Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/372

 That the ministers of General Arista played their parts with fidelity to their instructions, I have no doubt; also that all the information that could be derived in relation to the trading company was faithfully transmitted to the Government of Mexico. Nor do I doubt but that the population of the northern parts of your country, so soon as the intelligence was received, were thrown into the utmost consternation, and a nation numbering eight millions of people, inhabiting "valleys, mountains, towns, and large cities," "by so many titles respectable," was convulsed at the apprehended approach of three hundred Texan traders! But what has been the sequel of this expedition? On their approach to the settlements of the Rio Grande they obtained supplies from the inhabitants, not as a hostile and marauding party, but they paid a valuable consideration for every supply they obtained. They were met by the Mexican authorities with overtures of peace, assurances of friendship, and pledges of security, provided they would give up their arms for the purpose of tranquillizing the Mexican population. Detached, as the company was, into parties remote from each other, and deluded by pledges, they acquiesced in the wishes of the authorities of the country, thereby evincing to them that they had no disposition to disturb the tranquillity of the inhabitants, and that their objects were pacific. But no sooner were they in the power of the authorities than they were stripped of their clothing, deprived of everything valuable, treated in the most barbarous manner, and marched like convicts to the capital of Mexico. On their route every act of inhumanity, cruelty, and hatred was evinced. When their sick and helpless condition required the assistance of Christian charity and humanity, it was denied them. They were barbarously shot, their bodies mangled, and their corpses left unburied. The butchery of McAllister, Galphin, Yates, and others, appeal to Heaven and this nation for retribution upon the heads of their inhuman murderers. You may allege that you did not authorize the perpetration of these outrages, committed upon men who had violated no rule of law known to this civilized age. This will be no excuse for you. Your sanction of these acts is as culpable as their perpetration was degrading to their authors. Their detention as prisoners by you may gratify the malignity of little minds; but the just, the chivalric, the brave, and the generous of all nations may pity, but must despise your conduct. Had it not been for the faithless professions tendered to them, and their too ready belief, they could have maintained their position against all the forces of northern Mexico, and, if necessary, could have made good their retreat to their homes, defying the "generous effort of the people of New Mexico." Your conduct on this occasion will present your humanity and sense of propriety in very awkward contrast with the treatment extended to you and your followers after the victory of San Jacinto, being not, as you suppose, one of the "freaks of fortune," but one of the accompaniments of that destiny which will mark the course of Texas until the difficulties between the two countries shall be satisfactorily adjusted.

But you declare that you will not relax your exertions until you have subjugated Texas; that you "have weighed its possible value," and that you are perfectly aware of the magnitude of the task which you have undertaken; that you "will not permit a colossus within the limits of Mexico"; that our title is that of "theft and usurpation," and that "the honor of the Mexican nation " demands