The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1889-02-28
CONTINUED from Ninth Page


befallen it might have been averted by al
adherence to his wise and prudent coun
sells. The world has offered but few ex
amples of superior intelligence ant
sagacity, and as far see
ing, disinterested, and intelligent
philanthropy, his long suffering for the
veal ot others, his patient endurance
under persecution, his benevolent forgive
ness of il iuries, and his final sacrifice oil
health, happiness and life in the service
of his country, all conspire to place him
without rival amoag the fret of patriots
and the best of men,"
When these two presidents of the re.
public unite in according to Austin such
proud prominence 10 Texas, no man OF
to-day can question his title as "The
Father of Texas" without announcing his
own Ignorance.
1t is not strange that Houston should
have become the first president of the
republic. Fresh from the victory of San
Jscinto, he became the idol of the people,
The laurel placed by victory on the brow
of a successful chief dims with its radiant
sheen the bays that crown the statesman.
But in Austin's heart there was no jeal-
ousy, and when Houston surveyed the men
around him for secretary of state, Rusk,
Henderson, the Whartons and Lamar
we're all passed by and Austin selected
who can with alacrity to his side. But
the stricken eagle was hurrying to his
last rest; the chains and cold walls of a
Mexican dungeon had done their work
and Austin, who lived to see the assassins
tbs soil of Texas, calmly closed, Cd the 9th
day o. December, A. d. 1886, at ColumbiP,
his earthly pilgrimage.
HOUSTON AND AUSTIN.
There is one sad parallel in the lives of
Austin and Houston: Each was, to de-
gree, the victim of his own conservatism.
The fear of Austin's conservatism in 1886
alone deprived him of the presidency
HOuston's conservatism in 1861 drove him
from the gubernatOrial chair when Texas
had become mighty state. saw him walk
sadly but with crest unbowed from the
capitol when he was deposed by the seces-
zion convention of 1861, because he would
not sanction policy which would launch
Texas in an unequal contest with sister
states.
lam painfully conscious of my inability
to do justice to the memory of Stephen f.
Austin. He who could for fourteen years
calm the turbulent pioneers of the prai-
ries and the wilderness, with no other
weapon than their love and respect for
him, was no ordinary man.
He who was, in the beginning of a des-
perate revolution, selected by such men as
Presidents Burnet, Burleson, Ceilings
worth, Rusk, Bowie, Travis and Fannin as
their leader, must have been remarkable
man.
SUMMARY OF DIFFICULTIES.
He came to this fair land, not with
armed men nor with wealth to purchase
dominion, but in the majesty of pure
manhood he sought and obtained auhtor-
ity to extend the area of civilization by
the conquests of peace and industry. He
came not only unheralded by friends and
unsupported by government, but warned |
by the bleaching bones of his |
unburied countrymen that race prejudice |
would watch the progress of his |
colony with distrust and suspicion. And |
yet with such consummate wisdom and dis |
erection did he move forward to accom-
plish his lofty mission, that while conf
dence in the man supplanted in the breasts |
of the Mexican chiefs their hereditary |
distrust of his race, his American follow
ers idolized him and obeyed without MUIR
No stable government protected his
colonies; they were planted in the midst
of contending factions and of civil war.
No friendly force stood between the
pioneer and savage hordes; for the hand
that held the pillow was the only protector
for the family against the scalping knife
and tomahawk. History furnishes no
parallel of peaceful colony successfully
established in the midst of such compli-
Gated dangers. The high intelligence and
unselfish devotion of the great empires
sario alone preserved his followers. When
The true history of Texas is written, it will
be made manifest that the separate
nationality of Texas was the pole star that
guided him, and that his caution, under
which the turbulent spirits around him
sometimes chafed, more than once saved
The colonies from ruin.
HIS LOVE FOR TEXAS AND PRIVATE CHARACTER
He who never knew the love of wife or
child lavished the affections of a noble
nature on the land of his adoption.
Writing to General Gaines in 1886 he said:
The prosperity of Texas has been the
object of my lsbors, the idol of my exist
noe; 1t has assumed the character of a
eligioD for the guidance of my thoughts q
md actions of fifteen years, superior to all !
,ecuniary or personal views of any kind"
little children loved him and mothers
ooked up to him as at once their bene- \
actor and preserver. The rude hunters {
md pioneers whose lands he had secured
him to their cabins and re- ]
DICED when he came. once heard Colo ?
lei Frank johnson say that Stephen F. p
austin had home in the cabin of every &
ettler. His letters written to his kindred o
uring the dark days of revolution reveal
he inner man and show a heart beating :
'arm with the impulsive love of a boy.
have enjoyed the privilege of reading
ia unpublished correspondence with his
elatives and as the friend and
ne OF the literary executors Of n
is OLD companion in arms, Col y
mel Frank johnson, have also had the !
neans of knowing well the private life of i
tanhan T., III la