The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume IV, part 1

72

TEXAS STATE LIBRARY

himself from the united states, - that he had abandoned the Guber- na1:orial chair of Tennessee; together with his friends and legitimate connexions, which he had formed on a judgment early perhaps, hut sufficiently mature, and wholly unbiased. Assining no reasons (which might perhaps have been refuted) for his strange conduct; but keep- ing every thing, as he now does, in the dark So far as any thing is known of his History, it clearly proYes that he has never been gov• erned by any of the ennobling principles or passions; but entirely by the ignoble ones of vanity sordid ambition, avarice, and cupidity which are, as before observed, the most demoralizing and degrading of all the human passions. He fled the haunts of civilized man and repaired to the wigwam, where he sought and acquired an allitmce by affinity with this same band of Cherokees, whose interests he seems so anxiou~ to promote, and was the moving cause of their first introduction as in- truders on the country. These indians are by no means destitute of sagacity, rather viewed our hero as shrouded under the mantle of hy- pocrisy; and remarked, that he was indian too soon, indian too much;. his speculative views however, appeared feasible and the alliance was formed. Attempts had been made to colonize those indians and totally failed. Not by him in person however, and he still viewed it as a fair field in which to carry out his visionary project His original obj~ct in introducing those indians wa.s to have them in the occupancy of the soil which he proposed to colonize They were warlike and not easily removed by Mexicans; and in due time he believed he could pro- cure the authority to colonize them, which would render them entirely subservient to him as their grand political chief, whose dictum should be the law of the land His avarice would prompt him to select the cream of the colony as his own Lordly domain; the less valuable could have been assigned to his tawny brethren as grazing and hunting grounds Thus throwing around him a life guard from all external enemies Thus situated with power, and a lordly domain would war- rant the gratification of his cupidity by his libidinous intercourse with squaws without stint or limit. This situation formed in his deranged and perverted mind the beau ideal of a terrestrial paradise. And at least establish a starting point for the furtherance of his ambitious. and visionary projects From the unfortunate circumstances of his having figured so conspic- uou!.'ly in the revolution, it may be infered by some that he aided in g~tting it up. This is not the fact ;-he lived in eastern Texas and the revolution was got up in the west, and the first that was known of him, wa!.' at the consultation where he appeared with his cherokee battering-ram. He did not desire the revolution, was not prepared for it, and his conduct proves that he is opposed 1:o it yet. His direct oposition at that time, dare not be known; and he considered it pru- dent (as the sailors say) to heave an anchor to windward ;-and hence his cherokee treaty The successful assault made on the consultation by his skillfully used cherokee battering ram, was parried by the Con-. vention, and like a skillful General he resorted to sapping and mining, which he has carried on with a perseverance and assiduity worthy of a better cause, and has now flattering hopes of success His prospects have even brightened the indian territory acquired now, will vest the fee entirely in himself; and his tawney brethren become more com-

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