The attitude of the legislature of Texas is very interesting. This attitude, perhaps, can best be explained by the study of a petition presented by Considerant and by the report of bills in the House and the Senate. Ignorance on the part of the legislators of the purposes and policies of the colony is astonishing, and this ignorance existed in spite of the fact that Considerant had done everything to inform them of his purpose and policies. At one time he distributed to the members his pamphlet on _European Colonization in Texas_ which went into detail concerning the proposed colony. Savardan, in his book, states that this distribution was the greatest mistake made by Considerant because he took a neutral stand on political problems, especially on slavery. This, Savardan explains, was the very thing that Texans, especially the legislators, did not want. Conditions and circumstances in Texas demanded partisan politics and not neutrality. One must of necessity be for or against slavery, building of railroads, immigration, and similar movements. In December, 1855, Considerant presented a petition to the House of Representatives and the Senate setting forth his appeal for grants of land in Texas.[26] In this he said that in returning to Texas for the second time he found there had been considerable change: in the public sentiment toward foreigners; in that all vacant lands in the north part of the state had been taken up by settlers, located on by speculators, or reserved to the Pacific Railroad Company. Thus the advantage which he clearly foresaw in 1852 for his colonization company and which he put forth as inducements in his reports to his friends to settle in Texas, had practically vanished, leaving him in a peculiar situation. The reaction to such a situation in Europe and among his friends had been such as to endanger the project of colonization. In consideration of these factors he asked if “a grant, for instance of two hundred sections of land, made to the Colonization Company, would exceed the measure of the favor” which the state would feel disposed to extend to the company as encouragement and compensation for the heavy expenses already undergone by the company in bringing settlers to Texas. So when he returned to present the above petition, he found public opinion aroused opposing his project.[27]