Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-27
ward. his eapItulatIon was only a auss-

ward, MS capltulatI0n was only q QueS-
ton of time
COMMISSIONER TO OMITTED STATES.
Desperate and Unequal war WAS in the
prospective and help was needed from
the United States On receiving that half
the destiny of Texas hinged. Their ablest
men were needed for the work Again
ali eyes turned to Austin, and with Wharf
| ton, and Branch, and Archer, he was
chosen a commissioner to the United
States and hurried forward men, muni-
lions of war and money. He never
sought or desired military fame. When
notified by the consultation that he was
/ needed as a commissioner of the states
when Gen. Coss was penned up, and his
capitnlation sure, no murmur escaped
4 his lips. He wrote 20 the consultation,
4 am at all times ready to serve Texas
in any capacity IL which l can be useful, ,
but should l leave at once some prudence
will be necessary TO keep this army
together -
HIS BETRAYAL.
From May 1888, to July, 1886, every
day of Austin S life was given to the
state. Journeying TO and from the
! Mexican capital; urging there the
separate statehood of Texas-suffering
! in their dungeons, chairman of the COM
mittee of public safety, commanding the
army, soliciting aid from the states,
such were his employments. During
that time he had blindly trusted one who
! was associated with him in land interests
and never until just before mis- death, in
| 1886, did be discover that his name had
| been nsed by that associate in the ac-
| QUESTION of lands by means that he did
not approve Writing to his brother
in-law just before his death and re-
ferring to the incident, he said: 'sSinee
these men have betrayed me and turned
land jobbers, who shall l trust? 1 once
thought all men were honest until they
were proven to be dishonest, - and then
he said that this discovery almost in
dueed him to reverse the rule.
THE FATHER OF TEXAS.
We have been increasing in Texas so
much faster than we could assimilate it,
that the question is often asked from ig-
norance, what did Austin do that should
entitle him to be called the father of
Texas? Let Gems Houston and Lamar,
two presidents of the republic, answer:
On the floor of the American senate on
the lst day of August, 1854, Gen. Hous-
ton said: 'tStephen Z. Austin was the
father of Texas. This is a designation
justly accorded him, as will be testified
to by every man who is acquainted with
the primative history of Texas or its
progress as long az he lived Stephen T.
Austin is entitled to that honor. 1t is
due to his friends to whom his memory is
most dear and sacred. His posterity will
never know the worth of Stephen F..
Austin, the priYations he endured. the
enterprise he possessed, his undying zeal,
his ardent devotion to Texas and its in
terests, and his future hopes connected
with its glorious destiny
Gen. Lamar said: The claims of
Gen. Austin ON the affections of the peo-
pie of Texas are of the strongest kind.
He was not only the founder of the re-
public, but scarcely blessing has flowed
to our country which might not be fairly
attributed to his unwearied exertion for
its welfare, whilst almost every calamity
which has befallen it might have been
averted by an adherence to his wise and
prudent counsels The world has afforded
but few examples Of superior intelligence
and sagacity and as for disinterested
and intelligent philantrophy, his long
suffering for the veal of others, his pa
tient endurance under persecution, his
benevolent forgiveness of injuries and
his final sacrifice of health, wealth, hap
piness and life in the service of his coun-
try, all eonspire to place him without a
rival among the first of patriots and the
best of men -
When these. two presidents of the re-
public unite in according to Austin such
proud pre-eminence in Texas, no man of
to-day can question his title as the father
of Texas without announcing his own ig-
noranee.
1t is not strange that Houston should
have been the first president of the re-
7111I11 in fhe1 inf Of 60
Jacinto 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 is Austin S heart there was no jeal-
ousy, and when Houston surveyed the
men around him for a secretary of state,
Rusk Henderson, the Whartons and La
mar were all passed by and Austin Sc
lected, who came with alacrity to his
side. But the stricken eagle was hurry
ing to his last rest-the chains and cold
walls of q Mexican dungeon had done
their work, and Austin, who lived to see
the lassassins of the constitution of IA
driven from the soil of Texas, on the 9th
day of December, 1886, calmly closed his
earthly pilgrimage.
HOUSTON AND AUSTIN.
There is one sad parallel in the lives of
anu Gdcu WIS 10 u u6-
gree the victim of his conservatism The
fear of Austin s conservatism in 1886
alone deprived him of the presidency.
Houston 8. conservatism in 1861 drove
him from the gubernatorial char, when
Texas had become mighty state. saw
him walk sadly but with crest unbowed
from the capitol, when ne was deposed
by the secession convention of 1861, be-.
cause he would not sanction policy
which would launch Texas in an unequal
contest with sister states.
I am painfully conscious of my ina
bility to do justice to the memory of
Stephen F Austin. He who could calm
for fourteen years the turbulent spirits of
The prairie and the wilderness with no
other weapon than their love and respect |
for him, was no ordinary man. He who
in the first desperate conflict of legisla-
tions was selected by such men as Presi-
dent Burnet, Burleson, Colingsworth, |
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 I
manhood he sought and obtained author
ity to extend the area of fertilization
-