University of Virginia Library

LXVI. Conclusion

The history of the University of Virginia during the
first one hundred years of its existence is now finished.
The story, in all its multitudinous aspects, has been told.
To some it may appear that the narrative has traversed
too wide a field and harvested too abundant a mass of
detail; but, in opposition to this impression, it should be
remembered that the record of the institution has not
been viewed by us as though it were simply the record of
a seat of learning standing by itself, and, therefore, to be
studied without regard to its larger relations beyond its
own precincts. Rather, we have always borne in mind
that the University of Virginia, in its remote past and
in its middle past alike, and in the living present also,
has been a mirror of the governing characteristics of the
Southern people, whether moral or intellectual, social or
political. We have only to gaze steadfastly and discriminatingly
at the picture lurking in that mirror to discover
there the faithful reflection, in general outline, of
the history of the Southern States,—that illustrious
group of commonwealths, which, in their annals, offer
events more glorious and more tragic, and qualities more
highly individualized, than are to be observed in the

annals of any other part of the Union. If we had no
other means of gauging the spirit of those States, and
the general conditions, which, from generation to generation,
ahve prevailed within their borders, we would not
be entirely lacking in light upon these subjects so long
as we possessed the story of the University of Virginia.
The gay, the impulsive, the chivalric, the sterner side of
the Southern temperament; the high sense of honor;
the uncalculating patriotism; the readiness for self-sacrifice;
the fine devotion to ideals; the esteem for intellectual
ability; the admiration for oratory; the respect
for public service; the appreciation of classic literature;
the love of personal freedom; the inborn conservatism;
the will to overcome all obstacles, if necessary,—there
is not one of these traits of the Southern people, as a
whole, that is not perceptible in the history of this seat
of learning as it passes through the nine great periods
of its career during these first one hundred years.

Here was a University, which, up to a recent date,
could only count its students by the hundred, and the
members of its Faculty by the dozen,—why was it so
representative of that great region known as the South?
Because it was the epitome, the microcosm, of all those
communities, which have always been so homogeneous
in their white population, so unified in their economic
interests, and so identical in their social, moral, and intellectual
characteristics. The history of the University
of Virginia reminds us of that Genevan toy of magnifying
oval glass which, though one can hold it in the
hollow of the right hand, contains, at its centre, a reproduction
in miniature of a great city, or even of the map of
an entire kingdom. There is no limit to the details encompassed
within those bounds, although too small apparently
to give space for the tip of the little finger. And

so with this oval glass of Jefferson's creation. Look
into its depths, and there you will find, not simply the
story of a seat of classical and scientific culture, but the
story of a whole people, who have stamped their qualities
upon the history of the foremost of modern republics.
The picture at the heart of this scholastic framework
seems to reach out until it takes in millions of individuals
and thousands of square miles. The history
of the University of Virginia expands until it embraces
the history of the South; and the history of the South
contracts until it merges in the history of the University
of Virginia.

The great power for good which the University of
Virginia has exercised, during these first one hundred
years, is too subtle, too far spread, and too voluminous,
to be gauged to the farthest limits. A partial roster
of its eminent alumni will give at least an approximate
impression of the scope of its influence,—one President
of the United States; six members of the Federal Cabinet;
five of the Confederate; nine ministers and ambassadors
to foreign courts; two justices of the United
States Supreme Bench; thirteen members of the Federal
circuit and district benches; twenty chief-justices of the
State supreme courts; seventy-nine associate justices of
these courts; thirty-four United States senators; one
hundred and fifty-two representatives in the lower House
of Congress, and an uncounted number of members of
the State legislatures; fifteen bishops of the Protestant
Episcopal Church; two of the Methodist Episcopal, and
one of the Reformed Episcopal; thirty-nine presidents of
universities and colleges; one hundred and eighty-eight
professors and fifteen famous headmasters; fifty-two
officers of a rank above that of lieutenant, in the navy;
and in the army, during the World War alone, ninety-six

officers above the rank of captain, and thirty-two in the
Federal public health service; and also three surgeongenerals.

Two thousand, five hundred, and seventy-one of the
matriculates of the University of Virginia left the precincts
after winning degrees. About four thousand of
these were graduates of the three great professional departments
of law, medicine, and engineering alone. An
army of twenty-two thousand, six hundred young men
have been trained within her bounds; and there is not
a single pursuit in life which has not been advanced in
usefulness and distinction by their talents, their industry,
and their integrity.

"The story of a great seat of learning," said Randolph
H. McKim, one of the most loyal of these alumni,
"is not in the census of its professors, its courses, its
students; not in its buildings, its laboratories, its apparatus,
its library, its equipment; but in the kind of men
it turns out. We honor the University of Virginia above
all the other American institutions because she has best
fulfilled the highest function of a university—the development
and training of a noble type of manhood. We
love her because she helped to make us self-respecting
men; because she taught us the dignity of hard work;
because she made us understand that her honors and
rewards were reserved for real scholarship; because she
taught us to despise shams; because she refused us diplomas
which we did not deserve; because she set truth
and integrity above academic honors; above all, because
she trusted and so made us men." "Young men are
trained at the University of Virginia to their professions,"
said Dr. Calisch, the distinguished Rabbi of Richmond,
"but they are also trained to a keener realization
of not only the use but the privilege of knowledge,—to

an appreciation of the truth that, while education may be
the test of life's trade, yet back of the test is the hand,
and back of the hand, is the heart, and within the body
is the soul."

In looking back upon the history of the University of
Virginia, it is seen that that institution has, from the
beginning, in spite of the originality of its elective system,
been always faithful to the scholastic tradition; and
while it has, from period to period, changed in ways
of importance, as called for by the altered conditions of
the times, it has not varied in its respect for the standards
of genuine scholarship, in its tests of upright conduct,
and in its spirit of patriotism. The principles
of non-sectarianism, of student self-government, of personal
honor and freedom, of merit as the only basis
of degrees, of liberty in the choice of studies, of thoroughness
in their pursuit,—all remain, in its administration,
as inviolate today as during the early years of its existence.
At the same time, the old attitude of collegiate
aloofness has been modified under the influence of a
more complex frame-work of society. It has been correctly
asserted that there is not a single creative, constructive
force at work in the Southern States in our
own day,—whether it is in the province of religion, or
of education, or of public health, or in any other field,—
to which the University of Virginia is not earnestly endeavoring
to respond through the services of its President
and Faculty.

In following out this policy, the University of Virginia
has been seeking to expand in obedience to the imperative
call of our own era, without any real subversion of those
great ideals embodied in the traditions which have descended
to it from the past. As long as the ornate entablatures
and stately columns of its buildings shall stand

to whisper to the sensitive ears of its students the glory
and the grandeur of the Grecian and Roman Ages; as
long as the splendid record of its great alumni shall survive
to inspire each successive generation with a thirst for
achievement in every province of life; as long as the
story of its learned, devoted, and unselfish teachers shall
be told; as long, indeed, as the spiritual presence of the
Master Builder himself shall pervade the atmosphere of
those beautiful precincts, the pride of his last years and
the token of his immortality,—just so long as all these
lofty memories and beneficent influences shall last—
and when can they die?—the ideals which have conferred
so much distinction on the University of Virginia
can never be forgotten or neglected. It is this noble
heritage of scholastic and personal accomplishment,
coupled with a quick responsiveness to the lessons of each
age as it passes, which assures for that institution a practical
infinity of existence.

There is no other seat of learning of equal importance
in the United States which has been called upon to face
and overcome the consequences of so many depressing
events. The wild riots of its students in its early history
seriously threatened its very existence, but, in the end,
they were permanently put down. It saw all the young
matriculates of 1861 drawn away to the battle-field, but
it refused to turn the key upon its lecture-halls. During
the first decades following the close of the War of
Secession, there were recurring intervals when it languished
for lack of means, but it never consented to lower
its standards in order to replenish its treasury. Its main
building was destroyed by fire, but, undismayed, it not
only restored what had been lost, but added an imposing
group to the circle of the original structures. Through
all these sombre periods, when there was so much reason

for dejection, it remained unhesitating and unshaken in
its loyalty to the principles of its foundation, confident
that, in the end, its own magnetic needle of courage,
and firmness, and fidelity, would guide it safely through
storm and darkness to the harbor of happier and more
prosperous times. Nor was this constancy of the University
of Virginia to its inherited ideals confined to
scholarship, and personal honor, and political concepts,
and religious dogmas. During the War between the
States and the World War alike, its record demonstrated
the staunchness and ardor of its patriotism. In no great
emergency, national or sectional, has it shown itself to
be reluctant or dilatory. It has been summoned more
than once to play a part on the stage of national and
world events, and it has never failed to play that part in
a way which was worthy of the great memories that
cluster about its lofty Rotunda, its peaceful arcades, its
beautiful lawns, and its classic pavilions.

Throughout every stage of the first one hundred
years of its existence, the University of Virginia has
never swerved in loyalty to the wise teachings of the
Fathers of the Republic. The conception of national
liberty and personal freedom which has been held by the
Anglo-Saxon peoples in all lands where they have established
their homes is the conception which it too has
always entertained. It upholds,—and we believe will
continue to uphold,—the general principles of our race,
whether they are applicable to government, or society, or
morality. Above all, it has been true,—and we believe
will continue to be true,—to the particular principles
which its immortal founder proclaimed: absolute freedom
of the mind in its outlook upon all things; justice
that considers neither wealth, nor class, nor sect; unselfish
service to the community in every province of

action, and in every rank of society; and devotion to
country which knows no reservation of energy and no
limit of sacrifice. During the last one hundred years,
the majestic shade of that founder has seemed to brood
above his beautiful academic village ever solicitous to
warn, to guide, and to inspire; and his great spirit will
continue thus to brood as long as those noble buildings,
the offspring of his genius and his loving care, shall stand,
to illustrate, in the course of future ages, the exquisite
refinement of his taste, the practical grasp of his intellect,
the absolute correctness of his foresight, and the
incomparable grandeur of his conceptions for advancing
the welfare of mankind.