The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1 Page: 834
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Proceedings of the Convention at Washington.
14
EEPORT.
On motion of Mr. Gazley,
The report was received and unanimously agreed to.
On motion of Mr. Collingsworth,
Resolved, That Mr. Willis A. Faris be allowed to take a seat at
the secretary’s table, to note and report the proceedings of the
Convention, and
The question being taken thereon, it was decided in the affirma-
tive.
On motion of Mr. Potter,
Resolved, That a committee be appointed consisting of one mem-
ber from each municipality represented in the Convention, for
the purpose of drafting a Constitution for Texas, and that the
same be reported as soon as practicable to this Convention.
And the question being taken thereon, it was decided in the
affirmative; whereupon the President appointed Messrs. Parmer,
Potter, Stewart, Waller, Grimes, Coleman, Fisher, Bunton, Gaines,
Zavala, Everett, Hardeman, Stepp, Crawford, West, Powers, Na-
varro, McKinney, Menifee, Mottley, and Menard, said committee.
The committee to whom was assigned the duty of drafting a
Declaration of Independence, through their chairman, Mr. Chil-
dress, made the following
When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and
property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are de-
rived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was insti-
tuted; and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of
those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument
in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression. When the Fed-
eral Republican Constitution of their country, which they have
sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the
whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, with-
out their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed
of sovereign states, to a consolidated, central, military despotism,
in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and
priesthood; both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the ever ready
minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants. When,
long after the spirit of the constitution is departed, moderation is,
at length, so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance
of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution
discontinued; and so far from their petitions and remonstrances
being regarded, the agents who bear them are thrown into dun-
geons; and mercenary armies sent forth to force a new government
upon them at the point of the bayonet. When, in consequence of
such acts of mal-feasance and abdication, on the part of the gov-
ernment anarchy prevails and civil society is dissolved into its origi-
(834)
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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/m1/842/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .