The Story of Chautauqua

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

Had it been given to Daniel Webster, as it was given to Edward Everett, to live until the guns were fired upon Fort Sumter, there would have been an end of compromise. He would have stamped that mighty foot with a sound that would have rung throughout the land, have called forth a million men, and might have averted the war!

Just then a voice rang out from one of the seats—"As Douglas did!" Joseph Cook paused a moment. His chest swelled as he drew in a breath, and then looking at the man who had interrupted him, he spoke in that powerful voice:

The firmament above the massive brow of Daniel Webster was a vaster arch than that over the narrow forehead of Stephen A. Douglas, and the lightning that rent the clouds from the dying face of one, would never have been needed to bring daylight to the other!

I was seated beside the Rev. Charles F. Deems of New York, a Southerner by birth and in his sympathies through the then recent war. He turned to me and said: "That was the most magnificent sentence that I have ever heard!" There was a moment of silence, and then a burst of applause from the audience.

The Lake Bluff Assembly never drew a large patronage, as no Chautauqua Assembly ever has which depended upon a great city whose inhabitants can hear the famous preachers and orators. The successful Assemblies have been located in fairly large towns, with villages and small cities surrounding, near enough to reach the Assembly, but so distant that to enjoy its benefits the visitors must stay more than one day. The support of a Chautauqua Assembly of the higher grade comes not mainly from the one-day excursionists, but from those who plan to enter the classes and remain at least a fortnight. These patrons constitute the backbone of the institution, and without them the transitory crowds soon lose their interest and the Assembly declines. Lake Bluff maintained an existence for ten or twelve years, but never obtained an extensive constituency.

The year 1878 was noteworthy in the establishment of two Assemblies, one still living after more than forty years, the other one of the largest, most steadfast in fidelity to the Chautauqua ideal, and most extended in its influence. The first of these was the Round Lake Assembly, at a camp ground near Saratoga in New York. We have narrated elsewhere (see page 44) the story of the "praying band leader" who undertook to hold a little meeting of his own at Chautauqua, and when called to order left in disgust, but later showed his manly spirit by asking Dr. Vincent to organize an Assembly on the Chautauqua plan on the grounds at Round Lake, of which camp meeting he was President. This Assembly began in 1878, and is still maintained both as a summer school, a camp meeting, and a Sunday School training institution. It was opened according to the Chautauqua pattern, with an evening of short speeches, of which some at least were supposed to blend humor with sense. Frank Beard was on the platform, and was expected to be the wit of the evening. To the blank perplexity of all, he made a serious speech, without a solitary funny allusion. The audience did not know whether to laugh or to look solemn, as he talked on, and at last brought us all "before the great white throne." The next morning at breakfast—for all the imported workers took our meals at one table in the Round Lake Hotel—Dr. Vincent freed his mind to Frank Beard, somewhat after this fashion:

Now, Frank, I want you to understand that we bring you here to brighten up the program with a little fun. We don't need you to make serious speeches; there are plenty of men to do that; I can do it myself, a great deal better than you can. To-night I'm going to give you another chance, and I expect you to rise to the occasion with something to laugh at.

So, before the evening lecture, Dr. Vincent announced that Mr. Beard wished to say a few words. This was something of what he said:

Dr. Vincent, he didn't like the speech I made last night. He told me this morning before all these fellers that it was too eloquent, and he said, "Mr. Beard, when you are eloquent you take the shine off from me, and these other men, and you mustn't do it. If there is any eloquence needed, I will do it myself, and you mustn't interfere with the regular program."

Then he went on, in his usual way, using some of the dear old jokes that some of us had heard at Chautauqua, but polished up for a new constituency. Everybody saw that he was guying the doctor, but there was a group of us present who knew just how Frank was twisting the breakfast talk of the Superintendent of Instruction.