"Brother! You have now heard our answer to your talk, and this is all we have to say at present. As we are going to part, we will come and take you by the hand, and hope the Great Spirit will protect you on your journey, and return you safe to your friends."
There is little doubt that Red Jacket appreciated his own prowess to the full and realized what a wonderful control he had over his followers. In the council chamber he was supreme and usually was able to sway the feelings of his hearers in whatever direction he wished. Some one inquired one day what deeds of blood he had done in order to make himself a true warrior among the Senecas, and to this he replied: "A warrior! I am an orator! I was born an orator."
A young French nobleman visited Buffalo about 1815, and hearing of the wonderful speaker, sent word to Red Jacket that he wished to talk with him. But the oratorical chief received this message with contempt. "Tell the young man that if he wishes to visit the old chief he will find him with his nation," said he, "where other strangers pay their respect to him, and Red Jacket will be glad to see him." To this the Frenchman sent back word that he had taken a long journey and was fatigued, that he had come all the way from France to see the great orator of the Seneca nation and hoped he would not refuse to meet him at Buffalo. To this the Seneca brave sent the following answer: "Tell him that having come so far to see me it is strange he should stop within seven miles of my lodge." "By Gad," said the nobleman, when this message was delivered to him, "such a man of spirit must indeed be worth journeying to see," and, without more ado, he hastened to the lodge of the sarcastic Red Jacket. The Seneca orator now consented to dine with him at Buffalo, and, after the repast, the enthusiastic Frenchman exclaimed: "He is a remarkable man. Had he been white, he would have one of the greatest reputations of the ages. He is a wonder greater than Niagara Falls, which I have just visited."
Shortly after this an Indian was executed for the murder of his wife, and a great crowd journeyed to see the hanging. Red Jacket, however, was met going in the opposite direction from the scene. "Why do you not go to see this affair?" asked a friend. "Fools enough are there already," replied the great orator. "Battle is the proper place to see men die."
"When I dined with President Washington," said he to a gentleman, "a man ran off with my knife and fork every now and again, and returned with others. What was that for?"
"There are a great many dishes," replied the gentleman, "each cooked in a different manner. Every time a new dish is brought on the table, the knives and forks are changed."
"Ah," said Red Jacket, thoughtfully, "is that it? You must then suppose that the plates and knives and forks retain the taste of the cookery?"
"Yes," answered the white man.
"Have you then any method by which you can change your palates every time you change your plates? For I think the taste would remain on the palate longer than it would on the plate."