WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1855
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the fondest recollections and the most exalted hopes for our fu- ture prosperity. This is perhaps the last time I shall ever behold so large a congregation West of the Brazos, but while life lasts I shall revert with pleasant recollections to the present occasion with the proud hopes which I entertain for the prosperity of your country. I will leave you pledged to use my greatest endeavors for the welfare of my country. It will claim the last throb from my bosom, the last tear of regret for its misfortunes. In the land to which I go my children are pledges of my devotion. May you be blessed throughout all your life. 1 The State Gazette (Austin), December 8, 1855; The Standa1·d, January 5, 1856; The Tnie Issue, January 15, 1856; Texas State T-i?nes, December 8, 1855. While the texts found in these various newspapers agree in substance, there is more discrepancy with reference to wording and paragraph organ- ization than has been found in the report of any previous speech of Houston recorded by the contemporary press. The State Gazette, from which this copy has been taken, states that its copy was reported in shorthand by Wilford Trueblood. This is the first one of Houston's speeches that is cer- tainly known to have been taken in shorthand, although it is said that one William F. Weeks was the first stenographer in Texas to write in short- hand, and he may have reported• Houston's speeches before this time. 2 Esau and Tom were negro slaves who belonged to Houston. They escaped and found sanctuary in Mexico and became prominent citizens of that country. Esau kept a hotel at Matamoras. 8 The "scrub emperor" mentioned here was Dom Joao VI, regent of Portugal in behalf of his insane mother, Dona Maria I. 4 James Cochrane Dobbins (January 17, 1814-August 4, 1857), Pierce's Secretary of the Navy, was born at Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was, or had been, a good Jackson Democrat. See Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 912. ~Robert McClellan (August 1, 1807-August 30, 1880), was Governor of Michigan, and later served in Pierce's Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. For biographical data see Dictionary of American Biography, XI, 586-587; Biographical Di?-ectory of the Ame1-ican Congress, (1928) 1251. 0 J ames Campbell (September 1, 1812-January 27, 1893), was a Senator from Pennsylvania, a resident of Philadelphia. Pierce appointed him Post- master General. See Dictionary of American Biogmphy, III, 454-455. 7 John Joseph Hughes, a Roman Catholic prelate, was born in Ireland, June 4, 1797, and died in Philadelphia, January 3, 1864. He was made Bishop of Philadelphia in 1836. He and James Campbell were coworkers in many philanthropic enterprises in Philadelphia, and they established organized social work among the poor of that city. See Dictionary of American Biog- raphy, IX, 352-365. sJames Guthrie (December 5, 1792-March 13, 1869), Secretary of the Treasury under Pierce. See Biographical Directory of the Ame1-ican Con• gress, 1928, p. 1042.
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