Classic Poem

SCENE FIFTH. — S ANDWICH, ON THE D ETROIT . — A ROOM IN THE Baby MANSION .

Enter G ENERAL B ROCK , C OLONELS P ROCTOR , G LEGG , Baby , M ACDONELL , N ICHOL , E LLIOTT 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.
B ROCK . 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.
P ROCTOR . 'Tis pity that must be denied them now,
Since all our enemies have left our shores.
B ROCK . 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?
E LLIOTT . 'Tis his friend, Lefroy,
Who now rejoins him, after bootless quest
Of Iena, Tecumseh's niece.
B ROCK . 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.
B ROCK . 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!
B ROCK . 'Tis strange to find him here!
E LLIOTT . 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.
B ROCK . Few find like him the substance of their dreams.
But, Elliott, let us seek Tecumseh now.
Stay, friends, till we return.
G LEGG . How odd to find
An old friend in this fashion!
P ROCTOR . 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.
N ICHOL . Why, Brock is charmed with him!
And, as you saw, at Amherstburg he put
Most stress upon opinion when he spoke.
M ACDONELL . Already they've determined on assault.
P ROCTOR . Then most unwisely so! There are no bounds
To this chief's rashness, and our General seems
Swayed by it too, or rashness hath a twin.
N ICHOL . 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 G ENERAL B ROCK and C OLONEL E LLIOTT , accompanied by T ECUMSEH , conversing .

T ECUMSEH . 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!
B ROCK . 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.
T ECUMSEH . Thanks, thanks, my brother, I have faith in you;
My life is at your service!
B ROCK . Gentlemen,
Have you considered my proposal well
Touching the capture of Detroit by storm?
What say you, Colonel Proctor?
P ROCTOR . 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.
B ROCK . What say the rest?
1 ST O FFICER . I fear 'tis indiscreet.
2 ND O FFICER . 'Twould be imprudent with our scanty force.
B ROCK . What say you, Nichol, to my foolish scheme?
N ICHOL . I think it feasible and prudent too.
Hull's letters, captured by Tecumseh, prove
His soldiers mutinous, himself despondent.
And dearly Rumour 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.
B ROCK . My very thoughts! What says Tecumseh now?
T ECUMSEH . I say attack the fort! This very night
I'll cross my braves, if you decide on this.
B ROCK . 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.
G LEGG . I go,
And shall acquit myself as best I can.
B ROCK . 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.
T ECUMSEH . This is a man!
And our Great Father, waking from his sleep,
Has sent him to our 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.