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Rh Perhaps no delusion is greater, or more universal, than to believe, that because we have been wrong in assuming a position, we must, necessarily, throw ourselves out of it, in order to be right. This principle would, unquestionably, be just, in all situations where any particular qualification was needed, which could not immediately be acquired; but, if the regret be so great on discovering that you are deficient in the evidences of personal religion, surely you can have no hesitation in choosing to lay hold of the means which are always available for obtaining that divine assistance, which shall render your profession sincere, rather than to give up the duties, the hopes, and the privileges of religion altogether.

It becomes a serious inquiry on these occasions, whether the inclination is not wrong, and whether a plea is not even wished for, as an excuse for turning back, after having laid the hand on the plough. If not, the alternative is a safe, and easy one. Begin afresh. Make a fresh dedication of the heart to God. Commence the work as if it had never been undertaken before, and all may yet be well—perhaps better than if you had never doubted whether you stood upon the right foundation.

It should always be remembered, for the consolation and encouragement of youth, that in making the decision in favour of religion in early life, there is comparatively little to undo; while if this most important duty is left until a later period, there will be the force of long established habit to contend with on the side of wrong, meshes of evil to unravel, dark paths to travel back, and all that mingled texture of light and darkness, which originates in a polluted heart, and a partially enlightened understanding, to separate thread from thread. And, oh! what associations, what memories are there! what gleaming forth again of the false fire, even after the true has been kindled! what yawning

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278 of the wide sepulchre in which the past is buried, though it cannot rest! what struggling with the demons of imagination, before they are cast out forever! what bleeding of the heart, which, like a chastened child, would kiss the rod, yet dare not think how many stripes would be commensurate with its delinquency! Oh! happy youth! it is thy privilege, that this can never be thy portion!

Yes, happy youth! for thou art ever happy in the contemplation of age; and yet thou hast thy tears. Thou hast thy trials too; and perhaps their acuteness renders them less bearable than the dull burden of accumulated sorrow, which hangs upon maturer years. Thou hast thy sorrows: and when the mother's eye is closed, that used to watch thy infant steps so fondly; and the father's hand is cold, that used to rest upon thy head with gentle and impressive admonition; whom hast thou, whom wilt thou ever have, to supply thy parents' place on earth? Whom hast thou? The world is poor to thee; for none will ever love thee with a love like theirs. Thou hast thy golden and exuberant youth, thy joyous step, thy rosy smile, and we call thee happy. But thou hast also thy hours of loneliness, thy disappointments, thy chills, thy blights; when the hopes on which thy young spirit has soared begin for the first time to droop; when the love in which thou hast so fondly trusted begins to cool; when the flowers thou hast cherished begin to fade; when the bird thou hast fed through the winter, in the summer flies away; when the lamb thou hast nursed in thy bosom, prefers the stranger to thee.—Thou hast thy tears; but the bitterest of thy sorrows, how soon are they assuaged? It is this then which constitutes thy happiness, for we all have griefs; but long before old age, they have worn themselves channels which cannot be effaced. It is therefore that we look back to youth with envy; because the tablet of the heart is then fresh, and

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Rh shoes. This flotsam was found just after the first and only attack by the Federal gunboats upon the shore defences at Drewry's Bluff on the James River.

In the summer of 1862, Maury proceeded to mine the James River below all the defences. While engaged on this important work, the success of which was to vindicate the wisdom of his advocacy of this mode of defence, his career in the Confederacy was brought to a summary conclusion.

Without having been consulted, and strongly against his wishes, he received an order to go to Europe to purchase torpedo material in conjunction with another officer—a duty that might have been performed by any junior officer in the service.

The little steamer which he used, and his torpedoes, were placed in the hands of Lieutenant Davidson, who continued in charge of these defences till the end of 1864.

Drawings and plans, with a chart of the torpedoes already planted by Maury, were left in the vessel; and not long after, in attempting to plant others, she grounded during a falling tide, and fell into the hands of the enemy.

At that time the Federals were as ignorant regarding this means of defence as were the Southern officers; but with these captured plans and materials they tried the experiment, "à la James River," at Baltimore on a schooner, and "blew her into tooth-picks," as related in their official report of the transaction.

After this, there was no further attempt made by the powerful Federal fleet to disturb the shore defences of the James River, and General Lee completed them at his leisure. They gave the suspected part of the river a wide berth—till the combined attack in 1864 by Grant on the north, Butler on the south, and the fleet by water.

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202 were, came up with cutters and launches ahead, dragging and searching for these machines and ascending at the rate of about half-a-mile a day. They caught some of the mechanical torpedoes, for there was wire enough for only a few electric ones.

Finally, after having swept over and passed with their drags one electric torpedo which had been in the water eighteen months, a fine steam corvette, the 'Commodore Jones,' was sent ahead to feel a coppice on the bank for masked batteries and rifle-pits. Davidson, concealed in a marsh on the opposite bank, with the two wires of the galvanic pile in his hand, allowed her to pass, hoping that larger game would follow. She had paused right over the torpedo and waited for the row-boats, with their sweeps and grapnels, to go ahead dragging again. Fearing that these boats might now foul his wires, he determined not to let her pass his magic line. He closed the circuit, and up she went! Engine and boilers were blown clean out of the vessel for fifty feet. The hull was shattered, and fragments of the wreck filled the air; out of a crew of 150 men only three escaped to tell the tale. It was all the work of a minute. The terror-stricken enemy stood still in his tracks, and fearing that the Confederates might come down upon him at night with their torpedo-boats, floating torpedoes, and little ironclad, he proceeded to sink his own ships in the channel, to barricade the river, and to blockade himself out of Richmond. There was, at this time, only one electrical torpedo in the whole river, the first planted having been washed away in a flood of unprecedented violence. The Confederates were quick to take advantage of this blunder with the barricade. They immediately mounted a battery above ("the Hewlett House Battery"), which commanded it and prevented its removal after the panic caused by the fate of the 'Commodore Jones' should have subsided.


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204 The James River torpedoes, when planted, were daily tested. This can never be done with mechanical torpedoes.

After his arrival in England, Maury made this new method of defence the subject of patient investigation and special study. With means and appliances which the resources of that country enabled him to bring into play, a power has been placed in the hands of military men which has since assumed the proportions that he predicted.

During the first and second years of the war, Maury wrote a series of papers, published in the Richmond Enquirer, over the signature of "Ben Bow," urging upon the Executive the necessity of building a navy without delay, and especially of protecting our bays and rivers with small floating batteries. In the first of these articles he says:—

"At the commencement of our independence we not only find ourselves without a navy, but in the midst of war; with ports blockaded, we are shut out from the marine resources of the world. Nevertheless, we have caught up such watercraft as we could lay hands on, we have strengthened some of them as best we could, and, placing one or more guns upon each, have commissioned them into service.

"These, however, are mere makeshifts. For the most part they are fit only to contend against harmless merchantmen, and they are few in number. If we are to have a navy, surely no statesman would attempt to build it of such material.

". . . . The sums appropriated by the Government for 'building and increase' will indicate its policy touching a navy, and show what, for the present, is proposed to be done.

"Two Navy Bills have passed since Virginia seceded and joined the Confederacy. One was passed in May at Montgomery, and the other in Richmond in August.

"In the Montgomery Bill there is not one dime for construction or increase. The whole appropriation is $278,500,


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Rh of which $100,000 is for equipment and repairs. Now a navy without vessels is like lamps without oiL The Richmond Bill gives $50,000 to buy and build steamers and gunboats for coast defence, and $160,000 for two ironclad gunboats for the defence of the Mississippi River and the City of Memphis. . . . We may safely infer that $50,000 will neither purchase nor build a great many steamers or gunboats, nor enable us to provide very efficiently for the defence of all the rivers except the Mississippi, and of all the harbours, bays, creeks, and sounds of our coast all the way from Washington on the Potomac to Brownsville on the Rio Grande.

"Thus we perceive that since Virginia and North Carolina, with their defenceless, open, and inviting sea-front, seceded, the sum of only $50,000 has been voted towards the 'purchase or construction of a navy,' for the defence of the entire sea-coast of the Confederacy!

"From this analysis, and from all that we can see doing on the water, it appears that the Government has not yet decided to have a navy.

"Does the country want a navy? If yea, can we afford to have one? That is the question; and we hope the thinkers and writers and men of the country will bring to bear upon it fair minds and the right spirit.

"The first thing to be done is to get rid of all navy notions, borrowed from the old navy at Washington, as to what constitutes a navy, to cast about us and see what resources we have, and then, considering the means and appliances which, owing to our peculiar situation, we can bring into play, to decide whether the best interests of the country call for a navy or not. In this age, when commerce is king, no nation, though it have cotton and the staples of the South for its nobles, can hope to command the respect of its peers abroad without a navy. Nor can our citizens, with such a neighbour


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 206 as we are bound to have, be secure from daily outrage unless we have a navy to protect them in peace as well as in war.

"That the country is in great need of a navy now, is patent to the world; and that it will want one in the future is obvious to every statesman. . ..

"In the first Revolution we had a navy; it did good service, and experience approves it. This, our second, is more holy than that, and our enemy is close at hand. He is marauding in habit, and far less chivalrous in disposition than the enemy we then had. Moreover, our sea-board country now, while on the one hand it is far more tempting to the robber, on the other it is far less secure from his inroads. We cannot now, as we did then, depend on distance and our faithful old allies, the wind and waves, to protect our citizens from insult and pillage. Moreover, the epoch for 'big guns and little ships' is at hand. Our enemy is not prepared for it. We are. Let us be up and doing, and with craft no larger than steam-tugs and pilot-boats, we may send to the bottom, or chase away from our bays and offings, his tall frigates. In the old war, none but stout ships could be sent against us, for we were separated from the enemy by the most stormy ocean in the world.

". . . . The fact that the mouths of our rivers should be blockaded with an old steam-tug, our shores ravaged, plantations pillaged, and homes burned by a fleet of mere passenger-boats, is neither gratifying to our pride at home, nor will it be held abroad as indicative of any very high degree of national spirit on our part.

"There seems then to be every reason of patriotism and policy why we should set to work 'right off the reel,' and with might and main build up a navy at least sufficient to


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Rh command our rivers, bays, &c., to defend our shores, and protect our inhabitants against the enemy.

"There are a good many citizens among us who say 'cotton is king;' they hold that this king is to do all and more for us than it is possible for a navy to do. . ..

"All such are in a delusion. In the first place, cotton and the staples of the South are only some of its nobles; and unless human nature be changed, they, without a navy, will be powerless for protection. Unless we have the national ability to put forth navy strength necessary to support the dignity of the nation, its great staples will be a source of weakness, for mere wealth is weakness, and, like unprotected wealth everywhere, our commercial staples will invite to outrage and wrong.

"There seems to be a vague idea floating in the public mind of the South that, somehow or other, cotton is to enable us to do, if not entirely, at least to a great degree, what other nations require armies and navies to accomplish for them. Because cotton-wool is essential to the industry of certain people, and because we are the chief growers of cotton-wool, therefore, say these political dreamers, we can so treat cotton, in a diplomatic way, as both to enforce obedience to our revenue laws at home and secure respect to our citizens abroad. But can we? Did ever unprotected wealth secure immunity to its owner?

"In the first place, cotton becomes, when handled in any other way than the regular commercial way, a two-edged sword, as apt to wound producer as consumer. Every obstacle which we place between it and the channels of commerce here, operates as a bounty for its production elsewhere.

"It is a very current but mistaken idea to suppose that this is the only country in the world properly adapted to the cultivation of cotton. No such thing. Should even the


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 208 present paper blockade continue for a few years, and cotton rule at the present New York prices of 22 cents, or even at 15 cents, our political dreamers may wake and find the cotton sceptre, if not entirely lost to our hold, at least divided in our hand.

"Every one can see that in case the supply of American cotton to foreign markets be materially interfered with, the effect will be to enhance the value of other cotton. You will not only stimulate those already engaged in the cultivation of cotton abroad to increased production, but you tempt their neighbours into the fields, and induce others successfully to bring lands under cotton cultivation which, but for such encouragement, would never have been thought of. Our cotton interests cannot be tampered with without danger. . ..

"Suppose England and France do not choose for a few months to come to break this paper blockade, which we have not the naval strength to force, paper though it be, does it follow that that blockade, weak and ineffectual as, up to this time, it has notoriously been, will continue so until those nations get ready to act?

"The amount appropriated for the Lincoln navy during the current year is upwards of $40,000,000. . . . We cannot, either with cotton or with all the agricultural staples of the Confederacy put together, adopt any course which will make cotton and trade stand us as a nation in the stead of a navy. . ..

"With two or three millions judiciously expended, it is possible for us to put afloat, in a little while, a navy that will give us the command of our own water. . ..

". . . . In our present circumstances, the navy which we most require is for smooth water and shallow places. Such a one, consisting of small vessels, can be quickly and cheaply built, and, for the most part, will not be required to keep the sea but for a few days at a time.


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210 "Although he argued so wisely and so well, the heads of the Government were unfriendly to Maury, and would not adopt his suggestions. But by this time the whole South was burning with military ardour. Every man was buckling on his sword, and among the rest Maury's two eldest sons, Richard, aged twenty, and John, aged eighteen, volunteered. Richard joined the 24th Virginia Regiment, participated in the gallant charge on Hancock at Williamsburg, was wounded at 'Seven Pines,' was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and was shot through the body at Drewry's Bluff, from the effects of which wound he has never recovered.

"John went from the University of Virginia with the students when Harper's Ferry was seized. He afterwards went to Vicksburg on General D. H. Maury's staff; and, while making a reconnaissance alone, is supposed to have met his death, for he was never heard of afterwards.

"Of this sad loss, his father writes in the family Bible:—

'Our noble son, John Herndon, went out from Vicksburg Miss., alive, on the 27th day of January, 1863, to reconnoitre the enemy. A few hours afterwards his horse was seen without a rider, but nothing was ever heard of him. From the footprints and other signs and marks on the levee, it is supposed that he was surprised by a scouting-party of the enemy in ambush within our lines and done to death. Comely in person, lovely in disposition, generous and brave, he loved right and hated wrong. Precious in the eyes of his parents, he was very dear to our hearts.'"

In the fall of 1862, Maury was ordered to England by the Secretary of the Navy (Mr. Millory) to purchase torpedo material, &c. He accordingly left Richmond, accompanied by his youngest son Matthew, whom he called "Brave," a lad of some twelve or thirteen years, whom he intended to place


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 Rh at a good school as soon as he should reach the peaceful shores of Old England. He proceeded to Charleston, S.C., where they were detained a week or more awaiting a favourable opportunity to leave the country on a "blockade runner." While in Charleston, he wrote the following letters to his wife:—

Your short note of the 4th has just come to hand. We devoured it. "Brave" is at Ids lessons. He has an engagement with Mr. Godon for a buggy ride this evening, if we do not sail, of which there seems no prospect at present, for the sky is cloudless. "Brave" read me, from the "Calendar" this morning, that the moon rises Saturday night by eight. We shall certainly get off that night if not before. The 'Hero' will sail soon after, and letters sent here to go by her, care of F. T. & Co., Liverpool, may get there as soon as I do. After her, the 'Kate' will go; so tell all hands to write and keep writing, and to send their letters here to F. & Co. This house is all the time running the blockade. Their vessels generally go by Nassau, and, although by short route, are often a long time in reaching England, Still it is one of the channels of reaching me, and it should not be overlooked. I shall be most anxious to hear about the fighting at Corinth, and to learn how fared my "Davy Jones" and Dabney. I am expecting a telegram from you about them, for Dabney has always been considerate in sending early tidings. I refrain from telegraphing him, because, in the first place, I do not know where he is exactly, and in the next, if either my "Davy Jones" or he have been hit, the telegraphic account would perhaps have things worse than they really are, and so I should sail and be miserable for a month or more in the absence of later information. Wherefore, I have concluded that it is more philosophical to sail thinking "all's well," and wait for letters to dispel the delusion, if delusion this be. Tot's letter, which was mailed


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212 before yours, has not been received. The stopping of Corbin with the gunboat timber looks as though the enemy was expected back in Fredericksburg. I don't want them to catch you there again. I shall leave a note behind to be sent you in case the carrier pigeon brings back word "all's well" I am thinking and dreaming about you all the time. I wrote Lucy yesterday; Elie the day before, and Tot's two days ago; also Dick and Betty and Nannie. Kiss them all, and may God Almighty bless and keep you!

After several attempts and failures, Maury and his son finally succeeded in getting off on board the 'Hero' on the 24th of October, and when they were safe beyond the reach of the Federal blockading fleet, he let fly a carrier pigeon with a note tied under its wing, to be forwarded by Mr. F., of Charleston, to his wife. The note contained the vessel's latitude and longitude and "all's well."

"Brave" and I came off in a row-boat It was a long pull. We left at one, and are hungry. The table is set. We expect to pass the bar at eight, and pray to be clear of the enemy by eleven. We have about fifteen passengers, some of them Jews. "Brave" and I have a nice room, next to the Captain's, two berths in it. The sweetest of boys is "Brave." He has been coursing about on deck, and has come down to say, "Are you writing to ma again?" Yes. . . . With good luck we shall be in Halifax next Tuesday. I hear the steward discussing dinner. Duck, goose, potatoes, boiled mutton. Our appetite is keen. As soon as "Brave" is over with sea-sickness we will commence our studies. Tell Betty, and Nannie, and Dick, and Sue, and Will, and Corbin, and Tots, and Glum, to write me often, and tell me all the news; and do you also, my precious friend, keep me posted up in public as well as in family affairs. . ..

I shall, you know, very much wish to keep the run of public sentiment, and to be posted up in the various phases of public affairs.


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Rh Bless my Lucy's heart, I think you have had her long enough—eleven years. I wish she was here, and Tots and Glum were along when we got over the other side.

The Captain is a Scotchman. Farewell! Soup is on the table. God bless and keep us all!

Here are some rose-leaves for L., N. B., and W.

We arrived here last night after a tedious and boisterous passage of five and a half days from Bermuda. "Brave" and I both suffered more from sea-sickness than we did in the passage to Bermuda. The steamer in which we came was quite equal in dirt and all uncomfortableness to that between Calais and Dover. But, thanks be to God, here we are at last, safe and well. This is Monday; Thursday night, at two, we shall take the steamer for Liverpool, and, in nine days more, we are due in "Merrie Old England."

To-day I have been with "Brave" a-shopping, and I have bought him a suit of clothes, which are to be finished tomorrow, and a cap, two pair of flannel drawers. (It has been snowing to-day). Two flannel shirts, a purse, and two pair of gloves. When he gets his clothes he wants to have his "type" taken to send you. We have been in hot weather till now. This morning he was coasting about the room enjoying the fire, and talking about your winter arrangements, and the wood that he had stowed away for you. This is a place of 25 or 30,000 inhabitants. They are strongly "secesh" here. The Confederate flag has been flying from the top of the hotel all day, in honour, I am told, of our arrival. There is a grand review here to-day. It is the birthday of the Prince of Wales. They are celebrating it with unusual pomp, as it is his 21st. "Brave" has gone with some of the passengers to see the review. He wore his overcoat—he is collecting pictures for Lucy; he supposes Willy has collected any amount of old iron. I have let him off from his lessons to-day. This is only to tell you of our welfare; I shall send it, via Boston, and if I get the "type"


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 214 will send it the same way. The hand-organs have been grinding "Dixie" under my window all day. I sent you a box of shoes, &c., by the 'Harold' from Bermuda. It was directed to R H. M., through F. & Co., Charleston. I have not heard that the 'Harold' has been captured, and therefore presume it got in all safe, and I hope the things reached you safely, and that each one is pleased with her share. Remember, there was no choice, and I had to take what I could get.

Please send Mr. W., of F. & Co., $5 worth of stamps, and write him a note to say they are to pay postage on letters that I intend to send through their firm. God bless you and us all, M.

I have written you, via Boston, to tell you of our safe arrival and of our expected departure to-morrow night in the 'Arabia' for Liverpool, that "Brave" is as bright as a lark, and the greatest of comforts to me. He is making fine progress with his Latin. Thinking nothing of doing a page at a sitting. He has a nice new suit of clothes; has gone down now to have a little alteration made in the pants, and to have his "type" taken in them and his new cap, to send to you.

I have been received here with marked attention; I had a constant stream of callers yesterday from 10 till 4½. . . . The people here are all as much "southern" as we are.

The chances of your getting this are slim. I must content myself with few words. . ..

Accounts from Yankeedom are in by telegraph up to date. They are most encouraging to us. B. has displaced McClellan. I think hourly of Dick and Dave. Hand my letters round to the family and kin. Perhaps S. will copy them for D. and D. Bless their hearts. Love and kisses, and kind messages to Nos. 1, 1½, 2, 2½, 3, 3½, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, and all my good friends. I wonder where you are. Yrs. P.S.—We sail to-night at one.


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Rh While in England Maury carried the olive branch in one hand and the sword in the other; for he did not cease to cry aloud and make his voice heard on the side of peace, or at least for an amelioration of the horrors of war.

He assisted in organizing a society "for the Promotion of the Cessation of Hostilities in America," which had its office at 215 Regent Street, London, and which numbered among its officers and members, leading men of the army, navy, state, and church.

They drew up the following petition (for the promotion of peace in America), to the people of the United States; but their voice was not listened to, and the bloody strife went on.

"Greeting:

"We are of the same race, and many of you are our brothers. Can we not, therefore, come to you as peacemakers, and address you as friends? We would ask you, has there not been of strife and bloodshed, and misery and suffering enough; and is it not time to cease the cruel War in which you are engaged? We believe there is not a Christian man or woman amongst us whose heart does not respond affirmatively to this question. With this conviction we wish to speak to you as plain men, using plain language. We have admired your free institutions, and have gladly witnessed your rise as a people to eminence in wealth and political power. You are of the Saxon blood, and we hoped that you would make the New World renowned for true greatness. You promised to become one mighty people and


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 216 a great nation, famed for the liberties of its citizens, the triumphs of peace, and the conquests of its commerce. We felt that you were doing honour to the Mother Country. When, therefore, this unfortune War began, our hearts were more inclined towards you than towards your sister States, because we believed with you that the action of the South was but the work of a faction. The events of the struggle, however, have convinced us that a more united people than those of the Southern States never rose up in defence of their rights.

"When you asserted that Secession was the work of disappointed ambition, and promised to quell it within sixty days, we accepted your assurances in good faith, and looked for the speedy restoration of Peace. We did not wish to see the American Union broken up.

"But so far from this promise being fulfilled (and your efforts to accomplish it have been great). Peace and the restoration of the Union are apparently as remote as ever.

"Surely there must be many now among you who share with us the conviction that it is utterly impossible to subdue the South, or to restore the American Union, as it was in the past days of the Republic.

"You have tried sufficiently, and found the gulf between you and the Seceded States to widen with the effort that is made to subdue them.

"Is it not time then to pause, and after calmly reviewing all that you have accomplished, the distance which you have travelled from your well-known landmarks, and the difficulties and dangers that are yet before you, is it not time, we ask, that you should take counsel together as to the best means of restoring Peace?

"We cannot forget that the question of Peace or War was never submitted to you for your serious consideration before


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Rh hostilities had actually commenced;—that they came upon you little by little;—and that both Government and People found themselves plunged into this fearful Contest almost unawares; nor have you as yet had an opportunity of consulting together in General Convention, for the purpose of making known your opinions and wishes about the War or any of the vast issues growing out of it.

"The war has changed (for the present, at least) the character of your Government. What has become of the freedom of speech, your free press, and the inestimable right of habeas corpus?

"What, permit us to ask, are the Southern people doing beyond following the precepts and examples taught and practised by your Fathers and theirs, when they withdrew their allegiance from the Mother Country, and asserted their right to establish a Government of their own?

"The Declaration of Independence, which you hallow and celebrate every fourth day of July, asserts as self-evident, the right of the Southern people to set up a Government of their own.

"But we would ask, suppose you should at the end of another three years and a half, succeed in subduing the South and restoring the Union by force of arms, might you not then find out, when it was too late, that those pillars upon which rests your form of Government had been violently torn down, and that your own liberties had been buried in the ruins? If you will run the parallel between the South now and the Colonies in 1776, and compare the course pursued by the North now, and the Mother Country then, we think you will discover some striking resemblances; and among them, that with you now, as with the Crown then, rests the privilege of giving Peace to the American Continent.

"Why not then, without further delay, recognise the duty


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218 which attaches to your high privilege? We appeal to you in the name of Religion, Humanity, Justice, and Civilisation, and believe that we shall not appeal in vain, "Peace be unto you."

Maury sent the petition to a cousin in America with the following letter:—

I have this morning your package of 13, enclosing copies from Will to his sister, his mother to you, of your reply, of Corbin's to you, and reply; also one from B. C. to T. B. Also letters, viâ Bermuda; but none from my people direct. So that Will's, of July 10th, is the latest direct from my own family. Thank you kindly for them.

The enclosed petition "for Peace in America," is what I intended to send you in my last It takes like "wild fire" in Ireland. It was read last Sunday in many of the churches there, and it is to be offered in all for signatures next Sunday. Counting all who are represented by the societies, firms, &c., that have already signed; the signatures obtained in England represent several millions of her Majesty's subjects. It is "bread upon the waters" at best.

Please let it be known, especially if you think good may come of it. I send several copies that the public may, if you think proper, be apprised of this very important move. Liverpool only is against it.

I am quite well again; I hoped to find a report from Dick, or something later from my precious people; but I read in the absence of such, that "no news is good news." Love to all your messmates, those on leave as well, as those at the table. Yours, M.

The great American hydrographer met with much sympathy. His valuable labours and his books had secured for him a host of sincere but unknown friends. Among them


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constable, John (1776-1837)


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 The next letter, from a distinguished French scientist and relative, must have been even more gratifying to Maury's feelings:—

To

Permit me to address you from Paris, where the care of my affairs has momentarily called me, my very sincere thanks on the subject of your immortal work. That work bears in the whole world a merited reputation, and I am proud, I avow it to you, to bear a name similar to yours. I regret not understanding the English language, so as to be able to study, in a profound manner, the physical geography of the globe, especially in the new point of view in which you have presented it. It is a real discovery, and your modesty should not allow that the publicity of your work should be restricted. You should, my dear and honoured relative, since you are so kind as to authorise me to give you a title which honours me, translate into the most popular languages of Europe, your nautical studies, the magnificent work which you have published in English science, has no frontiers, and its language should be understood throughout the world, because it is proper that all beings here below should aid each other mutually. Whatever might be the individual value of our life, is it not so short and fragile already, that we should seek with care the occasions of being useful to our fellow men? Your rare merit permits you to render great services to humanity. That surface liquid which covers three-fourths of our planet had been considered by the feebleness of our organs as a mass, awful and inert, where reigned an eternal solitude, such as that which, we believe, to exist in space. You have, sir, carried a shining light into the eternal shades, and there in the depths of the abyss you have rendered to the God of our fathers an homage which, for me at least, is worth all that which men may come every day to deposit at His feet. You have some imitators, and the furrow that you have traced gives emulation to even the incredulous.


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Rh And you have remarked already in the journals the care the European Governments take to organize their meteorological service.

You ought then, if you have not already done so, to publish in the different languages illustrated editions of your work. I say illustrated, because the cuts speak to the eyes of the multitude, and often bring to notice things passed over without notice. . . . Now allow me to express to you, at the end of one year that rolls past, and another which approaches in silence, the desire that all your holy vows be fulfilled, the hope that all your family enjoy perfect health, and that they keep constantly in the ways of our Saviour the eternal, our God; because only in these paths can they find peace and light. I wish ardently that your unhappy country may not long be torn by a fratricidal war, that you may take up the course of your useful labours, and from afar you will consider that there is one man at least who esteems you, venerates you, and esteems himself that he has known you. In these sentiments I am, my dear and honoured sir, your devoted servant, whenever you shall please to put me to the proof. 2em

The following is an extract from a letter to the Rev. F. W Tremlett, D.C.L., incumbent of St. Peter's, Belsize Park, N.W., written while Maury was at Bowden, England, where he resided at this time to be near his son Matthew ("Brave"), who was at school there:—

My quiet life here is like the pleasant visions of the night Brave's sweet company at breakfast in the morning at 8; then he to school, and I to the indulgence of that last great blessing that was uttered in the gardens of paradise—work, and the will to work—till 5 in the solitude of a hermit.

When Brave's smiling face illuminates the enchanted castle for twenty minutes. He says grace before soup, takes his plate, and is back to school again from six to nine; and then the affairs of the family and nation, over a glass of milk


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222 and a bit of buttered toast, are discussed till ten; and so to bed. . . . he rising at six. He is just now neck-and-neck with the last of the boys that had reached him by doing "voluntary" during the holidays. . ..

Our hearts were made glad, yesterday, by letters from home. The "petition" (from England to America), praying for the restoration of peace, had been received with great delight and satisfaction. My love to the ladies.

Yours truly,

Maury wrote to his brother-in-law, lamenting the evils that the war was bringing on his country and friends:—

War is a great scourge, and this has touched you and me and many a good fellow with a heavy hand. As I look out upon the landscape that lies before my window, and see the men and women working in the fields, and the fields smiling to man's husbandry, when I see no marks of the spoiler, and recognise that each one is safe in his person and secure in his possessions, then it is I see peace, and think of my poor country with a sigh, and, oh, with what reflections!

"Thoughts on thoughts a countless throng," bless your hearts—you and John—for comforting, with so much solicitude and affection, my poor dear wife in her affliction! Good brothers are you both. How lovely and beautiful are the memories of my Johnny! I wonder if all parents think of their dead as I do of mine. Bless that sleeping boy! Never did he, in his whole life, do one single act that either displeased or grieved me or his mother. "He never offended." What an epitaph; and how proudly I write it! But where is the end of this war to find us—where you and yours, me and mine, and where so many that are dear and near to us? Our charming circle of relations and friends is, I fear, broken up, never, never to be restored on this side of the grave.

Where are you? You have a hospital, I know; but where do you live? Where, John? Where, Charles? Both brothers-in-law! When we are done fighting the Yankees,


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constable, Marmaduke


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Rh we all, bald pates and gray heads, young and old, have to begin to fight the battle of life over again. Will and Corbin and Dick and my J.no, he has got his discharge; but you and I, and ours, we all have to begin again; and at what odds! Still, the house is on fire—let's put it out; and then, when it is all over, we can see, not what's best, but what's left. So cheer up, old fellow, let's quit us like men, and trust to God for the rest!

A letter this morning from Rutson Maury of New York. . . dated 6th April. No tidings of my boy. Send it with this to his mother; it is as much to her as to you, as, indeed, are all the letters I write. Her gentleness has blessed us all, for, with God's help, it was her goodness, her teachings, and her example that made my Johnny the lovely character and faultless son that he was.

Yours lovingly, M. F. M.

His tender heart was wrung by the sufferings endured by his loved ones—at this time refugees (for the third time). He says in a letter to Dr. Tremlett, written from the Duke of Buckingham's palace at Stow:—

. . . . I had a letter to-day, of May 7th, from my daughter Nannie, and she says "Flour has gone to $100 per barrel—too high for us—but meal is cheaper, thank God!". . . "We had for dinner to-day soup made out of nothing, and afterwards a shin. 'Twas good, I tell you; we all dote on shins." And again, from my little Lucy, "Ham and mashed potatoes to-day for dinner; and, as it was my birthday (9th May), Mamma said I might eat as much as I wanted." Here, you see, there is no complaining, but only a gentle lifting of the curtain, which in their devotion and solicitude they have kept so closely drawn before me. With this pitiful picture in my mind's eye, I felt as if I must choke with the sumptuous viands set before me on the Duke's table. Alas, my little innocents!


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224

Maury' residence and occupation in England—Departure for the West Indies—Tidings of the fall of the Confederacy—He surrenders his sword—His son "Brave" returns home—Letter from Dr. Brodie Herndon on the condition of Virginia after the war—Maury resolves to go to Mexico—Reception by the Emperor Maximilian—Appointed Commissioner of Immigration—Explains his motives and course of action in a letter to Dr. Tremlett—The decree respecting immigration—Maury's explanatory memorandum—His scheme disapproved by friends—Letters from Commodore Jansen and General Lee—Maury's defence to his cousin Rutson Maury—Arrival of his son Richard at Mexico—Maury goes on leave to England—Mrs. Maury and her family at Liverpool—Letters from Mexico to his wife and children—An imperial dinner—Keeping house—Description of the journey from Mexico to the coast—Maury's reply to the Emperor's intimation that the immigration department was abolished—His introduction of the Cinchona cultivation into Mexico—Causes which led to the fall of the empire—Desertion of the French—Death of the Emperor—His tomb at Kenia—Melancholy note of the Empress—Her last letter to Maury.

residence in England was a period of great anxiety. It is true that his mind was much occupied with the perfecting of discoveries, and the conduct of experiments connected with torpedo warfare, in pursuance of the duties on which he was employed, and that the companionship of his youngest son gave him comfort, while the boy's education was a constant source of interest. But the news from the seat of war became less and less hopeful, while the separation from his wife and the rest of his family, at such a time, was hard to bear. At that time his wish was that his dear ones "should make their way into Canada, and tarry there till this vengeful strife


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Rh is over." His own health had not been good, and the doctors assured him that, by submitting to an operation, they could set him up. This he did in March 1865, with satisfactory results. Speaking of his young son, in a letter to his wife at this time, he said, "He is my constant companion and nurse in one. His manners are very soft and gentle, and he is as watchful and solicitous about my health as a mother." Soon the news came of the surrender of Lee, and the fall of the Southern cause. The condition of his beloved Virginia was indeed lamentable; but he did not receive full details of the ruin until after he had left England.

On the 2nd of May, 1865, Maury sailed from Southampton with his son "Brave," under orders from the Confederate Secretary of the Navy. He had sent out, in advance, a quantity of torpedo material for the defence of the Southern coasts and ports. This represented the results of his inventive genius, and of his studies during his residence in England; but when he arrived at St. Thomas, in the West Indies, he received the crushing tidings of the total collapse of the Confederacy, and of the assassination of Lincoln. He went on to Cuba, whence he sent his son back to Virginia. He considered it to be the wisest and most honourable course for himself, now that all armed resistance on the part of Virginia had ceased, that he also should surrender his sword, which had been drawn by her order and for her defence. His letter stating this intention was directed to "The United States Officer commanding the squadron of the Gulf," and was by him forwarded to the Government at Washington.

In peace, as in war, I follow the fortunes of my old native State, Virginia. I read in the public prints that she


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constable, Robert


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226 has practically confessed defeat, and laid down her arms. In that act mine were grounded also.

I am here without command, and bound on matters of private concern abroad. Nevertheless, and as I consider further resistance worse than useless, I deem it proper formally so to confess, and to pledge you, on my word of honour, that, should I find myself within the jurisdiction of the United States before the formal inauguration of peace, to consider myself a prisoner of war, bound by the terms and conditions which have been, or may be, granted to General Lee and his officers.

Be pleased to send your answer through my son. Colonel R. L. Maury, a prisoner of war on parole in Richmond, Virginia. In the meantime, and until I hear to the contrary, I shall act as though my surrender had been formally accepted on the above-named conditions.

In May 1865, his son Matthew ("Brave") reached Virginia, and found the Maury family assembled at the University. There were his sister Betty, with two little girls; Diana, with one little girl and a husband just returned from nine months' weary imprisonment at Fort Delaware; Sue (Colonel Richard Maury's wife), with a wounded husband and one little boy; his three little sisters, Molly, Eliza, and Lucy; his mother and her sister, Mary Herndon; his aunt Eliza, and her niece, Sally Fontaine Maury (Maury's ward), with her husband and three children.

On the 1st of May, 1865, his brother-in-law. Dr. Brodie Herndon, had written a letter to Maury from Richmond, which was not received until long afterwards. He said:—

In view of the state of the public mind in the North at present, I think it would be decidedly unsafe for you to return to this country. Your absence abroad in a semi-diplomatic


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Rh character, your prominence, and the earnest part taken by you in the cause, would make you a decided object of that "vengeance against leaders" so openly proclaimed and so plainly visible. In time, I hope, these vindictive feelings will subside, and then, and only then, would it be safe and prudent for you to return. A good many of the young men of the South will go abroad, and this is one of the gloomy features of our future. Dick was here last night (his wife and little boy have gone to Spottsylvania), and we had a little talk. He is implacable, and declares that he cannot live in this country. He and Betty are greatly opposed to your return. They have just written to their mother begging her to go to you. I believe sister Ann will be embarrassed in her mind to decide what to do. But I think she will try to possess her soul in patience, and wait to hear directly from you, and know your plans and wishes.

Dick's health and strength in his legs are much improved. He now walks pretty well without his crutches. You know he went with Lee, in spite of his lameness, to Appomattox Court House, and was parolled there. Since his return to Richmond, he and Sue have been the guests of Mr. B, in whose family they have received every kindness. Will is terribly cast down; he can see no good thing ahead. His mother is here, and I reckon he will accompany her to Washington. . . . and will probably live there again. . . . It is melancholy to see the men here sadly hanging round the ruins of their places of business. Many of them have gone to work in their gardens to raise at least vegetables to eat. I can see from my window a lady—and a real lady, too—dropping corn in the garden, while her husband covers it, and another chopping wood. A few have a pig or a cow to which they look for further subsistence. The city is full to overflowing with Yankees and negroes. For the last week the armies of Grant and Sherman have been passing through


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228 the streets—countless hosts of the best-looking and best-equipped men I ever saw. How we stood up so long against such terrible odds is a marvel indeed. General Lee is at his residence in Franklin Street, and is a great lion with the Yankees. They all want to see him. He advises obedience to the law, and that the young men shall not leave the country. It is with the greatest interest that we look from day to day to see the development of the laws of the Federal Government. We expect Governor Pierrepoint next week, and the issuing of writs of election for members of the Legislature. . . . We are all dead-poor; but food and raiment can be had, I believe, by those who are willing to work. . . . The people in and about Fredericksburg have lived and are living by their cows. We expect to return to the dear old place as soon as the road is passable. Lucy was very desirous that I should stay and try my fortune here; but I am so attached to the old place that I could not be happy out of it. I love the hills of Stafford and the little streams all round. . . . Your Dick has determined to try his fortune here. He is a fellow of most resolute purpose and determined will, and if he undertakes it, he will succeed beyond a doubt.

Sue is a capital wife, and she will work with him wherever and whenever he goes.

Corbin is the rich man of the family—and a very clever fellow is Corbin—clever in every acceptation of the word. I have a very great admiration for his character. We have never seen his baby, but hear much of its beauty and of Nannie's devotion. . . . We are all broken up; but we will not want. The old State, by-and-by, will recuperate, and her sons with her. The transition from slave to free labour will be attended with many inconveniences at first; but we will soon accommodate ourselves to our new condition. The future of the negro is a most interesting problem. I would like very much to hear your views upon these deeply interesting subjects; but I fear that it must yet be some time before I can have the pleasure of your discourse in person. I am decidedly of the opinion that you ought not to return until we see the course of events. Mr. Davis has just been captured. Mr. Hunter has been arrested. We must


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Rh keep out of harm's way until we can see more of the Northern purpose. The punishment of the leaders seems to be determined on. Those who have exercised diplomatic functions, officially or unofficially, will be sure to come in for a share of the vengeance. . ..

If I could only have you to walk up and down the room and hear you descant with perfect freedom on our prospects for the future, and the causes of our downfall, how much I would like it! The "truth is mighty, and will surely prevail" in the end; but we may say with Pilate, "What is Truth?" May God give His Holy Spirit to His people, to animate their hearts and minds and guide them aright! May He take away the spirit of resentment and hate, and give to the North and to the South the spirit of forgiveness, the spirit of wisdom and of sound mind! May He grant that we come forth from our sore trials a wiser and a better people—a nation fearing God and working righteousness! If the North deals kindly with the South, I do not think it impossible in time to heal the deep wounds that have pierced so many hearts. It took more than a generation to efface the animosities we bore England; but they were effaced.

The bloody civil war of Great Britain in Charles the First's time did not leave irremediable hate and bitterness, though Puritan and Cavalier had no love for each other.

We shall not live to see the changes in character wrought in the old dominion and the other slave States by the abolition of slavery; but our children will. We shall no doubt gain much; I am full of hope myself. . . . I believe the balance-sheet will be much in our favour.

Maury was left at Havana without a country or a home, and far from friends with whom he could consult. He had always felt great regard and esteem for the Archduke Maximilian, and when that excellent but unfortunate prince undertook to attempt the regeneration of Mexico, Maury had written to him, expressing his warmest wishes for the success of the undertaking. Maximilian was now at Mexico


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230 as Emperor. Maury resolved to offer his services; and he followed the letter in person, without waiting for a reply. He reached Mexico in June, 1865.

The illustrious American hydrographer was warmly welcomed by the Emperor and Empress. They at once offered him a position in the Ministry, which he declined. The appointment of Director of the Imperial Observatory was, however, accepted by him.

In this letter to his constant friend, the Rev. F. W. Tremlett, Maury explains his reasons for surrendering his sword, and his subsequent action in Mexico:—

I have been a "looker-on here in Venice" for just two months. I came in search of country and home; for the fortunes of war have lost me both. The "Ides of May" found me, as you remember, on a voyage from happy England, that rightfully rejoices in the best Government on the face of the earth. Bound for some port—I knew not what—of the unhappy Confederacy, disastrous news from Virginia met me by the way. All was lost. But not knowing how the brave men and noble women of that gallant State would take it, and believing further resistance to be useless, I thought it becoming so to confess.

The quickest way of making my opinion known to friends at home was, though not in presence of the enemy, to lay down my arms and so inform him. I did so. The note fell into the hands of acting Rear-Admiral Sylvanus W. Godon of the United States Navy. ..

Early in the war, before a battle had been fought, an unknown hand was found to have written, in the darkness of the night, upon the walls of Richmond, the words "Væ victis!" The time has come, and the doom is now resting upon that fair city, and spreading over a goodly land. Who that can find rightful and honourable means, would not invoke their aid for the rescue of kinsmen and friends so situated!

In contemplating this shipwreck of country, kinsmen, and


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Rh friends, I recognised among the débris of the wreck the very materials that are required to build, upon good and solid foundations, the Mexican Empire. Never, since the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, has such a class of people been found willing to expatriate themselves. From such a wreck Mexico may gather and transfer to her own borders the very intelligence, skill, and labour which made the South what she was in her palmy days—except her bondage.

It would be difficult to say which have suffered, or are suffering, most—the whites from the ravages of war, or the blacks from the so-called kindness of their friends. Hoping to find for them sympathy in the heart of a generous-minded Sovereign, and an asylum in his Empire, here am I, the advocate of Southern immigration, and a humane system of African emancipation in the United States, as the quickest, most certain and best means of affording relief to their sufferings, of giving quiet to this country, stability to the throne, and peace to America.

Though many of the negroes have been set free, and, owing to the abrupt manner of closing it, have run riot, and are afflicted with both pestilence and famine, there are many of them still true to their masters. Let us encourage the owners of these to emancipate also, and then say to the former: "Now bargain with such as are willing to accompany you to Mexico as apprentices, bound to serve as agricultural and other labourers, until they can learn the language of the country, and make themselves acquainted with its customs and its laws, while they are being instructed in the cultivation of the staples that are new to them, and then emigrate with them to these fertile lands. At the expiration of this term of service—say seven years—the apprentice will have earned a home as one of the rewards of his labour, and will be able to take care of himself.

For this, I am now charged by certain of the vindictive prints of the North with "plotting" to re-open the detestable African slave-trade. The negro was set free in Mexico more than a generation ago. The Emperor, the laws, and the people are all opposed to slavery; and any one who could be so wicked as to desire to re-open the African


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Chapman, Edmund


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232 , might as well attempt to "plot" with the British Government, as with this, for that purpose. Nothing seems too absurd for the sensational press of New York.

Mexico is a country of perpetual harvests. On the way from Vera Cruz to the capital, I saw corn in all its stages, from the time of its scattering by the hand of the sower, till it was gathered in the arms of the reaper. But agriculture is in a rude state. I saw them ploughing with a stick, and sawing with an axe, hoeing their corn with a shovel, and grinding it with a pebble. A few of our clever farmers, bringing with them their agricultural apprentices, would give new life and energy to the country. By sprinkling the Empire with settlers of this sort, they and their improved implements of husbandry and methods of culture would serve as so many new centres of agricultural life, energy, and improvement.

The present population of Mexico is said to be eight millions, more than seven of which belong to what with you is called the labouring classes. Yet with the richest of soils, the finest of climates, their perpetual harvests, and marvellous variety of productions, these seven millions of people contribute annually less than £7,000,000 to the commerce of the world.

The labouring classes of the South, though but little more than half as numerous as these, enabled that country to throw into the channels of commerce an amount of raw produce annually that was worth more than $300,000,000, or £60,000,000 sterling.

You may well imagine the effect, therefore, upon the prosperity of this country, and the stability of the Empire, which would follow the introduction of a few hundred thousands of these very labourers, guided, as they should be, by the skill and experience of their former masters. . ..

Maury had thus formed a grand scheme in his mind for the colonization of a New Virginia in Mexico. He submitted his plan to the Emperor, who at once adopted it, and appointed Maury Imperial Commissioner for Colonization.


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ON LEAVING NEWSTEAD ABBEY.

Why dost thou build the hall, Son of the winged days? Thou lookest from thy tower to-day: yet a few years, and the blast of the desart comes: it howls in thy empty court.—

1.

thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle:

Thou, the hall of my Fathers, art gone to decay;

In thy once smiling garden, the hemlock and thistle

Have choak'd up the rose, which late bloom'd in the way.


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Rh A Decree was drawn up, offering the following liberal terms to Southern sufferers from the American civil war who would emigrate to Mexico:—

"We, Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, in consideration of the sparseness of the population in the Mexican territory, in proportion to its extent, desiring to give to immigrants all possible security for property and liberty and having heard the opinion of our Board of Colonization, do decree as follows:—

"Article 1. Mexico is open to immigrants of all nations.

"Article 2. Immigration agents shall be appointed, whose duty it will be to protect the arrival of immigrants, install them on the lands assigned them, and assist them in every possible way in establishing themselves. These agents will receive the orders of the Imperial Commissioner of Immigration, specially appointed by us, and to whom all the communications relative to immigration shall be addressed.

"Article 3. Each immigrant shall receive a duly executed title, incommutable, of landed estate, and a certificate that it is free of mortgages.

"Article 4. Such property shall be free from taxes for the first year, and also from duties on transfers of property, but only on the first sale.

"Article 5. The immigrants may be naturalized as soon as they shall have established themselves as settlers.

"Article 6. Immigrants who may desire to bring labourers with them, or induce them to come in considerable numbers, of any race whatever, are authorized to do so; but those labourers will be subject to special protective regulations.

"Article 7. The effects of immigrants, their working and brood animals, seeds, agricultural implements, machines, and working tools, will enter free of custom-house and transit duties.


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constable, Thomas (1812-1881)


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234 "Article 8. Immigrants are exempted from military service for five years. But they will form a stationary militia for the purpose of protecting their property and neighbourhoods.

"Article 9. Liberty in the exercise of their respective forms of religious worship is secured to immigrants by the organic law of the Empire.

"Article 10. Each of our ministers is charged with carrying out such parts of this Decree as relate to his department.

"Given at Chapultepec on the 5th day of September, 1865.

""

Commander Maury, the Imperial Commissioner of Immigration, prepared the following memorandum to be published with the Decree:—

"The Government not only invites all well-disposed persons to come and assist in the occupation of its vacant lands, but His Majesty the Emperor, touched by the spectacle of good men struggling with adversity in other lands, tenders hospitality and homes especially to these.

"Moved by the generous impulses of his nature, he offers them material assistance to enable them to reach this beautiful land. To those of them who wish to change their skies, make Mexico their homes, and identify themselves with the country, a free passage by sea for their families and effects is offered.

"To those who have lost all their substance, is offered, not only a free passage by sea, but a travelling allowance of a real the league thence to their new homes will be made for each member of these families, counting as members also their apprentices or labourers.

"Agents for immigration will be stationed at convenient points abroad for the purpose of affording information to the immigrants there as to the country, its lands, the best way


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Rh of reaching them, and upon all other subjects appertaining thereto."

He also added the following general remarks to accompany the Decree:—

"In connection with the foregoing Decree, I beg leave to add, for the information of those who are disposed to avail themselves of the very liberal terms offered by it, a few remarks upon the physical geography, the agricultural resources and industrial pursuits of this beautiful country.

"The Empire of Mexico lies between the parallels of 15° and 32° north latitude, and its shores are bathed by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea on the one hand, and by the Pacific Ocean on the other. It is celebrated for its mines of gold; copper and lead also abound. Though its mineral wealth has dazzled the world, its mineral wealth is, as a source of riches, by no means equal to its soil.

"Its climates are genial, and its harvest perpetual; under good husbandry the yield is bountiful, being fifty, one hundred, and sometimes two hundred-fold. On the way up from Vera Cruz to Mexico I saw the cereals in all stages of cultivation.

"The seasons in Mexico are not marked by the vicissitudes of heat and cold, but by wet and dry. The coldest time of the year in this city is about the end of the dry season in April or May. In the Tierra Caliente the rainy season is the sickly season. Between the mountains and the sea there is on both coasts a flat country varying in width from ten to fifty miles or more.

"These lowlands reach back to the mountains, which form the edge of the table-land or great central plateau. The low country corresponds to that which in Virginia and the Carolinas lies between the blue ridge and the sea. It is the hot country of Mexico, the Tierra Caliente. Everything


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constable, Thomas Hugh Clifford


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236 which delights in rich soil, bright skies, warmth and moisture finds a genial habitat there.

"Ascending the mountains, which are timbered all the way up, you reach the table-land, an immense plain from 5000 to 8000 feet above the level of the sea, and hundreds of miles in breadth. In length it is commensurate with the Empire, and in the lap of its western declivities lies the Tierra Caliente of the Pacific coast. This table-land is the Tierra Templada, or the temperate region of the Empire. Its climates are delightful—a happy mean between heat and cold.

"The surface of this table-land is diversified with hills and dales, with an occasional snow-clad peak, so that in descending to the valleys, one may find, at a difference in level of only a few hundred yards and in the distance of a few miles, the productions and staples of all countries and latitudes, from those of Virginia down to those of the Gulf of Mexico, and thence through the West Indies to the equator or Brazil.

"Immigrants for Mexico, come at what season they may, will always be in time to plant something. But the best season for planting is generally in the spring, and the best time for coming is in the dry season, from October to May, when the new-comer may live in tents, put his seed in the ground, and have time to build and get his family comfortably housed before the rainy season sets in.

"The staples of agriculture are, in Mexico, as diverse as its climates: there is no lack of range and pasture for cattle, horses, and sheep; nay, gentlemen who are from the grazing lands of the Western States, and who have travelled through the Northern part of Mexico, assure me that they have never seen so fine a sheep-country."

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Rh that country, did not receive the concurrence of his friends either in Europe or in America.

Commodore Jansen, of the Netherlands Navy, the lifelong friend of the great hydrographer, wrote to him from Delft, on the 22nd of July, 1865, as follows:—

Your family, I hear, intend to join you either at Halifax or in England. From this I conclude that they do not expect any result from your Mexican scheme—neither do I; and I hope by this time you are in the steamer on your way back to England. The people of Virginia have shown themselves to be as brave as any people ever have been; but courage is coupled, in patriotism, with perseverance in suffering until better times come for Virginia. All who love her for what she has been and what she has done, ought to love her enough to suffer with her and for her sake. If the best people, who have made Virginia what she is, desert her at this critical moment, it would be like children leaving their mother in distress. There is no virtue without sacrifice, and, if the Virginians possess the virtue of patriotism, they ought to bring her now the sacrifice of pride. Don't emigrate! Stand by your country with stern courage; learn the patience to bear without shame and with all the dignity of self-command.

. . . . I don't think that you can return now to Virginia; but, in three or four years, great changes will take place in opinions, and you, nor your family, won't find a country which would be able to give you anything like her sympathy, or to take Virginia out of your hearts and souls. You ought to go back to your dear State as soon as you can do so safely; and if you had followed my advice you would never have left England, but would have asked Madame Maury to join you there.

After a long journey and great inconveniences, perhaps suffering in your health and mind, you'll come back without gaining anything but a sad experience.

Even if the Emperor Maximilian would listen to you and encourage you in your scheme, I should say don't do it, my friend. We have been able to raise money enough for the


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238 "testimonial" to buy you an estate in Virginia. "Brave" can be, under Nannie's husband's guidance, your farmer. He is young and intelligent, and has not suffered during the war like Dick, and consequently he has not so great a hatred in his blood. You and Madame Maury, with your little darlings and Dick, can stay here till the time comes that you can go back in safety, enjoying no public, but a farmer's life, in ease and comfort, giving the world the benefit of your genius. A man of sixty years of age does not commence a new life, and can do no good in a new sphere of action. God grant my prayer that you may soon be back in good health among your friends in Europe!

Your friend,

The heroic General Lee held the same views as Commodore Jansen. He wrote the following letter to Maury on the subject of the colonization of the empire of Mexico by planters of the South:—

. . . . We have certainly not found our form of government all that was anticipated by its original founders; but this may be partly our fault in expecting too much, and partly due to the absence of virtue in the people. As long as virtue was dominant in the Republic, so long was the happiness of the people secure. I cannot, however, despair of it yet; I look forward to better days, and trust that time and experience—the great teachers of men under the guidance of our ever-merciful God—may save us from destruction, and restore to us the bright hopes and prospects of the past. The thought of abandoning the country, and all that must be left in it, is abhorrent to my feelings, and I prefer to struggle for its restoration, and share its fate, rather than to give up all as lost. I have a great admiration for Mexico: the salubrity of its climates, the fertility of its soil, and the magnificence of its scenery, possess for me great charms; but I still look with delight upon the mountains of my native State. To remove our people to a portion of Mexico which would be favourable


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Rh to them would be a work of much difficulty. Did they possess the means, and could the system of apprenticeship you suggest be established, the United States Government would, I think, certainly interfere; and, under the circumstances, there would be difficulty in persuading the free men to emigrate. Those citizens who can leave the country, and others who may be compelled to do so, will reap the fruits of your considerate labours; but I shall be very sorry if your presence will be lost to Virginia. She has now sore need of all her sons, and can ill afford to lose you. I am very much obliged to you for all you have done for us, and hope your labours in the future may be as efficacious as in the past, and that your separation from us may not be permanent Wishing you every prosperity and happiness,

I am, most truly yours,

The decided opinions of so many good and thoughtful friends made it very difficult for Maury to trust the path which he was pursuing. He was still in the full belief that he was right, and he continued to be sanguine that his scheme of colonization would succeed, as long as he remained in Mexico. His most constant correspondent was his cousin Rutson Maury, of New York. Although they had taken different sides in the war, their friendship remained unimpaired. It was to this cousin that Maury most fully explained his side of the question. He said:—

There are a few friends, and you are one of them, that I should like to impress now (for time will tell, if I live long enough) with just conceptions of my present endeavour. The war is over, and there is an end. It has made great changes, and I prefer not to live under the rule of the victors. Without any motive of hostility to them, without any thought whether they would like or dislike the move—for it is none of their business—I have come here to provide a home for such of the conquered people as like to emigrate. Suppose they do not thank me well, there is still useful and


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240 occupation for me here. There are many things here with which I may identify myself and do good, such as organizing the census, a land-survey for the Empire, a system of internal improvements; and though last, not least, the introduction of chinchona cultivation.

In October 1865, Maury's son Richard, with his wife and little boy, arrived at Mexico to assist his father in the work of his department, and to take his place when he should be on leave of absence. Colonel Richard Maury had been severely wounded in the war, but he was able to be a great help to his father. "He surprises me," writes Maury, "by his business habits, tact, and capacity."

Having obtained leave of absence from the Emperor to visit his family, Maury left Mexico on the 24th of February, 1866, arriving in London in the end of March. When he departed, emigrants were crowding to his "Carlotta Colony," at Cordova, and "everything looked as fair and smiling as possible for my day-dream." Mrs. Maury, with her young family, had arrived at Liverpool in November 1865, and had sent young "Brave" to school, employing masters for her daughters.

The following letters to his wife and children are interesting. They describe the Imperial Court, Maury's domestic arrangements in Mexico, and the country between the capital and Vera Cruz.

On Sept. 12th, 1865, Maury wrote from Mexico to his wife as follows:—

I never tire of writing to you and my children; it is my comfort, my happiness, and consolation. I hope this will find you all safe and sound in England. Yesterday I received a large batch of back-letters—one from "Brave," reporting his arrival in Virginia; one from Eliza, blowing me up for coming here; two from Dick, one from Betty, and three from you, with any amount of press copies from others, which


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Rh good Rutson thought would give me pleasure and satisfaction.

Rutson is like my uncle Toby, and has a heart twice as big. He has been very kind to me and mine, and I praise and thank him daily in my heart in the silent hours of the night. This package gave me reading for two days; the day it came I dined at Chapultepec. The Emperor has a palace there; he dines at 3.30 There were present the Empress, and one of her ladies, four German naval officers, and a Mexican—all were of his household, I believe. It was mail-day for Europe; the Emperor had been busy at the palace writing (he told me) seventeen letters for the steamer. I got there a moment before he did, so he went into the sitting-room which joins the Empress's chamber. He opened her chamber-door and said "Carlotta, here's Mr. Maury." She came out immediately and commanded me to be seated, the Emperor and the other gentlemen standing. Presently her lady-in-waiting came in; I rose, but she touched me gently on the arm and said, "The Emperor wishes you always to be seated." The lady stood also. In a few minutes dinner was announced. The Emperor led off, and we all followed in single file. As I passed though the door, one of the "aids"—a baron—whispered in my ear, "On the Empress's left." The dinner—excepting the wines, the number of servants, and the liveries—reminded me very much of those Lucy Ellen used to give us in our summer visits to Fredericksburg.

After dinner (say three-quarters of an hour) we, the gentlemen, led by the Emperor, went into the smoking-room. Gilt cigars were handed round; the Emperor did not smoke. Here he drew an arm-chair up into the corner, and seated me again, he and the others standing until their cigars were nearly finished. Then he took a seat, and commanded the others to be seated. Despatches were handed him, some of which he handed to me to look into. Presently he dismissed the gentlemen, and said, "Mr. Maury, you have something to say to me?" "Yes, sire; I can't manage immigration through the Ministers. I must transact business with you directly, and not through them; nor must they have


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constable, William


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242 anything to do with it" "That's what I intend," said he. Said I, "I have not seen my wife and children for three years; I want to be quick, organize immigration, and take the steamer of 13th November for France." "Certainly," said he. Then he said, "I wish you to continue the conversation with the Empress; I have something pressing to do. She will make notes, give me verbal explanations, and have it all ready for me by four o'clock in the morning, when I will attend to it." Carlotta was walking in the garden. He referred me to some books on the table, and went to look for her. She came, and we commenced discussing matters, she making notes nearly as fast as I could talk. Among other subjects, I mentioned that of an office; that I had sent for Dick and family, who would be the first immigrants under the Decree, and that a house had been offered me which would answer the purpose of an office and a dwelling as well. "Certainly." Then we discussed with approbation my going to see you; the appointments of agents in the South and their salaries, and the organization of a land-office. She is very clever, practical, and business-like. I told her I thought she could do more business in a day than all of the Ministers put together could do in a week. She said, "I believe I could." She told me she had recently received a letter from the Empress of France about me, and enclosing a copy of a long letter I wrote in June to Admiral Chabanne about my new "Virginia," commending the plan as a grand idea, and asking Carlotta if she did not know me. . ..

16th.—I shall take the house, servants and all, which the Soulès have been living in, at say $150 per month. This will be for office, and for Dick and me. The Soulès are fourteen in number; they live extravagantly. I shall not; and the cost of living, including servants, is twenty-eight cents a day. I want to get Dick a place with a salary of $2500 if I can. This arrangement will enable me to contribute $3000 towards your expenses in England, leaving $2000 for helping the other children, supporting myself, and paying my way to "wife's house." How is it now, that all my friends, except Dick, will say I am crazy to come here?

"The Decree" has been injured in the translation. It is


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constantine I


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Rh not as good for the State or the immigrants as I drew it. Still, the papers proclaim it to be the most important act of the Empire. See then how much more desirable and honourable my position here, than it would have been in Russia or in France! Here I am in the category of a benefactor; there I should have been almost a pensioner of charity. If I can find here a home for my people, assist to build up a good and stable Government—of which there are reasonable grounds of hope—and surround myself by my family and friends, surely goodness and mercy will have guided me all my days, and my cup will be run over. Now, compare this prospect with the plan that Rutson, in his good heart and clear head, had chalked out for me. He urged my stay in England, and that I must wait till I would be allowed to return to the United States. In four years, perhaps, I could return with diminished health and energy. I can go back just as well from here as from England if I should find it desirable so to do. It is true, all my friends—save Dick and doubting little Nannie—have been of one mind against me. Events seem now to bid fair to vindicate the propriety of my course. Now will you not let me bring my Molly back with me? She can return to you with me when I make my next visit; and then my Eliza, if she will be diligent at school, will take her place; and then the next time you and my little Loo will come. . ..

I want to arrange it so that Dick can take my place here while I am gone. . ..

I am so afraid that noble spirit of firmness and of resolution, which has borne you, up so manfully since we parted, will give way under trial after trial to which I am subjecting it. But then you know how children must be educated, and there are no schools to speak of here.

Of course you will seek and take Tremlett's advice whenever you are at a loss for a counsellor. Suppose I can't get off in French steamer of 14th November, what shall I do? Come in December and return in March, or come in April and return in September? I want to take my Lucy to the pantomime! Love to all friends, and kisses to the children. God bless you my love!


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constantine II


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Chapman, George (1723-1806)


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244

My heart is as big as a mountain and as heavy as lead. Your letter is so sad at leaving friends behind and going to a strange land. This is Saturday night. Perhaps you sailed to-day, for the line of steamers in which I wanted you to go sailed Saturday. I received ten days ago your letters up to the 14th. You were then just making up your mind to come here, and my letter telling you to go to England would take you so by surprise. The last mail brought me many letters from you and the children. I shut myself up, threw myself on the bed, and wept and read and wept and read all day long. 'Twas night before I got through them.

Perhaps you'll feel better when you get to England. There you will not hear such constant discussions as to the wisdom of my course, and the propriety of your coming here; and that, I am sure, will be a great relief. Moreover, the sacrifice is for the benefit of our children. There they can go to good schools, and I can come and see you. If you stayed where you are, you could have neither; if you come here you must do without the schools. So you see you are in the path of duty, and the reflection that it is so will comfort and console you, I am sure. Yesterday I received my appointment as Director of the Observatory here; and to-day my naturalization papers, which qualify me to hold office.

My salary is $5000 to commence with June last. Last night I submitted—by request—estimates for my staff and office. . . . Dick and family, I suppose, will sail from New York on 8th, and be here about this time next month. I shall strive to interest Dabney's friend. General Wilcox, also, the Talcotts, in them, so that I may not leave them friendless in a strange land, when I come to see you; also Miss Scarlett, a nice lady, the daughter of the British Minister.

I came to our new house the day before yesterday, and am now housekeeping. It is a nice house. I have one-half of the upper story, the Talcotts the other—or are to have. The


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constantine III


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Rh houses here, you know, have no chimneys, and they have a large yard in the middle. My side of the parallelogram is nearly one hundred yards long. I have a very large parlour, dining-room, kitchen, and six other rooms, two of which I shall use as an office when I am put in charge of immigration. The house is ready-furnished. This arrangement will make it cost me about $50 per month, leaving about $3000, which will be a smart allowance for you and the children for the year. I am by no means sanguine about my "New Virginia"; not but that there are plenty of people in the South who are dying to come. I know more about that than you do, for there are now about one hundred first-rate men, some of them with their families, from various parts of the South, looking for homes. Some of them have been sent by their neighbours and friends to look at the country and report. The Government is not yet prepared to offer them lands on any terms. We are not ready. Some of them have gone home in disgust, and the golden, precious moments are passing by. I am not yet in harness; but if I can't carry colonization, this is no place for me. And this the Emperor also understands, for I have told him I could not stay if immigration fails. At any rate, I now almost despair of seeing it well in motion before this time next year. But this will give me a long time with you and those precious children. I am so proud of them. Their praises, coming from the heart, are more than music to my ears. 'Tis joy and comfort to my heart. Bless their sweet hearts! Tell them to study and be good and true. "Brave," I know boars himself like our son, and a man. He is a noble boy. Hug him six times, and kiss him twenty for me.

I have been entertaining visitors, and reading over again that sweet budget of letters—especially yours—all day. How I do wish I could take all care from you, and make you happy!. ..

But, my dear sweet wife and noble mother of our noble children, what can I do more than I have done—and I am doing—to show myself worthy of you and of them, and do homage to the great ambition that I have to deserve your and their praise and love?. . . You know what brought me


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246 here. I did hope—and still hope—to help to repair the ruin that was made of the most righteous cause and noble people that ever suffered the shipwreck of almost all that it is dear. I may yet succeed in that. . But. I may fail, and if I do it will not be because I spared myself or forgot your happiness. . ..

It becomes me. to try this to a conclusion; it becomes me to use whatever power for good I may have acquired in the world for the benefit of this people, who have suffered in the same cause with us, and who are so near and dear to us. Nay, my sweet companion and friend, it becomes me to be up and doing, especially while, our good friends—Tremlett, Jansen, and others—are so kindly exerting themselves on my account. How would it have done for me, instead of trying myself to do something, to have folded my arms—as Rutson and others suggested—until the Federal authorities would have permitted me to come back—to what? To poverty and misery; and that too while Tremlett was undergoing the fatigues and expense of that journey to Denmark, Sweden and Russia on my account!

No; rely upon it, my sweet friend and partner, that in coming here I have done the wisest and the best thing that under the circumstances, I could do.

2em

The plan for you I fancy most is to go where there is some good school for girls. Take nice lodgings where you can entertain your friends, or where the girls can receive theirs. Let your landlady supply your meals, and so relieve you of the housekeeping. You will be mighty lonesome, I fear; but you are in the path of duty, and you will find consolation in that, and in watching for my coming, which will not be long delayed, I can assure you. Last night I went to the Opera. This is the third time, and a very good Opera it is. I am often invited. . ..

I reckon you will sail next Saturday, the 30th. You were preparing to quit, October 1st, anyhow. You got my letters telling you to go to England on the 10th. Your preparations then would not be much, and the longer you tarried the longer the voyage.


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constantine Mac Fergus


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Rh This goes in the English Minister's bag, and will reach you on the 20th or 29th of October, I reckon, I saw the Empress yesterday, and arranged about my office and a land-office, at the head of which I asked her to place Magruder, with a salary of $3000, which she did.

He will probably have a large force of surveyors under him, all or most of them Confederates. . ..

Keep up your spirits, my dear wife.

Your affectionate

Dick is a great help and comfort to me. Bless his heart, he wins upon me every day: so crippled yet so patient, so devoted to his new duties, and so hard-working, he surprises and delights me with his business tact and capacity. He is so handsome too, and in his new clothes looks, as he is, every inch a gentleman. He was consulting me to-day about buying some Cordova lands. I have it in my mind to bring Corbin here and induce him to settle upon them; and though I believe he and Nannie would come, if I had urged them, yet, in the face of so much opposition, I had not the heart to do it.

In the olden times, Cordova was the garden spot of New Spain. There stands on one side, and but a little way off, the Peak of Orizaba, with its cap of everlasting snow, and on the other the sea in full view. These lands were heavily in debt to the Church, and as the Church property has been confiscated (not by the Emperor, though) Max. took possession of these lands for colonization. The railway hence to Vera Cruz passes right through them; and I am now selling these lands to immigrants, as fast as they can be surveyed, at $1 the acre on 5 years' credit. There are about 40 of our people already there. Perkins has bought himself a house and has sent for his family; so has Shelby, and so have a number of


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Constantine, George


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Rh others. Mr. Holdham, an Episcopal clergyman, with his family—nice people—has been engaged by the settlement as pastor and teacher. I am going to reserve land for a church, cemetery, and school-house. Thus, you see, my sweet wife, colonization is a fact, not a chimera. By the time these lands are paid for they will be worth, even if no more settlers come to the Empire, $20, $30, or even $100 the acre, for they produce everything under the sun, and yield perpetual harvests.

What do you think of coffee growing wild, of fig-trees 100 feet high and three feet in circumference, and the most luscious pine-apples at a cent apiece?

Now, if I can get Corbin here on one of these old Haciendas, he would, with his skilful husbandry, make it bud and blossom again. There is a great rush for this settlement, and it is here that Dick wanted to go; but as he was my son, I advised him against it, because there are not lands enough there for all who want them. However, I am going to extend the settlement, and then Corbin and Nannie can come in, as well as Dick and the rest.

Lafayette Caldwell, who used to be draughtsman at the Observatory, has sent for his family, Newmarket for his, and there are a number of nice families already there, some of them established in the city; but those are all going to break up and go down to the new, dear old Spottsylvania.

Now, if I can only get lands surveyed in time—for there are plenty of them—here is your "New Virginia." There are other settlements forming in other parts of the Empire. Colonization is a success, if we can only get instruments and surveyors to bring the land into market. The people of the South are restrained by political considerations from speaking of their intentions; but we have letters. Thousands are dying to come; and I hope to have a decree this week which will put them in motion.

28th.—My hands are getting so full, and my time so liable to interruptions, that I cannot write as often or as fully as I used to do; but my heart is always full of letters to you—piled up, pressed down, and running over with loves, and the most tender solicitude. . ..


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Conway, Anne


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Rh He wrote to his children, on the eve of his departure from Mexico:—

The English steamer in which I have paid my passage (49 pounds and 10 shillings), is now overdue ten days, and her day for sailing again is the day after to-morrow. I left Mexico on Saturday the 24th at 3 ; arrived at Puebla at 7, where I pernocted in a room with divers others for $2; was called at 1 and off again at 2, over a very rough road—a very fatiguing journey. Passed between long hedges of the lordly Maguey, shooting up its magnificent stems or stalks, as large and as high and as straight as a common telegraph-pole. Indeed, unless you are near enough to see the wires, I found it often difficult to tell the one from the other. This pet of Flora's, with its enormous height and proportions, is pushed up in the course of 6 or 7 days.

To compare small things with great, imagine an enormous asparagus-stalk—say one day old, and before it had swelled out sufficiently to begin to burst and shoot out branches—and imagine it to be 18 or 20 inches in circumference, and 30 or 40 feet high, and you have the Maguey, as I generally see it, rising from its magnificent tuft of foliage 30 feet round and 12 feet high. Occasionally the more forward ones had commenced to shoot out from the top, and horizontally, their splendid flower bracts. The coach ascended the slopes of the Cumbres, the highest range between Mexico and the Gulf; we left the "Court of Bacchus," and entered the cloud region. It was blowing a furious gale; the wind was howling among the rocks and cliffs, and driving a cold and penetrating mist through a white darkness so thick that you could see nothing beyond the distance of a few feet. It was piercing cold. I had on three flannel shirts; but as we began to climb, I began to draw around and button up, and finally found myself wrapped in cloak and blanket and uncomfortably cold. Presently we dropped down through the thick cloud right into the bright sunshine, and the loveliest view that it was possible for the heart of man to conceive. There was


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Conway, Francis Seymour


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250 the lovely little valley of Aconcinga at our feet, and spreading out miles away into the plains of Orizaba, which are 4000 feet above the sea. This valley was quilted over with smiling crops in all the stages of growth, from the sprouting corn to the ripe grain. The reapers were in golden fields of the yellowest and the brightest barley I ever saw. The wheat was just coming up, and immense herds of cattle, as they fed on the rich pastures, lent a charm to the landscape that made it altogether lovely. Passing a cascade of milk-white foam as it leaped from the mountain, we entered the valley, and felt what old Job had said about the "scent of water." We were in the midst of fruits and flowers—orange-trees loaded with ripe fruit and the peach-tree in all its glory of blossom, hedges, and copses of roses. Oh, a wilderness of the loveliest flowers and the gayest colours, and such only as, I used to think, had never grown anywhere except in the garden of "Beauty and the Beast!" And it, too, has its beast—for 2 months ago it had been here in the shape of an earthquake, and had shaken down the adobe huts of the village, which the owners were reconstructing of bamboo-reeds, palm-leaves, and hides. After passing through these beauties for 12 or 15 miles, at 6.30 we drove into Orizaba in the midst of a rain-storm. Coffee, tobacco, the cereals, and the banana, with other fruits, seem to be the chief articles of cultivation. Here I pernocted again, in another menagerie, when, as before, there was little chance for sleep. I was called at 6, off at 6, and at 10 breakfasted at Cordova, and at 2 arrived at Paso del Macho; there I pernocted again, as unsatisfactorily as before; and the next day, at 6, started in the cars for this place. Total expenses, $45.50. The $5.60 being spent for extras, such as a cup of chocolate or so, between the early hour of starting and the late one of breakfast.

Two ship-loads of immigrants have just arrived. Sheridan had refused to let them embark at New Orleans, as he was "determined to break up that Maury nest of Confederates which was agitating the public mind of the South, and


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Chapman, Henry Samuel