ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP. 569 



the first being cliieHy occupied with those of a political character. 

 These addresses range over a great variety of subjects, charitable, 

 literary, historical, commemorative. One may select, as specially 

 worthy to be studied, those on laying the corner stone of the Wash- 

 ington Monument in 1848, on the dedication of the statue of Franklin 

 in 1856, and on the centennial anniversary of the surrender of York- 

 town in 1881. But, whatever the occasion, Mr. Winthrop was sui'e 

 to invest it with a richness of historical record, a tenderness of per- 

 sonal reminiscence, an appropriateness of local and contemporary 

 illustration, and a soundness of social philosophy, all conveyed in 

 faultless J-Cnglish, to which there are few parallels. The sense of 

 order and propriety was extremely conspicuous in all he did ; he 

 possessed a keeu sense of humor, and, as has been stated, in his earlier 

 years an entire willingness to fight ; but he objected to engaging in 

 any but clean warfare, and for many years before his death dealt only 

 with such things as make for peace. 



The expression used above, that the record of his public service 

 may be found in his speeches, should be corrected; he was the soul 

 of many most important organizations, where his instinct and experi- 

 ence in transacting society business was of incalculable value. Of the 

 many charitable, religious, and antiquarian bodies that looked to him as 

 their guiding spirit, two, the Massachusetts Historical Society and the 

 Peabody Education Fund, were his chosen spheres of constant action. 

 To the Collections of the former he contributed precious stores from 

 his family papers; and his " Life and Letters of John Winthrop" is a 

 most important contribution to our national biography. The various 

 donations of the late George Peabody were made very largely from 

 Mr. Winthrop's direct suggestion ; and he threw himself heart and 

 soul into the work of making the Peabody Education Fund immedi- 

 ately and extensively useful for the most pressing need of the Southern 

 States. From this cause his name undoubtedly will be honored and 

 loved hereafter by whole commimities, who never heard of the 

 Arbella's voyage or the Antinomian Controversy, — the transit of 

 Venus or the Speakership election. 



Mr. Winthrop was chosen a Fellow of this Academy on the 8th of 

 August, 1849, and between 1858 and 1881 he served upwards of 

 twenty years as Counsellor. In 1879 he was appointed Chairman 

 of the " Centennial Committee," and in that capacity was called upon 

 at twenty-four hours' notice to deliver the principal address at the 

 celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the 

 Academy, on the 26th of May, 1880, when it became evident that our 



