Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1856-03-28
Lieut.. MaurY,s ChaIAs

The gold Medal OF Honor has been awarded by
the Paris Exhibition to Lieut.. Maury for his Wind
and Current Charts and we subjCin some extracts
from the letter of the officer of the Exhibition-M
VattemeIe, of international renown-charged with
the duty of transmitting the medal TO the Lieutenant
'PARIs, January 26, 1856.
" My Dear Sir: have been for the last two months
overwhelmed with business that fonnd it imros
sible 10 write to you to inform you of the very great
sensation produced here by the exhibition of your
charts of the winds and currents, pilots charts &C.
They have attracted the general attention and uni
versal admiration.
"PIace1 under my care in the scientific part of the
American department formed by me in the Palace
of Industry, have had the qualification to see how
highly your labors were appreciated; and, while
was placing them IN the best and most honorable
part of department., officers OF the British navy
used to come to help me to classify and hang them
up to show them to the best advantage, saying that
there could not be too honorable place for them j.;
that they had already done more service to naviga
ton in the few years since their publication than any
ever published for the last two hundred years And
while was showing them to the Sovereigns of France
and England, the Emperor exclaimed, is possible
that such work could have been undertaken and
executed by one man !! And her Majesty, express
ing her qualification to the Emperor, thanked him for
the opportunity offered to her of seeing these won
derful charts. In fact, you charts and the United
States Standard weights and measures the only
objects in the American department their Malesties
could find time to visit, the Queen having only few
would require several months of daily visits to be-
come somewhat acquainted with the immense guam
tty of wonderful riches contained in these large
buildings of the Palace of Industry I"
"The Emperor himself intended to present you
with the only testimonial he could give of his high
appreciation of your services, the Leg ion of Honor
but, having been informed that American citizens in
the United States service were not allowed TO receive
decorations, his Majesty deprived of the pleasure
of fulfilling his wishes. However inadequate the
reward is to the magnitude of your labors the gold
medal of honor may be considered the first step
made towards the time when full justice will be done
to them.
Meanwhile, please to accept evidence of
the high regards of the International Jury, the I'M
peria commission, and their President, Prince Napo-
leon and with it the expression of my high gratif-
cation to have had this opportunity 10 express
to you my CRATE: feeling for the kind and fraernaI
hospitality with which you have treated me during
my visits TO Washington and to say that as long as
it will please Divine Providence to keep me IN health,
YOU Wi II always find me ready and most happy to do
anything in my humble power TO be agreeable or use
full to W on this side of the Atlantic convinced as
| am that | can rely upon you to continue to second
my humble efforts in the complete realization OF the
noble cause to which | have devoted my ife-the
intellectual union of nations through the system OF
international exchange; for surely man like you
remains faithful to the cause he embraces; and the
feelings EXPRESSED in your letter of the LIST of March
1848 in behalf of our system, are now as warm as
they were at that time. In that letter you say -
You will thus observe, my dear sir, that, though
you are working on the land and on the water, we
aim at similar ends. You seek to make nations bet
ter acquaint ed, | bring them closer together Al
though YOU are far ahead of me, and at The pom
of reaching the end, my courage is ardent as ever
shall never give up the ship, and shall keep going
on till the last moment of my life.