A breezy letter from the plains of Dakota contains the following: “I have been studying entirely alone, and have found the course a blessing that can not be valued. Here, quite removed from society, while winter winds howl round my cabin home, I find help, companionship and pleasure in the studies of the dear ‘Home College.’ The most attractive corner of my little room is the one where my beloved books lie on the home-made shelves. My little ones love them too, and there is scarcely a time when I need help but what I can find it in my books.”
One young lady from Massachusetts, who hopes to hear the “Chautauqua Chimes,” writes: “I have a class of girls in Sunday-school, and want so much the help I think I shall be able to find at Chautauqua. The course has been just what I needed, and I know I have grown, mentally and morally, since joining the C. L. S. C.”
This from a gentleman in Kansas: “If health will permit I hope to be one to enter in under the Arches among the ‘Invincibles.’ I must be one of the oldest of the ’85s. I was fifteen days old at the battle of Waterloo, and, if I am spared till my next birthday, I shall have arrived at the bounds allotted to man in the Bible.”
One ’85 writes: “I hope to receive my diploma at Chautauqua, but, I am a busy mother with six children, and can not always plan so long ahead. I have had the greatest pleasure and satisfaction in the course, for, with a family of wide-awake boys and girls about me, I have found it is very necessary to refresh myself and keep well informed on all subjects.”
One enthusiastic lady from Texas writes: “I have gathered through four years of delightful reading an intellectual bouquet, whose fragrance I hope to wear about me when I pass, not only through the Arches at Chautauqua, but when I pass through the ‘Beautiful Gates’ to the Celestial City.”
Another testifies: “I am one of the busy mothers and housekeepers who pursue the C. L. S. C. course under numerous and varied difficulties, but find my enthusiasm increasing as the four years draw to a close.”
From Massachusetts: “I intend to still ‘press on’ after I graduate—in fact, I hope always to be a Chautauquan.”
Wisconsin contributes: “I like our motto and our name, and I love the C. L. S. C. Though reading alone, it has always been an inspiring thought that many thousands are reading the same course.”