The defendants of this case are accused of counterfeiting money. Gray is going through the three charges that the jury must consider concerning the defendants and giving them the lecture on how the evidence must prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendants are guilty before they give their ruling.

The defendants of this case are the owners of a bank in Galveston that is being accused of printing currency illegally. Gray states that the defendants were clearly associated together in business and were forging checks and making illegal withdrawals from the bank. Also the defendants are accused of giving preferential treatment to some customers, namely altering their actual credit in a favorable manner.

James Mitchell is standing trial for the murder of Francis Sadler. Gray briefly discusses the definition of circumstantial evidence and why it is not admitted into the court as proof positive of any wrongdoing. The defendant was acquitted.

The defendant is being indicted for the murder of George A. Longtaft in Liberty County. The defense is trying to for manslaughter because they claim that Hall was under the influence of liquor at the time and did not have control over his actions.

William Garrett is accused of murdering Matthew Newman and the prosecution is seeking manslaughter. William Garrett is however acquitted because the jury found the killing to be justifiable or excusable under the circumstances.

The judge begins “the prisoner though a slave is entitled to a fair and impartial trial as if he were a white citizen”. The slave is accused of killing George Thomason. The jury was to not only assess whether the slave was guilty of murder with malice, but also whether his owner helped him to evade arrest to avoid possibly losing his property. The jury convicted the slave of first degree murder.

John Baker has been indicted for the murder of Benjamin Stuckley in Grimes County. The judge gives a brief overview of the definition of self defense and why the defendant’s initial admission is immaterial to the trial. The verdict is not guilty.

Leach has been indicted on charges that he murdered Isaac Cox. The judge gives a brief overview of what constitutes manslaughter and self-defense respectively. The verdict given by Judge Gray “Murder under Code Manslaughter-Self Defense”.

The indicted stands accused of having killed a girl that is missing, named Susan. Judge Gray discussed with the jury that no charges can be fully assessed without knowledge of the child’s condition and location. The Judge gives no verdict.

It seems that Sloan has been accused of stealing Spanish cigars from a general store. The Judge’s verdict seems to say that there are not enough facts for a fair trial and sentencing.

The Will of Milly Stone, Judge Peter W. Gray’s grandmother. Gray apparently wrote the official document for her and signed it at the end. The actual document is fairly standard, Mrs. Stone left the majority of her belongings to her daughters and granddaughters.

Gray reviews Sam Houston’s political life from his political service at the municipal level in Tennessee to his fight for “freedom from political oppression” in Texas. The brief biography contains letters from political mentors such as Andrew Jackson himself. Also Gray includes a letter of Houston’s to one of his political adversaries whom he appointed to a high position in the government of Texas. The speech ends with Gray’s nomination of Sam Houston as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. The speech was given to the state Democratic Convention not at the national democratic convention.

Initially Gray demonstrates his opinion on whether or not Judges should involve themselves in political issues. He patently denounces those who deny judges the right of citizenship based on their public service. Gray states that he along with all other judges are able to separate their political tendencies from their impartial stances in court. Gray then gives a lengthy article by article description and history of states rights and the constitution. Gray also briefly discusses the Articles of Confederation and the various reasons for that governments collapse. The purpose of Gray’s discussion is to reaffirm the state’s pro-slavery stance in the upcoming election, while vehemently denying that the issue is a political question, offering rather that it is a fundamentally moral issue free from political bias. The rhetoric employed by Gray is a common argument made throughout the southern states, arguing that the dissension between Southern Democrats and Northern Democrats, Republicans, and Free Soilers is based not on slavery but the issue of the states’ right to choose. Gray is awkwardly poised as a Pro-Slavery Democrat opposed to the continuation of the slave trade. He explains his position by arguing that by allowing the slave treaded to continue slave owners would appear to Northerners as insecure about the justice of slavery. By continuing the slave trade, says Gray, slave owners would be destroying the credibility of the institution on a national level furthering the national opinion against the continuance of slavery. Gray’s pro-slavery anti-slave trade stance was a common platform for many Southern Democrats of the time. Often these Democrats would try to steer political rhetoric away from the hotly contested issue of slavery and towards states rights and popular sovereignty.

Peter Gray gives an intelligent discussion of the strengths of the United States’ government. He begins by informing the reader of the many subtle differences between liberty and freedom and the way each word was used in antiquity; namely in the republics of Greece and Rome. Then Gray begins to dissect our government by branch beginning with the Executive branch and discussing similar organs in other governments. Throughout his discussion of both the Executive branch and the Legislative branch, Gray marginalizes their combined importance in protecting the right of the average citizen from tyranny. Gray suggests that the revolutionary aspect of the United States’ government is the individuals right to hold the government accountable for damages and infringements on the charter of the government: the Constitution. Gray then proceeds with a lengthy discussion of the Judiciary and its supreme importance to our government and individual liberty and freedom in the United States. Gray cites interesting examples from Britain and France such as Richelieu, Napoleon the Great, Napoleon III, The Directory, The Reign of Terror, Oliver Cromwell, and several British common law cases that embody the difference between the British limited monarchy and the American democracy. The essay is 49 pages long in script from the period. The actual document is in pristine condition and represents the writings of the educated southern gentry in the antebellum period in United States history.

This document is an abbreviated version of the “There is no Liberty without Law” lecture. This document is also handwritten. The subject discussed in the lecture does not include the broad range of subject reached in the previous lecture. This lecture seems to pertain mainly to the definition of social liberty and its relation to the United States government.

The document mentions several persons involves with the proceedings and the names of the organizational officers present. The back of the documents features lists of names that seem to represent different committees of the Historical Society.

The document contains a list of the people that attended the meeting and a general overview of the proceedings.

The document is an original draft of the official constitution of the Texas Historical Society. The constitution contains directions for organization and protocol for various situations. It also includes procedure for the appointment of officers and official within the society.