THE AUSTIN PAPERS, 583 have as little Lit.igation and dispute as possible, but in nll New •Countries ·we find a few ·Turbulent •and troublesome persons who will not appear satificd with any procedure however mild and altho' I have appointed but one officer who acts in the capacity of constable to summon witnesses and bring offenders to Justice, yet a few ·Complain•·of the expence _which I thought us reasonable as could be allowed for the time and trouble of so disagreeable an office, to wit at the rate of five Cents per Mile, as for my own part I hnve not yet made a charge for my own service and time which you know is Valuable to a man in a new country with a large family and I now only beg lcaYc to remind you of former promise to send me some Rule whereby I may in future be for the general good and peace of society this goes by the hands ·of my friend Lieut Mor- rison a young [man] of merit who carries dispatches to the governor Gen 1 by whom I trust you will forward me some code of laws of this .province and the common usage of conducting business in Civil and Criminal prosecutions etc • · I shall always be glad to receive any Communications from you and beg yon to accept of my sincere wishes for your health and wel- fare and believe me to be J 0HN° TuMLINSoN 1 [Addressed:] Honble Baron de Bastrop gt. Antonio.
JAMES ,,rILlCINSON TO AUSTIN 2
Dn Sm, I am desirous of procuring the location of a good tract of land for the settlement of three hundred families so remote from the sea coast as to be exempt from the epidemicks which infest that track of country, and at the same time-as convenient to market, nncl easy of access as may be. Timber ·and water form desiderata as important as the soil and surface, and of course a vnlly must. be sought for such an one I understand presents on rcnr of Soto In Marina but mny be discov- ered elsewhere in' your route from this to Texas, in t.he progress of which favourable opportunities will present of forwarding my views for which I hereby promise nnd bind myself and heit·s to make you a clear·title gratuitously for one tenth part of any location or locations you may furnish nnd for which I may obtain n title from ·t-his govenunent The·tract must be clear of preocupuncy ttnd the limits ·as nearly defined ns mn.y be practicable without survey The • Fot· '.1'11mllnsoo and thr locnl SOHl'llmC'nt lo .\m1llu'11 Colony ut tlth; thu~, :.Cl? 'l'h• ~011tlt1rc11trrn 1/(ato,i,:a/ Q11arlcrl11, XXI, 22&-221, • From n copy by Austin,
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