V. 



FOUR COURSES OF LOWELL LECTURES. 395 



opened the third of his courses before the Lowell 

 Institute. 



Dr. Walker's lecture, as happened on our arrival last 

 year, was to be delivered on the ensuing evening ; and as 

 we found our friend, the Rev. George Jones, a fellow-lodger 

 with us in our hotel, we took him along with us to hear the 

 lecture which was excellent, and delivered with dig 

 nity and force on the question, " Whether man can live 

 and improve without religious education ? " The house 

 was entirely full, stage and all, and a breathless silence 

 prevailed. We were received into the box of Mr. John A. 

 Lowell, our patron, with warm greetings from him and 

 his family ; also, from President Quincy, who advanced 

 promptly to meet us with his usual cordiality and kind in 

 quiries. To Mr. Lowell, I remarked : " I am very glad, sir, 

 to see that the Institute does not fall off." Oh no," said 

 he, " the interest keeps up, and there have been as many 

 applicants for your lectures as last year, which you will 

 remember was about ten thousand, and each ticket drawn 

 is entitled to two or three seats." 



I was told that on the day of applying for tickets, Federal 

 Street, leading to the Odeon, was entirely rilled for a long 

 distance with a dense mass of people, waiting for hours for 

 a chance, and content to advance slowly as the front melted 

 away. The tickets at once commanded two or three or 

 more dollars, and they are often drawn by servants and 

 others for the purpose of selling again for money. 



February 21. On entering the hall I was saluted by, 

 I think, the largest audience which I have at any time seen 

 there. Every nook and corner was filled, and all the gal 

 leries, even the uppermost, and all the alleys. 



I gave a concise notice of the course last year, and intro 

 duced this course with an exordium which I thought was 

 intelligible and apposite, and, what was still better, it was 

 brief. I gave a classification of the metals, and enumer- 



