598
Congress do hereby pledge their Faith to execute & support their Decisions & Determination inthe Premises.
And Whereas it is essential to the Interest of the whole Confederacy that all intestine Dissentionsbe carefully avoided & domestic Peace & good Order maintained.
12 Resolved unanimously That it is the Duty of the People of the District aforesaid who denythe Jurisdiction of all the aforenamed States to abstain in the meantime from exercising any Powerover any of the Inhabitants of the said District who profess themselves Citizens of, or to oweAllegiance to any or either of the said States : But that none of the Towns either on the East orWest side of Connecticut River be considered as included within the said District , but such as haveheretofore actually joined in denying the Jurisdiction of either of the said States, and have assumeda separate Jurisdiction, which they call the State of Vermont . And further that in the opinionof Congress the said three States afore-named ought in the mean time to suspend executing theirLaws over any of the Inhabitants of the said District except such of them as shall profess Allegi-ance to and confess the Jurisdiction of the same respectively.—And further that Congress willconsider any violences committed against the Tenor true Intent & meaning of this Resolutionas a Breach of the Peace of the Confederacy which they are determined to keep and maintain :And to the end that all such violences & breaches of the public Peace, may be the better avoidedin the said District ; It is hereby recommended to all the Inhabitants thereof to cultivate Harmony& Concord among themselves to forbear vexing each other at Law or otherwise & give as little occa-sion as possible to the Interposition of Magistrates.
13 Resolved unanimously, That in the Opinion of Congress , no unappropriated Lands or Estateswhich are or may be adjudged forfeited or confiscated lying in the said District , ought until the finalDecision of Congress in the Premises to be granted or sold.
Ordered, That Copies of the aforegoing Resolutions be sent by express to the States of NewYork New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, and to the People of the District aforesaid; andthat they be respectively desired to loose no time in the appointing their Agent or Agents &otherwise preparing for the hearings aforesaid.
The aforesaid Resolution being read over and a Question taken to agree to the whole,
Resolved unanimously in the affirmative.
Extract from the minutes.
Cha. Thomson, Sec’y.
CHARLES PHELPS TO THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW-YORK .
Sirs Another week has Roled oif since I wrote to y e Honorable Legislature by the post lastTuesday and no resolution of Congress upon the Vermont affair is yet obtained ; as things are thusputt off from one Day to another, the best Improvement I can make of those Delays is to seek newConferences with Different members of Congress t6 open the Greviances of our people Subjects ofNew York state ; by the Ill treatment of those of Vermont , and their unreasonable and InjuriousConduct in opposeing the mild, Just, and Equitable Dealings & Administration of New York State to them & us all which is so Expressive of that Leniant pacific to them and most Commisseratingtemper which the present administration of New York hath ever Expressed towards us on theGrants and toward all those of Vermont faction from first to last since the Revolution & inDeposeing those tyranic Governors and other Evil officers of the Late arbitrary Crown Administration.