yj
PREFATORY XOTE
steadily since that time. But the evil genius which has for three- quarters of a century delttyed the printing of these documents re- mains unsatisfied; for just before the manuscript was ready for the printer, an appropriation of $2.000, which was held in reserve for printing, w.as ruled to have lapsed. As a result, about two-thirds of the publication must be delayed until the new appropriation becomes av11ilnble in September, 1921. Since it was planned to include a com- prehensiYe index in the last rnlnme, it seems advisable to issue a par- tial index now. This index i'i merely a reprint of the one in the cal- endar and is not so complete as is desirable. Under the circumstances, howrver, it was the best that could be done. On account of the l1etcrogeneous nature of the documents it seemed impo~sible to gl'Oup them in any logical divisions. For that reason the chronological order has been maintained throughout. 'l'he num- bers originally given the documents in the c-alendar have been pre- se1·Yed, since several papers and theses in which use was made of them have references only to the numbers of ~!!e documents, and since the temporary index has references to document numbers. Had it been po'isible, all 1he documents in the collection would have been published; but since it was not, an effort has been made to in- • cln<le all those of nny historical significance which had not alreacly been printed or are to be printed in the near future, in some easily acce,sible publication. In all cases ·where the document does not np- pear the calendar note has been reprinted. Documents hitherto print- ed only in early Texas newspapers have been reprinted here. 'Histor- ical significance' has been interpreted as broadly as possible, but such documents as applications for appointments and letters of introduc- tion have usually been omitted. A great many letters which at first ghmce may seem purely personal have been included for the reason that they reflect a portion of history which is too often overlooked: the everyday life of the great mass of private citizens. In every case the originals have been followed verbatim et literatim. Words or letters have been supplied only where the document was illesrible or torn, or where the author's orthography was such as to , render his meaning dotibtful. Unless otherwise indicated all docu- ments are autograph mnnnscripts. No effort commensurate with a reasonable expenditure of the time and money available has been spared in attempting to locate all the documents referred to in this collection. Printed sources have been cited so far as possible. Of the manttscript collections cited, the Austin Papers and the Bexar Archives are in the University of 'rexas Li- brary; the Nacogdoches Arehives and all other collections made use of are in the Texas State Library. 'l'he Austin Papers arc being edited by Professor E. C. Barker of the University of Texas and ,Jill be publishcd shortly by the American Historical Association; ip fact, a portion of them is already in the press. In conclusion the editor wishes to acknowledge his appreciation of the nss:stance rendered him by Miss Elizabeth II. West, Miss Kath- <'rinc Elliott, Professor E. C. Barker, Miss Lilia M. Casis, ~Irs. M.A. Hatcher nnd l\fr. E. W. Winkler. STATE LIBRARY. Austin. December 11, 1920.
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