SLAUGH. You bet! I reckon he'd better put a lump o'
bacon in his mouth to keep his bilin' sap o' passion
down.

BLOAT. Thet's mor'n I'd do. This is jest what we git
for allowin' the skulkin' devils to live. I'd vittle
'em on lead pills ef I was Guvner.

TWANG. Thet's so! Our civilizashun is jest this - we
know what's what. Ef I hed my way -

HARRISON. Silence, you fools! If you provoke him here
your blood be on your heads.

GERKIN. Right you air, Guvner! We'll close our dampers.

TECUMSEH. My brother's ears have heard. Where is his
tongue?

HARRISON. My honest ears ache in default of reason.
Tecumseh is reputed wise, yet now
His fuming passions from his judgment fly,
Like roving steeds which gallop from the catch,
And kick the air, wasting in wantonness
More strength than in submission. His threats fall
On fearless ears. Knows he not of our force,
Which in the East swarms like mosquitoes here?
Our great Kentucky and Virginia fires?
Our mounted men and soldier-citizens?
These all have stings - let him beware of them!

TECUMSEH. Who does not know your vaunting citizens!
Well drilled in fraud and disciplined in crime;
But in aught else - as honor, justice, truth -
A rabble, and a base disordered herd.
We know them; and our nations, knit in one,
Will challenge them, should this, our last appeal,
Fall on unheeding ears. My brother, hearken!
East of Ohio you possess our lands,
Thrice greater than your needs, but west of it
We claim them all; then, let us make its flood
A common frontier, and a sacred stream
Of which our nations both may drink in peace.

HARRISON. Absurd! The treaties of Fort Wayne must
stand.
Your village chiefs are heads of civil rule,
Whose powers you seek to centre in yourself,
Or vest in warriors whose trade is blood.
We bought from those, and from your peaceful men -
Your wiser brothers - who had faith in us.

TECUMSEH. Poor, ruined brothers, weaned from honest
lives!

HARRISON. They knew our wisdom, and preferred to sell
Their cabins, fields, and wilds of unused lands
For rich reserves and ripe annuities.
As for your nations being one like ours -
'Tis false - else would they speak one common tongue.
Nay, more! your own traditions trace you here -
Widespread in lapse of ages through the land -
From o'er the mighty ocean of the West.
What better title have you than ourselves,
Who came from o'er the ocean of the East,
And meet with you on free and common ground?
Be reasonable, and let wisdom's words
Displace your passion, and give judgment vent
Think more of bounty, and talk less of rights -
Our hands are full of gifts, our hearts of love.