120 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



as a cemetery, — a measure, upon which, as has been observed, the fame of 

 the Society may forever rest ; but while we record this noble deed, we are 

 called upon by an all-wise Providence to mourn for the sudden removal of 

 our beloved member ; for him, who, in the name of the Society, performed 

 the sacred act of consecration, and in his own beautiful language declared 

 that "Mount Auburn, in the noblest sense, belongs no longer to the living, 

 but to the dead." He then offered as a sentiment : — 



"The Memoky of Joseph Story." 



This sentiment was received by the company in appropriate silence, and 

 the band played Pleyel's Hymn. 



The President then gave, — 



The True Idea of a House of Refresentatives, — One good Speaker 

 and many good listeners. 



The Hon. I\Ir. Walley rose and said, that considering the lateness of ihc 

 hour, and especially after what we had all seen, and heard, and felt, he 

 M'ould neither be guiltj^ of the unkindness to his friends, nor the injustice 

 to himself, of attempting to add a word by way of remark; but would con- 

 tent himself with tying up, in the form of a sentiment, the topics, upon 

 which, under other circumstances, he might have ventured to say a few 

 words. He would therefore propose the following : — 



The Trio of this Festival, — Flora, Pomona and the daughters of Eve ! 

 There is no fair, so fair, as where the beauties of each of these are com- 

 bined to lend enchantment to the scene. 



The Chair then read the following volunteer toast : — 



Boston Orators, on patriotic and literary occasions, — We know of one 

 who has a love of flowers, and of fruits, and wait impatiently to hear him 

 tell his story. Mr. G. S. Hillard was called upon to reply, and said : — 



As it is probably well known to many here present, I am in the habit of 

 using frequently, perhaps too frequently, my vocal organs, but I feel that 

 the time is now past for making a set speech. If, as has been before said, 

 the position of a public speaker, on an occasion like this, is arduous, how 

 much more so is that of him who speaks when the tide of attention is on 

 the ebb ! for no one need be told, that when the hour of turn has once come, 

 there is no refluent current. I feel further that they, who have gone before 

 me, have reaped the whole field and left no green thing to be gleaned by 

 those who come after. Were the hour earlier, and your sense of hearing 

 less taxed, I might speak on some of the many themes which the occasion 

 afibrds. The exhibition of fruits and flowers, which we have seen to-day, 

 is not only beautiful, but it is also suggestive. It is a record of successive 

 triumphs of human skill and industry. When we compare the wealth of 

 our gardens with the hips and haws, the sour crabs and austere berries 

 which formed the forlorn desserts of the common ancestors of our own and 

 our mother country, in the days of the Egberts and the Athclstans, we can 



