64 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



The University of North CaroHna conferred upon him 

 an A.M. degree in 1847 and a LL.D. in 1852, and Colum- 

 bia University made him a Doctor of Laws in 1854. 

 A. A. Low and Brothers of New York named one of their 

 cHpper barques in his honor in 1855. But the most 

 substantial reward bestowed upon him in the United 

 States came in 1853, when the merchants and under- 

 writers of New York presented him a fine silver service 

 and a purse of $5000 in recognition for what he had done 

 for the commerce of that great port. Six years later, a 

 testimonial signed by 363 different American shipowners, 

 masters, and merchants was sent to him as an expression 

 of their "personal regard and esteem". 



The reports of the various Secretaries of the Navy from 

 1850 to 1855 referred in the highest terms of appreciation 

 to the hydrographical work which Maury was doing. 

 Secretary Graham went so far as to write, "Indeed, I 

 doubt whether the triumphs of navigation and the 

 knowledge of the sea, achieved under your superintend- 

 ence of the Observatory, will not contribute as much to 

 an effective naval service and to the national fame as the 

 brilliant trophies of our arms". Still, notwithstanding 

 this official praise, Maury was kept in the rank of lieu- 

 tenant, and an attempt made in the Senate in January, 

 1855 to secure an appropriation of $25,000, as "some 

 substantial evidence of the appreciation of the benefits 

 he has, by his labors, conferred upon his country", came 

 to nought; and a short time thereafter he was treated 

 with the greatest cruelty by the Navy Department which 

 placed him for a time in official disgrace and reduced his 

 pay to $1200 per annum. 



Abroad, on the contrary, Maury received almost uni- 

 versal recognition, and the rulers of Europe seemed to 



