#the rage she induces is unparalleled

[bardinthezone]

everyone saying dr lubelle is hot... respectfully how. I hear this woman’s voice and I’m filled with nothing but ungodly rage. WHAT did she do to cecil??? will the next episode be just a normal radio broadcast? what about CARLOS?? 

[jokingmaiden]

a homestuck theory

so my boyf and i were discussing the nature of limebloods (what they are, why they were wiped out, etc.) and we came to a conclusion:

limebloods were peacemakers.

now, hear me out. the first thing we find out about limebloods is them being wiped out:

for having “extremely powerfUl abilities.”

so then, what would these abilities be? well, they’re the opposite of the indigos; instead of inducing rage, like we see gamzee do:

in response to being sent into a faith crisis.

gamzee uses his abilities to incite mental instability, and limebloods do the opposite: create an internal soundness.

but how do we know this?

well, there are a few ways. there are three canonical lime bloods we know of, only one of them being a complete lime blood.

the first two are karkat and kankri, aka the sufferer and the leader. technically, both fall into the lime blood caste, and therefore qualify to be considered our limeblood examples.

let’s start with karkat. we all know he’s weak as hell and can’t fight for shit, and yet his blood caste is considered one of the “most powerful” by calliope’s description. so what is it karkat can do??

he can make peace. or, more accurately, he can nullify unrest.

despite being crude and loud and generally unpleasant to most people he interacts with, karkat has an unparalleled knack for getting people to work together and to calm down to an emotionally stable state. the most obvious and intense case of this is when he stops gamzee mid murder spree by “shoosh papping” him, aka gently telling him to fuck off:

(side note: notice how the colors of the words are candy red and lime?? sus 👀)

now, normally, patting a killer on the face is not an effective way to get them to not stab you. but he goes to everyone in this intense circle and calms them down instantly, even moreso than the natural genetic moirailegance tendencies in the troll species (at least, the ones we get to see).

so he may not be very strong or good with people, but when it comes to it, he’s able to immediately calm himself and others down like magic. after all, he is the knight of blood, aka, the protector of emotional bonds.

then there’s kankri.

as we see him in the beforus version, he’s also very bad with people in the exact opposite direction. his lime-ness shows in his personality, as he tries to be accommodating and respectful of everyone to the point where he ends up offending everyone instead from how much he obsesses over it (as seen in the way he treats mituna).

so, clearly, he’s not very good at making people feel better. but, we must remember, there’s another version of him: the Sufferer, aka the Signless, aka the troll who led a rebellion of low bloods through the preaching of peace and kindness.

the only time he was canonically a negative character was when he dropped an F bomb so loud it literally infected karkat in the middle of his death sentence:

but before this, he was known as a sort of jesus figure, spreading kindness and a peaceful but powerful message of equality. his effect on those around him caused many to follow him, even at the risk of their own lives. his ability to rally so many trolls under his cause was not only supernatural, but a threat to the oppression in the hierarchy (more on this later).

finally, we have calliope. i honestly don’t think i need to explain this one, considering her entire character type is basically kankri but significantly less of an asshole. same argument, basically, but without the whole jesus figure part kankri’s got going on.

considering part of calliope’s character is modeling herself after the traits of people she admires (such as going so far as to cosplay her trollsona), it makes sense for her limeblood-ness to show more in her personality than inherently in her power. the peaceful personality of lime-blooded cherubs is definitely a shaping factor in the way they use their powers, though.

so, we’ve established the lime bloods’ powers. then why did they go extinct?

well, let’s start with beforus.

nature needs balance. balance is a natural part of existence, and will be created in order to keep a stable relationship between life and minimize the damage of having too much of something. if high bloods are naturally violent, especially indigos, there must be a counteractive force to ensure balance in the species. this job falls into the hands of the low bloods, especially the limes.

but with this balance, the troll species is merely a regular species of balanced attributes, like the hunting lionesses and the protective lions balancing territory and gathering.

they’re not the blood thirsty monsters desiring absolute domination if they’re kept in check by their species’ natural babysitters, the limes.

and without this conditioned set of murderous tendencies, the condesce would never be able to reach the full potential lord english needs her to be in order for his plans to properly unfold, and the twelve beta trolls we know and love wouldn’t have grown up in harsh enough conditions to be prepared to play the game exactly the way they needed to.

so, the limebloods are obstructing his ability to create the murderous race he needs to further his goals. so who does he send to fix this?

✨THIS ASSHOLE✨

yes, doc scratch brought upon the chaos of the limes’ extinction in order to reach his goals.

by removing the limebloods to spark a surge of primal violence in the trolls far back in the hierarchy, likely also influencing them being viewed as a threat (and only cementing this with kankri as he sparks just enough memories to invoke a rebellion), doc scratch sets the plans for the twelve beta trolls and the condesce in motion.

so what have we learned, folks? a review:

-lime bloods can use emotion-calming powers

-alternia was made to be violent from the removal of lime bloods

-their extinction served as a disruption of balance, turning the trolls into a murderous race of conquerors

-doc scratch implemented this indirectly by likely convincing high bloods the lime bloods were dangerous and a threat to power

-his ability to do this is indicated by him spurring on the signless’ forgotten memories and creating a caricature of rebellion among the limes in the eyes of the high bloods

-maybe hussie is a bit smarter than we thought.

[echos-orchard]

For the short story game!

Opal

Being yourself

Tired of everything

A young man loves Opal, but she doesn't return those feelings

Victorian era

Beach house

Doesn't have to be historically accurate :)

Hope you have a nice time

With The Waves

Sorry it took so long to get to you, it’s been a wacky few weeks. Hope you enjoy!

It was a warm summer evening- the sky shining a bright, brilliant orange; the sound of the oceans waves echoing through the halls; truly peaceful and beautiful, an incredible end of the day...for most.

Opal wished she could have gone outside to socialize with the other girls in town, or to sew in a small boat, gently drifting along with the waves, but instead, she was preparing for her upcoming wedding. She was to be married in two days time to a man she had never before met. Opal would be whisked away from her home by the ocean, from the town she loved, from the friends she cherished.

She had been so lost in her own depressing thoughts that she was genuinely surprised when her maid Gwendolyn tugged on the strings of her corset, the cloth tightening around her waist. A sharp gasp left Opal’s lips, Gwendolyn scoffed, the wrinkles on her face deepening alongside her frown. Gwendolyn was an old maid of the house, she had taken care of Opal from the time she was a small child...though she tended to be a heartless and cruel woman, except for times when Opal’s father was around.

“Daydreaming again? A young woman shouldn’t have her head up in the clouds, she should be prim, and proper, and focused. You are getting married in two days, and yet you still act like such a child, hell, sometimes you act like an absolutely uncivilized heathen, blah blah blah,”

Opal could care less about another of Gwendolyn’s scoldings, the woman was practically a church bell. As she slipped on her dark blue gown atop her petticoat, she glanced at herself in the mirror, sad gray eyes staring back. Her wavy dark chestnut hair cascading down, stopping at the small of her back; her tanned skin, fair and flawless. Opal smiled gently, apologizing for acting so childish, before walking out of her room. 

Her navy heels clicked upon the wooden floor, hair bouncing gently behind her, she was the perfect picture of elegance and grace at first glance. Looks however can be oh so very deceiving, no one knew who she really was, nor had anyone ever taken the time to get to know her, the real her. Hell, she barely knew who she was, her only moments of freedom were when she would run away from home for a few hours, but when she returned she would be scolded and sent to bed without dinner, or have her wrists slapped, or something of the sort.

Standing in the hallway, Opal could hear the blaring orchestra playing below. She let out a deep sigh; tonight, at this dull dinner party, she would meet her suitor. Her father had planned this whole thing to celebrate, she could only imagine how many people were behind the door a few feet away. Opal really did not want to take another step, her heart anxiously pitter pattering in her chest. She wanted to run far, far away, or at least up to her room so she could sleep for the next century.

Opal took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the butterflies in her stomach, as she slowly opened the large wooden door into the parlor. 

...It was bright…

...so incredibly bright, her eyes hurt…

...but after a moment…

...everything was okay.

Opal smiled as her vision cleared, gracefully stepping into the vibrant parlor full of guests. She greeted a few as she made her way elegantly across the room, avoiding dancers and dodging waiters. Her father stood tall in the distance, talking to a young man whose red hair resembled that of a raging fire. His eyes, a soft amber, and his stance strong and unparalleled. It was him.

Upon catching sight of her, Opal’s father smiled and beckoned her over, to which she begrudgingly continued forward. Her father introduced the man to her- Mateo, as he pressed his lips to the back of her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, my beloved Opal…”

Opal cringed, many would have thought this to be sweet, but Opal was just not here for it. She smiled politely back, as her father called for everyone to proceed to the dining room. Sitting across from her spouse, she felt more nervous than she had ever felt in her life. He just stared at her- almost judgmentally, making remarks about her lacking in beauty or her terrible posture. He criticized the way she ate, how much she ate, commented on her weight and makeup. By the end of dinner, Opal came to the oh so stunning realization that her fiance was an absolute prick. 

“I’m sure you will make a wonderful mother in the near future, hopefully our children get their looks from my side of the family” 

Her fiance joked, Opal’s father howled in laughter as Opal excused herself from the dining table, rushing out into the cold night. It was quite soothing, the cold breeze on her shoulders, the ocean waves hitting against the cliffs. She wished she could stay here in this moment forever, to keep her freedom and not marry Mateo the dick of the century. Tears began to overflow, as she let out a quiet, strained sob.

“Excuse me, miss?” a timid voice questioned from behind.

Opal gasped, turning quickly and locking eyes with...the flower girl? She had been tending to her family’s gardens for months now, but they had never spoken before. The girl approached, pulling Opal into a gentle hug.

“What's the matter, miss?” asked the flower girl, as Opal sobbed in her delicate arms. Opal could no longer keep it in, and let her words fly. She cried about her father, and Gwendolyn, and Mateo; she cried about the want to be happy and be free; she cried for her mother, and her friends, and for herself for being so pitiful as to cry in a stranger's arms on the night of her engagement party. The flower girl listened, in comfortable silence, holding Opal close to her heart. “I just wish I could be free, I wish I could be...me?” Opal cried.

The flower girl moved, and wiped Opals tears away, a soft smile replacing her previously concerned frown. “Let me take you away Opal, lets be free”

Opal sat in shock, she had no reason to trust this strange girl, would she really leave her life behind because of some selfish desire, leave her father and have him  be disappointed? Would he even look for her? And yet...she couldn't say no as the flower girl stared at her with the love and warmth Opal had always craved.

The flower girl held her hand, as they walked down the beach closer to the water, her deep green eyes were so enchanting, Opal couldn’t look away. It was almost as if she were under a spell, trapping her in the flower girl’s gaze. The flower girl began to hum a beautiful melody, something almost trance inducing, as Opal followed her deeper and deeper into the depths of the ocean.

[coteriesrp]

– ADDY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED WITH DIVYA (AS NEELAM GILL)! CONGRATULATIONS!

You really went above and beyond on the character extras, holy shit. The app stands incredibly well on its own, providing a crystal clear image of your take on the character, your beautiful writing style, and nailing the vibe I had in mind absolutely perfectly; and then the extra work you did on establishing a background for her that really grounds her in the world provides such a tasty icing on top. Really looking forward to how much she and Dizzy are gonna get on each others’ nerves.

         — KIT

I love your writing, first off. It's the first thing I noticed, reading your application.  I was immediately taken by your portrayal of Divya, hard and ambitious and as Ventrue as Ventrue can be, pre- and post-Embrace. But the bit that really, really caught me was: "She still remembers the warmth of his blood staining her palms and fingers, and the way he tasted so foul. One thing became clear – her curated palate had no taste for the greedy." Do I really need to say ANYTHING beyond that? I'll just let your writing there stand on its own.

        — GHOST

You’ll be sent a link to our Discord shortly and have 24 hours to accept the invite or your role will be reopened.

out of character info.

ALIAS › addy

PRONOUNS › she/her

AGE › 23

TIMEZONE › gmt -6

in character info.

CHARACTER › divya patil

GENDER & PRONOUNS › cis woman ; she/her

APPARENT AGE › twenty-five years old

DISCIPLINE › auspex

DEMEANOUR ›

The unbridled thirst for power that courses through her veins is an unparalleled hunger; it permeates the very core of her being, multiplying into each cell, each nucleus, until the buzzing desire to control anything within her grasp consumes her in its ravenous flames. Her obsession with the concept of perfection has yielded a woman who abhors error in any form; those who have been cursed with the misfortune of her extended company are forced to reckon with her nit-picking, for Divya would never tolerate anything less than first-rate results. She’s quick to criticize, quick to undermine anyone who dares to stand before her. A cold, glacial exterior keeps her vulnerabilities locked tightly within. A part of Divya is foolish enough to believe that forcibly tearing her demons into small, bite-sized pieces and pushing them into the deepest, darkest crevices of her untouched mind may take away her weaknesses altogether. She speaks with hardened resolve, clinical and business-like at certain times & haughty and enraged at others. Her easily-ignited temper is the product of years of trauma, abuse, and mental degradation. Divya is and always will be the embodiment of power – from the way she holds her head high to the corruption she breeds in her heart.

JOINING THE COTERIE ›

Divya’s very existence has always hinged on the ability to step on others to lift herself up from her own ashes; as the daughter of one of New York’s most powerful influences perched upon the throne of Wall Street, she learned quickly that any and every man around her would come for blood if it mean subjugating her into nothing. Her aching desire to prove herself fostered the urge to join ranks with the most powerful forces around her. She often gravitated towards royal-esque entities, hoping to glean even the slightest bit of their golden-hued aura for herself – so to be offered the prestigious opportunity to join the ranks of generational power un her unlife felt almost like a reward for her trauma. To be bestowed with this chance – this gift… it felt right. Like this had been her destiny all along. She joined with arms outstretched, unbeating heart twisting at the ability to finally embrace a coterie that fitted her ideals of absolute perfection.

(UN)LIFE’S PHILOSOPHY ›

Her transition into the life of the Kindred allowed Divya to embrace the ravenous hunger that had always gnawed at the pit of her stomach; to be able to fully embody the petulant desire to tower high above others was a natural inclination that seized her almost immediately. Christened by the Clan Ventrue, Divya and her refined palate find a certain level of carnal pleasure in using the dimwitted Kine to her advantage. She had always been a bit exclusionary in her mortalhood – and now, as one of the undead, it feels only natural that she view vessels as nothing more than toys, devices, and forms of nutrition rather than as sentient, separate viewings. She views her new unlife as a transition for bigger and better things. The ability to pervade the senses, thoughts, and perceptions of the Kine bring her much joy, an adrenaline-induced power trip often following suit. Her philosophy surrounding her new state of being is what it had been when she had been a weaker, sniveling human fool – become greater than anything anything anyone has ever seen and then some.

THOUGHTS ON HUMANITY ›

Foolish, dimwitted sheep; Divya views nothing more disdainfully than she does her own time as one of the Kine. Humans had always been so painfully ignorant of their own capabilities, slaving away to graves of their own making – and now that Divya has been reborn as one of the Kindred, she sees them for what humanity truly is. A plague. Her archaic beliefs are abnormal for someone born in such modern society, but they linger nonetheless, dwelling in the hollows of her black heart until all she can see in humans is whether they are worthy of her finicky palate or would be better off left dead.

LIFE EVENTS ( tw: physical abuse. ) ›

manhattan, new york city, ny / 2013 – She was 23 years old; under her belt was a masters in business analytics from Columbia University. Divya had foolishly thought that such a fleeting accomplishment would earn her father’s good favor – but she learned quickly that not even exemplar grades and a prestigious institution would be enough to prove that she was worth her salt. She stood idly in the entryway to the large, sprawling penthouse her father called home, perfectly-manicured fingernails digging ever so slightly into the smooth surface of her iPhone. Dark hues watched with thinly-veiled anticipation as her father’s large figure paced intermittently in the wide living room. There was an air of impending doom sinking deep into her skin, burrowing into her bones and making a home in her marrow – but then again, it always seemed as if a deep sense of foreboding followed her wherever she went. All Divya had asked was whether her father had decided to appoint her to the position of CFO or not, as he had promised he would upon the completion of her degree. She had spoken calmly, measured tone far from minced, and had her head held high. Such an act, however, had been easily misconstrued as defiance. Heresy. She clenched her teeth together tightly as her father came to an abrupt halt. Her heart raced angrily in her chest, beating wildly against the confines of her ribcage, as she watched him turn then slowly make his way over to her. Divya didn’t dare speak; if she wanted her moment of glory, wanted her moment of appreciation, she would have to bide her time. When she looks into her father’s eyes, though, she sees nothing akin to pride. Instead, there was a look of disappointed rage. The fire lighting up her insides dimmed and before she could part her lips to ask what concerned him, his hand came sharply down against her cheek. Head snapped to the side and the dull throb of angry pain singing her face was nothing compared to the shame coiled deep in the pit of her stomach. She lowered her gaze, swallowing back the protest balancing at the tip of her tongue. “Never ask me again for something outside of your league,” her father warned, baritone growl low and menacing. “When you finally show promise worthy of anything more than a lowly intern position, then I will consider it. You think your Masters makes you any more qualified? Please.” His patronizing scoff crawled under her skin and twisted her insides. “If you want power, you’ll have to work harder than that.”

brooklyn, new york city, ny / 2016 – Two years of fighting tooth and nail for every promotion, every acknowledgment, every little success left Divya with jaded disgust regarding every little surrounding her; having every move she made analyzed so relentlessly by the tyrant who helped birth her proved to push Divya to maddening extremes. She had successfully taken on the role of CFO of her father’s company, ousting each and every person that dared to gaze upon her for a fraction too long – and her agonizing temperament left her with few friends and far too many enemies. She was unwavering, a beacon of pure mental fortitude – and soon enough, her name became associated with the harbinger of figurative death. Women like her were never meant to be dainty. She was as jagged as a blade, sharpened teeth ready to destroy anything that came too close… and such a tenacious attitude won the favor of her soon to be sire. A chameleon Kindred from the Ventrue Clan had discovered her blazing flame of potential like a diamond in the ruff, spotting her at a Fundraising Gala with the astute sharpness of a hawk. When he approached her, Divya immediately fell into the dangerous habit of sizing up her supposed prey – though little did she realize that the man before her was an apex predator to the nth degree. It was not a sordid love affair nor was it anything romantic in the slightest; the bond Divya developed with her future sire was one of mentor and mentee. She learned how to control her surroundings in a way that her father never could – and soon, she became filled with the thirst for more, to become so much stronger than she already was. The initiation into her unlife came both suddenly and slowly. The culmination of her sessions with her sire came in the form of a singular offer – would Divya like to become the strongest there ever was? It felt rhetorical; she had laughed at first before finally, she said – “Of course I do.” It was the clarity of her voice that won her sire’s confidence. She would make for a strong Kindred. The Embrace and her sire’s careful protection produced a fledgling with stone-faced potential. She learned the ways of her discipline carefully and diligently until she was able to take on her most coveted task – to take out the man that had turned her into the monster she was today. One year after her Embrace, her Sire made it clear that she was ready for her Becoming. But to prove herself one more time, Divya had to embody her most carnal desire. When she slipped into her father’s penthouse, the man was sleeping soundly in his bed. She stood idly at his bedside, head cocked and dark hues intent. When careful fingers slowly drew the blankets back, he stirred with a tired groan. It was the last sound he made before Divya let the Beast spill free, unbridled and fueled by rage. She still remembers the warmth of his blood staining her palms and fingers, and the way he tasted so foul. One thing became clear – her curated palate had no taste for the greedy.

EXPANDING CONNECTIONS ›

dizzy / Vapid, air-headed behavior incites the most ragged of violences from within Divya’s core; she had never taken kindly to those who take everything they have for granted and Dizzy’s painful bubbliness easily falls under this category. Perhaps, though, Divya’s obvious distaste for the girl stems from a place of vague jealousy. What is it like, to live so freely and free of shackled chains binding one’s ankles? Will she ever know, or will she always be a slave to her own work ethic? She has not a clue and perhaps that is exactly why Dizzy’s dizzying personality pulls at Divya’s desire to snap uncontrollably at the drop of a hat. Maybe one day – she can learn from the other. But only when the tension is finally relieved from her bones.

harel / Respect is not a sensation Divya gives out freely; to earn her respect is a game of whether you can bear the brunt of her heavy gaze or not – but somehow, Harel has managed to tear down the expectations Divya so often holds. Their quietude and ability to bear what feels heavier than humanly – or Kindred-ly – possible puts her in a state of silent awe. She dares not admit this, though, because that would be weakness. Instead, she studies them suspiciously in hopes of one day besting them. It does not sit well with her to feel so small and meager compared to another and so, she persists. Uncomfortable, begrudging respect has left her with no words to say.

angel / Rapt attention has always so childish – but it’s a sensation that cannot be helped when her eyes fall upon Angel. Their strange ways interest her and she can’t help but feel as if they are the only being in this coterie that understands her in a way beyond superficial. She chides herself often on the fact that perhaps her fascination is childish – like a schoolgirl crush – but it does little to quell the fact that the lingering desire to treat Angel not only with respect, but as an equal, continues.

miscellaneous info.

EXTRAS ›

› pinterest

› spotify

› blog

LAST WORD ›

hewo! i hope you guys enjoy reading this application! only thing i wanted to ask if you guys are open to any alternate fcs? an idea i had is neelam gill! it’s totally oaky though if you’d prefer keeping the current fc over an alternate! just thought i’d ask! thank you guys!

[zayashmaya]

imagine some poor soul has had the misfortune of experiencing marvus’s unparalleled rage. maybe they made a grave error, a lapse in judgement by insulting mc or injuring her in some way? doesn’t matter, marvus is pissed and ready to tear this troll’s mental state apart with his nightmare-inducing chucklevoodoos. there is no change in his outward demeanor, he still sports his lazy smile. except his speech quirk has been abandoned in favor of perfectly eloquent syntax, his fangs are bared in an almost half-snarl, and his eyes glow an eerie red with a hint of purple around the edges.

mc is there. she sees it all, the way the troll cowers in fear and begs for their life. she sees marvus subtly transform from her beloved showman into the subjugglator he was destined to be.

and she is so. turned. on. just shamelessly weak for this side of marvus she has never seen before.

she knows that even in the midst of anger, marvus is entirely in control of himself. and she knows he would never hurt her. so she pulls him down to her level, breaking his fixation on his victim for a split second, and that’s just enough time to coax him into a passionate kiss that he was utterly unprepared for. his ire fizzles out slightly into stupefied confusion, because no one had ever, ever in the right minds, gotten this close to him during those rare moments of murder mode. the utter audacity of it disarms him.

(the victim is long gone by now, hightailed it outta there so fast boi)

and when mc breaks the kiss, staring him straight in the eye while he pants and blushes like some kind of inexperienced wiggler, there’s just something about her look that has him kneeling before her. she’s holding his face with her signature tenderness, and he can’t help it, he’s riding the adrenaline high of moments before, and so is she —

and this is when mc discovers an inner dom within herself, she absolutely craves seeing marvus reduced to a needy mess and place his trust in her completely. and you just know that once marvus gets a taste of this dominating mc, he’s forever hooked.

[scotianostra]

On July 13th 1249 Alexander III, King of Scots, was crowned at Scone.

The tale of Alexander is well known one and I don't want to go over it all again, to sum it up his legacies were, he gave us our national flower, from the battle of Largs and he fell off a cliff near Kinghorn, which ended up with Edward Longshanks attempts to take Scotland a his own.

So anyway I thought we would look at his coronation in a wee bit depth, and most significantly Ollamh Rígh. If you look at the picture, that's him on the left and on the arrival of Alexander at Scone to be crowned he proclaimed "Benach De Re Albanne" or "God Bless the King of Scotland" to you and I. Spellings may differ on the gaelic proclamation, so please no pointing this out to me!

The picture is not from the 13th century, but two hundred years later, taken from a fifteenth-century manuscript of Walter Bower's Scotichronicon, but it's the nearest we will get to the actual thing. Another thing I would like to point out is that in the true sense of the word it was not a coronation,until 1329 the ceremony by which a person became King of Scots was an inauguration, not a coronation. The key difference was that at a coronation the king would be anointed with holy oil, a right that could only be granted by the Pope. Attempts had been made during Alexander III's reign to secure this right for Scottish kings, but it was not until the final days of Bruce's reign that a Pope finally granted this right to Scotland. Thus it was Bruce's son and successor - David II - who became the first King of Scots to receive a coronation.

The specifics of the traditional Scottish inauguration ceremony are somewhat mysterious, due mainly to a lack of reliable sources, but broadly speaking it seems to have involved the new king being acclaimed King of Scots at Scone Abbey and then being processed to nearby Moot Hill to be enthroned on the so-called 'Stone of Destiny'. There he would be invested with the symbols of the office - a simple gold circet for his head, the word circlet is also used to refer to the base of a crown or a coronet with or without a cap.) and perhaps the sword and spectre of state - and then his genealogy would be recited before the assembled nobles would approach him and individually make oaths of loyalty to him. In the image above, the crown, sword and sceptre all reflect desgns that would have been recognisable to Bower's fifteenth-century audience, and are unlikely to have looked like that at Alexander's actual inauguration.

After the proclamation the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy from memory giving the names of twenty one generations of the king’s ancestors.

The 37 year reign of Alexander III was one of the most stable, prosperous and peaceful in Scottish history. On the one hand, he successfully maintained Scotland's freedom resisting his more powerful neighbors' territorial ambitions. On the other hand, his traders sold produce across Europe, so he did not isolate his small nation from the world beyond. This legacy informs a tendency for Scotland to see herself as a secure and stable base from which people can participate in a global community. It's been called a Golden age for Scotland, and it is now wonder, that later the war mongering Edward I of England cast an eye towards Scotland enviously.

Aged only about 7 or 8 at his crowning Alexander's minority saw a bitter struggle for the control of affairs between two rival parties, the one led by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, the other by Alan Durward, Justiciar of Scotia. The former dominated the early years of Alexander's reign. At the marriage of Alexander to Margaret of England in 1251, her father Henry III seized the opportunity to demand from his son-in-law homage for the Scottish kingdom, but Alexander did not comply, the ceremony was described as "the most spectacular wedding in Britain during this age."

On attaining his majority at the age of 21 in 1262, Alexander declared his intention of resuming his father's efforts to extend Scottish sovereignty over the Western Isles, which the death of his father thirteen years before had cut short. He laid a formal claim before the Norwegian king Haakon. Haakon rejected the claim, and in the following year responded with a formidable invasion. As I said before, you should know about this, with previous posts about The Battle of Largs.

Alexander's wife, Margaret died in 1274, they had three children together, their daughter Margaret was married off to King Eirik II of Norway, Prince Alexander of Scotland died aged about 20 in 1283 and David lived to be 8, both were buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

After gaining sovereignty of the Western isles and of Man, Alexander concentrated on improving the efficiency of his administration. He oversee an unparalleled period of prosperity. His rule has been described as a period of little internal conflict. Scotland achieved a prosperity disproportionate to her size, due to excellent trade relations; "Her ambassadors and merchants contacted and carried on commerce with many nations" under Alexander's guidance.

Scottish soldiers also fought in the Crusades and Alexander gave tax concessions to those who took the crusading oath. The main commodity was wool, sold to Flanders and to Italy with Bruges as an important Scottish outpost. Berwick (then Scottish) was the busiest port in Britain. Alexander also required Scottish farmers to cultivate more land.

Towards the end of Alexander's reign, the death of all three of his children within a few years made the question of the succession one of pressing importance. In 1284 he induced the Estates (Scottish Parliament) to recognize as his heir-presumptive his granddaughter Margaret, the "Maid of Norway". The need for a male heir led him to contract a second marriage to Yolande de Dreux on November 1, 1285.

Alexander maintained good relations with England. The issue of homage was tricky, because he held border counties South of the Scottish-English boundary in fief from England, for which homage was expected. He only did so after obtaining an assurance from the English king that he was paying homage only for his English lands, not for Scotland.

Scotland, he said, only paid homage to God.

Known as "Alexander the glorious" Alexander III is regarded as "one of the country's greatest rulers" whose "reign marked a period of peace and prosperity in Scotland."When Robert the Bruce became king, the task he set himself was to "restore Scotland to the state it had achieved under Alexander's personal rule." Alexander rule had seen little internal conflict, justice had been effectively administered and, all in all, his legacy represented "a model for a medieval king." It is not surprising that "Alexander's reign seems to have been revered.

Five months after Alexandrer's marriage to Yolande, the king was in Edinburgh to meet with his council. While he was in the royal burgh, the weather took a turn for the worst. That did not stop the king from setting out to see his wife in the Kingdom of Fife.

Though the storm was a northerly gale with heavy snow and led to a very dark night. He was able to sail across the Firth of Forth. The men in his party begged him to stay the night instead of continuing in his travels. He continued onward.

In the darkness, somehow the King of Scotland fell to his death. His body was found at the foot of the hill the next morn. The spot is now called the King’s Crag.

His wife was pregnant but she soon miscarried and the Maid of Norway died on the crossing to Scotland. The Wars of Independence would soon rage. If Alexander had rested his head instead jumped into his saddle then Scottish and world history would have changed.

[myvoicenottheoneyougiveme]

Do I have the energy or motivation to say what needs to be said now? Especially when it’s all been round this block before? 

I ask you... what kind of despair could I have felt? What kind of desperation could I have felt to be driven to what is decidedly out of character for me? Then you say, “no we’re talking about RAGE, ANGER, BLOWING YOUR LID”. Oh, so we are talking about the same thing. “Anger” is simply the motivating force to right wrongs. “Rage” is an explosion when everything else has failed and the walls are closing in.

So, I ask you again, what conceivable cause could I have possibly had to feel such despair when for the first time in years something finally gave? Do we have to define despair? Any way that a person can be trapped between a rock and hard place. It can be internal. It can be external. It can be both, but it must bind. It must render sufficiently helpless. And when the walls are closing in, they’re compressing emotional energy. Keep squeezing someone and the container will rupture.

What power did Emma have over me? There was power she tried to wield. She tried to pick up the strings I’d ripped from Michelle’s grasp, but she was not Michelle. Who was she? No one. Nothing more than a possibility. Of course I was hurt. Of course I felt angry. When you’re being played and manipulated, how can you not? But that doesn’t make the kind of rage, the kind of despair you’re talking about, the kind of despair I have been experiencing now for some time. What power did she have? What power did she have that I hadn’t given her? None.

What had finally given? After so many years, it was finally over, I was free. For the first time (perhaps) in my life, I was my own master well and truly. It was impossible for anyone to do to me again what Michelle had done. ...But let’s talk about the years spent there for a moment. ...I have never felt more helpless, more completely at a loss, more torn, more crushed between the inside and the out than I did during those days. There are no words for what was done to me. Images I’ve presented describing this last half of these 11 years, they would have described those days back then first. ...And for the absolute horror of it, when it all finally broke me, where was the rage? Despair does not have to result in rage. There are two directions that all of that compressed emotional energy can go. It can go out into the world, or it can go into the person suffering it. Much to be said of personal disposition and character where such an explosion is most apt to go. It was a nervous breakdown the likes of which left me physically ill. Mental exertion of any kind was panic inducing. ...Broken. It was a shotgun blast through my mind, heart and soul. It was a structure collapsed that groaned under any weight, any weight at all.

Those I once called friend who then pulled me out, pulled my lifeless body out of the place beneath it all, out from under “this”. Not struggling anymore. ...Broken. Lifeless.

Into therapy to pick up the pieces and resolve the traps that had put me down there in the first place, buried alive. I was then given the keys to myself, the keys she’d wielded in place of me. I untied my own hands and feet, instead of begging her, waiting on her to make or break my reality. Power she had now lost was power over my own person I had gained. It was now impossible to be so helplessly tied again. I was not fully, completely healed, as history has managed to repeat itself. What I might have considered a one-off and just her, I have since learned is half my responsibility for being one half of a dysfunctional whole.

There is material power and there is emotional power. What you have exerted over me in place of the control she once wielded to unparalleled effect, is material power. From the outside in rather than from the inside out you force yourself and your will upon me. Michelle did not have the same means you do. She did not have the power to invade the way you have. Her power was much the same as yours, but what omnipotence and omniscience you display is beyond belief. All advice for dealing with narcissistic abuse (because it was very much that) falls flat on its face when my life has been made literally and figuratively a prison.

Every person after Michelle has only wielded a fraction of the emotional power she had. ...I very much was at the mercy of Emma, the same as you and you after. But I was not her prisoner. Emma had neither the material power nor the emotional power. Who was she? No one. Just someone I thought might be, just someone I thought wanted to be. I was wrong. I had only to shut the door on her, and it was over. I struggled to not look back, just as I struggled to not look back to Michelle. “Pathological Loneliness” has a way of doing that. But nothing that had plagued me before was anything that it had been. The power, the noose, the grip, the absolute power over me had been broken. I now stood a fighting chance. I was my own master. I didn’t need someone else to do for me or to give me what I should have been giving myself. Her bonds over me were broken. That despair I would never again taste.

I ask you, what despair, what powerlessness, what helplessness, what walls closing in, what impossibilities, what “Double-Bind” did I experience then, then after something had finally given, after I had finally found my way out, after it was now finally over? It was the beginning of the end anyway. The tide had turned. Everything was looking up. The silver linings were there. A new chapter was beginning as “this” cabal’s sense of control unraveled.

What despair? What absolute desperation? What force behind what explosion?

It’s a better question to ask, “WHOSE” despair? Whose desperation? Whose slipping grip? Whose growing sense of powerlessness? Whose need for control over others? -Over me? How came you by me? How did it get to be what it is now? Who, what kind of person has needed and manufactured day in and day out, crisis after crisis?

What kind of despair could I have possibly felt? And what about the other people there that were also being attacked. Doesn’t that look uncannily familiar to the shit you’ve been pulling in recent memory? What about them? What reason could I have had to hate, to destroy people who had nothing to do with anything? Why? WHY IN THE HELL, would I want to hurt this person or that person? What have they done to me? What had they done? Nothing. I was in like-minded company, if “company” you could call it. One abusive girl does not make, does not dissolve empathy defaultly in place for another. WHAT ABOUT THEM?! What about EVERYONE you were attacking? What despair could I have felt? What crime of passion? What RAGE could have possibly existed for any girl or person minding their own business whose mutual musings enriched all of our lives? Do I walk into a room filled with people and pick people out of a crowd to target? Are we back to “serial killer”, again? Do I feel anger and resentment for anyone and everyone just because? Do I manage my frustrations purely externally through others? Are we back to “psychopath” again? No. It’s the verdict, the first verdict, of your best followers, “we’ve got the wrong guy” which you then take and twist into something that suits you. “Multiple personality”,  it’s got to be, it has to be. He is the guy, I will accept no other explanation.

I wonder why...

I could not have felt the kind of despair that could have produced the kind of act you’re charging me with. You have run the gamut trying to find other ways to make it possible, but you’ve been called on your bullshit at every turn. There was despair, like there’s been despair, but it’s a question of “whose” despair? Your every day rage, your desperate scrambling to secure any, any power at all. Your NEED to dominate my life. How was it that you were there waiting? How was it all so part of the plan?

“This” cabal, with one of its sets of hands, attacked every person around me in that place, the same as you’ve attacked others in anonymity on twitch the moment I walk into a “room”. I would hesitate to say, Emma did it, and did it to herself just to make a scene. I don’t know what’s true about what you’ve said of her, but I just know that one day everything changed. Everywhere I looked someone was being harassed. Some more secure in themselves, some unable to shut out the invalidating voices, but when all was said and done, all pinned on me.

...how fucking convenient.

What despair could I have possibly felt? How could I have been so trapped, so at the mercy of forces within or without to do something I didn’t even do when I was well and truly driven over the edge?

Just one more question, I guess, you will avoid answering. Can’t allow the great cause to be put on the stand to be scrutinized. You can’t allow your game to end. You can’t allow yourself to be found out a lie.

Who is “this” for? Who has gained from the crises you orchestrate? Who has benefited to a throne of her own making? Who?

EDIT re re: You seem to have missed the part where I’ve told you countless times to cease and desist--to leave and take all of “this” with you. Your mental gymnastics about being held here against your will never gets old does it?

New question: who is holding you here? What force from the inside of you has you in a bind? Why do you fight like your life depends on it to maintain your throne? What cause have you for despair? Why do you need “this” like oxygen to breathe? Your desperate scrambles to justify your forcing yourself on me and the rage you strike me with, always speaks volumes to the black hole inside of you. You can no more stop yourself than you can accept that you have a problem. 

You are a slave but not to me. That is the pathology you then try to offload onto your target, everything that would otherwise eat you alive you would pour out on him instead. All failure is his. All shortcoming is his. Everything you don’t want to see in your own mirror is his. “Assign your disowned parts.”

[teriezcreed-blog]

Critique Paper: RAGE OF ANGELS by Sidney Sheldon

Rage of Angels is a thriller novel written by Sidney Sheldon, a novelist and a screenwriter best known for his best-selling romantic suspense novels. The book was published under William Morrow and Company in the 1980s.

The story revolves around Jennifer Parker as she takes on New York as a new attorney. Her first day as an Assistant District Attorney under Robert Di Silva, who was on his way to putting Michael Moretti, the rumoured second-in-line of the most powerful Mafia Family in America, behind bars, was, to say the least, horrific. 

She was not only late for her oath-taking, but she was also able to jeopardize Di Silva’s case against Moretti —through Moretti’s doing—and her whole career in the process, less than twenty-four hours after being sworn-in. And the District Attorney was set to destroy her.

As her world crashed right before her eyes, she found what little hope in her to continue what was left of her career and found herself in a small office with Ken Bailey, a private detective, and Otto Wenzel.

One day, Adam Warner, also a lawyer and a US Senator prospect, was tasked to find evidence against Jennifer Parker that will strengthen Di Silva’s disbarment case against her but Adam immediately realised that Jennifer was innocent and moved to drop the case. It wasn’t long before Adam fell in love with Jennifer despite him being married. Mary Beth, Adam’s wife, asked for a divorce after confronting Adam with knowledge about his affair with Jennifer but shortly after, she tricked Adam into sleeping with her and thus impregnating her.

After Adam’s win in the Senate, Jennifer decided to cut her ties with him and start her life anew, with her son, Joshua Adam Parker. Only her good friend Ken Bailey knew about the existence of her son. 

Meanwhile, little does she know that Michael Moretti, the man who destroyed her career, was closely following her as a criminal lawyer and has set his eyes on her. He has made many attempts into wooing her to work for him but she continually rebuffed all his offers. Until one day, Joshua was kidnapped by one of Jennifer’s clients and had no choice but to turn to Moretti for help. He then took advantage of her dire situation and not long after that, she was working for him and the Family.

Ken Bailey disapproved of Jennifer’s growing involvement in the Mafia and left afterwards due to Jennifer’s continuous disregard of his warnings. Jennifer continued her work for the Family despite the hurt of Ken’s leaving and was slowly overshadowing Thomas Colfax, the Family’s consigliere, as Michael took over after Antonio Granelli, his father-in-law and former Boss, died. And as Jennifer shone in the Family, Colfax was quickly becoming an annoyance to Michael and thus to him deciding to get rid of Colfax. Meanwhile, Jennifer went to Acapulco with her son, Joshua, and his nanny Mrs. Mackey for a convention for lawyers. They were all having a great time until Jennifer saw Adam there and inevitably, they fell into each other’s arms once again. But before leaving Mexico, Joshua hit his head as he was water skiing which made Jennifer worry. But after consulting with a doctor there, she was put at rest as she was assured that there was nothing to worry about.

A few days after their arrival in America, Joshua fell unconscious and was later diagnosed with a subdural hematoma which caused his death. Jennifer was devastated and stayed in her son’s room for five straight days without food nor water and would’ve stayed and died there if Michael Moretti had not dragged her out of her self-induced hell.

Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Thomas Colfax, whom Nick Vito failed to kill, was telling everything he knew about the organized crime families in America to none other than Adam Warner, the Senator that the people are grooming to become the next president of the United States.

The Family’s ‘businesses’ were all shut down and one-by-one, people involved were hunted down, including Parker and Moretti. But before the government had their claws around Jennifer’s neck completely, she was bailed out by Moretti and was tricked into telephoning Di Silva into telling him that Adam was to be assassinated, ‘proving’ Moretti’s hunch that Parker had betrayed him with Warner.

Jennifer arrived at Michael’s house and was beaten before FBI agents barged in and shot Michael, but not before he shot her first.

And then, Jennifer was back in a small office at Kelso, watching the television as Adam Warner was being sworn in as the 40th President of the United States of America.

Now, let me just say how depressing a read this book was for the sole reason that nothing seemed to be in the main character’s favor. Multiple of times I had to put my phone down and just close my eyes because reading it was too much, and not because it was terribly written, no. My putting of the phone down because of all the emotions going on is a good thing because the author succeeded in letting his readers feel what his characters were feeling; he was able to let his readers sympathize with his characters. 

And speaking of his characters, his characters actions were understandable in a sense where there was justification as to why they did what they did. But I felt that some characters lacked a bit of depth to their individual parts for the story. An example would be Ken Bailey.

Ken Bailey is such an underappreciated character and his background would’ve added so much more to the plot and storyline if it were just given more attention. His wife killed herself because she saw him in bed with a young blond? Jennifer seeing him with a young blond on a seemingly random day? Ken being in love with Jennifer? Ken subtlety offering Jennifer to be a father figure to her son? I.WANT.MORE. 

There are so many questions surrounding Ken Bailey and so little that we can actually answer. I mean, just imagine if he admitted his feelings for Jennifer sooner and then they ended up together. Wouldn’t you think that they would’ve avoided so much pain? And then he showed up in Chapter 63 again when Jennifer was in the hospital! I mean, c’mon! The guy deserved better.

And speaking of deserving better: Joshua Adam Parker. That little boy deserved everything the world has to offer. It would’ve been nice to see him grow up as a man. Would he also be a lawyer like his parents? Or would he rather be a baseball player? We will never know. But I think that his death was necessary for the progress of the story in a sense that I think it was when Michael saw Jennifer close to death did he realize he was truly in love with her. Plus, I couldn’t begin to fathom what all of the chaos that ensued would do to a seven-year-old child.

Now we have Adam Warner. Adam was too busy trying to please everyone else around him that when he realised what he truly desired, it was too late. He married Mary Beth because he felt sorry for her, he ran for Senator because his father was one and Mary Beth would’ve liked living in D.C. And I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him and what he and Jennifer could’ve had if, for once in his life, he chose himself.

And then we move to Michael Moretti. I think that Michael fell in love with Jennifer in a true and honest way but he was simply unable to show it like how normal people do. And despite popular belief that Michael shot Jennifer because he wanted to kill her out of spite, I honestly think that he shot her because he didn’t want her to suffer. I don’t know how to explain it but his line: “and Michael did not know which was the greater agony, her death or his” on page 366 just felt like a sacrifice.

And of course we couldn’t forget about our main heroine: Jennifer Parker. Jennifer Parker was portrayed as an intelligent and independent woman who seemed to not need anyone to be contented with herself. She is strong-willed and despite being dealt with a difficult hand, she strived and persevered. And raising a child alone is never an easy feat but she did a very good job of raising Joshua; let us not deny her that fact. The only fault I saw with her character was that with all her intelligence and independence, she couldn’t control herself with men. At first she did a splendid job of rejecting men who she knew were not good for her but after she met Adam? All her principles and morals just seemed to go out of the window.

I know, I get it. They were in love. And despite my strong belief that they would have ended up with each other if not for everything else (a.k.a. Mary Beth) — 

— I still think that her dalliances with Adam should not have been strong enough to make her forget of how she had sworn to never become like her mother.

And then Michael Moretti, the very man who lit the torch that set her career into ashes, came into the picture.

If you were a sane person who knew how to think straight, you wouldn’t have fallen for Michael’s tricks. But see, Jennifer wasn’t thinking straight nor was she totally sane when Michael took advantage of her situation, which I understood. But what I didn’t understand was how she let men make her into the very person she vowed she’d never be: a mistress. For a woman depicted with having unparalleled wit and strength, she let men tear hear apart and ruin what was supposed to be a good life for her. And although it was a shame to see such genius come to an end like what happened to her, I think she deserved it and it would’ve been a mercy if Sidney Sheldon had just let her die.

But despite all of that, I think Jennifer Parker’s story ended in a poetic way. How she ended up where she started. Back at Kelso with a sign outside her office reading:

Jennifer Parker Attorney at Law

Please leave a feedback! It would be very much appreciated (this is a project and I need to pass). No pressure. 😊

Thank you!

[peopleoftexas]

Texas and the Massachusetts Resolutions, 1843

Page 59: This Convention disclaims all hostility or unkind feeling towards the Government of the people of Texas. However much it might be desired that the time and manner of its accomplishment had been otherwise, the fact is before us that the independence of Texas has been acknowledged by the constituted authorities of the United States. That its government may be established upon principles that give strength and security to a State, and reality and permanence to its prosperity, and that it may contribute to spread the knowledge and enjoyment of true liberty upon the American continent, is our most earnest wish. These are our sentiments towards Texas, as an independent nation. But, Texas rebelling against the laws of Mexico, which abolished slavery,—Texas, wrested from Mexico by citizens of the United States,—Texas, the support and defense of American slavery,—can never be joined to this Union, but in bonds of mutual infamy.

Page 6: “We ask you, in the spirit of candor, has the government ever asked anything unreasonable of Texas? If it has, we must, before God and our country, say we know it not. Again, (for your experimental knowledge must bear us out,) has it ever burned you with taxes, or the performance of arduous, perilous, or expensive duties? Nay, has Texas ever borne any part of the expenses of sustaining the government that protects our lives, our liberty, and our property? When have the people of Texas called upon the government for any law to their advantage, or for the repeal of any law by which they were aggrieved, but what their requests have been granted?”

Page 83: Extract of  Letter form General Macomb. “He” [Governor of Louisiana] “is further impressed with the belief that it was a scheme of those interested in the Texan speculations, who had been instrumental in making General Gaines believe that the Mexican authorities were tampering with the Indians within our boundaries, and at the same time exciting, by false expectations here, the sympathies of the people in favor of the Texans, with the view of inducing the authorities of the United States to lend their aid in raising, in this city, a force composed of interested persons, which force should move to the Texan frontiers under the call of General Gaines; and afterwards, under false pretensions, actually march into Texas, and take part in the war now raging between the Texans and the Government of Mexico; and all this at the expense of the United States, and consequently, with the implied sanction of the Government; thus giving to the people of Texas the hope of relying on the Government of the United States for their protection and support; and to the Government of Mexico a positive evidence that the United States were actually engaged, contrary to the treaty stipulations, in a war against that Government.”–See the whole letter in the Globe of May 16, 1836.

Page 12: Resolved, That while we do not claim for the General Government a right to reassert jurisdiction over territory which it has voluntarily relinquished, we believe the right of Texas to demand the protection of an incorporation into the Union is clearly to be inferred from the guaranties of the treaty by which the province of Louisiana was purchased; and therefore, hold that on application from the people of Texas, the laws of the Union ought to be extended over them.

Page 34: A few individuals in this country have been looking for some time to the subject of emancipating the negroes, and have been engaged in preparing very cautiously for the proposition of such a measure to the people of Texas. I had partly prepared a series of articles on the subject of calling a convention of the people for this purpose, and that of remodeling the constitution in some other respects, and have conversed with some of the leading men of this country, and found them anxious for and freely assenting to the measure. I had also held several conversations with the British minister here, and from him I learned that such a measure would secure for us the warmest support of the British government in our present struggle, and also the means of paying for our slaves by their citizens giving lands in exchange. As this was a subject requiring peculiar caution, it was deemed advisable by its friends to introduce it incidentally with other objects for the convention. Last evening, however, the steamer arrived from Houston, bringing down several gentlemen from that place, who have come for the avowed purpose of calling the attention of our citizens to the subject. A large portion of the Brassos river has been visited and the slave holders there found willing for the measure, and it is now proposed to proceed with rapid movement through the whole country, and produce instant action.

Page 50: He says again: “We alienated our title to Texas and can no more resume it than Spain can resume Florida, France, Louisiana, or Great Britain the thirteen Colonies.” And pray, Mr. Clay, what should prevent them from making that resumption if we, the people, were authorized by our constitution, which however we are not, should offer it to them just as the people of Texas, now as much the rightful owner of that country as ever Spain or Mexico was, has offered it to us, there will be certainly nothing very extraordinary in this. He says: “Texas revolted, flew to arms, fought and won the memorable battle of San Jacinto, annihilating a Mexican army and making a captive of the Mexican President.” This, Mr. Clay thinks, gave Texas no right to her independence, or to our respect, because forsooth American citizens aided her in the conflict. I suppose, according to this rule, Mr. Clay must consider our revolution and independence null, because French armies and French fleets and officers and men from every country in Europe fought in our cause. And in his suggestion, in the same paragraph, that we ought “scrupulously to avoid the imputation of having instigated and aided the revolution with the ultimate view of territorial aggrandizement,” he sanctions the idea first suggested by Mr. Adams, and his abolition associates, which is utterly false, that Gen. Jackson sent Gen. Houston there for the purpose of exciting the revolution.

Page 43: With respect to the other pretense, that Texas, if rejected by the United States, will become a dependency of Great Britain, we shall be ready to believe that just as soon as we see the people of Texas emancipate their slaves, and not before. And we think this about as probable, as that the same thing will be done by the people of Alabama or Mississippi. As long as cotton planting is profitable, just so long will there be a demand for slaves; and as long as there is a demand for slaves, just so long will the people of Texas stick to slavery. Great Britain neither can nor will interfere with her anymore than she does with us. She may seek to make favorable treaties with her; but what is to prevent our doing likewise? If Texas is to be a market for manufactured goods, why not for ours as well as for the British? New Orleans is a great deal nearer to it than Liverpool. And our people may be trusted to make full use of every fair advantage they can obtain. Our manufactures now go to Mexico. Why should not they go to a State much less likely to interpose useless and vexatious restraints to trade?

Page 3: In the capital of Mexico, and of the state of Coahuila and Texas, the civil authorities were suppressed by the bayonet; the disarming of every citizen was decreed, and the soldiery of the usurper proceeded to enforce this edict. The people of Texas resolved to resist, and perish upon the field of battle, rather than submit to the despotic sway of a treacherous and sanguinary military dictator. Short was the conflict, and glorious the issue. …… In 1836, this question, together with that of ratifying their constitution, was submitted by the constituted authorities to the people of Texas, who, with unparalleled unanimity, (there being but 93 dissenting votes,) decided in favor of reannexation.

Page 6: By the treaty of 1803, by which, we have seen, Texas was acquired by us from France, we pledged our faith to France, and to the people of Texas, never to surrender that territory. The 3d article of that treaty declares: “the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the federal constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the meantime they shall be protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess.” Such as our pledge to France and to the people of Texas, by the treaty of purchase; and if our subsequent treaty of cession to Spain was not unconstitutional and invalid, it was a gross infraction of a previous treaty, and of one of the fundamental conditions under which Texas was acquired.

Here, then, are many grave questions of constitutional power. Could the solemn guaranty to France, and to the people of Texas, be rescinded by a treaty with Spain? Can this government, by its own mere power, surrender any portion of its territory? Can it cut off a territory without the consent of its people, and surrender them and the territory to a foreign power? Can it expatriate and expel from the Union its own citizens, who occupy that territory, and change an American citizens into a citizen of Spain or Mexico? These are momentous questions, which it is not necessary now to determine, and in regard to which I advance at this time no opinion. Certain, however, it is, that, with the consent of the people of Texas, Congress can carry out the solemn pledges of the treaty of 1803, and admit one or more States from Texas into the Union.

Page 9: The question of re-annexation, and of the restoration of ancient boundaries, is a much stronger case than that of the purchase of new territory. It is a stronger case also than the acquisition of Louisiana or Florida; not only upon the ground that these were both an acquisition of new territory, but that they embraced a foreign people, dissimilar to our own, in language, laws, and institutions; and transferred without their knowledge or consent, by the act of a European king. More especially, in a case like this, where the people of Texas occupy a region which was once exclusively our own; and this people, in whom we acknowledge to reside the only sovereignty over the whole and every portion of Texas, desire the re-annexation—that we cannot reestablish our former boundaries, and restore to us the whole or any part of the territory which was once our own, is a proposition, the bare statement of which is its best refutation.

Page 18: In the message of the President of Texas of the 12th of December, 1843, he speaks of the “generous and friendly disposition, and active and friendly offices of England.” He speaks, also, of “injuries and indignities inflicted” by this government upon Texas, and declares “that repression has been demanded.” Such is the wonderful advance in Texas of the influence of England, that she has succeeded in having it announced in an executive message to the people of Texas that England is their friend, and that we are their enemies. If all this had been predicted three years since, it would have been deemed incredible; and if Texas is not reenacted, she is certain, within a few years more, to become first a commercial dependency, and then a colony, in fact, if not in name, of England. When we regard the consequences which have already followed the mere apprehension of the refusal of reanimation, what will be the result in Texas when reannexation is positively and forever rejected? When this is done, and Texas is repulsed with contempt or indifference, when her people are told, The flag of the Union shall never wave over you, go!—go where you may, to England, if you please,—who can doubt the result?

Page 5: “Under the Spanish Government, Texas was a separate and distinct province. As such it had a separate and distinct local organization. It was one of the unities that composed the general mass of the nation, and as such participated in the war of the revolution, and was represented in the Constituent Congress of Mexico that formed the Constitution of 1824. This Constituent Congress, so far from destroying this unity, expressly recognized and confirmed it by the law of May 7th, 1824, which united Texas with Coahuila provisionally, under the especial guarantee of being made a state of the Mexican confederation as soon as it possessed the necessary elements. That law and the federal Constitution gave to Texas a specific political existence, and vested in its inhabitants special and defined rights, which can only be relinquished by the people of Texas acting for themselves as a unity, and not as a part of Coahuila, for the reason that the union with Coahuila was limited, and only gave power to the state of Coahuila and Texas to govern Texas for the time being, but always subject to the vested rights of Texas. The state, therefore, cannot relinquish those vested rights, by agreeing to the change of government, or by any other act, unless expressly authorized by the people of Texas to dos; neither can the general government of Mexico legally deprive Texas of them without the consent of this people. These are my opinions.”—(Texas and the Texans, by H. Stuart Foote, vol. ii, p. 62.)

Page 31: On the other hand, if the numerous ports and long line of sea coasts of Texas are to be defended as a portion of our own frontier, a vast increase must be made to our fortifications, and a very considerable one to our military and naval establishment. Texas, as a neutral, would be, in case of a war with England, far more serviceable than as a portion of our own territory, and that she would be a voluntary ally, is, in our judgment, in the last degree improbable. We seem to forget that there must be limits to our dominion; in case of war, Great Britain will always endeavor to enlist in opposition to us our southern neighbors, be she Mexico or Texas, a policy far easier to be pursued with Mexico, already alienated from us, than with the people of Texas, claiming the same origin with ourselves. In case of a war, it were far better to have Galveston and Matagordas in neutral hands than in our own.

Page 49: There can be no doubt, whether it is to be effected by our government, by the people of Texas, or by some yet more desperate adventurers, that the descendants of the indomitable race form which we spring must possess this continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The feebler people succumb to the more powerful, such has ben the invariable course of empire in either hemisphere; whether under the pacific policy of Penn or the fierce and oppressive rule of Hastings, the ignorant and the feeble possessor of the soil must yield to the braver and more competent invader: but this inevitable course of events forms no necessary portion of the destinies of this government—it is not our incumbent duty to overturn the rising governments of Mexico or Central America, and in the name of civilization and religion to subjugate and oppress the nations who now people those beautiful lands. That revolution may be effected silently and peaceably without the agency of governments, without political amalgamation, by the mere operation of material interests and commercial relations.

Page 51: Mr. Murphy is told (all this, be it remembered, for the benefit of President Houston) that if Texas refuses, “war is inevitable.” Before this attitude Texas has succumbed, and, so far as she is concerned, the treaty is the result of a plain direct threat of war. Nor is there any proof that her people desire it. A vote was taken on the question in 1836, (the President’s message) and it seems only 93 persons voted in the negative; and this vote eight years old is what our functionaries gravely rely on as a proof that the people of Texas are now in favor of the measure. No wonder that, acting on this mode of reasoning, this same letter to Mr. Murphy (still to be read to President Houston) contains positive and exaggerated declarations that the people of the United States are in favor of the measure, and closes with the most extraordinary statement, “that measures have been taken to ascertain the opinions and views of Senators on the subject, and that it is found a clear constitutional majority of two-thirds are in favor of the measure.” This in January last, when not the slightest means had been taken to ascertain the sense of the nation on the subject.

Page 21: In the Declaration of Independence, made by the inhabitants, in March, 1836, it is expressly declared to be “the declaration of the people of Texas.” In every public document emanating from the assemblies of the people, prior and subsequent to that declaration, their jurisdiction is limited to Texas proper, or the department of Texas. Neither Coahuila, Chihuahua, or New Mexico, took part in the revolution. Not a battle was fought beyond the limits of Texas proper—nor has she ever had possession of a foot of the soil over which she has now, on paper, extended her jurisdiction. She has not, on the north, even the doubtful right of an assumed natural boundary, even though she should claim the Rio Grande on the south as such. In fact, her claim is based on no other foundation than her own act. She has no right from possession, conquest, concession, occupation, or the assent of the inhabitants. The jurisdiction is, and has ever been, in the States claiming the territory. By an act of Congress, passed in December, 1838, to raise troops for the defense of the frontier, the Deuces and Red river are named as the extreme outposts of her territory.

Page 54: The 2d sec. provides that the foregoing consent of Congress is given on certain conditions. The first is, that “said State to be formed subject to the adjustment, by this government, of all questions of boundary that may arise with other governments, and the constitution thereof with the proper evidence of its adoption by the people of Texas, shall be transmitted to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress for its final action on or before the first day of January, 1846.”

Page 66: Mr. Chairman, there are many distinct views to be taken of this transaction, either of which would more than exhaust the little time allowed us under the hour rule. There is the Executive view of it; displaying as much of assumption and usurpation, in all its civil and all its military developments, as has ever signalized an equal period in the history of the most despotic ruler in Christendom. There is the Diplomatic view of it; exhibiting a correspondence which, I venture to say, has made more than are willing to acknowledge it, blush, and cover their faces in shame, at such a degradation of our national character before the world. I am glad to find that even the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Mr. C.J. Ingersoll) has not been quite able to suppress an intimation of disgust for some of the State papers and diplomatic correspondence of the case. There is the Texan view of the question, too. Sir, I have never cherished any particular sympathy for the people of Texas. I have heretofore been rather inclined to agree with Governor McDuffie in the views presented in an admirable message of his to the Legislature of South Carolina in December, 1836; in which he not only expressed the opinion that “if we should admit Texas into our Union while Mexico is still waging war against that Province, with a view to reestablish her supremacy over it, we should, by the very act itself, make ourselves a party to the war,” and that we could not “take this step without incurring this heavy responsibility, until Mexico herself shall recognize the independence of her revolted Provnce;” but in which he said also, “I am utterly at a loss to perceive what title either of the parties to this controversy can have to the sympathies of the American people.

Page 7: If it be alleged that the insurgents of Texas are emigrants from the United States, it is obvious to reply that, by their voluntary expatriation, under whatever circumstances of adventure, of speculation, of honor or of infamy, they have forfeited all claim to our paternal regard. If it be true that they have left a land of freedom for a land of despotism, they have done it with their eyes open, and deserve their destiny.” Perhaps this language is a little too severe, but I am clearly of opinion that men who have deserted their own country for a foreign soil, are not preeminently entitled to our freshest and most cordial sympathies. I confess, however, that recent circumstances have created something of reaction in my mind in regard to the people of Texas. I cannot help feeling some sympathy with that people under the precise circumstances in which they are now placed; betrayed, as they have been, into so humiliating a posture, by false pretenses and false promises. Where has been the fulfillment of that promise which a President of the United States, speaking through his Secretary of State, dared to hold out to them a year ago: “Measures have been taken to ascertain the opinions and views of Senators upon the subject, and it is found that a clear constitutional majority of two-thirds are in favor of the measure!” Sir, may we not begin to entertain a hope that the people of Texas will awake to some respect for themselves under the treatment they have received, and will no longer suffer themselves to be duped and trifled with either by President or Congresses? If they would summon up something of a just national pride, repel all further overtures to annexation, expose all the arts and intrigues by which they have been seduced, and resolve to maintain their stand as an independent nation against Mexico and against the world, the “God speed” of all good men would go with them. There seems to be some probability of such a movement. The chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs has warned us of the danger of delay. “There is nothing to be dreaded,” says he, “but delay. Delay is imminently dangerous.” And why is delay dangerous? Because, says he, “there must be in Texas a great deal of personal selfish opposition to annexation. Many eminent men may oppose it.” What a confession is this! So we are not only to get the start of the sober second thought of our own American people upon this question , but of the people of Texas too! We are to take a snap judgment on the willingness of both nations to enter upon this fatal marriage!