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D. C. Collinsworth 2d. - do Ira Ingram - cam.y ? R.
Stevenson - O. T.
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Of the Committee of Safety and Correspondence of the Jurisdiction of Matagorda, in behalf of their constituents, to the people of Texas. Fellow Citizens,
As it is impossible for us to act with any degree of concert or
effect, without a previous understanding of each other's sentiment
and resolves, we conceive it to be a duty we owe as well to
ourselves as to you, to apprise you of our opinions, with respect to
the leading measures of the day, and of the part we have determined
to take in the present momentous crisis. We come before you, fellow
citizens, in the unaffected garb of brothers and patriots; not to
hurl the gauntlet of defiance at those who may conscientiously
differ with us in opinion, but to place our own free convictions in
bold relief before the eyes of our countrymen, and assure them that
they may implicitly rely upon us in case of need; not to ring the
alarm of war, war, when there is no war, but simply to let know that
we are acquainted with our rights, and that, when they are invaded,
we dare maintain them. That war is now inevitable, we can no longer
doubt. We devoutly believe that the time has arrived when every true
citizen should step forth with his rifle, and boldly show his
determination to stand by his country. Anxiously as we desire the
blessings of peace, deeply as we deplore the evils of war, yet, if
the storm must come, we are ready to meet it, and let it come.
Already has its muttering thunder been heard upon our western
frontier. The slumbering energies of the people have been aroused to
action. Our roads are thronged with patriots, hurrying on to join
the standard of liberty, and their only war cry now is, "my country,
right or wrong “
We have always disapproved the late sale of public land, because it
was adverse to the true interest of this province, and to the spirit
of the colonization laws; and more particularly, because it was
robbing Texas of a valuable portion of her public On the other hand, we have never been willing to surrender those of our fellow citizens who were demanded by general Cos, because we cannot recognize the right to use martial law in civil concerns, and because, if they are guilty, they have injured ourselves more than the general government, and, if tried at all, should be tried by an impartial jury of their own countrymen. We declare ourselves avowed enemies of centralism. We adhere to the federal Constitution of 1824, to our oaths, and to the republican principles guaranteed to us in, that Constitution, which we have sworn to support.
We are no alarmists or revolutionists; and are positively and
uniquivocally opposed to any declaration of independance, unless
driven to it in the last resort, as the only means of sustaining the
rights and dignity of freemen, without which we should regard life
as valueless, and of no earthly account. We have been heretofore peace-men. We have been opposed to any acts of aggression on our part. We have been most ardently desirous for peace, so long as peace could be had upon honorable terms. But knowing, as we now do, the hostile intentions of the government with respect to us, and. that a merciless soldiery are already on their march to rivet the chains of military despotism upon us, to give liberty to our slaves, and to make slaves of ourselves; to let loose the blood hounds of savage war upon us, and deluge this beautiful country with the life blood of her adopted children, we should be blind indeed to continue any longer inactive. We should be unworthy of the nation from which we sprung, of the name of Americans and of freemen unworthy of the paradise we live in, were we to lie supinely still, and tamely suffer the bonds of servitude to be thrown around us. Therefore, and regarding war as inevitable, we declare our unqualified approbation of the contemplated expedition to San Antonio de Bejar. We consider the taking of that place as indispensable to our safety and defence. We view it as purely a defensive measure, and let the event be as it may, we pledge ourselves to make common cause with all who shall be engaged in the attempt. In the absence of any legitimate head, whose authority we might acknowledge in conformity with our oaths; in the downfall of the Constitution and the state governments; in the midst of chaos, and on the eve of war, we recognize the necessity of a convention, and as well the right as necessity of establishing a provisional state government for Texas. That government should be based upon the federal principles of 1824, and in strict accordance with the vested rights and .privileges assured to us as colonists by the general Congress of Mexico. And, for its better support, we would submit to the Convention, which will assemble on the 15th of this month, the propriety of some regulation, for the double purpose of preventing any further land payments being made into Mexican coffers, and securing them to the treasury of Texas, as soon as those of us who are still indebted for our land, shall be able to make them. Fellow citizens, our political faith has now been laid before you. You now know how far you may rely upon us in the approaching emergency. Too long have we wandered among the mazes of political uncertainty. Too long has the gloom of a civil night enshrouded us. We have scarcely known, either, the wholesome restraints of rational law or the enjoyments of civil liberty. We have been alternately threatened and pacified, flattered and deceived. We have not known, at what moment we might be roused from our slumbers, by the war whoop of the savage, or the alarm of a Mexican foe. This terrible suspense has withered our energies, and paralyzed all improvement. Our little commerce has withered and almost died away. Emigration has altogether ceased. For a redress of these grievances we have petitioned in vain--our petitions have been trampled in the dust. The axe has been laid to the root of republicanism, and centralism, under the auspices of a military despot, is now overshadowing us with a deeper gloom than ever. We have no longer any hope but from ourselves. Our trust is in our arms, in the cause of enlightened liberty, and the wisdom of a patriotic Convention.
S. RHOADS FISHER, Chairman
Telegraph and Texas Register,
San Felipe de Austin, Vol. 1, No. 2, Ed. 1, Saturday, October 17,
1835 |
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THE GOLIAD DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE DECEMBER 20, 1835
Solemnly impressed with a sense of the danger of the crisis to which recent and remote events have conducted the public affairs of their country, the undersigned prefer this method of laying before their fellow-citizens, a brief retrospect of the light in which they regard both the present and the past, and of frankly declaring for themselves, the policy and the uncompromising course which they have resolved to pursue for the future.
They have seen the enthusiasm and the heroic toils of an army bartered for a capitulation, humiliating in itself, and repugnant in the extreme to the pride and honor of the most lenient, and no sooner framed than evaded or insultingly violated.
They have seen their camp thronged, but too frequently, with those who were more anxious to be served by, than to serve their country — with men more desirous of being honored with command than capable of commanding.
They have seen the energies, the prowess, and the achievements of a band worthy to have stood by Washington and receive command, and worthy to participate of the inheritance of the sons of such a Father, frittered, dissipated, and evaporated away for the want of that energy, union, and decision in council, which, though it must emanate from the many, can only be exercised efficiently when concentrated in a single arm.
They have seen the busy aspirants for office running from the field to the council hall, and from this back to the camp, seeking emolument and not service, and swarming like hungry flies around the body politic.
They have seen the deliberations of the council and the volition of the camp distracted and paralyzed, by the interference of an influence anti-patriotic in itself, and too intimately interwoven with the paralyzing policy of the past, to admit the hope of relief from its incorporation with that which can alone avert the evils of the present crisis, and place the affairs of the country beyond the reach of an immediate reaction.
They have witnessed these evils with bitter regrets, with swollen hearts, and indignant bosoms. A revulsion is at hand. An army, recently powerless and literally imprisoned, is now emancipated. From a comparatively harmless, passive, and inactive attitude, they have been transferred to one pre-eminently commanding, active, and imposing. The North and East of Mexico will now become the stronghold of centralism. Thence it can sally in whatever direction its arch adviser may prefer to employ its weapons. The counter-revolution in the interior once smothered, the whole fury of the contest will be poured on Texas. She is principally populated with North- Americans. To expel these from its territory, and parcel it out among the instruments of its wrath, will combine the motive and the means for consummating the schemes of the President Dictator. Already, we are denounced, proscribed, outlawed, and exiled from the country. Our lands, peaceably and lawfully acquired, are solemnly pronounced the proper subject of indiscriminate forfeiture, and our estates of confiscation. The laws and guarantees under which we entered the country as colonists, tempted the unbroken silence, sought the dangers of the wilderness, braved the prowling Indian, erected our numerous improvements, and opened and subdued the earth to cultivation, are either abrogated or repealed, and now trampled under the hoofs of the usurper's cavalry.
Why, then, should we longer contend for charters, which, we are again and again told in the annals of the past, were never intended for our benefit? Even a willingness on our part to defend them has provoked the calamities of exterminating warfare. Why contend for the shadow, when the substance courts our acceptance? The price of each is the same. War — exterminating war — is waged: and we have either to fight or flee.
We have indulged sympathy, too, for the condition of many whom, we vainly flattered ourselves, were opposed, in common with their adopted brethren, to the extension of military domination over the domain of Texas. But the siege of Bexar has dissolved the illusion. Nearly all their physical force was in the line of the enemy and armed with rifles. Seventy days' occupation of the fortress of Goliad, has also abundantly demonstrated the general diffusion among the Creole population of a like attachment to the institutions of their ancient tyrants. Intellectually enthralled, and strangers to the blessings of regulated liberty, the only philanthropic service which we can ever force on their acceptance, is that of example. In doing this, we need not expect or even hope for their co-operation. When made the reluctant, but greatly benefited recipients of a new. invigorating, and cherishing policy — a policy tendering equal, impartial, and indiscriminate protection to all; to the low and the high, the humble and the well-born, the poor and the rich, the ignorant and the educated, the simple and the shrewd — then, and not before, will they become even useful auxiliaries in the work of political or moral renovation.
It belongs to the North- Americans of Texas to set this bright, this cheering, this allsubduing example. Let them call together their wise men. Let them be jealous of the experienced, of the speculator, of everv one anxious to serve as a delegate, of every one hungry for power, or soliciting office: and of all too who have thus far manifested a willingness to entertain or encourage those who have already tired the patience of the existing Council with their solicitations and attendance. Those who seek are seldom ever the best qualified to fill an office. Let them discard, too, the use of names calculated only to deceive and bewilder, and return like men to the use of words whose signification is settled and universally acknowledged. Let them call their assembly, thus made up. a Convention; and let this convention, instead of declaring for "the principles" of a constitution, for "the principles" of Independence, or for those of Freedom and Sovereignty, boldly, and with one voice, proclaim the Independence of Texas. Let the convention frame a constitution for the future government of this favored land. Let them guard the instrument securely, by the introduction of a full, clear, and comprehensive bill of rights. Let all this be done as speedily as possible. Much useful labor has already been performed; but much is yet required to complete the work.
The foregoing, we are fully aware, is a blunt, and in some respects a humiliating, but a faithful picture. However much we may wish, or however much we may be interested, or feel disposed to deceive our enemy, let us carefully guard against deceiving ourselves. We are in more danger from this — from his insinuating, secret, silent, and unseen influence in our councils, both in the field and in the cabinet, and from the use of his silver and gold, than from his numbers, his organization, or the concentration of his power in a single arm. The gold of Philip purchased what his arms could not subdue — the liberties of Greece. Our enemy, too, holds this weapon. Look well to this, people of Texas, in the exercise of suffrage. Look to it, Counselors, your appointments to office. Integrity is a precious jewel.
Men of Texas! nothing short of independence can
place us on solid ground. This step will. This step, too, will
entitle us to confidence, and will procure us credit abroad. Without
it, every aid we receive must emanate from the enthusiasm of the
moment, and with the moment, will be liable to pass away or die
forever. Unless we take this step, no foreign power can either
respect or even know us. None will hazard a rupture with Mexico,
impotent as she is, or incur censure from other powers for
interference with the internal affairs of a friendly State, to aid
us in any way whatever. Our letters of marque and reprisal must
float at the mercy of every nation on the ocean. And whatever
courtesy or kindred feeling may do, or forbear to do, in aid of our
struggle, prosecuted on the present basis, it would be idle and
worse than child-like to flatter ourselves with the hope of any
permanent benefit from this branch of the service, without frankly
declaring to the world, as a people, our independence of military
Mexico. Let us then take the tyrant and his hirelings at their word.
They will not know us but as enemies. Let us, then, know them
hereafter, as other independent States know each other — as "enemies
in war, in peace, friends." Therefore, 1. Be it Resolved, That the former province and department of Texas is, and of right ought to be, a free, sovereign and independent State.
2. That as such, is has, and of right ought to have, all the powers, faculties, attributes, and immunities of other independent nations.
3. That we, who hereto set our names, pledge to each other our lives our fortunes, and our sacred honor, to sustain this declaration— relying with our entire confidence upon the co-operation of our fellow-citizens, and the approving smiles of the God of the living, to aid and conduct us victoriously through the struggle, to the enjoyment of peace, union, and good government; and invoking his malediction if we should either equivocate, or, in any manner whatever, prove ourselves unworthy of the high destiny at which we aim.
Done in the town of Goliad, on Sunday, the 20th
day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and thirty-five.
I hereby certify the foregoing to be a true copy of the original in my possession.
Ira Ingram, Secretary.
Town of Goliad, December 22, 1835.
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