Chautauqua

“ If I understand Chautauqua, this is what it means: It finds its value in the vitality of its students. . . . It summons those who are alive with true human hunger to come and learn of that great world of knowledge of which he who knows the most knows such a very little, and feels more and more, with every increase of his knowledge, how very little it is that he knows. ”

“ We will not accept the votes of the [viii] thousands who beside the lake, in the Hall of Philosophy, or under the roof of the amphitheater, have been inoculated with the Chautauqua spirit. We will seek for the testimony of sane, intelligent, and thoughtful people, and we will be guided in our conclusions by their opinions. Let us listen to the words of the wise and then determine whether a book about Chautauqua should be published. We have the utterances by word of mouth and the written statements of public men, governors, senators, presidents; of educators, professors, and college presidents ”

“ 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 melody [229] of 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. ”

“ In 1898 Professor George E. Vincent was formally appointed Principal of Instruction, and very soon every department of Chautauqua, both in its lecture platform and its educational [273] work, felt the touch of a master hand. Some of us oldsters who had loved Chautauqua from its earliest years, had felt anxious for its future as we saw one of its Founders called aside into other fields, and the other failing in strength, although we knew not how near was his earthly end. ”

“ Every idea which becomes a force in the world has its primal origin in a living man or woman. It drops as a seed into one mind, grows up to fruitage, and from one man is disseminated to a multitude. The Chautauqua Idea became incarnate in two men, John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller, and by their coördinated plans and labors made itself a mighty power. ”

“ They are forty thousand strong. A mystic circle binds them round, and every link within the golden chain is set with pearls. O, for some mystic tongue of fire, that I might the better speak the glories of our chosen muse! The world-renowned ‘Chautauqua’ may not sparkle o’er our heads as a constellation in the skies, but if true Chautauquans we prove ourselves to be, we shall far outshine the stars in the kingdom of his love forever and forevermore. ”

“ It dropped him down through the years at Chautauqua assemblies in almost half of the States of this Union. On Tuesday morning, August 3, 1875, I left the train at Jamestown, rode across the city, and embarked in a steamer for a voyage up the lake. As we slowly wound our way through the Outlet—it was on the old steamer Jamestown which was never an ocean-greyhound—I felt like an explorer in some unknown river. Over the old pier at Fair Point was the sign, "National S. S. Assembly," and beneath it I stepped ashore on what seemed almost a holy ground, for my first walk was through Palestine Park. ”

“ I must say Chautauqua will bear off the palm for getting together a most respectable-looking, well-behaved 'rabble!' That is what I overheard a sour-looking old gentleman, who doesn't approve of having a president—or of letting him come to a religious meeting, I don't know which—say would rush in to-day. It certainly is a remarkably orderly 'rush.' Girls, look at Dr. Vincent! I declare, Chautauqua has paid, just to watch him! He ought to be the president himself. ”

“ Here great political and social and economic problems have been discussed by those who by knowledge and experience are able to speak with authority. Chautauqua, the place, has been beautified and equipped with every convenience for community life. It has been a paradise for little children, has offered every opportunity for wholesome recreation, has given the best of music, literature, poetry and art freely to those who enjoy them. ”

“ Thus the redskin, the voyageur, and the redcoat in turn dipped their paddles into the placid waters of Lake Chautauqua. They all passed away, and the American frontiersman took their place; he too was followed by the farmer and the vinedresser. In the last half of the nineteenth century a thriving town, Mayville, was growing at the northern end of the lake; the city of Jamestown was rising at the end of the Outlet; while here and there along the shores were villages and hamlets; roads, such as they were before the automobile compelled their improvement, threaded the forests and fields. ”

“ For Chautauqua is growing! And its career is onward, and upward, and outward! It has planted itself in hundreds of cities and villages throughout the land, and in some other lands, and in thousands of social circles it has shown an influence and potency that is not only wholesome, but inspiring and wonderful. Well may the class of 1885 sing in behalf of the whole fraternity:
“No pent-up Utica contracts our powers ”

“ The Lake Bluff Assembly never drew a large patronage, as no Chautauqua Assembly ever has which depended upon a great city whose inhabitants can hear the famous preachers and orators. The successful Assemblies have been located in fairly large towns, with villages and small cities surrounding, near enough to reach the Assembly, but so distant that to enjoy its benefits the visitors must stay more than one day. The support of a Chautauqua Assembly of the higher grade comes not mainly from the one-day excursionists, but from those who plan to enter the classes and remain at least a fortnight. ”

“ Vincent's proposal had been accepted, and the first Sunday School Assembly had been held in a city and a church? Surely the word "Chautauqua" would never have appeared as the name of a new and mighty movement in education. Moreover, it is almost certain that the movement itself would never have arisen to prominence and to power. It is a noteworthy fact that no Chautauqua Assembly has ever succeeded, though often attempted, in or near a large city. ”

“ 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. ”

“ To this end, all uplifting and stimulating forces, whether secular or religious, are made to conspire in their impact upon the person whose weal is sought. . . . Can we wonder that Chautauqua is a sacred and blessed name to multitudes of Americans?
The late Principal A. M. Fairbairn, of Mansfield College, Oxford, foremost among the thinkers of the last generation, gave many lectures at Chautauqua, and expressed himself thus:
The C. L. S. C. movement seems to me the most admirable and efficient organization for the direction of reading, and in the best sense for popular instruction. ”

“ The keynote of the year, and indeed of Chautauqua through all its history, was expressed in President George E. Vincent's utterance in his annual report—that Chautauqua must "be kept in close and sympathetic connection with the great currents of national life. It must be a center from which the larger and more significant movements may gain strength and intelligent support." The season this year opened on Friday, July 2d, with a lecture by President Vincent on "Vocation and Culture." ”

“ We should have to secure reduced rates. They always do on Chautauqua Lake.”
“Oh! as to that,” said the wind, “I and the birds would do the transportation free of charge, and the brook would do all it could, I’m sure.”
“Of course, of course,” babbled the brook.
“That is very kind of you indeed,” said Bachelor. “But I should think that the earliest possible beginning that we could hope to have would be next spring.”
After much impatient arguing on the part of the buttercups and daisies, it was finally agreed that the [30] first meeting of their Chautauqua should be held the following spring. ”

“ One office in Chicago, the Redpath Bureau, is said to conduct three thousand Chautauqua assemblies every year, others have charge of a thousand apiece, while there are lesser chains of fifty, twenty-five or a dozen assemblies. I have been officially informed that in the year 1919, ten thousand chain Chautauquas were held in the United States and Canada. They are to be found everywhere, but their most popular field is in the Middle West, where "the Chautauqua" is expected every year by the farming communities. ”

“ At eleven all Chautauqua gathered in the Amphitheatre in a union service that recognized no one creed but laid stress on the beauty and harmony common to all beliefs.
The coming week was that of the special celebration of the founding of Chautauqua Institution forty years before, so it was fitting that Bishop Vincent should preach from the platform which owed its existence to the God-given idea of service which he had brought into being. The ideal church and the ideal Christian were his themes. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ When we realize that Chautauqua is a city of frame-buildings, packed closely together on narrow streets, in the early years having exceedingly [245] inadequate protection against fires, we almost wonder that it has never been overswept by a conflagration. From time to time there have been fires, most of them a benefit in clearing away old shacks of the camp-meeting strata; and one took place on a night during the season of 1889. It swept away a row of small houses along the southwestern border of Miller Park, toward the Land of Palestine. ”

“ She turned to the Chautauqua as she had turned to the dramatic association, to the library-board.
Besides the permanent Mother Chautauqua, in New York, there are, all over these States, commercial Chautauqua companies which send out to every smallest town troupes of lecturers and “entertainers” to give a week of culture under canvas. Living in Minneapolis, Carol had never encountered the ambulant Chautauqua, and the announcement of its coming to Gopher Prairie gave her hope that others might be doing the vague things which she had attempted. ”

“ Although Chautauqua Lake is on the direct line of travel east and west, between New York and Chicago, and north and south between Buffalo and Pittsburgh, Fair Point, the seat of the Assembly, was not a railroad station. Luggage could be checked only to Jamestown, Lakewood, or Mayville, and thence must be sent by boat. ”

“ One point in New York State stands out in particular as the ideal place for this Congress to gather, namely Chautauqua, the home of the great Chautauqua Institution, on the shores of beautiful Chautauqua Lake. At this point, in a little city in the woods, are ample accommodations both for meeting places, exhibits, and housing for a gathering of five thousand people. ”

“ The Chautauqua movement as conceived by its leaders is a great movement for cultivating an avocation apart from the main business of life, not only giving larger vision, better intellectual training, but giving more earnest desire and greater ability to serve and grow through the vocation.
This from Dr. William T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education:
Think of one hundred thousand persons of mature age following up a well-selected course of reading for four years in science and literature, kindling their torches at a central flame! ”

“ We look, beyond the face of friends,
To mark the coming of the Dove.
Descend upon us as we wait
With open heart—with open Word;
Breathe on us, mystic Paraclete
Breathe on us, Spirit of the Lord!
Another song of the second Assembly, and sung through the years since at the services of the Chautauqua Circle, was written and set to music by Miss Lucy J. Rider of Chicago, afterward Mrs. Lucy Rider Meyer, one of the founders of the Deaconess movement in the Methodist Episcopal Church. ”

“ This time it was remarkable for its number of old people, for it seemed as if everybody who ever had been at Chautauqua made a point of returning to join in the celebration of the Fortieth Anniversary.
The service arranged by Bishop Vincent for the opening night was used for the forty-first time, and tears ran down the cheeks of old men and women who recalled the passing of the intervening years and gave their memento of esteem to the Chautauquans of bygone days when they joined the rest of [146] the huge audience in lifting their handkerchiefs in a drooping salute to the dead. ”