diploma. Of
the 8400 enrolled in the first class, only 1850 were "recognized" as
graduates in 1882. Some of the delinquents afterward took heart of
grace, and finished with later classes. But even those who fell out by
the way gained something, perhaps gained an enduring impulse toward good
reading. We frequently received word of those who had dropped the C. L.
S. C. in order to obtain a preparation for college. Dr. Edward Everett
Hale used to tell of a man whom he met on a railway train, who made a
remark leading the doctor to say, "You talk like a Chautauquan--are you
a member of the C. L. S. C.?" The man smiled and answered, "Well, I
don't know whether I am or not. My wife is: she read the whole course,
and has her diploma framed. I read only one book, and then gave up. But
any institution that can lead a man to read Green's _Short History of
the English People_, has done considerable for that man!"

As one by one the required books had been read by diligent members,
there came urgent requests from many for the names of other books, on
history, on sciences, and especially on the Bible. Dr. Vincent and his
staff were compelled to look for the best books on special courses,
supplementing the required course. By degrees almost a hundred of these
courses were arranged, and have been pursued by multitudes. The one who
read the regular course through four years was to receive a diploma; if
he answered the questions of very simple "Outline Memoranda," his
diploma was to bear one seal. If he took the stiffer "Outline Memoranda"
described above, his diploma was to receive an additional seal for each
year's work. Each special course was to have its own special seal. Any
member who read the Bible through while pursuing the course, would have
a gold crown seal upon his diploma. There were some elderly people who
seemed to have nothing in the world to do, but to read special courses,
fill out the memoranda, send for seals, and then demand another course
on Crete or Kamchatka, or the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, until Miss
Kimball, her helpers, and her literary friends were kept on the jump to
find books on these various subjects. Hanging on the walls of C. L. S.
C. classrooms at Chautauqua are diplomas illuminated with a hundred
seals or more, sent to the class headquarters as memorials of diligent
readers who have passed away.

The readers of these seal-courses become members of various "orders" of
different rank. Those whose di