TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF MR. DOWNING. 



Landscape Gardening, and other Rural Scien- 

 ces, not soon, we fear, to be filled up — his life 

 and brilliant talents having been devoted tu the 

 advancement of his favorite i)ursuits. 



Resolved, That this resolution be published 

 in our daily papeis, and a coj)}" of the same be 

 sent to the P^ditor of the Horticulturist by our 

 Corresi)onding Secretary. 



W. H. Williams, Prest. Protem. 



J. M. Kain, Sec'y. 



Genesee Valley Hort. Society. 



At a special meeting of the Horticultural 

 Society of the Valley of the Genesee, held in 

 tiie city of Rochester, August 12, 1852, the 

 President, on calling the meeting to order, stated 

 tliat he had called the members together at the 

 suggestion of others, and in accordance with 

 his own feelings, to express in some suitable 

 manner the feelings of the members in regard 

 to the sudden and melancholy death of A. J. 

 D;)WNiNfj, who had been for many years an 

 honorary member of this Society. 



On motion of M. G. Warner, a committee of 

 five were appointed to pirepare resolutions fur 

 the consideration of the nieeting. 



The President appointed AI. G. Warner, Jas. 

 H. A\'atts. II. E. Hooker, Geo. Elhvanger and 

 A. Frost.' 



The Committee, through their Chairman, re- 

 ported the following Preamble and Resolutions 

 — which are unanimously adopted: 



Wlterean. in the death of A. J. Downing, 

 American Horticulture has lost its noble and 

 gifteil staiiilard bearer, and society one of its 

 most amiable, accomplishml and useful mem- 

 bers — who has done more than anj' other to 

 awaken among the American people an a{)f)re- 

 ciati(ni of their country's resources, and to cul- 

 tivate and diffuse a love for the beautiful in na- 

 ture and art — whose writings, brilliant and 

 powerful in style, and truly American in senti- 

 ment, have given us a Horticultural Literature 

 which commands the admiration of the world, 

 — therefore, 



Resolved, That we regard his loss as one of 

 the greatest that could in this day befall the 

 American people in the death of any one 

 ninn — that we deeply sympathize witli his 

 afflicted friends and relatives, truly '' monrning 

 with those who mourn" for the loved and 

 lost. 



Resolved, That thougli Mr. Downing is no 

 more, and his voice is hushed in death, yet 

 he still speaketli — his works will live after liim, 

 and his influence be felt while correct taste has 

 a disciple or a home in the earth. 



Resolved, That we recommend the Horticul- 

 ciiltnral .Societies of this country to take some 

 some united action, to testify in a suitable man- 

 ner their regard for the memory of Mr. Dow\- 

 TNG; and that a committee of three be appointed 

 espond with other Societies on the sub- 



rrry, L. W^elherell and James H. Watts, 



were appointed a committee In accordance with 



the resolution. 



Resolved. Tiiat the proceedings of this meet- 

 ing be furnished the various Horticultural pa- 

 pers, with a recpiest to i>nblish the same, and a 

 copy thereof b ■ forwarded by tlie President of 

 the Society to the family of the deceased. 



James Vick, Jr., Sec. P. Barrv, Prest. 



Columbus (Ohio I Hort. Society. 



Whereas, news has been received of the lo.ss 

 of the steamer Henry Clay, by fire, on the Hud- 

 son, and among the lost we find the name of A. 

 J. Downing, of Newburgh, the editor of the 

 Ilorticultniist ; therefore, be it 



Resolved, That while we deplore the loss of 

 so many lives, and synipathi.se with tli(;se bereav- 

 ed, we learn with Ceeliiigs of sincere regret and 

 profound grief, of the death of the distinguish- 

 ed Inuticulturist, A. J. Downing. That while 

 horticulture engages the attention, and enlists 

 the feelings of many, none have surpassed the 

 deceased in intelligence, enthusiasm, industiy 

 and devotion, in all things that relate to "rural 

 art and rural taste," none have left more en- 

 during or nnu'e beautiful monuments of their 

 labors, than he. Death has surprised him in 

 the midst of his usefulness and success, and just 

 as his cultivated taste was being fully apprecia- 

 ted by the nation. Who can fill his place? 



Resolved, That as an honorary member of 

 our Society, we feel that we have a lost a broth- 

 er, whose writings and teachings have been our 

 pleasure and our guide, and whose memory we 

 will cherish as one worthy our love and esteem. 



Resolved, That in this bereavement, we sym- 

 pathise with his familj', and the friends of horti- 

 culture everywhere, and as a token of our es- 

 teem, we will place these resolves on our mi- 

 nutes, and forward them to be published in the 

 journal which he so ably edited. 



[From the jV. Y. Tribune.] 

 Among the victims by the destruction of the 

 Henry Clay, there is none whom the country 

 could so little afi'ord to lose, or whose .services 

 to the community could so little be replaced, as 

 i\rr. Downing f)f Newburgh. A man of genius 

 and of high culture, thoroughly disciplined in 

 his profession by long study and observation in 

 Europe, with taste refined and judgment true 

 enough to feel the deficiencies and to know the 

 needs of our domestic, and especially of our 

 rural architecture; still in the prime of life, and 

 e.sercising a wide influence by his practical la- 

 bors as well as by his life, he is snatched from a 

 sphere of high and beautiful utility, and a suc- 

 cessor we cannot hope to find. What ]\[r. Down- 

 ing had done and was doing to improve the 

 fashion of our dwellings, hardly surpassed in 

 value his contributions, theoretical and practi- 

 cal, to the kindred art of landscape gardening. 

 Under his dii-ecting hands, the grounds at the 

 Smithsonian Institute at W^asliin<iton, were 

 being transformed into models of beauty in 

 their kind, and the grounds about many i)iivate 



iKa 



