s, added two features to
the usages of the C. L. S. C. One was the "Camp fire." In an open place
a great bonfire was prepared; all the members stood around in a circle,
clasping hands; the fire was kindled, and while the flames soared up and
lit the faces of the crowd, songs were sung and speeches were made. This
service was maintained annually until the ground at Chautauqua became
too closely occupied by cottages for a bonfire to be safe. It is
noteworthy that on the day after the camp fire, there was always a large
enrollment of members for the C. L. S. C. Of course, the camp fire was
introduced at other Assemblies, by this time becoming numerous, and it
attracted not only spectators, but students to the reading-course. At
our first camp fire in the Ottawa Assembly, Kansas, an old farmer from
the country rushed up to Dr. Milner, the President, and said:

"I don't know much about this ere circle you were talking about, but I'm
going to jine, and here's my fifty cents for membership and another for
my wife."

There were only twenty members around the fire that night, but on the
next day, there were forty or more on the registry at the Chautauqua
tent.

The camp fire died down after a number of years, but the Vigil, also
introduced in 1881, became a permanent institution. In the days of
chivalry, when a youth was to receive the honor of knighthood, he spent
his last night in the chapel of the castle, watching beside his armor,
to be worn for the first time on the following day. Dr. Vincent called
upon the members of the Pioneer class of the C. L. S. C., destined to
graduate on the following year, to meet him in the Hall of Philosophy
late on Sunday night, after the conclusion of the evening service. All
except members of the class were requested not to come. The hall was
dimly lighted, left almost in darkness. They sang a few songs from
memory, listened to a Psalm, and to an earnest, deeply religious
address, were led in prayer, and were dismissed, to go home in silence
through the empty avenues. After a few years the Vigil was changed from
a Sunday evening of the year before graduation to the Sunday immediately
preceding Recognition Day, for the reason that on the graduation year,
the attendance of any class is far greater than on the year before. The
Vigil is still one of the time-honored and highly appreciated services
of the season. Now, however, the Hall is no longer left in shadow, for
around it the Athenian Wat