SOCIETY OP NORTHERN ILLINOIS. ISi 



one of those notable characters who at once impresses you as possess- 

 ing a niaiilv (li<jjnity and a iiohlf inaiiliood. To tlioso fjrand natural 

 characteristics he had, by lon^- study and thought, added large men- 

 tal attainments. And yet, with all these, how emphatically can we 

 say of him he was modest and simple in his habits, kind and gener- 

 ous in his actions, with a warm and loving heart for his kind, and 

 ever ready with head and heart, and with voice and pen, to do what- 

 ever he could for the benefit of humanity. Such were my first im- 

 pressions of Father Bryant. Subsequent meetings more than con- 

 firmed my first impressions. 



Of Dr. Warder, with his kind and genial temperament, filled 

 with a noble enthusiasm for our work, and with a magnetism that 

 .was always contagious, he ever came among us only to leave us the 

 better for his coming. Wedded as he was to the noble cause which 

 we are united together to advance, and comprehending, as few of us 

 do, the vast field for human advancement which is open to us, I do 

 not wonder that Ave all feel that he is a lu'other indeed. With a 

 life's labor which seemed to never tire in the cause, and a re})utation, 

 not only in this country but in foreign lands, which time will only 

 enhance, yet he possessed a modesty that nothing save the enthusi- 

 asm and love he had for the work could overcome. But I perhaps 

 cannot give you a better idea of the man than to quote a very short 

 letter from liini. and read to this Society at Freeport just eleven years 

 ago this very day: 



President Ellsworth: My dear Friend — \ cannot tell you how 

 highly I feel tiattered hv vour kind and pressing invitation to be with you 

 at the coming festival (if "good feelings which I am sure you will have at 

 Freeport. And oh! how I should have enjoyed meeting so many of my 

 good friends who will be tiiere. I beg of you to present me lovnigly to 

 them, and assure them that though past tlie grand climacteric of liuman 

 life, and alreadv feeling the weiglit of years, I know that a few days m 

 their midst would have rejuvenated me very much. Alas, it cannot be, 

 and my disaiiiiniulnient is great. \ send herewitli some notes of the past 

 year, on new and little known \arieties of apples, which will hardly do to 

 read, but may, if referred to a committee, be considered worthy of a place 

 on the record, if onlv for reference. Several are inentiuned only to be 

 avoided. Please assure mv good friends, many of whom 1 trust have been 

 seeking a better country, that it is my earnest desire, should we never be 

 favored to meet again in tliis world, we may have the joy of mingling our 

 praises in the realms of eternal bliss in a future state of existence. 



And so, farewell! Your friend. Warder. 



Friends must meet, and friends must part. 

 But the wealtli we prize is a loving heart. 



At our last annual meeting a series of preambles and resolutions 

 pertaining to Forestry, drawn u]) by our long-tried veteran in the 

 work. D. 0. Scofield, was a(lo])ted l)y this Society. As the ol>jects of 

 the resolutions were not carried out at that time, and are still before 

 this Society as unfinished business, I recommend, at the pro])er time, 

 when this subject of forestry shall come bi^fore you. that you con- 



