The
ordinary warriors of the band were still less diffident, not
hesitating to mingle among the chiefs of lesser note, though far from
assuming the right to dispute the sentiments of any established brave,
or to call in question the prudence of measures, that were recommended
by the more gifted counsellors of the nation.
Among the chiefs themselves there was a singular compound of exterior.
They were divided into two classes; those who were mainly indebted for
their influence to physical causes, and to deeds in arms, and those
who had become distinguished rather for their wisdom than for their
services in the field. The former was by far the most numerous and the
most important class. They were men of stature and mien, whose stern
countenances were often rendered doubly imposing by those evidences of
their valour, which had been roughly traced on their lineaments by the
hands of their enemies. That class, which had gained its influence by
a moral ascendency was extremely limited. They were uniformly to be
distinguished by the quick and lively expression of their eyes, by the
air of distrust that marked their movements, and occasionally by the
vehemence of their utterance in those sudden outbreakings of the mind,
by which their present consultations were, from time to time,
distinguished.
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