Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-06-05
JOTTINGS.
EloeuaIon at Iloudon ana as Athens

q Flcn treat Few DAYS ago. Mrs. l.
G. French, of your city, who is so vel
known and highly appreciated there
as an elocutionist. gave one of her
readings there on the evening OF May
27Jh. She had small but very aP-
preciative audience. There are lew
! there who always enjoy such thlngs'
| but we regret 10 say many more care
more eireuses, negro Ministries and
sncb things than they do for any
! thing of a literary character. Such
! tTju9s NAV be said of all our smaller
| towns. as they lack cultivation. OPP
p0rtunitits to sit down to literary
ieasts are not frequent, hence their
tastes are not mp to that standard.
Mrs. French's whole programme
was fine, but the pieces which gave
mcat satisfaction were the "Polish
Boy" and sioux Chiefs Daughter"
The humorous pieces of course were
epj oy ed, but the two mentioned were
most difficult to render, and showed
her talent for dramatic action off 10
better advantage.
Mrs. French bad an engagement 10
read in Athens on the evening of the
10Th. Her audience was not as large
as one would have expected in town
so celebrated for its literary taste.
Those who heard her were perfectly
charmed. she was asked to repeat,
but her engagements were such as TO
prevent her from doing so. Should che
visit this place again she will be
greeted by full house. A lady of this
city, who is very cultivated, and has
heard celebrated readers, remarked TO
the writer that Mrs. FrenCh's reading
sur passed the reading of the celebrated
Mrs. Delhi, OF New York. She thinks
Mrs. French could soon make her
fortune in the larger cities on THE
Sioux Chiefs Daughter" alone.
Knoxville should be proud of the tai
Gated little lady.
COMMENCEMENT AT THE E. T. W. UNI
VERSITY.
The annual exercises OF this
Institution are now going on.
A great many visitors are in attend
Rnce. The examinations began Thurs
day. The Primary Department gave
an exhibition Friday evening. They
drew a large audience as the children
always do. All acquitted themselves
well, but special mention should be
made of one little girl only three
years old. She was so sweet and self
possessed, and in her little lisping
voice recIted Little Robin RedbreasL"
so pretlIly as to coll forth such con-
tinued applause that she bad to return
and repeat il. Two songs by the class
were very much enjoyed, johnnie
Smoker" and "Woman's Rights"
The people were very mucn disap-
pointed in not having Hon. A. A.
Taylor lecture for them as had been
announced. The Athenian Literary
- "A H.,
until Saturday night, hoping he would
be able TO be present.
Prof 5. +. Fowler, Of the clas5 of
'78, kindly consented to take Mr..
Taylor's place. His subject,
practical Thought" was skilliully
handled. He was so interesting as TO
suggest the thought to some of his
hearers that he might become success
ful in the lecture field.
After the address the Athenian Lit
eraTy Society presented beautiful
Memorial Banner to the Alumni of
that Society. The presentation speech
was made by MIR. Harry Robson, of
the class of 10 on the part of the So
ciety, and the speech of the Alumni
made by Mr.. w. A. Wright, of the
class of Is. 1t is the most beautiful
banner we have ever seen. It was de-
signed aud made by q citizen Of this
place
THE RACCALAUREATE
The great event of the week was the
baccaIaureate sermOn, delivered before
the graduating class by Rev. e. II.
Fowler, ID. d. L. l.. D., of the New
York Christian ADVOCATE, one OF the
ablest edited church papers
in the United States. One of the
largest audiences ever assembled
in the College Chapel greeted him.
Services had been suspended at ell
the churches. DR.. FoWleris reputa-
ton as great pulpit orator had pres
ceded him. Those who were his ad-
mirers already were perfectly
charmed.
He chose as his text But LOW we
see through a glass darkly, but then
shall we know even as we are known"
The first part of his sermon showed
how little we know, and that we know
nothing perfectly.
Those who spend years in philO-
sOphicsl research find how insignifi-
cant their Attachments are in COMPARE
son with what there is TO know,
The second part of the sermon was
devoted to the exposition Of what we
do know.
The things we know he represented
by peaks, towering above the horizon.
The first peak represented God, the
second The Book, the third Christ,
and the fourth Death. In speaking OF
his ballet in God his counte-
nance lighted up and his
eyes seemed to be looking away out
beyond this world right through the
gates of Paradise into the eyes of God
himself. His description of the Cru
cifixion was the most mastery thing
it was ever our pleasure TO hear, Tine
old, old story" seemed new-more OF
a reality than ever before. Christ was
brought nearer, and his triumph over
death was portrayed III few but thrill
ling words. DIR. Fowler is certainly
one of The grandest men, and has one
of the most towering intellects of the
nineteenth century.
On Monday the examinations were
resumed. The students evinced great
proficiency in their studies, showing
they had IOiled faithfully to scale the
rugged hill that hides from their view
the Temple of Science. 1t was not our
privilege to hear many classes, but of
those htard. one class deserves special
mention. It was that of Prof. Beaman
in Livy. This class was com.
posed of ladies and gentlemen.
One of the ladies was considered the
leader of the class. The writer was
informed by the Professor that Miss
Clara Luter was the best Latin scholar
h. g. IA u Of q