Ocampo proved his heroism in the trying hour of death. He slept calmly the night before his execution. The next morning, June 3, 1861, he was notified that his hour had come. Standing beneath the shade of a grand old tree, he leaned against its trunk; then asking for pen, ink, and paper, he wrote in a firm hand an addition to his last will and testament in behalf of his family, remembering also some orphan children, and adding a clause bequeathing his library to the Colegio de San Nicolas. Then placing his hands upon the tree, he raised his head as if in prayer, when the discharge of firearms added another to the long list of martyrs to the cause of liberty in Mexico.
In appreciation of his character and services, his native State has added his name, and is now known as Michoacan de Ocampo. His remains were taken to the capital, and, after lying in state in the national palace, were laid to rest in San Fernando, in the glorious companionship of his co-laborer in reform, Juarez.
Mexico has her hundreds of noble and heroic sons, many of whom have reached their three-score and ten years. They have served her in victory and defeat, and through her darkest hours have never swerved in their patriotic allegiance. Some of them now occupy exalted positions in diplomatic relations with foreign countries.
Among those who have grown gray in her service are Señor Navarro, for a quarter of a century Mexican consul at New York. He was a strong adherent of Juarez, and is a native of Morelia. Another is Señor J. Escobar, the venerable consul at El Paso, Texas, who has faced danger in all its forms, braved defeat time and again, but never lost his love of country. On one occasion at Chihuahua, during the French intervention, he was imprisoned and made to sweep the streets with the common prisoners of the town, for attempting, with others, to celebrate the 16th of September in honor of Hidalgo. The ladies and children turned out en masse and strewed flowers along his way as he performed his humiliating task. He has filled various responsible public offices, having been Secretary of Legation at Washington 1861-2-3, and was also sent to England during the war between the States as a confidential agent of his government.
