of an old epoch or the beginning of a new one. Peace has reigned
within our borders for a hundred years. It marks rather the
recognition of a century of peace as a harbinger of still more
harmonious conditions for all times between the peoples whose
fathers struggled here for mastery. It marks the welcoming of
a new order of things in which the old problems have met their
just solution and in which the ancient grudge is lost in charity.
Standing here beside this monument to the past, and beacon of the
future, we know that:
God fulfills Himself in many ways,
The old order changeth indeed when Vermont and New York live only
in service to the common good and together place above their
monument the emblem of their common country. It has long been so,
but it was not always so. It is well, perhaps, to remember the
passing altercations, since they serve now only to demonstrate how
closely and firmly they have drawn together. Surely this water will
run clear and sweet between them and the light from the tower above
all fall upon fraternal shores. Vermont has done her duty, and her
duty has been a labor of love. With such a spirit sitting by our
hearthstone, the future of the valley is secure.
In behalf of the Tercentenary Commission of the State of New York,
I thank the members of the Tercentenary Commission of the State
of Vermont and all their associates, for the efficiency of their
co-operation in the labors that are now drawing to a close.
Gentlemen of the Executive Departments of the States of Vermont
and New York, our task is done; the monument before us is at your
disposal. In the name of the New York Commission I want to thank
you and your predecessors in office for the aid you have given us,
and the effective support we have received from you, in the days of
our perplexity and discouragement. If any shortcomings of ours are
to be remembered, kindly bear in mind that it was our heads and not
our hearts that went astray.
That these meetings of officials and citizens of the countries that
are represented here will be repeated, and that the spirit of peace
and good will will continue for all times is our sincere desire.
Gentlemen, in pursuance of the authority vested in the New
York—Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission, we now transfer to
your charge the Crown Point Memorial Lighthouse.
President John M. Thomas, D.D., of Middlebury College, representing
the Vermont Tercentenary Commission, spoke as follows:
_Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen_: In behalf of the freemen
of Vermont, and representing the Lake Champlain Tercentenary
Commission of Vermont, I have the honor to transfer to the
representative of his Excellency, Governor John A. Mead, this
memorial of the discoverer of Lake Champlain and of the territory
now comprising the State of Vermont. This commemorative light-tower
is erected on a site made American soil forever by the valor of
our Green Mountain sires. It is our will that it shall stand as a
reminder to succeeding generations of the honor in which the men of
the generation of the three hundredth anniversary of his discovery
held the intrepid navigator, the scholarly explorer, and the
Christian pioneer, Samuel Champlain.
[Illustration: Gov. John A. Dix speaking at Crown Point Memorial,
July 5, 1912]
Gov. John A. Dix of New York, in accepting the memorial and
transferring it to the United States, said:
_Fellow-Citizens of America, and Brethren of the World, Ladies and
Gentlemen_:
This memorial to that great son of France, whose life and service
we recall in gratitude and honor to-day, is peculiarly appropriate
and expressive.
Its foundation is grounded upon a rock, its aspect is magnificent,
its position commanding, and its work is for the lighting of the
way of humanity. How well it typifies the character and the deeds
of Champlain! He had the firmness and the constancy of the rock in
his character, the beauty of the superstructure in his life, and
the persistency of the never-failing light in the operations of his
mind and heart for the service of his country and mankind.
The contrasts between his times and ours, the marvelous changes
that have almost entirely transformed man’s environment within the
past three hundred years, make it difficult if not impossible for
us to-day properly to appreciate the soul-controlling purposes of
Champlain, or estimate the sacrifices he endured in the outworking
of those purposes.
Contemplation of Champlain, dreamer, discoverer and hero, is,
however, for us a stimulant to imagination and to ambition.
To praise him because of the results that followed through the
work of other men and later times, is as illogical as to disparage
his character and work by taking the viewpoint of the present
without giving due consideration, so far as people of our time can
understand them, to the conditions and ideals of his age and the
obstacles that he had to overcome in all he achieved.
His journey hither may have been for conquest and not discovery.
Upholders of this opinion cite the fact that Champlain had with
him and used the first explosive death-dealing weapons seen by the
Indians, and that wars between the tribes followed.
Yet Indian wars were known before. Was not war the truest
expression of the savage nature? Was not the Long House of the
Iroquois the greatest war machine of the time? When in America
was exploration free from combat, and what was land discovery but
conquest?
Let us receive from Samuel Champlain the inspiration of high
aims and purpose and unselfish service to our fellow-men. Let us
dedicate ourselves to the work so nobly begun by his indomitable
will and fortitude in blazing the way for the American spirit of
courage and enterprise that so greatly enriched and developed this
northern country.
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.
During the past few days, since I knew that I might be called upon
to speak for the Governor on this occasion, I have been endeavoring
to keep up with my everyday work, follow the events connected with
the two great national political conventions which have been held,
and several other local political meetings, and at the same time to
accumulate in my mind the history of the past three hundred years.
This effort has resulted in a state of mind which culminated last
night in a dream in which it appeared to me that at the point in
these ceremonies when Vermont’s share in this memorial was about
to be surrendered into the keeping of the representative of the
United States, there suddenly appeared on the scene one of the most
strenuous of the recently defeated national political candidates
and demanded that the Champlain Memorial be turned over to him as
the only safe and rightful custodian thereof.
I would be remiss in my duty on this occasion if I did not express
to these Commissioners Vermont’s appreciation of their efforts
in carrying forward so successfully this memorable celebration
which is here completed in the dedication of this beautiful,
substantial and useful memorial. It is to be exceedingly regretted
that Governor Mead could not have been present in person at this
ceremony to speak for our State. In his absence, gentlemen of the
Vermont Commission, the Governor directs me to accept this memorial
on behalf of the State of Vermont, and to assure you that your
task has been well performed and that your work merits, and will
undoubtedly receive, the approval of the people of Vermont.
There is one thought which I would like to express to you on this
occasion. We are all more or less influenced by the achievements
of the past, and through the energy and the daring of such men as
Champlain, there probably does not now remain on the earth any such
unexplored wildernesses as was this valley when Champlain first saw
it; even the poles have been discovered and located. It remains for
us of the present and the future to make the best possible use of
the advantages which we have thus gained. Let us not sacrifice the
beauties of this Champlain Valley to the greed of commercialism.
Let it be our effort, rather, to preserve and conserve it in all
the magnificence of its natural resources, so that it will remain a
haven of peace and rest to which the tired workers of the world may
come for recreation and gain thereby renewed energy and ambition
for future explorations into the still undiscovered realms of noble
art, helpful literature, useful science and honest business.
And now, by direction of the Governor of Vermont and in his name,
our custody in this Champlain Memorial is transmitted to the
representative of the government of the United States of America,
to which, by this act, we again acknowledge our allegiance and
pledge our support to the utmost extent of our resources. But while
this memorial is thus placed in the hands of the whole people of
these United States, I would remind you that the waters over which
its light will shine will continue to separate, yet unite the
shores of New York and Vermont, to one of which you must always
come if you wish to see Champlain in all its beauty, and to both
of which, and especially to Vermont, you will always be welcome.
(Applause.)
President William H. Taft was unable to be present and commissioned
the Hon. William Cary Sanger of Sangerfield, former Assistant
Secretary of War of the United States, to receive the memorial on the
part of the United States and, in doing so, he spoke as follows:
These interesting ceremonies illustrate one of the great
principles which the founders of our country and the framers of
our Constitution so wisely made a fundamental part of our national
life. To each State is left the care and supervision of those
matters which directly and exclusively concern the citizens of the
State, and thus individuality and initiative in the development
of local spirit and character, are stimulated and encouraged, but
those matters which properly concern the people as a whole are
cared for by the representatives of the people in one department or
another of the National Government. The lighthouses are not only
for the use of those who live in their immediate vicinity, but they
protect the interests and they encourage the activities of all the
people, and consequently they have been placed under the control
and care of the National Government.
[Illustration: Col. William Carey Sanger speaking at Crown Point
Memorial, July 5, 1912]
It was my pleasure on one occasion to hear President Eliot of
Harvard University deliver an address on the subject, “Democracy
and Beauty.” At first the title seemed strange, but before
President Eliot had finished it was apparent to everyone who
heard him that it is a privilege, as well as a duty, for those
who constitute a democracy to see to it that what is beautiful in
nature, in art, and in architecture, should, so far as possible, be
brought within such easy reach of the people that the pleasure and
benefit which come from beauty may be theirs. This lighthouse marks
a step forward in a most important direction. It is true that our
public buildings and our private residences and our parks have been
growing more and more beautiful under the careful work of those who
are responsible for them, but this is the first instance in which
an attempt has been made to make a lighthouse a thing of beauty.
For this, those responsible for its construction and the architect
and the sculptor are entitled to our most grateful appreciation.
The lighthouse will be none the less useful to the mariner and will
be vastly more valuable to the community because architect and
sculptor have united to make it so attractive and interesting that
it is a pleasure to look at it.
This light will not only guide those who voyage on these waters,
but we can see in it and in all those other lights which mark
our coasts and the harbors of our inland seas a symbol of what
our national life should be, not only for our people but for the
entire world. The lighthouse guides to the desired haven; it
warns against shoals; in the dark and in the storm it enables the
mariner to find his way in safety past the perils which threaten
him. There is storm on land as well as on sea; there are in our
national life perplexities and dangers; amid the turmoil of our
political, business and social activities there is the right course
which leads to the well-being of our people, and there are rocks
of error and wrong which threaten with peril or destruction those
who do not avoid them. May these lighthouses serve their useful and
beneficent purpose, and may the light of liberty and truth burn so
brightly that our country, through stress and storm, may see its
way clear to such a course of national life as will bring to us the
full rewards and blessings of a national life well lived and wisely
directed.
It is indeed a disappointment to us all, as well as to the
President himself, that he has not been able to be present to-day.
He has honored me by asking me to represent him, and on his behalf
I accept for the Government of the United States this light, and
assure you that it will ever burn to serve the splendid purpose for
which you have created it. (Applause.)
Chairman Knapp then presented Count de Peretti de la Rocca, Chargé
d’Affaires de France, who, in the absence of the French Ambassador,
represented the Republic of France, and spoke as follows:
I shall not speak to you about Champlain; you know more about him
than I. Everything around here reminds you of him. And so many
speakers more eloquent, members of the French Academy, Ambassadors,
Senators, Governors of States, have told you of his spirit of
enterprise, his courage, his energy, his force of character, his
uprightness of heart. What could I add to their discourses?
But I shall tell you how delighted I am to represent here the
French Ambassador. My pleasure is as great as his would have been
to be present. Mr. Jusserand told me many times how happy he
was to commemorate on similar occasions the beginnings of this
country, because the name of France is associated so often with
these celebrations by which you Americans show, with such admirable
perseverance, your remembrance of the past.
To-day you celebrate the memory of a brave French pioneer who,
foreseeing the future, discovered and opened up a beautiful
country to the knowledge of mankind and to civilization. Some years
ago you raised monuments to the leaders who came with the military
power of France to fight for the freedom of your country.
On another occasion, for your gratitude is considerate, you did
honor to the memory of the French private soldiers and sailors who
fell in the War of Independence and whose names were forgotten.
But they shed their blood on this soil where liberty sprang forth,
your country, and you wished that a beautiful monument at Annapolis
should recall to posterity the memory of those modest heroes.
All these commemorations find an echo on the other side of the
ocean, in the sister Republic. They make up other links added to
the long chain of friendship which binds our two countries. They
induce Frenchmen to cross the sea, like Champlain, impelled by
the curiosity of new things, and they discover America. At first
they are astonished; they did not expect to see what they see in
this country, where three centuries before only explorers dared to
venture. And they return to France, like the delegates who came
here recently on behalf of the France-Amérique Committee, impressed
not only with the future of the United States but with their
present, with their unheard of development which surprises our old
customs, and they bring back from this young and already great
country a store of new ideas.
As Americans who know Paris like to return there, Frenchmen who
once come to the United States wish to come back again; for we have
much to learn the one from the other. Let us, therefore, see each
other as much as possible: the more we shall know each other, the
better we shall like each other. History encourages us to do so;
our mutual interests recommend us to do likewise. Thank God, if
so many Americans are the worthy descendants of the heroes of the
Revolutionary War, there are yet in France many men of the type of
Champlain, with the same energy, the same eagerness for knowledge,
the same uprightness. These are characteristics of the race in that
old France, always young, of which one of our best artists has
portrayed the features in bronze so that you may see them there,
in the midst of you, under the shadow of the memorial to a great
Frenchman, who, like all Frenchmen coming over here, loved America.
(Applause.)
The Chairman then introduced the orator of the day, the Hon. Robert
Roberts, LL. D., Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, who delivered the
following scholarly address:
_Governor Dix, Members of the Lake Champlain Tercentenary
Commissions, Ladies and Gentlemen_: This memorial having been
presented and received with due ceremony, it would seem that the
purpose for which we are assembled had been accomplished and
that a motion to adjourn would be in order. But a programme, like a
table of contents, is a tyrannous thing, and if a place therein is
marked for an address it must be filled.
[Illustration: Adjutant-General Verbeck, Count and Countess de
Peretti de la Rocca and Commissioner Howland Pell
Copyrighted and by the courtesy of the Powers Engraving Co. of New York]
I suppose this to be the last but one of the events connected with
the Champlain Tercentenary. During the celebration, in 1909, as
appears from the admirable and voluminous Report of the Commission,
the dramatic history of this lake and its borderlands has been
unfolded and illustrated in full detail by antiquarians, men of
letters, orators, statesmen, poets, and prelates. Among the many
representative speakers from official life were the President of
the United States, the Ambassador from England, the Ambassador from
France, certain high officials from the Dominion of Canada, the
Governor of New York, a United States Senator from New York, the
Governor of Vermont, and the Congressmen from that State. It may,
therefore, be assumed, and the fact is, that those of us who speak
to-day may not be harvesters but only gleaners in this fruitful
field of local history and there is little left to garner for your
store.
But shall we leave this stern and rock-bound structure to stand
cold and stark and chained to a thankless service in shedding
abroad its light for the warning and comfort of men without some
simple rite of baptism? Shall we abandon this sweetly serious
embodiment of French womanhood to face, unveiled, the tempest,
the heat of summer and the frost of winter without a word of
benediction and without some act of homage which is her due and
which she is wont to receive from the gallant men of her own blood?
It is true, she is well able to face undaunted the buffeting of
hostile circumstance. Such has been her fate for centuries. In
coarse apparel she has tilled the fields and kept her house, and
by the proceeds of her thrift has ransomed a nation. She has seen
visions, and under the inspiration of heavenly voices, and clad
in mail, she has led armies and raised the siege of a city. She
has fought behind barricades, and with heroic dignity has bared
her fair throat to the guillotine. With gaiety unquenched, she has
starved through the investment of her beloved Paris. Through sore
privation she has won a name in art, in science, and in letters.
She embodies the just combination of qualities which make for
fineness, elasticity, strength, health and long life. So, with
hands upon our hearts—to La Belle France, salutation and blessing!
May she, joined together with her strong protectors, the great
explorer, his man-at-arms and his Indian guide, long remain to
figure forth the beautiful in art in this setting of the beautiful
in nature.
The historical incidents which I may touch upon are such as
occurred in the neighborhood of Crown Point and Ticonderoga and the
fortresses which guarded the southern gateway of the lake.