343
PAPERS OF ~Im.\BE.\U BuoN.\PARTE L.\M.\R
No. 342
[1836 Feb. 1], II. Si\IITH, [SA.1:r FELIPE]. "TEXAS E~~PECT EVERY :i\IA1J TO DO IIIS DUTY"G 6 TE. . AS EXPECTS EVERY 1\I TO DO HIS DUTY. EXECUTIVE DEPART11IE:N1~ OF TEXAS. FELLOW-CITIZE S OF TEXAS, The enemy are upon us! A trong force surrounds the walls o! San Antonio, and threaten that Garrison with the sword. Our coun, try imperiou ly demands the service of every patriotic arm, and longer to continue in a state of apatli.y will be criminal. Citizens of Texas, de cendants of Washington, a"·ake ! arouse yourselves! I The question is now to be decided, are we to continue as freemen, or bow beneat:h the rod of military despotism. Shall we, without a struggle, sacrifice our fortunes,,our lives and our liberties, or shall we imitate the ex- ample of our forefathers, and hurl destruction upon the hands of our oppressors 1 The eyes of the world are upon us! All friends of liberty and of the rights of men, are anxious spectators of our conflict; or deeply enlisted •in our cause. Shall we disappoint their hopes and expectations? ro; let us at once fly to our arms, march to the battle rfield, meet the foe, and give renewed evidence to the world, that the arms of freemen, uplifted in defen e of their rights and liberties, are irresistible. " row is the day and now is the hour," that Texas ex- pects every man to do his duty. Let us show ourselves worthy to be free, and we shall be free. Our brethren of the United State have, with a generosity and a devotion to liberty, unparalleled in the annals of m.en, offered us every assistance. We have arms, ammunition, clothing and provisions; all we have to do, is to sustain ourselves for the present. Rest assured that succors will reach us, and that the people of the United States w·m not permit the chains of slavery to be rivetted on us. Fellow-Citizens, your garrison at San Antonio is surrounded by more than twenty times their numbers. Will you see them perish by the hands of a mercenary oldiery, without an effort for their relief? They cannot sustain the seige more t];ian thirty days; for the sake of humanity, before that time give them succor. Citizens of the ea t, your brethren of the Brazos and Colo.rado, expect your assistance, afford it, and check the march of the enemy and suffer not your own land to become the seat of war; without your immediate aid ,ve cannot sustain the war. Fellow-citizens; I call upon you as your executive officer to "turn out;" it is your country that demands your help. He who longer slumb~r on the volcano, must be a mad- man. He who refuses to aid his country in this, her hoUl' of peril and danger is a traitor. All persons able to bear arms in Texas are "'Printed. Prefixed to No. 338.
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