Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-06-19

a pocket full Of Texas cedar and a sharp
krife, and thus equipped defied dulness and
care. He was really an adept at whiting,
cutting out all sorts of little objects, which
he gave away right and left to children
His masterpiece was a cross. Whenever
ne met a lady whom he partic ularly ad-
mired he made cross as another man
might have made poem, and with a gal
liant bow and speech, begged her to accept
it. Many of these crosses he cut out Will.
in his pew in the Washington Baptist
church.
The crowds which went to the church to
see Houston usually waited after the SER
mon to shake hands with him. He was
fond of these attentions from strangers,
and never failed. to be cordial. In the YES
ubule AS he went out he held a second re-
Ceptien for the colored people from the
galleries, who delighted to boast that they
had shaken his hand
His Religious Life.
Houston's interest in religious matters
increased yearly after he went to Washing
ton He took to reading religious books,
his favorite being Nelson on Infidelity."
So convinced was be of the value of this
work that he kept a stock of copies OH
hand to give to doubling friends Finally
he became persuaded that he should make
a public profession of religion and Join the
church. In 1854 he was immersed at In
dependence. Tex, and his return TO
Congress he united with the Washington
church he had SO long attended. That his
conversion was thorough his pastor
vouched for, telling the following as proof
Houston was to partake of his first COM
munion, and had asked the pastor if there
was anything he could do for him before
the rite was administered. General" re-
piled the minister, you know the aliena-
ton between you and brother w. "a sena-
tori You will meet at the Lords supper
next Sabbath evening; you ought not to
meet till that difficulty is settled. Now /
wish you to let me bring you two together
AFTER service SUNDAY mOrninV nj. H.
out word of attempt at justiiica ton on
either side i wish you to take him by tn.
hand, and say with all your heart that
you will forgive and forget and bury the
past, and that you wish him to do the
same, and hereafter to meet You as a
brother in Christ.
The fire. continues the minister in his
report of the affair, began to grow in his
eyes, his brow to knit, his teeth to clench
and his whole frame shook with the stru2-
gle or the old man within him: but in an
II slant the man. whose passion had been
terrible, indeed ungovernable, on so many
a bloody battlefield, was changed from the
lion into the lamb. He meekiy replied
Brother s., l will do it And what he
promised was done and with an air of ma
lesuc frankness and nobleness of soul
such as moved every beholder. From that
hour have never doubted that Gen. Hous-
ten was a man renewed by the Holy
Spirit"
Rare Social Qualities.
another feature of his life which attracted
attention. He was eminently companion
able, and the younger men particularly
adcred him. He always addressed those
he liked as Sonny and as a peculiar
mark of favor let them come freely to his
room at Wizards. There they wrote his
ietterS-he kept no secretary-franked his
documents and listened to his Stories ON
cool evenings he gathered in a company of
congenial friends, built great wood fire.
spread himself at full length on a Mexican
blanket on the hearth, and then talked late
into the night.
Sometimes he read these friends parts of
mis- weekly letters from his wife. Mrs
Houston was a woman of some literary
ability, and her letters to her husband
were long and carefully written, inspired
no doubt by a woman's laudable instinct
for arousing her husbands admiration, as
well as by noble desire Ito keep him
straight while he was away from her
Houston was very proud of these letters.
and read them to friends as special mark
OF confidence. He Srent a great deal of
time every week replying to them. The
whole of Sunday afternoon was regularly
given to this task, and a frequent feature
of the letter was a digest of the sermon
he had heard in the morning.
Or course, Houston was one of the con-
spicuouS figures in the hall of the Senate
He was not always an impressive figure
there, for he lost immensely in dignity by
keeping his chair tilted back and his feet
on his desk; nor was he often an interest
Ing speaker. 1t was only when deeply
aroused that he became eloquent On the
Indian question which. after Texas. was
the subject dearest to his heart, he spoke
most entertainingiy, for he filled his
speeches with personal experiences and OBJ
servations. Sometimes these talks were of
blood-curdling interest; again they were
bitter in their sarcasm on the injustice and
falsehood with which the whites had re-
paid the good faith of the reds Nothing
in Houston's work for the Indians was
dian talks and letters. He initiated their
own fgurative language in his communi-