Abandoned by those to whom they naturally looked for aid when threatened by the common enemy, whose advance upon their wide frontier they were too feeble to oppose, they took advantage of the attempts of that enemy to corrupt them to procure a cessation of hostilities, which saved not only their own State but the frontiers of New York from invasion. If, at any time, they really contemplated more than this, and a wholesome admonition to Congress to respect their rights, they never sought to work injury to the Confederation from which they were excluded; and in the very beginning General Haldimand promised, if Vermont should be admitted an independent State in that Confederation, the "negotiation should cease, and any step that leads to it be forgotten." There was no treason. The Vermonters could plot no treason against a government in which they had no part. As independent as the United States, their right was as absolute to make terms with Great Britain, even to becoming a province under it, as they boldly declared to Congress they would do rather than submit to the government of New York. Ira Allen did not scruple to carry misrepresentation beyond even the vaguely defined limits of diplomacy, and to him is chiefly due any doubts of the integrity of his associates, the wise and patriotic fathers of the State. In the necessarily secret conduct of the policy adopted, they incurred the suspicious of friends and foes alike. Their own Warner and Stark, who had led the Green Mountain Boys to victory, suspected them, and General Haldimand complained of treachery; but they steadfastly pursued their course, to the accomplishment of all they desired.[86] FOOTNOTES: [83] A British spy who was in Bennington at the time gave a report of the proceedings rather unfavorable to the success of the British cause. [84] When Ethan Allen resigned, General Enos was appointed in his place. [85] Winsor says in his _Critical History_, vol. vii. p. 188: "These tergiversations of Congress were not inducive of steadfast patriotism in the new State." [86] _Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections_, vol. ii.; _Governor and Council_, vol. ii.; _Early History of Vermont_, Hiland Hall; _History of Vermont_, Ira Allen; Williams's _History_, vol. ii.; Thompson's _Vermont_. The Haldimand correspondence, in a voluminous cipher, was obtained from the British Archives and sent to the distinguished antiquarian, Henry Stevens, of Barnet. These papers, now in the office of the secretary of state, were published in full by the Vermont Historical Society in 1871. CHAPTER XVI. UNIONS DISSOLVED.