All of this speaking and writing made Maury’s name known very widely all over the United States, and it was but natural for some of his friends to think of him in connection with the Presidency. They believed that, if his adopted state, Tennessee, would heartily nominate him, not as a party man but as a broad-minded, public-spirited citizen, he could be easily elected, for his popularity was great with all who did not aspire to the leadership of some particular clique. But Maury did not like politics, and besides Fate had in store for him an entirely different future. However, in the light of his attitude toward slavery and the preservation of the Union it is interesting to speculate on how different the history of the United States might have been, had he been elevated to this high office. [Illustration: MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY This painting, by E. Sophonisba Hergesheimer, was presented in 1923 to the United States Naval Academy by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Atlanta Chapter, Georgia Division. It hangs over the entrance to the Maury Hall wing of the Academic Group of buildings.] CHAPTER VIII HIS TREATMENT BY THE “RETIRING BOARD” It must not be supposed that Maury spent only halcyon days during his long period of service at the Naval Observatory. When it is remembered that his contacts with men were extremely numerous, and that the opportunities for unpleasant controversy were almost without number in view of the fact that he was such an ardent advocate of whatever question he took up, whether it was scientific, economic, or political, it is truly remarkable that there were so few who became hostile to him. But strange as it may seem, those who as a class were most unfriendly to Maury and least sympathetic toward his work were a considerable number of his brother officers in the navy. As a consequence, in the year 1855, a board of naval officers inflicted upon him painful mental sufferings and placed him in a humiliating position, at the very time when his name was being acclaimed by the scientists and many of the rulers of foreign countries. The occasion for the display of this enmity against Maury was the passing of the Act of Congress of February 28, 1855, to “promote the efficiency of the navy”. To carry out this law, the President assembled a board of naval officers consisting of five captains, five commanders, and five lieutenants, to “make a careful examination” of the personnel of the navy and report those found “incapable of performing promptly and efficiently all their duty both ashore and afloat”. Those so reported were to be either dropped from the rolls of the navy or placed upon what was to be called the “reserved list” and receive either leave of absence pay or furlough pay, according to the degree of their disability; they were, moreover, to be ineligible for further promotion, and subject at all times to the Navy Department for duty.