WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
495
Rump Parliament the seat of corruption, the very heart of rotten- ness? Cromwell purged it; and he did this with a strong arm and a sharp knife; but the incision was necessary. He did well to do it. He preserved the British nation and gave it prowess. How was it with Napoleon? France had passed through sanguinary scenes, the gutters of her capital streaming with innocent blood; and then Napoleon took the helm like a man, and he corrected the corruptions of France, and built it up a mighty Power of the earth. He taught the French eagles to soar; and even upon the pyramids of Egypt they perched in triumph. He was not a tyrant; but he was the master of a people who could not live without a master. They invoked him; they invited him by their vices or their corruptions, as England had Cromwell, and as Rome did Caesar. No people can be conquered by a single man or a single mind while they mean to be free so long as they are virtuous and patriotic, and whenever they cease to be either they are disfranchised and deserve the despot's lash. It is not the Army that I am afraid of, but it is the outward pressure of the officers of the Army and their friends, to operate on the legislation of this nation, that I dread. If I had passed away a few years ago I should have carried more rest to my grave than I can do now, unless there shall soon be a change in the political complexion of affairs. I then could have passed away with anticipations of the perpetuity of our Union, and the preser- vation of the purity of our institutions; but I see encroachment after encroachment on the foundation of our liberties slide on unobserved. They are insidious; and so it is to be with this official power that is growing up in this nation, and beneath the weight of which it will fall; and then a master will rise. [Davis here stated that the army in 1818 numbered 12,566.] Mr. Houston. That was the number in the Army at the time Mr. Calhoun wrote the letter to which the Senator referred, and he was not than asking for any increase; though I have no doubt he may have felt a political influence harassing him to do so. My experience of this Government has shown me that there are two things you may do: you may reduce postage too low, but you never can raise it; and you may increase the Army, but you never can reduce it. Why is this? I have friends in the Army, but I thank God I have no relative in any Federal office, and I hope I never shall. If any relatives of mine ever possess influence or place, I hope it will be an emanation from the people of the coun- try, resulting from confidence in their integrity as patriots and as honest men, and that they will never hold a Federal office unless
Powered by FlippingBook