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[TRANSLATION.]
_Mr. President:_ I come to acquit myself of a duty very
dear to my heart; I come to deposit in your hands and in
the midst of a people justly renowned for their courage and
their love of liberty, the symbol of the triumphs and of
the enfranchisement of my nation.
When she broke her chains; when she proclaimed the
imprescriptible rights of man; when, in a terrible war, she
sealed with her blood the covenant she had made with
Liberty, her own happiness was not alone the object of her
glorious efforts; her views extended also to all free
people. She saw their interests blended with her own, and
doubly rejoiced in her victories, which, in assuring to her
the enjoyment of her rights, became to them new guarantees
of their independence.
These sentiments which animated the French nation from the
dawn of their revolution, have acquired new strength since
the foundation of the Republic. France, at that time, by
the form of its Government, assimilated to, or rather
identified with, free people, saw in them only friends and
brothers. Long accustomed to regard the American people as
her most faithful allies, she has sought to draw closer the
ties already formed in the fields of America, under the
auspices of victory, over the ruins of tyranny.
The National Convention, the organ of the will of the
French nation, have more than once expressed their
sentiments to the American people; but above all, these
burst forth on that august day, when the Minister of the
United States presented to the National Representation the
Colors of his country. Desiring never to lose recollections
as dear to Frenchmen as they must be to Americans, the
Convention ordered that these Colors should be placed in
the hall of their sittings. They had experienced sensations
too agreeable not to cause them to be partaken of by their
allies, and decreed that, to them, the National Colors
should be presented.
Mr. President, I do not doubt their expectations will be
fulfilled; and I am convinced that every citizen will
receive, with a pleasing emotion, this flag, elsewhere the
terror of the enemies of liberty, here the certain pledge
of faithful friendship; especially when they recollect that
it guides to combat, men who have shared their toils, and
who were prepared for liberty by aiding them to acquire
their own.