372 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



were peculiarly important, and I have, therefore, given a 

 particular account of them. I have given also, without 

 reserve, the impressions which they produced upon the au 

 dience and the public. The entire success by which they 

 were attended I can truly say never produced in my mind 

 any feelings of vanity and self-exaltation. I was too sen 

 sible of the responsibility of my position, and of the diffi 

 culty of presenting those great subjects clearly and attrac 

 tively to such large and intelligent audiences, too sensible 

 of this to permit any other feeling* than that of the most 

 earnest sincerity, attended by the most strenuous efforts to 

 perform my duty well. I was also most ably assisted ; and 

 never, in the two seasons, and in the forty-nine or fifty lect 

 ures which I delivered in the two double courses, was there 

 any failure in an experiment or in an illustration. 



I had, moreover, the happiness to obtain the good-will of 

 the people of Boston. The Orthodox and Unitarian influ 

 ence was united in my favor. I had many warm friends 

 among both classes, and was equally cherished by both. 

 The moral and religious bearing of the lectures was de 

 cided in illustration of the wisdom, power, and benevo 

 lence manifested equally in the mechanical and chemical 

 constitution of our world. These deductions of natural the 

 ology were out of the bounds of politics, and were equally 

 acceptable to the wise and good of all religious denomina 

 tions. The language of the press was entirely friendly, 

 and even laudatory ; nor have I ever seen or heard of an 

 unfriendly paragraph. I was deeply gratified and deeply 

 grateful to God, and to a community which had thus gen 

 erously adopted me, and entertain no doubt that the suc 

 cessful issue of these Boston courses produced the still 

 more important engagement which four years later brought 

 me back to the metropolis of New England, the account of 

 which I hope to give in due time. It was, indeed, a bright 

 era in my life, a brilliant and remunerative success which 

 diffused the benefits of science, honored the Creator, cheered 



