302 A DECADE OF WORK A T HOME. [1843, 



CAMBRIDGE, March 18, 1843. 



Your most welcome and long-expected letter of the 

 14th reached me only this noon. This first day of 

 leisure of this week has been a very busy one. I have 

 been to town, and just got back. I have had to work 

 very hard this week. I have got my course of recita- 

 tions for the Freshmen on Smellie well in progress, 

 and am quite interested in it, though at first I thought 

 it would have been a great bore. The class are gen- 

 erally very much interested, and give promise that I 

 shall reap the fruits of my labor when they become 

 Sophomores or Seniors and attend the botanical lec- 

 tures, for which I think I am laying a foundation. I 

 am now perfectly at ease in my mode of teaching 

 them ; I am pretty good at questioning, and I give 

 them plenty of illustration, explanation, and ideas not 

 in the book, which pleases and interests them. In one 

 of the divisions last week, while giving them a sort 

 of lecture, two hours long ! (to which they listened 

 well ; for I gave them, or those who chose, the oppor- 

 tunity of going at the expiration of the regular hour, 

 but not one of them budged), turning my head at a 

 fortunate moment, I caught one of the fellows (rather 

 a stupid fellow, a boarder with me last term) throw- 

 ing his cap to his companion or playing some trick. 

 You know I can scold. So I gave him about half a 

 dozen words that made him open his eyes wide ; and 

 I do not think that he, nor any of that division, 

 will venture upon anything of the kind again very 

 soon. 



As to the botanical class, which now numbers 

 thirty - seven, I have given two more lectures, for I 

 lectured both Thursday and Friday, on the last occa- 

 sion, which was a sort of recapitulation quite without 



