Now, as to the kind of man they found him to be, he was in the first place one who was remarkable for his great breadth of mind. The editor of the _Southern Literary Messenger_ was of the opinion that Maury’s astronomical researches had served to “enlarge all his perceptions and give greater breadth to all his views”. That may be true, but he seemed to have had the natural capacity for taking a broad and extensive view of questions, some of which were world-wide in their scope. This is particularly noteworthy in his scientific researches, and his manifold extra-professional interests also amply exemplify the great sweep of his imaginative mind. There was a certain charm to Maury’s conversation and presence that drew people irresistibly to him. Nathaniel Parker Willis felt this charm. “He made me subject”, wrote Willis, “to his personal magnetism, and while with him I had secretly vowed myself and my pen to the service of his interests and reputation thenceforward.... He was, unconsciously to himself, to me an exquisitely interesting study of character. I had long heard of him, and knew what the public generally knew of his pursuits; but my conviction was strengthened every day that he was greatly undervalued by common repute, and that he was of a far deeper intellect and much more of a natural philosopher than the world with all his repute gave him credit for.... Under his exceeding modesty and reserve, there seemed to be a 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”.[11] 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 naturalness 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 jolliest Jack Tar that ever shipped with him.