293
WRITINGS OF_ SAl\-1 HOUSTON, 1861
HOUSTON'S ATTITUDE CONCERNING HIS REMOVAL FROM THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE 1 March 19, 1861. On the night of March 19, 1861, a few friends were gathered at the home of General Houston in Austin (the Governor's Man- sion), when messengers arrived and stated that a group of his friends were armed and ready to reinstate him in the Executive Office. He replied to them as follows : My God, is it possible that all the people are gone mad? Is it possible that my friends would be willing to inaugurate a war that would be infinitely more horrible than the one inaugurated by the secessionists? Do you know, my friends, that the civil war now being inaugurated will be as horrible as his Satanic Majesty could desire? And after condemning them for their folly and their crimes, would you be willing to deluge the capital of Texas with the blood of Texans, merely to keep one poor old man in a position for a few days longer, in a position that belongs to the people? No. No! ! Go tell my deluded friends that I am proud of their friendship, of their love and loyalty, and I hope I may retain them to the end. But say to them that for the sake of humanity and justice to disperse, to go to their homes and to conceal from the world that they would have been guilty of such an act. By a Friend who was present. 1 The Galveston Daily News, April 3, 1892. In a perface to this quoted speech of Houston, The News states that the person who reported this speech was one of the friends who had gathered at the Governor's Mansion to help Houston to pack his household things, because he had been ordered to vacate the Mansion immediately. The task had been accomplished and the General and Mrs. Houston were sitting with their friends in the dim light of a single candle when a knock came at the door. Seeing armed men without, all within the Mansion believed that the Convention had sent an order that the building should be immediately vacated. When their message had been delivered, it is reported that Houston sighed deeply, but immediately uttered the words reported.
TO F. W. GRASMEYER 1
Austin, Texas, March 31, 1861.
F. W. Grasmeyer- My Dea1· Sir: Your favor has reached me some days since, but my business has prevented me from replying at an earlier day.
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