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[Page 3]
was inclined to indulge him with Bail, it could not be granted without the consent of the Prosecutor or his counsel but even in that case, the new Bail Bond should have been given to me; for I alone was answerable for the Prisoners appearance when he once came with his Bail into Court, but the Prosecutor or his counsel were not applied to for their consent no fresh bond was exacted from them or given to me, I was not their officer, they had no legal existence as a Court, and my duty directed me to disclaim their authority.
If however they were a Court, I have now proved without a chance of being refuted that they could not deliver the prisoner to his former Bail, as he was then in my Custody, and he or his Bondsmen did not express a desire to enter into a new recognizance to me, I therefore still considered him in my custody, from whence, when he withdrew himself, he was in law guilty of an escape, and by virtue of my office I was armed with full and sufficient authority to pursue and retake him, but Governor Bligh from his uniform disposition that the Letter of the Law should be literally complied with desired my authority should be supported by an Escape Warrant which was granted