Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/15



subject of the present biography was one whose life-story deserves to be studied and held in reverence, not only American nation which produced him, but by the whole civilised world; for the best part of his life was devoted to the performance of services which conferred benefits on the seafaring classes of all countries, while the ideas to which he first gave birth have since borne fruit, and are likely to be useful to the whole human race. In Maury we find two characteristics, each valuable in itself, but which almost invariably produce great results when they are combined. He was endowed with extraordinary powers of application and unflagging industry in working out the dryest details. But he also possessed a vivid imagination, so that the dry bones of his new science were endowed with life and interest by the magic touch of his descriptive pen. Rh