The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 57, July 1953 - April, 1954 Page: 16
585 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
critic, reading the record too hastily, might accuse Austin of being
ruled by expediency to the exclusion of all principle, but such
an accusation would be unfair. Austin was thoroughly American
in his political philosophy and maintained the highest standard
of personal honor, but he subordinated matters of theory to the
great enterprise of building a new commonwealth.
It is true that his shifts were sometimes remarkable. In No-
vember, 1822, when Emperor Agustin de Iturbide had just come
into power, Austin wrote to a friend:
... you must not be frightened at the name of an Imperial govern-
ment, you like myself have lived under a Monarchy, when Louisiana
belonged to Spain and I think we lived as happy then as under the
government of the United States-The Emperor has his enemies and
in the United States the Democrats will abuse him no doubt, but he
is doing the best for his country. These people will not do for a
Republic nothing but a Monarchy can save them from Anarchy.<4
It became evident later, however, that Austin's acceptance of
the revolutionary emperor was based on the expectation that
Iturbide would provide the stable government which Austin
needed for the building of a colony. After Iturbide's fall, Austin
wrote in a different tone:
The Emperor has deceived us all-I thought he would have adhered
to his oath, and governd according to law-but on the contrary he has
violated the one, and trampled on the other-nothing therefore is
more just, and more magnanimous than the spirit of indignation
and resentment which the nation have manifested and the result I
hope and confidently believe will be a Confederated Republic very
similar to that of the United States.49
From various indications, it is evident that Austin's conception
of a "Confederated Republic" leaned toward a southern concept
of state's rights.
In the same letter, Austin, writing from Mexico, advised a
relative in Texas that
... if any questions are asked them [the colonists] as to their opinion
of the Govt etc. they ought to answer that they moved here to live
under the government which the nation may establish they can do
4SAustin to [Edward Lovelace?], Mexico, November 22, 1822, in Barker (ed.),
Austin Papers, I, 555.
49Austin to J. E. B. Austin, Saltillo, May 10, 1823, in ibid., 638-639.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 57, July 1953 - April, 1954, periodical, 1954; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101152/m1/34/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.