From all the information which can now be gathered respecting the early years of Tecumseh, it appears that he gave striking evidence in his boyhood of the singular spirit which characterized him through life. He was distinguished for a steady adherence to principle, and generally to that of the best kind. He prided himself upon his temperance and his truth, maintaining an uncommon reputation for integrity, and, what is still rarer among his countrymen, never indulging in the excessive use of food or liquor. He would not marry until long after the customary period; and then, as a matter of necessity, in consequence of the solicitations of friends, he connected himself with an elderly female, who was, perhaps, not the handsomest or most agreeable lady in the world, but nevertheless bore him one child, his only offspring. With this exception, he adopted in his matrimonial life, the _practices_ of the sect of Shakers, whose _principles,_ as is well known, were afterwards so strenuously promulgated by his brother, the Prophet, that a certain prime functionary in that denomination gave him the credit of being as good a disciple as himself. [FN] Whether there was an express concert or actual cooperation between the two, at this early period, respecting this or any other project or policy in which they subsequently engaged together, does not appear to be positively ascertained. * * * * * [FN] See an authority cited at large in the following pages. It is not to be supposed, that any remarkable achievements of the young warrior in his first battles, should be preserved on record. Some Shawanees have said that he made his _debut_ in an engagement with the Kentucky troops, which took place on the banks of Mad River; that in the heat of the skirmish he most ungallantly turned right-about-face, and made the best of his way from the field, with all possible diligence,--and that too while one of his brothers stood his ground with the other Indians, and fought till he was wounded and carried off. It must be admitted, this was not so creditable a proceeding as may be conceived; but the extreme youth of the party goes some way to explain, as his subsequent conduct did to excuse it.