official representative of the Commonwealth,
I receive it, sir, at your hands. I pledge the faith of the
Commonwealth that for all time it shall be guarded in accordance
with the terms of the decree under which it is delivered into
her possession as one of her chiefest treasures. I express
the thanks of the Commonwealth for the priceless gift, and
I venture the prophecy that for countless years to come and
to untold thousands these mute pages shall eloquently speak
of high resolve, great suffering and heroic endurance made
possible by an absolute faith in the over-ruling providence
of Almighty God."

The Bishop gave the Governor of Massachusetts the right to
deposit the manuscript either in his office at the State
House or with the Massachusetts Historical Society, of which
Archbishop Temple and Bishop Creighton, who succeeded Bishop
Temple in the See of London, were both Honorary members. The
Governor, under my advice, deposited the manuscript in the
State House. It seemed to him and to me that the Commonwealth,
which is made up of the Colony which Bradford founded, and
of which he was Governor, blended with that founded by the
Puritans under Winthrop, was the fitting custodian of the
life in Leyden of the founders of Plymouth, of the voyage
across the sea, and of the first thirty years of the Colony
here. It is kept in the State Library, open at the spot which
contains the Compact made on board the Mayflower--the first
written Constitution in history. Many visitors gaze upon
it every year. Few of them look upon it without a trembling
of the lip and a gathering of mist in the eye. I am told
that it is not uncommon that strong men weep when they behold
it.

CHAPTER XXII
SILVER AND BIMETALLISM

I was compelled, by the state of my health, to be absent
from the country in the campaign which preceded the Presidential
election of 1896, except for the last week or two. But, of
course, I took a very deep interest indeed in the campaign.
Mr. Bryan's theories, and those of his followers in many parts
of the country, had thoroughly alarmed the business men of
the Northern and Eastern States. But in the new States of
the Northwest, especially in those that contained silver mines,
a large majority of the people, without distinction of party,
had become converts to the doctrine that the United States
should coin silver at a ratio compared to gold of sixteen
to one, and make the silver so coined legal tender in