mayor of the city,) had emanated, and I received some additional light on certain events of my personal history, to which I allude in letter No. 5.—A father in Israel, a gray-headed sinner in my opinion, likewise informed me that they had the Irish to defend them.—I venture to assert that few of my countrymen, except perhaps the lowest rabble, would ever lend their aid to such nefarious purposes.

From all that I have had occasion to observe of social disorder and discontent in the city for several years past, I am sure that there are men who foment intestine commotions, who shamelessly and openly conspire against the honor and the interests, if not against the property and lives of their fellow-citizens, and whom the State ought to prosecute and punish as offenders against a clearly defined law of the statute-book.

My sanity at the time of arrest I can establish:—1st, By the testimony of those who saw me daily, and more especially, by that of a young man, who came to see me frequently, after the reception of Dr. Ferris' letter, and who in fact brought it from the office. 2dly, By the testimony of a distinguished physician, who about a week before, dressed a slight wound on one of my eye-brows, received from a fall against my sofa in the dark. 3dly, By the fact, that I was quietly and constantly engaged in writing, and in daily communication with the printer, who stereotyped my "Hand-book of German Literature." Symptoms of unusual excitement, in consequence of such an outrage, are no proof of derangement.

LETTER IV.

Bloomingdale Asylum, Dec. 26th, 1853.

To ——, Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir,

                  For several years past, I have repeatedly been on the point of making an effort to resuscitate a slight, but to me no less cherished acquaintance, by giving you some account of my doings and purposes, which, I have sometimes flattered myself, might not be without interest both to yourself and to such of your co-adjutors in Washington, as have enlisted with you in the noble cause of extending and diffusing knowledge among men. Of the proceedings of your institution I have occasionally informed myself, both from the pamphlets and reports periodically submitted to the public, and more especially from the volumes of regular "Transactions," in the archæological and linguistical parts of which, I have taken so much the greater interest, as of late years my own attention has at times been almost exclusively directed to the same field of investigation. It is true, I have as yet neither been able nor willing to give any positive result of my studies. I have hardly done anything more than "to break the ice." This, however, I may safely say to have done, having not only had the best opportunities, (since I saw you last in 1848) of surveying the field in the time-honored centres of intellectual light on the other side of the Atlantic, but having also since my return, as a member of several Learned Associations, had special occasion and incitement to keep alive my interest in these engaging pursuits. And if there be any truth in the ancient adage: ἀρχὴ ἥμισυ παντός, I may perhaps even entertain the hope (non invitá Minervâ) of some future concentration of my somewhat desultory excursions in these regions of light (where ignorance indeed, but ignorance alone, sees only darkness) to some radiant focal point. There are a number of subjects, closely connected with the inquiries, that come under the cognizance of the historico-philosophical section of your institute, which, I see, are agitated anew by the savants of the old world, and which to the resolution of certain problems, relating to the primitive history of this continent, are equally important here, perhaps entitled to our special consideration. Recent investigations would seem to show, for example, that our genial and acute Du Ponceau had by no means said the last word on the subject he has so learnedly reported. Several new works on the origin and classification of languages, that have made their appearance in Berlin, &c., since the day of Humboldt's attempt, would seem to invite to similar efforts on our side, and with special reference to the immensity of our cis-Atlantic field, which ought to be κατ' ἐξοχήν adopted as our own. Having most of these materials at hand, I have sometimes been tempted myself to try, whether by an exposition of the present state of that science, as cultivated by the Germans particularly, a new impulsion might not be imparted to it among ourselves. Some such purpose has been among the tasks, which I had proposed to myself for the present winter. The sudden suspension of my studies, and the consequent uncertainty of my affairs, however, have so seriously deranged my plans, that now I almost despair of being able to accomplish any of my more immediate and necessary purposes.—You will undoubtedly be surprised to learn, that I have been an inmate of the Lunatic Asylum, at Bloomingdale, for now nearly three months; your surprise will be still greater, when you come to learn, by what sort of machinations I have been brought here.

For several years past, I have been made the object of a systematic and invidious persecution, in consequence of which I have been obliged to shift my residence from one place to another, to spend my means in involuntary exile and unnecessary travelling, and altogether to lead a life of a discouraging uncertainty.

Shortly after my visit to Washington, (1848), where I saw you last, I was driven away from New-York, while yet absorbed in the midst of an arduous undertaking, (my large German and English Dictionary, which in consequence of my forced removal from the place of printing, I had to finish at an inconvenient distance), under circumstances of the most aggravated insults and abuses, (such as I had never dreamt men capable of,) and about six months after its completion the same miserable clique had already "finished" me in Boston and a regular "hedjra" to Europe was the consequence. [1] —I spent a year in London, Paris and Berlin, in a miserable struggle to repair my shattered health, (I had a cough, contracted from sheer vexation, while in the clutches of the miserable wretches, who seemed to be determined to vex me out of existence, which clung to me a year and ever and anon returns again,) and what was still more difficult, to forget the loathsome reminiscences of the immediate past by bringing myself in contact with the sanatory influences of the literature and art of the old world; partly with the intention of remaining there. I returned, however, in the hope of finding my difficulties subsided. But the same odious conspiracy, which had even contrived to mar my comfort and happiness in one place on the other side, (in Paris, where I spent the greater part of an academic year, at the University and libraries, in various studies,) had, as I found to my surprise, kept up a malevolent espionage over my peregrinations even, and I have since been subjected to a series of vexations and intrigues, which at times made me regret that I had not preferred any lot in a foreign land and among entire strangers to such an ignoble re-establishment at home. A personal attachment of former years was made use of to harass and lacerate my feelings, and an underhanded, venomous persecution, (which the parties, who were the authors,