1 86 A COLONIAL AUTOCRACY. 



Macquarie very reluctantly consented to all these arrange- 

 ments except with respect to Baxter, the third mate, "who 

 appears to have taken all along so very prominent and sanguin- 

 ary a part in the various enormities committed on board the 

 Chapman" and whom he wished to send home a prisoner. 1 



The Judge- Advocate went into the whole matter once more. 

 He thought this difference in opinion arose from the Gover- 

 nor's regarding everything which occurred on the whole voyage 

 as one continuous act " whereas it appears to me, that in legal 

 consideration and principle and your Excellency can be aware 

 that I can know of 'Justice and Expediency" 2 in no other 

 sense the occurrences necessarily divide themselves ..." and 

 must be considered separately. Baxter, he thought, was not 

 sanguinary, and his prominence was due simply to the fact that 

 the convicts were his especial charge. " If," he added, " your 

 Excellency ' is so decidedly of opinion that he should be sent 

 home a prisoner,' I am not aware of any reason why your 

 Excellency should hesitate to act upon it, for I have already 

 suggested, that it remains a mere point of discretion in the com- 

 mitting magistrate, and that under all the circumstances I am 

 not prepared to say that the commitment of any of the officers, 

 and of course of Baxter, would under any circumstances induce 

 any consequences upon the magistrates to suit or indictment, 

 and if not on a magistrate, a fortiori, I consider not on your 

 Excellency as Governor but such a step cannot consistently 

 surely be taken by a magistrate who views the whole case in a 

 light which reflects nothing of the wilful, malicious murderer, 

 who breathes in malice prepense and moves not in apprehension 

 and alarm, but in atrociousness, consciousness and purpose." 

 Wylde could not conclude without giving Macquarie a short 

 lesson, in somewhat involved phrases, on the correct judicial 

 attitude. Referring to a passage in the Governor's letter, he 

 said : " With respect to your Excellency's observation, that your 

 opinion on this case has not been formed upon ' the influence of 

 Mr. Justice Field's or any other person's opinion on the subject, 

 however much 1 3 may and do respect that gentleman's high legal 



1 Macquarie to Wylde, 2yth November, 1817. R.O., MS. 



2 Quoted from Macquarie's letter, ayth November, 1817. R.O., MS. 



3 Wylde has " you," but clearly he means Macquarie, and as he is quoting 

 from Macquarie's letter the pronoun has been altered. 



