297
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1859
Twenty-four million acres of land! There is magic in its sound- magic in the number of acres. It is a kingdom; it is an empire worth fighting for; and it will be fought for; and it admits of divisions and subdivisions. Where it is to go, through what rami- fications it is to run, no one knows. No one knows the artifice that is now used, and the means that are to be employed in these and other speculations in Texas referred to. Sir, rid us of this man; give us an honest judicial officer. The people of Texas, of Anglo-Saxon descent, are an honest people. It is that which causes them to feel this curse with tenfold wretchedness. They are not capricious. No other people, with the manifest out- rages that have been there committed, would tolerate this man to sit on a judicial bench, and to remain in a position where he could soil his ermine and attach infamy to his office. Sir, our people have been always submissive to law, or enough of them to maintain the solidity of our community; and though men may have gone there in other days-and I was among the first emi- grants-who may not have lived here under the most favorable and delightful circumstances, yet they have united all their energies, they have made themselves a people, and they deserve to be considered as such. The gentlemen who have thought proper to reflect on their character, and even this judge himself, would find that they them- selves would come up to·a very low standard of Texas morality. I insist that we be relieved from this judicial monster, that has disgraced the judicial system of our Government more than any man has ever done, and whose crimes are not partially ex- posed to the public, notwithstanding he has sunk deep, deep in the slough of infamy. I wish this bill read. 1 Congressional Globe, 1858-1859, Part I, 772-784; William C. Crane, Li/ e and Select Litemry Remains of Sam Houston, 530-578. 2 See 11 U.S. Statutes, 164. By act of Congress, December 29, 1845 (9 U.S. Statutes), Texas was organized as an independent federal district with circuit as well as district court powers. John Charles Watrous was ap- pointed judge of this new district by President Polk, May 29, 1846. He had been highly recommended for the position by Secretary of War, William L. Marcy; James S. Holman and James Love, of Texas; J. N. Reynolds, of New York; and Joseph L. Williams, of Tennessee (see Committee Reports, 26th Cong., 2d Sess., I, 233). 3 Sources that would probably yield materials for a good biographical sketch of John Charles Watrous are not available, and those at hand give little information concerning the man's early life. But we know certainly a few things about him. He was born in Connecticut in 1802 (some sources say 1806), was educated at Schenectady College, New York, then moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he studied law in the office of Colonel John
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