I was born in , Vermont, in 1805,— where the first quarter of my life, grew with the growth, and strengthened with the strength of that “first born” State of the “United Thirteen.” From the old “French War” to the final consummation of American Independence, my fathers, heart to heart, and shoulder to shoulder, with the noble fathers of our liberty, fought and bled; and, with the most of that venerable band of patriots, they have gone to rest,— bequeathing a glorious country with all her inherent rights to millions of posterity. Like other honest citizens, I not only, (when manhood came,) sought my own peace, prosperity, and happiness, but also the peace, prosperity, and happiness of my friends; and, with all the rights and realm before me, and the revelations of Jesus Christ, to guide me into all truth, I had good reason to enter into the blessings and privileges of an American citizen;— the rights of a Green Mountain Boy, unmolested, and enjoy life and religion according to the most virtuous and enlightened, customs, rules, and etiquet of the nineteenth century. But to the disgrace of the , it is not so. These rights and privileges, together with a large amount of property, have been wrested from me and thousands of my friends, by lawless mobs in , supported by executive authority; and the crime of plundering our property; and the unconstitutional and barbarous act of our expulsion; and even the inhumanity of murdering men, women, and children, have received the pass-word of “justifiable” by legislative enactments, and the horrid deeds, doleful and disgraceful as they are, have been paid for by government.

In vain have we sought for redress of grievances and a restoration to our rights in the Courts and Legislature of . In vain have we sought for our rights and the remuneration for our property in the halls of Congress, and at the hands of the President. The only consolation yet experienced from these highest tribunals, and mercy seats of our bleeding , is, that “our cause is just, but the government has no power to redress us.”

Our arms were forcibly taken from us by those marauders;— and in spite of every effort to have them returned, the State of still [p. [3]]