The Story of Chautauqua Part 10

One event of 1879 not to be pa.s.sed over was the dedication of the Hall of Philosophy in St. Paul's Grove. Dr. Vincent suggested the plan of the building, to be set apart for the uses of the C. L. S. C. and the interests of general culture. As everybody who has been to Chautauqua knows, it was in the form of a Greek temple, an open building surrounded by plain columns, which may have resembled marble, but were made of wood. The dedication was held on August 5th, and addresses were given by Dr. Vincent, Rev. W. O. Simpson, and Dr. Ellinwood. There are thousands of Chautauquans, some of them dwelling in distant lands, who are ready to declare that in all the week, the most precious hour was that of the five o'clock Vesper Service on Sunday afternoon, when the long rays of the setting sun fell upon the a.s.semblage, as they sang "Day is dying in the West," and they united in that prayer of Thomas a Kempis, beginning, "In all things, O my soul, thou shalt rest in the Lord always, for He is the everlasting rest of the saints."

In the fall and winter of 1891 this writer was the traveling companion of Bishop Vincent in Europe. Every Sunday afternoon at five o'clock, whether on the Atlantic, or in London, Lucerne, Florence, or Naples, we brought out our copies of the vesper service and read it together, feeling that in spirit we were within the columns of that Hall in the Grove.

This year, 1879, the second year of the C. L. S. C., brought to its Founder a problem which threatened the ruin of the circle, but in its happy solution proved to be a powerful element in its success. This was to be the Roman Year of the course, and in the original conception the Pioneer Cla.s.s of 1882 would take up Roman history, while the new cla.s.s of 1883 would begin as its predecessor had begun, with English history.

If this plan had been carried out, as announced in the early circulars for that year's study, then in every church and community two cla.s.ses must be organized and conducted with different readings. Another year would require three circles, and still another four circles. Could members and leaders be found for four separate clubs in one locality?

Would not the circle break up into fragments from the weight of the machinery needed to keep the wheel in motion? Just then came the suggestion--made by President Lewis Miller, as Dr. Vincent told me at the time--that _both_ the cla.s.ses should read the books together, making the same course the second year for the Pioneers, and the first year's reading of "the Vincents," as the members of '83 named themselves. In a college there is a progression of studies, for one science must follow another; but in the Chautauqua Circle, it makes no difference whether the reader begins with the history of Greece or of Rome, or of England, or of America. New members can enter any year and read with those already reading. The Circle is a railroad train on a track with four stations. You can board the train in England, America, or Greece or Rome, and when you have gone the round and reached the station where you began, you have completed the course and receive your certificate ornamented with all the seals that you have won by additional reading and study. The present four-year cycle of the C. L. S. C. consists of the English, American, Cla.s.sical, and Modern European years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Baptist Headquarters and Mission House]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Presbyterian Headquarters and Mission House]

One more event of 1879 must not be forgotten. The Park of Palestine had fallen into decrepitude. Some of its mountains had sunk down, and the course of the River Jordan had become clogged up, so there was danger of a lake at a spot where none was on the map, and of a dry bed below, long after the Israelites had finished their crossing. Moreover, some mischievous boys had mixed up its geography by moving a few of the cities. Bethel was found where Kirjath-jearim should be; Joppa had been swept by the ice in the breaking up of winter into the Mediterranean Sea, and Megiddo was missing. The task of reconstructing the Park was given to Dr. W. H. Perrine of Michigan, a scholar and an artist, who had traveled in the Holy Land, had painted a panorama of it, and had constructed a model in plaster. He rebuilt the Park from more permanent materials, and succeeded in making it more accurate in some details, as well as more presentable in appearance. But man-made mountains are by no means "the ever-lasting hills," and the Park of Palestine needs to be made over at least once in ten years if it is to be kept worthy of Chautauqua.

CHAPTER XI

HOTELS, HEADQUARTERS, AND HAND-SHAKING (1880)

THE seventh session of the a.s.sembly opened in 1880 with another addition to the Chautauqua territory. Fifty acres along the Lake sh.o.r.e had been acquired, and the a.s.sembly-ground was now three times as large as that of the old Fair Point Camp Meeting.

This season saw also the foundation laid for a large hotel. It is worthy of record that the Hotel Athenaeum was built not by the a.s.sembly Board, but by a stock company of people friendly to the movement and willing to risk considerable capital in its establishment. More than one promising a.s.sembly had already been wrecked and many more were destined to bankruptcy by building large hotels before they were a.s.sured of guests to fill them. It must be kept in mind that everywhere the Chautauqua const.i.tuency was not, and is not now, the wealthy cla.s.s who frequent summer hotels and are willing to pay high prices for their entertainment. A Chautauqua a.s.sembly, whether in the east or the west, is mainly composed of people possessing only moderate means, but eager for intellectual culture. Whenever a Chautauqua has been established in connection with the conventional summer hotel, either it has become bankrupt from lack of patronage, or the hotel has swallowed up the a.s.sembly. The Hotel Athenaeum at Chautauqua was not the property of the a.s.sembly, and might have failed--as many, perhaps most, of the summer hotels at watering-places have failed once or more than once in their history--without endangering the a.s.sembly itself. The men who built the Athenaeum, led by Lewis Miller and his business partners, risked their money, and might have lost it, for there were seasons when it paid no dividends to the stockholders, and other seasons when the profits were small. Yet this hotel drew by degrees an increasing number of visitors who were able and willing to enjoy its advantages over those of the earlier cottage boarding houses, and it led to better accommodations and a more liberal table in the cottages, until now the Hotel Athenaeum is only one of a number of really good houses of entertainment at Chautauqua. It is given prominence in our story because it was first in its field. By the way, the name "Hotel Athenaeum" was given by Dr.

Vincent, who liked to impart a cla.s.sical tone to buildings in an educational inst.i.tution.

The building was begun in 1880 and opened in the following year, though even then not fully completed. It occupied the site of a three-story edifice bearing the high-sounding name "Palace Hotel," a structure of tent-cloth over a wooden frame, divided by muslin part.i.tions, and three stories in height. When rooms for the ever-increasing mult.i.tudes at Chautauqua were few, the Palace Hotel was a blessing to many visitors.

Some distinguished men slept in those tented rooms, and inasmuch as a sheet part.i.tion is not entirely sound-proof, their snores at night could be heard almost as far as their speeches by day. Some there were in the early eighties who shook their heads as the walls of the new hotel rose, and dreaded the tide of worldliness which would follow; but the Hotel Athenaeum has become a genuine helper to the Chautauqua spirit, for its great parlor has opened its doors to many receptions, and the witty after-dinner speeches at banquets in its dining-hall would fill more than one volume.

Another building which deserves mention is the Congregational House, opened in 1880; the first church headquarters established at Chautauqua. We have seen how the denominations were recognized from the earliest years, and meeting places provided for their prayer meetings and conferences. The need was felt by a number of the larger churches of a place where their members could find a welcome on arrival, could form an acquaintance with fellow-members, could meet each other in social gatherings and prayer meetings, and could promote the fraternal spirit.

The example of the Congregationalists was soon followed. The Presbyterian headquarters, aided by a liberal donation of Mr. Elliott F.

Shepard of New York, was the earliest brick building on the ground, solid and substantial, befitting the church which it represented. After a few years its size was doubled to make a Mission House, where missionaries of that church, home and foreign, could enjoy a vacation at Chautauqua. The Methodist House is one of the largest, for its chapel is the home of the Community Church at Chautauqua through the entire year, the church home of the resident population of every denomination. The Disciples of Christ, or Christian Church, purchased a large boarding-house, built before it a pillared porch, giving it a n.o.ble frontage and furnishing rooms for guests in the upper stories. The United Presbyterians built a chapel, serving also as a social room. The Protestant Episcopalians also erected a chapel consecrated to worship, but later established also a Church Home. The Unitarians purchased and improved a property fronting on St. Paul's Grove. The Baptists built a large headquarters on Clark Avenue, the street extending from the Amphitheater to the Hall of Philosophy, and the Lutherans obtained a large building near it. In all these Denominational Houses there is an absence of clannish feeling. No church uses its headquarters as a propaganda of its peculiar views; and in the receptions fellow Christians of every branch are always welcome. When some eminent man comes to Chautauqua, his church holds a reception in his honor, and everybody who would like to take his hand flocks to the meeting at his church headquarters. Speaking of receptions, I must tell of one wherein I was supposed to take a leading part, but found myself left in the rear. Dr. Vincent announced that at four o'clock, in the Hall of Philosophy, a reception would be given to Dr. Edward Everett Hale. He said to me:

Now, Dr. Hurlbut, I place this reception in your hands to manage. Dr. Hale comes from Boston and is accustomed to the formalities of the best society.

Be sure to have this reception held in the proper manner. Let the Doctor stand in front of the platform, have ushers ready to introduce the people, and let there be no indiscriminate handshaking.

I promised to see that everything should be done decently and in order, and a few minutes before the hour appointed, walked over to the Hall. I was amazed to see a crowd of people, all pressing toward the center, where the tall form of Dr. Hale loomed above the throng, shaking hands apparently in every direction. I rushed upon the scene and vainly endeavored to bring about some semblance of order. The reception was a tumultuous, almost a rough-and-tumble, affair, everybody reaching out for the guest in his own way. It came about in this manner, as I learned.

Everybody at Chautauqua knows that the bell invariably rings five minutes before the hour, giving notice that the exercises may begin promptly on the stroke of the clock. But Dr. Hale did not know this, and when the five-minute bell rang, he rose and said:

"The time for the meeting has come, but n.o.body seems to be in charge.

Let us begin the reception ourselves without waiting."

He stood up, and began shaking hands right and left, without waiting for introduction, and when the four o'clock bell sounded, the reception was in full sweep, everybody crowding around at once and grasping his hand.

Before the first throng had satisfied its desires, another stream poured in and the general tumult continued until the five o'clock hour compelled an adjournment, the Hall being required for another meeting.

At the close, Dr. Hale remarked to me, "I especially like the informality of such gatherings here at Chautauqua. This has been one of the most satisfactory receptions that I have ever attended!"

Chautauqua was already coming to the front as a convention-city. Its central location between New York and Chicago, with ready transportation north and south, its Amphitheater for great meetings, with numerous halls and tents for smaller gatherings and committees, the constant improvement in its lodging and commissary departments, its attractive program of lectures and entertainments, and not the least, its romantic out-of-door life, began to draw to the ground different organizations.

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, led by Frances E. Willard, returned to its birthplace for its sixth annual convention, and the National Educational a.s.sociation brought members from every State, presided over by Dr. J. Ormond Wilson. This a.s.sociation embraced educators of widely diverging views, and some entertaining sc.r.a.ps occurred in its discussions. For example, the kindergarten instruction at Chautauqua was under the direction of Madame Kraus-Boelte, and her husband, a learned but rather obstinate German, Professor Kraus. There was an Americanized kindergarten, whose representative came, hired a cottage, and hung out her sign, but much to her displeasure was not allowed to conduct cla.s.ses. It would never answer to let anybody hold cla.s.ses unauthorized by the management, for who could tell what educational heresies might enter through the gate? But this aggressive lady paid her fee, joined the N. E. A., and in the kindergarten section proceeded to exploit her "improvements" upon the Froebel system. This aroused the ire of Professor Kraus, and in vigorous language he interrupted her address, declaring, at first in English, then half in German as his anger rose:

"Dat iss not kindergarten! Dere is but one kindergarten! You can call dat whatever you please, but not kindergarten! You can call it joss-house, if you choose, but you must not say dat mix-up is a kindergarten!"

The audience enjoyed the discussion all the more because of this scramble between opposing schools.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Methodist Headquarters]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Disciples (Christian Church) Headquarters]

There was another, and more dignified, controversy on the Chautauqua platform in 1880. On its program was the honored name of Washington Gladden, of Columbus, Ohio, to speak upon the Standard Oil Company and its misdeeds. A friend of Dr. Vincent, who was an officer of the Standard Oil, said that it would only be fair to hear the other side, and proposed Mr. George Gunton of New York as a speaker. So it came to pa.s.s that two able men spoke on opposite sides of the mooted question.

Each gave an address and afterward had an opportunity of answering the other's arguments. So far as I know, this was the first debate on public questions at Chautauqua, and it was succeeded by many others. An effort is made to have the burning questions of the time discussed by representative speakers. Some exceedingly radical utterances on capital and labor have been made on the Chautauqua platform, but it must not be inferred, because the audience listened to them respectfully, or even applauded a particularly sharp sentence, that Chautauqua was in accord with the speaker's sentiments.

On the list of speakers at this season may be read the following, a few among many names: Prof. J. H. Gilmore of Rochester University gave a series of brilliant lectures upon English literature. Ram Chandra Bose of India gave several lectures, philosophic and popular. Dr.

Sheldon Jackson of Alaska thrilled a great audience with an appeal for that outlying but unknown land of ours. Schuyler Colfax, Vice-President of Grant's first administration, gave a great lecture on "Abraham Lincoln." Professor Borden P. Bowne of Boston University made the deep things of philosophy plain even to unphilosophic listeners. Other orators in the new Amphitheater were Dr. Robert R. Meredith of Boston, Dr. J. O. Means of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and Dr. W. W. Keen of Philadelphia. The Fisk Jubilee Singers made their first visit this year; and with the Northwestern Band and the a.s.sembly Chorus, already counted by the hundreds, under Professors Sherwin and Case, made music one of the most popular features of the program.

This year was also notable for the first appearance of the _Chautauquan Magazine_, containing a part of the required readings of the C. L. S. C.

It was launched and made successful by the financial, business, and editorial ability of Dr. Flood, who ventured his capital boldly and won deserved success. The ever-welcome "Pansy," Mrs. G. R. Alden, this season read a new story, published soon afterward. With Mrs. Alden in those early years was a serious small boy, ever at his mother's side, rarely entering into the sports of childhood. If we could have looked forward a quarter-century, we might have seen in him the coming Professor Raymond M. Alden of the Leland Stanford faculty, one of the most eminent scholars and critics in the Department of English Literature, and an authority quoted in all lands where the English language is spoken or read.

A visitor came to Chautauqua at the session of 1880, whose presence brought the place and the a.s.sembly into notice throughout the nation.

General James A. Garfield was at that time the candidate of his party for President of the United States. He came to Chautauqua on Sat.u.r.day, August 7th, for a week-end rest in a strenuous campaign, expressing a wish not to be called upon for any public address or reception. He worshiped with the great congregation on Sunday morning, his entrance with a group of his friends being received in respectful silence. In the afternoon he mentioned to Dr. Vincent that he had heard of Palestine Park and would like to visit it. As the lectures in the Park were generally given by me, I was detailed to walk through the model and point out its localities. As we went out of Dr. Vincent's tent a small company was standing around, waiting for a sight of the candidate. They followed us, and as we walked on toward the Park, people came flocking forth from every house and tent. By the time we reached the Land of Palestine, it was well-nigh covered with the crowds, extending from Dan to Beersheba. No former Palestine lecture of mine had ever drawn together such a mult.i.tude! It became impossible to find the cities covered by the mult.i.tudes. But I was somewhat surprised to perceive that the General knew where at least the important localities belonged even though they were not visible. He pointed out half a dozen of the cities named in the Bible, and gave their names without hesitation or suggestion. We desired to make a sort of pilgrimage through the land, but found an army obstructing our journey.

On the next morning, as General Garfield was about to leave, Dr. Vincent asked him, not to make a political speech, but to give in a few words his impressions of Chautauqua. He consented, and standing upon a stump, in the presence of a hastily a.s.sembled gathering, gave a ten-minute address, of which the following is a part.

You are struggling with one of the two great problems of civilization. The first one is a very old struggle: It is, how shall we get any leisure? That is the problem of every hammer stroke, of every blow that labor has struck since the foundation of the world. The fight for bread is the first great primal fight, and it is so absorbing a struggle that until one conquers it somewhat he can have no leisure whatever. So that we may divide the whole struggle of the human race into two chapters; first, the fight to get leisure; and then the second fight of civilization--what shall we do with our leisure when we get it? And I take it that Chautauqua has a.s.sailed the second problem. Now, leisure is a dreadfully bad thing unless it is well used. A man with a fortune ready made and with leisure on his hands, is likely to get sick of the world, sick of himself, tired of life, and become a useless, wasted man. What shall you do with your leisure? I understand Chautauqua is trying to answer that question and to open out fields of thought, to open out energies, a largeness of mind, a culture in the better senses, with the varnish scratched off. We are getting over the process of painting our native woods and varnishing them. We are getting down to the real grain, and finding whatever is best in it and truest in it. And if Chautauqua is helping garnish our people with the native stuff that is in them, rather than with the paint and varnish and gew-gaws of culture, they are doing well.

As we looked upon that stately figure, the form of one born to command, and listened to that mellow, ringing voice, no one dreamed that within a year that frame would be laid low, that voice hushed, and that life fraught with such promise ended by an a.s.sa.s.sin's bullet!

The a.s.sembly of 1880 came to its close on August 19th, after a session of thirty-eight days. Although the C. L. S. C. had come to the foreground and held the center of the stage, the normal work and Bible study had not been neglected. The teacher-training cla.s.ses were now under the charge of Dr. Richard S. Holmes and Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. The Children's Cla.s.s was maintained with a daily attendance approaching three hundred, the lessons taught by Rev. B. T. Vincent and pictures drawn by Frank Beard; also Mr. Vincent conducted an Intermediate Cla.s.s in Bible Study. In all these cla.s.ses for older and younger students, more than two hundred and fifty pa.s.sed the examination and were enrolled as graduates.

On the last evening of the a.s.sembly, after the closing exercises, there was seen a weird, ghostly procession, in white raiment, emerging from the Ark and parading solemnly through the grounds, pausing before the Miller Cottage and the Vincent Tent for a mournful, melancholy musical strain. This was the "ghost walk" of the guests in the Ark. Some eminent Doctors of Divinity and Ph.D.'s were in that sheeted procession, led by Professors Sherwin and Case, engineered, as such functions were apt to be, by Frank and Helen Beard. The ghost walk grew into an annual march, until it was succeeded by a more elaborate performance, of which the story will be told later.

CHAPTER XII

DEMOCRACY AND ARISTOCRACY AT CHAUTAUQUA (1881)

THE eighth session opened on Thursday, July 7th, and continued forty-seven days to August 22d. A glance over the program shows that among the lecturers of that year was Signor Alessandro Gavazzi, the founder of the Free Italian Church, whose lectures, spiced with his quaint accent, and emphasized by expressive shoulders, head, glance of eye, held the interest of his auditors from the opening sentence to the end. No verbal report, however accurate, can portray the charm of this wonderful Italian. Professor W. D. McClintock of the University of Chicago, gave a course on literature, a.n.a.lytic, critical, and suggestive. Dr. William Hayes Ward, Dr. Daniel A. Goodsell, afterward a Methodist Bishop, Professor Charles F. Richardson, Dr. Edward Everett Hale, Dr. A. E. Dunning, Editor of _The Congregationalist_; General O.

O. Howard, who told war stories in a simple, charming manner; Dr.

Philip Schaff, one of the most learned yet most simple-hearted scholars of the age; Dr. A. A. Willetts, with his many times repeated, yet always welcome lecture on "Sunshine," were among the men whose voices filled the Amphitheater during the season. The Fisk Jubilee Singers were with us again and Signor Giuseppe Vitale made the birds sing through his wonderful violin.

The success of the C. L. S. C., which was widening its area every month, inspired Dr. Vincent to look for new fields to conquer. He established this year the C. Y. F. R. U., initials standing for The Chautauqua Young Folks Reading Union, which proposed to do for the boys and girls what the Reading Circle was accomplishing for men and women. But it was found after a few years of trial that the school-age seeks its own reading and is not responsive to direction in literature on a vast scale, for the C.

Y. F. R. U. was not successful in winning the young readers.

Another scheme launched this year met with the same fate;--The Chautauqua School of Theology. It was thought that many ministers who had not received a theological education would avail themselves of an opportunity to obtain it while in the pastorate. This was to be not a course of reading, but of close study, under qualified instruction in each department, with examinations, a diploma, and a degree. But it required more thorough study and much larger fees than a mere course of reading, and those who needed it most were often the poorest paid in their profession. It did not receive the support needful for its success, it had no endowment, and after an experiment extending through a number of years, it was reluctantly abandoned. Some of us have believed that if the Chautauqua Correspondence School of Theology could have found friends to give it even a moderate endowment, it might have supplied an education needed by a mult.i.tude of ministers.