The Story of Chautauqua Part 3

BUT let us come to the opening session of the a.s.sembly, destined to greater fortune and fame than even its founders at that time dreamed. It was named "The Sunday School Teachers' a.s.sembly," for the wider field of general education then lay only in the depths of one founder's mind. For the sake of history, let us name the officers of this first a.s.sembly.

They were as follows:

Chairman--Lewis Miller, Esq., of Akron, Ohio.

Department of Instruction--Rev. John H. Vincent, D.D., of New York.

Department of Entertainment--Rev. R. W. Scott, Mayville, N. Y.

Department of Supplies--J. E. Wesener, Esq., Akron, Ohio.

Department of Order--Rev. R. M. Warren, Fredonia, N. Y.

Department of Recreation--Rev. W. W. Wythe, M.D., Meadville, Pa.

Sanitary Department--J. C. Stubbs, M.D., Corry, Pa.

The property of the Camp Meeting a.s.sociation, leased for the season to the a.s.sembly, embraced less than one fourth of the present dimensions of Chautauqua, even without the golf course and other property outside the gates. East and west it extended as it does now from the Point and the Pier to the public highway. But on the north where Kellogg Memorial Hall now stands was the boundary indicated by the present Scott Avenue, though at that time unmarked. The site of Normal Hall and all north of it were outside the fence. And on the south its boundary was the winding way of Palestine Avenue. The ravine now covered by the Amphitheater was within the bounds, but the site of the Hotel Athenaeum was without the limit.

He who rambles around Chautauqua in our day sees a number of large, well-kept hotels, and many inns and "cottages" inviting the visitor to comfortable rooms and bountiful tables. But in those early days there was not one hotel or boarding-house at Fair Point. Tents could be rented, and a cottager might open a room for a guest, but it was forbidden to supply table board for pay. Everybody, except such as did their own cooking, ate their meals at the dining-hall, which was a long tabernacle of rough unpainted boards, with a leaky roof, and backless benches where the feeders sat around tables covered with oilcloth. And as for the meals--well, if there was high thinking at Chautauqua there was certainly plain living. Sometimes it rained, and D.D.'s, LL.D.'s, professors, and plain people held up umbrellas with one hand and tried to cut tough steaks with the other. But n.o.body complained at the fare, for the feast of reason and flow of soul made everybody forget burnt potatoes and hard bread.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Lewis Miller, Cottage and Tent]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bishop Vincent's Tent-Cottage]

What is now Miller Park, the level ground and lovely grove at the foot of the hill, was then the Auditorium, where stood a platform and desk sheltered from sun on some days and rain on others. Before it was an array of seats, lacking backs, instead of which the audience used their own backbones. Perhaps two thousand people could find sitting-room under the open sky, shaded by the n.o.ble trees. A sudden shower would shoot up a thousand umbrellas. One speaker said that happening to look up from his ma.n.u.script he perceived that an acre of toadstools had sprouted in a minute. At the lower end of this park stood the tent wherein Dr. Vincent dwelt during many seasons; at the upper end was the new cottage of the Miller family with a tent frame beside it for guests. At this Auditorium all the great lectures were given for the first four years of Chautauqua history, except when continued rain forbade. Then an adjournment, sometimes hasty, was made to a large tent up the hill, known as the Tabernacle.

One day, during the second season of the a.s.sembly in 1875, Professor William F. Sherwin, singer, chorus leader, Bible teacher, and wit of the first water, was conducting a meeting in the Auditorium. The weather had been uncertain, an "open and shut day," and people hardly knew whether to meet for Sherwin's service in the grove or in the tent on the hill.

Suddenly a tall form, well known at Chautauqua, came tearing down the hill and up the steps of the platform, breathless, wild-eyed, with mop of hair flying loose, bursting into the professor's address with the words, "Professor Sherwin, I come as a committee of fifty to invite you to bring your meeting up to the Tabernacle, safe from the weather, where a large crowd is gathered!" "Well," responded Sherwin, "you may be a committee of fifty, but you look like sixty!" And from that day ever after at Chautauqua a highly respected gentleman from Washington, D.C., was universally known as "the man who looks like sixty."

When we speak of Sherwin, inevitably we think of Frank Beard, the cartoonist, whose jokes were as original as his pictures. He would draw in presence of the audience a striking picture, seemingly serious, and then in a few quick strokes transform it into something absurdly funny.

For instance, his "Moses in the Bulrushes" was a beautiful baby surrounded by waving reeds. A sudden twist of the crayon, and lo, a wild bull was charging at the basket and its baby. This was "The Bull Rushes." Beard was as gifted with tongue as with pen, and in the comradeship of the Chautauqua platform he and Sherwin were continually hurling jokes at each other. Oftentimes the retort was so pat that one couldn't help an inward question whether the two jesters had not arranged it in advance.

Frank Beard used to hold a question drawer occasionally. There was a show of collecting questions from the audience, but those to be answered had been prepared by Mr. Beard and his equally witty wife, and written on paper easily recognized. One by one, these were taken out, read with great dignity, and answered in a manner that kept the crowd in a roar.

On one occasion Professor Sherwin was presiding at Mr. Beard's question drawer--for it was the rule that at every meeting there must be a chairman as well as the speaker. The question was drawn out, "Will Mr.

Beard please explain the difference between a natural consequence and a miracle?" Mr. Beard _did_ explain thus: "This difficult question can be answered by a very simple ill.u.s.tration. There is Professor Sherwin. If Professor Sherwin says to me, 'Mr. Beard, lend me five dollars,' and I should let him have it, that would be a _natural consequence_. If Professor Sherwin should ever pay it back, _that_ would be a miracle!"

It is needless to say that the opportunity soon arrived for Mr. Sherwin to repay Mr. Beard for full value of debt with abundant interest.

Mention has been made that at each address or public platform meeting a chairman must be in charge. In the old camp-meeting days all the ministers had been wont to sit on the platform behind the preacher; and some of them could not reconcile themselves to Dr. Vincent's rule that _only_ the chairman and the speaker of the hour should occupy "the preachers' stand." Notwithstanding repeated announcements, some clergymen continued to invade the platform. The head of the Department of Order once pointed to a well-known minister and said to the writer, "Four times I have told that man--and a good man he is--that he must not take a seat on the platform." Whoever casts his eyes on the platform of the Amphitheater may notice that before every public service, the janitor places just the number of chairs needed, and no more. This is one of the Chautauqua traditions, begun under the Vincent regime.

Before we come to the more serious side of our story let us notice another instance of the contrast between the camp meeting and Chautauqua. A widely known Methodist came, bringing with him a box of revival song-books, compiled by himself. He was a leader of a "praying band," and accustomed to hold meetings where the enthusiasm was pumped up to a high pitch. One Sunday at a certain hour he noticed that the Auditorium in the grove was unoccupied; and gathering a group of friends with warm hearts and strong voices, he mounted the platform and in stentorian tones began a song from his own book. The sound brought people from all the tents and cottages around, and soon his meeting was in full blast, with increasing numbers responding to his ardent appeals.

Word came to Dr. Vincent who speedily marched into the arena. He walked upon the platform, held up his hand in a gesture compelling silence, and calling upon the self-appointed leader by name, said:

"This meeting is not on the program, nor appointed by the authorities, and it cannot be held."

"What?" spoke up the praying-band commander. "Do you mean to say that we can't have a service of song and prayer on these grounds?"

"Yes," replied Dr. Vincent, "I do mean it. No meeting of any kind can be held without the order of the authorities. You should have come to me for permission to hold this service."

The man was highly offended, gathered up his books, and left the grounds on the next day. He would have departed at once, but it was Sunday, and the gates were closed. Let it be said, however, that six months later, when he had thought it over, he wrote to Dr. Vincent an ample apology for his conduct and said that he had not realized the difference between a camp meeting and a Sunday School a.s.sembly. He ended by an urgent request that Dr. Vincent should come to the camp ground at Round Lake, of which he was president, should organize and conduct an a.s.sembly to be an exact copy of Chautauqua in its program and speakers, with all the resources of Round Lake at his command. His invitation was accepted. In due time, with this man's loyal support, Dr. Vincent organized and set in motion the Round Lake a.s.sembly, upon the Chautauqua pattern, which continues to this day, true to the ideals of the founder.

One unique inst.i.tution on the Fair Point of those early days must not be omitted--the Park of Palestine. Following the suggestion of Dr.

Vincent's church lawn model of the Holy Land, Dr. Wythe of Meadville, an adept in other trades than physic and preaching, constructed just above the pier on the lake sh.o.r.e a park one hundred and twenty feet long, and seventy-five feet wide, shaped to represent in a general way the contour of the Holy Land. It was necessary to make the elevations six times greater than longitudinal measurements; and if one mountain is made six times as large as it should be, some other hills less prominent in the landscape or less important in the record must be omitted. The lake was taken to represent the Mediterranean Sea, and on the Sea-Coast Plain were located the cities of the Philistines, north of them Joppa and Caesarea, and far beyond them on the sh.o.r.e, Tyre and Sidon. The Mountain Region showed the famous places of Israelite history from Beersheba to Dan, with the sacred mountains Olivet and Zion, Ebal and Gerizim having Jacob's Well beside them, Gilboa with its memories of Gideon's victory and King Saul's defeat, the mountain on whose crown our Lord preached his sermon, and overtopping all, Hermon, where he was transfigured. From two springs flowed little rills to represent the sources of the River Jordan which wound its way down the valley, through the two lakes, Merom and the Sea of Galilee, ending its course in the Dead Sea. There were Jericho and the Brook Jabbok, the cl.u.s.tered towns around the Galilean Sea, and at the foot of Mount Hermon, Caesarea-Philippi. Across the Jordan rose the Eastern Tableland, with its mountains and valleys and brooks and cities even as far as Damascus.

As the a.s.sembly was an experiment, and might be transferred later to other parts of the country, the materials for this Palestine Park were somewhat temporary. The mountains were made of stumps, fragments of timber, filled in with sawdust from a Mayville mill, and covered with gra.s.sy sods. But the park constructed from makeshift materials proved one of the most attractive features of the encampment. Groups of Bible students might be seen walking over it, notebooks in their hands, studying the sacred places. A few would even pluck and preserve a spear of gra.s.s, carefully enshrining it in an envelope duly marked. A report went abroad, indeed, that soil from the Holy Land itself had been spread upon the park, const.i.tuting it a sort of Campo Santo, but this claim was never endorsed by either its architect or its originator. The park of Palestine still stands, having been rebuilt several times, enlarged to a length of 350 feet, and now, as I write, with another restoration promised.

One fact in this sacred geography must needs be stated, in the interests of exact truth. In order to make use of the lake sh.o.r.e, north had to be in the south, and east in the west. Chautauqua has always been under a despotic though paternal government, and its visitors easily accommodate themselves to its decrees. But the sun persists in its independence, rises over Chautauqua's Mediterranean Sea where it should set, and continues its sunset over the mountains of Gilead, where it should rise.

Dr. Vincent and Lewis Miller could bring to pa.s.s some remarkable, even seemingly impossible, achievements, but they were not able to outdo Joshua, and not only make the sun stand still, but set it moving in a direction opposite to its natural course.

In one of his inimitable speeches, Frank Beard said that Palestine Park had been made the model for all the beds on Fair Point. He slept, as he a.s.serted, on Palestine, with his head on Mount Hermon, his body sometimes in the Jordan valley, at other times on the mountains of Ephraim; and one night when it rained, he found his feet in the Dead Sea.

In the early days of Chautauqua a tree was standing near Palestine Park, which invited the attention of every child, and many grown folks. It was called "the spouting tree." Dr. Wythe found a tree with one branch bent over near the ground and hollow. He placed a water-pipe in the branch and sent a current of fresh water through it, so that the tree seemed to be pouring forth water. At all times a troop of children might be seen around it. At least one little girl made her father walk down every day to the wonder, to the neglect of other walks on the a.s.sembly ground.

Afterward at home from an extended tour, they asked her what was the most wonderful thing that she had seen in her journey. They expected her to say, "Niagara Falls," but without hesitation she answered, "The tree that spouted water at Chautauqua." The standards of greatness in the eyes of childhood differ from those of the grown-up folks.

The true Chautauqua, aided as it was by the features of mirth and entertainment and repartee, was in the daily program followed diligently by the a.s.sembled thousands. Here is in part the schedule, taken from the printed report. It was opened on Tuesday evening, August 4, 1874, in the out-of-doors auditorium, now Miller Park, beginning with a brief responsive service of Scripture and song, prepared by Dr. Vincent.

Chautauqua clings to ancient customs; and that same service, word for word, has been rendered every year on the first Tuesday evening in August, at what is known as "Old First Night."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Old Steamer "Jamestown"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Oriental House; Museum]

Bishop Vincent afterward wrote of that memorable first meeting:

The stars were out, and looked down through trembling leaves upon a goodly well-wrapped company, who sat in the grove, filled with wonder and hope. No electric light brought platform and people face to face that night. The old-fashioned pine fires on rude four-legged stands covered with earth, burned with unsteady, flickering flame, now and then breaking into brilliancy by the contact of a resinous stick of the rustic fireman, who knew how to snuff candles and how to turn light on the crowd of campers-out. The white tents around the enclosure were very beautiful in that evening light.

At this formal opening on August 4, 1874, brief addresses were given by Dr. Vincent and by a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Methodist, and a Congregational pastor. This opening showed the broad brotherhood which was to mark the history of Chautauqua.

On the next day, Wednesday, began what might be called the school sessions of the a.s.sembly. The fourteen days were divided into three terms. Every morning at 8 o'clock a brief service of prayer and Bible reading began the day in the auditorium, now Miller Park. At 8:15 during the first term, August 4th-9th, a conference was held of Normal Cla.s.s and Inst.i.tute conductors, at which reports were rendered of work done, courses of study, and methods of work, and results obtained. In those days when training cla.s.ses for Sunday School teachers were almost unknown, this series of conferences, attended by hundreds of workers, proved of infinite value, and set in motion cla.s.ses in many places. At 9 o'clock, section meetings were held for superintendents and pastors, and teachers of the different grades, from the primary cla.s.s to the adult Bible cla.s.s.

The Normal Cla.s.s held its sessions during the second term, from August 10th-13th, and the third term, August 14th-18th. Four cla.s.ses were held simultaneously in different tents, with teachers changed each day. At these cla.s.ses most of the lessons were on the Bible--its Evidences, Books and Authors, Geography, History, and Interpretation. The topics pertaining to the teacher and the cla.s.s were taken up in the different conferences. The Normal Cla.s.s was held to be the core and life of the a.s.sembly, and everybody was urged to attend its sessions. All whose names began with letters from A to G were to attend regularly Tent A.

Those with initials from H to M were to go to Tent B, and so on through the alphabet, to the four Normal Tents. But the students soon found their favorite teachers, would watch for them, and follow them into their different tents. There was another infraction of the program. The blackboard was a new feature in Sunday School work, and not enough blackboards of good quality had been secured. Some were too small, some were not black enough, and one was painted with the lines for music. It is reported that some of the teachers bribed the janitor to provide for their use the good boards. There is even the tale that a Sunday School leader was seen stealing a blackboard and replacing it in another's tent by an inferior one. We humbly trust that this report was false.

That the Normal Cla.s.s, the conferences, and the lectures on Sunday School work were taken seriously is shown by the report of the written examination, held on Monday, August 17th, the day before the a.s.sembly closed. More than two hundred people sat down in the Tabernacle on the hill, each furnished with fifty questions on the Bible and the Sunday School. Twenty or more dropped out, but at the end of the nearly five hours' wrestling one hundred and eighty-four papers were handed in.

Three of these were marked absolutely perfect, those of the Rev. C. P.

Hard, on his way to India as a missionary, Mr. Caleb Sadler of Iowa, and the Rev. Samuel McGerald of New York. Ninety-two were excellent, fifty more were pa.s.sed, making one hundred and forty-five accepted members of the Normal Alumni a.s.sociation; eighteen had their papers returned to be rewritten after further study, and the lowest fourteen were consigned to the wastebasket.

The _Western Christian Advocate_ gave a picture of the first normal examination at Chautauqua, which we republish.

The tent is a very large one, and was plentifully supplied with benches, chairs, camp-stools, etc.

The spectacle was very imposing. The ladies seemed a little in the majority. There were two girls under fifteen, and one boy in his fourteenth year.

Each was provided with paper, and each wore a more or less silent and thoughtful air. There was no shuffling, no listlessness, no whispering. The conductor, with a big stump for his table, occupied a somewhat central position, ready to respond to the call of any uplifted hand. We stood just back of Dr. Vincent, with the scene in full view. To our right, but a little on the outside of the tent, were Bishop Simpson and Dr. Thomas M.

Eddy, who remained only a few minutes, as the latter was compelled to take the ten o'clock train for New York. On the same side, and a little nearer to us, were groups of visitors, mostly from the country adjacent, who gazed in rapt astonishment at the sight before them, not daring to inquire the meaning of all this mute array of paper and pencil. A little to our left was a lawyer of large experience and almost national fame, who had removed his hat, collar, coat and cuffs; just by his side was an ex-State senator; and a little further on was a boy from Iowa. He had improvised for his table a small round log, and had gathered together for the better resting of his knees, a good-sized pile of dry beech-leaves. This lad, we learned, had been studying the Normal course during the last year; and we further discovered that he succeeded in answering accurately all but ten or twelve of the fifty questions, one of the to him insoluble and incomprehensible being, "What is the relation of the church to the Sunday School?" Nearly in front of the conductor were two veteran spectacled sisters, who at no time whispered to each other, but kept up a strong thinking and a frequent use of the pencil. Near these sat a mother and daughter from Evanston, Illinois, silent and confident. On the outer row of seats we observed three doctors of divinity, a theological student, the president of an Ohio college, a gentleman connected with the internal revenue, and a lady princ.i.p.al of a young ladies' seminary, all with their thinking-caps admirably adjusted.

At the end of an hour and forty minutes a New York brother, who had been especially active in sectional work, held up his hand in token of success, and his paper was pa.s.sed up to Dr.

Vincent. Shortly afterward another made a similar signal; but nearly all occupied over three hours in the work. Over one half attained to seventy-five or eighty per cent.

Let it be remembered that no matter how long the student was compelled to remain, even long past the dinner hour, he was not permitted to take a recess for his midday meal. He must stay to the end, or give up his examination.

The report of the a.s.sembly shows twenty-two lectures on Sunday School work, theory, and practice; sectional meetings--nine primary, six intermediate, one senior, five of pastors and superintendents, eight normal cla.s.s and inst.i.tute conductors' conferences; six Normal Cla.s.ses in each of the four tents--twenty-four in all; three teachers' meetings for preparation of the Sunday School lesson; four Bible readings; three praise services; two children's meetings; and six sermons. All the leading Protestant churches were represented; and twenty-five States in the Union, besides Ontario, Montreal, Nova Scotia, Ireland, Scotland, and India. Among the preachers we find the names of Dr. H. Clay Trumbull, editor of the _Sunday School Times_, John B. Gough, Bishops Simpson and Janes, Dr. James M. Buckley, Dr. Charles F. Deems, Dr. T.

DeWitt Talmage, and four ministers who later became bishops in the Methodist Episcopal Church:--Drs. H. W. Warren, J. F. Hurst, E. O.