HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 23 



His Honor, Albert Palmer, Mayor of the city of Boston, 

 was called upon, and responded as follows : — 



Mr. President, and Gentlemen, — Great deeds 

 and memorable events have always been considered 

 worthy of celebration. Their commemoration by 

 public fete and festival marks the virtue of the race 

 and promotes it. But a great and good life is the 

 greatest deed and the best event that ever finds a 

 record on this planet. The earth itself has no reason 

 for existence except to perfect the race and produce 

 the noblest types of manhood. We do a fitting 

 thing, then, to honor a noble life approaching its 

 completion ; to gaze with love and reverence upon 

 the full-orbed sun before it touches the western 

 horizon. 



Gentlemen, the life of Marshall P. Wilder has 

 fulfilled every demand of success and honor. On 

 many and various fields of high endeavor he has 

 demonstrated the power and virtue of a great man. 

 In private business he has made fortunes honorably 

 and honestly, and he has generously and wisely used 

 them in works and plans of public beneficence and 

 private charity. A merchant of highest repute and 

 largest enterprise, he has a yet broader and more 

 enviable fame among the farmers of New England, 



