is due." You see in what a beautiful way he gives the credit to Mr. Calhoun as the originator of the army plan, which was continued down to the breaking out of the late civil war; that part of it alone is of great interest, and there are but few people who have the knowledge of these facts.
When the National Board of Trade met here some two or three years since, I published in the Courier parts of Maury's letter. There was a Committee appointed on the subject of meteorological observations, and I thought it a good time to give this forth—in part. Not long before General Meade died, he was spending a few days at my house. I showed him Maury's letter; he was much pleased, and wanted me to publish it as a subject of national interest; but I am accustomed to mind my own affairs only, and I did not do it. But now both are dead, I give it to you on account of your relationship. There are other letters here from M. F. Maury, referring to his thoughts upon this subject, but none so full, and he only wrote to one other person here. . .
Respectfully yours,
On December 14th, 1880, Mr. Vest of Missouri said, in a speech before the 46th Congress, 3rd Session:—
"The whole signal service system of this country originated with the navy, not with the army. The man who commenced it, in whose brain it first had existence, was Matthew Fontaine Maury. In 1853 he instigated and brought about, by own individual exertions, the assembling of a convention of scientists of the world at Brussels, to take into consideration a uniform system of meteorological observations. In 1857 I well recollect that Lieutenant Maury passed through the South and West, delivering lectures at his own individual expense to the people, urging upon them that they urge their members of Congress to establish a signal service observation system for the Southern and Western States. If that had been done then, sir, millions of dollars would have been saved to the agricultural interests of this country.
