198 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



PROPAGATION RIGHTS- 



P.ECOVERED BY THE SOCIETY. 



the one liand, and against the authority 

 and the treasury of the state on the other. 



The friends of the Church took counsel 

 of (Tontlernen eminent for legal learning, 

 and the conclusion was, that the act of 

 ]7!t4 was unconstitutional and void; and 

 tliat with patience and perseverance this 

 could be substantiated before the proj)er 

 tribunal. The subject was brouglit up in 

 the Convention of 1805. The resolve of 

 the venerable society, dated in May, 178.5, 

 before referred to, was hunted up and ex- 

 amined. The result was, a resolution di- 

 recting the standing committee to take 

 measures for procuring a conveyance. 



The first plan, proposing a deed of trust, 

 was unsatisfactory and unsuccessful. The 

 friends of the Church were not discour- 

 aged ; they were resolute and persevering 

 men. And the writer, with great pleas- 

 ure, avails himself of the opportunity to 

 bear witness, both from personal knowl- 

 edo-e and from documents that have pass- 

 ed under his eye, to the untiring and most 

 useful labors of two individuals — the Rev. 

 Abraham Bronson and Anson J. Sperry, 

 Esq. 



The next plan was, to move the venera- 

 ble society for a simple power of attorney, 

 which at length was successful. But in 

 the mean time the embargo, non-inter- 

 course, and war, put a stop to effective 

 correspondence for years, though the busi- 

 ness was not wholly neglected. 



After the treaty of Ghent early in 1815, 

 the Rev. Dr. Stewart, afterwards Bishop 

 of Quebec, made a visit to Vermont, and 

 in the kind and disinterested spirit which 

 remarkably distinguished that excellent 

 man, proposed to take chargeof any com- 

 munication, which the standing commit- 

 tee might think proper to address to the 

 venerable society — of which he was both 

 a member and a missionary — in further 

 prosecution of their business. The pa- 

 pers were prepared v/ith all possible de- 

 spatch, signed and scaled in Convention 

 at Arlington in the month of June, and 

 forwarded to Dr. Stewart in Canada, who 

 started immediately for London. In De- 

 cember next following the society passed 

 a resolution to accede to the plan ; but 

 directed their secretary to require of the 

 attorneys or agents to be appointed, a 

 bond of indemnity against any costs that 

 might arise in suits for the recovery of the 

 lands. This occasioned another year's 

 delay, — so that the instrument, with the 

 authenticating affidavits and certificates, 

 was not received till April, 1817. The 

 attorneys appointed were, the Rt. Rev. 

 Alexander Vietts Griswold, D. D., Bishop 

 of the Eastern Diocese, the Rev. Abraham 

 Bronson, the Rev. Silas S. SafFord, the 



Hon. Daniel Chipman, and Anson J. Sper- 

 ry, Esq. " They were authorized," says 

 Mr. Bronson, " to recover the lands and 

 give durable leases ; to assign such pro- 

 portion of the rents as they should think 

 proper to the support of a Bisiiop, and the 

 remainder, after paying expenses, to the 

 use of the Church in the Diocese as they 

 should judge to be for its best interest." 



The papers were placed in the hands 

 of the Hon. Daniel Chipman, a gentleman 

 of high reputation in the law, who under- 

 took a thorough examination of the whole 

 case in all its bearings and relations. In 

 1810, Mr. Chipman commenced a suit in 

 the Circuit court of the United States 

 against tiie town of New Haven in the 

 county of Addison ; for the defence in 

 which the opposers of the Church obtain- 

 ed a grant of money from the state. This 

 was decided in our favor. But the defen- 

 dants carried it by a writ of error to the 

 Supreme court of the United States, 

 where, in March, 1823, the judgment of 

 the court below was affirmed. 



This, it miglit be supposed, would put 

 an end to all anxiety and suspense, and 

 open to the agents a direct road to an im- 

 mediate and final adjustment of the whole 

 business. But not so. In principle eve- 

 ry point was gained ; but opposition still 

 found means and occasions to embarrass. 



Ill a few weeks after this decision, a 

 majority of the agents met at Middlebury 

 and organized themselves as a body, with 

 a secretary and a treasurer, and appointed 

 sub-agents in different counties to ascer- 

 tain and lease the lands. In the course 

 of that year more tlian half the lands were 

 recovered and leased. But the next year 

 some resistance was made, by advice of 

 counsel embittered against the Church, 

 which led to a course of troublesome and 

 most expensive litigation. The agents 

 were obliged to send twice to England for 

 testimony, and in two more suits to go to 

 the Supreme court. But in 1830 and 

 1831, decisions were again made in our 

 favor ; again holding out a prospect, that 

 the whole business would soon be settled. 

 Furtlier opposition, however, continued 

 to be made from time to time on one pre- 

 tence or another. Occupants had hopes 

 of escaping somehow, till the Marshall 

 looked them in the face. The agents re- 

 ceived tlieir 7orit of seizure in the last ac- 

 tion undertaken by them, in October, 

 1841. 



Since "the statute of limitation," pass-, 

 ed with sole reference to this property, 

 took effect, [183-5] no suits have been 

 commenced, though the constitutionality 

 of this has been doubted on the ground of 

 its conflicting with treaty. The agents 



