Part 15

On the 9th of April Miss Maggie B. McKnight, of Chambersburg, Pa., a member of the “Pansy” class, died. She was a devoted and enthusiastic Chautauquan, and looked with great pleasure toward the time when she could visit Chautauqua. She was reading with another member of the class, who intends, however, to keep on, saying that she “could not do without it now.”

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“Pansy—a tender thought!” A happy prophecy was that, to send That one bright flower of our class to hide Behind this modest emblem, while she penned Her strong, sweet thought. A prophecy fulfilled; For pansies—tender thoughts of her—are found Within the garden of our hearts in bloom The whole year round.—_J. B. Stuart._

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Westfield, N. J., is the home of a “Pansy” circle, calling itself by the cheerful name of “Hope.” It began with three sisters reading the course together. It was very fitting that they should receive their first inspiration from reading “Four Girls at Chautauqua.” The “Hope” is working hard to increase its membership.

CLASS OF 1888.—“THE PLYMOUTH ROCKS.”

“_Let us be seen by our deeds_.”

CLASS ORGANIZATION.

_President_—The Rev. A. E. Dunning, D.D., Boston, Mass.

_Vice Presidents_—Prof. W. N. Ellis, 108 Gates Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.; the Rev. Wm. G. Roberts, Bellevue, Ohio.

_Secretary_—Miss M. E. Taylor, Cleveland, Ohio.

_Treasurer_—Miss M. E. Taylor, Cleveland, Ohio.

All items for this column should be sent, in condensed form, to the Rev. C. C. McLean, St. Augustine, Florida.

Class badges may be procured of either President or Treasurer.

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The following are among the circles not yet reported in our column. I first give name of circle, then place and number of members: “Gradatim,” Kennebunk, Me., four; Bloomfield, Ind, seven; Niobrara, Neb., eight; “Master” (motto, “Labor is the price of mastery”), Ionia, Mich., eleven; “Peripatetics,” Chicago, Ill., twelve; “Magnolia,” Marianna, Fla., fourteen; “Philomathean,” Lancaster, N. Y., eighteen. The last named has by quotations, recitations, readings and essays celebrated the “memorial days.” For six months none but ladies composed the circle. They, however, so charmed three gentlemen that they sought admission and became enthusiastic students. The members of this circle so dislike the class name that they have refused to adopt it. They are among the others who express their enjoyment of the class reports in our ’88 column.

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The circle at Hastings, Minnesota, twenty-three members, has instructed its secretary to write their objection to our name. Among other things is the following: “In THE CHAUTAUQUAN we read of one class talking of establishing a ‘Heliotrope Bed’ at Chautauqua, and another a ‘Pansy Bed.’ We might send a coop of ‘Plymouth Rocks,’ but we fear they might demolish the beds of flowers.” We have received encomiums of praise of the name. One from Mount Carmel, Connecticut, says: “Our name, like every other worthy thing, in spite of its ‘fowl’ associations, needs no defenders.” One from Toronto, Canada, writes: “I am satisfied with our name, for although it represents a speckled bird it will ‘crow’ a good deal when four years old.” Another from Marine, Ill., after thanking Chancellor Vincent for “How to Read Alone,” protests against a change of name or motto.—A member of our class, a boarder in a Young Women’s Christian Association of New Haven, Connecticut, writes: “I think as one takes up Chautauqua books he loses the relish for stories, e’en though written by good authors. What an opportunity for gaining knowledge of the highest order!”—“Angle” circle, North Groton, N. H., is bereaved in the loss of one of their earnest workers, Mrs. E. E. Merrill, a lady who read much and well, and yet in the five short months had become so fascinated with the C. L. S. C. that almost her last words were those of appreciation of the same.—The East Norwich, L. I., circle is likewise bereaved in the death of a devoted member, Miss Lizzie Franklin.—A class of unmarried ladies complains that they have not been noticed. If they will send us another letter, writing the name of their circle so we can decipher it, and also give the town, or city, and state in which they live, we will gracefully and gladly bow our recognition.

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“Among the Indians: Osage Agency, Indian Territory.—Our circle consists of six members—five teachers and one bookkeeper. Although each lives a busy life, we have had weekly meetings, kept up with the required reading, and celebrated two authors’ days, Bryant’s and Longfellow’s. Surrounded as we are by Indians, who still wear blankets instead of citizen’s dress, and who are not far advanced in the arts of civilized life, we feel doubly thankful for the benefits arising from such a course of reading.”

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In Bingham Cañon, Utah, a mining camp situated about twenty-eight miles southwest of Salt Lake City, the New West Education Commission has a school established. One of the teachers proposed taking the Chautauqua course alone, but, mentioning it to several, organized a circle of six. Of the name she writes: “I like it so much. My home is in Plymouth, Mass.”

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Half of the members of “Carleton” circle, Hudson, Mich., live out of town from two to six miles, yet they are numbered among the most enthusiastic and faithful. They have had full programs at every meeting, and have observed all memorial days. They number thirty-seven, twelve being of our class. The ’88s wear on their hats a symbolical badge (a _fac-simile_, in brass, of the pedal extremity of a Plymouth Rock). They like the _motto_, but not the _name_.

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One from Gilbert’s Mills, N. Y., writes: “I can not longer refrain from expressing how much I enjoy the reading of the course, although I am pursuing it alone, occasionally meeting with the circle at Fulton, five miles from here, which I much enjoy. The more I read and learn, the more anxious I am to go on, that I may be no disgrace to our grand class name, that takes me back to dear New England, and home. I would prove myself worthy of it and of our motto.”

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The “Chippewas” is the name of a circle of twenty-two members, formed at the city of Eau Claire, Wis., October of 1884. Four of the members belong to the class of ’86, the others to that of ’88. The society has met once a week, and has observed the memorial days. In addition to the prescribed course, the class is reading the two volumes of Timayenis’s History of Greece.

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“Mountain City” circle, Frederick, Md., very appropriately and enthusiastically celebrated “Shakspere Day.” The program consisted of a “Sketch of his Life,” and the reading of “The Merchant of Venice,” the members taking the different characters.

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Mrs. F. B. Edwards, who with her daughter joined the class of ’88 last fall, and was a faithful and diligent member, died at her home in Hartford, Conn., March 14, 1885. She was a lady of excellent education, and had also the culture of much foreign travel and residence in Europe. She was delighted with the C. L. S. C. plan, and especially with the opportunities it offers for mental and moral growth.

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One of the most earnest and beloved members of the “Pierian” circle, of Brooklyn, N. Y., Morgan Morgans, has lately died. Mr. Morgans was a young man of but twenty years of age—a member of the class of ’88, and a zealous Christian.

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So much having been written _pro_ and _con_, respecting our class name, it is proposed to have the entire class vote for or against the name. The circles will send their vote, giving the number in favor and against present name. Those who are not in circles can send their votes as individuals. The vote should be sent to the Rev. C. C. McLean, St. Augustine, Fla., at as early a date as possible.

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Thoughts are but the seeds of truth ready for the ground, Promises of future good that will within be found; Yet, with purer, truer thoughts the words have purer sound.

Words are slender saplings, growing in the earth, Starting from the very spot where the thoughts had birth, But the noblest words can never tell the deed’s great worth.

Deeds are mighty forests, towering and grand, Not results of thoughts that were planted in the sand, But deeply rooted, broad-leaved trees that will forever stand.

Thoughts are truly noble, yet their work lasts but a day, Words are often mighty, still their power may not stay, But the influence of noble deeds can never pass away.

—_Emily G. Weegar._

THE SUMMER ASSEMBLIES.

FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

The writer of this article has visited, in different years, most of the Sunday-school Assemblies, and he has found none, not even Chautauqua itself, where the wave of C. L. S. C. enthusiasm runs higher than at the New England Assembly, South Framingham, Mass. Every class has its headquarters, trimmed with greens and flowers, with the class-motto wrought upon its walls; and every class has its anniversary, with toasts and cream. The Round-Table is crowded at every session with intelligent students, who can both ask and answer questions. If a reporter could have taken down and printed all the replies given one afternoon last summer to the inquiry, “What good is the C. L. S. C. doing?” it would have furnished a valuable document for the use of workers in the cause. The camp-fire is always crowded; last year the ranks, arranged by classes, counted over five hundred members; and this year it will be greater.

The traveler on the railway sees already a white columned building gleaming among the trees on the summit of the hill. If he be a Chautauquan, he needs no one to tell him “The Hall of Philosophy,” for he recognizes it at once as the copy in every detail of the building at Chautauqua. This Hall will be dedicated by the Chancellor during the coming session of the Assembly, when from all New England the faithful will rally to participate in the great occasion. Its dedication will take place on Wednesday, July 22d, and the address will be delivered by the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D.D., one of the Counselors of the C. L. S. C.

The Recognition day services will be held on Thursday, July 25th, when an address will be given by the Rev. Luther T. Townsend, D.D., of the Boston University.

Among the leading lecturers (and lecturesses) of the Assembly during the present season will be the Rev. F. E. Clark, D.D., Prof. W. N. Rice, Dr. E. C. Bolles, Dr. R. R. Meredith, Dr. Geo. C. Lorimer, Robert J. Burdette, Miss Kate Field, and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore.

MONTEAGLE, TENNESSEE.

Monteagle is in the State of Tennessee, upon the Cumberland Mountains, 2,200 feet above the sea-level. We have here the most invigorating, health-giving atmosphere, the purest water, the most beautiful wild flowers, the grandest mountain scenery, the most picturesque views of the valley lying hundreds of feet below, the loveliest vales, the most magnificent forests of native trees—indeed, a combination of all the desirable natural conditions for a pleasant summer resort.

This is the place which has been selected by the Christian people of the South, of broad views, of liberal hearts and generous impulses, of intellectual culture and refinement, for the location of the Monteagle Sunday-school Assembly. This Assembly is permanently established by a charter granted by the State of Tennessee. For two years they have been very successful.

If there is virtue in faithful and capable teachers and honest work, no one in 1885 will go away from Monteagle dissatisfied.

These schools offer to teachers and intellectual people a place where they can spend the heated term of each year, combining study with rest and recreation, in a delightful and inexpensive mountain resort, free from all social dissipation. It is proposed to furnish in the summer schools of Monteagle the best instruction in every department open. All who seek absolute rest on these mountain heights will be free to take it; those who shall seek only lighter courses will find entertainment; and those who wish thorough instruction will not be disappointed.

The summer schools open June 30th. The Assembly opens August 4th, and closes August 28th. Among the lecturers will be Dr. B. M. Palmer, President Chas. Louis Loos, Dr. D. M. Harris, Bishop Walden, Sau Ah-Brah, the Rev. Sam Jones, Dr. Lansing Burrows, Wallace Bruce, and Hon. G. W. Bain.

ISLAND PARK, INDIANA.

The Island Park Assembly will hold its seventh annual session on the beautiful grounds of the association near Rome City, Indiana. The Assembly will open July 14th, and remain in session until July 30th. The Tabernacle Lecture Course will be unusually brilliant and attractive. Among the speakers will be Bishop Foster, Bishop Bowman, Prof. C. E. Bolten, Wallace Bruce, Dr. Geo. C. Lorimer, Dr. H. H. Willets, Dr. John Alabaster, the Rev. John DeWitt Miller, and Miss Lydia Von Finkelstein.

The music will be under the general management of Prof. C. C. Case. The Goshen full band and orchestra, and the Hayden Quartette will be in attendance. The Sunday-school Normal Class will be under the personal instruction of the Superintendent of Instruction, and will be one of the most important features of the coming Assembly. The course will be identical with the Chautauqua course, and graduates will be entitled to the Chautauqua diploma.

The visitor finds the Island, some twenty acres in extent, a few minutes’ walk over a bridge and through a shady avenue from the railroad station, Rome City, with the village at an equal distance westward. The Island is naturally beautiful, always fanned by cool breezes, with hills and miniature valleys, romantic nooks, a beautiful beach, and a drive partially surrounding it, many fountains and wells, and a plaza surrounded by hotels and offices. Beyond the rustic bridges of the canal are a Tabernacle seating 3,000, a building containing the Model of Palestine, and the Art Hall with its large lecture rooms.

From the north is to be seen, a mile across the Lake, “Spring Beach,” a well appointed hotel in an elaborately improved park, containing mineral springs and the famous trout ponds.

South of the Island, across a bridge, are the Assembly lands, containing the Amphitheater, and laid out in lots and avenues, with a high bluff to the Lake. Here are opportunities to tent in perfect quiet or in the liveliest streets of the Assembly City.

Two steamers ply on Sylvan Lake, between the Island, the head of the Lake and Spring Beach. Two hundred row boats are kept.

Postoffice, telegraph, bathing and laundry facilities on the ground. Ample hotel and boarding arrangements in the village.

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA.

The sixth summer Assembly of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle will be held at Pacific Grove, near Monterey, California, opening with an address Monday evening, June 29th, and closing Friday, July 10th.

This Assembly, in spirit and purpose, resembles the famous Assembly held each summer at Chautauqua Lake, New York. The course of lectures during the coming session will include in its subjects not only scientific themes, but those of art, history, and general literature.

Microscopes, stereoscopes and other apparatus will abundantly illustrate the lectures. The managers also intend to add to each evening’s lecture the attraction of beautiful music, illustrative tableaux, recitations, etc.

The Assembly will open on the evening of June 29th, with an address by Dr. C. C. Stratton, of San José, President of the Pacific Branch.

A few of the speakers and subjects will be as follows: The Rev. Dr. Wythe, Oakland, “Scenes in Great Britain and the Continent;” Prof. H. B. Norton, San José, “The Knights of the Temple;” F. B. Perkins, San Francisco, “Wit and Humor;” Dr. C. L. Anderson, Santa Cruz, “Diatoms;” Edward Berwick, Carmel Valley, “World Federation;” Adley Cummins, Esq., San Francisco, “The Sanscrit Language and Literature;” the Rev. Dr. E. G. Beckwith, San Francisco, “School and Skill.”

Sunday-school Normal Work will receive its due share of attention.

The music of the Assembly will be in the very competent hands of Mrs. Helen M. Cushman, of San Francisco, and will be artistic and delightful.

The morning of Friday, July 10th, will be occupied with the interesting exercises of the Third Graduating Class of the Pacific Branch C. L. S. C.

Pacific Grove is situated on the beautiful Bay of Monterey, and connected with the ancient capital of the State by a pleasant drive of one and a half miles, over a macadamized road lately constructed. In beauty of location it can not be excelled—its graceful pines, extending to the water’s edge, affording a delightful refuge from the heat of the sun. As a healthful place of resort, it is not surpassed by any locality in the State. The value of the Assembly held here has been fully assured by the delightful sessions of the past five years.

The well known facilities for studying Natural History at Pacific Grove have made that one of the important topics of study, and much enthusiasm has been aroused on the coast by the work of the C. L. S. C. in this department.

LAKESIDE, OHIO.

The prospects for the work of 1885 in this beautiful and healthful summer resort are commensurate with the energy displayed by the zealous management. The grounds are charmingly located on the northern shore of the Peninsula, opposite Sandusky, Ohio; accessible by an hour’s delightful steamer ride from this city, and will probably be connected with the Danbury station of the Lake Shore Railroad by rail this season. The Encampment sessions begin on Tuesday evening, July 21st, the brief enthusiastic “Reunion” to be followed by one of the spicy and wise lectures of the Rev. P. S. Henson, D.D., of Chicago. There will then follow for nearly two weeks a rare program under the superintendency of the Rev. B. T. Vincent, of Philadelphia, Pa., assisted by the Revs. F. Russell and E. Persons. Mrs. B. T. Vincent will have charge of the Primary Teachers’ Department, and also the Boys’ and Girls’ Meeting, assisted by the Rev. J. S. Reager, of Ohio. The Models of the Tabernacle, Jerusalem, etc., will be explained daily by the Rev. Dr. Hartupee and Mr. Tannyhill. Miss Ross, of Chicago, will give daily instruction in Kindergarten work, and Professor Trueblood, of Delaware, Ohio, in Elocution. Daily devotional meetings will be conducted by the Rev. W. H. Pearce, of Erie, Pa. Lectures and sermons are announced from Bishop R. S. Foster, Drs. Henson, Alabaster, Nelson, Bayless, Parsons, Rev. Messrs. Young, Pearce, Russell, Reager; Colonel Bain, of Kentucky, Wallace Bruce and Leon H. Vincent. Brilliant stereopticon exhibitions, with lectures by the Rev. Mr. Young and Professor Bolton. Oriental exhibitions by Miss and Mr. Von Finkelstein, with their gorgeous collection of Oriental costumes, etc. The Meigs Sisters and Professor Underhill will give concerts and elocutionary readings; Professor Trueblood will also give popular readings. Mr. French, of Chicago, a racy and instructive Chalk-talker, will “draw.” The music will be under the able direction of Professor Brierly, of Erie, Pa., and Miss McClintock will delight the crowds who gather at Lakeside. The C. L. S. C. will, of course, have a large place in the attention of the people, as Lakeside is a center of a large field of workers in this line. There will be “Round Tables,” etc., and a public Recognition service for the class of ’85, all of whom who desire it may secure this privilege there, and receive their diplomas, which will be there for distribution, if they inform the Rev. B. T. Vincent in time to see that the diplomas are sent to him for them. A Soldiers’ day, with war songs and a lecture on “Echoes from Round Top,” by the Rev. J. B. Young, of Harrisburg, Pa., will form one of the enthusiastic features. The promises of Lakeside, one of the finest of Chautauqua’s daughters, were never so good, nor so sure of rich fulfillment.

CRETE, NEBRASKA.

The Nebraska Sunday-school Assembly Grounds consist of one hundred and nine acres on the banks of the Blue River, at Crete, Nebraska. Its first session was held in that town in July, 1882, under the direction of the Rev. J. D. Stewart. Last year, at its third session, a splendid tract of land was donated to the Assembly. It extends along the river bank, with admirable opportunities for boating, contains a beautiful grove and ample grounds for buildings, walks, drives, and other purposes. Two lecture halls and a dining hall have already been erected, and some hundreds of tents provided; while a Normal Hall, several cottages, and other buildings are proposed.

The Normal Department will be in charge of Prof. R. S. Holmes, who has been for many years a teacher of this department at Chautauqua.

The Primary Normal Department will be in charge of Miss Lucy J. Rider, who will also conduct a children’s class daily.

Dr. J. H. Vincent, President of the Circle since its commencement, and Chancellor of the Chautauqua University, will be present and give two lectures. Others who have had wide experience in literary pursuits will give their counsels on the ways of spending time most profitably in reading and study for the people.

Among the lecturers engaged are: The Rev. R. R. Meredith, D.D., of Boston; the Rev. O. H. Tiffany, D.D., of New York City; the Rev. Robert Nourse, of Washington, D. C., and the Rev. H. M. Ladd, D.D., of Cleveland, O.

A course of musical instruction will be given by Prof. J. E. Platt. Prof. W. F. Sherwin will give a lecture and conduct concerts.

OTTAWA, KANSAS.

By the time that this reaches the readers of THE CHAUTAUQUAN the Inter-State Assembly of Kansas and Missouri will be in session at its home in Forest Park, in the city of Ottawa, Kansas. No other assembly is entertained with such hospitality, for the people of Ottawa throw open to it their public park, in the limits of their city, on the banks of the historic Marais du Cygne, “The Swamp of the Swan,” celebrated by Whittier’s pen in the border days of Kansas. Among the orators whom they expect to hear are many whose names are well known to all Chautauquans, as Wallace Bruce, Dr. Henson, Robert Nourse, Dr. Tiffany, Sau Ah-brah, and our own Chancellor, Dr. Vincent. Indeed, it will be quite a transplanting of the Chautauqua Idea to the western prairie, for as at “the Mecca of us all,” we shall hold daily a Round-Table; the Commencement service will be fulfilled, the Chancellor will deliver the address to the graduating class and confer the diplomas of the C. L. S. C.; Prof. Sherwin will wave the baton before the chorus on the platform; Prof. Holmes will teach the Normal class; Sculptor Spring will instruct the class in clay modeling; and the general Superintendent of Instruction will be Dr. J. L. Hurlbut.