ders suffered capital punishment; but great
embarrassment was occasioned by the number of prisoners, it being alike
inexpedient to pardon and inconvenient to punish. Sir Francis Head had
instituted a board of commissioners, with the vice-chancellor of the
province at their head, for the purpose of investigating the cases,
and classifying the offenders according to their guilt. A considerable
number were finally discharged on bail; others were bound over to
keep the peace; some were set at liberty; and of the remainder, a
few, principally Americans, were banished from the province; while the
residue, for the most part men of property and influence, were sentenced
to transportation to the penal colonies. But while the government
was occupied in the disposal of these prisoners, the marauders on the
American side of the border were making preparations for a renewal
of hostilities; and on the 30th of May, 1838, a band of these outlaws
boarded the Sir Robert Peel British steamer at Well's Island, situated
in the river St. Lawrence, and belonging to the United States. The
passengers were robbed of everything, and the vessel was set on fire and
then abandoned. Lord Durham, who had just arrived, offered L1,000 reward
for the discovery and conviction of the offenders; but the marauders
set the authorities, British as well as American, at defiance. Johnson,
their commander, celebrated for his address and courage, became the
terror of the coast, and executed his schemes of plunder with success
and impunity. During the summer and autumn the preparations for invasion
continued to be conducted on the American border without any attempt at
concealment, and the alarm of the Canadians was naturally proportionate
to the danger. Sir George Arthur devoted himself with the greatest
assiduity to the defence of the province upon an extensive scale;
but the known lenity of Lord Durham had excited a strong feeling of
dissatisfaction in the upper province, and had created a feeling of
lukewarmness, against which it was difficult to work. On the other hand,
Lord Durham thought that the local government had erred on the opposite
side of severity. On this subject he wrote to the government at
home:--"It cannot be doubted that events of the past year have greatly
increased the difficulty of settling the disorders of Upper Canada. A
degree of discontent, approaching, if not amounting to disaffection, has
gained considerable ground. The causes of dissati