lt of Proctor's sword with his hand,
then touched the handle of his own tomahawk, and sternly remarked, "You
are Proctor--I am Tecumseh;" intimating, that if justice was not done
to the Indians, the affair must be settled by a personal rencontre
between the two commanders. General Proctor prudently yielded the
point.[A]

[Footnote A: On the authority of the Rev. Wm. H. Raper.]

But few of the numerous speeches made by Tecumseh have been preserved.
Tradition speaks in exalted terms of several efforts of this kind, of
which no record was made. All bore evidence of the high order of his
intellectual powers. They were uniformly forcible, sententious and
argumentative; always dignified, frequently impassioned and powerful.
He indulged neither in sophism nor circumlocution, but with bold and
manly frankness, gave utterance to his honest opinions. Mr. Ruddell,
who knew him long and intimately, says, that "he was naturally
eloquent, very fluent, graceful in his gestures, but not in the habit
of using many; that there was neither vehemence nor violence in his
style of delivery, but that his eloquence always made a strong
impression on his hearers." Dr. Hunt, of Clark county, Ohio, has
remarked, that the first time he heard Henry Clay make a speech, his
manner reminded him, very forcibly, of that of Tecumseh, in the council
at Springfield, in the year 1807, on which occasion he made one of his
happiest efforts.

Our present minister to France, Mr. Cass, has said, with his usual
discrimination, that "the character of Tecumseh, in whatever light it
may 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-west, is, indeed, a small
title to distinction. Bravery is a savage virtue, and the Shawanoes are
a brave people: too many of the American nation have ascertained this
fact 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." There was one subject, far
better calculated than all others, to call forth his intellectual
energies, and exhibit the peculiar fascination of his oratory. "When h