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OlTEIWpiCAIi SOCIETY.

BY DANIEL P. THOMPSON.

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AN

ADDRESS
PRONOUNCED IN THE
REPRESENTATIVES' HALL, MONTPELIER,
24th OCTOBER, 1850,
BEFORE THE
VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY,

IN THE PRESENCE OF

BOTH HOUSES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ;

DANIEL P. THOMPSON.

Published, by Order of the Legislatme,
BURLINGTON :
FREE PRESS OFFICE PRINT,
1850.

Office of the Secretary of the Senate,
Montpelier, Vt., Oct. 29, 1850.
Hon. Dakiei p. TH0MPS0^f, Montpelier.
Sir : We have the pleasure to communicate to you the following
resolution, adopted on the 25th inst : —
" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives :
" That the Secretary of tlie Senate, and the Clerk of the House of
" Representatives be instructed to solicit from the Hon. Daniel P. Thomp-
" son a copy of the interesting and valuable Address pronounced by him
" before the Vermont Historical Society, in presence of the two Houses,
" on the evening of the 24th inst., and that the Secretary and Clerk procure
" two thousand copies thereof to be printed, and distributed under the di-
" rection of His Excellency, the Governor."
We take occasion to expressthe hope that you will comply withthe
unanimous desire of the two Houses, in which the entire audience, on the
occasion alluded to, participated.
Very respectfully, Your ob't serv'ts,
D. W. C. CLARKE, Secretary of the Senate,
C. F. DAVEY, of the House of Representatives.

Montpelier, Vt, 30th October, 1850.
Oentlemen:
It was not my intention to publish the Address, of which the two
Houses have taken such flattering notice, as I thought of embodying it,
with further amplifications of the subject, in a work I have in preparation
for the press. But perceiving no valid objections to its publication in this
form, though it may soon substantially appear in another, and being anx
ious to make every consistent response to a demonstration, of which I fear
neither myself, nor my imperfect effort, is worthy, I can do no less than
comply with your request, and that which seems involved in the resolution,
a copy of which you have forwarded to me. I, therefore, place the manu
script at your disposal, and, with the assurance of my personal regard, re
main Your friend and ob't serv't,
D. P. THOMPSON.
To Gen. D. W. C. Clarke, Secretary of the Senate,
Chalon F. Davet, Esq., Clerk of the House of Representatives.

ADDRESS.

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Sen.4.te and
House of Representatives :
Vermont was ushered into pohtical existence midst storm and
tempest. We speak both metaphorically and literally : For it
is a curious historical fact that her Constitution, the result of the
first regular movement ever made by her people towards an inde
pendent civil government, was adopted during the darkest period
of the Revolution — at an hour of commotion and alarm, when the
tempest of war was actually bursting over her borders and threat
ening her entire subversion. And, as if to make the event the
more remarkable, the adoption took place amidst one of the most
memorable thunder storins ever known in Vermont, but for the
providential occurrence of which, at that particular juncture, that
important political measure, as we shall soon make apparent, must
have been postponed to an indefinite period, and what is more, to
a period when the growing dissensions, wbich, as .soon as the
common danger was over, New York and New Hampshire con
trived to scatter among her people, must have defeated it, and
thus destroyed all their prospects of the blessings of an indepen
dent civil government forever.
The whole history of the settlement and organization of this
State, indeed, exhibits, when compared with those of another,
the most striking anomaly. She may emphatically be called the
offspring of war and controversy. The long and fierce dispute
for territory between tha colonies just named, had sown her soil
with Dragon teeth, which at length sprang up in a crop of hardy,
determined, and liberty-loving men, who instead of joining either
of the contending parties, soon resolved to take a stand for them-

G MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS.
selves against both. And that stand they maintained with a spirit
and success, to which, considering the discouragements, difficul
ties and dangers they were constantly compelled to encounter,
history scarcely furnishes a parallel. But though every step of
her progress, from the felling of the first tree in her dark wilder
ness to her final reception into the sisterhood of the States, was
marked by the severest trials, yet the memorable year of '77, was
incomparably the most trying and gloomy as well as the most glo
rious of her history. Within a period of forty days, indeed, from
the first landing of the vauntful Burgoyne on her shores at Ticon-
deroga, on the 6th of July, to the 16th of August, when his Lion
Flag was seen trailing in the dust at Bennington, her whole desti
nies seemed crowded ; but it was in those very days of darkness
and dismay, that she settled them aU, and ensured her indepen
dence forever !
Conceiving this eventful period, therefore, to be the turning
point in the destinies of Vermont, as a separate State, we shall
confine our remarks to this important part of her history, and
endeavor to unfold the secret and hitherto little known, but, in
our estimation, the main springs of action, by which such momen
tous results were accomplished.
In the beginning of this memorable year the people of Vermont
by their delegates in formal Convention assembled had declared
themselves Independent, " Independent of all save the mercies of God,"
to use the significant language which the poet has put into the mouth
of one of their numbers. And having taken measures for pub
lishing their declaration to the world, this Convention closed its
proceedings by appointing a committee to draft a Constitution to
be submitted to a new Convention which the people were invited
to call for the purpose. In response to that call, a new Conven
tion assembled at Windsor about the first of July following, and
proceeded, with that dilligence and scrupulous regard to the em
ployment of their time, for which our earlier public bodies were

MR. Thompson's address. 7
noted, to take into consideration the important instrument now
submitted to them as a proper basis, on which to erect the super
structure of a civil government suited to the genius and necessi
ties of an industrious an frugal people — a people who, though
keenly jealous of their individual rights, and exceedingly restive
under all foreign authority, had yet declared the wish to receive
and obey a system of legal restraints, if it could be one of their
own imposing — a people who had said to their leaders :
"Tho' we owe no allegiance and bow tone throne,
We will yield to the law if that law be our own."
For five days, from rising to setting sun, this Convention em
ployed the best energies of their enlightened and practical minds
in discussing and amending the document before them. But
their labors had well nigh been lost, for the present certainly, and,
for reasons before given, probably forever. For soon after they
had assembled on the 6th day of their Session, and while they
were intently listening to the reading of the instrument for the
last time before taking a final vote on its adoption, their proceed
ings were suddenly brought to a stand by the alarming news, loud
ly proclaimed from an open despatch from the gallant Warner
by a herald who appeared on his foam covered horse before their
open door, that Ticonderoga, the supposed inpregnable barrier
of frontier defence, had fallen, and our scattered troops were
flying in all directions before a formidable British army that was
sweeping unopposed along the western border of the State, flank
ed by a horde of merciless savages, from whose fearful irruptions
not a dwelling on that side the mountains would probably be
spared ! This intelligence, so unexpected and so Starthng, too
nearly concerned the members of this body as men as well as
patriots, to permit their entire exemption from the general feeling
of consternation and dismay which was everywhere spreading, on
the wings of the wind, around them ; and many a staid heart
among them secretly trembled for the fate of the near and dear
ones left at home, in which the red tomahawk might, even at that

S MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS.
moment be busy at its work of death ; while the bosoms of all
were burning to seize the sword or musket and fly to their re
lief or mingle in the common defence of their endangered coun
try. Any further proceedings with the subject on hand, at such
a moment was soon found to be impossible, and the greater num
ber began to clamor for an immediate adjournment. But while
a few, who had shared less than others in the panic, or were more
deeply impressed with the importance of accomplishing an object,
at this time, now so nearly attained, were vainly attempting to
resist the current, till time was gained for reflection, an un
wonted darkness, as if by special interposition of Providence, fell
suddenly upon the earth. The lightnings began to gleam through
the dark and threatening masses of clouds that had enveloped the
sky, and the long, deep roll of thunder was heard in every quarter
of the heavens, giving warning of the severe and protracted tem
pest, which now soon burst over them with a fury that precluded
all thought of venturing abroad. The prospect of being thus
confined to the place for some hours, if not for the whole day,
taking from the movers all inducement for immediate adjourn
ment, they now began to take a cooler view of the subject ; and
soon, by common consent, the business on hand was resumed.
The reading of the Constitution was finished, and, while the storm
was still howling around them, and the thunders breaking over
their heads, that instrument was adopted and became the supreme
law of the land.* One thing more, however, remained to be
done ; and that was to constitute a provisional government to act
till the one pointed out by the Constitution could be established.
This was now effected by the appointment of that small body of
men, 13 in number, it is behoved, since known as The Old
Council of Safety op Vermont, and noted alike for the re
markable powers with which they were invested, and the remark
able manner in which those powers were exercised : For from the
*Tliib Constitution was never submitted to the people for ratification, but
by general consent acquiesced in without that usual formality,

MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS. 9
nature of the case, and the emergency in which these men were
called to act, they were almost necessarily invested with the ex
traordinary combination of legislation. Judicial and Executive
power. But this power, absolute and dictatorial as it was, they
never abused, nor exercised but for the public good, and in this
they were cheerfully sustained by the people, who felt that they
were thus not only sustaining the cause of Freedom, but the
laws which were of their own providing, and which they were
now anxious should be strictly obeyed.*
To that unique assembly, whose origin we have just described,
we now propose to introduce our auditors at its most interesting
and important session. In obedience to the order of the Con
vention, they had promptly assembled at Manchester, and here,
conscious that the eyes of all were turned anxiously upon them
in expectation that they would provide for the safety of their in
fant State, whose now fearfully menaced destinies had been
committed into their hands, they commenced the worse than
Egyptian task devolving on them — that of making adequate pro
visions for the public defence, while the means were almost
wholly wanting. For with scarcely the visible means in the
whole settlement, in its then exhausted and unsettled condition,
of raising and supporting a single company of soldiers, they were
expected to raise an army ; without the shadow of a public
Treasury, and without any credit as a State, and without the
power of taxing the people, which, by the Constitution just adopt
ed, could only be done by a legislature not yet called, they were
required to do that for which half a million was needed. Such
were the difficulties by which they were met at the outset — diffi
culties, which, to men of ordinary stamina and mental resources,
would have been insurmountable. But the members of the Old

*Thc council of safety continued to exercise all these powers till March
1778, when it was superceded by the legislature, then first convening, in
all its civil functions, while those relating to war were tranal'ened to a new
body appointed by the legislature, called the Board of War.
2

10 mr.thompson's address.
Council of Safety were not men of ordinary stamina, either moral or
mental, and the results of their action amid all these difficulties and
discouragements were soon to evince it to the world. The partic
ular time however, we have chosen for lifting the curtain from
their secret proceedings, was at the darkest, and most dishearten
ing hour they were doomed to experience, and before their united
mind had been brought to bear on any measure affording the least
promise of auspicious results. The army of Burgoyne was
then hovering on their borders in its most menacing attitude.
Marauding parties were daily penetrating the interior, plunder
ing and capturing the defenceless inhabitants ; while each day-
brought the unwelcome news of the defection of individuals who
had gone off to swell the ranks of the victorious enemy, to whose
alarming progress scarcely a show of resistance had yet been in
terposed. Nor was this the end of the chapter of the trials that
awaited them. Another blow was to be added, more calculated
than all to test their firmness and bring home to their bosoms a
sense of the perils of the crisis, and the necessity of prompt ac
tion, unless they should conclude to give up and yield unresis
tingly to the current of destiny that seemed to be setting so
strongly against them. But let us now present the mortifying
event to which we have just alluded in another form, together
with the action that followed, and personal descriptions of the
actors, gathered from the writings left by one of their number,*
from the lips of old men now passed away, and especially of one
whom this year has numbered with the dead and who, then an
observant boy,f was permitted to be an eye and ear witness of all
that occurred in the debate wlrich we will try to bring up as a
living and truthful picture directly to the senses : —
The long summer day was drawing to a close. It had been
thus far spent by the Council, as had been several of the pre
ceding, in discussing the ways and means for doing something.
*Ira Allen — see appendix.
fDaniel Chipman.

MR. Thompson's address. 11
to avert the doom that hung over their seemingly devoted State.
But up to this hour their deliberations had been wholly fruitless.
Project after project for raising military forces had been brought
forward, discussed and abandoned, as impracticable, till wearied
with the unavailing labors, and disheartened by the dismal pros
pect before them, they were about to give up business for the
day when the door-keeper, with unwonted haste and an agitated
manner, entered the room, and announced to the astonished
members the alarming tidings that one of their own number, and
till that day an active participator in their discussions, had proved
a Judas, and was now, with a band of his recreant neighbors, on
his way to the British camp ! This news fell like a thunder-clap
on the Council, producing at first a sensation not often witnessed
in so grave an assemblage. But no formal comments were offer
ed, and, after the commotion had subsided, all sank into a thought
ful silence, which we will improve by personal introductions of
all the leading members of this body, whom we are now to sup
pose sitting before us digesting the tidings just announced.
Separated from the rest by a sort of enclosure composed of
fables strung across one end of the apartment, which was the large
upper room of the old tavern in Manchester, and which had been
hastily fitted up for the occasion, sat the President of the Coun
cil — the venerable Thomas Chittenden, the wise, the prudent
and the good, who was to Vermont what Washington was to the
whole country, and who, though possessing no dazzling greatness,
had yet that rare combination of moral and intellectual qualities
which was far better — good sense, great discretion, honesty of
purpose, and an unvarying equanimity of temper, united with a
modest and pleasing address. And by the long and continued
exercise of this golden mean of qualities, he was destined to
leave behind him, an honest and enduring fame — a memorial of
good deeds and useful every-day examples to be remembered
and quoted both in the domestic circle and public assembly,
when the superior brilliancy of many a cotemporary had passed

12 MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS.
away and been forgotten. He was now over fifty, but so fine
his physical endowments, and so good his habits, that time had left
scarcely a trace on his manly brow ; and notwithstanding the
simplicity of his deportment and the plainness of his dress, the
large arm chair in which he was reclining, furnished by some con
siderate matron of the neighborhood, could not have found, in
the broad land, an occupant who would have filled it with more
native dignity, or one better fitted to restrain by courteous firm
ness, and by tact guide into safe and appropriate fields of action,
the less diciplined and more fiery spirits of the body over whom
he presided.
On the left of the President, on one of the plain benches that
ran along the walls in front, immersed in thought, sat side by side,
like brothers as they were, the two Fays — those intelligent and
persevering friends of freedom and State independence. Fur
ther along sat the two Robinsons, alike patriotic and active or
able, according to the different spheres in which they were about
to be distinguished — one in the tented field, and the other on the
Bench, and in the Councils of the Nation. Next to them was seen
the short, biu-ly form of the uncompromising Matthew Lyon,
the Irish refugee, who was wiUing to be sold, as he was, to pay his
passage, for a pair of two-year-old bulls, by which he was wont
to swear on all extra occasions — thus sold for the sake of getting
out of the king-tainted atmosphere of the old world, into one
where his broad chest could expand freely, and his bold, free
spirit soar untrammeled by the clogs of legitimacy. In his eagle
eye, and every lineament of his clear, ardent and fearless coun
tenance, might be read the promise of what he was to become —
the stern Democrat, and miflinching champion of the whole right
and the largest liberty.
In contrast to him, on the opposite side, was seen the tall form,
and the firm and thoughtful countenance of Benjamin Carpen
ter, who, by his line of marked trees through a 30-mile reach of
woods, had just arrived on foot with pack and cane, from his
residence in Guilford, on the other side of the mountains.

MR. Thompson's address. 13
Next sat the mild and gentlemanly Nathan Clark, the future
Speaker of the Legislature ; and by his side the dark, rough fea
tured Gideon Olin, another embryo member of Congress, knit
ting his brows in an expression of mingled sternness and gloom.
Beyond these, leaning out of an open window, was Thomas
Rowley, the first Poet of the Green Mountains. He was here
because he was a public favorite, a trusty patriot, and some
thing of a statesman. But like other poets he had his peculiar tem
perament, as might be seen even in this staid assembly. For, as
if disgusted with a profitless debate, and determined not to be
troubled by the disconcerting news just announced, he had turned
to the more congenial employment of gazing out on the land
scape, over which his kindhng eye might have been seen to
wander, till it rested in rapture on the broad empurpled side and
bright summit of the lofty Equinox mountain, whose contrasted
magnificence was growing every moment more striking and beau
tiful in the beams of the setting sun.
At an end of one of the tables before the President, was also
seen the stout frame and business like countenance of Paul
Spooner, engaged inwriting a despatch. And as the last, though
not as the least of this contrasted assemblage, let us turn to the
youthful Secretary of the Council, Ira Allen. So much the
junior of his colleagues was he, that a spectator might well won
der why he was selected as one of such a sage body. But those
who procured his appointment knew full well why they had done
so ; and liis history thenceforward was destined to prove a con
tinued justification of their opinion. Both in form and feature,
he was one of the handsomest men of his day ; wMle a mind, at
once versatile, clear and penetrating, with perceptions as quick as
light, was stamped on his Grecian brow, or found a livelier expres
sion in his flashing black eyes and other lineaments of his intellec
tual countenance. Such, as he appeared for the first time on
the stage of public action, was the afterwards noted Ira Allen,
whose true history, when written, will show him to have been

14 MR. Thompson's address.
either secretly or openly the originator or successful prosecutor
of more important political measures, affecting the interests and
independence of the State, and the issue of the war in the North
ern department, than any other individual in Vermont ; making
him, with the many pecuhar traits he possessed, one of the most
remarkable men of the times in which he so conspicuously fig
ured. " I have finished," said Spooner, breaking the gloomy silence
which had so long pervaded the assembly, — " I have finished
the despatch, Mr. President, requiring the attendance of Gen.
Bailey, the absent member from Newbury, and I have ventured
to add the news of the defection of that miserable Squire Spen
cer !"*
" Tis all well," responded the President ; " but I had hoped
to have forwarded by the same messenger, a despatch requesting
the aid of New Hampshire. But how can we expect they will
do anything till we do something for ourselves — till they know
whether they will find among us more friends to feed and assist,
than enemies to impede them. And I submit to you, gentle
men, whether it is not now high time to act to some purpose.
If we can't vote taxes, we can contribute towards raising a military
force if you will agree to raise one. Instead of being dishearten
ed by the conduct of the traitor Spencer, who has perhaps prov
identially left us before we had settled on any plan of operations
which he could report to the enemy, let us show him, and the
world, that the rest of us can be men ! I have ten head of cattle
which, by way of example, I will give for the emergency. But
am I more patriotic than the rest of you here, and hundreds of
others in the settlement .'' My wife has a valuable gold necklace ;
hint to her to-day that it is needed, and my word for it, to-mor
row will find it in the treasury of freedom. But is my wife
more spirited than yours and others ? Gentlemen, I wait your
propositions."

"See Appendix.

MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS. 15
During this effective appeal, drooping heads began to be rais
ed — perplexed countenances began to brighten, and by the time
he had closed, several speakers were on their feet eager to res
pond. " Mr. Carpenter has the floor, gentlemen," said the Pres
ident, evidently wishing that discreet and firm man should lead
off as a sort of guide to the warm emotions he saw rising.
"I rose," said Carpenter, "to give my hearty response to
the"sentiments of the Chair. It is time, high time to act. I
have no definite proposition now to offer ; but within one hour, I
will have one, if others are not before me in the matter. For it
is a crime to dally any longer, and from this moment action shall
be my motto."
" Aye, action ! action ! responded several.
" Action let it be, then," said the impulsive Rowley, the next
to speak ; " and I will make a proposition, that will give gentie
men all the action they will want, besides setting an example
which will show works as well as faith — I propose, Mr. Presi
dent, that each one of us here, before any more of us run away
to the enemy, seize a standard, — repair singly to the different
hamlets among our mountains — cause the summoning drum to
be beat for volunteers, whom we will ourselves lead to do battle
with this Jupiter Olympus of a British General, who has so
nearly annihilated us by force of Proclamation !"
" Tom Rowley all over ! but a gallant push nevertheless,"
exclaimed Samuel Robinson in an under tone, " and yet Mr.
President," he continued rising, " if our spirited colleague's pro
posal should be carried into effect, we should still want a regularly
enlisted force to serve as a nucleus to volunteers, especially under
such officers as most of us would make.' I therefore move we
vote to raise a company of an hundred men, which will be as many
as all the contributions we can obtain among our poor and dis'
tressed people, will equip and support very long in the field."

16 MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS.
"And I," said Clark, "believing we may venture to go a
littie higher than that, propose to raise two companies of sixty
each." "No, no," cried several voices. "One company — means
can be found for no more."
" Yes, yes, the larger number — I go for two companies,"
cried others.
" And I go for neither, Mr. President," said Ira Allen, dash
ing down his pen upon the table, by the side of which he had
been sitting in deep cogitation. " I have heard all the propo
sitions yet advanced — see the difficulties of all, and yet I see a
way by which we can do something more worthy the character
of the Green Mountain Boys — and that too without infringing
the Constitution or distressing the people. I therefore move.
Sir, that this Council resolve to raise a whole regiment of men
appoint their officers, and take such prompt measures for their
enlistment, that within one week every glen in our mountains
shall resound with the din of military preparations."
" Chimerical !" said one who, in common with the rest of the
Council, seemed to hear with much surprise a proposition of such
magnitude so confidently put forth, when the general doubt ap
peared to be whether even the comparatively trifling one of
Clark should be adopted.
"Impossible — utterly impossible to raise pay for half of them,"
exclaimed others.
" Don't let us say that, till compelled to," said Carpenter in
an encouraging tone. "Though I don't now see where the means
are to come from, yet new light may break in on us by another
day, so that we can see our way clear to sustain this proposition.
If there should, we should feel like men again."
" Amen to all that," responded Clark, " and as the hour of
adjournment has arrived, I move that our young colleague who
seems so confident in the matter of means, be a committee of
one, to devise those ways and means to pay the bounties and

MR. Thompson's address. 17
wages of the regiment he proposes, and that he make his report
thereof by sunrise to-morrow morning."
"I second that motion, so plase ye, Mr. President," cried
Lyon in his usual full determined tone and Irish accent — " I go
for Mr. Allen's proposition entirely, manes or no manes. But
the manes must and shall be found. We will put the brave
gentleman's brains under the screw to-night," he added jocose
ly, " and if he appears empty handed in the morning, he ought
to be expelled from the Council. Aye, and I'll move it too, by
the two bulls that redamed me !"
"I accept the terms!" said Allen — "give me a room by
myself, pen, ink, paper and candles, and I will abide the condi
tion." "For your fight, Mr. Allen, as your task is to find money
where there is none to any common view, I would advise you to
borrow the wonderful lamp of Aladdin," gaily added Rowley, as
the Council broke up and separated for the night.
At sunrise the next morning all the Council were in their seats
to receive the promised report. They were aware that AUen
had spent the whole night on the business committed to his
charge ; for, hour after hour during that important night, they had
heard the alternate scratching of his rapid pen, and the sound of
his footsteps as he paced his solitary chamber, intensely revolving
in his teeming mind the details of a plan, on the success of v/hich
with the Council he felt the last chance of making a stand against
the invaders of the State must depend. This circumstance, to
gether with the expectation which his confident manner, and
known fertility in expedients had previously created, that he
would present some feasible plan for carrying out his proposal,
though no one could conjecture its character, now caused his ap
pearance to be awaited with no little curiosity and solicitude. —
They were not long kept in suspense. Allen, with his papers
in hand, came in, and after announcing his readiness to report,
calmly proceeded to unfold his plan, which was nothing more nor

18 MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS.
less than the bold and undieamed-of step of confiscating, seizing
and, on the shortest legal notice, selling at the post, the estate
of every Tory in Vermont, for the pubhc service !
The speaker having read his report, consisting of a decree of
confiscation, drawn up ready for adoption by the Council, and a
list of candidates or nominations of officers for a regiment of Ran
gers, he quickly resumed his seat and patiently awaited the ac
tion of the Council. But they were taken by such complete
surprise by a proposition, at that time so new in the colonies, so
bold and so startling in its character, that, for many minutes, not
a word or wlrisper was heard through the hushed assembly, whose
bowed heads and working countenances showed how intensely
their minds were engaged in trying to grapple with the subject
matter on which their action was so unexpectedly required.
Soon, however, low murmurs of doubt or disapproval be
gan to be heard, and the expressions — Unprecedented step !
Doubtful policy ! Injury to the cause ! became distinguishable
among the more timid in different parts of the room, when the
prompt and fearless Matthew Lyon, whose peculiar traits of in
tellect had made him the fii'st to meet and master the proposition,
which jumped so well with his feelings, and whose consequent
resolve to support it was only strengthened by the tokens of
rising opposition he perceived around him, now sprang to his
feet, and, bringing his broad palms together with a loud slap, ex-
ultuigly exclaimed : " The child is born, Mr. President ! My
head," he continued, "has been in a continual fog, ever smce
we met, till the present moment. But now, thank God, I can
see my way out of it, — I can now see at a glance how all we
want, can be readily — aye, and righteously, accomphshed ! I
can already see a regiment of our brave mountaineers in arms be
fore me, as the certain fruits of this bold, bright thought of our
young friend here.
" Unprecedented step is it } It may be so with us timid Re
publicans ; but is it so with our enemies, who are this moment

MR. THOMPSON'S ADDRESS. 19
threatening to crush us, because we object to receive their law
and precedent ? How, in Heaven's name, were they to obtain
the lands of half Vermont, which they offered tiie fion-hearted
Ethan Allen if he would join them, but by confiscating our es
tates ? What became of the estates of those in their country,
who, like ourselves, rebelled against their government .? Why,
sir, they were confiscated ! Can they complain, then, if we
adopt a measure, which, in case we are vanquished, they wiU
visit on our estates, to say nothing of our necks ? And can these
recreant rascals themselves, who have left their property among
us, and gone off to help fasten the very law and precedent on us,
complain at our doing what they will be the first to recommend
to be done to us, if their side prevails .'' Where, then, is the
doubtful policy of our anticipating them in the measure, any more
than seizing one of their loaded guns in battle and turning it
against them .''
Injury to the cause, wiU it be .'' Will it injure our cause
here, where men are daily deserting to the British, in the be
lief that we shall not dare touch their property, to strike a blow
that will deter all the wavering, and most others of any property,
from leaving us hereafter .'' Will it injure our cause here, to
have a regiment of regular troops, who will draw into the field four
times their numbers of volunteers .'' If that be an injury, Mr.
President, I only wish we had more of them ! With half a dozen
such injuries, we would rout Burgoyne's whole army in a fort
night. I go, then, for the proposition to the death, Mr. President.
Yes, by the two Bulls that redamed me, I will go it !"
The ice was broken. This bold dash of rough, argumentative
eloquence, so adroitly addressed to men of such mould, had
reached cords that rose responsive to the touch, and gave a direc
tion to the naturally favoring current of their feefings, which was
not to be diverted. The more ready and fearless, one after
another, now stepped forward, removed obstructions, and gave
additional force to tire gathering impetus. The President, on

20 MR. Thompson's address.
whom aU eyes were turned, was seen nodding his approbation in
spite of all his prudence. The timid rapidly gained strength, the
doubters at length yielded, and, within two hours, this all impor
tant measure, which, in the eventful period of forty days, named
at the outset, became the pivot on which the destinies of Ver
mont were turned, was unanimously adopted. The results were
soon apparent. Doubt and despondency gave place to confi
dence and courage. Commissioners, and other officers, were ap
pointed and dispatched in every direction to seize the marked
estates, and the whole enginery of sequestration was at once put
in motion. The work of enhstment under the ardent and active
Herrick and his subordinates, the military appointees of the
Council, was commenced ; and within one week every viUage
and hamlet in the Green Mountains were resounding with the roll
of the recruiting drum, and the clang of war-like preparation. —
With such energy and success, indeed, were these operations
pushed forward, that within th^ astonishingly short period of fifteen
days, a respectably filled regiment was collected and ready to
take thelield. All this had led to a confident and successful
appeal to New Hampshire, for aid and cooperation. Stark
came. The battle of Bennington was fought and won ; and the
shout of victory, that went up from the banks of the Waloomsic,
was a virtual proclamation of the Independence of Vermont. —
For, her gallantry here, and her controlling hand in getting up an
expedition, resulting so disastrously to Burgoyne — so auspicious
ly to the country, gave her a right to command a boon, which
she otherwise would have sued for in vain ;^a boon which she
did thus command, thus receive, — and thus ensure for herself her
subsequent proud and happy destiny.

APPEIDIX.

Extracts from Ira Allen's history of Vermont, and his address to the
Legislature, in relation to a cargo of military stores bought by him in
Europe, for the militia of Vermont, and seized by the British ; — published
in 1808, now nearly out of print :
" The members of the Convention repaired to Windsor, July 4th, 1777.
A drafl of the Constitution was laid before them and read. The business
being new, and of great consequence, required serious deliberation. The
Convention had it under consideration, when the news of the evacuation
of Ticonderoga arrived, which alarmed them very much, as thereby the
Frontiers were exposed to the inroads of the enemy. The family of the
President of the Convention, as well as those of many other members,
were exposed to the foe. In this awful crisis, some were for leaving pre
cipitately ; but a severe ihunder-storm came on, and during the rain, they
had time to reflect ; while other members, less alarmed at the news, called
the attention of the whole to finish the Constitution, which was then
reading for the last time. The Constitution was read through ; the Con
vention proceeded to appoint a Council of Safety to conduct the business
of the State, and adjourned without day." *****
"The members of the Council of Safety, appointed as aforesaid, agreed
to meet and form at Manchester, where they repaired without loss of time.
Col. Thomas Chittenden was elected President, and Mr. Ira Allen (then
27 years old) Secretary to said Convention." * « * *
" The Council of Safety had no public money, nor had they any au
thority to lay taxes, or credit as a public body, to make or borrow money
to answer the necessities of government. The government was in its
infancy, and all expenses were supported at private expense. The Coun
cil were generally men of small property, yei in this situation, it became
necessary to raise men for the defence of the Frontiers, with bounties and
wages. Ways and means were to be found out; and the day was spent
in debating on the subject. Nathan Clark, Esq., not convinced of the
practicability of raising a regiment, moved in Council, that Mr. Ira Allen,
(the youngest member of the Council ; who insisted on raising a regiment,
while a large majority of the Council were for only two companies of 60
men each) might be appointed a committee, to discover ways and means
to raise, arm and support a regiment, and to make his report at sun-rise,
on the morrow. The Council acquiesced, and Mr. Allen took the matter
into consideration, and spent the night alone in concerting plans ; and he
reported the ways and means, viz., that the Council should appoint Com
missioners of sequestration, with authority to seize the goods and chattels
of all persons who had, or should join the common enemy ; that all
moveable property so seized should be sold at public vendue, and the pro
ceeds paid to a treasurer, to be appointed by the Council, for the purpose
of paying a bounty of $10, and one month's pay in advance ; that every
man furnish his own arms, &c.

22 APPENDIX.
The Council appointed Commissioners of sequestration, Ira Allen Treas
urer, and the ofiicers for a regiment, (the nomination of which Mr. Allen
had paid much attention to in the solitary hours of the night.) Samuel
Herrick was appointed Colonel, and the men enlisted and said bounties
paid in 15 days, out of the confiscated property of the enemies of the new
^tate. This was (supposed to be) the first instance of seizing and selling
the property of the enemies of American Independence."
"Abel Spencer, of Clarendon, who had been a stickler for New York, had
been suddenly converted to an advocate for a new State, and so ingratiated
himself, as a good whig, that he was elected a member of the Council of
Safety. Mr. Allen declared he would not take a seat in the Council if
Spencer did, and that he shmld not be surprised if Spencer should go
to Burgoyne's camp ; which he did, and died with the British soon after."
An original letter written in Council by Spooner, in which he alludes to
Spencer's desertion, is still preserved in the collection of the Historical
Society. Though personal estate was only at first seized, probably to raise
money for immediate necessities, yet the confiscation and sale of real es
tate was either put in train at the same time, or soon after.

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