aspirations; or, assisted more by nature than by art, emerged, like
Patrick Henry at once, into the grand arena of mind, and by a single
effort attained distinction and fame, is to be gathered more from
circumstances than from facts.

It is generally conceded, however, that the powers of his intellect were
of the highest order. Captain Horatio Jones, the well known interpreter
and agent among the Indians, and than whom no one was more intimately
acquainted with this orator of the Seneca nation, was accustomed to speak
of him as the greatest man that ever lived. "For," said he, "the great men
of our own and of other times, have become so by education; but RED JACKET
WAS AS NATURE MADE HIM. Had he enjoyed their advantages, he would have
surpassed them, since it can hardly be supposed that they, without these,
would have equalled him." [Footnote: Conversation of the author with Col.
Wm. Jones, of Geneseo, Livingston Co., N. Y., son of Capt. Horatio Jones.]

Some allowance should be made for this statement, perhaps, on the ground
that Mr. Jones was a warm admirer of the orator's genius; yet his
admiration sprang from an intimate knowledge of him, seen under
circumstances, that afforded the best opportunity of forming a just
opinion of his talents; and these, he maintained, "_were among the noblest
that nature ever conferred upon man_."

But genius, while it may have smoothed the way, may not have spared him
the pains, by which ordinary minds ascend to greatness. For since it is so
universally the fact, that the path to eminence, is rugged and steep, and
the gifts of fame seldom bestowed but in answer to repeated toil;
curiosity would inquire by what means one, who was reputed a barbarian,
gained the highest distinction ever awarded to civilized man. It is not
enough to reply simply, "_that nature made him so_," or to receive,