He was arrested, and arraigned
before the bar of the House for "breach of privilege," and was
reprimanded by the Speaker and fined five hundred dollars--a fine which
President Jackson promptly remitted, remarking that a few more examples
of the same kind would teach Congressmen to keep civil tongues in their
heads. Houston's comment on the affair was, "I was dying out once, and,
had they taken me before a justice of the peace and fined me ten dollars
for assault and battery, it would have killed me; but they gave me a
national tribunal for a theatre and it set me up again."
It did "set him up" in earnest. The President, who always had a warm
place in his heart for him, helped by sending him--not, perhaps, without
some insight into the future--to Texas, to examine into the value of
that country, in case the United States should decide to buy it. What
Jackson's private instructions were can only be surmised, but,
certainly, Houston showed no hesitation or uncertainty after he reached
the scene.
On December 10, 1832, he crossed into Mexican territory, and was soon at
the head of the Texas insurrectionists, who had determined to establish
a government of their own, and who found in Houston a leader after their
own hearts. Armed collisions between Texans and Mexican troops became
of common occurrence, and the spirit of revolt spread so rapidly that
Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico, sent an army under General Cos to pacify
the country and drive the Americans out.
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