Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/40

26 command of Commodore Catesby Jones. He joined the expedition as astronomer and hydrographer, although he was at that time junior lieutenant on the list. On receiving the appointment, he went to Philadelphia for study and to prepare himself for this responsible position. In a little plank observatory in Rittenhouse Square, he became adept in the use of the telescope, transit instrument, and theodolite. In 1834 Captain Charles Wilkes succeeded Commodore Catesby Jones in the command of the expedition. Captain Charles Wilkes, it was understood, wished to reorganize it, and Maury, with great delicacy offered to resign. But on the same day he again applied for active service, and was then assigned the duty of making surveys of southern harbors. On leaving home he took with him a tiny shoe from the foot of each of his little daughters (for by this time he had two) to hang up in his cabin and remind him of the pattering feet he loved so tenderly and would miss so sorely.

In the following letter to his brother, written while he was in Philadelphia, he writes of his plans and aspirations for the future:—

Yours of the 10th instant is before me; for which I thank you most heartily. But first I must tell you how comes it that I am here. I left Fredericksburg ten days ago, and am here for the purpose of hurrying my book through the press. The publishers were to let me have the proof sheets in Fredericksburg but they came to me so slowly that I resolved to come on here and use every exertion to bring the book out before Congress meets. Without wishing to excite your expectations, I will let you into the secret of my plans, which I wish you to preserve as secret, in order that, if I should not succeed in what I undertake, my friends and family may not feel the effects of disappointment. You must bear in mind that this is the first nautical work of science that has ever come from the pen of a naval officer;