Chap. 5. 



ADMISSION INTO THE UNION. 



81 



RESOLUTION OF THANKS TO THE MILITIA. 



BANK AND TENDER ACT. 



most false and groundless reports respect- 

 ing the answer of the judi;es, the proceed- 

 ings of the court and tlie treatment of the 

 prisoners, and on Sunday morning, tlie 

 26tli of November, tlie insurgents again 

 assembled in Rutland to the number of 

 2U0. These were mostly men who had 

 not been engaged in the riots of the pre- 

 ceding Tuesday and Wednesday, and 

 when they had ascertained the facts in 

 the case, and the utter falsehood of the 

 reports, which had induced them to coun- 

 tenance tlie rebellion, a large proportion of 

 them declared themselves in favor of the 

 government, and joined the militia under 

 Col. Clark. This so disheartened the re- 

 mainder that they immediately dispersed, 

 and left tlieir leaders to their fate. On 

 Monday e\ ening, every thing being quiet, 

 the militia received the thanks of the 

 court for their prom|)t and efficient ser- 

 vices, and were discharged. The court 

 continued to sit unmolested till it had fin- 

 ished its business, and then adjourned 

 witJiout day. 



Thus terminated the feeble attempts to 

 impede the course of justice in Vermont; 

 and the event showed, that, notwithstand- 

 ing the general distress and dissatisfac- 

 tion, the yeomanry of the country were 

 firmly attached to the principles of consti- 

 tutional liberty, and would utterly dis- 

 countenance any resort to lawless vio- 

 lence for the redress of grievances. It 

 showed that it was the settled determina- 

 tion of the great body of the people to 

 support the constitution and government 

 of their choice, the courts of justice which 

 they had established and the laws which 

 they had enacted, as the only sure means 

 of securing to themselves and their cliil- 

 dren the fruits of their own industry, and 

 to endure patiently the evils and suffer- 

 ings under which they labored, until by 

 peaceable and constitutional means their 

 removal could be eflected. 



The next session of the Vermont Legis- 

 lature, after the transactions which have 

 just been related, was commenced at Ben- 

 nington on the ]5th of Februarj^, 17^7, 

 and on the 2d day of March the following 

 resolution was passed by the General As- 

 sembly, and ordered to be published : 



" Resolved, That this house entertains 

 a high sense of the services done to this 

 state by the officers and soldiers, whose 

 spirited exertions crushed the late daring 

 insurrection against govei'ninent in the 

 counties of Rutland and Windsor, and 

 does hereby return the said officers and 

 soldiers their hearty thanks." 



At this session, the yeas and nays 

 taken on the 1st Tuesday in January up- 

 on the questioiis submitted to the people 



Pt. ti. )1 



at the October session, as already men- 

 tioned, were laid before the General As- 

 sembly, and exhibited the following re- 

 sults. 



1st. Shall tiiere be established a Bank 

 for the issue of paper money on loan to 

 the people .? Yeas 456, Nays 2,197. 2dly. 

 Is it expedient to pass a general Tender 

 Act? Yeas 150, Nays 8fl. 3dly. Shall 

 the present act making articles a tender 

 on execution be continued ? Yeas 481, 

 Nays 611. 4thly. Shall tlie act for the 

 fulfillment of contracts in kind after the 

 specified time of payment is elapsed, pass- 

 ed in October, 1786, be continued .' Yeas 

 855, Nays 225. An act was also passed 

 making neat cattle, beef, pork, sheep, 

 wheat, rye, and Indian corn a lawful ten- 

 der, if turned out by the debtor on any 

 execution, which must be received by the 

 creditor at the value of their appraisal by 

 men under oath. These proceedings serv- 

 ed to check the legal enforcement of col- 

 lections ; the people, relieved in a meas- 

 ure from vexatious litigation, now applied 

 themselves with greater diligence to their 

 respective avocations; business gradually 

 resumed its wonted activity ; the earth, 

 by the blessing of Providence, rewarded 

 abundantly the labors of the husbandman ; 

 and the hardships and sufferings of the 

 people were soon relieved and forgotten 

 in the midst of the general prosperity and 

 happiness. 



Section IV. 



Settlement of the Controversy with JYew 

 York, and the admission of Vermont 

 hUo the Union. 



On the 20th of January, 1783, the pre- 

 liminary articles of peace were signed, 

 which terminated the war wnth Great 

 Britain, find established the independence 

 of the United States. By this event. 

 Congress was in a great measure relieved 

 from its embarrassments with regard to 

 Vermont, and Vermont released from her 

 fears. The British army upon the north- 

 ern frontiers of Vermont, whose efforts 

 had been so long paralyzed by the artful 

 policy of a few individuals, was now 

 withdrawn, and the people of Vermont 

 were now in little dread of external foes, 

 nor very solicitous for an immediate union 

 with the confederated states. Their con- 

 fidence in the wisdom and ability of Con- 

 gress, which had been much impaired by 

 the evasive and vacillating policy of that 

 body with regard to Vermont, during the 

 war, v?as now dearly destroyed. They 



