Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1870-03-12

si"Se as follows
Senator's and Representatives ofths
State or Ierds
| have been invited by your kind
ness to address you upon this Oooa-
SION and permit mo 10 say, in can
dor, that If | said | was not excited
| should state that which was un.
true. | have oilen addressed audi
enees Of all grades aud upon all mat
ters that have been common 10 our
Slatei yet this, to me, is the proud
Get moment of my life. applause }
TO whom am | addressing myself
on this occasion ? ] already OBJ,
served at the outset that II was to
you, Senators and Representatives,
Who aro they, and what arc they 2
/ feel proud, | could not but feel so,
from the first moment | made your
acquaintance, Many of you | have
known for many years great
number, however, | never saw, or
perhaps heard OF before, save from
the names published rs elected Ro.
representatives. of the State. ! love
to study man. 1t has been n fond
study of mine from my youth. l
love to look at the faces Of humanity.
| observe the walk of an Individual.
| draw conclusions from these Oh
servations. Permit me to say, gen.
tlemcn, that ] have long partici-
patcd in your lcgislations; | say il
not with egotism, but simply to
make the point | will arrive at very
shortly. In doing so, / have ncces-
sarily mingled with many legisla-
tors from year to year. lam CRATE.
ful that was enabled to do so, and
III live, and / expect 10 say il again,
| declare that this is tho most sober
and best behaved representation
that Texas has ever sent to the city
Of Austin. (Applausc.) L have
seen intoXication oh the part of
members of either the one or the
other branch of the Legislature in
years gone by, though | say it in no
disparagement to former colleagues
with whom l have spent many plea
SAINT hours.
1t is known to every individual
who is familiar with the history of
the State and its legislation, that l
have ever been liberal upon the sub
,cct Of internal improvements. ]
do not know any reason why |
should retrace my steps, or act diff
ferently in my future course. ZAP
plause.) Nothing administers to
the comforts Of civilized man, or
tends to develop the interests ofany
country so readily as internal i'm
provcmcnt. Permit me to remark
Just in this connection that | was
raised as an advocate Of internal
improvements. / was in the State
Convention of 1866, and the consti-
tuition we then presented had a pro-
hibition dcpriving the State from
giving aid in any way, manner or
shape, towards internal improve
ments. 1 struggled hard in that
convention to strike it out. l did
not succeed. In the convention last
held the constitution was reported
with the same prohibition, and were
it not for that Texas would blossom
like the rose. (Applause.) might
differ with some distinguished gen
tlemen upon some parts of our con-
stitution. This is no time to do it,
nor is it necessary. | have no hes
itancy in saying that my honorable
friend and myself will get along and
act harmoniously together like bro
Tiers. (Applause.) l can say this
to you: excuse me if you please, if
| do so now in advance.
1 hav6 spoken of the sobricty
which has characterized the session
of this Legislature. What would
you have done in the election OF
your representatives, who are des.
tined to take at an early period
their seats in the Rroudest body of
this Union, that falls to the lot OF
man? Are they boys that you have
selected =? The response is, they
are not. They are citizens of the
State of Texas whose interests are
identified with 1t in every case, ana
have been for more than quarter
of century and l am told by my
respected friend that, notwithstand-
ing he has been in Texas nearly
thirty years, he has never taken the
first drop of Intoxicating spirits
(Applause) Your humble servant
can tell you that he too has not
taken the first dram in this State.
(Appause and laughter.) We never
chew tobacco nor smoke cigars
(Applause and laughter) l hope
these condolences will be evidences
that we have at least acted with
sobriety so far, and that you have
made your selections properly. We
trust that we shall not prove rcmiss
or disappoint your fond expectations
i'm the iuture. l further wish to de-
clare that, upon oil occasions in the
courts of the country where it has
been my fortune to mingle with the
young members of the bar, | have
always been extremely anxious that
they should succeed. 1havc always
been anxious to buoy them up.
/ do not undertake improperly to
lecture my young fl lends. 1t is not
my wish to do SO to your disadvan-
tage. But the lesson l give you is
You see tonight tho position in
which myself and. my friend are
placed. You know by whom we
are place. in that position. You
have our lives before you. We have
been steady men. Will you accept
the idea? You have conferred upon
us the highest position known to an
I American citizen. If we had been
J 4 4 4 A /.