my brother-in-law, of----, stating
that the telegraphic enquiry had been made by himself, and with the
kindest regard to my comfort; that a letter from Dr. Ferris to a brother
Divine of that city had been the cause of the sudden consternation among
my relatives there. The Dr.'s letter was itself enclosed, having been
surrendered to the party for whose benefit it was composed. In this
letter the Dr. declares me _incompetent for the business of
instruction_, alleges, that during the last winter I had given various
symptoms of a disordered mind, which during the summer had increased
(?!!) to such an extent, as to give serious alarm to the humane feelings
of the Dr., and in consideration of which, he advises my friends "to
take me at once away from study, to some institution adapted to such."

On the morning of the receipt of this intelligence (the 5th of Oct., I
think,) I had just arranged my papers for my day's work, and in the best
spirits and in excellent health, (deducting a cough which during the
infamies of last winter I had contracted,) was about to begin preparing
some copy for the printer. This strange way of answering a just
complaint and grave accusations very naturally brought back the
recollections of all the contumelies and horrors of last winter, than
which the reign of terror has nothing more startling, save perhaps only
the guillotine or the inquisition. The patience of Job could not have
held out any longer. I went at once in search of the Dr., and finding
him in conversation with Prof. Loomis, in the lecture room of the
latter, asked him whether he had written the letter I held in my hands.
His cool reply in the affirmative was itself an insult, made as it was
in a manner, which confirmed my previous grounds of offence and the
impression, that the Dr. would not remember that I was not an
undergraduate in search of a step-father, but a gentleman and an officer
of the college. Impatience and anger could not be restrained, and I told
him that _he was a ---- and a ----!_ and read his epistle publicly in
the recitation-room of one of my colleagues, and in the hall of the
University, at the same time inveighing in somewhat violent terms
against the disorders of last winter. The result was general
amazement.--My conduct may be considered too hasty by many. It is true I
might have acted more rationally and calmly. As it is, however, so
flagrant an outrage deserved exposition, and the production of _such_ a
state