The Writings of Sam Houston, Volume IV

iv

PREFACE

(4) an oath subscribed by Houston, September 29, 1821, declar- ing that he had not in any way participated in a duel since the passage of a law in 1817, and that he would not participate in any way as principal or second during his term of office; (5) a commission certifying Houston's election to the nineteenth Con- gress of the United States, October 28, 1825. We have omitted also Houston's commission as major general of Tennessee militia, December 14, 1821, from the collection of Mr. Franklin Williams. It is to be emphasized that this enterprise undertakes to pub- lish only the documents written or signed by Houston, or written by an officer according to his instruction. A very few documents written to Houston have been included, however, for reasons which the editors felt to be compelling. Readers will find in this volume a number of biographical sketches of well known Texans whose names occurred frequently in earlier volumes. Earlier references cited sketches in the Dic- tionary of American Biography. That device is satisfactory enough to readers having access to well equipped libraries; but the editors have received many requests from teachers and others asking for fuller information concerning such men; and the sketches of Thomas F. McKinney, Samuel May Williams, Gail Borden, Jr., J. Pinckney Henderson, and others have been in- serted in response to their requests.

Errata

On page 492, line 16, volume III, the name Burnet should be Brunet. A more serious proof error occurs on page 489. At the end of line 7 as there printed, add: "But these are not all the precedents on which the Executive might rely for any irregular action he might think proper to take relative to our foreign rela- tions. At the time the diplomatic movements referred to were made, a treaty was negotiated with persons from Yucatan at the Capitol of this Republic, and its provisions were carried into effect without ever being submitted to the Senate for its constitu- tional."

EUGENE C. BARKER.

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