But Vermont was in a dangerous position in reference to New Hampshire. A portion of that state had seceded and united with Vermont. The two states had fought side by side, but now New Hampshire had become unfriendly and remained so for years. The governor and council, perplexed with the difficulty, appointed Allen an agent to visit Congress and ask for advice. This is his first embassy from Vermont to Congress. He reported that "unless the union with New Hampshire towns is dissolved the nation will annihilate Vermont." His second embassy was with Jonas Fay, in 1779, to inform Congress of the progress of affairs in Vermont. His third embassy was in 1780, when he was chosen by the legislature as the chairman of a very able and eminent committee, Stephen R. Bradley, Moses Robinson, Paul Spooner, and Jonas Fay, to act as counsel for Vermont before Congress against the ablest men of New York and New Hampshire. In 1779 he was sent to the Massachusetts court with a letter from the governor asking for a statement of Massachusetts' claim to Vermont. The reply was that Massachusetts claimed west from the Merrimac, and three miles further north, to the Pacific. This included part of Vermont. It is noteworthy that Allen was elected a member of the legislature from Arlington while his family lived in Sunderland, and he called Bennington his "usual home." It is notable, also, that the constitution required every member of the legislature to take an oath that he believed in the divine inspiration of the Bible and professed the Protestant religion, an oath which Allen refused to take, and yet was allowed to act as a member. It was in 1778 that Allen complained to the court of confiscation that his brother Levi had become a tory; had passed counterfeit Continental money; that under pretence of helping him while a prisoner on Long Island, he had been detected in supplying the British with provisions. He stated that Levi owned real estate in Vermont and prayed that that estate might be confiscated to the public treasury. For this act Levi afterward challenged Ethan to a duel, but Ethan took no notice of the challenge. In the spring of 1779 the Yorkers in Windham County wrote to Governor Clinton that unless New York aided them, "our persons and property must be at the disposal of Ethan Allen; which is more to be dreaded than death with all its terrors."