late colony of New-York, shall be, and hereby are, ratified and confirmed to the respective grantees, their heirs and assigns forever; and such charters, patents or grants, are hereby declared to be as legal and valid, to all intents, constructions and purposes whatsoever, as if the same had been made or issued by the government of this state; and as such, may be given, and shall be allowed, in evidence, in any court of record within this state; and no such charter, patent or grant, so ratified and confirmed, as last aforesaid, shall be deemed void, or in any wise injured, by reason of the non-performance of any condition or proviso therein contained, or by reason of the non-payment of any quit-rent therein reserved; any law, usage or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all persons now actually occupying, possessing and improving, lands within the said district of country, or who did, at any time, before the passing of this act, actually occupy, possess and improve lands therein, not heretofore granted by any late colony, shall be, and they, and their legal representatives, respectively, are hereby confirmed in such their respective possessions and improvements, and shall have, and receive, patents therefor, from the government of this state, without paying for such patent any fee or reward, the expence of surveying such lands excepted; provided, that no such patent as last aforesaid, shall issue, for more than the quantity of five hundred acres of land; and where such occupant, possessor or improver, or legal representatives, shall not have possessed the said quantity of five hundred acres of land, he or she shall, respectively, be allowed and granted such additional quantity of land, out of any vacant, unappropriated lands, lying contiguous to such possession, as shall be equal to the deficiency.

And whereas, it is the intention of the Legislature, that such parts of this act as relate to quieting or confirming titles and possessions, within the district of country, as aforesaid, shall not take effect, and that the inhabitants residing within the said district of country, should not have the benefits thereby intended, unless they should agree to renounce the said assumed government, and return to their allegiance to the government of this state:

Be it, therefore, further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, upon application of commissioners or agents, authorised and appointed by the inhabitants residing in the said district of country, or by the inhabitants of any town or towns, or district or districts therein, to the person administring the government of this state, for the time being, touching or concerning the ratifying, confirming and quieting any titles to, or possessions of, lands within the district aforesaid, in cases not provided for by this act, and of and concerning the mode, manner, terms and conditions, agreeable to, and on which, the inhabitants within the district of country aforesaid, shall agree to renounce the said assumed government, and acknowledge allegiance to the government of this state, it shall and may be lawful for the person administring the government of this state, for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of the council of appointment, to appoint and commissionate, under the great seal of this state, three commissioners to meet, confer and agree with such commissioners or agents,

authorised and appointed by the said inhabitants of the said district of country, or by the inhabitants of any town or towns, or district or districts therein, on all and singular the matters and things above mentioned; and all compacts, agreements and acts, entered into, made or done by the said commissioners to be appointed on behalf of this state, or any two of them, of or concerning the premises, shall be finally conclusive and binding on the government of this state : provided nevertheless, that nothing in this act contained, shall be construed to authorise the said commissioners to agree to cede or relinquish the jurisdiction of this state over the district of country aforesaid, or any part thereof, to any people, assemblies of people, or person or persons whatsoever, or to consent or agree that any part of the constitution of this state, shall be altered or changed.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That nothing in this act contained, shall be deemed, construed or taken, to restore any person or persons, or his or their heirs, to his or their estate within the said district of country, who now stand attainted by the government of this state, for adherence to the king of Great-Britain, or whose estate or estates have, or shall, become confiscate for such adherence, by virtue of any law of this state."

Notwithstanding the unsettled and embarrassing state of her external relations, the internal tranquility of Vermont had, for some time, remained undisturbed. Her political institutions had been gradually maturing, and had assumed the tone of a regularly organized government; which, though its constitution and administration were materially defective, commanded the submission and respect of the great body of the citizens. New-York abstained from any direct interference with the internal government of the state, contenting herself with a general claim of jurisdiction, and an opposition to the admission of Vermont into the union. There were some, however, who yielded a reluctant submission to the government of Vermont, and who, as we shall soon see, were ready to embrace any favorable occasion to renounce their allegiance to the state.

Exposed to invasion from the enemy in Canada, and left unprotected by the withdrawing of the continental troops from the northern frrontier, the government of Vermont found it necessary to order a draft of militia, for the purpose of defence. This draft was resisted by sundry disaffected persons in the southeastern part of the State, who were encouraged in their opposition, by the Governor of New-York. To several of these persons, civil and military commissions were given by the government of that state, and an attempt was made to enforce its laws upon the citizens of Vermont.

To the force raised to effect this treasonable purpose, it was found necessary to oppose the prompt and rigid execution of the law. Five of

the principal persons engaged in opposition to the authority of Vermont, were arraigned before the Supreme Court, and sentenced to be punished by banishment and confiscation of their estates. They immediately forwarded to Congress a remonstrance, in which they claimed the interference of that body, on the ground that their resolutions of the 24th of September, 1779, and 2d of June, 1780, had been violated; inasmuch as the government of Vermont had "exercised authority over inhabitants, holding themselves to be subjects of, and to owe allegiance to, the state of New-York." This remonstrance appears to have been seconded by a letter from the Governor of New-York, of the 16th of September, 1782.

On the 5th of December following, the subject came before Congress; at which time the following resolution was adopted:

"Whereas, it appears to Congress, by authentic documents, that the people inhabiting the district of country on the west side of Connecticut river, commonly called the New-Hampshire Grants, and claiming to be an independent state, in contempt of the authority of Congress, and in direct violation of their resolutions of the 24th of September, 1779, and of the 2d of June, 1780, did, in the month of September last, proceed to exercise jurisdiction over the persons and properties of sundry inhabitants of the said district, professing themselves to be subjects of, and to owe allegiance to the state of New-York, by means whereof divers of them have been condemned to banishment, not to return on pain of death and confiscation of estate, and others have been fined in large sums and otherwise deprived of property; therefore,

Resolved, That the said acts and proceedings of the said people, being highly derogatory to the authority of the United States, and dangerous to the confederacy, require the immediate and decided interposition of Congress, for the protection and relief of such as have suffered by them, and for preserving peace in the said district, until a decision shall be had of the controversy, relative to the jurisdiction of the same: That the people inhabiting the said district, claiming to be independent, be, and they are hereby required, without delay, to make full and ample restitution to Timothy Church, Timothy Phelps, Henry Evans, William Shattuck, and such others as have been condemned to banishment and confiscation of estate, or have otherwise been deprived of pro. perty, since the first day of September last, for the damages they have sustained by the acts and proceedings aforesaid; and that they be not molested in their persons or properties, on their return to their habitations in the said district :

That the United States will take effectual measures to enforce a compliance with the aforesaid resolutions, in case the same shall be disobeyed by the people of the said district:

That no persons holding commissions under the state of New-York, or under the people of the said district claiming to be independent, exercise any authority over the persons and properties of any inhabitants

Y

in the said district, contrary to the forementioned resolutions of the 24th of September, 1779, and the 2d of June, 1780:

That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be transmitted to Thomas Chittenden, Esq. of Bennington, in the district aforesaid, to be communicated to the people thereof."

By this extraordinary resolution, Congress evinced a determination to persist in the fatal error which produced the resolutions of the 24th of September, 1779, and 2d of June, 1780,-that of assuming the prerogative of legislating upon the rights of Vermont, and even controlling her internal police, without her consent.

Those who have become acquainted with the statesmen of that period, by an attentive perusal of the documents we have recorded, will be prepared for the following remonstrance which this act of Congress drew from his Excellency Governor Chittenden. Its force of reasoning, and severity of rebuke, could hardly have been exceeded.

BENNINGTON, January 9, 1783. To his Excellency the President of Congress:

SIR, Your Excellency's letter of the 11th ult. inclosing an Act of Congress of the 5th of December last, I have duly received, and have this day laid the same before the Council of this State, who agree in the opinion, that the interference of Congress to controul the internal police and government of this State, is a matter too serious and extensive in its nature, to be determined, without consulting the Legislative Authority of the State, whose adjourned session is to be attended on the second Thursday of February next; at which time, I shall lay the same before them, and, as soon as may be, communicate to your Excellency their determinations on the premises. And, in the mean time, beg leave to lay before Congress the following remonstrance against their said Act, which is founded partly on a mutual agreement between Congress on the one part, and the State of Vermont on the other, that the latter should have been taken into the foederal union of the United States, previous to the date of the passing of the said Act; and partly on the impropriety of the claim of Congress to interfere in the internal government of this State. And,

1st. Congress is reminded of their solemn engagements to this State, in their public acts of the 7th and 21st of August, 1781, which were officially transmitted to the Legislature of this State, and are in the words following:

[Here follow the resolutions of Congress of August 7th and 20th, 1781, as inserted above, pages 157, 159.]

It seems from the proceedings of Congress on the 17th of April, that the resolution of the 20th of August. 1781, was reconsidered and amended on the 21st. This fact accounts for its being referred to in different documents, under each of those dates. The printed journal of Congress of the 21st, however, contains no notice of its reconsidera. tion or amendment.

Confiding in the faith and honor of Congress in the foregoing resolutions, and, in consequence of advice received in a letter from his Excellency General Washington, dated the 1st of January, 1782, which was publicly read and on which great confidence was placed, in which he says, "It is not my business, neither do I think it necessary, now to discuss the origin of the right of a number of inhabitants to that tract of country, formerly distinguished by the name of the New-Hampshire Grants, and now known by that of Vermont. I will take it for granted, that their right was good, because Congress, by their resolve of the 7th of August implies it, and by that of the 21st are willing fully to confirm it, provided the new State is confined to certain described bounds. It appears, therefore, to me, that the dispute of boundary is the only one that exists, and that, that being removed, all further difficulties would be removed also, and the matter terminated to the satisfaction of all parties." His Excellency the General further observes; "You have nothing to do, but withdraw your jurisdiction to the confines of your old limits, and obtain an acknowledgement of independence and sovereignty, under the resolve of the 21st of August, for so much territory as does not interfere with the ancient established bounds of New-York, New-Hampshire, and Massachusetts. I persuade myself, you will see and acquiesce in the reason, the justice, and, indeed, necessity of such a decision."

The Legislature of this State were induced to comply with the indispensable preliminary required of them, in the last recited act of Congress, as appears by the following, which is an extract of their proceedings.

[His excellency here recites the resolution of the Legislature of Vermont, of the 23d of February, 1782, by which the eastern and western unions were dissolved, and the proceedings of Congress, thereon, of the 17th of April following; for which the reader is referred to pages 169, 170, 171, and 172, of this collection.]

By the last mentioned motions, and the manner in which Congress left the matter, the Agents and Delegates, in behalf of this State, officially delivered to his Excellency, then President of Congress, a letter, of which the following is a copy.

[For this letter, see page 172.]

In consequence of this procrastination of Congress, the Agents of Vermont returned, and reported the aforesaid proceedings to the Legisla ture of this State. And in October last, the said Legislature again appointed Agents, with full powers and instructions, for the purpose of meeting Congress upon terms and articles of an admission of this State into the fœderal union, not conceiving that Congress would have departed from their agreement before recited; but supposing their hitherto declining to execute it, might have been owing to a stretch of policy incomprehensible to this government.

This being the confident disposition of the inhabitants of this State