The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-11-18

THE LATE KOBEET C.. WiSInhVF.
Daniel webster's sueceessor In the Sem
ate. and . Noted Orator.
Robert Charles Winthrop, son OF Thomas
Lindall Winthrop and direct descendant
OF John winthrop. the first governor OF
tie colony OF Massachusetts,. vas born In
Boston May Il. 1879 In ISIS be was
graduated at Harvard, and commenced 70
study lay With Daniel Webster In 1881
ne was admitted to the bar. but alter .
brief professional career he became active
In local politics as . Henry Clay W mig
From 1854 TO $50 he was . member OF the
lower house o. the Massachusetts legisia-
ture, of which be was chosen speaker IN
ISIS. 1859 aud $40 In the last named
year he was elected 10 congress. where ne
served with much distinction Tor ten
years, maintaining the reputation ne had
already acquired as ready oehater ana
accomplished parliamentarian, and adding
to il by q series of impressive speeches.
upon political questions, many OF which
which are still consulted as authorities.
The earliest resolution in favor Of internal
tioral arbitration by . commission OF
civilians was offered by him. In ls4I-sS
he was speaker of the house. bnt he was
defeated for q second term by plurality
of two, after contest that lasted three
weeks.
In 1850 he was appointed By the gov
ernor of Massachusetts, TO Daniel Web
ster's seat IN the senate, when the latter
became secretary of state. His course on
the slavery question was often distaste'ui
to men of extreme opinions in each section
of the Union, and in 1851 he was defeated
for election TO the senate by coalition OF
Democrats and Free Soiiers, after strug-
gle of six weeks. In the same year he W as
the Wing candidate for governor OF the
state and received . large plurality, but
the constitution then required . majority.
and the election was thrown into the legis-
iature where the same conditions defeated
him. This occasioned q change in the
state constitution, which now requires
merely plurality, but Mr.. Winthrop de-
c!ined to be q candidate again, and
successfully refused various other candi-
dacies and appointments, preterring grad
ually TO retire from political life and devote
himself to literary, historical and
phiianthropic occupations. From time to
time, however, his voice was still heard IN
presidential elections, and he gave active
and influential support to Gen. Winfield
Scott in 1852 to MIllard Fillmore in 1856,
to John Bell in 1850, and to Gen. Me-
Clellan in 1864, when a speech of his at
New London was the last, but not the
least memorable. of his political addresses.
OF the Boston Provident Association he
was the laborious president for twenty
five years. of the Massachusetts, His
torical Society for thirty years, of the
Alumni Of Harvard for eight years, be-
sides serving ~ chairman of the over.
ssers of Boston. and in many other posts
of dignity and usefulness. He was the
chosen counselor of George Peabody in
several of his munihcent benefactions,
and was from the outset at the head of
the latter's important trust for Southern
education.
1t was as the favoritc orator of great
historical anniversaries that Mr.. VIM
throp has long been chiefly associated in
the popular mind, and he uniformly re-
ceived the commentator of the best
judges. not merely for the scholarship and
finish of these productions, but for the
manifestation in them of q fervid eio-
9uence that the weight Of years failed to
quench. They may be found scattered
through four volumes of Addresses and
Speeches, the first of which was pub
iished in 1882 and the last IN 1886. Among
the most admired Of them have been an
Address on Laying the Cornerstone of
the National Monument at Washington"
In fs4s, and one on the completion of the
monument in 1855. the latter prepared at
the request of congress; an address TO
the Alumni of Harvard" in 1857: an "0ra-
ton on the 250th Anniversary of the
Landing of the Pilgrims" in 1870; the
Boston Centennial Grafton" July 4,
49,; an address on unwilling the statue
of Col. Prescott on Bunker Hill, in 1881;
and, in the same year an ovation on the
Tooth anniversary of the surrender of
CORVALLIS at Yorktown, delivered by in
vitation of congress. He has been
thought equally to excel in shorter
and less formal addresses Sew
eral speeches of his on Boston Gem
mon during the civil war excited
much enthusiasm by their political ring,
while his brief tributes to John Quincy
Adams, John c. Calhoun, Edward Everett,
Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln and
many other eminent men with whom he
had been associated at different periods,
are models Of graceful and discriminating
eulogy. Besides the collected works
already cited, he Is the author of the life
and Letters of John Winthrop" 1864. and
Warrington. Bowdoin and Franklin"
1876. A portrait OF him in the capitol at
Washington. presented By citizens of Mas
sachusetts, commentaries at once his
speakership and his Yorktown grafton;
while another, in the hall of the Massa-
chusetts Historical Society. is q At re-
minder of his services to New England