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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON> 1848
34
I say that you have a good bargain in getting Texas, and I who say this, think I can prove it and make you believe it. As surely as to-morrow's sun will rise and pursue its bright course along the firmament of heaven, so certain, it appears to my mind, must the Anglo-Saxon race pervade the whole southern extremity of this vast continent, and the people whom God has placed here in this land, spread, prevail, and pervade throughout the whole rich empire of this great hemisphere.-The manner of the con.- summation of this grand result, I cannot predict; but there is an instinct in the American people which impels them onward, which will lead them to pervade this continent, to develop its resources, to civilize its people, and receive the rich bounties of the creating power of divine Providence. There is another con- sideration in this respect, which is conclusive to my mind. The Americans regard this continent as their birth-right. The seed of all their settlements has been sown in blood and watered in blood. The pioneers who went forth into the wilderness poured out their heart's blood to prepare the country for their posterity; their scalps were taken by the Indians; they sacrificed their life's blood to acquire the possession which we enjoy. If all these diffi- culties and sacrifices did not terrify the bold pioneers, the success of centuries only tends to confirm what they began, and nothing can prevent our mighty march-There is another consideration: You, here, fellow-citizens, are living in cities, in the enjoyment of all the blessings and comforts of civilization; but if you undertake to go foto the wilderness, into the domain of the wild beast, and begin to pursue the game, to plant plantations-when you see the farm, the field, the garden, springing up around you, your feel- ings will become attached to the land; it will imbue your hearts; you will catch the contagion of the frontier settler; you will not be able to escape it. You may escape the small pox, but you can never escape the contagion of land loving. As sure as you live, it wiil become a part of your nature. There is not an American upon earth but who loves land. It is the fact, though I say so only in my coarse and vulgar way. [Great applause.] Your an- cestors, when they landed in Plymouth upon that famous rock, were not long contented with that barren spot, but proceeded in their might, and went on progressing at Jamestown, as well as at Plymouth, till all the country was possessed by them. From the first moment they landed, they went on trading with the Indians, and cheating them out of their lands. Now the Mexicans are no better than Indians, and I see no reason why we should not go on in the same course now, and
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