CHAPTER XV 

 His Last Years in Virginia 



Maury arrived at New York on July 16, 1868, and 

 was agreeably surprised at his treatment there. "The 

 custom house authorities", he wrote, "received me with 

 marked consideration and passed all luggage without 

 difficulty". Early in August he reached Richmond, 

 much pleased with his reception in his native state. "In 

 the South", he declared, "it's been a sort of ovation. 

 . . . My coming home to share the hard lot of these 

 people instead of accepting French honors is looked 

 upon as a high display of patriotism". 



After spending a part of the summer at the White 

 Sulphur Springs as a guest of the proprietors, he was 

 installed, on the 10th of September, in his professorial 

 chair at Virginia Military Institute. The ceremonies 

 were held in the open air on a temporary platform in 

 front of the Superintendent's quarters. The faculty 

 of Washington College, of which General Robert E. 

 Lee was then the Rector, were present, as well as a large 

 number of the citizens of Lexington. Superintendent 

 Francis H. Smith welcomed Maury on behalf of the 

 Institute, and Governor Letcher, as a representative of 

 the Board of Governors of which he was the president, 

 also made an address of welcome. Maury gave an 

 "extended commentary" on the sciences, as the principal 

 speech of the day. On this occasion, according to one of 

 his daughters, Maury wore his foreign decorations, and 

 "the cadets were mightily pleased and cheered till their 

 little throats were dry". 



220 



