FOOTNOTE:

Hear! Hear! Pioneers!Height to height, fight for right,Pioneers!Who are you? Who are you?We are the class of eighty-two!Pioneers—Ah!

No college class was ever graduated with half the state and splendor of ceremony that was observed on that first Recognition Day, in a ritual prepared by Dr. Vincent, and observed to the letter every year since 1882. He chose to call it not a Commencement, but a Recognition, the members of the Circle beingrecognizedon that day as having completed the course and entitled to membership in the Society of the Hall in the Grove, the Alumni Association of the C. L. S. C.

A procession was formed, its divisions meeting in different places. The graduating class met before the Golden Gate at St. Paul's Grove, a gate which is opened but once in the year and through which none may pass except those who have completed the course of reading and study of the C. L. S. C. Over the gate hung a silk flag which had been carried by the Rev. Albert D. Vail of New York to many of the famous places in the world ofliterature, art, and religion. It had been waved from the summit of the Great Pyramid, of Mount Sinai in the Desert, and Mount Tabor in the Holy Land. It had been laid in the Manger at Bethlehem, and in the traditional tomb of Jesus in Holy Sepulcher Church. It had fluttered upon the Sea of Galilee, upon Mount Lebanon, in the house where Paul was converted at Damascus, and under the dome of St. Sophia in Constantinople. It had been at the Acropolis and Mars' Hill in Athens, to Westminster Abbey, and to Shakespeare's tomb at Stratford, to the graves of Walter Scott and Robert Burns. Upon its stripes were inscribed the names of forty-eight places to which that flag had been carried. The class stood before the Golden Gate, still kept closed until the moment should come for it to be opened, and in two sections the members read a responsive service from the Bible, having wisdom and especially the highest wisdom of all, the knowledge of God, as its subject.

Lutheran HeadquartersLutheran Headquarters

United Presbyterian ChapelUnited Presbyterian Chapel

At the same time one section of the parade was meeting in Miller Park, in front of the Lewis Miller Cottage. Another was at the tent where lived Dr. Vincent, and still another division, the most interesting of all, on the hill, in front of the Children's Temple. This was an array of fifty little girls in white dresses, with wreaths in their hairand baskets of flowers in their hands. At the signal, the procession moved from its different stations, and marched past the Vincent Tent, led by the band and the flower girls, and including every department of Chautauqua, officials, trustees, schools, and Sunday School Normal Class. In the later years each class of graduates marched, led by its banner, the Class of 1882, the Pioneers, bearing in front their symbol, the hatchet. Before all was the great banner of the C. L. S. C. presented to the Circle by Miss Jennie Miller, Lewis Miller's eldest daughter, bearing upon one side a painting of the Hall of Philosophy and the three mottoes of the Circle; on the other a silk handkerchief which had accompanied the flag on its journey to the sacred places. The pole holding up the banner was surmounted by a fragment of Plymouth Rock.

The march was to the Hall of Philosophy, where the orator, officers, and guests occupied the platform, the little flower girls were grouped on opposite sides of the path from the Golden Gate up to the Hall; the graduating class still standing outside the entrance protected by the Guard of the Gate. A messenger came from the Gate to announce that the class was now prepared to enter, having fulfilled all of the conditions, and the order was given, "Let the Golden Gate now be opened."The portals were swung apart, and the class entered, passing under the historic flag and successively under four arches dedicated respectively to Faith, Science, Literature, and Art, while the little girls strewed flowers in their path. As they marched up the hill they were greeted by Miss Lathbury's song:

THE SONG OF TO-DAY

Sing pæans over the Past!We bury the dead years tenderly,To find them again in eternity,Safe in its circle vast.Sing pæans over the Past!Farewell, farewell to the Old!Beneath the arches, and one by one,From sun to shade, and from shade to sun,We pass, and the years are told.Farewell, farewell to the Old!Arise and possess the land!Not one shall fail in the march of life,Not one shall fail in the hour of strife,Who trusts in the Lord's right hand.Arise and possess the land!And hail, all hail to the New!The future lies like a world new-born,All steeped in sunshine and dews of morn,And arched with a cloudless blueAll hail, all hail to the New!All things, all things are yours!The spoil of nations, the arts sublimeThat arch the ages from oldest time,The word that for aye endures—All things, all things are yours!The Lord shall sever the sea,And open a way in the wildernessTo faith that follows, to feet that passForth into the great TO BEThe Lord shall sever the sea!

The inspiring music of this inspiring hymn was composed, like most of the best Chautauqua songs, by Prof. William F. Sherwin. The class entered, and while taking their seats were welcomed in the strains of another melody:

A song is thrilling through the trees,And vibrant through the air,Ten thousand hearts turn hitherward,And greet us from afar.And through the happy tide of songThat blends our hearts in one,The voices of the absent flowIn tender undertone.

Chorus

Then bear along, O wings of song,Our happy greeting glee,From center to the golden verge,Chautauqua to the sea.Fair Wisdom builds her temple here,Her seven-pillared dome;Toward all lands she spreads her hands,And greets her children home;Not all may gather at her shrineTo sing of victories won;Their names are graven on her walls—God bless them every one!Chorus.O happy circle, ever wideAnd wider be thy sweep,Till peace and knowledge fill the earthAs waters fill the deep;Till hearts and homes are touched to life,And happier heights are won;Till that fair day, clasp hands, and sayGod bless us, every one!Chorus.

Another responsive service followed, read in turn by the Superintendent and the class, and then Dr. Vincent gave the formal Recognition in words used at every similar service since that day:

Fellow-Students of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.Dearly Beloved:You have finished the appointed and accepted course of reading; you have been admitted to this sacred Grove; you have passed the arches dedicated to Faith, Science, Literature, and Art; you have entered in due form this Hall, the center of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. And now as Superintendent ofInstruction,[1]with these my associates, the counsellors of our Fraternity, I greet you; and hereby announce that you, and your brethren and sisters absent from us to-day, who have completed with you the prescribed course of reading, are accepted and approved graduates of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and that you are entitled to membership in the Society of the Hall in the Grove. "The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace."

Fellow-Students of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.

You have finished the appointed and accepted course of reading; you have been admitted to this sacred Grove; you have passed the arches dedicated to Faith, Science, Literature, and Art; you have entered in due form this Hall, the center of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. And now as Superintendent ofInstruction,[1]with these my associates, the counsellors of our Fraternity, I greet you; and hereby announce that you, and your brethren and sisters absent from us to-day, who have completed with you the prescribed course of reading, are accepted and approved graduates of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and that you are entitled to membership in the Society of the Hall in the Grove. "The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace."

After another song, the Marshal of the procession took charge, and the order of march was renewed, the newly graduated class in the rear, followed by the Superintendent, Counsellors, and officers. The company marched to the Amphitheater, on the way the procession dividing and forming on both sides of the street, while the officers and the graduating class passed through the open files, thus bringing the graduating class at the head of the line into the Amphitheater. Here more songs were sung and other responsive readings were rendered before an audience that thronged the building. The oration on the first graduation service was given by Dr. Henry W.Warren, who had been elevated to the episcopate two years before. After the oration a recess was taken, and in the afternoon the concluding service was held and the diplomas were conferred upon the eight hundred graduates present by the hand of Dr. Vincent.

In most college commencements that I have attended, the President takes the diplomas at random from a table and hands them to the class as they come, not giving to each graduate his own diploma, and afterward there is a general looking up one another and sorting out the diplomas until at last each one obtains his own. But Miss Kimball, the Secretary, devised a plan by which all the diplomas were numbered and each graduate was furnished with a card showing his number. These numbers were called out ten at a time, and each graduate was able to receive his own (mostlyherown) diploma, while the audience heard the name upon it and the number of seals it bore for special reading and study.

It should be mentioned that some members of the class arrived on the ground too late to pass with their classmates through the Golden Gate and under the arches. For their benefit the Gate was opened a second time before the afternoon meeting, and a special Recognition service was held,so that they might enjoy all the privileges of the class. This is another custom continued every year, for always it is needed.

After a year or two it entered the facetious minds of Mr. and Mrs. Beard to originate a comic travesty on the Recognition service, which was presented on the evening after the formal exercises, when everybody was weary and was ready to descend from the serious heights. This grew into quite an institution and was continued for a number of years—a sort of mock-commencement, making fun of the prominent figures and features of the day. Almost as large an audience was wont to assemble for this evening of mirth and jollity, as was seen at the stately service of the morning. This in turn had its day and finally grew into the Chautauqua Circus, an amateur performance which is still continued every year under one name or another.

We have given much space to the story of the first Recognition Day, as a sample of the similar services held every year afterward, growing with the growth of the C. L. S. C. But there were other events of '82 scarcely less noteworthy. On that year a great organ was installed in the Amphitheater, and its effect was soon seen in the enlargement of the choir and the improvement in themusic. We can mention only in the briefest manner some of the speakers on the platform for that year: such as Dr. W. T. Harris of Concord, Mass., afterward U. S. Commissioner of Education; Professor William H. Niles of Boston; Mr. Wallace Bruce; Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage; Dr. Wm. M. Blackburn of Cincinnati, the church historian; Dr. A. D. Vail of New York, who told in an interesting manner the story of the banner and the flag; Dr. Mark Hopkins, the great college President; Bishop R. S. Foster; Anthony Comstock and John B. Gough, with others equally distinguished whose names we must omit. One new name appeared upon the program of this season which will be read often in the coming years, that of Mr. Leon H. Vincent, the son of Rev. B. T. Vincent. He gave a course of lectures on English literature, mingling biographical, social, and critical views of the great writers, attracting large audiences. We shall find him among the leading lights of Chautauqua in the successive chapters of our story.

An institution which began that year and has been perpetuated must not be omitted—the Devotional Conference. Both of the Founders of Chautauqua were strong in their purpose to hold the Christian religion ever in the forefront at theAssembly. Various plans were tried during the early years, but none seemed to reach the constituency of Chautauqua until Dr. Benjamin M. Adams, at Dr. Vincent's request, began holding a daily service of an hour. This attracted a large attendance and was continued for a number of years, as long as Dr. Adams could conduct it. Afterward an arrangement was made which has become permanent. Every season a series of eminent clergymen are engaged, each to serve for one week as chaplain. He preaches the Sunday morning sermon in the Amphitheater, and on the following five days at ten o'clock conducts the Devotional Hour in the same place, giving a series of discourses, Bible readings, or addresses. The speaker of each week is a man of national or international fame. The greatest preachers in the American pulpit have spoken at this service, and the audience is surpassed in numbers only by the most popular lectures or concerts. Many there are who deem this the most precious hour in the day.

FOOTNOTE:[1]After Dr. Vincent's title was changed to "Chancellor of the Chautauqua University" that form was used; and in his absence the President said instead "as representing the Chancellor of the Chautauqua University."

[1]After Dr. Vincent's title was changed to "Chancellor of the Chautauqua University" that form was used; and in his absence the President said instead "as representing the Chancellor of the Chautauqua University."

Wemust hasten our steps through the passing years at Chautauqua. Our readers may take for granted that the regular departments were continued; that the Summer Schools were adding new courses and calling new professors; that the Normal Class for the training of Sunday School workers was still held, no longer in the section-tents nor in the Children's Temple, but under a large tent on an elevation where two years later was to stand the Normal Hall, built for the class, but after some years transferred first to the Musical Department, later to the Summer Schools and partitioned into class-rooms. The Children's Class was still held by Dr. B. T. Vincent and Professor Frank Beard, for our friend with the crayon was now in the faculty of the School of Art in Syracuse University.

In 1883 the session was forty-five days long, from July 14th to August 27th. A new feature ofthe program was an "Ideal Foreign Tour through Europe," with illustrated lectures on various cities by C. E. Bolton, and "Tourists' Conferences" conducted by his wife, the cultured Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton. Mrs. Emma P. Ewing of Chicago taught classes in the important art of cookery. Professor Charles J. Little gave a course of lectures. Hon. Albion W. Tourgee, residing at Mayville, who had achieved fame soon after the Civil War by his story,A Fool's Errand, gave lectures in the Amphitheater. Professor William C. Richards showed brilliant illustrations in physical science. Dr. P. S. Henson entertained while he instructed; President Julius H. Seelye, Dr. W. F. Mallalien, later a Bishop, President Joseph Cummings of Northwestern University, Hon. Will Cumback of Indiana, and many others, gave lectures.

A new instructor entered the School of Languages in 1883, in the person of William Rainey Harper, then Professor in the Baptist School of Theology at Morgan Park, Illinois, afterward to be the first President of the University of Chicago. No man ever lived who could inspire a class with the enthusiasm that he could awaken over the study of Hebrew, could lead his students so far in that language in a six weeks' course, or could impart such broad and sane views of the Biblicalliterature. From this year Dr. Harper was one of the leaders at Chautauqua, and soon was advanced to the principalship of the Summer Schools. In the after years, while Dr. Harper was President of the University of Chicago, and holding classes all the year, in summer as well as winter, he was wont to take the train every Friday afternoon, in order to spend Saturday and Sunday at Chautauqua. Chautauquans of those days will also remember the recitals by Professor Robert L. Cumnock of Northwestern University, a reader who was a scholar in the best literature.

The class of 1883, though not as large as its predecessor, the Pioneers, was graduated with the same ceremonies, the address on Recognition Day given by Dr. Lyman Abbott of New York, one of the Counsellors of the Circle. Five years had now passed since the inauguration of this movement, and from every quarter testimonials of its power and incidents showing its influence were received. Let me mention a few of these which came under my own notice.

I met a lady who mentioned that she and her husband were reading the course together and they found the only available hour between six and seven in the morning, before breakfast. For the study of the course they both had risen at half pastfive for a year or more. One result of this early morning reading was, she said, that at the breakfast table they told the children stories of history and science, which she thought turned their minds toward knowledge. Among the books was one on Human Physiology—a book, which, by the way, I did not rate very highly and objected to as being so elementary as to become almost juvenile; yet that book awakened such an interest that the lady began to read more widely and deeply on the subject, after a few months entered the Woman's Medical College in New York, during her course took several prizes, and graduated with high honors. It may have been that she foresaw what came, the failure of her husband's health, so that of necessity she became the bread-winner for her family. She was a successful physician, honored in the community, the Chautauqua Circle having opened to her wider opportunities of knowledge and usefulness.

Two college professors of high standing have told me that they were first awakened to a desire and determination for higher education through their early readings in the C. L. S. C.

One rather amusing yet suggestive incident came to my notice. Visiting a city in the Middle West, I met a lady who told me that she belonged to aclub of young people who met weekly in a card party. One member told the rest about the C. L. S. C. which she had joined and showed them the books, whereupon they all sent in their names as members, and the card club was transformed into a Chautauqua Reading Circle.

I was seated with Dr. Edward E. Hale at a C. L. S. C. banquet in New England, when he pointed out a middle-aged gentleman at the head of one of the tables and told me this story about him.

While a boy he came to his father and said, "I don't want to go to school any longer, I want to go to work and earn my own living, and there's a place in Boston that is open to me." "Well," said his father, "perhaps you would better take the place, I've noticed that you are not paying much attention to your studies of late. I'm very sorry for I have set my heart on giving you a good education. You don't know now, but you'll find out later that the difference between the man who gives orders and the man who takes them is that generally one of the two men knows more than the other, and knowledge brings a man up in the world." The boy went to Boston and took a job in a big store, and he found that he was taking a good many orders from those above him and giving none to others. He realized that for success in life he needed an education. Ashamed to give up and go home, he began to attend an evening school which some of us had established. There I met him and was able to give him some encouragement and some help. He became a well-readand, in the end, a successful business man. As soon as he heard of the Chautauqua Circle, he began to read its books and was made President of a local circle. That table is filled with the members of his circle and he sits at the head of it.

I wish that I could write down a story as it was told me by Dr. Duryea, at Chautauqua. It was of a man who sat at his table in the Hotel and was always in a hurry, never finishing his meals in his haste to get to lectures and classes. The Doctor got him to talking and he forgot to drink his coffee while telling his story. He said that he kept a country store in a village in Arkansas, where the young men used to come in the evenings and tell stories together. He felt that he was leading a rather narrow life and needed intelligence, but did not know where to obtain it. There were books enough in the world, but how could he choose the right ones? A newspaper fell under his notice containing some mention of the C. L. S. C.; he sent his fee to the office, obtained the books for the year, and began to read in the intervals of time between customers in his store. For retirement he fixed up a desk and shelf of books in the rear of the shop. Some of his evening callers said, "What have you got back there?" and he showed his books, telling them of the C. L. S. C. A numberof them at once decided to join, and soon he found himself the conductor of a Chautauqua Circle with twenty members. They fixed up a meeting place in a store-room in a garret under the eaves, talked over the topics, and read papers. When the text-book on electricity was before them, they made experiments with home-made batteries and ran wires all around the room. The man said, "Those fellows look to me to answer all sorts of questions, and I find that I am getting beyond my depth. I have come to Chautauqua to fill up and I'm doing it. But the difficulty is that too many things come at the same time; here's a lecture on American authors and one on biology, and one on history, all at once, and I never know which to attend. But Chautauqua is a great place, isn't it?"

A servant in a family, while waiting at the table, heard the lady and her daughters talking of the Circle which was being formed. The girl asked her mistress if she would be permitted to join. With some hesitation, the lady said, "Why, yes, if you really wish to read the books, you can be a member." This serving-maid soon showed herself as the brightest scholar in the group, far superior in her thirst for knowledge to her young mistresses. She was encouraged and aided to seek a highereducation, entered a Normal School, and became a successful teacher.

One letter received at the office contained, in brief, the following: "I am a working-man with six children and I work hard to keep them in school. Since I found out about your Circle, I have begun to read, getting up early in the morning to do it. I am trying hard to keep up, so that my boys will see what father does—just as an example to them."

A letter from a night watchman said, "I read as I come on my rounds to the lights, and think it over between times."

A steamboat captain on one of the western rivers wrote that he enjoyed reading the books and found the recollection of their contents a great benefit, "for when I stand on the deck at night I have something good to think about; and you know that when one has not taken care of his thoughts they will run away with him and he will think about things he ought not."

I was well acquainted with a gentleman and his wife, both of unspotted character, but unfortunately living apart from some incompatibility. He was accustomed to call upon her every fortnight, in a formal manner, professedly to meet their children, and on one of his visits he mentioned that he was beginning the C. L. S. C. readings. Shewas desirous of knowing what those letters meant; he explained and gave her a circular of information. She, too, joined the Circle, and next time at his call they spent an evening pleasantly discussing the subjects of reading that both were pursuing. From a fortnightly they dropped into a weekly interview, and after a time spent nearly all their evenings together. One day I met them together, and being aware of their former relations, I perhaps showed surprise. The husband took me aside and said that they were now living together very happily, thanks to the C. L. S. C. They had forgotten their differences in a common object of interest.

In the early years of the C. L. S. C. one book of the course was on the subject of practical Christianity. At one time, the religious book wasThe Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation, by Dr. Walker, a work widely read two generations ago and regarded as a standard. We received at the office a letter from a high-school teacher who said that he was an agnostic and did not wish to read such a book—could he not read some scientific work by Tyndall or Huxley in place of it? Miss Kimball referred his letter to me, and I took it to Dr. Vincent. He considered the question, and then wrote in substance this answer:

If you were a Unitarian, you could read a volume by James Martineau; if you were a Roman Catholic, you could read one of many good Catholic religious books; if you were a Jew you might take some book upon your own religion. But you call yourself an agnostic, that is, one who does not know God and has no religion, and therefore, to meet the requirements of your course it will be necessary for you to read some candid, sane work on the Christian religion; and such is Walker's "Plan of Salvation."

The letter closed with a friendly request that he would read the book without a strong prejudice against it, and some hearty sympathetic sentences which Dr. Vincent knew how to write. For a year we heard nothing of the man; we concluded that he had been offended at the requirement and had left the Circle. We were surprised when at last another letter came from him stating that he had read the book, at first unwillingly, but later with deep interest; also that association with believers in the Circle had shown them, not as he had supposed, narrow and bigoted, but broad in their views. He had seen in them a mystic something which he desired; he had sought and found it. "To-day," he wrote, "I have united with the Presbyterian Church, and this evening I led the Christian Endeavor meeting."

Dr. Hale told of a man who had been formerly apupil and youth in his church, who was suffering from nervous prostration, and lay down in a shack in an out-of-the-way place in Florida, almost ready to die. His eyes were drawn to the orange-colored cover of a magazine which he had never seen before,The Chautauquan. He opened it at random and began to read. "Are you a child of God? Are you a partaker of the divine nature? If you are, work with God! Don't give up working with God!" It seemed to him like a voice from heaven. On that moment he said to himself, "I will not die, but live!" He began to read the magazine and followed it by reading the books to which the magazine made reference. They opened before him a new field of thought and made of him a new man. He told this story to Dr. Hale in his own church and said: "I am here because of that orange-coveredChautauquanwhich I found lying under the bench in that old cabin."

It is possible, nay, it is certain, that the Chautauqua Circle, by being not a church society, but a secular organization permeated by the Christian spirit, has exercised an influence all the stronger to promote an intelligent, broad-minded Christianity.

South Ravine, Near Children's PlaygroundSouth Ravine,Near Children's PlaygroundMuscallongeMuscallongeBathhouse and Jacob Bolin GymnasiumBathhouse and Jacob Bolin Gymnasium

Everyone active in Chautauqua work through a series of years could narrate many stories like the above, and doubtless some more remarkable;but I have given only a few out of many that could be recalled out of an experience with the C. L. S. C. through more than forty years. As I have looked upon the representatives of the graduating class in the Hall of Philosophy, I have often wished that I might know some of the life-stories of those who, often through difficulties unknown, have carried the course through to completion.

An eminent minister wrote to me recently as follows:

At a place where I became pastor I found two sisters who were living in dark seclusion, brooding in melancholia as the effect of a great sorrow. They attended church, but took no part in our work, and none at all in society. I did my best to comfort those young women and bring them out of their monasticism. But it was all in vain. Their broken spirits revolted from a religion of happiness. A few years after my pastorate was ended there, and I was preaching elsewhere, I visited the town and was surprised to find both those women among the most active women in the church, happy, gifted, and universally esteemed. What had wrought the change? They chanced to hear of the Chautauqua Reading Course and sent for the books and magazines. They pursued the course, graduated, and visited Chautauqua. It awakened their entire being and brought them into a new world. They were literally born anew. I have witnessed wonderful changes in people, but never any that was more thorough, real, and permanent than in those young women.

Let us name also some of the leading events of the Assembly of 1884. As the organ of the C. Y. F. R. U. Dr. Flood establishedThe Youth's C. L. S. C. Paperfor boys and girls. It was an illustrated magazine, but only twelve numbers were published, as the field for periodical literature for young people was already well covered. "The Chautauqua Foreign Tour," a series of illustrated lectures on the British Isles, was conducted this year by Rev. Jesse Bowman Young, Professor H. H. Ragan, and Mr. George Makepeace Towle. Music was abundant and varied this season, the choir being led by Professors Sherwin and Case in turn; concerts by a remarkable quartet, the Meigs Sisters; the delightful singers of southern plantation and revival songs, the Tennesseans; the Yale College Glee Club; Miss Belle McClintock, Mrs. J. C. Hull, Mr. E. O. Excell, and Miss Tuthill, soloists. Dr. Charles J. Little gave a course of lectures on English literature; Dr. Henson, Miss Susan Hayes Ward, Dr. J. W. Butler of Mexico, and Dr. S. S. Smith of Minnesota were among the lecturers. We heard Ram Chandra Bose and Dennis Osborne of India, and Sau Aubrah of Burmah, a most interesting speaker on the customs of his country and his impressions of ours. Principal Fairbairn of Oxfordmade the history of philosophy interesting, and the Rev. A. J. Palmer of New York won instant fame by his great war lecture, "Company D, the Die-no-more's," given on Grand Army Day to a great concourse of old soldiers.

On Saturday, August 23d, a reception was given to the Governor of Pennsylvania, Hon. Robert E. Pattison. Friday, August 15th, was observed as the decennial anniversary of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. I find on the program of that year a series of colloquies named "The Socratic Academy," conducted by Dr. H. H. Moore. I know not what subjects they discussed, nor how they discussed them, but I remember Dr. Moore as one able to shed light on any subject that he chose to present. As I read the program of any one of those years at Chautauqua, I realize how utterly inadequate must be any sketch like the above to bring it before a reader.

By this time three classes of the C. L. S. C. had been graduated, '82, '83, and '84. Four more classes were pursuing the course, so that C. L. S. C. members present at Chautauqua might now be counted by the thousand. There was a strong class-spirit. Each class had its name, its motto, its badge, and its banner, and ribbon badges were fluttering everywhere. Every day came announcementsfrom the platform of class-meetings, and it was sometimes difficult to provide for them all. During the season of 1884 two classes united their interests, raised money, and purchased a small octagonal building near the Hall of Philosophy. These were the classes of '83 and '85. The movement for class headquarters was growing; all the other classes began the raising of building funds, and those who looked into the future saw all around St. Paul's Grove the prospect of small buildings rising. How would the grounds appear when forty classes should have little headquarters—a C. L. S. C. village? The plan began to be mooted of a Union Class Building, to be realized later.

Thetwelfth year of the Assembly, 1885, opened with a preliminary week, beginning July 7th, for the Teachers' Retreat and the School of Languages, and closed with "After-week," making the entire session fifty-three days long, ending on August 28th. But the official "opening" did not take place until the traditional date, Tuesday, August 7th. For years, indeed from the beginning, Dr. Vincent had set his heart on having a chime of bells at Chautauqua. The practically minded trustees urged for some needed improvement, and buildings for the growing schools, but the poetic conception carried the day, and in 1885 the Meneely chime of ten bells was heard at the opening in July. Some common souls in cottages around complained of their frequency, awaking folks early in the morning and breaking their naps in the afternoon, but to most their mellow music was a welcome sound.

It has always been the rule that quiet must reign on the grounds after the night bells at 10:00 P.M., and watchmen have been wont to knock at doors where the rule was honored in the breach instead of the observance. A parlor full of young people enjoying themselves does not always come to silence in a minute. I remember one house near the Point where dwelt an elderly lady with abundant gray hair but a young heart, and also with an attractive daughter. That home was exceedingly popular among the younger set, and their meetings—doubtless held for the discussion of serious subjects, for the voices were sometimes loud—were often prolonged beyond the time of the bells. One night an unusually imperative rap of the watchman's stick on the front door startled the group. The door was opened a little and the matron put forth her head with the words loudly spoken, "Shoot, if you must, this old gray head!" whereupon the watchman departed without a word.

In the revolution of the Chautauqua Circle, 1885 was known as the Roman year, having as its major subject Latin history and literature. The studies of the "Foreign Tour" in the Assembly program embraced lectures, with illustrations on Italian cities and scenery. Dr. Vincent's fertile mindconceived a plan to aid the students of the course, and incidentally to advertise it, by a series of object-lessons. He divided Pratt Avenue, the path leading up to the college on the hill, into sections corresponding by their relative lengths to the periods of Roman history, and erected at the proper points along the road, posts to commemorate the leading events, with dates and names of the great men of the several periods. These milestones were black, with inscriptions in white. As people passed by they would be reminded of the leading facts in the story of the Eternal City. Often might be seen members of the C. L. S. C., notebook in hand, storing their minds with the dates and events in the annals of Rome. The coal-black pillars had a somewhat sepulchral look and suggested a graveyard. One lady who was a stranger at Chautauqua, and evidently not a member of the C. L. S. C., asked Dr. R. S. Holmes, one of the leading workers, "Can you tell me why all these tombstones have been set up here. Surely all the men named on them cannot be buried along this street!" The question was also asked if it was proposed each year to set up a row of trophies on other streets for the American year, the English year, the Greek year, and by degrees to turn all Chautauqua into a memorial grove for greatmen and great deeds of all the ages; but at the close of the season the monuments were gathered up and carried away, leaving no successors.

The lecture platform of 1885 was as strong as ever. Dr. Charles F. Deems of New York delivered the baccalaureate sermon on Sunday, August 16th, an unique discourse on the short text, "One New Man" (Eph. 2:15), and the Recognition Address on the following Wednesday was by Dr. E. E. Hale of Boston. A special series of "Yale University Historical Lectures" was given by Professor Arthur M. Wheeler. Bishop Cyrus D. Foss of the Methodist Episcopal Church preached on Sunday, August 23d. Dr. John P. Newman delivered a lecture on August 25th in memory of President U. S. Grant, of whom he had been a friend and pastor. This year a young man made his first appearance upon the Chautauqua platform, not yet as a lecturer, but introducing speakers in felicitous sentences and presiding with the ease of an experienced chairman. This was Mr. George Edgar Vincent, just graduated from Yale University, from whom Chautauqua and the world in general was to hear before many years.

In 1885, the institution received a new charter from the Legislature of New York, giving it the name "Chautauqua University" and the powerto confer degrees. By vote of the Board, the title "Chancellor of the Chautauqua University" was given to Dr. Vincent. It was hoped to establish a college for study by correspondence, with reviews of the subjects taught in the summer meeting. But the expense of a professional staff was great and the number of students was not large enough to support it without an endowment. The Chautauqua University might have won a place in the world of education, if friends had been found to bestow upon it a liberal endowment, but among the varied gifts of Dr. Vincent was not that peculiar talent for raising money. The University did not prosper, and in 1898 the Trustees voluntarily surrendered to the Regents of the University of the State of New York the examination of candidates and the conferring of degrees. Again the title was changed and the University became "The Chautauqua System of Education."

The year 1886 ushered in some improvements. In place of the old wharf stood a new pier building, three stories high, with stores on the upper balcony, for the steamboat still brought most of the Chautauqua crowds and at their arrival a throng was always present to greet them. Above the building rose a tower, from which sounded forth over the lake and through the Grove the melodyof the Chautauqua chimes. On the hill was the new Jewett House, given by Mrs. A. H. Jewett as a home for self-supporting young women, teachers and others, while at Chautauqua.

The program of that year shows that a faculty of sixteen conducted the work in the Chautauqua Teachers' Retreat, and fifteen others gave courses in the School of Languages. Lessons in Harmony, Organ and Piano, Drawing and Painting were also added. The Chautauqua School of Physical Education was established under the direction of Dr. W. G. Anderson. All these were signs that the system of summer schools at Chautauqua was increasing its range of study, as well as growing in the number of its students.

One of the lecturers at this season was Professor Caleb T. Winchester of Wesleyan University. It was a privilege to listen to his scholarly yet delightful account of a ramble in the English lake country, with estimates of the literary lights who made that region famous. Dr. Wm. H. Milburn, the blind chaplain of the United States Senate, Dr. Russell H. Conwell, with his lecture of "Acres of Diamonds," Dr. Edward E. Hale and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore also gave lectures. Dr. Hale read his story,In His Name;and at the close of his reading came a general rush for hisautograph. I happened to be in charge of the platform, and tried to excuse the speaker from adding to his burdens, but he declared his willingness to meet the demands of the people and wrote in every album offered. In the crowd was a little girl, shabbily dressed, who had no album, but brought a scrap of brown paper which she had picked up. Dr. Hale looked at the torn fragment, then took the copy of his story from which he had been reading, wrote on its fly-leaf his name, and handed it to the little girl.

Athletic ClubAthletic Club

Boys' Club Headed for CampBoys' Club Headed for Camp

Two lecturers from the South attracted attention. One was the Rev. J. W. Lee, an able, broad-minded man; the other was the unique evangelist, Rev. Sam P. Jones, whose utterances were sometimes eloquent, sometimes jocose, sometimes shocking, but always interesting. Dr. Willis J. Beecher of the Auburn Theological Seminary, Dr. John Hall of New York, and President William F. Warren of Boston University were also among the speakers.

Readings were given by Will M. Carleton, George W. Cable, and General Lew Wallace, from their own writings. An immense crowd packed the Amphitheater to hear General Wallace read from hisBen Hurthe story of the Chariot Race. But candor compels us to say that it was not verythrillingly rendered. One who listened said, "He never got his horses off the walk." Other readers were George Riddle of Boston and Professor R. L. Cumnock of Northwestern University. This summer Mrs. Frank Beard collected and conducted an Oriental Exhibition.

Almost every year Frank Beard was at Chautauqua, teaching a class in art, making pictures in the children's class, giving one or two crayon lectures, and occasionally on Sunday evenings an illustrated Bible reading. As already intimated, that was the age when there was a craze for autographs, and everybody carried around an autograph album, seeking signatures from the celebrities. After a popular lecture a crowd hastened to the platform and a hundred hands, each holding an album, would be stretched out toward the speaker, demanding his autograph. Of course every child, and nearly every grown-up, must have Frank Beard's autograph, and with it a picture drawn by his hand. Frank said once in a religious meeting that his idea of heaven was a place where there were no autograph albums.

Every year at Chautauqua is held a National Army Day, when the Civil War veterans from near and far assemble, wear their G. A. R. uniforms and badges, and listen to an address in theAmphitheater. One year, I think it was 1886, but I am not sure, the orator was late in coming, and Mr. Beard, himself a veteran of the war, was called upon to fill the vacancy. He told the story of "The Chaplain's Leg," of which some incredulous people have doubted the authenticity. As I remember it was somewhat as follows. He would come forward, slapping his right leg, and saying:

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