sudden an abandonment of your duty and your professions? For you I unhesitatingly answer, NEVER! But, fellow-citizens, there are many among you who would persuade you to violate these oaths and solemn declarations; who would persuade you to forget your duty as adopted citizens of Mexico, and to tear in fragnents the tri-coloured flag which you swore to defend, and under which you fought and conquered; and to plant in its stead the flag of independence, presenting a sickly star and single stripe. The announcement of these fatal and dangerous doctrines should lead every mind to inquire, have we the right thus to act, considered in reference to our constitutional, national, or natural rights? The republican federative government of Mexico was a compact between independent sovereignties, and Texas was one of these sovereigns as was admitted by the constituent Congress that formed the Constitution of 1824, and by their decree of the 7th of l\'lay of the same year. For the better administering of the sovereignty of the states, the federal government of Mexico was created, and to that government was delegated all the power necessary to carry on its operations; but all its acts, and all its powers were to be based on a republican federative system. The powers of the government were wholly derivative, were trust powers, granted for certain expressed or well understood purposes; and that government, like an individual, so soon as it transcended those powers, its acts were null and void, and of no effect. The government of Mexico has transcended the powers delegated, by attempting a change of the government from a republican federative into a central one. Its acts in this respect are constitutionally null and void. l3ul the government has resorted to revolution to sustain itself, and the civil war, now raging, is the consequence of this unholy attempt. Throughout the republic, the two parties are arrayed: the military and clergy, and aristocrats, on the one side, and liberalists on the other. Look al the liberal line, extended from Acapulco in the south, to Texas in the east; and you find slates, and generals, and men reiterating the same principles with yourselves, lo sustain the Constitution of 1824, or perish in its overthrow. In the south, the liberals have gained two important victories over their enemies; and from every portion of
417
Powered by FlippingBook