TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the three footnotes
have been placed at the end of the book.
All chapter headings were printed twice; the first instance of each
one has been removed to improve readability.
The tables in this book are best viewed using a monospace font.
Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
[Illustration: The Rodin Bust “La France”]
The
Champlain Tercentenary
Final Report
of the
New York Lake Champlain
Tercentenary Commission
Prepared by HENRY WAYLAND HILL, LL.D.,
_Secretary of the Commission_
[Illustration]
ALBANY
J. B. LYON COMPANY, STATE PRINTERS
1913
Final Report
of the
Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission
State of New York
ALBANY, N. Y., April 10, 1913.
_To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York_:
Pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided, we, the
undersigned Commissioners, submit herewith the final report of the
LAKE CHAMPLAIN TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Very respectfully,
H. WALLACE KNAPP, _Chairman_,
HENRY W. HILL, _Secretary_,
WALTER C. WITHERBEE, _Treasurer_,
JOHN H. BOOTH,
LOUIS C. LAFONTAINE,
JAMES J. FRAWLEY,
JAMES A. FOLEY,
JAMES SHEA,
JOHN B. RILEY,
HOWLAND PELL,
WILLIAM R. WEAVER,
_Commissioners_.
CONTENTS
PART ONE: MEMORIALS TO SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN
Page
I. Construction of Memorials 1
II. The Allegorical Bust “La France” and the personnel and
mission of the French delegation 11
III. Social functions and hospitalities extended to the French
Visitors in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston
and elsewhere 23
IV. Banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City,
May 1, 1912, and the presentation of Rodin bust,
“La France” 29
V. French Delegation entertained by the Chamber of Commerce
of the State of New York 57
VI. French Visitors and Commissioners entertained at Ticonderoga,
later Inspect the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse
at Crown Point Forts where they formally place
the Bust, “La France”, and then journey to Plattsburgh.
Report to Paris 69
VII. They visit Canada, Niagara Falls and sail for France.
Impressions and comments by French visitors on experiences
in America 87
VIII. Impressions of M. René Bazin 99
IX. Comment in appreciation of the visit of the French delegation
and Honors conferred 107
PART TWO: DEDICATORY CEREMONIES
I. Preparation for Dedicatory Ceremonies, including Military
Functions 115
II. Unveiling Tablet at the English Fort 123
III. Dedicatory Ceremonies of the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse
at Crown Point Forts, July 5, 1912 131
IV. Sail down the Lake to Bluff Point 149
V. Call at the Summer School, Review of the Fifth Infantry
regiment, U. S. A., at Plattsburgh Barracks. Tour of
the city. Reception given by the Hon. Smith M. Weed
and luncheon at the Fouquet House 155
VI. Dedicatory Ceremonies of the Champlain Memorial Statue
at Plattsburgh, N. Y., July 6, 1912 161
PART THREE: CONCLUSION
I. Federal Co-operation and assistance rendered by Senators
of the United States, Representatives in Congress and
others 177
II. Brief review of the work of the Commission and acknowledgments
in appreciation of assistance rendered by the representatives
of Foreign nations, military organizations and
others 183
III. Historical significance of the Tercentenary Celebration 193
IV. Representative Men of the Champlain Region 201
V. Conclusion of the work of the New York Lake Champlain
Tercentenary Commission 215
APPENDIX
I. Report of House Committee on Foreign Affairs 221
II. English forts 237
III. Report of Captain Edward Mott 241
IV. Notes on the archaeology of the Champlain valley by Prof.
George H. Perkins, Ph.D., state geologist of Vermont 245
V. Financial Statement 261
INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Rodin Bust “La France” Frontispiece
Facing Page
Champlain Memorial Lighthouse at Crown Point Forts 4
Champlain Group at Crown Point Memorial 4
Memorial to Samuel Champlain at Plattsburgh 6
Side View of the Champlain Memorial at Plattsburgh 6
Champlain Statue at Plattsburgh 8
Crouching Indian at base of Champlain Statue 8
Champlain Memorial at Crown Point Forts nearing Completion 12
Front View of Rodin Bust “La France” 18
Steamship “France” that transported French Delegation 26
Banquet to French Delegation, Waldorf-Astoria, May 1, 1912 30
Governor John A. Mead of Vermont 42
Ferry Transporting Commissioners and French Delegation 70
Ambassador Jusserand and French Delegation at Crown Point 72
Commissioners and French Delegation at Crown Point Forts 72
French Delegation at Crown Point Memorial, May 3, 1912 74
M. Hanotaux speaking at Crown Point Forts, May 3, 1912 76
M. Hanotaux speaking at Crown Point Memorial, May 3, 1912 76
Landing Troops and Guests at Crown Point Forts, July 5, 1912 120
Colonel Sanger, Governor Dix and others landing at Crown Point 120
Unveiling Tablet at Fort Amherst, July 5, 1912 126
Tablet unveiled at Fort Amherst, July 5, 1912 128
Colonel Sanger, Governor Dix and Staff approaching Memorial,
July 5, 1912 132
Champlain Memorial Lighthouse, July 5, 1912 134
Governor John A. Dix speaking at Crown Point Memorial,
July 5, 1912 136
Colonel William C. Sanger speaking at Crown Point Memorial 140
Adjutant-General Verbeck, Count and Countess de Peretti de
la Rocca 142
Parade in Plattsburgh, July 6, 1912, escorted by 5th U. S.
Infantry 158
Governor Dix, Lieutenant-Governor Conway, Colonel Cowles,
Commissioners Knapp and Riley 158
Governor John A. Dix 162
Miss Katharine M. Booth, unveiling the Memorial at Plattsburgh 164
Front View and Granite Approach of Memorial at Plattsburgh 164
Governor John A. Dix speaking at Plattsburgh, July 6, 1912 166
Group Picture of Commissioners Knapp, Hill, Witherbee, Frawley
and Foley 216
Group Picture of Commissioners Pell, Riley, Lafontaine, Booth,
Shea and Weaver 216
Charles Alexander Nelson, Indexer 262
The
Tercentenary Celebration
of the
Discovery of Lake Champlain
Part One
MEMORIALS TO SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN
I. CONSTRUCTION OF MEMORIALS TO SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN
The first Report of this Commission was presented to the Honorable
the Legislature of the State of New York, September 19, 1911.
Subsequently thereto Commissioner and Senator James A. Foley, while
still an Assemblyman, introduced a bill in the Assembly designed to
empower the Commission to build two suitable permanent memorials to
Samuel Champlain in that valley, one at Crown Point Forts and the
other at Plattsburgh. Commissioner and Senator James J. Frawley had
charge of the bill in the Senate. It was also designed to extend the
term of the Commission into the year 1913, long enough to complete
such memorials and to dedicate them with appropriate ceremonies. That
bill passed the Legislature and upon its approval by Governor Dix, it
became chapter 273 of the Laws of 1912. By its terms, it imposed on
the Commission the duty of submitting to the Legislature of 1913, a
full and complete report of its proceedings and transactions.
On March 27, 1912, the New York Lake Champlain Tercentenary
Commission submitted its Financial Report to the Legislature, showing
its receipts and disbursements down to March 26, 1912. These two
reports of the Commission, already submitted to the Legislature,
comprise all the proceedings and transactions of the Commission down
to their respective dates, so that all that is necessary to do in
this Final Report is to continue the record of its proceedings and
transactions from such dates. This will include an account of the
visit to this country of the distinguished French delegation, headed
by His Excellency, Monsieur Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux in April
and May, 1912,—an event exponential of the perfect amity existing
between the two Republics—and also an account of the dedicatory
ceremonies of the Memorial Lighthouse at Crown Point Forts, New York,
on July 5, 1912, and of the Champlain memorial at Plattsburgh, New
York, on July 6, 1912.
These did not admit of so extensive an historical treatment of
the important events occurring in the Champlain valley, nor of
so wide a range of literary productions, as did the Tercentenary
exercises, a record of which may be found in the First Report of this
Commission. Nevertheless, the interchange of felicitations between
the representatives of France and of this country, the cordial
greetings everywhere extended to the French visitors and the amicable
relations existing between the two peoples, prompting the warmest
expressions of good will and generous impulses in addresses of rare
literary quality, together with the dedicatory ceremonies themselves,
are worthy a permanent record in this Final Report, thereby enlarging
it into a volume, and are a fitting sequel to the historical
Tercentenary Celebration.
The Commissioners fully realized the opportunity at Crown Point
Forts for the construction and embellishment of a great Memorial
Lighthouse to commemorate the advent of Samuel Champlain, the herald
of civilization, into that valley, and they spared no pains to
accomplish that result.
After examining some American memorials to Samuel Champlain and
looking over the photographs of others and especially in view of the
utilitarian character of the Crown Point memorial in the form of a
Lighthouse and of its adaptability to sculptural embellishment, the
Commissioners decided to undertake the production of such a Memorial
after a design submitted by the architects, Messrs. Dillon, McLellan
& Beadel of New York City, including a bronze statue group, the work
of the sculptor, Carl Augustus Heber, of New York City. For three
years, Mr. Heber was in the studios of Augustus St. Gaudens and Paul
Bartlett in Paris and afterward worked on the embellishments of the
Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo under Karl Theodore Francis Bitter.
Among Heber’s more important works are the equestrian statue of
General Sheridan at Somerset, Ohio; the statue of Franklin at
Princeton University; the Schiller at Rochester, N. Y., the heroic
statue “Roman Poet” in the Brooklyn Institute, and the bronze statue
in St. Andrew’s Church at Stamford, Connecticut. He received a medal
at the St. Louis Exposition for his “Pastoral” which is now in the
museum of the Chicago Art Institute, and he won the Avery prize at
the Architectural League in 1910.
Contracts were let to Booth Brothers and Hurricane Isle Granite
Company for the construction of the Memorial Lighthouse on the
property of the United States at Crown Point Forts of Fox Island
granite according to the design found at pages 346-347 of the
original Report of the Commission and for the bronze statue group
after the Heber model, consisting of a bronze statue of Champlain
with one of his soldiers crouching at his feet at one side and an
Indian at the other. Just below the group is a conventionalized
stone canoe prow laden with the products of the country. The work
progressed as rapidly as was planned. The Fox Island granite came
from the State of Maine and had to be delivered at Crown Point Forts,
several miles distant from a railroad station. The memorial was
practically completed on July 5, 1912, although the foundry work on
the bronze statue group was not finished, but was in place before the
close of navigation. The Commissioners are gratified that the entire
memorial, including granite and bronze work, and architects’ fees,
was completed within the contract price of approximately $51,313.83,
and has been generally approved by the Governors of New York and
Vermont and by all others who have passed judgment upon it. In the
production of such memorials, where æsthetics must be combined with
utilitarian purposes, not readily susceptible of artistic treatment,
it is not to be determined _a priori_ from plans, what the result
may be and especially when so much depends upon the location and
landscape surroundings, as in the case of this memorial.
The artistic features of this memorial with its group of bronze
statuary, with the Rodin allegorical bust “La France” set in its
granite base, with eight free standing Doric columns surrounding its
central shaft, supporting a visitors’ gallery, that gives a wide
outlook over the lake and above that, a lantern platform 50 feet
from the ground, all surmounted by a circular capital with the
garlands of the frieze binding the top together rising 73 feet above
the circular terrace and 101 feet above the level of the lake and in
the main after the style of the architecture prevailing in France at
the time of Champlain, are rather accentuated by the grandeur of the
natural scenery surrounding it, produced by the rugged Adirondacks
in the west, the long expanse of undulating waters in the north,
historic Chimney Point, the fertile fields, green vales and receding
mountains in the east and the majestic ivy-clad ruins in the south,
all under an azure vault of sky, “glorious as the gates of Heaven.”
This memorial of highly artistic design with surroundings of such
natural beauty and sublimity and nearly “throned among the hills”
cannot fail to make an impression on the imagination and to produce a
pleasing effect upon the mind, which is said by Sir Joshua Reynolds
to be “the end of art.”
[Illustration: Champlain Memorial Lighthouse at Crown Point]
[Illustration: Champlain Group at Crown Point Memorial]
Inscriptions on the two granite pyramids are the following:
(_Western pyramid_)
NEW YORK
LAKE CHAMPLAIN
TERCENTENARY
COMMISSION
GOVERNOR CHARLES E. HUGHES
GOVERNOR JOHN A. DIX
H. WALLACE KNAPP
HENRY W. HILL
WALTER C. WITHERBEE
JAMES J. FRAWLEY
JAMES SHEA
WILLIAM R. WEAVER
JAMES A. FOLEY
JOHN H. BOOTH
JOHN B. RILEY
LOUIS C. LAFONTAINE
HOWLAND PELL
(_Eastern pyramid_)
VERMONT
LAKE CHAMPLAIN
TERCENTENARY
COMMISSION
GOVERNOR GEORGE H. PROUTY
GOVERNOR JOHN A. MEAD
LYNN M. HAYS
FRANK L. FISH
WALTER H. CROCKETT
HORACE W. BAILEY
GEORGE T. JARVIS
JOHN M. THOMAS
WILLIAM J. VAN PATTEN
ARTHUR F. STONE
FREDERICK O. BEAUPRE
THE CHILDREN OF VERMONT PARTICIPATED IN
THE ERECTION OF THIS MONUMENT IN HONOR OF
SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN
The following _arms_ appear on the base of the monument, in following
order from front to rear:
(_East side_)
Arms of “La Compagnie de la Nouvelle France.”
Arms of the State of Vermont.
Arms of France of the time of Louis XIII.
(_West side_)
Arms of the United States.
Arms of the State of New York.
Arms of Brouage. (Birthplace of Champlain.)
Inscription on bronze tablet on the base of the Lighthouse, below the
statue of Champlain and the Rodin bust:
+--------------------------------------+
| 1609 TO THE MEMORY OF 1909 |
| SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN |
| INTREPID NAVIGATOR |
| SCHOLARLY EXPLORER |
| CHRISTIAN PIONEER |
| ERECTED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK AND |
| THE STATE OF VERMONT |
| IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS DISCOVERY OF |
| THE LAKE WHICH BEARS HIS NAME |
+--------------------------------------+
A description of the Rodin bust and the illustrations of this
memorial may be found elsewhere in this volume. It was erected under
the supervision of Commissioners Walter C. Witherbee, Howland Pell,
James Shea, Louis C. Lafontaine and the chairman, Hon. H. Wallace
Knapp. The Legislature authorized the construction of two permanent
memorials to Samuel Champlain in the Champlain valley by chapter 181
of the Laws of 1911. The Commissioners appointed to supervise the
construction of the Champlain memorial at Plattsburgh, were Judge
John B. Riley, Judge John H. Booth, Senator James A. Foley and Hon.
William R. Weaver, together with the chairman, the Hon. H. Wallace
Knapp. They employed Messrs. Dillon, McLellan & Beadel to design the
Plattsburgh memorial, the same architects who designed the Crown
Point Memorial. Carl Augustus Heber was employed as the sculptor for
the Plattsburgh Champlain Statue. The city of Plattsburgh purchased
a commanding site for the memorial on the north shore of the harbor,
below the outlet of the Saranac river overlooking Cumberland Bay and
Lake Champlain.
[Illustration: Memorial to Samuel Champlain at Plattsburgh]
[Illustration: Side View of the Champlain Memorial at Plattsburgh,
N. Y.
Copyrighted and by the courtesy of the Powers Engraving Co. of New York]
The Plattsburgh memorial has been described by the architects as
follows:
DESCRIPTION
The Plattsburgh memorial to Samuel Champlain consists of a statue and
pedestal standing on a terrace in a park overlooking Lake Champlain.
The Terrace is bordered by a granite coping, and a flight of steps
leads down to the lake.
The pedestal is square, slightly tapering toward the top. It is
twenty-two feet high, and built of Massachusetts pink granite.
It stands on a platform two steps above the terrace. Its base is
surrounded by a granite seat and ornamented in front by the figure of
a crouching Indian with bow and shield, carved in granite; at each
side by a canoe prow with trophies typical of America in Champlain’s
time; and at the rear by a bronze tablet bearing the names of the
Commissioners.
The canoe prows were chosen because the birch bark canoe is one of
the highest achievements, both constructively and artistically, of
any primitive race, and is typical of Eastern North America. Strongly
and ingeniously made of materials found in the woods, seaworthy,
capable of carrying a heavy load, and so light that it could easily
be carried from one waterway to another, it provided the quickest
and easiest means of travel for the Indians and for the explorers of
this part of the country. Without its assistance, journeys such as
Champlain’s would have been vastly more difficult, if not impossible.
The type is fast disappearing with our forests, so it seems fitting
to perpetuate it in stone on the monument to Champlain, to whom it
was of such service.
The upper part of the pedestal is decorated with carved garlands of
Indian corn, and bears the following inscription on the front and
back respectively:
_(Front)_
Samuel
Champlain
1567 1635
Navigator
Discoverer
Colonizer
_(Rear)_
Erected by
The State of
New York in
Commemoration
of the
Discovery of
Lake Champlain
1609 1909
_(Inscription on Bronze Tablet on Rear)_
LAKE CHAMPLAIN TERCENTENARY COMMISSION
STATE OF NEW YORK
GOV. CHARLES E. HUGHES.
H. WALLACE KNAPP
HENRY W. HILL
WALTER C. WITHERBEE
JAMES J. FRAWLEY
JAMES SHEA
GOV. JOHN A. DIX
WILLIAM R. WEAVER
JAMES A. FOLEY
JOHN H. BOOTH
JOHN B. RILEY
LOUIS C. LAFONTAINE
HOWLAND PELL
The statue of Champlain, which is nearly twelve feet high and of
bronze, represents him in his soldier costume holding in his hand
the arquebuse of which he speaks in his memoirs. This and his
breastplate, helmet or morion, cloak, doublet, boots, and sword
follow carefully the style of his period: the arquebuse, morion and
sword being modelled after the ancient pieces in the collection of
Hon. Howland Pell.
The monument was designed by Dillon, McLellan & Beadel, the
architects of the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse at Crown Point Forts,
and the sculpture was done by Carl A. Heber, who modelled the Crown
Point memorial figures.
[Illustration: Champlain Statue at Plattsburgh]
[Illustration: Crouching Indian at Base of Champlain Statue at
Plattsburgh]
Contracts were let to Booth Brothers and Hurricane Isle Granite
Company for the granite work of the Plattsburgh Memorial, which was
to be built of Massachusetts pink granite and also for the bronze
tablet, steps, coping, etc., and to Carl A. Heber, the sculptor
for the bronze statue of Champlain and for the models of the Indian,
canoe prow and garlands. The approximate cost of the entire memorial,
including architects’ fees, was $20,263.51. This memorial was
completed in time for dedication on July 6, 1912. It is a stately and
dignified memorial after an original design, about 34 feet high and
rising 61½ feet above the level of the lake, and so located as to be
readily seen from the decks of passenger steamers entering the port
of Plattsburgh. As a work of art, it will stand comparison with any
of the memorials to Samuel Champlain in this country.
[Illustration: Champlain Memorial at Crown Point Forts Nearing
Completion]
II. THE ALLEGORICAL BUST, “LA FRANCE,” AND THE PERSONNEL AND MISSION
OF THE FRENCH DELEGATION
As the memorials neared completion, it was learned through His
Excellency, Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand, the French
Ambassador, that His Excellency, Clément Armand Fallières, President
of the Republic of France, and the French people were raising
funds to purchase and present to the Lake Champlain Tercentenary
Commissions, which was to become a part of the Champlain memorial
at Crown Point Forts, an allegorical bust by one of their noted
sculptors. The cordial relations existing between the people of
France and the people of America, as a result of the Champlain
Tercentenary Celebration, awakened in the two peoples something
of that friendship, which naturally springs from the pursuit of
common purposes, similar ideals and like humanitarian impulses. The
Tercentenary tributes to the God-fearing Champlain, whose noble
qualities of mind and heart and whose unrequited services to mankind
afford the occasion for the intermingling of the two races and the
interchange of expressions of good will and cordial greetings,
touched the hearts of the French people as nothing else had done,
since the time when the people of this country bestowed their
tributes on that other distinguished Frenchman and patriot, Marquis
de Lafayette, whose services to this nation have ever since provoked
the praises of our countrymen. This appears from what followed.
Through the columns of _Le Figaro_ of December 22, 1911, His
Excellency, Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux, of the French Academy
and President of the Franco-American Committee, which assumed the
undertaking of procuring the Rodin allegorical bust, “La France,”
appealed to the people of France to support the Committee in its
undertaking. In the course of this appeal (rendered into English), he
said:
Of the three names (Champlain, Jacques de Liniers and F. de
Lesseps), perhaps the greatest is that of Champlain. He was at
once both founder and originator. Canada owes its existence to
him. Quebec celebrated three years ago the memory of the man who
having full consciousness of what he did placed the first stone
of the French metropolis in America. He had also “great plans and
vast thoughts.” A man of action, he was a man of imagination. He
dreamed of the establishment for the benefit of France, of an
immense dominion covering the American continent from Canada to
Louisiana and Florida, through the valley of the Mississippi. This
was neither more nor less than the idea of the future Republic of
the United States, but in Champlain’s thought it was a matter of a
French America. On the very first page of his book (now so rare and
so much sought for by book-lovers), a book which he dedicated to
the Cardinal Richelieu, the only one capable of comprehending him,
Champlain explains his thought in terms of thrilling clearness.
“It is necessary,” he wrote in 1632, “that under the reign of King
Louis the Just, France beholds herself enriched with a country, the
extent of which exceeds sixteen hundred leagues in length and more
than five hundred in width, and that in a continent which leaves
nothing to be desired in the bounty of its lands and in the profit
which can be drawn from them, both for foreign commerce and for the
delights of life therein. The communication of the great rivers
and lakes, which are like seas stretching across these countries,
affords so great facility for all discoverers in the remote regions
that one can go to the seas of the west, of the east, of the far
north, or even to the south.” When I cited this same page in 1898,
I added: “Sixteen hundred leagues by five hundred! These are
proportions over which one can now labor only in Africa.”
No doubt the great cities which will one day grow up on the banks
of the Sangha, of the Oubanghi, and of the Congo, will celebrate
Brazza, even as the United States prepare to glorify Champlain.
Some months ago our Ambassador at Washington, M. J. J. Jusserand,
called the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the
frequency of French commemorations in the United States. He
mentioned especially the approaching erection on the borders of
Lake Champlain of a monument consecrated to the memory of our
compatriot and he asked the Government to act so that France
would not be “absent” from these exercises so honorable to her.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs laid the matter before the
Franco-American Committee, who in turn makes its appeal to the
public.
It is not desirable, indeed it is not proper that France absolutely
ignore what is being done for her. Can she forget past services?
Nations have the right to be ungrateful, but they cannot neglect
courtesies—that would be inexcusable. A lack of good manners is
worse than a fault. Since North America, or, to speak more exactly,
the states of New York and Vermont, wish to remember, would we not
be obstinate to forget?
The monument under construction is admirably adapted to the place
and to the claims of the man, which it is designed to celebrate.
There is at the extremity of the lake discovered by Champlain, and
which bears his name, a lighthouse, throwing its rays over the
waters of which, he, first of Europeans, contemplated the immense
extent, empty and wild, and which are now traversed by the fleet
of great steamboats, the region peopled by a swarm of men. A solid
mass of masonry, a crown of columns bearing a terrace, and above
all the lantern of the lighthouse, these are from base to summit
the members of this powerful architecture. From the mass of masonry
rises a rostrum, beneath which Champlain stands like a pilot.
What can France do? What should she do? What stone worthy of her
can she bring to the monument? There is but one solution. It
is that this stone must be precious.... We are at the house of
Rodin. It is known how popular his name is in America. The great
sculptor whose renown extends over the world has nowhere more
ardent admirers. We hasten through the great rooms of the Hotel
Biron. These great bare halls, full of the genius from which
administrative barbarism is undertaking to shut out the glory,
and among so many masterpieces where admiration exhausts itself,
we discover (that is the true word, for the remarkable modesty of
the master scarcely pointed it out to us) a bronze bust: _France_.
Imagine the emotion of this finding! We sought an image, a symbol,
I may say a signature of our country, to send out there and we find
France herself, a darling France, full of grace, of spirit and of
courage; a young French woman to the sensitive nostrils, to the
full cheeks; to the chin, delicate and obstinate, to the glance,
loyal, headstrong and brave; a young woman in whom are summed up
our Clotilde, our Blanche, our Henriette and our Jeanne, crowned
with her tresses as with a helmet, armed with her attire as with
a cuirass. We sought for a French conception and we find the very
image of France. It is this figure we wish to send out there, that
it may be placed near the monument of Champlain. In front of the
mass of masonry, a light construction, an “edicule,” which will
be like a stone shrine sheltering and isolating the bust. And
thus French art will carry its offering simply and beautifully,
associating it with the powerful American commemoration.
If the idea appears good and worthy, worthy of the Government and
of the Embassy, which has been confided to us, worthy of the man
who was three centuries ago the champion of our country, worthy of
the sister republic, then it is necessary that friends sign this
visiting-card which will be sent out there in her name.
The inauguration of the monument will take place next July. A
French delegation will go to deliver Rodin’s bronze to the building
committee. Time presses. We must be ready by the day named. The
bronze which requires some alterations will be quickly completed.
But it is further necessary that the architect place the edicule,
that they cut the stone, that they engrave it in order that the
thought of the master make in the ensemble a delicate, proud work,
a flower of France, blossoming in good art at the foot of the
colossal monument.
A little money is needed. But above all is needed a prompt
expression to prevent at once any fault of taste and lack of
precision. The _Figaro_ opens its columns to us. The _Times_,
the _Matin_, the Parisian press aid us. To-day appears the first
subscription list. We make appeal to the friends of America and to
the friends of France, that it may be rapidly closed up.
To this patriotic appeal generous response was made and the bust
was secured. On April 26, 1912, the French delegation on their
superb steamship _France_ of La Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
in New York harbor was welcomed by members of the New York Lake
Champlain Tercentenary Commission, Viscount de Jean, Secretary of
the French Embassy at Washington, M. Étienne Marie Louis Lanel,
French Consul-General at New York, Paul Fuller, Jr., representing
the Franco-American Committee, Hon. McDougall Hawkes, representing
the Franco-American Institute in the United States, and Mr. Henry
L. Beadel, one of the architects of the Champlain Memorials. The
interchange of greetings between the members of the Tercentenary
Commission and the visitors prepared the way for the receptions
that were to follow at New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston,
Montreal, Quebec, and elsewhere. The delegation was accompanied by
Hon. Robert Bacon, former United States Ambassador to France, and was
one of the most representative that had ever come over from France.
It included in its membership:
His Excellency, Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux, of the French
Academy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the
delegation; Hon. Louis Barthou, Member of the Chamber of Deputies,
former Minister of Justice; Baron D’Estournelles de Constant, Member
of the French Senate and of The Hague International Tribunal; M.
René Bazin of the French Academy; General Lebon, Grand Officer of
the Legion of Honor and Member of the Superior Council of War; M.
Étienne Lamy of the French Academy; M. Fernand Cormon, painter,
President of the Academy of Fine Arts; Count Charles de Chambrun,
Secretary of the French Embassy at Washington, representing President
Poincaré of the Council of Ministers; M. Paul Vidal de le Blache,
Member of the Institute, representing the University of Paris; Le
Duc Choiseul, descendant of an old distinguished French family;
Count de Rochambeau, descendant of Count de Rochambeau, in command
of the French forces in America during the Revolution; M. J. Dal
Piaz, Director-General of La Compagnie Générale Transatlantique; M.
Louis Blériot, Engineer and Aviator; M. Antoine Girard, Commercial
Explorer; M. Léon Barthou, delegate from the Aero Club of France; M.
Gabriel Louis Jaray, Member of the Council of State and Secretary
of the General Franco-American Committee; M. Gaston Deschamps,
representing “_Le Temps_;” M. Régis Gignoux, representing “_Le
Figaro_;” M. Roger Gouel, Secretary of the delegation; the Countess
de Rochambeau; Madame Blériot; Miss Valentine Girard and Miss
Madeline Cormon.
Baron D’Estournelles de Constant, so favorably known to Americans on
account of his advocacy of International Peace on a former visit to
this country, introduced the members of the delegation to members
of the New York Commission, which presented to each visitor one of
the official souvenir Champlain badges and later a copy of the first
edition of the Official Report of the Tercentenary Celebration. The
mission of the delegation was to bring and present to the New York
and Vermont Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commissions the allegorical
bust “La France,” by Auguste Rodin, bearing the following inscription:
LE XX JUILLET MDCIX LE FRANÇAIS S. CHAMPLAIN
A DÉCOUVERT LE LAC QUI PORTE SON NOM.
LE III MAI MCMXII LES ÉTATS DE
NEW-YORK ET DE VERMONT
ÉLEVANT CE MONUMENT
UNE DÉLÉGATION FRANÇAISE
A SCELLE CETTE FIGURE DE
“LA FRANCE.”
A. Rodin
The architects of the Crown Point memorial thus described the bust:
The plaque represents France with a head-dress that follows somewhat
the form of a liberty cap, and is half-indicated as the skin of
a cock. A claw and a comb seem almost discernible in the boldly
modelled planes and ridges. “La France” herself is a young woman
with a strong face. The nose is modelled in a few bold planes, and
is large. The eyes are staring and archaic. The mouth is firm, but
is more kindly modelled than the nose, and the chin and cheeks
are rounded, and, though firm, more feminine than the rest of the
countenance. The pose is alert, even aggressive. It is too masculine
to be immediately attractive, but familiarity with it seems to subdue
its harshness and bring out its charm, until it is seen to possess
that indescribable quality of mystery that belongs to a few famous
portraits.
M. Hanotaux said that “it was fit to replace the Mona Lisa.” Perhaps
he is right. There is no doubt at least that it is the work of a
master. It has been placed on the front of the pedestal that carries
the statue of Champlain.
ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION.
[Suggested by Henry W. Hill, Secretary of the Commission.]
In addition to the foregoing technical description, this
_chef-d’œuvre_ may also have another interpretation, for it was
designed to symbolize France, through the transformation of ten
centuries of turbulence, revolution and evolution, the center of
the Republican movement in Europe and finally emerging triumphantly
reconstructed and self-reliant, the exponent among Continental
nations of the liberty, equality and fraternity of mankind. In her
new Renaissance of constitutional government, the spirit of intense
patriotism has taken possession of her people and France is another
illustration of the solidarity of those communities and stability
of those nations, which are actuated by and founded upon popular
liberties.
[Illustration: Front View of Rodin Bust “La France”]
In contemplating this work, we are made to realize that the French
as well as the Italians have an intuitive appreciation of the ideals
in æsthetics and they are setting the standards of their ideals
in art so high, that France as well as Italy is leading most other
nations in artistic achievement as may be seen in the marvelous
productions of her modern sculptors, whose works are not only found
in the Louvre, the Musée du Luxembourg and in other collections, but
also adorn the palaces, boulevards and public grounds of Paris and
other municipalities of France.
The moderate encouragement given there to art by the state and
the people of the country has undoubtedly stimulated original
and creative production in sculpture as well as in painting,
notwithstanding the apathy once described by Théodore Duret, who
declared that “there is nothing sadder to recount in the whole
history of art than the persecution inflicted upon truly original
and creative artists of the country.” In this martyrdom of those
devoted to æsthetic achievements the world over inheres the truth of
the Roman adage, _patitur qui vincit_. Auguste Rodin, who was born
in Paris in 1840 and elected President of the International Society
of Sculptors, Painters and Engravers in 1904, has conquered and
lives to see his works admired in both hemispheres, notwithstanding
his disregard of the canons and conventionalities of the French
Institute, which were repulsive to him. He has devoted himself to
a mastery of nature, as zealously as did Michael Angelo to the
study of anatomy. He is original and creative and his works are now
appreciated by members of the Institute as well as by the savants
in art the world over. His success in his field of sculptural
achievement is largely due to his intense application to nature, as
interpreted through the perspective of a vivid imagination, a poetic
temperament and a keen appreciation of the beautiful and the sublime.
These have impelled him to reject the conventional details, due to
uniform rules applying to all alike, regardless of the individual
characteristics, apparent in the works of many sculptors and to
devote himself to productions, which are the embodiment of individual
realism. In “La France,” one appreciates that he has produced a work
with an exuberance of detail as stately as the Greek conception of
the ideal head, shown in the marble copy of the Athene Parthenos
of Phidias. It is a production of marked originality and has the
character and the strength of the works of Donatello and of Michael
Angelo, which contain “infinitely subtle shades of form in each
sinuosity of contour” and are suggestive of living personalities.
Whether or not we accept the intuitional theory of æsthetics,
propounded by Benedetto Croce and others, that beauty is spiritual
activity or expression and nothing more and is not predicable of
nature apart from expression, we cannot fail to appreciate that the
works of Rodin,[1] which are true to nature or an improvement upon
it, are illustrations of perfect æsthetic expression and therefore
fall within Signore Croce’s category of æsthetic productions.
The allegorical bust, “La France,” a work of poetic symbolism,
reveals something of the culture and the contemplative character
and native resolution of that nation, which struggles and conquers
and whose intellectual development—through the various stages of a
complex and progressive civilization, broadened by the discovery
of her navigators and the assumption of the responsibility of
colonial government of her own and alien races, ameliorated by the
responsiveness of her statesmen to popular ideas, thus solving the
perplexing problems of organization and administration, enlightened
by the brilliant achievements of her scientists and of her
littérateurs, ennobled by the ethical teachings of her philosophers
and uplifted by the inspiration of her poets and by the marvelous
creations of her sculptors, her painters and her architects—is
the fruition of that universal genius, which is regenerating and
immortal. This has enabled France to maintain a leading position in
the onward march of civilization and to mold her institutions in
conformity to the world’s approved ethical and political standards.
It is not necessary to enumerate her contributions to art, to
literature or to science further than to call attention to the
fact that her celebrated Pierre Simonde de Laplace was the first
to unfold the Nebular Hypothesis in his “Exposition du Système du
Monde” to account for the formation of the solar system, and that
her Charles Messier was the first to catalogue stationary objects
so faint as to be hardly observable through his small telescope and
by him first named “nebulae.” The diaphanous, spiral convolutions
in such of these, as the great green nebula in Orion, the brilliant
white nebula in Andromeda and the whirlpool nebula in Canes Venatici,
by the aid of powerful telescopes, may now be photographed and by
the revelations of the spectroscope, their dimensions, character and
composition may be determined.
If these nebulae, first discovered by Messier, be distant universes,
not unlike the Milky Way, as suggested by Dr. Edward Arthur Fath,
who estimates the diameter of the nebula in Andromeda at thirty-five
trillions of miles, we at most have but little conception of their
magnitude and the wonders of the realms of infinite space about us.
The contributions of Laplace and Messier as well as of Lalande,
Leverrier and others to astronomy indicate to some extent the
leading position France has always taken in the domain of science
and original research. All nations recognize that _La France est la
patrie des sciences et des arts_.
Her contributions to civilization and to the world’s diplomacy
entitle her to the gratitude of other civilized nations.
The people of this nation are especially grateful to France for
her services in opening up the heart of this continent to its
early settlers, for her assistance to our people in their struggle
for independence and for other acts of friendship, gratefully
acknowledged elsewhere in this Report, the last of which is
beautifully expressed in the gift of the Rodin bust, “La France.”
III. SOCIAL FUNCTIONS AND HOSPITALITIES EXTENDED TO THE FRENCH
VISITORS IN NEW YORK, WASHINGTON, PHILADELPHIA, BOSTON AND ELSEWHERE
Upon their disembarkation, the visitors took rooms in the Hotel
Vanderbilt. In the evening, they witnessed “Les Fourberies de Scapin”
of Molière, played by the students of French in the College of the
City of New York at the Carnegie Lyceum, and also the French version
of an English play. On April 27, 1912, Mayor Gaynor received the
delegation in the City Hall of New York and expressed his pleasure
at their safe arrival in the city. M. Hanotaux replied that it was
an honor to present their respects to the first citizen of the great
city of New York. On the same day, members of the French delegation
and members of the Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commissions were
tendered a luncheon at the Metropolitan Club in New York by Hon.
McDougall Hawkes, chairman of the American Board of the French
Institute in the United States. Mr. Hawkes in a graceful address
welcomed the guests and extended an invitation to the First Loan
Exhibit of the Institute that afternoon. In the course of his address
he said:
Your visit, Mons. Hanotaux, with other distinguished delegates from
France, who have come on so flattering and pleasing a mission, will
constitute a strong landmark in what has been so interestingly
termed by the distinguished librarian of the city of Paris,
Marcel Poëte, the intellectual expansion of France in the United
States. This so-called expansion, based on intellectual relations
between the two countries, is in fact a natural corollary to other
relations, which for more than three centuries and a half, have
inclined each towards the other in common sympathies. (Applause.)
He was followed by Ambassador Jusserand, Mayor Gaynor, Baron
D’Estournelles de Constant, M. Louis Barthou, Mr. Paul Fuller, who
spoke in French, and others. At the Loan Exposition that followed
in the East Gallery of the building of the American Arts Society,
John W. Alexander, President of the National Academy of Design and
a Trustee of the French Institute in the United States, in a brief
address spoke of the cordial reception given in France to students of
art from this country and welcomed the delegation in a most cordial
manner to the Institute. M. Fernand Cormon, President of the Fine
Arts Academy of France, expressed his thanks for the cordial welcome
they had received and declared that
such occasions as the opening of the Museum of French Art in
this country would do much to bring artists of the two countries
into closer communication and would multiply the means and the
occasions, through which Americans and the French could better know
and appreciate one another. For this good work, which has been so
auspiciously begun to-day, you will have our active co-operation
and I extend to you our sincere thanks. (Applause.)
On the following morning the members of the French delegation and
the members of the Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commissions were
received by former Senator William A. Clark at his Fifth Avenue home
and shown through his unique and valuable art collections, in which
the visitors expressed deep interest. They were surprised to find so
extensive and rare a collection in private hands, and congratulated
Senator Clark upon his acquisition and possession of it.
Members of the delegation took the afternoon train for Washington,
where they were met by Mr. Chandler Hale, Third Assistant Secretary
of State, an aide-de-camp of the President, and Count de Peretti de
la Rocca, Counsellor to the French Ambassador. On April 29th they
were accompanied by Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, Major-General
Leonard Wood, General Oliver and others on the _Dolphin_ to Mount
Vernon, where M. Hanotaux on behalf of his compatriots placed a
wreath of flowers on the tomb of President Washington.
[Illustration: Steamship France, that Transported French Delegation
with Rodin Bust from France to New York
By courtesy of Byron, N. Y. City]
On their return to Washington, Ambassador and Mme. Jusserand tendered
them a reception at the French Embassy, which was attended by the
diplomatic corps and others, and later the National Press Club also
gave them a reception. In the evening Ambassador and Mrs. Jusserand
gave them a dinner at the French Embassy, which was followed by a
ball given by Mr. John Barrett at the Pan-American Building.
On Tuesday morning, April 30th, they visited the Congressional
Library, the Supreme Court, the Senate and the House of
Representatives and were then entertained at luncheon at the White
House by President and Mrs. Taft, where informal expressions of good
will concluded the Washington visit.
They returned to New York in the afternoon and were given a reception
and dinner by La Compagnie Générale Transatlantique on board the
new steamship _France_, said to be one of the most artistically
decorated vessels that ever entered the harbor of New York and
flying the largest American flag ever unfurled from the masthead of
any vessel, the gift of Ambassador Robert Bacon to this ship on her
maiden voyage. Members of the Champlain Tercentenary Commissions
were also guests at the dinner, at which M. Paul Faguet, general
agent of the company, presided. Among the speakers were M. J. Dal
Piaz, director-general of the company, Ambassador Jusserand, M.
Gabriel Hanotaux and others. Later in the evening, the Society
of the Cincinnati held a reception at the beautiful home of Mr.
and Mrs. Charles B. Alexander at No. 4 West 58th Street, at which
the members of the French delegation and the members of the Lake
Champlain Tercentenary Commissions were guests. On the following
day, some members of the French delegation accompanied by Ambassador
Robert Bacon went to Boston and were met by Prof. W. H. Schofield
of Harvard and William Rotch, president of the Alliance Française
at the south station. They were entertained at breakfast by Prof.
Schofield and at luncheon by President Lowell of Harvard, where they
addressed the students in French. Later in the afternoon they visited
the State House and were presented to Governor Foss. Other members
of the delegation went to Philadelphia, visited the University of
Pennsylvania and Independence Hall, where they saw many portraits
of notable persons, including those of Marquis de Lafayette, Count
de Rochambeau, Count Matthieu Dumas, the general’s aide, and others,
in which they were deeply interested. They were then entertained at
luncheon by the Hon. Charlemagne Tower, former Ambassador to Germany,
and Mrs. Tower, at which luncheon were Dr. and Mrs. S. Weir Mitchell,
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Rosengarten and others.
[Illustration: Banquet to French Delegation at Waldorf-Astoria Hotel,
New York City, May 1, 1912
Copyrighted and by courtesy of Drucker & Co., N. Y. City]
IV. BANQUET AT THE WALDORF-ASTORIA HOTEL, NEW YORK CITY, MAY 1, 1912,
AND PRESENTATION OF RODIN BUST “LA FRANCE”