HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 103 



Letter of the Hon. Francis W. Bird, President of 

 the Bird Club. 



East Walpole, Nov. 30, 1883. 



Dear Sir, — I regret that I was obliged to leave 

 the hall early when the friends of the Hon. Marshall 

 P. Wilder were celebrating the eighty-fifth anniver- 

 sary of his birth. I should have been glad to say 

 a few words there in testimony of my high regard 

 for my ancient friend, and of my admiration for his 

 valuable services to various good causes during a 

 long life. 



I flatter myself that I have a special right to 

 speak in praise of Colonel Wilder's public work 

 for nearly forty years; for I think I had a good 

 deal to do with preventing his entering political 

 life instead of engaging in those departments in 

 which he has been so eminently useful. After a 

 sharp contest in the Whig legislative caucus in 1848, 

 Edward L. Keyes, of Dedham, was nominated over 

 Colonel Wilder, as Executive Councillor ; and after 

 an equally sharp contest in the legislative conven- 

 tion, Mr. Keyes was elected. I am afraid that my 

 personal relations with my brilliant but erratic friend 

 Keyes controlled my action, rather than regard for the 

 public welfare. The Commonwealth, my subsequent 



