Chapter VIII: To End of Book (1)

By ALBERT M. MARTIN, GENERAL SECRETARY C. L. S. C.

1. Q. How many primary planets have been discovered between the sun and the earth? A. Six; four planetoids, Mercury and Venus.

2. Q. When and by whom were the four planetoids discovered? A. In 1878, during a total eclipse of the sun, Prof. Watson, of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Lewis Swift, the famous comet-finder, each discovered two small bodies within the orbit of Mercury.

3. Q. What is the distance of these planetoids from the sun? A. About thirteen million miles.

4. Q. What is the time of their orbital revolution? A. About twenty days.

5. Q. What is the mean distance of Mercury from the sun? A. Thirty-five million miles, in round numbers.

6. Q. What is the diameter of Mercury in round numbers? A. Three thousand miles.

7. Q. How does its axial revolution compare with that of the earth? A. It is nearly the same.

8. Q. With what kind of a light does Mercury shine? A. With a white light nearly as bright as Sirius.

9. Q. In what part of the heavens is Mercury to be seen? A. It is always near the horizon.

10. Q. What is the distance of Venus from the sun, in round numbers? A. Sixty-six million miles.

11. Q. How does its diameter compare with that of the earth? A. It is nearly the same.

12. Q. How does its axial revolution compare with that of the earth? A. It is also nearly the same.

13. Q. What is said of the appearance of Venus in the heavens? A. It is the most beautiful object in the heavens, and is often visible in the day time.

14. Q. What is the mean distance of the earth from the sun? A. Ninety-two million five hundred thousand miles.

15. Q. What is the polar and what the equatorial diameter of the earth? A. The polar, 7,899 miles; the equatorial, 7,925½ miles.

16. Q. State three facts in regard to the aurora borealis. A. It prevails mostly near the arctic circle rather than the pole; it is either the cause or the result of electric disturbance; it is often from four to six hundred miles above the earth, while our air can not extend over one hundred miles above the earth.

17. Q. What is the cause of tides? A. The attractive force of the moon and sun.

18. Q. What shores have the greatest tides? A. All eastern shores have far greater tides than western.

19. Q. What is the mean distance of the moon from the earth? A. Two hundred and forty thousand miles.

20. Q. What is the diameter of the moon in round numbers? A. Two thousand miles.

21. Q. What is the time of its revolution about the earth and of its axial revolution? A. Twenty-nine and one-half days.

22. Q. How clearly do the best telescopes we are now enabled to make reveal the moon? A. No more clearly than it would appear to the naked eye if it were 100 or 150 miles away.

23. Q. What is said about the moon presenting the same side to us? A. The moon always presents the same side to the earth.

24. Q. What is the difference of heat on the moon in the full blaze of its noon-day and midnight? A. No less than five hundred degrees.

25. Q. What is said as to the presence of air and water on the moon? A. There are no indications of air or water on the moon.

26. Q. What is said of the maps of the side of the moon toward us? A. They are far more perfect than those of the earth.

27. Q. What planets have been discovered that revolve around the sun outside of the orbit of the earth? A. Mars, asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

28. Q. What is the mean distance of Mars from the sun? A. One hundred and forty-one million miles.

29. Q. How does the axial revolution of Mars compare with that of Mercury, Venus, and the earth? A. It is nearly the same.

30. Q. What is the diameter of Mars in round numbers? A. Four thousand miles, or one-half that of the earth.

31. Q. What is the appearance of Mars to the naked eye? A. It is the reddest star in the heavens. Sometimes it scintillates, and sometimes it shines with a steady light.

32. Q. How many satellites has Mars? A. Two.

33. Q. When and by whom were they discovered? A. In August, 1877, by Prof. Hall, of Washington, D. C.

34. Q. How many asteroids have been discovered up to the present year? A. Two-hundred and twenty-three.

35. Q. What is the distance of the asteroids from the sun? A. From two hundred million to three hundred and fifteen million miles.

36. Q. What are the diameters of the asteroids? A. From twenty to four hundred miles.

37. Q. How does the mass of all the asteroids compare with that of the earth? A. It is less than one-fourth of the earth.

38. Q. Since what time have all the asteroids known been discovered? A. Since the commencement of the present century.

39. Q. What is the mean distance of Jupiter from the sun? A. 475,692,000 miles.

40. Q. What is the mean diameter of Jupiter? A. Eighty-six thousand miles.

41. Q. What is the volume of Jupiter compared with that of the earth? A. It is thirteen hundred times larger.

42. Q. What is the length of a Jovian day? A. About ten hours.

43. Q. How many satellites has Jupiter. A. Four.

44. Q. What is the mean distance of Saturn from the Sun? A. 881,000,000 miles.

45. Q. What is the mean diameter of Saturn? A. Seventy thousand five hundred miles.

46. Q. How does the time of the axial revolution of Saturn compare with that of Jupiter? A. It is nearly the same.

47. Q. How many moons has Saturn? A. Eight.

48. Q. By what is Saturn surrounded? A. By three rings.

49. Q. What has been proved in reference to the state of Saturn’s rings? A. That they are in a state of fluidity and contraction.

50. Q. What is the mean distance of Uranus from the sun? A. 1,771,000,000 miles.

51. Q. What is the mean diameter of Uranus? A. Thirty-one thousand seven hundred miles.

52. Q. What is the length of the year on Uranus? A. Eighty-four of our years.

53. Q. How many moons has Uranus? A. Four.

54. Q. When and by whom was Uranus discovered? A. By Sir William Herschel in 1781.

55. Q. What is the distance of Neptune from the sun? A. 2,775,000,000 miles.

56. Q. What is the diameter of Neptune? A. Thirty-four thousand five hundred miles.

57. Q. How many moons has Neptune? A. One, and probably two.

58. Q. What is the length of the year on Neptune? A. A little over one hundred and sixty four of our years.

59. Q. When was Neptune discovered? A. In 1846.

60. Q. By what name is the scientific theory known which attempts to state the method by which the solar system came into its present form? A. The nebular hypothesis.

61. Q. How are the stars in a constellation indicated? A. The brightest stars are indicated in order by the letters of the Greek alphabet. After these are exhausted the Roman alphabet is used in the same manner, and then numbers are employed.

62. Q. What have many of the brightest stars also received? A. Proper names by which they are known.

63. Q. Around what star do the stars of the northern circumpolar region appear to revolve? A. Polaris, the North Star.

64. Q. Name five northern circumpolar constellations. A. Ursa Major, or the Great Bear; Ursa Minor; Cepheus; Cassiopeia, or the Lady in the Chair; and Perseus.

65. Q. When are the circumpolar constellations visible in northern latitudes? A. They are always visible.

66. Q. How many stars does the constellation of Ursa Major contain that are visible to the naked eye? A. One hundred and thirty-eight.

67. Q. What does a group of seven stars in this constellation form? A. The Great Dipper.

68. Q. What are the names of the stars in the Dipper? A. The pointers are Dubhe and Merak; the stars forming the handle are Benetnasch, Mizar, and Alioth; the star at the junction of the handle and the bowl is Megrez, and the remaining star at the bottom of the basin is Phad.

69. Q. How many stars does Ursa Minor contain? A. Twenty-four stars, of which only three are of the third, and four of the fourth magnitude.

70. Q. What is a cluster of seven of these stars termed? A. The Little Dipper.

71. Q. What do three stars besides the double pole star form? A. The curved-up handle of the Little Dipper.

72. Q. How many stars visible to the naked eye are contained in the constellation Cepheus? A. Thirty-five.

73. Q. Which is the brightest star of this constellation? A. Alderamin.

74. Q. In what portion of the constellation is Alderamin situated? A. In the right shoulder.

75. Q. What is the position of the head of Cepheus? A. It is in the milky way, and is indicated by a small triangle of three stars.

76. Q. What figure, easily distinguished, do a number of stars in Cassiopeia form? A. An inverted chair.

77. Q. Give the names of two prominent stars in the constellation Perseus. A. Algenib and Algol.

78. Q. Name four of the more brilliant equatorial constellations, only a portion of whose paths is above our horizon. A. Andromeda, Orion, Cygnus, and Canis Major.

79. Q. Give the names applied to some of the groups of stars in the equatorial constellations. A. The Pleiades, the Great Square of Pegasus, the Belt of Orion, and the Milk Dipper.

80. Q. Name eight stars of the first magnitude in the equatorial constellations. A. Aldebaran, in Taurus; Capella, the Goat Star, in Auriga; Castor, in Gemini; Betelgeuse, in Orion; Sirius, the Dog Star, in Canis Major; Procyon, in Canis Minor; Spica, in Virgo; and Arcturus, in Boötes.

81. Q. What are some of the more remarkable sights in the southern circumpolar region of the sky? A. The constellations of the ship Argo and the Southern Cross, the Dark Hole, and the two Magellanic Clouds.

82. Q. How many stars are visible in the whole heavens to the naked eye? A. About five thousand.

83. Q. How many are there of each magnitude to the sixth? A. Twenty of the first, sixty-five of the second, two hundred of the third, four hundred of the fourth, eleven hundred of the fifth, and thirty-two hundred of the sixth.

84. Q. How many stars are there in the zone called the Milky Way? A. Eighty millions.

85. Q. How much of the light on a fine starlight night comes from stars that cannot be discerned by the naked eye? A. Three-fourths.

86. Q. How does the whole amount of starlight compare with that of the moon? A. It is about one-eightieth that of the moon.

87. Q. Give the names of five double or multiple stars. A. Polaris, Sirius, Procyon, Castor, and sixty-one Cygni.

88. Q. What is said of the color of stars? A. They are of various colors.

89. Q. Name five stars each having a different color. A. Sirius, white; Capella, yellow; Castor, green; Aldebaran, red; and Lyra, blue.

90. Q. What are clusters of stars? A. In various parts of the heavens there are small globular well-defined clusters, and clusters very irregular in form marked with sprays of stars.

91. Q. How do these clusters appear to the eye, or through a small telescope? A. As little cloudlets of hazy light.

92. Q. What is the new and better substantiated possibility of thought concerning these clusters? A. That they belong to our system, and hence that the stars must be small and young.

93. Q. What does the spectroscope show that some of these little cloudlets of hazy light called nebulæ are? A. That they are not stars in any sense, but masses of glowing gas.

94. Q. What are some of the shapes of nebulæ? A. Nebulæ are of all conceivable shapes—circular, annular, oval, lenticular, conical, spiral, snake-like, looped, and nameless.

95. Q. Of how many stars has a variation in magnitude been well ascertained? A. One hundred and forty-three.

96. Q. What are temporary stars? A. Those that shine awhile and then disappear.

97. Q. What are new stars? A. Stars that come to a definite brightness and so remain.

98. Q. What are lost stars? A. Those whose first appearance was not observed, but which have utterly disappeared.

99. Q. What movements have these stars? A. There is motion of the stars in every conceivable direction.

100. Q. What is said of the appearance of the Great Dipper in thirty-six thousand years? A. The end of the dipper will have fallen out so that it will hold no water, and the handle will be broken square off at Mizar.

ANSWERS

TO QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY IN THE JANUARY NUMBER OF “THE CHAUTAUQUAN.”

By ALBERT M. MARTIN, GENERAL SECRETARY C. L. S. C.

1. The expression, “Possession is nine points in the law,” probably had its origin in an old Scottish proverb, “Possession is eleven points in the law, and they say there are but twelve.” It is found in a play by Colley Cibber, called “Woman’s Wit,” reading “Possession is eleven points of the law.” Later, DeQuincey uses the expression in a criticism of Shakspere’s drama of “King Lear,” in the form employed by our author. DeQuincey says: “The best of Shakspere’s dramas, ‘King Lear,’ is the least fitted for representation, and even for the vilest alteration. It ought, in candor, to be considered that possession is nine points in the law.” It occurs in the writings of a number of writers of the present century with a change of the numeral.

2. The preying sadness that Cowper sought to escape from by the work of translating Homer was occasioned by disappointment in youth; attempted suicide; dread of everlasting punishment, and fear of insanity. A romantic attachment for his cousin in his youth met with the disfavor of his father. Doubts of his ability to fill the requirements of an office for which he was named so preyed upon his mind that he attempted suicide. After this he believed that in that act he had committed a deadly sin, and he could only see between him and heaven a high wall which he despaired of ever being able to scale. He possessed a naturally melancholy temperament, and was subject to insanity, of which he had a great dread. He began the translation of Homer into blank verse to divert his mind from morbid introspection, and he succeeded so well that the six years he spent in this labor were among the happiest of his life.

3. The original of the quotation, “From the center to the utmost pole,” is to be found in Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” book I, line 74. The quotation is not, however, literally made. In Milton it reads:

“As far removed from God and light of heav’n,
As from the center thrice to th’ utmost pole.”

Pope also uses a similar expression in his lines reading:

“Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,
And waft a sigh from Indus to the pole.”

4. Macedonia’s madman was Alexander the Great. He was so called because he was dazzled or crazed with his own success; from his rash and impetuous disposition, and the many acts of inhumanity he perpetrated; because his horrible butchery and cruelty at times indicated a species of madness; because his brilliant successes so turned his head that he sought to be worshiped as the son of a god. Byron, in his Age of Bronze, refers to him as the madman in these lines:

“How vain, how worse than vain, at length appear
The madman’s wish, the Macedonian tear.
He wept for worlds to conquer—half the earth
Knows not his name, or but his death and birth.”

5. Some of the features of the Cathedral of Cologne that render it famous are as follows: It is considered one of the finest monuments of Gothic architecture in existence. It contains the shrine of the three kings, or magi, who visited and worshiped the infant Savior, and their reputed bones. It is the largest Gothic church in the world. It was begun in 1248 and finished in 1881—six hundred and thirty-two years in building. It is the loftiest building in the world, the tower being about five hundred feet high. Its beauty is in its exquisite proportions, and it does not invite long study to appreciate its grandeur. It has beautiful stained-glass windows, a double range of flying buttresses, a perfect forest of pinnacles. Under a slab in the pavement the heart of Maria de Medici is buried. The cathedral is in the form of a cross, 510 feet long and 231 feet broad. The roof rests on 100 columns, of which the four center ones are 30 feet in circumference.

6. The expression “Perish the thought” probably had its origin in a speech of Gloucester, interpolated by Colly Cibber, in Shakspere’s “Richard the Third.” The reading there is “Perish that thought,” and is to be found in Bell’s edition of Shakspere’s plays as performed at Drury Lane Theater. The part of the speech containing the expression is as follows:

“Perish that thought! No, never be it said
That fate itself could awe the soul of Richard,
Hence, babbling dreams; you threaten here in vain;
Conscience, avaunt, Richard’s himself again!”

7. The lines of Pope in his paraphrase of the moonlight scene, given in the closing part of the eighth book of the Iliad, are “false and contradictory” in the following particulars: The planets do not revolve around the moon. The stars do not make bright the pole. Those near the pole are scarcely visible on such a night. It is not a correct translation of the original. The light on a moonlight scene is mild, subdued and silvery, and therefore is not glorious, yellow and golden. It is contradictory, because he says the stars gild the pole, and cast a yellow verdure o’er the trees, and at the same time tip with silver the mountain heads. He speaks of a flood of glory bursting from all the skies which he calls blue. The night filled with the noises of neighing coursers and ardent warriors, waiting for the morn, could not be like the one “when not a breath disturbs the deep serene.”

8. Webster’s famous seventh of March speech was delivered in the United States Senate on the seventh of March, 1850. The occasion was the discussion of a series of resolutions submitted by Mr. Clay in reference to the admission of California as a State, and embodying a basis of a proposed compromise of all differences relating to the territories and to slavery. In this speech Mr. Webster took ground against the abolitionists; against further legislation prohibitory of slavery in the territories; against secession or disunion; against whatever seemed calculated to produce irritation or alienation between the North and the South. In consideration of its character, and the manner in which it was received by the people throughout the country, it has been entitled, “For the Constitution and the Union.”

9. Athene was called the “Stern-Eyed” because she was considered the goddess of pure reason, raised above every feminine weakness, and disdaining love; because of her martial mein; also, that no flattery or other influence could deter her from executing justice alike on friend or foe. She watched over Athens to protect it from outward foes; consequently she was watchful, or “stern-eyed.” She generally appeared with a countenance full more of masculine firmness and composure than of softness and grace.

* * * * *

Correct replies to all the questions for further study in the January number of THE CHAUTAUQUAN have been received from Maggie V. Wilcox, 605 North Thirty-fifth Street, West Philadelphia, Pa.; Margaret D. Mekeel, Trumansburg, N. Y.; A. U. Lombard, 382 Oak Street, Columbus, Ohio; Eleanor A. Cummins, 243 Tenth Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Addie L. Crocker, 439 Sixth Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Mrs. D. W. Eaton, Allston, Mass.; Mrs. W. D. Beaman, Winchendon, Mass.; Abbie L. Wheeler, West Gardner, Mass.; Alice M. Hyde, Gardner, Mass.; the Alpha C. L. S. C., of Lewistown, Me.; “Right Angle” of the Trumansburg, N. Y., “Triangle;” and the Phillipsburg, Pa., local circle.

OUTLINE OF C. L. S. C. STUDIES.

MARCH.

The March required C. L. S. C. reading includes the latter part of Bishop Warren’s Recreations in Astronomy, from page 135 to the end of the book; the corresponding parts of Chautauqua Text-book, No. 2, “Studies of the Stars;” Chautauqua Text-book, No. 4, English History, by Dr. Vincent; and the required readings in the present number of THE CHAUTAUQUAN. The following is the division according to weeks:

FIRST WEEK.—1. Warren’s Recreations in Astronomy, chapter viii to the sub-reading “Mars,” from page 135 to 159—the Planets as Individuals.

2. Chautauqua Text-book, No. 2, Studies of the Stars, the Planets, from page 16 to page 28, inclusive.

3. Chautauqua Text-book, No. 4, English History, from the commencement of the book to the third exercise on page 14.

4. History of Russia, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

5. Sunday Readings, selection for March 4 in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

SECOND WEEK.—1. Warren’s Recreations in Astronomy, the remainder of chapter viii and chapter ix—from page 159 to page 191—the Planets as Individuals, continued, and the Nebular Hypothesis.

2. Chautauqua Text-book, No. 2, Studies of the Stars, the Planets, continued, from page 29 to page 36, inclusive.

3. Chautauqua Text-book, No. 4, English History, the third exercise, from page 14 to page 20, the latter included.

4. History and Literature of Scandinavia, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

5. Sunday Readings, selection for March 11, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

THIRD WEEK.—1. Warren’s Recreations in Astronomy, chapter x, the Stellar System, from page 193 to page 228, inclusive.

2. Chautauqua Text-book, No. 2, Studies of the Stars—the Fixed Stars; the Sun’s Motion in Space; Names and Positions of the Stars, from page 42 to the end of the book.

3. Chautauqua Text-book, No. 4, English History, the fourth exercise to the sub-head, “The House of Lancaster,” from page 21 to page 32.

4. Readings in English History and Literature, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

5. Sunday Readings, selection for March 18, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

FOURTH WEEK.—1. Warren’s Recreations in Astronomy, from page 229 to the end of the book.

2. Chautauqua Text-book, No. 4, English History, from page 32, “The House of Lancaster,” to the end of the book.

3. Readings in Astronomy, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

4. Sunday Readings, selection for March 25, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

C. L. S. C. ROUND-TABLE.[I]

HOW TO READ TOGETHER PROFITABLY.

After singing, by the choir, “Arise and Shine,” and “The Winds are Whispering,” Dr. Vincent said: “I greet you. We are glad that so many of us are able to be present this afternoon. We are here to-day for a practical question or two in connection with our work as local circles, and then to answer some questions relating to the exercises of the coming Saturday. It is a question of much importance to all who are connected with local circles: How may we promote profitable reading? A local circle is not designed for much reading, but is a place to guide people in reading at home; to make suggestions; to correct blunders; to give new ideas that reading may be prosecuted with economy of time. A large part of almost any book may be omitted by every reader, and yet he may after a fashion read the parts he “omits.” There is a rapid way of running over half a dozen pages when they contain but the expansion or illustration of a thought. You see what the author is after; you have read the half-dozen pages; you have all that is for you in those pages, and saved your time for a page that you can not finish in fifteen minutes or half an hour. It is often the case that when out of a book of three hundred pages you have read forty pages of it studiously, you have the essence of that book.

There are very few men who can write a book, every page of which is worth the concentrated attention of the average reader. Many a book that costs one dollar and a half contains only a half-dollar’s worth. Learn to find and make your own that half-dollar’s worth.

It may be well occasionally in a local circle for one member to read a chapter, or paragraph, or section, of one, two, three, four, or more pages, and let the rest listen, noting every word, watching his pronunciation, or trying to take in all that they can while he reads. The habit of attention while another reads may be more profitable than reading for oneself. When the page has been read in the hearing of the other two, if the circle be a triangle, or the other twenty, if the circle be a very large circle, then let one, two, or three, as many as you have time to hear, try to repeat the substance of what was read. We had at Island Park the other day in a round-table conference, a very interesting exercise of that kind. I took up a book, the newest and last—it was Hatton’s account of a trip through America. I read to them a page of that. I read it so rapidly that it was almost impossible for anybody to follow me. They heard me. I pronounced every word distinctly, but read as rapidly as I could. And there was precious little to recall. And then I read another part of the book very slowly. There were a great many dates in it. It was an account of the settlement of Kansas, and the growth of Kansas and Missouri, and the settlement of Nebraska. I read the figures slowly, but did not repeat. When I finished I closed the book, and then recalled through the class the substance of what I had read. It was very gratifying to find how much they could remember, and to me it was very gratifying to see how many forgot dates, and it was exceedingly gratifying to find one old Presbyterian minister, whose life certainly was not a failure, able to remember all the figures, and _he_ felt very much gratified. Now, an exercise of that kind will do good to everybody in the class, the reader doing his best to give to all the rest a few facts for recollection, and the listeners trying to recall. And what one fails to recall, the others recall, and at last you get out of a class of ten or twenty the substance of all that was read in the hearing of all the members.

Sometimes the reading for the next week or month may be anticipated in a little class. We are, for example, to read a certain chapter this week from Timayenis’s Greek History. “Now, as I have read that chapter,” says the leader, or one of the members, “I find general great ideas, or periods, or points. They are as follows:” Now, no one but himself has read that chapter. He gives them the general great thoughts, or centers, of that chapter or book, which they are to read the coming week. All the members going from that local circle will take up that chapter and read it that week with greater profit than if they had not enjoyed the preview. In the same way have a review of the reading of the last week. Get members to read with thoughtfulness, and with the intention of presenting again what they read. When I read up for entertainment, I read rapidly and with fifty per cent. of my attention. When I read up with a view of reinforcing my position, or preparing myself for a discussion of a subject, I read with one hundred per cent. of my attention. When people read because it must be read, they will read it in one way. When people read for the sake of telling it again, they read it another way, and that other way is the way to read. [Laughter.] And the local circle encouraging the habit of expression, whether in writing or otherwise at the time, will promote attention in reading.

Once in awhile in a local circle, one may read as an illustration of the most profitable way of personal and private reading. For example, let Mr. A. B. take two pages of Timayenis’s Greek, or of the little book on Geology, and let him read two pages, stopping and talking to himself aloud, as he would if alone. He finds a word that he does not understand. He says, “I do not know the meaning of that word. I think it has some reference to so and so.” He turns to his dictionary and finds out what it means. He finds a classical allusion and says, “I do not think I can tell what it means, or how to pronounce that word. I must look in the dictionary. Here is an obscure thought I can not fully understand.” And he reads it over. When a thoughtful man or woman has read through one page of a book in that way, revealing all his thoughts and processes while he reads, he helps other people to read intelligently, slowly, thoughtfully, and they learn the art of reading alone with a mastery of the attention. There might also be five minute synopses of the book. Divide a book that has been read into periods or sections. Miss A. gives a five-minute synopsis of a certain period, Miss B. another, Miss C. another. This review helps everybody to remember.

I think it would be a very good plan for each member of a local circle to mark in his book passages which most impress him. I never read a book which I own, and never a book owned by a friend of mine, whom I know with a tolerable degree of intimacy, without marking it. I have marked the passages that impressed me in every book in my library which I have read. When I mark a book the passages marked are the things in that book that belong to me. I can re-read it in a very short time. I believe there is a strange law of mental affinity, by which a soul takes hold of the thoughts in a book that are for him. I believe if the members were some evening to bring their books, were to have the marked passages read, on given pages, the comparison, the variety and the repetition would all make the exercise extremely interesting and profitable.

Have you additional hints to give about reading in our local circles to profit? Let me hear from you now.

MR. MARTIN: How are we to examine the dictionary when the scheme of the first two months of the next year in the required time allows only two minutes to the page?

A VOICE: Let them take more time.

DR. VINCENT: Mr. Martin, will you read to me the books that are required from this list?

MR. MARTIN: The Historical Course of Timayenis, parts 3, 4, and 5.

DR. VINCENT: You have two months for that; 125 to 380. What next?

MR. MARTIN: “Chautauqua Text-book of Greek History,”’ and “Geology” by Packard. The remaining reading for October and November is to be published in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. You see that more than half is in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

DR. VINCENT: That is an estimate of Dr. Flood for some other year.

MR. MARTIN: It is published in this article.

DR. VINCENT: It may be that during the year there will be as much in THE CHAUTAUQUAN as in all the books for the year, but I am very doubtful if you will double the reading for October and November in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. I say that in a local circle one may examine all the classical allusions, one may examine all the difficult words, or a committee may be appointed for that purpose, and you can economize time by a division of labor. That is one of the benefits of local circles. How many pages of required reading in THE CHAUTAUQUAN?

A VOICE: About thirty.

DR. VINCENT: About sixty pages, then, in October and November. Now for December. What are we to read during that month?

MR. MARTIN: The “Preparatory Greek Course in English.” That is to be read in December and January, with THE CHAUTAUQUAN for these two months.

DR. VINCENT: February?

MR. MARTIN: Warren’s “Astronomy,” and his little text-book on the stars. That extends over two months, February and March, and for April we have the Hampton Tracts.

DR. VINCENT: They are very small, and can be read in an hour. Go on.

MR. MARTIN: In May is “Evangeline;” in June you have nothing but the little Chautauqua Text-book on China.

DR. VINCENT: That is all. My friends, we do not have a very difficult course for the next year. You will have plenty of time to examine the difficult points.

MR. MARTIN: I only asked the question for October and November.

DR. VINCENT: It may be a little more difficult in October and November.

REV. J. A. FOSTER: Suppose a person with plenty of time can take the four years in three years, have you any objection?

DR. VINCENT: There is a little objection. We prefer to occupy the time with the four years, because there are so many studies possible. Let the person who has so much time take the special courses and thus make the diploma at the end of the four years so much more valuable. I do not like to crowd the four years into three. There have been a few cases in which that has been done.

A VOICE: Can a graduate of 1882 commence and take the course over again?

DR. VINCENT: Yes, sir. I hope the most of them will, and get a white crystal seal on the diploma every year, reading a certain part of the books, not all of them. The current course is prescribed in the circle.

A VOICE: If the ’82s come on as rapidly for the four years to come as in the four years past, where will we be then? [Laughter.]

DR. VINCENT: Nearer heaven. [Laughter.] You will have, for example, this admirable history of Greece in two volumes. You will have this series of four books in Latin and Greek. And what delights me is that the college people are charmed with this “Preparatory Greek Course in English.” It is a marvelous book. I did not write it. A scholarly man, who examined it the other day, said, “Why, every boy who goes to college should read that before he goes.” There is the substance of all that the boy studies in the grammar school and preparatory school before he enters college; there it is all in English, and in a more available form than that in which the boy gets it. I do not mean to say that you have more than the boy. He secures the mental drill and a foundation of linguistic knowledge. He gets what you can not get, but you secure an intelligent view of the college world through which he passes as a student of Greek. The questions for further study, published in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, were of much value in our local circles. Can we have something like it next year? Those who request Dr. Flood to make arrangements for the publication in THE CHAUTAUQUAN of a series of questions for further study, raise your hands. Down. Best raise them in a numerous request.

WRITTEN QUESTION: Is a new four years’ course to commence now?

DR. VINCENT: The new four years’ course is the old four years’ course revised, and with many modifications. We take astronomy, the same text-book somewhat revised. We take English history with not so much attention to it. We took a little Greek history before, too; now we take a good deal of Greek.

WRITTEN QUESTION: If one has read the four years’ course and sent in only the first year’s papers, but has all the other papers partly made out, what will that person do?

DR. VINCENT: Send in, as you ought to have done, that little two-page slip, giving all the books you have read, answer “R” or “E.” Persons having done that will meet the requirements of the Circle. This paper we sent to every member of the class of ’82, for testimony concerning the amount of reading that has been done. I do hope that representative local circles will supply themselves with these geological charts, which are so admirable for use in local circles, in Sunday-schools, in lecture rooms, and at home. Indeed, they are a good thing to have about the house for a private family. With this book in hand the mother may be a lecturer in geology, and have the pictures to represent these matters. I hope we can encourage the publishers of the geological charts, who went to great expense in the preparation of these, so that we can have other charts in the other matters.

A VOICE: Can a person who has not taken the regular course take up any special course and receive a certificate?

DR. VINCENT: Persons who have never taken the regular course may take any special course and receive a certificate to that fact, but they will miss the circles, and the Hall in the Grove, and the arches, and the central office.

FOOTNOTE:

[I] Sixth Round-Table, held in the Hall of Philosophy, August 10, 1882.

THE STUDY OF FRENCH.

By PROF. A. LALANDE, PROFESSOR OF FRENCH IN THE CHAUTAUQUA SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES.

From the beginning I have followed as scrupulously as possible the most _natural method_ of teaching, and I propose to continue this method in the School of Languages at Chautauqua.

At the same time I desire to unite with my system of teaching a new manner of studying the French language, to which I call the attention of the curious and intelligent public which meets every year in our schools.

I will assemble every day in my class-room those who do not know a word of French and those who have already studied French, but who can not yet speak it. We will read together either a part of a fable from La Fontaine, or a few lines from some other well-known French author.

In the beginning I will translate the passage literally, then after being quite certain that each word is thoroughly understood, we will read together the text, slowly at first, syllable by syllable, and then more rapidly, uniting the words and giving to them the musical cadence peculiar to the French tongue. Afterward I will question the scholars _in_ French upon the lesson.

Each day the scholars will read the same fable or the same passage, until the pronunciation is good, and commit a few lines to memory, not, however, before they are able to give the passage that harmony which can only come from a page well understood.

These recitations (which are essential) will not only strengthen the memory, but will teach them the grammar and dictionary of the French language, at the same time familiarizing them with the best authors.

If after a few weeks they commit to memory several fables and pages from our great writers, they ought to gradually become able to read and understand without the aid of the teacher’s translation.

Will I succeed?

Time will show, but failure is hardly possible when one is inspired by the spirit which reigns at Chautauqua, and encouraged by a public as intelligent as that which assembles in our schools.

One can scarcely be insensible of the advantages derived from the study of French. From the early mediæval ages it has been the language of poetry and refinement, and one can scarcely lay claim to a finished education unless familiar with this tongue.

Too much can not well be said in its favor, as it is not only a polite and musical language, but a familiarity with its great authors will open an avenue of the highest enjoyment to students of good literature; for it is a well-known fact that the beauties of any language are lost by translation.

EDITOR’S OUTLOOK.

The C. L. S. C. as a Substitute for the Public Library.

Reading in a desultory manner, without system, plan, or purpose, as is the habit of many people who patronize public libraries, is productive of but little benefit. One may go through many volumes, and acquire much information, but it will be in a crude, unsystematic state, and can not be utilized in many practical ways. In public libraries the people are almost wholly devoted to reading works of fiction. This is the testimony of librarians. Its truthfulness may also be seen by any one who will casually examine the books of any library open to the public. Works of fiction bear the marks of almost constant perusal, while the standard works of history, science, philosophy and literature show signs of but little use and remain uncalled for upon the shelves for weeks at a time. The constant reading of fiction is deleterious in the extreme, as it not only gives the individual addicted to it false and distorted views of life, but it is also sure to render the mind unfit for the consideration of all serious and weighty subjects, and begets a distaste for solid reading of any and every kind.

In many respects the C. L. S. C. is a great improvement on the reading-room or the public library, and may prove, in a good degree, a valuable substitute for both. There can be little doubt but that the time spent in reading the course prescribed for its members will be productive of much better results than if given up to reading in a hap-hazard manner. The increased advantages to be obtained may be briefly summed up as follows:

In the first place, the books prescribed in the C. L. S. C. course of study have been selected after the most careful consideration by persons well qualified for the task. A number of the works have been prepared expressly for the use of the C. L. S. C., and are models of compactness, brevity and style. The course of study is not confined to any one department of literature, but comprises works of history, and science, philosophy and poetry, and a wide range of literature and topics of general interest. Works of fiction are reduced to a minimum, and those admitted to the course are unobjectionable both in character and matter.

Second—The course of reading is pursued in a methodical and orderly manner. A portion of each day is to be set apart for the required reading, and though the allotted time is brief, it is sufficient to secure habits of systematic study. A regular plan is insisted upon. Each work is to be read in the order assigned to it and written examinations are conducted on the portions read. Thus the evils resulting from careless and desultory methods of reading are counteracted and wholesome and systematic habits of study are inculcated.

Third—The solitary reader often finds his task monotonous and tiresome, and at times his perusal of books is unproductive because his faculties are not aroused to their highest state of action. But in the C. L. S. C. such a condition of things is largely avoided. A number of persons in common pursue the same course of reading, with frequent meetings for conversation concerning the books and topics under consideration. By this means they are afforded frequent opportunities for mutual interchange of ideas on the subjects to which their minds are simultaneously directed and they are thus stimulated to greater mental activity, and their work is freed from all tedium and weariness. While the C. L. S. C. has many benefits to offer to people in cities and large towns, even though they may possess the advantages of reading-rooms, libraries and lecture courses, it is of especial profit to those who dwell in small towns and in the rural districts. In but few of such communities are libraries of any kind to be found, and means for self-culture are often meagre in the extreme. The C. L. S. C. offers a course of reading adapted to their wants. It is extensive and yet not costly, and may be pursued by the busiest men and women if they are only economical of time.

Let any one who sighs for the advantages to be derived from reading-rooms, enter upon the studies prescribed for the C. L. S. C., and at the end of his four years’ course, compare notes with any one who has spent his leisure in that kind of reading that is common in public libraries, and he will find he has made great gain.

“Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne was, without doubt, the most powerful writer in the field of romance which our country has produced. His fame was of slow growth, but as the years have passed it has been continually swelling and widening, and his name is certain to long hold a foremost place in American literature. He lived long enough to see some recognition of his genius, but since his death, in 1864, he has been read and praised as he never was in his life. Various editions of his works have been published, and whatever products of his pen, not published in his life-time, from time to time have come to light, have been put into print and have been eagerly read. Undoubtedly much, if not all, of the posthumous Hawthorne literature would never have been given to the public if his own wishes had been carried out. His shy and sensitive nature is well known. It could not have been grateful to him to have his personality brought before the world as it has been since his death. It was his request that his life should not be written, but already there are no less than four Hawthorne biographies, and two more are in preparation. And who doubts that if he could have foreseen the publication of the notes, fragments, and studies for stories which were written simply as memoranda, suggestions and helps to be used in the preparation of his works, he would have taken good care that they should not be left behind him? No writer ever elaborated his works with greater care. Each story which he himself gave to the world is perfect in style, and a finished work of art. And to have such crude and hasty work made into books, as much published with his name since his death is, is almost enough to cause this exquisite literary artist to turn in his grave.

Soon after Hawthorne’s death the opening chapters of “The Dolliver Romance,”—a story which he left unfinished—were published. Later came the publication of his “American Note Books,” “English Note Books,” and “French and Italian Note Books.” In 1872 the story “Septimius Felton, or the Elixir of Life,” which had been found among his manuscripts, was edited by his daughter and published. It seems quite clear that it was Hawthorne’s intention to merge this story in “The Dolliver Romance,” and that, if he had lived to complete the latter work, no “Septimius Felton” would ever have seen the light. But this was not the last of the fragmentary work of this author which the world was to see. Not long since it was announced that another work from Hawthorne’s pen had been found, and would be published. We now have it—“Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret.” Recently, also, _The Atlantic Monthly_ and _The Century_ have given us, under the titles, “The Ancestral Footstep,” and “A Look Into Hawthorne’s Workshop,” certain Hawthorne fragments in which this story is sketched. And the question now for the critics to decide is whether in “Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret” we have the fulfillment of the studies in these fragments, or whether this published story is itself but a sketch and study, to be fulfilled with the others in a romance which was long germinating in the great author’s mind, but which death came too soon for him to execute. Certainly “Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret” Hawthorne himself would never have published as it is. It is no finished work of his own. There has been incredulity on the part of some as to his having written any part of it. But it is in part his work, clearly enough; and how much of it is his and how much the editor’s—who is his son, Julian Hawthorne—readers must conjecture for themselves. When asked to take this as substantially a complete work of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, we decline. Evidently it is not so. His hand of power is seen in it at times, but it is very unequal, and as a whole it is unsatisfactory.

We have not the space to give an analysis of the book. It will be widely read. Of the lovers of Hawthorne the name is legion, and nothing to which his name is attached is likely to be passed by unnoticed. But that it can add nothing to his fame goes without saying. Indeed, if it could be believed that it is really Hawthorne’s work, that he wrote it as a whole, to publish substantially as it is, it might have the opposite effect. But it will doubtless be very generally regarded as one among the many posthumous Hawthorne fragments. A much more powerful story than “Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret,” as we have it, was struggling in the brain of this rare literary genius, and in the course of time would have come forth had not death stepped in with the inevitable summons. For this unwritten romance, what we have been reading in the magazines, and what we have in this recent book, were but the studies. These various Hawthorne fragments are interesting, as showing his methods of work, but again we say he would not have wished them published.

The Joseph Cook Lectureship.

The seventh annual course of the Boston Monday Lectureship by Rev. Joseph Cook is once more in progress. The whole number delivered by the lecturer from this platform has reached, up to this date, the remarkable count of one hundred and fifty-four. Add to these the preludes, each of which is a lecture in itself, upon the most vital and interesting questions of the times, and we have an aggregate of twice the original number. It is with unabated interest and delight that the vast audience of readers of these lectures resumes their perusal. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that no platform or pulpit has so vast or so intelligent an auditory. Before and during Mr. Cook’s recent absence he was subjected to the rigid, and sometimes personal, criticism of the free-thinking and rationalistic critics, but he returns to find his old audience already in their pews waiting to receive the riches of thought and criticism which he has gathered and matured during his sojourn abroad.

These lectures by Mr. Cook are reassuring in many ways, in nothing, perhaps, more than in the evidence they furnish of the interest which the masses feel in orthodox Christianity. If the croakers, who moan and groan at the prospect of an expiring faith in the Gospel of Christ, will take the trouble to compare the numbers and character of the readers of these lectures with the same of those who read the scoffing and infidel publications of the day, they will feel better. And besides those who read and ponder for themselves, and profit by the thoughts and facts announced from this platform, there are many pulpits to which they are a sort of tonic, stimulating to greater faith and reliance, in public teaching, on the old truths and methods of the Gospel.

Mr. Cook’s lectures give evidence of indefatigable industry aided by marvelous powers of memory. Though scarcely reached the prime of life as measured by years, he has traversed the field of thought and investigation as few men in a whole lifetime have done, and has brought with him the facts and conclusions which he has found, all classified and subject to his command. An omnivorous reader, he is the largest living library in the world, and thoroughly indexed almost to the page and line. All these conditions of fitness and qualification for the work are supplemented by the genius and qualities of the orator. As such, Mr. Cook is entitled to the foremost rank. Magnetism, rhetoric, voice, physique, strength, striking metaphor, apt and classic illustration, all in a high degree are possessed by this colossus of the platform.

Many of our readers have had the pleasure of seeing and hearing him at Chautauqua. They will be glad to know that he will stand again in the Amphitheater the coming summer.

Gustave Doré.

This celebrated French artist died at his home in Paris January 23. His illness was very brief, and his death entirely unexpected. He was cut down in the midst of his years, having just passed his fiftieth birthday. His life was one of remarkable industry. No busier pencil than his was ever stopped by the hand of death.