116 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



If in some of your rambles you would call at some of the 

 Philadelphia bookstores, and inquire for an Italian gram- 

 mar, dictionary, Tasso, Dante, Ariosto, Metastasio. or any 

 other Italian writer, if it even be a novelist, I would thank 

 you. If any or all of these can be found, you would oblige 

 me by giving information soon, that I may take the proper 

 means of procuring them. Especially, I want Dante, Ari- 

 osto, and Tasso 



Yours forever, 

 B. SILLIMAN, Esq. MOSES STUART. 



A second letter from the same vivacious writer 

 announced the reception of the Italian books, and 

 remarked further on the state of the College. 



YALE COLLEGE, Febi-uary 6, 1803. 



DEAR SIR, I have received my " Italian Library," 

 and am much obliged to you for the pains you took in pro- 

 curing it. I could wish you had not purchased Metastasio, 

 as the edition is somewhat incorrect and very badly printed ; 

 but since it is come, I acquiesce in the purchase. My in- 

 tention was to have you write me a catalogue of some Ital- 

 ian books which could be purchased at Philadelphia, and 

 not to make the purchase before I had calculated what I 

 could afford to spare from my " liberal wages," in making a 

 purchase of this kind. I presume, however, that I did not 

 express myself in my letter to you according to this inten- 

 tion, and therefore am content with my ' fc library." 



We are all anticipating your return, and expect to be taught 

 where we may find, or rather how we may compose, the 

 "philosopher's stone" For my own part, I am so grossly 

 ignorant respecting chemistry, that I hardly know what it 

 cannot effect. This business of analyzing sometimes makes 

 bad work. If you confine yourself to the laboratory of 

 Woodhouse, and do not happen to get analyzed in the lab- 

 oratory of some Philadelphia ladies, you will do well. But 



