143
PAPERS OF -MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
Secure the bid for Wilkinson & Lettick and the papers can be sent on from here- No. 2366. LAMAR TO THE EDITORS OF LA BANDERA, . MATAMOROS" [Translation from the Spanish] [Laredo, Texas, 1847 ?] It has been reported to me that the news has been circulated, and that it is generally believed, that I am in accord with certain revolu- tionary movements that are supposed to be taking shape in the Mexi- can States which border the Riogrande; and as several friends of mine are anxious to know the truth or falsity of this report, I have deemed it necessary, because of what I owe to them and to myself, to declare that if any such movements have been made, I have no other connec- tion with them than that of having expressed frequently and with entire freedom, my opinion concerning that which is best and most suitable for the future happiness of these States. It is very natural and right that I, in common with thousands of others, should have a lively interest in the prosperity and welfare of these States, considering their proximity to my own country; I cannot perceive any reason that would require me to conceal my views con- cerning this matter. The remote and exposed situation of these States has prevented their enjoying equal advantages with the other sections of the union. On the contrary, they have been wholly neglected by the General gov- rnment; or if any attention has been paid to them, it was only to ob and enslave them. Not only have they been denied the rights, rivileges and protection guaranteed in the Constitution, but they ave also been abandoned to the ferocity of savages, without them- Ives being permitted even the liberty of protecting their own fam- ilies. Deprived of the fruits of their own industry by' a tyrannical overnment, and outraged in every manner possible by a cruel soldiery, heir lot has been, and is yet, one of poverty and degradation. From his system of oppression it has resulted that all the enterprizes of industry, likewise the arts and sciences, have gradually retrograded since the Independence of the country; and today is presented to us the sad spectacle of a country, the most beautiful in the orld, richly endowed with all natural advantages, and capable of eing ,the paradise of this continent, submerged in every species of calamity and misfortune, and reduced to the most lamentable state of overty, ignorance and idleness, with its farms, villages, and cities all apidly going to ruin, and with a population perhaps the most blindly rejudiced and superstitious of all the civilized nations;- brought to his said condition and held in it, by the despotism of a government hose sole ·object seems to be that of trampling under foot the rights f the people and depriving them of their property.- If these States, tired of their injuries, which they have suffered for long a time, should desire to liberate themselves from the tyranny of the General Government, to rise from their present humiliation and to place themselves on an equality with the other esteemed nations, I
10 In No. 2416, pp. 53-7.
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