212 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



began by saying, " Qua canta colin pre my moo." (I 

 only give you the sounds, probably not the orthography.) 

 Now what do you think this means ? I puzzled myself to 

 no purpose, till a grave matron, sitting by, gave me the in- 

 terpretation : " Come my smart laddie and give me a kiss." 

 But as I had not made the discovery myself, I was not 

 entitled to the benefits of it. I begged the young lady to 

 repeat it that I might get the pronunciation more perfectly, 

 but she was too wary for me. I trust you have now enough 

 of the " tender and the pathetic," and remain sincerely your 

 friend 



TO MR. CHARLES DENIS ON. 



EDINBURGH, February 27, 1806. 



AND now, Charles, as to your hypothetical and 



paradoxical statements of, it may be and it may not be, 

 that you are and you are not that you expect to be and 

 that you do not expect to be. I know what it all means ; as 

 Falstaff says, I know you, I know you, Hal ! Well ; as 

 the old ladies say, 1 thought it would come to this. I con- 

 clude, then, my dear fellow, that your die is cast, at least 

 by this time. Well, I will not be selfish. It will give me 

 the most heartfelt satisfaction to see you as happy as our 

 friend Jere* is, and you do not deserve to be any happier, 

 deserving as you are. By the by, Charles, I am afraid you 

 will work up this play so fast, that the catastrophe will hap- 

 pen before my return. If you must put on fetters, like the 

 rest of the world, I should like to stand by and see them 



riveted, as I did last winter when Jere was married 



* Professor Day. F. 



