Early Governors' Papers

generally, the character of a Bully.- Do not conceive my dear sir, that I wish to elevate the character of Mr. Broyls above its true standard or to depress that of Mr. Moore below its true point, for the purpose of mis= leading the mind of your Excellency: or that I wish to dictate to you the course which you should pursue on this occasion, for I have no view or interest in this matter, and am only influenced by those feelings common to this part of the family, that Broyls has al= ready suffered enough, by having in the first place been much injured by the violence offered him by Moore which produced the act committed by Broyls, who was compelled to act in my opinion in self defence, and in the second place he has been compelled to pay con= siderable cost on the civi case to a long train of witnesses summoned by Moore consisting in part of his relations and friends , persons principally moving in his own sphere, and pursuing to some extent his own habits &c.- I assure you that ever since the case has been understood here, the almost universal opinion has prevailed, that if Broyls was not justified by law in committing the act, Moore at least deserved all he received at his hand.- If ever there was a case pre= sented itself in which the clemency of the executive was solicited, when the party had been guilty of an infraction of the rigid rules of law, and when that clemency could be safely exercised in favor of the appli= cant this I believe to be one.

With great respect Jacob A Lane

J A Lane 18 July 28

His Excellency Sam^l Houston Esq Nashville Tennessee

C. Manning Esq