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par diacoiiuuaeu, uiue» ai me upuon 01 me ruouaiier, unlit all arrearage* arc pan!.Advkktisrmbnt* correctly married in ihia paper ai uaual raica.'/P* All loners anil commuineaiions to be aildrcMVii. ro*T raiD, to ihe Ivaatern Times, Hath, Me.” A««m-V. U. Palmer. 3, Congress 8t. Boston; T. 3 MvLellan. Brunswick. J. M«-rr«*\v. P. M., Howdom-hast; Joel llowc. Dsmariicntis Bridce, Cunlimi; dr-anl. DiiiiNriscoua Mills; N. C. Heed, P. M., Phip*l’UriJ J. I». Tod.l, P M , Parker's llcad.MISCELLANYGENERAL MOSELEY BARER,Or, The True Beformerof Texas.At lie session of the alcalde's court, lield for ilie town of San Felipe De Austin, on ihe west bink of the Brazos, in September, 1S3*2. d stranger attended, whose appear mice anil conduct alike Became (lie subject oI general remark, lie was a young man, sjiue twenty-five years ol age, wilh handsome features, an elegant figure, and habited in clothing much superior to that usually worn at that era in Texas. So far as it might be said there was nothing to evciie special attention ; but then it soon transpired that this person, with the dress and manners of a gentleman, had entered the village on foot, and iustend of taking hoard at the tavern, hud sought out the hut of a poor Mexican, with whom he had effected a contract, not only for a year’s lodging, but also for instruction in the Spanish language, paying in advance a splendid gold watch.Besides, there was something very peculiar in the stranger's countenance which could not fail to strike the most careless observer of physiognomy ; it was n look ofturn away—and always to weep ; while the vision of all others most strongly suggestive of innocence, Eden, and |erfect joy— the vision of children at play —nearly drove him mad with soirow! Had he left far behind him, in his own native land, little bright-haired, sweet-lipped pratlers, who called him lather ? Or had lie lieen crossed in the agonies of hopeless love ? Such were the ques-lions many asked, not none couhl uuswer.— All saw him miserable, but none could le-lieve him a criminal. But still, whenever duty, benevolence, or business called, the brave man wou d bailie with bis despair,! and conquei all I lie ghosts of nieiuoiy, by sheer omnipotence of will. Then lie could mitiL'le with crowds—the wildest and witti- 1 cst ol nil—and despatch business in a week, that might have engaged others for months, j His invariable and wonderful success excited the jealousies of enemies and a Col. Hun- j ter «ent linn a challenge to mortal cutnli.it. Biker flogged most unmercifully with his fists first the second and then the principal. !Such was the trial of his courage; it wasthe only attempt ever made to bully him off the track.Ilis prosperity continually increased ; bis fees were alone to be reckoned b\ thousands, and not less than a square league of Texan soil. Besides, be turned speculator himself, and within ilirec years was the grcatcsi land owner in the Siaie.But a cloud had long been gathering on the heights of the plateau of Annhoac, mid Most ley Baker was the first to foresee tlmt it wns destined to break in whirlwinds of fire and a storm-rum of blood on the green-mournful regret, as lor n lo^sat once mighty ery of the prairies. He uttered the finl holdlt;!nctihtl•Itiaand irrecoverable, and yet relieved by the expression of a brate resolution to dare, do, and endure still, and to all eternity, if fate should ordain it.During the session of the court he might always he seen in one place, seated on a small bench which he had provided for himself in a corner, with several volumes around him ; und when nothing of interest was go*appeal, calling a nnnon to arms, at a meeting of the citizens of San Felipe, the second day of June, 1S33 ; and illc first resolutions n do pled in iliis crisis was the progeny of Ins brain and ihe birth of his pen. Indeed, lie had half made the rircui: of Texas, thundering the war-cry—'Death to the tyrant of the table land ! Liberty for the people of the prairie ! Independence !’—before ihe greating on of a forensic nature, he held one per- popular chiefs. Houston, Rusk, Henderson,peiually before Ins fine blue eyes. His books prove 1 lint) a siudent of the law. They were Blackstoue, a Litin copy of Justinian, and the staujies of CoahuiU and Texas in Spanish and English, to which might be a IJed Byron’s ‘Clulde Harold*—the latter, perhaps, as a so t ot gloouiy iiieuiciue for tiie .vonnl»of a proud a id melancholy spir-it, *a ni:nd diseased and fevered over false creations!'Thomas J. Rusk, now a senator from Texas, was present at the alcalde's court on the occasion rel«rr»*d to, and, with his char* A*l*»ri»lic giMicros ty, felt ii deep imerest for ilie friendless and studious stranger, whom lie soon contrived to engage in discourse.— The futuro statesman, one of the keenest judges that ever read the human heart, was astonished and delighted with his new acquaintance. lie lutiud Moseley Baker, as the other called himself, a classical scholar, but only just commencing (he science of' jurisprudence. lie seemed as eloquent inspeech as he was profound and varied inand Archer had unsealed their lips by a single address !When Gen. Cos was informed of Baker’s activity, an order was forthwith issued for his arrest as a traitor ; hui ere the in induce ! could reach its destination, all true Texans had become traitors. So contagious a thing is example !In a brief space the campaign opened and Baker volunteered as a private, refusing all solicitation* to accept the highest office of command, lie was in all the grand bloody battles idthe War. On llie retreat of Houston's army, lie was stationed nt ihe liend of n guard of eighty men to nroreci the crossing of the Brazos, which he made good against the whole Mexican host, led on by Santa Anna in person !Aid final y, to crown nil, Moseley Biker's shone the brightest blade (brooch the sulphurous smoke and fire of Sun Jacinto.At the close of the campaign lie was elected to Congress ; and at the fiist session ol' I Congress lie wns elected brigadier general.thought, am! manifested moreover, in a strik- j But still, occasionally, the oh! gloom/the in-iug degree, the union of strong practicability finite regret, would come back again onand ardent enihOsittsm, which together form Ins soul, impressing his face with a picturethe sub si rat um of Rusk's own character, both us a man and a politician.But ever ami atiou. as the stranger con-of measureless sorrow. In one ol of rnyfess melancholy, lie sujdenlvthese lit* rose oneversed there would flu across his face, asilny, in his place on ihe floor of Congress,ihe shadow from tne wingol n ihun ler cloud that look ol regret, the memory of a name less lost! Rusk became more and more interested, but he was too kmd as well as too courteous to probe tne secret sore. He did much better ; lie proffered the right sort ol aid.•As you ^re a stranger,’ said tli« great-souled Texan, ‘and most strangers, like myself,at first cumiiiouiy arrive with but slender means, 1 wish von »o rein ‘itdier ih.«t you imy use both my influence an I my purse as it lliet '\eie vour own.*A hriqln tear ol gratitude spark'ed in the blue eye of B iker, as he replied simply. *1 thank von from my heart, and would be glad to obtain the loan ot ten doll irs lor wiie year, as 1 am verv anxious to purchase n copy ol Slurkits's Evidence, winch Judge WebD lias to sell.Rusk counted out the sum and handed it toand startled every member b\ the strange i announcement—'.Mr. Speaker, I am «• crmu- t mil, and a penitent also ; and I am now going lo confess my fault !'Every eye was upon him and every ear j was wide open,lor he had never been known before to speak ol himselfHe continued 'I was once a popular leader in the State of Alabama, and, while a Imember of I lie legislature, to save the for- j tune of a friend, was pei u Ued to use my i privilege as a member, under a special statute to borrow twenty iIioumiiuI dollars out of 1 the bank. My Inend failed to repay it, and I was accused ol IrauJ, disgraced, and m- |the other, remarking at he did so, 'I fear that Sutrkie will avail hut I title to prepare you for the Texan bar. as all proceedings are regulated by the civil, not the common law.''It will not be so long,* said Baker, with singular animation, and uittrmq u prediction verified to the letter. ‘.Next year,’ In* continued, they willgiie us Americali alcaldes, who, knowing no oilier. Will decide by toe common law ; and then m three year* Texas wil: Ik; independent and have u law ol* her own.’Rusk starred. It wns the music of his owu dream—that grand word, 'independence !* and Irum the instant they were bosom friends.During the next twelve months Moseley Baker was busy among his books, by day seated uudei tin* shade of v superb magnolia near ihe banks ol the Brazos, and at night conning Spanish lessons in the hut ot the poor Mexican. The court of September came round again, and lie applied to the alined. Forced to fly oiy country,forsake mv I lie loved lamiiy, and wander forth an exile like a second Cam, I lotind an asylum in your beautiful land. But I have since lived on the ItgJit of a single hope—Ihe hope to lie enabled to pay tlmt debt and lie re-united ! once more without dishonor to my wife and i children. It was for this alone ili.it 1 labored , and suffered, as you are all :lie witnesses, j And now, by the mercy of God ihe Alinigh* j ty, my hope i realized. I am able lo pay ! thill debt and then 1 snail rejoin my beloved ones, and spend my l-isi days in | e.icelul re- ; tiremeiit. .Mr. Speaker, I shall never again, j seek public office or human glory ; and Irom i ilii-s moment I resign my rights and duties on tins floor.'Am! then, as if relieved of 'that peiihui* : stuff' which bad so long weighed upon bis 1 heart, he left t lie ball with a tun tie of serene imid brilliant tranquility. This occurred on the 9th of March, 1S3S, and on the 10m, lie addressed a letier to the Preside in ol the Bank of Alabama, offering to liquidate every claim against him. The hank sent on nu agent in the person of Joel White, to a hum Baker paid twenty-one thousand dollars, principal, eight thousand lor interest, anil twelve hundred as damages, making in all more than thirty thousand dollars ; yet leav-cttlde for license ms an attorney. A commit- ing him, nevertheless, the richest manlee ot lawyers was appointed (o examine his proficiency; and the state ol learning common to the barat that period may be inferred when it is stated that (lie committee soon found themselves transported into water beyond their utmost depth by the student of a single year!He bad thorouithly mastered not only Spanish, hut the Spanish laws, and he seemed to have both Blackitoue and Juatinian by heart. Besides, he had composed lor Ins own use a thorough digest of all the decrees, ordinances, and contradictory statutes, no! only of the supreme Mexican federation, but also of the subordinate states of Coahmla and Texas. The commute reported an eulogy. and Mosely Baker received his first license.The next day Rusk invited the new attorney to make a volunteer speech in one of his own cases. It was -n immense land suit lor the possession of fifty leagues; and then might be seen the first golden fruits of Baker's seclusion in the hue of the poor hut not illiterate Mexican. He read the astonished alcalde an array of authorities which might have puzzled the highest forum in the city of Montezuma*, enunciating the most beautiful Spanish, and translating it all like a thought into English. His learning and eloquence won the cituse. Tlie alcalde had too much good sense not to adjudge every point in favor of ait orator who spoke his ow language so correctly, and, besides, appeared to be familiar with the lews of the world.The tnire of Moseley Baker was established in Texas—a star fixed in the firmament beyond the |»ower of change. Clients poured ioto his office, his renown sjM-ead, he received messages with offers of thoiisand-dalhir fees from every section of the State, till success won him the nickname of'the alcalde s vwk meewn.’And yetfitrunge to say, the great lawyer at times seemed unhappy. The fire dimmedinTexas.On ihe return of Mr. White, the bank passed highly complimentary resolutions in favor of Gen. Baker, nud liien his family joined him in Ins new home, now fixed in the city of Houston, and ihe old gloom of the thtiuder-cloiid forever left his brow.— Alas ! it had already flung its shadows tliete too long. His spirit from profound melancholy, vaulted into the oilier extreme; he became a passionate enthusiast and fiery mystic, professing, through the medium of religious magiieliain, to hold direct communion with tlie spirits of another world ! lie was licensed as a Methodist preacher, and established a pious newspajier, which his great wealili enabled him io distribute grafts among ihe poor. Its columns teemed mostly, however, with reported cases ol religious magnetism ; and strange to say, this solemn farce was being enacted in the wild woods of Texas, nt the identical time when D.ivis, ‘the I'oiighkepsie Setr,’ was amusing the ciiy of New York with his superb hoax !Baker and Davis seem to iinve made the tour of the spirit-hind during the same month, and Baker says they met not as ttiends, but as irreconcilable foes, Davis being under the influence of diabolical vision, while lie had a full flow of the ether angelical I Such was the answer given in his paper lo Davi»'s univercalxan hook !Bui lust summer saw the end of this extraordinary man, so great alike in his strength and weaknesses, lie tell beneath ihesiroke of cholera, the conqueror of the world.Poor Baker ! lie4ms solved at length the transcendental problem ; he has read the eniflum ol the black night shadow of nature and of his own ; nod he knows, as we allalter death shall know, everything or nothingin his eye and ih; gloom darkened on Ins brow ; and ia his bosom gnawed a ceaseless grief that no wealth couhl appease, that the din of business could nor drown, nor the rmtflir offline *ooih with Leiliean murmur*! From the gay circle of dancers.wlmre smiles made the starlight ot night, and Beautyshowed her pictures of the angels, he wooM profound**! thinkerThf. Most Agreeable of all Companions.—The ciio»t agrera'de of nil conipmimriais a simple, frank mini, without any high pretentions to mi oppressive qre.itness ; one who loves life and understands the use of it; obliging alike at all hoiira; a'-ove all, of a good temper, and siradthei as an anchor.— For such a one, we gladly exchange the great eat genius, the moat brilliant wit, the
Newspaper Details
Eastern Times
Bath, Maine, US
Thu, Mar 21, 1850
Page 1
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Anonymous
TX, USA 01 Jul 2023
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