WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1836
451
At this moment I discern numbers around me who battled in the field of San Jacinto, and whose chivalry and valor have iden- tified them with the glory of the country, its name, its soil, and its liberty. There sits a gentleman within my view whose per- sonal and political services to Texas have been invaluable. He was the first in the United States to respond to our cause. His purse was ever open to our necessities. His hand was extended in our aid. His presence among us and his return to the em- braces of our friends will inspire new efforts in behalf of our cause. [ The attention of the Speaker and that of Congress, was directed to Wm. Christy, Esq., of New Orleans, who sat by invitation within the bar.] A circumstance of the highest import will claim the attention of the court at Washington. In our recent election the important subject of annexation to the United States of America was sub- metted to the consideration of the people. They have expressed their feelings and their wishes on that momentous question. They have with a unanimity unparalleled, declared that they will be reunited to the great Republican family of the North. The appeal i~ made by a willing people. Will our friends disregard it? They have already bestowed upon us their warmest sym- pathies. Their manly and generous feelings have been enlisted in our behalf. We are cheered by the hope that they will receive us to a participancy of their civil, political, and religious rights, and hail us welcome into the great family of freemen. Our misfor- tunes have been their misfortunes- our sorrows, too, have been theirs, and their joy at our success has been irrepressible. A thousand considerations press upon me, each claiming at- tention: but the shortness of the notice of this emergency ( for the speaker had had only four hours' notice of the inauguration, and all this time was spent in conversation) will not enable me to do justice to those subjects, and will necessarily induce their postponement for the present. [ Here the President paused for a few seconds and disengaged his sword.] It now, Sir, becomes my duty to make a presentation of thi:; sword- this emblem of my past office! [ The President was un- able to proceed further; but having firmly clinched it with both hands, as if with a farewell grasp, a tide of varied associations of ideas rushed upon him in the moment; his countenance bespoke the workings of the strongest emotions, his soul seemed to have swerved from the hypostatic union of the body, and to dwell
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