El Cristo of the Andes was dedicated. Several thousand people were present. The vast solitudes of the Andes were broken. Cannon roared and bands played. Then the Bishop of Ancud spoke:
“Not only to Argentina and Chile,” he said, “do we dedicate this monument, but to the World, that from this it may learn the lesson of Universal Peace.”
Years have gone by since then. To-day a railroad takes travellers over the mountains by another route. They no longer pass the bronze figure that pleads for Peace.
“The peon with a mail-bag strapped on his back has tramped his way for the last time down the rocky trail in the winter-snows,” writes Mr. Nevin O. Winter, who has seen El Cristo. “El Cristo stands among the lonely crags deserted, isolated, and storm-swept; but ever with a noble dignity befitting the character.”
But Chile and Argentina have not yet forgotten their pledge. They are still showing the World the Better Way—the way of Arbitration and Peace.
SEPTEMBER 6
THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE
THE FRIEND OF AMERICA
As soon as I heard of American Independence, my heart was enlisted!
Lafayette