Chapter C: L. S. C. Memorial Days (2)

The “Alma” circle of SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, consists of seventeen members of the class of ’87. Longfellow’s day was a very pleasant occasion with them. The president tells us: “The good effects of the reading are already to be seen among our numbers; a desire for good and profitable reading being manifested more and more as we pursue the course.”——The Chautauquans of SAN JOSÉ had a very interesting meeting in celebration of the “Bard of Avon.” A most excellent program was rendered. One of the leading features was a very able critical review of “As You Like It,” read by a lady of the circle.

THE C. L. S. C. CLASSES.

CLASS OF 1885.—“THE INVINCIBLES.”

“_Press on, reaching after those things which are before._”

OFFICERS.

_President_—J. B. Underwood, Meriden, Conn.

_Vice President_—C. M. Nichols, Springfield, Ohio.

_Treasurer_—Miss Carrie Hart, Aurora, Ind.

_Secretary_—Miss M. M. Canfield, Washington, D. C.

_Executive Committee_—Officers of the class.

* * * * *

There will be excursions from Chautauqua to Niagara Falls every few days during the season, and there will be no difficulty in securing ample and satisfactory accommodations for the class of 1885, or any portion of it.

* * * * *

The challenge of our classmate in Kansas brings forth the following from Maryland: “I see in the May CHAUTAUQUAN a chivalric old gentleman hailing from Kansas, claiming to be the oldest member of the class—being born in the year the battle of Waterloo was fought. Now, I have entered on my seventy-fifth summer, and remember distinctly the battle of Waterloo. But, he claims also to be the _youngest_. Now, if I shall have the pleasure of meeting him at Chautauqua, and he is so disposed, we will run a foot race. But, really, this is the time for ‘grave and reverend seigniors’ to speak out. Who comes next?”

* * * * *

NEBRASKA.—I trust that I shall be numbered with those who shall “pass under the Arches” at dear Chautauqua this summer, thereby proving that I am one who is earnestly striving to “Press on, reaching after those things which are before.” The C. L. S. C. means a great deal to me. These magic letters are the key which unlocks all the enthusiasm of my being. These four years have been a new revelation to me, and have been of deep, abiding interest, and a well-spring of joy. Last year my dearest friend, a devoted Chautauquan, a member of the class of ’85, a thorough “Invincible,” in every sense where right was involved, went on before. Since that time I have read alone, but hope to be one of the successful many who shall pass under the Arches and “begin” again, instead of ending on Commencement day.

* * * * *

An earnest society lady writes: “The whole bent of my life is changed by the C. L. S. C. Next to being a Christian, it is the greatest blessing of my life. I read and listen to sermons and lectures more intelligently, and have been led into a spiritual life.”

* * * * *

ONTARIO.—I have often felt it my duty to express my thankfulness to the C. L. S. C. for the information I have received from their well chosen books. Words are inadequate to express my gratefulness to Chancellor Vincent and his coadjutors for the great and lasting benefit I have received from this course, although being unable to do the work as thoroughly as I would if time permitted. I complete my four years this summer, and I am more anxious than ever to explore other books which I have not read. This circle of reading has created a desire for some branches that hitherto was dormant, and revived the desire for others. From the first I have been anticipating a trip to Chautauqua, but will be unable to gratify my desire this summer. I hope to be able to receive my diploma at home. I think our class motto is excellent, and hope we will all prove worthy of our name—“Invincible.”

CLASS OF 1886.—“THE PROGRESSIVES.”

“_We study for light, to bless with light._”

CLASS ORGANIZATION.

_President_—The Rev. B. P. Snow, Biddeford, Maine.

_Vice Presidents_—The Rev. J. T. Whitley, Salisbury, Maryland;
Mr. L. F. Houghton, Peoria, Illinois; Mr. Walter Y. Morgan,
Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Delia Browne, Louisville, Kentucky; Miss
Florence Finch, Palestine, Texas.

_Secretary_—The Rev. W. L. Austin, New Albany, Ind.

* * * * *

From all quarters there comes up the assurance from members of ’86 that they mean to be at Chautauqua or Framingham this summer. Attendance at an Assembly, with its enthusiastic “Round-Tables,” conferences upon literature, art and science, new lights upon past reading, and new outlooks for the future, well nigh doubles the value of the course. Come, earnest readers of ’86, and see.

* * * * *

Plans are already being formed for the graduation exercises at Chautauqua next year, and the hardly less interesting observances at the New England Assembly. Any suggestions bearing upon this important matter may be freely made by letter to the president or secretary, by those who can not be present at the Assemblies. The class of ’86 is the first _large_ class to graduate; it has done grand work in the course, and it means to honor Chautauqua and itself by suitable exercises and observances, when its thousands shall come up to receive from the University their diploma in August, 1886.

* * * * *

We shall hear, personally or by letter, at the Assemblies, from our honorary members, of whom the class of ’86 is justly so proud.

* * * * *

Will members of ’86, in New England, remember the new Hall of Philosophy at Framingham, now under way, and to be completed by July 1st? Send your subscription, if you have not done so; subscribe and send at once if you have not yet taken a share in this grand enterprise, and induce your friends to lend assistance, that the few hundred dollars needed to finish and furnish the building may be at once forthcoming. Remit to N. B. Fisk, Woburn, Mass.

* * * * *

It is hoped that there will be a large number of the New England members at the Framingham Assembly in July.

* * * * *

Let your light shine! hold the torch on high! let every one see that the class of ’86 is true to its name—“Progressives.”

* * * * *

Miss Alice C. Jennings, ’86, whose poems from time to time have appeared in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, writes as follows: “A severe sickness in childhood deprived me entirely of the sense of hearing. This has been more effectual than bolts and bars in excluding me from all institutions of learning. You can easily imagine how precious to a person so situated must be the opportunities of the C. L. S. C., and of the ‘Society to Encourage Studies at Home.’ At least four of my deaf friends have joined the C. L. S. C. on my own solicitation. We have tried to have a circle among ourselves. We live in five different places, but our headquarters are at Boston Highlands, and we send reports there every month.”

* * * * *

“We study for the light,” we would not be
Like the black hue, absorbing every ray,
But like the white, gladly reflecting all,
That we may be true children of the day.
“Blessing with light,” as we have each been blessed,
For wisdom makes the weary earthway bright,
And walking in its ways we soon shall rest
With _Him_ in realms of everlasting light.

—_Mrs. E. J. Richmond._

* * * * *

To the New England Branch a suggestion is made in the interest of the class, and in behalf of the excellent Secretary of the New England Branch. Will not _every_ member not able to attend at Framingham this summer send (July 15-28) to Miss Mary R. Hinckley, South Framingham, Mass., a postal card with postoffice address, and bearing, if nothing more, “Yours for ’86”? To ascertain those who and how many are affiliated with “the good class of ’86” in New England, is most desirable for weighty senior and graduation interests.

* * * * *

Reports from various quarters lead to the conclusion that, compared with the whole number at any time enrolled in the class of ’86, the number entering upon the Senior year will be exceptionally large. It ought to be large—larger than any class preceding, more thorough, more enthusiastic. We have the advantage of the experience of all who have gone before. Let us rise to our privileges.

CLASS OF 1887.—“THE PANSIES.”

“_Neglect not the gift that is in thee._”

OFFICERS.

_President_—The Rev. Frank Russell, Mansfield, Ohio.

_Western Secretary_—K. A. Burnell, Esq., 150 Madison Street,
Chicago, Ill.

_Eastern Secretary_—J. A. Steven, M.D., 164 High Street,
Hartford, Conn.

_Treasurer_—Either Secretary, from either of whom badges may be
obtained.

_Executive Committee_—The officers of the class.

* * * * *

At a great camp meeting near Indianapolis, in the first week of August, the Rev. Frank Russell, President of the class of ’87, is to set forth in an address, the nature of the C. L. S. C. as an educational and moral force.

* * * * *

The wake of a C. L. S. C. class is found to kindle a bright way for the next. Much correspondence of the officers of the class of ’87 has been toward the interest of the class of ’88, and is now extending even toward that of ’89. Each succeeding class seems to promise increasing numbers and power.

* * * * *

A member of ’87 has succeeded in forming a circle at Jefferson, Ohio, of ten members. She writes: “I can not tell you all the good our circle is doing for us individually. We have enjoyed our chemistry very much. We were very pleasantly entertained and instructed by experiments given by Professor Perry in April.”

* * * * *

From St. Johns, N. B., Mr. G. A. Henderson sends the following account of the C. L. S. C.: “We organized with five ‘Pansies,’ and were joined this year by seventeen ‘Plymouth Rocks.’ We were the means also of influencing the formation of another circle of ’88, over twenty in number. At present there are about sixty reading the course in our city. We look forward with deep interest to the publication of the book by our chief ‘Pansy,’ and although we have not contributed to it, we hope to meet and march with you through the Gates in ’87.”

* * * * *

Hannah Percival Hamer, a member of the “Pansy” class, died at her home in Taunton, Mass., April 24, 1885. She was a most faithful worker and firm advocate of the Chautauqua course.

* * * * *

On the 9th of April Miss Maggie B. McKnight, of Chambersburg, Pa., a member of the “Pansy” class, died. She was a devoted and enthusiastic Chautauquan, and looked with great pleasure toward the time when she could visit Chautauqua. She was reading with another member of the class, who intends, however, to keep on, saying that she “could not do without it now.”

* * * * *

“Pansy—a tender thought!”
A happy prophecy was that, to send
That one bright flower of our class to hide
Behind this modest emblem, while she penned
Her strong, sweet thought. A prophecy fulfilled;
For pansies—tender thoughts of her—are found
Within the garden of our hearts in bloom
The whole year round.—_J. B. Stuart._

* * * * *

Westfield, N. J., is the home of a “Pansy” circle, calling itself by the cheerful name of “Hope.” It began with three sisters reading the course together. It was very fitting that they should receive their first inspiration from reading “Four Girls at Chautauqua.” The “Hope” is working hard to increase its membership.

CLASS OF 1888.—“THE PLYMOUTH ROCKS.”

“_Let us be seen by our deeds_.”

CLASS ORGANIZATION.

_President_—The Rev. A. E. Dunning, D.D., Boston, Mass.

_Vice Presidents_—Prof. W. N. Ellis, 108 Gates Avenue, Brooklyn,
N. Y.; the Rev. Wm. G. Roberts, Bellevue, Ohio.

_Secretary_—Miss M. E. Taylor, Cleveland, Ohio.

_Treasurer_—Miss M. E. Taylor, Cleveland, Ohio.

All items for this column should be sent, in condensed form, to
the Rev. C. C. McLean, St. Augustine, Florida.

Class badges may be procured of either President or Treasurer.

* * * * *

The following are among the circles not yet reported in our column. I first give name of circle, then place and number of members: “Gradatim,” Kennebunk, Me., four; Bloomfield, Ind, seven; Niobrara, Neb., eight; “Master” (motto, “Labor is the price of mastery”), Ionia, Mich., eleven; “Peripatetics,” Chicago, Ill., twelve; “Magnolia,” Marianna, Fla., fourteen; “Philomathean,” Lancaster, N. Y., eighteen. The last named has by quotations, recitations, readings and essays celebrated the “memorial days.” For six months none but ladies composed the circle. They, however, so charmed three gentlemen that they sought admission and became enthusiastic students. The members of this circle so dislike the class name that they have refused to adopt it. They are among the others who express their enjoyment of the class reports in our ’88 column.

* * * * *

The circle at Hastings, Minnesota, twenty-three members, has instructed its secretary to write their objection to our name. Among other things is the following: “In THE CHAUTAUQUAN we read of one class talking of establishing a ‘Heliotrope Bed’ at Chautauqua, and another a ‘Pansy Bed.’ We might send a coop of ‘Plymouth Rocks,’ but we fear they might demolish the beds of flowers.” We have received encomiums of praise of the name. One from Mount Carmel, Connecticut, says: “Our name, like every other worthy thing, in spite of its ‘fowl’ associations, needs no defenders.” One from Toronto, Canada, writes: “I am satisfied with our name, for although it represents a speckled bird it will ‘crow’ a good deal when four years old.” Another from Marine, Ill., after thanking Chancellor Vincent for “How to Read Alone,” protests against a change of name or motto.—A member of our class, a boarder in a Young Women’s Christian Association of New Haven, Connecticut, writes: “I think as one takes up Chautauqua books he loses the relish for stories, e’en though written by good authors. What an opportunity for gaining knowledge of the highest order!”—“Angle” circle, North Groton, N. H., is bereaved in the loss of one of their earnest workers, Mrs. E. E. Merrill, a lady who read much and well, and yet in the five short months had become so fascinated with the C. L. S. C. that almost her last words were those of appreciation of the same.—The East Norwich, L. I., circle is likewise bereaved in the death of a devoted member, Miss Lizzie Franklin.—A class of unmarried ladies complains that they have not been noticed. If they will send us another letter, writing the name of their circle so we can decipher it, and also give the town, or city, and state in which they live, we will gracefully and gladly bow our recognition.

* * * * *

“Among the Indians: Osage Agency, Indian Territory.—Our circle consists of six members—five teachers and one bookkeeper. Although each lives a busy life, we have had weekly meetings, kept up with the required reading, and celebrated two authors’ days, Bryant’s and Longfellow’s. Surrounded as we are by Indians, who still wear blankets instead of citizen’s dress, and who are not far advanced in the arts of civilized life, we feel doubly thankful for the benefits arising from such a course of reading.”

* * * * *

In Bingham Cañon, Utah, a mining camp situated about twenty-eight miles southwest of Salt Lake City, the New West Education Commission has a school established. One of the teachers proposed taking the Chautauqua course alone, but, mentioning it to several, organized a circle of six. Of the name she writes: “I like it so much. My home is in Plymouth, Mass.”

* * * * *

Half of the members of “Carleton” circle, Hudson, Mich., live out of town from two to six miles, yet they are numbered among the most enthusiastic and faithful. They have had full programs at every meeting, and have observed all memorial days. They number thirty-seven, twelve being of our class. The ’88s wear on their hats a symbolical badge (a _fac-simile_, in brass, of the pedal extremity of a Plymouth Rock). They like the _motto_, but not the _name_.

* * * * *

One from Gilbert’s Mills, N. Y., writes: “I can not longer refrain from expressing how much I enjoy the reading of the course, although I am pursuing it alone, occasionally meeting with the circle at Fulton, five miles from here, which I much enjoy. The more I read and learn, the more anxious I am to go on, that I may be no disgrace to our grand class name, that takes me back to dear New England, and home. I would prove myself worthy of it and of our motto.”

* * * * *

The “Chippewas” is the name of a circle of twenty-two members, formed at the city of Eau Claire, Wis., October of 1884. Four of the members belong to the class of ’86, the others to that of ’88. The society has met once a week, and has observed the memorial days. In addition to the prescribed course, the class is reading the two volumes of Timayenis’s History of Greece.

* * * * *

“Mountain City” circle, Frederick, Md., very appropriately and enthusiastically celebrated “Shakspere Day.” The program consisted of a “Sketch of his Life,” and the reading of “The Merchant of Venice,” the members taking the different characters.

* * * * *

Mrs. F. B. Edwards, who with her daughter joined the class of ’88 last fall, and was a faithful and diligent member, died at her home in Hartford, Conn., March 14, 1885. She was a lady of excellent education, and had also the culture of much foreign travel and residence in Europe. She was delighted with the C. L. S. C. plan, and especially with the opportunities it offers for mental and moral growth.

* * * * *

One of the most earnest and beloved members of the “Pierian” circle, of Brooklyn, N. Y., Morgan Morgans, has lately died. Mr. Morgans was a young man of but twenty years of age—a member of the class of ’88, and a zealous Christian.

* * * * *

So much having been written _pro_ and _con_, respecting our class name, it is proposed to have the entire class vote for or against the name. The circles will send their vote, giving the number in favor and against present name. Those who are not in circles can send their votes as individuals. The vote should be sent to the Rev. C. C. McLean, St. Augustine, Fla., at as early a date as possible.

* * * * *

Thoughts are but the seeds of truth ready for the ground,
Promises of future good that will within be found;
Yet, with purer, truer thoughts the words have purer sound.

Words are slender saplings, growing in the earth,
Starting from the very spot where the thoughts had birth,
But the noblest words can never tell the deed’s great worth.

Deeds are mighty forests, towering and grand,
Not results of thoughts that were planted in the sand,
But deeply rooted, broad-leaved trees that will forever stand.

Thoughts are truly noble, yet their work lasts but a day,
Words are often mighty, still their power may not stay,
But the influence of noble deeds can never pass away.

—_Emily G. Weegar._

THE SUMMER ASSEMBLIES.

FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

The writer of this article has visited, in different years, most of the Sunday-school Assemblies, and he has found none, not even Chautauqua itself, where the wave of C. L. S. C. enthusiasm runs higher than at the New England Assembly, South Framingham, Mass. Every class has its headquarters, trimmed with greens and flowers, with the class-motto wrought upon its walls; and every class has its anniversary, with toasts and cream. The Round-Table is crowded at every session with intelligent students, who can both ask and answer questions. If a reporter could have taken down and printed all the replies given one afternoon last summer to the inquiry, “What good is the C. L. S. C. doing?” it would have furnished a valuable document for the use of workers in the cause. The camp-fire is always crowded; last year the ranks, arranged by classes, counted over five hundred members; and this year it will be greater.

The traveler on the railway sees already a white columned building gleaming among the trees on the summit of the hill. If he be a Chautauquan, he needs no one to tell him “The Hall of Philosophy,” for he recognizes it at once as the copy in every detail of the building at Chautauqua. This Hall will be dedicated by the Chancellor during the coming session of the Assembly, when from all New England the faithful will rally to participate in the great occasion. Its dedication will take place on Wednesday, July 22d, and the address will be delivered by the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D.D., one of the Counselors of the C. L. S. C.

The Recognition day services will be held on Thursday, July 25th, when an address will be given by the Rev. Luther T. Townsend, D.D., of the Boston University.

Among the leading lecturers (and lecturesses) of the Assembly during the present season will be the Rev. F. E. Clark, D.D., Prof. W. N. Rice, Dr. E. C. Bolles, Dr. R. R. Meredith, Dr. Geo. C. Lorimer, Robert J. Burdette, Miss Kate Field, and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore.

MONTEAGLE, TENNESSEE.

Monteagle is in the State of Tennessee, upon the Cumberland Mountains, 2,200 feet above the sea-level. We have here the most invigorating, health-giving atmosphere, the purest water, the most beautiful wild flowers, the grandest mountain scenery, the most picturesque views of the valley lying hundreds of feet below, the loveliest vales, the most magnificent forests of native trees—indeed, a combination of all the desirable natural conditions for a pleasant summer resort.

This is the place which has been selected by the Christian people of the South, of broad views, of liberal hearts and generous impulses, of intellectual culture and refinement, for the location of the Monteagle Sunday-school Assembly. This Assembly is permanently established by a charter granted by the State of Tennessee. For two years they have been very successful.

If there is virtue in faithful and capable teachers and honest work, no one in 1885 will go away from Monteagle dissatisfied.

These schools offer to teachers and intellectual people a place where they can spend the heated term of each year, combining study with rest and recreation, in a delightful and inexpensive mountain resort, free from all social dissipation. It is proposed to furnish in the summer schools of Monteagle the best instruction in every department open. All who seek absolute rest on these mountain heights will be free to take it; those who shall seek only lighter courses will find entertainment; and those who wish thorough instruction will not be disappointed.

The summer schools open June 30th. The Assembly opens August 4th, and closes August 28th. Among the lecturers will be Dr. B. M. Palmer, President Chas. Louis Loos, Dr. D. M. Harris, Bishop Walden, Sau Ah-Brah, the Rev. Sam Jones, Dr. Lansing Burrows, Wallace Bruce, and Hon. G. W. Bain.

ISLAND PARK, INDIANA.

The Island Park Assembly will hold its seventh annual session on the beautiful grounds of the association near Rome City, Indiana. The Assembly will open July 14th, and remain in session until July 30th. The Tabernacle Lecture Course will be unusually brilliant and attractive. Among the speakers will be Bishop Foster, Bishop Bowman, Prof. C. E. Bolten, Wallace Bruce, Dr. Geo. C. Lorimer, Dr. H. H. Willets, Dr. John Alabaster, the Rev. John DeWitt Miller, and Miss Lydia Von Finkelstein.

The music will be under the general management of Prof. C. C. Case. The Goshen full band and orchestra, and the Hayden Quartette will be in attendance. The Sunday-school Normal Class will be under the personal instruction of the Superintendent of Instruction, and will be one of the most important features of the coming Assembly. The course will be identical with the Chautauqua course, and graduates will be entitled to the Chautauqua diploma.

The visitor finds the Island, some twenty acres in extent, a few minutes’ walk over a bridge and through a shady avenue from the railroad station, Rome City, with the village at an equal distance westward. The Island is naturally beautiful, always fanned by cool breezes, with hills and miniature valleys, romantic nooks, a beautiful beach, and a drive partially surrounding it, many fountains and wells, and a plaza surrounded by hotels and offices. Beyond the rustic bridges of the canal are a Tabernacle seating 3,000, a building containing the Model of Palestine, and the Art Hall with its large lecture rooms.

From the north is to be seen, a mile across the Lake, “Spring Beach,” a well appointed hotel in an elaborately improved park, containing mineral springs and the famous trout ponds.

South of the Island, across a bridge, are the Assembly lands, containing the Amphitheater, and laid out in lots and avenues, with a high bluff to the Lake. Here are opportunities to tent in perfect quiet or in the liveliest streets of the Assembly City.

Two steamers ply on Sylvan Lake, between the Island, the head of the Lake and Spring Beach. Two hundred row boats are kept.

Postoffice, telegraph, bathing and laundry facilities on the ground. Ample hotel and boarding arrangements in the village.

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA.

The sixth summer Assembly of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle will be held at Pacific Grove, near Monterey, California, opening with an address Monday evening, June 29th, and closing Friday, July 10th.

This Assembly, in spirit and purpose, resembles the famous Assembly held each summer at Chautauqua Lake, New York. The course of lectures during the coming session will include in its subjects not only scientific themes, but those of art, history, and general literature.

Microscopes, stereoscopes and other apparatus will abundantly illustrate the lectures. The managers also intend to add to each evening’s lecture the attraction of beautiful music, illustrative tableaux, recitations, etc.

The Assembly will open on the evening of June 29th, with an address by Dr. C. C. Stratton, of San José, President of the Pacific Branch.

A few of the speakers and subjects will be as follows: The Rev. Dr. Wythe, Oakland, “Scenes in Great Britain and the Continent;” Prof. H. B. Norton, San José, “The Knights of the Temple;” F. B. Perkins, San Francisco, “Wit and Humor;” Dr. C. L. Anderson, Santa Cruz, “Diatoms;” Edward Berwick, Carmel Valley, “World Federation;” Adley Cummins, Esq., San Francisco, “The Sanscrit Language and Literature;” the Rev. Dr. E. G. Beckwith, San Francisco, “School and Skill.”

Sunday-school Normal Work will receive its due share of attention.

The music of the Assembly will be in the very competent hands of Mrs. Helen M. Cushman, of San Francisco, and will be artistic and delightful.

The morning of Friday, July 10th, will be occupied with the interesting exercises of the Third Graduating Class of the Pacific Branch C. L. S. C.

Pacific Grove is situated on the beautiful Bay of Monterey, and connected with the ancient capital of the State by a pleasant drive of one and a half miles, over a macadamized road lately constructed. In beauty of location it can not be excelled—its graceful pines, extending to the water’s edge, affording a delightful refuge from the heat of the sun. As a healthful place of resort, it is not surpassed by any locality in the State. The value of the Assembly held here has been fully assured by the delightful sessions of the past five years.

The well known facilities for studying Natural History at Pacific Grove have made that one of the important topics of study, and much enthusiasm has been aroused on the coast by the work of the C. L. S. C. in this department.

LAKESIDE, OHIO.

The prospects for the work of 1885 in this beautiful and healthful summer resort are commensurate with the energy displayed by the zealous management. The grounds are charmingly located on the northern shore of the Peninsula, opposite Sandusky, Ohio; accessible by an hour’s delightful steamer ride from this city, and will probably be connected with the Danbury station of the Lake Shore Railroad by rail this season. The Encampment sessions begin on Tuesday evening, July 21st, the brief enthusiastic “Reunion” to be followed by one of the spicy and wise lectures of the Rev. P. S. Henson, D.D., of Chicago. There will then follow for nearly two weeks a rare program under the superintendency of the Rev. B. T. Vincent, of Philadelphia, Pa., assisted by the Revs. F. Russell and E. Persons. Mrs. B. T. Vincent will have charge of the Primary Teachers’ Department, and also the Boys’ and Girls’ Meeting, assisted by the Rev. J. S. Reager, of Ohio. The Models of the Tabernacle, Jerusalem, etc., will be explained daily by the Rev. Dr. Hartupee and Mr. Tannyhill. Miss Ross, of Chicago, will give daily instruction in Kindergarten work, and Professor Trueblood, of Delaware, Ohio, in Elocution. Daily devotional meetings will be conducted by the Rev. W. H. Pearce, of Erie, Pa. Lectures and sermons are announced from Bishop R. S. Foster, Drs. Henson, Alabaster, Nelson, Bayless, Parsons, Rev. Messrs. Young, Pearce, Russell, Reager; Colonel Bain, of Kentucky, Wallace Bruce and Leon H. Vincent. Brilliant stereopticon exhibitions, with lectures by the Rev. Mr. Young and Professor Bolton. Oriental exhibitions by Miss and Mr. Von Finkelstein, with their gorgeous collection of Oriental costumes, etc. The Meigs Sisters and Professor Underhill will give concerts and elocutionary readings; Professor Trueblood will also give popular readings. Mr. French, of Chicago, a racy and instructive Chalk-talker, will “draw.” The music will be under the able direction of Professor Brierly, of Erie, Pa., and Miss McClintock will delight the crowds who gather at Lakeside. The C. L. S. C. will, of course, have a large place in the attention of the people, as Lakeside is a center of a large field of workers in this line. There will be “Round Tables,” etc., and a public Recognition service for the class of ’85, all of whom who desire it may secure this privilege there, and receive their diplomas, which will be there for distribution, if they inform the Rev. B. T. Vincent in time to see that the diplomas are sent to him for them. A Soldiers’ day, with war songs and a lecture on “Echoes from Round Top,” by the Rev. J. B. Young, of Harrisburg, Pa., will form one of the enthusiastic features. The promises of Lakeside, one of the finest of Chautauqua’s daughters, were never so good, nor so sure of rich fulfillment.

CRETE, NEBRASKA.

The Nebraska Sunday-school Assembly Grounds consist of one hundred and nine acres on the banks of the Blue River, at Crete, Nebraska. Its first session was held in that town in July, 1882, under the direction of the Rev. J. D. Stewart. Last year, at its third session, a splendid tract of land was donated to the Assembly. It extends along the river bank, with admirable opportunities for boating, contains a beautiful grove and ample grounds for buildings, walks, drives, and other purposes. Two lecture halls and a dining hall have already been erected, and some hundreds of tents provided; while a Normal Hall, several cottages, and other buildings are proposed.

The Normal Department will be in charge of Prof. R. S. Holmes, who has been for many years a teacher of this department at Chautauqua.

The Primary Normal Department will be in charge of Miss Lucy J. Rider, who will also conduct a children’s class daily.

Dr. J. H. Vincent, President of the Circle since its commencement, and Chancellor of the Chautauqua University, will be present and give two lectures. Others who have had wide experience in literary pursuits will give their counsels on the ways of spending time most profitably in reading and study for the people.

Among the lecturers engaged are: The Rev. R. R. Meredith, D.D., of Boston; the Rev. O. H. Tiffany, D.D., of New York City; the Rev. Robert Nourse, of Washington, D. C., and the Rev. H. M. Ladd, D.D., of Cleveland, O.

A course of musical instruction will be given by Prof. J. E. Platt. Prof. W. F. Sherwin will give a lecture and conduct concerts.

OTTAWA, KANSAS.

By the time that this reaches the readers of THE CHAUTAUQUAN the Inter-State Assembly of Kansas and Missouri will be in session at its home in Forest Park, in the city of Ottawa, Kansas. No other assembly is entertained with such hospitality, for the people of Ottawa throw open to it their public park, in the limits of their city, on the banks of the historic Marais du Cygne, “The Swamp of the Swan,” celebrated by Whittier’s pen in the border days of Kansas. Among the orators whom they expect to hear are many whose names are well known to all Chautauquans, as Wallace Bruce, Dr. Henson, Robert Nourse, Dr. Tiffany, Sau Ah-brah, and our own Chancellor, Dr. Vincent. Indeed, it will be quite a transplanting of the Chautauqua Idea to the western prairie, for as at “the Mecca of us all,” we shall hold daily a Round-Table; the Commencement service will be fulfilled, the Chancellor will deliver the address to the graduating class and confer the diplomas of the C. L. S. C.; Prof. Sherwin will wave the baton before the chorus on the platform; Prof. Holmes will teach the Normal class; Sculptor Spring will instruct the class in clay modeling; and the general Superintendent of Instruction will be Dr. J. L. Hurlbut.

Last year, the C. L. S. C. interest showed a great increase. In 1883, the number of C. L. S. C. members who clasped hands around the camp-fire was twenty. In 1884, it was nearly ninety, and if we could count those who joined before the close of the Assembly it would reach a hundred. We look for twice as many on Tuesday evening, June 30, when we expect to be entertained with stereopticon pictures of “Sights and Insights at Chautauqua” by the Rev. O. S. Baketel, of New Hampshire, and at the close of the lecture, march in procession to the camp-fire, and sing and talk together. We expect also a great day on July 1st, which is given to the “Grand Army of the Republic.” Perhaps no other State went into the war with quite the enthusiasm of Kansas; certainly no other has as large a proportion of veterans settled within its borders. Every year the Assembly recognizes these old heroes, and “Old Soldiers’ Day” always draws a multitude. We shall have a concert of war songs in the morning, and a lecture by General O. O. Howard, U. S. A., in the afternoon, when the Governor of Kansas is expected to preside.

No gathering in Kansas is complete without a Temperance meeting, for Kansas is the banner State in constitutional prohibition. Let it be said, all stories to the contrary notwithstanding, that there is no defection in the ranks of the prohibition army, and no retreat. The cause is as strong as ever, and no one thinks of rescinding or re-submitting the Amendment. We hold “Temperance Day” on July 2, when Dr. Philip Krohn and Col. Geo. W. Bain will speak, and various conferences on different aspects of the work will be held.

The Ottawa Assembly extends a welcome to all Chautauquans who may enter its gates, and gives its assurance that they will find themselves at home.

MOUNTAIN LAKE PARK, MARYLAND.

This delightful summer resort is situated on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, in Garrett County, Maryland. It is 2,800 feet above sea level, in the midst of sublime scenery. The place itself is enough to attract all lovers of the true, the beautiful, and the good, but besides the feast for the eyes and lungs, there is a feast of reason and a flow of soul prepared to profit, entertain, and inspire the hosts who gather to the Assembly.

The principal lecturers are Prof. H. L. Baugher, D.D., of Pennsylvania College; the Rev. G. W. Miller, D.D., of Philadelphia; the Rev. C. P. Marsden, D.D., of St. Louis; the Rev. Z. Warner, D.D., of Parkersburg, West Virginia; the Rev. N. L. Reynolds, of Mt. Pleasant, Pa.; the Rev. J. B. Van Meter, D.D., of Baltimore; J. B. Phipps, Esq., Secretary of Maryland Sunday-school Union and author of pictorial designs for the Berean Lesson Periodicals.

“Thorough Normal Work” is the motto of Mountain Lake Park Assemblies. The Assembly Normal Union course of study will be pursued during the session, and diplomas awarded on Normal Union day, August 19th.

The C. L. S. C. Department was organized two years ago, and Monday, August 17th, has been set apart to this interest. A lecture on “Self-help” will be delivered by the Rev. J. T. Judd, A.M., of Lewisburg, Pa., president of the circle, with special C. L. S. C. exercises. Round-tables, vesper services, class unions, and camp-fires will be enjoyed during the Assembly session.

New Testament Greek will be made a specialty. The Rev. C. E. Young, of Baltimore, instructor.

Geology will receive the attention of the Rev. N. L. Reynolds, who inspires enthusiasm in this noble study.

Elocution classes will be formed as last year, and Amateur Photography will be the pleasant recreation of lovers of the art.

The Assembly meets August 6th and closes August 19th. For further information address the Rev. W. Maslin Frysinger, D.D., Baltimore, Md., or the Rev. Jesse B. Young, Harrisburg, Pa.

ROUND LAKE, NEW YORK.

The management of the Round Lake, N. Y., Sunday-school Assembly sends greetings to its hosts of old friends and to many others whom it hopes to make warm friends in the near future. The last year was one of the best in its history. Numbers, meetings, speakers, work and workers, influence and the divine blessing, all combined, made it a power for good, wide-felt and lasting. It is the aim to make the coming Assembly better than ever. They have planned on the same generous breadth and scope of the last season, and are confident their work will merit approval.

The program already completed is full and rich and varied. On July 9th and 10th there will be a reunion of chaplains and soldiers. The meeting is most vigorously planned for. There will be a large gathering of the old soldiers; Col. G. A. Cantine will act as Grand Marshal. Gen. John A. Logan has been secured as speaker. The Sunday-school Assembly will hold a longer session this season than ever. Beginning July 14th, it will continue fourteen days, and each day will be packed with varied and most profitable exercises. They have a larger variety of specialties than formerly, viz.: French, German, Painting, Drawing, Clay Modeling, Oratory, Vocal Music, Kindergarten, Calisthenics, Phonography, etc., etc.

On C. L. S. C. day, Tuesday, July 21st, Dr. John H. Vincent, the originator of the Idea and developer of its plans and inspirer of its growing work, will be present and address the graduating class, who will pass the “golden gate” and from his hand receive their well-earned diplomas.

The following is a partial list of the lecturers: The Rev. J. H. Vincent, D.D., the Rev. John P. Newman, D.D., the Rev. H. A. Buttz, D.D., the Rev. S. W. Dike, A.M., the Rev. A. D. Vail, D.D., the Rev. Geo. L. Taylor, D.D., the Rev. I. J. Lansing, A.M., Prof. J. L. Corning, the Rev. D. H. Snowden, the Rev. C. C. McCabe, D.D., Senator James Arkell.

The Trustees, with great care and cost, have given special attention to every part of the grounds, draining, cleansing and beautifying, rendering the grounds, if possible, more healthful than ever.

Never was this “charming spot of nature and art” more beautiful and health-inspiring than to-day! Never was it more sought for as a FAMILY SUMMER HOME than this spring.

MONONA LAKE, WISCONSIN.

The Sunday-school Assembly at Monona Lake, Madison, Wisconsin for 1885, will hold its session from July 28th to August 7th. The specialties are: Music, Prof. Sherwin; Grand Chorus of 300 voices; Goshen Band and Orchestra; Sunday School Normal; Children’s Class. Some of the speakers are: Bishop R. S. Foster, Wallace Bruce, Miss L. M. Von Finkelstein, the Rev. George C. Lorimer, D.D., Prof. William I. Marshall, Prof. W. C. Richards, Ph.D., the Rev. O. C. McCulloch, D.D., the Rev. D. Read, D.D., the Rev. G. H. Ide, D.D., Meigs Sisters Vocal Quartette, C. F. Underhill reader.

WASECA, MINNESOTA.

The Assembly at Maplewood Park, Waseca, Minnesota, opens June 30th, and continues in session until July 10th.

Thursday, July 9th, will be Chautauqua day, and on that day a public recognition service of the graduating class will be held. There will be an address suitable to the occasion, and the recognition service as used at Chautauqua will be used here. In the evening there will be a camp-fire.

The names of Prof. H. B. Ridgeway, D.D., the Rev. Frank Bristol, Miss L. M. Von Finkelstein, the Rev. C. A. Van Huda, D.D., and the Rev. J. F. Chaffee, D.D., are found in the list of lecturers. No one has visited Maplewood Park without feeling that Nature has done her part in providing here a delightful retiring place for tired people and for those who are in danger of becoming so.

A dense grove rises forty or fifty feet above the lake. The lake itself is a beautiful sheet of water, around which is a magnificent carriage drive. All so quiet that the busy world seems shut out, while all Nature seems to say, “Come and rest.”

Besides, there are the attractions of the Assembly, calling the mind into new channels and awakening new thoughts and kindling new and noble desires for intellectual and moral improvement.

The time at which the meetings are to be held this year has been selected, with special reference to the convenience of the people.

Bro. Gillet, superintendent of the Assembly, never needs an introduction to the Northwest. He will make the occasion one of lasting good to the interests he represents.

MAINE CHAUTAUQUA UNION.

Arrangements are being made by the officers of the Maine Chautauqua Union for a grand meeting at Fryeburg, to begin July 27th, 1885, and to continue one week. The grounds at Martha’s Grove are being put in order and beautified by Mrs. Nutter, the prime mover in this matter, and everything will be done for the comfort and enjoyment of all Chautauquans who visit this lovely spot. There is soon to be erected on the grounds a “Hall in the Grove,” after the style of the one at Chautauqua.

The program for this season is an attractive one and will consist of illustrated lectures, vocal and instrumental music, essays and readings. Some part of each day is to be devoted to the Round-Table, question box, discussions and reports of circles. As a result of our meeting last year, circles have sprung up all over the State. In Portland alone, there are _three hundred_ Chautauquans where there were only _nine_ last year.

EDITOR’S OUTLOOK.

VICTOR HUGO.

The greatest of the French writers of this century has passed away from earth, after eighty-three years of a life which was, like Carlyle’s, full of work to the very end. Victor Hugo’s greatness is difficult to measure at this hour; we are too near to know whether this is an Alp or only a hill. That it has attracted the attention, the admiration, the homage of mankind for half a century would seem to mean that this was one of the three or four great lives of the nineteenth century. Victor Hugo came of a union of aristocratic and plebeian blood. His father’s tribe had been of the nobles since 1531; his mother was the daughter of a seafaring race. The current sketches of his father omit the most dramatic incident of Colonel Hugo’s career. We refer to his long chase and final capture of Fra Diavalo—the brigand hero of the opera which bears his name. In the whole history of brigandage in South Italy, there is no more exciting and romantic story than that of his hunt and capture of the “Friar-Devil” by the father of Victor Hugo. In the blood of the poet the plebeian mother triumphed at length over the Monarchist father, and Victor Hugo’s pen has rendered the Republicanism of France more valuable service than his father’s sword gave to the Napoleonic crown.

His genius was fortunate in the poverty which compelled him to work for bread, and the banishment which in 1853 threw him into exile, and again forced him to take up the severe literary labor which brought forth “Les Miserables” in 1862. This son of the aristocracy might have lived a life with out fruit if he had not abandoned the ideals of his father for those popular sympathies which made him the most dangerous enemy of Napoleon III. The change in his views came slowly. He was a Royalist under Louis Phillippe, and that king created him a peer of France in 1845. It was not until 1849 that he changed his political attitude, and he was then forty-seven years of age—so that he divided his life pretty evenly between the aristocratic and popular causes. His works show the influence of his political thoughts, and the differences between the earlier and later are very marked. The earlier works gave him the ears of the great world; the later won him the hearts of the people. Whether in prose or in verse, all that he ever wrote was poetry. His later prose is a collection of poems of human aspirations. It is idle to seek in them any system, they are emotion rather than thought; but the emotion is the throbbing of the universal human heart. He believed in God and in man. He rejected the religion of his people less under the stress of conviction than through the force of his hostility to the organized human world in which he saw men suffering. It was not his office to resolve the riddles of human pain; it was his to gather men’s tears into God’s bottle. It may be called a one-sided life; but it was on that side where great lives are too seldom found. It may be said that emotion is blind, passionate, dangerous, as Frenchmen have abundantly proved; but it is still true that the emotion which rouses men from lethargy is necessary to beneficent change, and that even though the wail of human misery must go up forever, we must honor the great souls who seek solutions of the mystery of evil in a happier ordering of human society. We need not become socialists to reverence Victor Hugo’s socialistic philanthropy. Its aim was high, and it has its great uses. Though only God’s bottle be large enough to hold the tears of his children, it is a noble poetry which considers the sorrows of the earth and seeks to pour the sunshine or hope into the low valleys of humanity. Hugo’s way may be the wrong way—probably it is—but it is good for men to hold fast the hope that there is _some_ way through the sea to the promised land. There is a desert beyond the sea; but somehow we shall cross the desert into the Canaan of humanity.

It is, therefore, as a poet of the sorrows and aspirations of our race that we shall most profitably think of Victor Hugo. He was somewhat too French in spirit to be a poet of mankind; he was too egotistic to be on the heights of his human song; he would have been greater if his knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth had been deeper, and his imitation of him perfect in the measure of his great capacity; he would have left something unsaid which wounded men whose purpose was as high as his own, if he had been more Christian and less Hugoist. But why do we ask all things of all men? Victor Hugo did a great work in his own great way. A dangerous socialism has temporarily profited by his denunciations of society, but in the end of the account it will probably appear that he has advanced Christian socialism by the uplift he has given to human aspirations. Men are not so willing to go back to the fleshpots of Egypt, not so much in danger of leaving the bones of the whole race in the desert, more anxious to move on to their promised land.

THE REVISED OLD TESTAMENT.

It required fifty years of the Elizabethan age to introduce that revision of the English Bible which has so long been the standard edition of the Holy Scriptures in our tongue. It would be strange if the revision of that standard Bible which has just been completed were to come into immediate and general use. The New Testament revision met with a harsh reception from the critics of conservative temper; and it certainly has some defects, though the _sense_ of the original is more obvious, to use the mildest term, in the new than in the older revision. The revised Old Testament has consumed fourteen years of the labor of the English and American committees, and the most obvious fact is that it is a more conservative piece of work than the revised New Testament. The committees probably profited by the buffetings of their New Testament revision brethren; but they had a simpler task, since they had not to settle the text of the original Hebrew, whereas the Greek text of the New Testament is still a battle ground of criticism. After all, however, the two revisions constitute one “revised Bible,” and must stand or fall together. The general judgment may probably run to the effect that the New Testament is revised too much and the Old too little. There is a special defect, however, in the New Testament English—it is not idiomatic, and it is not always intelligible. There is a rumor that it will be re-revised into harmony with the conservatism which characterizes the new Old Testament. It is not to be overlooked that there are various demands made upon a revision. Those who most earnestly desire one have in view a more plain and understandable text for popular use. Wycliffe’s great thought, “a Bible understonden of the people,” is their desire. But the literary demands upon the revisers exclude intelligibility by the people as a governing rule. This group of demands defies the skill of any revision committee. They ask for improvements; but they object to any changes. The Bible as an Elizabethan classic is their admiration and they seem not to be willing that the people should have any other Bible. There would seem to be ample room for both revisions; let the literary people have their English of 1611, while the people have English of this century. We are not yet, however, sufficiently advanced in the thinking which revision requires to qualify even the critics among us to distinguish between a classic text for scholars and a plain text for the millions. A modern English Bible will come by and by; we can afford to wait, and meanwhile to study the fruits of the labors of a Revision Committee loaded down with a great weight of conservative environments. For it is not the classicist alone who stands guard over the old English text; conservative theologians regard that old text as too sacred to be modernized, and distrust modernizing as involving changes in the moral and religious influence of the Bible upon mankind. The intelligibility of the Bible is not, to such thinkers, a leading requisite; reverence for its mysteries ranks all other considerations. We are probably outgrowing this view of Holy Scripture; but it is an opinion strong enough yet to keep utterly dead English locutions in the revised Old Testament of 1885. This conservatism is much stronger in England than in this country; the American Committee desired to substitute modern for obsolete words.