186
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
he had served his country in various capacities for more than forty years; though he had been born and reared in the South; though his wife and children, his home, and all his interests were in the South; and though more than one spot in the South had been watered by his blood in defense of the Southland; yet, all these facts had proved to be no shield against the injustice and absurdity of the charges. His enemies had ever been ready to sieze upon and to hold up to the public condemnation, every act of his entire public life, that could possibly be tortured into an error, whilst all his good acts were passed unnoticed. Why had they not recognized that the Texan boundary embracing the vast territory for which we obtained from the United States ten millions of dollars, was first declared by him in a letter to General Rusk, immediately after the battle of San Jacinto, which bound- ary, by his influence during his first administration as President of the Republic, had become established by an act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas? His remarks closed with a glowing eulogy upon the ladies, a large number of them being present. I have thus given you a hasty, and I am satisfied a very imperfect sketch of a speech of more than two hours in length, which throughout was replete with much that was interesting and eloquent. What is strange about Houston is the fact that he speaks better now than he did ten years ago. I heard a gentleman say that he had beard him speak more than fifty times, but had never heard him make a speech equal to that delivered at Danville. I think there is no doubt about the fact that sober second thought is slightly mollify- ing the bitterness of his bitterest enemies; such, at least, is the opinion of Montgomery. I The Southern Intelligencer, October 6, 1858; The Eastern Texian, Octq- ber 20, 1858. These copies a1·e identical. The editor of the Intelligencer, prefaced the letter with the statement that the man who signed his name "Montgomery," was and had always been a friend of Houston; but had been one of the loudest and bitterest opposers of Houston's speech in the Senate on the Kansas bill. This editor also stated that he was publishing this letter because it contained about the same description of the Danville speech that he was hearing from many others, but that Montgomery made clearer state- ments than many others were doing. The identity of Montgomery has not been ascertained.
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