WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1861
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had brought on this state of affairs, to counsel wisely and to be united. He said that he had sought no Federal aid, that he wanted none, and wanted no collection of the revenue. We can decide our own questions at the ballot-box. He declared that Mr. Lin- coln had been precipitate and foolish in steps that he had taken. He should have let the South alone. He again counseled unity of action, and to repel the enemy. The speech was listened to quietly, with now and then some cheers and laughter. At the close, three cheers were called for by Mr. Sydnor, which were responded to by a part of the audi- ence. The attendance was large. 1 Houston Teleg,·aph, April 23, 1861; The Texas Republ-ican, May 4, 1861. A verbatim report of this speech has not been found. It is very probable that none such was ever printed, for all the newspapers of this time were afraid of losing popularity if they printed Houston's speeches. SPEECH AT lNDEP~NDENCE, MAY 10, 1861 1 . The troubles that have come upon the community are neither unexpected to me, nor do I fail to realize all the terrible con- sequences yet to ensue. Since the passage of the Kansas and Nebraska bill, I have had little hope of the stability of our institutions. The advantages gained by the North by that measure, through the incentive to Anti-Slavery agitation and the opening of a vast territory to Free-Soil settlement, were such that I saw that the South would soon be overslaughed, and deprived of equality in the Government-a state of things which a chivairous people like ours would not submit to. Yet I fos- tered the longing hope that when the North saw the dangers of disunion, and beheld the resolute spirit with which our people met the issue, they would abandon their aggressive policy, and allow the Government to be preserved and administered in the same spirit with which our forefathers created it. For this rea- son, I was conservative, so long as there was a hope of obtain- ing our rights, and maintaining our institutions, through an appeal to the sense and justice and the brotherhood of the Northern people, I was for preserving the Union. The voice of hope was weeks since drowned by the guns of Fort Sumter. It is not now heard above the tramp of invading armies. The mis- sion of the Union has ceased to be one of peace and equality, and now the dire alternative of yielding tamely before hostile armies, or meeting the shock like freemen, is presented to the
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