% 
 
 % / .>V/bh %^^^ /^fe'.^ ^^^^-^^ .%^^f^h %^^^ 
 
 o 
 
 4 > % i ' • • > 
 
 -».'.' 
 
 V- ■"■n^o^ 
 
 
 
 
 .^*'' 
 
 ' '^. <f * >>- .-4- \'- "^z « 
 
 
 
 . <*> ^ o « . , •^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 . ■' re' '^ 
 
 " . . • . ^ 
 
 "-„/ ■•^" '-^.o' .•■^;-- %/ ■""'■■-■ -^ 
 
 ^.. --^^ 
 
 ^^\^ 
 C^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 ^^..^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 *> 
 
 
 <v V V 
 
 .0-" V *•-'• .■«^ o^ '•-• 
 
 ^^. ''^ j.0^ '■" -^ ■ 
 
 <*^ 
 
 n M I 
 
 <v ♦TXT* 0^ "^ -...• A 
 
 - O * O - <ft 
 
^o. 
 
 "' A° ^ •" ^ 
 
 4 o>, • l^" 
 
 
 
 >. *^.' 
 
 ^"^ 
 
 
 '^^ i^ 
 ^^A 
 
 c 
 
 <f '^ 
 
 
 ^ V ^ t ' • , 
 
 <-„ 
 
 IS a> ■• 
 
 
 o V 
 
 ' / ^;«?%'. V ..^ ^*>f^^ "^/ ^:^^'. -^^^ ;>f?^^' - ^^ 
 
Pv 
 
 .^^wO\ 
 
(A ~ 
 
 MffiESS!aiH5, 
 
 By , 
 l-jelen "H Sfronq. 
 

 '^iXT. 
 
 "^'«^- -, 
 
 Eng'aved and printed by 
 photo Eng-aving Co 67 Pafk Place. Nev^ York. 
 
PRESStOlg, 
 
 
 ^HE FEELING of one who has 
 really visited Chautauqua is some- 
 thing like our discovery in child- 
 hood that Jerusalem was a real place in 
 every-day geography. One is such 
 a surprise to one's self in this 
 American Athens that he is quite 
 prepared for the suggestion urged by guide-posts at every corner to ''Register at the 
 Dock, that your friends may find yot^—z. practical bit of advice that might otherwise 
 seem an intrusion to one who has traveled day and night to find a place where, for a 
 brief time, even his friends could not find him. 
 
 -'-v: 
 
" The Dock," b}- the way, at Chautauqua (aside from 
 
 being a landing-place and a bureau of general information) is 
 
 an institution so far imbued with the " Chautauqua idea" that 
 
 we are sent to " the dock " for scientific instruction books and 
 
 for temperance literature, while it is quite suggestive of the 
 
 principle " Holiness to the Lord on the 
 
 bells of the horses " to be in a place where 
 
 even the steamboat landing is so exalted 
 
 above the common uses of such a place 
 
 as to be crowned by a chime of bells 
 
 which soothes the saints to sleep, nightly, 
 
 with the tune, " How firm a foundation, 
 
 ye saints of the Lord." 
 
 But even a gateway so consecrated introduces us to the first heaven, only, of 
 this paradise. Some concession must be made, even at Chautauqua, to excursionists in 
 wliom the " Hall of the Grove " and the " Golden Gate " awaken no raptures, and pea- 
 nuts and pop-corn exhale appetizing odors from Alling's candy-kitchen on the one hand, 
 
 4 
 
wliile on the other, the display of sea-shells and trinkets betray a relationship with the 
 ordinary snmmer resort A\'hich is only relieved b_y the neighboring book-stalls, where 
 C. L. S. C. literature is offered for sale, and where the shelves of " Pansy books " may 
 be nieasnred by the j-ard. 
 
 Climbing a short bnt steep hill, we come to A^incent Avenne, and the short block 
 where meat and milk stands on one side, and a hardware, a dry -goods and one or two 
 grocery- stores, with the all-important post-office, on the other, furnish all the physical 
 ministrations required in this intellectual retreat. . The only business coiupctition 
 attempted at Chautauqua is outside the upper gate, where vegetables and meats are 
 brought in wagons b}- traffickers, whom the gate fee deters from closer contact with con- 
 sumers. The scene presented by these eager traders, with carts and wagons, waiting 
 for customers through the summer mornings makes one think of the merchants and 
 sellers wlio lodged without the gate of Jerusalem in Nehemiah's time. That the judg- 
 ment of one's nearest neighbors is not always the surest guide to a true estimate of 
 one's character is illustrated bv the fact that, to these outside traders, " the Chautau- 
 qua idea " means an unprincipled monopoly. To some of these native Chautauquans 
 not even such opportunities for mental and moral culture, brought to theii doors, can 
 
atone for the grievance tlie}^ cherish against the 
 high fence which separates them from the absolute 
 freedom of their childhood's haunts. 
 
 Such disregard of privilege is, however, not 
 characteristic of the bread-winners of the vicinity. 
 
 Here is a hard-workins: mother, 
 with eight children and half as 
 man}- grandchildren, who has 
 passed proudh- under the 
 arches as a C. L. S. C. 
 graduate. Here is a build- 
 er who finds time to slip 
 awav from his work for 
 snatches of lectures on 
 "^'olapiik" and the "In- 
 ductive method." 
 
 Our interest M'as ex- 
 cited one moonlight nisfht. 
 
 _._J 
 
a few years ago, after the curfew chimes had sounded, and quiet had settled down over 
 the tents and cottages hidden away among the trees, by elocutionary sounds pro- 
 ceeding from the " chamber in the wall " occupied by two young men who were in 
 charge of one of the gates. The next day, when programmes were distributed 
 through the amphitheatre announcing an inter-collegiate oratorical contest, the secret 
 was out ; one of our courteous gate-keepers was a college student of no mean abilit}' 
 and one of the orators for the day. 
 
 Aimlessness has no place in the Chautauqua life. Alternatives are constantly 
 presenting themselves, which force some mental activity upon one even in deciding 
 what line to study or what lectures to attend. A bill-poster, mounted upon a two- 
 wheeled vehicle, passes through the grounds every evening, and in the morning, bulletin 
 boards and tree trunks are emblazoned with inviting programmes of the day's privi- 
 leges. " Choose ye " is the problem whose solution is, each day, interesting, if not 
 momentous. " Some things must be left out" is the motto for the over-ambitious. 
 
 Even at the risk of becoming subjects for a churchyard eleg\-, not a few are seen, 
 before eioht o'clock in the mornino\ 
 
" Brushing, with hasty steps, the dews away, 
 To meet the sun upon the upland lawn," 
 
 on tlie way to the College of Liberal Arts, or 
 '\ Normal Hall. 
 
 l/ " Chautauqua," said one of the speakers at 
 
 ' the ovation given to this modern institution, on 
 one of the opening nights, " Chautauqua is not 
 only the best Summer school, it is the best school 
 in the land ;" adding, " It is true Yale and Johns 
 Hopkins are places where our Professors get in practice during the Winter for their 
 work here in the Sunnner." vSome foundation may be found for such a boast in the 
 array of instructors, representing Colleges, Universities, and Theological Seminaries, 
 from Maryland to Nebraska, with Prof \V. R. Harper, Ph. D., of Yale, as principal. 
 
HE vSCHOOL of the English Bible, (treating the Book 
 from a literary and historical standpoint) is an interest- 
 ing featnre of Chautauqua. The classes meet from eight 
 to twelve ever\^ morning in the unplastered cottages used 
 as annexes to the College, and are well attended by an 
 appreciative company of students with note-books in 
 hand. 
 
 Dr. Harper himself attracts full classes. The arnonnt accomplished by this inde- 
 fatigable worker is only equalled by his thoroughness. Too absorbed in his subject 
 for self-consciousness, he fairly digs into the heart of the old prophecies, takes them 
 
apart, sorts and resorts tliem, and then ^vith a quick movement readjusts his glasses 
 npon his short nose, and \vith gestures enforced b}^ a bit of chalk, held in readiness 
 for black-board work, he focuses his vision to shut out all distracting things, and brings 
 the entire situation and tlie purpose of the prophet before us as graphically as tliough 
 the}- hung tangibly in mid-air. 
 
 His sentences follow each other in a hurried torrent until the last moment of the 
 hour, when, with his Revised Version under his arm, and his beaver hat piished back 
 from his forehead until its rim rests npon his shoulders, he starts up the hill toward 
 the College on a run, to enter as enthnsiasticalh' upon the next hour's work of teach- 
 ing Hebrew after the inductive method. 
 
 Narrowness is incompatible Avith the " Chautauqua Idea." Culture, many-sided, 
 is the watchword; " Look up and lift up," the motto. 
 
 Theories, opinions, even in advance of the progressive leaders of Chautauqua, are 
 courteously admitted for discussion. " Questions of the day " are in order continually. 
 There is no subject of vital interest to the world which is not ventilated upon these 
 platforms. Whatsoe\er things are pure, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things 
 fire lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, these are furnished as food for thought. 
 
There is no better wa}' of getting general knowledge than the habit of learning 
 from ever}- one we meet the thing of which he knows most. The man is never dr}' 
 who is intensely interested in his snbject. Specialists — hobbyists, if yon please— (if 
 you have enough of them) can give you a wider education than you can get by calling 
 upon a host of talented men for speeches on a subject of your own choosing. 
 
 This principle is evidently understood by the projectors of the Chautauqua pro- 
 gramme. Even Volapiik becomes attractive when advocated by Mr. Charles E. Sprague, 
 the highest authorit}' on the universal language in this country ; while Harper on the 
 "Monuments," Townsend on the "Jesuits," and Dr. Buckley on "Religious Superstition," 
 each carries his audience, for the time at least, upon the current of his own convic- 
 tions. 
 
HIS WAS surely the secret of the interested audiences who 
 remained day after day, from eleven until half-past twelve, 
 undisturbed b}' the intrusive dinner-bells which claimed at- 
 tention on ever}- side of the amphitheatre, to listen to Mrs. 
 ,.,'■' *>'''"^';l^'-^*-fr^'^!'x?'^«:'' -Abba Goold Woolson's overflowiusr enthusiasm for En<>^lish 
 ^f:. <^;XrC-^j0^i:" literature and histor\-. IMrs. Woolson's tempting way of giv- 
 
 •ng occasional glimpses of her views (she is a Boston wo- 
 man) awakened a desire to hear her lecture on some of the 
 popular questions of the da}- ; but when such a proposition 
 was presented to her, she replied with characteristic promptness, " Who would take 
 care of my kings and queens? There are plenty of people to talk of these other 
 thino-s." Indeed, I doubt if Airs. Woolson's ability to handle the political history of 
 England mav not do more to demonstrate her own right, at least to " political 
 
 12 
 
equality'" than any ainomit of argument could do in these days when, as Mrs. Brown- 
 ing puts it : 
 
 " A woman canuot do the thing she ought, 
 Which maans whatever perfect thing she can, 
 In life, in art, in science, but she fears 
 To let the perfect action take her part. 
 And rest there; she must prove what she can do 
 Before she does it,— prate of woman's rights. 
 Of woman's mission, woman's function, till 
 The men (who are prating, too, on their side) cry, 
 A woman's function plainly is, to talk." 
 
 When Chautauqua " did itself the honor" (as Mrs. Woolson herself might have 
 expressed it, if the honored one had been one of her favorite authors instead of herself) 
 to give the rare Chautauqua salute at the close of her course of lectures, the Chancellor 
 prefaced his call fur the '' White Lilies " with the quotation : 
 
 " To have known her was a liberal education ;'" 
 
 a worthy tribute from a worthv source. 
 
Lewis ]\Iiller, the father of Chautauqua, welcomed the Assembly of i8SS with the 
 cordial declaration that, having paid the gate-fee, visitors might consider themselves en- 
 titled to speak to ever3'one they met without further introduction. Though something 
 more than even Lewis Miller's valued authority might be needed to insure familiarity 
 
 with genius, one has at 
 ing acquainted with the 
 
 Lecturers must often __ 
 have frequent opportunity to v^yj 
 isters and authors. 
 
 .cg-rly looked for than that of \M\\ fe^^" 
 Alden), whose writings have, doubtless, ^4^^! "^i^ K't? 
 
 Chautauqua its world-wide reputation. ^' *"'■'■ ' 
 
 have a cottage here, and though quiet and ^ 
 
 least the privilege at Chautauqua of becom- 
 
 appearance of celebrities. 
 
 ^\ become listeners, and audiences 
 
 sit on the same level with niin- 
 
 Perhaps no face is more 
 
 " Pansv " t Mrs. G. R. 
 
 
 goue far toward giving 
 She and her husband 
 resen.-ed in manner. 
 
 she may be seen anv day in compau}- with ]\Irs. C. ]M. Livingstone, her sister, or her 
 friend " Faye Huntington," with note-book or stenograph, listening to lectiires and 
 addresses. 
 
 One has onU* to strike Pratt Avenue, when the eleven o'clock tide is setting from 
 
 14 
 
the College toward the amphitheatre, to feel 
 the Chautauqua atmosphere. Instead of the 
 empty streets and closed blinds, seen at 
 this hour of the day in fash- 
 ionable summer resorts, ev- 
 erybod}- is awake and abroad. 
 instead of society conversa- 
 tion, the flow of talk 
 is fed from the plat- 
 form and the lecture 
 hali. 
 
 " Poor, dear Dav- 
 id ! " sighs a bustling 
 little woman, and the genuine 
 but tard}- sympathv with the; 
 old king of Israel betra3-s the 
 influence of Prof Harper's 
 
 15 
 
sunmiing up of David's life, and awakens an appreciative response from two strangers 
 fresh from the same chiss-room, and their common interest in the subject furnishes suf 
 ficient introduction for a pleasant interchange of thought on topics not usuallv touclied 
 upon on first acquaintance. There is no necessity for exhausting the weather ti^pic 
 when excuse can Ije found for discussing the " Brahmo vSomaj " on the way to the 
 post-office with a stranger, who proves to be a missionar}- who has spent 3-ears in India. 
 
 
 16 
 
J|l ET US FOLLOW the stream of people whicli fills the street (sidewalks are 
 
 little used, even where the}- exist,) leading to the Amphi- 
 theatre. If von are a stranger, disappoint- 
 X';;' ment awaits yon. Mind, not matter, is in 
 
 the ascendency here, and the nupainted 
 posts and bare, well-worn seats (were ever 
 boards so hard?) do not look inviting, 
 while the twelve descending aisles lead 
 downward to a pit of forbidding gloom. 
 This is bnt a first impression, however, and does not seem to be confirmed by the crowds 
 who are rapidly filling the place. Strangers in the Amphitheatre always betray them- 
 
 17 
 
selves by the eager waj' in ■which they press forward to the vacant sittings scattered 
 about in apparently desirable localities, only to evince their disappointment when they 
 find their view obstructed by the immovable posts which their wiser neighbors have 
 avoided. There seems to be no waj- to obviate this waste of otherwise popular seats, 
 unless it can be arranged to assign such sittings to those Christian Scientists who 
 can succeed in convincing themselves that the posts have no existence. The organ 
 recital is over, and the Chancellor's son, " George the First," appears upon the plat- 
 form — nianlv, strong, commanding attention with the first sound of his voice: 
 
 " Telegrams at the Hotel Athenaeum for ." Can you tell why there are 
 
 alwavs telegrams at the hotel for about three people, seldom more, seldom less? The 
 uniformity of such things, like the life insurance probabilities, alwa3^s seem to hint at 
 undiscovered laws governing human events. 
 
 Now, the announcements for the day. These constitute the bill of fare, always 
 presented b\- ^Ir. Geo. Vincent with a peculiar smack of the lips, which tempts one's 
 mental appetite to over-indulgence. Preliminaries are usually tedious, but whether 
 conducted b}' Bishop \'incent or his son (who claims the title of Introducer Extraordi- 
 nary), Chautauqua preliminaries are alwa3-s entertaining. Each speaker has at the 
 
 i8 
 
outset the advantage of tlie happiest introduction possible. Indeed, having listened to 
 the preliminaries, we niav decide to forego the rest of the morning's programme, and 
 save ourselves for some other part of the day's doings. 
 
 "The survival of the fittest " sometimes (not always) determines the size of these 
 audiences. If the lecturer or performer fails to hold the people b}^ zvhat he has to give 
 tlieni^ he loses his chance of holding them. He has in his favor not even the determi- 
 nation of economical souls to endure what ttie}' have paid for at the door, for doors and 
 fees alike are wanting. Chautauqua audiences being free to come seem to feel equally 
 free to go, and so merciless are they in the exercise of this freedom that one speaker 
 took occasion to thank his hearers at the beginning of his lecture for their presence, 
 sa^-ing that he " might not have an opportunitv to do so at the close " — a happy 
 thought, and one capable of wider application. Most Chautauqua speakers have learned 
 thus to strike the right chord at the outset. It is one of the cases where dela}- is 
 dangerous. 
 
 Passengers from the Lake boats, who step ashore at the Assembly grounds for the 
 first time, are puzzled b}' a confused array of mounds, heaps, stones and ditches, which 
 prove upon investigation to be a carefulh- laid-out plan of the Holy Land. Following 
 
 19 
 
.,»«*•"• 
 
 the shore of the Lake, Avhich, with some disregard of the real 
 
 points of the compass, is made to do duty as the Mediter- 
 
 K'*v^uQ,\JK^^^'^^, ^ \ ranean Sea, the visitor finds himself eqnipped with seven- 
 
 '.s^*-'"^*, p.'"' \ league boots, which enable him to step across the River 
 
 Jordan without waiting for the dividing of the waters, 
 and the way in which one may stride over the Philis- 
 tine ont-posts of Gath and Gaza pnts to shame the feat 
 of Samson with the gates of the latter city, Avhile the 
 giant hero of the former, with his idle boasts, need 
 scarcely be mentioned. Truly even Caleb and Joshua 
 would confess that there are giants in the Canaan of 
 Chautawqua. 
 
 A similar device, by v.-hich the limitations of time as well as space are overcome, 
 is found on Pratt Avenue, where the " rise and tall of the Roman Empire "is staked 
 out by guide-posts extending over a fifteen minutes' walk from tlie Amphitheatre to 
 the College. We had noticed these monumental inscriptions, commemoiating his- 
 torical and biographical events, for a whole fortnight before we discovered method 
 
m their madness — now huddled uncomfortably together, and now straggling a block 
 apart ; but the evidence of a designer, which is never wanting at Chautauqua, appeared 
 when we began at the right end of the avenue, and discovered that intervals of time 
 were indicated by intervals of space. 
 
 It would require a large volume to do justice to the lectures and sermons, to the 
 great choir, and the quartettes, the glee clubs, and the Boston Stars ; to the modest 
 but popular Miss Parks, with her ever-ready cornet ; to the sensationalists of platform 
 and pulpit ; to the stereopticon views, 
 the ideal tours, and the C. L. S. C. 
 Round Table ; to the memory lessons, 
 so much needed in an age pithil}^ char- 
 acterized hy the instructor as " one of 
 pistols and pencils " rather than of 
 " muscle and memory;" to the training 
 schools for temperance, Sunday-school 
 and missionary work; the "Feast of 
 Lanterns," the Athenian watch fires, the gymnastics — the 
 
 21 
 
Roller Coaster. It \vill not be expected that the uninitiated should pass Avithin the 
 ropes and attempt to describe Recognition Day, with its impressive ceremony, and its 
 " rainbow salute," with the unlocking of the Golden Gate to the long, long proces- 
 sion of graduates, who must be addressed and rewarded, and sealed, and finally, at the 
 evening carnival — burlesqued. 
 
 This little book has to do with impressions only, and with the impressions of two 
 people who made a home for themselves within these grounds for a few weeks without 
 the restraints and annoyances of boarding, and to whom, perhaps, the most lasting im- 
 pression of all mav be the quiet intervals on a certain upper floor, where the precise 
 divisions between cellar and pantry, bed-room and parlor, were born of the imagination, 
 Avith delightful independence of material limitations. It is hoped that the reputation 
 of the Hotel Athensum will be in nowise affected by the statement that not even the 
 college-bred service of that grand institution can furnish the domestic felicity which 
 corneal from the combination of two congenial spirits, a kerosene stove and the freedom 
 of the market. Nowhere in Chautauqua were there such sunsets, such wide outlooks 
 upon sky and lake, such pure air, such freedom from lake flies-mosquitoes are unknown 
 in Chauiauqua-such restful, quiet nights, such royal living, as in that retired domicile. 
 
There is something to stir ambition in the very trees of Chautauqua. The mam- 
 moth stumps left standing here and there suggest the forest primeval, while the 
 beeches, ironwoods and maples now growiu"" 
 tower upwards in their undeviating perpen- 
 dicular to such a height thaf a point of sight 
 can hardl}' be found that will do jus- 
 tice to both top and bottom 
 within the radius of a single 
 picture. 
 
 If, however, we consid- 
 er the trees as a standard of 
 human development (as 
 Whittier, " amongthe hills," 
 looks for "a man to match 
 his mountains"), Chautau- 
 quans cannot be said " to 
 
 23 
 
creep dwarfed and debased below them/' even in physical stat- 
 ure, when such Titans as Bishop William Taylor and Rev. 
 Phillips Brooks stand before us. The appearance and character 
 of these two men would almost argue that large souls are best 
 developed in large bodies. Surely one's environments alone 
 do not determine one's breadth of thought, for these men — one 
 from Boston's centre of culture and the other from the heart 
 of the Dark Continent — come to us with the same truth, each 
 peculiarly eloquent in his wav, with large-hearted, outreaching 
 sympathv for humanity. Phillips Brooks preaches the " Light 
 of the World " as shining upon lives dwarfed, helpless, blind, and 
 lifting them with tender, helpful power into a new world of light 
 and growth and beaut3^ Bishop Taylor carries the same light 
 to the same need, responding to the religious instinct flutter- 
 ing beneath heathen superstition with the loving mes- 
 sage, " Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship. Him de- 
 clare I unto you." One of the most vivid impressions of 
 
 
 «4 
 
the Chautauqua platform iu our memory is the picture of this rugged missionary, 
 huge in his projects as in his stature, proving to his favored audience their kinship 
 with the dying African, whose religious culture had been confined to " the primary 
 school " of nature, " God's kindergarten for the race," while we are withholding from 
 him the knowledge of " God's provision for a high school, for a grand Chautauqua for 
 the race," which was intended to be as far reaching, " under the written revelation and a 
 proclaimed Gospel," as the " primary school " has been. 
 
 A Chautauqua Sabbath ! No boats, no trains, no driving — quiet, restful, worship- 
 ful. The shut gates suggest a discussion of separation as a principle entering into 
 
 25 
 
the final adjustment of good and evil. " It is easy," saj^s cue, " to shut 3-ourself up to 
 a quiet Sabbath, with the rest of the world shut out;" but, aftef all, is it not the best 
 way, perhaps the only wa}' ? Indeed, will it not be the Divine wa}', when the line shall 
 be drawn, not accidentally, but infallibl}^, and God Himself shall shut the door? 
 
 Like oases in the desert, are these spots : reservations growing sadly less in num- 
 ber, where the madly driving wheels of our week-day civilization are compelled to come 
 to a stand-still one da}- in seven, that man may straighten himself to look above his 
 own level. A printed morning sen-ice is circulated through the Amphitheatre. The 
 platform becomes a pulpit for the day, and earnest, able, eloquent sermons fall upon 
 an appreciative assembl}' from the lips of ministers. Bishops, and Doctors of Divinity 
 of national reputation. In the afternoon, Lewis Miller, brimful of Sabbath-school 
 work, conducts an adult Bible class in the Amphitheatre. Blackboard lessons, with 
 all the modern Sunday-school appliances, are used to instruct the children, in another 
 building. Later, a lecture on Christian Ethics is given to 3'oung people, where the 
 gra}- hairs, so characteristic of Y. M. C. A.'s and Y. P. S. C. E.'s, are positivel}^ pro- 
 hibited, the line limiting the age of attendants to twenty-five j^ears being relentlessly 
 drawn. 
 
 26 
 
HE VESPER Service ! What is the charm which makes its influ- 
 (-•uce measureless? Is it the stillness and the hour? 
 
 m-. 
 
 .f^ 
 
 'Day is d34ng in tlie west, 
 Heaven is touching earth with rest. 
 
 This is the opening hymn, and the 
 tonch of Heaven seems to be upon the assem- 
 bly, to the very outermost rim of worship- 
 pers, standing unwearied outside the crowded 
 Hall of Philosophy, beneath the trees, flecked 
 by changing lights and shadows ; and there 
 
 27 
 
is a tenderness, a closeness of sj-mpathy (born of that common sense of need wliicli 
 puts human nature at its humblest and its best) in the swelling notes: 
 
 " Lord of life, beneath the dome 
 
 Of the universe, Thy home, 
 
 Gather us who seek Thy face 
 
 To the fold of Thy embrace, 
 
 I'or Thou art ui"h." 
 
 Then, like the sound of many waters, is the voice of the multitude, as leader and 
 people climb together the beautiful rounds of tliat ladder of aspiration and adoration, 
 the praj'er of Thomas a Kempis, while they read responsively : 
 
 " Above all things, and in all things, O my soul, thou shall rest in the Lord ahvay, for He himself is the ever- 
 lasting rest of the saints. 
 
 2» 
 
Grant us, O God, to rest in Thee, above all creatures, 
 
 Above all health and beauty, 
 
 Above all glory aud honor, 
 
 Above all power and dignity, 
 
 Above all knowledge and subtilty. 
 
 Above all riches and arts. 
 
 Above all joy and gladness, 
 
 Above all fame and praise. 
 
 Above all sweetness and comfort, 
 
 Above all hope and promise. 
 
 Above all desert and desire, 
 
 Above all gifts and benefits that Thou canst give and impart to us. 
 
 Above all mirth and joy that the mind of man can receive an<l feel, 
 
 Finally, above angels and archangels, and above all the heavenly host. 
 
 Above all things visible and invisible, 
 
 And above all that Thou art not, O, onr God. 
 
 Because, Thou, O Lord, our God, art supremely good above all; 
 
 Thou alone art most high , 
 
 Thou alone most powerful, 
 
 Thou alone most full and sufficient. 
 
 Thou alone most sweet and most full of consolation, 
 
 Tbou alone art most lovely and loving. 
 
 29 
 
Thou alone most noble and glorious above all things, 
 
 In whom all good things together most perfectly are, and ever have been, and shall be." 
 
 Then the Gloria, after which, words of encouragement, of promise, of pra3'er, read 
 respousivelv, are interspersed with another of IMiss Lathbur3-'s tender h3'mns, and the 
 night song, with its uplifting sentiment : 
 
 ' All tlie earth is wrapped in shadow. 
 
 Steep and rugged climbs our way; 
 Dare we hope to look enraptured 
 
 From the mountain-top some day ? 
 O press onward still ! forever 
 
 Turns the earth to meet the light, 
 Cometh swift and sure the morning, 
 
 When our feet shall tread the light.' 
 
 And then — -the animating spirit of the whole — the helpful, earnest, tender words 
 
 30 
 
of the Cluuicellor, Avho knows, as few men know, how to improve withont dispelling 
 the influence of such an hour; how to be in full sympathy with the sentiment of the 
 place without a touch of sentimentality ; how to be practical without being common- 
 place. " Temptation is opportunit}'." How the phrase glows with meaning under his 
 graphic description — nay, under his verj- impersonation — of the soul struggling with 
 evil, and either sinking to a lower plane of living, as a consequence of defeat, or rising 
 to a higher, with victory. 
 
 Other men ma}' entertain us or bewilder us with theology, other men may grow 
 eloquent about religion ; Bishop Vincent has the rarest of rare faculties, of living our 
 religious experience with us. 
 
 Keble's familiar hymn, " vSun of my Soul," follows the closing prayer, and at last, 
 after the benediction, the desire of all is fitly expressed in the one stanza of Woodstock, 
 which closes this impressive service: 
 
 " Thus, when life's toilsome day is o'er, 
 May its departing ray 
 Be calm as this impressive hour, 
 And lead to endless day." 
 
 31 
 
M 
 
 iX^^^'^i: iV. /'".- 
 
 HK197-78 
 
^0 -^d. 
 
 >■'. % °"° v^* ,'•" ^- 
 
 
 %/°'^' 
 
 "^^ o^ 
 
 ■- -' .v-^a-- ^^..*' --i^-:-. V„.' .v^si-- -'^^Z ^"^- 
 

 >.^*e;o'^^^v __ -o^_ '.-.^--^^o ....■''^.•.'°-°\n^ 
 
 
 •I o 
 
 
 ,/x 
 
 :.' ^ i' 
 
 N. MANCHESTER. 
 INDIANA 
 
 
 \ 
 
 .5 » > t.