CHAPTER XXII.
As Houston had preserved his equanimity in the House when the executive administration on the 4th March, 1825, passed from the hand of President Monroe to that of Mr. Adams, so his equanimity was far from being disturbed when Mr. Polk's administration was succeeded by that of the General whom he had been foremost in commending for his Mexican campaign. His first act in the Thirty-first Congress, which met Dec. 3, 1849, brought out Houston's character and principles in an entirely new field.
In this Congress Millard Fillmore, as Vice-President, presided in the Senate until the death of Gen. Taylor, July 9, 1850, when W. R. King, of Alabama, made Vice-President in the election of 1852, was chosen permanent President pro ton. There came also into the Senate, as men of mark, J. Clemens of Alabama, W. H. Seward of New York, Gen. Shields of Illinois, and R. C. Winthrop of Massachusetts; while the admission of California brought in, after a long session, two Senators from California, J. C. Fremont and W. M. Gwinn, who took their seats in September, 1850, the session lasting till September 30th. In the House, Howell Cobb, of Georgia, was Speaker.
On the 20th December, 1849, Houston was unexpectedly called to support a resolution inviting Father Mathew, the Catholic Irish apostle of temperance, to a seat on the floor of the Senate. While some manifestly wished to court Irish votes, and many sought occasion to be known as advocates of abstinence from intoxicants, Houston was called out by the fact that, in an address made in New England, Father Mathew had opposed slavery. Houston said, addressing the presiding officer:
"I, sir, am a disciple of temperance advocates. I needed the discipline of reformation, and I embraced it. I am proud upon this floor to proclaim it, sir. I could enforce the example upon every American heart that influences or is influenced by filial affection, conjugal love, or parental tenderness." He scorned the suggestion that Father Mathew had once spoken against slavery.
On the 14th January, 1850, Houston supported a resolution coming from the House of Representatives, providing that if the in-
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