Lerdo de Tejada to The Citizen, July 17, 1866

[Translation.]

The citizen President of the republic left El Paso on the 10th instant, and arrived to-day in this city, where he comes to establish for the present the residence of the national government. As the State is now free from the invading foreign and traitor forces, the citizens of Chihuahua, always moved by their patriotism, have taken still more pains than even on former occasions to make the greatest and most enthusiastic demonstration of their respect and regard for the chief magistrate of the nation. When, on other occasions, this department has announced the change of residence of the national government, caused by the exigencies of the war, it has been stated, and it is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat it now, that wherever the President may be, and under any circumstances, he will always endeavor, as he has done heretofore, to fulfil his duties in sustaining the cause of independence and the institutions of the republic, until that cause succeeds finally, through the patriotism, courage, and constancy of the Mexican people.