288 . . can federative government of Mexico. Your situation at this moment is peculiarly interesting to the world: all admire yonr valor; all lib- eralists coincide with you in the correctness of the principle· )'OU have avowed; and illuminations in hamlet and house testify the joy experienced by your success. Your future cour e i now the object of their attention; and they attentively watch your movements for the purpose of determining whether or not you have been governed by the selfish desire of promoting your own individual views, and robbing Mexico of her land ; or been influenced by the hiab, and laudable, and patriotic feelings, inducing a peril of life and property in defence of liberty and the Constitution of 1824. Up to thi period you have avowed the determination of adhering to the republican principles of the Constitution, under the tri-coloured flag of repub- lican Mexico you fought the battles of Texas, and a~id the shouts of "Liberty and the Constitution,,, victoriously you planted it on the battlements of San Antonio. In the hour of your danger, and durin~ the uncertain issue of the contest, you appealed to the liberals of l\fexico. You avowed as your creed, opposition to the central plan of government, but a faithful observance of your oaths to support the republican federative system. · ,vill you, fellow citizens, redeem that pledge? Will you still adhere to your oaths Y will you aid and sustain the liberals of the Interior, who, influenced by your appeals and hy your gallant bearing, have also staked life and property in support of liberty, _and who look imploringly and confidingly to you "to sustain them jn this the hour of trouble and need 1 Had the ques- tion been addre sed to ,vashin~on and Hancock and Adams-to Patrick Henry, Jefferson and Franklin, and the whole hoi;t of revo- lutionary worthies---the answer would have been unanimous-in the affirmative; and in the hour of victory and sectirity with uplifted hands before hi1:?h heaven, would have reiterated over again the same solemn and binding obligation. Will their descendants, whilst vener- ating their names and professing their principles, give a different answer¥ Will yon, fellow-citizens of Texas, compromit your oaths and your honor, and your ultimate srcurity, bv so sudden an abandon- ment of your duty and your profe iQns Y For you I unhesitatingly answer, NEVER! TE..'CAS ST .. ra LmRARY Bnt, fellow-citizens, there are many among :von who wonld per- suade you to violate the e oaths and solemn declarations; who would persuade yon to forget your duty as adopted citizens of Mexico, and to tear in fragnents the tri-coloured flag which yon swot·e to defend, and under which you fought and conquered; and to plant in it tead the flag of independence, presenting a sickl. star and single . tripe. The announcement of the. e fatal and dangerous doctrine should lead every mind to inquire, have we the right thns to act, con. idcrcd in reference to our constitutional, national, or natural rights f The republican federative govcrnm<'nt of l\Jcxico was a compact between indepcnclent soverciA"nties, and Tcxns WaR one of the. c sov- ereigns ns was ndmitted by the constituent Congress that fanned the Constitution of ]824, and by their decree of the 7th of :;\fny of the same year. For ,the better. administering of the sovereignty of the Rtates, the federal ~ovrrnment of Iexico was created, and to that government wos delegated all the power nccc .ary to cnrry on its
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