It is now four years since Henry Albert Harper, in an endeavour to save the life of Miss Bessie Blair, a girl of rare and beautiful character, was drowned with her in the Ottawa River. On an afternoon in December, 1901, he had joined, by chance, a party[10] of three, of which Miss Blair was a member. They were skating on the river, a little before twilight6, when Miss Blair and a gentleman who accompanied her, came suddenly upon a wide space of open water near the mouth of the Gatineau. Before there was time to avoid it, they had skated into the opening, and were at the mercy of the current. Harper, who was following at a short distance with a friend of Miss Blair, witnessed the accident and went at once to their assistance. Having sent the young lady with whom he was skating to the shore for help, he himself lay prone7 upon the ice, close to the edge, and extending his walking stick, endeavoured to put it within reach of those in the water. Finding the distance too great, and hearing Miss Blair assuring her companion that she could swim alone, for each to make a single attempt lest they should go down together, and seeing also that he was striving in vain to save her, Harper regained8 his feet, pulled off his coat and gauntlets, and prepared to risk his life in an endeavour to[11] effect a rescue. In answer to entreaties9 not to make the venture, that it meant certain death, he exclaimed, “What else can I do!” and plunged10 boldly into the icy current in the direction of Miss Blair. They perished together; their bodies were found on the following morning, the one not far from the other. Miss Blair’s companion had a miraculous11 escape, otherwise no one would have known of the brave deed which has given Harper an enviable fame, and of the no less splendid courage of Miss Blair. She, as well as Harper, was prepared to give her life for another.
At a largely attended public meeting, held in the city hall of Ottawa a day or two after the occurrence, and which was presided over by the mayor, resolutions were passed inviting12 the public to join in the erection of a monument to commemorate Harper’s heroism. It was decided13 that the monument should be of bronze or stone, to be erected14 in the open air, and to take the form of a figure symbolical15 of heroism and nobility of char[12]acter, such as might be suggested by the figure of “Sir Galahad,” in the famous painting of that name by the late George Frederick Watts16, R. A. The choice of a sculptor17 was to be determined18 by a public competition, unrestricted in any way.
The character of Harper’s act was sufficient in itself to suggest “Sir Galahad” as a subject suitable for a memorial of this kind, but the choice had, in fact, a more intimate association with Harper himself. Hanging on the wall above the desk in his study, and immediately before him whenever he sat down to work, was a carbon reproduction of Watts’ painting. He had placed it there himself, and often, in speaking of it to others, had remarked, “There is my ideal knight19!”
In the design and model submitted to the memorial committee by Mr. Ernest Wise Keyser, the best expression appeared to be given to the ideal which it was hoped might be embodied20 in the monument to be erected. Mr. Keyser is a young American sculptor, a citizen of Baltimore, Maryland, who had his[13] studio in Paris at the time. Subsequent to the making of the award it was learned that he had been born on the same day of the same year on which Harper was born. He was commissioned to execute the work. A beautiful bronze “Sir Galahad,” mounted on a massive granite21 base, deep carved in which are Sir Galahad’s words in the Holy Grail,
“If I lose myself I save myself,”
the whole standing22 within the shadow of the stately pile which crowns Parliament Hill, marks the successful completion of the sculptor’s task.
The monument was unveiled by His Excellency Earl Grey, Governor-General of Canada on the afternoon of Saturday, 18th November, 1905. A fitting impressiveness marked the unveiling ceremonies. Notwithstanding that so long a time had elapsed since the deed it commemorated23, and that the approach of winter was already evident in the cold air and in the presence of snow upon the ground, three thousand or more of[14] the citizens of Ottawa assembled in the open to do honour to the occasion. Mr. P. D. Ross, the chairman of the memorial committee, presided, and the Right Honourable24 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister of Canada, accepted the monument on behalf of the government. The writer had the honour, on behalf of the memorial committee, of presenting the monument to Sir Wilfrid. The eloquent25 tributes paid to the memory of Harper by the chairman of the committee, and by the distinguished26 representatives of the king and of the people at the unveiling, were regarded by those who heard them as a memorial not less splendid than the monument which occasioned the reference. The chairman, Mr. Ross, gave expression, in the following words, to the feelings which had prompted the public in the erection of the monument:
“Harper lost his life. But in that sacrifice he left to the rest of us a great lesson and a great inspiration. Every fellow Canadian of Henry Harper was honoured by his death, and every[15] man of the English-speaking race from which he sprang. It was an assurance that in this country there is present the old manly27 virtue28, the true steel of our forefathers29. And, far more than that, it was one argument more that our human nature has in it inspiration and strength from a higher than earthly source.
“Had such a thing gone uncommemorated by us, his fellow citizens, it would have been a disgrace to us. The absence of this memorial, or of some memorial, would have marked our blindness, our meanness. Harper did not need this monument. We did. Such heroic fire as his commemorates30 itself. But we fellow Canadians of Henry Harper needed to show by practical action that we could see and reverence31 the nobility of soul which sent him knowingly to his grim death.”
The Right Honourable Sir Wilfrid Laurier, in accepting the monument on behalf of the government, spoke32 as follows:
“Let me say, sir, in accepting this monument, commemorating33, as it does, an heroic death, that the government of Canada looks upon its acceptance as an honour, and will consider it a labour[16] of love to care for it. I enter heartily34 into the spirit which conceived the idea of this splendid testimonial to a glorious deed. Harper’s act of heroism will ever be an example and a lesson to us all. The stranger to our city will pause as he passes this monument and wonder what deed called forth35 its erection. He will be told of the noble act of self-sacrifice—of a life given in an effort to save another. The citizens of Ottawa will ever be proud to honour the memory of Harper, and to look, as the government shall look, upon this memorial as a national monument in every sense of the word.”
His Excellency the governor-general, said:
“I would like to extend my congratulations on the notable addition of this monument to the interest, embellishment and idealism of this Federal city. Although I never knew Harper, I have learned enough about him to believe that I shall seldom pass this monument without being reminded of the example which he has bequeathed as a precious legacy36. His character and ability were such as would have enabled him, had he lived, to win in the wide and honourable service of the Crown that distinction which is within the[17] reach of all whose greatest delight is to spend themselves, their fortunes and their lives in the service of their fellow countrymen and their King. He is gone, but who shall say that Canada and the world are not richer by his death? His character and his example live. I congratulate the sculptor on the skill with which this statue of Sir Galahad indicates those qualities of energy, fearlessness and service of which young Harper was the incarnation; and I hope this statue may be only the first of a set of noble companions which, in the course of time, will make this street the Via Sacra of the capital.
“A few years ago I stood at the grave side of another young civil servant of the Crown in the Matoppos of Rhodesia, who, as he was carried to his last resting place mortally wounded, said: ‘Well, it is a grand thing to die for the expansion of the Empire’—that Empire which, in his mind, as in that of Harper, was synonymous with the cause of righteousness. Harper and Hervey, had they known each other, would have been bosom37 friends; they both believed in their idea. If they had lived they both would have done great things. They have both died, and how would they have died better?—for their ideas will not die; no,[18] neither in the Matoppos, nor on the banks of the Ottawa, nor in any other portion of the British empire, so long as we are loyal to their traditions and follow their example.”
The regimental band of the Governor-General’s Footguards, which had volunteered its services, played “The Maple38 Leaf” as the King’s representative unveiled the monument; at the same moment the sun came out from behind a cloud. The ceremonies were concluded with the national anthem39.
It was the writer’s privilege to have been Harper’s oldest and most intimate friend. It has seemed to him that he would be unworthy of a friendship such as existed between them, were he unwilling41 to share with others some of the beauty of soul which he knew so well, and of which Harper’s heroic deed was but an expression. For personal reasons, he has, up to the present, hesitated to disclose aught that has been in his keeping. The generous appreciation42 by the public of a single act appears to him now to warrant a larger confidence. He has ventured, there[19]fore, to allow those who will, to look in at the windows of the soul, and see, in its sacred chambers43, the secret which was an abiding44 presence in a life whose heroism has already received from the nation a recognition so splendid and impressive.
To those into whose hands this little volume may come, the writer begs they forget not that it is but a collection of fragments gathered, after he had gone, from along the path on which he trod. It is not Harper’s life, it is not even a worthy40 tribute to his character. What it may contain of thoughts and expressions of his own will be acceptable as “broken light upon the depth of the unspoken”; for the rest it will be well, if, as a labour of love, it has done no injustice45 to the memory of a friend.
W. L. M. K.
Ottawa, January, 1906.
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1
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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commemorate
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| vt.纪念，庆祝 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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revere
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| vt.尊崇，崇敬，敬畏 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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11
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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symbolical
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| a.象征性的 | |
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watts
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| （电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 ) | |
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sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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commemorated
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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commemorates
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| n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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31
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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32
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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commemorating
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 ) | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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anthem
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| n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌 | |
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40
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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42
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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43
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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44
abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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45
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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