Chautauqua, a celebrated summer-resort on Chautauqua Lake, in a county of the same name near the south-west extremity of the state of New York, is famous as the seat of the 'Chautauqua Company. Assembly,' founded in 1874 by John H. Vincent, D.D., and Lewis Miller, to provide systematic instruction for Sunday-school teachers, together with popular lecture courses in literature, science, and art. In 1878 the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle was organised. The distinctive mission of this 'circle' is stated to be 'to direct the reading habits of grown people, both those who have received the best that the educational institutions can give, and desire to pursue an "after school" course, and those who for any reason failed to receive a college education in early life, but who now desire to secure to themselves the college student's general outlook upon the world and life, and to develop the habit of close connected persistent thinking.' The system comprehends a four years' course of home reading and study, to be pursued under the advisory supervision of the officers of the institution, on the completion of which diplomas are awarded. Post-graduate and special courses are also provided for those who desire to prosecute particular branches of study beyond the limits laid down in the regular course. On the tenth anniversary of the Circle's organisation, it was stated that about 200,000 persons, scattered through all parts of the world, belonged to the association; most of them are members of local circles formed in accordance with the general plan of the scheme for the more efficient prosecution of the studies. Particulars concerning the
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, with directions for forming local circles in connection therewith, may be obtained from the secretary of the institution at Plainfield, New Jersey. 'The Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts' is another department of the work. A faculty of able professors gives instruction by correspondence, and after rigid examinations the regular collegiate degrees are conferred under charter from the state of New York. The Chautauquan, a magazine of large circulation, the organ and exponent of 'The Chautauqua Idea,' is published at Meadville, Pa. See F. L. Armstrong's Chautauqua (1886), and Vincent's Chautauqua Movement (1886).
Lake Chautauqua is a beautiful sheet of water about 20 miles long, with an average breadth of 2 miles, lying about 700 feet above Lake Erie, from which it is distant 10 miles. The Chautauqua Assembly Grounds, situated upon the northern shore of the lake, comprise about 165 acres, containing over 500 attractive summer cottages, a fine hotel, a museum of archaeology, an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of over 5000, several halls for meetings, and numerous other appliances for combining recreation with instruction. Large numbers of students and visitors congregate here in the summer season. 'Chautauquas,' more or less on the plan of the original, with buildings, lectures, &c., have been established in various parts of the United States.