The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-06-30
Commencement at Goddard
Seminary.

The exercises of the seventeenth annual
commencement of this thriving institution
were held at Barre last week, and are said
to have been in many respects the best in
its history. They were certainly very inter-
esting and were largely attended through
out. Sunday, June goth, the graduating
class listened to baccaaureate sermon by
Rev. e. G. Bolles of Salem, Mass. The text
was from Matthew, sixteenth chapter and
eighteenth verse; " And / say unto thee that
thou art Peter; and upon this rock will /
build my church and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it." The foundation OF
Gods church upon humanity was the theme
OF the discourse and its treatment was full
OF valuable teaching.
The examinations were made Monday
morning and were highly creditable to both
teachers and pupils, since they showed so
| plainly how excellent had been the nstruc-
tion and how faithful the work of those to
whom it had been given. AT two p. NJ. oc-
CURED the rhetorical exercises of the junior
class. The entertainment was of high
order and the essays and orations gave evil
dence of much serious thought Perhaps
the finest of them and the most satisfactorily
delivered was that of John G. Brennan of
Fairlee, who had for his subject " Home
rule in Ireland" Nearly equal in merit
were the orations of Fred NJ. Blanchard of
Williamstown and Albert A. Wheelock of
Barre. The essays were worthy of favorable
notice and the musical selections were all
good. The commencement concert Monday
evening was given by the musical depart
ment of the Seminary under the direction of
| Miss l.. M Kendall and Mr.. G. w. Foster, the
teachers in this department. We have rarely
If ever, seen better list of musical com
posers upon commencement programme.
The programme was varied and comprised
sixteen numbers. OF these, the duet by Miss
Foster and Miss Soule, songs by K. W. New
ton and Miss Foster and the cornet solo by
+. M. Blanchard were heartily applauded.
M. E. Foster, a son of Professor G. w. Fos-
ter, appeared prominently during this con-
cert and at other times during the COM
mencement Although quite young, he has
a promising bass voice of pleasing quality.
The instrumental music was well performed,
but the duet by Miss Kendall and Miss Gale
was best of all. There were several encores
during the evening and every selection was
good. The concert ended with the Halle
lujah Chorus from the Messiah" The
seniors held their class-tree exercises Tues
day forenoon. The literary part of the pro-
gramme included an Grafton by BERTHE G
Flanders, poem by Miss Minnie Skinner,
class presentations by Portus @. Baxter and
addresses by Eta l.. Drew and Joseph w
Jackson to the junior and senior classes re-
, spectively The Grafton was an able pro-
duction and contained many thoughts whose
expression would have done credit to an
older mind than that of it's writer. The
poem was good one and the class presen
tations were made extremely funny by Mr.
Baxter. The addresses were in keeping witt
the other exercises and the whole programme
, was one which gave the audience much
| pleasure. The annual exercises of the
, alumni occurred Tuesday afternoon, the
/ order consisting of prayer by Rev. +. Smiley
OF Richmond an Grafton by j. Harry Hol
den of College ftll, Mass, an essay by Mrs
, M. Z. Blake of 'lainied and vocal and in
strumental music. Mr.. Holden began hi;
,, Grafton with a pleasing explanation of the
fnr hiG nd hon mol
nestly and at some length upon the duties
of the alumni to their alma mater. Mrs
Blakes essay was listened to with pleasure
and was well-written paper, spicy and t.
the point. Its lessons were such as all need t.
, learn. About two hundred people were pres
r ent at these exercises. At four o'clock a ban
cret was served to the alumni in the dining
room in the Seminary building and abou
seventy persons-members and friends o
, the association-partook of the sumptuou
repast. Toasts were given and the occa
J sion was enlivened by responses, speeches
jokes and storytelling. The prize speaking
came Tuesday evening, and to it came tn
l largest audience ever assembled in tn
t Seminary chapel. Every foot of availabl
1 space was occupied and several were turne,
3 away. The programme opened with a musi
9 cal selection, after which Rev. p. Mcmillan
1 of Barre offered prayer. After a song b.
r Miss Nettie Gale, the first of the contestants
/ Miss Nervie L. Foster, went upon the stag
+ Her voice was excellent and her manne
: spirited, but her accent was faulty at times
< Albert A. Wheelock gave The Defence O
: Hofer, the Tyrolese Patriot" His wors
, fault-a tendency to almost shout his lines
/ and that in a sort of monotone and at a.
L extremely high pitch-may have been attrit
Y utable to embarrassment Portus @. BaXte
spoke Will Cartoons "Out of the Fire
. better than does the author himself, thong
q his voice is of inferior quality. His manne
: was refreshingly easy and his facial expre'
sion remarkably funny at times. Had tw
+ gentlemen received prizes, he would doub
~ less have been one of them. Minnie +
: Skinner's rendering of "The High Tide
y was pleasing indeed and was well rewarded
g Christina c. Ruxton gave "The Rescue,
y by BrownJohn in manner which can onl
q be spoken of with favor. Warren Ha
= tings" was forcibly impeached by John
T. Brennan, whose enthusiasm was commend
.. able. Fred NJ. Blanchard, who spok
Q Magdalena on the Spanish Duel" has
u splendid voice and gave it in the smootl
g melodious tones which it seems to deman
/ and which make it very effective. To mos
q minds he merited one of the two highe'
IS prizes. How Randa Went Over the River
e was sweetly told by Alpa B. Clark, who's
e voice and manner were wholly consisteI
q with the sadness of the tale The judge
S were Hon. j. w. Patterson, ex-United State
II ! senator from New Hampshire, Mrs. A.
l, Averill Of Barre and Leo Lewis of Tuf
's College. The first prize, IS, was by thel
D. awarded to Miss Ruxton, the second, s
T. to Miss Skinner, and the third, So, to f. n
D. Blanchard. The graduating exercises an
i, annual address came Wednesday. Owe
IL the stage was fixed the class motto, Wit
+ Sails and Oars" and beneath it hung
e beautiful full-rigged yacht, with sails all 81
'. and oars at hand, and laden with roses.
81 the exercises the following is the programm
Is music being interspersed
20 Essay with salutatory John Browns Place
Ill History, Fenea H. Dana, Madison, Kan.
10 'f"'on'' Fred l. Davidson. Alstead, H's H. A''
Grafton. Education through Dficultit
~ Clinton n, Field Barre.
q. Alvin NJ. Smith. Wiilamstown.
el Elbridge W. Newton, Townshend.
Grafton. The Dignity of Labo
r. Horace A. Richardson, West Corinth,
es Glass History John II. Pattee, Enfield N
s. Chronicles, ,,..,....Alice X Backmer, Stockbride
T. Essay. with valedictory ....Today is Yesterday
of Tomorrow, Martha L. Calef, Washington
of The young people had evidently devote
e. much time and study to the preparation
I'd their respective parts, all of which we
th carefully written and most of which we
ne well delivered The salutatory was in K
glish, as will be seen by the programm
and the essay which preceded it presentt
its subject, John Brown" in new lig
TO many-as philanthropist, hero al
-, Puritan;' as :" a fanatic in 80" but a he
~ to-day" The class history caused son
marrimant ap,nno m hars of the class. III