emotional nature constantly overflowed all else. With a marvelous
intuition in reading character, a free-masonry with all phases of
human emotions, a magnetism that put him inside of every heart, he
became the better self, the ideal longing of each listener. It made
no difference how learned or stoical the man was; Father Taylor got
hold of him and stirred his heart from the bottom. A man of wit said,
“I am always afraid when I am laughing at Father Taylor’s wit, for
I know he will make me cry before he has done with me.” People cry
and laugh alternately, and sometimes both together. Laughter is the
best preparation for tears. “Man, thou pendulum betwixt a smile and
tear.” [Are we not all inconsistent, eccentric, at the bottom of our
natures, _i. e._, at our very best?] A New York comedian came to study
the method of one of whose acting he had heard much report; he was so
affected by the unlearned art of this master of the soul that he fairly
blubbered behind his handkerchief.
Dr. Wentworth, of another occasion said: “The immense audience swayed
in the wealth of his eloquence like a forest of willows. We laughed, we
wept, we shouted in turns; and finally, finding myself getting utterly
unmanned, and rapidly dissolving into tears and brine, I fled the
pulpit and hid myself out of earshot of this extraordinary scene.”
Dr. Wakely, of New York, describes the effects of a prayer by Father
Taylor, at the New York Conference: “The ministers wept all over
the house like little children. Dr. Capers and Dr. Pitman were in
the pulpit with me. Dr. Capers wept and trembled exceedingly; and
Dr. Pitman laughed and cried alternately—smiles and tears strangely
blended.”
“His pathos is the most awful of his powers,” said Miss Martineau,
terrified at his control over her emotions; “I have seen a single
clause of a short sentence call up an instantaneous flush on hundreds
of hard faces.”
Many would not expose their hearts to hear him a second time; they
could not bear the overmastering power.
Dr. Bartol very finely said: “What was the secret but a sympathy,
raised to the highest power, so as to exceed all that we conceive under
that name, so that _he saw out of people as well as into them_! He put
on their eyes for his eyeglasses, looking at the world as they did,
and they found and felt him in them at the core and center.” “He was a
master of pathos,” said Dr. Bellows; “rough sailors and beautiful and
cultivated Boston girls, and men like Webster and Emerson, and shop
boys and Cambridge students, and Jenny Lind and Charles Dickens, and
Harriet Martineau, and everybody of taste or curiosity who visited
Boston were seen weeping together with Father Taylor. Ah, the human
heart, down at the bottom, is one.”
He loved all little children with all his Master’s passion. The baptism
of infants was always a baptism of joy and tears with him. He would
gather one to his breast and kiss and croon over it like a mother.
Taking a beautiful little girl in his arms, he raised her before the
whole audience, and said, with streaming eyes, “Look at the sweet lamb!
Her mother has brought her to Christ’s fold. A baptism of heaven be on
thee, my pretty dove.” All children recognized him at sight for one
of their guild. A ragged little girl walked into the church at his
funeral, laid a buttonhole bouquet on the coffin, and said timidly
and sweetly, “He was _my_ friend,” and so departed. Once when he had
been called to several children’s funerals in succession, he said to a
friend whom he met in the street, “There is something wrong somewhere.
There are storms brewing when so many doves are flying aloft.”
At funerals he was a refuge of consolation. He so entered into the
hearts bereaved that he felt their hurt. “Father, look upon us,” he
once implored, with mighty and tender supplication, “_we are a widow_!”
“It is no wonder to me,” said Harriet Martineau, “that the widow and
orphan are cherished by those who hear his prayers for them.”
Drunken sailors or abandoned women, none were left out of reach of his
infinite sympathy; and it reached the uttermost parts of the earth. A
sailor boy has died and been buried in South America, and he prays that
the Comforter may be near the bereaved father “when his aged heart goes
forth from his bosom to flutter around the far southern grave of his
boy!” Is Shakspere more dramatic, Shelly more imaginative, Longfellow
more pathetic than this?
Out of this fathomless love he preached his gospel of happiness and
purity and love; for it was doubtless true, as he declared, that “he
never knew the time when he did not love God.” Out of it came his
sweet charity and tolerance. His lovers were of all denominations and
of none—Catholics, Universalists, Unitarians—for he was “altogether
lovely.” When one at a camp-meeting excluded from salvation all these
sects, all men who used tobacco and all women who wore jewelry, Father
Taylor broke in indignantly, “If that’s true, Christ’s mission was a
failure. It’s a pity he came.” “How far apart are heaven and hell?” he
was asked. “I tell you,” said he, “they are so near that myriads of
souls to-day don’t know which they are in.” “Blessed Jesus,” he prayed,
“give us common sense, and let no man put blinkers on us, that we can
only see in a certain direction; for we want to look all around the
horizon—yea, to the highest heavens and to the lowest depths of the
ocean.” “When _Bigotry_ is buried I hope I shall be at the funeral,”
he said. His intimacy with the Unitarians, and his remarkable tribute
to Channing have been cited. Of Emerson he said: “He has the sweetest
soul God ever put into a man. If the devil gets him he will never know
what to do with him.” A theologian asked him what he was going to do
with the Unitarians; “I don’t know,” he said, confidentially; “if they
go to hell they’ll _change the atmosphere_.” “Is your son-in-law a
Christian?” asked a solicitous brother. “Not exactly,” replied Father
Taylor, “but he’s a very sweet sinner.”
4. _His humor._ This kept all cheerful, healthy and bright. He was a
“laughing Christian.” I do not think he ever used humor merely to make
people laugh, but always with an earnest purpose back of it. He was no
joker, and rarely thought his own keen thrusts subjects for merriment.
Of his manliness, his good sense, his improvidence, his sweet and
beautiful home life, space does not suffice to speak.
If to be an original character among men is to be eccentric, Father
Taylor was indeed odd. “He was in all things himself and not any
one else; in this generation there has been but one Father Taylor,”
said Dr. Waterstone; and Dr. Bartol declared that, “No American
citizen—Webster, Clay, Everett, Lincoln, Choate—has a reputation more
impressive and unique.” No one understood his singularity better than
himself. “I will not wear a straight-jacket or Chinese shoes,” he
declared. Having been invited to lecture, he said: “I can’t lecture; I
would not lecture if I could. Your lectures are all macadamized; they
are entertainments where those go who dare not visit the theater. I
must cross-plow your fine paths. I am no man’s model, no man’s copyist,
no man’s agent; go on my own hook; say what I please, and you may help
yourselves.”
Like all greatly-eccentric souls, I presume, he felt his own isolation
and want of comprehension of himself by others. One who sat far into
the night in communion of soul with him, said: “You are a strange
mortal!” “Well,” said he, pathetically, “I have made up my mind there
never was but one E. T. Taylor and, so far as I have anything to do
with it, there never shall be another.”
When we think of his birth, training, and surroundings—the child of the
plantation and the graduate of the forecastle—and contrast this with
his peculiar powers, his strange career, and above all in rarity his
wonderful world-wide mission, it is not too much to say that Father
Taylor is without a parallel in American history. “An impulsive,
untrained, and erratic genius;” there was a fixed purpose and a
continuity of effort, such as is seen in few lives. If extravagant
in speech and inconsistent in views, his intensity, vividness, and
realism, make all sound like plain common-sense. Haughty and tender,
imperious and democratic, grand and simple, splendidly uncultured; a
strange, terrible power among men always used for leading, driving,
persuading to righteousness. He deserves a paraphrase of a higher
tribute than Phillips, the Irish barrister, gave to Napoleon. Such
a medley of contradictions and at the same time such individual
consistency for right were never before united in the same character.
In the solitude of his originality, he was always the same mysterious,
incomprehensible self—a man without a model and without a shadow.
“When I am dead,” he pleaded, “I do not want to be buried in dirt. But
bury me rather in the deep salt sea, where the coral rocks shall be my
pillow, and the seaweeds shall be my winding-sheet, and the waves shall
sing my requiem forever.”
And it was not done. Conventionality triumphed in death over the old
eccentric, who had defied it as long as he lived.
* * * * *
OBSERVE, the fates of men are balanced with wonderfully nice
adjustments. The scale of this life, if it sinks, rises there,
while if it rises here, it will sink to the ground there. What was
here temporary affliction, will be there eternal triumph; what was
here temporary triumph, will be there eternal and ever-enduring
despair.—_Schiller._
C. L. S. C. WORK.
By Rev. J. H. VINCENT, D.D., SUPERINTENDENT OF INSTRUCTION C. L. S. C.
May the new year work be promptly begun, faithfully prosecuted,
satisfactorily completed!
* * * * *
October 1 is Memorial Day—the day of the beginning of our college year.
The bell at Chautauqua will ring at high noon. Listen for its echoes.
* * * * *
One member has already nearly finished two of the books since the
meetings closed at Chautauqua. He read on the train; he read at the
station; he read at the hotel; he read during the odd minutes at home.
This is a good example.
* * * * *
The readings for October are: History of Greece,[D] vol. 2, by Prof.
T. T. Timayenis, parts 7 and 8; Chautauqua Text-Books—No. 5, Greek
History, by Dr. J. H. Vincent; Primer of American Literature, by C. F.
Richardson; required readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
* * * * *
Let the members of the Class of ’83 who were not graduated in August,
now begin to read up the required books, and be ready for graduation in
1884.
* * * * *
In the earliest announcement of the course of study for 1883-84, the
little Chautauqua Text-Book No. 22, on Biology, was given. Many members
suppose that this is the substitute for “Easy Lessons in Vegetable
Biology,” an altogether different book. The price of Chautauqua
Text-Book No. 22 is 10 cents; the price of “Easy Lessons in Vegetable
Biology” is (in the cheapest edition) 25 cents. If they will return to
Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway, New York, the Chautauqua Text-Book and
15 cents additional, they will forward the “Easy Lessons in Vegetable
Biology.”
* * * * *
Students in the Class of 1887 should have Chautauqua Text-Books Nos. 4
and 5, English and Greek History. They have already been read by the
other classes. Price, 10 cents each.
* * * * *
Members of the C. L. S. C. are earnestly urged to read Chautauqua
Text-Book No. 24, Canadian History. This should have been required in
the earlier lists.
* * * * *
All members of the C. L. S. C. should examine carefully the “Popular
Education” circular which appears in this number of THE CHAUTAUQUAN, to
ascertain if they have the complete list of books for the year.
* * * * *
By the payment of one dollar, all graduates of the C. L. S. C. will be
entitled to all communications from the central office for four years,
the four white crystal seals, and any additional white seals which they
may gain. The one dollar does not, of course, pay for special seals.
* * * * *
The Chautauqua Hand-Book No. 2—known as the “Green Book”—which contains
a full account of the C. L. S. C. work, is now ready. Send a two cent
stamp to Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J., and you will receive a
copy.
* * * * *
The Class of 1884 should send in their back reports as soon as
possible. It is so much better to get all ready in advance, and not
wait until the close of the year, when the general office is crowded,
the secretaries busy, and mistakes easily possible.
FOOTNOTE:
[D] Students of the new class (1887) to be organized this fall, not
having read volume 1 of Timayenis’s History of Greece, will not
be required to read volume 2, but, instead of volumes 1 and 2 of
Timayenis’s, will read “Brief History of Greece.” Price, paper, 60
cents.
LOCAL CIRCLE NOTICE.
The full accounts of the C. L. S. C. commencement exercises at the
summer Assemblies, which we publish this month, take the place of the
reports from the local circles. It is only for this month, however.
The department will continue to be a regular feature of the magazine.
These reports have been of great service to local circles everywhere,
and we earnestly request that full and exact accounts of work should
be forwarded us by the president or secretary of each local circle.
Let any new feature in the program be fully described; give us all the
new plans for social work, give everything that will be suggestive and
helpful. Several times last year we were asked how to work up a new
circle, or to revive a dying one. Where leaders have had experience in
building up these circles let them give testimony through the “Local
Circle” column. It may help others in similar circumstances. The new
and helpful features are what we want for this department. If the
members will co-operate, the local circle reports will be very useful.
OUTLINE OF C. L. S. C. STUDIES.
OCTOBER, 1883.
The required readings for October are:
Parts 7 and 8 of the second volume of Timayenis’s “History of Greece”
for students having read the first volume, but for students of class
1887 the first ninety-one pages of “Brief History of Greece.”
Chautauqua Text-book, No. 5, “Greek History,” by Dr. J. H. Vincent.
“Primer of American Literature,” by C. F. Richardson.
Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
The division is as follows:
_First Week_ (ending October 8)—1. The first three
chapters of part 7 of Timayenis’s “History of Greece;”
or from page 1 to “Age of Pericles,” page 23, in “Brief
History of Greece.”
2. American Literature, the first two chapters.
3. Readings in American Literature in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
4. Sunday Readings, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, selection for
October 7.
_Second Week_ (ending October 16)—1. Timayenis’s
“History of Greece,” from chapter iv., part 7,
to chapter ii., part 8, or in “Brief History of
Greece,” from “The Age of Pericles,” page 23, to “The
Civilization,” page 46.
2. American Literature, from page 30 to page 55,
inclusive.
3. Readings in Physical Science in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
4. Sunday Readings, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, selection for
October 14.
_Third Week_ (ending October 24)—1. “History of Greece”
(Timayenis’s) from chapter ii., page 73, to chapter
vi., page 115, or in “Brief History of Greece,” from
page 46, “The Civilization,” to “Manners and Customs,”
page 71.
2. American Literature, from page 56, section 34, to
page 81.
3. Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN on German History and
Political Economy.
4. Sunday Readings, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, selection for
October 21.
_Fourth Week_ (ending October 31)—1. “History of
Greece.” Finish part eighth, or in “Brief History
of Greece,” from page 71, “Manners and Customs,” to
“Readings in Greek History,” page 91.
2. American Literature, from section 34, page 81, to
end of volume.
3. Readings in Art, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
4. Sunday Readings, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, for October 28.
POPULAR EDUCATION.
CHAUTAUQUA LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CIRCLE.
_President_—Lewis Miller.
_Superintendent of Instruction_—J. H. Vincent, D.D.
_Counselors_—Lyman Abbott, D.D.; J. M. Gibson, D.D.; Bishop H. W.
Warren, D.D.; W. C. Wilkinson, D.D.
_Office Secretary_—Miss Kate F. Kimball.
_General Secretary_—A. M. Martin.
1.—AIM.
This new organization aims to promote habits of reading and study
in nature, art, science, and in secular and sacred literature, in
connection with the routine of daily life (especially among those whose
educational advantages have been limited), so as to secure to them
the college student’s general outlook upon the world and life, and to
develop the habit of close, connected, persistent thinking.
2.—METHODS.
It proposes to encourage individual study in lines and by text-books
which shall be indicated; by local circles for mutual help and
encouragement in such studies; by summer courses of lectures and
“students’ sessions” at Chautauqua, and by written reports and
examinations.
3.—COURSE OF STUDY.
The course of study prescribed by the C. L. S. C. shall cover a period
of four years.
4.—ARRANGEMENT OF CLASSES.
_Each year’s Course of Study will be considered the “First Year” for
new pupils_ whether it be the first, second, third, or fourth of the
four years’ course. For example, “the class of 1887,” instead of
beginning October, 1883, with the same studies which were pursued in
1882-83 by “the class of 1886,” will fall in with “the class of ’86,”
and take for their first year the second year’s course of the ’86
class. The first year for “the class of 1886” will thus in due time
become the fourth year for “the class of 1887.”
5.—C. L. S. C. COURSE OF READING, 1883-84
I. REQUIRED.
History of Greece.[E] By Prof. T. T. Timayenis. Vol. 2;
parts 7, 8, 10 and 11. Price, $1.15.
Stories in English History by the Great Historians.
Edited by C. E. Bishop, Esq. Price, $1.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 16, Roman History; No. 24,
Canadian History; No. 21, American History; No. 5,
Greek History. Price, 10 cents each.
Preparatory Latin Course in English. By Dr. W. C.
Wilkinson. Price, $1.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 23, English Literature. By
Prof. J. H. Gilmore. Price, 10 cents.
Primer of American Literature. By C. F. Richardson.
Price, 30 cents.
Biographical Stories by Hawthorne. Price, 15 cents.
How to Get Strong and How to Stay So. By W. Blaikie.
Price, cloth, 80 cents; paper, 50 cents.
Easy Lessons in Vegetable Biology. By Dr. J. H. Wythe.
Price, cloth, 40 cents; paper, 25 cents.
Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation. By J. B. Walker.
Price, cloth, $1; paper, 50 cts.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 18, Christian Evidences;
No. 39, Sunday-School Normal Class Work; No. 43, Good
Manners; No. 4, English History. Price, 10 cents each.
THE CHAUTAUQUAN, price, $1.50, in which will be
published:
Sunday Readings. Selected by Dr. J. H. Vincent.
Readings in Commercial Law. By Edwin C. Reynolds, Esq.
Readings in Political Economy. By Prof. George M. Steele, D.D.
Readings in French History and Literature. By Dr. J. H. Vincent.
Studies in American History and Literature. By A. M. Martin, Esq.
THE CHAUTAUQUAN will also contain, in the department of
Required Readings, brief papers, as follows:
Readings in German History and Literature.
Readings in Roman History.
Readings in American Literature.
Readings about the Arts, Artists, and their Masterpieces.
Readings in Physical Science.
ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR STUDENTS OF THE CLASS OF 1884.
Hints for Home Reading. By Dr. Lyman Abbott. Price,
cloth, $1; boards, 75 cts.
The Hall in the Grove. By Mrs. Alden. (A Story of
Chautauqua and the C. L. S. C.) Price, $1.50.
Outline Study of Man. By Dr. Mark Hopkins. Price, $1.50.
II. FOR THE WHITE SEAL.
Persons who pursue the “White Seal Course” of each year, in addition
to the regular course, will receive at the time of their graduation a
white seal for each year, to be attached to the regular diploma.
History of Greece.[E] By Prof. T. T. Timayenis. Vol. 2.
Completed. Price, $1.15.
Chautauqua Library of English History and Literature.
Vol. 2. Price, cloth, 50 cents; paper, 35 cents.
Church History. By Dr. Blackburn. Price, $2.25.
Bacon’s Essays. Price, $1.25.
III. REQUIRED.—FOR THE WHITE (CRYSTAL) SEAL FOR GRADUATES OF ’82 AND
’83.
For the benefit of graduates of the C. L. S. C. who, being members of
local circles, wish to continue in the same general line of reading
as undergraduate members, a White Crystal Seal Course is prepared.
This consists mainly of books belonging to the current year’s study,
but not previously read by the graduates. An additional white seal is
also offered to the graduates, the books for which are specified under
paragraph 4. Some of these books were in the first four year’s course,
and are therefore to be _re_-read. The payment of one dollar at one
time entitles a graduate to the White Crystal and White Seals for four
years. If only fifty cents is paid, it will be credited for but one
year.
THE CHAUTAUQUAN. Required Reading.
History of Greece.[E] By Prof. T. T. Timayenis. Vol. 2.
Completed. Price, $1.15.
Preparatory Latin Course in English. By. Dr. W. C.
Wilkinson. Price, $1.
Credo. By Dr. L. T. Townsend. Price, $1.
Bacon’s Essays. Price, $1.25.
IV. REQUIRED.—FOR ADDITIONAL WHITE SEAL FOR GRADUATES OF ’82 AND ’83.
Brief History of Greece. By J. Dorman Steele. Price, 60
cents.
Stories in English History by the Great Historians.
Edited by C. E. Bishop. Price, $1.
Easy Lessons in Vegetable Biology. By Dr. J. H. Wythe.
Price, cloth, 40 cents; paper, 25 cents.
Biographical Stories. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. Price, 15
cents.
How to Get Strong and How to Stay So. By W. Blaikie.
Price, cloth, 80 cents; paper, 50 cents.
Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation. By J. B. Walker.
Price, cloth, $1; paper, 50 cts.
Primer of American Literature. By C. F. Richardson.
Price, 30 cents.
Chautauqua Text-Books, Nos. 4, 5, 16, 18, 21, 23, 39
and 43. Price, each, 10 cents. #/
The following is the distribution of the books and readings through the
year:
_October._
History of Greece.[E] Vol. 2. By Prof. T. T. Timayenis.
Parts 7 and 8.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 5, Greek History. By Dr. J.
H. Vincent.
Primer of American Literature. By C. F. Richardson.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_November._
History of Greece.[F] Vol. 2. By Prof. T. T. Timayenis.
Parts 10 and 11.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 5, Greek History. By Dr. J.
H. Vincent.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_December._
Easy Lessons in Vegetable Biology. Dr. J. H. Wythe.
Biographical Stories. By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_January._
Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation. By J. B. Walker.
14 chapters.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 18, Christian Evidences. By
Dr. J. H. Vincent.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 39, Sunday School Normal
Class Work.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_February._
Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation. By J. B. Walker.
Completed.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 21, American History; No.
24, Canadian History.
How to Get Strong and How to Stay So. By W. Blaikie.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_March._
Preparatory Latin Course in English. By Dr. W. C.
Wilkinson. Half of book.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_April._
Preparatory Latin Course in English. By Dr. W. C.
Wilkinson. Completed.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 16, Roman History. By Dr. J.
H. Vincent.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_May._
Stories in English History by the Great Historians. By
C. E. Bishop. Half of book.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 4, English History. By Dr.
J. H. Vincent.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 23, English Literature. By
Prof. J. H. Gilmore.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
_June._
Stories in English History by the Great Historians.
Completed.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 4, English History. By Dr.
J. H. Vincent.
Chautauqua Text-Books.—No. 43, Good Manners. By J—— P——.
Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN
6.—SPECIAL COURSES.
Members of the C. L. S. C. may take, in addition to the regular course
above prescribed, one or more special courses, and pass an examination
upon them. Pupils will receive credit and testimonial seals to be
appended to the regular diploma, according to the merit of examinations
on these supplemental courses.
7.—THE PREPARATORY COURSE.
Persons who are too young, or not sufficiently advanced in their
studies to take the regular C. L. S. C. course, may adopt certain
_preparatory lessons_ for one or more years.
For circulars of the preparatory course, address Miss K. F. KIMBALL,
Plainfield, New Jersey.
8.—INITIATION FEE.