University of Virginia Library

XV. Professors

In our history of the Fifth Period,—the interval that
extended from 1842 to 1861,—we turned aside from the
straight path of our narrative to describe the salient features
in the characters of the men who then occupied the

different professorships. A large proportion of these instructors,
as we have seen, survived to continue the work
of the University after the war, and to carry it on with
eminent success, in spite of the new and disheartening conditions
which they had to face. Such were Gildersleeve,
Cabell, Davis, Maupin, Holmes, Schele, Smith, Howard,
and McGuffey. Among the distinguished teachers who
were either elected to the chairs declared vacant at the
end of the war, or who succeeded professors appointed
before the war, but whose labors had reached well into
the era of reconstruction, were Charles S. Venable, William
E. Peters, John W. Mallet, Thomas R. Price, Noah
K. Davis, and William C. Dabney. With the exception
of Price, who was subsequently called to Columbia University,
all these latter instructors were associated with
the University of Virginia alone until their death,
whether as active or emeritus members of the Faculty.[9]
The principal work of each was performed in the course
of the Seventh Period, 1865–95, and they may be picked
out, without any invidious distinction, as typical representatives
of the spirit which animated that constructive and
fruitful interval. Individually, they will never cease to
occupy conspicuous niches among those who have left
upon the history of the University, the indelible stamp
of their profound scholarship, their devotion to their
calling, and their purity and loftiness of character.

Foremost among them, from several points of view,
was Charles S. Venable. Venable was the manly product
of influences that were the very essence of the Virginia
of those generous and bountiful social times, which
now loom so remote. Born in a country home of the
Southside, with all its self-contained appurtenances of
gardens and woods, tobacco-fields and slaves, his boyish

tastes were moulded by the constant enjoyment of rural
sports of all kinds; his intellect fertilized by the choice
volumes of an old-fashioned library; his spirit invigorated
and refined by the atmosphere of a cultivated and pious
household. He was the fifth in descent from the first of
his name to settle in Virginia. The presence of the family
went as far back in the past as 1685, and its association
with the soil began almost with the inauguration of
the plantation. In the direct ancestral line as it came
down to him, there was a succession of country gentlemen,
who showed their patriotism by serving in the
House of Burgesses and General Assembly, or by hurrying
off as officers to join the armies of the Revolution,
or of 1812, in order to defend their country against invasion.
His grandfather was an ensign in a company of
dragoons that had a conspicuous share in all the exploits
of Light Horse Harry Lee's famous legion, just as the
grandson, at a later time, was to take part in the campaigns
of Light Horse Harry's celebrated son.

The great-grandfather of Charles Venable, Nathaniel
by name, enjoyed a remarkable reputation in his region
of country as a mathematician; and it may have
been from this distant source that the great-grandson
inherited his talent for that abstruse branch of science.
It was this Nathaniel, with a native genius for figures,
who was chiefly instrumental in founding Hampden-Sidney
College, the fortress of the Presbyterian faith in Virginia.
In each generation, there was observed, in addition
to a taste for science and literature, and a willingness
also to seize the sword, a decided aptitude for business
affairs. All had won success as farmers and planters,
and some as merchants and bankers. To this source
again, we can trace the great executive ability which
Professor Venable exhibited as chairman of the University

Faculty. Mathematician, soldier, administrator,—
all the qualities which he possessed to such an eminent
degree were conspicuous in that ancestral stock from
which he was sprung.

But he differed from his immediate forefathers in one
vital particular: he never seems to have entertained the
thought of following their principal calling as planters of
the ground. When barely twelve years of age, he matriculated
at Hampden-Sidney College, and at fifteen, became
a bachelor of arts. It was said that, at this time,
he began a course of preparatory reading for the study of
divinity,—a proof of the gravity of his character even in
his youth. During his sojourn as a student at the University
of Virginia (1845–6, 1847–8), he made an excursion
into the field of junior law; but if he had ever seriously
looked forward to the practice of that profession,
it was abandoned on his election to the chair of mathematics
in Hampden-Sidney College. He was then in his
nineteenth year. Here he remained until 1856. It was
said of him even in these years, when his own age did not
exceed by much the age of some of his pupils, that "he
excelled both as an instructor, and in his knowledge and
control of students,"—two characteristics that were to
be still further developed by subsequent experience. He
was described, at this early period of his career, as
"affable at all times, full of fun, genial, and interested
in everything about him." Before accepting an appointment
to the chair of mathematics in the University of
Georgia, he attended lectures in the Universities of Berlin
and Bonn. From the University of Georgia, he
passed, at the end of a single session, to the University of
South Carolina, in which seat of learning, then of wide
reputation, he occupied the chair of mathematics and astronomy.

When South Carolina severed all ties with the Union,
Venable became the second lieutenant in the Congaree
Rifles, and was present with that rank at the bombardment
of Sumter. After taking part, as a private, in the
first Battle of Manassas, and as a lieutenant of artillery,
in the defense of New Orleans, and as a captain, in the
fortification of Vicksburg, he became one of the four aids
of General Robert E. Lee (1862), at that time acting
as the military adviser of Mr. Davis, with headquarters
in Richmond. From this hour, until the end of the war
in Virginia at Appomattox, he remained continuously,
and with unbroken fidelity, at the side of the illustrious
Confederate leader. The impression left upon his mind
by this close association, so crowded with events of lasting
importance, were never effaced from his recollection.
"His sweet and tender veneration for Lee," we are told
by Professor Thornton, "was mingled with affection.
He loved to talk of him,—of his heroic courage, as, when,
at the Battle of the Wilderness, Lee would have led the
charge of Gregg's valiant Texans; of the matchless magnanimity
with which he accepted the reproach of every
reverse to his strategic plans, and caused the withdrawal
of reports that would have created dissension by their
just reflection on his sluggard and maladroit lieutenants;
of his generous placability, as when Venable himself,
chafing under a rebuke from his general which he felt to
be unmerited, turned angrily away, and threw himself
down on the cold ground in utter weariness and depression,
where, falling into a deep sleep of fatigue, he woke
presently to find himself covered with Lee's own cloak."

In accepting the invitation extended in August, 1865, to
occupy the chair of mathematics in the University of Virginia,
Venable became the successor of men who had
conferred great distinction on the institution,—of Key,

the first incumbent of the professorship, who had been
educated at Cambridge; of Bonnycastle, who was acknowledged
to be the most original mathematician of his
time in America; of Courtenay, who combined with profound
scholarship, extraordinary capacity as an instructor;
and of Bledsoe, who surpassed them all in philosophical
power of intellect. To be pronounced the equal
of these accomplished men in knowledge, and their superior
in the art of teaching, because of his sympathetic
readiness to adopt all the modern ideas and methods of
analysis, was the reward that he soon reaped by his conduct
of his school, which became, under his stimulating
and suggestive influence, one of the most popular in the
University. "His personal relations with his pupils,"
says Professor Thornton, "were simply delightful. The
dignity of the professor, the affection of a father, the
bonhomie of a comrade in scientific studies, were so
mixed in him, that we scarcely knew where respect ended
and affectionate confidence began. Out of the lecture-room,
as in it, you never failed of prompt recognition and
genial greeting. He was the confidant and counsellor of
his students in all their troubles, their adviser in difficulties,
and their helper in every legitimate ambition."

It was partly due to his wise appreciation of the value
of the applied sciences that two new schools in that department
of study were organized in 1867; it was chiefly
attributable to his personal energy that the School of Astronomy
was established and amply endowed; it was
largely due to his influence, direct or indirect, that the
School of Biology and Agriculture, and also of Natural
History and Geology, were added to the existing courses
through the beneficence of Samuel Miller and W. W.
Corcoran. He was the foremost instrumentality in obtaining
for the institution (1) an advance in the State annuity

from fifteen thousand dollars to thirty thousand,
and afterwards to forty thousand dollars; (2) an augmentation
of the equipment to the value of one hundred and
thirty thousand dollars; and (3) an increase in the endowment
to the amount of two hundred and seventy-five
thousand. It was principally during his incumbency of
the chairmanship of the Faculty that all this invaluable
work in behalf of the institution was performed by him;
but it was not discontinued after he had withdrawn from
that position. It was justly said of him, "that his wide
knowledge of men in public life, and his high repute
as a cultured gentleman and patriot soldier, enabled him
to accomplish much that would have been impossible
for a man of purely scholastic habit and training." Nor
were his activities limited to pedagogic and administrative
provinces,—he planned a complete series of treatises
in pure mathematics, but was only able to carry out this
imposing task in part, owing to the draughts upon his
time resulting from his various duties, and in the end, to
the decline of his physical powers.

"A man of antique mould," says Professor Thornton,
in concluding his vivid and moving sketch of Venable's
useful and distinguished career, "strong and earnest, direct
and forceful, bold and sincere, a brave soldier, a true
patriot, an humble Christian, a faithful friend, an honest
gentleman. To know him was a lesson in virtuous
and noble living; to love him was to breathe in the fragrance
of a generous and chivalric soul. The life which
had been so crowned with honor and victory was destined
to be crowned with suffering too. Who that saw
him in those shadowed years can forget that pathetic resignation,
that noble patience, that uncomplaining courage!
Never in the brave days when he rode with Lee,
had he fought such battles or gained such victories. And

then at last came the eleventh of August, 1900, and
Charles Venable had fought his last fight, had gained the
victory of all victories."

A colleague worthy to stand upon the same high platform
with Charles S. Venable was William E. Peters.
He too had been a soldier and an officer in the Confederate
armies; had endured privation and defied danger
in camp and field; had been strengthened and ennobled
by conduct of the sternest self-forgetfulness, amid
scenes that tested the souls of men. Like Venable, he
had been a successful student, first in the University of
Virginia, and afterwards in foreign seats of learning; and
like Venable too, he was quietly employed with the uneventful
duties of a professor's chair when he was summoned
to take part in the mighty conflict between the
States. He began his military service as a private soldier;
was chosen first lieutenant of his company; and before
the close of the war, was appointed Colonel of cavalry
in McCausland's Brigade. His career in the army
was temporarily interrupted by a severe wound, which,
perhaps, prevented him from attaining to a higher rank.
In August, 1864, when told by his superior officer to set
fire to Chambersburg, because it had refused to pay the
money tribute imposed in retaliation for Federal depredations
in the Valley, he declined to carry out the command
"With a full knowledge of the consequences of
refusing to obey orders," he replied, "I have to say, you
may take my sword, but I will not use the torch against
innocent non-combatants." Such was the firmness, the
fearlessness, the chivalry, the humanity of the man!

The reputation which Peters had won as a gallant and
efficient officer, associated with that of Venable, acquired
under the same supreme circumstances, became, by the
impression of intrepid manhood which it left upon the

minds of their contemporaries, an asset of extraordinary
value to the University of Virginia in its recurring hours
of need. When the financial wants of the institution had
to be laid before the General Assembly, then so largely
made up of the veteran comrades of these two soldier-professors,
it was their voices which received the most
respectful attention from the members of that body.
When they appeared upon the public platform to press
the University's appeal to the public at large for more
generous aid, it was their words which sank deepest in
the minds of the audience, for, among their hearers, there
were few who had not fought in the same armies with
them, and some, perhaps, had fought at their side. If
their petition was submitted through the press, every
reader was certain to recall the tried patriotism, the unshakable
courage, the unselfish spirit, of these two men,
whose names had so often appeared in the reports of the
great battles of the recent war.

As a scholar, Peters's most salient trait was a love of
exactness and accuracy. His principal stress was laid
on the syntactical aspects of his subject, but his requirement
of his pupils was not limited to this. "He demanded,"
says President Denny, "an intelligent acquaintance
with Roman literature and history, a clear understanding
of the various metres, an appreciative knowledge
of the style of composition, and a comparative study
of the different periods of that literature." His second,
and almost equally dominant, characteristic was his influence
as an instructor. "He was successful in teaching
thoroughly what he thought ought to be taught," says
the same discriminating authority. "He had a persuasive
and insistent personality in the class-room, and was a
pastmaster in the art of cross-questioning. He did not
use the club of sarcasm or the rapier of ridicule, in dealing

with his students. He demanded the proper respect
for recognized authority and proper performance of
known duty. But he was heartily loved." "No one,"
says another pupil, "could sit at the old professor's feet
without learning that one of the sacred things in scholarship
was veracity to fact,—the one touchstone for opinion
and speculation, the solid ground of truth." "When
discussing our exercises," testifies Dr. Culbreth, "he
would not allow the slightest paraphrase of his English,
which was not always of the best, for he wrote for a
certain construction and syntax to be covered. He would
throw his right hand around to what he had just written
on the blackboard as the best possible form, saying
with his characteristic smile, 'But, gentlemen, this is the
Latin'."

How powerful was the influence which he could exercise
over the entire body of students, if the occasion arose
for his doing so, was illustrated in a scene that occurred
in the hall of the Washington Society. The young men,
very much excited by some recent event that had aroused
their indignation, had assembled there, with the avowed
intention of committing a breach of the peace. Informed
of their purpose beforehand, the sheriff entered the room
and placed them all under arrest. They defied that officer
to take them into custody, and were about to leap upon
him in a rage, when Colonel Peters pushed his way into
their midst, and stepping upon a bench, begged for a
hearing. At first, no particular attention was paid to
the interruption, but finally a voice cried out: "We will
listen to old Pete. He is a fighting man." By this it
was meant that he had been an intrepid soldier. A
silence at once fell upon the menacing crowd; he was
heard with perfect respect; and at the end of his appeal,
they quietly broke up and returned to their dormitories.

While Professor Peters was held in special esteem as
a distinguished veteran, and as a conscientious and accurate
teacher, yet it was as a man, apart from all the
prestige of his soldier's and scholar's record, that he
won the affectionate veneration of pupil and colleague
alike. It was weight of character and native force of
individuality which were the main causes of his impressing
his personality so deeply upon all those who enjoyed
the lasting privilege of his tuition or friendship. "His
supreme traits," says Professor E. S. Joynes, "were an
intense earnestness of thought and feeling, and an undaunted
courage ready to die for a sentiment or a principle."
"A brave man, a true man, a sincere man," was
the verdict of another, who had known him intimately
in all the relations of life, "true to his friends, frank to
his foes, his life has taught even better lessons than his
lectures, and breathes forth a finer harmony than all the
metres of the Romans." Such was the impression which
this high-minded scholar, soldier, and gentleman, made
upon all brought under his personal influence.

He was buried, in conformity with his own wish, in the
beautiful family cemetery situated on the Sheffey estate
near Marion. "The afternoon was cold and bleak," we
are told by one who was present at that last scene, "and
the summit of the hill where he was laid was exposed to
the winds and to all the elements. Somehow, it seemed
in keeping with the old campaigner, who never coveted
life's pleasures as of any consequence by the side of life's
sterner duties, and who, therefore, had never flinched at
any hardships. But the student, who, in the sunny summer,
returning to his home, lets his eye climb the southern
hill from the station at Marion, will, doubtless, see
it sunlit, and recall with reverence and affection the sun-crowned
hero of Chambersburg."