94 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



ment exercises of Georgetown College in Washington. 

 In the course of his speech he lauded the study of science 

 in this fashion: "Beauties far more lovely, poetry far 

 more sublime, lessons inexpressibly more eloquent and 

 instructive than any which the classic lore of ancient 

 Greece or Rome ever afforded are now to be seen and 

 gathered in the walks of science". In 1855 he spoke to 

 the Jefferson and Washington Literary Societies of the 

 University of Virginia, beginning with what he referred 

 to as "sailing directions". "There are some here", he 

 declared, "who though not seamen are nevertheless 

 about to become masters of their own acts, and who are 

 about to try the voyage of life upon a troubled sea. I 

 have been some little time on that voyage; and it is so 

 that, whenever I see a young man relying upon his own 

 resources and setting out alonQs,upon this long voyage, 

 my heart warms towards him* I always desire to range 

 up alongside of him, to speak t€/^>y;:^i kindly, and whisper 

 words of encouragement *n his ear". 



Then he told the yoi; g men that they should have 

 ambition to do even bettor than their fathers had done ; 

 that they should not lose sight of the welfare of the 

 community and the prosperity of the commonwealth; 

 and that they should give Virginia again her place of 

 leadership among the states, and take away from the 

 South the allegation that she is wanting in enterprise. 

 He closed with the following rules of conduct: "What- 

 ever ma}^ be the degree of success that I have met with 

 in life, I attribute it, in a great measure, to the adoption 

 of such rules. One was never to let the mind be idle 

 for want of useful occupation, but always to have in 

 reserve subjects of thought or study for the leisure 

 moments and quiet hours of the night. When you read 



