the traveler speeding tlirough TONew England on the Eastern Division of the Boston & Maine Railroad there is no hint of any special attraction at the plain lit-

tle station of Eliot. A drive of three miles takes you past thrifty homes, with meadows reaching to the broad, swift Piscataqua, and through stretches of dense woods down to the river bank, wrhere al-

most at the entrance to Long Reach Bay stands the Greenacre Inn. It

isa quiet spot, with gently sloping banks, and off to the west lies a long meadow with its fringe of apple trees and birches reflected in the waters of the bay. There is a sense of space and distance, a limitless expanse of sky, a broad sweep of river and bay with the distant low-lying banks, and far beyond, ever changing in hue against the sunset sky, range the foothills of the White Mountains. With the going down of the sun a golden bridge spans the waters glowing and radiant at our feet. Once there was a desperate strug- gle here; men fought for their lives, while women and children hurried for shelter over the fields to the garrison house with its high stockade. There are yet signs to be seen of this old house, and in the fields about the plough has turned up many an ar- row-head. As late as 1747 the men of this district carried firearms to church. Down in the hollow below the Inn where the apple trees and locusts bloom, there was a large ship-yard in the fifties, where the keel of many a good ship was laid. The fleetest sailing vessel of her day. The Night- ingale, built to carry Jenny Lind Goldsmith back to Sweden, floated out on the tide from these cool, green shores. She never fulfilled her pur- pose, and years after was captured by the government with a cargo of wretched human beings bound for the slave market. The EHot of to-day is a quiet farm- ing town of 1,500 inhabitants, lying for six miles along the banks of the beautiful Piscataqua, just over the Maine border line, four miles from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There are three or four churches, a grocery store or two, and one hotel. Green- acre Inn, built ten years ago by a company of enterprising Eliot peo- ple. The Inn, a small house holding about one hundred people, was for a few years a resort for Bostonians. Here John Greenleaf Whittier came, drawing about him a circle of friends. In 1893, that wonderful year, when, through the World's Parlia- ment of Religions, men were brought to a recognition of the fundamental points of contact in the religions of the world, Miss Sarah J. Farmer, only daughter of Moses G. Farmer, the inventor, conceived the idea of continuing at Eliot, Maine, her birth- place, the movement inaugurated at Chicago She determined to form a cen- .

tre at the Greenacre Inn, where think- ing men and women, reaching out to help their fellows through means tried and untried, might find an audi- ence recognizing not alone revealed truth, but truth in the process of revelation. It was believed that for those of different faiths, different nationalities, different training, the points of contact might be found, the great underlying principles — the oneness of truth, the brotherhood of man ; that to the individual this spot might mean the opening door to free- dom, the tearing down of walls of prejudice and superstition. The teach- ers and lecturers on this broad plat- THE GREAT TENT. form were to give their services with- out remuneration. There was no en- dowment fund, and the expense of their transportation and entertain- ment was met through voluntary contributions. Where else in the world's history do we find such an- other cornerstone? In July, 1894, Greenacre Inn was opened to guests under Miss Farmer's management. Less expensive accom- modations were to be had in the farm houses about. An encampment of

tents pitched on the river bank, over in the meadow where the old garrison house stood, gave those desiring it the freedom of open-air life. Although six miles from the sea, the tide rises high at Eliot, and the opportunities for salt-water bathing are fine. The great lecture tent seating three hundred was raised just beyond the stone wall of the meadow. The after- noon of the third day of July had been appointed for the opening exer- ;

cises of the Greenacre Lecture Course,

and only a few had gathered. Mrs. Ole Bull, of Cambridge, delivered the address of welcome. At the close of the exercises we stood with heads un- covered to raise the stars and stripes. For days the sky had been dark and lowering, but as we sang ''The Bat- tle Hymn of the Republic," the clouds parted a little and a flood of sunshine illuminated the scene. It was with every man's hand to the rope that the flag of our country went up, and under it there floated for the first time over these green fields a white flag with the legend *' Peace " upon it. The first year brought such men as Henry Wood, Frank B. Sanborn, Edward Everett Hale, O. C. Dolbear, Lewis G. Janes, Ralph Waldo Trine, Vivekananda, W. J. Colville and oth- ers, and they have continued to come

such women as Ursula Gestefeld,

Helen Van-Anderson, Josephine Locke, Abby Morton Diaz. The programs JPPIPJ of the succeeding years have added many names of value—J. Vance Che- ney, John Angus MacYannel, William Norman Guthrie, John S. Clark, S. T. Rorer, Edna D. Cheney, William Ord- way Partridge, Samuel Walter Foss, Carroll D. Wright, Samuel Richard Fuller, MaryA.LivermorejEmily Per- kins Stetson, Elizabeth Boynton Har- bert, Edwin Elwell, Lucia Ames Mead, Helen M. Cole, Kate Tannett Woods, Edwin Markham, George D. Herron, Julia Osgood, Edward S. Morse, Wil- liam Lloyd Garrison, W. T. Harris, H. W. Stetson, Lyman C. Newell, Egbert Morse Chesley, Sara G. Far- well, Thomas Ryan, Mary Lowe Dick- erson, John J. Enneking, Frederick Reed, Filmore Moore, Mary Proctor, Mitchell Tyng, Ellen Crosby, Helen Weil, Josiah Strong, Henry Hoyt Moore, W. H. Tolman, Thomas Van Ness, T. Yanaguchi, Ethel Puffer, Rachel Foster Avery, John Bowles, Benjamin F. Trueblood, Neal Dow, J. T. Trowbridge, Alfred Norton, El- len A. Richardson, Arthur Dow, Ly- sander Dickerman, Sadie American, Lilian Whiting, Ernest F. Fenollosa, Theodore F. Wright, C. A. L. Tot- H. Hindobro, Amanda ten, Caroline Deyo. A wonderful sifting process has been going on through these years, working silently for the most part, eliminating the man with the per- sonal ''ism," the ''fad," the so-called crank, and sometimes finding, in the abundance of what the world calls chaff, the kernel of wheat.

Since the first season the order of the day has been much the same. At nine o'clock devotional exercises in the lecture tent, and then the leisurely trooping up over the hills to the Lysekloster pines, where, in pleasant weather, the platform of the morning is a carpet of pine needles under a great pine tree. On rainy days, the morning lectures are given under a i SWAMI'S PINE. tent in the pines, and the afternoon lectures during the last few years have been given in the new lecture hall, The Eirenion; but on bright days ^sre listen to music and the lec- ture of the day in the great tent, with its sides ^de open to the river, and

with all the life and freedom of the summer about. At sunset there is a quiet hour in the tent, and once or twice a v^eek a musical program. The music school, under the direction of Miss Mary H. Burnham, has been an important factor in the Greenacre work. In 1896 the general lecture course was divided into conferences begin- ning Sunday afternoon and continu- ing one week, and a Nature School out in the woods and fields was formed for the children, under Daniel Batchellor and Melvin G. Dodge. In this same year, a school of com- parative religions was founded un- der the directorship of Doctor Lewis G. Janes, director of the Cambridge Conferences. This school has been one of the strongest features of the Greenacre Lecture Course. The sessions have been held during August under the pines. The motive has been compara- tive study and never propagation of doctrine. During the four years Lewis G. Janes, director of the school, has given a number of valuable lectures upon various subjects. This last summer's work held nothing more broadly helpful and suggestive than Dr. Janes's course upon social science and applied The Swamis religion.

Yivekananda, Saradananda and Ab- hedananda have in turn expounded the profound philosophy of the Ve- danta. The history, ethics and theology of the Talmud were presented by Rabbi Joseph Silverman; the teach- ing of Jesus by Jean du Buy, and the religion and philosophy of the Jains 'm by Virchand R. Gandhi; Nathaniel Schmidt of Cornell University gave this year an exceptionally interesting course on ancient Hebrew philoso- phers. A brilliantly dramatic pre- sentation of the sacred and religious customs in Mohammedan countries was given by the Syrian Shehadi Abd-Allah Shehadi. From the stand- point of the Christianized Hindu, T. B. Pandian described the social condi- tions and missionary work in India. Lack of space alone forbids the men- tion of many other valuable contribu- tions to this program. The discus- sions after the lectures are carried on with a calm, judicial temper, a cour- tesy, a respect for the opinions of others, an evident desire for Truth ^'

and not for victory," that cannot fail to make them educational. As we glance over the programs of the years Ave find Edward Griggs on ''The Art of Living," Smith Baker's morning classes on developmental psychology with their wonderful les- sons in life, W. S. Tomlin's talks on music, E. P. Powell on *'The Evolu- tion of a Home," Hezekiah Butter- worth on **The Art of Story Tell- ing." Francis B. Hornbrook talks on Browning, B. O. Flower on Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus,W. D.Howells reads his *'Etruria," Annie Besant lectures on ''Immortality," C. H. A. Bjerregaard on ''The Mystic Life," John Fiske on " The Cosmic Roots of Self-sacrifice," Lester A. Ward on

"The Real Moral Evolution," Joseph LeConte on The Relation of Biology ' '

to Philosophy," Henry Wood on "Thinking as a Fine Art," Bolton Hall on "Single Tax," Frederick Spier on "The Eight Hour Law," Eltweed Pomeroy on "Direct Legislation," Henry Blackwell on "Woman Suf- frage," J. H. Hyslop on "Problems of Physiology," Booker T. Washington on "Tuskegee," Elihu Thomson on " Electricity of the Future," Cyrus F.

Brackett on '' The Past and the Pres- ent Outlook of Electrical Science," Jacob Riis on ^*How the Other Half Lives." Rare opportunities for help have been given along metaphysical lines by Charles Brodie Patterson, Horatio Dresser, Paul Tyner, Ellen M. Dyer, Emma Louise Nickerson, Helen Yan- Anderson and others. Who can forget Emerson Day in the Cathedral Pines ! Frank B. San- born, the presiding officer, v^as the last resident member of the Con- cord School of Philosophy, and the friend and companion of Emerson and Thoreau. We sit about under the trees and listen to tender intimate touches from Emerson's life and expe- rience. We hold his letters, written seventy years ago, in our hands. Then Charles Malloy gives a series of Emerson readings, with lines and in- terlines of interpretation, the wealth of a lifetime of study. The great tent is crowded Sunday afternoon with the people of the countryside to hear Edward Everett Hale. He gives us a mighty summing up of the reasons for peace, from the spiritual as well as from the historical standpoint. For three summers under a tree in the Lysekloster pines we have spent a morning ^th Joseph Jefferson in informal discussion . In the afternoon the tent is again crowded to hear him on ''The Possibilities of the Drama," from the standpoint of a great actor. One summer under these same pines Dharmapala, the Buddhist, pitched his tent; sometimes teaching from the platform, but more often from the door of his tent, a striking fig-

ure in his orange robe. Seventeen different faiths were represented that year at Greenacre. How times have changed since the good people not — — many miles distant heard in the dead of night the click of the horses' i6 JOSEPH JEFFERSON. ;

hoofs carrying their minister forty miles to Salem to be tried for witch- craft !

The Parliament of Religions, Sun- day, August 30, 1897, was a notable occasion. The tent was crowded to OYerflowing, the sides wide open to the river and the fields. A platform beautifully decorated with pines was occupied by a remarkable group of persons : Miss Farmer, in the centre Lewis G. Janes, presiding; Yirchand R. Gandhi, representative of the Jains, and yellow tur- in native violet dress ban Charles Brodie Patterson of the ;

broad school of mental science Sara- ;

dananda, the Vedantist, in the flame- colored robe and turban of his order, and by his side the Quaker, Edward Rawson; C. B. Young, Boston, and William A. Key, London, of the Unitarian church; Horatio Dresser, editor of the Journal of Practical Metaphysics; K. S. Guthrie of the Episcopal church; Paul Carus, edi-

tor of the Monist and Open Court, of Chicago ; Jehanghier Cola in the -white dress of the Parsee, represent- ing Zoroastrianism ; Mrs. Ole Bull, founder of the Cambridge Confer- ences; Alfred Martin, pastor of the free church of Tacoma, Washington, and Rabbis Fleischer and Berkowitz, of Philadelphia. The brilliant assem- bly, the picturesque colors, the scent of pine, the setting of river and mead- ow, the earnest, listening company, the few simple words of the speakers showing the essential unity of religion — all served to make an occasion not to be forgotten. Although many charming circles

have been formed in the farmhouses, the social life centers naturally about the Inn, where most of the lecturers have been entertained. There is sim- plicity of life, a charming absence of conventionality, an almost invari- able recognition of the man apart from circumstances. Small circles

i8 meet on the piazza, along the river bank or in the meadows, discussing questions with the recognized leaders of thought. ''And the people speak from their character, not from their tongue." When else could you hear, without surprise, in the momentary lull of a hotel dining-room? — *'I do not know whether the spirits return to this earth, but I do know that progress is the law of the soul." There are opportunities day after day for the individual to take his problem to the one best fitted to help him, and the personal contact has proved as great a factor in develop- ment as any words from the plat- form. Many a life of inaction has been awakened here into service. *' In the light of greater lives we see the vision of our own." In the fact that thousands have come to Greenacre, and thousands have been turned away for lack of accommodations, in the virility and force of the minds gathered here, in the questions discussed from the plat- form that affect the moral welfare and therefore the rational progress of the world — in the renewing of the individual, who, touched by the spirit, is born into a larger love for pushing starving humanity — in all this is de-

monstrated the need for such a centre in the social organism. In a word, Greenacre can best be characterized as a centre. It is not an organization ; it is not an institu-

tion, "the lengthened shadow of one man," but a great spiritual, formative centre, the trend of thought broaden- ing with the need of the times. The crucial test is therefore not a test of the value and purity of the ideal, but a test of methods and their

practical application. Can a move- ment depending only upon voluntary aid live in the world to-day? Only last year a man died in London, who, during the last sixty years, has taken care of thousands of orphans. The money necessary to support this immense work was given unsolic- ited and used according to the strict- est business principles. So far as Greenacre amalgamates with the highest ethical standards of the busi- ness world, the truth it stands for, just so far, ''armed with the Sword of the Spirit," will it penetrate into the heart of the grossest materiaHsm, and bring forth the willing tribute of an awakening spirit-loving service. Greenacre, August, 1899.

This year, 1900, marks the sev- enth season of the Greenacre Lecture Course. It was decided to make of it a Sabbatical year, a year of quiet rest, one in which to review the past

and consider the future. Although no programs have been issued, there has been an average of three lectures a week, with a daily morning devo- tional, and an attendance of nearly nine hundred persons. Edward Ev- erett Hale, Charles Brodie Patter- son, Samuel Richard Fuller, Ralph Waldo Trine, Edward Cummings, Paul Tyner, Helen M. Cole, Lyman C. Newell, Ellen M. Dyer, R. C. Doug- las, Swami Abhedananda, Fillmore Moore, Florence Richardson, Richard Ingalese, Jeandu Buy, and Charles Malloy have spoken from the plat- form. A much needed rest has made necessary Miss Farmer's absence the last season. 1901 will undoubtedly mark a new era in the development of this move- ment a movement which stands, let :

it be remembered, not for personality or place, but for life, for progress.

Anna Josephine Ingersoll. Greenacre, September, 1900.