Chapter V: Appendix: I. Report of House Committee on Foreign Affairs 221 (2)

sa reputation vit encore dans l’esprit de ces peuples barbares,
qui honorent mesme après tant d’années plusieurs belles vertus
qu’ils admiroient en luy, et particulierement sa chasteté et
continence envers les femmes.

(his reputation still lives in the minds of these barbarous
peoples, who honor, even after so many years, many excellent
virtues which they admired in him, and in particular his chastity
and continence with respect to the women).

And the good Le Jeune exclaims:

Pleust à Dieu que tous les François qui les premiers sont venus
en ces contrées lui eussent esté semblables. (Jesuit Relations,
Vol. XX, p. 18.)

(Would to God that all the French who came first to this country
had been like unto him.)

In 1599, several years before coming to Canada, Champlain visited
the Isthmus of Panama, and noted that if a canal were cut across
it one could pass from one ocean to the other, thus shortening
the distance from Spain to Peru by more than fifteen hundred
leagues. And as this Frenchman was the first[2] to lay that
project of the Panama Canal before the world, so another great
Frenchman, de Lesseps, was the first to put the idea into practical
application; and after proving that its accomplishment was only
possible if undertaken by a Government, to hand it over to the
traditional friend of France,—its successor in the ownership of the
great territory of Louisiana—to complete the divorcement of the
continent, which, as Champlain wrote, would divide America into two
islands: one from Panama to the Straits of Magellan, and the other
from Panama to the new lands (Terres Noeufves).

In 1878 we celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Treaty of
Alliance, and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, with France.

In 1903 we celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Treaty of
Cession of Louisiana.

In 1904 we concluded the purchase from the French Panama Canal
Company of its interests in the Isthmian Canal.

In 1909 we celebrated the three hundredth anniversary of the
discovery by Champlain of the great lake with which his name is
forever linked.

To-night, in the name and on behalf of the President of the United
States, I welcome the Embassy from the French people that brings
to the American people a token of the perpetual friendship which
an indissoluble union in the past makes sure of continuance in the
future.

No more distinguished or representative Embassy has ever come
bearing the greetings of one people to another. Glancing over
the names of those that comprise it, one sees those of the
most distinguished exponents of all that is best in French
national life. History, Literature, Art, Journalism; the cause
of International Peace, and Arms, which ensure its continuance;
Industry, Commerce and Sport—all these are represented. To one and
all of you, America extends a welcome. And in the name, and on
behalf, of the President of the United States I accept this bronze
relief of France, which will be erected on the lighthouse at Crown
Point, as a perpetual reminder of the good will of that people who
are united with us by the memory of many evidences of disinterested
friendship in the past and of a common devotion to Republican
principles in the present. (Applause.)

President Finley then introduced Ambassador Jusserand as follows:

We welcome the special embassies that come from time to time, but that is partly because of our affection and admiration for the permanent Ambassador from the Republic of France. It was rumored a few days ago that he was to be promoted to another court. Of course, in our opinion transfer to another court is not a promotion. But in any event, we are sure of this: that court is the most fortunate to whose sovereign he is accredited. I propose the health of the sovereign who has accredited him to us, the President of the French Republic.

ADDRESS OF AMBASSADOR JUSSERAND

I have been accredited to the United States almost ten years, and
although this beats the record of any of my predecessors, from the
founding of this Republic, this space of time, spent in such a
friendly country, among a people that has never allowed me to feel
that I was not in my own land, has passed for me like a day. What
has just been said by our Chairman, an historian, a thinker, a man
of action, a scientist who has delighted the French of to-day by
his studies of the French of the past, showing to both a similar
broad sympathy, touches me deeply. I cannot imagine with the sound
of his words in my ears, what amount of time would ever seem long
to me, in a post where the President of the French Republic and his
representative are spoken of in such a fashion by such a friend.

It was my privilege, three years ago, to attend, in the society of
the President of the United States, memorable ceremonies, lasting
several days, held by the Sons of America in honor of a son of
France, Samuel Champlain. The year was a busy one for President
Taft, since it was a tariff year, yet he did not hesitate to lend
his presence to festivities for which, in every bay, on every
promontory, in every city, his eloquence, good humor and good grace
were in ceaseless request. He had been advised that one speech
would be expected of him, and I had received the same notification;
so we had each prepared one, but he had to deliver six and I five;
Ambassador Bryce had a similar fate, such being the way of the
world, and especially of the New World.

Many of you, I am sure, remember the grandeur of the ceremonies
to which a peerless landscape lent its lovely background, and the
summer sun its splendor, and the Champlain Commission the charms
of a most gracious hospitality; the visits to Ticonderoga just
rising from its ruins, to Bluff Point, Plattsburgh, Burlington; the
excellent addresses of President Taft, of Ambassador Bryce, Senator
Root, Mr. Lemieux of Canada and so many others, and you remember
too with what alacrity New York and Vermont vied with each other,
Governor Hughes and Governor Prouty making everybody welcome and
delighting innumerable hearers with the wit and wisdom of their
speeches.

But this was not enough, and with that warmth of heart so
characteristic of this nation, you have desired that permanent
memorials should, to the end of time, bear testimony to the
gratitude due to Champlain, not only for the discoveries he made,
but also for the examples he left us. When this intention became
known to my compatriots, it profoundly touched them, and they
begged permission to take part in these homages, thus evidencing
once more, the unity of feeling between the two Republics east
and west of the great Ocean. Hence the coming to these shores of
the Delegation headed by Mr. Hanotaux which you are welcoming
to-night, a representative one, where the French Academy, the
French Parliament, the French Army, French art, science, industry,
commerce, press and, let us not forget that Franco-American art,
aviation, have their spokesmen.

The news of your intentions moved the more deeply the hearts of my
compatriots that, after a long interruption, the task of Champlain,
that task so well described by our Chairman of to-night, President
Finley, in his Sorbonne lectures, has been resumed in the same
spirit by our Republic of to-day.

“The French,” wrote in the sixteenth century the great Italian poet
Tasso, “are by nature unable to stand still and do nothing. When
they cease to be in action, they wither like the mechanism of a
clock that gets rusty if not in use.” We have been in no danger in
these latter years, of rusting. If, on several continents, success
has attended our efforts, it is because we took our inspiration
from the precepts and examples left by the far-off ancestors,
Champlain and his peers. Justice, friendliness, a desire to
help and improve, must ever be among the chief articles of the
colonist’s creed. The one sense to which throughout the world, even
the lowest type of humanity responds, is the sense of Justice.

Such was the opinion of your leaders too, of Washington above all
others, who wrote to Lafayette: “The basis of our proceedings with
the Indian nations has been and shall be Justice.” And, at this
day, in the distant Philippine Islands, where schools have so
much multiplied and President Taft has left, as a Governor, such
noteworthy examples, this rule is known to be your rule.

As for our own men they felt in the same way, that the contact
with the white man ought to be a blessing, not a bane, to the less
advanced races. Champlain, Joliet, La Salle were of one mind and
opposed to the best of their ability the sale of “fire-water” to
the natives; and a similar principle continues in force to-day in
your Indian reservations. As to the development of the country by
slave labor or by that of hired servants, Charlevoix wrote those
memorable words: “I should prefer the last. When the time of their
service is expired, they become inhabitants and increase the number
of the King’s natural subjects, whereas the first are always
strangers: and who can be assured that, by continually increasing
in our colonies, they will not one day become formidable enemies?
Can we depend upon slaves who are only attached to us by fear and
for whom the very land where they are born has not the dear name of
Mother-country?”

In this, as is so often the case, interest and virtue combine: both
give the colonist the same advice; which, as mankind progresses, it
will be more and more dangerous to discard. The measure of success
we have reached is, I hope, founded on no less stable a basis. What
this success has been and whether we are or not worthy compatriots
of Champlain, let those determine who have recently visited our
colonial empire; and I for one would gladly abide by the judgment
of such American travelers as Edgar Allen Forbes, in his _Land of
the White Helmet_.

By this delegation an image is brought to you, the image of France.
More than once before, under one form or another, when the struggle
was for independence or for greatness, it appeared on these shores,
and was a good omen. The exchange of tokens of friendship between
two nations with so much in common in the past, so much in the
future, with their similar aims, has been ceaseless. Be assured
that our hearts beat in unison with yours, and will ever remember
with gratitude what is now being done to honor a son of France
by the states of New York and Vermont, and by that generous,
hospitable, tireless committee, the Champlain Committee.

The ancients used to place amulets as harbingers of good luck in
the foundations of their great buildings. The figure of France to
be placed on the base of the Champlain monument is being offered
to you, not merely as a thing of beauty, but also as an amulet
to bring luck to a nation whom we have never ceased to love.
(Applause.)

In presenting the next speaker, President Finley said:

A few weeks ago I was in great peril of losing my life by falling off the western boundary of the State of New York into the Niagara river. I was trying to follow the path of the Frenchmen who carried from Lake Ontario to a point several miles above the Falls, the equipment for the first sailing vessel to navigate the waters of the Upper Lakes. While I was climbing to a narrow ledge of rock covered with ice, a hundred feet above the river, I appreciated as never before the hardihood of the French explorers and the dearness of the soil of New York to me. I have a particular satisfaction in being able to stand here to-night and to introduce to you the Acting Governor of this Empire State, Governor Conway.

ADDRESS OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR THOMAS F. CONWAY

The discovery of Lake Champlain, the tercentenary of which we
celebrate, was an event of transcendent importance. Viewed from the
standpoint of scenic grandeur, this magnificent body of water with
its setting of mountains, valleys and islands, presents a picture
of unrivaled beauty and sublimity unsurpassed upon the face of
the earth. Viewed from the standpoint of history, the Champlain
Valley was, from the time of its discovery until the close of the
Revolution, the scene of events of world-wide interest; events that
have had an important bearing upon the history of modern times.
It was upon its shores the first battle between Champlain and the
Iroquois was fought and, according to the most authentic evidence,
at this identical spot that the plaque “La France” is to be placed.
It was also upon its shores, near Ticonderoga, that the intrepid
Montcalm defeated Lord Abercromby and, for the time, stayed the
aggression of the English in their efforts to control the destinies
of the Western world. It was upon its waters the first naval battle
of the Revolution was fought, at Valcour, between Benedict Arnold,
commanding the American fleet, and Sir Guy Carleton, commanding the
British squadron. It was also upon its waters, in Plattsburgh Bay,
that the last naval battle of the war of 1812 took place between
the American fleet commanded by the brave Commodore Macdonough,
and the British by the equally intrepid commander, Downie—a battle
which is now considered one of the decisive battles of the world.

Its discovery, therefore, and the events surrounding and following
it richly merited its tercentenary celebration and this, its
culminating and crowning feature. Indeed, this celebration in
itself is an event of striking significance. It stamps indelibly
upon the life and work of Samuel Champlain the world’s verdict. It
attests its judgment of their nobility and value and vindicates
the judgment of his contemporaries in conferring high honor and
commendation upon him.

It demonstrates in a most impressive manner the fact that nobility
of character and unselfish devotion to ideals and purposes which
lead upward and onward in human progress, constitute the true path
to immortality of fame. Actuated by a desire to bring to the New
World a knowledge of the faith, the philosophy and the civilization
of his native land, more than by motives of conquest, or to
extend its territorial dominion, he exemplified in his conduct
the distinguishing traits of the colonial policy of his nation,
which then and ever since has been characterized by a desire to
confer benefits upon new subjects while acquiring dominion without
bloodshed or destruction; its recognition of the right of every
people to give expression to their ideals, their genius and their
national aspirations in laws and institutions established by
themselves.

The influence of his example and the effect of his work have been
profound and abiding.

The first white man to set foot within the borders of what has
become the Empire State of the Union, he doubtless was fired with
the ambition to make it a part of New France. He found it peopled
by the most powerful native tribes inhabiting the New World.

The Five Nations, represented in the Long House of the Iroquois,
dominated the region, and were, and had been for more than a
century thoroughly organized for defense and aggression. Its
confederation evinced political genius of a high order. In their
warfare with the Algonquians of the St. Lawrence Valley, and other
native tribes, they had made the beautiful Champlain an almost
constant scene of conflict and carnage; so much so that its fertile
valleys and beautiful shores ceased to be inhabited, except as
the various warrior bands camped upon them temporarily in their
expeditions of plunder and destruction.

Later, in the prolonged struggles of the two greatest nations of
the time, France and England, to establish their authority and
enforce their respective civilizations upon the New World, the
alliance of the Long House of the Iroquois with the English forces
determined the conflict in their favor and thus ended the effort
inaugurated by Champlain to establish the dominion of France over a
large territory of which he was the discoverer.

While, as a result, the civic policy of the country was thereafter
dominated by British power and influence down to the time of the
Revolution, nevertheless, the memory of the valor and the heroism
of explorers like Champlain and of missionaries like Marquette, La
Salle, and their co-workers, left their enduring impress for good,
not only upon the civilization of our State, but upon that of our
whole country.

For all this we owe a debt of gratitude to France, hardly less than
the debt we owe it for its unselfish and priceless assistance in
our struggle for independence.

In the three hundred years since the discovery of the lake and
region identified with the name of Champlain, the world has
witnessed a greater advance in intelligence, in human progress, in
the principle of liberty and in the recognition and protection by
governments of the rights of the ordinary man, than in any similar
period in recorded history.

To the intelligent observer it is evident that this advance
is to-day progressing with undiminished force on the basis of
individual freedom, individual responsibility and self-imposed
restraint, which constitute the inspiration, the steadying force
and the vitalizing principle of true progress.

Proof of all this confronts us in every land to-day; but, as
convincing and pertinent evidence on this occasion, reference need
only be made to progress in the region with which the name and fame
of Samuel Champlain are imperishably associated.

I am glad that our distinguished guests from France are to visit
that region and especially the beautiful lake bearing his name,
and contrast existing conditions with the earlier scenes of
savage warfare and bloodshed there enacted by the natives prior
to Champlain’s advent, and subsequently, during the struggle for
supremacy between the two great contending nations of that day.

We would have you see the peaceful and tranquil aspect of that
beautiful lake now with its bosom dotted with splendid steamers,
the instrumentalities of pleasure and commerce; the well equipped
railroads skirting its shores, required and maintained by the
enterprise and business activities there existing; the prosperous
cities, the thriving villages, the well-kept and productive
farms; the contented and happy homes; the schools, the churches,
the hospitals, the charitable organizations; in short, every
institution in which a most advanced civilization finds its
best expression and through which it performs its best and most
elevating service for mankind.

It will enable you to better understand and appreciate the depth of
our gratitude to your great countryman and the meaning we attach to
this celebration commemorating his achievements.

On behalf of the state of New York and its upwards of nine millions
of inhabitants, for whom I have the privilege and honor to speak on
this occasion, I extend to our distinguished guests from France a
most cordial and heartfelt welcome.

And, if I may be permitted to anticipate a little, I will convey
to them in advance and, through them, to their country, the
appreciation and gratitude of our state and its people for the gift
they bring and the honor they do us. It is the conception of a
great artist, admirably typifying the ideals and aspirations of a
great nation. I beg to assure you, our honored guests, that we will
ever treasure it as an expression of the good will and friendship
of our sister republic—France—placing the seal of its approval
and appreciation on this celebration honoring the achievements of
Samuel Champlain.

In closing, permit me to say that the recollection of your visit to
our state and the motives that inspired it will ever be associated
with the gift of your country, lending to it an element of personal
interest as pleasing as it will be permanent in the minds and
hearts of all who may have the privilege of meeting you during your
visit. (Applause.)

Chairman of the Vermont Commission

By courtesy of Shover, Montpelier, Vt.]

In alluding to the Governor of Vermont, President Finley remarked:

The Governor of Vermont, with rare forbearance, wishes to be excused from speaking. But as Jacques Cartier, nearly a century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, saw, first of Europeans, the peaks of the Green mountains, so I wish you, from the land of the pilot of St. Malo, to see the topmost peak in Vermont to-day, its Governor, the Hon. John A. Mead.

Governor Mead stood and bowed to the audience. (Applause.)

The Toastmaster then introduced Mayor William J. Gaynor of New York City.

When in the most beautiful and largest city in the southwest of France a year ago (Bordeaux), I learned, to my surprise, that the great philosopher and essayist, Montaigne, had been its mayor. And it is possible that generations hence the distinction of Mr. Gaynor as Mayor may be surpassed even by his fame as a philosopher. Certainly no man in public life to-day is writing in his everyday letters with such pungency and appeal on some of the problems of life, which continue to disturb mankind.

ADDRESS OF MAYOR WILLIAM J. GAYNOR

I am sure, said the Mayor, I am quite willing to say nothing and to
write another letter. (Laughter and applause.) This is the third
time I have greeted the delegation from France. Once was at the
City Hall and the other time was at a luncheon at the Metropolitan
Club. And I am very anxious to hear M. Hanotaux. The coming of
these gentlemen will cause us to think a great deal about what we
owe to France and to the French people.

You women, the Mayor added, with his eyes twinkling, might well
consider the economy of the woman of France. She knows her market
prices and she goes to market. (Laughter and applause.) I think if
some of you will follow her example the cost of living will begin
to come down right away. (Laughter.)

There never was a time, I believe, when in the hearts of the
American people there was any danger of forgetting what we owe to
France. (Applause.)

President Finley then presented the French delegation as follows:

And now, ladies and gentlemen, how shall I characterize to you the men who constitute this notable delegation? I wish I were able to do so in my own tongue as did Baron d’Estournelles de Constant so eloquently a few days ago in an acquired tongue,—to tell you how this great historian and statesman, Hanotaux, has, with an art which only a Greek or a Frenchman could command, gathered into this company men representing every high interest of France to carry this symbol of international good will to our Republic and affix it to our monument, in eternal memory of their countryman.

Two members of the French Academy, M. René Bazin and M. Lamy; a foremost representative of the art of France, M. Cormon; two members of Parliament, one already our well-beloved friend, Sénateur Baron d’Estournelles de Constant, and M. Louis Barthou; the great geographer, Vidal de la Blache; General Lebon; the riders of the sea and the riders of the air; and then, the representatives of two great families who have been especially distinguished in America’s service. What art of selection! I must, however, be content simply to name to you the speakers already so well introduced to you. I present first, M. Gabriel Hanotaux.

M. Hanotaux responded in French, but he supplied the following English version of his address.

ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY, ALBERT AUGUSTE GABRIELLE HANOTAUX

GENTLEMEN.—The French Delegation you have so cordially
welcomed is fully aware that this is the most important stage
of its journey. For, albeit we are going to Lake Champlain to
personally place in the hands of the architects of the monument,
the bust of “La France” which is to be fixed there as a seal of
friendship and gratitude, it is here that we make the formal
presentation to the Commissions and, through them, to the world of
friends which France has in the United States.

Here in New York, in this Empire City, where so much of past effort
and present energy are concentrated, where five millions of human
hearts beat in unison for the greater glory and ultimate triumph of
humanity, we have met with a touching, affectionate and splendid
reception which speaks to us of the warm-heartedness of the Great
American Republic.

From the moment we placed foot upon this soil we have been
captivated and carried away by such a whirlwind of cordiality and
good-fellowship that we scarce have had time to recover ourselves.
First of all the American branches of the Comité France-Amérique
were there to receive us, and, at once, we recognized within
their ranks the eminent men who by reason of their origin, their
connections or their particularly elegant culture have linked
themselves of their own accord with our beloved France. Nothing
could have touched us more than this first reception. France,
France itself before us, beyond the mighty ocean we had just
crossed under such thrilling conditions on the morrow of an awful
disaster. On the other hand, and you, gentlemen, will not, I trust,
forget it, the first vessel which came to you, after so dire a
catastrophe, bearing words of comfort and hope was named “France.”

Our welcome, already so touching, grew apace. Our eminent
ambassador to the United States, Monsieur Jusserand, who has
given so much of his time and taken so much trouble, to organize
this mission, which he himself conceived, informed Mr. Taft, the
President of the United States, of our desire to present to him the
respectful homage of the delegation.

The President, despite his overwhelming occupations, received
us at his table; in the very kindest manner he honored, in our
persons, the thought which has brought us here. He was so kind as
to give us personally, in connection with our visit, assurances
of his encouragement and approval; which have been for us an
ample reward. These countless acts of friendship of all kinds we
have looked upon—and rightly so—as being addressed to our beloved
Mother-Country and to the Government of the French Republic, which
has so splendidly encouraged and aided us in the accomplishment of
our mission.

Travelling through a part of the American continent on our way to
Washington, we were able to admire the ever-increasing progress
and masterful civilization of your Republic. We left the city
of five million souls, so concentrated in its immensity that
in a manner it rises skyward upon itself; we passed through an
admirable country, looking, at this season of the year, like some
great garden dotted with cottages and shrubs and trees; we crossed
majestic rivers which evoked the finest pages of Chateaubriand,
the protagonist of the French writers of America; the steel cars
carried us with prodigious speed through long tunnels and over
iron bridges which groaned beneath the onrushing train; we barely
caught sight of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, for a
space at once the citadel and the keystone of American liberty; and
we were in another city, a city beautiful, a city verdant, whose
noble proportions are worthy of the great nation of which it is the
capital, a city planned, we are proud to recall, by an officer of
the French army: Major L’Enfant. We were taken to Mount Vernon and
there we were thrilled by a greater sight than any we had yet seen:
the shrine where you cherish in the most impressive simplicity the
memory of the Man whose life was naught else than the constant
blending of greatness and simplicity.

And, gentlemen, when on our return here we think of all this
greatness, of the endless and unceasing activity, of these wonders
heaped upon wonders, when we think of the hundred million human
beings living in the United States, earning their substance here,
finding here their work, their pleasures, their luxuries and their
ideal; loving this land they themselves have created, which belongs
to them and to which they belong, proud of an admirable past,
confident in a future which gives promise of even greater things,
how could our imagination fail to go back to the men who were the
first pioneers in this country, to the men who dared its perils
and wrested from it its secrets when there were no other European
inhabitants.

The accounts of their travels depict them to us, with all their
daring, with all their perseverance, their hardships and sufferings
and sacrifices; but finally with their slow and hard-won victories
over Nature and Fate.

We know that the first among them, fired by the discovery of mines
in South America, especially in Peru, sought only gold. Gold there
was in very truth, but not where they were looking for it. What
a prodigious misunderstanding the mirage of gold caused between
this land of plenty and the men who landed here; it cannot be
exaggerated, and how little it would have been to the honor of
the human race if, at the same time, there had not been another
and entirely different mirage born of human determination and
intelligence and worthy of the highest aspirations of Man. It is
an historical fact that while the conquistadores were seeking gold
and only gold, other explorers, the advance guard of science,
the conquistadores of the ideal, were sacrificing themselves to
a worthier aim: the finding of the northwest passage which around
North America was to lead them to China and India. The ones were
only discovering new lands that they might mine and impoverish
them, the others that they might better know and develop them!

Both mirages, and illusions on both sides; but in the end practical
results; so true is it that the dream of the impossible is at times
the most active instrument of immediate and useful achievement.

The practical results we have before our eyes; and they came about
through the efforts of a third set of explorers whom I will now
attempt to recall because one of the most characteristic among them
was our illustrious fellow-Frenchman whose memory we are gathered
here to honor, Samuel Champlain.

Landing on this new continent, these men were immediately struck
by one thing: to how great a degree it resembled the European
countries which had given them birth. I want to lay stress
upon this point for, to their observant eyes, it was at once a
revelation and a surprise. They had to make an effort—can you
believe it—to convince themselves that they were not falling upon
an imaginary and legendary land, a land of fabulous dreams, a land
of the Arabian Nights. Everything here was like their homes and, it
is literally true, they could not believe their own eyes.

For you must not forget that the first accounts published about
the new world had described it as prodigious, fantastic and out
of proportion to anything ever before known. These legends were
believed by the credulity of the Middle-Ages, from which we were
only just emerging, they were strengthened by the tales so blithely
told by travellers for, as the old saying has it, “falsehood is
easy to one who comes from afar.” But above all, these legends had
been sunk into the minds of men by the startling facts of the early
discoveries. In the heavens

... _des étoiles nouvelles_

a wonderful light, the torrid climes of Central America, Nature so
powerful as to be actually deadly, the impenetrable forests, the
strange vegetation, the prodigious width of the rivers rolling to
the sea, everything combined, but above all Gold, Gold everywhere,
Gold in the daily life of all, Gold in the temples, Gold on the
ground, Gold in the bowels of the earth, Gold seen and Gold unseen,
that is what exalted their overwrought imaginations to madness. It
was impossible to admit that this land could be a land like other
lands. So that it needed extraordinary common sense (if these
two words may be used together), it needed an almost miraculous
self-control in these pioneers, in this third set of explorers of
which I am speaking, to forsake their preconceived notions and get
down to earth again and see that this land was after all a land
just like other lands, like the lands from which they had sprung,
loamy and fertile and fruitful, where the trees were like European
trees, with clusters of vines hanging from the branches; where
wheat grew naturally; where the fish of the rivers and sea were the
same fish that they had at home, a land where the cattle of the
Mother-country waxed fat, and where at the accustomed seasons the
welcome sward stretched its mantle of green bedecked with flowers
to the very threshold of the abodes of man; where in the fall the
countryside was crowned with Gold; where the rule of life was the
normal and accustomed rule. Gold was lacking, at least the Gold so
greedily sought, but on the other hand in the soil and on the soil
Gold there was in very truth and in untold abundance, the Gold of
natural wealth—a civilizing, not a destructive Gold. I mean the
Gold of labor, the Gold of human brawn, the Gold of intellect, the
Gold of inspiration, the Gold which is forever being created by the
mind and will of Man; but which was only to open up its ideal mine
of surpassing wealth after centuries of sacrifice, of labor, of
tenacity, and in exchange for an immense toll of energy.

These new conquistadores, the conquistadores of labor, who set
their sails not for the land of dreams, but for the land of
the Things-As-They-Are, were the real founders of the mighty
civilization which surrounds us, and once again, in the very
forefront of their ranks, stands our great fellow-countryman Samuel
Champlain.

It was not that these men were lacking in imagination, for
imagination is the creative faculty in Man, and especially so
in the statesman. To do things is to see ahead. He had indeed a
wonderful imagination, a genius for foresight which was uncanny,
this extraordinary man who foretold the future of America, who
pointed out the location of the Panama Canal, who sketched the
development of the great Republic of the United States, who fixed
the sites of Boston, Montreal, Quebec and so many other great
and prosperous cities. His imagination was active, yes, but his
activities were always devoted to useful achievement and love of
justice.

He was the first to see that any colony on the American continent
would have to be self-supporting, those are his own words. He
builded, he planted, he sowed crops, he raised stockades and laid
out roads, as a man relying solely upon himself. Having shattered
the flimsy phantasy of fabulous Gold he quite simply became a
farmer, a soldier, an engineer; and, when upon this land he laid
the corner-stone of the first building, he laid at the same time
the foundation of a new civilization and created an empire. Once
again the nobility of labor had saved the world from the idle
vanity of dreams.

Labor!—There is the true basis of American civilization, as founded
by those pioneers who understood, such was their common sense, the
great things that could be done in the land where they had come to
stay.—Labor, the Father of Liberty, the Father of Independence,
the Father of Equality and of Justice; in a word the only solid
basis of Society.

This, then, is the characteristic—henceforth unchangeable—of your
American civilization. Everybody works, and there is work for every
one and for all, but there is no room for the idle. The ceaseless
activity of your lives shows it. The physical and mental strain
to which the richest as well as the poorest of your citizens
voluntarily subject themselves proves it. A glance at your way of
living shows that you have remained faithful to the principle of
your founders. The intense activity we have witnessed during our
short trip through your country, and which we find at its highest
pitch in this Empire City of New York, what is it but a complete
devotion to the duty imposed upon man by the opening words of the
Book of Books: “Thou shalt earn thy bread by the sweat of thy
brow.” Hence your incomparable greatness.

Blessed be Labor, gentlemen. Go on setting the example of labor to
the world. It is not Gold that counts; it is the constant and never
ceasing employment of all the faculties of Man. You have already
accomplished a prodigious work,—your future achievements will be
even more extraordinary. No one can say what the future of this
continent will be when the Isthmus of Panama is cut in twain, when
the waters of the two oceans shall be joined and the coasts of the
two Americas brought together as the leaves of a closing book. It
is a new source of wealth, it is a new field of activity and a
still wider field of authority and responsibility. Between Asia
and Europe your Republic certainly stands as the dividing line of
the world. You are at the fulcrum of the scale. The balance of the
world’s power will in future rest with you.

But now, at this very time, other problems confront you, and, first
of all, let us face it frankly, the problem of the government of
the great democracies by themselves.

All this stirs you, occupies your thoughts, and arouses your
passions. All this moves, deeply, those who come to visit you. To
use the words of the poet of old. They see clearly that in you
is being born something greater than an Iliad: “_Aliquod majus
nascitur Iliade._”

In these troublous times, gentlemen, remain true to the law of
labor, to the law of those who first planned and laid out your
future life. Look back upon those pioneers who, face to face with
the early difficulties, foreseeing the growth that was to come and
how complex it was to be, bequeathed to you, in order that you
might carry out the work, a single and a simple law: the law of
labor.

Your commemoration of Champlain, to take our modest part in which
we have crossed the ocean, proves how faithful and devoted you are
to the memory of the founders.

Courage, Labor, Justice, Faith in the Ideal, such the reasons for
these useful lives. We are proud that among them one of the most
glorious was that of our fellow-countryman—Champlain. We thank you
for cherishing his memory.

And it is to show that France herself joins in these sentiments
that we are come here, in such numbers, to bring you for the
Champlain monument, erected by the States of New York and Vermont,
a bust born of the genius of our illustrious fellow-countryman
Rodin, an image of that which we hold most dear: France.

In the mighty structure of American civilization there is something
of France—allow us to believe gentlemen that you will not forget
it—and on the monument you are erecting this image will remain
forever sealed to recall and symbolize that fact. This image we
give to you as Champlain, our fellow-countryman, gave the best of
his life to this land of yours. We give it to the United States,
we give it to the States of New York and Vermont, the builders
of the lighthouse rising upon the shores of the lake which bears
Champlain’s name; we give it to these Commissions which have so
graciously invited us here; we give it to all the friends of France
in America.

I raise my glass, gentlemen, to the Lake Champlain Association and
the Tercentenary Commissions, and I drink to the imperishable and
brotherly union of our two countries: France and America. (Long
applause.)

President Finley then presented M. Louis Barthou, who was not on the programme, but who made a most favorable impression on all who had the good fortune to meet him and listen to his charming eloquence. His glowing and felicitous tribute was listened to with rapt attention. Unfortunately his address was not reported and no copy has been obtainable, much to the regret of all who have known him and his prominent position in the affairs of the French Republic. At one time he was the Minister of Justice in the Cabinet and is a noted lawyer as well as one of the leading parliamentarians of the Chamber of Deputies.

President Finley then introduced Baron d’Estournelles de Constant, who spoke in English in his usual felicitous manner in appreciation of the reception tendered to the delegation from France and the hospitality accorded to them in the various American cities which they had visited. The Baron is well known in America, where he has advocated International Peace, and spoke in terms of affection of his friends in America and what they were doing to promote International Peace. It is a matter of regret that his speech was not reported in full so that it could be included in this Final Report.

President Finley then introduced Senator Henry W. Hill, the Secretary of the New York Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission, who on behalf of the two Commissions received the gift of the people of France and expressed the cordial feelings of appreciation with which the beautiful and appropriate bust is received in the following address:

ADDRESS OF SENATOR HENRY W. HILL

_Ambassador Jusserand, Your Excellency Albert Auguste Gabriel
Hanotaux, and other Members of the Delegation from France, and
Gentlemen of the New York and Vermont Tercentenary Commissions, and
of the New York Champlain Association_: This is a fitting postlude
to the Bi-State programme of International Tercentenary exercises
in commemoration of the discovery of one of the most charming
lakes in America by the brave and high-minded Samuel Champlain,
who believed that “the salvation of one soul is of more value than
the conquest of an enemy.” The light of civilization impersonated
in his entrance into the Champlain valley and thus first gleaming
through the darkness of savagery is to be symbolized in a memorial
lighthouse erected by the states of New York and Vermont on
property of the United States Government at Crown Point Forts,
that location being for 150 years one of the strategic points
of the French possessions in America, and the life work of the
discoverer is to be further perpetuated by an heroic size statue
by the New York sculptor, Carl Augustus Heber, at Plattsburgh.
The people of the two States in grateful appreciation of the
life, services and high moral character of the discoverer of the
lake which bears his name, and who was the first white man to set
foot on the soil of New York and Vermont, eleven years before
the Pilgrims entered Plymouth Bay, and two months before Henry
Hudson discovered the river bearing his name, flowing into this
beautiful harbor of New York, conceived and carried forward the
Champlain Tercentenary Celebration of 1909, which has awakened deep
interest in the principles and common purposes of two Republics,
and done much to strengthen the friendship between them, that
prompted France to shed across the seas its kindly and beneficent
influence upon this Republic in its infancy. In the conduct of
that Tercentenary now considered as one of the most noted American
commemorative celebrations, the Republic of France represented by
its gifted and eloquent patriot and scholar, Ambassador Jusserand,
the Kingdom of Great Britain by its distinguished Ambassador
Right Honorable James Bryce, the Dominion of Canada by its noted
Postmaster-General Lemieux, the Province of Quebec by its gifted
Premier Sir Lomer Gouin, the Empire of Japan by its Vice-Admiral,
Uriu, and the United States by its President and Secretary of
War, and some members of its Senate and House of Representatives,
and representatives of the Army and Navy, participated with the
States of New York and Vermont, and thus gave it an international
character, worthy the important events which it was designed to
commemorate.

You would be likely to form a more adequate conception of the
magnitude of the Tercentenary Celebration, if you were to picture
the Champlain valley, one hundred miles in length, and twenty-five
miles in width, with the lake, as stated by Dr. Cady, “a prismed
pendant dropped from out the skies,” interspersed with beautiful
islands, and buttressed by prominent headlands, as an arena with
overtowering mountains on either side, forming a background of
superb natural beauty and suggesting ideals of the true and
sublime in nature and a sky of Italian beauty vaulting a lake
of crystal waters, where five great scenes were presented to
thronging thousands of interested spectators—one at Crown Point
which projects into the lake so far as nearly to sever it into two
sections, where was erected at vast expenditure of money, in 1731,
by the French, Fort Frédéric, in honor of the French Secretary
of Foreign Affairs, Frédéric Maurepas, under the supervision
of the Marquis de Beauharnois, Governor-General of Canada, and
later were also erected the English forts by the forces under
General Amherst, the forts now forming a grand ruin; another
scene twenty miles distant, on the following day, at Ticonderoga,
“the Gateway of the Nation,” where was built Fort Carillon, in
1755-6, around which struggled the flower of contending armies
of three sovereign nations for its control; another scene, sixty
miles distant, at Plattsburgh Barracks, on a plateau overlooking
Valcour Island, where occurred one of the chief naval engagements
of the Revolution, the report of which electrified the Continental
Congress, and also overlooking Plattsburgh Bay, where occurred the
decisive naval engagement of the War of 1812, in which the American
fleet under Macdonough defeated and routed the British fleet under
Downie; and still another scene twenty-five miles distant, on the
following day, in the city of Burlington, under the shadow of
the university which had been burned during the War of 1812, and
whose corner-stone was relaid by Marquis de Lafayette in 1825, and
where stands a statue erected to his memory, on a sloping hillside
overlooking Burlington Bay, that beautiful Baiae of our inland sea,
and the clear waters of the historic lake walled in on the west by
the rugged and occasionally snow-capped peaks of the Adirondacks;
and the fifth scene, forty-five miles distant, on the following
day, at beautiful Isle La Motte, which was the first land in the
Champlain valley visited by Samuel Champlain, which had been for
two centuries or more the common meeting place of warring Indian
tribes, and which became the rendezvous of missionaries, and where
in 1666, was built Fort Ste. Anne, and where High Mass was first
celebrated in the State of Vermont, and where was stationed the
Carignan-Salières Regiment of 600 French veterans. At each of
these scenes were Indian pageants, moved from place to place on a
floating island, participated in by 150 descendants of the native
aboriginal tribes that occupied the Champlain valley, and enlivened
by military and naval forces, with formal addresses, speeches and
poems, by the President of the United States and the distinguished
diplomats, orators and poets in attendance, presenting anew the
story and thrilling events that have transpired in the Champlain
valley since its discovery three centuries ago. This will afford
some conception of the great drama of the Champlain Tercentenary
Celebration, in which Samuel Champlain, the navigator, colonizer
and apostle of civilization in that valley, _Chevalier sans peur et
sans reproche_, was the hero and central figure.

On this occasion we are profoundly touched at the generosity and
friendship of President Fallières and the French people, exhibited
in the presentation by the distinguished delegation who have come
from France, of this allegorical bust “La France,” by Auguste
Rodin, and we gratefully accept the same in the name of the New
York and Vermont Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commissions, in behalf
of the people of the two states, as well as of the people of the
United States, and through you, Monsieur Hanotaux, and other
members of your delegation from France, we tender to President
Fallières and the people of France, who have so generously
contributed to the purchase and presentation of this beautiful
bust, our grateful appreciation and acknowledgments.

This work of art, coming as a voluntary expression of the good
will and cordial feelings of the French people for Americans who
have shown some appreciation of the discoveries and services for
humanity of one of the most noted French explorers among many, who
were first to open up the interior of this continent to the onward
march of civilization, is an imperishable testimonial of that
abiding friendship existing between the peoples of the two foremost
Republics in the world, which have done so much for the liberty,
equality and fraternity of mankind. When we reflect upon the
evolution of French institutions from Charlemagne to Fallières, the
progress of the French people in the arts and sciences within the
last century, and the contributions that they have made to these,
and to literature and to art, as well as to the world’s diplomacy
and intellectual development, we do not wonder that the Republic
across the sea, which you represent, gentlemen, is aglow with
vitality and energized by new and expanding ideas, and is forging
forward as one of the most progressive and powerful nations in the
world. Had not the French people been open to new ideas, possibly
they would not have responded to the appeals of Franklin and our
other patriots during the Revolution, and the Marquis de Lafayette,
Count de Rochambeau, with his 6,000 soldiers, Count de Grasse, with
his fleet, and others, would not have crossed the Atlantic to aid
the Colonies in their struggle for independence.

Lafayette and others carried back with them something of the
inspiration which they had derived from their experience in this
country and from their contact with General Washington and other
patriots, and their reports did something to arouse the National
Assembly of France, and the princes and potentates of European
nations to a realization of the evidences of the Republican
movement in America as well as in Europe, which culminated in
making most of the nations of western Europe more democratic
and responsive to popular liberties. On the establishment of a
Republican form of government in France in 1848, the President
of the United States transmitted a message to Congress, in
which he said: “We can never forget that France was our early
friend in our eventful Revolution, and generously aided us in
shaking off a foreign yoke and becoming a free and independent
people. We have enjoyed the blessing of our system of well
regulated self-government for nearly three-fourths of a century,
and can properly appreciate its value. Our ardent and sincere
congratulations are extended to the patriotic people of France upon
their noble and thus far successful efforts to found for their
future government liberal institutions similar to our own. It is
not doubtful that under the benign influence of free institutions
the enlightened statesmen of Republican France will find it to
be for her true interests and permanent glory to cultivate with
the United States the most liberal principles of international
intercourse and commercial reciprocity, whereby the happiness and
prosperity of both nations will be promoted.” A fitting response
to this was made by the National Assembly of France, and there
have from that time forth existed cordial relations between the
two sister Republics. These relations were emphasized in the
presentation by the French people of the colossal statue “Liberty
Enlightening the World,” by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, unveiled
with elaborate ceremonies on Bedloe’s Island in New York harbor,
on October 28, 1886. When the Rodin allegorical bust “La France”
is in its permanent home by the Champlain Memorial Light at the
Crown Point Forts near the head of Lake Champlain, it will be on
the highway of travel by water between New York harbor and Lake
Champlain, through the enlarged and improved Champlain Canal
nearing completion, and so be brought into communication with the
statue of Liberty, and will do something to restore the interest
of travelers as well as of our French-American citizens, in the
history of that region, for 150 years under control of the French
nation, and within a few miles of which at Ticonderoga, Montcalm
and others achieved imperishable fame, and will be a further
lasting expression of the artistic temperament and proverbial
generosity of the French people toward the people of this nation,
the genius of whose institutions has been more or less reflected in
the evolution of French institutions during the last century. As an
expression of one of your most renowned sculptors, it will awaken a
deeper interest of the people in that valley in art, which has been
ideally expressed in this allegorical bust “La France,” in a way to
symbolize the marvelous genius of the French people.

The members of New York and Vermont Lake Champlain Tercentenary
Commissions bid you, gentlemen of the French delegation, a most
cordial welcome to our shores, and tender to you their deep
appreciation of the gift which you bring from your people.
(Applause.)

V. FRENCH DELEGATION ENTERTAINED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

On May 2d, The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York entertained at luncheon the French delegation in the Hall of the Chamber on Liberty street, New York City. Ambassador Jusserand and the visiting delegation and other invited guests were presented to President A. Barton Hepburn by Hon. McDougall Hawkes and then seated on the dais. The flags of the United States and France were entwined behind the President’s chair.