EXCERPT FROM THE CHAUTAUQUAN

EXCERPT FROM THE CHAUTAUQUAN VOLUME 3, 1883

A Monthly Magazine devoted to the Promotion of True Culture Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle

CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY OF 1882.

“Chautauqua Lake has a formidable rival in the Sunset Sea! The "Hall in the Grove" has a daughter whose youthful promise we are sure will give the mother Hall not a pang of envy or jealousy, and so we may venture to set forth her charms without limit or reserve. Our third Assembly here in Pacific Grove has been an unquestioned success. The heart of the secretary has sometimes been anxious and disturbed during the past year, for necessarily to her come all the questions and complaints, all the cares and - discouragements; but when the year of study was over, and the fervent and the faithful assembled with clear consciences and cheerful faces, and shook hands with each -other, said greetings and congratulations, she had her exceeding great reward. Especially could she rejoice as the Assembly progressed and each address or essay seemed better than the last, and each meeting of the Round-Table more full of interest and profit, and a fresh enthusiasm for the C. L. S. C work growing and spreading on every hand.

When the California C. L. S. C. was organized here in 1879, Monterey was guilty of its very worst behavior. Fogs wrapped their chilly mantle about the shivering multitude, especially giving a wet blanket to the eastern visitors; cold winds right from the polar seas frisked around, as if by particular request from old Boreas, and a regular Arctic wave swept over the crowd who gathered that last night in the open air to hear the renowned Bostonian tell us whether death ended all. Many of us thought it would surely "end" us. But what a different experience has been ours ever since! Sunshine and soft breezes have greeted us. The fog has only pleasantly veiled the too " garish day," and given beautiful atmospheric effects to sea and sky. Each year the delightful grove has seemed to have added charms with which to await old friends or greet new ones. The coolness has been its chief attraction to the dwellers in inland cities, or in the dry and heated valleys. The South Pacific Railroad Company now own almost the entire grounds, with an immense adjacent tract of land, and everything possible has been done by this rich corporation to make Monterey the favorite seaside resort, not only for California, but for all the Pacific coast. The highways have been put in perfect order; at old Monterey a magnificent hotel, the "Del Monte," has sprung up, like Aladdin's palace, in a grand old forest of live oaks, and with its turrets and towers and slender pinnacles, its surrounding wide porches and graceful ornamentation, savors more of fairy-land than of ordinary architecture. When to this is added an environment of such flowers as this floral paradise can alone produce, a tropical splendor of growth and color, all artistically arranged and combined, the effect can only be imagined, not described. All this is for le beau monde. Pacific Grove is for plainer, and, as a certain wise little girl said, for "sensibler" folks. Here long rows of tent-like cottages are arrayed along the shaded streets, while beautiful little private villas and tents crowd the cliffs, the open glades and the sunny knolls. The conveniences of a town are close at hand, while a few steps take one into the forest primeval. Seabathing and boating invite those who indulge in these pleasures; no storms disturb us. The peaceful seas image as peaceful skies, and the murmur of the ocean can scarcely be distinguished from the murmur of the pines. It seems to the weary and world-worn as if it would be joy enough to lie and listen forever to this grand antiphonal chorus.

There are beautiful beaches to be visited in quest of shells and sea-mosses; the quaint old town of Monterey is itself a treasure-house of curiosities, and the famous old mission church, built a hundred years ago, is but a few miles away, and is reached by a charming road through pine forests and along the beach.

But I must hasten on to our Assembly. We have had a rare feast. We have gathered daily in our spacious hall to hear lectures from Dr. Stratton, our good President, full of true science, philosophy and religion; a series of five admirable lectures upon the five senses, from the clear, concise, scientific, and yet popular Dr. Wythe, of Oakland; delightful lectures from such grand teachers as Profs. Norton, Kleeberger, Simonds, Rattan, Keep and George, each a specialist in some field of science; beautiful essays from Mrs. Bartlett, of Oakland, upon Ancient and Modern Egypt; from Mrs. Tracy

Cutler, upon Hygiene and the Circulation of the Blood; from Dr. Anderson, of Santa Cruz, upon Marine Botany, and Dr. Dwindle, of Sacramento, upon Religion and Art. Mrs. Field, of San Jose, read carefully prepared papers upon Early English Literature, especially upon the life, times, and art of "old Dan Chaucer, in whose gentle spright the pure well-head of poesy did dwell;" Adley Cummins, Esq., of San Francisco, read an admirable paper upon the Anglo-Saxon Language and Literature, and T. B. Perkins, of the San Francisco Free Public Library, talked learnedly and well upon the subject of Archeology. The Fourth of July was a gala day between beautiful music by the C. L. S. C. choir (who, by the way, made the whole time of the Assembly a concourse of sweet sounds), a magnificent oration by Hon. George L. Woods, of San Jose, and a concert and entertainment in the evening, brimming with good things.

Our Sundays were both made memorable by delightful religious services, including grand sermons by Rev. Drs. Dwinelle, of Sacramento, Bentley Bushnell, and Calhoun, of San Jose, and Jewett, of San Francisco. We had two Round-Table gatherings, with mutual interchange of ideas and experiences, and a pleasant Memorial Day devoted to Longfellow, Emerson, and Darwin. Mrs. Field, of San Jose, spoke briefly but feelingly of Longfellow, reciting some of his own beautiful poems as his most fitting eulogy. Mrs. McKee, of San Jose, responded to the name of Emerson with eloquent words of appreciation and personal reminiscence. Dr. Sprecher, of Oakland, warmly defended Darwin, insisting that he was not a theorist, but a patient investigator, not an atheist, but a Christian, and urging his claims to just and generous regard.

The walks by the sea, with such marine students as Drs. Anderson, and Wythe, and Keep, have been full of profit and pleasure. People only sighed for longer days and better memories.

The session closed with a delightful social, when one of our graduates, Miss Myrtle Hudson, of San Jose, read us a delightful history of the society which we hope will yet find a place in the archives of Chautauqua. The old officers were reelected with warm expressions of appreciation, and cordial greetings were sent to the parent society.

And now it is all over, and the society starts forth with an increased membership, greater enthusiasm, and brighter prospects than ever before.”