151
P,\PERS OF °MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
rule,) and tho e men not chosen by the public voice. And yet are not the people invited to make this surrender when they are advised to vote again t their own wishes and convictions, to suit the views of the Committee of seven 1 .And how much more insulting would such ad- vice become if it should have the gentle accompaniment or denuncia- tion against the refractory who may not accept the cotmsel ! The in- telligence of the people is certainly much under-rated by the advo- cates of this principle. The plaine t minds in ,the community cannot fail to perceive very clearly, that if I am to be rejected in the coming election merely because these seven gentlemen have not recommended me, it will be their voice alone that will control the election. And sup- pose that the people prefer me to ome on the present ticket, but for fear of the displeasure of t}Je committee or denunciation of the caucus, I should decline being a candidate-would it not be manifest to all, that it wonld be the terror of their a timed power instead of the voice of the people that would prevail 1 I design no personal disrespect to the gentlemen of the committee in questioning their authority to gov- ern. I know them to be men of intelligence and probity; but consid- erations of private esteem can never reconcile me to a dangerous prec- edent. To no seven individual ho~·ever gifted in mind and devoted to their country, ~ ould I be willing to yield the exclusive direction of our congre sional election . Those who claim this high privilege for the present committee may wear, unenvied by me, all the honors which may be reaped from it in the ensuing conte t. If my political bark cannot sail upon the sea of correct principles, let it founder-it. shall never float upon the wave of triumphant error. I have applied the term dictation to the proceedings of the caucus- I do not intend thereby to impugn the motive of the individuals of whom it was composed. I frankly admit that they were a patriotic body of men who were aiming to advance the interests of their party and country.' But if it was intended by them that their proceedings should have such force and obligation as to make it censurable for any one, not included in their ticket, to present himself to his inde- pendent fellow-citizens, r their free and unbiassed suffrages, then the term dictation, however unpalatable it may be, is of all others the most characteristic of the movement. It rs dictation, because the per- sons who constituted the caucus were never clothed with any author- ity, either express or implied, from the great body of the Troup party (of which they were but a small fraction) to form a congressional ticket at all, much less to form one that should be endued with such destructive energy, a to bring down withering denunciations upon the head, and a cureless blight upon the fame of any one who hould have the amazing teinerity to eek fa1•or of hi fellow-citizens in de- spite of the promulgated fiat. But it may be said that the nomination was intended to be only'. an unauthoritative "recommendation" in favor of the sel cted individuals. If this be true, t'\len the right of every man in the community to be governed by it or not, according to bis own volition, remains wholly unrestricted; and not the slightest reproach can attach either to the voter who may bestow his suffrage, or to the candidate who may seek -it in disregard of the recommenda.- tion. The true character of the measure, however, will be fully de~
Powered by FlippingBook