[Speech of Horace Porter at the banquet given by the Chamber of
Commerce of the State of New York, June 24, 1885, to the officers
of the French national ship "Isere," which brought over the statue
of "Liberty Enlightening the World." Charles Stewart Smith,
vice-President of the Chamber, proposed the following toast: "The
French Alliance; initiated by noble and sympathetic Frenchmen;
grandly maintained by the blood and treasure of France; now newly
cemented by the spontaneous action of the French people; may it be
perpetuated through all time." In concluding his introduction, the
Chairman said: "We shall hear from our friend, General Porter."]
MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:--[3]_Voulez-vous me permettre de
faire mes remarques en français? Si je m'addresse à vous dans une langue
que je ne parle pas, et que personne ici ne comprends, j'en impute la
faute entièrement à l'example malheureux de Monsieur Coudert. Ce que je
veux dire est que_--this is the fault of Coudert. He has been switching
the languages round in every direction, and has done all he could to
sidetrack English.
What I mean to say is, that if I were to mention in either language one
tithe of the subjects which should be alluded to to-night in connection
with the French Alliance, I should keep you all here until the rising of
another sun, and these military gentlemen around me, from abroad, in
attempting to listen to it, would have to exhibit what Napoleon
considered the highest quality in a soldier: "Two-o'clock-in-the-morning
courage." [Applause.]
One cannot speak of the French Alliance without recalling the services
of Benjamin Franklin in connection with it. When he was in Paris and was
received in a public assemblage, not understanding anything of the
language, and believing, very properly, that it was a good thing always
to follow the example of the French in society, he vociferously
applauded every time the rest of them applauded, and he did not learn
until it was all over that the applause was, in each instance, elicited
by a reference to his name and distinguished public services, and so,
during the eloquent speech of our friend, Mr. Coudert, I could not but
look upon the American members of this assemblage, and notice that they
applauded most vociferously when they supposed that the speaker was
alluding particularly to their arduous services as members of the
Chamber of Commerce. [Laughter.]
I congratulate our friends from abroad, who do not understand our
language, upon the very great privilege they enjoy here to-night, a
privilege that is not enjoyed by Americans or by Englishmen who come
among us. It is the rare and precious privilege at an American banquet
of not being expected to pay the slightest attention to the remarks of
the after-dinner speakers. [Laughter.] If there is one thing I feel I
can enjoy more than another, it is standing upon firm land and speaking
to those whose life is on the sea, to these "toilers of the deep." There
is in this a sort of poetic justice, a sentimental retribution; for on
their element I am never able to stand up, and, owing to certain
gastronomic uncertainties, my feelings on that element are just the
reverse of those I experience at the present moment. For in the agonies
of a storm I have so much on my mind that I have nothing whatever on my
stomach. But after this feast to-night I have so much on my stomach that
I fear I have nothing whatever on my mind. And when I next go to sea I
want to go as the great statue of Liberty: first being taken all apart
with the pieces carefully stored amidships. [Laughter.]
While they were building the statue in France, we were preparing slowly
for the pedestal. You cannot hurry constructions of this kind; they must
have time to settle. We long ago prepared the stones for that pedestal,
and we first secured the services of the most useful, most precious
stone of all--the Pasha from Egypt. [Laughter.] We felt that his
services in Egypt had particularly fitted him for this task. There is a
popular belief in this country, which I have never once heard
contradicted, that he took a prominent part in laying the foundations of
the great Pyramids, that he assisted in placing the Egyptian Sphinx in
position, and that he even had something to do with Cleopatra's Needle.
[Laughter.]
When Napoleon was in Egypt he said to his people: "Forty centuries are
looking down upon you." We say to General Stone, as he stands upon that
pedestal: "Fifty-five millions of people are looking up to you! and some
of them have contributed to the fund." [Laughter.] When we read of the
size of that statue, we were troubled, particularly when we saw the
gigantic dimensions of the Goddess's nose, but our minds were relieved
when we found that that nose was to face southward, and not in the
direction of Hunter's Point. [Laughter and applause.]
_Monsieur le President_:--[4]_Quand le coeur est plein il deborde, et
ce soir mon coeur est plein de la France, mais_--Oh, there I go, again
wandering with Coudert away from the mother-tongue. [Laughter.]
I have no doubt all the gentlemen here to-night of an American turn of
mind wish that the mantle of Elijah of old had fallen upon the shoulders
of Mr. Coudert, for then he might have stood some chance of being
translated. [Laughter.] A few years ago distinguished military men from
abroad came here to participate in the celebration of the 100th
anniversary of the surrender of Yorktown by Lord Cornwallis. They were
invited here by the Government, the descendants of all distinguished
foreigners, to participate in that historical event, except the
descendants of Lord Cornwallis. [Laughter.] And if our French guests had
been here then, and had gone down and seen Yorktown, they would not have
wondered that Cornwallis gave up that place; their only astonishment
would have been that he consented to remain there as long as he did.
[Laughter.]
But, Mr. President, upon a subject fraught with so much interest to us
all, and with so much dignity, let me, before I close, speak a few words
in all seriousness. If we would properly appreciate the depth and the
lasting nature of that traditional friendship between the two nations,
which is the child of the French Alliance, we must consider the
conditions of history at the time that alliance was formed. For years a
desperate war had been waged between the most powerful of nations and
the weakest of peoples, struggling to become a nation. The American
coffers had been drained, the spirit of the people was waning, hope was
fading, and patriot hearts who had never despaired before were now
bowed in the dust. The trials of the Continental army had never been
matched since the trade of war began. Their sufferings had never been
equalled since the days of the early Christian martyrs. While courage
still animated the hearts of the people, and their leaders never took
counsel of their fears, yet a general gloom had settled down upon the
land. Then we saw a light breaking in upon our eastern horizon, a light
which grew in brilliancy until it became to us a true bow of promise.
That light came from the brave land of France. [Enthusiastic cheering.]
Then hope raised our standards; then joy brightened our crest; then it
was, that when we saw Gates and Lincoln and Greene and Washington, we
saw standing shoulder to shoulder with them, D'Estaing, De Grasse,
Rochambeau, and that princely hero [pointing to a portrait against the
wall], that man who was the embodiment of gallantry, of liberty, of
chivalry, the immortal Lafayette. [Loud cheers.] Then the two armies
moved hand-in-hand to fight the common foe. They vied nobly with each
other and, by an unselfish emulation and by a generous rivalry, showed
the world that the path of ambition had not become so narrow that two
could not walk it abreast. [Cries of "Good! Good!" and cheers.]
Two treaties were made; one was military in its terms, and was called
the Defensive Treaty. The other we recall with great interest in the
presence of an assemblage of business men such as this. The second
treaty was called the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce. The results of
those treaties have passed into history. That alliance taught many
worthy lessons. It taught that tyranny you may find anywhere; it is a
weed that grows on any soil. But if you want liberty, you must go forth
and fight for it. [Applause.] It taught us those kindly sentiments
between nations which warm the heart, liberalize the mind, and animate
the courage. It taught men that true liberty can turn blind submission
into rational obedience. It taught men, as Hall has said, that true
liberty smothers the voice of kings, dispels the mists of superstition,
and by its magic touch kindles the rays of genius, the enthusiasm of
poetry, the flame of eloquence, pours into our laps opulence and art,
and embellishes life with innumerable institutions and improvements
which make it one grand theatre of wonders. [Cheers.]
And now that this traditional friendship between the two nations is to
be ever cemented by that generous gift of our ally, that colossal
statue, which so nobly typifies the great principle for which our
fathers fought, may the flame which is to arise from its uplifted arm
light the path of liberty to all who follow in its ways, until human
rights and human freedom become the common heritage of mankind.
Ariosto tells us a pretty story of a gentle fairy, who, by a mysterious
law of her nature, was at certain periods compelled to assume the form
of a serpent and to crawl upon the ground. Those who in the days of her
disguise spurned her and trod upon her were forever debarred from a
participation in those gifts that it was her privilege to bestow, but to
those who, despite her unsightly aspect, comforted her and encouraged
her and aided her, she appeared in the beautiful and celestial form of
her true nature, followed them ever after with outstretched arms,
lavished upon them her gifts, and filled their homes with happiness and
wealth.
And so, when America lay prostrate upon the ground, after throwing off
the British yoke, yet not having established a government which the
nations of the earth were willing to recognize, then it was that France
sympathized with her, and comforted her, and aided her, and now that
America has arisen in her strength and stands erect before the nations
of the world, in the true majesty and glory of that form in which God
intended she should thenceforth tread the earth, she always stands with
arms outstretched towards France in token of the great gratitude she
bears her. [Applause and cheers.]
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