Tl1e Development of Friction, 1820-1835 255 1780. It is significant that the chairman of the Constitutional Com- mittee was Sam Houston. The Convention then elected Austin and Erasmo Seguin, of San Antonio, to take the petitions to Mexico. The election of Seguin may be attributed to Austin's desire to secure the endorsement of the petitions by San Antonio, which had not sent delegates. The move proved futile. The Mexican Ayunta111ie11to again protested that neither the time nor the method was proper for the attainment of the end in view. With a heavy heart and grave misgivings Austin set out for Mexico by way of Matamoros. He feared that the action was premature, that a few aggressive and impatient leaders were rushing Texas into open conflict before she was ready for the struggle. He was fully aware, on the other hand, of the chafing irritation produced by the continuous instability and turbulence of the Mexican Government. bnpri.somnent of Stepl,en F. Austin. Austin arrived in Mexico about the middle of July after a most trying sea trip to Vera Cruz. "I am so weary," he confessed shortly afterwards, "that life is hardly worth having." The Plan of Vera Cruz had triumphed. Santa Anna was in power. But shrewd politician that he was, he had immediately turned over the burden of government to Vice President Valentin Gomez Farias, an anticlerical reformer, with certitude that the excesses of the Liberals would cause his own recall by the Conservatives. When approached, Gomez Farias refused even to hear the proposals of the Texans. Finally, after two months Austin was received by Gomez ·Farias. He listened but told Austin bluntly that nothing could be done for the time being. Austin became impatient and made a statement that was interpreted as a threat. The interview, of course, ended abruptly. In despair over his own failure, and yet fearful of what the Texans might do in his absence, Austin wrote the Ay,mtamie11to of San Antonio on October 2, 1833, that since none of the reforms requested had been granted, it might be well for it to assume the leadership in restoring to Texas the rights it had lost when it was joined to Coahuila. He suggested that the Aytmtamiento take steps to organize a separate state government. This suggestion was to be the undoing of Austin. Shortly after this interview with Gomez Farias, affairs in Mexico took a turn for the better. The Vice President changed his attitude; Congress, early in December, repealed the anti-immigration article of the Law of April 6, 1830; and Santa Anna returned to the Capital.
Powered by FlippingBook