17 



peace and union, shall shed its smiles upon our soil, I might 

 depict the happiest of lands, that, like an aromatick " field 

 which the Lord hath blessed," shall send up to heaven, from 

 the wide extent of its vast territories, the mingled purfunies of 

 its cornu copise, sweet-scented fruits and fragrant flowers. 



As we mingle our sympathies at this anniversary commem- 

 oration, we may with joy reflect upon the numerous, the varied, 

 and the enlivening themes, by which Horticulture, with its 

 stores of learning, and with its stimulus to industry, is calcula- 

 ted to engage the intellect. 



II. And there is a moral halo that invests our subject. It 

 can improve the heart. 



As we behold the wonders that abound throughout the vege- 

 table kingdom, we are lost in the interminable manifestations of 

 the Supreme. 



The organization that pervades it lifts up our hearts unto an 

 Omniscient Creator. We cannot view the mechanism of a 

 single plant without this sentiment. We see the several parts 

 of which it is composed, arranged with a regard to its nutrition 

 and its perpetuity, demonstrating a contrivance* the result of the 

 profoundest wisdom. 



The succession that is discoverable in the annual circuit of 

 our globe, directs our thoughts to Him, who is 



" the life and light 



" Of all this wond'rous world we see." 



Flowers, fruits, and culinary plants attain perfection, in a series 

 that must command our gratitude. Not lavished with an indis- 



* Very beautiful illustrations of this truth are collected by Dr. Paley, in 

 iiis Natural Theology, Chap. XX. Of Plants. 

 C 



