Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/57

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"SCRAPS FROM THE LUCKY-BAG.".
43

days within the State of Tennessee—the state of his adoption.

"Perhaps someone else can suggest something better, or more appropriate. I am chiefly anxious that some lasting memorial be preserved of the labours of a man, who by his works has conferred lasting honour upon his whole country, and, upon this city in particular, special benefits.

"I may recur to his labours again, and show that Lieutenant Maury is the author of a measure which has secured, and is now securing by its operation, millions of dollars to the States bordering on the Mississippi."

In June 1843, he advocated the use of blank charts on board public cruisers. This paper was read before the National Institute. Afterwards, in July of the same year, he read before the President of the United States, members of the Corps Diplomatique, &c., another much talked of paper that Maury had written, entitled "The Gulf Stream and its Causes," and still later another paper on the connection of terrestrial magnetism with the circulation of the atmosphere.

In another "scrap" he urged, for the defense of the Great Lakes, the establishment of forts, arsenals, and a ship canal from the Illinois River to Lake Michigan, to connect with the Memphis navy yard (which had by this time become a fixed fact), and transport ships to and fro in time of war:—

"Millions have been expended for the defence of the Atlantic seaboard. A million is due for the protection of Southern harbours and the Gulf States, and if we leave the Lake States exposed, it is like locking fast the doors of an edifice and leaving the windows open. . . . It is other nations which impose upon us the necessity and expense of military preparation; and it is well to remember the sage advice of a wise statesman, who said, 'In time of peace prepare for war.' If all other nations would sink their navies, raze their forts, and disband their armies, we too