WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1857
463
ties of the State may pay the last farthing now claimed by Mrs. Bond-It is just. Truly Thine Sam Houston. Jno. M. Swisher. P. S. On the reperusal of your letter I now recollect the dis- position of the Memorial, and the action proposed on it. I would copy this letter but for the press of business in getting ready to start for Washington. Thine Houston. Swisher. 1 This document is found in a bundle of papers labeled ''A. C. Hinton," Public Debt P<tpers. Texas State Library. For some account of John Milton Swisher, see Volume I, 501. 2 For A. C. Hinton, see Volume II, 424. REMARKS ON THE DEATH OF THOMAS J. RUSK, JANUARY 19, 1858 1 Mr. President, it has become my painful and melancholy duty to announce to the Senate the death of my recent colleague, General Thomas J. Rusk. In making this announcement, sir, it is proper for me to remark that its postponement to the present period of the session has been owing to a hope that his successor would arrive. Having ascertained that his indisposition is such that he will be prevented from attending the Senate, perhaps during the session, I have thought proper to select this occasion for the announcement. In speaking of the deceased, I am speaking to his friends. He was known to most of those around me familiarly, and to you/ sir, intimately. The tribute that is offered to departed greatness is generally measured by the amount of reputation of the indi- vidual who is the subject of it. It is the duty of the historian, not of the eulogist, to go into details of private life and character, and the minutia which would othenvise be app1~opriate on this occasion. The subject of this notice was born in Pendleton District, South Carolina. He did not inherit the advantages of fortune, of family, or of patronage. He was descended from an Irish patriot, who was cast upon our shores in consequences of the troubles of 1791 in Ireland. He inherited the holy love of liberty from his ancestors, and it was matured into patriotism for the benefit of his country.
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