Governor Antonio Narbona to Antonio José Martínez, Santa Fe, 10 de abril de 1826*
Translation by Rick Hendricks
[fol. 1r]
No. 178
Instruction that the presbyter don Antonio Martinez must follow to carry out the commission for which he has been fully authorized by this government according to the official communication of this date.
1ª You shall try to find out in the gentlest and most reserved manner if the Americans gathered on that frontier in order to return to their country bear letters for Licenciado don Manuel Simón de Escudero.
2ª You must carry out the aforesaid investigations not only with the Americans but also with their servants or other persons who have friendly relations with the former.
3ª The successful conclusion of this matter clearly rests with the reserve with which you act, and given this supposition, the one commissioned shall be so rigorous in this that if there is no grave, urgent need, he shall not communicate to anyone, including the alcalde, the object of his commission.
4ª Should the one bearing letters for the aforementioned Escudero be found, you shall ask for them from the person in charge of delivering them, and if presenting the order you have from this government for this is not enough, or if before taking this step, if it appears to you that there is a risk of some resistance, you shall have recourse to constitutional alcalde of the district, who, because of my warnings, should promptly provide you with the assistance you may require.
5ª You shall deliver the aforesaid letters to me unopened or in the condition in which you may find them, but if you suspect that the bearer is acting out of malice, depending on how serious it is, you shall leave him secured
[fol. 1v ]|
in that district or arrange to deliver him to this capital to do what is appropriate.
6ª Without affecting the legal requirement with which the one who is commissioned must proceed in the matter, as he has the thing before him, I charge him once and many times that he very carefully consider all his operations so that he does not end up being compromised.
Santa Fe 10 April 1826
Antonio Narbona [rubric]
*Mexican Archives of New Mexico, roll 5, frames 846-48 (original in Benjamin Read Collection, State Records Center and Archives)
3481