Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1876-02-05
SEINE "Reminiscences CT SgSaeWsiI
Incl I'm a IInlL.slr-


tTeNaii JACKSON ~ LA r1 T tuT *
the Mexican ar, and a. a ' kcito as hTlte
groom iu conf dcrate Times, - rrl~'.,,tpiy
veil known to tee worli ibr Lie by
Dr. nabre, L. In many respects worthy Ct TIE
iiiustTuu> subject and 81 tie abe a8d ac-
cCmplishci author. Bat tuiS L,ts,' snd Ill
the oIh' T''llVes,' are mainly dtNuied % The
task OF depicting the Chri>tial warrior. aud
a. this is the character IN which Jackson
nguled most conSptCuouslN and IA which n
was most fully himself, IL was natural aud
proper that the biographeTS should concern
themselves most especially wiih lhis maui
feetation OF the man.
sun. a. a matter of fact, &C Is known that
jackson spent considerable portion oi his
lie ia the position of Professor at Natural
Philosophy and Artillery" in the Virginia
military Institute at Lexington, and IL must
portion OF bis lIle has been bat sCantlly
treated by the biograplerS
This, however, l. not due IN any neglect On
the ART OF hose writers, for they we'll know
thar all intelligent readers would desire 10
IN ow bow Professor Jackson lived; n ~ he
taught bis classes, what was his me, a Of
Instruction; What ne said aud ga ia the
lecture room; indeed. almost Any thing which
would throw any light upoa tn character
and corC uct of the man VINO sa:i 80 little
and did 20 much.
But tie truth is that there wa precious
little IL tell about this period 80 q neral
,I3ckson's ife. y biography ~ "a great lit
ersTy man il apt To be lttIle more ,hau "A r.
view OF his works; the biography of "A tniuker
must often be simply an account 81 hlS
thinking aud its results; and biography ~
teacher, even though he toe prlnce IN his
profession, viii not often present much that
Is very new or very striking to tie non pro-
fesSional reader.
But Jsckson's life as a teacher was singu-
larry and exceptionally mono .ouous. lie
had his text books, and lac prescribed the
lessons, and At the appoint ted time ne ns8r t'
them, ana this WAS about all OF ~. Discus
sions in the class room were almost un-
Known, and even explanations" were very
| lnfrequent The text was the ole great
! thing which he came 10 hear" add ace came
! 10 Say III We could ana most of as CON-
monty couldn't when the said text was BARI
| let's course of Natural Philosophy.
Poor Allen. lie was my roOm-nate the
! hrst ear, and with Williams, aud Patton.
| alld Slaughter. aud myself maize up Room
| No, lS.' Where are they now? Allen, Pat
! ton. and Williams all fell at Getty sburg-au
Young lawyers, all colonies OF Virginia regi-
ments, all Of the same class lIs-5l-aud
Slaughter had been disabled fur life before
/ the sad day on which our room mates fell
! When / was in the third class" / u-eI u
see Allen Juggling over odd Jacks" terri ole
/ lesson ia BaTJletJ's Optics; and one day I
opened The book, and on the fy-leat found
the following stanza, which / suspect was
/ Aliens own:
a. T. -. said that ,i,t Optics TT ats o,IiSht,
I've III. 20 Il with ali nay might,
| ri siili II isfI me IA the Cark
! Ma ior jackson seemed TO Be perfectly At
/ home IN the long and ihtrirat" equations
ard other mathematical formula which
make mp so lar1e proportion ~ BartIe'ts
/ IN chan cs." Optics and AcUuStics''; add
/ "Siher "a! AStrOi omy''; aud many % his
4 pupils Cften wondered AZ there was ia tue
! iiiye VounrS as equation or a fbgmul a
( which Ola Jack could not repeat Toy heart.
/ AEd e., with I'll his accurate and minute
: kIOwl ledge Oi The course, there was very Z
/ IL t6CchiI Z done IN that department. ullr ~
: "ieacEiIg' be made 10 mean tia prescTi bling
J ana nearing Of lessons. The truth Is, that
/ teaching Ia the modern sense OF The term.
: was not Jackson's forte. He was a man 81
. marve 'oG-iy few words; had 10 turn for ex-
$50 a
. ting things in various points OF view - as
I 10 auaF: ihfm 10 toe various mental con-
] clifton ii Eis pupils.
Though drilled under him for some three
/ years, "Et E.r.ied 20 him daily for A year
/ and a half Hever - " him laugh outright.
! very quiet, Subduei sort of smile was the
/ nearest ifiE- 20 laughter that 1 ever saw
/ him indulge Ia AID these smiles were very
/ lLfTtq Usnt. ara generally occurred when ia
/ commonly i9GicrOuS things took place ia his
I Immediate pr, >ence.
IfFUIkerSun put on a collar made to order
/ out Of about three quarters OF "A yari oi
! linen, and then cOuVulsed the class with
! laugh ter AT the grave but Outra geOuSly ludl-
| crous way in which he wore that collar IN
! the class room, Major Jackson would smile,
f. knowing as he Uid that the c0tdr was IN
| Si gle visible article of "A ca less SearlngaD-
| paTtl Of which the regulations did not rig
| Idly prescribe the form aud Sub-ta Ics."
! II Davidson Penn put Oh an UgcpmmDnly
| serious face ard asked (appareatly Ia good
| ialth p. Major, can cannon toe - bent as
! 10 make IL snCOt around a corner the pro
fessOr Of artillery would show not the
| slightest sign of merrimeut or OF imp itteIce.
! tut would, after moment OF apparently
/ sober reflection, reply, Mr.. Penn, 1 reckon
hardly
| We could never decide whether his gravity
| on SucU dH OCcas lou was r, "a or aS~unad.
have often wondered If Jackson Insuagei 20
| preserve his gravity when he rea a certain
''eXcuSc handed i'm by Hambrick
We lad been at artillery drill, and Ham
| brick, along 18th the rest of US third-class
men and "Picbes," had 10 perform the
rather troublesome duty Of pulling the can
| non. jackson had given the command "a
favoTite one with HIM, climbers and cais-
| sons. pass your pieces, trot, march!" Ham
| brick had failed 10 trot at Command, aud
was reported by Jackson. The next morn
| ing the following excuse was handed in:
"RObert Cadet Hambrick not trotting AT ar
tillery Dim. Excuse: l am natural PAGER. 4"
If Major jackson otd laugh when he read
this hone of us ever found il out, for the
document was probably read privately
Richmond Dispatch.