203
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1843
palaces of the 1l1ontezum,as! This is awful!! It cannot be under the law of the last session of Congress. It must be gratuitous as I presume. If I could see you I have but little doubt that you would be amused at some of the smart things done, very much to the disobligement of the General, no doubt. I will mark some pieces in the newspaper which I enclose, and if you will keep your eye on the flock you will see a fluttering and some feathers or plumage scattered abroad. I am well assured that the General never intended his letter for publication. He may well exclaim, "save me from my friends." &c., &c. It will be very apt to cause a " tall spree." I pity Rusk. He has certainly fallen upon evil companionships, and will repent when it is too late. You know I have been much inclined to like Rusk; and could have done so, only that I could not confide in his' firmness or stability. In these qualities he is so defective that I do candidly believe the man cannot be honest, even if his heart is so inclined. T'o me he is a problem. Like the ass between the stacks of hay, his neutral attitude has created for him a sort of negative character which by toleration he enjoys, and by common consent his vices and his habits are permitted to pass unnoticed. Those who look upon them indulge in the passing remark that " Rusk is a good fellow-I like him-he is his own worst enemy." When we meet I will tell you all. You will see that times here have been rather stirring. Com- modore Moore has caused me to act quite decisively in some matters, but not more so than I had a penchant for. The provocation was great, and as Executive, there was but one course to pursue. I have now got rid of our friend, Gail Borden, Jr. He would not execute the law, and by his disobedience of the law and the Government he has lost to the nation twenty thousand dollars in Exchequers, a pretty round sum for a poor community to lose. All this was bad enough; but even by this very loss the money was depressed and our finances doubly impaired.~ Our foreign relations were in a prosperous state at the time the interesting expedition was made to the Rio Grande, and since then they have remained rather stationary. If I live and our smart presses by the aid of faction do not destroy us, I will have peace with the world. How far the conduct of Rusk is to give countenance to faction and afford a temporary rally to the desperate, the defaulting, the lawless, and the vicious, I cannot determine. It is the last hope of the profligate and the
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