Class _El2?^„ THE LIFE OP SAM HOUSTON SAM HOUSTON THE LIFE OF SAM HOUSTON, ( ^'^z Dnl2 S[irtl)cnlix iHmotr of ]}im thti puilijet^Ir.) »«WnOEVER LOVES AND SUPPORTS THAT CONSTITUTION STRICTLY, IS MT FELLOW." Gen. Houston's Speech on the Compromise Mecsiires. ILLUSTRATED. NEW YOKK: J. 0. DERBY, 119 NASSAU STREET BOSTON : PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO. CINCINNATI : H. W. DEEBY. 1855. Entered, fjcording to Act of Congress, by J. C. DERBY, in the Clerk's Office of the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. W. II. TINSON, BTBBBOTTPBH, •24 Beokmau Street. PUDNEY & RUSSKLl, PaiNTEKS, 79 John Street. a CONTENTS. Pag« SECTION FIRST. A REPUBLIC IN THE FORESTS. Trial Days to Nations— Rubicon Hours— Texas in the Union, 18 SECTION SECOND. ANCESTRY AND YOUTH. Houston's Ancestry and Youth— Houston's Mother— Hard Work for the Boy- Emigration to the West — Houston's Education — He Becomes an Indian — Running Wild Among the Indians — Houston Studies the Indians — Indian Warriors in Washington— Houston a School-Teacher— He Joins the U. S. Army— To-ho-pe-ka, 17 SECTION THIRD. THE SOLDIER. Houston under Gen. Jackson— The Creek Campaign— One Thousand Creek War- riors—The Indian Prophets— The Ruin of the Creek Nation— The Wounded Soldier — Houston on a Litter — The Soldier at Home — Afloat on the Mississippi — A Winter of Suffering— Houston's Vindication, 29 SECTION FOURTH. THE CIVILIAN. Houston studies Law— Original Characters— Houston Admitted to the Bar— Elected to Congress— Separates from his Young Wife— Resignation of the Office of Governor— The Wigwam-Home, 43 SECTION FIFTH. THE EXILE. The Exile— Houston's adopted Father— The Old Chief's Greeting— The Children of the Forests— Houston befriends the Red Man— His Opinion of the Indians— Fire- 'Water among the Red Men — Houston's Enemies — Jackson, the Friend of Hous- ton—Attempts to kill Him— On Trial— Thirty Days of Public Trial— His Acquittal —He Returns to the Forests— The Hearth-Stona of a Savage King, ... 49 TIU C X T E N T S . Page SECTION SIXTH. TEXAS— THE NEW FIELD. Forest Civic Life in Texas— First Convention in Texas— First Collision with Santa Anna— The Constitution of Texas— Houston's Policy for Texas— Austin Imprisoned —Public Meetings in Texas— Santa Anna's Tyranny— Texas Prepares for the Struggle— The Patriot Austin — Provisional Declaration of Independence — Hous- ton's Indian Costume — Commander-in-Ciiief — A Proclamation — Capitulation of the Alamo— The Spirit of Faction- Mustering an Army— Houston's Plans for the Campaign— Opposition to Overcome— A Dark Future for Texas— Persecution — The 2d of March, 1836, 64 SECTION SEVENTH. THE GUNBRAL. The Declaration of Independence— The Brave Men in the Alamo— A Letter from Col. Travis— Houston in the Convention — The Fall of the Alamo — Houston's Policy —The Last Gun from the Alamo— The Massacre of the Alamo— Mrs. Dickinson's Story— Panic in Texas— The March— A Lustre to the Setting Sun— Houston's Humanity— Down the Colorado— Houston's Army— The Slaughter of Goliad— Preparing to Meet the Enemy— The Camp on the Brazos— Marching to San Jacinto —The Only Hope of Texas— Santa Anna Advancing— The Cowardice of the Government— The Two Field-Pieces— Not a Tent in the Army— The Time to Fight —Not a Moment to be Lost— An Hour of Peril—" Remember the Alamo "—The March of Houston's Army— Their Arrival at San Jacinto— Santa Anna's Bugles— The Two Armies Meet— The Evening Before the Battle— Truth and its Power— The Camp of the Mexicans, 8T SECTION EIGHTH. • THEHEROOPSANJACINTO. The Night Before the Battle— The Morning of San Jacinto — A Council of War- Houston Brings on the Battle— The Slaughter — The Charge— The Death Struggle —The Fate of the Five Hundred— Deaf Smith— The Day of Vengeance — The Flight of Santa Anna— The Return from the Field— The Spoils of Victory— The Sublimity of the Victory— The Dominion of the Anglo-Saxons— Why Americans Went to Texas— Spain Fades from her Ancient Dominion— The Despotism of Mexico— A Justification of Texas— Time's Noblest Offspring, 122 SECTION NINTH. THE VICTOR AND THE CAPTIVE. The Morning After the Victory— Santa Anna Houston's Prisoner— Houston Receives Him — The Mortified Mexican Dictator— Santa Anna Meets Houston- Cross Exa- mination of Santa Anna— The San Jacinto Corn- Americans can Never be Con- quered—Santa Anna to be Shot— Houston's Magnanimity to Him— Santa Anna and Houston- Houston's Treatment of bis Prisoners— Orders to Santa Anna — CONTENTS. iX The Fugitive Government— Rusk, the Patriot Soldier— Conditions of Santa Anna's Release— Scenes After San Jacinto — Houston's Noble Conduct— The General Parting with the Army— Address to the Soldiers— Houston's Reception at New Orleans — His Return to His Home— Santa Anna to be Executed— Houston's Pro- test — Bad Faith with Santa Anna — Injustice to a Prisoner — Santa Anna'a Remonstrance— A Bitter Sarcasm— The New Commander-in-Chief, . . , 143 SECTION TENTH. THE PRESIDENT. Election of the First President by Acclamation — The First Texan Congress — Hous- ton's Inaugural Address — The Infant Republic — Houston Returns His Sword — First Step of the President — Meeting of Houston and Santa Anna — Jackson's Opinion of Houston— Parting of Santa Anna and Houston — Attempts at Annexa- tion — "Walker's Advocacy of Texas — Jackson's Last Official Act — Texas Advances — Houston's Treatment of the Indians — Disbanding the Army — An Army of Adven- turers Disperse— Houston's Steadying Hand — Prosperity of Texas— Law-Abiding Men— Houston's First Term Ends— Valedictory Address— Houston's Blessing on His Republic, 178 SECTION ELEVENTH. THE LEGISLATOR. The New President— Ruinous Policy of Lamar— The Santa Fe Expedition— Lamar Administration — Extermination of the Indians — Lamar's Statesmanship — Houston Saves the Young Republic — A Crisis Nobly Met, 196 SECTION TWELFTH. AGAIN PRESIDENT. Houston's Second Term— Difficulties to Overcome — ^Dark Prospects for Texas— Texas again Invaded — Texas prepares for another Struggle — Threats against Houston — A Veto against Dictatorial Power— A Letter to Santa Anna— Santa Anna's Political Character — Anglo-Saxons, and Mexicans— History of the Mexican Dictator — Defence of Texas— The Truth told to a Mexican— History of Santa Anna's Con- duct — The Victor to his Captive— Contrast between Mexican and American Humanity— The Truth about Texas— Slavery in Mexico— Texas will Conquer Peace— Houston's Second Term— Appeal to all Friendly Powers— Civilized Nations Invoked— The History of the Struggle with Mexico written by Houston— The Fair Defiance of Texas to Mexico— Appeal to Humanity against Butchery, . . . 204 SECTION THIRTEENTH, ANNEXATIO N— F RENCH, BRITISH, AND AMERICAN CABINETS. Eflfect of Houston's Appeal in London, Paris, and Washington— Anxiety and Intrigues of European Powers about Texas— Texas spurned from our Embraces X CONTENTS. Fttga — Annexation Postponed — Subtle and Successful Policy of Houston — Prospect of losing Texas — Texas relies upon Herself — Should Texas be Annexed ? — Policy of Annexation — Texas lost to America — Attempts at Annexation — Solicitude for Texas — Texas Independent — Houston's Diplomacy — The Future for Texas — Poli- tical Prophecies— Motives for Annexation— Political Calculation — A Look into the Future — Far-Sighted Statesmanship, 181 SECTION FOURTEENTH. RETIREMEN T — H OUSTON'S CHARACTER. Why he favored Annexation— Retirement to Private Life— Last Letter of Instruc- tions—Negotiations—True Policy of the United States— Texas in the Union — A Hearty Greeting to Her— Houston's Presidency— Texas represented at Washing- ton—Houston's Private Character— The Reformer and the Reformed— The Wounds of the Patriot, 251 SECTION FIFTEENTH. HOUSTON IN THE NATIONAL SENATE. His Nationality— Sectionalism in 1850- How Low the Country had Fallen— Hew Pierce was Elected— His Treachery to Party, Friends, and Country— His Unpo- pular Administration— America Denationalized— Pierce violates the Compromise Measures— Houston on the Nebraska Bill— Unnecessary Agitation— Fanaticism Rebuked— The Facts of the Missouri Compromise— Effects of its Repeal upon the South— Integrity of the Compromise— The Measure Uncalled For— Views of Presi- dent Polk— Effects of Repeal upon the Vt'hole Country— Houston swerves not from Duty— Opinion of General Cass— Jacob and Esau— Constitutionality of the Com- promise-Henry Clay— Agitation of 1850— Position of the Northern Democracy- Vindication of the Indians— Their Social Condition— Shameful Robbery of the Red Men— Duty of Congress towards them— The Pacificators of 1S50— Remonstrances against the Nebraska Bill— Houston on the Clergymen's Petition— Ministers of the Gospel not to be Disfranchised— Propriety of the Memorial— Relation of Minis- ters to Politics— The South and the Compromise— Reply to Mr. Douglass— The Memorial Misapprehended— The Principles of Self-Government— Effects of Hous- ton's Speech — Senator Benton Eulogizes Houston, SECTION SIXTEENTH. HOUSTON'S STATESMANSHIP. Elements of Statesmanship- Firmness of Political Purpose— Public Detraction- Heroism of Mind— Jackson's Feelings towards Houston— Jackson's Opinion of Houston— Houston's American Character— The Magic Power of Statesmanship- Texas in her Prostration— Houston a Primitive Man— God in History— The Sacred Form of Justice g^^g CONTENTS. XI SECTION SEVENTEENTH. **^ HOUSTON AND THE INDIANS. Wrongs to the Indians— Growing Sympathy for the Red Man — The Reformer of the Indians — Houston's View of the Indians — Shall the Indians be Exterminated? — No Societies for the Indians — Houston's Boyhood— Justice to the Red Men, . . 817 SECTION EIGHTEENTH. HOUSTON AND FOREIGN EMIGRATION. Houston Questioned in the Senate — His Opinion of Foreigners — The Texas Senator is Cross-Questioned— Jealousy of Him, 825 SECTION NINETEENTH. THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. First Attempts for Annexation— War with Mexico— Debates on the Annexation — Mexican Tribute tp Anglo-Americans — A Picture of Texas — Its Resources — Texas the Road to the Pacific — Girded by Two Oceans — Causes for Congratulation — Universal Blessings— Benton's Opinion of Texas and its Public Men— How She won her Liberty— The Truth of that Hard Struggle— What the World thought of it and its Heroic Leader — What History must say of it, 830 SECTION TWENTIETH. THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF TEXAS. A Survey of the Condition of Texas— Her Resources in 1S50— The Probable Destiny of that State, . . , . S4T SECTION TWENTY-FIRST. HOUSTON'S EDUCATION AND ELOQUENCE. His Intellectual Life — Characteristics of his Speeches — Speaking right on — An Efifective Orator — Non-intervention in Foreign Affairs — Opinion of Kossuth — Meeting of Kossuth and Houston — Disunion Rebuked — The Great Compromise Measures of 1850 — Satire on Demagogism — Final Appeal in Favor of the Indians — Our Injustice to the Red Men — How we have treated the Indians — They can be Civilized— They Shall, 861 SECTION TWENTY-SECOND. HOUSTON AT HOME . Houston at Home— His Union with the Christian Church— His Family— His Wife and Children— His History, and the Moral of his Example— His Futuft and Ours. 88T LIEE OF SAM HOUSTON SECTIOlSr FIRST. A REPUBLIC IN THE FORESTS. I. There are moments in our lives on which fortune suspends our future history ; and when we meet the crisis like men, she takes care of the future for us. Once past the hour of trial, there are no more hardships to undergo, no more dangers to encounter. The gates, which guard the way to glory, are swung wide open to the advancing hero, and he treads the path of light and triumph, as the Roman conqueror marched up to the temple of Jupiter, through the streets of the Eternal City. ii. So, too, there are days in the lives of Nations, when fortune suspends the enduring glory of a people upon a single hour — when they are called to decide what their future history shall be — whether their banners shall float over new empires, extend- 14 T R I A L D A y S TO NATIONS. ing their liberty, laws, and civilization over oppressed and benighted millions, crushing old structures of despotism, breaking the arm of the tyrant, and melting away the rotten fabrics of hoary superstitions, to emancipate whole peoples — or, whether the wheels of their national greatness shall stand still, and the solemn jDrolamation go forth, that they have reached the fur- thest limits of their civilization — that the race of their daring young men is suddenly arrested — that there shall be no new field for untrodden adventure and lofty achievement — that the world, and even despotism itself, may roll its wheels of conquest up to their frontier borders, and enlarge the empire of tyranny and superstition at its will, for thty have done thdr work. They have extended the bright circle of their freedom and power, till they can extend it no longer. Xo bold woodsman may pass their limits, and plunge off into the wilds, to cut out for himself and his children a home in God^s own forests, for his government will never protect the squatter adventurer, albeit the James River settler, and uncompromising Puritan, were nothing more. III. And if so be that one after another of these forest heroes has led the way through the green woods beyond the Sabine, and they can, at least, show the traveller the smoke of ten thousand new cottages, wreathing up into the clear blue sky of New Estra- madura ; and if so be this new race of Puritans, Cavaliers, Huguenots and outlaws, all fraternally mingled, have built up the beautiful fabric of a new, free commonwealth, for all the world to come for a home ; and done it withal, while they were protecting their wives and little children from savages, made remorseless by Puritan /re-wa^er, and from the enervated, per- fidious Mexicans — why, even after these hunter-legislators, these squatter-founders of States, have done all the hard work, this RUBICON-HOURS. 15 old Republic, whose wheels can roll no further, will not even accept what no other nation ever had to offer — the free gift of a mighty domain, declared independent, as New York and Vir- ginia were eighty years ago, although the offering be made without money and without price lY. Yes, these trial days come to nations, as they come to men. One of those Rubicon-hours came on the cold bleak Rock of Plymouth, where a little band of liberty-loving men landed, under the cover of a keen northern blast, to begin the great business for which Anglo-Saxons crossed the Atlantic, of found- ing free commmonwealths. Virginia, too, had her hour, and her cavaliers went through Indian-haunted woods, as Marshal Ney's cavalry charged through the Black Forest. At last, after much debate, and more stupid misconception, the New Republic came, and laid on our Federal Altars her young shield. It was riddled with rifle bullets, and battered' by the tranchant strokes of the tomahawk. You need not have looked very close to have seen, too, the ghostly image of Mexican treachery, filling up the interstices. What an offering was this ! A young hero-people, a new Rome, coming out of the forests, walking in light, and clothed in strength, — advancing in manUness up to our altars. When the future historian shall tell his readers that the Young Republic was driven away from our capitol, and her shield hurled back in her face— they will not beUeve it. That the Representatives of America debated, hesitated, laughed Texas to scorn — will, to the next generation, seem a malignant 16 TEXAS IN THE L' N 1 U N . invention of the historian. Bat it was so — and the last resource of Republicanism was resorted to. The Texan banner was flung to the breeze, and the people of this country were asked to settle the question. And over the hills of New England, the rallying cry rang, where the young American Eagle first unfurled his wings — and far up the valley of the Mississippi, and down to the Florida coast — and back came the glorious shout of a grateful welcome, and Texas came into the Union. YI. It was a proud day when her senators took their seats. Greatest of the Texans, came that wondrous man, who stood by the side of the Young Republic, leaning on his rifle, and rocked her infancy in those far-off wilds. Yes, there he stood, on the threshold of the Senate Chamber, bringing in his arms — not like the triumphant generals of Rome — the fine gold or precious stones of distant barbaric princes, lashed to his victorious car — but a new and a vast empire. There stood the tall, erect form of the care-worn chieftain — his locks turned prematurely grey by the hardships of a revolutionary frontier life. His wounds were upon him ; he had bled freely in the service of two Repub- lics. Let us inquire something of his history. t It is a matter of some interest to inquire, what were the means ' of education offered to this Yirginia boy. We have learned from all quarters, that he never could be got into a schoolhouse, till he was eight years old, nor can we learn that he ever accomplished much, in a literary way, after he did enter. Yirginia, which has never become very famous for her district schools, had still less to boast of forty years ago. The State made little or no provision, by law, for the education of its citizens, and each neighborhood was obliged to take care of its rising population. Long before this period, Washington College, had been removed to Lexington, and a " Field school " was kept in the ruined old edifice, once occupied by that insti- tution. This school seems, from all accounts (and we have taken some pains to inform ourselves about this matter), to have been of doubtful utility. Houston is said to have learned to read and write, and to have gained some imperfect ideas of ciphering. Late in the fall and the winter, were the only seasons he was allowed to improve even the dubious advantages of such a school. The rest of the year he was kept to hard work. If he worked very well, he was sometimes permitted to run home from the fields, to be in time to retain his place in spelling. But it is doubtful if he ever went to such a school more than six months in all, till the death of his father, which took place when he was thirteen years old. This event changed at once the fortunes of the family. They had been maintained in comfortable circum- stances, chiefly through the exertions of the father, and now they were to seek for other reliances. VL Mrs. Houston was left with the heavy burden of a numerous 20 EMIGRATION TO THE WEST. family. She had six sons and three daughters. But she was not a woman to succumb to misfortune, and she immediately sold out her homestead, and prepared to cross the Alleghany Mountains, and find a new home on the fertile banks of the Tennessee River. Those of our readers who live in a crowded population, surrounded by all that embellishes civil- ized life, may be struck with the heroism of a Virginia woman who, fifty years ago, took up her journey through those unpeopled regions ; and yet few of them can have any adequate conception of the hardships such a heroine had to encounter. "We hope the day may come when our young authors will stop writing and dreaming about European castles, with their crazy knights and lady-loves, and hunt- ing through the mummy-haunted halls of the pyramids, and set themselves to work to glean the unwritten legends of heroism and adventure, which the old men would tell them, who are now smoking their pipes around the roof-trees of Kentucky and Tennessee — a race which is too rapidly fading away : to return no more. VII. There is room for the imagination to play around the toilsome path of this widow and her children, as she pushed her adven- turous way to her forest home. Some facts, too, of wild interest, are in our possession — but we shall hurry on with our story, for, if we mistake not, our readers will find romance enough in this history, to satisfy the wildest fancy. Fired still with the same heroic spirit which first led them to try the woods, our daring little party stopped not till they reached the limits of the emigration of those days. They halted eight miles from the Tennessee River, which was then the boundary between white men and the Cherokee Indians. Houston's editcation. 21 YIII. Young Houston was now set to work with the rest of the family, in breaking up the virgin soil, and providing the means of subsistence. There seems to have been very little fancy in his occupations, for some time; he became better acquainted than ever with what is called hard work, — a term which has a similar signification in all languages and countries. There was an Academy established in that part of East Ten- nessee, about this time, and he went to it for a while, just after Hon. Mr. Jarnagin, who long represented his State in the United States Senate, had left it. He had got possession, in some way, of two or three books, which had a great power over his imagination. No boy ever reads well, till he feels a thirst for intelligence: and no surer indication is needed that this period has come, than to see the mind directed towards those gigantic heroes who rise like spectres from the ruins of Greece and Rome, towering high and clear above the darkness and gloom of the Middle Ages. He had, among other works. Pope's Iliad, which he read so constantly, we have been assured on the most reliable authority, he could repeat it almost entire from beginning to end. His imagination was now fully awakened, and his emulation began to be stirred. Reading translations from Latin and Greek, soon kindled his desire to study those primal languages, and so decided did this propensity become, that on being refused, when he asked the master's permission, he turned on his heel, and declared solemnly that he would never recite another lesson of any other kind while he lived — and from what we have been able to learn of his history, we think it very probable that he kept his word! But he had gathered more from the classic world through Pope's Iliad, than many a ghostly book-worm, who has read Euripides or JEschylus among the solemn ruins of the Portico itself. He had caught 22 HOUSTON BECOMES AN INDIAN. the " wonted fire" that still *' lives in the ashes " of their heroes, and his future life was to furnish the materials of an epic more strange than many a man's, whose name has become immortal. IX. His elder brothers seem to have crossed his wishes occasion- ally, and by a sort of fraternal tyranny quite common, exercised over him some severe restraints. At last they compelled him to go into a merchant's store, and stand behind the counter. This kind of life he had little relish for, and he suddenly disappeared. A great search was made for him, but he was nowhere to be found for several weeks. At last intelligence reached the family, that Sam had crossed the Tennessee river, and gone to live among the Indians, where, from all accounts, he seemed to be living much more to his liking. They found him, and began to question him on his motives for this novel proceeding. Sam was now, although so very young, nearly six feet high, and standing straight as an Indian, coolly replied that '' he preferred measuring deer tracks, to tape — that he liked the wild liberty of the Red men, better than the tyranny of his own brothers, and if he could not study Latin in the Academy, he could, at least, read a translation from the Greek in the woods, and read it in peace. So they could go home as soon as they liked." His family, however, thinking this a freak from which he would soon recover when he got tired of the Indians, gave themselves no great uneasiness about him. But week after week passed away, and Sam did not make his appearance. At last his clothes were worn out, and he returned to be refitted. RUNNING WILD AMONG THE INDIANS. 23 He was kindly received by his mother, and, for awhile, his brothers treated him with due propriety. But the first act of tyranny they showed, drove him to the woods again, where he passed entire months with his Indian mates, chasing the deer through the forest with a fleetness little short of their own — engaging in all those gay sports of the happy Indian boys, and wandering along the banks of the streams by the side of some Indian maiden, sheltered by the deep woods, conversing in that universal language which finds its sure way to the heart. From a strange source we have learned much of his Indian history, during these three or four years, and, in the absence of facts, it would be no difficult matter to fancy what must have been his occupations. It was the moulding period of life, when the heart, just charmed into the fevered hopes and dreams of youth, looks wistfully around on all things for light and beauty — '* when every idea of gratification fires the blood and flashes on the fancy — when the heart is vacant to every fresh form of delight, and has no rival engagements to withdraw it from the importunities of a new desire." The poets of Europe, in fancy- ing such scenes, have borrowed their sweetest images from the wild idolatry of the Indian maiden. Houston has since seen nearly all there is in life to live for, and yet he has been heard to say that, as he looks back over the waste of life, there's much that is sweet to remember in this sojourn he made among the untutored children of the forest. XL And yet, this running wild among the Indians, sleeping on the ground, chasing wild game, living in the forests, and read- ing Homer's Iliad withal, seemed a pretty strange busi- ness, and people used to say that Sam Houston would either be a great Indian chief, or die in a mad-house, or be governor of 24 HOUSTON STUDIES THE INDIANS. the State — for it was very certain that some dreadful thing would overtake him ! Well, it may have been doubtful, and it was for a long time, what all this would end in. But the mystery has cleared away, somewhat, since the battle of San Jacinto. Certain it is that his early life among the Indians was, as the event proved, a necessary portion of that wonderful training that fitted him for his strange destiny. There he was initiated into the profound mysteries of the red man's character, and a taste was formed for forest life, which made him, many years after, abandon once more the habitations of civilized men, with their coldness, their treachery, and their vices, and pass years among the children of the Great Spirit, till he finally led the way to the achievement of the independence of a great domain, and the consolidation of a powerful Commonwealth. XII. Guided by a wisdom all His own, the Ruler of Nations led him by an unknown path, and his wild history reminds us of the story of Romulus, who was nurtured by the beasts of the forest, till he planted the foundations of a mighty Empire. With the history of the Father of Rome, the pens of poets have played — and it would seem, after all, to have been but a pro- phesy in fable, whose fulfilment the world has waited for till our days. Certain it is, too, that no man whose history we know, has lived on this continent, who has had so complete a knowledge of the Indian character — none who could sway so powerful a control over the savage mind. During his entire administration of the government of Texas, not an Indian tribe violated a treaty with the Republic ; and it is nearly as safe to say, that during the administration of others, not a tribe was known to make or regard one. INDIAN W A R il I R S I N ^V A S H I N G T N . 25 XIII. During the latter part of June, 1846, Gen. Morehead arrived at Washington with forty wild Indians from Texas, belonging to more than a dozen tribes. We saw their meccing with Gen. Hous- ton. One and all ran to him and clasped him in their brawny arms, and hugged him like bears, to their naked breasts, and called him Father ; beneath the copper skin and thick paint the blood rushed, and their faces changed, and the lip of many a warrior trembled, although the India^i may not weep. These wild men knew him, and revered -^iiui as one who was too directly de- scended from the Gre^t Spirit to be approached v/ith familiarity, and yet they lo^cid him so well they could not help it. These were the mca "he had been," in the fine language of Acqui- quask, ^>nose words we quote, "too subtle for, on the war path — too powerful in battle, too magnanimous in victory, too wise in council, and too true in faith." They had flung away their arms in Texas, and with the Comanche chief who headed their file, they had come to Washington to see their Father. I said these iron warriors shed no tears, when they met their old friend — but white men who stood by, will tell us what they did. We were there, and we have witnessed few scenes in which mingled more of what is called the moral sublime. In the gigantic form of Houston, on whose ample brow the beneficent love of a father was struggling with the sternness of the patriarch warrior, we saw civilization awing the savage at his feet. We needed no interpreter to tell us that'tliis impressive supremacy was gained in the forest. xiy. But we have lost the thread of our story. This wild life among the Indians lasted till his eighteenth year. He had, during i)is visits once or twice a year to his family, to be refitted 26 HOUSTON A SCHOOL TEACHER. in his dress, purchased many little articles of taste or utility to use among the Indians. In this manner he had incurred a debt which he was bound in honor to pay. To meet this engagement, he had no other resource left but to abandon his '' dusky com- panions," and teach the children of pale-faces. As may natu- rally be supposed, it was no easy matter for him to get a school, and on the first start, the enterprise moved very slowly. But as the idea of abandouing anything on which he had once fixed his purpose, was no part of his character, he persevered, and in a short time he had more sch_AA~^.A/-^Wv-^ H U S T N N T R I A L . 59 answer had no sooner escaped his lips, than Houston, who knew he had no time to lose, since he was unarmed, levelled him to the ground, and shivered his hickory cane upon his head. In the meantime, he had snapped a pistol at Houston, but it missed fire, or he had been a dead man, for it was held to his breast. Houston spared his life ; and the politician crawled off to his bed, which he kept some days. XYII. The chastised member now caused four processes to be com- menced against Houston, by which he expected to crush and disgrace him for ever. He was arrested by the sergeant-at- arms, and brought before the House of Representatives, which resolved itself into a judicial tribunal, to try him on the charge of violation of the rights of one of the members, whom Houston had held responsible for words uttered in debate. The court sat nearly thirty days, and no means were spared to con- demn the accused man. It w.as argued, and with great ability, by his friends, that the House had no jurisdiction in the case ; that by the Constitution, Congress had been made a Legislative Assembly, but clothed with no judicial powers over American citizens. In this opinion, too, it is but just to add, some of Gen. Jackson's political opponents concurred. The matter dragged on nearly a month ; and as the conduct, the character, and the winning personal appearance of Houston, were conti- nually gaining him friends, and the public were becoming indignant that Congress should abandon the business of the country, to prosecute and lacerate an unfortunate and self- exiled man, who had bled in its service ; even his foes them- selves became tired of the prosecution. On the trial, Houston spoke in his own defence, at great length, and with consummate eloquence and abiUty, It was a touching spectacle, to see a man 60 T II I E T Y DAYS OF PUBLIC TRIAL. who had been four years a member of that body, the Governor of a great State, the bosom friend of Gen. Jackson, one who bore on his body the deep wounds received in fighting under the flag waving from the top of the Capitol, arraigned by jparty 'politicians before their bar, for having, iu protecting himself, while unarmed, from the stealthy attack of an armed coward, chastised a rene- gade demagogue, who had dared to charge the President of the United States with a bold fraud, because he thought he could, in his place in Congress, do it with impunity. Politicians of a certain class will at last learn, that iu their attempts to crush those bold and magnanimous men who stand by the masses of the people, and have, from the very beginning of the Government, led the popular majorities — they are only hastening the advance- ment of such men to power. XVIII. What turned the popular feeling in favor of Houston at the time, and made him dear to the people, just in proportion as he was persecuted, was the undeniable fact that he was brought to the rack and tortured there, because of his enthusiastic love for his old General^ xoho was then President. This protracted and august trial, ended in a party vote of instructions to the Speaker, to reprimand the prisoner at the bar of the House. But the reprimand was delivered in so cour- teous and delicate a manner, it carried with it more of the tone of an approval than a reprimand. It was everywhere regarded as a signal triumph for Houston, since few men ever had so mighty a power marshalled against them. XIX. The second process was to move for a committee to be appoint- ed to investiirate the truth of the charj^e that member had made H I S A C Q U I T T A L . 61 against Houston, of fraud in procuring a contract for furnishing Indian rations. A committee was raised and the demagogue was appoinled chairman, which threw into his hands power to crush his enemy, if the fraud could be proved. Houston, conscious of his innocence, had procured this measure to be adopted himself. And what was the result of this second attempt to ruin this man, who had come from his distant exile only on the humane mission — which an angel might have undertaken — of procuring justice for the outraged Indians. After a tedious and thorough investigation — after marshalling every circumstance they could to his prejudice, the committee was compelled to report that not the slightest evidence had appeared to sustain the charge. XX. Houston was still triumphant, and his foes made another effort. They introduced a resolution to exclude him for ever from the lobby of the House, where, as an ex-Member of Congress, and the Governor of a State, he had a right to go. But this also failed! Every process that could either injure or disgrace him, had now been tried in Congress, and so far from crushing him, he had been steadily rising. The fourth and last act in this dis- graceful drama then opened. At the instance of this same demagogue, who, by being flogged by Houston, had now won, what was doubtless to him, a very gratifying notoriety, he was indicted and held to bail in a criminal process of $20,000. He could have evaded the trial by leaving the District, but he met his enemy once more, and after twenty days he was fined $500 and costs. But no enforcement of the sentence of the Court was ever attempted. It is worthy of remark, that the last act but one of Gen. Jackson's administration, was to remit the fine. 62 HOUSTON RETURNS TO THE FORESTS. XXI. Seldom, if ever, in the history of this country, has so malig- nant a persecution been waged against a public man. Seldom, in the history of the world, has a man been able to withstand so mighty a conspiracy. But Houston came off triumphantly. During this entire period of attack and abuse, he had displayed no cowardice nor shunned the most searching scrutiny. He had bared his breast to his foes, and invited their weapons. And now, when they had given over the contest, and retired from it loaded with mortification and contempt, this hunted and perse- cuted man deliberately abandoned once more the haunts of civil- ization, and went voluntarily where his foes never could have driven him — back to his exile. XXII. He returned by the way of Tennessee, and wherever he went he was received with every demonstration of regard. Years had passed since other painful occurrences had taken place — and with them had passed, too, the storm they had raised. Reason had resumed it sway over the public mind, and a strong desire was manifested that he should again take, up his abode in Ten- nessee. The recent persecutions he had just passed through, had only won for him a deeper sympathy than ever, and all the pride of the State was aroused to protect and honor the man it had lost. But he could not be dissuaded from his purpose of returning once more to the forest. A sight of the spot where he had seen the bright hopes that had greeted his early man- hood, crushed in a single hour, only awakened associations he wished to forget; and he once more turned his face towards the distant wigwam of the old Indian Chief, where, after a year of persecution from Christian men, he found repose by the THE H K A 11 T II - S T N li O F A S A V A O K K 1 N G . Oo hearth-stone of a savage King — a biting satire upon civiUzed hfe. XXITI. It is not difficult to imagine the effect that such unrelenting persecution must have produced upon a sensitive, a proud and a magnanimous man. He had escaped civilized life, and gone where its pestiferous and calumny-loaded breath could not reach him. He had no more ambition to gratify. Posts of honor and emolument proffered by Gen. Jackson, he rejected — for he would never suffer the foes of the old Warrior and Statesman to heap opprobrium upon his name, for showing favor to a proscribed man. 64 TEXAS THE NEW FIELD. SECTION SIXTH. TEXAS THE NEW FIELD. I. Ills intention was now to become a herdsman, and spend the rest of his life in the tranquillity of the prairie solitudes. A fondness for rural pursuits was now the only passion he had to ' gratify. Leaving* his wigwam, which was situated on the mar- gin of a prairie between the Yerdigris and the Grand River, a short distance from its junction with the Arkansas, he set out on the 1st of December, 1832^ with a few companions, through the wilderness to Fort Towson. At Nacogdoches he reported himself to the authorities, and a few days after went on to San Felipe de Austin, the seat of government of Austin's Colony ; after reporting to the authorities, he prosecuted his journey to San Antonio de Bexar. Here he held an interview wi^h a delegation of the Camanche Indians on a visit to that place. In all his intercourse with the authorities and citizens, his conduct was marked by great respect for law and the institutions of the country. After some days he returned with two companions to San Felipe de Austhi. At Nacogdoches he was now warmly solicited to establish his per- manent residence, and allow his name to be used as candidate for election to a Convention which was to meet in the following April. '^ * In 1832, in view of the probable necessity of revolutionizing Texas, the people of the country openly and generally expressed themselves in favor of inviting either Houston or Carroll to come among them, and head any revolutionary movement that might be determined on. FIRST CIVIC LIFE IN TEXAS. 65 II. He was now slow to yield to their request, for his purpose had been formally settled to abandon public life and enjoy the repose and solitude of a forest home. But a single glance at tlie resources of this new country, and the character and condi- tion of its population, satisfied him that a great destiny awaited them, and in imagination he already saw a new commonwealth rising into power. He was still in the morning of life — here was a new field for achievement, where all the bold elements of his character could find full play. Once embarked on the stream of a revolution, the world would learn, at last, the cha- racter of the man it had hunted from society, and history and time would pronounce his eulogy. Sober refiection convinced him that his public life was hardly yet begun, and* he permitted them to use his name for the sufi'rages of the people, who seem- ed at once to recognize his great qualities as a civil and military leader. III. While the election was going on, he returned to Natchitoches, in Louisiana, and made a report to the Government of the United States. Its origin is supposed to have been in the fact of his having been requested by Gen Jackson to ascertain the disposition of the Camanches to make peace with our Govern- ment, and- to prevail upon a delegation of that numerous and warlike nation to visit Fort Gibson on the Arkansas, and afterwards proceed to Washington. Gen. Jackson thought that the emigration of the Choctaws, the Chicasaws, and the Creeks, would be promoted by a Treaty of Peace with the Camanches, whose power and hostile disposition tiiey dreaded, in establishing themselves in their new home. As this was a confidential mis- sion, little is known of its history. But it is certain that in 66 FIRST C N V E N T I O N IN TEXAS. Houston's interviews with the Camanches at Bexar, the objects were accomplished which had been contemplated by the mission. On his retnrn to Nacogdoches, he learned that during his absence he had been elected by a unanimous vote. He took up his residence among his new constituents, who had extended towards him so generous a greeting. lY. This Convention, which was composed of more than fifty members, assembled at San Felipe de Austin, the first of April, 1833. It was the first deliberate assembly made up of men descended from the Anglo-Saxon race, which had ever assembled within the limits of the ancient dominions of Cortez, and the first step in that stupendous movement, which has already swept across the Cordillera Mountains to the green shores of the Pacific, where thousands of young riflemen from Kew York and New England have gone to plant fortresses of protection, and institutions of learning, like those w^hich are now overshadowing the crumbling despotisms of two hemispheres. The Convention met in a rude, narrow apartment — as the first colonists of the Grecian States are said to have organized those famous Republics of antiquity, under rude tents in the forests, robed in the skins of wild beasts. But there were men there, whose deliberations involved the fate of many millions. Y. As the delegates had their own expenses to pay, they pro- ceeded forthwith to the business which had called them together, and in thirteen days, they completed one of the best models extant, for a State Constitution. It was signed by the mem- bers, and a Memorial adopted by the Convei^tion. Stephen F. FIRST COLLISION WITH SANTA ANNA. 67 Austin, William H. Wharton, President of the Convention, and James B. Miller, were appointed commissioners to bear the Con- stitution and Memorial to the Supreme Government of Mexico, and obtain the recognition of Texas as one of the States of the Confederacy. The Memorial set forth various reasons why Texas should become one of the States of Mexico ; amongst others, that it would enable her to negotiate terms with the hostile Indian tribes, and secure their rights to land previously promised by the General Government. Encroachments had been made on the Indian territory, subsequent to the rupture between the colonists and the Mexican soldiers, stationed at Nacogdoches, Yelasco, and Anahuac. This rupture had taken place in the summer of 1832, in consequence of a difference between Bustamente and Santa Anna. The former had attempted to subvert the Constitution of 1824, and the military throughout Texas had pronounced in his favor. Santa Anna declared himself the friend and supporter of the Constitution, and the colonists siding with him in the civil revolution, which had begun in Mexico and spread to Texas, had expelled the military, whose usurpations, up to that time, had been submitted to without murmuring. Santa Anna was now in power, and the colonists doubted not that Austin and his colleagues would be received with favor, and their Constitution ratified by the Federal authorities. YI. Austin alone finally went to the city of Mexico. He was received with some formality, but little encouragement was given to Jiis mission. In the meantime Santa Anna had resolved on establishing a military despotism, which was the only reason that could have been urged against accepting the Constitution. In the formation of that instrument, the greatest care had been taken to render it entirely acceptable to the Central 68 THE CONSTITUTION OF TEXAS. Government. In the organization of the States of Mexico, under the Federal Constitution of 1824, the Provinces of Texas and Coahuila formed one State, but the right had been reserved to Texas, of constituting herself a distinct State when her population would justify the measure. The Federal Govern- ment and Coahuila had for some time pursued towards Texas a policy which rendered it necessary for her to become a separate State as soon as possible. They had granted away her territory in large tracts, under the pretence of raising funds to enable Mexico to defend her frontiers against the Indians, but she had never appropriated one dollar to that object. For, whenever the Central Administration stationed any troops in Texas, it was in the towns nearest to the sea-board, where no hostile attack from the savages could be apprehended. Here, with a military force to overawe the citizens, a support of the Govern- ment, which vv'ould never otherwise have been conceded, could be extorted. The Frontiers were left without protection, and the colonists were obliged to protect themselves as best they could, against the hostile incursions of fifteen or twenty tribes of Indians. YII. We have already said that great care was taken to render the new Constitution acceptable to the Federal Government. Mexico, for example, had no banks. In the Convention, a measure had been brought forward, and an article proposed to be inserted, authorizing the Legislature of the State of Texas to create a bank or banks. This measure was introduced by Branch T. Archer, and supported by the principal men in the Convention. Houston was the only sjieaker who opposed the policy. In principle he was opposed to any system of banking, except one whose powers could be brought within very narrow limits; and he did not believe a more fatal precedent could be Houston's policy for texas. 69 established in the infancy of the new State. The exigencies of cupidity and of business would prove stronger than the enact- ments of law, and he was persuaded that no sound system of banking could be hoped for in so new a community. But he was opposed to the measure also, on the ground of policy. It would be a valid reason, if inserted, for Mexico to reject the Constitution, since it would be an innovation upon the Legislation of the General Government, and he was deeply anxious to preserve harmony, and wished Texas to defer to the prejudices and institutions of Mexico, rather than excite her jealousy by any of these new movements, which would at least. be hkely to excite suspicion, if not positive alarm. Houston spoke on this subject with great eloquence and convincing power. He caused the article in dispute to be stricken out, and one inserted prohibiting the establishment of all banks and banking Corporations, for a period of ninety-nine years, which passed the Convention by a large majority. YIII. This was the first illustration Houston gave of that wise and profound policy, which guided all his counsels during the long struggle Texas v>^as obliged to pass, before she could be admitted to the full prerogatives of an American commonwealth. We shall have occasion to remark the difference between his policy, and that of other public men, who figured on the same scene. All new States are infested, more or less, by a class of noisy, second-rate men, who are always in favor of rash and extreme measures. But Texas was absolutely overrun by such men. There seemed to be few of that class who give character to the institutions of new States, which spring suddenly into power, — men who are brave enough for any trial, wise enough for any emergency, and cool enough for any crisis. But fortunately, to AUSTIN IMPRISONED. Texas had some such men, and she had a leader she depended on in the camp, and a Counsellor she relied on in the Senate- It is exceedingly doubtful what would have been her fate, but for him. And yet, we shall perceive, as we trace down Hous- ton's history, involving, as it necessarily does, the history of Texas, that all his difficulties and all the dangers of the State, and the sufferings and sacrifices of her people, grew out of the rash and headstrong movements of a few men, whose judgments and counsels were generally precipitate, and ended, when fol- lowed, in embarrassing the State, or plunging it into danger. IX. Those who were present in the Convention, have always attributed to Houston the moulding influence which controlled the action of the Assembly, and gave tone to the poUtical feel- ings and events that followed. They are also just as confident in the belief, that if restless and ambitious spirits, who will " rule or rend," had been willing to follow Houston's wise coun- sels, the Independence of Texas would have been achieved without much sacrifice of blood or treasure. We shall see how he at last triumphed, and how much sacrifice, care, and endur- ance, it cost him and his country. X. But to return to Austin, whom we left in Mexico, and in trouble. Finding his application fail, he concluded to return to Texas. On his way home, he was pursued by order of the Government, taken back to the Capital, and thrown into a dungeon, where he dragged out many montlis of gloom and suf- fering. He was an amiable, enlightened, excellent man, and a PUBLIC MEETINGS IN TEXAS. 71 pure patriot. He was beloved and respected by the colonists, and his fame and virtues will be long cherished by the Texans. During his imprisonment, stories of his sufferings reached Texas, and everywhere they produced a deep sensation. The indig- nation of the colonists burst forth like the rage of a single man. There was, at that time, only one press in Texas [at Brazoria], but it gave utterance to the wrongs of the people ; and although few in numbers (for the entire population of Texas did not exceed 20,000 souls), yet, instead of exercising discretion, they spoke freely of the wrongs they endured, and the rights guaran- teed to them under the Constitution of 1824. Houston dis- couraged such unrestrained ebullitions of feeling, since they would be likely to plunge Texas into a bloody struggle with Mexico, hefore she ivas prepared for it — while he was as anxious as any man, for the day of her political redemption. XI. Austin had been cast into prison, with no definite accusation alleged against him, and without even the form of a trial. At length he was liberated by Santa Anna, and permitted to return home. He had great confidence in Austin, for he had shown himself a friend of order on all occasions in Texas, and loyal to the principles recognized at the time. He had first migrated to that country with 300 families, as colonists — and thus intro- duced the materials of that vast political structure, which was subsequently wrought into form and beauty. When he returned to Texas, he found the public mind inflamed, and indignation had been expressed in municipal meetings. But when public feeling was subsiding, and few, if any, orderly men were thinking of extreme measures, Santa Anna showed clearly that nothing sliort of alj.-olute power would satisfy him. 12 SANTA anna's TYRANNY. XII. The colonists were alarmed, and precautionary measures were taken. They were ruled by Mexican laws, and governed by officers who followed blindly Mexican edicts. Rumors were constantly reaching Texas, that the colonists were laboring under the disapprobation of the ^lexican government. The commerce of Texas, had been placed under restrictions of the most oppressive character, and the worst men had been set over the administration of the customs. Tax-ation had become oppressive. The people had been baffled in all their attempts to secure justice, and large sums of money had been extorted from them in obtaining titles to the lands they had improved, and which had been guaranteed to them by the Mexican government. An edict of Santa Anna had demanded of the people, the surrender of their private arms. This struck them like an electric shock. It not only exposed their wives and children to the fury of hostile Indians, but to all the horrors of starvation — for many families depended upon wild game for daily subsistence. XIII. At Gonzales, there was a piece of artillery for the defence of the place, which was called into almost weekly requisition by the incursions of the Indians. It was the capital of Dewitt's Colony, situated on the eastern bank of the Guadalupe, about seventy miles east of Bexar. In obedience to Santa Anna's edict, Ugartchea, a Colonel in the Mexican army, in command of several hundred dragoons, marched to Gonzales, from Bexar, to carry off the four-pounder. The colonists flocked together for the rescue of the little field-piece. Some skirmishing took place, without any serious consequences at the moment. But a great point had been won — the first shut had been fired by the TEXAS PREPARES FOR THE STRUGGLE. 73 Mexican army, and the swords drawn that day, were to be returned no more to their scabbards, till the last link in the Mexican fetters, which had bound the youthful form of Texan Liberty, had been snapped asunder, and she stood erect among the nations. xiy. Austin arrived at the scene of the struggle, and was elected General of the Forces. The insurgents not only rescued their four-pounder, but resolved to pursue the enemy to Bexar, and drive the base myrmidons of the Mexican tyrant from their soil. A general alarm v/as spread to the banks of the Sabine. Eastern Texas had hitherto been disposed to remain tranquil, supposing all might not be so bad as rumor proclaimed it ; — • but the torch of war had now been lighted, and Texas rose everywhere like a single man. Committees of Vigilance and Safety, had been constituted in the Municipalities of San Augustine and Nacogdoches, and a partial organization of the militia under their direction, had taken place. In the meantime, Houston had been chosen General of Texas, east of the Trinity. An invitation had been given by the people of the coTmty of Brazoria, and responded to by other Municipalities, to elect delegates to meet in a General Consultation, to devise means of safety, in the event of danger ; for they had now become pretty well satisfied that they had little to hope for from the despot of Mexico. XV. Austin had proceeded on to Bexar with his forces, and invested it. The colonists marched to him from all sections of the Pro- vince, till eight hundred armed men joined his standard. Thesa 4 74 THE PATRIOT AUSTIN. events occurred in October, 1835. The Consultation was to meet early in that month at Washington and at the specified time, fifty-six delegates assembled. At their first meeting, they con- ferred, and changed the place of deliberation to San Felipe, v,'here they received an invitation from Gen. Austin to repair to Bexar, pledging himself, if they complied, that he would reduce the place in three days. After his advance upon Bexar, citizens residing near Matagorda and Victoria, formed a company, and under the command of Captain Collins worth, reduced Goliad, and maintained possession of the town. On the first meeting of the Consultation, General Austin wrote to Houston, to send on bis Division of troops. Houston took from his pocket the last five dollars he had in the world, and put it into the hand of a good rider, with dispatches to his Division, and in a short time the Redlanders were rapidly mustering for the scene of war. Immediately after having received the invitation of General Austin, Houston, with the major part of the Consultation, set out without delay for Austin's Camp, at the Salado, within three miles of Bexar. XYI. Soon after their arrival. General Austin, in whose pure and lofty mind, love of country outweighed all considerations of per- sonal aggrandizement, feeling diffident to lead an army at such a time, proposed to surrender his command to Houston. Houston most positively declined his magnanimous offer, alleging, among other reasons, that the troops, then in the field, were either those who bad elected Austin as their commander, or had marched to the camp in obedience to his requisition: and he believed it would furnish a pretext for the seditious and disaffected to aban- don tbe service, and defeat the objects of the campaign. But he frankly offered to render General Austin any aid in his power, in organizing or drilling his command. PROVISIONAL DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 75 A Council of War was held in the camp, to which the principal officers and members of the Consultation were invited. A ques- tion arose as to the jDropriety, or rather necessity, of forming a Provisional Government, which could be done only by the re-assembling of the members of the Consultation at San Felipe. In this exigency, the Council of War determined to refer the subject to the Army. The following day the troops were drawn up, and their vote taken. They were unanimous in the opinion that the Consultation ought to re-assemble and form a Provi- sional Government, and devise ways and means for maintaining the army then in the field; and adopt such measures as would give Texas credit abroad. XYII. After General Austin had marched the army some ten or twelve miles below, to the Mission of Espada, the members of the Consultation repaired to San Felipe, where they re-orgau- ized, and once more opened their deliberations. They made a Provisional Declaration, exhorting all Mexicans to unite in maintaining the Constitution of 1824; and pledged their lives, property, and sacred honor, in support of its principles. They established an organic law for the Provisional Government of the Province, and organized a temporary administration for it. Houston was one of the Committee to frame the DeclaratiQp. A disposition existed on the part of the members of the Com- mittee, to make a Declaration of absolute Independence, and such a resolution was adopted. Considering this movement premature and ill-judged, he got a member of the majority to move a reconsideration of the vote. By one of the ablest efforts of his life, he carried his point: and on the trial, there was found to be a considerable majority in favor of the Pro- visional Declaration. 16 Houston's i x d i a x costume. XVIII. These deliberations were held in a little framed building of one floor — without ceiling or plaster — whose only apartment .was the narrow room where they assembled. Houston, as was his custom in those days, was dressed in buckskin breeches, and a Mexican blanket. But the appearance of the room, and the costume of the naembers, had little to do with their delibe- rations. In regard to this freak of Houston, of dressing for years, a la sauvage, General Jackson is reported to have said, he '' thanked God there was one man, at least, in Texas, who was made by th^ Almighty, and not by a tailor." When Houston took up his abode in the forests, he assumed the simple and picturesque costume of the proud race among whom he dwelt ; that portion of the world, which had poured gall into his lacerated bosom, and finally hunted him into the forests, now invaded the solitude of his new home. One of his crimes was, that he had become an Indian — even in his dress. Certainly these men " the tailors had made" — and he must have been an outlaw, whose dress was more like a Roman Senator's than the dandy's of Broadway. Some of Napoleon's officers were once laughing, on the morn- ing of one of his great battles, at the gay dress of Murat as he rode by, decked in ribbons and plumes. /'You may smile, Messieurs/^ said Napoleon, "at my dandy Marshal, but take care that when the columns are shot down to-day, you keep your eye upon him — for where you see Murat's gaudy plumes, there will be the hottest of the fight. Let a hero have one folly, gentlemen." Diogenes lived in a tub, but from all accounts, the world felt a good deal more disturbed about it than the old philosopher himself. Yes, Houston, the adopted sou of an Indian Chief, vrore the dress of his tribe ; but he carried a brave heart under his COMMANDER IN CHIEF. 11 blanket. He refused to be a candidate for any office ; what he could do, however, he was ready to do. A Governor and Lieu- tenant-Governor were elected. A Council was also created — one member from each Municipality — and the requisite number of officers appointed for the administration of such a govern- ment. The Council was to continue in session till they should be superseded by officers elected by the people. Measures were also taken for raising a Regular Army, and organizing the militia. XIX. Another event took place, which decided the fate of Texas. The man in buckskin, and the Mexican blanket, was, with only one dissenting voice among more than fifty members, elected Commaxder-ix-Chief of the armies of Texas. There was no alternative for Houston but to accept the office. There was no one else gifted with those great qualities which nature lavishes on men born to command. He accepted the appointment, and proceeded to appoint his staff, and draw up the necessary bills for the organization of the Army, and the appointment of the officers of the line — embracing a competent organization of the forces to be raised. XX. Texas had not a dollar at this time ; and previous to Hous- ton's election, Commissioners had been appointed to visit the United States to forward her interests, and procure a loan to sustain her under the pressure of her bold undertaking. Austin, Wharton, and Archer, were appointed Commissioners, and they were already on their way. Houston's hopes of money were not sanguine. He regarded Texas as thrown upon her own re- sources, and such aids as could be afforded by individuals whom 78 A PR OC LAM ATI ON. the spirit of patriotism might inspire with generosity. At that moment, there were few men in the United States who had any adequate conception of the importance of those early move- ments, or dreamed of the results that were to follow. Even now, as these grand events of the last twenty years pass in review before us, we seem, in the soberness of sohtary reflection, to be tracing the progress of one of the States of Antiquity. But there are few men who understand great social or political changes, till they have become matters of history. We shall, in the sequel, glance at some of the causes which have operated to cloud and prejudice the minds of the people of this country on the entire subject of Texas. XXI. In the meantime, General Houston issued a proclamation, inviting five thousand volunteers to unite in the cause of Texas. The Army still remained in the field under Burleson, who had succeeded to the command, after General Austin had left for the United States. He was an early settler of Texas, and a good man ; but destitute of those great qualities which fit men for military control. Before General Austin left the army, Fannin and Bowie, with about one hundred men, encountered five hundred Mexicans at the Mission Conception. The action was sustained gallantly by the Americans, and the Mexicans retreated, leaving some dead on the field, and carrying with them many wounded. The victors then marched to the neigh- borhood of Bexar, and posted themselves above the town. Colonel Benj. B. Milam, who had then no command in the Army, proposed that volunteers should turn out, who were willing to enter the town of Bexar, and storm the place. About two hundred flocked to his banner ; and led by the gal- lant Milan, whose chivalry entitled him to the confidence CAPITULATION F T H E A T, A If . 79 of such brave men, entered the town at night ; and takhig pos- session of certain buildings, made tlieir way with crowbars through the walls, from house to house. After performing acts of singular bravery for several da"ys, the heroic Milam fell, his head pierced by a rifle-ball ; and, shortly after their leader's death, the troops got entire possession of the town, and the Alamo (the enemy's fortress) capitulated. " XXII. A singular spectacle was presented on the morning of the capitulation. Not less than eleven hundred Mexican soldiers, passed before a little band of less than two hundred Texans, and laid down their arms. They were released on their parole of honor, and marched to Mexico by General Cos. This same General violated his faith, and fought at San Jacinto, The colonists were now generally discharged, and marched to their homes, with the exception of the gallant Company which had reduced the Alamo. During the siege of Bexar, a Company called* the New Orleans Greys, under Captain Morris, and another Company from Mobile, under Captain Breeze, had arrived, as volunteers from the United States. They bore a gallant part in the siege, and every man engaged in the town, deserved and secured renown. XXIII. While the troops were before Bexar, a Dr. Grant arrived, and joined the Army. He had been concerned with an Enghsh Mining Company, at Parras, but he had fallen under the displeasure of the Mexican Government, and was obliged to fly. He was a Scotchman by birth, but did not seem to possess much of the methodical shrewdness which characterizes that nation. 3e was a man of much more than ordinary capacity, but, in all so THE SPIRIT OF FACTION. military affairs, seemed to be destitute of judgment and discre- tion. As one of the aids of General Austin, he claimed the command of the troops remaining, after Burleson had retired with most of the Army. He immediately projected the inva- sion of Matamoras, for he entertained a single-hearted hatred of the Mexicans, and he induced the New Orleans Greys, and Capt. Breeze's Company from Mobile, to join him in the expedi- tion. These two Companies accordingly took up their march for Matamoras, by the way of Goliad. At the same time. Grant opened a correspondence with the General Council, which unfortunately at the time contained some men of capacity utter- ly destitute of moral principle, and carrying on machinations which were in the end to terminate most disastrously for Texas. The members of the Military Committee of the General Council coincided with Grant's plan of attack upon Matamoras, and thought it necessary, in effecting its capture, to destroy Hous- ton's influence, and create a power that would supersede him. XXIY. In the appointment of his staff. General Houston had chosen J. W. Fannin, Jr., his Inspector General. He had held com- mand at the battle of the Mission of Conception, and arriving at the Council* of San Felipe, Houston, who felt that he deserved an appointment in the line of the Army, obtained for him the Colonelcy of the Regiment of Artillery, which placed him next in command to himself. The Council — to effect their designs without reference to the safety of the country — thought proper to direct the head- quarters of the army to be established at Washington, fifty miles distant from the sessions of the Council. This, of neces- sity, removed Houston's station, and it was evident they believed the success of their intrigues depended upon getting him as ^ M U S T E R I N G A N A Pv SI Y . 81 far off as possible. About the middle of December, he repaired to Washington, and continued there, engaged in his arduous duties. Meantime he had assigned the officers of the Regular Army to their several recruiting stations, and directed them to make such reports as would enable him, at any time, to know the number and condition of the regular force. Fannin was ordered to Brazoria, the principal recruiting rendezvous, and Houston supposed, of course, that his orders would be carried out with a strict regard for his authority. But his dispatches were utterly disregarded. At this time, letters were circulated through the country, to create a suspi- cion, that Houston's design was to establish a military govern- ment, by raising five-thousand volunteers, through the sanction of the General Council. XXY. Houston bore this in silence, but endeavored to counteract it by the efficiency of his conduct. About the 1st of January, he received orders from Governor Smith, — who had detected the secret intrigues of the council, with Grant, Fannin, and others, to repair to San Felipe, while the General had been at Washington. Colonel Ward's command from Georgia, and the Alabamians, had arrived at the mouth of the Brazos. Houston had taken precautions, and issued his orders for all troops that might arrive in the country ; requiring them to report to the Governor as nominal Commander-in-Chief, and to himself as Commander of the Array, on their arrival. Fannin being in the neighborhood of the United States volunteers when they landed, paid no attention to the orders of General Houston ; and aban- doning his post as an officer of the Regular Army, became a candidate for the Colonelcy of the regiment that was to be formed, by the union of the Georgia and Alabama troops. 4* 82 H U S T N 'S PLANS FOR THE CAMPAIGN. Governor Smith do sooner detected the treasonable conspiracy of the Council, than he manifested the highest disapprobation of their conduct, and of course excited their hottest displeasure. Fannin treated all General Houston's dispatches with cool con- tempt, and looked only to the orders of the Council. He had made known to them his desire to be elected Colonel of the new Regiment ; and in accordance with their views, he was chosen to the new post. Ward being put second in command. They were then ordered to sail from Yelasco, to Copano, and thence to march to Refugio Mission, twenty miles dis'tant from their landing, where Grant was to join them with his command, on their way to Matamoras. XXYI. In obedience to his orders, Houston reported to the Governor at San Felipe ; and was ordered to repair to Refugio, where a juncture of the troops was to be effected. He returned forth- with to Washington ; and after arranging matters at head- quarters, proceeded to the execution of the Governor's orders. He reached Goliad about the middle of January, 1836, and found Grant and his troops on the eve of departure for Refugio. General Houston made known to the troops the orders under which he was acting, and urged obedience to his authority. Ignorant of the extent to which the Council had gone in thwarting his intentions to save the country by routing the enemy on their first engagement, and knowing it was impossible for the troops at Bexar to maintain the place, he dispatched Colonels Bowie, and Bonham (of South Carolina) on the 15th of January, with an escort to Bexar, directing the commanding ofiicer to blow up the Alamo, and fall back to Gonzalez on the Guadalupe, which he intended to make the line of defence. OPOSITION TO OVERCOME, 83 XXYII. Grant and Morris refused obedience to the orders of the Governor, while Houston was left without the power of account- ing for their extraordinary conduct. He marched with them twenty-five miles id Refugio Mission, leaving a few Regulars to maintain the post at Goliad, with no subsistence but the cattle of the country. He arrived at Refugio, but no intelli- gence had come of Fannin's landing. The Governor, refusing to concur in their lawless measures, had been deposed by the Council — although under the Organic Law, which required a certain number to constitute the Council or transact business, they had ceased to be a lawful Body. The conduct of the stormy spirits in that Council, had disgusted and enraged their more patriotic and rational col- leagues ; and unwilhng to concur in their high-handed and treacherous movements, they had withdrawn, reducing their ambitious associates to an incompetent number. But they were nevertheless determined to brave it out, and "rule or rend." XXYIII. Houston did not wish to be the cause of insubordination, for be was aware that it would require all the harmony and union possible, to save the country. Yet knowing that all the troops from the United States had left with the expectation of serving under himself, he used every persuasive he thought convincing, against the expedition to Matamoras ; and then resolved to return and report in person to the Governor. The only object of the Council in directing the campaign upon Matamoras, was to command the revenues of the place. Houston at once dis- covered the absurdity of such a plan, since the possession of 84 A DARK r U T U R E FOR TEXAS. Matamoras by an enemy, would cut off all intercourse with the interior, and prevent all communication with the sea ; and he had forecast enough to know, that, if an army could reach Matamoras without opposition, they could not keep it a single week, with a force of only seven hundred men. But they could never reach the sight of its walls. They had an area of several hundred miles to pass, with no means of transportation — they had not three days of breadstuffs, and the men were unprovided in every respect for a campaign. XXIX. Houston remonstrated with the officers in a friendly manner ; representing the great difficulties" they would have to encounter — the futility of the project — and the disasters attendant on a failure. So careful was he to avoid exciting sedition among the troops, who bowed very reluctantly to the command of any other General — that he set out from Refugio in the night, with a few of his staff, for San Felipe. On the road he received news that the Council had deposed the Governor, and superseded his own authority — also, letters of Colonel Fannin, which had been published, showing his reliance on the Council, and disregarding all other authorities. This opened Houston's eyes to the true situation of the country, and he saw that unless something was done, without delay, to repair the evil, and to prepare the nation for the trying struggle she must pass, in wading through a Revolution — all would be lost. The hopes, which had greeted the first dawning of Anglo- Saxon Liberty in the fair Province of New Estraniadura, seemed likely to be extinguished, and it is not strange that a man who had been prevailed on to exchange the tranquillity of a forest life — where he could find repose from persecution — PERSECUTION. 85 to mingle in the struggles of a Nation emerging into a free existence, should, when he saw himself still hunted down by malignant rivals, and his hopes clouded, feel his great- heart dejected by sadness. XXX. But men whom God raises up to become leaders of Nations, cannot be crushed — in the midst of. their adversities they may seem, for a moment, to bow before the blast, yet thefy never despair. For not more sure was Columbus to surmount at last all opposition, and plant his feet upon the green shores of the New World, than are such men in the end, to overcome all their foes and triumph over even the malignity of fortune. All the way to San Felipe, he was troubled by the most painful suspense — whether to withdraw once more from the treacheries and persecu- tions of the world, and bury himself deep in the solitude of nature, and pass a life of communion with the Gl*eat Spirit, and his beautiful creations — or whether he should boldly mark out a track for himself, and in leading a new people to Independence, trample down all opposition. During most of the day he rode along in silence, and none of his companions disturbed his reve- ries. Towards evening he addressed them — he made a rapid but clear survey of events that had passed — contemplated the present state of affairs, and dwelt with enthusiasm upon the future pro- spects of Texas. He seemed to read her future, as the prophets did the unwritten history of Judah. He had fixed his purpose, and the world could not move him. After making an official report to the Governor, he proceeded with his Aide-de-Camp, Major Hockley, to the Cherokee Nation — in pursuance of instruc- tions received from the Consultation — to form Treaties with them and other tribes. He met the Indians in Council — and having been returned as a delegate to the Convention which was to 86 THE 2d of march, 1836. meet in Washington on the 1st of March, be arrived there the day previous. The Convention assembled and organized — the following day, the 2d of March, 1836, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 8t SECTION SEVENTH. THE GENERAL. I. The Declaration of Independence, for which public feeling had been precipitately matured, was adopted unanimously, and hailed throughout Texas with joy and acclamation. So was it received, too, by the people of the United States, wherever they had even a faint conception of the issue made in the struggle, or the vast magnitude of the consequences that were to follow. II. But, from the hour the news that Texas had declared herself free and independent reached the United States, a feeling of hostility was excited against the Infant Republic, without a parallel in the history of the world. Losing sight of the grand moral results that were to flow from that event, and unmindful even of the hour of our own need, when we extended our feeble hands to France for help, a loud burst of indignation went up from a thousand newspapers, and every- where the Declaration of Texan Independence was declared to be an act of high-handed robbery, perpetrated by a band of bold outlaws. To have emigrated to that part of the world, was enough to brand a man with infamy ; and those who gave the little they could afford, to help on the struggle, cast their mite into the Texan Treasury in silence. All recollection of 88 THE BRAVE MEN IN THE ALAMO. our fathers, and the days of their dark struggles, seemed to be as completely obliterated from the memory of many of our coun- trymen, as though they had been swept by the waters of obli- vion. We forgot that many of the men who were fighting those battles, were descended from the early settlers of James- town and Plymouth ; that hearts were nerved there for the defence of liberty, whose fathers had poured out their blood at Yorktown, and Saratoga, and Bennington, and Bunker's Hill I And who were the men w*ho joined in this ten years' crusade against the liberties of a Sister Republic ? And how would the victors of San Jacinto have been laughed by them in scorn, away from our altars of confederate freedom, if they had not themselves been crushed by the simultaneous rising of an indig- nant people at the Elections which soon followed. III. Some days before the Declaration was adopted, letters had been received from Travis, in command of the Alamo, -at Bexar, notifying the people of Texas, — for there were then no chief autho- rities of the country — that he was invested by a numerous force in the Alamo, calling loudly for help. Houston, it will be remembered, anticipating this very result, had given orders to the commanding officer to abandon and blow up the Alamo; but his orders had been disobeyed by the officer, and treated with contempt by the General Council, who had ordered the com- mander to defend the place to the last, promising to reinforce him. And now the brave men in the Alamo were to atone for the treachery and low ambition of a few selfish men. The pro- mised reinforcement was limited to thirhj men, making Travis' whole effective force not more than one hundred and eighty-five, and without n month's provisions — detached from all Texan A L E T T n R F R ir COL. TRAVIS. 89 settlements more thaa seventy miles, and the intervening terri- tory swept by the Mexican cavalry. lY. As the Provisional Government, by which Houston had been elected Commander-in-Chief, had ceased when the Conven- tion assembled, he resigned his Major-Generalship. But, there was no other man in Texas to whom the people could look in this emergency. The Convention went into the election of a Commander-in-Chief, and out of fifty-six votes, Houston, who was not present, received all but one vote, Texas had no organ- ization of forces, and the few gallant men from Georgia and Alabama in the field, were detached beyond the southern settle- ments, under the command of a man who had treated the orders of the Commander-in-Chief with contempt. The treatment Houston had received from the Council was known, and the people feared he would decline the office. A deep gloom now hung over the public mind. Apprehension and alarm were written on every face, and the conviction became almost univer- sal, that the cause of Texan Independence was lost, unless Houston would accept the command of the Army. Impressed with the general feeling, and stirred by the heroic spirit which has always guided him, he resolved to peril every- thing, and stake life itself upon the issue. He accepted the command. • Y. On Sunday, the 6th of March, a letter was received from Col. Travis, addressed to the President of the Convention, brought by the last express that ever left the Alamo. The intelligence it conveyed was no sooner known, than an electric terror flashed through the community. The members, and a crowd of spec- 90 HOUSTON* IN THE CONVENTION. tators, rushed to the Hall of the Couveution, the President to his chair, the members to their seats, without summons or signal. The President rose, and announced the receipt of a document of '' the most important character ever received by any assembly of men." He then read a letter from Col. Travis, of the most thrilling character. It was written in all the fervor of patriotic and devoted courage; but it breathed the language of despair. - Robert Potter rose, and moved that " the Convention do imme- diately adjourn, arm, and march to the relief of the Alamo." Houston, feeling that the next movement made in the Conven- tion would be likely to decide the fate of Texas, determined what should be done by the Convention, as well as by himself. VI. All eyes were turned upon him, and as he rose from his seat, it would seem that, for a moment, every heart in the assembly stopped beating. He opposed the motion, and denounced it as madness, worse than treason, to the people. They had, to be sure, declared themselves independent, but they had yet no organization. There must be a government, and it must have organic form — without it, they would be nothing but outlaws, and could hope neither for the sympathy nor respect of mankind. He spoke nearly an hour, and his appeal, if he ever was elo- quent, was eloquence itself. He admonished the Convention of the peril of the country; he advised them to sit calmly, and firmly and coolly pursue their deliberation; to be wise and patriotic; to feel no alarm, and he pledged himself instantly to repair to Gonzalez, where he had heard that a small corps of militia had rallied, and interpose them between the Convention and the enemy; and while they chose to sit in Convention, the Mexicans should never approach them unless they marched over THE FALL OF THE A LA M . "91 Ms dead body. In the meantime, if mortal power could avail, he would relieve the brave men in the Alamo. YII. Houston stopped speaking, and walked immediately out of the Convention. In less than an hour he was mounted on his battle-horse, and with three or four brave companions was on his way to the Alamo. Men looked upon it as an idle and des- perate attempt, or surely more would have followed him. The party rode hard that day, and only stopped late at night, to rest their horses. They were now in the open prairie. At break of day, Houston retired some distance from the party, and listened intensely, as if expecting a distant signal. Col. Travis had stated in his letters, that as long as the Alamo could hold out against the invaders, signal guns would be fired at sunrise. It is a well authenticated fact, that for many successive days, these guns had been heard at a distance of over one hundred miles across the prairie — and being now within the reach of their sound, Houston was anxiously waiting for the expected signal. The day before, like many preceding it, a dull, rumbling mur- mur had come booming over the prairie like distant thunder. He listened with an acuteuess of sense, which no man can understand whose hearing has not been sharpened by the teachings of the dwellers of the forest, and who is awaiting a signal of life or death from brave men. He listened in vain. Kot the faintest murmur came floating on the calm, morning air. He knew the Alamo had fallen, and he returned to tell his companions. The event confirmed his convictions, for the Alamo had fired its last gun the morning he left Washington; and at the very moment he was speaking in the Convention, those brave men were meet- in ^c their fate. 92 HOUSTON' S FOLIC Y. VIII. After returning to his companions, who were preparing to pursue their march, he wrote a letter to the Convention recommending them to adopt a resolution declaring T'exas a 'part of Louisiana under the Treaty of 2803. His suggestion was not adopted, but if he had been there to enforce it by his commanding eloquence, it would doubtless have been passed- — for in those deliberative assemblies he was as absolute as ever Cromwell was in the Rump Parliament, with a thousand bayonets at his back. In this case, too, he would have had the the means of conviction in the policy he proposed. Such a measure would have won for them the sympathies of Legisla- tures, as well as peoples. They would not then have been regarded as a separate people. It would have matured the Republic and its institutions ; it would have shortened the period of her struggles. jS'either the question of recognition nor annexation would have been raised — she would have been adopted at once. Houston looked at the whole matter with the eye of a statesman, and the heart of a soldier. He knew that Mexico would have withdrawn at once from the conflict, if Texas had at once been constituted a part of Louisiana. IX. If, then, it be asked, why Mexico, at last, not only made war upon Texas, after the Great Powers recognized her indepen- dence, but against the United States after annexation, we answer, that there is no man who knows enough about this subject to qualify him to hazard an opinion, who does not under- stand and believe, that Mexico was emboldened to provoke the war, only because of the long, powerful, persevering, and desperate hostility with which a thousand newspapers and THE LAST GUN FROM THE ALAMO. 93 a thousand public men, in this country, resisted the annexation. These presses and these public men held the very same language, and displayed the very same spirit towards Texas, that Santa Anna, and Bravo, and Bustamente, and Almonte, and Herrera, and Paredes, and their hireling presses exhibited. In fact, the hopes of these miUtary despots all rested upon the efforts of the enemies of Texas in the United States, and not upon their popu- larity at home, or the power of their cannon, or the justice of their cause. In New York and Philadelphia, and Boston, they stationed their most trustworthy and confidential agents ; here they expended their money, and here their battles were fought. Who of those bold impudent tyrants would have dared to tread upon a single fold of the mantle that wrapped the youthful form of Texan Liberty, if its very name had not been made a by-word among the children of the Heroes of '76 ? It is known that Paredes never apprehended any danger of being brought to battle ; he never expected he would be called on to make good his braggart threats. And later, when this mad hostility against Texas had been frowned down by the American people, its grand movers were glad enough of the first chance offered to redeem their American character. They threw off the Mexican disguise, voted the ten millions and the fifty thousand volunteers with loud huzzas, threw up their caps to the hero of Palo Alto and La Resaca de la Palma, and made him President of the United States. The Alamo had fired its last gun, and its brave defenders had met their fate. But Houston proceeded to Gonzalez, although not a man joined him on the road. On netting out from the Convention, be dispatched an express to Fannin, directing him to form a junction with him on the Cibolo, a small river between 94 THE MASSACRE OF THE ALAMO. Gonzalez and San Antonio, intending with the united forces to march to the relief of the Alamo. About the 10th of March, (1836) he reached Gonzalez, where he found 314 men. They were without organization, and destitute of supplies — they were neither armed nor clad for the campaign. He at once had them assembled and organized, the men electing their own officers. Scouts who had been dispatched to the neighborhood of San Antonio, returned about the time of Houston's arrival, under the impression that the Alamo had fallen. This created some sensation among the troops, and immediately afterwards two Mexicans, whose families had resided among the American colonists, came in from the region of San Antonio and confirmed the general apprehension. Houston, who was satisfied that their statement was correct, had it written down. It repre- sented that the Alamo had been taken on the morning of the 6th of March, and every human being in it slaughtered, except a woman, her child, and a negro ; that after their slaughter, the dead had been dragged out and piled together with wood, in one vast hecatomb, and burned to ashes I XI. When the news of this act of cold-blooded barbarity flew through the colonies, it stirred up a spirit that would never sleep again. But the day of vengeance was rapidly coming — the hour of San Jacinto was not far off. Houston immediately sent another express to Fannin (March 11th), apprising him of the fall of the Alamo, and ordering him to evacuate Goliad, blow up the fortress, and fall back without delay upon Victoria and the Guadalupe. This would unite all the forces then in the field, which Houston regarded as the only means of saving Texas. Fannin's force, the General estimated at over 500, and once joined to his own, the army would number at least 900 effective MRS. Dickinson's story. 95 men, since Fannin had a fine supply of arms brought from the United States. XII. This- order reached Fannin some eight days before he attempted a retreat ; indeed he did not attempt it at all, till he had been surrounded by the Mexicans several days. In reply to the orders of the commander-in-chief, Fannin sent an express, saying he had held a council of war, and had concluded to defend the place, and had named it Fort Defiance. He also said, he was prepared to abide the consequences of disobeying his orders. The sequel showed but too well how prophetic was the glance Houston cast over the future. XIII. On the twelfth (we believe) of March, about eight o'clock in the evening, Mrs. Dickinson arrived with her child at Gen. Houston's camp, accompanied by two negro guides, sent to attend her by Santa Anna, and also to bring a proclamation of pardon to the insurgent colonists, if thev would lay down their arms. The proclamation was, of course, treated as such papers had been by our fathers, when they were sent to their camps of suffering by the myrmidon generals of a British king. Mrs. Dickinson was the wife of one of the brave officers whose bones had crumbled on the sacrificial pyre of the Alamo. Houston was walking alone, a few hundred yards from the camp, at the moment this stricken and bereaved messenger arrived. He returned soon after, and found that her fearful narrative of the butchering and burning, with some of the most stirring details of that dark tragedy, had , already struck the soldiers with a chill of horror ; and when she told them that 5,000 men were advancing by forced marches, and their artillery would soon be 96 P A N I C I x\ T E X A S . heard at Gonzalez, the wildest consternation spread through the camp. Their alarm soon reached a pitch of desperation. Some were stunned with silence — others were wild^ith lamentations — and even officers had set fire to their tents. XIY. When Houston came up, he ordered silence, and the fires to be extinguished. He then addressed the soldiery in the most fervid manner, and they all gathered around him, except a few who had at the first impulse fled for their horses. He detached a guard instantly to intercept fugitives, and more than twenty were brought back to the camp. But a few good runners made their escape to the settlements, and carried panic in every direction. XY. The General announced to his comrades that he should that night fall back to a more secure position, as they were in a bend of the river, where the enemy, by crossing, could cut off all possible retreat. Acc(fi'dingly, about eleven o'clock that night, Houston ordered every light in Gonzalez to be extinguished, and leaving a rear-guard with orders to use the utnjost vigilance, and give information of the first approach of tlic enemy, he ordered the camp to be struck, and the little band took up their line of march in good order. On reaching Gonzalez, feeling assured that the disasters which finally followed, were inevitable, he had ordered nil the women and children to be transported to the interior settlements ; for througliout the entire Texan struggle, he was resolved that the helpless should never be left to the tender mercies of the jVIexicaus. Before the crisis came, he hoped the transports would return, but in this he was disap- T II E MARCH. 97 pointed, and that night the entire army was followed by only one baggage waggon, which was drawn by four oxen. XTI. He continued his march that night to Peach Creek, ten miles from Gonzalez, and halted to refresh the troops. He was there met by a reinforcement of a hundred men, which increased his army to upwards of four hundred and fifty. The fugitives from Gonzalez had "met this company and given them the news from the Alamo, and so anxious had they become, that nearly one quarter of them had left their officers to hurry on to the camp. About day-break, an hour after the arrival of the army at the Creek, an explosion was heard in the di- rection of Gonzalez. It produced an electrical effect upon the army, and many exclaimed it was the enemy's cannon. An- other and a third explosion were heard in quick succession. Houston afterwards said, that they were the most agreeable sounds he had ever heard. On the march that night, he was informed that several barrels of intoxicating liquors, left in a store at Gonzalez, had been poisoned by arsenic, and he de- nounced it as a monstrous act, and not to be justified even by the barbarities of their savage foe. Understanding at once the cause of the explosions, Houston quieted their apprehensions by announcing the reason. It has been stated that Houston had ordered the town of Gonzalez to be reduced to ashes ; but credible men who were there, declared that the charge was not only false, but that he was angry when he heard the fact. The gallant Captain Karnes, who had been left in command of the rear-guard, believing its destruction would be an ajinoyance to the enemy, and deprive them of the merchandise and other sup- plies, had set the town on fire. After a halt of three hours, the army continued tlieir march to the Brazos. At the La Baca he 5 98 A LUSTRE TO THE SETTING SUN. received the letter from Colonel Fannin, which has already been referred to, and he is said to have turned to his aide-de-camp, Major Hockley, and pointing to the little band which seemed but a speck on the vast prairie, said ; '' Hockley, there is the last hope of Texas. We shall never see Fannin nor his men — with these soldiers we must achieve our independence, or perish in the attempt." It was a sad and gloomy march. Over the fatal tragedy of the Alamo seemed to come the dirge of 500 more devoted men. XVII. Towards evening, they perceived, at a distance, a small mov- ing mass in advance, which soon proved to be a company of some thirty volunteers, from the Brazos, under Captain Splann. Even this diffused some cheerfulness, and added to the lustre of the setting sun an additional ray. At night they encamped on the La Baca, where Houston created a volunteer aide-de-camp of Major Wm. T. Austin, and dispatched him to the settlements of the Brazos, to meet him with supplies of cannon, &c., on the Colorado, where he intended to make a stand against the enemy. A person present has given a graphic account of a scene that occurred that night in a little shan^ee. Hockley was sittmg on a block, writing out the orders i>r Austin, as they were dictated by General Houston, who was feeding a little fire with oak splinters, to furnish the only light their extremities allowed. XYIII. On the assurance of Austin that supplies could be obtained, Houston had directed him to bring not less than seven pieces of mounted cannon, with mules sufficient for draught, and at least twelve good horses for his spies, with ammunition sufficient for •'HOCKLKY AVAS SITTISfi OX A BLOCK, WRITIXG OUT THE ORDKRS FOK Al'STIX. AS THEY WEUE DICTATE!) BY GeN'. HOUSTON, WHO WAS FEEDIXO A LITTLE FIKE WITH OAK SPLIXTEKS, TO KUHXISH THE ONLY LIC.HT THEIR EXTREMITIES AL- LOWEll."' V-^gC S^'S- H U S T N ' ti II U M A N I T Y . 99 the artillery. The march was continued to the Navidad — whero intelligence reached him that a blind woman and her seven children had been passed by, and were not apprised that the enemy was approaching. The General immediately detached a company of fifty men, under two confidential officers, and delay- ed his march till the woman and her little orphans were brought safely to the camp. XIX. We have before us a dispatch written by Houston, " from the camp on the Navidad," to the chairman of the Military Committee, dated March 15, from which we make a few extracts : " My morning report, on my arrival at the camp, showed 374 men, without two days' provisions ; many without arms, and others without ammunition. We could have met the enemy and avenged some of our WTongs ; but, as we were, without supplies for men in the camp, either of provisions, ammunition, or artillery, and remote from succor, it would have been madness to have hazarded a contest. * * The first principles of the drill had not been taught the men. * * If the camp had once been broken up there would have been no hope for the future. * * / am fearful Goliad is besieged by the enemy. All orders to Col. Fannin, directing the place to be blown up, and the can- non to be sunk iii the river, and to fall back on Victoria, would reach him before the enemy could advance. * * I directed, on the l^th of January last, that the artillery should be moved, and the Alamo blown up ; but it was prevented by the expedition upon Matamoras, the cause of all our misfortunes.^^ These extracts show, beyond a question, that the horrid slaughter at the Alamo was foreseen by Houston, and caused by violating his orders. Also, that the still more bloody tragedy of Goliad was in the commander's eye before it happened, and caused in like manner by disobeing his orders. The lives of hun- 100 DOWN THE COLORADO. dreds of the bravest men paid the penalty: and Texas did not recover from the fatal consequences for many years. XX. From the Navidad he marched on to the Colorado, where he halted till all the women and children, and non-combatants, with their cattle and horses, had safely crossed over. Leaving a guard on his rear, he went over the Colorado with the main army. On this day, Itth of March, he thus writes the Military Committee: '' To-day, at half past four p. m., we reached this Point (Burnham's). * * It pains me at heart that such consternation should be spread by a few deserters from the camp, but we are here, and if only three hundred men remain on this side the Brazos, I will die with them or conquer our enemies. * * Send agents to the United States. Appeal to them in the holy names of Liberty and Humanity. * * Let the men from the East of the Trinity rush to us. Let all the dis- posable force of Texas fly to arms." XXI. On the following day he marched down the eastern bank of the Colorado, about twelve miles, and encamped opposite Beason's, to await the arrival of Austin with his supplies. During this period he had to keep pickets for more than thirty miles up and down the river to prevent surprise. Shortly after his arrival, it was ascertained that General Sezma had advanced to the opposite side of the river, and taken a position a few miles above the Texan Camp, which caused Houston's rear- guard to fall back over the river. They had, without authority , from their General, set fire to Burnham's premises, as the enemy had encamped near by. Houston's army. 101 Houston now sent a detachment with orders to secrete them- selves in a strong position, supposing that the army would be likely to pass the river with a strong advance guard, and the posi- tion of the Texans being well chosen, would enable them to dis- comfit five times their number. As he had anticipated, the enemy crossed the river with upwards of fifty cavalry, uncon- scious of the ambuscade, and would have been completely cut ofi*, had it not been for the imprudence of one man, who fired upon them too soon, and thus advertised them of their danger. No other attempt was made to cross. Some few reinforcements and supplies reached the camp about this time. But his entire force, including all his detachments, did not exceed 650 men: and his artillery not arriving, he was unable to cross the river and give battle to General Sezma. Austin had limited his arrival with the supplies and artillery to twelve days, and although the time had passed, nothing had yet been heard from him. A slight skirmish had taken place be- tween a party of riflemen and an advance guard of the enemy, but without any decisive result. On the 23d March, Houston wrote to Mr. Rusk: " You know I am not easily depressed, but, before my God, since we parted, I have found the darkest hours of my life. For forty-eight hours I have neither eaten an ounce of anything, nor have I slept. All who saw the deserters, breathed the poison and fled. It was a poor compliment to me to suppose I would not advise the Convention of any necessity that might have arisen for the removal." XXII. In the midst of all this gloom and suspense, the news came, which burst like a bolt of thunder over the little army — Colonel Fanninh Regiment has all been massacred! A Mexican, by the name of Peter Kerr, had brought the intelligence, and although 102 THE SLAUGTER OF GOLIAD. he had not a shadow of doubt the man's story was true, yet such was the alarm it had created, the General was obliged to throw miscredit upon the messenger, to prevent his camp from being deserted. The fall of the Alamo had well-nigh dispersed the little anny, and when they heard that 500 brave comrades, fully armed and equipped, had all been cut off, their consterna- tion was redoubled. The last barrier between them and a slaughtering army seemed swept away, and it was not strange that this last sad news had unnerved their courage. XXIII. Houston had his part to play that night, and he played it well. In such exigencies all the difficulties have to be overcome at once. He instantly called for the sergeant of the guard, and denouncing Kerr as an incendiary of the Mexicans, sent to his camp to produce distraction, declared in a furious passion he would have the sj^y shot the next morning at nine o'clock. An order was immediately given to have the man arrested and placed under a strong guard. He then addressed the soldiery, and adduced many reasons why the news could not be true. His apparent disbehef calmed the excitement, which had reached a fearful pitch. Houston would not see the prisoner, till the camp had retired to rest. He then went to the guard-fire and heard his story. He knew that his worst apprehensions had become history. He gave private orders to have his prisoner treated kindly, and the next morning he forgot to have him executed ! The excitement had passed away with the dreams of the soldiers — but the prisoner could not be released at once, since everything which savored of the Mexicans was odious to the army, and Houston would have been charged with turning loose a spy, and perhaps collusion with the enemy. PREPARING TO MEET THE E X E M Y . 103 XXIV. Houston struck his camp that evening, and marched towards the. Brazos. The army reached San FeUpe the next night, effecting a march of about twenty-eight miles in less than twenty-four hours. We find in one of the General's dispatches, dated " Camp, West of Brazos, March 31si. " My intention was to have attacked the enemy on the second night after the day Fannin's destruction was reported by Kerr. * * Send me daily expresses, and let me know what to rely on. I must let the camp know something, and I want everything promised, to be realized by them, and I can keep them together. I have thus far succeeded beyond my hopes. I will do the best I can ; but be assured, the fame of Jackson could never compensate me for my anxiety and mental pain. Two nights since, when it was reported that the enemy was on this side of the Colo- rado, the citizens of San Felipe reduced it to ashes. There was no order from me for it." On the 3d of April, Houston again writes the Secretary of War. After describing the massacre of Fannin's command, he says : — " Humanity must recoil at the perfidy which has been exercised towards brave and heroic men, who have perished in the unequal conflicts with the enemy, when they were always more than six to one. Will not our friends rush to the conflict, and at once avenge the wrongs which have been inflicted on our dauntless comrades ? The day of just retribution ought not to be deferred." Again, on the 6th of April, he says : — '' The enemy shall be closely looked to, and the first favorable moment seized with avidity, to effect his total defeat." 104 THE CAMP ON THE BRAZOS. XXY. The army encamped ou the night of the 29th of March at Mill Creek, and the following day reached their destination opposite Groces. The steamboat' Yellow Stone, which was lying at the landing, was at once pressed into the service, and a company of troops stationed on board to prevent the boat or its engineers from running off. The army remained in the same position till the 11th of April. During this time, the river had swollen by the spring rains, and as Houston's camp lay on an island of the Brazos, where he was secure from the enemy, he constructed a narrow bridge, by which communication was maintained with the enemy's country, over which the Texan scouts could pass, to gather information, and hold a keen vigi- lance of the movements and designs of the Mexicans. XXYI. Before the waters reached their greatest height. General Houston had designed, as soon as the enemy should approach San Felipe, to march with all his force, and surprise them at night, believing that their confidence, inspired by numbers, dis- cipline, and success, would have completely thrown them off their guard, which would give an easy victory to the Texan commander. But when he learned of the arrival of the enemy at San Felipe, the freshet was at its height, and having three creeks without fords, to pass in his march, this boldly conceived plan failed. Although no fortunate result followed many of these designs of Houston, yet they will show to the reader the sleepless vigilance and bold daring, of the man upon whose move- ments was suspended the fate of the young Commonwealth. We also deem their relation important, because they serve to MARCHING TO SAN JACINTO. 105 render the reader familiar with the chances and changes of war- fare, and the qualities necessary in the citizen who leads an army to the field. XXYII. The company left in charge of San Felipe, having retired to the east side of the river, and thrown up a partial fortification of timber, the enemy immediately opened the artillery upon their breastworks, and the noise of their cannon announced to Houston the first certainty of their approach. A company of eighty men, which had just arrived at the camp from Eastern Texas, was detached with another body to succor Captain Baker, while, by means of expresses, the Commander-in-Chief kept up communication with the troops at San Felipe and Fort Bend. His entire force at Groces, where the main body of the army lay, did not now exceed five hundred and twenty men. He had been encouraged to expect not less than five hundred men from the Bedlands, and they could have been furnished ; for they were already in the field, and many of them had advanced their march to the banks of the Trinity. But some turbulent men, who where willing to ruin the country rather than fail in Hous- ton's destruction, raised rumors of Indian hostilities, which pre- vented them from joining him. Amongst them was General Quitman's command from Natchez — a fine company of south- ern chivalry, who were thus prevented from participating in the triumphs of San Jacinto. They arrived at the camp two days after the victory. The country behind Houston was entirely depopulated. He never fell back till the women and children were secure from danger — always interposing the army between the enemy and the helpless. 106 HOUSTON THE ONLY HOPE OF TEXAS. XXVIII. He had now become apprised of the strength, position, and designs of the enemy. They were marching upon him in three Divisions. The Centre was to advance from San Antonio to Gonzalez, Beason's, and by San FeHpe or Washington, and Robbins' Ferry to Nacogdoches — led by Santa Anna himself. The Second Division, under General Urrea, was to march from Goliad by the way of Victoria to Brazoria and Harrisburg, while the upper or Third Division advanced by Bastrap to Tenoxtitlan on the Brazos, and thence to the Camanche, cross- ing the Trinity, on to ^"acogdoches. The plan of the campaign gave evidence of the superior ability of Santa Anna, and showed Houston the man he had to deal with. At the same time the entire scheme had to be broken up in less than thirty days, or Texas would be swept by three rolling streams of fire, which would cover the land with desolation, and blot out the last hope of the Republic. How this almost impossible work was to be achieved, no one knew but Houston. There was a painful feel- ing of suspense throughout the little army, and all eyes were turned anxiously upon their bold leader. There was no longer a doubt in the mind of any who knew the position of affairs, that the salvation of Texas, under God, had been thrown entirely upon Houston's arm. XXIX. What was his policy ? Apprised of all this, he believed that the Divisions were sufficiently detached to be managed in detail, if the succors he had a right to expect should reach him in time. His position on the Brazos, enabled him to cover a larger extent of country than any other he could have selected, and was one of the most eligible for supplies. During his entire SANTA ANNA ADVANCING. 101 encampment there, he was sending frequent expresses to Eastern Texas, and while he represented his true situation in his con- fidential dispatches to the Committee of Vigilance and Safety at Nacogdoches, he was in the habit, we have heard, of endorsing the envelopes with certain postscripts, that all might see that his force did not exceed twenty-five hundred men; for he believed if his real situation was known, it would deter all succors from coming to his aid. This is the only origin we have discovered for the report of his having so large a command. XXX. About the 11th of April, news came from Fort Bend that the Centre Division, under Santa Anna, had already crossed the river at that place. The company stationed there, not maintain- ing the vigilance enjoined, the ferry-boat was taken over by a negro to the western side. By this means they were enabled at once to pass the river. Had it not been for this circum- stance, the Brazos being at high flood, they could not have passed for a month, and Houston could have maintained his position till his safety inspired a confidence that would have reinforced his army. XXXI. A fortunate combination of circumstances enabled Houston to maintain himself against the influence that seemed to be marking his destiny. The Upper Division of the Mexican army, under Gaono, became bewildered in their march, and ascended the Colorado. The South Division, under Urrea, was delayed by high waters, and never passed the Brazos at all. Santa Anna had, doubtless, learned that Harrisburg had become the seat of Government, after the adjournment of the Convention, which took place on the Itth of March, and was 108 THE COWARDICE OF THE GOVERNMENT. prepared to take advantage of the alarm which this flight of the officers of the Kepublic had spread over the colonies. The Convention had broken up in utter consternation and dismay, and only seven of its members ever found their way to the army. None but those who were on the ground can have any con- ception of the fatal consequences that attended this movement. It is safe, probably, to say that to it, more than any other cause, was it owing that Houston received no more reinforcements in that trying crisis. A constitutional act had been passed by the Convention, creating a Government ad interim, consisting of a President, and Secretaries of War, Navy, and the Treasury, with all powers incident to a Government, except the law- making. They had adjourned to Harrisburg, not less than seventy miles from the scene of war. This flight of the wise men and the worthies of the nation, was calculated to alarm the old, the young, and the helpless, to afford an excuse to the timid, and sanction the skulking of the cowardly. Many brave men, who had joined Houston, hearing of the general consternation which had followed the adjournment of the Convention, could not resist their natural impulses to go and render protection to their abandoned flying wives and children. Houston lias often declared that this was one of the most appalling circumstances that ever befell him while strug- gling for Texas, and we find it confirmed by his dispatches. XXXII. But the event proved it was fortunate for him, that Santa Anna had heard that Harrisburg had becomcthe seat of Govern- ment, for it caused him to abandon his general plan of invasion, and diverge from his route to Nacogdoches, with a view to capture the self-preserving administration of the new Republic. As soon as General Houston received intelligence that Santa THE TWO FIELD PIECES. 109 Anna was crossing the Brazos, he dispatched without delay his orders for all the troops, scattered up and down the river, from Washington to Fort Bend, a distance of more than eighty miles, to join him on his march to Harrisburg. While he lay on the Bro.zos, General Rusk, now Senator from Texas, and then newly- appointed Secretary of War, instead of flying from the scene of danger, when the rest of the cabinet fled, hastened to the Commander-in-Chief on the Brazos. They advised together cordially on all matters connected with the welfare of Texas, and harmonized most perfectly in the means necessary to be adopted. The steamboat Yellow Stone was put in motion, and in two days the entire army, with their baggage-wagons and horses, was transported to the eastern side of the Brazos. On the shore, Houston met the first artillery which had been under his control. They were two six-pounders (a present from some patriotic men in Cincinnati), but they were without equipments necessary for use, except that they were mounted. There being a smith's shop and gunsmiths there, who had been employed in repairing the arms of the troops, the two field-pieces were immediately made ready for effective use, and all the old iron in the neighbor- hood cut into slugs, and formed into cartridges. The little army halted a few miles from the Ferry, and encamped for the night. XXXIII. After the Commander-in-Chief had, as was his uniform custom, examined in person the state of the camp, and seen that every- thing necessary for an early march had been done, he inquired the route for Harrisburg. Houston had never before been in that region ; but he took the precaution to inform himself perfectly of the geography of the country, well knowing that he was liable to be surprised any hour by a superior force. One road led to Nacog- doches, crossing the Trinity at Robbins' Ferry ; and Houston 110 NOT A TENT IN THE ARMY. knew that this was the road Santa Anna must have taken in his march upon Harrisburg. The main army, amounting to between seven and eight hundred men, was now put in motion. They marched that day (16th April) to McArley's, a fatiguing march of eighteen miles, through a prairie. There were fourteen baggage-wagons, and two pieces of artillery in the train. Ex- cessive, rains had made the prairie boggy, and in many places the wagons had to be unloaded, and the dismounted field-pieces car- ried, or rolled, through the mire. This brought into requisition the entire physical strength of the army. Houston had, early in the march, foreseen what lay before his men, and on the first emergency, he stripped off liis coat, dismounted, and set the ex- ample of unloading and transporting baggage and guns, and so continued throughout the day, commanding and aiding the soldiers with his personal strength. The brave little army halted at sun-set, and laid themselves down to sleep in the open field, without covering, for there was not a tent in the camp. About dark, a cold rain set in, and continued for twenty-four hours. Such were the hardships those men were compelled to undergo, while working out the emancipation of their country. XXXIY. The second day (Hth) they pursued their exhausting march through the rain, twelve miles, to Burnett's settlement, which they found deserted. Another night followed — the soldiers slept on the wet ground, with their arms in their hands, ready to answer in a single moment the three taps of the drum, which was the only instrument of martial music in the camp, and which was never touched but by the General himself. The third day's march (18th), through the prairie, of eighteen miles, brought them to Post Oak Bayou, where they encamped for the night. Their toilsome march through the prairie was now over, and THE TIME TO FIGHT 111 they were only six or eight miles from Harrisburg. But Santa Anna had been there before them, and reduced the town to ashes, on his march to New Washington. XXXY. The army had marched up within two miles of the stream, and almost in sight of the ruin, and prepared to cross the Buf- falo Bayou, which lay between them and the scene of desolation. The gallant Karnes, and Deaf Smith, swam over the stream with several companions, and in a short time brought back over the Bayou two expresses that bore most important intelligence. On the person of the courier, who was a Mexican officer, were found dispatches from Filisola to Santa Anna, so recently written, that the reader remarked : " The ink, sir, is hardly dry." The Texan commander now had the most positive assurance that Santa Anna was in command of the advance of the enemy. The second express contained the mail from the capital, filled with letters of congratulation, recognizing Santa Anna as Emperor of Mexico, &c. XXXYI. Mr. Rusk, the Secretary of War, and General Houston, im- mediately retired for a private conference. Very few words passed between them : the facts were before them, and they could come to but one decision. " We need not talk," said the General; " you think we ought to fight, and I think so too." The battle was decided on, and the fate of Texas was to be settled as soon as the enemy could be found. Shortly after this conference. General Houston was informed by Colonel Hockley that he had overheard an officer in command of a regiment saying to the men about him, over whom he supposed himself to possess the greatest influence, 112 NOT A MOMENT TO BE LOST. "Boys, Houston don't intend to fight — follow me and you shall have enough of it." Houston at once remarked to Hock- ley, "I'll cure this mischief directly." He ordered the two Colonels to be sent for. " Gentlemen, have you rations of beef in the camp, for three days ?" " Yes sir." "You will then see that each man is supplied with three days' cooked rations, and hold the camp in readiness to march. We will see if we can find Santa Anna: good morning, gentlemen." Turning off with Hockley, Houston remarked, "There is no excuse for sedition now, if they wish to fight." At the same time orders were given to prepare for crossing the Bayou — that the army might commence their march upon the enemy the next morning. XXXYII. Night passed, and daylight came — but no preparations had been made for the march. The orders of the Commanding Offi- cer had been disregarded, and not a soldier was prepared with his rations. Not a moment was to be lost. Instead of taking his rest, as was his custom early in the morning, the General issued his orders himself to the men, and the camp was soon busy with the note of preparation. But it was nine o'clock before he could get his column under arms. When the army arrived at the Bayou, two miles from the encampment, they found the boat nearly filled with water. Houston at once dis- mounted, called for an axe, and went to hewing oars out of rails. XXXYIII. The passage was a difficult and perilous undertaking, and yet Houston was determined to make it that morning. The Bayou T ri/iityR(; AN HOUR OF PERIL. 113 was about fifty yards wide, and more than twenty feet deep. As the Pioneers, a small company, were going aboard, an acci- dent occurred which damaged the boat. Houston leaped aboard at once ; and his faithful horse, that he had left pawing on the bank, plunged in after his master, and swam to the opposite shore. A rope was soon constructed out of cabriestas (a rope of horse hair) and raw tugs, and fastened to both sides of the stream, which enabled the boat to make more rapid trips, and kept it from floating down the stream. The passage was now being made with great rapidity, but it was an hour of in- tense anxiety to the commander and his intelligent counsellor, the Secretary of War. General Houston had crossed and stood on one side, while Mr. Rusk remained on the other, both watch- ing the perilous movement of their little army, in whose brave hearts the hopes of Texas were. now all gathered. A single accident ! No one knew but the next moment the enemy's column might come in sight, and if they came up while that deep stream divided the army of Texas, the result would be fore- told before it happened. XXXIX. Half the army had now passed, and it was the moment of the deepest peril. The boat was giving way ; four strong men were bailing out the water continually. The body of cavalry was now to be risked. They were goaded to plunge into the deep stream, and they at once disappeared. But they rose again in their strength and strained for the steep bank. They reached it, and when they struck the solid ground, they sprang from the water and shook their tired limbs. The passage was made. Mr. Rusk went over on the last boat. It was an affecting spec- tacle to see these two brave men seize each other's hands when they met on the left bank of the stream ; and it is not difficult to 114 REMEMBERTHEALAMO. believe what is iDdeed said, that the same expression of grati- tude fell from their lips together — " Thank God — we are at last safely over." While the lines were forming, General Houston drew from his pocket a scrap of paper, and with a pencil (here was his only portfolio) wrote the following letter. Camp at Harriaburg, April l^th, 1836. To Colonel Rusk, in the Field. This morning we are in preparation to meet Santa Anna. It is tlie only chance of saving Texas. From time to time I have looked for reinforce- ments in vain. The Convention's adjourning to Harrisburg struck panic throughout the country. Texas could have started at least four thousand men. We will only be about seven hundred to march, besides the camp guard. But we go to conquest. It is wisdom growing out of necessity to meet and fight the enemy now. Every consideration enforces it. The troops are in fine spirits, and now is the time for. action. We will use our best efforts to fight the enemy to such advantage as will insure victory, though the odds are greatly against us. I leave the result in the hands of an all-wise God, and 1 rely confidently upon His providence. My country will do justice to those who serve her. The right for which we fight will be secured, and Texas shall be free. SAM HOUSTON, Commant)er-in-Chiep. (Certified copy from the Department of War, of the Republic of Texas.) XL. The lines were now formed, and Houston rode up and addressed the soldiers. Those who heard him, say that he made the most impassioned and eloquent appeal they ever listened to. The words seemed to flow along the lines like streams of electric fluid, and when he gave them for their watch- word. Remember the Alamo, it struck like a bolt of fire. The watchword had no sooner fallen from his lips, than it was caught up by every man in the army, and one simultaneous shout broke up into the sky — Remember the Alamo — Reviemher the Alamo, was repeated, and the green islands of trees in the prairie sent THE MARCH OF HOUSTON'S ARMY. 115 back the echo. The Secretary of War also spoke in the most happy and stirring manner. The men seemed inspired with the spirit of chivalry, and were impatient for the order of "March" to be given. XLI. The order came, and the column got under way. As it moved on over the prairie, the golden sun shone out full and clear from mid-heaven, as it never shines even in that beautiful climate, except after a long, cold rain. It seemed to be the sig- nal of God's approval, and they felt that the Heavens them- selves smiled on the struggle. 'No martial strains fell upon the ear — no rich bugle rang out its full, clear blast — no gorgeous ban- ners waved over the embattled host. Their march was not measured even by '' the thrilling fife, the pealing drum." There was little of the pomp or circumstance of glorious war ; but there was the firm purpose, the strained muscle, the compressed lip, and the heavy tramp of seven hundred men, determined to be free. XLII. In a narrow w^oodland not far from the stream, the army halted till sun-down, to avoid being seen in the open prairie. The column was now once more in motion, and a forced march made to a point not more than four or five miles distant from the ground which was to witness the main struggle. They took shelter under the covert of a grove off from the line of march, and the weary men laid down on their rifles to sleep for an hour. At daylight General Houston rose from the ground where he had been resting his head on a coil of rope used in dragging the artillery, and roused the camp by his well known three taps of the drum — for a reveille or tattoo had never been beaten from 116 HOUSTON REACHES SAN JACINTO. the clay he took the command. Their artillery was never fired till it was fired in the face of the enemy. Pickets were advanced in every direction. The scouts sent on ahead soon returned with information which satisfied the Commander the enemy was not far distant. A small party had been fallen in with, and chase given to them — but they were well mounted, and effected their escape. On the return of the scout- ing party, the army halted to take refreshment, beeves were dressed, and the roastin2:-fires kindled. XLIII. But little progress had been made when, about seven o'clock that same morning, news came that the enemy was marching up from New Washington to cross the San Jacinto, which, if effected, would have enabled Santa Anna to carry desolation to the Sabine. Houston immediately ordered the line to be taken up for the crossing of the San Jacinto at Lynchburg. The issue of the entire struggle hinged on cutting off Santa Anna's retreat. The army saw it at once. The soldiers, with alacrity, abandoned their meat half-cooked, flew to their arms as one man, and as soon as the horses could be harnessed to the artillery, the march began. The column did not halt till the Ferry at the junction of Buffalo Bayou, and the San Jacinto was reached, where, to the great joy of the Texans, they learned that Santa Anna had not yet come up. Houston took posses- sion of a new boat which Santa Anna had forced some Ameri- cans to construct, and had it rowed up opposite the first grove on the Bayou. In the meantime, having arrived first, he could choose his own position, and he posted himself in a beautiful copse of trees which grew on a bend in the stream — and lay in a semicircular form on the margin of the Prairie. The trees and SANTA anna's BUGLES. lit the undergrowth enabled him to conceal his forces on the bank of the river, and plant his artillery on the brow of the copse. XLiy. The Texan army was now ready to go into battle at a moment's warning. But as the enemy had not yet come up, they again lighted their fires to complete their culinary operations, which had been so suddenly interrupted a few hours previously. But they had scarcely laid aside their arms and kindled their fires, before Houston's scouts came flying into the camp, with news that the Mexicans were in sight — and shortly after Santa Anna's bugles were heard over the Prairie, sounding the charge of the Mexican army. XLY. Whatever may have been said to the contrary, it is perfectly certain that Santa Anna knew the position of the Texan Gen- eral, and so far from his being surp-ised by a discharge from the Texan artillery, he intended to surprise the enemy himself. Accordingly he opened his "brass twelve-pounder" upon the Texan position, intending to sustain the Artillery by his Infantry and Cavalry. But a well directed fire of grape-shot and canis- ter from Houston's two six-pounders drove back the Infantry column, which took shelter in a piece of timber within rifle shot of the left wing of the Texan army. In the meantime, the Mexi- can field-piece was kept playing, but with no other result than that Col. Neill, the gallant officer cTf the Artillery, received a grape-shot in his thigh, which disabled him from service. These events took place about ten o'clock in the morning. Col. Sher- man, of the 2d Regiment, requested of the Commander permis- sion, with a detachment, to drive the infantry from their covert. Houston, who Imd already decided (for reasons known then only 118 THE TWO ARMIES MEET. to himself, but apparent enough the next day) his plan and time for action, complied with Col. Sherman's request, although he gave him positive orders not to advance beyond the piece of timber, or endanger the safety of his men. Houston directed him to take two companies of his Regiment. He preferred charg- ing on horseback. Houston gratified him. He was repulsed, and the circumstance produced no good effect upon the men. XLYI. General Houston, as appears from his dispatch, which we have already given, was resolved to choose his own time for fight- ing, and compensate for his want of numbers, by military skill and superior advantage in position. In other words, he was resolved to watch his opportunity, and ''fight the enemy to such advantage as would insure victory, though the odds were greatly against him." Some slight skirmishing followed, which ended in Santa Anna's retiring with his army to a swell in the Prairie, with tim- ber and water in his rear. His position was near the bank of the Bay of San Jacinto, about three-quarters of a mile from the Texan camp, where he commenced a fortification. XLYII. Houston was well satisfied with the business of the day ; and he declared to one of his confidential officers that evening, that, although he did not doubt he would that day have won a victory, if he had pursued the enemy, yet it would have been attended with a heavy loss of men — "While, to-morrow," said he, "I will conquer, slaughter, and put to Jiight the entire Mexican army — and it shall not cost me a dozen of my brave men." Those who clamored then, and have clamored since, about Houston's THE EVENING BEFORE THE BATTLE. 119 losing SO fine an opportunity of fighting on the clay before the battle of San Jacinto, were, without doubt, brave men — but if they could have had their way at any om time after Houston took the command at Gonzalez, it is certain that it would have cost another Alamo or Goliad tragedy, and the day of San Jacinto would never have come. XLYIII. Evening came on, and Houston was about to withdraw his army from the field, to give them time for refreshment and repose, and to prepare for the following day. The flight of the enemy, in the first instance, and Santa Anna's rather precipitate retreat afterwards, had inspirited the Texan army. But Col. Sherman, who was determined to resort to a ruse for the purpose of forc- ing General Houston into a general engagement that day — now pressed the General most earnestly for leave to advance with his Cavalry, and attempt the capture of the Mexican field-piece. Houston discountenanced the movement altogether — for he felt sure that his plan of giving battle to the enemy the next day would succeed, and he was reluctant to peril unnecessarily the life of a single man. He also had some reason to apprehend a similar result to that which followed Sherman's ill-advised move- ment that morning. But he importuned him till the General consented to have him go out with the Cavalry and reconnoitre- the enemy's position and forces ; but he peremptorily ordered him by no means to go within gun-shot of the Mexicans, nor court a conflict. Houston ordered out the artillery and the infantry battalion behind an island of timber, to remain con- cealed, and if the enemy should attack Sherman's command, to be in readiness to meet and check their advances. Sherman dis- appeared with his Cavalry behind the timber the enemy had occupied in tlie morning, and Houston and his staft' awaited the 120 TRUTH AND ITS POWER. result, utterly ignorant of the ruse of Sherman to force the Texan commander into a general engagement, and therefore unconscious of their imminent peril. XLIX. The reconnoitering party had hardly disappeared, before the sound of firing in that direction was heard. In a single moment a susj^icion of Sherman's real design flashed over Houston's mind ; he mounted his horse and rode straight to the scene of action. He met Col. Sherman coming in. Although he had not succeeded in perilling the entire army by forcing them into a general engagement, yet he had succeeded in sacrificing the life of the brave Trask, and disabling the intrepid Woodliff, both of whom were now being borne back. Houston was incensed, for all this had been done in direct violation of his orders, and two of his Spartan soldiers borne bleeding by, were the only fruits that had followed. Gren. Foote's History (vol. ii. p. 301) declares that this was "a bold and well-conceived ruse to delude the Commander-in-Chief into a conflict, in spite of the monitions of his cooler judgment," though Sherman has since had the effrontery to declare that Gen. Houston sent him to be cut off! This would seem rather a singular charge, without remember- ing the circumstances, since Houston had lost neither a man nor a beast in his retreat to the Brazos, or in his advance to San Jacinto ; and on the night before the battle, he certainly had no men to spare. We only allude to the circumstance, however, as a fair sample of the countless calumnies which disappainted and factious men have heaped upon the name of Houston. The best way to kill falsehood is to publish plain truth — and we shall not trouble ourselves to deny in detail the thousand and one false statements which have been published against the Texan Senator. THE CAMP OF THE MEXICANS. 121 L. The Texan army now retired to their camp, and refreshed themselves for the first time in two days. " The enemy in the meantime extended the right flank of their infantry, so as to occupy the extreme point of a skirt of timber on the bank of the San Jacinto, and secured their left by a fortification about five feet high, constructed of packs and baggage, leaving an opening in the centre of their breastwork, in which their artil- lery was placed — the cavalry upon the left wing." (Extract from Gen. H.'s official report.) Such was the position of the Mexican army, and they main- tained it till the charge was made the next day. 122 THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE. SECTION EIGHTH. THE HERO OF SAN JA(3lNT0. During the entire presence of the enemy, on the day that witnessed the first meeting of the hostile armies, Houston had remained on horseback, exposed to their artillery, as a target. Branches were cut down over his head by cannon balls, and one shot struck the bit of his horse's bridle. After he had doubled the vigilance of his encampment, to render surprise impossible, he was prevailed on by his staff to take some rest, for he had scarcely eaten or slept for several days. It was now evening twilight, and the men were enjoying a hasty repast of the beef they had found so difficult to cook. Houston laid himself down under an old oak, with the coil of the artillery rope for his pillow. From the day he took com- mand of the army, he had never been known to have one hour's sound rest. His only time of repose had been after four o'clock in the morning, when he beat three taps on the drum, which he had done every morning till that day. At four o'clock, the line was always formed, and every man kept under arms till ^ daylight. He then lay down, and got what rest he could till the men had taken their breakfast, and were ready to march. In one of his letters to Mr. Rusk, during this period, in speaking of the solicitude he suffered, he says : "I will do the best I can ; but, be assured, the fame of Jackson could never compensate AA. Houston's Camp. BB. Barleson's Reiriment. CC. Artillery and Regulars DD. Sherman's Regiment. FF Islands of Timl)cr. GG. Santa Ann.a's Camp. 11. 400 men under Almonte. IIII. 1400, main Army under Santa Anna. THE MORNING OF SAN JACINTO. 123 me for my anxiety and mental pain." All this suffering arose from uncertainty. He had expected troops and supplies, and waited for them in vain. The fall of the Alamo, and the massacre of Fannin's command, had dispirited his men, and caused desertions. The Government itself had fled from the scene of danger, and consternation had spread through Texas ; he was in a new country, without the means of subsistence or transport ; his men were but half clad and half armed ; he was in the neighborhood of a powerful army, whose picket-guards outnumbered all the men in his camp, and he could decide neither the day nor the scene of battle. He had slept on the wet ground, without covering ; his only dress was the garb of a hunter, and his food only kept him alive. It is not strange, therefore, when the harrowings of suspense were over, and in the presence of the enemy, he had posted his faithful guards and fixed his iron purpose, that this man could lie down and sleep calmly and profoundly throughout the entire night. But he was probably the only man in that camp over whose mind flitted no anxious vision. II. The night which preceded the bloody slaughter of San Jacinto, rolled anxiously away, and brightly broke forth the morning of the last day of Texan servitude. Before the first grey lines shot up the East, three strange taps of a drum were heard in the camp, and *I00 soldiers sprang to their feet as one man. The camp was busy with the soklier-lmm of preparation for battle; but in the midst of it all, Houston slept on calmly and pro- foundly. The soldiers had eaten the last meal they were to eat till they had won their independence. Tliey were under arms, ready for the struggle. 124 THE MORNING OF THE BATTLE. III. At last the glorious sun came up over the Prairie, without a single cloud. It shone full and clear in the face of the Hero, and it waked him to battle. He sprang to his feet, and ex- claimed, " the sun of Austerlitz has risen again." His face was calm, and for the first time in many weeks, every shade of trou- ble had moved away from his brow. He ordered his Commis- sary General, Col. John Forbes, to provide two good axes, and then sent for Deaf Smith. He took this faithful and intrepid man aside, and ordered him to conceal the axes in a safe place near by, where he could lay his hands on them at a moment's warning, and not to pass the lines of the sentinels that day with- out his special orders, nor to be out of his call. IV. Morning wore away, and about nine o'clock, a large body of men was seen moving over a swell of the prairie in the direction of Santa Anna's camp. They were believed to be a powerful force which had come to join the Mexicans, and the spectacle pro- duced no little excitement in the Texan lines. Houston saw it at a glance, and quelled the apprehension by coolly remarking, that " they were the same men they had seen the day before — they had marched round the swell in the prairie and returned in sight of the Texan camp to alarm their foe, with the appearance of an immense reinforcement — for it was very evident Santa Anna did not wish to fight. But it was all a ruse de guerre that could be easily seen through — a mere Mexican trickJ^ Y. All this did very well, and yet Houston, of course, had quite a different notion on the subject. He sent Deaf Smith and a A COUNCIL OF WAR. 125 comrade, with confidential orders, as spies on their rearward march. They soon returned, and reported publicly that " the General was right — it was all a humbug." A few minutes after, Deaf Smitli whispered quite another story in the private ear of the commander. The enemy seen was a reinforcement of 540 men, under Gen. Cos, who had heard Santa Anna's cannon the day before on the Brazos, and come on by forced marches to join his standard. But the secret was kept till it did no harm to reveal it. At this juncture, a council of war, consisting of six field offi- cers was called, at their suggestion. The General in Chief, seated on the grass beneath a post oak tree, submitted the pro- position whether they should attack the enemy in his position, or whether they should wait for him to attack them in theirs ? The two juniors in rank were in favor of attack, but the four seniors objected, alleging that such a movement as charging a disciplined army in position by a raw soldiery, advancing in an open prairie, without the cover of artillery, and with only two hundred bayonets, was an unheard-of thing. The council was dismissed. The troops were sounded as to an attack, and were found to be favorable, and the General at once determined, on his own responsibility, to give battle. A proposition was made to the General to construct a floating bridge over Buffalo Bayou, " which might be used in the event of danger." Houston ordered his Adjutant and Inspector Ge- nerals and an Aide to ascertain if the necessary materials could be obtained. They reported that by tearing down a house in the neighborhood, they could. "We will postpone it awhile at all events," was Houston's reply. YI. In the meantime, he had ordered Deaf Smith to report to him, 126 HOUSTON BRINGS ON THE BATTLE. with a companion, well mounted. He retired with them to the spot where the axes had been deposited in the morning. Taking one in either hand, and examining them carefully, he handed them to the two trusty fellows, saying, " Now, my friends, take these axes, mount, and make the best of your way to Yince's bridge; cut it down, and burn it up, and come back like eagles, or you will be too lat^ for the day." This was the bridge over which both armies had crossed In their march to the battle- ground of San Jacinto, and it cut off all chance of escape for the vanquished. " This," said Deaf Smith, in his droll way, " looks a good deal like fight, General." VII. The reader will not fail to notice the difference between Houston's calculations of the results of that day, and those of some of his officers. They bethought themselves of building a new bridge — he of cutting down and burning up the only bridge in the neighborhood. The fact was, Houston was determined his army should come off victorious that day, or leave their bodies on the field. YIII. The day was now wearing away ; it was three o'clock in the afternoon, and yet the enemy kept concealed behind his breast- works, and manifested no disposition to come to an engagement. Events had taken just such a current as Houston expected and desired, and he began to prepare for battle. In describing his plan of attack, we borrow the language of his official report, after the battle was over. *' The 1st llegi- ment, commanded by Col. Burleson, was assigned the centre. The 2d Regiment, under the command of Col. Sherman, formed THE SLAUGHTER. 121 the left wing of the army. The artillery, under the special com- mand of Col. George W. Hockley, Inspector-general, was placed on the right of the 1st Regiment, and four companies of infantry, under the command of Lieut. Col. Henry Millard, sus- tained the artillery upon the right. Our cavalry, sixty-one in number, commanded by Col. Mirabeau B. Lamar, placed on our extreme right, completed our line. Our cavalry was first dis- patched to the front of the enemy's left, for the purpose of attracting their notice, whilst an extensive island of timber afforded us an opportunity of concentrating our forces and displaying from that point, agreeably to the previous design of the troops. Every evolution was performed with alacrity, the whole advancing rapidly in a line, and through an open prairie, without any protection whatever for our men. The artillery advanced and took station within two hundred yards of the enemy's breastwork." IX. Those who expect a minute and accurate account of this engagement, from the writer, or any one else, must be disap- pointed ; for no such description can ever be written. It was a slaughter, more than a haitle. We can only give the reader au idea of the position of both armies when the engagement began — fill up the interval of the next few minutes with blood, and smoke, and cries, and slaughter, and then tell the almost incre- dible result. The two armies w^ere now drawn up in complete order. There were *700 Texans on the field, and Santa Anna's troops numbered over eighteen hundred. Houston had informed Mr. Rusk of the plan of the battle, and he approved of it as perfect. The Secretary, it is true, had never been a soldier — he understood little of military evolutions or the discipline of an army ; — but Houston knew he carried a lion-heart in his bosom^ 128 THE CHARGE. and he assigned him the command of the left wing. The Gene- ral of course led the centre. Everything was now ready, and every man at his post waiting for the charge. The two six-pounders had commenced a well- directed fire of grape and canister, and they shattered bones and baggage where they struck. The moment had at last come. Houston ordered the charge, and sounded out the war cry, Remeaiber the Alamo. These magic words struck the ear of every soldier at the same instant, and " the Alamo !" " the Alamo !" went up from the army in one wild scream, which sent terror through the Mexican host. At that moment a rider came up on a horse covered with mire and foam, swinging an axe over his head, and dashed along the Texan lines, crying out, as he had been instructed to do, '' I have cut down Vince's bridge — 71010 fight for your lives and remember the Alamo," — and then the solid phalanx, which had been held back for a moment at the announcement, launched forward upon the breastworks like an avalanche of fire. Houston spurred his horse on at the head of the centre column right into the face of the foe. XI. The Mexican army was drawn up in perfect order, ready to receive the attack, and when the Texans were within about sixty paces, and before they had fired a rifle, a general flash was seen along the Mexican lines, and a storm of bullets went flying over the Texan army. They fired too high, but several balls struck Houston's horse in the breast, and one ball shattered the General's ankle. The noble animal staggered for a moment, but Houston spurred him on. If the first discharge of the Mexi- THE DEATH STRUGGLE. 129 cans had been well directed, it would have thinned the Texan ranks. But they pressed on, reserving their fire till each man could choose some particular soldier for his target : and before the Mexicans could reload, a murderous discharge of rifle balls was poured into their very bosoms. The Texan soldiers rushed on. They were without bayonets, but they converted their rifles into war-clubs and levelled them upon the heads of Santa Anna's men. Along the breastwork there was little more firing of muskets or rifles — it was a desperate struggle hand to hand. The Texans, when they had broken off their rifles at the breech, by smashing in the skulls of their enemies, flung them down, and drew their pistols. They fired them once, and having no time to reload, hurled them against the heads of their foes ; and then drawing forth their bowie-knives, literally cut theii' way through dense masses of living flesh. XII. It would be a gross mistake to suppose that the Mexicans played the coward that day — for they were slain by hundreds in the ranks where they stood when the battle began — but the fierce vengeance of the Texans could not be resisted. They fought as none but men can fight, when they are striking for their homes, their families and their dead kindred. The Mexi- can ofiicers and men stood firm for a time, but the Texans stamped on them as fast as they fell, and trampled the prostrate and the dying down with the dead, and clambering over the groaning, bleeding mass, plunged their knives into the bosoms of those in the rear. When they saw that the dreadful onset of their foe could not be resisted, they either attempted to fly, and were stabbed in the back, or fell on their knees to plead for mercy, crying, " me no Alamo .'" " me no Alamo !" *' me no AlamoP These unfortunate slaves of the Mexican tyrant had witnessed 6* 130 THE FATE OF THE FIVE HUNDRED. that brutal massacre of brave men, and now they could think of no other clahii for mercy, but the plea that they were not there: for they knew the day of vengeance for the Alamo had at last come. But before the centre breastwork had been carried, the right and left wings of the enemy had been put to the rout, or the slaughter. The Mexicans, however, not only stood their ground at first, but made several bold charges upon the Texan lines. XIII. A division of their Infantry, of more than five hundred men, made a gallant and well-directed charge, upon the Battalion of Texan Infantry, Seeing them hard pressed, by a force of three to one, the Commander-in-chief dashed between them and the enemy's column, exclaiming : — " Come on, my brave fellows, your General le'ads you." The Battalion halted and wheeled into perfect order, like a veteran corps, and Houston gave the order to fire. If the guns of the Texans had all been moved by machinery, they could not have been fired nearer the same instant. There was a single explosion — the Battalion rushed through the smoke, and those who had not been prostrated by the bullets were struck down by the cleaving blows of uplifted, rifles ; and the levelled column was trampled into the mire together. Of the five hundred, only thirty-two lived, even to surrender as prisoners of war. XIV. In the meantime, although Houston's wound was bleeding profusely, and his dying horse could scarce stagger his way over the slain, yet the Commander-in-chief saw every movement of DEAF SMITH. 131 his army, and followed the tide of battle as it rolled over the field. Wherever his eye fell, he saw the Mexicans staggering back under the resistless shock of his heroic soldiers. Regi- ments and Battalions, Cavalry and Infantry, horses and men, were hurled together ; and every officer and every man seemed to be bent upon a work of slaughter for himself. XV. The Mexican army had now been driven from their position, and were flying before their pursuers. Houston saw that the battle was won, and he rode over the field and gave his orders to stop the carnage if the enemy would surrender. But he had given the Alamo for their war-cry, and the magic word could not be recalled. The ghosts of brave men, massa- cred at Goliad and the Alamo, flitted through the smoke of battle, and the uplifted hand could not be stayed. XVI. " While the battle was in progress," says General Husk, " the celebrated Deaf Smith, although on horseback, was fight- ing with the infantry. When they had nearly reached the enemy, Smith galloped on ahead, and dashed directly up to the Mexican line. Just as he reached it, his horse stumbled and fell, throwing him on his head among the enemy. Having dropped his sword in the fall, he drew one of his belt-pistols, presented it at the head of a Mexican, who was attempting to bayonet him, and it missed fire. Smith then hurled the pistol itself at the head of the Mexican, and, as he staggered back, he seized his gun, and began his work of destruction. A young man, by the name of Robbins, dropped his gun in the 132 THE DAY OF VENGEANCE. confusion of the battle, and happening to run directly in contact with a Mexican soldier who had also lost his musket, the Mexican seized Robbins, and both being stout men, rolled to the ground. But Robbins drew out his bowie-knife, and ended the contest by cutting the Mexican's throat. On starting out from our camp, to enter upon the attack, I saw an old man, by the name of Curtis, carrying two guns. I asked him what reason he had for carrying more than one gun. He answered : * D — n the Mexicans ; they killed my son and son-in-law in the Alamo, and I intend to kill two of them for it, or be killed myself.' I saw the old man again during the fight, and he told me 'he had killed his two men ; and if he could find Santa Anna himself he would cut out a razor-strap from his hack.^ " XYII. Such was the day of vengeance. It was not strange that no invading army, however brave, could long withstand so dreadful an onset. "When the Mexicans were first driven from the point of woods where we encountered them," continues General Rusk, " their officers tried to rally them, but the men cried ' It's no use, it's no use, there are a thousand Americans in the woods.' When Santa Anna saw Almonte's Division running past him, he called a drummer, and ordered him to beat his drum. The drummer held up his hands and told him he was shot. He called then to a trumpeter near him to sound his horn. The trumpeter replied that he, also, was shot. Just at that instant a ball from one of our cannon struck a man who was standing near Santa Anna, taking off one side of his head. Santa Anna then exclaimed, * D — n these Americans ; I believe they will shoot us all.' He immediately mounted his horse, and commenced his flight." THE FLIGHT OF SANTA ANNA. 133 XVIII. The flight had nowl3ecome universal. The Texans had left' on the ground, where the battle began, more than their entire number, dying and dead ; and far away over the Prairie they were chasing the flying, and following up the slaughter. Mul- titudes were overtaken and killed as they were making their escape through the deep grass. The Mexican cavalry were well mounted, and after the event they struck deep their spurs into their fleet horses, and turned their heads towards Yince's Bridge. They were hotly pursued by the victors, and when the latter came up, the most appalling spectacle, perhaps, of the entire day, was witnessed. When the fugitive horsemen saw that the bridge was gone, some of them, in their desperation, spurred their horses down the steep bank ; others dismounted and plunged in the stream ; some were entangled in their trappings, and were dragged down with their struggling steeds ; others sunk at once to the bottom ; while those whose horses reached the opposite bank fell backwards into the river. In the meantime, while they were struggling with the flood, their pursuers, who had come up, were pouring down upon them a deadly fire, which cut off all escape. Horses and men, by hundreds, rolled down together ; the waters were red with their blood, and filled with their dying gurgles. The deep, turbid stream, was literally choked with the dead ! XIX. A similar spectacle was witnessed on the Southern verge of the Island of Trees, near the Mexican encampment, in the rear of the battle-ground. There was little chance of escape in this quarter, for a deep morass was to be passed ; and yet mul- titudes, in their desperation, had rushed to this spot as a forlorn hope. They had plunged into the mire and water with horses 184 THE RETURN FROM THE FIELD. and mules, and, in attempting to pass, had been completely sub- merged ; every one who seemed likely to escape soon received a ball from the murderous aim of a practiced rifleman, and the morass was literally bridged over with carcasses of dead mules, horses, and men. XX. The conquerors rode slowly off from the field of fame, and the resting-place of the dead, and returned to the oak, at whose foot the hero of San Jacinto had slept till the " Sun of Auster- litz" had woke him that morning. All resistance to the arms of Texas ceased. The pursuers returned to the camp, where a command was left to guard the spoils taken from the enemy. As the Commander-in-Chief was riding across the field, the vic- torious soldiers came up in crowds, and slapping him rudely on the wounded leg, exclaimed — " Do you like our work to-day. General ?•' " Yes, boys, you have covered yourselves with glory, and I decree to you the spoils of victory ; I will reward valor. I only claim to share the honors of our triumph with you. I shall not take my share of the spoils." He did not. XXI. While he was giving his orders, after he reached the Texan encampment, and before he dismounted. General Rusk came - in and presented his prisoner Almonte. It was the first time these two men had ever met. This seemed to give a finishing stroke to the victory; and Houston, who was completely exhausted from fatigue and loss of blood, fell from his horse. Colonel Hockley caught him in his arms, and laid him at the foot of the oak. THE SPOILS OF VICTORY. 135 XXII. Thus ended the bloody day of Sau Jacinto — a battle that has scarcely a parallel in the annals of war. Its immediate fruits were not small — for the spoils were of great value to men who had nothing in the morning but the arms they carried, scanty, coarse clothing, and the determination to be free. About 900 stand of English muskets (besides a vast number that were lost in the Morass and Bayou), 300 sabres, and 200 pistols, 3*0 valuable mules, a hundred fine horses, a good lot of provisions, clothing, tents, and paraphernalia for officers and men, and twelve thousand dollars in silver, constituted the principal spoils. XXIII. But the booty was esteemed meaner than nothing, in com- parison with the great moral and political consequences that attended the victory. On that well-fought field Texan Inde- pendence was won. A brave, but an outraged people, in imi- tation of their fathers of the last age, had entrusted their cause to the adjudication of battle, and God took care of the issue. For our own part, we can find in the whole range of History no spectacle more sublime. It was not a struggle for the aggran- dizement of some military chieftain — nor was it a strife for empire — the soldiers, who marched under the " Lone Star" into that engagement, were free, brave, self-relying men. Some of them, indeed, had come from a neighboring Bepublic, as Lafay- ette crossed the sea, to join in the struggles of freedom, but most of the Texan army were men who cultivated the soil they fought on, and had paid for it with their money or their labor. Hundreds of them had abandoned their fugitive wives to achieve everlasting freedom for their children. They were fighting for all that makes life worth having, or gives value to its pos- session. 136 THE SUBLIMITY OF THE VICTORY. And when the victors laid themselves down to rest that night, and Heaven folded its blue curtains kindly around them, and they thought that their troubles and anxieties were over — that they could now return to the embrace of their happy families with the hope of a long and peaceful life of earnest and manly endeavor, and a quiet old age, when they should hold their grandchildrens on their knee, and tell them the story of the Woody day of San Jacinto — it is not strange that they felt more than compensated for all their privations and all their sufferings. XXIY. But the sublimity of the spectacle is lost, unless the eye has scope for a wider field of vision. There art events whose con- sequences can be measured by no estimate into whose calculation centuries do not come. If the historian of the Plymouth Colony could have lived a century longer, he might have perceived clearly what is now reduced only to a question of time, that from the day the Mayflower swung round to her mooring on the rock of Plymouth, the sceptre of the New World passed for ever into the imi^^rial hand of the Anglo-Saxon race. But for a long period this grand result seemed impossible, and he who should have proclaimed that it would one day take place, would have been called a dreamer. Spain and Portugal, France and England, had divided the Northern and Southern Hemisphere of the new-found World. But the French empire in America received a fatal shock when England wrested from it the Canadas in 17G3 ; and she afterwards lost by diplomacy what could not be wrested from her in battle. One dominion then dis- ajtjiearcd. XXV. At last, when it became apparent that even Englishmen in THE DOMINION OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 13t America could not develop their strength under British sway, the drama of 't6 began, and all that was valuable in the New Continent that belonged to England, became the heritage of her American children. This was the second great act. XXYI. In the meantime the powerful savage tribes, whose wigwams served as beacon fires to the earliest voyagers along the Atlan- tic coast, melted away before the steady advance of European population, and the Indian dominion passed away. XXVII. At last, the American people, — this new form of humanity, which concentrated in itself nearly all those qualities, which, in past times, had given empire to separate nations, began to cross the frontiers of that ancient power which, for three hundred years, had made the fair valley of the Montezumas the seat of their dominion. But this began in no encroachment — no inva- sion upon the rights or soil of a neighhoring State. Mexico, although she had caught enough of the all-pervading spirit of the Anglo-Saxon to rise and shake off the foul mantle of Span- ish despotism, had not vital energy enough left within herself to work out her own political regeneration. She had been too long bowed into the dust by the foreign tyrant — she had been too long steeped in the besotted bigotry of superstition — she had never thought or acted for herself — she had no clear per- ception of human rights — no intelligent idea of liberty. She did not know that a nation never can grow rich by abandoning the cultivation of the soil, and digging gold and silver from the mine — she could not understand why it was that six vigorous republics had grown up into power on the cold barren hills of 138 WHY AMERICANS WENT TO TEXAS. New England, while she had loecome feeble and impoverished in the midst of the very garden of the world. And yet she believ- ed, if she could once introduce that northern population into her limits, she could borrow from them the secret of their magic power. Her statesmen were told that Xew Englanders, when they found they could not get their bread from their rocky, frozen soil, made commerce of stones and grew rich by exporting their granite, and lime, and cobble-stones, during the summer, and sent off ship-loads of their surplus water as soon as it froze in winter, albeit they had to find their market for it on the other side of the globe. These, said the Mexican statesmen, are the men we must get to colonize our vast garden-province of Texas — for we have for three centuries tried in vain to do It ourselves. XXYIII. So that fertile territory was thrown open to the people of the United States, and they were plied by all those motives of gain and pledges of protection which, in the mind of the pioneer settler, prove too strong for the allurements of home. A band of choice spirits, hardy, working men, who had been trained in the district schools of New York and New England, and cultivated their cold, ungrateful soil, were led out to find their new homes in the fair province of New Estramadura, where all nature was blushing under the purple light of the tropics. At their head went Stephen F. Austin ; one of those few men upon whose incorruptible, dauntless truth, a young nation finds it her salvation to repose. In his rare and great character, all that was lofty in the Cavalier and uncompromising in the Puritan was mingled. XXIX. He entered into his obligations with the Mexican Govern- SPAIN FADES FROM ANCIENT DOMINIONS. 139 ment, and conducted all his negotiations and redeemed all his pledges, in good faith, For a time, Mexico stood by her engagements, and the infant colony struck its roots deep into the soil. At last Mexico discovered that the very quahties from which she promised herself so much advantage — the industry, the enterprise, the inventions of the new colonists, — were all owing to that intelligent love of liberty which she so little understood, and yet so much dreaded. She saw that men who had energy enough to be good settlers, where Spaniards had failed, had too much independence ever to be governed as Spaniards. But she found out her mistake only when it was too late to correct it. Like the ancient Britons, she had invited a superior race into her country, unconscious that her sceptre would one day be transferred to their hands. XXX. This was the point upon which the destiny of the old Spanish empire hinged. Mexico might now have borrowed from her new subjects the elements of an entire political regeneration. These colonists were not ambitious men — they went there only to cultivate the soil — but they had carried, of necessity, their civilization and love of liberty with them, and they could not brook the tyranny of Mexican Dictators. They went prepared to stand by the Federal Constitution of 1824, and up to the 2d of March, 1836, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, all the protests and discontent, all the demands and petitions of the Texans, were limited to a concession of the rights secured to all the States of Mexico by that Constitution ! XXXI. But Mexico was now under the sway of selfish, ambitious 140 THE DESPOTISM OF MEXICO. military chieftains, who, in the struggle for supremacy, had trampled the Constitution of 1824 into the dust. And let it never be forgotten, that when the political agitations of Texas began, and the will of the entire people had been declared, all they asked for, and all they desired then, was to see the Constitution of 1824 preserved inviolate. But men, who are driven to the wall, and compelled to fight for life, sometimes fight for victory. Mr. Austin was then Commissioner to Mexico, and he went to the Capital with his memorial. His very appearance in that city with the prayer of his colony, that tl\e Mexicans would abide by their own Constitution, under whose solemn pledges he had led his people to their new home — was too bitter a sar- casm upon the corrupt tyrants who had trampled down that high compact, and he was plunged into a foul dungeon, where for many months he never saw a beam of sunshine, nor even the hand that fed him. XXXII. How was all this tampering with Anglo-Saxon men to end ? Who, that knows what plighted faith means, or has any notion of the obligations growing out of a political compact, will pretend to say that Texas was bound to submit to the decrees of a Dictator who had committed high treason against his government — treason for which he would have been brought to the block by the people of Mexico, had he not had 20,000 bayo- nets at his back. The Federal compact had now been broken, and by the highest law of nations, every State of the Union not only had the right, but was bound in duty to take care of itself. An immediate Declaration of Independence would have been justified by the world. But Texas still remonstrated, and still prayed. All she ivanted, icas a, return to the Constitution of 1824. But that Constitution lay bleeding under the hoofs of A JUSTIFICATION OF TEXAS. 141 Santa Anna's battle-horse, and his myrmidon soldiers had possession of the Capital. War was proclaimed against Texas by Mexico, because she would not acknowledge a Dictator — and an invading army was sent across the Rio Grande, to *' lay waste the infant colony, and slaughter all its inhabitants.^'^ XXXIII. This was the position of Texas — and if those men were not justiJBed in defending their wives and children from slaughter, and their dwellings from fire, there never was a people who had a right to smite the arm of a tyrant. The heroes of '16 rebelled against a constitutional government, with its parliament and king, because they were required to pay a stamp tax. The Texans never rebelled at all. They would not bow to a Dictator who had stamped the free Constitution of his country under his feet ; — and now a war of extermination was proclaimed. Seven hundred brave men were slaughtered and burned to ashes, after they had, under a solemn pledge that their lives should be spared, surrendered themselves prisoners of war. The red flame of exterminating war was now rolling over the very bosom of the young Republic, whose only crime was her loyalty to the Federal Constitution of Mexico. XXXIY. At last the slaughter-day of San Jacinto came, and the Texans who went into battle, knew that every one of them would have been put to death in cold blood, if the enemy had conquered. Such had been the case at Goliad and the Alamo, and such was the watchword of the advancing Dictator. But high over the smoke and screams of the field of San Jacinto, we seem to see, and do see, the hand of the God of Freedom and 142 time's noblest offspring. of Vengeance. His purposes were unknown to man, but they could not be overthrown. The wing of his Almighty Provi- dence had sheltered the bark of the Pilgrims, and his strong arm had been thrown around the rude homes of Plymouth. Over the deliberations of the Provincial Congress, He again pre- sided, and in the Declaration of Independence His will was done. And now, having decreed, that the broad prairies and shining rivers of that vast land, which had groaned under the tramp of despotic power, and been blasted by the withering blight of superstition for ages, should be regenerated by a nobler and better race. He had begun to reveal his great purposes. XXXY. The last act of this drama, which had begun on the shore of Kew England, was to be opened on the field of San Jacinto. And although the sun gleamed on the armor of eighteen hundred Mexicans that morning, and when the Commander's bugles sounded the charge, he was, to all human appearances, sure of a victory ; yet the result proved that the battle is not always to the strong — that " God rules among the nations of the earth, and giveth its kingdoms to whomsoever He will." A decree had gone forth against that army, and against the long- abused reign of Spanish power in Mexico — " thy dominion is taken from thee." And the future historian will, one day, open his scroll by announcing that when the sun went down over the groans and the slaughter of San Jacinto, the dominion of Mexico passed for ever away. Such had been the first four acts of the drama of the New World. " The Fifth, then closed the Drama with the day, Time's noblest offspring was the last." THE MORNING AFTER THE VICTORY. 143 SECTION NINTH. THE VICTOR AND THE CAPTIVE. I. The battle of Independence had been fought. Seven hundred soldiers had met nearly three times their number, and come off victorious. Six hundred and thirty men were left dead on the field ; among them were, one general officer, four colonels, two lieutenant-colonels, seven captains, and twelve lieutenants. Multitudes had perished in the morass and the bayous. Of the surviving, upwards of two hundred and eighty were wounded, and there were nearly eight hundred prisoners. Only seven men are known to have escaped from the field. And yet, incredible as it may seem, this bloody engagement had cost the Texans the lives of only seven men, and less than thirty had been wounded. It was incredible, and when the Commander- in-Chief awoke the next morning, and heard the facts, he asked, *' Is this so, or is it only my dream ?" II. At ten o'clock in the morning, Gen. Houston sent a detach- ment of men to bury the enemy's dead who had fallen in battle ; but decomposition had taken place so rapidly, the troops returned aiid reported they could not execute his order ! This extraordinary circumstance excited the greatest surprise, and the Mexican prisoners accounted for it by resolving it, like the 144 SANTA ANNA HOUSTON'S PRISONER. defeat of the previous day, into " a malignant blast of des- tiny." III. In the meantime, a large number of Texans were scouring the prairie throughout the day, and bringing in prisoners. The grass was everywhere four or five feet high, and those who had not been taken the day before, were now crawling away on their hands and knees, hoping thus to effect their escape. Santa Anna had not yet been taken, but the victors were scouring every part of the field in search of the Dictator. " You will find the Hero of Tampico," said Houston, " if you find him at all, making his retreat on all fours, and he will be dressed as bad at least as a common soldier. Examine closely every man you find." lY. t Lieutenant Sylvester, a volunteer from Cincinnati, was riding over the prairie, on a fine horse, about three o'clock in the after- noon, when he saw a man making his way towards Yince's bridge. The moment he found himself pursued, the fugitive fell down in the grass. Sylvester dashed on in that direction, and his horse came very near trampling him down. The man sprang to his feet, and apparently without the slightest sur- prise, looked his captor full in the face. He was disguised in a miserable rustic dress. He wore a skin-cap, a round jacket, and pantaloons of blue domestic cotton, with a pair of coarse soldier's shoes. But his face and his manners bespoke, too plainly, that he belonged to a different class than his garb betokened; and underneath his coarse disguise, Sylvester saw that he wore a shirt of the finest linen cambric. "You are an officer, I perceive, sir," said the horseman, raising his cap HOUSTON RECEIVES SAXTAANNA. 145 politely. " No, soldier," was his reply ; and he drew out a letter in Spanish, addressed to Almonte. When he saw there was no hope of escape, he inquired for General Houston. By this time, Sylvester had been joined by several of his comrades, and mounting his prisoner behind him, they rode off together, on the same horse, to the camp, several miles distant. As he passed the Mexican prisoners, they exclaimed with the greatest sur- prise as they lifted their caps, ^' El Fresidente .'" Y. In a single moment, the news spread through the camp that Gen. Santa Anna was a prisoner, and the Dictator was taken to Houston. The General was lying on the ground, and having slept little during the night, in consequence of his wound, had now fallen into a doze. Santa Anna came up behind him, and took his hand. Houston roused himself, and turning over, gazed up in the face of the Mexican, who extended his left arm, and laying his right hand on his heart, said, "I am General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, President of the Mexican Repub- lic^ and I claim to he your prisoner of warP Houston waved his hand to a box, — for it was the only seat in tlie camp — and asked his prisoner to be seated. He then sent for Almonte, who spoke English perfectly, and requested him to act as interpreter. VI. In the meantime, Santa Anna had taken his seat, and glanc- ing his keen eye occasionally around the camp, with a timid expression, pressed the sides of his breasts with both hands, and gave two or three half-suppressed groans, like a man who was suffering deep pain. An interesting incident took place about this time, which is tlius related by Gen. Rusk : "At the time Santa Anna was brought into our camp, I was walking with 146 THE MORTIFIED MEXICAN DICTATOR. young Zavala. (The reader will recognize ia this youthful character, the son of the noble and venerable Zavala, who dis- tinguished himself as the friend of Texan independence.) We approached him together. Santa Anna recognized young Zavala at once, and advanced to meet him with great apparent cordiality, uttering many expressions of kindness, such as are customary among the Mexicans on such occasions, several of which I remember. Among other things, he exclaimed " Oh ! my friend, my friend, the son of my early friend ;" with which, and other exclamations in the same strain, he embraced young Zavala, with high indications of apparent feeling, and I think, dropping a tear. Young Zavala returned his greeting with that deference which would have been due to his former rank and power ; but at the same time, emitting from his counten- ance an expression I have scarcely seen equalled on any occasion. His look seemed to wither Santa Anna, and staring him full in the face, he replied immediately, with great modesty, 'It has been so, sir.' Santa Anna evinced plainly that be was much mortified." YII. Almonte approached his captive General with evident respect and grief, and the following conversation took place between the two commanders ; Houston, in the meantime, lying on the ground, resting on his elbow. Great pains has been taken to get as nearly as possible the exact words us^ed by the speakers, and those who were present at the interview, have assured us, that all here related they do remember, and they recollect nothing else of importance. VIII. Santa Anna (after embracing Almonte, and recovering per- **. o S SANTA ANNA MEETS HOUSTON. 147 fectly from his embarrassment, rose, and advancing with the air of one born to command, said to General Houston — "That man may consider himself born to no common destiny, who has con- quered the Napoleon of the West ; and it now remains for him to be generous to the vanquished." Houston. — " You should have remembered that at the Alamo." S. A. — " You must be aware that I -^^as justified in my course by the usages of war. I had summoned a surrender, and they had refused. The place was then taken by storm, and the usa- ges of war justified the slaughter of the vanquished." H. — " That was the case once, but it is now obsolete. Such usages among civilized nations have yielded to the influences of humanity." iS. A. — " However this maybe, I was acting under the orders of my Government." H. — "Why, YOU are the Government of Mexico," S. A. — " I have orders in my possession commanding me so to act." H. — " A Dictator, sir, has no superior." S. A. — " I have orders. General Houston, from my Govern- ment, commanding me to exterminate every man found in arms in the province of Texas, and treat all such as pirates ; for they have no Government, and are fighting under no recognized flag. This will account for the positive orders of my Government." H. — " So far as the first point is concerned, the Texans flatter themselves they have a Government already, and they will pro- bably be able to make a flag. T3ut if you feel excused for your conduct at San Antonio, you have not the same excuse for the massacre of Colonel Fannin's command. They had capitulated on terms proffered by yonr General. And yet, after the capitu- lation, they were all perfidiously massacred, without the privilege of even dying with arms in their hands." Those who were present say that when Houston came to speak 148 CROSS EXAMINATION OF SANTA ANNA. of the Goliad tragedy, it seemed impossible for him to restrain his indignation. His eye flashed hke a wild beast's, and in his gigantic effort to curb in his wrath, cold sweat ran off from his brow in streams. S. A. — " I declare to you. General (laying his hand on his heart), that I was not apprised of the fact that they had capitulated. General Urrea informed me that he had conquered them in a battle, and under this impression I ordered their execution." H. — " I 1,-now, General, that the men had capitulated." iS. A. — '' Then I was ignorant of it. And after your assevera- tion I should not have a shadow of doubt, if it were not that General Urrea had no authority whatever to receive their capitnr lation. And if the day ever comes that I can get Urrea into my hands, I will execute him for his duplicity in not giving me information of the facts." IX. Here the conversation was suspended for a while, and Santa Anna requested a small piece of opium. It was ordered by Houston, who asked him if he w^ould desire his marquee and luggage, and the attendance of his aides and servants. Santa Anna thanked him very politely, and said " it would make him very happy, since they were proffered by his captor." While the order was being given, Almonte manifested a disposition to continue the conversation with Houston. After remarking to the Texan General that fortune had indeed favored him, he asked why he had not attacked the Mexicans the first day the armies met. " You had reason to suppose we should be reinforced. And yet if you had risked a battle that day you would have had another story to tell, perhaps, for our men were th€7i ready to fight, and so anxious for the battle THE SAN JACINTO CORN. 149 to come on, that we could hardl}^ keep tbem in their ranks. Why did you wait till the next morning, General ?" ''Well," replied Houston, "I see I was right. 1 kneio jon expected I should bring on the battle that day, and were consequently prepared for it. Now if I must be questioned by an inferior officer in the presence of his General, I will say that was just the reason why I did not fight ; and besides, I thought there was no use in having two bites at one cherry." After some remark of Almonte, which irritated Houston, and which, in the opinion of all who heard it, ill-befitted the occasion, he said — " You have come a great way to give us a great deal of trouble — and you have made the sacrifice of the lives of a great many brave men necessary." '' Oh," flippantly replied Al- monte, "what of six or eight hundred men ! And, from all accounts, only half a dozen of your hrave men have fallen." Houston replied : " We estimate the lives of our men, I per- ceive, somewhat higher than you do," and he gave him a look which seemed to say, "taunt me again, and you don't live an hour." Almonte very politely changed his tone. " You talk about reinforcements, sir," said Houston, raising himself up, " it matters not how many reinforcements you have, sir, you never can conquer freemen," And taking from his pocket an ear of dry coru which he had carried for four days, only a part of it being consumed, he held it up and said, " Sir, do you ever expect to conquer men who fight for freedom, when their General can march four days with one ear of corn for his rations ?" X. The exhibition of the ear of corn stirred up all the enthusiasm of the Texan soldiers, and they- gathered round their General, and asked him to allow them to divide the corn. " We'll plant it," said they, " and call it the Houston corn." " Oh, yes, my 150 AMERICANS CAN NEVER B E C N Q U E R ED . brave fellows/' said the General, smiling, "take it along if you care anything about it, and divide it among you — give each one a kernel as far as it will go, and take it home to your own fields, where I hope you may long cultivate the arts of peace as nobly as you have shown yourselves masters of the art of war. You have achieved your independence — now see if you cannot make as good farmers as you have proved yourselves gallant soldiers. You may not call it Houston corn ; but call it San Jacinto corn — for then it will remind you of your own bravery." It is also said that in one of his dispatches that day to the people of the Sabine, the General said to those who had fled from their homes, " return and plant corn." The soldiers distributed their corn, and it now waves over a thousand green fields in Texas. XI. Santa Anna had become interested in the conversation, and Almonte related to him what had been said. The Mexican General seemed to be transported with rage, and he cursed Almonte for losing the battle. He was mortified beyond measure to think that his large army, perfectly armed and munitioned, with ofiicers whose camp was filled with every luxury, should have been conquered by an undiscipHned band of raw troops, incompletely armed, and whose officers were desti- tute of most, even, of the necessaries of life. It is worthy of remark, also, that Santa Anna afterwards said " that this was the first moment he had ever understood the American character ; and that what he had witnessed, convinced him that Americans never could be conquered." XII. Santa Anna's marquee was set near the spot where Houston SANTA ANNA TO BE SHOT. 151 was lying. His trunks were not examined, nor any portion of his baggage molested. The Texan General knew that there was hardly a man in his army who did not wish to see Santa Anna expiate his crimes with his blood, and very few believed it would be possible even for Houston to protect him from assas- sination. But he knew the eyes of the civilized world would be turned upon the Texan camp, and that however guilty Santa Anna may have been, the name of Texas would be given over to execration if any violence was offered to the Captive. He therefore took the necessary precautions to see that not only no violence, but no indignity, should be offered to his prisoner. The course he took in this matter entitles him to the regard of mankind. The feeling that prevailed in the army could not be mistaken, and various circumstances have come lo our know- ledge which serve to illustrate not only Houston's extreme vigi- lance, but his superior shrewdness in detecting insubordination, and his address in putting it down. One example we will allude to. XIII. An ofScer had resolved to shoot Santa Anna, and had pre- pared himself for the work. His design, however, he had kept to himself, and Houston could have had no intimation of it from any quarter. But as the officer was passing Houston on the day of the night he had fixed for the execution of his purpose, the General, who saw something wrong in his manner, beckoned him to approach. He conversed with him, privately and confidentially, on the subject of his fears ; and after depict- ing the horrible consequences that would follow Santa Anna's assassination, told the officer that he had made him his confi- dant in the matter, because he knew he would be more likely than any other man in the camp, to detect any murderous scheme projected, and he relied on his vigilance. The officer 152 HOrSTON-3 MAGXAN'IMITY TO SANTA ANNA. gave him his pledge he would act on his suggestion, and, more- over, declared that Santa Anna should never be assassinated while ht was in the camp. He was as good as his word : and yet he afterwards declared he had, at the very time, the arms on his person with which he had sworn to kill Santa Anna. Such was one of the thousand expedients Houston was obliged to resort to, to maintain discipline over those wayward, reckless men. Xo one knew how he did it, and yet it passed into a proverb that Houston was the only man in the world that could have kept the army in subjection, or achieved the independence of Texas, or preserved it after it was won. Houston, therefore, exer- cised the keenest vigilance over the safety of his prisoner, and treated him as a guest and a gentleman, rather than as a captive. XIV. ISiight came. The guard was so disposed as to include Santa Anna's marquee, and he slept on his camp-bed with every com- fort he could have had if he had been the victor ; while, near by him, Houston lay upon the earth — his wonted bed in camp — with no respite from the intense agony of his wound. The ball had entered about one inch above the ankle joint, shatter- ing the bone, and severing the muscles and arteries. It pros- trated him for months, during which time he was worn down by fever and pain to the shadow of a man. XY. As Houston and Rusk were riding side by side from the battle-field, returnmg to camp, they discovered two ravens hovering over the field in the smoke which lingered over the battle scene. Some of the men proposed to shoot them, as they were near the earth. Houston said, "Xo — don't shoot them — it SANTA ANNA AND HOUSTON. 153 is a good omen. Their heads are pointing westward. 'Tis the course of empire. I own I am a little superstitious about the raven." XYI. The next morning Santa Anna asked leave to see General Houston, which was granted. He presented himself elegantly dressed in citizen's garb, and tendered a most respectful and cor- dial greeting to his "host," and inquired kindly for his health and the state of his wound. The difference in the dresses of the two men was striking. Houston had on a plain, old black coat, snuff-colored pantaloons, a black velvet vest, a fur cap, a worn-out pair of boots, and a scimitar of tried metal, with a plated scabbard — a gift from his friend Captain Joseph Bonnell, of Fort Jessup. He had worn it, hung by buckskin thongs. This constituted his wardrobe, and his armory. Santa Anna would have been taken for the victor, and Houston for the captive. XYII. The Texan commander received his prisoner with courtesy, and he immediately proposed negotiations for his liberty. Hous- ton, who, from the, beginning to the end of Santa Anna's capture^ never was alone with him a single moment, immediately sent for the Secretary of War, and together they conversed some time with the prisoner. Santa Anna submitted a proposition. But General Houston informed the Mexican '^ President" that he could take no action on his proposals, as Texas was ruled by a Constitutional Government, whose members had been sent for immediately after the battle. Santa Anna naturally asked where the Government was — a question which he found could not be so easily answered. 1* 154 Houston's treatment of his prisoners. XYIII. This " Government'^ liacl, as we have already stated, fled from the scene of danger, and scattered to the four winds of Heaven. Fortunately, it was known where the head of the Government was, or rather where he had been, for he had escaped to Galveston, and prepared to take passage on a little vessel called the Flash, before even the first flash of the enemy's guns. Houston think- ing he might wait there till the news of the battle came — since even so prudent a man would perceive he could have plenty of time to get his craft under way before the victors could reach him — had dispatched his first express to that quarter. XIX. It is to be disclaimed that Houston, or the Secretary of War, in his presence, ever entertained any proposition of Santa Anna's, to enter into negotiations with him ; but referred him to the Cabinet. At the end of the first conversation with Santa Anna, Houston peremptorily ordered him to draw up a command to Gen. Filisola, second in command to him, to evacuate Texas, and fall back to Monterey, on the west side of the Rio Grande. And it was a peremptory command of Houston, without annex- ing any condition to it. Xor did Houston ever make any pro- mise, nor was any made by any other person, so far as Houston was cognizant of it. XX. Santa Anna, who had a great aversion against any nego- tiations with civilians, manifested a perfect willingness to act with military men. But Houston and Rusk were immovable in their determination. A detachment of 250 Texans was then ORDERS TO SANTA ANNA. 155 ordered to march with a dispatch from Santa Anna, and General Filisola was instructed to depart immediately, with all the Mexican troops, as far at least as Monterey,-^this order had been exacted by General Houston without an intimation that even Santa Anna's life should be spared. Filisola was on the east side of the Brazos when he received news of the disas- ter of San Jacinto from an officer who had escaped from the battle-field on a fleet Andalusian courser, and succeeded in reach- ing his camp. XXI. It was night when he reached Filisola's head-quarters, when the camp broke up in confusion, and prepared for flight. They fired a large cotton gin, to have the benefit of the flames to light up their passage over the river. The Texan detachment pressed ou by forced marches in pursuit of the rear-guard of the Mexican army. They found horses, mules, and baggage-wagons, with sick soldiers, scattered along the path of the flying Division, which indicated the utter consternation with which the retreat had been made. They had been obliged to march through a low, wet prairie, in reaching the Colorado. But they were overtaken by the pursuers, and Filisola received the messengers who bore the flag with every mark of respect, and pledged him- self to execute General Santa Anna's orders without any delay. He asked leave only to take some cattle along his march : but he stretched his license far enough to rob every living thing he fell in with on his way. Filisola's Division marched, and the Texan Detachment returned to San Jacinto. XXII. Houston had given orders that a portion of the spoils should 156 THE FUGITIVE GOVERNMENT. be divided equally among officers and men, and appointed three suj^erior officers to execute his order. A- great number of incidents occurred during this period, which would serve to illustrate Houston's character. But we are obliged to omit their relation. A soldier, for example, had fled from the battle, declaring that all his comrades were killed at the first fire. When General Houston heard of the circum- stance, he declared he would have him shot. His Captain importuned the Commander to let him go. " Why, yes, Captain," said the General, " I will let him off, but on condition that he will promise to marry into a valiant race and cross the breed. Under no other circumstances will I let him go." XXIII. The news of the victory spread by expresses all over the country, and not many days elapsed before the little steamboat Yellow Stone arrived from Galveston, bringing the (fugitive) " Government ;" and they boldly marched right into the very presence of Santa Anna himself, who had been surrendered to them the moment of their arrival. But when they came from their hiding-places, they looked, of course, more like victors than fugitives. Houston, at once, surrendered everything into their hands but the money ; this had been already divided among his gallant comrades. Those who understand much of human nature, will not be sur- prised to hear that, from that day forward, these "fugitive statesmen" became the irrevocable foes of the brave man who had redeemed the nation which they had deserted in the hour of her darkest trial. They had fled, and Houston had fought ; they knew the odium that would rest upon their names, and as Houston had been covered with the fame of a hero, they never could forgive him. An old philosopher once said, we never do RUSK, THE PATRIOT SOLDIER. 157 forgive anybody whom we have injured. They did not express any aversion to, or condemnation of, Houston's acts — this would not have been entirely safe — but their future conduct showed most clearly, that, from that day, they were bent upon his destruction. XXIY. They began by treating him with manifest coolness. A pro- position was even made by Robert Potter, Secretary of the Navy, to dismiss him from service, alleging no cause, but many reasons. Mr. Rusk, the Secretary of War, who, when the Cabinet fled to the sea-shore, had hurried to the camp, and toiled with its heroic soldiery, partaking of their privations and mingling in their perils — Mr. Rusk, the patriot-soldier, met the proposition in a spirited and indignant manner, and defeated their mahcious machinations. The $12,000 had been distributed among the officers and men — Houston would receive no share — and this was a crime heavy enough to condemn him ; for the '* Government" thought they needed it for their own purposes — and it is quite likely they did. But the "Government" did not dare to bring it forward as an accusation against the General, for they knew it would have roused the indignation of every man in the army. XXY. The Secretary of War wrote a letter to Houston, asking his views about the release of Santa Anna. He returned the fol- lowing answer : Head Quarters of the Army. Camp San Jacinto, 3d Jlay, 1S36. I have not the pleasure to know on what basis the Executive Govern- ment contemplate the arrangement with General Santa Anna, but I would 158 CONDITIONS OF SANTA ANNa'S RELEASE. respectfully suggest, that so far as I have been enabled to give my atten- tion to the subject, the following points should have some weight : The recognition of the Independence of Texas should be a sine qua non. The limits of Texas should extend to the Rio Grande, and from the mouth, pursuing the stream to its most northwestern source, and from thence northeast to the line of the United States. Indemnity for all losses sus- tained by Texas during the war. Commissioners to be appointed for ascertaining the fact— one Mexican, one Texan, and one American. The guarantee to be obtained from the United States, for the fulfillment of the stipulation on the part of the contending parties. General Santa Anna to be retained as a hostage, with such other officers as the Government may think proper, until they are recognized or ratified by the Mexican Govern- ment. Immediate restoration of Texan or Mexican citizens, or those friendly to the cause of Texas, who may have been retained, with their property. Instantaneous withdrawal of all the Mexican troops from the limits of Texas. All property in Texas to be restored, and not rSolested by the troops or marauders in falling back. Cessation of all hostilities by sea and land. A guarantee for the safety and restoration of Mexican prisoners, so soon as the conditions shall be complied with. Agents to be sent to the United States to obtain the mediation of that government in the affairs of Mexico and Texas. XXYI. An attempt was made to heap upon Houston the odium both of Santa Anna's release and imprisonment after the treaty. But the attempt succeeded only for a time., as falsehood ahvays will, and then these charges, with a thousand others, returned to plague their inventors.^ But in Texas they never were believed at all — there the facts were all known. It is a curious circumstance, that the report once so common in the United States, and even till now uncontradicted by Houston (for he never esteemed any lie worth contradicting), viz. that he played the coward at San Jacinto, and never would have fought at all if he had not been forced into battle by his soldiers ; that he fled from the field, or — as many had it — was never in the field at all, THE MAKER OF ENVY. 159 — should have originated and been industriously circulated by the very men who had been the first to fly from danger, and leave the country in its darkest hour to take care of itself! And yet such was the case. But from all these ''mountain lies " the name of Houston has come out fair and clear. XXYII. Yolunteers had now rushed in from all quarters, where the news of the victory had spread ; and some brave men, who had come on by forced marches to join Houston's standard when he needed their help, had the misfortune, also, to reach the camp too late. Great activity, disciphne and vigor became necessary. Houston was rendered perfectly helpless by his wound ; and it was believed that, even if he survived, he would not be again fit for service for many mouths. He signified his desire that General Rusk should succeed him in the command, and, as no other man would have been acceptable, he was selected by the Cabinet as Brigadier-General. From the arrival of the " Government," which, to the surprise of Santa Anna, had at last been found, the Mexican President had not been permitted to pay his customary morning visit to his courteous and humane captor ; and he had also been kept under the irritating and humiliating surveillance of the Cabinet. This unnecessary and indelicate severity (or, as Santa Anna himself termed it, " bad manners") was a source of great pain and mortification to the captive General. XXYIII. Mr. Lamar was appointed Secretary of War, to fill the va- cancy in the Cabinet. After the failure to disgrace Houston, there was a cruel effort made to depress and harrow his feelings. Every petty artifice was resorted to, to torture the feelings of the enfeebled, wounded hero. A fine stallion, that had been 160 SCENES AFTER SAN JACINTO. ridden in battle by Almonte, and captured by Karnes in the pursuit of the enemy, had been presented by that gallant officer to his General. Although the animal was not of the spoils taken on the field, Houston sent him to parade, and to be sold for the benefit of the army. By the united voice of the camp, he was led up to his master, with an earnest entreaty that he would retain him, and "they hoped, too," they said, "the General would be able to ride him very soon." He was a noble ani- mal ; and as black as a raven. After the army had con- firmed the present of Karnes, the " Government " took the horse from the Commander. This was, certainly, a chivalrous act towards a man who had saved the country, and was yet unable to move, even on crutches. We will state one more circum- stance about these men, and then leave them to the odium which rests on their name, for having tortured the feelings of a brave and patriotic man. XXIX. When the army were taking up their line of march to the west, with the settlements all broken up, and Houston was without any of the comforts the wounde^J man so much needs; when his surgeon had no medicine in the camp to give him, or dress his wound with, and it became necessary for him to visit New Orleans as the nearest place he could go to for medical aid to save his life, and the steamboat Yellow Stone was ready to sail for Galveston, with the Cabinet, and Santa Anna and suite ; these gentlemen had, by common consent, agreed to leave the wounded Commander-in-Chief to die— in sight of the field of San Jacinto I Houston could hardly believe this, and yet, when he saw lie was going to be left in his helplessness, he applied to the Cabinet for a passage. The oppUcation was sternly refused ! The captain of the boat, hearing of the circumstance, vowed it should never leave the shore without it bore General Houston. Houston's noble conduct. 161 He tendered him a passage, and he was carried aboard by Gene- ral Rusk and his brother David. He was also accompanied by a few of his staff ; among others his surgeon-general, Dr. Ewing. When the Doctor came on board, the Cabinet told him he could not accompany General Houston, and if he did, he would be discharged from the service, although they had not a shadow of authority to do it. The surgeon told Houston of this. " I am sorry, my dear fellow," said he, "for I have nothing to promise you in the future, and you know I am poor ; so you had better not incur the displeasure of the new Secretary of War." But the magnanimous man determined to follow his General, for he would not desert either a friend or a brave man in the hour of need. He went ; but the Cabinet was as good as its word ; he was dismissed at once from the army. He did not know then that Houston's star was so soon to come forth from its deep eclipse. When Santa Anna, who had wept when he was told that General Houston was not coming on board, saw him brought on, he ran to him, and embraced him with unfeigned joy. XXX. The boat reached Galveston Island, where, at the time, there was not a framed house, and remained there for the night. Some volunteers, who had arrived there from the United States, hearing the President, ad interim, as he went on shore, cast some reflections upon Houston, their officers immediately waited on the General, and offered to take him off, and do anything he might desire for his comfort or his honor. He was aware of the spirit the men felt, for they showed it too plainly to allow it to be mistaken, and he declined going just then. But he issued an order as he took leave of the men, and exhorted them to " render obedience to the authorities of the country, and not dishonor themselves by any disrespect to the Government, being 162 THE GENERAL PARTING WITH THE ARMY. assured that by honoring- the ranks they would be qualified for the highest rights of citizenship." Tiiey discussed the subject of treating the Cabinet ^Yith great harshness ; but they at last yielded to Houston's commands and entreaties, and smothered their indignation. A single word from the wounded man would have crushed those restless and ambitious men, who had inflicted so much pain upon himself, and who afterwards brought so much misery and dishonor upon his country. But on this occasion, as on all others, he showed how well regard for law and order had fitted him to govern, and how easy it is for a truly great man to be magnanimous to his enemies. XXXI. We had nearly forgotten to mention the scene which was witnessed when Houston parted with the army. He was too feeble to speak to them, but he dictated the following touching address, which was read in camp as Army Orders. Head Quarters, San Jacinto, May 5th, 1836. Comrades— Circumstances connected with the battle of the 21st reader our separation, for the present, unavoidable. I need not express to you the many painful sensations which that necessity inflicts upon me. I am solaced, however, by the hope, that we shall soon be reunited in the gi'eat cause of Liberty. Brigadier-General Rusk is appointed to command the army for the present. I confide in his valor, his patriotism, his wisdom. His conduct in the battle of San Jacinto was sufficient to ensure your con- fidence and regard. The enemy, though retreating, are still within the limits of Texas ; their situation being known to you, you cannot be taken by surprise. Discipline and subordination will render you invincible. Your valor and heroism have proved you unrivalled. Let not contempt for the enemy throw you off your guard. Vigilance is the first duty of a soldier, and glory the proudest reward of his toils. You have patiently endured privations, hardships, and difficulties, ADDRESS TO THE SOLDIERS. 163 unappalled ; you have encountered odds of two to one of the enemy against you, and borne yourselves, in the onset and conflict of battle, in a manner unknown in the annals of modern warfare. While an enemy to your independence remains in Texas, the work is incomplete ; but when liberty is firmly established by your patience and your valor, it will be fame enough to say, " I was a member of the army of San Jacinto." In taking leave of my brave comrades in arms, I cannot suppress the expression of that pride which I so justly feel in having had the honor to command them in person, nor will I withhold the tribute of my warmest admiration and gratitude for the promptness with which my orders were executed, and union maintained through the army. At parting, my heart embraces you with gratitude and affection. SAM HOUSTON, Commander-in-Chief. It is said that when this touching and eloquent address was read to the army, the tears of the brave men fell upon the rifles on which they were leaning. Such was his parting with his companions in arms. XXXII. A small war vessel, belonging to the Republic, was sailing from Galveston to New Orleans. Houston applied for a pas- sage with his staff. It was refused, although the war vessel carried several persons not belonging to the crew or the service. A little American schooner (the Flora) was also lying there. The General sent for the captain, and contracted with him for passage for himself and staff, to be paid when he could, for he had not a dollar of money to advance. During the entire cam- paign, neither he nor any one of his followers had received a shilling from the " Government," and all the funds he had of his own, he had generously devoted to the relief of the fugitive women and children, whose husbands and fathers had been slaughtered at the Alamo, or massacred with Fannin. Santa Anna now asked permission of the Cabinet to take leave 164 Houston's reception at new Orleans. of General Houston, but he was refused that privilege. Cap- tain Chas. Hawkins, of the Texan Navy, stated these facts ; and he also said, that Santa Anna wept on the occasion. XXXIII. We pass over the long and tedious voyage of the little schooner. She arrived at the Balize in the night, and the next day, May 28th, was towed up to Xew Orleans. General Houston had now been nearly forty days without medicine or poultices; the bandages for his wound he had torn from the shirt he wore, till all but its bosom was gone — for he had given all he bad away to the soldiers, as their necessities had before been greater than his own. He was now, as he supposed, in a dying state. He was so feeble, he could not even be raised up with- out fainting. In passing the English Turn, about eighteen miles below Xew Orleans, it was known by expresses in waiting, that Houston was on board, and it was the first confirmation of the news of the battle. It was Sunday, and the levee was black with the dense crowd which, as the intelligence spread through the city, had rushed together to see the wounded soldier. His friend. Colonel Wm. Christy, with whom he had served as lieutenant in his youth, had prepared for him in his house every comfort his situation required, and he was now eager to grasp the hand of his old comrade, and extend to him the most cordial welcome. Dr. Kerr, too, who had operated on his wounds just thirty years before, hastened to the vessel, where he found him lying on the deck. He fell upon him, and embraced him like a father. He, with Dr. Cenas, gave him every attention, and they saved his life; for they said if he had arrived a few hours later, he could not have been saved, since his wound had begun to show the first symptoms of mortification. HOUSTON RETURNS TO HIS HOME. 165 xxxiy. The crowd on the boat was so great, it was in danger of sink- ing, and the throng so dense on the pier, it was a long time be- fore he could be got ashore. An unsuccessful attempt had been made to lift him ashore, but it seemed he would die of torture be- fore it could be done. At last, feeling that his strength was going, he rose on his crutches, and, by a desperate effort, got over the gunwale himself. He was immediately laid upon a litter, where he fainted away. In the meantime, bands of music had come down to the pier, and were playing martial airs, while the landing was being effected. The cot, which had been pre- pared, was brought up, and Houston, who seemed to be dying, was borne through the vast throng to the hospitable mansion of his friend, where this skeleton of disease and suffering at last found repose. XXXV. He remained about two weeks in New Orleans, and although he was far from being out of danger, yet his anxiety to return to Texas was so great, that he took passage to Nachitoches, on the Red River, this being the only practicable rout to his home in Eastern Texas. The fatigue and exposure of the journey were too much for his feeble health, and he was obliged to stop several days to recover his strength. But the first moment he was able, he travelled on to San Augustine, where he remained till the news came that the Cabinet had made a treaty with Santa Anna, and were resolved on his liberation. At the same time it was stated that the enemy was preparing for another campaign. Demonstrations of respect had been made, and din- ners offered to him at New Orleans, Nachitoches, and San Augustine; but he declined all such compliments. The report 16^ SANTA ANNA TO BE EXECUTED. of the advance of the enemy had brongbt together a vast con- course of people at San Augustine. Houston was taken to the meeting, and, resting on his crutches, delivered an address, which produced such an effect, that one hundred and sixty men, in two days, took up their march for the frontier. XXXYI. Soon after, the General received intelligence that Colonels Millard and Wheelock had been dispatched from the army then at the Coleto, with a demand on the Cabinet that they should deliver up Santa Anna into their hands for execution, reproach- ing them for the neglect of their duty, and an order to arrest President Burnet, and bring him to the Texan camp. Houston immediately dispatched by express to the army the following Protest against their proceedings. XXXYII. Ayish Bayou, 26th July, 1836. TO THE GENERAL COMMAXDIXG THE ARMY OF TEXAS. Sir, — I have just heard through a citizen, of the army, that it is the intention to remove General Santa Anna to the army, and place him upon his trial. I cannot credit this statement ; it is obviously contrary to the true policy of Texas. The advantages which his capture presented to us, will be destroyed. Disregard, if you will, our national character, and place what construction you please upon the rules of civilized warfare, we are compelled by every principle of humanity and morality, to abstain from every act of passion or inconsideration that is to be unproductive of positive good. Execute Santa Anna, and what will be the fate of the Texans who are held prisoners by the Mexicans — what will be the con- dition of the North Americans who are residing within the limits of Mexico ? Death to them, and confiscation of their property is the least that can be expected. Doubtless, torture will be added to the catas- trophe, when stimulated by ignorance, fanaticism, and the last expiring struggle of the priesthood for power and dominion. Texas, to be res- 16t pected, must be considerate, politic, and just in her actions. Santa Anna, living, and secured beyond all danger of escape, in the Eastern section of Texas (as I first suggested), may be of incalculable advantage to Texas in her present crisis. In cool blood to offer up the living to tlie manes of the departed, only finds an example in the religion and warfare of savages. Regard for one's departed friends should stimulate us in the hour of battle, and would excuse us, in the moment of victory, for partial excesses, at which our calmer feelings of humanity would relent. The affairs of Texas connected with General Santa Anna, as President of the Republic of Mexico, have become matter of consideration to which the attention of the United States has been called, and for Texas, at this moment, to proceed to extreme measures, as to the merits or demerits of General Santa Anna, would be treating that Government with high disrespect, and I would respectfully add, in my opinion, it would be incurring the most unfortunate responsibility for Texas. I, therefore, Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Republic, do solemnly protest against the frial, sentence, and execution of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, President of the Republic of Mexico, until the relations in which we are to stand to the United States shall be ascertained. SAM HOUSTON, Comallnder-in-Chiep of the Armt. XXXVIII. This protest had just the effect designed by the writer. The trial of Santa Anna was delayed, and Texas was saved from the disgrace and execration which so summary and barbarous a proceeding would have brought upon her name. Soon after this, Houston removed to Nacogdoches, where he remained under the influence of his wound till fall. But he was far from being idle, for the country was under a quasi state of martial law, and the exigency called for his constant vigilance and advice. XXXIX. In the mean time we must glance rapidly over the events 168 BAD FAITH WITH SANTA ANNA. which were elsewhere taking place. The Cabinet perceiving that Houston's views, oflBciallj communicated to General Rusk, were founded upon the highest principles of policy, humanity, and justice, adopted them, in the main, in the treaty, they made with Santa Anna, on the 14th of May. The President and his Cabinet were still at Yelasco on the first of June, and the Texan schooner Invincible was anchored off the bar, in sight of the town, with Santa Anna and his suite on board, and the sailing orders of the vessel had been issued for her to proceed to Vera Cruz. Santa Anna wrote the following Farewell to the Texan Army. XL. " My friends ! I have been a witness of your courage in the field of battle, and know you to be generous. Rely with confidence on my sincerity, and you shall never have cause to regret the kindness shown me. In returning to my native land, I beg you to receive the sincere thanks of your grateful friend. Farewell. *' AxT. Lopez De Saxta Anna. " Vdasco, 1st June, 1S36." XLI. We know not what may be the opinions of others, but we are persuaded that Santa Anna never would have committed him- self in this manner, when there was no necessity of doing it (for it was written after the vessel was under sailing orders), unless he really intended to redeem his pledge. For although he had entered into a solemn treaty, yet his own conscience and the whole world would have palliated any violation of that treaty (which was wrung from him by his captors ; for what will not a prisoner promise to buy his liberty ? they would have said), much sooner than they would have forgiven the violation of private pledges, voluntarily given by a free man. Nr, ^wh INJUSTICE TO A PRISONER. 169 pledges were now necessary ; he was perfectly free to give or withhold them. Any bad faith subsequently manifested, would have been regarded as the blackest perfidy, and Texas would have gained more, perhaps (if she had kept her faith inviolate), by his treachery, than she would have lost ; for her honor and her magnanimity, and the perfidy of Santa Anna, would have won for her the sympathy of the civilized world ! But an event now took place which must be regarded as a public and lasting calamity to Texas. XLII. Several hundred volunteers from the United States arrived at Yelasco, just as the Invincible was sailing. Their commander had not participated in the Texan struggle, and, in fact, he had yet no authority to order a drum beat in Texas. But he declared that the Invincible should not be allowed to lift her anchor. He was determined Santa Anna should be tried and executed ! It is unnecessary to indulge in any exclamations of censure for this use of military power. Popular feeling was on his side, and Mr. Lamar had already protested (in a voluminous paper) against Santa Anna's release. The President ad interim also yielded to this violation of the public faith, and although the treaty had been signed, sealed, and delivered, and Santa Anna had it with him on board, and the vessel was under sailing orders, yet he countermanded her orders, and sent a requisition on board for the Mexican President. Santa Anna was aware what had been the popular feeling towards him from the day of his capture ; and he undoubtedly believed that his life would be in danger in the hands of the President. Under such circum- stances, he resolutely refused to go on shore. The order was repeated the next day, and it provoked a similar reply. On the afternoon of the third of June, armed men '' visited the Invincible" (says Foote, 2 vol., p. 342), "for the purpose of 1*70 SANTA anna's REMONSTRANCE. bringing off the Dictator, dead or alivcy Santa Anna remon- strated against the lawless outrage, and, like a brave man, de- clared he v/ould die before he left. "All this time (p. 343) he lay on his back in his berth, and his respiration seemed to be exceed- ingly difficult." No wonder such a display of the boasted Anglo-Saxon faith should disturb the respiration even of a Mexi- can I All other means failing, a military commander ordered him to be jput in irons. " When the irons were brought within his view, the prisoner jumped up, adjusted his collar, put on his hat, and stated his readiness to accompany us." (P. 343). And how else could a defenceless prisoner act, with a score of bayonets or bowie-knives at his breast ? For our own part, we know of no circumstance in Santa Anna's history, so worthy of admiration as his conduct on this occasion ; nor do we know of any act of perfidy or cowardice equal .to that evinced by his lawless aggressors. Santa Anna was and is an ambitious, selfish, military chief- tain, who has trampled on the Constitution, and blotted out the liberties of his country. But to his honor be it said, that he was not the first to violate the treaty of the 14th of May. Like a brave man, too, he boldly protested against the perfidy of the Texan cabinet. XLIII. He said : "I had embarked on the Texan schooner-of-war, the Invincible, on the 1st of June, after addressing a short fare- well to the Texans, wherein I thanked them for their generous behavior, and offered my eternal gratitude. And I protest (5thly), for the act of violence committed on my person, and abuse to wiiich I have been exposed, in being compelled to go on shore, merely because 130 volunteers, under the command of , recently landed on the beach at Velasco, from New Orleans, bad with tumults and threats demanded that my per- A BITTER SARCASM. 171 son should be placed at their disposal, which took place on the very day the government received from Gen. Filisola the answer that he had strictly fulfilled what had been stipulated in the treaty. * * * Under these circumstances, I appeal to the judgment of civilized nations, to the consciences of the citizens who compose the Cabinet, and, above all, to the Supreme Ruler of the destinies of nations, who has placed the existence and happiness of nations on the faith of treaties and punctual fulfill- ment of engagements." XLIY. If Santa Anna is pointed to Goliad and the Alamo, his reply is, that such an appeal to the civilized world and to the Supreme Ruler of nations from the perpetrator of those massacres, only makes his sarcasm on the faith of the Texan Cabinet the more bitter. If it be said that the President ad interim was obliged to yield to the clamor of the populace, who w^re thirsting for Santa Anna's blood, I reply that he could not have been compelled, by any mortal power, to write with his own hand the requisition for Santa Anna — had he been a man of nerve enough to fit him to hold the reins of power in revolutionary times. When Houston was asked what he would have done in the same circumstances, he said, " I would have regarded the faith of the nation under any circumstances, and before the mob should have laid hands on Santa Anna, they should have first drunk my blood." It now became perfectly certain that all the hopes of advantage for Texas, which Houston had borrowed from the treaty and the release of Santa Anna, were to be disappointed. He knew that the only reliance they had or could have, was upon his gratitude and sense of honor, and now the course his enemies had taken had dissolved all his obligations. 172 THE NEW COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. XLY. After Mr. Lamar resigned his post as Secretary of War, the Cabinet appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Army, over the heads of Generals Houston and Rusk. He immediately repaired to the army with his commission, and surrounded by his staff. The army was drawn up ; after addressing them, he requested an expression of their sentiments. They were anxious for Houston again to assume the command, and in the meantime were perfectly satisfied with General Rusk. But Mr Lamar wished some more decided demonstration, and they were ordered, by marching in dififerent directions, to indicate their feelings towards the new commander. There were about 1800 troops in camp — less than one in eighteen voted for him, and the rest posi- tively refused to serve under him ! He thus acquired the title of General, and got rid of the responsibilities of the command. ELECTION OF THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 113 SECTION TENTH. THE PRESIDENT. I. The Government ad interim at last became disgusted with power. The people felt tbat when Houston was away, they had no one to repose on, and discontent became universal. Provision had been made by the Convention for the crisis, and writs were issued for the election of a President by the people of Texas. II. There were two candidates — General Stephen F. Austin, and Ex-Governor Henry Smith. They were both excellent men, particularly Gen. Austin, whom we have had occasion so often to mention with respect. Houstoji had been importuned from the beginning to become a candidate ; but he had refused ; nor did he consent till twelve days before the election. He wished to retire from public life, for he believed there would be no neces- sity of firing another hostile gun in Texas, if the public councils were guided by firmness and wisdom. He had been unrelent- ingly persecuted, and his feelings outraged, just in proportion as he had devoted himself to the State. In retirement, he could be happy, and his country free. He was, therefore, disinclined to mingle in the turmoil of public life. But one motive at last overcame his objections. He believed the virulence of party to be such — that if either of the candidates should succeed, their 174 HOUSTON ELECTED BY ACCLAMATION. cabinets would be made up exclusively of party men, which would endanger the stability of the administration. A govern- ment was to be created from chaos, without a dollar and without credit. The parties were pretty equally balanced, and there was great reason to fear that those out of power would so far embar- rass the administration as to destroy its efficiency. He believed, that since he belonged to neither party, and possessed the confi- dence of the great mass of the people, he might still render signal service to the State, and he allowed his name to be used. III. At the announcement, the turbulence of party everywhere gave way to national enthusiasm, Xone but his enemies thought of opposing his election, and they were only a feeble clique of adventurers, who had rushed to Texas when her agi- tations began, hoping to win, in the turbulent scenes of Revo- lution, a notoriety they had in vain sought for in the calmer scenes of civic life. The Provisional Government of '35, and the Administration of '36, had proved they were incapable of holding the reins of Government over a frontier population. The people at last saw that they must place at the helm some man whose strong hand would steady the vessel through the boisterous surges. They knew there was but one man in Texas who could sway the mulitude, and when the hero of San Jacinto consented to accept the Presidency, they offered it to him by acclamation. lY. Houston had indeed displayed those rare qualities which make the great General. It now remained to be seen if he was endowed with those loftier and nobler qualities, which would fit him for the Cabinet^or a far more difficult task now remained, ^^^ J{^^^ ^ ^^ ''^ " vr^f S^' -^'i he solemn forests of the Tiber, voted to abide by the awards of Houston's first term ends. 193 the Temple of Justice ! And how many centuries did our ancestors roam over the beautiful Island of Britain, dressed in the skins of wild beasts, before they would listen to the stern utterances of Judicial Tribunals I But Houston could sway those reckless frontier settlers by the mild sceptre of Civil Law, as easily as he had swayed them by the stern despotism of the camp. XXXIII. But while he was sucessfully accomplishing those benign changes, and rearing the noble structure of civil government, he was not only harassed by petty intrigues, but confronted with formidable combinations. The same clique of small but ambi- tious men, who had, from the beginning, busied themselves in Inventing means, to undermine the castle which they could not overthrow, while Houston was bleeding on the field, or toiling anxiously in the Cabinet, finding all their intrigues fruitless, at last cemented themselves as well as they could, into one organ- ized conspiracy, b'ent upon his destruction. Their history would be a story of all that is low in faction, and mean in selfish- ness. But -we have neither time nor inclination to chronicle their doings — nor would we snatch them from the oblivion to which they have hastened. XXXIY. Houston's conduct met with the warmest approval through- out the country, and he would have been the almost unanimous choice of the people, had he been eligible to the office, the next term. But the 2d Section of the Third Article of the fconsti- tution declared— that, " The First President elected by the people shall hold his office for the term of two years, and shall 9 194 VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. be ineligible during the next succeeding term.'' An accident gave the Presidency to Mr. Lamar. Just before the election his rival died ! — and no other candidate was brought forward. XXXV. It had been said that the President Elect would be the idol of the State, and that Houston's power was gone. The hour of his resignation came, and the largest concourse of people, ever seen in Texas, gathered. An attempt had been made to pre- vent the retiring President from delivering his Yaledictory Address — the arrangements of the Inauguration Committee utterly excluded him. But when the fact was known, a burst of indignation went up from the vast multitude — the Committee and their arrangements were all set aside, and the name of the Hero of San Jacinto was on every tongue. XXXVI. When he came forward in the porch of the Capitol, and the people gazed upon his lofty, ample, and heroic form, relieved against the portrait of Washington, suspended behind him, a wild shout of enthusiasm rent the sky. He spoke three hours, and we have been told by those who heard him, that the dense thousands before him swayed to and fro under the impetuous storm of his eloquence, like a forest swayed by a strong wind. He had unrolled the scroll of the history of Texas — he por- trayed her future policy, and dwelt upon her great destiny if that policy were pursued. He enjoined most solemnly good faith with all nations — economy in the government and in indi- viduals — the cultivation of peace with the Indians — he warned the people against faction and the rancor of party spirit, and he implored them not to treasure up their hopes in annexation or .Houston's blessing on his republic. 195 treaties, but to rely upon their own public and private virtue — to be just and magnanimous with all men and with all nations. And in conclusion, when he took his farewell of the people he \ Cloved, he extended his broad arms, and poured down upon them j from his great heart the benediction of the patriot, and the 1 soldier, as the tears streamed from his face. When he ceased, / all was still but the deep murmur of subdued feeling, and that/ vast multitude of frontiersmen all in tears ! 196 THE NEW PRESIDENT. SECTION ELEVENTH. THE LEGISLATOR. I. The new President began his administration by opposing everything that had been pursued and recommended by Hous- ton. In his Inaugural Address he recommended the extermi- nation of the Indians — pronounced a violent Philippic against Annexation — advocated the establishment of a huge National Bank, and inculcated a splendid Government. II. The first appropriation for frontier defence was one and a half million of Treasury Notes, and another half million for the civil list — without a dollar to base the issues upon. A regular army of two Regiments was to be raised for exterminating the frontier Tribes. A law was passed to remove the Seat of Gov- ernment to some point N. W. of the San Antonio Road. Com- missioners were appointed by Congress from its own body, contrary to the Constitution, to perform this act. The entire object of the movement was speculation. With land scrip, which they had procured, and certificates of head-rights granted to settlers, they dispatched Surveyors to locate land around the spot where Austin now stands — at the extremest settlement of the Republic even at this day. The expense of removal, with RUINOUS POLICY OK LAMAR. 197 the erection of suitable buildings, caused an additional issue of Promissory Notes. The new Capital was so far from the settle- ments, that the plank had to be carried thirty miles. III. The Republic soon lost confidence in the Administration — the depression of the currency naturally followed. And yet, in this state of embarrassment of the finances, and while Texas was at peace with Mexico, the President caused a proposition to be introduced into both Houses, to conduct an Expedition to Santa Fe, through a wilderness and Prairie more than five hundred miles. The proposition was made in both Houses at the same time, and by both rejected. But the President ordered the Ex- pedition during the recess of Congress in 1840, and upwards of three hundred armed men started on a warlike expedition to a distant country. Its disasters are too well known to need a relation. The President appointed a Governor for Santa Ee — a Custom House Officer and a Military Commandant, and organ- ized a Territorial Government. All his plans subsequently fell into the hands of the enemy, when the men were captured, and were a moving cause for the cruelty with which they were treated. The Expedition flooded the country with another enormous issue of paper ^' proirdses to pay money," unauthorized by the Constitution or Congress. The horses on that Expe- dition cost, on an average, a thousand dollars each, the currency of the President had become so depreciated. Costly arms and munitions of war had been abstracted from the public arsenal by Presidential edict — the country was robbed of a large number of its most chivalrous men — the public wagons and means of transportation were laid hold of, and a piece of artillery, with Miralieau B. Lamar inscribed on its breech, dragged through the Prairies that immense distance, to become the trophy of 198 THK SANTA FE EXTKIJITION. the enemies of Texas, and afford an illustration of the stupidity of the President, and the degradation of the nation. lY. This expedition revived the hostilities between Texas and Mexico, which, but for it, would have slept, perhaps, for ever. Houston had left the two countries really at peace, and the sole cause we have ever been able to ascertain for the renewal of hostiUties, was this silly and lamentable Expedition. It is to be remarked, that for some time previous to this Expedition, Mr. Lamar had sent Commissioners to Gen. Arista, and his object is supposed, by his friends, to have been to propose a Union of the Northern Provinces with Texas, forming a great Power, over whose government he was to be placed. The sagacious Arista took advantage of the incompetency of his friend, and returned Commissioners. They were in Austin when the Santa Fe Expedition took up its line of march, and witnessed the fooHsh display. What passed between " the high contracting parties," is not known with certainty, for the facts have never been officially disclosed. The world knows the result. Arista seems to have given into the plan, for one thing is certain, the Expe- dition started from Austin with a guide, who had long resided in Mexico, and spoke the language perfectly ; and the command- ing officers charged him with their betrayal at San Miguel and Santa Ee. When the guide got them many days in the wilder- ness, and the miseries of their situation began to press heavily on them, he abandoned them in their calamity, and never was heard of again. The object of Arista doubtless was to have them conducted into the solitudes of the wilderness, and there left to perish — if this should fail, the authorities of San Fe, being duly informed, were to receive, betray and then capture them. The blame of these proceedings is to be cast upon the President. L A M A Pw ADMINISTRATION. 199 V. During his administration, be sent two ministers to Yera Cruz — but neither of them was received ; and they returned, to the disgrace of Texas. There was no method or consistency in anything he did. That he wished to be distinguished and wished well to his adopted country, there is no doubt ; but he was a feeble and puerile statesman. In civil affairs, he was a great schemer. One day, his hobby was a National Bank ; another, it was a great National Road ; a third, it was an alli- ance with Mexico, by his marrying the daughter of some dis- tinguished public functionary of that country ; for the diplo- matist supposed his alliance with some opulent family would be tantamount to an alliance between the two nations. One day, he must make war upon one tribe of Indians ; the next day, upon another. His first great exploit, when his adminis- tration began, was to attack the Cherokees and drive them from their possessions between the Kueces and Sabine rivers, where they had been settled longer than the Texan colonists themselves. They had been invited by Mexico from the United States, and laud had been assigned, and great inducements held out to them. They had settled there, and were quietly and inofl'ensively pursuing their avocations. In 1835, the Consulta- tion had guaranteed to that tribe undisturbed possession of their territory, by a solemn assurance, signed by each member of the Consultation. A treaty had been subsequently made with the tribe (recognizing the same rights and guarantee) by Houston and other Commissioners, and this treaty had been ratified by the Consultation. The Convention which declared their Inde- pendence, had recognized this as well as all other acts of the Consultation as valid. A more solemn ratification of a treaty could not have been made. 200 EXTERMIKATION OF THE INDIANS. YI. Mr. Lamar began his admiuistration by carrying out that section of his Inaugural Address, in which he had recommended the extermination of the Indians. The Cherokees were a peace- ful, industrious, and profitable community. The arts had made considerable progress among them, and they lived nearly as comfortably as white men. During the hostilities with Mexico, they had been prevented by the influence of Houston and Rusk from going over to the enemy, and they had made great advances in civilization during Houston's Presidency. They looked upon the Texans as their friends, and Houston as their "Father." With a force of tOO men, a portion of whom had fought at San Jacinto, Lamar commenced his war of extermina- tion against " Houston's jpet Indians." His force was some five times superior, and of course he carried ruin to the poor Red men's homes ! This treatment of the Cherokees and other tribes spread scenes of rapine and murder from the Red River to the Rio Grande. Even the President's two regiments of regulars in the field could not secure frontier protection. VII. In the disorders of Yucatan, when a separation from Mexico was spoken of, Mr. Lamar entered into a treaty of alliance with a minister sent to him for that purpose, and, without the concnr- rence of the Senate or the ratification of the treaty, ordered the Texan Navy to sail to the coast of Yucatan. That Province was then an integral part of Mexico, and had not proclaimed revolt or independence. LA mar's statesmanship. 201 VIII. Stich were some of the acts of this puerile administration. We should not have glanced at them, even in so brief a manner, had it not been necessary to give, the reader an idea of the state of the country when Houston's second term began. Lamar, who had found the Government perfectly organized, suc- ceeded in reducing the country to the very verge of ruin. All the difficulties that had lain in the way of the advancement of Texas, Houston had successfully overcome. Disinterested and sagacious spectators of the progress of affairs beyond the Sabine, have often been heard to say, that in no portion of the world, had civil government ever been established and consoli- dated in so short a space of time. This was as much the work of Houston, as the victory of San Jacinto had been, although in both instances he was surrounded and aided by brave and true men, or he never could have done it. He left the domestic and foreign relations, the finances and the administration of law, the agriculture and the commerce of Texas, all in a sound, peaceful, flourishing state. IX. When Mr. Lamar left the administration, what was the state of the nation ? He had committed outrages upon peaceful Indian tribes, and kindled the flames of savage war all along the borders of Texas. He had sent a hostile marauding Expe- dition into the very heart of the Mexican Provinces, and sent the navy to aid a revolting territory in making war upon Mexico, and now she was rousing all her force for a new invasion of Texas. He had quadrupled the national debt, and squandered the public treasure, till Texan securities depreciated ten to one. The people had lost all respect for the Govern- ment, and confidence in its stability. The mail routes had been 9* 202 HOUSTON SAVES THE Y O U X G REPUBLIC. broken up, profligacy prevailed, and the social compact began to be regarded by the orderly and patriotic everywhere as virtually dissolved. ^. But Lamar's term had nearly expired, and the eyes of all men, who surveyed with gloomy forebodings the ruin that seemed to threaten the country, were now turned once more anxiously upon Houston. Even the lawless and the desperate began to fear the result of their crimes, and with a united voice, the man, who had already twice saved the country, was called a third time to the helm. Houston was one of the few men who beUeved that the IN'ation and the Government could be saved, and he came forward to the rescue. 'No Con- ventions were obliged to nominate him. There was an almost universal feeling that no other man could save Texas, and Texas made him her President for the second time, the very first hour the Constitution would allow her to do it. XI. During Lam^*'s Administration, Houston had consented to represent his District in the Congress of 1839-40, and again in 1840-41, and it was well that he had, for he not only, arrested the tide of evil — he prevented a dissolution of the Government. On a certain occasion, after a stormy debate, Congress was about to adjourn sine die. The members publicly proclaimed that all hope of carrying on the Government was gone, and they were determined to end the farce by going home. Houston rose in the midst of the tempest, as the members were leaving their seats, and addressed the Speaker. There never was a time when that man could not get a hearing, and the rush to A CRISIS NOBLY MET. 203 the door stopped. " Let us hear old Sam," was the voice on every side. XII. The crowd began to return — members gradually resumed their seats and dropped their hats — they pressed up around him — the House became still, and not ten minutes went by be- fore nothing was heard throughout the hall but the rich, deep voice that had echoed over the field of San Jacinto. No idea of the speech can be given but by telling the result. He closed by reading a resolution, " that the House adjourn till to-morrow morning at the usual hour," and not a member voted against it ! They flocked around him, and so universal was the feeling, that but for him the Government would have gone to pieces, that even his old enemies seized him by the hand, and thanked him " for saving the country." 204 SECTION TWELFTH. AGAIN PRESIDENT. I. He was inaugurated the second time, ou the 13th of Decem- ber, 1841. His Message was hardly delivered before the news came of the capture of the Santa Fe Expedition. This was the first greeting he had, in office, of the fatal results of the policy of his predecessor. He, however, began immediately to bethink himself of the redemption of the unfortunate men who had been deluded away into the wilderness — for the lives of Texan soldiers seemed to be as dear to him as they could have been if they had been his own children. II. The Government was now in an infinitely worse state than it had been when he took the reins five years before. Then it was a chaos — now it was a ruin. The body politic had fallen into premature and inflammatory decay. It was not a disease only, but a relapse. The Treasury was not only empty, but millions in debt ; and not another dollar could be borrowed in Christen- dom. The Promissory Notes and Liabihties of the Government depreciated ten to one, and they were postponed, but not repudi- ated. The money had been squandered, but the debt must be paid. But Texas could at that time have no more paid it than Parliament could pay the Debt of England. But something DIFFICULTIES TO OVERCOME. 205 had to be doue. Houston proposed a new currency called the Exchequer System — its entire issues were not to exceed $200,000. He had asked as a guarantee for their redemption, the Customs of the country, and certain tracts of lands, amount- ing to about three million acres. While in Congress, he had procured an act to be passed, declaring these lands not subject to location. But now the private interests of members were to be interfered with, and although Congress hypothecated the Customs, they would not pledge the lands. III. The President was fully aware of the opposition that was combining against him. The same hostile clique which had attempted to ruin him whenever he was in power, and who had come so near ruining the country when they had power them- selves, were now determined to control the appointments under the new administration. But all attempts to constrain his policy proved as ineffectual as they had hitherto done. He chose for his cabinet officers men in whom he had unlimited con- fidence, and they were among the most enlightened and firm statesmen of Texas. Mr. Jones, afterwards President, became Secretary of State ; Col. Hockley, a warm patriot and a devoted friend of Houston in all his struggles. Secretary of War and Marine ; Wm. H. Dangerfield, Secretary of the Treasury, and G. W. Terrell, Attorney-General. During these turbulent times, when prominent men declared openly that they would ruin Houston's administration, even if they had to do it by a revolu- tion, multitudes of broken-down speculators and politicians from the United States were continually flocking into Texas ; and as they found little chance of TV-inning distinction in the new field they had chosen, they joined the ranks of the opposition, and devoted themselves zealously to the ruin of the State. 206 DARK PROSPECTS FOR TEXAS. IV. But Houston had marked out his policy, and he went calmly and firmly on to its execution. His first measure was to dispatch a minister to Washington, to open negotiations for the annexation of Texas. His first object was annexation — if this failed, his next was the recognition of the independence of Texas by Mexico ; and if he failed in both, he was resolved to open negotiations with France and England, and enter into some treaty or alliance which would secure peace to Texas, extend her commerce, and advance her prosperity. His next movement was to recall the Navy, which Mr. Lamar had dispatched to help on a revolt in Yucatan. In the meantime, the country was absolutely stripped of all her defences. A wide coast and a broad sea were open to the depredations of the enemy ; the Santa Fe expedition and the league with Yucatan had given Mexico every provocation for a renewal of hostilities ; and the outrages committed upon the Indian tribes, had broken the amity that had subsisted. VI. In this expo5:ed situation of the country, when an irruption from the frontiers, or an invasion from Mexico, might be rea- sonably apprehended, Houston recommended Congress to raise a company of sixty men to protect the archives — for there was then no military force in the field. Congress refused to grant the subsidies necessary, and adjourned the 5th of February. He soon after started for Houston, to bring his family to the seat of government. While he was at Galveston, in the early TEXAS AGAIN INVADED. 207 part of March, the iiews came of the invasion by Yasquez. The intelligence spread che deepest alarm throughout the country. All along the western border, families were seen flying from their habitations towards the interior. The public mind was stirred by the wildest apprehensions. Everybody knew the provocation that had been given to the enemy — the follies and the disasters of Santa Fe seemed but a prelude to another Goliad or Alamo slaughter — the coast was without protection, and no army concentrated to march on the invader. Yll. Suddenly all the intrigues and conspiracies against Houston ceased.* The very men who had been foremost to threaten the overthrow of his administration in the storm of a revolution, were now the most active in stimulating their neighbors to pre- pare for approaching disasters. Committees of vigilance and safety were everywhere organized, and all those means resorted to v/hich are called into requisition in revolutionary times. Houston's orders at this time, show that he did not believe the enemy would remain long in the country. The event proved that the Mexicans had already made a precipitate retreat beyond the Kio Grande, after committing outrages upon the citizens of San Antonio. YIII. In the meantime, the press throughout the South and West had displayed great sympathy for the cause of Texas, and rely- ing upon the sensation caused in the United States by the news of the reported invasion and the miscarriage of the Santa Fd expedition, Houston made an appeal to the American people. He sent agents to the United States to receive contributions, 208 TEXAS PREPARES FOR ANOTHER STRUGGLE. and procure volunteers. He issued a Proclamation, in which he distinctly required that all troops which came should be per- fectly armed and provisioned for a campaign of six months — since Texas had no means of doing it herself. Several hundred volunteers went to Texas, in direct violation of the Proclamation — for they went without arms and without provisions. Contri- butions were merely nominal. Some generous individuals in Greorgia raised something over $500 at a public meethig — but all that was raised besides, throughout the United States, and reported to the government of Texas, in arms, ammunition, pro- visions, equipments and money, did not amount to five hundred dollars ! IX. # In June, Houston called an extra Session of Congress, to consider the state of the country, and devise means for national defence. They debated and legislated without much formality or delay, for the impression was general, that if anything was to be done, it had better be done quickly. So, too, all wise men would have said, " if ^twere lye/rdone." But their de- liberations ended in passing a bill which invested Houston with dictatorial powers, and appropriated ten million acres of the public domain, to carry on a campaign. But this came no nearer making a provision for war, than a resolution appropriat- ing ten million acres of blue sky, and conferring dictatorial power upon the north wind ! For there was not a dollar of money in the treasury to pay agents to go and dispose of the land, and Houston was the last man to make use of dictatorial powers in resisting the encroachments of a Dictator. X. , But Congress thought they had acquitted themselves like THREATS AGAINST HOUSTON, 209 men — and their disposition, too, probably, was good enough, but it had no more efficacy than tlie disposition of the man who willed in his last testament all his debts to be paid, for in neither case could the executor find anything had been left to pay the debts with. Apprehensions had been felt, while the bill was under debate, that Houston would veto it, and the time he could constitutionally keep it had nearly gone by. The excitement was intense ; the Capital was filled with angry and desperate men, and their noisy clamor spread over the country. All sorts of accusations were brought against the Executive, and he was plied with threats from every quarter. He was told that his life would pay the forfeit if he vetoed the bill. His friends, who apprehended his assassination, gathered around him, and besought him not to hazard a veto, for it would end in the ruin of himself and his country. At last the ebullitions of excitement began to subside, but they were followed by demonstrations of a deeper and more desperate feel- ing. For two weeks, few, even of his friends, approached the President's house, and when they did, they stole there under the shadow of night ; — assassins, in the meantime, were lurking around his dwelling. Even his Cabinet officers began to talk about resigning. XI. But in the midst of all this storm, which few men could have resisted, Houston was calm and cheerful. He stationed no guard around his house ; he had no spies on the alert ; he did not even inquire v/hat was said in Congress, or done in the streets. The blinds and the windows of his dwelling were wide open, and he was often seen walking across his parlor, con- versing cheerfully with his family. His wife, whom he had married in 1840 — one of the most accomplished and gifted of women — reposed confidently upon his character, and she calmly 210 A VETO AGAINST DICTATORIAL POWEK. and confidingly sustained him by her placid and intellectual con- versations. Long after the lights had been extinguished through the town, and sullen, desperate, armed men were gathered in secret meetings to j^lot, and counterplot, the gay voice of his wife, mingling with the tones of the harp and the piano, which she had carried with her to the wilderness, was heard coming forth from the open windows of Houston's dwelling. XII. All this must seem strange to the reader, without doubt, but w^e shall very soon solve the mystery. It was a fearful crisis ; but Houston was equal to it, and we know of no act of his life in which he gave such indubitable evidence that nature had lavished upon him those rare gifts which make up the really great man. The reader, too, will agree with us. When the time came, the veto was sent up to Congress. lu it he showed that they had utterly and totally failed to accom- plish the object for which he had called them together. They had proclaimed war against a powerful and organized foe, but they had made no provision for carrying it on. The President had not the means of buying a pound of powder. If they would provide the means for a campaign, he would head it him- self, if necessary ; but without money, no army could be made ready to take the field, and any attempt at hostilities would only bring down upon Texas universal contempt. He also dwelt upon the danger of the precedent they had established, in conferring upon the Chief Magistrate of the country unlimited powers. The prerogatives of a dictator he never would accept, while they were fighting against that same power in a neigh- boring State. XIII. The veto was published, — a universal calm at once sue- A LETTKR TO SANTA ANNA. 211 ceeded, and the man wlio had been covered with maledictions, became the idol of the people. XIV. In the mcantmic, Geuei'al Houston had addressed the follow- ing Letter to Santa Anna, his former captive. It should now be carefully read, in justice to both. Thirteen years have since gone by ; but every year has given new significance to this luminous and important Letter. It furnishes -a complete confir- mation of this History : — Executive Department, City of Houston, March 21, 1842. Most Excellent Sir : Your communications to Mr. Bee and General Hamilton, dated at the Palace of the Government of Mexico, have been recently presented to my notice. At the first convenient leisure, I have not failed to appropriate my attention to the subjects embraced within the scope of your remarks. They would have met a more ready attention had it not been for a marauding incursion made by a Mexican force on the defenceless town of San Antonio, on the inhabited frontier of Texas. Apprehending that the force had some other character more important than that of bandits and plunderers, commanded as it was by regular officers, it produced a momentary excitement, and claimed the attention of the Executive. But, as the bandits have withdrawn, charaterizing their retreat by pillage and plunder, as has been usual with Mexicans, I am left at leisure to resume in tranquillity the duties of my station. In reference to your correspondence with Mr. Bee and General Hamilton, I have no remark to offer in relation to the communications which those gentlemen assumed the individual responsibility of making to you. The very nature of the correspondence manifests the fact that it was not done under the sanction of this government, but rests solely upon their action as individuals. Had your response regarded them in the light in which they were presented to you, it would have superseded the necessity of any notice from me. But as you have thought proper to laud my conduct as an individual, and refer to transactions connected with this country, with 212 SANTA anna's POLITICAL CHARACTER. which I had official identity, and which I also at this time possess, and as you have taken the liberty, to an unwarrantable extent, to animadvert upon circumstances connected with Texas as a nation, I feel myself com- pelled by a sense of duty to refute a portion of the calumnies which you have presented to the world under the sanction of your official averment. You appear to have seized upon the flimsy pretext of confidential com- munications unknown to the officers of this government, and unknown to the world until divulged by you, for the purpose of manufacturing a capital of popularity at home, and which you have submitted to the world as a manifesto in behalf of what you are pleased to term the rights of a great nation, " by so many titles respectable.-' "Whatever opinions you may have entertained in relation to the diffi- culties existing between Mexico and Texas cannot materially vary the facts and principles involved, nor will they materially influence the decision of mankind upon the justice of our cause. Decency and self-respect, at least, should have induced, on your part, the pursuit of a course different from that which you have adopted. The abuse and ribald epithets which you have applied to the citizens of this country, as well as those of the Mississippi valley of the United States, are doubtless characteristic of the individual who gave them utterance. So far as the people of this country are concerned, I shall refer mankind to a history of facts and circumstances connected with the settlement of the country. I shall pass by with slight notice your remarks relative to the people of the United States. So far as our origin is connected with them, and the unity of sympathy exists, we are proud to hail them as our kindred — kindred in blood, kindred in laws, kindred in all the ennobling attributes of humanity. They will hear your taunts of defiance with the same contempt and derision that Texans regard your silly gasconade. If they have heretofore sympathized with us in our struggle for liberty and independence, it was from a knowledge of the fact that we had been deceived and oppressed by Mexico, and that the cause in which we were engaged was that of humanity struggling against usurpation and despot- ism. The people of Texas were invited to migrate to this country for the pur- pose of enjoying equal rights and constitutional liberty. They were promised the shield of the Con:*titution of 182-i. adopted by Mexico. Con- tiding in this pledge, they removed to the country to encounter all the privations of a wilderness, under the alluring promises of free institutions. Other reasons operated also. Citizens of the United States had engaged ANGLO-SAXONS, AND MEXICANS. 213 in the revolution of Mexico, in 1812. They fought gallantly in the achievement of Mexican independence, and many of them survive, and to this day occupy the soil which their privations and valor assisted in achieving. On their removal here, they brought with them no aspirations or projects but such as were loyal to the Constitution of Mexico. They repelled the Indian savages ; they encountered every discomfort ; they subdued the wilderness, and converted into cultivated fields the idle waste of this now prolific teritory. Their courage and enterprise achieved that which the imbecility of your countrymen had either neglected, or left for centuries unaccomplished. Their situation, however, was not disregarded by Mexico, though she did not, as might have been expected, extend to them a protecting and fostering care, but viewed them as objects of cupidity, rapacity, and at least jealousy. The Texans, enduring the annoyances and oppressions inflicted upon them, remained faithful to the Constitution of Mexico. In 1832, when an attempt was made to destroy that Constitution, and when you, sir, threw yourself forward as its avowed champion, you were sustained with all the fidelity and valor that freemen could contribute. On the avowal of your principles, and in accordance with them, the people put down the serviles of despotism at Anahuac, Velasco, and Nacogdoches. They treated the captives of that struggle with humanity, and sent them to Mexico subject to your orders. They regarded you as the friend of liberty and free institutions ; they hailed you as a benefactor of mankind ; your name and your actions were lauded, and the manifestations you had given in behalf of the nation, were themes of satisfaction and delight to the Texan patriots. ^ You can well imagine the transition of feeling which ensued e last session. In that discussion, which, like this, had kept us in our scats to the morning dawn, the prominent points of opposition were such as related to the Indian tribes. Such a bill at the present ses- sion would have met with no insuperable objections ; but what do we now find? A bill entirely variant, and a bill which involves new and important UNNECESSARY AGITATION. 273 principles. It has come an unexpected measure without a harbinger, for no agitation was heard of, and the breeze bore no whisper to our ears that the Missouri Compromise was to be repealed. XXI. Its presentation has been as sudden as the measure itself is bold ; and the excitement of the public mind is of corresponding intensity. We arc told, to be sure, that there is no necessity for agitation, and that soon the public mind will be tranquil, and the country will be in a state of repose and quiet — as it was at the introduction of this measure. The honorable Senator who has just taken his seat (Mr. Douglas), the chairman of the Committee on Territories, in his lecture to the South, exhorted them to stand by the principle of this bill, with the assurance that it will be good for them, and that the country will maintain it. Sir, und'er proper cir- cumstances, I should recognize the exhortation ; but is the i^rinciple such a one as should be adopted by this body, or can it be sanctioned by the nation ? Whether it is expedient and useful at this time I shall take the liberty to examine. XXII. Mr. President. I cannot believe that the agitation created by this mea- sure will be confined to the Senate Chamber. I cannot believe, from what we have witnessed here to-night, that this will be the exclusive arena for the exercise of human passions, and the expression of public opinions. If the Republic be not shaken, I will thank Heaven fo its kiiidness in maintaining its stability. To what extent is it proposed to establish the principle of non-intervention ? Are you extending it to a domain inhabited by citizens, or to a barren prairie, a wilderness, or even to forty thousand wild Indians ? Is this the diffusive excellence of non-intervention? I, sir, am for non-intervention upon the principles which have heretofore been recognized by this Government. Hitherto Territories have been organized — within my recollection Alabama, Missouri, Florida. Arkansas, Missis- sippi, Wisconsin, and Iowa have been organized — and the principle now proposed was not deemed essential to their well-being ; and is there any infirmity in their constitutions or their growth ? Sir, has any malign in- fluence attached to them from their simple, economical organization? It 12* 274 FANATICISM REBUKED. may be that the word " economy" is deemed obsolete in the present condi- tion of our Treasury. Were it otherwise, I am simple enough to confess that the organization of two Territories— when there are not people to constitute an ordinary county in one of the populous States of this Union, and when those who do inhabit the Territories are United States soldiers, who are not entitled to vote at elections in the States or Territories — is not a procedure that can be characterized as economical. If the principle of non-intervention be correct, it is correct where the Territories have been governed by laws of Congress until they are prepared to make application for admission as States. Then they have a right to elect their delegates to convention, for the purpose of framing State constitutions, which, if ac- cepted by Congress, invest them with all the sovereign rights of States ; and then, for the first time, they have the complete power of self-govern- ment. A Territory under the tutelage of Congress can form no organic laws, either admitting or excluding slavery. A people without organic laws might alternately enact and repeal all laws, and reeuact them with- out limitation, as they would have no local constitution. Congress has a supervision over the action of all Territories until they become sovereign States. In the formation of State governments, I can say that they have the exclusive right to determine whether they will come into the Union with or without slavery. There, sir, is the application of the principle of non-intervention, and one that I have always maintained. XXIII. But gentlemen speak of sovereignty — they say that the people are sov- ereign, and supreme. Sir, I bow with all deference to that sovereignty ; but I do not apply the principle to the Territories in their unorganized and chrysalis condition. Sovereignty implies the power of organization, and a self-acting, self-moving and self-sustaining principle ; but the Ter- ritories have it not. They only acquire it when they become constituent parts of this Confederacy. XXIY. But we are told that the South has stood by the Compromise. I am glad of it. Yet gentlemen have protested against the recognition of North and South. Why, sir, they ore recognized every day. The distinction THE FACTS OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 275 has been recognized by the Statesmen of every day, and every section of the country. Am I to be told that the question has not assumed that character, and that it v/ill not operate to carry sectional influence with it to a certain extent? It is impossible that you can divest it of a sectional character to some extent. Why, we are told, in the very breath that de- clares there is no such principle recognized, that the North has violated the Missouri Compromise, and the South has maintained it ; and yet do you tell me that there is no North and no South? Let us look at the action of the North and South. I am not going back to make a technical, or legal, or constitutional argument upx)n the facts and circumstances of the Missouri Compromise — its creation, its progress, its recognition, and final decision. I am not going to characterize it a compact as distin- guished from a compromise, because I can see no reasonable application of the one that does not belong to the other. XXV. The word - compromise'" is a more comprehensive and rational term when applied to an amicaljle adjustment of difterences existing between two parlies who are reconciled. I well remember that on the organization of Oregon Territory, the South denounced the Missouri Compromise, and did not recognize it. Was not that denunciation subsequent to a joint recognition by both sections of the Union, the North and the South ? Had they not united, the South, perhaps, with more unanimity than the North, upon its application to Texas in her annexation ? Yes, sir, they had. That was in 1845 ; and in 1848, three years after, without any in- tervening act of bad faith on the part of the North, the South repudiated it on the organization of Oregon Territory. Mr. ATCIIISON (Mr. Dodge, of Iowa, in the chair). The Senator saya that the southern members of the Senate repudiated the Missouri Compro- mise on the Oregon bill. Now that, I think, with all due deference to the Senator, is not so. The Senator from Illinois proposed to the Oregon bill the Missouri Compromise, and every southern gentleman, according to my recollection, voted for it — every one in the Senate. The bill went to the House, and the House refused to accede to it. Mr. DOUGLAS. Yes, sir. Mr. ATCHISON. The Senator from Texas, and mj then colleague, the senior Senator Irom Missouri (Mr. Benton), alone of all the southern members voted to recede from it. 276 THE FACTS OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. XXYI. Mr. HOUSTON. I thank the gentleman for giving me a very pleasing intimation. It reminds me, Mr. President, of ^7hat did occur. We voted to recede from it. The other gentlemen did not vote to recede. They had voted in opposition to its organization and admission, or what was tantamount to it. And what was the reason? It was because there was a proposition, and I had introduced resolutions myself, to extend the compromise line to the Pacific ocean. The North did not accept it. I cMd not believe it would be more than an abstraction. Why did I do it then ? I will tell you. But previous to this, and at the time Oregon was organized by the Government, the South went against it, I may say, in a body. The southwestern Senators and myself went for it, under the heaviest denunciations and anathemas that could be applied to any individuals. Yv'as this an abandonment of it by the North? Had it been an abandonment of the application of it by the North, or its non- application by the South, to Texas ? Did not the North receive five and a half degrees of slave territory from Texas, and in consideration of that cede to Texas the right of forming four States in addition to the one then formed? Call it a compact or compromise as you please ; but then it as- sumed the character of a compact when applied to Texas, because Texas came in recognizing that as a principle concurred in by the North and the South. They both applied it to Texas, and it was upon it that she came in. And so far, certainly, it was a compact with her. Is not Texas inter- ested in that ? Did she not consider the Missouri Compromise practically a compact, so far as she is concerned ? Because she predicated her own upon it. And if you deprive her of the benefits resulting from and de- clared by that compact, when are her four States to come in, if the North has the ascendancy? Cannot they exclude them when they please if the Missouri Compromise be repealed? We hold them by an obligation which it would be dishonorable and infamous to abandon. You cannot repeal that compromise without the consent of Texas. Remember, Texas was an independent nation, a sovereignty, when she came into this Union. She had rights equal to those possessed by this country; institutions quite as good, and a more harmonious structure of her community. Now, will there not be a liability that these four additional States may be denied to Texas? Texas insists upon this right in my person, as one of her repre- sentatives. I claim it as no boon bestowed. I ask it as no gift. The State demands it as aright, to form four additional States, if she should elect to do so. EFFECTS OF REPEAL UPON THE SOUTH. 27T XXVII. But what would the repeal of this Compromise amount to ? An ab- straction ? What would the South be benefited by it ? By the amend- ment of the Senator from North Carolina, the bill is perfectly eviscerated, or, to use a senatorial term, because I think it may be applied with more propriety, elegantly emasculated. Yes, sir, it amounts to nothing. It holds a promise to the ear, but breaks it to the hope. If it is ever to be repealed, I want no empty promises. They have not been asked for by the South. They are not desired ; "and, so far as I am concerned, they will never be accepted. Neither my colleague nor myself have ever been consulted in relation to this subject. On the contrary, we have been seda- lously excluded from all consultation. I have never had an intimation that a conference was to take phice, a caucus to be held, or stringent mea- sures applied in the passage of this bill. Nothing of the kind. I have been in the dark in relation to it. I feel that Texas has as important an interest as any other section of this Union in the repeal of the Compromise, and would be as vitally affected by it. She must be eventually, if calami- ties are to fall upon the South, the most unfortunate of all that portion of the Union. XXVIII. I will give you my reasons why I think Texas would be in the most deplorable condition of all the Southern States. It is now the terminus of the slave population. It is a country of vast extent and fertile soil, (avor- able to the culture and growth of those productions which are most impor- tant to the necessities of the world — cotton, sugar, and tobacco. Aa immense slave population must eventually go there. The demand for labor is so great, everything is so inviting to the enterprising and industrious, that labor will be transferred there, because it will be of a most profitable character, and the disproportion of slaves to the white population must be immense. Then, sir, it becomes the gulf of slavery, and there its terrible eddies will whirl, if convulsions take place. I have a right, therefore, to claim some consideration in the Senate for the effect which the repeal of this Compromise will have upon our State. I have a right to demand it, and demand it for other reasons than those which I formerly gave here, that were personal to myself. 278 INTEGRITY OF THE COMPROMISE. XXIX. It is alleged that the refusal on the part of the North to continue the Missouri Compromise line over the acquisitions of 1847 and 1848 was a repudiation of the Compromise. That may be thought technically true. I grant that a proposition was made, or a Compromise entered into by the North and South, to extend the Missouri Compromise as far as the jurisdiction of the United States extended. That was to the Pacific ocean. When it was, by contract, carried on through Texas on its annexation, then, if I understand it, it was a new line — a continuation of the old line by sonsent. It was established there by a compact with Texas ; for by the original Missouri Compromise it could only extend as far as the jurisdic- tion of the United States went. Then the proposition to continue it to the Pacific was a new and substantive proposition. Though it might refer to the original principle of the old, it had no more connection with it than the Atlantic has with the Pacific. XXX. I understand, if individuals make a contract, whether they enter into it in writing, or not, if it is to be executed by any given time, and subse- quently it is proposed by one of the parties to make another contract, which involves not the first, but is made because it is convenient to extend the first further, the refusal of one of the parties to agree to the second, does not invalidate the former contract. This is a kind of argument I have never heard resorted to, except in favor of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. I have a great deal of veneration for that Compromise. I recollect the time when I was tried in the Senate Chamber upon its prin- ciples. There are Senators here Avho well remember that I was denounced, more in manner than in words, when I said I planted myself upon the Mis- souri Compromise line, and that astride of it I would stand, if needs be, and that there I would do battle, and there would I perish in the defence of the rights of the South. That was emphatic language, and I felt all that I uttered. Sir, I have some reverence for it ; and if I should feel such reverence, it is not unreasonable that I should have determinations, too, which will not be changed by all the technical and abstract notions which have been adduced and relied upon to enlighten the public mind, to manu- THE PRESENT MEASURE UNCALLED FOR. 279 facture public sentiment here, and to give direction to it abi'oad. Sir, I have no idea tliat the public sentiment is to be subverted, and I assure yciu that the North, or West, or South, cannot be willing that this should be done. No one can deprecate more than I do the fearful agitations which, I apprehend, will follow this ; but after the manifestations which we have had here, nothing that I can utter will affect those who are present, or certify to them what must be the inevitable consequence, out of this Hall, when agitation is rife abroad. Do these gentlemeu say that I have not made any argument on this point? It is, sir, because I was not sufficiently skilled to meet the refined arguments that were adduced in favor of the repeal. What necessity has grown up for the adoption of this measure since 1850 ? None had resulted at this time last year. None has been heard of. XXXI. Three years have passed in tranquillity and peace. Yet the gentleman who urges the measure thinks that he would have been derelict to his duty he had not brought things to their present condition, and presented the mat- ter in the shape in which it now stands. If it was necessary at all, it was necessary last year. No new developments have been made. The great prin- ciple of non-intervention existed then. There Is no new demand for it now. Is not that a reason why this bill ought not to pass ? Was there any new indication given of its necessity up to the time that the bill was introduced here? None throughout the whole land. How, and where, and why, and when, and with whom this measure originated, Heaven only knows, for I have no cognizance of the facts ; but I well know that persons deeply involved in it, and exercising senatorial privileges here, never receired information that such a measure would be brought forward, or would be urged with that pertinacity with which it is now done. Little did we think that it was to be urged upon us as a great healing measure. The honorable Senator from Virginia [Mr. Mason] said last night, that this is to be regarded as a great healing measure for the purpose of pre- venting agitation. Sir, 1 heard of no agitation until it arose here, nor would there have been any this day in the United States, if the bill in the form in which it was presented last year, had been brought forward and adopted without any provision either for non-intervention or the repeal of the Missouri compromise. 280 VIEWS OF PRESIDENT POLK. XXXII. So far back as 1848,. I find that President Polk recognized the Missouri Compromise as of binding force upon this country. He considered it not only binding upon the North in relation to the South, but, as the Chief Magistrate of this Union,, he regarded it as binding upon the South, because it accorded certain privileges to the South ; for he says, when speaking in relation to his approval of the Oregon bill, that he approved it because it lay north of 36^ 30' ; but had it lain south of 36° 30', he would not say what action he would have taken upon it ; clearly intimating that he would have vetoed the bill, regarding as he did the Missouri Com- promise as obligatory on the two sections of the Union. How has it been repudiated since that time? "Was it repudiated and superseded, or ren- dered null and void, by the Compromise of 1850 ? No such thing. Do you think that the astute statesmen, the men who managed and controlled the business of that Compromise, as much as any other men versed and skilled in legal lore and in general learning, men of acumen and keen perceptions, would have permitted that matter to go unexplained, if it ever had been contemplated to repeal the Missouri Compromise? Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster ^Yould never have done it. Yet no information was given that any such design was entertained by any member of this body I am sure that, for one, 1 did not entertain it. Other gentlemen, more astute than myself, might have done so, but I am confident that it was not the general understanding that non-intervention was to be applied to these Torricories because they lay north of 30^ 30'. XXXIII. I again ask, what benefit is to result to the South from this measure, if adopted? I have shown, I hope, that if you repeal this Missouri Compro- mise, Texas has no guarantee left for the raultiplication of her States, if she chooses to make thorn. What are its advantages ? Will it secure these Territories to the South ? No, sir, not at all. But, the gentleman tells us, it is the principle that we vvant. I can perceive but one principle involved in the measure, and that principle lies at the root of agitation ; and from that all the tumult and excitements of the country must arise. That is the only principle I can perceive. We are told by southern, as well as northern gentlemen, those who are for it, and those who are EFFECTS OF REPEAL UPON THE COUNTRY. 281 against it, that slavery will never be extended to that territory, that it will never go there ; but it is the principle of non-intervention that it is desired to establish. Sir, we have done well under the intervention of the Missouri Compromise, if the gentlemen so call it, in other Territories ; and, I adjure you, wnen there is so much involved, not to press this matter too far. What is to be the consequence ? If it is not in embryo, my sug- gestion will not make it so. It has been suggested elsewhere, and I may repeat it here, what is to be the effect of this measure if adopted, and you repeal the Missouri Compromise ? The South is to gain nothing by it ; for honorable gentlemen from the South, and especially the junior Senator from Virginia [Mr. Hunter], characterize it as a miserable, trifling little measure. Then, sir, is the South to be propitiated or benefited by the conferring upon her of a miserable, trifling little measure? Will that compensate the South for her uneasiness? Will it allay the agitation of the North? Will it preserve the union of these States? Will it sustain the Democratic or the Whig party in their organizations? No, sir, they all go to the wall. What is to be the eftect on this Government? It is to be most ruinous and fatal to the future har- mony and well-being of the country. I think that the measure itself would be useless. If you establish intervention, you make nothing by that. But what will be the consequence in the minds of the people ? They have a veneration for that Compromise. They have a respect and reve- rence for it, from its antiquity and the associations connected with it, and repeated references to it that seem to suggest that it marked the bound- aries of free and slave territory. They have no respect for it as a com- pact — I do not care what you call it — but as a line, defining certain rights and privileges to the different sections of the Union. The abstractions which you indulge in here can never satisfy the people that there is not something in it. Abrogate it or disannul it, and you exasperate the public mind. It is not necessary that reason should accompany excite- ment. Feeling is enough to agitate without much reason, and that will be the great prompter on this occasion. My word for it, we shall realize scenes of agitation Avhich are rumbling in the distance now. XXXIY. I have heard it said, and may as well remark it now, that the Aboli- tionists and Free-Soilers, to a certain extent, will affiliate with the weaker political party at the North, the Whigs, and will make a fair contest with 282 HOUSTON WILL NOT SWERVE FROM DUTY. the Democrats. If they throw this question in the scale, and the Demo- crats do not, they will preponderate. Then how are the Democrats to sustain themselves under this pressure ? Suppose the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law, or the repeal of the Compromise of 1850 is proposed, and the Democrats oppose it ; they will meet with the objection that it is not more sacred than the Missouri Compromise, and the repeal will be urged before the people 5 and we shall see our House of Representatives with a prepon- derating power of Abolitionism, the principles of which will triumph. Every Representative who votes for this measure will be prostrated ; he cannot come back, or, if he comes back, he will be pledged to the repeal of a measure fraught with so many blessings of peace to the country. With all the fancied benefits of non-intervention, they caunot overbalance the disastrous consequences that must ensue to our institutions. XXXV. This is an eminently perilous measure, and do you expect me to remain here silent, or to shrink from the discharge of my duty in admonishing the South of what I conceive the results will be ? I will do it in spite of all the intimidations, or threats, or discountenances that may be thrown upon me. Sir, the charge that I am going with the Abolitionists or Free- Soilers aflFects not me. The discharge of conscious duty prompts me often to confront the united array of the very section of the country in which I reside ; In which my associations are ; in which my personal interests have always been, and in which my affections rest. When every look to the setting sun carries me to the bosom of a family dependent upon me, think you I could be alien to them ? Never — never. Well, sir, if I am now accidently associated with Abolitionists, in voting against this measure of repeal — if I vote with them, and with individual Senators with whom my relations have always been courteous and polite personally, they well know that I feel no sympathy with their notions — that I think them fanatical — I do not esteem it a greater misfortune attendant upon me than I have witnessed before, in this Chamber, with other Senators from the South. In the passage of the Compromise bill of 1850, I saw asso- ciations of extremes quite as extraordinary as on this occasion. I almost thought that the extremes of the Abolitionists and Secession parties had become Siamese twins ; they were so intimate that I could not help but remark it. MR. SEWARD. Who? OPINION OP GENERAL CASS 283 XXXYI. Mr. HOUSTON. I need not mention who ; I merely throw out the sug- gestion. I do not inquire into the motive which induced the introduction of this bill into the Senate. I cast no reflections on gentlemen either for its introduction or for its support ; but I deprecate the consequences which will flow from it. I have conversed with several Senators, and I have never hear the first who would not admit that it was an unfortunate and ill-advised measure. The venerable and distinguished Senator from Michi- gan [Mr, Cass], the other day, in his speech, declared, in substance, that he thought it was an unfortunate circumstance that it had ever been intro- duced into the Senate, although it meets with his approbation when it is here. And now, when he who has been in the councils and transactions of this country for fifty years, who has witnessed all the vicissitudes and mutations through which the country has passed, who has been an actor in the most important scenes of the Union — when he does not recognize it as a healing and welcome measure, I ask Senatorsif I err in resisting it? They say it is here. It is here, and if I had the power, I would kick it out. What, if a measure unwholesome or unwise is brought into the Sen- ate, and it comes from the party of which I am a member, and its intro- duction is an error, is it not my duty to correct that error as far as I possibly can ? Sir, I stand here for that general purpose. My constitu- ents send me here for that purpose. XXXYII. But I will not admit for a moment that this meets the sanction of the Executive. All his antecedents are in the face of it. Supporting him as I did, I must believe him consistent and truthful. He is upon the record as an opponent to agitation of any kind, whether in the Halls of Congress or anywhere else. He is pledged to keep down and resist agitation, as far as in his power : and that the institutions of the country shall sustain no *' shock ''* during his Administration. If this bill passes, will there be 7io shock? Depend upon it, Mr. President, there will be a tremendous shock . it will convulse the country from Maine to the Rio Grande. The South has not asked for it. I, as the most Southern Senator upon this floor, do not desire it. If it is a boon that is offered to propitiate the South, I, as a Southern man, repudiate it. I reject it. I will have none of it. 284 JAGOBANDESAU. XXXYIII. Mr. President, not in any spirit of unkindness— not entertaining unfriendly or ungentle feelings, — I will allude here,by way of illustration, to one of the most beautiful and captivating incidents in the Holy Bible —one that shows a forgetting, and kind, and amiable, and forgiving tem- per, which, even under a sense of deep injuries, was willing to embrace a brother, and forget the past. I need not relate to this iotelligent assem- bly the history of Esau and Jacob. The birthright and the mess of pottage are familiar to all. The two brothers separated in anger, after Jacob had acquired the blessing which should have been given to Esau, and Jacob fled to Laban, his mother's brother, in a distant country, where he greatly prospered. Afterwards, when he separated his flocks from those of his father-in-law, it became necessary for him to journey through the land of of his brother Esau, who was then a man of influence, and power, and wealth. As Jacob approached, he thought it was necessary to propitiate his brother for the wrong which he had done him, and he supposed he could not do that without some atonement, or some gift. He dispatched a portion of his family, some of his handmaidens, and children, and servants, with a drove of cattle, which he intended as an offering to his brother ; and the sacred narrative says that when Esau heard that his brother was journey- ing towards his land, "Esau ran to meet him; and they embraced and kissed each other ; and they wept.-' Now I do not see why the North and South, if they have been separated, might not embrace each other without any feeling of anger. But, after some colloquy had taken place between the brothers, Esau said : '• What meanest thou by this drove which Iniet ?■' And Jacob said, "These are to find grace in the sight of my Lord." And Esau then made a reply worthy of a generous spirit. He said : " / have enough, my brother ; keep that thon hast unto thyself.-^ XXXIX. So, if this is an offering to propitiate the South, the South may say, " I have enough, my brother ; keep that thou hast unto thyself.-' If this is the only offering tendered to the South, we will not ask it ; we do not want it ; the people will be angry if you give it ; and I never want to ' make trouble with my friends at home. I would rather you would keep it. If you are indebted in anything to the South, all I have to say is, that you might find some other occasion when it would be more agreeable to CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE COMPROMISE. 285 cancel the obligation. The South, as a community, only desire their rights under the Constitution and existing compromises. But, sir, the people are not going into abstractions to understand this subject. Nor will there be a lawyer at every point, every cross-road, every public meeting, every muster, or every court-house, to give elabo- rate dissertations upon the unconstitutionality of the Missouri Compromise. I care nothing about its constitutionality or unconstitutionality. Not one straw do I care about it, on account of the circumstances out of which it grew, and the benefits flowing from it. Mr. Jeflferson said he could not find constitutional authority for the acquisition of Louisiana. If that was the case, even if the Compromise, based upon an unconstitutional act, to reconcile the different sections of the country, was without authority of the Constitution, it became a legitimate subject of legislation. I say legiti- mate, because it was an acquisition of territory which must be governed in some manner suited" to the exigencies of the occasion. Hence the resort to the principle of compromise, and to legislation. Was the acqui- sition of Florida constitutional ? I think not. Yet we retain it as one of our States. Was the acquisition of Texas constitutional ? No, sir, it was not. It was a mere act of legislation on the part of this Government — a compromise — precisely such as the compromise which this bill proposes to repeal. But Texas is in, and you cannot thrust us out ; and that is the whole of it. But it is not constitutional. If it is not, and validity attaches only to compacts, in contradistinction to compromises, then this is a compact predicated upon the compromise of Missouri. XLI. I do not know whether it is constitutional, technically. It is suflBcient for me to know that it has stood for more than thirty years, and received the approbation of our wisest and ablest statesmen, from the day of its adoption down to the present, and was never questioned until after the commencement of the present session of Congress. It is strange that an unconstitutional law should have remained so long in force amid all the agitation, and excitement, and bitterness between the North and the South ; and that this is the first proposition ever made to repeal it. Have 286 HENRY CLAY AGITATION OF 1850. we to yield to it without any necessity, and without any excuse for it, when we see that discord will run riot in our land ? Sir, the occasion to which I have alluded, was not the only one on which I said I was willing to stand on the Missouri Compromise line, in defence of the rights of the South. On another occasion, it will be recol- lected in this Chamber, when speaking of the obligations the country was under to a distinguished statesman, then in private life, and whose party had postponed his claim, or pretermitted it, or, in common parlance, laid him on the shelf, I said, that when the Missouri agitation was quieted, he was held throughout the land as a great pacificator ; and if he had committed a mountain of sins, that single achievement of tranquilizing the great Republic, giving permanency, peace, and growth to its institu- tions, would have overbalanced them all. I said that Henry Clay deserved a monument of bronze, of marble, or of gold, to be placed in the rotunda of the Capitol, for men in aftertimes of great excitement to con- template, and look upon as a man who blessed his country. That was the sentiment I entertained, and it arose from veneration, not only for the man, but for the needed restoration of harmony to our native land. Were I to make such a declaration now, it would be thought that it was an endeavor to bring this bill into discredit. No, sir, nothing is necessary from me to discredit it ; for it is its own condemnation under the circum- stances in which it is presented here, at this time, in the midst of unity, peace, and harmony, while all is at rest, with not a ripple on the vast ocean of our community. I have seen agitation and bitterness before. XLII. I recollect when I ventured to make the first address in this Chamber on the subject of the agitation in 1850, with what discountenance it was received. So little was there a disposition to harmonize, that lohen I suggested that six Senators, without regard to party or section, might be selected from the members of this body, who could compose an Address and send it abroad so as to harmonize the country, and hush the fierce waves of political agitation that ivere then lashing the base of this Capitol, it met with no reponse. Well, we subsequently obtained POSITION OF THE NORTHERN DEMOCRACY. 28T peace and harmony. Let us preserve it. And there is no mode by which we can so eflfectually accomplish that object, as by rejecting the proposed measure. I had fondly hoped, Mr. President, that having attained to my present period of life, I should pass the residue of my days, be they many or few, in peace and tranquillity ; that as I found the country growing up rapidly, and have witnessed its immeasurable expansion and development, wlien I closed my eyes on scenes around me, I would at least have the cherished consolation and hope that I left my children in a peaceful, happy, prosperous, and united community. I had hoped this. Fondly bad I cherished the desire and the expectation from 1850 until after the introduction of this bill. My hopes are less sanguine now. My anxieties increase, but my expectation lessens. Sir, if this repeal takes place, I will have seen the commencement of the agitation ; but the youngest child now born, I am apprehensive, will not live to witness its termination. Southern gentlemen may stand up and defend this measure. They may accept it from the Northern gentlemen who generously bestow it ; but if it were beneficial to the South, it would have been asked for. It was not asked for — nor will it be accepted by the people. It furnishes those in the North, who are enemies of the South, with efiScient weapons to con- tend with. XLIY. The Democracy in the North have stood firm to party ties. They have fought gallantly for our rights. If we pass this bill how can they main- tain themselves? How can their representatives return to them and say: "We gave it?" Would not the reply be : "You gave it ; then you are. faithless servants, and we will put you down ; you disgraced your party ; you have given away a sacred thing, a pledge, a compromise thirty-four years old, which was venerated for its antiquity, and national benefits derived from it ?" Depend upon it, they will be held to a strict account. They will have to answer for it. I call upon you to sustain those who stood by you of the South in opposition to those whose fanaticism, and prejudice, and misguided feeling would have wrested your rights from you. If you place them and their party in the predicament which I have mentioned, you will be doing them great injustice. XLY. Mr. President. I have very little hope that any appeal which I can make 288 VINDICATION OF THE INDIANS. for the Indians will do any good. The honorable Senator from Indiana [Mr. Pettit], says, in substance, that God Almighty has condemned them, and has made them an inferior race ; that there is no use in doing anything for them. With great deference to that Senator, for whom I have never cherished any but kind feelings, I must be permitted to dissent from his opinions. He says they are not civilized, and they are not homo- geneous, and cannot be so, with the white race. They cannot be civilized ! No ! Sir, it is idle to tell me that. We have Indians on our western bor- ders whose civilization is not inferior to our own. It is within the recol- lection of gentlemen here that, m.ore than twenty years ago. President Hoss, one of them, held a correspondence upon the rights of the Indians to the Cherokee country, which they possessed east of the Mississippi, and maintained himself in the controversy with great credit and ability ; and the triumph of Mr. Adams, if it was one, was much less than he had obtained over the diplomatist of Spain [Mr. Don Onis], in relation to the occupation of Florida by General Jackson. The Senator from Indiana says that, in ancient times, Moses received a command to go and drive the Canaanites and Moabites out of the land of Canaan, and that Joshua subsequently made the experiment of incorporating one tribe of the hea- then with the Israelites, but it finally had to be killed off. Therefore, the Senator concludes, the Cherokees cannot be civilized. There may have been something statesmanlike in the policy, but I do not discover the morality of it. I will say, however, that there is no analogy between the two cases. The people of Judea who were killed, or exterminated, were idolaters, and the object was to keep the people of Israel free from the taint of idols and idolatry, under the command of Providence, and therefore the extermination in His dispensation became necessary. But the Cherokees never have been idolators, neither have the Creeks, nor the Choctaws, nor the Chickasaws. They believe in one Great Spirit — in God — the white man's God. They believe in his Son Jesus Christ, and his atonement, and propitiation for the sins of men. They believe in the sanctifying efficacy of the Holy Ghost. They bow at th« Christian's altar, and they believe the Sacred Volume. Sir, you may drive these people away, and give their lands to the white man ; but let it not be done upon the justification of the Scriptures. They have well-organized societies ; they have villages and towns ; they have their state-houses and their Capitols ; they have females and men who would grace the drawing-rooms or saloons of Washington ; they have a well-organized judiciary, a trial by jury, and the writ of habeas corpus. These are the people for whom T THEIR SOCIAL CONDITION. 289 demand justice in the organization of these Territories. They are men of education. They have more than one hundred native preachers in those tribes, as I have heard. They have their colleges, as I remarked in my former address to the Senate on this subject. They become associated in friendship with our young men in the various institutions in the United States ; and they are prepared to be incorporated upon equal terms with us. But even if they were wild Indians, untutored, when you deprive them of what would give them knowledge, and discourage them from making an effort to become civilized and social beings, how can you ex- pect them to be otherwise than savage ? XLVI. Wlien you undertake to tame wild horses, do you turn them from you and drive them into the desert, or do you take care of them and treat them with humanity? These Indians are not inferior, intellectually, to white men. John Ridge was not inferior in point of genius to John Randolph. His father, in point of native intellect, was not inferior to any man. Look at their social condition, in the nations to which I have alluded. Look at the Chickasaws who remain in the State of Mississippi. Even among white men, with all their prejudices against the Indians, with their transcendent genius and accomplishments, they have been elected to the Legislature. Whenever they have had an opportunity, they have shown that they are not inferior to white men. either in sense or capability. XLYII. But the honorable Senator from Iowa [Mr. Dodge] characterizes the remarks which I made in reference to the Indians as arising from a feeling of " sickly sentimentality." Sir, it is a sickly sentimentality that was implanted in me when I was young, and it has grown up with me. The Indian has a sense of justice, truth, and honor, that should find a responsive chord in every heart. If the Indians on the frontier are barbarous, or if they are cannibals, and eat each other, who are to blame for it ? They are robbed of the means of sustenance ; and with hundreds and thousands of them starving on the frontier, hunger may prompt to Buch acts to prevent their perishing. "We shall never become cannibals in connection with the Indians: but we do worse than that. We rob 13 290 SHAMEFUL ROBBERY OF THE INDIANS. them, first of tlieir native dignity and character ; we rob them next of what the Government appropriates for them. If we do not do it in this Hall, men are invested with power and authority, who, officiating as agents or traders, rob them of everything which is designed for them. No less than one hundred millions of dollars, I learn from statistics, since the adoption of this Government, have been appropriated by Con- gress for purposes of justice and benevolence towards the Indians ; but I am satisfied that they have never realized j?/ifeen millions beneficially. They are too remote from the scat of Government for their real condition to be understood here ; and if the Government intends liberality or justice towards them, it is often diverted from the intended object and consumed by speculators. XLVIII. I am a friend of the Indian, upon the principle that I am a friend to justice. "We are not bound to make them promises ; but if a promise be made to an Indian, it ought to be regarded as sacredly as if it were made to a white man. If we treat them as tribes, recognize them, send commissioners to form treaties and exchange ratifications with them, and the treaties are negotiated, accepted, ratified, and exchanged — having met with the approval of the Senate — I thinli they may be called compacts; and how are those compacts regarded? Just as we chooSe to construe them at the time, without any reference to the wishes , of the Indians, or whether we do them kindness or justice In the operation, or not. We are often prompted to their ratification by persons interested ; and we lend ourselves unintentionally to an unjust act of oppression upon the Indians by men who go and get their signatures to a treaty. The Indian's mark is made ; the employees of the Government certify or witness it ; and the Indians do not under stand it, for they do not know what is written. These are some of the circumstances connected with the Indians. Gentlemen have spoken here of voting millions to build ships, and placing the Army and Navy at the disposition of the President in the event that England act inconsist- ently with treaty stipulations. This is done because, if England violates a treaty with us, our national honor is injured. Now, I should like to know if it becomes us to violate a treaty made with the Indians when wc Ijlease, regardless of every principle of truth and of honor. We should be careful if it were with a pov/er able to war with us ; and it argues a DUTY OF CONGRESS TOWARDS THEM. 291 degree of infinite meanness and indescribable degradation on our part to act differently with the Indians, who confide in o^ir honor and justice, and who call the President their Great Father, and confide in him. Mr. Presi- dent, it is in the power of the Congress of the United States to do some justice to the Indians by giving them a government of their own, and encouraging them in their organization and improvement by inviting their delegates to a place on the floor of the Senate and house of Representa- tives. If you will not do it, the sin will lie at your door, and Providence, in His own way, mysterious and incomprehensible to us though it is, will accomplish all His purposes, and may at some day avenge the wrongs of the Indians upon our nation. As a people we can save them ; and the sooner the great work is begun, the sooner will humanity have cause to rejoice in its accomplishment. XLIX. Mr. President, I shall say but little more. My address may have been desultory. It embraces many subjects which it would be very hard to keep in entire order. We have, in the first place, the extensive territory ; then we have the considerations due to the Indians ; and then we have the proposed repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which seems to require the most explanation, and to be the main point in the controversy. The great principle involved in that repeal is non-intervention, which, we are told, is to be of no practical benefit, if the Compromise is repealed. It can have no effect but to keep up agitation. Sir, the friends who have survived the distinguished men who took pro- minent parts in the drama of the compromise of 1850, ought to feel gratified that those men are not capable of participating in the events of to-day, but that they were permitted, after they had accomplished theii* labors, and seen their country in peace, to leave the world, as Simeon did, with the exclamation : " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." They departed in peace, and they left their country in peace. They felt, as they were about to be gathered to the tombs of their fathers, that the country they had loved so well, and which had honored them— that country upon whose 292 THE PACIFICATORS OF 1850. fame aud name their doings had shed a bright lustre which shines abroad throughout all Christendom — was reposing in peace and happiness. What would their emotions be if they could now be present and see an effort made, if not so designed, to undo all their work, and to tear asunder the cords that they had bound around the hearts of their countrymen ? They have departed. The nation felt the wound : and we see the memo- rials of woe still in this Chamber. The proud symbol (the eagle) above your head remains enshrouded in black, as if deploring the misfortune which has fallen upon us, or as a fearful omen of future calamities which await our nation, in the event this bill should become a law. Above it I behold the majestic figure of Washixgtox, whose presence must ever inspire patriotic emotions, and command the admiration and love of every American heart. By these associations I adjure you to regard the con- tract once made to harmonize and preserve this Union. Maintain the Missouri Compromise ! Stir not up agitation / Give us peace ! LI. This much I was bound to declare — in behalf of my country, as I believe, and I know in behalf of my constituents. In the discharge of my duty I have acted fearlessly. The events of the future are left in the hands of a wise Providence. LII. Frank Pierce's Nebraska and Kansas Bill, had long been under discussion, and as bis partisans in the Senate were numerous enough to pass it when they pleased. General Houston rose in his place late on Friday night, March 3d, 1854, and delivered the following great argument. It was the last and most power- ful remonstrance that fell on the ears of that Senate, until the vote was taken. Let men read it at the North and the South — for it speaks the truth to America — our common country. Its prophecies have already become history. LIIL Such were the noble words, which late that night fell from REMONSTRANCES AGAINST THE NEBRASKA BILL. 293 the lips of Houston. His speech, although pronounced in the fervor of his native and impetuous eloquence, is already by the march of events conserted into history. It seems at the first blush as though it must have been changed since its delivery — so perfect a transcript is it now of what has since taken place. But we copy it from the official Congressional Report. Liy. The prospect of the overthrow of the Missouri Compromise, by the Congress of the United States, spread general alarm through- out the country. Petitioners by tens of thousands sent in their remonstrances and memorials, praying that the Bill might not pass. But the memorial which attracted most attention, was " from upwards of three thousand ministers of the Gospel of all denominations and sects, in the different States of New Eng- land, remonstrating against the passage of the Nebraska Bill. Demagogues had aflfected indifference or contempt towards this petition ; and even Senators who were looking to the Presi- dency, allowed themselves, in the heat of debate, to treat 3,000 New England clergymen with contempt. These Senators forgot, that these 8,000 ministers had been put into the pulpits of New England, by the peojfle of New England ; just as really, legiti- mately (and without political corruption), as Senators at Washington had been placed in their seats. They should have remembered moreover, that these clergymen more faithfully reflected the opinions of their congregations, on this subject, than Senators represented the opinions of their constituents. It was expected, in this crisis, that Mr. Everett — who then filled Daniel Webster's place in the Senate — would, as a Massa- chusetts man, rise and rebuke the demagogues, for their unprovoked assault upon 3,000 of the Protestant clergymen of New England. But Mr. Everett was silent ; and Sam rose and 294 HOUSTON ON THE CLERGYMEN'S PETITION. did the work which Webster would have done, had he not left the Senate and the world for ever. Mr. Houston said : — LY. Mr. President : I think that a petition of this kind ought to be received, and that it is not subject to the charge brought against it by the Senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas]. It does not arraign our action by being drawn up after that action was had. The Nebraska Bill passed this body on the night of the 3d, or rather, on the morning of the 4th instant. The memorial appears to be dated on the 1st of March. I cannot think that it meant any indignity to the Senate. There is nothing expressive of any such feeling in it. It is a right that all individuals in the community have, if their terms are respectful, to memoralize the Senate of the United States upon any subject. Whether there is any ulterior object in this I know not ; but from the date of the memorial, and from the number of signers, I am induced to believe that that memoralists thought there was something wrong in that bill ; and if they believe that its passage would be a breach of faith on the part of the Government, they had a right to say so. I took the liberty of making the same charge here. There were more questions than that of non-intervention involved in that bill. It involved an infraction of faith with the Indians, of pledges given to them under all the solemn forms, yet mockery, of treaties. That was one point involved ; and I charged that the passage of the bill would be a violation of plighted faith in that particular. Was it a violation of faith to disregard the Missouri Compromise, which was of so much antiquity and utility to the country ? That is a matter of discussion. I have not arraigned the action of any gentleman since the passage of the bill, but anterior to it I gave my opinions in relation to its character as a disre- gard of treaties, and as a flagrant violation of the plighted faith of the nation towards the Indians. LYI. With respect to the Missouri Compromise, I believe its repeal to be as flao-rant a breach of faith as the violation of treaties made with the Indians. I have not charged Senators with corrupt motives, nor have I MINISTERS ARE NOT DISFRANCHISED. 295 charged them with anything selfish ; but I certainly can see no more impropriety in ministers of the Gospel, in their vocation, memorializing Congress, than politicians, or other individuals. I do not believe that these ministers have sent this memorial here to manufacture political capital, to have it entered on ^e records of the Senate, so that it might be taken back and disseminated through the country. Sir, it comes from the country. I told you that there would be agitation ; but it was denied upon this floor. Is not this agitation ? Three thousand ministers of the living God upon earth — his vicegerents — send a memorial here upon this subject ; and yet you tell me that there is no excitement in the country ! Sir, you realize what I anticipated. The country has to bear the inflic- tion. Sir, the coup d'etat w&s not successful. The bill did not pass before the community was awakened to it. The community was awakened to it not alone in New England, for I have seen letters from the South and "West stating that it was there regarded as a breach of faith ; and I can see no wrong in ministers expressing their opinion in regard to it. This protest does not attack the reputation of Senators. It does not displace them from their positions here. It does not impair their capabilities for the discharge of the high functions which the Constitution has devolved upon them. I see nothing wrong in all this. LYII. Ministers have a right to remonstrate. They are like other men. Because they are ministers of the Gospel they are not disfranchised of political rights and privileges ; and, if their language is respectful to the Senate, in anticipation of the passage of a bill which is obnoxious to them, they have a right to spread their opinions on the records of the nation. The great national heart throbs under this measure ; its pulse beats high ; and is it surprising that we should observe the effects of it ? I trust, sir, that the nation may yet again see the blessed tranquillity that prevailed over the whole country when this " healing measure " was introduced into the Senate. The position of the nation was enviable. It was unagitated. There was not, in my recollection, a time so tranquil, nor a community more happy. A nation more proseperous existed not upon the earth. Sir, I trust that there will be no continuance of agitation ; but the way to end it is not to make war upon memorialists. Let them memorialize if they think it necessary. If they state what is incorrect, let the subject be 296 PROPRIETY OF THE MEMORIAL. referred to committees, and let the committees give an exposition of the truth, and lay it, in reports, before the public, and then the intelligence of the nation will determine as to what is right, and what consideration ought to be given to it, I would not take away the liberty to indulge in the freest expression of opinion, or the exercise of the rights and privileges which belong to any portion of this country ; yet I would discourage agi- tation. I may hold the contents of this protest, to some extent, heretical ; yet they are not expressed in such offensive language as would justify a denial of their right to memorialize. If it had been intended to impugn our motives or our actions, either as corrupt or immoral, we could bear it. The people surely have a right to think and speak upon our action. We are not placed in a position so high that we are elevated above the ques- tioning power of the people. They have the right to look into our action, and investigate our conduct ; and, if they do not approve of it, to express their opinions in relation to it. I shall never make war upon them on that account ; yet, I trust, that whatever disposition may be made of the bill which we have passed, the agitation has already reached its acme ; and that, from this point it may decline, until the country is again restored to peace and happiness. LYIII. Mr. President, I have the misfortune to differ from my friends in relation to this measure, but that difference is not sufficient to induce me to enter anew into the discussion of it. I will, however, discuss the propriety of this memorial. The gentlemen misapprehend its character entirely. I understood the honorable Senator from Virginia — but I may have been mistaken — to say that it invoked the vengeance of the Almighty God upon the Senate. [Mr. MASON. In substance it does, as I understand.] Mr. HOUSTON. There is no invocation contained in the memorial. It is a respectful protest, stating their appreciation of the measure then pend- ing before the Senate of the United States, and not one word is contained in it derogatory to the Senate at the time it was drawn, and there is no invocation of wrath or vengeance upon the members of this body. It is a respectful protest, in the name of the Almighty God. By the expression which I used, that these ministers were the vice- gerents of the Almighty. I merely intended to say that they were harbin- gers of peace to their fellow-men ; and if it was a lapsua iinguce, or RELATION OF MINISTERS TO POLITICS. 29T improper expression, it docs not change the intention that I then enter- tained in my mind, of expressing a belief, that it was nothing else than an extraordinary emergency that diverted men from their ordinary pursuits in the ministry of the Gospel, to engage at all in, or to step even to the verge of, the political arena. LIX. We are told, Mr. President, that this was intended for the purpose of agitation. It is certainly a manifestation of agitation ; but it could not have been intended to create agitation, for the thing was done, and here is one of its developments and consequences. Yet, sir, I can see nothing wrong in the memorial, so far as I am concerned. If ministers of the Gospel are not recognized by the Constitution of the United States, they are recognized by the moral and social constitution of society. They are recognized in the constitution of man's salvation. The great Redeemer of the World enjoined duties upon mankind ; and there is a Moral Consti- tution from which we have derived all the excellent principles of our Political Constitution — the great principles upon which our Government, morally, socially, and religiously, is founded. LX. Sir, I do not think there is anything very derogatory to our institutions in the ministers of the Gospel expressing their opinions. They have a right to do it. No man can be a minister without first being a man. He has political rights : he has also the rights of a missionary of the Saviour, and he is not disfranchised by his vocation. Certain political restrictions may be laid upon him : he may be disqualified from serving in the Legis- latures of the States, but that does not discharge him from political and civil obligations to his country. He has a right to contribute as far as he thinks necessary, to the sustentation of its institutions. He has a right to interpose his voice as one of its citizens, against the adoption of any mea- sure which he believe will injure the nation. These individuals have done no more. They have not denounced the Senate, but they have protested, in the capacity of ministers, against what I and other Senators on this floor protested. They have the right to do it, and we cannot take that right from them. They will exercise it. The people have the right to think, and they will exercise that right. They have the right of memo- 13* 298 THE SOUTH AND THE COMPROMISE. rializing, and they will exercise that right. They have the right to express their opinions, and they will exercise that right. They will exercise their rights in reprobation or commendation at the ballot-box, too ; and preachers, I believe, vote. They have the right to do so. They are not very formida- ble numerically, but they have the right to do this as ministers of the Gospel, as well as we Senators have a right to vote for the adoption of a measure ; and if it is not in accordance with their opinions, they have a right to condemn it. They have the right to think it is morally wrong, politically wrong, civilly wrong, and socially wrong, if they do not inter- fere with the vested rights of others in the entertainment of those opinions. LXI. I understood my honorable friend from Mississippi to say, that the South had been groaning for a long time under this oppressive measure. The South, sir, are a spirited people, and how they could have submitted, for more than a third of a century, to this indignity, this wrong, this act of oppression, which has ground them down in their prosperity and deve- lopment, and never have said a word about it until this auspicious mo- ment arrived, and that, too, when political subjects have been agitated at the North and South — that it should have been reserved for the action of the present Congress, after all others had glided by without complaint, rebuke, remonstrance, or suggestion of appeal, is a most extraordinary thing. My friend does not apprehend it ; but there was no excitement out of this Capitol, or out of the city of Washington. It originated here. This was the grand laboratory of political action and political machinery. The object was to mature the measure here, and inflict it, by a coup d'etat, upon the nation, and then radiate it to every point of the country. The potion does not react pleasantly. There is a response, but how does it go down ? Not well. The physic works ; it works badly ; it works upward. LXII. I am willing to receive any memorials that are presented to this body which are respectable in terms, whether they come from preachers, poli- ticians, civilians, or from the beggars that congregate about your cities, and I will treat them with respect and kindness. As long as they are respectful in terms to this body, though they express their apprehension of REPLY TO MR. DOUGLAS. 299 a calamity about to fall on the country, it brands no man ; and if they denounce a measure in advance, it is what they have a right to do. We have a more eligible position here to advocate our opinions than individu- als have in social life to maintain their positions. We have all the pano- ply of power and State sovereignty thrown around the members of this body to guard and shield them against attacks ; but they are thrown in the midst of the community without any shield, except it is the shield of morality and propriety of conduct which gives protection to their persons. While they express themselves respectfully I shall never treat with dis- respect preachers, or any other individuals who come before this body to give us their opinions upon political subjects. LXIII. In reply to some remarks of Mr. Douglas — Mr. HOUSTON said : Mr. President, as the honorable Senator from Il- linois, the chairman of the Committee on Territories, seemed in a most emphatic manner to address his remarks to me, I think him fully entitled to the respect of my attention. He has dwelt upon the Abolition character of this document. So far as any such character may be embodied in it, I have nothing to say. There are various opinions entertained here and elsewhere upon various subjects with which I have nothing to do, and with which I have no affiliation ; but with this subject, as it is presented to the Senate now, I have some connection. With the controversy which exists between the honorable chairman of the Committee on Territories and the gentleman from_ Ohio (Mr. Chase), and the gentle- man from Massachusetts, (Mr. Sumner), I have nothing to do. I was not here when the controversy originated, nor when it was first introduced into the Senate. I have not participated in it since ; and however un- pleasant such altercations or controversies may be, and however I may regard them as impeding the transaction of business in this body, T have forborne either public or private expressions of opinion upon that matter. Mr. DOUGLAS. Mr. President, I will say to the Senator that the only allusion which I had to him was the simple quotation which I made from his remarks when he spoke of these ministers being the vicegerents of the Almighty. My other remarks were intended for another quarter, so far as they had an application anywhere. If he is under the misapprehension of supposing that they referred to him, I wish to correct him ; that is all. I do not want to interrupt him. 300 THE MEMORIAL MISAPPREHENDED. LXIY. Mr. HOUSTON. I am very glad to hear the disclaimer, for the gen- tlemau'S remarks apjDeared to be directed so unequivocally towards me, that I was led into the misapprehension of supposing that they were intended perhaps to apply to me, in a manner in which it was not the purpose of the gentleman to apply them. But, sir, I explained, when I was up before, the misapplication of the term 'vicegerent,' and I expressed my opinion to be that the ministers of the Gospel were the her- alds of the Almighty God, or his ministers of peace upon earth. I thought the gentleman would not have carped upon that expression, unless with reference to some particular influence which my views might have upon the auditory. It was a mere misapplication of a term, and I so explained it. But, Mr. President, I think the object of this memorial is misappre- hended. I find no fault with its introduction either before or after the passage of the bill to which it refers, for that bill may be returned to the Senate with amendments. Such things very frequently occur. At all events, as the memorial has been prepared with great care, and as the gentlemen who have signed it have been anxiotis that their views should be laid before the Senate of the United States, lest other measures embracing similar principles should be introduced, I can see nothing improper in allowing them to lay their views respectfully before the Senate. I do not think there is any evidence that the gentlemen who have signed the memorial have any disposition to establish theocracy in our country, or that they wish to take the Government into their own hands, and exercise a controlling influence over it. We find that those who have signed this document are of diflerent sects and various denom- inations. I think there is no danger that such an amalgamation of interests and opinions will take place as to embody a force suflScient to make any great impression on the institutions of this country, or to endanger our liberties. LXY. Mr. President, this memorial is regarded as a substantive and indepen- dent matter, as intended to produce agitation, and to insult the Senate ; but it is really the effect of a measure which 1 predicted would have this influence upon the community. The cause exists in the Senate. It exists in the amendment inserted into the Nebraska Bill proposing the repeal of THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 301 the Missouri Compromise, and this is but responsive action to that. The cause is not in the clergymen who have signed this memorial. The memorial is the effect of a cause brought forward and presented in the Senate. The memorial impugns the action of no one. It is true the memorialists speak of the measure as immoral. Surely that ought not to insult Senators. They are not such paragons of morality that they cannot bear to have their moral character questioned, if they should happen to do anything which would not be strictly moral, according to some standards, but which I should not think to be very immoral. But is their morality of such a delicate texture as to be affected by a memorial coming from " the land of steady habits ? LXYI. We are told that there is a great principle involved in the bill to which this memorial refers. This is a very formidable and very visible response to that great principle which it is said has lain dormant. Sir, I need not name the number of years that it has lain dormant. No bright genius ever elicited it ; no brilliant conception ever discovered it until this session had progressed for some time, when the great principle of non-intervention at once sprang up to illumine the world, to be regarded as one which, at some future day, would be a universally- recognized principle. Sir, I recognize the principles of self-government, but I do it in sovereignty. A people in tutelage cannot exercise sovereignty, but States c^. A people who are in a territorial existence, which is fitting them to become States, exercise what may be called a quasi sovereignty. They are never really sovereign until they are recognized by Congress as such, and are received into the Union as sovereign States. Then is the time for the operation of self-government, but it grows out of sovereignty. Is it to be in five squatters? They may pass a law to-day and repeal it to-morrow, and the next day they may pass another law, and so on successively from day to day, and from year to year, they may pass and repeal laws. The Territories have no power to pass organic laws until the attributes of sovereignty are about to attach, or have actually attached to them. That is what I call non-intervention. That is what I call sovereignty and self-government. This is the great principle which it is said is involved in the bill which we have passed ; and now we are receiving the response to it. I hope we may never have any more responses of this description. I pray Heaven that we may 302 EFFECTS OF HOUSTON'S SPEECH. never have another such protest iu this body. I pray that there may never exist uny necessity for it. But for the necessity or cause, which originated in this body, this memorial would never have been laid upon your table. This is but the effect ; the cause was anterior to it. If we wish to avert calamitous effects, we should prevent pernicious causes. LXYII. This calm and noble appeal, to the just judgment of the high Tribunal which heard it was impotent there. But it was heard and cherished by many thousand hearts among the hills and valleys of New England. The Protestant Clergy of the United States, are the best exponents of the enlightened moral feeling of the American People. From the foundation of the country, they have been the enemies of a union of Church and State. They have always been foremost in the cause of civil and Reli- gious Liberty. They have — as a class — abstained from an improper interference in public affairs. They have shown even too much delicacy in this regard. If they had been bolder, and rebuked Demagogism in all its forms, we should not have witnessed what we have now seen. — politicians of Protestant origin, bowing to court the vote of ignorant, bigoted paupers, who in consequence of the laxity of our Naturalization Laws, are allowed to vote in masses almost as soon as they land on our shores, and before they understand even our language — much less our system of Government. No reply was made to this able speech of Houston on the Right of Petition — and none could be. LXYIII. It is refreshing, in the midst of modern political competition, to hear such a tribute to unostentatious virtue and patriotism. If we turn back in the Records of Congress, we shall find that SENATOR BENTON EULOGIZES HOUSTON. 303 in 1836, not long after the Battle of San Jacinto, Hon. Thos. H. Benton thus spoke of Houston in his place in the United States Senate : — " Of the individuals who have purchased lasting renown in this young war, it would be impossible, in this place, to speak in detail, and invidious to discriminate. But there is one among them, whose position forms an exception ; and whose early association with myself, justifies and claims the tribute of a particular notice. I speak of him whose romantic victory has given to the Jacinto* that immortality in grave and serious history, which the diskos of Apollo had given to it in the fabu- lous pages of the heathen Mythology. General Houston was born in the State of Virginia, County of Rockbridge : he was appointed an ensign in the army of the United States, during the late war with Great Britain, and served in the Creek campaign under the banners of Jackson. I was the lieutenant colonel of the regiment to which he belonged, and the first field officer to whom he reported. I then marked in him the same soldierly and gentlemanly qualities which have since distinguish- ed his eventful career : frank, generous, brave ; ready to do, or to suffer, whatever the obligations of civil or military duty im- posed ; and always prompt to answer the call of honor, patriot- ism, and friendship. Sincerely do I rejoice in his victory. It is a victory without alloy, and without parallel, except at New Orleans. It is a victory which the civilization of the age, and the honor of the human race, required him to gain : for the nine- teenth century is not an age in which a repetition of the Goliad matins could be endured. Nobly has he answered the requisi- tion ; fresh and luxuriant are the laurels which adorn his brow. "It is not within the scope of my present purpose, to speak of military events, and to celebrate the exploits of that vanguard * Hyacinth ; hyacinthus ; hunkinthus ; water flower. 304 Houston's bravery and generosity. of the Anglo-Saxons who are now on the confines of the ancient empire of Montezuma ; but that combat of San Jacinto I it must for ever remain in the catalogue of military miracles. Seven hundred and fifty citizens, miscellaneously armed with rifles, muskets, belt pistols, and knives, under a leader who had never seen service, except as a subaltern, march to attack near double their numbers — march in open day across a clear prairie, to attack upwards of twelve hundred veterans, the elite of an invading army of seven thousand, posted in a wood, their flanks secured, front intrenched ; and commanded by a general trained in civil wars ; victorious in numberless battles ; and chief of an empire of which no man becomes chief except as conqueror. In twenty minutes the position is forced. The combat becomes a carnage* The flowery prairie is stained with blood ; the hyacinth is no longer blue, but scarlet. Six hundred Mexicans are dead ; six hundred more are prisoners, half wounded, the President General himself is a prisoner ; the camp and baggage all taken ; and the loss of the victors, six killed and twenty wounded. Such are the results, and which no European can believe, but those who saw Jackson at New Orleans. Hous- ton is the pupil of Jackson ; and he is the first self-made-general, since the time of Mark Antony, and the King Antigonus, who has taken the general of the army and the head of the govern- ment captive in battle. Different from Antony, he has spared the life of his captive though forfeited by every law, human and divine." ELEMENTS OF STATESMANSHIP. 305 SECTION SIXTEENTH. Houston's statesmanship. I. An estimate of the qualities which distinguish Houston as a Statesman, must place his character in an elevated and bril- liant light. Many men are good soldiers, but add not to skill in the arts of war, the graces of judgment which make valuable and trustworthy legislators. It is no man of ordinary gifts who combines in himself the warrior of renown, and the profound lawgiver, and the just civilian. Wellington, the hero of Water- loo, was one of the modern heroes of this stamp, though falling far behind our own Washington in the prudence of his counsels, and in his clear foresight of the probable effects of causes set in motion. The latter was devoted to broad principles of right and justice, and had no artificial forms of power, or barriers for privileged classes to consolidate or to protect. The former was always busy in wresting principles from the inevitable conflict with the machinery of the British government — which, however wonderful in its construction, must ever be subject to modifica- tions suited to that enlarged freedom, the growth of which has been steadily increasing since Milton — Cromwell's great Secreta- ry of State — and the mighty master of Protestant republicanism, poured forth his great anthems of thought at the consecration of human liberty. 306 FIRMNESS OF POLITICAL PURPOSE. II. Houston's career as a statesman, lias been briefly sketched in the preceding pages ; but the analysis of his qualities as a ruler and as a legislator, will distinguish him more and more, the closer the microscope reveals the motives of his conduct through the trying and stormy period that he presided over the destinies of Texas. The world will not readily forget, and will be more ready to admire, the man who, at the peril of popularity, and even of life itself, dared to stand between the lawless elements of passion and the fixed code of his race, and stay the former from being swept upon by a flood of dangerous experiments, which would have resulted in multifarious embarrassments for the country, or hurried it on to the verge of ruin, or plunged it into a chaos. III. The numerous instances in which Houston exercised the veto power, however much they may have subjected him, during the Texas Presidency, to the temporary censure of the politicians of the hour, will be remembered in the future as the substantial evidences of lofty, manly courage, elevated and sincere patriot- ism, and of uncommon political sagacity and foresight. The original veto of Andrew Jackson was one of the monuments of that illustrious man's political fame — but in the scores of in- stances in which Houston exercised a similar prerogative, the builders of new republics will read a series of lessons in the sub- lime principles of law, which will sink deep into the heart of the political philosopher, while the spirit of them will be felt and enforced, in that silent embodiment of action, with which political virtue noiselessly erects the homes of men, for the happiness of the human family. To be a popular ruler, regardless of the ^PUBLIC DETRACTION. 301 ultimate effects to a people or to mankind, is not a difficult task — but to be so well acquainted with the history of nations, and with those interior powers of legislative enactments, as intuitive- ly to feel " the future in the instant," and to foresee the long train of unhappy consequences which would spring from a disruption of the laws of probity and right, while the moral force and the noble courage are equal and ready to check the impetuosity of political passion, and the hasty impulses of suddenly acquired power — is the gift of few men in these days of intrigue and corruption. lY. Houston was a brave man — brave in a moral as well as a physical sense. Early in the month of June, 1831, there were public journals in New York, in Richmond, and at Washington, which did not hesitate to propel the slander, that this bold soldier, and braver governor, had played the part of a coward, and retreated before the Mexicans, till he was compelled to fight I Such is public detraction ! Y. That Houston should be branded as a coward, by the enemies of Andrew Jackson, was nut stranger than that Jackson was branded as a coward, even in the same breath that would have consigned the man of San Jacinto to infamy. History, how- ever, when it speaks of battle-fields, will not hesitate to avow who it was that, with a handful of troops, gave battle to Santa Anna on the 21st of April, 1836, and brought the Mexican President and his suite the next day captives into the camp of the Forlorn Hope. But history will not require to cite this physical triumph as a proof of the courage of a noble nature. 308 HEROISM OF MIND. The knowledge men possess of the human heart will never let them find a cranny in the imagination, where the breath of suspicion can sough against the bravery of Houston, He who stood by Texas in her hour of attempt — in her day of triumph — and in her night of starless gloom and pitch darkness, when even her own star seemed to be seeking its last fate — a Pleiad among nations — who breasted every danger, and, single and alone, stood forth an embodiment of personal, political, and moral courage, while the popular will muttered and rebuked, and the midnight assassin would have murdered Texas through its President, but that the form of the modern pioneer of republics, moving calmly before the open window of his own delightful home, awed the abashed malcontent into impotency — he it is, that History will never have occasion to defend from the attack of any reputable man, on the charge of cowardice. The President of Texas, who accomplished all that has been cited in these pages, is not one whose name can be tarnished by the breath of captious or ignorant slanderers. If ever a states- man, in the annals of modern governments, has earned the regard of men, or the gratitude of nations, for self-sacrificing heroism of the mind, surely Houston may claim the highest meed of honor in this respect. Without indulging the spirit of a dictator, his deliberations were crowned by wisdom, and he shrank not from the conscientious discharge of his duties to the State, rather than to gain the temporary applause of those, who, inflamed more by the successes of a popular leader, than animated by carefully weighed principles of patriotism and public policy, were zealous without wisdom, and powerful without judgment. YI. It is deeply interesting to contemplate the opinions of Houston's statesmanship which were entertained by those who JACKSON 'S FEELINGS TOWARDS HOUSTON. 809 knew the man best, at that moment, when the whole of the United States, and of Texas, was excited by the news of Texan success against the arts and arms of Mexico. Notwithstanding, there were calumnious reports in circulation, on the arrival of General Houston at New Orleans, after the battle of San Jacinto, attributing his departure from Texas to a quarrel with the civil authorities of the infant Republic, yet there were capable minds watchful of the history of that period, and hope- ful for the future of Texas, and its distinguished hero. YII. The fact that Andrew Jackson was the friend of Houston was well known everywhere throughout the land — but the deep personal interest that he took in Houston's career was not so publicly known. It can well be imagined how painful to him must have been the series of attacks on Houston's character, which were made in 1836, not so much for any effect that they may have been intended to accomplish on Houston's destiny, as on the mind of the friend of the hero of San Jacinto. It is well known that President Jackson viewed these attacks with indignation and abhorrence. VIII. The libels upon the character of General Houston's states- manship, were scattered broadcast over the United States. The most influential presses opposed to President Jackson's adminis- tration, were active in sowing the seeds of discontent and slan- der, and in preparing the public mind to oppose the introduction of Texns into the Union — a measure which, had it been success- ful, would have produced untold trouble for our country, and have weakened its borders beyond the power of man to estimate. 310 Jackson's opinion of Houston. Although these slanders were eventually eaten by those who had planted and cultivated them, yet they were not without their temporary effect upon the public mind, ever ready to catch the speediest solution to any problem, the character of which is not fully comprehended. IX. Among the efforts made to repel the slanders upon General Houston's fair fame, was one so marked and important that it carried uncommon weight to every candid judgment. Though it was not penned by President Andrew Jackson himself, it is reasonable to assert that it was published either at his sugges- tion, or under his own immediate sanction, — the allusion to Jack- son himself being only made by the writer from prudential motives. It appeared, immediately after the cruel statements and insinuations which were made against General Houston by the opposition press, in the editorial columns of the official organ of the Administration. After stating the nature of the libels published against General Houston, the vindication proceeds in the annexed lan- guage : " We sincerely hope that General Houston's future conduct as the first man in 7'exas, may correspond with the wis- dom and vigor, and patriotism of the past. If he follows the disinterested, honest, unambitious course, which distinguished the great men of the State in which he was born (Virginia), or that of the great man under whose auspices he became first dis- tinguished himself, he icill leave a noble name behind him. If he fulfills in good faith the will of the people of Texas, without thinking of Sam Houston — if he contributes to raise a free government, and to secure its stability by all the means he can Houston's American character. 311 command, unswerved by the lust of power or wealth, or the poor vanity of strutting about in the ostentation which once made up the happiness of the men he has vanquished — then his name will go down to future ages with those of the benefactors of this continent, who have considered true glory to consist in building up free and safe institutions." XL Such language as this is seldom or never applied to a common mind. Had Houston written it in his " heart of hearts," and conned it unceasingly, he could not have lived up to its pre- cepts more completely and thoroughly than he has done. In no single point has his character travelled out of this record for his government as a statesman. In the history of his public career in Texas, as has been seen, there is nothing to be pointed at which is derogatory to the proud name thus promised. By those who have weighed, or who will weigh, the public services of the man, in rescuing a vast territory from tyranuy, for future bless- ings to the innumerable sons of liberty, his character as a states- man must stand second to none who are now living in the lustre of their laurels. XII. It is not alone, however, to the thoughts and acts which dis- tinguished Houston in Texas as a statesman that the historian is obliged to refer. The councils of the Confederacy have been made illustrious by his practical good sense, by his prompt and determined action, by his sincerity of purpose, by his frank avowal of opinion, and by an enlarged and liberal American feeling, earnest for the welfare of every man worthy of bearing the American name. No sectional prejudice has blinded his 312 THE MAGIC POWER OF STATESMANSHIP. mental perceptions. The fountains of Eternal Justice are the sources whence such men derive inspiration and safety. With no personal ends to gain— with a strong love of country— with patient toil for the right, and its gradual rescue from the jaws of error — his public deliberations have rebuked lawless power, and have been always devoted to the " greatest happiness of the greatest number." XIII. Before concluding this section, let us glance at the character of Houston's statesmanship, as displayed in the general policy of his government of Texas, during the terms of his office- filled, as has been seen, to the full measure and limit permitted by the Constitution of that State. On being inducted to his place of trust and power, the affairs of the government were in the utmost confusion. Public credit was at a low ebb, and something of the distressing experiences of a Washington seemed necessary to nerve a man to meet the terrible troubles of that period. Houston did not flinch from his task. An honest and a brave man knows no fear. With him all possible things are probable. In this spirit, Houston examined every department of the State, with a view to reform. History will never do justice to his labors in this field of inquiry. The very founder of the Republic had seen it tortured and twisted into every shape that expediency could suggest, to give it a tempo- rary existence— but in the eyes of nations, and of men, it was a dead Republic. He looked upon it, however, not with dismay, or alarm. The warm glow of sympathy animated his bosom— the stricken child of men's hearts and hopes was before him, prostrate— and, with a will, exalted till it awakened all his energies, and vitalized every fibre of his being, he breathed upon empire, and bade it •' Arise ! " Texas started to its feet, in all TEXAS IN HER PROSTRATION. 313 the glow of youthful beauty and vigor. She took her place in the midst of nations. Millions looked upon her with earnest eyes and hopeful hearts. Monarchs stood ready to pay her homage, as one of the daughters of the earth. XIV. What produced this reaction — this resurrection from the deep sleep of death ? It was the policy of Houston — that policy which was based upon broad principles of honor and of justice. " Honesty is the best policy " for nations as well as for men, and this was the grand basis for his action, after being made President of Texas. Under his enlightened administration all that was weak, and subject to distrust and contumely, was made strong, and commanded the attention of men. It was not a policy of expediencies, but it was one that held the pledged faith of the nation to be a sacred thing — whether that pledged faith had been given in so many words of congressional resolution, or under the tacit recognition of the comity of civilized nations. Conduct of this kind could not fail to secure public respect for Texas — and eventually his administration showed how much better he had calculated in behalf of his country, than all other men who had endeavored to sustain her in the days of her infancy and weakness. XY. In his policy, Houston was simple, and, therefore, he was effective. He may be esteemed the only primitive statesman of our day. Contrasted with the Founders of States and Empires, his name shines with no diminished lustre. Like William Penn and Captain John Smith, he went into the wilderness as one of the great pioneers of civilization. He saw an empire in the 14 314 HOUSTON A PRIMITIVE MAN. solitude, and he dashed through the tangled way, till he brought it out into the full blaze of day, for the admiration and enjoy- ment of mankind. It was no mean, grovelling policy that accomphshed all this. It was the poHcy of the Christian soldier — the policy of a man understanding the great universal springs of human affection and confidence — which no diplomacy, how- ever cunningly devised, can rival, and which alone can prove successful in the best sense of that terra. Penn in Pennsylvania, and Smith in Yirginia, and Miles Standish, in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, at an earlier period, accomplished, by similar means, precisely what Houston effected on the wilds of our southern frontiers, even though assisted by a less orderly set of comrades than distinguished the bold pioneers of this conti- nent. XYI. We have said Houston was a primitive man. In his temper and spirit, as well as in his policy, this is true. There is no place on the face of the earth where the mind of a man, who has a will to that end, can expand and ripen into value and power more rapidly than in the wilderness, or on the extreme borders of civilization. Houston had the advantage of an education of self-culture in the solitudes of the Southwest. Here, it is evident to us, he gratified himself not solely with the contem- plation of the ways of men, but with the mysterious yet certaia workings of that inscrutable Providence that overrules alike the fall of a sparrow and the fall of nations. From the Sacred Volume he appears to have drawn largely those precepts of good-will to men, and those ancient maxims of charity, which, above all others, grace the scholar, the soldier, and the civilian. There is a distrust in many minds of their fitness for a public profession of faith in that hope which all Christians find to be a GOD IN HISTORY. 315 consolation in their last moments, and it may be that on this very account Houston did not associate himself with any deno- mination of Christians at an early period. Yet the man of piety and of humanity was seen in the enlarged Christian charities which he exhibited from the first moment of his distinction. His generosity to Santa Anna — his protection to his Mexican captive, when threatened with assassination, even at the peril of his own person and popularity — show that he was animated by Christian precepts, not less than by a determination to save Texas from the unfading infamy which would have gathered over her name had this vacillating Mexican perished by the hands of an enraged soldiery while he was a prisoner of war. • XYII. The dispatch, dated at Head Quarters of the Army, San Jacinto, April 25th, 1836 — a model of style in its modest -expression after a great victory — is concluded by General Houston in these significant words, which follow his tributes of praise to those who shared with himself the glory of the action : " Nor should we withhold the tribute of our grateful thanks from that Being who rides the destinies of nations, and has, in the time of greatest need, enabled us to arrest a powerful invader, whilst devastating our country." The intelligent reader will not fail •to notice that the whole success of the most brilliant capture on the field of recent warfare, is unhesitatingly ascribed to the agency of that Divine Power that guides men by laws as certain to promote His will, as they are unseen and uncomprehended by His erring children ; who, nevertheless, as their studies increase, will never fail to recognize God in history. XYIII. Of the statesmanship of Houston we may, then, say with 316 THE SACRED FORM OF JUSTICE. truth, and with the concurrent assent of mankind, that the rapid progress of Texas, until its admission into our National Con- federacy, is his most enduring and noble monument. The progress of time will only increase the curiosity of men to know the means by which order was eliminated out of chaos, while the examination of the policy of this statesman will lend renewed brilliancy to his name as an able expounder of the great principles of law, a thorough student in the history of men and empires, a just and noble governor, and every way fitted to hold the highest position in the gift of a people, especially in periods of storm and turbulence. Men who desire to rule, with the sacred form of justice ever enshrined in the sanctuary of their hearts, are seldom raised to power, but such men are too valuable to the cause of freedom and humanity to be overlooked, when it is necessary to meet an important crisis. WRONGS TO THE INDIANS. 31T SECTION SEVENTEENTH. HOUSTON AND THE INDIANS. I. In new countries the standard of commercial morality is always low. Indeed, it may be said, there is no such thing, except as it is defined by the public statutes. There are in our Atlantic cities large buildings, erected by millionaires, from the marble and granite drawn from the original hunting-grounds of the North American Indians, every block of which has been cemented with the Red Man's blood. For many years the butchery of the Indian was considered scarcely more criminal than the slaughter of the wild buffalo — and great companies of traders went to the far West, and with impunity, fortified by the general negligence on the subject, sacrificed at the altar of Mammon, thousands of noble hearts. This history of slaugh- ters, innumerable and disgraceful, has not been published, though it has more than once been written. Fire-water has not been the sole exterminator of the Red Man. His bones have whitened on the plains, the prairies, and the hills, as he has been sliot down by the unerring rifle of the trapper and hunter, act- ing under the authority of men of commercial enterprise. II. Philanthropy and justice shrink from the recital of those tra- ditions, which tell the story of the Red Man's wrongs and the 318 GROWING SYMPATHY FOR THE RED MEN. White Man's perfidy. Happily, however, within the last thirty years, a new and more generous feeling in favor of the Indian and his rights has dignified the public mind. The daily massacre of Indians is at an end — and minds, sympathizing with the first owners of the soil, have exerted their eloquence in favor of the Aborigines. This better state of public feeling has had its effect even on the frontiers, for the morality of true civiliza- tion, like the sun's beams, sheds its . genial light wherever it has once been felt, to bless and to invigorate. As the Indian cha- racter has been more and more studied, there has been a more enlightened ajDpreciation of the condition and desires of the native tribes. The government has been paternal fi*om the first, and has done much to atone for injuries, and to smooth the path of the Red Man's apprehended annihilation — but much more might have been done by our government, had its agents been men of noble character — of the army, for instance — instead of scheming traders, not sensitively alive to those high principles of duty which should incite all men clothed with power by the government. The hundred millions of dollars appropriated by Congress for the benefit of the Indian tribes, at various times, have been diverted from their true destination and purpose, and squandered, while the condition of the Red Man has been deteriorated rather than improved by the gene- rosity or justice of the country, thus expressed in its bounties. This has been caused by the mode of distribution, which has been a careless, if not criminal negligence, and has proved more beneficial to speculators than to those whom it was intended to benefit. III. Evils of this kind have long been subjects of indignant remonstrance and discussion, and on the frontier are many noble men who know and love the Indian, who have partaken of his THE DEFENDER OF THE INDIANS. 319 rude hospitality, or who have married in his wigwam, who raise the despairing cry for justice in the future. No men more thoroughly understand this subject in all its details — no men are more conversant with the wTongs endured by our Indian tribes than those spirits, who, from love of adventure, or to gra- tify their own tastes, have penetrated beyond the borders of civilization, and made their abiding-place with the children of nature. Houston was one of these. The story of his exit from the pleasures and amenities of civilization into the wilds of nature's wide domain has been told. He there learned to sympathize with the Indian, and to feel with him, because he knew his situation in the day of his decadence from power. In this way he became his defender. That hearty love of justice and mercy which so ennobles man, and which has marked his every step, could not shut the Indian out from his exertions and his hopes. IJ. Accordingly, we find him second to no one, in the National Congress, in watching with lynx-eyed vigilance the cause of the Indians. While he would protect them from imposition, he would have no community imposed upon by them. It is averred that Indians, through Mexico, are now sold to Cuba as slaves. Time will decide if this allegation be true. If it is, surely every good man will desire that so atrocious a system should be terminated at once. The views of Houston with respect to the Indians, though somewhat mingled with opinions upon other topic, are to be found in what he said in the Senate of the United States, on the last day of 1854. They are all-important at this period of 320 Houston's view of the Indians. our survey of- his life and character, and we should look to the public report of his speech on tliat occasion. Though many more brilliant speeches have fallen from his lips on the subject of Indian rights, and the necessity of being true to our Indian treaties, yet in the subjoined frank and noble avowal of opinions, all men will learn to honor the man, even more than the orator. VI. Mr, HOUSTON — Mr. President, I hardly know what to say in reply to the senator from Iowa, for I hardly know what to think of his speech. (Laughter.) If I were to characterize his remarks in any way, I should say that they were, at least, very remarkable. In the first place, let me say to that honorable senator, and to the honorable senator from Florida, that they were talking about things of which I knew very little, for I was not in the United States when the occurrences to which they alluded took place, and I was not, therefore, familiar with the history of those wars. If I am not mistaken, however, it was an outrage of a very delicate character which brought on, the Florida war. Mr. MALLORY— That is a mistake, sir. YII. Mr. HOUSTON— Well, sir that was the report which was brought to Texas. Whether it was true or not, I do not know ; but that was the information which I received from people from that section of the country. As for the Black Hawk war, I know little or nothing about it ; for, in Texas at that time, we had no mail communication with the United States, and we got but few papers from the States, so that I remained uninformed in relation to those matters ; but, no doubt, they were very exciting. The senator from Iowa said the Black Hawk war was broug-ht on by a council of the nation ; but I have heard that an examination of the circumstan- ces will show that the first outrage was committed by an individual, not by the concurrence of the nation, though they afterwards became involved in the general war. In that statement, I believe, I am sustained by the history of the times. SHALL THE INDIANS BE EXTERMINATED? 321 VIII. I have already stated that occasions occur where outlaws among the Indians commit acts of aggression on the whites, and the whites imme- diately retaliate on the Indian nations, and these nations, in self-defence, become involved in war 5 but I never knew a case where a treaty, which was made and carried out in good faith, was violated by the Indians. In Florida the Indians complained that they had been deceived in the treaty, and that the boundaries assigned were not as they understood them ; and they killed their own chiefs. It was charged that some of the agents were involved in speculations to a great extent dependent on the treaty. I recollect it was so stated at the time. IX. I think, sir, the senator's speech was of a remarkable character in rela- tion to politics and other matters, which I am sorry that he has intro- duced. He has undertaken to admonish me, and for this admonition I am much obliged to him. His experience, his superior opportunities, may entitle him, in the opinion of others, to the right of admonishing me ; and I am perfectly willing, on that point, to yield my own opinion to what may be the general impression of the body. I did not provoke his remark by any allusion to any one, predicated upon my own disposition to arraign the conduct of others ; nor have I asserted anything in regard to the officers of the army, but what are matters of fact, taken from the official documents. When I made suggestions of a speculative character, I gave them as such. X. But, Mr. President, the senator from Iowa has said that he would not have been astonished if the rankest abolitionist had made such a speech, and had avowed such sentiments as I did. He says that, if a man in western New York had presented such views, he would not have been surprised. Now, I wish to know what connection my remarks had with abolition ? What connection they had with any one in western New York ? In what respect have I catered to any prejudice or morbid sensibility ? I have stood here alone in this body, against a powerful array of talent and 14* 322 NO SOCIETIES FOR THE INDIANS. influence, contending for what I conceived to be a great principle, and which must obtain, or the Indian race be exterminated. XI. In regard to that principle, I have the concurrence of the senator from Tennessee (Mr. Bell), who was once Secretary of War, and, as such, had control of the Indian Department, and who has, since that period, been a prominent member of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate. I believe that my opinions are also concurred in by the senator from Arkan- sas (Mr. Sebastian), who is the head of the Committee on Indian Affairs. I can inform the senator from Iowa that I will sustain him to the extent of my humble abilities in any measure he may introduce i-n favor of the Indians, and for the establishment of a policy which will ultimately benefit them, and reflect credit upon the government of the United States. XII. I have not been regardless of what I considered the honor of the United States, and the interest of the Indians. In no instance have I been remiss in these particulars. I could not cater to any passion or prejudice on this subject, because I know of no societies in the JVorth, or in the South, or in any section of this Union, for the advanceinent of the civilization of the Indians. If such societies exist, lam not in correspondence with them, nor am I aware of the existence of any such associations. Then, for what ulterior purposes could I advocate the rights of the Indians, or invoke the justice of this government towards them ? Could it be any expectation of political benefits? None upon earth. XIII. I presume the abolitionists are perfectly absorbed in the subject of abo- lition. For myself, I would rather see them turn their attention to the amelioration of the condition of the Indians on our western wilds, or to the reclamation of those whom they hold in slavery. There are not less than two thousand prisoners in the hands of the Camanches ; four hundred in one band, in my own State. The prisoners can be reclaimed from those Houston's boyhood. 323 Indians, wlio are coming down to settle upon their reservations. They take no prisoners but women and boys. The boys they treat with a degree of barbarity unprecedented ; and their cruelties towards the females are nameless and atrocious. Our government is silent in relation to them. Has humanity no claims upon us in this respect? Has justice no demand unanswered ? xiy. Sir, we have not seen the facts to which I have just alluded impressed on a page of our official communications from the War Department. The officers stationed near the places where those transactions have taken place have not reported them. No eflfort has been made to obtain appro- priations for the reclamation and redemption of those prisoners. This is a subject which calls aloud for the humane influence of the senator. There is no sickly sentimentality in this, but a manly upheaving of soul, that, in consideration of suffering humanity, demands that the government shall rescue them from the most cruel and um'elenting bondage. XY. I have been accused of catering to a morbid, sickly sentimentality. Sir, I never yielded anything of my own conscientious convictions to consult the opinions of others. I never stooped to solicit office ; but I have received and accepted it to my own disadvantage. I might have hated the Indians, if I had a soul no bigger than a shell-bark. [Laughter.] XYI. in my boyish days, before manhood had hardened my thews and muscles, I received balls and arrows in this body, in defence of suffering humanity, particularly women and children, against the Indians ; and I aided in reclaiming the brightest spot of the South— Alabama. When I remember that, in those early days, I assisted in rescuing females and children from the relentless tomahawk and scalping knife, it seems to me that the charge that I have stooped to court favor by the expression of my sentiments on this questioi;, is one which falls harmless at my feet. 324 JUSTICE TO THE RED MEN. XVII. So far as the subject of our relations with the Indians is con- cerned, this, the most recent speech of Houston, stands credita- bly by the side of his other efforts in the same field. We learn something from it, too, of his own early history, which will be read with no ordinary interest. The remainder of his speech on the occasion will be suitable for the next section of this work, as it is connected with a topic that is becoming the ruling theme in every State in the Union — and not without reason, for if our institutions were worthy to be gained, most assuredly it is worthy of us to endeavor to preserve them from the corruption that is stealthily impairing our nationality. Yet, ere the sub- ject of our Indian relations is dismissed, it should not be forgot- ten that though Senator Houston does not conceive that any political value can accrue to him from an advocacy of the Indian's cause, the public will view the subject differently. There is in the American heart, a deeply-seated and ineradicable sense of justice, that will not submit to any outrages upon the Indian nations. Besides they are valuable to our coast on the Pacific, and will eventually blend with the natives of Eastern Asia, producing results of vast importance to the growth and prosperity of the continent. On this point, therefore, the views of Houston cannot be deemed either trivial or unimportant in a political or national point of view. HOUSTON QUESTIONED IN THE SENATE. 325 SECTION EIGHTEENTH. HOUSTON AND FOREIGN EMIGRATION. I. It was in the same speech, on the last day of 1854, that Houston was called upon by a senator, to answer questions so pointed as to demand replies without either reservation or pre- varication. The plain, blunt manner in which the answers were given, v/ill not be without their effect upon every sincere lover of this country, who has deterfnined to find here a home for him- self, or for his children — for there is no man worthy of the name of American citizen who is not alive to the danger to be apprehended from the present inroads made upon the political power of our States, by the immense influx of foreigners unpre- pared to feel and know the value, much less to comprehend the importance of preserving our institutions as nearly as possible as they were transmitted to us by our political fathers. The apprehension that Houston will prove the most powerful candi- date in the field for the next Presidential campaign was the cause of the attempt on the part of Mr. Mallory, to obtain some- thing like a platform for the politicians to understand, probably Avith a view to that ultimate defeat which is more easily desired than safely prophesied. Let us not detain the reader, how- ever, from studying the replies of the hero of San Jacinto. 326 Houston's opinion of foreigners. II. I hardly know what to think of the gentleman's remarks as to catering for the Presidency. I hardly know what to say about the extraneous sub- jects which he has introduced. I suppose the shortest way of naming what he intended to allude to, is by the term "Know-Nothing." JVow, of the Know-JVothings I know nothing (laughter) ; and of them I care nothing. But if the principles which I see charged to them in many instances are the principles which they seek to carry out, I can say to gentlemen that I concur in many of them. If their object is to resist the encroachments of one religion or sect upon another, I am with them. I say resist all such encroachments, and leave all religion uncontaminated by the perversion of power that might accidentally result iu proscription and the inquisition. ** Fll none of it ;" I am opposed to and would pre- vent such a result. III. I admit that we are all descended from foreigners, because, originally, there were no natives here who were white men. Many of those foreigners who originally came here, were baptized in the blood of the Revolution ; but they were not such men as are now coming to our shores, and should not be named in connection with those who are spewed loathingly from the prisons of England, and from the pauper houses of Europe. Such men are not to be compared to our ancestry, or to the immigration which, until recently, has come to our shores from foreign countries. If the object of those to whom the Senator from Iowa has referred, is to prevent men of iyifamous character and paupers from coming here, 1 agree with them. I would say, establish a law, requiring every person from abroad, before being received here, to bring an endorsement from one of our consicls abroad, and produce evidence of good character from the place whence he emigrates, so that when he comes here, we may receive him into full communion with all the rights guaranteed to him by the laws which may exist at the time of his emigration. lY. But, sir, to say that a felon, who left his prison the day he sailed for this country, or, perhaps, was brought in chains to the vessel which bore HOUSTON CROSS-QUESTIONED. 327 him here, is, in five years, to stand an equal with the proudest man who walks on our soil, the man who has shed his blood to consecrate liberty and his country, is not the kind of arrangement that I go for. Mr. MALLORY — Will the Senator from Texas allow me to ask him one question ? Mr. HOUSTON— With pleasure. Mr. MALLORY — As the subject of Know-Nothingism, as it is called, has been brought here Mr. HOUSTON — I have not introduced it, and I am not going to com- ment on it. y. Mr. MALLORY— Precisely so ; the senator has not introduced the sub- ject, and perhaps he is not responsible for its introduction ; but he is undertaking to say what he himself thinks upon it. Now, as he is speak- ing on the subject, I should like to understand distinctly, whether he approves or does not approve of so much of the creed attributed to the Know-A''othings, as would make those who profess the Roman Catholic religio7i ineligible to office 7 Mr. HOUSTON— I would vote for no such law. Mr. MALLORY — I asked the gentleman whether he approved that or not — not whether he would vote for it. yi. Mr. HOUSTON — No, sir ; I could not approve of such a law. But the proscription which is charged on those to whom allusion has been made, is no more than formerly existed between whigs and democrats. When party discipline was kept up, if a whig voted for a democratic candidate, he was ruled out of his party, and branded as a deserter ; and if a demo- crat voted for a whig, he was disowned by his party. That species of political proscription will exist everywhere, according to the notions of people. I do not set up my opinion as the doctrine by which other people are to be governed. I am governed by my own principles, and my own sentiments, and I have a right to vindicate them, and I am responsible for them to the world. When the Senator from Iowa supposes that I would cater for the Presidency of the United States, he does me great injustice. I would not cater for any office beneath heaven. (^Pause.) But, sir, I 328 JEALOUSY OF HOUSTON. know one tfiing : if it were to he thrust upon me, I should make a great many changes in some sjnall matters. [Laughter.] yii. Mr. DODGE, of Iowa — Mr. President, I have no desire to prolong this controversy with the senator from Texas. No man understands better than I do, how much I must suffer in any intellectual contest with one so skilled and renowned in debate, almost as much as he is in arms. I know his ability to say as much on one side as on the other, a manifesta- tion of which we have had, in the conclusion of his remarks. (Laughter.) Sir, I charged, and I repeat the charge, that the speech of the senator from Texas, would have done well if delivered by a Massachusetts feder- alist, or for a man from western New York — that region in which all the isms, from anti-masonry down, have originated. I have read the speeches of these eastern gentlemen, and I am aware of the manner in which this Indian question has been dragged into politics in times past ; and I know the purpose to which it is to be again prostituted in the approaching Presidential canvass ; I see attempted, in connection with the Kansas and Nebraska law, the appeal that is to be made to couple with that measure this one, which is to provide for the defence of the country. I repeat, so far as I am concerned, that so long as I have a voice or a vote, I will remember those who refuse to give us protection YIII. Unquestionably, should the popular will in behalf of Houston be expressed with the same warmth that it has been for some considerable term now gone by, these views will have no weight except to carry the balance in his favor. However, it is our province to record, rather than to conjecture. We have to do with the man as he has been — not as he may be. The struggle to satisfy the demands of the country, when the candidates for the next Presidential term are selected, will be great. Doubt- less, it will be impossible to leave out of the list the man who, above all others, tried or untried in holding the reins of power, THE PUBLIC VOICE. 329 Stands conspicuous for qualities of head and heart inherent by nature and chastened by cultivation, which stamp him as sig- nally fitted for the position to which the wants of the country, as well as the popular voice, should raise him. In the next con- test, if we err not in our estimate of the motives which will rule the popular vote, conventions will be obliged to surrender the old machinery of party to those general expressions of the pub- lic voice, which will grow more and more loud as the hour approaches for determining who shall be the Chief Magistrate of the United States. 330 FIRST ATTEMPTS FOR ANNEXATIOlf. SECTION NINETEENTH. THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. I. The struggle made in the Congress of the United States to bring Texas into the Union, was so important that some further reference to the subject should be Here made. While Texas was yet a Republic, and as early as 1838, an application was made by Houston to place it under the jurisdiction of our Federal Government. It was his first official act as President of Texas, to send an agent to Washington to make known his wishes and his hopes. Soon after, he dispatched another envoy with extraordinary powers, but to these applications there was no satisfactory result. In 1841, another trial was made through Mr. Riley. This was followed up by Mr. Yan Zandt. Nothing, however, was accomplished — and Texas was forced to stand alone. II. Wearied with these vain attempts to gain admission into the Confederacy, a policy was adopted that hastened the destiny of the young Republic. England was coquetted with, till appre- hensions were entertained by men in the United States, and by its Government, that there was a possibility of losing Texas for ever. This feeling increased even to alarm : for even at that WAR WITH MEXICO. 331 period it was well understood that the British Government would gladly interpose barriers to our growth in national wealth, dominion, and power, for the sake of checking the pro- gress of republican liberty, by which European governments have been so much menaced during the present century. At that time it was contemplated, even by the British Government, to gain California, and thus to place a monarchical colony on our most important border. The action of Texas, therefore, in seeking the good will of Great Britain was more than diploma- tic. It was sagacious ; and, as events have proved, was vastly important in its results. III. At the beginning of President Polk's administration, and while the Northwestern Boundary Question was agitating the whole country, and wearing a warlike aspect, the Texas dispute was at its height. On the one hand, the country was threat- ened with a war with Great Britain ; and, on the other hand, with Mexico. The Oregon boundary was settled by negotiation — but the Texas controversy ended in a war with the Mexican power. In August, 1845, General Zachary Taylor encamped at Corpus Christi, on the Gulf of Mexico, and remained there until the ensuing month of March. Annexation had taken place by a Joint Resolution of Congress, passed in February ; and in obedience to instructions, General Taylor, on the 11th of March, went towards the Rio Grande, and commenced a correspondence with the Mexican Dictator, Paredes, on the true boundary of the new State. lY. On the first of May, the Mexican General, Arista, marched a force to the Texan bank of the Rio Grande, and this was the 832 DEBATES ON THE ANNEXATION. commencement of the war with Mexico, iu which, it may be said, with truth, that the American people displayed but little of that spirit of nationality which distmguishes all other nations. A large portion of the people were opposed to the war, and did not cast aside their prejudices in one common feeling against the enemy. This state of afl'airs was caused by the passions which had been inflamed by tne introduction of Texas into the Union — a measure that was opposed, as was alleged, on the ground that it was " unconstitutional to admit her without the intervention and sanction of th*^ people, and, also, because there was a strong apprehension of dangers from in- creasing the area of slavery." The debate upon the proposition to c;dmit Texas into the Union had been warm in both houses of Congress, and the excitement attending the final action or' one subject was intense. Men were more engaged in magnifying: ine dangers to be appre- hended from a possible extension of tne slavery system, than in contemplating the grave importance, in every aspect of public" economy and of national aggrandizement, of possessing so grand a territory for future improvement and use as the soil of Texas. Its commercial value was lost sight of. Its command of the Gulf trade, or the most western ports of the Atlantic, was over- looked, and only a few men dared to maintain that the wants of j)Osterity would render the new State an invaluable possession. "The great, and vast, and illimitable Texas," as Webster styled it, was deemed of little importance compared with the turbulent expressions of sincere, or pretended dread, that the extension of territory liable to slave labor, necessarily involves the perpetuation of African servitude — a problem still unsolved, but not without solution, when the subject is left to the wisdom MEXICAN TRIBUTE TO ANGLO-AMERICANS. 333 and to the commercial sagacity of those most interested in the question. YI. It is not our purpose to enter upon the political history of the time in which Texiis and its admission to the Union became a vexed question. It is our object to glance at some prominent facts connected with the subject, before we proceed to show the value of the State of Texas to the Confederacy. And we cannot better commence this part of our work, in order to show the claims of Houston to the distinction which has been awarded to his exertions, thar by quoting from a Mexican newspaper, of 1845, a prophecy which has passed on to its fulfillment. The writer says : " Texas is gone — gone for ever, and beyond redemption — to our natural enemies, the Anglo-Americans, who know but too well *iow to estimate us at our just value. Let us not be deceived by the promised vindication of our rights, so pompously paraded in public speeches, and official documents. Our threats are paper threats, as was justly observed by one of the boldest statesmen in the neighboring Republic. Texas, we repeat it, is lost to Mexico ! And here we are forced to a con- fession — a bitter one, indeed. That Department, wrested from us by an act of usurpation and perfidy never before equalled, will at once start on a new career of improvement and prospe- rity — safe from savage inroads, arbitrary exactions, and unjust prohibitions and mouopolies. A fertile soil will plentifully reward the honest labor of the husbandman, the mechanic arts will flourish, each citizen will be free to arm himself for his own and his country's defence, and each will have the right to prac- tice, unmolested, tha religion which his conscience sanctions and dictates. Texas, bv renouncing her separate sovereignty, will cease to be, as heretofore, a country of outlaws, and become a part of a powerful aation, whose growing prosperity will shed 334 A PICTURE OF TEXAS. its beneficial influence over the new territory. Such is the des- tiny of that Department severed from us, and now forming part of the American Union. The tendency of an example so perni- cious, is clear to all." YII. There was occasion for alarm on the part of Mexico, at this position of Texas, for there were Departments in her domain which, at the time, were ripening for political revolution and change. On this point we need not dwell. Let us notice, rather, the very important improvement which took place in Texas, immediately after she became one of our States, in res- pect to her social character. Law and order soon softened and harmonized the crude elements which marked her population ; and villages, towns, and cities, arose on every hand, busy with the industry, skill, and vigor of a thriving and worthy people. The school-house was built by the way-side. Churches dotted the lawns and the hill-sides. The courts of law adminis- tered justice to all — and, on every side, there were indications of prosperity and security. The Mexican prophecy was more than fulfilled ; and the wisdom of the man who had patiently sought, calmly waited, and confidingly persevered, to rescue a vast domain from lawlessness, and to place it as a star in our constellation of republics, was shown in the culture of the soil and in all the external symbols of refinement and civilization. At the present time, no State in the Union is more inviting to those who would seek a home in a new country, as will be evi- dent to those who endeavor to learn the nature of her social character — the extent of her industrial resources, and the oppor- tunities which may be secured for advancement in all the learned professions, and in the walks of commercial and agricultual life. RESOURCES OF TEXAS. 335 YIII. When Texas was first a debated question, little was known of her vast and multiform resources. Time has made the world wiser. The soil and climate are such that the State is now looked upon as the Garden of the World. For the cultiva- tion either of tobacco, or cotton, corn, wheat, or hemp, her soil is not surpassed by the most generous lands of other States. The peculiarity of her soil renders the wheat grown within her borders the most profitable yet known to our country, and with but little labor the ground produces abundantly, giving its crops as early as June. Tobacco and cotton are seen growing on the field where corn is a neighbor. Nature is everywhere bountiful. With further exploration, her mines will be found, it is thought, second in importance to none in the other States. As a grazing country she is without a rival, and the animals slaughtered for their hides and for provisions, furnish afterwards thousands of tons of bones annually, which are shipped to New York, where they are converted into phosphate of lime, and sold to our farmers for the improvement of the wasted or sterile soils of the North. Thus the benefit of Texas to the North is witnessed in many States which were originally opposed to her introduction into the Union. This is not all. The trade of the Atlantic States with Texas is every day becoming more and more impor- tant. Every year increases it — and, as the climate is salu- brious, the population is rapidly increasing, and the State will eventually become the most important in the Southern country. IX. There is another point not to be forgotten. Texas is the great Commercial Isthmus, by which the nations of the earth 336 TEXAS THE ROAD TO THE PACIFIC. will pass ere loug to the Pacific Oceau. Geograpliically, this does not appear so ; but the surveys made for railroads to our Western shores conclusively demonstrate that when a road is built to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, it will run through Texas. Such a road will not be obstructed by the snows and ice incident to more northern latitudes. Besides, this road, if constructed to San Diego, in California, will bring Australia fifteen hundred miles nearer than it would be from auy other point that could be designated. These considerations will increase in importance as the necessity for the construction of a national road is felt by the public. A military road to Cali- fornia, is now needed by the government for purposes which pru- dent statesmen can easily comprehend as possible — and a wise policy will not neglect, till the force of circumstances incite to action, an application to a subject so important to us as a commercial people, and as a nation. The money expended by the country in building and keeping in repair forts and forti- fications on the western frontiers, might be disbursed more judi- ciously in the construction of military roads, which would be safe highways for the great tide of emigration sweeping West- ward. The question of the province of Congress with respect to Internal Improvements does not trench upon this species of enterprise — for the wants of the people and the demands of humanity alike suggest, that the Federal Government should make some provision for opening ways across the country to our Western shores. This is not the place, however, to enlarge upon this interesting subject. Our design is to show that Texas is the ground over which the great national road to the Pacific must pass — and so well assured are we of this, that we advert to it as another proof of the great importance of the annexa- tion of Texas to the Union. The conformation of continents and oceans, must make Texas the highway from New York to San Francisco. GIRDED CY TWO OCEANS. 337 X. There are other reasons for estimating the acquisition of Texas as a national blessing. When we reflect upon what she might have become, had we refused her admission to the Union, we cannot look upon the past but with mingled feelings of dread and thankfulness. Had the sectional animosity that opposed the admission of Texas prevailed, the most serious consequences might have ensued. Happily the luxuriant and swelling prai- ries, the fertile hills, and the beautifully irrigated valleys of that delightful country are our own — happily, that coast which stretches along the Gulf of Mexico is ours for the enlargement of commerce, and for the protection of our Southern borders — happily, the jurisdiction of the United States, though it has no power over her domain, as in some other territories, can be exerted to extend the benefits of legislation to her people, and to those who hereafter may desire to become residents of that State, or sojourners in it on their way to the extreme West. Whenever the road to California is completed, then, over this Commercial Isthmus of the Continent, the American- people will appreciate how far superior to all minor questions are those great national ones which involve the happiness of millions upon mil- lions of men, and which tend to perpetuate the security of the nation ; at any time liable to temporary aggression from nations desirous to check our advancing prosperity, between the two oceans which gird our shores. XI. A fatal political mistake would have been made, had the councils of party prevailed over the stern necessity of circum- stances with respect to the admission of Texas to the Union. In 1802, Georgia was induced to oede that part of her territory 15 338 CAUSES FOR CONGRATULATION. now known as Alabama and Mississippi. In 1 803, Louisiana was purchased from France — and from this we have the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. In 1819, the cession of Florida was made by Spain. What more natural and inevitable destiny was there for Texas, from its geographical and political position, than to yield to the embrace of the Confederacy ? It is in vain for men, when circumstances of every kind point to a result so manifestly necessary, to array the league of abstract morals and sectional jealousies against it. Thus it proved in the case of Texas ; and, whatever may be the particular scruples of con- science in individual minds as to the means employed to secure such a benefit as Texas has proved to be to the United States, all will agree that we have been enriched by this acquisition of territory, great as has been the cost, beyond any possible human estimate. Of the issues which have grown out of it, the future will declare more than prophecy itself could foresee. With an efd- cient Chief Magistrate to stay the inflammatory fever raised dur- ing the last year so needlessly, and in opposition to all the desires of the nation at large, both at the North and South, we may expect to live through the " trouble," and not even regret that Texas was a proximate cause of so gratuitous an agitation of the public mind. Should the people be alive to the interests of the country as a confederated nationality, we need not fear that any regret will attend our recollections of the annexation of a State of which Houston was the political father. XIL From present appearances, we may then conclude, that the beautiful country given to the Union by the man whose servi- ces to the public we are considering — is destined to be second in importance to no other, when the public mind becomes acquainted with the almost boundless extent of her resources, UNIVERSAL BLESSINGS. 339 with the remarkable geographical position she occupies m refer- ence to our Pacific coast, and with the delicious mildness of her climate. Already thousands of persons have emigrated to that State, where all the enjoyments and privileges of refinement and civilization are rapidly increasing, to open an inviting way, by an overland route, to California, and thus to secure to the United States the full measure of prosperity promised by the discovery and acquisition of the gold regions on the Pacific. Health and its preservation are not subjects of trivial impor- tance, and emigrants will select the road through Texas in pre- ference to any other, when it is built, because it will offer the greatest number of facilities for a speedy and safe passage to the Pacific coast. Should, then, the future establish Texas as the great gate and highway to California, how much reason have we to congratulate ourselves on the annexation of Texas, once deemed so disastrous, and how pitiably insignificant in compa- rison is the slavery question as a barrier to the march of all nations towards increased happiness and prosperity. On the whole, then, we may rejoice that we have Texas in the Union — and learn, also, from the outcry made against her admission, how unimportant it is to believe that the Xorth is to be the sufferer by what is said to be the extension of the " peculiar institutions" of the South. May the day come when the agitation on this subject shall cease, that involuntary servi- tude may perish from natural causes, and not be made stronger by the very means employed to destroy its existence ! XIII. Lest the reader may suppose that Texas was acquired for the purpose of extending slavery, as party politicians averred before she came into the Union, we may cite from a s^^ech made in the Senate of the United States, to show by facts that this 340 Benton's opinions. was not the case. It was said by Mr. Benton, in 1836 : "Heartless is the calumny invented and propagated, not from this floor, but elsewhere, on the cause of the Texan revolt. It is said to be a war for the extension of slavery. It had as well been said that our own Revolution v\^as a war for tlie extension of slavery. So far from it, that no revolt, not even our own, ever had a more just and a more sacred origin. The settlers in Texas went to live under the form of government which they had left behind in the United States — a government which extends so many guarantees for life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness, and which their American and English ancestors had vindicated for so many hundred years. A succes- sion of violent changes in government, and the rapid overthrow of rulers, annoyed and distressed them ; but they remained tran- quil under every violence which did not immediately bear on themselves. In 1822 the republic of 1821 was superseded by the imperial diadem of Iturbide. In 1823 he was deposed and banished, returned, and was shot, and Victoria made President. Mentuno and Bravo disputed the presidency with Victoria ; and found, in banishment, the mildest issue known among Mexicans to unsuccessful civil war. Pedraza was elected in 1828 ; Guerrero overthrew him the next year. Then Bustamente overthrew Guerrero ; and, quickly, Santa Anna overthrew Bustamente, and, with him, all the forms of the constitution, and the whole frame of the federative government. By his own will, and by force, Slinta Anna dissolved the existing Congress, convened another, formed the two Houses into one, called it a Convention — and made it the instrument for deposing, without trial, the constitutional Vice President, Gomez Fatias, putting Barragau into his place, annihilating the State government, and establish- ing a consolidated government, of which he was monarch, under the retained ^-epublican title of President. Still, the Texans did not take up arms : they did not acquiesce, but they did not FIRST STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 341 revolt. They retained their State government in operation, and looked to the other States, older and more powerful than Texas, to vindicate the general cause, and to re-establish the federal constitution of 1824. In September, 1835, this was still her position. In that month, a Mexican armed vessel appeared off the coast of Texas, and declared her ports blockaded. At the same time, General Cos appeared in the West, with an army of fifteen hundred men, with orders to arrest the State authorities, to disarm the inhabitants, leaving one gun to every five hun- dred souls ; and to reduce the State to unconditional submission. Gonzales was the selected point for the commencement of the execution of these orders ; and the first thing was the arms, those trusty rifles which the settlers had brought with them from the United States, which were their defence against savages, their resource for game, and the guard which converted their houses into castles stronger than those ' which the king cannot enter.' A detachment of General Cos's army appeared at the village of Gonzales, on the 28th of September, and demanded the arms of the inhabitants ; it was the same demand, made for the same purpose, which the British detachment, under Major Pitcairn, had made at Lexington, on the 16th of April, 1775. It was the same demand ! And the same answer was given — resistance — battle — victory ! The American blood was at Gonzales what it had been at Lexington ; and between using their arms, and surrendering their arms, that blood can never hesitate. Then followed the rapid succession of briUiant events, which in two months left Texas without an armed ^emy in her borders, and the strong forts of Goliad and the Alamo, with their garrisons and cannon, the almost bloodless prizes of a few hundred Texan rifles. This was the origin of the revolt ; and a calumny more heartless can never be imagined than that which would convert this rich and holy defence of life, liberty, and property, into an aggression for the extension of slavery. Just 342 B E N T X * S DEFENCE OF TEXAS. in its origin, valiant and humane in its conduct, the Texan revolt has illustrated the Anglo-Saxon character, and given it new- titles to the respect and admiration of the world. It shows that liberty, justice, valor — moral, physical, and intellectual power — • characterise that race wherever it goes. Let our America rejoice, let old England rejoice, that the Brasos and Colerado, new and strange names — streams far beyond the western bank of the Father of Floods — have felt the impress, and witnessed the exploits of a people sprung from their loins, and carrying their language, laws, and customs, their magna charta and its glorious privileges, into new regions and far distant climes." XIV. It may not be less a calumny for men to avow that the early population of Texas was composed of outlaws. Every new country offers fields for the honorable efforts of those who would retrieve the errors by which they may have purchased experience. While Texas was no exception to the general rule of all new colonial countries, the defence of its character from too much stress upon this point was thus given before the Senate of the United States. With it we will conclude this section of our work : *' Great is the mistake which has prevailed in Mexico, and in some parts of the United States, on the character of the population which has gone to Texas. It has been common to disparage and to stigmatize them. Nothing could be more unjust ; and speaking from knowledge, either personally or well acquired (for it falls to my lot to know, either from actual acquaintance, or good information, the mass of its inhabitants), I can vindicate them from erroneous impu- tations, and place their conduct and character on the honorable ground which they deserve to occupy. The founder of the THE FOUNDERS OF TEXAS. 843 Texan colony was Mr. Moses Austin, a respectable and enter- prising native of Connecticut, and largely engaged in the lead mines of Upper Louisiana, in 1815. Tlie present head of the colony, his son, Mr. Stephen F. Austin, then a very young man, was a member of the Territorial Legislature, distinguished for his intelligence, business habits, and gentlemanly conduct. Among the grantees we distinguish the name of Robertson, son of the patriarchal founder, and the first settler of West Tennes- see. Of the body of emigrants, most of them are heads of families or enterprising young men, gone to better their condi- tion by receiving grants of fine lands in a fine climate, and to continue to live under the republican form of government to which they had been accustomed. There sits one of them, [pointing to Mr. Carson, member of Congress, from North Carolina, and then, 1836, Secretary of State for Texas.] We all know him ; our greetings on his appearance in this chamber attest our respect ; and such as we know him to be, so do I know the multitude to be who have gone to Texas. They have gone, not as intruders, but as grantees ; and to become a barrier between the Mexicans and the marauding Indians who infested their borders." XY. Surely a population, originating in such a primitive stock as this has been described to have been, though bold rather than wise spirits were her counsellors at first, cannot be other than suitable for the association of those enterprising men of other States, who see in the wilderness fields worthy of cultivation, and which more rapidly than those of older States give speedy rewards to industry. The means used by party newspapers to strengthen the public animosity towards Texas, included, for several years, exaggerated and abusive misrepresentations of the people of the 844 PRESENT STATE OF TEXAS. new Republic, " G. T. T.," or " Gone to Texas," was the favo- rite mode of accounting for the absence of any person who had forfeited, by design, or through misfortune, his claim to be con- sidered a good citizen. In this way Texas became a name for reproach. Time has changed all this ; and now the State is a favorite one for emigrants from every part of our country and from Europe, and she is, therefore, becoming rapidly rich in the great Increase of her population. XVI. Before leaving this important branch of our subject, and for the purpose of showing the extent of that political foresight that distinguished Houston in associating his fortunes with those of Texas, it will be profitable to look at the very valuable moral for States and people which is found in the still earlier his- tory of Texas, and in the causes which shut her out from the position, which, happily for the United States, she now occupies. Had she come into her proper place at an earlier period, and not been kept in obscurity by considerations which seemed important to individuals, rather than to the aggrandizement of the nation at large, we should have been spared the long train of evils which terminated in the expensive and disastrous, though successful and brilliant, war with Mexico. Such has been the fruit of the agitation of the slavery question I Similar will be the results in all cases while men persist in making that subject a party question, instead of leaving the institution to the mani- fest and inevitable destiny to which it must hasten, when left free to compete with the general freedom in commerce and trade which animates our prairies, and extends itself to the most tangled regions of the Western wilds. PREJUDICE AGAINST ANNEXATION. 345 XYII. In 1819, in acquiring Florida, the government of the United States abandoned Texas. The new boundaries made by the nego- tiator of the treaty, John Quincy Adams, at the suggestion of a majority of President Monroe's cabinet, not only cut away Texas, but surrendered a portion of the Mississippi valley. This was a popular measure ; and, though the Spanish government had offered the country more than it had accepted, yet the policy of our government was so weak as to deprive us of that which has since cost us so mucli blood and treasure to regain. In 1820, Mr. Monroe, in endeavoring to justify his action with respect to the treaty, stated that the " difficulties" were not with Spain alone — they were " internal, proceeding from various causes which certain men are prompt to seize and turn to the account of their own ambitious views." XYIII. These "difficulties" were the fear that the slavery extension question would become a test in the Presidential election, and the repugnance in the Northeast to territorial aggrandizement in the Southwest — the folly of which is clearly demonstrated by every step in our country's history, though the agitation of this subject, in some shape, still afflicts the public mind, and hin- ders our progress as a united nation. XIX. Three times did the treaty come before the Senate of the 15* S46 NEW FEELINGS TOWARDS TEXAS United States for ratification. This was caused by the state of affairs between Mexico and Spain, which rendered it neces- sary to establish the boundary with the government of the former, instead of that of the latter. Three times did the American press congratulate the people on this action of our government — one of the gravest political blunders of the nation. XX. As our pages have already shown, a few years only elapsed, before there was a general desire on the part of the American people to possess this very Texas, which we would not receive from Spain originally, because by so doing the "ambitious views " of men might have been disturbed. The moral thus far is important enough — but it can be extended, because, strangely enough, all that had been accomplished was the work of Southern men, with the sanction of the South — men who were candidates for the Presidency, or who hoped to advance to high offices of trust and pov/er. No wonder that the question is so fre- quently asked, if there is such a thing as American nationality — when the people will permit trivial political topics to interfere with the natural growth of the nation. Texas, however, is now a part of our political unit, and that it is so every honest Ameri- can will rejoice — and, while doing so, will render due praise to him whose exertions saved her from the grasp of a foreign nation, and gave her to us, even at the sacrifice of all the allurements which excite ambitious men. That his proposal to declare her a part of Louisiana, under the treaty of 1803, was disregarded, should excite our regrets, but for the valuable lessous the natioa has gained in its political experience. PRODUCTS OF TEXAS. 84T SECTION TWENTIETH. THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF TEXAS. I. A RAPID survey of the Present of Texas will not be uninte- resting, as it will prepare the reader to form an estimate of its probable Future. Let us not forget that only a few years ago this State was repulsed by hundreds of thousands of American citizens, as a useless and dangerous addition to the Union — and thereby learn, when contemplating any great ofi&cial act of the country, to cast aside prejudice, and the sinister judgments of others, as of little value compared with the lessons of experi- ence which every few years furnish an enlightened people, who strive to understand for themselves the political problems of the time. 11. Texas is divided into eighty counties, containing about twelve million acres of laud, of which about one-twelfth is improved. The value of this land in money has been estimated to be eighteen millions of dollars. Probably not less than twenty- eight thousand farmers are at work, at the present hour, to enrich this State, employing farming implements and machinery, valued at nearly three million dollars. In 1850 there were over seventy-five thousand horses, twelve thousand mules, two 348. r Pv D u c T s of t e x a s . hundred and fifteen thousand nnlcb cows, and fifty thousand work- ing oxen, in the State, the free population of which was not far from one hundred and fifty-five thousand persons. The slave population was about fifty-eight thousand. The population has increased rapidly within the last five years, and when the returns are made under the next census, the increase in all that makes a State valuable to itself and mankind, will be such as to gratify every one who delights in the prosperity of his country. III. We have before alluded to the productions of Texas ; but to show her commercial value more clearly, we may cite from public documents a few important facts. In 1850 the value of the live stock was upwards of ten millions of dollars, and of slaughtered animals upwards of one million of dollars. In the Bame year, the following were the principal products — forty-two thousand bushels of wheat ; three thousand bushels of rye ; six millions of bushels of Indian corn ; two hundred thousand bushels of oats ; eighty-eight thousand pounds of rice ; sixty-seven thousand pounds of tobacco ; fifty-eight thousand bales, four hundred pounds each, of ginned cotton ; one hundred and thirty one thousand pounds of wool ; one hundred and seventy-nine thousand bushels of j^eas and beans ; ninety-three thousand bushels of Irish potatoes ; upwards of one million bushels of sweet potatoes ; five thousand bushels of barley ; twelve thou* sand dollars' worth of orchard products ; the same amount of kitchen garden products ; tv.^o millions four hundred pounds of butter ; ninety-five thousand pounds of cheese ; eight thousand tons of hay ; one thousand pounds of flax ; twenty-two pounds of silk cocoons ; seven thousand three hundred and fifty hogsheads of sugar ; five hundred thousand gallons of molasses ; and four hundred thousand pounds of beeswax and honey. EDUCATION IN TEXAS, 349 lY. Such are the staple products of this once proscribed State, and the variety of them will most clearly indicate the character of that soil and climate which is destined to be known to thou- sands of emigrants within a few years, and by the world gene- rally. There is no new State in the. Union that holds out greater inducements to the mechanic and the agi-iculturist, than Houston's Own, as it has been styled by one of our public writers. Education is not neglected in this State. There were in 1850 two colleges, with seven teachers, and one hundred and sixty-five students, three hundred and fifty pubhc schools, and ninety-seven academies and other schools. The number of pupils at school returned in the census of 1850 amounts to upwards of nineteen thousand, thus assuring the country that the elements of a future race of usefulness and prosperity are at work in the heart of Texas, which will yet distinguish it among the older and more highly favored sovereignties. V. With such a Present, what may not reasonably be expected as a Future ? There has been growing in the public mind, for some time past, a feeling of political compensation amounting almost to a national instinct, by which, in the selection of can- didates for the Presidential Chair, each section of the country, in its turn, shall be honorably remembered. Our new States have not yet been complimented by the American people in this way, and now seems to be the period when the attempt can be made. Should the merits of Houston bring him forward, and place him at the head of the nation, the influence upon the State of Texas would be very great, when combined with the power she possesses in her own remarkable and varied resources. 350 FINAL DESTINY OF TEXAS. Besides, there is almost a certainty that the State will become the great and popular depot of commerce between the whole world and California, before the lapse of many years, when the construction of a railroad to the Pacific will bring within her domain an amount of population, enterprise, capital, industry, and energy, that will have a vast effect upon her wealth, and the individual prosperity of her people — vitalizing her rich and prolific soil, and bringing to her coast the ships of every nation, till history shall look back with wonder at the strange fact, that a territory so recently recovered from bar- barism, even amidst the sneers and opposition of a large portion of a civilized nation, should become, in so short a time, second in importance to no other State washed by the waters of the Atlantic. YI. The Future, then, of Texas, as one of the States of the Union, promises to be of the gravest interest to our commerce ; and it is not necessary to invoke the forecast of the Prophet to declare that she will shine second in brightness to no other star in our political firmament. Houston's education and eloquence. 351 SECTION TWENTY-FIRST. Houston's education and eloquence. I. Though specimens of the literary capacity and intellectual cultivation of Houston have been given in this work, yet to afford a more complete insight into his moral and political cha- racter, further extracts from his speeches may be cited. The reader will be gratified to find that this man, under circumstances quite unfavorable to the cultivation of letters, has acquired a power of expression, and facility in illustrating his subject, which only could have been gained by a persistent study of the litera- ture of the world. In his military dispatches, he shows an admirable style — a wholesome, though not barren brevity — and a precision such as becomes an able general, in correspondence with the State. In various parts of this book, we have placed some of these before the reader, not less for the value of their contents, than for the beautiful perspicuity and directness of their style. In themselves, they furnish the very highest com- pliment to the innate taste and scholastic facility of their author, and we cannot but admire the man, who, under the most discouraging obstacles, and with powerful incentives to other accomplishments and deeds, has been able to distinguish himself in the literature of his native language, as well as in the active duties of public life. 362 CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS SPEECHES. II. In his speeches, Senator Houston displays a native earnest- ness and force far more effective than the studied graces of the schools. His clear mind is not burdened with the sophis- tries of logic or the casuistry of politics. He speaks right on — animated with his subject, and as if certain that the orator never need to fear the result of unfolding the strong feelings of the heart, when the promptings of conscience, and not the dic- tates of self-interest, inspire the tongue. This species of appeal to the sensibilities and judgment, can never fail to have its due weight upon deliberative assemblies, or upon the people. The charms of rhetoric, like the purple and jewels on the shoulders and breast of the tyrant, may dazzle with gaudy brilliancy for a moment, and make men overlook their danger from the triumph of errors and oppression ; but the plain heart-spoken words of a true, patriotic man, are like the Apostolic apothegms — so in consonance with the conscience, as to proclaim the divinity of their origin. Senator Houston is not a great orator, but he is an effective one. His power is in his simplicity of expression, and in the familiar manner in which he speaks the native feelings of his heart, and the unselfish convictions of his judgment. III. The extracts from his speeches which we shall give in this chapter, will convey to the intelligent reader, not only Houston's opinions on many subjects of vast interest to the public, but may be deemed as average specimens of his style. On the sub- ject of "Intervention" he remarked that our government ought to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign nations, and confine its policy to the full development of its resources. He said — Ad A I N S T I N T E R V F. X T I N . 353 lY.' " TheJIouse has been told that this is a subject of vast importance. In this light he regarded it, as far as he had been able to view it. He thought it a subject of no common importance, because it was about to take a direction perfectly novel. It is proposed to meet different nations, or their representatives, in a deliberative body, to establish certain.regu- lations which arc to govern our relation to foreign powers, and in our immediate relations. He concurred with the gentleman from South Caro- lina that it was quite new, because its effect would be to introduce a new era in the annals of this country. Hitherto we have evinced a disinclina- tion to entangle ourselves with alliances. We have exalted ourselves by persisting in a system that has been extremely beneficial to us, so long as this system in which we persist, proves beneficial to us, either as a nation, or as individuals, so long ought it be retained. We stand unshackled from all connection with the nations of the earth. We have our relations of amity and commerce with them, not treaties of alliance, offensive and defensive. Such relations the United States had hitherto sustained, and he hoped ever would sustain. y. " But are we to be benefited in our institutions by our associations with these other powers ? So far as any advantage was to be obtained by it, so far he was in favor of it ; but he was not willing that we should be embarrassed by a connection with them. The benefits of our institutions are free to all. Let them come here and receive them. If there were any good purpose to be answered by associating ourselves with them (Mr H. said), he would cheerfully coincide in so doing ; but he could not per- ceive the necessity of immediately dispatching ministers to meet in this assembly at Panama. We are not aware of what call they may make on us, nor could we see any probable benefits to the United States by this general meeting which would not result with our treaties with them in their individual national capacities. Hitherto we have been pursuing a rational policy. We have exalted ourselves by it. We stand alone, and we are well able to sustain ourselves. Twice have we been tested, and twice have our principles triumphed ; and they ever will triumph as long as we remain untrammelled and unburdened by foreign alliances. There are no dangers to impede us in our progress but such as can be guarded against. 364 HOUSTON ON THE GREAT COMPROMISE. "Whilst we are in this situation we have no serious dangers to apprehend, but such as, in the progress of nations, will result, and which the good sense and wisdom of counsellors are always able to remedy before they became ruinous." VI. In February, 1850, Houston spoke on the Compromise Mea- sures. There is so much of earnest love of the Union — so much spontaneous patriotism in the few words before us, that we must place them in this work, as further illustrative of his character. YII. " I call on the friends of the Union from every quarter to come forward like men, and to sacrifice their diflferences upon the common altar of their country's good, and to form a bulwark around the Constitution that cannot be shaken. It will require manly efforts, sir, and they must expect to meet with prejudices growing up, that will assail them from every quar- ter. They must stand firm to the Union, regardless of all personal conse- quences. Time alone can recompense them for their sacrifice and their labors ; for devotion to country can never be forgotten when it is offered freely, and without expectation of reward. The incense of self-sacrifice, when thus offered on their country, will be acceptable to the people. I have no doubt that this question might be easily adjusted, if gentlemen would encourage such disposition and feeling, as doubless actuate a large portion, if not all, of this body, if they would come up to the work. I have no doubt six senators could here be designated, without reference to party (you may if you please disregard the portion of the country from which they come), who would act as a Committee of Conference, and sit down together as wayfaring men, and produce satisfactory reconciliation, thereby diffusing universal peace, and calming the agitated waves that are lashing at the base of our capitol, and speak comfort and solace to millions of freemen. VIII. " Do not the American people love this Union ? Are they not devoted DISUNION REBUKED. 356 to it ? Is not every reminiscence of the past associated with its glories, and are they not calculated to inspire prayers for its prosperity and its perpetuity? If this were not the case, you might think lightly of our nobhi confederacy ; but so it is — it stands connected with every fibre of the national heart, and is interwoven with every glorious recollection of the past, which affection or reverence can inspire in the minds of the American people. It is not, Mr. President, that tw^enty-three millions of souls are involved in the perpetuity of this Union ; it is not that every consideration of happiness connected with country appertains to it ; but it is because it is the great moral, social and political lever that has moved, is moving, and will continue to move the world. Look abroad at foreign nations, and behold the influence of our example upon them — not ours, for I feel a sense of humiliation when I contrast the efforts of any man now living with the illustrious achievements of the departed sages and heroe* who performed this mighty work." IX. On the subject of Disunion — that subject which Andrew Jackson had to deal with boldly, as he did effectively, in the course of his Administration, we find a passage or two of great strength and significance. X. " Mr. President — Twenty-seven years ago I had the honor to occupy a seat in the House of Representatives from the State of Tennessee. I recol- lect that in the discussion of the Tariff Act of 1824, for the first time in my life I heard the idea suggested, that there might be secession, disunion, or resistance to the constitutional authorities of the land. It produced deep and intense meditation on my part. I did believe, then, that an example ought to be made of it ; but there was no way to touch it. I have heard principles of disunion boldly avowed in this hall, and have heard Senators avow what was treason, not technically, but which was not stripped of one particle of the moral turpitude of treason. Disunion has been proclaimed in this hall. What a delightful commentary on the freedom of our institutions, and the forbearance of the public mind, when a man is permitted to go unscathed and unscourged, who, in a delibera- 356 KOSSUTH AND LAFAYETTE. tive body like this, has made such a declaration ! Sir, no higher assur- ance can be given of the freedom of our institutions, and of the forbear- ance of the American people, and their reliance upon the reason, and the intelligence of the community. The intelligent mind is left free to com- bat error. Such sentiments, with their authors, will descend to the obscurity and the tomb of oblivion. I have only to say, in conclusion, that those who proclaim disunion, no matter of what name, politically — that those who, for the sake of disunion, conspire against the Union and the Constitution, are very beautifully described in Holy Writ. They are ' raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.' -'* XI. In reference to the policy of following the advice of Kossuth, with respect to the affairs of Hungary, and thereby embarrass- ing our system of foreign relations, Houston took a manly posi- tion. He said — XII. " "We had not escaped from these difficulties (the attempt to invade Cuba), when the advent of the illustrious stranger, Kossuth, was announced. I was not captivated by his advent, Mr. President. A portion of my life had been spent among the Indians. They are a cautious and considerate people, and I had learned to reconnoitre character a little when it comes about me, and I am liable to come in contact with it. I played the Indian, and was wary. I received him, sir, in concurrence with the other senators. I wished his country liberty, as I wished the world liberty ; but I did not wish to disregard our relations and obligations to other countries. He was hailed, he was greeted, he was welcomed, on some occasions, more triumphantly than even Lafayette, the friend of Washington. Compare the men, compare their feelings, their impulses, and their actions, and — :-' That was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr.' What claims had he upon us ? He had claims of sympathy. If he ever flashed his sword for Liberty, he had a claim on our admiration and our HUNGARY AND TEXAS. 35t fraternal feelings. But he had not done it. He had left Hungary, he had denounced Gorgey. and had thrown upon him the responsibility of the government. He disregarded his colleagues in oifice when he was at the head of affairs in Hungary. He threw all the responsibility upon Gorgey when Gorgey was helpless, and he himself had retreated with five thou- sand men. A beautiful army for liberty! Five thousand men alone, would strike for liberty against thousands on thousands. Yet he retreated with a body-guard of five thousand. And after he had negotiated for a succedaneum, for a resting-place, he went away, leaving * poor Hungary ' downtrodden and bleeding. Sir, much as I admire the patriots who strike for liberty — much as I admire the noble people whom Kossuth pur- ported to represent — much as I admire all men who have struggled, even unfortunately or misguidedly, for liberty, no matter where — much as I admire the promptings which actuated them, and love the cause in which they have been engaged, yet when a man proves recreant to a noble cause, forgets his people, lives in comfort, splendor, and display, when they have to bite the dust, or gnaw the file in agony, I have no sympathy for that man." XIII. " Was there then (in the Texan Revolution) a voice heard in this cham- ber advocating or introducing a resolution in vindication of the rights of Texas? Not one voice was heard at that time. Those gallant spirits who fell in hecatombs, with their footsteps almost on American soil, were hardly washed out or obliterated ; yet this nation was not convulsed. We heard of no sympathetic throb issuing from these chambers, no indig- nant voice raised in denunciation of the barbarities committed towards Texas. Did Texas ever complain to this government? From 1836 to 1843, did she ever remonstrate to this government ? In 1843, when she did remonstrate, what was it ? She said to the three great powers of the earth, to France, England, and the United States : — ' We ask no assistance, we invoke the invasion of our enemies, and upon a well-arranged and well-fought field, we will stake our liberty ; but compel our adversary to the rules of civilized warfare.' That was all we asked. The government of the United States, acting upon its wise, and prudent, and proper policy, did not interfere. *' I contend that while we maintain our national faith, it is not right to extend our jurisdiction beyond our own hemisphere. Let us be staid, 358 WORK ENOUGH AT HOME. quiet, industrious, and reflective. When subjects are presented requiring action, let us act. Sir, this nation is destined to fill a vast space among the nations of the earth. Already, in its youth^ it is great and mighty ; majestic is its renown, and most infinite are its resources ; but those resources must be husbanded, and they must be cared for, for a while. It is in vain to extend speculations beyond the necessity of the times, and involve ourselves in fruitless troubles by anticipation. '' Sir, we have much to do for ourselves to give us that iron hoop of which General Jackson spoke, which should be thrown around our continent. Sir, let us make an iron hoop binding California to the Atlantic. It is worth all the resolutions that could be introduced here in a thousand years on international law, foreshadowing our policy. That is a matter which enters into the very vitals of our national existence, and one that must be cared for, looked to, and by some means executed. It is a vast and eminently national work. Without it we are two nations. With it we should be one ; and we should command the trade of the world." XIY. On a resolutiou offered by Mr. Foote, declaring that the cele- brated Compromise Measures "Are, in the judgment of this body, a final settlement of the dangerous and exciting subjects which they embrace, and ought to be adhered to," Houston made a speech on the 22d of December, 1851, which has many points of great interest and force. Let us present some of them. XT. " I understand that the democratic party is tolerant in its principles ; that they are not proscriptive ; that they are not for applying the Pro- crustean rule to every member of the party. Harmonious, as they gener- ally are, some gentlemen of the same party differ essentially upon the subject of internal improvements. That has been evinced on former occa- sions here, within my recollection, and I believe it extends much further than my familiarity with the proceedings of this body. And not only that, for I have heard discussions here by the members of the same poli- WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTION? 359 tical party on the tariff, iu regard to which there was a wide difference of opinion ; yet it was not a ground for proscribing the members of the party, or excluding them from participating in all the rights pertaining to it. XYI. " It is a^ boast of the democratic party, I believe, that it is the true conservative party of this country, though, at the same time, this is the boast of every political party. I will not deprive either of them of the agreeable assurance. But, sir, if the democratic party is truly conserva- tive, I think the platform on which it now stands, is wide enough, broad enough, to embrace the whole Union. If it is not, I am not a member of it. I know that I have been arraigned for having been too latitudinarian in my feelings ; but I must confess that my country seems not too large to love, to cherish, and support. Then, sir, if the object of the party is conservatism, and to preserve what we believe the true constitutional principles of government, whoever loves and supports that constitution strictly, is my fellow. I know how the Constitution was formed. It was by concessions made by the several States, or by grants of certain powers that were to remain in the Federal Government ; but these delegated functions were to be exercised by it for the benefit of the whole. So far the Federal Government has rights, but no further. The States were free, sovereign, and independent, until these concessions were made. The Federal Government became the repository of delegated powers, and there they remain for the benefit of the several States. The States in the full enjoyment of the powers reserved, are independent within their sphere, and subject to no control from the Federal Government. These are my opinions, and I believe they agree with the democratic faith. Incidentally various subjects have arisen in this body since I have been a member of it, and upon all these I have recorded my opinions. I know they have been at variance, on some occasions, with my party, or rather the party with which I act. I will not call it mine : I belong to it. I had hoped that the agitation on this question (slavery) was fast dying away. And it might ere this have been forgotten, had it not been for the introduction . r this unfortunate resolution, which has renewed all the agitation of former times, and produced crimination and recrimination, and scenes not less violent in their character than those exhibited upon the adoption of the Compromise itself. It is unfortunate •, and if iu the inception of a reso- 360 THE SACRED NESS OF THE UNMON. lution of this kind, such are the fruits, aud if such are in a green tree, what must they be in a dry ? I apprehend that no earthly good can grow out of the adoption of the resolution. The usurpation of the people's rights will be manifest. If a modification is to take place in the demo- cratic platform, let it take place in a convention of the delegates of the people sent there for a political purpose, not for the purpose of legisla- tion, but for the formation of certain creeds and embodiments of opinions, by which the party is to be regulated in its actions. There is where I wish to see such action take place. But further than this I am not prepared to go. XYII. " The Compromise, sir, was the work of able, patriotic, and renowned • statesmen. Some of them are no longer in this body. It is with regret, sir, that I witness the absence of one who bore an important and conspi- cuous part in the accomplishment of that Compromise. I allude to the venerable senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay), who is detained from this chamber by sickness, with which he is deeply afflicted. I trust he will again resume his place in the Senate. The wisdom of his counsels, the brilliancy of his genius, the strength of his will, and the patriotism of his heart, never shone brighter than during their manifestation in this body in the achievement of that Compromise. But my State has been arraigned by a portion of the Union, and of the democratic party, too, for making a disposition of a portion of her territory to the detriment of Southern interests ; and that I felt. It was not that she was disposed to abridge or impair any of the rights of the South. Texas, no doubt, had a right to dispose of it. Did not Georgia dispose of her territory to the Federal Government ? Did she not sell enough to make the States of Alabama and Mississippi ? And have any complaints been made against her for it ? And had Texas, who came into this Union as free and as independent as Georgia did, no right to dispose of her domain to the Federal Government ? She did it, sir ; and I have this to remark, that had it been any obstacle to the compromise to the jarring interests of this country, and to their reconcilement, I would have been willing that every foot of the territory which she claimed, should become a lake of fire and brimstone rather than it should have thrown an impediment in the way of the peace and the harmony of thig Union. REPLY TO FOOTE. 361 XYIII. " I voted also for the admission of California. I did it on the acknow- ledged and avowed principle of the South : ' Let us alone ; let the people regulate their municipal and domestic institutions ; let them alone.' And I put it to the candor of honorable Senators from the South, no matter how ardent their feelings may have been, whether, if California had made application for admission into the Union, with a constitution declaring that Slavery should exist, they would not have disregarded all the irregu- larities which may have been connected with it, and readily have voted for her admission as a slave State ? The same rule which would induce me to vote for it in one situation, would constrain me to do so in another. I did it. What advantage would have resulted from a delay ? Was there any hope for a change in her institutions ? Was there any probability of it? No. She came in ; and whatever reproaches are attached to the vote I gave, I derive my consolation from the general prosperity and happi- ness of my country." XIX. In this same speech, Houston replied to the charge made by Mr. Foote, that the Senator from Texas was given to dema- gogisra, and to wire-pulling for the Presidency. As the repli- cation has something in it of an auto-biographical significance, the reader will be gratified by recurring to what he said on the occasion. XX. '' I was very much edified, and I might say amused, by remarks of the honorable gentleman from Mississippi. I cannot but be astonished at the temper of the gentleman. I had not intended to say anything to excite his ire, because I flatter myself that I am a prudent man, and do not like to provoke assaults. I am exceedingly gratified at one thing. In the course of his entire tirade, I believe the gentleman did not state a single fact. He has indulged in many conjectures in relation to Free- fioilism, and catering for the Presidency. Why, I should feel that I was not only degrading myself, but degrading the nation and the body in which 16 362 REBUKE OF DEMAGOGISM. I stand, if I would cater to the passions of men, or compromise my prin- ciples, for the Presidency. What I have, I have. I wish to make no new voyages. I am satisfied with the position which I occupy. What I might adventure might be lost. Therefore, I have no petty hankerings after office to gratify. Nor have I anj party intrigues to enter into. I have no cor- respondence on the subject of the Presidency. The world is acquainted with what I have said. XXI. " What I do, they make it a point to know. I should be sorry to sup- pose that there could be the least ground for applying to me the term 'demagogue.' What demagogism was there when I gave unpopular votes in this body, when there was no prospect for advancement in popu- larity, for I was denounced far and near. What intrigue could I then have had, with a party unimportant in the country, when I could have gone with the whole South, if I had chosen to sacrifice my own opinions on the Oregon question ? Was I playing the ' demagogue ' when I refused to sign the Southern Address ? Did I not vote for every one of the Compromise measures ? Mr. President, I assure you, I assure the Senate, I assure the country, that every insinuation against me of indirect plotting, by myself or by my friends, within my knowledge, with one party or another — every insinuation that imparts to me any other design than that of preserving the government in its purity, and the democratic party in its own faith, without an extension of platform, is altogether unfounded. Whoever insinuates that I have any intrigue, or any under- standing, or any correspondence upon the subject of free-soil, abolition, disunion, or secession, insinuates what is utterly unfounded, and without the slightest countenance of truth." XXII. When Kossuth was introduced to the Senate of the United States, it may be mentioned that as the martial form of Gen. Houston approached Kossuth, there appeared to be a personal attraction in the person of the hero of San Jachito. The introduction having been made, a brief but expressive dialogue ensued. INCREASE OF THE ARMY INDIAN POLICY. 363 XXIII. " Mr. HOUSTON— Sir, you are welcome to the Senate of the United States." " M. KOSSUTH — I can only wish that I had been as successful as you, sir." '• HOUSTON — God grant that you may yet be so.-' XXIY. On the twenty-nintli of Jannary, 1855, the United States Senate having resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the con- sideration of the bill from the House of Representatives, making appropriations for the support of the Army for the year end- ing the oOth of June, 1856, the pending question being on the amendment of Mr. Shields to the amendment of Mr. Hunter (which was to provide for two additional Regiments of Regular Cavalry and five hundred Rangers), to substitute for that pro- vision two Regiments of Infantry, and two of Cavalry, Hous- ton spoke upon an increase of the army, and on the Indian policy of the government. The chief portions of these speeches are wor- thy of preservation — and will be acceptable to every American reader. XXV. " Before the Senate proceeds to rote upon the adoption of the new policy now proposed, I think it would be woll to examine the causes which have led to the present condition of affairs, and then to inquire into the best means for the restoration of peace upon our Indian frontier. An examina- tion of this sort will inform us whether there is any necessity for an increase of the military force of the country. I am aware, sir, that in dis- cussing subjects which relate to the Indians, or to their rights, I shall com- mand but little sympathy from the Senate, and not much fi-om the coun- try. They are a people isolated in their interests, and solely dependent for protection and justice upon the government of the United States. 364. MASSACRES OF THE RED MEN. How far justice has been accorded to them ia the past, or how far it is, in all probability, to be awarded to them in the future, is a matter beyond speculation. If we are to judge from the past experience of our times, we should infer that there is but very little hope of anything being done for the Red man ; and we should infer that, in the opinion of his white brethren, his doom has already been written and recorded. Mr. President, the Indians have been charged with an aggressive and hostile spirit towards the whites ; but we find, upon inquiry, that overy instance of that sort which has been imputed to them, has been induced and provoked by the white man, either by acts of direct aggression upon the Indians, or by his own incaution, alluring them to a violation of the security of the whites. They have tempted the cupidity of the Indians. If a lawless fellow happens to prove vagrant to his band, and throws off all the rules and restrictions imposed by the chiefs on their warriors, and chooses to involve his nation in a difficulty by taking the life of a white man, if he can do so, as he supposes, with impunity, his action is charged to his tribe ; but they should not be held responsible. Sir, we have seen thrilling accounts of sanguinary massacres, which alarm us at the first blush ; and if we are to believe the paragraphs disseminated through the medium of the press, we thould suppose, in reality, that the Indian is as barbarous as he had ever been, and that all the assaults or massacres, as they are termed, are unprovoked and wantonly inflicted on the defenceless white man. As an instance of this, let me mention the massacre at Fort Laramie, and from that instance you can pretty accurately deduce the true condition of other acts of a similar character. "What were the cir- cumstances in connection with that case? XXVI. " During the last summer, some bands of the Sioux nation of Indians were encamped within six miles of Fort Laramie. They were in amity with the United States, and on terms of good friendship and good feeling with the officers of the neighboring fort. A man from a neighboring tribe, whose relatives had, a year before, been slaughtered by the troops at Fort Laramie, happened to be among these bands of Sioux. Some Mormon emigrants passed by the camp of the Indians, and a cow escaped from them, made towards the village, and the Mormons pursued her, but unsuccessfully. The Indian to whom I have referred, by way of revenge SIAUGHTER PROVOKED. 365 for the loss of his relative, slaughtered the animal. Complaint was made at Fort Laramie. The chiefs instantly said that they would see that repa- ration was made for the injury which had been done. Was this satisfac- tory to the commanding officer ? No, sir ; but he detailed a brevet lieu- . tenant, with a company, for the purpose of arresting the Indian. The company arrived at the encampment of the Indians with two pieces of artillery. Demand was made of the chiefs, but this Indian said to them, *I have taken a lodge here ; I am willing to die ; you have nothing to do with this matter 5 you have no concern with it ; the responsibility is not upon your people, but it is upon me alone.' So soon as this reply was given to the lieutenant, he tu-ed and crippled one of the principal chiefs, and killed a man. The delinquent still refused to give up. After that the chiefs rallied and exhorted the men to commit no outrage ; their influ- ence controlled the action of the Indians ; but a drunken interpreter, who was calculated to incite the lieutenant to action, caused him, no doubt, to fire his cannon. The next thing was that the war-whoop was sounded, and the lieutenant and part of his men were killed. The others, dis- persed, were pursued by the Indians in hot blood, and every man was slaughtered. XXYII. " This is a succinct narrative of that event. Were the Indians to blame ? He who violates a law is the man who is responsible for the consequences of that violation. The Indian intercourse laws of the United States, have pointed out the manner in which to proceed in such a case. If a citizen sustains injury from any tribe, or from an individual of a tribe, informa- tion is to be given to the Indian agent for that tribe. He is immediately to make a demand upon the chiefs of the nation. If they do not surren- der the individual, which, in all probability they would do immediately, if they were treated in good faith, deduction is made from their annuities for the amount of the injury, and there the matter stops. If no annui- ties are due to them, rather than bring on war, the United States Trea- sury is responsible to the individual who has sustained loss. These are the provisions of the intercourse laws. In this case, did either of the offi- cers make a demand on the chiefs ? The chiefs sent an assurance that justice would be done, and the individual given up, though he did not belong to their band. The officers, unwilling to receive that assurance, dispatched a handful of men against several lodges of Indians, and among 366 INDIAN REVENGE. whom there had been some ground of complaint. The consequences ■which I hare narrated, resulted from this indiscretion and violation of law. It was a violation of law, for no demand was made upon the chiefs for indemnity, and no response Avas received from them. These gallant gentlemen thought they should go there and make war. They are paid for it ; 'it is their vocation.' Are such men entiled to sympathy ? Are they entitled to respect? But their conduct alarmed the Sioux ; and because that tribe proposed to confederate with other tribes, we are asked to increase the military force of the country ; forsooth, we are to wage war upon the winds, for you might as well do it, as upon the prairie Indians. XXYIII. *•' But this is not all that grew out of that transaction. A clamor is raised about the mail party who were destroyed subsequently to that. It was very natural to expect that it would be done. The Sioux chief, who was wounded on the occasion to which I have referred, was taken to Arkansas, and there he expired in consequence of the injury he had received. His kindred resolved to revenge his death. The Indian appre- ciates the ties of kindred far beyond any white man. They may have less intelligence 5 but the chords of nature are stronger, the sensibilities of the heart more lively, than those which stimulate our Christian enlight- ened action. It is well known that the grief which resounds through the Indian camp, when a warrior or chief expires, or when a relative dies, is like the wailing of Egypt. When this chief expired, his friends sought for a white man, that they might take vengeance on him — not for those who had inflicted the wrong, but whomever they might happen to find among the whites. They came first upon the mail party. One, who was not a relative of the chief, said to one of his kindred, ' there is a white man, you can now take vengeance on him ; you are a coward if you do not do so.' He said, * I am no coward ; but if you say it, I will kill him.' Then he went and killed two out of the three composing the mail party. x:^ix. " Now, sir, what had been the condition of the Indian country previous to these occurrences? I have been assured by gentlemen who have passed COWARDLY TREATMENT OF RED MEN. 36t from California to Fort Laramie, a distance of one thousand four hundred or one thousand five hundred miles, that they met individuals travel- ling alone through that vast region. They passed through a wilder- ness of one thousand four hundred, or one thousand five hundred miles, unassailed, and without injury from any one. Did this look like a desperate feeling on the part of the Indians, when they allowed unprotected individuals, sometimes singly, occasionally in small com- panies of three or four persons, to pass through their country unmo- lested? No, sir. It is some sudden act of wrong and outrage which stimulates the Indian to aggression. He has no inducement to it, unless he expects great plunder, because he is well aware that if he cultivates kind and friendly relations with the whites, he can receive from them supplies that he cannot obtain in any other way — things which gratify hi3 taste for dress, and supply his wants and appetites. For this reason, the Indian is always disposed to be in peace and friendship with his white neighbors if he can. " I have given some illustrations of the so-called Indian outrages. I may refer to another one, which, not long since, took place in Oregon, and which is given, in some quarters, as a reason why an increase of the army is required. I refer to a recent massacre of the Indians at a ferry-house in Oregon, as described by the agents and superintendents of that terri- tory. A number of miners to the amount of forty, associated together to attack a village of seventy Indians, men, women, and children, without any means of defence, with only five pieces of fire-arms, pistols, and guns, and two of them entirely useless. The officer, who reports the action, describes in a most military and elegant style, the manner in which he assaulted the village in three divisions. They were entirely successful ; killed some sixteen men, killed one squaw, and wounded a couple, and no children — that was merciful ! But, sir, they scattered the warriors, who were there defenceless, and applied the torch to their wigwams. We are told by the gallant gentleman who reported the matter, that the next day the Indians were there hovering about the mouldering ashes of their wig- wams. This gallant and chivalrous man, wonderful to relate, says he did not loose a man in the attack. "Was he not lucky ? [Laughter.] That fellow must look out for a brevet ; though I hope he will hardly come here claiming bounty land. [Laughter.] 368 FIVE MILLION'S FOP. BUTCHERING INDIANS. XXX. " This act is denounced by the agent and superintendent as most cruel and barbarous. The poor creatures were willing to do anything and everything which was asked of them. They denied every charge that theh- malicious enemies had wantonly brought against them ; and the truth of the narrative is endorsed by the agent, a man of intelligence. I do not know him ; but his repoj't bears the impress of intelligence and integrity. XXXI. " Well, sir, these circumstances, it is said, call for an army of three regi- ments, or three thousand men. "What are they to cost ? Five millions of dollars is the amount which it is proposed to appropriate by the bill which was reported by the Senator from Illinois. We are to appropriate $5,000,000 to bring on a great Sioux war, to meet a most wonderful con- federacy, which, it is said, is forming among the Indians. Why, sir, they cannot keep together, because they are starving in little bauds, even in those parts of the country where they can command the most game. How could they remain embodied for any length of time without supplies, without animals, and without food, when their women and children are starving? How could they, under such circumstances, remain a mighty confederation, to sweep our frontier ? Why, sir, from the display that is made, by the terrible cry of alarm, one would think that New Orleans itself could hardly be safe, but that the Indians would sweep down the Missouri and Mississippi, and carry death, destruction, and .devastation in their course ! Are these causes calculated to produce such mighty effects? Is it proper that the nation should be involved in a general Indian war at this time ? Is it proper that $5,000,000 should be expended from the Treasury to begin this war ? If this bo done, what will be the consequence ? The Indians will not be embodied to meet you. Your troops will hear that in some direction there is a Camanche, or a Kioway, or an Osage camp, and they will advance upon it with '• all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war.' A morning gun will be fired as a signal to rise and prepare for the march. On such an occasion, with the bugle sounding in advance, how beautiful must be the reflection from the arms and banners floating in the prairie! That is to be the spectacle which ia HOW WE TREAT RED MEN. 369 to amuse or drive the Indians ahead. They are to meet the Indians on a trackless waste. You might as well pursue the course of a ship's keel on the ocean, as to pursue the Indians of the prairies. They would disperse, and your army would be left there ; and they, perhaps, surrounding you, in the distance, and laughing at the glorious pomp with which you were marching through their prairies. If you take men there, and make a dis- play without efiBciency, you provoke their ridicule and supreme con- tempt. XXXII. " But, Mr. President, the course which has been pursued, since the days of William Penn to the present moment, has not been entirely successful in conciliating the Indians. Under the management of "Washington, of the first Adams, of Madison, of Monroe, of the second Adams, of Jackson, and of Polk, we have, with few exceptions, been very successful in main- taining peace with them. The suggestions made by our fathers, in rela- tion to their civilization and humanization, are exemplified and illustrated in the present condition of the southern tribes, who have received the greatest benefits of the light shed on them ; and they have responded to it by the cultivation of mind, by the development of resources, both phy- sical and intellectual, which reflect lustre on their character. Cannot the Indian now be influenced in the same way, by the same means ? Have we no landmarks to guide us? Have we not experience to teach us? Have we not humanity to prompt us to march on in the path which i3 already laid out before us ? Sir, how different is the policy now pursued from what it once was? I must read, for the instruction of the Senate, an extract from the last annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and I beseech your attention to it, because it contains more good sense and reflection than I could impart in the same number of words. It will be necessary in the examination of this subject, in relation both to the Indians and the Army, to see in what manner they harmonize with each other, and how far the one is necessary to the success of the other. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in his report to the Secretary of the Interior, describes a transaction to which I wish to call attention : " ' As heretofore reported to you, an association of persons has under- taken to appropriate to their own use a portion of the land ceded by the Delawares, fronting on the Missouri river, and south of Fort Leavenworth ; 16* 3*10 HOTT OUR OFFICERS TREAT INDIANS. have laid out a city thereon, and actually had a public sale of the lots of the same on the 9th and 10th of October last. These unlawful proceed- ings have not only ta,ken place under the eyes of military officers sta- tioned at the fort, but two of them are said to be members of the associa- tion, and have been active agents in this discreditable business. Encour- aged by these proceedings, and prompted by those engaged in them, other persons have gone on other portions of the tract ceded by the Dela- wares in trust to the United States, and pretend to have made, and are now making, such ' claims ' as they assert will vest in them the lawful right to enter the land at the minimum price under the preemption law of July 12, 1854.' XXXIII. *• This is a specimen of the aid and succor afforded hj military com- manders to the agents to maintain and preserve peace among the Indians. These are the gentlemen to whom the agents look for co-operation in the discharge of their duties, and to afford equal protection to the Indians against aggressions from the whites, as to the whites against aggressions from the Indians. Such a transaction, as is here disclosed, is an act of unmitigated infamy in the ofiScers who have lent themselves to it. I hope the Executive, in the plenitude of his power, and in the exercise of a wise and just discretion, will erase their names from the records of the country, and redeem our annals from infamy so blackening as this. Think, sir, of an officer wearing an American sword, adorned with Ameri- can epaulets, the emblem of office and the insignia of honor and manly pride, degrading himself by a violation of the faith of his Government, rendering him a disgrace to the uniform which he wears, and the earth upon which he treads ! XXXIY. " It will be recollected that the Delaware Indians own one million eight hundred thousand acres of land. They ceded one million three hundred thousand acres to the Government of the United States for $10,000, reserving to themselves the land on which the city referred to has been laid out, ou the banks of the Missouri. They confided five hundred thou- THE INDIANS OF KANSAS. 3tl sand acres to the Government of the United States, as they could not themselves dispose of it, except to the Government ; and, believing that it would bo a source of wealth and independence to them, they have granted it to the Government, in trust, to be sold by it, the right of pos- Bession remaining in them until it should be disposed of. It appears, from the commissioner^ report, that persons had gone and taken posses- Bion of this land. If they have not done so, they ought to be vindicated against the charge. I regard it as authentic and official, and until it la controverted, I have nothing to extenuate ; nor do 1 set down aught in malice. Justice requires me to state the facts. XXXY. " Mr. President, I said to the Senate, on a former 'occasion, that eighteen tribes of Indians had been located by this Government within the limits of the present Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and that most of them had been removed there from the east of the Mississippi. They were located there under the faith of solemn pledges, that while grass grew, or water ran, or the earth brought forth its fruits, they should remain on the lands assigned to them, unless they choose to abandon them ; and that they should not be included within the boundaries of any State or Terri- tory. Notwithstanding this, these Indians were embraced within the Nebraska and Kansas bill. They were taken in — yes, sir, as strangers are sometimes ' taken in.' What is now their condition, and what must it be in after time?'' XXXYI. Here, Senator Houston having read an extract from the recent report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in which he describes, with great fidelity and justice, the condition of the Indians in Kansas Territory, expressing his belief and hope that their complete civilization may be effected, then proceeded to Bay that it is the violation of treaties, and the bad faith of the white man, and his aggressive course, that cause the inquietude of the Red Men. 372 HOW HOUSTON TREATED THE INDIANS. XXXYII. " There is a remecly ; and that remedy must be applied, oi' the Indians exterminated, at an espense ten times beyond what would civilize in half a century, every Red man who walks upon the soil of America. I have seen tribes rise from a state of barbarism to a coiMition in which they are as civilized in their institutions, in their religion, and in their social refinement and habits, as citizens of the United States, and all this has been done within half a century. These things are as possible now as at any former time ; and a sum, very easily calculated, less than the amount estimated as necessary to raise these troops and subsist them for one year, would civilize every Indian on the continent, set him down on a piece of land, and give him ' a local habitation and a name.' Is it not worth an attempt ? Is it not worth accomplishment ? Sir, let me give you some experience in relation to Indians. The United States have regiments in Texas, and Texas is considered; by some, as a burden on the Treasury. Texas, it is said, exhausts the Army of the United States, and withdraws them from more eligible stations to protect her frontier. I will show you, sir, how that is. • In 1842 and 1843 Texas had a war on hand which had been brought about by an exterminating policy proclaimed by a new Administration, and peace was not restored until 1843, when the head of the Government of Texas went about the work of their civilization. He went into the wilderness, on the prairies, and there met the Indians, who would not trust themselves Vv'Ithin the timbered land, nor near any place where there was a possibility of ambuscade. A treaty was there made, which not only stayed the tomahawk and the scalp in g-knife, but preserved peace and safety on the frontier until 1849. We were for six years with- out massacre, without conflagration, without prisoners being taken. Not a Texan was killed in that time by the Indians. One man was killed in the Indian country, but whether by the Mexicans or Indians was a doubt- ful question ; at any rate he was not scalped. XXXYIII. " Now, sir, how was this done ? By what means ? By pursuing a policy which had been initiated in 1836, but was disrupted in 1838, which' brought a war upon the entire borders of that young Republic. The old HOW TEXAS TREATED INDIANS. 373 policy was re-established in 1843. Resistance was made to it, as there was to every attempt to consolidate a Government. There was an attempt on the part of some lawless men, to resist everything like order and organization, and throw the Government into anarchy and misrule ; but they failed. These Indians had been our enemies ; they had been exas- perated by unprovoked aggressions upon them ; but the proper concilia- tory disposition soon won their regard and afiection. What was the expense of all this ? I am almost afraid to state it, for I fear it will not be credited when we see the enormous estimates now made for the expense of treaties with the Indians. Sir, every dollar given to the Executive of Texas, to consummate these treaties, to feed the Indians, to make presents, was annually $10,000 ; and he rendered vouchers for the last cent. For this sum, peace was accomplished and maintained, the safety and protec- tion of our frontiers insured, and the Indians became pacific and happy. XXXIX. "When Texas was annexed to the United States, these Indians, on account of faith having been maintained with them by the then Executive of Texas, refused to meet and confer with the commissioners sent to them by the President of the United States, until they had the sanction of the Government of Texas ; and the symbols of confidence were put in the hands of the commissioners before the Indians would treat with them. A treaty was then negotiated. What was the history of it? One of the commissioners — a noble and gallant gentleman, who afterwards fell at Chepultapec, in Mexico, at the head of his regiment — was too much indis- posed to render any assistance. His co-commissioner assumed the whole business ; and what did he do ? He had the Indians' names signed with a mark on a sheet of paper, had it attested, and brought it on here. He made large promises to the Indians ; he assured them of an annuity of $14,000, to be paid annually, at a certain trading-house ; but when he wrote his treaty (for he did not write it until he came here, when he appended to it the sheet containing the signatures), it contained a provi- sion that they should receive barely $14,000 as a full acquittance. It cost $60,000 to negotiate the treaty, as the records of the Treasury show. This is a sum equal to the price of six years' peace between the Indians and the Government of Texas. Perhaps, however, the people of Texas were better then than now. Since that time, they have been under the 374 HOW OUR AGENTS TREAT INDIANS. Government of the United States. I simply state facts. I leave the infer- ence to others. XL. " Sir, if the agent appointed by Mr. Polk, who has been restored by the present executive — it is a bright spot in his Administration, and I com- mend him for it — had never been removed, there would have been peace to this daj on the borders of Texas ; but as soon as the Indian agent who was appointed to succeed him went there, he must forsooth establish a rancho : he must have a farm. The Indians who had been settled down there from 1843 to 1849, had been furnished by the Government of Texas with implements of husbandry, with seeds of every description, and they were cultivating their little farms. They were comfortable and independ- ent. They were living in perfect peace. If you can get Indians located, and place their wives and children within your cognizance, you need never expect aggression from them. It is the Indian who has his wife in security, beyond your reach, who, like the felon wolf, goes to a distance to prey 9n some flock, far removed from his den ; or, like the eagle, who seeks his prey from the distance, and never from the flocks about his eyrie. The agent to whom I have referred, lost two oxen from his rancho where he kept his cattle. He went to the officer in command of Fort Bel- knap, got a force from him, and then marched to those Indians sixty miles distant, and told them they must pay for the oxen. They said, 'We know nothing about your oxen ; our people are here ; here are our women and children ; we have not killed them ; we have not stolen them ; we have enough to eat ; we are happy ; we have raised corn ; we have sold corn ; we have corn to sell ; we have sold it to your people, and they have paid us for it, and we are happy.' The agent and the military gen- tlemen scared off the Indians from the limits of Texas, and drove them across the Red Rivdt to the Wichita mountains, taking every horse and animal they had, to pay for the two oxen. This was done by an accre- dited agent of the Government, and by an officer who deserved but little credit. Are such things tolerable, and to be tolerated in the present age and condition of our government ? XLI. " What was the consequence ? Those Indians felt themselves agrieved. INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 3*15 They saw that a new regime had come ; they had the era of peace and plenty, and now they were expelled by a different influence. They felt grateful for the benign effects of the first policy towardsthem, and that only exasperated them to a greater extent against the second ; and they began to make incursions, ready to take vengeance on any white men they might meet in the neighborhood, and slay whoever they might find. They made their forays from the opposite side of the Red River, from the Wichita mountains, and came like an avalanche upon our unprotected citizens. There is one fact showing how your interference with the Indians within her limits has injured Texas. There is another fact in con- nection with the Indian policy of Texas which I shall mention. How was it with the "Wichita Indians ? Texas sought to conciliate them ; they lived beyond her borders, and made incursions from the limits of the TJnited States into Texas, while she was an independent Republic. She did everything in her power to bring about peace between them, and, through the friendly Indians, was pacifying them. One of their chiefs, with his wife and child and twelve men, came to Fort Belknap, some one hundred, and fifty or two hundred miles west of the fort, at Hamilton's Valley. Property had been stolen by Indians. It was not known which of thirteen different tribes had taken it ; for outlaws occasionally con- gregated from each, half a dozen of them stealing off from their tribes, ■without the influence of their chiefs operating upon them. They were outlaws, careless of the destiny of their tribes, and reckless of the crimes which they might commit, so long as they could gratify their cupidity and recompense their daring. These men had taken some property. Dra- goons came on in the direction of Red River, and reached Fort Belknap. So soon as they arrived, the officer said to this chief : ' Sir, I retain you as a prisoner. It is true, you came under a white flag ; but I am an officer ; I have the power ; I take you prisoner, and you must stay here a prisoner until the horses are brought back. Your men must stay, too, except one, whom I will send to your tribe with the intelligence of the fact.' The chief said ; * My tribe have not committed the robbery ; it is a great distance from me ; it is in another direction. I come from the rising sun ; that is towards the setting sun ; I was far from it ; you are between me and it ; I did not do it.' 'But,' said the officer, 'you are a prisoner.' The officer put him in the guard-house. Imprisonment is eternal infamy to an Indian. A prairie Indian would rather die a thou- sand deaths than submit to the disgrace of imprisonment. You may wound and mutilate him as you please, you may crush every limb in the 3T6 IGNORANCE OF THE INDIAN CHARACTER. body of a prairie Indian, and if he can make no other resistance, he will spit defiance at you when you come within his reach. This chief, meditat- ing upon his deep disgrace, knowing that he was irreparably dishonored, unless he could wash out his stains with blood, resolved that night that he would either die a freeman, or rescue himself from dishonor. He rose in the night. He would not leave his wife and child in the hands of his enemy ; so he took his knife, and stabbed his squaw and little one to the heart. Not a groan was heard, for he well knew where to apply the poig- nard. He went and shot down the sentinel, rushed upon the superior officers, was shot, and perished like a warrior, in an attempt to wipe a stain from his honor. His men fled and returned to their tribe, but it was to bring blood, carnage, and conflagration upon our settlements. They came not again as brothers to smoke the calumet of peace, but with brands in their hands to set fire to our houses. Contrast that with the previous years ; contrast it with the harmony which had before existed, and you see the lamentable result of sending, as Indian agents and army oflBcers to take charge of the Indians, men who know nothing about the Indian character. XLII. " Well, sir, how can Texas expect peace, how can she expect protection to her citizens ? Not from your army. It has never given her protec- tion ; it is incompetent to give protection ; and it is a reproach to the country. I will not say anything personally unkind of the officers who command, for they are gentlemen ; but I say they know nothing about the Indians, and I shall prove it. Texas deserves protection, and she can have it if a rational effort be made to give it to her, but not by your troops. AVhat sort of protection can she expect from hostile Indians when the commanding officer of that military department, a gallant gentleman, who has borne himself nobly in the heat of battle, skillful in design, bold and gallant in execution, and in all the martial arts replete, but unskilled amongst the Indians. He has issued an order that no Indian should go within twenty miles of a fortress on the frontier of Texas. The Indians think, ' Very well, you say the Indians shall not come within twenty miles of your forts, and we say your men shall not come within twenty miles of us, or we will shoot them.' That is a pretty good notion for an Indian ; it is very natural. The boundary is fixed by the white man, and the Indian lives up to it. Well, sir, there is a remedy for all this, and it is very easy HOW TO HAVE PEACE WITH THE INDIANS. 3tt to apply it ; but how are we circumstanced there ? It is supposed by some that we are deriving great aid from the Army, and that the greatest por- tion of the disposable forces of the United States is in Texas, and protect- ing it ? How can they protect us against the Indians when the cavafry have not horses which can trot faster than active oxen, and the infantry dare not go out in any hostile manner for fear of being shot and scalped ! Can they pursue a party who pounce down on a settlement and take property, and reclaim that property ? Have they ever done it ? Did the old rangers of Texas ever fail to do it, when they were seated on their Texas ponies ? They were men of intelligence and adroitness in regard to the Indian character, and Indian warfare. Do you think a man is fit for such service who has been educated at West Point Academy, furnished with rich stores of learning ; more educated in the science of war than any general who fought through the Revolution, and assisted in achieving our independence ? Are you going to take such gentlemen, and suppose that by intuition they will understand the Indian character? Or do you suppose they can track a turkey, or a deer in the grass of Texas," or could they track an Indian, or would they know whether they were tracking a wagon or a carriage ? [Laughter.] Not at all, sir. We wish, in the first place, to have men suited to the cu'cumstance. Give us agents who are capable of following out their instructions, and who understand the Indian character. Give us an army, gentlemen, who understand not only the science of command, but have some notions of extending justice and pro- tection to the Indian, against the aggression of the whites, while they protect the whites against aggressions from the Indians. Then, q,nd not till then, will you have peace. XLIII. " How is this to be done ? Withdraw your army. Have five hundred cavalry, if you will, but I would rather have two hundred and fifty Texas rangers (such as I could raise) , than five hundred of the best cavalry now in service. I would have one thousand infantry, so placed as to guard the United States against Mexico, and five hundred for scouting purposes. I would have five trading-houses from the Rio Grande to the Red River for intercourse with the Indians. I would have a guard of twenty-five men out of an infantry regiment, at each trading house, who should be vigilant and always on the alert. Cultivate intercourse with the Indians. 378 HOW TO CIVILIZE INDIANS. Show them that you have comforts to exchange for their peltries : bring them around you ; domesticate them ; familiarize them with civilization. Let them see that you are rational beings, and they will become rational in imitation of you ; but take no whisky there at all, not even for the oflBcers, for fear their generosity should let it out. Do this, and you will have peace with the Indians. Whenever you convince an Indian that he is dependent on you for comforts, or for what he deems luxuries or elegan- ces of life, you attach him to you. Interest, it is said, governs the world, and it will soon ripen into affection. Intercourse and kindness will win the fiercest animal on earth, except the hyena, and its spots and nature cannot be changed. The nature of an Indian can be changed. He changes with change of circumstances, and rises into the dignity of a civilized being. If you war against him, it takes a generation or two to regenerate his race, but it can be done. I would have fields around the trading houses. I would encourage the Indians to cultivate them. Let them see how much it adds to their comfort ; how it insures to their wives and. children abundant subsistence, and then you win the Indian over to civilization ; you charm him, and he becomes a civilized man. XLIY. " Sir, while people are seeking to civilize and Christianize men on the banks of the Ganges, or the Jordan, or in Burrampootah, why should not the same philanthropic influence be extended through society, and be exerted in behalf of the American Indians ? Is not the soul of an Ameri- can Indian, in the prairie, worth as much as the soul of a man on the Ganges, or in Jerusalem ? Surely it is. Then let the American Govern- ment step forward ; let it plant the standard of regeneration and civiliza- tion among the Indians, and it will command the cooperation of the citizens in their philanthropic efforts. I am willing to appeal to the venerable and distinguished Senator from Michigan, who knows what an Indian is, and what his disposition is, perhaps m,ore thoroughly than I do myself. To him would I defer, but to no other man, for a certain and intimate knowledge of the Indian character. XLY. " There is another point in connection with the dealings of the Govern- PRESENT SYSTEM OF WARFARE. 3T9 mcnt with the Texas Indians to which I will advert. There are Caman- ches of the woods, and the Curaanches of the prairie. The Texas Indians do not receive their annuities in Texas, but they are brought into Kansas, a great distance from us, where they receive the munificence of the Government in their annuities, on the east of the Pted River and the Arkansas. What is the consequence ? They believe Texas is not their friend, or that the Federal Government, from then- crude notions of it, would pay them in Texas, and would not make them travel over rivers, and through trackless prairies, to receive their presents. They return to Texas, not with feelings of respect for the benefits they receive, but with contempt. This is bad policy. You should distribute your presents to the Texas Indians within the limits of Texas. Her territory is broad enough ; her domain is fertile enough 5 her character is high enough to justify you in doing so. She has done much for herself — more than this Government has ever done for her. In order to treat with the Indians propL'rly, as I have said, you should take away your troops, except the portion I have stated. The Indians, with the exception of the Osages, Kiowas and Kaws are disposed to be friendly, I believe. As to the dis- affection of the Sioux, I look on it only as an uprising to resist aggres- sion. They were fired on by artillery and small arms, without provoca- tion, and it is but natural that they should resist. Theirs is not a confederation to assail the whites, but to protect themselves. I justify them in doing it. I am sorry there is a necessity for it ; but if I were among them, and. they proposed a confederacy to repel cruelty and butchery, I would join them ; and he would be a dastard who would not. When gentlemen speak of a war upon the Indians, have they considered the consequences? You may succeed in killing their women and children, but it is a remarkable fact that you kill but very few of their warriors. Those who march with martial display upon the Indians, find them to-night at one point at dark ; they may see the smoke of their fires ; and at dawn to-morrow they will be fifty or seventy miles away, with their caravans and every child and woman, not even a dog being left behind. What army that you could send of three thousand men, or any other number, could affect anything by making war upon the Indians? Why, sir, it would be like the redoubtable ex'ploit of the celebrated king of France, who, " with forty thousand men marched up a hill, and then marched down again.'' [Laughter.] Yes, sir, that I predict would be the history of such a campaign. 380 Houston's views op civilization. XLYI. " To accomplish the object here contemplated, it is proposed to spend $5,000,000. As I have said before, that amount of money would civilize every Indian on the contiment, if you sent men of intelligence and capacity among them to do it. I have been delighted with the reports which I have had the opportunity of glancing at, accompanying the annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. One from a gentle- man who now occupies a seat in the other House [Mr. Whitfield] grati- fied me exceedingly. I have had the pleasure of seeing him but once since my arrival. I knew him, when a youth, in Tennessee, and he haa more than met my expectations, though then they were not indifferent. He has proved himself to be a man of fine perceptions, of excellent judg- ment, and of good heart. He has capacity to treat with and to reclaim the Indians ; and, I doubt not, that he and other gentlemen who could be associated with him, could go to the Indians, with five hundred troops, if you please — not march through the Indian country, but send word to the chiefs ; let them know they had a force, and there is not a chief, who has had any relations with the United States, but would come forward wil- lingly, make treaties, and maintain them in good faith. But you must establish trading houses ; you rnust protect them, and then you may com- mand the Indians absolutely, and you will have no murders uj)on your roads. Sir, would it not be much wiser to send a few wagons with presents than to send an army ? Would not the object be effected much sooner by sending commissioners with presents? The Executive and Senate are the treaty-making power, and all that is necessary for Congress to do, is to make an appropriation for the purpose. Would it not be much easier to take presents to the Indians, and would not the object of attaining and preserving peace be much sooner effected in this way than by an army ? While you were clothing and equipping your army, and marching it there, the Indians might kill half the people on the frontier. Your army would have to march thousands of miles to reach them ; but commissioners could go quietly along, with four or five hundred troops, or as many as might be necest-ary ; I would leave that to their discretion ; I would select men of capacity for fighting as well as for treating. Send such men, and there will be no trouble in bringing about peace. My life upon it, $5,000,000 would suffice to civilize every Indian who has ever been in treaty with the United States, and settle him in a quiet, comforta- ble home. IMPOLICY OF INCREASING THE ARMY. 381 XLYII. *' Some time jpce, the present agent in Texas was ordered to lay off a section of country in that State for the use of the Indians. He did so. He said to the fierce Camanches, * Come here, my brothers, and settle down.' They have done so. The Indians to whom I before alluded, who were driven off by the former agent, after robbing them of their horses, upon the assurances given at the return of the present worthy and intelli- gent agent, faithful to his trust, came back in perfect confidence, and set themselves to building their houses to shelter their women, old men, and children, while the warriors went out to kill game. There they are. The southern Camanches went within the border, and said, 'Let us settle;' but they were immediately told, through the influence of the army, I suppose, that they must not settle there. I saw, not long since, a letter from a most intelligent gentleman, who said that the oflScer at Fort Bel- knap, with three companies of rangers, and two of regulars, was daily expecting to make a descent on the poor Indians who had been settled there by the agent, under the pledges of the Government, which promised them that they should have a country where they should throfe away the arts of the wild and the Red man, and become domestic, agricultural, and civilized in their pursuits. They have acquiesced in that policy of the Government, but are in constant dread lest the military gentleman in command of the fort, in order to gain laurels and acquire glory, and do honor to his profession, may make a descent with the regulars and volun- teers, or rangers, upon the poor Indians. If intelligence of such a descent should arrive, I should not be surprised. I shall be distressed, to be sure ; but it will only be one of a thousand distresses which I have felt at the wrongs inflicted on the Indians. XLYIII. "Now, sir, is it politic to increase the regular force of the United States? To govern a country well, where intelligence predominates over selfishness and interest, I think the smaller the army is the better. I have had some experience in that. It is very well to take care of arms and ordinance stores, and army stores, which would be useful in time of war. It is necessary, I think, to have an army for that purpose. You may have as great a stock of science as you please ; but it does not follow that you 382 WHAT THE ARMY SHOULD BE. are bound fo make an officer of every gentleman you educate at "West Point. I do not think it would be wise policy to extend the army to suit the establishment of the Military Academy, but rather the Military Academy to the interests and exigencies of the counny. That is my opinion of the army. The nominal number of the army is fourteen thou- sand. There is not a vacancy, I presume, for an officer in the whole sor- vice. According to the data I have before me, and the items I have given, I suppose there are about four thousand five hundred men in the service. To make the actual number of fourteen thousand complete, you would have to make the nominal force three times fourteen thousand. Let the head of the department show that they can keep this establishment per- fect before they would go to ingrafting new limbs on it, in its present imperfect condition. Let the trunk be sound before you graft it. I know that the officers will never be less than the establishment ; it shows that it is too large, and ought rather to be reduced. Whenever we see that the present establishment is kept in order, and the requisite number of men to make it complete always in the service, it will commend itself to con- sideration ; and if a greater amount of force, or a larger establishment, be necessary, it would be acceded to. I do not, however, now see any necessity for it. If you increase it, it will never get less. We know that, even* when the army is increased in time of war, there is difficulty.in reduc- ing it to a peace establishment afterwards. It has always been the case, and always will be, that a man, by holding an office temporarily, acquires a claim to it which is enforced by relatives and friends ; and the army thereby will become an eye-sore to the people, and a carbuncle upon the body politic. XLIX. "Sir, in the course of my remarks I have said some things which might seem to bear upon the officers of the army as a class. My partialities for military men, and for gentlemen of the army, are of a character not to be doubted. I know their high-toned feeling, their honorable bearing, and their chivalry ; and when I commented upon some of them, I only spoke of such as brought themselves within the purview of my remarks by impropriety of conduct, deserving the reprobation of every man who appreciates honorable feelings, integrity and truthfulness. As a class, however, I admire and respect them. I have experienced their hospitali- ties. Once I enjoyed their association with pleasure ; and my recollec- CLOSE OF THIS GREAT SPEECH. 883 tions of early habits, formed in their companionship, always mark a ver- dant spot in memory's waste. It is only the guilty and the culpable thai I condemn. Six, I believe' the honorable chairman of the Committee on Military Afi'airs has withdrawn that portion of the amendment relating to the appointment of three commissioners to treat with the Indians. But, Mr. President, if we wish to do good to the Indians, we have it in our power ; if we wish to destroy them, we can starve them out. If we intend to save them, we can do so by appealing to their best feelings. There is one path- way to an Indian's heart. If you show him that comforts and benefits are to result to his wife and children, you may command him absolutely, and he yields implicitly. He has no opposing thought to their interest. I have always seen that if you could impress an Indian with the conviction that comfort and security would inure to his squaw and papooses, from the adoption of a particular policy, he would submit to it. My colleague [Mr. Rusk] knows that this is the way to the heart of an Indian. The proudest warrior is humiliated at the thought of his wife and little ones being in the -least uncomfortable. Whenever an Indian intends to conci- liate the whites, he brings his family and settles as near as he can to a fort or agency, and says, ' Here are the hostages I give you for my fidelity to you ; if I do wrong, I know they will sufter ; they are dearer to me than my life.' The Indians can be brought around trading-houses. L. " I have lost all hope of the stations in Texas doing any good. I would not have more than twenty-five men at a trading-house to give protection, in the event of any sudden ebullition among the Indians of a violent character. It would be entirely accidental if such a necessity happened around' the trading-houses, as to require protection to be given to the caravans emigrating to California and Oregon. I would encourage the Indians in the arts of peace. You need no armies ; you need no Indian allies to butcher them. All you have to do is to maintain your faith in carrying out the treaties which have been made, and not directly or indi- rectly encourage men to violate every principle of honor and humanity, and deride even faith itself." 384 THE CLAIMS OF THERED MEN. LI. Such was the noblest defence of the Red men of America, ever pronounced in the Senate of the United States. It was listened to with interest, but it produced little effect upon the action of the Senate. The poor Red man has had few friends on this continent ; while the African race have, for a quarter of a century, been the exciting topic of noisy sj-mpathy, and inflammatory appeals. And yet, who will pretend to compare the wrongs of the Africans with the outrages that have been perpetrated upon the Aborigines ? The former were brought hither from a land of barbarism and Pagan darkness, to be elevated in the scale of social life more rapidly than four millions of men have ever been elevated, in the history of the world. They may be called adventurers, having no prescriptive right to the soil. But the Indian was the original possessor of the soil. He received this broad continent from the hands of his Creator. He has been driven from it by invasion ; and what the white man's rifle, and the white man's fire-water failed to accom- plish in his extermination, has been made up by treachery and fraud. Houston has always been a friend of the Red man ; and in this respect, there has been no variation in his conduct. This country will one day wake up to the atrocities and inhumanity we have inflicted upon the Aborigines. Houston's long efforts in their behalf will then stamp him as the philanthropist of the age. Then, too, will the following eloquent words of Charles Sprague be dragged forth from the Ubrary, and printed in letters of gold. LII. "Not many generations ago, where you now sit, circled with all that exalts and embellighes civilized life, the rank thistle nodded in the wind, SPRAGUe's INDIAN LAMENT. 385 and the wild fox dug his hole unscared. Here lived and loved another race of beings. Beneath the same sun that rolls over your heads, the Indian hunter pursued the panting deer ; gazing on the same moon that smiles for you, the Indian lover vroocd his dusky mate. Here the wigwam blaze beamed on the tender and helpless, the council fire glared on the wise and daring. Now they dipped their noble limbs in your sedgy lakes, and now they paddled the light canoe along your rocky shores. Here they warred ; the echoing whoop, the bloody grapple, the defying death-song, all were here ; and when the tiger strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace. Here, too, they worshiped ; and from many a dark bosom went up a pure prayer to the Great Spirit. He had not written His laws for them on tables of stone, but He had traced them on the tables of their hearts. The poor child of Nature knew not the God of revelation, but the God of the universe he acknowledged in everything around. He beheld Him in the star that sunk in beauty behind his lonely dwelling, in the sacred orb that flamed on him from His mid-day throne, in the flower that snapped in the morning breeze, in the lofty pine that defied a thousand whirlwinds; in the timid warbler that never left its native grove, in the fearless eagle, whose untiring pinion was wet in the clouds ; in the worm that crawled at his feet, and in his own matchless form, glowing with a spark of that light, to whose mysterious source he bent, in humble, though blind adoration. LIII. • " And all this has passed away. Across the ocean came a pilgrim bark, bearing the seeds of life and death. The former were sown for you, the latter sprang up in the path of the simple native. Two hundred years have changed the character of a great continent, and blotted forever from its face, a whole, peculiar people. Art has usurped the bowers of nature, and the anointed children of education have been too powerful for the tribes of the ignorant. Here and there a stricken few remain, but how unlike their bold, untamed, untamable progenitors ! The Indian of falcon glance, and lion bearing, the theme of the touching ballad, the hero of the pathe- tic tale, is gone ! and his degraded offspring crawl upon the soil where he walked in majesty, to remind us how miserable is man, when the foot of the conqueror is on his neck. n 386 THE FATE OF THE RED MAN LIV. " As a race they have withered from the land. Their arrows are bro- ken, their springs are dried up, their cabins are in the dust. Their council- fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war-cry is fast dying out to the untrodden West. Slowly and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read theb doom in the setting sun. They are shrinking before the mighty tide which is pressing them away ; they must soon hear the roar of the last wave, which will settle over them for ever. Ages hence the inquisitive white man, as he stands by some growing city, will ponder on the structure of their disturbed remains, and wonder to what manner of person they belonged. They will Uve only in the songs and chronicles of their exterminators. Let these be faithful to their rude vir- tues as men, and pay due tribute to their unhappy fate as a people." THE CAUCUS SYSTEM. 38T SECTION TWENTY-TWO. HOUSTON AT HOME. I. One of the greatest evils which this country has suffered for the last twenty years, has been the " Caucus System." The Caucus has governed our political world. It has been our king — our tyrant. Begiijning with each local district and ward, where there were but few voters, it has extended up to the municipalities, counties, cities, and States. From the States, it has extended itself over the whole length and breadth of the Confederation. Hence we have witnessed the strange and disgraceful spectacle of the nomination of men to office, for districts, wards, towns, cities, counties, States, and even for the Presidential office, by the mere force of political and party machinery, under the lowest and most degrading forms. II. In old times — say forty or fifty years ago — things were done differently. The Legislators of States, who were going out of office, nominated State officers ; and a retiring Congress nomi- nated the next President. This system was far better than the one which took its place. Both have been impositions and usurpations upon the intelligence and the rights of the Ameri- can people. They have resulted in giving us several Presidents dbO PERNICIOUS ACTION OF CAUCUSES, whom the people would never have chosen, if they could have had an opportunity of voting for anybody else ; and we have suffered the natural results of that kind of policy. III. By this system, we were saddled with the nomination of seve- ral Presidents, who had no fair claim to the high position to which they were elevated. Such men as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Lewis Cass, were overlooked ; and such men as Gen. Harrison — a very good man — and Gen, Taylor — another good man — but both entirely incompetent to the duties of the Presidential office, were raised to positions of influence and power, without the ability to administer the affairs of the Nation. IV. The most lamentable instance in our history, in illustration of this state of things, was the nomination of Frank Pierce, It is perfectly certain that not one hundred people in the United States had the slightest suspicion that this Concord politician would ever be nominated for the Presidency. The evils of this " Caucus System " were fully developed by his nomina- tion ; and the country has grown so sick of the consequences, that hereafter we shall most likely take better care of our national affairs. We now feel, as Americans, that we can no longer afford to risk the fortunes of the country, upon the hazards of this faro- bank of party and caucus nomination. We think the time has come when, if a Presidential Chief is to be chosen to preside over the affairs of the Nation, the People of the Country should have something to say in the choice. King Caucus is dead — the tyrant has been dragged out and executed. Hereafter, the American People will determine who shall be their President. Y. Sam Houston has always acted upon this system. He has never bowed his neck, nor his judgment, to party intrigues, nor to corrupt Caucuses. He has despised and abhorred both. The records of the fact may be found in his whole life. His earliest achievements were bent upon driving foreign invaders from our soil. His later efforts were expended upon the construction of a new and independent Anglo-Saxon Republic in the forests, and on the prairies of Texas. His last efforts have been to pre- serve, unimpaired, the union of these States ; and, therefore, he is the choice of millions of the American people, for the highest office in their gift. YI. He has been a Democrat all his life ; having been trained, from the beginning, in the school of Jackson. He fought through the Second War with England, where he won a brilliant fame. He never was nominated for an office to which he was not elected. He is the only American, whose name is known, who has, in dealing with the Red men of the forests, gained their affection and confidence, while he commanded the respect of white men. He has penetrated the forests, and lived in the wildernesses of America, where he has learned all the mysteries of frontier life. He has bled in the cause of two Republics. YII. He has been the Founder, as well as the chieftain of a noble 390 HIS FAMILY AND HOME. Republic, and when that Republic had established its indepen- dence, he brought it as an offering,, and laid it upon the Federal altar. The whole force of our Republic was expended upon the cap- ture of Santa Anna ; and the two best Generals of the Ameri- can Army were nominated for the Presidency of the United States, because they defeated the Mexican Dictator. Houston not only defeated him, but captured him ; and by paralyzing his power, at the time, gave life and vigor to a new commonwealth. Houston has been the champion of that great movement which promises, at last, to redeem the American Nation from the vices and the curses of intoxication. Fired by the spirit of nationality, and inspired by its " Councils," he has stood forth among the brightest, the greatest, and the best impersonations of the Spirit of American Patriotism. YIII. Mrs. Houston's maiden name was Margaret Moffatt Lea, of Marion, Alabama. Their oldest boy, Sara, is about eleven years of age. The four daughters are named Nancy Elizabeth, Margaret Lea, Mary William, and Antionette. The youngest child is a boy, and he has been named Andrew Jackson Hous- ton. General Houston's residence is at Independence, Texas. He was immersed in November, 1854, by Rev. Rufus C. Burle- son J and he is a member of " the Independence Church." IX. General Houston lives in a log house, and we are informed by a gentleman who visited him recently, that he still retains the chairs which he owned while President of the Republic. These HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER. 391 chairs have turned posts, and they are bottomed with cow-hides tanned with the hair on. Everj^hing about his home, indicates frugality ; for he has devoted more time and attention to the salvation and prosperity of his country, than to the acquisition of wealth. Holding the position twice, as President of the Republic of Texas, had he been less honest than he is, he could have amassed boundless wealth ; for he could have gathered into his hands extensive domains of land, which, at the time, fell into the possession of others, who had rendered few or no services to the State. Had he been disposed to profit by the station he held, he could now have been the owner of hundreds of thou- sands of dollars of Texas liabilities, which will soon enrich those who hold them. But instead of this, we are assured on reliable authority, that he has never speculated to the extent of a single dollar in soldiers' lands, or Texas stocks — and yet, in the opinion of men, he might have done it without any imputation of dishonor. But Houston has always been governed by a higher code of honor than most men are guided by. In his private relations, no one who regarded the truth, has ever dared to arraign his honesty, or his punctuality. Hence, after more than forty years in public life, he is at this time a man of moderate fortune : not rich, nor has he ever cared for more than a competency for himself and a young family, to whom he wishes to leave only a spotless reputation. And now, when he has finally retired from the Senate, to his distant home on the far-off frontier — full of honors, and surrounded by the halo of victory — we learn that he has added a new lustre to his private character, by uniting himself with the Christian Church, as a humble communicant in the great 392 Houston's mastery of himself. body of worshipping believers, who have confided all they have to hope for here and hereafter, to the Saviour of the world. XI. Such a record as this, ought not to invade the privacy of that sanctuary where man holds communication with God. But there are millions of our countrymen who will join with us, in the honest congratulation that such a man as this, who never was awed in the presence of human power, should sit in penitent reverence, at the feet of Him who was baptized by the Prophet of the Desert, before he went forth to redeem mankind. XII. Thus we find ourselves at the close of our narrative. Would that some better pen had performed the task ! But we could not forbear to make this ofi'eriug, however unworthy it may be, to history, to heroism, to virtue, and to truth. If then it be an honor to human nature to repent, and abandon errors of opinion, and frailties of conduct, why may not the biographer rejoice to weave the woof of such a history as Houston's, and throw it before the world, that all the wrong a great man may have, perhaps, inflicted by the splendor of his talents — and above all a man who stooped to waste his time as Charles James Fox did, in garnishing vice by his genius, and ornamenting it by its elevation — may be at last atoned for, by the reformation of the admired individual transgressor? " Greater is he that ruleth his own spirit, than he that taketh a city." Gen. Houston has for many years been the father of a family ; and no man better illustrates the virtues that belong to that relation. A soldier in many wars, and a hero in the achievement of the liberties of two Republics — a file leader in APPEAL FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE. 393 the great movement which is to give America back to the Ame- ricans — an enemy of all sections and factions, and a champion of the country in which he was born — superior to party — greater than all isms — a national man, who has fought, and bled, and lived for the great North American Republic — such a man pre- sents one of the most captivating subjects of all history, for the pen of the biographer. Americans who have a country to live for, are looking to Gen. Houston, for the future. This Volume could hardly be brought to a better termination, than by a republication, from the vigorous pen of Edmund Burke of New Hampshire, of the following : — ADDEESS To the People of the State of JVew Hampshire, and of the United States. The General Committee of the Democracy of New Hampshire, having convened at Concord, on the 11th day of October, 1854, for the purpose of taking into consideration the present condition of the Democratic Party of this State and of the Union, after due deliberation, came to the conclusion to recommend and nominate Gen. Sam Houston, of Texas, as the people's candidate for the office of President of the United States, to be supported in the election which is to take place in 1856. And in taking a step so important, they have deemed it their duty to submit their reasons therefor, to the people of the United States. Two years ago, the great Democratic party of the Union was a powerful and triumphant party. Planted upon the rock of the Constitution and its compromises, and the great measures of con- ciliation and amity embodied in the acts of Congress, of 1850, 394 THE SPIRIT OF UNION IN 1852. touching the subject of Slavery and the admission of new ter- ritory into the Union, it achieved the most signal and tran- scendent victories which ever crowned the efforts of any party since the formation of the Republic. Its triumph was complete. Its opponents were overwhelmed and confounded, by the omnipo- tence of that expression of the popular voice which elevated the present administration to power, and inaugurated a new era in the history of Democracy and of the Republic. The factions that had arrayed themselves against the peace and stability of the Union, were abashed and terrified at the magnitude of the disaster which fell upon them. The secret of the great Revolu- tion in the popular sentiment of the country, is to be sought only in the fact, that the Democratic party had pledged itself to the sacred maintenance of the Constitution and its compro- mises, and thus, to the preservation of the Union. It was the Union Sentiment of the country, which triumphed in that election. The completeness of this transcendent and unprecedented victory, gave reasonable ground of hope to the patriotic portion of the people, that the Democratic party would be consolidated upon the great and noble principles upon which it had so signally triumphed, and its ascendency thereby secured, at least, for the present generation. Such were the confident and cheering anticipations of the great body of the victorious party. The Democracy can hardly realize that those brilliant antici- pations, so well-founded and reasonable, should all be dissipated in the lapse of two short years, from the occurrence of the great event in which they originated. Such, however, is the melan- choly and disheartening fact. Almost from the moment of the inauguration of the present administration in ofiice, its course has been attended with defeat and disaster. Since its policy and measures have been developed, it has hardly succeeded in a single State in which elections have been held. In Maine, CHOICE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 395 New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Iowa, to which may be added Pennsylvania and Ohio, it has been defeated ; in some of the States, it has been overwhelmed. And in North Carolina, a State in which its policy might be supposed to be acceptable, it has succeeded with a greatly diminished vote. We point to these pregnant facts in the recent experience of the Democratic party under the leadership of the present incum- bent of the Presidency, without designing to enter into an explanation of their causes. It is enough that the Democratic party has suffered defeats, signal and unprecedented, in the States we have mentioned, indicating on the part of the present administration, a loss of the confidence of the people. But the future of the Democratic party would not be so overcast with clouds, as it now is, if the results of the elections in the States above mentioned, did not indicate more than simple defeat. In our judgment, they point unerringly to a disorganization and dis- solution of the Democratic party, as at present organized, unless some means can be devised by which the process of demorali- zation, so fearfillly begun, and so rapidly progressing, can be averted. This Committee have gravely and maturely considered the exigent perils which now environ the Democratic party, and we have deliberately come to the conclusion that there is no way by which it can be saved from defeat and overthrow, except by the immediate nomination by the people, for the oflBce of President of the United States, of some citizen of the Republic, distin- guished alike for his abilities, experience in public affairs, and unquestionable statesmanship. Such a man would serve as a rallying point for the disjointed fragments of the party, arrest the progress of demoralization, and reorganize its dissevered elements into a compact and consolidated organization. With a view of bringing about results so desirable, the demo- 396 EVILS OF CAUCUSES. cratic republicans of New Hampshire, nominate and recommend for the office of President of the United States, Gen. Sam Houston, of Texas, to be supported by the people, independent of nomination's which may be made by Conventions, State or National. We nominate him as the people's candidate, and we invite our democratic brethren in other States, also to nominate him, in which event his election will be sure. We believe that in the present crisis of political affairs, it is expedient for the people to take the matter of the nomination of the chief magistrate of the Republic — the officer who, for the time being, represents the majesty and sovereignty of the people — into their own hands. The day when nominations by National Conventions will be respected, is past. They, like their prede- cessors. Congressional caucuses, have become obselete. The in- telligent and reflecting people of the United States cannot shut their eyes to the momentous and humiliating fact, that, as National Conventions are at present organized and conducted, no distinguished citizen of the Republic, who has gained the confidence of the people, by commanding ability displayed in a long life of eminent and valuable public service, can aspire to the Presidency. National Conventions rule all such men off the line of promotion to that exalted office. None but men of infe- riors-capacities, unknown to the people, and never thought of, except by intriguing demagogues, who, in elevating such men to the highest honors of the Republic, secure thefeby their own advancement in inferior spheres, can now hope for a nomination by National Conventions. Instead of being fair exponents of the popular sentiment, National Conventions now stifle and sup- press the will and voice of the people. Who can doubt that Gen. Cass was the choice of more than three-fourths of the democracy of the Union, as their candidate and standard-bearer at the last Presidential canvass ? Yet, he was excluded from the nomination by the late Baltimore Convention ; the event to JACKSON NOMINATED BY THE PEOPLE. 39t which the present embarrassment of the Democratic party may, in a great measure, be attributed. The only way in which these immense evils can be corrected, and the people restored to their sovereign and constitutional right to choose the Chief Magistrate of the Republic, of which they have been denied by the machinery of National Conven- tions, is, to take the business of making Presidents into their own hands — to make the nominations themselves, inasmuch as they have to make the elections. In such a manner was Gen. Jackson, the honored and revered of the people, and one of the most illustrious of Presidents, nominated and elected. He was nominated in opposition to the nomination of the old Congres- sional caucus of his day. That caucus was instituted in the early days of the Republic. It did good service in the struggle with the federalists, in the days of John Adams. By a Con- gressional caucus, Mr. Jefferson was nominated for the Presi- dency ; as were also his successors, Mr. Madison and Mr. Mon- roe. It was the regular nomination of the democracy of that day. Its last candidate was William H. Crawford, in 1824. Gen. Jackson was nominated and run as the p^ople^s democratic candidode. against the nomination of Mr. Crawford. And although he failed of an election in the House of Representa- tives, by trickery, he succeeded at the next election before the people. His success was the downfall of the old Congressional caucuses, which, like the National Conventions of the present day, had become the instrument of intriguing demagogues for their own aggrandizement. As Gen. Jackson was nominated by the people, we nominate Gen. Houston. We nominate him to be supported by the people, independent of National Conventions. And we invoke the people of all sections and States of the Union, to unite with us in the election of this distinguished and eminent man to the Chief Magistracy of the Republic. 398 Houston's achievements. Is it asked, who is Gen. Houstou ? If so, the history of the Republic affords ample answer. His deeds and achievements have illustrated its most brilliant pages. He was born in the State of Virginia — like Gen. Jackson, he emigrated to Tennes- see. He was the companion, the friend and confidant of that illustrious man. Under the command of Gen. Jackson, he dis- tinguished himself by his bravery and courage at the celebrated Indian battle of the Horse Shoe. He was amimg the few friends whom the dying Hero of the Hermitage invited to his bed-side in the last moments of his ebbing life. Gen. Jackson knew him, stood by him, confided in him, and endorsed him as a true and honest man, and Gen. Jackson never endorsed anything that was untrue, false or spurious. No man living possesses more of the noble virtues of Gen. Jackson than Gen. Houston. And his career has been equally illustrious and brilliant. The most remarkable and wonderful Battle of San Jacinto will ever rank in history with that of New Orleans. Moreover his admi- nistration of the affairs of Texas, while it was an independent republic, and he its chief magistrate, was most able and con- summate. It was through his rare ability and tact, so far as Texas was concerned, that that State was annexed to the American Union. It was Gen. Houston who conquered Texas and brought her into the Union, thereby adding to the Republic a country as large, as beautiful, and as congenial in climate, as the Empire of France, and laying the foundation for the expan- sion of the Republic southward to the river Rio Grande, and westward to the Pacific Ocean, thus elevating her to the first rank among the nations of the earth. These are the achieve- ments of Gen. Sam Houston, of Texas. No public man now living in the United States, belonging to the Democratic party, has performed such signal service for his country, or shed such lustre upon its historic pages. Throughout his long career, Gen. Houston has been an THE FRIEND OF JACKSON. 399 inflexible democrat. He is a disciple of the school of Jefferson and Jackson. He has filled many of the highest public offices, in all which, he has acquitted himself with remarkable ability and with unsuspected integrity. In all positions, the most responsible, as well as the most trying and perilous, he has been eminently successful. He has ever proved himself equal to any emergency in which he has been placed. As General, States- man, Orator and Legislator, he has displayed talents and ability of the first order. He is a man of honor. He keeps faith with the humblest as well as the highest. He has never broken his word with the humblest Indian with whom he has had to deal, nor with sovereign States. He believes in the sacredness of treaties, of compacts, and of compromises, whether in the form of conventions, constitutions, or solemn acts of Congress. He preserves his faith with the North, as he would require the North to preserve its faith with the South. Under his adminis- tration, the rights of all sections of the Union would be protected and preserved. He is a Union man, and never would permit this glorious confederacy of sovereign States to be dissevered by the aggressions of fanaticism on one side, nor by unjustifiable rebellion on the other. He would secure justice to the States and to the people. Such is the history *and character of " Old Sam Houston," the Hero of San Jacinto, the friend of Gen. Jackson, who was the great and beloved President of the peo- ple, as Gen. Houston will be if he shall be elected. Can he be elected ? We have no doubt of it. He can be elected, if the people say that he shall be. Let the people put him forward, and the politicians will be paralyzed. The great mass of the Democratic party will support him. They are tired of the feeble and incompetent contingent candidates imposed upon them by National Conventions, as they and the whole country are tired of mere military chieftains. Both have had their day. The people now want a man of talents, of character, 400 Houston's availability. of experience — a well-tried statesman. Such are the wants of the Democracy — such the clemauds of the people generally. At present, the Democratic party have no commanding leader, and no well-defined system of political measures, to rally them to party allegiance. A man and a policy are now the great desiderata of the Democratic masses. Gen. Houston would command the support of the great body of the Democratic voters of the country. He would also receive the support of a numerous portion of the people who have hitherto acted with the Whig party. The utter prostration and defeat of that party, the permanent ascendency of the system of Democratic measures propounded to the country by General Jackson, the abolitioni- zation of the Whig party, and its consequent destruction as a national party, have drawn a large number of the people for- merly acting with the Whigs from the pale of the Whig organi- zation. Tney are now, in fact, without the limits of any party. In national sentiment, they sympathize with the Democracy. All this class of voters would give their support to Gen. Houston. The true interests of the people of the South, and especially those who are sincerely desirous of preserving and perpetuating the union of this gloriou*s confederacy of sovereign and independ- ent States, all point to Gen. Houston as the man, above all others, for the crisis now impending over the South and the country. They cannot fail to note the formidable and fearful combination now forming in the Xorth, under the banner of abolitionism, which has for its basis and incentive to action, unrelenting hostility to the institutions of the South, That com- bination will grow and expand in potency and virulence, until even the most sanguine will admit its danger, and tremble at the consequences which may flow from it. If, under such circum- stances, a man from the South, not acceptable at the North for his conservative sentiments, shall be run for the Presidency, it UNFURL THE BANNER. 401 will only augment the dangers and the perils which now menace the peace of the country and the stability of the Union. If a candidate from the North shall be nominated, who is in the least suspected of subserviency to the South, the danger will be still more increased. Gen. Houston is the only man who can meet and prostrate this portentous coalition of factions in the North to which we have alluded. The course which he took with respect to the Nebraska Bill, has placed him in a position which will command the confidence of the patriotic men of the North, and should commend him to the confidence of the South. While he has, with a courage and true intrepidity which com- mand our admiration, taken his stand in favor of the inviolable sanctity of compacts between the North and the South, no man can say that he is hostile to the institutions or the interests of either section of the Union. In the present crisis, we are confi- dent that the people of the South, will, on reflection, see in Gen. Houston the very man for the present emergency — the only man who can save the South and Union from the dangers which now impend over them. We, therefore, unfurl the banner of the veteran Hero and Statesman, fearlessly to the breeze, confident of ultimate victory. We, as a part of the people, independent of any organization of politicians, nominate Gen. Sam Houston, as the People's candi- date FOR THE office OF PRESIDENT OF THE UnITED StATES, and we invoke our brethren, the Democracy of this State, and of the United States, and the people generally, to rally promptly around his banner, assuring them a glorious triumph in 1856. And, in conclusion, for the purpose of ensuring ef&cient co- operation among the friends of Gen. Houston, we recommend the immediate formation, by the people, of San Jacinto Clubs in every State, district and town in the Republic. On motion, voted, That the proceedings of this meeting be 402 FINIS. signed by the officers thereof, and published in the State Capital Reporter, and other Democratic papers. On motion, voted, That when this Committee adjourn, it be to meet at the call of the President, at such time and place as he may designate. Yoted to adjourn. WILLIAM PRESCOTT, President, 3TMAN, ) William Tenney, . WiLLUM W. Eastman, FINIS J, C, DERBY S PUBLICATIONS. THE MOKNINQ STARS OF THE NEW WORT-D. BY E. F. PARKER. 1 elegant 12mo. volume, over 400 pages, six Illustrations. Price $1 25. CoxTENTS :— Columbus— Yespucius — De Soto — Raleigh — Hudson — Smith — Standish — Arabella Stuart— Elliott and Penn. " An unpretending work, yet a valuable one. The authoress must- have entered upon her task with hearty enthusiasm, as, while adhering strictly to the simplest truth, she has thrown around her portraits a new chai'm, and given to them a refreshing novelty of aspect. A galtery of striking portraits worthy of preservation and a galaxy of stars whose morning light must not be obscured ia the noon-tide brilliancy of a successful present. In just such a form as this should they lie on our book-tables, reminders of the past, shorn of the technicalities of the history, and presented in strong relief. 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