The Story of Chautauqua Part 20

The same year, 1876, saw another camp ground becoming a Chautauqua a.s.sembly,--at Petoskey, near the northern end of Lake Michigan. Here a beautiful tract of woodland, rising in a series of terraces from Little Traverse Bay, about forty miles south of the Straits of Mackinac, had been obtained by a Methodist camp-meeting a.s.sociation, and laid out in roads forming a series of concentric circles. Here the first Bay View a.s.sembly was held in 1876, and again in its scope were combined the camp meeting, the summer home, and the Chautauqua conception, three divergent aims that have rarely worked well together. It will be remembered that on its land side the original Chautauqua was shut off from the outer world by a high fence, and everybody was compelled to enter the ground through a gate, at which a ticket must be purchased. At Bay View, as at most camp-meeting grounds, access was open on every side. At first they undertook to support the a.s.sembly by collections, but the receipts proved inadequate, and they placed a ticket window at each lecture hall and endeavored to induce the cottagers to purchase season tickets, a plan which has been pursued down to the present time. One of the founders of Bay View, perhaps the one who suggested it, was Dr. Wm. H.

Perrine, an ardent and intelligent Chautauquan, the rebuilder of Palestine Park. Other men came to the aid of the Bay View a.s.sembly, some of them men of means, who gave liberally in the form of buildings, an organ, and to some extent an endowment. One of these was Mr. Horace Hitchc.o.c.k of Detroit, another was John M. Hall, who organized the Bay View Reading Course, a.n.a.logous to the C. L. S. C., and by his personal endeavor built up a reading and book-buying const.i.tuency. I was present at the second session in 1877, when it was a handful of people in a wilderness, and again thirty years later, when I found a beautiful city of homes in the forest, rising terrace above terrace, with good roads, fine public buildings, and a body of people interested in the best thought of the time. Chautauqua points with pleasure and pride to her oldest living daughter, the Bay View a.s.sembly.

Mention should be made here of an a.s.sembly established at Clear Lake, beside a beautiful sheet of water in northern Iowa, nearly midway between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It was organized in 1876, with the Rev. J. R. Berry as superintendent. For some years, beginning in 1879, it was under the direction of the Rev. J. A. Worden, who, like some others of us, had learned the a.s.sembly trade in apprentices.h.i.+p to Dr. Vincent at Chautauqua. For ten years Clear Lake was fairly prosperous, but in time it met the fate of most a.s.semblies and dropped out of existence.

During the year 1877 three more a.s.semblies arose, one of which remains to this day in prosperity, while the two others soon pa.s.sed away. The successful inst.i.tution was at Lakeside, Ohio. Like many others, it was grafted upon a camp meeting which had been established some years before, but was declining in its interest and attendance. The name "Encampment" was chosen as an easy departure from its original sphere, but after a few years the name "a.s.sembly," by this time becoming general, was a.s.sumed. The first meeting as a Sunday School gathering on the Chautauqua plan was held in 1877, with the Rev. James A. Worden, who had a.s.sisted Dr. Vincent for three years in the normal work at Chautauqua, as its conductor. Afterward Dr. B. T. Vincent was in charge for a number of seasons, and one year, 1882, Dr. John H. Vincent was superintendent. For many years all the Chautauqua features were kept prominent, the Normal Department, with a systematic course, examinations, and an Alumni a.s.sociation; the C. L. S. C. with recognition services, Round Tables, camp fires, the four Arches, and all the accessories. Lakeside drew around it helpers and liberal givers, and still stands in strength. Lakeside has the benefit of a delightful location, on a wooded peninsula jutting into Lake Erie, near Sandusky City, and in sight of Put-in-Bay, famous in American history for Commodore Perry's naval victory in the War of 1812. It still maintains lecture courses and cla.s.ses in the midst of a summer-home community.

Another a.s.sembly began in 1877, with high expectations, at Lake Bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, thirty-five miles north of Chicago. It was confidently supposed that on a direct railroad line from the great city, Lake Bluff would draw large audiences, and Dr. Vincent was engaged to organize and conduct an a.s.sembly upon the Chautauqua plan, with lecturers and workers from that headquarters. A strong program was prepared for the opening session. Among the lecturers was the Rev.

Joseph Cook, at that time one of the most prominent and popular speakers in the land. I recall in one of his lectures at Lake Bluff a sentence, wholly unpremeditated, which thrilled the audience and has always seemed to me one of the most eloquent utterances I have ever heard. It was twelve years after the Civil War, and on our way to the a.s.sembly we pa.s.sed the marble monument crowned with the statue of Stephen A.

Douglas, the compet.i.tor of Lincoln for the Senators.h.i.+p and Presidency, but after the opening of the war his loyal supporter for the few months before his death. Dr. Cook was giving a history of the forces in the nation which brought on the secession of the Southern States. He referred to Daniel Webster in the highest praise, declaring that his compromise measures, such as the Fugitive Slave Law, were dictated by a supreme love for the Union, which if preserved would in time have made an end of slavery, and he added a sentence of which this is the substance.

Had it been given to Daniel Webster, as it was given to Edward Everett, to live until the guns were fired upon Fort Sumter, there would have been an end of compromise. He would have stamped that mighty foot with a sound that would have rung throughout the land, have called forth a million men, and might have averted the war!

Just then a voice rang out from one of the seats--"As Douglas did!"

Joseph Cook paused a moment. His chest swelled as he drew in a breath, and then looking at the man who had interrupted him, he spoke in that powerful voice:

The firmament above the ma.s.sive brow of Daniel Webster was a vaster arch than that over the narrow forehead of Stephen A. Douglas, and the lightning that rent the clouds from the dying face of one, would never have been needed to bring daylight to the other!

I was seated beside the Rev. Charles F. Deems of New York, a Southerner by birth and in his sympathies through the then recent war. He turned to me and said: "That was the most magnificent sentence that I have ever heard!" There was a moment of silence, and then a burst of applause from the audience.

The Lake Bluff a.s.sembly never drew a large patronage, as no Chautauqua a.s.sembly ever has which depended upon a great city whose inhabitants can hear the famous preachers and orators. The successful a.s.semblies have been located in fairly large towns, with villages and small cities surrounding, near enough to reach the a.s.sembly, but so distant that to enjoy its benefits the visitors must stay more than one day. The support of a Chautauqua a.s.sembly of the higher grade comes not mainly from the one-day excursionists, but from those who plan to enter the cla.s.ses and remain at least a fortnight. These patrons const.i.tute the backbone of the inst.i.tution, and without them the transitory crowds soon lose their interest and the a.s.sembly declines. Lake Bluff maintained an existence for ten or twelve years, but never obtained an extensive const.i.tuency.

The year 1878 was noteworthy in the establishment of two a.s.semblies, one still living after more than forty years, the other one of the largest, most steadfast in fidelity to the Chautauqua ideal, and most extended in its influence. The first of these was the Round Lake a.s.sembly, at a camp ground near Saratoga in New York. We have narrated elsewhere (see page 44) the story of the "praying band leader" who undertook to hold a little meeting of his own at Chautauqua, and when called to order left in disgust, but later showed his manly spirit by asking Dr. Vincent to organize an a.s.sembly on the Chautauqua plan on the grounds at Round Lake, of which camp meeting he was President. This a.s.sembly began in 1878, and is still maintained both as a summer school, a camp meeting, and a Sunday School training inst.i.tution. It was opened according to the Chautauqua pattern, with an evening of short speeches, of which some at least were supposed to blend humor with sense. Frank Beard was on the platform, and was expected to be the wit of the evening. To the blank perplexity of all, he made a serious speech, without a solitary funny allusion. The audience did not know whether to laugh or to look solemn, as he talked on, and at last brought us all "before the great white throne." The next morning at breakfast--for all the imported workers took our meals at one table in the Round Lake Hotel--Dr. Vincent freed his mind to Frank Beard, somewhat after this fas.h.i.+on:

Now, Frank, I want you to understand that we bring you here to brighten up the program with a little fun. We don't need you to make serious speeches; there are plenty of men to do that; I can do it myself, a great deal better than you can. To-night I'm going to give you another chance, and I expect you to rise to the occasion with something to laugh at.

So, before the evening lecture, Dr. Vincent announced that Mr. Beard wished to say a few words. This was something of what he said:

Dr. Vincent, he didn't like the speech I made last night. He told me this morning before all these fellers that it was too eloquent, and he said, "Mr. Beard, when you are eloquent you take the s.h.i.+ne off from me, and these other men, and you mustn't do it. If there is any eloquence needed, I will do it myself, and you mustn't interfere with the regular program."

Then he went on, in his usual way, using some of the dear old jokes that some of us had heard at Chautauqua, but polished up for a new const.i.tuency. Everybody saw that he was guying the doctor, but there was a group of us present who knew just how Frank was twisting the breakfast talk of the Superintendent of Instruction.

On the sh.o.r.e of Round Lake, near the a.s.sembly ground, a copy of Palestine Park had been constructed, and daily lectures were given there. It was just a few feet larger than the Park at Chautauqua, as we were informed by the President. Let me correct the report that a big Methodist bishop arriving late one night, and enquiring the way to the hotel, fell into the clutches of the most mischievous small boy in the region, who told him:

"The gates are all shut and you'll have to climb the fence yonder."

He did so, according to the story, and fell from the top of the fence into the Dead Sea, which at once swelled its waters and washed away the city of Jericho. The eminent divine, it is said, drenched with water and spattered with mud, walked up the Jordan Valley and over the mountains of Ephraim, destroying the cities and obliterating sundry holy places; one foot caught in Jacob's Well, and his head b.u.mped on Mount Gerizim.

He reached the hotel at last, but the next morning showed the land of Palestine in worse ruin than had been wrought by Nebuchadnezzar's army.

All this I, myself, read in a New York newspaper that is said to contain "All the news that is fit to print"; but I here and now declare solemnly that there is not a shred of truth in the story, for I saw the Bishop, and I saw the Park!

The Round Lake meetings are held to this day, courses of lectures are given, and cla.s.ses are held. But the Park of Palestine, which was to surpa.s.s Chautauqua's Park, is no more. It was built on swampy ground, after a few years sank under the encroaching waters of the lake, and was never restored.

The other inst.i.tution founded in 1878 was the Kansas Chautauqua a.s.sembly. It was organized by the Rev. J. E. Gilbert, then a pastor of a Methodist Church in Topeka, who was an active Sunday School worker and started other a.s.semblies during his different pastorates in the Middle West. It was held for three years at Lawrence, then at Topeka for two years, and finally in 1883 located at Ottawa, about fifty miles southwest from Kansas City. Most of the a.s.semblies already named were held upon camp grounds, but the Ottawa a.s.sembly was unique in its location upon the large Forest Park just outside the city, leased for this purpose by the authorities. Being public property, no cottages could be built upon it, but a city of three hundred tents arose every summer, and after a fortnight were folded and taken away. For nearly twenty years this a.s.sembly was under the direction of the writer, and in every respect followed the lines laid down by its parent Chautauqua.

Buildings were put up for cla.s.ses, which served as well for the annual agricultural fair in the fall. In our first year at Ottawa, our normal cla.s.s was held out of doors, the members seated upon the unroofed grand stand of the Park, and I was teaching them with the aid of a blackboard.

Clouds began to gather rapidly and a storm seemed to be in prospect. I paused in the lesson and said:

"I am somewhat of a stranger here--how long does it take a thunder storm to arrive?"

"About two minutes!" responded a voice from the seats; and instantly there came a rush to cover, leaving the history of the Bible to care for itself. We were just in time, for a minute later it was blowing a hurricane, bending the great trees and breaking their branches. I had heard of Kansas cyclones, had been shown a "cyclone cellar," and only the day before had taken dinner in a house of which one end had been blown clean off by a cyclone. As we stood in a building which we had named "Normal Hall," I asked a lady by the window, "Is this a cyclone?"

She glanced without and then calmly said: "No, this is a straight wind."

In ten minutes the tornado was over and we rea.s.sembled for the lesson.

Kansas people seemed to accept occurrences like this as all in the day's work. One weather-story of Kansas reminds of another. On my first visit to that State in 1882, the last year of the a.s.sembly at Topeka, I was standing in front of the hotel, thinking of the historic events in Kansas,--where the Civil War actually began, though unrealized at the time,--when I saw nearby a rather rough looking, bearded individual.

Thinking that he might be one of the pioneers, with a story to tell of the early days, I stepped up and began in the conventional way by remarking:

"I don't think it's going to rain."

He looked me over and responded:

"Wal, strangers from the East think they know when it's goin' to rain and when it ain't; but us fellers who've lived in Kansas thirty years never know whether it'll rain in five minutes or whether it won't rain in three months."

The Ottawa a.s.sembly was one of the best in the Chautauqua system. The people of the city built for its use a large tabernacle and halls for cla.s.ses. Beside the park flows the River Marais du Cygne, "the Swamp of the Swan," celebrated in one of Whittier's poems; and on a bank overlooking the river was erected a Hall of Philosophy, copying the old Hall at Chautauqua, except that its columns were lighter and ornamented, improving its appearance. We followed the Chautauqua programs as far as possible, having many of the same speakers on our platform and Professor Sherwin to lead the music, succeeded later by Dr. H. R. Palmer. The teacher-training work, then called the Normal Cla.s.s, was maintained thoroughly, with adult, intermediate, and children's cla.s.ses,--all wearing badges and following banners. The C. L. S. C., with all its usages of camp fires, Recognition Day, vigil, procession and arches, was kept prominent. We established a Chautauqua Boys' Club, and Girls' Club also. We could not conduct a summer school, as the meeting lasted only a fortnight, but we had lecture courses of high character upon literature.

Kansas contained more old soldiers in its population than any other State in the Union, and the Grand Army Day at Ottawa was an event of State-wide interest. Some distinguished veterans spoke on these occasions, among them General John A. Logan, Major William McKinley, and General John B. Gordon of the Confederate Army; also Private A. J.

Palmer of New York, whose "Company D, the Die-No-Mores," roused enthusiasm to its summit. One element in Ottawa's success was the steadfast loyalty of the city,--a place then of seven or eight thousand people, which enjoyed a special prohibitory law some years earlier than the rest of the State. Almost every family had its tent in Forest Park and lived there day and night during the fortnight of the meetings.

Another cause of its prosperity was its able, broad, and continuous management. Its President for many years was the Rev. Duncan C. Milner, a Chautauquan from his boots up to his head, and laboring with untiring energy in its behalf.

I must tell an amusing story of our camp fire one summer. As the ground was by this time well occupied, we decided to have the bonfire on a raft out in the stream, while the crowd sang the songs and listened to the speeches from the Hall of Philosophy on the sh.o.r.e. But when we met at night for the services, the raft and the materials ready for lighting had disappeared! We were told that the janitor had thought it an improvement to have the fire lighted above, in a bend of the river, and float down to the Hall. We waited, not exactly pleased with the janitor's unauthorized action, and after a time we heard a mighty racket. The raft with the bonfire was floating down the stream, while around it was a convoy of about a hundred boats, loaded with boys, and each boy blowing a horn or yelling in the most vociferous manner. That put an end to any prospect of songs and speeches, for who could command silence to such a din? But that was not all nor the worst. The janitor tried in vain to anchor his raft, but it still floated downward. We saw our camp fire sail majestically down the river, until it approached the mill dam and the falls, when the boys desperately rowed their boats out of danger. Raft and contents went over the falls and the bonfire was quenched in the devouring flood. As we saw it going to its doom, I distinctly heard the word "dam" spoken, and I fear it was intended to include a final "n." But that was the last attempt at a camp fire. When I proposed one at the next season, the entire Round Table burst out with a roaring laugh.

The success of Ottawa led to the opening of many other a.s.semblies all over the State, and by degrees weakened this, the mother Chautauqua of Kansas. It is still maintained, but in a small way, as one of the chain Chautauquas.

In 1879, a Sunday School Congress which soon grew into an a.s.sembly was held at Ocean Grove, on the Atlantic Coast, almost the only place where the camp meeting, the summer resort, and the Chautauqua idea have lived together in mutual peace and prosperity. But even at Ocean Grove the a.s.sembly has been overshadowed, almost out of sight, by the camp meeting and the summer boarding-house contingent. For several seasons I took part in the work, and in 1881 conducted the Children's Cla.s.s. On the next to the last day I told all the children to meet me at our chapel, naming the hour when the tide would be at its lowest, every child to bring a pail and shovel, or a s.h.i.+ngle, if his shovel had been lost. We formed a goodly procession of three hundred, marching down the avenue, myself at the head. At the beach I had selected a suitable area, and set the children to constructing out of the damp sand a model two hundred feet long of Palestine, the land of which we had been studying in the daily cla.s.s. It was a sight to see those young nation builders, making the coastline, piling up the mountains, and digging out the Jordan valley with its lakes. Some Biblically inclined gentlemen aided in the supervision, and apparently a thousand people stood above and looked on.

When it was finished I walked up and down the model, asking the children questions upon it, and was somewhat surprised to find how much they knew. Some whose conduct in the cla.s.s gave little promise were among the promptest to exploit their knowledge. It was my purpose to leave the map that it might be seen by the mult.i.tude until the tide should wash it away. But the boys shouted, "Can't we stamp it down now?" and I rather reluctantly consented. Palestine has been overrun, and trodden down, and destroyed by armies of a.s.syrians, Babylonians, Turks, Crusaders, and many other warriors, but the land never suffered such a treading down by the Gentiles as on that morning at Ocean Grove.

In the year 1879, the wind-wafted seed of Chautauqua was borne to the Pacific Coast and an a.s.sembly was founded at Pacific Grove in Monterey, California. I know not whether it remains, but the Grove has been the place of meeting for the California Methodist Conference year after year. Another a.s.sembly combined with the summer resort was established this year at Mountain Lake in Maryland, a charming spot, whose elevation beside a lovely lake brings coolness to the summer air.

One more a.s.sembly established in 1879 must not be forgotten. In the early years of Chautauqua we used to see a plainly clad man, who from his appearance might have been a farmer or a lumberman; in fact, he was the proprietor of a large saw and planing mill. This man was at every meeting, listened intently and took full notes, for he was intelligent, reading good books, and ardent in his devotion to Chautauqua. For years he was one of my friends, but, alas! I have forgotten his name. He lived in Northern Indiana, and in 1879 was able to interest enough people to start an a.s.sembly at Island Park at Rome City, Indiana, not far from the Michigan line. He became its Secretary, managed its finances, and called upon the Rev. A. H. Gillet, one of Dr. Vincent's lieutenants, to conduct it. For many years Island Park was one of the foremost children of Chautauqua in its program and its attendance. It was situated upon an island in a lovely lake, with bridges leading to the mainland, where most of the tents and cottages were placed, and where buildings were erected for the normal cla.s.ses and the kindergarten; the Tabernacle, seating 2500, being upon the island which was bright with flower beds amid winding paths. For years Island Park was a center of Chautauqua influence and strong in promoting the C. L. S. C., but like many other a.s.semblies, it failed to receive financial support and was abandoned.

Two great a.s.semblies, both closely following the path of Chautauqua, were founded in the year 1880. One of these was Monona Lake, near Madison, Wis. It was established by the State Sunday School a.s.sociation, its founder and first president being the Hon. Elihu Colman of Fond du Lac. Like Ottawa in Kansas, it was an a.s.sembly of tents, not of cottages. The first session, a small gathering, was held in 1880 on the sh.o.r.es of Green Lake, one of the five hundred lakes of Wisconsin; but in the following year it was removed to Monona Lake, one of the five surrounding the capital city, Madison. After Mr. Colman, the Rev. F. S.

Stein, D.D., became President, and for nearly a generation, Mr. Moseley, a bookseller of Madison, was its efficient secretary, business manager, and organizer of its programs. The standards of Monona Lake were high and its work was thorough, but for lack of adequate support, it was given up after nearly thirty years of usefulness and the point became an amus.e.m.e.nt park.

Among those prominent in the early seasons at Monona Lake was the Rev.

O. P. Bestor, who was active in promoting the C. L. S. C. He brought with him his son, who began as a small boy attending the a.s.sembly, and formed the a.s.sembly-habit so strongly that in the after years he grew up to be the President of the Chautauqua Inst.i.tution--Albert E. Bestor, LL.D.

The other notable Chautauqua started in 1880 was the New England a.s.sembly at South Framingham, Ma.s.s., originally in closer affiliation with the original Chautauqua than any other a.s.sembly, for it chose Dr.

Vincent as Superintendent of Instruction, and many of its speakers were also on the Chautauqua program. It drew from all the New England States, until its success led to the establishment of other a.s.semblies at Fryeburg, Maine, at Northampton, Ma.s.s., and at Plainville, Conn. One of Dr. Vincent's a.s.sistants at the Framingham a.s.sembly was the Dr. A. E.

Dunning, at first Congregational Secretary of Sunday School work, later Editor of the Congregationalist. Dr. Vincent, after a few years, gave the a.s.sembly into the hands of Dr. Dunning and the writer, and sometimes we conducted it jointly; at other times in successive years. On an eminence overlooking the grounds and the adjoining lake arose another Hall of Philosophy, like the one at Chautauqua, and all the Chautauqua customs were followed--C. L. S. C., Normal Cla.s.s, Children's Cla.s.ses, and the rest. The first President was the Rev. William R. Clark, who was instrumental in locating the a.s.sembly upon the ground of a camp meeting which it succeeded. It was continued for more than a generation, but at last succ.u.mbed to changing times. Perhaps it might have continued longer, if throughout its history it had not been enc.u.mbered by the debts of the former Camp Meeting a.s.sociation.

Our chapter has already grown beyond bounds. We would like to tell the stories of Monteagle, Tennessee, of Mount Dora, Florida, of De Funiak Springs, also in Florida, of the Arkansas and Dakota and Southern California a.s.semblies. In fifteen years after Chautauqua began there were nearly a hundred a.s.semblies, each independent of all the others, yet all in friendly relation to the oldest and greatest of them all, the mother--Chautauqua by the Lake.

CHAPTER XXV

YOUNGER DAUGHTERS OF CHAUTAUQUA

WE have seen how Chautauquas sprung up throughout the land, inspired by the example of the original a.s.sembly beside the lake. All these were independent, arranging their own programs and securing their own speakers. Chautauqua never took a copyright upon the name or a patent for the idea. It was natural, however, for many of these a.s.semblies to combine their interests, for it soon found that half a dozen Chautauquas in the same section could save expenses by employing the same group of speakers and pa.s.sing them on from one gathering to another. There were already lyceum bureaus offering lecturers and entertainers. At first the a.s.semblies secured a few of their speakers from these offices, and after a few years their entire programs were arranged in conjunction with the bureaus. Finally the lyceum agencies began to organize and conduct a.s.semblies directly, and thus the Chautauqua circuit or the system of a Chautauqua chain was developed. One office in Chicago, the Redpath Bureau, is said to conduct three thousand Chautauqua a.s.semblies every year, others have charge of a thousand apiece, while there are lesser chains of fifty, twenty-five or a dozen a.s.semblies. I have been officially informed that in the year 1919, ten thousand chain Chautauquas were held in the United States and Canada. They are to be found everywhere, but their most popular field is in the Middle West, where "the Chautauqua" is expected every year by the farming communities. These bureaus and the "talent" which they employ have been combined in an organization for mutual interest, to avoid reduplication in the same locality, to secure their workers and arrange their programs. This is named the International Lyceum and Chautauqua a.s.sociation, holding an annual convention at which the organizers and the partic.i.p.ants upon the programs come face to face and form their engagements. The circuit system has arisen largely through economic causes; the saving of expense by efficient organization, the elimination of long railroad jumps from a.s.sembly to a.s.sembly, guarantee of continuous engagement to attractive speakers, better publicity, and the concentration of responsibility. It is found that the most successful Chautauquas are held, not in cities, nor even in large towns, but in the smaller places. The town of a thousand, or even one as small as five hundred inhabitants, during its annual Chautauqua week will rally from the farms and hamlets two thousand people to hear a popular lecture, five or seven thousand during the week. In each place an advance agent appears, interviews the business men, the ministers, and the heads of any clubs or improvement societies, and obtains pledges of support by the sale of a definite number of tickets. College boys make up the tent crews; a Scout Master organizes the Boy Scouts; and trained experts arrange for the advertising. The "morning-hour men" give lectures in courses of uplifting nature on civic and national questions; the popular features of the program are supplied by entertainers, musical troupes, bands, artists, and dramatic companies. It is a fact of deeper significance than many recognize that political leaders find here the greatest forum for their messages. Many of these orators receive more than fees for their speeches; they come near the heart of the people, they reach their const.i.tuencies and disseminate their views more widely than through any other agency. Some political reformers have won not only prominence, but power through these chain Chautauquas.