Monteagle is about midway between the east and the west ends of
Tennessee, on the south side. It is about 2,400 feet above the sea. The
Assembly grounds are on the top of a plateau, and comprise about three
hundred and fifty acres. On one side they are bounded by a precipitous
bluff which goes straight down nearly a thousand feet. Monteagle is
two years old. They have their Amphitheater, and they have a Hall of
Philosophy, the pillars being the natural trunks of trees. There was
present there this summer a mass of representatives from the Southern
States. Electricity seemed to be in the air, and they gave salutes in a
manner never excelled. On C. L. S. C. day Rev. Frank Russell delivered an
address showing the design of the great Circle. In Mr. Russell’s report
at Chautauqua of the work done there he gives a pleasant description of
the decorations, the gate and arches. “The Hall of Philosophy was not
quite completed. The arrangement of the arches and the gate was a little
crude. I visited the spot some time Saturday morning, and directed the
carpenters how to make the gate. I regretted that it was not a golden
gate, and that there was no time to gild it. The ladies said they
would fix that. They took the ‘golden rod,’ which grows so profusely
all around there, and when we went there in the afternoon in the mixed
procession for the graduating class of ’84, the gate was upholstered and
really quilted in golden rod. It was a golden gate. We had the complete
procession, and the children with the flowers. The diplomas were given
and the Hall was dedicated.” One thing must be especially interesting to
the C. L. S. C. there, and that is that the Assembly at Monteagle was not
put to a dollar of expense for the building or any of the lectures before
the C. L. S. C. They collected the money themselves, and their treasurer
disposed of it. When they completed the Hall of Philosophy there was a
little money left in the treasury. In the evening they had a camp-fire
at the end of the Hall. It was a beautiful cone of flame which stood
until it was all consumed. The speeches were of a high character, without
preparation, thoroughly spontaneous.