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the lands and repeated them to Edwards as a matter of pleasing intelli- gence to him. Whilst the Bill was in progress, this point of selling was discussed out of doors by Bastrop the Govr. and Edwards Lethwicht and others interested; and it was then understood by all that the article or provision in the Colonization law saying that all contracts between the Empresarios and the colonists should be good & valid was intended to authorize and confirm the sale of the land,: to the colonists; and the sum generaly agreed upon was J 2½ cts pr. acre, but that they had a right te: ask of the colonists as much more a~ they pleased; that i·he Empresario was at liberty to make any bargain with them that-he could & such bargain by the above clause was to be confmed. Edwards re- marked that if the profits of the colonization was to be limited to the premium. Lands that he could never hope to live to enjoy the fruit of his labors & besides that he could not support the expense of travcllil! &c with [out J some remuneration from the sale of lands; and it was these & such considerations that led to the introduction of the above mentioned clause- Whilst these things were going on at Saltillo, Bastrop recd. a letter from Col. Austin at San Fillipe; and breaking the seal presented it to Lethwicht to read whilst he Bastrop was engaged in reading some oth- ers recd. Lethwicht read it & presented it to Thorn & then to Edwards: all read it ancl was sur;prisecl at its contents. Austin had stated in his letter that Bastrop must not permit any grants to be given to any one except to himself & Seguine, who would in two or three years be able to colonize the whole county. They were all shocked at this and could not recon- cile it with his past professions; Bastrop himself affected much surprise, and was una.ble to account for it- Edwards however got his grant & he & Lethwicht started for Lousiaiana. When they ·had got but a few Leagues from Saltillo, the letter of Austin pressed so heavily on Edward's mind, that he proposed to return to Saltillo, saying to his companion, that he feared when their backs were turned, that Bastrop, Austin &C would play ioome trick and embarrass about their grants. Lethwicht however vouched for their integrity and urged to prosecute their journey; accordigly they went on. Edwards went to his family in Louisianna from which he had been separated nearly 4 years. He returned to Texas again with his family to Nacogdoches in august of the same year 1825- Such was the manner of his getting his grant and such were the anticipated difficulties which he had to encouter- Let us now look at the condition of the population of the country at the time of his arrival at Nacogdoches with his family when he was about to enter upon the duties of Empresario. · On his arrival he found the organization of two corps or voluntay assosiciations [sic] of men controld or commanded by James Gains under the style and name of Regulators. They had been in the habit of taking the law into their own hands. Under the pretext of punishig crime, they would often shoot men at their own houses under slight suspicions of guilt and many of the lives of our best men were then sacrifised- It was urged_ against these arbitrary Regulators that they were nothing more than freebooters, that they plundered tl1ose thP.y killed or imprisoned- Like the most of such violent associations, the
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