348
TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
confining himself to the subject matter of discussion, seems to have made the Bill, a text, or rather a pretext for the utterance of those lofty sentiments and virtuous impulses which so adorn & dignify his noble nature. He has exhibited in the discussion so large a portion of patriotic disinterestedness; elevated courtesy and modesty of de- meanor, that I would for these considerations alone be willing to give this his favorite measure, my most cordial and zealous support, if it were not for the fact, that the defects of the Bill, like those of its author, are radical & Constitutional. It claims e:tclusive privileges- a feature which I cannot reconcile to the impartial principles of free government. :My crude and undigested notions of equal rights, and burthens and benefits which it is or ought [to] be the object of all political compacts to secure, will not permit me to confer immunities or advantages on one set of men, and withhold them from another. Go,·ernment, like the sun, should shine on all alike; and as the rains of the Heavens, its blessings should be distributed by fixed principles, and not by favor or affection. Possibly the gentleman, (supposing him to be one) may conceive him- self entitled to some preempti<m on the score of preeminent merit; and that the nation cannot suffer :from the example, because the example need not be followed until some other individual shall arise, with equal pretentious which cannot happen in the course of nature earlier than a thousand years. :Now there may be some force in this consid- eration, and it is well to examine into its validity. Opposed as I am to his Bill, I will nevertheless do justice to the man and cheerfully .admit that he has some claims to public confidence & affection. I freely confess that the army at Beason's on the Colorado, are under many obligations to the gentleman, because he certainly did snatch them from danger by a precipitate flight before an inferior and cow- ardly foe. That the women and children whom he left in the rear of his retreat, are equally indebted to his humanity & courage is obvious from the fact, that he hid in the Brazos bottoms long enough for them to overtake him. Nor are the bleeding sufferers on the frontier urider lighter obligations; for although he took no steps to save them from the tomahawk & scalping knife, and may have justified the savages and cursed the murdered victims, yet it must be admitted by his bit- terest enemies, that he never did unite in any of the masacres or par- ticipate in the robberies, himself. Indeed, it cannot be denied that the whole country is in some way or other indebted to him-the peo- ple because he denounced them as a nation of beggars; the soldiers of San Jacinto became he defamed their valor; and every honest man in Texas because he has only stabbed them with a lie and not with a knife. The man to whom the nation ow[e] s so many obligations, has certainly the right to claim, in return for his manifold benificences the simple priYiledge of exclusively navigating the Natches and An_ge- lina rivers. To deny such a modest reward for such exalted serv1ses would confirm the c:harge of in~ratitude so long alledged against Re- publics. But notwithstanding all this candid admission of ~is merits; and my high appreciatio11 of hi::; claims to the favor _and rndulgeoce of his cou11trnn<>11 I still have mv doubts of the propriety of support- ing his Bill, ·althdugh in consideration of his u11sullied character and
Powered by FlippingBook