Bautain’slittlebookonextemporaneousspeaking，asthebesttreatiseonthesubjectIhadeverseen，IremindedmystudentsthatthesefamouslecturesofGuizot，whichhadopenedanewepochinmodernhistoricalinvestigationandinstruction，weregiven，asregardsphrasing，extemporaneously，butthat，asregardsmatter，theywerecarefullypreparedbeforehand，havingwhatBautaincallsa``self—
developingorder’’;andIstatedthatIwouldallowanymemberofmyclasswhomightvolunteerforthepurposetogive，inhisownphrasing，thesubstanceofanentirelecture。ForayoungmanthustostandupandvirtuallydeliveroneofGuizot’slecturesrequiredgreatconcentrationofthoughtandconsiderablefacilityinexpression，butseveralstudentsavailedthemselvesofthepermission，andacquittedthemselvesadmirably。Thisseemedtomeanexcellenttrainingforeffectivepublicspeaking，andseveralofmyoldstudents，whohavesincedistinguishedthemselvesinpubliclife，haveconfessedtomethattheyfounditso。
Mynextandhighestdutywasgivinglecturestotheseniorclassandstudentsfromthelawschool。IntothisIthrewmyselfheartily，andsoonhadthesatisfactionofseeingmylargelecture—roomconstantlyfull。Thefirstofthesecourseswasonthe``DevelopmentofCivilizationduringtheMiddleAges’’;and，asIfollowedthelogicalratherthanthechronologicalorder，——takingupthesubject，notbyarecitalofevents，butbyadiscussionofepochsandsubjects，——Ithoughtitbesttolecturewithoutmanuscriptorevennotes。Thiswas，forme，aboldventure。Ihadneverbeforeattemptedanythinginthewayofextendedextemporaneousspeaking;and，asIenteredtheoldchapeloftheuniversityformyfirstlecture，andsawitfullofstudentsofallclasses，IavowedmytrepidationtoPresidentTappan，who，havingcometointroduceme，wasseatedbymyside。Hewasanadmirableextemporaneousspeakerinthebestsense，andhethenandtheregavemeabitofadvicewhichprovedofrealvalue。Hesaid:``Letme，asanoldhand，tellyouonething:neverstopdead;keepsayingsomething。’’Thiscourseoflectureswasfollowedbyothersonmodernhistory，oneofthesebeingon``GermanHistoryfromtheRevivalofLearningandtheReformationtoModernTimes，’’
anotheron``FrenchHistoryfromtheConsolidationoftheMonarchytotheFrenchRevolution，’’andstillanotheronthe``FrenchRevolution。’’TothislattercourseIgavespecialattention，thefoundationhavingbeenlaidforitinFrance，whereIhadvisitedvariousinterestingplacesandtalkedwithinterestingmenwhorecalledeventsandpeopleoftheRevolutionaryandNapoleonicperiods。Foratext—bookfoundationIreadwithmylowerclassesMignet’s``HistoryoftheRevolution，’’whichstillremainedwhatCarlylepronouncedit——thebestshortsummaryofthatgreatperiod。
Tofurthertheworkofmystudentsinthelecture—room，Ipublishedaninterleavedsyllabusofeachcourse，andwas，Ithink，thefirstpersoninourcountrywhoeverdidthisinconnectionwithhistoricallectures。Itisamatterofwondertomethatsofewprofessorsinthesedaysresorttothissimplemeansofstrengtheningtheirinstruction。