"I have received your despatch of the 14th April last (No. 4), reporting the executions, on the 12th of that month, of Lount and Matthews, who had been convicted, on their own confession, of 'high treason,' and explaining, at considerable length, the views adopted by yourself and the Executive Council with regard to these prisoners, and the considerations which appeared to you imperatively to demand that the law in the case should be allowed to take its course.
"Her Majesty's Government regret extremely that a paramount necessity should have arisen for these examples of severity. They are, however, fully convinced that you did not consent to the execution of these individuals without having given the most ample consideration to all the circumstances of the case, and they have no reason to doubt the necessity of the course which, with the entire concurrence of the Executive Council, you felt it your duty to adopt."[[18]]
The Colonial Secretary did not censure Arthur for his conduct in the matter of the execution of Lount and Matthews but he added a significant paragraph regarding the treatment of other political prisoners.
"With respect to the disposal of the other prisoners, Her Majesty's Government cannot give you any specific instructions, until they shall have received the report which you lead me to expect. But I cannot defer expressing our earnest hope that, with respect to these persons, your opinion that no further capital punishments will be necessary, may be acted on. Nothing would cause Her Majesty's Government more sincere regret than an unnecessary recourse to the punishment of death, and I am persuaded that the same feeling will influence not only yourself, but the Executive Council. The examples which have been made in the case of the most guilty will be sufficient to warn others of the consequences to which they render themselves liable by such crimes, and this object having been accomplished, no further advantage could be gained by indict the extreme penalty of the law on any of their associates."[[19]]
The death of Lount and Matthews seems to have satisfied the desire for revenge on the part of the extremists and a milder course of policy was then pursued by the Lieutenant-Governor and Executive Council. Several other leaders including "Generals" Sutherland and Theller, both of whom were American citizens, were sentenced to transportation. Theller had been sentenced to death and, according to his own account, was only saved from the gallows by the energetic agitation in his favour of the Irish section of the population. He has left a voluminous account of his captivity, including his sensational escape from the Citadel of Quebec, in his book, Canada in 1837-8, to which the reader is referred if he wishes to obtain a very highly-coloured bit of autobiography.[[20]]
Theller's case brought up a very interesting question of International Law. He had been born in Ireland and had become naturalized as an American citizen. When put on trial for his life on a charge of high treason Theller pleaded that his American naturalization had rendered him no longer a British subject. Against him a precedent of 1747 was quoted to support the doctrine of "perpetual allegiance," i.e. "once a British subject, always a British subject." The jury brought in the curious verdict that "if the prisoner was a British subject he was guilty of treason." Chief Justice Robinson, acting in accordance with his belief in the doctrine of 'perpetual allegiance' ruled that Theller was still a British subject and thereupon sentenced him to death. Under the circumstances to carry out the death sentence would have been very inadvisable. Pressure was brought to bear upon the Lieutenant-Governor and the Executive Council, and as a result a respite was granted "until Her Majesty's pleasure should be known."[[21]] Theller was soon after removed from Toronto to Quebec and detained there in the Citadel, from which he escaped. Sutherland was tried by court martial, imprisoned in Toronto and Quebec, and finally returned to American soil.
These American prisoners were very embarrassing to the Upper Canadian authorities. There was still considerable excitement along the American frontier and the danger of invasion was by no means over. Lount and Matthews were considered martyrs by many on the American side of the border. Highly coloured accounts of the execution appeared in the American press. Even the New York Sun took up the matter and recounted how Mrs. Lount on the day previous to her husband's execution "pleaded with Governor Arthur for hours for his life, and when she pointed to thirty thousand names who petitioned with her for the exercise of the royal prerogative, he coldly replied 'that he had not believed that Mr. Lount had so many friends in the province, and that there was the more necessity that he should be made an example to the rest.'"[[22]] Under these circumstances the execution of Theller would have added oil to the flame.
The Congress of the United States passed a "Neutrality Bill" which cleared up the situation a great deal by denying official sanction to any schemes of invasion and enjoining neutrality on all American citizens. The state authorities along the frontier also tried to prevent any movement of armed forces against Canada. Theller records how he successfully dodged the American authorities in making his attack on Fort Madden and how Governor Mason of Michigan was coming down the river with a strong force when Theller and his friends approached the island of Bois Blanc which lies in Canadian waters. No doubt there often was a certain amount of laxity on the part of the American authorities, and Sir George Arthur finds occasion to condemn it at times, but the United States Government seems on the whole to have acted very wisely. The burning of the "Caroline," which it should be remembered was an American vessel attacked by a Canadian force in American waters, might easily have led to very serious consequences. If President Van Buren and his cabinet had wanted war it would have been quite possible to claim the destruction of the ill-fated "Caroline" as an overt act of hostility. Fortunately milder counsels prevailed and war was avoided. But this incident profoundly affected and prolonged the agitation on the American side of the border.
On April 23rd, 1838, an "authorized agent" of the United States Government, Mr. Aaron Vail, who had recently been Chargé d'Affaires in the American Embassy in London, arrived at Toronto. Mr. Vail, according to the official despatch of the British ambassador at Washington, Mr. H. S. Fox, was charged with the task "of inquiring into, and reporting upon, the actual condition of various individuals, who are now in confinement in Canada." Mr. Fox considered Mr. Vail a very fitting envoy and that his mission would be beneficial "by dissipating false rumours which tend to keep alive feelings of ill-will between the British and American inhabitants on the Canadian frontier."
Aaron Vail's mission seems to have fulfilled expectations, for on April 25th Arthur wrote to Fox that it was quite impossible that a more proper person than Mr. Vail could have been selected by the President, and that he trusted all the benefit would result from his mission as Fox had anticipated. Vail does not seem to have formed a very high opinion of the American prisoners, whom he described as "the 'scum' of the population."[[23]] Theller has left us an amusing account of how the Toronto gaol was carefully scrubbed in honour of Vail's visit and how the prison authorities hinted that "the Americans had better clean and dress up, as they might expect to see some visitors, and probably hear some good news."[[24]] The prisoners poured out their tale of woe to Vail who "took notes and assured us that the government of the United States would strictly inquire into the matter."[[25]] Nothing much, however, seems to have resulted from the inquiry, since it was evident that Vail's mission was to smooth over affairs rather than to stir up further strife by issuing an inflammatory report on Canadian conditions.