REASONS FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK.

ByProf.H. LUMMIS.

By those best qualified to judge, the thorough study of Greek is conceded to be the very highest kind of mental discipline and culture.

George P. Marsh, in his lectures on the English language, thus speaks: “Let me repeat, that so far from dissuading from the study of Greek, as a branch of general education, I do but echo the universal opinion of all persons competent to pronounce on the subject, in expressing my own conviction that the language and literature of ancient Greece constitute the most efficient instrument of mental training ever enjoyed by man: and that a familiarity with that wonderful speech, its poetry, its philosophy, its eloquence, and the history it embalms, is incomparablythe most valuable of intellectual possessions.” Such testimony from so eminent a scholar, and from so critical a mind is decisive in regard to the value of the study of Greek as a discipline, as well as in respect to the richness of the literature which it contains.

In the field of art we admit that he who would be great must study the great models, and be directed by competent masters. Even a Raphael owes something of his high renown to the patient diligence with which he studied the best pieces of his master Pietro Vanucci, the most noted artist of his day. So he who aspires to become a master in the expression of thought will wisely seek the masterpieces of those who have embalmed great thought in the most finished and excellent language. That the writers of Greece are preëminently the writers who have done this as profound and widely read a linguist as Max Müller testifies. He says: “What the inhabitants of the small city of Athens achieved in philosophy, in poetry, in art, in science, in politics, is known to all of us; and our admiration for them increases tenfold if, by a study of other literatures, such as the literatures of India, Persia, and China, we are enabled to compare their achievements with those of other nations of antiquity. The rudiments of almost everything, with the exception of religion, we, the people of Europe, the heirs to a fortune accumulated during twenty or thirty centuries of intellectual toil, owe to the Greeks; and strange as it may sound, but few, I think would gainsay it, that to the present day the achievements of these, our distant ancestors and earliest masters, the songs of Homer, the dialogues of Plato, the speeches of Demosthenes, and the statues of Phidias, stand, if not unrivalled, at least unsurpassed by anything that has been achieved by their descendants and pupils. Like their own goddess, Athene, the people of Athens seem to spring full armed into the arena of history; and we look in vain to Egypt, Syria, or India for more than a few of the seeds that burst into such marvellous growth on the soil of Attica.”

He belittles human nature who thinks the practical value of commercial arithmetic to be greater than such a mastery of language as shall enable one to express himself correctly in his own tongue. To study an instrument for the expression of thought, so wonderfully flexible, so admirably exact, so widely comprehensive, so astonishingly strong, is to the student of his native tongue what training in a great international exposition of machinery, like that exhibited in Philadelphia in our centennial year, would be to a bright young mechanic, a schooling of incalculable worth. What an insight it gives into the subtle changes in the forms of words; what a comprehension of the root meanings of words, what an idea of the power of arrangement in words, what a conception of the music and beauty in the sounds of words.

Coleridge has admirably characterized the excellence of this queen of languages: “Greek—the shrine of the genius of the old world, as universal as our race; as individual as ourselves; of infinite flexibility; of indefatigable strength; with the complication and distinctness of Nature herself; with words like pictures; with words like the gossamer film of summer, at once the variety and picturesqueness of Homer; the gloom and intensity of Æschylus; not compressed to the closest by Thucydides, nor fathomed to the bottom by Plato; not sounding with all its thunders nor lit up with all its ardors under the Promethean touch of Demosthenes.” The thorough drill of a competent teacher in introducing the student to the Greek tongue, is a most valuable discipline to the memory; the acquisition of multitudes of roots and affixes is of high importance to a full comprehension of the meaning of words in our own language, the exercise of the judgment in distinguishing words of like or of opposite meanings, the fine force of the particles of the language, and the delicate shades of thought given by variation in mode or tense, has far higher value as a broad training of that faculty than the most thorough mathematical discipline.

The improved methods of instruction have removed the old objection that it takes a lifetime to acquire the language. The objection applies as much to music, or even to a single kind of music: it takes a lifetime to become perfect master of the violin.

I was the youngest but one of a large family, of whom the daughters were remarkable for their personal beauty, while the sons, of whom I was the last, graduated in plainness that was all but repulsive. This peculiarity, by which the beauty was given to the girls and the plainness to the boys, had been in the family for generations; and, both in uncles and aunts and cousins of either sex, is still discernible at the time I write.

But that which, in my own case, made this personal deformity an additional misfortune, was the fact, that, along with my ugliness, I had inherited a most sensitive disposition. And as there are never wanting persons to speak of a child’s deficiencies even in its very presence, I soon became aware of my defects. Not being precocious, I was looked upon as more stupid than I was in fact; while the real ability I possessed was altogether unsuspected. Often indeed the gibes and jeers of my beautiful sisters, and the rough remarks of my less ugly brothers, cut my childish soul to the quick.My small, flat, squab nose was in everybody’s mouth.I was told of it twenty times a day. Whoever wanted something to do, found instant employment in twitting me on the subject of this unlucky feature. I was never allowed to forget it; and often have I stood in the midst of a circle roaring with laughter at my expense. The natural result followed: from being naturally over-sensitive, I became only too keenly alive to the supposed opinions of others. In church I sat with my head rigidly fixed on my shoulders, turning myself neither to the right hand nor to the left, lest the persons behind me should catch a glimpse of my unlovely profile. I looked straight before me like an arrow; and on leaving my seat, as I went down the aisle and had to face my enemies and critics, I would hold my cap up to my eyes, and endeavor to pass demurely by, with nose unobserved.

Nor was my poor little nose my only cause of annoyance,for my face was large and splay, my complexion was muddy and pale, and the color of my eyes was a washed-out green. The space too between my nose and upper lip was long and protuberant, and my lips themselves were in full bloom like those of a negro. Indeed, the only thing in my favor, as regards personal appearance, was my hair, which was of a glossy auburn, and curled naturally in profusion. But this, my only redeeming feature, I was unacquainted with at the time. In my ignorance (for though often told of my faults, I never, as a child, heard myself praised), I even looked upon this propensity in my hair to curl as a positive misfortune, inasmuch as my friends informed me that it always appeared unkempt and wild, and therefore I naturally thought it an addition to my defects. Oh, how I envied the oiled and trim locks of my companions, which showed no such erratic tendency as mine; and in the agony of my mind I often had recourse to the hairdresser, who, at my directions, cut off close each offending curl, and sent me home shorn. But, alas! my triumph was but short. Sisters and brothers crowded round me soon, and proclaimed that my large inanimate face only looked larger and more inanimate still; while aunts and mother dismissed me from their presence with the observation that I was now a perfect fright.

Such, then, was the one thought uppermost in my childish mind. I had a strong faith in my own ugliness. Happy days and hours I had, as all healthy children will have. I frolicked and played; and being naughty as well as ugly, I was often whipped; while my pretty little sister, the youngest of us all, being pretty as well as naughty, was only scolded and warned. However, no punishment I ever received (and I had many) hurt me so much as the oft-recurring, never-long-absent reflection, that Nature, when she turned me out of her mint, had impressed me with her strongest stamp of ugliness. Nay, when at times a child’s party was given at our house, and little neighbors came to see us for a few hours, I was quick at observing how that none of them took to me. If a game were proposed, I was always assigned the lowest place in it. If others were kings and queens, I was only a servant and a slave; and when others were captains and admirals, I was a common sailor; and on one occasion, which I well remember, I was degraded to the position of powder-monkey. It seemed indeed by universal, tacit consent that I should be thus used; and in my own secret little heart I attributed the cause to my ugliness. Often while I joined in the game and shouted my utmost, I was in reality sad and disheartened; and have more than once climbed a tree and hid myself in its topmost branches, while the sport proceeded in the garden below, and my absence was unnoticed.

Thus it was that my childhood fled away, till, as time progressed, the evil became more serious. Having been so often rebuffed and humiliated, I lost all ambition to excel. Insensibly I acquiesced in the idea that I was in all points inferior to others, and that no efforts of my own could ever raise me to their level. My friends now not only called me ugly, but stupid. My plain elder brother was undeniably clever. My plainer second brother was shrewd, but I was both the ugliest and stupidest of all. At first I wept at this double discovery. I then grew content at being at the bottom of my class at school. My master held me up to ridicule (the rascal has since been made a bishop), and that, too, not only because I was backward and idle, for in these respects I richly deserved his blame; but, alas! for poor human nature so apt to be biased by mere externals, because I was ugly. I felt at the time that, had I not been so very plain, my being a dunce would have been more overlooked. I saw good-looking dunces in the class with me, who were easily pardoned; but I was an ugly dunce, and therefore was ridiculed and punished. This treatment made me sullen. At last I never cared to work at all. I copied my exercises and blundered over my translations so much, that the master grew tired of hearing me, and would often pass me over entirely—a course that pleased me exceedingly, and only confirmed me in my idleness. I was called stupid, and I became stupid; and I discovered, till I half became a little misanthrope, that the ugliness for which I was bantered at home, caused me also to be treated with greater harshness for my faults at school.

Nor was it my enforced stupidity alone that thus gave the sting to my plainness, but my poverty. My father was very badly off. I wore my elder brothers’ old clothes, which were too large for me. I assumed, I recollect, on one occasion one of their cast-off hats, and it overshadowed me completely. My well-dressed school-fellows christened me Guy Fawkes on account of my frumpish attire: and one of them, kinder than the rest, came to me one day when I was all alone, and told me he was sorry for me. This last incident completed my humiliation. I did not weep but I kept very silent for a day or two. I entered into no sports. I walked apart and thought of my ugliness, my stupidity, my poverty; nor was it till a week or more had passed away that I regained my usual spirits.

Shortly after the above-mentioned events, when I was about fourteen years of age, my poor father began to think seriously of the future career of his ugly bantling. And now a fresh sorrow awaited me. My acquirements were so small, my manners and appearance so unprepossessing, that there was great difficulty in deciding on my future course. “Come here, Jack,” said my father one day to me. “Can you read well?” “No,” he answered for me. “Can you write well?” “No,” he said again. “Can you cast accounts well?” “No,” he replied once more. “You can do nothing well, but take birds’ nests. I don’t know at all what is to become of you.”

On hearing these words, poor Jack left the room very much crestfallen; and quite agreed with his father, that he did not at all know what was to become of him, being both the ugliest and stupidest of his family. “Send him to college, father, and make a clergyman of him,” suggested an amiable and compassionate sister, thinking more of her brother’s feelings than the Church’s interests. This last speech of hers I overheard, as I was disappearing through the doorway, with the additional words: “Perhaps he may just pass through, without being absolutely plucked.”

********

Since the above-mentioned scenes, years have passed away and a great change has come over me. I have already said more than once that I was a backward boy, and very lazy over my books. About the age of sixteen years, however, a visible alteration took place in this respect. At the suggestion of a sister (a suggestion indeed half made in fun), I was induced to try my hand at writing verses. At first I refused, being quite aghast at such a daring proposal; but on the request being repeated, I complied. Then it was that I caught the first sound of praise my ugly ears had ever heard yet. She and I were both alike surprised. I could not believe that I had composed the poem out of my own stupid head. I read it over and over again, and each time with increasing wonder. I was actually startled at myself, while the pleasing idea stole into my mind that I was not so great a fool after all.

Nor did the matter end there. The verses were taken to another sister, and were praised by her in turn. My second brother also, who saw them next, declared boldly that they were not mine; or if they were, must have been made up of odds and ends by some unconscious trick of the memory. The answer was easy: I knew no poetry, and therefore the idea of plagiarism had no grounds to rest upon. And this last consideration made my triumph complete. My intellectualbeing awoke from its long slumber, and sprang at once into conscious life. Poetry became a passion. I read all I could lay my hands upon. I composed and filled volumes with my own lucubrations; my spirit within me yearned under the burden of a thousand new and contending romantic emotions; and while I continued busily my classical studies (for about this time it was settled that I should go to college), I read and wrote much in addition, and was never idle for a single moment.

Still, though the first step had thus been taken in the right direction, much remained to be done. When alone with my books, I felt and enjoyed the freedom I had acquired. I no longer looked on myself as below my fellow-men, but recognized my birthright of intellectual power, and delighted in the exercise of it. The case, however, was different when I was with strangers, or even with members of my own family. Immediately the fancied giant slunk back again into the stunted dwarf. The fault of my education came over me like a cloud. The lesson that had been drilled into me so early was not to be easily eradicated; and the consequence was, that, while my indignant spirit secretly rebelled at my own cowardice, I was obliged to submit with a good grace, and cut but a poor figure in the eyes of my companions and fellow-students.

Nor did this proud diffidence lose in intensity when I was introduced into the little world of academical life. The same fault haunted me still; and keeping aloof from others, I not only forfeited many advantages, but likewise ran the risk, incurred by all solitary men, of increasing selfishness and egotism. Circumstances, however, in some degree broke down this barrier to freedom of intercourse with others, which unwise friends had unconsciously helped to raise; and though I had a small but select circle of acquaintances, my evil genius was still with me; and I finally left the university, having missed much it was calculated to teach.

My next experience dates from the time when I found myself a curate in a large manufacturing town. All my old troubles began over again. When I stood up in public, my sensitiveness came back to me with tenfold force. The thought of my extreme ugliness, the recollection of my ridiculously little and flat nose, overwhelmed me with confusion. I was keenly alive to the ludicrous: and hence the picture I involuntarily drew of myself wounded my vanity in the extreme. My first appearance in the desk was formidable. I was miserable. My poor little nose, through intense self-consciousness, actually ached on my face. If I caught the full glance of an eye, I suspected at once that it was fixed on that particular feature; and I had by an express effort to call all my reasoning powers together to lay this ghost of my own morbid fancy.

This extreme sensitiveness, however, soon began to wear off. I made up my mind to be ugly; and the strong brotherhood I felt with many others in this respect came to the aid of my philosophy.

But there was a worse evil, which was not so soon overcome. Having been for so many years of my life looked upon as stupid, I was now seized again with that distrust of self which I had once so nearly shaken off. It seriously crippled my usefulness; and I had the mortification to see others, with half my abilities and acquirements, but more self-reliant, occupy positions with applause where I was compelled to be silent. The struggle in my heart was very bitter; and if at last I did break through the trammels in some degree, it was not till many a wasted year had flown, and many a golden opportunity had gone by forever.

Like all other young men too, I fell in love, and then the thought of my ugliness came down on me like a thunderbolt. Of course the young lady was perfection, and her nose a thorough contrast to my own. The fact that ugly men often obtained beautiful wives was very consoling, I allow; and I often ran over in my own mind a list of all the plain men I knew who were married to lovely women. Still my own ugliness distressed me, and I began in consequence an awkward and unwieldy flirtation. I tried to be agreeable, but my shyness prevailed; and I generally ended by making some blunder, such as plunged me in disgrace. Then a period of silence and distance would ensue, at which the fair object of my affections was visibly piqued and puzzled; and, as was but natural, soon let me feel her anger and annoyance. Then immediately, with the proverbial inconsistency of a lover, I forgot my own conduct that had caused the alteration in her manner, and attributed the change to a rooted dislike of my person. And so at last we separated; and a happier rival appeared, who carried her off at once, and wears the flower to this day.

After this event I began to look upon myself as a confirmed bachelor. No woman, I thought would ever take me, who have no gold to gild my ugliness; and I grew almost contented with my solitude. But Providence ordered it otherwise. This is not a love story, but a true tale; and when I learnt from the lips of her I love best, some months after marriage, that the honesty and intelligence, written on my face, threw a veil over its ugliness and almost glorified my insignificant and troublesome nose, I felt, and I still feel, that if all the world thinks me ugly, I am perfectly content with the verdict; and if most men have better noses than myself, there are many without my share of intellect and sense; or else with all their various defects, they have no warm-hearted wife like mine, to love and admire them for the few good qualities they possess.

But before I close, I have one more confession to make after all. I never see a very good nose to this day without thinking of my own bad one, and envying for the moment the more fortunate possessor. To this day also, I am somewhat shy both in public and in private, and can not wholly get over that nervous regard for the opinions of others, which my unwise training has only served to increase. This defect in my character has hindered my advancement in life. My little nose has prevented me from being a big man. God, however, has richly blessed me in many ways. I have a nice parish, a pleasant vicarage, a good wife and a large family. Many kind friends, too, have gathered around me, and assure me of increasing usefulness. Yet my one great fault of intense self-consciousness haunts me still, mars my enjoyment, unnerves me often in the very moment of action, and makes me feel every day the evil brought upon a too sensitive disposition, when defects, whether physical or mental, are made a theme for ridicule and banter, without regard to the present pain and future loss such a course is only too sure to entail.—Temple Bar.

A missionary steamer, whose hull and machinery weigh only six tons, is now moored in the Thames, in London. The vessel is named “Peace,” and has been built for the Baptist Missionary Society, who destine it for the service of the mission in the upper reaches of the Congo River. The boat can be taken to pieces readily for transport purposes, and the total number of pieces, none of which would be too heavy for a man to carry, would be 800. The greatest possible use has been made of all available space, and the two cabins are admirably fitted. A kitchen adapted for a stove and other cooking appliances forms part of the equipment. A substantial awning covers the deck, and between this and the sides of the vessel a wire awning is fitted to stop arrows and other missiles. It is intended to take the steamer to pieces and pack the sections in boxes, which will be sent to the mouth of the Congo. From thence they will be borne by 800 men a distance of 300 miles up to Stanley Pool, where the steamer will be reconstructed by missionaries.

President:Lewis Miller.

Superintendent of Instruction:J. H. Vincent, D. D.

Counselors:Lyman Abbott, D. D.; Bishop H. W. Warren, D. D.; J. M. Gibson, D. D.; W. O. Wilkinson, D. D.

Office Secretary:Miss Kate F. Kimball.

General Secretary:Albert M. Martin.

This new organization aims to promote habits of reading and study in nature, art, science and in secular and sacred literature, in connection with the routine of daily life (especially among those whose educational advantages have been limited), so as to secure to them the college student’s general outlook upon the world and life, and to develop the habit of close, connected, persistent thinking.

It proposes to encourage individual study in lines and by text-books which shall be indicated; by local circles for mutual help and encouragement in such studies; by summer courses of lectures and “students’ sessions” at Chautauqua, and by written reports and examinations.

The course of study prescribed by the C. L. S. C. shall cover a period of four years.

Each year’s course of study will be considered the “first year” for new pupils, whether it be the first, second, third or fourth of the four years’ course. For example, “the class of 1886,” instead of beginning October, 1882, with the same studies which were pursued in 1881-’82 by “the class of 1885,” will fall in with “the class of ’85,” and take for their first year the second year’s course of the ’85 class. The first year for “the class of 1885” will thus in due time become the fourth year for “the class of 1886.”

1. Readings in the History and Literature of Greece, England, Russia, Scandinavia, China, Japan and America.2. Readings in Science; Geology, Astronomy, Physiology, and Hygiene.3. Readings in Bible History, and in Biblical and General Religious Literature.

1. Readings in the History and Literature of Greece, England, Russia, Scandinavia, China, Japan and America.

2. Readings in Science; Geology, Astronomy, Physiology, and Hygiene.

3. Readings in Bible History, and in Biblical and General Religious Literature.

1. Additional Readings in Greek, English and Biblical History.2. Additional Readings in English and American Literature.

1. Additional Readings in Greek, English and Biblical History.

2. Additional Readings in English and American Literature.

Readings in History, Literature and Science, in the line of the Required Course for the year.This is a Special Course for Graduates of the Class of 1882 who wish to continue their connection with the Circle.

Readings in History, Literature and Science, in the line of the Required Course for the year.

This is a Special Course for Graduates of the Class of 1882 who wish to continue their connection with the Circle.

History of Greece, by Prof. T. T. Timayenis. Vol. 1. Parts 3, 4 and 5. Price, $1.15.Preparatory Greek Course in English, by Dr. W. C. Wilkinson. Price, $1.Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 5, Greek History, by Dr. J. H. Vincent. Price, 10 cents.Recreations in Astronomy, by Bishop Henry W. Warren, D. D. Price, $1.10.Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 2, Studies of the Stars, by Bishop H. W. Warren, D. D. Price, 10 cents.First Lessons in Geology, by Prof. A. S. Packard, Jr. Price, 50 cents.Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 4, English History, by Dr. J. H. Vincent. Price, 10 cents.Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 34, China, Corea and Japan, by W. Elliot Griffis. Price, 10 cents.Evangeline, by Henry W. Longfellow. Price, paper, 20 cents; cloth, 50 cents.Hampton Tracts: A Haunted House, by Mrs. M. F. Armstrong; and Cleanliness and Disinfection, by Elisha Harris, M. D. Price, 15 cents.

History of Greece, by Prof. T. T. Timayenis. Vol. 1. Parts 3, 4 and 5. Price, $1.15.

Preparatory Greek Course in English, by Dr. W. C. Wilkinson. Price, $1.

Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 5, Greek History, by Dr. J. H. Vincent. Price, 10 cents.

Recreations in Astronomy, by Bishop Henry W. Warren, D. D. Price, $1.10.

Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 2, Studies of the Stars, by Bishop H. W. Warren, D. D. Price, 10 cents.

First Lessons in Geology, by Prof. A. S. Packard, Jr. Price, 50 cents.

Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 4, English History, by Dr. J. H. Vincent. Price, 10 cents.

Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 34, China, Corea and Japan, by W. Elliot Griffis. Price, 10 cents.

Evangeline, by Henry W. Longfellow. Price, paper, 20 cents; cloth, 50 cents.

Hampton Tracts: A Haunted House, by Mrs. M. F. Armstrong; and Cleanliness and Disinfection, by Elisha Harris, M. D. Price, 15 cents.

Price, $1.50—in which will be published, (monthly): Pictures from English History, by C. E. Bishop, Esq.; Chapters from Early Russian History, by Mrs. M. S. Robinson; Passages from Scandinavian History and Literature, by Prof. L. A. Sherman, of New Haven, Conn.; Sabbath Readings in Classic Religious Literature, selected by Dr. J. H. Vincent.The Chautauquanwill also contain, in the department ofRequired Readings, brief papers as follows: Studies in Ancient Greek Life; Selections from English Literature; Readings from Russian Literature; Readings from the Literature of China and Japan; Readings in Bible History; Readings in Biblical Literature; Readings in Geology; Readings in Astronomy; Readings in Physiology and Hygiene.

The Chautauquanwill also contain, in the department ofRequired Readings, brief papers as follows: Studies in Ancient Greek Life; Selections from English Literature; Readings from Russian Literature; Readings from the Literature of China and Japan; Readings in Bible History; Readings in Biblical Literature; Readings in Geology; Readings in Astronomy; Readings in Physiology and Hygiene.

Hints for Home Reading, by Dr. Lyman Abbott. Price, cloth, $1; board, 75 cts.The Hall in the Grove, by Mrs. Alden. (A story of Chautauqua and the C. L. S. C.) Price, $1.50.Outline Study of Man, by Dr. Mark Hopkins. Price, $1.50.

Hints for Home Reading, by Dr. Lyman Abbott. Price, cloth, $1; board, 75 cts.

The Hall in the Grove, by Mrs. Alden. (A story of Chautauqua and the C. L. S. C.) Price, $1.50.

Outline Study of Man, by Dr. Mark Hopkins. Price, $1.50.

Persons who pursue the “White Seal Course” of each year, in addition to the regular course, will receive at the time of their graduation a white seal for each year, to be attached to the regular diploma.History of Greece, by Prof. T. T. Timayenis. Vol. 1; completed. Price, $1.15.William the Conqueror, and Queen Elizabeth, Abbott’s series. Price, 80 cents.Outlines of Bible History, by Bishop J. F. Hurst, D. D. Price, 50 cents.Chautauqua Library of English History and Literature. Vol. 1. Price, paper, 60 cents; cloth, 80 cents.Outre-Mer, by Henry W. Longfellow. Price, paper, 15 cents; cloth, 40 cents.Hamlet. Rolfe’s edition. Price, paper, 50 cents; cloth, 70 cents.Julius Cæsar. Rolfe’s edition. Price, paper, 50 cents; cloth, 70 cents.

History of Greece, by Prof. T. T. Timayenis. Vol. 1; completed. Price, $1.15.

William the Conqueror, and Queen Elizabeth, Abbott’s series. Price, 80 cents.

Outlines of Bible History, by Bishop J. F. Hurst, D. D. Price, 50 cents.

Chautauqua Library of English History and Literature. Vol. 1. Price, paper, 60 cents; cloth, 80 cents.

Outre-Mer, by Henry W. Longfellow. Price, paper, 15 cents; cloth, 40 cents.

Hamlet. Rolfe’s edition. Price, paper, 50 cents; cloth, 70 cents.

Julius Cæsar. Rolfe’s edition. Price, paper, 50 cents; cloth, 70 cents.

The Chautauquan.Required Reading.History of Greece. Vol. 1. By T. T. Timayenis.William the Conqueror and Queen Elizabeth. Abbott’s Series.Outre-Mer, by Henry W. Longfellow.Hamlet. Rolfe’s edition.Julius Cæsar. Rolfe’s edition.The following is the distribution of the

The Chautauquan.Required Reading.

History of Greece. Vol. 1. By T. T. Timayenis.

William the Conqueror and Queen Elizabeth. Abbott’s Series.

Outre-Mer, by Henry W. Longfellow.

Hamlet. Rolfe’s edition.

Julius Cæsar. Rolfe’s edition.

The following is the distribution of the

SUBJECTS AND BOOKS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR:[Ch. stands forChautauquan.]

October.

History of Greece. Vol. 1. (Timayenis.) (Parts 3, 4, and 5.)

Chautauqua Text-Book, Greek History. (Vincent.)

Geology. (Packard.)

Readings in English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Readings in Geology. (Ch.)

November.

History of Greece. Vol. 1. (Timayenis.) (Parts 3, 4, and 5.)

Geology. (Packard.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Readings in Geology. (Ch.)

December.

Preparatory Greek Course in English. (Wilkinson.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Studies in Ancient Greek Life. (Ch.)

Readings from Russian Literature. (Ch.)

January 1883.

Preparatory Greek Course in English. (Wilkinson.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Readings in Bible History and Literature. (Ch.)

February.

Recreations in Astronomy. (Warren.)

Chautauqua Text-Book, Studies of the Stars. (Warren.)

Readings in Astronomy. (Ch.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Readings in Bible History and Literature. (Ch.)

March.

Recreations in Astronomy. (Warren.)

Readings in Astronomy. (Ch.)

Chautauqua Text-Book, English History. (Vincent.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Selections from English Literature. (Ch.)

April.

Physiology, Hygiene, and Home. Hampton Tracts.

Readings in Physiology. (Ch.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Selections from English Literature. (Ch.)

May.

Evangeline. (Longfellow.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Readings in Physiology. (Ch.)

June.

Chautauqua Text-Book, China, Corea and Japan. (Griffis.)

English, Russian, Scandinavian, and Religious History and Literature. (Ch.)

Readings from the Literature of China and Japan. (Ch.)

Members of the C. L. S. C. may take, in addition to the regular course above prescribed, one or more special courses, and pass an examination upon them. Pupils will receive credit and testimonial seals to be appended to their regular diploma, according to the merit of examination on these supplemental courses.

Persons who are too young, or not sufficiently advanced in their studies, to take the regular C. L. S. C. course, may adopt certain preparatory lessons for one or more years.For circulars of the preparatory course, address Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.

Persons who are too young, or not sufficiently advanced in their studies, to take the regular C. L. S. C. course, may adopt certain preparatory lessons for one or more years.

For circulars of the preparatory course, address Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.

To defray the expenses of correspondence, memoranda, etc., an annual fee of fifty cents is required. This amount should be forwarded to Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J. (by New York or Philadelphia draft, or post-office order on Plainfield, N. J.) Do not send postage stamps if you can possibly avoid it.N. B.—In sending your fee, be sure to state to which class you belong, whether 1883, 1884, 1885, or 1886.

N. B.—In sending your fee, be sure to state to which class you belong, whether 1883, 1884, 1885, or 1886.

Persons desiring to unite with the C. L. S. C. should forward answers to the following questions to Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J. The class graduating in 1886 should begin the study of the lessons required October, 1882. Theymaybegin as late as January 1, 1883.1. Give your name in full. 2. Your postoffice address, with county and State. 3. Are you married or single? 4. What is your age? Are you between twenty and thirty, or thirty and forty, or forty and fifty, or fifty and sixty, etc.? 5. If married, how many children living under the age of sixteen years?[H]6. What is your occupation? 7. With what religious denomination are you connected? 8. Do you, after mature deliberation, resolve, if able, to prosecute the four years’ course of study presented by the C. L. S. C.? 9. Do you promise to give an average of four hours a week to the reading and study required by this course? 10. How much more than the time specified do you hope to give to this course of study?

1. Give your name in full. 2. Your postoffice address, with county and State. 3. Are you married or single? 4. What is your age? Are you between twenty and thirty, or thirty and forty, or forty and fifty, or fifty and sixty, etc.? 5. If married, how many children living under the age of sixteen years?[H]6. What is your occupation? 7. With what religious denomination are you connected? 8. Do you, after mature deliberation, resolve, if able, to prosecute the four years’ course of study presented by the C. L. S. C.? 9. Do you promise to give an average of four hours a week to the reading and study required by this course? 10. How much more than the time specified do you hope to give to this course of study?

An average of forty minutes reading each week day will enable the students in nine months to complete the books required for the year. More time than this will probably be spent by many persons, and for their accommodation a special course of reading on the same subject has been indicated. The habit of thinking steadily upon worthy themes during one’s secular toil will lighten labor, brighten life, and develop power.

The annual examinations will be held at the homes of the members, and in writing. Memoranda will be forwarded to them, and by their written replies the committee can judge whether or not they have read the books required.

Persons should be present to enjoy the annual meetings at Chautauqua, but attendance there is not necessary to graduation in the C. L. S. C. Persons who have never visited Chautauqua may enjoy the advantages, diploma, and honors of the Circle. TheAssembly Daily Heraldis published on the grounds during the Chautauqua Assembly. Send $1 for theDaily Heraldto T. L. Flood, Meadville, Pa. Back numbers can be supplied.

For the story of the C. L. S. C., and explanation of the Local Circles, the Memorial Days to be observed by all true C. L. S. C. members, St. Paul’s Grove at Chautauqua, etc., etc., address (inclose three-cent stamp), Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J., who will forward the Chautauqua Hand-Book, No. 2, sixty-four pages. Blank forms, containing the ten questions given in paragraph 10, will also be sent on application.

We study the Word and the Works of God.Let us keep our Heavenly Father in the midst.Never be discouraged.

We study the Word and the Works of God.

Let us keep our Heavenly Father in the midst.

Never be discouraged.

Address Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway, New York; and Walden & Stowe, Cincinnati and Chicago.

Among the many notable features connected with Chautauqua work, not the least is the influence of the C. L. S. C. on the educational literature of the times. Book making of a peculiar sort, to meet a special demand, has been one of its results. It is a maxim of commerce that whenever there is a demand there will be a supply to meet it. It is not strange that the supply did not exist at the beginning, for the demand, the want of a school of the people, such as the C. L. S. C. aims to be, is without precedent in our history. Books for the public schools and academies lacked adaptability as well as attractiveness in many instances. The greater part of them were too elementary, being prepared for younger minds and those more advanced and mature were generally too special in their character, failing to give that “outlook” which figures so largely in the Chautauqua Idea. It had to be recognized that the mind of one grown to adult years, though perhaps no farther advanced in a particular branch of study than the boy at school, yet because of other development, experience and observation required that the subject be presented in a different manner. College text books were not suited to the needs of the student of this People’s College. They were often too deep and not wide enough, too much of the students’sanctumto be suited to the fireside of the home.

A glance at the list of the Chautauqua text books, as they are found in the advertising pages ofThe Chautauquan, will suggest somewhat the extent and character of this feature. It will be seen that this literature is being published and sold by some of the best publishing houses in the country, and that writers and authors of high reputation have given their talent to meet this want. Let even the disinterested reader examine this list. They aresui generis. Wide in their range as the scope of the C. L. S. C. course, simple and attractive in the manner of treating the various subjects, yet philosophical and thorough in the best sense. They are the books that thousands, scattered here and there, thirsting for knowledge, have felt the need of without knowing they were attainable, and which were unattainable till this demand became focalized by the organization of the C. L. S. C. This new literature is therefore filling a wider sphere than the organization which called it into existence. Upon the table of many a professional man, and in many a home where there is not a desire to pursue a full course of study, these books find their way, by reason of the very peculiarities aimed at in their preparation. We do not speak here of the effect that such books is destined to exercise upon the writers of text-books for the schools and academies and colleges, nor of the quickening effect upon publishers to furnish a wide and varied range of books on all these and other subjects to meet the increased demand arising from mental appetites awakened by this course, nor do we venture to prophesy the dimensions to which this literary influence will grow. Mr. Bayard Taylor says that the literary bloom of the eighteenth century in Germany was largely indebted to the popular guilds of the “mastersingers” of preceding centuries. A great popular educational movement like the C. L. S. C. cannot fail to have a large influence on the popular literature of the future.

There is evidently great need of a revival of spiritual religion in all the churches of the land. The fact that most of the great Christian bodies are increasing very slowly in membership, and that some of them, according to their own statistics for the past year, have suffered an actual loss, is evidence that the Church at large is not blessed with the vitality and spiritual power she ought to have. Another significant fact is, that the non-church-going element in both city and country is rapidly on the increase, so that it is estimated that from one-fourth to one-half of the population of the country, seldom, if ever, attend religious services. Indeed we are personally acquainted in communities, and that outside of cities, too, in which the steady church-going element does not comprise more than one-eighth of the population. In view of these things we are led to inquire what are the prospects for the much-needed revival of spiritual religion.

All revivals are necessarily of divine origin, but are dependent on human agency to make them operative among men. The Church is the agency through which divine influences have always been manifested to the world. A revival has never been known to begin outside the Church. The reformation began with Luther, a member of the Romanish Church. The great modern revival movement called Methodism began with Wesley, a member of the Episcopal Church. Concerning the Holy Spirit, there can be no doubt but he is always ready to do his work. The question then is this: Is the Church in condition to secure the spirit in awakening and converting power. This question must be answered in many instances in the negative and for the following reasons:

We must admit that a spirit of worldliness pervades the Church to an alarming degree. In the mad chase after material things that characterizes our age, Christians are seemingly as eager in pursuit of temporal things for temporal ends as are those who make no pretensions to a religious life. The love of money, which is the “root of all evil,” is productive of covetousness, which, like a deadly dry-rot, is destructive of spirituality, eliminates spiritual longings from the soul, and renders the man gross and groveling. In part as a result of this world-spirit developed in the Church, there has been engendered a lamentable indifference to vital piety. The religious forms remain, but the warmth, the glow, the fervor and the power of religion are often sadly wanting. In fact, modern culture too often frowns on fervency either in the pew or pulpit; and too often the sermon, instead of being a powerful appeal to the hearts and consciences of men, and awakening dead souls from the sleep of sin, is only a moral or æsthetic essay or oration, of the conventional half-hour pattern, and deals mainly in glittering generalities. The discussion in the pulpit, in the right spirit, of the justice of God, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, eternal punishment, human redemption by Jesus Christ, and kindred themes, will arouse men to duty, but these themes are by some thought to be unpopular. Consequently the thunders of Sinai are hushed and men are soothed by a sort of emasculated gospel into carnal security, both concerning themselves and their fellow-men, and make but little effort to raise themselves or others to a higher spiritual life.

The increasing secularization of the Sabbath is another great hindrance to a revival of spiritual religion. The sanctity of this day is essential to the spirituality of the Church, and whatever interferes with the proper religious observance of the day tends to destroy vital religion among the people.

In spite of these unfavorable symptoms which are manifest at present in the body of believers, we do not despair of the ultimate success of the Church in accomplishing her mission. There are many sincere, efficient and godly workers in the ranks of all denominations who are earnestly longing and laboring for the salvation of the world, but we fear for the present, at least, that their efforts are being neutralized by the worldliness, indifference, lukewarmness and formalism which characterize a large portion of the Church, so that the near future will not witness a grand revival of spiritual religion. We would be most heartily glad, however, if our forebodings should prove ill-founded, and if there should come upon the Universal Church a divine baptism which would consume all the dross of sin and make her more successful in winning souls.

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