The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1 Page: 10
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10
Laws, Orders and Contracts
Thus, eight months after his arrival in the capital, Austin had the
satisfaction of finding himself advanced one step; a colonisation law was
enacted and promulgated. The next step was to procure the despatch
of his business from the executive, a task which at first promised to be
almost as' difficult to accomplish as the other had been, owing to the
excitement which was daily becoming more open and manifest, against
the arbitrary proceedings of the emperor, which portended another revo-
lution, and of course, a further suspension of all business of an individual
nature. Fortunately, however, the minister of exterior and interior re-
lations, Don Jose Manuel Herrera, and the sub-minister of the same
department, Don Andres Quintana, were both men of liberal and en-
lightened principles, and, so far as the then existing state of politics
would permit, they were favorable to the emigration of foreigners. The
despatch of individual affairs appertaining to the interior, or home de-
partment, was principally confided to the sub-minister, Quintana. The
captain general of the internal provinces, Don Anastacio Bustamente,
(now vice president of the nation,) within whose command Texas was
included, also took a very liberal and enlightened view of the advantages
which would result to the nation, from settling the wilderness of Texas,
to which he was very favorably inclined: also, a number of the members
of the Junta Instituyente, and of the council of state, were favorably
disposed towards the enterprise: added to all of which, the claims of
Austin, on the attention and justice of government, were strong and in-
controvertible. He came into Texas with the emigrant settlers, in vir-
tue of a permission, legally granted to his father, by the competent
Spanish authorities, previous to the change of government; he was also
officially conducted into the country, by a ‘commissioner, expressly ap-
pointed by the governor of Texas, for that purpose; and on his arrival
at the capital of that province, he was officially received, and recognised
by governor Antonia Martinez, after the change of government; and of-
ficially authorized by that functionary of the independent Mexican nation,
to proceed with the settlement; the amount of land to be distributed to
each settler was stipulated; and he, (Austin,) was appointed to admin-
ister, provisionally, the local government of the new settlement. Fie
had also been detained nearly a year in Mexico, on this business. These
circumstances enabled him to bring the matter before the council of
state, in a shape which procured its speedy and favorable despatch, by.
that body, who reported their opinion relative to it, on the 14th of Jan-
uary; and on the 18th of February, 1823, the minister Andres Quintana,
issued the emperor’s final decree on the subject. This decree was con-
formable, in general, to the advice given to the emperor, by the council,
in their report, though not exactly, in every particular.
The great object which took Austin to Mexico being accomplished,
he made preparation to depart immediately for Texas, and intended
to have started on the 23d of February, but, previous to that day in-
formation reached the city, relative to the progress of the revolution
against the emperor which convinced all reflecting men, that a great
political change of some kind was near at hand.
On the 2d December, Gen. Santa Ana, who commanded at Vera Cruz,
raised the standard of opposition to the arbitrary proceedings of Itur-
bide, and on the 6th, in union with the civil authorities of that city,
he published a “plan;” the basis of which was the re-union of the same
(10)
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Gammel, Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen. The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1, book, 1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5872/m1/18/?rotate=90: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .