a card

A printed letter dated PRISON of the Ocordado, city of Mexico, August 25th 1834, has this moment met my eye. Among other false and ridiculous things it contains many grave and damning charges preferred against myself. When I first saw this letter; I was in common charity disposed to believe some enemy of Austin's had forged it, for the purpose of holding him up to public derision and scorn, by exhibiting in ludicros contrast his former and present opinions or rather PROFESSIONS; for I could not imagine that any man of common sense would append his name to such a bloated mass of disgusting self conceit—of arrogant dictation, and of inconsistent stupidity. My opinion of the forgery was abandoned, however, when I learned this FAMOUS document issued from the press under the auspices of his devoted personal friends and of the relation to whom it was addressed.

I had hoped that my political career and with it my political dissentions had terminated. At the close of the last convention I deliberately resolved to withdraw from all public employment whatever, and for the future, to seek peace and retirement in the bosom of my own family far—far, and forever removed from the bustle and contention—the hopes and the honors of political life. This resolution has been, up to this period, strictly adhered to; for since that time I have been more secluded from the public eye, than the writer from the PRISON of the Ocordado; I have confined myself exclusively to the pursuits of agriculture, and have not been ten miles from home in the colony of Austin. This resolution I fondly wished still to adhere to, and would never have troubled the public with anything under my name, except for the wanton manner in which in this letter my political reputation and domestic happiness have been assailed. But for this the follies the errors, and the inconsistencies of Austin might FOR ME have slumbered in forgetfulness—or been remembered only to be laughed at. If nothing else a sincere and tender regard for the feelings of many individuals who are mutual friends would have prevented me from publicly exposing him; since his unprovoked attack, however, all of these considerations go for NOTHING; and although his being a prisoner forbids a full expose of his many misrepresentations at present; yet a high a sacred and a never-to-be-forgotten duty which I owe to truth, to myself, to my family and friends forces me to repel such CALUMNIES the moment they meet my eye. Whether the calumniator be in the PRISON of Ocordado, or even at the foot of the altar, I therefore pronounce his insinuations and assertions so far as they charge me with perpetuating his imprisonment, rejoicing at his sufferings, or attempting his ruin to be false. Yes! wilfully and maliciously false.—Thus much for the present.

In conclusion, I pledge myself when this obeyer of instructions this man of so many personal friends, this disinterested benefactor of Texas, this oracular weathercock, this political Proteas this innocent victim, this maker of mottos, this organizer of parties, this presumptious dictator returns, to brand him on the forehead with a mark that shall outlast his epitaph.

Wm. H. Wharton.

Eagle Island, Nov. 9, 1834.