nds,--the country without one single feature of military
defence except the brave hearts of the men who live in it and defend it.

Holland was the anvil upon which religious and civil liberty was beaten
out in Europe at a time when the clang was scarcely heard anywhere else.
We can never forget our historical debt to that country and to those
people. Puritan, Independent, Huguenot, whoever he may be, forced to
flee for conscience's sake, will not forget that in the Netherlands
there was found in his time of need the asylum where conscience,
property and person might be secure.

And now my task is done. I am deeply grateful for the part that I have
been enabled to take in this act of just and natural restitution. In
Massachusetts or out of Massachusetts there is no one more willing than
I to assist this work; and here, sir [addressing Governor Wolcott], I
fulfil my trust in placing in your hands the manuscript.

To you, as the honored representative of the people of this
Commonwealth, I commit this book, in pursuance of my obligations, gladly
undertaken under the decree of the Episcopal Consistorial Court of
London.

ADDRESS

OF

HIS EXCELLENCY ROGER WOLCOTT.

[Illustration:]

ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR WOLCOTT.

On receiving the volume, Governor Wolcott, addressing Mr. Bayard, spoke
as follows: I thank you, sir, for the diligent and faithful manner in
which you have executed the honorable trust imposed upon you by the
decree of the Consistorial and Episcopal Court of London, a copy of
which you have now placed in my hands. It was fitting that one of your
high distinction should be selected to perform so dignified an office.

The gracious act of international courtesy which is now completed will
not fail of grateful appreciation by the people of this Commonwealth and
of the nation. It is honorable alike to those who hesitated not to
prefer the request and to those whose generous liberality has prompted
compliance with it. It may be that the story of the departure of this
precious relic from our shores may never in its 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 wh