THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG AND OTHER TRUE TALES (1885-1888)
THE twelfth year of the Assembly, 1885, opened with a preliminary week,
beginning July 7th, for the Teachers' Retreat and the School of
Languages, and closed with "After-week," making the entire session
fifty-three days long, ending on August 28th. But the official "opening"
did not take place until the traditional date, Tuesday, August 7th. For
years, indeed from the beginning, Dr. Vincent had set his heart on
having a chime of bells at Chautauqua. The practically minded trustees
urged for some needed improvement, and buildings for the growing
schools, but the poetic conception carried the day, and in 1885 the
Meneely chime of ten bells was heard at the opening in July. Some common
souls in cottages around complained of their frequency, awaking folks
early in the morning and breaking their naps in the afternoon, but to
most their mellow music was a welcome sound.
It has always been the rule that quiet must reign on the grounds after
the night bells at 10:00 P.M., and watchmen have been wont to knock at
doors where the rule was honored in the breach instead of the
observance. A parlor full of young people enjoying themselves does not
always come to silence in a minute. I remember one house near the Point
where dwelt an elderly lady with abundant gray hair but a young heart,
and also with an attractive daughter. That home was exceedingly popular
among the younger set, and their meetings--doubtless held for the
discussion of serious subjects, for the voices were sometimes loud--were
often prolonged beyond the time of the bells. One night an unusually
imperative rap of the watchman's stick on the front door startled the
group. The door was opened a little and the matron put forth her head
with the words loudly spoken, "Shoot, if you must, this old gray head!"
whereupon the watchman departed without a word.
In the revolution of the Chautauqua Circle, 1885 was known as the Roman
year, having as its major subject Latin history and literature. The
studies of the "Foreign Tour" in the Assembly program embraced lectures,
with illustrations on Italian cities and scenery. Dr. Vincent's fertile
mind conceived a plan to aid the students of the course, and
incidentally to advertise it, by a series of object-lessons. He divided
Pratt Avenue, the path leading up to the college on the hill, into
sections corresponding by their relative lengths to the periods of Roman
history, and erected at the proper points along the road, posts to
commemorate the leading events, with dates and names of the great men of
the several periods. These milestones were black, with inscriptions in
white. As people passed by they would be reminded of the leading facts
in the story of the Eternal City. Often might be seen members of the C.
L. S. C., notebook in hand, storing their minds with the dates and
events in the annals of Rome. The coal-black pillars had a somewhat
sepulchral look and suggested a graveyard. One lady who was a stranger
at Chautauqua, and evidently not a member of the C. L. S. C., asked Dr.
R. S. Holmes, one of the leading workers, "Can you tell me why all these
tombstones have been set up here. Surely all the men named on them
cannot be buried along this street!" The question was also asked if it
was proposed each year to set up a row of trophies on other streets for
the American year, the English year, the Greek year, and by degrees to
turn all Chautauqua into a memorial grove for great men and great deeds
of all the ages; but at the close of the season the monuments were
gathered up and carried away, leaving no successors.
The lecture platform of 1885 was as strong as ever. Dr. Charles F. Deems
of New York delivered the baccalaureate sermon on Sunday, August 16th,
an unique discourse on the short text, "One New Man" (Eph. 2:15), and
the Recognition Address on the following Wednesday was by Dr. E. E. Hale
of Boston. A special series of "Yale University Historical Lectures" was
given by Professor Arthur M. Wheeler. Bishop Cyrus D. Foss of the
Methodist Episcopal Church preached on Sunday, August 23d. Dr. John P.
Newman delivered a lecture on August 25th in memory of President U. S.
Grant, of whom he had been a friend and pastor. This year a young man
made his first appearance upon the Chautauqua platform, not yet as a
lecturer, but introducing speakers in felicitous sentences and presiding
with the ease of an experienced chairman. This was Mr. George Edgar
Vincent, just graduated from Yale University, from whom Chautauqua and
the world in general was to hear before many years.
In 1885, the institution received a new charter from the Legislature of
New York, giving it the name "Chautauqua University" and the power to
confer degrees. By vote of the Board, the title "Chancellor of the
Chautauqua University" was given to Dr. Vincent. It was hoped to
establish a college for study by correspondence, with reviews of the
subjects taught in the summer meeting. But the expense of a professional
staff was great and the number of students was not large enough to
support it without an endowment. The Chautauqua University might have
won a place in the world of education, if friends had been found to
bestow upon it a liberal endowment, but among the varied gifts of Dr.
Vincent was not that peculiar talent for raising money. The University
did not prosper, and in 1898 the Trustees voluntarily surrendered to the
Regents of the University of the State of New York the examination of
candidates and the conferring of degrees. Again the title was changed
and the University became "The Chautauqua System of Education."
The year 1886 ushered in some improvements. In place of the old wharf
stood a new pier building, three stories high, with stores on the upper
balcony, for the steamboat still brought most of the Chautauqua crowds
and at their arrival a throng was always present to greet them. Above
the building rose a tower, from which sounded forth over the lake and
through the Grove the melody of the Chautauqua chimes. On the hill was
the new Jewett House, given by Mrs. A. H. Jewett as a home for
self-supporting young women, teachers and others, while at Chautauqua.
The program of that year shows that a faculty of sixteen conducted the
work in the Chautauqua Teachers' Retreat, and fifteen others gave
courses in the School of Languages. Lessons in Harmony, Organ and Piano,
Drawing and Painting were also added. The Chautauqua School of Physical
Education was established under the direction of Dr. W. G. Anderson. All
these were signs that the system of summer schools at Chautauqua was
increasing its range of study, as well as growing in the number of its
students.
One of the lecturers at this season was Professor Caleb T. Winchester of
Wesleyan University. It was a privilege to listen to his scholarly yet
delightful account of a ramble in the English lake country, with
estimates of the literary lights who made that region famous. Dr. Wm. H.
Milburn, the blind chaplain of the United States Senate, Dr. Russell H.
Conwell, with his lecture of "Acres of Diamonds," Dr. Edward E. Hale and
Mrs. Mary A. Livermore also gave lectures. Dr. Hale read his story, _In
His Name_; and at the close of his reading came a general rush for his
autograph. I happened to be in charge of the platform, and tried to
excuse the speaker from adding to his burdens, but he declared his
willingness to meet the demands of the people and wrote in every album
offered. In the crowd was a little girl, shabbily dressed, who had no
album, but brought a scrap of brown paper which she had picked up. Dr.
Hale looked at the torn fragment, then took the copy of his story from
which he had been reading, wrote on its fly-leaf his name, and handed it
to the little girl.
[Illustration: Athletic Club]
[Illustration: Boys' Club Headed for Camp]
Two lecturers from the South attracted attention. One was the Rev. J. W.
Lee, an able, broad-minded man; the other was the unique evangelist,
Rev. Sam P. Jones, whose utterances were sometimes eloquent, sometimes
jocose, sometimes shocking, but always interesting. Dr. Willis J.
Beecher of the Auburn Theological Seminary, Dr. John Hall of New York,
and President William F. Warren of Boston University were also among the
speakers.
Readings were given by Will M. Carleton, George W. Cable, and General
Lew Wallace, from their own writings. An immense crowd packed the
Amphitheater to hear General Wallace read from his _Ben Hur_ the story
of the Chariot Race. But candor compels us to say that it was not
very thrillingly rendered. One who listened said, "He never got his
horses off the walk." Other readers were George Riddle of Boston and
Professor R. L. Cumnock of Northwestern University. This summer Mrs.
Frank Beard collected and conducted an Oriental Exhibition.
Almost every year Frank Beard was at Chautauqua, teaching a class in
art, making pictures in the children's class, giving one or two crayon
lectures, and occasionally on Sunday evenings an illustrated Bible
reading. As already intimated, that was the age when there was a craze
for autographs, and everybody carried around an autograph album, seeking
signatures from the celebrities. After a popular lecture a crowd
hastened to the platform and a hundred hands, each holding an album,
would be stretched out toward the speaker, demanding his autograph. Of
course every child, and nearly every grown-up, must have Frank Beard's
autograph, and with it a picture drawn by his hand. Frank said once in a
religious meeting that his idea of heaven was a place where there were
no autograph albums.
Every year at Chautauqua is held a National Army Day, when the Civil War
veterans from near and far assemble, wear their G. A. R. uniforms and
badges, and listen to an address in the Amphitheater. One year, I think
it was 1886, but I am not sure, the orator was late in coming, and Mr.
Beard, himself a veteran of the war, was called upon to fill the
vacancy. He told the story of "The Chaplain's Leg," of which some
incredulous people have doubted the authenticity. As I remember it was
somewhat as follows. He would come forward, slapping his right leg, and
saying:
That is a good leg, but it isn't mine. It belonged
once to the chaplain of our regiment; I was in a
battle and happened to have a tree between myself
and the whole rebel army. There was a change in
the front, and I started to make a detour to
another tree. Just in the middle of my march I ran
against the chaplain, who was also making a
detour, and at that moment came along a rebel
shell, which took off one of his legs and also one
of mine. We lay on the ground only a minute or
two, and then an ambulance took us and the two
legs on board. They carried us to the field
hospital, and put on our legs, which grew just as
they should, so that after a few weeks I was
dismissed as cured. Well, I had been a long time,
for me, without liquid refreshment, and I knew
that out in the woods near the camp was an
extemporized bar, in the shape of a board laid on
two stumps of trees. I found it hard to walk in
that direction, and had to pull my right leg
along; but I thought that it needed only a little
practice to be as good as ever. I got to the bar
and ordered a glass of something; it might have
been ginger-pop or it might have been something
else. Just after it was poured out and before I
could take hold of it, that right leg of mine
lifted itself up and kicked over the whole
contraption--glass, and jug, and bar, and then in
spite of all I could do, stumped me back to camp!
And on the way I passed the chaplain who was being
dragged out _to_ the bar, while I was being pulled
away from it. Then I knew what had happened in the
hospital; they had put each leg on the wrong man,
and I must carry around the chaplain's leg as long
as I lived. The leg took me to church; at first it
was pretty tough, but I got used to it. That leg
brought me to Chautauqua, and here I am to-day,
brought by the chaplain's leg. Some time ago I
gave by request a lecture with pictures in the
Sing Sing prison, and there among the convicts sat
my old friend the chaplain, wearing a striped
suit. What brought him there I can't imagine,
unless--well, I don't know what it was.
The Assembly of 1887 was fifty-eight days in length, from July 2d to
August 28th. The schools were still growing in the number of students
and enlarging their courses. Some of the new departments were the Arabic
and Assyrian languages, mathematics, chemistry, oratory and expression,
stenography, mineralogy, and geology. To house these classes and the
army of students, buildings were urgently needed, and this year a
College Building arose overlooking the lake. It stood until two years
ago, when on account of its dilapidation as well as its incongruity with
the modern plans of the schools, it was taken down.
During the season of 1887, the Fourth of July Address was given by Hon.
Roswell G. Horr, member of Congress from Michigan. Dr. Fairbairn from
Oxford was with us again, also the Rev. Mark Guy Pearse of England, Dr.
Charles J. Little, Dr. John A. Broadus of Louisville, one of those
scholars who know how to present great truths in a simple manner,
Chaplain McCabe, Dr. Charles R. Henderson, on social questions of the
time, and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. Rev. Sam P. Jones was also on the
platform for the second season. He gave his powerful sermon on
"Conscience" with not a sentence to provoke a smile, but a strong call
to righteousness. Another address, however, contained an application
which called forth a smile all over the audience. It was known that Dr.
Vincent was being strongly talked of as a candidate for Bishop in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the following May, 1888, he was
elected to that office. Dr. Vincent was presiding at Mr. Jones' lecture.
In the address Jones managed to bring in an allusion to bishops. Then
turning halfway round toward the chairman, he said, "Doctor Vincent, I
shouldn't wonder if they made you and me bishops before long. You see
the thing's coming down."
The class graduating this year in the C. L. S. C. was the largest in
the history of the Circle. It included in its membership the Rev. G. R.
Alden and his wife, and was named in her honor, the Pansy class. At this
time the enrolled members of the C. L. S. C. were more than eighty
thousand in number.
The Assembly of 1888 opened on July 3d and closed on August 29th,
fifty-eight days in length. The summer school was now announced as the
College of Liberal Arts. I notice in the list of subjects taught: Old
French, Scandinavian languages and literature, Sanskrit, Zend and
Gothic, Hebrew and Semitic languages, and philology. It is not to be
supposed that all of these classes were overcrowded with students, but
those in physical culture and arts and crafts were very popular. The
annual exhibition of the gymnastic classes has been for years one of the
most thronged events on the program, and in anticipation the
Amphitheater is filled long in advance of the hour for beginning the
exercises.
Among the lecturers of this season were Mrs. Alden, "Pansy," who read a
new story, _The Hall in the Grove_; Dr. William R. Harper, Dr. Frank W.
Gunsaulus, Dr. Joseph Cook, Dr. Talmage, Dr. Hale, General Russell A.
Alger, and George W. Bain. Dr. Phillips Brooks, giant in body and in
soul, preached one of his sermons, sweeping in swift utterances like a
tidal wave. One hardly dared draw a breath for fear of losing his mighty
periods. Bishop William Taylor of Africa, was also present, and thrilled
his hearers, yet in a calm, quiet manner, absolutely free from any
oratorical display. There was a charm in his address and the most
critical hearers felt it, yet could not analyze it. I met, not at
Chautauqua but elsewhere, a lawyer who admitted that he rarely attended
church because he could not endure the dull sermons; but after listening
to Bishop Taylor, said that if he could hear that man he would go to
church twice, even three times, on a Sunday. And yet in all his
discourse there was not a rhetorical sentence nor a rounded period.
Mr. Leon H. Vincent was again at Chautauqua, with his literary lectures.
Either during this season or the one when he came next--for he was
generally present every alternate year--it became necessary to move Leon
Vincent's lectures from the Hall of Philosophy to the Amphitheater, on
account of the number who were eager to hear them. Among those who gave
readings were Mr. Charles F. Underhill of New York, Mr. George Riddle,
and Professor R. L. Cumnock.
The Methodists, both of the North and the South, have always formed a
large element in the Chautauqua constituency, partly because of their
number throughout the continent, but also because both the Founders of
the Assembly were members of that church. This year, 1888, the Methodist
House was opened, in the center of the ground, and at once became the
social rallying place of the denomination. Its chapel, connected with
the House, was built afterward by the all-year residents at Chautauqua
as the home of the community church, which is open to all and attended
by all, the only church having a resident pastor and holding services
through the year, nominally under the Methodist system, but practically
undenominational.
In May, 1888, Dr. John H. Vincent, after twenty years in charge of the
Sunday School work as Secretary and Editor, was elected and consecrated
a Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. For some years his episcopal
residence was at Buffalo, within easy distance of Chautauqua, but his
new duties required him to travel even more widely than before, and he
needed an assistant to care for the work of the Assembly. Mr. George E.
Vincent, able son of distinguished father, was this year appointed
Vice-Principal of Instruction, and assumed a closer supervision of the
program of Chautauqua.
In this year, also, Dr. William Rainey Harper was made Principal of the
College of Liberal Arts, all the departments of the Summer School being
under his direction. Another name appears on the record of 1888, the
name of Alonzo A. Stagg, haloed in the estimate of young Chautauqua with
a glory even surpassing that of the two Founders. For Stagg, just
graduated from Yale, could curve a baseball more marvelously than any
other man in America. He was one of the instructors in the gymnasium,
and organized a team that played with most of the baseball clubs for
miles around Chautauqua, almost invariably winning the game. It was said
that the athletic field rivaled the Amphitheater in its crowds when
Stagg played.