102 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



whales, and all things that move in the waters; fowls of 

 the air, with beasts and cattle, — to bless, praise, and 

 magnify the Lord. (Tremendous applause.) 



**To reveal to man the offices of these agents in making 

 the earth his fit dwelling place is the object of physical 

 geography. Said I not well that of all the sciences 

 physical geography is the most Christianizing in its 

 influences?" (Long continued applause.) 



In addition to his occasional speeches, Maury also 

 appeared on the regular lecture platform, where he 

 delivered three different series of lectures. "My lot in 

 life", he wrote, "is cast among those whose necessities 

 compel them to stop with philosophy now and then and 

 *court Dame Fortune's golden smile' until she vouchsafe 

 a few extra centimes with which one may propitiate 

 butcher and baker. Yielding to these necessities, I 

 have occasionally to abandon the winds and the sea, and 

 go digging in the hopes of finding a few of the 'roots of 

 evil' wherewith to propitiate amiable creditors. These 

 necessities have been pressing upon me, so I had to 

 abandon everything and go out on a lecturing tour". 

 In this connection, it is of interest to note that in addi- 

 tion to his salary of $3,500 as Superintendent of the 

 Observatory Maury received from Harper's as royalties 

 on his "Physical Geography of the Sea" from $300 to 

 $400 a year up to the Civil War. He was also paid 

 considerable sums for his contributions to the magazines, 

 such as the Southern Literary Messenger, from which 

 according to his account book he received over $600 

 from November, 1841 to December, 1842. Maury had, 

 however, a large family of eight children, and their needs 

 increased from year to year. 



His first series of regular lectures, six in number, was 



