Table of Honour Chanoine B. Cabanel, Mission Française Mr. Maurice Heilmann, Commercial Attaché of the French Embassy Lieut.-Col. Paul Azan, French Mission of Instruction, Harvard University Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Garland, Bishop Suffragan of Pennsylvania, Chaplain of the Society Hon. Boies Penrose, Senator of the United States from Pennsylvania Mr. Stéphane Lauzanne, Mission Française, Editor-in-Chief of "Le Matin," Paris Deputy Assistant to the French High Commission Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University Commandant de Blanpré, Mr. Henri Johannet, Naval Attaché of the French Embassy Rt. Rev. James H. Darlington, Col. E. Davaux, Mr. François Monod, Comptroller, Mission Française Bishop of Harrisburg Ingénieur-en-Chef des Constructions Navales Secretary of the French High Commission Toasts The Honourable James M. Beck, President of the Society, pre siding. The President of the United States The Star-Spangled Banner The President of the French Republic The Marseillaise The Members of the Society and the Sons of the Members France, America His Excellency Mr. J. J. Jusserand, Ambassador Ex- The United States, The Honourable Theodore Roosevelt The Honourable Henry Cabot Lodge, Senator of the The American Diplomat, The Honourable James W. Gerard Brig.-Gen. William A. White, C.M.G., British and At the beginning of the dinner the Divine blessing was invoked by the Right Reverend Thomas J. Garland, D.D., Bishop Suffragan of Pennsylvania and Chaplain of the Society. It was a tremendous night, large and splendid in every way. The occasion, indeed, made it no ordinary dinner. It was not, in fact, a dinner at all, but a tribute to heroic France. No nobler theme could be offered at the present day, and the members of the Society, by their numerous attendance, eagerly availed themslves of so notable an opportunity to testify to French heroism. The very atmosphere of the rooms was surcharged with patriotic fervor and a regard for France that was quite without parallel in our Pennsylvania gatherings. France, that for more than three years had stood upright before the most horrid forces that ever threatened humantiy. France that has drenched her soil with her own blood, and where her heroic allies have died by thousands in a common cause. France that has withstood the fiercest battles, has seen some of her fairest provinces desolated beyond imagination, yet has preserved the larger part of her soil free from the polluting footsteps of the barbarian, only to emerge stronger and purer. France, the incomparable, the invincible, champion of humanity! This was the theme of glory to which The Pennsylvania Society invited its guests and members. With so memorable a subject the occasion could not be otherwise than memorable itself. And in addition to the subject there was the notable personality of the French Ambassador, Mr. Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand, who was the chief guest of honour. Mr. Jusserand needs no introduction to an American audience. His high distinction as a scholar and student of English literature, and the long service he has given his country in America, have given him a wide fame as a man of letters, quite apart from his distinguished services as a diplomat. Both in himself and as the official representative of his noble country in the United States, he brought to the meeting of The Pennsylvania Society a distinction and a charm that is admirably expressed in his notable address reproduced in the following pages. As has been the case in many years the decorative setting of the dinner added immensely to the splendour of the occasion. This year it was of unusual magnificence. The fronts of the boxes were veiled with green, mixed with white chrysanthemums. Great streams of chrysanthemums fell before the curtains hung behind the table of honour. The conspicuous features of the decorations were, however, the portraits, three of which hung above the guest table. They were kindly loaned for the occasion by friends of the Society: Portrait of General de Lafayette, painted from life by Samuel B. F. Morse in 1824. The property of the City of New York, it was loaned to the Society by the Art Commission, who permitted its removal from the City Hall for this occasion. Portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Attributed to Greuze. Loaned by the Ehrich Galleries. Portrait of George Washington, painted by Charles Wilson Peale, loaned by the American Art Association. The portrait of William Penn, copied by Charles M. Shean from the original in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the gift to the Society by Dr. Andrew Carnegie [Past President], hung at the opposite end of the room before the Grand Balcony. And in addition, on the sides of the room were inscribed disks with the names of Reims, Verdun, Senlis, Arras, Soissons, Cambrai, the Marne, the Somme-names great in the history of France, and not less precious to the whole world; names of cities and battles besieged and fought in the Great War, some of which, as Reims and Arras, have been the scene of almost continuous conflicts and bombardments from the beginning; names of heroic memory and worthy of every tribute The Pennsylvania Society might offer them. And then the service flag! Unrolled at the proposing of the third toast, it unexpectedly descended from the centre of the ceiling; then the lower corners were caught up, and as a canopy of American heroism the flag hung above the great company for the balance of the evening. A thrill passed through the room as the vast emblem of American heroism swept into view, recalling as it did in the most striking way our coöperation with France in the gigantic battle of humanity for freedom and for peace. The flag was in memory of our members and the sons of members engaged in the war, and included two hundred and seventeen stars. A final revision has increased this number, and a full record may be found elsewhere in this book. It should be remembered, however, that The Pennsylvania Society is a society of fathers, rather than of sons. The limitations of age naturally prevent the larger number of our members from participating in the War. But their sons have gone forth, members of the great Pennsylvania family, to fight and win, and may God go with them! The menu-programme was of special beauty and significance. It contained a portrait of Ambassador Jusserand, engraved on steel and a facsimile of his autograph. The cover was designed by Jean Marot, of Paris, in the seventeenth century, and was a reproduction of the frontispiece of his book, "Recueil des Plans Profils et Eleuations des plusieurs Palais Chasteaux Eglises Sepultures Grotes et Hotels bâtis dans Paris." It is a rare and costly little book, quarto |