USA > Texas > A new history of Texas; being a narration of the adventures of the author in Texas, and a description of the soil, climate, productions, minerals, tons [!], bays, harbours, rivers, institutions, and manners and customs of the inhabitants of that country; together with the principal incidents of fifteen years revolution in Mexico; and embracing a condensed statement of interesting events in Texas, from the first European settlement in 1692, down to the present time: and a history of the Mexican war > Part 7
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
. I am well aware that the task of the magistrate is an ar- duous and frequently an unthankful one, but I am also aware that no one is compelled to act in such capacity, and when he is wanting in sufficient legal acquirements or mor- al courage, when he is the political aspirant, and becomes the slave of a party to secure their support, and above all when he is deterred by a lawless banditti from a proper
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execution of his trust, the fountains of justice are indeed, impure, life-liberty-reputation, and all that men hold dear is insecure, and the forms of a court of justice be- come a most disgusting mockery.
In conclusion, your memorialist represents, that he ex- pects at some distant day, to become a permanent resident in another section of this country, and requests that this document be preserved among files of your office; and that whether he should return to this city or not, he will not cease to feel a lively interest in her future career, and hopes to hear of salutary reformation in law and morals. No expression of my opinion here, then, is the offspring of malignant feeling; but on the contrary, is the result of a soli- citude for the welfare of those with whom I have mingled, and those of my countrymen and others who are daily seeking homes in some part of this infant Republic. With these sentiments, which are perfectly sincere, I have the . honor to surrender into your hands, the authority in which you clothed me, and you will accept this as my formal resignation.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
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CHAPTER VII --
Mixed is life-and truly so, Witt mingled shades of joy and wo ; Hope and fear -peace and strife, Make up the web of human life.
While the mystic thread is spinning, And the infant's life beginning, These are not seen, though close at hand, With varied lues to deck the man.
Passion wild, and follies vain, Pleasure soon exchanged for pain, Doubt, jealousy. grief and fear, Will soon In magic dance appear.
To contemplate the first crude elements of society while gradually coalescing, and eventually expanding into a well organized community, is a subject of much inter- est, and may not inaptly be compared to man in minature, exhibiting all the mixture of evil and innocence which is visible in the conduct of that interesting being, a child. And there is no doubt, but in many parts of the world. where, at the present day, the seminary of learning is- seen in its classic proportions, and the useful arts and sciences are approaching their zenith, that in by-gone days were to be found such disorganized materials as are now profusely scattered about the City of Houston ; and perhaps among them such a curiosity as Doct. Moore, the psesent Hon. Mayor; and as the reader may hereafter
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find this fair famed City much improved, and regenerat- ed, I will exhibit the present chief Magistrate and knight of the pill box, unpolished as he is from nature's quarry.
His ugly face has neither truth or art, To please the fancy, or to touch the heart ; Dark and unskilful, dismal, but yet mean; With anxious bustle may every where be aeen : Without a trace that's tender or profound,
But spreads its cold unmeaning gloom around.
In statue he is a long slabsided, knock-kneed, six-footer, and among other marks of vicissitude in life, sports but one arm; but how this important member was lost, history does not tell ; and all that I can say is to repeat the testi- mony of some wise ones, who shrewdly guess that the misfortune did not befall his Honorble body on the memora- ble field of San Jacinto, he not being there.
During the intolerable hot weather in the summer of 1838, the same Kentucky jeans pants, the same pair of stitchdowns, the same long and flowing blue green robe, and the same redoubtable ancient drab beaver, adorned the tall and disproportioned outward man of his Honor ; but of the materials that adorned the inner man, I cannot so well define. One singular emanation of his brain, how- ever, possessed some of the properties of a compound, if not an artificial curiosity; and for aught I know, may be a fair sample of the components of his mind.
After the delivery of the foregoing memorial, address- ing to his Honor, and board of Aldermen, I of course ceased to act in my former official capacity, and on the second day following, while passing the street in the com- pany of a friend. a very pretty piece of pink paper was placed in my hands conveying the important intelligence that the Author was discharged, and no longer re- quired to act as a police officer. This paper was of course merely glanced at, and thrown aside, and no further no-
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tice intended to be taken of his Honor, or of his communi- cation ; but enough was seen to convince me that the Hon. Mayor had penned this billet under feelings of much tre- pidation, although it bore his signature and seal of office, and I knew it to be his hand writing; the phraseology and spelling, and the unsteady touches of the pen as compar- ed with his usual productions, too plainly betrayed the workings of a guilty conscience; to the operations of which I was willing to leave him. --
On my return from a stroll to the spring, Beauchamp- ville, I was not a little surprised to find a petition numer- ously signed, requesting his Hon. to reinstate the Au- thor, he being considered, to use their own language, a meritorious officer. The fact was, the letter of the Mayor had been found by those uninformed of my resignation, who took this apparent discharge into their own hands, to let the Mayor at once see that he was not the great Mo- gul that his robes seemed to indicate, and that I was to be reappointed without delay. I however lost no time in explaining, and my determination to serve no more, and was thus relieved from the unpleasant duty of holding further intercourse with his Honor, the Mayor of Hous- ton. Should his Honor ever enjoy the honor of perusing this work, he must not suppose that the author considers him personally of sufficient importance to devote a thought, much less a page, in holding him up to public view ; it is only as a being whom a portion of the Texan people have -clothed with a temporary authority that I am induced to write of his Honor at all ; and this for the useful purpose of conveying to my readers the present infant state of Texas generally, and of the City of Houston in particular, as compared to what probably is to be the ultimate desti- ny of both.
Now, however, that we are separated by some thou-
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sands of miles, I expect to see that talented journal, the Houston Telegraph (of which his Honor is Editor) loaded with tirades of abuse; but I should consider any praise from such a source a deep and lasting disgrace, a degrada- tion from which I pray God to forever protect me; and in taking leave of Houston and conducting the reader to more pleasant locations, I beg leave to proffer my friend- ly advice to the honest portion of inhabitants, and in per- fect sincerity say that if you wish for substantial prosper- ity-if you wish an enviable character among the nations of the earth-if you wish for the happiness of your pos- terity, or any of the blessings of good government, frown into obscurity such men as have "left their country for their country's good," and have found an asylum in Tex- as. A naturally bad man in the United States or else- where, will be a bad man in Texas ; the depraved heart is not to be regenerated by breathing your atmosphere, nor is it the most favorable spot for reform, where there are kindred associations. The only radical cure for this na- tional malady is to withhold your confidence from suspi- cious characters, until time shall have fixed its unerring seal upon the emigrants to your country and manfully re- sist all attempts, however disguised, to purchase your votes with hollow hearted declarations, or the individual or com- bined wealth of those who have proved themselves else- where wholly unworthy of public or private confidence.
The eyes of the world are upon you ; the sagacity of men of the present day will discriminate between revolu- tions in government and revolutions in morals, and politi- cal measures ; and it need excite no surprise, but should stimulate to exertion when comparisons are drawn be- tween what your country was when united to Mexico and what she now is in the character of the Republic of
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Texas ; and while the present private and public relations between your country and mine are such that your on- ward march to glory and fame would be hailed with heart- felt rejoicing, in the United States, in the course of hu- man events a different fecling may hereafter exist, and in any event the pen of faithful historians will record your misdeeds as well as to applaud your labors in every lauda- ble enterprise.
.There are many emigrating to your country on whom misfortune has laid a heavy hand ; who on being trans- planted to your fair and luxuriant plains, may reap a re- ward for their virtues and patriotism, which has been de- nied them elsewhere ; and perhaps the guilty, after feeling in their bosoms the pangs of remorse, will, if surrounded by favorable circumstances, like once innocent lambs, who in thoughtlessness or for want of experience, have strayed from the flock, return with gladdened hearts to the peaceful paths which are always the reward of a well balanced mind. Receive such with a generous humanity ; remember that the wandering sinner is not to be reclaim- ed by loading him with obloquy and a repetition of injury, but by cultivating the finer feelings of his nature, and ap- pealing directly to his interest and his heart.
The God of nature has, with a bountiful hand, strewn the elements of prosperity around you, and all that is now wanting must be supplied by the industry, ingenuity. and virtue of the inhabitants ; a high tone of moral feel ing must be infused into minds that are now perverted ; the quiet habits of the husbandman must supersede that reckless ebulition every day to be seen ; the school room work shop, and house of devotion, must cover the ground where now stands groggeries and gaming tables; men of elevated views and proper acquirements must fill your offices, some of which are now disgraced and fall of all
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the ends of their adoption. Then will your fertile plains yield the rich fruits of industry ; your cities teem with life and business, and your water falls be made subservient to the manufacture of the comforts and luxuries of life. Then, and not till then, will a dense and intelligent com- munity form a living rampart of defence, impregnable to the assaults of any foe.
If the New England states owe much of their prosper- ity and the morality of their citizens to that system of policy which has from the first settlement pervaded the country, in founding seminaries of learning and building tabernacles for the Lord, the future prosperity of Texas, as well as some of the southern and western States of the Union, must spring from some other source, or a radical change of policy must supersede the present ; for although the advantages of soil and climate is incomparably supe- rior in a large portion of the South and West, yet the tour- est in passing to the North must be insensible indeed if he does not at once recognize the superior order, equality and comfort which meet the eye at every turn.
The truth is, New England, with her chilling climate. sterile soil, and all her exploded notions about witchcraft and her superstitious religious feelings, is yet productive of more wealth, intelligence, inventive genius, and sub- stantial comfort, than any portion of North America ; and if the same causes divested of their useless machinery are brought into operation about the 42d degree of North latitude, in Texas, the most happy results may be realized ; and while the sunny South will vield a rich return in sugar and cotton to the cultivator, the mountain torrents of the North will be whirling a multiplicity of spindles, and the most unproductive soil become the abode of communities that may hereafter exercise the most salutary influence throughout the vast extent of North and South America.
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During my long sojourn in Texas, I never had the plea- sure of entering but one school room to listen to the mu- sic of my boyhood and look upon the faces of those who are to be future legislators and magistrates, and the mo- thers of succeeding generations ; or but one church to hear the harmonious sounds so familiar to me in the hop- py days of my youth. But although there is but one house for protestant worship in the whole country at present, there is a spirit abroad in some localities that will speedily rear others, and even now preaching at the dwellings of the inhabitants does occasionally take place, and the disci- ples of the Rev. John Wesley took formal possession of the district of Pine Creek in September 1838, proclaiming in loud, if not edifying language, the terrible torments of a never ending hell.
The reader will doubtless recollect that the Catholic is the established religion in Mexico, and that much sym- pathy was excited some years ago abroad in favor of Texas on that account; previous, however, to the com- mencement of hostilities, religious toleration was establish- ed in Texas ; a fact that is mentioned here because it is not believed to be generally known, and that some of the Cathedrals which were formerly thronged with devotees are now appropriated to other purposes ; and that in their stead the grog shops and gaming dens have fixed their abode, and obscene and profane language is every where. to be heard.
In thus giving utterance to unpleasant truths, let no one suppose that I am influenced by sectarian, national or per- sonal enmity : on the contrary, I am no theological en- thusiast, I desire the prosperity of Texas and there lives, not a man in the country against whom I entertain feel- ings of revenge ; but I am proud of the acquaintance and friendship of many of her worthy citizens; and those
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whose conduct I cannot approve are unworthy to me of personal dislike. The mantle of forgetfulness shall forever screen such from my thoughts; perfectly convinced, as I am, that a time is approaching when their acts will receive a righteous award, and that they are accountable to their Creator and not to me.
But it is to be hoped that when years have rolled around, and there has been effected an entire change in public affairs, better influences will prevail, and that the places that are now encumbered with an accumulation of evils will be the abode of better men, and the location of bet- ter institutions ; and I experience a pleasure in knowing that there are now many worthy men in Texas who fond- ly look forward in anticipation of a happy change, and a press of other business has alone prevented them from making manly efforts to set the ball in motion, thus com- mencing a good work, which they well know must be left to their successors to complete.
Such have my best wishes, and should this little vol- ume ever find its way west of the Brassos, there are many who will recognize the author and his suggestions, and they will please to accept anew his sincere thanks for the kindness and hospitality with which he was wel- comed among them, and particularly the proprietor of a certain venerable mansion, and his agreeable and much re- spected family, whom I left with regret.
Here I was most forcibly reminded of those among whom I spent my early and hopeful years, before the cold realities of this world had damped an ardent tem- perament, before I was bereaved and had quaffed the cup of sorrow.
" I saw a hand you could not see, Which beckoned mo away;
I heard a voice you could not hear,
Which told me not to stay."
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CHAPTER VIII. . -
San Jacinto .- This celebrated river has its source con- tiguous to the three forks of the Trinity, at about equal distance from the latter and the Brassos, and after receiv- ing the waters of Buffalo Bayou and some minor streams mingles with the Ocean through Galveston Bay. New Washington, Louisville and Lynchburg are town sites on the banks of the San Jacinto; the first mentioned of which was formerly a flourishing little place, but being burned in the war of 1836, has not been rebuilt, and the two latter are only as yet towns in name. The surrounding coun- try is not inviting to emigrants; much of it is wet marshes and unfit for cultivation. Timber is by no means abundant; spring water is scarce and impure, and the plains and groves alike teem with annoyances in the shape of mus- quetoes and other nauseous insects.
The river is navigable for about 30 miles; and in gliding over its bosom on the Steam Boat Correo, I had a view of the memorable battle field of San Jacinto, the interesting events of which this place was the theatre, will be de- tailed towards the close of this work, belonging more pro- perly to the history of the revolution. As the spot however has occupied much attention, and should fill a conspicuous place in Texan history and tradition, a description here
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will not be out of place. To the west of the River, about one mile below its junction with Buffalo Bayou, is seen, an undulating prairie dotted with small groves, under cover of one of which Gen. Houston invited an attack to the tune of "Come to the bower," and upon a close examination the skeletons of the slaughtered Mexicans will be found bleaching in the sun, while their teeth are gracing the mouth of many a fair lady, they having been extracted and sold to dentists in the United States.
No traveler can cast his eyes over this plain without calling to mind the prodigious results that sometimes flow from comparative small causes, and certainly no Ameri- can can pass the spot without feeling a glow of manly pride at the remembrance of the deeds of valour perform- ed by the Spartan band of San Jacinto. They were his countrymen, they were his representatives on a foreign soil, who left their dear relations and peaceful firesides to stay, as they thought, the desolating progress of a san- guinary invader ; and whether they had been misinformed · or not, the prompting motive was a noble one, and should endear them to the friends of freedom throughout the world, while the birth of the Texan Republic in all time to come, will be dated from the 21st of April, 1836.
Stand up my noble Bowie men, And face you right about; And shoot you straight, bold riflemen,
And we will whip them out! My cavalry and musket men,
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if you'll prove true to me, I'll be the foremost man in fight, Said the Ex-Governor of Tennessee.
· Much diversity of opinion exists respecting the degree of merit which ought to attach to General Houston, for the signal victory achieved at San Jacinto, while many assert that it was principally owing to his manœuvres and re-
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treats, thus alluring Santa Anna into this particular place, there are others who ascribe entirely different motives to his conduct, and a want of firmness to meet the enemy ; a position which his conduct on the battle field nor his former history would seem to sanction. A more reasonable conclusion is, that he was governed by circum- stances, and even engagements which he could do but lit- tle in controling, and was unwilling to hazard a battle so long as hopes were entertained of gaining any advantage; even by retreating to Nacogdoches, where he knew of reinforcements. But finding his army much weakened by desertion, and loud complaints bursting from every quar- ter, he decided to stake his own reputation and the for- tunes of Texas, upon one desperate effort ; and the result proved the most complete triumph any where recorded. The god of battles there, if not his own prowess, was his friend ; and although he commanded a most determined set of men, who longed to retaliate for the shameful butch- ery of their friends at Goliad, yet it is not charitable to award General Houston, a small share of whatever eclat is due to the army under his command.
Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and the re- mark to whatever other purpose it may have been used. will apply in full force to General Houston. Born, and in part, reared, among the romantic dells in Rockbridge county, Virginia, he seems to have imbibed a correspond- ing turn of mind, and his conduct has given a multitude of proofs in support of the assertion. In early manhood we find him with his widowed mother in Tennessee, where he unsuccessfully sought from the United States Government, a commission in the army ; and on being thus foiled, he forthwith repairs to Knoxville, and enlists as a private soldier in the regular service. Soon he is in the Creek country, assisting to quell the Indian border war, and by
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his daring conduct wins a soldier's reputation, and the ap- plause of his officers, who procured for him the post of first Lieutenant ; at the close of the late war, was adopted into General Jackson's family, where he studied law ; and under the patronage of this popular old Hero, very soon became the most formidable knight of the Perewig in Tennessee. General Houston never had any pretensions to the char- acter of a profound lawyer; but he is nature's orator ; and in impassioned eloquence he appealed to the sensibili- ties of courts and juries, and Patrick Henry like, carried all before him. Perhaps no man ever lived better qualified to harangue a popular assembly.
In a few brief years, we find him Major General of the 2nd division of Tennessee Militia, and a member of the Congress of the United States, astonishing the natives by his eloquent and sarcastic declamation-now extolling to the skies his patron and benefactor-and anon denouncing as a usurper and a tyrant, the worthy and able President John Q. Adams, one of whose political friends (General White) challenged Houston ; and they fought a duel in - Kentucky, without any serious injury to either. This affair came off while he was a candidate for the Governor- ship of Tennessee, to which office he was elected, and soon after married in a wealthy and highly respectable family ; and in six weeks he is seen west of the Mississip- pi among the Cherokee Indians, having resigned his office and dissolved partnership with his wife.
In the Cherokee nation he aspires to a seat in their na- tional council and is not elected ; curses and quits the country, and in connection with a gentleman of Nashville, purchases in New-York a quaintity of goods and turns trader among the Indian tribes contiguous to Texas. Not long, and he is setting in the office of the Secretary of
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War in Washington, closing a contract for supplying the emigrating Cherokees with rations, and at night in the street whaling one of the Ohio delegation for words spoken in debate ; and the next day in the custody of the Sergeant- at-arms, and in pursuance of a resolution of the House, is after a decent delay, reprimanded by Mr. Speaker Steven- son, who wore his honors meekly on this occasion, being closely united to General Houston in the bonds of political fellowship.
Anon he is quietly reclining in a law office in Nacogdo- ches, Texas, and very soon a member of the first consulta- tion of delegates at San Felipe. He,
Came among them like a master spirit, To fan the coals of revolution, And speak of glory that did impend, And of their friends abroad.
And in the space of fifteen days is in command of all the Texan forces, and after the lamented extermination of the detatchments of Colonels Fannin and Travis, the General commenced a series of retreats, finally arrives at San Jacinto, gives Santa Anna an unheard of drubbing, and is elected the first President under the Constitution of Texas.
Henceforth twas done-fortune and him were friends, And-he resolved to live-for wrongs to make amends.
At any rate, he is a man of fine appearance, exhibiting the ease and polish of a gentleman in his manners and ad- dress, and is one of those few whose features strike at first sight and are not soon forgotten ; and although when in adversity and nothing before him to gratify his ambition, he has often displayed a recklessness, dissipation, and what is called imprudence, to such an extent as to furnish food for the envious and malicious. Yet when ever and,
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wherever he has been engaged in affairs of magnitude, other and a better order of talents have burst forth ; and while at such times he possesses much energy and decision of character, it is mingled with a moderation and forbearance that mark him as possessed of a superior mind.
Quite a different man is General Lamar. He
Is a lecturer so skilled in policy, That without dishonoring Sabine's cunning, He well might read lessons to the devil, And teach the old seducer new temptations. ? Old Play.
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