Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-06-03
MASSACHUSETTS HAPPY DAY.
It Regains Possession of Bradford's
Manuscript History of Plymouth.

Manuscript History of Plymouth.
Boston, May 27.-The Bradford man~
Iscrlpt history of the new Plymouth
colony. the document for the possess
sion of which Massachusetts, had long
been anxious. was formally presented
to the commonwealth of Massachus-
etts by Thomas F. Bayard, former
| United States ambassador to England.
| before a joint convention of the legis-
lature yesterday. The ceremony of de-
l1yering the manuscript took place in
the spacious chamber of the house OF
representatives and was of a most i'm
! presSlve nature. Besides the members
OF both branches of the general court,
many prominent officials of the state
and other distinguished citizens were
| present.
After President Lawrence had called
the joint convention to order, Gov.
Wolcott, accompanied by the executive
council, Mr.. Bayard, Senator George F.
Hoar and several Massachusetts, con-
sressmen, entered the chamber.
Formal proceedings were opened by
Clerk Coolidge of the senate, who read
the decree of the consistorial conven-
tiCn of London, entrusting the manu-
script to Ambassador Bayard, to be
delivered by him in person to Gov.
Wclcott of Massachusetts,
The actual presentation was prefaced
by an address by Senator Hoar. He
spoke in terms of high appreciation of
eX-Ambassador Bayards efforts to-
wards establishing upon a broader
foundation the feeling of brotherhood
between Americans and Britons. The
senator gave in detail the story of the
Bradford narration and of the many
unsuccessful attempts which had been
made to secure it for the United States.
He continued:
On Dec. q, 1895, was appointed to
deliver an address at Plymouth, on the
occasion of the 275th anniversary of
the landing of the Pilgrims upon the
rock. In preparing for that duty l
read again, and with renewed enthusi-
asm and delight, the noble and touch
ing story as told by Gov Bradford. l
felt that this precious history of the
pilgrims ought to be in no other GUS
tody than that of their children. But
the case seemed hopeless. l found my
self compelled by serious physical in
hrmlty to take a vacation and to get
rest from public cares and duties,
which was impossible while l stayed
at home. When | went abroad | deter
mined to visit the locality on the Dor
ders of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire
from which Bradford and Brewster and
Robinson, three leaders of the pill
grims, came, and where the first church
was formed, and the places in Amster-
dam and Delfthaven, where the col
onlsts spent thirteen years, and espec-
tally to see the manuscript of Brad
ford and Fulham, which then seemed
to me, as it now seems to me, the most
precious manuscript on earth, unless
we could recover one of the four gos-
pels as it came in the beginning from
the pen of the evangelist.
But the desire to get it back grew
and grew during the voyage across the
Atlantic. l did not know how such a
proposition would be received in Eng
land A few days after landed made
call on John Morley. | asked him
| whether he thought the thing could be
done. He inquired carefully into the
story, took down from his shelf the
excellent, though brief, life of Brad
ferd in Leslie Stephens Biographical
dictionary, and told me he thought it
should come back to us and he should
be glad to do anything in his power to
| help"
Mr.. Hoar then recounted his own eff
forts while in England to merely get a
| sight of the precious manuscript, and
told how he first viewed it in the Ii
brary of the Lord Bishop of London
and made the first request for it's re-
turn to the United States. He referred
in complimentary terms 10 Mr.. Bay
ards success in securing tho volume
after so many others had faded, and
assured him that it was an achieve
ment for which the country would ever
hold him in grateful recollection