Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 27.djvu/353

 Rh soon after the great labor riots in Baltimore and Pittsburg, General Maury called a meeting in Richmond for the purpose of taking steps to improve the militia of the State. At this meeting the co-operation of other States was invited. Many accepted, and the National Guard Association of America was formed as a result. A further result was the securing from Congress of a small annual appropriation for the purpose of arming the State military. General Maury always said this meeting aroused such vital interest in the subject in every State that the United States now has the most efficient national militia in the world.

In 1885, General Maury was appointed United States envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States of Colombia by Mr. Cleveland. He remained at Bogota until after the election of Mr. Harrison.

Since his return from the United States of Colombia, General Maury had resided with relatives in this city and with his son, Mr. Dabney H. Maury, Jr., at Peoria, Ill. Few men and women in Richmond are unfamiliar with his rather small, spare, but stiffly erect figure. All who knew him loved him. General Maury angry was something few persons ever saw. He was the soul of good fellow-ship. He was a man with a heart a big one in a small body. He was an inveterate story-teller. His long life and his varied experiences prevented his stories from ever growing tiresome.

His frankness and his honesty were probably his most striking characteristics. The latter is splendidly illustrated by an incident of General Maury's life after the war, one which he often told. He was in very destitute circumstances, and had no idea whither to go to find the dollar. One afternoon he received a letter in an official-looking envelope. He broke the seal and found it was from the Louisiana State Lottery Company, offering him a salary of $25,000 per year if he would accept the position of president of the company. "The temptation was a terrible one," said General Maury. "To say that it was otherwise would be to say I was more than human. I was almost penniless, and there was no prospect of my being otherwise. Twenty-five thousand a year was wealth which to me seemed fabulous. I did not say anything to any one concerning the proposition. When I went to bed I could not sleep. I tossed and ,