80 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ever passed by Congress. There can be no enmity in our hearts towards those 

 whose fervent prayers have mingled with our own for the President's 

 recovery. And to Boston, whose heart is ever tender and responsive to suffer- 

 ing, let me express the thanks and gratitude of our whole State for the gener- 

 ous donations you are sending to relieve those made destitute by the recent 

 forest fires. 



Mr. President of the Massachusetts State Horticultural Society, allow me to 

 say that this banquet is something more than a mere feast of good things. lu 

 this you have crowned and dignified what has preceded it. It comes naturally 

 as a part of what we call the eternal fitness of things. For three da\s, sir, 

 you have shown us the noblest fruits and the fairest flowers of your soil, and 

 to-night, here in this room, we have had the pleasure of meeting the noblest 

 fruits and flowers of your moral and intellectual culture. Our speaker has 

 said this evening, quoting from Emerson, that much of truth goes floating 

 about the world in popular proverbs. Doubtles this is true, and there is an old 

 saying that every New Englander when he dies expects to go to Boston. 

 Now if this be true, and it probably is, let me express the wish that each soul 

 may go by the way of Michigan, and thus escaping purgatory, reach here 

 through paradise. 



The Secretary in compiling this record cannot but feel that alto- 

 gether Michigan did herself credit at this meeting; and the State cannot 

 spend money to better advantage than in showing to the people tliat gather at 

 these great conventions what she can grow upon her fertile soil in her salubri- 

 ous climate. 



