23 



sures, I doubt not, will soon eloquently teach, that in the garden 

 which you are preparing to establish, .will be collected from our 

 woodlands and our fields, a beauteous and bright floral galaxy. 



And here again I would refer to our President's Discourse, 

 in which is cjearly and minutely stated a well-ordered plan, 

 both practical and scientifick, discovering to us large views, 

 which it is noble to possess ; and could we but effect their con- 

 summation, the reality would be magnificent. 



We might then call together, (and exult as we contemplated,) 

 the lovely families of our rural offspring. We might find within 

 this native circle, when possessed of suitable advantages for 

 their improvement, the rarest and most estimable qualities, to 

 please and benefit mankind. Among the changes that are exhi- 

 bited upon the surface of the globe, none are more worthy of 

 remark, than the transmutations which are effected in the vege- 

 table tribes. Our Celery is but the parsley, or smallage, in an 

 advanced state of cultivation. The Cauliflower and the Broc- 

 coli have issued from the humblest plants. When hi its' natu- 

 ral condition, the Asparagus can scarce be recognised as that, 

 which when domesticated is a table luxury. And the potatoe, 

 which is the sustenance of millions of our race, has been gene- 

 rally cultivated but a hundred^ years, and the most useful of 

 all esculents, it is insignificant and uninviting in its natural 

 state. And can we for a moment think, the progress of disco- 

 very has been arrested ? Are there no other contributions which 

 the earth may yield, to the existence and enjoyments of our 

 race ? At this moment, the botanick missionaries of the Old 

 Continent are engaged* in traversing our fruitful territories, that 



* M. Leroy writes to me iu these words : Le gouvernement Fran^ais 

 entretient habituellement ici de jetines Botanistes, qui parcourent les forets 

 des Etas-Unis dans toutes les .directions, pour enrichir leur pays de tout ce 

 qu'ils pouvent decouvrir de nouveau et interessant. 



