Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/249

 way he may be defeated, otherwise I think Lincoln will be elected by the electoral colleges. By voting for a Union ticket it will not exclude Mr. Breckinridge if he stands on the Union principle, and, if he does not, no one ought to vote for him, or any other man who can not stand there. By voting for men, as electors, who are pledged to principle, and not to this or that individual, the design of the Constitution will be answered. It is certainly as safe for the country to rely on the discretion and judgment of electors, acting under the responsibility of a Constitutional obligation, as it is to rely on the members of a Convention to nominate a candidate, and, therefore, I am willing to rely on the honesty and discretion of the electors, if any should be elected on the Union ticket, so to act and vote, if they can, to defeat Lincoln. This is what I go for, and any man before him that may be elected. I have sworn that I would never vote for any man, directly, who voted for or supported the Nebraska Bill. Douglas and Breckinridge are in the same category on this subject; and I might, by voting the Union ticket, indirectly vote for either. As for Mr. Bell, I regard him as a slim chance for a President, and would not directly vote for him, although he voted against the Nebraska Bill. There is a tale to that I So you see I do not go for man or men, but for principle, and if Mr. Bell should stand on any platform, after filching it, I can not help it, or for any consideration come out in favor of a man who has no chance of success, and who has allowed himself to be used by odious men, and for no good purpose that I can perceive. So far as men are concerned I will look on with folded arms. So far as principle is concerned I will always be ready to speak out. Give our love to the ladies. "Thine truly,

"—The mail is closing &hellip; How can a Jackson Democrat vote for Rhett or Yancey, or their representative?" the Governors of the other Southern States, proposing some concerted action; to these letters there came no favorable response. On the 17th December he issued a proclamation, convening the Legislature in extra session, January 21, 1861. His message deplored the election of Messrs. Lincoln and Hamlin, but in it he could see no cause for the immediate and separate secession of Texas. He informed the Legislature that he had ordered an election to be held on the first Monday in February, to elect delegates to a Convention of the Southern States, contemplated by the joint resolution of February 16, 1858, to devise means for the maintenance of their Constitutional rights, and to demand redress for the grievances they had been suffering at the hands of many of the Northern States. Neither the Legislature nor the leading politicians of the State harmonized with the sentiments of Governor Houston. The people by common consent, instead of waiting until the first Monday in February, and electing delegates to a Convention of the Southern States as contemplated in the act of February, 1858, and ordered by the Governor's proclamation on the 8th of January, elected delegates to a State Convention, composed of two members for every member of the House of Representatives. This Convention met in Austin, January 23, 1861, and was organized by