It was not until after the conquest of Canada that any considerable settlements were effected in the territory now known as Vermont. Situate about midway between the French districts on the River St. Lawrence and the New England settlements along the Atlantic coast, it had very naturally become the battle-ground of the contending powers, and a lurking place of their respective Indian allies. The early colonists of Massachusetts and Connecticut, in their frequent expeditions against the French in Canada, and while traversing these woods as hunters and scouting parties, had become familiar with the fertility of the lands between the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain. As soon as the danger attending their settlement was in a measure removed, by reason of Canada and New England coming under the same King, swarms of emigrants from the adjacent colonies poured into the country, and the most available and valuable portions were immediately taken up; and, as though by magic, the wilderness developed into fruitful fields, and gardens flourished where the wild rabbit had made its home. At the beginning of the Revolution the population was estimated at from twenty to thirty thousand. If not to be governed at all is to be governed well,--and so it would seem to be in this instance,--the remarkable exemption of the State of Vermont from taxation at the close of the Revolution, as compared with other States, added to the fertility and cheapness of the land, attracted settlers from many of the older communities, resulting in large additions to population and resources. CHAPTER II. ORIGIN OF THE LAND TROUBLES. Vermont, as has been well said, was born in the midst of tumult and the clash of arms. No other State, we can safely affirm, came up out of such tribulation. Her experience is that of a people exposed to the avarice and greed of officials who scruple not to use the necessities of their helpless subjects as a means of securing their own selfish ends. It was in pursuance to instructions from his Britannic Majesty that Benning Wentworth, Governor of New Hampshire, proceeded, in 1749, to grant lands on the west side of the Connecticut River, in the present State of Vermont, to such persons as would settle and cultivate the same. After the declaration of peace between France and England, Wentworth ordered that a survey be made of the river for sixty miles, and that three tiers of townships be laid out on either side. In 1764 about one hundred and forty townships had been granted to New England settlers.