letter, that you will be friendly disposed toward us; and we most earnest<ly, pray and beseech your Excellency would assist to quiet us in our pos sessions, till his Majesty, in his royal wisdom, shall be graciously pleased to settle the controversy. Should this our humble Excellency grant your request, our satisfaction would be inexpressible.

Therefore, confidently trusting in your Excellency's wisdom and clemency, as Members of your Province, as loyal and submissive subjects to his Majesty, we beg leave to subscribe ourselves your Excellency's faithful, obedient, and very humble servants.

Signed by Mr. DEWEY and others. In addition to the foregoing letter, the following special communication was, at the same time, made to the Governor of New-York.

BENNINGTON, JUNE 5TH, 1774~

TO HIS EXCELLENCY,

WILLIAM TRYON, ESQUIRE, &c.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY,

WE, his Majesty's loyal subjects, whose names are to this piece affixed, inhabitants on that tract of land, your Excellency describes by the name of Bennington, and the adjacent country, &c. and who was, by your Excellency's letter of the 19th of May last, prohibited the privilege of going to New-York, and personally vindicate either ourselves or country, before your Excellency, and being put to the extremity of informing your Excellency by writing, the reason of our discontent, and also of our behaviour, which we shall more largely set forth, than is in the foregoing general answer to your Excellency's letter; and also exhibit more arguments deduced from reason and the nature of things; we hope your Excellency will be graciously pleased to view this our defence with that tenderness and candor, a gentleman in so elevated a station should do, and, therefore, beg leave to observe, that as, on the one hand, no consideration whatever, shall induce us to remit, in the least, of our loyalty and gratitude to our most gracious Sovereign, nor of a reasonable submission to your Excellency; so on the other hand, no tyrannical exertions of the powers of the government, can deter us from asserting and vindicating our undoubted rights and privileges as Englishmen. We expected an answer from your Excellency, to our humble petition to you delivered, soon after your Excellency's accession to the administration of the government; but for reasons to us unknown, your Excellency passed it by in silence. However, we cheerfully embrace this opportunity of laying before your Excellency in Council, the true state of our controversy, which, we can no otherwise do, but by absorbing our personal distinction into the community, and general cause, to which we have obtained the character of faithful. We assure your Excellency that we assent to your authority of jurisdiction, in as much as his Majesty's Proclamation assures us, it is his will and pleasure, we be under the jurisdiction of New-York; and not only now assent to it, but have ever done the same, except in instances where such perverse use has been made thereof, as would dispossess us of our property and country. We are truly desirous, and petitioning his Majesty to re-annex us to the Province of New-Hampshire. But this is not the ground of our

discontent, or at least, is far from being the principle ground of it, though it was done ex parte, and we apprehend there were more or less wrong representations made to his Majesty, to obtain the jurisdiction. However, it is the unreasonable and unconstitutional exercise of it, that is the present bone of contention our properties are all at stake; this we contend for, as the following known facts will demonstrate. A certain number of designing men in New-York (and elsewhere) procured patents under the great seal of that Province, and those grantees, being non residents, brought sundry writs of ejectment against the New-Hampshire settlers on the same land, covered by both patents, as aforesaid, and obtained judgment against them, and proceeded further and took out writs of possession, and actually dispossessed several of them by order of Law, of their houses and farms, leaving them to suffer the inclemency of the weather, bereaved of all the necessaries of life, their new masters having monopolized their earthly ALL, to themselves. These indigent families having, in the first place, expended their several fortunes, in bringing their farms out of a wilderness state, into that of fruitful fields, gardens and orchards; the whole country, consisting of more than fifteen hundred families, was. greatly alarmed at the event which had already began to take place, was in the greatest consternation; each individual, from these instances, reading their own intolerable and universal destruction.-Still the writs of ejectment came thicker and faster, and universal slavery, poverty and horror, emblematically appeared in every countenance.

Thus, things having come to this pass, the oppression was too great for human nature, under English. Constitution, to grope under, for those unparrallelled instances struck an infinitely more terrible idea, than that of the exertion of the Powers of Government.

Laws and society compacts were made to protect and secure the subjects, in their peaceable possessions and properties, and not to subvert them. No person or community of persons can be supposed to be under any particular compact or Law, except it pre-supposeth, that that Law will protect such person or community of persons in his or their properties; for otherways, the subject would, by Law, be bound to be accessary to his own ruin and destruction, which is inconsistant with the Law of self preservation; but this Law being natural as well as eternal, can never be abrogated by the Law of men.

We would acquaint your Excellency, that since our misfortune of being annexed to the Province of New-York, Law has been rather used as a tool (than a rule of equity) to cheat us out of the country, we have made vastly valuable by labour and expence of our fortunes. We conclude, these things are yet unknown, or in a great measure so, to your Excellency, as your Excellency's commencement to the administration, hath not been long, and a set of artful, wicked men, concealing the truth from your Excellency, purposing to make a booty of us, characterizing us, (speaking of our inhabitants in general) as so many rioters, if not rebels; and we being a poor people, at a great distance from your Exceilency's place of residence, fatigued in settling a wilderness country, have little or no opportunity of acquainting your Excellency of our grie

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vances, except by one short petition delivered to your Excellency, soon after your first taking the administration—and as our cause is represented before his Majesty and Council, we did not expect your Excellency to determine the controversy, nor do we yet expect it. We are sensible, those men that seek our ruin, thereby, to enrich themselves, do, by stratagems of every kind, represent us to your Excellency as breakers of the peace, and enemies to the government; and under this pretence, they hope to catch a number of the boldest of our inhabitants, and punish them in the New-York Inquisition, with that severity that the residue may be frightened out of both liberty and property; for otherways, they would soon be indicted rioters, and thus, under colour of punishing rioters, and a zeal of loyalty and veneration for good government, rob the inhabitants of their country. If we do not oppose the Sheriff and his Possy, he takes immediate possession of our houses and farms; if we do, we are immediately indicted rioters; and when others oppose officers, in taking such their friends, so indicted, they are also indicted, and so on, there being no end of indictment against us, so long as we act the bold and manly part, and stand by our liberty.

This is a short sketch of the disingenuous cunning of Messieurs Duane, and Kemp, and their associates; and it comes to this, at last, that we must tamely be dispossessed, or oppose officers in taking possession; and as a next necessary step, oppose taking of rioters, so called, or run away like so many cowards, and quit our country to a number of cringing, polite gentlemen, who have, ideally, possessed themselves of it already. As to sundry men, who have eloped lately from our grants, and fed to New-York for protection, self-preservation necessitated us to treat some of them roughly; and others, viz. Ebenezer Cowle, and Jonathan Wheat, of Shaftsbury, fled to New-York, on account of their own guilt, not being hurt or threatened. Would time permit, we could give a rational account for most, or all of our late conduct towards these men. The general reason is this, namely, they were a set of men that loved themselves, and not their country, they busied themselves in planning and assisting to take rioters, so called. In fine, they were the emissaries of that mercenary core of Yorkers, and did more, in oppressing the people, than their preposterous benefactors.

The assault, made upon Mr. Baker, at day break, of the night of the 22d of March last, by a number of ruffians, under the command of the infamous John Munro, Esq. was a notorious riot, and gave energy and motion, to the subsequent acts, your Excellency denominates illegal. This Munro, and his bloody party, by cutting, wounding and maiming, Mr. Baker, his wife and children, in such an inhuman and savage manner, was no less than proclaiming himself, in a most public manner, to be a malicious and bloody enemy, not only to Mr. Baker, but also to all those men, on our grants, who, manfully, adhere to maintaining liberty and property; and inasmuch as the murderous villain is alive, he has no cause of complaint-for, after his assault upon Mr. Baker, he made another assault upon Mr. Seth Warner; but, not having so strong a party of ruffians with him, as in his other expedition, it was not attended with the like consequences, for Mr. Warner struck his head with a dull cut

ass, and levelled him to the ground; but the blow proved not mortal; and after this, for his satisfaction for the wound, threatened the lives of a number of the New-Hampshire settlers.-Your Excellency will, undoubtédly, consider, as our opponents have had the manufactory of the civil laws, so much under their power, that this merciless man could not be brought to Justice, nor could others, among us, be safe, any other way, but by using him in his own play; he set the example, and enraged the people to mimick him from that natural principle of justice, in every

man's own breast.

As to the perfidious and treacherous Bliss Willoghby, he always pretended to be a friend of the said Baker's, and Baker had ever been truly a friend of his-this hypocrite, two days before Baker was taken, made a frivolous excuse of business, went to said Baker's house, viewed the strength of it, perceived Baker was, somewhat, careless and secure, and made report to the said Munro. In fine, Willoghby was the planner and instigator of that savage cruelty, exercised to said Baker, which was perpetrated and brought into action by the detestible said Munro. But to desist: as to the history of our late transactions, whether they be all right or not, we, on our part, have a few arguments and considerations more to lay before your Excellency, as to the cause of our discontent, as well as to the cause of our late actions your Excellency denominates illegal.

The alteration of jurisdiction, in 1764, could not effect private proper ty. Surely his Majesty, by this alteration, did not purpose to take away the personal property of a large number of his loyal subjects, and transfer it to other subjects; the English Constitution will, by no means, admit of this, for the transferring or alienation of property is a sacred preroga tive of the true owner.-Kings and Governors cannot intermeddle therewith. Furthermore, your Excellency and Council must needs be acquainted that we have a petition lying before his Majesty and Council, for redress of our grievances. That is an impartial board; pray why may it not be determined there? For the very indentical matters in dispute, are now, and for several years past, have been, lying before that Court, except the accusations of riotousness, disorderly, &c. which is improved as a handle to subvert property, and that only,

Furthermore, in the time of Sir Henry Moor's administration, his Majesty was pleased to lay the Government of New-York, under absolute prohibition not to grant or patent any of the lands, antecedently granted under the great seal of the Province of New-Hampshire; and furthermore forbid the government to disturb or molest the settlers. This, rightly understood, amounts to a supercedeas over the authority of Common Law, and absolutely controuls the cognizance thereof. As to the particular matters, in the prohibition set forth, or matters lying before his Majesty, by petition, the import of the prohibition must needs be thus, namely, that his Majesty, by it, informs the Government of New-York, that he has taken the controversy, to him made known by petition, under his royal consideration, and that, after due information and evidence of the state of the case, determines to settle the controversy; consequently forbids the government taking cognizance thereof; and common sense teaches us that under such prohibition, if a judgment, at Common Law,

be supposed to be valid, it would invalidate the authority of the crown, and subvert and overthrow the authority of the kingdom, as it would render the prohibitions of the crown perfectly impertinent. Therefore, Common Law, in the case before us, is not cloathed with cognizance of this case, much less with authority to dispossess us; consequently, every party of men, that have, with officers or otherwise, come into these parts to dispossess us, came in open defiance, and direct opposition to his Majesty's orders and authority: and, though they stile us rioters, for opposing them, and seek to catch and punish us as such, yet, in reality, them selves are the rioters, the tumultuous, disorderly, stimulating faction, or, in fine, the land-robbers; and every violent act they have done to compass their designs, though ever so much under pretence of law, is, in reality a violation of law, and an insult on the constitution, and authority of the crown, as well as to many of us, in person, who have been great sufferers by such inhuman exertions of pretended legality of law.-Right, and wrong, are eternally the same, to all periods of time, places and nations; and colouring a crime with a specious pretence of law, only adds to the criminality of it; for, it subverts the very design of law, prostituting it to the vilest purposes. Can any man, in the exercise of reason, make himself believe that a number of Attorneys and other gentlemen, with all their tackle of ornaments, and compliments, and French finesse, together with their boasted legality of law; that these gentlemen have just right to the lands, labours and fortunes of the New-Hampshire settlers? Certainly they cannot. Yet, this is the object in view, by that mercenary fraternity.

We do not suppose, may it please your Excellency, we are making opposition to a government, as such; it is nothing more than a party, chiefly carried on by a number of gentlemen Attorneys, (if it be not an abuse to gentlemen of merit to call them so) who manifest a surpizing and enterprizing thirst of avarice, after our country: but, for a collection of such intreaguers, to plan matters of influence of a party, so as eventually to become judges in their own case, and, thereby, cheat us out of our country, appears to us so audaciously unreasonable and tyrannical, that we view it with the utmost detestation and indignation, and our breasts glow with a martial fury to defend our persons and fortunes from the ravages of those that would destroy us; but not against your Excellency's person or government.

We are fully persuaded, your Excellency's ears have been much abused by subtle and designing men; for, we are informed, from credible authority, your Excellency has, lately, made application to your Assembly, to raise an armed force to subdue us, but that the motion was negatived. We apprehend, your Excellency views us as opposing your Excellency's jurisdiction, and that the violent acts, by us done, was in rebellion to his Majesty's authority, or your Excellency had never proposed the subduing of us; we are morally certain, we can convince your Excellency, that it is not so; but that on the other hand, Messieurs Duane, Kemp, and their associates, are the aggressors.

We have chosen two men from among us, viz. Capt. Stephen Fay, and Mr. Jonas Fay, to treat with your Excellency, in person; who, we