He was followed by William Apes, who, in a fearless, comprehensive and eloquent speech, endeavored to prove that, under such laws and such Overseers, no people could rise from their degradation.  He illustrated the manner in which extortions were made from the poor Indians, and plainly declared that they wanted their rights as men and as freemen.  Although comparatively ignorant, yet they knew enough to manage their own concerns more equitably and economically than they were then managed; and notwithstanding the difficulties under which they labored, their moral condition was improving.  There was not so much intemperance among them as formerly; many of the tribe were shrewd, intelligent and respectable men; and all that was necessary to raise up the entire mass from their low estate, was the removal of those fetters and restrictions which now bind them to the dust.  Mr. Apes described the cause and the extent of the disturbance which took place last summer, and which resulted in his imprisonment.  The head and front of their offending was in going into the woods, and unloading a cart, and causing it to be sent away empty.  The reason for that procedure was, that they wished no more wood to be cut until an investigation of their rights had been made.  They used no violence; uttered no oaths; made no throats; and took no weapons of defence.  Every thing was done quietly, but firmly.  Mr. Apes wished to know from whence the right to tax them without their consent, and at pleasure, and subject them to the arbitrary control of a Board of Overseers, was derived?  He knew not himself; but he feared it was from the color of their skin.  He concluded by making a forcible appeal to the justice and humanity of the Legislature, and expressing his confidence that the prayer of the memorialists would not be made in vain.

In several instances, the speakers made some dextrous and pointed thrusts at the whites, for their treatment of the sons of the forest since the time of the pilgrims, which were received with applause by the audience.  They were all careful in their references to the conduct of the Overseers; they wished to say as little about them as possible; but they wanted their removal forthwith.

This is the first time our attention has been seriously called to the situation of this tribe.  It is a case not to be treated with contempt, or disposed of hastily.  It involves the rights, the interests, and the happiness of a large number of that race which has been nearly exterminated by the neglect, the oppression, and the cruelty of a superior number of foreign invaders.

In the enslavement of two millions of American people in the Southern States, the tyranny of this nation assumes a gigantic form.  The magnitude of the crime elevates the indignation of the soul.  Such august villainy and stupendous iniquity soar above disgust, and mount up to astonishment.  A conflagration like that of Moscow, is full of