176 and damning charges insidiously prP.ferred· against myself. When T first saw 'this letter; 1 was in common charity disposed to believe that some enemy of Austin's had forged it, for the purpose of hold- ing him up to public .derision and scorn, by exhihiting in ludicrous contrast his former and his present opinions or rather PROFESSI01'S; for I could not imagine that any man of common sense would ap- pend his name to snch a bloated mass of disgusting self-conceit-of arrogant dictation, and of inconsistent stupidity. ~Iy opinion of the forgery was abandoned, however, when I learned tlrnt thi<i P,\MOUS document issued from the press under the auspices of his devoted personal friends and of the relation to whom it ,vas ad- dressed. I had hoped that my political career and with it my political dis- sentions had terminated. At the close of the last convention I de- liberately resolved to withdraw from all public employment what- <'Ver, .and for the future, to seek peace and retirement in the bosom of my own family far-far, and foreve,· removed from the hustle and contention-the hopes and the honors the w.calth and the am- bitions of, political life This resolution has been, up to this period, strictly adhered to for since that time I have been more secluded from the public eye, than the writer from the PRISON of the Ocordado; I have confined myself exclusively to the pursuits of agriculture, and have not been ten miles from home in the colony of Austin. This resolution I fondlf wished still to adhere to, & would never have troubled the public with any thing under my name, except for the wanton man- ner in which in this lette,· my political reputation and domesti~ happiness have been asailed. But for ,this the follies the errors, and the inconsistencies of Austin might FOR ME have slumbered in forgetfulness-or been remembered only to be laughed at. If Hothing else a sincere and tender regard for the feelings of many in- dividuals who are mutual friends would have prevented me from publicly exposing him; since his unprovoked attack, however, all of these considerations go for NOTJIINO; and although his being a prisoner forbids a full expose of his many misrepresentations at present; yet a high a sacred and a never to-be-forgotten duty which I owe to truth, to myself, to my family and friends forces me to repel such CALUMNIES the moment they meet my eye-whether the calumniator he in the PRISON of Ocordado, or even at the foot of the altar. I therefore pronounce his insinuations and assertions, so far as they charge me with changing my politics, perpetuating his im- prisonment, re,ioicing nt his sufferings, er attemptin~ his ruin to be utterly destitute of any founclation in truth.-Thus mnch for the present. In conclusion, I pledge myself when this "obeyer of instructions," this man of so many personal friends, this trumpeter of his own praises, this accuser of others, "this disinterested benefactor of Texas," this cir('nlar weathercock this political Proteus, '' this in- nocent victim," this ma.ker of mottos, this organizer of parties, this
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