Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/583

 evidence of an old Mexican dotard, that Judge Watrous, in his answer to the committee of investigation, has pointed with an air of triumph for his vindication, and for the proof of the genuineness of the forged power of attorney, and as "placing it beyond all controversy or debate." He (Watrous) is certainly more to be execrated for the defiance of truth and of decency, in endeavoring to impose such a conclusion upon the committee, than the poor Mexican driveller, who was seduced and moulded to his purpose by bribery.

To cap the climax of effrontery exhibited in the parade made of old Gonzales' testimony, but one circumstance was wanting, and that seems to have been supplied by that useful creature, John Treanor. At the same examination before the commissioner at New Orleans, he is actually introduced to testify to the respectability of the deponent, Gonzales. The further wonder appears that he gets his information from Hewitson.

And as to Hewitson's former deposition, to the genuineness of the power of attorney, a few words just here may dispose of the question of veracity, generally, of his statements. He had sworn, in the deposition at Galveston, that Gonzales was dead. Yet it appears from the testimony that Gonzales and himself lived in the same town, and were well acquainted with each other, "acquaintances of long standing!" It is not necessary to canvass the truth of Mr. Hewitson's statement after this revelation.

However, the monstrous contradiction introduced here affords another illustration of the boldness of Judge Watrous and his confederates in pressing the ends of their conspiracy. In 1855, Hewitson, who was, as I have stated, one of the heaviest suitors in Watrous' court, is at Galveston. At that time the Lapsley cases are in transitu, and are filed and tried, within sixty days, at New Orleans. In this emergency, it suited the purposes of Judge Watrous and his confederates, that Hewitson should come forward and swear that his townsman and neighbor was dead. Yet a little while after, it suiting their purposes, they have the extreme and almost incredible effrontery to introduce the formerly dead townsman and neighbor as a living witness, under a certificate of respectability obtained from Hewitson himself. Can there be any defiance of truth more extreme, more unblushing, and more revolting in its shamelessness than this?

So far, I have followed with patience the general narrative of this stupendous and far-reaching conspiracy, through its windings and devices. I have done this to show the ramifications of the plot, and to illustrate the boldness of the actors. That boldness I have shown to be especially displayed in the desperate attempts made to impose upon the courts a forged power of attorney, in the procurement and benefits of which forgery Judge Watrous was largely interested.

However, there is one simple and summary view of the whole matter, that to my mind is so conclusive of the fraud of the parties in the La Vega land transactions, that I can not conceive how a rational mind can require further proof of, or remain in doubt with respect to, the existence of corruption among the parties to the sale of this land. I will briefly express this view, and 1 will challenge upon it the judgment of this honorable body, whether there was fairness or fraud in the transaction,

I refer to the circumstance of the monstrous inequality between the