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Near the end of June, 1884, he received formal notice of his appointment from Senator Sherman, chairman of the commission designated by Congress to make the necessary arrangements for the dedication. He was then residing at his palatial seat in Brookline, Mass., and he immediately drove over to see me at my summer home in West Newton, five or six miles distant. He came to tell me, as secretary of the Monument Society, of his embarrassment at having so heavy a task before him. I observed at once that he was very nervous. He said that this matter had weighed upon him for a month past, and that he was sorry to have come to the conclusion that he ought not to render himself responsible for a long formal oration, adding that he should immediately break down under such an effort and do but poor justice to himself or to the occasion. He also said if he were called on only to unite with others in the addresses of the occasion, he should be encouraged to make a brief discourse, but should not dare to promise an oration. Recent infirmities, he said, warned him against undertaking it, that his family all advised him to decline, and, deeply regretting to disappoint his friends of the association, he felt constrained to avoid so great a responsibility.

He seemed much relieved when I assured him that I believed, under the circumstances, an address of fifteen or twenty minutes would be satisfactory, and that everybody would cheerfully excuse him from any labor either of preparation or delivery likely to worry or fatigue him. He seemed to seize on this idea, and said, possibly the commission may make arrangements for having three or four addresses instead of one oration. In such an arrangement, he added, he would willingly take part with Mr. Edmunds and Mr. Carlisle, as President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, respectively, or with Mr. Sherman himself. It would give, he thought, variety and attraction to the ceremonies. Finally, he said, "All I can do now

is to decline a formal oration, as it is to this only I am invited." I promised to write both Senator Sherman and Dr. James C. Welling, of the commission, advising them of Mr. Winthrop's deep concern about the matter, and of the assurances I had given him. Both immediately answered, confirming my assurance.

Senator Sherman said: "You may say to Mr. Winthrop that the commission would very much regret if he should be either unable or unwilling to be present, and that he is entirely at liberty to speak as much or as little as his health will permit, and we will adapt the other arrangements to suit his convenience."

Dr. Welling said: "I should deeply lament any overtaxing of the health or strength of our venerable friend in his preparation for that event; that while the committee are naturally anxious that he should be the central figure among the speakers on that occasion, I am sure that in their anxiety to make sure of this most desirable end they would cheerfully defer to his own comfort and convenience in all that relates to the length of the address."

On receipt of these letters, I immediately informed Mr. Winthrop, who made the following gratifying reply :

"BROOKLINE, MASS., 28th June, 1884, Saturday evening. "MY DEAR MR. KING,-I will not let the week end without having thanked you, as I do sincerely, for your kind and most effective intervention. Your two notes of the 26th and 27th reached me successively. The latter contained the note of Senator Sherman, which was everything I could have desired, and which afforded me great satisfaction and relief. His remark that I might say 'as much or as little as his health will permit' dispels at once all my doubts and difficulties, and has taken a load off my mind. This evening I have received a similar assurance from him in reply to my own letter, and I shall dismiss all further anxiety. Accept my grateful acknowledgments.

"I return Senator Sherman's note to you, but have kept a copy of it as a remembrancer.

"Believe me very sincerely and gratefully yours,

"HION. HORATIO KING."

"ROB'T C. WINTHROP.

All now seemed to augur well for the future. Thus encouraged, Mr. Winthrop proceeded to write his oration. The following letter will show that he was in good spirits, and that he was no longer oppressed by the task before him :

"BOSTON, 2d Dec., 1884, 90 Marlborough Street.

"DEAR MR. KING,-I have just been reading the two letters of my friend Stuart, of Virginia [ex-Secretary of the Interior], in the Sunday Herald, which you kindly sent me. I think he has established a fair claim, though unconsciously on his own part, to have the pretty triangle [opposite the National Theatre] called by his name. But, at all events, he deserves a grateful remembrance in Washington, as having led the way to the improvements which have so adorned the capital. I owe you my acknowledgments, too, for several other papers, telling me of the progress of the great monument. The little aluminum (or is it aluminium?) capstone is particularly interesting. When that is fairly in place, I shall begin to feel that it is time for my own preparation to be finished. But I never finish anything until the last moment. You will have observed that the 22d comes on Sunday. I hope that my part in the ceremonies will be arranged for Saturday. Indeed, I doubt extremely the expediency of allowing the celebration. to occupy more than one day. Congress cannot spare two days at this short session, and the people who come from a distance will not stay over Sunday. Two hours are enough for the procession, and the exercises in the hall ought to begin by half-past one or two o'clock. I hope a chaplain will be selected who will not make such an unconscionably long prayer as Mr. McJilton made in 1848. I trust, too,

that the Marine Band will be warned against such long, unmeaning interludes as they gave at the unveiling of the Marshall Statue. A brief prayer and a few patriotic melodies are all that should come before the oration.

"I am fairly established in my winter quarters, and am trying to catch some inspiration for an hours' discourse. I do not believe I can say what I ought to say in less than an hour. But sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,' and I will not indulge in any forebodings. I only hope the newspapers will not have exhausted the theme, and used up all the material before the day arrives.

"One of the papers said that the capstone was put in place last Saturday at 12 o'clock, but since then it has been stated that the capstone was still in Philadelphia! 'Grace to it,' wherever it is!

"Kind regards to Mrs. King.

"Yours very truly,

"HON. HORATIO KING."

"ROB'T C. WINTHROP.

Most unfortunately, about the middle of December, Mr. Winthrop was prostrated by "a sudden and insidious attack of pneumonia, which seized him, most unexpectedly, on Thursday last [his son, Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., writes, December 18, 1884]. On Friday he was so ill we did not think he would live twenty-four hours. On Saturday he rallied, and we were encouraged to some slight hope." On the 22d of December he writes: "My father continues about the same, and while his physicians do not wholly reject the possibility of his recovery, yet the chances are much against it. . . . In no possible event would he be able to be in Washington by February next, and he is so feeble at present that it would be impossible to consult him about having his address read by somebody else." On the 25th of December he writes that his father continues "slowly, very slowly, to improve;" that he will "feel highly flattered at their [the committee of arrangements']

decision to abide by his oration, even if he cannot deliver it in person;" and that "all he has ever said on the subject is that, when first taken ill, he remarked to me," my monument address is substantially finished. I might have altered it a little, but I dare say I should not have bettered it." January 3, 1885, Mr. Winthrop, Jr., writes: "My father, though still very feeble, is now able to sit up a portion of each day, and occasionally has letters and newspapers read to him. . . . To-day I read him your letter of January 1, received this morning. He replied: "Tell Mr. King that, if I had an ounce of strength in my body, I should make haste to write him in person, to thank him for his many expressions of kindness, but I cannot hold a pen. Tell him I still cling to the hope of being in Washington on the 21st of February, but I realize how very, very improbable it is that I shall be strong enough to do so."

"BOSTON, 90 Marlborough Street, 14th Feb., 1885. "HON. HORATIO KING,

"Sec'y Washington Monument Association.

"MY DEAR SIR,-I sent the first letter written by my own hand since my illness to Senator Sherman yesterday, telling him that I had been compelled to abandon the last hope of being at Washington next week. This will be a disappointment to you and others, perhaps even to Congress and the country; but certainly to myself, beyond all others. I had hoped for some weeks past to be able to be present at the great ceremonial, and to pronounce a few opening sentences of my oration before handing it to Governor Long. But 'man proposes and God disposes,' and I will not murmur at what I am sure has been ordered wisely. My physician and my family forbid my thinking of leaving home at present. Indeed, I have not left my house and hardly my chamber as yet, and I should have been utterly unable to undergo the fatigue of a journey to Washington, or to deliver any part of my oration if I had reached there.

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