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Show 1 Special Correspondence Intormountain J Catholic.) j Paris, July 4. American interest in f France was centered today in the cen- I tre of the courtyard of the Louvre, 3 "where the unveiling of the Lafayette statue took place. President Loubet ' spoke, he being received with great en- j jj thusiasm by the immense throng pres- j ent. With "him were the president of . the senate. M. Fallieres, and the presi- t dent of the chamber of deputies. M. t Deschanel. President Loubet paid, in part: ""Gentlemen: This magnificent mon- f nment consecrates the time-honored friendship and union of two great na-; na-; tions. In generous impulse the gov- s crnment of ihe United States, the ! house of representatives and' the sen ate have given adhesion to the oere-i oere-i jnony which briiitrs us here before the j image of this common ancestor. But the initiative of this fete springs from j ; ihe school of youth, nourished by the; . beautiful examine of history and the! noblest traditions. 1 am happy to as- i i sociate myself with the cordial thanks j h i "which the chambers have already sent i I to the people of the United States, and ! "which 1 renew in the name of entire i France." I A peculiar incident of the occasion ' f grew out of the criticism to which the i 1 . speaker of the day. Archbishop Ireland, j has been subjected in France. Before I ihe address was made Ambassador! i Porter read in French a leiter from' j President McKinley to the Archbishop, j , in which the president spoke in the ! most, flattering terms of the distin- I guished prelate, and sent, through him, i a message to the French people. The j letter was as follows: '"Executive Mansion, i "Washington. June 1, TWO. j '"Dear Sir iWthin a few days I have ! approved a resolution of congress "which voices in fitting terms the profound pro-found sympathy with which our people peo-ple regard the presentation to France by the youth of America of a statue of Oeneral . Lafaye' to. It has given me much pleasure to learn that you have been selected to deliver the address on 1 this most ir.teresi.ing occasion. "No more eminit representative of I American eloquence and patriotism 1 could have been chosen, and none who j could better giy.e appropriate expression expres-sion to the sentiments of gratitude and affection which bind our people to France. "I will be grateful if you will say how we honor in our national capital the statue of Lafayette erected by the French people, and convey my hone that the presentation of a similar me-moiial me-moiial of that knightly soldier whom both republics are proud to claim may serve as a new link of friendship be-tw-en the two countries and a new incentive in-centive to generous rivalry in striving for the good of mankind. Very sincere- I . ly yours, "WILLIAM M'KINLEY." The Archbishop then spoke in French, amid many interruptions of ' applause, as follows: - ; Today a nation speaks her gratitude to a nation: America proclaims her re- membrance of priceless favors con- ferred upon her by France. France! America salutes thee: Am- " erica thanks thee. Great is her obliga-lion: obliga-lion: not ungual to it is her gratitude. We speak to France in the name of 4 -America; unoer commission trom ner chief magistrate. William McKinley, from her senate and house of representatives, represent-atives, from her youths who throng her schools, and from the tens of millions mil-lions of her people who rejoice in the rich inheritance won in years past by tlie allied armies of France and America. Amer-ica. We are bidden by America to give in the hearing of the world testimony of her gratitude to France. once weak and poor, in sore need of sympathy and succor, today the peer of the mightiest, self-sufficing, asking for naught save the respect and friend- ship to which her merits may entitle her, the Lepuhlic of the United States i of America holds in loving remembrance remem-brance the nation from which in the days of her dire necessity there came to her powerful and chivalrous support. Noble men and noble nations forcrive injuries; they never forget favors. n the Fouth day of July, in the year i 7fi. the American colonies of Great j Pritain made proclamation of their freedom and independence. A nation ! Was born born in the name of the rights of manhood and citizenship, in the name of ci il and political liberty. Put soon fleets and armies were speeding speed-ing across the sea to make America's proclamation nun and void. Although large mi mix rs of the people of Great liritain were not enemies of America, and although the civil and political rights in defense of which the colonists had risen in rebellion were substantially substan-tially such as the English people had imperiously demanded and won for themselves, yet king and parliament had resolved that liberty would not reign in America. War burst forth. Was the new-born nation to be allowed al-lowed to live, or Avas liberty, at whose command she had sprung into being, to be driven from earth before the anxious anx-ious gaze of humanity? Such was the awful issue that was thrown into the scales of destiny. Hunker Hill, Trenton. Saratoga, Mon-. Mon-. mouth tell us of the skill of America's 'commanders and of the valor of her soldiers. All that brave hearts and Ftout arms could do, Washington and his volunteers were sure to do. But yet. could America hope for ultimate triumph? She had only a limited popu- lati'on from which to recruit her defenders: de-fenders: she was without money to purchase food and clothing, arms ana ammunition; she owned no navr, and the nation with which she was confronted con-fronted was one whose exchequer was exhaustless, whose soldiers and seamen were legion, whose ships plowed every ocean of the earth. There was before American the peril of crushing defeat on the battle field; there was before her the peril of the gloom of despair, darkening dark-ening the skies above her, benumbing the souls of her people and rendering them powerless to turn to best advantage advan-tage even the meagre resources at their disposa 1. There is a land which is above all other lands the land of chivalry, of noble no-ble impulse and generous sacriliee, the I j Without jier Assistance The Cause of Our WatJona! Independence Must Have Failed, Declares I Archbishop John Ireland, In His Great and Matchless Oration at the Unveiling of the Monu- ! ment That Perpetuates the Virtue and Glory of the Immortal Marquis de Lafayette, t I Paris, July the Fourth President McKinley Sends Greeting. : j , j land of devotion to ideals. At the call I of n high-born principle her sons, with I souls attuned by nature to the harmonies harmo-nies of the true and the beautiful, leap instinctively into the arena, resolved at any cost to render such principle a reality re-ality in the life-current of humanity. The pages of its history are glistening , with the names of heroes and martyrs, of knightly soldiers and saintly mis- sionaries. It is of France I speak. At the close of the last century France was. more than ever, ready to hearken to an appeal made in the name of human rights. The spirit of liberty was hovering over the land, never again to depart from it, even if for a time baffled in its aspirations by the excesses of friends or the oppression of foos. To France America turned and spoke her hopes and fears; her messengers , pleaded her cause inj Paris; quick and ' generous was the response which France gave to the appeal. 1 Gilbert du Motier. Marquis de Lafayette! La-fayette! Oh, that words of mine could express the full burning love which our revolutionary sires did bear to this illustrious son of old Auvergne! Oh, that I could pronounce his name with the reverence with which my countrymen country-men across the sea wish me to pronounce pro-nounce it before the people of France. In America two names are the idols of our national worship, the burden of fireside tale, the inspiration of the poet's song, the theme of the orators discourse: the name of him who was the father of his country George j Washington: and the name of him who ! was the true and trusty friend of ' Washington. Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. ' Strange were it if America did rot cherish the name of Lafayette. He loved America. "From the moment that I heard the name of America, said h. "I loved her: from the moment mo-ment I learned of her struggles for lib-ertv, lib-ertv, I was inflamed with the desire of shedding my blood for her." He un-i un-i derstood, above most men of his time, I the full significance of America's con-! con-! test "Never," said he, "had so noble a purpose offered itself to the judgment r if .-o tv,. ijt struesrle for ! knew men well, and trusted only where trust was justified. To Lafa-vette he i confided most important and perilous enterprises tasks which were always j fulfilled with consummate ability One j is lost in amazement at the thought i that this youth, bordering on his twen-; twen-; tielh year, should display so much f prudence and skill as characterized j certain operations of the war as had fallen to his lot. i So hopeless was his position at Bar-! Bar-! ren Hill, so certain seemed his defeat, I that General Howe, before he marched ! against him, invited his friends to meet j at dinner a. captive marouis; when the I hour for dinner arrived, Lafayette and his men were far from danger and the ! too confident general was alone with j his anger and disappointment. ! The critical campaign of Virginia i j was conducted entirely under the lead-! lead-! ership of Lafayette. The opposing ; forces outnumbered, four to one. those under the American general: they had the advantage of abundant supplies and of a perfect equipment; they were com- manded by experienced and distin- j guished men. General Phillipps first, ; and afterwards Lord Cornwallls. "The j boy cannot escape me." said Cornwall ; t l '''' ARCHBISHOP JOHN IRELAND. -f i J. , liberty, and its defeat would have left freedom without a home and without hopes." His devotion to America was as unrelfish as it was intense. ' I oner lnvselC" he wrote, "to serve the United states with all possible zeal without pension or allowance." Wealth and rank, the favor of court and king, high distinction in the service ser-vice of his own country, the endear-Iments endear-Iments of wife and child all that ambition am-bition could covet or opportunity promise, prom-ise, the vouth of nineteen summers put resolutely aside to cast his lot with a far-off people battling against fearful odds and that at a moment when their fortunes were at their lowest ebb and ihope had well-night abandoned their standard. When the agent of America in France sadly confessed that he was even unal.de to furnish a ship to carry him and other volunteers, Lafayette said: "1 will buy a ship and take your men with me." Given a command in the army of independence. in-dependence. Lafayette was at all times the "preux chevalier, sans peur et sans reprocne. me French chivalry were revived: a Roland, Ro-land, a Bayard, a Duguesclin lived again in the camps and on the battlefields battle-fields of America. First was he ever in attaxk. last in retreat. When his charger fell he fought on foot; with blood streaming from his wounds, he still faced the foe: when his soldiers quailed before the overwhelming mass of the enemy, he compelled them by his own unfaltering unfal-tering courage to hold their ground and turned .defeat into victory "The marquis," says an official report, "is determined to be in the way of danger." dan-ger." Fearless when fearlessness availed, he was slow and self-controlled when haste was fatal. "This nobleman," wrote Washington, "unites to all the military fire of youth an uncommon maturity of judgment." Washington lis. But "the "boy" did Escape him, and. furthermore, foiled him in all his plans;, he. so fatigued and harrassed the British forces, , that they finally withdrew to the coast, there to await fresh developments of the campaign. Left in possession of Virginia, Lafayette Lafay-ette was soon able to perform a most important service in what was to be the closing scene of the Revolutionary War. He held Cornwallis fast in York-town, York-town, pending the arrival of Washington Washing-ton and Rochambeau. . It was now the turn of the "boy" to say, "The general gen-eral shall not escape me." By his magnanimity of soul, and by his grace of manner, not less than by his military prowess, he won all hearts and became the idol of the American army. He proved himself, to .the inmost in-most fibre of his soul, an American, as proud of America as the proudest of her patriots, the champion before all contestants of her honor and her fair name. More cheerfully even than his American companions -in arms, he bore the terrible hardships of the war: again and again he pledged his personal person-al fortune to buy food and clothing for his men, who kenw him by the familiar famil-iar appelation of "The Marquis The soldier's friend." In camp and in battle bat-tle his influence was boundless: a word of cheer from his lips aroused the drooping spirits of his soldiers, a word of command sent ' them headlong against the enemy. A visitor to the American camp, the Marquis de Chas-tellux, Chas-tellux, could not help remarking, "Lafayette "La-fayette was never spoken of without manifest tokens of attachment and affection." af-fection." i Like all true soldiers, he loved glory; yet at the mere hint that the general good suggested other plans, he quickly relinquished the opportunity to gain it. More than once when brilliant achievements achieve-ments were within reach he yielded for the sake of harmony his recognized right to precedence of command. And no episode of Uie whole war was 50 ra- j diant with grandeur of soul, so redolent of sweetness of heart, as that of La-i fayette before Yorktown awaiting" the ! I coming of Washington, that the honor of victory might belong to his beloved commander-in-chief. De Grasse and Saint-Simon were already in the Chesapeake; Ches-apeake; Lafayette, by right of rank, was in command: no order had been issued limiting his discretion to act; the ordinary rules of military opera- , tions counselled the attack: De Grasse and Saint-Simon, anxious to return to their task in the West Indies, urged it; success seemed assured, and to Lafayette La-fayette would belong' the prestige of the victory. But Lafayette, deaf alike to the dictates of personal ambition and to the entreaties of friends and. allies, waited for Washington. j Signal as were Lafayette's services in the field, they were the least part of his contribution to the cause of American independence; his enduring and inesti- mable work for us he performed as I ' .. JTLT "the link binding tog-ether . the two 1 countries," France and America. His : enlistment in the American army, disapproved dis-approved though it was at the time by j the French court for reasons of for-j for-j eigu policy, was in itself a significant token of the deep sympathy with which men of thought and influence in France regarded the Revolutionary War. Such a token comforted and cheered the sore pressed patriots, making them more than ever conscious of the justness and nobleness o.f their cause, and giving them hopes that France had other and more substantial favors in store for them. When their hooes were realized and the shi:s of the Count d'Estaing were sailing in American waters, Lafayette's La-fayette's tactful mediation was of inestimable in-estimable value in maintaining the harmonious co-operation of the two armies. ar-mies. At 3. later, period of the war it was Lafayette's powerful influence at the French court, and his tireless persistence per-sistence in rutting before it the needs of .America, that brought to her shores the second expedition under De Terney and Rochambeau, without whose coming com-ing Yorktown would not have been possible. pos-sible. During his visit to France in the critical year of the war. 1770, he made appeal upon appeal fo the French court, urging argument upon argument, now in the name of France's own honor and glory, now in the name of America's Amer-ica's destitution and her dependence upon her ally, insisting, too.- with all delicacy, that the forces of France should go to America as auxiliaries of the American troops, and should be under the command of Washington. Success crowned his efforts. No difficulty diffi-culty could withstand his enthusiasm. "It was well," said De Maurepas, "that Lafayette did not ask to be allowed to 1 strip Versailles of it-; furniture for his I dear Americans, for stripped it would have been." As long as the starry banner shall float, so long shall the name of Lafayette Lafay-ette be loved and honored beyond the sea; so long also shall the country that gave him birth, whose spirit of chivalry he personified, be loved and honored in the United States of America. But much as Lafayette deserves and receives our love and honor in return j for his personal services in. the-cause of , America, his chief title to the gratitude grat-itude of our. people Is that his heroic figure ever looms up before their entranced en-tranced fancy as the symbol of the magnanimity which France as a nation displayed toward our country in her Laborious struggle for life and liberty. The value of the aid given to us by ! France in our war for independence is inestimable. The joy which the mem-I mem-I ory of it awakens in our souls is that i which comes to us through the- con-i con-i sciousness of our national life itself. France first stood sponsor for our nationhood. We entered into the great ! family of nations leaning on her arm, radiant with the reflection of her histrionic his-trionic splendor, and strong in the protection pro-tection of her titanic stature. When Franklin stood in the palace of Versailles Ver-sailles the acknowledged envoy of America, and General de Kayneval as ! the minister of France saluted the congress con-gress of America at Philadelphia, the young Republic thrilled with new life and leaped at once into a full sense of security and a true consciousness of her dignity. The envoys of Great Britain, Brit-ain, bearing to the Americans the grant of all the rights and privileges which before the Declaration of Independence had been denied, were not even ac-I ac-I corded a hearing. Congress declared j that independence was now assured, and proclaimed the existence of a new people. Washington received the news at Valley Forge, where cruel hardships hard-ships had almost worn out his heroic patience, and cold and hunger had reduced his men to despair. He called upon his army to thank Almighty God; with new life he buckled on his sword again and marched with resistless ardor ar-dor to victory, which at last he felt was within his reach. A new sun illumined il-lumined the heavens, dispelling the gloom and shedding- upon me land tne j rich joys of life and light and hope. I France poured into our empty treasury, treas-ury, in loans and gifts, vast sums of money without which it would not have been possible for us to keep our army in the field. At the very outset of the war she placed a million livres at our disposal for the purchase of military supplies, and obtained for us for the same purpose another million from Spain. After she had formally recognized recog-nized our independence, request upon request went from congress to Paris, and in response millions upon millions flowed from the treasury of France into our coffers. At times, indeed, a courteous remonstrance was made by the French minister of finance against-"les against-"les immenses demandes du congress:" nevertheless, "les immenses demandes" were invariably accorded; and when at last the exchequer of Fiance could no longer suffice for the vast expenses of France s own army and navy, and for the increasing petitions of money made by America, the king, exceeding the limits of all that could be expected from the most devoted ally, pledged the 1 I security of his government for the 1 punctual payment of interest upon a ! I loan of 10.000,000 livres to be obtained from Holland. When in 1782 Franklin reckoned up our account with France, ! he fevd that besides guaranteeing the interest upon our Holland loan of 10,-000,000 10,-000,000 livres. France had advanced to us out of her treasury loans amounting amount-ing to 18,000,000 livres a sum which in the following year was augmented by a further loan of 6,000,000 livres and had furthermore made u" free gifts to the amount of 12,000,000 ilivres, "from which," wrote Franklin to his government, govern-ment, "no returns but those of gratl-j gratl-j tude are expected." It is with good i reason Franklin added: "These, I hope, may be everlasting." France sent across the sea to shed their blood for us her brave soldiers and seamen, commanded by the very flower of her nobility. Tt was France's ships of war that protected our coast j and kept our ports open to commerce, ! reducing the British naval occupation of American waters to the harbor of New York. It was the co-operation of 1 France's army and navy that gave us the great victory of Yorktown. The victory of Yorktown was final and decisive; de-cisive; it won the independence of Am-erica. Am-erica. "It is all over." said Lord North when the news of it was received in London. America forgeting Yorktown, and the men who there fought for her upon land and sea, and the banners that beckoned them to triumph, she forgets her very" existence! And at Yorktown, wast thou, banner of be-1 loved France, entwining in affection and hope thy folds with those of the banner of America! There were vou, De Grasse and De Rarrass. guarding with your superb ships of war the waters of the Chesapeake against a ! foeman's.sail! There were you. bearers1 of most illustrious names in Farnce's j history, officers of her army noblest of the noble, chivalrous Rochambeau. De Chastellux. De Lauzun. De Rouerie, Dei Dillon, De Viomenil. De Chousy, De I Deux-Ponts, the Do Laval-Montmoren- Rev. 0. F. Boucft J Chancelor of the Diocese of Cleveland. : - Sf- : Rev. G. F. Houck of Cleveland, O., has been in the city the greater part of last week, the guest of his brother and sister, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Houck. I This is Father Houck's first visit to the great west, his previous vacations having been spent in Europe. He is at present on a six weeks' tour through the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks, and is more than favorably impressed with what he has already seen of this intermountain country,, and is astonished aston-ished at the beauty and grandeur of the scenery, being ashamed of the fact cys, the De Saint-Simons I fain would name you all vieing in devotion to America with Lincoln. Hamilton. Knox Pickering, Layrens, Von Steuben, all ready, sword in hand, to obey the word spoken by Washington, commander-in-chief of the allied armies. There were you, soldiers of France, offering your blood as freely as American patriots j for American liberty men of far-famed 1 battalions, of Bournonnais and Soisso-nais, Soisso-nais, of Royal Deux-Ponts. of Sain-1 tonge and of Dillon, of. Touraine, of Auxonue and of Agenais, and of that gallant regiment of Gatinais that was to win back the coveted name of Royal Auvergne. And I shall forget thee, Lafayette? Rather, shall I not give thee a place apart in my roll of heroes? There wast thou, American and Frech-man. Frech-man. loving passionately America and France, and shedding undying, glory upon both. "It was the participation of France in the War of Independence that made American liberty possible in the eighteenth eight-eenth century;" such is the verdict of history as expressed by the learned and accomplished biographer of Lafayette, Lafay-ette, our present ambassador to the court of St. Petersburg. So resolute were the colonies in their determination determina-tion to be free, so exalted was their spirit of sacrifice, so intelligent their methods, that sooner or later their independence in-dependence was assured. But that the war begun in 1776 would, without the aid of France, have won for them their independence, we can hardly allow our-1 selves to believe. J Let historians narrate as they will, j that the king and ministers of France saw, in the revolt of the American colonies, col-onies, and in the assistance that might I be given them, an opportunity for France to avensre humiliation of the treaty of 1783. It is not for us to demand de-mand that statesmen become for our sake oblivious of the interests of their own co-.ntrr. What America knows, what Fho wi'l never fail to know, is that king and ministers of France gave I us the aid through which we won our independence, that they gave it to us j in warmest friendliness and with most I chivalrous generosity, and that in giv- ing to us such aid they were applauded by the noble-hearted people of France, ! who loved America and encouraged the alliance of their country with her, because be-cause of the great principles which were linked with the triumph or the defeat of the new republic of the west. The friendliness and the chivalry of France! She maintained at her own expense her army and navy while thev were doing service in America: she required re-quired no return for ihe cost of any of her military operations in our behalf: be-half: lest she might awaken in us suspicion sus-picion of her motives, she forbade her that he, like others of the east, take the trip across the Atlantic before knowing their own country. Father Houck celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary an-niversary (silver jubilee) of the reading read-ing of his first Mass at St. Mary's, Academy last Sunday. He has been chancellor of he diocese of Cleveland for the past twenty-three years, and has been an indefatigable worker in j the Lord's vineyard, having won dis- j tinction by his writings anil work in the Church, for which he is now enjoying en-joying a well deserved vacation. commanders even to contemplate the reconcuest of Canada; and to give every legitimate satisfaction to our national na-tional pride, she insisted that she should be ouc auxiliary that her veteran vet-eran battalions should take second place, and that her admirals and generals, gen-erals, survivors of historic battles, should give way to Americans of equal grade, and all obey the supreme com- j mand of our Washington, the "gener- j 1 alissimo" of the allied forces of Amer- ! ica and France: our friend she remain- j ed to the last moment, steadfastly refusing re-fusing any overtures for peace that did not offer full satisfaction to all the legitimate ambitions of America. Yes, America's- gratitude is due and is given to the France of a century ago to Louis XVI, De Vergennes. De Maurepas, Mau-repas, who ruled in those days her destinies: des-tinies: to the. people of France, who cheerfully bore the burdens which our war brought upon, them; to the seamen and soldiers of France, 8 who offered their lives in sacrifice upon the altars of American liberty; and America's gratitude is due and is given to the ' France of today, the living heir to the ( rights and glories of .rulers and soldiers sol-diers and people of former ages. Rulers Rul-ers and soldiers and people of a century ago have passed away; but the country thejy loved and represented remains. France remains; and U France the Republic Re-public of the United States of todav pledges her gratitude and her friendship friend-ship and promise's that both shall be "everlasting." The new n.ition had triumphed through the valor of her own and Fram e" soldiers and was now set forth in the world to grow and prosper V, become the United States of America , as we behold it in .the dawn of the twentieth century. Rut not to the foun-insc foun-insc of a new commonwealth, whatever the power and the greatness which that commonwealth was to attain, shall we limit the significance of the American war of indrnpendence? The Minding of such a new commonwealth such had b-cn the result of a hundred hun-dred wars whose records weish down the pages of history. The war of America was waged for a mighty principle prin-ciple of deepest import to the welfare of humanity. It rose thereby immensely immense-ly above other wars in solemn grandeur of m'-aninc. The principle at siake was that of civil and political liberty, the triumph of which in America "would be the presage of its triumph in the world. It was this principle that shed singular glory upon the battle-fields of A met ica. America rose in rebellion against arbitrary ar-bitrary and absolute government: she unsheathed the sword in the name of the rights of man and of the citizen. There is but One who in Hi.s own right has power to rule over men Almighty Al-mighty God; and from Him is derived whatever authority is exercised in human socitey. That authoritv is not. however, directly given to one of the few: it if communicated by Him to the people to he exercised in the form which they choose, by one whom they designate. And the men in whom this authority is invested by delegations or' the people are to use it for the benefit not of the one or of the few. but for the good of the people. All this is plain teaching of reason and religion; ami yet not seldom were such simple truths forgotten, not seldom in practice was power held as if it belonged to j dynasties and classes and exercised as f if "the human race lived for the few." 1 The rebellion of a people on so large a I scale as was the uprising of the Ameri- I can colonies could but challenge uni- f versal attention, and the triumph of such a rebellion eouid not but stir other f peoples to a sense of their rights and to ! a stern resolve to maintain them. The American colonies went further. .1 In order to make it nitre certain that 1 civil and political power should be I recognized as coming from the people, and as being given for the good of the j people, they declared that with them it should be exercised by the peoplo through as large and as direct a repr---I mentation of the people as was found j compatible with peace and order in the community. Hence the republican form of government adopted by them. It will not. assuredly, be said that th republican form of government is vital to a well-ordered state, nor that with- 1 out it the rights of the people cannot r j be safeguarded, nor that it is the best and proper policy for every people. The I I form of a government a question I that must rest with the people of each I nation, to be determined solely by 1 them according to their special "need's I and their dispositions of character. It is, nevertheless, true that the republi- I can form of government is of itself I peculiarly expressive of the limitations 1 and responsibilities of power, and consequently con-sequently the founding of a republic such as that of the United States was a momentous event for liberty throughout through-out the entire world. In every commonwealth com-monwealth the people's sense of their rights and power was quickened, and j there sprung up in the consciences oj ! the rulers of nations a new conception j of their responsibilities toward the people. Whatever today in any coun- try the peculiar form 'of government, democracy is there in some degree; t and it is there because of its plenary i triumph in America, whence went forth the charmed spell that reached, were it but in weakened waves, the uttermost f. bounds of civilized humanity. 5 The creation of the Republic of the United States was the inauguration of I a new era in the life of the human race the era of the rights of manhood f ' and of citizenship and of the rights of the people. Such is the true meaning of the American revolution, the full signifi- j . cance of the work done in America by i Lafaystte and France. j This is the age of the people. Every decade will mark a new advance in the triumphant march of democracy. -Political movements do not go backward: the people do not abandon except un-der un-der duress, and then only for a time, rights of which they were once possessed, pos-sessed, or the power which they have once wielded to maintain and enlarge those rights. To seek for arguments against democracy in its apparent per- iis is a waste of time. The part of true . statesmanship is to study the perils j such as they may be and take meas- j ures to avert them. The progress of democracy cannot be stayed. He who -would rule must rule througn tne peo- ! I pie, through the individual men who I constitute the people. To obtain re- suits m the civil and political world I I he must go to the individual, enlighten his mind, form his conscience, and thus enlist his sympathies and win his in- f telligent co-operation. " He who does this will succeed; he ; who uses other methods fail. The task , for those who would rule men is maT i more difficult. The time is long gone I j by when men can be swayed by sword j j or proclamation. But manhood in men t i has meanwhile grown, and they who love manhood in men should rejoice. Why should we be asked to regret the coming of democracy? What is it in its ultimate analysis but the practical prac-tical assertion of the dignity of man, indelibly impressed upon him when he was fashioned to the image of tie Cre-' Cre-' ator? What is it but trust in the power of truth and righteousness, and in the : readiness of the human soul to respond I in the proper conditions to such in- I fluences? The growth of mind and will in the individual is what all must hail I who believe in human progress, or in the strength of Christian civilization. And a3 mind and will grow in man, so grow in him the consciousness of his ' rights and power, and the resolve to uphold rights, to put power into act. and to resist all irrational or unnecessary unneces-sary restraint upon either rights or p0W(;.rand thus is besrotten democracy. democra-cy. The new age has dawned for all humanity; but. where men have the more quickly and the more thoroughly i understood their dignity, there it3 gol- ! 1 I i 1 den rayB have risen higher above the horizon and ehed more richly their light upon human thought and action. And here behold the .final consequence, conse-quence, the crowning glory of the alliance al-liance of America and France in the "War of Independence! Behold the realization of the fondest dreams of our Lafayette! In the world's arena a the mighty champions of humanity's new atre there stand side by side, as once they stood at Yorktown, America find France both republics today, both republics tomorrow republics by de oree of what among men is the final absolute arbiter of the political dest'-nicR dest'-nicR of nations, the will of the peorle. To America and France is given the noble mission to be to the world the exemplars of civil and political, liberty. That they be true to their mission must be the prayer of all friends of liberty, of all friends of humanity. The better to insure the possession of liberty they have taken to themselves the highest form of democracy they have made themselves republics. They must show that such form of liberty la capable capa-ble of enduring amid all the writh-ings writh-ings and passions of humanity, and mat beneath it in harmony with its promises there are to be found liberty's best and sweetest hlessings. Do as our republics may, they will not reach the ideal which they have put before themselves; them-selves; while men are the representatives representa-tives and agents of an ideal, there will necessarily be in the realization of it the shortcomings of men; there will be from time to time the inconsistencies and the contradictions which the limitations limi-tations of the human mind and the play of human interests bring into the practical life of man. But, despite all this, and indeed, because of this all, must the world's great republics never relax in lojal and strenuous efforts, to be in their whole national life the em bodiment of liberty as far as this beauteous beau-teous spirit of the heavens can find embodiment upon earth. To them is assigned the task of proving that the fullest democracy guarantees to a people, peo-ple, together with liberty, the security of law and order, and the growth and prosperity of the nation that the fullest full-est democracy ever true to its name and profession, means for the individual individ-ual man and citizen the actual and as sured enjoyment of the personal rights which he inherits from nature and nature's na-ture's God, save only inasmuch as a retrenchment re-trenchment of such rights is imperative impera-tive for the maintenance of public or-dr or-dr and safeguarding tbe rights of other oth-er members of the community. And now, what is said today be it naid tomorrow; be it said adovvn the ages to come. Here upon this historic "Place" in France's own capital city, where meet the nations of the earth, there will Htand, with France's gracious permission, permis-sion, an abiding interpreter of America's Ameri-ca's gratitude to France, for, her participation par-ticipation in America's war, and of the principles of civil and political liberty which were the life and soul of that momentous struggle. Our interpreter, who shall it be? 'Who could it be, if truth has rights and merit has reward, but Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafaiette? Then, Genius of Art, we pray thee give us back the form of our loved iAii nit?; x3ia mm live again in nis own France to speak in America's name to France and to the world! Who more fittingly than Lafayette could be bidden to speak to France the gratitude of America? Lafayette knew the full extent of France's favors and the full extent of America's gratitude. Often did he speak of America to France, always interpreting aright the heart of America, always touching aright the responsive chords in the heart of America, always touching aright the responsive chords in the heart of France. Jet him speak again, speak today and speak tomorrow for America to France. And who more fittingly than Lafayette La-fayette could stand forth before the world as the representative of the principles prin-ciples of civil and political liberty for which he and Washington fought? The passion of his soul, the inspiration of all his thoughts and acts, was liberty; liberty drew him to America; liberty put words of fire upon his lios in the states general liberty led him to the prison of Olmutz. He understood no iic cut unuersiooa oeiter what true liberty is. and as he understood it, so he loved it and defended it unto death. Liberty he Tived as the fulness of enjoyment en-joyment of one's own natural rights with proper regard to the natural rights of others, the fullest play of one's own powers of mind and heart consistent with public welfare and public pub-lic order. The enemies of liberty he hated absolutism in its arbitrary authority au-thority and anarchy in its chaotic rioting'- He stood the strenuous defender f the rights of man and the citizen which absolutism would fain destroy, j and championed them in the name of ! manhood, in the name cf citizenship, in the name of conscience; he championed cham-pioned them beneath the frown of the pntentale'and In detiance of bribe and threat. He stood the strenuous defender de-fender of law and order which are the conditions of liberty and which anarchy an-archy would fain subvert. "When the struggle in France for liberty degenerated degen-erated into mad riot he cast aside the leadership which he had taken in the name of liberty, and which he could have retained if he bore it in the name of lawlessness, and he sought the exile which ended ton him in the prison of Olmutz. He suffered persecution from the extremists on both sides. He strove i or me golden mean, and for this we respect and rove-re his name. Adsolut-ism Adsolut-ism and anarchy alike hate Lafavette as they alike hate Liberty: the friends of liberty love Lafayette as they hate absolutism and anarchy. And now. Lafayette, thy task is given giv-en th--e: Speak, we charge thee, the gratitude of America to France; speak f The liberty for which America and France once fousht together and which today they together rherish and -uphold! Speak, we chare? the. through pndiOss years! Through endless years America's gratitude shall last and liberty lib-erty shall reign in America and France! |