Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/180

160 Texas. A commission, composed of Austin, Wharton, and Miller, was appointed to lay before the congress of Mexico a memorial setting forth the grievances of the people, and a petition for their relief. Austin was the only commissioner that went to Mexico. His arrival was at an inopportune time, the whole country being in a state of revolution. Under the circumstances the congress showed no disposition to listen to Texan complaints. Austin was put off from time to time with unfulfilled promises till he began to lose patience; still, unwilling to go back without trying every expedient, he remained in Mexico, but wrote a letter to the municipalities of Texas urging them to complete their organization of a state government. That letter was intercepted, and Austin was arrested at Saltillo, brought to Mexico and thrown into prison, and kept therein several months. During his imprisonment, the Mexican government despatched Colonel J. N. Almonte to visit Texas, and report his observations. In January 1835 he published a portion of his official report, which, though showing indifference and ignorance on the part of Mexico in regard to Texas, was still a link in the chain of historical evidence. He pretended that the political