Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/60

return to Texas, But while on his way home he was pursued by order of the Government, carried back to the City of Mexico, and there thrown into a dungeon, where he passed many months of gloom and suffering. A purer patriot never trod Texan soil. Amiable, enlightened, excellent, he was respected and beloved by the colonists, and ever will his incorruptible virtues and unsullied fame be treasured by the people of Texas. The stories of his sufferings in his long imprisonment reached Texas, and a deep sensation was produced everywhere. The only press in Texas, then located at Brazoria, gave utterance to the indignation of the colonists; which was roused to the rage of a single man. The population of Texas did not at that time exceed 20,000 souls; and yet indiscreetly they spoke of the wrongs which they endured, and the rights secured to them under the Constitution of 1824. These unrestrained ebullitions of feeling were likely to plunge Texas into a sanguinary struggle with Mexico before she was prepared for such a struggle. Houston, as eager as any man for the political redemption of Texas, discouraged these unwise developments of feeling. Without the form of a trial, with no definite accusation brought against him, Austin had been thrown into a prison. Santa Anna had great confidence in Austin. On all occasions Austin had been loyal to recognized principles, and was the friend of order under all circumstances in Texas. Carrying out the design of his father, Moses Austin, who died in the incipiency of the colony, he had migrated with 300 families, colonists, and was the first to introduce the materials of the magnificent political structure which presented subsequently such form and beauty. Liberated at length by Santa Anna, and permitted to return home, he found public indignation aroused and expressed freely in municipal meetings. But when few, if any, orderly meetings were meditating extreme measures, and public feeling against him was subsiding, Santa Anna proved manifestly that he could be satisfied with nothing short of absolute power.