Marshall Pinckney Wilder. 73 



and he has been eminent in all that he has undertaken. He has great 

 ability as a presiding officer; and has often been called upon, not only to 

 be the president of several societies, but to occupy the chair on special oc- 

 casions; as at the first meeting of persons called to consult in reference 

 to what has now become the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of 

 which he is a vice-president; at the celebration in Dorchester in 1855, it 

 being the two hundred and twenty-fifth year from the landing of the first 

 settlers, when Hon. Edward Everett delivered the oration ; at the second 

 festival of the Sons of New Hampshire, when he succeeded Mr. Webster 

 as president of the association ; and on occasions previously mentioned. 



Had Mr. Wilder received a liberal education, and become devoted to 

 either of the learned professions, he would have attained to eminence. 

 Without the advantages of a public education, he has written more that 

 will live, and has exerted more influence in the world, than the majority of 

 those who have enjoyed the highest advantages in schools and universities; 

 and he stands out as one of the best examples of a self-made man. His 

 chief influence has been exerted as a merchant, as an agriculturist, and 

 especially as a horticulturist; while as a gentleman of benevolence, of 

 public spirit, of ardent patriotism, of unblemished morals, he has made 

 his influence felt far and wide. His earnest and well-spoken addresses 

 have been listened to by hundreds of thousands of his countrymen, and 

 in print they have been read by millions. He has suffered recently from 

 ill health, but is now convalescent, and, it is hoped, will live long in the en- 

 joyment of health and happiness. 



We cannot better conclude than in the words of Gov. Bullock at the late 

 Exhibition in Dedham : " I meet here to-day the members of this useful and 

 prosperous society of Norfolk, sitting and rejoicing under the presidency 

 of one who has applied the results of well-earned commercial fortune to the 

 development of the capacities of the earth, so largely and so liberally, that, 

 in every household and at every fireside in America where the golden fruit 

 of summer and autumn gladdens the side-board or the hearth-stone, his 

 name, his generosity, and his labors, are known and honored." * 



* The excellent likeness of Col. Wilder which we present is from a fine steel engraving, formerly exe- 

 cuted in connection with his services wliile President both of the American Pomological and the United- 

 States Agricultural Societies. 



