CHAUTAUQUA LAKE. 
One of the most beautiful Inland Lakes in America is Chautauqua, situated in the south¬ 
western part of New York State, and within a few miles of Lake Erie, though seven hundred feet 
above it, up in the Chautauqua hills. The people interested in Sabbath School instruction have 
united and purchased a large tract of land on the shore of this Lake about three miles from 
Mayville, where they spend two or three weeks every season, in studying the Scriptures, the best 
methods of teaching, &c. The wood has been partially removed, but quite enough saved for 
shade and shelter; and skill, taste and money have been generously employed in ornamenting 
the grounds. Perhaps a hundred neat summer cottages are already erected, and during the 
Assemblies there are also hun¬ 
dreds of tents, all crowded with 
cheerful, happy people. 
The Assembly , as it is called, 
was originally designed by the 
Methodists, and we believe is 
still under their control, but 
seems to be participated in and 
enjoyed by all denominations. 
The ruling spirits are Dr. Vin¬ 
cent and Dr. Wythe, and the 
wonderful success of the enter¬ 
prise is a sufficient compliment 
to their executive ability, while 
the taste displayed, and the care 
exercised for ensuring health and 
comfort, would do no discredit to 
the best cultivated heads and the 
warmest hearts. 
Those interested in the work 
have been anxious to have a 
floral display during the weeks 
the people were assembled, and 
we have furnished such things as 
we thought most suitable for the 
location, and most likely to meet 
the wishes of those particularly 
interested. We, however, desired 
to see the ground so that we could better judge next time what would be likely to thrive the best, 
and do most to ornament it at the right time. We, therefore, accepted an invitation to spend 
a day or two at the Chautauqua Assembly, and Gen. Grant did the same. We hardly 
know whether we were invited to meet the President, or whether the President was invited to 
meet us; it is of no consequence, we suppose; we met, and shook hands, and talked. We did 
not see that inevitable cigar that we have heard so much about; but when a Bible was given the 
General to take home to his wife, after a few complimentary remarks by one who stated that he 
had been her pastor long years ago, we did see tears in the eyes of the old hero. 
Arriving at Mayville by the cars, we took a steamer for the ground, and soon reached a point 
of land jutting out into the Lake, called Fair Point. This belongs to the Assembly, and we were 
soon alongside of a substantial dock and passed through a fine entrance gate into the grounds 
proper. Here we saw an Eastern House of full size, with courts, etc.; a plan of Palestine, with 
its mountains, river, etc., covering about an acre; a copy of the Tabernacle, about half size; a 
miniature Pyramid, a plan of Jerusalem, perhaps thirty feet in diameter, etc. 
The flowers had not done as well as we could have wished. It is a cool place up in those 
hills, and everything was backward. Then, there is too much wood. Flowers cannot grow well 
among the roots of trees and in their shade. The principal dependence for ornamentation must 
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