On receiving the gift, General Jackson made the following address, which I cannot forbear giving in full, not only on account of its intrinsic merit and eloquence, but because it so fully embodies my own sentiments toward these people he, too, so thoroughly appreciated:
Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Committee, Friends and Countrymen: What have I done to deserve this repeated demonstration from you? Surely the resolutions of the 10th of September were all that heart could desire, and more than was called for by any merit of mine. And yet you have come to honor me anew by your presence, by the kind words of the chairman of your committee, and by another enduring testimonial of your regard—this beautiful picture of the Valley and City of Mexico, by a distinguished Mexican artist. Next to the resolutions themselves, nothing could be more grateful to me; for next to my own, I do love this country. Grand and beautiful Mexico! how happy would I be to render her service! Hither I came with the hope of doing something, however small it might be, in the great work of drawing her people as close to our own in sympathy as God has placed them in territory.
But you, my countrymen, who have made your homes upon her bosom, you who are affixing permanent interests to her soil, you are the best diplomatists for a work like this. By obedience to her laws, by respecting her government, by promoting her welfare, above all by honoring her nationality, you can win for your country the affections of her proudly sensitive, but kind-hearted and courteous people. I say by honoring her nationality, for we should never forget that nationality is the God-given life of a people. Laws, constitutions, and governments are, at last, the mere work of man; but nationalities—these are the creatures of God! The hand which in cold blood would destroy a nationality is an impious, a heaven-defying hand. It would poison a family; it would murder a man; for man, family, and nationality are all alike the creatures of God. A republic of republican nationalities, held together by the one common constitution, given by Him in his Sermon on the Mount, must be the final civilization of the world.
What I said when I came, I repeat as I go: the Republics of this continent can surely prosper only by the faithful discharge of mutual obligations—of all to each, of each to all, of each to each. They cannot afford to be false, the one to the other; to demand anything which is not clearly right; to submit to anything which is manifestly wrong. They should rejoice with each other in prosperity; they should aid each other in distress. Had I the power to-night, I would give to the nationality of Mexico, to the prosperity and happiness of her people, wings that should bear them far above her snow-capped mountains, up toward the eternal stars!
And now what shall I say to you, my countrymen—my own dear countrymen?
