PREFACE. SOME circumstances, connected with the progress and close of my late Congressional career, have induced me to comply, not altogether unwillingly, with the suggestion of friends, that whatever I have said on public questions, should be placed within the convenient reach and reference of such as may care to know any thing about my course. I have ventured to think, too, that this volume would not be entirely unacceptable to the people of Massachusetts, and particularly to the people of Boston, to whom I have been indebted for whatever opportunities I have enjoyed, and in whose service most of these Addresses and Speeches. were made. They are given here just as they were delivered, and many of them printed, at the time, with no other change than the correction of a few inaccuracies in matter of form, or, it may be, in matter of fact. They thus contain,— not what I might have said, or might now say, but what I actually did say, on the subjects to which they relate, during sixteen or seventeen years of public employment. I will not deny, that, in revising the proof-sheets, I have a* found, here and there, an opinion of men or of things, which has been in some degree modified by subsequent events. And there may be a few strong partisan expressions, especially in some of the earlier political speeches, which might not altogether approve themselves to my maturer judgment. But there is nothing of substantial principle which I desire to revoke, and, upon the whole, I have preferred to let the record stand, as it has been made. up from time to time, rather than allow room for the imputation that I had suppressed or altered any thing, to suit any mere change of political circumstances or of public sentiment. The size of the volume has compelled me to omit many things which I desired and intended to insert, but I have no fear that there will be any complaint on this score from any quarter. ROBERT C. WINTHROP BOSTON, May, 1852. CONTENTS. An Address, delivered before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, on the Occasion of their Twenty-fifth Anniversary, October 15, 1845 NATIONAL MONUMENT TO WASHINGTON. An Oration delivered at the Seat of Government, on the Occasion of lay- ing the Corner-Stone of the National Monument to Washington, July 4, 1848 70 THE LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BOWDOIN. An Address delivered before the Maine Historical Society, at Bowdoin College, on the Afternoon of the Annual Commencement, September 5, PROTECTION TO DOMESTIC INDUSTRY. A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, THE VOTES OF INTERESTED MEMBERS. A Decision pronounced in the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, THE PROCEEDS OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, THE POLICY OF DISCRIMINATING DUTIES. A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, THE IMPRISONMENT OF FREE COLORED SEAMEN. A Report made to the House of Representatives of the United States, Jan- THE CREDIT OF MASSACHUSETTS VINDICATED. A Speech delivered at Faneuil Hall, at a Meeting of the Whigs of Boston, THE OREGON QUESTION AND THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES. A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, ARBITRATION OF THE OREGON QUESTION. A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, RIVER AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS. A Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, 389 415 438 464 |