the winds, and make his fiery appeal to the feelings and passions of listeners. The scientific orator must address intelligent men, habituated 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 described 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 before, 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.
