Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-07-22
SILENT COMMENCEMENT.
Peculiar ExercfsesEThe Orators of
the Washington Deaf Mute College.
Cnrrasnnndanca Boston Advertiser.


Correspondence Boston Advertiser.
Anything so impressive as the church ex-
ercises / have rarely seen. These young
men were more graceful than any other
college boys of my acquaintance. Hands
and arms are a nuisance to n young man
when in public or society; he can get along
with his feet, but he never knows what to
do with his hands-they are always in his
way; he is sure they are big and rough;pu
ting them into gloves merely aggravates
matters: if he wants to describe circular
sweep, he only accomplished an irregular
triangle; if he undertakes to gesticulate
from the shoulder, he gets nervous mt see
ing his hand before his face, and at find
ing his fingers sprawling about in unkind
disorder. But these gentlemen had none
of these troubles; there was no dead or
foreign matter about them; they spoke with
fingers and hands and arms and faces and
eyes and bodies; it was you, the spectator,
who was deaf and could not hear, dumb and
could not answer. In the gallery sat two
or three scores of little boys and girls,
from the preparatory school, to be sure
but wiser than you in this universal Ian
guage. You could not speak with the
President from your seat near the platform
yet while the Grafton was delivering saw
him frequently speak with teachers and
students one hundred feet away. If you
wanted to give one of the young men bo-
quet, you could do nomore than send itup
with your name on card. When bright
Mrs. Gallaudet's boquet was delivered and
the recipient looked toward her seat, she
brought her gloved hand into sight and
kindled new light in the lads eyes, with
words of womanly praise which you and
could not hear.
When the name of the orator was called
or announced, he rose, bowed to the Presi-
dent, as is customary, stepped to the front
of the platform. and delivered his oration
in the sign speaking with such
force and elegance and intonation, that
deaf as you were to his words, you could
hardly help hearing many ideas. For
your particular benefit, however, Pro-
fessor Pratt stood at his left
and rear, and read the pages
that he spoke. He interpreted for
two-thirds of the audience what the orator
said to the other third reading faster or
slower as the orator argued his PROPOSE
tons or glowed in his fervor. In spite of
myself, found that / was trying to hear
both the reader and the speaker hearing
one with the ear and the other with the
eye. Before the day was over progressed
so far in my involuntary study that l could
frequently catch the drift of what was
spoken to the eye, before / heard what was
spoken to the ear. Do you remember Ben
Johnson's
at is not growing like tree,
In bulk, doth make man better be-"
and have you thought that you understood
its full force? / caught new meaning in
the fine words when / saw them spoken so
eloquently by Hotchkiss.
The most thrilling moment Of the day
came at the close of the valedictory. 1t
was impressive to see Prof Fay stand and
repeat tie words of Mr.. Kendall and DR.
Sunderland. and Gen. Howard and DR.
Sampson, for the benefit of the graduates
and students good to see the glow ont their
faces and the intelligence in their eyes at
the rounded and feeling periods of the
speakers; but the final scene thrilled me
with an emotion almost to tears. Whether it
was or was not done by design, is more
than / know; but the fact is that Professor
Pratt read the valedictory very rapidly, and
finished ii a couple of moments before the
valedictorian did. When he had conclud-
ed he turned the last leaf of the manu-
ecrirt e,,1 e;i--.iy ssvpPvd utck 10 his
seat Hotchkiss stood alone, tender and
emotional even in his attitude; swept over
by the feeling that must come to all when
the last word is said; glancing out upon
the new life, his spirit leaping within
him to be gone in among the throngs
of men, his eye and heart full of the
sweetest memories given to young men; the
final farewell" pressing for utterance, and
the hand holding it back with knowledge
that its enunciation opens the door upon un-
tined scenes-the young mans body so
alive with the burden of the moment that
1t seems as if his tongue must catch its
Office and lend Its sad but hopeful melody
to the occasion; turning the last ''good
bye" gracefully and feelingly in the hustled
atmosphere, bowing low to his fellows and
teachers, pausing an instant on his feet to
check the tide of emotion before he took
his feat Then the whole house broke out
into electric applause.