The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume V

468

TEXAS STATE LrnnARY

duties of your office. was much· needed.

From all that I can gather your presence there

I wish to call your attention to the subject of the land you sol<l to Griffith on Copano Bay. Griffith died, as you may have heard, con~ siderably in default as cashier in the Custom house while I had charge of it, and it has fallen on me to make it good. This I have done, & the only chance of remuneration left me is to administer on his estate. Having done so it is now both my duty and interest to make the most of it. I must therefore beg of you to perfect his title to this land as soon as possible and put me in possession of it. While you are making out this title you may also remember the two hundred acres which I was to ha"e agreeably to our last conversation. Reuben made a return of your Survey to the Genl. Land office about a year ago. There being no board of Commissioners, at that time, in the County where the land lies, the survey was not of course put on record in the office below, & no certificate of payment of Uovt. d u0:-: accompanies the survey. It will be necessary therefore, if you have not already done it, to call at the Genl. Land office & pay the dues in order to get a patent. · I should be highly gratified if Alexander could obtain some diplo- matic station in which he could do some service to the Country & credit to himself. I think I am not vain when I suppose him better qualified to fill such a place than * * * I shall rest satisfied however that, if he is not called on for any such purpose, it will be because, all cir- cumstances considered, you thought it inexpedient. May I tax you so much as to send me a letter written by your own hands about matters and things in general. When you sit down to write, just write on to the end of the sheet. Such a thing would revive me as much as a shower of rain in a long dry season. This will be handed you by Capt Pillaus a young gentleman worthy of your friendship. Yours in truth & sincerity W. ROBERTS f Addressed:] Confidential To his Excellency M. B. Lamar Austin [Endorsed:] W. Roberts Galveston April 12th 1841 No. 2005. LEWIS l\f. H. WASHINGTON TO LAMAR Nashville [Texas] April 20th 1841. MY ESTEEMED FRIEND;- It is with the most pleasurable feelings that I sit down to congratu- late you, [o]n the recover~• of )'Our health, and your resumption of the helm of state. I do not remember of ever having been more deeply gratified in the whole course of my life, than I was when I perused the complimentary not~ ad?ressed t? yourself ~y ,sundry. gentlemen of Austin on your arrival m that City. It convmces me sir, of the truth of the 'polit.ical adage, that."a pub~ic r_uler, who i? time~ of prevailing liceutiouslless and commotion, mamtams unblemished vntue, ancl un- corrupted int~<Yritv-who stands firm by what is most politic and just, amidst the hu~rnlts of party faction, alld opposition; despising ground- less censure and reproach; disdaining all compliance with. public opinion, when that opinion is inimical to public good-and who 1s never

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