Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/144

130 there, and made them hers. She never dreamed that man could take them away; but man has. . ..

"But Great Britain and Europe are not the only Countries in the world with which commercial trade is desirable. 'Let the South look to the South! Behold the Valley of the Amazon! In 1837 commenced the second era of ocean steam navigation, though twenty years before that the South had sent out an avant-courier from Georgia; but the South rested content with the honour of being the first to stride across the Atlantic under steam. This was the time (1837) when the idea was thrown out 'that Virginia should offer to cooperate with the French and invite them to send their steamers to her.'"

In 1850, he suggested, in his Inca Papers, that the Valley of the Amazon should be used as an outlet and safety-valve for the surplus black and other population of the South. In consequence of this paper and two others which he wrote for the Southern Literary Messenger over the signature of "Harry Bluff," on "Our Relations with England" and the "Right of Search. One of his favourite cousins, Mrs. Blackford of New York, to whom Maury was much attached, wrote him a long letter and the following is Maury's reply:—

I received your letter yesterday, and was grieved that any of my writings should give you pain. Do you recollect the ride we took together many years ago? It was on the road that leads from Fredericksburg to Spottsylvania Court House; in the month of May 1825. We had much talk as to my calling in life. You took an interest in my welfare, spoke kindly to me, and gave me good advice, which went straight to my heart and sank deep, and made me love you dearly. . ..