Oldal 339 [339]
OCR
a eens een en eae nee ee ee HistoORte: (GARDENS OF ' VIRGINIA only bricks at intervals are left to tell their tale. But birds still carol in the tall tree tops, and butterflies flit, and bees still buzz in the sweet-scented clovers and honeysuckle! The interest of the stranger is awakened and unsatisfied. He inguires carefully and finds it was in the seclusion of that home with the high brick wall—a shallow wire fence has now replaced the wall—that Matthew Maury opened the eyes of the world of maritime science and took his first step on the rung of the ladder which carried him up to the heights of honor and fame. It was here that he wrote that striking series of essays on naval reform, published incognito in the Southern Literary Messenger. It was also here that he made his Survey of Southern Harbors. At the outbreak of hostilities in 1861, Lieutenant Maury was one of the first to sacrifice his own interests and ambitions to further the welfare of his own beloved State. He resigned his important position at the Naval Observatory in Washington to accept the position as chief of The River, Harbor and Coast Defences of the South, with headquarters in Richmond. In April, 1861, he writes from Richmond to his aftectionate kinsman, John Minor, of Fredericksburg: “Dear John. Bless The substantial brick structure which housed his family during the unhappy days of 1861-2, and also himself, whenever circumstances in those uncertain times made it possible, stands today, in all its well-preserved beauty and simplicity,.on lower Main Street. It is now owned and occupied by Mrs. L. L. Coghill and family. Its every feature—the style of its construction, its hand-carved wood work, its interesting brass door locks and knobs—all are silent and accurate witnesses of earlier days. An emerald lawn, which shows every evidence of loving care, ornaments the north side of the handsome old house. From its velvet surface a giant black walnut tree proudly spreads its protecting branches. What repose there was for Maury in its dappled [210]
