pressible 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 partic- 

 lars 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, 4 

 tuLuii uf^uii'oudur, he sent his/fuu'u4 to the Commander of the 



United States Gulf Squadron. He immediately wrote to Maximil- 

 ian, then Emperor of Mexico, tendering him the services of a man 

 without a country and followed his letter without awaiting a re- 

 ply. 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 Tem- 

 plada 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, like- 

 wise 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 Gov- 

 ernor of the English Guild of Merchant Adventurers and as copy- 

 ist 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 



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