42 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



down-stairs, one of my classmates threw a bowl of water in 

 his face. My indignation rose to see gray hairs thus in- 

 sulted by the levity of youth; but I very much doubt 

 whether his deed was worse than my own 



Jan. 3. .... I rose this morning as early as usual. 

 Read different books until the hour of public worship, when 

 I attended meeting, but either was duller than usual, or the 

 President did not preach with his usual pungency. I rather 

 believe that there existed a little of both, for I could not 

 tell what was his subject when I came home 



At prayers a very good sermon was read 'upon 



the text, " This year thou shalt die," very applicable to 

 the present Sabbath, as being the first after new-year. 

 After supper I went with my brother to Dr. Gould's, where 

 we spent the evening. There were a number of gentlemen 

 present. Our conversation was not, I apprehend, of the 

 most useful kind, for, as the company was large, none but 

 the most frivolous subjects could be admitted. I shall not 

 pretend to account for the phenomenon, but it is certainly 

 a fact, that the conversation of the young ladies (at least 

 as far as I have observed) is too prone to be confined to 

 small and insignificant subjects. (Query: Is not this in 

 some measure the fault of our sex, who very rarely intro- 

 duce any other subjects ?) 



Jan. 4. I read in the forenoon as usual, and went to 

 recitation at 11 A.M., where the President, in conjunction 

 with our recitation, gave the democratic societies a severe 

 and deserved trimming. 



Jan. 6. . . . . It was so dark by 4 p. M. that I 

 could not study, and went to Prince and Bishop's room, 

 where I enjoyed conversation until prayer-time, upon poli- 

 tics and smoking. I asserted that smoking was attended 

 with nothing of a beneficial nature, and that it was a very 

 bad habit. Bishop, on the contrary, (who, by the way, is an 

 old smoker,) defended it with all the pathos of a person 



