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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BOON.AP.A.RTE LA::UAR
upon you, you paid him two hundred dollars in Texian l\loney, for the hundred Louisiana which had been sent for him, but neither delivered to him, the letter in which this money had been enclosed, nor the cer- tificate of his age, which was enclosed also in the same letter-he sa,·s some excuse was assigned which he did not at the time understand:::_ or does not n.ow recollect, for not delivering the letters, & that he heard nothing from you nor any one, of the certificate- I can only account for the circumstances stated to me, relative to the transaction, upon the supposition that the letter above refer'd to had been sent by you to some 1 ( in Montgomery, or elsewhere) to be deliverd to Taylor- & I know but of 1 man in Texas, whose peculiar interest it was- in his own estimation (for it can never be a man's real interest to ·act the scoundrell) to withhold from Taylor the certificate & letter- & whose habitual propensities might have influenced him to take the opportuuity of doing so-on this head I expect from you explicit €xplanation. [on margin :] e i why, or from what circumstance t.he -.certificate & my sealed l[etter] enclosing it ( & the money) have been withheld from Taylor &. shall also be obliged to you to return for me to l\lr. Nibbs of Houstonu all the papers you received from me- I expect to be off before your reply could be received here, & to move to Texas next winter-in mean time any communication for me (other than these papers above refered to) should be sent to care of T[exan] Consul in N. 0. to be delivered to Ralie [ ?] Peyton Esqr J. B. LYNCH. Dr Stuart of Montgomery (Taylor's Guardian, & administrator of his father's estate attempted to persuade him to distroy the evidence of my claim on the estate by dropping his saddle bags "accidentally" into a creek, whether on the rationale that he might subsequently (had his advice been taken) prey [ ?] upon T. with more facility than he could upon me-on on [sic] the principle that as an accomplice to the act. he might legitimately claim his share of the proceeds. I cannot say. Neither however do I wish you to misapprehend me- I am perfectly aware that I had no claim upon yr exertions in my concerns,- & that it was quite optional with you whether or no you attended to my re- que$t & my opinion moreover is, npt. only that it is not incumbent upon you to devote yr time to the individual interest of any man whomsoever, not excepting yr own, but even that it would be at present a breach of duty in you to do so-& you may accordingly recollect that is . . . [illegible] at the time of sending you those papers any such expectations & merely requested you to place them in the hands of a competent agent to whom, & not to you, I of course addressed my intentions- but this has nothing to do 1 way or another with the present phases of the business, & cannot justify any 1, to whom the papers may have been comitted, in such procedure as above represented, were any man of common integrity to pi~k up a letter belono'ing to another with whose address he was acquamted he would of co~rse return it 'to the owner, & not, break it open. & . • .
""Henry- Smyth of Gah-eston·• written first and crossed out.
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