o confer. But
if a list were made of the noble names that have taken part in these
gatherings, it would show that the interdenominational plan of the
founders has been justified by the results. It is a great fact that for
nearly fifty years the loyal members of almost every church in the land
have come together at Chautauqua, all in absolute freedom to speak their
minds, yet with never the least friction or controversy. And this
relation was not one of an armed neutrality between bodies in danger of
breaking out into open war. It did not prevent a good-natured raillery
on the Chautauqua platform between speakers of different denominations.
If anyone had a joke at the expense of the Baptists or the Methodists or
the Presbyterians, he never hesitated to tell it before five thousand
people, even with the immediate prospect of being demolished by a retort
from the other side.

A conversation that occurred at least ten years after the session of '74
belongs here logically, if not chronologically. A tall, long-coated
minister whose accent showed his nativity in the southern
mountain-region said to me, "I wish to inquire, sir, what is the
doctrinal platform of this assembly." "There is none, so far as I know,"
I answered. "You certainly do not mean, sir," he responded, "that there
is not an understanding as to the doctrines allowed to be taught on this
platform. Is there no statement in print of the views that must or must
not be expressed by the different speakers?" "I never heard of any," I
said, "and if there was such a statement I think that I should know
about it." "What, sir, is there to prevent any speaker from attacking
the doctrines of some other church, or even from speaking against the
fundamental doctrines of Christianity?" "Nothing in the world," I said,
"except that nobody at Chautauqua ever wishes to attack any other
Christian body. If anyone did such a thing, I don't believe that it
would be thought necessary to disown or even to answer him. But I am
quite certain that it would be his last appearance on the Chautauqua
platform."

In this chapter I have sought to point out the foundation stones of
Chautauqua, as they were laid nearly half a century ago. Others were
placed later in the successive years; but these were the original
principles, and these have been maintained for more than a generation.
Let us fix them in memory by a restatement and an enumeration. First,
Chautauqua, now an institution for general