takes with him plans of our establishment, which we think it may be encouraging to show to the persons to whom he will make propositions, as well to let them see the comforts provided for themselves as to show, by the extensiveness and expense of the scale, that it is no ephemeral thing to which they are invited.

"With my earnest solicitations that you will give us all your aid in an undertaking on which we rest the hopes and happiness of our country, accept the assurances of my sincere friendship, attachment, and respect."

LETTER TO MAJOR JOHN CARTWRIGHT.

The following extract is from a letter to Maj. John Cartwright, June 5, 1824, in acknowledgment of his work on the English Constitution, deducing "the English nation from its rightful root, the Anglo-Saxon." After a most remarkable tribute to early English institutions, Jeffer son adverts to the University of Virginia and Gilmer's professorial mission. He expresses his "acknowledgments for your good wishes to the University we are now establishing in this State. There are some novelties in it. Of that of a professorship of the principles of government, you express your approbation. They will be founded in the rights of man. That of agriculture, I am sure, you will approve; and that also of Anglo Saxon. As the histories and laws left us in that type and dialect must be the text-books of the reading of the learners, they will imbibe with the language their free principles of government. The volumes you have been so kind as to send, shall be placed in the library of the University. Having at this time in England a person sent for the purpose of selecting some professors, a Mr. Gilmer of my neighborhood, I can not but recommend him to your patronage, counsel, and guardianship against imposition, misinformation, and the deceptions of partial and false recommendations in the selection of characters. He is a gentleman of great worth and correctness, my particular friend, well educated in various branches of science, and worthy of entire confidence. "Your age of eighty-four and mine of eighty-one years, insure us a speedy meeting. We may then commune at leisure, and more fully, on the good and evil which, in the course of our long lives, we have both witnessed; and in the mean time, I pray you to accept assurances of my high veneration and esteem for your person and character."

This letter from the Sage of Monticello, looking backward with historic appreciation to the Saxon sources of the great modern stream of liberty and self-government then flowing through Virginia, and looking forward with perfect calm to higher ranges of philosophic contemplation, is one of the most noteworthy in Jefferson's later correspondence, rich as it all is in suggestive thought. To see him turning to a sage of the old world for counsel and guidance in the manning of "our University, the last of my mortal cares, and the last service I can render my country," is a nobler spectacle than the Homeric picture of Extract from a letter to Abbé Correa. Jefferson's Works, VII, 183. 17036-No. 2- -8

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old men conversing together upon the walls of Troy; and yet it is but one of ten thousand subjects for the poet of modern democracy.

GERMAN AND ENGLISH PROFESSORS.

Agreeably to the wishes of Jefferson, the first faculty of the Univer sity of Virginia was largely selected from younger professorial talent in England. His practical reasons for preferring English to Continental sources of supply are highly creditable to Jefferson's good judgment. At one time he had thought of importing bodily into this country a French faculty from the College of Geneva. Although no Anglo-ma niac, Jefferson recognized that kinship of ideas, English antecedents, habits, and manners, and, above all, a good knowledge of the English language were important considerations. For German and Romance, of course, German and French professors were requisite. As intimated in Jefferson's letter to Richard Rush, Mr. Blaettermann had been recom mended for the modern languages, and he was promptly engaged. He was an accomplished Anglo-Saxon scholar, and served the University for fifteen years, from 1825 until 1840, when he was dismissed.'

One of the finest representatives of English scholarship secured by Mr. Gilmer was Mr. George Long (1800-1879), a graduate of the Uni1 The Southern Literary Messenger for January, 1842, in a well-meant article upon the University of Virginia, has some unfavorable comments upon Dr. Blaettermann, who was perhaps too familiar with the manners of " Die alten Deutschen."

2 After the present monograph was completed, the writer obtained possession of a large mass of original correspondence relating to the beginnings of the University of Virginia. Among the letters were those addressed by Francis W. Gilmer to George Long and other English scholars, and their replies. The correspondence is too extensive for reproduction here, and it has been intrusted to a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University, Mr. William P. Trent, of Richmond, who will prepare a fresh contribution to the early history of the University of Virginia, with copious extracts from the Gilmer letters. A brief account of this new material may be found in the writer's bibliography of authorities relating to the subject of the present mono graph. The following specimen letters are introduced in this connection as a fore taste of what is to come.

Francis W. Gilmer to George Long (London, August 21, 1824).

"I am sure the nature of this letter will be a sufficient excuse to Mr. L. for his re ceiving such a one from a perfect stranger.

"The State of Virginia has for six years been engaged in establishing a university on a splendid scheme. The homes are now finished, an avenue for the support of the professors, etc., appropriated, and I have come to England to engage professors in some of the branches in which Europe is still before us. I have heard your qualifications as professor of Latin and Greek highly commended, and wish to know whether such an appointment would be agreeable to you. My powers are absolute, and whatever engagement you make with me is binding on the University without further ratification.

"You will have (1) a commodious house, garden, etc., for a family residence, entirely to yourself, free of rent; (2) a salary of $1,500 per annum paid by the University, and tuition fees from $50 to $25 from each pupil, according to the number of professors he attends; (3) your tenure of office is such at you can be removed only by the

versity of Oxford. He was an excellent type of Cxford classical culture and became the founder of the school of ancient languages, for the cultivation of which the University of Virginia has remained distinguished, from the three years' service of Long (1825-1828) and the concurrence of five out of seven, all the first men in our country, with Mr. Jefferson at the head.

"Mr. Key suggested that your being obliged to be in Cambridge next July might be an obstacle. That may be removed by a stipulation that in that year, 1825, you shall have liberty to come to England, for which reasonable time shall be allowed, so as to make your visit to Cambridge certain.

"You will be required not to teach a mere grammar school, but to instruct young men somewhat advanced in reading the Latin and Greek classics. Hebrew is also included, but there will not be occasion for it, I think, and you could easily learn enough for what may be required. You should explain the history and geography of the famous ancient nations as illustrative of their liberation.

"The whole is now only waiting for my action to go into full and active operation. You will see, therefore, the necessity of making an early decision. I should like the professors to sail October or November, and shall thank you for an intimation of your wishes on the subject as soon as convenient.

"Yours, very respectfully, etc.,

"FRANCIS W. GILMER."

George Long to Francis W. Gilmer, written after his arrival in Virginia. "UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, Monday, January 25, "DEAR SIR: I am sorry to learn that you still continue so weak from the effects of your illness. I anticipated the pleasure of seeing you in this neighborhood during Christmas; your presence would have contributed to enliven the University up, which, being almost without inhabitants, looks like a deserted city.

"I have been settled for some weeks in one of the pavilions. I bought only a few articles in Charlottesville, as I found the prices of most things extravagantly high. Mr. Peyton has forwarded me some chairs from Richmond, and these, little that I have, will be sufficient at present. You may probably recollect that I told you I had sent my books from Liverpool, consigned to Mr. Peyton; they would be sent either to Baltimore, Norfolk, or Richmond. I shall be obliged to you if you will remind that gentleman of them, and by him to forward them to me as soon as he receives them. "I dined with Mr. Jefferson last Monday. He was in good health, but, like all of us, very uneasy about the delay of our friends. I do not yet, being acquainted more fully with all the circumstances of the case, entertain any apprehensions about their safety, but I regret, both for the University and my own personal comfort, that they were so foolish as to embark in an old log. The people in Charlottesville, having nothing better to do, amuse themselves with inventing stories on this unfortunate subject. Almost every day, from undoubted authority, I am informed the professors have arrived; a few hours after I had received your letter a man very gravely assured me the professors were at that moment in Richmond.

"The books have arrived in safety; we have not been able to find a catalogue of them, and I believe we shall not take them out of the boxes before Mr. Jefferson receives one from you. I brought a sufficient number to employ myself on during this most anxious expectation of our friends' arrival. Besides the loss of their society at present, I am truly concerned for the interests of the University. I hear daily of many who are most eagerly looking forward to the opening of the institution; it is possible their short delay at first may cause the University some temporary loss. "We have just had a heavy fall of snow. I am confined to my house, and see no living being but my black friend Jacob, and Mr. Grey's family where I eat.

. "I remain, with the best wishes for your speedy recovery, yours, very respectfully, "G. LONG."

longer term of Gessner Harrison down to the régimes of Gildersleeve (1856-1876), Price, and Wheeler in Greek, and Peters in Latin (since 1865).

GEORGE LONG.

Professor Long was the first of those engaged to arrive upon the University premises, and he seems to have made a favorable impression upon Jefferson. The latter wrote to Cabell, December 22, 1824: "Mr. Long, professor of ancient languages, is located in his apartments at the University. He drew, by lot, Pavilion No. 5. He appears to be a most amiable man, of fine understanding, well qualified for his department, and acquiring esteem as fast as he becomes known. Indeed, I have great hopes that the whole selection will fulfil our wishes."

Professor Long more than met the expectations of the friends of the University during the few years that he tarried in Virginia, although the English don must have surprised the authorities by marrying a Virginia widow. Jefferson had imagined that his professors would remain single and live up stairs in the pavilions, leaving the ground floor for recitation-rooms; but professors' wives soon changed all that, and the classes were driven out-doors.

says,

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Mr. Long gave a character and a standard to the classical department which it has never lost. He represented history in connection with the classics; and certainly ancient history never had a more scholarly representative upon American shores. Unfortunately for this country, but to the great gain of historical science in his own land, Mr. Long was called home in 1828, to a professorship of Greek in the new University of London. Madison, in a letter to Monroe, dated January 23, 1828, "I have received a letter from Mr. Brougham urging our release of Professor Long." The university authorities in Virginia parted most reluctantly with Mr. Long, but recognized the superior attractiveness and advantages of his call to the English capital. They urged, however, most strongly that the professor should find a suitable successor. On the 10th of March, 1829, Madison wrote to Joseph C. Cabell: "I have just received from our minister in London and from Professor Long letters on the subject of a successor to the latter. Mr. B. is doing all he can for us, but without any encouraging prospects. Mr. Long is pretty decided that we ought not to rely on any successor from England, and is equally so that Dr. Harrison will answer our purpose better than any one attainable abroad. He appears to be quite sanguine upon this point."2 Dr. Harrison was one of Mr. Long's own pupils, and one of the first graduates of the University of Virginia. No more fitting nomination or appointment, nor one better deserved, could possibly have been made.

It would be interesting to follow in detail the brilliant record of Professor Long after his return to England, if space permitted. He and his former colleague at the University, Mr. Key, who was made professor

1 Writings of Madison, III, 613.

2

Writings of Madison, IV, 35.

of Latin in the London University, introduced into England the comparative method in classical study. Long edited a great variety of classical texts, some of which remain standard to this day. The Encyclopædia Britannica, in a striking article upon this remarkable scholar, says: "Long has exercised by his writings, and indirectly through some of his London University pupils, a wide influence on the teaching of the Greek and Latin languages in England." He was prominent in founding the Royal Geographical Society, and became a leading authority in both ancient and modern geography. Long's Classical Atlas is known to school boys in both England and America. One can not help suspecting that Long's knowledge of this country had something to do with the inception of his Geography of America and the West Indies. He became a thorough democrat in education, resigning his professorship to edit the Quarterly Journal of Education, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, of which he was for years a most active member. Thirteen years of his life he devoted to the Penny Cyclopædia, of which he edited twenty-nine volumes. This was his greatest work for the education of the English people. He returned to academic life, and wrote his great work on Roman history. He was the chief English authority upon Roman law and was one of the academic pioneers in this study, although he was anticipated by Dr. Thomas Cooper, who, in Pennsylvania, edited parts of the Code of Justinian long before his call to represent law in the University of Virginia. That institution may well be proud of the scholarly Englishman first chosen by Jefferson to represent sound learning within its walls.

THOMAS HEWETT KEY AND CHARLES BONNYCASTLE.

Another well-trained university man from England, who was secured for Jefferson's institution, was Thomas Hewett Key. He afterward went with Long to the University of London and became its first professor of Latin. He founded in Virginia that wonderful school of mathematics for which the institution has always remained famous. He was succeeded by Charles Bonnycastle, a third Englishman who came over with Key and founded a school of physics. Bonnycastle remained at the University of Virginia until his death, in 1840,' when he was succeeded

The Southern Literary Messenger for January, 1842, speaking of the recent loss of three university professors, says of Professor Bonny castle: "Mr. Bonnycastle was one of the early professors who came over from England with Mr. Gilmer in 1824. Though young, his high qualifications fitted him alike for several of the chairs in the University. He first filled that of natural philosophy, and, on the return of Mr. Key to England, succeeded to the mathematical, which he filled with pre-eminent ability up to the time of his death. He was always acknowledged to be the possessor of a great mind, which readily made him master of the most abstruse learning. The study of mathematics seemed to be to him but a process of attentive reading. As a lecturer he was clear, patient, and powerful; and in matters of science he was a complete agrarian, levelling its difficulties to the comprehension of every mind. At times, in one short aphorism, he would display a profundity of thought quite startling; and his students declared that, by way of illustration, he frequently solved difficulties which had perplexed