The chief of the confederacy had to advise only, and not to command; he was of influence only when endowed with superior talent and political ability. The chief and principal warriors had annual meetings in the public square of some central town, on public affairs; they drank ássi, exchanged tobacco, and then proceeded to debate. Time and place of these conventions were fixed by a chief, and the space of time between warning and that of assembly was called "broken days." Major C. Swan, after whose report this passage is quoted (Schoolcraft V, 279) states that the title of the chief of the confederacy was the _great beloved man_, while Milfort, who was himself invested with the charge of great warrior of the nation, styles him "Le Tastanégy ou grand chef de guerre," adding, however, that in his time he was the highest authority in _civil and military_ affairs (Mémoire, Note to p. 237). The English, French and Spaniards frequently called him the _Emperor_ of the Upper and Lower Creeks, a term which is not entirely misapplied when taken in its original sense of "military commander," the _imperator_ of the Romans.