The Story of Chautauqua

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

There are undoubtedly good things in the Bible, but anyone who is familiar with the ancient writers of Greece, and especially those of India, knows well, if he would tell the truth, that all the good things in the Bible were stolen from earlier scholars and sages, and were originally better spoken or written than by the so-called authors of the Bible, who took them at second-hand. If anybody here is prepared to deny that statement, let him stand up and say so!

Instantly this young student of theology stood up, six feet high, and at that time in his life very slim in his figure. That he might be seen readily he stood on the seat, and a fellow-student said that he loomed up apparently ten feet high. He held a little red-covered book, and stretching his long arm toward the speaker, said something like this:

I hold in my hand a copy of the New Testament, and I wish to say that in this little book, only a quarter of the Bible, you will find a clearer light on man's nature, and character, and destiny than may be read in all the ancient books of the world taken together.

He paused, seized the little volume with both hands, tore it in two parts, flung one part down to the floor, and still holding the rest of it, went on:

I have thrown aside one-half of this book, but this half contains the four gospels of our Lord, which will tell more what man may be here and will be hereafter than can be found in all the books of ancient Rome, or Greece, or Chaldea, or India, or China.

Then he tore out three leaves from the fragment, flung all the rest on the floor, and fluttering the torn pages, said:

These six pages contain Christ's Sermon on the Mount, setting forth a higher standard of righteousness, a clearer view of God, and a better knowledge of man's nature than all the other ancient books on earth. That is my answer to the speaker!

And leaving the torn book on the floor, he walked out of the room.

Other speakers in the new Amphitheater in the summer of 1879 were Dr. Henry W. Warren, in the next year a Bishop; Frank Beard, with his caricatures and stories; Dr. C. H. Fowler, Dr. Joseph Cook, Bishop Foster, Dr. Alexander A. Hodge, the Princeton theologian, Dr. John Lord, the historian, Hon. J. W. Wendling of Kentucky, who brought brilliant oratory to the service of Christianity in an eloquent lecture on "The Man of Galilee"; Prof. J. W. Churchill, one of the finest readers of his time; Dr. George Dana Boardman of Philadelphia; and Dr. Vincent himself, always greeted by the largest audiences. Let us say, once for all, that Dr. Buckley was a perennial visitor, with new lectures every year, and his ever-popular answers to the question-drawer. If there was a problem which he could not solve, he could always turn the tables on the questioner with a story or a retort.

One event of 1879 not to be passed over was the dedication of the Hall of Philosophy in St. Paul's Grove. Dr. Vincent suggested the plan of the building, to be set apart for the uses of the C. L. S. C. and the interests of general culture. As everybody who has been to Chautauqua knows, it was in the form of a Greek temple, an open building surrounded by plain columns, which may have resembled marble, but were made of wood. The dedication was held on August 5th, and addresses were given by Dr. Vincent, Rev. W. O. Simpson, and Dr. Ellinwood. There are thousands of Chautauquans, some of them dwelling in distant lands, who are ready to declare that in all the week, the most precious hour was that of the five o'clock Vesper Service on Sunday afternoon, when the long rays of the setting sun fell upon the assemblage, as they sang "Day is dying in the West," and they united in that prayer of Thomas à Kempis, beginning, "In all things, O my soul, thou shalt rest in the Lord always, for He is the everlasting rest of the saints."