That the Property in the soil was not altered, but the Jurisdiction only established by the said Order--That since the said Order sundry Grants have been made by this Government on the Lands granted to the Claimants under New Hampshire, which they conceive to be contrary to the Prohibition contained in his Majesty's Instructions to his Governor of this Province--That the proprietors of' such Grants had brought repeated ejectments to dispossess the Settlers under New Hamp-

1 For this letter see Slade's Vermont State papers, p. 23. where it is dated 5th

June. Ep. 2

788 CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE

shire, whose. proofs on Trials of their Titles, Tho' taken from authentic Records, were rejected, and sufficient Time refused to be allowed for collecting Evidence to support their Cause, contrary as they think to the Laws and usages of this Province, That many persons have been groundlessly accused and indicted as Rioters and thereby greatly harassed and distress'd by Imprisonment, unreasonable Costs and long and unnecessary attendance, particularly one Man, who had attended eight Courts successively without being discharged from his Bonds--And that as the Matter in Contest is now before his Majesty in his privy Council, they earnestly pray your Excellency to quiet them in their Possessions until his Majesty shall be graciously pleased to determine the Controversy.

Could we think it necessary to enter on a Refutation of Facts unsupported by Proof, and grounded merely on the suggestion of the parties accused, the committee must unavoidably suspend their Inquiry as to what relates to the Prosecutions and Ejectments in Question until the Return of the Judges, the Attorney General, the Clerk of the Crown, and the Gentlemen of the Bar, now absent on the Northern Circuit, from whom the proper Information as to these Matters can only -be obtained ; and we beg leave to refer your Excellency for such Information to the Judges and officers of the several Courts.