The Champlain tercentenary

by New York . Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission; Henry Wayland Hill

VII. THEY VISIT CANADA, NIAGARA FALLS AND SAIL FOR FRANCE. IMPRESSIONS AND COMMENTS BY FRENCH VISITORS ON EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA

Their reception by the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce and Citizens Association in Montreal was very hospitable. A banquet was tendered the visiting delegation in the evening of May 4th and on the following day a luncheon was given them by the Franco-American Committee of Canada. Their reception at Quebec on May 6th was also very cordial. They were greatly interested in the city founded three centuries back by Samuel Champlain. They visited its churches, its Parliament buildings, the Heights of Abraham, and placed a wreath of flowers on the tomb of Montcalm. They were pleased with the majestic sweep of the St. Lawrence, the Falls of Montmorency and with the bracing air of Quebec, whose surrounding hills were white with snow. Among the many who united in entertaining them while in Canada were Senator Raoul Dandurand, President of the Franco-American Committee of Canada, Sir Lomer Gouin, Premier of the Province, M. Monk, Minister of Public Works, Lieutenant-Governor Langelier, M. Montagu Allan, Vice-President of the Franco-American Committee of Montreal, Mgr. Bégin of Laval University, Messrs. R. W. Reford and Chaput, Presidents of the Canadian Chambers of Commerce, M. Revol, President of the Montreal Chamber of Commerce, M. Montpetit and M. de Crèvecœur, M. Ferdinand Roy, President of the Canadian Institute at Quebec, and many others. The mental exhilaration of the visitors increased as they moved about amid the French speaking people of the Province, where the descendants of French colonists with French customs dominated its language, its laws and its institutions. On their return to France they spoke very appreciatively of their visit to the Dominion of Canada, its hospitable people and of its possibilities.

On their return from Canada via Niagara Falls, they were met there by Senator Henry W. Hill, Secretary of the Commission, and were entertained at luncheon by General Francis V. Greene, who in faultless Parisian French paid a glowing tribute to their countrymen. He escorted them about the Falls and showed them the power plants on the Canadian shore and took them in a special car around the Gorge Route. They were deeply interested in the Falls, the Whirlpool and power houses. They took the evening train for New York, where they embarked on La Provence, May 9th, for France.

Commissioners Howland Pell and Senator James A. Foley and Viscount de Jean of the French Embassy at Washington, Senator Raoul Dandurand of Montreal and others were on the dock to bid them “farewell” and “bon voyage.” Each gentleman of the delegation was presented with a photograph of the Waldorf-Astoria banquet and each lady with a bouquet of La France roses.

All the delegates were charmed with the cordiality of their reception, both in the United States and Canada, and most of them expressed their intention of coming again.

M. Gabriel Hanotaux, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and president of the delegation, in a conversation before La Provence left the quay, said:

I believe that the time has come for closer relations to be developed between France and America from many points of view. There is one point beyond doubt. We have seen recently that when France withdraws her financial support from any international project the carrying out of the project is at any rate delayed. France is a rich country, and has money to invest, but she must first see that her interests are safeguarded. In America the thing that struck me and most of the delegation was the prodigious activity everywhere. Everything in the country gives evidence of unique strength which must play a great rôle in the world. I am really charmed with my first visit to the United States and Canada and hope to have an opportunity of coming again. We in France are convinced that trade can be improved to a great extent. The present statistics do not, however, give France her proper place, as a great deal of the French trade passes across the Atlantic on British, Belgian and German vessels and is credited to the first port of debarkation, although many of the American exports eventually go to France.

M. Gabriel Hanotaux, in referring to French literature, said:

The greatest error appears to exist in American and British minds on the subject of French literature. I myself know that the French love a pure literature and I am certain that that kind of writing is the only kind that is profitable in France itself. All the modern French writers, too, are of the same opinion. The indelicate French books appear to be written only for the foreigner, for they have no vogue whatever in France.

On a prior occasion M. Gabriel Hanotaux expressed the pleasure of the delegation at the reception given it in this country, saying that from the moment they had placed foot upon this soil they have been captivated and carried away in a whirlwind of cordiality and good-fellowship. About the reception by President Taft the French statesman said:

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.

On its return from America, the French delegation which had attended the Champlain exercises, was entertained in Paris at a grand dinner, on June 17, 1912. It was a truly brilliant assemblage, presided over by M. Raymond Poincaré, President of the Council, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Prominent among the large number at the tables were the sculptor, Rodin; Paul Hervieu, of the French Academy; Louis Barthou, deputy and former Minister; General Brugère, former vice-president of the Conseil Supérieur of War, and president of the United States section of the Franco-American Committee; and many others eminent in the official, military, naval, financial, literary and art circles of France. The aviator, Blériot, was a guest, representative of a putative new science. Many ladies also graced the occasion.

Among the Americans in attendance was the American Ambassador, the Hon. Myron Herrick, to whom the presiding officer, M. Poincaré, in his opening remarks, most happily referred as having come “to testify that his country, less near to us by parentage than is Canada, is still just as near at heart.” American hospitality, he said, which surprises and charms the French, whenever they cross the ocean, is but an expression of a constant memory. “As Monsignor Ireland so well says: ‘The United States forget nothing. In learning the history of his own country, an American learns to love France. The Past has not ceased to be felt in the Present. American sentiment is unable to detach itself from France. Emigrants, it is true, arrive in vast numbers on our soil; but there is a something, I know not what, in the air we breathe, that assimilates them in less than a generation. And the new-comers become like the earlier ones.’”

M. Gabriel Hanotaux, of the French Academy, President of the Franco-American Committee, reviewed the experiences of the French delegation in their journey to Lake Champlain, and in his very felicitous remarks, “addressed, across the seas, a salutation of thanks and of gratitude, on the part of France to the United States of America and to the Dominion of Canada, in response to the welcome extended by these two countries, last month, to the French delegation visiting Lake Champlain.” He drew a lively picture of incidents of the journey, especially of the arrival at Ticonderoga:

“It is impossible to express the emotion which we felt when we saw that there was the goal of our journey; that our feet would tread in the footsteps of our great compatriots of by-gone ages; that this little bay was where Champlain embarked, in the Indian canoes, to go to discover, southwards, the land where sprang up Boston and New York; that here were those famous passes, defended, later on, foot by foot by the French heroes of the 17th and 18th centuries; that these ruins are of Fort Carillon; that these fields, these hills and woods, were the battle ground where Montcalm had fought and conquered; and that here, in a word, was the lake toward which we had fared all these weeks, and where we came to enshrine, at the foot of the commemorative monument, the image which we had brought, with precious care—from the land of France, on the ship La France, the image of France!”

The speaker paid graceful tribute to the genius of Rodin; dwelt upon the welcome which the delegation had met with in Canada; thanked all who had contributed to the pleasure and success of the mission, and concluded by proposing the health of the President of the United States, His Majesty George the Fifth, the people of all Latin America, of the delegation’s hosts in the United States and Canada, and of the Franco-American Committee.

He was followed by Senator Dandurand, President of the Franco-American Committee of Montreal, who spoke of Canadian development, and of the relations of Canada and the United States. At the close of his address he was invested with the insignia of the Legion of Honor.

Then followed the address of the Deputy, Louis Barthou, which sparkled with wit and happy hits. The speaker paid particular tribute to M. Hanotaux; dwelt upon the enthusiasm with which their delegation had been met, and made repeated acknowledgment of the courtesies they had received. His Excellency, M. Puga-Borne, Minister from Chili, spoke briefly, and was followed by the American Ambassador, Mr. Herrick, who happily acknowledged the compliments and courtesies bestowed upon him and his country, and closed by proposing the health of the President of the French Republic. The exercises were concluded by a brief address from the presiding officer, M. Raymond Poincaré, who referred to the part which the Franco-American Committee had borne in the carrying out of the Champlain commemorative project.

On May 25, 1912, the newly-appointed Ambassador from the United States to France, Mr. Myron T. Herrick, and Mrs. Herrick, gave a reception at the American Embassy to the French delegation which represented France in the Champlain ceremonies. Some seventy guests were present, and were welcomed by the Ambassador in a felicitous speech, to which M. Hanotaux replied most happily in behalf of the delegation. M. Antonin Dubost also spoke on the unbroken amity so long existing between France and the United States.

The Courrier des États-Unis of November 10, 1912, published an address delivered at the annual meeting of the Five Academies by M. Paul Vidal de la Blache, delegate of the Academy of Moral and Political Science. On the occasion referred to, M. Frédéric Masson, of the French Academy, presided. M. de la Blache said in opening his address:

“Gentlemen: In the course of a journey which a French delegation made last spring, to pay homage to the memory of Samuel Champlain, there was one day interesting above all others. I am sure none of our company will lose the memory of it. Many have eloquently expressed the impression which they cherish. Impressions of travel are usually fleeting; they become dim by their very multiplicity, and the daily train of events soon relegates them to the limbo of the forgotten. However, the memory of this day has not ceased after several months to spring freshly to mind. Such is the quality of countries which are stamped by the seal of history. To know the regions upon which the eyes of Champlain rested, to press under foot the fragments of palisades upon which was spilled the blood of the soldiers of Montcalm, is assuredly a moving experience.”

The speaker found that a visit to places thus endowed with associations, was like reviewing history condensed. He sketched the course of history in the Champlain valley, recalled the scenes of strife between Iroquois and Huron, English and French, English and “Americans of the Union.” “These memories,” he said, “crowded upon our thought and took form as we visited the scene which served to frame them.” The speaker lightly reviewed the varied scene as presented to the French visitors passing northward from New York to Ticonderoga. When he found himself on the battlefield of July 8, 1758, he exclaimed: “How fiction pales before history!” The memories of Montcalm and his army are so vivid that he sees again the memorable conflict of the old days. “This corner of historic earth,” he said, “by turn the property of the State of New York and of Columbia University, in 1818 passed into the hands of an old New York family. The descendants of Mr. William F. Pell honor themselves in preserving the souvenirs of the past, which they have in keeping.” He described the work of restoration which has been done at Ticonderoga, and dwelt with pleasure on the reception accorded the visitors at the old house with its souvenirs, its old furniture, pictures and relics, and with its distinctive portico, or veranda, which M. de la Blache found an interesting feature of Anglo-American Colonial architecture, from New England to Virginia.

Crossing to Crown Point, he reviewed in like strain the scenes and the associations of the place. At Crown Point, the speaker was overwhelmed by the memory that here, in 1609, came Champlain with his Algonquin allies. In a few picturesque sentences, he sketched the first conflict in this region, of white man against Iroquois, not forgetting to emphasize the higher mission which Champlain sought to accomplish.

Of the exercises which were held at this point, where M. Hanotaux delivered a notable address, M. de la Blache spoke at length. It was, he said, a ceremony very beautiful in its simplicity. “Around us familiarly crowded the people of the neighborhood, worthy farmers with something of a Puritan aspect, an attentive throng in which mingled many French Canadians; for we had come near to the actual boundary line of the languages.” “While the orator recalled the expressions by which Champlain described the country which revealed itself to us, our attention sought and found the distinctive features in the setting of this scene. Opposite, on the western shore, reared the massive granite of the Adirondacks, wooded, and partly covered with snow, the silhouette of which recalled, in grander proportion, that of the mountains of Morvan, seen from the south. On the other side, the more distant outline of the Green mountains, bathed in the luminous calm of a spring-time day.”

In similar vein, the speaker described his progress down the lake to Plattsburgh, where he recalled the associations of 1814. Thence on to the first Canadian town of St. John: “The fading day permitted us only to dimly see in the shadows of evening the Grand Isle, Isle La Motte, Isle aux Noix, which Champlain describes as ‘These beautiful islands filled with the finest woods and prairies,’” etc. The speaker passed on in his address to recall his visit to Montreal and Quebec, with tributes to the heroes of France who have made this region famous. “There remains to-day in our minds,” he says, “a sentiment of high regard for those who inspired in 1909 the commemoration of the tercentenary of Champlain’s discovery. Resulting from the initiative of the states of New York and Vermont, and endorsed by Federal authority and later honored by the participation of France, this celebration has taken a more general character than the mere glorification of a great man. It signifies the adoption by America of all the heroes who have contributed to our greatness. This homage was not confined to Champlain; it is shared with Montcalm, it is addressed to La Salle, to Marquette, whose statue appears in the Capitol at Washington; to Maisonneuve, the founder of Montreal, to whom is reared a statue upon one of the city places; to La Clède, whose statue is reared in one of the parks of St. Louis; to Joliet, to d’Iberville, to Hennepin and Duluth, and to many others who, on Lake Champlain, on the Ohio, on the Great Lakes, or on the Mississippi, were the pioneers of a dominion, which should come to be realized some day, but far after them and otherwise than they would have conceived. Doubtless America honors herself in honoring and adopting our glories. With this act of courtesy mingles a strong sentiment of pride. It costs us nothing, however, to associate ourselves with an homage which concerns us, and from which we can draw a sense of consolation.

“The names which I have recalled are more popular in America than in their own country. We show ourselves forgetful of their fame, as if to make their memories bear the blame of our failings. A somewhat pusillanimous feeling makes us neglect this part of our historic inheritance, as one turns aside from painful memories, the bitterness of which he fears. These regrets assuredly are justified. ‘Sic vos non vobis’: such is the phrase which springs to the lips. I do not believe, however, that such should be the last word, nor the final sentiment at which we ought to stop. In an address delivered three years ago, July 4, 1909, on the occasion of the Champlain Tercentenary fêtes, Cardinal Gibbons said: ‘We are much indebted to France for the great men whom she has sent to our country.’ Must one see in these words only a passing compliment? Rather do I perceive therein the emphasis of history. These Frenchmen, above all others, had prophetic vision of the extent and dimensions which this continent could afford to political domination. They perceived with larger vision than the tenacious colonists who applied their Puritan virtue and their practical sense to inlaying their settlements, one by one, between the sea and the Appalachians. These were the founders; but we may ask whether, without the perspectives opened by our countrymen, without their example and the emulation which it stimulated, this powerful unity, of which our epoch has seen the accomplishment from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, would be realized. There is a something in the views, the plans, of this generalizing spirit, characteristic of our compatriots. Thinking of France, they have outlived the grandeur of the United States. Since by commemorations and by monuments, America honors herself by reminding us that in her eyes, as happy inheritor, a part of her present grandeur is the work of Frenchmen of other days, it becomes us to take her at her word. In the work of civilization, as it evolves, each bit of metal which the old nations throw into the crucible adds a quality and communicates its own resonance to the ingot which comes out. Doubtless it is to recover this past, which arouses hope within us—something besides the memory of deceit, the sense of having lost what the heroic contemporaries of Richelieu and Colbert caught sight of, for their country. Our American work is not to be summed up as a failure. It is the Americans themselves who recognize this and who say it.”