The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899 Page: 183

THE QUARTERLY
OF THE
TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Vol. II. JANUARY, 1899. No. 3.
The Publication Committee disclaims responsibility for views expressed by contributors
to the Quarterly.
THE "PRISON JOURNAL" OF STEPHEN F. AUSTIN.
[This hitherto unpublished private diary appears in THE QUARTERLY by
the kind permission of Col. Guy M. Bryan, who, as all old Texans know, is
a nephew of Stephen F. Austin. It follows closely a copy in possession of
Colonel Bryan made by his brother, Moses Austin Bryan, from the original,
which was written by Austin in pencil in a small blank book that he man-
aged to conceal when he was searched at the time of his incarceration.
The matter at the end refers to a project which Austin succeeded in ac-
complishing while he was in Mexico, and which was in fact the establish-
ment of the first public mail route between the Mexican Republic and the
United States. This matter is written without a date on the back of the
last page of the copy.
Col. Bryan says that Austin's criticism of the Catholic church should be
taken as referring not to the church in general, but to the form of Catholi-
cism then prevailing in Mexico.
The italicized title given below is written in ink on the cover of the MS.,
except the explanatory words, "private " and "before confinement and,"
which are added by Col. Bryan. Under this title on the MS. are penciled
the words: "Three months in the ex-Inquisition & not allowed to speak
to any one, one year in the Prison of the Acordada, and the balance of the
time with the City of Mexico for his limits, under bond, and was finally
released without trial under a general amnesty law passed by the Congress. "
This title and the penciled addition would appear to be original with Moses
Austin Bryan.-EDIToR QUARTERLY.]