The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-02-10
The Governors OF Texas.

T4ullunu burke, anu ne aHnOunceG
therein never failing law 5of hui
man nature. Veneration for the
deeds, the sentiments and the minu-
test incidents in the lives of the men
to whose labors we owe our exist
ence and prosperity, is the-tie that
links rs with the past andethe chain
that must bind uste-the future. The
venerable associations that cluster
around the early years'of country's
history, and whose seftened radi-
ance casts grateful charm over
the memory of its first and fondest
aspirations. must ever constitute the
most sacred and cherished recollec-
tiOns of its national existence. Re
gard fOr,,the noble deeds OF its faith
ers, respect for. the grand achieve
ments Of its warriors and admira-
ton for the intellectual proves of
its statesmen are the first sentiments
which foster and direct a nations
youthful ambition, the continual
source of its manly vigOr. and. if il
should prematurely fall, these feel
ings clothe as with a drapery of
romance and fascination. IFS dilapi-
dated ruins, and shed Il beneficent
light over its departing glories. Ii
is, perhaps, one of the least attract
i've and most melancholy features of
popular government that ii treads
with ruthless Oblivion upon the
graves of those who have labored
and gone, and in the hustle of pres
ent necessities, ignores with almost
thankless derisiOn the victories and
achievements 0f a former genera
ton. In this age, and in this conn
try, patriotism has well nigh lost its
meaning save as an abstract virtue
of doubtful propriety, while propo-
sitiOn to commemorate by q per-
manent token the respect due to the
founders and builders of our gov
eminent and its fortunes. is very
generally dismissed with a homily
on the extravaganza of popular
gratitude. Amid such appa-
rent apathy of feeling, it Is re-
freshing TO meet with an Oc-
casional exhibition of surviving
regard for the traditions, memories
and trophies of the past. No more
conspicuous and praiseworthy in
stance of such regard has been seen
in Texas, than the message of Gov.
Roberts, lately transmitted to the
Legislature, recommending that the
State should purchase the portraits
of the Governors of Texas, now on
exhibition in the Capitol. 1t is sim
cerely to be hoped that this sugges-
ton will meet with favorable action
on the part of the Legislature. A
more proper and commendable ac-
QUESTION can scarcely be imagined.
The portraits are twenty in number,
beginning with Gov. Smith, first
provisional governor during the
early revolutionary struggles of the
colonists,a and including all the .subse-
quent executives, both of the Repub-
lie and State, to the present admin
istration. The artistic.eXecution of
this collection is beyond doubt
excellent and faithful. As the
observer stands before this
gallery of distinguished men,
famous in the military and civic an
nails of the state, whose impress up
on the legislative, judicial and politi-
cal history of Texas constitutes alike
their title to remembrance and the
monument of their fame, he cannot
fail to call to mind the chequered
and eventful incidents with which
they have been identified in the
short but fateful career of this great
commonwealth. Burnet, whose rug
ged manhood and bold, practical
Judgment carried the Republic
through the perils of its birth, and
directed its first footsteps OH the
pathway of national existence !;
Houston, whose sword carved out
an empire, and whose sagacity and
craftsmanship shaped its destinies
and guided its growth; Arson
Jones, the last president, whose
magnetic eloquence lent q romantic
splendor to the transition from re-
public to state; Henderson, one of
the best, as he was one of the wisest,
of men Hamilton, the Jupiter To-
mans of the Texas forum, the grand
eur of whose oratory threw a spell
over public assemblages and illu-
mined the halls of iustice-rhese
with Bell, Runnells, Murrah and
Clark among the dead, and Pease.
Lubbock, Throckmorton, Davis,
Coke, Hubbard and Roberts among
the living, are all portrayed with a
fidelity to nature and truthfnlness
of detail that stamp the artist mas
ter of his work. TO the accuracy
and life-likeness of the portraits of
those whom he has seen and known
the writer of this can most heartily
testify, while those familiar with
the originals of the entire collection
are strong in their praises of the
painters success and skill. Indeed
the labor and difficulty of the work
must have been immense, when it
is considered that in many instances
the only materials in the artists pos
session were old pictures, faded
with time, defaced by handling and
originally defective through the in
ferior photography of quarter of
century ago. From these mea-
ger and unsatisfactory sources,
coupled with the kind suggestions
and information of those who
had known the originals, he mas con-
structed series of portraits that no
one can fail to examine with inter
est, and admire with candid enthu-
siasm. If the pictures are worthy in
themselves, the painter is no less
worthy in the labor he has done and
hopes to do. If we are correctly in
formed, he is a Texan born and
bred, Injured to labor and struggling
for a livelihood and eminence in a
profession for which his conspicuous
talents have singularly fitted him,
and in which genius and ambition
may find no trivial or fleeing re-
wards. 1t is no illusion of the i'm
agination to cherish the hope and
belief that Texas may yet be the
home of all the arts, alike those
which adOrn and beautlfy, and those
which add wealth and comfort to
civilization; and it would be alike a
worthy, a patriotic and generous
act to reward and encourage
the first efforts of those among
her SONS who have shown
themselves willing and compe-
tent to worship at the shrine of
the MUSES.. But it is for their his
torical value as permanent posses
sions of importance and interest to
every future generation of Texans,
that we most earnestly desire their
purchase by the. state. One by one
the, mementoes and relies of the
prominent men and marked events
in our past history are being lost,
dissipated and forgotten, and we will
soon have lost forever links in the
annals of our growth and. progress
that, can never be recovered nor sup
nlied IA 'Inaiority of the fllustrious