CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS.

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who set up claims under New Hampshire Charters, an order was published by the advice of theCouncil requiring all persons holding or claiming Lands under such Grants to appear by themselvesor their Attorneys and produce the same together with the Deeds , conveyances, or other instrumentsby which they derived any Title or Claim, before the Governor in Council within three monthsfrom the date of the order, and that the Claims of those who should not pay due Obedience to thatorder would be rejected. This had the desired effect, and altho’ it was not strictly complyed withas to the Time limited, no advantage was taken of such Delay, and in a few months, PetitionsMemorials & ca were lodged by Persons sent up from thence setting up claims to ninety six Town-ships; of this Number no less than twenty one were deemed to be in this Government before hisMatys order in Council for fixing the Limitts on the Connecticut River , as they were within twentymiles of the Hudsons River and within the same distance of the Waters of South bay and the LakeChamplain . It was Imagind that this was only by way of Experiment to try how far this Provincewould carry its indulgence towards them, as it has not yet appeared to us that any kind of settle-ment was ever made on any of those claims except in the Townships of Shaftsbury Bennington &Pownall which were ordered by advice of the Council to be confirmed to those who were actuallysettled there. As to the rest of the 21 Townships no Improvement ever having been attempted onthem, The Lands after laying waste beyond the time limited for settling them became again vestedin the Crown by the Conditions of the Charter. Proceedings have been had on 24 of the remainingnumber so far as Warrants of survey in pursuance of the orders in Council for that purpose, butalthough by His Majestys Instructions the Warrants of survey are directed to be returned within sixmonths after they are issued some of these have been issued above Eighteen months and no returnyet made. Four Townships have gone through all the Forms and their Patents have passed theGreat Seal; Three more lay before me ready for signing at the Time I received your LordshipsLetter mentioning his Majestys Commands that no more Grants should be made till His Pleasureshould be signified to me.

The Proprietors of the Lands intended to be conveyed by those Patents have been made acquaintedwith the orders I have received, who do not seem to think themselves under any obligation to M rRobinson wdiose Petition has been the cause of the present obstacle laid in their way, for they havebeen some time in Town to get their papers through the different offices and must now return homeagain without putting the finishing hand to the Patents which will lay them under the necessity ofanother long Journey to this City. The remaining forty eight Townships have never taken anyother step than that of putting in a claim without prosecuting it, and I am persuaded that on exam-ination of their Pretensions, few, if any Settlers will be found on them. I have taken as muchpains as I possibly could to come at the true State of those Townships, but cannot discover by anymeans, I have as yet made use of, that any Settlements have ever been made in the country sup-posed to be covered by these last mentioned claims but that the Land still remains in the samedesert and uncultivated state in which it was at the first granting of those Charters. As soon asthe Riots and disturbances here had subsided, and the common business of the Province had returnedinto the usual Channel], I took the first Opportunity of enquiring into the state of that Part of theProvince which lay on the Connecticut River and having got together some of the principalClaimants of the Lauds, I desired to be informed of the Progress already made in the settlementsand directed them to point out to me in what shape I could assist them as I imagined they thenstood in need of all the aid which the Government could give them; The first tiling which occurredwas the difficulty they were likely to labour under in regard to their Situation, as that part of theProvince was included in the County of Albany , the county town of which was at too great a distancefrom them to give attendance there; For their relief in this article I proposed to the Assembly that