Remarks on the character of Tecumseh and the Prophet--Their facilities
for cooperation--Difficulties the latter had to overcome--His
perseverance and ingenuity--Means by which he protected his
person--Anecdotes of the Battle of Tippecanoe--Frankness of Tecumseh in
disclosing his schemes--Causes of his hostility to the
Americans--Trespasses of the whites, and other abuses--Object of the
belligerent combination--Anecdotes of Tecumseh's first visit to
Vincennes, in 1810--His dignity, independence and courage--His ideas of
the British policy--His speech to General Proctor, and remarks on his
oratory--His humanity--His genius.
The reputation of the Prophet has suffered from the complete ultimate
failure of his plans. It has suffered the more from the very
circumstances, which mark him as an extraordinary man,--his career as a
prophet. Tecumseh knew his own talent better than to play a game like
this; but he also knew, without doubt, that Elskwatawa was capable of
doing more for the advancement of their common object, by acting this
coordinate or subordinate part, than by adopting the same course with
himself, even had he possessed the same species of ability. Together, they
were endowed with a complete system of qualities necessary to accomplish
their design; but neither could act alone. Tecumseh was frank, warlike,
persuasive in his oratory, popular in his manners, irreproachable in his
habits or life. Elskwatawa had more cunning than courage; and a stronger
disposition to talk, than to fight, or exert himself in any other way. But
he was subtle, fluent, persevering and self-possessed; and this was
enough. He became an inspired man, and Tecumseh was his first convert.
Others of the tribe might be intrusted with the secret. They had, at all
events, a great respect for these men; and being both a proud and warlike
people, they received with avidity the well-contrived doctrine of their
superiority over other tribes, and entered upon a course of projects
likely to produce war,--though of war nothing might yet be seen or
said,--with the fury of bloodhounds upon a track.
Hence the murders and robberies which so much alarmed and irritated the
frontier settlers, and which we have very little doubt were generally
committed by individuals of the Prophet's "banditti," without his
authority, and perhaps against his wishes. His young men, especially, like
those who brought on Philip's war, were wrought up till the master-spirit
himself lost his control over them; and to make the matter worse, most of
them were of such a character, in the first instance, that horse-stealing
and house-breaking were as easy to them as breathing. Like the refugees of
Romulus, they were outcasts, vagabonds and criminals,--in a great degree
brought together by the novelty of the preacher's reputation, by curiosity
to hear his doctrines, by the fascination of extreme credulity, by
restlessness, by resentment against the whites, and by poverty and
unpopularity at home.
These things should be taken into consideration, when the success of the
Prophet is estimated. His ingenuity was tasked to the utmost, in getting
and keeping these people together in the first place. Then it was
necessary to instruct them just so far, as to put them in the way of
preparing themselves for what might happen, and to make them serviceable
in collecting and convincing others, without committing the cause too
unreservedly to noisy tongues, and to rash hands. Then complaints were
made by American authorities, and these must be pacified. Offers of
assistance came in from other quarters, and these must be kept secret. At
other times, the banditti were reduced to an extreme scarcity of
provisional as might be expected from the numbers collected together, and
the kind of life which they led. At first, they were given to understand
that corn and pumpkins would be raised for them supernaturally; but the
Prophet deemed it easier on the whole to produce these essential articles
by other means,--and here was another reason for maintaining a good
understanding with his American neighbors. Hence he gave out that he
proposed visiting the Governor at Vincennes, with the view of begging
provisions,--"for the white people had always encouraged him to preach the
word of God to the Indians." This purpose was carried into execution; and
on that occasion it was, that the Governor was "completely deceived," by
the Prophet's appearance and language. So late as 1811, a quantity of salt
was sent up the Wabash for the Prophet's use, together with another
quantity intended for the Kickapoos and other Indians. He seems to have
balanced some time between necessity and policy before this temptation,
but finally adopted the middle course of detaining the entire cargo, and
sending a very civil apology to the Governor in payment.
On the whole, we are inclined to put small faith in the popular theory
which represents the Prophet as a _fool._ Possibly he assumed that
character on some occasions, knowing the proverbial reverence of the
Indians for an idiot. Allowance should be made also for the reaction
produced by his failure at Tippecanoe, although his influence was in some
degree restored after that event,--the misfortune being sagely attributed
by many to the important circumstance of his wife having touched some of
his sacred utensils. Nothing but a series of triumphs on the part of the
American forces, the death of his brother, and the loss of all his best
friends of his own tribe, (for the Kishopokes were reduced to about twenty
warriors during the war,) finally destroyed his character as a _Prophet._
When this was effected, it was human nature to degrade him below the level
of a _man._
It might have been expected, that a person of his pretensions, with so
many rivals and enemies, would be exposed to the hazard of assassination.
But here again he was on his guard; for it was always one of his strong
positions, that the least violence offered to him or his followers, would
be punished by the immediate interposition of the Great Spirit. The
religious character, indeed, was sustained to the last. The Delaware
messengers already mentioned found his forces at Tippecanoe in the highest
state of excitement, owing to his magical rites, his harangues, and the
war-dance which he performed with them day and night. Hence the unexampled
bravery manifested in the attack upon the American army. They rushed on
the very bayonets of our troops; and in some instances, pressing aside the
soldier's musket, they brained him with the war-club. The Prophet,
meanwhile, is said to have been comfortably seated on an adjacent
eminence, singing a war-song. He had assured his followers, that the
American bullets would do them no harm; and that, while they should have
light, their enemies should be involved in thick darkness. [FN] Soon after
the battle commenced, he was told that the Indians were falling. "Fight
on! fight on!" cried he, never at a loss, "It will soon be as I
predicted;" and he howled his war-song louder than ever.
* * * * *
[FN] He was not so much out of the way in this prediction, as in some
others. McAfee observes, that the _campfires,_ so long as they remained
burning, were "more serviceable to the Indians than our men."
The character of Tecumseh appears so fully in the course he pursued, as to
require but brief comment. While the Prophet resorted without hesitation
to all the wiles of Indian cunning and stratagem, for effecting his own
purposes, and for thwarting those of his opponents, his course was as
manly and dignified as it was prompt. He was certainly under no obligation
to disclose his schemes, and yet he appears never to have taken much pains
to conceal them. We know that he was suspected, and accused, of having
actively engaged in inducing general hostility, as well as instigating
particular outrages among the frontier tribes, for several years before
much was actually known of him. This may have been the case, and it may
not; the evidence amounts to nothing, and the suspicion and accusation
alluded to, like the offences themselves, are very easily accounted for
upon other and obvious grounds. There is no necessity, then, of going at
length into the history of the Western country for the last half century,
to point out the real grounds of complaint and the real provocations to
hostility, which Tecumseh, or his brother, or any other Indian of
information and reflection, might have alleged on the part of the tribes,
against the American Government or the American people. This would be
justifying what we do not admit. It is sufficient to observe that quite
enough had occurred, to furnish plausible pretexts for all that the
Chieftain is known to have done or attempted to do.
Governor Harrison stated in his annual message, for 1809, to the Indiana
Legislature, that owing to defects in the Federal law, "every person has
been allowed to trade with the Indians that pleases; _which proves a
source of numberless abuses,_ of mischievous effect both to them and
ourselves." Two years before, we find an opinion advanced by the same
excellent authority on a similar occasion, that "the utmost efforts to
induce them (the Indians) to take up arms would be unavailing, _if one
only, of the many persons who have committed murders on their people,
could be brought to punishment._" To illustrate the truth of this remark,
we may mention the murder of a Creek Indian at Vincennes, early in 1810,
and of course subsequently to the particular transactions alluded to in
the message. He was shot by a white man, an Italian trader, upon the
pretext that the Indian, who was intoxicated, had shown a disposition to
do him some injury. The Governor discharged _his_ duty by causing the
Italian to be arrested and tried; but, in the language of our informant,
"as in too many other cases, acquittal was the consequence." [FN] We are
farther told, that about the same time, two Indians were wounded by a
white man, at a few miles distance from Vincennes. The occurrence of
circumstances of this nature is said to have been a source of great
embarrassment and vexation to Governor Harrison; but in this case, he
could only send out,--not a constable for the aggressor, for that course
had been sufficiently tried,---but a surgeon for the wounded men, who both
finally recovered.
* * * * *
[FN] Dawson's Narrative.
It cannot be doubted, that the character of these proceedings was well
understood, and indignantly resented by all the tribes which obtained
knowledge of them,--as most of them did in the course of their own
experience. The house of a white man in Ohio was robbed, during this same
summer, by a member of the Delaware tribe, so famous for its faithful, and
more than faithful adherence to the American cause. According to the
stipulations of Wayne's treaty, expressly provided for giving up criminals
to the parties respectively injured,--and scrupulously observed up to this
date, we should add, on the part of the Indians,--the robber in the
present instance was demanded of the Delawares. The answer was, that the
nation never would give up another man, until some of the white people
were punished, who had murdered members of their tribe; they would however
punish him themselves. And they did accordingly put him to death.
But all these were trifling causes of irritation, compared with those
which had occurred at various periods, in the treaties and other
negotiations, public and private, whereby immense quantities of territory
had been obtained of the Indians. It is not intended to insinuate, that
the Government was in fault upon any of these occasions. But in the
transaction of affairs of this nature, to such an extent, at such a
distance, by the instrumentality of agents,--as likely as any other men to
be sometimes ignorant, insolent, and avaricious,--offences must needs
come. On the other hands, in cases wherein the Government was not even
nominally concerned, (whatever the understanding of the vendors might be
upon that point) the most flagitious deception had been practised. In
still other instances, where the conduct of the purchasers was
unobjectionable, there were conflicting claims to territory, which one or
more tribes, or portions of tribes, or perhaps individual chiefs,
nevertheless undertook to convey. Owing to these and similar causes, the
Indians had very generally become extremely suspicious of proposals for
the purchase of land.
They perceived, too, independently of any unfair dealing upon either side,
that the white population was advancing upon them with the most formidable
rapidity. Something must be done, then, in self-defence. Setting aside
past impositions, it was absolutely necessary to prevent them for the
future; and setting aside all imposition, it was necessary to raise some
universal and effectual barrier against inroads of any kind, in any
quarter. It is recorded, accordingly, by an historian already cited, that
the agitation among the Indians at this time was accounted for by some of
them, by saying, that they were endeavoring to effect what had frequently
been recommended to them by the United States, viz; _a more cordial union
among the various tribes._ The writer considers this an "attempt at
deception;" but yet his facts would seem to outweigh his opinion. War
might or might not be anticipated as an ultimate resort, in offence or
defence; and "British agitators" might or might not be actually engaged,
as certainly they were interested, in producing that result, and preparing
the tribes for it. But it appears to us, there can be no reasonable doubt,
that an effective and cordial union of the tribes, for the purposes just
mentioned, was actually the precise object in view. It certainly was the
leading principle in the schemes of Tecumseh.
That principle he never disavowed. He declared it in the most open manner,
on every suitable occasion; and with it, the cogent reasoning upon which
in his mind it was founded. In July 1810, he conversed very fully upon the
subject with a person sent to his brother by the Governor of Indiana, to
dissuade him from war and to gain information of his views. He said that
the Great Spirit had given this great island,--meaning the American
continent,--to his red children; but the whites, who were placed on the
other side of the big water, not content with their share, had crossed
over--seized upon the coast--driven the Indians from the sea to the
lakes--and undertaken to say that this tract belongs to one tribe, this to
another, and so on--when _the Great Spirit had made it the common property
of them all._ "They had retreated far enough,--they would go no farther."
He at the same time disclaimed having intended to make war, but expressed
his opinion that it would not be possible to preserve peace, unless the
Indian principle of common property should be recognized, and the progress
of the white settlements discontinued. He then proposed going to
Vincennes, for the purpose of convincing the Governor that matters had
been mis-represented to him.
The visit accordingly took place in August; and he then states most
distinctly,--Mr. Dawson's phrase is, "in the broadest manner,"--that his
policy had been to establish and extend the principle of common property
as a means of necessary self-defence; that the tribes were afraid of being
pushed back into the lakes, and were therefore determined to make a stand
where they now were. At the formal interview which ensued, Tecumseh, who
was attended by a body of followers, manifested so much irritation, that
the Governor apprehended an attack upon the spot; the citizens were
alarmed; troops were called in; and a scene of great confusion ensued. But
although the proud Chieftain apologized for this demonstration of spirit
at the next conference, and then appeared perfectly cool, he still
persisted in the statements made in the outset. When asked by the
Governor, whether it was his intention to prevent the surveying of a
certain territory, recently purchased, he answered, "that himself and
those who were joined with him were determined that the old boundary
should continue."
The Governor afterwards visited him at his camp, for the purpose of
sounding him privately. Being asked if his intentions were really what he
had openly avowed, he replied that they were. He had no complaint to make
against the United States, but their purchasing the Indian land as they
did; and he should very much regret the necessity of making war for this
single cause. On the contrary, he was, anxious to be upon good terms with
them. If the President would give up the late purchase, and agree to make
no more in the same manner, he would even become their ally, and would
_fight with them against the English;_ if these terms could not be
complied with, he should be obliged to fight with the English against
them. The Governor assured him that the President should be informed of
his views, but also expressed his opinion, that there was no prospect of
their being acceded to. "Well!" answered the warrior, "as the Great Chief
is to determine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough
in his head, to induce him to give up the land. True, he is so far off,
that the war will not injure him. He may sit still in his town and drink
his wine, while you and I will have to fight it out."
At the last conference which took place previously to the battle of
Tippecanoe, it is stated that his designs were more completely developed,
than ever before. [FN] And this, it should be observed, was his own
voluntary and deliberate disclosure. "The States had set the example," he
said, "of forming a union among all the fires,--why should they censure
the Indians for following it?" He had now succeeded in combining the
Northern tribes, and he was about visiting the South, for the purpose of
completing the scheme. But war, if it ensued, would be, no fault of his.
He hoped that the Governor would prevent settlements from being made on
the new purchase till he returned from his journey in the Spring. He would
then visit the President himself at his leisure, and the matter should be
settled with him.
* * * * *
[FN] Dawson's Narrative, p. 182.
This speech has been called "an artful evasion, easily seen through." It
appears to us, on the contrary, to be a model of manly frankness. The
Orator did not expressly state, indeed, that the combination alluded to,
anticipated the possibility or probability of war. But this was
unnecessary. It was the natural inference in any reasonable mind. It had
been frequently so stated and so understood; and repetition could only
exasperate. On the whole, Tecumseh seems to have manifested a noble
dignity in disavowal and discussion of his policy, equaled only by the
profound sagacity in which it originated, and the intelligent energy which
conducted it, against every opposition and obstacle, so nearly to its
completion. He might be wrong, but it is evident enough he was sincere.
As for British instigation, we need not suggest the distinction between a
disposition upon their part, and a counter disposition upon his; or
between himself and the motley multitude of fanatical and ferocious
vagabonds, who, unfortunately, formed a large part of the Prophet's first
congregation, and some of whom were as troublesome to each other and to
him, as they were to the white settlers. Outrages were committed, as we
have seen, on both sides,--and criminals refused to be given over to
justice by both,--the Indians copying, in this respect, the example of the
American authorities. But we need not pursue the subject. The best
existing evidence with regard to Tecumseh's particular interest in it,
seems to be his own, which has been given.
Nor can it be doubted, that he perfectly understood the policy of the
English. He told Governor Harrison, when he declared the necessity which
might arise of an alliance with them, that he knew they were always urging
the Indians to war for their own advantage, and not to benefit his
countrymen. "And here," we are told, [FN] "he clapped his hands, and
imitated a person hallooing at a dog, to set him fighting with another,
thereby insinuating that the British thus endeavored to set the Indians on
the Americans." The truth is, he was too proud for a subordinate part. His
confederates might do as they chose, but for himself, he would maintain
the dignity of a free man, and a warrior. He abandoned his plan of
visiting the President, because he could not be received as the head of
the deputation. It is said, that, in the last conference at Vincennes, he
found himself, at the end of a long and energetic speech, unprovided with
a seat. Observing the neglect, Governor Harrison directed a chair to be
placed for him, and requested him to accept it. "Your Father," said the
interpreter, "requests you to take a chair." "My Father!"--replied the
chief,--"The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother; I will repose
upon her bosom." And he adjusted himself on the ground in the Indian
manner.
* * * * *
[FN] Dawson's Narrative, p 159.
A qualified remark has been made upon his courage; but his uniform conduct
during the war, is certainly sufficient to establish this point beyond
controversy. The same may be said of the fearlessness shown in his visits
to Vincennes; and especially in his exposure of himself on that occasion,
though he must have perceived that he was feared, suspected, and even
guarded by large bodies of troops, drawn out for that express purpose. It
is very illustrative of the apparent diversity in the character of
Elskwatawa and his own in this respect, that when the Delawares sent a
deputation of chiefs to break up the Prophet's settlement at Tippecanoe,
the latter would not deign, as Mr. Dawson expresses it, to give them an
interview; but despatched his brother to them, "whose threats or
persuasions were sufficient to drive back the chiefs, with strong
indications of terror."
When General Proctor began to prepare for retreating from Malden,
Tecumseh, having learned his intention, demanded an interview, and, in the
name of all the Indians, delivered an animated speech. If the spirit,
which it manifests, could have had its intended effect in inducing the
General to fight before he retreated, the result must at least have been
more glorious, if not more favorable to his cause.
"Father!--Listen to your children! You have them now all before you.
"The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red
children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that war
our father was thrown flat on his back by the Americans, and our father
took them by the hand without our knowledge. We are afraid that our father
will do so again at this time.
"Summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren, and was
ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told
not to be in a hurry--that he had not yet determined to fight the
Americans.
"Listen!--When war was declared, our father stood up and gave us the
tomahawk, and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans--that
he wanted our assistance--and that he would certainly get us our lands
back, which the Americans had taken from us.
"Listen!--You told us, at that time, to bring forward our families to this
place, and we did so. You also promised to take care of them--they should
want for nothing, while the men would go and fight the enemy--that we need
not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrison--that we knew nothing
about them--and that our father would attend to that part of the business.
You also told your red children that you would take good care of your
garrison here, which made our hearts glad.
"Listen!--When we were last at the Rapids it is true we gave you little
assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like ground-hogs.
"Father, listen!--Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we
have heard the great guns; [FN-1] but we know nothing of what has happened
to our father with one arm. [FN-2] Our ships have gone one way, and we are
much astonished to see our father tying up every thing and preparing to
run away the other, without letting his red children know what his
intentions are. You always told us to remain here, and take care of our
lands; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great
father, the king, is the head, and you represent him. You always told us
you would never draw your foot off British ground. But now, father, we see
you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father doing so without
seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to a fat dog, that
carries its tail upon its back, but when affrighted, it drops it between
its legs and runs off."
* * * * *
[FN-1] Alluding to Perry's Victory.
[FN-2] Commodore Barclay.
"Father, listen!--The Americans have not yet defeated us by land--neither
are we sure that they have done so by water--we therefore wish to remain
here, and fight our enemy, should they make their appearance. If they
defeat us, we will then retreat with our father.
"At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly defeated
us; and when we returned to our father's fort, at that place the gates
were shut against us. We were afraid that it would now be the case; but
instead of that, we now see our British father preparing to march out of
his garrison.
"Father!--You have got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent
for his red children. If you have an idea of going away, give them to us,
and you may go and welcome for us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great
Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it be his will, we
wish to leave our bones upon them."
This celebrated speech is probably as good a specimen as any on record, of
the eloquence of Tecumseh. It was a natural eloquence, characteristic, as
all natural eloquence must be, of the qualities of the man. As Charlevoix
says of the Canadian savages, it was "such as the Greeks admired in the
barbarians,"--strong, stern, sententious, pointed, perfectly undisguised.
It abounded with figures and with graphic touches, imprinted by a single
effort of memory or imagination, but answering all the purposes of
detailed description, without its tediousness or its weakness. The
President was "drinking his wine in his town," while Tecumseh and Harrison
were fighting it out over the mountains. The Indians were hallooed upon
the Americans, like a pack of starved hounds. The British nation was our
great Father, and our great Father was laid flat on his back. So the
policy of the United States, in extending their settlements, was a mighty
water, and the scheme of common property in the tribes, was a dam to
resist it. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] McAfee's History, p. 17.
Tecumseh belonged to a nation "noted," as Mr. Heckewelder describes them,
"for much talk," as well as for hard fighting; and he was himself never at
a loss for words, though he used them with a chariness which might be
imitated without disadvantage by some of our modern orators. It was only
when he spoke for the explanation or vindication of that great cause to
which his whole heart and mind were devoted, that he indulged himself in
any thing beyond the laconic language of necessity. His appearance was
always noble--his form symmetrical--his carriage erect and lofty--his
motions commanding--but under the excitement of his favorite theme, he
became a new being. The artifice of the politician, the diffidence of the
stranger, the demure dignity of the warrior, were cast aside like a cloak.
His fine countenance lighted up with a fiery and haughty pride. His frame
swelled with emotion. Every posture and every gesture had its eloquent
meaning. And then language, indeed,--the irrepressible outbreaking of
nature,--flowed glowing from the passion-fountains of the soul.
We have drawn the portrait of this eminent chieftain hitherto, only so far
as to sketch some of those strongly-marked lineaments by which he was best
known to his contemporaries, and by which he will be longest remembered.
But there was something more in his character than strong savage talent
and savage feeling. Injured and irritated as he often was, and constantly
as he kept himself excited by an interest in the fate of his countrymen,
and by the agitation of his own schemes, there is no evidence either of
coarseness in his manners, or of cruelty in his conduct. For reasons
easily to be imagined, he regarded Governor Harrison with less partiality,
than most other individual Americans; and hence, the British General is
said to have stipulated early in the war, that the Governor, if taken
prisoner, should be _his_ captive. But he is understood to have always
treated that gentleman with such courtesy, that we apprehend, had this
_casus-faedris_ unfortunately occurred, he would have gloried only in
conveying him off the battle-field in the manner of the Black-Prince, and
in setting before him, with the royal munificence of Massasoit, all the
dry pease in his wigwam.
When the Governor proposed to him, on his first visit to Vincennes in
1810, that, in the event of a war, he would as far as possible put a stop
to the cruelties which the Indians were accustomed to inflict upon women
and children, and others no longer in a situation to resist,--he readily
gave his assent to the proposition, and voluntarily pledged himself to
adhere to it. There is reason to believe, that he remembered this promise;
and that amidst temptations and provocations,--and, many would be inclined
to add, examples, from an authority he might have been supposed to
respect,--of a most extraordinary nature.
In one of the sorties from Fort Meigs, a hundred or more of the American
garrison were taken prisoners, and put into Fort Miami. Here, McAfee and
others relate that the British Indians garnished the surrounding rampart,
and amused themselves by loading and firing at the crowd within, or at
particular individuals. This proceeding is said to have continued nearly
two hours, during which time twenty of the unfortunate prisoners were
massacred. The chiefs were at the same time holding a council, to
determine the fate of the residue. A blood-thirsty mob of cut-throat
Pottawatamies were warmly in favor of despatching them all on the spot,
while the Wyandots and Miamies opposed that course. The former prevailed;
and had already systematically commenced the work of destruction, when
Tecumseh, descrying them from the batteries, came down among them,
reprimanded the ring-leaders for their dastardly barbarity in murdering
defenceless captives in cold blood, and thus saved the lives of a
considerable number. That all this was done by express permission of the
English commander, and in presence of the English army, as is farther
stated, it does not belong to us, in the pursuit of our present subject,
either to assert or prove. If there be any truth in the charge, or in a
tithe of those of the same character which have been brought against the
same party, the sooner the veil of oblivion is dropped over them, the
better.
In fine, the character of Tecumseh, in whatever light it be viewed, must
be regarded as remarkable in the highest degree. That he proved himself
worthy of his rank as a general officer in the army of his Britannic
Majesty, or even of his reputation as a great warrior among all the
Indians of the North and West, is, indeed, a small title to distinction,
Bravery is a savage virtue; and the Shawanees are a brave people,--as too
many of the American nation have ascertained by experience. His oratory
speaks more for his genius. It was the utterance of a great mind, roused
by the strongest motives of which human nature is susceptible, and
developing a power and a labor of reason, which commanded the admiration
of the civilized, as justly as the confidence and pride of the savage. But
other orators, too, have appeared among his countrymen, as eloquent and as
eminent as Tecumseh, wherever the same moving causes and occasions could
give birth and scope to the same emulous effort. And the mere oratory, in
all these cases, was not so much an absolute vindication, as a naked and
meagre index of the mighty intellect and noble spirit within. Happily for
the fame of Tecumseh, other evidences exist in his favor,--such as were
felt as well as heard in his own day,--such as will live on the pages of
civilized history, long after barbarous tradition has forgotten them. He
will be named with Philip and Pontiac, "the agitators" of the two
centuries which preceded his own. The schemes of these men
were,--fortunately for the interest which they lived and labored to
resist,--alike unsuccessful in their issue; but none the less credit
should for _that_ reason be allowed to their motives or their efforts.
They were still statesmen, though the communities over which their
influence was exerted, were composed of red men instead of white. They
were still patriots, though they fought only for wild lands and for wild
liberty. Indeed, it is these very circumstances that make these very
efforts,--and especially the extraordinary degree of success which
attended them,--the more honorable and the more signal; while they clearly
show the necessity of their ultimate failure, which existed in the nature
of things. They are the best proof, at once, of genius and of principle.