Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts Relative to the Marshpee Tribe / Or, the Pretended Riot Explained

by William Apess

MR. EDITOR,

William Apes, Deacon Coombs, and Daniel Amos, are now in Boston, where they are much caressed, by the good citizens, and are styled the "Marshpee Deputation;" and we see in the Boston papers notices that the "Marshpee Deputation will be present at the Tremont Theatre, by invitation."[10] That the Marshpee Deputation will address the public upon the subject of their grievances, in the "Representative Hall," "in Boylston Hall," &c. And we learn at their "talk," in the Representative Hall, they drew a large audience, and that audience was so indiscreet, (not to say indecorous or riotous,) as to cheer and applaud Apes in his ribaldry, misrepresentation and nonsense. Really, it looks to us, as if there was much misunderstanding upon the subject of the Marshpee difficulties. If there is any thing wrong we would have it put right; but how does the case appear. At the time of Apes' coming among them, they were quiet and peaceable, and their condition, mentally, morally and pecuniarily improving. At this time, and when this is the condition and situation of the Indians, comes this intruder, this disturber, this riotous and mischief-making Indian, from the Pequot tribe, in Connecticut. He goes among the inhabitants of Marshpee, and by all the arts of a talented, educated, wily, unprincipled Indian, professing with all, to be an apostle of Christianity; he stirs them up to sedition, riot, treason! Instigates them to declare their independence of the laws of Massachusetts, and to arm themselves to defend it.

We need not follow, minutely, the transactions which rapidly succeeded this state of things. We will merely remark that, in that time of rebellion, prompt, efficient, but mild measures were taken by the Executive, to quell the disturbances, and restore good faith. An agent was sent by the Governor, to inquire into the cause, and if possible, to remove it. That agent found it to be his duty to arrest Apes, (that pious interloper,) as a riotous and seditious person, and bind him over for trial, at the Common Pleas Court. He was there tried; and, in our opinion, never was there a fairer trial. He was convicted; and, in our opinion, never was there a more just conviction, or a milder sentence. After the performance of his sentence, Apes is again at work stirring up new movements. And having strung together a list of imaginary grievances, and false allegations, and affixed a great number of names, without the knowledge or consent of many of the individuals, he goes to the Legislature, with two of his ignorant, deluded followers, pretending to be "the Marshpee Deputation," and asks redress and relief.

We would be the last to object to their receiving redress and relief; and we doubt not they will obtain, at the hands of the Legislature, all they ought to have. But who is the "Marshpee Deputation," that is showing off to such advantage in the city? It is William Apes, the convicted rioter, who was the whole cause of the disgraceful sedition at Marshpee the last summer; who is a hypocritical missionary, from a tribe in Connecticut; whose acquaintance with the Marshpeeans is of less than a year's standing. And he is endeavoring to enlist public sympathy in his favor, in advance, by lecturing in the Hall of Representatives, upon that pathetic and soul-stiring theme, Indian degradation and oppression; vilifying and abusing the irreproachable pastor of the plantation, Mr. Fish; stigmatizing and calumniating the Court and Jury who tried and convicted him, and flinging his sarcasms and sneers upon the Attorney and Jury who indicted him. And for all this, he is receiving the applause of an audience, who must be ignorant of his character; and blinded by the pretences of this impostor. And as far as that audience is composed of Legislators, their conduct, in permitting Apes to enlist their passions and feelings in his favor, pending a Legislative investigation of the subject, is reprehensible.

But, there is no fear that the matter will not be set right. That the investigation by the intelligent agent last summer, (Mr. Fiske,) and the investigation now going on by a committee of the Legislature, will show the true character of Apes, and point out the real wants and grievances of the Indians; and that the remedy will be applied, to the satisfaction of the Indians and the discomfiture of that renegade impostor and hypocritical interloper and disturber, Apes, there is little doubt; that such may be the result, is the sincere wish of

THE TRUE FRIENDS OF THE INDIANS.

The spirit in which this unrighteous piece is written, speaks for itself, and is its own antidote. However, it is just what we might expect from a liberal paper of the liberal town of Barnstable. So one gang of partizans call it. Deliver us from a "patriot," who would set his face against all good, and destroy the people themselves. These writers, if there be more than one of them, seem to have some idea of piety and religion. I therefore advise them to pluck the motes out of their own eyes, that they may see clearly enough to make better marks with their pens. The editor and his correspondents, (if he did not write the article himself,) have rendered themselves liable to a suit for defamation; but I think it best to let them go. I will not touch pitch. The discomfited, hypocritical impostor, renegade and interloper will forgive, and pray for them. He will not render evil for evil, though sorely provoked.

Nevertheless, I feel bound to say to these excellent friends of the Marshpees, who wished them to remain crushed under the burthen of hard laws forever and ever, that they will go down to their graves in the disappointment, which, perhaps, will cause them to weep away their lives. I should be sorry to hear of that, and exhort them to dry their tears, or suffer a poor Indian to wipe them away.

Notwithstanding all that was said and done by the opposition, the Marshpee Deputation left the field of battle with a song of triumph and rejoicing in their mouths, as will presently be seen. I shall give a brief sketch of the proceedings of one of the most enlightened committees that ever was drafted from a legislative body. Every thing was done to sour their minds against the Indians that could be done, but they were of the excellent of the earth, just and impartial.

The Committee was composed of Messrs. Barton and Strong, of the
Senate, and Messrs. Dwight of Stockbridge, Fuller of Springfield, and
Lewis of Pepperell, of the House. Benjamin F. Hallett, Esq. appeared
as Counsel for the Indians.

Lemuel Ewer, Esq. of South Sandwich, was a witness, and the only white
one who was in favor of the Indians. The Indian witnesses were Deacon
Coombs, Daniel B. Amos, Ebenezer Attaquin, Joseph B. Amos, and William
Apes.

On the other side appeared Kilburn Whitman, Esq. of Pembroke, as Counsel for the Overseers; Messrs. J.J. Fiske of Wrentham, and Elijah Swift of Falmouth, both of the Governor's Council; the Rev. Phineas Fish, the Marshpee missionary, sent by Harvard College; Judge Marston, Nathaniel Hinckley and Charles Marston, all of Barnstable; Gideon Hawley of South Sandwich, Judge Whitman of Boston, and two Indians, Nathan Pocknet and William Amos, by name. It was a notable piece of policy on the part of the Overseers, to make a few friends among the Indians, in order to use them for their own purposes. Thus do pigeon trappers use to set up a decoy. When the bird flutters, the flock settle round him, the net is sprung, and they are in fast hands. Judge Whitman, however, could not make his two decoy birds flutter to his satisfaction, and so he got no chance to spring his net. He had just told the Indians that they might as well think to move the rock of Gibraltar from its base, as to heave the heavy load of guardianship from their shoulders; and, when he first came before the committee, he said he did not care a snap of his finger about the matter, one way or the other. But he altered his mind before he got through the business, and began to say that he should be ruined if the bill passed for the relief of the Indians, and was, moreover, sure that Apes would reign, king of Marshpee. The old gentleman, indeed, made several perilous thrusts at me in his plea; but, when he came to cross-examination, he was so pleased with the correctness of my testimony, that he had nothing more to say to me. I shall now leave him, to attend to his friend Judge Marston.

This gentleman swore in court that he thought Indians an inferior race of men; and, of course, were incapable of managing their own affairs.

The testimony of the two decoy pigeons was, that they had liberty enough; more than they knew what to do with. They showed plainly enough that they knew nothing of the law they lived under. The testimony of the Rev. Mr. Fish was more directly against us. Some may think I do wrong to mention this gentleman's name so often. But why, when a man comes forward on a public occasion, should his name be kept out of sight, though he be a clergyman. I should think he would like to make his flock respected and respectable in his speech, which he well knew they never could be under the then existing laws. Is it more than a fair inference that it was self-interest that made him do otherwise, that he might be able to continue in possession of his strong hold? If he had said to the Indians, like an honest man, "I know I have no right to what is yours, and will willingly relinquish what I hold of it," I do not doubt that the Indians would have given him a house, and a life estate in a farm; and perhaps have conveyed it to him in fee simple, if he had behaved well. Such a course would have won him the love and esteem of the Indians, and his blind obstinacy was certainly the surest means he could have taken to gain their ill will. He may think slightly of their good opinion, and I think, from his whole course of conduct, that we are as dogs in his sight. I presume he could not die in peace if he thought he was to be buried beside our graves.

It is the general fault of those who go on missions, that they cannot sacrifice the pride of their hearts, in order to do good. It seems to have been usually the object to seat the Indians between two stools, in order that they might fall to the ground, by breaking up their government and forms of society, without giving them any others in their place. It does not appear to be the aim of the missionaries to improve the Indians by making citizens of them. Hence, in most cases, anarchy and confusion are the results. Nothing has more effectually contributed to the decay of several tribes than the course pursued by their missionaries. Let us look back to the first of them for proofs. From the days of Elliott, to the year 1834, have they made one citizen? The latter date marks the first instance of such an experiment. Is it not strange that free men should thus have been held in bondage more than two hundred years, and that setting them at liberty at this late day, should be called an experiment now?

I would not be understood to say, however, that the Rev. Mr. Fish's mission is any criterion to judge others by. No doubt, many of them have done much good; but I greatly doubt that any missionary has ever thought of making the Indian or African his equal. As soon as we begin to talk about equal rights, the cry of amalgamation is set up, as if men of color could not enjoy their natural rights without any necessity for intermarriage between the sons and daughters of the two races. Strange, strange indeed! Does it follow that the Indian or the African must go to the judge on his bench, or to the Governor, Senator, or indeed any other man, to ask for a help-meet, because his name may be found on the voter's list, or in the jury boxes? I promise all concerned, that we Marshpees have less inclination to seek their daughters than they have to seek ours. Should the worst come to the worst, does the proud white think that a dark skin is less honorable in the sight of God than his own beautiful hide? All are alike, the sheep of his pasture and the workmanship of his hands. To say they are not alike to him, is an insult to his justice. Who shall dare to call that in question?

Were I permitted to express an opinion, it would be that it is more honorable in the two races, to intermarry than to act as too many of them do. My advice to the white man is, to let the colored race alone. It will considerably diminish the annual amount of sin committed. Or else let them even marry our daughters, and no more ado about amalgamation. We desire none of their connection in that way. All we ask of them is peace and our rights. We can find wives enough without asking any favors of them. We have some wild flowers among us as fair, as blooming, and quite as pure as any they can show. But enough has been said on this subject, which I should not have mentioned at all, but that it has been rung in my ears by almost every white lecturer I ever had the misfortune to meet.

I will now entreat the reader's attention to the very able plea of Mr. Hallett, upon our petition and remonstrances. The following are his remarks after the law which gave us our liberty was passed by his exertions in our cause:

I will now briefly consider the "documents, relating to the Marshpee Indians," which have been presented and printed, this session, by the two Houses.

The first is a Memorial, signed by seventy-nine males and ninety-two females, of the Plantation. Of the seventy-nine males, sixty-two are Proprietors, and forty-four write their own names. They are all united in wishing to have a change of the laws, and a removal of the Overseership, but desire that their land may not be sold without the mutual consent of the Indians and the General Court.

This memorial represents, 1. That no particular pains has been taken to instruct them. 2. That they are insignificant because they have had no opportunities. 3. That no enlightened or respectable Indian, wants Overseers. 4. That their rulers and the minister have been put over them, without their consent. 5. That the minister, (Mr. Fish,) has not a male member in his church of the Proprietors, and they believe twenty years would have been long enough for him to have secured their confidence. 6. That the laws which govern them and take away their property, are unconstitutional. 7. That the whites have had three times more benefit of the Meeting-house and the minister, than they have had. 8. That the business meetings for the tribe, have been held off the plantation, at an expense to them. 9. That their Fishery has been neglected and the whites derived the most benefit from it. [The Overseers admit that the Herring Fishery has not been regulated for fifty years, although in 1763, it appears it was deemed a highly important interest, and in 1818, the Commissioners reported that it ought to be regulated for the benefit of the Indians to the exclusion of the whites.] 10. That the laws discourage their people, who leave the plantation on that account. 11. That men out of the tribe are paid for doing what those in it are capable of doing for the plantation. 12. That the whites derive more benefit than themselves, from their hay, wood and timber. 13. That the influence of the whites has been against them, in their petitions for the past years. 14. That they believe they have been wronged out of their property. 15. That they want the Overseers discharged, that they may have a chance to take care of themselves. 16. That very many of their people are sober and industrious, and able and willing to do, if they had the privilege. All these statements will be found abundantly proved.

This memorial comes directly from the Indians. It was drawn up among them without the aid of a single white man. They applied to me to prepare it for them. They happened to select me, as their counsel, simply because I was born and brought up within a few miles from their plantation, and had known their people from my infancy. I told them to present their grievances in their own way, and they have done so. Not a line of the memorial was written for them.

On the other side, opposite to their memorial for self-government, is the remonstrance of Nathan Pocknet and forty-nine others, the same Nathan Pocknet, who in 1818 petitioned for the removal of the Overseership. This remonstrance was not prepared by the Indians. It came wholly from the Rev. Mr. Fish, and the Overseers. It speaks of the "unprecedented impudence" of the Indians, and mentions a "Traverse Jury." No one who signed it, had any voice in preparing it. It shows ignorance of the memorial of the tribe, by supposing they ask for liberty to sell their lands; and ignorance of the law, by saying that the Overseers have not power to remove nuisances from the plantation.

This remonstrance is signed by fifty persons, sixteen males and thirty-four females; seventeen can write. Of the signers, ten belong to Nathan Pocknet's family. Ten of the males are Proprietors, of whom two are minors, and one a person non compos. Of the non-proprietors, one is a convict, recently released from State prison, who has no right on the Plantation. Two of the Proprietors, who signed this remonstrance, (John Speen and Isaac Wickham,) have since certified that they understood it to be the petition for Mr. Fish, to retain his salary, but that they are entirely opposed to having Overseers and to the present laws.

Thus it is shown that out of the whole Plantation of 229 Proprietors, but five men could be induced, by all the influence of the Minister and the Overseer, to sign in favor of having the present laws continued, and but eleven men out of the whole population of 312. The signers to the memorial for a change of the laws are a majority of all the men, women and children belonging to the Plantation, at home and abroad.

Another document against the Indians who ask for their liberty, is the memorial of the Rev. Phineas Fish, the missionary. Of the unassuming piety, the excellent character, and the sound learning of that reverend gentleman, I cannot speak in too warm terms. I respect him as a man, and honor him as a devoted minister of the gospel. But he is not adapted to the cultivation of the field in which his labors have been cast. Until I read this memorial, I should not have believed that a severe expression could have escaped him. I regret the spirit of that memorial, and in its comparison with that of the Indians, I must say it loses in style, in dignity and in Christian temper.

In this memorial, Mr. Fish urges upon the Legislature the continuance of the laws of guardianship as they now are, and especially the continuance of the benefits he derives from the property of the plantation. What are the reasons he gives for this. Do they not look exclusively to his own benefit, without regard to the wishes of the Indians?

He states, as the result of his ministry, twenty members of the tribe added to his church in twenty-two years. This single fact proves that his ministry has failed of producing any effect at all proportioned to the cost it has been to the Indians. Not from want of zeal or ability, perhaps, but from want of adaptation. If not, why have other preachers been so much more successful than the missionary. There never has been a time that this church was not controlled by the whites. Mr. Fish now has but five colored members of his church, and sixteen whites. Of the five colored persons, but one is a male, and he has recently signed a paper saying he has been deceived by Mr. Fish's petition, which he signed, and that he does not now wish his stay any longer among them.

On the other hand, "blind Jo," as he is called, a native Indian, blind from his birth, now 28 years of age, has educated himself by his ear and his memory, has been regularly ordained as a Baptist minister, in full fellowship with that denomination, and has had a little church organized since 1830. The Baptist denomination has existed on the plantation, for forty years, but has received no encouragement. Blind Jo has never been taken by the hand by the missionary or the Overseers. The Indians were even refused the use of their Meeting-house, for the ordination of their blind minister, and he was ordained in a private dwelling. Though not possessing the eloquence of the blind preacher, so touchingly described in the glowing and chaste letters of Wirt's British Spy, yet there is much to admire in the simple piety and sound doctrines of "Blind Jo;" and he will find a way to the hearts of his hearers, which the learned divine cannot explore.

There is another denomination on the plantation, organized as "The Free and United Church," of which William Apes is the pastor. This denomination Mr. Fish charges with an attempt to usurp the parsonage, wood-land and the Meeting-house; he denounces, as a "flagrant act," the attempt of the Indians to obtain the use of their own Meeting-house, and appeals to the sympathies of the whole civilized community to maintain by law the Congregational worship, which, he says, "is the most ancient form of religious worship there!" "Why should Congregational worship be excluded to make room for others?" asks the Rev. Mr. Fish. "Where will be the end of vicissitude on the adoption of such a principle, and how is it possible, amid the action of rival factions, for pure religion to be promoted." [Pages 7, 8, 9, of Mr. Fish's memorial. Senate, No. 17.] Is this language for a Christian minister to address to the Legislature of Massachusetts? To petition for an established Church in Marshpee? Can he ever have read the third Article of the Bill of Rights, as amended?

What has been the result of those "rival factions," in Marshpee? Blind Jo and William Apes, have forty-seven Indian members of their churches, (fourteen males,) in good standing, collected together in three years. The missionary has baptized but twenty in twenty-two years. The Indian preachers have also established a total abstinence Temperance Society, without any aid from the missionary, and there are already sixty members of it, who, from all the evidence in the case, there is no reason to doubt, live up to their profession.

I do not say this to detract from the good the missionary has done; I doubt not he has done much good, and earnestly desired to do more; but when he denounces to the Legislature other religious denominations, as usurpers and "rival factions," it is but reasonable that a comparison should be drawn between the fruit of his labors and that of those he so severely condemns.

I confess, I am struck with surprise, at the following remarks, in the memorial of the Rev. Mr. Fish. Speaking of the complaint of the Indians respecting their Meeting-house, that it is not fit for respectable people to meet in, being worn out; he says, "As it was built by a white Missionary Society, and repaired at the expense of the white Legislature of the State, perhaps the whites may think themselves entitled to some wear of it, and being no way fit for 'respectable people,' the church and congregation hope they may the more readily be left unmolested in their accustomed use of it." [Page 4.] Again he says of the complaints of the Indians, that they were forbidden to have preaching in their School-houses. "The School-houses, built by the munificence of the State, began to be occupied for Meeting-houses, soon after their erection, and have been more or less occupied in this fashion! ever since; and your memorialist desires to affirm that in this perversion of your liberal purpose, he had no share whatever!"

Is this possible? Can it be a perversion of buildings erected for the mental and moral improvement of the Indians, that religious meetings should be held there, by ministers whom the Indians prefer to the Missionary?

The inequality in the appropriations for religious instruction, is remarked upon by the Commissioner, Hon. Mr. Fiske, who says in his report that if the present appropriations are to be restricted to a Congregationalist minister, some further provision, in accordance with religious freedom, ought to be made for the Baptist part of the colored people. [Page 29. No. 14.]

I regret too, the unkind allusion in the Rev. Mr. Fish's memorial to Deacon Coombs, the oldest of the Marshpee delegation, formerly his deacon, and the last proprietor to leave him. He says the deacon "once walked worthy of his holy calling." Does he mean to insinuate he does not walk worthily now? I wish you, gentlemen, to examine Deacon Coombs, who is present, to inquire into his manner of life, and see if you can find a Christian with a white skin, whose heart is purer, and whose walk is more upright, than this same Deacon Coombs. In point of character and intelligence, he would compare advantageously with a majority of the Selectmen in the Commonwealth.

With the religious concerns of Marshpee, I have no wish to interfere. I only seek to repel intimations that may operate against their prayer for the liberties secured by the Constitution. Neither do I stand here to defend Mr. Apes, who is charged with being the leader of the "sedition." I only ask you to look at the historical evidence of the existence of discontent with the laws, ever since 1693, and ask if Mr. Apes has been the author of this discontent. Let me remind you also, of the fable of the Huntsman and the Lion, when the former boasted of the superiority of man, and to prove it pointed to a statue of one of the old heroes, standing upon a prostrate lion. The reply of the noble beast was, "there are no carvers among the lions; if there were, for one man standing upon a lion, you would have twenty men torn to pieces by lions." Gentlemen, by depressing the Indians, our laws have taken care that they should have no carvers. The whites have done all the carving for them, and have always placed them undermost. Can we blame them, then, that when they found an educated Indian, with Indian sympathies and feelings, they employed him, to present their complaints, and to enable them to seek redress? Look at this circumstance, fairly, and I think you will find in it the origin of all the prejudice against William Apes, which may be traced to those of the whites who are opposed to any change in the present government of Marshpee. If aught can be shown against him, I hope it will be produced here in proof, that the Indians may not be deceived. If no other proof is produced, except his zeal in securing freedom for the Indians, are you not to conclude that it cannot be done. But his individual character has nothing to do with the merits of the question, though I here pronounce it unimpeached.

I will allude to but one other suggestion in the memorial of the Rev. Mr. Fish, [page 10.] To show the necessity of continuing the present laws, he says, "already do we witness the force of example in the visible increase of crime. But a few weeks since, a peaceable family was fired in upon, during their midnight repose; while I have been writing, another has been committed to prison for a high misdemeanor."

Now what are the facts, upon which this grave allegation against the whole tribe is founded. True, a ball was fired into a house on the plantation, but without any possible connection with the assertion of their rights by the Indians, and to this day it is not known whether it was a white man or an Indian who did it. The "high misdemeanor," was a quarrel between Jerry Squib, an Indian, and John Jones, a white man. Squib accused Jones of cheating him in a bargain, when intoxicated, and beat him for it. The law took up the Indian for the assault, and let the white man go for the fraud.

Respecting then, as we all do, the personal character of the missionary, can you answer his prayer, to continue the present government, in order to protect him in the reception of his present income from the lands of the Indians? Are the interests of a whole people to be sacrificed to one man?

What says the Bill of rights? "Government is instituted for the common good, for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people, and not for the profit, honor or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men."

I have now only to consider the report of the Commissioner, Mr. Fiske, who visited Marshpee in July last. The impartiality, candor and good sense of that report, are highly honorable to that gentleman. Deriving his first impressions from the Overseers and the whites, and instructed as he was with strong prepossessions against the Indians, as rebels to the State, the manner in which he discharged that duty, deserves a high encomium. He has my thanks for it, as a friend of the Indians. As far as the knowledge of the facts enabled the Commissioner to go, in the time allowed him, the conclusions of that report, substantiate all the positions taken in defence of the rights of the Indians. The Commissioner was instructed by the then Governor Lincoln, to inform the Indians that the government had no other object than their best good; "let them be convinced that their grievances will be inquired into, and a generous and paternal regard be had to their condition." They were so convinced, and they come here now, for a redemption of this pledge.

But his Excellency seems to have been strangely impressed with the idea of suppressing some rebellion, or another Shay's insurrection. Mr. Hawley, one of the Overseers, had visited the Governor, at Worcester, and because a few Indians had quietly unloaded a wood-cart, the calling out of the militia seems to have been seriously contemplated by the following order, issued to the Commissioner, by the Governor, dated July 5. "Should there be reason to fear the insufficiency of the posse comitatus, I WILL BE PRESENT PERSONALLY, TO DIRECT ANY MILITARY REQUISITIONS."

Think of that, gentlemen of the Committee! Figure to yourselves his Excellency, at the head of the Boston and Worcester Brigades, ten thousand strong, marching to Marshpee, to suppress an insurrection, when scarce twenty old muskets could have been mustered on the whole plantation?

With the utmost respect for his Excellency, I could not refrain on reading this "order of the day," from exclaiming, as Lord Thurlow did, when a breathless messenger informed him that a rebellion had broken out in the Isle of Man—"pshaw—a tempest in a tea pot."

Let us not, however, because the Indians are weak and in-offensive, be less regardful of their rights.

You will gather from the Report of Mr. Fiske, conclusive evidence of the long continued and deep rooted dissatisfaction of the Indians with the laws of guardianship, that they never abandoned the ground that all men were born free and equal, and they ought to have the right to rule and govern themselves; that by a proper exercise of self-government, and the management of their own pecuniary affairs, they had it in their power to elevate themselves much above their present state of degradation, and that by a presentation of new motives for moral and mental improvement, they might be enabled, in a little time, to assume a much higher rank on the scale of human existence. And that the Legislature would consider their case, was the humble and earnest request of the natives.

Is not the conclusion then, from all the facts in the case, that the system of laws persisted in since 1763, have failed as acts of paternal care? That the true policy now is to try acts of kindness and encouragement, and that the question of rightful control over the property or persons of the Indians beyond the general operation of the laws, being clearly against the whites; but one consideration remains on which the Legislature can hesitate: the danger, that they will squander their property. Of the improbability of such a result, Mr. Fiske informs you in his report, [page 26.] He found nearly all the families comfortably and decently clad, nearly all occupying framed houses, and a few dwelling in huts or wigwams. More than thirty of them were in possession of a cow or swine, and many of them tilled a few acres of land, around their dwellings. Several pairs of oxen, and some horses are owned on the plantation, and the Commons are covered with an excellent growth of wood, of ready access to market. Confine the cutting of this wood to the natives, as they desire, and they never can waste this valuable inheritance.

Mr. Fiske also says in his report, [page 30,] "that it is hardly possible to find a place more favorable for gaining a subsistence without labor, than Marshpee." The advantages of its location, the resources from the woods and streams, on one side, and the bays and the sea on the other, are accurately described, as being abundant, with the exception of the lobsters, which Mr. Fiske says are found there. The Commissioner is incorrect in that particular, unless he adopts the learned theory of Sir Joseph Banks, that fleas are a species of lobster!

Is there, then, any danger in giving the Indians an opportunity to try a liberal experiment for self-government? They ask you for a grant of the liberties of the constitution; to be incorporated and to have a government useful to them as a people.

They ask for the appointment of magistrates among them, and they ask too for an Attorney to advise with; but my advice to them is, to have as little as possible to do with Attornies. A revision of their laws affecting property by the Governor and Council, would be a much better security for them than an Attorney, and this they all agree to. Is there any thing unreasonable in their requests? Can you censure other States for severity to the Indians within their limits, if you do not exercise an enlightened liberality toward the Indians of Massachusetts? Give them then substantially, the advantages which they ask in the basis of an act which I now submit to the Committee with their approval of its provisions. Can you, gentlemen, can the Legislature, resist the simple appeal of their memorial? "Give us a chance for our lives, in acting for ourselves. O! white man! white man! the blood of our fathers, spilt in the revolutionary war, cries from the ground of our native soil, to break the chains of oppression and let our children go free."

The correctness of Mr. Hallett's opinions are demonstrated in the following article.

Other editors speak ill enough of Gen. Jackson's treatment of the Southern Indians. Why do they not also speak ill of all the head men and great chiefs who have evil entreated the people of Marshpee. I think Governor Lincoln manifested as bitter and tyrannical a spirit as Old Hickory ever could, for the life of him. Often and often have our tribe been promised the liberty their fathers fought, and bled, and died for; and even now we have but a small share of it. It is some comfort, however, that the people of Massachusetts are becoming gradually more Christianized.

[From the Daily Advocate.] THE MARSHPEE INDIANS.

The Daily Advertiser remarks that the Indian tribes have been sacrificed by the policy of Gen. Jackson. This is very true, and we join with the Advertiser in reprehending the course pursued by the President toward the Cherokees. If Georgia, under her union nullifier, Governor Lumpkin, is permitted to set the process of the Supreme Court at defiance, it will be a foul dishonor upon the country.

But while we condemn the conduct of General Jackson toward the Southern Indians, what shall we say of the treatment of our own poor defenceless Indians, the Marshpee tribe, in our own State? The Legislature of last year, with a becoming sense of justice, restored to the Marshpee Indians a portion of their rights, which had been wrested from them, most wrongfully, for a period of seventy-four years. The State of Massachusetts, in the exercise of a most unjust and arbitrary power, had, until that time, deprived the Indians of all civil rights, and placed their property at the mercy of designing men, who had used it for their own benefit, and despoiled the native owners of the soil to which they hold a better title than the whites hold to any land in the Commonwealth. These Indians fought and bled side by side, with our fathers, in the struggle for liberty; but the whites were no sooner free themselves, than they enslaved the poor Indians.

One single fact will show the devotion of the Marshpee Indians to the cause of liberty, in return for which they and their descendants were placed under a despotic guardianship, and their property wrested from them to enrich the whites. In the Secretary's Office, of this State, will be found a muster roll, containing a "Return of men enlisted in the first Regiment of Continental troops, in the County of Barnstable, for three years and during the war, in Col. Bradford's Regiment," commencing in 1777. Among these volunteers for that terrible service, are the following names of Marshpee Indians, proprietors of Marshpee, viz.

Francis Webquish, Samuel Moses, Demps Squibs, Mark Negro,
Tom Cæsar, Joseph Ashur, James Keeter, Joseph Keeter, Jacob
Keeter, Daniel Pocknit, Job Rimmon, George Shawn, Castel
Barnet, Joshua Pognit, James Rimmon, David Hatch, James
Nocake, Abel Hoswitt, Elisha Keeter, John Pearce, John Mapix,
Amos Babcock, Hosea Pognit, Daniel Pocknit, Church Ashur,
Gideon Tumpum.

In all twenty-six men. The whole regiment, drawn from the whole County of Barnstable, mustered but 149 men, nearly one-fifth of whom were volunteers from the little Indian Plantation of Marshpee, which then did not contain over one hundred male heads of families! No white town in the County furnished any thing like this proportion of the 149 volunteers. The Indian soldiers fought through the war; and as far as we have been able to ascertain the fact, from documents or tradition, all but one, fell martyrs to liberty, in the struggle for Independence. There is but one Indian now living, who receives the reward of his services as a revolutionary soldier, old Isaac Wickham, and he was not in Bradford's regiment. Parson Holly, in a memorial to the Legislature in 1783, states that most of the women in Marshpee, had lost their husbands in the war. At that time there were seventy widows on the Plantation.

But from that day, until the year 1834, the Marshpee Indians were enslaved by the laws of Massachusetts, and deprived of every civil right which belongs to man. White Overseers had power to tear their children from them and bind them out where they pleased. They could also sell the services of any adult Indian on the Plantation they chose to call idle, for three years at a time, and send him where they pleased, renewing the lease every three years, and thus, make him a slave for life.

It was with the greatest effort this monstrous injustice was in some degree remedied last winter, by getting the facts before the Legislature, in spite of a most determined opposition from those who had fattened for years on the spoils of poor Marshpee. In all but one thing, a reasonable law was made for the Indians. That one thing was giving the Governor power to appoint a Commissioner over the Indians for three years. This was protested against by the friends of the Indians, but in vain; and they were assured that this appointment would be safe in the hands of the Governor. They hoped so, and assented; but no sooner was the law passed, than the enemies of the Indians induced the Governor to appoint as the Commissioner, the person whom of all others they least wished to have, a former Overseer, against whom there were strong prejudices. The Indians remonstrated, and besought, but in vain. The Commissioner was appointed, and to all appeals to make a different appointment, a deaf ear has been turned. It seems as if a deliberate design had been formed somewhere, to defeat all the Legislature has done for the benefit of this oppressed people.

The consequences have been precisely what the Indians and their friends feared. Party divisions have grown up among them, arising out of the want of confidence in their Commissioner. He is found always on the side of their greatest trouble; the minister who unjustly holds almost 500 acres of the best land in the plantation, wrongfully given to him by an unlawful and arbitrary act of the State, which, in violation of the Constitution, appropriates the property of the Indians to pay a man they dislike, for preaching a doctrine they will not listen to, to a white congregation, while the native preachers, whom the Indians prefer, are left without a cent, and deprived of the Meeting-house, built by English liberality for the use of the Indians. The dissatisfaction has gone on increasing. The accounts with the former Overseers remain unadjusted to the satisfaction of the Selectmen. The Indians have no adviser near them in whom they can confide; those who hold the power, appear regardless of their wishes or their welfare; no pains is taken by the authorities to punish the wretches who continue to sell rum to those who will buy it; and though the Indians are still struggling to advance in improvement, every obstacle is thrown in their way that men can devise, whose intent it is to get them back to a state of vassalage, that they may get hold of their property. All this, we are satisfied, from personal inspection, is owing to the injudicious appointment made by Gov. Davis, of a commissioner, and yet the Governor unfortunately seems indisposed to listen to any application for a remedy to the existing evils.

The presses around us, who are so eloquent in denouncing the President for his conduct towards the Southern Indians, say not a word in behalf of our own Indians, whose fathers poured out their blood for out independence. Is this right, and ought the Indians to be sacrificed to the advantage a single man derives from holding an office of very trifling profit? Let us look at home, before we complain of the treatment of the Indians at the South.

The following; extract refers to the act passed to incorporate the Marshpee District, after so much trouble and expense to the Indians. I should suppose the people of Massachusetts would have been glad to have done us this justice, without making so much difficulty, if they had been aware of the true state of facts.

THE MARSHPEE ACT

Restoring the rights of self-government, in part, to the Marshpee Indians, of which our legislation has deprived them for one hundred and forty years, passed the Senate of Massachusetts yesterday, to the honor of that body, without a single dissenting vote. Too much praise cannot be given to Mr. Senator Barton, for the persevering and high-minded manner in which he has prepared and sustained this act. With two or three exceptions, but which, perhaps, may not be indispensable to the success of the measure, it is all the Indians or their friends should desire, under existing circumstances. The clause reserving the right of repeal, is probably the most unfortunate provision in the act, as it may tend to disquiet the Indians, and to give the Commissioner a sort of threatening control, that will add too much to his power, and may endanger all the benefits of the seventh section. This provision was not introduced by the Committee, but was opposed by Messrs. Barton and Strong, as wholly unnecessary.

[Daily Advocate.

* * * * *

SMALL MATTER.

In the resolve allowing fees to the Marshpee Indians, who have attended as witnesses this session, the high-minded Senator Hedge of Plymouth, succeeded in excluding the name of William Apes, as it passed the Senate; but the House, on motion of Col. Thayer, inserted the name of Mr. Apes, allowing him his fees, the same as the others. Mr. Hedge made a great effort to induce the Senate to non-concur, but even his lucid and liberal eloquence failed of its noble intent, and the Senate concurred by a vote of 13 to 6. Mr. Hedge must be sadly disappointed that he could not have saved the State twenty-three dollars, by his manly efforts to injure the character of a poor Indian. Mr. Hedge, we dare say, is a descendant from the pilgrims, whom the Indians protected at Plymouth Rock! He knows how to be grateful!

[Daily Advocate.

It appears that I, William Apes, have been much persecuted and abused, merely for desiring the welfare of myself and brethren, and because I would not suffer myself to be trodden under foot by people no better than myself, as I can see. In connection with this, I say I was never arraigned before any Court, to the injury of my reputation, save once, at Marshpee, for a pretended riot. An attempt to blast a man merely for insisting on his rights, and no more, is a blot on the character of him who undertakes it, and not upon the person attempted to be injured; let him be great or small in the world's eyes. I can safely say that no charge that has ever been brought against me, written or verbal, has ever been made good by evidence in any civil or ecclesiastical court. Many things have been said to my disparagement in the public prints. Much was said to the General Court, as that I was a gambler in lotteries, and had begged money from the Indians to buy tickets with. This calumny took its rise from certain articles printed in the Boston Gazette, written, as I have good reason to believe, by one Reynolds, a proper authority. He has been an inmate of the State prison, in Windsor, Vermont, once for a term of two years, and again for fourteen, as in part appears by the following certificate of a responsible person.

CONCORD, N.H. JUNE 27, 1832.

To all whom it may concern.

This may certify, that John Reynolds, once an inmate of Vermont State Prison, and since a professed Episcopal Methodist, and also a licensed local preacher in Windsor, Conn. came to this place about June, 1830, recommended by Brother J. Robbins, as a man worthy of our patronage; and of course I employed him to supply for me in Ware and Hopkinton, (both in N.H.) in which places he was for a short time, apparently useful. But the time shortly arrived when it appeared that he was pursuing a course that rendered him worthy of censure. I therefore commenced measures to put him down from preaching; but before I could get fully prepared for him, he was gone out of my reach. I would however observe, he wrote me a line from Portsmouth, enclosing his license, also stating his withdrawal from us; and thus evaded trial. We have, therefore, never considered him worthy of a place in any Christian church since he left Hopkinton, in May, 1831. And I feel authorized to state, that he does not deserve the confidence of any respectable body of people.

E.W. STICKNEY, Circuit Preacher,
In the Methodist Episcopal Church.

His wrath was enkindled and waxed hot against me, because I thought him scarce honorable enough for a high priest, and could not enter into fellowship with him. I opposed his ordination as an elder of our church, because I thought it dishonor to sit by his side; and he therefore tried to make me look as black as himself, by publishing things he was enabled to concoct by the aid of certain of my enemies in New York. They wrote one or two letters derogatory to my character, the substance of which Reynolds took the liberty to publish. For this I complained of him to the Grand Jury in Boston, and he was indicted. The following is the indictment:

The Jurors for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on their oath present, that John Reynolds of Boston, Clerk, being a person regardless of the morality, integrity, innocence and piety, which Ministers of the Gospel ought to possess and sustain, and maliciously devising and intending to traduce, vilify and bring into contempt and detestation one William Apes, who was on the day hereinafter mentioned, and still is a resident of Boston aforesaid, and duly elected and appointed a minister of the gospel and missionary, by a certain denomination of Christians denominated as belonging to the Methodist Protestant Church; and also unlawfully and maliciously intending to insinuate and cause it to be believed, that the said William Apes was a deceiver and impostor, and guilty of crimes and offences, and of buying lottery tickets, and misappropriating monies collected by him from religious persons for charitable purposes, and for building a Meeting-house among certain persons called Indians.

On the thirteenth day of August now last past, at Boston aforesaid, in the County of Suffolk aforesaid, unlawfully, maliciously, and deliberately did compose, print and publish, and did cause and procure to be composed, printed and published in a certain newspaper, called the "Daily Commercial Gazette," of and concerning him the said William Apes, and of and concerning his said profession and business, an unlawful and malicious libel, according to the purport and effect, and in substance as follows, that is to say, containing therein among other things, the false, malicious, defamatory and libellous words and matter following, of and concerning said William Apes, to wit: convinced at an early period of my (meaning his the said Reynolds) acquaintance with William Apes, (meaning the aforesaid William Apes,) that he (meaning said William,) was not what he (meaning said William,) professed to be; but was deceiving and imposing upon the benevolent and Christian public, (meaning that said William Apes was a deceiver and impostor,) I (meaning said Reynolds,) took all prudent means to have him (meaning said William,) exposed, and stopped in his (meaning said William,) race of guilt, (meaning that said William had been guilty of immorality, dishonesty, irreligion, offences and crimes;) these men, (meaning one Joseph Snelling and one Norris,) were earnestly importuned to investigate his (meaning said William,) conduct, and enforce the discipline (meaning the discipline of the church,) upon him (meaning said William,) for crimes committed since his (meaning said William's) arrival in this city, (meaning said city of Boston, thereby meaning that said William Apes had been guilty of crimes in said Boston,) though well acquainted with facts, which are violently presumtive of his (meaning said William's) being a deceiver, his (meaning said William's) friends stand by him, (meaning said William's) and will not give him (meaning said William,) up, though black as hell, (meaning that said William was a deceiver, and of a wicked and black character.) When I am informed that he (meaning said William) is ordained, (meaning as a minister of the gospel,) that he (meaning said William,) is by permission of the brethren travelling, and permitted to collect money to build the house aforesaid, (meaning the aforesaid Meeting-house,) for his (meaning said William's,) Indian brethren to worship God in, I shudder not so much because he (meaning said William,) is purchasing Lottery Tickets, (meaning that said William was purchasing Lottery Tickets, and had spent some of the aforesaid money for that purpose,) but because I know of his (meaning said William's) pledge to the citizens of New York and elsewhere, to the great injury, scandal, and disgrace of the said William Apes, and against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth aforesaid.

SAMUEL D. PARKER, Attorney of said Commonwealth, within the
County of Suffolk.
PARKER H. PEIRCE, Foreman of the Grand Jury.
A true Copy.—Attest,
THOMAS W. PHILLIPS, Clerk of the Municipal Court of the
City of Boston.

Subsequently, I entered civil actions against two others, for the same offence, and had them held to bail in the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, with sureties. This soon made them feel very sore. They had put it in my power to punish them very severely for giving rein to their malignant passions, and they asked mercy. I granted it, in order to show them that I wanted nothing but right, and not revenge; and that they might know that an Indian's character was as dearly valued by him as theirs by them. Would they ever have thus yielded to an Indian, if they had not been compelled? I presume it will satisfy the world that there was no truth in their stories, to read their confessions, which are as follows:

Extract from a letter written by David Ayres, to Elder T.F. Norris, dated New Orleans, April 12, 1833.

"I have arrived here this day, and expected to have found letters here from you, and some of my other brethren respecting Apes' suit. I never volunteered in this business, but was led into it by others, and it is truly a hard case that I must have all this trouble on their account."

Extract of a letter written by David Ayers to William Apes, dated July 1, 1833.

"I am, and always have been your friend, and I never expected that any things I wrote about you, would find their way into the public papers. I am for peace, and surely I have had trouble enough. I never designed to injure you, and when all were your enemies, I was your warm friend."

Extract from a letter written by G. Thomas to Rev. Thomas F. Norris, dated New York, July 12, 1833.

"William Apes might by some be said to be an excepted case; but when this is fairly explained and understood, this would not be the fact. My good friends of Boston, and my active little brother Ayres, are to blame for this, and not me. I had no malice against him, I never had done other than wish him well, and done what I hoped would turn out for the best; but knowing he was liable to error (as) others, and the case being placed in such colors to me, I awoke up; and being pressed to give what I did in detail as I thought, all for the good of the cause and suffering innocence; but I am sorry I ever was troubled at all on the subject; I thought that brother Reynolds was a fine catch; but time I acknowledge is a sure tell-tale. And by the by, they have caught me, and eventually, unless Apes will stop proceedings, I must bear all the burthen. Reynolds has got his neck out of the halter, and Ayres is away South, and may never return; and poor me must be at all the trouble and cost, if even the suit should go in my favor. Can I think that Apes will press it? No. I think he has not lost all human milk out of his breast, and will dismiss the suit; and, as to my share of the cost, if I was able, that should be no obstacle. If he will stop it all, if my friends do not settle it, I will agree to, as soon as I am able."

* * * * *

I hereby certify, that I have copied the foregoing passages from the letters purporting to be from David Ayres and G. Thomas, respectively, as above mentioned, and that said passages are correct extracts from said letters. I further certify, that, as the Attorney of said William Apes, I acted for him in the suits brought by him against said Thomas and Ayres for libel, that while said suits were pending, said Apes manifested a forgiving and forbearing disposition, and wished the suits not to be pressed any further than was necessary to show the falsehood of the statements of said Ayres and Thomas, and contradict them; and, that he expressed himself willing to settle with them upon their paying the cost, and acknowledging their error, in consequence of which, by direction from him, after he had perused said letters, I accordingly discharged both suits, the bail of said Thomas and Ayres paying the costs, which amounted to fifty dollars.

I further certify, that during my acquaintance with said Apes, which commenced as I think, in March last, I have seen nothing in his character or conduct, to justify the reports spread about him, by said Thomas and Ayres; but on the contrary, he has appeared to me to be an honest and well disposed man.

HENRY W. KINSMAN, No. 33, Court Street. Boston, November 30,
1833.

I, the subscriber, fully concur in the above statement.
JAMES D. YATES, Elder of the Methodist Protestant Church.

The original confession of Reynolds being lost, I trust that the following certificate will satisfy the reader that it has actually had existence.

To whom it may concern.

This is to certify that I have repeatedly seen, and in one instance, copied a paper of confession and retraction of Slanders, which the writer stated he had uttered, and published in papers of the day, against William Apes, the preacher to the Marshpee tribe of Indians, signed, John Reynolds, and countersigned as witness, by William Parker, Esq. The copy taken of the above mentioned confession by the subscriber, was sent to the Rev. T.R. Witsil, Albany, N.Y.

THOMAS F. NORRIS, President of the Protestant Methodist
Conference, Mass.
Attest,
JAMES D. YATES.
Boston, May 7, 1835.

Nevertheless, lest this should not be sufficient, I am prepared to defend myself by written certificates of my character and standing among the whites and natives, (the Pequod tribe,) in Groton. They are as follows:

We the undersigned, native Indians of the Pequod tribe, having employed Rev. William Apes as our Agent, to assist us, and to collect subscriptions and monies towards erecting a house to worship in, do hereby certify, that we are satisfied with his agency; and that we anticipated that he would deduct therefrom, all necessary expenses, for himself and family, during the time he was employed in the agency, as we had no means of making him any other remuneration.

By permission, FREDERICK X[Note: sideways X] TOBY,
LUCRETIA GEORGE,
By permission, MARY X[Note: sideways X] GEORGE,
By permission, LUCY X[Note: sideways X] ORCHARD,
WILLIAM APES,
By permission, MARGARET X[Note: sideways X] GEORGE.

I, Pardon P. Braton of Groton, in the County of New London, and State of Connecticut, of lawful age, do depose and say, that I was present when the above signers attached their names to the above certificate, by them subscribed, and am knowing to their having full knowledge of the facts therein contained; and further the deponent saith not

PARDON P. BRATON.

Groton, Dec. 3, 1832.

County of New London, ss.—Groton, Dec. 3, 1832. Personally appeared, Pardon P. Braton, and made solemn oath to the truth of the above deposition, by him subscribed. Before me,

WILLIAM M. WILLIAMS, Justice of the Peace.

GROTON, INDIAN TOWN, CONN.

This may certify, that we, the subscribers, native Indians of the Pequod tribe, do affirm by our signatures to this instrument, that William Apes, Senior, went by our request as Delegate, in behalf of our tribe, to New York Annual Conference, of the Methodist Protestant Church, April 2, 1831. The above done at a meeting of the Pequods, Oct. 6, 1830.

WILLIAM APES, JR. Minister of the Gospel, and Missionary to
that tribe.

As witness our hands, in behalf of our brethren,
By permission, MARY X[Note: sideways X] GEORGE,
By permission, LUCY X[Note: sideways X] ORCHARD,
WILLIAM APES,
By permission, MARGARET X[Note: sideways X] GEORGE.

I, Pardon P. Braton of Groton, New London County, State of
Connecticut, do depose and say, that I am acquainted with the
Pequod tribe of Indians empowering William Apes, Sen. as their
Delegate to the New York Conference, as is above stated; and
further the deponent saith not.

PARDON P. BRATON.

Groton, Dec. 3, 1832.

New London County, ss.—Groton, Dec. 3, 1832. Personally appeared, Pardon P. Braton, and made solemn oath to the truth of the above deposition, by him subscribed. Before me,

WILLIAM M. WILLIAMS, Justice of the Peace.

To all whom it may concern.

This may certify, that we, the undersigners, are acquainted with William Apes and his tribe, of Pequod, and that we live in the neighborhood with them, and know all their proceedings as to their public affairs, and that Mr. Apes, as far as we know, has acted honest and uprightly; and that he has done his duty to his Indian brethren, as far as he could consistently. And that he has duly made known his accounts, and appropriated the monies that was in contemplation for the Indian Meeting-house, for the Pequod tribe; and we also certify that said monies shall be duly appropriated.

Dated North Groton, Conn, Aug. 28, 1833.

JONAS LATHAM, ASA A. GORE, JOHN IRISH, WILLIAM M. WILLIAMS.

[Footnote 1: Here we were a little mistaken, not knowing in our ignorance, that we were making the Lieut. Governor commander in chief, and using his name to nullify the existing laws. Nevertheless, our mistake was not greater than many that have been made to pass current by the sophistry of the whites, and we acted in accordance with the spirit of the constitution, unless that instrument be a device of utter deception.]

[Footnote 2: "In respect to the measures you may deem advisable, let them be confined in their adoption to an application of the civil power. If there is resistance, the Sheriff will, with your advice, call out the posse comitatus, and should there be reason to fear the inefficiency of this resort, I will be present personally, to direct any military requisitions," &c.]

[Footnote 3: Surely it was either insult or wrong to call the Marshpees citizens, for such they never were, from the declaration of independence up to the session of the Legislature in 1834.]

[Footnote 4: I do not recollect uttering this expression, and it is not one that I am in the habit of using. It surprised me much, too, that the Sampsons should all swear alike, when it was impossible that they could have heard alike. If I used the word shine, it must have been in speaking to Mr. William Sampson, in a low tone, about fifty yards from the others.]

[Footnote 5: Christmas.]

[Footnote 6: By an Act of the Legislature in April last, 1835, One Hundred Dollars is hereafter to be appropriated annually, from the School Fund, for the public schools in Marshpee. For this liberal act the Marshpees are indebted to the representations made to the Committee on education by their Counsel, B.F. HALLETT, Esq. This is an evidence of the paternal care of the Legislature, for which we can never be too grateful.]

[Footnote 7: Meaning Envoy.]

[Footnote 8: His Excellency LEVI LINCOLN, who proposed to raise a regiment to exterminate our tribe, if we did not submit to the Overseers.]

[Footnote 9: The Counsel for the Indians, B.F. HALLETT, Esq. could not find a member of the House from Barnstable County, who would present the petition. The Indians will not forget that they owed this act of justice to Mr. CUSHING of Dorchester.]

[Footnote 10: Mr. Apes did not attend.]