The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-01-19
4lchnol1d Alspatfh.
WEDNESDAY ......JANUARf IL, 1875
IFor the Dispatch.I
Rome "reminiscences of SsoneHaH
Jacfson rs a Professor.

Rome HCESsUkSSSuSSS W Sf~sAN~
Jacikson rs a Professor.
stonew.li Jackson as . lieutenant during |
she Mexican war, aud as a" Bellona's ortoe'
groom" in Confederate times. IS ieasorani?
well known to the world. The Lie ey
DR.. Dabney Is In many respects worthy OF
the Industrious subj ect aud OF the anle ana &C,
comp.ished author. But this LHe, ana
ALI the other "lives," are mainly devoted to
she task Of depicting the Christian waFrior,
and sc this Is the character In which Jacksen
f;yu-cd mos, conspscuously. aud in which be
was most ful,y himself, it was material and
proper that the biographers should concern
themselves most especially with this man'ies-
tation Of the man. 49,.
Still. A matter of fact. II is kue"n tia'
J,cSsor soeut a considerable portion OF DIS
I;fe in fac position of "s'rofessor OIL Naturat
PHILOSOPHY and Artillery" in the virginia
M;I;,.rp ;nst;tute at Lexington; ind II must
he manifest to the ob~ervant rea6er that thts
,,ortion of his life has been but scsntily treat
ed BY the biogrspherS-
This. however, Is not due to any neglect
ON the part of those writers, for they we'll
knew that all intelligent readers would desire
to know how Professor Jackson lived now
no taught his classes; what was bis methoo
of instruction; what he said and did IN tue
iecture-room indeed, almost anything VOICE.
would throw any eight upon the cnalacter
and conduct of the man who said SO little anu
did so much.
But the truth Is that there was precious
little to tell about This period OF Generai
Jackson,s life. A biography Of great lit
erary man Is apt 70 be little more than re-
view of his works; the biography OF think
or must often be simply an account OF 1fs
thinking and its results; and the biography
Of a teacher. even though he be prince7u
his profession, will not often present mhch
that Is very new or very striking to the nen'
professional reader.
Rnt ,yacksou's life as teacher was slDSu-
Isrly and exceptionally Eonotonous. ne a'au
his textbooks, and be prescribed the lessens'
and at the appointed time he " heard" them;
and this this was about all OF it. Discus
siops in the cl iss.room were almost unknown,
and even "explanations were very 'nirc-
uuent. TheteXt was the one great thing which
he came to I" hear" and sce came 10 " say
if we could; and most OF us commonly
couldn't when the said text was baruetI's
course of Natural Philosophy.
poor Allen. He was my room mate the
first wear, and with Williams, and Patton,
and Slaughter, and myself made up Room
No. 1872 Where are they now! Allen, Kat.
ton. and Williams all fell at Gettysburg-a!l
Young lawyers, all! colonies of Virginia regi-
mepts. all of the same class (l8oo)-and
Slaughter had been disabled for life before
the sad day on which our room-mates fell.
When was IN the "third class " l USED
to see Allen Juggling over "Old Jacks" ter
rible lesson In Bartett's Optics; and one Gay
/ opened the book, and on the fiy.leaf found
the following stanZa, which / suspect was
Aliens Own:
"'Tis said that Optics treats OF light
But oh believe 1t not. my lark;
I've studied IL with all my might,
And stiu it's left Inc IN the DARK
Major Jackson seemed to be perftct at
home in the long and intricate equations and
other mathematical formula which make up
so large q proportion of Bartletrs "Me.
cbanics." "Optics and Acoustics" and
HSpherical Astronomy; and many OF his
pupils often wondered if there was in the
three volumes an equation or formula
which cold JACK. "could not repeat by heart.
And vet, with all his accurate and minute
knowledge of the course, there was very
little teaching done in that department,
unless " teaching " be made to mean the pre-
scribing and bearing Of lessons. The truth
is, that teaching, in the modern sense of the
term, was not JackSon's forte. He was man
of marvellously few words had no'turn for
explanation; seemed to have no talent for
putting things in various points Of view so
Us to adapt them TO the various mental con.
ditions OF bis pupils.
Though drilled under him for some three
years, and recited to him daily for year and
half, never saw him laugh outright. A
very quiet, subdued sort Of smile was the
nearest thing to laughter that ever saw him
indulge in and these smiles were very ln-
nd ;ronora1ly ncpnrrnh when n.
commonly ludicrous things took place in bis
immediate presence.
If Fukerson put on collar made to
order out of about three-quarters OF yard
Of linen, and then copvulsed the class with
laughter at the grave but outrageously ludi-
crouS way 10 which he wore that collar In
the classroom, Major Jackson would smile,
knowing as he did that the collar was the
single visible article of cadets wearing az
parel of which the regulations did not rigid
" prescribe the "form and substance"
II Davidson Penn put on an uscommonly
serious face and asked apparently In good
faith), "Major, can cannon be 80 bent as
to make 1t shoot around corner?" the
professor of artillery would show not the
slightest sign of merriment or Of Impotence,
but would, after moment OF apparently
sober reflection, reply, "Mr. Penn, reckon
0arQIy."
We could never decide whether bis gravity
on such an occasion was real or assumed.
have often wondered If jackson managed to
preserve his gravity when he read certain
<'eXcuse" handed in by Hambrick.
We had been at artillery drill, and Ham
brick, along with the rest of us thrd-class.
men and "Plebes," had to perform the
rather troublesome duty OF pulling the can
non. Jackson had given the command "a ia
vorite one with HIM, "LImbers and caissons,
pass your pieces, trot, march J" Hambrick
had failed to trot at command, and was re-
~~ ported by Jackson. The next morning the
following excuses was banded in: "Ro.
port Cadet Hambrick not trottipg at artil.
lery drill. Excuse: am natural PAGER"
II Major Jackson did laugh when he read
this none Of US ever found it out, for the
document was probably read privately.