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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
we hold that we owe no more allegiance to the existing Govt. than to any foreign power. But fellow citizens, we ,vish to deal frankly & candidly with you, and we admit, that there is a vast deal of difference between the right to act and the policy. Cases arise, in which the right is perfectly clear, and yet the policy may be extremely questionable. It is frequently better to Suffer the ills which we know, than to hazard others of which we are ignorant. To determi [ne ] question of expediency f and pol J icy, a consultation of all Te[xa]s, is absolutely indispensable. There are many who oppose this, because they allege that it may give offence to the existing government. It is Strange that men, who have been rocked in the cradle of liberty, Should ever avow Such Sentiments. If the Government be republican; if all power emanates from the people; there is nothing more clear than that they have the right peaceably to assemble together in person or by their delegates, to take into consideration the State of the country, and to devise the best possible means, to Secure _their quiet'& Happiness.-If we are to be ·denied that right, under the present consolidated government, our as- sertion is proven, that it is only another name for military Despotism. But there are Some wlto profess to believe that all can be effected, without a consultation. That the acts of Ayuntamientos, political Chiefs, & Small committees, are well calculated to produce the desired end. The voice of the people, is Said to be the voice of God, but it is far from omnipotent, it is almost inaudible, yea even contemptible [whe]n expressed by Small public [gatherings) suddenly assembled together wit[h no ]time for deliberation, by Ayuntamien[tos], who being elected merely for municipal purposes, Should 11ot attempt to forestall popular opinion, or by Special committees raised by Aynn- tamientos, for Special purposes, without regard to public Sentiment. But when the whole, people are. assembled, together in general con- sultation, by their representatives elected fresh from among them- selves, with Specific instructions, it is then their voice is heard in all its majesty, it is then that we command the confidence and respect of our friends & Strike the enimies of liberty with Terror. We hold that it is antirepublican to oppose a consultation; tbat it is denying the Sovereignty of the people, that it is prostrating, the first principles of liberty & democracy; that it is an effort to control the majority by the minority, and in Short to establish the doctrine that the people ar~ incapable of Self government. 'rhe great father of Democracy, (Thomas Jefferson) has said "that the people may Sometimes err in judgment, but they are always right in Sentiment." To this position we give our mcst cordial approbat~on.~ The people may be misled or misguided by the cunning or the artful, they may be led astry by prejudices or by but give them [sufficie]nt time for reflection, [let the] whole Subject be fully. canvass[ed] and discussed, and in ninety nine cases out of an hundrd their final decision vti.11 be correct. Fellow Citizens, we are all anxious to attain .the Same great end,
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