335
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1859
I regret, Mr. President, that I could not have prepared my matter more at leisure; for it is but a few days past since I contemplated addressing the Senate on this subject. I should then have done it with more pleasure, and with less detention of the honorable body; but this is the last occasion on which I ever expect that my voice will be heard in this Chamber; never again shall I address the President of this body. Mr. President, in retiring from the duties which have sat lightly upon me in this Chamber since I have been associated with it, though changes have taken place, and successive gentlemen have occupied the seats in the Senate, I have believed, and felt it my duty, to cultivate the relations of good feeling and friendship with each and every gentleman, and I hope the same cordial respect will continue to obtain in this body. I know the high and important duties that devolve upon Senators, and I have confi- dence that their attention and their great abilities will be called to the discharge of those duties; that they will, on great national subjects, harmonize so as to give vigor to, and cement our insti- tutions; and that they will keep pace in their efforts to advance the country with the progress that seems to invite it onward. :M:y prayers will remain with them, that light, knowledge, wis- dom, and patriotism may guide them, and that their efforts will be perpetually employed for blessings to our country; that under their influence and their exertions the nation will be blessed, the people happy, and the perpetuity of the Union secured to the latest posterity. [Applause in the galleries.] 1 Congr6ssional Globe, Part 2, and Appendix, 2nd Sess., 35th Cong., 1858- 1859, pp. 1433-1438; William Carey Crane, Li/e and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston, 578-599. 2 For a biographical sketch of Dr. N. D. Labadie see Texas Almanac, 1859, PP, 40-64; Thrall, A Picto1-ial History of Texas, 580. 3 See Gammel, Laws of Texas, I, 746, 759-761. •Houston's memory here seems to have played him false, as Travis was not at the Alamo when Houston probably sent his message for its destruc- tion. As Houston says, on January 17, 1836, he did send James Bowie with a band of thirty soldiers (among which band was James Butler Bonham) from Goliad to San Antonio with orders to Colonel J. C. Neill, then in command of the Texas forces at San Antonio, "to demolish the fortifications . in the town of Bexar, and to carry the cannon and other munitions to Gonzales." See Houston to Henry Smith, ·January 17, 1836, the original order being in "Army Papers," Texas State Library. On January 19, 1836, Henry Smith was deposed by the Council, and chaos in Texas government then prevailed. Moreover, Houston left the execution of his order concern- ing the destruction of the Alamo, largely to the discretion of Bowie and Colonel J. C. Neill. Neill made an official repo1·t, saying that sufficient oxen and mules could not be secured for the execution of Houston's order. There
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