SECOND PERIOD
GERMINATION -ACADEMY AND COLLEGE History of the University of Virginia, 1819-1919; The Lengthened Shadow of One Man, Volume I | ||
VII. Jefferson's Foresight for the College
One of the conspicuous qualities of Jefferson's many-sided mind was a far-sightedness that was at once minute and imperialistic in its scope. His possession of this characteristic to an extraordinary degree has come to light in the course of our previous narrative, but perhaps it was
Jefferson had a State university really in view, and as such an institution could be only founded with the assistance of the Commonwealth, he wisely decided to give the new seat of learning the name that would approximate the closest to the broad meaning of the words, "University of Virginia"; in short, a name that, from the very start, would lift it above the common level of the academies and colleges already in existence, by clothing it with the dignity of an institution rightly bidding, in the opinion of all, for the patronage of the Virginians in the mass. By such a name alone, the supreme convenience of its situation, in those days of stage coach and private carriage, would be indicated to every citizen in the State who had a son to educate. But Jefferson looked upon this last fact as important only because it would be promotive of his main object. He anticipated that, when the struggle for the site of the university, which he was confident would be built in the future, began, the people would have become accustomed to thinking of the college at Charlottesville as the only really central seat of learning underway in Virginia, and for that reason, if for no other, possessing the prior claim to final conversion into a great State institution. In other words, he reckoned
There was a choleric debate going on, at this time, as to the wisdom of removing the capital from Richmond to some. place which would better subserve the convenience of the Virginian people by its more central situation. The advocates of Staunton were active to uproariousness in urging the superiority of her claim on this score; and some of them even put out a plain threat, that, unless the seat of administration was transferred to the west of the Blue Ridge, those parts of the Commonwealth would confederate to erect a new State. It is not improbable that, in the midst of this scramble for preference, Jefferson harbored the hope that Charlottesville would be selected as the new metropolis; and had he been a member of the General Assembly at this hour, and as young as he was in 1776, he might have secured the simultaneous establishment of both the capital and the university on the banks of the Rivanna, in his native county. He had shown how important he considered the association of the two to be at the time that he was endeavoring to broaden the course of study at the College of William and Mary, when Williamsburg was still the seat of government. Being fully aware, through his frequent correspondence with Cabell, of the ferment in the General Assembly over the question of removing the Capital, he clearly foresaw the opposition which both Staunton and Lexington would stir up to the erection of the university in the eastern shadow of the Ridge, -Staunton because it would interfere with the success of her campaign to acquire the new seat of administration; and Lexington because it would put an end to the realization of her ambition
But he was not satisfied with creating but one favorable condition, at the very start, to sustain the claim which he expected to bring forward just so soon as the General Assembly should decide to establish a university: his next step was to join with himself in the directorate of his new college men of such preeminence in the social and political affairs of the Commonwealth that their personal distinction would be a powerful agency in winning popular respect for it, thus influencing public sentiment in support of his ultimate designs.
One of the baffling questions that offers itself in this somewhat obscure initial stage of our history is: how did Jefferson succeed, apparently so amicably,[20] in getting rid of the very estimable board of trustees of Albemarle Academy? That board embraced, as we have seen, fifteen or sixteen citizens of the county who deservedly enjoyed a high degree of repute in their own community. Was no bad feeling aroused in them when the seat was withdrawn so abruptly from under them? No reason for their elimination that could have been submitted, however sound from a practical point of view, could have been entirely acceptable to their sensibilities. Were they too
The Board of Visitors of Central College comprised Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, David Watson, Joseph Carrington Cabell, and John Hartwell Cocke. Jefferson and Madison, besides their extraordinary services in other lofty public positions, had each occupied the Presidency during eight years in critical
SECOND PERIOD
GERMINATION -ACADEMY AND COLLEGE History of the University of Virginia, 1819-1919; The Lengthened Shadow of One Man, Volume I | ||