250
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1861
fact that these States still seem determined to maintain their ground and fight the battle of the Constitution within the Union, should have equal weight with us as with those States which have no higher claim upon us, and who without cause on our part, have surrendered the ties which made us one. Whatever may be the course of Texas, the ambition of her peo- ple should be that she should take no step except after calm deliberation. A past history, in which courage, wisdom, and patriotism united to found a Republic and a State, is in our keep- ing. Let the record of no rash action blur its pages. If after passing through two revolutions another is upon us, let the same prudence mark our course as when we merged from an inde- pendent nation into one of the States of the Union. Holding our- selves above influences which appeal to our passions and our prejudices, if we must be masters of our own destiny let us act like men, who feel all of the responsibilities of the position they assume, and are ready to answer to the civilized world, to God, and to posterity. The time has come when, in my opinion, it is necessary to evoke the sovereign will for the solution of this question affecting our relations with the Federal Government. The people, as the source of all power, can alone declare the course that Texas shall pursue, and in the opinion of the Execu- tive, they demand that the Legislature should provide a legal means by which they shall express their will as freemen at the ballot-box. They have stood aloof from revolutionary schemes, and now await the action of your honorable body, that they may in a legitimate manner speak through the ballot-box. As one of the special objects for which you were convened, the Executive would press this upon your attention, and would urge that such action be as prompt as possible. . Confiding in the wisdom of the Legislature, and in its recog- nition of the supremacy of the people, the Executive relies upon the adoption of such legislation as will secure a full, free, and fair expression of their will. Should the Legislature in its wis- dom deem it necessary to call a convention of delegates fresh from the people, the Executive would not oppose the same, but he would suggest that the people be the tribunal of the last resort, and that no action be considered final until it has been submitted to them. While the public mind is agitated and wild excitement tramples upon reason, the Executive has a right to look to the legislative department of the Government for wise and sagacious counsels.
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