Part 19

A glance at the list of the Chautauqua text books, as they are found in the advertising pages of THE CHAUTAUQUAN, will suggest somewhat the extent and character of this feature. It will be seen that this literature is being published and sold by some of the best publishing houses in the country, and that writers and authors of high reputation have given their talent to meet this want. Let even the disinterested reader examine this list. They are _sui generis_. Wide in their range as the scope of the C. L. S. C. course, simple and attractive in the manner of treating the various subjects, yet philosophical and thorough in the best sense. They are the books that thousands, scattered here and there, thirsting for knowledge, have felt the need of without knowing they were attainable, and which were unattainable till this demand became focalized by the organization of the C. L. S. C. This new literature is therefore filling a wider sphere than the organization which called it into existence. Upon the table of many a professional man, and in many a home where there is not a desire to pursue a full course of study, these books find their way, by reason of the very peculiarities aimed at in their preparation. We do not speak here of the effect that such books is destined to exercise upon the writers of text-books for the schools and academies and colleges, nor of the quickening effect upon publishers to furnish a wide and varied range of books on all these and other subjects to meet the increased demand arising from mental appetites awakened by this course, nor do we venture to prophesy the dimensions to which this literary influence will grow. Mr. Bayard Taylor says that the literary bloom of the eighteenth century in Germany was largely indebted to the popular guilds of the “mastersingers” of preceding centuries. A great popular educational movement like the C. L. S. C. cannot fail to have a large influence on the popular literature of the future.

The Prospect for a Revival of Spiritual Religion.

There is evidently great need of a revival of spiritual religion in all the churches of the land. The fact that most of the great Christian bodies are increasing very slowly in membership, and that some of them, according to their own statistics for the past year, have suffered an actual loss, is evidence that the Church at large is not blessed with the vitality and spiritual power she ought to have. Another significant fact is, that the non-church-going element in both city and country is rapidly on the increase, so that it is estimated that from one-fourth to one-half of the population of the country, seldom, if ever, attend religious services. Indeed we are personally acquainted in communities, and that outside of cities, too, in which the steady church-going element does not comprise more than one-eighth of the population. In view of these things we are led to inquire what are the prospects for the much-needed revival of spiritual religion.

All revivals are necessarily of divine origin, but are dependent on human agency to make them operative among men. The Church is the agency through which divine influences have always been manifested to the world. A revival has never been known to begin outside the Church. The reformation began with Luther, a member of the Romanish Church. The great modern revival movement called Methodism began with Wesley, a member of the Episcopal Church. Concerning the Holy Spirit, there can be no doubt but he is always ready to do his work. The question then is this: Is the Church in condition to secure the spirit in awakening and converting power. This question must be answered in many instances in the negative and for the following reasons:

We must admit that a spirit of worldliness pervades the Church to an alarming degree. In the mad chase after material things that characterizes our age, Christians are seemingly as eager in pursuit of temporal things for temporal ends as are those who make no pretensions to a religious life. The love of money, which is the “root of all evil,” is productive of covetousness, which, like a deadly dry-rot, is destructive of spirituality, eliminates spiritual longings from the soul, and renders the man gross and groveling. In part as a result of this world-spirit developed in the Church, there has been engendered a lamentable indifference to vital piety. The religious forms remain, but the warmth, the glow, the fervor and the power of religion are often sadly wanting. In fact, modern culture too often frowns on fervency either in the pew or pulpit; and too often the sermon, instead of being a powerful appeal to the hearts and consciences of men, and awakening dead souls from the sleep of sin, is only a moral or æsthetic essay or oration, of the conventional half-hour pattern, and deals mainly in glittering generalities. The discussion in the pulpit, in the right spirit, of the justice of God, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, eternal punishment, human redemption by Jesus Christ, and kindred themes, will arouse men to duty, but these themes are by some thought to be unpopular. Consequently the thunders of Sinai are hushed and men are soothed by a sort of emasculated gospel into carnal security, both concerning themselves and their fellow-men, and make but little effort to raise themselves or others to a higher spiritual life.

The increasing secularization of the Sabbath is another great hindrance to a revival of spiritual religion. The sanctity of this day is essential to the spirituality of the Church, and whatever interferes with the proper religious observance of the day tends to destroy vital religion among the people.

In spite of these unfavorable symptoms which are manifest at present in the body of believers, we do not despair of the ultimate success of the Church in accomplishing her mission. There are many sincere, efficient and godly workers in the ranks of all denominations who are earnestly longing and laboring for the salvation of the world, but we fear for the present, at least, that their efforts are being neutralized by the worldliness, indifference, lukewarmness and formalism which characterize a large portion of the Church, so that the near future will not witness a grand revival of spiritual religion. We would be most heartily glad, however, if our forebodings should prove ill-founded, and if there should come upon the Universal Church a divine baptism which would consume all the dross of sin and make her more successful in winning souls.

Success of the Natural Method in Language at Chautauqua.

The natural method has been for several years past on trial, and has achieved a marked success. It has been practically demonstrated that in a very short time persons can be taught to speak French or German, or indeed any language for which there is a competent living teacher. The modern languages have been most successful because it is not easy to find those sufficiently familiar with the ancient ones to give to their pupils the necessary practice in them. Yet, even Greek and Latin have been taught to be spoken in this way. In the modern languages, however, but a few weeks have been needed to enable persons to speak them fluently and understand them well when spoken. From the beginning the scholar is taught to speak in the simple way in which the mother-tongue is taught in childhood. With the very first lesson single words at the beginning and then some simple phrases are mastered. These are increased with each succeeding lesson, and soon the pupil finds that he has quite a store of the words and phrases most commonly in use. By frequent practice these are retained, and others being daily added, at the end of six weeks, or thereabouts, of constant study, any ordinary conversation can be carried on with a facility which astonishes those accustomed only to the slow and tedious processes of the older methods.

It has been fortunate for the Chautauqua Assembly that teachers have taught here from the beginning who have been thoroughly devoted to this method of instruction. Hence the success of the schools, which have already attained to very large numbers, and have secured enthusiastic interest in all those who have attended them. Though the number of last year exceeded that of any that preceded it, it was but an earnest of what is yet to come. Any prediction of the future outcome of these schools, which would be recognized as at all moderate by others, would fall far short of what is confidently expected of them by those familiar with this natural method of instruction, and with the success with which it has met in the Chautauqua schools.

William Penn and His Policy.

The recent celebration of the bi-centennial of the landing of William Penn on this continent has once more attracted public attention to the founder of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Penn was a prominent personage during his lifetime and figured largely both in England and this country. His character was an odd mixture of fanaticism and moderation, and in his public career he managed to so blend Quaker simplicity and worldly wisdom that he was a great light in his sect and at the same time was possessed of great influence in court circles, especially during the reign of James II.

He received his patent for the territory now forming the State which bears his name from the crown, in payment of a debt of £16,000 due to his father, who had been an admiral in the English navy during the reign of Charles II. When he came to this country in 1682 to take possession of his grant, he did not endeavor to drive out by force the Indian tribes which occupied it, but formed a treaty of peace and friendship with them on such terms that the land made over to him by the crown was ceded to him and his colonies by the consent of the aboriginal inhabitants. In all his relations with the Indians he treated them with such justice and benevolence that his colonies were never molested by them, but enjoyed uninterrupted peace and prosperity. Of this treaty made by Penn with the Indians Voltaire said that it was “the only treaty never sworn to and never broken.”

Penn’s treatment of the Indians was as anomalous as it was wise and statesmanlike. Had a similar policy characterized the leaders and members of other colonies this country would have been spared many scenes of horror and years of bloodshed, and the story of the red men’s wrongs would never have disgraced its records. Penn’s course in this matter was all the more remarkable in that it was utterly foreign to the spirit of the age in which he lived. War was the trade of kings and their representatives. Its rude alarms were preferred to the “piping sounds of peace,” and the sword was deemed a more honorable emblem than the olive branch. Penn showed his greatness by rising completely above the spirit and temper of his times in the policy he pursued in relation to the Indians.

The world has grown wiser with the flight of time, and now, after the lapse of two centuries, the peace policy which Penn adopted in his treatment of the Indians is becoming more and more the policy of the nations toward one another. War has been found to be the most costly and cruel method of settling national difficulties. Besides causing the slaughter of millions of men, it has been the means of loading the states of Europe, as well as our own country, with burdensome debts which the coming generations of peace-loving men must pay. As the world becomes more thoroughly civilized and Christianized war will be looked upon as a relic of barbarism, and will be shunned as a horrid crime. National differences will be settled by arbitration and mutual concessions instead of by an appeal to arms, and the prophetic declaration that men “shall beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks” will be fulfilled in spirit if not in letter.

PERICLES.—A sonnet by the Rev. Theodore C. Pease:

His grave, impassive face was stern and cold; Upon his brow majestic calmness sate; The fine curve of his lips, as firm as fate, Of deep resolve and fast persuasion told. No features his of coarse or common mold, But first of men in the world’s foremost state, Even at her highest,—he among the great, Excelled by brow and breast the men of old, And unto us who, through the sight of years, See men like shadows move along the dim Horizon’s verge, high o’er them all appears, Clearer than all beside, the shape of him Who gave his name to Athens’ noblest age, Whose life gave history her brightest page.

EDITOR’S NOTE-BOOK.

Hail the night, all hail the morn, When the Prince of Peace was born; When amid the wakeful fold, Tidings good the angel told. Now our solemn chant we raise Duly to the Savior’s praise; Now with carol hymns we bless Christ the Lord, our righteousness. —_From the German._

General Neal Dow, the famous Prohibition leader, is now about seventy-eight years old, but he is so well preserved that he does not look to be more than sixty. He is of medium height, rather stout, and wears heavy side whiskers, which, like his hair, are silvered with age.

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The _London Echo_, which has been a most active sympathizer with Arabi Pasha, suggests the following lines as applicable to him:

Rebel or Patriot? Well, heads or tails! Define the terms, and this is how it reads: A Rebel is—a Patriot who fails; A Patriot is—a Rebel who succeeds.

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C. L. S. C. students will find the following item of special interest in connection with this year’s course of study: Of all Scandinavian men of letters, none, perhaps, commands a wider, deeper influence than Dr. Gorg Brandes, whose name has become familiar in many lands by his personal association with leading thinkers and writers in England, France, and Germany, his manful contests with ecclesiastical prejudices, and his persistent efforts to introduce modern ideas into the hide-bound universities of the North. Ten years ago, after a determined struggle, he obtained the nomination to the chair of Literature in the University of Copenhagen, but was rejected at last through the influence of the metropolitan bishop. Since then he has been living in Berlin, and the university chair has remained unoccupied. At last, however, a committee of private citizens has been formed, and has raised enough money to assure Dr. Brandes a comfortable salary for ten years, if he will return to Copenhagen as resident lecturer on literature at the University. Although the salary thus offered him is not nearly as large as the one he now receives at Berlin, he has accepted the proposition, and will begin his first course of lectures in Copenhagen about Christmas next. There is room for hope that the influence of his thought and scholarship will so aid the progress of toleration and liberal ideas that when the ten years expire the Church will offer no opposition to his occupying the chair that has so long been awaiting him.

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The necessary sum for the Garfield monument ($10,000) at Cincinnati has been raised by dollar subscriptions. The statue is to be of bronze, full length, of heroic size, and mounted on a granite pedestal.

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The geological diagrams prepared for the C. L. S. C. are in the form of landscapes. They may be used to great advantage in local circles. It is the object method of teaching applied to geology, and it makes this seemingly dry study fascinating and profitable. Dr. Vincent becomes enthusiastic over teaching geology by this method. Ten diagrams cost a member of the C. L. S. C. only $5.

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_Zion’s Herald_, of Boston, Mass., puts individual responsibility in a nutshell in this item: “Who can tell the importance of one vote? It is said that when the war of 1812 was declared, the measure was carried in the United States Senate by one majority. One of those senators was elected, in the Rhode Island Legislature, by one majority, and one member of that legislature was detained at home unexpectedly, who, if he had been present, would have voted against that senator. He was about getting on the stage to go to the legislature in the morning of the day of the vote, when, casually looking around, he saw that his pigs had got out of the pen and were in mischief. He stopped at home to take care of them and could not reach the legislature that day. One vote changes many currents. Massachusetts once had a governor elected by one plurality. Every good man should be counted on the right side.”

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Our English cousins have resolved to place a bust of Longfellow in the poets’ corner of Westminster Abbey. £500 have already been subscribed toward the erection of the memorial. Longfellow will be the first American thus honored at Westminster.

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London _Truth_: “The aim of illustrated newspapers ought to be to give pictorial realization of passing events. Their merit is in proportion to their accuracy. Of late, however, they have taken to fancy sketches.”

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Longfellow, on being introduced to the late Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, a quick-witted old gentleman, who dearly loved a joke, reference was made to the similarity of the first syllables of their names. “_Worth_ makes the man and want of it the _fellow_,” replied Mr. Longfellow, quoting Pope’s famous line.

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The recent elections vindicate the memory of the lamented ex-President James A. Garfield. They demonstrate that there is no dominating moral principle in the creed of any of the great political parties, and that the voters who believe in principles rather than offices or men, hold the balance of power in our civilization. A little philosophy fully explains the present political condition of the American people.

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The _Watchman_ says: “How to get people to church, is a much discussed question in these days. When Mr. Spurgeon was asked how he succeeded so wonderfully in keeping his church full, he replied, ‘I fill the pulpit, and let the people fill the pews.’ Dr. Chalmers told a part of the secret when he said, ‘A house-going preacher makes a church-going people.’”

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A deputation of astronomers from Germany has come to this country to witness the transit of Venus on December 6.

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The ladies are responsible for this: In the last five or six years New York city’s trade in ostrich feathers has increased from about half a million dollars a year to nearly five million dollars.

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Mr. Bancroft, the historian, rises at 5 o’clock in the morning. His breakfast is a light one, usually consisting of a cup of chocolate, some fruit, an egg and a roll. He eats nothing more until dinner, which is always a substantial meal. Few men, he believes, can perform good brain work with a full stomach. He spends the morning dictating to his secretaries, and revising the work of the preceding day. From 1 until 2:30 he receives visitors. The latter part of the afternoon he spends in the saddle, riding from twenty to thirty-five miles, and managing his steed, mounting and alighting with the agility of a young man, although he completed his eighty-second year more than a month ago.

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The season has come for members of the C. L. S. C. to use the local papers, in towns and cities. While you are at work over your books and in your local circles, you are making items of news which, if you will write up and hand to the editors they will thank you and publish them gladly. You may thus extend a knowledge of the C. L. S. C. among the people without. You may induce many to take up the course of reading. You may banish ignorance from a great many homes, and you may awaken talents, that now sleep, in young men and women who are in ignorance and idleness because nobody cares for them. Write up the C. L. S. C. work for the local papers, and tell who you are and what you are, and why you are connected with this great Circle.

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The Chautauqua School of Languages is growing into a school of correspondence. Prof. Lalande and Dr. Worman invite their students in French and German to adopt this method in pursuing their studies. They hold that the art of reading and writing can be as well taught by letter as in the school room. In England and Germany correspondence schools have long existed, and been remarkably successful. The Chautauqua school is growing in numbers and interest, and we look for a large increase through the new plan.

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In response to requests from a number of our readers we give below a list of Memorial Days:

1. _Opening Day._ October 1. Read psalms i, viii, and xxiii, and Mr. Bryant’s “Letter on the C. L. S. C.,” page 47. [At noon on October 1, and on every other “Memorial Day” during the year, the Chapel Bell at Chautauqua will ring. Every true Chautauqua heart will hear and heed the call.]

2. _Bryant’s Day._ November 3. [Bryant born November 3, 1794.] Read “Thanatopsis,” “A Forest Hymn,” and “The Planting of the Apple-Tree.”

3. _Special Sunday._ November—Second Sunday. Read Job xxviii.

4. _Milton’s Day._ December 9. [Milton born December 9, 1608.] Read “Hymn of the Nativity,” and “Satan.”

5. _College Day._ January—last Thursday. This is the day of prayer for colleges usually observed in the churches.

6. _Special Sunday._ February—Second Sunday. Read Psalm xix.

7. _Shakspere’s Day._ April 23. [Shakspere born April 23, 1564.] Read “Fall of Cardinal Wolsey,” (Henry VIII, act iii, scene 2,) and “Hamlet’s Soliloquy on Death,” (Act iii, scene 1.)

8. _Addison’s Day._ May 1. [Addison born May 1, 1672.] Read the “Vision of Mirza,” and “Omnipresence and Omniscience of the Deity.”

9. _Special Sunday._ May—Second Sunday. Read Matt. xxv.

10. _Special Sunday._ July—Second Sunday. Read 1 Cor. xiii.

11. _Inauguration Day._ August—First Saturday after First Tuesday. Anniversary of C. L. S. C., at Chautauqua.

12. _St. Paul’s Day._ August—Second Saturday after First Tuesday. Anniversary of the Dedication of St. Paul’s Grove at Chautauqua. Read Acts xvii, 10-34.

SPECIAL NOTE.—Let each member of the C. L. S. C. prepare a brief memorandum, for his own use, on the birth, life, times, and influence of Bryant, Milton, Shakspere, and Addison.

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It is a pleasant surprise to read the proceedings of the recent national convention of the W. C. T. U., held in Louisville, Ky. This is certainly one of the most complete and efficient temperance organizations this nation ever produced. The women have divided their work into several departments: temperance literature, the evangelistic work, prison and police station work, the Southern work, the German work, work among colored people, the young women’s work, hygiene, legislative department, etc., etc. The convention was entertained handsomely by the good people of Louisville. Its session was harmonious, and its proceedings will create a stronger temperance sentiment wherever they are read. Miss Frances E. Willard was re-elected president, receiving every vote of every delegate in the convention, and there were more than thirty States represented. Elsewhere in this number of THE CHAUTAUQUAN our readers will find an article that was read before the convention, which traces the history of the W. C. T. U. back to Chautauqua as the place of its origin. The W. C. T. U., with its fifty thousand workers, can say of Chautauqua, “I was born there.”

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