Titles of lands, acts suspending trials of 388-405-488-494 -act appointing commissioners for regulating 392 act for ascertaining, in certain cases, 411 act empowering Courts to try, in a certain case 426 443 Title of certain land confirmed to John Ashley 476 Trial of persons standing mute, regulated 395 Trover and conversion, act for better regulating process in actions of 405 406 461-470 Tender of specifick articles on executions, acts authorising 504-JUS Tender of paper currency, act for taking off 446 Troops, acts to supply with provisions 407-429-440 Trade to and through the province of Quebeck, act for the purpose 496 UNION of part of New-York with Vermont, acts connected 430-431-434 Usury, excessive, act to restrain the taking of WOLVES and panthers, act to encourage the destruction of Will and testament of Rufus Rude, confirmed Windham County, act for raising militia to enforce the laws in AN ACT for collecting and perpetuating the records, relative to the assumption and es- SECTION 1. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont. That SEC. 2. It is hereby further enacted, that the Treasurer of this State, be, and he here- INTRODUCTION. THE general diffusion of intelligence constitutes the life of a free government. Upon every department of such a government the people exert an unremitted influence, and stamp on all its measures the impress of their own character. Called upon to act, they should become accustomed to think; and though they cannot, ordinarily, possess extended and comprehensive views of other systems of government, they should, at least, understand their own. The whole science of government consists in a knowledge of the practical operation of principles. With the science, thus understood, the citizens of every free government owe it to themselves and their posterity to become familiarly acquainted. The preservation of their political institutions depends, under Divine Providence, on themselves. Those institutions therefore, their origin, their nature, their practical operation, and their whole history, should be studied and understood. The man who contemplates the subject in this light, will sit down to the examination of the successive constitutions and laws of a government, with a far higher aim than the gratification of an idle curiosity. By tracing them to their origin, and pursuing them through their various modifications, he will furnish himself with the best means of understanding the nature and practical tendency of existing institutions. Every government, therefore, should possess, and should place within the reach of the people, a complete history of its own legislation. Without the possession of such a history, and a practical regard to the lessons it inculcates, legislation will be, at best, but a succession of experiments, and, as a necessary consequence, every operation of government will be characterised with instability and want of wisdom. The early institutions of a government are peculiarly liable to be lost sight of, in the progress of improvement. Superceded by new systems, they are supposed to have lost their value, and are permitted to pass into oblivion. This has been, in a peculiar sense, true of the original constitution and laws of Vermont. The circumstances under which the government was formed, were eminently calculated to give to its institutions an imperfect, unsettled character. At the expiration of seven years, the constitution was revised and altered; and at the end of the next septenary, was again revised, and adopted in the form which it still retains. In the year 1787, the whole system of laws was revised, and formed into a new code, and the statutes passed previous to that time-a few only exceptedwere repealed. Thirty five years only, have elapsed, since that revision, and not a single entire copy of the laws passed previous to that time, is to be found. Even the office of the Secretary of State has not preserved the laws passed during the first year after the organization of the govern ment. Whether we regard the ancient constitution and statutes of the State as among the best sources of its early history, or consider them as the parent stock, from which the existing constitution and laws have sprung,in either view, they assume an importance of no ordinary character. It is matter of astonishment that this importance should have been so long unheeded by the statesmen of Vermont, and that legislative provision for this object, should have been defered to so late a period. Influenced by the considerations which have been suggested, the Legislature, at their session in October, 1821, made provision " for collecting and perpetuating the records relative to the assumption and establishment of government in this State, and such acts of the Legislature as were not in print."* By the act making provision for this object it will be seen that the Honorable DANIEL CHIPMAN was appointed an agent for the purposes therein contemplated. He accordingly commenced the collection of materials for the proposed compilation; but in consequence of the interference of other duties, committed its further prosecution, to the present publisher, who has thus, unexpectedly, taken upon himself the labor and responsibility of compiling the work. It will be seen by a reference to the act, in pursuance of which this publication was undertaken, that little more was originally contemplated, than to collect such records as should perpetuate a history of the Legislation of the State, down to the year 1787. In prosecuting the collection, however, and particularly, in the effort to recover that portion of the journal of the Council of safety which was unrecorded in any publick office, a great number of valuable historical papers were discovered, connected with a period, anterior to the formation of a regular government, and commencing previous to the existence of any kind of political organization in the State. On examining these papers, it was found that they were susceptible of an arrangement which would exhibit a connected view of the principal events which form the early history of Vermont. They commence with the controversy between the Governors of New. York and New-Hampshire, relative to the jurisdiction of the territory *See the act above alluded to, page xiv. which now constitutes the State of Vermont. This controversy was continued from the year 1749, to the year 1764; when, by an order of the King in Council, the question was decided in favor of New-York, and the claim of that province, to jurisdiction, as far east as Connecticut river, was confirmed. To this order the government of New-York gave a construction which involved the question of title, under the grants previously made by the government of New Hampshire. It was contended that his Majesty's order had a retrospective operation, and that the New-Hampshire grants were thereby rendered void. Upon this ground, the settlers were called on to surrender their charters, and re-purchase their lands, under grants from the governor of New-York. This demand they resisted, and with this resistance commenced a controversy which was conducted with singular violence, and continued, with little interruption, during a period of twenty six years. Connected with this controversy was that which arose in the year 1778, between the States of Vermont and New-Hampshire; and with both these, were closely interwoven the interesting events resulting from the application of Vermont for admission into the union. All the papers, therefore, which the compiler could collect, throwing any light on either of these branches of the history of Vermont, have been preserved in this volume. The papers, thus collected, have been arranged in chronological order, and connected with each other by the occasional introduction of such facts, derived from other sources, and such reflections, suggested by the current of events, as might tend to render the whole an intelligible, unbroken history of the State, from the very dawn of its existence to the time when it was admitted as a member of the American confederacy. Taken in their connexion with each other, these documents exhibit, perhaps, a more just and complete view of events, in their original character, and in all their relations, than can be derived from any other source.* There is a view however, in which many of them possess a much higher The materials from which this part of the collection has been formed, have been derived, principally, from the following sources, viz: "A vindication of the opposition of the inhabitants of Vermont to the government of New York, and of their right to form into an independent State"-written by Ethan Allen, and published under the sanction of the Governor and Council, in the year 1779-in which are found many of the most interesting documents relating to the controversy with NewYork. A work of a similar character, published by the same author in the year 1774-[The former of these has been found in the possession of the Hon. Stephen R. Bradley, and the latter in the possession of the Hon. David Fay] A series of historical papers preserved in the Rural Magazine, published by Dr. Williams, in the year 1795 Williams' and Allen's histories of Vermont. Journals of the Legislature of Vermont, and of the Congress of the United States: and sundry papers found in the office of the Secretary of State. interest than when regarded as a mere record of events. They introduce us to an intimate acquaintance with the fathers of Vermont, and exhibit them in all the interesting peculiarities of their character. The first settlers of the State consisted of a plain, industrious, hardy race of men, who emigrated to "the grants," not with the view of establishing an independent government, but to cultivate the soil, and procure a conipetency for themselves and their children. Whether they were to be under the government of New-Hampshire or New-York, was, to them, a matter of indifference, provided they were permitted to enjoy, uninolested, the hard earned fruits of their industry. With these views they invested their estates in lands, and proceeded in the cultivation and improvement of them, with a confident reliance on the security of titles derived from the crown. In this state of things, they were suddenly met by the claims of New-York, to their whole territory. Grants of their lands were made to citizens of that State-actions of ejectment were commencedjudgments obtained-writs of seizin issued, and the posse commitatus raised, to drive them from their possessions. To them, submission was ruin. Resistance, therefore,-determined resistance, was the only alternative. It is easy to perceive that the controversy, thus commenced, was of a character, calculated to rouse to their highest effort, the moral and intellectual energies of our nature; and it is in this view, that many of the documents connected with it, assume an importance which they could not otherwise possess. In perusing them, we catch the living expression of the times. The actors in those eventful scenes which distinguish that period of our history, rise in full view before us, and we seem to converse, and become familiarly acquainted, with the Allens and Warners and Chittendens of ancient days. In the view here taken, nothing can supply the want of these original papers. Like the human countenance, in all its peculiarities of expression, they mock the highest effort at imitation or description. The papers which form the first part of this collection have been selected, principally, with a reference to the relations of Vermont with other powers, and therefore exhibit but an incidental view of the internal organization of the State. To the latter object the remaining part of the collection is devoted; and commences with the journal of the Council of safety. The history of the government of Vermont, previous to the adoption of the Constitution is involved in much cbscurity. We frequently hear of Committees, and Councils, of safety, and curiosity prompts to an enquiry into their origin and the nature and scope of the powers with which they were invested. It should be remembered, however, that the very nature of the subject forbids the hope of arriving at any definite conclusions. The truth is, there was no regular government in the State. Every thing |
