. . . Though no poet's magic Could make Red-Jacket grace an English rhyme, Unless he had a genius for the tragic, And introduced it in a pantomime; Yet it is music in the language spoken Of thine own land; and on her herald-roll, As nobly fought for, and as proud a token As Coeur-de-Lion's of a warrior's soul. [FN] * * * * * [FN] Talisman fox 1830. This, by the way, is considerably nearer the truth than the statement in a preceding stanza: . . . Tradition's pages Tell not the planting of thy parent tree; But that the forest tribes have Dent for ages, To thee and to thy sires the subject knee. Better historical, if not poetical authority informs us, that the Seneca literally "fought" for his rank, if not for his name; and that, like the subject of our last notice, he owed nothing to the advantages of illustrious birth. [FN] We should add, however, that the struggle was in the council-house as well as in the field of battle. "A warrior!"--he once (and probably more than once) had the modesty to say of himself, with a smile of contempt, when some enquiries were made respecting the deeds of blood which are sometimes supposed to constitute the character of an Indian;--"A Warrior! I am an _Orator._ I was _born_ an Orator!" * * * * * [FN] Governor Clinton's Discourse before the New-York Historical Society; 1811. The predecessor of Red-Jacket, in the respect of the Senecas, and of the Confederacy at large, was a celebrated chief named by the English the Corn-Planter, a personage also well known for his eloquence, and worthy on that account to be distinctly commemorated, were there on record any definite and well authenticated sketches of his efforts. Unfortunately, there are not. The speeches commonly ascribed to him, are believed to have been mostly composed by some of his civilized acquaintances, rather on the principle of those effusions usually attributed to popular candidates for the gallows. Still, there is less reason, we apprehend, for doubting his real genius, than for disputing his nationality. He considered himself a half-breed, [FN] his father being an Indian, according to his own account, and his mother a white woman. * * * * * [FN] Appendix, III. and VI.