"The count sent back his mesenger to say he was fatigued with his journey, and could not go to the Seneca village; that he had come all the way from France, to see the great orator of the Senecas, and after having put himself to so much trouble, to see so distinguished a man, the latter could not refuse to meet him at Buffalo.
"'Tell him,' said the sarcastic chief, 'It is very strange he should come so far to see me, and then stop within seven miles of my lodge.' The retort was richly merited. The count visited him at his wigwam, and then Red Jacket accepted an invitation to dine with him, at his lodgings at Buffalo.
"The young nobleman was greatly pleased with him, declaring that he considered him a greater wonder than the falls of Niagara. This remark was the more striking as it was made within view of the great cataract. But it was just. He who made the world, and filled it with wonders, has declared man to be the crowning work of the whole Creation." [Footnote: McKenney's Indian Biography.]
On one occasion at a treaty attended by Colonel Pickering, Red Jacket observed that the attention of the colonel, who was in the habit of taking down, as they were interpreted, the Indian speeches made, was withdrawn from himself, and his eye directed to the paper on which he was writing. Red Jacket paused. The colonel desired him to proceed. "No," said the orator, "not when you hold down your head." "Why can you not go on while I write?" "Because," replied the chief, "if you look me in the eye, you will then perceive if I tell you the truth or not." [Footnote: Col. Stone.]
On another occasion, Colonel Pickering turned, while the orator was addressing him to speak to a person near. The chief thereupon rebuked him, saying with much emphasis, "When a Seneca speaks he ought to be listened to with attention, from one extremity of this great island to the other." [Footnote: Ib.]
Toward the close of his life he was present by invitation, at the launching of a schooner at Black Rock, bearing his name. He made a short address on the occasion which indicates the estimation in which he regarded his own merit. In the course of his speech, addressing himself directly to the vessel, he said: "You have a great name given you, strive to deserve it. Be brave and daring. Go boldly into the great lakes, and fear neither the swift winds, nor the strong waves. Be not frightened nor overcome by them, for it is by resisting storms and tempests, that I, whose name you bear, obtained my renown. Let my great example inspire you to courage, and lead you to glory." [Footnote: Col. Stone.]
Also late in life, when at one of the hotels in Auburn, N. Y., observing a person whom he thought did not treat him with proper deference, he came and stood before him and stamping his foot on the floor, exclaimed with much emphasis, "I am Red Jacket!" [Footnote: Incident given to the author by J. C. Ivison, Esq., of Auburn.]
He did not relish being trifled with even in playfulness.
"At one time when visiting the house of Captain Jones, on taking his seat at the breakfast table with the family, Mrs. Jones, knowing his extreme fondness for sugar, mischieviously prepared his coffee without the addition of that luxury. On discovering the cheat, the chief looked at the captain with an offended expression, and thus rebuked him: 'My son,' stirring his cup with energy, 'Do you allow your squaw thus to trifle with your father?' Perceiving at the same time, by the giggling of the children, that they had entered into the joke, he continued, 'And do you allow your children to make sport of their chief?' Jones and his wife thereupon apologized, and the latter made the amende honorable, by handing him the sugar-bowl, which he took, and with half angry sarcasm filled the cup to the brim, with sugar. The liquid not holding so large a quantity in solution, he ate the whole with his spoon." [Footnote: Col. Stone.]
Still he enjoyed a laugh when he was making the sport. He was very entertaining in conversation, and would sometimes in the presence of his associates, relax his dignity, and for a time, when he felt in the mood, keep them in a roar of laughter, by his anecdotes, or by taking off something ludicrous, he had observed among the whites. When he had carried it sufficiently far, he would draw himself up, and resume his dignity, when by common consent, the sport would cease. [Footnote: Wm. Jones, to the author.]