PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR 91 tion, whicn he had been induced, against his own. convictions, to adopt. If then, he shall be able to maintain himself in his present situation, and give the necessary protection to the new settlements as they may be formed in the country until they shall be able-to protect themselves, the great object of his enterprise and the fervid desire of his heart will be completely realized; and Texas at least, will make good her Independence, whatever might be the fate of the balance of Mexico.- · . . Such were the flattering condition of our heroes affairs, both at home and abroad, when a singular -circumstance occurred at San Antonio, which, although in no wise connected with the operations of our hero, was nevertheless attended with consequences too vast and important to be omitted in a sketch like the present. It was the sud- den and surprising appearance in that -city of a bold adventurer who had come all the way from Missouri, to lay before the Royal Author- ities, a_ memoriiil, praying that he might be permitted to establish an American Colony of three hundred families in His :Majesty's Provence. He had come in violation of the laws, without a passport, without letters of introduction and without having a solitary ac-. quaintance - as far as he knew - in the country. And yet, in spite of these circumstances, and the extraordinature chara,cter of the favor solicited, he was nevertheless able, by a combination of good fortune and great address to obtain his end. ·when we consider the nature of the proposition, the time of making and the mocte of doing it, together with the attendant success, we cannot but regard it, as one of the most wonderful operations in the annals of modern enterprise. The individual alluded to, was Moses Austin; and such was the beginning of those long-continued labors which resulted so happily in the colonization of Texas. From a pamphlet 70 published by the well-remembered and lamented Stephen F. Austin, it appears that his father, Moses Austin, had con- ceived tl!e above project, of planting a colony in ''f'exas, very soon after the conclusion of Don Onis 's Treaty in 1819. Various cir- cumstances, however, delayed the execution of his purpose, until the latter part of 1820, when he found himself in a state of readiness to begin the work. He was not deterred from his purpose by the operations of General Long. The idea which he had conceived while the Banner· of the latter was waving at Nacogdoches, he would hardly abandon now, because the same banner was still floating at Bolivar Point. -True to his original design, he did not permit these Revolutionary movements to have any effect upon bis course. He was still resolved to seek the privilege so much desired; and being in- formed that the best mode of doing so was, to lay his proposition before the Royal Authorities at Bexar, he commenced accordingly his long and fatiguing journey to that place, leaving his son Stephen behind to proceed to Havanna in the event of its being necessary to have recourse to the goverment in S'pain. He arrived at San Antonio on the 10th day of December 1820.- 10Dated Nov. 1, 1829. A copy of it is in the Austin Papers; lengthy ex- tracts were printed by Guy M. Bryan In A Comprehensive History of Texas, I, 448 et seq.
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