670 [Assembly 



the duty here was 15 per cent,, while the duty on coarse cottons 

 stood at about 83. Flax is" congenial to our soil — the farmers do ndt 

 raise it for want of a market. When raised, its fibre and seed are 

 shipped to Europe. Why shall we not give the boon of this article 

 to Agriculture for the raw material, and to the manufacturers for 

 our own domestic supply 1 Two years past I have offered a pre- 

 mium of a Gold Medal for a piece of American Linen, but no com- 

 petitor has yet appeared, and the medal is this night a second time 

 left on hand without a claimant. 



Turn for a mt)ment to the Horticultural Deparlmvnt-. Yonder are 

 its varied and beautiful specimens before you. A lady of Brooklyn 

 contributes twenty such elegant bouquets as this [exhibiting a most 

 beautiful one] as a token of our advance in that department, and of 

 her high approbation of the Institute. 



I [ere also are the specimens of Agriculture, comprising the most 

 delicious fruits and vegetables, with its other varied productions, and 

 all of mammoth size. Among them, is a cheese of 60U lbs. weight, 

 and ten feet circumference, which has been tested with great satis- 

 faction by the Judges — and of a quality which prevents the further 

 importation of English cheese-. Flora's gift of thousands of Dah- 

 lia-blooms I have before mentioned ; Pomona you see surrounded 

 with Apples in 60 varieties ; Pears in fifty ; Grapes in twenty ; be 

 sides Peaches, Plums, Quinces, and other fruits of the season- -in 

 all, above 200 varieties. Ceres, the goddess of the fields, has rep- 

 resented the farm and the dairy with an abundance of her richest 

 productions. 



In this state of the advancing mechanic prosperity of our country, 

 may we not cast a look at the scenes around us? England stands 

 the centre of commercial wealth and of the commercial world: and 

 this she owes to her just system of taking care of the Labor of her 

 own country, She has pushed her Industry, in the shape of Man- 

 ufactures, into every country in the world, either savage or civilized. 

 She has thus secured employment, wealth, and prosperity to all the 

 departments and divisions of her subjects. She has a balance of 

 trade, from her Commerce, due her annually, against almost every 

 nation of the world ; and for which she can draw a bill of exchange, 

 at premium, upon any one of them, and upon every one of them at 

 profit. These balances of her trade are represented in the public 



