_Enter_ CHORUS.
War is declared, unnatural and wild,
By Revolution's calculating sons!
So leave the home of mercenary minds,
And wing with me, in your uplifted thoughts,
Away to our unyielding Canada!
There to behold the Genius of the Land,
Beneath her singing pine and sugared tree,
Companioned with the lion, Loyalty.
SCENE FIRST.--A ROOM IN FORT GEORGE.
[_Enter_ GENERAL BROCK _reading a despatch from
Montreal_.]
BROCK. Prudent and politic Sir George Prevost!
Hull's threatened ravage of our western coast,
Hath more breviloquence than your despatch.
Storms are not stilled by reasoning with air,
Nor fires quenched by a syrup of sweet words.
So to the wars, Diplomacy, for now
Our trust is in our arms and arguments
Delivered only from the cannon's mouth!
[_Rings_.]
[_Enter an_ ORDERLY. ]
ORDERLY. Your Exc'llency?
BROCK. Bid Colonel Proctor come!
[_Exit Orderly_.]
Now might the head of gray Experience
Shake o'er the problems that surround us here.
I am no stranger to the brunt of war,
But all the odds so lean against our side
That valour's self might tremble for the issue,
Could England stretch its full, assisting hand
Then might I smile though velvet-footed time
Struck all his claws at once into our flesh;
But England, noble England, fights for life,
Couching the knightly lance for liberty
'Gainst a new dragon that affrights the world.
And, now, how many noisome elements
Would plant their greed athwart this country's good!
How many demagogues bewray its cause!
How many aliens urge it to surrender!
Our present good must match their present ill,
And, on our frontiers, boldest deeds in war,
Dismay the foe, and strip the loins of faction.
[_Enter_ COLONEL PROCTOR. ]
Time waits not our conveniency; I trust
Your preparations have no further needs.
PROCTOR. All is in readiness, and I can leave
For Amherstburg at once.
BROCK. Then tarry not,
For time is precious to us now as powder.
You understand my wishes and commands?
PROCTOR. I know them and shall match them with
obedience.
BROCK. Rest not within the limit of instructions
If you can better them, for they should bind
The feeble only; able men enlarge
And shape them to their needs. Much must be done
That lies in your discretion. At Detroit
Hull vaunts his strength, and meditates invasion,
And loyalty, unarmed, defenceless, bare,
May let this boaster light upon our shores
Without one manly motion of resistance.
So whilst I open Parliament at York,
Close it again, and knit our volunteers,
Be yours the task to head invasion off.
Act boldly, but discreetly, and so draw
Our interest to the balance, that affairs
May hang in something like an even scale,
Till I can join you with a fitting force,
And batter this old Hull until he sinks.
So fare-you-well--success attend your mission!
PROCTOR. Farewell, sir! I shall do my best in this,
And put my judgment to a prudent use
In furtherance of all.
[_Exit_ PROCTOR.]
BROCK. Prudent he will be--'tis a vice in him.
For in the qualities of every mind
There's one o'ergrows, and prudence in this man
Tops all the rest. 'Twill suit our present needs.
But, boldness, go with me! for, if I know
My nature well, I shall do something soon
Whose consequence will make the nation cheer,
Or hiss me to my grave.
[_Re-enter_ ORDERLY. ]
ORDERLY. Your Exc'llency,
Some settlers wait without.
BROCK. Whence do they come?
[_Enter_ COLONEL MACDONELL.]
ORDERLY. From the raw clearings up Lake Erie, Sir.
BROCK. Go bring them here at once. [_Exit_
ORDERLY.] The very men Who meanly shirk their service
to the crown!
A breach of duty to be remedied,
For disaffection like an ulcer spreads
Until the caustic ointment of the law,
Sternly applied, eats up and stays corruption.
[(_Enter_ DEPUTATION OF YANKEE SETTLERS).]
Good morrow, worthy friends; I trust you bear
Good hopes in loyal hearts for Canada.
1ST SETTLER. That kind o' crop's a failure in our
county.
Gen'ral, we came to talk about this war
With the United States. It ain't quite fair
To call out settlers from the other side.
BROCK. From it yet on it too! Why came you thence?
Is land so scarce in the United States?
Are there no empty townships, wilds or wastes
In all their borders but you must encroach
On ours? And, being here, how dare you make
Your dwelling-places harbours of sedition
And furrow British soil with alien ploughs
To feed our enemies? There is not scope,
Not room enough in all this wilderness
For men so base.
2ND SETTLER. Why, General, we thought
You wanted settlers here.
BROCK. Settlers indeed
But with the soldier's courage to defend
The land of their adoption. This attack
On Canada is foul and unprovoked;
The hearts are vile, the hands are traitorous
That will not help to hurl invasion back.
Beware the lariat of the law! 'Tis thrown
With aim so true in Canada it brings
Sedition to the ground at every cast.
1ST SETTLER. Well, General, we're not your British
sort,
But if we were we know that Canada
Is naught compared with the United States.
We have no faith in her, but much in them.
BROCK. You have no faith! Then take a creed from me!
For I believe in Britain's Empire, and
In Canada, its true and loyal son,
Who yet shall rise to greatness, and shall stand
At England's shoulder helping her to guard
True liberty throughout a faithless world.
Here is a creed for arsenals and camps,
For hearts and heads that seek their country's good;
So, go at once, and meditate on it!
I have no time to parley with you now--
But think on this as well! that traitors, spies,
And aliens who refuse to take up arms,
Forfeit their holdings, and must leave this land,
Or dangle nearer Heaven than they wish.
So to your homes, and ponder your condition.
[_Exeunt Settlers ruefully_.]
This foreign element will hamper us.
Its alien spirit ever longs for change,
And union with the States.
MACDONELL. O fear it not,
Nor magnify the girth of noisy men!
Their name is faction, and their numbers few.
While everywhere encompassing them stands
The silent element that doth not change;
That points with steady finger to the Crown--
True as the needle to the viewless pole,
And stable as its star!
BROCK. I know it well,
And trust to it alone for earnestness,
Accordant counsels, loyalty and faith.
But give me these--and let the Yankees come!
With our poor handful of inhabitants,
We can defend our forest wilderness,
And spurn the bold invader from our shores.
[_Re-enter_ ORDERLY.]
ORDERLY. Your boat is ready, sir!
BROCK. Man it at once--I shall forthwith to York.
[_Exeunt_.]
SCENE SECOND.--YORK THE CAPITAL OF UPPER CANADA. THE
SPACE IN FRONT OF OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
[_Enter two_ U. E. LOYALISTS, _separately_.]
1ST U.E. LOYALIST. Well met, my friend! A stirrer like
myself.
2ND U. E. LOYALIST. Yes, affairs make me so. Such
stirring times
Since Brock returned and opened Parliament! Read you
his speech?
1ST U. E. LOYALIST. That from the Throne?
2ND U.E. LOYALIST. Ay, that!
1ST U.E. LOYALIST. You need not ask, since 'tis on
every tongue,
Unstaled by repetition. I affirm
Words never showered upon more fruitful soil
To nourish valour's growth.
2ND U. E. LOYALIST. That final phrase--
Oh it struck home: a sentence to be framed
And hung in every honourable heart
For daily meditation.
"_We are engaged in an awful and eventful contest. By
unanimity and dispatch in our councils, and by vigour
in our operations, we may teach the enemy this lesson,
that a country defended by free men, enthusiastically
devoted to the cause of their king and constitution,
can never be conquered._"
1ST U. E. LOYALIST. That reaches far; a text to fortify
Imperial doctrine and Canadian rights.
Sedition skulks, and feels its blood a-cold,
Since first it fell upon the public ear.
2ND U. E. LOYALIST. There is a magic in this soldier's
tongue.
O language is a common instrument;
But when a master touches it--what sounds!
1ST U. E. LOYALIST. What sounds indeed!
But Brock can use his sword
Still better than his tongue. Our state affairs,
Conned and digested by his eager mind
Draw into form, and even now his voice
Cries, Forward! To the Front!
2ND U. E. LOYALIST. Look--here he comes!
1ST U.E. LOYALIST. There's matter in the wind; let's
draw a-near.
[_Enter_ GENERAL BROCK, _accompanied by_
MACDONELL, NICHOL, ROBINSON _and other Canadian
Officers and friends conversing_.]
BROCK. 'Tis true our Province faces heavy odds:
Of regulars but fifteen hundred men
To guard a frontier of a thousand miles;
Of volunteers what aidance we can draw
From seventy thousand widely scattered souls.
A meagre showing 'gainst the enemy's
If numbers be the test. But odds lie not
In numbers only, but in spirit too--
Witness the might of England's little isle!
And what made England great will keep her so--
The free soul and the valour of her sons;
And what exalts her will sustain you now
If you contain her courage and her faith.
So not the odds so much are to be feared
As private disaffection, treachery--
Those openers of the door to enemies--
And the poor crouching spirit that gives way
Ere it is forced to yield.
ROBINSON. No fear of that!
BROCK. I trust there is not; yet I speak of it
As what is to be feared more than the odds.
For like to forests are communities--
Fair at a distance, entering you find
The rubbish and the underbrush of states,
'Tis ever the mean soul that counts the odds,
And, where you find this spirit, pluck it up--
'Tis full of mischief.
MACDONELL. It is almost dead.
England's vast war, our weakness, and the eagle
Whetting his beak at Sandwich, with one claw
Already in our side, put thought to steep
In cold conjecture for a time, and gave
A text to alien tongues. But, since you came,
Depression turns to smiling, and men see
That dangers well-opposed may be subdued
Which shunned would overwhelm us.
BROCK. Hold to this!
For since the storm has struck us we must face it.
What is our present count of volunteers?
NICHOL. More than you called for have assembled, Sir--
The flower of York and Lincoln.
BROCK. Some will go
To guard our frontier at Niagara.
Which must be strengthened even at the cost
Of York itself. The rest to the Detroit,
Where, with Tecumseh's force, our regulars,
And Kent and Essex loyal volunteers,
We'll give this Hull a taste of steel so cold
His teeth will chatter at it, and his scheme
Of easy conquest vanish into air.
[_Enter a_ COMPANY _of_ MILITIA _with
their_ OFFICERS, _unarmed. They salute, march
across the stage, and make their exit_.]
What men are those? Their faces are familiar.
ROBINSON. Some farmers whom you furloughed at Fort
George,
To tend their fields, which still they leave half-
reaped
To meet invasion.
BROCK. I remember it!
The jarring needs of harvest-time and war,
Twixt whose necessities grave hazards lay.
ROBINSON. They only thought to save their children's
bread,
And then return to battle with light hearts.
For, though their hard necessities o'erpoised
Their duty for the moment, these are men.
Who draw their pith from loyal roots, their sires,
Dug up by revolution, and cast out
To hovel in the bitter wilderness,
And wring, with many a tussle, from the wolf
Those very fields which cry for harvesters.
BROCK. O I observed them closely at Fort George--
Red-hot for action in their summer-sleeves,
And others drilling in their naked feet--
Our poor equipment (which disgraced us there)
Too scanty to go round. See they get arms,
An ample outfit and good quarters too.
NICHOL. They shall be well provided for in all.
[_Enter_ COLONELS BABY [Footnote: Pronounced Baw-
bee.] _and_ ELLIOTT.]
BROCK. Good morning both; what news from home, Baby?
BABY. None, none your Excellency--whereat we fear
This Hull is in our rear at Amherstburg.
BROCK. Not yet; what I unsealed last night reports
Tecumseh to have foiled the enemy
In two encounters at the Canard bridge.
A noble fellow; as I hear, humane,
Lofty and bold and rooted in our cause.
BABY. I know him well; a chief of matchless force.
If Mackinaw should fall--that triple key
To inland seas and teeming wilderness--
The bravest in the west will flock to him.
BROCK. 'Twere well he had an inkling of affairs.
My letters say he chafes at my delay,
Not mine, but thine, thou dull and fatuous House--
Which, in a period that whips delay,
When men should spur themselves and flash in action,
Let'st idly leak the unpurchasable hours
From our scant measure of most precious time!
BABY. 'Tis true, Your Exc'llency, some cankered minds
Have been a daily hind'rance in our House.
No measure so essential, bill so fair,
But they would foul it by some cunning clause,
Wrenching the needed statute from its aim
By sly injection of their false opinion.
But this you cannot charge to us whose hearts
Are faithful to our trust; nor yet delay;
For, Exc'llency, you hurry on so fast
That other men wheeze after, out of breath,
And haste itself, disparaged, lags behind.
BROCK. Friends, pardon me, you stand not in reproof.
But haste, the evil of the age in peace,
Is war's auxiliary, confederate
With time himself in urgent great affairs.
So must we match it with the flying hours!
I shall prorogue this tardy Parliament,
And promptly head our forces for Detroit
Meanwhile, I wish you, in advance of us,
To speed unto your homes. Spread everywhere
Throughout the West, broad tidings of our coming,
Which, by the counter currents of reaction,
Will tell against our foes and for our friends.
As for the rest, such loyal men as you
Need not our counsel; so, good journey both!
BABY. We shall not spare our transport or ourselves.
[_Enter a travel-stained_ MESSENGER.]
ELLIOTT. Good-bye.
BABY. Tarry a moment, Elliott! Here comes a messenger--
let's have his news.
MESSENGER. It is his Excellency whom I seek. I come,
sir, with despatches from the west.
BROCK. Tidings I trust to strengthen all our hopes.
MESSENGER. News of grave interest, this not the worst.
[_Handing a letter to_ GENERAL BROCK.]
BROCK. No, by my soul, for Mackinaw is ours!
That vaunted fort, whose gallant capture frees
Our red allies. This is important news! What of
Detroit!
MESSENGER. Things vary little there.
Hull's soldiers scour our helpless settlements,
Our aliens join them, but the loyal mass--
Sullen, yet overawed, longs for relief.
BROCK. I hope to better this anon. You, sirs,
[_To his aides_.]
Come with me; here is matter to despatch
At once to Montreal. Farewell, my friends.
[_To Baby and Elliott._]
BABY. We feel now what will follow this, farewell!
[_Exeunt_ BABY, ELLIOTT _and_ MESSENGER.]
BROCK. Now, gentlemen, prepare against our needs,
That no neglect may check us at the start,
Or mar our swift advance. And, for our cause,
As we believe it just in sight of God,
So should it triumph in the sight of man,
Whose generous temper, at the first, assigns
Right to the weaker side, yet coldly draws
Damning conclusions from its failure. Now
Betake you to your tasks with double zeal;
And, meanwhile, let our joyful tidings spread!
[_Exeunt._]
SCENE THIRD.--THE SAME.
_Enter two_ OLD MEN _of York, severally_.
1ST OLD MAN. Good morrow, friend! a fair and fitting
time
To take our airing, and to say farewell.
'Tis here, I think, we bid our friends God-speed,
A waftage, peraventure, to their graves.
2ND OLD MAN. 'Tis a good cause they die for, if they
fall
By this grey pate, if I were young again,
I would no better journey. Young again!
This hubbub sets old pulses on the bound
As I were in my teens.
_Enter_ a CITIZEN.
What news afoot?
CITIZEN. Why everyone's afoot and coming here.
York's citizens are turned to warriors;
The learned professions go a-soldiering,
And gentle hearts beat high for Canada!
For, as you pass, on every hand you see,
Through the neglected openings of each house--
Through doorways, windows--our Canadian maids
Strained by their parting lovers to their breasts;
And loyal matrons busy round their lords,
Buckling their arms on, or, with tearful eyes,
Kissing them to the war!
1ST OLD MAN. The volunteers
Will pass this way?
CITIZEN. Yes, to the beach, and there
Embark for Burlington, whence they will march
To Long Point, taking open boats again,
To plough the shallow Erie's treacherous flood.
Such leaky craft as farmers market with:
Rare bottoms, one sou-wester-driven wave
Would heave against Lake Erie's wall of shore,
And dash to fragments. 'Tis an awful hazard--
A danger which in apprehension lies,
Yet palpable unto the spirit's touch,
As earth to finger.
1ST OLD MAN. Let us hope a calm
May lull this fretful and ill-tempered lake
Whilst they ascend.
[_Military music is heard._]
CITIZEN. Hark! here our soldiers come.
_Enter_ GENERAL BROCK, _with his aides,_
MACDONELL _and_ GLEGG, NICHOL, _and other Officers,
followed by the Volunteers in companies. A concourse of
citizens._
MACDONELL. Our fellows show the mark of training, sir,
And many, well in hand, yet full of fire,
Are burning for distinction.
BROCK. This is good: Love of distinction is the
fruitful soil
From which brave actions spring; and, superposed
On love of country, these strike deeper root,
And grow to greater greatness. Cry a halt--
A word here--then away!
[_Flourish. The volunteers halt, form line, and order
arms._]
Ye men of Canada! Subjects with me of that Imperial
Power
Whose liberties are marching round the earth:
I need not urge you now to follow me,
Though what befalls will try your stubborn faith
In the fierce fire and crucible of war.
I need not urge you, who have heard the voice
Of loyalty, and answered to its call.
Who has not read the insults of the foe--
The manifesto of his purposed crimes?
That foe, whose poison-plant, false-liberty,
Runs o'er his body politic and kills
Whilst seeming to adorn it, fronts us now!
Threats our poor Province to annihilate,
And should he find the red men by our side--
Poor injured souls, who but defend their own--
Calls black Extermination from its hell,
To stalk abroad, and stench your land with slaughter.
These are our weighty arguments for war,
Wherein armed justice will enclasp its sword,
And sheath it in its bitter adversary;
Wherein we'll turn our bayonet-points to pens,
And write in blood:--_Here lies the poor invader_;
Or be ourselves struck down by hailing death;
Made stepping-stones for foes to walk upon--
The lifeless gangways to our country's ruin.
For now we look not with the eye of fear;
We reck not if this strange mechanic frame--
Stop in an instant in the shock of war.
Our death may build into our country's life,
And failing this, 'twere better still to die
Than live the breathing spoils of infamy.
Then forward for our cause and Canada!
Forward for Britain's Empire--peerless arch
Of Freedom's raising, whose majestic span
Is axis to the world! On, on, my friends!
The task our country sets must we perform--
Wring peace from war, or perish in its storm!
[_Excitement and leave-taking. The volunteers break
into column and sing:_]
O hark to the voice from the lips of the free!
O hark to the cry from the lakes to the sea!
Arm! arm! the invader is wasting our coasts,
And tainting the air of our land with his hosts.
Arise! then, arise! let us rally and form,
And rush like the torrent, and sweep like the storm,
On the foes of our King,--of our country adored,
Of the flag that was lost, but in exile restored!
And whose was the flag? and whose was the soil?
And whose was the exile, the suffering, the toil?
Our Fathers'! who carved in the forest a name,
And left us rich heirs of their freedom and fame.
Oh, dear to our hearts is that flag, and the land
Our Fathers bequeathed--'tis the work of their hand!
And the soil they redeemed from the woods with renown
The might of their sons will defend for the Crown!
Our hearts they are one, and our hands they are free,
From clime unto clime, and from sea unto sea!
And chaos will come to the States that annoy,
But our Empire united what foe can destroy?
Then away! to the front! march! comrades away!
In the lists of each hour crowd the work of a day!
We will follow our leader to fields far and nigh,
And for Canada fight, and for Canada die!
[_Exeunt with military music._]
SCENE FOURTH.--FORT DETROIT.--THE AMERICAN CAMP.
_Enter_ GENERAL HULL, COLONEL CASS _and other
Officers._
CASS. Come, General, we must insist on reasons!
Your order to withdraw from Canada
Will blow to mutiny, and put to shame
That proclamation which I wrote for you,
Wherein 'tis proudly said, "_We are prepared
To look down opposition, our strong force
But vanguard of a mightier still to come!_"
And men have been attracted to our cause
Who now will curse us for this breach of faith.
Consider, sir, again!
HULL. I am not bound
To tack my reasons to my orders; this
Is my full warrant and authority--
[_Pointing to his Instructions._]
Yet, I have ample grounds for what I do.
CASS. What are they, then?
HULL. First, that this proclamation
Meets not with due response, wins to our side
The thief and refugee, not honest men.
These plainly rally round their government.
1ST OFFICER. Why, yes; there's something lacking in
this people,
If we must conquer them to set them free.
HULL. Ay, and our huge force must be larger still,
If we would change these Provinces to States.
Then, Colonel Proctor's intercepted letter--
Bidding the captor of Fort Mackinaw
Send but five thousand warriors from the West,
Which, be it artifice or not, yet points
To great and serious danger.
Add to this Brock's rumoured coming with his
Volunteers, All burning to avenge their fathers'
wrongs,
And our great foe, Tecumseh, fired o'er his;
These are the reasons; grave enough, I think,
Which urge me to withdraw from Canada,
And wait for further force; so, go at once,
And help our soldiers to recross the river.
CASS. But I see----
HULL. No "buts"! You have my orders.
CASS. No solid reason here, naught but a group
Of flimsy apprehensions----
HULL. Go at once!
Who kicks at judgment, lacks it.
CASS. I----
HULL. No more! I want not wrangling but obedience here.
[_Exeunt_ CASS _and other officers
incensed._]
Would I had ne'er accepted this command!
Old men are out of favour with the time,
And youthful folly scoffs at hoary age.
There's not a man who executes my orders
With a becoming grace; not one but sulks,
And puffs his disapproval with a frown.
And what am I? A man whom Washington
Nodded approval of, and wrote it too!
Yet here, in judgment and discretion both,
Ripe to the dropping, scorned and ridiculed.
Oh, Jefferson, what mischief have you wrought--
Confounding Nature's order, setting fools
To prank themselves, and sit in wisdom's seat
By right divine, out Heroding a King's!
But I shall keep straight on--pursue my course,
Responsible and with authority,
Though boasters gird at me, and braggarts frown.
[_Exit._]
SCENE FIFTH.--SANDWICH, ON THE DETROIT.--A ROOM IN THE
BABY MANSION.
_Enter_ GENERAL BROCK, COLONELS PROCTOR, GLEGG,
BABY, MACDONELL, NICHOL, ELLIOTT _and other
Officers_.
BABY. Welcome! thrice welcome!
Brave Brock, to Sandwich and this loyal roof!
Thank God, your oars, those weary levers bent
In many a wave, have been unshipped at last;
And, now methinks those lads who stemmed the flood
Would boldly face the fire.
BROCK. I never led
Men of more cheerful and courageous heart,
But for whose pluck, foul weather and short seas,
'Twere truth to say, had made an end of us.
Another trial will, I think, approve
The manly strain this Canada hath bred.
PROCTOR. 'Tis pity that must be denied them now,
Since all our enemies have left our shores.
BROCK. No, by my soul, it shall not be denied!
Our foe's withdrawal hath a magnet's power
And pulls my spirit clean into his fort.
But I have asked you to confer on this.
What keeps Tecumseh?
ELLIOTT. 'Tis his friend, Lefroy,
Who now rejoins him, after bootless quest
Of Iena, Tecumseh's niece.
BROCK. Lefroy! I had a gentle playmate of that name
In Guernsey, long ago.
BABY. It may be he.
I know him, and, discoursing our affairs,
Have heard him speak of you, but in a strain
Peculiar to the past.
BROCK. He had in youth.
All goods belonging to the human heart,
But fell away to Revolution's side--
Impulsive ever, and o'er prompt to see
In kings but tyrants, and in laws but chains.
I have not seen or heard of him for years.
BABY. The very man!
BROCK. 'Tis strange to find him here!
ELLIOTT. He calls the red men freedom's last survival;
Says truth is only found in Nature's growth--
Her first intention, ere false knowledge rose
To frame distinctions, and exhaust the world.
BROCK. Few find like him the substance of their dreams.
But, Elliott, let us seek Tecumseh now. Stay, friends,
till we return.
[_Exeunt_ BROCK _and_ ELLIOTT.]
GLEGG. How odd to find
An old friend in this fashion!
PROCTOR. Humph! a fool
Who dotes on forest tramps and savages.
Why, at the best, they are the worst of men;
And this Tecumseh has so strained my temper,
So over-stept my wishes, thrid my orders,
That I would sooner ask the devil's aid
Than such as his.
NICHOL. Why, Brock is charmed with him!
And, as you saw, at Amherstburg he put
Most stress upon opinion when he spoke.
MACDONELL. Already they've determined on assault.
PROCTOR. Then most unwisely so! There are no bounds
To this chief's rashness, and our General seem
Swayed by it too, or rashness hath a twin.
NICHOL. Well, rashness is the wind of enterprise,
And blows its banners out. But here they come
Who dig beneath their rashness for their reasons.
_Re-enter_ GENERAL BROCK _and_ COLONEL
ELLIOTT, _accompanied by_ TECUMSEH,
_conversing_.
TECUMSEH. We have been much abused! and have abused
Our fell destroyers too--making our wrongs
The gauge of our revenge. And, still forced back
From the first justice and the native right,
Ever revenge hath sway. This we would void,
And, by a common boundary, prevent.
So, granting that a portion of our own
Is still our own, then let that portion be
Confirmed by sacred treaty to our tribes.
This is my sum of asking--you have ears!
BROCK. Nay, then, Tecumseh, speak of it no more!
My promise is a pledge, and from a man
Who never turned his back on friend or foe.
The timely service you have done our cause,
Rating not what's to come, would warrant it.
So, if I live, possess your soul of this--
No treaty for a peace, if we prevail,
Will bear a seal that doth not guard your rights.
Here, take my sash, and wear it for my sake--
Tecumseh can esteem a soldier's gift.
TECUMSEH. Thanks, thanks, my brother,
I have faith in you;
My life is at your service!
BROCK. Gentlemen, Have you considered my proposal well
Touching the capture of Detroit by storm? What say you
Colonel Proctor?
PROCTOR. I object! 'Tis true, the enemy has left our
shores,
But what a sorry argument is this!
For his withdrawal, which some sanguine men,
Jumping all other motives, charge to fear,
Prudence, more deeply searching, lays to craft.
Why should a foe, who far outnumbers us,
Retreat o'er this great river, save to lure
Our poor force after him? And, having crossed--
Our weakness seen, and all retreat cut off--
What would ensue but absolute surrender,
Or sheer destruction? 'Tis too hazardous!
Discretion balks at such a mad design.
BROCK. What say the rest?
1ST OFFICER. I fear 'tis indiscreet.
2ND OFFICER. 'Twould be imprudent with our scanty
force.
BROCK. What say you, Nichol, to my foolish scheme?
NICHOL. I think it feasible and prudent too.
Hull's letters, captured by Tecumseh, prove
His soldiers mutinous, himself despondent.
And dearly Rumor loves the wilderness,
Which gives a thousand echoes to a tongue
That ever swells and magnifies our strength.
And in this flux we take him, on the hinge
Of two uncertainties--his force and ours.
So, weighed, objections fall; and our attempt,
Losing its grain of rashness, takes its rise
In clearest judgment, whose effect will nerve
All Canada to perish, ere she yield.
BROCK. My very thoughts! What says Tecumseh now?
TECUMSEH. I say attack the fort!
This very night I'll cross my braves, if you decide on
this.
BROCK. Then say no more! Glegg, take a flag of truce,
And bear to Hull this summons to surrender.
Tell him Tecumseh and his force are here--
A host of warriors brooding on their wrongs,
Who, should resistance flush them to revenge,
Would burst from my control like wind-borne fire,
And match on earth the miseries of hell.
But, should he yield, his safety is assured.
Tell him Tecumseh's word is pledged to this,
Who, though his temperate will in peace is law
Yet casts a loose rein to enforced rage.
Add what your fancy dictates; but the stress
Place most on what I speak of--this he fears,
And these same fears, well wrought upon by you,
May prove good workers for us yet.
GLEGG. I go, And shall acquit myself as best I can.
[_Exit_ GLEGG.]
BROCK. Tecumseh, wonder not at such a message!
The guilty conscience of your foes is judge
Of their deserts, and hence 'twill be believed.
The answer may be 'nay,' so to our work--
Which perfected, we shall confer again,
Then cross at break of morn.
[_Exeunt all but_ TECUMSEH.]
TECUMSEH. This is a man!
And our great father, waking from his sleep,
Has sent him to oar aid. Master of Life,
Endue my warriors with double strength!
May the wedged helve be faithful to the axe,
The arrow fail not, and the flint be firm!
That our great vengeance, like the whirlwind fell,
May cleave through thickets of our enemies
A broad path to our ravaged lands again.
[_Exit_.]
SCENE SIXTH.--MOONLIGHT. THE BANK OF THE DETROIT RIVER,
NEAR THE BABY MANSION.
_Enter_ CAPTAIN ROBINSON.
ROBINSON. I thought to find my brother here--poor boy,
The day's hard labor woos him to his rest.
How sweet the night! how beautiful the place!
Who would not love thee, good old Sandwich town!
Abode of silence and sweet summer dreams--
Let speculation pass, nor progress touch
Thy silvan homes with hard, unhallowed hand!
The light wind whispers, and the air is rich
With vapours which exhale into the night;
And, round me here, this village in the leaves
Darkling doth slumber. How those giant pears
Loom with uplifted and high-ancient heads,
Like forest trees! A hundred years ago
They, like their owner, had their roots in France--
In fruitful Normandy--but here refuse
Unlike, to multiply, as if their spirits
Grieved in their alien home. The village sleeps,
So should I seek that hospitable roof
Of thine, thou good old loyalist, Baby!
Thy mansion is a shrine, whereto shall come
On pilgrimages, in the distant days,
The strong and generous youths of Canada,
And, musing there in rich imaginings,
Restore the balance and the beaver-pack
To the wide hall; see forms of savagery,
Vanished for ages, and the stately shades
Of great Tecumseh and high-hearted Brock.
So shall they profit, drinking of the past,
And, drinking loyally, enlarge the faith
Which love of country breeds in noble minds.
But now to sleep--good night unto the world!
[_Exit_.]
SCENE SEVENTH.--THE SAME.
_Enter_ IENA, _in distress_.
IENA. Oh, have I eaten of the spirit-plant!
My head swims, and my senses are confused,
And all grows dark around me. Where am I?
Alas! I know naught save of wanderings,
And this poor bosom's weight. What pang is here,
Which all my pressing cannot ease away?
Poor heart! poor heart! Oh, I have travelled far,
And in the forest's brooding place, or where
Night-shrouded surges beat on lonely shores,
Have sickened with my deep, dread, formless fears;
But, never have I felt what now I feel!
Great Spirit, hear me! help me!--this is death!
[_Staggers and swoons behind some shrubbery.]
Enter_ GENERAL BROCK _and_ LEFROY.
BROCK. You may be right, Lefroy! but, for my part,
I stand by old tradition and the past.
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!
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.
But let us drop this bootless argument,
And tell me more of those unrivalled wastes
You and Tecumseh visited.
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,
Flushed with fresh blooms, deep perfumed by the rose,
And murmurous with flower-fed bird and bee.
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!
LEFROY. Yes, life was there! 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--
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! What a scene!
LEFROY. Nation on nation was invillaged there,
Skirting the flanks of that imbanded host;
With chieftains 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,
Knowing the purpose havened in his soul.
And 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,
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!
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!
[_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,
Blend with the universe again. It lives,
Knit to its soul forever. Iena!
Dead in the forest wild--earth cannot claim
Aught but her own from thee. Sleep on! sleep on!
IENA. (_Reviving_) What place is this?
LEFROY. 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!
LEFROY. 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!
LEFROY. 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.
IENA. 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 out._
IENA. The Prophet! I am lost!
LEFROY. This monster here! But he is powerless now.
Fear him not, Iena! 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--
[_Swoons away._]
LEFROY. O, horrible! Let us but meet again, and I shall
send
His curst soul out of this accursed world!
[_Exit_ LEFROY, _carrying_ IENA.]
SCENE EIGHTH.--THE HIGHWAY THROUGH THE FOREST LEADING
TO FORT DETROIT--THE FORT IN THE DISTANCE; CANNON AND
GUNNERS AT THE GATE.
_Enter_ TECUMSEH, STAYETA, _and other Chiefs and
Warriors._
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
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!
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 highway_.
TECUMSEH _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 reconnaissance--
We'll follow on.
NICHOL. I shall, but, ere I go 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! 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
You must prevail--on, on, to the attack!
[BROCK _and forces advance towards the Port. A heavy
cannonading from the British batteries.]
Re-enter_ NICHOL _hastily_.
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 withdrawn
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
An officer to ratify the terms.
[GENERAL BROCK _reads letter_.]
BROCK. You have a wise and politic commander!
OFFICER. Our General knowing your superior force--
NICHOL. (_Aside_.) O this is good! '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 restrained.
Our women's prayers--red visions of the knife--