Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 461 



bly partook of the entertainment provided for them After about half an 

 hour, the President commenced the intellectual entertainment, by deliver- 

 ing- the following address : — 



Ladies and Gentlemen. — We are assembled to close, by the festiv- 

 ities of this evening-, the twentieth anniversary of our institution, to pass 

 the social hour in the friendly interchange of thought and feeling, and thus 

 to mark another epoch in its history,— thus, by another link, to connect the 

 past with the future, and to transmit its name and deeds to posterity. 



From a small beginning, it has risen to a standing and importance among 

 the associations of our land, which, it is believed, is not only creditable to 

 its founders and members, but to the city of its adoption. While, then, I 

 congratulate the Society on the success of its efforts, and would excite you 

 to a rene-wed energy and zeal, let me also enforce the good old precept, 

 that " grapes grow not of thorns, or figs of thistles," and that, without 

 knowledge, scientific knowledge and skill, no great progress or permanent 

 perfection can be attained. Time was when, without the light of science, 

 the old worn-out systems and routine of cultivation were handed down from 

 sire to son, and from generation to generation. But it is our happy lot to 

 live at a period when a new era has commenced, -when the most distin- 

 guished and learned men of our age are joining hands to advance the cause 

 of the cultivator ; when chemistry, geology, and the mechanic aits have 

 come up to his aid ; when his employment has again become dignified, and 

 he, Anteas-like, receives fresh impulses from his mother earth ; when, in 

 some measure, he appreciates the honor and glory that pertained to the 

 calling in the palmy days of Babylon and Rome, and that he is not merely 

 the tenant, but, in a proper sense, the lord of the soil. 



The President then alluded to the blessings and comforts which arise 

 from the cultivation of the earth, and urged " one and all to press forward 

 in the good cause." He then concluded as follows : — 



The time will not permit of extended remarks ; one word, however, as 

 to the future prospects of our Society. They are of the most cheering 

 character. Within the last five years, its list of members has been more 

 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 distant when its sinking fund will extinguish its debt, and 

 leave means commensurate for all reasonable wants. 



For eight years, T have annually been elected as its President, and since 

 my first election, with but two dissenting votes, — a unanimity far beyond 

 my merit, and for which, and the cordial and vigorous support I have re- 

 ceived from my official associates, 1 desire now and ever to cherish the most 

 profound thankfulness and gratitude. 



But the time has arrived when, in my own judgment, it is proper that I 

 should signify my intention to take official leave ; and this I now do. If 

 honor has attached to the office, I have surely had it lavished on me ; if 

 labor and anxiety, then I humbly claim to have borne my share ; but, while 

 I live, or wherever I may go, the name of the Massactiusetts Horticultural 

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