,-
r APERS OF )Irn.Al.lE.\U BuONAPARTE LAllfAR 143 to the notion, that no gnilt.y deed of blood can go unpunished. Ven- geance. may slumber for a while, but it wakes with consuming energy at last. This truth has been exemplified at least in the history of Texas; for more than once has vindictin• justice followed in the rear of .Mexic·an cruelty. After a long series of the most splendid victories, during the rernltttion of .1812, by the patriot forces, the go,·ernor of St Antonio and 12 other officer:; were taken prisoners of war, and un- der promise of being sent to Old Spain, they were secretly conducted to a neighboring wood, from which they never returned. The waters of the brook became red, and told the story of their fate. But the God of Justice would not suffer such ~anguinary crime .to flourish in the face of Heaven. At the hattle of :i\ledina, which shortly ensued, the fires of a righteous wrath, rolled like burning lava over the patriot forces and scarcely left a man to tell the tale of their ruin. The hand of Providence was there. And he who punished the death of Salsado, shall he not much more avenge the murder of Fannin? Yes, gentle- men, the crimes were similar- the chastisement the same. I was present at the dreadful day of retribution. There was the roar of many voices like thunder on the hills- it was the war-cry of our avenging hraws; I felt the earth tremble beneath my feet- it was the stampede of a terri fled army flyiug before .American wrath. They had sown the winds, and we were now reaping the whirlwinds. The rider of the pale horse pursued their flight- Death was behind them, and the clark pit was before them. One wild ~hriek of agony and despair- ing horror rose above the roar of arms and in a moment all was still. The populous field lay scorched and withered and silent as the Cities of the plains. "There Jay the steecl with his nostril alJ wide, "But through it there roH'd not the breath of his pride; "And there lay the rider, distorted & pale, "The dew on his brow and ·the blood on his mail." Forgive me bright Goddess of Liberty, thnt I forgot thee in the field of battle; forgive me shade of 'I'ravis whom I love so well, that thou wast lost in the remembrance of my gallant countrymen. I thought not of thee, I thought not of freedom; I thought only of Fannin. of Ward and all their murdered companions; their spirits rose before me- the memory of days gone bye came rolling on the heart, and whilst all around me were crying Alamo! Alamo I ID.)' war-cry was ven- geance and the Georgia Battallion. But fellow-citizens the work of vengeance was not fully wrought. He who was the author of all these calamities has escaped- he whose life jg but the history of crime-has met with the sympathies of the brave and been shielded from the lightnings of the law. Be it so. But there is another day of retribution yet to come more drc>adful to him than that of San Jacinto, when he shall be arraigned llC'fore n ,Tucl,ge who hath no tolerance for crime & where human ki1Hlncss and human policy cannot avert the stern demands of Justice. Refore such a .Jml_gc 0 let me speak that my words may not fall like the wasted rains 011 Zahara. I humbly hope I may 011 that irreat day of trial he privilC'gecl to face the murderer at the bar. Now I ha,·e no voire. I spc>ak nnd he hears it not. But when I shall ha,·e Fannin and Travi5, a.IHI Hon-
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