FERTILIZERS : — AGRICULTURAL, INTELLECTUAL, ETC. 183 



altar and repeat the vow, handed down from sire to son, to defend 

 his country's honor. 



In our own land there is many a plain of Marathon, many a pass 

 of Thermopylae ; and to generations hence they shall be as watch- 

 words and as trumpets and as altars. We talk of ground enriched 

 by the blood of patriots. It is true, — profoundest truth. From 

 ground thus fertilized, — Gettysburg, Shiloh, the Wilderness, — there 

 shall spring up a growth greater than else could have been nour- 

 ished, — instant and constant devotion to the cause of liberty, of 

 human freedom, of equal rights, of sj'mpathy with nations strug- 

 gling for life. 



Measured by the costliness of this enriching of our hallowed 

 places, this devotion of every soul sheltered by our flag ought to 

 be full and grand, unequalled in the history of nations rescued 

 from impending death, — led forth from darkness into a marvellous 

 light. 



One word and I close. Bear in mind the threefold connection 

 which as I claim binds into one subject the several topics pre- 

 sented. Each recognizes a law of growth and the necessity for 

 food and nurture. They are mutually dependent each upon the 

 others for their best results. Progress in agriculture or in intellect 

 or in moral or in political purity contributes each one to the ad- 

 vancement of all the others, and to their securit}'. 



Finally they all tell of the beneficence which provides the hidden 

 laws and the hidden treasures, — of Him who gives to the soil its 

 fruitfulness, to the human mind its power, to the conscience its 

 insight, to nations a mission. 



Discussion. 



Rev. A. B. Muzzey said that in his view the members of the 

 Society should not confine themselves to professional aims as 

 horticulturists ; he suggested some weeks before that they should 

 not keep too closely to a professional path. If one can win medals 

 or prizes we will bid him speed, but beyond all this he is to con- 

 sider that he is a man ; all occupations and professions have a 

 common bond and no man can improve himself in any one of them 

 without acting as a fertilizer for others. We should not only raise 

 beautiful fruits and flowers, but should spread abroad a love for 

 them in the community. He who does this is thereby made more 

 of a man. The Society should not only offer prizes but aim to 



