118 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



when every sacrifice had been apparently made, when Joseph was not, and 

 Simeon was not, — sent forth Benjamin also to the defence of a bleeding 

 country. Even if this were otherwise, in intelligence, in industry, in pub- 

 lic spirit, in its number of distinguished men, some adding to our intellec- 

 tual wealth, and others giving "to the age and body of the time its form 

 and pressure," Boston would lose nothing by a comparison with any other 

 portion of the country. The assemblage of intellect and beauty which 

 adorns your board to-night, is an illustration of the truth of this remark. 

 Those, who are here met, have gathered together to promote the objects, 

 and may I not add, to participate in the triumphs of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society. From the feeble beginnings, — detailed by your 

 President in his address this evening, your Society has reached a point, 

 which need not be described to those who have seen the exhibition of the 

 last three days. The encouragement which such an exhibition must 

 aflbrd, — the generous emulation which it must excite in all kindred socie- 

 ties, wherever organized, are too obvious for comment. 



I may be pardoned, however, for alluding to one of the eflects by which 

 a cultivation of the pursuits of your society seems invariably accompanied. 

 Let him who will deny the utility (using that word in its narrowest sense) 

 of one of the departments of horticulture, (to me the most delightful,) yet 

 will he deny that it furnishes auxiliaries to virtue by substituting, for more 

 exciting pleasures, a pure and rational employment ? I never pass through 

 the crowded streets of my own city, by any habitation from which flowers 

 are visible, without feeling (however humble that habitation may be, that 

 there dwells beneath its roof something of taste, and refinement, and vir- 

 tue. Who here is prepared to say, that these fair and delicate creations of 

 the Divine Benignity are not designed, as they most assuredly are adapted, 

 to awaken other and higher emotions in our bosoms than any which a 

 mere perception of the beautiful has power to excite ? " Consider the lilies 

 of the field, how they grow," is the injunction of that wisdom which has 

 connected moral sentiments with natural objects ; so that the student of 

 nature may regard not only the forms, and coloring, and delicate pencil- 

 lings which are the characteristics of these objects, but also the sensibilities 

 which they awaken, and the qualities of which they are expressive. Take 

 the meanest flower that scents the gale, inhale its perfume, ("sweet as the 

 breath of morn,") see its varied hues, (which art can imitate, but cannot 

 equal.) observe the harmony pervading its whole formation, mark the 

 design of which the most insignificant portion of it gives evidence, call in 

 your thoughts from the ordinary pursuits and selfishness of life, and aban- 

 don yourselves for a moment to the images and associations of innocence 

 and purity of which it is so lovely an emblem, — and how secretly, yet bow 

 surely, is the mind elevated from the gift to the Giver ! 



