AT PROVIDENCE, R. I., SEPTEMBER, 1, 1847.

BY HENRY WHEATON,

LATE MINISTER OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE COURT OF PRUSSIA.

BOSTON:

CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN.

1847.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847,

By CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

BOSTON:

PRINTED BY FREEMAN AND BOLLES.

DEVONSHIRE STREET.

DISCOURSE.

CALLED upon, after so long an absence from my native city and my native land, to address you on this anniversary of our alma mater, the recurrence of which must revive so many interesting and touching recollections in all our minds, instead of dwelling on those recollections in which it would be delightful to indulge, or discussing any of the great social or political questions which agitate the present time, I propose to speak to you of the progress and prospects of that foreign country where I have passed so many years of my public life; which, peopled by a kindred race, has for us a peculiar and abiding interest; and to which mankind are indebted for two of the greatest promoters of their moral improvement. To Germany we owe that mechanical invention which lends wings to thought, and that great moral revolution which has purified Christianity from its grossest corruptions, and adapted it to promote the onward progress of humanity. The art of printing, as you all well know, was the principal instrument by