Following is the text of an address delivered by His Honour, the Honourable Frederick W. Russell, at the adjournment of the House of Assembly on December 19:

On November 5, 1991, I took the Oath of Office as Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland in this Honourable House of Assembly.

Now some five years later, I am here to say "farewell",

In my address of acceptance when I was sworn in, I pledged to be the Lieutenant Governor of all the people of our Province and not just St. John's. While it will be up to history to decide if I kept that pledge, we have certainly tried to do so. During my term of office, my wife and I have been involved in over 1,800 official events in most parts of our Province including 19 visits to Labrador.

In all those official events in St. John's and around the province, we have not encountered one single incident that was unpleasant or one single person who was discourteous. While this might be explained by the fact that our people are inherently kind and courteous, I think it goes much deeper than that. I believe it reflects a genuine and widespread regard for the office of Lieutenant Governor, which is an integral part of our constitutional monarchy form of government. This respect and regard for this office has to be experienced to be understood and it is not, as you might think, only from our elderly citizens but from all ages, including our cadets, scouts, guides, CLB, our school children and students generally.

This Christmas season, my wife and I have visited all the senior citizens' homes in the St. John's area and we have shaken the hands of at least 1,000 of our seniors, including many veterans. To see the way their eyes light up when we shake their hands has to be seen to be believed. For us, it is a truly humbling, yet rewarding and joyous experience but it is one that many of you would find difficult to comprehend unless you were there to witness it.

Then, too, it has been a marvellous experience during the past five years hosting thousands of our citizens in Government House and on its grounds - over 5,000 so far this year alone. Government House is a heritage home owned by all the people of Newfoundland and it is an integral part of the operation of the office of Lieutenant Governor. It is a fact that over the past five years, to my knowledge, not one of our citizens who visited Government House has criticized its operation. Again, you would not comprehend the pride that our citizens exhibit in Government House unless you could witness it with your own eyes.

Next year, we are celebrating our history back to 500 years with its discovery by John Cabot. Our first Governor was appointed in 1729, so for 268 years of those 500, we had a governor and Government House has been lived in continuously since 1829, that is for 168 years, and this accounts largely for its remarkable condition today. I can assure you that Government House is the envy of many visitors to our province and, as I said, it is truly the pride and joy of thousands of our citizens.

I urge you not to change things for the sake of change. In the past, we have destroyed too much of our heritage and our history, and it is my hope that our pride in celebrating our 500th Anniversary will cause a real ground swell of desire in our people to make certain we preserve the remaining important elements of our past as we progress towards a brighter tomorrow and a much better economic future.

In terms of own heritage, my Russell ancestors first came to Bonavista from Dorset around 1755 and my grandfather moved from Musgrave Harbour to St. John's in 1904. So, I was born and raised a "Townie" but my roots go back nearly 250 years deep into the outports where my ancestors, like many of yours, were fishermen who carved out a living from our rugged ocean environment.

It may be interesting to note that I am almost certainly the last veteran of World War II to be appointed Lieutenant Governor. The average age of World War II veterans is now 75 and in five years time it will be 80. Although over 50 years ago, some memories of World War II remain vivid in my mind - especially the memory of lost comrades. They died so we could remain free and I hope we never forget them.

I am very pleased that this Honourable House of Assembly has enacted a bill to create the Newfoundland and Labrador Volunteer Medal. Volunteers are what make this province tick and we would be in a sorry state without them. It is time, however, for outstanding volunteerism to be recognized and rewarded and the Newfoundland and Labrador Volunteer Medal will do just that.

I feel extraordinarily privileged to have served as Lieutenant Governor of our province and I would like to thank the members of this Honourable House of Assembly for their kindness and courtesy to my wife and me. I would especially like to thank Premier Tobin and former Premier Wells for helping to make this office such a relevant and worthwhile part of the Government of our province. Their friendship and cooperation has made my job very much easier.

I will close by wishing all of you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 1997, yours is a heavy responsibility to ensure good government in our province but I feel certain you are equal to the task.