CHAPTER XIV 

 Reunited with His Family in England 



Maury arrived in England from Mexico, on March 

 29, 1866, and was once more united with his wife and 

 younger children in London, at No. 30 Harley Street. 

 His appearance had been so completely changed by the 

 sorrows, hardships, and anxieties of the long years of 

 separation that none of his children knew him. Indeed, 

 his youngest daughter, on seeing him for the first time 

 after his arrival, exclaimed, "This is not my papa! This 

 is an old man with a white beard !" 



As soon as Maury had departed from Mexico, those 

 who were jealous of him and hostile to the Empire and 

 Maximilian brought pressure to bear which resulted in 

 the abolishing of the immigration scheme. This was 

 made known to Maury through the following letter 

 from the Emperor: "My dear M. F. Maury, — Impelled 

 by motives of economy and convenience to abolish the 

 Imperial Commission of Colonization which in the 

 month of September of last year I confided to your 

 loyalty and superior knowledge, I must on informing you 

 of this measure express the pleasure and satisfaction I 

 feel for the exertions you have so successfully made in 

 the Empire to augment its population, without which the 

 various sources of wealth contained in its fruitful soil 

 cannot be made productive. If your talents cannot for 

 the present be made available in that way, I am con- 

 vinced that they will be eminently useful in the direction 

 of the Observatory which situation I formerly conferred 

 on you, and in which I trust you will continue, that our 



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