For me it is sufficient to know that Samuel Champlain was the first white man here, and that the knowledge he gained was the first information that civilization had regarding this wondrous place. Moreover, I know that he was the same man whose mind conceived, as early as the year 1600, the utility and the plan of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama.
Facing almost insuperable difficulties at home and braving unknown obstacles and dangers in the fabled New World, he made not only one or two, but, all told, nine voyages across the Atlantic from his beloved France, exploring our coasts and penetrating into the wilderness of our savage-ridden shores.
Everywhere he went, he planted the cross of his inherited faith and the ideals of a Christian world.
Faith in God and in one’s self, achievement for our nation and our race, and the power of imagination in dissolving all difficulties in the path of progress, are the lessons that his life teaches.
To an American who treasures the traditions of his country and who reveres the one nation of Europe that to the struggling patriots of the Revolution gave the recognition and aid that won the day and established our independence, what keener pleasure can come than on an occasion like this to welcome with heart and hand the representatives of the great French nation? It was our own Jefferson who truly said: “Tout homme a deux patries—la sienne et puis la France.”
It is indeed a high honor to join hands with the representative of the State of Vermont to bequeath to the Federal government for safe keeping and constant care this noble memorial, with the hope that its never-failing light may guide the wayfarer and the voyager on the path of safety.
To you, Colonel Sanger, this monument is now given. (Applause.)
In the absence of Gov. John A. Mead of Vermont, who was detained at home by slight illness, Adjt.-Gen. Lee S. Tillotson received the memorial on behalf of the Governor of Vermont and in turn presented it to the United States in the following address:
Mr. Chairman, Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen: I think it should be made plain that I am not the Governor of Vermont, otherwise my appearance as to clothing might lead some to think that the Governor had exercised his constitutional prerogative and with the consent of the Senate had assumed personal command of the military forces of the State and had come over here to dispute New York’s right to have this memorial located on New York soil. If this were true, it would not be the first time that the “Green Mountain Boys” had invaded this shore of Lake Champlain. However, no such hostile action is intended or necessary or possible, for conditions have changed. This memorial has been erected and located by the joint action of the Commissions of both States: New York and Vermont are now a part of the same nation, both subject to the same national government in whose custody this memorial is about to be placed, and from the United States of America neither New York nor Vermont will ever seek to take anything by force of arms.