WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1831-1832
219
Never would he have been crowned Protector had not the Parlia- ment of England been first corrupted. He reared the protectoral throne on the necks of a base and servile Parliament, who tamely brooked the indignity which dastards deserved. An honorable gentleman had alluded to the Constituent and National Assembly of France. 'What legislative bodies could have been more cor- rupt than they? If the galleries dictated the law to those bodies, why was it? Because they themselves had usurped the power they exercised-and terror struck the hearts of men who had no home, no country: for where there is no security to the citizen, there is neither home nor country. Bonaparte was used to say that it was not he who seized the thr~mes of Europe, but it was the people of Europe who had thrown themselves under his fee!. But the fears of gentlemen a1·e groundless. Those who crowd the lobbies of an American Legislature are too enlightened, too patriotic, ever to insult the members of their own House of Rep- resentatives. Let the House do its duty, within the constitu- tion, and they will find, throughout every portion of this people, a spirit of the deepest reverence to sustain their rights. I sub- mit, then, to this court, whether gentlemen who have presented so many hypothetical cases, and indulged so many vague fears, have not disquieted themselves in vain. Some of the gentlemen have thrown out the idea that probably they themselves might be the next victim for immolation; that some rude, ferocious bully might assault them for the remarks they had offered on the floor. If these remarks were intended to refer to me-al- though the gentlemen, no doubt, thought they were doing me nothing more than sheer justice, yet I can assure them that I have not merited such a 1·eproach at their hands, and I think that the hearing of this cause, and the summing up of the evi- dence by my counsel, may be sufficient to prove that such fears are groundless. I have never thirsted for the blood of my fel- low-man. I never have been engaged in riots, or guilty of bully- ing any man. I have never interrupted any officer of the Gov- ernment in the discharge of his duties. I have never been the advocate of bullies, or the representative of blackguards. I never sought to inspire the fears of any one by superior physical force, nor have I ever assailed any one unless when deeply wronged. I would willingly give my life as the guaranty for the protection of the members of this House. I would be the first to protect them, the last to insult their feelings or to vio- late the sanctuary of their persons. It was deemed necessary to
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