SKETCH OF PROF. WILLIAM B. ROGERS. 611 



the winds, and make his fiery appeal to the feelings and passions of 

 listeners. The scientific orator must address intelligent men, habitu- 

 ated to think for themselves, on the alert against tricks that carry 

 the imagination, while the speaker himself is kept under the close 

 restraints of fact. To be able to captivate and enchain an audience 

 in the pure work of exposition, to fascinate in teaching, is a triumph 

 of oratorical art. Prof. Rogers has been marked by the possession 

 of this rare gift, and before his classes in college, whether treating 

 of rocks, physical forces, or rigid principles of mathematics, he was 

 always able to kindle the enthusiasm of the students, and make the 

 most vivid and lasting impressions upon their minds. We were not 

 surprised, therefore, to note, in a Virginia newspaper of last year, an 

 exciting description of the way Prof. Rogers was received by his old 

 students at the semi-centennial of the University of Virginia, where 

 he " was the central object, on whom were fixed the eyes and hearts 

 of the great concourse there assembled from all parts of the country. 

 It was difficult to get near enough to speak to him, surrounded as he 

 was by such numbers of those who in years long past had attended 

 his lectures." He made an address, the reception of which is de- 

 scribed by the writer with a pardonable warmth : " At the dinner of 

 the alumni, Prof. Rogers addressed them in a speech of half an hour. 

 It was a wonderful specimen of eloquence. The old students beheld 

 before them the same William B. Rogers who, thirty-five years be- 

 fore, had held them spellbound in his class of natural philosophy ; 

 and as the great orator warmed up, these men forgot their age ; they 

 were again young, and showed their enthusiasm as wildly as when in 

 days of yore, enraptured by his eloquence, they made the lecture- 

 room of the university ring with their applause. Such was the effect 

 produced by the off-hand words of this distinguished man of science 

 and unrivaled orator ; and those who have heard him in his moments 

 of inspiration will not wonder at the account we have given." 



Some time ago failing health compelled Prof. Rogers to retire 

 from the active direction of the Institute. He still, however, has a 

 share in its government, and his returning strength for the last two 

 or three years has enabled him gradually to resume his favorite 

 pursuits. 



