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 foiled. 

 I feel, however, that at my time of life, the substantial 

 advantages of such a tour as I have taken, 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. 



