_Fourth Week_ (ending February 28).—1. “College Greek Course,” from page

154 to 187.

2. “Chemistry,” chapter VIII.

3. “How to Help the Poor,” from page 92 to 125.

4. “The Circle of Sciences” and “Huxley on Science,” in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

5. Sunday Readings for February 22, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.

PROGRAMS FOR LOCAL CIRCLE WORK.

FIRST WEEK IN FEBRUARY.

1. Essay—The Life of Plato.

2. Selection—“Translators of Homer.” From the “Prose Writings of William

Cullen Bryant,” vol. ii.

3. Fifteen minutes’ talk on Home Decoration.

4. Select Reading—Extracts from the Life of Pericles, found in “The Young

Folks’ Plutarch.”

Music.

5. Essay—Lavoisier and the Phlogiston Theory

[In the “History of the Inductive Sciences,” by Whewell, a good reference

will be found.]

6. What we have all seen (mentally, perhaps,) at New Orleans this week.

[Reports being made by each one of what he has read, heard or witnessed.]

7. Report of Critic, who is to be appointed at the beginning of the

evening, and who is to note and correct all mistakes.

MONTHLY PROGRAM.

1. Roll call—Quotations from Æschylus, taken from the “College Greek

Course.”

2. Essay—Socrates.

3. Select Reading—“Valentine’s Day.” By Charles Lamb. [Found in his

“Elia.”]

Music.

4. A General Talk on Huxley and his Teachings. [Let each one come

prepared to read or tell something about him.]

5. Essay—The Greek Drama.

6. Debate—Resolved, that it is wrong to feed tramps.

FOUNDER’S DAY—FEBRUARY 23.

“He tried the luxury of doing good.”

Music.

1. Roll-call—Quotations on the Companionship of Books.

2. Essay—New Departures in Education.

[Reference can be made to Pestalozzi, Froebel, Col. Parker, and others.]

Music.

3. Recitation—Alone with My Conscience.

[Found in THE CHAUTAUQUAN for October, 1884.]

4. A Paper on the Chautauqua Institutions.

Music.

5. Select Reading—Proper Method of Employing Time. By Addison.

6. A _Conversazione_—Subject: What Chautauqua has done for me. [Entered

into informally by all members of the circle.]

Music.

LONGFELLOW’S DAY—FEBRUARY 27.

“High as our hearts he stood.”

1. Roll call—Quotations from Longfellow.

2. Let several members who have been appointed beforehand give brief

accounts of different periods of the poet’s life, such as: His early

life, his years in college, his life as a college professor, his travels

abroad, his literary work, his home in the Craigie House, and his love

for children.

Music.

3. Recitation—“The Hanging of the Crane.”

4. Select Reading—Extracts from “Outre-Mer.”

Music.

5. Essay—Longfellow’s Characteristics as a Writer.

6. Recitation—“The Poet and the Children.” By John G. Whittier.

7. A Paper—The Tributes to Longfellow by Eminent Men and Women.

8. An analytical study of the poem “Sandalphon.”

* * * * *

A delightful Longfellow entertainment may be arranged from “Evangeline”

or “Miles Standish.” The poem chosen should be carefully cut so as not to

require more than an hour for reading. Let a good reader be chosen, and

as he reads let the most picturesque and striking passages be represented

by tableaux.

Help in preparing programs for Longfellow’s Day may be found in the

following articles: _The Century_, June, 1882, “Henry Wadsworth

Longfellow,” poem; _The Century_, October, 1883, “Longfellow;” _The

Century_, November, 1878, “Henry Wadsworth Longfellow;” Allibone’s

“Dictionary of Authors;” Griswold, “Poets and Poetry of America;”

Duyckinck, “Cyclopædia of American Literature,” vol. ii.; _North American

Review_, January 1840, July 1842, July 1845, and January 1848; _Fraser’s

Magazine_, March 1848; _British Quarterly Review_ for January and

April 1864; _The Literary World_, vol. xii., No. 5; “Homes of American

Authors,” by George William Curtis; “American Classics for Schools,” vol.

i; “Longfellow Leaflets”—these convenient little slips have been prepared

for schools, but will be found very useful for large circles. They may be

had of Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Mass.

LOCAL CIRCLES.

C. L. S. C. MOTTOES.

“_We Study the Word and the Works of God._”—“_Let us keep our Heavenly

Father in the Midst._”—“_Never be Discouraged._”

C. L. S. C. MEMORIAL DAYS.

1. OPENING DAY—October 1.

2. BRYANT DAY—November 3.

3. SPECIAL SUNDAY—November, second Sunday.

4. MILTON DAY—December 9.

5. COLLEGE DAY—January, last Thursday.

6. SPECIAL SUNDAY—February, second Sunday.

7. FOUNDER’S DAY—February 23.

8. LONGFELLOW DAY—February 27.

9. SHAKSPERE DAY—April 23.

10. ADDISON DAY—May 1.

11. SPECIAL SUNDAY—May, second Sunday.

12. SPECIAL SUNDAY—July, second Sunday.

13. INAUGURATION DAY—August, first Saturday after first

Tuesday; anniversary of C. L. S. C. at Chautauqua.

14. ST. PAUL’S DAY—August, second Saturday after first Tuesday;

anniversary of the dedication of St. Paul’s Grove at Chautauqua.

15. COMMENCEMENT DAY—August, third Tuesday.

16. GARFIELD DAY—September 19.

One of the most profitable half hours of the local circle evening is

that spent in general conversation on a particular topic. It furnishes

a practice which is of incalculable value. At the same time it is not

possible to put a number on a program of which it is more difficult to

make a perfect success. Of course many circles have learned the art of

talking. At SHILOH, N. Y., the “Atlantic” circle of sixteen members, a

busy, prosperous organization, to introduce variety into their programs,

often hold a “meeting of informal conversation,” but very many of us can

not succeed. At the root of our trouble lies that totally false idea

that the ability to converse is the gift of a few. When leaders suggest

a _conversazione_ the difficulties presented seem almost insurmountable.

The members contend that they can not talk; they will not try; they urge

that while history and science make excellent studies, they are too

“heavy” for conversation; they fly the subject and intrude a chit-chat

which totally destroys serious conversation. Some time ago we saw

successfully tried in a circle of about twenty members, the following

method for cultivating conversation: The subject was introduced by the

leader in a brief and earnest talk. He showed the barrenness of ideas

and the lack of fine and exact expression in our social converse. He

urged the possibility and the duty of every one becoming an entertaining

talker. An interest was thoroughly aroused, and a vote was carried by

the society to devote a half hour to talking on subjects suggested by

the C. L. S. C. readings. Each member promised to confine himself to

the subject, to come prepared to follow the whole subject, and to give

particular items on certain points. Members were bound to ask questions,

to look up pictures to illustrate, anecdotes to enliven and wise words

to enforce the points brought out. They learned to talk, and to talk on

worthy subjects. Their experience soon grew to be a little like that

which happened to a member of the HOLLISTER, CALIFORNIA, circle. A lady

meeting her, remarked: “I am getting jealous of those Chautauquans, for

if two of them meet they can talk of nothing but those old Greeks.”

Our friends grew to talk so well that a lady, applying for admission,

said: “I want to join your society, for it seems to me that a society

which inspires so much intelligent conversation must be very valuable.”

Every circle of the C. L. S. C. which has had experience in this work

should lend to others its ideas and suggestions. But now let us turn

to something which is much easier to chat over than are methods for

improving ourselves in conversation—our circles.

NOVA SCOTIA gives no hint in its report from the HALIFAX C. L. S. C.

of the bleakness which we usually associate with its stormy northern

coast. This Halifax circle announces itself in a flourishing condition,

with a regular membership of fifteen and with twenty or thirty regular

attendants. The growth of the work in Nova Scotia is apparent to them and

they look for an addition of many members soon. Already the number of

members in Nova Scotia is nearly double that of last year.

At the extreme eastern point of MAINE, in the pretty village of LUBEC,

the “Pansies” have taken root. The busy little “Quoddy” circle of eight

members forms the nucleus around which, we trust, will collect a future

legion of as interested members as are our present friends.——Another

Pine-Tree state town, BROWNFIELD, has a circle reading its third year’s

course. It would be difficult, they think, to find more enthusiastic

workers.——On the southern point of the beautiful Moosehead Lake, in the

town of GREENVILLE, a circle of “Plymouth Rocks” was founded in November,

1884. The class express increasing interest in their readings, and are

confident of a large growth in numbers during the year. The “North Star”

is the pretty name they have chosen for their circle.

NEW HAMPSHIRE sends two year-old circles to our columns this month.

One from TILTON reorganized last fall with twenty-four members. They

meet fortnightly and remember all the memorial days. May their name,

“Winnipisaukee,” prove auspicious, and the “smile of the Great Spirit”

be ever with them.——The “St. Paul” circle, which was organized in the

fall of 1883, at MANCHESTER, N. H., but not reported to THE CHAUTAUQUAN,

was reorganized last fall with a membership of thirty-seven. They have

in the circle twenty-one of the class of ’88, while only five are of the

class of ’87—a proof that the “Chautauqua Idea” is growing in favor. They

prepare interesting programs consisting of essays, readings, talks, etc.

Also, they use the “Chautauqua Songs,” and find them a great help.

The circle at PLAINFIELD, VERMONT, consists of fourteen hard working

members and is in its first year. They find great enjoyment in their

reading. Last November, the loss by death of one of their most active and

loved members, Mrs. F. A. Drinell, threw a shadow over their circle, but

they have persisted in their work.——To the numbers of pretty programs

which have come to our table has been added a neatly painted one from

RUTLAND, VT., a souvenir of the Milton Memorial Reception held by the

“Alpha” branch of the C. L. S. C. This entertainment was very highly

complimented by the local press.

A member of the “Mizpah” circle of NEW BEDFORD, MASS., pays a very high

compliment to the character of that circle’s work. He writes that he has

learned more of Greek history and literature in the four meetings which

their circle had held when he wrote, than in all the time he gave last

year to solitary study. Certainly the circle must be accomplishing its

design of doing “solid work.” Nor are their numbers, though but six,

a drawback. A small circle, if perfectly congenial, has some strong

advantages.——Last month EAST WEYMOUTH, MASS., reported the circle which

has had such a vigorous growth this year. Now we hear of a new circle

in the sister city of SOUTH WEYMOUTH, and very soon we may hope to do

something more than formally introduce our new friend.——The “Parker

Hill” local circle, of BOSTON, organized in September, 1883, has become

so much interested in the circles which month after month send their

greetings and their suggestions to THE CHAUTAUQUAN’S columns, that it

joins our number. Very glad we are to present it—the only circle, so

far as we remember, composed entirely of young men. Thirteen of them

form this club, all of them connected with the Highland Congregational

Church, of which the Rev. A. E. Dunning, the honored president of the

“Plymouth Rocks,” has been pastor. A particularly happy suggestion, it

seems to us, is contained in a special feature of their program. They

require each member to suggest at each meeting, in writing, some subject

for the next meeting’s program. These suggestions being read by the

president, the circle selects from them a sufficient number of topics to

occupy the allotted time. The subjects are then assigned to the various

members.——From two other Massachusetts circles come pleasant letters. One

from CAPE COD says: “We call ourselves the ‘Seaside’ circle, and our name

is very appropriate, for ‘the sea’ lies both east and south of us. We are

located in the ‘elbow’ of the ‘right arm’ of Massachusetts, and scarce

an hour in our lives passes that we do not feel the invigorating breezes

of the Atlantic Ocean. At present we number fourteen regular and three

local members, one ’85, four ’87s, and the rest ’88s. Our enthusiasm is

great, and, as is the experience of every local circle, increases with

every meeting.”——And another from FALMOUTH: “Our ‘Neptune’ circle is

prosperously started this year with twenty-three active members. We are

encouraged, as this is more than double our last year’s membership. We

try to keep the line of study for each evening separate, one evening

being devoted to science, another to Greek. Last week we took up the

‘Iliad,’ different members giving five-minute sketches of its gods and

heroes. At other meetings we have had successful experiments in carbon

and hydrogen. Our local badges bear the letters C. L. S. C., with the

trident, the symbol of our circle.” With this letter the writer sends a

bit of experience which is very interesting. “Last summer,” she writes,

“while visiting the ‘Morning Star,’ as she lay at the wharf before

starting on her noble life work, I found the C. L. S. C. books in the

captain’s library. I never before so fully realized the bond of sympathy

between Chautauquans. Mrs. Bray, the captain’s wife, told me that she and

her husband belonged to the class of ’85. They take the readings together

while far out on the deep.”

CONNECTICUT has a goodly array of items for the month. NORWICH sends us

several of its capital programs; peculiarly attractive is the one for

Milton’s Day.——BRISTOL reports a circle of twenty-four members, organized

in October last, and boasts, most justly, of ten school teachers in

its ranks. All the regular work arranged for circles they have been

performing, and report most pleasant special meetings on Bryant and

Milton Days.——WINSTED has sent us a New Year greeting. A happy circle

they are, with their enormous membership of sixty-one members, and “not

one lazy one in our ranks,” the secretary writes.——At NEW BRITAIN the

Milton Day service was very pleasant. The professor of English literature

in the State Normal School gave a talk on Milton, and the evening closed

with a question match.

The plan of reviewing each work read has been adopted at BRISTOL, R. I.

An unusually interesting review was prepared on the “Art of Speech.” The

epitome which the writer gives of the opening chapter will not only be

interesting, it may serve to disentangle some one’s ideas on the puzzling

growth of English:

With Chapter first our toil begins,

’Tis like a penance for our sins

To try to read it over.

We read it once, we read it twice,

With close attention read it thrice,

Its meaning to discover.

We find, at last, that English speech

Through long succeeding years, doth reach

Back to primeval ages.

From Aryan root it sprang at first—

How long ago, tell us who durst—

And grew by easy stages.

Teutonic trunk and German branch

And Saxon twig grew strong and stanch,

And Norman foliage crowned it;

From Latin grafts it gained new strength

And from Greek scions, too, at length

Grew thrifty leaves around it.

The fruits upon the wondrous tree,

If we should test, we soon should see

Have many foreign flavors.

From Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese,

Italian, Indian, and Chinese,

Have they derived their savors.

The “Knowledge Seekers,” of JAMESTOWN, R. I., form a new circle. Until

this year they were a branch of the local circle in NEWPORT, but as six

members were added they have formed a circle of their own.——“Pawcatuck”

local circle, of the ’88 class, C. L. S. C., was organized September

23, 1884, in the village of CAROLINA, a small manufacturing place in

southern Rhode Island. The circle has now twenty-four members and meets

weekly. Considering the fact that there are only about 375 inhabitants

in the place, in all, and that fully one half of this number are mill

operatives, the size of the circle is remarkable. The members are all

thoroughly interested in the work, and are taking hold of it in a very

commendable manner.

From all directions throughout NEW YORK STATE good news of growing

circles reaches us. Away up north, in JEFFERSON COUNTY, in the village of

ADAMS, there has been organized “a real live C. L. S. C.” It is modeled

on the broad Chautauquan platform, and has three churches represented

in its officers. The program of their Bryant Memorial Day exercises was

a model of happily chosen selections, and we learn from the columns of

their local paper that it was as happily rendered.——A very profitable

plan of assigning subjects is followed at KINGSTON, N. Y., in their

circle of seven members. Each member is given, at the beginning of the

year, a subject from the C. L. S. C. readings, to which he devotes his

entire attention; thus our correspondent writes that during last year

she furnished outlines and questions upon the subject of “Art,” and that

this year her theme is “Kitchen Science and Art.” We like the plan.——In

the pleasant town of MOUNT KISCO, not far from New York City, there

is a circle which dates back to a public meeting in the interests of

the C. L. S. C. held by one of the pastors of the town, in the fall of

1882. A thriving circle of the class of 1886 still exists there. Their

plan of work is very comprehensive, including Chautauqua music, general

discussions, essays and social observance of the special days.——The

ITHACA, N. Y., C. L. S. C. has a membership of forty-six of the classes

of ’85, ’86, ’87 and ’88. The meetings, held bi-monthly, are full of life

and interest. They observe memorial days generally. One of their most

active members has moved to CAZENOVIA, N. Y., Mrs. Rev. H. F. Spencer,

vice president. She writes: “Our circle, here, is in embryo—think

how prosy to come down to a circle of three or four.”——The NEWFIELD

circle of fifteen members was organized last fall, and held their

meetings every Friday evening. Their president, the Rev. W. H. Rogers,

is a graduate of the class of ’82.——In an interesting letter from the

president of a circle at BINGHAMTON, N. Y., we have found some very good

hints. He says: “Here in Binghamton our circle numbers twenty. We call

ourselves the ‘F. F. F.’ circle, from our motto: ‘Fortiter, fideliter,

feliciter’—bravely, faithfully, successfully. Two things our programs

all include: First, devotional exercises, remembering that ‘we study the

_Word_’ as well as ‘the works of God.’ We use the Chautauqua hymns, all

singing together and greatly enjoy it. Secondly, roll call. This is one

of our most interesting exercises. We respond by quotations from one or

more authors, specially designated for the evening, and keep a record of

every quotation given. In this way we are compiling what promises to be

a very interesting book of choice quotations. Our members are very much

in earnest, and every meeting finds them all present.”——The history of

one of the circles at OLEAN, N. Y., has been sent us by its secretary:

“The ‘Whitney’ circle (Baptist) was so named in honor of the venerable

Dr. Whitney, one of the fathers of the First Baptist Church. This circle

was organized in the fall of 1883, with a membership of thirty. This

fall we have reorganized, with a membership that bids fair to double

that of last year. Each member, in alphabetical order, takes part in the

exercises, and are nearly all active workers. Our meetings open with the

‘Chautauqua Songs,’ followed by the roll call, each member answering with

an apt quotation from the readings. Our program then consists of a drill

on subjects gone over in the readings for the past two weeks. Two essays,

on subjects in harmony with the readings, are read each evening. We also

have interesting scientific experiments conducted by Dr. S. J. Mudge, a

scientist of this city. We have introduced a novel feature called the

‘Tug of War,’ in which sides are chosen in spelling-down style, and

questions asked on a book which has been completed. Guesses at the Greek

alphabet and Greek words are also features of our programs. We also

observe some of the memorial days. Last summer our superintendent, the

Rev. MacClymont, secured Chancellor Vincent to lecture for us. We invited

the M. E. circle, and had a splendid lecture. Taken altogether, we may

say our circle is in a prosperous and flourishing condition.”

The KEYSTONE STATE is in no way behind New England and its EMPIRE

neighbor this month in reports. From CONNELSVILLE, on the banks of the

Youghiogheny, comes a hearty greeting to all C. L. S. C. classmates.

It is from the sturdy “Spartans,” of the class of ’88. The circle,

organized on Opening Day, numbered at its start twenty-four members.

The “Athenian” circle of ’86 and the “Pansy” circle of ’87 proposed a

consolidation of forces; so large was the circle that a public meeting

place was necessary. The best talent of the city is in the circle, and

to belong to its rank is a good recommendation wherever the circle is

known.——At MOUNT PLEASANT, PA., a circle was formed in October consisting

of fifty-one members, all but four of which belong to the class of ’88.

They promise us a full report when fairly started in their work.——A

friend at VERONA, PA., writes: “Our name is the ‘Verona Resolutes,’ our

age two months, our number fifteen. We owe our existence to the fact

that three of our new members attended Chautauqua Lake Assembly, and one

Mountain Lake Park Assembly, where they caught the C. L. S. C. fever,

and upon returning home spread the disease until fifteen are found upon

the fever list. We are enjoying it, though, and hope our recovery will

be slow, if _recovery_ means loss of interest.”——WEST PHILADELPHIA has

a new circle—the “Parsonage” circle. They number six and promise to try

to increase their list. No doubt their efforts will succeed, the present

circle being due to the efforts of three members who last year read

alone.——The _Elizabeth Herald_, of ELIZABETH, PA., contained recently

the following pleasant notice of the circle in that town: “CHAUTAUQUA

CIRCLE.—This flourishing institution is pursuing a course of study and

research and enjoying an exchange of ideas, which is a veritable reveling

in intellectual and social pleasures, unknown to many of the community

whose congenial tastes and capabilities would, if properly directed

and cultured, lead them to a sharing of these delights, so far above

the frivolities too common to young life. For instance, at the regular

meeting of this week, in addition to the regular quiz and discussion of

the set topics, the Milton Memorial Day was observed with services of

an appropriate nature. The evening was a most pleasant one throughout,

and after the regular program was concluded the members, loth to leave,

remained, singing and talking in pleasant, informal fashion, for some

time.”——We are pleased to notice here, a kindly compliment to the

president of the flourishing circle of thirty at WASHINGTON, Professor

Lyon, of Washington and Jefferson College. Our friend says of him: “In

our studies in chemistry, etc., we have the benefit of his knowledge and

skill, and obliging disposition, for he always carries from the college

to our rooms the apparatus needed for explanation and experiment.” This

circle held a “sociable” on the evening of December 11th, each member

inviting a friend. It was an enjoyable affair and may be the means of

adding members.——In kind remembrance of Mary Vincent, the mother of

Chancellor Vincent, the members of the C. L. S. C. at PETERSBURG, PA.

have named their circle the “Mary Vincent” circle—a peculiarly fitting

tribute, Mrs. Vincent having been well known and deeply honored by many

Chautauquans in that vicinity.

The CINCINNATI, OHIO, members of the S. H. G. held their yearly reception

to the new class, in the pleasant parlor of the First Presbyterian

Church, in October. The “Irrepressibles” were right royally received. The

president of the society, Mr. J. G. O’Connell, welcomed the class into

the society. The following were the toasts, to which hearty responses

were given: “The Class of ’82;” “Class of ’83;” “Class of ’84;” “The

Founder of the C. L. S. C.—Chancellor J. H. Vincent;” “Chautauqua, the

Mecca of the C. L. S. C.;” “Cincinnati Circles;” “Chautauqua Music.” The

musical part of the program was unusually fine. The collation was a part

of the program in which every one present took part. The following are

the officers for the ensuing year: President, Mr. J. G. O’Connell, ’82:

vice presidents: Class of ’82, Mrs. M. J. Pyle; class of ’83, Mrs. I. W.

Joyce; class of ’84, Miss Sarah Trotter; recording secretary, Miss Julia

Kolbe; corresponding secretary, Mr. M. S. Turrill; treasurer, Miss Selina

Wood. The society separated brimful of enthusiasm for the success of the

C. L. S. C. Bryant’s Day was celebrated by the Cincinnati circles at the

Third Presbyterian Church. Mr. S. Logan presided. Among the excellent

things on the program were an essay on W. C. Bryant, by Mr. J. A.

Johnson, a piano solo by Miss Belle Burnham, and a recitation, “Waiting

by the Gate,” by Miss Nellie Allan. A union vesper service was held by

the circles at Grace M. P. Church, on the Special Sunday, November 9th.

The service was conducted by the Rev. Mr. Spohr, of Grace Church, and Dr.

Ridgeway, of Mount Auburn, gave a very fine address upon “Praise.” This

being the “Greek” year in the C. L. S. C. course, the various circles

have added to their names that letter of the Greek alphabet which will

indicate their rank in order of organization.——The local circle of MOUNT

PLEASANT, OHIO, came into existence in October of 1883. The circle has

the usual officers, and meets twice a month at the homes of the members.

The enrollment is nineteen, with a large average attendance. They have

local talent enlisted, and the meetings are instructive and interesting.

The work of 1883 and 1884 was thoroughly accomplished.

One new circle enters the list this month from FRIENDSWOOD, IND. It

is formed of twelve members—enthusiastic and brave they must be, for

they report themselves as living in the country several miles apart.

Not only are they overcoming the difficulty of regular meetings under

these circumstances, they are contemplating enlisting others in their

work.——Another zealous INDIANA circle is at CORYDON. It is a year old,

and believes itself to have done better work than any other circle in the

country, an assertion that their method warrants, for they have adopted

the novel plan of a C. L. S. C. school, where one member is appointed to

hear the lesson and every other comes prepared to recite. Our Corydon

friends gave a delightful Milton reception to over thirty guests.——The

C. L. S. C. local circle of FORT WAYNE began its fifth year’s work on

Garfield Day—officers were elected, and seventeen new members added.

The subjects under consideration are conducted in a conversational

manner. One evening was devoted to chemistry, with highly interesting

and successful experiments given by the leader, who is professor of

science at the M. E. College. They have held one “Sunday Evening Vesper

Service,” which proved such an inspiration that they purpose having more.

“At the age of five years,” they write, “we are truly ‘Irrepressible,’

‘Invincible,’ and as firm and steady as old Plymouth Rock itself.”

Altogether “we are a live and enthusiastic circle, possessed with the

true ‘Chautauqua Idea.’”

A letter received from a lady well known to readers of THE CHAUTAUQUAN,

Mrs. E. J. Bugbee, says of a circle lately started at EVANSTON, ILL.: “I

am happy to report from this glorious Athens of the West a flourishing

circle of the C. L. S. C., organized on the first Monday evening in

November, and numbering now between forty and fifty members. We have

started out with an enthusiasm which we hope will not abate, and indeed

we do not expect it to do so under our present fortunate leadership.

We have for president Mr. Weeden A. Sawyer, of this place. He presides

with dignity and ease, and carries forward the business of the circle

with promptness and dispatch. We are also happy in our instructor, the

Rev. F. Clatworthy, pastor of the Baptist church of Evanston, who shows

wonderful adaptation for this work, and is heartily in sympathy with

the Chautauqua Idea, and endeavors closely to follow out the plan for

local circles.”——At HINSDALE, ILL., a circle was organized in the fall

of 1882. The circle was conducted in a very informal manner, having but

one officer—secretary—“each member taking her turn as leader, and our

exercises were merely the discussions of the past week’s reading. In the

fall of 1883 we again organized, this time admitting gentlemen, electing

a president and secretary, and taking to ourselves a name, ‘The Alpha

Chautauqua Circle.’ Our membership increased to eighteen. Meeting every

Monday evening, our exercises were the same as during the preceding year.

We celebrated three of the memorial days, which proved not only pleasant

and interesting, but very instructive. This last fall our Chautauquans

were so enthusiastic that the first meeting was called for September

4th. We reorganized with only nine members; since then have admitted two

more. If it can be possible, our work this year seems more interesting

than ever. We continue to meet weekly, and have now decided to take one

text-book, or one month’s reading in THE CHAUTAUQUAN at a time, finishing

one subject before taking up another; thinking thereby to obtain a better

understanding of the same. Shall also use the questions and answers in

THE CHAUTAUQUAN, said lessons to be conducted the same as a spelling

match. The members respond to the roll call with appropriate quotations,

thus far from Greek authors. We have been too busy to observe the

memorial days this year, otherwise than by quotations from the author in

question. Two of our circle are members of the ‘Pansy’ class. One of our

number graduated last year, who is now an honorary member of the local

circle, acting as critic; and we shall have one graduate this year.”

A genuine proof of good work is this bit of experience from TECUMSEH,

MICH.: “At the beginning of this year,” the president writes, “we members

of ’86 reviewed thoroughly our Greek history for the benefit of those

of our circle belonging to the classes of ’87 and ’88. We were highly

gratified with the proficiency of the class of ’86. How well we remember

two years ago the despondency of many of the members at the hard Greek

words, and now they pronounce them with ease and fluency. Any one would

have been convinced of the benefits of the C. L. S. C. who could have

listened to those reviews of Greek history.”——The Bryant memorial was

very pleasantly observed by the local circle of ESCANABA, MICH. Mrs. W.

H. Tibbals, ’86, invited the members to dinner at 6 o’clock. Nine of the

members were present. After the repast, at which each member present

received as a souvenir a pallet painted by the hostess, the literary

feast was enjoyed. Select reading, “Early Life of the Author;” selection,

“The Rivulet;” selection, “The Autumn Woods;” essay, Bryant and his

Contemporaries; selection, “The Planting of the Apple Tree;” selection,

“The Crowded Street;” essay, Bryant, the Poet; analytical study of the

“West Wind;” questions prepared by the president.

Sad news and a beautiful tribute to the C. L. S. C. come to us from

WAUPAN, WIS., whence the secretary writes: “Our C. L. S. C. opens this

year with added enthusiasm in its membership, and an increasing number.

The Bryant Memorial Day was observed in a fitting manner by sentiments,

readings, discussion, and a biographical sketch, all bearing upon the

great poet. The selections and topics were in accord with our feelings,

as we had just met with our first loss since organizing five years ago,

in the death of one of our youngest and brightest members, Mrs. Jennie

Weed Hinkley. As we review the life of our beloved sister, we can see

a symmetry and beauty of character that needed no further lights and

shades. Our studies make us better mothers and housekeepers, better

able to take our places in the prayer meeting, better able to guide our

children, and to understand the work they do in the school room.”——The

“Pansy” class of SPARTA, WIS., also sends its greetings to all the

members of the People’s College. A friend telling the story of the

circle says: “Our little Spartan class passed through the first year

of its existence without a break in the circle, and profiting by the

favorable circumstances, observed among others, Shakspere Memorial Day

with more than the ordinary preparation, closing with a basket picnic,

served at the house of one of the members. This year, however, sickness

has overtaken two of the members, and one still remains an invalid;

nevertheless, our progress has been steady. We have observed Bryant’s and

Milton’s Days by interesting exercises.”

The C. L. S. C. is coming well to the front this year in ST. PAUL, MINN.

The year was begun by a lecture from Dr. Vincent on Monday evening,

October 6th, on the “Chautauqua Idea.” This aroused the enthusiasm of

the old Chautauquans and brought in a large addition of new members.

On Thursday evening, October 23d, the “Pioneer” circle was reorganized

with nineteen members, which have since become twenty-five. On Monday

evening, November 3d (Bryant Day), the “Canadian American” circle was

formed, with ten members. There have been at least four other circles

formed, with a membership of about eighty. On the evening of November

27th, Thanksgiving night, the “Pioneer” circle held its regular meeting

in the parlors of the First M. E. Church. All the other circles in the

city were represented, about eighty persons being present. Among the

other visitors they were delighted to welcome Prof. J. L. Corning, of

Ocean Grove, N. J., a name well known to all Chautauquans. His address

on the C. L. S. C. at Ocean Grove and the Chautauqua University was both

instructive and enjoyable. The program was in celebration of both Bryant

and Thanksgiving Days, and included essays on Bryant’s life and works and

the origin of Thanksgiving day, with selections from Bryant’s works and

Thanksgiving day poems. Altogether the evening was a very pleasant one.

They are making arrangements for forming a central circle somewhat after

the plan of the Toronto central circle and the Troy circle.

Three new circles are reported this month from IOWA. At WAPELLO a circle

of five members; at PARKERSBURG one of nine members; and at ELVIRA, one

of ten. Each reports the work as a delightful revelation, and expresses

the hope that they may be able to largely increase their numbers.——In

the fall of 1883 a circle was organized in MISSOURI VALLEY, IOWA. It

consisted of some fifteen members, some of whom, for want of time, failed

to do the reading. During the past year a number of the members left the

town, one of whom—President Sabine—graduated in the class of 1884. Though

the class is scattered, several are doing the reading.

We are always particularly glad to hear from the BLUE GRASS STATE,

perhaps because our friends there have not sent us frequent reports. This

month a friend writes of the circle at HARDENSBURG: “The C. L. S. C. of

this place is prosecuting its work with unabating energy and zeal. We

organized early in September, with eighteen members, that we might be

entirely ready for Opening Day. However, there was so much severe illness

in our town, and especially among some of the friends of our circle, that

it was late in the Circle year before we did anything more toward having

a meeting. When at last through the Father’s providence we were permitted

to meet again, we found that nearly every member had ‘read up’ to date.

We meet on Tuesday evening of each week and carry out the program as

furnished for each week in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. We keep each memorial day.”

Another Southern state to report is LOUISIANA. From LAKE PROVIDENCE this

letter comes: “We have twenty-two members between fifteen and twenty-one

years old. We meet once a week; at roll call each answers by reciting,

‘We study the Word and works of God,’ ‘Let us keep our Heavenly Father

in the midst,’ ‘Never be discouraged.’ We assign lessons from the C. L.

S. C. course for each week as given by THE CHAUTAUQUAN. In our class

the member who is most attentive, whose conduct is best, who learns the

lessons recited most thoroughly, is made president of the class. The

places of vice president, secretary, etc., are filled in this way. The

lessons which have been memorized by particular members, are learned at

their recital by the other members who were not appointed to learn these

lessons. In this way the work is done thoroughly, and for hours the

interest and enthusiasm do not cool; however, we change from one study to

another to prevent any from becoming monotonous. Nineteen members of our

circle are college students, but for the most of them this will be their

last year at school; so we are trying to fill them with the Chautauqua

spirit of learning, morality, truth and Christian worth, that it may

linger with them and develop them through all the future into strong

and true, noble and pure womanhood and manhood. Having established this

circle among the young, we are now working to originate one among the

grown. We talk of it a great deal in our social life; have induced eight

to become members of the C. L. S. C., and hope to largely increase the

numbers.”

SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI, sends the following interesting history: “In

October, 1883, a wave of Chautauqua enthusiasm reached our beautiful city

of the Ozarks. Through the influence of two or three energetic ladies,

it resulted in the organization of the ‘Queen City’ circle of the C. L.

S. C. The circle began with a membership of fifteen ladies, representing

eight religious denominations. Regular meetings were held once a week,

all the memorial days kept, and the year’s work finished in June. In

October, 1884, our circle was reorganized with the same officers. Our

members returned full of enthusiasm and ready for work. On Opening Day

we endeavored to lay before our new members and visitors—having opened

our doors to all interested—the object, the magnitude and the blessing

of the ‘Chautauqua Idea.’ Those interested, and others to whom the

‘Idea’ was entirely new caught the enthusiasm, and many applications for

membership were presented from both gentlemen and ladies. As the ‘Queen

City’ circle is a woman’s circle exclusively, holding its meetings in the

afternoon, it was thought best to organize another circle, to which both

ladies and gentlemen could be admitted. On Bryant’s Day the new circle

was formed, with a membership of thirty-one. Their meetings will be held

on Tuesday evening of each week. It is the intention of the two circles

to work together as closely as possible. The ‘Queen City’ circle meets

once a week in a pleasant parlor, which we owe to the courtesy of one

of our members. We study the readings for the week thoroughly. Topics

are assigned by our instruction committee a week in advance for special

study, greater research and more thought being thus brought to bear upon

the lesson. Criticism upon pronunciation, inaccuracies of speech, etc.,

is unsparingly given to all. We are trying to make thorough study of our

text-book on ‘Parliamentary Practice,’ and endeavor to observe all the

rules of a deliberative body. Our work is both profitable and delightful,

and I think it safe to say that our circle can never languish. Already

the ’87s are living in joyful anticipation of the day when they will be

permitted to pass beneath the Arches at Chautauqua.”——A word also comes

from KANSAS CITY. There are six circles there, the oldest of which is

the “Kansas City” circle, whose interest was so great that the weekly

meetings were kept up during last summer, without any vacation. October

1st, they reorganized, with a membership of twenty-five. Two graduates

are reading with this circle this year.

A pleasant account of work done in the interest of the C. L. S. C. has

reached our table from HIAWATHA, KANSAS. A graduate of the class of ’84

it comes from: “I have talked C. L. S. C. to my friends until I have

declared that it will soon be necessary for me to get a new tongue. I

went to our editor to-day and asked his assistance in spreading the work.

He has kindly consented to print whatever we wish. There are many things

in THE CHAUTAUQUAN that would enlighten the people concerning the C.

L. S. C.—what it is, and what it is doing—but the very ones who most

need this information do not take THE CHAUTAUQUAN. By the assistance of

our editor we can bring this knowledge to the people. I tell my friends

that I can not help being enthusiastic on this subject, because I am an

‘Irrepressible.’ A ‘Pioneer’ and an ‘Invincible’ moved to our town this

fall. Beside these we have a few ‘Progressives,’ ‘Pansies,’ and ‘Plymouth

Rocks.’ We meet in one of the offices in the court house for our regular

meetings—it being a more central point for all—but I invited the circle

to my home for a late meeting. I wished to show them the growth of

the Persian empire and Alexander’s dominions as pictured on Adams’s

‘Synchronological Chart.’ I bought one this summer at Chautauqua. Since

my return I made an easel for the chart of hard pine, open-mortised four

cross-pieces, on two of which I fastened the chart, and chamfered the

edges. The boards were ‘in the rough’ when I took them, but I smoothed

them, sand-papered and oiled them, then blackened the chamfered edges and

varnished the easel. Several carpenters have examined my work and all say

my joining is perfect and the work well done, and yet I never handled

tools until I went to Chautauqua last summer and took instructions.”——A

new circle has been organized at HARTFORD, KANSAS. It consists of

seventeen members, representing a variety of professions and employments.

The work has proven pleasant and profitable to them thus far.

Right glad we are to hear from NEBRASKA. A breezy letter comes from

the circle at YORK, in which the writer tells us: “We have twenty-four

members. We feel quite encouraged when we remember that we began last

year with only four. Nearly every meeting adds a new name to our roll.

Our members are all enthusiastic and in earnest, preferring to let

anything else go rather than miss one ‘C. L. S. C.’ I really think

nothing less than a ‘Nebraska blizzard’ or cyclone would keep some of our

members away. We pursued the Chautauqua plan of questions and answers

last year very successfully, and are proceeding in the same way this

year, although our programs vary according to the option of the leader.

Each member leads in the order his name stands on the secretary’s roll.

In this way the timid ones of our circle are brought out. We usually have

written questions on the readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN; they are either

handed to the secretary to be read, or exchanged. We are fortunate in

having a professor of our college as a member, and just now he is making

the study of chemistry very interesting and pleasant. We certainly do

appreciate our C. L. S. C.”

WYOMING TERRITORY is the western limit of our circle travels for

February. At CHEYENNE, the “J. L. Taylor” circle organized in 1883 has

reorganized with a membership of twelve. The secretary writes: “While we

are all young people, having many daily duties and cares, our interest in

Chautauqua steadily increases, as we feel it broadens our outlook over

the world, and draws us nearer and nearer to our ideal of a higher life.

We hope to be able to report much good work done in the future—as we feel

that we can not stop with only moderate endeavors.”

THE C. L. S. C. CLASSES.

CLASS OF 1885.

“_Press on, reaching after those things which are before._”

OFFICERS.

_President_—J. B. Underwood, Meriden, Conn.

_Vice President_—C. M. Nichols, Springfield, Ohio.

_Treasurer_—Miss Carrie Hart, Aurora, Ind.

_Secretary_—Miss M. M. Canfield, Washington, D. C.

_Executive Committee_—Officers of the class.

Class badges may be procured of either President or Treasurer.

* * * * *

The badges for ’85, phœnix-like, have risen from their ashes and can now

be furnished promptly.

* * * * *

President Underwood would be glad if circles composed of members of

the Class of ’85 would inform him of their existence and send name of

president and secretary, that he may visit them when possible.

* * * * *

A Canadian classmate writes: “I am prosecuting my studies in connection

with the C. L. S. C. all alone in a remote corner of our country, and

find my greatest pleasure in holding communion with the good and great of

the present and past ages. I am well pleased with the motto for our class

and hope to be among those who verify its appropriateness by passing

through the Gates next summer at Chautauqua.”

* * * * *

One member of ’85 writes: “Having just read the December column of ’85

in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, have concluded to show my enthusiasm by sending for

our colors.” We can all say amen to this: “Please place my name on the

roll of the Invincibles, and may God for dear Jesus’ sake help us all to

‘Press on, reaching after those things which are before.’”

* * * * *

Another says: “Although I was nearly fifty years of age when I commenced

study in this way, yet am greatly interested and love it more and more. I

hope to ‘press on, reaching after those things which are before,’ until I

can stand in the immediate presence of Him whom my soul loveth.”

* * * * *

From Kentucky comes this testimony: “I am hoping to be able, literally,

to ‘pass through the Gates’ next August and receive from Chancellor

Vincent my diploma. I was at Chautauqua in ’83, and will not be content

till I go again. My interest and enthusiasm increase as the four years

draw to a close. During this time I have pursued my studies alone, having

failed entirely to form even a ‘straight line’ in my neighborhood, five

miles from Versailles. Although I would doubtless have enjoyed being

connected with a circle, I know that studying the course, even alone, has

very greatly benefited me. One of these benefits, and by no means the

least, has been the increasing and strengthening of my taste for solid

reading.”

* * * * *

NEW YORK.—“I have often wished that I could express my gratitude for,

and appreciation of, my C. L. S. C. studies and associations, but when

I attempt it my list of adjectives seems all too meager and inadequate.

Since taking up the course, life and all that pertains to it assume a

different aspect. I have gained an outlook which gives life a charm and

attractiveness of which I had never dreamed. I had passed my forty-fifth

year when I comprehended the C. L. S. C. plan sufficiently to see that

it was for such illiterate people as I. The benefits I have received are

past computation.”

* * * * *

Our Class Memorial to our loved alma mater must not be forgotten. We

want to prepare for a memorial, a present worthy our _name_ and _aim_.

Fifty-five (55) names have up to this time been sent to the treasurer,

with contributions to the class fund (some sending more than the amount

requested). That is but a small beginning of the hundreds to hear from.

CLASS OF ’86.

“_We study for light, to bless with light._”

CLASS ORGANIZATION.

_President_—The Rev. B. P. Snow, Biddeford, Maine.

_Vice Presidents_—The Rev. J. C. Whitley, Salisbury, Maryland;

Mr. L. F. Houghton, Peoria, Illinois; Mr. Walter Y. Morgan,

Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Delia Browne, Louisville, Kentucky; Miss

Florence Finch, Palestine, Texas.

_Secretary_—The Rev. W. L. Austin, New Albany, Ind.

* * * * *

The officers of ’86 send greeting to their classmates and co-workers.

* * * * *

The new class badge will soon be ready to send out. The color of the

badge remains the same, but the class emblem and motto will be added.

* * * * *

From Colorado—Durango—comes this encouraging bit of class news: “We have

eleven members in our class and are pursuing our studies this winter with

unabated interest. Belonging to the class of ’86, we mean to be true

to the name ‘Progressives.’ We hold our meetings every Monday evening,

and follow the program laid out in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. There seems to be

a growing interest in the Chautauqua work, and we hope to have another

class organized in our little town before many months. The members of the

present class are busy workers, teachers, mothers and housekeepers, but

they have continued the course with increasing interest to this the third

year, and purpose finishing the full course.”

CLASS OF 1887.—“THE PANSIES.”

“_Neglect not the gift that is in thee._”

OFFICERS.

_President_—The Rev. Frank Russell, Mansfield, Ohio.

_Western Secretary_—K. A. Burnell, Esq., Chicago, Ill.

_Eastern Secretary_—J. A. Steven, M.D., Hartford, Conn.

_Treasurer_—Either Secretary, from either of whom badges may be

procured.

_Executive Committee_—The officers of the class.

Class paper may be procured from Mr. Henry Hart, Atlanta, Ga.

The Canadian Pansies are doing good work in the promotion of the

Chautauqua Idea.

* * * * *

The leaves swung lazily and slow,

The wind hummed low its reverie,

Chautauqua bells with loving chime

Pealed forth their sweetest melody.

Their quaint, weird music rolling on,

Mingling with heaven’s azure ray,

Enwrapped the earth with bright, new joy;

It was our “Pansies’” natal day.

Remembrance fond brings back the hour

When on our breast the pansy blue

We placed, with earnest, fervent prayer

That to its trust we might be true.

Again, again, and yet again,

Our widening circle grew apace;

And pansies bloomed on every side;

North, South and West each claimed a place.

And now a year with hurried tread,

Has paced its tiny cycle round,

Girdled with moments richly spent

In wanderings on classic ground.

Methinks we scarce could well have crowned

The year agone with richer gems

Than these bright visions of the past,

Tho’ culled from monarch’s diadems.

A goodly company our band—

Twice seven thousand now we claim;

And purpose with a royal love

Thro’ every land to spread its fame.

Tinted is the horizon’s rim

With wisdom’s deep, ethereal blue,

Yet all may reach its shining goal,

If firm their trust and true.

E’en though the path may rugged be,

And lengthening shadows bar the way,

Onward we’ll press with firmer zeal,

Knowing success shall crown the day.

* * * * *

The New England Branch of the Pansy class held its reunion November 28th

in the People’s Church in Boston. The first hour, from one to two p. m.,

was spent in social enjoyment. Prof. Sherwin then introduced himself

in one of his characteristic speeches and concluded by presenting the

New England president, the Rev. F. M. Gardner. He was unknown to many

of the members, as he was elected on the last day of the Framingham

Assembly, when many of the class had gone home. The president made an

appropriate and pleasing address. The secretary, Miss Corey, then read

her report. The pupils of the Boston Conservatory of Music, under the

direction of Prof. Sherwin, gave a delightful musical entertainment. At

the close of the musical program the Rev. J. W. Hamilton, pastor of the

church, addressed the class in a very happy and interesting manner.

A class poem was read by Miss Nell Robinson, of Lowell, Mass., which

finds its place in this Pansy column this month. After some business the

meeting was closed by singing a Chautauqua song. Nearly one hundred and

fifty were present at this meeting. During the session the secretary

called attention to the samples of class paper which had been sent on

from Atlanta by direction of the committee appointed at Chautauqua last

summer. The samples met the approval of those present.

CLASS OF 1888.—“THE PLYMOUTH ROCKS.”

“_Let us be seen by our deeds._”

CLASS ORGANIZATION.

_President_—The Rev. A. E. Dunning.

_Vice Presidents_—Prof. W. N. Ellis, 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 to the Rev. C. C. McLean,

Jacksonville, Florida.

* * * * *

The Class of ’88 will undoubtedly increase its numerical strength at the

Florida Chautauqua, to be held at Lake De Funiak, February 10th to March

9th, 1885.

* * * * *

Miss Ella Pearsall, the secretary, writes that in October a C. L. S. C.

was organized in Matteawau, New York, taking as its motto, “Labor and

Progress.”

* * * * *

One from New Haven, Conn., writes objecting to our name, “Plymouth Rock.”

* * * * *

Mrs. C. H. Pike, of New Haven, Conn., informs us that at one of their

meetings, they made successful experiments in chemistry, before a

delighted audience. Speaks well for our ’88s.

* * * * *

The Rev. H. L. Brickett, of Linnfield Center, Mass., class ’88, was

appointed as a committee of one to confer with the granite companies of

New England in regard to a base of granite for the proposed new Hall of

Philosophy at Chautauqua, and has been successful in having donated one

from the best granite, to be highly polished, bearing our name, monogram,

motto, and year of our class. It is valued at $100. We extend to him, in

the name of the “Plymouth Rocks,” the ’88s, more than thanks.

* * * * *

The Rev. Dr. Dunning, of Boston, has consented to deliver the address at

our first annual “spread” in August next.

* * * * *

Stationery and badges for ’88 may be secured of Henry Hart, Atlanta, Ga.

* * * * *

Good for ’88. In the eight or ten circles found in St. Paul, Minn., about

four fifths of the members are of the class of ’88.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “COLLEGE GREEK COURSE IN ENGLISH,” “CHEMISTRY,”

AND “HOW TO HELP THE POOR.”

BY A. M. MARTIN,

General Secretary C. L. S. C.

I.—TWENTY-FIVE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “COLLEGE GREEK COURSE IN

ENGLISH”—FROM PAGE 83 TO PAGE 187.

1. Q. Who is foremost among Greek philosophers? A. Socrates.

2. Q. Who is foremost of Greek philosophical writers? A. Plato.

3. Q. What four works have been the fruit, direct or indirect, of Plato’s

“Republic?” A. Cicero’s “De Republica,” St. Augustine’s “City of God,”

Sir Thomas More’s “Utopia,” and Bacon’s “New Atlantis.”

4. Q. In any just representation of Plato, who could not but be a very

conspicuous figure? A. Socrates.

5. Q. In the first extract given from Plato’s “Republic,” what does the

speaker, Glaucon, undertake to set forth for Socrates to overthrow?

A. A notion which he avers to be current and accepted among men, that

injustice is better policy than justice.

6. Q. From the discussion of the nature of justice and injustice, to what

does Plato make a very unexpected passage? A. To that form of discussion

which has given its name to the “Republic”—the ideal state.

7. Q. Who has recently made a scholarly and adequate translation of

Plato’s entire works into English? A. Mr. Jowett.

8. Q. How is the so-styled “Platonic love” defined in the “Republic?” A.

“A friend should use no other familiarity to his love than a father would

use to his son, and this only for a virtuous end, and he must first have

the other’s consent.”

9. Q. What was the “Socratic dæmon” to which Plato alludes in his

“Republic?” A. A benign and beneficent influence—a kind of divinity

within him that governed the conduct of Socrates.

10. Q. How is the Timæus of Plato described? A. As of all the writings

of Plato the most obscure and most repulsive to modern readers, while the

most influential of all over the ancient and mediæval world.

11. Q. What are some of the other best known works of Plato? A.

“The Laws,” the “Symposium,” the “Phædrus,” the “Gorgias,” and the

“Parmenides.”

12. Q. What is the name of the dialogue in which Plato tells of the end

of Socrates? A. The “Phædo.”

13. Q. What was the sentence of antiquity in regard to Plato? A. That

Zeus, if he had spoken Greek, would have spoken it like Plato.

14. Q. Who was a distinguished pupil of Plato? A. Aristotle, and in

influence on human thought he equaled and rivaled his master.

15. Q. How does our author state the difference between ancient tragedy

and modern, in a single antithetical sentence? A. Modern tragedy presents

real life idealized; ancient tragedy presents an ideal life realized.

16. Q. What did Greek tragedy have for its chief purpose? A. To teach.

17. Q. How were Greek tragedies represented? A. By daylight, in the

open air, before assemblages that numbered their tens of thousands of

spectators.

18. Q. What is said of the dress of the actors? A. The actors wore masks

on their faces and buskins on their feet. Beside this they wore a kind of

wig designed to make them look taller, and dressed with padding to make

them look larger.

19. Q. Who were the three masters of Greek tragedy? A. Æschylus,

Sophocles and Euripides.

20. Q. When and where was Æschylus born? A. In 525 B. C., in an Attic

village near Athens.

21. Q. In the present volume, from what tragedy of Æschylus are

selections presented? A. “Prometheus Bound.”

22. Q. Who was Prometheus? A. A mythical being of superhuman rank, who

stole fire from heaven and brought it to men. For this offense against

Zeus he was condemned to be chained alive to a rocky cliff in the

Caucasus.

23. Q. What other great tragic poet was contemporary with Æschylus? A.

Sophocles.

24. Q. From what masterpiece of Sophocles are the selections of the

present volume made? A. “Œdipus Tyrannus, or Œdipus the King.”

25. Q. How is this tragedy considered by, perhaps, the majority of

qualified critics? A. To be not only the best work of Sophocles, but the

“bright, consummate flower” of all Greek tragedy.

II.—TWENTY-FIVE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “CHEMISTRY”—FROM BEGINNING OF

BOOK TO PAGE 84.

26. Q. Of what does chemistry treat? A. All kinds of material substances.

27. Q. What is said of the number of the various kinds of matter already

existing on our earth? A. The number is so great that the various kinds

have never been so much as counted, much less described, in any list or

volume.

28. Q. Of what are all things known to chemists made up? A. A few simple

substances, either existing alone or in richly various combinations.

29. Q. What are called chemical elements, and what compounds? A. The

simplest substances when alone are called the chemical elements, or

elementary substances; the things resulting when different elements are

united are called compounds.

30. Q. What does the two-fold character of chemical study involve? A.

First, the examination of elementary substances and their compounds.

Second, a consideration of the many general and special laws and forces

which determine the various possible combinations.

31. Q. How many elementary substances are there now generally recognized

as such? A. Sixty-six.

32. Q. About how many of the elements possess names that are familiar to

ordinary readers? A. About one sixth of them.

33. Q. Of what two elementary substances is it probable that three

fourths of our globe is composed? A. Of oxygen one half, and of silicon

one fourth.

34. Q. What general name is given to most of the elements? A. Metals.

35. Q. What symbol and what weight has each element? A. An atomic symbol

and an atomic weight.

36. Q. How is an atom of each elementary substance designated? A. By a

symbol, usually the initial letter of the native or Latin name of the

substance.

37. Q. What are three properties an elementary substance accepted as a

metal should possess? A. It must possess the property of existing in a

solid condition; it should possess the metallic luster; and it should

possess the power and tendency to readily form a chemical union with

oxygen.

38. Q. What are called binary and what ternary compounds? A. Compounds

having only two kinds of elements are called binaries. Compounds having

three kinds of elements are called ternaries.

39. Q. What four binary compounds are given as examples? A. Hydric

chloride, sulphur di-oxide, sulphur tri-oxide, and plumbic oxide.

40. Q. Under what two heads are the principal ternaries grouped? A. Acids

and salts.

41. Q. What are the two principal ternary acids used by chemists? A.

Nitric acid and sulphuric acid.

42. Q. What is meant by the term atom? A. It is that portion of any kind

of matter that is to human beings indivisible in fact.

43. Q. With what invisible, occult power is each atom and each molecule

endowed? A. A power called chemical affinity.

44. Q. What are three of the peculiarities of chemical affinity? A.

Each kind of atom has its peculiar chemical affinities. Each atom has

a certain equivalence or atom-fixing power. Chemical changes produce

striking results.

45. Q. What is the most common way of producing hydrogen? A. By bringing

together sulphuric acid and zinc.

46. Q. What are some of the properties of hydrogen as a gas? A. It is

colorless, odorless, tasteless, and, bulk for bulk, it is the lightest

substance known in nature.

47. Q. What is the most interesting chemical property of hydrogen? A. Its

power to unite with oxygen.

48. Q. What is said of the uses to which hydrogen may be put? A. As an

elementary gas it finds but few applications in the arts.

49. Q. For what standards is hydrogen used by chemists? A. As the

standard of equivalence or atom-fixing power; the standard of atomic

weight, and the standard of density for gases.

50. Q. What did the remarkable lightness of hydrogen early suggest? A.

The fitness of that gas for the inflation of balloons.

III.—TWENTY-FIVE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “HOW TO HELP THE POOR.”

51. Q. What is the aim of the book, “How to Help the Poor?” A. To give a

few suggestions to visitors among the poor, and to lead all such visitors

to attend the conferences which are now held weekly in almost every

district of our large cities.

52. Q. What is one of the most direct commands in the Christian

Scripture? A. “Give to him that asketh.”

53. Q. Why need there be no beggars in our American cities? A. Labor is

wanted everywhere, especially educated labor; nowhere is the supply of

the latter equal to the demand.

54. Q. What do the people crying continually “give to us” really need? A.

A chance to learn how to work, and sufficient protection in the meantime

from the evils of idleness, drunkenness and vice.

55. Q. What is “out-door relief?” A. It is the giving of money (or its

equivalent) which is raised by taxing the people, if the applicants come

under certain rules and laws.

56. Q. To what conclusion does Mr. Seth Low, of Brooklyn, N. Y., come

in regard to “out-door relief?” A. That out-door relief, in the United

States as elsewhere, tends inevitably and surely to increase pauperism.

57. Q. Of what three parts is the conference of a district composed? A.

First, the district committee; second, the representatives of societies

and officers; third, the visitors.

58. Q. How does one writer state that the disciplining of our immense

poor population must be effected? A. By individual influence; and this

power can change it from a mob of paupers and semi-paupers into a body of

self-dependent workers.

59. Q. What does not, and what does visiting the poor mean? A. Visiting

the poor does not mean entering the room of a person hitherto unknown to

make a call. It means that we are invited to visit a miserable abode for

the purpose, first, of discovering the cause of that misery.

60. Q. What does Dr. Tuckerman say of every child who is a beggar? A.

Every child who is a beggar, almost without exception, will become a

vagrant and probably a thief.

61. Q. What is the only just reason for taking children from their

natural homes? A. To lift them out of moral poverty. Material poverty,

alone, is not sufficient cause.

62. Q. What do the statistics of the Labor Bureau show in regard to

homeless young women in Boston? A. That there are twenty thousand

homeless young women in Boston whose wages average only four dollars per

week.

63. Q. What is the first suggestion made for the better care of the aged?

A. By patient study of each individual, and by ingenious experiment of

one plan after another, some fit occupation can often be found which

shall bring both happiness and profit.

64. Q. When does not private charity do its full part? A. While any

other than almshouse cases are allowed to fall into the care of the city

authorities.

65. Q. What does experience, as the opportunities for observation widen,

induce the writer to believe? A. That every human being can do something

if he has a chance, and is intended to fill some gap in the universal

plan.

66. Q. What does Edward Denison say of the crime of begging? A. It does

not consist in the mere solicitation of alms. The gist of the offense is

the intention of preying upon society; and of this intent the asking alms

is only evidence—not proof.

67. Q. What is the root of a very large proportion of the suffering of

the poor in the cities of America? A. Drunkenness.

68. Q. What is one of the first duties of a visitor in entering a

tenement house? A. To use his senses.

69. Q. What knowledge means physical salvation, and thus a better

prospect for understanding the spiritual? A. How to make even the

smallest home clean and attractive, and to get the largest return from

every dollar earned.

70. Q. What is one of the earliest and most important topics which should

engage the attention of the visitor? A. That of helping people to save.

71. Q. What drives people into solitude? A. Trouble of any kind, and

especially any misfortune which has a tendency to lower a person in the

social scale.

72. Q. What is said of many of the poor who most deeply need visitors?

A. They are lonely persons, and the fact of finding a friend at last is

encouragement to them and the beginning of better times.

73. Q. What is almost the only true help of the worldly sort which it is

possible to give the poor? A. To teach them how to use even the small

share of goods and talents intrusted to them.

74. Q. What truth has been made clear in regard to the expenditure of

money and goods alone? A. That it does not alleviate poverty.

75. Q. What has experience taught differently from the assertions that

certain evils can not be helped, and that we may as well let things

alone? A. That evils can be helped, and to let things alone is to lend

ourselves to wrong.

THE CHAUTAUQUA UNIVERSITY.

CAN LANGUAGE BE TAUGHT BY CORRESPONDENCE?

BY PROF. R. S. HOLMES, A.M.

Can a language be taught by correspondence? Unhesitatingly, yes!

Experience, though brief, gives warrant for the answer. The constantly

increasing number of advertisements appearing in journals of wide

circulation gives evidence that teachers at least believe instruction

by this method both possible and profitable. It is in this belief that

the only danger to the system lies. Incompetency in this field must

fail. It can be hidden by no outward show. No would-be teacher, with

text-book and printed question in hand, can parade before a class and

_hear a recitation_. Only a teacher, a real teacher, can hope for success

in this work, and that must come by methods entirely foreign to the

ordinary methods of the class-room. Born a teacher, not made; such must

be he who would successfully use the correspondence system in his work of

teaching. Such teachers are rare, even in comparison with the multitudes

of those who already fill the places in our hundreds of thousands of

schools, and still more rare in the ranks of the throng which, filling

the avenues leading to them, is expectantly awaiting the constantly

occurring vacancies. For this reason we have said that the growing demand

for correspondence schools constitutes their principal danger; for

persons aware of this demand and allured by the hope of swelling moderate

incomes, though they have no peculiar appreciation of the particular

requirements demanded to fit one for the work, will yet enter the lists

as competitors in this field. The inevitable results must be failure by

the teacher, discouragement to honest and earnest students who can find

no other means for acquiring education, distrust of the practicability

of the system, and discredit for correspondence teachers as a class. To

avoid this, to provide only competent instructors, and to arrange and

systematize as broad and comprehensive a course of study as is furnished

by an institution is one of the purposes of the Chautauqua University. In

such a course languages, ancient and modern, must be taught, and must be

taught by correspondence, or not at all. But while it will be conceded

that instruction by correspondence is possible, in ordinary branches, yet

the honest inquirer will ask in view of the peculiarities surrounding the

subject of foreign languages, the question which begins this paper: Can a

language be taught by correspondence? Again we answer, unhesitatingly,

yes! and in no dubious way, but with a measure of success fully equal to

that possible by oral instruction. The question of the time necessary

to complete any given topic is not germane to this discussion. Yet in

passing, it may be said, that of two persons who should be able to devote

their whole time to study, one using oral and the other correspondence

methods, we see no reason why the first should have any advantage in

point of time required for the completion of any prescribed course of

study.

We present four reasons in support of the answer we have so positively

given:

FIRST—_The class of students seeking this instruction is more teachable

than can be easily found elsewhere._ Its members rank in earnestness and

intensity of application with the best of those pursuing post-graduate

or special courses in resident and special institutions. They are men

already in professional life, physicians, attorneys, pastors, journalists

and teachers. They are men who, having long looked wistfully from a

distance at our great educational institutions without being able to

avail themselves of their advantages, suddenly find excellent educational

advantages brought to their very doors and offered on terms which

they can easily accept. They are young men and women who during their

school days felt the necessity of making the best use of their time,

and acquired habits of steady application, of critical study, and of

economy in the use of spare moments; but whose school days were limited

by unconquerable circumstances to the village academy or high school, or

even to the less ambitious country district school. These classes are

easier to teach than almost any other, since they are ready to do to the

fullest extent the work which alone can make any teaching successful.

SECOND—_More skill is required in the work of preparing and assigning

lessons than is ordinarily shown._ The art of assigning lessons should

form a part in every scheme of pedagogical instruction. Unfortunately,

the methods with which most who have memories of the class room are

familiar are worthy subjects for criticism. The recitation hour passes

rapidly in question and answer over the technicalities of the text. The

closing moments are sufficient to direct a continuation of the advance

reading, a review of previous lessons, and the assignment of certain

portions from the grammar. There is no definite direction as to special

points to be examined; no provision for particular work in etymology, or

analysis, or comparison; no synthetic outline for the next day’s thought;

no aids to help the student to test his own work or to detect his own

errors before the next recitation assembly. Such methods or lack of

methods in the correspondence school would surely cause its failure. How

to assign lessons becomes here the crucial test of the teacher’s power.

He must so lay out the work to be done that the pupil whom he has never

seen will be stimulated to effort and not grow discouraged; will be led

from the world of the known at his feet, into the world of the unknown

in which the teacher lives; will be allowed to make no misuse of time in

unprofitable study; will be wisely directed in the acquirement of lexical

and grammatical knowledge, and will be enabled to test his own work with

ever increasing accuracy. Such a teacher can not fail of success in his

effort to teach a language by correspondence.

THIRD—_More care is required in the matter of interrogation._ Thorough

mastery of the art of interrogation is an essential; almost priceless in

any teaching—here it is a _sine qua non_. The presence of teacher and

pupil in the class room makes questioning easy; the oral question is

quickly given, quickly answered, and many questions may be used to elicit

a single truth, or to impress a single lesson. But the correspondence

teacher is not so favored. His questions must be so framed that one, or

at the most two, shall suffice. Again, the oral teacher through lack of

memory and long custom, may allow his questions to become a mere matter

of routine, and daily tread the same monotonous round. We speak from

memory when we assert of a college class, that it became so familiar with

the questions asked during Greek hour in junior year, as to be able to

answer the coming question almost before its utterance. This will not do

for the correspondence teacher. His questions must be only such as his

lesson directions have suggested; they must be committed to paper, in

remorseless ink; they are to be subjected to scrutiny; they must not be

obscure, or repetitious; and their range must be as wide as his students’

knowledge. Such questioning can not fail of success.

FOURTH—_More earnest and thorough study is required of the student._ He

has in a certain sense the work of two persons to perform, his own and

his teacher’s; his own, in that he investigates and acquires as directed;

his teacher’s, in that he must prove and test that which he has done and

is doing, by efforts of memory, by work of comparison, and by strict

grammatical rule. He must recite to himself, ask of himself the questions

which he must answer, and correct himself before finally his finished

work is returned to his teacher for revision.

We think we have made sufficiently plain the possibility of success in

teaching a language by correspondence. The reasons seem to us conclusive.

That which remains to be said is even more potent. After all thinking,

reasoning and objecting is done, after all testimony for or against

has been received the established fact remains, successful teaching of

languages, ancient and modern, by correspondence alone, has been done

within the years just past, is now being done, and will be yet more

effectively and widely done with each advancing year.

In support of these statements, which we believe are true, we present a

testimonial from an experienced teacher, who has been and is a member of

the College of Modern Languages in the Chautauqua University. It is as

follows:

“I have been a member of the German class in the Chautauqua

Correspondence School of Languages for two years, and I consider

this plan of study, including the six weeks’ instruction each year

at Chautauqua, superior to any other. The method is not only more

comprehensive, it also advances the pupil much more rapidly, makes him

more thorough, broadens his culture, enables him to become familiar with

history, with literature, with art, and better than all, teaches him how

to acquire knowledge.”

We add two statements of fact which can be verified as proofs of popular

opinion regarding correspondence schools:

FIRST—That the Director of the Department of New Testament Greek in the

Chautauqua School of Theology has students to the number of almost four

hundred who rely for instruction entirely upon correspondence lessons.

SECOND—That the Dean of the Department of Hebrew in the same institution

has under instruction by the same methods, in the different enterprises

with which he is connected, about seven hundred students. Could there be

anything more significant?

EDITOR’S OUTLOOK.

“MINOR MORALS.”

The importance of good breeding can not be too diligently insisted upon.

But what is good breeding? This is hardly to be understood as synonymous

with good manners, though certainly involving them. Nor is it quite

the same thing as exemplary or agreeable behavior, though likely to

insure it. The latter is entirely the product of constant practice. Good

manners, polished behavior, are the fruit of long discipline—perfection

herein being reached only when these manners become habitual, natural,

instinctive.

True courtesy, meanwhile, involves something deeper than mere manners

or motions. It has its seat in the heart—its root in the moral nature.

Fundamentally it consists in an inward kindly, neighborly, tender feeling

toward every one, an interest in, and a desire to promote everybody’s

welfare. Genuine courtesy, in a word, is born of love, springs from a

benevolent disposition, a brotherly, chivalric impulse.

But what is good breeding? It consists in this inward principle of

good will, and the outward _habit_ of graceful demeanor combined—it

consists in the aforesaid inward gracious impulse, rooted in the heart,

and finding natural outward expression, or interpretation, through

that disciplined elegance of deportment of which I have spoken. To the

inward impulse, or sentiment, duly awakened, the outward, educated

habit naturally, instinctively responds; and we have the deportment, or

carriage, of the truly polished or accomplished gentleman or lady.

These twin principles, the inward nurture and the outward culture or

training, working together, underlie what in the highest sense is to be

understood as good breeding.

The practical value of the accomplishment under consideration can

not well be overestimated. How charming, truly, this gentlemanly,

lady-like conduct—this kindly, graceful, genial way of carrying one’s

self socially. True courtesy, verily, is as delightful as a song. More

eloquent is it, we may say, than any oratory. It is a fine art. Better

still, it is Christian.

Is it not at once a privilege and a duty to promote the pleasure of

others? As has just been suggested, how may we more effectually minister

to the pleasure of others than by a charming behavior?

By cultivated, agreeable manners, moreover, we immensely enhance our

personal influence—our power for good. A person of agreeable manners,

by uniformly pleasing, will, naturally, always be popular—have hosts

of friends. While, whatever one’s worth or attainments, we yet shun his

presence if he be disagreeable or offensive in manner or speech; on the

other hand, we instinctively covet the society of one who, in any way,

delights us.

The irresistible charm of polished manners, even when cultivated solely

for commercial purposes, is well illustrated by a remark said to have

been made by Mr. Beecher concerning the clerks in the shops of Paris.

They were, he said, so polite and engaging in their attentions that his

first impression always was that he must have met them somewhere before.

And who has not, indeed, under the influence of the benign spirit, the

genial and engaging manners, the kindly and obliging offices of the

accomplished tradesman, often felt his prejudices give way, his original

intentions to purchase nothing yield, and, instead, a purpose gradually

spring up in his mind to do just the opposite of what he originally

designed?

Nothing can be more evident, therefore, than that this matter of manners

and breeding is a no unimportant part of one’s education, constituting,

truly, a no insignificant part of every true man’s character. How

greatly, then, does that youth stand in his own light, who, for any

cause, neglects his manners. The thoroughly courteous youth, other things

equal, will surely win his way to success. Personally agreeable in all

his ways, he conciliates opposing prejudices, charms the indifferent, and

makes every one he meets his friend. The boorish man, on the contrary, as

inevitably blocks his way to fortune by awakening, on the part of those

with whom he has to do, only sentiments of aversion and disgust.

Girls, for some reason, seem to take more naturally and kindly to

graceful ways, to gentle courtesies, than boys. Young America, we think,

is characteristically boorish, if not clownish. The boy of the period

manifestly places no adequate value on good manners. Doubtless this

matter of breeding—this careful cultivation of a genial and amiable

deportment—is sadly neglected in our day. The youth of our day should be

taught not only that rudeness and vulgarity never pay; but that while

awkwardness is disagreeable and burdensome, the slightest approach to

rowdyism is detestable and unpardonable.

Some one has very happily represented good manners as “minor morals.” And

certain it is that vulgarity and vice are intimately related; that the

low, vulgar fellow will ever be found but a few removes from a positively

vicious one.

Love, refinement, social cultivation are all closely allied with

righteousness; these, always and everywhere, constitute the true

gentleman and lady.

THE COUNCILS AT BALTIMORE.

It was a noteworthy fact that two of the three great religious bodies

of this country were holding councils in the same city in the last days

of 1884. The city of Baltimore enjoys the distinction of being both a

Catholic and a Methodist city. The former is the older claimant, since

it was founded by English Catholics; but Methodism, also founded by

Englishmen, has a Baltimore history which occasioned the centennial

conference of last month. It was in Baltimore, Christmas 1784, that a few

circuit riders organized the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is doubtless

through the effectiveness of that organization that Methodism holds its

position as the religious union of the largest _population_ embraced

in any one organization in this country. The Catholics are ordinarily

reckoned the most numerous, because they count population and Methodists

count only members; but taking the former basis as a common measure,

the various branches of Methodism are doubtless the most numerous;

and it is probable that by the same tests the Baptists outnumber the

Catholics. If the Presbyterian bodies could be counted together, and the

Lutherans and Congregationalists included, we should have a third great

body of Protestants which may possibly outnumber the Catholics. Two

other communions, the Protestant Episcopal and the Unitarian, would be

in the first rank of religious influence if we attempted to measure and

compare by this test. Taking account of members only, the most difficult

problem of religious statistics is to determine whether any religious

organization is relatively increasing. The unattached population, and the

independent Protestant organizations, have been growing in numbers for a

score of years; and the Protestant communions can not count by population

without including the same persons in more than one church. It is not

surprising that the Catholics most easily make an imposing array in the

statistical tables. The precise count is not important in this place. The

Catholics and Methodists are large bodies of American Christians, and

they have some common features as well as some striking contrasts.

Both communions owe their success (if we take worldly measurement) to

their vigorous management and subordination of their clergy for the

good of the common cause. A Methodist itinerant and a Catholic priest

resemble each other very little, but they are alike in being men who are

“sent,” and who “obey orders.” Their personal choices and well-being are

subordinated to a service and devotion. They alike resign at the doors

of the temple their rights to serve and please themselves. It may be

said that all Christians should do this; but this self-surrender is to

the priest and the itinerants _objective_ as well as _subjective_. It

means that they go where they are sent by a human authority which they

identify with the divine will. They are sacrificed to the general good;

they suffer that others may rejoice—always under an external and visible

authority. Another point of resemblance is the _practical_ liberty of

laymen in both churches. Theoretically the Catholic and the Methodist

laymen are both bound to considerable service and duties. Methodism began

in a rigor of religious duties which makes one wonder how John Wesley

missed founding a new Catholic order of world-renouncing priests and

lay brothers. Catholicism is theoretically even more rigorous. In the

progress of this century, both laities have achieved more liberty than

is good for them; the priest and the itinerant serve and sacrifice for

all. A bright-eyed Methodist editor called attention some years ago to

the fact that his church tolerates no heresy in ministers and pays little

attention to the doctrinal vagaries of its laymen. It is doubtless true

of both Catholics and Methodists; though neither church is prepared to

make any admission of the sort or ever will be. The theory in each case

calls for sound believing; and it is probably a just judgment which says

that liberty is the atmosphere required for the growth of sound faith.

Another point of resemblance between Catholic and Methodist is that both

communions have had a great mission to preach to the poor; and that they

have preached to such effect that large numbers of their poor have become

rich, not so obviously in faith as in worldly goods. We mean not to

sneer, but to put our finger on the _objective_ reality which lies before

us. He is a careless man who fails to see that Methodism and Catholicism

have produced industry, thrift, temperance and wealth in classes of

people who were miserably poor at the outset. The fact has long been

understood of Methodists; a special fact has obscured this large one

among Catholics. There has been a steady inflow of poverty from the Old

World and the Catholics have received into their communion a very large

portion of this poverty. Their needy have been most abundantly recruited

and continue to be. But at the same time their poor have grown wealthy

all over the land. The Puritan farmer is disappearing in New England and

the Irish Catholic is taking his place. Wealthy Catholics abound in all

the large cities.

There are many points of contrast between the two communions. We suggest

a single one, still looking at externals and not at creeds. While

Methodism has for a quarter of a century been one of the most influential

factors in politics—not at all as a machine, but altogether as an

influence—Catholicism has during the same period almost lapsed out of

sight as a political element. This resulted from the foreign character

and training of the majority of the priests and people, and from wise

avoidance of occasions of odium by the Catholic prelates. We suggest this

contrast without drawing any inferences from it. For the near future,

it is safe to predict a change on the Catholic side. Their Baltimore

council will, by force of associations which are full of significance,

tend to produce change. In Baltimore the Catholic may properly remember

his claims to be and live an American of the Americans. That church has

had a vast body of foreigners to naturalize; it has done the work under

an array of obstacles which seemed too formidable to be overcome. It is

a near day when the Americanism of the Catholics of this country will

come to the proof of its quality and value. At Baltimore the thoughtful

priest must have been moved to remember what claims he has on the country

and what claims the country has on him. We shall as a people suffer some

bitter trials and humiliations if the Catholics are not to be genuine

Americans and ardent patriots. They are too many to be neutral or hostile.

A POOR MAN’S MOTOR.

The labor problem has not yet received a solution. Its central difficulty

is to secure to workmen a fair share of the blessings of life. No one

supposes that, taking the world together, they do now receive a fair

share. In this country, workmen have fared uncommonly well; but there is

a belief, resting on some facts, that the actual rewards of labor, as

measured in the blessings of life, are rapidly declining, and must go

on declining under the existing industrial system. Some theories on the

subject are no longer tenable. The workman’s theory that capital robs him

is not sound. Money, once worth ten per cent., has fallen to three per

cent. for perfectly safe loans; when higher interest is paid, it is paid

for conducting the business of lending (as in banks) or for risks of the

loans. The government can borrow a thousand and more millions at two and

one-half to three per cent.—and this shows what a hard time of it capital

is having. The risks of manufacturing probably bleed labor; but the

bleeding is not in the form of which the workman thinks. It is not profit

but loss which drives the lancet in to the hilt. Political economists

have shown (and they are entirely unanimous) that the high profits

produce a competition which brings down profits. Capital is cheap; large

profits can be made only in conditions which are monopolistic.

Our system of industrial exchange has one very weak place, called

_credit_. This credit is a hole in the net through which industrial gains

are dropped into the bottomless sea; and the system is so fixed upon us

that there is no hope of reform in our day. To pay when we buy more and

more offends something in our make-up. A wise man proposed that one, two

and five dollar bills be abolished, in order that we might circulate, as

the French do, a large amount of silver. A member of Congress immediately

amended the suggestion thus: “No. Put this silver in the United States

Treasury, and let us use ‘silver notes.’” We insist upon having even a

credit money, and object to “the trouble” of handling coin. This refined

and transcendental sentiment, or taste, or æstheticism about coin runs

through us. The man who always pays, as well as the sneak who never pays

if he can avoid it, says, “Charge it,” when he buys goods. Goods are

sold by the manufacturer to the jobber on credit; the jobber sells to

the wholesale houses on credit; the wholesale dealers sell to retailers

on credit; the retailers sell to consumers on credit. It is within the

mark to say, that more is lost in these four credit traps than capital

gets—much more. It is not, in fact, the capitalist, but the well-dressed

and the shabbily-dressed thieves who cheat and rob labor.

At first sight, the reader will wonder how the losses of the four

credits come home to labor. We reply: they are merely the aggregate

of the risks incurred in making staple goods—all other risks being

insignificant in such manufacturing. The order of things is like this:

what the jobber loses the manufacturer loses by the failure of the

jobber. The jobber loses what the dealers between him and the consumers

lose. Not quite all, perhaps, for the capitals of the dealers must be of

some worth; but the consumer has, in the end, to pay all these losses,

and the result is an enhanced price. In other words, a bale of goods

starts out with a burden of risk which grows as it travels, and adds to

the cost of goods so much that the consumer can not buy as much as he

needs. The from 250 to 300 or more failures each week tell a part of the

workman’s trouble; another vast body of his losses does not go to record

at all. It is the fifty-cents-on-a-dollar compromise system between

wholesalers and retailers.

Workmen ought to get what consumers pay, less three per cent. on capital

and about as much more for risk of ordinary kinds and a fair cost of

handling goods. We maintain a system of extraordinary risks, called a

credit system, which consumes two or three times as much as capital. It

is plain that workmen can not get (we write of such staples as cotton

cloth) pay for lost goods. Wherever they are lost, the sums lost can not

reach labor. We do not enter into the details of this argument; we have

suggested reasons for believing that a cash system would stop one of the

great leaks of the industrial system.

There are other great wastes in the existing forms of industrial

management which, like the credit system, come out of the bones and blood

of the workman. We pass them by to suggest that the industrial system

has gone wrong, and can never go right, under the empire of steam. Steam

is a centralizer. It concentrates industry, and by packing laborers into

a small compass _enhances the cost of living_ and enlarges the area of

losses on sales and of distress in hard times. And to go at once to our

solution of the labor problem, we will describe it as decentralization.

A writer in _MacMillan’s Magazine_ suggests that electric motors may

prove to be the decentralizing force. Of course, it is not in the power

of any material agent to effect great changes except as it coöperates

with our inclinations. The expensiveness of steam machinery coöperated

with our inclination to congregate in cities. We have congregated there.

The larger half of our growth is in towns. The result is dear food, dear

rent, pestilential diseases, moral degradation. When we grow sick of the

experiment of building a modern Babel, our inclinations may coöperate

with a motor energy which is plebeian and democratic. Let us suppose,

then, that a workman can make any of the innumerable small articles which

have iron or steel for a material. This workman has his bits of machinery

and tools in his house. They do not cost more than a carpenter’s chest

of tools. He has the skill; he has the tools; he wants power. But a

neighbor tells him that he can buy in quart or gallon cans stored-up

electricity, and by a little contrivance, which may cost fifty cents, he

can attach his machinery to this democratic motor and be an independent

workman, with all the advantages of machinery. He can make all these iron

and steel contrivances in the middle of a prairie and sell them to his

neighbors for cheap food and cheap rent. The _divisibility_ of electric

power may make it the poor man’s friend. You can not buy five cents’

worth of steam; there is now no reason to doubt that electric power may

be sold in five-cent packages if there is a demand for it in such form.

There is a vast aggregate of small manufacturing. Of course there are

great industries to which our solution would not apply; but if half the

laborers of the country could work profitably, each man by himself,

in his own house—just as cobblers work—then the strain on the large

industries, such as iron and steel making, would be so far reduced that

workmen in those branches would probably command, permanently, excellent

wages.

This article aims to do nothing more than to open a window of hope. We

shall need to change a great deal; but the poor man’s motor will probably

help us to change. A good many monopolies have grown up because steam

favored their growth; others are the fruits of general ignorance. Under

the sway of ignorance, the trade-mark becomes a tyrant, a grasping

monopolist. For example, there are no patents on sewing machines, but

machines of certain firms, wearing a certain trade-mark, command a

monopoly price. Any good mechanic can build a good sewing machine for ten

dollars. There might be men in every town engaged in supplying the local

wants in the matter of sewing machines. No large factories, no heavy

transportation bills, no eloquent traveling agents would be needed. There

are thousands of things to which the same rule will apply when there is

a poor man’s motor and such a diffusion of intelligence that the poor

man can make, and people will buy, the home-made articles. The empire of

the trade-mark will disappear when the motor and the intelligence come

along, and both seem to be coming. It will not be necessary—if the motor

arrives—to herd people together like cattle, or to transport goods long

distances. The workmen will carry their kits of tools to the villages and

live independently and cheaply in the midst of their customers. Is this a

dream? But why should it not come true?

REFORMED CRIMINALS.

The French government is considering a proposition to restore the custom

of deporting criminals. It is remarkable that the practical argument on

this subject is decidedly favorable to this system. The argument against

it is a sentimental one. The unsettled question about punishments for

other than capital offenses is, how to secure the reform of criminals.

Under the best managed prisons, reform of a lasting kind is rare. The

best management seems to succeed until the prisoner is set at liberty.

Then the reformed man finds himself an object of suspicion to orderly

people and of special interest and sympathy to the criminal classes.

The former will not employ him and the latter will. The result is, in

most cases, that he relapses into crime. Perhaps there is some hope that

the better classes may improve in their habits; but unless they do, it

is well nigh useless to reform criminals in prison. The poor men who

come out into an unsympathetic world which does not believe in their

reformation, and in which unreformed ex-convicts are numerous enough to

keep the general distrust of their class alive, have nothing like a fair

chance to begin the world over again. If there were any hope that prisons

could be perfected so as to reform all convicts, public prejudice could

be broken down; but it is too much to expect that the general public will

acquire a habit of distinguishing between good and bad ex-convicts. This

is the difficulty for which no device has yet been found which will take

it out of the path of humanitarian prison discipline. No faith is more

stable than that which, among the public at large, affirms the total

depravity of _some_ men; especially of ex-convicts.

Turning to penal colonies, experience is most favorable to the belief

that it opens the road to reform. The reports on the British penal

colonies are especially cheerful from this point of view. The majority

of the criminals sent abroad during three centuries reformed their

lives. Australia ought to be the most disorderly country on the globe,

if deporting criminals to a colony could produce a bad society. But

notwithstanding the fact that England sent a large criminal population to

that colony, Australia is one of the most orderly and respectable of the

English dependencies. The only possible explanation is that the official

reports are true, and that the convicts did actually reform. If Botany

Bay did not reform them, the honest opportunities of that vast island

did coöperate with their good purpose and promote their reform. England

deported criminals from 1597 to 1867—a period of 270 years. During the

War of Independence she suspended deportation and enrolled her convicts

in the armies sent to subjugate us. In 1838 more than 100,000 criminals

had been sent to Australia. An official report sets forth that in 1850

an enumeration of ex-convicts in Australia accounted for 48,600, and

that all of them except an insignificant fraction were living honestly.

But it will be said that Australia protested against the continuance of

the system. This is not the exact fact. In dealing with the question,

the English government threw upon the Australians all the expense of the

surveillance of the deported criminals. The colonial government demanded,

most righteously that England should pay this bill of expense; but

rather than pay it the English Parliament chose to abolish the system of

deportation. The colonists did make sentimental objections to receiving

convicts, but they did so on the ground that the cost of watching the

criminals of England was unjustly thrown upon them. A French writer

remarks that in this case, as in the quarrel with us, the money question

was allowed to prevail over statesmanship. The British ex-convict is

worse off than our own because there are fewer opportunities for men

under the reproach of prison service.

The French proposition to resort again to penal colonies, or rather

to dumping ship-loads of criminals on new and undeveloped countries,

suggests the seriousness of the question. Every French colony will

object to receiving the vicious cargoes of humanity; but the objections

will lose their violence if the home government shall send a proper

proportion of French gold with each cargo. The testimony on the subject

seems to show that if the transported men are such as to give signs of

real reform, ninety-five per cent. of them will make good citizens. The

open country, the new moral scenery, the necessities of that new world,

conspire with good resolutions to maintain reformed habits. What shall

_we_ do with our reformed prisoners? It is not improbable that in a few

years England will imitate France and restore the system of deportation.

Why should not we make an experiment? Alaska, at least, might safely be

used for the purpose. It would not be difficult to devise a system under

which the best class of reformed men should be offered land and a small

outfit in some remote corner of our country. By selecting the best, and

making their removal voluntary, we might save to society the larger part

of the men whom our prisons reform. We do not wish to disguise the fact

that, however remote the place, the men who have lived by crime and

escaped punishment would endanger the virtue of the ex-convict. But the

criminal classes do not flow to the farthest frontiers except in scanty

streams; and the Alaskan territory is as yet as safe as a wilderness can

be. Some scheme of the sort is worth the devising. We are making little

headway under our present best systems, simply because the ex-convict has

no chance. Can he be given a fair chance?

EDITOR’S NOTE-BOOK.

The Civil Service Reform League—and every reform is dependent upon an

organization—has addressed a letter to President-elect Cleveland, asking

him what he proposes to do about removals from office. Mr. Cleveland

answers, with full information, that he believes in the doctrine of civil

service reform. We think that the practical application of the letter to

the civil service will make a real and safe basis for judgment. Till we

see this, we deem it wise not to express an opinion.

* * * * *

The old “Liberty bell,” which was on exhibition during the Centennial at

Philadelphia, has been taken to the New Orleans Exposition in charge of

a committee. The council of Philadelphia passed a resolution authorizing

its removal from Independence Hall for that purpose.

* * * * *

Our national Congress is the subject of a shameful scandal, and the

worst feature of it is, our Senators and Representatives know it, but

fail to correct it themselves. It is this: By figures prepared by the

Public Printer, it appears that during the last four congresses nearly

six hundred speeches have been published in the “Congressional Record” as

a part of the debates and proceedings of Congress, but not one of them

was ever delivered in the House of Representatives. Here is a number of

printed but undelivered speeches of Senators. This is an unnecessary

expense entailed on the government. It is a falsehood and makes the

“Record” a lie, for you can not tell by reading it what has been said

or done in Congress. Senator Vest has introduced a resolution into the

Senate to abolish the practice, but it is still an open question whether

a body of men who do such things will have the moral courage to vote

their undelivered speeches out of the “Record.”

* * * * *

Our readers will find the article by General John A. Logan, elsewhere

in this impression, full of interesting and very remarkable statements

concerning rudimentary education in the different states. We think

his points concerning the common schools in the Southern states will

be a surprise to many people. Another article on the subject from the

General’s pen will appear in THE CHAUTAUQUAN for March.

* * * * *

A number of _Bradstreet’s_, issued in the latter part of December, shows

that at that time the whole number of men out of employment in the

United States, because the establishments had shut down, and by reason

of strikes, etc., was 316,000, or thirteen per cent. of the whole number

employed in 1880, which was 2,452,749.

* * * * *

Concerning General B. F. Butler, it is announced that he has signed an

agreement with a publishing house to write his political reminiscences,

in two volumes, for which he is to receive $50,000 in cash and a royalty

beside. The advent of Messrs. Blaine and Butler into the literary world

is suggestive. It is altogether probable that both of these men regard

literary fame, when compared to political favor, as a more substantial

and enduring quantity, and believe that their names will live longer

in literature than in politics. Of course, there may be other motives

prompting them, but to some men _fame_ hath its peculiar charms.

* * * * *

It was a surprise and sorrow to Christian people to learn that the

management at New Orleans had decided to keep the Exposition open on the

Sabbath. The very liberal—perhaps we ought to say lax—ideas about the

observance of the Sabbath which prevail throughout the country deserve

serious thought. Certainly to extend opportunities for making sight

seeing and pleasure seeking part of the day’s work should be emphatically

discouraged.

* * * * *

One of Chautauqua’s staunchest friends and most devoted workers, the Rev.

S. McGerald, has entered a new field of work. In a recent issue of the

Buffalo _Christian Advocate_ we find his name announced as the future

editor of that paper. Mr. McGerald’s new and important position is sure

to be well filled. He has the hearty good wishes of all Chautauquans in

his new enterprise.

* * * * *

The Indians of Arizona made an exhibit at the recent fair of that

territory, which ought to open the public mind to the degree of

civilization which some Indians have attained, and suggest, as well, the

possibility of such civilization for all Indians. The first premium for

the best modern plow displayed was awarded them, and to show their taste

for the antique as well as the modern, it may be mentioned that a wooden

plow was displayed which was an exact counterpart of those used 2,000

years ago in the valley of the Nile.

* * * * *

There is no doubt of it—the cause of much human failure and misery is

insomnia. Mr. Gladstone has found the only panacea in Christendom which

prevents and cures this dread disease, and he gave the secret to the

world recently, when he said: “I never allow business of any kind to

enter my chamber door. In all my political life I have never been kept

awake five minutes by any debate in Parliament.”

* * * * *

Now that Mark Twain is attempting to become his own publisher, it may be

of interest to read the record of his occupations. He has been in turn,

practical printer, steamboat pilot, private secretary, miner, reporter,

lecturer and book-maker. Should he succeed in his publishing scheme,

he may start a fashion among successful writers which will be hard on

publishing houses.

* * * * *

A winter resort where the thermometer falls frequently to 40° below zero,

is fully launched at Saranac Lake, in the Adirondacks. The hotels are

reported full, and prices of lots have gone up with the usual nimbleness

which characterizes embryo resorts. If peculiar, this new fashion may

serve as a blessing to the idle and half sick people who are apt to

patronize fashionable resorts by bringing into use many vigorous and

healthful winter sports.

* * * * *

The wonderful Fish River caves, discovered last year in New South Wales,

have been given a new name by the government of that country, and will

henceforth be known as the Jenolan caves. Astonishing discoveries are

reported to have been made there recently. Our own Kentucky wonder begins

to dwindle before the reports of these new subterranean palaces and

gardens.

* * * * *

A reading people we know ourselves to be, but it is rather astonishing to

discover that we publish twelve times as many daily papers as the United

Kingdom. _The Athenæum_ calls attention to the fact that while the United

States has one daily paper to every 10,000 inhabitants, the English have

one to every 120,000. It would be gratifying if we could feel sure that

the quality stood in the same ratio.

* * * * *

The work of the Chautauqua University is attracting attention far and

wide. In a recent issue of the _Irish Christian Advocate_, published in

Belfast, we notice in answer to a correspondent’s query, as to “What is

the Chautauqua University?” a long and enthusiastic article upon the

plan. The adaptation of the “Chautauqua Idea” to all people and all

countries is very wonderful.

* * * * *

A lady is said to have recently offered $50,000 to the Boston school

authorities, to be devoted to the filling of the teeth of children whose

parents were too poor to employ dentists. Should she devote her money

to the purchase of tooth brushes and toothpicks, and employ a police of

teeth, who would compel their daily use by children from babyhood up, she

would confer an inestimable benefit upon future generations.

* * * * *

Frances Power Cobbe, well known to the readers of THE CHAUTAUQUAN,

concludes her powerful article on “A Faithless World,” in the December

issue of _The Contemporary Review_, with these strong words: “We have

been told that in the event of the fall of religion, ‘life would remain

in most particulars and to most people much what it is at present;’ it

appears to me, on the contrary, that there is actually _nothing_ in life

which would be left unchanged after such a catastrophe.”

* * * * *

A wise thing is being done in London. A series of popular lectures upon

the subject of precautions—national, local and personal—to be taken

against cholera, has been begun. Now that the menace of this dread

disease hangs over our own country, it would be a sensible plan for

cities and villages to provide a similar course of instruction. It could

be easily arranged, too.

* * * * *

We are happy to extend congratulations to a well known contributor to

THE CHAUTAUQUAN, Mr. C. E. Bishop. Mr. Bishop was married in Buffalo,

December 31st, to Miss Emma Mulkins, of that city. As the former editor

of the Jamestown (N. Y.) _Journal_, of the Buffalo _Express_, and at

present of _The Countryside_, of New York, as an editorial writer on _The

Assembly Herald_, as the author of “Pictures in English History,” and of

frequent entertaining articles in our columns, Mr. Bishop is widely and

favorably known.

* * * * *

The assignee’s sale of the stock of imported books and fine art

publications of Mr. J. W. Bouton, of New York, is now advertised. It

is a real shock to know that this rare collection must be sacrificed.

For years his rooms have been a resort for book lovers, and a liberal

education to the loiterers about his counters. Perhaps there is no

collection in America, outside of the libraries, the sale of which would

cause such general regret.

C. L. S. C. NOTES ON REQUIRED READINGS FOR FEBRUARY.

COLLEGE GREEK COURSE IN ENGLISH.

Articles on Plato may be found in the following works: Plato’s

“Republic,” De Quincey; “Plato,” Encyclopædia Britannica; Smith’s “Greek

and Roman Biography,” at the beginning of the various editions of his

works; Mahaffey’s “Classical Greek Literature;” Müller’s “Literature of

Ancient Greece;” “Against the Atheists,” _Christian Examiner_, vol. xl,

p. 108; “Life of Plato,” _Methodist Quarterly_, vol. xx, p. 368; “On the

Immortality of the Soul,” _Christian Repository_, vol. xxii, p. 507;

“Platonism,” _Baptist Quarterly_, vol. i, p. 22; “Ethical Philosophy,”

_American Church Repository_, vol. xxii, p. 175.

P. 86.—“Cicero,” etc. The “De Republica” was a dialogue on what is

the best form of the state; the “City of God” treats of the body of

Christians in distinction from the City of the World, or those out of the

church. St. Augustine wrote this book after the sack of Rome by Alaric to

answer the assertion that the destruction of the country was a punishment

for the desertion of the pagan deities; “Utopia” is the story of an

imaginary land supposed to have been discovered by a companion of Amerigo

Vespucci, where the laws were perfect; the “New Atlantis” was an island

in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where Bacon represents himself to

have been shipwrecked, and where he found societies for cultivating art

and the sciences.

P. 96.—“Dæmon.” “This demon or genius of Socrates, which was not

personified by himself, was regarded by Plutarch as an intermediate being

between gods and men, by the fathers of the church as an evil spirit,

by Le Clerc as one of the fallen angels, by Ficino and Dacier as a

good angel, and by later writers as a personification of conscience or

practical instinct, or individual tact.”

P. 98.—“Origen.” (185?-254?) This eminent writer of the early church

fathers made an effort to reconcile Platonism with Christianity, and in

his commentaries on the Scriptures used the allegorical method almost

entirely. “The literal sense is always secondary; and the critic never

fails where it is possible to find in the simplest fact or the plainest

exhortation some hidden meaning.”

P. 99.—“Lemma.” When in demonstrating a proposition a second proposition

is introduced and assumed as true, or demonstrated for immediate use, it

is called a _lemma_.

P. 100.—“Oneida Community.” A society founded at Oneida, New York State,

by one John Humphrey Noyes, a perfectionist. He introduced into this

community his peculiar views, persuading them to practice a community of

women and of goods, to allow women equal business and social privileges

with the men, and to live in a “unitary home.”

P. 104.—“Silenus.” An attendant of Bacchus. He is represented as a very

ugly old man, fat, with a bald head and pug nose, and always intoxicated.

Generally he rode an ass or was carried by the satyrs. Silenus was also

represented as an inspired prophet. When drunk and asleep he was in the

power of mortals who could compel him to sing and prophesy by surrounding

him with chains of flowers.

P. 105.—“Marsyas.” See C. L. S. C. Notes, page 57 of THE CHAUTAUQUAN for

October.

“Corybantian reveler.” So called from the Corybantes, the priests of

Cybele in Phrygia. They celebrated her worship in the wildest, most

frenzied dances. The drum and cymbal accompanied this dance.

P. 107.—“Brasidas.” The most famous of the Spartan leaders in the

Peloponnesian War. After taking many Athenian cities in Macedonia he

was killed at Amphipolis, where he defeated Cleon. He was honored by the

inhabitants as a hero.

“Nestor.” An aged Greek hero of the Trojan war, whose wisdom and advice

were considered equal to the gods. “Antenor” held a position among the

Trojans similar to that of Nestor among the Greeks. His advice, however,

was not followed by his countrymen, and he offered to deliver the city to

the Greeks. Upon the capture of Troy he was spared by the victors.

P. 108.—“Boreas.” The North Wind was fabled to live in Thrace. The

allusion here is to the story that he carried away Orithyia, the daughter

of the king of Attica, for his wife.

“Agra;” the demus south of Attica was called Agra. It contained two

temples; one to Diana, the other to Ceres.

“Typhon.” A monster born of Tartarus and Gæa, who attempted to revenge

the overthrow of the Titans. His head reached to heaven, his eyes poured

forth flame, and serpents were twined about his body. Jupiter killed him

with lightning.

P. 109.—“Agnus Castus,” or the “chaste tree,” the name given to a plant

native to the Mediterranean countries, which became associated with the

idea of chastity, it is said, from the similarity of the name _agnus_ to

the Greek word _chaste_. Grecian matrons strewed their couches with its

leaves during the feast of Ceres, and in the convents of Southern Europe

a syrup made of its fruit was used by the nuns.

“Achelous.” A river god—a son of Oceanus—from the earliest times

worshiped generally throughout Greece. At one time he took the form of

a bull in a fight with Hercules, who conquered him and took one of his

horns. This horn the Naiads afterward changed into the horn of plenty.

P. 118.—“Sunium.” The promontory forming the southern extremity of

Attica; a town of the same name stood upon it.

P. 121.—“Swan’s Utterance.” Referring to the fable told of the swan, that

it sings its sweetest song at death—“the sweetest song is the last he

sings.” Thus in “Othello,” “I will play the swan and die in music.”

P. 127.—The chapter on Æschylus may be supplemented by the following

readings: “Theory of Greek Tragedy,” De Quincey; Müller, Mure, and

Mahaffy on Æschylus, in their histories of Greek Literature; Talfourd’s

“Tragic Poets of Greece,” from “History of Greek Literature;” Symond’s

“Studies of the Greek Poets,” _Christian Examiner_, Vol. xliii, p. 140;

_Contemporary Magazine_, Vol. iii, p. 351; _Biblia Sacra_, Vol. xvi, p.

354; _North American Review_, Vol. lxvii, p. 407.

P. 129.—“Cyprid.” A poem, author unknown, called Cyprid or _Cypria_,

“either because the author came from Cyprus, or because it celebrated the

Cyprian goddess, Aphrodite, and detailed from the commencement her action

in the Trojan war.… The poem was an introduction to the ‘Iliad,’ telling

a vast number of myths and leading the reader from the first cause of the

war up to the tenth year of its duration. It is easy to see that such a

vast subject, loosely connected, must have failed to afford the artistic

unity which underlies the course of the ‘Iliad.’”

“Little Iliad.” A poem by Lesches, a Lesbian. It relates the complete

story of the sack of Troy, from the contest of Achilles to the fall

of Troy. The “Competition for the Arms,” we have had in the “Iliad.”

“Philoctetes” was the chief archer of the Greeks, having been instructed

by Hercules in the use of the bow. On the voyage to Troy he was bitten

by a snake and left on the island of Lemnos. In the tenth year of the

war the oracle declared the city could not be taken without the arrows

of Hercules. Philoctetes was brought, and having slain Paris, the city

was taken. “Neoptolemus,” a son of Achilles, was one of the warriors that

the oracle declared necessary for the capture of Troy. He was one of the

heroes concealed in the wooden horse. “Eurypylus” who came from Ormenion

to Troy, played a prominent part in battle, slaying many Trojans; he

was wounded by Paris. “Ulysses Mendicant,” the story of the wanderings

of Ulysses. “Lacæna,” the Lacedæmonian woman, referring to Helen.

“Illii-persis,” treats of the plundering of Troy after the capture, and

“Apoplus,” of the sailing away of the ships. “Sinon.” After the wooden

horse was finished, Sinon mutilated his body and allowed himself to be

captured by the Trojans. He told them that he had been maltreated by his

countrymen, and that if they (the Trojans) would drag the horse into the

city they would conquer the Greeks. After the Trojans had followed his

advice he let the Greeks out of the horse. “Troades,” the Trojans.

P. 134.—“Trilogy.” A set of three dramas. Each one is in itself complete,

but the three are related, one event following or growing out of another,

as in Shakspere’s Henry VI.

P. 137.—“New made kings.” This allusion will be explained by reading the

story of Cronos and Zeus on page 77 of THE CHAUTAUQUAN for November.

P. 144.—“Sweet Muse-Mother.” See page 73 of “Brief History of Greece.”

P. 145.—“Mantic.” Prophetic; derived from the Greek word for prophetic.

P. 152.—“Protagonist.” One who fills the leading part in a drama, and

hence in any enterprise.

P. 153.—“Ettrick Shepherd.” A name given to the Scottish poet, James

Hogg. His home was in the Ettrick forest, and when a boy he had been

a shepherd. The reference here is to the articles he contributed to

the series of papers which appeared in _Blackwood_ between 1822 and

1835, called Noctes Ambrosianæ, and which were principally written by

Christopher North.

P. 154.—“Sophocles.” In connection with the chapter on Sophocles the

following readings may be used: “Classical Writers,” an essay on his

life and writings by Campbell; Talfourd’s “History of Greek Literature,”

chapter on “The Tragic Poets of Greece;” Symond’s “Studies of the

Greek Poets;” _Baptist Quarterly_, Jan. 1877; Mahaffy’s “History of

Classical Greek Literature;” Mure’s “Critical History of the Language and

Literature of Ancient Greece;” an account of the performance of “Ædipus

Tyrannus,” at Harvard in May, 1881, will be found in _The Century_,

November, 1881; _Harvard Register_, April, 1881; Boston _Sunday Herald_,

March 27, 1881; New York _Evening Post_, April 22, 1881.

P. 173.—“Abæan.” From Abæa, a town of Phocis, where stood a very ancient

temple and oracle of Apollo.