178 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Wilder thanked the assembly for the cheers with which the 

 announcement of his name was greeted, and the President for 

 having revived the festivals of the Society, and for the invitation 

 to the ladies, whose presence always adds beauty and brilliancy to 

 such scenes. He alluded to the first Triennial Festival, thirty- 

 three years before, when it was a question whether ladies should 

 be admitted to the festive board. It was agreed that they should, 

 and so far as he knew that was the first horticultural festival 

 where woman graced the table, and this brought to his mind those 

 halcyon days when the Society held its festivals in the Cradle of 

 Liberty, when the panels were adorned with the names of the 

 patrons of horticulture, the pillars enwreathed with garlands, and 

 the tables surrounded with flowers of female loveliness, with 

 Madam Alexander Hamilton at their head ; when Webster, 

 Everett, Seward, Dearborn, Downing, and others of like distinc- 

 tion, honored us with their presence. But these were all gone, 

 and only a few of the original members of the Society were left. 

 Of its first officers, only three still live ; Hon. John C. Gray, a 

 Vice-President, Cheever Newhall, Treasurer, and Dr. Jacob Bige- 

 low. Corresponding Secretary. Mr. Wilder regretted their absence 

 this evening, but rejoiced that we had representatives of Dr. Bige- 

 low, — his daughter, and his son-in-law, our honored President. 

 To Dr. Bigelow, more than to any other man, the public were in- 

 debted for the idea of establishing the Cemetery of Mount Auburn. 



Mr. Wilder alluded to the time, which many could remember, 

 when there was not a horticultural societ3^, a horticultura,l maga- 

 zine, or a horticultural exhibition in our broad land, and said that 

 now they are counted by hundreds, and in all this progress, the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society had been a great leader and 

 exemplar. He concluded by sa^^ing that when he reflected upon 

 the enjoyment he had had in the cultivation of fruits and flowers, 

 and the pleasures of rural life, he sometimes felt as though he 

 would like to live here forever. " Though in heaven the trees of 

 life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines yield nectar," yet God had 

 made this world so fair and beautiful, and the communion with 

 dear and cherished friends so precious and delightful, that he 

 prayed that he might be permitted to live here a little longer to 

 co-operate with the Society in the promotion of its ol)jects. In the 

 midst of the joyous scenes of the evening, drinking in the sweet 

 odor of fruits and flowers, and the still sweeter incense from 

 kindred souls, he Celt that he was living his life over again. 



