To return to Red-Jacket After his first oratorical triumph, he rose as rapidly as the Corn-Planter declined in the esteem of his countrymen. The latter withdrew from the rivalry, [FN] but the ambition of his successor was thoroughly aroused. He burned to be, and to be called, the Great Speaker of his nation and his age; to renew that glorious era when the white men trembled at the breath of Garangula; to feel and to make felt.
The monarch mind—the mystery of commanding— The godlike power—the art Napoleon, Of winning, fettering, moulding, wielding, banding The hearts of millions, till they move like one.
[FN] The Prophet died in 1815.
And he succeeded as far perhaps as could be expected in the circumstances of the modern Seneca, as compared with those of the orator who bearded the Canadian lion in his den. More than a century had since elapsed, during which the proud confederacy that had kept all other nations on the continent at bay was reduced to a few lingering, scattered settlements,—surrounded and crowded by civilization,—perhaps besotted in vice,—where the very ground of their ancient council-halls scarcely was sought for. With such discouragements in his way, the young Orator deserves some credit for making the exertions he did, and his countrymen for rewarding them as they were able. They elected him a chief; and then upon all occasions obeyed him in peace, and followed him in war.
Red-Jacket justified their confidence by a strict adherence to principles which on the whole are equally creditable to his heart and head, although either the policy itself, or his singular pertinacity in maintaining it, no doubt made him many adversaries and some enemies, even with his own people. He had early reflected upon and felt deeply the impotent insignificance to which the tribes were reduced;—and he resolved, if he could not restore them to their primitive position, at least to stay the progress of ruin. How should this be done,—was the great question,—by receiving civilization, or by resisting it?
He determined on the latter alternative, and from that hour never in the slightest degree swerved from his resolution to drive away and keep away every innovation on the character, and every intrusion on the territory of the nation. Traders, travelers, teachers, missionaries, speculators in land, were regarded with the same jealousy. In a word, he labored against circumstances whose force had now become inevitable and irresistible, to maintain a system of complete Indian Independence, which few of his countrymen understood, and still fewer were willing to practice.
And this is the trait which distinguishes his character from the majority of those we have heretofore sketched. Some of the most eminent of the number, like Pontiac and Little-Turtle, were anxious to avail themselves of the arts of civilization at least, were it only for purposes of offence and defence against the race whom they borrowed from; and scarcely any were opposed, other than incidentally, to their introduction into Indian use. But Red-Jacket was a Pagan in principle. He advocated as well as acted Paganism on all occasions. He was prouder of his genuine Indianism, if possible, than he was of his oratory. His bitterest foe could not deny him the merit of frankness.
One of his clearest manifestos, in explanation of his system, was delivered as long ago as May, 1811, before a council of the Senecas, held at Buffalo Creek, in the form of a speech to the Rev. Mr. Alexander, a missionary from a Society in the city of New-York, whose commission the address itself sufficiently explains.
"Brother!"—the Orator began, with a complaisance which never, under any excitement, deserted him,-"Brother!—We listened to the talk you delivered us from the Council of Black-Coats, [FN] in New-York. We have fully considered your talk, and the offers you have made us. We now return our answer, which we wish you also to understand. In making up our minds, we have looked back to remember what has been done in our days, and what our fathers have told us was done in old times."