Among the many incidental advantages of life at Harvard, that is of those not specifically set down in the catalogue, the increased number of public lectures by well-known and able men on subjects of broad interest are coming to take a very important place. Such courses as that of Dr. Fiske, and those given under the auspices of the French Department and the Cercle Francais, of the Memorial Society, of the Civil Service Reform Club, and of other societies, all tend to make the intellectual life here mean more to every member of the University than it has ever done before. Of course these lectures, affording as they do a mental recreation must always be subordinate to the fixed and regular demands of college work and there must necessarily be a limit to their number. But though this may not materially be increased in the future, the importance of keeping the standard of the lectures as high as possible can not be urged too strongly.

In the standing of the University before the country at large, the courses of public lectures are especially important. Like the published contributions to science or literature that are made by our instructors and students, they show that beyond the work that is definitely laid out in the various courses, and constantly inspiring that work, there is an intellectual activity that is making Harvard more and more a centre of learning, in the broadest sense of the term.