WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1860
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cise a power not to be found in the Constitution. He would there- fore respectfully decline to act in the matter. Sam Houston. 1 Executive Records, 1859-1861, p. 209, Texas State Library.
To MESSRS. MURRAY & BROTHER' Executive Department, Austin, August 15, 1860.
Messrs. Murray & Brother, San Saba, Texas. Gentlemen : All the Government property in your hands you will dispose of after ten days advertisement, and make report of the sale to this Department. You will use every means to dispose of it to the best advantage. Sam Houston.
1 Executive Recorcls, 1859-1861, p. 212, Texas State Library.
TO FRIENDS IN THE UNITED STATES 1
Austin, Texas, August 18, 1860.
To my Friends in the United States: I withdraw my name from the list of candidates for the Presi- dency. I consented to its use because the call came from the spon- taneous voices of respectable numbers of the people themselves, not because I desired the office. But the time has now arrived when it behooves every patriot to act for himself, and to do all in his power to save his country from a dangerous war of section- alism, and a reckless spirit of disunion, both North and South. The responsibility now devolves upon the candidates themselves, whether called into the field by the untrammeled will of the people, or by the several Conventions which have unfortunately destroyed all harmony, and threatened the stability of the Union itself. I cannot hesitate in my belief, that it is the duty of the candidates to sacrifice their hopes upon the altar of our common country. It may be said that I yield least, as my chances of success are not so apparent. But with four opponents of the nominee of the Republican Convention in the field, the defeat of all is equally certain. In such a scramble the pleasure or mortification of get- ting more popular or fewer electoral votes would only be compara- tive, and neither candidate would stand relieved before the coun- try, from the charge of having recklessly tampered with the liberties of the best government in the world.
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