Our Catholic Heritage in T ezas
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occasions of this kind. The day closed with a dance, which he "deemed best not to attend." General Teran was bored by the "redundancy" of the lawyers and dissolved the municipality of Liberty, Muldoon wrote Austin, who was convalescing in San Felipe. Muldoon made several complaints to Austin. He charged that the Ayuntamiento of San Felipe had not after more than six months found permanent quarters for him, thus making a beggar of him in his own parish. He was tired of living as a guest of Williams. It seems the nerves of both were becoming frayed. He bewailed the inadequate supplies put at his disposal and the fact that he had no servants. Mul- doon expressed his displeasure with the conduct of Lessassier, friend and confidant of Williams, during reconciliation night at Anahuac, when the banquet was held and many toasts were offered. The somewhat dis- appointed cleric assured Austin that he had much to say to him on this subject, and that if it were not for his high regard and warm friendship for Austin, he would not now return to San Felipe.8 1 A man of Muldoon's temperament was bound to take sides and to make fast friends and bitter enemies. Finding life in the colonies a bit boresome after the novelty of the hearty welcome had worn off, it was natural for Muldoon to become involved in the political situation in Texas. In the spring of 1832 the first Convention was called to petition separate statehood from Coahuila and the annulment of the Law of April 6, 1830. Shortly thereafter Muldoon left Texas for Mon- terrey to consult, he, says, with the new Bishop. In February, 1831, Fray Jose Maria de Jesus Belauzaran y Urena, O.F.M., had been named Bishop of the vacant See, consecrated in Mexico City on July 27, 1831, and had taken possession of his Diocese early in 1832. 12 Upon his arrival in Monterrey, Muldoon found rumors rife concern- ing the loyalty of Texans, and their motives for the desired separation from Coahuila questioned. The very presence of Muldoon in the city gave rise to much speculation. Some whispered that the colonists were as antagonistic to Catholicism as they were to Mexican sovereignty- proof was that they had driven out their pastor. Muldoon felt impelled to issue a notice to the public, which was printed by the government press on September 4, 1832. He denied that he had been persecuted by the colonists and imprisoned in Brazoria. He llAustin to Muldoon, November 15, 1831; Muldoon to Austin, November 28, 1831, in Barker, op. cit., II, 703-704; 7u-713. 12Jose Bravo Ugarte, Diocem y Obi.s-jos de la Irlesia Mexi&ana (Mexico, 1941), 41.
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