THE AUSTIN PAPERS. 1545 this. Shall we sit with our arms folded in fatal security, untill we nre bound in chains and slavery¥ No! fellow citi::ens l We have nothing to hope for but in our arms. They will guaranty rights, that will not be wrested from us. Let us then join heart and hand in the noble struggle for our liberties. ,v e are the children of the same mother country. ,v e are Americans in a foreign lnnd, groaning under the galling yoke of injustice and oppression. Our fathers in their struggle for liberty contended against the gin,nt of the world. ,-ve have to contend against a corrupt and imbecile Government, now tottering upon its own foundation, and ready to crumble into its former ruins. "\,Ve for ourselves have no fears of a speedy establishment of our Independence. We have now the means of making this empire shake to its very centre. We ask you not to risk your lives and properties with us in this enterprize, unless your own feelings and your own judgments sanction such a cause. The rights and properties of every .American and Spaniard will be held gacred, unless he raises arms against us. ,v e will not dictate to you what course you should pursue.-Should you think proper to leave the struggle to us alone, We are nevertheless willing to fight for your rights and sectn·ity in common with our own. Should we secure the Independence of this country, of which we have not an earthly doubt, you will of course share its blessings with us. "\,Ve ha,·e undertaken this glorious cause with a determination to be freemen or to perish under the flag of liberty. \Ve at least are determined to fo·e or to die like Americans and like the sons of freemen. B. ,v. EDWARDS H.B. MAYO Committee of Correspondence in behnlf of the General Committee of Independence. 1
B. W. EDWARDS TO JA1rns Ross
•Nacogdocbes Dec". 2G th 1826
DEAR SIR. In times like these the soul of every freeman feels inclined to speak its impulse to every kindred spirit-You and I sir, are strang- ers; but you are nn American, and so am I. The time has arrived when that proud title, I trust, will be n sufficient pnsport to the bosom of every man, who claims /1·eedo1n as his birthright-Nor are you sir, as a man, unknown to me. The high consideration, I entertain for
1 [The communlcn.tlon ot Hub<'r, which follows this document 1u tile copy, Is prlnled 1u "- Oompre11c118'11e JUator11 of Tcaiaa, 1, 533-:i3-1.)
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