Part 14 (1/2)
”You are rather previous, Sunderland.”
”Not a bit of it. I say that the king has never done anything for us, and New Hamps.h.i.+re has betrayed us into the hands of the Yorkers.”
”We will call ourselves the Green Mountain Colony.”
”I think, if you will let me suggest, that if we are going to have a new name it should be a pretty one.”
”Is not the Green Mountain Colony pretty?”
”Yes; but I have thought that Vermont--it means Green Mountains--would sound good.”
”Nothing could be better,” a.s.sented Allen, ”so we will commence our deliberations with the declaration: 'We, the men of Vermont, in convention a.s.sembled'; that will place our name above controversy.”
”I propose that Ethan Allen be our governor.”
”Stay, that will never do. The king must appoint a governor, so we can only declare our desire to be independent of New Hamps.h.i.+re, and until the king accepts our independence we must nominally recognize Gov.
Wentworth as our governor.”
It is not our purpose to give the proceeding of that convention _in extenso_, but this much we have given, in order that the whole country may know that the st.u.r.dy mountain boys talked of independence and liberty with spirit even before the Revolution began.
Warner stood on a chair and waved his hand for attention.
”I have heard,” he said, ”that Gen. Gates is pressing the people of Boston so hard that the English are getting themselves disliked in that city, and I should not be surprised if a rebellion was talked of.”
”The sooner the better, say I.”
”Yes; why should England govern us?”
”We are too far away. The king----”
”Leave his name out of the question. We can be loyal to him, even if we become independent as a new nation.”
”We want no kings----”
”Silence!” shouted Allen; ”I will not listen to treason to the king.”
Warner continued:
”If the people of Boston talk of rebellion, so will the people of New Hamps.h.i.+re, and we Green--I beg pardon, Vermonters--we, too, can govern ourselves. Then, when two or three colonies show some spirit, New York will have to tackle us all, instead of a few mountaineers.”
”That is for the future, Capt. Warner; what we have to think of is, are we going to protect our farms?”
”Ay, to the death!”
The sentiment was the occasion for such cheering as Bennington had never heard before.
”We will hold our lands, even if every man has to carry a musket when he plows the ground or sows the seed or reaps the harvest.”
”Good for you, Warner! Now, then, let us have a good militia.”