530
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
AUSTIN TO JAMES E. B. AUSTIN
Mexico July 8. 1822.
Dn BnoTJ-n:n, I fear you have often gone to the Post office and returned dissatis- fied with your Brother for not writing more frequently, in fact I have had no very important news to communicate and the postage• of a letter every mail is a tax which our funds at present would feel. for this reason I ha:ve not written ns often 11,s I otherwise .should-I hope by this time you begin to speak Spanish and also to write it, remember that all your hopes of rising in this country depend on lear[n]ing to speak and write the language correctly, without that, you will do nothing-you ha,,e had a fine opportunity this summer and ought to be able by the time I arrive to speak and write the lan- guage so as to make yourself well understood-this subject is so ve1·y i1npo1•ta,-n{ that I note it first before I say any thing about my business-The Colonization law is still pending and as the Emperors Coronation is defered until the middle or last of this month I ex- pect nothing will be done for some time yet-I have only to wate with patience and have no doubt that in the end all will be right-- . I am uneasy about your situation as to money and have therefore sent you a draft on New Orleans for $50 which you can probably sell at Bexar for 10 to 20 prcent advance, you must be as frugal ag possible and not loose one moment, you ;;hould rise at clay light. and be at your studies and.continue at them all day, only taking ex- ercise and amusement enough to keep you in health and to relax the mind and above all.things do not fall into the habit of sleeping a sies~a after dinner. you will not have such another opportunity of lear[n]ing the langunge and if you neglect it you will repent it when . too late-attend to writing it, and in order to learn the spelling as well as to improve you in the language and in your hand, write down a long lesson every day out of some book and as you write it look for the words you do not understand in the Diccionary, and also attend to the parts of speech their concordance and government etc and thus you will learn to spell the words and in doing this you must also try and improve your hand, you see how plain the Spaniards generally write. If you could translate well and write a good hand I could get a place for you in the Captain Generals office as transla- tor worth at lenst $2000 a year, so that you see that your future rise depends altogether on yourself, fortune is within your reaqh if you will only exert yourself to take it-and all the exertion required is clo.<re st1td?J for 3 or 4 months-Try a.nd be intimate with Governor Trespalacios and if you can get into his office to copy and write for
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