HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 37 



Ex-Governor Nathaniel P. Banks, U. S. Marshal, was 

 called upon, and responded as follows : — 



Mr. President, — It has given me great pleasure to 

 participate in the well-deserved and generous honors 

 paid to the distinguished citizen who is the guest of 

 this occasion. I cannot say, as so many gentlemen 

 have said, that I did not expect to be called upon for 

 a speech. One might as well think to sit at a Parker- 

 House banquet, celebrated the world over, and not 

 partake of the feast, as to listen to the praises of a 

 citizen whose whole life marks one of the golden 

 periods of human existence, and not venture, after 

 the well-nigh universal American custom, less hon- 

 ored by the observance than the breach, I think, 

 either to enlarge the scope of approval or echo the 

 praises sounded by others. And yet I confess I 

 am ill prepared to do what I well know should be 

 done upon an occasion of such personal and public 

 interest. 



It is rare good fortune that has vouchsafed to our 

 honored guest the ripe and wholesome age of four- 

 score and five years, passed in such peaceful and 

 pleasant places, attended by such beneficent influ- 

 ences, such remarkable activity as are exhibited in his 

 career. Shakspeare makes one of the greatest of his 



