The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1 Page: 836
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Proceedings of the Convention at Washington.
16
( 836 )
educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of
civil liberty, or the capacity for self government.
It has suffered the military commandants, stationed among us,
to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tryanny; thus trampling
upon the most sacred rights of the citizen, and rendering the mili-
tary superior to the civil power.
It has dissolved, by force of arms, the state congress of Coahuila
and Texas, and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives
from the seat of government, thus depriving us of the fundamental
political right of representation.
It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and
ordered military detailments to seize and carry them into the in-
terior for trial, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance
of the laws and the constitution.
It has made piratical attacks upon our commerce, by commis-
sioning foreign desperadoes, and authorizing them to seize our
vessels, and convey the property of our citizens to far distant ports
for confiscation.
It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty, according to
the dictates of our conscience, by the support a national religion,
calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human func-
tionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.
It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential
to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable
only to tyrannical government.
It has invaded our country, both by land and sea, with intent
to lay waste our territory, and drive us from our homes; and has
now a large mercenary army advancing to carry on against us a
war of extermination.
It has, through its. emmissaries, incited the merciless savage,
with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants
of our defenceless frontiers.
It hath been, during the whole time of our connection with it,
the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolu-
tions; and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak,
corrupt, and tyrannical government.
These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people
of Texas, until they reached that point at which forbearance ceased
to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defence of the national
constitution. We appealed to our Mexican brethren for assistance.
Our appeal has been made in vain. Though months have elapsed,
no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the interior. We
are, therefore, forced to the melancholy conclusion, that the Mex-
ican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and
the substitution thereof of a military government; that they are
unfit to be free, and incapable of self-government. The necessity
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Gammel, Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen. The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1, book, 1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5872/m1/844/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .