Norwich bulletin., 1920-08-23
K. OF c. PRESENTS STATUE
 OF LAFAYETTE TO FRANCE

Metz, France, Aug. 22.-In formally presenting the gift of the statue of Lafayette to France today, Supreme Knight James A. Flaherty said: This noble figure of a French nobleman de- notes more eloquently than I can say the nature of this gift from the Knights of Columbus to the Republic of France in memory of our common dead, who per ished so that the liberty that Lafayette and Washington fought for and won might be preserved to the world.
 Here, by this single figure in bronze, with the base reliefs of American mar ble, We see Columbus, the patron of the Knights of Columbus, in the act of discovering America, We see President Wilson declaring before the American congress ill 1917, that the lost provinces of France must be restored before peace comes to the world, We see General Pershing at the tomb of Lafayette and We see Marshal Foch on the fiel< of bat tie prophesying victory to members of our order. In this statue we have come to show you that the heart of America beats for France, and that we Knights of Columbus, as Catholic citizens of America, descire by this memorial, to commemorate forever the holy bond of union in the cause of freedom sealed by the blood of our hero dead"
 III presenting DdIOn lharSnal Ocn in the hall of the College of St. Clement, Supreme Knight F'laheTty said:
 We make this gift to Marshal Foch as Catholic American citizens because We, like the rest of the citizehs of the United States, like the rest of enlight- ened mankind, realize the debt human ity- owes to this grey man of Chrise who led the flower of Americas youth to glorious victory and whose strong hand has so guided the French nation in its hour of victory that the victory has been made secure and permanent We hon. or Foch in the name of the fallen he roes of America whose hero he was and in honoring thim we also highly hon ored and l venture the wish and ex- press this wish as most cordial in vitation, that the great soldier of the age will come to America and be the guest of America, so that all who have heard and blessed his name may share the delight We Knights of Columbus ex- perience1 in greeting him this day and giving this token of our admiration and love-
 William P. Larkin, of New York, su- preme director of the Knights of Colum- bus, delivered the oration of the day at the unveiling of the Knights of Column bus statue of Lafayette here today MT. Larkin reviewed the historical rela- tions between France and the United States and narrated the incident of the French Catholic clergy collecting S6,- O00,000 to aid the struggling colonies of America.
 We of America can never forget the pastorals issued by the Bishops of France urging the people of France to aid America in those trying days" he said. Tt is altogether fitting and ap- propriate that the Knights of Colum- bus should select this historic spot ae the object of their pilgrimage; for was not Metz the starting point of Lafayette s American career? and was it not Metz that, 100 years afterward within the sa- cred precincts of St. Clements college. Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the hero of the war, was laying deep the founda tions of that character and genius which in later years stood civilization in such good stead and saved France.
 "We Knights of Columbus welcome this opportunity to symbolize the age-old bonds that bind America to France We have chosen Lafayette because he ty1i- fies pre-eminently and beyond I'll osh- CTS the incarnation of Frances towards America throughout the centuries, be- cause he was a loved and trusted friend of the Father of our Country.
 'The tie that binds America to France StretcneS Dack many years before the birth of American freedom oacq to the days when almost century before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on Plymouth Rock, Jacques Cartier thes master pilot of St. Nab, came to these parts, to be followed by tne saintly and heroic French missionaries
 May this gift stand forever" he concluded, as an enduring and eve- con- stant reminder of the bravery of Amer i-an and French fighting men smashing g tl;cir way to victory over common foe, may it be a constant reminder of the tlrth that, however the machi1ations of enemies shall conspire to magnify the ir- ritations that are as unacceptable in the national life; however unworthy con sideration on the one side or the other shall momentarily obscure the mystic cords of affection that stretch across the waters from the heart of America to the heart of France-this gift of the Knights of Columbus typifying. America 5 love for France and memoralizing her sons who died under the red and the white and the blue of the Sister repub- lies, is the enduring pledge that Amer ica is still mindful of the ancient friend shop and that America never forgets." @