Excerpt from The City College Quarterly, Vol. 7: March, 1911 I am extremely regretful that I may not thank you for this presentation in the beautiful language in which it has been made. I appreciate, in thoughts that frame themselves as cordially in another language, its sentiments, and I shall treasure its accents. Permit me, M. Le Doyen, in behalf also of my predecessors and of the University which I represent with' them, to acknowledge the good-will intimated, not only by your gracious words, but also by the presence of so large and distinguished an audience in this most historic place. It is a singularly poetic honor that one born on the banks Of a river Of New France - a river four thousand miles distant, discovered by the French over two centuries ago - should be permitted to carry to this ancient seat Of learning, in the capital Of France, some word, and a most grateful word, from the valley Of that river, once the frontier Of the empire Of France, now the center Of the United States Of America. SO far as I know, that gratitude, expressed even yonder chiefly in scat tered monuments, or in mispronounced names of streams and towns and cities, or in little-read historical documents, has never been spoken here where the memories Of valors and sacrifices unsurpassed have been obliterated with the title Of the empire to which these memories were once attached. I can have no more ambitious hope than that you Of France and they Of the Mississippi Valley shall have reason to thank Mr. Hyde that he has given this Opportunity Of communication between the heart Of America and the head Of France. My formal commission as a lecturer on this notable founda tion comes, to be sure, from without that valley. It bears the seal Of Harvard, the first Of the universities Of my republic. But it is the same seal that was put upon the diploma of Francis Parkman, who was. Nourished by Harvard College to preserve in America for all time the story Of New France. And it will be Of interest to you, perhaps, to know that the first living authority on the history Of the Mississippi Valley, (or the Middle West, as we call it in America), has recently been called to that same university, there to institute a perma nent course on the development Of that great territory which France gave to civilization. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.