50 BULLETIN OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE. 



Three other gentlemen were present who had accepted 

 invitations to "contribute a few words to the speaking of the 

 afternoon," and it was an unpleasant necessity that deprived 

 the audience of an opportunity to hear them. 



But the ladies had spread tables on each floor of Plum- 

 mer Hall and were awaiting their guests since half-past 

 four, and as it was considerably beyond that hour, the 

 large assembly adjourned to the next building, where a 

 social cup of tea was shared by the friends of the Institute, 

 amidst general congratulations upon the hopeful outlook 

 with which the Society enters upon its second fifty years. 

 The two floors of Plummer Hall were brilliantly illumi- 

 nated, for the first time, with powerful arc lights, and the 

 noble upper hall was festooned with greenery also. These 

 rooms, when filled with guests and set off with the ele- 

 gantly appointed tables and tastefully varied costumes of 

 the ladies, made a charming picture. 



SOME LETTERS RECEIVED. 



Mr. Robert D. Andrews begs to thank the Secretary of the Essex 

 Institute for the courtesy of his invitation to be present at its celebra- 

 tion on March 2d, and sincerely regrets his inability to be present at 

 that time. 

 Boston, Feb. 9, 1898. 



16 Fairfield Street. 

 Boston. 

 Mr. John T. Morse, Jr., accepts with pleasure the polite invitation 

 to be present at the celebration of the Essex Institute on March 2, 1898. 

 Feb. 9, 1898. 



