Memoir of William Maclure, 401 



Under these circumstances he became more than ever soli- 

 citous to return to the United States, to enjoy again the 

 companionship of his family and friends, and to end his days 

 in that land which had witnessed alike his prosperity and 

 his munificence. 



He made repeated efforts to accomplish this last wish o^ 

 his heart ; and finally arranged with his friend Dr. Burrough, 

 then United States Consul at Vera Cruz, to meet him at 

 Jalapa with a littera and bearers, in order to conduct him 

 to the sea-coast. Dr. Burrough faithfully performed his 

 part of the engagement ; but after waiting for some days at the 

 appointed place of meeting, he received the melancholy in- 

 telligence that Mr. Maclure, after having left Mexico and 

 accomplished a few leagues of his journey, was compelled by 

 illness and consequent exhaustion to relinquish his journey. 



Languid in body, and depressed and disappointed in 

 mind, Mr. Maclure reluctantly retraced his steps ; but being 

 unable to reach the capital, he was cordially received into 

 the country-house of his friend Valentine Gomez Farias, Ex- 

 President of Mexico, where he received all the attentions 

 which hospitality could dictate. His feeble frame was capa- 

 ble of but one subsequent effort, which enabled him to reach 

 the village of San Angel ; where, growing weaker and 

 weaker, and sensible of the approach of death, he yielded to 

 the common lot of humanity on the 23d day of March> 1840, 

 in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 



The death of Mr. Maclure was announced to the Academy 

 on Tuesday evening. ,the 28th of April, on which occasion the 

 following Resolutions were unanimously adopted : — 



Resolved, That the Academy has learned with deep con- 

 cern, the decease, at San Angel, near the city of Mexico, of 

 their venerable and respected President and benefactor, 

 William Maclure, Esq. 



Resolved, That although his declining health induced him 

 to reside for some years in a distant and more genial clime, 



