Only
last July President Jackson offered an additional half million
dollars for the Rio Grande boundary; and Mr. Secretary Forsyth
said, justly or unjustly, by hook, or by crook, Texas must
become part of our country. We have been longing for it for
fifty years! Now, then, brothers-in-arms!' he cried, `You are
here for your homes and your freedom; but, more than that, you
are here for your country!' Remember the thousands of
Americans who have slipped out of history and out of memory,
who have bought this land with their blood! We have held a
grip on Texas for fifty years. By the soul of every American
who has perished here, I charge you, No Surrender!'
"You should have heard the shout that answered the charge.
Jesu, Maria! It made my heart leap to my bosom. And ever
since, the two words have filled the air. You could see men
catching them on their lips. They are in their eyes, and
their walk. Their hands say them. The up-toss of their heads
says them. When they go into battle they will see Houston in
front of them, and hear him call back `No surrender!' Mexico
cannot hold Texas against such a determined purpose,
carried out by such determined men."
Lopez did not answer. He was a melancholy, well-read man, who
had travelled, and to whom the idea of liberty was a passion.
But the feeling of race was also strong in him, and he could
not help regretting that liberty must come to Texas through an
alien people--"heretics, too"--he muttered, carrying the
thought out aloud.
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