St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1909-07-07
'rHAMPLAlN SUNDAY.

Collins, Phi. d. OF Johnson STATE
Normal School.
large congregation was in attend
.nce at the first union Sunday evening
"D ioe Of the summer, last Sunday even
'' ,bcb was held at the North church
iD7' observance of Champlain Sunday.
T., III. service prepared by the Champlain
r..,eo+enarv Commission was used, Rev.
n r l W. c. Hill, DID, Rev. F. S. Tolman,
D,r Dr S. G. Barnes and Rev. James A.
Tbomoson taking part. The regular
t,-cb choir sang. DR.. Collins gave an
,.,o+esting and instructive address,
n,bcb we print in full. His subject was
ncoouel de Champlain, An Ideal Amer
leaf"
r.srs in the days of His ministry, used
hose s words when talking to the multi
. .ut1' concerning a certain man, then in
Iu ;Don who had gone into the wilder
Ias. in order to prepare for a great
Il work. A., ..,1.
80, reed shaken with the wind? But
Shat went We out for to see? A man
,Iothed in soft raiment2 Behold they
.bot wear soft clothing are in kings
houses But what went ye out for to
see3 A prophet? Yea, say unto you,
4 and more than a prophet"
These words suggest the point Of view
which urge you TO take in considering
tbe ne of Samuel Champlain and its sig
r;6cance in our history. 1t is peculiarly
Il onoropriate that this anniversary falls
r np6 day which suggests study of
bscharacter rather than his career; for
his career is SO full of fascinating incident
and brilliant accomplishment that any
bnt an unusually thoughtful reader will
lose sight Of the real man behind the
noges Of his beautiful narrative.
Samuel Champlain was not only a
sailor, a soldier, leader OF men, a geo.
grapher, an historian, an engineer,
map maker, an explorer, an illustrator,
q colonizer, an photographer, patriot,
missionary,-he was a prophet. A
0rophet is not necessarily a man who
sees everything correctly, but he is above
all things else a seer, man of vision,
man of dreams, an idealist. And pro-
nbets vision deals not with the destinies
ofindiyiduals. but with the destinies ola
nation or a people, or if he be great
prophet with the destiny of humanity.
Itmatters not whether the detail of his
vision be wrought out in the fabric of
reality. 1t rarelyis. Jerusalem was not
restored by throngs of willing captives
turning from a bitter exile in a manner
hitting the singers theme. John the
Baptist lost his head at the whim of the
mother of dancing girl. Jesus himself
was put out of the way in the most
jgnomnious fashion without having
realized in any sense commensurate with
his hopes the aspirations for which he
gave his life. Charlemagne' empire
uumbed to pieces in half a century.
The so-caled revival of the Holy Roman
Empire we are told was neither holy, nor
Roman, nor empire The Importance OF
aprophet's work depends not one whit
upon the realization of his dreams. So
We will not measure the value OF Champ
lans contribution to American civiliza-
ton by the fact that he thought he was
doing his work for France. Like every
true prophet he was building better than
he knew He undertook to do a great
work Tor France He succeeded in doing
great work for a new world, not tor
one little corner of the old world. And |
invite your attention to some of the Incl
dents of his life and to some of the phases
Of his noble character, because he is not
only the first fine Gentleman of France in
the New World, but also the first ideal
American, who represents a type which
We do we'll to study and to honor.
1t bespeaks a broader Americanism
that we are beginning to pay attention
to the career and works of this man who
was in many respects the most remark
able OF the pioneers of American explora-
ton. For 270 years his books were
practically unknown to English readers,
and not until recent years have they be-
come available in any general way to
the American public. Let me urge you
toread his narrative. You will not read
long without feeling yourself charmed
and irresistibly drawn toward this
modest man who of all white visitors
was the first to enter the door of our
beautiful western valley, this individual
In whose career one mere incident has at
length become fact of enough impor-
lance to merit great commemorative
celebration. And lest you think his dis
coverv of the lake was his chief claim to
distinction, let me enumerate few OF the
events in his several fields ofactivity, so
rich in varied incident, wide travel, and
perous adventure that in any OF them
alone he is entitled to enviable distinc-
ton. These events will enable us to APP
preclate better what sort OF man ne
was who first broke into this corner OF
The American wilderness three hundred
years ago today with the arts of civil
ICED race.
How was Champlain first induced to en-
lei Ter upon his great work in New Francef
mat must have been an interesting Sc
rles OF meetings between him and his old
commander, Aymer de Chastes, when the
latter, then grey haired veteran OF the
civil wars in France, came to court to
seek patent of Henry ", in order to go
IN person to the New World and there
dedicate his remaining days to the SER
wee OF God and his King. De Chastes
found IN the Kings house young man
ol about SO years, clad in soft raiment,
ana honored by the kings pension. But
lnese two kindred spirits were drawn to
each other, and it was not long before
tne younger man was willing to leave
lne antechambers of the Lowe for the
tTInIcharted shores of the New World.
mere mere is an old saying that birds OF a