Time was when Nature’s every mystic moodPoured round my heart a flood of eager joy;When pageantry of sunsets moved the boyMore than high ventures of the great and good;When trellised shadows in the vernal wood,And little peeping flowers, so sweet and coy,Were simple happiness without alloy,And whispered to me things I understood.But now the strange sad weight of human woe,And all the bitterness of human wrong,Press on my saddened spirit as I go,And stir the pulsings of a graver song:Dread mysteries of life and death I scan,And all my soul is only full of man.—W. W. Bedford.
Time was when Nature’s every mystic moodPoured round my heart a flood of eager joy;When pageantry of sunsets moved the boyMore than high ventures of the great and good;When trellised shadows in the vernal wood,And little peeping flowers, so sweet and coy,Were simple happiness without alloy,And whispered to me things I understood.But now the strange sad weight of human woe,And all the bitterness of human wrong,Press on my saddened spirit as I go,And stir the pulsings of a graver song:Dread mysteries of life and death I scan,And all my soul is only full of man.—W. W. Bedford.
Time was when Nature’s every mystic moodPoured round my heart a flood of eager joy;When pageantry of sunsets moved the boyMore than high ventures of the great and good;When trellised shadows in the vernal wood,And little peeping flowers, so sweet and coy,Were simple happiness without alloy,And whispered to me things I understood.But now the strange sad weight of human woe,And all the bitterness of human wrong,Press on my saddened spirit as I go,And stir the pulsings of a graver song:Dread mysteries of life and death I scan,And all my soul is only full of man.—W. W. Bedford.
Time was when Nature’s every mystic mood
Poured round my heart a flood of eager joy;
When pageantry of sunsets moved the boy
More than high ventures of the great and good;
When trellised shadows in the vernal wood,
And little peeping flowers, so sweet and coy,
Were simple happiness without alloy,
And whispered to me things I understood.
But now the strange sad weight of human woe,
And all the bitterness of human wrong,
Press on my saddened spirit as I go,
And stir the pulsings of a graver song:
Dread mysteries of life and death I scan,
And all my soul is only full of man.—W. W. Bedford.
BY PROF. G. BROWN GOODE.
There are two forms of fish culture. One of these, which has been practiced for many centuries in China, and perhaps quite as long in Europe, consisted in the transportation of living fish from waters in which they were abundant, to other waters, depleted or naturally deficient in fish life. The carp and the goldfish have been so long domesticated that they have become modified, like domestic fowls and cattle. The goldfish was introduced into all parts of the world from China, centuries ago. The introduction of the carp into the United States by the efforts of our Commissioner of Fisheries has been one of the most extensive operations in fish culture ever attempted. In 1878 carp were brought from Bavaria, and from this stock, planted in Babcock Lake, over 300,000 young fish have been distributed, in lots of ten to twenty, to every part of the country, so that almost every county is now stocked with this valuable food fish. As early as 1770 some experiments in transplanting fish were attempted, at the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin and others. In 1854, the black bass, now so abundant in the Potomac, were introduced by an engineer on the B. & O. R. R., who brought them over the Alleghenies in the water tank of his engine. This fish has also been sent to England and France, where it bids fair to become a favorite. In 1873, a car was freighted with eastern fish designed for introduction into the waters of California. The car ran off the track in Nebraska, and the rivers in that region are now stocked with our best fishes.
Far more important than fish transportation and the acclimation of foreign species, is the art of fish breeding, by which it is possible to keep up the supply of fishes in waters into which they have been successfully introduced. It was in the year 1741 that Stephen Ludwig Jacobi, a wealthy landed proprietor and civil engineer of northwestern Germany, discovered the method of artificially fertilizing the eggs of fish for the purpose of restocking ponds and streams, and began a series of painstaking experiments with that end in view. He first conceived the idea in 1725, when a youth of seventeen years, and was successful after laboring for sixteen years. His discovery was not announced till 1763. Although his discovery was thought to be of interest, and was used by physiologists and students of embryology, it was not until the French government resolved to make a grand experiment in stocking the waters of France with fish that modern industrial fish culture was born.
The establishment in 1850 at Huningen, in Alsace, by the French government, of the first fish-breeding station, or “piscifactory,” as it was named by Prof. Coste, is of great significance, since it marks the initiation of public fish culture. To this establishment the world is indebted for some practical hints, but most of all for its influence upon the policy of governments. The fortunes of war and conquest have now thrown Huningen into the hands of the German government. The art discovered in Germany was practiced in Italy as early as 1791 by Bufalini, in France in 1820, in Bohemia in 1824, in Great Britain in 1837, in Switzerland in 1842, in Norway, under government patronage in 1850, in Finland in 1852, in the United States in 1853, in Belgium, Holland, and Russia in 1854, in Canada about 1863, in Austria in 1865, in Australasia, by the inhabitants of English Salem in 1862, and in Japan in 1877.
The history of fish culture in this country is so familiar to every one who has the slightest interest in the subject that it seems unnecessary to refer to it in this place, except to show that it was largely to the growth of popular interest in the subject that the Fish Commission has owed its original and since increasing support.
The establishment of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries in 1871 marked the beginning of a period of great activity and great progress in fish culture, which has been quite without parallel elsewhere. The duties of the Commissioner were thus defined: “To prosecute investigations on the subject (of the diminution of valuable fishes), with the view of ascertaining whether any and what diminution in the number of food fishes of the coast and the lakes of the United States has taken place; and, if so, to what causes the same is due; and also whether any, and what protection, prohibitory or precautionary measures should be adopted in the premises, and to report upon the same to Congress.”
I think I may truthfully assert that very much of the improvement in the condition of our fisheries has been due to the wise and energetic management of our Commissioner, Prof. Spencer F. Baird. Himself an eminent man of science, for forty years in the front rank of biological investigation, the author of several hundred scientific memoirs, no one could realize more thoroughly the importance of a scientific foundation for the proposed work.
His position as the head of that influential scientific organization, given by an Englishman to the United States, “for the increase and diffusion of useful knowledge among men,” enabled him to secure at once the aid of a body of trained specialists.
I wish to emphasize the idea thatthe work of the Fish Commission owes its value solely and entirely to the fact of its being based upon an extensive and long continued system of scientific investigations, for the purpose of discovering unknown facts, the knowledge of which is essential to the welfare of the fisheries, the economical management of the national fishery resources, the success of fish culture, and the intelligent framing of fishery laws.
The resolution establishing the Commission requires that its head shall be a civil officer of the government, of proved scientific and practical acquaintance with the fishes of the coast—thus formally fixing its scientific character.
The work of the Commission is and always has been under the direction of eminent and representative scientific specialists, acting as heads of its several divisions, and the employes, with the exception of a very limited number of clerks, are trained experts, usually scientific students—so exact and special is the training required even for subordinate positions, that in a majority of cases each man employed is the only man in the country who understands and can perform his own individual work.
Pure and applied science have labored together always in the service of the Fish Commission, their representatives working side by side in the same laboratories; indeed, much of the best work in the investigation of the fisheries and in the artificial culture of fishes has been performed by men eminent as zoölogists.
The work of the Fish Commission is naturally divided into three sections:
1. The systematic investigation of the waters of the United States, and the biological and physical problems which they present. The scientific studies of the Commission are based upon a liberal and philosophical interpretation of the law. In making his original plans the Commissioner insisted that tostudy only the food fishes would be of little importance, and that useful conclusions must needs rest upon a broad foundation of investigations purely scientific in character. The life history of species of economic value should be understood from beginning to end, but no less requisite is it to know the histories of the animals and plants upon which they feed, or upon which their food is nourished; the histories of their enemies and friends, and the friends and foes of their enemies and friends, as well as the currents, temperature and other physical phenomena of the waters in relation to migration, reproduction and growth. A necessary accompaniment to this division is the amassing of material for research to be stored in the National and other museums for future use.
2. The investigation of the methods of fisheries, past and present, and the statistics of production and commerce of fishery products. Man being one of the chief destroyers of fish, his influence upon their abundance must be studied. Fishery methods and apparatus must be examined and compared with those of other lands, that the use of those which threaten the destruction of useful fishes may be discouraged, and that those which are inefficient may be replaced by others more serviceable. Statistics of industry and trade must be secured for the use of Congress in making treaties or imposing tariffs, to show to producers the best markets, and to consumers where and with what their needs may be supplied.
3. The introduction and multiplication of useful food fishes throughout the country, especially in waters under the jurisdiction of the general government, or those common to several states, none of which might feel willing to make expenditures for the benefit of the others. This work, which was not contemplated when the Commission was established, was first undertaken at the instance of the American Fish Cultural Association, whose representatives induced Congress to make a special appropriation for the purpose. This appropriation has since been renewed every year on an increasingly bountiful scale, and the propagation of fish is at present by far the most extensive branch of the work of the Commission, both in respect to number of men employed and quantity of money expended.
The limits of this article do not permit the discussion of work in connection with the fisheries, or of the scientific investigations which form the bed for the whole current of its activity.
The principal activity of the Commission has properly been directed to the wholesale replenishment of our depleted waters, as is shown by the fact that from seventy-five to eighty-five per cent. of the appropriations have been directed into this channel.
For fifteen or twenty years prior to the establishment of the Commission, popular interest in the fisheries, and a desire for their maintenance had been on the increase, the state of public opinion being doubtless under stimulation from the action of the French government in fostering the still infant art of fish culture.
The publications and experiments of Garlick, Fry, Atwood, Lyman, Green, Stone, Ainsworth, Roosevelt, Atkins, Stady, and others, awakened everywhere a sense of the fact that our rivers and streams were being rapidly cleared out, and the feeling that a similar state of affairs was probably existing in the adjoining ocean. Measures were set on foot for restoration and protection as early as 1605, when Massachusetts appointed the first commission, and prior to 1870 this example was followed by several other states. Nearly all the states and territories now have similar organizations. The United States has distanced all its competitors, as was evinced by the manner in which the prizes were distributed at the recent fishery exhibitions in Berlin and London.
The fertilization of the fish egg is the simplest of processes, consisting, as every one knows, in simply pressing the ripe ova from the female fish into a shallow receptacle, and then squeezing out the milt of the male upon them. Formerly a great deal of water was placed in the pan, now the “dry method,” with only a little water, discovered by the Russian Vrasski, in 1854, is preferred. The eggs having been fertilized, the most difficult part of the task remains, namely, the care of the eggs until they are hatched, and the care of the young fry until they are able to care for themselves.
The apparatus employed is various in principle, to correspond to the physical peculiarities of the eggs. Fish culturists divide eggs into four classes, viz.: (1) heavy eggs, non-adhesive, whose specific gravity is so great that they will not float, such as the eggs of the salmon and trout; (2) heavy adhesive eggs, such as those of the herring, smelt and perch; (3) semi-buoyant eggs, like those of the shad and whitefish (Coregonus), and (4) buoyant eggs, like those of the cod and mackerel.
Heavy, non-adhesive eggs are placed in thin layers, either upon gravel, grilles of glass, or sheets of wire cloth, in receptacles through which a current of water is constantly passing. There are numerous forms of apparatus for eggs of this class, but the most effective are those in which a number of trays of wire cloth, just deep enough to carry single layers of eggs, are placed one upon the other in a box or jar, into which the water enters from below, passing out at the top.
Heavy, adhesive eggs, are received upon bunches of twigs, or frames of glass plates, to which they adhere, and which are placed in receptacles through which water is passing.
Semi-buoyant eggs, or those whose specific gravity is but slightly greater than that of the water, require altogether other treatment. They are necessarily placed together in large numbers, and to prevent their settling upon the bottom of the receptacle, it is necessary to introduce a gentle current from below. For many years these eggs could be hatched only in floating receptacles placed in a river, with wire cloth bottoms, placed at an angle, the motion of which was utilized to keep the eggs in suspension. Later, an arrangement of plunging buckets was invented, cylindrical receptacles with tops and bottoms of wire cloth, which were worked up and down at the surface of the water by machinery. The eggs in the cylinders were suspended in rows from beams which were worked up and down at the surface of the water by machinery. The eggs in the cylinders were thus kept constantly in motion. Finally, the device now most in favor was perfected; this is a receptacle, conical, or at least with a constricted termination, placed with its apex downward, through which passes from below a strong current, keeping the eggs constantly suspended and in motion. This form of apparatus, of which the McDonald and Clark hatching jars are the most perfect developments, may be worked in connection with any common hydrant.[A]
Floating eggs have been hatched only by means of rude contrivances for sustaining a lateral circular eddy, or swirl of water in the receptacle.
The use of refrigerators, to retard the development of the egg until such time as it is most convenient to take care of the fry, is now extensively practiced in the United States, and has been experimented upon in Germany.
In the discussion of fish-cultural economy, the distinction betweenprivate fish cultureandpublic fish culturemust be carefully observed, and it must also be borne in mind that bypublic fish culture, ormodern fish culture, I mean fish culture carried on at public expense, and for the public good. Public fish culture, to be effective, must be conducted by men trained in scientific methods of thought and work.
The distinction between private and public fish culture must be carefully observed. The maintenance of ponds for carp, trout, and other domesticated species, is an industry to be classed with poultry raising and bee-keeping, and its interest to the political economist is but slight.
The proper function of fish culture is the stocking of the public waters with fish in which no individual can claim the right of property.
The comparative insignificance of the private fish-culture of Europe is, perhaps, what has led to the recent savage attack upon fish culture in general by Malmgren of the University of Helsingfors. European fish culturists have always operated with small numbers of eggs. The establishment of Sir James Maitland at Howieton, near Stirling, Scotland, is the finest and largest private establishment in the world, and yields a handsome addition to the revenues of its proprietor. A description of this hatchery is published as one of the conference papers of the International Fisheries Exhibition, and that the distinction between public and private enterprise in fish-culture may be understood, it should be compared with the following statement by Mr. Livingston Stone, the superintendent of one of the seventeen hatcheries supported by the United States Fish Commission—that on the McCloud River in California.
“In the eleven years since the salmon-breeding station has been in operation, 67,000,000 eggs have been taken, most of which have been distributed in the various states of the Union. Several million, however, have been sent to foreign countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Russia, Belgium, Holland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Sandwich Islands.
“About 15,000,000 have been hatched at the station, and the young placed in the McCloud and other tributaries of the Sacramento River. So great have been the benefits of this restocking of the Sacramento, that the statistics of the salmon fisheries on the Sacramento show that the annual salmon catch of the river has increased 5,000,000 pounds each year during the last few years.”
In the two government hatcheries at Alpena and Northville, Michigan, in the winter of 1883-84, there were produced over 100,000,000 eggs of whitefish,Coregonus clupeiformis, and the total number of young fish to be placed in the Great Lakes this year by these and the various state hatcheries will exceed 225,000,000. The fishermen of the Great Lakes admit that but for public fish culture half of them would be obliged to abandon their calling.
Instances of great improvement might be cited in connection with nearly every shad river in the United States. In the Potomac alone the annual yield has been brought up by the operations of the Fish Commission from 668,000 pounds in 1877 to an average of more than 1,600,000 in recent years.
In 1882, carp bred in the Fish Commission ponds in Washington was distributed in lots of from 20 to 10,000 applicants in every State and Territory, at an average distance of more than 900 miles, the total mileage of the shipments being about 9,000,000 miles, and the actual distance traversed by the transportation cars 34,000 miles.
Public fish culture is only useful when conducted upon a gigantic scale—its statistical tables must be footed up in hundreds of millions. To count young fish by the thousand is the task of the private propagator. The use of steamships and steam machinery, the construction of refrigerating transportation cars, and the maintenance of permanent hatching stations, seventeen in number, in different parts of the continent, are forms of activity only attainable by government aid.
Equally unattainable by private effort would be the enormous experiments in transplanting and acclimating fish in new waters—California salmon in the rivers of the east; landlocked salmon and smelt in the lakes of the interior; the planting of shad in California and the Mississippi valley; and German carp in thirty thousand separate bodies of water distributed through all the states and territories of the Union. The two last named experiments, carried out within a period of three years, have met with success beyond doubt, and are of the greatest importance to the country; the others have been more or less successful, though their results are not yet fully realized.
It has been demonstrated, however, beyond possibility of challenge, that the great river fisheries of the United States, which produced in 1880 48,000,000 pounds of alewives, 18,000,000 pounds of shad, 52,000,000 pounds of salmon, besides bass, sturgeon, and smelt, and worth “at first hands” between $4,000,000 and $6,000,000, are entirely under control of the fish culturist to sustain or destroy, and are capable of immense extension.
Having now attempted to define the field of modern fish culture, and to show what it has already accomplished, it remains to be said what appear to be its legitimate aims and limitations. Its aims, as I understand them, are:
1. To arrive at a thorough knowledge of the life history from beginning to end, of every species of economic value; the histories of the animals and plants upon which they feed or upon which their food is nourished; the histories of their enemies and friends, and the friends and foes of their enemies and friends, as well as the currents, temperature and other physical phenomena of the waters in relation to migration, reproduction and growth.
2. To apply this knowledge in such a practical manner that every form of fish shall be at least as thoroughly under control as are now the salmon, the shad, the alewives, the carp, and the whitefish.
Its limitations are precisely those of scientific agriculture and animal rearing, since, although certain physical conditions may constantly intervene to thwart man’s efforts in any given direction, it is quite within the bounds of reasonable expectation to be able to understand what these are and how their effects are produced.
An important consideration concerning the limitations of fish culture must always be kept in mind in weighing the arguments for and against its success. It is simply this:that effort toward the acclimation of fishes in new waters is not fish culture, but is simply one of the necessary experiments upon which fish culture may be based. The introduction of carp from Germany was not fish culture, it was an experiment: the experiment has succeeded, and fish culture is now one of its results. The introduction of California salmon to the Atlantic slope was an experiment. It has not succeeded. Its failure has nothing to do with the success of fish culture. If any one wants to see successful fish culture in connection with this fish, let him go to the Sacramento River. The introduction of shad to the Pacific coast was an experiment. It succeeded. Shad culture can now be carried on without fear of failure by the fish commissions of the Pacific states.
Shad culture is an established success, so is whitefish culture in the Great Lakes. The experiments with cod and Spanish mackerel were not fish culture, though there is reason to hope that they may yet lead up to it.
Public fish culture, then, scarcely exists except in America, though in Europe many eminent men of science appreciate its importance and are striving to educate the people to the point of supporting it. Germany is at present in the vanguard, and the powerfulDeutscher Fischerei Vereinis doing all in its power to advance the interests of fish culture.
[A]Trans. Amer. Fish Cultural Association, 1883.
[A]Trans. Amer. Fish Cultural Association, 1883.
[A]Trans. Amer. Fish Cultural Association, 1883.
If we could take all things as ordained and for the best, we should indeed be conquerors of the world. Nothing has ever happened to man so bad as he has anticipated it to be. If we should be quiet under our troubles they would not be so painful to bear. I can not separate the existence of a God from his pre-ordination and direction of all things, good and evil; the latter he permits, but still controls.—Chinese Gordon.
BY CHANCELLOR J. H. VINCENT, D.D.
The system of examinations which prevails in secular schools has its advantages, but is not an unmixed benefit. It is an incentive to study. It aids the teacher in determining the proper time and degree of the promotion sought by the pupil. It is an approximate test of the place which a candidate may be able to command in the advanced grades.
But the examinations may become an end instead of a means. Pupils may work for success in a process rather than for the possession of power to think on any subject at any time. Examinations may give advantage to an inferior type of mind, rewarding mere memory and facility of expression, thus putting to a disadvantage the steadier, calmer, slower movements of a thorough student.
While in the day school, which deals with youth, we think the examination in some form or other is indispensable, in our Circle it is entirely impracticable. It is equally undesirable and unnecessary. We aim at reading and not study, except as reading by mature minds, eager to know, must necessarily induce the most fruitful kind of study. This, our aim, is the highest and wisest. People join the C. L. S. C., not for degrees in college, not for recognition as competitors in departments of exact scholarship, but for direction in useful reading, and for the pleasures of association in literary pursuits. It gives no pecuniary reward in the shape of prizes or professional diplomas. It would seem to present no inducement to dishonesty on the part of its members. They read for personal profit. Their compensation lies chiefly, if not wholly, in the joy of knowing, in the sense of increasing taste and power, and in the delights of high and honorable companionship.
In our Circle moral worth is assumed. The men and women who join us have long since learned that knowledge without character is not only worthless, but is a curse. They come, through faith in the highest ends of life, to improve their intellectual faculties. The gate by which they enter the C. L. S. C. bears this legend: “We study the Word and the Works of God.” On our holiest altar they read: “Let us keep our Heavenly Father in the midst.” The most fervent appeals which fall from the lips of our leaders are based upon the lofty religious standards which are lifted by the institution. The memorial days, the Sunday vesper hour, the sacred songs, all bear testimony to the religious character of the Circle. There would seem to be no inducement to dishonest souls to knock at our doors, or record their names on our lists.
A fact or two, not widely representative, justifies this word of warning. I am glad to believe that to but few members in the Circle can it be necessary or appropriate. We should all be watchful where temptation is not excluded, and we may as well recall the fact that in the old story from a very old book, there was a lurking serpent in a garden of innocency and delight.
A C. L. S. C. diploma, though radiant with thirty-one seals—shields, stars, octagons—would not stand for much in Heidelberg, Oxford, or Harvard. As an American curiosity it would not attract a moment’s notice, save as thoughtful men might come to measure its real significance. But even then it would be respected, not as conferring honor upon its holder, but as indicating a popular movement in favor of higher education. No wearer of the badge of the “S. H. G.” or of the “Guild of the Seven Seals,” would thereby stand any chance for appointment from any of these institutions, to wear an honorary degree, or take a professor’s chair.
At Chautauqua in the season, and at local circle receptions, and recognitions, the C. L. S. C. badge and diploma are not thus impotent. The color and stamp assign the holder to the place of honor. It is something even to our learned and honored Dr. Eaton to be the first member of the “Guild of the Seven Seals,” and the only member of its highest degree. It is something to be able to linger to the last in the Hall of Philosophy at Chautauqua at the sunset, as the successive societies are requested to remain—“S. H. G.,” “O. W. S.,” “L. R. T.,” and the “G. S. S.” Members of our Circle appreciate the distinction, and it is a distinction with meaning in it, and with genuine pleasure accompanying it. It is something to have a high place in the Chautauqua procession, and to frame a diploma at home with increasing luster as new seals flash out upon it as stars in the evening sky.
But along these lines of promotion lie the perils indicated. The recognition given to the members of the C. L. S. C. graduates and members of its advanced societies may prove a temptation to unguarded souls, and in an evil moment reading may be reported that has not been done, and seals solicited on false representations.
An anonymous note (which none but contemptible people ever write) called my attention to a possibility in a particular case, and a careful investigation was made. The idle boast of a thoughtless woman was reported, and an official examination of her report papers seemed to corroborate the ungracious charge. Later investigations vindicate our member and relieve her from the implied condemnation. But the subject has weighed heavily upon my mind, so that I call the attention of all to a possible peril.
Since the organization of the Circle I have been greatly pleased with the conscientiousness of its members. Many of them were afraid, when we required a report of the time spent each day in reading, that they would not keep an exact account. They were afraid that if they could not recall the contents of the chapter, or book, as students at school would be required to do, that they could not report that chapter or book as thoroughly read. Many persons refused to join the Circle lest they should not be able to complete the four years’ course, believing as they did that members were pledged to such completed work.
While this conscientiousness was gratifying it was excessive, and was based on false views of the aims of the Circle. I have endeavored to correct these views, to modify details of working, and to impress all members with the simple aim of the Circle, to promote the reading of certain books, leaving every person free to decide how superficially or thoroughly the reading should be done.
Our only aim is to promote reading. If we enlist people in the reading of good books on a wide range of subjects we shall at some point strike their taste, and thus promote the culture that comes from the use of one’s faculties in the line of his inclination and opportunity.
This being the modest standard of the Circle, we have a right to expect that every member will honorably discharge his duty, reporting the books he has read and none else, filling out his memoranda (when he undertakes to do it at all) by his own hand, or by dictation, not by proxy, winning the honors he seeks in our Circle by the honesty which will render his recognition a pleasure to himself and a credit to the management.
If any member feels that his conscience would be quieted by re-reading portions of the required books, let him do it.
If any member expects to gain distinction or place among us by unfairness, let him remember that self-contempt is the severest penalty we care to predict.
Let us live honestly.
First Week(ending May 8).—1. “Easy Lessons in Animal Biology,” inThe Chautauquan.
2. Sunday Readings for May 3, inThe Chautauquan.
Second Week(ending May 16).—1. “English as a Universal Language,” inThe Chautauquan.
2. Sunday Readings for May 10, inThe Chautauquan.
Third Week(ending May 23).—1. “Home Studies in Chemistry,” inThe Chautauquan.
2. Sunday Readings for May 17, inThe Chautauquan.
Fourth Week(ending May 31).—1. “The Eyes Busy on Things About Us,” inThe Chautauquan.
2. Sunday Readings for May 24 and May 31, inThe Chautauquan.
“Give days and nights, sir, to the study of Addison if you mean to be a good writer, and, what is more worth, an honest man.”—Samuel Johnson.
“Give days and nights, sir, to the study of Addison if you mean to be a good writer, and, what is more worth, an honest man.”—Samuel Johnson.
Music.
1. Roll call—Responses consisting of the name and distinguishing trait of some character in Addison’s writings.
2. A Paper on the Political History of England in Addison’s Time.
3. A Brief Sketch of Addison’s Life and Travels.
Music.
4. Selection—“The Transmigration of Souls—A Letter from a Monkey.”
5. A History of the Newspapers with which Addison was connected.
6. A Paper on two of Addison’s Works—“The Campaign” and “The Tragedy of Cato.”
Music.
7. Selection—“Reflections on the Delights of Spring.”
8. Essay—Addison’s Delineation of Woman’s Character.
Music.
A delightful entertainment for an evening can be given by preparing a banquet at which the guests are to personate the characters introduced in Addison’s “Vision of the Table of Fame.” These characters can be studied from other sources, so that each person may be enabled fittingly to carry on the representation during the time spent at the table.
The “Exercise of the Fan” can be prepared by a little practice so as to afford much amusement.
For books of reference see Thackeray’s “English Humorists,” Aiken’s “Memorials of Addison,” Macaulay’s “Life and Writings of Addison,” and the books on English Literature.
1. Essay—The Aryan Race.
2. A Review Lesson—Questions from Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 5; Greek History.
3. Selection—“Orpheus and Eurydice.” By J. G. Saxe.
4. A Trip on Paper through the Soudan.
Music.
5. Story—“Circe’s Palace.” From Hawthorne’s “Tangle-Wood Tales.”
6. Book Review—“The Life of George Eliot.” By J. W. Cross.
7. A General Talk on the Mohammedan Power of To-day.
8. Question Box.
1. A Paper on the Introduction of Temperance Text-Books into the Public Schools.
2. Selections—“Prometheus” and “Epimetheus.” By Longfellow. [The two read by different members.]
3. Brief Sketches of Literary Women who have assumed Masculine Pseudonyms.
Music.
4. Essay—What is the Oklahoma Boom?
5. A General Talk on the practical Home Use of the Study of Chemistry.
6. A Pronunciation Match—The circle chooses sides, the leader spells the words, and the class pronounces.
7. Critic’s Report.
1. “Questions and Answers,” in review.
2. Essay—May-day as Observed in Olden Times. [It might be well to suggest that a May-day suitably arranged for modern times would be fully as enjoyable as it used to be.]
3. Recitation—“Phaëton,” by J. G. Saxe. Compare this with “The Story of Phaëton,” by Addison.
4. Map Exercise—Locate all the most important battle fields of Greek history.
Music.
5. A Paper on the Foreign Service of the United States.
6. Essay—What Remains of Greek Art.
7.Conversazione—The Wrongs of the Indians as portrayed in Mrs. Jackson’s “Ramona.”
Knowing there are times and places in which every little helps, we offer a few suggestions for Special Sunday. If they only serve as index fingers, pointing out the way to fields where each can glean for himself much more successfully and satisfactorily than to take what others have gathered, they will accomplish a good purpose. To hopeful, earnest, self-reliant workers with “eyes busy on things about us,” more help is not needed, and perhaps not even this much. In addition to the vesper service prepared, selections, essays or papers, and Bible studies can be very profitably used.
From “The Literature of the Age of Elizabeth,” by William Hazlitt, the part referring to the translation of the Bible is very fine. Also, “Christianity the Great Remedy,” by Robert Charles Winthrop, LL.D. These selections can be found in Allibone’s “Great Authors of All Ages.” InThe Chautauquanfor January, 1885, “The Inner Chautauqua” is a good reading. InThe Chautauqua Assembly Heraldfor August 9, 1884, “Mrs. Pickett’s Missionary Box” Miss P. J. Walden, 36 Bromfield Street, Boston, will send for three cents “Thanksgiving Ann.” Nothing could be better suited for such a service than selections from Miss Havergal’s writings.
Themes for Essays are: “Personal Culture a Christian Duty.” “How Best can I Help my Neighbor?” “Work in the Home Missionary Field.” “How to Make the Sabbath a Beautiful Day.” Papers can be prepared on Bible customs and manners, Bible lands, and Bible characters. With the aid simply of a Concordance and a Reference Bible, interesting Bible studies on any desired topic can be prepared. Hitchcock’s “Analysis of the Bible” would afford great help in arranging work of this kind.
“We Study the Word and the Works of God.”—“Let us keep our Heavenly Father in the Midst.”—“Never be Discouraged.”
1.Opening Day—October 1.
2.Bryant Day—November 3.
3.Special Sunday—November, second Sunday.
4.Milton Day—December 9.
5.College Day—January, last Thursday.
6.Special Sunday—February, second Sunday.
7.Founder’s Day—February 23.
8.Longfellow Day—February 27.
9.Shakspere Day—April 23.
10.Addison Day—May 1.
11.Special Sunday—May, second Sunday.
12.Special Sunday—July, second Sunday.
13.Inauguration Day—August, first Saturday after first Tuesday; anniversary of C. L. S. C. at Chautauqua.
14.St. Paul’s Day—August, second Saturday after first Tuesday; anniversary of the dedication of St. Paul’s Grove at Chautauqua.
15.Commencement Day—August, third Tuesday.
16.Garfield Day—September 19.
The sensible, social way in which the February memorial days were observed has brought to our mind a comment on Madame Mohl and her methods of entertaining, how, “beyond ordering a good and abundant meal, she gave little thought to the mere material details of her entertainments; but she took great pains with the intellectualmenu. She would give time and thought and personal trouble to provide for each guest intellectually what he would most enjoy, and would carefully consider whether this person would like to meet the other, and to sit next So-and-So. Her great preoccupation was the combining of congenial elements for all in general and particular.” We feel very much as if our circles’ friends have learned Madame Mohl’s wisdom. As if the long desired reform in the methods of social entertainment was beginning in our own C. L. S. C. family. To give entertainments where wit and wisdom and social freedom prevail, where thoughts are more desired than feasts, and music and art take the place of supper tables is, it may be, the Quixote and blue-stocking way to-day—but it is the true social method. Any one who will take a glance with us over the receptions, “socials,” “at homes,” and public meetings which our circles held in February will, we believe, conclude that it certainly is the C. L. S. C. idea of “society,” and of a “good time.” Such delightful programs are rare to find.
Founder’s day is a new and very welcome occasion for observance, and very many circles made it the time of a special or public meeting. Some prepared an extra program, invited a few friends and spent a quiet evening in pleasant, friendly talk and merriment; others prepared a public meeting and strove to celebrate the day by increasing the interest in the work. AtFranklin, New Hampshire, the “Webster” C. L. S. C. had charge of a joint meeting. The program they carried out was admirable. Two other Chautauqua societies assisted the “Websters” in the entertainment; the “Pemigewassett” C. L. S. C., and the “Crystal” C. Y. F. R. U.——February 27th was so close in the wake of February 23d that the celebration of the two days was united in several places, with excellent results, too, we should judge. AtMilford, Mass., such a union meeting was held. The circle numbers twenty-eight, and as each member was allowed to invite one guest it made a goodly company. Vine wreathed portraits of the two heroes of the evening decorated the tables of the parlor where the circle met, and the program, divided into two portions, one devoted to Chancellor Vincent, the other to Longfellow, was happily arranged. We are glad that they have found out Lowell’s tribute to Longfellow; it makes a very appropriate number.——AtFoxboro, Mass., the “Star” circle quite distinguished itself by its celebration of Founder’s day. There were present several out-of-town circles, among them those from Franklin, Medfield, and Mansfield. In the notice which a local paper gave of this affair, we find some comments which are particularly encouraging: “Many have expressed their great delight at the manner in which the whole entertainment was carried out, which shows that these seasons are becoming more and more popular. Says a lady somewhere in the fifties, ‘How I wish there had been such an organization when I was young. My advantages for gaining an education were limited. If my memory was not so poor I should be tempted to join, even at this late day.’ Another says: ‘I have enjoyed the whole program very much, and have got a better idea of the work of the Circle from this evening’s entertainment than from any other source.’ Still another: ‘I enjoyed the whole of it very much indeed. The program was nicely carried out,’ and asks ‘Why don’t the circle give such entertainments oftener, so that people can better understand the object of this organization?’ Says a gentleman, a graduate of one of the higher schools, ‘I enjoyed it immensely. The exercises from the commencement to the close were very interesting.’ Another, ‘It carried me back to school-days and spelling schools, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, supper included.’”——AtProvidence, Rhode Island, the plan of the Milford circle was followed by the “Milton” circle. A paper on “The Chautauqua Movement” was one feature of the evening. It seems to have been an evening of practical work as well as pleasure, for good results are promised us as an outcome of the meeting. The “Miltons” now number twenty-two, an increase of seven over last year. Indeed, we can hardly see how a meeting at all suitable for Founder’s day could do anything else but convert people. It would necessarily be brimming over with such sparkling ideas, such enticing plans, that the fortunate guests at such an entertainment would very naturally want to join the company.——Another circle, that atNorthfield, Ohio, adopted this theory, and combined the two memorial days, making their celebration a public meeting, to which about sixty guests were invited. The program was very skillfully arranged, including some excellent subjects for essays. The Northfield circle was organized last year by ten “Pansies,” and has been recruited this year by two of the class of ’88. A good idea of their program is that they begin each evening’s work with the vesper service. The “quiz” is a prominent feature of the evening, and as “discussion” sends them home alert, interested, and sorry that the evening is over. A discussion on a live subject, we would whisper to leaders, is one of the best methods of making your circle sorry that it is time to stop, a result which is the best possible proof of an enjoyable evening.——AtSilver Creek, New York, Founder’s day was celebrated with much enthusiasm by the circle; an excellent program of the evening was prepared and published, the week previous, in the local paper. The program was divided into three parts—the first consisting of Chautauqua songs, mottoes, selections from Founder’s writings or sayings, a sketch of his life, and appropriate recitations; then apetit souper, and, on the principle, perhaps, that the best should come last, part third consisted ofthe reading of a letter from the Founder himself, sent in reply to a request from the circle for only a few words, and of a poem from the poetess of the class of 1886, Mrs. Cleveland.——The three Chautauqua circles ofNew Albany, Indiana, have now about seventy-five members, and all memorial days are observed by them jointly. Among the several pleasant meetings of the year, none have been so successful as Founder’s day. On the program of exercises we notice that roll call was responded to by giving quotations on the “Companionship of Books.” These were collected and printed in a local paper for preservation in the circle’s scrap books. Prof. R. A. Ogg, of the class of ’84, presented “The Founder and his Chautauqua Idea” in his happiest manner. “The Founder at Chautauqua” was vividly pictured by Rev. W. S. Austin, secretary of the class of ’86. Every Chautauquan present left this memorial meeting with the expression upon his lips, “The best of all our union meetings,” and the public were loud in their praises of it.——Thesixthcircle ofMilwaukee, Wisconsin, young, enthusiastic ’88s, all ladies, and hard at work for their own improvement and for the advancement of their circle, make a right jubilant report of the pleasant time they had with their friends of the “Beta” circle on Founder’s day. They held their meeting in the afternoon, and carried out the program very nearly asThe Chautauquanprescribed. “To some of us,” a member writes, “our secondalma materbids fair to become even dearer than the one of earlier remembrance.”——Right in tune with this glad greeting is a message which comes from the circle atIndianola, Iowa, another circle that celebrated Founder’s day. “We have received so many helpful hints and useful suggestions through your local circle column, that we take courage to say: ‘May the Chautauqua work we love so well go on until it spreads from east to west, from north to south.’” Our Indianola friends were organized six years ago. Two of their number were members of the first graduating class. A method of leadership, which we believe to be very effective in a small circle, is pursued by them. It is that each member take turns in the leadership of the circle.
The 27th of February is the memorial day most universally celebrated, and this because, perhaps, our memories of Longfellow are so peculiarly near and tender. This season the memorial services celebrated by the C. L. S. C. were particularly prominent. To begin “at home,” the “Willis” circle ofPortland, Me., gave a charming entertainment. From a Portland paper we clip the following description: “The exercises were conducted in a very unique and pleasing manner. One of the double parlors was filled with about fifty invited guests, while the other, being fitted up in representation of the Wayside Inn, was occupied by members of the circle, each one representing in costume some one of Longfellow’s characters. Each of the participants in the exercises was introduced with appropriate selections by ‘John Alden,’ while by his side sat ‘Priscilla, the Puritan maiden.’ Other characters represented were the ‘Landlord and Daughter,’ ‘Evangeline,’ ‘Rabbi Ben Levi,’ ‘Astred, the Abbess,’ ‘Precissa, the Gipsy,’ ‘Spanish Lady,’ ‘Hiawatha,’ ‘Minnehaha,’ ‘Young Musician,’ ‘Paul Revere,’ ‘Theodore,’ and ‘Lady Wentworth.’ On the whole, the entertainment was decidedly a novel affair and will be long remembered by the members of the circle and their many friends.” This “Willis” circle was organized last September, and numbers eighteen members. They are blessed with the best of recommendations. They declare that willingness and good nature are their prominent characteristics. Certainly, with plenty of the sunlight and fresh air of society theirs, it is not strange that they “look forward from one meeting to the next, anticipating much pleasure and profit.” The “Dorionic” circle ofBiddeford, Maine, laid aside its studies for one evening and held special exercises in honor of Longfellow. This circle has been doing exceptionally thorough work in chemistry this winter. A full course of lectures on the subject has been delivered in connection with the study of the text-book on chemistry.——One of the most novel programs with which we have been favored is fromRichmond, Me.The “Merry Meeting” circle send it. A gay Japanese napkin, on which the title page, the committees and the exercises all find place. As in several of the programs, we find that tableaux take a prominent position. No better interpretation of striking scenes is possible than bytableaux vivants, and a strictly literary program can be readily enlivened by a well selected scene.——The Longfellow memorial day was especially and appropriately observed atOld Town. The pleasant and commodious vestry of the Congregational Church was filled with the members and invited guests to the number of a hundred or more. The program—an excellent one—contained beside its essays, readings and music, extracts with tableaux from “Evangeline,” “Miles Standish” and “Excelsior.” The “Old Town” circle is one of our new friends, having been organized last October; young yet, but vigorous, for it numbers already thirty-five members.——AtCastleton, Vermont, the “Lone Pine” circle is doing very thorough work, and rejoicing in a good organization. Their Longfellow memorial program was very complete; though they have but fourteen members, they seemed to have no difficulty in securing the music, essays and readings for a full program. The closing feature of the evening was an informalconversazioneover their ice cream and cake, on Longfellow. With such an entertaining “something to talk about” the circle must have gone home full of ideas and happy thoughts.——A very energetic effort was made recently by the “Berkeley” circle, ofBoston, Mass., to bring the Chautauquans of Boston and vicinity into more intimate relations. A union meeting was the means chosen, and Longfellow’s day was the time. Fifteen circles in all participated in the exercises; among them were: “Phillips,” of South Boston; “Hurlbut,” of East Boston; “People’s Church,” of Boston; “Parker Hill,” of Roxbury; “Floral Society,” of Tremont Temple; “Longfellow,” of Cambridge; “Pericles,” of Brighton; “Clark,” of Jamaica Plain; “Sherwin,” of Dorchester; “Henry M. King,” of Roxbury; “The Pilgrims,” of Dorchester; “Bromfield Street Church,” of Boston; “Berkeley,” of Boston. About fifty persons were present. Letters were received from the Rev. B. P. Snow, the president of the class of ’86, and Prof. W. F. Sherwin, who were unable to attend. This brave effort to strengthen the bonds of fellow-feeling will not be fruitless, we are sure. “Berkeley” circle, in undertaking such a reunion, has instituted one of the most practical and useful ways of increasing the breadth and strength of the C. L. S. C. It is to be hoped that it will be made an annual feature of the Chautauqua work of Boston.——The “Mount Hope” circle, ofBristol, R. I.believes in the liberal use of printer’s ink. Accordingly, all of their meetings have been reported in one or both of the papers most widely circulated in the town. Three of the reviews which have been read before the circle this year have been printed, and an essay read at their recent Longfellow memorial also appeared. This “Memorial” was an unusually pleasant affair.——The circle atGouverneur, N. Y., is the outgrowth of Mr. Hurlbut’s teachings at Thousand Islands Park, one year ago last summer. It has been successful beyond the hope of its organizers. At present its membership is about twenty-five, and these are all hard workers. Some two hundred of the circle’s friends met with them on February 27th to celebrate the day. There was music, recitations in costume, and an essay on a splendid subject—“Acadia”—and finally, a pleasant hour of social life. This circle at Gouverneur has done great good in the community and the members seem to grow more enthusiastic the longer their connection with the circle lasts. Two features of their meetings which they find very interesting are the review contest and conversation on a certain given subject.——A flourishing C. L. S. C. exists atAmsterdam, N. Y.It is composed of forty members—double the number of last year. The circle recently celebrated Longfellow’s memorial day in a pleasant manner. The program consisted of an essay on the poet and his works; music, songs and readings, selected from Longfellow; “The Black Knight” and “Nun of Nidaros” were read and illustrated by tableaux. The program closed with a series of tableaux, taken from “Evangeline,” portions of which were read.——The “Courtship of Miles Standish” was dramatized for Longfellow’s day by the circle atJohnstown, N. Y., and with music and a few additional numbers, made a very interesting program. This is the first memorial day observed by the circle, and it brought together many old Chautauquans, who professed themselves highly pleased with the vigor of the circle. We hope that if any of these “old Chautauquans” are not lending to the vigor of the circle, they will hasten after this happy evening to renew their allegiance.——The program of a literary and musical entertainment given on this chosen day by the circle atEast Norwich, N. Y., has reached our table, in company with a genial letter about the C. L. S. C. life of that town. “We have been sarcastically spoken of,” our friend writes, “as thatgreatChautauqua Circle, and no doubt we have rather bored the people by our enthusiasm. Hawthorne compared religion to a painted window in a cathedral; seen from the outside it is not admirable, and one wonders that they can be so much praised; for it must be viewed from the inside to see its full beauty. The C. L. S. C., it seems to me, could be fittingly compared to the same thing. You see, I know, for it is not very long since I was outside myself. Our entertainment was a great success. We have considerable talent in our circle, both elocutionary and musical.”——Another delightful entertainment was the social given by the “Alyssum” to the “Argonaut” circle, ofBuffalo, N. Y.The program was brightened by an excellent variety of tableaux, refreshments were bountifully served, and the delighted guests departed after a hearty vote of appreciation of the pleasant evening with Longfellow.——The program carried out by the “Allegheny” circle ofPittsburghwas characteristic of the circle—that is, very good. This circle always does something good.——The “Pansy” circle, ofChester, Pa., observed the “Longfellow Memorial” in a very appropriate and spirited manner, by a program which included the singing of Chautauqua songs, sketches and recitations. A pretty feature was the reading of “The Nun of Nidaros,” with organ accompaniment and tableaux. The greater portion of “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” with numerous tableaux, was given. The evening’s program ended with choruses from the songs. This “Pansy” circle was organized last October and its membership is divided between “Pansies” and “Plymouth Rocks.”——Another Pennsylvania circle formed last fall is the “Longfellow,” ofPhiladelphia. The circle is made up of eight members. Their regular order of exercises is capitally arranged to cover all points of the readings. They invited the “Sappho” circle to join with them in commemorating Longfellow’s day, the members of both circles to take equal part in the entertainment. They spent such a very pleasant and profitable evening, that it has been decided to keep all the memorial days in the same manner.——In a recent letter from aWashington, D. C., friend, we find the following interesting points about one of the circles of that city: “The weekly meetings of ‘Parker C. L. S. C.’ during the past winter have been, for the most part, very interesting. The annual celebration of Longfellow’s day was no exception. An appropriate program was carried out, one of the best features of which was the account of the poet’s life. The whole time was divided into periods and assigned to different members. After the exercises, Mr. Lowe, Engineer U. S. N., at whose home the circle met, kindly gave a most interesting and instructive account of the Greely Relief Expedition, by previous request, he having been one of those brave rescuers. He was listened to with attention, and the scenes he pictured were rendered more vivid by the exhibition of various articles of fur clothing worn in that region, by photographs of the relief ships, natives, etc., and also by some of the identical food upon which Greely’s party were subsisting when found.”——The “Crescent” circle, organized atFremont, Ind., three years ago, would like to extend greeting to their many fellow students, and claim a place in the great family of workers who are reading the same books and thinking the same thoughts. The circle is not large, but has abundant hope and ambition to make the work enjoyable. Every meeting is a treat to them, they say. They, too, observed Longfellow’s day and carried out an excellent program, in which some of the “little folks” carried off high honors for their share in tableaux and charades.——AtHampshire, Ill., the most interesting memorial service of the year was that celebrated on Longfellow’s day. A large audience collected to listen to the exercises and went away seemingly well satisfied with the ability of Chautauquans to furnish an evening which should be both literary and social. This circle is doing good work in Hampshire. The members are more active than ever, and there is a prospect of an increase in numbers.——Another delightful parlor entertainment was that atElk Horn, Wisconsin. The circle, bubbling over with C. L. S. C. devotion, mingled an occasional purely Chautauqua subject with theLongfellowana, not at all to the detriment of the program, so we think. At the close of the literary exercises, the guests, numbering about forty, were invited to a lunch, in quality and quantity “fit for a king.” Then came the “good-nights,” and each guest left with the wish that C. L. S. C. might long continue to flourish, and that such evenings might be in the ascendant among the diversions of the town.——A dainty invitation has come to us to be present at the Longfellow memorial exercises and social reunion held March 2, at the Grand Avenue Congregational Church inMilwaukee, Wis.The program which accompanied it has an essay subject which we hope our friends will tuck away in their memories for next year’s use. It is “The Women of Longfellow’s Writings.”——A houseful of Chautauquans and their friends gathered on the evening of Longfellow’s day at one of the delightful homes ofMarshalltown, Iowa. The “Vincent” and “Alden” circles held a joint meeting which was a source of great pleasure to both the Chautauquans and guests present. The social notes of the local paper of Marshalltown contain a very complimentary reference to this pleasant affair.——Along with the notice of a Longfellow dinner given by the secretary of the circle atMaple Hill, Kansas, comes a sparkling letter of the birth and growth of that same circle. Perhaps it will be more suggestive than even the pleasant exercises of the dinner would be. Our correspondent writes:“It would be too long a story to tell of the first infection of the secretary of this circle by visiting aliveChautauquan in Topeka during the fall of 1883. Enough to say, she ‘caught’ the fever, as the diagnosis plainly showed. The first pronounced symptom, enthusiasm, was increased by the purchase of Pansy’s ‘Hall in the Grove,’ and finally culminated in the Chautauqua brain fever. She went home and showed a ‘method in her madness’ by inoculating her friends through the loan of that same ‘Hall in the Grove,’ and she was delighted to see the usual symptoms develop in due course of time. This same secretary was dubbed the ‘She-Talker’ by her friends, but all to no purpose, so far as discouragements go, for she had the satisfaction of forming a class in November of 1883, consisting of four members. Now be it known, Maple Hill is a sparsely settled farming town, made up mostly of large farms and ranches, and this makes it the more difficult to carry on such an enterprise. We, however, read on during the winter, but were disappointed when the fall of 1884 came round, to find that one of our most enthusiastic members had ‘taken a school’ some twelve miles away, and would have to read on alone, ‘probably,’ but before our first month had passed we had taken five new names, and had adopted two honorary members, who, although they were fully in sympathy with the movement, could not this year take up the regular line of work. So we number eight regular members, making a class of ten. It would make my letter too long to tell of all our work. Our readings have been not only profitable, but exceeding pleasant this ‘long and dreary winter,’ and this united class of ’87-88 extend the right hand of fellowship to their comrades all over our goodly land.”——AtChanute, Kansas, the memorial service was equally pleasant. The circle there is composed of seventeen members, and they all contributed their best to make the program bright and taking. The success which attended their efforts is peculiarly gratifying, when we remember that for all save one of the members this is the first year of C. L. S. C. work.——Longfellow’s day was appropriately observed atClinton, Missouri, by the “Excelsior” circle, with a program modeled on that published inThe Chautauquan. This circle, organized with four members, now numbers nineteen, all ladies. There is a growing interest in the work atClintonwhich insures future prosperity and increase of strength.——“Out among the Rockies,” atBoulder, Colorado, Longfellow’s day was appropriately observed by the circle. The meeting was made doubly pleasant by the fact that February 27th is the birthday of the hostess of the occasion.——“Central” circle ofSan Francisco, California, has never yet been reported toThe Chautauquan. It was organized in 1883, and reorganized in 1884, with a membership of twenty-three, fourteen of whom belong to the “Plymouth Rocks,” ’88. Their plan of work is to have a special leader for each study, and a paper or select reading has a place in nearly every program. Longfellow’s day was observed in a pleasing manner. In addition to a biography of the poet, each chapter of which was written by a different member, “The Bridge,” and “The Day is Done” were sung, and “The Builders” given as a recitation. At roll call responses were given from Longfellow’s most beautiful thoughts. A good degree of interest is manifested, and young and old find places in their ranks. Two of the members expect to graduate this year, but, writes one of them, “I shall be none the less a ‘Chautauquan,’ for that I intend to be through life.”
A large number of new circles are reported this month, with a few which, though organized for some time, have never be fore reported to us. AtAugusta, Maine, a circle of fourteen members was formed in October last. The circle has been so interesting that the numbers usually swell beyond the actual fourteen—a good sign of the manner in which the circle conducts its meetings. They have observed the memorial days, and send us an excellent program of the Longfellow exercises. One of the numbers on this occasion was an original poem—from the pen of a “Pansy,” we suspect—one stanza of which we quote: