The Captain explained to the Turtle some anecdotes respecting the Empress and her favorites, one of whom,--the king of Poland,--had at first been by her elevated to the throne, and afterwards driven from it. He was much astonished to find that men, and particularly warriors, would submit to a woman. He said that perhaps if his friend Kosciusko had been a portly, handsome man, he might have better succeeded with her majesty of all the Russias, and might by means of a love-intrigue have obtained that independence for his country, to which his skill and valor in the field had been found unequal. The Turtle was fond of joking, and was possessed of considerable talent for repartee. In the year 1797, he lodged in a house in Philadelphia, in which was an Irish gentleman of considerable wit, who became much attached to the Indian, and frequently amused himself in drawing out his wit by good-humored jests. The Turtle and this gentlemen were at that time both sitting for their portraits--the former by order of the President of the United States, the picture to be hung up in the war-office--to the celebrated Stewart. The two meeting one morning in the painter's room, the Turtle appeared to be rather more thoughtful than usual. The Irishman rallied him upon it, and affected to construe it into an acknowledgment of his superiority in the jocular contest. "He mistakes," said the Turtle to the interpreter, "I Was just thinking of proposing to this man, to paint us both on one board, and here I would stand face to face with him, and confound him to all eternity." CHAPTER XVI. The Seneca Chief, Red-Jacket--Circumstances under which he succeeded Corn-Planter in his influence--Anecdotes of the latter--Red-Jacket's earliest oratorical triumph--His speech at the Treaty of Canandaigua--Account of Farmer's-Brother, and Brandt--Red-Jacket's political and religious principles--Speech to Mr. Alexander, in 1811--Speech to Mr. Richardson--Remarks on the causes of his heathenism in the conduct of the whites--His military career--Speech in favor of declaring war against the British, in 1812--Seneca Manifesto--Red-Jacket's interview with Washington--His interview with Lafayette--His Memorial to the New-York Legislature--Speech to a Missionary in 1825--His deposition and restoration in 1827--Visits to the Atlantic cities--Death and funeral obsequies--Anecdotes. The Indian orator of modern times, _par excellence,_ was the New-York Chief, Saguoaha, or the Keeper-Awake, but by the whites commonly called Red-Jacket;--a man who, with whatever propriety he might be entitled "the Last of the Senecas," has at least transiently renewed, in these latter days, the ancient glory of the Mingoes. "Thy name is princely,"--a popular writer has said of him,--