EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT OF 'l'EXAS, l Washington, March 4, 1836. f
To the Honl. the President,
and Members of the Convention: Gentlemen,-Having been called upon by the constituted autho- rities of the country, to exercise the power, and discharge the du- ties of Governor, according to the second arlicle of the organic law, which I have complied with much against my own inclination, but in obedience to what I conceived to be my paramount duty 11s Lieutenant Governor, the governor being suspended by the competent authority. The right and authority under which I exercised this power, and performed these duties, having been called in question, and made the foundation of, and the excuse for disobedience of orders in some instances, and doubt and in- decision in many, very many, highly respectable citizens, to the manifest injury of our beloved country; and not wishing to claim powers not clearly deleg-ated, and Ul)question~bly given by the laws of the land, and sustained by the people of free a11d i11depen~cnt Texas, I have presented the subject before you, for your considera- tion and decision, and will bow with pleasure to whatever conclu- sion you may arrive. I 1-now the tenacity with which the human heart usually clings to power, and the exercise of a little brief authority; but for myself I do unhesitatingly say that it was with great reluctance that I entered upon the discharge of the guberna- torial duties, and I assure )"OU that I will retire from this situation to the tented field, where I hope to render some service, however humble, as a private soldier, and I trust I will meet every free- man who can be spared from other public service. In this her hour of peril and danger, Texas shall not find me wanting in de- votion to her interest and honor, and this pledge I am now ready to redeem with my life. Although I entertain no doubt of my right and duty to act as the Executive of the Country and, in the words of a distinguished statesman of the Land of Washington, ''I challenge the test of talents and of time" in regard to the purity of my intentions in the administration of the government. The course I have pursued is marked, clear and ommrd. In the last Co11vention to the best of my abilities, independence, and nothing but i11rlepende11u, had my u11qualified support; and every days experience since that · time, .~atisfies me that n declaration of that kind ought to have been made, and any other declaration now, would utterly blast and destroy with a fat_ed mildew, the fond hopes of the friends of the country, here and elsewhere. Yet for Texas I am, and ever have been, re11dy to make any sacrifice in my power to offer, but that of honor .and my oath of office. Permit me therefore to request your honorable body, so to or- ganise, constitute and remodel t.hP nroviRional Government, as to
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