and will readily risk life in his defence.
Such indeed, is the kindness which captives thus situated invariably
receive, that they frequently regret the hour of their redemption, and
refuse to leave their red brethren, to return and mingle with the
whites.

As members of a community, they are at all times willing to devote
their every faculty, for the good of the whole. The honor and welfare
of their respective tribes, are primary considerations with them. To
promote these, they cheerfully encounter every privation, endure every
hardship, and face every danger. Their patriotism is of the most pure
and disinterested character; and of those who have made us feel so
sensibly, the horrors of savage warfare, many were actuated by motives
which would reflect honor on the citizens of any country. The
unfortunate Tecumseh was a remarkable example of the most ardent and
patriotic devotion to his country.

Possessed of an acute and discerning mind, he witnessed the extending
influence of the whites, with painful solicitude. Listening with
melancholy rapture, to the traditionary accounts of the former
greatness of his nation, and viewing in anticipation the exile or
extinction of his race, his noble soul became fired with the hope that
he might retrieve the fallen fortune of his country, and restore it to
its pristine dignity and grandeur. His attachment to his tribe
impelled him to exertion and every nerve was strained in its cause.

Determined if possible to achieve the independence of his nation, and
to rid her of those whom he considered her oppressors, he formed the
scheme of uniting in hostility against the United States, all the
tribes dwelling east of the Mississippi river. In the prosecution of
this purpose, he travelled from Mackinaw to Georgia,[4] and with
wonderful adroitness practised on the different feelings of his red
brethren. Assuming at times the character of a prophet, he wrought
powerfully on their credulity and superstition.--Again, depending on
the force of oratory, the witchery of his eloquence drew many [33] to
his standard. But all was in vain--His plans were entirely frustrated.
He had brought none of his auxiliaries into the field; and was totally
unprepared for hostilities, when his brother, the celebrated Shawanese
prophet, by a premature attack on the army under Gen. Harrison, at an
inauspicious moment, precipitated him into a war with the United
States.

Foiled by this means, Tecumseh joined th