TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 101 



every circle he entered ; whose death will be felt not in America alone as 

 a public calamity ; from whose long-tried friendship I had promised my- 

 self a cordial welcome on my return. Allow me, sir, the gratification and 

 solace of being a listener ; and let me only express the hope, that after 

 more than five years' absence, during which period, time, I dare say, has 

 been doing his work on the outer man, you will find the inner man un- 

 changed in all that you ever honored with your indulgent and friendly 

 regard, and to assure you that I return with no wish or ambition but to 

 engage with you in the performance of the duties of a good citizen ; in 

 the hope of sharing with you the enjoyment of the prosperity, with which 

 a gracious Providence has been pleased to bless the land in which we 

 live. 



The President then gave, — 



Horticulture, — The ne plus ultra of tillage, the Poetry of Agriculture. 



The Chair then announced, — 



The Marshfield Farmer, — " All head in counsel, all wisdom in speech ;" 

 always ready to defend the soil and to make the soil more and more worth 

 defending. 



The Hon. Daniel Webster then rose and said, — 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — There are far better farmers in Marshfield than 

 I am, but as I see none of them present, I suppose I am bound to take the 

 compliment to myself. 



Mr. President, I had the honor of partaking in the origin and organiza- 

 tion of this Society, and you will bear me witness, that it was then a dear 

 and cherished object to me, and I may add, that among those who coop- 

 erated in that organization, no one was more assiduous or effective than 

 that great man whose departure has just been so feelingly alluded to. It 

 has so happened, that, since that time, the circumstances and pursuits of 

 my life have rendered it impossible for me to be present at many of your 

 meetings, yet I have seen with pleasure and delight, the continued progress 

 of the institution. 



Mr. President, as it has been said from the Chair, and in the sentiments 

 around the table, it is our fortune in New England to live beneath a some- 

 what rugged sky, and till a somewhat hard and unyielding earth ; but 

 something of hardness, of unfavorable condition and circumstances, seems 

 necessary to excite human genius, labor, and skill, and bring forth the re- 

 sults most useful and honorable to man. I greatly doubt whether all the 

 luxuriance of the tropics, and all that grows under the fervid sky of the 

 equator, can equal the exhibition of flowers made to-day, amid these 

 northern latitudes. Here, there is all the brilliancy of color and all the 

 gorgeous display of tropical regions ; but there, the display is made in 

 swamps and jungles, abounding in noxious reptiles ; it is not the result of 

 cultivation, taste, and human labor working on the capacity of nature. 



