The Story of Chautauqua Part 7

CHAPTER VIII

THE CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE

[Ill.u.s.tration: Flower Girls on Recognition Day]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Flower Girls of 1894

Elizabeth Vincent and Paul Harper leading]

THE "dream" of which Dr. Vincent gave a hint at the close of the 1877 a.s.sembly was destined to become a reality in 1878. That year marks a golden milestone in the history of Chautauqua, for then was launched _The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle_, that goodly vessel which has sailed around the world, has carried more than a half-million of pa.s.sengers, and has brought inspiration and intelligence to mult.i.tudes unnumbered. The conception arose in its author's mind from the consciousness of his own intellectual needs. He had longed, but vainly, for the privilege of higher education in the college, but in his youth there were no Boards of Education with endowments extending a helping hand to needy students. His school-days ended in the academy, but not his education, for he was to the end of his life a student, reading the best books, even when their subjects and style demanded a trained mind. As one who knew him well and for more than a generation, I may say without hesitation that John Heyl Vincent possessed more knowledge and richer culture than nine out of ten men holding a college diploma.

But his heart went out in sympathy toward others who like himself had missed the opportunity of dwelling in college-cloisters, toward workers on the farm, at the forge, in the store, in the office, in the kitchen, and in the factory, whose longings were like his own. Many of these would read good books and drink at "the Pierian Spring," if only they knew where to find the fountain--in other words, if some intelligent, well-read person would direct them, and place the best books in their way. Gradually it dawned upon his mind that everyone has some margin of time, at least half an hour among the twenty-four, which might be made useful under wise counsel to win knowledge. He had not heard of that sentence spoken by the great President of Harvard, that "ten minutes a day, for ten years of a life, with the right books, will give any one an education." Indeed, that wise utterance came after the Chautauqua Circle had been established and was already giving guidance to many thousand people.

The conception came to Dr. Vincent of a course of reading, which might become to the diligent a course of study, to include the princ.i.p.al subjects of a college curriculum, all in the English language, omitting the mathematical and technical departments of science; a course that would give to its careful reader, not the mental discipline of four years in college, but something of the college outlook upon life and letters. It was to embrace the histories of the great nations that shaped the world--Israel, Greece, Rome, Great Britain, and America,--with shorter sketches of other important lands; a view over the literature of the ages, not in the original Greek, Latin, or German, but as translated into our own tongue, presented in a manner to give general understanding to the many, and also to awaken the aspiring reader by pointing out the path to thorough knowledge. There are tens of thousands who have studied the Bible only in the English version, yet could pa.s.s a better examination upon its contents than many graduates of the theological seminary. One might read such an account of Homer's _Odyssey_, or Virgil's _aeneid_, or Dante's _Paradiso_, or Goethe's _Faust_, as would inspire him to seek and study a complete translation of these masterpieces. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, from the beginning one of the counselors of the Chautauqua Course, said that it gives to its students "the language of the time"; not a full detailed knowledge, but such a general view as enables him to understand allusions and references, to be at home with the thinkers and writers of the age.

The Chautauqua Circle was not planned for specialists, seeking full knowledge upon one subject, but for general readers. Before it was inaugurated there was already established in Boston the Society for the Encouragement of Home Study. The student who desired aid through this useful organization was expected to select some one department of knowledge, and then a list of books or articles would be sent to him, with suggestions, questions, and an examination. If historical, it would not be history in general, but the history of one country, or one period in its annals. It might be the American, or French, or English Revolution--very thorough, but only for one seeking special knowledge.

But the Chautauqua plan contemplated a general round of knowledge--history, literature, science, natural and social, art, and religion: and this broad conception was one great secret of its success.

A story which is typical was told the writer of this volume as an absolute fact by one who claimed to know the persons referred to. A young lady called upon her pastor with this request; "I wish that you would tell me of some good books to read. I'm tired of reading nothing but novels, and want to find some books that are worth while. Can't you give me the names of some such books?"

The minister thought a moment, and then said slowly, "Well, what kind of books do you want--religious books, for instance?"

"No," said the girl, "I do not know as I wish to read about religion. I get that in the church and the Sunday School. But there must be some good books of other kinds--can't you tell me of them?"

"What would you think of a course of reading in history?" asked the pastor. Her face brightened somewhat, and she answered, "Why, I think that I might like to read history. What would you recommend for me?"

The minister glanced at his own shelves, thought a moment, and then said, "Well, I can't all at once name a course on such an important subject as history. Come next Wednesday, and I'll have a list of good books for you."

She came, and he showed her a formidable catalogue of books, saying:

"I have done the best that I could do, but the list is longer than I had expected. It includes eighty volumes. I wrote down one hundred and twenty volumes at first, but cut it down to eighty, and it cannot be made shorter, not by a single volume. In fact, it is not as complete as it should be. You will begin with the greatest book of history in all literature--Gibbon's _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, in nine volumes!"

The young lady was appalled, and never went through the first chapter of Gibbon's mighty work. This was before the Chautauqua Home Reading Course was evolved. After that had been launched any intelligent minister, or helpful librarian, would simply have said to the enquirer, "Send for a circular of the C. L. S. C.; that will give you exactly what you need."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pioneer Hall: Cla.s.s of 1882. C. L. S. C.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Old College Building]

There comes to my own mind a vivid remembrance of that evening when for the first time I heard those magic words--"The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle." In the early spring of 1878, Dr. Vincent had just returned from an official visit to Europe, and I was no longer at Plainfield, five minutes' walk from his home, but by the revolution of the itinerant wheel a pastor, thirty miles distant. A message came asking me to spend an evening with him and talk over some new plans for Chautauqua. Of course, I obeyed the call, for I always gained more than I gave in any conversation with that fruitful mind. We sat in front of the fireplace in his study, and I listened while for an hour he talked of a new organization which he proposed to launch in the coming season, to be named _The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle_; with a course of study to be carried through four years, with forty minutes as each day's task, for nine or ten months of each year, in the various branches of knowledge, a.n.a.logous to the four years of college study. He was so full of his theme and so eloquent upon it that I could only listen to the outpouring utterances. The general purpose was clear before him, but not the details of its operation. Dr. Vincent's eyes were ever set upward toward the mountain-tops glorious in the sunlight, and he did not always think of the thickets to be cut and the path to be made from the lower plain to the summit. I could see some of the difficulties in the way, some obstacles that must be overcome, and sagely shook my head in doubt of the scheme. It was a radical departure from the earlier ideals, for thus far everything on the Chautauqua program had been along the line of Sunday School training, and this was a forsaking of the well-trodden path for a new world of secular education. Why try to rival the high schools and arouse the criticism of the colleges? How would the regular const.i.tuency of Chautauqua feel at this innovation? No doubt under the spell of his enthusiasm, some would join the proposed cla.s.s in literature and science--but how could science be studied by untrained people without laboratories, or apparatus, or teachers? And after the spell of the Chautauqua season would not the pledges be forgotten at home, and the numbers in the home cla.s.ses soon dwindle away to nothing?

Dr. Vincent asked me a question as we sat in the glow of the fireplace.

"How many do you think can be depended on to carry on such a course as is proposed?"

"Oh, perhaps a hundred!" I answered. "People who want to read will find books, and those who don't care for reading will soon tire of serious study."

The doctor sprang up from his chair and walked nervously across the room. "I tell you, Mr. Hurlbut, the time will come when you will see a thousand readers in the C. L. S. C."

I smiled, the smile of kindly unbelief! His impulse, his dream was n.o.ble, to be sure, but so utterly impracticable. I tell this little tale to show how far below the reality were the expectations of us both. Only a few years after this conversation the enrolled members of the C. L.

S. C. counted sixty thousand readers pursuing the course at one time, with probably as many more readers unregistered.

The opening evening of the a.s.sembly was held on Tuesday evening, August 6th. The vesper service beginning, "The Day goeth away, The Shadows of evening are stretched out, Praise waiteth for Thee, O G.o.d, in Zion,"

etc., was read responsively in the Auditorium between the Miller Cottage and the Vincent tent, then not far from the Point, when a sudden shower fell and a general rush was made to the new Pavilion in the ravine on the west. That was the last opening service attempted out-of-doors.

Since that evening, the Pavilion, soon to become the Amphitheater, has supplied the stage for the speakers, sedate or humorous, short or long,--some of them longer than the audience desired--on "Old First Night." A few lectures were given from time to time in the old Auditorium, but after the season of 1879 it was left for smaller meetings of couples in communion of soul on the seats here and there under the trees.

The inauguration of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle took place in the Pavilion on the afternoon of Sat.u.r.day, August 10, 1878. On the platform, then lower than most of the seats, were a telescope, a microscope, a globe, some scientific apparatus, and a table filled with books, giving a scholastic setting to the exercises. Dr. Vincent presided, and with him were Bishop Randolph S. Foster of Boston, Dr.

Henry W. Warren of Philadelphia, himself two years afterward to become a bishop, Professor William C. Wilkinson, whose pen in the following years wrote many books for the readers of the C. L. S. C., Professor James Strong of wide learning, and several other eminent men. The address of the day, unfolding the purpose and plan of the Circle, was given by Dr.

Vincent. Many of us who heard him on that afternoon have thought since that this was the masterpiece of his lifetime, and it might worthily be so, for it launched a movement in education, the most influential and wide-reaching of any in the annals of the nation.

I wish that it were possible to reprint that great address as reported in full in the _a.s.sembly Herald_, for never was the conception of Chautauqua at home for nine months of the year more clearly set forth, but a few quotations and outlines must suffice. He began by calling attention to four cla.s.ses of people. First, those who inherit from their ancestors wealth, ease, and large intellectual opportunities, who find college doors opening almost of their own accord before them. Second, there are those born under the necessity of daily toil. For these the education of the public school is provided; but it is limited and rarely appreciated. Children go to school to get knowledge enough for bread-winning and no more. Third, there are those who, born under necessity, struggle into opportunity, fight their way up into power, and make themselves the intellectual heroes of their time. Fourth, there are many born under necessity, who lack the vision at the beginning, who enter upon a life of trade or labor which may bring them success, but who gradually awake to realize how much they have lost, without realizing that it is never too late to gain culture and that education ends only with life. This is the cla.s.s in every community which our new organization aims to reach, to uplift, to inspire and stimulate. We propose to give to these people in every walk of life, both the rich, the middle cla.s.s, and the poor--all in one cla.s.s in their condition and their needs--the college student's outlook upon the world of thought, by short studies in literature and science, by the reading of books, by the preparation of synopses of books read, by written reports of books read, and by correspondence with experts in the several departments.

Here are some of the advantages of this organization: It will develop higher and n.o.bler tastes, increase mental power, exalt home-life, giving authority and home-help in public school studies and organizing homes into reading circles.

It will counteract the influence of our modern pernicious literature and sweeten and enrich the daily lives of poor and hard-working people. It will bring the more cultivated people into contact with the less scholarly, promote a true appreciation of science, and tend to increase the spiritual life and power of the church. All knowledge becomes glorified in the man whose heart is consecrated to G.o.d.

As I copy these words in the year 1920, more than forty years after they were spoken and printed, with each sentence there rise to my mind instances that have come to my own knowledge of every one of these prophecies fulfilled. Chautauqua through its home-reading course has accomplished far more than its founder even dreamed.

The speaker answered an objection to the plan of study based upon its superficiality.

Superficial it is, and so is any college course of study. The boy who stands at the close of his senior year, on Commencement Day, to receive his parchment and whatever honors belong to him, who does not feel that his whole course has been superficial, will not be likely to succeed in the after struggle of life. But superficiality is better than absolute ignorance. It is better for a man to take a general survey, to catch somewhere a point that arrests him; for the man who never takes a survey never catches the point in which dwell the possibilities of power for him. When you sow seed, it is not the weight of the seed put into the soil that tells, it is the weight of the harvest that comes after.

Here are some of the closing words of the address:

How glad I should be if I should find in the future years that more boys and girls are going to our high schools and universities because of the impulse received here at Chautauqua! And I say to you: with all your getting, get understanding.

Look through microscopes, but find G.o.d. Look through telescopes, but find G.o.d. Look for Him revealed in the throbbing life about you, in the palpitating stars above, in the marvelous records of the earth beneath you, and in your own souls.

Study the possibilities which G.o.d unfolds, and make of yourself all that you can. The harder the struggle, the brighter the crown. Have faith and holy purpose. Go on to _know_ and to _will_, to _do_ and _be_. When outward circ.u.mstances discourage, trample the circ.u.mstances under foot.

Be master of circ.u.mstances, like the king that G.o.d has called you to be. G.o.d give you such hearts, such toil, such triumphs, and give you such masterhood as shall one day place you among the kings and priests of a redeemed and purified universe!

After the applause following this address subsided, a poem was read, written for the occasion by the ever-ready Mary A. Lathbury. It pictured the modern Chautauqua as representing the old Jerusalem which pilgrims sought for worship and inspiration. We can only quote its final stanzas:

The Life of G.o.d is shining Upon her where she stands; And leaf by leaf unfolding Within her reverent hands, The earth and seas and heavens Disclose her secrets old, And every force of Nature Reveals its heart of gold!

Now knoweth she the answer That ends the schoolmen's strife,-- That knowledge bears no blossom Till quickened by the Life.

O holy, holy city!

The life of G.o.d with men!

Descending out of heaven To ne'er ascend again.

O Light, O Life immortal!

One sea above, below!

If unto us be given That blessed thing,--_to know_-- Hope's beatific vision, And Faith's prophetic sight Shall die before the fullness Of that unclouded Light.

After the reading of the poem, Dr. Vincent said, "In the preparation for this important occasion, I have consulted some of the most experienced and practical educators of the country, and from a number of distinguished gentlemen I have received letters relating to this movement."

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. L. S. C. Alumni Hall]

We can only quote a sentence or two from a few of these letters.

Dr. Lyman Abbott wrote: