478 FAMOUS LIVING AMEBICANS character, that the new ideas called f ortL In 1865 he estab- lished the Northwestern Sunday School Quarterly^ and the next year. The Sunday School Teacher^ in which he intro- duced the present system of Sunday school lessons and lesson leaves. In 1866 he was elected general agent of the Methodist Epis- copal Sunday School Union ; and in 1868, corresponding secre- tary of the Sunday School Union and Tract Society, with resi- dence in New York City. As corresponding secretary Dr. Vincent became editor of all the Sunday school publications of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Under his management the circulation of the journal increased, in a brief period, from 16,000 to 160,000 copies ; and that of the lesson leaves to near- ly 2,500,000 copies. A complete series of his books forms an encyclopedia of modern Sunday school literature, including^ among others. The Berean Question BookSj a series of hand- books for normal work, a volume on the Modem Sunday School^ and another on the Church School. The work under his hand having progressed thus far found its culmination in the Chautauqua Sunday School Assembly^ organized in 1874; when an institute, undenominational in character, met for two weeks at Chautauqua, New York, for the training of Sunday school teachers. From year to year the organization grew, new plans were adopted, the time was extended to eight weeks, and the work made to include a com- plete summer school, with courses of literature, lectures, and various entertainments. Chautauqua became a meeting place for different Christian bodies, while still retaining its original purpose of Sunday school instruction and Bible study. This assembly, which has exerted such an influence in the matter of Bible study and popular training in Sunday school teaching, was organized by Dr. John H. Vincent and Mr. Lewis Miller, a wealthy inventor and philanthropist of Akron, Ohio. The location of the assembly is at Chautauqua Lake, a beautiful sheet of water about twenty miles long and from one to two miles wide. The grounds, formerly known as Fair Point, were purchased by the Assembly in 1874. The area comprises about 300 acres. The original town of Chautauqua has g^wn ^
