As far as the disturbed political conditions permitted, Maury continued his work at the Observatory down to the very day of his resignation, his last publications being Nautical Monographs, numbers 2 and 3, on “The Barometer at Sea” and “The Southeast Trade Winds of the Atlantic” respectively. With the war clouds gathering round him he had written, “What a comfort the sea is! I have withdrawn my mind from the heart-sickening scenes that you gentlemen are meeting”. But with his leaving the Observatory this comfort was taken from him, and instead of the quiet contemplative life of a scientist he was to suffer for eight years the rough exigencies and trying uncertainties of the Civil War and its aftermath. CHAPTER X AS HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY KNEW HIM BEFORE THE WAR Before passing on to a consideration of Maury’s connection with the events of the Civil War, one should give some attention to him as he appeared to his friends and family during the _ante bellum_ decade when success, fame, and happiness were all his. Some idea of his personality has, perhaps, already been conveyed through the discussion of his work and achievements up to this point in his career, though only incidentally; now the aim will be to focus attention for awhile on Maury the man. The range of his acquaintances was very extensive, and the list of his correspondents was largely the roll of the great men of his day. Among these were the following, taken at random: John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, John Tyler, Leverrier and other astronomers both at home and abroad, Humboldt, the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, Jomard, the French Egyptologist, S. F. B. Morse, Cyrus W. Field, Professor Agassiz, Dr. Kane, Lord Wrottesley, Lord Ashburton, Bishop Otey, Bishop Leonidas Polk, Matthew Calbraith Perry, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Captain Jansen of Holland, Baron Justus von Liebig, John A. Dahlgren, William Gilmore Simms, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Michael Faraday, Benjamin Silliman, Jefferson Davis, Sam Houston, Donald McKay, and dozens of others whose names are not now so well remembered,—scientists, statesmen, and men of affairs. Maury’s personality was such as easily to turn an acquaintance into a friend, and most of his friends, whether they were illustrious men or not, showed themselves to be friends indeed for they remained his friends in time of need, as will be seen in the later events of his life. [Illustration: _Courtesy of “The Journal of American History,” Vol. IV, Number 3 (1910)._ BUST OF MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY BY E. V. VALENTINE, IN THE STATE LIBRARY AT RICHMOND, VA.]