You will join me, I am sure, in one universal Chautauqua salute to the honored editor of The Chautauquan and his competent associates and contributors as our tribute to the ability with which our monthly has been conducted.
And now, as we “study the word and the works of God,” may our Heavenly Father be “in the midst,” and “may we never be discouraged” in pursuing the high and beautiful ideal of the C. L. S. C.: The attainment of symmetrical and practical culture which will fit us the better to serve our fellows upon the earth, and to enjoy the blessings promised by our Father in the heavens!
Plainfield, N. J., May 21, 1885.
GLIMPSES OF THE CHAUTAUQUA PROGRAM.
A part of our creed of late has come to be that we need change in summer. If our homes are in cities, we need it because we can not have there the requisites of good health—fresh air, pure water, quiet; if we live in the country, we want and need a change which will give us social advantages; if we are teachers or students, we want opportunities to see, to get new ideas, to observe new people and their customs. This theory of summer living makes the demand for summer resorts. It is rare, however, that any place offers with any degree of completeness health, society and opportunities. It is claimed for Chautauqua that all three may be found there; that it is, in short, an ideal summer resort, open to all classes of people. The outlook for Chautauqua in 1885 confirms this claim, and gives to its admirers most satisfactory glimpses of what is in store for them during the coming season.
Chautauqua is fortunate in having had candid, disinterested men examine its condition and management, and pronounce their verdict as to its healthfulness. One of the most critical examiners of public places in America, Hon. B. G. Northrup, made his visit to Chautauqua last summer a kind of inspection tour. He pried into every corner and cranny, and publicly denounced every abuse he found. With “courage indomitable,” the Chautauqua “powers that be” attacked the enemy, and “they are ours.” This summer there is no pestilential spot, not one vault nor cess-pool nor wet spot to poison the water and breed disease. The determination of the management to have perfect sanitary arrangement at any cost—even if all other improvements are abandoned—is producing a condition unparalleled. This result, and the means taken for its accomplishment, are worthy of close study by every visitor at Chautauqua, particularly by those who are property owners, or are interested in the government of towns.
Chautauqua is a safe resting place. But it is more. It is preëminently a social place. Its social life is as pure and wholesome and natural as the air and water. Simple, unaffected manners, free, kindly intercourse, characterize the daily life of the people. “How very democratic you are here,” said a visitor last year, “and I don’t see a particle of snobbishness.” And it is true. The simple reason, perhaps, is that Chautauqua brings out of every one the best in them. People literally live too high there for snobbishness. They can run out in the morning for their milk or bread or steak; they can carry their bundles or do their own washing, and the high, clear, mental atmosphere of the place forbids them minding who sees them at their duties, forbids any one who sees them feeling that the work is menial. This mental and social air is indeed one of the most exhilarating things about the place. You do live socially above your ordinary level—live so because it is “in the air.” You can not help it.
How wonderfully good health and good company contribute to making a good working place. Above all things else Chautauqua is that. Its pure air stirs your blood until you feel like working; its social life stimulates you; its opportunities are a constant temptation. Of course Chautauqua temptations begin with the platform. There are at least two features of the program for the platform of 1885 which deserve special attention. Of these the first is—it is timely. The questions which are interesting society are the questions it discusses. Note what a prominent place “Mormonism” holds. Miss Kate Field makes it the subject of two lectures: “The Mormon Creed” and the “Political and Social Crimes of Utah,” and Mr. W. L. Marshall takes up “Utah and the Mormon Question” in a third lecture. Temperance, our knottiest social problem, is elucidated by Miss Frances Willard in the “Evolution in the Temperance Reform,” by Mrs. Ellen Foster, by Hon. G. W. Bain, by a National Temperance Society Day, by temperance bands, by conventions, and by every attraction which Chancellor Vincent can devise and valiant Chautauqua temperance workers carry out. Missions, too, have a brave array of talent to plead their claim. The first four days of August are mission days, on which are discussed means of increasing interest and improving methods of evangelizing both foreign and home heathens, of raising funds, and of securing workers. One of the leading mission workers of 1885 will be the Rev. Wm. F. Johnson, of Allahabad, India. Mr. Johnson has been in the field nearly twenty years. He will fill the place this summer that Ram Chandra Bose and the Rev. Mr. Osborne filled in the missionary conferences of last year.