Part Two DEDICATORY CEREMONIES (continued 2)

Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you permit me I will add some words in my own language.

Cela ne sera pas pour déplaire à mon grande compatriote Champlain. Je tiens à exprimer au Gouverneur Dix at au Chairman Knapp tous mes remerciements pour la manière si flatteuse at si affectueuse dont ils ont parlé de mon pays. Je veux vous dire à tous combien je suis heureux et reconnaissant que le souvenir de la France ait été si intimement associé à ces belles cérémonies.

Enfin j’ajouterai combien j’ai été touché par l’aimable accueil que nous a réservé la cité de Plattsburgh dont la beauté des paysages, le pittoresque des rues et des maisons, le charme des habitants m’ont tout spécialement frappé. Aussi est-ce du fond de coeur que je forme les voeux les plus ardents pour la continuation de sa prospérité.

The address was enthusiastically received.

The Hon. John A. Stewart of New York was the next speaker and in the course of his address, which was extempore and therefore unreported except in substance, he said:

From Champlain’s day we have grown into the most potential nation in the world, but let us thank God that mere power is not the measure of a nation’s greatness. We have become the richest nation in the world, but every day of our existence we should give thanks to the Almighty that our standing among the nations rests upon another basis than the mere possession of great wealth. We are the most populous among the nations of advanced civilization, but we should thank God that the gauge of our power and our greatness does not lie merely in superiority in point of numbers. A nation like the individual is great only to the degree of the possession of the homely virtues, the virtues of the home and fireside, of contentment and the peace and satisfaction which come from honest toil, from the day’s tasks done in the proper spirit of thankfulness for all the blessings which have come from advantages given by a prodigal nature. The prophetic vision of Champlain which saw occupying the North American continent a great and a mighty people has been realized. It is to men of Champlain’s blood that we owe the searching out and the discovery of the fertility of this great land and its adaptation for the uses of mankind. To those of his own race, who have succeeded him, we Americans are tied by the bond of a common destiny. Though separated politically, Canada, which is the heritage of Champlain, and this beautiful north country which is equally his heritage and one of the most beautiful parts of the great Republic, stand shoulder to shoulder in the working out of a common fate; for no danger can menace the one without the other sharing in that danger and no great national blessing can come to the one without that same blessing working its benefit to the other. Blessed is the land and blessed the people where the homely virtues are still inculcated, where that admonition of the Almighty is regarded not merely as an article of faith, but as a precept to be followed, “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,” for of such is the land which Champlain found and the people which bless him as the great discoverer. (Applause.)

The last speaker was the Hon. Job E. Hedges of New York City, whose address sparkled with wit and kept the audience in a ripple of laughter. It was also extempore. In the course of his address he said:

The specific things Champlain did are not so important as his motive. He was an epoch in history. It falls to few men to be greater than their generation. If we are to draw a lesson at this time, it is that physical courage unbacked by moral effort is futile. It is very easy to be good rhetorically. I believe in the efficacy of prayer, but it is possible to remain on your knees so long that you overlook a neighbor’s distress.

It is better to try and fail than not to endeavor. Champlain never felt that he was called—he just went. He never worried about prosperity. He framed his opinions without asking himself whether he was in the majority or not. It is better to practice one commandment and forget the other nine than have all of them committed to memory as a rhetorical exercise.

It is a great thing to have a man’s memory remain 300 years without tarnish—or even 300 days without it. It is a wonderful thing to be great and not know it. Champlain could have closed his eyes forever at the end of any twenty-four hours of his life and have said, “I have done the best I could.” (Applause.)

Benediction was then pronounced by the Rt. Rev. Monsignor M. J. Lavelle, Vicar General of New York, as follows:

Father of Bounty from Whom all blessings flow, we thank Thee from the inmost recesses of our souls for the blessings bestowed upon our country and the human race, through the courage and self-sacrifice of Samuel Champlain. This monument dedicated to his memory to-day, is a token, primarily, of our gratitude to Thee for the favors Thou hast granted us through Thy servant. Teach us all to be like him, intrepid in danger, indomitable in trial, undismayed in failure and unspoiled in success. May everyone who has participated in the erection and dedication of this monument have the grace to direct his own life in the way of happiness and virtue, and also to be a source of benediction unto generations yet unborn.

We pray Thee, O Father of Might, Wisdom and Justice, through Whom alone authority is rightfully administered, laws enacted and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of Counsel and Fortitude, the President of these United States, that his administration may be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides, by the encouragement of virtue and religion, by wise enforcement of the laws in justice and in mercy, and by repressing vice and immorality. Let the Light of Thy Divine Wisdom shine upon the deliberations of Congress, and manifest itself in all the laws framed for our government, that these regulations may tend to the preservation of peace, the extension of National prosperity, the increase of industry, sobriety and useful knowledge, and may perpetuate amongst us the boon of equal liberty.

We pray also for the Governors of these two states, for the members of the Legislatures, for all judges and magistrates and other officials appointed to guard our political welfare. Aid them with Thy guiding hand, that they may be able to discharge the duties of their several offices with honesty and ability.

We pray also for all our brethren and fellow-citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified in the performance of Thy Holy Will. Preserve us in unity, and in that peace which the world cannot give. And after having tasted Thy bounty here below, may we be admitted to the joys that are eternal.