130 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



vein of the heroic and romantic so hidden that he was 

 seemingly unconscious of it, and I was quite sure before 

 I parted with him that he was one of the sans peur et sans 

 reproche class of men; yet willing to pass for only the 

 industrious man of science which the world takes him for. 

 Under the strong magnetism of his sincere and simple 

 manner, I formed an irresistible attachment to him, and 

 longed to set the world right as to his qualities". ^ 



Some considered that the source of this charm lay in 

 his strong and powerful imagination, which lifted him 

 above the man of mere intellect and often lent the charm 

 of eloquence to his conversation and to his lectures. 

 Others were impressed with the simplicity and natural- 

 ness of his character, which in its quiet unostentatious 

 manner was very prepossessing. His manners were, 

 indeed, as simple and unpretending as a child's, and he 

 had as keen a relish for a joke as the j oiliest Jack Tar 

 that ever shipped with him. 



Maury had a very modest estimate of his own work. 

 He did not claim to have discovered anything. *'I only 

 bring together", he wrote, **the observations that others 

 have made, and then leave it to the observations them- 

 selves to discover their own meaning in their own way. 

 Sometimes, indeed, I do become the mouthpiece of these 

 observations and proclaim to the world what they reveal 

 to me. But in this I consider myself merely as an in- 

 strument. I am fortunate, indeed, when I succeed in 

 rightly interpreting the meaning of the observations, and 

 am happy always to find concurrence in the opinions 

 expressed or entertained by older and wiser". His 

 investigations on every subject were directed toward 

 some practical benefit to his fellowmen, and he often 



1 In the Home Journal of New York, September, 1859. 



