Page:Matthew Fontaine Maury 1806-1873.pdf/17

 griefs and heart-breaking cares, but with faith unshaken and a conscience void of offence toward God and man, he stood bravely to his post, while his wife in Virginia was crushed by the mysteriously tragic fate of their son, Lieutenant John Herndon Maury, at Vicksburg, and the cruel vicissitudes of war, which made another son a cripple and a son-in-law a prisoner of war.

In March, 1865, Maury received orders to return home, but before he left England the news came of Lee's surrender; when he reached St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, he received the particlars of the collapse of the Confederacy and of the assassination of Lincoln. Proceeding to Cuba, he sent his son Matthew thence to Virginia.

Virginia had grounded her arms and following her lead, he sent his letter of surrender to the Commander of the United States Gulf Squadron. He immediately wrote to Maximilian, then Emperor of Mexico, tendering him the services of a man without a country and followed his letter without awaiting a reply. He was graciously received by Maximilian and offered a cabinet position; this Maury declined, but accepted the offer of Commissioner of Immigration, with the purpose of establishing a colony of Virginians in the fertile and delightful Terra Templada of Mexico. The wisdom of this action has been questioned. If Maury erred in seeking remunerative service in Mexico, then every Southerner, similarly situated, who left that impoverished section, whether for religious, business, or political reasons, likewise erred. Truly, the South, at that time, sorely needed every loyal son, but wise and loyal sons may use self-determination as to how to render the best service to the homeland. Besides, the human instinct of self-preservation, as we have seen, breeds exiles. It is also true that self-interest is a powerful factor in the spread of civilization. Note, for example, St. Paul's appeal unto Caesar and the results following his visits to Athens and to Rome. Again, consider Caxton, the Kentish lad; he served in Flanders as Governor of the English Guild of Merchant Adventurers and as copyist for the Duchess of Burgundy. After an absence of thirty-five years, the printing press was the precious freight he brought back to England! And behold the power of the Press to-day!

Great as were the material results of the coming of the