Replies by His Majesty to the Hon. D. L. Gregg, Commissioner of the United States, and to the Hon. James W. Borden, his Successor, upon his Presentation as the new Commissioner.
His Majesty, turning to Mr. Gregg, replied:
From the renewed assurances of sympathy and good will towards this Kingdom which, on the part of the President of the United States of America, you have just expressed, I cannot but derive the liveliest gratification, reminding me as they do of the long course of years during which the successive Heads of your Government have offered, through their Representatives here, similar professions of amity, without one interruption having occurred to mar the retrospect. I should be sorry were the President, or you, to suppose for one instant that I regard these professions merely as a civil form of words called for by the occasion.
The Government of the United States has never flattered me or my Predecessors with expectations of more than it intended to perform; the action has always followed true to the word, and we know by experience the value of such assurances as those to which I have just listened with so much satisfaction.
It is, indeed, a fact worthy of notice and of remembrance, that the relations existing between the two countries were never more happy, or more calculated to inspire the smaller nation with a sense of independence and an appreciation of the fact that its future is in its own hands, than at this very moment, when, after having faithfully watched the interests intrusted to your care for more than four years, you are resigning that honorable duty into other hands. You have shown that strength of purpose may be united with courtesy of manner, and have justified your appointment by proving that their rights are best guarded, whose representative, being honest in his own intentions, does not without cause doubt the faith of the Government to which he is accredited.
Although I am afraid you over-estimate the actual value of the marks of courtesy and attempts to make agreeable your residence and that of your family upon these islands, which we have sought to offer, I thank you for the kind expression of your acknowledgments, and trust that you will always believe that my object, and that of every member of my Government, was but poorly carried out by any manifestations which it has been in our power to make. But, Mr. Gregg, not to seem to claim more credit than we deserve, allow me to add that the attempt was by no means a disinterested one, for in all the relations of society, those persons are most welcome who ornament it most and are themselves the most courteous.
I have too much confidence in the good will and sympathy of the Government of the United States, and faith in the wisdom of the President, to allow of a single doubt as to the course which your successor will pursue. It shall be my endeavor, and that of my Government, to regard him as the honored Representative of a great nation, and a good Friend. I believe that his dealings with us will be generous, that he will pursue the policy which in the hands of his predecessors has so largely helped to make this nation what it is to-day, and that if, coming after you, he cannot increase the feelings of kindness, and on one side of gratitude, which already exist here and in the United States, he will at least maintain them.
Then addressing himself to Mr. Borden, the King spoke as follows: