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TEX.\S ST,\TE LIBRARY
Und(er) the federal Government of irexico as i [t on]ce was, ea-ch State was of itself a Separate Sovereignty, their rights, and their powers, were clearly guaranteed under the constitutjon and no power could divest them of those rights except by their own consent. 'l'he federal constitution, provided the mode in which it might be changed or amended, and unless that method was pursued to the letter not one of the States was bound to approve or ratify the change. The present government was an unwarrantable assumption of power by the clergy & military, it was an overthrew of every thin~ like liberty or liberal principles, and the chartered r.ights of the States guaranteed by the constitution were at one fell blow, prostrate at the feet of lawless usurpers. Let any honest reflecting man, ask himself, if these facts be true?, and there cannot be a doubt, but that the answer will be in the affirma- tive.- If the premises be conceded, if it be admitted, that the form of government has been revolutionized, that it has undergone a chan~e, utterly incompatible, with the principles of ·liberty, and that Texas, has neither acceded to, or declared in opposition to it, then we hold, that it is a virtual act of war, for :Mexico to Send troops a,mongst us without our consent. O[ur ob]ject then is to avert this rwh)ole evil if possible "War, (to apre the] words of the greatest man of the day) is one of those dreadful Scourges, which So Shakes the foundations of So- ciety, overturns or changes the character of government, interrupts or destroys the pursuits of private happiness, brings misery and wretchedness, in So many frightful forms, and is in its issue, So doubtful and hazardous, that nothing but dire necessity, can justify an appeal to arms." 'To avert the horrible consequences, of an evil, So gloriously de- picted, we invite & implore you fellow citizens, to unite with us, in producing, a consultation of all Texas, by her representatives. But if ever we arc driven to that impossible point where degradation and disgrace begin we express the eonfid.ent conviction that the pe:iple <rf Texas, will prove to a SYJ'!lpathizing world, that the blood which flowed through the veins of the fathers of SeYenty Six, has not been adul- terated in its transmission to their posterity. We admit the doctrine, to the fullest extent, that a majority in every republican government must control. There are Some however who attempt to extend this principle, So far that it becomes pre- posterous. There arc [soin)e who hold, that inasmuch, as fthey o]nce com-· posed an intigral part [of] the Republican Government, if a majority of the States or the people, change that govt. that we are bound to yield. Against Such dangerous & preposterous doctrine as this, we enter our most solemn protest: If it be the correct doctrine, why were constitutions adopted Y and where was the ncces.<sity of providing the mannet· in which they might be -changed? If the new government had been founded in the manner, contem- plated, by the constitution there can be no doubt, that we would haYe been bound to accede, to it, Ilut _as it has been effected, in a manner contrary to the constitution,
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