would point to the ancient raths or mounds, where the old Danes were buried, and where bones of extraordinary size were occasionally exhumed. And as the Danes surpassed other people in strength, so, according to my narrators, they also excelled all others in wisdom, or rather in Draoitheac, or Magic, for they were powerful sorcerers, they said, compared with whom the fairy men of the present day knew nothing at all, at all! and, amongst other wonderful things, they knew how to make strong beer from the heather that grows upon the bogs. Little wonder if the interest, the mysterious interest, which I had early felt about the Danes, was increased tenfold by my sojourn in Ireland.

And now I had in my possession a Danish book, which, from its appearance, might be supposed to have belonged to the very old Danes indeed; but how was I to turn it to any account? I had the book it is true, but I did not understand the language, and how was I to overcome that difficulty? hardly by poring over the book; yet I did pore over the book, daily and nightly, till my eyes were dim, and it appeared to me every now and then I encountered words which I understood-English words, though strangely disguised; and I said to myself, courage! English and Danish are cognate dialects, a time will come when I shall understand this Danish; and then I pored over the book again, but with all my poring could not understand it; and then became angry, and bit my lip till the blood came; and occasionally tore a handful from my hair, and flung it upon the floor, but that did not mend the matter, for still I did not understand the book, which, however, I began to see was written in rhyme-a circumstance rather difficult to discover at first, the arrangement of the lines not differing from that which is employed in prose; and its being written in rhyme made me only the more eager to understand it.

But I toiled in vain, for I had neither grammar nor dictionary of the language; and when I sought for them could procure neither; and I was much dispirited, till suddenly a bright thought came into my head, and I said, although I can not obtain a dictionary or a grammar, I can perhaps obtain a Bible in this language, and if I can procure a Bible, I can learn the language, for the Bible in every tongue contains the same thing, and I have only to compare the words of the Danish Bible with those of the English, and, if I persevere, I shall in time acquire the language of the Danes; and I was pleased with the thought, which I considered to be a bright one, and I no longer bit my lips, or tore my hair, but took my hat, and, going forth, I flung my hat into the air.

And when my hat came down I put it on my head and commenced running, directing my course to the house of the Antinomian preacher, who sold books, and whom I knew to have Bibles in various tongues amongst the number, and I arrived out of breath, and found the Antinomian in his little library, dusting his books; and the Antinomian clergyman was a tall man of about seventy, who wore a hat with a broad brim and a shallow crown, and whose manner of speaking was exceedingly nasal; and when I saw him, I cried, out of breath, "Have you a Danish Bible?" and he replied, What do you want it for, friend?" and I answered, "to learn Danish by;" "and maybe to learn thy duty," replied the Antinomian preacher. "Truly, I have it not; but, as you are a customer of mine, I will endeavor to procure one, and I will write to that laudable society which you men call the Bible Society, an unworthy member of which I am, and I hope by next week to procure what you desire."

And when I heard these words of the old man I was very glad, and my heart yearned toward him, and I would fain enter into conversation with him, and I said, "Why are you an Antinomian? For my part, I would rather be a dog than belong to such a religion." Nay, my friend," said the Antinomian, thou forejudgest us; know that those who call us Antinomians call us so despitefully; we do not acknowledge the designation." Then you do not set all law at nought?" said I. "Far be it from us," said the old man, 66 we only hope that, being sanctified by the Spirit from above, we have no need of the law to keep us in order. Did you ever hear tell of Lodowick Muggleton? Not I." "That is strange; know then that he was the founder of our poor society, and after him we are frequently, though opprobiously, termed Muggletonians, for we are Christians. Here is his book, which, perhaps, you can do no better than purchase; you are fond of rare books, and this is both curious and rare; I will sell it cheap. Thank you, and now be gone. I will do all I can to procure the Bible."

And in this manner I procured the Danish Bible, and commenced my task. First of all, however, I locked up in a closet the volume which had excited my curiosity, saying, "Out of this closet thou comest not till I deem myself competent to read thee," and then I

sat down in right earnest, comparing every line in the one version with the corresponding one in the other; and I passed entire nights in this manner, till I was almost blind, and the task was tedious enough at first, but I quailed not, and soon began to make progress. And at first I had misgivings that the old book might not prove to be a Danish book, but was soon reassured by reading many words in the Bible which I remembered to have seen in the book; and then I went on right merrily, and I found that the language which I was studying was by no means a difficult one, and in less than a month I deemed myself able to read the book.

Anon, I took the book from the closet, and proceeded to make myself master of its contents. I had some difficulty, for the language of the book, though in the main the same as the language of the Bible, differed from it in some points, being apparently a more ancient dialect; by degrees, however, I overcame this difficulty, and I understood the contents of the book, and well did they correspond with all those ideas in which I had indulged connected with the Danes. For the book was a book of ballads, about the deeds of knights and champions, and men of huge stature; ballads which from time immemorial had been sung in the North, and which some two centuries before the time of which I am speaking had been collected by one Anders Vedel, who lived with a certain Tycho Brahe, and assisted him in making observations upon the heavenly bodies, at a place called Uranias Castle, on the little island of Hveen, in the Cattegat. TO BE CONTINUED.]

OBEDIENCE.

The dawning beam at break of day,
The sun at noon, the evening grey,
The moon and stars as through the sky
They go in silent majesty,

Like angels singing, seem to say,
"The God who made us we obey."

The growing grass, the flying bird,
The forest boughs by zephyrs stirred,
The stream below, the clouds on high,
The winds, the showers, as they pass by,
Like angels singing, seem to say,
"The God who made us we obey."

The summer flowers that come and go,
The crisping frost, the falling snow,
The stealing tide that laps the shore,
The lightnings, thunders, evermore,
Like angels singing, seem to say,
"The God who made us we obey."

All things that live, all things that die,
In earth and ocean, air and sky,
With ceaseless voice reprove man's sin,
Pleading that he new life begin,
And with the angels join to say,
"The God who made us we obey."

A NIGHT STORM. Waking, and feeling all my misery lie

In one great load upon my down-crushed heart, Methought the warders of the gates on high Were moved and bade the portals fly apart So the broad-sheeted light within might fall To sun the shadowed mirror of my soul. For one brief instant-vanished past recallA sense of latent mercy o'er me stole. But swift the night her veil of darkness drew, Black-black without the shimmer of a star, While rang loud peals of terror. Then I knew There stretched no city of refuge near or far. For me no gates unclosed-no heaven smiled; 'Twas but the old earth tumult, fierce and wild,

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

ONE HUNDRED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT LITERATURE.

ANCIENT HINDOO, PERSIAN, CHINESE, HEBREW, ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN, AND EGYPTIAN LITERATURES; AND GRECIAN LITERATURE, FROM ITS BIRTH TO AND INCLUDING GREEK COMEDY OF THE GOLDEN AGE.

1. Q. What does literature, in its broadest sense, comprise? A. The written productions of all nations in all ages.

2. Q. Into what two parts may literature be divided? A. Ancient and modern.

3. Q. What does ancient literature include? A. The literatures of the ancient Oriental nations, the Greeks, and the Romans.

4. Q. What three distinct families of languages are there, corresponding with three divisions of the human race as found in Western Asia at the dawn of history? A. The Aryan, or Indo-European, the Semitic, and the Turanian, embracing more than one hundred and fifty tongues.

5. Q. What is the oldest of all the Indo-European tongues, the first language of the Aryans of Hindoostan? A. Sanscrit.

6. Q. How is Sanscrit verse distinguished from prose? A. Simply by a metrical arrangement of long and short syllables. It has neither the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, nor the rhyme of modern times.

7. Q. Since about three hundred years before Christ how only has Sanscrit been kept alive? A. In the conversation and writings of the learned, as the sacred language of the Brahmans, or priestly caste.

8. Q. For how long has the importance and magnitude of Brahman literature been known to Europeans? A. Only during the last century.

9. Q. In what does the language of the ancient IndoAryans survive? A. In the Veda, the oldest work of IndoEuropean literature, dating back to the prehistoric era of the Aryan race.

10. Q. In the hymns of the Rig-Veda, or Veda of songs of praise, how many gods are invoked as intelligent beings? A. Thirty-three, the principal of which are Varuna, (god of waters,) the sun, the moon, the day, fire, storms, the dawn, and the earth.

11. Q. What are some of the distinguishing marks of Brahmanism that were unknown to the Vedic Aryans? A. A. Belief in transmigration of souls, caste, idols, and suttee. 12. Q. What is the most ancient and important of the many Indian treatises on the moral law still extant? A. The institutes of Manu, a monument of a period just subsequent to the Vedic age.

13. Q. How many distinct castes are recognized in this code? A. Four, ascending through the successive grades of laborers, farmers, warriors and princes, to the highest, which consisted of the priests of Brahma, the soul of the universe.

14. Q. In the Hindoo triad with whom is Brahma united? A. He, as the Creator, is united with the three-eyed thousand-named Siva the Destroyer, and Vishnu, the Preserver.

15. Q. What two grand epic poems are the Iliad and Odyssey of Sanscrit poetry? A. The Râmâyana, or adventures of Rama, a name assumed by Vishnu; and the Mahabharata, or great war of Bharata, relating the history of a struggle between two branches of an ancient royal family. 16. Q. By whom were these poems written? A. The Ramayana, by Valmiki, and the Mahabharata, by Vyasa. 17. Q. Who is the foremost writer of Sanscrit lyric, and also of dramatic poetry? A. Kâlidâsa, "The Bridegroom of Poesy," and the Shakspere of India.

18. Q. What is his greatest dramatic work? A. Sakoontala, or the "Lost Ring."

19. Q. What is said of Sakoontala? A. It may justly be called the pearl of Eastern dramatic poetry. It has been translated into every European tongue, and has elicited the admiration of all civilized nations.

20. Q. What two great collections of fables has the Sanscrit? A. The "Five Stories," and a compilation from it called "Friendly Advice."

21. Q. What best known collection of tales and romances is the original of the familiar compilation of the Arabian Nights? A. "The Ocean of the Rivers of Narratives."

22. Q. By whom was a new and purer religion preached in India about 500 B. C.? A. By a monk of royal birth, afterwards called Buddha, the Enlightened.

23. Q. What is said of the number of the followers of the religious system of Buddha, and of the size of the sacred books of the Buddhists? A. It has more followers than any other religious system, their number being estimated at 300,000,000. The sacred books of the Buddhists contain five times as much matter as our Bible.

24. Q. What work is preserved to us in the Zend, the earliest language of Persia? A. The Persian Scriptures, known as the Avesta, containing the doctrines of Zoroaster, the Bactrian sage who reformed the religious system of his country.

25. Q. What is said of the religious system of Zoroaster? A. Of all the religions of human origin, Zoroaster's, though not free from superstition and cumbrous rites, approaches nearest to the truth.

26. Q. State three facts about modern Chinese. A. It is the least developed of all existing languages. It is monosyllabic, each syllable conveying a complete idea. It may be called a language without grammar.

27. Q. Originally what were the written characters of the Chinese? A. Outline pictures of visible objects.

28. Q. How many written characters are there in the Chinese language? A. Over forty thousand are contained in the fullest dictionaries; but three-fourths of this number are almost wholly unknown, and only about five thousand are in common use.

29. Q. Of what does the ancient literature of the Chinese consist? A. The sacred books of China, edited by Confucius, and the works of Confucius himself, and his disciples.

30. Q. When was Confucius born,

and what has been the extent of his influence? A. He was born in 551 B. C. His influence has been greater than that of any other human teacher. No other has ever spoken to so many millions, or received such honors from posterity.

31. Q. What are the corner stones of the system of Confucius? A. Respect for learning, filial piety, and a veneration for the men and institutions of ancient days.

32. Q. What was his golden rule, as embodying the sum and substance of duty? A. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not to others.

33. Q. What is the one prevailing spirit of the nine classical books of the Chinese? A. A spirit of conservatism. The future is ignored, and the past is exalted.

34. Q. What two other names are prominent in Chinese literature? A. Mencius, the disciple of Confucius, and Lao-Tse, the founder of Taoism.

35. Q. What terms designate the three great divisions of the Semitic family of languages? A. Aramaic, Hebraic, and Arabic.

36. Q. What was the tongue in which our Lord and his disciples conversed? A. Aramaic.

37. Q. What was the ancient Hebrew long thought to have been? A. The original language of the human race.

38. Q. Of the extensive literature it is believed the ancient Hebrews had, what books only have descended to us? A. Those of the Old Testament.

39. Q. Into what three classes are the books of the Old Testament commonly divided? A. Historical, poetical, and prophetical.

40. Q. What is a distinctive feature of Hebrew poetry? A. Parallelism.

41. Q. When were the books of the Apocrypha composed? A. During the three centuries immediately preceding the Christian era.

42. Q. What is the Hebrew Talmud? A. It is essentially a digest of law, civil and criminal, and a collection of traditions orally preserved.

43. Q. What literature, buried for two thousand years in the mounds of the Tigris and Euphrates valley, has been partially recovered during the present century? A. The Cuneiform literature of ancient Babylonia and Assyria.

44. Q. What are the writing materials employed in producing this literature? A. The wedge-formed characters were traced with an ivory or bronze stylus on bricks and tablets of clay, carved on stone panels of their palaces, on colossal human-headed bulls, and on terra-cotta cylinders. 45. Q. What were the earliest characters of Egyptian writing? A. Colored pictures, called hieroglyphics.

46. Q. How was a key obtained to the Egyptian inscriptions? A. By the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, in 1799, containing in equivalent inscriptions, in hieroglyphics and Greek letters, a decree conferring divine honors on Ptolemy V, a monarch of the second century B. C.

47. Q. What was the Golden Age of Egyptian literature? A. The Ramessid period in the fifteenth century B. C.; so called from one of the greatest Pharaohs, Rameses II, at whose court Moses was brought up "in all the wisdom of the Egyptians."

48. Q. What is the greatest of all the theological works of the Egyptians? A. The Book of the Dead.

59. Q. What are the two great works of Homer? A. The Iliad and the Odyssey.

60. Q. What is the plan of the Iliad? A. It is a poem of twenty-four books, and is a tale of the siege of Troy, a city on the coast of Asia Minor.

61. Q. What are the names of seven of the prominent characters in the Iliad? A. Achilles, Helen, Paris, Priam, Agamemnon, Ulysses, and Hector.

62. Q. In what way have the historical facts woven into the Iliad recently received unexpected confirmation? A. In the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann, who claims to have unearthed the Ilium, or Troy, of Homer, and to have found ornaments once worn by King Priam.

63. Q. What is the story contained in the twenty-four books of the Odyssey? A. The story of the return voyage of Ulysses from Troy to Ithaca.

64. Q. After the death of Homer, what did a host of imitators, called Cyclic poets, attempt to supply in verse like Homer's? A. What Homer had left untold concerning the Trojan war.

65. Q. About, or shortly after, the time of Homer, who founded a new school of epic poetry in Greece? A. Hesiod. 66. Q. What are two of the most important works of Hesiod? A. "Works and Days," and "The Theogony." 67. Q. At the beginning of the seventh century B. C., what new poetry had its rise in Greece? A. Lyric poetry. 68. Q. What twin-born metres, of Ionic parentage, grew up side by side in Greece, and were the earliest forms of lyric poetry? A. The elegiac couplet, and the light. r iambic verse appropriate to satire.

69. Q. Who were two of the early Greek writers in the elegiac metre? A. Callinus, the inventor of the metre, and Tyrtæus, "The Muse of Sparta."

70. Q. Who was the first great Greek satirist? A. Archilocus, of Paros.

71. Q. Of which two of the three great families of the Hellenes was lyric poetry the peculiar province? A. The

51. Q. Who were probably the first occupants of Greece and Italy? A. Aryan tribes, known as Pelasgi.

52. Q. What was afterwards engrafted upon this primitive Pelasgian stock, identical with it in origin? A. A branch called Hellenic, but forced to a higher state of development, forming a new nation, the Greeks.

53. Q. Into what three great families do we find the Hellenes separated at a later period? A. The Eolians in the north of Greece, the Ionians in the central part, and the Dorians in the south.

54. Q. Of the three dialects connected with these three divisions, which was the softest and most polished? A. Ionic which, refined and perfected, became what is known as Attic Greek, the language of Athens in the golden age of her art and poetry.

55. Q. What were the earliest forms of poetry with the Greeks? A. Hymns to the deities, their religion being a worship of nature.

56. Q. What is said of the Grecian models of literary composition? A. Without them nowhere has marked superiority been attained; the originals themselves have never been surpassed.

57. Q. What are the oldest literary productions of Greece extant? A. The poems of Homer.

58. Q. What is said as to our knowledge of Homer's life? A. As to his life we must ever remain in the dark

72. Q. Who were the most distinguished composers of each school? A. Alcæus and Sappho, of the Æolic school, and Simonides and Pindar of the Doric.

73. Q. Who was the greatest of the Eolic school? A. Sappho, the Lesbian Nightingale, whom all Greece knew as "The Poetess."

74. Q. In the sixth century before Christ what society poet flourished, who, though an Ionian, wrote rather in the style of the Æolian lyrics? A. Anacreon.

75. Q. What brilliant lyric poet composed in both the Doric and Ionic dialects during the following century? A. Simonides.

76. Q. For several centuries to what form was the literature of Greece confined? A. To poetry.

77. Q. At what time did prose first secure its recognition as a department of polite literature in Greece? A. About the middle of the sixth century before Christ.

78. Q. Who were eminent in Grecian learning in the period during which prose gained its first foothold? A. The Seven Sages of Greece.

79. Q. Who were the two greatest of the Seven Sages? A. Solon and Thales.

80. Q. For what is each specially noted? A. Solon for his code of laws, and Thales as the founder of Greek philosophy.

81. Q. What did Thales' knowledge of astronomy enable him to do? A. To predict a solar eclipse which took place 610 B. C., and to divide the year into three hundred and sixty-five days.

82. Q. What branch of literature was a growth of these practical times? A. The fable or allegory.

83. Q. Who was the greatest fabulist of Greece, and indeed of all time? A. Æsop.

84. Q. When was the golden age of Greek literature? A. For one hundred and fifty years following the Persian wars, from 480 to 330 B. C.

A.

85. Q. In what did lyric poetry culminate? A. In the sublime odes of Pindar, who ushered in the golden age. 86. Q. In what do we find the earliest phase of the Greek drama? A. In the festivals of Bacchus, the wine-god. 87. Q. From what was Greek comedy elaborated? The village songs rife during the gala-days of the vintage. 88. Q. Who was the father of Greek tragedy, and who the inventor of Greek comedy? A. Thespis, the Athenian, the father of Greek tragedy, and Susarion of Negara, thirty years before the time of Thespis, has been called the inventor of comedy.

89. Q. Who are the three great tragic poets of the golden age of Grecian literature? A. Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

90. Q. How is the drama characterized in the hands of each of these tragic poets? A. In the hands of Eschylus it was all grandeur; Sophocles invested it with beauty, and Euripides with pathos.

91. Q. What number of dramatic poets has it been computed flourished during the golden age, and what the rumber of their productions? A. Two hundred and fifty dramatic poets who produced more than 3,400 plays. 92. Q. How many of this vast number of plays have survived to our time? A. Only forty-four.

93. Q. How many of the seventy-five tragedies of Æschylus are extant? A. Seven.

94. Q. Of these seven, which is considered the greatest? A. "Prometheus Chained."

95. Q. Who was the rival of Eschylus? A. Sophocles. 96. Q. How many extant plays are there of the one hundred and thirteen Sophocles left the Athenians? A. Seven. 97. Q. What is the masterpiece of Sophocles? A. King Edipus.

98. Q. How many plays of Euripides are extant, and which is considered the greatest? A. Sixteen are extant, of which Medea is considered the greatest.

99. Q. By whom may it be said Greek comedy was perfected? A. By Aristophanes.

100. Q. How many comedies did he write, and of those how many remain entire? A. Fifty-four comedies are from his pen, and of those eleven remain entire.

C. L. S. C. NOTES AND LETTERS.

A member desires to know if the "Conversations on Creation," printed in THE CHAUTAUQUAN of last year, can be obtained in book or pamphlet form. They are published in England by the Sunday-school Union.

Inquiries have been made as to whether the required reading that has been published by THE CHAUTAUQUAN, since the formation of the C. L. S. C., will be re-published by it. The C. L. S. C. 18 progressive, and improvements will be made with succeeding years. The most of the required reading published in THE CHAUTAUQUAN will be new; perhaps a little of the old may be republished.

The question, "What are considered the best encyclopedias for general use?" is one that is frequently asked by members of the C. L. S. C. Appleton's is one of the best. Chambers' is an English work that has been reprinted by a number of publishers in cheap form, and is good for the price. The Brittanica is the most learned and exhaustive, but the newly revised edition is only a little more than half completed.

A correspondent asks if Prof. Frost's lectures, delivered at Chautauqua last summer, on "Geography Outside of the Text Books," have been published. They have not yet, but we are informed they will be issued in book form.

A member writing from Cincinnati, says: "A few days ago several of the C. L. S. C.s went to examine a very fine collection of rare etchings and engravings on exhibition at one of the principal book stores. You have no idea how we enjoyed that afternoon. So many of the pictures were copies of masterpieces mentioned or described in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, or by Miss DeForest, that they seemed like old friends, even though our 'critical abilities' had not been cultivated, and we could not 'discourse learnedly' about them."

The Chautauqua Hand-Book No. 2 has just been issued, and a copy will be sent to each member of the C. L. S. C. It is prefaced by a short historical sketch of the C. L. S. C., written by Rev. J. L. Hurlbut. Then follows the matter contained in the "Popular Education" circular of the present year. Next, the four years' course of study is given in detail. After this comes the list of books to be read in twentyfour special courses; the Preparatory Class; the Bryant Class; the Shakspere Class; plan of local circles; plan by which graduates of literary institutions may receive diplomas; and closing with testimonials to Chautauqua and the C. L. S. C.

In the Round-Table proceedings at Chautauqua, published elsewhere, reference is made to Hadrian's celebrated address to his departing soul, and Pope's version of the same is given. A correspondent sends us what John Wesley quotes, calling it "Prior's Fine Translation," as follows:

"Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing,
Must we no longer live together?
And dost thou prune thy trembling wing.

To take thy flight, thou know'st not whither?
Thy pleasing vein, thy humorous folly,

Lies all neglected, all forgot!

And pensive, wavering, melancholy,

Thou hop'st and fear'st thou know'st not what."

A member of the C. L. S. C. writes: "I have been in deep trouble for a long time, and can see no way out. Chautauqua helped me, and soothed me with its sweet influence. But the trouble was only in abeyance. . . Seven of our circle visited Chautauqua last summer, and were charmed; and it was a little bit of heaven to me!"

The White Seal Course does not seem to be perfectly understood by all the members of the C. L. S. C. One asks: "Are we to understand that by reading the White Seal for last year, or this year only, we receive the Seal? or must we read the extra books for both years to obtain the White Seal?" In reply we will state that the White Seal will consist of four bars, one for each year. Persons who take the White Seal Course for one year will receive but one bar; those for two years, two bars; those for three years, three bars; while only those who take the course for four years will receive the entire seal.

To the request to recommend some good book on art to be used for reference, Prof. Corning gives the following answer: "(1) Michael Bryan-a Biographical and Critical D'ci nary of Painters and Engravers; published by Geo.. Bell & Sons, York street, Covent Garden, London, England. Price, about $5. (2) Supplement to the above, giving biographies of recent painters and engravers. (3) Painters, Sculptors, Architects, and Engravers, and Their

Works; by Clara Erskine Clement. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price, $2.50. The pronunciation would have to be sought in a pronouncing dictionary of proper names. I should judge the last named work to be the best adapted for popular use."

With those who most keenly enjoy the many good things presented in the C. L. S. C. course there is a desire that others should participate. Thus many family circles become little local circles, one of the members reading aloud for the benefit of the others. We quote from a number of letters before us referring to this feature. Says a physician: "I have read most of the course aloud to my wife during respite from professional duties, and it has added much to the enjoyment of an already happy home." A lady member of the class of 1882 writes: "I have enjoyed all the studies, and the pleasant thoughts about them have helped me to better bear the care and toil of every day life. I read aloud whenever possible to my husband and children, and so the family is made more intelligent, and we are all happier for these helpful, pleasant studies." Another lady of the class of 1882 says: "With all my disad vantages in pursuing the course this year I have had some additional pleasures. My husband has read aloud to me from the course much more than any year previous. His father, an old gentleman nearly eighty years of age, has also read aloud to me from some of the books. My little boy, who is barely eleven years old, was very much interested in reading aloud to me."

Here is a letter that tells its own story. The inferences drawn, although perhaps a little severe, are doubtless true. The C. L. S. C. course not only expands the intellect, but it widens the whole horizon of life. We quote as follows: "Allow me to add my testimony as to the benefits of the Circle. In my dry and technical studies I found a great need of just such reading as our course provides. I know from personal observation that a lawyer who knows nothing but law is a mean and narrow-minded person; and so I resolved to be not only a good lawyer, but a well-read man. The influence of the Circle has opened up to me a future of glorious possibilities, and has aroused my ambition. I am endeavoring to rise above my present circumstances, and to gain a place of influence and usefulness in the world, that it may be better for my having lived. If I succeed I shall have to thank the C. L. S. C. for a great part of the success. Many of the young men associated with me in the church have experienced the same benefit that I have. Their improvement in spirit and capability has been marvelous. The young men of our church have become its great strength." A lady of the class of 1882 also writes in something of the same vein. She says: "We have greatly enjoyed the work of the past years, and have pursued it under many discouragements and interruptions, and do not regret the time and money expended in this work, as we realize it has broadened our views, and given us much valuable information, and, more than all else, put us on the track of further reading and study which we hope to follow out. We are very enthusiastic over the work of the C. L. S. C., and hope to be present at the Mecca of Chautauquans next summer."

To many deep in affliction the C. L. S. C. has come "with healings in its wings," and has proven a great refuge from sorrowful thoughts. Says one member: "A great trouble befell me, and thoughts of it made my head ache so severely that I was afraid I should become insane. I could not afford to beguile my mind by travel, and began the Chautauqua course. The history in THE CHAUTAUQUAN seemed the best thing possible for me; I read it once, and repeated it to myself by night and by day, until I succeeded in shutting D

out more unpleasant thoughts. I venture to say no member of the C. L. S. C. learned that more thoroughly than I, and if I should not complete the course I could not feel too grateful for what it has already done for me." Another member writes: "I take the deepest interest in the Circle, know of nothing that can at all compare with it, and it meets a want which I have long felt; but many adverse circumstances, sickness and death in my family, my own weak eyes, and a constitution shattered by disease, have prevented me from doing what I sincerely wanted to do. The little that I have accomplished has done me good; for often, when racked by pain, and able to do nothing but just sit still and bear it, [ have been enabled to think over what I have read, and mentally review my studies, thus making the mind the master of excruciating pain." A member of the class of 1882, says: "The whole course so far is a hard study for me; I am so thankful and happy, though, to be able to do it. This past summer I lost a darling sister who was as a daughter to me, her thoughts were so lovely and pure; she being one of earth's angels, is now numbered with the heavenly ones. I am left very lonely; the comfort. I have from our studies has been wonderful; God see is so much nearer to me, so kind and good, although he Las afflicted me so

LOCAL CIRCLES.*

The local circles of Cincinnati and vicinity are having a very successful course of free lectures this winter. The Times-Star of that city notices the opening lecture as follows: "The second course of free lectures under the auspices of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle of Cincinnati and vicinity, was inaugurated by a lecture on 'Art' last Thursday evening, at Grace M. P. Church, by Mr. John S. Van Cleve." These lectures are given once a month on some subject connected with the course of study. The seeond lecture will be on 'Geology,' delivered by Prof. G. W. Harper. Postal cards containing invitations to the lectures are printed, and sent out by the corresponding secretary, Miss Mary E. Dunaway, to the pastors of the various churches and others. The lectures are attended by many who are not members of the circle.

The required reading for January is the first half of Quackenbos' History of Ancient Literature, from the commencement to history during he golden age of Grecian literature, page 221; and in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, Mosaics of History, Christ in Chronology, Health at Home, and Christianity in Art. Based on the history of ancient literature comprised in the required reading for the month, one hundred questions and answers are printed elsewhere in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. We make the following suggestive division of the work for the month into four parts, as an aid to those who wish to apportion the reading by weeks: FIRST WEEK.-1. Ancient Literature, to page 67-introduction, Hindoo and Persian Literatures.

2. Questions and Answers on History of Ancient Literature, from No. 1 to No. 25, inclusive.

3. Jesus Christ in Chronology, and Christianity in Art, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. [The article on Christianity in Art was received too late for insertion with the rest of the Required Reading in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, but will be found on page 230.]

SECOND WEEK.-1. Ancient Literature, from page 67 to page 131-Chinese Literature, Hindoo Literature, Chaldean, Assyrian, Arabic and Phoenician Literatures, and Egyptian Literature.

*All communications from local circles intended for THE CHAUTAUQUAN should be addressed to Albert M. Martin, General Secretary of the C. L. S. C., Pittsburgh, Pa.