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versitj rise before us, with many a recollection of 

 happy days passed there in the interchange of study 

 and friendship, and many a grateful thought of the 

 affluence of its learning, which has adorned and nour- 

 ished the literature of our country. Again we turn, 

 and the cultivated farm, the neat cottage, the village 

 church, the sparkling lake, the rich valley, and the 

 distant hills, are before us through opening vistas ; 

 and we breathe amidst the fresh and varied labors of 

 man. 



There is, therefore, within our reach, every variety 

 of natural and artificial scenery, which is fitted to 

 awaken emotions of the highest and most affecting 

 character. We stand, as it were, upon the borders 

 of two worlds ; and as the mood of our minds may 

 be, we may gather lessons of profound wisdom by 

 contrasting the one with the other, or indulge in the 

 dreams of hope and ambition, or solace our hearts by 

 melancholy meditations. 



Who is there, that in the contemplation of such a 

 scene, is not ready to exclaim with the enthusiasm of 

 the Poet, 



" Mine be the breezy hill, that skirts the down, 

 Where a green, grassy turf is all I crave. 



With here and there a violet bestrown, 



Fast by a brook, or fountain's murmuring wave. 



And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave ?" 



And we are met here to consecrate this spot, by 

 these solemn ceremonies, to such a purpose. The 

 Legislature of this Commonwealth, with a parental 

 foresight has clothed the Horticultural Society with 

 authority (if I may use its own language) to make 



