Report of Independent Auditors
To the Shareholders and
Board of Directors of
John Hancock Sovereign Bond Trust
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of John Hancock Bond Fund (a series comprising John Hancock
Sovereign Bond Trust) for the year ended May 31, 2000, we
considered its internal control, including control activities for
safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing
procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the
financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form
N-SAR, not to provide assurance on internal control.
The management of John Hancock Sovereign Bond Trust is
responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control.
In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected benefits and
related costs of controls. Generally, controls that are relevant
to an audit pertain to the entity's objective of preparing
financial statements for external purposes that are fairly
presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles. Those controls include the safeguarding of assets
against unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal control, error or
fraud may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any
evaluation of internal control to future periods is subject to
the risk that it may become inadequate because of changes in
conditions or that the effectiveness of the design and operation
may deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not necessarily
disclose all matters in internal control that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants. A material weakness is a
condition in which the design or operation of one or more of the
internal control components does not reduce to a relatively low
level the risk that misstatements caused by error or fraud in
amounts that would be material in relation to the financial
statements being audited may occur and not be detected within a
timely period by employees in the normal course of performing
their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters involving
internal control and its operation, including controls for
safeguarding securities, that we consider to be material
weaknesses as defined above at May 31, 2000.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management, the Board of Directors of John Hancock Sovereign Bond
Trust, and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not
intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these
specified parties.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
July 7, 2000
