“Among the twenty languages which he then professed to know accurately, he pointed out specially the English and the Albanese; among these he professed to know imperfectly, was also the Quichua, or old Peruvian, which he learned from some of the American missionaries. He mentioned that he was then engaged in learning the Bimbarra language, studying it from a catechism translated by a French missionary; an instance which shows that his _knowing_ a language was in _some_ instances nothing more than having got a smattering of it, as the Americans say.[426] As to the Persian distich, which it took him about half an hour to compose, it was an imitation of the distichs in Sadi’s _Gulistan_,[427] and contained, as is the case with these distichs, some elegant ἐνθύμησεις.” Whether, at any subsequent time, he acquired the Frisian dialect, of which “he had not yet heard” when Dr. Tholuck visited him, I am unable to pronounce from any positive information. But I find in his catalogue[428] several volumes in this language (to which it is highly probable that this interview called his attention;) not merely elementary books, such as Rasck’s _Friesche Spraakleer_, but historical works, as for instance, Wissers’ History, and even such light literature as Japiek’s Collection of Frisian Poetry.[429] From his known habits I can hardly doubt that, once having acquired these books, he must at least have made some progress towards mastering their contents. The abate Ubaldo Fabiani, a young Modenese priest of much promise, who, after completing his studies, had been appointed lecturer in sacred Scripture and Hebrew in his native university, came to Bologna in 1829, with letters from the abate Cavedoni to Mezzofanti, under whom he proposed to perfect himself in Hebrew and other Oriental languages. Mezzofanti received him with the utmost cordiality; and the great ability and industry which he exhibited, as well as his exceeding amiableness and unaffected piety, completely won the heart of his master. On his return to Modena, after a residence of a few months, Mezzofanti wrote to his friend Cavedoni. _Bologna, 17 October, 1829._