MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Is A Great Mistake, But It Has Arisen From

The False Reports And Unfounded aspersions Of The Texans, As To The

Result Of Many Of Their Engagements. I Can Boldly Assert (Although

Opposed to Them) That There Is Not A Braver Individual In the World Than

The Mexican; In my Opinion, Far Superior To The Texan, Although Probably

Not Equal To Him In the Knowledge And Use Of Firearms.

 

 

 

One Great Cause Of The Mexican Army Having Occasionally Met With Defeat

Is That The Mexicans, Who Are Of The Oldest And Best Castile Blood,

Retain The Pride Of The Spanish Race To An Absurd Degree. The Sons Of

The Old Nobility Are Appointed as Officers; They Learn Nothing, Know

Nothing Of Military Tactics--They Know How To Die Bravely, And That

Is All.

 

 

 

The Battle Of St. Jacinta, Which Decided the Separation Of Texas, Has

Been Greatly Cried up By The Texans; The Fact Is, It Was No Battle At

All. The Mexicans Were Commanded by Santa Anna, Who Has Great Military

Talent, And The Mexicans Reposed full Confidence In him. Santa Anna

Feeling Very Unwell, Went To A Farm-House, At A Small Distance, To

Recover Himself, And Was Captured by Half-A-Dozen Texan Robbers, Who

Took Him On To The Texan Army.

 

 

 

The Loss Of The General With The Knowledge That There Was No One Fit To

Supply His Place, Dispirited the Mexicans, And They Retreated; But Since

That Time They Have Proved to The Texans How Insecure They Are, Even At

This Moment England And Other European Governments Have Thought Proper,

Very Hastily, To Recognize Texas, But Mexico Has Not, And Will Not.

 

 

 

The Expedition To Santa Fe, By Which The Texans Broke The Peace,

Occurred in the Autumn Of 1841; The Mexican Army Entered texas In the

Spring Of 1842, Sweeping Everything Before Them, From San Antonio De

Bejar To The Colorado; But The Texans Had Sent Emissaries To Yucatan, To

Induce That Province To Declare Its Independence. The War In yucatan

Obliged the Mexican Army To March Back In that Direction To Quell The

Insurrection, Which It Did, And Then Returned to Texas, And Again Took

Possession Of San Antonio De Bejar In september Of The Same Year, Taking

Many Prisoners Of Consequence Away With Them.

 

 

 

It Was The Intention Of The Mexicans To Have Returned to Texas In the

Spring Of The Year, But Fresh Disturbances In yucatan Prevented santa

Anna From Executing His Projects. Texas Is, Therefore, By No Means

Secure, Its Population Is Decreasing, And Those Who Had Respectability

Attached to Their Character Have Left It. I Hardly Need observe That The

Texan National Debt, Now Amounting To Thirteen Millions Of Dollars, May,

For Many Reasons, Turn Out To Be Not A Very Profitable Investment[21].

 

 

 

[Footnote 21: Perhaps The English Reader Will Find It Extraordinary That

Santa Anna, Once Freed from His Captivity, Should Not Have Re-Entered

Texas With An Overwhelming Force. The Reason Is Very Simple: Bustamente

Was A Rival Of Santa Anna For The Presidency; The General'S Absence

Allowed him To Intrigue, And When The News Reached the Capital That

Santa Anna Had Fallen A Prisoner, It Became Necessary To Elect A New

President. Bustamente Had Never Been Very Popular, But Having Promised

To The American Population Of The Seaports That Nothing Should Be

Attempted against Texas If He Were Elected, These, Through Mercantile

Interest, Supported him, Not Only With Their Influence But Also With

Their Money.

 

 

 

When, At Last, Santa Anna Returned to Mexico, His Power Was Lost, And

His Designs Upon Texas Were Discarded by His Successor. Bustamente Was A

Man Entirely Devoid Of Energy, And He Looked with Apathy Upon The

Numerous Aggressions Made By The Texans Upon The Borders Of Mexico. As

Soon, However, As The Mexicans Heard That The Texans, In spite Of The

Law Of Nations, Had Sent An Expedition To Santa Fe, At The Very Time

That They Were Making Overtures For Peace And Recognition Of Their

Independence, They Called upon Bustamente To Account For His Culpable

Want Of Energy. Believing Himself Secure Against Any Revolution, The

President Answered with Harsh Measures, And The Soldiery, Now

Exasperated, Put Santa Anna At Their Head, Forcing Him To Re-Assume The

Presidency. Bustamente Ran Away To Paris, The Santa Fe Expedition Was

Soon Defeated, And, As We Have Seen, The President, Santa Anna, Began

His Dictatorship With The Invasion Of Texas (March, 1842).]  But To

Return To The Santa Fe Expedition. The Texans Were Deprived of Their

Arms And Conducted to A Small Village, Called anton Chico, Till Orders

Should Have Been Received as To Their Future Disposition, From General

Armigo, Governor Of The Province.

 

 

 

It Is Not To Be Supposed that In a Small Village Of About One Hundred

Government Shepherds, Several Hundred famished men Could Be Supplied

With All The Necessaries And Superfluities Of Life. The Texans Accuse

The Mexicans Of Having Starved them In anton Chico, Forgetting That

Every Texan Had The Same Ration Of Provisions As The Mexican Soldier.

 

 

 

Of Course The Texans Now Attempted to Fall Back Upon The Original

Falsehood, That They Were A Trading Expedition, And Had Been Destroyed

And Plundered by The Indians; But, Unfortunately, The Assault Upon The

Sheep And The Cowardly Massacre Of The Shepherds Were Not To Be Got

Over. As Governor Armigo Very Justly Observed to Them, If They Were

Traders, They Had Committed murder; If They Were Not Traders, They Were

Prisoners Of War.

 

 

 

After A Painful Journey Of Four Months, The Prisoners Arrived in the Old

Capital Of Mexico, Where The Few Strangers Who Had Been Induced to Join

The Expedition, In ignorance Of Its Destination, Were Immediately

Restored to Liberty; The Rest Were Sent, Some To The Mines, To Dig For

The Metal They Were So Anxious To Obtain, And Some Were Passed over To

The Police Of The City, To Be Employed in the Cleaning Of The Streets.

 

 

 

Many American Newspapers Have Filled their Columns With All Manner Of

Histories Relative To This Expedition; Catalogues Of The Cruelties

Practised by The Mexicans Have Been Given, And The Sympathizing american

Public Have Been Called upon To Relieve The Unfortunate Men Who Had

Escaped. I Will Only Give One Instance Of Misrepresentation In the New

Orleans _Picayune_, And Put In juxta-Position The Real Truth. It Will

Be Quite Sufficient. Mr. Kendal Says:--

 

 

 

"As The Sun Was About Setting, Those Of Us Who Were In front Were

Startled by The Report Of Two Guns, Following Each Other In quick

Succession. We Turned to Ascertain The Cause, And Soon Found That A

Poor, Unfortunate Man, Named golpin, A Merchant, And Who Had Started

Upon The Expedition With A Small Amount Of Goods, Had Been Shot By The

Rear-Guard, For No Other Reason Than That He Was Too Sick And Weak To

Keep Up. He Had Made A Bargain With One Of The Guard To Ride His Mule A

Short Distance, For Which He Was To Pay Him His Only Shirt! While In the

Act Of Taking It Off, Salazar (The Commanding Officer) Ordered a Soldier

To Shoot Him. The First Ball Only Wounded the Wretched man, But The

Second Killed him Instantly, And He Fell With His Shirt Still About His

Face. Golpin Was A Citizen Of The United states, And Reached texas A

Short Time Before The Expedition. He Was A Harmless, Inoffensive Man, Of

Most Delicate Constitution, And, During a Greater Part Of The Time We

Were Upon The Road, Was Obliged to Ride In one Of The Waggons."

 

 

 

This Story Is, Of Course, Very Pathetic; But Here We Have A Few Lines

Taken From The _Bee_, A New Orleans Newspaper:--

 

 

 

"_January_, 1840. Horrible Murder!--Yesterday, At The Plantation Of

William Reynolds, Was Committed one Of Those Acts Which Revolt Human

Nature. Henry Golpin, The Overseer, A Creole, And Strongly Suspected of

Being a Quadroone, Had For Some Time Acted improperly Towards Mrs.

Reynolds And Daughters. A Few Days Ago, A Letter From W.R. Was Received

From St. Louis, Stating That He Would Return Home At The Latter End Of

The Week; And Golpin, Fearing That The Ladies Would Complain Of His

Conduct And Have Him Turned out, Poisoned them With The Juice Of Some

Berries Poured into Their Coffee. Death Was Almost Instantaneous. A

Pretty Mulatto Girl Of Sixteen, An Attendant And _Protegee_ Of The Young

Ladies, Entering The Room Where The Corpses Were Already Stiff, Found

The Miscreant Busy In taking Off Their Jewels And Breaking Up Some

Recesses, Where He Knew That There Were A Few Thousand Dollars, In

Specie And Paper, The Produce Of A Recent Sale Of Negroes. At First, He

Tried to Coax The Girl, Offering To Run Away And Marry Her, But She

Repulsed him With Indignation, And, Forcing Herself Off His Hold, She

Ran Away To Call For Help. Snatching Suddenly A Rifle, He Opened a

Window, And As The Honest Girl Ran Across The Square Towards The

Negroes' Huts, She Fell Quite Dead, With A Ball Passing across Her

Temples. The Governor And Police Of The First And Second Municipalities

Offer One Thousand Dollars Reward For The Apprehension Of The Miserable

Assassin, Who, Of Course, Has Absconded."

 

 

 

This Is The "_Harmless And Inoffensive Man Of Delicate Constitution, A

Citizen Of The United states,_" Which Mr. Kendal Would Give Us As A

Martyr Of Mexican Barbarism. During The Trip Across The Prairie, Every

Man, Except Two Or Three, Had Shunned him, So Well Did Every One Know

His Character: And Now I Will Describe The Events Which Caused him To Be

Shot In the Way Above Related.

 

 

 

Two Journeys After They Had Left Santa Fe They Passed the Night In a

Little Village, Four Men Being Billeted in every House Under The Charge

Of One Soldier. Golpin And Another Of His Stamp Were, However, Left

Without Any Guard In the House Of A Small Retailer Of Aguardiente, Who,

Being Now Absent, Had Left His Old Wife Alone In the House. She Was A

Good Hospitable Soul, And Thought It A Christian Duty To Administer To

The Poor Prisoners All The Relief She Could Afford. She Gave Them Some

Of Her Husband'S Linen, Bathed their Feet With Warm Water Mixed with

Whisky, And Served up To Them A Plentiful Supper.

 

 

 

Before They Retired to Rest, She Made Them Punch, And Gave Them A Small

Bottle Of Liquor, Which They Could Conceal About Them And Use On The

Road. The Next Morning The Sounds Of The Drums Called the Prisoners In

The Square To Get Ready For Their Departure. Golpin Went To The Old

Woman'S Room, Insisting That She Should Give Them More Of The Liquor.

Now The Poor Thing Had Already Done Much. Liquor In these Far Inland

Countries, Where There Are No Distilleries, Reaches The Enormous Price

Of From Sixteen To Twenty Dollars A Gallon. So She Mildly But Firmly

Refused, Upon Which Golpin Seized from The Nail, Where It Was Hung, A

Very Heavy Key, Which He Knew To Be That Of The Little Cellar

Underground, Where The Woman Kept The Liquor. She Tried to Regain

Possession Of It, But During The Struggle Golpin Beat Her Brains Out

With A Bar Of Iron That Was In the Room. This Deed perpetrated, He

Opened the Trap-Door To The Cellar, And Among The Folds Of His Blanket

And That Of His Companion Concealed as Many Flasks As They Could Carry.

They Then Shut The Street-Door And Joined their Companions.

 

 

 

Two Hours Afterwards, The Husband Returned, And Knocked in vain; At

Last, He Broke Open The Door, And Beheld His Help-Mate Barbarously

Mangled. A Neighbour Soon Told Him About The Two Texan Guests, And The

Wretched man Having Made His Depositions To An Alcade, Or Constable,

They Both Started upon Fresh Horses, And At Noon Overtook The Prisoners.

The Commanding Officers Soon Ascertained who Were The Two Men That Had

Been Billeted at The Old Woman'S, And Found Them Surrounded by A Group

Of Texans, Making Themselves Merry With The Stolen Liqnor. Seeing That

They Were Discovered, To Save His Life, Golpin'S Companion Immediately

Peached, And Related the Whole Of The Transaction. Of Course The

Assassin Was Executed.

Chapter XXVI

At That Time, The Pawnee Picts, Themselves An Offset Of The Shoshones

And Comanches, And Speaking The Same Language--Tribe Residing Upon The

Northern