Tecumseh was one of the few Indians, who, at different epochs of our history, figured for a time as military leaders, in the European, or civilized sense of the term. As we have seen reasons to doubt the correctness of some of the views expressed by certain writers, respecting the natural or acquired talents of military chiefs, we shall not pretend to compare his abilities with those of any other. In our opinion it is exceedingly difficult to determine every question of the kind: so many circumstances usually having an influence, which cannot be easily, if at all ascertained or appreciated, by a person writing in a distant place or at another period.

Tecumseh may be regarded as finally one of the Indian victims of civilized intrigue. He was incited to take an active part in the war between the U. States and Great Britain in 1812, with the hope of gaining important benefits to his nation and the red men in general; and ha

If we regard consistency, those of us who have praised patriotism in war, are bound to speak with respect of Tecumseh, as he devoted the close of his life, to the supposed good of his people, and the red race in general. We think there is no room to deny this, although it may be said that he was too easily persuaded to join the British side. Whether he made a mistake in judgment or not it is unnecessary to say.

Tecumseh appears to have risen to the possession of great influence among his own people in an uncommon way. He was not regarded either as a war-chief, or a peace-chief: that is, neither a warrior nor a councillor, in the usual sense

of the terms. He did not first acquire his standing among other Indian nations by success in arms, or by superior wisdom. He is said to have depended chiefly on the superstitious reverence which he excited by pretended prophecies; and this he employed in preparing for a war of resistance against the encroachment of white men upon the territory of the Indians. From the moment when Europeans began to display a spirit of ingratitude, injustice or selfishness, in the earliest periods of the history of the colonies, a determination to oppose or to destroy them was repeatedly exhibited, by the Indians; while some were hostile from the beginning, being sagacious enough to anticipate the danger. Divisions, however, were usually produced among neighboring tribes; and the colonies, in different instances, owed their safety, in whole or in part, to the aid af forded by their savage allies. When the French began to mingle in the controversies on the north, and the Spaniards on the south, the difficulties became more complex and more extensive; and thus the history of the French wars and that of the Revolution are full of painful details of the sufferings caused by the Indians and suffered by them, in their vain attempts to resist one and another of their foreign enemies, by joining sometimes. one party and sometimes another, without any real affectiou for either, and actuated only by the expectation of immediate, or personal benefit to themselves, or of ultimate advantage to their tribe or their race.

Tecumseh appears to have been above those selfish considerations, which inclined so many red men, at different times, to join the party which made the richest presents, or gave the most flattering promises. He seems to have kept his eye on the course which held out the highest encouragement to the general and permanent good of his race. He wished to see a boundary line fixed forever between the white men and the red: and hoped to preserve all the territories west of the Ohio river. A treaty had indeed been formed by Gen. Wayne with the Miamies and several other tribes, by which a large tract had been ceded to the U. States north-west of that stream: but he did not despair of annulling the agreement, although Little Turtle, a powerful chief, had relinquished the intention of offering

further resistance to our extending power, and, deserting the British party, had become the warm friend of the Ameri

cans.

Tecumseh began to prepare the Indians for a general plan of resistance as early as the year 1805 or 1806, when he was about thirty-eight years of age. He first endeavored to extend among the different nations and tribes a feeling of unity, and a dislike to the white race. He labored to stop the use of ardent spirits, and to restore ancient manners and customs. An anecdote is related by Drake, as a specimen of the means by which he impressed the Indians with a belief in the supernatural powers to which he sometimes laid claim.

On his return from Florida he was among the Creeks in Alabama, urging them to unite with the Seminoles. Arriving at Tuckhabatchee, a Creek town on the Talapoosa river, when, finding the chief inclined to peace with the white men, he told him he would soon give him and his people proof that he had been sent by the Great Spirit: for on his arrival at Detroit, he should stamp with his foot, and shake down all the houses in his village. A short time after the famous earthquake occurred on the Mississippi, whose devastating effects are well known; and this, being received as the fulfilment of the prophecy, established his authority in a most decided manner.

But he received the most powerful aid from superstition, through the exertions of his brother 'the Prophet,' who soon began to lay claim to the most extraordinary spiritual powers. As for Tecumseh himself, his bodily and mental labors were great and long continued, in the promotion of his favorite object. "He travelled," says Mr. Brown, in his history of Illinois, "he argued, he commanded, His persuasive voice was listened to one day by the Wyandots, on the plains of Sandusky; on the next, his commands were issued on the banks of the Wabash. He was anon seen paddling his canoe across the Mississippi, then boldly confronting the Governor of Indiana, in the council-house at Vincennes; now carrying his banner of union among the Creeks and Cherokees of the south; and thence to the cold and inhospitable regions of the north: neither intoxicated by success nor discouraged by failure."

General Harrison, Governor of Indiana, having heard, in 1807, that extraordinary and alarming symptoms were observable among the Indians, reproved Tecumseh in decided terms; to which the Prophet replied, denying any hostile intentions, and requesting him "not to listen any more to the voice of bad birds." In the following spring the Indians near Fort Wayne, who had neglected their corn-fields during the councils held with Tecumseh the preceding year, were furnished with provisions by Gen. Harrison, to keep them from starving; and the Prophet made him a long and amicable visit in August, when he often declamed against war and ardent spirits. In 1809 Tecumseh told Gen. H. that the ceded territory still belonged of right to the Indians; and the next year visited him with 300 well-armed warriors. His great desire was to obtain the restoration of the land, and a treaty to prevent future purchases of soil except from all the combined nations, in which he received no encour agement. He promised, however, to use his influence, in case of a war, to prevent the Indians from practising their customary barbarities; and in this he faithfully kept his word.

Tecumseh, in a subsequent visit to Gen. H. frankly told him that he had formed a strong confederacy among the western tribes, and was going south to extend it, which he soon did. But, during his absence, a body of Indians, collected at the Prophet's town, excited by his addresses and incantations, committed murders in the neighborhood, although the fourth regiment of the U. S. troops, under Col. Boyd, was then stationed at Vincennes, and the people were preparing for self-defence. The prophet repeated the assurance of pacific intentions: but Gen. Harrison took up his march towards his residence on the 5th of September, 1811, with 900 effective troops, and encamped at the distance of ten miles from his town. His force consisted of 250 U. S. soldiers, 130 volunteers, and a larger body of militia. Indians would make no reply to a messenger sent to them: but, the Prophet afterwards sent word, that men had before been despatched to Gen. Harrison, who must have missed him on the march. The army therefore encamped on an elevated spot surrounded by the prairie, a mile and a half distant from the town, and

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lay on their arms, but without expectation of an attack.

A sudden and resolute assault, howev er, was made about four in the morning, by a body of Indians supposed to be equal in numbers to the Americans, who were repulsed after a long and desperate struggle, maintained, on the Indian side, with an uncommon degree of regularity and order. The action led to a peace, which was not interrupted until the war of 1812. Tecumseh, who had reproached his brother for hastening hostilities before his plans were ripe, was unable to resume his operations until the British were prepared to call him to their aid; and then only in a subordinate capacity, instead of as leader of a grand confederacy, standing alone and fighting only for the red race.

In 1813 occurred the scene depicted at the head of this article. The sad and bloody tide war having again changed its current on our northern frontier, and the British army under Gen. Proctor having retired up the river Thames in Upper Canada, it was pursued and attacked by Gen. Harrison, early in October. Gen. Proctor had about 800 regular troops and 2,000 Indians: the former drawn up across a narrow strip of land covered with forest, with the right on a swamp, and the left on the river, with most of the artillery; while the savages, commanded by Tecumseh, then a British Brigadier General, occupied another tract of ground beyond the swamp. The Americans, above 3,000 in all, soon compelled the British to surrender, part of the cavalry having passed through their files and formed again in their rear. The rest of the cavaly, under Col. Johnson, were repulsed in their first attack upon the Indians, but afterwards cut through their line. The savages, however, resolutely held their ground, encouraged by Tecumseh, whose voice was heard in every part of the field; until Col. Johnson forced his way through the fight to reach him, bnt soon fell, severely wounded, about the time when the Indian chief received a wound which closed his career.

Our print represents Col. Johnson in the act of shooting that distinguished chief: for, in the opinion of some, he fired the deadly shot, before he fell, overpowered by his own wounds. The testimony, however, was thought by others. not to be decisive.

Assyrian Ruins. (Concluded from page 582.) "The third rilievo represents the standard-bearers of the king, with their respective charioteers. Each chariot has attached a distinct banner; the foremost being a bull, and the second two horses. The chariots and trappings of the horses are exactly like that before described, excepting for the addition of plumes upon the horses' heads similar to those seen on the Egyptian remains. There are three horses to each chariot, but only six legs are shown. The officers are without caps or other head gear; though in other respects their dresses are the same as before detailed. The victorious army is pursuing the enemy through a wood, indicated by bushes and trees; while the vulture and the outstretched headless bodies are sufficiently suggestive of the defeat and destruction of the enemy. A wounded leader of the adverse party is imploring for quarter. The horses of his chariot are represented as falling and struggling; and their action is in good opposition to the cool, steady array of the king's body-guard. The wheels of the enemy's chariots have eight spokes; whereas the other chariots, like those of Egypt, have but six.

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"The fourth rilievo is a continuation of the last, as may be perceived from the exactly corresponding parts of the chariot wheel of the two slabs. The King, in front of the battle, is in his chariot with his charioteer and and shieldbearer; who are both uncovered. The chariot and its accompaniments are exactly the same as already as already described, even to the deficiency of the horses' legs. The shield-bearer extends the shield to protect his sovereign. The king's surcoat is richly embroidered. He has bracelets with rosette-shaped clasps upon his wrists; and his bow arm is protected, as are those of his officers, from the recoil of the string by a close fitting shield fastened to the fore arm at the elbow and wrists. Above the royal chariot is the winged divinity wearing the double-horned cap. He directs his winged arrows against the enemies of the king. A broad flat ring encircles this figure, passing just above the feathery termination of his person, and behind and above his shoulders. Directly before the king, one of the enemy-perhaps the

chief--is falling out behind from his chariot; while his charioteer, unable to guide the horses, precipitates himself in front. Behind, one of the king's soldiers has seized a flying enemy; and is about to kill him, notwithstanding the efforts of his companion to drag him off to the security of the city. Another of the enemy lies dead; and others are actively flying for refuge towards the outworks of the city-which reach to the shores of a shallow stream running through a woody country. The victorious king has pursued the enemy up to the confines of the city; which is further protected by a ditch and double wall; and from behind which the enemy are discharging their arrows. The city is represented with embattled towers and arched gateway. From the towers the enemy are shooting arrows and throwing stones, under cover of wicker shields. The last figure, as far as fracture allows us to see, is that of a person endeavoring to obtain a parley. He holds his slackened bow in his left hand; and his right is upraised in the act of bespeaking attention.

'The fifth rilievo may be called the League or Treaty of Peace: for such is its evident import. The great king having pursued his enemies, who fled like wild beasts, as indicated by the spear furnished with a fillet, into their strong places, has alighted from his chariot to ratify a treaty of peace with the Melek, or king, of the opposite party, particularly marked by his dress, but who, like the former, is attired in the richly embroidered upper garment which is seemingly a royal vesture. Both kings are on loot; but the conqueror is distinguished by the implements of war which he still retains, while his adversary raises his right hand in the act of supplication. Moreover, the favorable conditions of the treaty are further intimated by the surrender of the prisoners, as expressed by the figure in the conical cap kissing the feet of his sovereign and deliverer. Immediately behind the great king stand his umbrellabearer and another beardless attendant. Then follows the royal groom, in front of the horses; then one of the king's body guard; and last of all, at his post, the charioteer.

'The relative importance and rank of each of these officers of the royal household are intimated by the height of the person of the officer. Each bears his