The situation in Lower Canada was one of outward tranquillity, the rebellion had been crushed, and order was restored; but serious complications still remained to be adjusted. Numerous prisoners were in custody awaiting trial, for their treason; and as it would have been impossible to obtain a conviction by a local jury, Sir J. Colborne, the temporary Governor, confined most of them in prison, 161 in number, until the decision of the High Commissioner could be given. On the 28th of June, Lord Durham issued an Ordinance, by which he granted a complete amnesty to all, with the exception of eight of the principal ringleaders; these men he transported to Bermuda. He also declared that if these men, or if Papineau and other fifteen chiefs of the insurrection—who had absconded and had fled for safety into the United States, directly they were in danger of capture—were again found at large without permission, they would suffer death as traitors. The Ordinance, though humane and calculated to bring about peace without further bloodshed, was adjudged to be illegal or unconstitutional. There was no power to transport offenders nor to threaten, with the extreme rigour of the law, those who had not been tried. It would have been necessary to pass an Act of Parliament to make it valid, and the state of parties at home rendered any such course impossible. Government was weak, a strong Opposition was ready to oust the Ministers from office, and Lord Durham had many personal enemies. Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, disavowed the Ordinance, and threw over the High Commissioner, and thereupon the latter resigned his post, and left Canada, November 1st.[165] But before quitting North America, he committed an act for which he has been gravely censured; for, he announced to the rebels (October 9th), that the general amnesty he granted had been ratified by Her Majesty’s Proclamation, and that the exceptions to the amnesty had been disallowed, and he told them that there was no further impediment to prevent them from returning to the colony.[166] The exiles were not slow to avail themselves of this welcome intelligence, and in the month of October they came back, freed from the consequences of their former guilt, and determined to light afresh the torch of civil war.[167] ----- Footnote 165: As upon the arrival of Lord Durham, so at his departure, the Guards Battalions furnished Guards of Honour of 50 men each, with Regimental Colour, under a Lieutenant and Captain and two Ensign-Lieutenants. The streets were lined by the remainder of the Brigade. Footnote 166: