JOURNAL OF THE SENATE.

MONDAY, MAY 24, 1897.

The following message from His Excellency the Governor came up from the House, to wit:—

Thereupon, on motion of Mr. Roe,—

Ordered, That, in accordance with the suggestion of His Excellency the Governor, a joint convention of the two branches be held in the chamber of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, May the twenty-sixth, at eleven o'clock a.m., for the purpose of witnessing the exercises of the formal presentation, to the Governor of the Commonwealth, of the Bradford Manuscript History, recently ordered by decree of the Consistory Court of the Diocese of London to be returned to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the hands of the Honorable Thomas F. Bayard, lately Ambassador at the Court of St. James; and further

Ordered, That the clerks of the two branches give notice to His Excellency the Governor of the adoption of this order.

Sent down for concurrence. (It was concurred with same date.)

JOURNAL OF THE SENATE.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1897.

Joint Convention.

At eleven o'clock a.m., pursuant to assignment, the two branches met in

Convention

in the chamber of the House of Representatives.

On motion of Mr. Roe,—

Ordered, That a committee, to consist of three members of the Senate and eight members of the House of Representatives, be appointed, to wait upon His Excellency the Governor and inform him that the two branches are now in convention for the purpose of witnessing the exercises of the formal presentation, to the Governor of the Commonwealth, of the Bradford Manuscript History.

Messrs. Roe, Woodward and Gallivan, of the Senate, and Messrs. Pierce of Milton, Bailey of Plymouth, Brown of Gloucester, Fairbank of Warren, Bailey of Newbury, Sanderson of Lynn, Whittlesey of Pittsfield and Bartlett of Boston, of the House, were appointed the committee.

Mr. Roe, from the committee, afterwards reported that they had attended to the duty assigned them, and that His Excellency the Governor had been pleased to say that he received the message and should be pleased to wait upon the Convention forthwith for the purpose named.

His Excellency the Governor, accompanied by His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor and the Honorable Council, and by the Honorable Thomas F. Bayard, lately Ambassador of the United States at the Court of St. James's, the Honorable George F. Hoar, Senator from Massachusetts in the Congress of the United States, and other invited guests, entered the chamber.

The decree of the Consistorial and Episcopal Court of London, authorizing the return of the manuscript and its delivery to the Governor, was read.

The President then presented the Honorable George F. Hoar, who gave an account of the manuscript and of the many efforts that had been made to secure its return.

The Honorable Thomas F. Bayard was then introduced by the President, and he formally presented the manuscript to His Excellency the Governor, who accepted it in behalf of the Commonwealth.

On motion of Mr. Bradford, the following order was adopted:—

Whereas, In the presence of the Senate and of the House of Representatives in joint convention assembled, and in accordance with a decree of the Consistorial and Episcopal Court of London, the manuscript of Bradford's "History of the Plimouth Plantation" has this day been delivered to His Excellency the Governor of the Commonwealth by the Honorable Thomas F. Bayard, lately Ambassador of the United States at the Court of St. James's; and

Whereas, His Excellency the Governor has accepted the said manuscript in behalf of the Commonwealth; therefore, be it

Ordered, That the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts place on record their high appreciation of the generous and gracious courtesy that prompted this act of international good-will, and express their grateful thanks to all concerned therein, and especially to the Lord Bishop of London, for the return to the Commonwealth of this precious relic; and be it further

Ordered, That His Excellency the Governor be requested to transmit an engrossed and duly authenticated copy of this order with its preamble to the Lord Bishop of London.

His Excellency, accompanied by the other dignitaries, then withdrew, the Convention was dissolved, and the Senate returned to its chamber.

Subsequently a resolve was passed (approved June 10, 1897) providing for the publication of the history from the original manuscript, together with a report of the proceedings of the joint convention, such report to be prepared by a committee consisting of one member of the Senate and two members of the House of Representatives, and to include, so far as practicable, portraits of His Excellency Governor Roger Wolcott, William Bradford, the Honorable George F. Hoar, the Honorable Thomas F. Bayard, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Bishop of London; facsimiles of pages from the manuscript history, and a picture of the book itself; copies of the decree of the Consistorial and Episcopal Court of London, the receipt of the Honorable Thomas F. Bayard for the manuscript, and the receipt sent by His Excellency the Governor to the Consistorial and Episcopal Court; an account of the legislative action taken with reference to the presentation and reception of the manuscript; the addresses of the Honorable George F. Hoar, the Honorable Thomas F. Bayard and His Excellency Governor Roger Wolcott; and such other papers and illustrations as the committee might deem advisable; the whole to be printed under the direction of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and the book distributed by him according to directions contained in the resolve.

Senator Alfred S. Roe of Worcester and Representatives Francis C. Lowell of Boston and Walter L. BouvÉ of Hingham were appointed as the committee.