Of the many Indian chiefs who distinguished themselves in the wars of the whites, Tecumseh was undoubtedly the greatest since the days of Pontiac. Sir Isaac Brock has expressed his warm admiration of him, and it is well known that the feeling was mutual; but it is said that after the death of his friend and patron, Tecumseh found no kindred spirit with whom to act. In early life he was addicted to inebriety, the prevailing vice of the Indians, but his good sense and resolution conquered the habit, and, in his later years, he was remarkable for temperance. Glory became his ruling passion, and in its acquisition he was careless of wealth, as, although his presents and booty must have been of considerable value, he preserved little or nothing for himself. In height he was five feet ten inches, well formed, and capable of enduring fatigue in an extraordinary degree. His carriage was erect and commanding, and there was an air of hauteur in his countenance, arising from an elevated pride of soul, which did not forsake it when life was extinct. He was habitually taciturn, but, when excited, his eloquence was nervous, concise, and figurative. His dress was plain, and he was never known to indulge in the gaudy decoration of his person, which is the common practice of the Indians. On the day of his death, he wore a dressed deer skin coat and pantaloons. He was present in almost every action against the Americans, from the period of Harmer's defeat to the battle of the Thames--was several times wounded--and always sought the hottest of the fire. On the 19th July, 1812, he pursued, near Sandwich, a detachment of the American army under Colonel M'Arthur, and fired on the rear guard. The colonel suddenly faced about his men and gave orders for a volley, when all the Indians fell flat on the ground with the exception of Tecumseh, who stood firm on his feet, with apparent unconcern! After his fall, his lifeless corpse was viewed with great interest by the American officers, who declared that the contour of his features was majestic even in death. And notwithstanding, it is said by an American writer, that "some of the Kentuckians disgraced themselves by committing indignities on his dead body. He was scalped, and _otherwise disfigured_." He left a son, who fought by his side when he fell, and was then about seventeen years old. The prince regent, in 1814, as a mark of respect to the memory of the father, sent a handsome sword as a present to the son. A nephew of Tecumseh and of the prophet, (their sister's son,) who was highly valued by the Americans, was slain in their service, in November, 1812, on the northern bank of the river Miami. Having been brought up by the American general, Logan, he had adopted that officer's name. He asserted that Tecumseh had in vain sought to engage him in the war on the side of the British. FOOTNOTES: