108 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



PREAMBLE TO THE FlhST CONSTITUTION 



ADOPTED IN 1777. 



knowleclgfd allegiance to the Kins of Great Brit- 

 am, iiml iho said King has noi only withdrawn that 

 pruieciion, but commenced, and still continues to 

 carry on, wjiji unabated vengeance, a most cruel 

 and unjust wur a;;ain-:i them ; employing therein, 

 not only ihe troops of Great Briiian, but foreign 

 mercenaries, savages and slaves, for the avowed 

 purpose of reducing them to a total and abject sub- 

 niiKsion to the despotic domination of the British 

 parliament, with many other acts of tyranny, 

 (more fully sel forth in the declaration of Congress) 

 whereby all allegiance and fealiy to the said King 

 and his successors, are dissolved and at an end ; 

 and all power and authority derived from him 

 ceased in the American Colonies. 



And whereas, ihe territory which now compre- 

 hends the Slate of V^ermont did antecedenily, of 

 right, belong to the government of JVew- Hamp- 

 shire ; and the former Governor thereof, viz. his 

 Excellency JBenning IVentiuorth, Esq. granted 

 many charters of lands and corporations, wiihin 

 thii Slate, to the present inhabitants and others. 

 And whereas, the late Lieutenant Governor Cot- 

 den, of JVew York, with olhers, did, in violation 

 of the tenth command, covet those very lands ; and 

 by a false representation made to the court of 

 Great Britain, (in the year 1764 that for the con- 

 venience of trade and adminislra'ion of justice, 

 the inhabiian's were desirous of being annexed to 

 that government,) obtained jurisdiction of those 

 very identical \nnds, ex-par le ;* which ever was, 

 and is, disagreeable to the inh^biiants. And 

 whereas, the legislainre of New York, ever have, 

 and still continue to (Jisown the good people of this 

 S ate, in their lande I pro;»erlv, which will appear 

 in the complaints hereafier inserted, and in the 

 36ih section of their present consiitulion, in 

 which is established the grants of land made by 

 that government. 



Tliey have refused to make re-grants of our 

 lands to the original proprietors and occupants, un- 

 less at the e.xorbiiant rale of 23C0dolIais fees for 

 each township; and did enhance the quit-rents, 

 three fold, and demanded an immediate delivery of 

 the title derived before irom IVew Hampshire. 



The judges of iheir supreme court have made a 

 Bolenin declaration, that the charters, conveyances, 

 &c. of the lands included in the before described 

 premises, were utterly null and void, on which 

 said title was f>unded : in consequence of which 

 declaration, writs of possession have been bv them 

 issued, and the sheriff of the county of Albany 

 sent, at the head of six or seven hundred men, to 

 enforce the execution thereof f 



Th-^y have passed un act, annexing a penally 

 thereto, of thirty pounds fine and six months im- 

 prisonment, on any person who should refuse as- 

 sisting the sheriff, afier being reqtiested, for the 

 purpose of executing writs of possession. 



The Governors, Z)i^.'i?7jore, Trynn, And Colden, 

 have made re-grants of several tracts of land in- 

 cluded in the premises, to certain favorite land 

 jobbers in the government of New York, in d'rect 

 violation of his Briinnnic majesty's express pro- 

 hibition, in the year 1767 J 



* Part second, page 18. f Ibid, page 21. J IbiJ, 

 page 19. 



They have issued proclamations, wherein they 

 have off.:red lar:fe sums of money, for the purpose 

 of apprehendinf; those very persons who have dared 

 boldly, and publicly, to apiiear in defence of their 

 just rights. 



They did pass twelve acts of outlawry, on the 

 9ih day of March A. D. 1774, itnijowering tlie 

 respective judges of their supreme court, to award 

 execution of death against those inhiibitunts in 

 said district, thai they should judge to be offend- 

 ers, without trial. 



They have, and still continue, an unjust claim 

 to those lands, which greatly retards emigratioa 

 into, and the settlement of this State. 



They have hired foreign troops, emigrants from 

 Scotland, at two different times, and armed them, 

 to drive us out of possession. 



They have sent the savages on our frontiers, to 

 distress us. 



They have proceeded to erect the counties of 

 Cumberland and Gloucester, and establish courts of 

 justice there, after they were discountenanced by 

 the authority of Great Britain. 



The free Convention of the Stale of New 

 York, at Harlem, in the year 1776, unanimously 

 voted, " That all quit-renls, formerly due to ihe 

 King of Great Britain, are now due and owing to 

 this Convention, or such future government as shall 

 be hereafter established in this Slaie." 



In the several stages of the aforesaid oppres- 

 sions, we have petitioned his Britannic majesty, 

 in the nmst hunible manner, f>r redress, and have, 

 at very great expense, received several reports in 

 our favor ; and, in other instances, wherein we 

 have petitioned the late legislative auihority of 

 New York, these petitions have been treated with 

 neglect. 



And whereas, the local situation of this State, 

 frotn Neiu York, at the extreme part, is upward 

 of four hundred and lift)' miles from the seat of 

 that government, which renders it exiremely diffi- 

 cult to continue under the jurisdiction of said Si^te. 



Therefore, it is absolutely necessary, for the • 

 welfare and safety of the inhabiiatits of ihis Slate, 

 that it should be, henceforlli, a free and indepen- 

 dent Slate ; and that a just, permanent and proper 

 fo'in of government, should exist in it, derived 

 from, and founded on, the authority of the people 

 only, agreeably to the direction of the honorable 

 American Congress. 



We. the representatives of the freemen of Vir- 

 rriont, in General Convention met, (or the express 

 purpose of forming such a government, — confess- 

 ing the goodness of the Great Governor of the 

 universe, [who alone, knows to what dei;ree of 

 eaithly happiness, mankind may attain, by perfect- 

 ing the arts of government,] in purmilling the 

 people of this Slate, by common consent, and 

 without violence, deliberately to form for them- 

 selves such just rules as they shall think best for 

 governing their future society ; and being fully 

 Convinced tliat it is our indispensable duty, to es- 

 tablish such original principles of government, as 

 will best promote the general happiness of the 

 people of this S;ate, and their posterity, and pro- 

 vide for future iin|)rovenients, without partiality 

 for, or prejudice against, any particular class, sect, 



