THE AUSTIN PAPERS 203 ened with clubs and death- I lmow not £or whatr--- It is said the people will rise and mob him- I cannot understand for what- he has one fault which has injured him greatly- he is too irrita- ble- bis personal enemies are if possible more so- all is com- bustable matter ready to blaise out at every trifle and thus the best interests of the colony are actually sported with by a set of hot headed madmen, let the people frown upon all these inflamitory beings, alike, and they will all learn to keep their tempers, and not be wantonly playing with the public tranquility, the character, and best interests of the colony, and let them investigate both sides of every question, before they condemn or approve- As regards the Lawyers, they abuse each other- and charge each otller with unfair practices etc, all this is in the natural order of things- they do the same in all countries, but I have never be- fore seen a people who paid any other attention to such quar:r;els than to treat them with contempt-in this country the Lawyer who is most active in getting the ears of the people, has generally suc- ceeded in inlisting their feelings in his favor and in rousing their inflamitory passions or creating violent prejudices against his op- ponent- I totally disapprove of this course in all- It is both criminal and contemptable in the lawyer who does it- and displays a want of common sence in the people to be operated on by such means- The people descend from the lofty dignity of sovereigns, when they suffer their passions to be inlisted in the disputes and animosities of a gabling lawyer- you wish the lawyers to be put down the way to do it is for the people to curb their contentious dispositions, and instead of calling on lawyers sheriffs and Alcalde, call in their neighbors and settle their disputes.by means of arbitra- tions- in this way they will be .put down- they fatten on the dissentions of the people, I do believe that a Lawyer would get rich by picking to pieces the property of one hundred a.mericans, when he would starve on 20,000 of any other people on earth- The truth is the people of this colony are better off and might be happier than any other people on earth-and it is also true that they are now on the broad road to total ruin-they are destroying themselves-most of the evils that now exist, or are supposed to exist have their origin with the people themselves-they are too much disposed to run into extreems, at one time withholding all confidence, and suspecting or doubting every thing, and opening their ears to idle rumors, and at another shewing the most perfect indiffer- ence as to who are elected to manage their affairs, or wheither the laws are executed or not-at the last election for Alcalde but few votes were taken in any part of the Colony, and part of those that were given in, were worse than thrown away- At the late Militia election about 150 votes were taken out of upwards of five hun-
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