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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 TECUMSEH A DRAMA HY CHARLES MAIR. TORONTO : HUNTER, ROSE & COMPANY. LONDON : CHAPMAN & HALL. (Limited.) 1886. psmG 1658 Entered according to Act of the I irliament of Canada, in the year one thouband eight hundred and eighty-six, by Charles Mair, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. PRINTED AND BOUND BY HUNTER, ROSE & COMPANY, TORONTO. r ** When the white men first set foot on our shores, they were hun- gry ; they had no places on which to spread their blankets or to kindle their fires. They were feeble ; they could do nothing for themselves. Our fathers commiserated their distress, and shared freely with them whatever the Great Spirit had given to his red children." From Tecumseh's speech to the Osages. DRAMATIS PERSONi*:. INDIANS : Tec u mseh f Chief of the Shawanoes). The Prophet (Brother of Tecumseh). Tarhay (A Chief in love with lena). Stayeta (Chief of the Wyandots). Miami, Delaware, Kickapoo and Dahcota Chiefs. Warriors, Braves, Josakeeds and Runners. Mamatee ( Wife of Tecumseh). Iena (Niece of Tecumseh). Weetamore, Winona and other Indian Maidens. AMERICANS : General Harrison (Governor of Indiana Territory). General Hull. Colonel Cass, Barron (An Indian Agent). Twang, Slaugh, Gerkin and Bloat (Citizens of Vincennes). Five Councillors of Indiana Territory, Officers, Soldiers, Volunteers, Orderlies and Scouts. I^RITISH AND CANADIANS: General Jrock (Administrator of the Government of Upper Canada. CoLOHEL (afterwards General) Proctor. Macdonell, 1 Aides-de-camp to, General Brock. Nichol, \ Baby, > Colonels of Canadian Volunteers. Eliott, ) Robinson ! Captains of Canadian Volunteers. Lefroy (A poet-artist, enamoured of Indian life, and in love with Ibna.^ Two Old men of York, U. E. LoycUists, and other Citizens, Alien Settlers, Officers, Soldiers, Volunteers, Orderlies and Messengers. TECUMSE H. ACT I. SCENE FIRST.— The Forest near the Prophet's Town on the Tippecanoe. Enter the Prophet. Prophet. Twelve moons have wasted, and no tidings still! Tecumseh must have perished ! Joy has tears As well as grief, and mine will freely flow — Sembling our women's piteous privilege — Whilst dry ambition ambles to its ends. ' My schemes have swelled to greatness, and my name Has flown so far upon the wings of fear That nations tremble at its utterance. Our braves abhor, yet stand in awe of me, Who ferret witchcraft out, commune with Heaven, And ope or shut the gloomy doors of death. All feelings and all seasons suit ambition ! J J Wi 10 TECUMSEH. ACT I. Yet ray vindictive nature hath a craft, In action slow, which matches mother-earth's : First seed-time— then the harvest of revenge. Who works for power, and not the good of men, Would rather win by fear than lose by love. Not so Tecumseh —rushing to his ends. And followed by men's love — whose very foes Trust him the most. Rash fool ! Him do I dread. And his imperious spirit. Twelve infant moons Have swung in silver cradles o'er these woods, And still no tidings of his enterprise, Which — all too deep and wide — has swallowed him. And left me here unrivalled and alone. |) Enter an Indian Runner. Ha ! There's a message in your eyes— what now ? ■Runner. Your brother, great Tecumseh, has returned. And rests himself a moment ere he comes To counsel with you here. \Exit Runner. Prophet. He has returned ! So then the growing current of my power Must fall again into the stately stream Of his great purpose.. But a moment past I stood upon ambition's height, and now SCENE I. TECUMSEH. II My brother comes to break my greatness up, And merge it in his own. I know his thoughts- That I am but a helper to his ends ; And, were there not a whirlpool in my soul Of hatred which would fain ingulf our foes, I would engage my cunning and my craft 'Gainst his simplicity, and win the lead. But, hist, he comes I I must assume the role By which I pander to his purposes. Enter Tecumseh. Tecumseh. Who is this standing in the darkened robes ? Prophet. The Prophet I Ollivvayshilla, who probes The spirit -world, and holds within his ken Life's secrets and the fateful deeds of men. The "One-Eyed ! " Brother to the Shooting Star— Tecumseh. With heart of wax, and hands not made for war. Prophet. Would that my hands were equal to my hate ! Then would strange vengeance traffic on the earth j For I should treat our foes to what they crave — Our fruitful soil — yea, ram it down their throats, And choke them with the very dirt they love. IS TECUMSEH. ACT 1. 'Tis you Tecumseh ! You are here at last, And welcome as the strong heat-bearing Spring Which opens up the pathways of revenge. What tidings from afar ? Tecumseh. Good tidings thence. I have not seen the Wyandots, but all The distant nations will unite with us To spurn the fraudful treaties of Fort Wayne. From Talapoosa to the Harricanaw I have aroused them from their lethargy. From the hot gulf up to those confines rude, Where Summer's sides are pierced with icicles, They stand upon my call. What tidings here ? Prophet. No brand has struck to bark our enterprise Which grows on every side. The Prophet's robe. That I assumed when old Pengasega died — With full accord and countenance from you— Fits a strong shoulder ampler far than his ; And all our people follow me in fear. Tecumseh. Would that they followed you in love ! Proceed ! My ears are open to my brother's tongue. Prophet. I have myself, and by swift messengers, Proclaimed to all the nations far and near, I am the Open-Door, and have the power SCENE I. TECUMSEH. 13 To lead them back to life. The sacred Are Must burn forever in the red-man's lodge, Else will that life go out. All earthly goods By the Great Spirit meant for common use Must so be held. Red shall not marry white, To lop our parent stems ; and never more Must vile, habitual cups of deadliness Distort their noble natures, and unseat The purpose of their souls. They must return To ancient customs ; live on game and maize ; Clothe them with skins, and love both wife and child, Nor lift a hand in wrath against their race. Tecumseh. These are wise counsels which are noised afar. And many nations have adopted them And made them law. Prophet. These counsels were your own ! Good in themselves, they are too weak to sway Our fickle race. IVe much improved on them Since the Great Spirit took me by the hand. Tecumseh. Improved ! and how ? Your mission was to lead Our erring people back to ancient ^ ways — Too long o'ergrown — not bloody sacrifice. They tell me that the prisoners you have ta'en — 14 TECUMSEH. ACT I. Not captives in fair fight, but wanderers Bewildered iu our woods, or such as till Outlying fields, caught from the peaceful plough — You cruelly have tortured at the stake. Nor this the worst ! In order to augment Your gloomy sway you craftily have played Upon the zeal and frenzy of our tribes, And, in my absence, hatched a monstrous charge Of sorcery amongst them, which hath spared Nor feeble age nor sex. Such horrid deeds Recoil on us ! Old Shataronra's grave Sends up its ghost, and Tetaboxti's hairs — White with sad years and counsel — singed by you ! In dreams and nightmares, float on every breeze. Ambition's madness might stop short of this. And shall if I have life. Prophet. The Great Spirit Hath urged me, and still urges me to all. He puts his hand to mine and leads me on. Do you not hear him whisper even now — " Thou art the Prophet ? " All our followers Behold in me a greater than yourself, And worship me, and venture where I lead. Tecumseh. Your fancy is the common slip of fools. Who count the lesser greater being near. SCENE I. TECUMSEH. 15 Dupe of your own imposture and designs, I cannot bind your thoughts 1 but what you do Henceforth must be my subject ; so take^^^heed, And stand within my sanction lest you fall. Prophet. You are Tecumseh — else you should choke for this I [Haughtily crosses the stage and pauses. Stay ! Let me think ! I must not break with him — Tis premature. I know his tender part, And I shall touch it. ' [Recrosses the stage. Brother, let roe ask, Do you remember how our father fell ? Tecumseh. Who can forget Kanawha's bloody fray ? He died for home in battle with the whites. Prophet. And you remember, too, that boyish morn. When all our braves were absent on the chase — That morn when you and I half-dreaming lay In summer grass, but woke to deadly pain Of loud-blown bugles ringing through the air. They came ! — a rush of chargers from the woods. With tramplings, cursings, shoutings manifold. And headlong onset, fierce with brandished swords. Of frontier troopers eager for the fight. Scarce could a lynx have screened itself from sight, So sudden the attack — yet, trembling there, i6 TECUMSEH. Acr I. We crouched unseen, and saw our little town Stormed, with vile slaughter of small babe and crone, And palsied grandsire — ^you remember it ? Tecumseh. Remember it ! Alas, the echoing Of that wild havoc lingers in my brain ! wretched age, and injured motherhood, And hapless maiden- wreck ! Prophet. Yet this has been Our endless history, and it is this Which crams my very veins with cruelty. My pulses bound to see those devils fall Brained to the temples, and their women cast As offal to the wolf. Tecumseh. Their crimes are great — Our wrongs unspeakable ! yet my revenge Is open war. It never shall be said Tecumseh's hate went armed with cruelty. There's reason in revenge \ but spare our own ! These gloomy sacrifices sap our strength ; And henceforth from your wizard scrutinies 1 charge you to forbear. But who's the white You hold as captive ? Prophet. He is called Lefrov — A captive, but too free to come and go. Our warriors struck his trail by chance, and found I. i SCENE I. TECUMSEH. His tent close by the Wabash, where he lay With sprained ankle, foodless and alone. He had a book of pictures with him there Of Long-Knife forts, encampments and their chiefs — Most recognizable ; so, reasoning thence, Our warriors took him for a daring spy, And brought him here, and tied him to the stake. Then he declared he was a Saganash — No Long- Knife he ! but one who loved our race, And would adopt our ways — with honeyed words. Couched in sweet voice, and such appealing eyes That lena, our niece — who listened near — Believing, rushed, and cut him from the tree. I hate his smiles, soft ways, and smooth-paced tread, And would, ere now, have killed him but for her ; For ever since, unmindful of her race. She has upheld him, and our matrons think That he has won her heart. Tecumseh. But not her hand ! This cannot be, and I must see to it : Red shall not marry white — such is our law. But graver matters are upon the wing, Which I must open to you. Know you, then, The nation that has doomed our Council-Fires — Splashed with our blood — will on its Father turn. 17 liii i8 TECUMSEH. ACT I. Once more, whose lion-paws, stretched o'er the sea. Will sheathe their nails in its unnatural sides, Till blood will flow, as free as pitch in spring, To gum the chafed seams of our sinking bark. This opportunity, well-nursed, will give A respite to our wrongs, and heal our wounds ; And all our nations, knit by me and ranged In headship with our Saganash allies, Will turn the mortal issue 'gainst our foes, And wall our threatened frontiers with their slain. But till that ripened moment, not a sheaf Of arrows should be wasted, not a brave Should perish aimlessly, nor discord reign Amongst our tribes, nor jealousy distrain The large effects of valour. We must now Pack all our energies. Our eyes and ears No more must idle with the hour, but work As carriers to the brain, where we shall store, As in an arsenal, deep schemes of war ! \A noise and shouting without. But who is this ? \Enter Barron accompanied and half-draped bywarriors. The Prophet goes forward to meet him.] Barron. I crave protection as a messenger SCENE I. TECUMSEH. 19 S And agent sent by General Harrison. Your rude, unruly braves, against my wish, Have dragged me here as if I were a spy. Prophet. What else ! Why come you here if not a spy? Brouillette came, and Dubois, who were spies — Now you are here. Look on it ! There's your grave. [ Pointing to the ground at Barron's feet. Tecumseh. { Joining them ^ Unhand this man ! He is a messenger, And not a spy. Your life, my friend, is safe In these rough woods as in your general's town. But, quick — your message ? B/:<.RON. The Governor of Indiana sends This letter to you, in the which he says {Reading letter) " You are an enemy to the Seventeen Fires. I have been told that you intend to lift The hatchet 'gainst your father, the great Chiefs Whose goodness, being greater than his fear Or anger at your folly, still would stretch His bounty to his children who repent, And ask of him forgiveness for the past Small harm is done which may not be repaired, And friendship's broken chain may be lenewed ; But this is in your doing, and depends ao TECUMSEH. ACT i. Upon the choice you make. Two roads Are lying now before you : one is large, Open and pleasant, leading unto peace, Your own security and happiness ; The other — narrow, crooked and constrained — Most surely leads to misery and death. Be not deceived ! All your united force Is but as chaff before the Seventeen Fires. Your warriors are brave, but so are ours j Whilst ours are countless as the forest leaves, Or grains of sand upon the Wabash shores. Rely not on the English to protect you ! They are not able to protect themselves. They will not war with us, for, if they do. Ere many moons have passed our battle flag Shall wave o'er all the forts of Canada. What reason have you to complain of us ? What have we taken ? or what treaties maimed ? You tell us we have robbed you of your lands — Bought them from nameless braves and village chiefs Who had no right to sell — prove that to us. And they will be restored. I have fuil power To treat with you. Bring your complaint to me, And I, in honor, pledge your safe return." Tecumseh. Is this it all ? SCENE I. TECUMSEH. 31 Barron. Yes, alL I have commands To bear your answer back without delay. Prophet. This is our answer, then, to Harrison : rGo tell that bearded liar we shall come, ^With forces which will pledge our own return ! Tecumseh. What shall ray answer be ? Prophet. Why, like my own- There is no answer save that we shall go. Tecumseh. {To Barron.) I fear that our complaint lies all too deep For your Chiefs curing. The Great Spirit gave The red men this wide continent as theirs, And in the east another to the white ; But, not content at home, these crossed the sea, And drove our fathers from their ancient seats. Their sons in turn are driven to the Lakes, And cannot further go unless they drown. Yet now you take upon yourselves to say This tract is Kickapoo, this Delaware, And this Miami ; but your Chief should know That all our lands are common to our race ! How can one nation sell the rights of all Without consent of all ? No ! For my part I am a Red Man, not a Shawanoe, And here I mean to stay. Go to your chief, 1 22 TECUMHEH. act i. And tell him I shall meet him at Vincennes. \Exeunt all hut Tecumseh. What is there in ray nature so supine That I must ever quarrel with revenge ? From vales and rivers which were once our own The pale hounds who uproot our ancient graves Come whining for our lands, with fawning tongues, And schemes and subterfuge and subtleties. O for a Pontiac to drive them back And whoop them to their shuddering villages ! O for an age of valour like to his, When freedom clothed herself with solitude, And one in heart the scattered nations stood, And one in hand. It comes ! and mine shall be The lofty task to teach them to be free — To knit the nations, bind them into one, And end the task great Pontiac begun I SCENE II. — Another Part of the Forest. Enter Lefroy, carrying his riflcy and examining a knot Ja |IUkAvm# » pvii V of wild flowers. U Lefroy. This region is as lavish of its flowers As Heaven of its primrose blooms by night. This is the Arum which within its root ,^ SCENE II. TECUMSEH, «3 Folds life and death ; and this the Prince's Pine, Fadeless as love and truth — the fairest form That ever sun-shower washed with sudden rain. This golden cradle is the Moccasin Flower, Wherein the Indian hunter sees his hound ; And this dark chalice is the Pitcher-Plant Stored with the water of forgetfulness. Whoever drinks of it, whose heart is pure, Will sleep for aye 'neath foodful asphodel, ^^Ztt^ -^ And dream of endless love. [ I need it not ! I am awake, and yet I dream of love. It is the hour of meeting, when the sun Takes level glances at these mighty woods, And lena has never failed till now, To meet me here 1 What keeps her ? Can it be The Prophet ? Ah, that villain has a thought, Undreamt of by his simple followers. Dark in his soul as midnight ! If — but no — He fears her though he hates ! What shall I do ? Rehearse to listening woods, or ask these oaks What thoughts they have, what knowledge of the past ? They dwarf me with their greatness, but shall come A meaner and a mightier than they, And cut them down. Yet rather would I dwell /V*. ^fJUi TECUMSEH. ACT I. f With them, with wildness and its stealthy forms — Yea, rather with wild men, wild beasts and birds, Than in the sordid town that here may rise. For here I am a part of Nature's self. And not divorced from her like men who plod The weary streets of care in search of gain. And here I feel the friendship of the earth : Not the soft cloying tenderness of hand Which fain would satiate the hungry soul With household honey-combs and parloured sweets. But the strong friendship of primeval things — The rugged kindness of a giant heart, And love that lasts. I have a poem made Which doth concern earth's injured majesty — Be audience, ye still untroubled stems ! ^ M, w> (^4WC' i^^^^^ tf^ ideates.) [ I There was a time on this fair continent When all things throve in spacious peacefulness. The prosperous forests unmolested stood. For where the stalwart oak grew there it lived Long ages, and then died among its kind. The hoary pines— those ancients of the earth — Brimful of legends of tlie early world, SCENE TI. TECUMSEH. 25 Stood thick on their own mountains unsubdued. And all things else illumined by the sun, Inland or by the lifted wave, had rest. The passionate jpr/caTm'^ pageants of the skies i!ux tf «''»** *» r*^ I No artist drew ; but in the auburn west Innumerable faces of fair cloud Vaniahed in silent darkness with the day. The prairie realm — vast ocean's paraphrase — Rich in wild grasses numberless, and flowers Unnamed save in mute Nature's inventory No civilized barbarian trenched for gain. And all that flowed was sweet and uncorrupt. The rivers and their tributary streams, Undammed, woimd on forever, and gave up Their lonely tonents to weird gulfs of sea, And ocean wastes unshadowed by a sail. And all the wild life of this western world Knew not the fear of man ; yet in those woods, And by those plenteous streams and mighty lakes. And on stupendous steppes of peerless plain, And in the rocky gloom of canyons deep, Screened by the stony ribs of mountains hoar Which steeped their snowy peaks in purging cloud. And down the continent where tropic suns Warmed to her very heart the mother earth. And in the congeal'd north where silence self Ached with intensity of stubborn frost. There lived a soul more wild than barbarous ; A tameless soul — the sunburnt savage free^* 26 TECUMSEH. Free, and untainted by the greed of gain : Great Nature's man content with Nature's food. But hark I I hear her footsteps in the leaves — And so my poem ends. ACT I. Enter I en a, downcast. My love I my love ! What ! lena in tears ! your looks, like clouds, O'erspread my joy which, but a moment past, Rose like the sun to high meridian. Ah, how is this ? She trembles, and she starts, And looks with wavering eyes through oozing tears. As she would fly from me. Why do you weep ? I EN A. I weep, for I have come to say — farewell. Lefrov. Farewell ! I have fared well in love till now ; For you are mine, and I am yours, so say Farewell, farewell, a thousand times farewell. Iena. How many meanings has the word ? since yours Is full of joy, but mine, alas, of pain. The pale-face and the Shawanoe must part. Lefroy. Must part ? Yes part — we parted yesterday — And shall to-day — some dream disturbs my love. Iena. Oh, that realities were dreams ! 'Tis not A dream that parts us, but a stem command. SCBNR ir. TECUMHEH, 97 Q> Tecumseh has proclaimed it as his law- Red shall not mairy white ; so must you leave ; And therefore I have come to say farewell. Lefroy. That word is barbed, and like an arrow aimed. The maid who saved my life would mar it too ! I EN A. Speak not of that ! Your life's in danger now. Tecumseh has returned, and — knowing all — Has built a barrier betwixt our loves, More rigid than a palisade of oak. Lefroy. What means he ? And what barrier is this ? I EN A. The barrier is the welfare of our race — . Wherefore his law — " Red shall not marry white." His noble nature halts at cruelty. So fear him not ! But in the Prophet's hand, Dark, dangerous and bloody, there is death, And, sheltered by Tecumseh's own decree. He who misprizes you, and hates, will strike — Then go at once ! Alas for lena, c*,tx-cu^ ) Who loves her race too well to break its law. Lefroy. I love you better than I love my race ; And could I mass my fondness for my friends. Augment it with my love of noble brutes. Tap every spring of reverence and respect. And all affections bright and beautiful — Still would my love for you outweigh them all. a8 TECUMSBH. ACT 1. Iena. Speak not of love ! Speak of the Long-Knife's hate! Oh, it is pitiful to creep in fear O'er lands where once our fathers stept in pride ! The Long-Knife strengthens, whilst our race decays, And falls before him as our forests fall. First comes his pioneer, the bee, and soon The mast which plumped the wild deer fats his swine. His cattle pasture where the bison fed ; His flowers, his very weeds, displace our own — Aggressive as himself. All, all thrust back ! Destruction follows us, and swift decay. Oh, I have lain for hours upon the grass, And gazed into the tenderest blue of heaven — Cleansed as with dew, so limpid, pure and sweet — All flecked with silver packs of standing cloud Most beautiful ! But watch them narrowly ! Those clouds will sheer small fleeces from their sides. Which, melting in our sight as in a dream, \ ■■ Will vanish all like phantoms in the sky. So melts our heedless race 1 Some weaned away, And wedded to rough -handed pioneers, Who, fierce as wolves in hatred of our kind, CVet from their shrill and acid women turn, V Prizing our maidens for their gentleness. Some by outlandish fevers die, and some — SCENE II. TECUMSEH. 29 Caught in the white man's toils and vices mean — Court death, and find it in the trader's cup. And all are driven from their heritage, Far from our fathers' seats and sepulchres, And girdled with the growing glooms of war ; Resting a moment here, a moment there, Whilst ever through our plains and forest realms Bursts the pale spoiler, armed, with eager quest, And ntinous lust of land. I think of all — And own Tecumseh right *Tis he alone Can stem this tide of sorrows dark and deep ; So must I bend my feeble will to his. And, for my people's welfare, banish love. Lefroy. Nay, for your people's welfare keep your love ! My heart is true : I know that braggart nation. Whose sordid instincts, cold and pitiless. Would cut you off, and drown your Council-Fires. I would defend you, therefore keep me here ! My love is yours alone, my hand I give. With this good weapon in it, to your race. Iena. Oh, heaven help a weak untutored maid, Whose head is warring 'gainst a heart that tells, With every throb, I love you. Leave me ! Fly ! Lefroy. I kneel to you — it is my leave-taking. So, bid me fly again, and break my heart ! 30 TEiJUMSEH. \ ACT I. W \ I (Iena sings.) Fly far from me, Even as the daylight flies, And leave me in the darkness of my pain t Some earlier love will come to thee again, And sweet new moons will rise, And smile on it and thee. Fly far from me. Even whilst the daylight wastes — Ere thy lips bum me in a last caress ; Ere fancy quickens, and my longings press. And my weak spirit hastts \ For shelter unto thee ! Fly far from me. Even whilst the daylight pales — So shall we never, never meet again ! Fly ! for my senses swim — Oh, Love ! Oh, Pain! — Help ! for my spirit fails — I cannot fly from thee ! [Iena sinks into Lefroy's arms. Lefroy. No Iena ! You cannot fly from me — My heart is in your breast, and yours in mine ; Therefore our love — SCENE II. TECUM8EH. 31 Enter Tecumseh, followed by Mamatee. Tecumseh.. False girl ! Is this your promise ? Would that I had a pale-face for a niece — Not one so faithless to her pledge ! You owe All duty and affection to your race, Whose interest — the sum of our desires — Traversed by alien love, drops to the ground. Tena. Tecumseh ne'er was cruel until now. Call not love alien which includes our race — Love for our people, pity for their wrongs ! He loves our race because his heart is here — And mine is in his breast. Oh, ask him there. And he will tell you — Lefroy. lena, let me speak I Tecumseh, we as strangers have become Strangely familiar through sheer circumstance, Which often breeds affection or disdain, Yet lighting but the surface of the man. Shows not his heart. I know not what you think. And care not for your favour or your love. Save as desert may crown me. Your decree, " Red shall not marry white," is arbitrary, And off the base of nature ; for if they m 3* TECC/MSEff. ACT I. Should mirry not, then neither should they love. Yet lena loves me, and I love her. Be merciful ! I ask not lena To leave her race ', I rather would engage These willing arms in her defence and yours. Heap obligation up, conditions stern — But send not your cold " Nay " athwart our lives. I EN A. Be merciful ! Oh, uncle, pity us ! Tecumseh. My pity, lena, goes with reproach, Blunting the edge of anger ; yet my will Is fixed, and the command to be obeyed — This stranger must depart — you to your lodge ! Mamatee. Tecumseh, I am in the background here, As ever I have been in your affection. For I have ne'er known what good women prize — Earth's greatest boon to the^n — a husband's love. Tecumseh. My nation has my love, in which you share, With special service rendered to yourself ; So that your cabin flows with mouffles sweet, And hips of wapiti and bedded robes. Teach me my duty further if you will ! My love is wide, and broods upon my race. Mamatee. The back is clad — the heart, alas ! goes bare. Oh, I would rather shiver in the snow — SCENE II. TECUMSEH. 33 My heart downed softly with Tecumseh's love — Than sleep unprized in warmest couch of fur. I know your love is wide, and, for that I Share but a millionth part of it, and feel Its meagreness, I plead most eagerly For this poor white, whose "heart is full of love, And gives it all to her. Tecumseh. It cannot be ! You know not what you ask. 'Tis 'gainst our law, Which, breached, would let our untamed people through. Lefroy. I care not for your cruel law ! The heart Has statutes of its own which make for love. Tecumseh. You'd cross me too ! This child's play of the heart, Which sterner duty has repressed in me, Makes even captives bold. {Aside.') I like his courage ! Mamatee. If duty makes Tecumseh's heart grow cold, Then shame on it ! and greater shame on him Who ever yet showed mercy to his foes, Yet, turning from his own, in pity's spite Denies it to a girl. See, here I kneel ! Iena. And I ! O uncle, frown not on our love ! Tecumseh. By the Great Spirit this is over much ! My heart is made for pity, not for war. Since women's tears unman me. Have your will ! B : 34 TECUMSEH. ACT I. M IV \ I shall respect your love, {To Lefroy.) your safety too. I go at once to sound the Wyandots Concerning some false treaties with the whites. The Prophet hates you, therefore come with me. \The Prophet rushes in with a band of Braves. Prophet. She's here ! Take hold of her and bear her off! Tecumseh. {Menacingly) Beware ! Lay not a finger on the girl ! \The Braves fall back. Prophet. There is no law Tecumseh will not break, When women weep, and pale-face spies deceive. Mamatee. Ah, wretch ! not all our people's groans could wring A single tear from out your murderous eye. Prophet. This is my captive, and his life is mine ! [Seizing Lefroy, and lifting his hatchet. Iena. {Rushing to Lefroy) Save him ! Save him ! Tecumseh. Your life will go for his — One blow and you are doomed 1 [Tecumseh grasps the Prophet's uplifted axe. END OF first ACT. ■$ ^* -L ACT II. SCENE FIRST :--Before the Prophet's Town. Enter Tecumseh and Lefroy. Tecumseh. No guard or outlook here ! This is most strange. I Chance reigns where prudence sleeps I Enter a Brave. Here comes a brave With frenzy in his face. Where is the Prophet ? Brave. He fasts alone within the medicine-lodge, And talks to our Great Spirit All our braves, Huddling in fear, stand motionless without, Thrilled by strange sounds, and voices not of earth. Tecumseh. How long has it been thus ? ^^^^^* Four nights have passed And none have seen his face ; but all have heard His dreadful tongue, in incantations deep, Fetch horrors up -vile beings flashed from hell, i ! I 36 TECUMSEH. ACT ii. Who fought as devils fight, until the lodge Shook to its base with struggling, and the earth Quaked as, with magic strength, he fiung them down. These strove with him for mastery of our fate ; But, being foiled, Yohewa has appeared. And, in the darkness of our sacred lodge, Communes with him. Tecumseh. Our Spirit great and good ! He comes not here for nought. What has he promised ? Brave. Much I for henceforth we are invulnerable. The bullets of the Long-Knives will rebound, Like petty hailstones, from our naked breasts ; (And, in the misty morns of our attack, Strange lights will shine on them to guide our aim. Whilst clouds of gloom will screen us from their sight. Tecumseh. The Prophet is a wise interpreter, And all his words, by valour backed, will stand ; fYox valour is the weapon of the soul, I More dreaded by our vaunting enemies Than the plumed arrow, or the screaming ball. What wizardry and witchcraft has he found Conspiring 'gainst our people's good ? Brave. Why, none I Wizard and witch are weeded out, he says ; Not one is left to do us hurt, ^ I *^ SCENE r. TECUM8EH. 37 Tecumsf.h. 'Tis well ! My brother has the eyeball of the horse, And swerves from danger. {Aside.) Bid our warriors come ! I wait them here. [£xif Br AVE. The Prophet soon will follow. Lefroy. Now opportunity attend my heart Which waits for lena ! True love's behest, Outrunning war's, will bring her to my arms Ere cease the braves from gasping wonderment. Tecumseh. First look on service ere you look on love ; You shall not see her here. Lefroy. My promises Are sureties of my service — Tecumseh. But your deeds, Accomplishments ; our people count on deeds. Be patient ! Look upon our warriors Roped round with scars and cicatrized wounds. Inflicted in deep trial of their spirit. Their skewered sides are proofs of manly souls. Which — had one. groan escaped from agony — Would all have sunk beneath our women's heels, Unfit for earth or heaven. So try your heart. And let endurance swallow all love's sighs. Yoke up your valour with our people's cause, 38 TECUMSEH. ACT I!. And I, who love your nation, which is just, When deeds deserve it, will adopt you here, By ancient custom of our race, and join lena's hand to yours. Lefroy. Your own hand first In pledge of this ! Tecumseh. It ever goes with truth ! Lefroy. Now come some wind of chance, and show me her But for one heavenly moment ! as when leaves Are blown aside in summer, and we see ^ The nested oriole. [En/er Chiefs and warriors — The warriors cluster around Tecumseh, shouting and discharging their pieces. Tecumseh. My chiefs and braves ! Miami Chief. Fall back ! Fall back ! Ye press too close on him. Tecumseh. My friends ! our joy is like to meeting streams. Which draw into a deep and prouder bed. [Shouts from the warriors. Delaware Chief. Silence, ye braves I let great Te- cumseh speak ! [ The warriors fall back. SCENE t. TECUMSEH. 39 Tecumseh. Comrades, and faithful warriors of our race! Ye who defeated Harmar and St. Clair, (And made their hosts a winter's feast for wolves ! I call on you to follow me again, Not now for war, but as forearmed for fight. As ever in the past so is it still : Our sacred treaties are infringed and torn ; Laughed out of sanctity, and spurned away ; Used by the Long-Knife's slave to light his fire. Or turned to kites by thoughtless boys, whose wrists / Anchor their fathers' lies in front of heaven. And now we're asked to Council at Vincennes ; To bend to lawless ravage of our lands. To treacherous bargains, contracts false, wherein One side is bound, the other loose as air I Where are those villains of our race and blood Who signed the treaties that unseat us here ; That rob us of rich plains and forests wide ; And which, consented to, will drive us hence To stage our lodges in the Northern Lakes, In penalties of hunger worse than death ? Where are they ? that we may confront them now With your wronged sires, your mothers, wives and babes, And, wringing from their false and slavish lips 40 TECUMSEff. ACT ii. Confession of their baseness, brand with shame The traitor hands which sign us to our graves. Miami Chief. Some are age-bent and blind, and others sprawl. And stagger in the Long-Knife's villages ; And some are dead, and some have fled away. And some are lurking in the forest here, Sneaking, like dogs, until resentment cools. KiCKAPOO Chief. We all disclaim their treaties. Should they come. Forced from their lairs by hunger, to our doors, Swift punishment will light upon their heads. Tecumseh. Put yokes upon them ! let their mouths be bound ! For they are swine who root with champing jaws Their fathers' fields, and swallow their own offspring. I ii Enter the Prophet in his robe — his face discoloured. The Prophet ! Welcome, my brother, from the lodge of dreams ! Hail to thee, sagest among men — great heir Of all the wisdom of Pengasega ! Prophet. This pale-face here again ! this hateful snake, SCENE I. TECUMSEH. 41 I Who crawls between our people and their laws ! {Aside.) Your greeting, brother, takes the chill from mine. When last we parted you were not so kind. Tecumseh. The Prophet's wisdom covers all. He knows C Why Nature varies in her handiwork, V Moulding one man from snow, the next from fire — Prophet. Which temper is your own, and blazes up, (\n winds of passion like a burning pine. Tecumseh. 'Twill blaze no more unless to scorch our foes. My brother, there's my hand — for I am grieved That aught befell to shake our proper love. Our purpose is too high, and full of danger ; We have too vast a quarrel on our hands To waste our breath on this. \Steps forward and offers his hand. Prophet. My hand to yours. Several Chiefs. Tecumseh and the Prophet are re- joined ! Tecumseh. Now, but one petty cloud distains our sky. My brother, this man loves our people well. \Pointing to Lebroy. Lefroy. I know he hates me, yet I hope to win My way into his heart. 4a TECUMSEH. ACT II. Prophet. There — take my hand ! I must dissemble. Would this palm were poison ! {Aside.) (72? Tecumseh) What of the Wyandots? And yet I know ! I have been up among the clouds, and down Into the entrails of the earth, and seen The dwelling-place of devils. All my dreams Are from above, and therefore favour us. Tecumseh. With one accord the Wyandots disclaim The treaties of Fort Wayne, and burn with rage. Their tryst is here, and ;;ome will go with me To Council at Vincennes. Where's Winnemac ? Miami Chief. That recreant has joined our enemies. And with the peace-pipe sits beside their fire. And whifFs away our lives. KiCKAPoo Chief. The Deaf-Chief, too, With head awry, who cannot hear us speak Though thunder shouted for us from the skies, Yet hears the Long-Knives whisper at Vincennes ; And, when they jest upon our miseries, Grips his old leathern sides, and coughs with laughter. Delaware Chief. And old Kanaukwa — famed when we were young — ^ Has hid his axe, and washed his honours off. ( Tecumseh. 'Tis honor he has parted with, not honors ; ( SCENE I. TECUMSEH. 43 Good deeds are ne'er forespent, nor wiped away. I know these men ; they've lost their followers, And, grasping at the shadow of cotnmz^nd, Where sway and custom once had realty, By times, and turn about, follow each other. They count for nought — but Winnemac is true, Though over-politic ; he will not leave us. Prophet. Those wizened snakes must be destroyed at once ! Tecumseh. Have mercy, brother — those poor men are old. Prophet. Nay, 1 shall teaze them till they sting them- selves ; Their rusty fangs are doubly dangerous. Tecumseh. What warriors are ready for Vincennes ? Warriors. All ! All are ready. Tecumseh leads us on — we follow him. Tecumseh. Four hundred warriors will go with me, All armed, yet only for security Against the deep designs of Harrison. For 'tis my purpose still to temporize, Not break with him in war till once again I scour the far emplacements of our tribes. Then shall we close at once on all our foes. They claim our lands, but we shall take their lives ; 44 TECUMSEH, ACT IT. Drive out their tliievish souls, and spread iheir bones i To bleach upon the misty Alleghanies ; Or make death's treaty with them on the spot, And sign our bloody marks upon their crowns For lack of schooling — ceding but enough Of all the lands they covet for their graves. Miami Chief. Tecumseh's tongue is housed in wis- dom's cheeks ; His valour and his prudence march together. Delaware Chief. *Tis wise to draw the distant na- tions on. This scheme will so extend the Long-Knife force, In lines defensive stretching to the sea. Their bands will be but morsels for our braves. Prophet. How long must this bold project take to ripen ? Time marches with the foe, and his surveyors Already smudge our forests with their fires. It frets my blQod and makes my bowels turn To see those devils blaze our ancient oaks. Cry " right !" and drive their rascal pickets down. Why not. make war on them at once ? Tecumseh. Not now ! Time will make room for weightier affairs. Be this the disposition for the hour ; SCENE 1. TECUMSEH. 45 Our warriors from Vincennes will all return, Save twenty — the companions of my journey — And this brave white, who longs to share our toil, And win bis love by deeds in our defence. You, brother, shall remain to guard our town, ' Our wives, our children, all that's dear to us — Receive each fresh accession to our strength ; And from the hidden world, which you inspect, Draw a divine instruction for their souls. Go, now, ye noble chiefs and warriors 1 Make preparation — I'll be with you soon. fTo-morrow we shall make the Wabash boil, And beat its current, racing to Vincennes. . \Exeunt all but Tecumseh and the Prophet. Prophet. I shall return unto our sacred lodge. And there invoke the Spirit of the Wind To follow you, and blow good tidings back. Tecumseh. Our strait is sucli we need the help of heaven. Use all your wisdom*, brother, but — beware ! Pluck not our enterprise while it is green. And breed no quarrel here till I return. Avoid it as you would the rattling snake ; And, when you hear the sound of danger, shrink. And face it not, unless with belts of peace. 46 TECUMSEH. act ii. White wampum, not the dark, till we can strike With certain aim. Can I depend on you ? r Prophet. Trust you in fire to burn, or cold to freeze ? So may you trust in me. The heavy charge { Which you have laid upon my shoulders now ^ Would weigh the very soul of rashness down. [Exit the Prophet. Tecumseh. I think I can depend on him — I must ! Yet do I know his crafty nature well — His hatred of our foes, his love of self, And wide ambition. What is mortal man ? Who can divine this creature that doth take Some colour from all others? Nor shall I Push cold conclusions 'gainst my brother's sum Of what is good — so let dependence rest ! [Exit. SCENE SECOND— ViNCENNES— A Street. Enter Citizens Gerkin, Slaugh and Twang. Gerkin. Ain't it about t?rr:« Barron was back, Jedge ? Twang. I reckon so. Our Guvner takes a crazy sight more pains than I would to sweetin thet ragin' devil Tecumseh's temper. I'd sweetin it wi* sugar o' lead ef I had my way. \ ' 1 SCENE II. TECUMSEH. 47 Slaugh. It's a reekin' shame — dang me ef it aint. End thet two-faced, one-eyed brother o* his, the Prophet. — I'll be darned ef folks don't say thet the Shakers in them 'ere parts claims him fer a disciple ! Twang. Them Shakers is a queer lot. They dance jest like wild Injuns, and thinks we orter be kind to the red rascals, end use them honestly. Gerkin. Wall 1 Thet's what our Guvner ses tew. But I reckon he's shammin' a bit. Twixt you and me, he's on the make like the rest o' us. Think o' bein' kind to a red devil thet would lift your har ten minutes arter! End as fer honesty — I say " set *em up " every time, and then rob 'em. Thet's the way to clar them out o' the kentry. Whiskey's better 'n gunpowder, end costs less than fightin' 'em in the long run. Enter Citizen Bloat. Twang. Thet's so ! Hello, Major, what's up ? You look kind o' riled to-day. Bloat. Wall, Jedge, I dew feel right mad — have you heerd the noos ? Twang. No I has old Sledge bust you at the keerds again ? Bloat. Old Sledge be darned ! I had jest clar'd him 48 TECUMSEH. act ii. out o' continentals — fifty to the shillin'— at his own game, when in ript Roudi — the Eyetalian that knifed the Mus- koe Injun for peekin' through his bar-room winder last spring — ^jest down from Fort Knox. You know the chap, General ; you was on his jury. . Slaugh. I reckon I dew. The Court was agin him, but we • .quitted him afore the Chief-Justice finished his charge, aud gave him a vote o* thanks to boot. There's a heap o' furriners creepin* inter these parts —poor down- trodden cussfis from Europe — end, ef they're all like Roudi, ..jr;v •• >e»v~a'most as hendy wi' the knife as our own peop^ ?. itut vhav's up ? ItLOAT. R :judi .^ • P.arron at Fort Knox, restin' thar on his vvay brtcV jo-' r-^e Prophet's Town, end he sez thet red assassin Tecumseh's a-cumin' down wi* four hundred o' his painted devils to convarse wi' our Guvner. They're all armed, he sez, end will be here afore raid-day. Slaugh. Wall ! our Guvner notified him to come — he's only gettin' what he axed for. There'll be a deal o' loose har flitterin' about the streets afore night, I reckon. Harrison's a heap too soft wi' them red roosters ; he h'aint got cheek enough. Gerkin. I've heerd say the Guvner, end the Chief Jus- tice tew, thinks a sight o' this tearin' red devil. They say he's a great man. They say, tew, thet our treaty Injuns SCENE ir. TECUMSEH. 49 ^ air badly used — thet they shouldn't be meddled wi' on their resarves, end should hev skoolin'. Bloat. Skoolin* ! That gits me ! Dogoned ef I wouldn't larn them jest one thing— what them regler officers up to the Fort larns their dogs — " to drap to shot," only in a different kind o' way like ; end, es fer their re- sarves, I say, give our farmers a chance — let them locate ! Twang. Thet's so, Major ! What arthly use air they— plouterin' about their little bits o' fields, wi' their little bits o' cabins, end livin' half the time on mush-rats ? I say, let them move out, end give reliable citizens a chance. Slaugh. Wall, I reckon our Guvner's kind's about played out. They call themselves the old stock — the clean pea — the rale gentlemen o* the Kevolooshuii. But, gentlemen, ain't we the Revolooshun ? Jest wait till the live citizens o* these United States end Territories gits a chance, end we'll show them gentry what a free people, wi* our institooshuns, kin do. There'll be no more talk o' skoolin fer Injuns, you bet ! I'd give them Kernel Crunch's billet. Gerkin. What was thet, General ? Slaugh. Why, they say he killed a hull family o' red- skins, and stuck 'em up as scar'-crows in his wheat fields. Gentlemen, there's nothin' like original idees ! Twang. Thet war an original idee ! The Kernel orter so TECUMSEH. ACT 11. hev tuk out a patent. I think I've heerd o' Crunch. Wam't he wi* Kernel Crawford, o' the melish', at one time ? Slaugh. Whar? Twang. Why over to the Muskingum. You've heerd o' them Delaware Moravians over to the Muskingum, surely ? Slaugh. Oh, them convarted chaps ! but I a'most forgit the carcumstance. Twang. Wall, them red devils had a nice resarve thar — as yieldin' a bit o' sile as one could strike this side o' the Alleghanies. They was all convarted by the Mora- vians, end pertended to be as quiet and peaceable as the Shakers hereabout. But Kernel Crawford — who knew good sile when he sot his eyes on it — diskivered thet them prayin' chaps had helped a war-party from the North wi' provisions — or thort they did, which was the same thing. So — one fine Sunday — he surrounds their church wi' his melish' — when the Injuns was all a-prayin' — end walks in himself, jest for a minute or two, end prays a bit so as not to skeer them tew soon, end then walks out, end locks the door. The Kernel then cutely — my heart kind o' warms to thet man — put a squad o' melish' at each winder wi' their bayonets pinted end sot fire to the Church, end charred up the hull kit, preacher and all ! The heft o' them was burnt ; but SCENE II. TECUMSEff. 51 some thet warn't thar skinned out o' the kentry, end got lands from the British up to the Thames River in Canady, end founded what they call the Moravian Towns thar ; and thar they is still — fur them Britishers kind o' pampers the Injuns, so they may git at our scalps. Slaugh. I reckon we'll hev a tussle wi' them gentry afore long. But for Noo England we'd a hed it afore now ; but them Noo Englanders kind o' curries to the Britishers. A war would spile their shippin', end so they're agin it. But we h'aint got no ships to spile in this western kentry, end so I reckon we'll pitch in. Gerkin. We'd better git out o' this Injun fry-pan fust, old hoss ! I could lick my own weight in wild-cats, but this ruck o' Injuns is jest a little tew hefty. Bloat. Maybe they want to come to skool, end start store, end sich ! Gerkin. Gentlemen — I mean to send my lady down stream, end I reckon you'd better dew the same wi' your 'uns — ^jest fer safety like. My time's limited — will you liquor? All. You bet ! Bloat. {MedUatmly) Skoolin ! Wall, I'll be darned ! \^Exeunt. 5* TECVMSEH. ACT ir. i i:\ SCENE THIRD. The Same. A room in General Harrison's House. J?^/^' General Harrison, and some Officers of the Ameri- can Army. Harrison. What savage handiwork keeps Barron back ? ^ Enter Barron. Ah, here he comes, his looks interpreting Mischief and failure ! It is as I feared. What answer do you bring ? Barron. Tecumseh comes To council, with four hundred men at back. To which, with all persuasion, I objected — As that it would alarm our citizens. Whose hasty temper, by suspicion edged, , Might break in broils of quarrel with his braves ; But, sir, it was in vain — so be prepared ! Your Council records may be writ in blood. Harrison. Will he attack us, think you ? Barron. No, not now. His present thought is to intimidate. But, lest some rash and foul-mouthed citizen I. SCENE III. TECUMSEH. 53 Should spur his passion to the run, fore-arm ! Harrison. Tat ! Arms are scarce as soldiers in our town, And I am sick of requisitioning. Nay, we must trust to something else than arms. Tecumseh is a savage but in name — Let's trust to him ! What says he of our treaties ? Barron. O, he discharges them as heavy loads, Which borne by red men only, break their backs. All lands, he says, are common to his race ; Not to be sold but by consent of all. Harrison. Absurd ! This proposition would prevent All purchase and all progress. No, indeed ; We cannot tie our hands with such conditions. What of the Prophet ? Comes he with the rest ? Barron. The Prophet stays behind. Harrison. He is a foil Used by Tecumseh to augment his greatness ; And, by good husbandry of incantation, And gloomy charms by night, this Prophet works So shrewdly on their braves that every man. Inflamed by auguries of victory, Would rush on death. 1ST Officer. Why, General, I heard He over-trumpt you once and won the trick. w \)\\ I ; I- 54 TECU^fSEH. act il. Harrison. How so ? 1ST Officer. Well, once, before his braves, 'tis said. You dared him to a trial of his spells, Which challenge he accepted, having heard From white men of a coming sunreclipse. Then, shrewdly noting day and hour, he called Boldly his followers round him, and declared That he would hide the sua They stood and gazed. And, when the moon's colossal shadow fell. They crouched upon the ground, and worshipped him. Harrison. He caught me there, and mischief came of it Oh, he is deep. How different those brothers ! rOne dipt in craft, the dye of cruelty, ^ The other frank and open as the day. Enter an Orderly. Orderly. Tecumseh and his braves have reached the landing ! [Excitement. All rise hastily, Harrison. This room is smaller than our audience : Take seats and benches to the portico — There we shall treat with him. [Exeunt all but General Harrison. It [I. d, SCENE IV. TECUMSEH. Could I but strain My charge this chief might be our trusty friend. Yet I am but my nation's servitor ; ^Gold is the king who overrides the right, And turns our people from the simple ways, And fair ideal of our fathers' lives. \Exit 55 )f SCENE FOURTH.— The Same. The portico of General Harrison's house. An open grove at a little distance in front. \Curtain rises and discovers General Harrison, army officers and citizens^ oj 7 irious quality ^ includ- ingTwAHGj Slaugh, Gerkin and Bloat, seated in the portico. A sergeant and guard of soldiers near by. Enter Tecumseh and his followers with Lefroy in Indian dress. They all stop at the grove. Harrison. Why halts he there ? Go tell him he is welcome to our house. \A.n Orderly goes down with message. 1ST Officer. How grave and decorous they look — "the mien Of pensive people born in ancient woods." 56 TECUMSEH. act ii. But look at him ! Look at Tecumseh there — How simple in attire ! that eagle plume Sole ornament, and emblem of his spirit. And yet, far-scanned, there's something in his face That likes us not. Would we were out of this ! Harrison. Yes ; even at a distance I can see THis eyes distilling anger. 'Tis no sign Of treachery, which ever drapes with smiles The most perfidious purpose. Our poor strength Would fall at once should he break out on us ; But let us hope 'tis yet a war of wits Where firmness may enact the part of force. \Orderly returns. What answer do you bring ? Orderly. Tecumseh says : " Houses are built for whites — the red man's house. Leaf-roofed, and walled with living oak, is there — [Pointing to the groje. Let our whiie brother meet us in it !" 2ND Officer. Oh ! White brother ! So he levels to your height, And strips your office of its dignity. 3RD Officer. 'Tis plain he cares not for your dignity, And touchingly reminds us of our tenets. Our nation spurns the outward shows of state, And ceremony dies for lack of service. 1 em lil t SCENE IV. TECUMSEH. 57 Pomp is discrowned, and throned regality Dissolved away in our new land and laws. / Man is the Presence here ! 1ST Officer. Well, for my part, I like not that one in particular. \Foint, ng toward Tecumseh. 3RD Officer. No more do I ! I wish I were a crab, And had its courtly fashion of advancing. Harrison. Best yield to him, the rather that he now Invites our confidence. His heavy force Scants good opinion somewhat, yet I know There's honor, aye, and kindness in thib Chief. \Rising. 3RD Officer. Yes, faith, he loves us all, and means to keep Locks of our hair for memory. Here goes. \All rise. Servants and soldiers carry chairs and benches to the grove, followed by General Harrison and others^ who seat themselves —T ecu mseh and his followers still standini^ in the lower part of the grove, Harrison. We have not met to bury our respect. Or mar our plea with lack of courtesy. The Great Chief knows it is his father's wish That he should sit by him. 58 TECUMSEH. ACT II. Tecumseh. My father's wish ! My father is the sun ; the earth ray mother [Pointing to each in turn. And on her mighty bosom I shall rest. [ Tecumseh and his followers seat themselves on the grass. Harrison. {Rising.) I asked Tecumseh to confer with me, Not in war's hue, but for the ends of peace. Our own intent — witness our presence here, Unarmed save those few muskets and our swords. How comes it, then, that he descends on us With this o'erbearing and untimely strength ? Tecumseh's virtues are the theme of all ; Wisdom and courage, frankness and good faith — To speak of these things is to think of him ! Yet, as one theft makes men suspect the thief — Be all his life else spent in honesty — So does one breach of faithfulness in man Wound all his after deeds. There is a pause In some men's goodness like the barren time Of those sweet trees which yield each second year. Wherein what seems a niggardness in nature Is but good husbandry for future gifts. But this tree bears, and bears most treacherous fruit ! \ SCENE IV. TECUMSEH. 59 I \ Here is a gross infringement of all laws That shelter men in council, where should sit No disproportioned force save that of reason — Our strong dependence still, and argument, Of better consequence than that of arms, If great Tecumseh should give ear to it. Tecumseh. [Rising.) You called upon Tecumseh and he came ! You sent your messenger, asked us to bring Our wide complaint to you — and it is here ! [ Waiting his arm toward his followers. Why is our brother angry at our force, ( Since every man but represents a wrong ? fay I rather should our force be multiplied ! Fill up your streets and overflow your fields, And crowd upon the earth for standing room ; ^Still would our wrongs outweigh our witnesses, ind scant recital for the lack of tongues. I know your reason, and its bitter heart, Its form of justice, clad with promises — The cloaks of death ! That reason was the snare Which tripped our ancestors in days of yore — Who knew not falsehood and so feared it not : Men who mistook your fiithers* vows for truth, And took them, cold and hungry, to their hearts. 6o TECUMSEH. ACT II. Filled them with food, and shared with them their homes, With such return as might make baseness blush. What tree e'er bore such treacherous fruit as this ? But let it pass ! let wrongs die with the wronged 1 The red man's memory is full of graves. But wrongs live with the living, who are here — Inheritors of all our fathers' sighs. And tears, and garments wringing wet with blood. The injuries which you have done to us Cry out for remedy, or wide revenge. Restore the forests you have robbed us of — Our stolen homes and vales of plenteous com ! Give back the boundaries, which are our lives, Ere the axe rise ! aught else is reasonless. Harrison. Tecumseh's passion is a dangerous flood Which sweeps away his judgment. Let him lift , His threatened axe to hit defenceless heads I It cannot mar the body of our right. Nor graze the even justice of our claim : These still would live, uncancelled by our death. Let reason rule us, in whose sober light We read those treaties which offend him thus : What nation was the first established here. Settled for centuries, with title sound ? You know that people, the Miamies, well. SCKNE IV. TECUMSEH. 6l ' Long ere the white man tripped his anchors cold, To cast them by the glowing western isles, They lived upon these lands in peace, and none Dared cavil at their claim. We bought from them, For such equivalent to largess joined, That every man was hampered with our goods. And stumbled on profusion. But give ear ! Jealous lest aught might fail of honesty — Lest one lean interest or poor shade of right Should point at us — we made the Kickapoo And Delaware the sharer of our gifts. And stretched the arms of bounty over heads Which held but by Miami sufferance. But, you ! whence came you ? and what rights have you ? The Shawanoes are i'lterlopers here — Witness their name ! mere wanderers from the South ! Spumed thence by angry Creek and Yamasee — Now here to stir up strife, and tempt the tribes To break the seals of faith. I am surprised That they should be so led, and more than grieved Tecumseh has such ingrates at his back. Tecumseh. Call you those ingrates who but claim their own, And owe you nothing but revenge ? Those men Are here to answer and confront your lies. [ Turning to his foliowers. 63 TECUM8EH. act n. Miami, Delaware and Kickapoo ! Ye are alleged as signers of those deeds — Those dark and treble treacheries of Fort Wayne. — Ye chiefs whose cheeks are tanned with battle-smoke, Stand forward then, and answer if you did it ! Kickapoo Chief. {Rising.) Not 1 1 I disavow them ! They were made By village chiefs whose vanity c'ercame Their judgment, and their duty to our race. Delaware Chief. {Rising.) And I reject the treaties in the name Of all our noted braves and warriors. They have no weight save with the palsied heads Which dote on friendly compacts in the past. Miami Chief. {Rising.) And I renounce them also. They were signed By sottish braves— the Long-Knife's tavern-chiefs — Who sell their honor like a pack of fur, Make favour with the pale-face for his fee, And caper with the hatchet for his sport. I am a chief by right of blood, and fling Your false and flimsy treaties in your face. I am my nation's head, and own but one As greater than myself, and he is here ! [Pointing to Tecumseh. X SCENE IV, 7ECUMSEH, ^ Tecumseh. You have your answer, and from those whose rights Stand in your own admission. But from me — The Shawanoe — the interloper heie — Take the full draught of meaning, and wash down Their dry and bitter truths. Yes ! from the South My people came — fall'n from their wide estate Where Allamaha's uncongealing springs Kept a perpetual summer in their sight — Sweet with magnolia blooms, and dropping balm, And scented breath of orange and of pine. And from the East the hunted Delawares came. Flushed from their coverts and their native streams ; Your old allies, men ever true to you, Who, resting after long and weary flight, Are by your bands shot sitting on the ground. Harrison. Those men got ample payment for their lands, Full recompense, and just equivalent, Tecumseh. They flew from death to light upon it here ! And many a tribe comes pouring from the East, Smitten with fire — their outraged women, maimed, Screaming in horror o'er their murdered babes. Whose sinless souls, slashed out by white men's swords, Whimper in Heaven for revenge. Oh, God 1 — TECUMSEH. ACT II. 'Tis thus the pale-face prays, then cries 'Amen ' : — He clamours, and his Maker answers him, Whilst our Great Spirit sleeps ! O, no, no, no — He does not sleep ! He will avenge our wrongs I That Christ the white men murdered, and thought dead — Who. if He died for mankind, died for us — He is alive, and looks from heaven on this ! Oh, we have seen your baseness and your guile ; Our eyes are opened and we know your ways ! No longer shall you hoax us with your pleas. Or with the serpent's cunning wake distrust. Range tribe 'gainst tribe — then shoot the remnant down, And in the red man's empty cabin grin. And shake with laughter o'er his desolate hearth. No, we are one ! the red men all are one In colour as in love, in lands and fate ! Harrison. Still, with the voice of wrath Tecumseh speaks, And not with reason's tongue. Tecumseh. . O keep your reason ! It is a thief which steals away our lands. Your reason is our deadly foe, and writes The jeering epitaphs for our poor graves. It is the lying maker of your books. Wherein our people's vengeance is set down. t f SCENE IV. TECUMSEH. But not a word of crimes which led to it. These are hushed up and hid, whilst all our deeds, Even in self-defence, are marked as wrongs Heaped on your blameless heads. But to the point ! Just as our brother's Seventeen Council Fires Unite for self-protection so do we. How can you blame us, since your own example Is but our model and fair precedent? The Long-Knife's craft has kept our tribes apart, Nourished dissensions, raised distinctions up. Forced us to injuries which, soon as done, Are made your vile pretexts for bloody war. But this is past. Our nations now are one — Ready to rise in their imbanded strength. You promised to restore our ravaged lands On proof that they are ours — that proof is here, And by the tongues of truth has answered you. Redeem your sacred pledges, and no more / Our " leaden birds " will sing amongst your corn : rBut love will shine on you, and startled peace ^Will come again, and build by every hearth. Refuse — and we shall strike you to the ground ! Pour flame and slaughter on your confines wide, (j'ill the charred earth, up to the cope of Heaven, 65 66 TECUMSEH. ACT II. Reeks with the smoke of smouldering villages, And steam of awful fires half-quenched with blood [Ct'/t'zens converse in undertones. Twang. Did you ever hear the like ! Ef I hed my shootin'-iron darn me ef I wouldn't draw a bead on thet barkin' savage. The hungry devil gits under-holts on our Guvner every time. Slaugh. You bet I I reckon he'd better put a lump o' bacon in his mouth to keep his bilin' sap o' passion down. Bloat. Thet's mor'n I'd do. This is jest what we git for allowin' the skulkin' devils to live. I'd vittle *em on lead pills ef I was Guvner. Twang. Thet's so ! Our civilizashun is jest this — we know what's what. Ef I hed my way — Harrison. Silence, you fools 1 If you provoke him here your blood be on your heads. Gerkin. Right you air, Guvner ! We'll close our dampers. Tecumseh. My brother's ears have heard. Where is his tongue ? Harrison. My honest ears ache in default of reason. Tecumseh is reputed wise, yet now His fuming passions from his judgment fly. Like roving steeds which gallop from the catch, And kick the air, wasting in wantonness SCENE IV. TECUMSEH. 67 ai More strength than in submission. His threats fall On fearless ears. Knows he not of our force, Which in the East swarms like mosquitoes here ? Our great Kentucky and Virginia fires ? Our mounted men and soldier-citizens ? These all have stings — let him beware of them ! Tecumseh. Who does not know your vaunting citizens ! (Well drilled in fraud and disciplined in crime ; But in aught else — as honor, justice, truth — A rabble, and a base disordered herd. We know them ; and our nations, knit in one, Will challenge them, should this, our last appeal, Fall on unheeding ears. My brother, hearken ! East of Ohio you possess our lands. Thrice greater than your needs, but west of it We claim them all ; then, let us make its flood A common frontier, and a sacred stream Of which our nations both may drink in peace. Harrison. Absurd ! The treaties of Fort Wayne must stand. Your village chiefs are heads of civil rule. Whose powers you seek to centre in yourself, (Or vest in warriors whose trade is blood. We bought from those, and from your peaceful men — Your wiser brothers — who had faith in us. II s 6S TEGUMSEH, K force following. 1ST Officer. Methinks you like the place; some thanks we owe Unto the Prophet's chiefs for good advice. Harrison. {Looking around keenly). These noble oaks, the streamlet to our rear, This rank wild grass — wood, water and soft beds ! The soldier's luxuries are here together. 1ST Officer. Note, too, the place o'erlooks the springy plain Which lies betwixt us and the Prophet's Town. I think, sir, 'tis a very fitting place. Harrison. A fitting place if white men were our foes; But to the red it gives a clear advantage. Sleep like the weasel here, if you are wise ! 1ST Officer. Why, sir, their chiefs, so menacing at first, 8o TECUMSEH. ACT III. ■i«; J ■i'*. Became quite friendly at the last. They fear A battle, and will treat on any terms. The Prophet's tide of strength will ebb away, And leave his stranded bark upon the mire. Harrison. 'Tis the mixed craft of old dissembling Nature I If I could look upon her smallest web. And see in it but crossed and harmless hairs, Then might I trust the Prophet's knotted seine. I did not like the manner of those chiefs Who spoke so fairly. What but highest greatness Plucks hatred from its seat, and in its stead Plants friendship in an instant ? This our camp Is badly placed ; each coulee and ravine Is dangerous cover for approach by night ; And all the circuit of the spongy plain A treacherous bog to mire our cavalry. They who directed us so warmly here Had other than our comfort in their eye. 2ND Officer. Fear you a night-attack, sir? Harrison. Fear it ! No ! I but anticipate, md shall prepare. 'Tis sunset, and too late for better choice, Else were the Prophet welcome to his ground. Pitch tents and draw our baggage to the centre ; i SCEKB IV. TECUMSEff, Girdle the camp with lynx-eyed sentinels ; Detail strong guards of choice and wakeful men As pickets in advance of all our lines ; Place mounted riflemen on both our flanks ; Our cavalry take post in front and rear, But still within the lines of infantry, Which, struck at any point, must hold the ground Until relieved. Cover your rifle pans — The thick clouds threaten rain. I look to you To fill these simple orders to the letter. But stay ! Let all our camp fires burn Till, if attacked, we form — then drown them out. The darkness falls — make disposition straight ; Then, all who can, to sleep upon their arms. I fear me, ere night yields to morning pale. The warriors' yell will sound our wild reveille. SCENE FOURTH.— Tecumseh's Cabin. Enter Iena. Iena. 'Tis night, and Mamatee is absent still ! Why should this sorrow weigh upon my heart, And other lonely things on earth have rest ? Oh, could I be with them ! The lily shone All day upon the stream, and now it sleeps D 8i (\ 8a TECUMSEa. ACT UL t 'I Under the wave in peace — in cradle soft Which sorrow soon may fashion for my grave. Ye shadows which do creep into my thoughts — Ye curtains of despair ! what is my fault, That ye should hide the happy earth from me ? Once I had joy of it, when tender Spring, Mother of beauty, hid me in her leaves ; When Summer led me by the shores of song, And forests and far-sounding cataracts Melted my soul with music. I have heard The rough chill harpings of dismantled woods. When Fall had stripped them, and have felt a joy Deeper than ear could lend unto the heart ; And when the Winter from his mountains wild Looked down on death, and, in the frosty sky. The very stars seemed hung with icicles. Then came a sense of beauty calm and cold, That weaned me from myself, yet knit me still With kindred bonds to Nature. All is past. And he — who won from me such love for him. And he — my valiant uncle and my friend, Comes not to lift the cloud that drapes my soul. And shield me from the fiendish Prophet's power. \Enter Mamatee. Give me his answer in his very words ! SCBNB IT. TECUMSEH. 83 Mamatee. There is a black storm raging in his mind — His eye darts lightning like the angry cloud Which hangs in woven darkness o'er the earth. Brief is his answer — you must go to him. The Long-Knife's camp fires gleam among the oaks Which dot yon western hill. A thousand men Are sleeping there cajoled to fatal dreams By promises the Prophet breaks to-night. Hark ! 'tis the war-song. I EN A. Dares the Prophet now Betray Tecumseh's trust, and break his faith ? Mamatee. He dares do anything will feed ambition. His dancing braves are frenzied by his tongue, Which prophesies revenge and victory. Before the break of day he will surprise The Long-Knife's camp, and hang our people's fate Upon a single onset. Iena. Should he fail ? Mamatee. Then all will fail ; — Tecumseh's scheme will laiL Iena. It shall not 1 Let us go to him at once ! Mamatee. And risk vour life ? * Iena. Risk hovers everywhere When night and man combine for darksome deeds. I'll go to him, and argue on my knees — TECUMSEH, ACT III. Yea, yield my hand — would I could give my heart ! To stay his purpose and this act of ruin. Mamatee. He is not in the mood for argument. Rash girl ! they die who would oppose him now. Iena. Such death were sweet as life — I go ! But, first— Great Spirit ! I commit my soul to Thee. \Kneels. SCENE FIFTH. — An open space w the forest near the Prophet's Town. A fire of billets burning. War cries are heard from the Town. Enter the Prophet. Prophet. My spells do work apace I Shout yourselves hoarse, Yc howling ministers by whom I climb ! For this I've wrought until my weary tongue, Blistered with incantation, flags in speech. And half declines its office. Every brave Inflamed by charms and oracles, is now A vengeful serpent, who will glide ere morn To sting the Long-Knife's sleeping camp to death. Why should I hesitate ? My promises ! i SCENE V. TECUMSEff. 85 My duty to Tecumseh 1 What are these Compared with duty here ? Where I perceive A near advantage, there my duty lies ; Consideration strong which overweighs All other reason. Here is Harrison — Trepanned to dangerous lodgment for the night — Each deep ravine which grooves the prairie's breast A channel of approach ; each winding creek A screen for creeping death. Revenge is sick To think of such advantage ilung aside. For what ? To let Tecumseh's greatness grow, Who gathers his rich harvest of renown Out of the very fields that I have sown I By Manitou, I will endure no more ! Nor, in the rising flood of our affairs, Fish like an osprey for this eagle longer. But, soft ! It is the midnight hour when comes Tarhay to claim his bride. {ca//s) Tarhay ! Tarhay ! Enter Tarhay with several braves. Tarhay. Tarhay is here ! Prophet. The Long-Knives die to-night. The spirits which do minister to me 86 TECUMSEH. ACT III. Have breathed this utterance «rithin my ear. You know my sacred office cuts me off From the immediate leadership in fight. My nobler work is in the spirit- world, And thence come promises '-'hich make us strong. Near to the foe I'll keep the Magic Bowl, Whilst you. Tarhay, shall lead our warriors on. Tarhay. I'll lead them ; they are wild with eagerness. But fill my cold and empty cabin first With light" and heat ! You know I love your niece. And have the promise of her hand to-night. Prophet. She shall be yours ! (^To the braves) Go bring her here ai once — But, look ! Fulfilment of my promise comes In her own person. Enhr I£NA and Mamatee. Welcome, my sweet niece ! You have forestalled my message by these braves. And come unbidden to your wedding place. Iena. Uncle ! yoa know my heart is far away — Prophet. But still your hand is here I this little hand ! (Pu/iing her lot ward). SCENE V. TECUMSEU. 87 Iena. Dare you enforce a weak and helpless girl, Who thought to move you by her misery ? Stand back I I have a message for you too. What means the war-like song, the dance of braves, And bustle in our town ? Prophet. It means that we Attack the foe to-night. Iena. And risk our all ? that Tecumseh kn*w ! his soul would rush In arms to intercept you. What ! break faith. And on the hazard of a doubtful strife, Stake his great enterprise and all our lives ! The dying curses of a ruined race Will wither up your wicked heart for this ! Prophet. False girl ! your heart is with our foes ; Your hand I mean to turn to better use. Iena. Oh, could it turn you from your mad intent How freely would I give it 1 Drop this scheme, Dismiss your frenzied warriors to their beds ; And, if contented with my hand, Tarhay (.Ian have it here. * Tarhay. I love you, Iena 1 Iena. Then must you love what 1 do! Love our race ! 'Tis this love nerves Tecumseh to unite 88 TECUMSEH. act ni. Its scattered tribes — his ifhiit of noble toil, Which you would snatch unripened from his hand, And feed to sour ambition. Touch it not — Oh, touch it not Tarhay ! and though my heart Breaks for it, I am yours. Prophet. His anyway. Or I am not the Prophet I Tarhay. For my part I have no leaning to this rash attempt. Since lena consents to be my wife. Prophet. Shall I be thwarted by a yearning fool ! This sof%, sleek girl, to outward seeming good, I know to be a very fiend beneath— Whose sly aflfections centre on herself, And feed the gliding snake within her heart Tarhay. I cannot think her so — Mamatee. She Is r.ot so ! There is the snake that creeps among our race ; Whose venomed fangs would bite into our lives, And poison all our hopes. Prophet. She is the head — Tiie very neck of danger to me here, Which I must break at once i {aside) Tarhay — attend ! I can see dreadful visions in the air ; SCENE V. TBCUMSEH, 89 I can dream awful dreams of life and fate ; I can bring darkness on the heavy earth ; * I can fetch shadows from our fathers' graves, And spectres from the sepulchres of hell. Who dares dispute with me, disputes with death ! Dost hear, Tarhay? [Tarhav and braves cower before the Prophet. Tarhay. I hear, and will obey. Spare me ! Spare K.e ! ^ Prophet. As for this foolish girl, The hand she offers you on one condition, I give to you upon a better one ; And, since she ha^ no mind to give her heart — Which, rest assured, is in her body still — There, — take it at my hands ! Flings I EN a violently to7vard Tarhay, into whose arms she falls fainting^ and is then borne away by Mamatee. (To Tarhay.) Go bring the braves to view the Mystic Torch And belt of Sacred Beans grown from my flesh — One touch of it makes them invulnerable — Then creep, like stealthy panthers, on the foe ! i 90 TECUM8EH. ACT III. Jl SCENE SIXTH,— Morning. The field of Tippe- canoe AFTER THE BaTTI.E ThE GROUND STREWN WITH DEAD SOLDIERS AND WARRIORS. Enter Harrison, officers and soldiers and Barron. Harrison. A costly triumph reckoned by our slain ! Look how some lie still clenched with savages In all embracing death, their bloody hands Glued in each other's hair 1 Make burial straight Of all alike in deep and common graves : Their quarrel now is ended. 1ST Officer. I have heard. The red man fears our steel — 'twas not so here \ From the first shots, which drove our pickets in, Till daylight dawned they rushed upon our lines, And flung themselves upon our bayonet points In frenzied r'»cklessness of bravery. Baruon. They trusted in the Prophet's rites and spells. Which promised them immunity from death. All night he sat on yon safe eminence, Howling his songs of war and mystery, 1' SCENE VI. TECUM8EH, 91 Then fled, at dawn, in fear of his own braves. [^Enter an Aide. Harrison. What tidings bring you from the Prophet's Town? Aide. The wretched women with their children fly To distant forests for concealment. In Their village is no living thing save mice Which scampered as we oped each cabin door. Their pots still simmered on the vacant hearths, Standing in dusty silence and desertion. Naught else we saw, save that their granaries Were crammed with needful corn. Harrison. Go bring it all — Then burn their village down ! [Exit Aide. 2ND Officer. This victory Will shake Tecumseh's project to the base. Were I the Prophet I should drown myself Rather than meet him. Barron. We have news of him — Our scouts report him near in heavy force. Harrison. 'Twill melt or draw across the British line, And wait for war. But double the night watch. Lest he should strike, and give an instant care To all our wounded men : to-morrow's sun 9a TECUMSEH. ACT in. Must light U8 on our backward inarch for home. Thence Rumor's tongue will spread so proud a story New England will grow envious of our glory ; And, greedy for renown so long abhorred, Will on old England draw the tardy sword ! \ :r SCENE SEVENTH.— The Ruins of the Prophet's Town. • Enter the Prophet, who gloomily surveys the place. Hi !- Prophet. Our people scattered, and our town in ashes! To think these hands could work such madness here — This envious head devise this misery ! Tecumseh, had not my ambition drawn Such sharp and fell destruction on our race You might have smiled at me I for I have matched My cunning 'gainst your wisdom, and have dragged Myself and all into a sea of ruin. Enter Tecumseh. Tecumseh. Devil ! I have discovered you at last I You sum of treacheries, whose wolfish fangs SCENE VII. TECUMSEH, 93 Have torn our people's flesh— you shall not live ! [The Prophet rdreats facing and followed by Tecumseh. Prophet. Nay — strike me not ! I can explain it all ! It was a woman touched the Magic Bowl, And broke the brooding spell. Tecumseh. Impostor ! Slave I Why should I spare you ? [Lifts his hand as if to strike. Prophei\ Stay, stay, touch me not ! One mot' er bore us in the self-same hour. Tecumseh. Then good and evil came to light together. Go to the corn-dance, change your name to villain I Away ! Your presence tempts my soul to mischief. [Exit the Prophet hastily. Would that I were a woman, and could weep, And slake hot rage with tears ! O spiteful fortune. To lure me to the limit of my dreams, Then turn and crowd the ruin of my toil Into the narrow compass of a night My brother's deep disgrace — myself the scorn Of envious harriers and thieves of fame. Who fain would rob me of the lawful meed Of faithful services and duties done — Oh, I could bear it all ! But to behold Our ruined people hunted to their graves — M TECUMSEH. ACT III. To see the Long«Knife triumph in their shame — This is the burning shaft, the poisoned wound That rankles in my soul ! But, why despair? All is not lost — the English are our friends. My spirit rises — manhood bear me up ! I'll haste to Maiden, join my force to theirs, And fall with double fury on our foes. Farewell ye plains and forests, but rejoice ! Ye yet shall echo to Tecumseh's voice. [/v«/lrr Lefroy. Lefroy. What tidings have you gleaned of lena ? Tecumseh. My brother meant to wed her to Tarhay — The chief who led his warriors to ruin ; But, in the gloom and tumult of the night, She fled into the forest all alone. Lefroy. Alone ! In the wide forest all alone I Angels are with her now, for she is dead. Tecumseh. You know her to be skilful with the bow. Tis certain she would strike for some great Lake — Erie or Michigan. At the Detroit Are people of our nation, and perchance She fled for shelter there. I go at once To join the British force. [Exit Tecumseh. Lefroy. But yesterday I climbed to Heaven upon the shining stain \ ' SCENE VII. TECUMSEH. 95 Of love and hope, and here am quite cast down. My little flower amidst a weedy world, Where art thou now ? In deepest forest shade ? Or onward, where the sumach stands arrayed In Autumn splendour, its alluring form Fruited, yet odious with the hidden worm ? Or, farther, by some still sequestered lake. Loon-haunted, where the sinewy panthers slake Their noon-day thirst, and never voice is heard Joyous of singing waters, breeze or bird, Save their wild wailings. — {A halloo wWiouf) 'Tis Tecum- seh calls I Oh lena ! If dead, where'er thou art — Thy saddest grave will be this ruined heart ! \Exit. END OF THIRD ACT. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. {./ /.. s^ ii < ! ; » ■ io6 r IV. SCENE VII. TECUMSEH. 129 it. \ery. My father's God is wise enough for me, And wise enough this grey world's wisest men. Lefroy. I tell you, Brock, The world is wiser than its wisest men, And shall outlive the wisdom of its gods Made after man's own liking. The crippled throne No longer shelters the uneasy king, And outworn sceptres and imperial crowns Now grow fantastic as an idiot's dream. These perish with the kingly pastime, war. And war's blind tool, the monster, Ignorance ! Both hateful in themselves, but this the worst. One tyrant will remain — one impious fiend Whose name is Gold — our earliest, latest foe 1 Him must the earth destroy, ere man can rise, Rightly self made, to his high destiny. Purged of his grossest faults ; humane and kind ; Co-equal with his fellows, and as free. Brock. Lefroy, such thoughts, let loose, would wreck the world. The kingly function is the soul of state, The crown the emblem of authority. And loyalty the symbol of all faith. Omitting these, man's government decays — His family falls into revolt and ruin. ill 130 TECUMSEH, ACT IV. But let us drop this bootless argument, And tell me more of those unrivalled wastes . . You and Tecumseh visited. <:;Ui^.M;.LEFROY. We left The silent forest, and, day after day, Great prairies swept beyond our aching sight Into the measureless West \ uncharted realms. Voiceless and calm, save when tempestuous wind Rolled the rank herbage into billows vast, And rushing tides, which never found a shore. And tender clouds, and veils of morning mist Cast flying shadows, chased by flying light, Into interminable wildernesses, I Flushed with fresh blooms, deep perfumed by the rose, 1^ And murmurous with flower-fed bird and bee. j The deep-grooved bison-paths like furrows lay, Turned by the cloven hoofs of thundering herds Primeval, and still travelled as of yore. And gloomy valleys opened at our feet — Shagged with dusk cypresses and hoary pine ; And sunless gorges, rummaged by the wolf. Which through long reaches of the prairie wound. Then melted slowly into upland vales. Lingering, far-stretched amongst the spreading hills. Brock. What charming solitudes ! And life was there ! SCENE VII. TECUMSEH. 131 Lefroy. Yes, life was there I inexplicable life, Still wasted by inexorable death. There had the stately stag his battle-field — Dying for mastery among his hinds. There vainly sprung the affrighted antelope, Beset by glittering eyes and hurrying feet. The dancing grouse at their insensate sport, Heard not the stealthy footstep of the fox ; The gopher on his little earthwork stood. With folded arms, unconscious of the fate That wheeled in narrowing circles overhead, And the poor mouse, on heedless nibbling bent, Marked not the silent coiling of the snake. At length we heard a deep and solemn sound — Erupted moanings of the troubled earth Trembling beneath innumerable feet. A growing uproar blending in our ears. With noise tumultuous as ocean's surge, Of bellowings, fierce breath and battle shock. And ardor of unconquerable herds. A multitude whose trampling shook the plains, With discord of harsh sound and rumblings deep. As if the swift revolving earth had struck, And from some adamantine peak recoiled — Jarring. At length we topped a high-browed hill- Ju^tJ^UAt 132 TECUMSEH, ACT iv. The last and loftiest of a file of such — And, lo ! before us lay the tameless stock, Slow-wending to the northward like a cloud ! A multitude in motion, dark and dense — Far as the eye could reach, and farther still, In countless myriads stretched for many a league. Brock. You fire me with the picture I What a scene ! Lefroy. Nation on nation was invillaged there. Skirting the flanks of that imbanded host ; With chieft lins of strange speech and port of war, Who, battle-armed, in weather-brawny bulk. Roamed fierce and free in huge and wild content. These gave Tecumseh greetings fair and kind, Knowii\g Uje purpose havened in his soul. ] (^ "^ftui he, too, joined the chase as few men dare ; For I have seen him, leaping from his horse. Mount a careering bull in foaming flight, Urge it to fury o'er its burden strange. Yet cling tenacious, with a grip of steel, Then, by a knife-plunge, fetch it to its knees In mid- career, and pangs of speedy death. Brock. You rave, Lefroy ! or saw this in a dream. Lefroy. No, no ; 'tis true — I saw him do it, Brock ! Then would he seek the old, and with his spoils Restore them to the bounty of their youth. SCINB VII, TECUMSEH. 133 Cheering the crippled lodge with plenteous feasts, And warmth of glossy robes, as soft as down, 'Till withered cheeks ran o'er with feeble smiles, And tongues, long silent, babbled of their prime. Brock. This warrior's fabric is of perfect parts ! A worthy champion of his race— he heaps Such giant obligations on our heads As will outweigh repayment. It is late, And rest must preface war's hot work to-morrow. Else would I talk till morn. How still the night ! 3 Here Peace has let her silvery tresses down, ^ And falls asleep beside the lapping wave. Wilt go with me ? Lefroy. Nay, I shall stay awhile. Brock. You know my quarters and the countersign — Good-night, Lefroy ! Lefroy. Good-night, good-night, good friend 1 [Exit Brock. Give me the open sleep, whose bed is earth, With airy ceiling pinned by golden stars, Or vaultage more confined, plastered with clouds ! Your log-roofed barrack-sleep, 'twixt drum and drum. Suits men who dream of death, and not of love. Love cannot die, nor its exhausted life. Exhaling like a breath into the air, ■ '') ■i i?!ii 134 TECUMSEH. ACT IV. Blend with the universe again. It lives, Knit to its soul forever. lena ! Dead in the forest wild — earth cannot claim Aught but her own from thee. Sleep on ! sleep on ! I EN A. {Reviving) What place is this ? Lefrov. Who's there ? What voice is that ! Iena. Where am I now ? Lefroy. ' I'll follow up that sound ! A desperate hope now ventures in my heart ! Iena. Help me, kind Spirit ! Lefrov. I could pick that voice From out a choir of angels ! Iena ! [^Finds her behind the shrubbery. *Tis she ! 'tis she ! Speak to me, Iena — No earthly power can mar your life again, For I am here to shield it with my own. Iena. Lefroy ! Lefrov. Yes, he ! Iena. My friends ! found, found at last ! Lefroy. Found, found my love ! I swear it on your lips. And seal love's contract there ! Again — again — Ah me ! all earthly pleasure is a toil Compared with one long look upon your face. 8CBNK VII. TRCUM8RH. 135 I EN A. O, take me to my friends ! A faintness came Upon me, and no farther could I go. Lefroy. What spirit led you here ? Iena. My little bark Is yonder by the shore — but take me hence ! For I am worn and weak with wandering. Lefroy. Come with me then. Enter the Prophet, who stalks gloomily across the stage — scowling at Iena and Lefroy as he passes <->ut. Iena. The Prophet ! 1 an. st ! it! ir Lefroy. This monster here ! But he is powerless now. Fear him not, Iena I Tecumseh's wrath Burns 'gainst him still— he dare not do thee hurt. Iena. Must I endure for ever this fiend's hate ? He stabbed me with his eye — \Su)oons away. Lefroy. O, horri >le ! Let us but meet again, and I shall send His curst soul out of this accursed world ! {Exit Lefroy, carrving Iena. 136 TECUMSEH. ACT IV. , V: ■ I i I i I 1 ■f! I SCENE EIGHTH. — The highway through the Forest leading to Fort Detroit — The Fort in THE distance; cannon and gunners at the Gate. En^er TEC\JMSEH,STAYETA,a»d of Aer Chiefs and Warrioi s. Tecumseh. There is the Long-Knive s^ fort, within whose walls We lose our lives, or find our lands to-day. Fight for that little space — 'tis wide domain ! That small enclosure shuts us from our homes. There are the victors in the Prophet's strife — Within that fort they lie— those bloody men Who burnt your town, to light their triumph up, And drove your women to the withered woods To shudder through the cold slow-creeping night, And help their infants to out-howl the wolf.* Oh, the base Long-Knife grows to head, not heart — A pitiless and murdering minister To his desires ! But let us now be strong, And, if we conquer, merciful as strong ! Swoop like the eagles on their prey, but turn In victory your taste to that of doves ; For ever it has been reproach to us SCENE VIII. TECUMSEH. »37 That we have stained our deeds with cruelty, And dyed our axes in our captives' blood. So, here, retort not on a vanquished foe. But teach him lessons in humanity. Now let the big heart, swelling in each breast. Strain every rib for lodgment ! Warriors ! Bend to your sacred task, and follow me. Stayeta. Lead on ! We follow you I KiCKAPOO Chief. ' Advance ye braves ! Tecumseh. Stay ! make a circuit in the open woods — Cross, and recross, and double on the path — So shall the Long-Knives overcount our strength. Do this, Stayeta, whilst I meet my friend — My brave white brother, and confer with him. Enter General Brock. Proctor, Nichol, Macdonell and other Officers and Forces^ on the highivay. Tk- CUMSEH goes down to meet them. Brock. Now by God's providence we face Detroit, ("Either to sleep within its walls to-night, ' Or in deep beds dug by exulting foes. Go, Nichol, make a swift reconnoissance — We'll follow on. Nichol. I shall, but, ere I go A m 138 TECUMSEH, Acr iv. I do entreat you, General, take the rear ; Those guns are shrewdly placed without the gate — One raking fire might rob us of your life, And, this lost, all is lost. Brock. , Well meant, my friend ! But I am here to lead, not follow, men Whose confidence has come with me thus far ! Go, Nichol, to your task ! [Exit Nichol. Tecumseh advances. Tecumseh, hail ! Brave chieftain, you have made your promise good. Tecumseh. My brother stands to his 1 and I but wait His orders to advance — my warriors Are ripe for the assault. Brock. Deploy them, then, Upon our landward flank, and skirt the woods, Whilst we advance in column to attack. [Tecumseh rejoins his warriors. Signal our batteries on the farther shore To play upon the Fort ! Be steady friends — Be steady ! Now upon your country turn Your multiplying thoughts, and strike for her ! Strike for your distant and inviolate homes, Perfumed with holy prayer at this hour ! Strike ! with your fathers' virtue in your veins SCENE VIU. TECUMSEff. 139 You must prevail — on, on, to the attack ! [Brock and forces advance towards the ^ort. A heavy cannonading from the British batteries. Reenter Nichol hasdly, NiCHOL. Stay, General ! I saw a flag of truce Cross from the Fort to the Canadian shore. Brock. Halt ! There's another from yon bastion flung ; And, see ! another waves adown the road — Borne by an officer — what think you, Nichol ? Nichol. Your threats are conquerors ! The Fort is ours! Glegg. Yes, look ! the gunners have been all with- drawn Who manned the cannon at yon western gate. Proctor. So many men to yield without a blow ! Why, this is wonderful ! It cannot be ! Brock. Say, rather, should not be, and yet it is ! Tis plainly written in this captain's face. Officer with flag of truce approaches. Officer. This letter from our General contains Proposals to capitulate —pray send m An oflScer to ratify the terms. [General Brock reads letter. 140 TECUMSEH, ACT IV. f:: i |ii!- m r St : Brock. You have a wise and politic commander ! Officer. Our General knowing your superior force — NicHOL. {Aside.) O this is good I 'tis barely half his own ! Officer. And, noting your demand of yesterday With clearer judgment, doth accede to it. To bar effusion of much precious blood By reasonable treaty of surrender. Brock. Why, this is excellent, and rare discretion ! Officer. He fears your Indians could not be re- strained. Our women's prayers — red visions of the knife — We know not what — have melted his stout heart, And brought him to this pass. Brock. Ay, ay, how good ! Great judgment and humanity combined. Glegg and Macdonell go at once and sign Those happy stipulations which restore Fair Michigan to empire and the crown. \Exeunt Glegg, Macdonell and Officer with Flag. We shall await our officers' return — But now prepare to occupy the Fort ! With colours flying we shall enter it, And martial music, as befits the scene. No Sunday ever saw a finer sight — i SCENE IX. TECUMSEH. 141 Three cheers for Canada and England's right ! \Shouts and congratulations from the soldiery. SCENE NINTH.— Fort Detroit.— A Tumult of American Soldiers and Citizens. Enter General Hull and one of his officers^ accompanied by Brock's Aides^ Glegg and Macdonell. Hull. Here is the paper ! Tell your General Divine humanity, which hath in me A deeper root than fear of him, thus yields : A sheer compunction lest the savage axe Should drink too deeply in confused revenge. Glegg. Depend upon it, we shall tell him so,* And shall away at once. \Exeunt Glegg and Macdonell. Hull. 'Tis well 1 lived To stop this bloody work I Deferment played Into the hands of death. Officer. Oh, sir, I think That what begins in honor so should end — First deeds, not stained, but dusted by the last ; For, thus the long day of a useful life, Seems burnished by its close. HO-J.ii I Illjl ?,»:! t4* TECVMSEB. act IV. Hull. My friend, had all Been trusty as the men of your command ! But — I am great in silence and shall speak No more of this ! What's done is for the best. {Retiring. Officer. A bleached and doting relic of stale time I His best is bad for us. \A squad of Volunteer Militia insultingly surround the Genual^ hooting and groanings 1ST Volunteer. Hull ! hold the fort ! 2ND Volunteer. Resist ! We'll back you up ! Hull. Insolent ruffians ! Some men are here in whose sincerity And courage I have perfect faith — but you ! — Untaught, unmannerly and mutinous — Your muddy hearts would squirm within your ribs If I but gave the order to resist ! You would command me ! You who never learned The simple first note of obedience ! Stand off, nor let me ! I regard you not. Fine Volunteers are you, who mutinied O'er such privations as true soldiers laugh at ! Fine Volunteers ! whom we were forced to coax, And almost drag upon the forest march. Oh, if I had a thousand more of men. SCENE IX. TECUMSEH, 143 A thousand less of things — which is your name — I would defend this Fort, and keep it too. Stand off, and let me pass ! \The General walks off. 1ST Volunteer. The General Talks well, boys, when he's mad ! Enter an Officer. Officer. Fall in! Fallin ! Here come the British troops— the Fort's surrendered ! Enter General Brock and Forces^ with Colors flying and military music. The American soldiers sullenly ground arms, and march out of the Fort. Brock. This is a happy end ! You, Nichol, make — With Proctor — rough lists of our spoils of war. Then join with us in grateful prayers to Heaven. [Exeunt Nichol and Proctor. Enter Tecumseh and Stayeta {the et^ jt wearing Brock's sash) with other Chiefs and Warriors, and Lefroy. Tecumseh. My valiant brother is the rising sun — Our foes the night, which disappears before him ! Our people thank him, and their hearts are his 1 ' 144 TECUMSEH. ACT IV. Brock. Why, here is misdirection ! For their thanks — They fall to you, Tecumseh, more than me ! And, lest what lies in justice should too long Stand in expectancy — 'till thanks seem cold — Take mine, Tecumseh ! for your services Have won, with us, the honours of the day, And you shall share its spoils. Tecumseh. Freedom I prize. And my poor people's welfare, more than spoils I No longer will they wander in the dark ; The path is open, and the sky is clear. We thank you for it all I Brock. Nay, then, our thanks We'll interchange — take mine, as I take thine 1 But how is this ? Is friendship's gift unused ? Where is my brother's sash ? — Tecumseh. That gift, I deemed Conferred on me as on a warrior, And, when I saw a worthier than myself, I could not wear it. 'Tis Stayeta's now — He keeps it 'till he finds a worthier still. Brock. Noble Tecumseh ! thou art still the best ! Men envy their own merit in another — Grudging e'en what's superfluous to themselves — £ But thou — great valour's integer, wouldst share SCENE IX. TECUMSEH. I4S ^ I Its very recompense with all the world ! Here are my pistols — take them from a friend — Nay — take them ! Would I had a richer gift To mark my heart's approval of your worth I Lefroy. This is a noble friendship. Brock. Ah, Lefroy ! What think you now of war ?

saddled in our rear. And with some trusty fellows, stay by them — They may be useful in emergency. \Exit Orderly. If there are seasons in the soul of man, As in the year, it is my bleakest now. How many rail at me, and call me coward, Because with prudent outlook I foresee What can be done and what can not be done ! One must endure ! though to be misconceived ; To find one's actions, and one's qualities Framed in misapprehension ; to be deemed The thing that one is not ; might well offend. But that which guides my life enables me To bear against the rub of false opinion ; So, prudence, miscalled cowardice by those Who count their rashness virtue, tend me still ! SCBNE VI. TECVMSEH. 173 Tecumseh foolishly resolves to die — For who, against such odds, can hope to live ? And, if there is a virtue in mere death, Then is he welcome to his grave and all The honor and the glory death can give. But those who have some business still on earth — Something to do that cannot else be done — Look on this matter, death, with di£ferent eye, As I do now. It is our trumpet call ! My soldiers come ; so let the quick resolve Spur the calm judgment on to execution. SCENE SIXTH.— Tecumseh's part of the Field. V Enter Tecumseh. Tecumseh. This is our summer — when the painted wilds. Like pictures in a dream, enchant the sight. The forest bursts in glory like a flame ! Its leaves are sparks ; its mystic breath the haze Which blends in purple incense with the air. The Spirit of the Woods has decked his home, And put his wonders like a garment on, To flash, and glow, and dull, and fade, and die. Oh, let not manhood fade within my soul ! II m 411 I . lii ' lil «74 TECUMSEH. ACT V. And thou, pale doubt, that hast distracted me— Ye forecasts that would drag my spirit down — Hence and forever fly ! Ye have no place, No business in this breast. My field is here ! Here must my people's cause be lifted up, Or sink to rise no more. [Exit Enter thru American Scouts, looking cautiously about them. 1ST Scout. This is their spot. 2ND Scout. No doubt of it ! 'Tis here they mean to fight. 3RD Scout. I see them coming. Look ! away — away ! \Exeunt, (Firing^ and other sounds of conflict^ are heard from Proctor's fart of the fields and then suddenly stop.) Reenter Tecumseh, with Stay eta and his othet Chiefs and Warriors. Stayeta. The noise of battle rose, and then it ceased Almost upon beginning. This is Svrange. Tecumseh. It is ; ah, Proctor, how my soul mistrusts thee ! Go, some of you, see what this silence means — But, stay — here comes a witness of the fight. SCENE VI. TECUMSEH. «75 Enter Lefroy, out cf breathy af id excited. trasts Lefroy. The line veas broken by a charge of horse. And, in the British quarter, all is lost. Tecumseh. And Proctor — he who meant to leave his bones, If so God willed it — Lefroy. Willed it otherwise ! Upon the instant of attack he fled ; And, seeing this, the line gave way at once. Tecumseh. 'Twas this I feared. He loves his wretched life Too well to leave his vile bones anywhere. Dastard and coward 1 O, the heavens should crack, And dart their lightning down upon this slave 1 How come such creatures 'mongst the breed of men To make their nation blush ? Lefroy. I cannot tell. Like sulphur in rain-channels after storms, Or little frogs, one marvels how they come. But some fought well ; Baby, among the rest, Who now is prisoner. Myself was saved Most strangely by a boy — a youthful brave. Whose arrows helped me in a dangerous spot. I never saw so sweet a lad before. ; ! ji I t| it, i! ! l;]' 176 TECUM8EH, act v. His face I I started when I saw it first — It seemed so like to lena's ! Think you, Could she be here ? Tecumseh. Impossible ! Dahcota Chief. No, no. 'Twas Chaska, of our nation ; one who longs For plumes before his time. He has been seen, Yet is so active that we cannot catch him. Lefroy. Ah, then, 'twas he ! This way he ran before me, Round the rough angle of the lower swamp. Then darted into it. I followed fast. And sought, but could not find him — he was gone. {A flourish of trumpets without^ sounding the advance of the American force.) Stayeta. Hark ! Now the Long-Knives come ! Tecumseh. Yts, now they come. Courage 1 Warriors, courage 1 Let our deeds Take colour from the scene. Now must we fight Like men ; not run like slaves. What matters it To those who fled, and left us, if they fly ? They can join palms, make peace, draw treaties up, And son and father reconciled again, Will clap their hands, and glory in their race Which hath despoiled our own. For us, no peace ..,,1 ACT V, SOEMK VI. TECUUSEH. 1 77 before xnce of come. Save what our axes gain, or, in our graves. Therefore — as men fore-doomed to war or death — Let vatour make excuse that we shall live, And, breathing vengeance, shake our spoilers so That they will reel in terror to the East, From whence they came, and cry — " The West is yoii' s T Oh, warriors, think of all, and strike like men Whose homes are in their hands, whose souls are free. The voice that calls you now will call no more. For something whispers to this fearless heart- Here must I fight, and for my people die 1 Delaware Chief. Then shall we fight and die with you like men. Dahcota Chief. Or live to see you Chief of all our race. A flourish without ^ then enter the American Forces. A fierce hand-to hand conflict begins. Tecumseh. Our foes are turning ! Strike them ! beat them back! Staveta. Pursue ! pursue ! The American Troops retreat fighting. Exeunt Onnes. Enter IenAj from behind. I EN a. I hear yet cannot see The dreadful fray ! My arrows all are spent I' > \' tI m 178 TECUMSEU. ACT V. r'ilji There are a thousand in my quivered heart Could I but match them to this useless bow. What shall I do ? Ah, this is our own tree I It will protect me whilst I wait the end. \iRdires behind a large sugar mapk. Re-enter a small band 0/ Braves, driven back by Soldiers who chase them cut and then return^ 1ST Soldier. Ha, ha, those red-skins fled like hunted wolves ! Away, and start another pack ! [ Exeunt forward, Iena. {Looking out) Alas I Our people 'gin to fly — I fear — I fear. Here comes my love ! O for one arrow more ! Enter Lefrov and an American Officer ^i>hting willA swords. In the struggle they draw abreast of Iena's tree^ and pause. Officer. You are a white man. Lefrov. 1 am a white man. Officer. And what a soulless one are you to leave Your place in civil, good society And herd with savages ; from one extreme To fall away unto the basest side — SCBNB VI. TECUMSEH, 179 The furthest from the humanized world. Lefroy. Nay, I deny it ! Further I would say, My genius leans, like Nature, to all sides. Can love them all at once, and live with all. Officer. So ! so 1 you are a poet, painter, what ? Well, that is nothing ; I must try and kill you. {Theyfi^hi a^ain, and Lefroy disarms the Officer). Lefroy. Now might I kill you if I had the heart. Be prisoner instead ; I cannot kill A man thus, in cold blood. Reenter tivo Soldiers. Officer. 'Tis more than kind. 1ST Soldier. Why, that's our captain there, disarmed — let fly ! My carbine is unloaded. {Sea>nd S ldier ams at Lefroy. Ikna, loith a cry, itaf*s from her shelter i intercepts the fire, and is shot dt:ad). Lefroy. Who is this? Not Chaska ! O, no no — 'tis lena ! I see her now, who could not see my love — Love clear and incorruptible as glass, Love that had dared a monster, wilds and floods — Dare lire, and draw the bo\v that shielded me. Speak to me lena ! No voice — she's dead ! ■41 t 111 hH i8o TECUAfSS//. ACT V. Officer. This is the strangest chapter of ray life- Soldiers stand ofT, and rest upon your arms. LtFROY. Silent for ever ! Oh, my girl I my girl ! Those rich eyes melt ; those lips are sun-warm still — They look like life, yet have no semblant voice. Millions of creatures throng and multitudes Of heartless beings flaunt upon the earth : There's room enough for them ; but thou, dull Fate — Thou cold and partial tender of life's field, That pluck'st the flower, and leav'st the weed to thrive — Thou had'st not room for her ! Oh, I must seek A way out of the rack — I need not live. Officer. The world grows less r^;;ir;. ir every hour : — Is that a girl ? I.EFROV. Yes, yes, but she is dead — And love is left upon the earth to starve. My object's gone, and I am but a shell, A husk, an empty case, or anything That may be kicked about the world. [Exit Lefroy, carrying Iena's doffy. Officer. I see ! I have a tear or two behind these eyes, And they are coming. If he need a friend I know of one. r.,t t^H T V, SCENE vr. TECUMSEH. 181 2ND Soldier. Now, dang me, who'd 'a thought That was a girl 1 Officer. (Turning asidg.) What strange and selfless paths Do skirt the world's hard highway ! I have seen What gives me sight. The tide of battle rolls Back, and our people win, as win they must : But now, methinks, I'll strive with different heart. Come, soldiers, let's away and join the fight. [£xfuni through a by entrance. Reenter Tecumseh's warriors driven back, ami then re- enter Tecumseh, Staveta, and other Chiefs. Tecumseh. Has death died out, that no one now can die? Or are you driven back by fear of it ? O, slaves or men, determine which you are ! Re enter the American troops in pursuit. Staveta. Tecumseh calls! O.i, warriors ! strike ihem down ! Tecumseh L iV K :li!"'. li I t;;i^! 190 NOTES. m I > ■ !' i' '■-''■ I' r in the mysteries of the Metay-win — the most sacred festival of the Algonquin race. To the back of his robe, or to some other part of his person, is affixed the skin and outspread wings of a raven or other bird — the invariable badge of the Prophet's office. Though some Josakeeds are impostors, yet generally they are firm believers in their own powers. They appear to exercise more beneficent func- tions than those of the Medicine-man, and to aim at the moral ele- vation of their people. The Medicine-man, on the other hand, is a juggler and exorcist, whose mysterious doings are a puzzle to the onlooker. He is feared as a man who has dealings with Evil Spirits. Tecumseh'a famous brother assumed to succeed Pen- gasega (the Change-of- Feathers), a Prophet whose death was much lamented amongst the Shawanoes of his jegion. The more sinister functions of a magician he superadded, in order to increase his influ- ence, and further his selfish ambition. Note 4. Page 14. " O Id Shataronta\s grave Sends up its ghost, and Tetaboxtt's hairs White with sad years and counsel." The somewhat sndden rise of the Prophet provoked at first much jealousy amongst certain of his tribe, who felt that he was under- mining them. To counteract it, he instituted a persecution for so.cery, which involved both sexes. Numbers were burnt, in- cluding those named, before Tecumseh, who was absent, could in- terfere. Note 5. Page 17. ** Of Long- Knife forts, encampments, and their chiefs." ****** ** Then he declared he was a Sagana^h." The American, or Yankee, is called by the Indians of the Al- gonqum race Chemokomaun, or the Long-Knife, from the sabre. The Englishman, or Canadian, they call Saganashay, the Ojibway form of the Cree word Aka-yassee : Aka-yas-see-7vuk—" People who have sailed across." These were general names, understood, or made use of by most Indians ; and nations other than the Delaware made use of them, or simply translated them into their NOTES. 191 own tongue, according to their custom. Other names, however, were sometimes given. The Shawanoe^, for example, c\lled the Englishman Metticosea. The Algonquin word Chemo-kotnaun be- came greatly softened in the southern dialects, and is scarcely recog- nizable in the musical Shawanoe word Shemaunthi. Note 6. Page 18. ** /« headship with our Saganash allies.^* Tecumseh, who foresaw a war between England and the United States, 'dreamed of taking part in it, as the leader of an independent power, and of coming in at its successful end as one of the signatories to a treaty of peace, securing the rights of his people. Note 7. Page 19. "And agent sent by General Harrison.'* General William Henry Harrison was bom at Berkley, in Virginia, in 1773, and was the son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, He was aid-de-camp to Gen- eral Wayne in his campaign against the Indians, in 1794, and in 1801 was appointed Governor of the newly-formed'*Indiana Terri- tory, a vast region which, extending from the Ohio to the Missis- sippi, contained at that time but three small settlements of white men, including the old French village of Vincennes. This region was inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians, many of whom culti- vated maize, possessed orchards, and had, on the principal streams, considerable villages, consisting of rude log cabins, but little inferior to those of the early white settlers. The destruction of these towns, as they were called, and the treatment of the aboriginal inhabitants of this region, now constituting numerous populous States, is one of the dark chapters in history. Year by year the [irresistible tide of whites poured into the Territory in ever increasing volume ; and, though Harrison, a man of humane and generous nature, meditated nothing but kind and just treatment of the native races, and warmly advocated it both publicly and privately, yet nothing could restrain the rapacious adventurers who spread themselves everywhere, and looked upon Indian Treaties as so much waste paper To have op- posed their grasping spirit too strongly would have brought upon 192 NOTES. Harrison political extinction, and he was, therefore, it may be taken for granted, compelled to wink at agression and injustice too often veiled under the specious name of progress. Harrison's victory at Tippecanoe won him great repute, and was the precursor of the war of 1812. His subsequent victory, with a greatly superior force, over Tecumseh and Proctor at the Moravian Town, established his fame amongst his countrymen. He shortly afterwards resigned his com- mission, disgusted with unfair treatment at the hands of the Secre- tary of War, and retired to his farm at North Bend, on the Ohio, whence, in 1839, he was called to the Presidency of the United States. He died, deeply regretted by the American people, shortly after his inauguration. Note 8. Page 19. " You are an enemy to the Seventeen Fires. ^* At this time the United States numbered seventeen, and were called by the Indians the Seventeen Fires, in accordance with their own custom of Council Fires, around which all their deliberations took place. Note 9. Page 28, " First comes his pioneer, the bee." It is a curious fact in natural history, that the wild bee has been in America the pioneer of the white man. It is but a few years since it was first seen on the Saskatchewan. ** ffis powers, hiivery weeds, displace our oivn." The European flowers and weeds are usurping the place of the indigenous flora of North America. The white clover, for example, which twenty years ago had only reached the Sauk Valley, in Min- nesota, is now found hundreds of miles further to the north-west. Note 10. Page 32. **So that your lodge o^erflowt with mouffUs sweet. And hips of wapiti, and bedded robes." The moufile is the nose of the moose, or American elk. When boiled for a long time it becomes very tender and jelly-like, and is a delicacy. The wapiti is the American red deer, frequently mis* called the elk. ' sn lis NOTES. 193 Note II. Page 36. " Who fought as devils Jight until the lodge Shook to its base with struggling." The performances of the Indian medicine-men in their medicine lodges are very curious. The lodge is a structure of poles and dressed skins, sometimes large enough to accommodate fifty people. The medicine-man enters it alone, and presently the sounds of alter* tation are heard in an unknown tongue ; flashes of Are issue from the lodge, which begins to rock, and is, at last, so violeatly shaken as to threaten its overthrow. These feats are performed simult ine- ously, and sometimes for prolonged periods. Collusion must be very adroitly employed, for intelligent half-breeds, who have frequently witnessed the performance, assert that there is none. The belief is pre- valent amongst them that the genuine medicine-man possesses ex* traordinary and occult powers ; and, certainly, their performances deserve more investigation than they have yet received. Note 12. Page 37. '* Roped round with scars and cicatrized wounds.^* The initiation of warriors is a solemn ordeal amongst most Indian nations. On reaching manhood the candidate prepares himself for his trial by a severe and sleepless fast lasting several days. This is followed by elaborate religious ceremonies, after which the aspirant, in presence of the chiefs and warriors of his tribe, is subjected to dreadful tortures. Sharp splinters are thrust between the skin and muscles of his breast and back, and from these he is suspended by cords, and turned round slowly, so as to produce excruciating pain which must be borne without a murmur, to be accounted a satisfac- tory test of the candidate's endurance. Other trials and ceremonies follow, and the candidate, if he acquits himself heroically throughout, assumes the status of a trusty warrior of his nation. The marks of this ordeal remain in haid cord-like scars which are ever after the proud evidence of fortitude and unquailing courage. These ordeals are sometimes repeated in after life, and warriors are to be met with on the western plains to-day who exhibit Ave or six rows of these great cicatrices on their breast, back and arms. The preliminary initiation of boys was, and probably is still, practiced by the south • I 194 NOTES, em tribes. It was called the Huskenaw, and began with dancing, in which the old and young of both sexes took part. The boys " ran the gauntlet," and were then confined in the woods for several weeks and fed solely upon roots. The object each boy most frequently dreamt of during this period became his guardian spirit for life. Im- plicit faith is placed by the Indians in dreams, and fasting is often resorted to in order to induce them. If an Indian dream;> of things above the earth, as of stars, clouds, &c., the dream is considered favourable ; if below, the reverse. Note 13. Pages 39 & 42. • " And made their hosts a winter's feast for wolves." I i| i'"' I ii .: IS " And old Kanaukwa, famed when we were young'* General Harmar was defeated in September, 179 1, by Michi- Kanaukwa, or Little Turtle, as he was caUed by the Americans. In the following November General St. Clair f/acs, defeated by the same chief, with great loss. Hundreds of ttie American dead were left unburied on the field, and were devoured by wild animals. After the treaty of Greenville, consequent upon the victory of General Wayne, in 1794, the Little Turtle settled at Eel River, and lived in a house furnished by the American Government. This conduct sub- jected him to the suspicion of his people ; and his equivocal altitude in the negotiation of the Fort Wayne Treaty of 1803 confirmed it. Note 14. Page 42. " And with the peace-pipe sits beside their fire ^^ The calumet — a corruption of the Norman chalumeau was con- stantly employed by the Indians in treaty-making. The Ojibway pipe was made of green porphyry and was called the pwagun. The pipe of the Plain Indians was made of a red sand-stone taken from the ancient pipe-stone quarry in western Minnesota. Note 15. Page 46. '* White wampum^ not the, dark, till we can strike With certain aim. ' Wampum (once greatly valued by the Indians) was made from 9 everal kinds of shells, particularly the mussel, the clam and the J \ NOTES. »95 km conch. Pieces of the thickness of a small clay pipe-stem, and about half an inch in length, were with great labour cut from the enamel, perforated, and strung on sinews, so as to form belts. These, accord- ing to the adjustment and colour, were tribal records or the symbols of peace or war. The colour ol the war-belt was purple or red ; of the peace-belt, white. European traders substituted porcelain for the shell wampum, and degraded its value ; for, like the cowry in India, it was used by the Red Indians as money. It has long been disused. Note 1 6. Page 50. " You*ve heerd 0* them Delaware Moravians, surely." The horrible incident recorded in this passage is an historical fact. The descendants of the remnant that escaped are still in possession of their lands at the Moravian Towns, Ontario, and are still presided over by a Moravian ntiissionary. Note 17. Page 55. " Gold is the King ivho overrides the right." The better class, and thoughtful people of the United States, feel deeply the want of honour in the treatment of the Indians. The late Mrs Helen Hunt Jackson has wiitten a most powerful appeal in their favour, and entitles it ** A Century of Dishonor." Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, in the preface he has written to the work, says : ' ' The sad revelation of broken faith, of violated treaties, and of inhuman deeds of violence will bring a flush of shame to the cheeks of those who love their country." Note 18. Page 56. *• But look at him — look at Tecumseh there — hoiv simple in attire /" Tecumseh had hazel eyes, an aquiline nose, and a somewhat oval countenance. " He was," says Colonel Coffin (Chronicles of the , War of i8l2), " about five feet ten inches in height, and of a well- knit active figure. Contrary to the Indian nature, he had an aversion to external ornament. His invariable costume was the deer*skin coat and fringed pantaloons. Indian moccasins on his feet, and an eagle feather completed his simple and soldierly accoutrements. The foregoing is the gist of minute accounts left by the late Colonel 1 i! ' ' I ii !!:-*H 196 J\rOT£S. Si: Glegg, of Thursteston Hall, Cheshire, General Brock's aidgf and Colonel Hatch, one of General Hull's officers at the surrender of Detroit Note 19. Page 66 " rd put a lump 0' bacon in his mouth to keep his bilM sap o* passion down," In making maple sugar the settler suspends a piece of fat bacon by a string over the cauldron to prevent the sap from boiling over. The Indians use a spray of the balsam spruce for the same purpose. Note 20. Page 80. * ' Each coulie and ravine. *' In Western America certain prairie water-courses are called coulees. The melted snow, etc. is carried off by them in spring, but in summer and winter they are generally quite dry. Note 21. Page 83. ' ' Hark ! * Tis the war song ." Ye-awe ! hi, ya ! whe, ya wha ! a-a-a-a-a, whe, ya wha ! a-a-a-a-a. The foregoing chant, which is taken from Peter Dooyentate Clarke's Origin and Traditional History of the Wyandots, is sub- stantially the same as that now in use by the Indian tribes in the British North- West Territories and elsewhere. This chant, which to the uninstructed on-looker appears to be mere gibberish, is an invocation to the Great Spirit — the changes being rung upon the sacred sylla>les, yo and wah. Yo-he-wah is the Indian's sacred name for the Deity. The sacred syllables enter into the construc- tion of many words applicable to the Deity, such as power, light, goodness, etc., and those who think the Indians descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes connect the Indian word with the Jewish Jehovah. The warriors begin the chant in a high key, the voice gradually falling until the sounds are alraost indistinct, then swelling up to full pitch again. At intervals the chant is interrupted by war whoops. Note 22. Page 89. •* Go bring the braves to view the Mystic Torch And belt of Sacred Beans groivn from myjlesh." See note i concerning the above and the Prophet's Magic Bowl. NOTES. 197 Note 23. Page 93. " Go to the corn-dance, change your name to villain P* The corn-dance is held in the middle of August. Children are named at it, and warriors can then change their names if they choose. Note 24. Page 96. MAJOR'GENKRAL BROCK. This distinguished soldier was born in Guernsey, in 1769— the year which gave Napoleon and Wellington to the world. At the age of fifteen he entered the British army as an ensign, and at twenty-eight became lieutenant^colonel of the 49th Regiment. He served in Holland, and was wounded at the battle of Egmont-ap* Zee, and subsequently took part in Nelson's attack upon Copen- hagen as second in command of the land forces. He was sent to Canada in the spring of 1802, and, after nine years of valuable ser- vice, was advanced to the rank of Major- General, and stationed in the upper Province, where, Lieutenant-Governor Gore having gone to England on leave of absence, he succeeded him as Administrator of the Government of Upper Canada in October, 181 1. He had been for some time negotiating for a transfer to Wellington's com- mand in the Peninsula ; but the breaking out of the war with the United States in 1812 changed all his plans, and his fortunate union of offices gave him control of the civil and military affairs of the Province at the most critical period in its history. Boldness, energy and decision characterized his every movement, infused en- thusiasm into the loyal, confirmed the wavering, and overawed the disaffected ; and so prompt and speedy were his operations, that in eighteen days from his departure with his force from York (now Toronto) he had conquered Michigan Territory, provided for its government, and returned to Fort George. His intention when he left Detroit was to proceed immediately to Sackett's Harbour on Lake Ontario, and destroy the American naval arsenal there. To his mortification he found that an armistice had been proposed by Sir Gf:orge Prevost, and consented to by the American General, Dearborn, the intelligence of which only reached him on his way down Lake Erie. In all likelihood he would have succeeded at Sackett's Harbour, and so prevented the Americans from equipping 198 NOTES. % m m I .r the fleet which gave them the command of Lake Ontario, and en- abled them twice to capture the capital of Upper Canada. Strange to say, after Brock's death this unfortunate armistice was capped by another, granted by General Sheaflfe.at the instance of the American General Smythe, by which ilie Americans were enabled to equip their fleet at Presq' isle, and gain the command of Lake Erie. This pre- ponderance upon the Lake was dreaded by Brock, whose move- ments, however, were paralyzed by the continuous policy of inac- tivity of the Commander-in-Chief. In one of his letters from Fort George he says — " The enemy is making every exertion to gain a naval superiority on both lakes, which if they accomplish I do not see how we can retain the country I shall refrain as long as possible, under your excellency's positive injunctions, from every hostile act, although sensible that each day's delay gives him an advantage. " On the expiry of the first armistice, and when hos- tilities b^[un again. Brock exhibited his usual vigilance and prompt- itude until, on the 13th October, 1812, he met his death gloriously on Queenston Heights. He fell early in the day, but inspired by his example his followers won a complete victory, and signally avenged his death. His monument, erected by the Canadian people on Queenston Heights, is one of the finest in the world, and attests the respect in which his memory is regarded by them, who look upon him as the Americans look upon Washington. His remains, and those of his Canadian aide-de-camp, the gallant Macdonell, who fell in the same battle, rest side by side under the monument. Note 25. Page 96. " HulPs threatened ravage of our western coast." William Hull was bom in Connecticut, and upon the outbreak of the Revolution took service in defence of the revolted colonies. He was present in numerous battles, and after the peace became a col- lector of customs. When well advanced in years he was made Governor of Michigan Territory, and resided in Detroit, then a little village. He was in Washington in the winter of 1812, and, prepa- rations being then afoot preparatory to a declaration of war, he reluc- tantly accepted the appointment of brigadier-general in command of the Ohio volunteer militia, embodied to march upon Detroit with the view of a descent upon Canada, to which he was opposed. The NOTES. 199 Ik of He col- ade ttle pa- uc- of ith he fourth regiment of regulars, which had helped to defeat the Prophet at Tippecanoe, and three regiments of militia, were joined to his com- mand. *^Oni\itmzjch," sa.ys'Loi&xng (Field Book 0/ the IVar of i^\2, note to page 260), "General Hull had been subjected to much annoy- ance from the Ohio volunteers. . . . They were frequently quite insubordinate." . . . This fact was brought out on Hull's trial. "One evening," says Lieutenant Barron, "while at Urbana, I saw a multitude, and heard a noise, and was informed that a company of Ohio volunteers were riding one of their officers on a rail." On arrival at Detroit, Colonel Cass, a young eastern law yer of fire-eat- ing tendencies, in command of the 3rd regiment of volunteers, and others of a kindred spirit, urged a descent upon Canada, which the general opposed, until the arrival of instructions from Washington. These having at last reached him, he issued a boastful and threat- ening proclamation to the people of Canada (the composition of which has been attributed to Cass), and ctossed the Detroit on the I2th July, 1812, but retreated on the 8th of August following. General Brock reached Sandwich, nearly opposite Detroit, on the 15th, and, in conjunction with Tecumseh, quickly matured his scheme of attacking Fort Detroit. The next day Hull capitulated to to a force greatly inferior in numbers, and consisting mainly of Ca- nadian volunteers and Indians. He was subsequently tried by court- martial at Albany, N. Y., in January, 1814, and sentenced to be shot " Mr. Madison pardoned him," says Lossing, " and he re- tired to his farm to live in comparative obscurity, under a cloud of almost universal reproach. " Dispassionate criticism has since to a large extent justified Hull in his conduct. Note 26. Page 97. " Bid Colonel Proctor come.'* It may be thought that the traits of this officer have been too strongly shaded in the drama. There can be no doubt that his re- treat from Amherstburg had its justifiable and prudential side, and what a more daring General, Brock for instance, would have done under the circumstances, one can only conjecture. But General Proctor, by basely casting the blame of the disaster at the Moravian Town upon his troops, weaned from himself all sympathy. He is ' t; '\ i M li; f ■ ili NOT £8. still held in poor remembrance in Canada. The General Order of the Prince Regent confirming the court martial held at Montreal in December, 1 8 14, and ordered to be read at the head of every regi- ment in his Majesty's service, conchides thus : " His royal highness has directed the general officer commanding in Canada, to convey to Major-General Proctor his royal highness's high disapprobation of his conduct ; together with the expression of his royal highness's regret that any officer of the length of service, and the exalted rank he has attained, should be so extremely wanting in professional knowledge, and deficient in those active, energetic qualities which must be required of every officer, but especially of one in the respon- sible situation in which the Major- General was placed." Note 27. Page 103. *^ Enter two U. E. Loyalists, separately.^' On the revolt of the American colonies, in 1776, a large number of the colonists remained loyal to the Crown, and fought under the British colours for the maintenance of a United Empire. They were known as the United Empire Loyalists. At the close of the war these loyalists, driven from their homes, came to the wilderness of Canada, where, under severe hardships and trials, they carved new homes in the forest, under the same flag they had fought so hard to uphold. When the war of 181 2 broke out, the old loyalists and their hardy sons, burning under the recollection of their wrongs, and valuing deeply the privileges they had sacrificed so much to retain, rallied around Brock to defend once more the unity of the Empire. It was this element that gave the tone to public feeling in Upper Canada in 1812. The whole population turned out to fight for Can- ada. Few but the old men, the women, and the children were left at home, in the lonely clearings ; and many instances are recorded of tenderly-nurtured ladies, whose husbands were at the front, being left with the little children, to protect themselves as best they could against the wolves, which at that time often howled around the log cabins of the early settlers. Note 28. Page 108. '• Not mine but thine, thou dull and fatuous House !" In 1812 the House of Assembly of Upper Canada refused to sus- pend the Habeas Corpus Act, though urgently desired to do so by NOTES. 20I log General Brock. The Lower House roughly retlected the crude, Isolated and unprotected condition of Upper Canada. Loyal at heart, it yet contained numbers o'i disaffected members, and others timid and hesitating, who allowed themselves to be cwayed by the boasting and threats of aliens, domiciled in the Province for that very purpose. The invasion of General Hull engendered additional fears and despondency for a time ; and the general procedure of the House was provoking to loyalists of bold and decisive temper. ISote 29. Page 127. *^ Hffw those giant pears Loom 7uith uplifted and high- ancient hecuis Like forest trees! A hundred years ago They, like their owner, had their roots in France. " The remarkable old French pear trees, once plentiful along the Dt:troit river, are now rapidly decaying. The annular rings of one blown down two years ago were found to number one hundred and seventy, so that it must have been planted by the French colonists who founded the settlement of Detroit under de la Mothe Cadillac; in 1701. They are of immense size, and are prodigious bearers ; but, strange to say, cannot be propagated, and before many years will become extinct. Note 30. Page 127. " That hospitable roof Of thine, thou good old Loyalist, Baby.^* The interesting old Baby mansion, at Sandwich, is still standing. The Baby family (pronounced Baw-bee), which ever since th«j con- quest has been distinguished fur its loyalty to the British crown, is one of the most ancient in Canada. The owner of the Sandwich mansion, in 181 2, was Colonel the Hon. James Baby, a son of the Baby who rendered such valuable assistance to Major Gladwyn during Pontiac's investment of Detroit in 1763. Colonel Baby was bom at Detroit, in 1762. He was in the battle of the Thames, and was taken prisoner there by Harrison, who sent him to Chilicothe, in Ohio, where he was detained for many months. His hospitality and kindness of heart were as proverbial as his loyalty, and after many years of active public service, he died at Yoik, now Toronto, I aos NOTES. 1 I IM' in 1833. In early life Colonel Baby was largely engaged in the fur trade — the engrossing occupation of that day— and in the hall of the mansion is still to be seen the hook from which the balance was sus- pended upon which the beaver-packs were weighed. The first room to the right of the hall was occupied by General Brock as his headquarters, and in it he wrote his demand for the surrender of Detroit. General Harrison subsequently made a similar use of the house, and in it have been successively entertained nearly all the Governors of Canada from an early date down to confederation. Note 31. Page 128. " OA, have I eaten of the Spirtt-plant T The wild carrot is called by the Indians Manitou-o-ska-iask, or the Spirit-plant. It has intoxicating and deadly qualities. Note 32. Page 145. *' Here are my pistols — take them from a friend.'''' Brock's presentation of his sash to Tecumseh is said by most writers to have taken place in Detroit. The late Honourable Francois Baby was present when the pistols were presented, and he is the authority for the latter incident, which is less generally known. Note 33. Page 149. *' We heard the crash of battle yesterday. ^^ The Battle of Lake Erie was fought near Put-in-Bay, on 10th September, 1813, and resulted in a victory for the Americans. The sounds of the engagement were distinctly heard at Amherstburg, sixty miles away. Note 34. Pages 149 and 151. *' A fool tvho heats Sheave* s folly at the game. ^* " Force him — Who ivould not face your self— to face fvi thousand T Squire Reynolds, commissary to H. M. forces at Amherstburg, during the war of 1812, in his narrative (see Colonel Coffin's Chron- icle of the War), describes an altercation between Elliott and Proctor which resulted in a challenge. Proctor's responsible position as commander justitied him in refusing to go out. The challenge arose ' I ' M NOTES, 203 out of his half'hearted attack upon For Meigs, in April, 1813, and his disposition to retreat, which was strongly resented by Tecum- seh. "Our father," said the latter, "has brought us here to take the fort ; why don't we take it ? If his children can't do it, give us spades, and we will work like beavers ; we'll eat a way in for him." Proctor's vacillation and want of tact reacted in all directions. He was on bad terms, says Col. Coffin, with his own regiment, the 41st, of which he was Lieut. -Colonel. There was discord amongst the officers, and the men had lost confidence, and suffered besides from malarial fever induced by long-continued outpost duty and exposure. He treated the Canadian volunteer militia badly, says Reynolds. " When they saw his guns on skids (at Fort Meigs), and knew the siege was over, they sent respectfully to ask leave to go home, only to put in a crop for his men and their own children. He sent them home and disarmed them. He tried to disgrace them, but they would not be disgraced, because they knew they did not deserve it. Brock was another sort of man. He thought, and felt, and spoke for the men, and other men loved him, and fought for him, and died for him," A reference to the massacre of prisoners by the Indians at the Raisin River and at old Fort Miami, which so greatly incensed the Americans against General Proctor, may be made here. After the surrender of General Winchester to Proctor in the affair at the for- mer place, a rumour arose that Harrison was advancing rapidly with a large force. Proctor, alarmed at this, beat a needlessly pre- cipitate retreat, leaving not only a number of wounded prisoners but his own wounded and dead. Some of the prisoners were murdered by loose and disorderly Indians who had got at liquor and were drunk, and are said not to have been in the action at all. At the Miami, or Fort Meigs affair, a similar scene was enacted after the capture of an escort, in which Proctor has been much blamed by Americans for non-interference, whilst Tecumseh has been as highly praised for putting an end to the massacre by braining one of the participants with his own axe. Cold-blooded deeds were common to both sides, however, at this period, though too many American historians attribute them solely to the Indians. 3:b; !,; 204 NOTES. Note 35. Page 161. ** He contest Yohiwa I The Great Spirit comes !" I" lien Russell Emerson, in her delightful collection entitled Indian Mythsy extracts from Archaologia Americana^ a description of the Indian ceremonial worship of the sun which suggested this scene. The book referred to is radiant with just thought, and the tender sympathies of a true woman. Note 36, Page 163. ^^The night-sun set in cloud and curling mists Hid the plumed star from sight." In the Algonquin dialects the moon is called tipik-ghezis, or *' the night-sun." The Evening Star is called, the "plumed star." It is also called "the woman's star." {See " J-choolcraft's Legend of Osseo.") Note 37. Page 165. ' * Oh cherish her for she is dear to me As is the Intercessor to your race." The Indian's Intercessor is Nanabush — the Guardian of the Sacred Fire. Nanabush is supposed to be a dialectic name for the Mana- bozho of the Ojibways, who is regarded, says Mr. Schoolcraft, "as the messenger of the Great Spirit sent down to them in the charac- ter of a wise man, and a prophet. But he comes clothed with all the attributes of humanity, as well as the power of performing miracles." Note 38. Page 165. '* Ves for his huskenaw—you call it that." *' ^Tis from the self-piece cut and quilled all li'er — Your gathered edges shoiv not half so ivell." Among the numerous nations who contributed support to Te- cumseh's force were the Dahcotas or Sioux, of the Wisconsin and Up- per Mississippi, numbers of whom were with him at the capture of Detroit and at the battle of the Thames. The Winona of this scene is a Dahcota girl, and her name is that invariably given by a Dah- cota mother to her first-born daughter, viz., " the only one." The Dahcota mocassin is cut out of one piece ; whereas the Delaware, or 1 I NOTES. ao5 Algonquin race, always make theirs with a piece let into the instep, the edges of the sole being turned up and drawn in around it. Some writers say the word Ojibway, frequently written Chippeway, is de- rived from the peculiar fashion of the mocassin, meaning " gathered;" but this is a mistake. The name Ojibway — 0-cheepo-way — is given to the Indians of Lake Superior and the Red Lake region from their peculiar manner of dropping the voice toward the end of a sentence ; cheepo meaning '* tapering," and way, "sound, or voice." Note 39. Page 167. *' All gone I all gone ! naught here but smoking ruins." General Proctor burnt Fort Maiden, the ship-yard, and the pub- lie stores before retreating from Amherstburg. Note 40. Page 1 78. " Ah I this is our own tree.** One of the Indian names for the sugar maple is nen-au-tick, " our own tree." ' With the exception of Tecumseh's protest to Proctor against his retreat from Amherstburg, but a few fragments of his speeches are extant. The author has thought it advisable to include a versified portion of the former in the ist scene cf Act V. The reader will recognize it in the passage beginning : '^'^ Brother, my people are before, you now I" The author has made use of a few other equally well-known utterances of his historical characters, and has kept as close to history as dramatic exigencies would permit. lena and Lefroy, he need scarcely say, are imaginary characters, though not without example in the history of this continent.