266
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
belongs to the Government, nncl not to the Empresnrio as some of them have pretended to claim. It is truly astonishing to see to what extent this subject has been misunderstood. vVe see nn Empresario advertising in the public papers the sale of_48,000,000 of acres of land as though it was his own individual property, when, in fa~t, he has no more right to dispose of one foot of it than you have. This error has perhaps arisen from the want of correct knowledge of the Spanish language, which ha.s caused the law to be misunderstood-but the misfortune is that innocent persons are mislead, and the Government unjustly slandered. I have no doubt that the contract of Eciter, Wilson & Co. will be annulled by the Government; for Edwards contract was annulled for a similar reason, added to others, and the agency or Empresariorship taken from him; and if that is done, those men to justify themselves, will in all probability lay the blame on the Government nnd complain that they have been robbed of 48,000,000 acres of land. All this is very unjust, and it is important that public opinion should be dis- abused in regard to it. I am, however, entirely unwilling that my name should appear in the public papers in any manner connected with this matter. I have heretofore given frank and honest advice to persons on this same subject, and have never yet failed to make an enemy by doing so, for the reason that they knew better than I did. I have interfered with none. But notwithstanding my caution in this respect, I have not escaped jealousy and censure. You know the character of North-Americans, they are taught from their iniancy to look upon all who are in office with jealousy and suspicion; and, in general, they always attribute corruption to what they do not clearly understand. The information contained in this letter is given to you in reply to a friendly suggestion made by you from kind and friendly motives. I saw thn,.t you did not com- prehend the matter, and I deemed it a duty to lay it before you as it really is. In order that you may more fully understand this subject, it is necessary that I should give you a sketch of the authority under which I have acted in the settlement of my first Colony. You will perceive that it was of an entirely different character from that which is or can be given under the present law. The application to settle 300 families from the United States in Texas, was originally made by my father Moses Austin to the Spanish authorities in 1820 and granted in July [January] 1821, about one month before the gri.to de I g'IJ,fJ],a or the revolution of Iturbide. My father died in Missouri in the spring of 1821, a few days after he heard that his petition had been granted, and left as a last request that I should prosecute the enterprise. I came on to this country in the summer of 1821, and spent four months in exploring it and
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