h~r~by ordained and decreed by tl~e Gc11eral Council of the P~o- visional Government of Texas, 'I hat Thuma,, Barnett Hobert H. Williams _and James. ~ollingsworth be, and they are hereby, nppomted Conuruss1oners, to be commissioned and instructed by the Governor, with full powers to take, se- que!';ter, secure and retain, in the name of the Provisional Government of Texas, the late schooner Hannah Elizabeth, captured by the Mexican armed vessel the Bravo, and re- captured by a party commanded by or acting under the advice of Captain --- Hurd, of the schooner William Robbins of Texas, together with all hl!r tackle, cargo, and whatsoeve1· else belonged to her or was of her freight; and, also, the said Commissioners shall constitute a Court of Enquiry with full powers to call before them, by coercive measures if necessary, any and all persons concerned in the said re-capture and dis- posal of said schooner and cargo, and all who may have any knowledge of facts connected therewith; and upon corporeal oath, which said Commissioners shall have full powers to ad- minister to each and all such persons· as they may think proper to examine in relation to the same, to demand and re- ceive true answers to such questions as they may deem perti- nent to the matter, all of which shall be made and kept in writing and duly signed by the witness or witnesses in pres- ence of and attested by said Commissioners, and cause to be arrested and sent before this Council, any and all persons whose acts, on due proof, shall appear to be of such a nature as show contempt of the laws in such cases provided, and of the Government of Texas: provided,-that the said Commis- sioners shall make a full report of the testimony and of all their proceedings in the case, with all convenient despatch to the Governor and Council of the Government of Texas. SEC. 2. Be it fm·ll1er ordained and decreed, &c., That the said Commissioners be required, and it is hereby made their duty to take the most prompt and efficient measures to secure, in 1mfe keeping, all the 'Mexican prisoners taken by the re-capture and on board of the schooner Hannah Elizabeth that thev may be made to answer to the laws, and for the F-afety ofsuch persons as were captured by the :Mexican Armed vessel Bravo, and detained as prisoners.
r I
461
Powered by FlippingBook