CHAPTER VI.

"What a truly noble looking being," observed Major

Montgomerie, as he followed with his eye the receding

form of the athletic but graceful Tecumseh. "Do you know,

Colonel D'Egville, I could almost forgive your nephew

his success of this morning, in consideration of the

pleasure he has procured me in this meeting."

Colonel D'Egville looked the gratification he felt at

the avowal. "I am delighted, Major Montgomerie, to hear

you say so. My only fear was that, in making those

Chieftains my guests, at the same moment with yourself

and niece, I might have unconsciously appeared to slight,

where slight was certainly not intended. You must be

aware, however, of the rank held by them among their

respective nations, and of their consequent claim upon

the attention of one to whom the Indian interests have

been delegated."

"My dear sir," interrupted the Major, eager to disclaim,

"I trust you have not mistaken me so far, as to have

imputed a reserve of speech and manner during dinner, to

which I cannot but plead guilty, to a fastidiousness

which, situated as I am, (and he bowed to the General,

and Commodore,) would have been wholly misplaced. My

distraction, pardonable perhaps under all the

circumstances, was produced entirely by a recurrence to

certain inconveniences which I felt might arise to me

from my imprisonment. The captive bird," he pursued,

while a smile for the first time animated his very fine

countenance, "will pine within its cage, however gilded

the wires which compose it. In every sense, my

experience of to-day only leads me to the expression of

a hope, that all whom the chances of war may throw into

a similar position, may meet with a similar reception."

"Since," observed the General, "your private affairs are

of the importance you express, Major Montgomerie, you

shall depart with your niece. Perhaps I am rather exceeding

my powers in this respect, but, however this may be, I

shall take the responsibility on myself. You will hold

yourself pledged, of course, to take no part against us

in the forthcoming struggle, until you have been regularly

exchanged for whatever officer of your own rank, may

happen to fall into the hands of your countrymen. I shall

dispatch an express to the Commander-in-Chief, to intimate

this fact, requesting at the same time, that your name

may be put down in the first list for exchange."

Major Montgomerie warmly thanked the General for his kind

offer, of which he said he should be glad to avail himself,

as he did not like the idea of his niece proceeding

without him to Detroit, where she was an entire stranger.

This, he admitted, determined as she had appeared to be,

was one of the unpleasant subjects of his reflection

during dinner.

With a view of turning the conversation, and anxious

moreover, to obtain every information on the subject,

the General now inquired in what estimation Tecumseh was

generally held in the United States.

"Among the more intelligent classes of our citizens, in

the highest possible," was the reply; "but by those who

are not so capable of judging, and who only see, in the

indomitable courage and elevated talents of the patriot

hero, the stubborn inflexibility of the mere savage, he

is looked upon far less flatteringly. By all, however,

is he admitted to be formidable without parallel, in the

history of Indian warfare. His deeds are familiar to all,

and his name is much such a bugbear to American childhood,

as Marlborough's was in France, and Napoleon's is in

England. It is a source of much regret to our Government

never to have been enabled to conciliate this extraordinary

man."

"What more feasible," remarked the General, but with a

tone and manner that could not possibly give offence;

"had not the difficulty been of its own creation? Treaty

after treaty, you most admit, Major, had been made and

violated under various pretexts, while the real motive

--the aggrandizement of territories already embracing a

vast portion of their early possessions--was carefully

sought to be concealed from these unfortunate people.

How was it to be expected then that a man, whom the

necessities of his country had raised up to itself in

the twofold character of statesman and warrior--one gifted

with a power of analyzing motives which has never been

surpassed in savage life--how, I ask, was it to be expected

that he, with all these injuries of aggression staring

him in the face, should have been won over by a show of

conciliation, which long experience, independently of

his matured judgment, must have assured him was only held

forth to hoodwink, until fitting opportunity should be

found for again throwing off the mask."

"To the charge of violating treaties," returned Major

Montgomerie, who took the opposite argument in perfectly

good part, "I fear, General, our Government must to a

certain extent plead guilty--much, however, remains to

be said in excuse. In the first place, it must be borne

in mind that the territory of the United States, unlike

the kingdoms of Europe, has no fixed or settled boundary

whereby to determine its own relative bearing. True it

is, that we have the Canadas on one portion of our

frontier, but this being a fixed line of demarcation,

there can exist no question as to a mutual knowledge of

the territorial claims of both countries. Unlike that of

the old world, however, our population is rapidly

progressing, and where are we to find an outlet for tax

surplus of that population unless, unwilling as we are

to come into collision with our mere civilised neighbours,

we can push them forward into the interior. In almost

all the contracts entered into by our Government with

the Indians, large sums have been given for the lands

ceded by the latter. This was at once, of course, a tacit

and mutual revocation of any antecedent arrangements,

and if instances have occurred wherein the sacredness of

treaty has been violated, it has only been where the

Indians have refused to part with their lands for the

proffered consideration and when those lands have been

absolutely indispensable to our agricultural purposes.

Then indeed has it been found necessary to resort to

force. That this principle of "might being the better

right," may be condemned in limine it is true, but how

otherwise, with a superabundant population, can we

possibly act?"

"A superabundance of territory, I grant you, but surely

not of population," remarked the Commodore; "were the

citizens of the United States condensed into the space

allotted to Europeans, you might safely dispense with

half the Union at this moment."

"And what advantages should we then derive from the

possession of nearly a whole continent to ourselves?"

"Every advantage that may be reaped consistently with

common justice. What would be thought in Europe, if, for

instance to illustrate a point, and assuming these two

countries to be in a state of profound peace, Spain, on

the principle of might, should push her surplus population

into Portugal, compelling the latter kingdom to retire

back on herself, and crowd her own subjects into the few

provinces that might yet be left to them."

"I cannot admit the justice of your remark, Commodore,"

returned Major Montgomerie, gradually warming into

animation; "Both are civilized powers, holding the same

rank and filling nearly the same scale among the nations

of Europe. Moreover, there does not exist the same

difference in the natural man. The uneducated negro is,

from infancy and long custom, doomed to slavery, wherefore

should the copper coloured Indian be more free? But my

argument points not at their subjection. I would merely

show that, incapable of benefitting by the advantages of

the soil they inherit, they should learn to yield it with

a good grace to those who can. Their wants are few, and

interminable woods yet remain to them, in which their

hunting pursuits may be indulged without a fear of

interruption."

"That it will be long," observed the General, "before,

in so vast a continent, they will be without a final

resting place, I readily admit; but the hardship consists

in this--that they are driven from particular positions

to which their early associations lend a preference. What

was it that stirred into a flame, the fierce hostility

of Tecumseh but the determination evinced by your Government

to wrest, from the hands of his tribe, their last remaining

favorite haunts on the Wabash?"

"This cannot be denied, but it was utterly impossible we

could forego the possession of countries bordering so

immediately on our settlements. Had we pushed our

colonization further, leaving the tribes of the Wabash

in intermediate occupation, we ran the risk of having

oar settlers cut off in detail, at the slightest assumed

provocation. Nay, pretexts would have been sought for

the purpose, and the result of this would have been the

very war into which we were unavoidably led. The only

difference was, that, instead of taking up arms to avenge

our slaughtered kinsmen, we anticipated the period that

must sooner or later have arrived, by ridding ourselves

of the presence of those from whose hostility we had

every thing to apprehend."

"The expediency of these measures," said the General,

"no one, Major, can of course doubt; the only question

at issue is their justice, and in making this remark it

must be obvious there is no particular allusion to the

United States, further than that country serves to

illustrate a general principle. I am merely arguing

against the right of a strong power to wrest from a weaker

what may be essential to its own interest, without

reference to the comfort, or wishes, or convenience of

the latter."

"In such light assuredly do I take it," observed Major

Montgomerie, bowing his sense of the disclaimer. "But to

prove to you, General, that we are only following in the

course pursued by every other people of the world, let

us, without going back to the days of barbarism, when

the several kingdoms of Europe were overrun by the

strongest, and when your own country in particular became

in turn the prey of Saxons, Danes, Normans, &c. merely

glance our eyes upon those provinces which have been

subjugated by more civilized Europe. Look at South America

for instance, and then say what we have done that has

not been far exceeded by the Spaniards, in that portion

of the hemisphere--and yet, with this vast difference in

the balance, that there the European drove before him

and mercilessly destroyed an unoffending race, while we,

on the contrary, have had fierce hostility and treachery

every where opposed to our progress. The Spaniards,

moreover, offered no equivalent for the country subdued;

now we have ever done so, and only where that equivalent

has been rejected, have we found ourselves compelled to

resort to force. Look again at the islands of the West

Indies, the chief of which are conquests by England.

Where are the people to whom Providence had originally

assigned those countries, until the European, in his

thirst for aggrandizement, on that very principle of

might which you condemn, tore them violently away. Gone,

extirpated, until scarce a vestige of their existence

remains, even as it must he, in the course of time, with

the Indians of these wilds--perhaps not in this century

or the next, but soon or late assuredly. These two

people--the South Americans and Caribs--I particularly

instance, for the very reason that they offer the most

striking parallel with the immediate subject under

discussion. But shall I go further than this, gentlemen,

and maintain that we, the United States, are only following

in the course originally pointed out to us by England."

"I should be glad to hear your argument," said the

Commodore, drawing his chair closer to the table.

"And I," added the General, "consider the position too

novel not to feel interested in the manner in which it

will be maintained."

"I will not exactly say," observed Colonel D'Egville,

smiling one of his blandest smiles, and few men understood

the winning art better than himself, "that Major Montgomerie

has the happy talent of making the worse appear the better

cause; but, certainly I never remember to have heard that

cause more ably advocated."

"More subtly perhaps you would say, Colonel; but seriously,

I speak from conviction alone. It is true, as a citizen

of the United States, and therefore one interested in

the fair fame of its public acts, that conviction may

partake in some degree of partial influences; still it

is sincere. But to my argument. What I would maintain

is, as I have before stated, that in all we hare done,

we have only followed the example of England. For instance,

when the colonization of the Eastern and Southern States

of the Union took place, that is to say when our common

ancestors first settled in this country, how was their

object effected? Why, by driving from their possessions

near the sea, in order to make room for themselves, those

very nations whom we are accused of a desire to exterminate,

as if out of a mere spirit of wantonness. Did either

Dutch or English then hesitate as to what course THEY

should pursue, or suffer any qualms of conscience to

interfere with their Colonial plans? No; as a measure of

policy--as a means of security--they sought to conciliate

the Indians, but not the less determined were they to

attain their end. Who, then, among Englishmen, would have

thought of blaming their fellow countrymen, when the

object in view was the aggrandizement of the national

power, and the furtherance of individual interests? While

the Colonists continued tributary to England they could

do no wrong; they inclined no censure. Each succeding

year saw them, with a spirit of enterprize that was THEN

deemed worthy of commendation, pushing their advantages,

and extending their possessions to the utter exclusion,

and at the expense of the original possessors of the

soil. For this they incurred no blame: but mark the

change. No sooner had the war of the revolution terminated

in our emancipation from the leading strings of childhood;

no sooner had we taken rank among the acknowledged nations

of the world; no sooner had we, in a word, started into

existence as an original people, than the course we had

undeviatingly pursued in infancy, and from which we did

not dream of swerving in manhood, became a subject for

unqualified censure. What had been considered laudable

enterprize in the English Colonist, became unpardonable

ambition in the American Republican, and acts affecting

the national prosperity, that carried with them the

approbation of society and good government during our

nonage, were stigmatized as odious and grasping, the

moment we had attained our majority."

"Most ably and eloquently argued, Major," interrupted

the General, "and I fear with rather more truth than we

Englishmen are quite willing to acknowledge: still, it

must be admitted, that what in the first instance was a

necessity, partook no longer of that character at a later

period. In order to colonize the country originally, it

was necessary to select such portions as were, by their

proximity to the sea, indispensable to the perfection of

the plan. If the English Colonists drove the Indians into

the interior, it was only for a period. They had still

vast tracts to traverse, which have since, figuratively

speaking, been reduced to a mere span: and their very

sense of the difference of the motive--that is to say,

of the difference between him who merely seeks whereon

to erect his dwelling, and him who is anxious to usurp

to himself the possession of almost illimitable territory

--cannot be better expressed than by the different degrees

of enmity manifested against the two several people. When

did the fierceness of Indian hatred blaze forth against

the English Colonists, who were limited in their views,

as it has since against the subjects of the United States,

who, since the revolution, have more than tripled their

territorial acquisitions."

"Nay, General," replied the American, his lip partially

curling with a smile, indicating consciousness of triumphant

argument; "I shall defeat you on your own ground, and

that by going back to a period anterior to the revolution

--to the very period you describe as being characterized

by less intense hostility to your own Government."

"What, for instance, have we seen in modern times to

equal the famous Indian league which, under the direction

of the celebrated Pontiac, a Chieftain only surpassed by

Tecumseh, consigned so many of the European posts to

destruction, along this very line of district, about the

middle of the last century. It has been held up as a

reproach to us, that we have principally subjected

ourselves to the rancorous enmity of the Indians, in

consequence of having wrested from them their favorite

and beautiful hunting grounds, (Kentucky in particular,)

to which their early associations had linked them. But

to this I answer, that in Pontiac's time, this country

was still their own, as well as Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana,

&c. and yet the war of fierce extermination was not the

less waged against the English; not because these latter

had appropriated their principal haunts, but because they

had driven them from their original possessions, near

the sea. The hatred of the Indians has ever been the same

towards those who first secured a footing on their

continent, and, although we are a distinct people in the

eyes of the civilized world, still we are the same in

those of the natives, who see in us, not the emancipated

American, but merely the descendant of the original

Colonist. That their hostility has progressed in proportion

with our extension of territory, I cannot altogether

admit, for although our infant settlements have in a

great degree suffered from occasional irruptions of the

savages, when men, women and children, have alike been

devoted to the murderous tomahawk, in no way have our

fortresses been systematically assailed, as during the

time of Pontiac."

"For this," interrupted the General, "there are two

obvious reasons. In the first instance, your fortresses

are less isolated than ours were at that period, and,

secondly, no such intelligent being as the Chieftain you

have named, had started up among the Indian nations until

now. What Tecumseh may not effect in course of time,

should he not perish in the straggle for his country's

liberty, ought to be a matter of serious consideration

with your Government."

"Of his great talent, and dauntless determination, they

are fully aware," replied the Major, "but, as I have

already said, nothing short, not merely of giving up all

claim to future advantages, but of restoring the country

wrested from him on the Wabash, can ever win him from

his hostility; and this is a sacrifice the Government

will never consent to make."

At this point of the argument, Messieurs Split-log,

Round-head, and Walk-in-the-Water, having finished their

kinni-kinnick, and imbibed a due quantum of whiskey:

possibly, moreover, not much entertained by the conversation

that was carried on in a language neither of them understood

but imperfectly, rose to take their leave. They successively

shook hands with the British leaders, then advancing last

to Major Montgomerie, with a guttural "ugh," so accentuated

as to express good will and satisfaction, tendered their

dark palms to that officer also, muttering as they did

so something about "good Chemocomon." They then with

becoming dignity withdrew, followed by Colonel D'Egville,

who had risen to conduct them to the door.

The conversation, thus temporarily interrupted, was

resumed on that officer's return.

"Admitting the truth of your position, Major Montgomerie,"

remarked the Commodore, "that the Government of the United

States is justified, both by expediency and example, in

the course it has pursued, it will not at least be denied,

that Tecumseh is, on the very same principle, borne out

in the hatred and spirit of hostility, evinced by him

towards the oppressors of his country."

"Granted," returned the Major, "but this point has no

reference to my argument, which tends to maintain, that

in all we have done, we have been justified by necessity

and example."

"The fact is, however, that this condition of things is

one unavoidably growing out of the clashing of adverse

interests--the Indians being anxious to check, we to

extend our dominion and power as a people; and the causes

existing now, were in being nearly a century ago, and

will, in all probability, continue until all vestige of

Indian existence shall have passed utterly away. When

the French were in the occupancy of the Canadas, having

nothing to gain from them, they cultivated the alliance

and friendship of the several nations, and by fostering,

their fierce hostility against the English Colonists,

rendered them subservient to their views. To-day the

English stand precisely where the French did. Having

little to expect from the Indians, but assistance in a

case of need, they behold, and have for years beheld,

with any thing but indifference, the struggle continued

by the United States, which was commenced by themselves.

I hope I shall not be understood as expressing my own

opinion, when I add, that, in the United States, the same

covert influence is attributed to the Commanders of the

British fortresses that was imputed to the French. Indeed,

it is a general belief, among the lower classes

particularly, that, in all the wars undertaken against

the American out-posts and settlements, the Indians have

been instigated to the outrage by liberal distributions

of money, and presents from the British Government."

"It will hardly be necessary to deny the justice of such

an imputation to Major Montgomerie," remarked the General,

with a smile; "especially after having disavowed the

opinion as his own. The charge is too absurd for serious

contradiction--yet, we are not altogether ignorant that

such an impression has gone abroad."

"Few of the more enlightened of our citizens give into

the belief" said the Major; "still it will give me especial

pleasure to have it in my power to contradict the assertion

from the lips of General Brock himself."

"That we have entered into a treaty of alliance with the

Indians," observed Colonel D'Egville, "is most certainly

true; but it is an alliance wholly defensive. I must

further observe that in whatever light the policy of the

Government of the United States, in its relations with

the Indians, may be privately viewed, we are, under all

circumstances, the last people in the world who should

condemn it as injurious to our public interests, since

it has been productive of results affecting the very

existence of these provinces. Had the American Government

studied conciliation, rather than extension of territory,

it is difficult to say to what side the great body of

the Indians would, in the impending struggle, have leaned.

The possibility of some such event as the present had

not only been foreseen, but anticipated. It has long been

obvious to us that the spirit of acquisition manifested

by the United States, would not confine itself to its

customary channels; but on the contrary, that, not

contented with the appropriation of the hunting grounds

of the Indians, it would finally extend its views to

Canada. Such a crisis has long been provided against.

Presents, to a large amount, have certainly been distributed

among the Indians, and not only this, but every courtesy,

consistent at once with our dignity and our interest,

has been shown to them. You have seen, for instance,"

continued he with a smile, "my three friends, who have

just left the room; they are not exactly the happiest

specimens of Indian grace, but they have great weight in

the council, and are the leading men in the alliance to

which you hare alluded, although not wholly for the same

purpose. In the wars of Pontiac--and these are still

fresh in the recollection of certain members of my own

family--the English Commanders, with one or two exceptions,

brought those disasters upon themselves. Forgetting that

the Indians were a proud people, whom to neglect was to

stir into hatred, they treated them, with indifference,

if not with contempt; and dearly did they pay the penalty

of their fault. As we all know, they, with one only

exception, were destroyed. In their fall expired the

hostility they themselves had provoked, and time had

wholly obliterated the sense of injustice from the minds

of the several nations. Were we then with these fearful

examples, yet fresh in our recollection, to fall into a

similar error? No; a course of conciliation was adopted,

and has been pursued for years; and now do we reap the

fruit of what, after all, is but an act of the most

justifiable policy. In my capacity of superintendant of

Indian affairs, Major Montgomerie, even more than at a

Canadian brought up among them, I have had opportunities

of studying the characters of the heads of the several

nations. The most bitter enmity animates the bosoms of

all against the Government and people of the United

States, from whom, according to their own showing, they

have to record injury upon injury; whereas from us they

have received but benefits. I repeat, this is at once

politic and just. What could Canada have hoped to accomplish

in the approaching struggle, had the conduct of the

American Government been such as to have neutralized the

interest we had excited in, and for ourselves? She must

have succumbed; and my firm impression is, that, at

whatever epoch of her existence the United States may

extend the hand of conquest over these provinces, with

the Indian tribes that are now leagued with us crowding

to her own standard, not all the armies England may choose

to send to their defence will be able to prevent it."

"Filling the situation you now occupy, Colonel, there

can be no doubt you are in every way enabled to arrive

at a full knowledge of Indian feelings and Indian interests;

and we have but too much reason to fear that the strong

hatred to the United States, you describe as existing on

the part of their several leaders, has had a tendency to

unite them more cordially to the British cause. But your

course of observation suggests to another question. Why

is it that, with the knowledge possessed by the British

Government of the cruel nature of Indian warfare, it can

consent to enlist them as allies? To prevent their taking

up arms against the Canadas may be well, but in my opinion

(and it is one very generally entertained through the

United States,) the influence of the British authorities

should have been confined to neutralizing their services."

"Nay, Major Montgomerie," observed the General, "it would

indeed be exacting too much to require that we should

offer ourselves unresisting victims to the ambitious

designs (forgive the expression) of your Government; and

what but self immolation would it be to abstain from the

only means by which we can hope to save these threatened

Provinces? Colonel D'Egville has just said that, with

the Indians opposed to us, Canada would fall. I go farther,

and aver that, without the aid of the Indians, circumstanced

as England now is, Canada must be lost to us. It is a

painful alternative I admit, for that a war, which is

not carried on with the conventional courtesies of

civilized belligerent nations, is little suited to our

taste, you will do us the justice to believe; but by whom

have we been forced into the dilemma? Had we been guilty

of rousing the Indian spirit against you, with a view to

selfish advantage; or had we in any may connived at the

destruction of your settlements, from either dread or

jealousy of your too close proximity, then should we have

deserved all the odium of such conduct. But this we

unequivocally deny. Had we even, presuming on the assistance

to be derived from them, been the first to engage the

Indians in this war, and sent them forth to lay waste

your possessions, we might have submitted to well merited

censure; but what is our real position? Without any fair

pretext, and simply in furtherance of its ambitious views,

the Government of the United States declares war against

England, and, with, an eagerness that sufficiently

discloses its true object, marches its rapidly organized

armies as rapidly to our weakly defended frontier. It is

scarcely a week since an express reached this post,

bringing the announcement that hostilities had been

declared and as a proof that these must have been long

in contemplation, even the very day previous to its

arrival, a numerous army marched past on their way to

Detroit. The sound of their drums was the first intimation

we had of their approach, and our surprise was only

equalled by our utter ignorance of the motive, until the

arrival of the express at once explained the enigma.

[Footnote: Fact.] In such a case, I maintain, we stand

justified before God and man in availing ourselves of

every means of defence."

"I cannot acknowledge," replied the American, "that the

war undertaken by our Government, is without sufficient

pretext, or in a mere spirit of conquest. You forget that

an insult was offered to our national flag."

"You of course allude," said the Commodore, "to the affair

of the Little Belt, but I cannot help participating in

the opinion expressed by General Brock. The right of

search, on the part of our vessels, has been too universally

admitted for the American Government to have resisted it

to the extent they have, had they not in this circumstance

found, or fancied they found, a pretext favorable to

their ulterior and more important views. My own firm

impression is, that had England not all her troops engaged

at this moment in the Peninsula, this war never would

have been declared. The opportunity, however, has been

found too tempting, while there are only some half dozen

regular Regiments distributed throughout both provinces;

but the result will prove how far well or ill affected

the Canadians are to the British Crown. Now is the season

arrived to test their allegiance."

"I know not how far the United States Government may have

taken in their calculation a chance of disaffection,"

remarked the General with a smile; "but I think I know

the Canadians, and may venture to assert they will remain

staunch. Every where do they appear to manifest the utmost

enthusiasm."

[Footnote: This certainly was the feeling in 1812.]

"I am only delighted, General, that they have thus an

opportunity of being put to the proof," remarked Colonel

D'Egville. "If they should be found wanting, then do I

much mistake my countrymen. To return, however, to the

subject of the employment of the Indians, which you,

Major Montgomerie, appear to condemn. I would ask you,

if you are aware of the great exertions made by your

Government, to induce them to take an active part in this

very war. If not, I can acquaint you that several of the

chiefs, now here, have been strongly urged to declare

against us; and, not very long since, an important council

was held among the several tribes, wherein some few, who

had been won over by large bribes, had the temerity to

discuss the propriety of deserting the British cause, in

consideration of advantages which were promised them by

the United States. These of course were overruled by the

majority, who expressed the utmost indignation at the

proposal, but the attempt to secure their active services

was not the less made. We certainly have every reason to

congratulate ourselves on its failure."

"This certainly partakes of the argumentum ad hominem,"

said the Major, good humouredly; "I do confess, I am

aware, that since the idea of war against England was

first entertained, great efforts have been made to attach

the Indians to our interests; and in all probability had

any other man than Tecumseh presided over their destinies,

our Government would have been successful. I however,

for one, am no advocate for their employment on either

side, for it must be admitted they are a terrible and a

cruel enemy, sparing neither age nor sex."

"Again, Major," returned the General, "do we shield

ourselves under our former plea--that, as an assailed

party, we have a right to avail ourselves of whatever

means of defence are within our reach. One of two

things--either we must retain the Indians, who are bound

to us in one common interest, or we must, by discarding

them, quietly surrender the Canadas to your armies. Few

will be Quixotic enough to hesitate as to which of the

alternatives we should adopt. If the people of the United

States condemn us for employing the Indians, they are

wrong. They should rather censure their own Government,

either for declaring a war which subjects its inhabitants

to these evils, or for having so long pursued a course

of aggression towards the former, as to have precluded

the means of securing their neutrality. But there is

another powerful consideration which should have its due

weight, I will not say in justifying our conduct, (that

needs no justification,) but in quieting your apprehensions.

As I have before remarked, had we been the first to enter

on this war, sending forth into your settlements a ruthless

enemy to lay waste and massacre wherever they passed, no

time could have washed away the recollection of the

atrocity; but we take our stand on high ground. We war

not on your possessions; we merely await you on the

defensive, and it must be borne in mind that, if these

very people whose employment you deprecate are not let

loose upon the Canadas in a career of unchecked spoliation,

it is only because your Government has failed in the

attempt to blind them to a sense of their numerous wrongs."

"No reasoning can be more candid, General," returned

Major Montgomerie; "and far be it from me wholly to deny

the justice of your observation. My own private impressions

tend less to impugn your policy than to deplore the

necessity for the services of such an ally: for, however,

it may be sought on the part of the British Government,

(and I certainly do differ from the majority of my

countrymen in this instance, by believing it WILL impose

every possible check to unnecessary cruelty,) however,

I repeat, it may be sought to confine the Indians to

defensive operations, their predatory habits will but

too often lead them to the outskirts of our defenceless

settlements, and then who shall restrain them from imbruing

their hands in the blood of the young and the adult--the

resisting and the helpless."

"If we should be accused of neglecting the means of

preventing unnecessary cruelty," observed Colonel D'Egville,

"the people of the United States will do us infinite

wrong. This very circumstance has been foreseen and

provided against. Without the power to prevent the Indians

from entering upon these expeditions, we have at least

done all that experience and a thorough knowledge of

their character admits, to restrain their vengeance, by

the promise of head money. It has been made generally

known to them that every prisoner that is brought in and

delivered up, shall entitle the captor to a certain sum.

This promise, I have no doubt, will have the effect, not

only of saving the lives of those who are attacked in

their settlements, but also of checking any disposition

to unnecessary outrage in the hour of conflict."

"The idea is one certainly reflecting credit on the

humanity of the British authorities," returned Major

Montgomerie; "but I confess I doubt its efficacy. We all

know the nature of an Indian too well to hope that in

the career of his vengeance, or the full flush of victory,

he will waive his war trophy in consideration of a few

dollars. The scalp he may bring, but seldom a living head

with it."

"It is, I fear, the horrid estimation in which the scalp

is held, that too frequently whets the blades of these

people," observed the Commodore. "Were it not considered

a trophy, more lives would be spared; but an Indian, from

all I can understand, takes greater pride in exhibiting

the scalp of a slain enemy, than a knight of ancient

times did in displaying in his helmet, the glove that

had been bestowed on him as a mark of favor by his

lady-love."

"After all," said the General, "necessary as it is to

discourage it by every possible mark of our disapprobation,

I do not (entre nous) see, in the mere act of scalping,

half the horrors usually attached to the practice. The

motive must be considered. It is not the mere desire to

inflict wanton torture, that influences the warrior, but

an anxiety to possess himself of that which gives

indisputable evidence of his courage and success in war.

The prejudice of Europeans is strong against the custom

however, and we look upon it in a light very different,

I am sure, from that in which it is viewed by the Indians

themselves. The burnings of prisoners, which were practised

many years ago, no longer continue; and the infliction

of the torture has passed away, so that, after all, Indian

cruelty does not exceed that which is practised even at

this day in Europe, and by a nation bearing high rank

among the Catholic powers of Europe. I have numerous

letters, recently received from officers of my acquaintance

now serving in Spain, all of which agree in stating that

the mutilations perpetrated by the Guerilla bands, on

the bodies of such of the unfortunate French detachments

as they succeed in overpowering, far exceed any thing

imputed to the Indians of America; and, as several of

these letters an from individuals who joined the Peninsular

Array from this country, in which they had passed many

years, the statement may be relied on as coming from men

who have had men than hearsay knowledge of both parties."

"Whatever the abhorrence in which scalping may be held

by the people of the northern and eastern states," observed

Colonel D'Egville, "it is notorious that the example of

the Indians is followed by those of the western. The

backwoodsman of the new States, and the Kentuckians

particularly, almost invariably scalp the Indians they

have slain in battle. Am I not right, Major Montgomerie?"

"Perfectly, Colonel--but then the Kentuckians," he added

smiling, "are you know in some degree a separate race.

They are scarcely looked upon as appertaining to the

great American family. Half horse, half alligator, as

they are pleased to term themselves, their roving mode

of life and wild pursuits, are little removed from those

of the native Indian, who scarcely inspires more curiosity

among the civilized portion of the Union, than a genuine

Kentuckian."

"Yet, if we may credit the accounts of our Indian spies,"

remarked the General, "the army to which I have alluded,

as having marched forward to Detroit, is composed chiefly

of those backwoodsmen."

"In which case," observed the Commodore, "it will only

be savage pitted against savage after all, therefore,

the exchange of a few scalps can prove but an indifferent

source of national umbrage. Not, however, be it understood,

that I advocate the practice."

Here a tall, fine looking black, wearing the livery of

Colonel D'Egville, entering to announce that coffee was

waiting for them in an adjoining room--the party rose

and retired to the ladies.