Massachusetts (West Haverhill).—A local circle was formed at West Haverhill, Mass., October 10, 1882. We meet one evening each month. Our meetings are very interesting and profitable. The exercises vary, with one exception—we usually have the questions in The Chautauquan, as we think they help to fix the reading we have been over more firmly in our minds. We have eighteen members, and we are just commencing our studies, so we have not as interesting a story to tell as many others, but we hope in our quiet way to be better men and women because of the privileges we enjoy in the C. L. S. C.
Connecticut (Niantic).—Our circle re-organized on October 2, 1882, beginning its second year. We meet every Monday evening, at the house of each of the members in turn. The circle is now as large as can conveniently meet in a private parlor, so we have obtained permission from the church authorities to meet in the Congregational church parlor. There are now twenty-seven members, five of whom belong to the national circle. This is an increase over last year, for then our number was only twenty. The exercises commence with the reading of the secretary’s report of the previous meeting, and then a collection is taken to pay postage and other expenses of the circle. After this the president asks the questions in The Chautauquan, and the answers are either recited or read. The reading is the last thing before the motions are made and the voting and other business of the circle done, and we adjourn. We read books in the course which will interest the majority of the members. It has generally been those upon which questions and answers are prepared and published in The Chautauquan. At the meetings we use a dictionary constantly, for every difference in pronunciation is noticed, and the word is looked up. We begin promptly at seven o’clock, and close at nine.
New York (Troy).—The Rev. H. C. Farrar, president of a local circle in Troy, an old Chautauquan and successful C. L. S. C. worker, writes: In our city there are seven circles, all organized this year, numbering in membership some five hundred. Our circle numbers over two hundred members and we have had the grace to call it the “Vincent Circle.” Each circle is doing full and vigorous work, and almost weekly new members are adding themselves. The C. L. S. C. in very many ways is blessing our city. The booksellers never sold so many books of real merit as during the holidays just passed. One firm sold over a dozen Webster’s dictionaries, and all of them were Christmas presents to C. L. S. C.’s. In this vicinity about twenty other circles have been formed since October. So goes the good work bravely on. I can not forbear making an extract from a letter of Rev. J. M. Appleman, Pownal, Vermont: “Mrs. A. and myself commenced the course in October. We availed ourselves of every favorable opportunity to speak in the interest of the C. L. S. C. Many were favorably impressed, but we could not persuade any to join us. We then put the “Hall in the Grove” into the itinerant work and it found favor everywhere, and so great was the demand for it we put another copy on the circuit. I have not seen either copy for several weeks. About the first of December it fell into the hands of a prominent young man and his enthusiasm went to white heat at once and he said: ‘We must have a circle,’ and a circle we have of eleven members and the tide is still rising.” Many of our members have had a new world of thought and life opened to them through geology and Greek history and they are anticipating great things in astronomy. While studying geology we made excursions into the country and with hammer and bag practically geologized. We spent two hours at the State Geological Rooms in Albany (two hundred of us) and heard Prof. James Hall. We had one lecture on “Glaciers and the Mer-de-glace.” We had frequent talks by one of our number on geology, and the interest has been rife and the profit great. We are planning most vigorously for larger and better things. We are seeking for an astronomer to speak to us who knows the stars as friends, that from the living heart words may thrill us beyond what the book can. Many adjoining towns are waking up to this C. L. S. C. work and are pledging circles for next year. Our membership in this city will be doubled.
New York (Brooklyn).—Our pastor, Rev. W. C. Stiles, commenced studies with his wife, and one after another asked permission to join them, and were cordially welcomed, until we have a circle of seven members. Our studies are those laid down in The Chautauquan. We read the entire lesson at home, and take the most important points for recitation. At the end of the book we have a written review, and find we have learned the whole thing in a very compact form. There seems to be a good deal of interest, and we find the studies very pleasant. We decided to elect a secretary every month and send a report to The Chautauquan, so you will probably hear from us again.
New York (Brooklyn).—In the January number of The Chautauquan you ask if there are any local circles in Brooklyn. Besides those mentioned there is one of seventy-four members, which meets in the chapel of the New York Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. N. G. Cheney is president; Mr. John E. Searles, vice-president, and Mr. J. Wallis Cook, associate vice-president. The circle is constantly growing, having recently absorbed part of the circle of which F. S. Holmes was president. The members of the circle are not confined to the Methodist denomination, but are representatives of several others.