302
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1843
man and the hireling hurry through their labors and receive a small recompense, but the husbandman delights in the fullness of his granaries. I am not discouraged because men have proved recreant to their trusts, and because they have misrepresented their constituents. "Verily, verily, they shall have their reward." You will readily suppose me gratified at the fact that the feelings of Lord Aberdeen should be more kind to Texas, on account of his consideration for myself individually. To be assured that such men as Lord Aberdeen and General Jackson approve my policy as a statesman, I would and do, esteem as no light matter. And I trust that you will be so kind as to present to His Lordship, in the most acceptable terms of profound 1·espect, my sense of obligation for his favorable opinion of my actions. You are perfectly aware of the estimate which I have ever placed upon the course which the English Ministry has pursued in relation to Texas and its affairs. You are sensible that my views (though at one time I was almost alone) have undergone no change as to the course of England and its propriety. You are aware also that I have suffered no change to take place in my opinions as to what course Texas should pursue relative to Mexico. Although I seemed to those who could not estimate accurately my acts, to have yielded my opinions or wishes, it never was the case. The madness of Texians enforced upon me (silence because ' I was wea1·y, and I foresaw that sooner or later the evil must be done) acquiescence to what must ensure disaster. That has come, and now the only plan that can be adopted is one which will avert future evils to this unhappy country. Some days previous to the arrival of the news of the catas- trophe, I had made a message to Congress on various subjects of a secret character. In it I touched upon the probable result of the campaign and its consequences to the country. A portion of my predictions is verified; and I pray God to avert the balance. I would rather lose the reputation of a prophet than to see my poor country suffer. I have written so much that I really begin to reflect upon this as a very prosing and tame or lame epistle! Very truly thine Sam Houston [Rubric] 1This letter, for which Texas historians have searched for almost a century, was loaned to the editors to be published here, by Mr. Franklin Williams, Houston, Texas. It is to be found in Houston's Private Executive Record Book, pp. 306-309. Extracts from the letter are to be found in E. D. Adams
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