APPENDIX H.

PROCLAMATION OF PARDON ISSUED BY GOV. CHITTENDEN JUNE 3, 1779.1

[Copy from the original as printed by the state printers. Furnished by HON. JAMES H. PHELPS, of West Townshend.]

BY HIS EXCELLENCY

THOMAS CHITTENDEN, Esq;

Governor, Captain General and Commander in Chief in and over the State of VERMONT.

WHEREAS, Sundry Persons. Inhabitants of this State, forgetting that great Tie of Allegiance that ought to bind every Subject in a faithful Obedience to that Power which protects Life, Liberty and Fortune-being instigated partly through their own mistaken Notions of Government, not considering all Power originates from the People; and building on a false Reason, that a public Acknowledgement of the Powers of the Earth is essential to the Existence of a distinct separate State :-But their especially being deceived, and influenced by certain Persons who have crept in privily to spy out and overturn the Liberties of this State, purchased at the dearest Rate --Who, acting under Pretence of Power assumed by a neighbouring Sister State, never derived from God or Nature, have imposed their Tenets upon the credulous, whereby a Number have been traduced to follow their pernicious Ways, by open Opposition to the Authority of this State, in the Execution of Justice by the civil Law, to the Disturbance of the Peace, thereby incurring the Penalties of that great Rule of Right which requires Obedience to the Powers that are.

AND whereas the supreme Authority of this State are ever willing to alleviate the Miseries of those unhappy Subjects who transgress Laws

A copy of what appears to be the original draft of this proclamation may be found in Slade's State Papers, pp. 556-7. It is without the signature of the Governor and Secretary, and it is evident that changes in the original were made before the proclamation was signed and published. These changes, however, are not of importance enough to require a reprint of the original draft.

through mistaken Notions, in remitting the Penalties thereof-And inasmuch as equal Punishments (in this Case) can not be distributed, without punishing the Righteous with the Wicked:

I HAVE therefore thought fit, by and with the Advice of Council, and at the Desire of the Representatives of the Freemen of this State, in General Assembly met, to make known and declare this my gracious Design of Mercy to every Offender :-And do hereby publish and declare to all Persons residing within this State, A FULL AND FREE PARDON of all public Offences, Crimes, and Misdemeanors heretofore committed within the Limits of this State, against the Honor and Dignity of the Freemen thereof-remitting to all and singular the Persons aforesaid, all Penalties incurred for Breaches of the Peace, such as Riots, Mobs, tumultuous Assemblies, Contempt of and Opposition to Authority; excepting only the Crimes of High-Treason, Misprison of Treason, and other capital Offences, committed since the 15th of January 1777; and all Persons indicted, informed against, or complained of, for any of the Offenses aforesaid, committed before this Date, may plead this Proclamatien in Discharge thereof.

Provided nothing herein contained be construed to extend to any Person against whom Judgment has been already rendered, nor to bar any Person from recovering private Damages, any Thing contained herein to the contrary notwithstanding.

AND I do further assure the Subjects of this State, that it is not the Design of their Rulers to take from any one the peaceable Enjoyments of his own Possessions, acquired by the Sweat of his Brow, whatever Falshoods wicked designing Men may have invented, to disquiet the Minds of the faithful Subjects of the rising State of VERMONT. Given under my Hand and Seal in the Council Chamber at Windsor, on the 3d Day of June 1779, and in the Third Year of the Independency of this and the United States of AMERICA.

By His Excellency's Command,

JONAS FAY, Sec'ry P. T.

THO'S CHITTENDEN.

Printed by JUDAH-PADOCK & ALDEN SPOONER, Printers to the General Assembly of the STATE OF VERMONT.

APPENDIX I.

A VINDICATION OF THE OPPOSITION OF THE INHABITANTS OF VERMONT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW-YORK, AND OF THEIR RIGHT TO FORM AN INDEPENDENT STATE. Humbly submitted to the impartial WORLD. By ETHAN ALLEN. PRINTED BY ALDEN SPOONER, 1779, Printer to the State of Vermont.

[From the only copy of the original pamphlet in the State Library.]

THIS Vindication is humbly inscribed to his Excellency the Governor and the Hon. the Council of the State of Vermont, by their most obedient humble Servant the Writer. If it meets with their Approbation and Patronage, he will esteem it a Compliment of Honor and Respect, and be still further satisfied if it may but contribute towards the Happiness and Establishment of the People on whose behalf it was Wrote.

RESO

State of VERMONT.

In Council, Arlington, 23d of August, 1779. ESOLVED, That the following Vindication be forthwith published, and that a Number of the Pamphlets be sent to the Congress of the United States, and to the General Assembly of every of these States; and that a Number be likewise sent to the Generals and other principal Officers of the Continental Army, for their Consideration.

Per Order of the Governor and Council,

A VINDICATION, &c.

JOSEPH FAY, Sec'ry.

THE very extraordinary demand which the government of the State of New York make on the grand Congress of the United States, forthwith to decide in their favor, (and as they would have it ex parte) that long and spirited controversy which has subsisted between them and the inhabitants of the territory now known by the name of Vermont, together with their misrepresentations of facts; has induced the government of Vermont, to publish to the impartial world, a further vindication of the conduct of those inhabitants than hath been already done, and exhibit to all wise and understanding Beings whom it may concern, the intrinsic causes, motives and reasons, of their assuming government. IT IS well known that this contest was not occasioned by the late revolution, but existed many years before; that the contending parties were greatly exasperated towards each other; and that those inhabitants had appealed from the decision of the courts, as by law established

in the then province of New-York, to arms, and had anounced to the public their reason for so doing.

A SHORT State of the proceedings of both parties (being necessary to communicate to the public, in order to their rightly determining the merits of such an important dispute) is herewith given. And 1st. The government of New-York obtained the jurisdiction of the contested territory in 1764, ex-parte and contrary to the minds of the original Grantees and Settlers under New-Hampshire, and therefore ought to be considered as null and void from the beginning. And secondly, The undue use and oppressive exercise which they have ever since made of the power of jurisdiction towards those inhabitants, altho' their legal claim of jurisdiction was ever so well grounded, would fully justify those inhabitants in their opposition to that government, and in their assuming independence.

NO SOONER had the government of New-York obtained the jurisdiction of these lands, but they presumed to re-grant sundry large patents, interfering with prior grants from the government of New-Hampshire, at a time when the Grantees under New-Hampshire were in full possession of the very lands re-granted.

THIS reprehensible procedure of the government of New-York, laid those inhabitants under the necessity of remonstrating against that government. They therefore impowered Samuel Robinson, Esq. (then of Bennington) their Agent, to lay the same before the King and privy Council, together with a humble Petition from those inhabitants, that the jurisdiction of those lands might be restored to New-Hampshire again. The consequences of these measures were favorable to the Grantees under New-Hampshire, and were the means of obtaining the King's express prohibition to the government of New-York, to make no grants of lands in the disputed premises, on pain of his highest displeasure.

THE government of New-York did nevertheless presume in direct violation of the said prohibition, to grant most of the prohibited premises: and further proceeded to oppose the authority of the king, by erecting and establishing the counties of Cumberland and Glocester, which are contained in the territory in dispute, though the king had signified to the said government, his utter disapprobation of the establishment thereof. And all this when the now Independent States were subject to the royal authority.

IN the year 1769, the claimants under the subsequent grants from New-York, and not residing on the controverted premises, brought action of Ejectment in their supreme Court held at Albany, against sundry actual settlers who claimed the soil by virtue of prior grants from NewHampshire. But most if not all the judges and attornies, particularly Messrs. Duane and Kemp, which attended the court, were patentees under New-York, and some of them intrusted [interested] in the very patents, then on trial.

THE plaintiff's appearing in great state and magnificence, which together with their junto of land-thieves, made a brilliant appearance; but the defendants appearing in but ordinary fashion, having been greatly fatigued by hard labour wrought on the disputed premises, and their cash much exhausted, made a very disproportionable figure at court. In fine, interest, connection and grandeur, being all on one side, easily turned the scale against the honest defendants, and judgment without mercy in favor of the claimants under New-York, was given against them. In the course of the trial, a grant of the township from New-Hampshire under which the defendants claimed being produced in court, and also a certificate from the Governor of New-Hampshire, and his Secretary, that the land grant was legally executed to the grantees

whose names were mentioned on the back of the charter, it was nevertheless ruled that the same should not be read in court.

SOON after, writs of possession were issued in form of law against the vanquished defendants, and new actions of ejectment were commenced against other of the inhabitants; but their spirit was too great to bear such insults any longer; they therefore resisted and defeated the officers in their attempts to gain possession.

DIRECTLY after these tumults, the legislature of New-York passed a law annexing a penalty of thirty pounds fine and six Months imprisonment, on any of their subjects who should refuse to assist the sheriff when legally requested, to carry into execution those writs of possession.

THIS law had no sooner been promulgated, but Governor Tryon who then presided over the government, gave orders to the militia of Albany county, to assist the sheriff in executing the writs aforesaid, The inhabitants being thus drove to the extremity of either quitting their possessions or resisting the sheriff and his posse. In this state of desparacy they put on fortitude and chose the latter expedient, and managed with that bravery that they defended their possessions; and the sheriff with his posse returned to their own land without any bloodshed on the occasion. But it should be confessed that this event was not altogether owing to the valor of the green mountain boys, for the militia were most generally persuaded that the cause of those inhabitants was just; and that the New-York patentees were oppressive and unjust, and therefore they would not hazard their lives to assist them in such usurpation of the rights of their fellow-men, and in the event were sure to be no gainers turn which way it would.

AFTER this ineffectual muster of the militia, the land-schemers adopted different measures to accomplish their designs, perceiving that the militia would not fight for their subsequent and exorbitant claims: and as to themselves, they were a jesuitical and cowardly junto of schemers, not inured to danger, hardships, or the horrors of war, durst not fight for their own claim; their accustomed way to carry points being to deceive, cheat, and over reach the commonality of their species under pretext of law, justice, and good government. These are their horns of iron, and with them they do push. They were therefore obliged to follow their old and beaten road of politics; and by their influence caused a number of the leading men among those inhabitants, to be indicted as rioters, designing to have made such an example of them, as to fright the inhabitants in general to a tame compliance with the decisions of their courts of law, or which is the same thing, to yield up their property to them, and become their tenants and slaves.

THE inhabitants in general were apprised that this was their design, and guarded against it; were very active and vigilent in defending their friends and neighbours indicted as aforesaid; being fully persuaded that the said junto of patentees had in those very indictments for their object, the very lands which they the aforesaid inhabitants possessed.

SUNDRY proclamations under the signature of governor Tryon were issued, for the express purpose of apprehending those inhabitants which he was pleased to denominate riotous, licentious, disorderly, &c. and large rewards therein were offered for that purpose; but the governor and whole catalogue of patentees, had the mortification to be battled in their attempts to take rioters (as they phrased it) during the course of three years; and the green mountain boys prevailed against them, seized their magistrates and emissaries; and in fine, all those their abettors which dared to venture upon the contested lands, and chastised them