THE TENTH ASSEMBLY.
Ten years ago the First Assembly offered to the world the Chautauqua Idea. It promised an almost ideal summer life, where health and thought and brotherly love should abound. Ten years have passed, and now the question is, has the scheme been carried out? Is the Assembly a practical idea, and is it a permanency? The answers are most decided. The original plan has not only been put into practice, but, when enlarged an hundred fold, has been proven practicable. Is it a permanency may be a harder question, but the tenth Assembly has, we believe, in many ways proven it so. First, the character and growth of all departments of Chautauqua work show them to be needed institutions, and necessary institutions, as a rule, become permanent. The steady, healthy growth of the different branches of work shows how enduring is the Idea; the Normal department increased its alumni this year to over 1,200; its plans for future work are much more elaborate than ever before, its course of study much superior. The annual report from the School of Languages shows a steady increase. Over two hundred full tickets were sold in the school this year, and twenty-six different states were represented.
The Teachers’ Retreat for 1883 shows a great increase over previous years:
In 1879 there were enrolled 15 members.
In 1880 there were enrolled 133 members.
In 1881 there were enrolled 105 members.
In 1882 there were enrolled 76 members.
In 1883 there were enrolled 223 members.
The C. L. S. C. has reached the enormous membership of nearly 50,000. Besides the advance in the different schools, the attendance at the Assembly was unprecedented. In the earlier years of an institution this might mean very little—a boom, and nothing more—but in the tenth year, when the place has become well-known, it does mean a great deal. These people, too, were not all new friends. Chautauqua has been able to keep its old friends, while every season it has added hosts of new ones. The whole exterior showed it. When streets are lighted by the electric light, and houses are built on stone foundations, lathed and plastered, and furnished with modern improvements, a town has reached a period of durability. Things are built to stay. Chautauqua puts up no more shanties. It has become a city, not of a day but for all time.
The genuine hearty enthusiasm which animates the workers and friends of the movement is, to us, a most excellent reason for believing the institution lasting. There is a feeling among many that enthusiasm is a weakness, a quality not exactly in good form, not in keeping with cultured minds. This is a mistake. Enthusiasm, combined with good sense and industry, is the best equipment for any enterprise. As Emerson says, “A man is at his best when enthusiastic,” and we believe Chautauqua is most successful when most enthusiastic—most sure of permanence because capable of always inspiring others with enduring enthusiasm.
The great Assembly opens its doors to every one, but few realize the real value of the idea, or appreciate the conditions of society which make feasible such an idea. Said an eminent German, after having studied the Assembly thoroughly: “You Americans do not appreciate this wonderful plant of yours. In my country we could not have a Chautauqua; no other country under the sun could support such an institution. It is peculiarly American.” We do not appreciate the Idea. It is too ideal for the practical minds of the day. But though we may not grasp its full meaning, the Tenth Assembly has proven that people are beginning to understand the practicability, the breadth, and the permanence of the Chautauqua Idea.
