HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 71 



his gun, the Governor surrendered, but exclaimed, 

 " What a mistake ! Mr. Wilder will, unless we 

 check him, cover the whole Back Bay with an Agri- 

 cultural College and warehouses for his specimens in 

 Pomology, which he will call Museums." 



Our leader never hesitated, although it required 

 four years to convince the Legislature of the impor- 

 tance of our cause ; but Mr. Wilder's magnetic power 

 helped to enlist such men as Governor Andrew, 

 Professor Wm. B. Rogers, and others. He worked, 

 and others worked, and the effort was crowned with 

 success. 



Mr. Wilder's characteristic talent and persistent 

 loyalty to the cause have been among the strongest 

 elements of success in all that has been done in build- 

 ing up for the last quarter of a century the educational 

 institutions on the Back Bay. I will name among 

 those coming directly under his creative influence 

 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the 

 Boston Society of Natural History. The success 

 attending these institutions led to building up others ; 

 and now we have the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 

 the Harvard Medical School, the Young Men's 

 Christian Association, the Mechanics and Manufac- 

 turers' Institute, and the Mechanics' Charitable Asso- 

 ciation. We shall soon have the Boston Public 

 Library and many more schools of general usefulness. 

 Millions of money have been raised and invested for 



