Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886. 61
trading house at Woronock, w wee hope wilbee without offence to any ; & upon
this wee may have some ground of p'"ceeding in o"" further treaty w"» you about
such things as may concerne the welfare of us all.
Governor Hopkins and Mr. Saltonstall were becoming extensive
traders, and, under favor of the Connecticut colony, were in a fair
way to isolate Springfield ;
and the above protest from the Bay did not
appear any too soon. With a warehouse built b}^ Hopkins at Woronoco,
and with Saltonstall enjoying grants of land " neere to the falls "
(Enfield Falls), the plan to bring the trade of the valley to the door
of Hartford was well under way. Considering the ill-feeling at this
time, one may well be impressed at the diplomacy that strove to
loosen the tension of strained relations, by way of deference, shown in
the expression, " wee know to whom wee wright."
After the secession from Connecticut, an elaborate paper was
drawn up by the Massachusetts General Court, in response to a
humble petition sustaining the course. The petition from Springfield
had been read in open court and referred to a committe, whose report
in favor of Springfield was accepted. The close lines of argument
on which this controversy was drawn, appear in this reply (June "2,
1641) to the Springfield petition. "Said commission " spoken of
is the one giving power to Roger Ludlow, Pynchon, and others, in
1635, to govern Connecticut for one year ; the " recitall " refers to
the letter of the Connecticut conunission to the Massachusetts Bay
authorities : —