WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1811
376
A REPLY TO "PUBLIUS" 1
August 16, 1841
To the Honorable })avid G. Burnet Sir- The actions of all great men in times past have been the subject of historical notice, and I can perceive no good reason why the example should not be adhered to in the present generation, that posterity may not be deprived of the lights and shadows of your illustrious character. You have been so much engaged in this laudable business yourself that you can find no reasonable objection to the assistance of those who would feel emulous to become coadjutors in the great work. You will entertain no envy, because you are placed preeminent to all others: and should not your noble nature place you above the fear of rivalry, your characteristic self-complacency would pre- serve your equilibrium of feeling. The late productions of yours over the signature of "Publius," cannot fail to place you first in the rank of Texian writers, or rather autho-rs, as you are the sole and only author of the statements which you have grat- uitously made and sent forth into the world, originating in your malice, and avouched by your own veracity. You have made statements in Publius which you know to be false; nor would you have dared to have extended towards you by common consent a "poetic" license to assail with impunity the character of any man in the Republic whom you may regard as an obstacle to your own selfish and ambitious views. It is to be regretted that you are so hard run at present as to be com- pelled to retail the stale slanders published by you in 1836, against General Rusk and others while you were President ad interim ! You now display your malignity in copious notes added to your -republications, by way of giving them a zest or spice such as you imagine will render them more acceptable to those who may be willing to espouse your cause in the pending Presidential election . . Because General Houston has not thought proper to contradict any charges contained in "Publius," and other stuff published by you under assumed names, you suppose you have gained a signal triumph. Whether General Houston has ever read one of your numbers, I will not say: but I heard him aver a few weeks since, that he never had read a single number written by you, nor did he ever intend to do so-that he regards them in the same light
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