A TEACHER: A STUDENT OF LAW, AND TUTOR. 55 



more zeal and more acrimony than have ever pre 

 vailed since in this country, even during the late 

 Rebellion in the districts not the scene of actual 

 hostilities. 



In his brother, his companion from childhood, Mr. 

 Silliman had a friend to whom he could pour out his 

 heart without reserve. That gentleman, after com 

 pleting his law studies, took up his abode in New 

 port, Rhode Island, and was married to Miss Hepsa 

 Ely, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Ely, the minister of 

 Huntington, Connecticut. Had this lady been a 

 sister by the tie of consanguinity instead of by mar 

 riage, Mr. Silliman's fraternal love could not have 

 been stronger. In all the fortunes of his brother's 

 household he ever continued to feel the most affec 

 tionate interest. 



Among the early productions of Mr. Silliman, 

 which have been preserved, are several of his college 

 compositions. One of them, which was written in 

 his junior year, when he was only sixteen years old, 

 is a dissertation, of about twenty pages in length, on 

 Natural History. It was read or delivered before the 

 Society of Brothers in Unity. It is a clearly and 

 concisely written survey of the three kingdoms of 

 nature in their fundamental peculiarities. It must 

 have been the fruit of careful study, and, when the 

 age of the writer is considered, discovers no ordinary 

 skill in composition. Mr. Silliman was early in life 

 an occasional contributor to the newspapers. A few 

 years after graduation he wrote for the New York 

 " Commercial Advertiser " which had been estab 

 lished by Noah Webster a series of essays, some of 

 them touching satirically on the follies of fashionable 



