HIS MERITS AS A LECTURER. 321 



the people of crowded cities. In his own lecture-room 

 the students felt the genial sway of his oratory. No other 

 such instructions were given, uniting at once pleasure and 

 improvement. Hence for many years the study of chem- 

 istry was, perhaps, the most popular one in the institu- 

 tion. In the latter years of his professional life the science 

 of geology seemed to take the largest share of his interest 

 And, here, the grandeur of the subject-matter seemed 

 especially fitted to kindle and exalt his fervor. The mighty 

 agencies that have moulded the earth over and over, as 

 clay is moulded in the hands of the potter, the immense 

 ages which almost appall the imagination, this vast frame- 

 work of the earth, the theatre of such sublime displays, 

 and over all, before the eye of faith, the Divine Architect 

 carrying the great building forward, until it had become 

 a fit dwelling-place for his immortal creature, man, 

 these grand objects inspired him, and he threw the inspi- 

 ration into his audiences, wherever they were gathered." * 



Professor Silliman's lectures in the class-room 

 must have been more effective than academical lect- 

 ures on science in this country had been before his 

 time. A graduate of Harvard College, whose pro- 

 ductions have enriched the literature of the country, 

 writes : " My liveliest recollections of him are, I 

 think, as a lecturer at New Haven in the autumn 

 of 1814. He showed then a vigor, a spirit, and a 

 freshness of manner to which I had not been accus- 

 tomed, and which I think I have seldom seen equalled 

 since. His audience, too, which consisted, if I right- 

 ly remember, of medical students as well as under- 

 graduates, seemed to have been, as it were, trained 

 by him to profit by his teachings; many of them 

 taking notes, and showing their interest in other 



* Funeral Discourse, pp. 8, 9. 

 21 



