A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury , livre ebook

Read Books Ltd. - Diana Fontaine Corbin

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

156 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Matthew Fontaine Maury has been nicknamed the "pathfinder of the seas" and the "father of modern oceanography". This is a detailed biography of the man who created a science. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Sujets

Sciences de la nature

Biologie marine

Science de la Terre

Great Americans

Informations

Publié par	Read Books Ltd.
Date de parution	03 janvier 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781447482239
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

A LIFE
OF
MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY,
U.S.N. AND C.S.N.
AUTHOR OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA AND ITS METEOROLOGY.
COMPILED BY HIS DAUGHTER,
DIANA FONTAINE MAURY CORBIN.
TO
ANN HERNDON MAURY,
THE LOVING WIFE AND TENDER MOTHER.
THIS VOLUME
Is Affectionately Inscribed.
_____
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. Her children also shall rise up and call her blessed.
CONTENTS
Preface
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
PREFACE.

M Y object in the preparation of this biography is to establish the claim of its subject to a place among the greatest benefactors of his race; and to demonstrate, especially to the youth of his beloved country, how a man may be both great and good, mighty in mind and pure in heart. I have endeavoured fitly to show how he persisted in the path of duty even when it led to poverty and exile; how he threw into any work he undertook his whole heart; and how, after a life of exceptional fidelity to earthly obligation, as a Christian philosopher he met and triumphed over death.
Much matter of value to such a memoir perished during the war, though more remained than I have as yet been able satisfactorily to use. From a mass of letters and other documents collected during several years by my sister, Mrs. James R. Werth, this volume has been mainly made up; but the limits to which I felt obliged to confine myself have excluded not a little I wished it to embrace.
I desire gratefully to acknowledge the assistance of my cousin, Gen. Dabney H. Maury, who has furnished several graceful sketches included in the work; and of another kinsman, Col. Wm. W. Blackford, who has supplied help of a similar nature.
My sincere thanks are also due to Professor L. M. Blackford, of the Episcopal High School, near Alexandria, and his talented wife, for their criticisms, alterations, and additions to this work.
A LIFE
OF
MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY,
U.S.N. AND C.S.N.

CHAPTER I.
Ancestry of Matthew Fontaine Maury-Virginian Planters-Huguenots in Virginia-The Rev. James Maury-His School and Scholars-Thomas Jefferson and the Great North-West-Richard Maury and Diana Maury-Birth of Matthew Fontaine Maury-Emigration to Tennessee-State of society in Tennessee-Occupations and amusements of Maury and his brothers-Religious training-School life.
T HE subject of the present biography was one whose life-story deserves to be studied and held in reverence, not only by that great 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. It was Maury who created the science of the physical geography of the sea, and gave that impetus to its study which, in other hands, continues to produce results alike of practical and speculative importance. The higher qualities of the illustrious hydrographer, his self-denying zeal, his single-minded patriotism, his private virtues, will appear in the course of the narrative.
It is desirable that the student of Maury s life should know something of the stock from which he was derived. Matthew Fontaine Maury was descended from a Huguenot family on the father s side, while his maternal ancestor received a grant of land in Virginia from King Charles II. Dudas Minor, in whose favour this grant was made in 1665, was an English gentleman who became the ancestor of the family of Minor in Virginia; branches of which have since moved into Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky, and other Southern States. The Virginian planters formed a colonial aristocracy with practical exemption from taxation, great command of labour, and almost a monopoly in the production of tobacco. Some of these planters possessed estates of such extent that they amounted to principalities. Lord Fairfax owned all the land between the waters of the Potomac and the Rappahannock. Twenty-six of the finest counties of Virginia were the property of a single nobleman but little over a century ago, whose descendants of to-day do not own an acre of that vast inheritance. Many of the Virginian estates were granted by Queen Anne, and some are still held under deeds from her. She was a favourite in Virginia, was good Queen Anne, and her name was bestowed upon a whole system of rivers. * In the revolutionary war the Virginian planters displayed a patriotic munificence which sufficiently proved their wealth. On one occasion Governor Nelson bought 1000 horses for the service of his State; on another he subscribed 200,000 dollars. Mann Page, afterwards governor, fed Washington s army for a week from the supplies of his own plantations.
These Virginians had become a proud and happy race. It is to them we owe that scheme of civil liberty which has blessed the American people, and is to-day extending its happy influences over the world. Inheriting ample fortunes, they were educated in the best schools of the old country, whence they returned to their estates, and passed their lives in contemplating the great possibilities awaiting the new world, and in devising the means by which the capabilities of their adopted country could be developed. Living like patriarchs, served by the willing hands of kindly slaves, freed from all monetary cares, with minds stored with the precedents of history, and knowing no short cuts to knowledge, these men thought out and finally proclaimed that plan of self-government which is to-day the admiration and desire of all the peoples of the earth. Thus George Mason of Gunston composed that Bill of Rights of Virginia, on which Jefferson afterwards based the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
The Church of England was the only church of the colony. Its edifices, built of English bricks, still stand amidst the graves of old Virginia. Many of them are empty and silent now, serving only as monuments of the dead generations of a noble race. Others have been repaired and modernised by the iconoclasts of these times, and still resound with the grand old ritual of the Church.
Into this Virginian community the Huguenots came, bringing with them the simple service of their creed, the influence of which is still felt in the Low Church observances of their adopted country. These Huguenots, after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, became a persecuted community. Some abjured their religion, for the penalties of nonconformity were cruel; but many thousands of braver spirits, who spurned the offers and defied the threats of Louvois, left France for ever and braved exile and poverty for their faith. They brought with them their names, their courage, and their resolve to worship God according to their consciences. In Virginia they could have no grants of land, for all was already occupied. But they had absolute freedom to think, to work, and to worship God in their own way, amidst a people who welcomed and loved them for their fidelity to a common faith.
Amongst these exiles the families of Fontaine and Maury, who had borne a prominent part in the resistance offered by the Huguenots of France to the dragonnades of Louvois, arrived in Virginia in 1714. Identified in a common cause and a common misfortune, they were connected by marriage before leaving France, and became still more closely affiliated in Virginia. In 1722 the Rev. James Fontaine wrote his autobiography, when he was sixty-four years of age, beginning the record of his family with the birth of his ancestor, Jean de la Fontaine, who was born in the year 1500. This worthy resided in the province of Maine, near the borders of Normandy. He was a staunch supporter of the Protestant Church, and occupied an elevated position at Court. But, having become a convert in about 1535, he was hated on account of his zeal for the pure worship of God, and it was deemed expedient to get rid of so prominent a heretic as soon as possible. Charles IX. was then in his minority, and Catherine de Medici held almost unlimited power. Accordingly a band of ruffians was despatched from the city of Le Mans-in the year 1563-to attack his house at night. He and his wife were foully murdered. Oh, my children, exclaims the pious biographer, let us never forget that the blood of martyrs flows in our veins, and may God, of His infinite mercy, grant that the remembrance of it may enliven our faith, so that we prove not unworthy scions of so noble a stock! God has promised to bestow special blessings upon the seed of the righteous. I have been young and now am old, yet have I never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging their bread. And we can generally see His providential care guarding the children of those whose blood has been shed in His service. The three young sons of these Christian martyrs were providentially saved, and lived to rear a numerous progeny in the fear of God and the faith of their murdered parents.
This narrative was written in French by the Rev. James Fontaine for the use and edification of his children, some years after he was driven from France by the persecutions following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It was found, 150 years afterwards, at Rock Castle in Hanover County, Virginia, the residen