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.
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