64 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



to the world in literature and art, the 

 mellowing influence of its beauty and an- 

 tiquity shedding a soft refulgence 

 throughout the entire world. A member 

 of the royal family of that nation was 

 entertained in this very room three or 

 four years ago, who has achieved great 

 honor in Arctic exploration, and we have 

 a word from him tonight. I shall intro- 

 duce the Ambassador from Italy, Baron 

 Mayor des Planches, to say a few words 

 and give us that message. The Ambas- 

 sador from Italy. 



THD ITALIAN AMBASSADOR — BARON 

 MAYOR DE;S PIvANCHES 



Mr President, ladies and gentlemen : I 

 remember having been present at another 

 banquet given by the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, in which Commander 

 Peary was, as he is now, the guest of 

 honor. 



Commander Peary had already at that 

 time reached the highest polar latitude, 

 beating the record of a young Italian ex- 

 plorer, the Duke of the Abruzzi. I had 

 not, then, special instructions to congrat- 

 ulate the Commander for the splendid 

 result he had already obtained, but I was 

 sure that His Royal Highness, chivalrous 

 as he always is, was applauding the 

 achievement of his fortunate rival. I ex- 

 pressed to the winner the felicitations of 

 the defeated, and the Duke afterwards 

 cordially approved of what I had done. 



Now things are different. As soon as 

 I received the kind invitation of your 

 President to be here tonight, I cabled to 

 the Duke that I would have the pleasure 

 of meeting the glorious conqueror of the 

 pole. A few hours after I received the 

 cablegram which I ask your permission 

 to translate : 



"Many thanks to you for giving me 

 the opportunity to express to Commander 

 Peary my heartfelt felicitations. Tell 

 him in my behalf that I am happy that 

 the pole has been discovered by the ex- 

 plorer whose courage and perseverance 

 deserved such a reward. 



Louis of Savoia." 



the; i^rejnch ambassador — hon. j. j. 

 jusserand 



Mr President, ladies and gentlemen: 

 Two years ago we were gathered to- 

 gether, almost day for day, in this same 

 room, under the same chairman who has 

 just spoken in such touching words of 

 my country, and such undeserved ones 

 of her representative ; and we were gath- 

 ered together also to commemorate a 

 pole discovery. It was the discovery of 

 the magnetic pole. I was asked to say a 

 few words. Offering to you excuses for 

 quoting myself, I beg permission to re- 

 call that, considering the time to come, I 

 expressed myself thus: "Some new ex- 

 pedition, led through air or through 

 water, by some maybe among the men 

 present here today, will certainly, in the 

 near future, gain the first sight of the 

 long-sought North Pole." And looking 

 at the list of those present on that day, 

 I find that there appeared the name of 

 "Commander and Mrs Robert E. Peary." 

 I think I may say that, once in my life, I 

 spoke as a prophet. 



Momentous changes have come to pass 

 in the world and in this land. For a 

 very long time, during the period to 

 which our chairman alluded just now, 

 America was not the land that produced 

 explorers, but the land for explorers to 

 seek. The day in August, 1492, when a 

 certain Spanish ship left Palos and 

 floated across the unknown sea, resulted 

 in the revelation to wondering nations of 

 a new, unsuspected, and immense world; 

 and the energies of all those who wanted 

 to discover, to learn, to win, to explore, 

 to get fame and wealth for themselves 

 and their country, were bent for cen- 

 turies toward this continent more than 

 toward any other part of the globe. The 

 ocean was crossed and recrossed by the 

 tiny crafts of some of the best sons of 

 France, England, Italy, Holland, Spain, 

 Portugal, Scandinavia. We French cer- 

 tainly did our part, as we explored fur- 

 ther inland than any, and made known to 

 the world the resources and beauty of 

 the valley watered by the "Mechacebe." 



