The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 248
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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248
Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
most excellent vice-president and others concerning the delay in
attending to the petitions of Texas.
Unfortunately his arguments were understood in an entirely dif-
ferent sense from that in which he naturally would have spoken
and intended and desired to speak; and he was accused of having
expressed himself with threats. There have been very false re-
ports in the public papers in regard to this point, charging Austin
with having insulted the government. Such charges are the re-
sult of having misinterpreted appearances; for it seems that this
happens by some fatal chance in everything relative to Texas. An
explanation of this matter certainly is due to the public and to the
commissioner of Texas, in order to enable impartial men, in the
light of the circumstances, to form a correct judgment.
Austin said to the government in substance, but, according to
his judgment, respectfully, that in his opinion there would be an
overthrow of order in Texas at the end of the year if at least
some remedies were not applied for the troubles there, because the
inhabitants, in their urgent, keen, and extreme distress, had taken
the position that, if the government would or could not attend to
their needs, they would act for themselves.
Now suppose the fact to have been as Austin represented and
believed it to be. As a Mexican citizen and as a commissioner of
Texas appointed to represent the truth, was it his duty to state it
frankly and openly, or not? Would he have complied with this
duty by concealing the dangers with courtly words and deceiving
the government with a sense of security in regard to the tran-
quility of Texas?
The earnest desire and the great concern that Austin felt at
that time for the early consummation of these affairs may perhaps
have made him overstep, in his manner of expressing himself, the
rigid formalities of policy and etiquette, and in spite of the fact
that his recollections in the matter absolve him from this fault,
which truly is very foreign to his character, it must be assumed
that it was so, because, though what he said gave rise to offense
and irritation at the time, afterwards when all was calm it pro-
duced a different effect through an explanation of his intentions
and true object. Impartial men, and even those who made the
charges, will form their own opinion; before Austin left Mexico
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905, periodical, 1905; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101033/m1/255/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.