Home Biographies -Signers of the Declaration -Signers of the A. O. C. -Signers of the U. S. Constitution -Wives of the Signers -Other Founders Documents Forum FAQs Search

The Life of Gouverneur Morris Index < Prev      Page 59      Next > introduced at the bar of the Continental Congress, where they gave information of what had been done, in taking and maintaining the posts on Lake Champaign.  Payment of their demand was then ordered, and a resolution passed, recommending to the Congress of New York, on consulting with General Schuyler, ‘to employ in the army about to be raised those called Green Mountain Boys, under such officers as the said Green Mountain Boys should choose.’  With this recommendation, Allen and Warner presented themselves to the New York Congress.  A motion to admit them to an audience was debated, which met with a good deal of opposition, but was at length carried by a small majority. For many years Allen had acted a bold and forward part in the controversy, which had been carried on between New York, and the people settled in the New Hampshire Grants; concerning the title to those lands, and the right of sovereignty over the possessors.  His zeal, energy, and talent had made him a leader in that affair, and the inhabitants were chiefly guided by his counsels.  He wrote their addresses, protests, and appeals, which were alike remarkable for shrewdness, strong sense, vigor of thought, and a defiance of all the known rules of syntax and orthography.  But anomolies in grammar, and errors of taste, did not diminish the effects of his uncultivated and nervous eloquence on the minds of the people for whom he wrote.  He thus acquired an influence and notoriety, which had operated much to his disadvantage in the estimation of the New Yorkers.  The Congress prevailed on themselves to overcome this impression, so far as to sanction his project of raising a regiment of soldiers, and authorized the enlisting of five hundred men, who were to choose their own officers. Allen and Warner returned home together, but a quarrel arose between them, which caused dissensions among the people, and retarded the enlisting of the regiment.  In the end, Allen either withdrew, or was passed over by the people, and the choice; of a chief in command fell on Warner, with < Prev      Page 59      Next > From The Life of Gouverneur Morris: With Selections from His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers; Detailing Events in the American Revolution, The French Revolution, and in the Political History of the United States, by Jared Sparks, Volume 1, Boston: Gray & Bowen, 1832, p 59. Some minor edits may have been made, but an attempt has been made to preserve the original spelling. Although some effort has been made to correct the limitations of OCR technology, if you find an error please report it to jvinci@colonialhall.com.     Designed and Edited by John Vinci Last modified August 20, 2006