I thank you for your reference to the President of the United States. His great, strong, human heart beats in unison with everything that is noble in the heart of any nation and with every aspiration of true manhood. Every effort tending to help a people on in civilization and in prosperity finds a reflex and response in his desire for their happiness. He is a true and genuine friend of all Americans, north and south. In his name I thank you for the welcome you have given me, and in his name I propose a toast to the President of the United States of Brazil. PERNAMBUCO SUMMARY OF SPEECH OF HIS EXCELLENCY SIGISMUNDO GONÇALVEZ GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF PERNAMBUCO At a Breakfast given by him to Mr. Root, in the City of Pernambuco (Recife), July 22, 1906 His Excellency Sigismundo Gonçalvez, Governor of Pernambuco, said that he had never felt so strong a desire to speak English in order to express the satisfaction he felt at receiving the distinguished visitor, and after wishing the Secretary a very pleasant and prosperous voyage, proposed the health of President Roosevelt.[2] REPLY OF MR. ROOT I regret in my turn that I cannot respond to you in the language of the great race which has made the great country of Brazil. I thank you both for myself and in behalf of my country for your generous hospitality and the friendship you have exhibited. It is the sincere desire of the President and of all the people of the United States to maintain with the people of Brazil a firm, sincere, and helpful friendship. Much as we differ, in many respects we are alike. Like yours, our fathers fought for their country against savage Indians. Like yours, our fathers fought to maintain their race in their country against other European races. It is a delight for me on these historic shores to come to this famous place, made glorious by such centuries of heroic, free, and noble patriotism. It is especially delightful for me to be welcomed here, where the cause of human freedom received the powerful and ever-memorable support of a native of Pernambuco, whose name is dear to me, Joaquim Nabuco--a name inherited from a distinguished ancestry by my good friend, your illustrious townsman, the present ambassador of Brazil to the United States. It is the chief function of an ambassador from one country to another to interpret to the people to whom he goes the people from whom he comes; and Joaquim Nabuco has presented to the people of the United States a conception of Brazilians, and especially of the men of Pernambuco, admirable and worthy of all esteem. He is our friend, and because he is our friend we wish to be your friends. I ask you to join me now in drinking to the health of the President of the republic of Brazil. BAHIA SPEECH OF HIS EXCELLENCY SENHOR DOCTOR JOSÉ MARCELINO DE SOUZA GOVERNOR OF BAHIA At a Banquet given by him to Mr. Root, at Bahia, July 24, 1906