d ceremonious letter, in which he
said that, having been employed by Mr. Bayard as a public
officer, he did not think he was at liberty to answer questions
asked by private persons. As the petition and decree had
gone on the express ground that the application for the return
of the manuscript was made by Mr. Bayard, not in his official,
but only in his private capacity, as he had employed counsel
at my request, and I had been responsible for their fees,
I was, at first, inclined to be a little vexed at the answer.
On a little reflection, however, I saw that it was not best
to be too curious on the subject; that where there was a will
there was a way, and probably there was no thought, in getting
the decree, on the part of anybody concerned, to be too strict
as to legalities. I was reminded, however, of Silas Wegg's
answer to Mr. Boffin, when he read aloud to him and his wife
evening after evening "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,"
which Silas had spoken of at first, as "The Decline and Fall
of the Russian Empire." Mr. Boffin noticed the inconsistency,
and asked Mr. Wegg why it was that he had called it "The Decline
and Fall of the Russian Empire" in the beginning. To which
Mr. Wegg replied that Mrs. Boffin was present, and that it
would not be proper to answer that question in the presence
of a lady.

The manuscript was brought to Massachusetts by Mr. Bayard,
on his return to the United States at the end of his official
term. It was received by the Legislature in the presence
of a large concourse of citizens, to whom I told the story
of the recovery. Mr. Bayard delivered the book to the Governor
and the Legislature with an admirable speech, and Governor
Wolcott expressed the thanks of the State in an eloquent reply.
He said that "the story of the departure of this precious
work from our shores may never in every detail be revealed;
but the story of its return will be read of all men, and will
become a part of the history of the Commonwealth. There are
places and objects so intimately associated with the world's
greatest men or with mighty deeds that the soul of him who
gazes upon them is lost in a sense of reverent awe, as it
listens to the voice that speaks from the past, in words like
those which came from the burning bush, 'Put off thy shoes
from off they feet, for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground.'

"The story here told is one of triumphant achievement, and
not of defeat. As the