16 breck's new book of flowers. 



to the learned and the ignorant ; to the iUustrious and the 

 obscure, while the simplest child may take delight in them. 

 They may also prove a recreation to the most profound 

 philosopher. Lord Bacon himself did not disdain to bend 

 his mighty intellect to the subject of their culture. 



The orreat men of our own a^e as well as those of the 

 past, have given in their verdict in favor of the great util- 

 ity of the practice of horticulture in refining and elevat- 

 ing the mind. I cannot refrain from alluding to some of 

 the remarks made by Daniel Webster, Caleb Gushing, and 

 other distinguished guests at the remarkable and interest- 

 ing festival, held by the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety at Fanueil Hall, in September 1845. At this grand 

 festival six hundred ladies and gentlemen sat down to a 

 sumptuous feast. The tables, fourteen in number, were 

 arranged lengthway of the hall, while at the end was a 

 raised platform, where were seated the president of the 

 society, Marshall P. Wilder, with the numerous invited 

 illustrious guests. The tables were loaded with every del- 

 icacy ; but their crowning glory was, the great profusion 

 of delicious fruits and a magnificent display of gorgeous 

 flowers, and the absence of all intoxicating liquors. The 

 scene was exciting and brilliant, enlivened by a band of 

 music, interspersed by appropriate songs, while the elo- 

 quent remarks from the distinguished guests, with the nu- 

 merous sentiments in praise of horticulture, produced a 

 scene never be forgotten. 



The Hon. Daniel Webster made the following remarks : 

 "I congratulate you, Mr. President, that our flowers 

 are not 



" ' Born to blush unseen 

 And waste their sweetness on the desert air." ' 



" The botany we cultivate, the productions of the busi- 

 ness of horticulture, the plants of the garden, are cul- 

 tivated by hands as delicate as their own tendrils, viewed 



