I desire to give you a little history of the inauguration of our circle work in Troy. I do so because I am confident that what was done there last year may be done in every city, in every village, and may be multiplied a thousand times.
About the middle of last September I wrote an article on “Reading, Circles for Reading, and The C. L. S. C.,” and published it in the Troy Daily Times.
I wrote this article, published it on Wednesday, calling a meeting at my church for Thursday evening, inviting anybody and everybody who desired, to be present. The evening was quite unfavorable. I expected about twenty. I was exceedingly surprised and gratified in the interests of the C. L. S. C. work when I found nearly three hundred people present. Being inspired by their presence, I began to talk to them on reading, the importance of it, the value of it to-day, and the cheapness of literature. I unfolded to them the C. L. S. C. plan, the numbers that were taking it up, the enthusiasm that prevailed here at Chautauqua, and how the Circle was spreading all over the world, not only in this country but in other countries. It was all new to many of them.
At the conclusion of my half hour’s talk I asked how many persons wanted to join some such circle as this. About every hand in the audience went up. I was surprised again. Looking over the audience, I knew nearly every one of them, for I was back the second time as pastor of the same church, and knowing that four or five denominations were represented there, I suggested that there ought to be a circle in every church. I did not want to “scoop up” the whole right there in our church, and I was generous enough to say that there ought to be a dozen circles established in our city, one in connection with every church, and in the suburbs. I said that a week from that night we would organize a circle there, and any who desired to be connected with that circle would be gladly welcomed.
During the week I received several letters from parties in the city, and out of the city, asking about the C. L. S. C., what its course of reading was, etc. I followed it in the Daily Times with another letter on Wednesday, saying that our circle was to meet on Thursday, and explaining the text books that we were to take up for the year, and more fully entering into the C. L. S. C. idea. Our evening came, and we had over three hundred present. I had the whole list of books with me. I took them up and showed them to each person. I said, “this is the course.” I went on unfolding the whole idea of the course, the amount of time each year, the examinations at the end of the year, and the outlook of the four years’ course. I told them that this was the student’s outlook from college halls, with the exception of the mathematics and the languages to be translated.
Then I asked how many desired to join this Circle. Over two hundred hands went up. Immediately we fell to organization. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I was elected president, and a Protestant Episcopal clergyman, rector of Christ Church, close by me, was elected vice-president. We have in our organization a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and a board of managers consisting of five.
I found on inspecting the number that joined our circle that we were about equally divided Baptists, Protestant Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Methodist Episcopalians. Our board of managers was wisely selected from these various churches, so that there might be the largest remove possible from anything like an organization confined to our church. I say this because I believe that people are hungry for just such an organization as this. There are thousands in our communities who are tired of idle gossip. They want something to talk about, and the only way to stop gossip is to put something into their heads on a higher plane. I have had testimony from our members repeatedly, “Now we have so little time to talk about these other things.” Whenever they come together they talk about these wonders found in the C. L. S. C. work.
This board of five managers arranges our monthly plan. Our large meetings are monthly. Our circle divides itself up; six or a dozen, or twenty, form little organizations, read together, meet once a week, and then we meet as a large circle monthly and review our work. This board of managers lays out the month’s work. The first week after our monthly meeting this board of managers is called together. They make out their plan, print it on a postal card, and send it out at once to every member of the circle, so that every member knows what the plan is to be three weeks before the meeting. Our method in the large meeting is to review our work by the essay method.
Let me give you a program. First, singing. I was fortunate enough to have an enthusiastic singer in our number, and I gave him the work of organizing a glee club. He gathered twenty or twenty-five of the very best young people in the number, and formed a glee club, and they led our devotions. We followed with scripture and prayer. And then began our essays. We usually have three, four, sometimes five essays, and no essay is over ten minutes in length. We desire that the essays shall not exceed eight minutes. It requires a deal of skill and practice to reduce our thoughts on a subject to a six or eight minutes essay, but it is practicable. Then we are all interested in the subject which we have been studying for a month. When an individual rises and reads, we feel that we have gone over the same subject, and it is like a review to us, and helps to fasten it more definitely in our minds. Following each essay we have remarks and questions. We never criticise an essay. That would be unkind. You could not do it. You would intimidate everybody.
We ask questions and throw in additional remarks. We take up half an hour, or three-quarters at most, devoted to the three, four or five essays. Following these we appoint some person to ask the questions which are printed in The Chautauquan. Any person who will ask and answer these questions will find that he has a wonderfully clear résumé of the whole subject in his mind. I suppose that we are indebted to Mr. Martin for them. They are very clear, very concise, and greatly appreciated by the Troy members.