HIS TREATMENT BY THE "RETIRING BOARD" 109 



serve my country truly and well, with what success the 

 Department and the public can judge better than I. 

 Suffice it to say, that I am not aware that any charges 

 or accusations or even any complaint of duty neglected 

 or badly performed during this long period has ever 

 reached the Department against me. Nevertheless in 

 the judgment of the Board I should be and have been 

 placed under official disgrace. This is a severe blow and 

 I feel it as a grievous wrong. May I not therefore be 

 permitted to know what is the accusation against me 

 and who my accusers were before the Board?" The 

 Secretary answered that the Board in accordance with 

 the law simply gave names and ranks, and did not assign 

 reasons for its decisions. 



Maury felt that he had been made to suffer a grievous 

 wrong, and began to appeal to his friends to help him to 

 secure justice. He was particularly incensed over the 

 fact that the Board met in secret, and that he could find 

 out neither what his offense was nor who his accusers 

 were. Some of the members of this "monstrous inquisi- 

 tion", he declared, had publicly condemned all science 

 in the navy, and none of the Board except Perry had 

 made any mark upon the service that would be recog- 

 nized as a reminder of their excellence when they were 

 gone. He could think of only two reasons for their 

 action against him. In the first place, there was a spirit 

 of jealousy that he, a mere lieutenant, had dared to es- 

 tablish a reputation somewhat honorable in spite of 

 them; and in the second place, they would attempt to 

 offer as an excuse for the slur they had cast upon him the 

 fact that he was lame. As to the latter reason, Maury 

 wrote, "Mere bodily activity, in an officer of my rank, 

 is comparatively of little value, when taken in connection 



