He therefore determined on his return to ask me.
"He said when he dined at General Washington's, a man stood all the time
behind his chair, and would, every now and then run off with his plate,
and knife and fork, which he would immediately replace by others. 'Now,'
said Red Jacket, 'what was this for?' I replied that he must have observed
on the president's table a variety of dishes, that each dish was cooked in
a different manner, and that the plates and knives and forks of the
guests, were changed as often as they were helped from a different dish.
'Ah!' said he, 'is that it?' I replied in the affirmative. 'You must then
suppose,' he continued, 'that the plates, and knives, and forks, retain
the taste of the cookery?' Yes, I replied. 'Have you then,' he added, 'any
method by which you can change your palates every time you change your
plates? For I should suppose that the taste would remain on the palate
longer than on the plate?' I replied that we were in the habit of washing
that away by drinking wine. 'Ah!' said he, 'now I understand it. I was
persuaded that so general a custom among you was founded in reason, and I
only regret that when I was in Philadelphia I did not understand it; when
dining with General Washington and your father. The moment the man went
off with my plate I would have drunk wine until he brought me another; for
although I am fond of eating, I am more so of drinking.'" [Footnote: Col.
Stone's Life of Red Jacket.
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