Reply of Mr. Root
I am deeply sensible of the honor you confer upon me and upon my family by this bounteous, hospitable, and graceful festival. It is a special honor that the banquet to which we are invited should be presided over by a gentleman who has such high esteem in the public life of your own country; that the flattering, the too flattering words which have been addressed to my poor self—words of just and kindly esteem regarding my great and noble country, should be spoken by a poet who breathes in his verses the spirit of Uruguay wherever his own world-known literature is found.
It is a cause of happiness to receive this distinguished consideration here in this temple devoted to science, to literature, to the arts, to those pursuits which dignify, ennoble, and delight mankind, which give the charm and grace to life, which make possible the continuance of mankind in the paths of civilization. Here in this Atheneum, in this atmosphere of scientific and literary discussion and thought, already exists that world-wide republic which knows no divisions of territorial boundary, of races, or of creed. Upon the platform you have erected here, the men of North and the men of South America can stand in fraternal embrace.
I have been preaching for the past few weeks in many places and before many audiences the gospel of international fraternization. I know there are many incredulous; there are many who think practical considerations alone rule the efforts of men—profit in trade, the almighty dollar, the balance of bookkeeping, or the checks in the counting house. There are many who think that this is all there is to life, and that he is an idle dreamer and an insincere orator who talks of the constancy of international friendship, who talks of love of country rising above the love of material things, who talks of sentiment as controlling the affairs of men. That may be true so far as their own short and narrow lives are concerned; but it is not an idle dream that the world through the course of ages is growing up from material to spiritual, to moral, and to intellectual life. It is not an idle dream that moral influences are gradually, steadily in the course of centuries taking the place of brute force in the control of the affairs of men. Sentiment rules the world today—the feelings of the great masses of mankind; the attractions and repulsions that move the millions rule the world today; and as generation succeeds generation progress is ever from the material to the moral. We cannot see it in a day; we cannot see it in a single lifetime, as we cannot see the movements of the tide. We see the waves, but the tide moves on imperceptibly. The progress, the steady and irresistible progress of civilization is ever onwards.
Mr. Chairman, and you, Señor Zorrilla de San Martín, in your eloquent, your more than eloquent, your poetic words, do honor to the idea of peace and justice and friendship and the rule of moral qualities in the relations of nations. When you do honor to the representative of that idea you are doing your work in your day and generation to advance the great cause that proceeds through the ages to the better and higher life of mankind. We are nothing; our lives are but as moments; our personal work is inappreciable in this world; but slowly, imperceptibly, we, each individually, add a little to or detract a little from human rights, human liberty, human justice.
I do not know how sufficiently to thank you, to thank the people of Montevideo, for all that you and they have done for me and my family during our brief—our all too brief—visit here. I believe that your kindness, your generous hospitality, will find response in the breasts of my countrymen; I believe that it will be an example to the people of South America and of North America; I believe that it will be evidence to the whole world that the ideas of friendship—of international friendship and courtesy—rule here in Uruguay; that Uruguay is a part of the great brotherhood of man, not selfish, but heart open to the best and brightest influences of humanity, doing her part in her time to advance the cause of civilization. I know that when tomorrow morning we sail away from Montevideo we shall all carry with us the most delightful visions of a fair and bright land, of a white city and a beautiful bay; memories of hospitality and friendship, and memories of the most beautiful women. We can never repay you, for your hospitality has been of the kind that asks for no payment; it has been true hospitality. We can only thank you, and thank you we do now and thank you we shall continue to do as long as we live.