Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-05-15
1 IANcAsTER, PA, MAY is, 1889.
IN ClIoscphic Club In Lancaster.

sC>1lture. In reference TO the culture of
y ~ social life Lancaster compares very
E1hvofAbly with the other large towns
and inland cities of Pennsylvania. The
&old English families of Lancaster gave
tone 10 its social life from the earliest
times. The bar Of Lancaster county, as
/ well As the other learned professions, has
been filled by men of eminent ability.
ling influence in the place, yet the in
4 terests Of learning and culture have not
been neglected. Their claims have at
s oil times received due recognition In the
community. The Cliosophic club, or
ganizcd ten years ago, has proved itself
10 be one Of the fitting organs through
whichIthe literary taste of the city has
found expression. 1t claims to be only
one among many such organs.
One advantage 1t has enjoyed above
s some others, perhaps, is the fact that II
has had infused into ii the life of the
s college. Professional men of talent and
4 learning have not the time, even If they
have The taste, TO keep up their literary
studies after they leave college and enter
+ upon their professional career ; whereas
+ It Is the regular business of a college To
: cultivate learning and literature for their
own intrinsic value. Its professors are
4 supposed at least to be up I'm such
matters and we may justly say of the
professors Of Franklin and Marshall that
I they not only profess, but also possess,
\ very creditable degree Of learning in their
several departments. The bringing
4 fs,x~atIa, s.f nI h.,
munity, the town and the gown" was
g happy thought in the founders Of the
4 Cliosophic club, and il has worked
greatly to the advantage of both, while
! the whole presents society of which all
4 may be justly proud. Colleges are ex-
posed to the danger of moving in narrow
grooves, Of cultivating an isolated and
secluded life Of their own, and they need
y to come i'm living contact with the more
practical and real life of the big world
outside of them while the big world in
turn needs to he stimulated by the
ardent love Of knowledge which is culti-
waited and nourished I'm the college. The
contact of combination il a heal hful one.
To this literary life of the club may he
added the social element which il culti-
4 Yates Many literary societies neglect
this importan. element. The C'iosdphic
( III mol IL froma society, but it is a club
I I'm the In thi~ise of that word. II meets
mot M to listen TO learned and elab-
{ orate ays, but also to conyerse, TO par
take Of plain refreshments, to cultivate
s0c.ality. We have never known a lit
erary organization in which the soci ]
Z element was so prominent, and in which
II bound the members SO closely together
IN social ties. The fifty to one hundred
members OF which II is composed are rs
one large family. Indeed, it is charac-
= terized'by the element Of family life that
SO largely enters into il and moulds its
sociality. II includes families in the full
sense, of the word, parents and children,
age and youth, coming together in u
happy union.
And this leads us 10 refer TO another
characteristic of the club, viz That
women are as prominent In 1t IA men
II may be conceded that some of the
most Interesting and finished essays
have been furnished by the lady mem
bers. Those who have listened to the
papers by Mrs. DIR. Nevin, Mrs. DR.
Blackwood, Mrs. T.. X. Martin, Mrs
Prof. l<iefier, and the Misses Alice
I Nevin, Blanche Nevin, Ella Dubts aud
Bessie Hager, freely grant that the liter
AIRY qualifications of tine ladies are fully
up to those of the gentlemen writers.
There are other literary societies in the
city, such as the Linnean--rather u
scientific association societies in connec-
finn N ilh h. oh, a IA i,l,
We perhaps do not know of and there
are eminent musical associations that
cultivate the artistic tastes of the city, be-
sides any number of benevolent secret
societies but the Clio occupies place
by Itself. II combines more varied cle-
ments than perhaps any other.
Its title, Ciosophic, from the muse of
history, was happy thought of Prof
w. Nj. ;Neyin, and 1t has largely deter
mined the direction Of its studies, which
have been mainly in the line of history.
Ancient history, medieval history and
modern history, in general way have
come under its scope and survey while
England, Germany, the United States
and France, each has had season. The
list Of subjects and topics of the several
essays, as given in the paper by Miss
Alice Nevin on the history of the Clio,
and now published for circulation among
the members, shows the wide range
which its studies have taken.
How much benefit, a. well as pleas
ure, has been derived from this society,
4 all its members can testify. Aud 80 far
forth as it has been an organ of the
society OF the city, its benefits must be
indirectly felt by the whole community,
on the principle that what benefits a
portion Of society benefits the whole.
When the college presidents aud pro-
5essors Of the state met here some years
ago, they Were given a public reception
BY the Gliosophic club. This one fact
suggests Ia what way the society may
( Become an organ Of the literary aud
social life of the community i'm wider
3eldthan ii has yet occupied. So far as
the reception of any literary celebrity is
concerned, the city always has within il
club that can represent it with honor
aud upon short notice and there NAV
be other occasions on which the Clio
mightdo good service.
A city such as ours ought To have oc-
: casions when its literary character needs
direction. Let the Clio be called upon
70 prepare literary feast for some pub
tIc celebration, such as might be fitting
5 tpr the 4th Of July, or some other of the
historic annuals and eentennials we are
4 hayiup and IL will doul, loo ,.,o,,,,,,l A.,