WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1850
229
Union. That is what I said ; and it was denied in the little con- troversy that took place between the Senator from Mississippi and myself, that any one out of the State of Mississippi had any agency in these occurrences. 3 Sir, subsequent events have proved that there was a mighty spirit from abroad operating in those conventions, and that this course was suggested from another State, with a view of leading directly to this Nashville Conven- tion. So, sir, I was correct in my assertion of this fact, though the proof was not fully developed at the time. The eagle, sir, seeks his prey at a distance; he does not seek it about his eyrie; and I apprehend, sir, there was a master spirit at work there. I met it here in all its power, and, feeble as the array was, I opposed myself to it. I felt the violence of its resentment; but still, sir, this did not cause me to falter in the discharge of my duty, and, as one of the representatives of the State of Texas, I placed rriy foot upon and trampled upon all the movements and agitation which suggested and led to the Nashville Con- vention. And, sir, such will ever be my course. I speak not for other gentlemen; they have a right to do as they please; their duties are their own, and their consciences will alone control them. I have my constituency to account to, and I have my duty to perform, not only as a Senator, but as a citizen, which is a higher distinction. It is not one State, but the whole Union which is interested in this matter. Strike down the rights of one man, and you lead to the destruction of the whole fabric. There- fore, I am not for permitting the Government to destroy either the rights of the States, as such, or the rights of individuals. These rights are protected by solemn guarantees, and whether of person, liberty, or property, they are rights the disturbance or destruction of which will ever meet my unyielding opposition. [Davis interrupted to declare that Mississippi stood for Union under the Constitution and that the Southern Convention was not influenced by South Carolina or by a letter from Calhoun.] Mr. Houston. It is very strange that that letter was at the convention, and had no influence upon its deliberations. Mr. Davis. It did not arrive during the convention. Mr. Houston. Was it not. in the convention? Mr. Davis. I understood that it was not. Mr. Houston. I understood that it was received by Colonel Tarpley in the convention, and there exhibited. It was a singular coincidence that a gentleman from South Carolina should have been passing down the river and visited the convention, and
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