The Story of Chautauqua
The Story of Chautauqua
By
Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, D.D.
Lessons for the Sunday School," etc.
With 50 Illustrations
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1921
by
Jesse L. Hurlbut
Printed in the United States of America
of the two Founders of Chautauqua
Lewis Miller
and
John Heyl Vincent
PREFACE
WHY AND WHEREFORE
An ancient writer—I forget his name—declaredthat in one of the city-states of Greece there wasthe rule that when any citizen proposed a new lawor the repeal of an old one, he should come to thepopular assembly with a rope around his neck, andif his proposition failed of adoption, he was to beimmediately hanged. It is said that amendmentsto the constitution of that state were rarely presented,and the people managed to live under afew time-honored laws. It is possible that somesuch drastic treatment may yet be meted out toauthors—and perhaps to publishers—as a lastresort to check the flood of useless literature. Toanticipate this impending constitutional amendment,it is incumbent upon every writer of a bookto show that his work is needed by the world, andthis I propose to do in these prefatory pages.
Is Chautauqua great enough, original enough,sufficiently beneficial to the world to have its historywritten? We will not accept the votes of the[viii]thousands who beside the lake, in the Hall ofPhilosophy, or under the roof of the amphitheater,have been inoculated with the Chautauqua spirit.We will seek for the testimony of sane, intelligent,and thoughtful people, and we will be guided in ourconclusions by their opinions. Let us listen to thewords of the wise and then determine whethera book about Chautauqua should be published.We have the utterances by word of mouth and thewritten statements of public men, governors,senators, presidents; of educators, professors, andcollege presidents; of preachers and ecclesiasticsin many churches; of speakers upon many platforms;of authors whose works are read everywhere;and we present their testimonials as a sufficientwarrant for the preparation and publicationof The Story of Chautauqua.
The Hon. George