386
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
During the months of May, June and July considerable and alarm. ing excitement prevailed amongst tlie people of Texas and on the Nacogdoches frontier it was so violent as [to] be on the eve of breaking out. ]:>adillas confinement put a stop to the land business and this was thought to be a part of the plan to break up the new settlers in Texas. resolutions of an inflamatory nature were entered into on the Ayish Bayou etc. J. J.C. (?)1 came to see me- I advised peace and quietness he coinsided with me- I was of opinion that a popular commotion amongst the people wotild totally ruin the whole <;ountry and destroy those who had anything to loose, and as it was my duty to try [to] avert so great an evil from my colony, I resorted to such measures as I could to offset the object and accordingly caused Bustamantes letter to me of 20 March to be published in the Texas Gazette also Teran's official letter, and on the 10 July some general remarks which were intended to allay public excitement by giving an explanation of the causes which had produced the law of 6 April and to shew that those causes were fa.st disappearing- I never believed that this Govt. intended to oppress us or treat us unjustly in any manner for we had never [given] them any cause to do so and if such was the intention it would be placing us on higher ground to do our duty faithfully as Mexican citizens. [Indorsed :] May 1830 [but evidently written later than July} Memorandum S. F. Austin ARGUMENT AGAINST THE LA w OF APRIL 6, 1830:? At the period of Mexican independence in 1821, Texas w~s unin- habited by a civilized population, except the towns of Bexar and Goliad- It was infested by numerous bands of hostile indians who sallied forth at pleasure to rob and desolate the settlements on the rio Bravo, extending their depradations into the mountains to the neighborhood of Monclova and Monterey, and along the coast of Tamaulipas- The system of frontier defence used by the Spanish Govt of estab- lishing military posts or presidios, . was never an effectual barrier, for when those posts were in their best·state of armament, the most that was done was to protect the immediate vicinity without being 1 Unidentified. 1 The dnte ot this document can not be determined positively. • Austin most probably wrote it during the summer ot 1833 while In Mexico petitioning tor the repeal of the Immigration articles ot the law ot Apr. 6, 1830. It ls placed here because ot its relation to the nrgumenta which have preceded.
Powered by FlippingBook