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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
No. 1805 1840 May 21, JOHN R. SLOCO1IB, AUSTIN, [TEXAS] Receipt to l\Iirabeau B[uonaparte] Lamar, [Austin, Texas], for bal-· ance due on Austin lots. D. S. 1 p. No. 1805a 1840 May 28, l\I. B. LAMAR, [HOUSTON, TEXAS]. SPEECH IN DEFENSE OF HIS ADl\IINISTRATION 36 Houston 28th May 1840 Gentlemen. Among the sources of alleviation to the cares and toils of public office, the approbation of my fellow Citizens is- the most gratifyng and unalloyed. While the virulent assaults of party animosity are calculated to inflict a slight and transitory annoyance, and to excite regrets for the undue selfishness & malignity of men, the plaudits of the wise and good impress the mind with an abiding satisfaction which raises it superior to the vicisitudes of life. (To those who are disposed to view the acts of the Government with candor and moderation, I need not intimate the sincerity of my intentions in every measure that has been, adopted. That you are pursuadecl of this, I am fully convinced; & I am satisfied that you are ready to receiYe it in extenuation of any slight errors which your judgement may ha\'e detected in the managemt of the public interests. I do not claim exemption from error; but I do assert an ardent and exclusive devotion to the public weal which would preclude the possibility of any purposed wrong in the discharge of the high duties confided to me. When I came into office, the country was in a very disorganized con- dition throughout its various departmnts, ciYil and military. The army had been reduced a mere skeleton; and the navy was annihilated. If it had an existence at all, it was nominal, merely and incapable of any useful purpose. Our inland frontier exhibited a meloncholly scenP. 0£ / indian ravages and murderous devastation; and our principal enemy, deriving encouragemt from the apparent exhaustion which overspread the land was threatning to renew his efforts at subjugation. Under this state 0£ affairs, it was my fayorite policy to place the nation as . speedily as practicable in a state 0£ de£ence-build up the army & navy chastise our border enemies, and in the failure 0£ an amicable adjustmt of our difficulties with l\Iexico, treat her in the like manner. This policy .steadily pursued, amidst many drawbacks & embarrassmts, has thus far been crowned with a success fully equal to my most sanguine antici- pations, and cannot fail, if it be sustained by the people and properly supported by the Legislative authorities of the country, to conduct the nation to dignity, sa£ety & prosperity. . Our most serious difficulties among the savage triLes were to be prop- erly traced to the Northern Indians who had long hung like a dark and lowering cloud upon our Eastern frontier, stimulating others to murder, threatning disaster and depopulation to all that beautiful and fertile region. To rid the country, therefore, 0£ an enemy so capable & so dis-
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