MASS. HORTICULTURAL FESTIVAL. 



227 



the dust, and jrenerations shall rise up and bless us 

 for the deed, and 



" Our children's children shall enjoy the fruit." 

 And as an inheritance for my family, after that of 

 a n-ood moral and reli^jious education, one of the 

 ifreatest blessings which I desire to leave for them 

 is a garden well stocked with fruit and flowers, 

 and think you not when they are partakinjr of these 

 luxuries of God's bounty, they will not shed the 

 tear of pfratitude, and remember the hand that 

 planted it ? 



The time will not permit of extended remarks 

 — one word, however, as to the future prospects of 

 our so iety. They areof the most cheering cbarac- 

 ter. Within the hist fire years its list of members 

 has been m Jre than doubled — its new Hall in School- 

 street erected and furnished — its funds considerably 

 augmented, and although its expenditures are on a 

 large and liberal scale, yet it is believed that with 

 its income from Mount Auburn, the day is not dis- 

 tant when its sinking fund will extinguish its debt, 

 and leave means commensurate for all re;isonable 

 wants. 



For eight years I have annually been elected as 

 its President, and since ray first election with but 

 two dissenting votes, a unanimity far beyond my 

 merit, and for whicii. and the cordial and vig:oi-ous 

 support I have received from my olficial associates, 

 I desire now and ever to cherish the most profound 

 thankfulness and gratitude. 



But the time has arrived when in my own judg- 

 ment it is proper that I sliould signiiy my intention 

 to take official leave ; and this I now do. Ifiion r 

 has attached to the office, I have surely had it la- 

 vished on me • if labor and anxiety, then 1 humbly 

 claim to have borne my share ; but, while I live, or 

 wherever I may go. the name of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society will cause a thrill of joy and 

 pleasure until this heart ehaJl cease to beat ; and 

 should I be so fortunate .as to retain in your hearts 

 an affectionate remembrance, it will be my Uigliest 

 honor, my richest reward. 



Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, allow me 

 Jo propose, as a sentiment — 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society : lis ohjeels have 

 Jhe divine sanction in \\\e first duty RSi\^nt^(^ to Xhejirst man, 

 "to dre-s and to keep the gardeiu'' In the valleys and on 

 the hill sides of New-England, it has produced many an Eden 

 cvithoii a serpeni. 



The President then anaounced the following sen- 

 timents : 



New-England: The seed of the ''Mayflower" "fell in 

 ■st"ney places and had not much earth." but 5lie plant that 

 sprut'o '■■"•" i' *"" endures ; m;iy it flouri<h forever, — a no- 

 ble instance of the triumph of culture over apoor soil. 



T/it City nf Bnslen : AtntHjof htr varieties of fruits, she has 

 iwo Quin<y-i. [Quinces.) which she intends to preserve ; oue 

 in '•granite," the other ia " pure water." 



His Honor, Jcsiah Qdincy, jr., replied to this 

 •sentiment 1 



Mr. President — I thank you for the compliment 

 xhat is conveyed i« the Sast sentiment, so far as it 

 refers to me. But before replym<.> I should like to 

 inquire whether, in the opinion of horticulturists, a 

 •stone fruit should not take precedence of a mere 

 water plant? for in that case, the gentleman who 

 iis lo h& pregeryed m granite^ ought to reply before 



the one who is to live in water. As, however, he 

 has answered for nie, on many occasions, it maybe 

 but fair that I should respond for him on the pre- 

 sent. 



If I were inclined to cavil, I might question the 

 existence of these two new varieties of an old fruii ; 

 or, at least, doubt whether tlie best mode of pre- 

 serving it is to put it in such a pickle as your un- 

 looked for j uu has prepared for me. 



I am, however, sensibl'C that I owe tbe honor of 

 the allusion to my official position as the head of a 

 city that is distinguished more than any other in 

 this Union, for the beauty of its environs. And the 

 public unite with me in attributing a great part of 

 that beauty to the labors and influence of this so- 

 ciety. 



I will give you, as a sentiment — 



The Environs of Boston : Famous in History as the Battle- 

 grounds of Freedom; famous, at present, as the abode of 

 taste and refinemetii, where, as in Kden, wonnan watches 

 over the flowers, and man finds his most iuaocent emploj'- 

 ments in the culture of the soil. 



The President st^.ted that they were honored by 



the presence of Ex-Governor Seward, from the 



state of N-ew-York, and proposed a sentiment : 



TJie Empire State: Favored by nalurii, bill more favored 

 by the energy, ir.telligence, and enterprise of her citizens. 



Ex- Governor Seward responded to this senti- 

 ment : 



Mr. President — There has been a felicity in my 

 liJe, which assigned to me the duty of personating 

 New- York at every renewal of her fraternization 

 with Massachusetts. I joined hands with her chief 

 magi-strate, in the valley of the Connecticut, when 

 we riveted the iron batids that bind the banks of 

 the Hudson to the shores of Massachusetts Bay. 

 I broiight in iny hand the cypress wreath which 

 New-York sent to grace the tomb of the statesman 

 of Massachusetts, who sleeps beside his honored 

 sire at Quincy. There may have been a fitness in 

 my part, on these occasions, but I feel that there is 

 none now. 



[After some details of his own experience in hor- 

 ticulture, the gentleman continued, as follows : ] 



Now I take it that the true philosophy rf horti- 

 culture, is, that tliere is a pleasure in industry, and 

 a peculiar pleasure in the innocent pursuits of the 

 care and culture of the earth, which is increased 

 just in proportion as taste and refinement preside 

 over our labors instead, of bare utility. 



But, Mr. l^resident, what was said in honor of 

 the state of New- York ? I should deem myself ex- 

 ceedingly unfortunate if a compliment to that state, 

 which is ray native state, my native country, should 

 find me obliged as a matter of compliment, or as a 

 raatter of interest, to affect a respect for the state 

 of Massachusetts which was foreign to my heart 

 and foreign to my lips. It is true of the state of 

 New-York, that she is distinguished for extent of 

 territory, for greatness of resources, and for a vast 

 population ; but it is also true that she is a state 

 founded, not by one homogeneous people, but that 

 she was a colony, planted by the various nations of 

 Europe ; and that it is not her province, it is not in 

 all her past fate^ to originate great enterprises^ in 



