1388 THE JUDICIARY [PART VI 
free or subject to lawful conditions, or any respite of the 
execution of the sentence of any such offender, for such period 
as to you may seem fit, and to remit any fines, penalties, 
or forfeitures which mav become due and payable to Us. 
Clause XIV of Instructions to Governor, dated February 23, 
1872. 
And whereas We have, by Our said Commission, autho- 
rized and empowered you, as you shall see occasion, in Our 
name and on Our behalf to grant to any offender convicted 
of any crime in any Court, or before any Judge, Justice, or 
Magistrate within Our said Colony, a pardon, either free or 
subject to lawful conditions: Now We do hereby direct 
and enjoin you to call upon the Judge presiding at the trial 
of any offender who may from time to time be condemned 
to suffer death by the sentence of any Court within Our said 
Colony, to make to you a written Report of the case of such 
offender, and such Report of the said Judge shall by you 
be taken into consideration at the first meeting thereafter 
which may be conveniently held of Our said Executive 
Council, where the said Judge may be specially summoned 
to attend ; and you shall not pardon or reprieve any such 
offender as aforesaid, unless it shall appear to you expedient 
so to do, upon receiving the advice of Our Executive Council 
therein ; but in all such cases you are to decide either to 
extend or to withhold a pardon or reprieve, according to 
your own deliberate judgement, whether the members of 
Our said Executive Council concur therein or otherwise ; 
entering, nevertheless, on the Minutes of the said Council, 
a Minute of your reasons at length, in case you should decide 
any such question in opposition to the judgement of the 
majority of the members thereof. 
These instruments leave, as will be seen, vague the case of 
all but capital cases, and great confusion naturally resulted. 
The practice differed very much ; in most of the Australian 
states the matter was treated as a matter for considera- 
tion in Executive Council, and dealt with accordingly, the 
Governor reserving a more free hand than usual in these 
matters. Then in New South Wales the case was different ; 
the ministers used never to advise at all, and the matter was 
disposed of without necessarily any reference to ministers 
whatever. On October 4, 1869, the Secretary of State told 
1 Parl, Pap., C. 1202, p. 1.