C. L. S. C. TESTIMONY.
Massachusetts.—I want to say for the encouragement of any who urge objections to the C. L. S. C. course, that I took it up to please my wife, but ’twas but a short time before I was earnestly reading and studying to please myself. It seemed quite an undertaking, but, though we are forty years old, and have four children, we have found time to keep abreast of the work as carried on by the Circle. We (myself and wife) are of the class of ’86, and began reading together, but the next year, ’83, there was a circle formed, and we joined. You would only have to glance into our sitting room to-night to learn that we are disciples firm and true in this course and its kindred branches; my wife and myself reading French History, two older children at the other end of the room reading the Home College Series, while the two youngest (seven and ten) are reading the course of the C. Y. F. R. U., and the benefits, the blessings and the pleasure we gain from all of this can never be counted in time. We are enthusiastic over the C. L. S. C., because we can see and feel some of its benefits already. We know the forty minutes a day pays better interest than any similar time spent in any secular business. We know its value can not be computed by any known tables. We recommend it to everybody, and we feel ’twill grow here among us. It is succeeding everywhere, it must succeed, and must produce good results, for “We study the Word and the Works of God.”
Massachusetts.—I am quite an invalid, so I take the reading slowly and in small doses, but I can not begin to tell the good it has done me.
New Jersey.—Life seems to me to have been lifted on a higher plane since my association with the C. L. S. C. I know I am a better wife, I love my Christian work better, I am better acquainted with the Master, and as the intellect is cultivated, the soul is pushed out into greater depths and heights and breadths.
Pennsylvania.—I enjoy the reading and study more than I can express, believing that its influence is elevating. I regret that I can not enjoy the advantages of a local circle. I did try to interest some in my own neighborhood, but did not succeed.
Pennsylvania.—It is helping me regain what I lost under the pernicious influence of novel reading. It fills many moments, that would have been spent in idle dreaming, with rare pleasure in the acquirement of knowledge. Its purifying influence is making life more real and earnest. I belong to a small circle numbering six members. Two of the number read last year, and were instrumental in the organization of the circle this year. We are all enthusiastic members, meeting regularly each week. We have real social meetings, with no formality or coldness, and they are a source of great benefit and enjoyment to us all.
Pennsylvania.—You may send me about twenty-five “Popular Education” circulars, and the same number of “Spare Minute Course” tracts, and I will try to aid the C. L. S. C. by distributing them, and speaking a word for it. I have not been able to do much for it yet, but it has done a great deal for me. The first year, and up to February of this year, I did the reading all alone. Sometimes it was very discouraging, but every month when The Chautauquan came, and I read the letters from other members, the circles and others, my enthusiasm received an impetus that carried me on into the next month, and so on through the year. I do not pretend to keep up with the class. Do not think I had finished over half the required readings at the close of the year. But, if the only object of the C. L. S. C. was to have the reading done, I might have done it. My conception of the “Chautauqua Idea” is growth. It has been a means of growth to me. I have grown intellectually, morally and spiritually. It destroyed a taste for light reading, and created an appetite for real knowledge, giving enlarged views of life and life’s work.
Indiana.—This is my third year of work, and I feel much more zealous than at the start. No early training can take the place of such a course as this, yet with a foundation how easy it all appears when we once get at it. It is wonderful how the interest grows. I go out but little, my friends find my C. L. S. C. books scattered around when they come in. At first they attracted little attention, and I failed to create much interest in them by speaking, but as time goes on and they still see the same thing they begin to wonder and ask questions, until now I am frequently asked to explain “the whole plan,” and find willing hearers. There are four of us in this place who pay the annual fee, but I succeeded in getting several more to subscribe for The Chautauquan. In another year I hope we shall have an interesting class. “We four” are not formally organized, but our sympathy brings us closely together wherever we meet. I have the complete set of C. L. S. C. books—could not get along without them.
Wisconsin.—I tried for years, ten years at least, to arrange a course of reading for myself (before I ever heard of the C. L. S. C., too), that would be practical and instructive at the same time; though I made many attempts I always found it impossible to pursue the courses of study I selected, but I never gave up the effort. My thirst for knowledge has always been so great I never am happy unless I feel that every day I have made some improvement, or acquired some knowledge that will be of lasting benefit. So when I had the opportunity of joining the C. L. S. C. I hailed it with delight and gratitude, and never think of its founders without thanking them in my inmost heart for the good it has done, and the good it promises in the future.
Wisconsin.—These two years of C. L. S. C. work have been the happiest of my life. Our studies lighten our cares, encourage our Christian faith, and give the future a bright and encouraging outlook. We see the good influence even in our children; if they do not fully appreciate, they are enthusiastic in their admiration of Chautauquans, and are always glad when it is our turn to have the society.
Missouri.—I presume this year will end my four years’ course; there are a number of books which I had not the time to read, but I shall keep on taking The Chautauquan and reading all I can, for my whole soul is in it, and I have gained more information and practical knowledge through this systematic course of reading than I have in twice the length of time before. I think we shall gain members here to the C. L. S. C., and I shall do all I can. I think we ought to have a strong circle here. I work in the railroad shops, and I read The Chautauquan to the men nearly every noon.
Colorado.—I am, like many another member of the C. L. S. C., a “busy mother,” but I have always been able to find time for my required reading, and for a good deal more that seemed to be suggested by the readings. To say the course of systematic reading is a delight to me, is to but feebly express my appreciation. It is a continual benefit, and an abiding stimulus to self-culture. The study of astronomy in last year’s course started me on what has since been the greatest pleasure I have ever known, that of learning the face of the heavens, till I know the stars, and really greet them each night as dear, familiar friends. The air is so clear here, and our evenings so uniformly cloudless, it is a constant source of enjoyment.
Texas.—I am a lone member, having found no one yet to join me in reading, yet I prize the course so highly that nothing but necessity would induce me to relinquish it. Last year, in much physical weakness and suffering, I partially accomplished the course, and felt a kind Providence had given me this to turn my mind from gloomy thoughts. How I wish the young, the middle-aged and the old would give time for the good thoughts, knowledge and discipline it contains.
