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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1863
347
situation, and amongst them I shall indicate no preference. To the will of the people I must yield! My lot with theirs is a com- mon lot. If they prosper, I hope my family and I will prosper with them. If adverse fortune shall fall upon the people, we must summon all our resolution and bear it. One thing is certain, that I shall vote for no candidate who will not, after having sworn to do it, maintain the Constitution and vindicate the laws made under it. If you ignore the Con- stitution, from which the laws have emanated, you render them void, and plunge the country into anarchy. The plea of "martial law" and "military necessity" which has no limits, are no recom- pense for a violated Constitution which has been solemnly framed for the protection of the lives, liberties, and property of the citizens. If the Constitution is not maintained, life, lib- 'erty, property are all subject to the will of any one who may assume to represent these engines of oppression, under the plea of "military necessity," and thereby oppress the citizens, who if the constitution and the laws are maintained will find that they have a safeguard and a shield to resist wrong and oppression. The Constitution was intended to protect the rights of the hum- blest citizen. If it is cast aside or trampled down, the citizen has no rights, and must appeal to the mercy of despots, instead of the laws of the land. Habeas corpus and the right of trial by Jury are all ignored, and military tribunals are to be established as they have been in Texas, and by their decision citizens are condemned to ignominious punishment. I have herein set forth some of the principles that have always actuated me in life, and I hope to cherish them as long as I live. My advice to my countrymen partakes of no selfishness. A man of three score years and ten, as I am, ought, at least, be exempt from the charge of ambition, even if he should be charged with having loved his country but too well. Your fellow citizen and servant, Sam Houston. 1 The Tri-Weekly Teleu1·aph (Houston), June 1, 1863; The Pat·riot (La Grange), June 4, 1863. The Telegrciph complimented Houston highly for publishing this letter. During the early part of 1863 there was much talk about Houston's being a candidate for the Governor's office, and a ma- jority of the papers in commenting on the rumor, predicted that should he become a candidate, he would be overwhelmingly elected; others, however, continued to follow up all the old animosities and slanders ngninst him.
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