The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 426

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

five years ago! and then treated as humbugs! and their author
ridiculed as a visionary projector! ... Five and twenty years ago,
I put these two balls in motion! Solitary and alone I did it!
Millions now roll them forward!" Then in February, 1845,
Benton and his friends agreed to a climactic joint resolution,
giving the President his choice between the Tyler-Calhoun-House
of Representatives annexation offer and Benton's own scheme
for terms of admission and cession to be arranged by negotiation.
Mexico's acceptance of annexation might not be essential, Benton
granted, but no one should assume "her assent to a new boundary
line to be unnecessary." When John Tyler acted before Polk came
into office, and when the House plan was picked over Benton's
alternative, the Benton faction charged that private commitments
had been violated. But, as Chambers succinctly states, "the basic
decision had been made" and "without the votes of Benton and
his followers, no Texas bill could have been passed."
Old Bullion Benton has almost no defects. The only serious
one relates to the index, which omits a number of important
references. In choice of words, in the weighing of evidence, in the
listing of sources, in compression and expansion where each is
needed, the book should satisfy the exacting standards and discrim-
inating judgments of experts. In an age when too many writers
rush their studies to premature publication, Mr. Chambers has
been wise in taking his time-and the tribute of imitation should
be paid him. Young biographers, with works in progress, can
hardly do better than make this volume a model for their own
endeavors. For here Southwesterners and other Americans will
discover one of the finest recent additions to their biographical
literature.
HOLMAN HAMILTON
University of Kentucky
The Supreme Court Speaks. By Jerre S. Williams. Austin (Uni-
versity of Texas Press), 1956. Pp. 484. $5.95.
This book contains a fine selection of opinions from the great
decisions of the Supreme Court. Organized on a historical basis,
the book is divided into parts which are in turn subdivided into

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