McIlwaine, Librarian of the Virginia State Library; R. H. Crockett, Esq., Miss Susie Gentry, and Mr. Park Marshall, Vice President of the Tennessee Historical Society,—all of Franklin, Tennessee; Mr. John Trotwood Moore, State Librarian and Archivist, and Mr. A. P. Foster, Assistant Librarian and Archivist, Tennessee State Library, Nashville; President A. B. Chandler, Jr., State Teachers College, Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Mrs. V. M. Fleming, President of the Kenmore Association, Fredericksburg; Mr. John W. Herndon, Alexandria, Virginia; Harold T. Clark, Esq., of Squire, Sanders and Demsey, Counsellors at Law, Cleveland, Ohio; William M. Robinson, Jr., Augusta, Georgia; Mr. Gaston Lichstenstein, Corresponding Secretary of the Matthew Fontaine Maury Association, Richmond; and, last but by no means least, Assistant Professor Richard Johnson Duval, Librarian, Mr. Lewis H. Bolander, Assistant Librarian, and Mr. James M. Saunders, Cataloguer, of the United States Naval Academy Library, Annapolis, Maryland. C. L. L. _Annapolis, Maryland._ “When I became old enough to reflect, it was the aim at which all my energies were directed to make myself a useful man. I soon found that occupation, for some useful end or other, was the true secret of happiness.” (_Maury to Rutson Maury, August 31, 1840._) “It’s the talent of industry that makes a man. I don’t think that so much depends upon intellect as is generally supposed; but _industry and steadiness of purpose_, they are the things.” (_Maury to Frank Minor, July 25, 1855._) CONTENTS CHAPTER I. His Early Years 1 II. His Three Cruises 10 III. He Resorts to the Pen 26 IV. His Astronomical Work 44 V. His Wind and Current Charts 51 VI. His Physical Geography of the Sea 66 VII. His Extra-professional Interests 85 VIII. His Treatment by the “Retiring Board” 107 IX. Shadows of Coming Troubles 118 X. As His Friends and Family Knew Him before the War 128 XI. His Part in the Civil War: In Virginia 143 XII. His Part in the Civil War: In England 168 XIII. With Maximilian in Mexico 186 XIV. Reunited with His Family in England 202 XV. His Last Years in Virginia 220 XVI. His Posthumous Reputation 242 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _Page_