This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help fromCharles Franks and Distributed ProofersThe Canadian Brothers or The Prophecy FulfilledA tale of the late American warBy Major RichardsonKnight of the military order of Saint Ferdinandauthor of Ecarte Wacousta c cIn Two VolumesVOLUME IINSCRIPTIONTo His Excellency Major General Sir John Harvey KCBKCH Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick who bore aconspicuous part in the war of 1812 and who contributedso essentially to the success of the British arms duringthe campaigns of 1813 and 1814 and particularly at StoneyCreek in Upper Canada on the night of the 5th June 1813when entrusted with the execution of his own daringplan he at the head of sever hundred and twenty men ofthe 8th and 49th Regiments The former the AuthorsCorps surprised and completely routed at the point ofthe bayonet a division of the American army undergenerals Winder and Chandler three thousand five hundredstrong capturing their leaders with many other inferiorprisoners and several pieces of cannon the Canadianedition of this historical talk is inscribed withsentiments of high public and personal esteem by hisfaithful and obedient servantThe AuthorPREFACEWindsor Castle October 29 1832DEAR SIRI have received your letter of the 27th instantand beg to reply that there cannot be the least objectionto your sending a copy of your work with the autographaddition and that if you will send it to me I willpresent it to His MajestyI do not presume you wish to apply for permission todedicate the work to His Majesty which is not usuallygiven for work of fictionI remain Dear Sir your faithful ServantSigned H TAYLORLieut RICHARDSON c c cH P 92nd RegtBRIGHTON December 18 1832DEAR SirI beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letterof the 14th instant and of the copy of your workWACOUSTA for the King which I have had the honor ofpresenting to His Majesty who received it very graciouslyI remain Dear Sir your faithful ServantSigned H TAYLORLieut RICHARDSON c c cH P 92nd RegtWINDSOR CASTLE August 7 1833DEAR SIRI have to acknowledge your letter of the 1stinstant together with its enclosure and beg to expressthe deep gratification I have felt in the perusal of thatchapter of your new work which treats of the policy ofemploying the Indians in any future war we may have withthe United States Should you be desirous of dedicatingit to His Majesty I can foresee no difficultyPermit me to avail myself of this opportunity of assuringyou of the deep interest with which your WACOUSTA hasbeen read by the whole CourtI remain Dear Sir your faithful ServantSigned H TAYLORLieut RICHARDSON c c cH P 92nd RegtWINDSOR CASTLE August 12 1833DEAR SIRI beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letterof the 9th and to acquaint you that His Majesty acquiescesin your wish to be permitted to dedicate your new workto himI remain Dear Sir your faithful ServantSigned H TAYLORLieut RICHARDSON c c cH P 92nd RegtBy the above letters two material points are establishedThe first is that although works of fiction are notusually dedicated to the Sovereign an exception was madein favour of the following tale which is now for thefirst time submitted to the public and which from itshistorical character was deemed of sufficient importancenot to be confounded with mere works of fiction Theexception was grounded on a chapter of the book whichthe seeker after incident alone will dismiss hastilybut over which the more serious reader may be induced topauseThe second and not least important point disposed ofis one which the manner in which the principal Americancharacters have been disposed of renders in some degreeimperativeThe Author has no hesitation in stating that had it notbeen for the very strong interest taken in their appearanceby a portion of the American public in the first instancethese volumes never would have been submitted to thepress of this country Hence to a corresponding feelingmight under other circumstances have been ascribed thefavorable light under which the American character hasbeen portrayed From the dates of the above letters fromthe principal AiddeCamp and Private Secretary to Hislate Majesty it will however be seen that the workwas written in England and therefore before there couldhave existed the slightest inducement to any unduepartialityThat this is the case the Author has reason to rejoicesince in eschewing the ungenerous desire of most Englishwriters on America to convey a debasing impression ofher people and seeking on the contrary to do justiceto their character as far as the limited field affordedby a work preeminently of fiction will admit nointerested motive can be ascribed to him Should thesepages prove a means of dissipating the slightest portionof that irritation which hasand naturallybeenengendered in every American heart by the perverted andprejudiced statements of disappointed tourists whoseacerbity of stricture not even a recollection of muchhospitality could repress and of renewing that healthytone of feeling which it has been endeavoured to showhad existed during the earlier years of the presentcentury the Author will indeed feel that he has notwritten in vainOne observation in regard to the tale itself There isa necessary anachronism in the book of too palpable anature not to be detected at a glance by the reader Itwill however be perceived that such anachronism doesnot in any way interfere with historical fact while ithas at the same time facilitated the introduction ofevents which were necessary to the action of the storyand which have been brought on the scene before thatwhich constitutes the anachronism as indispensableprecursors to it We will not here mar the readersinterest in the story by anticipating but allow him todiscover and judge of the propriety of the transpositionhimselfTecumseh moreover is introduced somewhat earlier thanthe strict record of facts will justify but as hispresence does not interfere with the general accuracy ofthe detail we trust the matter of fact reader whocannot at least be both to make early acquaintance withthis interesting Chieftain will not refuse us the exerciseof our privilege as a novelist in disposing of charactersin the manner most pleasing to the eyeWe cannot conclude without apology for the imperfectScotch which we have to use a homely phrase put intothe mouth of one