below the visible
surface ; the changes wrought by physical laws, from one
epoch to another, having fitted the earth first for the least
perfect of beings, then for those of a higher order, and
finally, after ages have passed, it became a fit abode for
man." Another writer says : — " The discourse last night
was of surpassing eloquence and interest, and clearly dem
onstrated that the study of Nature tends to impress us with
suitable ideas of the power and attributes of the Creator.
Who did not feel a thrilling sensation as the lecturer elu
cidated with such simplicity the remote and proximate
causes of earthquakes and volcanoes ? " I have condensed
and softened these citations, omitting the most eulogistic

parts

The success of the course was early decided. In a let
ter home, dated March 10, after lecture fourth, I remark : —
" I am very well, and all anxiety as to the respectable prog
ress of the lectures is over. People who come for once,
stay. A lady came to oblige her husband, but was sure

J6 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

she should neither understand nor care for the subject, but
found that she was under a mistake in both these respects,
and remained, an engaged and excited hearer.

March 10. — I wrote to my son : — " There is now an
intense interest, and they talk of calling me another year.
The audience, as I have before remarked, is of a high order
of intelligence and social position, of the most perfect good
breeding, and during the lectures there is a breathless
attention.

" I spoke last night two hours to the fullest audience I
have yet had, — believed to be six hundred, and I am
treated with the greatest consideration. Mr. Gilmer is
highly delighted, and says to me, that he cannot anyhow
lose a lecture."

Richard Caton, Esq., an Englishman, married a daughter
of the Hon. Charles Carroll, who was the last survivor of
the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. I
had met Mr. Caton in New Haven, and he had been very
courteous to me in Baltimore ; had called on me repeatedly
at Dr. Smith's, although eighty years of age. He always
came on horseback, and generally on Sunday noon. I
dined in his family at the Carroll House, and Mrs. Caton,
being quite blind, was assigned to my care, my seat being
next to her at table ; and I had the honor of leading her in
and out, and enjoyed her sensible and enlightened conversa
tion, her mind being in full vigor. The family are Catholics.
Two of the sisters married English noblemen ; one is the
wife of the Marquis of Wellesley, brother of the Duke of
Wellington, and another of a nobleman whose name I have
forgotten. Mrs. Caton told me that the house or castle of
her sister's husband was constantly thronged with visitors,
who enjoyed the liberty of the house in the highest degree,
coming and going as they please, — the Marquis not being
responsible to entertain them, but only seeing them once
or twice in a day. Mr. Caton was a gentleman of courtly
manners, but visionary in his scientific views.

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 7

During the delivery of this course in Baltimore,
Mr. Silliman was the recipient of the most cordial
attentions and civilities.

In February, 1846, on the invitation of a consider
able number of gentlemen, he again repaired to Bal
timore, and gave a second course on the same sub
ject. But owing to various causes, one of which
was the neglect on the part of these persons to make
the necessary preparations for the lectures, the at
tendance was smaller. Yet the lectures were heard
with delight. During his stay in Baltimore, he made
an excursion to Washington. This, as well as a
dinner-party at Baltimore, — one of many social en
tertainments at which he was a guest, — are men
tioned in the passages which follow : —

In Washington, Sabbath, February 5. I was at the Pres
byterian Church, with Mr. and Mrs. B. ; — a fervent and
powerful sermon by Mr. Sproal. President Polk and lady
were near us, with many members of the government.
The President and lady were sedate and dignified. I con
versed with him at New Haven several years ago. He
was, in his manners, a gentleman, and she a polished lady.
Sometime after, with some lady friends, I had an introduc
tion to her at the White House on reception day.

March 6. — Dinner at Mr. Samuel Smith's, near the Battle
Monument, — a dinner of style and splendor. Among the
guests were Mr. Frank Granger and Monsieur Bonaparte,
son of Jerome Bonaparte, and his wife, Miss Patterson, of
Baltimore. He was born in London, in the summer of
1805, when I was residing there. He is an unassuming
gentleman, and in person and features is pronounced to be
the very image of his uncle, Napoleon I. He leads a quiet
life, — amusing himself with riding and other active occu
pations.

8 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

The reputation of Mr. Silliman as an attractive
teacher of science had now, through his pupils and
in consequence of his popular courses, spread to the
remotest parts of the country. The passages which
follow are a part of his record of an extensive tour
in the South, and of his successful labors in several
of its principal cities.

A correspondence had been sustained between several
personal friends and myself, founded on interviews here in
New Haven, regarding courses of lectures to be delivered
by me in the cities of Mobile and New Orleans. Much in
terest was manifested to have me undertake this tour, and
preliminary investigations were made by my friends as to
the patronage that might be expected, which, in their judg
ment, appeared to be sufficient to justify the undertaking.
In Mobile, Mr. Milton Pope acted as my friend, and in
New Orleans, Messrs. Lucius C. and Grier Duncan, broth
ers, and Alfred Hennen, Esq., were my most active sup
porters. In both cities there were Northern men, and sev
eral from Connecticut, who took an interest in the matter ;
and as I had never travelled in the far South and South
west, I decided, after mature consideration, to make the
effort, — my son going with me, both as a companion and
assistant.

He took Charleston on his way, where he was hos
pitably received.

Sabbath, February 2. : — A happy meeting with our New
Haven friends, Professor C. U. Shepard and lady, cheered
us on our arrival, and we resorted at once to their tempo
rary home, at Miss Smith's, in Broad Street. We rested in
the forenoon in our warm and comfortable chamber, and in
the afternoon we resorted to a small free Episcopal Church,
because its air was tempered by a stove. We were told that

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 9

the other churches were without fire, and I had a cold upon
me. The service was solemn ; and one gallery was filled
by servants of all shades of color, from jet black to almost
Anglo-Saxon white. They seemed very devout.

Among the friends whom I was happy to meet in this
city was John Berwick Legare, Esq., a graduate of Yale
College in 1815, a ward of mine. By kind treatment, I
attached him to me, and I rendered him some personal ser
vices for which he was grateful. In 1839, he visited New
Haven, with his wife and her sister, and they, with other
Carolinians, were received in hospitality at our house. I was
pleased there to meet them, the ladies being lovely women,
and the sister, Miss Elizabeth Jones, was eminently lovely
and beautiful. It was Mr. Legare who conducted us to
church ; and in the vestibule of his ancient family church,
that of Dr. Post, the congregation being not yet assembled,
I there met Miss Jones, who received me as an affectionate
daughter would do. "We had interchanged letters, and
occasionally little souvenirs of kind remembrance passed
between her and my good wife, as well as myself. Six
years had passed since we parted at New Haven, and it
was agreeable to me to find that I was still most kindly
remembered. Two of Mr. Legare's brothers had been
under my care, and his cousin, John Bassnett Legare, also.
I was in correspondence with the heads of these families
many years, and for all these reasons, and more, I was wel
comed warmly.

February 3. — Mr. Legare took us in his carriage, and
we rode until two p. M., — five hours. We made the circuit
of the city and its environs ; we threaded it through and
through in various directions. It is a fine old city, contain
ing many grand families, especially of the last age, — the
Pinckneys, the Rutledges, the Grimkes, and others : every
thing, however, wears a sombre aspect, partly the effect of
climate ; but the people remark that the prosperity of the
place appears to be on a decline, — still it has a pleasing
appearance.

10 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

A dinner at the Charleston Hotel, by invitation of Rev.
George Shepard, gave us pleasant interviews with him and
his lady, and a pleasing circle of friends, — Judge Gilchrist
and lady, Bishop Gadsden, Rev. Mr. Hinckel and lady, and
my friend, Miss Elizabeth Jones, and a sister who had high
conversational powers. This hotel was the home of Judge
Hoar and his daughter, when a few weeks before they were
so inhospitably expelled from Charleston.

Our friends, the Shepards, invited a large circle of their
friends, — one hundred, as was said, to meet us at their
lodgings. Those whom we had lately met at dinner were
there, and many other persons of distinction. All were
very agreeable, and gave us a warm reception ; and we were
most favorably impressed by their kind and agreeable
manners

Colonel Ion, a most respectable gentleman, was a graduate
in the class of 1803 in Yale College, which I instructed as
a tutor, having, according to the practice of that day, the
entire charge of them in all their studies. His conduct was
very manly, his attainments highly respectable, and his
deportment towards myself perfectly respectful and gentle
manly ; so that a friendly feeling was mutually cherished.
Hearing that I was expected, he had arranged to meet me
with his carriage on my arrival in the boat ; but our coming
on Sabbath morning prevented the execution of his purpose
to take us to his house as his guests. At his house, on the
occasion of a dinner to which we were invited, we met a
most friendly reception. Colonel Ion being a bachelor, his
sister Mrs. Wrag and her daughter or daughters did the
honors of his house. They, with Colonel Ion, had been
hospitably entertained at our house in New Haven, so that
this meeting seemed as a reward of our previous friendly
relations. Colonel Ion had a command in the army during
the late war with England, and was long Speaker of the
House of Representatives of South Carolina, and was still
distinguished for his early traits of candor, impartiality, and

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 11

kindness. Sitting at table between Miss Wrag and her
mother, the young lady asked me to give her my candid
opinion of Slavery, which I did in kind but ingenuous terms,
saying at the same time that I should never have alluded
to it but for her request. She made no reply, but her

countenance fell /

In the family of Mr. John Bowman, the late father of
Miss Lynch Bowman, my brother Gold S. Siiliman, soon
after our leaving Yale College in 1796 — i. e. in 1797 and
'98 — was engaged as a family instructor, and remained
with them nearly two years. His pupils were three daugh
ters and a son, who with the parents and a maiden aunt,
constituted the family. They all treated him most kindly,
and, in a dangerous sickness of yellow fever, affectionately.
The family passed a part of the summer of 1802 in New
Haven, when I was tutor in Yale College, and my brother,
then in Providence, R. I., consigned them to my care,
which was rather embarrassing, as I had no family to show
them civilities ; but I was very attentive to them, and the
more so as Mr. Bowman was not with them until late in
the season. The older ladies were most respectable ma
trons — the son and older sister eccentric and peculiar, —
(she was afterwards Mrs. Bishop Gadsden). The youngest
sister, of fifteen or sixteen, was pretty and amiable ; but Miss
Lynch Bowman, of the age of eighteen, was the flower of
the family. She was a most beautiful and lovely woman,
with a winning grace in her manners which conciliated
every one, and quite charmed me, then twenty-two years
old. Her kindness (they were, as I have said, placed
under my care,) repaid me for my devotion to the family,
and I parted from them with regret, as I never expected to
see any of them again. On making inquiry, however, in
Charleston when I arrived there, I was pleased to learn
that the lady was living and well, and was very highly
esteemed. I sought her residence, and sent in my card
and waited at the door ; the response came quickly. I was

12 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMA.N.

admitted, remembered and welcomed. Recognized I could
not expect to be after a separation of forty-three years, — I
having attained to sixty-six years, and she, as I judged,
having just turned threescore. I found her still a hand
some woman of noble mien. Age did not tell upon her
features ; but there was a pensiveness of manner which
told of sorrows past. All the members of her family were
dead, except the eccentric brother, who had married below
his rank, and was living in Louisiana, odd as ever, and the
gentle young Mary, now an old and infirm lady. Miss
Lynch Bowman retained one trait unchanged by time.
She had preserved her musical, mellifluous voice to which
forty-three years ago I was delighted to listen. When I
remarked that doubtless she would not have recognized me,
she replied that had she been told that I was in a particular
circle of gentlemen, she thought she could have picked me

out She inquired after my brother, Gold S. Silli-

man, her early teacher, and said she would have seen him
last summer when she was in New York, on the way to
Boston, had she known his residence. She left the room
for a few moments, doubtless to order tea, but I was obliged
to decline. She expressed a wish to see my son, and it was
my intention to renew my call, and to see her again on my
return from New Orleans in the Spring ; but this design
was frustrated by our ascending the Mississippi. I greatly
regretted the change, as my renewed acquaintance with
Miss Bowman was confined to a brief interview.

He attended a party, composed of leading gentle
men of the city, at the house of Dr. Samuel H. Dick-
son, a graduate of Yale College, in the class of 1814.
From Mr. Legare's family, whose home " was a
model of taste, order, and beauty," he received grati
fying manifestations of regard ; and he carried away
pleasant impressions of Charleston society.

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 13

Our visit in this celebrated city had been most agreeable.
Our friends, the Shepards, had treated us with all possible
kindness, and we had met similar treatment from all with
whom we were conversant. Of their peculiar institution I
thought not more favorably from seeing it more intimately,
and it was no very pleasant comment upon it that a strong
guard-house was maintained next to the house where we
lodged. Here a corps of armed men are always found with
weapons in their hands. At night a sentinel in St. Michael's
tower, near by, is ready to give the alarm, and caparisoned
horses are waiting for riders to vault into the saddle the
moment the bell strikes ; and thus the messenger flies to
the suspected place, and returns with the tidings. All this
passes under the name of the city police, but it has servile
insurrection for its immediate object.

Remarks. — April 29, 1861. — I have sketched the state
of society in Charleston as we saw it sixteen years ago, be
fore it was demoralized by agitations on slavery and the
subjects with which it is connected. It is pleasant to me
to look at the picture as it then appeared, and it is but
justice to view the favorable side, although it is now pain
fully reversed.

From Charleston he proceeded to a city which has
since become more famous.

Montgomery stands on a bluff of land at the head of
steam navigation on the Alabama River. The morning
showed all the trees white as snow, — being frosted by the
night air. In 1845 it contained three thousand inhabitants,
and the aspect of the place was agreeable, except the slave-
market, so revolting to behold. In a walk, otherwise pleas
ant, on Monday morning, we saw a collection of slaves of
both sexes and different ages, but chiefly young, in their
best dress, standing to tempt purchasers. The same spec
tacle was exhibited in Charleston, and we saw it again in

14 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

New Orleans and Mobile, and, on another occasion, in
Richmond. It appears to be no more thought of in the
South than a market for horses, mules, or cattle. I thank
God that my children have not been brought up under such
influences.

Of his arrival and stay in New Orleans he thus
speaks : « —

When we arrived in the city, the first person whom we
met who was known to us was Sidney Johnson, of New
Haven, who had been a tutor in Yale College, and was very
friendly ; but the Duncans were our chief reliance. When
we entered the office of Lucius C. Duncan, Esq., he advanced
promptly, and, taking one of my hands between both of his,
with a warm pressure, he said : " Welcome, thrice welcome
to New Orleans ; " and both he and his brother, throughout
our stay, proved themselves friends indeed. At the hotel
several gentlemen called ; and, in the evening, we met the
Rev. Mr. Wheaton, formerly of Hartford, and that excel
lent gentleman, General Cocke, of Virginia, whom I had
met twice at New Haven, — once in my own house, and
elsewhere on occasions of religious anniversaries. Mr.
Grier B. Duncan took us to see several public rooms ; but
all discussion was ended by the agreeable information that
Mr. Lucius C. Duncan had obtained permission for us to
occupy the First Presbyterian Church of the Rev. Dr.
Scott. A very courteous letter from the trustees, through
their secretary, announced their kind and liberal intentions,
which were gratefully acknowledged by me.

The newspapers were enthusiastic in their praise
of the lectures.

Notice of the Introductory Lecture from the "Picayune
of February 19. — Professor Silliman's introductory lecture
was attended by one of the largest and most intelligent

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 15

audiences ever convened in this city, and they were thor
oughly enchained by words of wisdom and truth. The
Professor's manner is dignified and commanding in an emi
nent degree. His style is simple and impressive, and,
without any affectation of oratory, he is truly eloquent. He
insisted upon the development of the means of knowledge
of the superficial and internal structure of the globe, and
upon some of the more important uses of geological science,
— upon the influences of physical conformation, in connec
tion with moral and social causes, in producing national
character and the distinctive qualities and pursuits of a
people. He glanced at the coincidence of geology with
Holy Writ and with the various phenomena of creation in
the earth ; and he promised more fully to illustrate the har
mony of science with the statements of the inspired writers.
We predict that these lectures will prove in a high degree
instructive and interesting, and one of the most gratifying

sources of popular entertainment

March 12, Wednesday. — The last lecture was given this
evening to a good audience, considering the weather, which
was rainy alt day, as yesterday, and the clouds did not hold
up until towards evening. I spoke one hour and three
quarters to a most attentive audience, allowing a short
pause at the end of an hour. At the close, my constant
friend, Lucius C. Duncan, Esq., rose and moved a series of
approbatory resolutions, prefaced and sustained by an ex
tempore address, and I made a brief extempore reply.
The resolutions were of course adopted. The concluding
lecture had been carefully considered ; and, being in good
physical power, I made, I believe, a happy finishing impres
sion.

From his notices of New Orleans society, a single
paragraph is extracted : —

On our return from the visit to the battle-ground with
Mr. Hennen, we dined with our friend Mr. Lucius C. Dun-

16 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

can, whose hospitality to us is large and free, and at his
table we met Bishop Polk and lady, — she, a Devereux.
She is of the North Carolina Devereuxs, and he a relative
of President Polk. The party, including several gentle
men, was agreeable ; the bishop and lady were affable and
kind, and Mrs. Polk mentioned to me an amusing poetical
epitaph which Archbishop Whately has written upon his
geological friend Professor Buckland, then of the Univer
sity of Oxford, and afterwards Dean of Westminster. Hav
ing been a diligent student of Professor Buckland's " Re-
Iiquia3 Diluvianae," and of other writings of his, and having
had some personal communications with him, I expressed
a desire to see this effusion of Bishop Whately, a gentle
man justly renowned for his truly Catholic religious char
acter and publications ; but I had never before heard of
this extra-Episcopal effusion. Mrs. Polk was so kind as to
say that she would send me a copy, — a promise which she
remembered. It lies before me now. I never saw Dr.
Buckland, although I have interchanged works, and occa
sionally letters, with him. He is represented to have been
one of the most joyous of men, with inexhaustible kindness
and wit, and social in a high degree. His faculties were in
various ways subjected to too severe a pressure, especially
after he became Dean of Westminster,, and his mind broke
down in 1850, six years before his death, when he was sixty-
six years of age. He died in 1856.

" Bishop Polk and lady, whose home is at Thibodeaux-
ville, one hundred and six miles down the river, are passing
the winter in New Orleans, and I meet them at the houses
of our friends. They do me the honor to attend my lec
tures ; and Mrs. Polk, at the dinner at Mr. Duncan's, said
to me that she did not see how the geological conclusion
that the death of animals had preceded man, could be rec
onciled with the Scriptures, which said that " sin brought
death into the world and all our woe." I replied that she
was quoting Milton, and not the Bible; and that even

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 17

the poetical quotation referred to our race and not to
animals, myriads of which were created, died, and were
buried in the forming strata where we now find their re
mains, before man was called into being. Bishop Polk
sustained my views, and his lady appeared to acquiesce."

In connection with his lectures in New Orleans, a
circumstance occurred which gave him peculiar pleas
ure. Among his auditors was a young lady, who,
in consequence of bereavement in her family, was
suffering under depression of spirits, without the
consolations of religion. His animated descriptions
of Nature, with the religious reflections by which
they were attended, gave a new tone to her feelings,
and, at the same time, awakened a practical interest
in religion. Becoming aware of this fact, and having
an acquaintance with herself and her family, he en
deavored to lead her in the right path. From the
correspondence which ensued with this accomplished
young person, brief extracts are here given. The
first is from a letter of Mr. Silliman, written shortly
after his departure from New Orleans.

On the Mississippi River, April 1, 1845. — "I am sure,

dear Miss H , you will pardon me while I wish gently

to encourage those happy movements which I trust are
divinely prompted, and that our heavenly Father is gently
drawing you to Himself by the cords of love, and this may
be a happy crius, not to be safely neglected. The fears en
tertained by you are natural to a delicate and susceptible
mind and a sensitive conscience ; but they are allayed if
we look at the invitation, — so earnest, so comprehensive,
and kind : ' Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.' i Yea, come and buy wine
and milk without money and without price.' In compli-

VOL. II. 2

18 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN/

ance with this invitation, come as you are, fresh from the
tenderness of recent affliction, and fresh from the move
ment of God's spirit in your heart. Do not wait to be
perfect, nor even to be assured beyond a doubt ; come, and
your doubts will vanish. When you have united yourself
to the followers of the Redeemer, you will find comfort in
your decision, and grace to sustain you in a Christian
course. The sweet influence of Christian affections will
give an additional charm to a fine mind, and increased at
tractions to natural loveliness. Our merciful Redeemer is
mild and gentle. He was indeed severe upon hypocrisy
and self - righteousness, but gentle towards the humble
and timid ; a bruised reed He never breaks, nor will He
quench the smoking flax. Take Him, therefore, at His
word, and He will receive you, while no source of real hap
piness will be closed or abridged for the present life, and
the bright reversion beyond the dark valley will be held in
reserve for you. These mortal bodies will be superseded
by new and glorious forms, — spiritual, incorruptible, and
worthy to inhabit the celestial world. If I have any right
to entertain the hopes which I recommend to you, I may
be permitted to add, that they have produced no gloom or
depression of energy in the duties of life, or cast discour
aging shadows over a temper and temperament naturally
cheerful and hopeful. In every vicissitude, I am encour
aged and sustained by the revelations of the Bible ; and
my entire family, I trust, with good hopes are grouped
within the Christian fold. Accept, I pray you, these few
suggestions, prompted by an earnest desire to promote
your happiness ; and I trust I shall have the pleasure of
hearing in due time, that, under the guidance of your ex
cellent minister, you will have found your doubts removed,
and yourself happy in the decision to walk with those who
have chosen the good part that shall not be taken away
from them. You will not hear from me again until I have
seen the green hills of New England, now two thousand

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN- CITIES. 19

five hundred miles from me. Till then, and at all times,
believe me your very affectionate and faithful friend."

From the Reply of Miss H- . " Since I received your

letter, expressing such affectionate solicitude for my welfare,
I have had a long conversation with Dr. Hawks, and his
kind convincing arguments, with yours, persuaded me of my
duty ; but still I hesitate to receive such a gift unworthily.
I know you will blame my delay, my dear sir, but not more
than I do myself. I cannot tell why it is that I so long to
join myself to those who belong to our Saviour's supper,
and yet shrink from it ; but I look forward with an earnest
hope that I may be fully prepared for the next communion.
Dr. Hawks seems to be all we could look for or wish in a
pastor, but still I cannot talk to him with the freedom I can
write to you. You claim my first gratitude for exciting
feelings which have added much to my happiness, and I
trust that in time they will perfect it here and hereafter."

In a subsequent letter, under date of June 4, 1845,

she writes : —

" Your visit here was gratifying to many, but I think to
few more than to myself. I shall never forget the hope
that your lectures opened to me of higher sources of enjoy
ment than any I had ever known, I saw you so cheerful
and gay, and withal so devout whenever a serious thought
could be introduced with reverence, that I began to feel
how much of my life had been wasted on trifles to the
neglect of higher privileges. You will be glad, my dear
sir, and sympathize with me in the increased happiness I
now feel, when I tell you that last Sabbath I joined the
communicants. My mother, (mother-in-law,) and I went to
the table together. Dr. Hawks interested himself very
much in us, and his persuasive arguments dispelled all my
doubts."

20 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

At the request of ladies who had attended his
lectures, he sat for a full-length portrait, which was
painted with skill by an English artist, Mr. Wilson.

On concluding his course, Mr. Silliman repaired
to Mobile, where he also gave a series of lectures on
geology, which were received with the favor that
attended him throughout his Southern tour.

Returning to New Orleans, he ascended the Mis
sissippi, stopping at Natchez, where he gave a brief
geological course, and also at Rodney, about twenty
miles above Natchez, the residence of Mr. John
Murdock, a graduate of Yale College. He had the
opportunity, in the company of this gentleman, to
inspect one of his plantations.

April 8, Tuesday. — We went with Mr. Murdock to see
one of his plantations, and to observe the culture of cotton
and the management of the slaves, of whom there are here
more than two hundred, but only one hundred of them are
available for plantation work. We saw a woman holding a
plough drawn by a pair of mules ; she was covered by a
long robe, but had a disconsolate look which is often visible
in those who are of sufficient age to realize their condition.
I observed the same fact among the domestic slaves * in my
father's house. The adults were sometimes sorrowful or
sullen, while the children were bright and playful. From my
observations on slavery, which I have now seen in all the
old Slave States, — that is, in all those in which it existed on
a considerable scale, — I do not think more favorably of it
than before. Many proprietors, however, treat their slaves
with as much lenity as is consistent with coerced bondage,
and Mr. Murdock appears to be a kind master. I am told
that he himself solemnizes the marriages of his people,

* Slavery then, soon after the Revolution, existed in many families of New
England, New York, and other States, from which it was early banished.

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 21

acting as priest as well as master. — "We observed tha| they
were using guano in the culture of cotton, and we under
stood, with advantage.

It is unnecessary to present further details of the
work done by Mr. Silliman as a lecturer, in many
other cities and towns. In 1852 he was called upon
to deliver a geological course in the Smithsonian
Institution, and complied with the request. In 1855,
when he had reached the age of seventy-five, he re
luctantly acceded to an earnest and reiterated request
that he would lecture in St. Louis. He made the
long journey and performed this duty, receiving
marked attentions during his stay in that place. An
incident occurred which served to prove that some
theological enemies of geology still remained. Hav
ing mentioned that the hall originally provided was
inconveniently large, he adds : —

There was another coincidence that was far from being
agreeable, and the only discourtesy I ever met with as a
geologist. An association of young men, — I believe the
Christian Association, — occupied another lecture-room in

the same building, and there Bishop of

addressed them in anticipation of my course, and his first
subject was " On the Assumptions of Geology." The Bishop
said in his lecture that half the geologists were infidels, and
the other half he pitied. A gentleman who heard him said
that the lecture was crude, ignorant, and of course denun
ciatory. As my course had been for some time announced,
he must have been aware of the fact, and I thought it was
rude and uncandid to endeavor to give the public mind an
unfavorable bias ; and this conclusion seemed unavoidable,
as his introductory lecture, containing his protest against
geology, was given on the evening before my first lecture.

22 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

I afterwards met him at the house of Dr. Pope. We were
introduced, but he, although a polite gentleman, addressed
no remark to me, nor did I to him.

Mr. Silliman felt that the time had come for him
to cease from these exciting efforts in public, which
required a greater strength of voice than he could
longer command. He adds to the record some in
teresting reflections.

March 1, 1862. — I may be allowed to record my own
views of the spirit in which these labors were undertaken,
and have been successfully performed. Of course the first
requisite in a public speaker is that he himself understands
the subject which he proposes to explain ; the second, that
a transparent perspicuity shall enable every intelligent and
attentive hearer to comprehend his teachings ; and a third,
that a vivid animation should excite the speaker, and thus
warm the hearer.

These traits will appear, if the speaker, being a person
of competent mental power, has been happy in the choice
of his subject, has studied it faithfully, and arranged it skil
fully ; and moreover, if he speaks under a strong conviction
of the truth and importance of that which he propounds, —
then perspicuity, truthfulness, and vivacity, will arrest and
secure his audience.

These are the views by which I have been governed.
It is not for me to say that I have reached the standard
which I have proposed ; but the successful results of the
labors of twenty-three years, in communities widely different
in mental culture and geographical position, justify me in
saying that I have zealously put forth my best efforts.

I have been deeply impressed with the high responsibility
of my position in the labors which I have performed. A
responsibility, first, to the infinite Creator for the sincere
and truthful investigation and exhibition of the laws of that

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 23

portion of His works which I took it upon me to explain ;
and, secondly, responsibility to those who did me the honor
to call me from my distant home.

My subject being physical science, and almost invariably
demanding proof by experiment, and illustration by speci
mens, I have, therefore, with able assistance, always pre
pared my lectures with all possible care, and arranged every
experiment and illustration so as to insure success. Then
I could stand before the largest audiences without anxiety
or embarrassment ; could, without manuscript, clearly state
and explain my subject, and when the proof became neces
sary, I could perform the experiments successfully and even
beautifully, and exhibit the specimens which some other
truth demanded, to insure conviction.

Now, at eighty-two and a half years of age, still by God's
forbearance and blessing, possessing my mental powers
unimpaired, and looking over the barrier beyond which I
must soon pass, I can truly declare, that in the study and
exhibition of science to my pupils and fellow-men, I have
never forgotten to give all the honor and glory to the infin
ite Creator, — happy if I might be the honored interpreter
of a portion of His works, and of the beautiful structure
and beneficent laws discovered therein by the labors of
many illustrious predecessors. For this I claim no merit.
It is the result to which right reason and sound philosophy,
as well as religion, would naturally lead.

While I have never concealed my convictions on these
subjects, nor hesitated to declare them on all proper occa
sions, I have also declared my belief that while natural
religion stands as the basis of Revelation, consisting as it
does of the facts and laws which form the domain of science,
science has never revealed a system of mercy commensu
rate with the moral wants of man. In Nature, in God's
creation, we discover only laws, — laws of undeviating
strictness, and sure penalties annexed for their violation.
There is associated with natural laws no system of mercy ;

24 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

that dispensation is not revealed in Nature, and is contained
in the Scriptures alone.

With the double view just presented, I feel that science
and religion may walk hand in hand. They form two dis
tinct volumes of revelation, and both being records of the
will of the Creator, both may be received as constituting a
unity declaring the mind of God ; and therefore the study
of both becomes a duty, and is perfectly consistent with our
highest moral obligations.

I feel that, as this subject respects my fellow-men, I have
done no more than my duty ; and I reflect upon my course
with subdued satisfaction, being persuaded that nothing I
have said or omitted to say in my public lectures, either
before the College classes or before popular audiences, can
have favored the erroneous impression, that science is hos
tile to religion.

My own conviction is so decidedly in the opposite direc
tion, that I could wish that students of theology should be
also students of natural science, — certainly of astronomy,
geology, natural philosophy, and chemistry, and the out
lines of natural history.

In concluding my summary of these labors, I will add,
that I have derived no small satisfaction from the intense
interest excited, especially in popular audiences, by the
exhibition of the truths of science, — and especially when
they were illustrated by experiments and by specimens.
Among the many thousands to whom I have spoken, and
in many different places, I have, with hardly an exception,
seen the most riveted attention, the most perfect silence, —
except for occasional applause, which I never desired, —
and the most exact decorum. When some surprising illus
tration has been given, perhaps contravening our usual ex
perience ; when some grand principle has been announced
of wide application, and when some happy appliance to
human wants, or to the furtherance of art, has been an
nounced, and the fruitfulness of science in its power to

LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 25

improve the condition of man has been proved, a beam
of delight has often illuminated an amphitheatre of human
faces, and earnest inquiries have followed the close of the
lecture, — inquiries to which I was always ready to listen
and to answer as far as lay in my power.

The annexed passage is from a letter

TO PROFESSOR KINGSLEY.

NEW ORLEANS, March 1, 1845.

TEXAS excites very little interest here or any
where else where we have been. Except to the party paper,
there is not the slightest appearance of enthusiam about
the matter, and the only instance in which it has been men
tioned to me with approbation, was by a very able and ex
cellent clergyman, whose church we occupy, — Dr. Scott,
who is the Dr. Bacon of New Orleans. He is personally
much attached to General Jackson ; has been in his fam
ily, and received much kindness from him. This gentleman
said, that the only reason that made him care about Texas
was, that it would drain slavery from the Southern States ;
and he said it was impoverishing that State, and that they
must get rid of it ; that Texas was a proper country for
them ; and that the Mexicans, with whom they would be
eventually blended, felt no objection to color in any tint
or variety, and all shades are here, from bright dawn to
deep midnight

Professor Kingsley was in Europe in 1845. His
impressions were communicated to Professor Silli-
man in his usual concise and finished style.

FROM PROFESSOR KINGSLEY.

LONDON, August 26, 1845.

MY DEAR SIR, — Your letter, written in June, I received
in Paris just as I was leaving that city for Belgium. I feel

26 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

much obliged to you for this communication. You have
been often from home, and need not be told what gratifica
tion the reception of letters, especially in a foreign coun
try, from an old friend affords. It has given me great
pleasure from time to time to learn, by letters from New
Haven, not only of the health of my own family, but of
that of most, or all, of my friends and acquaintances. The
affairs of the College, I understand, have been generally
prosperous ; and I am now waiting with some impatience
to hear of the Commencement which has just passed.

You have known from my letters to members of my fam
ily how I have employed myself, where I have been, and
whom, to some extent, I have seen, since I have left Amer
ica. The scene has been pretty constantly shifting ; one
new object of interest has been following another in rapid
succession, and my health and strength have not yet failed.
I feel, however, that at my time of life, the substantial
advantages of such a tour as I have fciken, are not to be
expected. If I could have visited Europe forty years ago,
and spent a year or two in different countries, I have no
doubt that it would have been of important use to me. As
the case is, the whole terminates too much in the sight of
the eyes. But I have not found that my previous notions
of the state of things in the countries I have visited, were
very erroneous. Much of the character, as well as the
literature of foreign countries, may be learned at home.
There is a freshness, however, in actual inspection, which
the perusal of books cannot reach. I am, as you know,
no geologist; but I was struck, on landing at Dieppe in
France, and in travelling to Rouen, with the great similarity
of the general structure of the country to that of the oppo
site coast of England ; the whole seemed like one coun
try, except in the inhabitants and the appearance of their
towns and villages. The country about Paris is picturesque
and pleasant; but the numerous associations connected
with every spot, would give it interest even if the natural
scenery were ever so tame.

CORRESPONDENCE. 27

The peculiar mode of building in France and Germany,
that is, of having all their houses in towns and villages, gives
the country to a traveller, especially to one accustomed to
the residences of New England, the appearance of solitude
and desertion. One is often disposed to look round and
inquire, where are the people ? This mode of living was
adopted, I suppose, when a residence remote from others
was insecure, and it is hard to change old customs. Labor
ers must often go miles to cultivate their grounds. I have
seen nowhere much country, which you would, I suppose,
call primitive ; that is, such a country as is most of New
England. I have seen few considerable hills, except on
the Rhine, between Mayence and Bonn, and in a part of
Belgium. The streams on the Continent, as in England,
are universally muddy. 1 have not seen any running
water, clear and transparent, like the brooks and rivers of
New England, since I left home. I have nowhere found
water that I could drink with a relish ; or, indeed, drink at
all. Hence in France, and in some other countries, I have
found it necessary, occasionally, for my " stomach's sake,"
to drink some of the light wines which are abundant and
pleasant. Bavarian beer in Germany is a good substitute
for their bad water. I have not had or sought opportuni
ties to see many scientific and literary men where I have
been. I saw Arago twice in Paris, and might, I suppose,
have been introduced to him ; but I saw no use in it. In
Berlin, I attended one of the meetings of the Academy,
where I saw most of the savans of the city. Professor
Rose read a dissertation on the effect of fire on porcelains,
which was listened to with attention ; but my knowledge of
German was too limited for me to understand well the drift
of the piece. I was told, that his object was to explain, how
it happens that porcelain, in the burning, contracts in bulk,
and still has less specific gravity. Perhaps I err in the
statement. There are two professors of the name of Rose,
who are, I understand, brothers. The one who read the

28 *LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

dissertation was, I believe, the chemist. I attended two
meetings of the Geological Society in London, some ac
count of which I gave in a letter to my family, with a direc
tion to have it read to you ; so that it is unnecessary to
repeat what you have already heard. I was struck with the
business character of these meetings. The members ap
peared to be all interested in what was read or spoken.
They canvassed each other's opinions with freedom, but
with entire civility. I was much pleased with your old
friend and correspondent, Dr. Mantell. He is very gentle
manly in his appearance and manners, — has no stiffness
or formality, and is easy of access. He has a beautiful
residence in Chester Square, Pimlico. Among the articles
which I saw in his house,- — and I suppose I entered almost
every room, — I was not a little amused to see his Diploma
of Doctor of Laws, in a handsome frame, suspended in his
parlor. This important instrument, you may recollect, I
made out and wrote myself, and I was at first a little start
led to see my fair hand advanced to such honor. I can
give you some more particulars of the Doctor when we
meet. Mr. Lyell, as you probably know, is to lecture again
this winter in Boston. He and Mrs. Lyell go to America
in the steamer from Liverpool, the 4th of next month. I
called on Mr. Lyell yesterday ; but he was out. I saw his
wife, however, who appeared pleased with the prospect of
another visit to the United States. She said that after the
lectures, she and her husband would probably visit New
Haven. They are intending to go South as far as New
Orleans. She had got the impression that your journey, or
some part of it, to that city, was unpleasant ; but I told her
that I had heard nothing of the kind. I notice your men
tion of having your children and grandchildren about you
this summer. This must have been to you and Mrs. S., a
source of much enjoyment. We have it on high authority,
that children are " as arrows in the hand of a mighty man,"
and that " happy is the man that hath his quiver full of

CORRESPONDENCE. 29

them." You and I, as you are without doubt fully aware,
are on the shady side or down-hill of life, and to see our
children virtuous and happy, is one of the chief enjoyments
which one can anticipate, in the little time that remains to
us. My best respects to Mrs. Silliman and to the other
members of your family. I hope to be home sometime in
the approaching autumn, but cannot fix the time of my
return with certainty. % It takes time to pick up books, if
the work is to be done advantageously. I should like, on
some accounts, to travel more on the continent of Europe,
and to visit more particularly Switzerland and Italy ; but
for reasons mentioned above, I shall not enter on such a
tour. I shall hasten my return as early as it can be done,
with a proper regard to the business I have undertaken.

Yours truly,
PROF. B. SILLIMAN. J. L. KINGSLEY.

About the same time another associate and friend
was travelling abroad ; and from a letter of his the
following extract is taken : —

FROM PROFESSOR T. D. WOOLSEY.

ATHENS, March 12, 1845.

The Piraeus seemed much larger than I had

expected to find it. Though the entrance is narrow, it is a

very commodious harbor, and a very deep one. Several .

ships of war were at anchor within its mouth ; although the

more favorite place for large ships is outside of the harbor,

I in the roadstead between Salamis and the main land, just

1 where the sea-fight between Xerxes and the Greeks was

fought. And in fact at this time two large ships are lying

; in this very roadstead. It is about five miles from the port

to Athens, by a road which ascends a little all the way.

The height of the plain above the sea is considerable, if, as

is stated in works of authority, the height of the Acropolis

is more than five hundred and thirty-four feet above the

30 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

sea ; for the Acropolis cannot be more than two hundred
feet above the plain. The modern city now contains about
twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and is in general miserably
built, resembling much one of our Western towns, which
have arisen in a hurry amid the stumps of newly-felled
wood. There are, however, some good houses, and the
palace is quite a respectable building. You are acquainted
with our Missionaries, Mr. Hill and Mr. King. They have
both treated us with every kindness, and in the ladies of
the former family my wife finds polished and excellent
friends, whose society she can enjoy. The scenery here
has far surpassed my expectations in its beauty, I may say
its loveliness. The plain is far greater in extent up the
valley of the Cephissus than I had imagined, and forms a
most agreeable contrast to the sterile mountains, Hymettus,
Pentelicus, Parnes, ^Egaleus, which enclose the landscape
on three sides. The fourth side, as seen from the Acropolis,
is that where the beautiful indentations forming the ports
of Phalerum, Munychia, and Piraeus, and the vicinity ap
pear in sight, while beyond lie Salamis, ^Egina, Porus, and
the Epidaurian coast, and the island of Hydra. At a dis
tance we saw the Acropolis of Corinth, and above Mount
-^Egaleus appear the tops of Cithaeron and Mount Geranea.
I have gazed upon few landscapes with more pleasure than I
did upon this yesterday from the threshold of the Parthenon,
— or, to speak more accurately, from a spot just behind the
rear of this building

The induction of Edward Everett into the office
of President of Harvard College, is thus described in
a letter of Professor Silliman.

TO PROFESSOR KINGSLEY.

BOSTON, April 30, 1846, 9 P. M.

MY DEAR SIR, — I have had a busy day at Cambridge,
and now devote the remainder of it to you, agreeably to

CORRESPONDENCE. 31

your request and my promise. I forwarded from New
Haven President Day's letter, announcing my coming, and
on my return from Salem on Tuesday evening I found a
special invitation to myself to attend the ceremony and the
dinner. This morning at nine, I went over in an omnibus,
and was seasonably in Gore Hall, — a very magnificent
room, and soon filled with Alumni and others. I saw many
whom I knew, and had agreeable renewals of old acquaint
ance. Professor Lovering took me in charge in the pro
cession, and I got a berth for Tutor Noyes with Professor

Pierce, and we were placed on the stage I enclose

a programme of the exercises, and you will find, no doubt,
a full account in the " Boston Atlas " at our house, or at
Benjamin's. The procession was very extensive, and the
house perfectly filled, — particular ladies being admitted to
the galleries by tickets, and other ladies taking their chance.
There was the most perfect order, with an audience as large
as our fullest Commencements ; the only exception was
from the uproarious clapping and stamping, — sometimes
continued a long time, so as to raise the very dust from the
floor in clouds. This was particularly the fact just as Pres
ident Everett began his address ; the students were so
noisy and tempestuous that the President sat down, as it
was impossible to hear anything. It seemed at first dis
respectful, but it was presently explained by Mr. Webster's
mounting the stage, and the applause was meant for him, —
and, by-the-by, he was attended recently on his arrival here
in the cars by, it is said, ten thousand people, enthusiasti
cally cheering him to his lodgings. When Mr. Everett re
sumed his address he very adroitly alluded to Mr. Webster,
wishing that the duty of addressing them had been assigned
to his illustrious friend, who, he was sure, would perform
the duty to their perfect satisfaction ; this then was tre
mendously cheered, and it was sometime before the Presi
dent was very fairly launched. He then went on for one
and a half hours, with frequent applauses, in a very able

32 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

and eloquent discourse, pronounced in his splendid manner,
— without a MS., and with the utmost readiness, and yet
with perfect deliberation. You will see it by and by in
print. The subject was learning, and its influence ; Colleges
and Universities, — their proper objects ; discipline (mental)
and course of instruction. He based the whole upon a
proper moral and religious influence which he regarded as
more important than all the rest. This discourse was en
tirely worthy of himself, and fully sustained his high reputa
tion. Governor Briggs inducted him into office in a very
dignified manner, and with very impressive remarks.

At the dinner I was taken by Dr. Pierce of Brookline,
and placed with the overseers, or corporation, (I do not
know which,) between Dr. P. and Judge Fay, and in the
society of Professor Beck, Dr. Harris, Professor Pierce, &c.
The dinner was served in a fine room constructed for a
picture-room and banqueting-hall in old Harvard. There
was no wine, — only lemonade ; the very first instance of
the kind that has ever occurred here, but they were quite
as joyous in their toasts and speeches as if excited by alco
hol, and as it was all moral and intellectual excitement, it
was all so much the better. Among the speakers was the
President himself, who conducted the ceremonial with ad
mirable tact ; then the ex-President, speaking partly from
notes and with some hesitancy, but with very good effect,
and no small share of humor, of which I may give some
account in conversation ; it would take too much time and
paper now. Mr. Webster was lauded and superlauded, —
and indeed they all " put it on very thick upon " each other.
Mr. W. disclaimed speaking on politics, especially on party
politics, but evidently alluding to Ingersoll, he said that if
he were to speak on politics it would not be in the lingua
academica, nor in the vernacular, but in lingua pessima
jargoncR. They say he does not excel on such occasions,
and I did not think he was sibi cequalis. Dr. Holmes read
a very humorous poem, — full of fun and full of puns.

CORRESPONDENCE. 33

\

Robert C. Winthrop made a capital speech. Professor
Hitchcock spoke sensibly, but with some embarrassment,
on being toasted, and I was called up and did as well as I
could in such a conjuncture. I was thanked by Mr. Everett,
and by many of the Cantabs on account of the spirit of my
remarks, which were conciliatory and friendly. On the
whole the occasion went off admirably, and the utmost good
feeling prevailed among old and young, Cantabs and stran
gers. I went with Professor Pierce to see their new Obser
vatory, which is fine, and reproaches us. I ended with the
President's levee, and returned to town, highly gratified.
Very many inquiries were made about our good President
and you, and kindest messages sent. They have now brill
iant prospects at Harvard, and are all in high spirits.
Please show this to my family and the President, if he
should call for it ; my corning on was happy, as it was
evidently very acceptable. Please tell B., my son, that his
letter is just received, and will be attended to. I wrote
a little brief* of remarks which I enclose ; my spoken
address was more copious and more mellow and flowing ;
please leave the paper with the family. If they should
report anything in the Boston papers, you can observe
whether the train of thought is similar. To-morrow I shall
devote to calls and a little business, and the next day be
off for Hanover.

The letter which follows adverts to investigations
in which the writer was engaged respecting the Pil
grims during their stay in Holland.

FROM MR. GEORGE SUMNER.

PARIS, July 1, 1846.

You were so kind, by your letter, as to offer me

the services of yourself and son " whenever they might

prove available." Such offers are not to be neglected. I

* Not used but merely as a basis.

VOL. II. 3

34 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

have begged my brother, Mr. Charles Sumner, to send you
from Boston two copies of a memoir upon the ten years'
residence of the " Pilgrims " in Holland, which is the re
sult of researches made by me in Leyden and elsewhere,
with the hope of clearing up, in part, the obscurity that
hangs over an important portion of the early history of the
settlers of New England. I should be gratified if you
would do me the honor to accept one of these copies, and
(if it be not giving you too much trouble) to present the
other, de ma part, to the Historical Society of Connecticut.
Some of the conclusions of this memoir are not in exact
harmony with the statements of many of our writers ; and
it was with some hesitation — and only after a good deal
of labor, which, however, brought to light little but negative
evidence — that I found myself compelled to adopt them.
One thing which it perhaps shows, is the error of those
who have so often harped upon an imaginary sympathy be
tween the Pilgrims and the shrewd, beer-drinking Burgh
ers of Leyden I might give you some details of

the present scientific movement in Paris, which would per
haps interest you ; but this is the last moment for writing
by the steamer of the 4th, and I must make my letter as
short as possible. The news of the settlement of the Ore
gon limit and of the progress of the Mexican war, have
made considerable sensation in Paris. The French press
in general is delighted with the reculade which England
has made, in accepting in 1846 that which twenty years
ago it declared, through Canning and Huskisson, could
never be accepted, and that which less than a twelvemonth
since it declared " inconsistent with its just expectations,
with fairness, and with equity." The journals which have
occasionally reproached the United States with inertness
and inability to act in an emergency, seem surprised by the
energy developed on the Mexican frontier

CHAPTER XVIII.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN.

Letters of Berzelius. — Berzelius proposes a Correspondence ; Alludes to
his own Work on Chemistry, to Professor Silliman's Experiments with
the Deflagrator, to the "Journal of Science," to Dr. Hare. — Letter
from Dr. Henry. — Correspondence with Mr. Maclure. — Mr. Maclure
on the Subject of Education: Professor Silliman on Owen, on Specula
tive Opinions in Politics and Religion ; Recommends a Benefaction to
Science; on Mr. Lyell's Geology, on European Politics, on the Tariff,
Slavery, and Nullification. — Letters of Robert Bakewell. — Mr. Bake-
well on the Mosaic Cosmogony, on Lyell and Buckland, on Lyell's Geol
ogy, on his own Geology, on Scientific Journals, on Oxford and Dr.
Bnckland, on Mantell and his Museum, on Coal-Beds in America, on
Storms, on Murchison's Geological Work, on a Universal Language, on
the Insect Tree.

AMONG the scientific men of Europe with whom
Professor Silliman occasionally corresponded for a
long series of years, was the eminent Swedish chem
ist, Berzelius. This correspondence began at the
request of the latter, a few of whose letters are given,
either entire or in extracts, below : —

(STOCKHOLM, July 13, 1820.
You cultivate a science to which I have de
voted the greater part of my time. It would be very pleas-
*ant to me if you could maintain a literary correspondence
.with me. I cannot promise you that my letters will have
the same interest as those of an inhabitant of France or
England ; but, as we are not entirely confined to Sweden,
I can perhaps from time to time furnish you with interest
ing news.

36 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

If Mr. Griscom, whose acquaintance I had the pleasure
of making in Paris, has returned to New York, I beg you
to remember me to him. If an exchange of the minerals
of America for those of Sweden and Norway would be
agreeable to you, you have only to let me know, and to tell
how you would like this exchange to be effected.

Receive, Sir, the assurance of the high consideration
with which I have the honor to be

Your very humble and very obedient servant,

JAC. BERZELIUS. »

STOCKHOLM, March 20, 1822.

SIR, — I am very happy to learn that the

minerals have arrived in safety, and that you are satisfied
with them. I willingly take advantage of your kind offer,
to ask from you some American minerals, of which almost
any would be welcome for a beginning, since we have but

but very few here I take the liberty of sending

you a copy of the French translation of my work upon the
Blow-pipe, since you do not read German. I am particu
larly interested to have you judge my work as it is, and not
as Mr. Children has rendered it ; for some of my pupils
now in England write me that Mr. Children, whose trans
lation of my work I have not yet seen, has injured it in
several places, sometimes by changes, in others by abbrevia
tions, and in others by his own notes. I hope soon to be
enlightened on this subject through my own eyes.

Your experiments with the deflagrator have interested
me much. I have one almost completed, and I look for
ward with pleasure to the brilliant phenomena which I am
about to witness. The discordance of the ordinary pile'
with the deflagrator appears inexplicable to me, except by
the theory of Mr. Hare, which, though ingenious, I find if
difficult to admit, since the electro-magnetic phenomena
are in all their characters the same as in the ordinary elec
tricity. I have nothing important to communicate to you

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 37

from my laboratory, except that in the analysis of the
waters of Carlsbad, in Bohemia, which I visited the last
summer, I discovered several substances which have not
before been found in solution, such as the fluate of lime,
the carbonate of strontian, the phosphate of lime, and that
of alumina. These substances are found dissolved in free
carbonic acid. The tufa which these waters deposit are
like arragonite, which establishes the idea of Mr. Stro-
meyer, that it is the carbonate of strontian which deter
mines the arragonite form of this species of the carbonate
of lime.

I do not possess the work of Mr. Cleaveland,

and I doubt whether it is to be procured in London. I
venture to beg you to purchase a copy for me ; I have re
quested Mr. Hughes to repay you the cost

STOCKHOLM, June 28, 1832.

SIR, — I pray you to accept the accompanying five vol
umes of my Chemistry, as a testimonial of my esteem and
consideration, not to say gratitude, . for your kindness in
sending us your excellent Journal. The work which I
send you is not yet finished ; but I thought it best not to
wait longer, that you may not lose entirely the gratia novi-
tatis of the first volumes. The sixth volume should already
be out, although I have received no notice of it, nor had
any copy sent. The entire work will consist of eight vol
umes. The sixth will still be on vegetable chemistry ; the
seventh on animal chemistry ; and the eighth on the oper
ations, manipulations, and instruments of the laboratory, as
well as a treatise on crystallography, of which Mr. Mitscher-
lich is the author. My translator having been seized by
the cholera, has been for a long time dangerously ill from
the consequences of this dreadful disease, which has been,
especially in France, so disastrous. The work is therefore
suspended for the moment, and I shall probably not have
the pleasure of sending the rest to you till the next year,

38 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Accept the expression of the sentiments of esteem and
consideration with which I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your very humble and obedient servant,

JAC. BERZELITJS.

STOCKHOLM, March 10, 1846.

Sm, — I embrace the opportunity offered by Mr. Ells
worth, to thank you for two letters, one of which reached
me by Mr. Ellsworth, and the other arrived a few hours
after. I was much flattered by what Mr. Ellsworth made
known to me of your wish to possess a likeness of me. I
gave him one which they pretend is successful, and I sup
pose he will forward it to you by this same opportunity.

We have many thanks to present to you for the con
tinued remittance of your Journal, — the Academy of Sci
ences as well as myself. The last number which reached
us is No. 94; so it seems that there are still wanting six
numbers before the termination of the Journal under the
old form. Professor Sefstrom, to whom you have sent
your Journal, has been taken from us by a stroke of apo
plexy, towards the close of the last year. This loss is
greatly felt, for he was an active man, full of zeal, especially
in the application of the sciences to the arts.

In the knowledge of what pertains to the manufactory of
iron, we have no one to be compared with him. His suc
cessor in the School of Mines is Professor Akermann, who
is on the point of transferring the School of Mines of
Fahlun, where he is at present, to the capital, considering
this change to be advantageous, since the mines at Fahlun
begin to be exhausted.

I am under great obligations to you for the trouble you
have taken to distribute the copies thUt were sent of my
paper on the Blow-pipe. Will you be good enough, when
an opportunity offers, to present my respects to our friend
Mr. Hare. I owe him a long controversial letter on scien
tific matters ; but, to tell the truth, my time is so much

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 39

cupied by the new edition of my " Treatise on Chemistry,"
that I can hardly find time for anything else, especially at
the age of sixty-seven years, when one cannot hope to have
the necessary vigor to undertake again a work of ten vol
umes. Nearly two thirds of this edition I have still to
compose. Besides, it is a little hazardous to enter into a
private discussion with this savant, because he immediately
prints all that is written to him, followed by a refutation. I
have sometimes been surprised to read in your Journal a
reply to my ideas that I had never seen except there. One
cannot be angry, however, for Mr. Hare is a good man,
and seeks the truth before everything ; but that makes one
desire not to turn a private controversy into a public one.
But much depends on the habits of different countries. . . .

Will you have the goodness to give the enclosed note to
your son.

Receive, I beg you, my dear Sir, the assurance of the
high consideration with which I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your very devoted servant,

JAC. BERZELIUS.

Professor Silliman's " Chemistry " was received
with approbation by the veteran chemist, whose own
work he had introduced to American readers.

FROM DR. WILLIAM HENRY.

MANCHESTER, May 9, 1831.

MY DEAR SIR, — I avail myself of the earliest opportunity
of offering you my best thanks for the obliging present of
your " Elements of Chemistry," which reached me from
London only a few days ago ; and I am induced to offer
my acknowledgments thus early, because to-morrow I am
about to leave home for some time, and may not soon again
have an opportunity of getting my letter conveyed to Liv
erpool. Of course I have only had time as yet, especially

40 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

as I have been occupied in preparations for my departure,
to give more than a cursory glance over your pages. This,
however, has been sufficient to convince me that you have
exerted great industry in collecting the materials of your
volumes, and great skill and judgment in condensing and
arranging them. Immediately on my return, I shall have
much gratification in going over your volumes, with the
leisure and attention which are necessary to enable one
fully to profit by them. In this country very little has
been done lately — so far as I am aware, is now doing —
that is adapted to extend the boundaries of chemical
science. We have had for some time past one of those
seasons of repose of which the history of Natural Philos
ophy furnishes many examples. We may hope that it will
be followed, as heretofore, by one of those seasons of ar
dent and fruitful invention and discovery, during which
science springs forward with the greatest eagerness and
success. I cannot close this letter without thanking you
for the very handsome terms in which you have spoken of
my labors in the field which we all water in common. To
be so estimated by one so capable of judging is both a re
ward for the past and an incitement for the future. I beg
to assure you that I am, with sincere respect and esteem,
dear Sir,

Very respectfully yours,

WM. HENRY.

With Mr. William Maclure Professor Silliman
maintained a correspondence for a considerable num
ber of years. His estimate of the character and ser
vices of Mr. Maclure is given on a previous page.
The religious views of the latter were far from being
consonant with his own ; nor did Mr. Maclure's
schemes for social reorganization commend them
selves to his judgment. Yet there was much in his

spirit, and in what he didlfor science, which Professor

FKOM MR. WILLIAM MACLURE.

October 19, 1822.

YOUR ideas concerning the utility that would

result to mankind by a more strict attention to positive
knowledge in our Colleges, agree perfectly with my own,
and I think that the means you propose would much tend
to produce that desirable effect. I only regret that my cir
cumstances are not adequate to the accomplishment of so
beneficial a change. When I retired from commerce about
twenty-five years ago, I looked round for some occupation
that might amuse me always, convinced that a man had
the choice of his amusements as well as of his profession,
and that common sense dictated an amusement that would
produce the greatest good, for it is an axiom with me that
it is the positive and real interest of every individual in
society to have as many friends and as few enemies as
possible. To obtain them he must do as much good and
as little harm as possible. In reflecting upon the absurdity
of my own classical education, launched into the world as
ignorant as a pig of anything useful, not having occasion
to practice anything I had learned, except reading, writing,
and counting, which any child could now acquire in six or
eight months of a Lancasterian School, — I had been long
in the habit of considering education one of the greatest
abuses our species were guilty of, and of course one of the
reforms the most beneficial to humanity, and likewise offer
ing to ambition a fair field. Almost no improvement had
been made in it for two hundred or three hundred years ;
there was immense room for change to put it on a par with
the other functions of civilization. The task appeared easy,
and the credit to be acquired by any change considerable,
for nearly the same reasons. I adopted rock-hunting as

42 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

an amusement in place of deer or partridge hunting, con
sidering mineralogy and geology as the sciences most ap
plicable to useful practical purposes, but, like most of the
things of the greatest utility, neglected,' — having long given
up all idea of changing the opinions of man as a labor far
above my abilities. I have been endeavoring, for some
twenty years, to change the e'ducation of children, and
stumbled by accident about eighteen years ago on the
school of Pestalozzi in Switzerland, which subserved the
useful purposes that I had formed to myself of a rational
education. I have been ever since doing something towards
propagating and improving the scheme, and the success in
the fruits are more than I expected ; for it has won some of
the most promising young men in our country, such as
Henry Sybert, &c., &c., but has not been able to penetrate
deep into the crust of prejudices which is early interwoven
with our self-love, so as to make the greatest part of man
kind jealous and inveterate enemies of any system that
gives knowledge on cheaper terms than they themselves
paid for it ; though I have little doubt that in time some
such system will generally prevail in our country, where the
power, being in the hands of the people, through the medium
of our popular governments, renders a diffusion of knowl
edge necessary to the support of freedom, and of course the
necessity of an almost equal division of both property and
knowledge, which the advantages given to those who can
afford to send their sons to colleges very naturally counter
acts. In the letter enclosed in the small box of lavas, you
will receive four of my political essays translated into
Spanish, by which you will perceive the consequence I
attach to an almost equal division of property, knowledge,
and power, as the only firm foundation of freedom which
includes the happiness of mankind. The disgraceful ignor
ance of the higher orders in this country * is the most for
tunate circumstance in favor of the freedom of the Spanish

* Spain. — F.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 43

nation, for they are all enemies to the liberties of the people,
and friends to despotism, but from their imbecility all their
plans of destroying the happiness and freedom of their
nation fail, and have as yet strengthened the constitution
which they were laboring to destroy. The reform in the
common schools is the only mode of equalizing knowledge.
Not one in a thousand in any country can have a college
education, and when once the schools are modelled upon the
forms of utility the colleges must follow, or none will attend
them. That knowledge can be obtained in a twentieth part
of the time that is wasted by the ancient, monkish system,

there can be no doubt. Mr. has a school in my

house at Paris, for the last two years, and boys from eight
to ten years old become good mineralogists and chemists,
almost equal to the analysis of rocks, and speak and gram
matically understand three to four modern languages,
Mathematics in all its branches, are good arithmeticians,
and in short before the arrival of that critical time, the age
of puberty, they will possess more useful knowledge than
they could have had by the old system at the age of thirty
or forty

TO ME. WILLIAM MACLURE.

NEW HAVEN, March 23, 1825.

MR. OWEN, I hear of frequently through the

papers, but have not seen him yet. I observe he has given
a lecture or lectures to Congress, but with what success I
know not. In this country, and especially in that part of
it where he has fixed his destination, there will be at least
a perfect freedom from any opposition, — no corporations,
no prescriptions, no inveterate habits, and no legal im
pediments to oppose his success. You have heard of the
noble treatment which Congress has given to General
Lafayette, and of the perfect quiet and good feeling with
which a new President was elected by the House of Repre
sentatives. The friends of legitimacy must now despair of

44 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the instability of our institutions, since, without force to
support them, they are more firm than the monarchical
establishments are with all their military array •

TO MR. WILLIAM MACLURE.

NEW HAVEN, April 18, 1825.

I AGREE with you substantially as to the im
portance and efficacy of knowledge, and the baneful effects
of ignorance, but in the idea of knowledge I include that
of our duties as moral and accountable beings, in which I
trust you will agree with me, and therefore I presume that
when you speak of speculative opinions on politics and
religion as the greatest bar to civilization, you rather refer
to the abuse too often made of a good thing than to the
employment of one intrinsically bad. Correct speculative
views in politics are most likely to lead to correct practice,
and it is the same with religion. A bad or false system of
either will almost necessarily lead to bad practical conse
quences, but a true and correct view will most probably
lead to happy results. It is possible that our opinions on
some of these subjects may differ, but we agree on so many
important ones that I cannot doubt we shall mutually
grant to each other the liberty to differ, where we actually
entertain different views. Everything is going on very
happily in this country, in our political and literary and
social institutions, and I trust you will find that during the
years that have passed since you last left us, we have made
considerable advances. Wishing you a safe passage and
happy arrival,

I remain, dear sir, very truly yours.

TO MR. WILLIAM MACLURE.

NEW HAVEN, April 13, 1829.

YOUR kindness and uniformly cool and consid
erate attention to the subjects suggested by your friends
will, I doubt not, pardon my alluding again to a subject

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 45

about which we corresponded when you were in Spain. I
have no direct personal interest in it, except as a cultivator
of mineralogy and geology, but I have always wished that
there might eventually be an establishment on that subject
to bear your name, and to diffuse knowledge and benefit to
this country, when you and I are gone. Even a posthumous
dedication of a small portion of your fine Western or
Spanish territories would accomplish the object without
seriously interfering with your great and interesting under
taking at New Harmony. Forgive this liberty, and take no
notice of this part of my letter in your reply, unless it is
altogether agreeable to you to do so. I shall certainly take
no exceptions at your silence on this subject, if you take

none at my freedom Our great scramble for the

Presidency is over, and General Jackson is crowned. Hap
pily the institutions of this country are so established in
the habits and affections of the people that a change of men
makes little change in measures. There are removals from
office, inconvenient to individuals, and often injurious to
them and the country, but there seem to be in this country
no elements of discord leading to anarchy and bloodshed.
If any expedient can be devised by which our domestic
slavery can 'be removed, it would avert what is in rny mind
an incessant source of anxiety, and I think that the plan
which you once suggested of removing them West — at
least in part — to labor voluntarily as freemen, is worthy
of more attention than it has received

TO MR. WILLIAM MACLURE.

NEW HAVEN, June 7, 1831.

I KNOW not whether the most recent geological

works are sent out to you by your friends ; that of Mr.
Lyell now occupies a good deal of the attention of Euro
pean geologists. I have not yet quite finished the perusal
of it (viz., Vol. I., — Vol. II. has not appeared yet). I see,
however, the drift of his argument, which is to prove that

46 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

great effects are produced by existing causes, such as we
now see operating around us, in modifying the crust of our
planet, and even in generating geological formations, and
he has indeed made out his case more fully than one would
have imagined that he could. Although rather diffuse, it
is, on the whole, an interesting and instructive work ; but I
think he has only altered the relative order, not changed
the nature, of geological evidence. If he is correct, we
must impute more to causes now in operation, and less to
ancient catastrophes than we have been accustomed to
believe. Everything of public news you, of course, obtain
from the papers ; and you doubtless observe, with great in
terest, the progress of the Polish struggle, and of the course
of popular liberty throughout Europe. To us, that strug
gle is, on many accounts, very interesting, not merely from
our sympathy with our fellow-men, but because it would
now appear that the great problem of the stability of our
institutions is settled, and if we are faithful to ourselves in
vigorously pushing the great interests of education, and
thus causing the rising generation to be what they should
be, we are safe ; for our government and administration,
being what the most numerous class of voters choose they
should be, there is neither cause nor means of revolution
other than in changing officers by elections. Thus a gov
ernment which seemed in theory the most feeble, proves in
practice the most stable, and I trust it will ever endure.

TO MR. WILLIAM MACLURE.

NEW HAVEN, January 25, 1832.

... * . IN this country there is at present great agita
tion in the public mind on the subject of the tariff, but all
this you will see in the public prints. "What, however, will
interest you much more is, that the public mind is awa
kened, more than it ever was before, to the dangers of slav
ery. This state of feeling has been produced evidently by
the bloody insurrection in Southampton County, Va., dur-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 47

ing the late autumn. The subject is now in the progress
of the most animated and thorough and courageous discus
sion in the Virginia Legislature, and it seems to be con
ceded on all hands that something must be done. Colon
ization in Africa, colonization in some of our "Western
territories, emancipation en masse, gradual emancipation,
holding on under the present system, — these seem to be
the alternatives, and you will agree with me that they are
sufficiently appalling. There are two millions now, and
there will be three millions by the next census, and five by
the time the children are men and women. What has
been found to be the effect of general and sudden emanci
pation in Mexico ? Have the quondam slaves become more
turbulent and vicious, and less industrious ? I suppose,
however, that the slaves there were not to any great extent
negroes, but rather Indians. You may observe that there
is now a great effort making in England to obtain emanci
pation for their slaves in the West Indies, not gradually,
but in mass. This is a great question, and it must very
soon engage the attention of mankind where there are
slaves, or those who are held in virtual bondage, as in Rus
sia. The cruel oppression exercised over Poland, and re
cently consummated in blood, must sooner or later be vis
ited upon that proud and wicked monarchy

TO MR. WILLIA-M MACLTJRE.

NEW HAVEN, April 16, 1833.

..... You will have observed that we have been ap
parently on the eve of similar convulsions, but the storm
has for the present blown by, although I am by no means
sure "that it will not gather again. Possibly, not on the
subject of the tariff, for the opposition on that ground being
avowedly withdrawn, there will be no decent pretence for
getting it up again, unless the duties should be again in
creased, and against this, I think that the voice of the country
would be generally raised ; for even the friends of the pro-

48 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

tective system think that the policy has been stretched too
far, and, on the other hand, the suffering that has been
proclaimed so loudly is pronounced by the Union party of
South Carolina to be ideal, because their crops sell as well
as before the tariff, and their expenses for the clothing of
their negroes, &c., are not more than half what they were
in years gone by. I suspect that the real danger to the
Union grows out of quite another subject, — namely, the in
stitution of slavery itself, against which you so justly and
decidedly protest. The rapid progress of public opinion
in Great Britain, which has already denounced slavery in
the West Indies, and will probably not permit it to exist
more than a very few years at the utmost, greatly alarms
our Southern slaveholders. They had a dreadful example
of domestic insurrection in Virginia, in the autumn of 1831 ;
not a few persons are engaged in various parts of the Union
in denouncing slavery, and in urging its abolition in toto
and at once ; and although this may be premature, and, in
our actual circumstances, unjustifiable, it has its effect. It
seems now apparent that slavery cannot be sustained in
definitely in this country. But the effort which I fear will
be made before many years to sustain it will, I also fear, take
the form of attempting to rear in the South a distinct em
pire, embracing as many slave States as can be induced to
join it, and embracing, perhaps, all except Maryland, West
ern Virginia, and possibly Kentucky ; and then they must
have Texas per fas aut nefas; and the great features of this
confederacy will be slavery, and dependence on the favor
and protection of a foreign power, which must, I suppose.,
of course, be England. They do not. seem to take into
view at all the tremendous internal danger from their own
efficient physical population, the rapid increase of which is
encouraged, and, I might say, insured, by humanity, cupid
ity, climate, plenty, &c. This appears to be the aim of at
least the most violent of the South Carolina nullifiers, and,
indeed, they do not hesitate to avow it ; but the most sober-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 49

minded people in the other Southern States will probably
be slow to go these lengths, and I trust you may consider
the country as pacified for the present.

TO MR. WILLIAM MACLURE.

NEW HAVEN, October 31, 1833.

YOUR remarks on our Federal Union and political

measures certainly deserve serious consideration, although
I conceive our case is not exactly parallel with that of
Switzerland, an inland country, without foreign commerce,
and composed of members, I suppose, much more discor
dant than ours. I am much impressed with what you say
as to the tendency which the duty on sugar has to encour
age slavery. I think that must be true ; but I suppose
nothing can alter the policy. It is, I believe, a settled
thing that the cultivation of sugar in Louisiana is to be
thus encouraged at whatever hazard; the singular incon
sistency seems to have been overlooked of opposing a
Northern tariff for encouraging manufactures by freemen,
while a manufacture by slaves in the South is thus sus
tained. For myself, however, I wish to see as little as
possible of tariffs, and would prefer to have individual en
terprise and industry to work its own way with as little in
terference from Government as may be. I am glad to hear
that your distracted country — Mexico — is in a way to
get settled in anything like permanent order and tranquil
lity, a<nd hope that they may eventually find out the best
method of governing themselves. At present everything
appears tranquil in this country ; the high excitement in
Carolina seems to have subsided, and it will not be easy to
get up such a state of things again very soon. Congress
will soon meet again, and you will see in the annual budgets
of the President and his officers the state of the country.
Collisions and excitement must of course be expected in a
country where there is freedom ; at one time it will run on

VOL. II. 4

50 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

one subject, and at another time on something different.
At present there is no small feeling as to the Bank of the
United States. The United States deposits are, or are to
be, removed from it to some of the State banks, prepara-
. tory to the suppression of the institution, which the Presi
dent and some of his Cabinet appear to have much at
heart

TO MR. WILLIAM MACLTJRE.

NEW HAVEN, July 24, 1835.

THE project for cheap books is an important

one, and knowledge ought to be brought home as much to
the common people as possible ; much has been done in this
way, and is doing, as you observe, in England, and much
more might be done in this country. The great question
that now seems likely to agitate us in this country is slav
ery. The progress of moral sentiment on that subject,
and the increasing experience of the mischiefs of slavery,
are producing changes in the public mind ; and although
some people, as you may perceive by newspapers, are going
too fast and too far, I doubt whether the subject can stand
still even in the slaveholding States. Very recently there
has been in New York a meeting of persons from those
States, whose object seems to have been to oppose, by pub
lic speeches and resolutions, the movements in the non-
slaveholding States ; they have, however, manifested such
an entire aversion to approach the idea of freedom for the
colored race, in any event and under any circumstances, that
I fear the effect will recoil. The subject will not rest ; and I
am apprehensive that if nothing is done, the time will come
when scenes like those of Southampton, Va., may be re
newed. The example of the British "West Indies is fully
before us, and cannot be without its effects here for good
or for evil. I should like to know your views of the effects
of manumission in Mexico and Columbia, and whether the
condition of the colored races has been improved by it. . .

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 51

TO MB. WILLIAM MACLURE.

NEW HAVEN, November 4, 1835.

As I am thus successful with the many, I have

even considered whether it was not my duty to throw my
self abroad and loose myself, at least in part, from my con
nection with the College, that I might benefit the people,
while I impose upon them a trifling tax. I think I might
agree with the College to be absent a part of the year, but
I must relinquish a part of my salary ; and it might not He
prudent to risk the welfare of my family by relinquishing a
certainty, although a small one, for the caprice of popular
favor, which may change. I think, however, by relinquish
ing $300 or $400 per annum of my salary, I might get
liberty to be absent permanently in March and April,
which are term-time, and the only part of the year when I
would lecture in cities, as I must be here for the winter
chemical course

The high respect which Professor Silliman enter
tained for the celebrated geologist, Robert Bakewell,
has been already expressed in a passage from the
" Reminiscences." Mr. Bakewell was a man of
marked individuality, an original explorer and thinker
in the field of geology. There are few more racy
letters among Mr. Silliman's papers than those from
him, portions of which are here presented. It should
be stated that Mr. Bakewell was attached in religion
to the school of Priestley and Belsham, with which
Mr. Silliman, of course, did not sympathize.

FROM MR. ROBERT BAKEWELL.

HAMPSTEAD (near London), February 2, 1830.

THE remains of the enormous Iguanodon have

at length been discovered out of Sussex ; a portion of the

52 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Sussex beds extend, as has been some time known, into the
Isle of Wight, but no bones were found in them till the
last autumn. The condyle of a thigh-bone in Mr. Man-
tell's museum at Lewes I measured : it was thirty-five
inches in circumference ! ! Have you seen Dr. Ore's book
on geology ? It was intended as a catch for religious peo
ple to satisfy them that the world was made, as he says, in
" six working days " ; but he violates the Mosaic account as
much as any preceding writer, for he makes a seventh
working-day after the Deluge to create the present race of
animals. Dr. Ure is profoundly ignorant of practical geol
ogy, and places the lias next to the chalk. Dr. Ure is said
not to be a practical religionist any more than he is a prac
tical geologist. In this country a pretence to religion and
principle is more often esteemed than the reality. He is
no true friend to religion who would force astronomical
and geological observations to coincide with the literal
Scripture phraseology addressed to mankind in their infant

state, and never intended to teach the sciences

I live rather out of the world, and have little new to com
municate. A few weeks since, Mr. Mantell, the discoverer
of the Iguanodon, and Mr. Lyell, foreign secretary to the
Geological Society, came to breakfast with me. Mr. Lyell
has published a work in two volumes, entitled " Principles
of Geology," being an attempt to trace present appear
ances on the globe to causes at present existing and in ac
tivity. There is on this subject much diversity of opinion.
Dr. Buckland supports the opinion that the surface of our
planet has been cut out and made by causes not at present
going on, — the action of deluges. I have not yet seen
Mr. Lyell's book; but I am convinced that we must resort
to both ordinary and extraordinary causes to explain geol
ogical phenomena

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 53

FROM MR. BAKEWELL.

November 16, 1830.

I HAVE not seen Df. Morton's paper on the tertiary for-
mation of New Jersey ; but Mr. Mantell, who has read it,
does not consider it as affording satisfactory proofs of such
formations. Mr. Lyell's book is out in the first volume.
If you have seen it, you will think there is much Scotch
amplification. A Scotchman can never write briefly and
directly to the point. The principal merit is making that
part of the Huttonian system more clear which treats of
recent formations and those at present going on ; geolo
gists of late have too much overlooked the extent and im
portance of these formations. What he says of calcareous
strata forming by warm springs holding calcareous or silici-
ous earth in solution, is a modification of what I advanced
in 1815, second edition of my " Geology," chap. xvi. The
most ingenious part of the book is that on temperature, in
which he endeavors to prove that the polar and equatorial
zones of the globe might change their temperature by a
transference of the land. Indeed, he has shown that a dif
ference of temperature equal to ten or fifteen degrees of
latitude is at present produced by the different disposition
of the land and sea in the same latitudes. I think his
arguments against the progressive development of organic
beings far from satisfactory, and that the chapter on the
recent formation of man is a tissue of far-strained mystifi
cation and special pleading. Not that I deny the recent
formation of man ; but, on Mr. Lyell's own principles, we
have no more reason for thinking him a recent animal than
we have for inferring that monkeys and all the mammalia

are as ancient as the globe itself. I am afraid

you will grow tired of this geological gossip, and rejoice
that you see land

54 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

FROM MB. BAKEWELL.

HAMPSTEAD, September 24, 1833.
..... WITH respect to Mr. Witham's discoveries I was

not well assured of their correctness when my account of
vegetable fossils passed through the press. Admitting that
trees occur in the coal strata, their appearance is so rare,
and the number of species or individuals so small, compared
with the other fossil species, that they may be regarded as
exceptions ; still, however, it is an interesting fact, as show
ing that even in early geological epochs the condition of
some parts of our planet bore a resemblance to the present
one. But this again makes it more extraordinary that the
animal remains should be wanting. For if there were land
with trees somewhat like the present, where are the animals
that inhabited this land ? Up to the present time no re
mains of terrestrial mammalia have been found in the
secondary strata, except the little creatures at Stonesfield.
Now if the sea has not been dredged as Mr. Lyell boasts,
yet the beds of ancient seas have been repeatedly laid dry,
and are exposed to our observation, and surely some re
mains would have been found, but none have been ; and I
think it very unfair to argue that we don't know but what
they may be found, and therefore we may conclude that
perfect terrestrial mammalia did abound in the secondary
epoch, when the ancient world was in every way as perfect
as the present one. When such remains are found in
strata below chalk, it will be time to change our views on
the subject. My fourth edition has had a more courteous
reception at its birth than the third. Professors Buckland
and Sedgwick, both sent me their congratulations and ap
probation, and Professor Jameson, who was formerly much
offended by my attacks on the Wernerian system, wrote to
my publishers saying that he considered it one of the best
English books on geology. Professor Buckland also told
a gentleman whom I knew, that it was decidedly the book

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 55

he should choose to place in the hands of his pupils. My
third edition received its first approval from you five months
after its appearance.

With respect to publishing any part of my letter of No
vember last, I really do not recollect on what subject it was
that I made any observations worth a place in your Journal.
I might immediately recollect if the subject was named. . .

FROM MR. BAKE WELL.

HAMPSTEAD, July 16, 1834.

I AM sorry to observe that you have to tell your

readers that your Journal fails in subscribers. I have no
hesitation in asserting that it possesses much more inter
esting matter than any of our English scientific journals
which, as you justly observe, are on the decline in number,
and I may add in value. If your Journal declines in sale,
I will freely tell you the cause, — you do not endeavor to
make it sufficiently suitable to the market you have to
supply. You are more anxious to obtain the approbation
of a few scientific readers, than to excite and gratify the
curiosity of those who are most in want of information.
This is a rock on which our best journalists and lecturers
generally strike. They think only to please the few pur
chasers who are full and disregard the many purchasers
who are empty and hungry.

William Nicholson began the first Scientific Journal in
England about 1800. He was a superior man, and in many
respects well qualified for such an undertaking, but he
aimed too high for the then state of information, and Mr.
Tilloch, greatly his inferior, began the " Philosophical Mag
azine," conveying much information, useful to artisans, sur
veyors, and half-informed people, and he soon took the
lead in the sale very much. I knew them both ; the latter
had few pretensions to science. Our present Journals are
sleeping, trading concerns, borrowing from foreign Journals

56 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

often without acknowledgment When I say your

Journal is not exactly suited to the United States, I think
it has been formed rather too much on our English patterns,
which however are not themselves suited to the general
taste of the English reader. The Journal of our civil
engineers is the kind of book that America wants, and I
apprehend its information might be combined with more
scientific articles. The Journals in France have also de
creased lately, I mean of course the scientific ones. But
I am afraid I have tired you with hints and queries that
may be of little use.

FROM^MR. BAKEWELL.

HAMPSTEAD, July 28, 1836.

GEOLOGY is in a rather strange state in England

at present ; the rich clergy begin to tremble for their in
comes, and seek to avert their fate by a revived zeal for
orthodoxy, and are making a great clamor against geology
as opposed to Genesis. I have no doubt this is the prime
cause why Buckland's Bridgewater treatise, though an
nounced and reviewed in the " Quarterly " last May, has not

yet appeared. I have no doubt the reviewer was —

who at the bottom hates Buckland cordially, as I am in
formed by Mantell. The reviewer brought forward all
those points which Buckland would have been glad to pass
sub silentio, — namely, that B. had now given up the
Noachian deluge, so far as it was to explain any geological
phenomena, and also stating how much he differed from
the literal account of creation in Genesis. Oxford, where
B. resides, and is a Canon, has been thrown into a great fer
ment about Dr. Hampden's free opinions, and the geologists
have come in for a share of the censure. In England the
attempt to introduce new names and new theories is sinking
geology in the opinion of well-judging people. The Eocene,
Miocene, and Pliocene, these names, as Sedgwick says,

I

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 57

with Greek heads and French tails, are absurdly intro
duced, as they assume the truth of a theory that cannot be
proved, — that the age of tertiary strata can be determined
by the proportions of recent and extinct shells. During
the inundations and changes which took place in the epoch
of the tertiary strata, the fossil remains of distant parts
were much intermixed, fndeed, all the little differences of
form, which make cabinet geologists believe shells belong
to different species, are often exceeded in the present day
by removing the animal into a new situation.

FROM MR. BAKEWELL.

HAMPSTEAD, (near London), February, 1838.
MY DEAR SIR, — Having for the last three months been
engaged in the publication of the fifth edition of my " Geol
ogy," I have scarcely written to any of my friends, except
through the medium of my good secretary, Mrs. B. The
mechanical labor of writing is a greater fatigue than
formerly, and I find that one subject, when I enter heartily
into it, is like Aaron's serpent, it swallows all the rest ; but
this is a constitutional habit of mind. I have long been
desirous of writing to you to thank you, first, for a very
kind letter I received from you long since, and for your
kind attentions to Mr. "Wood, who appears to have received
more gratification from his introduction to you than from
almost any introduction in the United States. My fifth
edition is about two thirds through the press. I am sorry
to say that it will be larger than the fourth, considerably, —
by about eighty pages. There is one new chapter on a sub
ject which has hitherto been neglected by all geologists,
myself among the rest, although it has been admitted to
be one of the most extraordinary phenomena that geology
presents. I have not told any of my friends here what it is,
there is such sharp work in catching up and appropriating
any new observations or discoveries ; but I will inform you

53 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

what the subject of the chapter will be, or rather is, for it
has passed the press, — " On the disappearance of the Coal
Strata, raised above the surface by faults." It is a universal
fact in all the English coal-fields, that whatever disturbance
of the strata there may be under the surface, whether a
series of strata be thrown down or raised up one hundred
or a thousand feet on one side of a fault, the surface on each
side will be on the same level ; the upreared mountain has
by some unknown cause been carried away, and has not
left, as Shakspeare says, a reck behind (or more correctly,
what Shakspeare certainly wrote, a " reek " or vapor, this
being still the North Country name for smoke). Where is
the mountain gone to ? or what monster has devoured it ?
The universality of the fact seems to have prevented further

inquiry I am afraid our friend Mantell is in a

world of perplexity, both respecting his removal from
Brighton, and the deposit of his museum. The leading mem
bers of the Brighton Institution now decline having any
thing to do with it. I always told Mr. M. that if he could
get £2000 clear of all further trouble, he should take it ; he
has before received £1000, or a gratuity from the late Lord
Egremont, which would make £3000. I have seen some
thing of the fate of museums ; after the first year or two
of their popularity they become flat and stale to the public,
and unprofitable to the proprietors. I hope the affair of
Canada will not lead to a breach of friendship between
England and the United States. But I fear the whole of
the civilized world is upon the eve of some great commotion.
There is something wrong in the state of society, and the
extreme inequality of the rich and the laborers, in almost
every part of Europe. But my paper tells me to conclude.
Believe me with great esteem,
•«.'.*, Yours, very sincerely,

E. BAKEWELL.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 59

FROM MR. BAKE WELL.

HAMPSTEAD, (near London,) January 8, 1839.

MY DEAR SIR, — It gave me great pleasure to receive a
letter from you about three weeks since. Mr. Victor Audu-
bon, who will take this to you is, as you perhaps know, the
son of Mr. Audubon, the American Ornithologist, whose
descriptions and drawings have been most favorably re
ceived in England and Europe, by our learned societies
and by intelligent naturalists and patrons of science. Mr.
Victor Audubon is a maternal grandson of my late valued
relative, Mr. Wm. Bakewell, once, I believe, of New Haven.
I believe him to be a truly worthy and ingenious young
man. I have now known him for several years. In reply
to some of the observations in your letter, I am pleased to
hear of the vast accumulation of coal and iron in Maryland.
The United States present such extensive fields for the
exertion of civilized man, that imagination toils in vain to
delineate the vast accession of moral power and happiness
that a few centuries hence may present in your hemisphere.
You say that there are no faults in the Maryland coal
fields, but as faults do not make themselves known at the
surface, they can only be ascertained by many operations
which, I presume, are yet on too limited a scale, to have
discovered them if they exist beneath the surface. In
some coal-fields here you may walk over beds of coal six
hundred feet or more below the soil, and yet, a few steps
further on, upon a horizontal plane, the same beds are not
forty feet beneath you, and you have no indication of any
displacement visible above ground, as stated in jnyf ninth
chapter. In your Ohio and Pennsylvania coal - fields,
intersected by rivulets and ravines, the regularity of the
beds, on each side of the ravine, shows that there has been
no fault, but merely an excavation in the strata from
above, — as described in your Journal, — and the same may
be the case in Maryland. Since publishing my fifth edi-

60 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

tion, I have given myself a temporary holiday from geol-
Ogy, and have not read a single book, not even Mantell's
" Wonders," which he sent me, nor have I seen a copy of
Mr. L.'s " Elements " ; but M., who is a great admirer of
L.'s system, writes me, " that the new book is properly a
supplement to the old one, and by no means what the title
indicates, a book for beginners, though there are some good
things in it." These are exactly his words. My health,
the latter part of last year, was much better than in the
previous year, but the late weather has been severely felt
by invalids here, and I have been very unwell for the last
month, having had returns of incipient dizziness, with
severe attacks of flatulence and indigestion, though I am
very careful respecting my diet. Mrs. Hannah More allows
of two evils in the world, — sin and bile. I think she
might have admitted wind into partnership. Cowper, in his
interesting letters, mentions a religious friend at Hunting
don, who kept a diary, and the most frequent items in it
were thanksgivings for delivery from wind. Cowper ob
serves that this diary was more rational than that of the
great Dr. Johnson, who makes frequent entries of the
lumps of sugar which he left out of his tea and coffee on
saint-days and fasts. I am quite satisfied that many cases
of demoniacal possessions, mentioned by heathens and Jews,
were cases of obstinate flatulence ; everything which could
be heard and felt, but not seen, was with them spirits.

My astronomical friend here, Mr. Holford, who had a
splendid observatory, including the very best instruments,
died a fortnight since, after a short illness ; he was a few
years f my junior. My health, for the last two years, has
prevented me from observations of the heavens. I could
have wished to delay writing till I was better able, but
I cannot resist the opportunity of sending by Mr. V. A. I
mean, however, to write you more fully very soon, and if
I do not write to Robert,* by the conveyance, please to tell
* His son, residing in New Haven. — F.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 61

him that I find writing a fatigue. Believe me, with every
kind wish for your long enjoyment of health and usefulness,
Yours, very sincerely,

ROBERT BAKEWELL.

P. S., January 9. — The important paper on the law of
storms, first published in your Journal, has not been entirely
overlooked in the late discussion on that subject in Eng
land ; but it has not had justice done to it. When I first
read it, I told a gentleman who was about writing on the
subject, that I was well persuaded the writer of that article
had discovered a most important fact, and directed, but in
vain, his attention to the subject. It appeared to me, as
soon as I reflected upon the article, that it was scarcely
possible for great agitations to take place in the atmos
phere along longitudinal lines, but they must move in
eddies more or less elliptical. Water-spouts and local
whirlwinds, I believe to be electrical phenomena, particu
larly the former. When a boy, my attention was turned to
the subject by a remarkable water-spout, near my mother's
residence, at Nottingham, of which I published an account
in the " Gentleman's Magazine," about 1782. I was then
fifteen years of age, and I sent a long theory with my nar
rative, which they (properly I have no doubt) omitted. Ob
servations and reflection have, however, convinced me that
the leading heads of my electrical theory were true. This
account of the water-spout was my first essay in print.
Have we any further information of the periodical appear
ance of luminous meteors, of which the first account was
given in your Journal ? My dear sir, you do me too much
honor in wishing to have a copy of my portrait, but I have
no portrait to copy from. My features may be called reg
ular and open. I have always preserved an appearance of
youth not corresponding with my years. My brother was
only seventeen months older than I, but when I lived with
my mother, and was then twenty-one years old, my brother

62 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

was supposed, by strangers, to be my father ; and my first
wife has been mistaken for my mother or aunt. If I had a
portrait I would send you a copy of it ; some attempts have
been made to take my picture many years since, and the
map of my face may have been laid down correctly in lati
tude and longitude, but the expression, depending so much
on the state of my mind, was entirely wanting to give a
true character. When I was about twenty-six, a painter
took my likeness, with that of a particular friend, and I
believe it to have been correct, as far as features alone could
make it, but it has the look of a school-boy not satisfied
with his exercise. It is still in the possession of my friend
in Yorkshire. Neither my son Robert nor William, who is
about to visit America, have much of any resemblance to
me. The celebrated Win. Godwin, about three years since,
met my son William in London, and said to him, " Pray,
are you Mr. Bake well the father, or Mr. Bake well the son,
for I really cannot make out which you are ? " William,
my son, having dark hair, it became gray very early, which,
of course, made him appear older than he was.

As the United States had the merit of first making steam
available successfully as a locomotive power, I have some
thought of sending you (if my health permit) a short essay
for your Journal, on what I call a railroad for thought, by
which people in distant regions may communicate with
each other with very little difficulty.

FROM MR. BAKEWELL.

HAMPSTEAD, March 7, 1839.

A MAGNIFICENT geological work, full of plates,

sections, maps, and outlines has recently been published, —
price eight guineas and five crowns to subscribers, — by Mr.
Murchison, a gentleman of fortune, whom next to Professor
Sedgwick, I consider one of our best practical geologists.
It is a labor of seven years. In 1811, when I announced
my first practical investigations of an unknown district, I

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 63

visited Shropshire and Radnorshire, and was then con
vinced that there was a vast extent of what may be called
a transition country, that had never been noticed by Wer
ner and the wise ones of that time. Some of my obser
vations I communicated to Dr. Henry, Dr. Holland, and
Mr. Greenough,* and gave a short notice of the country
in the first edition of my " Geology" in 1813. The latter
observations were carped at or disputed by Conybeare,
and I have never since had the opportunity of reviewing
the country attentively, or even visiting the greater part
of it. Mr. Murchison's views confirm all my first conclu
sions. His work is entitled "The Silurian System," (a
name I do not much approve) ; it comprises the regions
occupied by the ancient Silures (a British nation). The
great basis of the country is " transition " between the coal
and the most ancient slate rocks, comprising also several
coal-fields and insulated portions of secondary formations.
This country is singularly broken by the protrusion of
remarkable igneous or volcanic rocks of whose nature I had
little doubt ; but Dr. Holland, whom I showed specimens
to in 1811, although he was just returned from Iceland,
declined to give an opinion. I had then never seen a re
cent or acknowledged volcanic rock in situ. Mr. Murchison
has kindly presented me with a copy of his work, and if
my health and strength permit, I will send a review of it for
your Journal (which will probably be the last labor of mine

in geology) I don't know whether Dr. M. has

enclosed you a little tract of Horace Smith in favor of
railroads. In the conclusion, he says we have been all
travelling upon a fine locomotive system, from the clay of
our birth, 68,000 miles per hour ; the comparison with rail
road speed is striking, yet how few think about it ! Mr.
Hazlitt said, justly, the discoveries in astronomy have com
pelled bigots to lengthen Jacob's ladder. Indeed, such

* Greenough set off immediately to Radnorshire, but brought back nothing
but doubts and puzzles.

64 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

persons ought to abhor astronomy much more than geol
ogy, which only relates theologically to a question of time
on one subject. But I must conclude, with sincere regard,

Yours very truly,

ROBERT BAKEWELL.

P. S. On the 10th of this month I believe I shall stand
on the seventy-first arch of the bridge.

FROM MR. BAKEWELL.
HAMPSTEAD, (near London,) October 30, 1839.

I HAVE often thought of what I mentioned in a

former letter, — the formation of a simple universal lan
guage for correspondence among all Europeans and their
descendants. I believe it might easily be practised and
learned, and serve also as a commodious short-hand for
all nations. I hope I shall be able to explain the intro
ductory principles, and leave it to be worked out by your
self, or some of your compatriots who take the lead in use
ful inventions. What think you of the insect-tree lately
discovered in South America, — see the "Athenaeum," num
ber for October. We have something analogous in the
animalcule swimming with great activity, and then fixing
themselves and becoming vegetables. Young sponges, too,
are described as extremely frolicsome for some time, before
they grow steady and fix themselves to one place for life.
The whole of animal and vegetable life is truly h._ 'vellous;
the propagation of species by common natural laws is as
wonderful as their instant creation out of nothing could be,
or that an oak should, at a certain state of its growth, b^-
come a man. Take an egg in your hand for the first time ;
could you believe that it would become an eagle ? To
return to Mr. M.'s book. I exceedingly regret that my
health will not allow me to do it justice in a review. I
believe I told him it was my intention to send you an ac
count, which I am not now equal to.

I am anxious about Dr. Mantell. I have not seen or

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SCIENTIFIC MEN. 65

heard of him since his son sailed for New Zealand in Sep
tember. I wrote to him last week, but have not yet had
an answer ; during the summer he said he had a decided
formation of pus on the lungs, but when he was last here
he seemed in his usual state of health. Excuse, my dear
sir, this rambling letter, and believe me, with sincere re
gard,

Yours most truly,

ROBERT BAKEWELL.
VOL. n. &

CHAPTER XIX.

COLONEL TRUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS.

Professor Silliman's Acquaintance with Colonel Trumbull. — His interview
with Colonel Trumbull, in 1830. —Purchase of Trumbull' s Paintings by
Yale College. — Colonel Trumbull on his Portrait of Washington. —
The Battle of Trenton. — The Battle of Bunker Hill, and General
Warren.— Anecdote of Colonel Small. — Painting of the Battle of
Princeton. — The Death of General Mercer. — Anecdotes relating to this
Painting. —Anecdote of General Mattoon and Colonel Trumbull. — The
Surrender of Cornwallis.

IT was mainly through the exertions of Mr. Silli-
man that the historical paintings of Colonel Trum
bull, as well as the building in which they are de
posited, were procured for Yale College. The artist
himself was an inmate of his family during several
of the closing years of his life. It was at Mr. Sil
liman's request that he composed the volume of
" Reminiscences of his own Times." Respecting him,
and the productions of his pencil, Mr. Silliman has
left a small manuscript volume of interesting anec
dotes, from which the remainder of this chapter is
extracted.*

Tlie Trumbull Gallery, and the Artist its Founder. — Col.
Trumbull was already a man in full life, twenty-three years

* The papers of Colonel Trumbull scarcely contain materials enough to
warrant a separate publication. Yet curious and valuable letters are found
among them. Some of these — letters from John Adams, Jefferson,
Lafayette, Benjamin West, and Lord Grenville — are printed in the Ap
pendix to this Memoir.

COLONEL TRUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS. 67

old. when I was born, and was approaching his meridian
while I was still a youth. As I came into early manhood,
I heard his praise from eminent men, — President Dwight,
Hon. James Hillhouse, and others; for his country was
proud of him ; and his fame, as a soldier of the Revolution,
and a friend and aid of Washington, his celebrity as an
artist, were cherished at home, and especially in his native
State of Connecticut. It was, therefore, no small gratifica
tion to me, and was felt to be an honor, to form his personal
acquaintance. Colonel Trumbull had been many years in
England cultivating his beautiful art, and having married a
lady of that country, when he was already in middle life,
he brought her to America, and early made, with her, a tour
to Quebec.

My first interview with Colonel Trumbull was in one of
the public rooms of Yale College, in which institution I
was then a tutor. It was, I believe, in October 180.1, dur
ing the autumnal session of the Legislature, when his distin
guished brother, Jonathan Trumbull, Esq., was in attend
ance, as Governor of the State. Pie came to the College
with Colonel and Mrs. Trumbull, and I was introduced in
the old Philosophical Hall, over the former chapel, now the
Athenaeum. The brothers were elegant, graceful gentle
men, of winning manners, and their familiarity with each
other, manifested in little sallies of wit, was pleasing to me,
who had regarded them only as grave, dignified men. A
picture of their father and mother was hanging on the wall.
The original was painted by Colonel Trumbull, and this
picture was a copy by a young artist.* It soon caught the
attention of the brothers, when the artist said, referring to
the wig and curls on his father's head, — " Ay, that looks
like a governor, not like this little queue of yours," at the
same moment playfully taking it up, and shaking it between
his fingers, much to the Governor's amusement, and to my
surprise.

* Mr. Fitch, of Lebanon.

68 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Ever after my introduction to this distinguished man, he
treated me as a friend, and, when in 1804, I was preparing
to visit England, he gave me valuable letters of introduc
tion, and still more valuable written instructions, as to life
in England, and especially in London, embodying the re
sults of his own long experience of twenty years. In fact,
my acquaintance with him ceased only with his life, al
though our intercourse was -mainly suspended during a pro
longed absence of his, in England, caused chiefly by the
war of 1812 to 1815. In the mean time, I had been
married to his niece.

The idea of depositing his paintings at New Ha
ven, was first broached in a conversation with Profes
sor Silliman.

When returning from a journey in 1830, I called upon
Colonel Trumbull, at his lodgings, at Miss Lentner's,
corner of Walker Street and Broadway, New York, it being
my habit to pay my respects to him when I was in the city.
The house was large, the apartments spacious, and two con
tiguous parlors, of uncommon dimensions, were adorned by
the paintings of Colonel Trumbull, which were advantage
ously suspended all around upon the walls. I had seen
many of them singly before, but had never seen them all
together, and some of them never before. I was, therefore,
strongly impressed and delighted by this unexpected vision,
and had the good fortune to find the venerable artist in the
midst of his treasures. Friendly salutations were followed
by fuller explanations of some of the subjects than I had
before received ; but I was sorry to find that the great artist,
at seventy-four years of age, was in a position far from eli
gible, and although surrounded by the splendid productions
of his own skill, talent, and taste, he was without a sure
foundation, upon which he might repose in the evening of
his life It might be indelicate in me, to report his

COLONEL TRUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS. 69

painful remarks, made in the confidential interview, of
which I am now writing. He then lamented his poverty in
manly, but energetic and eloquent language, which pain
fully touched my feelings. The very expressions which he
used, and his energetic action, are still with me, vivid as at
that moment. It was a painful onte, and was ended, for the
time, by a question from me, and an answer from him. Re
ferring to the paintings around us, which he stated were his
chief resource, I said : " And what, sir, do you intend to do
with them ? " He instantly replied, " I will give them to
Yale College to be exhibited forever for the benefit of poor
students, provided the College will pay me a competent
annuity for the remainder of my life." " Are you in earn
est, sir ? " " Certainly I am." " Am I then at liberty to go
home and act upon this suggestion ? " " You are at liberty,
and I authorize you to say so for me." " The proposition,
sir, is as grateful to me as it is surprising ; I will return
then, forthwith, to New Haven." I came back resolving,
like Colonel Miller, at Lundy's Lane, that I would try.

Our President, the Rev. Jeremiah Day, and my immedi
ate colleagues among the older members of the College
Faculty, as well as the officers of the fiscal department,
were men of liberal minds, and I found no difficulty in ex
citing in them a lively interest and a strong desire to ob
tain the prize that was thus remarkably offered to us. It
was true that, being as yet without authority from the
College Senate, the Corporation of the Institution, we had
no power to make a binding contract ; but we did not hesi
tate to proceed in preparing the case, not doubting that we
should be sustained.

We pass over the circumstances which attended
the purchase of the paintings and the establishment
of the Trumbull Gallery in connection with Yale Col
lege. Professor Silliman led the way in the efforts
which secured this result. His comments upon the

70 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

contents of this collection will be read with inter
est.

Portrait of General Washington. — The artist thought
this to be the best of all his portraits. Colonel Trumbull
informs us that this portrait was painted for the City of
Charleston in 1792, but that they preferred to see Wash
ington in his civil character, just as they had recently seen
him in his visit to that city. For this preference we have
reason to be grateful. I saw the Charleston portrait in a
public hall in that city, in February, 1845. It is far less
interesting than the military portrait in the Trumbull Gal
lery. In the latter picture the perilous crisis and the lofty
decision which it produced, are happily expressed in the
countenance of the General, and his noble figure stands
out in full relief upon the canvas. Colonel Trumbull,
when we were looking at the paintings, said to me : " You
may assure your young men that they here see the General
Washington of the Revolution, exactly as he appeared at the
head of the armies, when he was in the meridian of life.
The height of the figure is six feet two inches, which was
exactly his stature. His person, his spy-glass, his dress,
and all the appendages, even to his hat and gloves, are
faithful copies of the originals, and there is no other por
trait existing which does justice to his military appearance
and character." " My first painting of Revolutionary
events," added he, "was the Battle of Bunker's Hill, on
which occasion there were no horses, — the officers being
all on foot. The English, who had no conception of a
battle without horses, when they saw this painting at the
annual exhibition in Somerset House in London, said:
* Does not this American painter know what a horse is ! '
In this painting of Washington, I answered that question."
The horse, startled by the cannonade, is firmly held by
the soldier-groom, and is an appropriate companion of
Washington, who had always the finest horses ; he was a

COLONEL TRUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS. 71

fearless, graceful, and skilful rider, and when on horseback
his appearance was magnificent. At Mount Vernon, his
groom said to Mr. Daniel Wadsworth, that the only objec
tion he had against General Washington was, that he
" would come every morning to the stables, and see with
his own eyes the condition of the horses, and know that
they were well cared for." It will be remembered that the
sketch in the field-ground of the portrait is the cannonade
in Trenton, January 3, 1777, at the stone bridge over the
Assunpink River ; the time was about sunset, the evening
before the battle of Princeton. The advance of the army
from Princeton had been vigorously opposed by the patri
ots through the preceding day. All along the road, espe
cially at Maidenhead (now Lawrenceville,) and along the
margin of the river, and on to Sabbakong, near Trenton,
and even in the entrance of the town, the British army
was kept in check, and experienced heavy loss. It was
said that they lost one hundred and fifty men. In Colonel
Trumbull's picture, the rays of the setting sun have gilded
the limbs of an old leafless tree, — it being winter. The
cannonade at the stone bridge prevented the enemy from
passing over to storm the American camp.* Being in
Trenton in 1823, I conversed with an old gentleman who
was present on that occasion. We were at the moment in
his garden, on a rising ground, and he said to me : " Here
General Washington sat on his horse, on the very ground
where we now stand, and I heard him say, during the can
nonade : 'Give them plenty of grape.'" This was justly
regarded by the artist as the crisis of the Revolution and
of Washington's fame This painting is invalu
able, and its value is enhanced by the uniform testimony
of contemporary American officers with whom I have vis
ited the Gallery, and who have declared that the portrait
is a faithful likeness of General Washington in his grand-

* See an interesting summary of these events by C. C. Haven, Esq.,
Trenton. 1856.

72 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

est and most interesting attitude. The portrait was painted
at Philadelphia from the living original, during his first

Presidency, in 1792 At Fredericsburg, where

he spent his early youth, and where I passed some weeks
in 1836 with my son and Mr. Eli Whitney, they related
many anecdotes of his childhood and youth, but none that
were marked by sin or folly. Here, also, is the house in
which his mother lived and died ; and we saw at the Rev.
Mr. McGuire's, in the possession of his lady, the silk velvet
coat which Washington wore at the ceremony of his first
inauguration as President, at New York, in 1790. A
small triangular piece had been cut out of the skirt and
carried away as a relic. It was done by Le Vasseur, the
private secretary of Lafayette, during a visit of that
friend of Washington in 1824, — the ready scissors of Le
Vasseur being slyly drawn from his pocket for the purpose.
The theft was not discovered until the party were gone,
and it was not difficult to pardon it. This is the coat that
is painted in Stuart's picture, which exhibits Washington
in a civil capacity, in the evening of life, in a totally differ
ent costume and association of circumstances from those of
the military era ; and the expression .of his face is altered
by a recent set of artificial teeth, pressing the lips unduly
outwards. We may presume that the art of making and set
ting artificial teeth was then in its infancy in this country,
and even in Europe. These circumstances will account
for the difference between the portraits by Trumbull and
Stuart. Both, we believe, were excellent likenesses at the
time they were painted.

The Battle ^Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775.—

The late Dr. John C. Warren, the eminent surgeon, of
Boston, had at his house an interesting portrait of his
uncle, and a large historical picture, showing General
Warren on horseback, guiding the provincials to the battle
ground in Lexington, where some of them were already
engaged with the British troops. I saw these pictures at

COLONEL TRUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS. 73

Dr. Warren's house, and there he showed me also a book
of prayer and hymns, which was in the pocket of his uncle
when he fell. It was taken to England by a British sol
dier, and a benevolent clergyman there purchased and
transmitted it to the family friends in Boston. It is still in
good preservation. In my last interview with Dr. John C.
Warren, two or three years ago, at his house, he showed to
me and my companion the skull of General Warren, and
also the skull of his own father. They were cleaned as
bones usually are when prepared for an anatomical museum.
General Warren's skull having been perforated by the ball
which killed him, the hole, as we saw it, was well defined.
He fell as our troops were returning, and the ball was
found in the skull. Dr. Warren remarked that probably
this skull might be wanted again on Bunker Hill. I sup
pose that he alluded to its expected association with the
monumental statue which we had seen in the studio of
Mr. Dexter, the sculptor, in Cambridgeport, and which has
been recently established, with imposing ceremonies, on
Bunker Hill. He gave no solution of his having disin
terred the skull of his own father, with whom, more than
fifty years ago, I passed an agreeable and instructive even
ing at his house in Boston. Now the eyeless orbits, the
speechless mouth, and the vacant skull, once belonging to
a great man, could assign no reason why they were evoked
from the tomb. Was it in sympathy with that ultra- profes
sional feeling which induced the late distinguished surgeon
to order in his will, regardless of family claims, that his
own body should be anatomically prepared and placed in
the anatomical museum ? which was done accordingly.
General Warren was buried first, I believe, on the battle
field, then in Park-Street Cemetery, from which his re
mains were disinterred by his nephew, — I suppose, as

remarked above, for monumental commemoration

It will be remembered that in the battle of Bunker's Hill
the British troops were twice repulsed with great slaughter.

74 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

When they returned the third time to the onset, Colonel
Small found himself almost alone in front of the patriots,
his soldiers having been shot down around him. At that
moment he saw several Americans levelling their pieces,
apparently at him, and knowing that they were marksmen,
he already considered himself a dead man ; but at that in
stant his old friend Putnam rushed forward, and with his
sword knocked upward the American guns, exclaiming at
the same time : " My dear fellows, for God's sake do n't
shoot that man, — I love him as I do my own brother ! "
Major Small bowed and waived his sword in acknowledg
ment ; and the day after the battle, he obtained a flag, and
went over to the American lines to thank his generous
friend for saving his life. When Major Small was stand
ing in London to be painted for his picture, he related this
occurrence to Colonel Trumbull, who, in presence of the
painting, related it to me The late Colonel Ches
ter, of Wethersfield, commanded on that day a volunteer
company of young men drawn from his own town and the
vicinity. They were among the troops that manned the
lines of rail-fences and hay stretching from the redoubt to
the Mystic River. A large and powerful man stood by the
side of a pale-faced youth of slender figure, when, within
the hearing of Captain Chester, the athletic soldier said to
his comrade : " Man, you had better retire before the fight
begins ; you will faint away when the bullets begin to whiz
around your head." The pale-faced man replied : " I don't
know but I shall, as I never heard one ; but I will stay
and see." Colonel Chester, from whom I received the
story, told me that he observed the pale man doing his
duty in firing and loading with cool deliberation ; but the
boastful man of muscle and bone, but without moral cour
age, was missing, and was afterwards found alive, unharmed,
as he was secreted under a hay-cock.

Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton.—
... . After the fall of General Mercer, and the brief

COLONEL TRUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS. 75

retreat of his corps when pressed by the British bayonets,
while they had only rifles without bayonets, General Wash
ington, at this perilous moment, came up with fresh troops,
rallied the fugitives, and turned the tide of battle. This is
the crisis which the artist chose, and most skilfully has he
wrought out the fearful drama. General Washington, as
he himself stated to the artist, was here in more peril than
in any other conflict, more even, he said to Colonel Trum-
bull, than in Braddock's defeat. Rushing at the head of
his troops into the space between the two armies, the volleys
of both passed by him, over him, around him, and touched
him not ; nor was he ever wounded either in the many
battles of the old French and Indian wars on the frontiers,
or in those of the Revolution. If he bore a charmed life,
it was charmed by the good providence of God, which re
served him for a noble destiny in the cause of his country
and of mankind.

Captain Leslie of the British Army. — At the house of
Hon. Henry Thornton, M. P., in October 1805, I sat at
dinner next to Lord Leven and Melville of Scotland, who
inquired whether I had ever visited the battle-ground near
Princeton. I answered that I had twice been there as
an interested observer, when he added, with a sigh, " I had
a brother, Captain Leslie, who was slain in that battle." In
the picture he is seen on the right, near the dark-visaged
Colonel Mawhood, his countenance pale, and his sword
dropping, held only by a leathern thong. Colonel Trumbull
told me that when he was painting this picture, the cele
brated traveller and artist, Sir Robert Kerr Porter, came in,
and Trumbull said to him : " How shall I best express
the first faltering of life under a mortal wound?" He
replied : " We soldiers usually wear a leathern thong or
strap around the wrist of the sword hand, and in battle it
is connected with the hilt of the sword, that we may not
drop it, if wounded in that arm." This advice or intimation
was followed, as seen in the picture.

76 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

When Captain Leslie was found among the fallen, Dr.
Rush, on ascertaining his name from his servant, begged
permission of General Washington, to devote himself to the
dying youth, who was already past consciousness ; " for,"
added he, " I was, when a student in Edinburgh, received
almost as a son in the family of his father, Lord Leven and
Melville, and I have often, when he was a child, dandled

that young man on my knee." This admirable

painting fully entitles the artist to *a distinguished place
among historical painters, and is alone sufficient to establish
his fame with posterity. It is as full of life as a scene of
death can be. In one of our interviews in the Gallery,
where the artist often discoursed to me and answered my
inquiries, I put this question to him, as we happened to be
standing near the finished picture of the Battle of Prince
ton, — "Suppose, sir, that your paintings in this gallery
were doomed to destruction, and you were allowed to save
only one, which should it be ? " He promptly replied, " I
would save this painting of the Battle of Princeton."

While Colonel TrumbulFs application for a pension was
pending at Washington, he was at a loss for a proper docu
ment to prove that he had ever served in the army during
the Revolution. For, strange as it may appear, there were
no proper records to be found. Having heard that General
E. Mattoon of Amherst, Mass., was in the campaign on
Block Island, against the British army that occupied New
port, and Colonel Trumbull, having himself served on that
occasion, as aid to General Sullivan, the American Com
mander, a correspondence ensued between them and Gen
eral Mattoon, fully confirmed the fact of Colonel Trumbull's
service, as is fully narrated in his autobiography. This
interesting coincidence brought these two veterans together
in my house in the summer of 1838. Colonel Trumbull
then painted an excellent portrait of General Mattoon,
which was very acceptable to his children and friends,

COLONEL TRUMBULL AND HIS PAINTINGS. 77

although his vision had left him, and he could not see the
picture of himself. While he was staying with us I brought
from the College Library General Burgoyne's " State of the
Expedition from Canada," for General Mattoon was actually
engaged in that campaign. As he was familiar with the
topography along that part of the Hudson, he could under
stand the descriptions as I read them ; and by guiding his
finger along over the ample maps and plans by which the
work is illustrated, he readily understood the different posi
tions of the contending armies ; the patriotic ardor of his
youth was revived, and he lived that perilous period over
again. I called his attention to Burgoyne's last encamp
ment, and to the house which I had visited in 1821, in
which the Baroness Reidesel and her children took refuge,
— at last in the cellar, during a terrible cannonade which
pierced the house with round shot. I adverted to the case
of the poor wounded British soldier who, when placed on
a table to suffer the amputation of a shattered limb, lost
the other by a cannon ball. He not only remembered the
history of that house, but added, that he was the officer of
artillery who, from the opposite side of the river, pointed
the cannon that did so much mischief; but added that the
cannonade was directed against what was supposed to be a
rendezvous of British officers, and not against wounded
men, and women and children. Thus, sixty-one years after
the event, we had with us an actor in those scenes, still
vigorous at eighty-four or eighty-five, with a mind not im
paired, and a heart still warm in his country's cause. And
the artist who copied his features and person was a coeval
veteran of unabated power and artistic skill.

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis. — Rochambeau is on a
brown horse a little detached from the group. The artist
had good proof of the accuracy of the likeness of the Gen
eral. It was first painted upon a hand-card, and Colonel
Trumbull being in Normandy in. France, as he was passing

78 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

to his chamber in the hotel with a candle in one hand, and
the picture in the other, the light flashed upon it, whereupon
the landlady, who was showing him his room, exclaimed, —
" 0 Monsieur Rochambeau ! " The artist replied, " Pray
what do you know of Monsieur Rochambeau ! " " 0, did
he not always lodge here when he passed this way ? "

Professor Silliman thus concludes the little manu
script volume from which the foregoing passages are
taken : —

I have now fulfilled a duty which I owed to the mem
ory of the venerable man who confided everything to me,

and I hold in higher admiration and veneration

than ever, the illustrious father of American Historical
Painting.

CHAPTER XX.

RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT DAY: DOMESTIC AFFLICTION.

Resignation of President Day. — Letter of Chancellor Kent. — Visit to
Boston: Agassiz. — Death of Mr. Elihu Chauncey. — Visit from Agas-
siz. — Birthday Reflections, (1848). — Death of Jeremiah Mason.— Visit
to his Early Home. — Proposal to Resign. — Death of Mrs. Silliman. —
Religious Thoughts. — Visit to Washington : President Taylor; Secre
tary Clayton. — His Consent to withdraw his Resignation.

WHILE Professor Silliman was engaged in his la
bors abroad, he lost none of his zeal in the work of
college instruction. So many years had he taught,
'that his pupils were now dispersed in every part of
the land. On the retirement of Dr. Day from the
Presidency, it was natural that some should look to
him as a fit successor. His selection for the vacant
office was, in fact, urged by a number of distin
guished civilians. This was done the more earnestly,
as it was, known that Professor Woolsey was unwill
ing to accept the station. But Professor Silliman
was only six years younger than the retiring Presi
dent. Giving instruction by lectures, and during
only a portion of the year, he was, of course, less at
home in the details of college discipline, than if he
had been in the habit of meeting the students in
daily recitations. Besides, his election would have
involved a departure from the uniform precedent, if
not the law, of the Institution, according to which
the Presidency must be filled by a clergyman. Pro-

80 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

fessor Silliman, it is needless to say, was entirely
satisfied with the action of the Corporation, and ren
dered to the administration of Dr. Woolsey his cor
dial support. But he was, at the same time, gratified
by various expressions of regard which he received,
on this occasion, from old and valued friends, among
whom were Charles Chauncey, and Chancellor Kent.
The latter, under date of August 3, 1846, in a let
ter to Judge Baldwin of New Haven, wrote as fol
lows : —

"I understand that at the annual Commencement, a
President is to be chosen in the room of the venerable
President Day, and permit me to say, that I ardently hope,
that our friend. Professor Silliman, may be his successor.
I do not know the man within the College catalogue, that
has a better title to the honor, and who is more fitted to fill
the station, with reputation to the College, and the general
and warm approbation of the community. His character
is pure and estimable. He has sustained his professional
duties for a long series of years, with distinguished ability
and success. His talents, his learning, his science, his
taste, his purity and elevation of character, and his varied
and almost universal accomplishments, point him out as the
very person that ought to be chosen I feel an un
shaken love and attachment to Yale College, and I should
deeply regret, as one of its ancient alumni, if Professor
Silliman (provided he is willing to accept, of which I
know nothing,) should be passed by. I express these wishes
of mine, on my own spontaneous suggestion, and hope and
trust you will be willing to give to the choice of Professor
Silliman your effective countenance. In my humble opin
ion, the elevation of Professor Silliman to the presidential
chair, will add diffusive renown to the College, both in this
country and in Europe."

VISIT TO BOSTON. 81

At the beginning of the following year, Professor
Silliman visited Boston, where he had the pleasure
of hearing Agassiz, and of meeting old friends. The
annexed notices are from the " Diary," on which we
must hereafter chiefly depend: —

Wednesday Morning, January 13, 1847. — In the after
noon of this day, and also on Friday evening, I attended
a lecture of Agassiz, in the Lowell Institute, now holding
its lectures in the Tremont Theatre, which has become a
church. Professor Agassiz gives great satisfaction, and
wins universal favor. The vast extent of his knowledge
in all departments of natural history, his almost unexam
pled industry, and winning affability and modesty, make
him a great favorite. His course is devoted to tracing the
origin and progress of the creation of animals, from the
earliest to the latest ; and the fossil animals, he is able, from
his extensive acquirements, to compare with the living cre
ation His manner is calm, dignified, and yet en
gaged. He uses, in general, very good English, — some
times hesitating for a word, but generally finding the right
expression.

January 17. — In Boston I experienced great hospitality
and kindness, and was warmly greeted by many of my
old friends-; affectionately, by not a few. I dined with
Warren Dutton and lady and family, and also with Josiah
Quincy, Jr., and family, including his parents and Miss
Sedgwick, the celebrated authoress ; and everything was
very agreeable. I was at a Warren Club, newly got up,
and called after the Warrens ; it brought together many
of the distinguished men of the town at Dr. Lawrence's.
There was also a soiree at Dr. C. T. Jackson's, — I suppose
for Agassiz and myself, — and here I met many old friends,

and made some new acquaintance Among those

families that gave me a warm reception were the Law
rences, the Lambs, Masons, Warrens, Bruens, Duttons,

82 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Quincys, Blagdens, &c. It was a period of relaxation and
recreation, equally grateful and useful.

Soon after, he was afflicted by the death of his old
friend and classmate Mr. Elihu Chauncey, of Phil
adelphia, of whom he thus speaks : —

1847, April 11. — When he was a guest with us, less
than eight months ago, and when I saw him at his own
house in Burlington, N. J., September 15, on my way to
Reading, and again on my return, September 23, he ap
peared in fine health and spirits. He and his brother
attended me to the steamboat, on the morning of Septem
ber 24, and there, unconsciously, I took my last leave of
him. His visit with us in the summer was very acceptable
to us. He was very cheerful, and his conversation highly
instructive and agreeable ; there was in him great depth
and scope of thought, and his moral sentiments and affec
tions were seated in his inmost soul. He was a playmate
of my boyhood, a classmate and associate of my youth, and
the warm friend of my whole life. This death comes very
near to me, and I must be reminded how near I too may
be to death. The circle of my early friends is fast narrow
ing Mr. Chauncey has been a man of unusual

wealth, and vast engagement in affairs of money. I once
asked him whether there was not danger in such extensive
engagements in worldly affairs, and in the allurements of
wealth ; he allowed that there was, but took my remarks
very kindly. «

An agreeable visit from his friend Agassiz is here
described : —

1847, May 2. — He arrived at two o'clock on Monday,
May 2, and was attended by his two friends, E. Desor and
Count Pourtalis. They remained with us until Saturday,
May 7, when they went for New York city, on their way to
Albany. Their time in New Haven was occupied chiefly

VISIT FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 83

in scientific reading, discussions, and excursions

There was a soiree at Benjamin's for them, when very con
siderable numbers of our most respectable literary men
were present. Agassiz is a highly interesting man, — from
his talents, his great acquirements, especially in natural
history, his fine, open, winning manners, and a countenance
both handsome and beaming with high intelligence and the
kind affections, by which he is animated. He is the delight
of all the societies in which he moves. He is at present in
ill health on account of his great exertions in Boston, in the
course of lectures, and in innumerable scientific conversa
tions. He had been confined for a month to his bed, and
for six weeks to his room. He is recovering his vigor
which was formerly very great. Once, as he informed us,
he could carry one man on his back, and at the same time
one man under each arm ; and he could lift an iron anvil
which the smiths were unable to raise. We are encouraged
to hope for a course of lectures from him in June, provided

his health is sufficiently restored Mr. Desor is a

scientific amateur, and has for ten years attended Agassiz
in his tours, &c. Count Pourtalis is a young man about
twenty-one, of a titled and opulent family in Neufchatel,
and also is an amateur of science. Agassiz is in his
fortieth year ; Desor some years younger. Agassiz speaks
English very well ; the others after a fashion, but can be
understood, although with some difficulty. All appear to
be true, amiable, and unsophisticated men, lovers of knowl
edge for its own sake. All of them have scaled the high
Alps, and several peaks that had not been surmounted
before. I was almost entirely devoted to them during the
week, as were B. S., Jr., J. D. D., and to some extent the
ladies of the family. I made out, however, with some diffi
culty, to prepare a long memorial to the Legislature— nine
teen pages — on the subject of our new professorship for
agriculture and the arts. It was corrected and copied, and
passed to the Legislature on Tuesday May 10. The next

84 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

day I went to Hartford to support it, and had a hearing
before the Committee on Education, — nine in number, the
chairman included. I addressed them for about three-
quarters of an hour upon the bearings of science and the
arts upon the interests of society, and had a respectful
hearing, and am told that the impression was favorable.
This was at eight o'clock on Thursday morning, May 13.

In the following passage, he alludes to an occu
pation to which he gave much time in the latter part
of his life : —

During the last week I have been deeply interested in
the reperusal of many letters of my dear father and mother,
and many of the father of my mother, the Rev. Joseph Fish,
minister of Stonington. My father's letters extend through
the Revolution, and also my mother's responses through

very trying times and circumstances I have been

deeply affected by the perusal of this correspondence ; the

letters are arranged by my daughter, Mrs. H , in a

book. There is great depth and strength of affection run
ning through them all ; zealous devotion to each other's
happiness, and ardent piety and patriotism. I have de
scended from the wise and the good, the pious, the patriotic,
and the pure in heart, who, I have no doubt, now see God.
I am softened and tenderly affected, especially towards my
beloved parents, who were noble people. My father I well
remember, although only eleven years old when he died,
(July 21, 1790,) in his fifty-eighth year. My precious
mother survived him twenty-eight years, having died at
Wallingford, July 2, 1818, aged eighty-two years. I had
long and tender intercourse with her, and she was often in
my family, and it would have been my wish to have had
her there always. I have great satisfaction in having re
cently had her portrait restored by Jared Flagg, from a
portrait by Moulthrop, — the latter a good likeness, but not

RELIGIOUS REFLECTIONS. 85

a good picture. As copied and improved by my sugges
tions, it is my own blessed mother at fifty-seven to fifty-
eight years old, almost returned to life again. She has the
same smile and glow of maternal love in her bright face,
with which she was wont to meet us (my brother and my
self), when we came home from college.

Religious reflections, to which he was never a
stranger, become more and more frequent in his
Diary : —

1848, April 21st. — This is Fast-day, and brings a wel
come day of repose and reflection, amidst the agitations of
a busy world. We have always occasion enough for humil
iation and penitence, especially when we realize how insuf
ficient are our resolutions, how imperfect our obedience,
how frequent our transgressions. The decided conviction
of my own mind is, that we cannot depend upon ourselves
for salvation. All our obedience is due from us, as much as
if it were to be the ground of our acceptance, and it is the
only proof which we can present to ourselves or others that
we are really Christians ; but it falls so far short of the
standard of God's moral law, that we must rely upon a
righteousness not our own for our justification, and that
righteousness is Christ's. This is a good custom of our
ancestors to call the people off one day in a year from their
ordinary employments to consider in a more thorough man
ner than usual their great spiritual interests.

On entering upon his seventieth year, he wrote as
follows : —

August 8th, my Sixty-ninth Birthday. — It is a solemn
period of life when one enters his seventieth year. This is
now my case. But I cannot say with old Jacob, that my
days have been few and evil. Upon the reduced scale of
human life, my days have already been many, and they

86 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

have not been evil. Afflictions have indeed been scattered
along my path of life, but they have not been more than
were good for me, and my sources of happiness have been
numerous and rich. I bless God for the large measure of
happiness which I have enjoyed, — as much as is best in a
state which is mutable and transient. What I sigh for is
not riches, honors, or pleasures. Riches I have never sought,
they have not entered into my views of life, but such in
come and emoluments have followed my professional efforts
as have afforded all needed supplies ; honors I have not
coveted, but a fair reputation from honest efforts to perform
my duty, however imperfectly done ; and as to pleasures,
the moral and intellectual have surpassed the physical. A
cheerful temper and active temperament have made life
grateful to me ; and I have ten thousand blessings for which
to thank the Father of mercies, while I feel that I cannot
be justified before Him by any works of righteousness which
I have done, but infinitely need the shield of His mercy
through Christ the Redeemer of men. What, therefore, I
most earnestly desire is a holy heart and a holy life exempt
from temptations and sins. I have still firm health and
cheerful courage and energy in the performance of duty.
A large, happy family clusters around me, and my dear
wife is still spared to them and me, although she has been
frequently threatened, and many dear friends have been
called away from us.

His circle of friends was so large, that a death
among them was now no unfrequent occurrence.
Of one of them, Hon. Jeremiah Mason, he thus

My friends are fast assembling in the other world. Mr.
Mason was a native of Lebanon, Conn., and a graduate of
Yale College, in 1788, in the same class with Rev. Dr.
Chapin. He (Mr. Mason) with Hon. Jeremiah Smith of

DEATH OF HON. JEREMIAH MASON. 87

Exeter, New Hampshire, and Hon. Daniel Webster, vindi
cated the cause of Dartmouth College, and of all similar in
stitutions. I first knew him at Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
in 1818, (July, I believe,) where he then lived. I was going
to Portland and Brunswick, to attend the Commencement
of Bowdoin College, when Mr. Ticknor offered me a letter
of introduction, which secured me a very kind reception,
and I have ever since maintained a very friendly intercourse
with Mr. Mason and his family. He was a lineal descend
ant from Captain Mason, who destroyed the Pequot In
dians. He was a noble man, and as Mr. Clay said of him,
very truly, a giant in stature and a giant in mind. His
height was not less than six feet six inches, and his person
large in proportion. His mind took a wide range of obser
vation, and his conversation was, in a high degree, instruc
tive and interesting, with a winning amenity of voice and
manner. On my return from Hanover, I was at Mr. Ma
son's for half an hour, Friday evening, September 29, and
then had my last interview with him and his lady and
daughter. I thought him somewhat more marked by age
than when I last saw him, which was, I believe, two years
before. I did not view him as near to the close of life,
although he lived only fifteen days after that time. I
suppose him to have been a religious man. During my
Lowell courses, I called there late in the evening to bid
him farewell, and found him engaged in his family devo
tions. His family have been favored by his continuance
with them to a good old age, fourscore, — and I think it a
privilege to have known him.

Those who have followed the course of this Me
moir from the beginning, will be interested in his
account of a visit to the home of his childhood.

December 1, 1848, Friday. — At eight o'clock, A. M., my
daughters, Mrs. Church, Mrs. Hubbard, and her husband,

88 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Professor Hubbard, my son, B. S., Jr., and his wife, and
young William Silliman Hillyer of New Albany, Indiana,
grandson of my elder half brother, with myself, left home
at eight o'clock, A. M. ; the depot at eight and three quar
ters, on the rails of the New Haven and New York road,
and were at Bridgeport, eighteen miles, before ten o'clock.
Here, by previous arrangement, carriages were ready, and
we all proceeded three miles, by old Pequamoc, noticing
by the way interesting objects, as the site of the old
school-house, now removed, where my brother, G. S. S.,
and I, were taught the elements of knowledge ; also,
Knopp's mill, one mile from my father's mansion, where
was formerly our grinding-place ; the place also for washing
sheep, and a considerable fishery of alewives by the seine.
We next saw the beginning of my father's land, in the
duck-pond pasture, a tract of probably seventy acres ; there
were seven tracts of land, — one of them the homestead, —
and six others in different places, some at from one mile
to four miles distant. As we went up the hill, I pointed
out the spot where they found me, a little wanderer, of two
years old, strayed half a mile from home, lost for the time,
— looked for anxiously in the well and in many other
places, — but found at last, sitting quietly on a stone by the
bars, where the cows were put into the pasture. I showed
also the field where my father's fine bald-faced horse lost
his life, after surviving the battles of the Revolution, in
several of which he had been rode : the servant went down,
on a Sabbath morning, to lead him up for service, as we
lived two miles from the town, but we found him with both
fore-legs broken short off. He had Stepped into a crevice
between the two contiguous portions of a fissure rock, and

had fallen sidewise The old house, formerly my

uncle Ebenezer's, and built by him, being the elder brother
of my father, was sold to Mr. Eliot, after the burning of
Fairfield, in July, 1779, who, under my father's influence
and patronage, removed to Holland Hill, Mr. Eliot's house

VISIT TO HIS EARLY HOME. 89

having been burned by the British troops. In this old
house, fifty-seven and fifty-eight years ago, my brother and
I were prepared for college. We went up into the cham
ber where we used to recite, and saw the very spot on which
stood Mr. Eliot's bookcase, containing beautiful volumes
which he had saved from the conflagration of Fairfield,
and which he frequently dusted with great care, as he would

trust no one else to do it We went to the good

old mansion of my father. We passed the same little
bridge, made of a single flat stone, laid over a brook, dry
in summer, but occasionally filled by the rains and snow
floods. That bridge was often passed by me when a child,
and I was delighted to find it there, and also another little
bridge, over another transient brook, nearer to the house.
I had sent a note to Mrs. Penfield, the present occupant,
apprising her of our coming, and she and her daughter
were ready to receive us, and treated us with great cordial
ity. We went through the house, and I told my children
many interesting things of early days. The house is, in
the inside, unaltered in the most material things : the two
best rooms are almost exactly as they were fifty-six years
ago when my father died. The best chamber is entirely
unaltered; the same Prussian blue paint on the wood
work of this chamber, and the panels and all, without
shrinkage or injury of any kind. There is the same sky-
blue paper, of small figure, on the walls, and the same
narrow boards of white-wood or tulip-tree in the floor ; the
same deep closet where my father's arms were kept, with
a wig of my grandfather Silliman. A barrel of hickory-
nuts was always kept there, and on opening the door we
found a pile of the same sort of nuts. In this chamber,
our dear mother had a season of retirement with us, her
two younger sons, in the morning after breakfast, to hear
us read the Bible, and instruct us in its contents, while she
combed our hair and prepared us for school. I have re
purchased the same large family Bible, which was then in

90 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

fine order, and lay upon the table in that room. It was
sold at the general sale of effects, when my father's estate
was settled, but its place was traced out a few years ago, and,
although injured, it was repaired by the kind offices of a
friend. This chamber is connected with very interesting
associations, and when I entered it my emotions were very
strong. The front hall or entry remains as it was ; the oaken
pannels and staircase, painted by the Buddingtons probably
ninety years ago, remain as they were. In this entry, espec
ially up the stairs, we children were used to amuse ourselves,
sitting on the trunks, at our plays. The two bedrooms below,
at the extreme of the dining-room, remain ; and I explained
to my children how the Tories stormed the house at one

o'clock in the morning of May 1st, 1779 I should

have been glad of more time to go around the farms and
see where I used to set my snares and traps, where I used
to skate, to gather nuts, peaches, and apples, &c. ; but time
forbade, and we took leave of the old house, with a half
promise on my part, that I would return at some future
time, with some other members of my family.

It was a great satisfaction to me at the old house to
remember that it had been a house of prayer, and for
several generations the residence of the wise and the good,
— all its tenants, with one exception, having been hopefully
pious people.

When Professor Silliman had reached the age of
seventy, he felt that he might properly seek a release
from his long-continued service in College. His
proposition to vacate his office in the autumn of
1850, the response of the Corporation, and his reply
to the same, are here given.

To the President and Fellows of Tale College, —

GENTLEMEN, — I beg leave to avail myself of the occa
sion of your annual meeting for the present season, to com-

PROPOSED RESIGNATION. 91

municate to the Board my intention to retire from the
service of the College at the end of the ensuing academical
year, — that is, at the Commencement for 1850. I there
fore wish this communication to be regarded as a prospec
tive resignation to take effect at the time named ahove ; and
the Corporation will of course in their wisdom adopt in the
interim, any measures which the case may require. An
earlier retirement would, as I conceive, be inconsistent with
the interests of the Institution, and with existing duties,
both to the College proper, and to the Medical School ; and
I am therefore willing to serve for another year. If the
reasons of my retiring are asked, I will reply, that I am
daily admonished by the rapid flight of time, and often by
the departure of my contemporaries, that my work is nearly
done. Having now attained to the age of seventy, and fifty
years of my life having been passed in the service of the
College, I feel that I am entitled to a discharge, and that
a younger man ought, ere long, to fill my place. In the
retrospect I have the satisfaction to add, that from my col
leagues and from my fellow-men, I have received sympathy
and encouragement, and from the Corporation, both con
fidence and efficient aid ; but of those venerated men who
under President Dwight, invited me, in my youth, into the
service of the College, not one remains. The time of my
own departure from the College is at hand, and when it
shall arrive, I shall leave this long-cherished Institution
with deep affection and earnest solicitude for its prosperity,
and shall never cease to pray that God may continue to
regard it with favor, and to bestow upon it His blessing.

I remain, gentlemen,
Very respectfully, your obt. servant,

B. SILLIMAN.
YALE COLLEGE, August 8, 1849.
Die Natali.

92 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Professor Sittiman, —

DEAR SIR, — Your letter having been laid before the Fel
lows of Yale College, at their meeting convened August 13,
and adjourned August 16, 1849, it was Resolved, That this
Board entertains a high and grateful sense of the very em
inent services which Professor Silliman has rendered to the
College during his long term of office ; and regrets that the
approach of old age makes him feel it to be necessary to
withdraw from his professorship. Resolved, That he be
requested to continue his lectures in the departments of
Mineralogy and Geology, after the autumn of 1850, when
his resignation is to take effect, should his life and health be
spared until that period. And I was directed to furnish

you with a copy of these resolutions Allow me

to express my deep regret that the time draws nigh when
you and Professor Kingsley contemplate a partial or entire
sundering of that bond which has so long bound you to
Yale College. It will give me a feeling of loneliness and
desolation when you leave us.

Very truly and respectfully yours,

August 17, 1849. THEODORE D. WOOLSEY.

President Woolsey, —

REV. AND DEAR SIR, — I return you my thanks for your
letter of August 17, communicating a copy of certain res
olutions of the Corporation of Yale College, in relation to
myself and the professorship which I -have prospectively
resigned. I am gratified by the favorable opinion enter
tained of my services, and am grateful to you for the kind
manner in which you have communicated it. I will take
into respectful consideration the request of the Corpora
tion, that I would continue to teach in the mineral depart
ment of the professorship, and will in due time communi
cate my decision.

I remain, my dear Sir,
Very respectfully and truly yours,

Augusts, ISM. B. SILLIMAN.

DEATH OF MRS. SILLIMAN. 93

The latter part of this year was clouded by the
apprehension of a great affliction. The illness of
Mrs. Silliman is alluded to in the Diary in the fol
lowing notice of the death of one of her friends : —

Mrs. Olivia Day, wife of the Eev. President Day, died on
Friday noon, January 11, 1850. She took to her bed on
New Year's day, with a hard cold, which became first a
catarrhal, then a congestive, and finally a typhus fever.
On the day on which she took to her bed, she wept (as

Miss T who was with her informed me) because she

could not come to visit Mrs. Silliman as she wished to do,
and to watch with her ; but she was called away first, and
with a very short warning, while her friend still lingers
on the boundary line between the two worlds. My ven
erable friend, President Day, now far on in the evening of
life, is thus deprived of the companion of thirty-eight years ;
but he is a heavenly-minded man, and receives the bereave
ment with a most Christian spirit ; and he enjoys the alle
viation of domestic society. His two daughters, with the
husband of one of them, and an interesting grandchild,
make his house still a home while he lingers in this world,
and he has a better inheritance in store in the world which
is to come.

On the 18th of January, Mrs. Silliman died. Her

, illness had been long and distressing. The Diary,

for several months after this event, is taken up with

tender recollections of her life. In beginning a new

volume, he adverts to the same theme : —

March 3d. — The preceding number of this private
Journal closed with the death of my dearly beloved wife,
and many pages were devoted to her memory ; to an analysis
of her character ; to our mutual history of the events which
led to our marriage, and to extracts from numerous letters

94 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

of sympathy and condolence from affectionate friends, who
loved and revered her. Six weeks ago this day her cold
remains (lovely in death, her features having lost all traces
of suffering and of mortal agony, and having recovered
their natural expression) were still with us in the front
room where she died.

Since her death, I have reluctantly turned to any other
subject, being absorbed in the most interesting recollections,
and in the contemplation of her pure and elevated Christian
character. There have been few events to record. I have
made two journeys to New York, the first of love and sym
pathy to and with my children (M and F ) and

their families Of common occurrences I have little

inclination to take notice, and am not willing to lose the deep
and tender impression of the last month. I am not, I trust,
disposed to cherish a morbid grief of mere sensitive and
natural melancholy ; but I am anxious that this bereave
ment, the most painful that I have ever met with, may pro
duce in me its proper and best effects, in increased spirit
uality and diligent preparation for my own departure. I
hope never to lose the impressions now strongly engraved
upon my mind, which is however, not desponding, but
realizes a void in the absence of that wise and good, and
ever sincere and faithful wife, mother and friend, whose
place cannot be supplied fully even by my affectionate,
devoted, and excellent children. But there is One who can
console me, who can sustain me, and to Him I resort with
more earnestness than ever, and with the aid of the books
of spiritual counsel and practical piety, and of sacred poetry,
the holy hymns and heavenly songs, which were used by
my late wife, — the very volumes which her dear hands
have so often opened in her religious retirement, I hope
that I am drawing nearer to my God than ever before.

This day I have attended the sacred ordinance of our
Saviour, instituted in immediate contemplation of His death.
It is now a period of fifteen months since my dear departed

VISIT T<|f WAfHISGmN-., 95

wife was present at this olin^hce in public; but it was
celebrated in her sick-room HiQ^^wfiffflfj —- Rev. Professor
Goodrich having kindly made tnSSasgan Sfements and per
formed the service ; so that it is now more than half a
year since I united in partaking of these elements with
her who now needs, I trust, no symbols ; but, being in the
Saviour's immediate presence, is a purified, holy, and happy
spirit, and perhaps permitted even to revisit these scenes :
and who knows that her spirit may not now be conscious of
what I am doing? If such a thought should make me
vigilant, how much more should the certainty that I am
always in the presence of the infinite God !

Dr. Fitch's sermon to-day was on justification by faith,
— a doctrine full of comfort. Lord, I believe, help thou
mine unbelief! It is an unspeakable comfort to know that
our sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ, and that God
will not condemn us for sins for which we could never
atone, while our continued obedience is as much required
of us as if we expected to be saved by our performance of
duty. There is no comfort for the sinner except in the
intervention of the Saviour.

Yielding to the persuasions of his family, he left
home for a short visit to Washington.

New York, March 10, 1850. — We are on our way to
wards Washington, in consequence of the earnest request
of my son that I would meet him at Washington, where
he is expecting to arrive from Louisville with his family,
about the middle of next week. My daughters were ear
nest that I should go, and all coincide in the opinion that
some change of scenes may be useful to me, after the long
course of anxiety and affliction through which I have passed.
They have thought me to be in danger of cherishing sor
row too much. Perhaps I have done it more than was
expedient, and I am willing to become cheerful with sobri
ety, and to cherish spiritual affections, and hope never to

96 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

lose them. We have attended service to-day in St. Peter's,
an Episcopal church, whose minister, the Rev. Mr. Can-
field, is an evangelical man, and an earnest and instructive
preacher, without any tincture of Puseyism, or any other
form of High-Church opinions.

While in Washington, he paid his respects to
President Taylor, and also met his former pupil, Mr.
Secretary Clayton.

We — that is, Benjamin, Dr. Bartlett, and myself —
were introduced by Mr. Senator Baldwin, and were re
ceived in a frank and courteous manner by the President
in his business-room. His manners are plain and soldier
like, and he converses readily, and apparently with open
ness and candor. I inquired for his health, and whether
the change from a tent and the field to a palace had been
injurious. He said no, but spoke with partiality of his
tent of eight feet square. I inquired for his son, who was
some time at Yale College. He replied, that he was at
home taking care of affairs, and added : " I told him not
to come to Washington, that I would not give him any
office if he did, and that one in a family was quite enough."
This was said in a very pleasant manner. I alluded to the
great agitation now going on in Congress, when he replied,
that he believed they would be obliged to come to the plan
of the Administration at last, — that is, to permit the peo
ple of the territories to settle the question for themselves.
I replied that I had been much pleased with the sentiments
contained in his address to Congress, and thought they
indicated the true course. The interview did not last
more than six or eight minutes, when we took our leave
with a hearty shake of the hand. His manners are not
exactly graceful ; he has the appearance of being a little
nervous and not quite at his ease. The best portraits of
him are mainly correct ; but he is more care-marked, and

DEATH OF JOHN C. CALHOUN. 97

his face more deeply furrowed, than those pictures repre
sent.

Mr. Baldwin took me to the house of the Secretary of
State, Mr. Clayton, and I was received with the warmest
cordiality. Mr. Clayton was, in Yale College, a brilliant
scholar, and an elegant and beautiful young man, and I
had never seen him since that period, — thirty-five years
ago. His youthful form, light and graceful, is now enlarged
to that of a very portly man, and his hair is of snowy
whiteness. As he gave me his hand with a friendly grasp,
he said : " I should have known you, but you would not
have known me." I replied, that I might have passed him
in the street without recognition, but that I could now
recall his youthful features, his voice, manner, and ac
tion. He expressed very great pleasure at meeting me,
and said he had always retained me in grateful remem
brance ; that he had attended my lectures " with admiration
and delight " ; and he earnestly pressed me to prolong my
visit. ..... Mr. Clayton expressed great interest in

Yale College and its older officers. I reminded him of
the approaching termination of the third semi-centennial
period of the College, and invited him to be present, as
there would be some special commemoration ; he almost
engaged to be present and to speak on the occasion.

Shortly after his return from Washington, he had
occasion to record his reflections upon the death of a
distinguished statesman, once his pupil.

Sabbath Morning, April 7. — John C. Calhoun died at
Washington last Sabbath morning, calm, and in perfect
possession of his reason. No remark is quoted regarding
his soul and his prospects for another life. I have known
him from his youth up. I first became acquainted with
him at Newport, Rhode Island, when he was a youth pre
paring for College. I think it must have been about the

VOL. n. 7

98 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

year 1801. He there lived in the family of his aunt, Mrs.
F. Calhoun, whose daughter he afterwards married. He
was graduated in Yale College in 1804, after only two years
of actual residence. He was a first-rate young man,
both for scholarship and talent, and for pure and gentle
manly conduct. His high destination was foreseen by
Dr. D wight ; but his mind was of a peculiar structure,
and his views also were often peculiar. Three of his
College instructors are still here, — President Day, Pro
fessor Kingsley, and myself; and both towards us and
the College he always manifested feelings of warm at
tachment, and we in turn esteemed him and loved him.
His public career has been highly distinguished. It is,
however, very much to be regretted that he, many years
ago, narrowed down his great mind to sectional views, and
that he became morbidly sensitive and jealous of encroach
ment as regards the South, and especially in reference to
the protective tariff and to slavery. The former prompted
his efforts for nullification, and the latter excited him to
a vindication of slavery in the abstract. He in a great
measure changed the state of opinion and the manner of
speaking and writing upon this subject in the South, until
we have come to present to the world the mortifying and
disgraceful spectacle of a great republic — and the only
real republic in the world — standing forth in vindication
of slavery, without prospect of, or wish for, its extinction.
If the views of Mr. Calhoun, and of those who think with
him, are to prevail, slavery is to be sustained on this great
continent forever. I will not occupy time of a Sabbath
day, nor my pages, with any extended remarks upon this
subject, which is now agitating the national councils, and
to a degree the nation itself. These private pages are not
intended for politics, and I will not devote them even to
this great moral subject. It is in better hands than man's ;
and I trust that ultimately the colored men of all races on
this continent will be received into the great human family

WITHDRAWAL OF HIS RESIGNATION. 99

as rational beings, and as heirs of immortality. While I
mourn for Mr. Calhoun as a friend, I regard the political
course of his later years as disastrous to his country and
not honorable to his memory, although I believe he had
persuaded himself that it was right, and that he acted
from patriotic motives.

In compliance with the request of the College au
thorities. Professor Silliman consented to withdraw,
for the present, his resignation, which has been already
mentioned. »

During the week before the last, President Woolsey
called and informed me that a meeting of the Professors
and himself had been held, during my absence at Washing
ton, on the subject of my proffered resignation of my office
as Professor in Yale College, and that they had unani
mously voted to request me to reconsider that determina
tion. This was followed last Tuesday, April 9, by a vote
of the Prudential Committee to the same effect.

I annex my reply to President Woolsey's note : —

Rev. President Woolsey, —

DEAR SIR, — In compliance with the wish " unani
mously " expressed by the Prudential Committee, and com
municated in your note of this day, I think it my duty to
" reconsider my determination to withdraw from my profes
sorship." Important changes have taken place in the
course of the year, and I now feel, that should it be the
desire of the Corporation, I ought to follow the example of
President Day, and remain in my office for a season, until
Providence shall point out more distinctly the course of
duty both to the College and myself. I remain, very re
spectfully, yours,

B. SILLIMAN.

YALE COLLEGE, April 10, 1850.

100 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

The recurrence of his birthday filled his mind, as
usual, with devout thoughts.

August 8, 1850, my Birthday. — It was a solemn thing in
1848 to enter on my seventieth year, and, in 1849, to finish
it ; it is still more solemn to have lived through my seventy-
first. It is still a subject of lively gratitude that my health
remains perfect ; my eye is not dim, nor my natural force

abated I pray God, that as my years increase, I

may increase in divine knowledge and in goodness, and be

better prepared for my last and great change Last

evening, after writing the preceding page, I turned to the
seventy-first Psalm, and perused it with much interest. It
seems very applicable to me in my advancing years : " Thou
art my hope, O Lord ; Thou art my trust from my youth."
" I am as a wonder unto many " (because my strength has
not failed, blessed be God !) but I pray that Thou " wilt
not cast me off in the time of old age." " O God, be not
far from me " ; "I will go in the strength of the Lord
God." " 0 God, Thou hast taught me from my youth, and
hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works." " Now also
when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not,
until I have showed Thy strength to this generation." " I
will praise Thee, even Thy truth, O my God." " My lips
shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee." " My tongue
also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long."

CHAPTER XXL

VISIT TO EUROPE: SECOND MARRIAGE: RETIREMENT FROM
OFFICE.

His Second Visit to Europe. — His Reception and his Travels. — Letters
from Humboldt and Carl Ritter. — Letter from President Day. — His
Second Marriage. — Letters to Dr. John Griscom. — Death of Professor
Stuart. — Death of Professor Kingsley. — His Renewal of his Resigna
tion. — Interview with Daniel Webster. — Death of Dr. Mantell. — Pro
ceedings connected with his Retirement from Office. — His Reflections
on this Event.

AN event of signal interest, in this period of Pro
fessor Silliman's life, was a second visit to Europe,
which he accomplished in 1851. His companions in
travel were his son, Professor Silliman, Jr., with his
wife and her sister, a young uncle of these ladies,
a grandson of the elder Professor, — Mr. Walter S.
Church, and Professor George J. Brush. Landing
at Liverpool, the same port where he had disem
barked nearly half a century before, he had the pleas
ure of greeting once more Mr. John Taylor, whose
acquaintance he had formed in the earlier tour, and
with whom he had been for some time in friendly
correspondence. Arriving in London, he was warmly
welcomed by Dr. Mantell. They had never before
met, although an intimate friendship had grown up
between them through a correspondence which had
been continued for many years. At a meeting of
the Geological Society, he received marks of cordial

102 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

respect from Lyell, Murchison, and other distin
guished men of science, and was formally introduced
to the body, which he briefly addressed. In Paris,
like attentions were paid him by Adolphe Brongniart,
Milne Edwards, Elie de Beaumont, and other per
sons of distinction. He was escorted to a meeting
of the French Academy by Cordier, the sole survivor
of the corps of savans who attended Napoleon to
Egypt. Journeying southward, he passed through
Lyons and Marseilles to Geneva, and thence into
Italy, descending to Rome and Naples, and making
a brief visit to Sicily. At Naples, he was courteously
received by Professor Melloni. He explored the ruins
of Herculaneum, and evinced his bodily vigor by
climbing the sides of Vesuvius and exploring Etna,
and by the ascent of Mount Bolca, in an excursion
from Venice. After seeing the principal cities in the
North of Italy, he returned to Geneva. Here, as
everywhere, civilities were shown him by scientific
men of the highest position, by Pictet and Favre,
by Marigniac, and by De la Rive who recollected
and mentioned Professor Sillirnan's early experiments
in galvanism. Mount Blanc and the glaciers, he vis
ited with the double interest that belongs to a lover
of nature and a student of science. In Switzerland,
he met persons of his own name, descendants, it is
probable, of common progenitors. In Germany, his
name was well known to persons eminent in science,
with whom he was now brought into pleasant inter
course, — such as Liebig in Giessen, Broun and
Leonhard in Heidelberg ; and in Berlin, those illustri
ous men, — the brothers Rose, Mitscherlich, Ehren-
berg, Ritter, and Humboldt. Returning to England,

LETTER FROM: HUMBOLDT. 103

he spent a short time in London and its neighbor
hood, and after a prosperous voyage, arrived in New
York on the 14th of September.

It was a disappointment to him that he was cut
off, by want of time, from revisiting Edinburgh, his
old home. Bat he saw those parts of Europe which
he had been prevented from visiting in the earlier
tour. He had sustained the fatigues and exposures
of the journey with remarkable vigor, had met face
to face men whom he honored, and who were glad
to honor him, and had derived recreation from the
temporary withdrawal from his ordinary labors. A
Journal of his travels, entitled " A Visit to Europe
in 1851," was prepared by him, and has passed
through several editions.

It had given Professor Silliman peculiar pleas
ure to take by the hand those veterans in science,
— Humboldt and Hitter. From both of these great
men, whilst he was abroad and after his return,
he received marks of esteem and respect. Hitter
was of the same age as himself. He died before
receiving an answer to the last of the letters which
follow : —

FROM ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.

I AM greatly moved by the kindly words of Professor
Silliman (and his son, worthy of him). I have already
expressed to our common friend, Mr. Dove, how much I
desired to have the acquaintance of one whose labors have
exerted, during so many years, a beneficent influence upon
the progress of the physical sciences in your noble and free
country. Compelled to-day to return to the country hi
which are the tombs where I shall soon be placed, I reserve

104 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the reading of the interesting analyses of " the waters of
Montmorency and St. Charles Rivers," and the two papers
of Mr. Dana upon the growth and the trends of the islands
of the South Sea, as well as upon the effects of the contrac
tion (wrinkling) of the crust of the earth, which have been
before treated of by Babbage and Elie de Beaumont. If I
have moral reasons to fear the immeasurable advancement
of your Confederation, the temptations to an abuse of
power dangerous to the preservation of the individuality of
the other peoples of America, I should not the less recog
nize the great advantages which physics and the positive
sciences, the world over, must draw from this very advance
ment, from that intelligence which penetrates everywhere
with those civilizing conquests, which facilitate movement,
and superimpose, not without violence, new layers of pop
ulation upon the native races which rapidly become extinct.*
However imposing the spectacle may be which is taking
place under our eyes, and which is preparing another far
more curious for the history of the intellectual development
of our species, I foresee the remote epoch when the high
degree of civilization and of institutions, free, stable, and
quiet (three elements which do not readily coalesce), will
penetrate into the tropical regions ; when, upon the high
plateaux, Mexico, Bogota, Quito, La Pax, Potosi, will re
semble New York, Boston, Philadelphia.

Accept, I beg you, Sir, — yourself and your excellent
son, — the renewed expression of my high and affectionate
consideration.

ALEXANDER HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, August 5, 1851.

Be pleased, if you have the opportunity, to present my
warm regards to Mr. Agassiz, as eminent for his vast and

* In the margin opposite this sentence, Humboldt writes : " The pos
sible formation of a great State independent of sugar, slaves, cotton,
and the sweet legislation which accompanies the cultivation of these pro
ducts."

LETTERS FROM CARL RITTER. 105

solid acquisitions of knowledge, as for the great amenity of
his character.

FROM CARL RITTER.*

RESPECTED SIR, — In the name of the Geographical
Society of Berlin, I have the pleasure of sending to you
their diploma, — the Society having honored itself by elect
ing you an extraneous honorary member, — in the hope that
you will accept it as a sign of respect and thanks for the
great scientific contributions, including those to the special
geographical department of this Society, with which you
have enriched, for so long a period of labors and exertions,
the old continent from the new.

With the greatest respect, and the best wishes for your
welfare,

Your most devoted servant,

CARL RITTER, President of
the Geographical Society at Berlin.

BERLIN, August 4, 1851.

FROM CARL RITTER.

RESPECTED SIR, — The personal intercourse you favored
me with, on your visit to Berlin in 1851, and the spirited
notes and characteristics you gave (in the " Visit to Eu
rope," Vol. ii. 318-322) respecting the now deceased,
greatest, and at the same time humblest and loveliest,
of our philosophers, the immortal Alexander Humboldt.
encourages me to send you a Programme having reference
to the perpetuation of his memory by continuing to work,
in his spirit of liberty and of love for mankind, for the ad
vancement of science and humanity, and for the welfare of
all civilized nations.

All who will freely favor the foundation of the Humboldt
Stiftung, will partake in the results of an institution that

* The preceding letter of Humbolt is translated from the French. The
letters of Ritter were written in English. — F.

106 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

will be founded after the principles declared in the Pro
gramme subjoined, by the best representatives of our acad
emies and coryphaei of science. Would that other com
mittees would associate themselves to contribute to the
creation of this scientific organon !

Hoping that you, respected sir, will accept with kind
ness the invitation, and promulgate the character of it to
your countrymen, who loved and admired their glorious
" half- American confrere," as he called himself on sev
eral occasions, and pardon the boldness and confidence
with which I address you, I have the honor to subscribe
myself

Your most respectful and devoted

CARL HITTER,

Dr. and Prof.
BERLIN, August 8, 1859.

Among the letters which he received in Europe,
was one from his oldest colleague in office.

FROM PRESIDENT DAY.

NEW HAVEN, July 26, 1851.

MY VERY DEAR FRIEND, — I have this day received your
interesting letter of the 1st from Milan. Thanks to a
beneficent Providence which has thus far preserved your
life and health in the multiplied exposures incident to your
varied wanderings on the land and on the water. I rejoice
that you are able to sustain the labors and exhausting ex
citement of a tour so diversified and so deeply interesting.
What a contrast to the monotonous tenor of my life at
home, the post-office being about the limit of my daily
peregrinations ! Yet I ought to be grateful that I am in
circumstances so well adapted to my infirm state of health.
Professor Stanley, whose travels have been further ex
tended than yours, to Egypt and across the desert to Pales
tine, has returned with no great improvement of his health.

LETTER FROM PRESIDENT DAY. 107

He is, perhaps, some better than when he left us, nearly a
year since. Though changes in this land of progress and
intense activity, are more rapid than on the other side of
the water, yet such is now the facility of communication
with Europe, that I can probably give you very little infor
mation which has not already reached you. The principal
subject of public agitation, for many months past, is the
law of Congress for the restoration of fugitive slaves. Pol
iticians of opposite parties are endeavoring to make capital
from it, for the next Presidential election. This dark
feature of slavery is to be the plague spot of our beloved
country, for a long time to come.

Monday morning^ July 2Sth. — Being interrupted by com
pany on Saturday, my letter was left unfinished. How
rapidly the years roll away. We have already come round
to another Commencement week. The first exercise of the
occasion was an admirable valedictory discourse by Dr.
Fitch, yesterday afternoon. This evening Dr. Bushnell is
to deliver an address on music, on the introduction of an
organ into the College Chapel. While the new class are
under examination for admission, we are favored with an
eclipse of the sun. Thanks to the progress of science that
we can witness the phenomenon with so much composure,
while it spreads terror and dismay among ignorant and
barbarous nations.

The College is moving steadily on in its career of pros
perity. The most exciting event among those connected
with it is the alarming illness and marvellous recovery of
Mr. Herrick. At the meeting of the Prudential Com
mittee in April, he was reduced so low that no hope was*
entertained of his restoration. It was believed, and perhaps
truly, that the process of mortification had already com
menced. At the next meeting of the committee, he was
doing business with them, in good health, except a lame
ness in one of his feet. Mr. Warner remains much as he

was, perhaps a little better May He who is

the sure protector of all who put their trust in Him, keep

108 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

you and bless you, and return you in safety to your friends
and beloved home.

Yours, as ever,

J. DAT.

Shortly after Professor Silliman's return from
Europe, he was married to Mrs. Sarah Isabella
Webb, of Woodstock, Connecticut, daughter of John
McClellan, Esq., and a relative of his first wife, Mrs.
Webb's grandmother having been a daughter of the
first Governor Trurnbull. The lady to whom he was
thus united had been connected, as well by long
friendship as by ties of blood, with his family. It is
sufficient to say that her society and her assiduous
care were the principal source of his comfort and
happiness in the closing years of his life.

One of the oldest and most respected of Professor
Silliman's friends was Dr. John Griscom, distin
guished alike for his scientific merits, and for his
philanthropy. He was Professor Silliman's senior
by several years. For a long period he lent his aid,
in the way of scientific contributions, to the " Journal
of Science." He and the venerable Professor Chester
Devvey, who still survives, were active coadjutors of
Professor Silliman, when in this country the science
which they cultivated in common was still in its
infancy. Dr. Griscom was a member of the Society
of Friends. He died just one month after the last
*of the following letters was written : —

TO DR. JOHN GRISCOM.*

NEW HAVEN, January 15, 1850.

MY DEAR OLD FRIEND, — Old we both are in years, for
I too have passed the solemn boundary of threescore and

* This letter was written before the death of Mrs. Silliman; the letter
which follows, after the author's second marriage. — F.

LETTERS TO DR. JOHN GRISCOM. 109

ten, but I use the word old in relation to the friendship
which has the maturity of more than forty years ; and I am
gratified by your very friendly letter received yesterday.

I think you are wise in giving your mind in the

evening of life more to spiritual than to physical science,
and it is happy that you have so good a friend as Mr.
Carter, to aid you with books. As we draw near to the
boundary between the two worlds, it is natural and wise to
occupy our minds principally with those subjects that relate
to our immortal nature. I have taken a step towards a
release from a part of my physical labors. I have resigned
the chemical chair, and indeed my entire professorship, but
the Corporation desire that I should remain in connection
with the College in the department of mineralogy and geol
ogy, and I have that matter now under consideration, and
probably may go on for some years more (if more years
are granted to me) in that department A, suc
cessor to myself is not yet appointed, but it must be done ere
long. I am reminded that my work in this world is almost
finished ; my contemporaries are chiefly gone, — my dear
friend Chauncey was one of the last called away, and yester
day I followed to the grave the remains of my friend Mrs.
Day, wife of our late and still surviving President Day.
But the case is coming still nearer to me. My own dear
wife, the cherished companion of more than forty .years, is
nflw in the last stages of consumption, and her death may
be expected at any time ; but I bless God that her mind is
at peace ; her faith and hope, founded on the Rock of Ages,
are firm and cheering, and she looks with confidence to the
blessed Redeemer for her safety. We who have been
watching her decline for more than a year are, therefore,
cheerful in the midst of sorrow.

Your son sent me the pattern volume of your copy of the
" American Journal," and the work is now in progress in
the hands of the binder, and I trust will be forwarded to your
son in a few days. I had pleasure in making up your set

110 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

of the old series, and in adding the new, which, if it won" :1
be of any interest to you, I will continue to send to yourself
at Burlington. My son-in-law, James D. Dana,* is now
principal acting editor, and I think you will find the work
more thoroughly digested than in earlier times ; but nothing
in the miscellaneous department can ever rival those rich
contributions which you made with so much punctuality
and judicious selection, and which I relinquished with great
regret on account of poverty of means, and the rude assault
made by a man, whom, had I then known him thoroughly,
I need not have so much regarded. I wish you could read
the historical sketch prefixed to the Index volume. That
volume was compiled by Mr. Dana, — a vast labor. I shall
hope to hear from you when your volumes of the Journal
reach you, and you will then inform me whether I shall
continue to send the new series.

I remember with pleasure my short call at your house,
in August 1848, and should be glad were it in my power to
renew it, and to become still better acquainted with the
very agreeable lady who cheers your evening of life. I have,
at snatches of time early and late, read through, this season,
the life of William Allen, and also that of Elizabeth Fry.
Such exhibitions of Christian benevolence are enough to
shame all common, every-day Christians. But all cannot
be Apostles, and we must do what good we can in our
humble spheres of life.

I believe I mentioned these distinguished Christian friends
in a former letter. Mrs. Fry I never saw, but William
Allen I knew personally ; he changed, however, in his
person. As I knew him, he was a tall, slender and active
man, and I should never have dreamed that he could have
been transformed into the voluminous personage repre
sented in the frontispiece to his life. His intellectual and
moral sunshine do, however, illumine the face of the old
man, and no doubt they now shine in heaven. With my
* Professor Silliman, Jr., was at this time in Louisville, Ky.

LETTERS TO DR. JOHN GRISCOM. Ill

best regards to your amiable and worthy partner and daugh
ter, I remain, as ever,

Your faithful and affectionate friend,

B. SILLIMAN.

I have written this hasty letter by the light of the lamp
of my dear wife's sick-room, between five and six o'clock
in the morning.

TO DR. JOHN GRISCOM.

NEW HAVEN, December 14, 1851.

MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your very friendly letter of the 3d
and 26th ult., was most gratefully received, and I avail
myself of the quiet of a Sabbath evening to reply. I had
thought frequently of you, and have been solicitous to know
how it has fared with you since my brief call upon you, I
think two years ago last July, — as I have had no informa
tion of a later date. I thank you and your kind amanuensis
(a good wife or daughter) for the facts regarding your con
dition. I grieve to learn that your eyes are failing you ; it
is however, a great alleviation that you can still walk the
streets without a guide, and that you can recognize your
friends. It is also a great favor that you have such assidui
ties of friendly attention, and that your females can supply
eyes, and that your hearing permits you to receive gratifica
tion through that inlet. You do not advert to an, irregu
larity of the heart which you mentioned when I saw you
last, and I trust that it does not disturb your quiet. Amidst
bodily decay I trust you have the hopes of a Christian
depending upon the great salvation, without which our con
dition in old age and in death is indeed forlorn. Our dif
ferent modes of worshipping God in this world are of little
moment, if our hearts are right with Him, and there is no
safety in any reliance except upon our divine Saviour. As
we go on in life He becomes more and more precious to us ;
He has paid our debt, and sustained the penalty of the law
for us, and salvation through Him is a gift as free as it is
all-sufficient and indispensable.

112 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

i
You kindly inquire for my welfare ; you may perhaps be

surprised to know that my house has again a female head.
My situation was peculiarly trying ; not an individual of my
family remained under my roof; I was absolutely alone, and
must either break up or go on with hirelings. I might have
been compelled to one or the other course, had not a kind
Providence directed me to a very dear friend of my late
wife, a relative also, both being lineal descendants from the
good Governor Trumbull, the friend of Washington ; and
she was already in habits of affectionate intercourse with all
my children, and her age and character in all respects were
fitting and proper. The marriage took place at Woodstock,
Connecticut, her native place, September 17, 1851, the
anniversary of my marriage at Lebanon, forty-two years
ago with my late beloved and revered wife. My present
wife was Mrs. Sarah J. Webb, the daughter of John Mc-
Clellan, Esq., one of our most respectable old men now
verging on eighty-four. My house is now reestablished
in all its former comfort, and the present Mrs. Sillirnan's
habits and principles of action are so in unison with those
of her predecessor that there is no change in our domestic
condition.

My tour in Europe was undertaken for the gratification
and advantage of my son. Our party was seven, and our

courier on the Continent added another In our

entire tour all were well, and we met with no accident or
molestation whatever. My son and Mr. Brush managed
all business concerns, and left me all my time, and I wrote
constantly, and finished five quarto volumes, containing
fourteen hundred pages and more, with numerous illustra
tions of prints inserted in the books. I wrote now for my
children, as I formerly did for my brother. You will 'infer

that my physical power is not impaired If I have

written too much about myself, I believe I must charge it
to your kind solicitude to know something of my history for
later periods.

LETTERS TO DR. JOHN GRISCOM. 113

I cherish the memory of our early and constant friend
ship, and should be very happy, if possible, to make an
excursion from Philadelphia to see you for a fe\r hours. I
expect to be in that city in the last week of January, prob
ably about the 28th or 29th. And now, my dear friend,
once more farewell ; we cannot meet many times more in
this world, and I pray God that we may be among the
accepted at the great day, and then meet to part no more.
With kind salutations to your wife and daughter, I remain,
as ever, your affectionate friend,

B. SILLIMAN.

I shall be happy to hear from you again.

TO DR. JOHN GRISCOM.

NEW HAVEN, January 26, 1852.

MY DEAR FRIEND, — I thank you very cordially for your
good, affectionate letter, so full of heart as well as head, and
so elegantly and beautifully expressed, withal, as to prove a
mind in full vigor, and social and moral faculties in lively
action, with no mark of old age but its wisdom. I am ex
ceedingly gratified that my letter was acceptable. Being
so condensed a sketch of many events and places, I feared
it would stand before you as a dry skeleton, but your kind
ness has clothed it with muscles and integuments. We
were indeed highly favored in our long and arduous journey-
ings ; and we went in a fortunate season, for Europe, if not
approaching a great convulsion, is more, even than when we
saw it, bowed down beneath an insupportable military des
potism, rendered far more formidable by the late usurpation ;
and who knows whether Americans will now be safe, espe
cially after the despots are informed of the manner in which
Kossuth has been received in this country, not only by the
people, but by the government. We were for two or three
months under Austrian, Neapolitan, and French military
despotism in Italy, and were made acquainted with frequent
arrests and imprisonments for the most trivial causes or no

VOL. II. 8

I

114 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

cause at all. I should not care to be now a traveller on
the Continent. The case of those three young English
noblemen at Leghorn occurred while we were there, in
July, and it was feared by Americans that it would go hard
with them. I have been hoping that we might visit you in
the progress of our approaching journey, but I think it will
now be impracticable, as we do not set out until Tuesday,
and shall stop in the cities, and I must be in Washington
on Friday. I will not, however, relinquish the hope that
we may meet once more in this world ; and if not before, I
will flatter myself that I may make an excursion in the
summer, if life and health are spared, and find you at Bur
lington where I used to find my dear friend, Charles
Chauncey. Alas ! most of my early friends are now in the
other world. I am now seventy-two years and five months
old, and if I remember correctly, you are a few years in
advance of me, and we have no right to make engagements
for distant periods of time. As to the destitution of per
sonal piety among mankind, I believe you have pointed out
the true causes. God can emancipate man from his de
pravity, and plant and invigorate faith in his mind, and
human means seem ineffectual and accomplish little';
but although we are weak and our minds dark, we are not
excused from exertion, and all may diffuse an influence
around them for good ; and teachers of science, who are
indeed expounders of the will of God, as it is recorded in
His works, should always live and breathe in a moral and
religious atmosphere, and draw their pupils within it that
they so may inhale its precious influence. I think also, with
you, that those who find the God of nature in His works
should also find the God of revelation in His word, and not
leave it a matter of doubt, whether they look to the Saviour
for their salvation. It seems almost as if nothing short of
a miraculous interposition of God Himself could effectually
arouse mankind from their lethargy, or emancipate them
from the bondage of sin. This state of things does not

DEATH OF REV. PROFESSOR STUART. 115

excuse us from our personal responsibility, living as we do

under the meridian light of the Gospel dispensation

President Day, now in his seventy-ninth year, is still, by
the favor of God, with us, although for ten or twelve years
more or less threatened by irregularities of the heart, which
at times comes to a pause and then flutters and then stops
again, and threatens to take on its final rest ; but he is
ready, and I believe, willing to go ; and what an exhilarating
bound it must be, to spring out of this mortal coil, enfeebled
and deranged in functions, into the glorious liberty of the
sons of God !....! remain, my dear friend, with every
good wish,

Truly and affectionately, yours,

B. SILLIMAN.

The winter of 1851-2 was marked by the death
of an eminent man whom Professor Silliman had
known well in earlier days. This event he thus
notices in the Diary : —

Death of Rev. Professor Stuart, D. D., of Andover, Mass.*—
This eminent and good man died on January 4th, at his
home, being in his seventy-second year. I was born in
August 1779, he in the following March 1780, and he
was, therefore, seven months my junior. His praise is in
all the churches. Long an eminent professor in the first
theological school in our country, and the author of many
works in illustration of the Scriptures, he has made a per
manent impression upon the age in which he lived. My per
sonal relations with him were very friendly ; we were early
associated in the Faculty of Yale College. After his estab
lishment at Andover, he addressed a letter to me upon the
relation of geology to the first chapter of Genesis ; this was,
I believe, in 1824. I replied at considerable length, and
he rejoined in a long letter containing his difficulties. This
correspondence gave origin to my appendix to Bakewell's

116 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

" Geology." In this appendix the difficulties were dis
cussed, and, as I thought, in a good degree obviated ; but
Professor Stuart was not satisfied, and published a paper
which he thought unanswerable, but it was very completely
answered * by Professor Kingsley. I know not whether
Mr. Stuart changed his opinion ; I suppose he did not.

In the next summer, he lost a life-long associate
and friend, — one of the three professors who had
served with President Dvvight.

Death of my excellent Friend and Colleague, Professor
Kingsley. — This very painful event has come upon us very
suddenly. Returning from our journey from Hanover, Fri
day, 28th August, (1852,) and arriving at eight o'clock,
p. M., we heard that Mr. Kingsley was ill with the dysen
tery, but no anxiety appeared to be felt. I called near
noon of the next day, and found him very weak, and he
impressed me unfavorably as regards the aspect of his dis
ease. He was cheerful and affectionate, and appeared glad
to see me.

August 29, Sabbath Morning. — The day was extremely
tempestuous, with violent wind and torrents of rain, and I
did not go out ; but we heard from Mr. K. that he was no
worse.

On Monday afternoon, September 30, 1 called and found
him apparently more comfortable, and I left him encour
aged, and saw no symptoms of immediate clanger, although
I learned that the physicians were very anxious about him.
On Tuesday morning, near eight o'clock, I was on my way
to his house, and met Mr. Porter, who informed me that he
was already gone. I hastened to the death-bed, and found
it was indeed true. Mrs. Kingsley was calm, and told me
that his conversation with her, in the immediate prospect
of death, had been very satisfactory. He was quite satis-
* In the Journal of Science.

DEATH OF PROFESSOR KINGSLEY. 117

fied to go ; thought it was the best time,— that he had lived
long, and gone through the duties assigned him, and he
expressed religious views and feelings that were satisfac
tory. When last I saw him, on Monday, his mind wandered
a little, as it had done before. I exceedingly regretted that
I had not passed the Sabbath with him, as I should have
done had the danger appeared to me imminent. The
funeral was on Wednesday, September 1, from the Centre
Church, where many people attended. President Woolsey
had been absent in Litchfield County, with his family, but
was sent for by express. He arrived in season, and had
found time to prepare an excellent address, in which he
embodied the most interesting traits of Mr. Kingsley's
character and mind and attainments. The discourse gave
great satisfaction to the family, and to all who knew the
deceased. Our trio is now broken. President Day, Pro
fessor Kingsley, and I have walked together in friend
ship, and as colleagues in college-duty, for more than fifty
years, — a rare case which, I believe, has never before
occurred in this country. The next call in our now broken
band, must be Mr. Day or myself, and it may not improb
ably be myself, although I am six years younger than Mr.
Day, as I was one year younger than Mr. Kingsley. All
of us were born in August, — I, the 8th, 1779, Mr. Kings-
ley, the 28th, 1778, Mr. Day, the 3d, 1773. I had a loud
warning in March, and I know not how soon the final sum
mons may come, — it cannot be far off; but my Saviour is
my shield, on Him I rely entirely, and trust I shall find the
reliance sufficient in the final trial. The hymn which Pres
ident Woolsey read at the funeral of Mr. Kingsley, was
very appropriate and beautiful : —

" How blest the righteous when he dies,
When sinks his weary soul to rest;
How mildly beantthe closing eyes,
^ How gently heaves the expiring breast! "

The death of this aged Instructor was followed, in

118 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

a few days, by the death of a younger colleague, —
Mr. John P. Norton, Professor of Agricultural Chem
istry. Of him, Professor Silliman writes : —

Alas ! Death took the oldest, save one, of the veteran
officers of Yale College, and now the youngest has been
called away. Thus many hopes are blasted, — all hopes,
indeed, connected with the deceased, except the most im
portant of all, that hope which assures us that it is well
with our lamented young friend. My first thoughts regard
ing him are expressed in a printed obituary, and I hope
that a memoir of him will be prepared by a literary friend.
There are abundant materials, and his character was so
beautiful, that it would form an excellent model for imi
tation.

Professor Silliman accompanies his mention of
the death of Daniel Webster with an interesting
account of his acquaintance with that distinguished
man.

This great man died at his country-place at Marshfield,
Plymouth County, Mass., on Sabbath morning, October 24,
1852, at twenty-two minutes before three o'clock, A. M.

We shall, of course, have his biography, which

will, I trust, embody many passages of his private life, and
many of his colloquial remarks. At Washington, early in
1851, he gave me and my son a private document to serve
us in Europe, if needed, and President Fillmore did the
same. I met him, February, 1851, at the levee of the
President ; but I did not advance ; he came to meet me,
and, with great cordiality of manner, expressed his esteem
and regard, and quoted from my English travels an expres
sion which I had used respecting Castlereagh, namely, that
hearing him among other great men in Parliament, — Pitt,
Fox, Sheridan, and others, — I said of Castlereagh, that,

REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 119

although his speech was short, it was sufficient to identify
his manner. This showed that he had read my book, and
was able to cite it correctly. I met him again, the last
winter, in Washington, at a party at Mr. David Hall's,
when he again came to me, and welcomed me safe back
from my recent travels. A levee or party is, however, no
place for a continued conversation. Again, May 4 (1852),
Mrs. Silliman and myself were in the cars with him from
New Haven to Worcester ; and although Judge Boardman
mentioned at the New Haven station that Mr. Webster
was a passenger, I did not seek him, for fear of annoying
him, — as great men are so much followed, often, no doubt,
when they would gladly be quiet. At Springfield, how
ever, we came into the same carriage, and here again I ab
stained from advances ; but he no sooner saw me, than he
left a group in which he was, and came to me, taking both
my hands with much warmth, saying : " My dear Profes
sor, I am very happy to see you ; " and when one offered
him a seat, he declined it, and said : " No ; I want to sit
by the Professor, that I may converse with him." Mrs. Sil
liman gave up her seat to him, which he at first declined to
accept, as he " would not separate husband. and wife ;" but
she took the seat next forward, and immediately we entered
on conversation which was most intimate and interesting,
quite to Worcester, nearly two hours. I led him to speak
of his efforts in Congress, and inquired whether an anec
dote which I had heard was true, — namely, that he and
General Hayne met at the levee, the evening after his
(Webster's) celebrated speech in reply to Hayne, when
Webster challenged Hayne to drink a glass of wine with
him, and said : " General Hayne, I wish your health, and I
hope that you may live a thousand years." Hayne replied :
" I shall not live more than one hundred if you make another
such speech." Mr. Webster said that the anecdote was
true, only the occurrence took place, not at the palace, but
at the house of a friend. I told him that the speech was

120 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

read in my family, and listened to with as much interest
as if it had been a Waverley novel. I added, that we had
often, in our domestic circle, spoken of his style as possess
ing the simplicity and perspicuity of that of the Scriptures.
He said, he had always made it a rule neither to write or to
utter anything which a person of good intellect could not
understand ; and that, on an occasion when he, as chairman
of a committee, wrote a report, his colleague expressed his
surprise that he could understand every word of it ; and
this was even adduced as a proof that Mr. Webster could
not be the man he passed for, — that everybody could
understand him. I told him, that, not being a political
man, I would take the liberty to say that I had approved,
and, in conversation, defended, his course on important
political occasions, when he had been censured, and even
abused, by some who called themselves his friends. The
first occasion was when the ministers of President Tyler
took offence, and all resigned, himself excepted/* " It was
obvious to me," I said, " that you remained in office in order
to settle the great boundary question ; you had recently
been in England, and personally knew the members of the
government ; and it was no proof of vanity in you that you
were conscious that you could do on that occasion what no
other man could ; and evidently no man in our government
but you could have induced Lord Ashburton to send home
for new instructions to enable you to adjust the boundary
by concession, — each party reciprocally relinquishing por
tions of territory, instead of adhering literally to a boun
dary which the physical features of the country could not

enable you to define/' I added: "In these cases

you did right." He modestly replied : " I meant right."
Alluding to France, which I had then recently visited, he
said that one important benefit had arisen from the French
Revolution. Under the old system the crown and the no-

* Who had been also minister of the deceased President Harrison, whom
Tyler, as Vice-President, succeeded.

REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 121

bility* had monopolized almost the entire territory, and
the cultivators of the soil were in a state of abject depend
ence and hopeless poverty ; and there were many acts of
personal oppression. Now, all the old tenures being broken
up, the fee of the lands is in the mass, and France is
divided into a great many small farms, which are cultivated
by proprietors. This explains why we saw hardly a beggar
in the rural districts of France during our late journey, or
an individual in rags. Mr. Webster, no doubt, gave the
true solution. Many other remarks fell from this great
man ; but he cut me short, by saying abruptly, but pleas
antly : " Now I want to have you talk to me about your
own subjects, which I am very desirous to understand, but
of which I know but little. I have endeavored to obtain
some correct notion of the structure of the earth ; and I
have piled up fragments of the rocks, laying granite down
as the foundation, and placing the other rocks above granite
in the order in which they succeeded each other." I as
sured him that this was all right. He then said that he
wished me to explain to him the composition of soils and
manure, the constitution of organic bodies, the laws of ani
mal and vegetable life, and the relation between them and
the mineral kingdom. Perceiving that he was in earnest,
I yielded to his request, and discoursed to him as clearly
as I could (for he said he could not understand Liebig,
whose work he had read). He gave the most fixed atten
tion during nearly an hour that I was speaking, and ap
peared as docile as a child. I do not think it worth while to
repeat my remarks, except on one topic. After explaining
the elementary constitution of organic bodies, — the ele
ments that were properly vital, — I adverted to the extra
neous things derived from the mineral kingdom, which,
although not strictly vital, are essential ; for example :
the bones of animals which are phosphate of lime, and the
shells and crusts of animals, which are carbonate of lime
* And, it might be added, the Catholic Church.

122 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

for the shells, and carbonate and phosphate for the crusts,
as of lobsters and crabs. I then compared them with the
vegetable world, and gave the instance of the grasses, usu
ally so called, and of wheat, rye, oats, and barley ; and of
the trees, — bamboos, cane, sugar-cane, corn-stalk, and all
similar plants, which are either hollow or filled with a pulp,
so that these plants could not support themselves under their
own weight, with their fruit and with the force of the wind
upon them. Therefore they were provided by the Creator
with an epidermis or exterior coat of silex, — flint taken up
by the plant from the soil, and which gave them the requisite
strength. In some of the larger bamboos the silex is crys
tallized, and many of them will strike fire with steel ; and
some plants with silicious coatings are used for scouring
knives, &c. I told him that if he would observe the ruins
of a barn of hay or a large hay-rick after it was burned
down, he would probably find glass resulting from the silex
vitrified by the alkali of the plant. This seemed to strike
him very forcibly ; and, as we drew near to Worcester,
where I told him we must part, (as we were going on the
Norwich road,) he expressed great regret, and said he
wished we were going through to Boston. He said that
the conversation had gratified him very much, and that he
would come to New Haven and renew it. He then turned
to Mrs. Silliman, who had been an attentive listener, and
added : " Madam, if I was as rich as Mr. Astor, I tell you
what I would do : I would pay your husband $20,000 to
come and sit down by me and teach me, for I do not know
anything." I must not omit that he and Mrs. Silliman
found topics of mutual interest in some individuals, and
particularly one lady at Marshfield, whom both of them had
known in earlier years. He adverted to the late trial of
Mr. Goodyear's patent at Trenton, in which he said, that
my certificate, proving the discovery by Goodyear thirteen
years ago, had a decisive weight, — a remark which has
been since proved true, by the published opinion of the

DEATH OF DR. G. A. MANTELL. 123

court. We now parted with great cordiality, hoping in
vain to meet again. We — Mrs. S. and I — were for
cibly struck by the too evident decline of health in
Mr. Webster. His cheek was hollow ; his eye sunk deep,
even for him, and almost rayless, except when he was men
tally excited ; his limbs were small ; and, altogether, his
appearance was painfully contrasted with the full, round,
and vigorous form which he presented at the inauguration
of President Everett in the year 1845, when I was present.
We — Mrs. Silliman and I — remarked to each other, that
we feared Mr. Webster had not long to live ; but we did
not expect a fatal crisis so soon. Mrs. Webster was in the
car, but sat with a friend on another seat, and was not a
party to the conversation, although she appeared to listen,
but was too far off to hear distinctly, or perhaps at all.

Mrs. Silliman reminds me that Mr. Webster said,

that while he could not understand the books, he had un
derstood every word that I had said, and that he had de
rived great satisfaction from the conversation, and wanted
a great deal more of it. When the steam-whistle sounded,
he exclaimed : " This is too bad ; I cannot be reconciled to
it ! " and said he would seek us at our home. When we
were near parting, Mr. Webster, in his own peculiar man
ner, with a strong voice and an excited countenance, said :
" I have given my life to law and politics. Law is uncer
tain, and politics are utterly vain ; but there is a noble cer
tainty in science which commands my admiration, and I
should be willing to spend my remaining days in the study
of science."

A few months after the death of Mr. Kingsley,
Professor Silliman was deprived of another friend to
whom he was united by the strongest bonds of con
fidence and affection.

Dr. Gideon Algernon Mantell. — This lamented man, my
faithful and devoted friend during twenty years, died at his

124 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

own house in Chester Square, London, November 10, 1852,

about three o'clock p. M I have lost the friend I

valued most, beyond my own family;* for twenty years
he had poured his bounties into my lap, and his affections
into mine. It is a great satisfaction to me that I saw
him, and was an inmate of his hospitable house eighteen
days, during our late European tour, — in December, 1852.

On the day when this record was made, he makes
mention of an interesting epoch in his own history.

December 18, Saturday. — I gave the last chemical lec
ture of the College course. The subject was the congela
tion of carbonic acid, and of quicksilver. It was done very
successfully, and appeared to give great satisfaction. Hon.
Asa Bacon made some remarks to the students before the
lecture, on the superior advantages enjoyed by them com
pared with those afforded to him and me in our College
course ; (he was my senior in Yale College ;) and he be
stowed encomiums on me more than I deserve.

Near the beginning of the Diary for 1853, stands
this notice of the death of Mr. Amos Lawrence.

Recently, in Boston, and very suddenly ; it is said within
fifteen minutes from the immediate alarm, this excellent
man ceased to breathe. He was one of my warm personal
friends, and I always received a cordial welcome at his
house. His age is reported sixty-seven ; he appeared to be
older, being very infirm in health, and for many years un
able to eat with his family, and often appearing to be near
death. But he was very cheerful, affectionate, and benevo
lent. He gave largely of his means to charitable purposes,
and his wealth was great. He was always seeking out the
poor and neglected, and made them his peculiar care. He

* Except Dr. Dwight.

DEATH OF HON. AMOS LAWRENCE. 125

was, by religious conviction, a Unitarian, but his temper
and his action were those of a man of heavenly mind. I
always visited him when I was in Boston ; and when * I
informed him that I had been invited to open the Lowell
Institute, and to give the first course of lectures in it, he
raised both his hands and exclaimed : " God be praised ! "
Such was his real liberality, for he knew that I was not a
Unitarian. Of the five noble brothers, with whom I be
came acquainted on going to Lowell to give a public course
of lectures in 1834, three are now dead.

Soon after the annual Commencement of 1852, he
had given notice, in the following letter, of his inten
tion to lay down his College office at the end of the
academical year.

TO REV. THEODORE D. WOOLSET, D. D., PRESIDENT OP
YALE COLLEGE.

September 21, 1852.

REV. AND DEAR SIR, — The reasons which, three years
ago, induced me to tender the resignation of my office in
Yale College, having gained strength by the progress of time,
I have come to the conclusion that the interests of the Insti
tution and my own, unite to indicate the termination of the
current academical year, as the period when my resigna
tion shall be again offered to the Corporation. I am, I
trust, duly sensible of the favorable regard which led both
that body and my colleagues to desire my continuance in
office, and I cannot contemplate, with indifference, the dis
solution of those ties which, for more than half a century,
have bound me, in both duty and affection, to our vener
able Alma Mater. Upon mature reflection I am, however,
led to believe that a notice thus seasonable will afford time,
before the next Commencement, to make such an appoint-

* In a call at his house in, I believe, 1839.

126 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ment as shall prevent any injury to the interests of the Col
lege and of the country.

With the greatest respect and cordial regard, I remain,
Rev. and dear sir,

Very truly yours,

B. SILLIMAN.

At the approach of the next Commencement, still
persisting in his resolution to retire from his work in
College, he copied this letter to President "Woolsey,
and sent it together with the communication which
follows : —

TO REV. PRESIDENT WOOLSEY.

YALE COLLEGE, July 22, 1853.

REV. AND DEAR SIR, — My views not having been
changed since the date of my preceding letter of September
21, 1852, — of which a copy is annexed, — it remains only
to request you, sir, to communicate this paper to the Cor
poration. In taking my leave I wish to express my high
respect for the Board under which I have so long acted,
and to record my grateful remembrance of the kind, just,
and liberal treatment which I have experienced at their
hands. This acknowledgment, alas, cannot now be made
to the men who, with President Dwight at their head, while
I was still a youth, bestowed upon me their confidence in
advance. That Board enrolled among its members the
names of great and wise and good and honored men, who
have all passed away, but they have been succeeded by
those who have worthily filled their places. In the year
1799, 1 was invited to instruct a class in Yale College, as
their tutor, and, In 1802, the responsibility was committed
to me of founding an extensive department of physical
science, then unknown in this institution, and little known
in this country. Of the result, it is not for me to speak.
Now, near the close of my labors, I look around, and almost

HIS RETIREMENT FROM OFFICE. 127

in vain, for the colleagues and fellow-laborers of that re
mote period ; and among them, I find only a solitary indi
vidual survivor, " Clarum et venerabile nomen " ; serus in
coelum redeat. As, by God's blessing, my health is unim
paired, I am not constrained byt infirmities to resign my
post of duty; but I think it right to retire before that
necessity shall arise. The interests of Yale College, hav
ing been identified with almost my whole life, will ever re
main very dear to me, and I shall be still happy to promote
them by any effort and influence in my power.
I remain, Rev. and dear sir,

Very respectfully and truly yours,

B. SILLIMAN.

The attention of the assembled graduates at Com
mencement, was taken up by the death of Professor
Kingsley, and the resignation of Professor Silliman.
The extracts which follow, are from the Diary.

Wednesday, July 27, 1853. Day before Commencement. —
A meeting of the Alumni was held in the Linonian Room,
in the new Alumni Hall, A. N. Skinner, Esq., in the chair.
The necrology for the year was read. The number of deaths
among the Alumni during the year had been over sixty,
and among them were three of our Professors, — Kingsley,
Norton, and Stanley. After the necrology was finished, I
was invited by the chairman to say something of Professor
Kingsley. My remarks were, however, not much extended,
as I preferred to refer, for a masterly exhibition of his char
acter, to the excellent published discourses of President
Woolsey and Professor Thacher, who had very skilfully
dissected a character whose principal traits were not super
ficial, but lay deep in the mine of his intellectual and moral
nature. I spoke of the early union of the three, — Day,
Silliman, and Kingsley, — in office in Yale College, a union
which was continued in great harmony during nearly fifty

128 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

years. Such a coincidence, it was believed, had never hap
pened before in this country. We were men of different
temperaments, but counterbalancing qualities, as happens
with contrasted chemical elements, produce a more perfect
and firm union. I referred to my venerated, surviving
friend, President Day, then present, but refrained from
eulogy, which would have been painful to him. I adverted
to the breach of our trio, by the death of Mr. Kingsley,
and to our separation from Yale College, by the resignation
of President Day, and now, by my own, which was made
the day before to the Corporation. I added that I did not
retire on account of infirmity, as by God's blessing, my
health remained unbroken, my eye not being dim, nor my
natural force abated. This I acknowledged gratefully, and
not boastingly. I resigned because the proper time had
come, — the same age at which President Quincy, Presi
dent Day, and Professor Kingsley retired ; and I followed
their example. I wished to go out before I should be com
pelled by infirmity, and to march out of the camp with
colors flying. I spoke of the changes that had taken place
in Yale College in my time, and of the combined efforts of
the Faculty. My son followed, with interesting remarks
upon Professor Norton, — notices historical and biograph
ical. Professor Olmsted made a brief address upon Pro
fessor Stanley. The chairman made an allusion to the
resignation of two of the Professors, when I retired. Pro
fessor Olmsted then addressed the meeting, and gave a
history of my department, and of my success in it, and of

the effect upon the Institution and the country

When he had finished, I returned into the meeting. Dr.
Cox then rose and resumed the theme. I supposed he
would be brief, and did not withdraw. He said many grati
fying things upon the effect produced on his own mind by
reading my early travels, especially on account of their
religious bearing upon his youthful, and as he said, " half
heathenish mind." His remarks were touching, and drew

HIS RETIREMENT FROM OFFICE. 129

tears from my eyes. Dr. Cox, many years ago, told me
that the first serious impressions ever produced upon his
own mind, arose from his reading my remarks made upon
the impropriety of attempting to represent the supreme
Jehovah upon canvas. This subject was mentioned by
me in connection with a visit to a picture-gallery in Lon
don, in the summer of 1805.* General Williams of Nor
wich, mentioned my honored mother and grandfather Fish,
and my father was also named by another, and his cap
tivity ; and a letter was referred to, written to my half-
brother, John Noyes, then in College, by his and my
mother, and marked by the tears which dropped from her
eyes upon the paper.

In the afternoon of the Commencement, Lynde Alexander
Catlin, in a dissertation upon the " Revolutions of Science,"
mentioned me and my labors with warm approbation. On
the evening of the Commencement, by President Woolsey's
suggestion, my house was opened at eight o'clock for the
calls of the Corporation, the Faculty, the Alumni, the
graduating class, and strangers. I should judge that from
two hundred to three hundred called in the course of the
evening, and there was great cordiality both towards each
other and towards me, and I received many warm adieus.
Thus I have finished my regular connection with Yale Col
lege, after having been almost fifty-four years an officer of
the Institution, — three years a tutor, fifty-one a professor,
and almost fifty a lecturer. It is a solemn period of my
life, and I feel greatly relieved in being released from
responsibility. I seem to have attended my own academic
funeral, and many to be the mourners on the occasion. It
is a great happiness that my son and son-in-law (J. D. D.)
have been thought worthy to succeed me in my duties. My
onerous professorship is now divided, and those who may
hereafter sustain the duties, will find them less oppressive

* The picture was in the Truchess Gallery, which I visited in company
with the late John McCrackan.

VOL. H. 9

130 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

than I have done. I am grateful to God, and to many
friends, for the numerous favors I have enjoyed in my pub
lic life.

But his instructions in College were not yet at an
end. The Corporation passed resolutions expressing
their sense of the great value of his services to the
Institution, at the same time requesting him to con
tinue in the Academical and Medical Faculties as
Professor Emeritus, with the right to vote in each
whenever he chose to exercise it. Mr. Dana, his son-
in-law, succeeded to the department of Geology and
Mineralogy, while his son, Mr. Benjamin Silliman,
Jr., already a Professor in the Scientific School, was
appointed Professor of Chemistry in the Medical
School, and charged with the instruction of the
undergraduate students in that branch. At the sug
gestion of President Woolsey and Professor Salis
bury, by whom, in 1850, a generous contribution had
been made towards the endowment of the chair,
the department which Mr. Dana assumed was styled
the Silliman Professorship of Natural History, and is
now known as the Silliman Professorship of Geology
and Mineralogy* Mr. Dana not being able to
commence at once in his department, Professor Silli
man was requested to continue to givev the lectures
in Mineralogy and Geology, until his successor should
be ready to take his place ; and with this request he
complied. But this temporary duty was compara
tively light, and he felt that his official service was
now over. He thus records his satisfaction and grati
tude : —

* Professor Dana was born in Utica, N. Y. His family was of New
England origin, his grandfather and Rev. James Dana, D. D., of New
Haven, having been brothers. — F.

HIS RETIREMENT FROM OFFICE. 131

Sabbath Morning, August 7, 1853. — This is the last day
of my seventy-fourth year, and to-morrow, if I live, will be
the first of my seventy-fifth. Through my whole life I
have experienced innumerable mercies, shaded by afflic
tions, chiefly in the removal of dear friends. But many of
them were aged, and departed in the fulness of years and
of a mature piety. Now, for the first time in almost fifty-
four years, I begin a new year without feeling the responsi
bility of Yale College resting, in a measure, upon me. I
have been carried through my long course of public duty
successfully, and retire with a general and strong expres
sion of good-will and esteem. My children are glad that I
have resigned while my faculties are unimpaired, and when
regret for the loss of my services is generally expressed. It
remains only to await my final call to resign my life into
the hands of my Maker. I hope to go cheerfully, humbly
depending upon my Saviour.

CHAPTER XXII.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK: LETTERS OF
AGASSIZ.

Geology and Genesis. — Views of Professor Silliman. — Dr. Hitchcock
proposes to Study in New Haven; on the First Chapter of Genesis. —
Professor Silliman to Dr. Hitchcock on the Death of his Child ; on the
Method of Studying Chemistry; on Professor Stuart's Geological Re
marks; on the Bird-Tracks. — Dr. Hitchcock on his Geological Critics;
on the Spirit of his Writings. — Professor Silliman on the Clergy; on
Wiseman's Book; on the Bird-Tracks.' — Letters to Dr. Spring on Geol
ogy and Scripture. — Letters from Agassiz. — Agassiz on his own Visit
to England ; on his Studies ; on Mr. Redh'eld ; on the " Journal of
Science" ; on his Work on Glaciers; on his Proposed Visit to America:
Announces his Arrival in Boston.

THE subject of the relation of science to the
Bible was forced upon the attention of Professor
Silliman by the bearing of geological evidence upon
the question of the age of the globe, and especially
by the opposition to geology on the part of a nu
merous class of theologians. The Bible had been
understood to teach that the earth and all things
upon it were made about six thousand years ago
in six days. It was natural that students and be
lievers of the Bible should be startled at hearing that
the work of creation began ages before that date,
and extended through vast and well-nigh immeasu
rable periods of time. How could such declarations
be reconciled with Genesis ? It is remarkable that
theology at a former epoch had been puzzled with

GEOLOGY AND GENESIS. 133

the question, how the work of creation could have
continued so long as six days, seeing that it was ac
complished by a fiat of the Almighty ? * It was nat
ural that some should find it difficult to abandon the
ancient and uniform interpretation of Scripture for
the sake of accommodating the latter to the deduc
tions of a new science. They considered that the
change of interpretation that was demanded was
inconsistent with a sound method of exegesis; and
that either the doctrine of the entire infallibility of
the Bible must be surrendered, or geology be rejected.
Such was the view, for example, of Professor Moses
Stuart. They naturally chose the latter branch of
the alternative. But it must be confessed that the
proofs which geology offered were often disregarded,
or disposed of in an uncandid way. One would
think that very little reflection was requisite to show
that the mighty phenomena of displacement and
deposition which geology pointed out, could not be
referred to the Noachian deluge, to which they had
been popularly ascribed, and that the theory of the
creation of the fossils in the rocky beds where they
lie, is contrary to all right ideas of creative wisdom,
and is a form Of irrational scepticism. Professor
Silliman was embarrassed in this conflict by his sin
cere respect for the teachers of 1-eligion, and his
reluctance to lower the estimation in which they
were held. Hence, whatever he published on this
theme, is characterized by the utmost forbearance
and courtesy. For his own part, he felt that the
Bible was a revelation from God. Its teachings
were daily " a lamp to his feet." Not being in the

* See Poole's Synopsis, Genesis i.

134 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

habit of resorting to the Scriptures for information
in physical science, he had valued its early pages for
the pure and sublime theism which they inculcated.
Yet he felt certain that they could not be in contra
diction to the truth which is derived, by the sure
path of induction, from the study of nature. He
was not at all satisfied with the hypothesis that the
present earth was formed from the ruins of an earlier
world, rearranged and set in order during the six
days of the creation. The supposition of such an
earlier world, and of a great catastrophe causing its
destruction, seemed to him to be neither consonant
with our ideas of the Divine wisdom, nor sustained
by geological evidence. He was impressed with the
observation of Cuvier, that the cosmogony in Genesis,
" considered in a purely scientific view, is extremely
remarkable, inasmuch as the order which it assigns
to the different epochs of creation is precisely the
same as that which has been deduced from geological
considerations." At the same time, Professor Silli-
man judged that it was no part of the object of the
sacred writer " to enter further into details than to
state that the world was the work of God ; and thus
he was naturally led to mention the principal divis
ions of natural things, as they were successively
created." Nor did he deem it necessary to suppose
that the author of Genesis, however instructed by a
higher light, was himself cognizant of the truths of
geology, especially the truth of the great antiquity
of the globe, and the length of time consumed in
the geological changes. In the defence of geology
against the assaults and objections from the side
of theologians, he sympathized with his friend, Dr.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK. 135

Edward Hitchcock. In this conflict they were glad,
as will be seen, to have the aid of Professor Kings-
ley, a critic whose Damascus blade never failed to
leave whatever field he entered vacant of foes. The
correspondence between Professors Silliman and
Hitchcock, from which brief selections are given be
low, is voluminous, and relates to a variety of mat
ters ; but the contest of geology with its theological
antagonists is a prominent topic.

FROM DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

DEERFIELD, January 29, 1819.

SOME months since I left the Academy in this

town, and am now studying theology as much as my health
will permit. It is my wish and my intention to come to
New Haven the ensuing spring, to prosecute this branch
under the instruction of Professor Fitch. I saw him when
I was at that place last fall, and have just written to him
on the subject. I hope I shall not be disappointed in this
calculation, for I have been confined almost all my life to
this town by a variety of untoward circumstances, and hope
that I am not insensible that I greatly need instruction
superior to what can be expected in an ordinary country
town. One thing, which I confess is no small motive for
inducing me to come to New Haven, is the hope that it
may be consistent with the regulations of your College to
permit me to attend the lectures of yourself and Professor
Fisher. My eyes will not suffer me to attend closely to
reading, and if I could have this privilege, it would be a
great advantage as well as pleasure to me in my leisure
hours. Pray, sir, do the laws of your College permit access
to your lectures to one who is not an alumnus of it ? ....

136 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. <

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, August 18, 1820.

MY DEAR SIR, — I think you got off well be
tween Moses and the divines ; the latter, I suspect, were
willing enough to get rid of the subject. I have become
still more convinced of the truth of the new views, and am
satisfied they will ultimately become general among men,
who are at once acquainted with geology, and disposed to
reverence the Scriptures. No mere divine, no mere critic
in language, can possibly be an adequate judge of the sub
ject ; or deserve unqualified deference, however able in
other respects

FROM DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

CONWAY, October 20, 1823.

I LATELY preached a sermon before the Pittsfield

Medical Institution, in which I have come out with the new
views in regard to the first chapter of Genesis. It is now
in the press, and I hope you will pardon me for referring
to your lectures, as an instance of the defence of such views
in this country. My statements must be propped up by
some good authorities, or they will be disregarded, since
our divines generally do not, as you have remarked, under
stand even the elements of the subject. I mean to send
you one of the sermons when they come out

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, March 20, 1824.

MY DEAR SIR, — I most cordially and feelingly condole
with you, on the late afflictive bereavement in your family.
I know indeed, from costly experience, every pang you have
suffered, and hope you may sooner recover from the shock
than I did from my first loss of this kind, — that of my
eldest son. You will preselit my respectful condolence to
Mrs. Hitchcock, whose sufferings will of course, embrace

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK. 137

all that belongs to yours, with the addition of what a mother
only can know.

, But perhaps we are selfish in mourning so deeply for
those that are " bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh " ;
for it is the irreversible order of Providence, that we must
lament or be lamented, and the only condition of protracted
life is the chance of new sorrows from the death of those
whom we love. The sooner we come to the habitual con
templation of the absolute uncertainty of all our possessions,
and to an unqualified resignation of mind to part with them
whenever called for — the better.

The death of infants, and of other very young children,
is always attended (in my view) with so much consolation,
that I can look upon the calm, sweet expression of their
little bodies sleeping in death (not excepting even my own
children) with a degree of pleasure which has little alloy.
For I consider the declarations of our Saviour, as deciding
the point that his sacrifice will cancel their original taint,
and neither Scripture nor reason will justify us in believing
that there will hereafter be a penal retribution awarded to
anything but actual transgression. The death of half man
kind within the age to which I allude, I consider as evincive
of the mercy of God to our fallen world, in removing so
large a part of its population before they have become, in
any responsible sense, moral agents. I know that these
views interfere with metaphysical divinity, which I value
little compared with the consolations which I think I have
a right to draw from the Scriptures. I am very sorry your
anxiety should have been increased by unskilful medical
practice, but I have followed to the grave four of my own
little flock, whom the skill of* the wisest and most devoted
physicians could not save

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, July 27, 1825.
Mr DEAR SIR, — I have been compelled by unavoidable

138 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

exigencies to delay till now answering your letters of May
30 and July 12. As to a professorship, my impression is
that if your duties are reasonable in extent, and your com
pensation such as to excuse you from the necessity of doing
extra duty in order to earn money to live, and also such as
to permit you to spend your vacations in recreation, — at
least as far as it shall prove necessary, — that then your
chance for lasting would be as fair as anywhere

As to undertaking a course of chemical demonstrations
without a previous apprenticeship in the practical part, I
must say that I think you would meet with much embarrass
ment, and lose much time and expense which must be saved
by going through with an experienced person, and your
standard of excellence would probably be lower. Should
you conclude on any such arrangement, you need not be
assured that I should do everything in my power to aid you.
As to your relation to your people, I should be very sorry
to do anything to impair the cordiality or destroy the
permanency of a connection, which I understand from Mr.
Morey and others, is highly useful and agreeable ; and I
should hesitate much as to the course of duty, unless there
is really a prospect of your obtaining better health, and
moving in a more extensive sphere of usefulness. On this
topic I confess myself unable to form a decision. I believe
your services particularly valuable in your parish, and in
your community, especially in the present crisis of religious
controversy. I do, however, believe that you would excel
in scientific pursuits, and other things being equal, I could
wish you to be placed in a situation to indulge your peculiar
dispositions on this subject, and to bring your peculiar
powers into action. Should you adopt the semi-agricultural
plan, and the semi-scientific, I would most cheerfully aid
you in procuring a proper situation, as far as might be in
my power

Hoping that your health may soon be restored, I remain,
my dear sir, with the best wishes for your welfare, very
sincerely your friend.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK. 139

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, June 1, 1827.

MY DEAR SIR, — I am very glad to hear that

your health is so much better ; but I am sure that you could
not have been quite done over at New Haven, or you could
never have written that energetic description of weakness,
and drawn that animated and bright picture of gloom and
darkness, which you gave us in the " Christian Spectator."
It was very well done, but it almost persuades me that I
was only a borderer upon the domain of dyspepsia, and that
I never penetrated into the heart of the empire.

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, March 11, 1830.

MY DEAR SIR, — ..... I only glanced at Mr. Stuart's
geological remarks. My previous correspondence with him
showed me how poor a judge he is of such matters, and I
must include nearly all our theological gentlemen here, who
discover no disposition to listen to reason and evidence on
this subject.

If one had health and time, it might be well to open the
subject ; but I have not, and I shall only talk and write as
I think, without regard to the obstinacy of those who will
neither listen nor learn. I should be very glad to see you
engaged with them, if your health will sustain you, but I
think you had better be on your guard till you are firmer.
I see nothing of Buckland's second volume. I am greatly
gratified with your favorable opinion of the chemistry.

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, February 24, 1832.

DEAR SIR, — I am glad you are pleased with

Mr. Whitney's life ; * much more might have been said, but

enough is said to show that Mr. "Whitney and the Cherokees

received very similar treatment ; and that the Georgia

* Mr. Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton-gin. — F.

140 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

people are the same that they were thirty or thirty-five
years ago. As to Mr. F., I suppose I have seen what you *
alluded to, — a foreign criticism written, I presume, by F.
himself. I and my works are a standing topic of sneer or
attack with him, but he has the game all to himself, as I do
not reply, nor do I feel any serious interest in anything he
can say about me.

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, August 6, 1835.

MY DEAR SIR, — I am much gratified that you are
seriously at work upon the turkey-tracks or bird-tracks of
whatever kind they may be, and you may rest assured that
I shall publish nothing upon the subject until I receive it
from you. I will, therefore, expect you to do justice to Dr.
Deane, as you are perfectly acquainted with the circum
stances, and if you see Dr. Deane, I will thank you to
intimate to him what I have just said. My impressions are
so strong in favor of the genuineness of the discovery, —
judging only from the imperfect copy I have in plaster, —
that I feel exceedingly desirous to have the matter investi
gated, and I do not know in whose hands it can be better
placed.

It would be a most interesting geological conclusion to
establish, that there were birds at so early an era as the
new sandstone, and especially that turkeys were gobbling
and strutting so long before their rival, — man.

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

February 24, 1836.

I WRITE to apprise you that Professor Kingsley, having
perused Mr. Stuart's review of your geological discussions,
saw at once that the learned but over confident and vaunting
theologue had laid himself open to an unanswerable reply,
and I encouraged him to make it. He has done it in a

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK. 141

masterly manner, and with his characteristic acumen. The
drift of the argument is this : Professor Stuart has laid
down a canon of criticism which he has not in a single
instance applied through his entire voluminous dissertation ;
had he applied it in such a manner as he has propounded
it, it would have run him into the greatest absurdities, to
avoid which he has himself proceeded upon such principles
as, if followed out, would allow the geologists all they ask

for There will still be time for you to say that you

do not wish these criticisms published, provided you feel so ;
but if you feel as I do that it is something to have gained
to our cause such an ally as Professor Kingsley, I presume
that you will not object, especially as the geological ground
is all left open to you.

FROM DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

AMHERST, August 16, 1836.

I CERTAINLY feel deeply indebted to you for your

open and generous defence of my ornithology. I hope you
have not thereby incurred the hostility of any whose friend
ship is valuable. I expected that my article on that sub
ject would be attacked ; and I can only say that my wish

is that all assaults may be as futile as that of Mr. C

appears to me to be. Dr. P I have always supposed

regarded me rather contemptuously, and I doubt not but
that, apart from my real inferiority and inaccuracy, there is
a cause why he should not like me. I have endeavored
always to show that there is harmony between science and
revealed religion, and 1 have no doubt but he supposes
there is a discrepancy. In spite of all his sneers about the

bird-tracks, however, and in spite of Mr. C 's arguments,

I am more and more convinced that they will hold their
place. My strongest wish is that all the gentlemen who
are sceptical would come to Amherst and look at my speci
mens. Even the casts which I have sent abroad do but

142 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

very poor justice to the originals ; or rather of my large and
most satisfactory specimens, I have taken no casts. I wish

that you could see them. Can it be that Mr. C feels

injured by me ? A few years ago he sent me some facts in
relation to the rocks bordering on Massachusetts, and, if I
rightly recollect, I never replied to his letter on account of
some doubt as to his place of residence. But I inserted
nearly all of his letter in the second edition of my report,
(pp. 353 and 410,) with as handsome a bow of thanks as I
could make. He quotes, I see, from my first edition ; does
he know the use I made of his letter ? And does he not
feel hurt by my apparent neglect? I have sent on an
answer to the " Knickerbocker," and if the editors do not
insert it, I mean to get it into some widely circulated news
paper. I have made up my mind not to be greatly dis
turbed by these attacks, unless they appear to me more

forcible than those of Professor Stuart and Mr. C . I

know that my writings abound in vulnerable points, and
that many things in my character, habits, and connections,
are well calculated to stir up prejudice and invite attack.
Nevertheless, I am determined to push ahead, though in
some seasons of despondency I feel inclined strongly to
give over any further scientific efforts. But so long as you
and a few other scientific friends shall think that my efforts
do any good, I mean to hold on, if life and strength be

FROM DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

AMHERST, March 12, 1837.

I THANK you for your rebuke respecting the

personalities in my writings. Let the righteous smite me:
it shall be a kindness ; and let him reprove me ; it shall be
an excellent oil which shall not break my head. I confess
I was not aware that the fault which you mention was one
to which I am particularly prone ; but this is no proof that
I am not. I wish, however, to make a few remarks upon

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK. 143

the two cases which you mention ; and, though they may
not justify me, perhaps they may be some palliation of my
offence. In the first place, I have never written anything
with more reluctance than the censure which I wrote upon
Dr. Macculloch and Mr. Lyell. The writings of the for
mer have always been studied by me with great pleasure
and profit, and even when I saw the exhibition of a spirit
not only unchristian, but unmanly, I coupled my reproof of
it with one of the highest compliments I could pay him, by
comparing his work to the " Principia " of Newton. Mr.
Sedgwick, as President of the London Geological Society,
expressed as severe a censure upon him as I did, without
any compliment. And as to Mr. Lyell, I had studied his
works with great profit ; and I knew, too, that he was
President of the Geological Society, and possessed of great
influence ; so that, if my remarks should ever reach him,
they would not only cast me out from his favor, but also,
probably, from the good opinion of nearly all the distin
guished geologists of Great Britain. Nevertheless, I have
always tried to make it my rule of action not to let private
and personal considerations prevent me from a decided
vindication of revealed religion from all covert or open
attacks. I have sometimes gone further, — perhaps un
wisely. By no scientific man in our country have I been
treated with greater courtesy and respect than by Dr.
Cooper. Yet, knowing his hostility to religion, I could
not in conscience let a fair opportunity pass, that presented
itself, of avowing my reliance on a crucified Saviour, and
of kindly expressing iny regret that he — just on the bor
ders of eternity — should not have such a rock to rest
upon. The consequence was, as I expected, that all inter
course between us has been suspended. But my conscience
is quite at rest on the subject. On the same principle, in
the same paper that contains my remarks upon Mr. Lyell,
I have censured much more decidedly the anti-christian
sentiments of M. Boue, President of the Geological So-

144 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ciety of France.* I know that it may seern presumptuous
for an obscure individual to assail men in such high places.
But, in relation to those who seem to me to assail Chris
tianity my motto has always been, " Tros Tyrinsque, mihi
nullo discrimine agetur."

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, March 17, 1837.

IN all your principles of action avowed in your

letter I entirely agree ; and Drs. Cooper and Boue richly
deserved the protest you entered against them. I thought,
however, that the evidence ought to be much stronger to
justify placing Mr. Lyell in the same company, and partic
ularly with the aspect given to his character and mind. I
have not yet examined his last edition, and cannot say
whether your impressions would be strengthened or not
by the perusal.

I also have the happiness to reckon some of my best
friends among the clergy, and I believe, with you, if they
were masters of our subject, they would think as we do.
Some of them are candid and forbearing ; others find no
insuperable difficulties ; others are silent because they feel
that they do not understand the matter ; but a few are
loud, confident, and uncharitable, while it is obvious that
they know not whereof they affirm. I think you have si
lenced one of this class, — at least you and my colleague,
Professor Kingsley ; but I see strong marks of a settled
purpose on the part of some to hold no terms with geology,
and to insist upon the literal and limited understanding of
the history ; but they will find themselves deserted, for the
matter will in time come right.

FROM MR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

AMHERST, April 11, 1837.
HAVE you read Dr. Wiseman's work, just pub-

* Dr. Hitchcock's unfavorable impressions in respect to Mr. LyelTs re
ligious opinions were modified or removed, as appears from a subsequent
letter. — F.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HITCHCOCK. 145

lished at Andover, on the connection of science and re
ligion ? It ought to shame those Protestant divines (he
is Catholic) who are battling the geologists. It is said that
Professor Stuart was highly pleased with the work, and yet
the author falls in with the views of geologists respecting
the age of the world. I am satisfied with you that some of
our theologians are determined to wage everlasting war
with geology ; but calm argument, and such works as that
of Dr. Buckland, will silence if they do not satisfy them. . .

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, April 15, 1837.

• * ... DR. WISEMAN'S book I have read, and you
will observe that I have inserted a short notice of it in the
April number of the Journal ; it was written by my son,
but expresses my own opinion. It was my intention to
review Buckland, and, in connection with him, to present
our case forcibly but decorously to the public.

As you say, I would be calm, but always respectful ; but
I am less disposed than ever to shrink from this conflict ;
it must be sustained until the truth is triumphant.

That these subjects are of some interest to our country,
may perhaps appear from my having been invited this
season in form to New Orleans, Cincinnati, Syracuse, and
Bridgeport ; and I understand New York is about to speak
again through the Mercantile Library Association.

I

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, April 29, 1840.

. • . . . I HAD not heard of the New York incubation.
You and I know that any attempt to impair geological evi
dence, or to reconcile it with the popular view of time,
must be abortive. No matter how violent or bitter our
assailant may be, doubtless he will be more so in propor
tion to his ignorance of geology and to the strength of his

VOL. II. 10

146 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

prejudices. We can have no occasion to fear such an at
tack, and must judge when the work appears whether it is
worthy of a reply.

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK

NEW HAVEN, May 25, 1841.

MY DEAR SIR, — Before yours of the 20th arrived, I had
already laid out, to go by Mr. Shepard, Agassiz's plates of
the glaciers, and also the plates of several other of the

works of the same author I confess myself unable

as yet to give an opinion worthy of your attention on the
theory of Agassiz. Dr. Mantell writes me that it has a
great run among the geologists, but he thinks they have
too eagerly jumped to a conclusion, and evidently holds
back. I shall study it as soon as possible, but — my time —
my time ! I have just taken up my pen again after an in
terruption of five or six hours by a succession of strangers.
I return your proof, altering only one word. I am glad that
Mr. Lyell stands acquitted of infidelity. You may remem
ber I did not judge him quite so unfavorably as you did.

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, October 13, 1855.

I ADMIRE your courage in securing that grand

specimen from Turner's Falls, and I hope one day to see it,
and, perhaps, other acquisitions. Should our early conclu
sions be subverted, and should we be drawn from an aviary
into a frog-pond, we must even submit and agree to croak,
if we may not cackle or crow. Fiat verttas ! We were
much amused by Professor Shepard's brilliant thought,
whereby, also, hangs a tail, — of a reptile if not of a struthi-

ous bird or other bird that wore a tail Need we

give up the birds ? To my eye, many — very many — of
the impressions appear as indubitably ornithic as tracks of
indubitable living birds, made yesterday in clay or mud, and
so said the acute and unprejudiced President Day, when he

LETTERS TO REV. GARDINER SPRING, D. D. 147

first saw your collection many years ago. Has any reptile
three toes ? Has any reptile four ?

The courtesy which Professor Silliman continued
to show toward clerical sceptics respecting geolog
ical truth, even long after the main conclusions of
geology had been generally accepted among edu
cated men, is illustrated in the following letters ad
dressed to the venerable Dr. Spring, with whom he
had previously conferred on this subject.

TO REV. GARDINER SPRING, D. D.

NEW HAVEN, July 24, 1854.

MY DEAR SIR, — The enclosed little tract was written
fifteen years ago, and contains only an extremely condensed
statement of facts regarding the structure and age of the
earth, and it has been confirmed more and more by subse
quent observations and discoveries.

Should you find an unoccupied hour in which to give it
a perusal, you will perceive that the conclusions of geology
are the result of extended and honest investigation. In
these conclusions, as regards the extent and order of time,
all geologists agree, whatever hypotheses may have been
put forth, by individuals upon particular subjects. This
little tract formed a preface to an edition, which I published,
of Dr. Mantell's " Wonders of Geology " ; it falls very far
short of a full presentation of the facts, of which another
tract of mine contains a more ample statement; but the
perusal of this might impose too heavy a tax on your time.
Could I speak to you during the twenty-five daily lectures
which (D. V.) I expect to give in May next, (my conclud
ing course,) with the aid of numerous fine drawings and all
requisite specimens, I trust I could convince you that geol
ogy is not a dream, and that as believed and taught by re
ligious men of competent attainments, it presents a demon-

148 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

stration of the truth of the Mosaic history, which nothing
else can afford.

As, however, you cannot, even if disposed, give me the
opportunity of laying the evidence fully before you, I can
not expect to convince you by the few pages which I now
send ; but they may serve to vindicate me from the appear
ance of arrogance and presumption in the hasty and rather
abrupt remarks with which our interview in the " War
Eagle " terminated. I have no sympathy with the specula
tions to which you then alluded.

With the Bible in my hands, and the world before me, I
think I perceive a perfect harmony between science and
revealed religion, and it is still more ably sustained in the
late work of Sir David Brewster * on the " Plurality of
Worlds," which you have doubtless seen. When we parted,
you justly remarked that truth is our common object. It
cannot be doubted that there is a perfect harmony between
the works and the word of God. It is devoutly to be de
sired that this harmony should be perceived and acknowl
edged by all the friends of truth ; and it is my mature con
viction that a full and just comprehension of the works as
well as the word of God, will conduct all honest and intel
ligent minds to the same conclusion.

With high respect, and the most agreeable recollections
of our late protracted interview, I remain, my dear sir,
with kind regard,

Truly your friend and servant,

B. SILLIMAN.

TO THE REV. GARDINER SPRING, D. D.

NEW HAVEN, September 10, 1854.

MY DEAR SIR, — I ought, ere this, to have thanked you
for your very kind letter of July 26, in reply to my note of

* A sage equally distinguished for science and piety. In my youth I en
joyed the honor of his personal acquaintance, and have corresponded with
him since.

LETTERS TO

the 24th with the
possession of your viel
tian fidelity and gentleml

I have, elsewhere, given my reasons lor believing that we
are acquainted with the physical materials of the earth to a
great and unassignable depth, and with its arrangement far
below the deepest seated record of life. " The scratch of
a needle upon the varnish of an artificial globe," conveys
only a very erroneous and inadequate impression.

Omitting the consideration of the great physical powers
that have wrought out the present mineral condition of the
planet, we have ascertained the point in the strata beneath
which no record of life appears, — the date, therefore, at
which life began, and above which the progress of the crea
tion of animated beings is fully recorded in strata of miles
in depth, commencing with the earliest marine animals and
marine plants, and proceeding upward in stratigraphical
order, and downward in time, through all the varieties of
ancient life, until we arrive at the human era when man
first appeared on earth.

It is in perusing this record, so distinct, so full, and so
orderly, that the geologist arrives at the inevitable conclu
sion, that all the time necessary to these successive crea
tions, and to the growth and action and sepulture of these
millions of millions of beings, was actually allowed, along
with that requisite for the deposition of the universal mat
ter in which these venerable relics are enclosed.

This exegesis of life in the planet is no doubt consistent
with that of the sacred record, and this I endeavored to
prove * many years ago, when, so far as I know to do good,
I endeavored to do it, and thus to vindicate myself from
the sin of omission.

In these few remarks, my dear sir, it is not my intention
to .enter on discussion, but simply to state the case as it
exists in my own mind, and there for the present to leave

* In a full appendix to Bakewell's Geology, New Haven edition, 1839.

150 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

it. Should I hereafter have an opportunity to present to
you a selection of the proofs, I would then leave it with
your own enlightened, honest, and honorable mind.

Mrs. Silliman unites in kindest regards to Mrs. Spring
and yourself with, my dear sir, yours.

Very truly and respectfully,

B. SILLIMAN.

Professor Silliman had been in correspondence
with Professor Agassiz long before the latter had
formed the plan of visiting the United States. Pro
fessor Silliman was wont to say that of his foreign
correspondents, it was Agassiz and Mantell that
" showed heart as well as head." The early recog
nition of the scientific labors of Agassiz, which
reached him " in the midst of his native mountains,"
from a source so remote, was most grateful to his
feelings.

The letters of Mr. Agassiz are here presented in
translations.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

SIR, — While spending some days this summer with Dr.
Mantell at Brighton, I begged him to send you the two
first volumes of my researches on fossil fishes. I was then
too much occupied with the examination of the magnificent
collection of your friend, whom I have now the pleasure of
counting among mine, to add to the parcel in writing what
I should like to say to you, — but the distance which sepa
rates us is too great for me to think of that.

To-day I send you the third volume of my work. You
know so well how few resources the literature of this de
partment of natural history affords us, that I can but hope
for a favorable reception of my essay in your country. You
would oblige me greatly by giving a little analysis of it in

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 151

your Journal. The preface will give you the most concise
resume of what I have done, and the results I have obtained.
A journey in England this year has added largely to the
number of species which I knew, and which now reaches
eight hundred. I should be greatly interested also to learn
more of the fossil fishes of America, which I find noticed
in the " Manuals of Geology," and respecting some of which
your Journal has given us valuable information. For a long
time I have thus found myself connected with you, but this
is the only connection I have with America, and I should
think myself very fortunate if this intellectual exchange
should become more intimate and direct. I should like
especially to ask you for some details as to the discoveries
on the subject of fossil fishes brought to light by the active
geological researches of the past year. If on my part I can
be of any service to you in the little corner where I dwell,
I pray you to make use of me. A few months ago, Mr.
Studer at last published his Geology of the Bernese Alps.
It is an important addition to general geology, on account
of the new and curious facts which it contains. Are you
already acquainted with it ? Even our Jura chain acquires
a new interest for geological theories since we have dis
covered over a large area soils of the lower cretaceous for
mation, resting upon the upper rocks of the Jura. It is very
singular that the rocks which have given their name to the
whole formation, have now an exceptional character, and
that their equivalents are found so far from the surface of
our globe, with a very similar paleontological character. I
know, for example, several species of squalus, whose teeth
are found at Brighton, in Belgium, the environs of Paris,
Bohemia, in Westphalia, in Switzerland, and in America.
The study of fossils has made such rapid progress in your
country, that we on the Continent find great trouble in fol
lowing you, especially when, like myself, deprived of books,
and obliged once a year to go to the large cities to read
them. My intention is to return to England next year, and

152 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

I hope the reunion at Dublin may draw you, too, there.
How delightful it would be to me to make your personal
acquaintance there. If you had by that time made a collec-
ion of fossil fishes, I am convinced that it would greatly
interest English naturalists, and in bringing such an one
with you, you would not only oblige him who has the honor
to write you, but also the whole geological section. I should
not have taken the liberty to make this proposition to you,
if Dr. Mantell had not promised to write to you on the same
subject, and he did not doubt for an instant that your coun
trymen would emulate one another in favoring my research
es, as the English geologists have done. If you would like
the Swiss fossils, especially of Jura, and do not fear the cost
of transportation, ask them from me without hesitation.

Receive, sir, the assurance of my high consideration, and
believe me, your devoted servant,

L. AGASSIZ.

NEUFCH^TEL IN SWITZERLAND,
January 6, 1835.

My third volume forms a parcel which will reach you, I
hope, soon after my letter.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

YOUR pleasant letter was forwarded to me from Paris,
during the month of May, by Mr. St. John, announcing
that I should have the pleasure of seeing him at my home
in the course of the summer. Mr. St. John did indeed
come to Neufchatel, but unfortunately during the few weeks
when I was absent, so that I did not have the pleasure of
showing him how pleasant it would be to me to receive any
one introduced by you. I hope to be more fortunate in the
future

I have seen with pleasure that your countrymen manifest
such zeal for geology. So diligent an attendance on the
part of an audience so numerous as yours does them credit,
while it is at the same time the highest compliment to the

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 153

talent of the Professor. I feel much flattered that you can,
under such circumstances, remember my work on fossil
fishes. You must accept, my dear sir, my sincere thanks,
also, for the trouble that you have taken, and may still take,
to procure subscriptions for me. I do not despair of being
able some day to testify my gratitude to you personally. A
fortnight ago I finished the eighth and ninth volumes, —
perhaps they are already in your possession. I doubt not
that you have received the seventh also, though you do not
mention it in your letter. As to the third, that you wrote
me had not reached you, I shall hasten to send it to you,
but I must first let you know that it has appeared without
text, so that if you have the plates the work is complete.
Will you write me, if you please, on this subject, so that I
can send you that which is wanting.

Mr. Redfield, member of the Lyceum of Natural History
in New York, has been kind enough to send me this spring
his paper on fossil fishes, which he has described and
determined .with uncommon talent. It is, without doubt,
the same that you mention. For the sake of science, it is
greatly to be wished that this skilful naturalist should con
tinue his researches, which seem to me destined to throw
great light on the relative ages of the soils of Europe
and America. I am at present occupied with a detailed
description of the Echinoderms. I should be infinitely
obliged to you, if possessing or being able to dispose of
any remarkable species not yet described of these animals
either living or fossil, you would have the kindness to send
them to me. I would endeavor to keep them as little
while as possible, and to preserve them from every sort of
injury.

NEUFCHATEL, 12th November, 1837.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

MY HONORED FRIEND, — I received some time ago the
numbers of your Journal which were wanting, and it has

154 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAtf.

given me great pleasure. I attach great value to this pub
lication, which appears to me to be edited in a perfect man
ner ; and since you are kind enough to offer to send me the
whole series, I am not afraid to confess that by so doing
you will render me a great service. Perhaps, my dear sir,
I am trespassing on your goodness, the more that I have
not yet been able to find the opportunity to prove to you
how much I appreciate the interest you have felt for me ;
but I hope you will always make free use of me, if I can be

of service to you in any way

Already, my dear sir, you have had the kindness to
remember me in the number before the last of your Journal,
and while owning that I do not merit the too flattering
praises which you bestow on me, I hasten to express to you
my sincere gratitude for the warmth with which you have

made me known to your countrymen For several

years I have calculated the possibilities of my making a
tour in America, for I must say to you that I have the
greatest desire to see that country, and to make your per
sonal acquaintance. Up to this time my publications have
not left me the leisure. I close, begging you to remember
me to Mr. Redfield, who I hope pursues with zeal his
paleontological investigations, and I expect from them
great results. In the hope that you will send me news of
yourself soon, I beg you to believe me always,

Your devoted,

L. AGASSIZ.

NEUFCH!TEL, 5th November. 1838.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

..... MY work on glaciers, I think, of all my writings,
is the one which will excite the most general interest,
especially since the discovery I have recently made during
a residence of several months in England, of their existence
on an extended scale through all the mountain chains of
Scotland, Ireland, and England, — a discovery which fully

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 155

confirms my theory. The English journals will, without
doubt, have informed you in regard to it. The " Athenaeum,"
and the " Literary Gazette," have given a detailed account
of my observations on the subject, and those also of Dr.
Buckland and Mr. Lyell. It is highly important that
American geologists should study attentively the analogous
phenomena which America presents.

Your very devoted servant,

L. AGASSIZ.

NEUFCH!TEL, 8th February, 1841.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

MY DEAR SIR, — The serious illness of the Prince of
Canino, has obliged him to give up the idea of a journey to
the United States, and came near forcing me to renounce
mine also. But the works of the American naturalists,
which I have studied for several years, have inspired me
with so great a desire to see your country, that it would
have cost rne much to give up the plan. Your letter had
increased my desire still more, but the necessary resources
were wanting to undertake so long a journey, when through
the recommendation of M. Humboldt, his Highness the
King of Prussia has put it within my power to realize my
plans, and instead of going merely to pass some months
in your country, I shall be enabled to extend my stay in
America to nearly two years. It is a great pleasure to me ;
and I rejoice greatly in the prospect of passing so long a
time in the midst of men whose learning and activity I have
learned to appreciate, and to profit by the numerous oppor
tunities I shall have to extend my acquaintance. But you
know, my dear sir, one cannot leave one's home for two
years without having to put many things in order, and it
has been these preparations which have hindered my depar
ture until now. I have even determined to finish all my
works, which I have commenced to print, before starting.
Now that I have almost accomplished this work, I wish to

156 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

look over our collections a little, before leaving Neufchatel,
so as to be well prepared to compare our European fauna
and the fossils of our region with those of America. I shall
still continue this same work in Paris and London for some
weeks, so that I do not expect to arrive in the United
States before the month of February or March. In the
mean time I will send to you a package containing all that
I have published since I had the honor of sending you my
last publications.

After having finished these numerous works in the study,
I have truly need to replenish myself anew in the fields,
and I hope to reap a rich harvest in your country. I know
not how to thank you enough, my dear sir, for all the in
formation you have taken the trouble to send me ; it has
already been of great use to me in preparing myself for
such a journey, and will still serve me as a guide on my
arrival in your country, where I have no relations nor ac
quaintance among men of science, and only a few coun
trymen engaged in business, whom I know for the most
part only by name. You are the only person in the United
States with whom I maintain a correspondence. I wrote
once to Mr. Haldeman, and once to Mr. Gould, without
receiving any reply from the latter. So that really without
your directions I should be extremely embarrassed on my
arrival, for though I know the names of quite a number of
your savans whose papers I have read, I am ignorant of
their residence. I will follow your advice in regard to the
collections which I shall bring with me. The duplicates
which I hold as exchanges will remain for the most part in
the hands of a friend, who will forward them as fast as I
need them. All that you say to me of American naturalists
and of their kindness, enchants me, and the time spent
in America will surely be to me one of the happiest and
most instructive epochs of my life. While anticipating the
pleasure of taking you by the hand, permit me, my dear sir,
to reiterate my thanks, and the assurance of my entire

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 157

devotion, and be good enough to present my warm greetings
to your son.

L. AGASSIZ.

NEUFCHATEL, 20th October, 1845.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

MY DEAR SIR, — In a few clays I leave Neufchatel for
Paris, where I shall remain some weeks, before crossing
to P^ngland, which I shall not leave for the United States
probably before the month of April, desiring to thoroughly
inform myself of all that is new amongst us in the domain
of natural science, before leaving for a long time our old
Europe. It would be difficult for me to say to you how
much I anticipate seeing you, and making the personal ac
quaintance of all the distinguished savans of your country,
whose works I have recently carefully studied. There is in
the prodigious activity of the Americans something intoxi
cating, which has inspired me ; and I already feel my youth
renewed in the anticipated contact with the noted men of
your young and glorious republic. I am infinitely obliged
to you for all the valuable information you have given me,
and which will be very useful to me on my arrival in Bos
ton or New York. I cannot yet tell you precisely the time
of my departure, nor whether I shall come to New York
or Boston, My decision will depend on the time I am
obliged to spend in Paris and London. If my departure
should be postponed till the fine weather, I should prefer
to make the passage in a sailing vessel, so as to make some
observations on the sea and its inhabitants ; if I am ready
before, I shall choose the steamer from Liverpool, so as to
shorten the passage in bad weather. In either case I will
inform you of my departure as soon as it is irrevocably de
cided upon ; and my first thought on arriving will be to
take you warmly by the hand, and thank you sincerely for
all your kindness to me.

As you know better than I what is best adapted to your

158 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

country, I leave it to you to judge of the propriety of an
nouncing my arrival in your Journal, and to do so in the
form most appropriate to the circumstances in which I find
myself, and which I will again briefly detail to you. Know
ing the great desire that I had to visit your country, and
the impossibility of doing it at my own expense, his Excel
lency the Baron de Humboldt, who has always treated me
as a friend, and whose good counsels have been to me like
those of a father, proposed to the King of Prussia to give
me the necessary funds for the journey, which his Majesty
granted to me in the most generous manner, in furnishing
me with a sum sufficient for a journey of two years, if
travelling alone. However, desiring to profit by this op
portunity to gather as much as possible of the materials of
the natural history of the United States, my intention is
to have a preparateur and draughtsman accompany me,
so as to have drawn from life all the fishes of your rivers
and lakes, which have not yet been properly represented ;
and also the mollusca of your coasts, which have not yet
been sufficiently studied. But, to provide for the extra
expense, I shall be obliged to live very economically, and
in a manner little in accordance with the royal munifi
cence which has furnished me the means of making this

journey

My sphere is entirely circumscribed by the scientific
world, and all my ambition is limited to being useful to
that branch of science which I particularly cultivate. With
all this, I am no misanthrope ; but I learnt early that, when
one has no fortune, one cannot serve science and live at
the same time in the world. If I have been able to pro
duce numerous expensive publications, it has been onty by
following this system of economy and voluntary seclusion ;
and the results which I have obtained thus far have re
warded rue so well for the privations which I have suffered,
that I have no temptation to adopt another style of life,
even should I have hereafter, and especially in your conn-

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 159

tiy, more trouble than I have had to sustain it in my own.
But I have talked to you enough of myself, and I finish,
commending myself anew to your goodness, and praying
you to accept the reiterated assurance of my high esteem
and entire devotion. Present my respects to your son and
Mr. Dana,

And believe me for life, your obliged servant,

L. AGASSIZ.

NKUFCHATEL, February 1, 1846.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

MY DEAR SIR, — ..... You can see by this that if I
appear in little haste to be in your country, it was from the
desire to be there completely when I shall have crossed
the Atlantic, and not to leave behind me occupations which
could turn me from my desire and aim to study with care
the zoology and the fossils of the United States, without
neglecting the physical geography of a country contain
ing lakes as remarkable as those which border your north
ern frontiers, and rivers as large as the Ohio and the
Mississippi, which open new paths to civilization, by the
mere fact of their direction ; coasts so indented, on which
the polar ices are exposed to the warm currents of the
South ; not to speak of the direction of the mountain-
chains, of the configuration of the soil, of the trend of your
great valleys, which form so curious a contrast with those
of Europe.

All these, and many other facts which will present them
selves to your mind more rapidly than I could enumerate
them, are well worthy to fix the attention of a naturalist ;
and I do not know that I am mistaken in thinking that
there are few countries in the world — if there exists one
other — where one can study phenomena so varied, with as
much facility as with you. So I make in advance a fete to
myself in the prospect that I now have a glimpse of. Now
I will say au revoir to you, and to the pleasure I shall have

160 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

in taking your hand, face to face. If you have anything in
particular to say to me, perhaps your letter would reach me
in England, by addressing it to the care of Mr. T. Denkel.
Adieu, my dear sir, au revoir.

Your devoted

L. AGASSIZ.
PARIS, August 14, 1846.

FROM PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.

TREMOKT HOUSE, BOSTON, October 5, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR, — I hasten to announce to you my safe
arrival in Boston, and to transmit some pamphlets which
I have brought for you. As soon as I have taken my
bearings here, I shall come to press your hand, and to
thank you for all the attention you have given me.
In the mean while, believe me, always, your devoted

L. AGASSIZ.

Pray present my respects to Mr. Dana. I shall rejoice
to make his acquaintance. His fine works have brought
him a great reputation in Europe.

CHAPTER XXIII.

LETTERS FROM LYELL, MURCHISON, OWEN, DAUBENY,
HERSCHEL, ETC.

Lyell on Professor Silliman's Lectures; on his own Geology; on Professor
Silliman's Influence; on Revisiting America; onMantell. — Lady Lyell
on Professor Silliman's Travels ; on the Marriage of her Sister. — Mur-
chison on the Geology of Russia and of America; on Dana's Work on
Corals; on Colonel Fremont. — Owen on the Footprints of the Con
necticut Valley ; on his own Labors in Anatomy. — Daubeny on his
own Journal in the United States; on Liebig; on the Revolution in
France (1848); on the Relations of England and America; on Educa
tion at Oxford. — Sir J. F. W. Herschel on the late Mr. E. P. Mason.
— Letter from Professor Haidinger. — Letter from Professor Coney-
beare. — Letter from Professor J. F. W. Johnston on Russia. — Letter
from Professor W. B. Rogers.

A FEW of the numerous letters which Professor
Silliman received from Sir Charles Lyell are here
given. Professor Silliman's correspondence with
eminent men of science is full of proofs of his un
selfish zeal in forwarding their interests, at the same
time that he was promoting the diffusion of useful
knowledge.

FROM MR. (NOW SIR CHARLES) LYELL.

DEAR SIR, — If I had not made, as you will see by the
Preface, a great many alterations in my new edition which
I consider important, I should not venture to obtrude four
volumes more upon your shelves ; but, as you were so good
as to state, in your last letter to me, that you had made use

VOL. II. 11

162 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

of my third edition, I cannot allow you to continue to read
my work in its less improved form. Mr. Murray has prom
ised me that one of the first copies shall be sent to you. We
print moderate-sized editions, because the science moves on
so fast, and so many alterations are required ; and at the
price of twenty-four shillings, — which in this country is
very small for such a book, — we gain but little ; but hope
to compensate by the rapidity of the sale.

I congratulate you on the unexampled success of your
lectures, to which nothing in this country or in Europe can
possibly come up in point of numbers. No one can lecture
well to small audiences, or be eloquent to empty benches,
as would be the lot of most lecturers on geology here. My
friends who told you I was likely to visit America, have, I
believe, been rather sanguine in the expectation of the
effect which their advice had produced on me. I scarcely
feel that I am entitled to visit you until I know more of
Europe. I am just starting for a tour to the Alps.
Believe me most truly yours,
July 'i, 1835. CHAS. LYELL.

16 Hart Street, LONDON.

FROM SIR CHARLES LYELL.

16 HART STREET, BLOOMSBURY SQUARE,
May 20, 1836.

You will be glad to hear that I have just re
ceived a letter of three sheets from Sir John Herschel,
dated from the Cape of Good Hope, full of comments on
my " Geology," which he had read through for the third
time, and for the last time in the fourth edition.

He speaks of my variation-of- climate theory as " a great
and acknowledged difficulty fairly surmounted." He talks
of coming home, via Brazil, in a year and a half. You will
see an article in the " Quarterly Review " on Dr. Buck-
land's Geological Bridgewater ; but the work itself is not
out yet, as he is working up the last chapters. I hope you

LETTERS FROM SIR CHARLES LYELL. 163

received my President's Addresses, one packet of which
was sent by Mr. O. Rich, and another by an American gen
tleman. You have heard, of course, of the death of Pro
fessor Hoffman of Berlin. I have not heard whether we
are to have his " Geology of Sicily " as a posthumous work.
He was a man, I believe, of my own age, — thirty-eight, —
which makes it an unexpected loss. In my fifth edition
you will see a recast of the Elevation Crater controversy,
in which I reply to Von Buch's article in " Poggendorf,"
and to De Beaumont's in the " Memoires pour Servir," &c.,
and, I suppose, the " Annales des Mines." I had a good
deal of personal intercourse with these two geologists last
year at Paris and in Germany, and, after all the explana
tions I could get, I believe them to have started wrong in
the first instance, and believe them to be now working
themselves deeper and deeper into an untenable hypothe
sis. I wish, indeed, there was a bridge of steam across the
Atlantic, that I might transport, if not myself, at least the
first printed copy of my fifth edition to New Haven. As
to American geology, I always feel that I have so much to
do at my own door that I have no business to go there for
these ten years, — for it would be like wishing to geologize
the moon in our present infancy of the knowledge of the
earth. Mr. Murchison's book will hardly be out this year,«
but I hope to see it very early next year ; and such maps,
sections, and fossil illustrations, never, I believe, adorned a
book on our subject yet. You may well suppose that " Ly ell's
Elements " are not much accelerated by the recast of the
Principles. I always recommend Bakewell

FROM SIB CHARLES LTELL.

NEW YORK, April 4, 1842.

Now that I have travelled from Niagara to

Georgia, and have met a great number of your country
men on the Continent of Europe, and heard the manner in
which they ascribe the taste they have for science to your

164 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

tuition, I may congratulate you, for I never heard as
many of the rising generation in England refer as often to
any one individual teacher as having given a direction to
their taste. Non omnia possumus omnes, and if you cannot
yourself explore the rocks from Maine to Florida, you may
say that you have sent forth pupils who will do it for you.
I have heard from Mantell at last, and was really re
lieved to find that the paralysis was due to a bad accident
when he was thrown out of his carriage. We leave on the
12th, going by the Hudson to Professor Hitchcock's, and
thence to Boston ; there I leave my wife with Mrs. Ticknor,
while I make some other excursions, in the course of which
I may pay you a flying visit at New Haven

FROM SIR CHARLES LYELL.

LONDON, August 17, 1844.

MY DEAR SIR, • — I was much obliged to you for writing
to me, and for the lively account which you sent me of your
very interesting tour to the West, where I should like much
also to go, though I think it very doubtful whether circum
stances or plans of geological tours in another direction, may
not prevent me visiting the United States for some years.
But my plans are unavoidably uncertain just now, and, in
the mean time, I am glad to hear that you and your coun
trymen are moving on with your characteristic activity. I
hope to be out at Christmas, but really cannot well estimate
the amount of work which remains to be done. My collec
tion of tertiary shells from Virginia and Maryland, South
Carolina and Georgia, and my coral plants from Nova
Scotia, which I have been studying with much pleasure,
have occupied me longer than I anticipated. I regret that
Hall has not yet got out his final report of which he has
sent me a large part of the illustrations and, I believe, all
the letter-press. We want Mathers also on New York. My
wife begs me to thank your son particularly for his pres
ent to her of Dana's " Mineralogy," and joins me in con-

LETTERS FROM LADY LYELL. 165

gratulations on the marriage which you announced.* Dr.
Mantell bears up with great fortitude against his chronic
complaint, and his spirits are surprisingly good. His new
work on organic remains, will, I hope, be successful, as it
is excellently fitted to popularize that branch of our science,
and to furnish the elements of different departments of fos
sil zoology and botany. He has been obliged to give up
part of his practice. I wish he had done so sooner. He
and Mr. Lonsdale went on too long. We are rejoicing at
the East India Company having consented to give Dr. Fal
coner five years' absence from professional duty (medical),
in order that he may stay in London and describe the Him
alayan mammalian and reptilian remains found by him and
Captain C., and presented to the British Museum. You
will see in the proceedings of the Royal Asiatic Society,
what Falconer said in a lecture on the subject, and some
remarks of mine on the same. I am much obliged to your
son for so promptly publishing the abstracts I sent of my
papers on American Geology. They come out so tardily
now in our proceedings, that I am glad to have a voice in
your Journal. Mr. Darwin has lately published an excel
lent little volume on volcanic islands, and he and I are
impatient to see your son-in law's work on the coral islands
of the Pacific. Pray, remember us to all your family, not
omitting Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard, and believe me, my dear
sir,

Most truly yours,

CHARLES LYELL.

FROM LADY LYELL.

December 10, 1849.

WE saw Dr. Mantell the other day. Though he

is often ill, his energy is quite wonderful, and he is better
than some months ago. You will be sure to have heard
from him his wonderful discoveries about the Belemnite and

* The marriage of Professor Dana to Miss Henrietta, daughter of Profes
sor SUliman. — F.

166 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the iguanodon's jaw. Mr. Cogswell is here at present, and
will, I hope, pass the winter in London. We often see him.
We have a very mild beginning of winter. I wonder if there
are those sparkling twigs on the trees now to be seen at
New Haven, which was my last impression of it. My hus
band is very busily engaged, as usual, and the different
societies having met, add to his other engagements. Sir
R. Murchison has returned from Italy, and reads a paper
on some observations he made there, next Wednesday,
at the Geological Society. I hear frequently from Mrs.
Ticknor ; she gives me Boston news. We have been re
joicing greatly, as I am sure you have, in General Taylor's
election. It is for the United States to keep peace while
the old world is convulsed ; not but that I think good will
come, and is coming, out of all these disturbances. Sir
Charles unites with me in every kind wish to yourself and
Mrs. Silliman.

FROM LADY LYELL.

11 Harley Street, LONDON.
April 28, 1854.

DEAR DR. SILLIMAN, — We returned last week from our
winter's visit to Madeira and the Canary Islands, and I found
your kind note, now of old date, — the 22d October, last
year, — and also your kind present of your last Travels in
Europe, for which, pray accept our best thanks. I have as
yet done little more than glance at it, but I see a great deal
to interest me in it when I take it up more leisurely. At
present, you will believe we are fully employed, as there is
always much to be done after an absence of several months.
But this season we have peculiar excitement, as two days
after our return last week, our brother and sister, Major
and Mrs. Lyell, returned from India with their three little
boys. She is my own sister, and we have, of course, much
to talk about after three years' separation. They have, how
ever, come here for good, and have taken a house in the
Regent's Park. In the mean time, they are staying with rny

LETTER FROM SIR R. I.' MURCHISON. 167

father and mother, who are delighted to have their grand
children. The week after next my younger sister, Leonora,
is to be married to Dr. Pertz, the King's librarian at Ber
lin. We like the marriage in every respect but one, — that
it takes her so far away. He is expected here in a day or
two, and will stay in our house till the wedding takes place.
We were sorry not to see Mr. Gilman who brought your
letter, in consequence of our 'absence, but he was several
times at my father's. He had brought a letter of introduc
tion to Dr. Pertz at Berlin, and as he (Dr. P.) happened to
be in London, Mr. Oilman was introduced to him here. He
brought me the beautiful piece of amethyst quartz from
Dr. Gibbon of North Carolina. Might I ask you, dear sir,
kindly to give my best thanks for this, and explain why I
have been so slow in sending them. We have had a very
interesting tour, and enjoyed a charming climate all winter.
Sir Charles has profited much by the geology, and brought
here great materials for papers and memoirs. He is ex
tremely well too.

I must conclude with our best compliments to Mrs.
Silliman, and kind regards to all your family in its vari
ous branches.

Ever, very sincerely yours,

MARY E. LTELL.

FROM SIR R. I. MURCHISON.

PARIS, April 4, 1841.

MY DEAR PROFESSOR, — This is my first stage on my
road to St. Petersburg and the Ural Mountains, and I
have come by this circuitous route in order to secure the
company of my friend and coadjutor, Mr. E. W. Verneuil.
We hope to reach St. Petersburg by the first of May, and
to be in the Ural Mountains, or on their flanks, in the first
week of June. I fear that our friend, Dr. Mantell, misled
you in writing to say that I was about to visit the United
States. This arose from Dr. Buckland having talked of

168 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

such a project after our geological anniversary dinner, at
which I took the chair as President. A little memoir (an
abstract of a very long memoir which I read recently be
fore the Geological Society) will explain to you (and I have
desired copies to be sent to you) to what a great extent I
am embarked in Russian geology, and how, being "in
medias res," I am naturally led to try to complete a correct
outline sketch of a geological map of Russia in Europe.
To your magnificent region, I look with intense interest,
and I live in the hope of being able to explore its palae
ozoic rocks. Already, however, your able countrymen are
preparing all the elements for the complete classification of
these olden deposits of America.

I have for some time been much gratified to observe the
steps which Conrad, Hall, &c., have been laying ; and very
recently, I was delighted to receive from the last-men
tioned geologist, a suit of specimens which leave no doubt
of the descending succession of the old red sandstone or De
vonian rocks into true Silurian types From what I

see, I should be disposed to think that North America may
offer the fullest and most perfect sequence of palaeozoic
strata in the world. It is right, therefore, that I should see
your grand development last. " Vedi Napoli e foi morir."

FROM SIB R. I. MURCHISON.

BELGRAVE SQUARE, May 27, 1850.

MY DEAR SIR, — Our mutual friend, Dr. Mantell, has
reminded me that I have been guilty of what I very much
regret. I have omitted, it appears, to thank you for the
admirable work of your son-in-law, Mr. Dana, on corals ; a
work concerning the excellence of which no naturalist en
tertains a doubt, and of which our friend Lonsdale, who is
our best judge, has the very highest opinion. I am really
quite shocked that I should thus appear to be unmindful of
what I really consider a great boon, and which I have en
deavored to utilize among my naturalist friends as far as

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR R. OWEN. 169

was practicable ; but you will forgive me when I tell you
that I never received the plates, without which, the descrip
tions are, to a great extent, useless. I can only account for
my apparent neglect of your kindness by my having de
layed to write in expectation of the arrival of the plates.
But whether they shall ever reach me or not, pray be as
sured that I am deeply sensible of your friendship, and that
I duly estimate the intrinsic value of the present. If you
could have peeped into the anniversary dinner-room of the
Royal Geological Society yesterday, where I presided with
your representative, Mr. Abbott Lawrence, on my right
hand, you would not think that I had a lukewarm feeling to
the men of science in the United States. In fact, it was
owing to my suggestion and motion in the Council, that the
only gold medal we have adjudicated this year (the Vic
toria) was unanimously voted to Colonel Fremont, for his
most adventurous and most successful explorations of the
Rocky Mountains, the great saliferous region, and the
Sierra Nevada of California. I have quite an admiration
of this true geographer who, under so many privations, has
opened up to us such an enormous mass of land, and has
laid down its latitude so correctly

FROM PROFESSOR R. OWEN.

Royal College of Surgeons, LONDON,
March 16, 1843.

MY DEAR SIR, — I beg to acknowledge the favor of your
esteemed letter of the 27th February, and am unwilling to
delay my answer, although I am not able to answer on all
the points to which it relates. I have not yet, for example,
seen the entire collection of footprints in the possession of
our common friend, Mr. Mantell ; but on the few which he
has obligingly submitted to me, (two very clear ones, last
Saturday night, at the soiree of the P. R. S.,) I may ven
ture, after much mature consideration, to speak. You may
be aware that M. de Blainville contends that the ground —

170 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

namely, a single bone or articular facet of a bone — on
which Cuvier deemed it possible to reconstruct the entire
animal, is inadequate to that end. In this opinion I do not
coincide. I have had too frequent evidence of the potency
of the law of correlation of structures in an animal organ
ism to doubt the strength of Cuvier's proposition. But if
a single bone has been deemed insufficient to give the en
tire animal, with more reason may we doubt the efficacy of
a footprint. We must bear in mind the conflicting opinions
to which the Chirotherian impressions have given rise ; next,
in regard to the Ornithicnites, it is important to remember
that there were reptiles at the age of the New Red Sand
stone, the Rhynchosaurus, e. g., (see " Transactions of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society," Vol. VIL, Part in., p.
355,) which presented a singularly close approximation to
birds in the form and structure of their edentulous skull ;
and might not a corresponding modification of the feet
complete the resemblance of these ancient reptiles to the
fabled cockatrice ? A biped reptile would not be more
anomalous than a jerboa or kangaroo. In the foregoing
remarks I wish to be understood as merely indicating the
grounds which justify caution in assuming the existence of
a highly organized, warm-blooded, quick-breathing, perhaps
volant, feathered biped, from footprints merely. I have,
however, recently acquired very important additional evi
dence of the former existence, in the Island of New Zea
land, of a gigantic bird, having the same low grade of
organization as regards the respiratory system which I have
demonstrated in the Apteryx of the same island (" Zoologi
cal Translations," Vol. L). It is to this circumstance, per
haps, that Dr. Daubeny alludes in his letter to you. 'My
evidence is not, however, footprints, but the bones them
selves. If you will refer to the " Transactions of the Zo
ological Society," Vol. III. Part i. p. 29, you will see the first
indication of the gigantic struthious bird of New Zealand,
which vindicates Cuvier's principle, as showing what may

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR R. OWEN. 171

be made out of a single fragment of bone. Three years
after that fragment was interpreted, a box containing
femora, tibia, a metatarsal bone, and portions of pelvis, ver
tebrae, &c., was transmitted to Dr. Buckland from New
Zealand, who generously placed them at my disposal. They
were described at the meeting of the Zoological Society,
January 24, 1843, and established the fact that at no very
remote period, — say a couple .of centuries ago, — there
existed in New Zealand a tri-dactyle struthious bird, one
third larger than the African ostrich, resembling the apte-
ryx in the proportions of the tibia to the metatarsus, and
in the absence of air in the femur, and, therefore, most
probably in the rudimental state of the wings. Now the
metatarsal bone of this bird, which I have called Dinornis
Nova Zelandia, is fully large enough to have sustained three
toes equivalent to produce impressions of the size of those
of the Ornithicnites giganteus of Professor Hitchcock.

This I had the pleasure to demonstrate to Mr. Boot of
Boston, during his late visit to London. It seems most
reasonable, therefore, to conclude that the Ornithicnites are
the impressions of the feet of birds which had the same
low grade of organization as the Apteryx and the Dinornis
of New Zealand, and these latter may be regarded as the
last remnants of an apterous race of birds which seems to
have nourished at the epoch of the New Red Sandstones
of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Believe me, very faithfully yours,

RICHARD OWEN.

FROM PROFESSOR R. OWEN.

LONDON, Royal College of Surgeons,
December 6, 1846.

MY DEAR PROFESSOR SILLIMAN, —I was much gratified
by receiving your friendly note of November 20, and the
good wishes of your accomplished son, and your friend,
Mr. Dana. I regret to find that you have never received

172 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Part II. of the " Memoir on Dinornis," as your name appears
amongst the first in my list of friends to whom I had, or
meant to have, sent it. I enclose it herewith to the care of
George P. Putnam. At the same time you will receive a
copy of my contributions to the history of our fossil mam
mals, (additional or supplemental to my 8vo. history,) and
also a copy of my work on the Archetype and Homologies
of the vertebrate skeleton. You may remember the con
dition in which this philosophical department of anatomy
was left by the great Cuvier and Geoffroy, and the discus
sions which unhappily tended to sever those estimable men
in the latter period of their lives. The result was the
formation of two schools or parties in the French world of
anatomy, and subsequently the facts and arguments bear
ing upon these transcendental questions have been viewed
in Paris through the prism of such party feeling.

The chief and most cherished labor and reflections of
many past years have been devoted by me to the acquisition
of such truth as might lie at the bottom of the well into
which this Philosophy of Anatomy seemed to have sunk
after the departure of the great luminaries of the Jardin
des Plantes. With what success I have drawn from the
deep and obscure source, I leave to the impartial students
of my little book. My chief hope of a fair reception and
appreciation of the philosophy rests with or on the free and
clear judgment of your countrymen

FKOM PROFESSOR DAUBENY.

Botanic Garden, OXFORD,
February 3, 1843.

DEAR PROFESSOR SILLIMAN, — I hope I have not made
you an unacceptable return for your many kind attentions
in forwarding to me a copy of your interesting Journal, by
addressing to you, through the Secretary of the Royal
Society, my little Journal in the United States, of which
I have printed one hundred copies for private circulation

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY. 173

amongst friends. I cannot expect that any friends on your
side of the Atlantic will admit the justice of all I have said,
but I hope they will allow that I have not viewed them with
an eye of hostility, or even of prejudice. I must, indeed,
have been very unfortunate in the expression of my senti
ments, if my remarks have not conveyed to others a feeling
of great good-will, on my part, more especially as respects
the people of New England. I should, however, be very
glad to hear whether you think that in other parts of the
Union I should be considered to make an acceptable pres
ent in sending copies of such a production. By the same
conveyance you will probably also receive a copy of the
last agricultural lecture I have published. I believe I have
sent you all the preceding ones ; such at least was my in
tention, but, if not, you will find them in the Journal of the
Royal English Agricultural Society. The subject of agri
culture is now exciting much attention in England, and the
new views of Liebig are opening a new field of research
both in vegetable and in animal physiology.

I travelled with that distinguished man during a consid-
able part of last summer in different parts of England and
Scotland, and was much pleased with him. His principles
are carried out, in Dr. Jones's little work on " Gravel and
Grit," with much ingenuity, and his translator, Dr. Playfair,
is engaged .in many experiments on the feeding and fatten
ing of cattle according to his principles

FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY.

January 17, 1848.

I TRUST you will regard this present as a proof

that I retain a lively recollection of the agreeable time I
spent amongst my brethren in the New World, and more
especially of the kindness and attention I experienced at
New Haven, from whence you will be able, I hope, to give
me good tidings of yourself and family. Your Mexican war
is, I believe, not viewed with much favor in the New Eng-

174 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

land States, but the brightest point of view in which to
regard it has reference to the facilities its results may here
after afford to your energetic countrymen for exploring the
volcanoes of that interesting country. If I were younger
I should only wait for your obtaining quiet possession and
establishing order before I undertook to visit them.

FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY.

February 26, 1848.

You will hear of the great discovery of phos
phate of lime in the green land of Surrey. That coprolites
containing it existed in that formation, had been pointed
out by Dr. Buckland and Dr. Fitton ; but that the sponges,
coralines, &c., were fossilized by that material instead of by
the carbonate ijs, I believe, new, although it might have
been conjectured that the mineral ingredients of the fish
which produced the coprolites would not have altogether
disappeared, and especially as the soft parts contained
phosphates as well as the bones. We are thunderstruck
with the news from Paris. If the French are to have a
republic, God grant that it may be as consistent with pub
lic order as it has proved in the United States. But this I
greatly doubt. Pray remember me to your son, and to Mr.
Dana, and believe me, very dear sir,

Very truly yours,

CHARLES DAUBENY.

FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY.

January 17, 1852.

I REGRETTED much that your prolonged stay on

the Continent should have not only prevented me seeing
you there, but also your repeating your visit to Oxford,
where I had hoped to have enjoyed a little more of your
society before your return to America. It was, however, a
source of much gratification for me to renew, even for so
short a time, at Oxford, the acquaintance I had had with

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY. 175

you fourteen years ago at New Haven, and to be intro
duced to the other members of your family who accom
panied you.

Events have tended, I think, to draw together more
closely than ever the bonds of union between our transat
lantic brethren and ourselves. A little time ago, it might
have been doubted, whether, notwithstanding our common
origin, manners, and language, the aristocratical element
which holds a place in our constitution did not interpose a
broader line of demarcation between us than existed in the
case of those continental nations amongst whom democracy
seemed then to have established itself.

The changes, however, that have just occurred in France,
hiduce us to place but little dependence on the continuance
of liberal institutions anywhere on the European Continent,
and make one fear that freedom will shortly be able to
raise its head nowhere except amongst the Anglo-Saxon
race. Indeed, the false security in which our nation indulges
in the face of an army of 500,000 men, within sight of
our shores, under an unscrupulous leader, makes one feel
some diffidence as to what may be our own fate hereafter,
whilst as to Belgium and Piedmont the prospect is even
darker

FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENT.

May 3, 1852.

.... THE Oxford Commissioners have just delivered in
their report, and it is ordered to be printed, so that I doubt
not but that it will shortly be easy to obtain. It contains a
large and valuable body of evidence, but as it was under
taken under the auspices of the late ministry, it is less
probable that the present will found any substantial measure
of reform upon it. In the meantime, however, some prog
ress is making here in the promotion of scientific studies.
I am now in hopes that the University will vote me a
sum of money, not less than £3000, for the reception and

176 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

maintenance of the Fielding Herbarium, one of the finest
in Great Britain, now offered to the Botanic Garden. If
so, foreign botanists may find at Oxford greater facilities,
even, than at the Metropolis, for studying plants, consider
ing the easy access to our collections. I also hope that we
shall soon see a Museum more worthy of the University
than the one you visited.

With respect to your question as to the number of our
members, I may state that all who have ever taken a degree
and continue their names on the books of the University,
(for which they pay a small annual fee,) are included in the
number 5900 (last year 6080). If masters of arts, they
have the privilege of voting at University elections, includ
ing that for the members of Parliament who represent the
corporate body. The numbers actively studying are, of
course, much smaller. I should conceive that 1500 would
include all the students, though not probably the resident
tutors and fellows.

The number of matriculations in 1851 was 359, which,
multiplied by four, would give 1436 as the number of un
dergraduates. The members of Convocation, viz., M. A.,
and in higher degrees, were, in 1851, 3352 ; leaving for
B. A. 1292, so that the total would be 6080.

No residence is required of M. A., and only three weeks
of B. A. Undergraduates also are allowed three terms'
absence during the four years, before taking their degree
of B. A.

We lost my old and valued friend and colleague, Dr.
Kidd, in September, by a sudden attack of illness. In other
respects the University staff of Professors is much as when
you visited us

FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY.

[Date wanting.]

.... FROM the extracts I have seen of it I have no
doubt that I shall derive profit and pleasure from the fruits
of your second ramble into the Old World.

LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY* 177

We are on the eve of a great contest, the result of which
will determine whether despotism or constitutional gov
ernment is to prevail in Europe. Should Russia be able
to defy all the powers now arrayed against her, I do not see
what is to stop her in her advance to universal empire. I
mean, of course, with the Old World. You at least may
look on, if not as unconcerned, at least not personally inter
ested, spectators in the great struggle. We are also on
the eve of great changes in our academical system, which,
I trust, will work well, the government having taken upon
themselves the task of reforming us, so that you see we are
not altogether occupied with foreign politics.

Murchlson's great- work — the Silurian system — is the
principal geological novelty, unless you regard as geological,
Whewell's clever essay, the " Plurality of Worlds." ... .

FROM PROFESSOR DAUBENY.

February 15, 1858.

MY DEAR SIR, — I am sorry to say that one of the
pamphlets you asked about is out of print, but I have sent
two copies of the other, namely — " Can Physical Science
obtain a Home in an English University," together with a
little jeu d esprit of mine, entitled, " A Dream of the New-
Museum," intended to point out the inconsistency of a great
University, which is as rich as ours is in institutions con
nected with classical literature, grudging what is wanted
to place the physical sciences upon a respectable footing
amongst us. This deficiency will, I hope, be in part sup
plied by the new Museum now erecting, and other arrange
ments are talked of which will render Oxford less exclu
sively devoted to members of the clerical profession and to
the aristocracy than heretofore. I have added a little essay
of mine on the theory of Cholera, in which, as I have freely
owned, I am anticipated by your countryman, Dr. Mitchell
of Philadelphia. Dr. Livingstone's statements with respect
to the Tzetze fly in his interesting travels, seem to me to

VOL. II. 12

178 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

present some analogy in the gradual but incurable disturb
ance in the system, produced by a poison which, unlike
other well-known insect stings, produces no irritation at the
time. I am much obliged to you for promising to take
notice of my " Lectures on Roman Husbandry " ; it will be
the means of rendering them known in the United States,
as they will be shortly in Germany, as a Leipsic Professor
is about to translate them.

Our Indian troubles appear drawing to a conclusion, but
the perfidy and cruelty of the natives have left behind
them a feeling of estrangement from the whole Hindoo
race, which must be got over, or the country will not be
worth our holding. In this point of view, Lord Canning's
measures are much wiser, as well as more humane, than
those of some of his compatriots at Calcutta.

I may call your attention to a little notice of mine in the
" Proceedings of the Geological Society " for last month,
suggesting a cause for the evolution of ammonia from volca
noes. As it is very short, it may, perhaps, be thought worth
inserting in your Journal.

I am much obliged by your long and interesting letter,
and shall at all times be glad to hear of you and your fam
ily, either in this way or by those who bring me your card.

FROM SIR J. F. W. HERSCHEL.

SIR, — I have received and read with much interest the
biography you were so good as to send me of the late Mr.
Mason.* It is indeed a very affecting, and at the same time
a very pleasing, record; and a youth of such talent and
promise would not have failed, had he lived, to have distin
guished himself and done honor to his country, not only by
his discoveries but by his virtues. I already possess an
account of a fourteen-feet reflector constructed by him, and
of his observations (very interesting ones) made with it on

* Ebenezer Porter Mason, a young American Astronomer of high promise
who died December 26th, 1840. — F.

LETTERS FROM HERSCHEL AND HAIDINGER. 179

some nebulae, which prove him to have been a careful and
accurate observer, and make his loss much to be regretted
on that score also, as well as on that of general power.

The work was addressed to me by his " representatives"
but as no names were mentioned or addresses, I knew not
how to acknowledge it. As you are in communication with
the parties, I will request you to convey to them my best
thanks for their interesting paper, and I beg to remain, sir,

With much regard,
Your obliged and obedient servant,

J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
COLLINGWOOD, Dec. 27, 1842.

FROM PROFESSOR HAIDINGER.

VIENNA, April 2, 1860.

..... I SHALL be most happy to welcome our most
excellent friend, Professor Dana, restored by his stay in
Italy. I am much afraid our western neighbor will not let
Europe approach to anything like peace ; he is working
about curing social evils by political changes, which only

tend to aggravate the difficulties of the former

In a late communication of mine to our academy relative to
another account of the meteoric iron, I began calling at
tention to the noise caused by meteorites, and usually called
explosions;, as not belonging to anything like a real explo
sion like that of gunpowder, but simply to the repletion of
an empty space, following the meteorite, and kept in that
state by the rotatory motion of the latter, till its process is
checked by the resistance of the atmosphere. I should
very much like to call your attention to this subject. I
have also to give an account of our Bohemian meteor of
November 28th.

Ever most truly yours,

W. HAIDINGER

180 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

FROM PROFESSOR CONYBEARE.

August, 1836.

MY DEAR SIR, — I have to express my thanks for several
kind presents in the literary way, which I have received
from you, in which I have not only been gratified by their
general interest, but equally by the expression of those
sentiments which every large and liberal mind must wish
to see prevail between countries identified in lineage, lan
guage, and literature, and in all the great ends, if not in all
the great means, of our social institutions, — of the elder
of which it must ever be one of the proudest boasts that
she is the mother of the younger, — an offspring destined to
spread her speech and civilization over a vast continent,
and to give them an extent unrivalled by any other family
of man.

An intercourse of the scientific and literary minds of the
two countries, will, I am persuaded, be among the most
efficient means of cementing those feelings of friendship
which it is so very desirable to encourage. I have, there
fore, great satisfaction in forwarding to you the first num
bers of a new scientific Journal, which my friends at Bristol
have just established. Bristol has a peculiar chain of con
nection with America ; it was long the principal port where
an intercourse between the two countries was carried on,
and it is indeed our boast that Sebastian Cabot, in a vessel
fitted out by us, was the first discoverer of any part of the
Continent of North America, so that we hope you will look
with greater interest at our efforts to promote the cause of
science, in which we trust the present Journal will very
efficiently cooperate with our excellent Institution and very
valuable library previously established. In America, I be
lieve you have similar advantages in most of your large
towns ; but in England the principle of centralization very
much more refers everything to our vast metropolis. Yet
the progress of most of our respectable provincial towns

LETTERS FROM PROFS. JOHNSTON AND ROGERS. 181

has, of late years, been very satisfactory, and Bristol has in
this noble race fully kept pace with her competitor.

FROM PROFESSOR J. F. W. JOHNSTON.

Moscow, August 24, 1842.

BEFORE entering Russia, I have been paying

a visit to my old friend Berzelius, at Stockholm, and since
that time have run over some one thousand miles of this
infantile region of country. What a contrast between the
internal progress of your really young country and of this
gigantic and almost unwieldy empire, every wheel of which
is moved by one main spring, the tension of which regulates
the progress of every hand. Here are vast plains, exten
sive forests, great rivers, all rich capabilities undeveloped
by the great mass of the nobles, — even as yet unperceived.
But everything here partakes more or less of the eastern
origin of the people. Gold and silver, scarlet, blue and
green, fine dress, fine armor, splendid uniforms, military
display, — everything that at once attracts and pleases the
eye, — these are the objects sought after by the people from
Petersburg to Ispahan. From the whole Empire itself to
the gaudy ornamental goods manufactured at Moscow,
everything is external and for effect ; the goods will not
bear inspection ; they are rude and unfinished when you
look beneath the gildings ; the Empire is a mere great out
line, which long time alone can fill up. It is a vast canvas
on which the painter has yet only put in and partially fin
ished a few prominent figures, — Petersburg, Moscow, and
scarcely another, while here and there faint sketches only
of many others appear. And yet there is great progress
everywhere observable, but that progress is retarded as that
of the traveller is, at every step, by the necessity of attend
ing to a thousand forms, and by the military organization
of everything

182 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

FKOM PROFESSOR WILLIAM B. ROGERS.

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
May 17, 1839.

You will remark a similarity in my mode of

grasping the formations in our Appalachian and Alleghany
regions with that adopted by my brother in Pennsylvania. In
fact, we work in concert, and coinciding in our geological
views have adopted the same methods. It gives me pleasure
to find, by information from Europe, that our cautious, though
extremely laborious mode of research meets the approbation
of the sound and judicious geologists abroad ; and I feel
perfectly assured that when the entire body of our results,
with the multitude of illustrative sections, and other de
lineations shall be made public, there will be but one
opinion as to the philosophy of the course we are pursuing.
The phenomena of structure, — the illustration of the direc
tions and comparative energies of geological forces will, I
am sure, be regarded as important additions to geological
dynamics. In fact, I am bold enough to hope that many
important general views, not without novelty, will be pre
sented, which from the wide scale of our formations and the
symmetrical operation of the great disturbing forces to
which they have been exposed, we have been enabled to
elucidate more clearly than could be done anywhere in
Europe

CHAPTER XXIV.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL.

Origin of the Correspondence. — Dr. Mantell on the Vicissitudes of For
tune among English Families ; on Tariffs. — Professor Silliman on Nul
lification and Slavery; on Mrs. Trollope's Book on the United States;
on Captain Hamilton's Book on the United States. — Dr. Mantell on
the Duke of "Wellington; on Agassiz's Visit to him; on Mr. I/yell's
History. — Professor Silliman on the Means of Health; on the Bird-
Tracks of the Connecticut River Valley; on the Visit of Dickens, and
that of Lyell, to the United States. — D*r. Mantell on Mr. Bakewell, his
Infirmities, his Death. — Professor Silliman on Dr. Mantell' s Disease. —
Dr. Mantell on the Medals of Creation ; on Sir R. Peel ; on Dr. Lard-
ner. — Professor Silliman on Equivocal Generation and the Nebular
Theory; on Ly ell's Visit. — Dr. Mantell on the Potato-rot and the Con
dition of the English Poor; on his Geology of the Isle of Wight. — Pro
fessor Silliman on Dr. Mantell's Sufferings; on Mr. Lyell's Reference to
Dr. Mantell (in his Geology, Second Edition) ; on the Mexican War and
European War. — Dr. Mantell on the Dinner of the Geological Society.
— Professor Silliman on California. — Dr. Mantell on Faraday; on the
Death of Sir R. Peel; on his Annuity from the Queen. — Dr. J. C.
Warren on the Death of Dr. Mantell.

A MOST intimate and confidential intercourse grew
up between Professor Silliman and the celebrated
geologist, Dr. Mantell, although they had never seen
one another until the second visit of the former to
Europe, in 1851. Dr. Mantell was an ardent and
most diligent investigator, and is entitled to the
honor of making very important discoveries. Nat
urally sensitive, he was rendered the more so by the
bodily infirmities of a most painful character, with
which he was compelled to struggle. The amount
of work which he accomplished, under the burden

184 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILL1MAN.

of disease, is wonderful. There was much in his
situation to harass and sadden his feelings. His
American friend, to whom he confided all his griev
ances and anxieties, was never weary of the effort to
soothe and sustain him. The letters of Professor
Silliman were for many years one of his chief sources
of happiness. The present chapter is devoted to
selections from this correspondence, — preceded, how
ever, by Professor Silliman's own account of the
origin of the acquaintance.

During my first visit to England and Scotland in 1805-6,
Dr. MantelPs star had not yet risen above the horizon.
Being ten or twelve years younger than myself, he was
then of course unknown to me, and was quite a youth.
More than twenty years after my return home, I began to
hear his name mentioned in connection with interesting
discoveries which he was reported to have made in Pale
ontology, in the southeast of England, where he resided, in
the ancient town of Lewes, in Sussex. A few years later
still, the fame of his published works reached me, and I
ventured to address to him a letter, in the autumn of 1830,
begging that he would send me his works on the geology
of the region in which he lived, and promising him a re
turn in the American " Journal of Science and Arts," and
in any other work which I had published. I of course
stated my professional connection with Yale College, also
my personal acquaintance with England, and I gave refer
ences to individuals to whom I was known in that country.
These precautions, as appeared by the result, were unneces
sary, for Dr. Mantell had already anticipated my request,
and had, unsolicited, done the very thing which I desired.
In those days there were no ocean steamers, and the averr
age of passages across the Atlantic, both ways, was thirty-
six days, according to the experience of more than thirty

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 185

years of Captain Sebor, as stated to me by himself. (The
first English steamer, — the Sirius, — a small experimental
ship, arrived in New York in April, 1838.) I had no reason
to expect an early reply from Dr. Mantell ; but my letter
to him had been gone only a few days, when the desired
books arrived.

The fact that each of us had taken the initiative step, —
each without knowing what the other was doing, — this
happy movement on the part of men of temperament not
dissimilar and not cold, brought us together in genial sym
pathy. The offices of kindness and useful service which
began from the first overture, and never ceased until death
closed our intercourse, soon ripened into a warm friend
ship and cordial confidence and esteem ; and, considering
that we were already, and myself especially, in the evening
twilight of life, our correspondence was not only confid
ing, it was affectionate. I was fifty-two, and Dr. Mantell
forty-one, when the correspondence began. His first letter
to me is dated March 29, 1831, and the last, October 11,
1852 ; and he died November 10, 1852, — just one month
intervening. Dr. MantelFs letters were not only most
friendly and confiding, they were full of information, and
were often accompanied by valuable specimens, which
gradually accumulated to form a large and valuable collec
tion. In his letters he gave me from time to time the most
recent and most important scientific intelligence, which was
usually inserted in the " Journal of Science," whose pages
were occasionally enriched by original communications
from his own pen.

There are one hundred and twenty-six letters of Dr.
Mantell, in regular sequence of dates, — from March 29,
1831, to October 11, 1852, a period of twenty years and a
half, making about six letters a year.* My letters were,

* Besides these, a considerable number of letters from Dr. Mantell have
been found among Mr. Silliman's papers, which had escaped his eye when
he made the collection. — F.

186 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

of course, to say the least, equally numerous, and therefore
there must have passed between us two hundred and fifty
letters in all ; they were usually full, and frequently long.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

CASTLE PLACE, LEWES, SUSSEX, ENGLAND,
February 10, 1833.

MY DEAR SIR, — Your kind present reached me in safety
in January, but the bustle of this season of the year has
left me not one moment's leisure till now, and I eagerly
embrace a few minutes' quiet to have the pleasure of a
tete-a-tete with you. First, let me again express how
deeply sensible we are of your kind and liberal exertions
to afford us gratification, and to assure you of the high
pleasure your communications, and those of your charming
family, give to me and mine. Although I fear you and I
shall never meet in this world, yet it is consolatory to re
flect that there is a possibility our children may, and that
our scientific intercourse — itself a sufficient reward —
may yet lay the foundation of a friendship between those
who are dear to us, the benefits arising from which may
hereafter be of more value than we can utter, calculate, or
imagine. The Mastodon's tooth was to me of the highest
interest ; and so much do I value any relic of this kind,
that I candidly state there is nothing so much coveted by
me as teeth or bones of any of your extinct mammalia ;
and if you could procure for me, by exchange or purchase,
any bones or teeth of the Mastodon, without inconvenience
to yourself, I would gladly repay you, and should feel
greatly obliged by your kindness : of course I should not
like to expend any large sum without being previously
made acquainted with the nature of the specimens. The
tooth you have so generously given me is quite a treasure.

And now, my dear sir, I have arrived at your own

work, in which your friendship and kind feeling have led
you to give so excellent, but too flattering, notice of me

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 187

and my labors. I cannot express what I feel on this subject ;
but be assured that neither Mrs. Mantell, nor myself, nor
my family, can ever forget your disinterested kindness !
The notice has been copied in part into many of our jour
nals, and it came most opportunely, at the very time when
my memoir (which I read to the Geological Society on
the 5th of December) had excited great interest in the
scientific world, and found its way into many of the lead
ing daily papers I feel most deeply sensible of

your kind, your generous observation on the possibility of
my family, like thousands of others, being compelled to
seek in your rising country for that repose and comfort
which, in my artificial and highly-excited community, but
few, if any, can find ; and I assure you, my dear friend,
that, deeply as I venerate the home of my ancestors, and
attached as I am to the very walls which surround their
ashes, yet, if I were ten years younger, I would not, for the
sake of my family, have hesitated long since to launch my
young folks in America, where they would have been free
from that feverish state of anxiety and excitement, which
awaits them here. When I reflect on the many hundreds
of families whom, even in my comparatively short life, I
have seen reduced from affluence to poverty, I shudder
with horror lest such a fate may be mine, in spite of all
my exertions and all the precautions which providence can
suggest ; and the same feeling pervades all classes of so
ciety. I know not one, even of our first families, that does
not find itself involved in difficulties. I read with great
feeling your eloquent address on the causes of national
anxiety, alike honorable to your head and heart ; it has
afforded much pleasure to some benevolent friends to
whom I have lent it. Stewart's " America," which is just
published, has a great run. Mrs. Trollope's is sinking into
merited oblivion and contempt. I have been watching
with intense anxiety the announcements from Carolina ;
and most fervently do I hope that the difference existing

18S LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

between that State and your Government may speedily
subside. Our Tories (and our Whigs too) are quite de
lighted at the possibility of a civil war in a republic, to
which Englishmen look as an example of free government
and liberal institutions ; and nothing would more retard
the progress of freedom here and in Europe than a separa
tion between your States. I hope and trust all is now
quiet. Our enlightened men condemn the Tariff as most
injudicious, and leading to all the abominations of excise-
ment and places in a country which for centuries might
go on without them ; yet the principles of confederation
laid down by your President are considered unanswerable.
Our friend, Mr. Bake well, "whom I saw in London, is very
well, and as actively alive to his favorite science as ever ;
he has been, as ever, most kind and attentive to my
interests ; and, indeed, to him entirely I owfc the publication
of my book, — for a publisher, to whom I intrusted it,
kept my MS. a month, and then declined it, — the delay
was to prevent its appearance before a geological work of
his own. Mr. B. came to London and heard my lectures.
You will have a great treat in Mr. Lyell's third volume,
and in Mr. Hawkins's beautiful plates.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

June 18, 1833.

I WRITE on the anniversary of the battle of

Waterloo. We are here in great consternation lest the Duke
should again get into power, for the Tories are making a
tremendous struggle ; if they do your country will be the
only asylum for us ; the middling classes here have suffered
greatly, and we had reason to hope the worst was over, for
things began to wear a brighter aspect ; but if that moral
upas, the Duke, should again rule the ascendant, there will
be no hope ; despotism, — military despotism, or a revolu
tion, — will be the result.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 189

TO DR. MANTELL.

YALE COLLEGE, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT,
July 18, 1833.

MY DEAR SIR, — You manifest very kind and

liberal feelings towards our institutions and the trial to
which they have been subjected by the recent opposition
of South Carolina. You have, ere this, seen that it has
subsided with the mitigation of the Tariff, — the acceptance
of that mitigation by the Senators and Representatives
of South Carolina, at Washington, and with the energetic
course which the government were prepared to pursue in
case of actual resistance. I trust the danger is gone by ; — -
certainly it has for the present, for the country is almost
unanimous in support of the government. The opposition
at the South was fomented by a few disappointed, ambitious
men, some of them men of great talent and influence. They
are now disposed to fasten upon the subject of slavery as a
means of excitement. Some of the features of that most
anxious subject are sketched in the little tract which I sent
you, and which, with your usual kindness, you appreciate
beyond its merits. It may have served, however, to give
some hints as to the danger which impends over this coun
try, from its domestic slavery. It is probable that slavery
will in future be the principal source of disunion, and it is
impossible to tell what may be the result. As to all other
subjects, my impression is, that our popular institutions give
every promise of permanency. The most important reason
is that the people have the power, and have already had it ;
and they are too generally well educated to trifle with the
security of their own persons and property ; they elect those
men who, as they suppose, sympathize with them, and there
is generally a willing obedience to law. It is the habit of
the people to obey law, and to reverence it, and respect
magistrates. It is impossible to say how long it may be
before the means of subsistence shall be obtained with dif-

190 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ficulty, and labor will not command bread. This period
appears however to be far off in this country, and should
any of your children or friends choose it for their home, I
think they have fair prospects of peace, competency, and
security. Mr. Stewart's view of. this country is generally
candid, manly, and correct ; his errors are not often im
portant, and are always, I believe, unintended. Mrs. Trol-
lope hit us in many points, where we do indeed deserve to
be lashed, and I think that she has done us some good ;
but she was after all much more of a satire upon the re
spectable gentlewomanhood of Britain, than her book was
upon this country. I mean that she would be still further
from being a fair representative of the highly estimable and
most respectable character of English women. I have often
thought that there might be serious advantage to English
families of moderate but still comfortable means by remov
ing to this country in which subsistence (fashion and folly
aside) is not dear, and the comforts of life are obtained
at a cheap rate, and even elegant and refined enjoyments
without a vast expense.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

LEWES, ENGLAND, October 3, 1833.

LET me then thank you for your most valued communica
tion, which I shall place among my most precious treasures,
with the letters of my distinguished friends, now, alas, no
more ! — with those of Davy, Cuvier, Clark, Parkinson,
Wollaston, Canning, &c. Long ere this, my book must
have reached you, for it was sent on the 24th of May, (and
as I am rather romantic,) I have often indulged in the sup
position that you were looking it over, and amused myself
with a guess at your opinion on my new creature, and on
the other osteological wonders there first described. I
candidly told you the volume was full of faults, and you
will have found it so. The only parts I am satisfied with are
the introductory remarks, the chapter on the Hylaeosauros,

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 191

and the last, on the results of the geological researches in
the southeast of England.

TO DK. MANTELL.

YALE COLLEGE, NEW HAVEN,
October 12, 1833.

WE are now entirely quiet as to our political

dissensions, and nullification is in lethargy and suspended
animation, if not the last struggles of life. The question of
slavery is, however, becoming very deeply interesting, and
is a very exciting subject. I think we cannot shut our eyes
any longer upon its impending dangers ; although views
which I expressed in the little tract which I sent you, appear
to be in a way to be realized, provided these dangers are
not seasonably averted. I am happy to observe that you
have escaped the Duke's iron sway, and I trust that things
are getting better with you in England. I presume you have
seen Captain Hamilton's late book on this country ; it would
seem that America is a very favorite theme in England, for
I presume that so many books would not sell if they were
received with indifference, and they would probably not be
written if they did not sell. I have not read Hamilton's
book, except in spots. He, like Captain Basil Hall, some
times forgot what was due to good manners. I was a few
days since at a splendid villa on the Hudson, — Dr. Hosack's,
at Hyde Park. It is all in English style, and I should have
thought I was at an English nobleman's seat. There is a
splendid library of thousands of volumes, of the first works
in literature and science, and a very polished and hospitable
family, where there is a constant succession of the best
society. Here Captain Hamilton used to allow himself to
come to dinner with the ladies in a very short roundabout
jacket, and he walked the streets of New York in the same
style with a lady on his arm and a cigar in his mouth. But
enough of this.

192 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

BRIGHTON, January 18, 1834.

THE heading of this letter will, I feel assured, be at
once an apology for my not having earlier acknowledged
your very kind, most acceptable, and delightful letter, and
still more the safe arrival of the invaluable present which it
announced the departure of. This to me most precious, even
of all your gifts, I received in London from the hands of
Mr. Rich, and it arrived here in safety, three weeks ago, in
time to occupy a conspicuous place in my drawing-room,
among the portraits of my family and friends ; it is placed
immediately over my friend Lyell's picture. It really does
great credit to your young artist, for the execution is very
good, and pray tell him that it is very much admired ; and in
this bustling place, it is seen by no small number of persons.
Let me beg, my dear sir, that you will accept not only of
my thanks, but also of those of Mrs. Mantell, and all my
family, for this delightful addition to our circle. Rogers has
beautifully reminded us that there is an eternity even in this
world, — the power of living in the memories of those who
come after us, and by whom our names and our characters
will be respected. I would add, there is even given to us
in this world our degree of omnipresence, by which we
enjoy the privilege of communing with those kindred minds
who are forever separated from us, but in whose recol-
Icetions we are present, and in a manner more pleasing
and delightful than perhaps even by personal intercourse.
The Cambridge meeting passed off admirably, as you will
ere this have seen by the book I send you containing
the autographs and account of the proceedings, but \
did not go to Stratford, but accompanied the Marquis of
Northampton to his seat, Castle Ashley, (Northampton
shire,) where Dr. and Mrs. Buckland joined us, and Mr.
and Mrs. Murchison; so that we had a most charming
party ; and I very much enjoyed myself. I accompanied

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 193

Dr. B. to Stowe, the celebrated seat of the Duke of Buck
ingham, (of whom you will have heard as the purchaser of
thejirst plesiosaurus,) and thence to Oxford; the weather
was most propitious ; we are now doing penance for it. I
long to see Morton's book on the secondary fossils of
America, and if that is followed by Conrad's on the tertiary
shells, these two works will do more than any others to bring
your treasures before the European geologists. I am often
very covetous, — unreasonably so I confess, — yet I cannot
but say how very anxious I am to hear from you, so soon as
you can devote an hour to an unseen friend. When next I
write, I hope it will be with better spirits, — at any rate
with less bodily suffering; indeed, I could not bear up
under this long. I shall not, however, wait till I hear from
you before I write again, but if anything new and interesting
comes within my reach, I shall send it across the Atlantic.
My little folks leave us next week, the holidays being over ;
they now unite with me and their mamma in best wishes
and tenderest regards to you and yours. Walter received
his books in safety, and is greatly obliged to your dear boy
for them. I have this day heard from Mr. Bakewell ; the
poor old gentleman has been afflicted with gout in his
hands, — an affliction, of all others, the most annoying to a
literary man. Can you tell me if Dr. Harlan and all his
treasures arrived safe ? he obtained a very good collection
from various quarters. You remember the teeth of the
gigantic Tapir of Cuvier. Mr. Bakewell figures a grinder ;
they have found two perfect lower jaws of the animal at
"Darmstadt ; strange to tell, it has two tusks at the anterior
extremity of the lower jaws, and which point downwards :
was ever anything so extraordinary? They must have
been intended to enable the animal to grub up bulbous and
tuberose roots, from under the matted fibrous roots of a
forest. Adieu, my dear, kind friend. I am suffering so
much I cannot write more. May Heaven bless you and
yours.

VOL. IT. 13

194 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

FROM DR. MANTELL. ,

BRIGHTON, June 18, 1834.

...... YOUR admirable letter on the harmony between

geology and the Mosaic records, has been read with great
delight and satisfaction by many of our intelligent clergy
men, who felt unsettled in their opinions upon these sub
jects. Can it be obtained apart from the volume ? If it
can I shall order some, for many of my friends are anxious
to possess it. Your paper on the explosion of steamboats
was of great interest to a friend of mine here, Mr. Ri-
cardo, (brother of the late celebrated David Ricardo, the
political economist,) who is deeply interested in such sub
jects. The volume and atlas on the Geology of Massachu
setts, reflect great credit on the author, and on the enlight
ened government who patronized the undertaking

Lyell is off to Norway and Sweden, to examine into the
proofs afforded of the gradual elevation of these countries,
which is supposed to be still going on. Murchison is off to
Wales, to complete his grand geological survey of a part
of that principality, which he intends to publish in a sep
arate work, and I have no doubt it will be one of great
value and interest, for he has time, talents, and fortune, at
his command.

Buckland is employed on his Bridge water Essay, (or at
least will be, so soon as the Oxford fooleries are over; —
think of the Duke of Wellington being the Chancellor
of our first University, — there is no hope for mankind
while the brute qualities of a mere soldier claim the highest
rewards of learning /) — which is to be out in August, the

plates will be numerous and beautiful The box

will contain the copy of Mr. Hawkins's work, — the portrait
of the u inventor " of the Iguanodon, — as my friend Horace
Smith facetiously terms me, — and a few scraps of miscel
laneous scribblings of mine, and some fossils.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 195

FROM DR. MANTELL.

•

OF Agassiz, I ought not to omit mentioning that he is
a highly intelligent, unassuming, liberal man ; he spent
four days with me, and although the then dangerous ill
ness of Mrs. Mantell and the presence of Dr. Buckland,
occasioned considerable interruption to his investigations, I
learned much from him, and parted with him with great
regret. He was in ecstasies with my wonderful fishes. My
salmo, he considered with me as belonging to the family of
Salmonidae, and from its analogy to the smelt (osmerus) he

named it Osmeroides Mantelli And now I have a

piece of news which I am sure will give you pleasure. I
verily believe I have persuaded my friend Lyell to visit
your country and you ! Alas, I cannot come, — there is no
hope for me. My only prospect is a life of labor and anx
iety. Too happy shall I consider myself, if ever I can get
employment, — this is hard after twenty-three years' intense
labor, but so it is ! To Lyell what a field of honor America
opens ; no one is so well acquainted with the tertiary forma
tion as he ; and I am quite certain that there is a rich har
vest for him. He begins to talk seriously about it ; if he
does, his wife, — a charming girl, — the daughter of Leon
ard Horner, (formerly of the London University,) will accom
pany him. Brighton is very full ; the Royal family

came a fortnight ago ; but to the surprise and regret of the
greater part of the nation, the King has dismissed his lib
eral ministers, and that tyrant Wellington, and Peel, are to
form our administration ; what the result will be Heaven
only knows. I think it is impossible to retrograde ; but
nothing can be predicted with any certainty. In conse
quence of these political changes, the King and Queen left
the palace here yesterday morning, and it is supposed will
not return this season ; if they do not it will materially in
jure this town for the present winter. I fear America will
be the only hope left for freedom, — but she must get rid
of her cursed slavery !

196 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

& June 26, 1840.

I WAS introduced to Prince Albert a short time

since, and presented him with the German and English edi
tions of the " Wonders " ; he is a very affable, intelligent,
handsome youth, and those who are intimately acquainted
with him assure me he is very amiable ; what a pity he
should be exposed to such a court as ours !

FROM DR. MANTELL.

June 14, 1841.

MY VERY DEAR FRIEND, — . ... I was about to write to
you to inform you of Mr. Lyell's intentions, which he com
municated to me but a short time since. I dined with him
last week, — a farewell party. His charming little wife (a
daughter of Mr. Leonard Homer) accompanies him. I
have said so much of you and yours, to her, that she is
quite anxious to visit New Haven ; if she does, I am sure
you will all be delighted with her. And now for a strictly
private sketch of my old friend. About twenty years or
more ago, one beautiful summer evening, a young Scotch
man called at Castle Place, (Lewes,) and announced him
self as a Mr. Lyell, who was fond of geology, had been
attending Jameson's lectures at Edinburgh, had visited his
former Alma Mater, Midhurst Grammar-School, in the
west of Sussex; and rambling about the neighborhood,
found some laborers quarrying in stone which they called
" Whin." As this term is Scotice, Trap, the young trav
eller was much puzzled to know how such a rock appeared
in the south of England, and upon inquiry of one of the
laborers why the stone was so called, the man referred him
to " a monstrous clever mon as lived at Lewes, a doctor,
who knowed all about them things, and got curosities out of
the chalk-pits to make physic with." The man, in short, had
been formerly a Lewes quarryman, and one of my collectors.
Mr. Lyell being alone and^on horseback, and having noth-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 197

ing better to do, rode gently over the South Down, some
twenty-five miles, and at the close of the day, found him
self at the residence of the future " Wizard of the World,"
as Dr. Buckland designates your humble servant We
were mutually pleased with each other ; my few drawers of
fossils were soon looked over, but we were in gossip until
morning, and then commenced a friendship which has con
tinued till now. Mr. Lyell was educated for the Bar. He
practised on the western circuit seven or eight years, and
he allowed me to correspond with him only during the va
cations. His father, who is a Scotch Laird, is still living,
and there are several sons and daughters. Mr. Lyell is the
eldest, and at the death of his father inherits the family
estate, which, I believe, is moderate. However, about seven
or eight years after our acquaintance, Mr. Lyell, with great
good sense, abandoned his profession, with his father's con
sent, and devoted himself wholly to geology, content with a
moderate income, and living in a very unostentatious man
ner in an unfashionable part of the city. A few years ago
he married Miss Horner, who is much younger than him
self, (Lyell is forty-five or forty-six,) and a more suitable
companion he could not have found. He has no children.
In person, Mr. Lyell presents nothing remarkable, except
a broad expanse of forehead. He is of the middle size, a
decided Scottish physiognomy, small eyes, fine chin, and
a rather proud or reserved expression of countenance.
He is very absent, and a slow but profound thinker. He
was Professor in King's College, London, and gave lec
tures there and at the Royal Institution, but it so happened
that I never heard him lecture. He always takes part in
the discussion at the meetings of the Geological Society,
but he has not facility in speaking ; there is hesitation in
his manner, and his voice is neither powerful nor melodi
ous, nor is his action at all imposing. As a popular lecturer,
he would stand no chance with Buckland or Sedgwick.
He is providing himself with very beautiful illustrations for

198 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

his lectures, to astonish the Bostonians ; and I should sup
pose the prestige of his name and his European reputation
will insure him a flattering reception. I should like to

have accompanied him. He goes first to Canada

I understand Mr. Lowell was very anxious to induce Fara
day to come over and lecture on Chemistry. But poor
Faraday, like several of our best men, has overworked

himself, and is obliged to lay by altogether There

is a hauteur or reserve about Mr. Lyell to strangers, that
prevents his being so popular among our society as he de
serves to be. I believe him to have an excellent heart, and
he is very kind and affectionater when his better feelings
are called upon. I have had some reason to complain on
points relating to authorship, but that perhaps is mere
weakness of human nature. I am very much attached to
him. I have only to regret that he has not that warmth of
feeling which I hoped to find in him, and which would have

rendered him an invaluable friend to me Perhaps

we Southrons are of more excitable stuff than the North
erners.

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, September 25, 1841.

OUR house is a mile and a half from the depot,

and the whole distance is through the streets of the town.
By and by Mr. Lyell says, — after riding a mile, — are you
carrying us to the Tontine ? " No, to another house where,
although your entertainment may not be as luxurious, your
welcome will be quite as hearty ! Mrs. Silliman and my
daughter present their respects to Mrs. Lyell, and invite
her, as I do her husband also, to the hospitality of our
house. Your chamber is ready, and we shall make the
best use of our time in being together; we will, if you
please, banish all reserve, and be acquainted at once." They
took us at our word, and we were soon at my door, where
Mrs. Lyell met a warm welcome from the ladies. This was
Tuesday evening, and they remained with us until Friday

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 199

noon. We were very much gratified by their frank and
cordial deportment. Mr. Lyell was animated and interest
ing, often eloquent, and full of geological zeal, which was
fully indulged in excursions around our noble trap region.
Mr. L. shouted from one of our hills, that it was " a glo
rious country," (geologically,) and most picturesque and
beautiful. Mrs. L. was out with us on the first day with
one of ray daughters; but our work was afterwards too
laborious for her, — among trap mountain precipices, de
files, and stone quarries, &c. Mr. L. found much to theo
rize upon, and except, now and then, a few moments of
abstraction, when with his hand upon his forehead, he was
involved in deep thought, he was as lively and agreeable as
any one could be, and appeared greatly delighted with the
scenes around him, which he said possessed a strong inter
est and a high degree of freshness. We had several good
geologists with us, at least, five besides Mr. Lyell. Mrs.
Lyell made herself most agreeable in our family. We were
charmed with her winning, affable manners ; we endeavored
to see that they were furnished with the comforts of an
English home in America, and they appeared to enjoy
being identified so early with an American family, where
Mrs. Lyell said she should not have known that they were
not in England ; and we went with them to the steamboat
on their departure for New York. She said that they had
seen and enjoyed enough in the twelve days they had spent
in America, to pay them for crossing the Atlantic. In short,
their visit to us was altogether delightful, without the slight
est thing to create regret or momentary embarrassment.
We were just as free as if we had been always acquainted ;
and Mr. L. confided to me his plans and views with perfect
frankness. We wanted nothing, my good friend, but your
presence to have made our interviews as happy as possible,
and you and your reputation and interests were often on
our tongues. The circumstances you relate are not agree
able, and I wonder at them the more, because the anniver-

200 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

sary address, by Mr. Lyell, before? the Geological Society,
was full and warm in vindication of your discoveries and
merits, and you may remember it was republished in the
"American Journal." Mr. L. is now republishing his works
in Boston, having brought over the wood-cuts with him.
He is to begin there on the 19th of October, and lecture
six weeks. He has told rne of his huge drawings, and Mr.
Bakewell has prepared eight more for him on a huge scale,
drawn principally from his own works. He thinks the
drawings I have lectured from quite too small, and counts
much upon the aid from his large drawings. He is anxious
that I should be present at his beginning, to aid him by my
advice. It will be extremely difficult ; but I shall try to
break away for a few days and hear a couple of his lectures.
He has been through the State of New York with Mr. Hall,
a clever young geologist of that State, and has written me
that he has been much gratified ; a week since he was on
the Hudson, near the Catskills, and, I suppose may, ere
this, be gone into Pennsylvania with Professor Rogers, as
he was anxious to see that State, as well as New York, be
fore beginning his lectures. His plan is to go South in the
winter, and return again to the North in the spring. He
intends to finish a year in America. Canada, I suppose, he
will visit next summer. I have not heard a word of the
impression he has made elsewhere, except on my friend,
Wm. C. Redfield, who was his active companion in New
York, and up the Hudson to Albany. Mr. R. was much
pleased with them both, and said they were delighted with
the glorious scenery of the Hudson, on a bright day, in one
of our fine steamboats. Thus much of our friends.

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, December 14, 1841.

THE painful and alarming infirmity with which

God has seen fit to visit you, gives us great concern ; but
we observe with great satisfaction the very becoming re-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 201

ligious feeling with which you regard it. As the affliction
is hitherto confined to the lower extremities, it may be con
sistent with continued life, and even usefulness, — for many
instances occur of afflictions of this class remaining in abey
ance for many years, although they are certainly of anxious
and doubtful presage. I know not what have been your
table habits; but permit me (I trust without offence or
indelicacy) to remark that, if like most English gentlemen,
as the habits of society were when I knew England, you
have been accustomed to perhaps a tumbler of porter
with your dinner, and two or three glasses of port or ma
deira after it, you will, I have no doubt, find great advan
tage by dropping them all,, and relying on water and
nutritious food, — simple and sufficient, without redun
dancy. Wonders have been effected in this country by
such changes, and I am myself a monument of their effi
cacy. Eighteen years ago, through fatigues and excessive
labors, anxiety and grief, I was almost broken down in my
nervous system ; and, although not paralytic, I had severe
spasms and frequent numbness of limbs ; but now, by
God's blessing and a resolute perseverance in simple hab
its of living, without alcoholic drinks, I am, when past
threescore, hale and active, and in body and mind able to •
sustain incessant labor. You will pardon me if my remarks
are superfluous, for I am sure you will regard them as well-
intended. You speak of relaxation, — most desirable, no
doubt. Can you not place some professional friend as a
locum tenens in your place, while you embark in the spring
for this country, and pass a few months — or weeks, if you
can spare no more time — With us, making our house your
home, and regulating your excursions as you may find it
convenient and agreeable ; and, if Reginald or your daugh
ter should accompany you, so much the better. "Will you
give me your thoughts on this hastily expressed suggestion,

on which I have now not a moment to enlarge I -y

am glad that the bust pleases you, and I am glad it ar-

202 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

rived safely and has cost you no more. I shall be much
gratified with the medallion, which I hope you will have
executed to your satisfaction. I have heard Mr. Lyell

three times, having gone to Boston on purpose, (and B

after me,) and also to see his fine illustrations, — a few of
them very magnificent in dimensions and in execution.
He is certainly not a fluent and easy lecturer ; but his dig
nity, simplicity, truth, great personal experience, candor,
and logical exactness, have won for him the confidence and
esteem of a thinking people, — disciplined, even in the
middle ranks, to strict intellectual attention.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

June 7, 1842.

A VERY elaborate paper of Mr. Lyell's on your

tertiary and crustaceous strata was read lately, of which an
abstract appears in this week's "Athenaeum." It is not
very lucid, and appears to me to abound in those trivial
ities of percentage which are not of sufficient importance
to justify any important generalizations. Every day is
showing the fallacy of trusting to negative evidence. Agas-
siz's geological distribution of fishes must already undergo
important modifications ; and the scenes (cenes) — if you
will allow a pun — of Lyell's tertiary drama will have to
be shifted as often as in a pantomime. But this is heresy,
— so breathe it not ! I saw poor Mr. Bake well last week ;
he has still mental energy, but is as deaf as a post, and
very helpless indeed. Notwithstanding what your son as
sures me, and Mr. Lyell's opinion, I still think Professor
Hitchcock's bird-tracks will be found to be reptilian. I
have heard but once from Mr. Lyell since he left England.
Mr. Murchison's memoirs on the geology of Russia will
appear in a separate work in the course of next spring ;
his soirees were very brilliant and well attended. At Lord
4 Northampton's, (the President of the Royal Society,)
Washington Irving was present, but I was not there on

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 203

that occasion. I attended the last soiree, and exhibited my
new microscope. Prince Albert was present, and I showed
his Royal Highness that beautiful animalcule, — the stephan-
oceros, and some vorticellae, and other rotifers, fed with car
mine. He was much gratified with their examination, and
appeared to be fully conversant with their nature.

TO DR. MANTELL.

YALE COLLEGE, September 15, 1842.

I THANK you for your remarks upon the Iguan-

odon, and I should like to know, when you write again,
what dimensions you now give to the tail, — how much, for
example, you have shortened an iguanodon of seventy-five
feet in length, as formerly estimated by comparison with
the leviathan ! I am much amused by the comparison
with the leviathan. Owen's splendid work came in the
same parcel with your elegant little book on a pebble.
The copies directed were gratefully received, and all the

ladies (including Mrs. II , who is with us) beg to

present their best thanks, in which I candidly unite. I
have read this miniature Geology again, and find you have
enriched and enlarged it, and am glad to find that it is in
its sixth edition ; may it reach its twentieth. I have had
time only to look cursorily over Mr. Owen's article on the
Iguanodon.- He appears to intend to do you justice ; but
perhaps there may be something said or omitted in some
other part of the work which I have not seen, and which
would alter my impressions. At any rate,, you are wise in
avoiding strife, and in cultivating those calm and heavenly
feelings so beautifully illustrated by Mrs. Hemans in the
verses which you quote. I am sorry to hear that you still
suffer ; but it is apparent from your chirography that your
nerves are composed (the pen does not flow easily and
correctly when the nerves are agitated), and your mind is
evidently in vigorous action, however your feelings may be
saddened The passage in your letter relating to

204 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Dr. Deane I have copied and forwarded to him, and he
will be gratified to find that the subject interests you. He
writes me that he is preparing a box for you, and he will send
you some remarks of his own in elucidation of the subject.
He is preparing to make plaster casts of all the important
specimens that have been obtained, and, being colored like
the rock, they will correctly represent the originals. He
will probably send you a set, and he will wish your mature
judgment upon them. He says that the most valuable and
valued returns which he can receive from you will be your
own works, and any medical books you can spare. He is a
very deserving man, and has spent much time and labor
upon this research, and that with very slender means ; per
haps by and by you may write him a few lines, which would
gratify him very much Some of our people ren
dered themselves ridiculous by deifying Dickens and run
ning mad after him, and he has repaid them with abuse, —
proving himself a man of low and vulgar mind. The
attentions to Mr. and Mrs. Lyell were, on the contrary, very
proper, calm, respectful, and kind, without adulation or
folly. You will see a good paper and drawings by Owen
in the July number of the Journal, proving, as you have
heard, that the impression is artificial. My son thanks you
for all the kind things you say of hirn. I now hear his
voice, with his mother and sisters, and his lovely wife, all
of whom love you, and send their kindest remembrance,
which you will also present to your daughter and to Regi
nald, to whom, I observe, you have very properly dedicated
your little book. We will jog Bailey as to his omissions ;
and Benjamin says he will forward to you some of the Vir
ginia earth, and write to you soon.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

SURREY, August 12, 1843.

PRAY thank your excellent son for his postscript,

which breathes the same kind spirit with yours. May

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 205

Heaven bless you all. I continue much as I was, — not worse,
not better, so I must bear on, and be thankful to the Giver
of all good. Our poor friend, Mr. Bakewell, has again had
a relapse, and is apparently fast sinking away. A month
since I was summoned by his excellent wife to meet their
usual medical attendant, and I hurried home from Derby
shire, where I had been sojourning a week, to see him. He
rallied a little, but is now much worse, and death would
indeed be a release. I am just returned from visiting him ;
he knew me, pressed my hand most affectionately, but was
unable to converse ; he is in a lethargic state ; yet at inter
vals is quite himself, as to memory and intellect. When
I saw him, four days since, he was capable of conversation,
and when I was leaving, expressed a hope soon to be
.released from this state of suffering, but that if he lived on,
that I would see him again. I think to-day's visit must be
my last, for I can now be of no service to him or Mrs. B.,
and the scene is too much for me in my present state of
suffering.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

August 28, 1843.

MY letter, written about a fortnight since in reply to your
last favor, will prepare you to hear of the death of my
excellent friend, Mr. Bakewell. I did not see him after

the interview described in my last Mrs. B. wished

me not to write any notice of his death, or any review of
his scientific labors, for our Journals, — an injunction with
which I complied reluctantly ; for it would have been a
melancholy satisfaction to me to have paid a just tribute
of respect to the memory of one I so much loved, and who
had so greatly contributed to the advancement of knowl
edge. His merits, as a geological writer and teacher, have
never been so highly appreciated as they deserved to be
in this country. He never joined any of our scientific
societies ; the only meeting of the Geological society of

206 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

London he was ever present at, was the one at which I
read my memoir on the Hylaeosaurus, (afterwards published
in the geology of the South East of England,) and exhibited
to a London audience my fossil bones from Tilgate Forest.
He always spoke of that evening with great delight ; and
so completely was he carried away with his kind feelings
towards me, that at the close of my address, he loudly ap
plauded, (though contrary to etiquette,) and was joined
involuntarily by others. Since our first acquaintance our
friendship has known no change I greatly lament his loss.

Mr. Dana's papers interest me exceedingly ; they

are of the highest order. I anticipate great things from
him ; and look forward with impatience to the more full
detail of his opinions and observations

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, February 10, 1844.

MY DEAR FRIEND, — Your very welcome letter of De
cember 26, arrived January 23. It acknowledges mine of
November 14, and I trust that you soon after received
another from me of November 26, in reply to yours of
October 30. There is no correspondent out of my own
family to whom I write so frequently, and so long letters
as to yourself, because you tell me that they cheer you
under your trials, and I would cheerfully devote many hours
in the year to that object, especially as it is always to me
an interesting employment. I am very sorry that "the
prospect of ever being better becomes less and less." I
earnestly hope that you may prove in an error, and while
you exhibit so much mental energy as to carry forward
elaborate works, demanding much thought, wide study, and
graphic skill, I cannot give you up, but will feel some con
fidence that the infirm body which holds such a mind, may
yet rally and thro\y off its load of infirmity. In my last,
I think it was, I inquired somewhat more particularly as to
the nature of your complaint, — inquiries prompted, not by

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 207

a vain curiosity, but by a deep interest in your painful case.
How I wish I had your new work to accompany me to
Baltimore, where I shall, I trust, be, when this letter reaches
you, and in which city I am pledged to begin a course of
geology in ten lectures, on ten evenings, the first of which
will (D. v.) be March 4th, Monday, and so on in the alternate
evenings of the successive three weeks, to end March 25th.
If it is possible for a copy of your work or any part of it in
sheets to reach me there in March, I should have great
pleasure, and no doubt a Ivantage, in glancing over your
pages and your beautiful illustrations; and I should not
fail, nor shall I at any rate fail, to give you due honor

before an intelligent and polished community I

am glad to observe that you view your afflictions in their
moral bearing ; may God in his infinite mercy make them
available — not as of merit, but as moral agents — for your
final salvation through the Redeemer. I am, although in
perfect health and with the physical and mental energy
of early days, admonished by the rolling years, by my
spreading family, — now becoming numerous in the second
generation, — and more than all by the dropping of friends
around me like autumnal leaves, that my own time is com
ing. God grant that come when or how it may, I may be
found ready ! Your kind and most beneficial exertions in
favor of Dr. Deane, were mentioned with gratitude in my
last letter, and ere this you have no doubt received his own
warm acknowledgments. I am very much obliged, as well
as he and our American geologists generally. When you
see Lord Northampton and Dr. Buckland, be pleased to
present my thanks to them for the generous course they
pursued

FROM DR. MANTELL.

May 21, 1844.

I HAVE this moment written the last word in my " Medals
of Creation," and with the same pen address you, — a pleasure

208 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

which I resisted until my arduous task was done. I wrote
to you immediately on the receipt of your last, and sent you
a proof-sheet of " Infusoria," which I trust you duly received.
Your letter of November arrived afterwards ; the cause of
its delay I cannot even guess at. I have gone on much as
usual, but with more continued and severe suffering, occa
sioned by additional mental anxieties, and perhaps from
over-study, for I found my work very laborious at last.
Thank Heaven, it is over ; it will be published next week
in two very handsome volumes, — about nine hundred and
eighty pages in the two, — the price, eighteen shillings or
twenty shillings, I know not which. The greatest pleasure
I anticipate from its publication is your approval. I feel
certain you will be pleased with it, and consider it as my
greatest labor ; not so much from the quantity of original
matter, but for the manner in which the whole science of
palaeontology — from the fossil moss to the fossil monkey —
is placed before the intelligent reader.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

July 18, 1844.

OUR island has been visited by several of the

continental sovereigns this year ; among others by the King
of Saxony, who, as you know, is one of the mo'st enlightened
and amiable princes in Europe. He is a great patron and
cultivator of science, and Sir Robert Peel, (our Premier,)
upon entertaining his Majesty, invited our leading philos
ophers to the party. At the King's request, Sir Robert
very kindly invited me also, and fortunately I was well
enough that evening to attend, and was received most
kindly by the King, whom I found a very affable and intelli
gent man. Sir Robert Peel told me he had been reading
my " Medals " before breakfast that day with great delight.
The King has since visited Matlock and Faringdon, in
consequence of my account of the geological constitution
of those places.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 209

FROM DR. MANTELL.

February 28, 1845.

POOR Mrs. Lardner, what madness must have

possessed her ! I knew her well as Mrs. Heaviside, — an
elegant fashionable woman, an affectionate wife and mother;
by no means of strong mind, and without any taste what
ever for science of any kind. I dined with her, the last
time I dined out, before I left Brighton ; and when I heard
that a married woman from Brighton had eloped with the
villain Dr. L., Mrs. Heaviside was the last woman I should
have guessed as the party. Poor Captain H., when he
found she was eloped, had not the slightest idea that Dr.
L. had seduced her away. There are many astonishing
events of this kind which one cannot possibly unravel. I
have corresponded with Dr. L., but never saw him. Our
old friend, Mr. Bake well, who was a shrewd observer of
mankind, always thought badly of him, and regretted that
one so clever was so worthless

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, July 22, 1845.

MY VERY DEAR FRIEND, — Although I wrote to you
only on the 13th instant, by the last steamer, still I will not
let the one now in port return without a response to your
very kind letter of June 21st, this day received. I thank
you for remembering me again so soon, but having written
to you so recently and fully, I now take a small sheet and
just chat on as if you were here. I thank you for the ex
tract from Sir J. Herschel's address. It is, in all respects,
a sound and judicious view. I have always, in my public
lectures, opposed the doctrine of equivocal generation, and
also, Lamarck's absurd theory of transmutation ; maintain
ing that every new organized being or pair of beings was
the direct result of creative power, and that there is no
inherent tendency in matter to produce organized forms,

VOL. n. 14

210 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

much less life and reason or even instinct. I am, there
fore, much gratified by your opinion and that of Sir J. H.
Those remarks on the nebular theory, also, fall in with some
difficulties which have attended it in my mind. We speak
of resolving nebulae by the power of the telescope. Every
addition to the power of this instrument resolves some new
milky way into clusters of stars. (See the observations
of South, quoted in the July number of the " American
Journal," on the glorious resolution of nebulae, by the tel
escope of Lord Rosse.) Now, is it not supposable that the
powers of the telescope may be so far augmented, that no
nebulae will remain unresolved, and- this beautiful white suf
fusion will disappear to the mental eye ? Where then will
be the proof of the gaseous or diffused condition of mat
ter ? Will it not be sustained by those cornets above, which
permit the stars to be seen through their misty and myste
rious haze ? But, perhaps, I only display my ignorance of
the nebular theory, having never studied it profoundly. . . .
I think Mr. Murchison promised me his work on Russia,
but I do not wish to have you jog his elbow ; nor Ly ell's
either, although I have done the latter all the service in my
power, and with good will. The frequent disinterment of
the bones of unknown animals, or of those that only bear
some resemblance to existing races, goes to prove that geo
logical evidence must be ever accumulating, and all these
facts range happily under established principles. You in
quire about Mrs. Dana ; she remains with us, with her hus
band, and will, I trust, for some years ; for several more
years must elapse before the great work which Mr. Dana
has in hand, can be finished, although he is a man of inde
fatigable industry, and has a happy tact in throwing off his
work with expedition, with condensation, and in good taste.
Oh, how happy I should be to have you among us, iden
tified with our family ; but I suppose we must not indulge
such a thought. I believe I sent you, years .ago, a copy
of my little tour to Quebec. That book opens with a de-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 211

scription of Monte Video, the rural villa of my brother-in-
law, — Daniel Wadsworth, Esq., of Hartford. It is on the
summit of a trap-mountain,* with a beautiful crystal lake
with fine fish, a tower rising above all other objects, and a
glorious view of the splendid valley of the Connecticut, of
a wide region one hundred miles in diameter. I think
I told you in my last letter that my son and his little family
are now there

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, December 29, 1845.

I WAS not without some anxiety lest your in
firmities had increased upon you, but our friends, the Ly-
ells, who lodged with us in the first week of this month,
relieved me on that head. I wrote to invite them here
again on their way south, and a note from Mrs. Lyell in
formed me that they would stop. They were with us but one
night, and a few hours in the morning ; the visit, although
short, was very agreeable. Mrs. L., lady-like as usual, and
none the worse for four years more of time, while he was
evidently improved in cheerful and attentive manners, and
was not once absent-minded, so far as I saw. They are on
their way to New Orleans, and will pass up the river in the
spring, as my son and I did last year. I made him out a
good many introductions, all of which bore on his scientific
objects, and gave him full minutes of objects and persons
on his tour. They spoke kindly of you, and both expressed
their surprise that you could write such interesting books,
(then they referred particularly to the Medals) while you
were so great a sufferer. Mr. L. appears to have become
Americanized so far as to adapt himself readily to the modes
of this country; and his book has paved the way for a

friendly reception Professor Kingsley arrived on

the morning of October 4, and they in the evening. Mr.

K. was much interested by his interviews with you ; told

* Nearly one thousand feet above the river.

212 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

me many particulars of your interviews and conversations,
of the dinner *at Mr. Lyell's, the meeting of the Geological
Society, &c. He told me that I should be much pleased
with you should I know you, and that you know I have a
long time been, without having seen you. Professor K. has
quite come out, — a shy man he was and very retiring, but
he is now very communicative, and very entertaining and
instructive. But I am running on without answering you.
I congratulate you upon the completion of your work on
animalcules ; your letter was only in time, and just in time,
to have it announced in the Journal, with the new editions
of the other works, and a mere mention of Murchison.
.... I shall wait with impatience for your account of the
recently discovered bones of the Isle of Wight Iguanodon.
They are indeed colossal ; but I thought it would not be
your wish to have the facts named in the " American Jour
nal," until you had matured the subject and communicated
your paper ; and I have been silent also, regarding the dis
covery of Faraday on light and electricity, except that we
have cited, from the " Athenaeum," a notice of the experi
ment you saw, but not so full.

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, January 27, 1846.

I SUSPECT that Mr. Lyell will give you another

volume on this country, especially as we are not about play
ing the fool by going to war about Oregon or the moon,
which would be about as rational. I am glad that you like
that review of Lyell, in the Journal, as it was written by B.
S., Jr. He and his lady thank you most cordially for your
kind and hospitable invitation to your house ; but I fear it
must be long before it can be accepted, probably never by
the lady ; but I am not without hopes that her husband may
one day cross over, for I have no doubt it would be highly

advantageous to him I regret to hear that geology

is on the decline with you. I hope it may revive. I fear

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 213

it will decline here when the geological surveys are over.
There seems, however, to be a great deal of curiosity in
this country relating to geological subjects. A few months
since, an announcement was made of the discovery of an
enormously large human skeleton in Tennessee ; the young
men came to me and inquired what they were to believe,
and I told them I had no doubt it would prove to be a
Mastodon. In the mean time, the proprietor raised the crea
ture upon its hind legs, as the bull used to be represented
in our Cock Robin picture-books, ringing the bell at poor
robin's funeral. By a pretty liberal use of intercalated wooden
bones, they contrived to make this geological Goliath sixteen
feet high ; but their hopes were all dashed by Dr. Carpen
ter of New Orleans, who pronounced it to be a Mastodon
Rampant; and the mystified proprietor has taken down
the bones and boxed them in a wooden sarcophagus away
from human view.

PROM DR. MANTELL.

February 24, 1846.

MR. MURCHISON is now Sir Roderick, — the

Queen having knighted him that he may wear the red-
sash, cross, and star of the orders the Emperor of Russia
bestowed on him. I mentioned before that Dr. Buckland
is now Dean of Westminster. The first soiree of the
Marquis of Northampton, as President of the Royal So
ciety, took place last Saturday. I went with Reginald
(Lord N. having kindly invited him). The spacious room
was crowded with men of science and literature, and many
of the nobility. Prince Albert was there, and I had a long
gossip with his Royal Highness on the geology of the Isle of
Wight. I had taken a beautiful geological model to ex
hibit, which served as a text. As the Queen resides many
weeks every year in the island, and has purchased a large
estate there, the Prince feels interested in the spot ; and I
hope, when my little volume comes out, his attention may
be directed to some of the interesting phenomena to be

214 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

*

met with there You will have seen by the papers

that even new potatoes, sprung from apparently healthy
tubers of last autumn's sprouts, evince the deadly malady,
— the cause of the disease is as inexplicable as that of the
cholera, and apparently as irremediable. Hitherto the
London markets (that is, the best) have had good potatoes ;
but of late, our potatoes, purchased of the first-rate dealers,
have proved so bad when brought to table, that for the
first time in my life I dine without potatoes. In Ireland
the evil will ultimately be a great benefit ; more whole
some and less precarious vegetables will supersede the
solanum, which Cobbett, with a shrewdness and sagac
ity he so often evinced, declared would prove a national
curse, from the habits of idleness it permitted. In the
midst of all the suffering of the poor, the discontent of
the lower middle classes, the slaughter of our armies in
India, and the dreadful pressure of the taxes, and the in
quisitorial mode of their collection, the wealth and luxury
and gorgeous pomp of this mighty Babel are as great as
ever. As I came through Piccadilly this afternoon in my
humble carriage, scores of the most superb equipages, laden
with bevies of servants in the most splendid liveries, rolled
by me on their way to the Queen's drawing-rooms, held to
day at St. James's Palace ; and yet the Mall and the Park
were thronged as much as ever with carriages and eques
trians ! The extremes do indeed meet ! Abject penury
and excessive riches ! And now, while I am writing, every
place of amusement is crowded to excess; and such amuse
ments ! I quite long for the " peaceful hermitage." I
long to see Mr. Dana's work on corals, — few subjects in
terest me more.

TO DR. MANTELL. ^

BOSTON, May 1, 1846.

I AM very much obliged to you for the very

lucid sketch of Faraday's lecture, which is very interesting
and very surprising. Some of the results are indeed such

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 215

as I have long been accustomed to show in my class-room,
but not on so large a scale, nor with so high a power.
The thing that most surprises me is the right-angle re
lation of the magnetism of iron and of most other things.
How far the attraction of other things than iron, by mag
netism, may be resolved into electrical influences, it may
not perhaps be easy to decide. We know that currents of
electricity accompany the magnetic influences, and perhaps
cause them ; but, after all, what is electricity ? We are
perhaps as far as ever from answering this question ; but
we appear to be on the eve of great things, —just opening
a vista whose termination no one can see.

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HA VEX, May 27, 1846.

I AM now, in a day or two, to begin my summer

course, which will end about August 8. J. D. D. having
finished the zoophytes, is now engaged on his geology of
the regions visited by the squadron ; and B. S., Jr., is deep
in an elementary work on chemistry for academies and
schools. I regret that the work is printing while it is still
writing, — not always a safe course even for a veteran
author, and always anxious for a young one ; but we are all
on the qui vive, and hope to escape any very important
mistakes. . You will see that we have a war with Mexico.
It might have been avoided; and all wars that can be
avoided are of course wrong. As regards Mexico, there
is perhaps little to fear ; but we greatly dread being drawn
into a war with you or with France, for the balance of
power, or any other phantasm of politicians. You will
have observed that a small American army has sus
tained itself against, and beaten, four times their number ;
and 'there is reason to fear that the military spirit, now fast
rising in this nation, and popular with our democracy, will
kindle into ambition of conquest, which, I suppose, you and
your neighbor will not permit to go, without being checked,

216 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

to the gates of Mexico and to the shores of California.
My family are well, and one and all unite in affectionate
remembrance and best wishes

FROM: DR. MANTELL.

June 21, 1846.

IN the geological world, Murchison and Lyell

monopolize everything. Russia and America, roast, boiled,
cold, hashed, and fricasseed, are the dishes set before us at
Somerset House, till, like the poor Frenchman, we ex
claim, — " Helas ! toujours perdrix ! " And, I doubt not,
the same viands will be the principal subjects at the meet
ings of the British Association of Science in the geological
section

FROM DR. MANTELL.

September 21, 1846.

I MENTIONED that I had engaged to write a

popular work on the " Geology of the Isle of Wight." As
the British Association of Science was to meet at South
ampton this month, I was very desirous of getting the book
out in time to serve as a hand-book for the visitors ; but my
repeated interruptions from illness rendered this impossible,
and I have only been able to print about forty pages and
the map, &c., and a few of these were sent down as speci
mens of the work. I fear the volume will cost me two
months' labor more, even if I devote every leisure moment
to it. You will smile incredulously, I doubt not, if I add
that this shall be my last work on geology and its kindred
sciences, but I do indeed intend it to be so. If I should
have energy enough left, my " Nervous System " must, for
many important reasons, occupy my whole attention ; and
with that I believe my task and my weary pilgrimage will
terminate. A month since I went to R. in the Isle of
Wight, from Monday to Saturday, (the longest holiday I
have had these two years,) but though the weather was

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 217

most delightful, yet I derived but little benefit from so short
a change. I resolved not to go to the British Association,
from the fear of the fatigue overpowering me; but last
Monday I was tempted to go down in the afternoon, and
return the following evening ; for the papers announced a
lecture on the Geology of the Isle of Wight, for Tuesday,
and I was anxious to hear what the savans said upon the
subject. This turned out to be erroneous ; however, I met
very many persons I was glad to see ; heard Mr. Lyell
lecture for two hours on the " Delta of the Mississippi," to
a crowded and fashionable, mixed audience, and saw some
objects of interest, both fossil and recent, and returned
home much worn out, even by that little exertion. You
will see in the various papers all the particulars of the
meeting : of Prince Albert having joined them, and having
subscribed £100 to the funds ; how Sir Eoderick was
received by the Queen ; and how the savans feasted and
danced, and made merry, &c. But not the slightest interest
was evinced in the objects of the meeting by the resident
gentry, with three or four exceptions. The fault of the
meeting appeared to me to be the popular character that
was professed to be given to its proceedings, to induce
ladies and gentlemen (not scientific) to subscribe their
guineas, and then having their sectional meetings as dry
and technical as if savans only were present. The " Illus
trated News " of to-day, gives portraits of thirty of the phil
osophers, with Sir Roderick and Prince Albert at the head.
With the exception of five or six, they are miserable por
traits. Herschel, Faraday, Carpenter, Forbes, Horner, and
De la Beche, are recognizable.

TO DK. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, November 16, 1846.

YOUR very kind note of September 1, and your full
letter of September 21, are before me. I also received, in
due season, the beautiful little volume on Lewes and its

218 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

vicinity. I have read it with much pleasure ; it is very enter
taining and instructive, and got up in the good taste which
we always expect and always find in your writings. How
rich your native region is in both historical and geological
antiquities. Professor Kingsley was in the house when
this little book arrived, and was much interested to see it
I have loaned it to him, and he has read it with great
interest ; he says it is, as far as he knows, perfectly correct,
and that many of the objects described he was acquainted
with. The memoir on the Wealden strata of the Isle of
Wight, with an account of the Iguanodon and other reptile
bones, is also received, and is very instructive. I hope that
the entire head may yet be found. How numerous those
reptiles must have been ! I am surprised to hear that your
excellent house at Lewes will neither let or sell ; no doubt
it must bring up to your mind most interesting associations,
both pleasing and painful, and you have made me so
familiar with the scenes of your earlier life, that were I
again to visit London, I should be off as soon as possible to
Lewes, Tilgate Forest, Beachy Head, and again to the " Isle
of Wight," in which beautiful island I passed two days in
August or September, 1805. Alas, how time flies, — forty-
one years ago, — I was then an active, zealous young man,
and by God's blessing I am still an active, zealous old man,
with no diminution of physical power or mental energy, —
so at least it appears to me, and so my children tell me. Oh,
how I wish that as regards health, you could say the same.
I am afflicted by your sufferings, — protracted, severe, and
as you oblige me to admit, irremediable. May God give
you patience and resignation. I trust you have both, and
also that good hope through our Saviour which is as an
anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. What surprises me
most is the amount of labor you perform, and the mental
power which seems to rise superior to corporeal suffering.
We shall haH with much interest your forthcoming work on
the " Isle of Wight." I am now in the midst of my public

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 219

course on chemistry, and during the three months of almost
daily experimental lectures which it occupies, I can hardly
admit a thought on any other subject of science. But
geology is in the house. Mr. Dana is far advanced in his
geology of the Pacific Islands, and other regions visited by
the American exploring expedition. From some parts of
the MS. which have been read to me, and from my full
knowledge of his talents, accuracy, and taste, I am prepared
to expect a valuable and interesting work, which will form
an important addition to the science ; for, general conclu
sions grow out of his local facts, and his mind being mature,
— his age is about thirty-three, — and his observations ex
tensive, I have no anxiety for the result. I beg you not to
increase your labors by writing to me, while you have the
" Isle of Wight" in hand ; 'it must be a great and laborious
work, and I know by some experience, how inconvenient
and exhausting it is to turn aside from an engrossing labor
to write letters. I confess I am all the while anxious about
you, and would only ask for a brief note now and then, just
to assure me that your severe malady has not quite borne
you down. Even a newspaper, occasionally, with your
initials on the wrapper and the date, would much relieve
my^anxiety. I am glad you could go down to the Associ
ation, even for a short time, but am surprised that they are
willing to cheapen science for the sake of the guineas. Mr.
Lyell has sent us his remarks on the Delta of the Missis
sippi, and we have the Athenaeum reports of the doings of
the association, but I have not as yet had leisure to peruse
them ; it was too late to say anything of them in our
number for November 1st, but we shall mention them in
the January number, 1847.

At last Agassiz has made his appearance ; he announced
himself from Boston about a month since, and I gave him
a prompt reply. He then came on to make our acquaint
ance ; B. S., Jr., and I went to the hotel on the evening of
his arrival, and took him home as a guest. He lodged at

220 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

B. S.'s, Jr., but was domesticated in both our houses, and
won us all by his affability, good-humor, and accommodat
ing disposition, in addition to his fine person and cordial
manners. October 17th he attended my lecture. I had an
nounced him to the class in attendance, about two hundred
in number, with a wing of some thirty or forty ladies. I was
on that day upon evaporation, and managed to bring the
subject through natural evaporation to rain, snow, and
snow-capped mountains and glaciersrat which point, (having
before spoken to him,) I appealed to him as an experienced
observer, and invited him to say something to the students
on the subject. He rose with some little appearance of em
barrassment, but acquitted himself very well, and gratified
many young people. We, of course, showed him our public
rooms and collections, and I went with him to the top of
the East Rock, — a trap precipice of nearly four hundred
feet high within a mile of the town. The view of a vast
trap region of peaks, knobs, a continuous barrier of trap of
wide primitive formations ; our beautiful little city below
with a wide cultivated plain on which it stands ; and our
fine deep bay of five miles, caused our Swiss philosopher
to exclaim, How beautiful ! very beautiful !

TO DR. MANTELL.

August 30, 1847.

I HAVE looked through Mr. Lyell's references

to you regarding the Wealden in the second edition of his
" Elements," and I must say that he ought to have made
you more prominent; but it is to be observed that the
" Elements " is a condensed work, in which it is a matter
of some importance to economize space, and the author
would urge in his defence, that often, where he has cited
your results in the page without naming you, he has re
ferred at the bottom of the page to your works or your
memoirs. He has named you several times, and twice with

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 221

thanks, for diagrams illustrating the Wealden, or the con
tiguous strata. It is not to be forgotten either, that some
years ago he devoted a great part of an address before the
Geological Society to a detailed exhibition of your discov
eries in the Wealden, and on that occasion he enforced
your claims and merits in a spirit and to an extent corre
sponding in some good degree with your own warm-hearted
and generous recognition of the claims of your friends and
fellow-laborers. I cannot think that you are "without
friends and without influence at home," or that your name
and fame will not survive your death. You will ever be
honored among the founders and expounders of English
geology, and among the most skillful commentators upon
that of the world, especially in the department of Paleon
tology.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

November 29, 1847.

MY labors are at length at an end ; the Index is printed
and corrected ; and, I trust, the " Wonders of Geology "
will no more require attention from me. Ere another edi
tion will be wanted, I hope I shall sleep with my fath
ers, and my son Reginald will undertake the editorship.

Our winter sessions have begun. There have

been two meetings of the Geological Society ; the first was
entirely occupied by a long paper of Professor Owen on
some remains of Cuverian pachyderms from the Isle of
Wight The second meeting was more interest
ing ; it was on the Geology of Australia ; and one of the
most successful explorers of that country, Sir Thomas
Mitchell, was present, so that we had an animated discus
sion ; but no new facts were elicited that are worth intro
ducing in a letter. Mr. Lyell was there, and he and I had
a good-humored dispute upon some of the subjects under
discussion. At the Royal Society, the only incident worth
remark is the election of the Duke of Wellington, who was

222 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

voted in, but with six balls against him. I am at a loss to
guess the motive that induced the old veteran to wish to
belong to the Royal Society. I hear of no important works
on geology, nor of any new discoveries.

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, April 11, 1848.

DR. DAUBENY, in a late letter, accompany
ing a copy of the new edition of his " Volcanoes," seems
half reconciled to our Mexican war, because, he thinks,
that the conquest of that country might open to my " ener
getic countrymen " a free access to the Mexican volcanoes,
which, he says, if a younger man, he should be inclined
to visit, but would wait first for the Anglo-Americans to
establish order in that anarchical country. I should be
glad if any good might result from a war which has in
my opinion no adequate justification. A treaty has been
formed, and accepted by our Senate, with slight modifica
tions, and has gone back to Mexico for ratification ; but it
will not be surprising if the government or faction which
agreed to it should vanish before its arrival, and thus make
it necessary to begin de novo, or to retire from the country,
or hold it by force of arms, — so embarrassing is wrong
doing in the beginning, drawing after it sometimes inter
minable evils. I do not often occupy my letters with poli
tics, but I am appalled with the news which every arrival
brings from Europe. The French monarchy and oligar
chy swept away by a popular whirlwind ; in Austria, her
veteran minister and some of her princes become fugi
tives ; the King of Bavaria an exile ; Prussia dictating to
her monarch ; Sicily and Italy in agitation ; and even Po
land beginning to rise again from her grave. The reliance
of despots on their troops is failing them, as the troops
sympathize with the people, and are slow to shed their
blood. I hope these tumults will not reach you ; your peo-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 223

pie have liberty now and security ; but the parts of the edi
fice are disproportionate. The colossal monarchy, and still
more colossal aristocracy and hierarchy, with the immense
expense of armaments by sea and land (in common with
the other countries of Europe), press too severely upon the
masses; and they cannot see why, when there is bread
enough and to spare, they should starve. I am not a rad
ical, but I do regard the welfare of the productive classes
as worthy of all regard ; and I fear they are about taking
their cause into their own hands, in all Europe ; and it will
be a curious anomaly in human affairs, if that government,
which in Europe has been regarded as vitally feeble, should
prove to have a strong vitality because it belongs to the
whole people I am amazed that any respect
able paper should allow such crudities as those contained
in the paragraph you have sent me from " Bell's Weekly
Messenger." It is going back to the time of Galileo's
Cardinals. If this be a fair specimen of the state of
opinion with you, among the religious people and the
upper ten thousand, I must think that we are in advance
of you ; for several of our religious periodical works, and a
considerable number of our clergymen, now take correct
views of these subjects, and we are gaining every year,
although the number is still large who confine everything
to six common days, although no one, I believe, confines
astronomy as much as the writer in " Bell's Messenger."

FROM DR. MANTELL.

February 20, 1849.

THE anniversary dinner of the Geological Society was
held on Friday ; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sir Robert
Peel, the Russian Ambassador, were there ; and my friend,
Sir C. Lyell, the new President, took the chair. Murchi-
son, De la-Beche, Buckland, Sedgwick, and almost all our
great men, were present. The Archbishop made an admir
able speech in defence of scientific pursuits, and geological

224 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

in particular ; and Sir Robert a senatorial declamation in
the like spirit. Lyell spoke good sense, but was so long in
his pauses, and so hesitating, that I was frightened out of
my wits lest he should break down. Dr. Buckland made
an academical oration, like one got by heart by a young
collegiate ; and Sedgwick poured forth a flood of elo
quence, which, in spite of the discordant tones in which it
was uttered (for his voice is most harsh), carried every
thing before it. Tne Belgian Ambassador, in capital Eng
lish, with just sufficient foreign accent to add to its inter
est, gave a luminous address in praise of science, and in
just encomiums on his own country for having remained
unmoved in the midst of the revolutionary tempest which
had swept over the Continent. Murchison made a courtly
speech, highly complimentary to the nobles present ; and
your humble servant, who had to respond as one of the
Vice-Presidents, gave a flourish of trumpets, which con
cluded the entertainment. Sir H. De la Beche has been
a capital President ; his address, I hear, was excellent. I
was unable to attend the meeting ; but, as the address will
be published, I shall obtain a copy for you.

TO DR. MANTELL.

NEW HAVEN, March 31, 1849.

THE California mania which you mentioned is

still very prevalent in this country. Several ships and sev
eral hundred people have gone from this comparatively
small city of twenty thousand people ; and almost every por
tion of the United States, especially in the North and West,
is sending out its companies as well as many single adven
turers. Still the accounts from California are as flattering
as ever : read if you please, in the Journal, the various let
ters of Mr. Lyman, one of our friends, a college classmate
with my son, and a man every way to be depended upon,
both for integrity and intelligence. I agree with you as to
the pernicious influence which this " auri sacra fames " may

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 225

produce ; but there are results of deep interest which may
grow out of it, that may prove a compensation, at least, to
California. Although a considerable part of the popula
tion that has gone and is going to California, may be of the
class of those who clustered around David when he was a
hunted and hated exile, when " every one that was in dis
tress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that
was discontented, gathered themselves unto him " — and no
doubt they will muster, in California, not only David's four
hundred, but more, probably one hundred times that num
ber, — still, there will be found among them no small pro
portion of excellent men, with the best principles, habits,
and views. Many such have gone from this place and from
other parts of New England, and they will, I trust, prove a
pioneer pilgrim band which, like that which peopled these
Northern States, will establish good institutions and laws,
and remain behind and possess the land. You will see, in
the January number, the views of Mr. Dana, who has seen
the country, and if he is correct, the gold may not be soon
exhausted ; but the people cannot live upon gold, and many
will, we trust, find it more comfortable, and in the end, not
less profitable, to bend their backs to agriculture, and thus
draw from those rich valleys wealth more enduring than
that of the auriferous sands.*

FROM DR. MANTELL.

..... I AM, indeed, much gratified and affected by the
affectionate and just tribute to the departed excellence you
have to deplore ; but your separation can be but for a brief
space, and your reunion will endure forever.f How con-

* I received last evening a printed expose of a projected railroad from
Memphis in Tennessee, on the Mississippi, to California, — 1500 miles. If it
is ever attempted, it must be as a national road, by national resources, and
be maintained in the same way.

t The reference is to the death of Mrs. Silliman. — F.

VOL. II. 15

226 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

solatory to the righteous mind is the quaint*remark of one
of our old divines, — " We have but stepped aside from
eternity to be tried in this state of probation." I troubled
Mr. Dana with the abstracts of my three papers, and Regi
nald's one, that he might make any use of them he pleased
for your Journal. Our societies move so slowly, that these
papers, in all probability, will not, all of them, be published
for these twelve months. An author in England needs to
have patience and forbearance ; and I really often am sur
prised at myself, as well as others, going through all the
trouble, and incurring considerable expense, and submitting
to the captious and unfair criticisms of the referees, to
whom the papers are consigned, for so trifling a result ; for
there are but few memoirs that could not be published by
an author himself, with as little loss as he sustains by the
preliminary expenses of preparing memoirs for our societies.
But so it is ; Providence, for some wise purpose, has so
strongly implanted in us the spirit of proselytism, that we
cannot resist the instinct.

FROM DK. MANTELL.

May 17, 1850.

I GAVE a lecture last Friday evening at the

Royal Institution, on the geology and the fossil birds of
New Zealand, and had a splendid and numerous audience
(between seven and eight hundred). It is, as you know,
our aristocratic Institution, and attended by our fashion
able lords and ladies. My kind friend, Professor Faraday,
was most attentive, and insisted on superintending the
hanging-up of the drawings, and when the lecture was over,
would help pack up the specimens, and worked until eleven
o'clock, and saw me into my carriage, — this was genuine
kindness ; and it is this great man's natural character.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 227

FROM DR. MANTELL.

July 3, 1850.

SIR ROBERT PEEL, on Saturday afternoon, when

riding but a few hundred yards from this square, was
thrown from his horse, picked up senseless, carried home,
suffered greatly forty-eight hours, and then expired, last
night at eleven o'clock, in the prime of life and health and
intellectual vigor. Though he was out of office, and had
mortally offended many of his political friends, his death is
universally lamented. I deplore it exceedingly, both on
public and private grounds. He was the only one of our
public men who paid any respect to the aristocracy of tal
ent ; men of art and science always found a warm friend in
Sir Robert Peel. To me he had, for years, shown much
courtesy ; inviting me to his table when any eminent for
eigners were visiting him, and always making a point to
notice me, in the most cordial manner, in every public
society where* we happened to meet. He always read my
works as soon as they appeared, and had he again been in
office, I am sure he would have recommended that the
Queen should bestow some distinction on me, for my unre
warded scientific labors. The event has thrown a great
gloom over the public mind ; but it will soon be forgotten,
and the world go on as usual. When at Oxford, I was
deeply affected at the absence of Dr. Buckland ; never be
fore had I been in the University without being with him,
and was often his guest at Christ's Church.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

April 1, 1852.

I AM desirous you should know that my task at

the Royal Institution passed off capitally. I think I men
tioned to you my desire to make it a dashing affair, because

I was last year refused permission to lecture through 's

insidious persuasions, and I was therefore desirous of show-

228 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ing that I could still " roar " effectively. I sent a wagon-
load of fossils and diagrams ; the room was crowded to the
ceiling. Herschel, Brewster, Babbage, Faraday, Murchi-
son, even Lyell and all our best men, were there ; and Far
aday (who was as kind and attentive to me as ever) said it
was the most successful and eloquent discourse ever deliv
ered there : so I made my exit in glory ; and I will never
lecture there again.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

April 22, 1852.

I GAVE four lectures (called a course of geology)

to the Mechanics' Institution at Leeds, one of our great
clothing-towns, of some 220,000 inhabitants ; the greater
number being the slaves of our factory lords. I never was
in the town before, and never wish to visit it again ; the
moral and physical atmosphere are alike most depressing.
You eat coal, drink coal, respire coal, imbibe, coal, sleep in
coal, and " live and move, and have your being " in coal ;
and should you die at Leeds, you will be buried in coal.
Nothing but the consideration that the smoke which ren
dered the atmosphere darker than that of London, and
which pervades all things, is the impalpable detritus of the
carbonized remains of lepidodendra and sigillaria, and other
beautiful trees, rendered my sojourn endurable, even for
the week which my engagement compelled. Yet there is
a good local museum in the town ; and the Philosophical
Institution and the Mechanics, must draw large audiences.
My lectures were eminently successful ; the room being
filled to the top gallery. I took my footman with me, who
attended to the diagrams, &c. ; then I was able to visit my
friends at York, and after ten days' absence, I returned
home not the worse for the exertion, and with £35 clear of
expenses. When lecturing to my miscellaneous but intel
ligent audiences at Leeds, (many Quakers among them,)
I could not but think that if I were preaching in your coun-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. MANTELL. 229

X

try, my hearers would be pretty much of the same char
acter, — attentive and wish-to-be-instructed listeners; not
the listless, fashionable attendants which we have in Lon
don tt

FROM DR. MANTELL.

June 22, 1852.

PEOPLE are hastening out of town, some for

excursions on the Continent, and many to engage in the tur
moils of a general election, — an occasion in which English
men show their appreciation of the privilege of choosing
wise and prudent senators, to conduct the affairs of the
nation for the next seven years, by getting drunk and
committing all kinds of follies and vices, and selecting the
richest booby of a squire, or leading person of property in
the district, without the slightest regard to his qualification
for the important duties he is supposed to be called upon
to perform. I am so disgusted with the cant and hypocrisy
of both Whigs and Tories that I should not vote at all. We
shall have three or four months of rioting and debauchery ;
the evil induced in small country towns, is incredibly great.
I am hard at work on the new edition of my " Medals " ;
spending a large sum in additional illustrations ; for I can
not allow a work of mine to appear without making it as
perfect as my means will admit of.

FROM DR. MANTELL.

July 16, 1852.

You will be pleased to hear that I am elected

honorary member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of
Holland, and still more, that the Queen (which means the
government, — Earl Derby,) has ordered my name to be
inscribed among the list of distinguished savans deserving
reward from the crown, and an annuity of £100 for life is
granted me. This came quite unexpectedly, in a most kind
letter from the Earl of Rosse, (President of the Royal So-

LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ciety,) at whose suggestion I believe it was made. Had it
been £200 per annum, it would have enabled me to retire
to some cheaper locality, and give up my profession. As it
is, however, I am very thankful for the distinction. Lord
Rosse begged me to understand, that both he and Lord
Derby felt reluctance in offering me so small a gratuity ;
but had they waited till the fund was larger, they might
have failed altogether.

FROM DK. MANTELL.*

October 11, 1852.

I HAYE of late been suffering more than usual.

I have not got from home, save for a day together, since
the spring ; and now the weather is too cold and damp, so
I must grumble on ; and should I live till spring, must
then make an effort and endeavor to breathe pure air once
more. You will perceive by this outline of an anodonta
from the Wealden of Sussex, what a noble addition we
have made to the Naiads of the Iguanodon River. Six or
seven specimens have been found on the Sussex coast, near
Hastings. Mr. Lea saw our specimen, and said it was a
fac-simile of one of your Ohio species. I had a letter from
Mr. Lea last week. He had been at the meeting of natu
ralists at Wiesbaden, and was much delighted with all he
saw and heard, and with the reception he met with from the
assembled savans. You have put it out of my power to be
any longer a disinterested judge of the expediency of pub
lishing your travels ; for I will say, in all sincerity, that I
should appreciate the kindness and distinction you proffer
in the highest degree. But when I did not think of such a
kindness on your part, I had, as you know, felt convinced
that you ought to publish your observations on men and
things in England and the Continent, after an interval of
forty years. Such a privilege falls to the lot of but few,

and in my opinion ought not to be thrown away

* This was the last letter of Dr. Mantell to Professor Silliman. — F.

LETTER

It was with much re
of the loss you have
friends. I well rririrrnHrfrTifT ti":i?f nlnnr quite
endeared himself to my sister and me by his social and
kind bearing when with us. As for me, I have scarcely an
old friend left, — all having gone before me : the happy,
the wealthy, the vigorous, many in the prime of manhood, —
all are taken away, and my wretched worn-out frame still
holds together, — for some wise purpose, doubtless, — and
I must work on to the end. May Heaven bless you and
yours, my most valued friend, with every good. Love
to all.

Ever most affectionately, yours,

G. A. MANTELL.

To this correspondence is added a letter to Pro
fessor Silliman, written after the death of Dr. Mantell,
by a friend of both.

FROM DR. J. C. WARREN.

January 14, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR, — Accept my best thanks for your very
interesting letter. The sudden termination of the suffer
ings of our friend, Dr. Mantell, we ought to consider not
only a wise, but happy dispensation of Providence, for he
had so well acted his part as to establish himself in the
recollection of his fellow-men, and give us reason to believe
that he is enjoying the^ reward of a good and useful life.
Your determination to retire from the more laborious duties
so long and successfully performed while your faculties still
remain bright, appears to me the more wise, because it is
not necessary. Your habits of occupation will always find
employment on something agreeable, and I think you have
acted most wisely in selecting some one to aid you, in
smoothing the cares of life ; but as you have not occupation
in an active way, you will have enough to gratify you in

232 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the recollection of a long life filled with the most elevated
pursuits we are permitted to enjoy in this world. For my
part I have got pretty well rid of my laborious and respon
sible duties, but having no disposition to be idle, I employ
myself in such affairs as are pleasant, and at the same time

not wholly useless Accept my best wishes that

you may continue long to enjoy life with your family, and
believe me to be,

Very sincerely, your obliged friend,

J. C. WARREN.

CHAPTER XXV.

HIS LAST LECTURE IN COLLEGE: THE TROUBLES IN KAN
SAS: SLAVERY.

Reception of his Travels in Europe : Letter from President Sparks. — His
Birthday, (1854). — Conclusion of his College Lectures. — Mr. Gajani.— -
Death of Friends. — Induction of Mr. Dana into Office. — Professor
Silliman's Views on Slavery. — The Meeting in aid of the Kansas Set
tlers. — Encomium upon Professor Silliman by Senator Foster. — His
Letter to the National Intelligencer. — Letter from Senator Hale. — Let
ters from Josiah Quincy. — His Birthday (1856). — Interviews with
Washington Irving. — The New Year (1857). — Letter on the Claims of
Christianity. — The New Haven Correspondence with Mr. Buchanan. —
Vindication of Professor Silliman by Senator Dixon. — Letter from Sen
ator Trumbull. — Letter from Senator Sumner. — Letter to Dr. Hitch
cock. — Letters, chiefly on Politics and Slavery, to Mr. John Taylor.

THE welcome accorded to his published volumes
of travel, — "A Visit to Europe in 1851," was grate
ful to his feelings. Some of the letters of commen
dation which he received, as well as notices by the
press, are preserved in the Diary.

President Sparks writes from Cambridge, December 8,
1853 : — " Let me thank you most cordially for the vol
umes which you so kindly ordered to be sent to us. I had
scarcely time to open them before I was taken ill. But this
I cannot regret, as they have afforded a delightful recrea
tion during the progress of my recovery, within the last few
days, especially as Mrs. Sparks has occasionally lent me
her voice, and participated in the enjoyment. The work
has afforded me the double pleasure of reviewing many
agreeable reminiscences, and furnishing me with much in-

234 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

teresting instruction, drawn from observations which I have
never made, or in countries which I have never visited. I
know not a better guide for young travellers, or a work bet
ter suited to enlighten those who would gain a knowledge
of foreign lands in the quiet repose of their firesides.
Where will you go next ? You have not yet encompassed
the globe, though you have taken long strides, and stood on
some of its highest peaks. What think you of the won
derful East, &c. ? " Lam a laudato viro.

His bodily vigor did not lead him to forget that
many additional years of life here were not to be
expected.

My Birthday, August 8, 1854. — It is a solemn crisis when
an individual has lived seventy-five years in this world!
How few are favored with so long a lease of life ! How
few are permitted to enjoy unimpaired health and mental
power at so advanced an age ! I am surprised at myself, • —
almost alarmed, lest I should be lulled into an undue confi
dence in life. The frequent and warm salutations which I
receive, and the strong manifestations of surprise at my
appearance as regards vigor and the absence of the decays
of age, are adapted to make one put off the fear of death,
and indulge in dreams of still longer life. I endeavor to
repress this confidence, and to realize that the day is far
spent, and that the night of death may be near at hand. The
religious views which I have expressed on many of these
recurring anniversaries remain unchanged. If I have a
hope full of immortality, I trust I shall be willing to put off
this mortal coil, whenever God shall call me home. I wait
his call, which may be sudden.

On the 13th of Jane, 1855, he concluded all his
courses of lectures in College, and uttered his feel
ings in the following

PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING. 235

Prayer and Thanksgiving. — Thus, O Almighty God, hast
Thou led me on in mercy almost to the close of a long life.
A volume would not contain an account of the mercies of
which I have been the subject through thy blessing on my
labors. It was of thy mercy that I was trained by pious
parents, and, although deprived of my father when I was
hardly eleven years of age, my blessed mother was sus
tained by Thee, and endued with courage to educate liber
ally my brother and myself. Thou hast blessed me abun
dantly, and enabled me to perform the duties of my station
successfully, — I hope usefully to my fellow-men, and in
some humble measure to thine honor, which, in all my
public labors, I have endeavored to sustain, for I have not
been ashamed to acknowledge Thee before men. Wilt
Thou, 0 Thou great and glorious God, sustain that dear old
Institution in which I have spent my years ; give it means
adequate to its wants, and to the extension of its usefulness.
May its officers and instructors be wise, faithful, and pious
men ; its pupils virtuous and diligent, and subjects of God's
grace ; and may it continue to the latest generations a foun
tain of blessings to this land. For myself, in this evening
of my life, may I be every day ready to die, trusting in thy
mercy through the Redeemer of men ; and if power and
opportunity to be useful are still continued to me, may I
have a disposition, as well as ability, to honor Thee, and to
benefit my fellow-men. For my salvation I depend entirely
upon the Redeemer. In the sight of God I have no merits
of my own, and feel deeply that if I am saved, it will be
of grace and not of works. I have none to offer that are
worthy of thine acceptance. And now, my heavenly
Father, I implore thy blessing upon my dear children and
their children, and upon the faithful and devoted compan
ion whom Thou hast in mercy given me. I implore it, also,
for the precious youth who are now about to go into the
world. Bless them all in time and eternity, through Christ
our Lord and Redeemer.

236 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

In the following paragraph reference is made to a
young Italian, who was for some time a dear and
cherished inmate of his house, was aided by him in
various ways, and regarded him with almost filial
gratitude.

October, 1855. - — My brother left us on Tuesday the 2d.
The Faculty party * recurred at our house on Monday even
ing, October 1st, and my brother was induced to remain to
attend it. The night was stormy, with wind and rain ; but
we had about fifty persons, instead of eighty, who were ex
pected. The evening passed most agreeably, and a high
literary entertainment was given, by reading about one hour
from Sig. Guglielmo Gajani's MS. work, now in prog
ress, on Italy. It is written beautifully, in good English,
needing, however, some friendly criticism, which it is receiv
ing at our hands. Mr. Gajani was introduced to us a year
ago ; came to this town from New York to pass the hot
weeks, and by invitation, came to us four or five weeks ago,
and has lived here ever since. We have had much pleas
ure and satisfaction in his society, and he will proceed to
Boston (fully introduced) to give a course of lectures.

Among the obituaries which now become more
and more frequent in the Diary, are notices of the
venerable Dr. Williston, and of Commodore Morris.

Death of Rev. Payson Williston, D. D. — This venerable
gentleman died January 20, 1856. He was graduated in
Yale College in 1783. He was, I believe, the oldest sur
viving graduate of Yale, having been out of College sev
enty-two years. He was a particular friend of my late
brother of the Noyes' branch, and I recollect his person as
he was many years ago. His father was the Rev. Noah
Williston, was graduated in Yale College in 1757 ; and was
* A social party consisting of the College Faculty and their families. — F.

DEATH OF DR. WILLISTON AND COMMODORE MORRIS. 237

minister of the Congregational Church in West Haven. In
July, 1779, this gentleman, while leaping a fence to escape
from the enemy, fell and broke a leg-bone ; but the com
mander hearing that he was a clergyman treated him well,
and ordered a person to set his fractured limb in his own
house. My mother was one of his friends, and I remember
being hospitably entertained there on a journey with her
when I was a youth and in delicate health.

Commodore Charles Morris. — This gentleman was a na
tive of Woodstock, Connecticut, and was much esteemed in
the Navy as a brave and able officer. I have seen him
several times. He was Captain Hull's first-lieutenant when
the Guerriere was captured ; he was shot through the body.
I have been informed that when the frigates were approach
ing each other, the Guerriere began to fire when two miles
off. Hull was bearing down upon her before the wind, and
as she came near, the balls of the Guerriere begun to take
effect, but Hull had given orders to reserve fire until he
should himself give the order. His men had begun to fall,
and the sailors became impatient to return the fire, when
Morris, as officer of the gun-deck, went to Hull to ask
leave to fire, but the commander replied, — " Not yet Mr.
Morris." The men becoming still more impatient, he went
again to Hull, who gave him the same reply, until they
were within pistol-shot, when he gave the fatal order, —
" Now fire in the name of"

Unexpected honors were paid to Professor Silli-
man in connection with the opening lecture of his
successor, Professor Dana.

February 18, 1856. — Professor James D. Dana, my son-
in-law, successor in the department of geology, began his
course to-day in the geological room, the scene of my labors
on the same subject. The room was full. His lecture was
very able and interesting ; and, very unexpectedly to me,

.:

238 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

he introduced it with a notice of the rise and progress of
geology in this country, and my action and influence in
bringing it about were set forth in warm and elegant lan
guage. I was not indeed aware that he appreciated my
efforts and attainments so highly. The Class rose as I en
tered the room. They had indeed been waiting for my
arrival, as I was a few minutes behind time. It is a signal
favor that I have lived to see my two extensive depart
ments divided, and, without any influence of mine, my own
son charged with chemistry, and my son-in-law with the
mineralogy and geology ; and I am still in health of body
and mind to enjoy this happy result.

Quite unexpectedly to himself, Professor Silliman
became involved in the political conflict which pre
ceded the late armed struggle of slavery for domin
ion in this country. The institution of slavery he
had always condemned, and had never hesitated to
declare his views respecting it on all proper occa
sions. His first book of travels contains a warm
remonstrance against the continuance of that system
of injustice. "At that period, and for a long time after
wards, sentiments adverse to slavery were heard al
most as frequently in the South as in the North. Pro
fessor Silliman had been strongly interested in plans
for the voluntary emigration of the released blacks to
Africa, and, in common with most good men at the
North, had hoped much from the operations of the
Colonization Society. In an address on " Some of
the Causes of National Anxiety," which he gave in
New Haven on the 4th of July, 1832, he discussed
elaborately the subject of slavery and colonization.
He claimed that the former is " a proper subject of
national' discussion, and is to be encountered by
national efforts ; " " that diseased members affect

HIS VIEWS ON SLAVERY. 239

the entire physical system ; " and that we should say
to Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas, that slav
ery, " although it is eminently your curse, is also a
great national evil." " Slavery," he affirmed, "is
now generally acknowledged, in this country, to be
an enormous evil." Alluding to the legislative de
bates which followed the then recent slave insurrec
tions in the South, he said : " The statesmen of Vir
ginia and Maryland fully proved that slavery is an
intolerable evil : bitter to the slave ; costly to the
proprietor ; dangerous to the morals of the youth ;
as a reliance for national wealth, unprofitable and
wasteful ; as a means of public defence, worse than
useless ; a blot on our national honor ; a reproach to
our moral character ; a source of increasing do
mestic danger ; an insult to the purity of our relig
ion ; and an outrage on the Majesty of Heaven!"
" Having long and anxiously contemplated this sub
ject, I have looked earnestly for the time — which
seems now at hand — when the national conscience
should be thoroughly awakened to the sin of slav
ery." He lived to see the enlightened views of *those
Virginia statesmen repudiated by their children, and
slavery defended both as a divine institution and the
surest bulwark of Christian civilization ! The re
mainder of his address is mostly devoted to the ad
vocacy of colonization, and of efforts for the intel
lectual and moral improvement of the emigrant
blacks. But it became obvious to all discerning
men that African colonization would never remove
slavery, or even stay its progress, under the power
ful motive afforded by the increased facilities for the
culture of cotton, and the great demand for that

240 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

product in the markets of the world. Professor Sil-
liman, though never a partisan, had acted with the
Whigs, and with them had resisted the further ex
tension of slavery, and the schemes for obtaining new
territory on which slavery might plant itself. But
he was ardently attached to the union of the States,
and was ready to go as far in the path of concession
as he could go without the sacrifice of principle or
the public welfare. In the hope of appeasing strife,
he supported Mr. Webster in his assent to the so-
called compromise measures of 1850. He was wil
ling to believe, with that statesman, that the physi
cal character of the country would keep slavery out
of the territory of New Mexico ; he considered the
admission of California a substantial advantage to
the cause of freedom ; and, much as he disapproved
of various features of the Fugitive Slave Law, he
believed that some law designed to secure the
rendition of slaves was imperatively required by the
terms of the Constitution. So far, whether wisely
or unwisely, he consented to go. But when, in
1854, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, forever pro
hibiting slavery in States to be formed north of lat-
tude 36° 30', — the solemn stipulation on which
Missouri, a slave State, had been received into the
Union, — was annulled by act of Congress, he felt
that further concession to the demands of the South
would be thrown away, and that agreements made
by the Slave Power were no longer to be trusted.
Thenceforward he deemed it his duty to join his fel
low-citizens in withstanding every attempt to en
hance the already alarming influence of the slave-
holding interest in the government of the country.

THE TROUBLES IN KANSAS. 241

The opening of the territory of Kansas — a part
of the region which had been protected from slavery
by the Missouri Compromise — was the signal for a
movement in New England and the Northwest, hav
ing for its end the settlement of this prospective
State. Societies for aiding emigrants were organ
ized in several of the Eastern States. Seeing that, by
the influx of these Northern emigrants Kansas was
likely to become a Free State, the slave-holding in
habitants of the Missouri border endeavored to pre
vent this by means of invasion and violence. Pass
ing over into Kansas, they seized the ballot-boxes, and
filled them with spurious votes, thereby constituting
a territorial legislature which would be willing to ex
ecute their behests. While these things were taking
place, one of the numerous colonies from the North
ern States was organized in New Haven. It was
composed of sober and respectable men ; and, on
the evening prior to their departure, a meeting was
held in the North Church, where many of them had
worshipped, to bid them farewell. Their leader, who
had been a superintendent of the Sunday-school,
gave an account of the equipment of the company,
by which it appeared that they had been unable to
provide themselves with rifles or any other species
of fire-arms. It being necessary to supply this want,
which existed even if there had been no Missouri
invaders to fear, it was proposed that a subscription
be made on the spot. At the urgent request of
others, Professor Silliman spoke a few words in
favor of the proposition. The rifles were contributed
by individuals present. This harmless affair, being
depicted in blazing colors in some of the news-

VOL. II. 16

242 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

papers, caused a wide-spread excitement, and he
became an object of indecent vituperation from
partisan journals and politicians. We quote from
the Diary : —

April 3. — A great clamor has been raised against Mr.
Button * and myself on account of "the rifles. It has been
used for electioneering purposes by the administration
papers, to influence the approaching election. I care not
what they say about me. I feel that I did right. There
was danger that the party — more than half of them — would
be obliged to go out unarmed, not merely among bears
and wolves and panthers, but among murderers and rob
bers. The invaders of Kansas, from Missouri, have proved
their title to both these appellations by murdering three
peaceable settlers, robbing many more, and maltreating
clergymen and all whom they could bring under their
power. A general massacre at Lawrence was undoubtedly
prevented by the armed preparation of the people. It
matters little that these rifles were obtained in a church ; it
was a holy cause, and time and place were comparatively
unimportant.

The matter was not deemed too insignificant to
be brought up in the United States Senate. In the
course of a reply to aspersions cast upon the New
Haven meeting, Senator Foster of Connecticut,
spoke as follows : —

" Professor Silliman is a man of wide reputa
tion on both sides of the Atlantic. His name is known
and honored wherever the light of science shines. There
is a daily beauty in his life which commends to our notice
and respect the highest characteristics belonging to human
nature. No man illustrates, day by day, the courtesies, the *

* The late Rev. Dr. Dutton, pastor of the North Church. — F.

SENATOR FOSTER'S SPEECH. 243

amenities, the proprieties, which belong to the character of
a gentleman and a Christian more than that man. He has
been connected with Yale College, one of the well-heads
of science and learning in this country, for more than fifty
years, as an instructor. During the time that he has been
thus a member of this Institution, more than four thousand
young men have received instruction through him and the
other members of the Faculty of that Institution, and not
one of that large number ever received from him any other
than such influences as would do good the world over."

The Diary proceeds thus : —

The week has been fruitful of attacks and reflections on

account of the affair at the North Church I could

have wished that it had occurred differently and with less
publicity, and not in a church (although we, the descend
ants of the Puritans, do not hold such places to be conse
crated). Still it is desirable, as far as possible, to exclude
secular subjects from them. The " New York Times,"
through its correspondent here, gave a startling publicity to
my name by placing it at the head of the column, as if I
had been a leader. I was mute almost to the last moment,
and then yielded to an urgent appeal to present the matter
to the meeting, and it is said that otherwise the object
would not have been accomplished.

April 20. — From the most remote parts of the Union,
newspapers and anonymous letters continue to pour in.
They are, as I am informed, (for I do not read them,) scur
rilous, bitter, and many of them low and vulgar. They
give me little concern, and will by and by die out. I have
done my duty, and we are cheered by news of the arrival
of our New- Haven colony in Kansas, I believe, without
molestation. I have addressed a letter to the Hon. John P.
Hale, in consequence of his promptly repelling an attack
upon me, in the Senate, by Senator Benjamin of Louisiana,
many years ago an unworthy member of Yale College.

244 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

My letter is intended as a vindication of the New-England
emigration to Kansas. I have offered it to the " National
Intelligencer" for publication. It was published in that
paper, and republished in the "Journal of Commerce," in
the "Evening Post," the New Haven "Morning Journal,"
and " Evening Palladium," and in the " JSTew York Inde
pendent " ; and it is pronounced in that paper to be " an
admirable letter."

An extract from this letter is subjoined.

"I am not disposed to apologize for whatever

aid I may have contributed by action or influence to arm
our emigrant colony, nor am I aware that the extraneous
circumstances of time, place, and persons, connected with
the occasion, are of any serious importance. They were, at
the crisis alluded to, wholly accidental or unexpected ; but
the exigency admitted not of change or delay, and the
thing clone was right. It is no evidence of a good cause
when extraneous and irrelevant circumstances, of little or
no importance, are officially paraded to the neglect or con
cealment of a real and important issue. The real issue, in
the present case, is whether the arming which is conceded
to persons emigrating from all other parts of our country,
whether going to Kansas to settle or to vote, should be de
nied to the emigrants from New England. May they not
also carry arms and munitions and all other supplies and
defences necessary to the settlement of a new country on
the very frontiers of civilization, and one of its most ex
treme outposts ? Can any issue be more simple or more
reasonable ? Who can give any other answer than that
which is now being practically given by the voluntary
action of many thousands, moving from the most remote
points of our vast country, to possess the promised land ?
The arts of designing men, and the intemperate zeal of
those who have viewed the subject through a false medium,
have fostered prejudices and produced recriminations which

LETTER TO THE "NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER." 245

are unfavorable to a candid and patriotic consideration of
this subject. The wise and the good in the South and the
Southwest (and I have known many such) will, when the
present feverish excitement has died away, come to view
this matter right, and we must patiently wait for that most
desirable result."

His vindication of himself satisfied reasonable men.

Saturday, May 3. — My Kansas letter meets with great
approbation, as I learn from many sources ; but I have
not heard whether it has been attacked by the slavery
prints. It is approved by G. Griswold, Joseph E. Worces
ter, and many more. The Hon. John P. Hale, to whom it
was addressed, has written me a private letter of warm
approbation. I continue to receive vituperative newspapers
and letters. The latter are generally very illiterate and
vulgar. I hand them over to Mrs. S., who reads and re
ports to me.

FROM HON. JOHN P. .HALE.

WASHINGTON, May 3, 1856.

MY DEAR SIR, —Your very acceptable letter of the 16th
ult, accompanying a letter to the editors of the " National
Intelligencer," was duly received, and your request to have
your letter inserted in that paper, was communicated to its
editors, and very promptly acceded to by them. I use not
the language of flattery when I say to you, that the friends
of freedom in Kansas, in this city, were highly gratified by
the bold and frank vindication of the measures adopted by
the emigrants and their friends at New Haven, under your
name in the columns of that paper. If we cannot maintain
liberty in Kansas, though I never will despair while I be
lieve God sits on his eternal throne, yet so far as human
foresight can penetrate the future, I see nothing before this
country but the establishing, perpetuating, and increasing of
the domination of the slave-power. Our affairs in Central
America are becoming very embarrassing. The fact just

246 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

brought to light, that the British government have agreed
to furnish two thousand arms to Costa Rica, will be seized
upon to stir up the jealousy of our people against British
interference ; the worst passions will be appealed to, and I
see nothing to prevent " manifest destiny " from annexing
Central America to the United States, and when that is
done, Mexico must follow. Now suppose these events to
come, and allow the principle to be established, now openly
and boldly contended for, that the United States Constitu
tion carries slavery with it, or rather the right to hold
slaves, wherever it has authority, who does not see that the
destiny we are to unfold and develop is to subdue the semi-
barbarous nations occupying that portion of this continent
south of us, strike down the liberty which they have inau
gurated, and make the confines of slavery coextensive with
our conquest. Do you ask, or rather does any one ask,
What has the Kansas question to do with this ? I answer,
everything. Make Kansas free ; let it be understood that
in every new acquisition, liberty and not slavery is the boon
which we bestow on conquered provinces and nations ; and
the aliment which feeds this lust of conquest, and upon
which it subsists, and without which it would die, is taken
away. I feel as if we could hardly overestimate the mag
nitude of this question and its consequences. With many
thanks for your name, so generously given to the struggling
friends of the cause, and especially with my personal thanks
for the honor you did me in making me the organ of your
communication,

I am, with the highest respect,

Your obliged friend,

JOHN P. HALE.

In his love of liberty, Professor Silliman enjoyed
the sympathy of another old man in whom the fire
of youth had not been damped, and who like him
was a witness for human rights to the end.

LETTERS FROM HON. JOSIAH QUINCY, SENIOR. 247
FROM HON. JOSIAH QUINCY (SENIOR.)

Professor Silliman : —

MY DEAR SIR, — I am obliged by the interest you ex
press in my recent exertion.* Laudari a laudato viro, is
Cicero's standard of exalted praise. I calculate little in
party times on the effect of any independent endeavor.
Those whose interest it crosses condemn or let it pass in
silence if it be too true to be censured. Those whose
views it supports are apprehensive of being identified with
truths, which are not exactly coincident* with party plat
forms, however much they may approve them. Men are
governed by their interests, and care little about prin
ciples. I have, however, but little to complain of, rather
nothing. The work has been better received than I ex
pected. Babes do not like strong meat. Diana of the
Ephesians is said to be in danger from my doctrines, and
all who live by making silver shrines for her temple cry
out that the craft by which they live will be destroyed. As
to its being " thrown broadcast through the land," that
must depend upon others, but though the spirit of some
be willing \he flesh of many is weak. I have done in this
respect, and shall do, my duty. But from age and from
having been for more than thirty years disconnected with
politics, I almost stand alone. My contemporaries are gone,
and beyond the sphere of my own state, my acquaintance
is very limited. Besides giving a thousand copies gratui
tously to the public, I have reserved a number for my own
distribution, and a second edition, I am told, will be re
quired. If you who have been spreading the light of phi
losophy through distant regions and must know many, of
whom I know nothing, and to whom the work would be
acceptable, will send me a list of such persons with their
address, I will see them supplied. Your interest in the
thing, so fully expressed, seems to justify me in giving you
this trouble if you see fit to take it. I remember Senator
* A pamphlet on the side of freedom. — F.

248 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Tracy with interest and great respect. His wit was ever
ready and racy. His judgment exact. His spirit elevated
and true. Few of my political contemporaries have left a
deeper or stronger impression on my memory and heart.

With respectful remembrance of your son, to whom I
desire you to present me,

I am, truly and respectfully, yours,
, August, 1856. JOSIAH QuiNCY.

P. S. — If a few copies will be acceptable to you, I will
send them by express. In plain truth, I arn desirous to
give the work as much publicity as I can. Not from vanity.
Heaven forbid ! What is vanity or praise to a man of
eighty-jive ? But I think it calculated to do good, and hope
it will.

The following note, of a later date, from the same
veteran patriot, is too characteristic to be omitted : —

FROM HON. JOSIAH QUINCT (SENIOR).

Professor Silliman : —

DEAR SIR, — I thank you for the interest you express in
your letter of the 1 6th ult, on account of my late accident,
and you ask me to ask my daughter to give you the state
of my health. It is my rule never to cast labor on another
which I am able myself to perform. The accident was
severe, laying open a deep wound of six or eight inches in
my skull, — half cut, half bruised. It shook a little the
economy of my brain, and has kept me above ten days a
little cautious of putting it to any but moderate use. I have
great reason for thankfulness. The newspaper account was
exaggerated. They want exciting paragraphs, and exag
gerate for dramatic effect. Be assured that I am in every
respect in my usual health, and always

Truly yours,

BOSTON, November 18, 1858. JOSIAH QuiNCY.

INTERVIEWS WITH WASHINGTON IRVING. 249

The return of his birthday (August 8, 1856,) was
marked, as usual, by reflections in his Diary.

August 8. — Again my birthday has returned ; it has
pleased God to permit me to finish my seventy-seventh
year. I have lived beyond the allotted age of man, not
merely threescore years and ten, but threescore years and
seventeen, — and my only brother, the only one I ever had
of the whole blood, should he live to October 26, will then
enter his eightieth year. May God grant that our lives,
protected to old age, may for the remaining time be de
voted to the wisest and best purposes. It may be written
concerning me, — " This year shalt thou die." As yet I have
no admonition from physical infirmities. My health and
strength and power of endurance, and of performance of
duty, are undiminished, — may God be praised, — and my
eye is not dim ; I am writing this page without glasses. My
appetite is very good, and my sleep quiet, much better than
in former years. As physical causes, I impute much to cold
water faithfully applied every morning over the entire sur
face, and followed by vigorous friction. I have for thirty-
three years drunk only water, tea, and milk, — rarely coffee.
My food is the same with that of other people. This health
ful physical condition favors cheerfulness of temper, which
is natural to me, and I hope I have a willing confidence in
God, my Creator, my Saviour and Sanctifier, that He is
preparing me for the exchange of worlds.

A visit to friends on the Hudson brought him into
intercourse with Mr. Irving.

August 19, 1856. — In the evening we enjoyed a rich
treat in a free conversation with Mr. Washington Irving,
who, by invitation of Mr. Thomas, came to see me. The
next morning we returned the call, and found him at his
beautiful villa of Sunnyside, upon the bank of the river,

250 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

and just by the railroad, and yet screened from view by
groves. The house is a gem, in perfect accordance with
the refined taste of its accomplished possessor. He is still
engaged upon the history of Washington, and a fourth
volume is nearly ready for the press. It had been in my
power to contribute some interesting things, particularly
the journal of the late Governor Trumbull, of the siege of
Yorktown, — he being private secretary to the Commander-
in-Chief, General Washington ; and I suppose he will make
use of some portions of it in his forthcoming volume.

August 20, Wednesday. Mr. Irving. — This distinguished
gentleman, one of the bright stars of our literary hemis
phere, came from his home, a mile from this place, and
passed a long evening with us ; and we had half an hour
or more with him, as I have mentioned, at his own house.
In person he is not tall ; probably he may be five feet six
or seven inches high ; his form rather round and full, but
not corpulent ; his countenance florid and slightly bronzed ;
his lips thick ; his eyes blue or gray ; his expression mild
and benignant, with a slight tinge of mirthfulness ; his air
modest, with even a shade of diffidence ; his voice is not
clear, but rather husky, as if catarrhal ; his conversation is
animated and engaging, and he appears quite as willing to
hear as to speak. Having had some correspondence with
him regarding his " Life of Washington,", we were natu
rally drawn nearer together on that account ; and he con
versed with freedom and ease respecting his work.

Proceeding to Albany, where he was the guest of
his esteemed friend, Dr. Sprague, he attended the
inauguration of the Dudley Observatory, and listened
to the address of Mr. Edward Everett.

This gentleman spoke two hours in his own magnificent
style, and the audience was delighted. His subject was

EDWARD EVERETT AND COLONEL FREMONT. 251

the importance and use of astronomy. As the oration is
in print, I shall not attempt any analysis of it. It was
every way worthy of its author and of the sublime subject.
Twilight was closing in upon us when he finished, and the
Albanians enjoyed a triumph. Mr. Everett lodged with us
at Dr. Sprague's, and, as he remained over one day, we
enjoyed highly his conversational powers, and his rich
communications regarding men and things, with which and
whom he had been so extensively conversant, at home and
abroad. His manners are amiable, kind, and winning,
and do not justify the impression that he is cold and
reserved.

Professor Silliman supported Colonel Fremont for
the Presidency. The result of the autumn elections,
notwithstanding the strong rally of the Republican
party, occasioned him much anxiety.

November 19. — Pennsylvania and New Jersey have gone
for Buchanan, and thus it is feared that the slave-power is
installed in all the branches of the government. There
has been much fraudulent voting on the side of Buchanan.
Many thousands of Irish, and not a few Germans, have
been at the command of the slave-party. But a still more
Important cause of defeat has been, that the late President
Fillmore has been in the field by his own consent. It was
ill-judged in him and his friends, and has only tended to
defeat Fremont, because it was obviously impossible that
he — Fillmore — should be elected by the popular vote,
and very many of the votes given for him would, if he had
not been in the field, have been given for Fremont. In
the election of members of the House of Representatives,
also, the Republican cause has lost many members. The
Government, after March 4, will be entirely in the hands
of the slave-power. This affects me much ; but what is
most afflicting is, that Kansas may be left to the mercy of

252 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

wicked men, whose course has been marked hitherto by
murder, conflagration, robbery, and oppression.

The following passage affords a glimpse of his
occupations at the close of this year.

December 14. — I have been too busy since Thanks
giving to continue my record. The answering of letters
occupied me about a week ; and during the last two weeks
I have been employed most of the time in rewriting two
lectures, — one on water and its relations ; and another
on fire and its relations, especially to the phenomena of the
earth. These two I have finished, with full heads. A
third I am to write this week (D.V.), on the combined re
sults of water and fire upon the economy and habitability
of our globe. I have undertaken this labor with reference
to the Young Men's Christian Union at Buffalo, who have
pressed me urgently to give them some lectures ; and,
although reluctantly, — in part, on account of the season of
the year, — I have consented to go.

The opening of the new year (1857) leads him to
a grateful review of his situation in life.

January 4, 1857. — I am surrounded by mercies innumer
able as they are undeserved. My external circumstances are
entirely comfortable, and even moderately prosperous ; my
health and activity are preserved ; and I cannot perceive
any failure in my mind. But there must be an end of this
life, and it is the subject of my daily prayers that I may
be prepared for the change of death, and for the recom
pense of reward. I do not pray for an increase of worldly
good. I have enough of external good, for which, in all
its multiplied forms, I render daily thanks to God. But
the prayer which I do most frequently and most urgently
offer, is for a holy heart, holy affections, and a holy life, and
that I may, by the constant increase of these proofs, find

A LETTER TO A FRIEND. 253

reason to hope that it may be well with me when I die. I
place no reliance whatever upon my imperfect perform
ances of duty, as a ground of justification with God. I
rely solely and entirely upon His mercy, through the great
sacrifice of my blessed Lord and divine Saviour, Jesus

Christ I have not that assured hope and that

fulness of joy which many more favored Christians possess ;
but if I should die this year, I have an encouraging hope
that my Creator will accept me, unworthy as I am.

The concern which Professor Silliman took in the
welfare of all his friends led him to active efforts
— where such efforts appeared to be warranted by
any hope of success — to promote their religious
good. Among these friends was a scientific man
of deservedly high reputation in his department of
study, but sceptical in respect to the claims of
Christianity, and who had lately adopted the tenets
of " Spiritualism." To him, Professor Silliman ad
dressed an earnest letter on the subject of religion, a
copy of which is preserved in the diary.

MY DEAR , In return for your present at Albany,

I request you to accept, as a proof of my kind regard and
good-will, a small volume, entitled, " The Christ of His
tory." It goes to you by the mail which conveys this letter.
As I have perused with respectful attention your work on
Spiritualism, I ask that you will in turn read this little
book, which presents a view of the Saviour, to my mind
both original and convincing. Four historians, writing
without consent and independently of each other, concur
in presenting a character of celestial elevation and good
ness, — such a character as has never been presented be
fore or since in human history, nor conceived of by the
mind of man. The narrative of his life, his acts, his teach
ings, his example, his death, and his resurrection, proves

254 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

his divinity, — divinity associated with humanity, that thus
he might be our brother in sympathy, both in joy and sor
row, — a union incomprehensible to our finite minds, but
not more so than that of our immortal souls with our mortal
bodies. The little volume which I now send you com
prises, as you are aware, but a small portion of the copious
evidence which supports the divine origin of the Scrip
tures. The Old Testament, marked by the peculiarities of
the ages and countries which it commemorates, with occa
sional openings into the future world, holds out *n promi
nent relief the interests of the present world ; while the
New Testament, in accordance with the prophecies in the
Old Testament, brings life and immortality fully to light
through the Saviour. Had your course of research been
as fully devoted to these subjects as it has been to physical
science, I trust you would not have been an unbeliever ;
and it is even now not too late to ascertain whether the
Bible is really, as you intimate, a cunningly, or even a
clumsily, devised fable. Should you, to say no more, view
the " Christ of History " as I do, you may have occasion
to review the position you have taken, which appears to me
full of danger. I must confess that I closed your volume
with very painful emotions, and my mind has anxiously
balanced between the duty which it seemed to me I owed
to my early and constant friend, and my despondency as to
my power to produce any salutary effect upon his mind.
At last, after much consideration, I have concluded to ad
dress to you a few remarks, in a spirit of perfect kindness
and affectionate interest, but of deep and anxious concern.

My dear , I cannot desert my Saviour, — him

who spoke as never man spake, while he knew what was
in man ; who has paid my debt when I was bankrupt ; and
who sustained in my stead the penalties of a violated law ;
— I cannot desert him, and repose my confidence in the
visions of so-called mediums. You and I are now old men,
and the time is not remote — it may be very near — when

A LETTER TO A FRIEND. 255

we shall pass into the real world of spirits, into the pres
ence of God, and, as millions believe with me, into the
presence of the holy angels, and of the Saviour, and of
the countless host of the spirits whom He has redeemed.
You may remember that, at an early period, we conversed
much and freely on the Christian faith ; but, as we did not
agree, and as I saw no hope of convincing you, while you,
with a spirit of candor and kindness, appeared net to wish
to invalidate my belief, we tacitly dropped the subject
But, during more than half a century, we have maintained
a friendly communion on matters of science, a warm per
sonal friendship, with a frequent interchange of offices of
kindness. I was unwilling quite to relinquish the hope
that you would eventually become a believer in divine rev
elation, especially as a happy domestic influence on the
part of one who, through many years, has worthily pos
sessed your confidence, respect, and love, leaned altogether
in the right direction. Your course as a man of science
has been honorable, and duly and justly honored by your
country and in other lands ; while I, as your friend, have
not been slow to proclaim your merits and vindicate your
claims. It would have been happy if your public career

had ended with science You will be hurt — I fear

you will be offended — by my plainness ; but when you
realize that this is the strongest proof I have ever given
you of that friendship which you yourself have valued, and
which has been coextensive with our acquaintance, and
almost with our lives, you will then perceive that these are
indeed the faithful wounds of a friend. As one of your
oldest and most faithful surviving friends, with a spirit
grieved but not alienated, with hope depressed but not in
despair, I have now relieved my mind from a painful sense
of responsibility. I stand acquitted to my own conscience,
to you and to God ; and I earnestly pray now, as hereto
fore, that, under a divine influence, you may see the, spirit
ual world, as I think I see it, through a divine revelation,

256 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

commensurate with time and reaching through eternity. I
will still hope that you may seek and find salvation through
the Redeemer, and that through his intercession we may
rejoice together in acceptance at the great day before the
throne of God, our sins and follies being mercifully for
given. Pardon me if, in my honest zeal for your welfare
in both worlds, I have transcended the limits of that kind
ness and- courtesy which we have always maintained to
wards each other, and I beg you to accept this letter as a
proof that I am still, as ever,

Your faithful friend,

B. SILLIMAN.

P. S., June 6. — This letter has lain by me for some
weeks, partly because I could not, until yesterday, obtain a
copy of " The Christ of History," and partly that I might
not hastily, and without due consideration, approach you.
On reperusal, I do not find cause to suppress or alter what
I have written ; nor do I wish to draw you into an argu
ment or a vindication. The letter is intended as a friendly
protest ; pray, when you have read it, lay it by for a few
days, and then read it again with a cool and unexcited
mind. I do not ask a reply. I am content that I have re
lieved my own mind by appealing to yours in a spirit of
candor and kindness. Before I seal the envelope, allow
me to mention a fact which appears to me not inappropriate.
Last week I went with Mrs. Silliman one hundred miles,
to Woodstock, Conn., to visit her venerable father, John
McClellan, Esq., uncle of the late Dr. McClellan of
Philadelphia, — a lawyer by profession, now some months
over ninety years of age, but for seven years confined by
the paralysis of one limb and arm, — cheerful, however,
and affectionate, and with an active mind, still sound and
discerning. One morning, while we were there, as he
closed^his Bible, he said : " I have read it all through dur
ing the past and current year," and at that moment he fin-

CORRESPONDENCE WITH BUCHANAN. 257

ished it, and this with only one eye which is useful. Now
this venerable gentleman, just on the verge of eternity, finds
in the Bible the rod and the staff, which will no doubt con
duct him fearlessly through the dark valley of the shadow
of death, to fairer worlds on high.

Once more, and this time, also, without any ex
pectation on his part, the name of Professor Silliman
was conspicuously brought forward in connection
with politics. The Missouri invaders of Kansas had
framed a constitution in which were incorporated
more hideous features than are to be found in any
political instrument of recent times ; they had elected
their legislature under it, and enacted an inhuman
code of laws with the design to perpetuate slavery and
drive out or exterminate the freedom-loving settlers.
These in self-defence had met and had organized
a frame of government for which they did not despair
of obtaining the sanction of Congress. The admin
istration of Mr. Buchanan, however, was determined
to sustain the government set up by the "border
ruffians," and to treat the actual settlers as rebels
against lawful authority ; and the military forces
were employed to carry out this monstrous injustice.
Professor Silliman was one of the signers of a re
monstrance addressed to President Buchanan from
Connecticut. To this paper, Mr. Buchanan published
an extended reply, professing that on coming into
office, he had " found the government of Kansas," —
that is, the government of the invaders of Kansas, —
" as well established as that of any other territory,"
and endeavoring to shirk all responsibility for the
origin and character of that government. The let
ter was written in a tone of injured innocence. It

VOL. II. 17

258 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

contained false aspersions upon the great majority of
the actual inhabitants of Kansas, whom it stigma
tized as lawless and seditious people. It also con
tained a fling at the Hartford Convention, although
some of the signers of the memorial were old enough
to remember that in the days of the Hartford Con
vention, Mr. Buchanan was himself a federalist.
How the right of the South to carry slavery into the
territories could ever have been doubted, the letter
declared " a mystery " ! Both the acts of this mag
istrate in respect to Kansas, and the manner in which
he defended them, moved the indignation of Pro
fessor Silliman. And who, at this distance of time
can read the history of the efforts made to force slav
ery upon an unwilling people, without mingled in
dignation and shame, that such a chapter shoulc
deface our national annals ?

The annexed extracts are from the Diary.

Buchanan. — In July, a brief but pointed and respectfu
remonstrance was signed by forty-three gentlemen of New
Haven, and a few from other parts of Connecticut, anc
forwarded to President Buchanan, the object being to pro
test against the employment of troops of the United States
in order to enforce against the people of Kansas, the crue
and wicked code of laws inflicted upon them by an inva
sion from Missouri, creating a false and unauthorized legis
lature. After some weeks the President replied in a smooth
plausible letter, written as a text for his party, and as an
offering for the South ; but he entirely evaded the point at
issue, and at the same time avowed the most ultra pro-slav
ery doctrines. Several weeks more elapsed ; meetings were
held by many of the signers, and several replies to the Pres
ident were written, — one by Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, an
other by Alex. C. Twining, Esq., (the author of the protest,]

SENATOR DIXON'S SPEECH. 259

and a third by Rev. Dr. N. W. Taylor. The latter was
adopted and published here, as the President had published
his letter at Washington. The reply of Dr. Taylor was
long, but it was conclusive. It annihilated the President's
argument. It was extensively republished, and by three of
the principal Washington papers, — the " Intelligencer/' the
" Republic," and the " Union " itself. The reply is regarded
by our friends as entirely satisfactory, and is answered by
the administration papers only by scoffs, sneers, and per
sonalities I am not the author of the letter, but I

signed it among forty-three others, and my name is near
the end. Still their papers call it the " Silliman Letter " to
President Buchanan, and I am everywhere treated as the
author of the movement, and the signers are spoken of as
professors and clergymen, although very few were of that
profession, — but no matter ; it is of no importance to me,
and does me no harm. The protest has done good in
drawing out the President and his administration from con
cealment, and producing an open avowal of their pro-slav
ery views and plans.

The Connecticut memorialists (most of whom were
of New Haven) were assailed with virulence in the
Senate of the United States. A correspondent of
the " New York Tribune," under date of February
11, 1858, thus characterizes the reply of one of the
Connecticut senators : —

, Senator Dixon delivered in the Senate, the other day, one
of the best speeches upon the Kansas question, which has
been made since Congress came together. He examined
the famous Silliman letter to the President, and in the
course of his remarks eulogized Professor Silliman in the
following happy manner : " And now, sir, who is Benjamin
Silliman, that he should be assailed by name in the govern
ment organs, as if he were not entitled to address a respect-

260 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ful message of expostulation, or, if there were need, of
reproof, to the President of the United States ? One of
the great lights of modern science, — known, celebrated,
distinguished among the few who have adorned the arts,
and shed new light on the studies most cultivated by civ
ilized man ; the peer, the friend of Humboldt, of Davy
(while he yet lived,) of Arago, of Agassiz, of Chevreul, of
Cotta, of De la Beche, of Jean Baptist Dumas, of Faraday,
of Le Verrier, of Brongniart, of every great contemporary
name made illustrious by devotion to science, — known all
over the world, — known where many of our distinguished
countrymen are still unknown ; the honored instructor of
three generations of young men, in that far-famed Univer
sity, beneath whose classic shades he is passing his last
days ; the guide, the philosopher, the friend, whose teach
ings and whose counsels have been enjoyed by more of our
public men than those of any man now living ; the honored
Professor at whose feet your own Calhoun sat for many
years, when he, a young man, went to New England, as the
young men of Rome went to Greece to learn philosophy.
There, sir, under the instructions of Silliman and Dwight
and Kingsley, his great intellect was cultivated, adorned,
and strengthened. There he learned to wield that invinci
ble logic which enabled him successfully to encounter the
giants of those days, — the Websters, the Clays, the Ben-
tons, in the Senate, with constant victory ; or if not with
victory, without ever having been compelled to acknowl
edge defeat. I know not, sir, how many members of this
body were trained by the same men or their successors. . . .
But this with deference I say, that whatever honors may be
in store for any member of this body ; whatever just claims
to undying fame, the talents, the acquirements, the elo
quence, the public services of the most distinguished here
may give him, there is not one among these honored Sen
ators who may not deem himself satisfied, all the hopes of
his youth more than fulfilled, all the labors of his manhood

LETTER FROM CHARLES SUMNER. 261

more than rewarded, if he may finally reach the measure
of fame enjoyed in his ripened years, by Benjamin Silli-
man. No office could elevate him ; no honors could extend
his reputation ; no added celebrity could make his name
familiar, where it is not now known among civilized men.
It is inscribed in the immortal records of learning, and can
never be forgotten till the knowledge of humanizing arts
and sciences shall fade from the memory of mankind."

Some time before the victory of the settlers of
Kansas was assured, it began to be foreseen that the
iniquitous measures designed to rob them of their
rights, would prove abortive.

FROM HON. LYMAN TRUMBULL.

WASHINGTON, December 28, 1857.

THE truth is, that since the announcement that

slavery exists in the territories under the Constitution, and
that slavery is recognized and protected everywhere by that
instrument, the adherents of the party in the North saw it
was bound to go down, and Judge Douglas is making haste
to escape from the sinking ship. I trust the people of
Kansas, down-trodden and oppressed for nearly three years,
may soon be able to assert their just rights. In order that
slavery might be introduced among them, the people of
that territory have been subjugated to a military despotism
ever since its organization ; but thank God for the prospect
that the rule of Border ruffians will soon be over

FROM HON. CHARLES SUMNER.

PHILADELPHIA, April 28, 1858.

MY DEAR SIR, — A relapse in my calamitous illness
which left me for a while quite feeble, must be my apology
for not sooner acknowledging the favor of your letter. I
am happy in your sympathy, and feel that our good cause
is stronger because it has your support.

262 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

The present state of things cannot last. Such disgrace
ful tyranny, supported by such disgraceful corruption, false
hood, and baseness, must topple down ; I am sure of it.

There are many signs which indicate that we are on the
eve of great events. My earnest hope is for strength to
take part in the struggle. Pain and weakness are hard to
bear ; but harder still is the estrangement from duties
which I have at heart, rendered necessary by the state of
my health.

Accept my thanks for your kindness, and believe me,
my dear sir,

With great respect,

Faithfully yours,

CHARLES SUMNEB.

TO DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

NEW HAVEN, March 8, 1858.

I AM not a little pleased that I was, as I believe,

and as you have said, the first person who responsibly recog
nized the correctness of your conclusions regarding the foot-
tracks in the rocks of the Connecticut River valley, as Buck-
land was the first in Europe You mention Sena
tor Dixon's remarks. Of course they were gratifying to me
who have been twice on trial before that august body,— the
Senate of the United States, — and twice zealously defend
ed ; in the affair of the rifles, by our Senator, Mr. Foster, and

in that of the letter to Buchanan by Mr. Dixon We

have godless men now at the head of our affairs. May God
preserve us from the results of their machinations ! The
President and his abettors seem to me to have no fear of

God before their eyes, nor any proper love of man

You often remind me of Richard Baxter, living in an age
when wicked men bore sway, — always feeling infirmity of
body, but with untiring industry and fidelity accomplishing
more labor, and bringing out finer results, than most of your

LETTER TO MR. JOHN TAYLOR. 263

contemporaries. May you long live to prove that physical
infirmity is not inconsistent with great mental efficiency !

In this place, it is proper to introduce passages
from Professor Silliman's letters to Mr. John Taylor
of Liverpool. This gentleman was an enemy of the
slave-trade and of slavery ; and these letters, though
not confined to this topic, give energetic expres
sion to the feelings with which Professor Silliman
had beheld the encroachments of slavery in this
country during several years.

TO MR. JOHN TAYLOR.

NEW HAVEN, September 19, 1854.

WHAT a contrast does your review of the epochs

you have named, covering more than sixty years, present to
us of blasted hopes and despotism triumphant both in royal
and republican garb. The interesting but painful sketch
which you have drawn of affairs at home, and prospects
abroad, I have surveyed with solemn foreboding. The wars
in which England has often, during one thousand years,
been engaged, have produced burdens which are grievous to
be borne. Cowper says, that war is a game at which kings
would not play if people were wise ; but how shall the
people have a chance to show their wisdom ? For conti
nental Europe I see little prospect of amelioration, — cer
tainly not without revolution, and as long as millions of
bayonets are bristling over their heads the people cannot
move. Ton have substantial liberty^but you need more re
form, and a reduction of expenses to relieve your people
from taxation, and especially in the form of the odious in
come tax. Thanks to you for your vivid reminiscence of
the ancient renown of your national Greys. Even Napo
leon, you will remember, at the Battle of Waterloo, ex
pressed his admiration on seeing the Scotch Greys, having

264 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

first inquired the name of that splendid corps of cavalry.
It is in my mind that at one time the dragoons were all
communicants in the National Church. Do you remember
the fact, and when it was ? Of my own country I have
now nothing to boast. The sway exercised by the Slave
States, through the recreancy and corruption of venal men
from the Free States, has produced the disgraceful condition
in which we now are. It is true, however, that a deep
feeling of injury and danger now swells the bosom of the
North and the Free States in the West, and the result is
appearing in our elections. I hope, however, but with fear.
The people in the Free States are busy with their private
concerns, and are not like the slaveholders, united by a
common bond, — nor like them are they prepared to act in
concert, marching to the battle with a serried front, and
hardly missing a straggler from their ranks. I am im
pressed with the belief that the wanton and wicked destruc
tion of the Missouri Compromise, — unless their steps
should be retraced at the next session of Congress, — will
do away with all other compromises, and that fugitive slaves
will not hereafter be reclaimed in most of the Northern
States. It is remarkable that the slaveholders, who are so
fond of quoting the Jewish books for the palliation, or, as
they claim, justification of slavery, seem never to have
heard the following two verses : Deuteronomy, chap, xxiii.,
verses 15 and 16, — " Thou shalt not deliver unto his mas
ter the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee :
he shall dwell with thee, even among you in that place
which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh
him best : thou shalt not oppress him." If they would be
consistent, this does away entirely with the fugitive slave-
law

LETTERS TO MR. JOHN TAYLOR. 265

TO MB. JOHN TAYLOR.

NEW HAVEN, February 7, 1855.

I HAVE never seen the correspondence of C. J.

Fox, and the comments of Lord John Russell. However
dazzling the popularity of men may be while they are
garnished and gilded by fame, they generally obtain their
deserts after death ; and if posterity do not, in Egyptian form,

pass judgment upon them, they do it in effect I once

heard Fox speak in the House of Commons, and most of the
great men you have named were there that night and took
part in the debate. In my late visit I found most of those
great men in Westminster Abbey ! Sic transit / .... In
this country, also, the great struggle between despotism and
freedom is going on. The slave-power, elated and bold
on account of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise
last winter, now avows designs of the most audacious char
acter, — even the renewal of the slave-trade from Africa.
But the spirit of the North is raised ; and, unless our do
mestic traitors, of whom we have too many, should betray
us, I trust that we shall set bounds to the aggression. The
recent election of Mr. Seward, the eminent Senator from
New York, to the United States Senate for six years, from
March, 1855, is a test victory for that State, — truly the
Empire State; and in the next Congress the House of
Representatives will be decidedly anti-slavery

TO MB. JOHN TATLOB.

NEW HAVEN, July 23, 1855.

THE slave aristocracy are now banded together

to extend the slave system and its political sway over all
our new territories, and over all that may be hereafter
acquired, and they avow the determination to perpetuate
the system, and boldly claim for it a divine origin, — the
sanction of all ages, — the prerogative even of benevo
lence, and of being necessary to liberty, and especially to a

266 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

republican system. The free States can stop the progress
of the deluge, if they will ; but there are so many venal
men among us, and there are so many interests which you
have so well pointed out, that are allied to the support of
slavery, that I look forward to the future with deep anxiety.
The subject cannot, however, rest ; the nation is fast ar
ranging its people under two banners, — that of freedom and
that of slavery. I feel humbled and mortified for my coun
try, and can only hope that there is a Providence in this
case that may lead to happier results than we can now fore
see. One of those results is dawning upon the world in
the establishment, on the coast of Africa, of enlightened
Christian communities of colored people, trained in the
habits of order and submission to law, and prompted to
industry by having its rewards secured to those by whom
they are earned. Like you, I am full of anxiety as to the
prospects of nations. I fully agree with you in all that you
say regarding that infamous usurper, and the consequences
of his influence in the present crisis. Surely the queenly
hand was polluted when it touched that of one polluted
by so many crimes. Waterloo was avenged, not in battle
indeed, but in the degradation of the English monarchy in
adopting such a profligate. The only consolation seems to
be that these two noble nations have emerged from centu
ries of bloody hostility, — not, indeed, to shed each other's
blood again, but to pour out the blood of both in the crim
soned Crimea, in opposition to a nation nominally Christian,
and in support of one bearing an indomitable hostility to
the Christian name and institutions. .

TO MR. JOHN TAYLOK.

NEW HAVEN, November 15, 1856.

BY this time you have heard that the slave aris
tocracy have elected Mr. Buchanan. Our defeat was occa
sioned by a great amount of fraudulent voting, chiefly by

LETTERS TO MR. JOHN TAYLOR. 267

ignorant Irish and Germans ; but more still, and princi
pally, by the very injudicious decision of the friends of Mr.
Fillmore to run him on the course, and by his still more
injudicious consent to stand. It was easy to foresee that,
while his election by the people was impossible, it was very
probable that he would draw off so many votes from Fre
mont as to defeat him, — and such has been the result;
while Buchanan comes in by a decided minority of popular

votes There is no depression of spirits in the

Republican party. The people of all the Free States, ex
cepting four, have given such vast majorities as to afford a
strong assurance that another Olympiad will place the Free
States in the ascendant. There is very little exultation in
the victorious party ; and Mr. Buchanan will have no very
enviable position, with a multitude of retainers to gratify ;
with the heavy pressure of the slave interest upon him ;
and a powerful and increasing opposition. I do not know
him personally ; he is said to be a mild man, and some
predict that he will seek credit by doing well : sed timeo
Danaos et dona ferentes. It is very possible that the result
which you predict may come, and I should much prefer it
to having slavery nationalized and the slave-trade (foreign
African) revived, which is now loudly demanded by many
Southern presses. But we must not forget that you and I
may not live to see the result of the conflict now sustained
between freedom and slavery, and your wise and devout
referen«e to the overruling providence of God, is very
timely, and meets my cordial assent ; and here, at least for
the present, I will leave this painful and agitating sub
ject

TO MB. JOHN TAYLOR.

NEW HAVEN, December 27, 1856.

THE strong interest which you always manifest

in the welfare of this country, will demand that I say some
thing of the present posture of affairs. It is not regarded
t

268 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

as desperate ; on the contrary, the friends of liberty appear
more determined than ever. Mr. Webster, several years
ago, warned the South to beware how they roused the
Northern conscience. It is now aroused, and, I believe,
will not sleep again. The spirit of slavery has appeared so
aggressive, insulting, and cruel, that no measures can be
kept with it. It must be kept where it is ; and the great
struggle is maintained, with more decision than ever, to
protect Kansas. We have not sent in armies, but we have
clothed the naked and fed the hungry. Many hundreds
of boxes and barrels of clothing have been forwarded,
chiefly by the benevolent exertions of our women, and to a
great extent by the work of their hands ; while men, both
individuals and associations, have contributed large sums
of money to purchase food.* It was a part of the policy
of the savage invaders to prevent cultivation and to destroy
every resource, so that the free settlers might either per
ish from want, — their houses having been burned and
property plundered, — or be compelled, as many have
been, to leave the territory. The Southern ruffians have
chiefly gone south, and some bands of them to join Walker
in his piratical enterprise against an unoffending people.
The new Governor of Kansas, Geary, has sent the Mis-
sourians home, and has procured the dismissal of the in
famous Judge Lecompte, surnamed Jeffries, and his min
ions. In the meantime, even now, in winter, emigrants
from the Free States are going into Kansas, and many
thousands more, we are assured, will follow early in the
spring ; and not a few of the pro-slavery men become con
verts to freedom when they have planted themselves in the
territory. In the meantime, the deep-toned underswell of
servile insurrection, growing out of the discussions regard-

* The Vermont government have given $20,000 ; the New York Tribune
has collected $20,000 more; the Boston Boot and Shoe Makers $20,000
more ; and many smaller sums in hundreds as well as thousands have been
forwarded.

LETTERS TO MR. JOHN TAYLOR. 269

ing liberty and slavery, which have reached the ears of the
Africans, has arrested the wicked project for the revival of
the slave-trade, and the apprehensions excited on the plan
tations and in the cities will probably discourage Southern
emigration to Kansas. This terror from the Almighty ap
pears to have thrown back the spirit of slavery upon its
own guilty conscience ; and it is obvious, from the power
ful assaults made upon it in Congress, that the slavery
men, with a bad cause and a bad conscience, evidently
quail before the manly attacks of the men who have God
and the right on their side. The confidence is strong that
Kansas will yet be a Free State, and that the aggressions
of slavery will find a Northern barrier which they cannot
pass ; but much remains yet to be done, and I trust that
the friends of freedom will not falter in this great conflict.

Your ideas as to the designs of the South comprehend
ing both continents, I have no doubt are well-founded.

As to the policy of our new President, we can form no
satisfactory opinion, and it would be idle to repeat the spec
ulations of the prints both at home and abroad

TO MR. JOHN TAYLOR.

NEW HAVEN, March 26, 185".

I HAVE already hinted that we have gained

nothing in this country by the change of administration.
The slave-power has now engrossed every branch of the
1 government, and their plans, evidently matured and skil
fully arranged, are now being developed in an alarming
form. Last of all, the Supreme Court of the United
States, formerly our palladium, and unpolluted by party
influence, has now lent itself as the instrument of extend
ing slavery into regions where it is not, and of riveting its
chains where they are already imposed. To you, who are
so well informed in all our affairs, and who so well under
stand the working of our political machinery, it is unneces-

270 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

sary for me to enlarge upon our position and our dangers.
Governor Geary, you see, has been effectually driven from
Kansas, not having received the slightest support in men,
money, or influence, from the government at Washington ;
while the organized usurpation from Missouri is carrying
everything with a high hand, and will, without doubt, con
struct a slave constitution for Kansas ; and a servile Con
gress — the majority, I mean — and a corrupt administra
tion will accept the infamous code, unless the elections in
the Free States should alarm them. I am grieved and
mortified that my country now stands before the world as
the great patron and supporter of slavery, which, if the pow
ers that are may have their own way, is to be extended
and sustained by all the resources and power of the nation.
Revolution may come, and, if this pressure should be greatly
aggravated, it is not impossible that it will come. God
reigns, and out of evil often is seen to educe good ; and so
it may be now, but I fear not in our time, and I greatly
fear for my large family of the second generation : we of
this generation see only the beginning of the end

CHAPTER XXVI.

mS CLOSING YEAES: THE WAR: HIS RELIGIOUS
THOUGHTS.

The Agreeableness of his Home : His Occupations. — Progress of Science
in Yale College. — The Scientific School. — Benefactions of Mr. Shef
field. — Honors from the Scientific Association. — Tributes of Respect.—
His Patriotic Interest in the War. — Letters to Miss Eliza Quincy : Rem
iniscences of Lafayette ; Emancipation ; Character of the Rebellion ; Con
duct of France and England; the Death of President Quincy. — Letters
to Rev. Dr. Sprague. — Letters to Miss Maggie Lindsley, of Nashville.—
The New Year (1861). — Death of Judge Williams and President Fel-
ton. — Birthday (1862). — New Year (1863). — Birthday (1863). —
Commemoration of his Grandfather, (Mr. Fish,) at Stonington. — Letter
from Dr. Hitchcock. — Letter from Mr. S. F. B. Morse. — Birthday
(1864). —Death of Dr. Knight.

THE situation of Professor Silliman in the last
years of his life was happier than usually falls to the
lot of men. Though never rich, he was free from
want and provided with competent means of sup
port* His health, considering his advanced age, was
remarkably sound. He was seldom confined to the
house by any bodily indisposition. His home was
as pleasant as the love and care of a devoted wife--
could make it. On the one side of him was his son,
Mr. Silliman, and on the other, his son-in-law, Mr.
Dana, — the house of each being separated from him

* His income was increased by the salary which he received as Presi
dent of the " American Mutual Life Insurance Company," an office which
he held for about fifteen years, and resigned January 1, 1863. The duties
of this station were not onerous, and they were fulfilled to the entire satis
faction of the Company.

272 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

by only a few steps. The " Journal of Science," on
which he had toiled for so many years, was regularly
laid on his table by these gentlemen, his successors
in editorial, as well as academical duty. From their
families he was daily receiving expressions of honor
and affection. On every Sunday evening a troop
of grandchildren gathered about him, whose songs
he heard with delight, dismissing each little guest
with a kiss. None of them will forget his beam
ing countenance in the midst of this family-circle.
Numerous strangers, and among them many of his
former pupils, who had occasion to pass through
New Haven, resorted to his house to pay their re
spects to him. Occasionally he left home to visit
relatives at a distance. These journeys drew him
as far as Hanover, New Hampshire, the abode of his
daughter, Mrs. Hubbard, and even to Bangor, then
the residence of Mrs. Gilman. Social duties about
home, — a class of obligations which he always ful
filled with scrupulous punctuality, — consumed a
portion of his leisure. He did not make the mistake
which is often committed by men who have led a
busy life, and allow himself to .be without employ
ment. He was industrious to the end. He knew
how to fill up the time. Many hours in the week,
especially after visitors had retired at night, he read
aloud with Mrs. Silliman. In a list of a part of the
works which were thus read in 1857, are found the fol
lowing : — Barnes's " Scriptural Views of Slavery,"
" a very searching and decisive work ; " Commodore
Perry's " Expedition to Japan," including the obser
vations on Zodiacal Light, by Rev. George Jones ;
Kane's "Arctic Explorations," " full of intensely inter-

HIS OCCUPATIONS. 273

esting but most painful instruction ; " Dr. Sprague's
"Annals of the American Pulpit " ; Olmsted's " Booka
of Travel in the South," " bold, impartial, and truth
ful ; " Washington Irving's " Life of Washington," the
" crowning labor of the brilliant life of the author ; "
Professor Sedgwick's " Palaeozoic Rocks and Fossils
of Great Britain," " a splendid work ; it is to be re
gretted that, being in part controversial and antago
nistic to the views of Sir R. I. Murchison, it is tinged
with asperity and personality ; " Loftus on the "An
tiquities of Babylonia ; " Coggeshall's " History of
American Privateers," in the last war with Great
Britain. " Heaven grant that these two Christian
nations may never come into conflict again!" In
another list, recorded in I860, are found Livingstone
on " Southern Africa," and Barth on " Middle Af
rica" ; Thomson's " The Land and the Book " ; At
kinson's « Travels in Siberia " ; the " History of Elder
Brewster, the Chief of the Pilgrims " ; " Original
Memoirs relating to Columbus and his Discoveries;"
" Proofs of the Treason of General Charles Lee " ;
the " Life of Perthes," the distinguished German
bookseller, — and other works. These titles indicate
at once the extent and variety of his reading.

Besides the employments above named, no small
portion of his later years was devoted to the compo
sition of the Reminiscences of his own life, from
which we have drawn so largely in this work, and to
the assorting of his voluminous correspondence. In
addition to these labors, he wrote a copious account
of the character and services of his father, which he
regarded as a pious duty, and did not feel at rest
until he had fulfilled it. He desired the virtues of

VOL. II. 18

274 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

this parent to be known to his own children. And
letter-writing to numerous relatives and friends did
not cease to be a considerable draught upon his
time.

With the condition of the departments of knowl
edge in Yale College, which began with him, he had
every reason to be gratified. Among the pleasing
occurrences in the latter years of his life, was the
liberal endowment of the Scientific School, in the
origin and progress of which he had been intimately
concerned.

Previously to 1842, there had been no means pro
vided for the instruction of advanced students in the
physical sciences, either at Yale College or at any
of the other Institutions in the United States. Up to
that time the academical students had been instructed
in chemistry almost exclusively by lectures. Pro
fessor Silliman had been long in the habit of receiv
ing into his laboratory a very limited number of per
sons who were fitting themselves to become teachers
of the departments of science under his care. This
number rarely exceeded two or three persons at one
time. There were no recitations ; the art of manipu
lation, the management of chemical processes, and
the preparation of class-room experiments, were the
chief subjects of attention. Among these gentlemen
were many who subsequently became eminent in
these departments. In 1842, Mr. Silliman, Jr., being
then professional assistant to his father, made arrange
ments to teach a few special students in chemical
analysis and mineralogy. For this purpose a small
analytical laboratory was fitted up in the old College
Laboratory, and the business of daily instruction in

THE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 275

experimental and analytical chemistry was com
menced. Among the earliest students under this new
arrangement was Mr. John P. Norton, afterwards Pro
fessor of Agricultural Chemistry in Yale College ;
and Mr. T. Sterry Hunt, since among the most dis
tinguished men of science in the United States.
These studies were entirely optional, and the stu
dents were not even recognized as members of the
College, their names not appearing upon the cata
logue. It was soon evident, however, that these very
limited and imperfect means of instruction met a
want which had long been felt in the country. Pro
fessor Silliman was the first to recognize this want,
and with his accustomed zeal and sagacity, set
about providing a way to meet it. Liebig's popular
writings on Agricultural Chemistry had appeared
just before this time, and excited everywhere an
active desire in the public mind for more and better
means of instruction in science, particularly in agri
cultural and other branches of applied chemistry.
Young Norton had been moved by this cause to seek
the desired instruction in Professor Silliman's labora
tory, and developed so much genuine love of scien
tific investigation, that Professor Silliman urged him
to prosecute his studies abroad. With this view he
accepted the situation of private student in the lab
oratory of Professor J. F. W.Johnston, who was then,
under the auspices of the Highland Society, laboring
in the department of Scientific Agricultural Chemis
try in Edinburgh. It was Professor Silliman who
secured for Mr. Norton this eligible situation, where
he soon won the esteem of his teacher and where his
original paper on the oat, carried off the prize which

276 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the Highland Society had offered for the best essay
on the chemistry of that plant, and of the soil on
which it grows. Meantime, the gradual development
of the new branch of scientific instruction led to the
design of giving it a recognized place in the Univer
sity studies. A memorial, prepared chiefly by Pro
fessor Silliman, embodying the outline of a School
of Science, and setting forth the reasons for the
establishment of such a school, was presented to
the Corporation of the College at their session in
July, 1846. As was his habit whenever he had any
subject of sufficient importance to be presented to
this Body, Professor Silliman went personally before
the Corporation to urge upon them the necessity of
meeting the growing demands of the public, in this
direction, by the establishing of such a new depart
ment. The request of Professor Silliman was com
plied with, and the scheme having been widened, at
the suggestion of i)r. Woolsey, so as to embrace ad
vanced instruction in other subjects, a committee
appointed by the Corporation reported, at their ses
sion in 1847, the plan of a fourth department, de
voted to Philosophy and the Arts. But the first Pro
fessors had been appointed at the earlier meeting in
1846. Correspondence had been opened with Mr.
Norton, then transferred to Utrecht, where he was
pursuing his chosen calling with Mulder, and it was
decided at that meeting to commence operations by
the appointment of this gentleman to the new Chair
of Agricultural Chemistry, and of Mr. Silliman, Jr.,
to that of Technical Chemistry. These appointments
having been made, and Professor Norton having
returned in the following year from Europe, the Yale

THE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 277

Scientific School was opened for pupils. Beyond
the income of five thousand dollars which a liberal
benefactor of the College agreed to provide for a
limited period, there were no funds. The College
granted the use of a house which had been formerly
the President's house, and was then vacant. The
changes necessary to prepare this building for the
uses of the new School, were paid for by the Pro
fessors out of their private means and from the small
fund of the School itself, and for two years a rent for
the building was paid to the College. The requisite
apparatus and library were provided from the same
sources. Narrow as were these beginnings, there
was, from the first, evidence of vitality in the under
taking. A goodly number of pupils made their ap
pearance, and in the first class were several whose
names are now known on both sides of the Atlantic.
Of these, three are now Professors in the Scientific
Department of the College, — Mr. Brush, Mr. John
son, and Mr. Brewer. 4

Professor Silliman regarded with the liveliest inter
est the growing prosperity of this important branch of
the College, and was ever ready to cooperate in all
plans for its better endowment and the enlargement
of its means of usefulness. He had the satisfaction
of living to see it receive the liberal benefactions of
the gentleman whose name it now bears, as well
as the government bounty under the Agricultural
College Act, and numerous smaller private gifts.
From the small commencement, with only two Pro
fessors, he witnessed its transfer to a spacious and
commodious edifice, with a large corps of compe
tent Professors, and a constantly increasing body of
students.

278 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

When Mr. Sheffield added to his gift of the build
ing a noble fund for the support of instruction, Pro
fessor Silliman signified to him, in writing, his warm
appreciation of the spirit which prompted these large
benefactions. To his note of thanks he received the
annexed reply.

FROM JOSEPH E. SHEFFIELD, ESQ.

NEW HAVEN, October 22, 1860.
Monday Morning.

DEAR SIR, — I received on Saturday your valued note
of the 19th, in which you are pleased to speak in flattering
terms of my recent donations to the Scientific School of
Yale College, and to add a brief narrative of the rise and
progress of that important department of the College. I
thank you for this paper, and will take care to leave it
with others for future reference.

I have also received from the Faculty of the Scientific
School a very flattering acknowledgment of my efforts in
aid of the Institution. This latter paper I shall take care
to leave* with my will, to be read after my death by my
children, in the fullest persuasion that its influence will be
of a more lasting nature to them, and a more enduring
legacy than bank-notes and gold.

To you, my dear sir, who have labored for more than
fifty years, under rather discouraging circumstances, to build
up that important department, it must be particularly en
couraging and gratifying to witness, in the evening of your
days, an increasing interest in the institution on the part
of your countrymen, and an appreciation of its value that
will not only sustain it in its present usefulness, but carry
it forward to perfection.

For the complimentary manner in which you have
alluded to my humble aid in its behalf, please to receive
my warm and respectful acknowledgments ; and, in the

TRIBUTES OF RESPECT. 279

hope that you may be spared many years, and realize all
your hopes, I am, dear sir, with great respect,
Your friend and obedient servant,

Jos. E. SHEFFIELD.
PROFESSOR SILLIMAN.

Professor Silliman was also permitted to receive
from another munificent merchant an announcement
of his intention liberally to endow the sciences of
chemistry and geology in the undergraduate depart
ment of the College. He had the full assurance that
the work of his life would be carried forward here
after on an expanded scale.

Partly on account of the attention he was giving
to the manuscript works relating to himself and his
family, which were written primarily for the entertain
ment and benefit of his children, and at their request,
the records in Professor Silliman's Diary become
much less frequent. They mostly consist of notices
in connection with the decease of friends, and reflec
tions of a religious nature. Some extracts, however,
written druring the last five years of his life, are sub
joined.

August, 1859. The Scientific Association at Springfield.
— Being the oldest member of the Association present,
and having presided at the first meeting of the Geological
Association, April 5, 1841, my attendance on the present
occasion was complimented at its last meeting by the fol
lowing resolution, moved by Professor Bache : " Resolved,
that this Association express its gratification at the pres
ence of our octogenarian friend at our meetings, and we
^ hope that we may often meet him as he now is, with his
eye undimmed and his natural force unabated." Rev. Mr.
Buckingham, who was present, said that it was moved with

280 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

deep feeling, and that the audience of scientific men and
strangers received it with hearty approbation. I accept it
gratefully as a tribute to a veteran who is now functus
officiis, but, I believe, with no feeling of pride or self-exal
tation

August 8. My Eightieth Birthday. — And am

I indeed an octogenarian ! God be praised that, with
power unimpaired, and with a cheerful hope for another
life, I have been permitted to finish fourscore years ! I
cannot say that I have " only labor, pain, and sorrow, and
that I rather sigh and groan than live." On the contrary,
I have a cheering enjoyment of life, surrounded by a large
and happy family of thirty-seven persons, old and young,
upon no individual of whom, so far as I know, there rests
any moral stain. About half of them have acknowledged
their Saviour before their fellow-men, and we hope and
trust that the younger members and the little ones will, in
due time, become true members of Christ's visible church.
This is the greatest blessing which I can ask for them ;
and if piety is theirs, we may hope that all necessary bless
ings will follow, confidence and affection from others, and
enough of this world's goods to insure comfort and enable
them to fulfil their duties in life with a good • hope, and
more I care not for.

On the occasion of the death of Mr. Charles
Goodyear, the inventor, he writes as follows : —

Mr. Goodyear was often with me during his earlier
years, and I aided him by advice and encouragement,
believing, as I did, that he would eventually succeed, as he
was industrious, persevering, and ingenious. One day I
called on him at his humble cottage on Washington Hill,
— olim Sodom Hill, — and found him making some of^
his preparations over the stove, while some of his family
were sick. He told me afterwards that my visit encour-

TRIBUTES OF RESPECT. 281

aged him, and that, as I left the door, I told him to perse
vere, — that something important would yet come of his
researches, and that when he should be ready I would
make a noise about it, as I did in my lectures in Yale
College, and by my influence. In March, 1852, being en
gaged in a course of lectures in the city of Washington,
Mr. Goodyear arrived with his family, and, by permission,
I introduced him to my friend, Thomas Blagden, Esq., and
family/* In the course of conversation, Mr. Goodyear
addressed me thus : " If it had not been for you, sir, I
should long since have been in my grave ; all my relations
and friends discouraged me, and you alone sustained me
by your opinion and your influence."

He always and through life placed a high value upon my
support of him by a kind influence. While I was deliver
ing my lectures in Washington, I made a rapid, and even
perilous, journey to New York, to make oath before a
court to a certificate which I had given, twelve or fourteen
years before, of his discovery of the vulcanization of the
rubber

It will be interesting to my children to know that kind
and grateful feelings have been cherished towards their
father for many years by some of those who have been his
pupils. Dr. Alexander H. Stevens, — class of 1807, —
the celebrated surgeon of New York, in a recent accidental
meeting, — I believe it was at the Metropolitan in New
York, while we were waiting to see the Japanese, — re
verted with great warmth to his college life in Yale, and
earnestly assured me that it was owing solely to my kind
treatment of him, and influence over him, that he perse
vered in obtaining his education in Yale ; that my treat
ment of him was soothing and encouraging ; and, as he
said, in language too strong and too commendatory for me
to repeat, this was to him the only bright spot in his college

life.

* Mrs. Blagden was my niece.

282 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Dr. J. P. Kirkland, of Ohio, wrote to his niece,
residing in New Haven, under date of January 1,
1860 : i-4

" It hardly seems possible that Professor Silliman can be
active. In the year 1806, soon after his return from his
first visit to Europe, I listened with great interest to the
details of his tour, while he was relating them to Augustus
and Chauncey Cook in Wallingford, where he was visiting
his mother. I was a mere boy, but looked upon him as
quite a mature man. His first journal of travels I read
and re-read soon after its publication. To him I feel that a
heavy debt of gratitude is due from me. In the autumn of
1813, I commenced attending his chemical and mineral-
ogical lectures in New Haven, and they awakened a taste
for scientific investigations which have afforded the larger
share of my enjoyments and pleasure through life. Be
sides, he extended to me, on several occasions, some little
favors, principally through the medium of Lyman Foot,
who then was a lad in the employment of Professor Silli
man. These favors to me were trivial, to be sure ; but he
had a way of doing acts with an unaffected kindness which
few possess. From childhood I had heard the College, its
Faculty, and especially its President, spoken of with dis
respect. The epithet of Pope was ever attached to the
name of Dr. Dwight. I viewed him and his associates as
imperious tyrants. Personal knowledge of Professor Silli
man induced me to make him an exception. Prejudice
thus imbibed had led me to pursue my studies at the Epis
copal Academy at Cheshire rather than in Yale. When
about to attend medical lectures, I prepared to resort to
either New York or Philadelphia. A kind message, sent
from Professor Silliman, caused me to visit New Haven
and to enter the Yale Medical College. Either by design
or accident, I was thrown in the way of President Dwight,
and made his acquaintance. After a brief period, I formed

THE CIVIL WAR. 283

the opinion that he was one of the greatest and purest of
men, and that Professor Silliman was one of the most fin
ished and kindest of gentlemen. Near half a century of
experience and observation have in nowise changed that
opinion.

When the civil war broke out, Professor Silli-
man's whole heart was enlisted in the cause of the
country. He watched the progress of the conflict
with intense interest, and was generally hopeful as
to the result. To the administration of Mr. Lincoln,
for whom he had voted, he rendered his entire confi
dence and unwavering support. That the war might
somehow work out the extinction of slavery, he, in
common with other good men, earnestly prayed. At
the conduct of England, a country towards which he
had always cherished a filial attachment, he felt deeply
aggrieved. The precipitate recognition of the Con
federates as a belligerent power, followed by the
culpable remissness of the British government in
permitting vessels to sail out from English ports to
prey on our commerce, together with the flippant
declaration of Palmerston in the Commons, that
England would not modify her municipal laws to
prevent this international injustice, and the unfriendly,
contemptuous tone of most of the leaders of public
opinion in that country, who seemed to be resolved
not to know, or, at any rate, not to publish the
truth, were felt to be in the highest degree offensive.
Professor Silliman lost for England a large portion
of that peculiar respect which he, like most culti
vated Americans, especially New Englanders of the
Federalist school, had always felt for " the mother
country." And this change of feeling took place not
without pain.

284 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

November 29, 1860. Thanksgiving Day. Southern Revolt.
— The aspect of the times is very serious, and calls not
only for the wisdom of statesmen and patriots, but for the
prayers of Christians, to avert a revolt which may end in
civil war. At present several of the Slave States appear
to be much incensed, and it is no longer safe for a Northern
man to travel, even on the most innocent business, in most
of the Slave States. Personal insults, and abuse most
gross and cruel, even to hanging, are inflicted on mere
imputation of abolition opinions, without overt acts or
speech. Travelling in the South for a Northern man is
now more dangerous than among the Arabs of the desert,
who can be bought off by small presents. John C. Cal-
houn, once Vice-President, and disappointed of the Presi
dency, first originated the scheme of a distinct sovereignty
of the Slave States, to cover islands and countries adjoin
ing, to be bought or conquered. The very alarming state
of things cast a shadow over our enjoyment of this day.
Mrs. Silliman was engaged at home in domestic duties. I
attended in Dr. Bacon's church, where he preached an
excellent sermon upon the present crisis. It was solemn,
judicious, and discreet.

In his letters to friends, the war and its probable
issues, especially in respect to slavery, were promi
nent topics. Among his correspondents was Miss
Eliza Quincy, daughter of Hon. Josiah Quincy, a
lady for whose virtues and accomplishments he en
tertained a great respect. The first of the letters
which immediately follow, however, relates not to
the war, but contains interesting reminiscences
pertaining to the visit of Lafayette to Boston in
1825.

LETTERS TO MISS QUIKCY. 285

TO MISS QTJINCY.

NEW HAVEN, August 23, 1861.

/ i . . . . You are right in the impression that the biog
raphy of your mother, besides its intrinsic merits, has a
peculiar attraction for me, as bringing into view many emi
nent persons whom I have known personally, and many
more whose fame, and the events with which it was con
nected, were familiar to me as they passed. When, in 1824,
Lafayette was approaching this town from New York, I
drove out upon the hills west and south, with my two older
daughters of the ages of fourteen and twelve, and my only
son of eight years. Lafayette was in an open barouche
carriage with his son ; and we, being in a similar vehicle,
which was drawn up by the side of the road, — we all rose
erect, and were uncovered as the friend of Washington
approached, and made our obeisance, which was promptly
returned. Calling with the crowd of citizens at the recep
tion in the hotel, with Mr. Wadsworth, who had lived in
Lafayette's family in Paris, he was instantly recognized and
warmly embraced. My little boy — grandson of his early
friend and associate in arms, the second Governor Trum-
bull — he kissed affectionately ; and he yielded to my in
vitation to retire as soon as possible to my house, where he
would find Mrs. Trumbull, widow of his friend Governor
Trumbull. He went accordingly with his son and Secre
tary and the Mayor of our city. He was refreshed by the
retirement ; and the two hours which he passed in my fam
ily have ever remained a memorable epoch.

At the ensuing Commencement of Yale, I was sent with
another gentleman to New York, to invite Lafayette to
honor the occasion by his presence. Our arrival by the
steamer was early in the morning, — too early for an audi
ence ; but, to secure it at a proper hour, I sent up a card
to the bedchamber, announcing our errand, and our readi
ness to wait his convenience. He sent for us at once to

286 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the dressing-room connected with his bedchamber, and
there we found him in gown and slippers, — the silk cap
still on his head. He received us with graceful kindness ;
but previous engagements had filled the allotted time.
Again, when President Quincy kindly piloted our Connect
icut party to their seats in the vast amphitheatre of human
beings who were waiting the words of the great orator on
Bunker Hill, I was jostled by the crowd, and found myself
among the seventy or more veteran survivors of the battle
of June 17, 1775. As no one questioned my right to be
there, I was not displeased to find myself in such company.
As I listened to Mr. Webster's glowing oration, I searched
with my eyes for Lafayette, supposing that he would be of
course among the magnates on the stage with the orator ;
but I searched in vain. At last, when Mr. Webster alluded
personally to Lafayette, up he rose from among his humble
fellow-soldiers of the battle, — where, with his usual happy
tact, he had placed himself, rather than among privileged
orders on the stage.

Mrs. Lloyd had yielded her splendid drawing-rooms for
the military reception of General Lafayette's old comrades
in war. I was present, and was surprised at the readiness
with which he recognized the men of the Revolution. One
of them assisted in bearing him off from the battle-field of
Brandy wine, when wounded in the leg. I believe I must
give you the credit of summoning up in my mind vivid
recollections of that memorable June 17, 1825, to which
you have so beautifully alluded. Those interviews recur to
my memory like pleasant visions.

That splendid reception in the united houses of Mr.
Webster and Colonel Thorndike (a door, cut for the occa
sion in the partition-wall, made them one), was the most
imposing scene of the kind which I ever witnessed. How
grand and how joyous it was ! Lafayette, the observed of
all observers, was the monarch of the night, and no mon
arch ever held a grander levee: it was morally grand,
with moderate physical excitement.

LETTERS TO MISS QUINCY. *287

The lady who did me the honor to lean on my arm that
evening will remember that the popping of the corks of
champagne-bottles was no unlike counterpart of the pop
ping of the guns in the battle on the hill ; but with this
important difference, that the reports were harmless. That
evening has ever remained with me a bright subject of
recollection, and it never recurs without recalling, in agree
able associations, the lady who made the occasion so pleas
ant to me.

You perceive that I am in sympathy with you in recall
ing past events, and persons who have passed away, and
their features, their sayings, and doings. Those able and
excellent men of the Connecticut delegation, to whom you
refer, are distinctly in my recollection ; but I will not trust
myself further in this line, lest I should weary you.. Your
notice of Colonel Tallmadge, and his protection of your
self, is very interesting, and deserves to be preserved
among the incidents of his life. T regret never to have seen
the biographical memoir by his son, and I must endeavor
to obtain it from him. He was a gallant soldier, an elo
quent speaker, and an accomplished gentleman. I hope
that your nephew will escape without injury in the conflicts
that must be expected in this very wicked and causeless
war. Several of our personal, and some of our family,
friends have been engaged in the service, and those that
were in the late disastrous battle have returned without
personal injury

TO MISS QUINCY.

NEW HAVEN, March 21, 1862.

I AGREE with you entirely in the wisdom of

President Lincoln's emancipation message, — grand and
wise views, present and prospective ; and his communica
tion, abounding with good sense, is proved to be his own,
without revision by any one, — as, in the midst of excellent
sense, there is an absence of scholarly finish ; it is strong,
but rough-hewn and knotty.

288 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

I am very much obliged to you for the intensely inter
esting narrative of the plot of the assassins, and of the
manner in which it was providentially defeated.1* How
desperately wicked has been this rebellion from its first
hour to the present. It has been exceeded in wicked
ness by only one conspiracy, and that was the first in the
order of time : its leader was an able captain, but he was
beaten and thrown over the battlements of heaven. I
trust it is not unchristian to wish the leader of the present
rebellion may meet with a similar fate.

You allude to the efforts in behalf of the liberated
slaves, and among the results of this struggle we may re
gard the spirit of benevolence which it has excited as an
important benefit, and perhaps in no direction more im
portant than on behalf of the immense host which must be
protected, relieved, and directed by great efforts, both of
government and individuals

TO MISS QUINCT.

NEW HAVEN, December 5, 1862.

YOUR remark respecting our transient friend
ships is most painfully true, as my long life has enabled me
fully to realize ; but there is a friendship which time can
not destroy, and which will revive and flourish in a better
world. I hardly know whether to congratulate your nephew
and his friends on his promotion to higher duties in this
dreadful struggle. We cannot doubt that he will honor
the eminent ancestor whose commission, revealed after the
repose of a century, must appear to him almost as if he
were hailed from another world, and told to go forward
and to do his duty well, as no doubt he will. My best
wishes attend him

* The plot to assassinate Mr. Lincoln on his way to Washington, just
before his first inauguration. — F.

LETTERS TO MISS QUINCY. 289

TO MISS QTJINCY.

NEW HAVEN, April 8, 1863.

IT is grateful to our feelings to view New Eng
land, as regards its state governments, as a unit, ready
and willing to cooperate with our loyal sisters in putting
down the Rebellion. Still we are waging an anxious war,
terribly destructive of life, and fruitful of horrid mutila
tions of the human form divine, caused by the ingenious
inventions in means of destruction, so that the old-fashioned
war by bullets and field artillery seems comparatively a
civil game.

I trust your father's mind is cheered by hope, as my own
is ; and if I am disposed sometimes to despond, I endeavor
to realize that the rebels hold not one foot of free terri
tory ; that we hold several of the former Slave-States,
and parts of several more ; that nearly all the fortresses
stolen from us by the rebels are recovered ; that we hold
their principal southern city, and are menacing the rest;
that our nation is girding herself for the first time in this
war, as a nation ; and that' our revenue surpasses expecta
tion, and is cheerfully paid. In the view of all these things,
hope prevails, — although the war may be protracted, and
we have the difficult problem to settle as to the eventual
disposition of the colored people, — but God, who appears
to have permitted this war for the sake of destroying slav
ery will, I trust, provide means for the full accomplishment
of his own designs, although human foresight may not see

the end I am glad if there is an improved feeling

in England towards this country. I believe it has risen
little above the level of the middle classes. It is but too
evident that both England and France are hopefully look
ing to this crisis as the struggle that is to destroy our na
tional unity.* France insults us in no ambiguous language,
when she makes her wicked invasion of Mexico, on pre
tence of resisting the progress of the Anglo-Saxon race.

VOL. II. 19

m

290 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

Should she, contrary, I believe, to the national sentiment
at home, obtain a firm establishment in Mexico, it would
not be long before she would revive her old claim to Texas
and Louisiana, and if she should sustain the Southern Con
federacy, the two powers may then agree on the division
of the old Gallic Territory in the Southwest.

England favors the enormous piracy on our commerce
by permitting any number of piratical ships to be built in
Britain, and to be equipped for piracy, and to sail without
hindrance, while her merchants are permitted to send out
to Charleston and other ports of the Confederacy an im
mense amount of warlike stores and clothing, medicines,
arms, great and small, and every appliance of actual war.
Several of these ships, it is true, have been captured by
our blockading squadrons ; but so many of them succeed
in running the blockade, that the rebels are bountifully
supplied with all they need, except provisions. In the
mean time our ships, in great number, and in the aggre
gate of immense value, are robbed and burned on the seas,
in distant as well as proximate regions. We are now
submitting to travel, to transport our property, in English
bottoms, and thus, in both ways, our commerce is crippled.
The English government look on with pleasure, and antici
pate the time, they imagine not remote, when the United
States will be divided into an empire on the Gulf, another
on the Pacific, and perhaps a fourth in the Northwest. The
influence of the dying counsels of Prince Albert, and that
of his good Queen, have hitherto operated as a restraining
power, now supported by the outspoken honest sentiments
of the masses in England, which, when fully expressed, no
English ministry would ever dare to disregard. There is
also great meanness in taking advantage of this atrocious
Rebellion, to insult and cripple us when we have on our
hands a war which demands all our energy and resources.
But the time may come when these accounts will be settled
in Quebec.

LETTERS TO MISS QUINCY. 291

TO MISS QUINCY.

NEW HAVEN, July 8, 1864.

IN consideration of the reverence and admiration which
I have, during many years, cherished for your late beloved
and honored father, I doubt not, my dear Miss Quincy, that
you will pardon this early expression of my sincere sym
pathy in your great loss, and the deep regret which I feel
that our country can no longer reckon among the living
her most venerable and venerated patriot. Should we not,
however, be deeply grateful that a kind Providence gave
him to us and to his country, until he was well advanced
in the tenth decade of his century of years ? Nay, he is
not now dead, but has left behind him the living influence
of his long and noble life, and his name is enrolled with
that of Washington, and the band of patriots who acted with
him jn the cause of their country and mankind. To that
cause he was faithful to the death. I have just reperused
his noble response to the young men of the Union Club,
of February 27, 1863, the last production of his pen which
I have seen. I trust that his faith and hope sustained him
in his transit to immortality

TO .MISS QUINCY.

NEW HAVEN, August 13, 1864.

I CANNOT sufficiently thank you, my good friend,

for the faithful record which you have given me of your
father's closing weeks and days and hours.

How tranquil and chastened was the scene of death, —
quiet, calm, and resigned, with only his devoted daughters
and faithful attendant, while we know that God and the
Saviour were nigh. You have given me a particular pleas
ure by the assurance that " there was no friend whom your
father ,more highly estimated and valued than myself, and
that for many years I have held that place in his affection,
heightened by a mutual sympathy regarding the great

292 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

struggle in our country." The great kindness received by
me and my family from your parents, early won my grati
tude and friendship, — and when I was called to act a pub
lic part in Boston, occupying no fewer than six seasons,
and in a position both conspicuous and responsible, I felt
strong in the support and countenance of President Quincy,
and it is a great satisfaction to me to know that I had a
place not only in his esteem but in his affection

How solicitous he was that the war might prove to
be the door to emancipation, is shown from the en
suing letters to Dr. Sprague.

TO REV. DR. W. B. SPRAGUE.

BANGOR, MAINE, August 5, 1861.
MY DEAR AND REVERED FRIEND, — .... In all that YOU

write concerning this most atrocious and wicked war, aud in
all your pious and wise sentiments looking to the great Gov
ernor of the worlfl, I fully concur. I also agree with you
perfectly in your estimate of the probable issue of this con
flict, as regards those on whose account it is waged. They
perfectly understand the matter, and no -doubt the sla\te
quarters on the plantations, and the kitchens of the houses
of cities, are the scenes of animated discussions and of inter
esting communications of the progress of events. Oh that
some State would inaugurate the experiment of making
their slaves hired laborers on their plantations, under due
regulations to prevent idleness and vice, — and might w<
not hope for success as in Barbadoes and even in Jamaica.
One successful result would induce other States to follow,
and the negro would become, in many instances, ambitious
to acquire property and character. But the entire subject
rests with God, who will, in due time, dispose of the great
nation of Africans, now by a million larger than our.entii
nation was when our Revolution began. He will dispost
of it in some way that we cannot now foresee. The Sout

LETTERS TO REV. DR. W. B. SPRAGUE. 293

is infatuated and deceived, and it is madness to contemplate
an indefinite augmentation of this black population. The
national sentiment seems now to be maturing to the con
clusion, that, as slavery is the cause of our troubles, it
must in some way be destroyed, — Heaven grant that it may
be done in a way consistent with justice, mercy, and right
eousness !

TO REV. DR. W. B. SPRAGUE.

NEW HAVEN, June 15, 1861.

I ALSO have been impressed with the large har
vesting, of late, of wise and good people, who have been,
perhaps, taken away from the evil to come. The death of
Judge White of Salem, inflicted a loss upon me as well as
yourself. I knew him first at Salem, where I delivered a
course of Geology in September, 1834, and it was my first
effort out of Connecticut. Judge White was an attentive
hearer, and a constant one. You, I presume, have seen his
large library of literature, rather than science, which, al
though it was appreciated by him, was not his first love.
After the course was finished, he remarked to me to this
effect : " When in your introductory, you said that Geology
was among the natural sciences, second only to astronomy
in grandeur and sublimity, I doubted, — but I must now
in the language of the courts say, you have made out your
case, and are entitled to a favorable verdict." From that
time on we were friends, and occasionally met in Boston,
Cambridge, and Salem, and once in my own house. He
was a lovely gentleman, — a fine scholar, and, I hope well
for him, although he differed from us. Does not the more
enlarged experience from progress in life tend to increase
our charity, and have you not found even your own liberal
and catholic mind enlarged by your peculiar labors of late
years, so as to embrace more of your fellow-men within the
circle of your charity ? Judge Shaw and Judge White were
hardly divided in death. Like yourself, my dear friend,

294 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

I am deep in the newspapers, and deeper still in thoughts
and anxieties for our country. Many of my night hours
have been passed in sleepless anxiety, from which even
prayer could not always relieve me. My solicitude was
most intense, while a doubt remained whether Washington
was safe, and it was not materially relieved until the great
uprising of the North and Northwest — a moral miracle —
proved that God had taken the matter in hand, and would,
in the end, vindicate the right, while slavery is committing

suicide

The entire movement is very wicked. A con
spiracy, avowed from the first to have for its object the
overthrow of the most beneficent human government that
the world has ever seen, — a government dispensing count
less blessings to the people and blessings only, — is wicked
beyond the power of language to express, and if the effort
were successful it would almost extinguish the hope of
mankind for free and equitable government

During the progress of the war, he corresponded
with a young lady of Nashville, Tennessee, who was
a remote connection of his family, but whom he had
never seen. One of her letters to a friend at the North
had been shown him, and the loyal spirit which
it breathed had strongly interested his mind. An
accident which befell this letter led to the opening of
his correspondence with her, a small portion of which
is given below.

TO MISS MAGGIE LINDSLEY.

NEW HAVEN, September, 1862.

As my own domestic circles include twenty-three

grandchildren, of whom fourteen are females, — of all ages
from childhood to womanhood, not to mention the matrons,
— you may readily imagine that I am ever under a benign
female influence, and that my affections may, therefore,

LETTERS TO MISS LINDSLEY. 295

remain full of sympathy, and that they are not chilled by
age. As you appeal from the photograph which you have
been so kind as to send me, and give me the pleasant assur
ance of a blooming face and a sunny radiance in the living
original, — so permit me to add that the grave features
which did not smile upon you when you opened the letter,
will glow with a warm welcome when you enter our door,
and that he who wears them will laugh with the children,
and play with them too, and respond in sympathy with all
that is bright and pleasant in the family. Excuse this im
plied self-commendation. I have, indeed, St. Paul for an
example, but I will not shelter myself under even that great
name. I will rather add that I wish to convert the grave
veteran professor of your imagination into a familiar friend,
with whom half an hour's conversation will make you feel
as if you had known him always. I will enclose, to the
care of your grandma, a photograph or two which you have
only to clothe with a smile, and you will instantly be at
home with the original

TO MISS LINDSLEY.

NEW HAVEN, March 2, 1863.

YOUR thoughts on the emancipation proclama
tion, and on the subject of slavery generally, do you much
honor. It is, I believe, a rare example that a person edu
cated in a Slave State, and accustomed to regard that species
of injustice as a necessary element of society, comes volun
tarily to regard it as a violation of natural right, and as in
consistent with our Saviour's golden rule of doing to others
as we would wish them to do to us. This is the more remark
able in a person so young as yourself, and in a young lady
too, trained in a family in which, no doubt, the yoke has been
made as easy and the burden as light as is consistent with
the enforcement of an unwilling service, — generally unwill
ing, because uncompensated ; although I am aware — hav
ing known many slave-holders, and having travelled in most

296 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

of the Slave States — that there are many instances of grate
ful attachment to a master or mistress on account of kind
and generous treatment. Still we must regard slavery as a
system of oppressive coercion, violating the natural right to
one's own person and faculties, and the results of the labor,
effort, and ingenuity of the individual, — and moreover his
right to all that belongs to the family relation of wife and
children. Although my father — a lawyer, a deacon in
the church, a magistrate, and an officer in active military
service through the American Revolution — was an owner
of slaves, and although I was brought up among them, I do
not remember the time when slavery was not detestable
even to my juvenile mind, and I have been expecting the
judgment of God upon us for this national sin : and as
nations do not exist in the other world, they are punished
in this world. We are suffering that punishment now, —
the North measurably as having participated in the slave-
trade, and having participated also in the profits of invol
untary labor ; the South is being punished without measure,
as having cherished the institution, — as they chose to call
it, — and as having waged, and as still waging, a wicked
and bloody war, undertaken for the perpetuation of slavery,
and for its extension without limit of time or space.

The war was inaugurated, also, to gratify the ambition
of a few leaders who would not submit to the constitutional
result of a lawful election. Slavery is, therefore, the sup
port and cause of this most sanguinary rebellion, and God
is punishing the nation while he is working its deliverance
from the sin, shame, and danger of holding in bondage
4,000,000 of human beings, born generally on our soil, and
entitled to all the rights and privileges of humanity. God
has permitted this rebellion in order to destroy slavery, and
we can see why He has not granted uniform success to the
Federal arms, and has sometimes even overshadowed us with
dark clouds, and those gathering again and again, but with
cheering sunshine between. Nothing less than this suffer-

LETTERS TO MISS LINDSLEY. 297

ing and alarm would have brought the government and the
friends of freedom to realize that palliatives would never
effect a cure, and that the malignant cancer must be extir
pated. If we had been uniformly successful, and that early,
there might have been a truce, but there would have been
no permanent peace, and no security

TO MISS LINDSLEY.

NEW HAVEN, July 13, 1864.

WE of our family circle have been not a little

interested in your account of the fidelity and devotion of
your domestic servants. This tells well as to your treat
ment of them, and it shows that they are not without good
sense to perceive that they have a happy home. When
those who wish to retain colored servants will treat them
with justice and kindness, — paying them reasonable com
pensation, — forbidding the lash, the branding iron, and the
bull-dog chase, they may hope for good and attached ser
vants. To all this there will doubtless be exceptions. We
understand from good and trustworthy authority, (I have my
information from personal friends personally conversant
with the facts,) that the negro laborers on the newly organ
ized plantations on the lower Mississippi, being treated as
I have described, are entirely faithful and obedient, and
among the most industrious and faithful of laborers

TO MISS LINDSLEY.

NEW HAVEN, September 29, 1864.

I CONGRATULATE you upon the splendid success

of General Sherman, justly regarded as of the highest im
portance to the Union cause. We trust he will hold
Atlanta and sustain his communications with you ; and as
Sheridan and Farragut have nearly finished their local war
fare, we trust that Grant will be permitted to bring up that
triumphant finale, which with God's blessing shall save our
cause, — which is the cause of God and of mankind

298 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

The certainty that his remaining time must be
short, was not absent from his thoughts ; yet it
brought no gloom.

January 1st. The New Year 1861, ^.82 I

am now nearer by one year to the eternal world, and it
may be written of me, " this year shalt thou die ; " and I
am admonished by the removal of my youthful grand
daughter * that I must soon follow. If I could not rely upon
the great salvation wrought out by our Saviour, I should

be dismayed at the approach of death I hope I am

not deceived, and that I may be accepted by my Maker,
although I may appear among the most humble of the
redeemed i

Judge Williams.^ He was two years in advance

of my brother and me in Yale College, he being a Junior
while we were Freshmen, — he having entered the College
in 1790 and we in 1792. We were, in 1792-3, fellow-
boarders at Dr. Joseph Darling's, in the Greenough House,
that stood in front of what is now Divinity College. In
our walk to College one morning, Mr. Williams mentioned
that the French had guillotined their King, Louis XVI.
As his death took place on the 25th of January, 1793, the
mention of it was probably in February. I was then in my
fourteenth year, nearly sixty-eight years ago, and the recol
lection of it is still fresh in my memory. From that period
our acquaintance was continued, and as Mr. Thomas S.
Williams had a brother, Samuel Porter Williams, in my
class, we were drawn nearer together by this circumstance.
In February 1798, I resorted to Wethersfield, being in
my nineteenth year, and during nine months I instructed
the subscription school. For a few weeks I was a mem
ber of the family of Sheriff Williams, father of Thomas S.

* Miss Maria T. Church, who died December 23, 1860. — F.
t He died December 15, 1861. — F.

COMMENCEMENT OF 1862. 299

I had occasional meetings with him in successive years ;
and after my marriage, that connection brought me into
familiar intercourse with that portion of Hartford society
with which Mr. Williams was intimate.

This season — the winter of 1861-2 — has been distin
guished by the removal of many eminent and excellent
persons. Among them no one has struck me with more
surprise than President Felton. He was a very interest
ing man, and it is a subject of regret with me that an
Address, when he was inaugurated, has lain on my table
unread and not acknowledged. I intended to do both,
but the opportune moment seemed never to arrive. Being
at Cambridge with Mrs. Silliman in August last, we called
at President Felton's door, and I left my card, he not
being at home. I think I should have then thanked him
for his Address, but it is now too late. Harvard now
numbers four ex-presidents living and in health, — President
Quincy, Dr. Walker, Mr. Sparks, and Mr. Everett, and I
can remember President Willard, President Webber, and
President Kirkland. Yale and Harvard are both in
mourning, — we for Prof. Lamed. President Day, Rev.
Dr. Fitch, and myself are all that remain of the old Fac
ulty of Yale.

July 30 and 31, 1862. Commencement Season. The meet
ing of the Alumni was held as usual My own class

is now reduced to five persons, — John Harvey Tucker
of Bermuda, Levi Rollins of Wethersfield, Timothy Bishop

of New Haven, and the two Silliman brothers

Prof. Thacher gave interesting reminiscences of the late
Mr. Edward C. Herrick, and Prof. Porter of the late Prof.
Larned. Judge Ellsworth brought forward, and by a pow
erful speech supported, a strong resolution regarding the

war Seventy Commencements have been held

since I entered the Institution with my brother in 1792,

300 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

and I believe I have been present at about sixty. Per
haps this may be my last, — that rests with my Maker,
and I hope to be satisfied with the decision. It cannot be
long before my class will become extinct, and we shall pass
into the vast group of the stelligeri. Oh that we may be
among those that shine as the stars in the blessed world !

August 11, 1862, being the first Sabbath in my eighty-
fourth year, I acknowledge with deep and joyful gratitude
the prolongation of my life to this advanced period. I
have survived many dear friends, — both my parents, my
brothers of the half-blood, four of my children, and
their blessed mother of precious memory, both her
parents, her surviving sister, Mrs. Wadsworth, and her
husband Daniel Wadsworth, and very many other highly

valued friends In the first century of Yale

College there are only twenty survivors, and five of them
of the class of 1796, — my own class. It will not require
another decade of years to remove every individual of the
twenty survivors. They must all be octogenarians or more,
and some of them nonogenarians, and one is about one
hundred,— he will be of that age September 9, 1862. It
would probably be a large allowance to give the twenty
an average of five years ; that addition to my own years
would carry me to eighty - eight, and my brother to his
ninetieth year. I endeavor to realize it as a settled con
viction that my remaining time must be short, and may
be very short. My reliance is placed entirely upon my
blessed Saviour, and being without any claim to personal
merit in the view of my Judge, I commit my soul to the
lifeboat of Christ, and hope to reach the heavenly shore.

In company with Rev. George Jones he went to
look at the iron-clad vessels which were in process
of construction in New York.

THE NEW-YEAR OF 1863. 301

November, 1862. If all our iron-clads that are now in
progress should be successfully finished, we need not fear
even the power of hostile England as manifested in the
allowed construction of ships within her ports, destined to
prey upon our commerce on the high seas. Sea-going
iron-clads may, by -and -by, supplant the wooden walls.
Forts also, of brick or stone, or even of wood, may be iron
clad, and magazines and barracks may be protected in
the same manner. It seems probable, therefore, that on
the whole, humanity may gain by this strange invention.
This will not, however, prevent bloody battles on land be
tween armies that enjoy locomotion. It is true that before
the invention of gunpowder, men went to battle covered
by iron armor, and the horses even were protected more
or less in the same manner, which in this age would
afford no protection against rifled cannon and against the
explosion of shells. May God of his infinite mercy grant
that the time may be hastened when wars shall cease, and
when the mild influence of the gospel of peace shall teach
mankind to love each other as brethren !

1863. — The New Tear, January 1 I am now

in the front rank of aged people among us and among my
connections. President Day entered his ninetieth year
August 3, 1861. My brother, G. S. Silliman, finished his
eighty-fifth, October 26. Timothy Bishop, my classmate,
was eighty-five October 22. Mrs. Gold Silliman was
eighty-four October 3, 1862. I was eighty-three August 8,
1862. My classmate, John Harvey Tucker, of Bermuda,
if living, must be eighty-six : he was seventy in August,
1846, when here. Levi Rollins, a classmate, was seventy-
one in August, 1846, and must now be eighty-seven, — I
have not heard of his death : his residence is in Wethers-
field. My early friend, Betsey Whittlesey, was eighty-
eight in October, 1862. Although I am the youngest
among the aged living friends named above, I am fully in

302 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the front rank, and my removal at any time will not be
extraordinary, but may be expected soon in the regular
course of mortality. I await the event with calmness, not
from any confidence in my own merits, but I confide en
tirely in the mercy of God, manifested through his Son,
whose atonement covers even the vilest sinners if they
repent and submit themselves.

August 8." Birthday, Aged Eighty -Four. Prayer of
Thanksgiving, Penitence, Faith, and Hope. — O Thou great
and glorious God, revealed to us in three persons, —
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ! Although we cannot com
prehend the unity of God manifested in three persons, we
see that there are manifestations of Creator, Redeemer,
and Sanctifier, in the creation of the universe, in the mer
ciful provision for the redemption and salvation of man
kind, and their sanctification by the Holy Spirit as the
means of preparing them for salvation. O heavenly Fath
er, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier ! I humbly accept
the fact as I accept the revelations of science, which are
equally inscrutable to me as regards their nature and
cause, although the effects are manifest. I am aware,
blessed God, that my mind is dark and ignorant by
nature ; still, enough is brought to light in nature and
revelation to justify our faith in what we cannot now un
derstand ; and what we know not now, we may know here
after. My life has been prolonged to fourscore years and
four. I trust, heavenly Father, that I am deeply grateful
for this long life full of mercies, although very imperfectly
requited to Thee by the obedience due from a humble being
to my great benefactor. To recite my mercies would be to

recount the story of my life While recounting my

mercies, I wou!4 not forget my sins and follies. When I
compare my heart and life, O Thou infinite triune God !
with the purity and strictness of thy holy law, — with thy
law which is all reasonable and right, — I feel how unreli-

HIS BIRTHDAY. 303

able must be my hopes of salvation upon the ground of
personal merit. Merit! Although we may feel that we
have been just and kind to our fellow-men, we can have
none that can justify us in the sight of God, — of a being
of sinless, perfection, of boundless power, of strict jus
tice, but, happily for poor sinful human beings, of mercy
also, overshadowing all his other perfections. We need
not approach Thee simply with fear and trembling, but
with deep humility, and humble confidence that Thou art
both able arid willing to save those who come to Thee
with sincere penitence and sorrow for sin, and trusting in
thine infinite mercy. The bruised reed Thou wilt not
break, and the smoking flax Thou wilt not quench. Thou
hast justified our hopes of salvation if we come unto Thee,
trusting in the divine Saviour. In God's inscrutable
providence, a virgin, forewarned by the visit of the angel
sent down by Thee, — espoused, indeed, but not yet given
to any man, — a virgin did conceive by the power of the
Holy Ghost, and a child was born, not only sinless in na
tivity, but destined to remain sinless through his wonderful
life, — the only sinless life that has ever been seen in our
world ; — and this immortal being, born of woman, be
came our elder brother, subject to all our innocent in
firmities, and innocent still under every temptation. Thou
didst permit him to represent, while on earth, thine own
infinite purity and power. Although he had not where to
lay his head, while he went about doing good, blindness,
deafness, lameness, paralysis, and death itself obeyed his
voice ; the blind eyes saw ; the deaf ears heard ; the palsied
limb became active again ; and the dead were raised to
life. This, 0 heavenly Father, is the divine Saviour in
whom we trust. His death on the cross assures our hopes
of salvation. Still this death on the cross, — this death of
bodily agony, and still more of mental agony, — this igno
minious death, — death on the cross between two thieves,
— death, not by a moment of transient agony, as in the

504 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

executions of our time, but by long hours of cruelty and
protracted sufferings, — this death is to us a great mystery.
It is hardly permitted to us to inquire whether the noblest
visitant of our earth, clothed indeed in human form, but
without sin ; who went about doing good ; who. spake as
never man spake ; who commanded the elements, and
knew what was in man ; — whether his life, his teachings,
his works of mercy, and his miraculous ascent to heaven,
leaving his commission to his disciples of every age to
preach the Gospel to every creature, — whether all this
would have been sufficient to prove his heavenly mission
and secure its end without subjecting the Son of God to
the ignominy and heartless cruelty of a heathen, a Roman
execution. Here, again, we must u wait the greater teacher,
death, and God adore." Even the Saviour cried : " If it
be possible, let this cup pass from me ! " but his heart re
plied : " Not my will but thine be done." He left to his
friends the consolation of the Eucharist.

" 'T was on that dark and doleful night — "

The whole hymn is copied in the Diary.

He participated with warm interest in a success
ful effort to procure a monument to be placed in the
Cemetery at North Stonington, in honor of his
grandfather, Rev. Joseph Fish. He took part in the
ceremonies relating to this venerated ancestor, when
his descendants were gathered together, and a com
memorative discourse was preached by Mr. Hubbell,
the present pastor of the church in that place. This
occasion excited many interesting recollections.

Several persons who had carriages took our party by
appointment to the site of the ancient black meeting-house,
of which not a vestige remains. We next visited the cem
etery, and saw the new monument, which gave us entire

COMMEMO RATION AT STONINGTON. 305

satisfaction ; and it is the most conspicuous object there.
The original plain stone that was erected in memory of my
grandfather is still preserved, and, after being cleaned, the
inscription is quite legible. At the foot of this grave are
two small graves, one of an infant son of my grandparents,
and the other of a young daughter of my mother, who
died while she was on a visit at Stonington. Mr. Hubbell
uttered over the grave of Mr. Fish a very solemn prayer.
We had little time for the reflections due*to the place. I
recall to mind the funeral scene of May, 1781, when my
father and mother, the Noyes' sons, and the two little boys,
with sympathizing friends, were assembled around this
grave, eighty - two years ago (to May, 1863). In the
meeting of yesterday, myself, a grandson eighty-four years
old, spoke of the memory of grandparents, who had de
parted more than eighty years ago. We made a rapid
transition to the site of the house of the reverend ancestor.
A new house had been built nearly on the site of the former
building. Nothing remains except some timbers and other
parts of the old building, that are wrought into the ngw.
The well remains, and we drank of its excellent water.
A few old apple-trees, belonging to a former orchard that
produced very good fruit, are still extant. The site was
pleasant, and Long Island Sound can be seen from the
ground. This place was the seat of many interesting events
in the by-gone years, and here my grandfather wrote his ex
cellent letters and sermons, and fervent prayers ascended
daily to heaven. My son has written a fuller account, in
some respects, of our Stonington experience. Nothing was
wanting but more time to think, converse, and observe.
We left the place with the most agreeable impressions, and
with grateful, pensive thoughts of the past.

The present of a photographic likeness of himself,
drew a touching response from his now venerable
pupil and friend.

VOL. ii. 20

306 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

FROM DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

AMHERST, May 7, 1863.

• DEAR SIR, — When I opened your letter, my eyes fell
first upon the photograph, and it is so very perfect, and
gives the expression of your face so exactly like what it
was when more than forty years ago I first heard you lec
ture, and a hundred times afterwards, that a crowd of
reminiscences came over me, and I had quite a crying spett
before reading the letter. This shows the weakness of my
nerves ; but it also shows how powerful was the influence
of your eloquence and your kindness upon me in those
early days, when I was bashful and uncultivated, poor and
without scientific friends. Certain it is that your instruc
tion and encouragement and example have had more influ
ence upon me to make me what I have been, than those of
any other man, and, if I have not been grateful, God for
give me !

We have both, as you say, had interesting fields of
labor ; yours much the widest and most important ; mine
was humbler and rough, but still opening opportunities for
doing good. I thank God for it, and only lament that it
has been so poorly cultivated. How cheering it is to know
that we have the righteousness of another to depend upon
when we come into judgment

The following letter from the same source is dated
a few months later.

FROM DR. EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

AMHERST, August 26, 1863.

I STILL linger on the shores of time, balancing,

as it were, between life and death, and suffering intensely.
Still God mingles many mercies in the bitter cup, and
allows me to accomplish several things which I had never
hoped to do. I have been able, for instance, to correct all

LETTERS FROM FRIENDS. 307

the proof-sheets of a work of four hundred pages, which I
wrote a year or two ago, entitled " Reminiscences of Am-
herst College," but which I expected to leave unpublished.
The work is a good deal biographical and autobiographical,
but is intended mainly to give a history of Amherst Col
lege up to the present time. I have given a geological
map of the region around the College, and three views of
the College at different periods. I was greatly indebted to
you for your last kind letter of sympathy and condolence,
and intended to answer it, but my strength would not
allow. Many debts of this kind must remain unpaid till I
enter, if I ever do, the house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. God grant that in such spiritual bodies,
without sin, we may hold everlasting communion.
Sincerely and affectionately yours,

EDWARD HITCHCOCK.

Among the many marks of reverence and grati
tude which be was daily receiving, the following from
a pupil who has acquired a world-wide distinction,
deserves to be placed on record.

FROM S. F. B. MORSE, ESQ

NEW YORK, February 15, 1864.

MY DEAR SIR, — A letter was handed me this morning,
directed in the well-known hand of my respected and ven
erated instructor, to whom the American world, at least, is
so deeply indebted for the first and most efficient impulse
given to science in our country.

I thank you sincerely for the photograph which was
within the envelope, and which shows you yet erect and
fresh, with more of youth marked in your figure and face
than in the enclosed reciprocated photograph, of the boy
whom I cannot but think you remember as somewhat way
ward and unpromising when your pupil in years long gone
by. Yet you see some indications on his breast of foreign

308 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

appreciation of benefit conferred on the nations, indicated
in the mode by which these nations testify their favorable
regard. If the gratification such tokens naturally give to
the recipient, pertains in a large degree to me, yet I cannot
but think that the sower of the seed will himself be gratified
at the evidence that the seed which was sown did not per
ish in the ground. May you yet have many years of health
and enjoyment, the glory of your family, and the pride of
your State and country.

With sincere respect and esteem,

Your friend and old pupil,

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE.

The reception of two of his grandchildren into the
church, gave him much joy.

November 1, 1863. — Admission to the Communion of the
Yale College Church, of Benjamin Silliman, 3d, and his

sister E (he fourteen and she in her thirteenth year).

On this day I had the great satisfaction of sitting down at
the Holy Communion with the loved grandchildren named
above. They are believed on satisfactory grounds to be
spiritually qualified for this interesting step. They are of
exemplary lives and conduct, and we trust that their hearts
are right with God ; and this being the fact, nothing could
be more gratifying to myself and my family. *

Soon after he records the

Sickness of .E . — But our hopes about dear E

are fluttering in the wind. She had been drooping for
nearly a week before November 1st, and having some fever
upon her, Dr. Hubbard, her physician, thought it imprudent
for her to attend at the chapel on the day when she was
admitted to the church ; but her heart was much engaged
in the object, and her father took a close carriage, and she

RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS. 309

and her brother were admitted. She returned home to
occupy a sick-bed, and has remained ever since critically
sick with typhoid fever, and the precious life (November
18, Wednesday) still hangs in doubt.

Later, he writes : —

Dear E — • — has been spared, and is now hopefully recov
ering.

Sabbath Morning, July 3, 1864. Communion Day. — It is
a relief to turn from the recital of battles and daily blood
shed, now occurring in Georgia and Virginia, to the peace-
offering of our blessed Saviour, even his own precious blood
shed on the cross for our redemption from the pollution
and curse of sin. This day, in regular course, we of the
College are again to be favored by partaking of the bread
and wine, representing the broken body and blood of our
divine Redeemer. The longer I live the more highly do I
appreciate this great provision made for our redemption.
One o'clock. — We have just returned from the ordinance.
I had the great satisfaction of sitting in the midst of ten
members of my family, with, I trust, well-founded confi
dence that they are members of Christ's family ; and I have
a hope that I am not excluded. I felt, I trust, a sincere
sympathy with all the youthful circle around. It was to me
an interesting occasion.

The following hymn was sung : —

" Not all the blood of beasts

On Jewish altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away the stain," &c.

In the annexed paragraph, he refers to the remarks
made on the preceding anniversary of his birth.

August 8. Birthday. Eighty-five Years. — ... There was
a solemn impression resting on my mind when I wrote those
remarks, and on the reperusal of them and of the accom-

310 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

panying prayer, I do not perceive anything to alter. With
those sentiments and prayers, I must probably pass into
eternity, and it is not improbable it may be in this current

year I can only repeat that my sole dependence for

salvation rests upon the blessed Redeemer, who appears to
me more and more precious as I daily approach the period
when I shall receive my discharge from this life, to enter
on the endless future.

To the mention of the death of Dr. Knight, a
pupil and younger colleague, though himself a ven
erable man, he adds : —

On the founding of the Medical Institution of Yale Col
lege, the late Dr. Eli Ives, (obiit October, 1861,) and Dr.
Knight, (obiit August 25, 1864,) were agreed upon between
President Dwight and myself, as Professors, and Dr. Nathan
Smith, was added. I was already appointed ten years be
fore. We four were the first Professors of the Medical
School, and the aged and venerable Dr. Eneas Munson
was added as a mark of respect ; but, as was expected, he
never took any active part in the instruction. I am now,
therefore, (September 4, 1864,) the sole survivor of the
Board of Medical Professors. In addition to those named
above, death has removed those named below, — Dr.
Thomas Hubbard, Dr. Wm. Tully, Dr. Nathan Smith, Dr.
Timothy P. Beers, Dr. Charles Hooker.

CHAPTER XXVII.

HIS DEATH*: HIS CHARACTER AND SERVICES.

His Last Days. — Circumstances of his Death. — His Funeral. — The Char
acter of his Mind. — His Work as a Man of Science : Remarks of Pres
ident Woolsey: Letter from Professor Jeffries Wyman: Remarks of
Professor J. P. Cooke: Letter from Professor Joseph Henry. — His Ser
vices to Yale College and Character as a College Officer : Remarks of
President Woolsey: Letter from Professor Thacher: Letter from Pro
fessor Porter: Remarks of Dr. Bacon. — His Kindness: Letter from Dr.
Charles Beck: Letter from Mr. S. F. B. Morse.— The Courtesy of his
Manners: Remarks of President Woolsey: Letter from Rev. George
Jones. — His Love of Esteem. — His Domestic Virtues : Communica
tions from Mrs. Church, Mrs. Hubbard, and Mrs. Dana: Letter from
Judge S. J. Andrews. — His Impression upon others: Remarks of Pro
fessor Wyinan : Letter from Professor C. U. Shepard : Letter from Rev.
Dr. Sprague.

WE now approach the last records in the Diary.
After the few extracts which will soon be given, the
remaining pages are a blank. Professor Silliman
states the origin of the illness, which, quite unex
pectedly to himself and to others, terminated in his
sudden death.

Sabbath, November 20, 1864. Neuralgia. — I attended
the College Chapel last Sabbath, November 13, in my usual
health, and might have so remained had I not gone out
again in the evening. There was a very large audience
assembled to hear the statements of four gentlemen, —
Dr. Parish, and others, respecting the Sanitary Commis
sion, in relation to the army and the country. The discus-

312 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

sion was very interesting, and showed the immense impor
tance of this institution, and of the sister institution — the
Christian Commission < — to the suffering soldiers, and to
the army. So great is the insufficiency of the public pro
vision for sick and wounded men, that the army evidently
could not have kept the field but for these institutions, and
especially the Sanitary.

The air was so heated by a large audience, in addition to
the fires and lights, that when we withdrew, (Mrs. Skinner
being with me,) a wintry wind struck me, and the next
evening I became a sufferer. Pain seized my chest exter
nally, and became, at the time of retiring, so severe that we
used friction, and in the night the pain was transferred to
the arms, from the shoulder to the elbows, and became
worse than ever. In the morning, after a sleepless night,
the pain became seated between the shoulders, and in the
back of the head. In the course of the day the pain sub
sided, but left me unwell ; the stomach refused to retain
food ; some fever supervened, and I became decidedly an
invalid. So I remained through the week, and was confined
to the house. I am gaining a little from day to day, — with
a little appetite, and some power of retaining food. I am
not able to attend public worship at present, but am thank
ful that I am able to employ my time usefully at home. I
am warned, by this occurrence, that my health, although
usually so good, may be in an instant subverted, and that
the call for departure may be sudden, as has happened to
Mr. Elton of Waterbury, and others, during the last week.
I leave time and manner with my Creator, relying entirely
upon Christ Jesus, my ever-blessed Saviour, to rescue me
from the power and condemnation of sin.

November 21st, Monday. — I have been able to resume
my pen, and am gradually recovering my usual state of
feeling. But the shock has been rather severe, and to an
old man serious. As the cause is apparent, I must avoid in
future the exposure to a cold night air, which brought on

HIS LAST DAYS. 313

the attack. The next may fasten on the lungs or the heart,
and may prove final.

The notices which follow are each connected in
the Diary with a paragraph cut from a newspaper.
The first relates to Mr. Lincoln's piety.

President Lincoln's recognition of a Saviour and surrender
to him. — More to his honor is this brief paragraph than all
that his country can bestow. We have ever regarded him
as an honest and patriotic statesman, and there were many
passages in his writings and in his action that have favored
the hope that he is a good man. His truthfulness is trans
parent, and we have now decided reason to believe that he
is indeed a good man.

Death of the Rev. Dan Huntington. — The annexed notice
is very interesting to me. I was only two years after him
in college life. The annexed notice is, I believe, correct.
His early friends will learn with satisfaction that in his last
years " he returned with great satisfaction, and was wel
comed to the worship and communion of the orthodox
church."

He was led to attend the meeting in behalf of the
Sanitary Association on Sunday evening, November
13, the occasion of his first attack, partly from the
interest he felt in Dr. Parish, whom he had ascer
tained, on inquiry, to be a son of the Quaker gentle
man, who, as is related in the earlier part of this
Memoir, had once commended him for declining to
go with his fellow-students to Peale's Museum on
Sunday. Through the following week, he was con
fined to the house, but able to receive calls from his
friends. On Thursday, the 17th, he had an inter
view of half an hour or more with Judge Gould of
Troy. On Friday, President Day called. A picture

314 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

of the New Haven Green, as it was long ago, with
the old brick church and adjacent burial-ground upon
it, had been brought to Professor Silliman, and they
examined the picture together with much interest,
marking especially the edifice where, seventy years
before, they had spoken their commencement pieces.
He said to Mrs. Silliman (who entered the room after
the President came in), — " You know I have told
you that whenever there was trouble, we were sure
to see President Day, and it is so still : here he is ;
he has come out this unpleasant day to see me."
He appeared to yearn for the presence of his son,
who had been absent for several months in California.
On the 3d of November he had written to the younger
Professor Silliman, adverting in the course of the
letter — which reached its destination a month after
its date, when the hand that wrote it was motionless,
— to the affectionate solicitude which the latter had
expressed respecting his father's health. In that last
letter, he said : " Every day, thanks for your preser
vation and prosperity ascend from our family altar,
with prayers for your safe return. We suppose that
you have relinquished Oregon and Vancouver, and
that you may be with us by or before the new year.
It will be a joyful day when we can again embrace
you. I was tenderly touched by what you wrote in
one of your letters to S , in allusion to the possi
bility of my absence when you return, but we will
look forward to a happy meeting here, and hope for
a happier one hereafter." Now, the desire to see his
son was strongly awakened. On Thursday, a tele
graphic message was sent to him, so worded as to
hasten his departure without exciting undue alarm.

HIS LAST DAYS. 315

Afterwards, as Professor Silliman appeared to be
decidedly better, a message to that effect was also
sent. On Sunday evening, the 20th, he received as
usual the group of relatives from the adjacent houses.
He said that he needed exercise, and took his cane
to walk. In passing the sofa, he took the hand of a
little grandchild, and walked with her for some time
through the rooms, appearing much interested in his
conversation with her. As he resumed his seat he
drew her still younger sister to him, and kissing her,
said : — " The dear old gentleman is not very strong,
and feels too tired to walk any more to-night ; he has
walked with one dear little girl, and next Sabbath
night he will walk with this one." As usual, he had
a gentle word for every one. It was remarked that
during these last days some kind expression that
might well serve for a farewell to each of his near
friends, was uttered, seemingly by accident. In truth
such kind words, sincere as they were kind, might
have been noted on any other week, but now they
were not forgotten. On Monday he wrote a letter
of condolence to a neighbor, Mr. Wilcox, whose son
had died in the war. And on the same day he wrote
a note to his aged friend, Miss Whittlesey, who had
been his friend from childhood. In the lively letters
exchanged between him and early companions, sixty
or seventy years before, the name of this lady, a
general favorite in the social circle to which both
belonged, is frequently mentioned. Now she was
ninety-one years old, and very feeble in mind and
body. Yet she was able to appreciate the kindness
that dictated this letter.

316 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

NEW HAVEN, November 21, 1864.

Monday, A.M.
To Miss Whittlesey, —

DEAR FRIEND, — Longer time than usual having elapsed
since our last call upon you, Mrs. Silliman having been
confined to the house mainly for several weeks by a hard
cold and cough, and myself by an indisposition for a week
past, I am not willing to remain longer silent without con
veying a few words of kindness to my good old friend.

Our last direct information of your state was by our dear

F , a little before she left us for her northern home. She

reported favorably of your health and cheerfulness, and it is
always pleasing to know that as the sun of life approaches
his setting, it is not all dark along the edge of the sky, but
that a heavenly radiance cheers the evening twilight of life,
and gives intimation of a glorious morning to follow. Life
is almost past with us ; my work is mainly done, and we
have little more to do than to wait for our call. Our ground
of reliance is familiar to you and to me, and I pray God
that we may be able to make the happy application. The
provision made by our blessed Saviour in his life and death,
is sufficient for all our spiritual wants, as I trust we shall
experience when we have passed through the dark valley
of the shadow of death. I enclose a little consolatory
pamphlet, which has given me consolation in affliction. It
opens a bright view of heaven, — imaginative in the scene,
but real in the fulfilment of hope.

Affectionately, your sincere friends,

B. and S. I. SILLIMAN.

The tract sent with this letter was entitled "The
Awakening," a translation from the German. On
Tuesday he felt stronger, and made several calls in
Hillhouse Avenue, in the neighborhood of his house.
He was anxious to return as soon as possible the visits
which he had received during the week previous. In

HIS SUDDEN DEATH. 317

the afternoon, and on Wednesday, he received various
friends who came in to see him, and evinced much
vivacity in conversation. An interview with Rev.
Dr. Fitch he especially enjoyed. " I showed him,"
he said, " that anecdote of President Lincoln which
I pasted into my Journal last night, and he was
affected to tears, and that led to pleasant conversation
on religious subjects ; we agree entirely." On Wed
nesday evening, a respected neighbor, Mr. Coit, spent
an hour with him. The conversation was animated,
relating chiefly to what both had seen at different
times in Europe. Early on Thursday morning, he
awoke after a sound sleep. He was disposed to con
versation, and expressed to Mrs. Silliman his sense
of the great blessings he had received in life. He
then prayed audibly for the country, — it was the
day of National Thanksgiving appointed by the Pres
ident, — for his family, and especially for his absent
son. He repeated the Lord's Prayer, and then the
hymns, beginning

" Lord in the morning thou shalt hear,"
. " Trembling before thine awful throne."

He seemed much refreshed by sleep, and remarked
that his voice was so clear that he could have more
extended services in family worship that morning than
had been possible of late, and that he could perhaps
go out to church. He then expressed to his nearest
friend the gratitude and affection he felt for her ; and
just as the words had dropped from his lips, he drew
a long breath, — it was his last. Without a struggle,
in a moment, his noble, gentle spirit passed from its
earthly tenement. Such a death well deserved to

318 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

be called a euthanasia. For many days before, it
seemed to all that " heaven shone about him."

The disease of which Professor Silliman died was
probably an affection of the heart. The illness from
which he had apparently rallied, so that his family
were relieved from immediate anxiety respecting
him, was considered by his physician to be a mani
festation of this disease.

The funeral of Professor Silliman took place on
the 28th of November. After a brief religious ser
vice at his house, his body was carried to the Centre
Church, where for several hours an opportunity was
afforded to see his face for the last time. It was
observed that the look of remarkable benevolence
and sweetness which his features had worn in life
did not fade out in death. The public services were
attended by a large concourse, including represent
atives of a number of literary institutions. Prayer
was offered by Rev. Dr. Bacon, and a Commemora
tive Discourse was delivered by President Woolsey.

The traits of Mr. Silliman's mind and heart have
been so fully brought to light in the foregoing pages,
that on this topic little more need be said. It is
not claimed — and he would have been the last to
claim — that he had that rare insight of genius
which divines the secrets of Nature. Yet no one
could have done the work that he did without the
possession of more than ordinary powers of mind.
His whole turn was more practical than speculative.
His perceptions were quick, his judgments sound,
and all his mental operations were marked by good

HIS INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES. 319

sense. To a vigorous understanding he united a
power of. application which made him through life
a most industrious man. These qualities, together
with his rhetorical talents, and the winning features
of character and manner that belonged to him, well
fitted him for his peculiar work. That work was to
collect and diffuse scientific truth. His vocation was
that of a teacher. Through the period of his active
service he was awake to the progress of discovery.
In a letter addressed to Professor A. M. Fisher, be
fore the news of the loss of the Albion had reached this
country, and which came back to the writer ftorr
London, he says : — "I will thank you, when you
visit the lecture-rooms and scientific establishments
in London, Paris, and Edinburgh, to notice wifh
reference to me, whatever is new and interesting,
and to make a memorandum of it at the time. An
insulated lecturer is in danger of growing rusty and
falling short of the progress of improvement. Should
you see any new piece of chemical apparatus, which
comes within the means in your hands, I wish you
would secure it." In this spirit he managed his
department of instruction. Nor is he without merit
as an investigator, although his distinction does not
lie here. He was never very careful to claim for
himself the credit of scientific discovery. At the
same time, he took delight in doing honor to the
discoveries of others. His first edition of " Henry's
Chemistry," appeared in 1808, with the modest an
nouncement, — " to which are added notes by a
Professor of Chemistry in this country." As soon
as Gay Lussac's method of obtaining potassium by
the decomposition of its hydrate by heat in an iron

320 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

tube, was known in this country, Professor Silliman
repeated the process with success, obtaining potas
sium for the first time, it is believed, in America.*
He was the first to notice and record the effect of
a powerful voltaic battery in volatilizing carbon and
transferring it from the positive to the negative pole
in a state of vapor. His paper on this subject is
full of curious interest, and was a long way in ad
vance of the then existing state of knowledge.! Pro
fessor Silliman labored zealously with the oxy-hydro-
gen blow-pipe of Dr. Hare, to determine the fusi
bility of different substances, and made interesting
discoveries in this direction. His investigation in
reference to the Weston Meteor has already been
mentioned. Such labors indicate that he was not
indifferent or inactive in respect to the progress of
the sciences which he taught. But his fame rests
upon his work as a pioneer, opening the way in this
country for new branches of science, and securing
for them countenance and respect, and as a teacher
who inculcated scientific truth in a way to interest,
in an almost unexampled degree, his auditors. His
enthusiasm kindled the enthusiasm of others.

"As a lecturer," says President Woolsey, "he was al
most unsurpassed. Without a severe logical method, he
threw so much zeal into his discourse, expressed himself
with such an attractive rhetoric, and supported his doc
trine by experiments of such almost unfailing beauty and
success, that all audiences delighted to hear him ; so that
for years no lecturer so attractive could address an assem
bly, whether gathered within the walls of a college or from

* This was in 1808. See a note in his Chemistry, Vol. I. p. 246.
t See Prof. Silliman' s Letter to Dr. Hare, Silliman1 s Journal, [I.] V.
108, (1822.)

HIS MERITS AS A LECTURER. 321

the people of crowded cities. In his own lecture-room
the students felt the genial sway of his oratory. No other
such instructions were given, uniting at once pleasure and
improvement. Hence for many years the study of chem
istry was, perhaps, the most popular one in the institu
tion. In the latter years of his professional life the science
of geology seemed to take the largest share of his interest.
And, here, the grandeur of the subject-matter seemed
especially fitted to kindle and exalt his fervor. The mighty
agencies that have moulded the earth over and over, as
clay is moulded in the hands of the potter, the immense
ages which almost appall the imagination, this vast frame
work of the earth, the theatre of such sublime displays,
and over all, before the eye of faith, the Divine Architect
carrying the great building forward, until it had become
a fit dwelling-place for his immortal creature, man, —
these grand objects inspired him, and he threw the inspi
ration into his audiences, wherever they were gathered." *

Professor Silliman's lectures in the class-room
must have been more effective than academical lect
ures on science in this country had been before his
time. A graduate of Harvard College, whose pro
ductions have enriched the literature of the country,
writes : — " My liveliest recollections of him are, I
think, as a lecturer at New Haven in the autumn
of 1814. He showed then a vigor, a spirit, and a
freshness of manner to which I had not been accus
tomed, and which I think I have seldom seen equalled
since. His audience, too, which consisted, if I right
ly remember, of medical students as well as under
graduates, seemed to have been, as it were, trained
by him to profit by his teachings; many of them
taking notes, and showing their interest in other

* Funeral Discourse, pp. 8, 9.

VOL. II. 21

322 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ways to which I had not then been accustomed in
the lecture-rooms of our Professors." 4 His lectures,
as well as the experiments that illustrated them,
were prepared with much care. He was never con
tent with merely repeating what he had said and
done in a previous year. Each season, in connec
tion with the delivery of his lectures, he topk care
to read in private some new work upon the science
which he was teaching, in order to refresh his mind
and assist him to present the subject in new lights.
The brilliant success of his popular lectures is abun
dantly attested. The following letter is from a gen
tleman whose personal excellence and scientific at
tainments give weight to his testimony : —

PROFESSOR JEFFRIES WTMAN TO G. P. FISHER.

CAMBRIDGE, October 20, 1865.

MY DEAR SIR, — I gladly comply with your wish to offer
a few words with regard to Professor Silliman as a public
teacher. My acquaintance with him as such was in con
nection with the Lowell Institute, of which I happened to
be curator at the time he lectured. It must be remem
bered that with this institution began a new era in popular
education in this community. Through the munificence of
its founder, Mr. John Lowell, it was able to place within
the reach of all classes instruction in the physical sciences,
in natural history, natural and revealed religion, and gen
eral literature, and this from the ablest teachers, and gra
tuitously.

With the exception of an inaugural address from the
Hon. Edward Everett, Professor Silliman was the first
who came before an audience under its auspices. Feeling
that, among institutions with kindred objects, it had unpre-

* From a letter of Prof. George Ticknor to G. P. Fisher, Sept. 5, 1865.

HIS MERITS AS A LECTURER. 323

cedented opportunities for doing good, he often referred to
the great responsibility which, under the circumstances,
rested upon him, and of the vast importance it was that at
the outset the standard of lectures should be made as high
as possible. He was unwearied in his endeavors to meet
the occasion suitably. Those who listened to him, and
saw everything pass off so easily, — every experiment in
its place, and almost invariably a success, — knew nothing
of the thought and labor which preceded in the prepara
tions. After a quarter of a century, he spoke to me of the
anxiety which these duties had cost him.

His lectures on chemistry and geology were given in the
Odeon, the largest building in Boston devoted to such pur
poses, and capable of holding about fifteen hundred per
sons, and on his evenings every seat was pretty sure to be
filled. Such audiences to popular lectures on scientific
subjects were, it is believed, until then, wholly unknown.
They certainly excited the wonder and astonishment of
foreign and scientific men who came amongst us. His
gifts as a teacher were of such marked excellence that it is
not easy to do justice to them. There was a charm in his
cordial manner and genial temperament which attracted
all, and a sympathy at once grew up between himself and
his audience. As he entered the room, they were assured
by the dignity of his presence and the earnestness of his
manner that his heart was in the work. The best evidence
of his power is to be found in the fact that he was able to
hold the attention of so large a number for two consecu
tive hours, with only a short recess, notwithstanding it had
become the established usage in the community that a lect
urer was expected not to exceed a single hour. The feel
ing manifested toward him was that of reverence. The
refined and educated classes were always largely repre
sented at his lectures ; and there are not a few who can
fairly trace to the inspiration of these the beginning of a
scientific career. It may be fairly claimed that no one in

324 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

this country has done more than he, through his popular
lectures, no less than his academic courses, to create and
foster a love for geology and the physical sciences. Sir
Charles Lyell, in his second visit to the United States, says,
that everywhere, even in States most remote from New
England, he met with those who, having listened to his
lectures, had invariably imbibed a love for the subjects he
taught. The progress due to his beneficent influence can
not be easily estimated. The influence he exerted, the
progress he stimulated, were the work of his life, — a great
boon to science.

But, however highly we may esteem him as a teacher
and a man of science, there were traits of character which
always as deeply impressed those who came in contact
with him, but of which it would hardly become me to
speak. His benevolence was apparent to all. To benefit
another was the natural impulse of his heart. It was easy
to see that mechanics and all others — and there were
many who in one way or another helped in the preparation
of his lectures — became devoted to him at once, never
failed to receive words of encouragement from him, and
never parted from him but with profound respect. I well
remember a little boy who was one of his assistants, whose
surroundings had been the most unpromising for anything
good. Professor Silliman took a deep interest in him at
sight, and, as long as they were together, seemed to have
for him almost the solicitude of a father, in doing what he
could for his improvement in mind and character. But
this was only one of a thousand incidents of a similar nature
scattered through a long life.

It was my happiness to spend a short time with him,
within a year of his death. It was truly a privilege to
see him, in the evening of his days, enjoying the fruits of a
life so full of goodness. As he walked through the avenue
near his house, there was the friendly greeting to and from
all. Hardly a child passed who did not do him reverence,

HIS MERITS AS A LECTURER. 325

and receive a kind word in return. The best impulses of
the heart which marked him through life were still fresh,
and all was peace.

Apart from the useful instruction that was im
parted in these lectures, not only to educated peo
ple, but also to intelligent mechanics, who heard
them, they stimulated individuals to the study of
science, who afterwards themselves became pro
ficients in the same branches of knowledge. Prof.
Josiah P. Cooke, of Harvard College, concluded his
course of lectures before the Lowell Institute, in
1859, with these remarks : —

I should be suppressing a generous emotion, were I not,
in concluding, to allude to the very peculiar circumstances
under which I have filled this place. With one exception,
the only course of lectures on chemistry before this Insti
tution, previous to the one just concluded, were delivered
by Professor Silliman, of New Haven, in the years
1839-43. At those lectures I was an attentive listener.
Although a mere boy, — one of the youngest of those
present, — I then acquired my taste for the science which
has since become the business of my life. Returning, after
so short an interval, to occupy the place of him who was
thus unconsciously my instructor, — I might add, my only
instructor in chemistry, — I know of no way in which I can
pay a higher tribute to his worth, or to the usefulness of
this noble charity, of which he was only the almoner, than
by a simple statement of these facts. If, in future years,
students of Nature shall arise, who can trace back their
earliest essays in science to any humble influence of mine,
I shall feel that my labor has been more than rewarded,
and that my efforts have been crowned with success.

The habit of addressing popular audiences had an

326 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

influence upon his method and style as a lecturer in
College. He indulged in more digression than had
been his custom in earlier days. He took delight in
alluding to his friends and scientific contemporaries,
and in interweaving observations and anecdotes not
strictly belonging to the topic under discussion. He
was aware of this peculiarity, and in the book in
which he recorded the briefs of his lectures, which
was kept in his laboratory, he repeatedly, at the
termination of his courses, censures himself in this
particular and writes down a caution for his own
benefit in the future. Thus in his comments upon
the chemical course of 1843-4, he says : — " Digres
sions and extraneous remarks — less frequent and
extended than heretofore, but there is room for more
compression and suppression." If this habit detracted
from the scientific value of his lectures, it probably
caused them to be heard with increased interest by
the most of his pupils.

The practical utility of science was always kept in
view by Professor Silliman. He looked upon scien
tific truth as a means of promoting human comfort
and happiness. Hence he desired to carry his knowl
edge to those who were engaged in manual labor.
Reference has been made on a previous page to his
cooperation with Mr. Brewster in efforts for the in
struction of the working men of New Haven. This
gentleman remarks : * — " Professor Silliman ever
evinced a deep feeling of interest in the moral and
intellectual improvement of the mass of the people.
Prompted by his encouragement, I erected Franklin
Hall for the purpose of providing instruction in the

* In a letter to Professor Dana, dated November 26, 1864.

HIS SERVICES TO SCIENCE. 327

elements of mechanical science to those who could
not attend lectures in the day-time. He assisted me
in obtaining the means to illustrate the experiments
to be made, and introduced me to his Assistant in
Yale College, Mr. Charles U. Shepard, who assumed
the position of curator of Franklin Hall. Professor
Silliman and Professor Olmsted gave courses of
lectures to the people of this city. The beneficial
effects were manifest by the erection of steam-engines,
and the perfecting of machinery, greatly aiding in
the development of mechanical skill in its application
to the useful arts. These benefits have long been
manifest in all departments of business. This was
the first time, I believe, that College Professors had
gone out to lecture to the people upon natural and
mechanical science."

One who does the work which Professor Silliman
did for the cause of science, is, perhaps, liable to
receive less than justice from those who come after
him. The branches of knowledge which he has cul
tivated attain to so high a grade of progress that the
period of his activity is looked upon as a day of
small things. Mistakes and deficiencies, inevitable
in the infancy of a science and specially natural to
one who is performing the work of a pioneer, are
liable to be magnified beyond their just importance.
But liberal and thoughtful minds will not be betrayed
into the error of undervaluing the arduous work
which paves the way for a long era of progress ; nor
will such minds be inclined to carp at the labors of
men to whom they owe so large a debt. When the
duration of Professor Silliman's career and the varied
channels in which his scientific exertions were directed,

328 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

are taken into account, the sum of his influence will
be seen to have been vast. " Among the pupils of
half a century," says Professor Caswell, " how many
have caught the enthusiasm of the master, and given
their energies to science, and placed their names high
on the list of its honored cultivators ! How many
hundreds and thousands of those who in different
cities have listened to "his eloquent lectures, have
learned to appreciate science, and gather refined
pleasure from its culture, and give to it their hearty
patronage ! How regularly and how widely has his
Journal carried to the reading public intelligence of
the latest discoveries, and the best practical applica
tions of science ! Considering all this, who shall say
that his efficient influence has not been felt in every
institution of learning, in every profession, nay, in
every workshop, and every cultivated field, in this
broad land of ours ! " *

The usefulness of Professor Silliman, as a scien
tific man, is properly set forth in the following letter
from a gentleman, than whom no other is better
entitled to represent the science of the country.

PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY TO G. P. FISHER.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE,
November 13, 1865.

MY DEAR SIR, — Your letter requesting me to give my
impressions of the life and services of Professor Silliman,
and of the effect of his labors on the progress of knowl
edge in our country, with reminiscences of a personal
character, was received at this Institution during my ab
sence, and I now embrace the first opportunity since my
return to comply with your request. I have, however, to

* From a Memoir of Professor Silliman, read before the National Academy
of Science, January 25, 1866.

HIS SERVICES TO/SCIEtfCE. 329*

L I P R c\

regret, that neither my time noi^power of expression* will

enable me to do justice to the a5dbj^cft. J hope, never
theless, that my communication, such<^sjit W, may not be
too late for the object intended, for I snotritl— b^ sorry to'
lose this opportunity of bearing testimony to my high ap
preciation of the character of our lamented friend.

I must leave to others to give an account of the details
and features of his e very-day y life; for, although I flatter
myself 'that I shared his friendship, and know that on dif
ferent occasions, and in various ways, I experienced his
kindness, yet my personal intercourse with him was casual,
and only at considerable intervals of time. My first
knowledge of Professor Silliman, beyond the occasional
hearing of his name, was derived from reading his " Trav
els in England and Holland." The manner in which he
described what he saw and experienced in his visit to
Europe, at a time when visitors from the New World to the
Old were far less numerous than they are now, and the
candor and kind feeling which he manifested, awakened in
me, at a time of life when I was most susceptible of im
pressions, a warm sympathy with the traveller, which ren
dered him an object of special interest, and was destined
in time to be developed into friendship and admiration by
a more intimate acquaintance with his character.

I carefully traced his route on the map, and gave such
attention to his statements, that many of the scenes which
he described, and the incidents which he related, still re
main on my memory, without a renewal of the impression,
after the lapse of many years. This book was very pop
ular with all classes of readers in this country ; the copy
which I read was met with by me in an ordinary farm
house in a neighborhood in which I was teaching a district
school, and gave evidence, in its worn condition, of having
been frequently perused. From the candor of its state
ments, and the spirit which it evinced, this work tended
much to soften the asperities of feeling which existed at

330 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

the time of its publication between England and the
United States. His "Travels in Canada" was also pe
rused with like interest ; and, from its first appearance till
the present time, I have been a constant reader of the
" American Journal of Science," and from each succeeding
number have derived instruction and pleasure.

The first time I saw Professor Silliman was on the occa
sion of a visit to New Haven in 1830. I need scarcely say
that although I had formed an exalted opinion of his char
acter, he more than realized, in personal appearance, in gen
eral bearing, and in fascination of manner, the high ideal
which I had conceived of him. He exercised, at that time,
a wide and commanding influence on the science of the
country, — gave dignity to its pursuit, was the eloquent ex
pounder of its principles, the able advocate of its impor
tance, and its defender against the denunciation of zealous,
though narrow-minded theologians ; and that too with an
humble and devout acceptance of the essential truths of
Revelation. The highest generalizations of science, though
of inestimable value in the way of the classification, the
prediction, and in some cases of the control of the opera
tions of Nature, are yet but approximations to truth, pro
visionally adopted, and continually subject to modification
and restatement with the progress of discovery, and the
ever-widening horizon of knowledge ; while the proposi
tions of Revelation, although so plain in their moral bear
ing, that the " wayfaring man, though a fool, need not
err," in their scientific aspect require, for elucidation and
proper interpretation, the most profound learning of the
past, and all the lights which the present and the future
can afford. In such a condition of affairs, surely humility
and tolerance are both required in order to a harmonious
cooperation of religion and science in the great work of
human improvement.

He was the first to introduce in this country public lec
tures illustrated by experiments on a scale of magnitude,

HIS SERVICES TO SCIENCE. 331

and of a character to interest a popular audience ; and his
success in this enterprise was such as to give an impulse
not yet exhausted to a means of adult instruction which,
though it has been abused, is well calculated under proper
regulations to effect much social and personal good. As a
popular lecturer he was, at the time of which I speak, one
of the best I have ever heard. To the advantages of a
commanding figure, a pleasing and expressive countenance,
of ready elocution and correct literary taste, he added great
skill in experimental manipulation and ingenuity in pre
senting and illustrating the prominent truths of geology
and chemistry, and never failed to enchain the attention of
his hearers, and to awaken in their minds emotions not only
of intellectual pleasure, but also of moral enjoyment. I can
say, at least, most emphatically, that such was the impres
sion produced upon myself by the lectures which I heard him
deliver to the Mercantile Library Association of New York.
In these lectures he evidently shared with his audience the
pleasure of the occasion ; he was not only full of his sub
ject, but manifestly delighted in its exposition and illustra
tion. Another trait of his character displayed, was the
enthusiasm with which he dwelt upon the scientific labors
of his own countrymen, the desire he exhibited to place,
in a favorable light, what they had accomplished under the
difficulties and discouragements incidental to a new coun
try ; and to claim for them the sympathy, encouragement,
and the support of his audience.

The establishment and maintenance of the "American
Journal of Science," under restricted pecuniary means, was
an enterprise which involved an amount of thought and of
labor for the expenditure of which he has well merited the
gratitude not only of his own countrymen, but of the world.
It has served not only to awaken a taste for science in this
country by keeping its readers continually informed of the
discoveries in science wherever it is cultivated ; but above
all, it has called into the field of original observation and

332 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

research a corps of efficient laborers, and has furnished a
ready means of presenting the results of their labors to the
world, through a medium well suited to insure attention,
and to secure proper acknowledgment for originality and
priority. Nor are the results which have been thus evoked
few or unimportant, since many of them relate to the ob
jects and phenomena of a vast continent almost entirely
unexplored, in which Nature has exhibited some of her
operations on a scale of grandeur well calculated to correct
the immature deductions from too limited a survey of similar
appearances in the Old World. For conducting such a jour
nal. Professor Silliman was admirably well qualified. He oc
cupied a conspicuous position in one of the oldest and most
respectable institutions of learning in this country; he was
intimately acquainted with the literature of science ; was a
fluent, clear, and impressive writer, an accurate critic, and
above all, a sage and impartial judge. It is almost impos
sible, without actual experience, to form an adequate idea
of the amount of labor and absorption of thought required
to properly conduct a journal of this character. It is es
sential to its success that it should appear, without fail, on
the day fixed for its publication, and in order to this, that a
supply of suitable matter must be always in preparation in
advance. On this account the permanent collaborators must
be continually urged to punctuality in completing their
allotted tasks, and every tendency to procrastination in all
connected with the enterprise persistently counteracted.
The proof-sheets must be critically read, and the accounts
of the paper-maker, the printer, and the binder, carefully
audited. Though some of these details may be delegated
to others, yet, unless the proprietor himself keeps a watch
ful eye" on the whole, he may soon find himself involved in
difficulties of a very disagreeable nature. But this is not
all ; nearly every article presented for publication calls for
a correspondence between the editor and the author; it
frequently happens that certain points need further eluci-

HIS SERVICES TO SCIENCE. 333

dation, errors demand correction, and in many cases state
ments and opinions, especially those which might lead to
controversy, require modification. The editor is also re
sponsible for the scientific character of the articles admit
ted, and the selection of these is frequently, not only a
matter of delicacy, but also of difficulty, lest the self-esteem
of a sensitive author be too deeply wounded, or the first
effort of a youthful aspirant to scientific reputation too
rudely repressed. In reply to some remarks on an article
of less scientific merit than the general standard of the
Journal, Professor Silliman once said to me, — " Could you
see what I reject, and the amount of correspondence which
such rejection involves, you would not be surprised that I
should occasionally suffer an article to appear not strictly
in accordance with my own views. I try, however," con
tinued he, " to express disagreeable truths in language as
little offensive as possible ; to encourage beginners, and to
elicit observations of natural phenomena even from those
who make no pretensions to science." This was a judicious
course, since thousands of valuable facts, palpable to every
one, present themselves in the field and in the workshop,
and are suffered to pass away for want of a proper record
which might serve to fix them as elements of future gener
alizations. Though it has been the aim of the editor of the
" American Journal," to thus gather up and preserve the
minutest materials of scientific knowledge, yet the work
has always maintained that dignity of character which be
comes its important mission, and that strict impartiality
which alone is compatible with the advance of truth.

Through his instruction of a large class of admiring
pupils, collected from almost all parts of this continent;
through his hospitable attention as a citizen of New Haven
to the many visitors of that beautiful city ; through his
public lectures, and by means of the Journal, Professor
Silliman became more widely known, and more highly
appreciated, than any other man of science in this country ;

334 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

and his influence, which was fully commensurate with his
reputation, was freely given to whatever tended to im
prove humanity and to promote religion. He was without
ostentation, and his actual acquirements as well as his self-
respect left no room for pretensions to universal knowl
edge. He affected none which had not fallen within the
scope of his mature and proper studies. Hence he was ever
ready to receive information from any source which could
supply it; while he never failed to gratify the teacher,
whoever he might be, by the deportment of an attentive
and interested listener.

His labors as a teacher and an editor were too absorb
ing to allow him to devote much time to original research ;
what he did, however, in this line, gave indications that
more important results would have followed had his ener
gies not been applied in the way in which the more imme
diate and more urgent wants of his country had directed
them.

It frequently happens, and perhaps too in accordance
with a general tendency, that the professed teacher falls
behind the actual state of the science of his day ; while on
the other hand the visionary speculator attempts vain ex
cursions into the future, and by projects which are at the
time premature, if not entirely chimerical, only injures the
cause he has unadvisedly assayed to advance. Professor
Silliman fell into neither of these errors, but was emphati
cally the man of his time, acting in accordance with its
spirit and laboring so to direct its energies and to control
its tendencies as to render the world wiser and better. His
whole career was prosperous in a remarkable degree. The
part he was called to act in the drama of life was well
adapted to his mental and moral peculiarities, — was well
timed as to the scientific condition of his country and ad
mirably well performed. Though professionally occupied
with the consideration of material phenomena he was
thoroughly imbued with the subordination of these to the

HIS SERVICES TO YALE COLLEGE. 335

spiritual essence of our nature, and though industriously
devoted to the duties of life, his views and aspirations were
not confined to this sphere of existence, but extending
beyond time, constantly mingled with the events of the
present the condition of the future through the hope and
faith of an humble Christian.

The services rendered by Professor Silliman as
an officer of Yale College, independently of the di
rect benefit of his instructions, were of the highest
importance. His name and fame attracted students.
His influence secured benefactions.

" His personal presence," says President Woolsey, " his
great popularity, his fine powers of persuasion, caused him
to be put forward whenever there were wants to be urged
before the legislature or before private friends, whenever
strangers of distinction were to be honored, whenever on
academic festivals responses were due from the authorities
of the Institution. There were, I believe, in the universities
of the Middle Ages orators annually appointed who repre
sented their communities on public occasions. He, in his
prime, was our standing orator, the principal medium be
tween those who dwelt in the academic shade and the great
public.

" A very important duty of Professor Silliman grew out
of his function as a member of the College Faculty. For
more than fifty years he sat and voted in that Faculty, aided
in discipline as well as instruction, and being the senior
Professor, had a prominent place in all Faculty measures.
Dr. Dwight, without doubt, would not have selected him
for the new professorship, unless his clear eye had discov
ered in him the power of governing and controlling ; and
his career as a tutor must have been satisfactory. When
he took the Professor's chair, no especial part of the College
discipline fell on him ; he had no care of a division, and

336 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

hence had less direct and intimate contact with the students
than most of the other officers exercised. It was natural,
therefore, that he should think less of rules than those whose
business it is to enforce them. But his influence was all
exerted in favor of discipline and order, and especially where
insubordination and combination to resist law was rife, — as
happened more than once between thirty and forty years
ago, — he was a tower of strength to the government. His
influence again, as a man, upon those students whom he
knew, or who were committed to his special care, was often
exceedingly happy. It is but a few months ago that a gen
tleman of high standing in one of our large cities told me
how Professor Silliman had saved him from waywardness
and disgrace, and how an attachment was thus begun which
had never been weakened. Many such ties were estab
lished with young persons who are now prominent men in
various parts of this land, and who, when they get the news
of his death, will feel that a guide and a true friend has
passed away."

The conscientious and religious spirit which guided
him in his official work may be seen in the annexed
memorandum, written on one of his birthdays nearly
forty years ago. It was during a period which was
unusually marked by disturbances in College.

Sabbath Morning, August 8, 1830. — Among the

painful things of the year, one of the most conspicuous is
the secession of nearly one half of the Sophomore class
from their duty, ending in open rebellion, and the exhibition
of very disrespectful language and conduct to their late
instructors. They have attempted to menace us with a
league not to return unless their dismissed classmates, three
in number, shall be restored. We on our part, have come
to the painful but necessary decision that none of these
youths — forty-three in number — shall ever return to the
Institution. This event, especially as it is the third of the

HIS CHARACTER AS A COLLEGE OFFICER. 337

kind since August 1826, should admonish us to be vigilant,
discreet, and faithful ; uniting energy with kindness, and
always asking wisdom of Him who is able to direct. These
events should prevent us from feeling any pride that Yale
College has flourished so much ; we see that its prosperity
may be blasted ; public opinion may turn against it, and its
overflowing numbers may dwindle to a small band. I am
not apprehensive, however, that public confidence will be
withdrawn on account of this event. I have no doubt the
public will vindicate us, but they will inquire why these
created rebellion ; the answer is found in the inflammable
materials that are accumulated here, partaking too much —
as regards a considerable portion of our youth — of the
factious, insubordinate, and ambitious spirit which is so
strongly manifested in our public affairs. If the College
government should be overpowered, it would be from this
cause. This country is literally swayed by a democracy of
greater extent and power than ever existed on earth, and
its spirit infests our seminaries of learning. We, however,
have only to go on undeviatingly in the discharge of our
duty, and trust the event with Him who rules the destinies
of nations. In my own particular case, I feel more and
more both the propriety and necessity of perfect and hab
itual submission to the Divine will ; of more vigilance and
faithful self-control, that all my thoughts, affections, words,
and conduct may, as far as possible, correspond with the
divine example of Christ, who was pure, holy, harmless, and
undefiled. Not that I think that I can earn salvation by
my poor obedience, constantly marred by sins and imper
fections ; but, it is presumptuous to relax in our efforts ;
we have no right to live carelessly, or in known sin, and
then throw the burden of sin on Christ ; we should labor
as if it all depended on ourselves, and still remember that
our salvation is not of debt, but of grace.

As might be conjectured from the mildness of his

VOL. ii. 22

338 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

character, he was, especially as he grew old, generally
disposed to lenient measures against offenders. But
incivility of manners towards a superior, insult and
injury offered to younger students, and falsehood, he
was prompt to punish. For, though so amiable in
temper, he was a high-spirited man, quick to perceive
and to resent every sort of meanness. He was hon
ored and loved by his pupils to the end. One of the
younger graduates of the College, a candid and dis
cerning judge, after adverting to his " too genial dis
cipline and his discursiveness at times in lectures,"
adds the remark, — " there was among all of us a
very deep feeling of love and admiration for him, and
of pride in him." *

Two gentlemen who were associated with Profes
sor Silliman, both in the relation of pupils and of
colleagues in the College Faculty, have kindly com
municated their impressions of him as a College
officer.

PROFESSOR T. A. THACHER TO <J. P. FISHER.

MY DEAR PROFESSOR FISHER, — The first time I re
member to have seen Professor Silliman was the morning
of the 13th of September, the day before Commencement
in 1831. He was presiding at the examination of candi
dates for admission to College, and I was one of the can
didates. The impression which he made on me then as to
his personal and social traits, respecting which you inquire,
was never essentially changed during the long period of
our personal and official intercourse. He seemed to wear
with perfect naturalness and ease the character of a gentle
man. He showed the same urbanity, the same considerate-

* From a letter of Hon. Andrew D. White, of Syracuse, N. Y., to G. P.
Fisher, September 8, 1865.

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR TEACHER. 339

ness, the same play of spirit, and withal the same unoffend
ing frankness which appeared in him to the close of life.
I had forgotten to bring testimonials of character from the
preparatory school which I had attended, and ventured to
refer him to one of the College tutors, who, with the excep
tion of the last preceding year, had been one of my teachers
in the school. "Ah," said he with a smile, " you may have
lost your character since that teacher left your school."
During the same examination, I remember that he was not
deterred by my standing within hearing distance, from dis
tinctly but politely reproving a tutor for spitting from one
of the windows of the gallery of the chapel, where the
examination was held. Nor was he satisfied with the tutor's
reply that he had been careful to look before committing
the act ; for it was the act which offended him, as much as
the danger of passers-by. He would have set up in every
public place the in hoc loco despui religio est.

Professor Silliman's method of examination was different
from that of Professor Kingsley, whose presence on that
occasion I also vividly remember. He was inclined to form
a general estimate of a young man's promise by the indica
tions which were more obvious. Professor K. on the other
hand, seemed to have the faculty of quickly opening a shaft
into the very being of a man, and seeing what was in him ;
and his work was soon done, unless he was either detained
by a kindled interest in the personality of some bright-
minded candidate, or by a desire, in the case of some other,
to find the evidence of fitness, which was not at first
apparent. Both of them were rather disposed to overlook
deficiencies as far as it was by any means proper to do so,
and as years went on they grew uneasy under the gradually
increasing stringency of the examination.

My earlier memory of Professor Silliman is very much
associated with that same chapel, for it was not until I was
near my degree that I came under his instruction in science.
He for many years officiated at prayers every Sunday even-

340 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ing, and with other Professors attended in the chapel many
other evenings in the week. His manner in the desk was,
on the whole, I should say, prevailingly rhetorical, and is
prohably more distinctly remembered by the multitude of
his pupils than that of any one of his colleagues. He was
quite rapid, so that he almost produced the impression that
he would lose no time ; but he spoke with a full flowing
voice, with rising and falling tones which were sometimes
perhaps a little extravagant, but always delightful for their
melody. It is easy to recall with what unction and swing
he used to read his favorite hymns, such, for instance, as
the one, peculiarly appropriate to Sunday evening, which
begins —

" Frequent the day of God returns,*'

And ends with the stanza, —

" Where we in high seraphic strains

Shall all our powers employ,
Delighted range the ethereal plains
And take our fill of joy."

Or the one beginning, —

" Stern winter throws his icy chains."

He was more accustomed than others also to adapt his
selections, whether of hymns or of Scripture, to the time, the
seasons of the year, or public occurrences, or the events
of our College life. In prayer his mind was fertile, and
his petitions sometimes unusual. A stranger would hardly
have discovered in his public devotions how profound was
his habitual reverence for the Supreme Being. You know
with what affectionate reverence he was accustomed on
more private occasions to draw near to God as his only
sufficient friend. I have hardly in my life been more
touched by the utterances of a Christian man than I was by
some remarks on the subject of prayer made by him in one
of the latest years of his life at an evening meeting for
religious instruction and worship in the President's lecture-
room. We could see, from the words he addressed to us,

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR THACHER. 341

how he, now past fourscore, was in the habit of coming to
God with the simplicity and frankness, and dependent spirit
of a child, acknowledging all his faults and weaknesses, as
well as sins, unveiling his whole life with all its hopes and
fears as in the confidence of secret love, counting nothing
which affected him too insignificant to whisper into the ear
of the Almighty Father.

But to return for a moment longer to the chapel ; you
know that the students at the close of the services always
waited respectfully for the Professors to pass between their
ranks and leave the house first. The President was wont
to attend prayers in the morning only. Professor Silliman
took the lead, receiving the bows of the Seniors and Fresh
men successively with all the stateliness and easy grace of
a man born to head a procession. Professor Kingsley came
next, indicating by his whole bearing that in his soul he
had no inclination to pomp. And yet if any breach of
decorum occurred as they passed along, the latter would be
more prompt than the former to rebuke it on the spot.
These two were followed by Professor Goodrich, and some
times by Professor Fitch, and then Professor Olmsted.
How much of the very character of these College men was
indicated by their manner, as they thus passed down from
the desk to the door of the chapel ! But they all have long
since ceased to be seen there. For years there has been
no man in the whole Academical Faculty of the College
who was in it when I presented myself for examination as
I have described above.

As a colleague in the Faculty, Professor Silliman was
courteous and unassuming, and was willing to take his share
of the labor and responsibility of discipline in all serious
cases, either of special offence, or of general disorder by day
or at night. He was quite ready to administer personal
rebuke to students who were improper in their behavior,
and would sometimes with no little warmth, request that
those, for instance, whose improper attitudes during worship

342 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

on the Sabbath had attracted his attention, should be sent
to him for private admonition. On the other hand he was
somewhat impatient of rules against petty offences, and
reminded us that he had protested against the adoption of
the system of rules which culminated in dismissing from
College every student who incurred twenty marks for ab
sence from College exercises in a term.

Toward the younger members of the Faculty, those who
had recently come from the rank of pupils, where they had
looked up to him with reverence, his considerate bearing
was such as to make them feel at home in their new and
delicate position. He at once called them his colleagues in
the grave business of the instruction and government of the
College, and seemed disposed with unaffected sincerity tq
take them to a full equality with himself as such. Not that
there was any want of this respect on the part of others
toward the younger officers, but he was more carefully
demonstrative. So when any tutor announced his purpose
of soon laying down his office, Professor Silliman almost
invariably improved the opportunity to utter some com
plimentary word, and to express his regret that the services
of the retiring officer should cease.

There was one thing which may be mentioned in this
connection, interesting in itself and also as illustrating
further the traits of character in Professor S., of which I
have spoken. I refer to the marked respect and affection
with which he invariably spoke to and of his only senior
colleague. This was very observable from the earliest time
of my association with him, and continued to the close of
life, and it was the more striking from the fact that that
colleague was only one year before him as a graduate, and
was appointed to a professorship in the College at the same
session of the Corporation, at which he was himself made
Professor of Chemistry. But the truth is, the very nature
of Professor Silliman found enjoyment in the manifestation
as well as the entertainment of such feelings. He met all

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR PORTER. 343

his friends with an expression of genuine pleasure at the
meeting. His presence in any circle kindled a pleasant
warmth, and shed an additional brightness ; and his disap
pearing from this academic community in which he was
through so long a life an essential element, is like the going
out of a cheerful and cheering household fire.

There are many other things which I might say, but I
will not prolong my letter, already perhaps too long.

FROM PROFESSOR NOAH PORTER.

MY first knowledge of Professor Silliman was in 1827,
when he examined me in Geography for admission to Yale
College. He was then forty-eight years old, tall, erect, of
a fair complexion, and with benignant expression, carefully
and even elegantly dressed, very dignified, and yet very
attractive in his manners. I was greatly impressed by the
extent of his knowledge, the rapidity of the movements of
his mind, the affability of his address, and the great kind
ness of his heart. He was the presiding officer of the Board
of Examiners at that time and for many years, and there
are doubtless hundreds of the graduates of the College who
can recall similar impressions of his graceful dignity, and
his unaffected kindness, on an occasion which is always
memorable and trying. The next occasion, when he made
a very strong impression upon my thoughts and feelings,
was at the delivery of a few familiar lectures to the class,
not many weeks after our admission to the College. We
were summoned to the laboratory, — to us a most mysterious
apartment, made impressive by the manifold and multiform
arrangements of furnaces, retorts, and crucibles, — to hear
the Professor discourse to us, in respect to the College life
to which we had so recently been introduced, — the life so
peculiar in its evil and its good, — and advise us in respect
to our manners and our morals. The topics of his lectures
were miscellaneous, — our personal habits, our diet, our
sleep, methods of study and reading, the use of tobacco

344 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

and of strong liquors, the moral exposures in student life,
our safeguards, &c. These topics were treated by the Pro
fessor in his usual manner, — fluent, self-possessed, rapid,
varied, often digressive, sometimes mirthful, and then grave
and serious. At times, — especially when describing the
ruin of some promising youth, or the desecration of the
Chapel by daring mischief, — his soul would be moved with
grief, and his eyes would fill with tears. These lectures
made a very strong impression upon the class in respect to
the matters discussed ; but most and best of all, they left
one still stronger, — of the kindness of the Professor, and
of his earnest desire to promote the welfare of the students.

He took his turn in officiating at evening prayers on Sun
day, and his well-remembered phrases and intonations in
reading the Scriptures, and in prayer, would remind us of
his sincere and unaffected piety. It was always impressive
and elevating to hear him pray in the College Chapel. On
occasions of night disturbances about the College, Pro
fessor Silliman was prompt and active, and the students be
lieved that he was the determined foe of mischief and dis
sipation. By these methods, though he gave no instruction
to the members of the two lower classes, his presence and
influence were felt by all, and his character was influential,
well understood, and highly appreciated by the whole com
munity.

At the beginning of our Junior year, we attended a part
of his course of chemical lectures. It was a memorable
time when we were permitted to go to the laboratory to
hear Professor Siliiman, and witness the experiments. The
manner of the Professor was free, self possessed, and rapid.
His matter was clearly conceived by himself, but not com
municated after a very strict method. He assumed so much
knowledge on the part of the hearer, that he touched many
points too lightly, glanced at them too rapidly, and digressed
too frequently to make his lectures very valuable as a phi
losophical discipline. The great principles of chemical

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR PORTER. 345

science were, however, very distinctly impressed upon our
attention, and the properties of the most important ele
ments, and the laws and effects of their combination, were
familiar to our thoughts, by the brilliant and attractive ex
periments of the eloquent expounder. His treatment of
the practical uses of some of the more familiar, as of the
use of silex in glass-making, and of alumen in pottery,
were very instructive and interesting to every ingenious
mind. His many digressions might be open to objection
when tried by the rules of a severer method, but they
served the important office of stimulating and enlarging
the minds of his hearers. The incidental influences of
Professor Silliman's lectures in this regard were, perhaps,
more valuable than the knowledge which he imparted.

In our Senior year we heard his course in chemistry in
full, as also his course in mineralogy and geology. The
last was the most exciting of all, and at a period still later
than this, these lectures were more brilliantly illustrated
by specimens and drawings, and they became still more
attractive. In them all, he was the same bland and pol
ished gentleman, exerting a powerful influence for good by
his very presence and manners, and quickening the intel
lects of his admiring hearers by the many points of truth
which he suggested, and the vast number of relations which
he brought to view.

I was tutor in College from 1833 till 1835, at the time
when Professor Silliman entered upon that course of ac
tive labor which he enjoyed so greatly. About that time
the relation of the discoveries of Geology to the truth of
the Mosaic record, attracted public attention, and I well
remember with what ready, confidence he undertook to ex
plain the difficulties involved, and to reconcile the discrep
ancies which were supposed to be irreconcilable. The
students of theology proposed the discussion of the subject
in their debating society, and Professor Silliman was in
vited to join in the debate. He very willingly assented,

346 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

and entered the lists with his recent pupils, with all the
ardor of a young student; never embarrassed, however
hardly he might be pressed; always ingenious, however
skilfully he might be assailed ; frank to confess his want of
acquaintance with some of the principles of evidence and
argument, which his logical antagonists brought against
him, but challenging their explanation of the multitude of
facts which he so fluently recited and so eloquently en
forced.

I was acquainted with Professor Silliman, as his col
league, from 1847 till the time of his death, being, during
all this time, a very near neighbor, seeing him in the most
familiar and sacred relations of life. He was the same to
the end. After he remitted the active duties of his profes
sion, he gave himself up to reading, to writing, and to social
intercourse. Conducting his life, in all particulars, after a
system such as would be annoying and burdensome to most
men, but which was natural to one who dignified every
thing that pertained to himself, even the minutest acts
and events.

As a College officer, Professor Silliman was conscientious
and faithful. He never shrunk from any labors or duties
which the College required at his hands. His whole heart
and being and pride were in the College. He did not in
terest himself in all the details of its management and dis
cipline, for he wisely judged that he had less capacity than
some others to direct and act as the exigency might require.
He was at times, perhaps, too careless of detail and routine,
inclined to be lenient when severity was imperatively de
manded ; but he was always true to the government, and
sustained it by his dignity, and not unfrequently his stern
rebuke. In what was called the Great Rebellion of 1828,
he was very prominent in sustaining the most vigorous acts
of the College Faculty, as well as active in reclaiming
those who had committed themselves to the wrong. He
was a swift witness against vice and profligacy, in all their

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR PORTER. 347

forms. His mildness and benignancy of temper gave to his
rebukes additional point and power.

In some repects it was unfortunate for Professor Silliman
that he gave instruction by lectures only. It is not surpris
ing that he preferred to lecture, and that he judged that
this was the best method of teaching chemistry. It was
taught in this way in the Scotch Universities when he
studied, and he very naturally received the impression that
it could be taught in this way with the greatest success.
Indeed, the necessity of performing experiments seemed
to make lectures necessary. Professor Silliman's own apti
tudes and inclinations would, of course, lead him to prefer
this as the sole method. Had he examined his classes with
greater thoroughness, had he oftener asked himself what
was the best method of impressing and receiving the prin
ciples and facts which he set forth, and held himself rigidly
to the rules which, in this way, he could not but have formed,
he would have imparted more knowledge and secured a
more thorough discipline, though he might have been less
attractive as a lecturer. However, the methods which were
most natural to himself were, on the whole, the most useful
to the world, at the time when he was most active and labo
rious. That he was active and diligent as a reader and stu
dent, no man could doubt who was familiar with his daily
life, or knew the extent of his labors and responsibilities.
For many years the sole responsibility of conducting the
" Journal of Science," and of sustaining its pecuniary lia
bilities, rested upon him. His correspondence with rela
tives and friends, both scientific and social, was always
very onerous, though it was to him a pleasure. His reading
was very extensive. In the rapidly advancing science of
chemistry, and in the rapidly opening science of geology,
there was the necessity of constant activity, and of the
power of readily acquiring and thoroughly mastering the
new discoveries and the new theories. He delivered a lect
ure almost daily for more than thirty weeks of the year,

348 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

superintending the preparation for his experiments, and the
arrangement and repairs of his apparatus.

After adverting with just praise to other personal
traits of Professor Silliman, especially his kindness
to the poor and his patriotism, Professor Porter
closes with a reference to his religious character.

His religious character was in harmony with himself.
He received without questioning those views of the truths
of the Scriptures which had been received by his ancestors,
very much as they were held by his revered friend and
companion, Dr. Dwight. The grounds on which he rested
his faith in them were rather the fruits which they had
produced in the great and good men of New England, than
any very profound theological reflection. He had seen much
of the Protestant world in his early manhood and was suf
ficiently satisfied with the practical workings of the faith of
the original churches of New England, to make their faith
and piety his own. His habits of private and domestic
devotion were most exemplary. He always witnessed a
good confession of his faith in, and reverence for, the
Divine Redeemer, whatever might be the society in which
he was cast, whether believing or disbelieving, and where-
ever he was, whether at home or abroad, whether on the
land or on the sea. To do less than this would have offended
against the sentiment of loyal courtesy towards the purest
and most exalted of his friends, as well as the Divine
Ruler, Redeemer, and Judge of men. It was his pleasure
and his joy to labor in this way for the diffusion of Chris
tian faith among men. It was in beautiful keeping with
the movements of his being and aspirations of his soul, that
he breathed out his life in an act of humble thankfulness
to God for his goodness to himself, and in a warm and
affectionate expression of love to his nearest earthly friend.

In connection with these remarks from the col-

REMARKS OF REV. DR. BACON. 349

leagues of Professor Silliman, the observations
which were made by Rev. Dr. Bacon at a meeting
of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences,
will be read with interest. The meeting was de
voted to the consideration of Professor Silliman's
character and work, — Professor Lyman being in the
chair. The letter of Rev. Dr. Porter, of Farming-
ton, which is given on a previous page of this Me
moir, had been read, and to this Dr. Bacon alludes
at the beginning of his remarks.

The letter which has been read recalls vividly to my
mind my first personal interview with the venerable writer.
When I graduated, forty-four years ago, Dr. Porter, of
Farmington (though nobody had then begun to offend his
modesty by calling him Doctor), seemed to me almost as
old as he now does, — though it is a mathematical truth
that he was much younger, being only seventeen years out
of College. Having become myself a graduate, and having
settled up my worldly affairs in this place, I set out the day
after Commencement, with my College room-mate, on a
pedestrian journey to Hartford, which was then my home ;
and, being in no hurry, we took the longest road, by way
of Farmington, not having walked that road before. We
took the liberty of calling on the minister of Farmington,
and had a kind reception. Talking about College and
Commencement, he told us our advantages had been far
greater than his, because it was his misfortune to pass
through College just before the great improvements in the
course of studies, — a misfortune which it now seems to me
has befallen many of us, for great improvements in the
course of study have been of frequent occurrence within
my memory.

Two of the long-forgotten things mentioned by Dr.
Porter remained in my day. One was the inauguration

350 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

of tutors by the ceremony of a public assent to the Con
fession of Faith and Form of Church Government agreed
upon by the Say brook Synod in 1708, — a method of in
auguration which was used while I was in College, and
sometime afterwards, except when the tutor elect hap
pened to be an approved dissenter from that form of gov
ernment, in which case the ceremony was dispensed with.
The other was the use of Morse's " Geography " as a book
to be recited, of which I have a feeling remembrance to
this day, — remembering well the bulk of the volumes,
but too little of what was in them. I find myself, there
fore, to have passed through College just at the era at
which Dr. Porter thought he passed through, — namely,
when the great improvements were about to be introduced ;
for my classmate, President Woolsey, was the last tutor
inaugurated by the ancient ceremony, and I think my class
was the last that recited the " Geography." (Professor
Lyman here remarked that the study was discontinued in
1825.)

I remember vividly the first glimpse I ever had of Pro
fessor Silliman, whose name I remember from my early
childhood. It was in Hartford, just after the close of the
war with Great Britain. One of the first fruits of the
peace, — at least one of the first to make a deep impres
sion on a boy of thirteen years, — was, that a queer-look
ing foreigner, an Italian, I believe, with English words
enough to buy and sell, — a strange personage in those
times, — came along, and opened a shop for a little while
in Hartford. He had in his window what seemed a won
derful assortment of prints, some of them representing
famous buildings. But what was a still greater attraction
to the school-boys, he sold torpedoes, — little wads of
paper filled with fulminating powder, and exploding with
out fire when thrown upon the ground. I was gazing at
that attractive shop-window one day, when two gentlemen,
passing along, stopped for a moment. One of them was Mr.

BEMARKS OF REV. DR. BACOtf. 351

Wadsworth of Hartford, whom of course I knew. The
other was a stranger, whose manly strength and beauty of
person and ruddy freshness of countenance were in marked
contrast with the thin features and attenuated form of Mr.
Wadsworth. They looked at a print in the window. " Do
you not recognize it ? " said Mr. Wadsworth to his com
panion. " Oh yes," was the reply ; " it is Guildhall." I
had some feeling akin to sublimity in the thought that I
was standing so near two gentlemen at once, who had
travelled to London and seen Guildhall ; and the impres
sion became deeper when I was told, a moment afterwards,
that the stranger was Professor Silliman, Mr. Wadsworth's
brother-in-law.

When I came to College two years afterwards, President
Dwight had just passed away ; and though I had heard
the names of the eminent men who had been associated
with him, and were still connected with the College, the
name that was most brilliant to my imagination was that
of Professor Silliman, who had been made famous by his
published volumes of travels in Great Britain and on the
Continent of Europe. That work — " Silliman's Journal "
it was called — made its author widely known long before
there was any popular interest in the sciences of which he
was the pioneer Professor. Thus he became — somewhat
as Dr. Dwight was in his time — a medium of connection
between the learned and scientific community of the Col
lege and the great world outside. From first to last, his
usefulness was due in no small measure to the fact that he
was an organ of communication between this College com
munity, secluded by the nature of its pursuits, and the
great outside community for which the College exists.
There was formerly — there is now — something like a
natural tendency among the people at large to be jealous
of institutions of learning, as if there was something aris
tocratic and anti-popular in them. No man in the history
of the College has done more than Professor Silliman has

M
352 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

done to overcome this jealousy, and to make the mass of
the people outside aware of the value of these institutions
to the Commonwealth, and of the value of scientific in
quiries and pursuits as related to commerce and manufac
tures, and to all productive industry. A just appreciation
of what he has done cannot be had without taking the
view from this position. Professor Silliman's celebrity as
a scientific man was gained not so much by what he did in
the way of original exploration and discovery, as* by his
skill in teaching and diffusing science, and especially by
the success of his endeavors to create an interest among
all intelligent people in the particular departments com
mitted to his charge. It is chiefly as a teacher of what
other men had discovered that he did his great work for
science. I think that many gentlemen here — especially
those whose memories of College life are thirty years old
and upward — will agree with me in saying that, to the
students of those days, the hearing of Professor Silliman's
lectures on chemistry was a definite era in their intellectual
development. My mind, since I heard those lectures and
saw the illustrative experiments, has never been the same
that it was before. They opened before me a new volume
of the great book of Nature ; they revealed to me a new
aspect of the material universe. I had studied, after a
fashion, Enfield's " Natural Philosophy," and had some
rude conception of matter considered in its mechanical
aspects and relations. But when he opened his volume
of the great book, which it is the attempt of all physical
science to interpret, I felt that a new light was thrown upon
every material thing in Nature. Thenceforward, every
thing in the universe of matter — from the mote in the
sunbeam to the sun itself, or the remotest star — was asso
ciated with thoughts of analysis and synthesis, and of ele
mentary atoms and forces. Assuming that others were
charmed and enlightened as I was, I may say that the
effect of those lectures on the hearers was lifelong, enter-

*
HIS KINDNESS. 353

ing into their intellectual existence, and modifying their
habits of observation, of thought, and inquiry, afld of
imagination.

So in that other field of science through which Pro
fessor Silliman led us in the " auld lang syne," the hearing
of his lectures was to me a memorable experience. From
that time to this, I have never seen a pebble by the way
side without some thought, distinct or indistinct, of the
ocean in which it was rounded, and the geological eras
through which it has come to us.

Benevolence was the habit of Professor Silliman's
feelings. Its genial warmth was felt by all, whether
high or low, rich or poor, who came near him. In
this regard he was no respecter of persons. Appli
cants for pecuniary aid, even when their claims were
poorly verified, he found it hard to deny. His heart
seemed to warm towards the stranger, and towards
any whom it was in his power to aid by friendly
offices. A volume might be filled with letters to
him, acknowledging acts of kindness. The follow
ing communication from a distinguished scholar
does justice to this beautiful trait of Professor Silli
man' s character.

DR. CHARLES BECK TO G. P. FISHER.

CAMBRIDGE, July 5, 1865.

DEAR SIR, — In your letter of the 1st instant, which
reached me yesterday, you ask me to communicate to you
my recollections and impressions of the late Professor Sil
liman. I comply with your request with the more readi
ness, because desirous that full justice should be done to .
that excellent man, as regards his position as a scholar, a
citizen, and a man. I can illustrate his genuine disinter-

VOL. ii 23

354 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ested kindness by an instance which cannot possibly be
open^to a question as to the purity and disinterestedness of
his motives. This instance is my own case. When I first
met Professor Sillim'an, forty years ago last February, he
was a man of wide and firmly established reputation as a
scientific man, of an honorable and influential social posi
tion, and trusted and looked up to by his fellow-citizens,
/was an unknown stranger, with no friends, who had come
to this country in search of free political institutions, and a
sphere of usefulness suited to his acquirements and abil
ity, — certainly a very unpromising subject to bestow favor
upon, if hope or expectation of a return had had a place
in Mr. Silliman's mind. Such were our relative positions
at our first meeting. Yet the reception which he gave me
could not have been more kind, more considerate, if I had
been a valued friend of many years. With that delicate
tact which distinguished all his acts of kindrtess, adapting
them to the condition, wants, and taste of the recipient, he
introduced me immediately to another of the distinguished
scholars of Yale, — Professor Gibbs, — who was, even then,
deeply read in the works of German theologians and phi
lologists, thinking that it would be pleasant for me to hold
intercourse with one of similar pursuits to mine.

I had also an opportunity of judging of his mode of lect
uring, being present at one of his lectures on chemistry.
The first circumstance which struck me very forcibly, was
the presence of a large number of young ladies, who evi
dently followed the eloquent lecturer with as close an atten
tion as the students of the College. Though my imperfect
knowledge of the language did not enable me to form a
competent judgment of the matter and form of Professor
Silliman's lecture, I could judge from the effect upon his
audience, how successful he was in imparting to others the
same deep interest for his science which he felt himself.

The genuine kindness which marked my first reception
by Professor Silliman, characterized our succeeding inter-

LETTER FROM S. F. B. MORSE, ESQ. 355

course. My memory could easily furnish me with many
striking examples, but I will close with mentioning the last
one. I happened to pass through New Haven just a week
before his death. I, of course, called upon him, but he was
unable to receive me. In a few hours after, he sent the
appended note, not knowing that I had already left town.

I almost envy you the task of preparing the biography
of so excellent a man, thus living over, as it were, the life
of a truly good man. I remain, with sincere regard,
Your obedient servant,

CHARLES BECK,

To Professor Beck : —

MY DEAR SIR,— I was much disappointed this morning to
learn that you, with Professor Salisbury, had just left our
door. A loss of voice (temporary, I trust) renders conversa
tion difficult ; but I could have seen you, gentlemen, never
theless, if you would excuse my imperfect enunciation. Mr.
Salisbury will, I trust, repeat his call at no distant day, but
as my prized opportunities of seeing you are rare, I should
still be gratified to see you and Professor Salisbury too, if
he will excuse the informality of the invitation. Always
with high respect and very kind regard,
I remain, dear sir,

Your faithful friend and servant,

B. SILLIMAN.

The following tribute is of a similar tenor : —

S. P. B. MORSE, ESQ., TO G. P. FISHER.

POUGHKEEPSIE, July 20, 1865.

MY DEAR SIR, — I have ever looked upon Pro
fessor Silliman as my ideal of a perfect Christian gentleman,
and as the model of a neighbor. He was ever ready to con
tribute to the relief of any one in distress, always ready in
a thousand delicate ways to alleviate the lacerated feelings

356 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAX.

of those under Providential bereavement, and these kindly
offices were rendered in so unobtrusive and courteous a
manner, as to enhance them tenfold. I never knew a more
unselfish man, a man of larger heart, and if I differed from
him in opinion in regard to the complicated questions of the
day, I felt assured that his views and acts were the result
of conscientious conviction. I think the cause of science
in the United States owes its progress more to Professor
Silliman than to any other individual.

His memory is cherished by me with the warmest affec
tion and deepest reverence.

All who have occasion to think or speak of Pro
fessor Silliman, are sure to revert to the courtesy of
his manners. His deportment was equally removed
from stiffness on the one hand, and from a vulgar
familiarity on the other.

" He was," says President Woolsey, " among all the men
who have lived in this city during the present century —
as I think will be conceded by everybody — the most fin
ished gentleman. And this was true of him in the highest
sense. I mean that it pertained not to his exterior, but to
his character and his soul. It was founded on a high sense
of honor, a delicate perception of what was due to others,
and was due from them to him. His dignity of manner
was not so much modelled after the old style, which the
gentlemen of the days before the Revolution handed down,
as it ran back into dignity of character ; it proceeded from
a self-valuation, which, without being assuming, takes the
right placej neither depriving others of what is their due,
nor being afraid to occupy a position which is fairly one's
own. But the radical, essential trait of his gentlemanly
character was gentleness and kindness. This led him to
study the pleasure, to respect the feelings of those in whose
society he was placed ; and this, whether they were high or

LETTER FROM REV. GEORGE JONES. 357

low in the world. For the poor, the dependent, the young,
the undistinguished, — for all, he had a good word ; and
the word was not an empty token, but the indication of the
truth that lay in the heart. Hence all loved him." *

A communication from Rev. George Jones, Chap
lain in the United States INavy, who married a niece
of Professor Silliman, touches on this and other vir
tues of his character.

• BROOKLYN, N. Y., July 24, 1865.

IT is often the case with the writings of individ
uals that some go beyond, some fall short of the real nature
of the writer, and Professor Silliman's were frequently of
the latter kind. They do not show him to be the com
panionable, hearty, genial man that he was, with sympathies
ready to gush out at any moment, though they were well
regulated. Indeed, there was a quick, spontaneous good
ness about him, which would be very apt to give way to a
degree of stiffness in the case of any one sitting down to
the more formal business of writing. I think the most
striking thing in Professor Silliman was his freshness of
feeling, even to the very last of his life. He was one of the
few, the very few, persons whom we meet, who, in this
respect seem as if they do not grow and never can grow
old. My intimate acquaintance with him commenced thirty-
seven years ago, and continued unbroken till his decease ;
and in this respect I never knew in him any change. It
was one of the greatest charms in his companionship, for it
not only made the dignity of his age and his great acquire
ments sit gracefully upon him, but it drew one powerfully
toward him from the instinctive perception that such a
heart must be a thoroughly true one towards God and
towards all men.

This leads me to speak of another thing about him ; and
that is the quick manner in which he and children always
* Funeral Discourse, p. 13.

358 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

drew towards each other, — he to them, they to him. Any
one who knew him could see this ; but I witnessed a striking
exemplification of it two years ago, during one of his visits
to this city. He had asked me to take him to see our iron
clads, and we went, first to see the Keokuk and Roanoke,
at the Novelty Iron Works, then to the Green Point Works,
also, while there, to Francis' Life-boat Manufactory, and then
across New York to one of the new monitors lying in the
Hudson. I give here the whole excursion, for it will show
his bodily activity at that period of life, since notwithstand
ing my repeated cautions as to fatigue, he was still leading
»on ; but my chief purpose was to say, that, in every omnibus
which we entered, if there were children he immediately
noticed them, and quickly made them his friends. Such
scenes were quite characteristic of the Professor, and I have
seen a great many of them in the course of our numerous
excursions together.

In this connection I may as well remark on his uniform
politeness to all the workmen, in every workshop which we
entered ; not a condescending politeness, such as we may
sometimes see used by men in high stations, and which is
more offensive far than no notice at all, but that which a
true gentleman will exhibit towards every one.

During these thirty-seven years, I have known Professor
Silliman, I believe, thoroughly, for he laid himself open to
me as probably he did to few persons, and he was indeed
always a very transparent person. I have seen him in all
situations and under all circumstances, domestic and public ;
have seen him honored and applauded, and have stood by
him in his trials ; and I believe that in all that intercourse
I never knew him to do a wrong act or say a wrong word,
or, as far as I could judge, think a wrong thought This is
saying a great deal ; and perhaps some would smile at the
extent of the eulogy ; but those who knew him will believe
that there is no extravagance in the remark. His life was
in exact accordance with his death. Both were beautiful.

HIS DOMESTIC CHARACTER. 359

I never saw him angry ; but his indignation at matters
requiring such feeling was prompt, and showed itself in
decisive words and* acts ; his impulses were quick, but
always generous and noble, and they formed a very pleasing

part of his character His religion was a constant

flame, brightening his own path, and giving light to all
around him.

The love of esteem was an evident trait of Mr.
Silliman. It was manifested from early life. Every
reader of these volumes will notice the satisfaction
he took in the appreciation accorded to his labors,
and in his extending fame. It would be a grave
error, however, to conclude that he had a sensibility
to admiration, which amounted to a weakness. He
had too much self-respect to turn out of his path to
seek applause ; he was as far as possible removed
from the spirit of envy and detraction ; and the desire
of esteem was not the mainspring of his exertions.
On the contrary, he was as frank as he was courteous,
in avowing his opinions to those who differed from
him, and he would instantly risk or sacrifice his pop
ularity rather than desert a principle. While he was
thus established in his integrity, he neither felt nor
affected a cynical indifference to the favorable opinion
of Jiis fellow-men ; and the pleasure which their ap
probation and respect gave him, was more apparent
in his case than in that of men who are less apt to
expose their feelings.

When we cross Mr. Silliman's threshold and see
him in his own family, the most attractive side of his
character is presented to view. Here the force and
gentleness that were blended in his nature, appeared
in his mild but firm sway over his children. Here

360 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

his good temper, never breaking out in sallies of
passion, made perpetual sunshine in the household.
Here, too, his vivacity and humor*had full play ; and
his kindness towards all men shone out in his just
and charitable judgments. And here the sincerity
and warmth of his heart were most manifest, and his
reverence for God and sacred things made an atmos
phere of peace around him. That this is not an
exaggerated picture of the domestic character of
Professor Silliman, can be established by the best
of testimony. We are permitted to insert the fol
lowing communication from his eldest daughter,
Mrs. Church : —

My earliest recollections are of a loving, sympathizing
and reasonable parent. I cannot recall any instance of im
patient or unjust treatment at his hands. When very young
children we were allowed to be with him in his busiest
hours, if only we played quietly without needing his inter
ference. Even now I can recall the kind tone in which he
would say, "My little girl will not trouble papa." He
always entered the house with a smile, — if we were near,
would make some playful remark, often joining in our play,
throwing his large cloak over one or two at our game of
hide-and-seek. Among my pleasant memories are long
drives with him when it was the custom to travel in one's

own carriage. A journey to H was recreation to him ;

he would drive, and tell us stories, help us to count all the
vehicles of various kinds we met on the road, ask us ques
tions in our lessons, repeat scraps of poetry, and allow us
to hold the reins while he walked up the hills. After tea,
when we were older, he would give us lessons on the globe,
explaining the latitude and longitude, and different geo
graphical terms and divisions. He, first of any one, crit-
'cized my compositions and youthful effusions, and so kindly

COMMUNICATION FROM HIS DAUGHTER. 361

and encouragingly that I never feared to go to him, lest he
should laugh at my jejune productions. In fact he never
ridiculed any for their ignorance of what to him was mere
ABC, but would patiently enlighten them, or direct
them to sources of information. He never decided dog
matically upon any question or subject which was new to
him, but would say, " Such a thing might or might not be,
he would examine before he could decide." I recall a long
period of his life when he was intensely busy, early and
late, scarcely taking time for meals and sleep, yet he would
always spare a few moments most patiently to any one
needing aid or advice. He was never fretful or complain
ing, making the best of all inconveniences, and finding some
way around all difficulties. Cheerful and hopeful, both con-
* stitutionally and by reason of the Christian faith within, his
fortitude always helped to sustain the timid, and encourage
the hesitating. Detraction, mimicry, and ridicule of the
absent, were most repugnant to him, and wTould call forth
in any of his own family a rebuke that was keenly felt. His
anger, if he can be said to have manifested that quality, was
aroused by unkindness or injustice toward others, rarely
by any treatment of which he was the recipient. He was
not merely just, but liberal and generous to a proverb,
disdaining anything niggardly or underhanded, or mean,
tintensely.

No dread of being for hours alone with papa ever came
into our young minds, for we did not fear him ; the only
thing we feared was his displeasure, and that was never
undeservedly incurred. Well do I remember, as I grew
older, the admiration I had for his noble presence, finished
manners, and elevated conversation, when he was in the
prime of his life. The polished exterior which Lord Ches
terfield's rules might give, was with him the result of
Christian kindness and association with refined and culti
vated people, irrespective of forms and conventionalities.
He was an enthusiastic traveller, knowing where to find

362 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

objects of interest, whether curiosities in nature or historical
localities ; he had a ready anecdote, or narrative of a con
versation, or a battle, which, told in his animated manner,
always impressed itself upon the memory of the young.

His very thoughtful, deferential love for our mother was
an example to her children ; nothing which would con
tribute to her comfort or pleasure was forgotten, even when
he was most engrossed in his professional labors.

It was his pure Christian character which made him
what he was in each relation of life, and which enforced
the moral and religious instruction he ever gave as oppor
tunity occurred.

Mrs. Hubbard writes of her father as follows : —

Among my earliest recollections of my dear father, his
unwearied patience and affectionate care of his little chil
dren, is vividly impressed upon my memory. Some of us
suffered from childish ailments, causing painful, wakeful
nights. Well do I remember how tenderly we were soothed,
and how patiently everything was done for our comfort, no
matter at what cost of much-needed rest for himself.

The beautiful Bible stories were first learned from his
narration ; a treat it was when we could draw from him
Daniel in the den of lions, and Joseph and his brethren.
Another treat too, was to have papa hear our Sabbath even
ing recitation of the Assembly's Catechism, — he would
make it so plain and almost pleasant to us.
' Never, I am sure, can any of us remember that he spoke
to us in anger ; his reproofs were so tender that, while they
almost broke our hearts, we felt more than ever drawn to
him in love.

His constant watchful care for our religious interests, we
can never forget ; his earliest present to us was a Bible,
the older ones each as the fourth birthday came, receiving
it, inscribed to us, from our affectionate father.

Pie was, in all his busy life, an early riser, and whoever

HIS DOMESTIC TRAITS. 363

of us was early enough, was sure to find him with his Bible
in his hand, or hear his voice raised in his morning devo
tion. In my early days, bereavements were numerous in
the household : four of the lambs of the flock were taken
away in quick succession ; then he always gathered the
broken band and led us in prayer to Him who gave and
who recalled his own.

The first of these bereavements was in the death of our
father's mother ; his grief on that occasion, and the reverent
love manifested, are fresh in my mind, and, till the last of
his life, I never knew him to pass the spot where her grave
lay without raising his hat and remaining uncovered till he
had left the place behind.

Our confidential friend he ever was ; we could go to him
with the utmost freedom and unbosom our troubles ; no
matter what business was pressing on him, he had time to
hear all, and to give us his most tender sympathy and affec
tionate counsel. Every burden was lightened when dear
father helped us to bear it. Especially was this the case
with our religious difficulties, and with some of us these
were heavy. Never can we forget how the clouds would
roll away, as he would listen patiently to all our troubles,
and then so clearly show us the true ground on which to
rest, — the infinite love and mercy of our heavenly Father,
through the grace of Christ, — and as often as the clouds
returned, so often and so tenderly would he go over the same
ground till the cloud passed to return no more. A remark
of Leigh Richmond's daughter, Z am sure, was the feeling
of us all, — " That when our hearts felt too hard and cold
to thank God for anything else, we could always thank Him
for such a father."

The traits of Professor Silliman, as they appeared
in his family life, are further touched upon in the an
nexed paragraphs from the pen of Mrs. Dana.

364 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

My childish memories of our beloved father, of course,
commence when he was already in the full maturity of life,
when having recovered from the impaired health conse
quent upon the illness and death of Trumbull, and the sub
sequent afflictions in the family, he was once again strong
and vigorous. I never knew him as in other than perfect
health, and as I grew older, fully appreciated his noble face
and manly presence.

He was forty -four when I was born, (1823,) and by the
time I was old enough to take heed of his occupations, he
was full of cares and duties, quite too busy to give the per
sonal attention to the instruction of his two younger daugh
ters, which had been the privilege of their elder sisters.
There are some bright pictures, far away in the early days,
when we children rejoiced in having him quite to ourselves.
One of these was on a journey to Springfield when I could
not have been much more than eight. He drove an open
carriage, with his little girls and a young playmate for his
companions, while our mother was with our uncle and aunt
in a coach. It was very grand, in youthful eyes, to travel
in the coach with the fine horses, but still we children all
preferred the freedom we had with him, and the interest
he took, not only in amusing us, but in giving us instruction
along the way.

I distinctly recall his manner to our invalid uncle, his
patience with narratives always minute, sometimes tedious,
and how tenderly his strength and vigor were loaned to
one who so needed both. We were accustomed to see our
father looked up to, and his gentle deference to this elder
friend was new and beautiful to us.

It was his habit early to take his children into his con
fidence, to teach them that the privacy of home and the
freedom of family conversation were a bond upon them
also. He liked to have them know arid understand what
he was doing, and often read any paper or discourse he
was preparing with peculiar care to our mother and her

HIS DOMESTIC TRAITS. 365

daughters. It was a maxim with him, that any objection
that suggested itself to one mind might occur to another,
and the modest remark of his youngest auditor received
attention. We were often called to help him " read proof,"
and were thus allowed to feel ourselves of use, — a privi
lege children keenly enjoy. His habits of neatness and
• order made it pleasant to him to find his study - table
brushed, and all things nicely arranged. By great care in
the use of my prerogative, I was gradually allowed free
scope. Often cards of memoranda might be found among
his papers, headed " Stevens" To the inquiry what this
meant, he laughingly acknowledged he could not tell ! Pie
had seen such on the table of his tutor at Fairfield, — the
Rev. Mr. Eliot, — when a mere lad, and had almost uncon
sciously followed the example. It was one of the few
habits of his life for which he could not " render a reason."
His readiness and eloquence in the lecture-room became
a proud pleasure to us, and I can well remember the amuse
ment our dear mother caused us by saying, late in her life,
that she had never heard him speak without a fear that he
might " break down." This was merely an indication of her
habitual timidity and caution. The word fail never could
have any connection with him. I went with him once to
a Lyceum lecture in this place, where, after the audience
were assembled, it was learned that the speaker could not
appear. Those in charge, in their perplexity, appealed to
our father, and on the spur of the moment he rose and
spoke, I think, nearly two hours, on the atmosphere. I
was sure we had fared better than if the original programme
had been carried out, and well remember the glee with
which we came home to tell the tale, and surprise " mother."
He was ever the life of home, loving and bright, ready
with a playful remark to encourage any brightness in his
children, but with never any sympathy for satire, or for wit
that bore a sting. He was never too tired to greet us with
a kind word, and always took a tender pleasure in having

366 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

us about him. Of a Sunday evening, when free from the
cares of the week, he sat longer in his place at the table
after tea, the two little girls often stole behind his chair,
and with each an arm around his neck, enjoyed hearing him
sing, —

" While shepherds watched their flocks by night."

He delighted to tell and we to hear, the stories of his
early home, his father's capture, and his own recollections
of his boyish life at Fairfield. His love and reverence for
his parents, came out with great force in these sketches.

As years passed on and grandchildren came to his home
and heart, we saw the tenderness of his character in a new
relation. The little ones were ever welcome, and their
feeling toward him proved the truth of his oft-repeated
remark, that " children and women always knew who
liked them." They delighted in grandpa's coming, and
soon learned to climb his knee and expect a ride. It was
a pretty picture to see two little creatures enjoying this
pleasure. I can almost hear now his hearty laugh when
told that one of the grandsons had treated his little sister's
dolls to a ride with grandpa's tune !

When in the autumn of 1859, it became necessary for
us to seek health in foreign travel, the dear old home
was most kindly opened to our two younger children.
Of course they brought care with them, but the patient
love never failed, and the letters that were so eagerly
looked for in a distant land, always bore tender notice of
the little ones. They became very dear to both grand
parents, and when in a year after our return, they were
both called to the mansions of our heavenly Father, the
sorrow was deeply shared. During the dying hour of our
little daughter, dear grandpa stole into the room, slipping
off his shoes to move more quietly. The blue eyes were
fixed upon him standing at the foot of the bed, and the
little spirit departed with the closing words of his earnest

LETTER FROM JUDGE S. J. ANDREWS. 367

prayer ! The affliction opened anew his early wound in
the death of Trumbull, and he mourned with us.

It is no small satisfaction that of the twenty-three grand
children living at the time of his death, all but two will
remember, and in different degrees appreciate, the noble
person, warm heart, and loving manner that were their
knowledge of a grandfather.

I am tempted to close this pleasant task by quoting the
words of one who was among us for a few hours only, within
the last four years : — " When I saw your father, vigorous
though venerable, and in the evening of life surrounded by
such a posterity, my thoughts went back to the times of
primitive peace, and as my lips were about to frame the
word, the ' Patriarch ' spake for himself. They were always
sublime to me, and Genesis a favorite book for its beautiful
family relationships which my own wants ever led me to
value so highly."

And thus it ever was, and with increasing beauty as this
life brightened into the perfect day. None came within
the circle of his kindness — and how far and wide it ex
tended — who did not feel themselves improved, comforted,
and armed with new courage to seek that excellence which
in him was so lovely because so full of love.

NEW HAVEN, November 18, 1865.

That the estimate of a father's excellence, which
has been presented above, is not overdrawn, is shown
by the following letter from the accomplished lawyer
who was for several years an inmate of his house
hold.

JUDGE S. J. ANDREWS TO G. P. FISHER.

CLEVELAND, June 30, 1865.

DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 10th inst. was duly
received, but found me so much occupied that I was un
able to give it immediate attention.

368 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

It was my privilege to be connected with Mr. Silliman
as his assistant, from the fall of 1821 until the winter of
1823, and for a considerable part of that time to be a mem
ber of his family. It was when his health was broken
down by care, excessive labor, and domestic affliction, and
when if ever any infirmities of temper or character were
likely to be revealed to one intimately associated with him.
I cannot pretend, however, after such a lapse of time, to
state particular facts or incidents, if such there were that
influenced my opinion ; but I retain, and shall retain to the
last hour of consciousness, the general impression made
upon me by his daily life. I thought then, — and subse
quent experience and observation have not reversed the
judgment, — that, viewed in all its aspects, his was the
most faultless character I had ever known. The nearer
you approached it the more symmetrical and beautiful it
appeared ; and those who met him only in the occasional
intercourse of society, though delighted, as all were de-
fighted, with his genial conversation and manners, had
really no adequate conception of his excellence and attrac
tiveness, as exhibited in the undress, if I may so express
myself, of domestic life. As the head of a family, he
seemed to me to be absolutely perfect. His considerate
care and kindness extended to the humblest member of
his household ; and, while he never forgot the respect that
was due to others in the relation he sustained to them, he
rendered to them just the measure of attention and regard
to which they were entitled. Under the pressure of ill
health, which so often invites forbearance even towards
good men, though his cheerfulness was occasionally abated,
he was never irritable, never impatient, never unmindful
of the claims or comfort of others, nor did he ever in my
presence utter a harsh expression or betray an unkind feel
ing towards any human being. Indeed, I used to think,
that in his estimate of men and their conduct, his charity
sometimes trespassed a little upon the domain of a just

REMARKS OF PROFESSOR WYMAN. 369

and proper discrimination. In an affectionate and united
family group, such as is not often seen in this world, he was
the central figure, imparting happiness to all, and reaping
his reward in the immeasurable love and reverence of all.
In a word, he was, in the largest and best sense of the ex
pression, a Christian gentleman, who felt the power of re
ligion in his own heart, and commended it to others by the
silent but persuasive teachings of a consistent life.

What I have written is probably too indefinite to sub
serve your purpose ; but I am afraid to enter upon details,
or to put trust in my memory, after an interval of more
than forty years, embracing the active period of life, and
devoted to the duties and exactions of a laborious pro
fession.

Such was the impression which Mr. Silliman made
on those who knew him best. It confirms the view that
was taken of him by persons whose opportunity of
intercourse with him was less. Says Professor Jef
fries Wyman (whose estimate of Mr. Silliman as a
lecturer has already been given) : —

" For Professor Silliman's life and character I have a
feeling of deep reverence. This is greater than that to
wards any other person with whom I have come in con
tact in the relation of a teacher. I prize highly, very
highly, what he taught me in science, and the direction he
gave to my studies, all unconsciously to himself; but I
have no words to express my admiration of the moral dig
nity of his character and its beneficent influence. After
the lapse of a quarter of a century, I find myself often
recurring to the teachings and example set before us
during the seasons he passed in Boston. His cordial greet
ing ; his dignified, yet often joyous, manner ; his freedom
from bigotry ; his earnestness and devotion to the pursuits
of knowledge ; his readiness to impart his stores of learn-

VOL. ii. 24

370 LIFE OP BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

ing ; his kindness of heart, and, above all, his great Christian
excellence, his peaceful and finished life, have made him to
me a model man."

Two communications from cherished friends of
Professor Sillirnan, in which his traits are correctly
depicted, though in the warm colors of friendship,
will close this memoir.

PROFESSOR C. U. SHEPARD TO G. P. FISHER.

LONDON, August 10, 1865.

MY DEAR PROFESSOR FISHER, — Yours of the 14th
ultimo has just been forwarded to me from Gottingen. To
your request for a few reminiscences of Professor Silli-
man, I respond with the utmost pleasure. You ask me to
make them as personal as possible. Were I to consult my
feelings, they would be wellnigh filial. My first acquaint
ance with his name goes back to the period when I had
just begun to read books of travel and history. Never
shall I cease to remember the strange delight with which
I pored over his journal of a residence in this land. It
introduced me to an entirely new world of ideas, to ob
jects more grand than I had ever dreamed of, characters
who seemed superhuman, sciences incomprehensible, and
adventures by sea and by land that filled me with irresist
ible longings. The perusal of the work imparted a color
to my entire existence. And, although nearly twenty
years elapsed before I met with the author, and not until
many years after the death of my father, so soon as I saw
him, my heart went out to meet hirn with the feelings of a
son. Our acquaintance originated in some contributions
to his " Journal of Science " which I had made while yet a
student in Amherst College. This had led to an exchange
of letters, and ultimately to a request of mine to become
a student in his laboratory. The proposal was kindly ac
ceded to, and I soon found myself pleasantly located at

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR C.' U. SHEPARD. 371

New Haven, in possession of unrestricted access to all the
scientific departments of the Institution. He manifested
the deepest interest in favoring and assisting me in all my
studies, permitting me to examine freely the treasures of
the Gibbs Cabinet of Minerals, — then the only one of
note in the country, — and encouraged me to engage in
chemical researches, accompanied by the generous per
mission of ordering for the Laboratory whatever might be
needed in their prosecution. After thus spending a few
months, a vacancy occurred in the office of Assistant to
the Professor of Chemistry. The Professor at once ten
dered the situation to myself. It was the more gladly ac
cepted, because it gave me the certainty of a longer and
closer intimacy with my instructor than I could have ex
pected under any other circumstances. In particular, it
brought me more frequently to his house, and gradually
into intimate relations with his family, where, I soon dis
covered, that the most attractive side of his character was
displayed. In all the virtues of the family and the household
I must ever esteem him as one of the worthiest and the
best. It is not permitted me to speak of many instances
of goodness with which, in this sphere, I became acquainted.
They are, however, indelibly impressed upon my memory,
and interwoven with the inmost fibres of my heart ; and
yet I cannot wholly avoid allusion to the family adoption
of one who preceded by several years her foster-parents
to the better world, and in whose history my own brightest
earthly joys were written. An auspicious destiny affixed
us for almost a life-long residence as his immediate neigh
bors, and for this whole period no shadow intervened to
mar our happiness, or to dim our admiration of the character
of Professor Silliman. He was a man so nearly without
faults, that if he had them they were so over-dazzled by his
excellences you could not detect them. It also strikes me
in comparing him with others that his virtues were more
nearly natural than in these. For whereas it seems to

372 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

require constant watchfulness and discipline to prevent
most persons from sometimes failing in what is graceful and
noble, with him these actions were involuntary and spon
taneous. His goodness was so untinctured by calculation,
so all-embracing, so gentle ! He deeply struck all who
came in contact with him, — the high and low, the unlearned
and the educated. These were the first words of Humboldt
to me on handing him the card of my instructor : — " Pro
fessor Silliman is an excellent character." He felt a sincere
interest in the welfare of every one with whom he came in
contact, and fully showed it by appropriate speech and
action. His manners were marked by the most natural
dignity and nobleness. For easy, sprightly, instructive con
versation, he surpassed any man I have known. He was
the charm of the social circle, and one in whose solitary
companionship you never tired. His correspondence was
equally entertaining, and reminded one of some of the best
models of the old English letter-writers. His charity to
wards his fellow-men was a striking feature in his character.
He not only lived up to the posthumous injunction against
evil speaking, but he abstained from it in respect to the
living. He encountered opposition of opinion without the
smallest discomposure, as if satisfied that all knowledge was
not yet attainable, and that nothing but the truth would
at last stand. He never manifested the common phases of
literary ambition, but seemed quite satisfied to lead a life
of general usefulness to mankind. And I think he was as
far removed as any one I have known from the vulgar im
putation of making activity a life-labor for reward. At least
the compensations on which he fixed his eyes were lofty
and remote, and such perhaps as might be inferred from a
remark he made to me respecting a common friend, who
under circumstances of great difficulty had procured the
freedojp3t-flff"£T hfgvbjv^fe^ed and almost white young man
^^(jLtl^r^'fcloilliQa^wlie^ were on the eve of being
)ld mto distant slavery.^ "y^hat," said he, " is an action

I B R A R y 1

^ *ri o * • \ r CA\ * ,/

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR C. U. SHEPARD. 373

that it will be pleasant to think of in heaven." He was
neither elated by success or depressed by disappointment.
His cheerfulness of mind and bodily elasticity were wonder
ful. I never saw him out of humor, or apparently fatigued.
He was never idle, never in a hurry. His temperance was
remarkable. The pleasure he derived from the table could
only be seen in the agreeable flow of conversation attend
ing the meal. I never heard him remark upon a dish, nor
did I ever see him drink wine. His health was perfect.
During our entire acquaintance he never complained of an
uneasiness in my hearing. He required the least amount
of sleep for the preservation of all this vigor and freshness,
of any man of whom I have read. Gloomy anticipations
found with him no resting-place. Of death he used to
speak with the utmost composure ; and he has said to me
while we were occupied with the experiments to be pro
duced at his lecture, that he was just as ready to go then,
if it was God's will, as from any other place, or at any other
time.

I do not of course speak of the claims of Professor
Silliman as a patriot, a philanthropist, a scholar, or a
Christian ; others will better testify on all these points.
But I may perhaps be permitted to observe in closing that
I cannot doubt of his free admission to a place among the
deserving names of mankind. Had the energies of his life,
instead of being devoted to the diffusion of science in a
new country, been concentrated upon a single department
of knowledge, his claims to scientific eclat would be more
easily established ; just as the deep grooves across a moun
tain of granite produced by the passage of an ancient ice
berg, are better seen than the more beneficent effects, even,
that result from the deposition of the same amount of
water over fertile fields, under the gentle form of dew.

374 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

REV. DR. SPRAGUE TO G. P. FISHER.

ALBANY, July 11, 1865.

MY DEAR PROFESSOR FISHER, — I will not dissemble
the fact that I feel honored by your request that I should
communicate to you some of my recollections of our dear
and venerated friend, Professor Silliman, in aid of your
proposed memoir of him ; but I greatly fear that the best I
can do, in compliance with your request, will disappoint
you. My relations with him during several of his last years,
were indeed intimate, even affectionate ; but our meetings
were by no means frequent, and nearly all our intercourse
was through the medium of a correspondence which is
already in your possession. I will state a few incidents in
connection with the history of my acquaintance with him,
which come readily to my remembrance, together with the
general impression which his character made upon me.

My first knowledge of Professor Silliman dates back to
the period when he returned from Europe, after his sojourn
there with a view to prepare himself for the duties of his
professorship. His name, at this time, became well known
in and around my native place, (Andover, Conn.,) from the
fact that Andover was in the neighborhood of Lebanon, the
residence of Governor Trumbull, to whose daughter he was
engaged to be married ; and the visits that he used to make
to this charming lady served as materials for gossip a dozen
miles off. After awhile the Journal of his travels and
residence abroad appeared in two volumes, and though I
was not much more than a dozen years old, well do I
remember with what wonder and delight I followed him
about in his transatlantic wanderings, and how much more
interested I was in those books than in any others I had
ever read. When I came to College in 1811, I was not a
little curious to see the man of whom I had heard so much,
and with whose writings my youthful mind had become so
entranced. When he was pointed out to me, I thought

LETTER FROM REV. DR. SPRAGUE. 375

him, so far as everything pertaining to his countenance and
figure, his air and manner, was concerned,- just about the
most perfect specimen of humanity that I had ever fallen
in with. During the first two years of my College life, I do
not remember ever to have spoken with Mr. Silliman, nor
indeed in my Junior year, except as he questioned me in
common with the rest of the class, to find out what we had
remembered of his chemical and mineralogical lectures.
But I used to gaze at him every Sunday, as he sat in the
gallery of the old chapel, in spite of Dr. Dwight's eloquent
and powerful preaching, as if part at least of my errand
there had been to admire a graceful and beautiful person.
If my memory serves me, the first time I ever spoke with
him was in April, 1815, less than six months before the
close of my College course ; and both the occasion and the
nature of the interview are embalmed in my memory. It
was during a revival of religion which swept with power
through the College, and brought the most thoughtless into
an attitude of serious reflection, and, in respect to not a
small number, seemed to work the great change decisive
of their eternal destiny. My own mind was drawn power
fully in a new direction, insomuch that I felt myself obliged
to stay away from the recitations and lectures, I believe, for
two or three days. As I was coming up Chapel Street one
morning, I saw Professor Silliman at a little distance from
me, and as I knew that I had to render my excuse for
absence from his lectures, I thought I might as well do it
then ; and I accordingly approached him, stated to him the
reason of my absence, and begged him to excuse me. His
answer was so kind, I may say so sympathetic, that he not
only put me entirely at rest, but drew me to him in cords
of gratitude and affection ; and I suppose his kindly demon
strations were all the more pleasing from my having just
been told that one of my classmates, in similar circum
stances, had offered the same excuse to another member
of the Faculty, and had been given to understand that it

376 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN.

was hardly sufficient, as one duty could not be allowed to
crowd out another. I do not remember to have had any
further personal interviews with Mr. Silliman, while I re
mained at New Haven, except that just at the close of my
College life he did something towards procuring me a place
as a teacher, and showed great kindness in introducing me
to it.

After I left College, I occasionally met Mr. Silliman at
New Haven and elsewhere ; but though I ventured to
reckon him among my friends, and more than once received
from him expressions of good-will, I never felt that my
relations with him were intimate until some ten or twelve
years ago. At the dedication of the Dudley Observatory
in 1856, — an occasion which I believe brought together
a greater number of distinguished persons than were ever,
at any other time, assembled in our city, — our venerable
friend was present, and I had the honor of having him for
a guest ; and I never saw him when he was more communi
cative or agreeable. Mr. Everett, and one or two other
kindred spirits were with us at the same time ; and each
rendered the others more brilliant and interesting. Though
the Professor had then numbered more than his threescore
and ten years, he was just as bright and sociable and cheer
ful, just as ready to impart, and as eager to obtain, informa
tion on every subject, as if he had been at the zenith of his
activity.

The last time I saw him was at the Yale College Com
mencement in 1860, when his mind and his heart were full
of the perils that seemed to hang over the country. He
expressed the strongest conviction that slavery was at once
our great national calamity and sin, and that that must be
wiped out before our nation could ever attain to the glo
rious destiny that awaits it. Either in conversation or in
one of his letters, he gave me a detailed account of the
outrageous insult of which he was the subject from a set of
rebel vandals in New Orleans, who removed from its place,

LETTER FROM REV. DR. SPRAGUE. 377

in some public building, a fine picture of him, for which
he had been requested to sit, and destroyed it by throwing
it into the river.* On the whole, when I think of Profes
sor Silliman, I bring before me a man who had as few in
firmities, and as many sterling good qualities, as we can
reasonably expect to find in this imperfect state. I recall
with admiration his attractive exterior ; his fine person and
winning address ; but with much greater admiration his
noble qualities of mind and heart ; his quickness of percep
tion ; his facility at combining and arranging his vast
stores of knowledge, and his graceful style of communica
tion ; his invincible fidelity to his own convictions ; his
kindness, his charity, and above all, his earnest devotion to
the cause of Christ, — as I think of these and other traits,
his character rises before me as a specimen of humanity
in its most exalted form. The best wish I can express
for my dear old Alma Mater is, that this character may be
reproduced in all who shall hereafter occupy her high
places.

* Recent intelligence renders it probable tbat Professor Silliman had
been misinformed, and that the picture was not destroyed. — F.

APPENDIX I.

LETTERS TO THE SECOND GOVERNOR TRUMBULL FROM
GENERAL WASHINGTON AND MARTHA WASHINGTON.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR TRUMBULL.*

MOUNT VERNON, December 4, 1788.

MY DEAR SIR, — It is some time since I had the pleasure to
receive your favor of the 28th of October, but as I had nothing
particular to send in return, I postponed writing until the present
time, to see whether anything new would turn up. Nothing of
importance has occurred ; but in the mean time, I was extremely
happy to find that your State was going on so well as to Federal
affairs ; and you will permit me to say, that I have been not a little
pleased with observing that you have stood so high in the nomina
tion for representatives to Congress.

In general, the appointments to the Senate seem to have been
very happy. Much will depend upon having disinterested and
respectable characters in both Houses ; for if the new Congress
should be composed of characters in whom the citizens will natu
rally place confidence, it will be a most fortunate circumstance for
conciliating their good-will to the government, and then if the
government can be carried on without touching the purses of the
people too deeply, I think it will not be in the power of the adver
saries of it to throw everything into confusion, by effecting pre
mature amendments. A few months will, here even, show what
we are to expect.

I believe you know me sufficiently well, my dear Trumbull, to
conceive that I am very much perplexed and distressed in my own
mind, respecting the subject to which you allude. If I should
(unluckily for me) be reduced to the necessity of giving an an
swer to the question, which you suppose will certainly be put to

* This letter was written a few months before the new government went
into operation. Washington was inaugurated, April 30, 1789. — F.

380 APPENDIX.

me, I would fain do what was in all respects best. But how can I
know what is best, or on what shall I determine ? May Heaven
assist me in forming a judgment, for at present I see nothing but
clouds and darkness before me. Thus much I may safely say to
you in confidence ; if ever I should, from any apparent necessity,
be induced to go from home in a public character again, it will
certainly be the greatest sacrifice of feeling and happiness that ever
was or ever can be made by him who will have, in all situations,
the pleasure to profess himself with sentiments of real esteem,
Your affectionate friend and obed*. servant,

G°- WASHINGTON.
THE HON. JONATHAN TRUMBULL.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR TRUMBULL.

PHILADELPHIA, March 3, 1797.

MY DEAR SIR, — Before the curtain drops on my political life,
which it will do this evening, — I expect forever, — I shall acknowl
edge, although it be in a few hasty lines only, the receipt of your
kind and affectionate letter of the 23d of January last.

When I add that, according to custom, all the acts of the ses
sion, except two or three very unimportant bills, have been pre
sented to me within the last four days, you will not be surprised
at the pressure under which I write at present ; but it must aston
ish others who know that the Constitution allows the President ten
days to deliberate on each bill that is brought before him, that he
should be allowed by the legislature less than half that time to
consider all the business of the session ; and in some instances,
scarcely an hour, to revolve the most important. But as the scene
is closing with me, it is of little avail now to let it be with mur
murs.

I should be very unhappy if I thought my relinquishing the
reins of government would produce any of the consequences
which your fears forebode. In all free governments, contention
in elections will take place ; and whilst it is confined to our own
citizens, it is not to be regretted, — but severely indeed ought it
to be reprobated when occasioned by foreign machinations. I
trust, however, that the good sense of our countrymen will guard
the public weal against this, and every other innovation ; and that,
although we may be a little wrong, now and then, we shall return

APPENDIX. 381

to the right path with more avidity. I can never believe that
Providence, which has guided us so long, and through such a
labyrinth, will withdraw its protection at this crisis.

Although I shall resign the chair of government without a sin
gle regret, or any desire to intermeddle in politics again, yet there
are many of my compatriots (among whom be assured I place you)
from whom I shall part sorrowing ; because, unless I meet with
them at Mount Vernon, it is not likely I shall ever see them more,
as I do not expect I shall ever be twenty miles from it after I am
tranquilly settled there. To tell you how glad I should be to see
you at that place is unnecessary ; but this I will add, that it would
not only give me pleasure, but pleasure also to Mrs. Washington
and others of the family, with whom you are acquainted ; and who
all unite in every good wish for you and yours, with, dear sir,
Your sincere friend and affectionate servant,

G°- WASHINGTON.

JONATHAN TRUMBULL, Esq.

The early part of the following letter relates to a plan
for emancipating the Southern dependencies of European
powers in America, and of combining with them in a system
of common defence. This scheme had been broached in
a letter of Colonel Trumbull to Washington.* The con
cluding portion of the annexed letter, together with the
communication from Washington which follows it, presents
an interesting disclosure of his feelings in view of a proposi
tion that he should stand as a candidate for the Presidency
for a third term. His sentiments in regard to the position
of the Federal party and the character of their opponents,
are clearly set forth.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR TRUMBULL.

MOUNT VERNON, July 21, 1799.

MY DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 22d ultimo got to my
hands yesterday, only. It came safe, and without any apparent
marks of violence ; but whence the length of its passage, I am
unable to inform you.

* The letter of Colonel Trumbull with the response of "Washington, may
be found in Colonel Trumbull's Reminiscences, Appendix, (p. 379, $eq.)

382 APPENDIX.

To you, and to your brother, Colonel John Trumbull, I feel
much indebted for the full, frank, and interesting communication
of the political sentiments contained in both your letters.

The project of the latter is vast, — and under any circumstances
would require very mature consideration ; but in its extent, and
an eye being had to the disorganizing party in the United States,
I am sure it would be impracticable in the present order of things.

JSot being able to convey my ideas to you, on this subject, in
more concise terms than I have already done to your brother, in
answer to the letter he informs you he had written to me, I shall
take the liberty of giving you an extract thereof, as follows: —

" For the political information contained in it, (that is, his letter,)
" I feel grateful, as I always shall for the free unreserved commu-
" nication of your sentiments upon subjects so important in their
" nature and tendency. No well-informed and unprejudiced man,
" who has viewed with attention the conduct of the French gov-
" eminent since the revolution in that country, can mistake its
"objects, or the tendency of the ambitious projects it is pursu-
" ing. Yet, strange as it may seem, a party, and a powerful one
" too, among us, affect to believe that the measures of it are dic-
" tated by a principle of self-preservation ; that the outrages of
" which the Directory are guilty, proceed from dire necessity ; that
" it wishes to be upon the most friendly and amicable terms with
" the United States ; that it will be the fault of the latter if this is
" not the case ; that the defensive measures which this country has
" adopted, are not only unnecessary and expensive, but have a
** tendency to produce the evil which, to deprecate, is mere pre-
" tence in the government ; because war with France, they say, is
" its wish ; that on the militia we should rest our security ; and
" that it is time enough to call upon these when the danger is
" imminent and apparent.

" With these and such like ideas attempted to be inculcated upon
"the public mind (aided by prejudices not yet eradicated), and
" with art and sophistry, which regard neither truth nor decency ;
" attacking every character, without respect to persons, public or
" private, who happen to differ from themselves in politics, I leave
" you to decide on the probability of carrying such an extensive
" plan of defence as you have suggested in your last letter, into
" operation, and in the short period which you suppose may be
" allowed to accomplish it in."

APPENDIX. 383

I come now, my dear sir, to pay particular attention to that part
of your letter which respects myself.

I remember well the conversation which you allude to, and
have not forgot the answer I gave you. In my judgment it ap
plies with as much force now as then ; nay more, because at that
time the line between parties was not so clearly drawn, and the
views of the opposition so clearly developed as they are at pres
ent: of course, allowing your observation (as it respects myself )
to be founded, personal influence would be of no avail.

Let that party set up a broomstick, and call it a true son of
liberty, — a democrat, — or give it any other epithet that will suit
their purpose, and it will command their votes in toto ! * Will
not the Federalists meet, or rather defend their cause, on the op
posite ground ? Surely they must, or they will discover a want
of policy, indicative of weakness and pregnant of mischief; which
cannot be admitted. Wherein, then, would lie the difference
between the present gentleman in office, and myself?

It would be matter of sore regret to me, if I could believe that
a serious thought was turned towards me as his successor, not only
as it respects my ardent wishes to pass through the vale of life in
retirement, undisturbed in the remnant of the days I have to so
journ here, unless called upon to defend my country (which every
citizen is bound to do), but on public ground also ; for, although
I have abundant cause to be thankful for the good health with
which I am blessed, yet I am not insensible to my declination in
other respects. It would be criminal, therefore, in me, although it
should be the wish of my countrymen, and I could be elected, to ac
cept an office under this conviction, which another would discharge
with more ability ; and this, too, at a time when I am thoroughly
convinced I should not draw a single vote from the anti-Federal
side, and, of course, should stand upon no other ground than any
other Federal character well supported ; and, when I should be
come a mark for the shafts of envenomed malice and the basest
calumny to fire at, — when I should be charged not only with
irresolution, but with concealed ambition, which waits only an
occasion to blaze out, — and, in short, with dotage and imbecility.
All this, I grant, ought to be like dust in the balance, when put
in competition with a great public good, when the accomplishment
of it is apparent. But, as no problem is better defined in my

* As an analysis of this position, look to the pending election of Gov
ernor in Pennsylvania.

384 APPENDIX.

mind than that principle, not men is now, and will be, the object
of contention ; and that I could not obtain a solitary vote from
that party ; that any other respectable Federal character would
receive the same suffrages that I should ; that at my time of life
(verging towards threescore and ten) I should expose myself,
without rendering any essential service to my country, or answer
ing the end contemplated; prudence on my part must arrest any
attempt of the well-meant but mistaken views of my friends to
introduce me again into the chair of government.

Lengthy as this letter is, I cannot conclude it without express
ing an earnest wish that some intimate and confidential friend of
the President's would give him to understand that his long absence
from the seat of government, in the present critical conjuncture,
affords matter for severe animadversion by the friends of govern
ment, who speak of it with much disapprobation ; while the other
party chuckle at and set it down as a favorable omen for them
selves. It has been suggested to me to make this communication,
but I have declined it, conceiving that it would be better received
from a private character, more in the habits of social intercourse
and friendship.

With the most sincere friendship and affectionate regard,
I am, always,

Your obedient servant,

G°. WASHINGTON.

His Excellency

JONATHAN THUMB ULL.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR TRUMBULL.

MOUNT VERNON, 3Qth August, 1799.

MY DEAR SIR, — Your favor of the 10th instant came duly to
hand. It gave me pleasure to find, by the contents of it, that
your sentiments respecting the comprehensive project of Colonel
Trumbull coincided with those I had expressed to him.

A very different state of politics must obtain in this country,
and more unanimity prevail in our public counsels, than is the
case at present, ere such a measure could be undertaken with the
least prospect of success. By unanimity alone the plan could be
accomplished : — while, then, a party, and a strong one too, is hang
ing upon the wheels of government, opposing measures calculated

APPENDIX. 385

solely for internal defence, and is endeavoring to defeat all the
laws which have been passed for this purpose, by rendering them
obnoxious, to attempt anything beyond this, would be to encoun
ter certain disappointment. And yet, if the policy of this coun
try, or the necessity occasioned by the existing opposition to its
measures, should suffer the French to possess themselves of Louisi
ana and the Floridas, either by exchange or otherwise, I will
venture to predict, without the gift of " second sight" that there
will be " no peace in Israel," — or, in other words, that the rest
less, ambitious, and intriguing spirit of that people will keep the
United States in a continual state of warfare with the numerous
tribes of Indians that inhabit our frontiers, for doing which their
" diplomatic skill " is well adapted.

With respect to the other subject of your letter, I must again
express a strong and ardent wish and desire that no eye, no
tongue, no thought, may be turned towards me for the purpose
alluded to therein. For, besides the reasons which I urged
against the measure in my last, and which, in my judgment and
by my feelings, are insurmountable, you yourself have furnished a
cogent one.

You have conceded, what before was self-evident in my mind,
namely, that not a single vote would thereby be drawn from the
anti-Federal candidate. You add, however, that it might be a mean
of uniting the Federal votes. Here, then, my dear sir, let me
ask, what satisfaction, what consolation, what safety, should I find
in support which depends upon caprice ?

If men, not principles, can influence the choice on the part of
the Federalists, what but fluctuations are to be expected ? The
favorite to-day may have the curtain dropped on him to-mor
row, while steadiness marks the conduct of the Anti's ; and who
ever is not on their side must expect to be loaded with all the
calumny that malice can invent ; in addition to which I should
be charged with inconsistency, concealed ambition, dotage, and a
thousand more et ceteras.

It is too interesting not to be again repeated, that if principles,
instead of men, are not the steady pursuit of the Federalists, their
cause will soon be at an end ; if these are pursued, they ivill not
divide at the next election of a President ; if they do divide on so
important a point, it would be dangerous to -trust them on any
other, — and none except those who might be solicitous to fill the

VOL. ii. 25

386 APPENDIX.

chair of government would do it. In a word, my dear sir, I am too
far advanced into the vale of life to bear such buffeting as I should
meet with in such an event. A mind that has been constantly
on the stretch since the year 1753, with but short intervals and
little relaxation, requires rest and composure ; and I believe that
nothing short of a serious invasion of our country (in which case
I conceive it to be the duty of every citizen to step forward in its
defence) will ever draw me from my present retirement. But,
let me be in that or in any other situation, I shall always remain,

Your sincere friend, and affectionate humble servant,
His Excellency G°. WASHINGTON.

GOVERNOR TRUMBULL.

MARTHA WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR TRUMBULL.*

MOUNT VERNON, January 15, 1800.

DEAR SIR, — When the mind is deeply affected by those irrep
arable losses which are incident to humanity, the good Christian
will submit without repining to the dispensations of Divine Prov
idence, and look for consolation to that Being who alone can pour
balm into the bleeding heart, and who has promised to be the
widow's God. But, in the severest trials, we find some allevia
tion to our grief in the sympathy of sincere friends ; and I should
not do justice to my sensibility, was I not to acknowledge that
your kind letter of condolence of the 30th of December was
grateful to my feeling. I well knew the affectionate regard which
my dear deceased husband always entertained for you, and there
fore conceive how afflicting his death must have been to you.
The quotation which you have given of what was written to you
on a former melancholy occasion, is truly applicable to this. The
loss is ours ; the gain is his.

For myself, 1 have only to bow with humble submission to the
will of that God who giveth and who taketh away, looking for
ward with faith and hope to the moment when I shall be again
united with the partner of my life. But, while I continue on
earth, my prayers will be offered up for the welfare and happiness
of my friends, among whom you will always be numbered, being,

Dear Sir,
Your sincere and afflicted friend,

MARTHA WASHINGTON.

* This letter was in response to a letter of condolence, written after the
death of General Washington.

APPENDIX II.

LETTERS TO COLONEL JOHN TRUMBULL FROM LAFAYETTE,
JOHN ADAMS, JEFFERSON, BENJAMIN WEST, AND LORD
GRENVILLE.

FROM LAFAYETTE TO COLONEL TRUMBULL.*

PARIS, January 4, 1824.

MY DEAR SIR, — Words cannot sufficiently express how happy
you have made me by your most valuable and no less welcome
present. I received it in my usual family retirement at La Grange,
and was delighted with many happy recollections it did produce,
among which the pleasure of my friendly acquaintance with the
painter had a very great share. I at once recognized all the por
traits, and think you have been remarkably fortunate in hitting not
only the features but the manners and deportment of the principal
characters. It is so much the case, that my children, who, George
excepted, were very young when they had a peep at John Adams,
pointed out the father from their acquaintance with the son. Han
cock, Charles Thompson, Jefferson, Franklin, Roger Sherman,
&c., &c., suddenly appeared to me in the grand act which has be
gun the era of national freedom and self-government. I hailed
the banner under which I enlisted in my youth, and shall die in
old age ; and I bless the great artist, the good fellow-citizen and
soldier to whom I was obliged for so many lively, affectionate, and
patriotic sensations.

It is to me also an inexpressible gratification to think your ad
mirable pencil has fixed me on the grand central rotunda of the
capitol of the United States, in the situation where I like myself
best, namely, in my American regimentals, under our Republican
continental colors, at the head of my beloved, gallant, affectionate
light infantry, at the successful close of the Virginia campaign. I
cannot promise you my actual features would do justice to your
portrait of that time ; but the heart is the same.

* In acknowledgment of the present of a copy of the engraving of Trum-
bull's picture of the Declaration of Independence. — F.

388 APPENDIX.

The account you give of the great water communication through
those countries which I saw, for the most part, a wilderness, while
I acted as commander in the Northern Department, is truly en
chanting. In those wonders of freedom, national sense, and unshac
kled industry, my mind seeks a refuge from too many disgusts and
disappointments on this side of the Atlantic. Let us not, however,
despair of European liberty, much less range among those who
create discouragement by proclaiming it; but .let it be also the fun
damental rule of the American Republics to beware of any sort of
European influence, whether hostile or friendly, — the pretended
benevolence of the British government having of late been as
much if not more fatal to Italy, the Peninsula, and by and by,
probably, to Greece, than all the violence of the pretended holy
alliance of a gang of continental monarchs and aristocrats. Amidst
so much despotism, privilege, corruption, perfidy, and servility, the
message of the President has suddenly appeared as an admirable
mass of light to show to the nations of Europe what is a free people,
and a popular magistrate. Receive my most affectionate thanks,
good wishes, and regards, and believe me, forever,

Your sincere constant friend,

LAFAYETTE.

JOHN ADAMS TO COLONEL TRUMBULL.

QUINCY, January 1, 1817.

MY DEAR SIR, — Your kind letter of the 26th of December
has given me more pleasure than it would be prudent or decent
for me to express.

Your design has my cordial approbation and best wishes. But
you will please to remember that the burin and the pencil, the
chisel and the trowel, have in all ages and countries, of which we
have any information, been enlisted on the side of despotism and
superstition. I should have said, of superstition and despotism, for
superstition is the first and universal cause of despotism.

Characters and counsels and actions, merely social, merely civil,
merely political, merely moral, are always neglected and forgotten.

Architecture, sculpture, painting, and poetry, have conspired
against the rights of mankind ; and the Protestant religion is now
unpopular and odious, because it is not friendly to the fine arts.

I am not, however, a disciple of Rousseau. Your country ought

APPENDIX. 389

to acknowledge itself more indebted to you than to any other art
ist who ever existed ; and I therefore heartily wish you success.

But I must beg pardon of my country when I say, that I see no
disposition to celebrate or remember, or even curiosity to inquire
into the characters, actions, or events, of the Revolution.

I am, therefore, more inclined to despair than to hope for your
success in Congress, though I wish it with all niy heart.

I should be glad to be informed of your progress, being, with
sincere esteem and real affection,

Your friend,

COL. TRUMBULL. JOHN ADAMS.

JOHN ADAMS TO COLONEL TRUMBULL.

QUINCY, March 18, 1817.

DEAR SIR, — I thank you for your favor of the 3d, and con
gratulate you on your success, which I hope and believe will be an
honorable and noble establishment, though it may not be so lucra
tive as I wish it, for life.

There is a coincidence of circumstances which affects me very
sensibly. A son of Governor Trumbull so meritorious and so
conspicuous a character in the Revolution, an officer of rank and
merit in the Revolutionary army, a painter of Warren and Mont
gomery, is now destined to transmit to posterity some of its most
celebrated military events ; one only merely political.

The dimensions, eighteen by twelve, appear vast : though I
never passed through Antwerp without gazing at all the paintings
of Rubens, I cannot depend upon my memory to say that even
his " Descent from the Cross," or his " Apotheosis of the Virgin,"
exceed these measures.

I have been informed that one of the greatest talents of a paint
er, is a capacity to comprehend a large space, and to proportion
all his figures to it.

Truth, nature, fact, should be your sole guide. Let not our
posterity be deluded by fictions under pretence of poetical or
graphical licenses.

Now sir, as I have taken the liberty of friendship to preach to
you, I ask your indulgence for a question or two.

Who of your profession will undertake to paint a debate or an
argument ? Discussions in the legislature we call debates ; the
disputes in the tribunals of justice we call arguments.

390 APPENDIX.

Who will paint the argument in the council chambers in Bos
ton, in the month of February, 1761, between Mr. Gridley and
Mr. Otis, upon the question of Writs of Assistants ? I dare not
draw the characters of Gridley or Otis. The latter, as if he had
been inspired with a spirit of prophecy, laid open to the view of a
crowded audience all that has since happened in America. Here
the Revolution commenced. Then and there the child was born.

Who will paint Samuel Adams at the head of ten thousand free
men and volunteers, with his quivering paralytic hands in the
council chamber shaking the souls of Hutchinson and Dalrymple,
and driving down to the Castle the two offending regiments, which
Lord North ever afterwards called '* Sam Adams's two regiments " ?

I have known enough of your discretion to believe it unneces
sary to caution you to consider this letter as confidential from

Your friend,

JOHN TRUMBULL, Esq. JOHN ADAMS.

THOMAS JEFFERSON TO COLONEL TRUMBULL.

MONTICELI,O, January 10, 1817.

DEAR SIR, — Our last mail brought me your favor of Decem
ber 26. The lapse of twenty-eight years which you count since
our first intimacies has diminished in nothing my affection for you.
We learn, as we grow old, to value early friendships, because the
new-made do not fit us so closely. It is an age since I have heard
of Mrs. Church. Yet her place in my bosom is as warm as ever ;
and so is Kitty's. I think I learned from some quarter that Mrs.
Cosway was retired to a religious house somewhere. And Madame
de Corny, what is become of her ? Is she living or dead ? Thus
you see how your letter calls up recollections of our charming
coterie of Paris, now scattered and estranged, but not so in either
my memory or affection. It has made' me forget, too, that the tor-
pitude of age, with a stiffening wrist, (the effect of its Paris dislo
cation,) warns me to write letters seldom and short. To the object
of yours, therefore. You think you need a borrowed patronage at
Washington. No, my dear sir, your own reputation, your talent,
known to all, is a patronage with all; to which any addition
offered would be impertinent, if you did not ask it ; and mine es
pecially is now obsolete. The turns of the magic lanthern have
shifted all the figures ; and those it now presents are strangers to

APPENDIX. 391

me. Merely to show you my willingness, however, I inclose you
a letter to Colonel Monroe, who, without it, would do everything
he could for you, and with it not the less. His warm heart infuses
zeal into all his good offices. I give it to him the rather, also, be
cause he will be in place when you will need them. Mr. Madison
will be away, and it would be useless to add to the labors of his
letter-reading ; and I know, moreover, his opinions and dispositions
towards you to be as favorable as can be wished. I rejoice that
the works you have so long contemplated are likely to come to
light. If the legislature, to the reedification of the public build
ings, will take up with spirit their decoration also, yours must be
the first object of their attentions.

I hope they will do it, and honor themselves, their country, and
yourself, by preserving these monuments of our Revolutionary
achievements.

My daughter, whom you knew an infant, has, with her family,
given me a dozen associates at our daily table. She is well, and re
members all her friends affectionately. I am, as I ever have been,

Sincerely yours,

COLONEL TRUMBULL. TH: JEFFERSON.

BENJAMIN WEST TO COLONEL TRUMBULL.

DEAR SIR, — The letter you favored me with on your arrival
at New York, did not come to hand till three months and one day
after the date, and then brought by the penny-post, and not by
the gentleman whom it was meant to introduce to a sight of my
paintings.

The favorable opportunity by my nephew, John Clarkson, re
turning to Philadelphia, I could not permit to pass without giving
you this letter, and some account of the arts and artists here.

Mr. Sharp is attentive to the plate from your picture of Gibral
tar, and promises to be successful in that production.

The " Chatham," by Bartolozzi, is not yet ready, Copley finding
some points not to his satisfaction. Bartolozzi has just finished a
large print from my picture of St. Paul, at Greenwich, in a style
much to my satisfaction, being a mixture of etching and engrav
ing united, and forms a print exactly answering to my finished
sketches in painting.

Sir Joshua Reynolds, through the misfortune of being deprived

392 APPENDIX.

of the sight of one of his eyes, has dropped the pencil, and, in all
probability, the transcending powers of young Lawrence, in por
trait painting, will be the man to succeed him in that department
of art. My son, Raphael, with his brother, has returned from
Switzerland ; he has brought a rich portfolio of sketches from the
grand features of that country, and is just on the point of finish
ing a larger picture from Shakspeare's " Tempest." The moment
is, where the ship is cast on shore, and Trinculo finds Caliban,
through fear, lying on the ground. I believe there is not a pict
ure to be found where the elements are so masterly brought to
gether, and more imagination shown than in this picture.

My pencil is now proceeding with the pictures of the great de
sign of his Majesty's Chapel, in Windsor Castle. I have executed
several of the large pictures for it since you left this country,
besides a large cartoon to paint from on glass, for a window in the
Collegiate Church at Windsor, and a finished sketch for my next
great picture for Alderman BoydelPs Shakspeare Gallery ; the
subject is " Ophelia in Madness before the King and Queen." The
many that have seen it are pleased to compliment me on its suc
cess. I have made another sketch which is for Macklin's Gallery,
from which a print is to be made for his Bible ; the subject is,
*' Christ showing a Little Child as the Emblem of Heaven."

But of all the artists that have attained the power of giving life
to their productions, it is Mrs. Cosway ; for the beginning of last
June, she produced a living child of the feminine gender, arid be
fore six weeks were at an end, she took her departure for Rome,
and left Cosway to nurse the child

If this hasty scribble can afford you any entertainment, I shall
be happy ; as for any other news, the general accounts will inform
you this country thinks of nothing else but fighting the Spaniards.

Mr. Poggi is again in Holland ; Mrs. Poggi and her children

are well. Mrs. B is at Fulham with her friend, Mrs. King,

who had the misfortune to have her only son killed in a duel, ten
days past, at Margate.

Mrs. West and my sons are well ; they desire to be remembered
to you.

I am, dear sir,

Your obedient servant,

BENJAMIN WEST.
LONDON, October 14, 1790.

APPENDIX. 393

My nephew, John Clarkson, will show you the print of St. Paul,
from the picture at Greenwich.

To MJK. TKUMBULL.

BENJAMIN WEST TO COLONEL TIIUMBULL.

LONDON, February 6, 1805.

DEAR SIR, — Mr. Calton moving with his family to New
York, I embrace the opportunity by him to give this letter the
chance of finding you there. Mrs. West, myself, and all the
Poggies, with many of your other friends, are apprehensive that
some misfortune has befallen you or Mrs. Trumbull, that has oc
casioned none of us hearing from you since your departure from
England. Speaking of the Poggies, I have to inform you that
Mr. Poggi is now with his family ; he returned to them through
Holland in October last. They are well, and are distressed in
not hearing from Mrs. Trumbull, as are likewise Mrs. West and
myself, for we want to know how the climate of America, etc.,
agrees with her.

Our politics, as a fighting, money-making people, go on much
as when you left us last year : it is a stream which overwhelms
everything else. The fine arts are but little thought of in our
military dash, except by his Majesty (who, thank God, is in per
fect good health, as I witnessed some days past, when I was with
him in Windsor Castle for several hours), who at present is form
ing in that Castle a collection, made from all his other palaces, of
the best pictures they contained ; the Queen's house is utterly
stripped, so are Kensington and Hampton Court; but his Majesty,
not to deprive Mr. Holloway of the opportunity of finishing his en
gravings from the Cartoons, has sent them to their old station at
Hampton Court, there to remain till he (Holloway) has finished
them. His Majesty resides in the Castle, and told rne that he
now felt himself at home, — where, I say, may he long continue.
He has recently, by a single act, placed all those vipers (who have
been endeavoring to sting and drive me from the Chair of the
Royal Academy for some years past) under my feet. The fact
was simply as follows:— On the 10th of December last, — the
time for electing the President and the other officers for the en
suing year, — Mr. Trisham rose and addressed the general assem
bly — viz., that they were then to make choice of a proper person

394 APPENDIX.

to fill the Chair of that Institution ; and, as the present President
had not done his duty as President, and had lost his Majesty's con
fidence, it would be highly improper to reelect him ; and as it was
proper that one should fill the Chair who had his Majesty's confi
dence, Mr. Wyatt was that person. He therefore proposed Mr.
Wyatt to the general assembly to be elected as their future
President. He was supported in this by Sir Francis Bourgeoise,
Sir William Beachey, Mr. Copley, Cosway, Yenn, and others.
Mr. Trisharn — to give more force to what he had advanced
respecting the President having lost his Majesty's confidence —
informed the general assembly that he would substantiate its
truth, or he should hold himself the most contemptible of all
beings, unworthy of a seat in that Academy, and deserving the
contempt of all its members ; and then informed them that Mr.
Yenn had a message from his Majesty, which he was commanded
to deliver there to that purpose ; this threw the general assembly
into great agitation, and most of the members called on Mr. Yenn
to inform them what were the commands he bore from his Majesty \
but Mr. Yenn not rising, I then addressed him, by saying, that if
he bore a message from his Majesty, I would answer for myself,
and for most of the members, that his Majesty's message would
be received by them with the most profound respect and atten
tion. He therefore had but to make it known. The general
assembly repeated my words, which brought up Mr. Yenn with
much agitation, when he declared that he had no message from
his Majesty ; the King had not commanded him to deliver any
thing respecting the elections that night. The speeches which
followed that declaration of Mr. Yenn you may easily imagine,
for most of the members were on their feet at once. The election
was called for, and I was reflected President, — twenty for me,
and seven for Wyatt, and three blanks, — supposed to be some
of Mr. Wyatt's party, who took the alarm when they found that
Mr. Yenn had no message. As all elections must be confirmed by
his Majesty, some of the party was so bold as to say that although
the election was carried in my favor, the King would not sustain
it — I should then know his Majesty's displeasure when I went
with the election to him for his signature. A few days after, it
became my duty to wait on his Majesty with the papers contain
ing the several elections for his examination and signature. His
Majesty was in Windsor Castle, and, when I came into his pres
ence, he received me more as a brother and friend than as one

APPENDIX. 395

who had lost his confidence. The elections received his full ap
probation and signature after which he was graciously pleased to
hold me in his confidence for three hours and a half. Thus armed
with his signature to my election, and his full confidence, as well
as his signature to the election of Mr. Fuseli as Keeper of the
Royal Academy, whom the same party had opposed by placing
Mr. lligouad against him, with a declaration that his Majesty
would have no one for Keeper but Mr. Rigouad, and would not
sanction any other person ; but in this their calculations were as
false as in that of mine, as the King highly approved the choice
the Academy had made in selecting Mr. Fuseli to the place of
Keeper.

A few days after I returned from Windsor, I ordered the Sec
retary to summon a general assembly, to receive his Majesty's
decisions on the elections of President and Keeper of the Royal
Academy : this ambiguous word brought the whole parties to
know what had been his Majesty's will.

I opened the business to the general assembly by a short ac
count of the gracious manner in which I had been received by the
King, — both as President and as Mr. West, — and then laid the
papers of the elections, with the royal signatures to them, on the
table. I must confess I never saw an opposition so crushed, or a
majority act with more becoming moderation and dignity, on any
occasion, than on that; and observing a disposition in some of
the members to move for censure being made on some of the
most active in the opposition, I declaimed against any such acts ;
that it was my wish not a minute should be entered on our books ;
that an event so disgraceful should not be recorded : my triumph,
and the triumph of my friends, was the King's signatures on the
table. Let those who had informed the general assembly that I
had lost the King's confidence retire unnoticed — and leave them
to their own thoughts ; and I then recommended the prosperity
of the arts and the Institution, and that if any other person's be
ing in the Chair would contribute more to their prosperity, I
would wait on his Majesty to relinquish it to that person, and
give him and the arts my support as long as I was able. Mr.
Farrington, Mr. Lawrence, Flaxman, Nollikins, Hoppenor, Shee,
Banks, and all the professional strength of the Academy, spoke
on the occasion, and handsomely touched on my being one of the
four, and the only surviving one, that founded the Academy,
under his present Majesty ; and took an extended view of my

396 APPENDIX.

professional character, tendering me their thanks for the support
I had ever given to that Institution and the arts in England. By
the short sketch I have given of what had passed in the Academy,
you will see that the Institution is in the hands of his Majesty
and myself and friends.

With respect to other particulars in the arts, I have to inform
you that Alderman Boydell is dead, and that the Shakspeare
Gallery has been decided by lottery, and it has fallen to the lot of
Mr. Tassee, of Lester-Fields (the maker of gems), and that poor
Banks, the sculptor, now lies dead.

In regard to myself and family, — Mrs. West continues much
the same as when you left us. My eldest son, his wife, and little
girl, are well. My youngest son, his wife, and little Benjamin
the Ruler, are likewise well. In regard to myself, I have just
come through a bad cold, but have escaped the gout ; and am on
the fourth division of the great window for Forrest to work the
glass after.

From what passed between Mr. Livingston and me when he
was in London from Paris, I had flattered myself he would, on
his return to France, have honored me with the means of becom
ing a member of the New York Academy ; but I do suppose the
press of business he had on leaving that city prevented his doing it.
Should you see him, I beg you will present my respects to him.

It will be a gratification to me to hear from you how the arts
are likely to be protected in America; it will be in its power
to do great things with respect to the arts, and this is the moment
for it to start, as the higher excellences in them are past their
zenith on this side of the water, and the advantage which Italy,
France, Flanders, Holland, and England recently received by cher
ishing them, — those advantages may be embraced by America,
both for her honor and riches, as the whole world will lie open to
her commerce. Her youths have the fire of genius, and her men
have the thinking of philosophers ! It is the combination of those
qualities which have rendered the Greeks' name eternal in all that
was refined in the higher excellence of art ; and in my opinion
there has not existed a people so likely to be their rivals as the
Americans.

With great esteem and friendship, I have the honor to be,
Dear Sir,

Your most obedient and obliged,

BENJAMIN WEST.

APPENDIX. 397

p. S. — Since writing the above this morning, Mrs. West has
informed me that she received Mrs. Trumbull's letter, dated New
York, January 2. It has given Mrs. West and myself much
pleasure to find you are well. Make my. love to her, and, when
you have an opportunity, let me hear from you. If you are in the
way of seeing Mr. Jay and Mr. King, I beg you to present my
respects to them, and say that a great man with us often inquires
after their health. I beg also to be remembered to Mr. Murray,
Jun., and to Mr. Archibald Robinson. I have not forgot the cast
of the anatomy figure which we have in the Royal Academy.

It will be sent to the Academy at New York in the course of
next summer.

Haste prevents me from copying this letter ; you will therefore
excuse its incorrectness.

JOHN TRUMBULL, Esq.

LORD GRENVILLE TO COLONEL TRUMBULL.

November 23, 1814.

SIR, — No apology whatever could be necessary for your letter,
conveying information on a subject in which I take so deep an
interest. Among the circumstances to which I look back with
most pleasure in the close of a long, and I hope not wholly use
less, public life, is that of the uniform, though frequently ineffect
ual, efforts which I have made for the maintenance of peace and
of friendship between my own country and the United States.
How much the conduct of both governments has contributed to
disappoint those wishes, I need not say to a person as well in
formed on the subject as you are.

Lamenting deeply the existence ^and continuance of the war, I
felt additional grief when I saw it assuming a shape of unusual
and revolting ferocity, unnecessarily aggravating the public and
general evils of such a state by the wanton infliction of private
and individual calamity. To do all in his power to check the
progress of such a system, seems to me the duty of every man,
and I took the very first opportunity of expressing my abhorrence
of it, (on whatever side it originated,) and of calling for official
measures to prevent its continuance. Had this claim been re
sisted, I was prepared and resolved to pursue the subject further.
Nor did I desist from that intention until I received public and

398 APPENDIX.

solemn assurances that orders had already been sent out to Amer
ica for the discontinuance of such measures, and for a return to
the practice of modern and civilized war, provided the same
course shall in future be adhered to by those whom I lament to
call our enemies.

This was the only practical result that could be hoped for from
pursuing the subject further. An inquiry, which party first re
sorted to practices which both equally disclaim in principle, and
justify only on the ground of retaliation, could now only produce
fruitless recriminations, tending more to irritation than to peace.
I therefore let the matter rest there, but with the full purpose of
renewing it, should the expectations now held out be ultimately
disappointed.

1 am, with great truth and regard, sir,

Your most faithful humble servant,

GRENVILLE.

INDEX.

Accum, Frederic, i. 142.

Adams, John, his letters to Col.Trum-
bull, ii. 388, 389.

Adams, John Quincy, Prof. Silliman's
conversations with, i. 365, seq.

Agassiz, Louis, ii. 81, 82; letters to
Prof. Silliman from. ii. 150, seq. ;
his visit to Prof. Silliman, ii. 219.

Albert, Prince, ii. 213.

Allen, Prof. William, i. 152.

Allston,AVashington, i. 354.

Andrews, Sherlock J., becomes an
assistant of Prof. Silliman, i. 304;
his valuable aid, i. 306; his resig
nation and subsequent history, i.
314; his remarks on the character
of Prof. Silliman, ii. 367.

Appleton, Nathan, i. 351.

Armstrong, Lieut.-Gov., i. 347.

Athens, the scenery about, i. 29.

Avery, Prof., i. 303.

B.

Bacon, Rev. L., D. D., i. 53, 399; ii.

25, 318 ; his remarks respecting

Prof. Silliman, ii. 349.
Bache, Prof. A. D., ii. 279.
Bakewell, Robert, his character and

services to science, i. 281; his let-
. ters to Prof. Silliman, ii. 51, seq. ;

ii. 188, 193; his last illness and

death, ii. 205.

Bakewell, Robert, Jr., ii. 2.
Baldwin, Simeon, i. 47.
Baldwin, R. S., i. 367.
Banks, Sir Joseph, his conversazioni.

i. 146.
Barclay, Dr. John, his lectures, i. 172.

Barlow, Joel, i. 149.

Beattie, Prof. Ormond, i. 303.

Beck, Dr. Charles, i. 403 ; his remarks
on the kindness of Prof. Silliman,
ii. 353.

Beecher, Rev. Lyman, D. D., i. 324.

Bernard, General, i. 311.

Berzelius, his letters to Prof. Silli
man, ii. 35, seq.

Bigelow, Dr. Jacob, i. 346.

Binney, Horace, i. 98.

Black, Rev. Mr., i. 188.

Blagden, Rev. G. W., D. D., i. 387.

Blake, William, i. 319.

Boston, good-will of its people to
wards Prof. Silliman, i. 372.

Bowditch, Dr. Nathaniel, i. 349.

Bowman, John, and his family, ii. 12.

Brewer, Prof. William H., i. 277. 319.

Brewster, James, establishes the
"Franklin Institute," i. 339 n. ;
his remarks on Prof. Silliman's in
terest in the education of the peo
ple, ii. 326.

Brewster, Sir David, Prof. Silliman's
acquaintance with, i. 179.

Bronson, Enos, i. 98.

Brooks, Peter C., i. 350.

Brougham, Lord, his letter respect
ing Prof. Silliman. i. 155.

Bruce, Dr. Archibald, i. 272.

Brush, Prof. Geo. J., i. 319 ; ii. 101,
112, 277.

Buchan, Earl of, his appearance and
conversation, i. 181.

Buchanan, James, his correspondence
with citizens of Connecticut, ii. 257 ;
his election to the Presidency, ii.
267.

Buckland, William, D. D., ii. 56.

Bunker, James M., i. 364.

Burr, Thaddeus, i. 24.

400

INDEX.

c.

Calhoun, John C., his letters to Prof.
Sillinian, i. 288,325; his conversa
tion With Prof. Silliman, i. 309; his
opposition to the reelection of J.
Q. Adams, i. 367; his death and
character, ii. 97 ; his responsibility
for the Southern rebellion, ii. 284.

California, ii. 224.

Cambridge ( England), University of,
Prof. Silliman's visit to, i. 153.

Caswell, Prof. Alexis, his remarks
on Prof. Silliinau's influence, ii.
328.

Caton, Richard, ii. 6.

Cbanning, Kev. W. E., D. D., i. 215,
345, 369.

Churning, Mrs. W. E., i. 215, 355.

Charleston, Prof. Silliman's visit to,
ii. 8.

Chauncey, Judge Charles, i. 47.

Chauncey, Charles, i. 54, 97, 98.

Chauncey, Elihu, i. 54, 97, 98,225;
his death, ii. 82.

Chauncey, Nathaniel, i. 54.

Chemistry, in Yale College in the
last century, i. 89; Prof. Silliman's
work on, i'. 319.

Choate, Rufus, i. 356.

Church, Mrs. J. B., her remarks on
the domestic traits of Prof. Silli
man, ii. 360.

Church, Walter S., ii. 101.

Clap, President, of Yale College, i.
88.

Clayton, John M., ii. 97.

Cleaveland, Prof. Parker, his letter
to Prof. Silliman, i. 269.

Codman, Rev. John, D. D., i. 158.

Conybeare, Prof., his letter to Prof.
Silliman. ii. 180.

Cooke, Prof. J. P., his remarks on
Prof. Silliman, ii. 325.

Cooper, J. Fenimore, his letter to
Prof. Silliman, i. 334.

Cooper, Dr. Thomas, i. 286.

Cordier, i. 172; ii. 102.

Cox, S. H., D. D., ii. 128.

Croswell, Rev. Harry, D. D., i. 280.

Custis, George Washington Parke,

D.

Daggett, David, i. 47; his letter to
rf. Silliman, i. 270.

Dalton, Dr. John, i. 139.

Dana, James D., becomes an assist
ant of Prof. Silliman, i. 318; be
comes the successor of Prof. Silli
man, ii. 130 ; his reputation abroad,
ii. 160; his work on corals, ii. 168;
Dr. Mantell on his papers, ii. 206 ;
his induction into the office of pro
fessor, ii. 237.

Dana, Mrs. J. D., her remarks on the
domestic traits of Prof. Silliman,
ii. 363.

Dana, R. H., i. 396.

Dana, R. H., Jr., i. 396, 397.

Daubeny, Prof. Charles, his letters to
Prof. Silliman, ii. 172, sea.

Davis, Rev. Henry, D. D., i. 53.

Davis, Isaac P., i. 366.

Davis, Judge John, i. 351.

Davy, Sir Humphrey, i. 151.

Day, Rev. Jeremiah, D. D., i. 30, 43,
49, 52, 75, 114; his letters to Prof.
Silliman, i. 117, 200, 203, 204, 206;
Prof. Silliman's letters to, i. 200,
203, 204, 206; ii. 106; his efforts to

Erocure the Gibbs Cabinet, i. 280 ;
is resignation, ii. 79 ; his last in
terview with Prof. Silliman, ii. 313.

Deane, Dr. James, ii. 140.

Denison, Charles, i. 52; his letters to
Prof. Silliman, i. 114, 119, 198;
Prof. Silliman's letters to, i. 204,
207, 212.

Dessaussure, H. W., his letters to
Prof. Silliman, i. 267, 333.

Dewey, Prof. Chester, i. 303.

Dickson, Rev. David, i. 187.

Dixon, James F., his encomium on
Prof. Silliman in the U. S. Senate,
ii. 259.

Duncan, Grier, ii. 8, 14.

Duncan, Lucius C., ii. 8, 14.

Dutton, Rev. Aaron, i. 51.

Dutton, Rev. S. W. S., D. D., ii. 242.

Dutton, Warren. 53.

Dwight, Rev. Louis, i. 355.

Dwight, Rev. Sereno, E., D.D., i. 303.

Dwight, Rev. Timothv, D. D., i. 24^
28, 30, 49. 67, 198 ; his induction in
to the office of President, i. 31 ; his
instructions, i. 32; on the Demo
cratic societies, i. 42 ; his enlarged
views respecting science, i. 90 ; of
fers the professorship of chemistry
to Prof. Silliman, i. 91; approves
of his plan of visiting Europe, i. 128;
his letter to Dr. John Robison, i.
156; his letter to Prof. Silliman, i.

INDEX.

401

199; his service in the chapel at
the conclusion of peace with Great
Britain, i. 264; his interest in the
lectures on geology, i. 265; his
death, i. 2o6; his mode of dictating
his writings, i. 307.

E.

Eaton, Prof. Amos, i. 303.

"Edinburgh Review," i. 189.

Eliot, Rev/A., of Fairfield, i. 11, 23,

25;ii. 88.
Ely, Rev. David, D. D., anecdote of,

i. 257.
Everett, Edward, i. 281, 354; on

the " Journal of Science," i. 273 ;

his eulogy on John Lowell, i. 383;

his introduction of Prof. Silliman

at the Lowell Lectures, i. 384; his

inauguration at Cambridge, ii. 31;

his oration at Albany, ii. 250.

F.

Faraday, Prof. Michael, ii. 214, 226.

Fairfield, society in, in the last cen
tury, i. 24.

Farish, Prof., interviews of Prof. Sil
liman with, i. 153.

Felton, C. C., ii. 299.

Fish, John, i. 306.

Fish, Rev. Joseph, i. 5 ; ii. 84 ; com
memoration in honor of, ii. 304.

Fish, Rebecca, i. 11.

Fisher, Prof. A.M., i. 289; his death,
i. 305; his last letters to Prof. Sil
liman, i. 321; Prof. Silliman's let
ter to, ii. 319.

Fitch, Rev. Ebenezer, D. D., i. 125.

Fitch, Rev. Eleazar T., D. D., his ser
mon on Justification, ii. 95; his last
interview with Prof. Silliman, ii.
317.

Foot, Lyman, becomes an assistant
of Prof. Silliman, i. 298; his sub
sequent history, i. 299.

Foster, L. F. S.,'his defence of Prof.
Silliman in the U. S. Senate, ii. 243.

Fowler, Mr. (teacher of Prof. Silli
man), ii. 20.

Fowler, Prof. William C., i. 303.

Franklin, Benjamin, anecdotes of, i.
12, 73.

Fremont, John C., his explorations,
ii. 169 ; his defeat in the Presiden
tial election, ii. 251.

Fulton, Robert, i. 149.
VOL. u. 26

G.

Gallaudet, Rev. T. H., D. D., i. 125.
Gannett, Rev. E. S., D.D., i. 345, 355,

389, 402.

Gas, illumination by, i. 145.
Geology, its relations to Genesis, ii.

Gerry, Vice-President, the family of,
i. 367.

Gibbs, Col. George, his cabinet, i.
214; his personal kindness to Prof.
Silliman, i.218; transfers his cab
inet to Yale College, i. 256; ad
vises the establishment of " The
Journal of Science," i. 272; sells
his cabinet to Yale College, i. 278.

Gibbs, Ruth. (See Channing, Mrs.
W. E.)

Goodrich, Hon. Chauncey, i. 261.

Goodrich, Prof. C. A., h'is efforts to
procure the Gibbs Cabinet, i. 280;

11- J5.

Goodyear, Charles, ii. 280.

Gorham, Dr. John, i. 158.

Gregory, Dr. James, his person and
manners, and his lectures, i. 161.

Grimke, Thomas S., i. 218.

Griscom, Dr. John,.i. 306; Prof. Sil
liman's letters to, ii. 108, sea.

Griswold, George, i. 273.

Gurley, Rev. R. R., his letter to Prof.
Sillinian, i. 404.

H.

Hale, John P., his letter to Prof. Sil
liman, ii. 245.

Hall, Capt. Basil, i. 407.

Hamilton, Capt., his work on the
United States, ii. 191.

Hare, Robert, i. 98, seq. 303; on
"The Journal of Science." i. 289.

Hartford, Prof. Silliman's lectures in,
i. 340.

Hayne, Robert Y., his correspondence
with Prof. Silliman, i. 295.

Henry, Prof. Joseph, his remarks on
Prof. Sillirnan's services to science,
ii. 328.

Henry, Dr. William, i. 139; his let
ter to Prof. Silliman, ii. 39.

Herschel, Sir J. F. W., on Mr. E. P.
Mason, ii. 178 ; on Lamarck's the
ory, ii. 209.

Hitchcock, Rev. Edward, D. D., the

402

INDEX.

beginning of his intercourse with
Prof. Silliman, i. 302; his corre
spondence with Prof. Silliman, ii.
135, sea.. 262, 306 ; his bird-tracks,
ii. 202.

Holmes, Dr. O. W., ii. 31.

Hope, Dr. Thomas, his person and
manners, and his lectures, i. 160 ;
his advocacy of the Huttonian the
ory, i. 167.

Hubbard, Prof. O. P., his character
as an assistant of Prof. Silliman,
i. 318; i. 375.

Hubbard, Mrs, 0. P., her remarks on
the domestic traits of Prof. Silli
man, ii. 362.

Hull, Commodore Isaac, his account
of the capture of the Guerriere, i.
331.

Humboldt, Alexander von, ii. 103.

Humphreys, Mrs. A. F., her letter of
condolence to Prof. Silliman, i. 289.

Humphrey, Rev. H., D. D., i. 125.

Huntington, Rev. Dan, ii. 313.

Hunt, Prof. T. Stony, i. 319.

Ion. Col., ii. 10.

Irving, Washington, Prof. Silliman's

interviews with, ii. 249.
Ives, Dr. Eli, i. 260.

J.

Jackson, Andrew, Prof. Silliman's
description of, i. 375.

Jackson, Dr. C. T., i. 354, 391 ; ii. 81.

Jackson, Dr. James, i. 346.

Jarvis, Rev. S. F., D. D., i. 125.

Jay, John, i. 294.

Jefferson, Thomas, his letter to Col.
Trumbull, ii. 390.

Johnson, Prof. Samuel W., ii. 277.

Johnston, Prof. J. F. W., his letter
to Prof. Silliman, ii. 181.

Jones, Rev. George, ii. 300; his re
marks on Prof. Silliman, ii. 357.

" Journal of Science," account of its
establishment, i. 272.

K.

Kansas, Prof. Silliman's action re
specting the troubles in, ii. 241, seq.;
his remarks on, ii. 267, 270.

Kent, Hon. James, his letters to Prof.
Silliman, i. 250, 233, 405; his let
ter to Judge Baldwin respecting
Prof. Silliman, ii. 80.

Kingsley, Prof. James L., i. 52; his
letters to Prof. Silliman, i. 113, 399,
400; ii. 25; letters of Prof. Silli
man to, i. 202, 208, 246, 290, 402,
403; his death, ii. 1.16; his review
of Stuart on geology, ii. 135; his
interviews with Dr. Mantell, ii. 211,
231 ; characterized by Prof. Thach-
er, ii. 339, 341.

Kingsley, William L., ii. 2.

Kirkland, Dr. J. P., on the character
of Prof. Silliman, ii. 282.

Lafayette, his letters to Prof. Silli
man, i. 330,331; Prof. Silliman's
reminiscences of, ii. 285 ; his letter
to Col. Trumbull, ii. 387.

Lamb, Thomas, i. 345.

Lardner, Dr. Dionysius, ii. 209.

Lawrence, Abbott; i. 354, 357, 369.

Lawrence, Amos, ii. 124.

Lawrence, William, i. 343.

Lederer, Baron, his cabinet, i. 281.

Leffingwell, Prof. Edward, i. 303.

Legare, John B., ii. 9.

Leslie, Capt., ii. 75.

Leslie, Prof. John, interview of Prof.
Silliman with, i. 178.

Liebig, Prof., ii. 173.

Lincoln, President, his emancipation
proclamation, ii. 287 ; his religious
character, ii. 313.

Listen, Sir Robert, visit of Prof. Sil
liman to, i. 185.

Loring, William J., i. 343, 344.

Lothrop, Rev. S. K., D. D., i. 349,
391.

Lowell Institute, Prof. Silliman's con
nection with, i. 382. ( See Silliman,
Benjamin).

Lowell, John, i. 389.

Lowell, John A., i. 382, 386.

Lyell, Sir Charles, i. 27, 405; ii. 28,
52, 54, 60, 102, 144, 195, 196, 198,
202, 204, 211, 212, 217, 220, 221.

M.

Maclean, Prof. John, i. 110.

INDEX.

403

Maclean, President, of Princeton, i.
110.

Maclure, William, his character and
services to science, i. 284; his cor
respondence with Prof. Silliman,
ii. 40.

Mantell, Dr. G. A., Prof. Kingsley's
visit to, i. 27; ii. 52, 58, 64, 101;
his death, ii. 123; his intercourse
with Prof. Silliman, ii. 183, seq,;
his letters, ii. 186, seq. ; his illness,
ii. 200; his " Medals of Creation,"
ii. 207 ; on the " Geology of the Isle
of Wight," ii. 216 ; his lectures at
Leeds, ii. 228.

Marsh, Ebenezer Grant, 53.

Marsh, Rev. John, D. p., his remin
iscences of Prof. Silliman, i. 48.

Martineau, Harriet, i. 369.

Mason, Ebenezer, i. 192.

Mason, Jeremiah, i. 390, 402; ii. 86.

Mason, Rev. John M., D. D., i. 134,
192.

Mattoon, Gen. E., ii. 76.

Medical School of Yale College, its
origin, i. 260; ii. 310.

Meigs, Prof. Josiah, i. 35, 89.

Meteor, the W eston, i. 221, 344.

Mexico, war of the U. S. with, ii. 215.

McClellan, John, ii. 256.

McKnight, Dr. J. M. S., i. 125.

McLean, Louis, i. 375.

Monroe, James, i. 309.

Monroe, Prof., i. 172.

Morris, Charles, ii. 237.

Morse, Rev. J., D. D., i. 73.

Morse, S. F. B., his letter to Prof.
Silliman, ii. 307 ; his remarks on
Prof. Silliman, ii. 355.

Murchison, Sir R. I., ii. 62, 102 ; his
letters to Prof. Silliman, ii. 167;
his work on the Silurian system,
ii. 177, 194.

Murdock, John, Prof. Silliman's visit
to his plantation, ii. 20.

Murray, Dr. John, his character as
a lecturer, i. 166 ; his advocacy of
the Wernerian theory, i. 167 ; his
letter to Prof. Silliman, i. 271.

Murray, Lindley, interview of Prof.
Silliman with, i. 153.

N.

Nelson, Lord, his last embarkation

at Portsmouth, i. 137.
New England, primitive manners of,

i. 14.

New Haven, geology of, i. 170 ; threat
ened invasion of, by the British, i.
262 ; commemoration of the settle
ment of, i. 399.

Nicholson, Mr. William, i. 141; ii. 55.

Norton, Prof. John P., ii. 118, 128,
275, 276.

Noyes, Dr. Burr, becomes an assist
ant of Prof. Silliman, i. 316; his
subsequent history, i. 317.

Noyes, Rev. James, i. 5.

Noyes, Rev. John (Sen.), i. 5.

Noyes, Rev. John, i. 5.

Noyes, Joseph, i. 5.

o.

Olds, Rev. Gamaliel, i. 303.

Olmsted, Prof. Denison, his service
as an assistant of Prof. Silliman,
i. 300; his subsequent history, i.
300.

Owen, Prof. R., his letters to Prof.
Silliman, ii. 169; his article on the
Iguanodon, ii. 203.

Oxford University, the study of phys
ical sciences in, ii. 175, 177.

P.

Park, Prof. E. A., D. D., i. 360.
Park, Robert, i. 343, 347, 359.
Parker, John, i. 345.
Parkman, Rev. Mr., i. 345.
Pearson, Dr. George, his lectures, i.

144.

Peel, Sir Robert, ii. 208, 227.
Perkins, B. D., i. 220.
Phillips, S. C., i. 360.
Pierpont, Rev. John, his reminiscen
ces of Prof. Silliman, i. 130.
Pourtalis, Count, ii. 82.
Polk, James K., ii. 7.
Polk, Bishop Leonidas, ii. 16.
Pope, Milton, ii. 8.
Porter, Prof. Charles H., i. 319.
Porter, Rev. Noah (Sen.), D. D., his

reminiscences of Prof. Silliman, i.

50; letter from Prof. Silliman to,

i. 119 ; ii. 349.
Porter, Prof. N., it 299; his remarks

on the character of Prof. Silliman,

ii. 343.
Priestley, Dr. Joseph, his character,

i. 107; Prof. Silliman's acquaint-

404

INDEX.

ance with i. 107; remarks of, i.
127.
Prince, Rev. T. D., D. D., i. 360.

Q.

Quincy, Eliza, correspondence of
Prof. Silliman with, ii. 284, seq.

Quincy. Josiah (Sen.), his letters to
Prof. 'Silliman, i. 328, 329, 351 ; ii.
247, 248; his history of Harvard
College, i. 400, 402; remarks of
Prof. Silliman on, ii. 291.

R.

Rebellion, the Southern, feelings of
Prof. Silliman concerning, ii. 283,
290, 292, 294, 296 ; remarks on, ii.
284, 288, 289 ; the support derived
from England and France by. ii.
289.

Redfield, William C., ii. 153.

Rawdon, Lord, his appearance, i. 183 ;
remarks of Prof. Silliman on, i.
183.

Ritter, Carl, his letters to Prof. Silli
man, ii. 105, seq.

Robison, Dr. John, letter of President
Dwight to, i. 156.

Rogers, Prof. W. B., ii. 182.

Roscoe, William, i. 136.

Rose, Prof. H., i. 27.

Russia, remarks of Prof. J. F. W.
Johnston on, ii. 181.

Ryland, Rev. John, D. D., i. 147.

8.

Salisbury, Prof. Edward E., ii. 130.

Saratoga Springs in 1797, i. 308.

Sargeant, John, i. 98.

Seybert, Dr. Adam, i. 215.

Seymour, Lord Webb, i. 181.

Shattuck, Dr., i. 354.

Sheffield, Joseph E., his benefactions
to Yale College, ii. 277; his letter
to Prof. Silliman, ii. 278.

Sheffield Scientific School, history of
the, ii. 274, seq.

Shepard, Prof. Charles U., his char
acter as an assistant of Prof. Silli
man, i. 317; i. 375; ii. 8, 327; his
remarks on the character of Prof.
Silliman, ii. 370, seq.

Sigourney, L. H., her poem addressed

to Prof. Silliman, i. 61 ; her letter
to Prof. Silliman, i. 323.
SILLIMAN, BENJAMIN, his birth, i. 1;
origin of his family, i. 1, 2; his
father's Revolutionary services, i.
3, 4; his ancestors in the maternal
line, i. 4, seq. ; his father's capture
by the British, i. 6; his mother's
retirement to Trumbull, i. 8; his
father's character and manners, i.
10; his maternal grandmother, i.
11 ; his visit, in 1792. to Stonington,
i. 12 ; his training in respect to man
ners, i. 14; his recollections of his
father's death, i. 15; his early re
ligious training, i. 17 ; his first
school, i. 19 ; his mother and her
family after his father's death, i.
21; his preparation for college, i.
23 ; his early love of natural scen
ery, i. 25 ; enters Yale College, i.
27; his character in college, i. 28;
his diary in college, i. 29, seq. ; his
employment after graduation, i. 45;
teaches in Wethersfield (1798), i.
46 ; a law-student in New Haven,
i. 47 ; his inauguration as tutor, i.
50; his early friends, i. 52; his fed
eralism, i. 54 ; his early produc
tions, i. 55, seq. ; his correspondence
(1796-1802) i. 62, sej. ; his early
religious views and impressions, i.
78, seq. ; unites with the college
church, i. 83; his appointment to
the professorship of chemistry, i. 87,
seq. ; his first interview, on the
subject, with President Dwight, i.
91 ; his first winter in Philadelphia,
i. 97, seq. ; his associates in Phila
delphia, i. 98; his opportunities for
professional improvement, i. 100;
attends the lectures of Dr. Wood-
house, i. 100; his friendship with
Robert Hare, i. 103: attends Dr.
Barton's lectures, i. 105; attends
Dr. Wistar's lectures, i. 106; his
interview with Dr. Priestley, i. 107 ;
spends the summer of 1803 in New
Haven, i. 109 ; his brief residence
in Princeton, i. 109; his second
winter in Philadelphia, i. Ill; his
correspondence while a student in
Philadelphia, i. 112 ; his first labors
as Professor, i. 121, seq. ; his subter
ranean laboratory, i. 122; plan of
visiting Europe, i. 127 ; Rev. John
Pierpont's reminiscences of, i. 130;
his visit to New York prior to sail-

INDEX.

405

ing, i. 133 ; particulars of his visit
to Europe, i. 136, seg. ; his inter
views with Dr. Henry and Dr. Dai-
ton, i. 139; his acquaintance with
William Nicholson, i. 141; his ac
quaintance with Frederic Accum,
i. 142 ; with Dr. George Pearson, i.
144 ; with Sir Joseph Banks, Davy,
Watt, Wollaston, &c., i. 146 ; with
Dr. Ryland, i. 147 ; his excursion to
the mines of Cornwall, i. 148 ; his
interviews with Benjamin West,
Barlow, and Fulton, i. 149 ; his in
terviews with Sir Humphrev Davy
and Prof. William Allen/i. 152;
his visit to the University of Cam
bridge, i. 153 ; his visit to Lindley
Murray, i. 353; his residence hi
Edinburgh, i. 155, seq. ; his ac
quaintance with Dr. Hope, i. 159;
with Dr. Gregory, i. 161; with Dr.
John Murray, i. 166; his remarks
on the rival theories in geology, i.
168; his acquaintance with Dr.
John Barclay, i. 172; his accident
on Salisbury Craig, i. 175 ; his ac
quaintance with Dugald Stewart,
i. 176 ; with Prof. Leslie, i. 178 ; with
Sir David Brewster, i. 179, with
Lord Webb Seymour and Dr.
Thomas Brown, i. 180; Avith Dr.
Anderson and the Earl of Bnchan,
i. 181 ; his remarks on the Earl of
Moira (Lord Rawdon), i. 183; his
visit to Sir Robert Listen, i. 185;
his remarks on Sir H. M. Well-
wood, Rev. David Dickson, Rev.
Mr. Black, i. 187 ; his remarks on
the "Edinburgh Review," i. 189;
his interview with Sir John Stir
ling and lady, i. 190; his remarks
on life and manners in Edinburgh,
i. 192; the results of his visit to
Europe, i. 193 ; his arrival in New
York. i. 197 ; his reception in New
Haven, i. 198', his introduction to
the cabinet of Col. G. Gibbs, i. 214;
his account of the origin of geology
in Yale College, i. 216; his course
of lectures in 1806-7, i. 218; his
account of the purchase of the Per
kins cabinet of minerals, i. 221;
his account of the Westpn meteor,
i. 222, seq. ; his marriage, i. 231, seq. ;
his reminiscences of Gov. Trum-
bull, i. 232, seq. ; his first course of
popular lectures in Yale College, i.
241, seq. ; his " Journal of Travels,"

i. 248 seq. ; accident to him in the
laboratory, i. 254; obtains the loan
of the Gibbs cabinet to Yale Col
lege, i. 256; his account of the
Medical School of Yale College, i.
260; his account of events in the
war of 1812, i. 262; his account of
the death of Rev. Dr. Dwight, i.
266; establishes the "Journal of
Science." i. 272; records the death
of his mother and of his son, i.
274 ; his journey to Canada, 5. 277 ;
his "Tour to Quebec," i. 278; his
account of the purchase of the
Gibbs cabinet, i. 278 ; his inter
course with Robert Bakewell, i.
281; his intercourse with William
Maclure, i. 284; his acquaintance
with Dr. Cooper, i. 286 ; his invita
tion to the Presidency of South
Carolina College, i. 295; his pro
fessional assistants, i. 298, seq. ; his
temporary loss of health, i. 304;
his journey to West Point, i. 305;
his journey to Philadelphia, &c., i.
306; his journey to Saratoga, i.
307; his journey to Washington,
and visits to Mr" Calhoun and Mr.
Custis, i. 309, seq. ; his change of
diet and the salutary effect, i. 311;
his publication of the "Elements
of Chemistry," i. 319 ; his lectures in
Hartford, i. 340; his lectures in
Lowell, i. 342; his interview with
Daniel Webster, i. 342; his lectures
on geology in Boston (1835), i. 342,
seq. ; his lectures on geology in
Salem, i. 360 ; his lectures on geol
ogy in Nantucket, i. 364, seq. ; his
intercourse with John Quincy
Adams, i. 365; his lectures on
chemistry in Boston (1836), i. 369;
his remarks on his success as a
lecturer, i. 372 ; his exploration of
the coal formations of Pennsyl
vania, i. 373; his examination of
the culture and manufacture of
sugar, i. 374 ; his exploration of the
gold mines of Virginia, i. 377 ; his
lectures in the city of New York,
i. 380; his self-possession on the
occasion of an accident, i. 380 ; his
concern in the Lowell Institute, i.
382; his first course of Lowell lec
tures, i. 383 ; his second course of
Lowell lectures, i. 391; takes part
in the formation of the Geological
Association, i. 393..; his third course

406

INDEX.

of Lowell lectures, i. 394; his fourth
course of Lowell lectures, i. 396;
his lectures in Southern cities, ii. 1,
seq. ; his lectures in Pittsburgh, ii.
2 ; his lectures in Baltimore, ii. 4 ;
his visit to Charleston, ii. 8; his
visit to Montgomery (Ala.), ii. 13;
his lectures in New Orleans, ii. 14,
seq. ; his letters to a lady on the
subject of religion, ii. 17, seq. ; his
lectures in other cities, ii. 20, seq. ;
his reflections on his public labors,
ii. 22; attends Commencement at
Cambridge (1846), ii. 30; his cor
respondence with Berzelius, ii. 35 ;
his correspondence with W. Mac-
lure, ii. 40 ; his correspondence with
R. Bakewell, ii. 51; his reminis
cences of Col. Trumbull and re
marks on his paintings, ii. 66,
seq. ; his religious reflections, ii.
85, 93, 100, 234, 253, 298, 300; his
visit to his early home, ii. 87 ; his
proposal to resign his professor
ship, ii. 90 ; his second visit to Eu
rope, ii. 101, seq. ; letters to him
from Humboldt and Carl Hitter,
ii. 103, seq. ; his second marriage, ii.
108 ; his letters to Dr. John Griscom,
ii. 108, seq. ; his notice of the death
of Prof. Stuart, ii. 115; his notice
of the death of Prof. Kingsley, ii.
116; his interview with Daniel
Webster, ii. 118; his resignation of
his professorship, ii. 125, seq. ; his
correspondence with Dr. Edward
Hitchcock, ii. 132, seq. ; his view
of the Mosaic Cosmogony, ii- 132 ;
letters to him from Prof. Agassiz,
ii. 150, seq. ; from Sir Charles Lyell,
ii. 161, seq. ; from Sir R. I. Murchi-
son, ii. 167; from Prof. R. Owen,
ii. 169; from Prof. Charles Dau-
beny, ii. 172; from Sir J. F. \V.
Herschel, ii. 178; from Prof. Cony-
beare, ii. 180; from Prof. J. F. W.
Johnston, ii. 181; his correspond
ence with Dr. Mantell, ii. 183, seq. ;
his second book of travels in Eu
rope, ii. 233 ; his last lecture in col
lege, ii. 234 ; his opinions on slavery,
ii. 238; his action respecting Kan
sas, ii. 241, seq. ; letters to him from
John P. Hale, ii. 245 ; from Josiah
Quincv, ii. 247 ; his interviews
with Washington Irving, ii. 249;
his presence at the dedication of
the Dudley Observatory, ii. 250;

his interest in the religious welfare
of his friends, ii. 253 ; his part in
the New Haven correspondence
with Mr. Buchanan, ii. 257, seq. ;
letters to him from Lyman Trum
bull, ii. 261; from Charles Sumner,
ii. 261 ; from Edward Hitchcock, ii.
262 ; his correspondence with John
Taylor, ii. 263 ; his situation in his
closing years, ii. 271, seq. ; the pros
perity of his departments of in
struction in Yale College, ii. 274,
seq. ; his agency in the establish
ment of the Sheffield Scientific
School, ii. 276, seq. ; tributes of re
spect paid to him in his old age, ii.
279 ; his views of the Southern re
bellion and the war, ii. 283; his
correspondence with Miss Quincy,
ii. 284, seq. ; his letters to Rev. Dr.
Sprague, ii. 292, seq. ; his letters to
Miss Lindsley, ii. 294, seq. ; his part
in the commemoration at North
Stonington, ii. 304; his last illness,
ii. 311, seq. ; his death, ii. 317 ; his
funeral, ii. 318; his personal traits,
ii. 318, seq. ; his intellectual quali
ties, ii. 318 ; his merits as a lecturer,
ii. 320, seq. ; his services to science,
ii. 326, seq. ; his services to Yale
College, ii. 335 ; his character as a
college officer, ii. 336, seq. ; his love
of esteem, ii. 339; his kindness, ii.
353; his domestic traits, ii. 359;
testimonies to his excellence, ii.
369, seq.

Silliman, Benjamin, Jr., his useful
ness as the assistant of his father,
i. 318, 364, 393 ; ii. 128 ; his agency
in founding the Yale Scientific
School, ii. 274, 275 ; letter of Prof.
Silliman to, ii. 314.

Silliman, Benjamin (3d), ii. 308.

Silliman, Benjamin D., becomes an
assistant of Prof. Silliman, i. 315;
his subsequent history, i. 316.

Silliman, Daniel, i. 1.

Silliman, Ebenezer, i. 3.

Silliman, Gen. Gold Selleck, his ser
vices in the Revolutionary war, i.
3 ; his capture by the British, i. 6 ;
his return to his home, i. 9; his
death, i. 15.

Silliman, Mrs. Gold Selleck, her
character, i. 6 ; her account of her
retreat from Fail-field, i. 8; her
death and character, i. 274; ii. 84.

Silliman,Gold Selleck (Jr.), i. 8, 9, 10,

INDEX.

407

55, 75, 76,77, 78, 79, 82, 132,133,135,
199.201, 227, 228, 229 : ii. 88, 301.
Silliman, Mrs. Harriet T., i. 239, 240,
her marriage to Prof. Silliman, i.
244; her death, ii. 93; her charac
ter, ii. 93, seq.

Silliman, Mrs. Sarah J., ii. 108, 123.
SUliman, Trumbull, his illness and

death, i. 275.
Silliman. William, i. 5.
Silsbee, Nathaniel, i. 361.
Skinner, Aaron N., ii. 127.
Slavery, in New England, i. 21;
character of Southern, i. 378; ii.
20, 45, 46, 48, 49, 189, 295, 297;
the encroachments, ii. 238, seq.,
264, 265, seq.

Smith, Dr. Nathan R., ii. 4.
Smith, Jeremiah, i. 342.
Smith, President S. S., of Prince
ton, i. 110.

Sparks, Jared, his letter to Prof. Silli
man respecting the " Journal of
Science," i. 326, 354; his opinion
of Prof. Silliman's " Visit to Eu
rope," ii. 233.
Sparks, Mrs. Jared, i. 361.
Sprague, Rev. W. B., D.D., Prof.
Silliman's visit to, ii. 250, 376; let
ters from Prof. Silliman to, ii. 292,
293 ; his remarks on the character
of Prof. Silliman, ii. 374, seq.
Spring, Rev. G., D.D., i. 125; his

views of geology, ii. 147.
Staples, Seth P.", i. 53 ; his letter to

Prof. Silliman, i. 67.
Stevens, Dr. A. H., i. 218; ii. 281.
Stewart, Prof. Dugald, soiree at his
house, i. 176 ; his conversation, i. 177.
Stiles, Rev. Ezra, D. D., his character,

i. 27, 107.

Stirling, Sir John and lady, i. 190.
Stoddard, Rev. David B., i. 397.
Stone, Rev. Dr., i. 388.
Story, Joseph, i. 352.
Strong, Rev. Nathan, D. D., i. 260.
Strong, Dr. Woodbridge, i. 344.
Stuart, Prof. Moses, i. 53; his letters
to Prof. Silliman, i. 114, 116 ; his
death and character, ii. 115 ; on ge
ology and Genesis, ii. 133, 139.
Sturges, Judge Jonathan, i. 24.
Sullivan, Gen. William, i. 349 ; din
ner at his house, i. 353.
Sumner, Charles, his letter to Prof.

Silliman, ii. 261.

Sumner, George, his letter to Prof.
Silliman, ii. 33.

T.

Taylor, N. W., D. D., i. 218; his let
ter to Mr. Buchanan, ii. 259.
Taylor, John, i. 138 ; ii. 101 ; his cor
respondence with Prof. Silliman,
ii. 263, seq.

Taylor, Rev. Mr., i. 357.
Taylor, President Z., Prof. Silliman's

interview with, ii. 96.
Thacher, Prof. T. A., ii. 299 ; his re
marks on the character of Prof.
Silliman, ii. 338.

Thornton, Mr., M. P., i. 138, 155.
Ticknor, Prof. George, i. 347 ; his re
marks on Prof. Silliman as a lec
turer, ii. 321.

Trollope, Mrs., her work on the Uni
ted States, ii. 190.

Trumbull, Col. John, i. 367: Prof.
Silliman's acquaintance with, ii.
67, seq. ; his paintings and the
Trumbull Gallery, ii. 68, seq. ; let
ter from Lafayette to, ii. 387 ; let
ters from John Adams to, ii. 388,
389 ; letter from Thomas Jefferson
to, ii. 390; letters from Benjamin
West to, ii. 391, 393; letter from
Lord Grenville to, ii. 397.
Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan (Sen.), i.

231.

Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan (Jr.), Prof.
Silliman's reminiscences of, i. 232;
his person and manners, i. 232, 233 ;
his home at Lebanon, i. 234; his
aspect in public, i. 235 ; Prof. Sil
liman's introduction to his family,
i. 239; his death, i. 244; letters
from Washington to, ii. 379, seq. ;
letter from Martha Washington
to, ii. 386.

Trumbull, Lyman, his letter to Pro
fessor Silliman, ii. 261.
Tuckerman, Edward, i. 388.
Twining, Stephen, i. 53.

V.

Vass, James, i. 377.
Vigus, Prof., i. 303.
Virginia, gold mines in, i. 377; slav
ery in, i. 378.

W.

Wadsworth, Daniel, i. 238, 248, 306,
308, 309, 312, 323.

408

INDEX.

Walker, Rev. James, D. D., i. 392,
395, 402.

Warren, Dr. John C., soiree at his
house, i. 348; relics at his house,
ii. 72; his letter respecting Dr.
Mantell, ii. 231.

Washington, George, relics of, at Ar
lington House, i. 310; Trumbull's
portrait of, ii. 70 ; his letters to the
second Gov. Trumbull, ii. 379, seq. ;
his remarks on the organization of
the new government, ii. 379; on
his retirement from the Presidency,
ii. 380 ; on the condition of parties
and the character of the Demo
crats, ii. 383-386 ; declines to be a
candidate for the Presidency for a
third term, ii. 383, 385.

Washington, Martha, her letter to
Gov. Trumbull, ii. 386.

Watson, William, i. 313.

Webster, Daniel, his conversation
with Prof. Silliman in Lowell, i.
342 ; his speech in Boston, i. 387 ;
at the Harvard dinner (1846), ii.
31 ; Prof. Sillinaan's interview with,
ii. 118.

Webster, Noah, i. 67.

Weld, Mason C., i. 319.

Wellington, Duke of, ii. 188.

Well wood, Sir 'Henry Moncrieff. i.
187.

West, Benjamin, his letters to Col.
Trumbull, ii. 8917893; his election
to the chair of the Royal Academy
(1804), ii. 393, seq.

White, Judge, i. 361.

Whitney, Eli, ii. 139.

Whittlesey, Betsey, Prof. Silliman's
letter to, ii. 316.

Wilberforce, William, interview of
Prof. Silliman with, i. 138 ; his let-
~ ter to Prof. Silliman, i. 252.

Williams, Thomas S., ii. 298.

Williston, Payson, ii. 236.

Winterbotham, Mr., i. 147.

Winthrop, Lieut.-Gov., i. 354.

Winthrop, Robert C., ii. 31.

Wiseman, Cardinal, his work on
science and revelation, ii. 144.

Wistar, Dr. Caspar, his lectures, i.
106.

Wolcott, Oliver, i. 134, 197.

Woodhouse, Dr. James, his lectures,
i. 100, 224.

Woolsey, Rev. Theodore D., D.D.,
his letter to Prof. Silliman from
Athens, i. 29 ; appointed President
of Yale College, ii. 80 ; his letters
to Prof. Silliman concerning his
resignation, ii. 92, 99 ; his benefac
tion for the Silliman Professorship,
ii. 130; his discourse at 'the funer
al of Prof. Silliman, ii. 318; his
remarks on Prof. Silliman, as a
lecturer, ii. 320; his remarks on
Prof. Silliman's usefulness to Yale
College, ii. 335; his remarks on
the courtesy of Prof. Silliman, ii.
356.

Woolsey, William W., i. 134, 197.

Worcester, Joseph E., i. 390.

Wyman, Prof. Jeffries, i. 389; his
remarks on Prof. Silliman as a lec
turer, ii. 332; his remarks on the
character of Prof. Silliman, ii. 369.

.Y.

Yale College, religious revival in, in
1802, i. 82 ; its character in the last
century, i. 88 ; origin of geology
in, i. 216 ; its relations to Harvard
College, i. 400; growth of the
physical sciences in, ii. 274, seq.
(tfee Silliman, Benjamin.)

LORD DERBY'S "HOMER."

; • C|e IHaTof fonur,

RENDERED INTO ENGLISH BLANK VERSE BY EDWARD, EARL OF DERBY.

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Life of Benjamin

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