Villa, Pancho. (1877-1923) Mexican Revolutionary and General.
Letter Signed. One page, Quarto, in Spanish, written in purple ink, on imprinted personal letterhead, "Correspondencia Particular Del General Francisco Villa," Hacienda La Mimbrera, Durango, August 19, 1919. To Lawyer Don Ismael Palafox, of San Antonio, Texas. Extraordinary letter to a member of the Mexican intelligencia and proponent of the Mexican Republic in which Pancho Villa articulates his patriotic devotion to his people and the country of Mexico. Villa writes with self-conscious naivete, powerful and honest, humbled by his learned friend's eloquence. He expresses an awareness of his own inability to express his patriotism in words, but goes on to avow his willingness to prove himself with deeds:
"Dear Sir Lic. [Licensuria] :
In your pleasing letters that, in different periods, I have had the pleasure to receive, I have seen ideas that come from a patriotic heart. Deep in my soul, I regret that I have never met you, and much more than not knowing you, I do regret that I have never had the opportunity to talk to you in other periods of time, but the power of a sincere heart like yours tells me to treat you with respect and affection. Why do I refer myself to you as sincere, if I do not even know you, Sir? Because of your concepts in order to save our Republic, they have filled me with joy, and you can be sure that the advises you once gave me will never be erased from my memory, so that we Mexicans may have, from all civilized countries, the affection and respect that we duly deserve.
I am not an educated man, so as to have the facility to explain myself with the exact words and with that exquisite way in which my words should be poured upon you as you deserve, but the concepts I have used are those that have been dictated from the bottom of my conscience and, as Mr. Lic. [Lawyer] Diaz Lombardo put it, I only hope not to embarrass you, who are my intellectual friends, and that maybe tomorrow you will be the future of my Country; I say that I hope not to embarrass you before all the cultivated Nations, because, if at all necessary, I will sacrifice all the energies with which Nature invested me, as a patriotic heart has to think, primarily, in his own Country and, on the other hand, with what else are we to prove our own Race, Sir, the sincerity of our words? With deeds, and be aware of such deeds, because I will fulfill my duty.
Take me into account, as ever, within the number of your friends, that is all I can offer you [in return] now.
FRANCISCO VILLA." .
Fine. A letter of extraordinary content, showing only moderate wear. Villa's signature is unusually large, and ornamented with a elaborate paraph.
Estimated Value $6,000-7,000.
