71
PAPERS OF Mnu.BEAU BuoNAPARTE LAll[AR
escort to guard them from harm and permitted to retire with all their armament, and with no little pillage. The officers who justly merited execution were treated as honorable prisoners and ultimately relea~ed I sa_v nothing of th_e two hundred thousand dollars which is said to have been paid by Santana for his release. This is a matter which, by many, is said to be provable, and is allready before the public, and is rather foreign from my present enquiry. The idea however, of treat- ing with a prisoner would be considered mere humbug even by a school-boy The splendid rictory gained by our army at Sanjacinto had completely intoxicated the country with joy; -- the months of ob- livion and veil of charity, seemed by common consent, to be thrown owr all past derelictions The infamous cherokee treaty, known to but few seemed to be entirely lost sight of in the hurry and confusion of more important concerns; the glare and dazzle of anticipated pros- perity seemed to have justled reason from her proper balance Great distress, such as had then been inflicted on the people of Texas has never hitherto taught, and whilst the world lasts it never will teach, wise lessons to any part of mankind. ~Ien are as much blinded hy the extreme of misery as by the extremes of prospuity The so unex- pectrd and splmdid victory gained by our intrepid army at Sanjacinto, who had led their Genl. and not he them, so completely intoxicated the Country with joy that it seems never to have entered into the minds of men to ewn question the propriety of the conduct of this nominal leader in yielcling up the rictory acquired by the soldiery, and compromising the independence and liberties of the country (then within our irrasp, in his infamous treaty with that trancendant villain who was then our prisonN The idea of a nominal leader yielding up a splendid rictory, not acquired by his Generalship or brarery; but tht> 110nor and credit of it, forced upon him by the chivalry and intrepidity of his soldiery, has something in it so sordid and selfish, that it might readily be construed as a want of integrity to the Country. The idea of treating with a prisoner, for the inclrpendence and liberties of a Nation, one too, who had by the laws of God and man, forfeited his life, - one who had not the power, even to controll his own liberties or freedom; shewed little of the General, and less of the statesman; giving up a certainty for an uncertainty, subject to all the casualties, uncertainties and mutations incident on human affairs Such conduct cannot be excused; is totally indefensible and can be attributed tc nothing but design and want of integrity to the country Before pro- ceeding further howenir I ,rill here make a few remarks explanatory which will be warranted by the sequel, so as to prepare the mind for the proper deductions, to be drawn from the facts as presented. The data on which the Cherokee treaty was based, was furnished by him- self, professing to be well acquainted with the Geography and Topog- raphy of the lands defined in their grant Beginning at a designated point, thence longitudinally to some other point, thence Notherly to the U. S. boundary, including- for au~ht I know Santa Fe At all events it is represented as being a territory - of the most desirable land perhaps on the continent. His own nominal estimate of value, as be.fore observed, is from eighteen to twenty million of dollars It is a fact, I presume well known to my readers, that the individ1tal alluded to, had both in a civil and political point of view, apostati%ed
Powered by FlippingBook