F 
 
 
 
v 
 
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS. 
 
 328 
 
 THE 
 
 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: 
 
 '/ 
 
 DOCUMENTS 
 RELATIVE TO ITS ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 WILLIAM J. RHEES. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
 
 1879. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution in January, 
 1878, requested its Secretary to prepare and publish a history of 
 its origin and progress, such as he was pre-eminently qualified to 
 furnish. The materials necessary for this purpose had in part been 
 brought together, when the death of Professor Henry, on the 13th 
 of May, prevented the carrying out of the original plan. As the 
 documents collected are necessary to any future historian of the 
 Institution*, Mr. Wm. J. Rhees, who had been entrusted by Pro- 
 fessor Henry with their selection, was requested by the Chancellor, 
 Chief Justice Waite, to continue the work, and the present volume 
 is the result of his labors. 
 
 In this will be found the Will of Smithson, all the Congressional 
 debates and legislation relative to the bequest, and many documents 
 which could probably only have been brought to light by one per- 
 fectly familiar with the operations of the Institution, Mr. Rhees 
 having been associated with Professor Henry, as its Chief Clerk, 
 for more than twenty-five years. 
 
 The amount of labor in the preparation of this volume, was very 
 great, as all the data was procured from original sources. Manu- 
 scripts and documents were consulted in the Department of State, 
 Treasury Department, the Capitol, and elsewhere ; and every page 
 of the voluminous records of the proceedings of Congress for more 
 than forty years was carefully examined so that an account of 
 everything relating to the Institution could be presented. 
 
 SPENCER F. BAIRD, 
 Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 WASHINGTON, April, 1879. 
 
L I B R A R Y 
 
 UNI V Kit SIT Y OF 
 
 CALIFORNIA, 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Many individuals have become entitled to gratitude for gifts to 
 a community or services to their country, but few have acquired 
 distinction as the benefactors of mankind. The desire for posthu- 
 mous fame has induced some to erect monuments to themselves by 
 founding libraries, others by endowing schools of learning or chari- 
 table establishments ; but very few have succeeded in devising 
 a plan by which their names should not only acquire world-wide 
 renown, but their benefactions be of universal application. 
 
 To James Smithson belongs the rare and proud distinction that 
 his bequest is for no particular locality and confined to no limited 
 period. His aim is to benefit all men, and is never-ending in its 
 action. 
 
 Smithson selected the United States of America to carry into effect 
 his noble design, believing that to confer a benefit on all mankind 
 he could confide in a nation composed of representatives of all 
 races, where no narrow interpretation would be given to his words, 
 or selfish limitation be placed on his charity. Turning from the 
 unstable monarchies and decaying empires of Europe, he sought 
 for perpetuity of his ideas in the rising power and wonderful pro- 
 gress of the young republic. 
 
 Smithson's life was devoted to original research, as all his. writ- 
 ings show, and accustomed to the use of tha precise language of 
 scientific investigators, he made the words of his will brief, but as 
 explicit as his intention was clear to his own mind. Nevertheless 
 his idea was in advance of popular intelligence in this country, and 
 a discussion took place which rendered it impossible for eight years 
 for Congress to adopt a plan to carry out his beneficent intention. 
 
 Legacies too often prove more fruitful of wasteful litigation or 
 disputation than of immediate or general benefit, and the history 
 of the Smithson bequest should prevent other philanthropists from 
 
VI PHEFACE. 
 
 giving occasion to similar controversies. Notwithstanding the de- 
 lay in establishing the Institution, and the difficulty in deciding on 
 the best plan of organization, after more than thirty years of its 
 active and useful existence, it is gratifying to know that the fund 
 left by James Smithson not only remains unimpaired, but has been 
 very largely increased. 
 
 There can be no doubt that Smithson's world-wide renown 
 is due not only to his own acts, but to the enlightened, pure, 
 and able administration of the trust, and that, with the name of 
 the founder, will always be held in admiration and esteem that of 
 the first Secretary of the Institution, Professor Joseph Henry. Of 
 the many plans proposed for realizing the purposes of Smithsoo 
 scarcely any would have carried his name beyond local reputation. 
 Much larger bequests or gifts have been made by others to found 
 libraries, and yet the names and foundations of such persons are 
 scarcely known to the world. The Smithsonian library in Wash- 
 ington would have been no more to mankind than the Rush 
 library in Philadelphia, the Lenox in New York, or the Newberry 
 in Chicago, each of which has a foundation of more than a million 
 of dollars. 
 
 That the collecting and publication of the materials composing 
 this volume should have been so long delayed has been a matter of 
 regret to all who wished to, study the history of the Institution or 
 or to become acquainted with the life and character of its founder. 
 The fire in the Smithsonian building, in 1865, unfortunately 
 destroyed the manuscripts of Smithson which had come into the 
 possession of the Institution; a careful examination of these would 
 have probably thrown additional light on his character and pur- 
 poses. , The present volume has been prepared by special direction 
 of the Board of Regents to supply the want long felt by them and 
 others. It is only to be regarded as a mine or store-house of 
 material from which the history of the Institution can be hereafter 
 prepared, and from which illustrations may be drawn of the en- 
 larged or contracted views of our legislators, and the wise or vision- 
 ary theories and schemes of literary and scientific men. 
 
PREFACE. VII 
 
 After a copy of the " Will " of Smithson, the whole of the corres- 
 pondence resulting from it is given ; the announcement of the be- 
 quest made to the Department of State by Mr. Vail, our Charge 
 d' Affaires at London ; the appointment of Hon. Richard Rush as 
 special agent of the United States to obtain the money, and all 
 his letters while engaged in this business, in 1836, 1837, 1838; the 
 opinions of the English solicitors ; the decision of the Court of 
 Chancery ; the bill of costs of the suit ; a schedule of the per- 
 sonal effects of Smithson, and an account of Mr. Rush's financial 
 transactions. 
 
 The particulars are then given of the residuary legacy, or that 
 part of the bequest left in England by Mr. Rush as the principal 
 of an annuity to the mother of the nephew of Smithson ; the steps 
 taken by the Institution to procure this money in 1863, and how it 
 was disposed of by act of Congress in 1867. 
 
 Then follows a reprint from the Congressional Globe and Record 
 of all the legislation relative to the bequest or to the Smithsonian 
 Institution from 1835 to 1878, the proceedings in the Senate and 
 in the House of Representatives being given in order from the 
 24th to the 44th Congress. The parts of this section of the work 
 of most general interest will be the debate on the propriety of the 
 Government accepting the bequest and the discussions and reports 
 on the various plans proposed for organizing the Institution. 
 
 The memorials and plans presented to Congress are printed in 
 full so that a better understanding can be had of what our legis- 
 lators had before them in considering the subject. 
 
 The history of the investment of the fund by order of Congress 
 in State stocks, and of the financial management required in con- 
 sequence, forms a large part of the volume, and is given in detail 
 for the first time. 
 
 The account of the controversy which arose as to the manage- 
 ment of the Institution, the appointment of a committee of investi- 
 gation by the House of Representatives, the two reports of that 
 committee, the debates in Congress and the final disposition of the 
 matter, occupy considerable space. 
 
Till PREFACE. 
 
 For convenient reference the resolutions relative to the election 
 of Regents and the printing of the annual reports are given. It 
 has also been thought proper to insert the debates in regard 
 to appropriations for the preservation of the collections of the 
 Government placed in charge of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Copious extracts are made from the diary of Hon. John Quincy 
 Adams, which give the private history of the motives of action by 
 committees, members of Congress, and public men, in regard to the 
 early legislation respecting the bequest. 
 
 The proceedings in Congress present a great many plans and 
 schemes proposed for the disposition of the bequest, and seem to 
 embrace almost every possible suggestion, but as complete a col- 
 lection as possible has also been made of the views of literary 
 and scientific men not directly presented to Congress. These 
 papers, while of unequal merit, have a value as illustrations of the 
 thought of the time, and show not only how much attention was 
 paid to securing a wise disposition of the Smithson fund, but to the 
 wider subject of the general promotion of knowledge. 
 
 Following the programme of organization proposed by Professor 
 Henry and adopted by the Board of Regents, are the opinions ex- 
 pressed by more than fifty of the most eminent literary and 
 scientific men of the day. 
 
 This plan has stood the test of experience of more than thirty 
 years and been found admirably adapted to the purpose intended ; 
 it has triumphed over all opposition, and is now universally re- 
 garded as wise, comprehensive, and satisfactory. 
 
 The Smithsonian is not a Government Institution, as is often 
 supposed, but is a private foundation, originating entirely in 
 the bequest of an individual. The management of the establish- 
 ment, however, is entrusted to the Congress of the United States, 
 and hence it is in more or less communication with that body. 
 Even the printing of its annual reports occasions discussion, and 
 a larger or smaller number of copies are ordered according to 
 the varying mood or liberality of the legislators. As the national 
 collections in natural history have been placed in charge of 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 the Smithsonian Institution, an appropriation must also be asked 
 every year for their preservation and exhibition. - The discussions 
 thereby occasioned show how unfavorable they are to a quiet, un- 
 disturbed pursuit of the great ends of the Institution itself. 
 
 Acknowledgments are due for facilities and co-operation afforded 
 by Mr. Spofford, Librarian of Congress ; Mr. Dawson, Librarian 
 of the House of Representatives ; Mr. S. A. Brown, Chief Clerk, 
 and Mr. Baker, of the Department of State; Capt. Bayley, R. A. 
 of the Treasury Department ; Messrs. W. B. Taylor, C. B. Young, 
 and G. H. Boehmer of the Smithsonian Institution, and especially to 
 the printers, Messrs. Judd & Detweiler, for their valuable services. 
 
 WILLIAM J. RHEES. 
 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
 
 "WASHINGTON, April, 1879. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 WILL OF JAMES SMITHSON 1 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE between attorneys in England, Department of 
 State, Kichard Rush, &c., &c., relative to the bequest of 
 
 Smithson 3 
 
 The case stated by Mr. Eush 10 
 
 Opinion of English counsel 12 
 
 Decree in chancery, awarding Smithson's bequest to the United 
 
 States 62 
 
 Account in the case of the United States 79 
 
 Bill of costs in the case of the United States 80 
 
 Richard Bush's .account with the Smithson fund" 107 
 
 Schedule of the personal effects of James Smithson 108 
 
 Eesiduary bequest of Smithson 123 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS IN RELATION TO THE BEQUEST 
 
 Twenty-fourth Congress 1835-37 135 
 
 Twenty-fifth Congress 1837-39 159 
 
 Twenty-sixth Congress 1839-41 200 
 
 Twenty-seventh Congress 1841-43 247 
 
 Twenty-eighth Congress 1843-45 262 
 
 Twenty-ninth Congress 1845-47 352 
 
 Thirtieth Congress 1847-49 478 
 
 Thirty-first Congress 1849-51 505 
 
 Thirty-second Congress 1851-53 521 
 
 Thirty-third Congress 1853-55 524 
 
 Thirty-fourth Congress 1855-57 648 
 
 Thirty-fifth Congress 1857-59 651 
 
 Thirty-sixth Congress 1859-61 654 
 
 Thirty-seventh Congress 1861-63 673 
 
 Thirty-eighth Congress 1863-65 683 
 
 Thirty-ninth Congress 1865-67 704 
 
 Fortieth Congress 1867-69 
 
 Forty-first Congress 1869-71- 
 
 Forty-second Congress 1871-73 ** 
 
 Forty-third Congress 1873-75 
 
 Forty-fourth Congress 1875-77 
 
 x-i 
 
XII CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 DIGEST OF THE ACT or CONGRESS ESTABLISHING THE SMITHSONIAN 
 
 INSTITUTION. By Prof. Henry 758 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, giving 
 accounts of meetings of committees appointed by Congress 
 on the Smithson bequest, proceedings in Congress, views of 
 
 public men, &c 763 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE UNITED STATES TREASURY WITH THE SMITHSON 
 
 FUND 803 
 
 Arkansas 804 
 
 Michigan 810 
 
 Illinois 814 
 
 Ohio 820 
 
 The United States 824, 834 
 
 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST 837 
 
 By Thomas Cooper 838 
 
 Francis Wayland 839 
 
 John Quincy Adams 842, 846 
 
 Richard Rush 849 
 
 Stephen Chapin 856 
 
 Horatio Hubbell 860 
 
 Southern Literary Messenger, 1838 864, 870, 890 
 
 Peter S. Duponceau 895 
 
 Joel R. Poinsett 899 
 
 "William Darlington 901 
 
 William Barlow 910 
 
 REPORT OF THE ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE of the Board of Re- 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution. (Messrs. Owen, Hil- 
 
 liard, Bache, Choate, and Pennybacker) 930 
 
 PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITU- 
 TION. By Prof. Joseph Henry 944 
 
 LETTERS RELATIVE TO THE PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION PRO- 
 POSED BY PROF. HENRY 961 
 
 By T. Romeyn Beck, Albany Academy, N. Y 961 
 
 Benjamin Silliman, Yale College, Ct. ___ 962 
 
 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, Mass.__ 964 
 
 New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, N. J 970 
 
CONTENTS. XIII 
 
 p 
 
 LETTERS Continued. 
 
 Nath'l F. Moore, Columbia College, N. Y 971 
 
 Mark Hopkins, Williams' College, Mass : 972 
 
 Enoch Pond, Bangor Theological Seminary, Me 972 
 
 Chas. J. Whipple, Salem Atheneum, Mass 972 
 
 Henry J. Ripley, Newton Theological Institute, Mass. 972 
 
 Simeon North, Hamilton College, N. Y. 973 
 
 James P. Wilson, Delaware College, Del. 973 
 
 C. P. Krauth, Pennsylvania College, Pa 973 
 
 William Sparrow, Theological Seminary, Va 974 
 
 Matthew F. Maury, National Observatory, D. C 974 
 
 Aug. W. Smith, Wesleyan University, Ct 974 
 
 James Curie}'', Georgetown College, D. C 975 
 
 Edward Hitchcock, Amherst College, Mass. 976 
 
 Hector Humphreys, St. John's College, Md 976 
 
 Georgetown College, Georgetown, D. C 976 
 
 E. Kobinson, Union Theological Seminary, N. Y. 977 
 
 Henry Brewerton, U. S. Military Academy, N. Y. 977 
 
 Francis Wayland, Brown University, R. I. 977 
 
 Leonard Woods, Bowdoin College* Me. 978 
 
 W. Perroneau Finley, College of Charleston, S. C. 978 
 
 E. D. Mac Master, Miami University, Ohio 978 
 
 Charles Martin, Hampden Sidney College, Va. 979 
 
 A. S. Packard, Bowdoin College, Me 980 
 
 John Chamberlain, Oakland College, Miss 980 
 
 A. C. Kendrick, Madison University, N. Y. 981 
 
 Philip Lindsley, University of Nashville, Tenn 982 
 
 Benj. S. Ewell, William and Mary College, Ya 982 
 
 Andrew Wylie, Indiana University, Ind. 982 
 
 A. P. Stewart, Cumberland University, Tenn 983 
 
 C. W. Parsons, Ehode Island Historical Society. K. I 983 
 
 David Elliott, West. Theological Seminary, Pa. 984 
 
 American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass 985 
 
 Henry Smith, Marietta College, Ohio 989 
 
 B. Manly, University of Alabama, Ala. 989 
 
 Joseph Estabrook, East Tennessee University, Tenn 990 
 
 F. A. Muhlenberg. Jr., Franklin College, Pa 990 
 
 Horace Webster, New York Free Academy, N. Y. 991 
 
 David L. Swain, University of North Carolina, N. C 991 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 L ETTERS Continued. 
 
 Josiah L. Pickard, Platteville Academy, Wis 992 
 
 S. A. Bronson, Kenyon College, Ohio 992 
 
 John Williams, Trinity College, Ct __. 992 
 
 D. N. Sheldon, Waterville College, Me 992 
 
 B. H. Kagsdale, Jackson College, Tenn 993 
 
 W. F. Hopkins, Masonic University, Tenn 993 
 
 Benj. P. Johnson, State Agricultural Society, N. Y 993 
 
 Joel S. Bacon, Columbian College, D. C 993 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 WILL OF JAMES SMITHSON. 
 
 I, JAMES SMITHSON, son of Hugh, first Duke of Northum- 
 berland, and Elizabeth, heiress of the Ilungerfords of 
 Audley, and niece of Charles the Proud, Duke of Som- 
 erset, now residing in Bentinck street, Cavendish Square, 
 do this 23d day of October, 1826, make this my last will 
 and testament : 
 
 I bequeath the whole of my property of every nature and 
 kind soever to my bankers, Messrs. Drummonds of Charing 
 Cross, in trust, to be disposed of in the following manner, 
 and desire of my said executors to put my property under 
 the management of the court of chancery. 
 
 To John Fitall, formerly my servant, but now employed 
 in the London Docks, and residing at "No. 27, Jubilee Place, 
 North Mile End, Old Town, in consideration of his attach- 
 ment and fidelity to me, and the long and great care he has 
 taken of my effects, and my having done but very little for 
 him, I give and bequeath the annuity or annual sum of 100 
 sterling for his life, to be paid to him quarterly, free from 
 legacy duty and all other deductions, the first payment to 
 be made to him at the expiration of three months after my 
 death. I have at divers times lent sums of money to Henry 
 Honore Juilly, formerly my servant, but now keeping the 
 Hungerford Hotel, in the Rue Caumartin at Paris, and for 
 which sums of money I have undated bills or bonds signed 
 by him. Now, I will and direct that if he desires it, these 
 sums of money be let remain in his hands at an interest of 
 five per cent, for five years after the date of the present 
 will. 
 
 To Henry James Hungerford, my nephew, heretofore 
 called Henry James Dickinson, son of my late brother 
 Lieut. Col. Henry Louis Dickinson, now residing with Mr. 
 
 l 
 
2 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Auboin, at Bourg la Reine, near Paris, I give and bequeath 
 for liis life the whole of the income arising from my prop- 
 erty of every nature and kind whatever, after the payment 
 of the above annuity, and after the death of John Fitall, 
 that annuity likewise, the payments to be at the time the 
 interest or dividends become due on the stocks or other 
 property from which the income arises. 
 
 Should the said Henry James Hungerford have a child or 
 children, legitimate or illegitimate, I leave to such child or 
 children, his or their heirs, executors and assigns, after the 
 death of his, her, or their father, the whole of my property 
 of every kind absolutely and forever, to be divided between 
 them, if there is more than one, in the manner their father 
 shall judge proper, and in case of his omitting to decide 
 this, as the Lord Chancellor shall judge proper. 
 
 Should my nephew Henry James Hungerford marry, I 
 empower him to make a jointure. 
 
 In case of the death of my said nephew without leaving 
 a child or children, or of the death of the child or children 
 he may have had under the age of 21 years or intestate, I 
 then bequeath the whole of rny property, subject to the 
 annuity of 100 to John Fitall, and for the security and 
 payment of which I mean stock to remain in this country, 
 to the United States of America, to found at Washington, 
 under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an estab- 
 lishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men. 
 
 I think it proper here to state, that all the money which 
 will be standing in the French five per cents, at my death 
 in the names of the father of my above mentioned nephew, 
 Henry James Hungerford, and all that in my name, is the 
 property of my said nephew, being what he inherited from 
 Ins father, or what I have laid up for him from the savings 
 upon his income. 
 
 JAMES SMITHSON. [L. s.] 
 
L I B It A R Y 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Clark, Fynmore $ Fladgate to A. Vail. 
 
 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, [LONDON,] July 21, 1835. 
 
 SIR : We send you, enclosed, the copy of a will of Mr. 
 "Smithson, on the subject of which we yesterday did our- 
 selves the pleasure of waiting upon you, and we avail our- 
 selves of the opportunity to repeat, in writing, what we 
 verbally communicated. 
 
 Pursuant to the instructions contained in the will, an 
 amicable suit was, on the death of the testator, instituted 
 in chancery by Mr. Hungerford, against Messrs. Drum- 
 .monds, the executors, under which suit the assets were 
 realized. They were very considerable ; and there is now 
 standing, in the name of the accountant general of the 
 court of chancery, on the trusts of the will, stock amount- 
 ing in value to about 100,000. During Mr. Hurigerford's 
 life he received the income arising from this property ; but 
 news has just reached England that Mr. Hungerford has 
 died abroad, leaving no child surviving him. 
 
 It now becomes necessary that measures should be taken 
 for the purpose of getting the decision of the court of 
 chancery, as to the further 'disposition of the property. On 
 reference to the will, it will appear that it is not very 
 clearly defined to whom, on behalf of the United States, 
 the property should be paid or transferred ; indeed there is 
 so much doubt, that we apprehend that the Attorney 
 General must, on behalf of the crown of England, be 
 joined in the proceedings which it is requisite that the 
 United States should institute. 
 
 We act in this matter for Messrs. Drummond, the 
 bankers, who are mere stake-holders, and who are ready 
 to do all in their power to facilitate getting the decision of 
 the court, and carrying into effect the testator's intentions. 
 
 We shall therefore be happy to communicate with such 
 professional advisers as your Government may think fit to 
 3 
 
4 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 appoint to act for them in this country. In the mean time, 
 we may perhaps be permitted to add, that it is perfectly 
 competent for us to carry on the proceedings, on behalf of 
 the United States, and possibly some expense and delay 
 may be avoided by our so doing. ^ 
 
 Having thus briefly stated the nature of the business, we 
 at present abstain from making any suggestions as to the 
 party in whose name proceedings should be adopted, con- 
 sidering the point should be determined by our counsel 
 here, after the opinion of the proper law officers in the 
 States has been taken on the subject. 
 
 Any further information you may require, we shall be 
 happy to give you, and are, sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servants, 
 
 CLARK, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 A. VAIL, Esquire, 49 York Terrace. 
 
 A. Vail to John Forsyth. 
 
 LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 LONDON, July 28, 1835. 
 
 SIR : The papers which I have the honor herewith to- 
 communicate to you will acquaint you with the particulars 
 of a bequest of property to a large amount, left to the United 
 States by a Mr. James Smithson, for the purpose, as stated 
 in the will, of founding, at Washington, an institution "for 
 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 * * * * L # The 
 
 letter of Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate, the solicitors, 
 by whom I was apprised of the existence of the will, to- 
 gether with the inquiries I have made, leave no doubt of its 
 having been established, and its dispositions recognized by 
 the court of chancery, the first legatee under it having, for 
 several years, and to the time of his death, received the in- 
 come of the property, which is stated to have amounted to- 
 upwards of 4,000 per annum. 
 
 According to the view taken of the case by the solicitors, 
 it is now for the United States, in the event of their accept- 
 ing the bequest and the trust coupled with it, to come for- 
 ward, by their representative, and make themselves parties 
 to an amicable suit before the Lord Chancellor, for the pur- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 5 
 
 pose of legally establishing the fact of the demise of the 
 first legatee without children and intestate; prove their 
 -claim to the benefit of the will, and obtain a decree in chan- 
 cery, awarding them 'the proceeds of the estate. Messrs. 
 Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate are willing to undertake the 
 management of the stv.t on the part of "the United States; 
 ;and, from what I have learned of their standing, may safely 
 be confided in. Not being acquainted with the exact 
 structure of our institutions, they are not able to point out 
 the exact manner in which the United States should be 
 represented in the contemplated suit ; but they believe 
 that their diplomatic agent here, if constituted, for that 
 purpose, the legal representative of the President, would 
 be recognised by the court of chancery as the proper organ 
 of the United States, for all the purposes of the will. 
 
 Should it be thought unnecessary to await the action of 
 Congress to authorize the institution of the requisite legal 
 proceedings, and should the course suggested by the solic- 
 itors meet the views of the President, his power of attorney 
 authorizing the diplomatic agent here to act in his name, 
 will, I apprehend, be necessary; and, as the suit will 
 involve some expense not connected with the contingent 
 fund of the legation, your instructions upon this branch of 
 .the subject will likewise be desirable. 
 
 I am, sir, with great respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. VAIL. 
 JOHN FORSYTH, Esq., 
 
 Secretary of State of the United States, Washington. 
 
 John Forsyth to Aaron Vail. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 WASHINGTON, September 26, 1835. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 despatch of 28th July last, (No. 197,) relative to a bequest 
 of property to a large amount left to the United States by 
 Mr. James Smithson, for the purpose of founding at Wash- 
 ington an institution u for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men ;" and to inform you that your let- 
 ter, and the papers which accompanied it, have been sub- 
 
(5 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 mitted to the President, who has determined to lay the sub- 
 ject before Congress at its next session. The result of its 
 deliberations, when obtained, shall be communicated to 
 you, with the necessary instructions. 
 
 Of the course intended to be pursued in relation to this 
 matter, as above explained, you will take occasion to ac- 
 quaint the solicitors who apprised you of the existence of 
 Mr. Smithson's will. 
 
 . I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 AARON VAIL, Esq., 
 
 Charge d> Affaires of the United States, London. 
 
 John Forsyth to Richard Rush. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, July 11, 1836. 
 SIR: I have the honor to inform you that the President, 
 in pursuance of an act of Congress passed at their recent 
 session, has been pleased to appoint you the agent of the 
 United States to assert and prosecute their claim to the 
 legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, late of Lon- 
 don, deceased. Your power of attorney or commission is 
 herewith remitted, with an authenticated copy of the act 
 referred to annexed to it. It is the wish of the President 
 that you should, in the event of your acceptance of this 
 trust, embark for London without unnecessary loss of time, 
 to enter on the duties of the appointment. Previously to 
 leaving the United States, however, it will be necessary, in 
 compliance with the provisions of the accompanying act 
 of Congress, to execute to, and deposite with, the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, with good and sufficient securities, to his 
 satisfaction, a bond or bonds, in the penal sum of 500,000, 
 for the proper performance of those duties, and for the 
 faithful remittance to the Treasury of the United States of 
 such sum or sums of money, or other funds, as you may 
 receive in virtue of said bequest. 
 
 The compensation to be allowed you for your services in 
 this capacity will be at the rate of $3,000 per annum for 
 your personal services, and at the rate of $2,000 for all 
 contingencies except the law expenses. Compensation to 
 begin from the day you report yourself ready to enter on 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 7 
 
 the duties of the office. An account of the law expenses, 
 with vouchers, will be required. 
 
 A letter of credit on M. de Rothschild, the hanker of the 
 United States at London, authorizing him to pay your 
 drafts for compensation, and for the necessary expenses 
 actually incurred in the prosecution of this claim, is also 
 enclosed, limited to $10,000, being the whole amount appro- 
 priated by Congress for that object, 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, Esq., &c. 
 
 Richard Rush to Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate. 
 
 PORTLAND HOTEL, GREAT PORTLAND STREET, 
 
 LONDON, September 14, 1836. 
 
 GENTLEMEN: Referring to your correspondence with 'the 
 charge d'affaires of the United States, in July, 1835, on the 
 Smithsonian bequest to the United States, I beg leave to 
 inform you that 1 have arrived here with full power from 
 the President, founded on an act of Congress, to assert the 
 right of the United States to that bequest, and receive the 
 money. I should be happy to have an interview with you 
 on this subject ; to which end I ask the favor of you to call 
 upon me on Friday morning at 11 o'clock; or, should that 
 be inconvenient to you, at such other time, near at hand, as 
 you will have the goodness to name. 
 
 I remain your most obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 To Messrs. CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLAGDATE, 
 
 Solicitors, Craven street, Strand. 
 
8 . SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Richard Rash to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, September 24, 1836. 
 
 SIR : I had the honor to inform you, on the 31st of Aug- 
 ust, of my arrival at Liverpool, having embarked in the 
 first ship that sailed from New York after my letter of the 
 1st of August, informing you that I was ready. 
 
 I reached this city the early part of the present month, 
 and, as soon as circumstances would permit, entered upon 
 the duty which the President's power of attorney devolves 
 upon me. 
 
 Towards asserting and prosecuting with effect, before the 
 legal tribunals of England, the claim of the United States 
 to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, of 
 London, to found, at Washington, an institution u for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," the first 
 consideration which seemed to present itself was, the selec- 
 tion of fit legal characters here, through whose aid and 
 instrumentality the incipient steps could alone be judiciously 
 marked out or adopted. In a country where the profession 
 of the law is known to be so subdivided as in this, I re- 
 garded it important that not only the counsel whose services 
 it may ultimately become necessary to engage, but the 
 solicitors to be approached in the first instance, should huvo 
 a standing suited to the nature of the case, and the dignity 
 of the constituent I represent. The letter addressed you in 
 July, 1835, by the late charge d'affaires of the Tnited States 
 at this Court, left little doubt, indeed, that Messrs. Clarke, 
 Fynmore, & Flagdate, were proper solicitors ; yet, as the 
 President's power to me, and your instructions, appeared to 
 place the whole subject anew in my hands, some previous 
 inquiry into their standing seemed necessary on my part. 
 This I set on foot, and am glad to say that it ended to my 
 satisfaction; the more, as their connexion with the case in 
 its origin naturally pointed to their selection, other grounds 
 continuing to justify it. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 14th instant, 1 addressed a note to 
 these solicitors, informing them that I had arrived in this 
 country with full power from the President, founded upon 
 an act of Congress, to assert the right of the United States 
 to the Smithsonian bequest, and receive the money ; and 
 requesting that they would call upon me on the 16th. A 
 copy of my note is enclosed. This is a season of the year 
 when professional and official business of every kind is 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 9 
 
 much at a pause in London, and those who conduct it dis- 
 persed. It was not until the 20th that I was enabled to com- 
 mand an interview with these gentlemen, when two of 
 them, Mr. Clarke and Mr. Fladgate, waited upon me; the 
 latter having previously called, after receiving my note, to 
 mention the absence of his associates from town. With 
 these two I had the preliminary conversation suited to a 
 first interview. They chiefly went over the grounds stated 
 in their note of the 21st of July, to our charge d'affaires, 
 Mr. Yail ; in some points enlarging them and giving new 
 particulars. They said that James" Smithson, the testator, 
 died in June, 1829; that his will was proved in the prerog- 
 ative court of Canterbury by Mr. Charles Drummond, one 
 of the executors, and one of the banking-house of that 
 name in London ; that Henry James Hungerford, the testa- 
 tor's nephew, to whom was bequeathed "the whole of his 
 property for life, subject to a small annuity to another per- 
 son, brought an amicable suit in chancery against Messrs. 
 Drummond, the executors, for the purpose of having the 
 testator's assets administered under the direction of the 
 Lord Chancellor ; in the course of which suit the usual 
 orders and decrees were made, and by its issue assets ascer- 
 tained and realized to the value of about one hundred 
 thousand pounds sterling ; that Mr. Hungerford, who resi- 
 ded out of England, received, up to the time of his death, 
 the dividends arising from the property, which consisted of 
 stock in the public funds; and that he died at Pisa, on the 
 5th of June, 1835, of full age, though still young, without 
 having been married, arid, as far as is yet known, without 
 illegitimate child or children ; that the assets of the estate 
 are now invested in the name of the accountant general of 
 the court of chancery, subject to the further disposition of 
 the court; that the will of Mr. Smithson having made the 
 United States the final legatee on Mr. Hungerford's death 
 without child or children, legitimate or illegitimate, the 
 facts seem to have happened under which their right will 
 attach ; but the solicitors continue to think that a suit, or 
 legal proceedings of some nature, to which the United 
 States must be "a party, will have to be instituted in the 
 court of chancery, in order to make valid their right, and 
 enable them to get possession of the fund, now in the hands 
 of the court, and subject to its judgment. 
 
 The foregoing formed the main purport of .their commu- 
 nication. They added, that the mother of Henry James 
 
10 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Hungerford, who is still living and married to a Frenchman: 
 of the name of De la Batut, has put in a claim to a part of 
 the property; but as the claim is small, and not likely to 
 come to much, the mother of Mr. Hungerford not having 
 been married to his father, it is scarcely necessary at this 
 time to detail the circumstances. 
 
 I asked at what time from the present the earliest sitting 
 of the court of chancery would be held. They replied in 
 November. It will be my object to get the fund for the 
 United States without a lawsuit in chancery of any kind, if 
 this be practicable ; and towards an end so desirable my 
 further reflection sand measures will for a while be directed, 
 taking care that I do not lose the advantage of all proper 
 applications at the first term of the court, for whatever form 
 of suit or other legal proceedings may be found indispens- 
 able. 
 
 I have nothing further of any importance to communi- 
 cate at this juncture. I delivered to the minister of the 
 United States, Mr. Stevenson, the letter from the acting- 
 Secretary of State of July 27th, requesting his good offices 
 in behalf of the public object with which I am charged, 
 should they be needed; and I cannot close this letter with- 
 out adding that I have already received co-operation from 
 him that has been useful, and which gives earnest of the 
 zealous interposition of his further aid, should it be re- 
 quired. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of Slate. 
 
 The Case Stated by Mr. Rush. 
 
 The testator died at Genoa on the U7th day of June, 1829,. 
 and on the 4th of November, in that year, the will was 
 proved in the prerogative court of Canterbury, by Mr. 
 Charles Drummond, one of the banking-house of that firm, 
 mentioned in the will. 
 
 Soon after his death, an amicable suit was instituted in 
 the court of chancery, by Henry James Hungerford, his 
 nephew, against Mr. Charles Drummond, as executor, for 
 the purpose of having his assets administered under the 
 direction of that court. The usual orders and decrees were 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. U 
 
 made in the suit, and assets realized to the amount of about 
 one hundred thousand pounds sterling in value, which are 
 now invested in the public funds, and are standing in the 
 name of the accountant general of the Court of Chancery, 
 to the credit of the cause of Hungerford 1-5. Drummond' 
 and applicable to the trusts of the will. 
 
 Air. Ilungerford, who resided out of England, received 
 the income arising from the testator's property up to the 
 time of his death. This took place on the 5th of June 
 1835, at Pisa, 
 
 He was never married, and died without leaving any ille- 
 gitimate children or child. 
 
 The events have therefore happened, by which the right 
 of the United States of America is considered to have 
 attached, as the residuary or final legatee under this will. 
 
 In July, 1835, their charge d'affaires at this court, im- 
 parted official information to the Secretary of State, at 
 Washington, of the preceding facts, who laid them before 
 the President, with a copy of the will and other papers that 
 were transmitted. 
 
 The President not having authority under his general 
 executive powers to take any steps for accepting the trust 
 or obtaining the fund, communicated the papers to Congress 
 on the 17th of December of that year, with a view to such- 
 measures as that body might deem necessary. 
 
 Congress, acting on the ground that the bequest to the 
 United States was valid, and that it would not be incompat- 
 ible with their dignity to accept the fund as trustees, for an 
 institution to be founded at Washington, for a purpose so 
 broad and benevolent, passed, on the 1st of July last, an act 
 authorizing the President to appoint an agent to assert and 
 prosecute their right to the bequest, in such form, and be- 
 fore such tribunal or tribunals in England, as might be 
 proper; and to receive and grant full acquittances for all 
 such moneys or other funds as might be adjudged to them 
 on account of it. 
 
 In pursuance of the authority given by this act, the^ Pres- 
 ident has appointed a citizen of the United States, in the 
 person of the undersigned, to perform on their behalf the 
 duty which it enjoins; and he is here, their representative 
 and attorney in the matter set forth. 
 
 His full power from the President, and a copy, undersea! 
 of the Department of State, of the law on which it is 
 founded, are ready to be filed in the Court of Chancery, or 
 
12 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 otherwise made known to the Lord Chancellor, at whatever 
 time and in whatever mariner may be thought proper. 
 
 The United States having acceded to the bequest, the 
 first duty of the undersigned is to obtain, for his high con- 
 stituent, possession of the fund without any delay that can 
 be avoided. 
 
 His questions for the opinion of counsel in England are : 
 
 1st. Can possession of it be obtained without a suit? 
 
 2d. If not, what is the form of suit or other legal pro- 
 ceeding which, b} 7 the laws of England, will give promise 
 of putting the United States in possession of the fund in 
 .the most effectual and prompt manner ? 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 LONDON, October 1, 1836. 
 
 Opinion of Counsel. 
 
 1st. We are of opinion that the possession of the fund 
 -cannot be obtained without a suit. 
 
 2d. We think that the best course will be, that a bill, in 
 the nature of a supplemental bill, should be filed in the 
 name of the President of the United States of America, 
 against the executors of Mr. Smithson, praying that the 
 United States may be entitled to the fund upon trust, for 
 the purposes expressed in the will : and that, upon obtain- 
 ing a decree to that effect, a petition should be presented, in 
 the name of the President and Mr. Rush, praying that the 
 fund may be transferred to the latter, as the agent of the 
 United States, appointed under the act of Congress. 
 
 As we understand that the testator, Smithson, was ille- 
 gitimate, we think that it will be advisable to make the 
 Attorney General a party to the suit, in order that he may 
 represent before the court any claim which the Crown may 
 have, either by reason of the question of the validity of the 
 limitation to the United States, after a limitation to illegiti- 
 mate children, or by reason of any part of the property 
 consisting ot interests in land. 
 
 THOMAS PEMBERTON. 
 EDWARD JACOB, 
 
 LINCOLN'S INN, November 2, 1836. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 13 
 
 Eichard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, November 5, 1836. 
 
 I am following up the Smithsonian business, as you will 
 take for granted. This week I had an interview with the 
 .counsel; but nothing has transpired calling for an official 
 letter to you since the one I wrote on the 24th of Septem- 
 ber. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 John Forsyth to Richard Rush. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 
 WASHINGTON, November 17, 1836. 
 
 SIR : You will receive enclosed the copy of an account 
 presented to Daniel Brent, Esq., consul of the United States 
 at Paris, by M. Castaignet, a French attorney, of certain 
 fees charged by him for services rendered in relation to the 
 effects of Mr. James Henry Dickinson, deceased, alias de 
 la Batut, alias Hungerford, nephew of the late James 
 Smithson, of London. Copies of Mr. Brent's letters of 
 23d October, 1835, and 14th August, 1836, explanatory of 
 the subject, are also sent. As the whole amount of the 
 fund appropriated by the act of Congress of 1st July, 1836, 
 for defraying the expenses incident to the prosecution of 
 the claim' of" the United States to the Smithsonian bequest, 
 are in your hands, arid as the bill, if correct, is properly 
 chargeable to that fund, I have the honor to request that 
 you will examine this account; and if you shall deem it 
 just, and the amount reasonable, transmit to Mr. Brent the 
 sum necessary to discharge the claim. 
 
 It may be proper also to allow to Mr. Delagrange, the 
 attorney consnlted in this case by Mr. Brent, a fee for his 
 advice. You will perceive, however, that, before such an 
 allowance can be made, it will be requisite to obtain from 
 the latter precise information as to the amount of the 
 charge. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 
 To RICHARD RUSH, Esq., London. 
 
11 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Richard Rash to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, November 22, 18of>. 
 
 SIR: After my letter to you of the 24th of September, 
 desirous as I felt of falling upon some mode by which the 
 United States might get possession of the Smithsonian 
 bequest, without the delays and difficulties apt to attend 
 upon suits in chancery, prosecptecl in the ordinary form, I 
 found myself unable to do so. At one time it occurred to 
 me, considering the peculiar nature and national aspect of 
 the case, that perhaps an indirect appeal to the British 
 Government, through the channel of our minister, might 
 be justified; not, indeed, that an influence was to be 
 brought to bear upon the judicial tribunals in any objec- 
 tionable sense, but simply with a view to obtain some ex- 
 pression or intimation of its favorable dispositions towards 
 the trust I bear from the President, as far as the laws of 
 England might be in unison with it. But obstacles pre- 
 sented themselves to the actual pursuit of such a course, 
 although I knew how ready Mr. Stevenson would h.-ivr 
 been to second it as far as in his power, that led me to turn 
 from it, at least as an incipient step; without, however, 
 losing sight of it, if it may seem prai-ticabh; and advisable 
 at any subsequent stage of the pro.-rcdings. 
 
 That course no longer looked to, it appeared to me that 
 the first step, on my part, had better be to draw up a state- 
 ment of the case for the opinion of counsel, submitting to 
 them, as one of the questions, whether possession of the 
 fund might not be obtained without a suit. The solicitors, 
 I was aware, had said that it could not; but, on a prelimi- 
 nary point so important, I did not think that it would In- 
 proper to rest on them alone, but take the opinion of 
 eminent counsel. On the 1st of October, I accordingly 
 drew up a statement of the case, setting out a copy of the 
 whole will, as obtained for my use from the registry of the 
 prerogative court of Canterbury, adding the facts necessary 
 to show what was believed to be the present right of the 
 United States to the legacy, and my authority to receive it 
 on their behalf. A copy of the statement is enclosed 
 marked A. 
 
 The next step was to select the counsel . Here little 
 deliberation was requisite, it being only in-cessarv to ascer- 
 tain the most eminent. I thought it would be advisable to 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 15 
 
 -consult two. I found it pretty generally agreed that Mr. 
 Pemberton was at the head of the chancery bar, and there- 
 fore designated him as one. Mr. Jacob being in the first 
 -class of eminence, next to Mr. Pemberton, and of high 
 reputation for learning in the profession, I took him as the 
 other. Although using all the means I could to get their 
 -opinion, after drawing up the case, it was not until the 8th 
 of this month that I succeeded; which was owing to the 
 .absence of Mr. Pemberton from town nearly the whole of 
 October. I had an interview with them before their opinion 
 was given, and set before them all the lights I was able to 
 afford on the nature of the case, and wishes of the Presi- 
 dent for its early decision. Their opinion is subjoined to 
 the statement enclosed. 
 
 It will be seen that they regard a suit as indispensable. 
 
 Next, as to the mode of proceeding. It appears that 
 they think a bill should be filed, in the name of the Presi- 
 dent, against the testator's executors, praying that the 
 United States may be declared entitled to the fund, and 
 that, on obtaining a decree to that effect, a petition should 
 be presented for the actual payment of the money. They 
 add, that it would be advisable to make the Attorney Gen- 
 eral a party to the proceedings, in case the Crown should 
 have any claim under the will, by reason of " the limitation 
 to the United States, after a limitation to illegitimate 
 children," or in case any part of the property should con- 
 sist of interest in land. The opinion is dated on the 2d 
 instant, but I did not receive it until the 8th,- as mentioned. 
 
 Although I drew up the case, the usages of the profes- 
 sion here required that it should pass to the counsel, 
 through the hands of the solicitors, to which I made no 
 objections; the less, as the latter claim, under all common 
 circumstances, to state the case themselves, as well as hold 
 interviews with the counsel, instead of the party holding 
 them. The same usages and subdivisions require that a 
 junior counsel of the chancery bar should * * 
 draw the bill suggested by the senior counsel, to which I 
 have, in like manner, consented; and Mr. Shadwell, a son 
 of the vice chancellor, has been designated for that duty, 
 under assurances, I have had, that he will perform it satis- 
 factorily, and with an understanding, moreover, that the 
 bill is "to have the revision and sanction of the senior 
 counsel before it is filed. The whole course of proceeding 
 may now therefore be considered as in regular train, and 
 
16 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 shall be followed up with all the despatch and care which 
 ray superintendence can impart to it. 
 
 "Should the intervals between my letters be longer than 
 might at first seem compatible with my desire and duty to 
 keep you informed of what is going on, I hope it _ will not 
 be inferred that there are relaxations in either; since it is 
 very likely to happen, as has been the case since the date 
 of my last letter, that whilst I am doing all in my power 
 to expedite arrangements and results, nothing may transpire 
 to lay a basis for written communications in any degree 
 definite or satisfactory. Legal proceedings, in general, 
 imply these intervals of apparent inaction, and a suit in 
 chancery in England is not likely to form the exception. 
 When occasions of writing to you may arise, the duty shall 
 never be omitted. 
 
 This letter would have been written immediately after I 
 received the opinion, but that I wished some explanations, 
 as it was not argumentative ; a form which counsel here do- 
 not give to opinions. It being recommended that the bill 
 should be in the name of the President, I deemed it right 
 to mention that there was a possibility in law of a tempo- 
 rary vacuum occurring in the executive power under our 
 constitution, in order that they might judge how far that 
 consideration would affect the name or style to be used in 
 bringing the suit. As they further advise that the Attor- 
 ney General be made a party, I wished to ascertain, as far 
 as I might, what weight they attached to the point that 
 seemed the maiji inducement to that course, as well as the 
 reason for suggesting it in advance. I doubted not their 
 good reason for such a course, but thought it desirable to- 
 learn it from themselves, that I might impart it from that 
 source for the President's information. 
 
 They have informed me that the legal possibility to which 
 I drew their attention under our constitution does not alter 
 their opinion as to the name proper to be used in bringing 
 the suit, and they do not think it would answer to bring it 
 in the name of the United States alone, whatever the provi- 
 sions of our constitution under this head. I of course put 
 before them the act of Congress of the 1st of July, 1836, 
 which authorizes the suit. As to the point of law, whether 
 a bequest can be sustained after a limitation to illegitimate 
 children, they replied, that they do not at present attach 
 any decisive, perhaps any great weight to it, but think it 
 one that may be made; and as to its suggestion in advance,, 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 17 
 
 they suppose that the United States would not desire to 
 take the bequest through any oversight in the court or At- 
 torney General, admitting either to be possible in a case of 
 this publicity ; but only if the laws of England would war- 
 rant in all respects an adjudication in their favor a senti- 
 ment in which I naturally and fully concurred. 
 
 I was not able to command an interview with the counsel 
 for the sake of these explanations until yesterday, owing to 
 their constant engagements, although I sought it repeatedly 
 since the 8th of the month, by personal calls as well as notes 
 desiring to have a time fixed. 
 
 If there have been these delays that I have been unable 
 to prevent, I am glad to add that no time has been lost in 
 reference to the November term of the court, the first that 
 has been held since I came here. 
 
 ^ I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 EICHARD BUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Hush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, December 20, 1836. 
 
 SIR : I was yesterday honored with your letter of the 17th 
 of November, enclosing the account forwarded to the De- 
 partment by the consul of the United States at Paris, of M. 
 Castaignet, a French attorney, for certain fees charged by 
 him for services rendered in relation to the effects of Mr. 
 James Henry Dickinson, deceased, alias de la Batut, alias 
 Hungerford, nephew of the late James Smithson, of Lon- 
 don, and requesting that I will examine it with a view to its 
 payment out of the Smithsonian fund in my hands, if 
 deemed just, and the amount reasonable; and mentioning 
 also that it may be proper to allow Mr. Delagrange, the 
 attorney consulted by Mr. Brent, a fee, after obtaining from 
 the latter precise information as to the amount of the 
 charge. Copies of Mr. Brent's explanatory letters of the 
 23d of October, 1835, and 14th of August, 1836, also came 
 enclosed in your letter, and I beg leave to say that the 
 whole subject shall have from me full attention. 
 
 The Smithsonian case continues in proper train here, with 
 every advantage I have found myself yet able to give it, 
 2 
 
18 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 according to the statement and explanations transmitted 
 with my No. 4 ; but it has not yet come to its first hearing 
 before the court of chancery. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Hush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, January 9, 1837. 
 
 I have already had the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your letter of the 17th November, enclosing the account 
 of Mr. Castaignet, the French attorney, for certain services 
 in relation to the effects of Henry James Dickinson, de- 
 ceased, alias de la Batut, alias Hungerford. 
 
 I have given to this subject the proper attention, and, for 
 the better understanding of it, now beg leave to state : 
 
 That Henry James Hungerford was the natural son of 
 Henry Louis Dickinson, deceased, brother of Mr. Smithson, 
 by a Mrs. Coates. The latter is still living, and married to 
 a Frenchman named de la Batut. Hungerford lived with 
 her and took her name, whilst bearing which he died, hav- 
 ing also passed under that of Dickinson. It is understood 
 that, as long as he lived, he made her an ample allowance ; 
 but his death put an end to it, and, as far as the will of Mr. 
 Smithson is concerned, (the will which creates a right in 
 the United States,) she can claim nothing. This I under- 
 stand to be agreed by counsel on all hands here. 
 
 Her claim, if she has any, is under the will of Henry 
 Louis Dickinson, made at Paris, July, 1819, by which he 
 left all his property to his brother, Smithson, in trust for 
 his (Dickinson's) son Hungerford, alias Dickinson, alias la 
 Batut. Half the income of it, however, was to go to this 
 Mrs. Coates, alias Madame la Batut, during her life. 
 
 But whether the property which Dickinson thus left, and 
 which is supposed to be the fund which Mr. Brent natur- 
 ally desired, through the instrumentality of the French 
 attorneys, to secure for the United States in Paris, now 
 constitutes any part of the Smithsonian fund in the English 
 court of chancery, and awaiting its decision, or whether the 
 former fund has not all been dissipated, and if so, how 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 19 
 
 much of it got into the hands of Madame la Batut, and has 
 .already, principal as well as income, heen applied to her use 
 and benefit, are, I understand, points still unsettled. 
 
 I made a first mention of this la Batut claim in my No. 
 4, in September. Under the facts presented by this further 
 explanation, it does not clearly seem that the account of the 
 French attorney, M. Castaignet, or the fee to M. Delagrange 
 can, for the present, be a charge upon the Smithsonian fund 
 in my hands. Perhaps it may be a question how far the 
 act of Congress of the 1st of July, 1836, creating and ap- 
 propriating that fund, will sustain any charge upon it other 
 than for expenses in prosecuting the right of the United 
 States to the Smithsonian bequest before the tribunals here 
 in England, where alone, by what I now communicate, it 
 may turn out that the entire fund bequeathed by Mr. 
 Smithsori exists. In weighing all the circumstances, I have 
 come to the conclusion, at all events, not to pa} 7 the above 
 account or fee until the issue of the proceedings in chancery 
 on the whole case here is known ; unless, after this com- 
 munication, I should receive your instructions to the con- 
 trary. We must hope that the bequest of Mr. Smithson 
 will ultimately be adjudged to the United States; but there 
 is a complication of illegitimacy in the matter, and we dare 
 not with confidence affirm that the decision will be favorable, 
 prior to its taking place. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Eush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, February 2, 1837. 
 
 SIR : The Smithsonian case was brought to a first hearing 
 in the court of chancery yesterday, and it is satisfactory to 
 me to be able to say that results, so far, are favorable to the 
 establishment of the claim of the United States. 
 
 The hearing was before Lord Langdale, master of the 
 rolls ; this court and the court of the vice chancellor being 
 the two branches of the English chancery system, before 
 which suits are brought in the first instance. 
 
 The bill was in the name of the President of the United 
 
20 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 States of America against Drummond, as recommended by 
 counsel, in their opinion transmitted with my letter No. 4, 
 of the 22d of November. The case was fully opened, on 
 behalf of the United States, by Mr. Pemberton. 
 
 The Attorney General was not personally present in court; 
 but Mr. Wray, a member of the bar, and King's counsel, 
 acted as his representative on the occasion. I am glad to state 
 that he abandoned, in effect, all opposition on the part of the 
 Crown. No question, therefore, will be raised as to whether 
 a bequest can be sustained after a limitation to illegitimate 
 children ; or any other obstacle interposed under the doc- 
 trine of escheats, or any other, by the legal representatives 
 of the Crown. These officers, I am given to understand, 
 have had the whole case under consideration, and will do 
 nothing more than exercise that general superintendence 
 which the Crown, through its law officers, is bound to exer- 
 cise where questions may arise connected with public char- 
 ities; the rules respecting which are considered applicable 
 to this case. 
 
 The court, after the hearing, decreed that the case be re- 
 ferred to one of the masters in chancery, the proper officer 
 for the duty, to make the requisite inquiries as to the facts 
 on the happening of which the United States become en- 
 titled to the fund bequeathed by Mr. Smithson. The claim 
 of Madame la Batut having been brought before the court 
 by counsel representing it, his lordship also decreed that 
 the validity of that claim be inquired into, with a view to 
 ascertain if it be a proper charge upon the fund. 
 
 The inquiries will be proceeded with in the usual and 
 regular manner, and with all the expedition that my super- 
 intendence can impart to them. When brought to a close, 
 the cause will come on for the further order and decree of 
 the court. 
 
 Having heretofore mentioned, and in my last letter ex- 
 plained more particularly, the claim of Madame la Batut, I 
 need say no more about it at present. It extends only to 
 an annuity of about one hundred pounds, payable during 
 her life; so that, even if sustained, it will form, in the end, 
 no material deduction from the fund. But I have of course 
 directed that it be properly scrutinized, in order, that noth- 
 ing be taken from the United States to which they are 
 rightfully entitled. 
 
 Counsel also appeared for Messrs. Drummond, and made 
 a little show of opposition ; but as their clients are, in fact,. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 21 
 
 nothing more than stakeholders, they will offer, in the 
 further progress of the case, as I have reason to believe, no 
 serious opposition. They said on this occasion that the bill, 
 in giving title to the suit, ought to have named General 
 Jackson as President; on which Mr. Pemberton remarked, 
 that in that case it must have been amended on the 4th of 
 March, by substituting the name of Mr. Van Buren. On 
 the other hand, the King's representative, Mr. Wray, ex- 
 pressed his concurrence with Mr. Pemberton, that the title 
 of the suit was good as it stood. 
 
 Our professional advisers thought that the President 
 ought to be named, as in the title, with a view to a techni- 
 cal responsibility on the record for costs, although no such 
 question of fact would arise in this case ; and because he 
 was otherwise the organ of intercourse and business be- 
 tween the United States and foreign nations. I told them 
 that his name was not thus introduced in suits in the United 
 States; but they had before them the act of Congress of 
 July the 1st, 1836, directing that this suit might be brought 
 in the name of the United States, " or otherwise, as may 
 be advisable," and formed their opinion accordingly. 
 
 The master of the rolls, not having then seen the act of 
 Congress, intimated his impression to be that the suit 
 should follow in this respect the forms in the United States; 
 adding, that he considered this part of the case as nothing 
 but matter of form, and would give leave to amend forth- 
 with, if necessary ; so that the point is of no consequence. 
 
 I think I am justified in saying, from all that is known 
 at present, that the case is in a safe train in all respects, 
 with every promise of a successful issue. Reports of what 
 took place in court have appeared in the newspapers here, 
 but are not to be relied upon, as I am enabled to say, my 
 duty having made it proper that I should myself be present 
 in court all the while. 
 
 In my letter of the 22d of November, it is intimated that 
 I might, perhaps, at a subsequent stage of the case, have 
 deemed some appeal to this Government advisable in rela- 
 tion to it. The contingency I had in view, was that of the 
 Attorney General interposing a claim for the Crown, under 
 the law of escheats. In that event I had contemplated 
 drawing up a counter representation on behalf of the United 
 .States, founded on the public objects of Mr. Smithson's 
 will, to be brought to the notice of this Government, 
 ' -through the channel of our minister. All necessity for 
 
22 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 acting upon this intention is now at an end, by the course> 
 which the law officers of the Crown have pursued ; and I 
 can discern no other ground for an application to this Gov- 
 ernment. Nor, I am happy to add, does any such applica- 
 tion appear at present to be needed, either for the purpose 
 of justice or expedition. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 lion. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyt1. 
 
 LONDON, February 10, 1837. 
 
 SIR: After what I communicated in my last letter, it is 
 proper for me to state that the court finally determined, 
 before the minutes of its proceedings on tiio 1st instant 
 were made up, that the title of the suit, as originally advised 
 by our counsel, was the proper title, viz : " The President 
 of the United States of America versus Drummond." It 
 therefore stands so without alteration. 
 
 It will have been observed from rny last, that the court 
 had not seen the act of Congress in. the proceedings of 
 record up to the 1st instant. The reason it did not then 
 appear on the face of the bill will be found in the nature of 
 the counsel's opinion. I put a copy of the act into their 
 hands, as a necessary accompaniment to my statement of 
 the case drawn up for their consideration. On referring to 
 their opinion, transmitted with my No. 4, it will be seen 
 that they recommend that a bill be lirst filed, praying that 
 the United States might "be declared entitled to the fund, 
 upon trust, for the purposes expressed in the will ;" and, 
 next, that when a decree to that effect was obtained, a peti- 
 tion should be presented, in the name of the President and 
 the agent, praying that the fund be transferred to the latter, 
 as authorized by the President under the act of Congress to 
 receive it. The counsel thought that the proper time for 
 setting forth the act would have arrived when the petition 
 was presented, and not before ; but the court, under its first 
 impression, inclining to think it ought to be added to the 
 bill, gave leave to make the addition forthwith, and it was 
 done accordingly. The case therefore now stands, on all 
 points, as could be desired, without any delay having inter- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 23 
 
 vened through matters of form. Our professional advisers 
 are disposed to regard this with satisfaction, considering the 
 case as one of the first impression here, the United States 
 having never before appeared as suitor in an English court. 
 Having selected counsel of distinguished character and 
 abilities m the court of chancery to conduct the proceed- 
 ings on the part of the United States, I feel that it is not 
 my province to guide but follow their opinions in matters 
 of English law and practice. Yet I feel it a duty to under- 
 stand theirs, and offer mine to their consideration whenever 
 there may seem, any likelihood of its being serviceable to 
 the claim of the United States, and will frankly own that I 
 saw no objection to their withholding the act of Congress 
 from the record, until actual payment of the fund was asked 
 of the court who have the present custody of it. The 
 United States, it is true, had never before sued in an Eng- 
 lish court. But there were precedents of other nations 
 having done so by their executive head; as, for example, 
 the King of France, the King of Denmark, and I believe 
 other sovereign and independent States. It was not under- 
 stood that any legislative act of those countries had been 
 considered necessary, and was therefore inferred that the 
 United States might in like manner enter the courts here, 
 as of common usage, to establish the validity of a testa- 
 mentary bequest made to them by a subject of Britain. 
 The act of Congress may have been necessary, quoad the 
 United States themselves. The bequest, it may be, could 
 not have been accepted otherwise, or a suit been brought 
 en their behalf; but no act of Congress was required for 
 such ends before an English court. The will itself, showing 
 a prima facie right in the United States, was enough to 
 open an English court to their suit, and perhaps their dig- 
 nity would best be consulted by not exhibiting the special 
 act until indispensably necessary. The validity of the be- 
 quest being established on general grounds by a decree of 
 the court, then, before payment could have been made to 
 any one demanding possession of the fund for the United 
 States, adequate authority from the proper source there 
 must be shown; arid at this epoch the act must have been 
 filed, as well as the agent's power. This was the reasoning 
 of our counsel, as I understood it. It appeared to me good, 
 as did their reasons for bringing the suit by its present title. 
 How far the master of the rolls" might have dispensed with 
 the filing of the act of Congress until the time indicated by 
 
4 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 our counsel as that alone when it was necessary, had the 
 latter pressed the point to an argument, is not for me to 
 say. They yielded to his lordship's first impression, and 
 filed it at once, as it caused no delay, and must have been 
 done under their own intentions at a future day, if a favor- 
 able decree be obtained on the main question, now so rea- 
 sonably to be anticipated. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Hush to John Forsytfi. 
 
 LONDON, March 25, 1837. 
 
 SIR: In my No. 7 I had the honor to inform you that the 
 court, after the hearing on the 1st of February, decreed that 
 the case be referred to a master in chancery, to make the 
 requisite inquiries as to the facts, on the happening of which 
 the United States become entitled to the fund bequeathed 
 by Mr. Smithson. 
 
 The facts specially directed to be inquired into, and which 
 must be judicially and technically settled, are, first, whether 
 Henry James Hungerford, named in the pleadings, be living 
 or dead; second, if dead, when he died; third, whether he 
 was married or unmarried at the time of his death ; fourth, 
 if married, whether he left any and what children and 
 child, and the age or ages of them, if any. It is further to 
 be ascertained whether John Fitall, mentioned in the plead- 
 ings, be living or dead, and, if dead, when he died; and the 
 said master is finally to inquire whether Madame de la Batut 
 has any claim on the testator's estate, and to make report 
 on all the several matters so referred to him. 
 
 These inquiries are now all duly and regularly in pro- 
 gress. Advertisements, of which I annex copies, designed 
 as one means of obtaining information under the four heads 
 first specified, and the last, have been inserted in three of 
 the London newspapers of the present month, viz : the 
 Times, Morning Herald, and Standard. Copies of them, 
 translated into French and Italian, have also been inserted 
 in newspapers at Paris and Port Louis, in France; the lat- 
 ter being the place where Madame de la Batut resides ; and 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 25 
 
 .at Leghorn, in Italy, it being understood that there is no 
 newspaper published at Pisa, where it is believed Hunger- 
 ford died. 
 
 It was by my direction that the advertisements have been 
 framed with all the brevity compatible with the essential 
 object of the court's decree. I have caused to be carefully 
 kept from them any mention of the amount of property be- 
 queathed, and everything else respecting the nature of 
 IVlr. Smithson's will. This course seems best adapted to 
 guard against the risk of raising up spurious claimants, or 
 combinations, in France, Italy, or this country, to battle 
 with the right of the United States, whereby, although their 
 ultimate recovery of the fund might not be prevented, great 
 delays might be interposed. 
 
 Whether John Fitall be living or dead, the remaining 
 branch of inquiry, is a fact to be ascertained without diffi- 
 culty here in London. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Advertisements. 
 
 (i-) 
 
 Whereas, by a decree of the high court of chancery in 
 England, made in a cause wherein the President of the 
 United States of America is plaintiff, and Charles Drum- 
 mond and his Majesty's Attorney General are defendants, 
 it was (amongst other things) referred to Nassau William, 
 Sen., Esq., one of the masters of the said court, to inquire 
 .and state to the court whether Henry James Ilungerford, 
 who formerly resided at Paris, in the Kingdom of France, 
 -and is alleged to have died in Pisa, in the Kingdom of 
 Naples, in the month of June, 1835, is living or dead, and, 
 if dead, where he died, and whether he was married or 
 unmarried at the time of his decease, and, if married, 
 whether he left any children or child him surviving, and 
 the ages of such children, if more than one. ^ Therefore, 
 -any person who can give any information touching the said 
 Henry James Ilungerford, is requested, on or before the 
 
26 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 1st day of June next, to furnish the same to Messrs. Clarke, 
 Fynmore, and Fladgate, 43 Craven street, Strand, London. 
 
 (2.) 
 
 Whereas, by a decree of the high court of chancery in 
 England, made in a certain cause wherein the President of 
 the United States of America is plaintiff, and Charles Drum- 
 mond and his Majesty's Attorney General are defendants, it 
 is (amongst other things) referred to Nassau William, Sen., 
 Esq., one of the masters of the said court, to inquire and state 
 to the court whether Madame de la Batut, who lately 
 resided at Port Louis, in the Kingdom of France, has any 
 claim on the estate of James Smithson, who died at Genoa, 
 in the year 1829, the testator in the pleadings of the said 
 cause named. Therefore, the said Madame de la Batut is, 
 on or before the 1st day of May next, to come in before the 
 said master, at his chambers in Southampton buildings, 
 Chancery lane, London, and make out her claim on the said 
 estate of the said testator, James Smithson ; or, in default 
 thereof, she will be excluded the benefit of the said decree. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, April 28, 1837. 
 
 SIR : In enclosing a duplicate of my last letter, (sent 
 with the original of this,) I have to supply an omission in 
 not stating that the advertisements were inserted in the 
 London Gazette, in addition to the other London news- 
 papers mentioned. It is the more necessary I should state 
 this, as when the bills for legal disbursements are all finally 
 rendered, it will be seen that the item for advertising in 
 this country forms no inconsiderable one. It was my wish 
 to avoid these advertisements altogether, not simply on 
 account of expense, which would have been a good reason 
 of itself, but for the more important one hinted in my last, 
 viz : their possible tendency to raise up fictitious claimants ; 
 but my wish could not prevail against the express order of 
 the court of chancery under which they were inserted. 
 
 In regard to the legal expenses, generally, of this agency, 
 I will take this occasion of barely^rernarking, that whilst I 
 have kept a constant watch over them all, endeavoring to 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 27 
 
 confine them within limits as moderate as possible, they 
 are proverbially heavy in English chancery proceedings. It 
 seems that something is to^be paid for every step taken, 
 every line written, and almost every word spoken by coun- 
 sel, senior and junior, solicitors, clerks, and everybody 
 connected with the courts, and officers attached to them, 
 under the extremely artificial and complicated judiciary sys- 
 tems that exist here. 
 
 Perhaps I ought also to have mentioned in my last that 
 there is no doubt whatever of the fact of John FitalPs 
 death. It only remains for the court to know it through 
 regular evidence, easily attainable, as before remarked, in 
 London, where he died. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Daniel Brent to Richard Rush. 
 
 UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 
 
 PARIS, May 3, 1837. 
 
 SIR : On the 7th of August last I made known to the 
 Secretary of the State the amount of expenses that had 
 been incurred by me in this city in taking precautionary 
 steps to secure to the United States, as legatee of James 
 Smithson, of London, the possession of property then sup- 
 posed to constitute a portion of his estate, and now have 
 the honor of transmitting to you, in consequence of a letter 
 recently received from the Department, receipts for the 
 amount of these expenses, as follows, viz : 
 
 Receipts of the M. Castaignet for his services .fr. 226 25 
 
 Do. avocat, M. Delagrange do 4000 
 
 My own receipt for postages 6 GO 
 
 Total .fr. 372 25 
 
 I would feel obliged to you if you would have the good- 
 ness to provide, at as early a day as may suit your con- 
 venience, for my reimbursement, by furnishing me with a 
 
28 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 bill on Paris for their amount; and, in the mean time, I 
 .have the honor to be, sir, your obedient humble servant, 
 
 DANIEL BRENT. 
 KICHARD RUSH, &c., London. 
 
 Richard Rush to Daniel Brent. 
 
 LONDON, PORTLAND HOTEL, 
 Great Portland Street, May 10, 1837. 
 
 SIR : I received your letter of the 3d instant, transmitting 
 receipts for sums expended by you in Paris, amounting to 
 fr. 272 25, for precautionary steps taken on your part to 
 secure possession of property then supposed to constitute a 
 portion of the property bequeathed to the United States by 
 Mr. Smithson. You state that you transmit these receipts 
 to me in consequence of a letter recently received from the 
 Department of State, and request I will provide for your 
 reimbursement by a bill on Paris for the amount. 
 
 I received from the Secretaiy of State, in December last, 
 copies of the same account, with a request tbat I would ex- 
 amine it, and if I deemed it just, and the amount reason- 
 able, transmit to you the sum necessary to discharge it ; his 
 letter remarking that the account, if correct, was properly 
 chargeable on the Smithsonian fund in my hands, created 
 by the act of Congress of July 1, 1836, for defraying ex- 
 penses incidental to the prosecution of the claim of the 
 United States to the bequest of Mr. Smithson. 
 
 In reply, I had the honor to inform the Secretary, by 
 letter, dated the 9th of January, that it was still a point un- 
 settled whether the property which, with a commendable 
 zeal, you had aimed at securing for the United States, now 
 constituted any part of the Smithsonian fund in the English 
 court of chancery, awaiting its decision; that nothing had 
 yet been adjudged to the United States; that perhaps it 
 might be doubtful, under these and other circumstances I 
 stated, all of which could not have been known when the 
 Secretary's letter to me was written, how far the act of July 
 the 1st would sustain the charge in question ; and that at 
 all events I had come to the conclusion not to pay the 
 account until the issue of the proceedings in chancery on 
 the whole case here \vas known, unless I should receive the 
 Secretary's instructions to pay it, after what I thus wrote. 
 
 I have received none; and unless the letter from the 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 29 
 
 Secretary, which you have received, were written after the 
 receipt of mine of the 9th of January, and contains an ex- 
 press direction to me to pay, I should not feel at liberty to 
 do so; the less, as everything remains undecided here, and 
 a new fact is interposed. Congress at the late session 
 omitted to make any further appropiation for the full prose- 
 cution and recovery of the Smithsonian bequest; and it is 
 certain, in my belief, that the sum allotted by the act of 
 July 1, 1836, will be exhausted by the unavoidable expenses 
 in London before any new appropriation can come from the 
 next Congress. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, very faithfully, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 DANIEL BRENT, Esq., Consul of the United States, Paris. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, May 18, 1837. 
 
 SIR : I have received a letter from Mr. Brent, consul at 
 Paris, transmitting his account and the receipts for moneys 
 expended by him in that city, with a view to obtain for the 
 United States some property, then supposed to be a part of 
 that which was bequeathed by Mr. Smithson. It is the same 
 account that was forwarded to me with your instructions of 
 the 17th of November last. To these I had the honor of 
 replying in my No. 6, in which the nature of the account 
 was explained, and reasons assigned for suspending pay- 
 ment; your instructions appearing to have left me a dis- 
 cretion over the subject. I transmit a copy of Mr. Brent's 
 letter dated the 3d instant, with a copy of my answer dated 
 the 10th. My reasons will be seen in the latter for still 
 withholding payment; Mr. Brent's letter, as I read it, not 
 conveying to me your direction to pay. If I have erred in 
 this particular, I shall wait your further instructions, and 
 obey them. My letter to Mr. Brent, besides bringing into 
 view the former reasons, mentions a new one. 
 
 Under one of the advertisements transmitted with my 
 No. 9, viz: the one returnable on the 1st of this month, 
 the husband of Madame la Batut has come over here from 
 France, to make out the claim of his wife upon the estate 
 of Mr. Smithson. He has written me notes, and called 
 
30 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 upon rnc, though as yet I have not seen him. I deem it 
 unnecessary to transmit to you his representations, as I do 
 not act upon them in any way, abstaining as well through 
 rny own judgment as that of our professional advisers. To 
 the latter I say, if Monsieur la Batut has a just claim on 
 the part of his wife, it ought to be allowed ; if not, no 
 authority but that of Congress could award him anything 
 out of the Smithsonian bequest, should it be finally -ad- 
 judged to the United States. To this they assent, with the 
 further concurrence between us, that the court must decide 
 upon the claim; for establishing which, if it can be estab- 
 lished, he will now have every opportunity before a master 
 in chancery, the officer regularly appointed by the court for 
 that purpose. The solicitors advise me that he is a trouble- 
 some person, and seems to have unreasonable expectations ; 
 which, however, will be carefully scrutinized and properly 
 trolled. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 KICIIARD HUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate to Richard JRush. 
 
 No. 43 CRAVEN STREET, June 9, 1837. 
 SIR : We think it right to inform you that we have lately 
 had several interviews with M. de la Batut, who married 
 the mother of the deceased Henry James Ilungerford, and 
 who we thought might be induced to furnish us with every 
 proof we wanted touching the deceased. His object was to 
 press upon our consideration the moral claims which he 
 supposes his wife and her and his children have upon the 
 United States, in consequence of their succeeding to the 
 fortune, to the income of which Ilungerford was entitled 
 for his life. We allude to these moral claims, to distinguish 
 them from the rights which Madame de la Batut may have 
 under the will of Colonel Dickinson, Ilungerford's father, 
 which ^are the subject of inquiry before the master. To 
 show, in part, the nature of these MORAL claims, we may 
 mention, that as the fund is left to the United States, to 
 found an institution for promoting knowledge, he considers, 
 notwithstanding that the institution is to be founded in 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 31 
 
 America, that his and Madame de la Batut's children in 
 France should have an allowance until the age of twenty- 
 two, for their education; and he considers that the income 
 derived from the fund since the testator's death should be 
 allowed to Madame de la Batut ! 
 
 We do not think it necessary to go further into these 
 requisitions, or into a detail of M. de la Batut's arguments in 
 support of them. We may, however, advert more particu- 
 larly to the following point, which may have some claim to 
 consideration. M. de la Batut urges that young Hunger- 
 ford, who lived up to his income, left behind him nothing 
 to pay debts and funeral expenses; that had Mr. Smithson's 
 will come into operation now, instead of seven years back, 
 he would, in consequence of a modern alteration in the law, 
 have been entitled to a portion of the accruing half year's 
 income up to his death ; but that, as the modern alteration 
 does not apply to the case, he is deprived even of that, and 
 cannot be said to have enjoyed the income of the property 
 during his whole life; and thus burdens are thrown upon 
 his relations, which their circumstances do not enable them 
 to bear. We may here observe, that the law on this sub- 
 ject is clear; he was not entitled to any portion of the half 
 year's income. We answered him by stating that neither 
 you nor ourselves could give any opinion on the subject, 
 still less undertake that anything should be done for him 
 by the United States ; and we informed him that if he con- 
 sidered he had any moral claims, he must himself apply to 
 the proper authorities, which he stated his intention to do. 
 We further informed him that we were in search of evi- 
 dence which was completely within his knowledge ; and we 
 offered, if he would furnish us with and depose to the par- 
 ticulars relating to Hungerford known to him, we would so 
 far support any application he might make to the proper 
 authorities as to certify that in our inquiries and proofs we 
 were under material obligations to him ; and he at length 
 consented to make the necessary depositions. These depo- 
 sitions we drew up in proper form, but, upon requesting 
 him to make an appointment to swear to them, he refused 
 to do so, unless he had a pledge from you that you would 
 do all in your power to support his claims, in addition to 
 the recommendation of Mr. Drummond to the consideration 
 of the United States. The recommendation of Mr. Drum- 
 mond, we might have promised him, but the^ pledge re- 
 quired from you we knew to be out of the question ; and as 
 
32 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 in tne mean time we have received from Italy documents 
 which we trust will obviate the necessity of again applying 
 to him for assistance, we felt no hesitation in at once declin- 
 ing to make terms with an individual whose style of con- 
 duct would hardly justify any strong recommendation in his , 
 favor. He then positively refused to assist us any further, 
 and has left us in considerable anger; and he has expressed 
 his determination to make an application to the President 
 through another channel. It will, we conceive, be entitled 
 to little favor. 
 
 We remain, &c., 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE FLADGATE. 
 To RICHARD RUSH, Esq. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate to Richard Rash. 
 
 No. 43 CRAVEN STREET, June 22, 1837. 
 
 SIR : Mr. Drummond has written to us, to inform you 
 that M. de la Batut has submitted to him a memorial, 
 which, on the part of Madame de la Batut, he proposes to 
 address to the President of the United States. Not having 
 been acquainted personally with Mr. Smithson, Mr. Drum- 
 mond cannot vouch for any of the facts stated in the memo- 
 rial ; but, as Mr. Smithson's executor, he feels disposed to 
 recommend to the consideration of the United States any 
 application coming from the mother of the deceased Hun- 
 gerford, who, so far as he has the means of knowing, is left, 
 by her son's death, in reduced circumstances. Neverthe- 
 less, we must here add, that the attention paid to such ap- 
 plication must of course depend upon the conduct of the 
 parties making it. 
 
 We are, &c., 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 To RICHARD RUSH, Esq. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, June 24, 1837. 
 
 SIR : I enclose copies of two letters received from our 
 solicitors, dated the 9th and 22d instant, relating to the 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. '33 
 
 conduct of Monsieur la Batut, in reference to the supposed 
 claim of his wife upon the Smithsonian fund. 
 
 My No. 6, of January 9th, will have made known who 
 the wife is. Nothing is more clear than that she has no 
 claim under the will of Mr. Smithson. Her claim, if any, 
 can only be made out, as mentioned in my No. 6, under 
 the will of Henry Louis Dickinson, and for its establish- 
 ment the court of chancery has pointed out the proper 
 means, and Monsieur la Batut has full liberty to adopt 
 them, that justice may be done. I said in my No. 7, that 
 the claim extended only to about one hundred pounds a 
 year; but, on better information, I find that it would 
 amount, if sustained, to two hundred and forty pounds a 
 year,'during the life of Madame la Batut. 
 
 But Monsieur de la Batut is little satisfied with putting 
 forward this claim, which, it may be, the court will allow if 
 he can bring forward proof to substantiate it. He makes 
 a sweeping moral claim, as he calls it, upon the United 
 States, should the Smithsonian fund be adjudged to them. 
 The letter from the solicitors of the 9th instant gives, in 
 part, the ground of this moral claim. He thinks that, as 
 the Smithsonian fund is to be applied to found an institu- 
 tion at Washington, for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men, his children in France have a claim to be 
 educated out of it; and he even considers that his wife 
 has a claim to the * * * . * income of the fund since 
 Mr. Smithson's death ! This, at a rough estimate, might 
 be perhaps set down at upwards of twenty thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 I cannot wonder that the solicitors deemed it unneces- 
 sary to detail to me the " arguments " by which Monsieur de 
 la Batut sought to support these his " requisitions." His 
 attempt at coercion, by withholding evidence within his 
 power, unless on a previous pledge from me to support his 
 requisitions, thereby showing a disposition to prevent the 
 United States recovering anything, will probably gain him 
 little favor in their eyes. Fortunately, there is now other 
 evidence, as the solicitors state in their letter, and have 
 since told me verbally, which, it is believed, will place the 
 United States beyond his reach. The part of their letter 
 that I read with regret was that in which they intimated to- 
 him that, as neither they nor I could engage that anything 
 .should be done for him by the United States, he must him- 
 self apply to the proper authorities. I called upon them 
 
34 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 immediately, to express my wish that no such encourage- 
 ment be in future held out to him ; but it seems that he 
 had already taken his course ; their letter of the 22d instant 
 gives me to understand that he proposes to address a me- 
 morial to the President, through the auspices of .Mr. 
 Drummond, the defendant in the suit. That he would 
 have done so on his own motion, in the end, without any 
 hint from the solicitors, is probable enough ; but I was 
 sorry it had been given to him. For myself, I have invari- 
 ably discountenanced all his pretensions, deeming it my 
 duty to do so most unequivocally. I have refused to see 
 him, unless in presence of the solicitors, lest he should 
 misunderstand, or forget, or pervert, what I might say ; 
 and the latter told me they could perceive no advantage in 
 my seeing him. If the United States recover the legacy 
 bequeathed by Mr. Smithson, I should naturally regard the 
 whole of it as a trust fund in their hands, not to be in any- 
 wise diminished or touched but by the same legislative 
 power that accepted it, for the purposes specially set forth 
 in the act of Congress of the 1st of July, 1836. Not only, 
 therefore, do I disclaim all authority for yielding, in the 
 slightest degree, to Monsieur la Batut's demands,, or giving 
 him the least hope that any of them are ultimately to be 
 allowed by the United States, but I should have thought it 
 not justifiable in me to refer him to the President. 
 
 Not being sure that I rightly understood what the solici- 
 tors mean in their letter of the 9th, about an alteration in 
 the law, I sought an explanation from them. It appears 
 that, by an act of Parliament passed in 1834, whenever a 
 person entitled to the annual proceeds of any fund or prop- 
 erty for his life, under a will coming into operation after 
 the passing of the act, dies between the points of time as- 
 signed for the periodical payments, his representatives be- 
 come entitled to a proportionate part of the accruing pro- 
 ceeds up to the day of his death. Before this act, there was 
 no such apportionment; and, as Mr. Smithson's will came 
 into operation before it was passed, Hungerford's represent- 
 atives have no claim to any of the dividend that accrued 
 after the last dividend day that happened previously to his 
 decease. I asked how this would stand with the case I 
 drew up for the opinion of counsel, as transmitted with my 
 No. 4 ; in which, among other things, I stated, under the 
 sanction of the solicitors, that " Mr. Hungerford received 
 the income arising from the testator's property up to the time 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 35 
 
 of his death." They replied that this was nevertheless cor- 
 rect ; he did receive all that had accrued up to that time ; but 
 there was a dividend in progress which, as it had not actu- 
 ally arisen, and could not have been claimed by Hungerford 
 in his lifetime, his representative has no claim to it after 
 his death. Such was their explanation. 
 
 It is not for me to say how far this lends any equity to 
 .any fraction of Monsieur la Batut's claims or requisitions. 
 It is a familiar maxim, that those who ask equity should do 
 equity. The United States will succeed to all that the law 
 of England gives them, as the Lord Chancellor may ex- 
 pound and apply that law to their special predicament 
 under the will, having due reference, no doubt, to the rights 
 of all other parties before the court ; and whatever may be 
 the amount adjudged in their favor, my uniform declaration 
 is that Congress alone would have the power to reduce it. 
 I add, as explicitly, that to no one can I give the remotest 
 encouragement or hope that it would be reduced, and, least 
 of all, to one so unreasonable, so exacting, and apparently 
 .so bent upon thwarting the rights of the United States, as 
 Monsieur de la Batut. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 ElCHARD EUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Eichard Rush to Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate. 
 
 PORTLAND HOTEL, GREAT PORTLAND STREET, 
 
 July 21, 1837. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : Having at all times made known my wishes 
 for a speedy decision of the case you have in hand for the 
 United States, I need not here repeat them, but as the time 
 approaches when the court of chancery will adjourn over to 
 November, I must ask you to inform me what seem the 
 prospects. 
 
 Eemaining your obedient servant, 
 
 EICHARD EUSH. 
 
 To Messrs. CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
36 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate to Richard Rush. 
 
 43 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, July 22, 1837. 
 
 DEAR SIR : In answer to your letter of yesterday, on the 
 subject of Mr. Smithson's bequest to the United States, we 
 beg leave to inform you that we have used all the means in 
 our power to bring the matter to a close, but we are still 
 unable to state any definite period at which you might ex- 
 pect to receive the funds. 
 
 Our inquiries in Italy have, we trust, put us in possession 
 of such evidence as will fully establish the fact of Mr. Hun- 
 gerford's death, without having been married; but, how- 
 ever important it may be to do this, still there is another 
 point to be settled before the funds will be available to the 
 United States. This point is the claim of Madame de la 
 Batut, under the will of Colonel Dickinson, (whose executor 
 Mr. Smithson was,) under which will she is entitled for her 
 life to half the colonel's property. 
 
 The outline of this claim is, that Mr. Smithson possessed 
 himself of all Colonel Dickinson's estate, and never ren- 
 dered to Madame de la Batut any account of it; and that, 
 not having done so, she has now a right to call upon Mr, 
 Smithson's executor to do that which he in his lifetime 
 ought to have done. Mr. Drummond has no means of ren- 
 dering this account; but, until the claim is set at rest, the 
 court could not, of course, order the funds forming part of 
 Smithson's estate to be paid over to the United States ; as 
 for anything that appears to the contrary, the greater por- 
 tion of these funds might have arisen from the property of 
 Colonel Dickinson. Our object now, therefore, is to induce 
 Madame de la Batut to come in and establish some claim in. 
 the present suit, (the amount, however, of which we seek, 
 as much as possible, consistently with justice to reduce,) so 
 as to bind her by the present suit, and make it conclusive 
 upon the subject. 
 
 Her advisers have but little evidence to offer in support 
 of her case, and have, in consequence, very much delayed 
 the necessary proceedings. We pressed them as much as 
 possible, and, indeed, threatened to bar them, by getting 
 the master to report against them ; but, in reply to this, 
 they intimated that, if we did so, they should give notice to 
 Mr. Drummond to hold the funds, and file a bill against 
 him, as executor of Smithson, for an account. As this 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 37 
 
 "would be attended with more delay and expense than it is 
 likely there will be in the present proceedings in the 
 master's office, we are induced to afford every indulgence, 
 urging only all possible despatch, which, as, fortunately, 
 Madame de la Batut's solicitors are persons of the highest 
 .respectability, we are sure they will use. 
 
 We are your very obedient servants, 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATB. 
 To RICHARD RUSH, Esq. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, July 28, 1837. 
 
 SIR : I received on the 26th instant, from our minister, 
 Mr. Stevenson, a petition addressed to the President by M. 
 de la Batut, now it seems in France, on the subject of his 
 claims, which had been sent to Mr. S. by Mr. Anderson, 
 charge d'affaires of the United States at Paris. The nature 
 of these claims is sufficiently stated in my letter of the 24th 
 of last month, and I need not therefore repeat that, accord- 
 ing to the view I take of them, they are altogether unrea- 
 sonable. In writing to Mr. Anderson upon the subject, 
 which I did yesterday, I informed him that Monsieur de la 
 Batut had been in London, urging them upon those who 
 are 'charged with conducting and superintending the case 
 of the United States before the court of chancery in the 
 matter of the Smithsonian bequest, and that our Govern- 
 ment had been apprized of them through my communica- 
 tions to you ; that as they were adverse to the interests of 
 the United States, and had been pursued in an adverse man- 
 ner by M. de la Batut when here, it was not for me to aid 
 in transmitting his paper to the President; but that, as he 
 might wish to have it again, to make his own use of it, I 
 was at a loss how to dispose of it, otherwise than by return- 
 ing it to him, (Mr. Anderson,) which I therefore felt myself 
 obliged to do, with the explanation here given. Mr. Ander- 
 son was probably not before acquainted with any of the 
 circumstances I stated. 
 
 I have deemed it right to inform you of the step thus 
 taken in regard to this petition, and hope it will appear to 
 .have been proper. I ought to mention, whilst on the sub- 
 
38 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 ject, that, on the first arrival of M. de la Batut in London r 
 I caused him to be informed that, although in no event was- 
 I authorized to promise him anything from the United 
 States, yet if he promptly afforded the facilities to their suit 
 in chancery, which he justly might, by stating facts within 
 his immediate and full knowledge respecting young Hun- 
 gerford, he would naturally stand well with our Govern- 
 ment ; and that, as far as the expression of any favorable 
 opinion of mine towards him was concerned, he would 
 necessarily earn it. Far from listening to what was so unob- 
 jectionable, he refused, as made known in one of the letters 
 enclosed with my last, to give any evidence whatever for 
 the United States, except on condition of a previous pledge 
 from me to support all his claims, not perceiving, though so 
 informed that such a pledge, had I even made it, could have 
 availed him nothing. 
 
 It may be proper to mention here, also, that it never was 
 my intention, and so I instructed our professional advisers, 
 to raise any captious objections to Monsieur la Batut's claim 
 in right of his wife, so long as he kept it within the limit ot 
 the bequest made to her by the will of Henry Louis Dick- 
 inson, as explained in my No. 6. The bequest may amount,, 
 as I now understand the case, to two hundred and forty 
 pounds sterling a year, at the utmost, during the life of the 
 -wife. All I demanded was, that this claim should be sub- 
 stantiated by fair proof, and be adjudged by the court, as I 
 had no authority to give an independent assent to anything 
 that might diminish the fund bequeathed to the United 
 States by Mr. Smithson. 
 
 But to suggestions like these he was alike insensible, pre- 
 ferring to take the course and put forward the extravagant 
 claims I have described. I have no fears that the court 
 will allow them ; but there is ground for apprehending that 
 he may be able to cause future, as he has past, delays. 
 There is no hope of bringing the case to a conclusion 
 during the present term of the court. It ends next month, 
 and the next term does not commence until November. 
 The master in chancery has not yet made his reports on any 
 of the references made to him by the court, as explained in 
 my No. 9, although I have urged them on by all the means 
 I could use, and will not fail to continue my efforts whilst 
 the present term lasts. Had it not been for the obstructions 
 created by Monsieur de la Batut, this part of the case would 
 have been expedited, and a door the sooner opened by 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 39 
 
 which the United States might have got possession of the 
 fund. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, August 1, 1837. 
 
 SIR : I transmit, herewith, a copy of my account for the 
 year ending yesterday. I also send a list of my drafts upon 
 the bankers of the United States within the same period, 
 as authorized by your letter to the late N. M. de Rothschild 
 of July the llth, 1836. 
 
 The only bill I have yet paid, because the only one I have 
 been able to get in, for legal expenses actually incurred, was 
 one of two hundred pounds four shillings, on the 8th of 
 April, as shown by my draft upon the bankers of that date. 
 For this a voucher is enclosed, with a full statement of the 
 account. More expense, considerably, has been incurred 
 under this head, but no second account has hitherto been 
 rendered to rne, although I have asked for and been desir- 
 ous of obtaining it, the solicitors saying that the items 
 going to make it up are, many of them, still dependent 
 upon services outstanding and incomplete. The heaviest 
 legal expenses will, I apprehend, come in at the final close 
 of the suit. When this will be I dare not promise, since 
 none of our professional advisers will undertake to inform 
 me precisely, although none, I believe, can exceed them in 
 diligence and fidelity, and although they are urged by my 
 reiterated instructions to use all the expedition practicable. 
 The necessity of a reform in the court of chancery was the 
 subject of a special recommendation from the Throne to 
 Parliament, at the session before the last. Its business is 
 very much in arrears. Mr. Pemberton, the leading counsel 
 of the United States, who is also a member of the House of 
 Commons, stated in his place in that body, in February last, 
 that the arrears amounted to between three and four hun- 
 dred cases two years before, but that they had grown to up- 
 wards of eight hundred at the time he was speaking. ^ The 
 cases, in a large proportion, are also of great magnitude. 
 
40 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 The Attorney General on the same occasion remarked, that 
 whilst throughout a long course of time the population of 
 England had been increasing six-fold, and her. wealth twenty- 
 fold, the judicial establishments had remained nearly the 
 same, so as to amount almost to a denial of justice. There 
 are only eleven masters in chancery, whilst there are those 
 who tlnnk that double the number would scarcely be suffi- 
 cient for the wants of the court in all the different depart- 
 ments of its business at the present epoch. In the midst of 
 such discouragements, and I am bound to state them as truly 
 such, I still do not despair of having the case of the United 
 States brought to a final and successful close in the course 
 of the ensuing winter or spring; it shall be sooner, if pos- 
 sible, as all obstructions that might once have been thought 
 to imply serious difficulty or danger are, I think, overcome. 
 Nevertheless, no assurance can be given that it will be fin- 
 ished as soon as the latest period mentioned. Should it 
 last even through the winter, and my last letter will have 
 informed you that the next term of the court (the present 
 drawing to a close) will not be held until November, there 
 is reason to believe that the fund created by the act of Con- 
 gress of the 1st of July, 1836, will, through the accruing 
 legal charges and drafts, to which the fund is otherwise 
 liable under your instructions, be exhausted. 
 . In regard to the first legal account, now enclosed, I can 
 only say that I believe it to be reasonable, judged by the 
 standard of similar charges in this country. I felt myself 
 to be an incompetent judge of all the minute items, filling 
 fourteen pages, folio, of an account founded upon the mul- 
 tifarious and artificial proceedings in an English court of 
 chancery; but I went over the whole, judging as well as I 
 could of each, and obtained explanations from the solicitors 
 where I found them necessary. I also sought other aid; I 
 resorted to a citizen of the United States now here, intelli- 
 gent and trustworthy, and conversant with such accounts, 
 from having superintended several suits in which American 
 interests were at stake in English courts. His opinion was 
 decidedly favorable to the justice and even general modera- 
 tion of the items, tried by the precedents of which he had 
 knowledge. These precautions, added to the fair character 
 of the solicitors, and their verification, severally, by my re- 
 quest, of the whole account, in the special manner that will 
 be noticed at the foot of it, afforded the only guarantees I 
 could command for its correctness. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 41 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore $> Fladgate to Richard Rush. 
 
 43 CRAVEN STREET, August 18, 1837. 
 
 DEAR SIR : The court having now risen for the long 
 -vacation, we deem it our duty to report to you briefly the 
 state of the cause to which the President of the United 
 States and Mr. Drurnmond are parties, instituted' for the 
 purpose of enabling the President to receive the legacy 
 -given by the will of Mr. Smithson. 
 
 Pursuant to your constant instructions to bring the 
 matter to a termination with all practicable despatch, we 
 have been actively occupied in satisfying the inquiries di- 
 rected to be made by the decree of the 1st of February 
 last; and, although the master's report touching these in- 
 quires is not yet made, we have been so far successful as to 
 induce us to hope that we should satisfy him upon all 
 points, and obtain early in the next term, such a report as 
 will ensure the speedy receipt by you, on behalf of the 
 President, of the funds in question. 
 
 You will remember that these inquiries were three-fold. 
 
 1. As to Fitall, the annuitant under the will of Smithson. 
 
 2. As to Hungerford's death, unmarried and without issue. 
 
 3. As to the alleged claim of Madame de la Batut. 
 
 On the first point we have no difficulty, having obtained 
 a certificate of the death of Fitall, whose annuity was paid 
 up to the time of his death, except only the last quarter, 
 which his widow will now receive. 
 
 2. As to Hungerford's death without issue, we have 
 obtained a certificate of the death of one Henri de la Batut, 
 under which name we found that he had died ; and we 
 have also obtained a certificate, identifying de la Batut with 
 Henry James Hungerford. We have, as directed by the 
 decree, advertised in the newspapers here, in France, and 
 in Italy, touching any wife and children; and these adver- 
 itisements have produced no claimants. We have obtained 
 from France other confirmatory evidence on these points ; 
 amongst the rest, Monsieur de la Batut's statement, (which 
 
42 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 however, you will remember he refused to confirm on 
 oath ;) and we have little doubt, as above observed, that the- 
 evidence obtained will be such as to satisfy the master upon, 
 the subject. 
 
 These inquiries have of course consumed much time, but 
 we should have had the report before this, had it not been 
 for the remaining point, the claim of Madame de la Batut. 
 As stated in our letter addressed to you on the 22d of July, 
 it is most important that the claim should be disposed of in 
 the present suit ; and we are happy to say that the claim 
 has now been formally made, and, we trust,'in such a shape 
 as will, if it be sustained by the court at all, bar any 
 ulterior proceedings. The evidence in support of it is not 
 strong, and, for the purpose of strengthening it, interroga- 
 tories for the examination of Mr. Drummond have been 
 brought into the master's office ; which, however, will not 
 have the desired effect. These interrogatories were exhib- 
 ited by Madame de la Batut, after much pressing on our 
 parts, and we are now employed in answering them. Hav- 
 ing done that, we shall proceed to get the claim settled, if 
 possible, by the allowance of some small sum, and every 
 difficulty will then be at an end. 
 
 You may rely on our utmost exertions in bringing the 
 matter to a close ; and we are, 
 
 Your very obedient servants, 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 To RICHARD RUSH, Esq. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, August 19, 1837. 
 
 SIR : Desiring, before the court of chancery rose, some 
 opinion in writing from the solicitors as to the prospects of 
 a decision of the case, I addressed a few lines to them on 
 the 21st of last month, as by enclosure No. 1, and received 
 an answer the day following, a copy of which (No. 2) is 
 also enclosed. I did not send it to you at that time, or with 
 either of my letters written since, because, although I went 
 to them in person several times, in the hope of verbal ex- 
 planations that might render it more definite, I found that 
 there was no probability of obtaining any to that effect 
 until after the court had actually risen, at which time I re- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 4& 
 
 quested they would furnish me with a further communica- 
 tion. The court rose a few days ago, and I yesterday re- 
 ceived from them the report, a copy of which (No. 3) is now 
 also transmitted, as the suitable accompaniment to their 
 letter of the 22d of July. 
 
 I am happy to find it more satisfactory than that letter ; 
 the letter left it doubtful when the obstructing claim of 
 Madame de la Batut, an outline of which is given in their 
 letter, would be put into a proper shape for examination 
 and settlement. Nor could I urge any longer the expedi- 
 ency of a report by the master, during the existence of the 
 term, under reiterated assurances from our solicitors of 
 what is stated in their letter, viz : that to do so might have 
 led to a course, on the part of the solicitors of Madame de 
 la Batut, productive of more delay and expense than are 
 likely to How from the master's report being withheld 
 until the next term. 
 
 The solicitors' report to me, dated yesterday, besides im- 
 bodying a succinct statement of the steps taken in the 
 cause since the decree in February, shows that the la Batut 
 claim is at length placed upon a footing to be met and de- 
 cided upon by the court, which it has been my constant 
 aim to see effected ; and although they write with caution 
 as to any precise time when a final and favorable decision 
 of the cause on all its points may be expected, their report 
 is encouraging. I can only add, that nothing shall be 
 omitted by me when the court recommences, or during the 
 vacation, towards securing as prompt an issue to the whole 
 proceedings as may be found practicable. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, October 18, 1837. 
 
 SIR: Since transmitting the duplicate of my No.^l5 T 
 nothing material has occurred for your information, 
 long autumnal vacation has been going on, and is not yet 
 expired. The business of the court of chancery has there- 
 
44 SMITHSONIAN EEQUEST. 
 
 fore been at a pause, and no further proceedings have been 
 had in the suit of the United States. 
 
 But I have from time to time called upon the solicitors, 
 ^nd am able to report that they have not been idle during 
 this interval. They have been emplo} T ed in preparing an- 
 swers to certain interrogatories exhibited on the part of 
 Madame la Batut, with a view to establish her claim ; and 
 the strict and careful inquires they have instituted, and 
 will continue to pursue, assure me, although no facts are 
 yet ripe for communication, that the interest of the United 
 States will be well guarded in relation to it. The court 
 will sit again next month, when the steps which the solic- 
 itors have been taking, in anticipation of its recommence- 
 ment, will in due time, I trust, be productive of the proper 
 results. The claim in question has been so vexatiously 
 urged, that my directions have been given for the closest 
 scrutiny into its merits at all points. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 KICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rash to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, October 27, 1837. 
 
 SIR : The court of chancery will resume its sittings next 
 week, and I have this week been in conference with our 
 solicitors, urging them to act expeditiously. Evidence 
 obtained on the la Batut claim, and on other points, now 
 only waits a few forms to go before the master, from whose 
 office a report may be anticipated, as I am confidently told, 
 .at a day not distant after the meeting of the court. I trust 
 that this will be the case, and that the report may be satis- 
 factory. 
 
 At our conferences, the point of a new powef to me from 
 the President, similar to my former one, has been touched 
 upon, it is not considered certain that one will be required ; 
 but is deemed to be safest, 1 find, that I should be armed 
 with one, as the court might possibly ask for it, in the 
 .event of a favorable decree, prior to the final order for de- 
 livering the fund to the United States, even should the 
 defendant's counsel or the Attorney General not raise the 
 
SMITHSONIAN, BEQUEST. 45. 
 
 objection. I will therefore ask the favor of such a power; 
 and as I am at present sanguine in the expectation of a 
 favorable as well as early decision, should nothing unforeseen 
 arise, its transmission as soon as convenient after this re~ 
 quest gets to hand might prove desirable. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary pf State. 
 
 John Forsyth to Richard Rush. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, November 13, 1837. 
 
 SIR : The account heretofore rendered by Mr. Brent, our 
 consul at Paris, for moneys expended by him in precaution- 
 ary measures to obtain for the United States certain prop- 
 erty supposed to belong to the estate of the late Mr. Smith- 
 son, of London, and which formed the subject of a letter of 
 instructions to you, dated the 17th of November last, has 
 been again presented to this Department for consideration. 
 After a proper examination, the President deems it just 
 that the charge for the professional services of Messrs. Cas- 
 taignet and Delagrange should be allowed and paid. You 
 are accordingly authorized and requested to discharge Mr. 
 Brent's bill amounting to 272.25 francs, without unnecessary 
 delay. In the final settlement of your account, this item 
 may be debited to the Smithsonian legacy, if recovered, and 
 if not, to the appropriation for prosecuting the claim of the 
 United States to the said legacy. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, Esq., &c. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, December 16, 1837. 
 
 SIR : The court of chancery met on the 2d of last month, 
 and continues in full session. It was the commencement 
 of the Michaelmas term. 
 
 If I have not written to you since the sittings of the 
 
46 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 court were resumed, it is because I have had, heretofore, no 
 special matter to communicate, although doing all in my 
 power to accelerate the progress of the suit committed to 
 my superintendence, and endeavoring especially to hasten 
 the report of the master on all the matters referred to him 
 by the court's decree of the 1st of February. I mentioned 
 in one of my letters that there were upwards of eight hun- 
 dred suits in arrear in this court, some of which it might 
 have been added involve in their issue sums exceeding in 
 amount the sum claimed by the United States. From this 
 cause, which naturally overburdens with business the offices 
 of the masters, it has in part arisen that the master's report 
 in the suit of the United States has not hitherto been made. 
 
 But at length, this week, it was in readiness to go in, and 
 ivoukl have embraced among other things a favorable report 
 on the claim of Madame la Batut, to the amount of about 
 one hundred and fifty pounds a year, to be paid to her out 
 of the Smithsonian fund during her life. It will be seen 
 how large a reduction lias thus been effected of the demands 
 put forth on her behalf, as my past letters have made them 
 all known to you. Our solicitors have rather a confident 
 opinion that there is a prospect of disproving this demand 
 by further evidence yet attainable in France, and I have 
 consequently directed them to take the proper steps for pro- 
 curing it with all despatch. It is not believed that more 
 than a month will be required for procuring it, and the 
 master's report will be withheld in the mean time. When 
 it arrives, it will be my province to look well to its nature 
 and probable effect, that 1 on the one hand nothing may be 
 lost to which the United States may seem justly entitled, 
 and on the other that the great result of the suit be not put 
 in jeopardy, or injurious delays risked, by doubtful contests 
 for fractional sums. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, December 21, 1837. 
 
 I had the honor to receive on the 18th inst. your in- 
 structions of the 13th of November, authorizing and re- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 47 
 
 questing me to pay an account amounting to frs. 272 r 2 5 5 ^, 
 forwarded to the Department by Mr. Brent, our consul at 
 Paris, the subject-matter of which was formerly made 
 known to me in your letter of the 17th of November, 1836, 
 to which I replied in my No. 6, on the 9th of January fol- 
 lowing ; and I beg leave to say, that on the 19th instant I 
 .accordingly remitted to Mr. Brent the above sum, to be 
 debited, as your letter indicates, to the Smithsonian legacy, 
 jf recovered, * * * and if not, to the appropriation 
 for prosecuting the claim of the United States to the said 
 legacy. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 John Forsyth to Richard Rush. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, December 27, 1837. 
 SIR : Your despatches to No. 17, inclusive, have been re- 
 ceived. In compliance with the request contained in your 
 letter of the 27th of October last, and subsequently urged 
 in your private letter of the 31st of the same month, I 
 transmit to you, enclosed, a new power from the President 
 to provide for the contingency, which you think probable, 
 of such instrument being demanded either by the court, the 
 Attorney General, or the defendant's counsel. 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 RICHARD RUSH, Esq., &c. 
 
 Richard Rash to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, January 30, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I had yesterday the honor to receive your letter of 
 the 27th December, enclosing the President's renewal of 
 ray power to prosecute the Smithsonian claim, and receive 
 the money for the United States whenever the same may be 
 .adjudged. It remains uncertain, as intimated in my com- 
 munication of the 27th of October, whether the exhibition of 
 the new power will be eventually demanded; but even if 
 
 
48 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 not, I trust the President will think it has been erring on' 
 the safe side, after what passed, to have it in my possession. 
 
 After my letter of the 16th of December, I had fully 
 hoped that the evidence of which it makes mention would 
 have been obtained from France before this time ; but it 
 seems that the French attorneys, who were written to upon 
 the subject by our solicitors, mistook some of their instruc- 
 tions at first, which led to delay. They are now in expec- 
 tation of receiving it daily. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to Clarke, Fynmore Fladgate. 
 
 February 3, 1838. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : I understood, when with you on Wednes- 
 day, that the evidence obtained from France would not, in 
 your opinion, be found sufficient to prevent the master^ 
 report embracing an allowance in Madame de la Batut'a 
 favor of about one hundred and fifty pounds a year during 
 her life, with some arrearages calculated on that basis; and 
 the evidence, as you exhibited and otherwise made it known 
 to me, certainly led my mind to the same conclusion. 
 
 You added that, by sending out a commission from the 
 court of chancery to Paris, (a process not yet resorted to,) 
 you thought that evidence might still be obtained to defeat 
 her claim ; on which subject I should be glad to receive an- 
 swers to the following inquiries, as far as in your power to 
 give them to me : 
 
 1st. What would be the probable expense of that process? 
 
 2d. How long before its full execution and return might 
 be expected ? 
 
 3d. Assuming that the evidence, when so obtained, struck 
 your minds, our counsel's, and my own, as sufficient to de- 
 feat the claim ; yet as it might not happen that the legal 
 advisers of Madame de la Batut would take the same view 
 of it, and thence contest its validity before the court, what 
 further delays might such a turn in the case be likely, under 
 all the circumstances, to lead to ? 
 
 As I have so repeatedly made known to you my desire- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 49 
 
 for the speediest decision of the case that may be practica- 
 ble consistently with justice to the United States, I make no 
 apology for asking a reply to these inquiries at as early a 
 day as may be convenient. 
 
 I remain your obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 To Messrs. CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore Fladgate to Richard Rush. 
 
 43 CRAVEN-STREET, STRAND, 
 
 February 8, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 favor of the 3d instant, containing certain queries touching 
 the measures which may be adopted in respect of the claim 
 of Madame de la Batut. 
 
 In reply, we beg to state that, so long as proceedings in 
 the English court of chancery are conducted as amicable 
 suits, when both parties unite in a wish to obtain the direc- 
 tion of the court, without unnecessary delay, it is a matter 
 of no great difficulty to calculate their probable duration; 
 but circumstances sometimes arise, even in such suits, that 
 prove the calculations fallacious. When once, however, a 
 suit ceases to be so conducted, and parties come in whose in- 
 terest it is to throw impediments in the way of a decision, 
 any calculation as to either delay or expense must be a mat- 
 ter of little better than guess. So many unforeseen points 
 may arise, and the practice of the courts affords such facil- 
 ities for a hostile party to obstruct the course of justice, 
 that the most experienced lawyers hesitate before they 
 attempt to give an opinion upon the subject. If in the 
 present case Madame de la Batut's claim be further resisted, 
 the suit will become one to which these observations apply; 
 or Madame de la Batut might perhaps abandon the claim 
 now brought in, and try to impede us by filing an original 
 bill for its establishment. We do not think this likely, but 
 it is not impossible. 
 
 Having said thus much, we will proceed to answer the 
 queries. 
 
 We think that within three months evidence might be 
 obtained of the facts necessary to defeat Madame de la 
 
50 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Batut's claim, and that such evidence might be procured 
 either by sending over a commission to Pans, for the exam- 
 ination of witnesses, or by bringing interrogatories into the 
 master's office for the personal examination of Madame de 
 la Batut and her husband. We now know so much of the 
 case that Madame de la Batut would hardly venture to deny 
 any of the necessary facts ; but this is not quite certain. 
 
 We think that the expense of a commission to examine 
 witnesses would not exceed 150. The expense of inter- 
 rogatories for the examination of Madame de la Batut 
 would be trifling; probably thirty or forty pounds. 
 
 Assuming that the requisite evidence were obtained, we 
 are inclined to think that, notwithstanding Madame dc la 
 Batut's resistance, the suit might be wound up before the 
 rising of the court for the long vacation; but, after the ob- 
 servations we have thought it our duty to make in the early 
 part of this letter, you will be able to judge how far this 
 opinion can be relied on. 
 
 You will bear in mind that the decision of the master is 
 not final. Exceptions may be taken to his report, and ar- 
 gued before the court ; and even an appeal may be brought, 
 against the decision of the vice-chancellor, or master of the 
 rolls, and the cause might be taken to the House of Lords. 
 The delay under such circumstances would be very great. 
 
 We are your very faithful and obedient servants, 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMOKE & FLADGATE. 
 
 KICHARD RUSH, Esq. 
 
 Richard Rush to Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate. 
 
 February 9, 1838. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : Your communication of yesterday's date 
 was received, and is satisfactory by its fulness and candor. 
 
 Under its representations, I determine not to seek further 
 evidence, by a commission to Paris or otherwise, for the 
 purpose of further reducing the claim of Madame de la 
 Batut. 
 
 Let the master's report in this respect be, therefore, made 
 in the state I understood it to have been settled by him ; 
 and, now that I take this determination, I trust that it will 
 be made at a very early day. 
 
 I need scarcely reiterate to you my most earnest wishes 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 51 
 
 for a speedy decision of the case, or my instructions that 
 jou will urge it on with all the expedition in your power. 
 
 In the hope that the decision will be in all things favor- 
 able, as well as speedy, I remain your faithful and obedient 
 .servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 To Messrs. CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, February 12, 1838. 
 
 SIR : The day after my last number was sent off, I received 
 information from the solicitors that some of the evidence 
 expected from France had arrived, but that it was not of 
 validity to repel the claim of Madame de la Batut. From 
 as much, however, as it disclosed, they pronounced a strong 
 opinion that if a formal commission issued from the court, 
 evidence might finally be had that would defeat it. 
 
 On fully weighing what they said, I wrote them a note 
 on the 3d instant, requesting answers to the following 
 inquiries : 
 
 1. What would be the probable expense of a commission ? 
 
 2. How much time would be required for its execution 
 and return ? 
 
 3. Supposing the evidence obtained under it to be suffi- 
 cient in their opinion, our counsel's, and my own, to defeat 
 the claim ; yet, as the legal advisers of Madame de la Batut 
 might not take the same view of it, and thence contest it, 
 what further delays might such a turn in the case become 
 the means of producing ? (I enclose a copy of my note.) 
 
 I received an answer from them dated the 8th, a copy of 
 which is also enclosed. 
 
 Referring specifically to my inquiries, it will be seen 
 
 1. That they estimate the expense of a commission at one 
 liundred and fifty pounds. 
 
 2. That they think it might be executed and returned 
 within three months. 
 
 3. That, assuming the requisite evidence to be obtained, 
 they incline to think the suit might be wound up before the 
 rising of the court for the long vacation, (which means in 
 August next;) but after the introductory observations of 
 their note, which advert to the uncertainty of all previous 
 
52 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 calculations as to the duration of suits in chancery, they 
 leave me to judge how far this opinion of theirs is to be 
 relied upon; and they conclude with an intimation that the 
 case might, in the end, be taken before the House of Lords 
 on appeal ; in which event the delay, they add, would be 
 " very great." 
 
 I have determined, under these circumstances, not to 
 seek further evidence by a commission to France or other- 
 wise for defeating the claim, and accordingly wrote to 
 them, on the 9th instant, to proceed with all expedition in 
 bringing the suit to a close without it. A copy of this note 
 is also enclosed. As to bringing interrogatories into the 
 master's office for the personal examination of Madame de 
 la Batut and her husband, as adverted to in the answer 
 from the solicitors, I say nothing of the objections to that 
 mode of getting at more evidence, the solicitors themselves 
 forestalling me by an admission that they could not be cer- 
 tain of its success. 
 
 I hope that the determination to which I have come will 
 be approved as judicious. This claim has been already, by 
 full scrutiny and resistance, greatly cut down from its origi- 
 nal injustice and extravagance, as a reference to my No. 12, 
 of the 24th of last June, will show. That it might be 
 wholly defeated by going on to pursue measures within our 
 power, I incline to believe. The solicitors tell me that 
 they think so decidedly, and their letter is to the same 
 effect. But it is now necessary to balance the advantage to 
 be gained by doing so against the time and money it would 
 cost. The report in favor of the claimant, as the master 
 has determined to make it in the state of the evidence as now 
 before him, will not, by the information I have received and 
 heretofore communicated, be likely to exceed one hundred 
 and fifty pounds a year, payable during her life; to which 
 will have to be added a few years of arrears, calculated on 
 the basis of whatever may be the precise amount of the annu- 
 ity allowed. The claimant, as far as I can learn, is about sixty 
 years old. Hence, supposing that measures necessary for 
 the total defeat of her claim occupied only another twelve- 
 month, it seems probable that the very cost of the agency 
 for going on with them, added to all unforeseen legal fees 
 and expenses, might prove more than the annuity is worth. 
 That the suit would be lengthened out another twelvemonth 
 by going into the measures in question, can scarcely, I think 
 be deemed a strained inference, from all that the solicitors- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 53 
 
 say in their letter, not to dwell upon contingencies coming 
 within its scope that might make the time longer. Shouloi 
 the suit reach the House of Lords, for example, by appeal, 
 it would not be easy to assign a limit to its duration. 
 
 I trust, therefore, it will be thought that I exercise a 
 proper discretion, as representing the interests of the United 
 States, in determining not to expose myself to any of these 
 hazards, and new ones that might even chance to spring 
 out of them as time was opened for their operation. It 
 seems to me, conclusively, that I should henceforth rather 
 strive to obtain a decision of their suit as speedily as possi- 
 ble, regardless of the small and temporary diminution of 
 the fund, should it be finally adjudged in their favor, which 
 the foregoing payments to Madame de la Batut would occa- 
 sion. Opposition has been effectively made to the claim 
 up to the point, it is believed, that duty enjoined and pru- 
 dence would sanction ; to go farther seems not reconcilable 
 with the latter, under the certain and contingent delays and 
 dangers I set forth. 
 
 The occasion may be a fit one for remarking, that when 
 this claim first assumed a vexatious aspect last summer, my 
 immediate wish and suggestions were to get a decree in 
 favor of the United States for the general fund, leaving 
 such fractional portion of it sub judice as would have been 
 sufficient to satisfy the claim if established ; thus cutting 
 short delay from this source, by which this agency might 
 have had the chance to be closed the sooner, and the bulk 
 of the fund secured to the United States at the earliest 
 possible day. The last I hold an object of pressing im- 
 portance, encompassed, as all law suits more or less are, (to 
 say nothing of the peculiar nature of this,) by hidden risks. 
 But it was part of the vexation of the claim that our legal 
 advisers found the course I desired to pursue impracticable, 
 for the reason mentioned in the letter of the solicitors of 
 the 22d of July, a copy of which was forwarded with my 
 No. 15 on the 19th of August. 
 
 Now that this obstruction is removed from my path by 
 the determination I have taken in regard to it, I indulge 
 the hope that no new one will be thrown across it ; and can 
 only repeat the assurance, that nothing within my power 
 shall be left undone towards accelerating the suit, anxiously 
 desiring, on all public and personal accounts, (if I may 
 speak in the latter sense,) to sec it terminated. 
 
 In the continued hope that the decision, when it comes, 
 
54 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 may be favorable, I have the hoiior to remain, with great 
 respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 EICHARD RUSH. 
 The Hon, JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 S. Pleasanton to John Forsyth. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 
 FIFTH AUDITOR'S OFFICE, March 14, 1838. 
 SIR : In repl} 7 to your letter of this morning, I have the 
 honor to inform you that the amount of the appropriation 
 made by the act of Congress of July 1, 1836, for the ex- 
 penses of prosecuting the claim of the United States to the 
 Smithsonian legacy, was remitted to their bankers in Lon- 
 don, on the 16th of the same month 10,000. 
 
 Of which sum the said bankers have paid to the order of Rich- 
 ard Rush, the agent appointed under that act, from 1st August, 
 
 1836, to 31st December, 1837 $8,493 11 
 
 Applied as follows, viz: 
 
 Agent's salary for one year, ending 31st July, 1837 $3,000 00 
 
 Personal and other expenses (excepting law expenses) 
 same period 2,000 00 
 
 Paid Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate, solicitors, at Lon- 
 don, for various professional services in relation to 
 the legacy 889 77 
 
 Credited to Mr. Rush on accounts rendered by him $5,889 77 
 
 At the above rates of salary and expenses, the agent 
 will be entitled to credit up to 31st December, 1837, 
 exclusive of law expenses for one half year, ending 
 
 with that date 2,500 00 
 
 8,389 77 
 
 Leaving a balance, to be accounted for by him, of $103 34 
 
 The balance remaining unexpended by the bankers, of 
 the appropriation in question, on the 31st of December last, 
 was, as will be perceived from the above statement, 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir, your obedi- 
 ent servant, 
 
 S. PLEASONTON. 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 55 
 
 Eichard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, March 28, 1838. 
 
 SIR : Since the date of my last letter, the report of the 
 master has been duly made, and yesterday it was confirmed. 
 
 This is a step forward in the case which I am at length 
 happy to announce. It is second in importance only to the 
 decree of the court on the whole merits, and has laid the 
 best foundation for speedily obtaining that decree. 
 
 The precise sum that the report allows to Madame de la 
 Batut is one hundred and fifty pounds and nine shillings, to 
 be paid to her annually during her life, with a payment of 
 arrears, to be calculated on this basis, from some period in 
 1834 ; the exact date of which I have not at this moment, 
 but will mention when I next write. 
 
 The court takes a recess next week for the Easter holi- 
 days; these will last until the 17th or 20th of April. The 
 case will be set down for another hearing before the court 
 at as early a day as I can command after it re-assembles. 
 A decree, I am informed, will be pronounced after this 
 hearing on all the facts as settled by the master a favorable 
 one, as I hope, for the United States. 
 
 By the determination I took respecting the claim of Ma- 
 dame de la Batut, as announced in my last, her professional 
 advisers, knowing that she can now get no more than the 
 report allows her, are interested in co-operating with me 
 towards a prompt decision, instead of resorting to adverse 
 proceedings to prolong or thwart it a course which they 
 have been more or less pursuing hitherto. 
 
 On better grounds than ever I think I may, therefore, 
 flatter myself that the case approaches its conclusion; and 
 I will only add that its remaining stages shall be watched 
 by me with a care proportioned to the auspicious results 
 that I believe to be near at hand. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Eichard Hush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, April 24, 1838. 
 
 SIR: The court re-assembled last week, since which I 
 have been doing all that is practicable, by personal calls 
 
56 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 upon the solicitors and otherwise, to urge on the case : and 
 shall continue this course. 
 
 Judging by all they say to me, and my own knowledge 
 of the present situation of the case, I have a confident and, 
 I trust, well-founded belief that May will not elapse with- 
 out its being brought to a hearing. 
 
 Referring to my No. 22, I now beg leave to state that the 
 22d of September, 1834, is the date "from which the annuity 
 allowed by the master's report to Madame de la Batut was 
 to commence; and that the arrears to be paid to her, in the 
 event of a decision in favor of the United States, were to be 
 computed from that time to the 22d of March last. This 
 makes three years and six months, so that the sum due on 
 an annuity of 150 9s. would be 526 11s. 6d. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, May 3, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I am glad to say that the confidence expressed in 
 my last that a hearing of the case was near at hand has been 
 justified, even sooner than I expected, for it was heard on 
 the 1st of this month, and I am now to have the honor of 
 reporting to you the nature of the hearing. 
 
 Mr, Pemberton, our leading counsel, rose, and after re- 
 capitulating the general nature of the case, as formerly 
 heard by the court, proceeded to state that the reference to 
 the master as ordered by the decree in February, 1837, had 
 duly taken place, and that all the requisite evidence had 
 been obtained in England and from Italy and France, as to 
 the facts on the happening of which the United States wore 
 to become entitled to the fund bequeathed by Mr. Smithson 
 for the purpose mentioned in his will. These facts I need 
 not here repeat, being already set forth specially in my No. 
 9, of the 25th of March, 1837. 
 
 Overlooking a volume of matter merely technical in the 
 evidence and report, or now become immaterial to the main 
 points, it will be sufficient to say that it was satisfactorily 
 established by the former that Henry James Hungerford, 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 57 
 
 named in the pleadings, was dead ; that he died at Pisa, in 
 the summer of 1835 ; that he was not married at the ti'me 
 -of his death, nor at any time ; and that he died childless. 
 It was not found how old he was at the time of his death ; 
 nor is that material to any of the issues. As to John Fitall', 
 it was found that he died in London, in June, 1834 ; and as 
 to Madame de la Batut, the mother of Henry James Hun- 
 gerford, the master, on the evidence before him, found her 
 to have a claim on the estate of Mr. Smithson to the 
 amount of one hundred and fifty pounds and nine shillings 
 -a year, payable as long as she lives, and for the arrears of 
 this annual allowance from the 22d of September, 1834, to 
 the 23d of last March. 
 
 The establishment of all the foregoing facts will be found 
 to meet the essential inquiries to which the master's atten- 
 tion was directed by the court's first decree, as reported in 
 my No. 9. Mr. Smithson's will having provided, among 
 otncr things, that on the death of his nephew, Henry James 
 Hungerford, " without leaving child or children," the whole 
 of his property should go to the United States ; and this 
 primary fact being now incontestably established in due and 
 legal form under the authority of the court, and all other 
 proof required by the pleadings obtained, Mr. Pemberton 
 -asked for a decree declaring the United States entitled to 
 the property. The representative of the attorney general, 
 who was present in court, said that he believed everything 
 had been established, as stated, and that the rules relating 
 "to public charities, as applicable to this case, calling for no 
 objection on the part of the Crown, none would be inter- 
 posed a course that falls in with what was said by the same 
 officer on the occasion of the first decree, as reported in my 
 
 jtfo. 7. 
 
 The counsel of the defendants, Messieurs Drummond, 
 agreed also to what was stated, and had nothing to allege 
 in opposition to the claim of the United States. 
 
 The counsel of Madame de la Batut were also content ; 
 the course I took, as made known in my No. 21, having put 
 .an end to opposition from that quarter. 
 
 All essential facts being at length fully and formally es- 
 tablished, and opposition from all quarters quieted by the 
 measures I have directed, there seemed no reason why a 
 -decree in favor of the United States should not at once be 
 pronounced; but Mr. Pemberton having stated that, in the 
 end, a petition would have to be presented for a transfer of 
 
58 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 the fund to me, as representing the United States, the mas- 
 ter of the rolls said that he would pause upon his final 
 decision until that petition was presented. 
 
 It is thus that the case now stands. It will come on 
 again one day next week, and I have every ground for be- 
 lieving that my next communication will inform you of a 
 decree having passed declaring the United States entitled 
 to the fund. 
 
 Should the forms of chancery require any authentication 
 of my power to receive the fund that Mr. Stevenson can 
 give, he will be ready, at any moment, to give it, as he has 
 assured me; and should his important aid be otherwise 
 needed in anyway before the suit is closed, I shall not scru- 
 ple to call upon him, knowing how /A-alously he would 
 afford it. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, May 12, 1838. 
 
 SIR: I have great satisfaction in announcing to you, for 
 the President's information, that the case came on to be 
 heard again on the 9th instant, when a decree was solemnly 
 pronounced, adjudging the Smithsonian bequest to the 
 United States. 
 
 Both my powers had been previously lodged with the 
 court not one only, as stated in newspaper reports of the 
 case ; and no question was raised as to my full authority to 
 receive the money on behalf of the United States, without 
 calling for any further authentication of my powers. 
 
 The suit is therefore ended without fear of more delays ; 
 nothing but a few forms remaining to put me in actual pos- 
 session of the fund. These, I have the hope, may be com- 
 pleted within the present month, 
 
 The fund is invested in the stocks of this country, of 
 which I shall, in due time, have an exact account. The 
 largest portion is in the three per cent, annuities. The 
 entire aggregate amounts to fully one hundred thousand 
 pounds; and this, according to my present information, 
 exclusive of about five thousand pounds to be reserved by 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 5<) 
 
 the court to meet the annual charge in favor of Madame la 
 Batut during her life ; the sum producing it to revert to the 
 United States when she dies. 
 
 As soon as the decree is formally made up, the account- 
 ant general of the court will transfer all the stock to me, 
 under its sanction, except the small sum to be reserved as 
 above. 
 
 Having no special instructions as to what I arnto do with 
 it, my present intention is to sell the whole, at the best time 
 and for the best prices to be commanded, and bring it over 
 in gold for delivery to the Treasurer of the United States, 
 in fulfilment of the trust with which I am charged. But I 
 will reflect further upon the mode of bringing it home,, 
 and adopt that which, under all circumstances, may seem, 
 best. 
 
 The result I announce will, I trust, justify, in the Presi- 
 dent's eyes, the determination I took to let the allowance 
 made to Madame la Batut by the master's report stand 
 without attempting to overset it, whatever might have been 
 the prospect or assurance of ultimate success. The longer 
 the suit lasted, the greater were the risks to which it was 
 exposed. A large sum of money, the whole mentioned 
 above, was to go out of the kingdom, unless an heir could 
 be found to a wandering young Englishman, who had died 
 in Italy at eight or nine and twenty,* and whose mother, 
 never lawfully married, still lives in France. Here was 
 basis enough for the artful and dishonest to fabricate stories 
 of heirship, on allegations of this young Englishman hav- 
 ing been married. That fact assumed, the main stumbling- 
 block to their devices would have disappeared. Fabrica- 
 tions to this effect might have been made to wear the 
 semblance of truth by offers in the market of perjury of 
 Italy, France, and England incidents like these being 
 familiar to history, whether we take public annals, or those 
 of families; and although the combinations, however craft- 
 ily set on foot, might have been defeated in llie end, it is 
 easy to perceive that time and expense would have been 
 required to defeat them. The possibility of their being 
 formed (never to be regarded as very remote while the suit 
 remained open) made it my first anxiety, as it was always 
 my first duty, to have it decided as soon as possible, and to 
 
 * Believed to be the age of Henry James Hungerford, though not found 
 in the master's report. 
 
60 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 take care even that it moved on during its pendency with 
 no more of publicity to its peculiar circumstances than 
 could be avoided. I trust that both these feelings have 
 been discernible in the general current of my letters to 
 you, reporting all the steps I have taken in it from my first 
 arrival. 
 
 Need I add, as a further incentive to despatch, had further 
 been wanting, that events bearing unfavorably upon the 
 public affairs of this country, above all upon the harmony 
 or stability of its foreign relations, would not have failed to 
 operate inauspiciously upon the suit, if in nothing else, by 
 causing stocks to fall. They did begin to fall on the first 
 news of the rebellion in Canada, not recovering until the 
 accounts of its suppression arrived. The case is now be- 
 yond the reach of accident, whether from political causes, 
 or others inherent in its nature; and that its final decision 
 thus early has been brought about by the course adopted 
 in February, I am no longer permitted to doubt. Efirly 
 may at first seem a word little applicable, after one entire 
 year and the best part of a second have been devoted to 
 getting the decision; but when the proverbial delays of 
 chancery are considered, (and the}' could hardly have be- 
 come a proverb without some foundation,) it may not, 
 perhaps, be thought wholly out of place. Although neither 
 the counsel nor solicitors gave their previous advice to the 
 course, it being a point of conduct for my decision rather 
 than of law r for theirs, it is yet satisfactory to be able to 
 state that they approved it afterwards. They regarded it 
 as best consulting the interests of the United States, on every 
 broad view of a case where a great moral object, higher 
 than the pecuniary one, was at stake, enhancing the motives 
 for rescuing it, at the earliest fit moment, from all the un- 
 avoidable risks and uncertainties of the future. A fortnight 
 has not elapsed since it was said in the House of Commons 
 by an able member that " a chancery suit was a thing that 
 might begin with a man's life and its termination be his 
 epitaph." 
 
 On the whole, I ask leave to congratulate the President 
 and yourself on the result. A suit of higher interest and 
 -dignity has rarely, perhaps, been before the tribunals of a 
 nation. If the trust created by the testator's will be suc- 
 cessfully carried into effect by the enlightened legislation of 
 -Congress, benefits may flow to the United States and to the 
 human family not easy to be estimated, because operating 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 61 
 
 silently and gradually throughout time, yet operating not 
 the less effectually. Not to speak of the inappreciable 
 value of letters to individual and social man, the monu- 
 ments which they raise to a nation's glory often last when 
 others perish, and seem especially appropriate to the glory 
 of a republic whose foundations are laid in the presumed 
 intelligence of its citizens, and can only be strengthened and 
 perpetuated as that improves. May I also claim to share 
 in the pleasure that attends on relieved anxiety now that 
 the suit is ended ? 
 
 I have made inquiries from time to time, in the hope of 
 finding out something of the man, personally a stranger to 
 our people, who has sought to benefit distant ages by found- 
 ing, in the capital of the American Union, an institution 
 (to describe it in his own simple and comprehensive lan- 
 guage) FOR THE INCREASE AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 AMONG MEN. I have not heard a great deal. What I have 
 heard and may confide in amounts to this : That he was, in 
 fact, the natural son of the Duke of Northumberland; that 
 his mother was a Mrs. Macie, of an ancient family in Wilt- 
 shire of the name of Hungerford ; that he was educated at 
 Oxford, where he took an honorary degree in 1786 ; that 
 he went under the name of James Lewis Macie until a few 
 years after he had left the university, when he took that of 
 Srnithson, ever after signing only James Smithson, as in his- 
 will; that he does not appear to have had any fixed home, 
 living in lodgings when in London, and occasionally staying 
 a year or two at a time in cities on the continent, as Paris, 
 Berlin, Florence, Genoa, at which last he died; and that 
 the ample provision made for him by the Duke of North- 
 umberland, with retired and simple habits, enabled him to 
 accumulate the fortune which now passes to the United 
 States. I have inquired if his political opinions or bias 
 were supposed to be of a nature that led him to select the 
 United States as the great trustee of his enlarged and phil- 
 anthropic views. The reply has been, that his opinions, as 
 far as known or inferred, were thought to favor monarch- 
 ical rather than popular institutions ; but that he interested 
 himself little in questions of government, being devoted to- 
 science, and chiefly chemistry ; that this had introduced, 
 him to the society of Cavendish, Wollaston, and others 
 advantageously known to the Royal Society in London, of 
 which body he was a member, and to the archives of which 
 he made contributions ; arid that he also became acquainted. 
 
-#2 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 through his visits to the continent, with eminent chemists 
 in France, Italy, and Germany. Finally, that he was a 
 gentleman of feeble health, but always of courteous though 
 reserved manners and conversation. 
 
 Such I learn to have been some of the characteristics of 
 the man whom generations to come may see cause to bless, 
 :and whose will may enrol his name with the benefactors of 
 mankind. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 EICHAED RUSII. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 "A." 
 IN CHANCERY, MAY 12, 1838. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, | Qrdef m farther 
 DRUMMOND. 
 
 C tions. 
 
 AT THE KOLLS, , Master of the Rolls 3 10s. 76. 
 
 IBetween the President of the 
 United States of A merica, 
 
 plaintiff, 
 
 and 
 
 Saturday, the \'2th day oj 
 May, in the first yrar of the 
 
 Charles Drummond and her t 
 
 Majesty's Attorney General, Vlctona > 
 defendants. J 
 
 This cause coming on the 1st day of February, 1837, to 
 l>e heard and debated before the right honorable the master 
 of the rolls, in the presence of counsel learned on both 
 sides, his lordship did order that the plaintiff's bill should 
 T^e amended, by stating the act of Congress passed in the 
 jear 1836; and the said bill being amended in court accord- 
 ingly, upon hearing the same act" of Congress, and also the 
 power of attorney granted to Richard Rush, Esq., men- 
 tioned in the said bill as amended, read, his lordship did 
 order that it should be referred to the master to whom the 
 -cause of Hungerford vs. Drummond stood transferred, to 
 carry on the account directed by the decree of the 15th dayi 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 63 
 
 of December, 1829; and it was ordered that the said 
 master should inquire whether John Fitall, in the pleadings 
 of this cause named, was living or dead ; and if the said 
 master should find that the said John Fitall was dead, then 
 it was ordered that he should inquire and state when he 
 died. And it was ordered that the said master should 
 inquire whether Henry James Hungerford, in the pleadings 
 .also named, was living or dead ; and if the said master 
 .should find that the said Henry James Hungerford was 
 -dead, then it was ordered that he should inquire and state 
 when he died, and whether he was married or unmarried at 
 the time of his decease ; and if married, whether he left 
 .any, and what, children or child him surviving; and the 
 .said master was to inquire and state the ages of such chil- 
 dren, respectively, if more than one. And it was ordered 
 that the said master should inquire and state to the court 
 whether Madame de la Batut had any claim on the said 
 testator Smithson's estate ; and, for the better discovery of 
 the matters aforesaid, the usual directions were given, and 
 his lordship did reserve the consideration of all further 
 -directions, and of the costs of this suit, until after the said 
 master should have made his report. That, in pursuance of 
 the said decree, the said master made his report, dated the 
 23d day of March, 1838, which stands absolutely confirmed 
 by an order dated the 27th day of March, 1838, and thereby 
 -certified he found that the sum of 53 7s. 6d. was justly 
 due and owing to Messrs. Thomas Clarke & Co., the solici- 
 tors for the defendant Charles Drummond, from the estate 
 of the said testator ; and he found that the said John Fitall 
 was dead, and that he died at Bush house, Wanstead, in 
 the county of Essex, on the 14th day of June, 1834 ; and 
 he found that the said Henry James Plungerford assumed 
 the name of De la Batut, and was known as Baron Eunice 
 de la Batut and died at the Royal hotel, called the Donzelle, 
 situate at Pisa, on or about the 5th day of June, 1835, 
 without ever having been married, and without leaving any 
 issue. And the said master certified that he was of opin- 
 ion and did find that the said Mary Ann de la Batut, in her 
 right, was entitled to a claim on the estate of the said tes- 
 tator, James Smithson, for an interest during the life of 
 the said Mary Ann de la Batut, in a moiety of the annual 
 income or sum of 7,673 livres de rentes, in the report men- 
 tioned, amounting in value to the annual sum of 150 9s. 
 sterling money of Great Britain and Ireland, calculated at 
 
64 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 the current rate of exchange in the city of London, on the 
 8th day of March, 1838; and he found -that the income 
 arising from the said French stock or fund, called livres de 
 rentes, was payable and paid half-yearly by the French 
 Government, on or about the 22d day of March and the 
 22d day of September in each year; and he also found that 
 there was due and owing to the said Mary Ann de la Batut, 
 (or the said Theodore de la Batut, in her right,) from the 
 estate of the said testator, James Smithson, the sum of 
 13,427 francs 75 centimes, for arrears of the said annuity, 
 from the 22d day of September, 1834, to the 22d day of 
 March, 1838, amounting in value to 526 Us. <W., sterling 
 money of Great Britain and Ireland, calculated at the cur- 
 rent rate of exchange in the said city of London, as afore- 
 said ; and he found that the annual income or annuity to 
 which the said Mary Ann de la Batut (or the said Theodore 
 de la Batut, in her right) was entitled for her life out of the 
 estate of the said testator, James Smithson, amounting to 
 150 9s. sterling money of Great Britain and Ireland as 
 aforesaid. And whereas the above named plaintiff and 
 Kichard Rush did, on the 3d day of May, 1838, prefer their 
 petition unto the right honorable the master of the rolls, 
 setting forth as therein set forth, and praying that the resi- 
 due of the several stocks, funds, and securities, and cash, 
 respectively, standing in the name of the accountant general 
 of this court, in trust in the cause of Hungerford vs. Drum- 
 mond, and in trust in this cause, which should remain after 
 providing for and satisfying the annual and other payments 
 directed by the will of the said testator, and the costs and 
 charges to which the estate of the said testator had been 
 rendered liable by virtue of the several proceedings and 
 measures aforesaid, or any of them, might be respectively 
 transferred, (the amount thereof to be verified by affidavit,) 
 in the books of the governor and compan} 7 of the Bank of 
 England, and paid to the petitioner, Richard Rush ; and 
 that the boxes and packages mentioned in the said master's 
 report might be delivered into the custody of the petitioner, 
 Richard Rush. Whereupon all parties concerned were 
 ordered to attend his lordship on the matter of the said 
 petition, when this cause should come on to be heard for 
 further directions ; and this cause coming on this present 
 day to be heard before the right honorable the master of 
 the rolls for further directions on the said master's said 
 report, and as to the measure of costs reserved in the said 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 65 
 
 decree, in the presence of counsel learned on both sides : 
 upon opening and debate of the measure, and hearing the 
 said decree, the said report, the said order dated the 27th 
 day of March, the said petition, and the accountant gen- 
 eral's certificates read, and what was alleged by the coun- 
 sel on all sides, his lordship doth declare that the plaintiff 
 is entitled to the residue of the several stocks, and securi- 
 ties, and cash, respectively, standing in the name of the 
 accountant general of this court, in trust in this cause, and 
 also in trust in a certain other cause of Hungerford against 
 Drummond, in the master's report mentioned, and the~other 
 property of James Smithson, the testator, in the pleadings 
 in this cause named, after providing for the payment here- 
 inafter directed ; and it is ordered that the sixty-two 
 thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine pounds nineteen 
 shillings and two pence bank three pounds per cent, annui- 
 ties, twelve thousand pounds reduced annuities, and sixteen 
 thousand one hundred pounds bank stock, respectively, 
 standing in the name of the said accountant general, in 
 trust in the cause of Hungerford vs. Drummond, and the. 
 sum of one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five pounds 
 two shillings cash in the bank, remaining on the credit of the 
 said cause, be respectively carried over in trust in and to 
 the credit of this cause ; and the said accountant general is 
 to declare the trust of the said several sums of stock, 
 accordingly, subject to the further order of this court; and 
 out of the said sum of one thousand seven hundred and 
 seventy-five pounds two shillings cash, when so carried over, 
 and the sum of two hundred and four pounds six shillings 
 and eight pence cash in the bank, on the credit of this 
 cause, it is ordered that the sum of fifty-three pounds seven 
 shillings and six pence be paid to Mr. Thomas George Fyn- 
 more; and thereout, also, it is ordered that the sum of five 
 hundred and twenty-six pounds eleven shillings and six 
 pence be carried over, with the privity of the said account- 
 ant general, and placed to the credit of this cause, to an 
 account to be entitled " The account of the annuitant Mary 
 Ann de la Batut ;" and thereout, also, it is ordered that 
 the sum of twenty-five pounds be paid to Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Fitall, (as executrix of John Fitall, deceased ;) and it is 
 ordered that it be referred to the master to whom this cause 
 stands referred, to tax all parties their costs of this suit, 
 and relating thereto, properly incurred ; the costs of the 
 plaintiff, and of the defendant Charles Drummond, to be 
 5 
 
66 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 taxed as between solicitor and client; and it is ordered that 
 the amount of such costs, when taxed, be paid out of one 
 thousand three hundred and sixty-four pounds nine shill- 
 ings and eight pence cash, which will then be remaining on 
 the credit of this cause, after the several before mentioned 
 payments, in manner following, that is to say : the costs of 
 the said plaintiff to Mr. Thomas Clarke, his solicitor ; and 
 the costs of the defendant Charles Drummond to Mr. Thom- 
 as George Fynrnore, his solicitor; and the costs of her Maj- 
 esty's attorney general, to Mr. George Maule, her solicitor. 
 It is ordered that five thousand and fifteen pounds bank 
 three pounds per cent, annuities, part of the six thousand 
 eight hundred and ten pounds nineteen shillings and seven 
 pence, like annuities, standing in the name of the said ac- 
 countant general, in trust in this cause, and any interest 
 which may accrue on the said sum of five thousand and 
 fifteen pounds bank three pounds per cent, annuities, pre- 
 vious to the carrying over hereby directed, be, in like man- 
 ner, carried over in trust, in this cause, to the separate ac- 
 count of Mary Ann de la Batut, entitled " The account of 
 the annuitant Mary Ann de la Batut," and the said account- 
 ant general is to declare the trust thereof accordingly, sub- 
 ject to the further order of this court. And it is ordered 
 that the interest and dividends thereof, which shall accrue 
 during the life of the said Mary Ann de la Batut, be paid 
 to her during her life, or until the further order of this 
 court, for her separate use, and on her sole receipt, by equal 
 half-yearly payments, on the 22d day of September and the 
 22d day of March in every year;, the first payment thereof 
 to be made on the 22d day of September next. And it is 
 ordered that the said sixty-two thousand seven hundred and 
 thirty-nine pounds nineteen shillings and two pence bank 
 three pounds per cent, annuities, twelve thousand pounds 
 reduced annuities, and sixteen thousand one hundred pounds 
 bank stock, when so respectively carried over, and one 
 thousand seven hundred and ninety-five pounds nineteen 
 shillings and seven pence three pounds per cent, annuities, 
 residue of the said six thousand eight hundred and ten 
 pounds nineteen shillings and seven pence, like annuities, 
 after such carrying over of part thereof as aforesaid, and the 
 residue of the said sum of one thousand three hundred and 
 sixty-four pounds nine shillings and eight pence cash, after 
 the payments thereout hereinbefore directed, (the amount 
 of such residue to be verified by afiidavit,) be transferred 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 67 
 
 .-and paid to Mr. Richard Bush, in the plaintiff's bill named. 
 And it is ordered that the boxes and packages in the mas- 
 ter's report of the twenty-eighth day of June one thousand 
 eight hundred and thirty-one, in the said cause of Ilunger- 
 ford vs. Drummond mentioned, be delivered into the cus- 
 tody of the said Richard Rush, as attorney or otherwise for 
 the plaintiff; and, for the purposes aforesaid, the said ac- 
 countant general is to draw on the bank, according to the 
 form prescribed by the act of Parliament, and the general 
 rules and orders of this court in that case made and pro- 
 vided ; and any of the parties are to be at liberty to apply 
 'to this court as they may be advised. H. H. 
 
 Entered: E. R. 
 
 Richard Rush to Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate. 
 
 MAY 31, 1838. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : I need scarcely again make known to you 
 what I have so frequently urged in person since the decision 
 ^on the 9th instant, viz : my anxiety to have the necessary 
 document from the proper office of the court, by which the 
 Smithsonian fund adjudged to the United States may be placed 
 at my disposal. But, whatever the past obstacles which you 
 may not have been able to prevent, I must ask the favor 
 of your renewed and best exertions for causing me to be put 
 in possession of it at the earliest possible day; the more so, 
 as we are now at the end of the month, and my being in- 
 vested with the requisite authority is an indispensable pre- 
 liminary to arrangements for selling the stock advanta- 
 geously in June, prior to my embarkation with the fund for 
 the United States. Your past attention to the case is a 
 pledge to me that you will do all in your power to fulfil 
 my wishes ; in which assurance I remain, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 To CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, June 5, 1838. 
 
 SIR : With all my exertions to have the forms necessary 
 for putting me in possession of the Smithsonian fund com- 
 
68 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 pleted in May, it will be seen, from the enclosed copy of a 
 letter to me from the solicitors, in reply to one I wrote them 
 on the last of May, (a copy of which is also enclosed,) that 
 it is only to-day that all the forms have been finally and 
 fully completed. 
 
 After getting this information, I went immediately to the 
 proper department of the accountant general of the court of 
 chancery at the Bank of England, and find that there has 
 been transferred to me the following stock, viz : 
 
 1. Sixty-four thousand five hundred and thirty-five pounds 
 eighteen shillings and nine pence in the consolidated three 
 per cent, annuities, commonly called consols by abbrevia- 
 tion. 
 
 2. Twelve thousand pounds in reduced three per cent, 
 annuities. 
 
 3. Sixteen thousand one hundred pounds in bank stock. 
 The books at the bank show the above stock to have been 
 
 regularly transferred to me under the authority of the court 
 of chancery, by the accountant general, as the proper officer 
 of the court, in virtue of the decree reported in my last ; 
 and I have accepted the same on the books, on behalf of 
 the United States, by signing my name to a form of accept- 
 ance drawn out under each transfer. 
 
 The above stock constitutes, with the exception of five 
 thousand and fifteen pounds, the whole property left by Mr. 
 Smithson to the United States, and now recovered for them, 
 with the further exception of some small sum in cash, to 
 which the solicitors refer as still to come from the account- 
 ant general, but of which I have as yet no statement. 
 
 The sum of five thousand and fifteen pounds in consols, it 
 has been decreed by the court is to be reserved and set 
 apart to answer the annuity payable to Madame la Batut ; 
 the principal to revert to the United States on the death of 
 the annuitant. 
 
 I have taken care to instruct the -solicitors to see that 
 there is due proof at all times of the annuitant being in full 
 life as the half-yearly payments are made to her. 
 
 Although the aggregate of the stock transferred as 
 above is under one hundred thousand pounds in its nominal 
 amount, there is no doubt whatever but that the sale of it 
 will yield more than that sum. 
 
 The transfer by the accountant general was made to me 
 only to-day; and this is so far fortunate as that it could not 
 otherwise have been effected as to the principal part of the 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 69 
 
 stock (viz : the three per cent, annuities) until the 17th of 
 July, the books closing after to-day for the transfer of this 
 species of stock until the date I mention. 
 
 The important operation of selling the stock now remains 
 to he conducted, and shall claim my careful attention. I 
 design to go into the city to-morrow, with a view to adopt- 
 ing the earliest measures for this purpose ; taking advice, 
 in aid of my own judgment, for so managing the sales as 
 best to promote the interests of the United States. 
 
 I continue to think that the best mode of bringing home 
 the money will be in gold, in English sovereigns. Ex- 
 change is low, and so will insurance be at this season ; and 
 on all accounts it seems to me the preferable mode in which 
 to realize the fund, and deliver it over to the Treasurer of 
 the United States on my arrival, in final discharge of the 
 trust confided to me. 
 
 I shall hope to make some report of my steps by the next 
 packet ; and in the meantime have the honor to remain, 
 with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore $> Ftadgate to Richard Rush. 
 
 43 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, June 5, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We beg to assure you, in answer to your favor 
 of the 31st of May, that our endeavors to get through the 
 forms necessary for winding up the suit, and putting you 
 into possession of the Smithsonian fund, have not been less 
 urgent and unremitting than have been your applications 
 to ourselves upon the subject. The circumstance of the 
 shutting of the offices of the court of chancery for the holi- 
 days, at a period when they are ordinarily open, and some 
 other petty difficulties not within our control, have, how- 
 ever, prevented our getting through all the forms in the 
 month of May, as we hoped to have been able to do. 
 
 We have now, however, the satisfaction to announce to 
 you that everything is complete, and that the accountant 
 general of the court of chancery has transferred into your 
 jname the several sums following : 
 
 64,535 18 9 consols. 
 12,000 reduced annuities. 
 16,100 bank stock. 
 
70 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 These sums are entirely at your disposal, free from the 
 control of the court of chancery. 
 
 There will be, in addition, a small cash balance, which, 
 in the course of a fey days, you will be able to receive of 
 the accountant general. 
 
 We are, very faithfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, Esq. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, June 13, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I am glad to be able to report to you that the sales 
 of the stock are going on well. 
 
 The whole of the consols have been sold, and part of the 
 bank stock. 
 
 A portion of the consols, viz : 4,535 185. 9d. was sold 
 on the 6th instant for cash, at 94f . This was considered a 
 high price; more could not have been obtained for cash. 
 
 My first desire was to sell all the stock for cash, and im- 
 mediately, that I might the sooner close the whole opera- 
 tion and get away; but such a course I soon found, on the 
 best information and advice, would have been injudicious. 
 
 To have attempted a sale of the bank stock, for example, 
 all at once, would probably have depressed the market lor 
 this particular species of security, and occasioned a loss of 
 several hundred pounds. The reason is, that the dealings 
 in it, contradistinguished from those in the great national 
 stocks, are limited, and confined to a very few persons on 
 the stock exchange. The course which prudence dictated 
 was, to sell it out in small parcels, under careful instruc- 
 tions to the broker on each day of the sale. 
 
 As it thus became necessary, in order to guard against 
 loss, that I should allow myself some little latitude as to 
 time in selling the bank stock, it opened a door the more 
 properly for disposing of the other stock on time, at a 
 short interval ; the more especially if by that mode it could 
 be made to produce a larger sum. 
 
 Accordingly, on the same day that I disposed of a portion 
 of the consols for cash, which served also as a feeler to 
 ascertain the cash price, I caused the whole of what re- 
 mained of this stock, viz : 60,000, to be sold on time for 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 71 
 
 the 6th July, that being the day after dividend day, which 
 falls on the 5th of July. 
 
 It gives me great satisfaction to state that this sale was 
 effected at 95J. 
 
 Up to the day when it was effected, consols had not 
 brought so high a price, as far as I have yet been able to 
 examine the London Mercantile Price Current, for nearly 
 eight years before. 
 
 Two sales have been made of the bank stock, viz : one of 
 3,000, the other of 5,000; the former at 204f, the latter 
 at 204f ; both sales being for the 30th instant, the money 
 payable and stock to be delivered on that day. Should the 
 remainder be sold at these rates, or near them, it will 
 be seen that the bank stock, though in nominal amount 
 only 16,100, as stated in my last, will yield upwards of 
 30,000. 
 
 In the important operations of selling the stock, I am re- 
 ceiving the most beneficial aid from the constant advice and 
 active daily co-operation in all ways of our consul, Colonel 
 Aspinwall, whose long residence in London and ample op- 
 portunities of knowing the mysteries of its great stock 
 market, and the minute details of doing business in it, have 
 given him the ability to aid me. It is thus that I am selling 
 to every advantage. 
 
 None of the three per cent, reduced annuities have yet 
 been sold. We are watching the market with a view to the 
 most favorable moment for disposing of this part of the 
 stock. 
 
 The fortunate point of time was hit for selling out the 
 consols. They have now sunk a little, and, with the excep- 
 tion of momentary intervals, would not have brought as 
 much since the 6th instant as I obtained. 
 
 From the sales made, it is now I think certain that the 
 whole stock will yield from one hundred and three to one 
 hundred and five thousand pounds, apart from the five 
 thousand and fifteen to be retained here during the life of 
 Madame la Batut. 
 
 From the successful manner in which they are prodfeed- 
 ing, it seems clear also, at the present time, that the fund, 
 independent of the accumulations of interest, will be richer 
 in the state in which I shall deliver it over to the United 
 States, than it was in the summer of 1835, when their right 
 to it first attached by the death of Henry James Hunger- 
 ford. 
 
72 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Left to myself to make the most of the fund after recover- 
 ing it from chancery, which depended so much on the sale 
 of the stock, it has not been without full consideration that 
 I did not call on the Messrs. Rothschild to sell it all, for 
 which their experience and situation here, besides being the 
 bankers of the United States, might have seemed to point 
 them out. But, first, they would, I take for granted, have 
 charged a commission of one per cent., to which I could 
 not have objected, as it is allowed here, apart from the 
 broker's commission, and by the chamber of commerce at 
 New York on effecting sales of stock ; whilst Colonel Aspin- 
 wall charges me no such commission, and I much desired 
 to save the amount of it to the fund, if, with his efficient 
 aid, I could conduct the sales confidently and advanta- 
 geously myself. But, secondly, if the former, as the bankers 
 of the United States, would have performed the task with- 
 out charge, I should not have been the less disinclined to 
 place it in their hands, having had no instructions to do so, 
 and, being without these, I could only exercise my best dis- 
 cretion. "They are, as I in common with others here sup- 
 pose, very large dealers in stock on their own account, as 
 occasion may serve ; and hence may naturally be supposed 
 to desire sometimes a rise, sometimes a fall, in these ever- 
 fluctuating things. With more than a hundred thousand 
 pounds to throw upon the market, I therefore thought it 
 best, acting on a general rule .of prudence in all business, to 
 keep the operation of selling entirely clear of every quarter 
 where any insensible bias might, by possibility even, exist 
 to a course other than that which would regard alone the 
 Smithsonian fund. 
 
 I design to leave no sale outstanding after the 6th of July. 
 The subsequent steps, however, for obtaining the gold, and 
 those necessary in various ways for shipping it, will render 
 it impracticable for me to embark with it in the packet 
 which sails from Portsmouth on the 10th of July, that 
 packet leaving London always on the 7th. But I will fol- 
 low in the succeeding one of the 20th of July, which leaves 
 this port on the 17th, before which time I trust that every- 
 thing will have been fully and satisfactorily closed, as far 
 as the trust can be closed here. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 73 
 
 Richard Eush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, June 26, 1838. 
 SIR : Since my No. 27, the sales of the stock have been 
 
 .going on from time to time, and at length are finally 
 
 -closed. 
 
 They have all been good perhaps I may say fortunate. 
 The prices have been high, as compared with the state of 
 
 -the stock market for several years past; and I ana con- 
 fidently informed that, from the time the stock came under 
 my control until I sold it all, no higher prices were ob- 
 
 -tained by any private seller than I obtained. 
 
 The whole of the reduced three per cent, annuities 
 
 (12,000) sold at 94. This description of stock is never as 
 high as consols, but 94 is reputed nearly, if not quite, as 
 good a price, in proportion to its general value in the English 
 
 'stock market, as the 95 J- I obtained for the consols. 
 
 Of the bank stock unsold at the date of my last, (viz: 
 
 .8,100,) I obtained 205 for 5,000, and 205J for the re- 
 maining 3,100. Both these prices, it will be perceived, 
 
 .are higher than the former ones I obtained for this stock. 
 The" entire amount of sales has more than realized the 
 
 -anticipations held out in my No. 27, having yielded an ag- 
 gregate of rather more than one hundred and five thousand 
 pounds, as will be seen when I come to render a more par- 
 ticular statement. The two days on which I am to make 
 
 .all the transfers are the 30th of this month and 6th of July. 
 The money will all be received simultaneously. 
 
 Immediately afterwards I shall take measures for convert- 
 ing the whole into English gold coin, having finally deter- 
 mined that this is the '"proper mode in which to bring the 
 money to the United States, under the trust I have in hand. 
 It appears to me the right course in itself, independent of 
 
 -any question of exchange, considering the peculiar object 
 
 -and terms of the law of Congress of the 1st of July, 1836, 
 under which I am acting. But by the rate of exchange, as 
 
 quoted at New York under the last dates, there would be a 
 gain to the United States, by the best calculations I can 
 now make, (though I am aware how exchange is ever liable 
 to fluctuate,) of upwards of a thousand pounds on bringing 
 over the money in gold rather than remitting it in bills. 
 This would help to cover the commissions on shipping the 
 former, effecting insurance upon it, and paying the premium 
 
 of insurance, as well as charges for freight and those that 
 
74 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 have been incurred on selling the stock. All these opera- 
 tions demand mercantile agencies and assistance, to which 
 I am inadequate in my own person, beyond superintending 
 them and seeing that they are rendered justly. I will take 
 care that these expenses are kept within limits as moderate 
 as possible, consistently with having the business regularly 
 done according to mercantile usage in operations of the 
 same nature, so that the fund, in bearing its own unavoid- 
 able expenses, may be encroached upon as little as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 I have not yet been able to get from the solicitors a state- 
 ment of the costs of the suit, but will not fail to obtain it 
 before I embark. The final payments under this head, and 
 those I shall be called upon to make for services enumerated 
 above, can scarcely be completed but at the last moments 
 of my stay; hence I may not be able to transmit an account 
 of them to you until I arrive at New York, where also the 
 freight will have to be paid. 
 
 In reporting to you the final decision of the court, 1 
 omitted to mention some particulars not at first accurately 
 known to me, but necessary to be now stated, viz : 526- 
 11s. Qd. were decreed to be paid out of the fund to Madame 
 la Batut, as her arrears ; 25 as arrears found to be due to- 
 John Fitall, the annuitant under the will ; and, lastly, 
 53 7s. Qd. as due for the use of certain warehouse-rooms in 
 London. The two first items explain themselves, after all I 
 have written. The third has reference to some personal 
 property left by the testator, contained, as I understand, in 
 thirteen boxes or trunks deposited in the warehouse-rooms- 
 specified. I have had no opportunity as yet of examining the 
 contents of these boxes, but am informed that they consist 
 chiefly of books unbound, manuscripts, specimens* of min- 
 erals, some philosophical or chemical instruments, and a 
 few articles of table furniture. The contents of the whole 
 are supposed to be of little intrinsic value, though parta 
 may be otherwise curious. As all now belong to the United 
 States, under the decree of the court, I shall think it properi 
 to have them shipped when the gold is shipped, paying all 
 reasonable charges. 
 
 ^ Having more than once spoken of the possibility of ficti- 
 tious claimants starting up for the Smithsonian bequest,, 
 perhaps I may here be allowed to mention what the solicitors 
 have informed me of, viz : that since the decision, two claim- 
 ants have presented themselves at their office, neither having 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 7& 
 
 any connexion with the other. When the decision was pro- 
 nounced, the sura recovered was also proclaimed in the 
 London newspapers, which had probably awakened these 
 claimants into life. The solicitors add that one of them 
 desired, somewhat importunately, to know if the case could 
 not be reheard in court? It is needless to remark that ha 
 was told he was a little too late in his application. 
 
 I will use this opportunity the last I may perhaps have 
 of writing to you before I embark, from the engagements 
 likely to press upon me in getting the fund ready for ship- 
 ment and clearing off all necessary expenses to say a word 
 of our professional advisers. Of the counsel I selected it i 
 unnecessary for me to speak; their established reputation 
 in the highest department of their profession putting them 
 above any testimonial from me. But of the solicitors, as 
 they move in one of its less conspicuous fields, I will barely 
 take the liberty of saying that more attention, diligence, 
 discretion, and integrity could not, I believe, have been ex- 
 erted by any persons than they have shown throughout the 
 whole suit, from first to last. Could they ever have for- 
 gotten what was due to the United States and to themselves, 
 in the desire to eke out a job, nothing is plainer to me, from 
 what has been passing under my observation of the entan- 
 glements and delays natural to a heavy suit in the English 
 court of chancery, than they might have found opportunities 
 in abundance of making this suit last for years yet to come. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate to Richard Rush. 
 
 CRAVEN STREET, July 5, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : At the time of the decease of the late Henry 
 James Hungerford, Esq., which happened on the 5th June, 
 1835, there was standing in the name of the accountant 
 general of the court of chancery, to the credit of the cause 
 Hungerford vs. Drummond, the several sums following, 
 viz : 
 
 62,739 19s. 2d. bank 3 per cent, annuities ; 
 12,000 3 per cent, reduced annuities ; 
 16,100 bank stock. 
 
 And if these several funds had then been sold, they would 
 have realized the sum of 102,991, or thereabouts; but 
 
76 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 owing to the proceedings which were necessary to be insti- 
 tuted in the court of chancery, the funds were not trans- 
 ferred into your name until the 5th June, 1838. We are 
 happy to inform you that, notwithstanding this delay, no 
 loss has been occasioned to the United States, as, according 
 to the market prices of the funds on the last-mentioned 
 day, the funds were then worth 103,888, being an excess 
 of 897 beyond the value on the 5th June, 1835, the date 
 of Mr. Hungerford's death. 
 
 The whole of the costs of the chancery suit amounted to 
 723 7s. 11^., so that the increase in the value of the funds 
 was sufficient to pay the whole of these costs, and leave a 
 surplus of 173 12-s. Id. 
 
 In making out the above statement, the dividends upon 
 the fund* have not been taken into account, but the United 
 States receive them in addition to the original fund. 
 
 The United States do not, however, receive the whole 
 amount of such dividends now, as a portion of them was 
 invested in stock, of which 5,015 has bec-n appropriated to 
 answer an annuity of 150 9s. to Miidume de la Batut, upon 
 whose decease the same will become the property of the 
 United States. 
 
 The sums in court, at the last hearing of the cause, were 
 as follows, viz : 
 
 62,739 19s. 2d. bank three per cent, annuities ; 
 
 6,810 19 7 like annuities; 
 12,000 reduced annuities ; 
 16,100 bank stock ; 
 1,765 2 cash; 
 204 6 8 cash; 
 
 These sums have been appropriated as follows, viz : 
 62,739 19s. Id. bank 3 per cent, annuities ; 
 
 1,795 19 7 part of 6,810 19s. Id. like annuities ; 
 
 64,535 18 9 bank 3 per cent, annuities ; 
 12,000 reduced annuities; 
 
 Trans'd into 
 the name of 
 R'd. liu>h, 
 Esq. 
 
 16,100 bank stock; 
 5,015 reduced bank annuities, residue of 6,810 19s. Id. 
 retained in court to answer annuity to Madame de 
 la Batut ; 
 
 406 3 paid to plaintiff's solicitors for their costs ; 
 162 15 5 paid to defendants' solicitors for costs ; 
 53 7 6 paid to plaintiff's solicitors for warehouse-room, 
 
 paid by them to Messrs. Deacon ; 
 
 626 11 6 paid to Madame de la Batut for arrears of her an- 
 nuity ; 
 
 25 paid to Mrs. Fitall for arrears of annuity ; 
 /O 7 8 paid to solicitor for defendant the attorney general, 
 
 for costs ; 
 725 3 7 balance of cash paid to K. Hush, Esq. 
 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 77 
 
 Herewith we send you a complete copy of our bill of costs, 
 amounting altogether to 490 4s. lOd. ; and we have re- 
 ceived the following sums on account of costs, viz : 
 
 s. d. 
 April 10, 1837, of Kichard Rush, Esq 200 4 
 
 June 11, 1838, of accountant general, for plaintiff's taxed costs 406 3 
 
 606 7 
 
 The latter sum exceeding our bill of costs by 116 2s. 2d., 
 leaves us in debt to the United States to that amount, for 
 which we beg leave to enclose our check. 
 
 We may here remind you of the information on the sub- 
 ject of costs, which we had before given you verbally, viz : 
 that the court allows against the fund certain ordinary 
 costs ; and such costs have been received by us from the 
 accountant general, as before stated. In consequence, how- 
 ever, of the line of conduct adopted by us, under your 
 own directions, to ensure a speedy and successful termina- 
 tion of the suit, some small extra costs have been incurred 
 beyond what are considered ordinary costs. 
 
 We have, as you requested, had a lock placed upon the 
 trunk* in our possession, having previously deposited therein 
 the several articles of plate and other matters, which we 
 mentioned to you as being in our possession, and of which 
 articles we enclose you a list. 
 
 We are, dear sir, your faithful and obedient servants, 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 P. S. We also return to you the memoranda which you 
 left with us as to the stock. 
 
 Clarke, Fynmore $ Fladgate to Eichard Rush. 
 
 CRAVEN STREET, July 11, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We have made the affidavit which you re- 
 quired to verify the bill of costs, and which we now return 
 to you. 
 
 We also send you the original order on further directions^ 
 under which the several transfers of the funds have been 
 made into your name. This order has the initials of the 
 registrar, as also of the entering clerk, placed at the foot of 
 
 * One of the 14 mentioned in my despatch No. 32, 
 
78 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 it; this being the mode adopted in the court of chancery to 
 show the authenticity of their orders. 
 
 We also send you a transcript from the books of the ac- 
 countant general, certified by Mr. Lewis to be a true copy, 
 Mr. Lewis being the clerk whose duty it is to make such 
 transcript. The sum of 70 7s. 8d., appearing still to re- 
 main on the general credit of the cause, is reserved for the 
 costs of the attorney general, and will be paid over to his 
 solicitor upon his applying for the amount; and the cash 
 standing to the account of Sirs, de la Batut is for the arrears 
 of her annuity, and w r ill be paid to her. 
 
 We have seen Mr. Deacon upon the subject of his charge 
 for warehouse-room beyond the 24th ultimo, and have paid 
 him for the same 2 ; and we have also paid 4s. Qd. for 
 swearing to our bill of costs, which is the whole of our 
 demand against you. 
 
 Mr. Deacon informed us when we saw him that he had 
 in his possession a painting belonging to the estate, and 
 which he promised should be sent over to your house, and 
 which we presume he has done; but should he not have 
 done so, perhaps you will be good enough to apply to him 
 for it. 
 
 We will thank you to send us an acknowledgment for the 
 different boxes we have handed you. 
 
 We are, dear sir, your very faithful servants, 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, Esq. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 79 
 
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 George 
 
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 t account 
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 us 
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 osts ____ 
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 omas Cl 
 chard R 
 homas 
 
 citors' c 
 s. Eliz'h 
 
 ore 
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 paid Ric 
 paid T 
 ore, solic 
 paid Mrs. 
 
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 2 "2 S^^^a S rj 
 
 5 Ml 15,1 
 
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80 
 
 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 The President of the United States of America vs. Dmmmond* 
 
 The account of the annuitant Mary Ann de la Batut. 
 DR. CR - 
 
 1838. 
 
 June 2. By the President of the United 
 States of America vs. Drum- 
 mond, for the bank 3 per 
 cent, annuities brought over 
 
 June 7. By the said cash for cause, 
 
 brought over 526 11 G 
 
 July 11. By cash received, six months 
 interest on 5,015, bank 3 
 per cent, annuities 75 4 6 
 
 5,015 
 
 I do hereby certify this to be a true copy of the books of the accountant 
 general of the high court of chancery. 
 
 BKNJ. LEWIS, 
 
 Clerk of the above accountant general. 
 CHANCERY LANE, July, 1838. 
 
 IN CHANCERY. 
 
 Between the President of the United States of America, Plaintiff, 
 
 and 
 Charles Drummond and Her Majesty's Attorney General, Defendants, 
 
 The bill of costs of the above-named plaintiff in this suit and 
 incidental thereto. 
 
 Sept. 16, 1836. Mr. Fladgate's attendance on Mr. Rush, on 
 the part of the United States, at the Portland hotel, by ap- 
 pointment, when Mr. Rush requested that two of the firm 
 
 should at least attend 
 
 Writing to Mr. Rush, fixing appointment for conference with 
 
 him on Tuesday, at 11 o'clock 
 
 Sept. 20. Mr. Clarke and Mr. Fladgate's attendance on Mr. 
 Rush, fully explaining to him the course which it apppared 
 to us should be taken on the part of the executors to bring 
 the claim of the United States under consideration, and also 
 the necessity of making Madame de la Batut and the attor- 
 ney general parties ; and reading to him the case laid before 
 Mr. Stuart, and his opinion, of which he wished to have a 
 
 "copy 
 
 Copy case and opinion for him 
 
 Attending him therewith 
 
 Oct. 3. Writing to Mr. Rush, in reply to letter from him 
 
 Oct. 7. Writing to Mr. Rush, to fix appointment for confer- 
 ence on Thursday next 
 
 Oct. 10 Mr. Clarke and Mr. Fladgate's attendance on Mr. 
 Rush, by appointment, to peruse case drawn out by him for 
 counsel to advise the American Government as to course 
 to be pursued to obtain payment of the fund in court, and 
 
 d. 
 
 6 8 
 5 
 
 5 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 81 
 
 s. d. 
 
 advising as to the counsel to be retained, and received direc- 
 tions to submit case to Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Jacob : __ 168 
 
 Paid coach-hire 1 6 
 
 Oct. 11. Looking through the papers in our possession, to 
 compare them with statement in Mr. "Rush's case, and alter- 
 ing the latter in one or two particulars, engaged two hours, 110 
 
 Two copies of case for counsel, four sheets each 168 
 
 Two copies of act of American Congress, to accompany same, 
 
 three sheets each 100 
 
 One copy of order on further directions in the cause of Hun- 
 gerford vs. Drummond, also to accompany case, to show the 
 
 precise position of the funds in court 110 
 
 Attending at Doctor's Commons to bespeak an office-copy will 
 
 of Mr."Smithson for Mr. Rush, at his request 6 8 
 
 Attending afterwards to examine and procure same 6 8 
 
 Paid for same 6 4 
 
 Oct. 13. Writing to Madame de la Batut, as to her demands, 
 and requesting her to appoint a solicitor here to act in the 
 
 suit about to be instituted by the United States 5 
 
 Attending Mr. Kush with theVair copies of cases for his peru- 
 sal and signatures, and we also returned him his authority, 
 
 and handed him office-copy will 13 4 
 
 Attending Mr. Pemberton with case 6 8 
 
 Fee to him therewith, and clerk 11 6 
 
 Fee to him for conference with Mr. Jacob, and clerk 296 
 
 Attending to get same appointed 6 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Jacob with case, and clerk 8 15 
 
 Attending him therewith and thereon 6 8 
 
 Fee to him for conference, and clerk 246 
 
 Attending to inform him of time appointed 6 8 
 
 Nov. 2. Attending consultation, Mr. Kush being present, 
 when the course to be pursued on behalf of the United 
 States was very fully considered, and it was determined 
 that a supplemental bill should be filed in the name of the 
 President of the United States of America, and the attorney 
 general made a defendant, and counsel promised to write 
 
 their opinion 220 
 
 Nov. 5. Copy of opinion for Mr. Rush 5 
 
 Writing to him, with same 5 
 
 Nov. 14. Mr. Clarke and Mr. Fladgate's attendance upon 
 Mr. Rush, as to the bill proposed to be filed, and his sugges- 
 tions as to the possibility of an abatement from the want of 
 a plaintiff, and explaining the course of practice to him 168 
 
 MICHAELMAS TERM, 1836. 
 
 Instructions for bill 13 4 
 
 Drawing same, folios 30 1 10 
 
 Paid fee to Mr. Shadwell to settle and sign, and clerk 2 46 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Attending M,r. Shadwell, advising hereon and as to Madame 
 de la Batut's claim, and explaining the same fully to him, 
 and conferring on several points arising, and particularly on 
 
 the nature of the property left by Mr. Smithson 6 8 
 
 Fair copy bill for Mr. Pemberton to peruse and finally settle, 
 
 folios 30 10 
 
 Fee to him and clerk 246 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Pemberton, appointing a conference hereon at 
 
 Westminster 6 8 
 
 6 
 
82 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 .1. d. 
 
 Paid fee to Mr. Pemberton and clerk thereon 296 
 
 The like to Mr. Shadwell and clerk 1 3 6 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Writing to Mr. Kush informing him thereon 5 
 
 Attending consultation, Mr. Rush being present, at Westmin- 
 ster, when it was determined not to make Madame de la 
 
 Batut a party to suit 168 
 
 Paid for room 5 
 
 Attending Mr. Shadwell afterwards to procure draught bill 
 
 as settled 6 8 
 
 Engrossing bill 15 
 
 Paid for parchment 10 
 
 Paid filing bill 7 4 
 
 Attending, bespeaking, and afterwards for office-copy bill to 
 
 serve on the attorney general 6 8 
 
 Paid for same 150 
 
 Attending the attorney general therewith 6 8 
 
 Drawing praecipe for subpoena against defendant, Charles 
 
 Drummond, and attending to bespeak, and for same 6 8 
 
 Paid for subpO3na, and making copy to serve 5 10 
 
 Fee on obtaining, and undertaking to appear for defendant, 
 
 Drummond 6 8 
 
 Nov. 20. Attending Mr. Wray to press for answer of attor- 
 ney general, and explaining to him the reason of our urging 
 the same, when he promised to prepare answer immediately ; 
 Mr. Rush's invariable direction to us being to use all prac- 
 ticable speed touching every point of the proceedings 6 8 
 
 The defendant, Charles Drummond, wishing his answer to be 
 
 taken without oath or signature, the solicitor's fee thereon 6 8 
 
 Drawing and engrossing petition for same 4 
 
 Attending the defendant's clerk in court, and obtaining his 
 
 consent thereto 6 8 
 
 Attending to present the same 6 8 
 
 Paid answering, and for order, and entering 7 
 
 Copy and service of order 2 
 
 Writing to Mr. Rush to inform him when it was likely the 
 
 cause would be heard _* 5 
 
 Paid for office-copy answer of defendant, Charles Drummond, 
 
 folios 16 13 4 
 
 Close copy 5 4 
 
 Attending Messrs. Derby and Raven to inform them answer 
 of defendant, Drummond, was filed, and to request them to 
 
 lose no time in putting in answer of attorney general 6 8 
 
 January, 1837. Several attendances upon Messrs. Derby and 
 Raven and Mr.Wray to urge the filing of the attorney gen- 
 eral's answer, which was at length done 13 4 
 
 Paid for office-copy answer of attorney general, folios 4 3 4 
 
 Close copy 1 4 
 
 Term fee, clerk in court and solicitor 16 8 
 
 Letters and messengers 5 
 
 Abbreviating bill and' answer, folios 50 in all.! 11111111'! 16 8 
 
 Making two briefs of pleadings, 5 sheets each 113 4 
 
 Paid for certificate of pleadings 3 4 
 
 Attending for same 6 8 
 
 Paid for setting down cause and attending! !!!!_!!!!!!! 158 
 
 Drawing prsecipe for subpoena to h<;ar judgment, and attend- 
 ing for same g 3 
 
 Paid for same and copy 5 10 
 
 Service on the clerks in court 5 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 83 
 
 HILARY TERM, 1837. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Affidavit of service, &c 3 4 
 
 Oath 1 6 
 
 Paid filing affidavit 6 2 
 
 Copy title and prayer of bill for judge 2 6 
 
 Attending to bespeak, and afterwards for certificate of funds 
 
 in court in original suit 6 8 
 
 Drawing observations to annex to plaintiff's briefs, 4 brief 
 
 sheets 168 
 
 Two briefs copies thereof 168 
 
 Two copies order on further directions in original suit, to ac- 
 company briefs, 7 sheets each 268 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush on his handing us the act of Congress 
 authorizing him to act, and on his instructing us to let a 
 
 copy of the same accompany the briefs 6 8 
 
 Two brief copies same, 3 sheets each 100 
 
 Drawing proposed minutes of orders 5 
 
 Fee to Mr. Shadwell, to settle same 136 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Two fair copies minutes to annex to briefs 5 
 
 Two do. for defendants 5 
 
 Attending them therewith and thereon 6 8 
 
 Attending the defendant's solicitors ; obtaining their consent 
 
 to have cause heard short 13 4 
 
 Attending Mr. Shadwell, and obtaining his certificate thereof- 6 8 
 Attending registrar therewith, and getting cause marked 
 
 short, and put in the next short-cause paper 6 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Pemberton and clerk, with brief 6 10 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 The like to Mr. Shadwell and clerk 356 
 
 Fee to Mr. Pemberton and clerk, on conference as to the prac- 
 ticability of having cause short 160 
 
 Attending him 13 4 
 
 Attending appointing consultation 6 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Pemberton and clerk 296 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Like to Mr. Shadwell and clerk 136 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 "Writing Mr. Rush, informing him thereof 5 
 
 Attending consultation at Westminster, Mr. Clarke and Mr. 
 
 Fladgate 168 
 
 Paid for room and cab-hire_ ; 7 6 
 
 Attending, ascertaining if the several articles mentioned in 
 the master's report in the original cause were safe, and com- 
 paring same with the schedule__ 13 4 
 
 Two brief copies schedules to annex to brief, at Mr. Rush's 
 
 request 10 
 
 Attending bespeaking transcript of the account in original 
 
 suit 6 8 
 
 Paid for same 140 
 
 Writing Mr. Rush, informing him when cause would be in 
 
 the paper 5 
 
 Mr. Clarke and Mr. Fladgate attending court, cause heard 
 and decreed according to minutes agreed on, with liberty 
 for plaintiff to amend his "bill by adding the act of Con- 
 gress 220 
 
 Paid court fees 13 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush afterwards, and explaining proceedings 
 
 to him__ 13 4 
 
84 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Drawing petition to amend bill 4 
 
 Attending to present same . 6 8 
 
 Paid answering, and for order and entering 7 
 
 Two copies and services of order 5 
 
 Instructions to amend 13 4 
 
 Drawing amendments, folios 6 G 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Shadwell and clerk, to settle and sign 136 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Engrossing amended bill, folios 36 18 
 
 Paid for parchment 10 
 
 Paid filing 7 4 
 
 Abbreviating amended bill, folios 86 12 
 
 Two brief copies of amendments for counsel 10 
 
 Paid for ofiice-copy amended bill, to serve on the attorney 
 
 general, folios 36 1 10 
 
 Attending Messrs. Derby & Co., therewith and thereon 6 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Pemberton and clerk, with amended bill 2 4 .6 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 The like to Mr. Shadwell and clerk 136 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Drawing praecipe for subpoena, and attending to bespeak 
 
 same 6 8 
 
 Paid for same, and making copy to serve 6 10 
 
 Service on clerk in court 5 
 
 Attending registrar, and getting cause put in the paper 6 8 
 
 Writing to solicitors for the defendants, informing them 
 
 thereof 10 
 
 Attending court order made 168 
 
 Paid court fees 13 Q 
 
 Instructions for petition to lay out 6,172 9s., cash accumu- 
 lated in Hungerford vs. Drummond 6 8 
 
 Drawing same, folios 40 200 
 
 Fee to Mr. Shadwell and clerk, to peruse and settle same"___ 246 
 
 Attending him g g 
 
 Engrossing petition to present, as settled, folios 30 10 
 
 Copy for the master of the rolls 10 
 
 Attending to present same 6 8 
 
 Paid answering H Q 
 
 Two copies petition to serve ~"~~~. 100 
 
 Attending serving same '."._._. 4 
 
 Two brief copies for counsel, 3 brief-sheets each 100 
 
 Drawing observations to annex to brief petition, 2 sheets .. 13 4 
 
 Two fair copies _ 13 4 
 
 Drawing and engrossing affidavit of service of petition ._ 4 10 
 
 Paid oath t j 2 
 
 Paid filing and for office copy I~" 6 6 
 
 Fee to Mr. Shadwell and clerk therewith 246 
 
 Attending him g g 
 
 Attending accountant general for, and obtaining certificate"' 6 8 
 
 Attending court petition heard, and ordered as prayed 13 4 
 
 Paid court fees 13 
 
 Writing Mr. Bush, at his request, a report of 'the proceedings 
 
 in court 5 O 
 
 Paid for minutes of order 2 
 
 Xllose copy 
 
 Attending settling ~' g Q 
 
 Paid for order 200 
 
 Attending passing g g 
 
 Paid entering 4 A 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 85 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Drawing request to accountant general 2 6 
 
 Attending bespeaking investment 6 8 
 
 Paid 4 
 
 Paid for copy of minutes of decree 3 
 
 Olose copy 1 6 
 
 Attending settling 13 4 
 
 Copy of minutes for Mr. Rush, and writing him therewith 
 
 and thereon 6 6 
 
 Paid for decree 4 10 
 
 Attending passing 13 4 
 
 Paid entering 4 
 
 Attending 6 8 
 
 Attending at the public office, to obtain the name of the master 
 
 in the original cause 6 8 
 
 Paid master's clerk 1 
 
 Making copy title, and ordering part of decree for the master 5 
 
 Warrant to consider decree, two copies, and services 6 
 
 "Writing Mr. Rush, informing him thereof, in order to ensure 
 
 his attendance 6 
 
 Attending warrant when master ordered the usual advertise- 
 ment to be issued, and a state of facts, &c., to be brought in 
 as to Madame Batut's claim, and stated that he could not 
 direct inquiries to be made at Pisa, as to the death of Mr. 
 Hungerford, but would allow the costs thereon if instituted- 13 4 
 
 Attending at Stepney church to search for burial of John 
 
 Fitall, but found he was not buried there 110 
 
 Paid search and coach hire 2 6 
 
 Attending Mrs. Fitall, but she declined giving any informa- 
 tion, as the last quarterly payment had not been made 6 8 
 
 -Attending at various places in the neighborhood to inquire 
 where he was buried, when some persons said in the country, 
 others at Fletcher's chapel, and others at Saint George's in 
 the East, and ultimately discovered a relative, who informed 
 
 us that he was buried at Shadwell 13 4 
 
 .Attending at Shadwell church, clergyman and clerk both out, 
 
 and could not search 13 4 
 
 Paid coach hire 5 
 
 Attending bespeaking advertisement as to Mr. Hungerford's 
 
 death 6 8 
 
 "Paid master's clerk 110 
 
 Attending bespeaking advertisement as to Madame de la Ba- 
 tut's claim 6 8 
 
 . Paid master's clerk 110 
 
 .Attending at Shadwell, searching for and obtaining certificate 
 
 of Mr. Fitall's death 110 
 
 Paid for certificate and omnibus hire 5 
 
 Instructions for affidavit verifying extract 6 8 
 
 Drawing same, folics 8 8 
 
 Engrossing same 2 8 
 
 Attending swearing 6 8 
 
 Paid oath and exhibit : 4 
 
 Drawing and fair copy state of facts as to Fitall's death, folios 
 
 12 8 
 
 Warrant on leaving same, copy, and service 6 
 
 .Attending Mr. Cullington, Mrs. Fitall's solicitor, as to iden- 
 tity of John Fitall, when he promised to see his client 
 
 thereon, and let us know the result 6 8 
 
 -Attending at the Gazette office, to get advertisement as to Mr. 
 
 Hungerford's death inserted 6 8 
 
86 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Paid, and for Gazette 182 
 
 Attending at the Gazette office, to get advertisement as to Mrs. 
 
 Batut's claim inserted 6 8 
 
 Paid for insertion 110 
 
 Copy of advertisement as to Hungerford's death, for Times 
 
 newspaper 2 6 
 
 Attending inserting same 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion 16 5 
 
 The like for Morning Herald 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c. 16 5 
 
 The like for Standard 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c. 16 6 
 
 Copy of advertisement as to Mrs. Batut's claim, for tho Times 
 
 newspaper 2 6 
 
 Attending- inserting same 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion 16 
 
 The like for Morning Herald 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c. 16 .0 
 
 The like for Standard 9 2 
 
 Paid for insertion, &c _' lt> 
 
 Several attendances in the city, as to the best mode of insert- 
 ing the advertisement in foreign papers, and as to getting 
 
 same translated, &c 110 
 
 Making copies of advertisements, to got translated into French 
 
 and Italian 5 
 
 Attending translation therewith, and afterwards for same 13 4 
 
 Paid them 266 
 
 Making twelve copies for insertion in foreign papers 1 10 
 
 Attending Mr. Deacon, the newspaper agent, therewith, and 
 
 instructing him thereon 13 4 
 
 Paid for foreign advertisements 12 2 11 
 
 Attending paying same, and for receipt 6 8 
 
 The proprietors of the Times newspaper having made an error 
 in the name of Mr. Hungerford : attending at their office 
 and rectifying same, and giving instruction for another in- 
 sertion 6 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Deacon to ascertain if he had corr respondent 
 at Leghorn to whom we could forward instructions to obtain 
 the information of Mr. Hungerford's death, and obtaining 
 
 the direction of same Q g 
 
 Writing very long and special letter to Madame Batut as to 
 her claim on the estate, and requiring the necessary proof, 
 
 and requesting information as to her son's death, &c 7 6 
 
 Copy same, to keep as evidence 5 Q 
 
 Writing Mr. Rush, with Mrs. Batut's answer _IIIIII__I_IIII 5 
 Attending at Gazette office to get advertisements as to Mr. 
 
 Hungerford's death inserted second time 6 8 
 
 Paid for Gazette and insertion "II 182 
 
 Copy advertisement for Times newspaper_II~IIIIIIIIIIII_II 2 6 
 
 Attending inserting same 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 The like for Morning Herald "II 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 The like for Standard IIII.IIII 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c jg 5 
 
 Attending at Gazette office to get advertisement~as" to'claim of 
 
 Madame de la Batut inserted a second time__. 6 8 
 
 Paid for insertion 110 
 
 Copy advertisement for Times newspaperl'IIIII]! 2 6 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 87 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Attending inserting same 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion 16 Q 
 
 The like for Morning Herald 9 2 
 
 Paid for insertion, &c 16 o 
 
 The like for Standard r 9 2 
 
 Paid for insertion, &c 16 Q 
 
 Term fee 1 1 g 
 
 EASTER TERM, 1837. 
 
 Attending Mr. Cullington to know if he could identify Mr. 
 Fitall, which he declined doing unless the arrears of the 
 
 annuity were paid 6 8 
 
 Attending bespeaking peremptory advertisement as to Hun- 
 ger ford's death 1 6 8 
 
 Paid master's clerk 110 
 
 The like charges as to Madame Batut's claim 178 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush with Madame de la Batut's letter, and 
 conferring thereon, when he agreed with us in thinking that 
 
 she had abandoned all claim under the estate 6 8 
 
 Attending at Gazette office to get peremptory advertisement 
 
 inserted as to Mr. Hungerford's death 6 8 
 
 Paid for Gazette and insertion 182 
 
 Copy advertisement for Times newspaper 2 6 
 
 Attending inserting the same 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 The like for Morning Herald 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 The like for Standard 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 Attending at Gazette office to get peremptory advertisement 
 
 as to claim of Madame de la Batut inserted 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion 110 
 
 Copy of advertisement for Times newspaper 2 6 
 
 Attending inserting same 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion 16 
 
 The like for Morning Herald 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion 16 
 
 The like for Standard 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion 16 
 
 Attending at Gazette office to get peremptory advertisement 
 
 inserted a second time as to death of Mr. Hungerford 6 8 
 
 Paid for Gazette and insertion 182 
 
 Copy advertisement for Times 2 6 
 
 Attending inserting same 6 8 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 The like for Morning Herald 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 The like for Standard 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion, &c 16 5 
 
 Attending at the Gazette office to insert the peremptory adver- 
 tisement a second time as to claim of Madame de la Batut- 6 8 
 
 Paid for insertion and Gazette 110 
 
 Copy advertisement for Times 2 6 
 
 Paid insertion 16 
 
 The like for Morning Herald 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion 16 
 
 The like for Standard 9 2 
 
 Paid insertion 16' 
 
 Attending at Mr. Deacon's to ascertain if any of the foreign 
 
.88 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 s. d. 
 papers had arrived, when he handed us three of the French 
 
 papers which he had only received that morning 6 8 
 
 Perusing and examining same, and ascertaining they were full 
 of errors; attending Mr. Deacon again, and correcting same, 
 
 and requesting him to get same correctly inserted 13 4 
 
 Writing Madame de la Batut, in answer to her last letter, and 
 requesting any information she could give as to the death of 
 
 Mr. Hungerford 5 
 
 Making two copies of peremptory advertisement to get trans- 
 lated into French and Italian 5 
 
 Attending translators therewith, and afterwards for same 
 
 Paid them 266 
 
 Making 12 copies for insertion in the foreign papers ___ 1 10 
 
 Attending Mr. Deacon therewith, and instructing him thereon 13 4 
 
 Paid for foreign advertisements 12 3 
 
 Writing long letter to Mrs. Batut, in answer 5 
 
 Attending paying for foreign advertisements and for receipts. 6 8 
 Attending Mr. Batut in very long conference, when he urged 
 the claim of Madame de la Batut ; but we informed him we 
 had no discretion to apply the funds, except under the direc- 
 tion of the court, and told him to carry in a claim before 
 the master ; when he stated u he would submit certain docu- 
 ments of evidence material to the plaintiff's case, for an in- 
 spection at half-past 10 o'clock next day" 13 4 
 
 Paid for oaths of Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore, and Fladgate to 
 
 three copies of bill delivered to Mr. Rush 13 6 
 
 April 29. Attending Mr. Batut for upwards of two hours, 
 when he appeared desirous of making terms as to the infor- 
 mation he could give relative to the death of Mr. Hunger- 
 ford without children, which he assured us we could not ob- 
 tain elsewhere ; and informing him we could communicate 
 with plaintiff thereon, and requesting him to put any legal 
 claims he might have into the hands of his solicitors^ andVe 
 
 promised to represent to Mr. Rush his statement 110 
 
 Writing to Mr. Rush on the above subject, and requesting ap- 
 pointment to meet him 5 
 
 May 1. Attending Mr. Gardner in long conference as to the 
 claims of Madame Batut, which we thought were much 
 larger than would be allowed her on proof before the mas- 
 ter ; and we postponed a final determination until we had 
 
 again looked through the papers 13 4 
 
 May 2. Attending at Mr. Rush's in long conference as to the 
 application of Mr. Batut, when it was decided that we could 
 not offer any pledge that attention would be paid to his ap- 
 plication, but that we must procure from him such informa- 
 tion as he could give, and, if it appeared that he had any just 
 claim, we would offer no technical or unnecessary delay to it 13 4 
 
 May 4. Attending Mr. Gardner, conferring very fully again 
 hereon; when he stated that Mr. Smithson possessed himself 
 of the property of the late Mr. Dickinson, and never ren- 
 dered an account; and that he (Mr. Gardner) considered 
 that a bill should now be filed against the defendant, (Drum- 
 mond,) as executor of the testator in this cause, for such 
 account ; and that it was expected a larger sum would be 
 found to have been received; but that at all events a claim 
 would be established to a life interest in a sum equal to that 
 stated in the will to be the nephew's property, viz : 260 
 per annum, which, in point of fact, had been the amount of 
 allowances made to Mrs. Batut by the testator, as she could 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 89 
 
 s. d. 
 
 prove ; and we urged that filing a bill would be useless, as it 
 was impossible to furnish an account, but would search 
 through all the documents in the plaintiff's custody or 
 power, and give them, every facility to settle the matter in 
 
 the master's office 13 4 
 
 5. Attending Mons. Batut for upwards of two hours, 
 when we told him the only chance for his obtaining any re- 
 muneration from the plaintiff was to furnish him with 
 every information in his power relative to the death of Mr. 
 Hungerfbrd, which he seemed very unwilling to do, without 
 a pledge that something should be done ; and we assured him 
 that no party here could give such pledge ; and that if he 
 v/as really disposed to sell his information, he must put his 
 terms into writing ; when he stated that he would consider 
 the course to adopt ; and advising him to give us the infor- 
 mation, and informing him, if he did not, we should resist 
 
 Madame Batut's claim in every possible way 110 
 
 uy 6. Attending at Mr. Deacon's ; going through and pe- 
 rusing the documents deposited in the boxes, &c., to answer 
 Mr. Gardner's inquiry, but could find nothing ; engaged 
 several hours 110 
 
 May 11. Attending Mr. Gardner as to Mr. Batut's claim, 
 when he required to be furnished with an account of the 
 payments made by Mr. Smithson in his lifetime to Madame 
 do la Batut, which we promised to procure, as evidence of 
 the fund she might claim under the will of Dickinson 13 4 
 
 Attending Mr. Deacon, making inquiry as to the foreign pa- 
 pers, when he handed us several French ones, and promised 
 to write for the Italian 6 8 
 
 May 18. Attending Mr. Batut on his furnishing us with the 
 required information, when it appeared that Mr. Hunger- 
 ford was buried at a Dominican convent, at Pisa, under the 
 name of Baron de la Batut, on the 5th June, 1835, and that 
 a stone was raised to his memory ; but that his servant, Leo 
 Ferna, could not be found, and he urged his claim upon 
 the consideration of the plaintiff; when we informed him 
 that we could not entertain such claim, but referred him at 
 once to Mr. Rush, or to the American Government 13 4 
 
 -Attending Mr. Rush afterwards, conferring on Mr. Batut's in- 
 formation and application, when it was determined that a 
 meeting should take place in our presence between Mr. 
 Rush and Mr. Batut 13 4 
 
 -Attending Mr. Gardner to confer as to appointment with 
 Monsieur Batut, but. he was out of town ; writing Mr. Rush 
 thereon 5 
 
 'Term fee, &c 118 
 
 TRINITY TERM, 1837. 
 
 .Attending at Messrs. Drummond, going through their books 
 to ascertain whether any drafts had been drawn upon them 
 by the testator, which would tally with the claim brought 
 forward by Mrs. Batut, but found it was the testator's habit 
 to draw only for large sums, and his account proved nothing 13 4 
 
 May 30. Paid for copy charge of Mrs. Batut's, folios 36 4 6 
 
 Attending warrant to proceed thereon, when the master di- 
 rected interrogatories to be exhibited for the examination of 
 Mr. Drummond 6 
 
 June 1. Paid for copy charge of Mrs. Fitall, folios 12 1 6 
 
90 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 s. 
 
 June 2. Attending Mr. Batut further as to his alleged claim, 
 and the information he still withheld and promised to afford 
 us ^-__ 6 
 
 June 5. Attending him again on the above subject, and ask- 
 ing him what he required ; when he promised to consider 
 our request, and see us thereon next day 6 
 
 Attending Messrs. Pemberton, advising them what had taken 
 place, and requesting them to attend the next day with Mr. 
 Batut 6 
 
 June 6. Attending warrant on Mrs. Fitall's charge when the 
 master directed an affidavit in support verifying when he 
 died 6 
 
 June 6. Attending Mr. Batut, nd afterwards Mr. Rush, 
 when Mr. Batut stated that he would make the requisite af- 
 fidavit, and taking full instructions for same ; but on our 
 application for an appointment to swear same, he changed 
 his mind, and stated that he would not make the affidavit 
 unless he had a pledge from Mr. Rush that he would support 
 his claim in America, which he did not feel justified in giv- 
 ing, and therefore the treaty was broken off; engaged up- 
 wards of two hours 1 1 
 
 Instructions for affidavit ; 
 
 Drawing same, folios 14 14 
 
 Attending Messrs. Pemberton thereon, and urging them to 
 get affidavit made, and to bring in same evidence in support 
 of their state of facts 6 
 
 June 9. Writing Mr. Rush very fully thereon 5 
 
 June10. Attending Mr. Rush in very long conference on 
 Mr. Batut's conduct, and informing him of the nature of the 
 evidence sent us from Italy, which we thought was quite 
 sufficient 13 
 
 Attending Mr. Cullington, pressing him to leave in the mas- 
 ter's office his affidavit, required in support of charge as to 
 Fitall's annuity, when he promised to see his client thereon 
 and to proceed with the charge forthwith 6 
 
 Paid postage of foreign letter from Mr. Herri 4 
 
 June 16. Attending Mr. Gardner to press him to bring in the 
 particulars of proof of Mrs. Batut ; s claim, and conferring on 
 claim Q 
 
 June 19. Paid for copy affidavit in support of charge of Mrs. 
 
 Fitall, folios 8 I _ *_ 1 
 
 June 20. Attending warrant to proceed on charge of Mrs. 
 
 Fitall's same allowed Q 
 
 Paid for warrant for Mrs. Batut to bring in evklcnceTn sup~- 
 port of charge, otherwise it would be disallowed, copy and 
 service, (no clerk in court) .__ 5 
 
 Writing Mr. Rush as to Fitall's annuity... _ 5 
 
 June 23. Writing Mr. Rush, at defendant Drummond's re- 
 quest, touching an application made to him by Mr. Batut, 
 and requiring his instructions thereon 5 
 
 Having received from Leghorn an official certificate of the 
 death of Mr. Hungerford, authenticated by Mr. Falconer, 
 (the consul ;) attending at the Foreign Office, to ascertain 
 what gentleman connected with the office could verify the 
 signature, and found Mr. Hertslet was known to him, but 
 he was from town Q 
 
 June 23^ Attending Messrs. Pemberton "&"Co7~ on" "their "sta- 
 ting they were preparing instructions for the interrogatories, 
 out, previous to completing them, they were anxious to 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 91' 
 
 s. d. 
 
 examine some papers belonging to the testator, in a black 
 trunk in our possession going through same with him but 
 
 they afforded him 110 information; engaged two hours 13 4 
 
 June 26. Attending Mr. Gardner this morning, upwards of 
 two hours, on the subject of Mrs. Batut's claim, endeavor- 
 ing to come to some arrangement, and to ascertain if her 
 
 ' claim was really founded in justice 13 4 
 
 June 29. The master having required evidence of the inser- 
 tion of the foreign advertisements, and as to their correct- 
 
 f ness; instructions for affidavits '_ 6 8 
 
 Drawing same, and fair copies ; folios 14 14 
 
 ^Fair copy for perusal 4 g 
 
 -Attending Mr. Deacon and Mr. Whittaker, severally, there- 
 with ; and finally settling same 13 4 
 
 Engrossing same 4 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Deacon to the public office, to get sworn to the 
 
 \ same; Mr. Whitaker could "not attend 6 8 
 
 Paid two oaths 3 
 
 July 1. Attending Mr. Whittaker to get sworn 6 8 
 
 Paid oath 1 6 
 
 Paid Mr. Whittaker and Mr. Deacon for loss of time and 
 
 trouble 220 
 
 Attending paying same, and keeping receipt 6 8 
 
 Warrant on leaving two copies, and services 6 
 
 Attending Mr. Gardner, pressing him to support a claim of 
 Mrs. Batut's; informing him, if not done forthwith, we 
 should exclude her altogether from the report ; when he in- 
 formed us, if we did, he should immediately file a bill 6 8 
 
 Attending warrant, as to Mrs. Batut's evidence in support of 
 her charge, when Mr. Gardner undertook to have interrog- 
 atories on the following day 6 8 
 
 Paid for copy of interrogatories for twelve close copies 1 6- 
 
 Carriage of parcel from Pisa 4 
 
 Enclosing certificate 7 8 
 
 Having received the above certificate of the death of Mr. 
 Hungerford, attending Mr. Whittaker to get same trans- 
 lated ." G 8 
 
 Paid his charges 2 14 
 
 Attending warrant to settle interrogatories as to Mrs. Batut's 
 claim, when the master allowed same, subject to any objec- 
 tion the defendant might make to the exhibits which were 
 
 not left in the office 16 8 
 
 Warrants for Mrs. Batut, to bring in exhibits copy and ser- 
 vice not in cause 5 6 
 
 July 17. Attending counsel, in long conference, as to these 
 
 interrogatories and exhibits , 13 4 
 
 Paid his fee, and clerk 1 6 
 
 Attending .__. 6 8 
 
 Attending to Mr. Eush, in very long conference on the state 
 of the suit, and advising with him as to incurring any extra 
 
 expense in the inquiries after Mr. Hungcrford's death 13 4 
 
 Writing Messrs. Pemberton on the proposed exhibits, and 
 
 copy '. 5 
 
 Writing to Mr. Eush very fully, in answer to a letter received 
 
 from him as to probable time suit would take 7 6- 
 
 Drawing request to accountant general to invest dividends 2 t> 
 
 Attending him thereon ; 6 8 
 
 Paid his fee 4 ft 
 
 Attending Mr. Eush, informing him of the impossibility of 
 
92 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 obtaining report before office closed, and explaining the ne- 
 cessity of giving Madame Batut the means of establishing 
 
 her claim, rather than file a bill __,_- 6 
 
 Attending warrant to proceed on Mrs. Batut's claim, when 
 
 exhibits were left in support thereof 
 
 Paid for copy examined, folios 28 
 
 Close copy 
 
 July 25. -Attending warrant and interrogatories when the same 
 were finally settled, the solicitors for Madame de la Batut 
 
 having brought in exhibits 
 
 Drawing and fair copy state of facts as to the death of Henry 
 
 Hungerford, folios 48 
 
 Warrant on leaving same, two copies and services _. 
 
 Instructions for affidavits in support 
 
 Drawing same, and fair copy, folios 4 . 
 
 Attending Mr. Hertslet several times to endeavor to get him 
 
 to appoint a time to swear, but could not 
 
 Attending at the Master's office to examine exhibits with the 
 
 copies, and engaged comparing same, but found one missing 
 
 Attending Mr. Kush in a very long conference on the subject 
 
 of this suit 
 
 August 14. Attending at the Foreign Office and conferring on 
 the affidavit with Mr. Hcrtslet, when he requested us to 
 leave the report, certificates, and affidavits with him, and 
 
 he would appoint a time to swear affidavit 13 
 
 Engrossing affidavit, folios 4 
 
 Attending Mr. Ilertslet to be sworn 6 
 
 Paid oath and exhibit 
 
 Paid his charges -. 1 1 
 
 Warrant on leaving copy and service 
 
 Postage of letter to Mr. Tannin, in answer to his letter rela- 
 tive to death of Mr. Hungerford 1 
 
 Writing very long letter to Mr. Hush, informing him of what 
 
 had taken place 
 
 Instructions for further affidavits in support 6 
 
 Drawing same, and fair copy, folios 20 1 
 
 Engrossing same 6 
 
 Writing Mr. Rush, stating the result of our inquiries touching 
 the property formerly belonging to Mr. Dickinson, under 
 
 whose will Mrs. Batut claimed 5 
 
 Sept. 2. Attending Mr. Rush, conferring and explaining the 
 position of Mrs. Batut's claim, and the effect of the informa- 
 tion received from France, from which it would appear that 
 
 such claim was fraudulent 13 
 
 Instructions for affidavit of Mr. Whittaker as to verification 
 
 of translated copy of report from Pi. a 
 
 Drawing same, and fair copy, folios 4 
 
 Copy report to annex as exhibit 
 
 Attending Mr. Whittaker, conferring thereon, and getting 
 
 him to settle same 
 
 Engrossing same, folios 4 
 
 Attending him to be sworn 
 
 Paid oaths and exhibits 
 
 Warrant and leaving copy and service 
 
 Paid him for loss of time 1 
 
 Attending swearing further affidavits in support of plaintiff's 
 
 facts 6 
 
 Paid oath, &c. 4 
 
 !Term fee and letters... 1 1 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 s. d. 
 MICHAELMAS TERM, 1837. 
 
 Warrant on leaving same, copy and service 6 
 
 "Warrant to proceed on Mrs. Batut's charge, copy and service 8 6 
 
 Attending warrant, and proceeding thereon 6 8 
 
 Instructions for affidavit for Mr. Curdy, verifying translation 
 of notarial act made at Paris after the decease "of Mr. Hun- 
 
 gerford 6 8 
 
 Drawing same, and fair copy, folios 4 4 
 
 Copy translation, to annex as an exhibit 8 
 
 Engrossing affidavit, folios 4 1 4 
 
 Attending to be sworn 6 8 
 
 Paid oath, &c 4 
 
 "Warrant on leaving two copies and service 6 
 
 "Warrant on leaving further evidence 6 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush in very long conference on the progress 
 of, and advising on, this suit, and taking his instructions 
 
 thereon 13 4 
 
 Paid for transcript of account 4 
 
 Attending bespeaking, and afterwards for same 6 8 
 
 Drawing request to accountant general to invest dividends 2 6 
 
 Attending bespeaking investment of dividends 8 
 
 'Paid fee 4 
 
 Instructions for affidavit of Mr. Hertslet, verifying notarial act 
 
 as to death of Mr. Hungerford 6 8 
 
 Drawing same, and fair copy, folios 4 4 
 
 Attending him to peruse and settle same 6 8 
 
 Engrossing same . 1 4 
 
 Attending him' to be sworn 6 8 
 
 Paid oath and exhibit 4 
 
 Paid his charge 110 
 
 Warrant on leaving two copies and services 6 
 
 -Warrant to proceed on state of facts, and charge of plaintiff, 
 
 as to death of Mr. Hungerford, copy and service 6 
 
 Attending warrant, same proceeded with and allowed, and 
 
 warrant ordered to be issued on Mrs. Batut's charge 6 8 
 
 Warrant to proceed on state of facts, and charge of Mrs. Ba- 
 tut's, copy and service 8 6 
 
 Attending bespeaking transcript in original cause, and after- 
 wards for same 6 8 
 
 Paid 4 
 
 Sep. 29. Attending Mr. Rush, reporting and advising on the 
 
 progress of the proceedings in the master's office 6 8 
 
 Dec. 4. Attending warrant and proceeding on facts and 
 frharge of Mrs. Batut, when the master directed another 
 
 warrant to issue 6 8 
 
 Warrant to proceed, three copies and service 8 6 
 
 Attending warrant when the master said he thought she had 
 established a claim to half of the income of the French 
 fund, but would give us leave to inquire and prove, if we 
 could, that it had been already satisfied and he directed us 
 to obtain an order to state special circumstances in regard 
 
 to her claim, the words of the decree not being sufficient, 6 8 
 
 Writing Mr. Rush very fully thereon . 5 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush in a very long conference, and advising 
 with him on the expediency of opposing Mrs. Batut's claim, 
 as it would cause much delay, and stop the order on further 
 directions ; and explaining same fully to him, when he pro- 
 mised to consider the same, and see us again thereon 13 4 
 
<)4 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST, 
 
 Dec. 14. Attending Mr. "Rush in very lone; conference as to 
 Mrs. Batut, on his having duly considered the subject; when 
 he instructed us to write to Paris to obtain such evidence 
 as we could, and lay same before counsel, to advise on the 
 expediency of opposing Mr?. Batut's claim, we being of 
 opinion that evidence might be obtained that would repel 
 her claim 
 
 Dec. 19. Attending at the Foreign Office to make inquiry 
 touching the swearing of affidavits abroad before a proper 
 tribunal, and found that they could be sworn before the 
 British consul 
 
 Instructions for affidavit to be sworn by the stock broker who 
 transferred same 
 
 Drawing same and fair copy, folios 6, and fair copy to send to 
 Paris 
 
 Instructions for affidavit of a notary as to some documents in 
 
 his possession relative to the transfer. 
 
 Drawing same and fair copy, folios 8 8 C 
 
 Fair copy to send to Paris 2 8 
 
 Writing^Mr. Truftant therewith and fully thereon, and urging 
 
 him to get affidavits sworn if possible in their present shape, 
 
 but, if not, to advise with some English solicitor at Paris__ 7 C 
 
 Dec. 29. Postage letter from Mr. Truftant requiring further 
 
 instruction 1 2 
 
 Writing to him very fully thereon 7 
 
 Instructions to amend decree 13 4 
 
 Drawing notice of motion to amend decree 2 
 
 Copy and service 2 
 
 Drawing and engrossing affidavit of service G 
 
 Attending swearing <> H 
 
 Paidoath 1 (j 
 
 Attending filing and for office copy (i 8 
 
 Paid 
 
 Drawing brief for counsel to move 
 
 Paid him and clerk 
 
 Attending him 
 
 Jan. 8, 1838 Attending Mr. Rush in very long conference 
 
 on the progress of the cause, &c. . _ 
 
 Term fee, &c ., 
 
 HILARY TERM, 1838. 
 
 -Jan. 11. Attending court, motion made and ordered accord- 
 ingly 1 
 
 Postage of letter to Mr. Truftant requesting to be furnished 
 with a copy of Mrs. Batut's claim 
 
 Copy same, to send, folios 36 
 
 Writing him very fully therewith and thereon 
 
 Paid for copy minutes 
 
 Close copy 
 
 Attending settling "__".""_""""" 
 
 Paid for order 
 
 Attending register to draw up and pass order. _ 
 
 Paid entering 
 
 Attending to enter same !!___. I'I'IIIII 
 
 Jan. 23. Postage of a letter from Mr. Truftant, containing a 
 certificate, signed by the charge d'affaires, which, from his 
 letter, appeared the best evidence he could procure for us___ 
 
 Writing him that same was not sufficient, and requesting to 
 know, per return, whether or not the stock broker could 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 95 
 
 s. d. 
 
 make an affidavit as to fact of instructing him thereon, and, 
 if he could not procure such affidavit, to make one himself- 7 6 
 
 Jan. 30. Postage letter from Mr. Truftant 5 
 
 -Jan. 31. Attending Mr. Kush, fully conferring as to the in- 
 quiries touching Mrs. Batut's claim, when he stated he would 
 
 consider same, and decide whether to proceed or not ___ 13 4 
 
 Feb. 5. Attending Mr. Hush on his wishing to know the re- 
 sult of the proceedings if the claim of Mrs. Batut were re- 
 sisted, and to what extent the proceedings might be carried 
 by her, and explaining same very fully to him, when he 
 
 wished us to write a letter to him thereon 13 4 
 
 "Writing letter and copy 5 
 
 Feb. 6. Attending counsel in long conference on the evidence 
 obtained from Paris, and as to the expediency of bringing 
 
 same into the master's office 13 4 
 
 Fee to him and clerk thereon . 160 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Copy of Mr. Truftant's affidavit, to keep 2 8 
 
 "Warrant on leaving three copies, and services 8 6 
 
 Warrant to proceed on claim, three copies, and services 8 6 
 
 Feb. 19. Attending warrant and proceeding on state of facts 
 and affidavits in opposition to Mrs. Batut's claim, when 
 
 (claim allowed 6 8 
 "Warrant to show cause why warrant on preparing draught re- 
 port should not issue, three copies, and services 8 6 
 
 Feb. 21. Attending warrant, no cause shown 6 8 
 
 Warrant, on preparing three copies, and services 8 6 
 
 Copy will of testator for the master, folios 8 '. 2 8 
 
 Paid for copy draught report, folios 48 6 
 
 .Close copy . 16 
 
 March 1. Warrant to settle, three copies, and services 8 6 
 
 Attending same 6 8 
 
 Attending Messrs. Pemberton, conferring very fully on the 
 draught report and the several inaccuracies therein, and cal- 
 culating amount of arrears, &c., due 6 8 
 
 Attending warrant on charge of Messrs. Clarke & Co., when 
 
 same allowed 6 8 
 
 Paid for copy same, folios 6 9 
 
 Close copy 2 
 
 Paid for copy affidavit in support, folios 4 6 
 
 If-Close copy 1 4 
 
 : Another warrant to settle report, three copies, and services __ 86 
 
 .Attending warrant and settling report ; but the master di- 
 rected many additions to be made thereto, and an affidavit 
 to be obtained from a broker in the city as to the amount of 
 
 exchange ._ 6 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Kush in very long conference thereon before, 
 at, and after the above warrant, when he directed us to ob- 
 tain the order on further directions as soon as possible 13 4 
 
 March 9. Attending Mr. Rush again, conferring fully herein 13 4 
 March 12. Attending Messrs. Pemberton as to the cause of 
 delay in obtaining the necessary affidavit, when they prom- 
 ised to bring same in in a few days 6 8 
 
 Paid for copy of affidavit of Mr. Boyd, folios 6 9 
 
 Close copy 2 
 
 March 17. Attending warrant and proceeding on state of 
 
 facts 6 8 
 
 * March 20. Paid for fresh copy report, folios 44 5 6 
 
 Close copy 14 8 
 
96 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Warrant to sign, three copies, and services __ 
 
 Attending same 
 
 Paid for drawing, signing, and transcribing report 
 
 Paid filing and for office copy 
 
 Attending to file u 
 
 Drawing and engrossing petition to confirm report absolute 
 
 in the first instance 
 
 Attending getting consents 
 
 Attending to present. 
 
 Paid answer and for order 
 
 Two copies and services on clerks in court 
 
 Draught on Pemberton 
 
 Drawing and engrossing petition, to set down cause on further 
 
 directions and costs 
 
 Attending to present 
 
 Paid answer and setting down cause, &c 
 
 Two copies, and services, order on clerks in court 
 
 Draught on Messrs. Pemberton 
 
 Attending defendant's solicitor for consent to hear cause im- 
 mediately 
 
 Making copy decree for the master of the rolls, four sides 
 
 Do. report, folios 48 
 
 Attending to leave same 6 
 
 Attending Mr. Kush in very long conference, explaining that 
 the report had been confirmed, and giving him extracts of 
 all the dates and proceedings, &c., and advising him as to 
 
 the future proceedings, &c 
 
 Drawing and engrossing copy affidavit of service of order to 
 
 set cause down 
 
 Attending to be sworn 
 
 Paid oath 1 
 
 Attending filing and afterwards for same G 
 
 Paid filing and for office copy 3 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush, informing him cause was set down and 
 
 would be heard in Easter term, and conferring thereon 13 
 
 Instructions for petition G 
 
 Drawing and fair copy petition to be heard with the cause, on 
 
 further directions, folios 88 4 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush, conferring thereon, when he wished 
 
 counsel to be advised with thereon 13 
 
 Attending conferring with Mr. Shadwell thereon, when head- 
 vised cause to be set down and petition to be presented after- 
 wards 13 
 
 Paid his fee and clerk 1 6 
 
 Attending him ; 6 
 
 Drawing'proposed minutes, folios 12 12 
 
 Fair copy for Mr. Shadwell 4 
 
 Attending him in conference and settling same 13 
 
 Paid his fee and clerk 1 (j 
 
 Attending him 6 
 
 Two copies minutes for defendants 6 
 
 Attending them therewith and thereon, and finally agreeing 
 
 to same 
 
 Drawing brief on further directions, seven brief-sheets 
 
 Two fair copies for counsel 
 
 Drawing observations for plaintiff, 2 brief sheets 
 
 Two fair copies for counsel 
 
 Attending Messrs. Pemberton on their requesting some infer- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 97 
 
 . d. 
 
 nation in order to draw their petition, and giving them 
 
 same, engaged some time, term fee, &c 118 
 
 EASTER TERM, 1838. 
 
 Attending to bespeak and afterwards for certificate of funds in 
 
 court in this cause \ 6 8 
 
 The like in original cause 6 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Pemberton and clerk with brief 5 10 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Sbadwell and clerk , 356 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Shadwell, obtaining his certificate for cause to 
 
 be heard short 6 8 
 
 Attending register therewith, and getting cause put in the 
 
 paper for next short cause day 6 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Pemberton to appoint a consultation at West- 
 minster ._ 6 8 
 
 Fee to Mr. Pemberton and clerk thereon 296 
 
 The like, Mr. Shadwell 136 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 "Writing to Mr. Kush informing him of consultation 5 
 
 Attending consultation when Mr. Pemberton expressed his 
 regret that the petition had not been presented, and directed 
 
 Mr. Shadwell to draw same immediately 13 4 
 
 Paid for room 5 
 
 May 1. Mr. Clarke and Fladgate's attending court ; cause 
 heard and ordered as per minutes, agreed, but the order to 
 stand over for petition to come on as to funds being paid to 
 
 Mr. Kush 220 
 
 Paid court fees 13 
 
 Attending Mr. Kush in very long conference, explaining to 
 him fully what had taken place, and he directed us to use all 
 
 expedition 13 4 
 
 Perusing and considering former petition, and altering same 
 
 in many respects 110 
 
 Fee to Mr. Shadwell to peruse and settle 356 
 
 Attending him 6 8 
 
 Engrossing same and paper, folios 77 188 
 
 Copy for the master of the rolls 188 
 
 Attending presenting petition, when the secretary directed 
 that it be taken to Westminster to be answered by a certain 
 
 day 6 8 
 
 Attending Mr. Pemberton, instructing him to get day ap- 
 pointed accordingly 6 8 
 
 Attending court when Mr. Pemberton mentioned it to the 
 
 court, and it was ordered to be answered for Tuesday next 6 8 
 Attending his lordship's secretary, and getting same answered 
 
 accordingly 6 8 
 
 Paid answering 6 6 
 
 2 copies petition for service, folios 77, each 2 17 4 
 
 Attending serving the same on clerks in court 4 
 
 Drawing and engrossing affidavit of service 3 4 
 
 Attending to be sworn 6 8 
 
 Paid oath 1 G 
 
 Attending to file and for office copy 6 8 
 
 Paid for office copy 3 4 
 
 2 brief copies petition, 8 brief sheets, each 2 13 4 
 
 Drawing observations to accompany 2 brief sheets 13 4 
 
 7 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 2 brief copies for counsel 13 
 
 Attending Mr. Kush again hereon, conferring and advising 
 
 very fully hereon 13 
 
 Attending register to get original decree altered, as directed 
 by the court, and after some trouble getting same altered 
 
 accordingly 13 
 
 Attending to enter and afterwards for same 6 
 
 Paid at entering seat for alteration 1 
 
 Pee to Mr. Peraberton and clerk with brief petition 24 
 
 Attending him . 6 
 
 Pee to Mr. Shadwell and clerk 13 
 
 Attending him 6 
 
 Writing Mr. Kush that the court would not sit on Tuesday, 
 
 and that petition would be in on Wednesday 5 
 
 Attending court, petition heard and ordered as prayed 13 4 
 
 Paid court fees " 7 
 
 Attending Mr. Kush on the amount of funds in the cause, and 
 writing him out full particulars thereof, and taking his in- 
 structions to expedite the transfer and payment to him 13 4 
 
 Writing to Mr. Truftant as to his charges and expenses, &c._ 5 
 
 Paid postage letter enclosing same 2 4 
 
 Paid same to his agents 10 
 
 Attending paying same and for receipt 6 8 
 
 Writing Mr. Rush, at his request, with full particulars of 
 what took place at the hearing of the cause and also of the 
 
 petition, and generally on the cause 7 6 
 
 Attending Mr. Hussey to draw up minutes, when he said the 
 registrar, Mr. Callis, who was in court on the petition, 
 ought to draw them up ; attending on Mr. Callis and with 
 him to Mr. Hussey, and arguing same, when it was finally 
 determined that Mr. Hussey should draw up the minutes, 
 
 and date them the 12th engaged upwards of an hour 13 4 
 
 Paid for copy minutes of decree 10 
 
 Close copy thereof 5 
 
 Several attendances upon the registrar, to procure him to pass 
 
 order, which was at length done 168 
 
 Paid for order on further directions 3 10 
 
 Paid expenditure 10 
 
 Term fee. &c 118 
 
 TRINITY TERM, 1838. 
 
 Attending passing same 13 4 
 
 Paid entering same 6 6 
 
 Attending 6 3 
 
 Making copy ordering part of the decree for the master II 2 6 
 
 Drawing this bill of costs, and fair copy for the master, folios 
 
 180 _ 600 
 
 Warrant on leaving same, copy and service 4 6 
 
 May 8. Warrants to tax copies and services 1 16 
 
 Attending same 2 13 4 
 
 Paid clerk in court 2 13 4 
 
 Warrant for defendants to bring in their costs, two copies and 
 
 services g Q 
 
 Paid for copy defendant Drummond's costs,~folios 7211' 9 
 
 Attending three warrants, taxing same 100 
 
 Paid clerk in court ~_ 100 
 
 Paid for copy attorney general's costs, folios 16 2 
 
 Attending warrant, taxing same Q 8 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 99 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Paid clerk in court 6 8 
 
 Paid for certificate of costs and transcribing 106 
 
 Attending to file 6 8 
 
 Paid filing same 3 10 
 
 Attending accountant general's, bespeaking clerks 6 8 
 
 Paid entering clerk for costs 2 4 
 
 Attending bespeaking carrying over of the funds and cash 
 
 from Hunger ford vs. Drummond to this cause 6 8 
 
 Paid 5 
 
 Attending bespeaking carrying over of 5,015, bank 3 per 
 
 cents to Mrs. Batut's account, paid 6 8 
 
 Attending bespeaking direction for transfer of all the funds to 
 
 Mr. Rush in the 3 per cent, annuities 6 8 
 
 Paid 2 6 
 
 The like on reduced annuities 9 2 
 
 The like on bank stock 9 2 
 
 Attending bespeaking transfer to Mr. K. Rush 13 4 
 
 Paid 140 
 
 Paid messenger 1 6 
 
 Instructions for affidavit as to residue of cash 6 8 
 
 Drawing and fair copy affidavit 6 8 
 
 Attending to be sworn 6 8 
 
 Paid oath 1 6 
 
 Paid for office copy 4 8 
 
 Attending bespeaking check of residue of cash 6 8 
 
 Paid clerks for their trouble 550 
 
 Attending to identify Mr. Rush 6 8 
 
 Paid entering check 2 4 
 
 Term fee, &c 118 
 
 Letters, messengers, &c 1 10 
 
 For various attendance, not hereinbefore enumerated, on 
 Messrs. Derby and Raven, the solicitors for the attorney gen- 
 eral ; Messrs. Pemberton, Crowley, and Gardner, the solici- 
 tors for Mr. de la Batut ; and Mr. Cullington, the solicitor 
 for Mr. Fitall, to urge their proceeding in the several mat- 
 ters connected with the suit with all possible expedition ; it 
 being the earnest wish of Mr. Rush that the suit should be 
 
 brought to a final conclusion with the least possible delay 550 
 
 May 25. Attending Mr. Rush ; conferring very fully with 
 him as to the several matters remaining to be done to wind 
 
 up the suit 13 4 
 
 June 2. Attending Mr. Rush in a long conference as to wind- 
 ing up the suit, and the difficulties we had to encounter in 
 
 the accountant general's office 13 4 
 
 Attending in the city to make inquiries as to the transfer of 
 stock, and found it would not be made until Tu'esday, but 
 
 that Mr. Rush could sell it out the same day 13 4 
 
 "Writing to Mr. Rush to inform him thereof, and special mes- 
 senger with letter 7 6 
 
 Attending Mr. Rush afterwards, informing him what arrange- 
 ment we should suggest to him as to selling the stock 6 8 
 
 June 4. Attending Mr. Rush again this day, conferring on 
 the transfer of stock, and as to winding up the suit ; and he 
 requested us to write him an official letter announcing the 
 
 transfer of the funds 13 4 
 
 Attending at the accountant general's, to learn if the stocks 
 
 were transferred, which we found was done 6 8 
 
 Writing an official letter to Mr. Rush to inform him thereof, 
 
 according to his request 5 
 
100 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 June 5. Attending Mr. Kush, conferring very fully in what 
 remained to be done, and as to the steps to be taken by him 
 to realize the funds 13 4 
 
 June 6. Attending Mr. Kush on the subject of the residue of 
 cash in court, which was to be paid to him, and explaining 
 that we could procure same out of court by Saturday ; and 
 he requested to be furnished with a copy of the list of arti- 
 cles deposited with Mr. Deacon 13 4 
 
 Copy list for him, (schedule marked F ;) one trunk only, (see 
 list) I 2 6 
 
 June 8. Attending the accountant general's to learn if check 
 was ready for Mr. Kush, and found it was, and would be 
 signed this day 6 8 
 
 "Writing to Mr. Rush to inform him thereof, and to make an 
 appointment for him to attend and receive same 5 
 
 June 12. Attending Mr. Deacon to ascertain if the boxes 
 could be sent to our office ; and he not being home, writing 
 to him thereon 6 8 
 
 June 18. Attending Mr. Deacon to make appointment for 
 Mr. Rush to attend to inspect contents of boxes 6 8 
 
 Writing to Mr. Rush to inform him 5 
 
 June 20. Attending at Mr. Deacon's, 31 Upper Norton street, 
 to meet Mr. Rush to inspect the contents of boxes, &c.; but 
 the boxes being more numerous than he expected, he de- 
 ferred the close examination of them for the present 13 4 
 
 June 30. Attending Mr. Rush, conferring on what remained 
 to be done, and making arrangements with him as to send- 
 ing the box we had hero, together with the plate and other 
 articles, to Mr. Deacon's, where we should meet him and 
 Colonel Aspinwall, the consul, and seal all the boxes up 13 4 
 
 Making list of the plate and other articles 5 
 
 Mr. Rush wishing to know what the several funds would have 
 realized if they could have been sold immediately upon the 
 death of Mr. Hungerford, attending at Messrs. Drumrrond's 
 to learn what the prices of the several stocks then were, 
 and making a calculation accordingly ; and drawing out a 
 statement for Mr. Rush, from which it appeared that, after 
 deducting all the costs, the funds had realized 173 12$. Id. 
 more now than they would have done if the funds had all 
 been sold immediately upon the decease of Mr. Hunger- 
 ford __ 220 
 
 Paid for a new lock to box * 5 
 
 July 6. Attending at Mr. Deacon's to meet Mr. Rush and 
 Colonel Aspinwall, when the several boxes were sealed up, 
 and directions given for their transmission to the wharf '_ 110 
 
 Attending at the accountant general's, to bespeak a transcript 
 
 of account g g 
 
 Paid for same 3 Q 
 
 Attending to procure same 6 8 
 
 Several other attendances upon Mr. Rush, furnishing" him 
 with all euch further information as he required previous to 
 his leaving this country for America 330 
 
 Letters and messengers, coach-hire, and various incidental" ex- 
 penses 15 
 
 490 4 10 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 101 
 
 IN CHANCEKY. 
 
 Between the President of the United States of America, Plaintiff, \ 
 
 and L 
 
 Chas. Drummond, Esq., and her Majesty's Attorney General, Defendants. J 
 
 Thomas Clarke, Thomas George Fynmore, and William 
 Mark Fladgate, of Craven street, Strand, in the county of 
 Middlesex, solicitors and copartners, severally make oath 
 and say, that the several disbursements contained in the 
 aforegoing account have been duly made, and that the 
 several charges therein contained are just and true, to the 
 best of these deponents' knowledge and belief. 
 
 THOMAS CLARKE, 
 THOMAS G. FYNMORE, 
 WM. M. FLADGATE. 
 
 Sworn by all the deponents, at the public office, South- 
 ampton Buildings, in the county of Middlesex, the llth day 
 of July, 1838, before me. 
 
 E. WINGFIELD. 
 
 Clark, Fynmore $ Fladgate to Richard Rush. 
 
 43 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, July 13, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : With reference to the gun, a few pieces of 
 china, and a few other articles of a miscellaneous nature, 
 which are mentioned in the schedule of property formerly 
 belonging to Mr. Smithson, (of which schedule we furnished 
 to you a copy,) and which articles do not now appear to be 
 amongst the property lately under the charge of Messrs. 
 Deacon, we beg to state that the schedule in question was a 
 schedule prepared at the time of Mr. Smithson 's death, now 
 .several years back, and that we have no doubt that the ar- 
 ticles (which appear to have been such as would be used 
 personally by Mr. Smithson) were handed to Mr. Hunger- 
 ford, who, indeed, had he thought fit to apply for them, 
 would, under the direction of the court, have obtained pos- 
 session of all the property lodged with Messrs. Deacon, and 
 which is now handed over to you as representative of the 
 United States. 
 
 We are, dear sir, your very obedient servants, 
 
 CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 
 
 EICHARD EUSH, Esq. 
 
102 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 LONDON, July 14, 1838. 
 
 SIR: All the transfers of stock were made on the proper 
 days; 'all the money was received, and arrangements are 
 now in daily progress for obtaining, insuring, and shipping 
 the gold. It will be on board the New York packet. Me- 
 diator, Captain Champlin, by or before the 17th instant, in 
 which ship I have taken my passage, intending to embark 
 on that day. The costs of suit have been paid, but the 
 other expenses, arising out of the sale of the stock and ship- 
 ment of the proceeds, cannot be examined and settled until 
 immediately before I embark, as the whole of the operations 
 cannot be completed until then. It will hence not be in my 
 power to make a statement of all these expenses until I arrive 
 at New York or Washington, when it shall be rendered in 
 a manner that I trust will be satisfactory. I can only re- 
 peat that my best exertions have not been spared to keep 
 them all within a compass as moderate as possible. 
 
 I received at the Bank of England, day before yesterday, 
 900, being the interest on 60,000 of consols sold on the 
 6th of June. It will be remembered (see rny No. 27) that 
 this amount of the consols was sold on time, the stock not 
 being deliverable until the 6th of July, which was the day 
 after the dividends for the last six months fell due, by which 
 I became entitled to receive for the United States the above 
 sum of 900. 
 
 The boxes and trunk mentioned in my last are to go on 
 shipboard to-day. Before knowing anything of their con- 
 tents, I thought proper to have them opened and examined 
 in the presence of our consul and two other persons. A 
 large portion of the contents proved to be unimportant ; 
 nevertheless, all will be delivered over on my arrival as I 
 received them, except to have them better packed for a sea^ 
 voyage, and so as to prevent further injury to that which 
 time and bad packing have already done to them. 
 
 I design to leave this letter behind me, to be forwarded 
 by the British steamer Great Western, which, although not 
 to sail until after the Mediator, may be expected to arrive 
 first at New York. My going in the Great' Western has 
 been precluded by the fact of her accommodations for pas- 
 sengers having all been engaged long before I knew the 
 time when I should be able to close the business in my 
 hands, and have the gold ready for shipment. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 103 
 
 Account of Thomas Aspinwall. 
 
 I, Thomas Aspinwall, of London, being duly sworn on 
 the Holy Evangelists, do declare and depose that the within 
 account is just and true, and that the services therein re- 
 ferred to and specified in the vouchers of said account, 
 signed by me, and marked respectively No. 1, No. 2, were 
 duly and actually performed. 
 
 THOS. ASPINWALL. 
 
 Sworn this seventeenth day of -July, 1838, at London, 
 before me. 
 
 J. COWAN, Mayor. 
 
 The Hon. Richard Rush, agent for the Smithsonian fund, in 
 account current with Thomas Aspinwall. 
 
 Dr. Cr. 
 
 1838. 
 
 July 16. To am't of in- 
 voice of sover- 
 eigns, procured 
 and shipped on 
 board the Me- 
 diator, as per 
 
 eopyherewith,<105,565 12 5 
 To commission 
 for various ser- 
 
 vices, as per ac- 
 count No. 1, 
 
 herewith 
 
 To charges on 14 
 pk'gs, shipped 
 on board the 
 Mediator, as 
 per ac't No. 2 
 herewith __ 
 
 797 15 
 
 6 19 4 
 
 106,370 7 3 
 
 1838. 
 
 July 16. By cash rec'd 
 from him 106,370 7 3 
 
 106,370 7 3 
 
 LONDON, July 17, 1838. 
 
 THOS. ASPINWALL. 
 
104 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 (No. 1.) 
 
 The Hon. Richard Rush in account with the Smithsonian fund, 
 
 To Thomas Aspinwall, Dr. 
 
 For services rendered throughout the month of June and 
 up to this date, in July; in attending your acceptance of 
 all the stocks transferred to you by the accountant gen- 
 eral of the court of chancery; advising, negotiating, and 
 completing, under your directions, ancf realizing the pro- 
 ceeds of various contracts for the sale of the same stocks, 
 consisting of consols, bank stock, and three per cent, re- 
 duced annuities, sold at different periods and in different 
 parcels ; attending payment and receipt of balances, divi- 
 dend, and the respective transfers to the various purchasers 
 of the same; obtaining, verifying, arranging, parking. 
 and securing for shipment 104,960 sovereigns, being the 
 amount of proceeds of the Smithsonian fund, (iess^ pre- 
 miums of insurance, charges, and expenses ;) contracting 
 for freight; entering and clearing at the custom-house; 
 shipping and effecting insurance at the five principal 
 offices, and with thirty-two private underwriters at 
 Lloyds. 
 
 Commission at } per cent 797 155. 6d. 
 
 THOMAS ASPINWALL. 
 LONDON, July 17, 1838. 
 
 LONDON, July 17, 1838. 
 
 ^ Eeceived of the honorable Richard Rush the within-men- 
 tioned sum seven hundred and ninety-seven pounds fifteen 
 shillings and sixpence sterling, (797 155. 6d.) for which I 
 have^ credited in rny accounts, and also signed this and a 
 duplicate receipt of the same tenor and date. 
 
 797 155. 6d. THOMAS ASPINWALL. 
 
 LONDON. July 13, 1838. 
 The Honorable Richard Rush to William Brown. 
 
 To unpacking and repacking 14 packages, at 2s. Qd. _ 1 15 
 
 cord and nails for mending do 3 g 
 
 1 18 
 
 Paid 14th July, 1838. WILLIAM BROWN. 
 
 A true copy original in Thomas AspinwalPs account. 
 
 JAMES M. CURLEY. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 105 
 
 (No. 2.) 
 
 JULY 13, 1838. 
 
 .Account of charges on 14 packages, marked u the United States," Nos. 1 to 
 14, shipped on board the ship Mediator, Christopher H. Champlin, master, 
 by order of the Honorable Richard Rush, for account and risk of the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Cartage and porterage 106 
 
 Duty and entry 126 
 
 Dock dues 15 10 
 
 Bills of lading 3 6 
 
 1 packing case (No. 14) 3 6 
 
 Shipping, entering, and clearing 14 packages, at 2s. 6d 1 15 
 
 Cord and nail's for mending do 3 6 
 
 ~* Unpacking and repacking do., and cording, mending, and 
 
 securing, at 2s. 6d. each 1 15 
 
 6 19 4 
 
 Received the above amount in account with Mr. Rush. 
 
 THOMAS ASPINWALL. 
 
 Mediator, Champlin, New York. 
 
 T. ASPINWALL. 
 British coin for and on account. Entry, 5s. 6d. 
 
 THOMAS TANNER. 
 "Witness : JAMES M. CURLEY. 
 JULY 17, 1838. 
 
 "When paid to be immediately exhibited at the Department, where this 
 bill has been made out ; by which business will be materially expedited. 
 
 St. Catharine Docks, No. 1872, wharfage book, outwards. 
 MR. ASPINWALL, DR., TO THE ST. CATHARINE DOCK COMPANY. 
 
 N. B. The amount of these charges to be paid to the collector, who is 
 "the only officer authorized to receive money on account of the company. 
 1838. Per Mediator s. d. 
 
 -July 17. [A] 1 to 10, wharfage and shipping, 10 cases, at 2s 100 
 
 11, do. do. 1 case, at Is. __ 010 
 
 1 1 
 
 (One pound one shilling.) 
 JULY 17, 1838. 
 
 Received, H. WHARTON, Collector. 
 
 Witness : JAMES M. CURLEY. 
 (Entered schedule.) 
 
 The invoice having necessarily been made up before the cases were actu- 
 ally shipped on board, the usual charge of ten shillings was inserted there- 
 in ; and it was not ascertained, until after they were shipped, that a differ- 
 ence was made with respect to bullion ; amounting, in this instance, to 
 eleven shillings, which has not been paid by Mr. Rush, but by Thomas 
 .Aspinwall, and by him relinquished. 
 
 * In Consequence of the very loose and careless manner in which the boxes 
 ^vere originally packed, and of the damaged state of the packages, this charge 
 "Was unavoidably incurred to prevent the contents from being ground to pieces, 
 and lost on the passage to the United States. 
 
106 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 T. ASPINWALL, ESQ., TO BULLION PORTERS, DR. 
 
 1838. ^ s - tf - 
 
 July 16. 11 boxes and packing sovereigns, at 3s. Qd 
 
 105 bags for sovereigns, at Qd. 
 
 For packing and marking 
 
 4 13 (i 
 
 Paid: C. HARDINGHAM. 
 
 Witness : JAMBS M. CURLEY. 
 
 COLONEL ASPINWALL TO MRS. CLARK, DR. 
 
 1838. 
 
 July 17. For cartage and porterage of eleven boxes of 
 bullion from the bank to the St. Catharine's 
 dock 8 shillings. 
 
 Keceived: HENRY X POTTER. 
 
 "Witness: JAMES M. CURLEY. 
 
 Invoice of eleven boxes of gold coin, shipped on board the ship Mediator, of 
 New York, Christopher H. Champlin, master, bound to New York, by 
 order of the Hon. Richard Rush, and for the account and risk of the 
 United States. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 A 1 to 10. Ten boxes, each containing 10,000, (sovereigns). 100,000 
 11. One box, containing 4,960 8 7 
 
 Charges. 
 105 bags, at Gd. each 
 
 104,900 8 7 
 s. d. 
 2 12 6 
 
 11 boxes' at 3s. Qd. each _ __ _ 
 
 1 18 6 
 
 Paclfing and marking _ _ . 
 
 2 6 
 
 Porterage and cart hire 
 
 8 
 
 Bills of lading 
 
 3 6 
 
 Entry 5s. Qd., dock charges 10s. 
 
 15 6 
 
 
 606 
 
 Insurance on 106,400, at per cent 
 
 532 
 
 Policies and stamp duties __ 
 
 ... 67 3 4 
 
 
 599 3 4 
 105,565 12 5 
 
 Insured with the Indemnity 
 
 THOMAS ASPINWALL. 
 Policy and duty. 
 s. d. 
 30 000 for 150 18 15 
 
 Insured with the London Insurance 
 
 10,000 for 50 650 
 
 Insurance with the Alliance _ 
 
 Q 0,000, for 100 12 10 
 
 Insured with the Royal Exchange 
 
 15 000 for 75 976 
 
 Insured with the Marine Insurance 
 
 10000 for 50 650 
 
 Insured at Lloyd's 
 
 21,400 for 107 14 10 
 
 
 
 
 106,400 532 67 3 4 
 
 MEM. The sovereigns are packed in bags of 1,000 each, with the excep- 
 tion of one, in case No. 11, which contains 960 sovereigns and 8 shillings- 
 and 7 pence wrapped in paper ; each case being sealed with two seals. 
 
 JULY 16, 1838. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 107 
 
 GC _,- 
 
 I 
 
 2 o 
 
 "28 
 
 'S =3 
 
 au. 
 
 26 
 
 a -ScS 
 
 2 -.d o - * 
 
 guaftgui 
 
 M K 
 
 S S2J 
 
 OS t^i-i< 
 
 tf 
 
 o co 
 <S oo 
 
 o o 
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 >O C<1 
 
 oooo 
 oioom 
 
 o o 
 
 03 3 
 
 III 
 
 .*' 
 
 |g|| s s 
 
 |g"a^ g S 
 
 iC^a 
 
 s 
 
 .S^ 
 
 (U 
 
 o> 
 
 si 
 
 ^2 
 
 ?^ 
 
 o o 
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 I 2 
 
 oooo o 
 oooo c 
 
 ;8 S 
 
 , _, 03 M 
 
 0-00 
 
 H HH 
 
108 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 ^Schedule of the personal effects of James Smithson referred to in 
 the bill of costs. 
 
 A large trunk ; 
 
 A box containing sundry specimens of minerals, marked E ; 
 
 A brass instrument ; 
 
 A box of minerals, marked F ; 
 
 A box of chemical glasses, marked G-; 
 
 A packet of minerals, marked H ; 
 
 A glass vinegar cruet ; 
 
 A stone mortar ; 
 
 A pair of silver-plated candlesticks and branches; 
 
 A pair of silver-plated candlesticks, no branches ; 
 
 A hone in a mahogany case; 
 
 A plated wire flower-basket ; 
 
 A plated coffee-pot ; 
 
 A plated small one ; 
 
 A pair of wine-coolers ; 
 
 A pair small candlesticks ; 
 
 Two pair of saltcellars ; 
 
 A bread-basket; 
 
 Two pair of vegetable dishes and covers ; 
 
 A large round waiter ; 
 
 A large oval do. ; two small do. ; 
 
 Two plate-warmers ; 
 
 A reading-shade. 
 
 Sundry articles in packet and in trunk. 
 
 (a) A gun; 
 
 (a) A mahogany cabinet ; 
 
 (a) Two portraits, in oval frames. 
 
 China tea service, viz. : 
 
 (a) Twelve cups and saucers ; 
 
 '(a) Six coffee cups ; 
 
 (a) A tea-pot ; 
 
 (a) A slop-basin ; 
 
 (a) Sugar-basin and lid ; 
 
 (a) Two plates ; 
 
 (a) Milk-jug ; 
 
 (a) Tea canister ; 
 
 (a) Two dishes ; 
 
 {a) A landscape, in a gilt frame ; 
 
 4a) A Derby spa vase ; 
 
 {a) A China tub ; 
 
 (a) A piece of fluor ; 
 
 (a) A pair of glass candlesticks ; 
 
 A marble bust. 
 
 Books. 
 
 Sundry pamphlets on philosophical subjects, in packet marked A : 
 
 The like, marked B ; 
 
 -Struggles Through Life ; 
 
 Bibliotheca Parisiana; 
 
 La Platina POr Blanc ; 
 
 Contorides des Indiens ; 
 
 11 , d 1 ry P am P lllcts n philosophical subjects, marked C: 
 Weld's 1 ravels in North America, 2 vols 
 Bray's Derbyshire; 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 109 
 
 Twenty-three numbers of Nicholson's Journal of Natural Philosophy,, 
 in a case, (D ;) 
 
 Memoire d'un Voyageur qui le repose; 
 
 Hamilton in Antrim ; 
 
 Londres ct do ses Environs ; 
 
 Stew on Solids ; 
 
 Essais de Jean Key ; 
 
 Mon Bonnet de Nuit; 
 
 Domestic Cookery ; 
 
 Catalogue de Fossils des Roches ; 
 
 The Monthly Review, 78 Nos. ; 
 
 The Monthly Review, 26 volumes ; 
 
 Philosophical Transactions for the year 1826 ; 
 
 Anthologies et Fragments Philosophiques, 4 volumes ; 
 
 Two large boxes filled with specimens of minerals and manuscript trea- 
 tise?, apparently in the testator's handwriting, on various philosophical 
 subjects, particularly chemistry and mineralogy ; 
 
 Eight cases and one trunk filled with the like. 
 
 Those articles to which this mark (a) is prefixed were not in tho trunk 
 No. 13 when it was first opened in the consulate of the United States in 
 our presence. 
 
 All the linen in trunk No. 13 was transferred from case 7, and sundry 
 articles of plated ware and philosophical instruments, &c., were transferred 
 from case 12. Sundry books, which were tied together, were also put in 
 this case. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 HARBOR OF NEW YORK, August 28, 1838. 
 
 SIR: I have the honor to report to you my arrival here 
 in the ship Mediator, with the amount in gold of the Smith- 
 sonian bequest recovered for the United States. 
 
 The expenses, of every kind, incurred by closing the 
 business in London and shipping the gold, were paid there ; 
 but I have still to pay freight here and primage, and also 
 some other small charges incurred on bringing over the 
 Smithsonian boxes and trunks heretofore mentioned. When 
 everything is fully paid, there will be left in my hands, as well 
 as I can now compute the amount, upwards of 104,500 ; 
 the whole is in sovereigns packed in boxes. 
 
 The money being consigned to no one here, I must con- 
 tinue to hold it in my custody until 1 can receive your in- 
 structions to whom to deliver it, as provided for by the act 
 of Congress of the 1st of July, 1836. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, in the meantime, your most, 
 faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
110 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 29, 1888. 
 
 SIR : On landing from the ship yesterday morning, I re- 
 ceived the official letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 dated the 20th of July, which had been "waiting my arrival 
 here, instructing me to transfer the Smithsonian fund tc 
 Philadelphia, to be deposited with the Treasurer of the 
 Mint, to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, 
 taking duplicate receipts from the former, one of which tc 
 be transmitted" to the latter. 
 
 The ship has not yet got into the dock, but the gold shall 
 be sent on to Philadelphia, as soon as practicable, in the 
 eleven boxes in which it was packed at the Bank of England, 
 according to the instructions I have thus received from thq 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RusTi. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 John Forsyth to Richard Rush. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 
 WASHINGTON, August 30, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of youi 
 despatch No. 30, of the 28th instant, announcing your ar- 
 rival in the harbor of New York, with the Smithsonian! 
 bequest in gold. With regard to the disposition to 
 made by you of these funds, you no doubt will have learned 
 upon landing, that your request had been anticipated by in-| 
 structions to you from the Treasury Department, intrusted- 
 to the care of Mr. George Newbold, president of the Banl 
 of America. 
 
 Tendering to you my congratulations on the success o: j 
 your mission, and on your safe return to your country, ]| 
 am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYIH. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, Esq., New York. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, September 4, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I was yesterday honored with your letter of the 30tl. 
 of August, acknowledging my No. 30 from the harbor ol 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. Ill 
 
 York, and tender my thanks for your kind congratu- 
 lations on my return to my own country, and on the success 
 of the public business confided to me. Your letter went on 
 to New York, as directed, but was returned ; and I received 
 it at my home, near the city. 
 
 My No. 31, written after I had landed, will have informed 
 you that I had then received the instructions of the Secretary 
 of the Treasury to which your letter refers, and I have since 
 been in correspondence with him. Owing to the delay in 
 
 fitting the ship into the dock,. I was riot able to leave New 
 ork with the gold until the first of this month, when I 
 arrived with it, accompanied by two agents from the Bank 
 of America, that institution having, at the request of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, obligingly afforded me every 
 facility in its power towards the business I had in hand. I 
 did not, however, feel at liberty to withdraw my own per- 
 sonal superintendence from the operation of transferring the 
 gold, until I saw it deposited at the Mint. Thither I imme- 
 diately had it conveyed on reaching this city on the 1st in- 
 -stant, the director and Treasurer of the Mint having been 
 in readiness to receive it under the previous information of 
 its intended transfer, which I had requested the bank to 
 transmit. The entire sum contained in the eleven boxes 
 which I delivered to those two officers of the Mint on Satur- 
 day, was 104,960 85. 6d. the whole in English sovereigns, 
 except the change ; and I have now the satisfaction of in- 
 forming you that official receipts of this amount from my 
 liands have been forwarded to the Treasury Department. 
 
 The excess of this sum over that which I had computed 
 in my No. 30 as the probable amount to be left in my hands, 
 arises from the president of the bank having undertaken, 
 -at my suggestion, to pay the freight and other shipping- 
 charges due at New York ; the bank to be repaid by the 
 Treasury. The freight was three- eighths of one per cent. 
 this being the usual charge in the packet-ships and came 
 to 393 12s. Primage was 19 13s. Sd. ; and the charges 
 on bringing over the Smithsonian boxes (left in the custody 
 of the collector, from whom I had every facility on landing) 
 were to have been 3 85. 5d., or thereabouts.* 
 
 It seemed to me that it would be best for the bank to pay 
 -nil these charges, as the most convenient mode of settling 
 without delay with the ship-owners, to whom I had become 
 responsible by my engagements with the captain in Lon- 
 
 * There proved to be fourteen of these boxes, the additional one contain- 
 ing a picture, of which I had not heard at the date of my No. 28. 
 
112 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 don ; and I have the hope that this course will meet the- 
 approbation of the Secretary of the Treasury and yourself. 
 It left the gold, as secured in boxes at the Bank of England, 
 untouched at New York ; and I had caused the seal of our 
 consul at London to be affixed to each of them. 
 
 Somewhat worn down by fatigue since coming on shore, 
 after an uncomfortable voyage of squalls, gales, and head 
 winds, I venture to ask a little repose at my home before 
 proceeding to Washington, for the purpose of making out 
 and rendering to you an account of all expenses that have 
 attended the final recovery of this fund, of which tin- TniU'd 
 States, by the information I give you in this letter, are now 
 in possession. In the course of the next week I shall hope 
 to proceed to Washington, with the view stated; and in 
 order that, my account of the expenses being found satisfac- 
 factory, which I presume to hope will be the case, I may 
 ask to be discharged from all further responsibility under 
 the trust I have been performing. The net amount, in dol- 
 lars, of the fund as I delivered it over to the United States 
 at the Mint, was found to be five hundred and eight thou- 
 sand three hundred and eighteen dollars forty-six cents, 
 ($508,818,46,) as specified in the receipt given to me for it 
 by the treasurer of the Mint. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 KICIIARD RUSH. 
 
 The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rash to John Forsyth. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, September 11, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I yesterday received a letter from the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, dated the 7th instant, stating it to be desirable 
 that the expenses attending the transfer of the Smithsonian 
 fund to this country, and its deposit at the Mint, should be 
 ascertained as early as practicable, that the accounts in re- 
 lation to it maybe adjusted with a view to the investment 
 of the balance, and asking my attention to the subject at 
 my earliest convenience. 
 
 In reply, I had the honor to inform the Secretary that I 
 could not make out a statement of the expenses, as far as 
 then incurred, before embarking at London with the gold, 
 the documents relating to them not being obtainable until 
 the last moments of my stay ; besides that, the whole opera- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 113 
 
 lions of selling the stock in the English funds, in which Mr. 
 Smithson's fortune was invested, and afterwards shipping 
 the gold, required and had ray constant supervision until I 
 saw the latter finally deposited at our Mint, in fulfilment of 
 his instructions; that, having suffered greatly from sea 
 sickness during the voyage, added to fatigue after landing 
 in a weak state at JSTew York, where the care of the gold 
 still required my personal superintendence, I had been 
 unable hitherto to prepare a statement of the expenses in 
 question, but that I was now regaining strength and intended 
 to set out for Washington on Saturday, at farthest, if then 
 able, as at present I had reason to hope would be the case. 
 I added, that I supposed a settlement of my account could 
 be effected more satisfactorily and promptly by my presence 
 with the accounting officers at Washington than by any at- 
 tempt to make it out here, and transmit it by letter, which, 
 it may be, might lead to writing backwards and forwards 
 before a final adjustment took place; of which correspond- 
 ence I have the honor to inform you, and to remain, with 
 great respect, your obedient servant. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTE, Secretary of State. 
 
 Richard Rush to John Forsyth. 
 
 WASHINGTON, September 15, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I am now to give you a statement of all the expenses 
 that attended the recovery of the Smithsonian bequest for 
 the United States. 
 
 It may be in order first to mention the whole amount of 
 stock and money that came into my hands from the court 
 of chancery, or otherwise. 
 
 I received of English Government stock 64,535 18s. 9d. 
 in consols, 12,000 in reduced three per cent, annuities, and 
 16,100 in bank stock of the Bank of England, as heretofore 
 mentioned in my No. 26, and will now be seen by the original 
 order or decree of the court, which I enclose, (marked A.) 
 This document I could not obtain until the llth of July, 
 when I received it with the letter of the solicitors of that 
 date, also enclosed, (marked B.) 
 
 On the llth of June I received from the accountant gen- 
 eral of the court of chancery 725 3s. 7d. This was the 
 sum remaining to be paid to me, after previous payments to 
 others, out of cash in hand appertaining to the Smithsonian 
 8 
 
114 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 fund whilst in the custody of the court, as will be seen in 
 the concluding part of the decree. That this was the exact 
 residue coming to me, will be further seen by an explana- 
 tory letter from the solicitors of the 5th of July, also en- 
 closed, (marked C,)and more authoritatively by a document 
 (marked D)from the books of the accountant general of the 
 court, sent to me by the solicitors, with their letter of the 
 llth of July. This document, besides verifying in its own 
 forms the amount of stock and money I have otherwise 
 stated myself to have received, also verifies the statements 
 in my Nos. 26 and 28, as to the sums awarded to Madame 
 de la Batut, the arrears to John Fitall, and the money de- 
 creed as warehouse rent for the boxes containing the per- 
 sonal effects of Mr. Smithson, which I brought over and 
 delivered into the custody of the collector at New York. 
 It is a document founded on the decree of the court itself, 
 and shows in more detail how its judgments were ful- 
 filled. 
 
 I received on the 12th of July 900 at the Bank of Kng- 
 land, being the dividend due on the consols I had sold, as 
 mentioned in my No. 29 ; and, lastly, I received from the 
 solicitors 116 2s. 2d., being money returned by them out of 
 what I had paid them for costs on the 8th clay of April, 1837, 
 viz : 200 4s., as reported in my No. 14. The following is 
 the explanation of this item: When I paid them this sum, 
 I fully expected to pay all further costs out of the same 
 fund, then in my hands, that Congress had appropriated for 
 that purpose; but it appears that, on the termination of the 
 suit in favor of the United States, the costs of all parties 
 were paid out of the corpus of the fund ; nor would the court 
 award the fund to the United States, as may be seen by the 
 decree, until all costs were accordingly first taken out of it, 
 which the court judged it- proper the fund itself should 
 bear. I knew not of such a rule which the solicitors advert 
 to in their letter of July the 5th, until a short time before 
 the decree was pronounced. The total amount of their 
 costs, as made known to me in the same letter, and set out 
 in detail in a voluminous bill, which I enclose, (marked E,) 
 and to which I caused their affidavits to be annexed, was 
 490 45. lOrf. The court adjudged 406 3s. of this sum to 
 be paid to them out of the fund, as their taxed costs, which, 
 added to what I had previously paid them, made 606 7s. 
 The difference between this and 490 4s. lOd. being 116 
 26. 2d, they refunded the latter sum to me. Their total 
 bill, (considering that it included all fees paid by them 
 under my direction to the counsel, and all costs and charges 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 115 
 
 of every description from the beginning to the end of the 
 suit, with some small extra charges, to which their letter 
 refers, which I also authorized, to ensure a speedy and suc- 
 cessful termination of the suit,) and considering the magni- 
 tude of the suit, was, in my judgment, and in that of others 
 better informed, to whom I submitted its amount, extremely 
 moderate. I hope it will be thought to show care on my 
 part to keep all those charges low, that often are run up to 
 amounts so enormous in English chancery proceedings; 
 and, let me add, as in justice I am bound to do, to show 
 more strongly that the solicitors I had to deal with were 
 honorable arid just men. 
 
 I did not consider these refunded costs as belonging to 
 the legacy fund recovered, but I threw them into it when 
 the general gold was obtained, that all might be safely kept 
 together, and come under one insurance. 
 
 The gross amount yielded by all the stock I sold, includ- 
 ing the 900 I received as the dividend on the consols, was 
 105,649 6s. 
 
 For the prices at which I sold the different parcels and 
 kinds, I beg to refer to my Nos. 27 and 28, which detail 
 the commencement, progress, and conclusion of the sales. 
 This sum, added to the 725 3s. Id. received from the ac- 
 countant general of the court of chancery, and the 116 2s. 
 2d. returned to me by the solicitors, will show that the 
 entire sum that came into my hands was 106,490 11s. 9d. 
 
 I am next to inform you of the expenses that attended 
 the sales of the stock, and shipping and bringing over the 
 gold to this country. 
 
 After I had finally recovered the legacy from the court 
 of chancery, it did not seem to me prudent that I should, by 
 myself alone, undertake the sales of the stock awarded, 
 and delivered to me by its decree, any more than the ship- 
 ment of the gold, into which the money was afterwards to 
 be converted; these ulterior operations being usually con- 
 ducted through mercantile agencies, and being of a nature 
 not to be advantageously, if safely, conducted without them. 
 Feeling inadequate, in my own person merely, to the man- 
 agement of such operations, my first intention was that the 
 sales of the stock, as a highly important part of them, 
 should be put under the direction of some experienced mer- 
 cantile or banking-house in London, familiar with the modes 
 of doing business on its great stock exchange, and self-con- 
 fident in the measures to be taken. But I found that to 
 put this operation into such hands would incur acommision 
 of one per cent, on the entire fund, as mentioned in my No. 
 
116 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 27, in addition to brokerage and other charges, such as the 
 expenses on transfers and stamps; besides that, I should 
 have had to part with the possession of the stock to such 
 mercantile or banking-house whilst the sales were going 
 on. I was also given to understand that this latter step 
 would probably lay a foundation for a further mercantile 
 commission on receiving and paying. 
 
 Weighing all these circumstances, I came to the conclu- 
 sion to keep the operation of selling the stock in my own 
 hands. Nevertheless, I felt, as already intimated, that I 
 could conduct it with neither skill nor safety unless under 
 the counsel and co-operation of a person well informed in 
 these matters, and trustworthy. To the consul of the 
 United States in London I applied as to such a person, and 
 received from him, as my No. 27 informed you, this aid and 
 co-operation, in the fullest and most efficient manner, daily, 
 throughout the months of June and July, until all the sales 
 were effected; and effected, I may be allowed to add, with 
 favorable results not to have been surpassed, as I have 
 already reported to you, and as the public records of the 
 London stock market on each of the days that I sold will 
 attest. Into his hands I also put the other mercantile busi- 
 ness necessary to the shipment of the gold. These included 
 the obtaining, verifying, arranging, packing, and securing 
 it for shipment, contracting for freight, entering and clear- 
 ing at the custom-house, effecting insurance, (which was 
 done at five principal offices and with thirty-two private 
 underwriters,) and, finally, shipping the gold. For these 
 services, of whatever kind, (and I had many incidental 
 ones from him, not here enumerated,) I allowed and paid 
 him a commission of three-fourths of one per cent, which 
 amounted to 797 155. 6d. 
 
 I speak from good information when expressing a belief 
 that an equal amount of assistance and services to me, 
 under all the heads rendered, could not have been com- 
 manded through the usual agency of banking and com- 
 mercial houses, on so heavy and responsible a moneyed 
 operation, at a less charge to the fund than a commission 
 of from two to two and a half per cent, on the whole 
 amount of it; and that this falls below rather than goes 
 beyond what it might be expected to have been. 
 
 I enclose the consul's account, signed T. Aspinwall, 
 together with his voucher for a charge of 6 195. 4d. for 
 expenses paid by him on shipping the fourteen Smithsonian 
 boxes. 
 
 The. premium for insurance was one half of one per cent, 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 117 
 
 :and amounted, with the expense of stamps and polices, to 
 599 3s. 4d. The statement of this, as paid for me by the 
 consul, will be seen in the enclosure, (marked "Invoice,") 
 on which are also certain items, as dock charges, charges 
 for bills of lading, and some other things, amounting" in 
 all to 6 Os. 6d., accompanied by vouchers. I also enclose 
 the policies of insurance.* The insurance covered all com- 
 missions and charges paid in London, so as to have made 
 the United States entirely whole in case of loss. This I 
 directed, thinking it most prudent. 
 
 The expenses on selling the stock, viz : brokerage, charges 
 on the transfers, and charges for stamps, were 120 4s. 6d. 
 Theee will be seen in my account, marked among the en- 
 closures H. R. 
 
 The several expenses above enumerated, viz : 
 
 1st. The consul's commission of 797 15s. 6<i., and 
 charges 6 19s. 4d. 
 
 2d. The premium of insurance, stamps, and policies, viz : 
 599 3.5. 4d., with the charges 6 Os. 6d. 
 
 And 3. The expense of selling the stock, viz : 120 4s. 
 6d.. deducted from the gross amount of moneys that came 
 into my hands, viz: 106,490 11s. 9d., will leave 104,960 
 8s. 7t/., which was the precise sum in gold I brought over 
 in the eleven boxes, and, under instructions from the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury, deposited at the Mint in Philadelphia, 
 on the 1st instant, to the credit of the Treasurer of the 
 United States. 
 
 The foregoing is the statement I have to make of the ex- 
 penses. I presume to hope that the} 7 will not be thought 
 objectionable, but, on the contrary, moderate under all the 
 heads. If I have been somewhat minute in explaining 
 them, it is for the better understanding of the different ac- 
 counts and documents enclosed, trusting that this will be 
 rny excuse when about to surrender up a trust where so 
 much pecuniary responsibility has devolved upon me. 
 
 In regard to the 14 boxes containing the personal effects 
 of Mr. Smithson, it will be perceived that the letter of the 
 solicitors, of the 5th July, mentions that they had sent me 
 a list of them. They did so, and I enclose it, (marked F.) 
 It is proper to remark, that this list refers to but one of the 
 boxes, or rather to a trunk, as their letter specifies, and it 
 proved to be erroneous. I preferred that all these boxes, 
 and the trunk, should be first opened at the consulate, in 
 
 * It has been deemed unnecessary, at the Department of State, to com- 
 :municate copies of the several policies of insurance above referred to. 
 
118 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 presence of the consul and others, who might aid me in as- 
 certaining their contents. When the trunk was opened, 
 several of the articles down upon the list were not in it. I 
 mentioned this to the solicitors, and it produced the explan- 
 atory letter from them of the 13th of July, which I enclose, 
 (marked G.) All the rest of the boxes were filled with 
 things of little intrinsic value, as far as a mere superficial 
 inspection of them, pressed upon me on the eve of my em- 
 barkation, could determine. They seemed to be chiefly old 
 books, pamphlets, manuscripts, and some philosophical or 
 chemical instruments. Of the whole contents, (such as they 
 were,) all were left as we found them, except to have been 
 repacked, with the aid of the consul and his assistants, and 
 put in a better state for crossing the sea than they were 
 when delivered to me. When first opened, it was evident 
 that, time, mould, and careless packing in the first instance, 
 had nearly destroyed many of the articles. 
 
 The freight payable on the gold was not paid in London, 
 not being due until the arrival of the ship at New York ; 
 but the consul agreed with the captain for three-eighths of 
 one per cent., which brought the amount to 393 125. 
 Primage was 19 135. 8d.; and the freight and primage on 
 the 14 Smithsonian boxes was to have been 3 85. 5d. 
 These several charges I was necessarily obliged to assume 
 for the United States, and engaged to pay them when the 
 ship got to New York. On arriving there, I received the 
 instructions of the Secrefary of the Treasury, of the 20th 
 of July, directing me to transfer the gold to the Mint at 
 Philadelphia as soon as practicable ; it being added that the 
 president of the Bank of America at New York had been 
 requested to render me any facilities in his power. The 
 captain of the ship being content to take the bank as pay- 
 ment for these last-mentioned charges, I thought I should 
 best consult the spirit of the Secretary's instructions by 
 leaving the bank to pay them, which its president expressed 
 an immediate readiness to do. I supposed it could make 
 no difference to the Government, in the end, whilst it saved 
 the necessity of opening one of the boxes of the gold at 
 New York, out of which fund alone I could have made the 
 payment if demanded of me under the engagement I had 
 contracted. The bank may have further charges to make 
 for its aid to me otherwise in removing the gold to the Mint, 
 but I know nothing of them in detail. 
 
 Referring, therefore, to that part of the Secretary's letter 
 to me of the 7th instant, which I mentioned in my No. 33, 
 asking a statement of expenses attending the transportation 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 of the gold after its actual shipment at London, and its 
 transfer to the Mint at Philadelphia after its arrival at New 
 York, I beg to offer the above explanation, having paid 
 nothing myself. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- 
 dient servant, RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 John Forsyth to Led Woodhury. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 WASHINGTON, September 18, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to transmit, herewith, two letters 
 from Mr. Richard Rush, Nos. 34 and 35, with the papers 
 which accompanied them, in relation to the amount re- 
 covered of the Smithsonian legacy, and the expenses attend- 
 ing the recovery, and the transmission of the proceeds to 
 this country. 
 
 I am, sir, }^our obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 Edward Stubbs to Stephen Pleasonton. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 WASHINGTON, September 24, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I am directed to transmit to you, for settlement, the 
 enclosed account of Mr. Richard Rush, and a letter from 
 him (No. 36) accompanying it. The balance which may be 
 found due to Mr. Rush he wishes to have remitted to him. 
 The compensation and allowance for expenses are to be up 
 to the period charged in the account, (the 20th instant.) 
 
 It is presumed that the amount repaid to Mr. Rush by 
 the solicitors in London, mentioned in his letter, (116 2s. 
 2d. sterling,) which was paid into the Treasury, together 
 with the avails of the Smithsonian legacy, will be brought 
 to the credit of the appropriation from which it was origi- 
 nally taken, and thus form a fund from which the balance 
 due to Mr. Rush can be paid. The papers explanatory of 
 this circumstance have been transmitted, together with the 
 account of the legacy, to the Treasury Department. 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 EDWARD STUBBS, Agent. 
 
 STEPHEN PLEASONTON, Esq., Fifth Auditor. 
 
120 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 i 
 
 Levi Woodbury to the President. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Dec. 3, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to report to you that, under the 
 act of Congress approved 1st July, 1836, in relation to the 
 legacy bequeathed to the United States by James Smithson, 
 the sum of $508,318.46 has been received, and paid 'into the 
 Treasury of the United States. 
 
 In compliance with the provisions of the sixth section of 
 the act of Congress for the support of the Military Academy 
 of the United States, and for other purposes, approved 7th 
 July, 1838, the sum of $499,500 has been expended in the 
 purchase of five hundred bonds of the State of Arkansas, 
 for one thousand dollars each, bearing six per cent, interest, 
 payable semi-annually, on the first days of January and July 
 in each year, from the fourth day of September last, (the 
 period of their purchase.) The further sum of $8,270.67 
 has been applied to the purchase of eight bonds of the State 
 of Michigan, bearing six per cent, interest, payable semi- 
 annually hereafter, on the first Mondays in January and 
 July, from the 1st of May last. The interest on all these 
 bonds is payable at the city of New York. 
 
 There is still left in the Treasury the sum of $547.79 
 which has not yet been invested, but will be as soon as a 
 favorable opportunity offers. 
 
 The amount received in London by the agent of the 
 United States, under the decree of the court of chancery 
 of England, was the gross sum of 106,490 11s. 9d., includ- 
 ing the sum of 116 2s. 2c/., for costs refunded. This was 
 reduced, by the payment of commissions, insurances, &c., 
 to the sum of 104,960 8s. 9d, which was brought into the 
 United States in gold, and produced at the Mint the sum of 
 $508,318.46, before mentioned. 
 
 This department having doubts as to what constituted the 
 amount of the Smithsonian fund, consulted the Attorney 
 General, and he has given his opinion (hereto annexed, A,) 
 that the proper construction to be given to the legislation 
 of Congress on this subject requires that the gross amount 
 of the payment made to the agent of the United States, 
 after deducting the costs refunded, as before stated, shall 
 constitute the fund, " and all expenses, of whatever kind or 
 nature, should be paid out of the appropriation made by Con- 
 gress." That appropriation, however, not being sufficient, an 
 estimate will accordingly be submitted to the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, to enable the Department to comply with the 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 121 
 
 :acts of Congress referred to, in accordance with the con- 
 struction thus given to them by the Attorney General. 
 
 The estimate to he submitted is for $10,000. Of this, the 
 sum of $128.24 will be required to make good a deficiency 
 in the former appropriation. The sum of $6,848.12 will be 
 required to be added to the fund, on the principles laid 
 down by the Attorney General. This sum is estimated on 
 the same ratio as upon the amount produced in the United 
 States on the remittance which has been received. The bal- 
 ance, $3,023.64, will be required to pay the freight, &c., of 
 the remittance amounting, to $2,235.63, arid such expenses 
 as ma3 r be incurred in disposing of the personal effects of 
 Mr. Smithson, which have been brought to the United States ; 
 for the sale of which I would suggest that provision should 
 be made by Congress. 
 
 This report is submitted to you, in compliance with the 
 resolution of the House of Representatives, which you re- 
 ferred to this Department for the necessary information 
 that its archives would furnish in relation to the call thus 
 .made upon you. 
 
 Respectfully submitted : 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 To the PRESIDENT of the United States. 
 
 A. 
 
 Felix Grundy to Levi Woodbury. 
 
 ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, November 16, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours 
 -of the llth of October last, requesting my opinion upon 
 various points in relation to the Smithsonian legacy. A 
 separate answer to each of your inquiries is deemed un- 
 necessary, as the opinion I entertain, arid am about to ex- 
 press in general terms, will be found to cover most of them. 
 
 James Smithson, of London, on the 23d of October, 1826, 
 -executed his last will and testament, by which, upon the 
 happening of certain contingencies, he bequeathed to the 
 United States of America all his property, to found at 
 Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men. The Congress of the United 
 States, by an act passed 1st of July, 1836, accepted the 
 bequest, and directed the President to appoint an agent to 
 
122 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 assert and prosecute the claim, and by said act pledged the?- 
 faith of the United States to apply the moneys and other 
 funds which might be received to carry into effect the pro- 
 visions of said will ; and, by the fourth section of said act, 
 it is provided, " that to the end that the claim to said be- 
 quest may be prosecuted with effect, and the necessary 
 expenses in prosecuting the same be defrayed, the President 
 of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to 
 apply to that purpose any sum not exceeding $10,000," &c. 
 
 From these provisions it appears to me that Congress 
 intended that there should be no diminution of the funds 
 bequeathed for the purpose specified in said will, but that 
 the whole, whatever they might amount to, should be ap- 
 plied to carry into effect the intention of the testator ; and 
 when the object of the bequest is considered, it cannot be 
 supposed that Congress would act in any other than a liberal 
 spirit. 
 
 My opinion, therefore, is, that the amount of the whole 
 money and other funds received by the agent of the United 
 States, under the act of July 1st, 1836, without reduction, 
 constitute the Smithsonian fund, for the purposes specified 
 in said Smithson's will ; and that the whole expenses of" 
 prosecuting said claim, receiving, and transporting the same 
 to this country, including any additional expenses which 
 imiy have been incurred here, ought to be defrayed out of 
 the appropriation made by Congress. 
 
 It appears that cash and stocks, which, when converted 
 into money, amounted to 106,490 11s. 9rf., were decreed 
 to the United States, as the amount of the legacy and be- 
 quest in said will. This sum. after deducting 116 2s. 2d., 
 the amount of costs refunded, is the amount which should 
 be paid to the Treasurer of the United States, to be kept 
 and disposed of according to the provisions of the act of 
 July 1, 1836, and the sixth section of the act of July 7 V 
 1838 ; and all expenses, of whatever kind or nature, should 
 be paid out of the appropriation made by Congress. 
 
 In relation to the disposition of the other personal effects 
 of Mr. Smithson, which have been transferred to this country 
 by the agent of the United States, my opinion is, that Con- 
 gress should direct the disposition of them. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 FELIX GRUNDY. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 

 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 12& 
 
 RESIDUARY BEQUEST OF JAMES SMITHSON; 
 
 From Report of the Secretary for the year 1861. 
 
 Information has been received from London of the death, 
 at an advanced age, of Madame de la Batut, the mother of 
 the nephew of James Smithson, to whom an annuity was 
 conceded as a compromise by the Hon. Richard Rush, with 
 a view to the more expeditious realization of the Smith- 
 sonian legacy. The principal of this annuity, amounting 
 to five thousand and fifteen pounds, (about $25,000,) will 
 now be added to the bequest of Smithson, of which it origi- 
 nally formed a part. 
 
 From Proceedings of the Board of Regents, May 1, 1862. 
 
 The Secretary gave an account of the circumstances con- 
 nected with the money left in England by Hon. Richard 
 Rush, as principal of an annuity to the mother of the 
 nephew of Smithson, and presented the following commu- 
 nications from Fladgate, Clarke & Finch, of London. 
 40 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, 
 
 London, W. C., May 16, 18-61. 
 
 SIR : We had the honor, in the year 1838, of acting pro- 
 fessionally for the President of the United States in the 
 suit in the English court of chancery, under which the funds 
 for the foundation of the Institution (of which we address 
 you as manager) were decreed to be paid over to him for 
 the purpose of establishing the Institution. We have now 
 to make to you as the manager thereof the following com- 
 munication : 
 
 On referring to the papers connected with the Institution 
 you will find that a sum of 5,015 three per cent. consols y 
 part of the estate of Smithson, the founder, were retained 
 in the court of chancery to answer a claim of one Madame 
 de la Batut. That person was, in fact, entitled to a life in- 
 terest in the fund, and at her death it was to revert to the 
 President as an additional fund for the purposes of the In- 
 stitution. 
 
 Madame de la Batut is now dead, so that the fund has 
 become transferable to the President, and it will be requi- 
 
124 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 site for him, or some person duly authorized by him, to 
 take the necessary steps to obtain a transfer. 
 
 We have had some communication with the solicitor of 
 the lady's family, who writes as follows^ 
 
 " My client Mr. La Batut, upon taking out administra- 
 tion to his late mother, Madame La Batut, to whom Lieu- 
 tenant Colonel Henry Lewis Dickinson, by his will dated 
 17th July, 1819, gave half of the income of his property, 
 for her life, will be entitled to -an apportioned part of such 
 Income from the last payment, on the 22d March, 1858, to 
 10th September, in the same year, which would amount to 
 about 70. 
 
 " The property originally consisted of French 5 per cent, 
 rentes, payable 22d March, and 22d September, but by 
 order of the court a sum of 5,015 three per cent, consols 
 was invested in the name of the accountant general in this 
 suit, to the separate account of Mary Ann de la Batut. the 
 annuitant, to meet the payments of the life income. By 
 the law of France, the life income is apportionable and pay- 
 able up to the time of death, and Lieutenant Colonel Dick- 
 inson having been domiciled in France at the time of his 
 death, that law will apply to this case. 
 
 " Will you be good enough, under these circumstances, 
 to obtain the consent of your client in presenting a petition 
 as to the 5,015 and the arrears of dividends due thereon, 
 to ask for the payment to my client of the apportioned sum 
 out of such arrears, without obliging him to go to the ex- 
 pense of proving the law of France upon this subject. I 
 will hand you the necessary proof of death, the expense of 
 which can be included in the necessary costs of the appli- 
 cation." 
 
 We should recommend that the request contained in this 
 letter be complied with. 
 
 We have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient ser- 
 vants, 
 
 FLADGATE, CLARKE & FINCH. 
 
 To the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
 
 Washington, U. S. 
 
 40 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, 
 
 London, W. C., October 26, 1861. 
 
 SIR : Your letter of the 14th August reached us in the 
 long vacation which has just terminated, and we hasten to 
 reply to it. 
 
 All that will be requisite to be done in the first instance 
 .is, that we should have the authority of the President of; 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 125 
 
 the United States to present a petition for an order to 
 have the fund paid to him. On our obtaining this order, a 
 power of attorney will be sent out to the President author- 
 izing some person here to receive from the court of chan- 
 cery, and transmit to him, or to the managers of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, the fund in question. 
 
 Having in the suit, had the honor of acting for the Presi- 
 dent, it might be within our functions to present the petition 
 even without an express authority, but we did not deem it 
 right to do so without some communication with the Presi- 
 dent or with the managers of the Institution. 
 
 Of course, although the order might be obtained without, 
 the fund can only be dealt with on the signature of the 
 President. 
 
 We have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient ser- 
 vants, 
 
 FLADGATE, CLARKE & FINCH. 
 
 JOSEPH HENRY, Esq., 
 
 Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Trumbull, it was 
 
 Resolced, That the Secretary and Executive Committee 
 consult with the President of the United States and take 
 such action as may be necessary for obtaining the money 
 referred to in the communication from the solicitors in 
 London. 
 
 From Report of the Secretary for the year 1862. 
 
 A power of attorney has been forwarded from the Presi- 
 dent of the United States to Messrs. Fladgate, Clarke & 
 Finch, of London, authorizing them to collect the remainder 
 of the Smithsonian fund, which was left, by the Honorable 
 Mr. Rush, as the principal of an annuity to the mother of 
 the nephew of Smithson. The power of attorney was for- 
 warded to the care of Honorable Charles F. Adams, Ameri- 
 can minister to England, and the money, when collected, 
 will be deposited with George Peabody & Co., bankers, 
 London, subject to the order of the Institution. 
 
 From Report of the Secretary for the year 1863. 
 
 A part of the original bequest, amounting to 5,015, was 
 left by Mr. Rush in England, as the principal of an annuity 
 to be paid to the mother of the nephew of Smithson. The 
 
126 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 --annuitant having died, a power of attorney was sent, in 
 November, 1862, to Messrs. Fladgate, Clark & Finch to col- 
 lect the money ; but it has not yet been received. Although 
 the whole legacy was awarded to Mr. Rush in behalf of the 
 United States, after an amicable suit in chancery, various 
 objections have been raised to allowing the small remainder 
 to be sent to this country. These objections appear to be 
 principally of a technical character^ and are scarcely com- 
 patible with an equitable interpretation of the facts of the 
 case. There should be no prejudice in England in regard 
 to the construction placed upon the terms of the bequest 
 .and the policy which has been adopted, since one hundred 
 .and sixty-nine institutions in Great Britain and Ireland are 
 recipients of the Smithsonian publications and specimens of 
 natural history, and have enjoyed the advantages of its sys- 
 tem of international exchange. 
 
 From Proceedings of the Board of Regents, January 25, 1864. 
 
 The Secretary called attention to the unexpected delays 
 and embarrassments which had occurred in obtaining the 
 remainder of the original bequest of Smithson left in Eng- 
 land as the principal of an annuity to the mother of the 
 nephew of Smithson, and read the correspondence on the 
 subject with the attorneys, and also a letter from Hon. C. 
 F. Adams, the American minister to England. 
 
 On motion it was 
 
 Resolved, That a committee be appointed, consisting oi 
 the Secretary, Mr. IT. W. Davis, and Professor Bache, to 
 confer with the Secretary of State and the British minister 
 relative to the action of the English authorities in regard 
 to the money due the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 From Report of the Secretary for the year 1864. 
 
 It was mentioned in the last report that a part of the 
 original bequest, amounting to 5,015, was left by Mr. Rush 
 in England as the principal to secure an annuity payable to 
 the mother of Smithson's nephew. The annuitant having 
 died, a power of attorney was sent in November, 1863, to 
 Messrs. Fladgate, Clark and Finch, (the same firm originally 
 employed by Mr. Rush,) to collect the money. Alter a 
 considerable delay, arising principally from technical diffi- 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 127 
 
 Acuities, the money was obtained and deposited to the order 
 of the Institution, with George Peabody & Co., bankers, 
 London. It was subsequently drawn through the agency 
 of the Secretary of the Treasury, and in accordance with 
 the law of Congress directing that the money of the Smith- 
 sonian bequest should be invested in United States securi- 
 ties, it was expended in the purchase of government bonds, 
 bearing interest at the rate of 7-j\ per cent. The amount 
 realized in bonds of this denomination, at par, was $54,150. 
 It was at first supposed that this money, or at least the 
 interest upon it, could immediately be applied to the uses 
 of the Institution, but from a critical examination of the 
 enactments of Congress in reference to the Smithsonian 
 fund, it was found that the appropriation of the bequest by 
 the act organizing the establishment in 1846, related only 
 to that part of the bequest which had already been received, 
 and made no provision for the disposition of the residuary 
 legacy which has just become available. It can scarcely be 
 doubted, however, but that Congress intended to appropriate 
 the whole of the bequest to the maintenance of the estab- 
 lishment; still, for this purpose, a special act will be re- 
 quired, and it is desirable that the sum recently received be 
 deposited in the treasury on the same condition with the 
 amount originally obtained ; that the interest alone shall be 
 subject to expenditure. In this connection it is proper to 
 remark that Mr. Peabody, who received the deposit of the 
 fund, so far from claiming the usual commission, allowed 
 four per cent, on the money while it remained in his hands. 
 
 From Proceedings of the Board of Regents, February 2, 1865. 
 
 Professor Henry presented the question as to the dispo- 
 sition of the residuary legacy of Smithson which had been 
 received from England, and was now on deposit with the 
 Treasurer of the United States. 
 
 On. motion of Mr. Patterson, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to invest the 
 money now on deposit with the Treasurer of the United 
 States, derived from the residuary legacy of James Smith- 
 eon, in United States bonds bearing 7^ per cent, interest. 
 
 From Report of the Secretary for the year 1865. 
 
 It has been mentioned in the two preceding reports, that 
 part of the original bequest had been left in England as the 
 
128 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 principal of an annuity payable to the mother of Smithson's 
 nephew. The annuitant 'having died, a power of attorney 
 signed by Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
 was sent to Fladgate, Clarke & Finch, solicitors, in England, 
 authorizing them to. collect the money and pay it to the 
 order of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The 
 proceeds from this, deducting the expenses of collection, 
 were 5,262 Os. 3d., which were temporarily deposited with 
 George Peabody & Co., who not only transacted the busi- 
 ness without charge, but allowed four per cent, interest on 
 the money while it remained in their hands. The total 
 amount of this residuary legacy received by the Institution, 
 including the interest, 153 195. 4d., was $26,210.63 in 
 gold, which being sold at the current premium, (about 107,) 
 yielded $54,165.38 in United States currency. This sum 
 was invested in Government bonds, bearing interest at 7 t V 
 per cent, and deposited for safe' keeping with General 
 Spinner, the Treasurer of the United States. 
 
 From Report of the Executive Committee for the year 1865. 
 
 It appears from the statement of the Secretary, and the 
 accounts rendered by Riggs & Co., bankers of the Institu- 
 tion, that the remainder of the legacy of Smithson, which 
 amounted to $26,210 63 in gold, was sold at a premium 
 from 105 to 107 J per cent., yielding, after deducting the 
 cost of sale and United States tax, $54,165 38. This 
 amount was expended in the purchase of United States 
 bonds bearing 7^p- P er cent, interest at par. 
 
 The following is a detailed statement of the whole trans- 
 action : 
 
 1864. 
 June 11. The amount received from Fladgate, Clarke & 
 
 Finch, attorneys, London, as the residuary legacy s. d. 
 
 of James Smithson, was 5,262 3 
 
 This amount was deposited with George Peabody & 
 Co., hankers, London, who allowed interest on it 
 to the 5th of March, 1865 153 19 4 
 
 5,415 19 
 
 This amount was equivalent to $26,210 63 in gold, which 
 was sold by Riggs & Co., under the direction of the Secre- 
 tary of the Institution, as follows : 
 
' SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 129 
 
 $10.000 00 at 207} $20,725 00 
 
 15,000 00 at 206| 31 ' 031 25 
 
 1,000 00 at 207 2,070 00 
 
 210 63 at 205 431 79 
 
 26,210 63 54,258 04 
 
 Less brokerage, J $65 53 
 
 Less United States tax, -J^ 27 13 
 
 92 66 
 
 Net amount realized from sale of gold ___ $54,165 38 
 
 1865. 
 February 17. United States bonds bearing 7 T 3 Q per cent, interest 
 
 were purchased at par for 54,150 00 
 
 Balance, which could not be invested on account 
 of there being no bonds for less than $50__ 15 38 
 
 After the Secretary bad purchased these bonds and de- 
 posited them for safekeeping with the Treasurer of the 
 United States, it was claimed by the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury that this money was not under the control of the Regents 
 of "the Institution, inasmuch as the original act of Congress 
 of 1846, establishing the Institution, referred to only so 
 much of the bequest of Smithson as was then in the Treas- 
 ury of the United States, and that a special act of Congress 
 would be required to apply this money, or the interest on 
 it, to the uses of the Institution. The Executive Commit- 
 tee w r ould therefore recommend that an application be made 
 to Congress for such a disposition of this money. 
 
 From Proceedings of the Board of Regents, March 24, 1866. 
 
 The subject of the disposition of the money in possession 
 of the Secretary of the Treasury, resulting from the residu- 
 ary legacy of Smithson, was next considered. The Secre- 
 tary suggested that so much of this sum as was received 
 from England, independent of the premium on the coin, viz : 
 $26,210 63, should be added to the amount originally de- 
 posited in the Treasury of the United States by Mr. Rush,, 
 making $541,379 63 as the total bequest of Smithson, and 
 that the premium and the interest since accrued be applied 
 to the current uses of the Institution, and to assist in defray- 
 ing the cost of the restoration of the building. By this 
 arrangement the interesting fact could be stated that, after 
 all the Institution has done in the way of increasing and 
 diffusing knowledge, the entire sum derived from the be- 
 
130 MITH80NIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 quest of Smithson is still uncliminished in the Treasury of 
 the United States. 
 
 The Chancellor recommended that the sum thus added 
 to the money now in the Treasury of the United States 
 should be sufficient to make up the amount to 550,000. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Wallach, it was 
 
 Resoked, That the Secretary he directed to apply to Con- 
 gress for an act by which the residuary legacy of James 
 Smithson, now -in the possession of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, amounting to $26,210 63, be added to the sum 
 originally received ; and that also from the income of the 
 above-mentioned residuary legacy the further sum of 
 $8,620 87 be added, making the total amount deposited in 
 the Treasury of the United States $550,000 as the trust 
 fund, the interest on which alone is to be applied to the 
 maintenance and uses of the Institution; and further, that 
 the Regents be authorized to apply the remainder of the 
 income'of the residuary legacy to the current expenses of 
 the Institution and the reconstruction of the building. 
 
 From Proceedings of the Board of Regents, January 28, 1867. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Wallach, the following resolution was 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to pre- 
 sent a memorial to Congress in behalf of the Board of 
 Regents, requesting the passage of an act authorizing the 
 Treasurer of the United States to receive into the treasury, 
 on the same terms as the original bequest, the residuary 
 legacy of James Smithson, now in United States bonds in 
 the hands of said Treasurer, namely, $26,210.63, together 
 with such other sums as the Regents may from time to time 
 see fit to deposit, not exceeding, with the original bequest, 
 the sum of one million dollars ; and that the income which 
 has accrued or which may accrue from said residuary legacy 
 be applied in the same manner as the interest on the origi- 
 nal bequest. 
 
 The Chancellor appointed Messrs. Davis, Patterson, and 
 Gurfield as the committee. 
 
 From Proceedings of the Board of Regents, February 1, 1867. 
 
 The Secretary presented the following memorial which 
 had been offered to Congress by the special committee: 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 131 
 
 To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives 
 
 in Congress Assembled : 
 
 The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 
 have directed the undersigned to transmit to your honor- 
 able body the resolution herewith appended, and to solicit 
 the passage of an act in accordance therewith. 
 
 It is known to your honorable body that the original sum 
 received into the United States Treasury from the bequest 
 of James Smithson, of England, was $515,167, which was 
 considered a trust fund, the interest alone to be applied to 
 carrying out the purpose of the testator, viz : u The increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 This, however, was not the whole of the Smithsonian be- 
 quest, the sum of 5,015 sterling, having been left b}' Hon. 
 R. Rush, the agent of the United States, as the principal of 
 an annuity to the mother of the nephew of Smithson. 
 
 The annuitant having died, the sum of $26,210.63 has 
 been received from this source, and is now in charge of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury of the United States ; and no 
 provision having been made in the act of August 10, 1846, 
 establishing the Institution, for the disposition of this re- 
 mainder of the legac} 7 , your memorialists, in behalf of the 
 Board of Regents, now ask that it be added to the original 
 bequest on the same terms ; and that the increase which has 
 arisen from interest or otherwise on the sum before men- 
 tioned, also in the hands of the Treasury Department of the 
 United States, be transferred to the Board of Regents for 
 assisting to defray the expense of the reconstruction of the 
 building, and for other objects of the Institution. 
 
 And your memorialists would further ask that the Board 
 of Regents be allowed to place in the Treasury of the 
 United States, on the same terms as the original bequest, 
 such sums of money as may accrue from savings of income 
 and from other sources, provided the whole amount thus 
 received into the treasury shall not exceed one million dol- 
 lars. 
 
 The sole object of this request is the permanent invest- 
 ment and perpetual security of the entire Smithsonian 
 bequest and such other sums as may be accumulated from 
 .savings of accrued interest, legacies, &c. 
 
 And your memorialists will ever pray, &c. 
 
 S. P. CHASE, 
 
 Chancellor. 
 JOSEPH HENRY, 
 Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 
 
132 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 
 
 Resolved, by the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, That an application be made to Congress for an act 
 authorizing the Treasurer of the United States to receive 
 into the treasury, on the same terms as the original bequest, 
 the residuary legacy of James Smithson, now in United 
 States bonds in the hands of said Treasurer, namely, $26,- 
 210.63, together with such other sums as the Regents may 
 from time to time see fit to deposit, not exceeding, with the 
 original bequest, the sum of $1,000,000 ; and that the in- 
 come which has accrued or may accrue from said residuary 
 legacy be applied in the same manner as the interest on the 
 original bequest. 
 
 Mr. Patterson stated that in behalf of the committee he 
 had presented the memorial to the House of Representa- 
 tives, with a bill in accordance therewith, which had passed 
 unanimously that day, and been transmitted to the Senate. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull stated that this bill had also unanimously 
 passed the Senate, and only awaited the signature of the 
 President to become a law. 
 
 From. Proceedings of the Board of Regents, February 22, 1867. 
 
 The Secretary presented the following copy of the act of 
 Congress relative to the increase of the trust fund, referred 
 to at the last meeting of the Board, and a statement of what 
 had been done in accordance with it: 
 
 AN ACT authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to receive into the 
 treasury the residuary legacy of James Smithson, to authorize the Re- 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution to apply the income of the said 
 legacy, and for other purposes. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to receive into the Treas- 
 ury, on the same terms as the original bequest, the residuary legacy of 
 James Smithson, now in United States bonds in the hands of said Secretary, 
 namely, twenty-six thousand two hundred and ten dollars and sixty-three 
 cents, together with such other sums as the Regents may from time to time 
 see fit to deposit, not exceeding with the original bequest the sum of one 
 million dollars. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the increase which has accrued, 
 or which may hereafter accrue, from said residuary legacy, shall be applied 
 by the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 'in the same man- 
 ner as the interest on the original bequest, in accordance with the provi- 
 sions of the act of August tenth, eighteen hundred and forty- six, establish- 
 ing said Institution. 
 
 Approved February 8, 1867. 
 
 The Secretary stated that in accordance with the direc- 
 tions of the Board of Regents, and the authority conferred. 
 
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 138 
 
 by the above act, he had increased the amount of the Smith- 
 sonian fund in the Treasury of the United States on the 
 19th of February, 1867, to $550,000, in the following man- 
 ner : 
 
 The interest at 7 T 3 ^ per cent., due for two years, to February 
 
 15, 1867, on the $54,150 U. S. bonds, was collected, viz : I $7,905 90 
 
 $25,400 of the Bonds were taken by the Treasury Depart- 
 ment at 6 per cent, premium, yielding Bonds $25,400 
 
 Premium 1,524 
 
 26,924 00 
 
 Interest from 15th February to 19tli, four days 20 32 
 
 Amount realized 34,850 22 
 
 Amount placed in the United States Treasury, to be added 
 to the original trust fund, $515,169, (making it $550,000)- 34,831 00 
 
 Leaving a balance in cash of $19 22 
 
 This balance was deposited with Riggs & Co. to the credit 
 of the Smithsonian account. 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Message from the President of the United States. 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 17, 1835. 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States : 
 
 I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of 
 State, accompanying copies of certain papers* relating to a 
 bequest to the United States, by Mr. James Smithson, of 
 London, for the purpose of founding, at Washington, an 
 establishment, under the name of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, "for the increase arid diffusion of knowledge among 
 men." The Executive having no authority to take any 
 steps for accepting the trust, and obtaining the funds, the 
 papers are communicated with a view to such measures as 
 Congress may deem necessary. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 21, 1835. 
 
 The message was read, and ordered that it be referred to 
 the Committee on the Judiciary, and printed. 
 
 SENATE, TUESDAY, January 5, 1836. 
 
 Mr. Leigh, from the Committee on the Judiciary, to 
 whom was referred the message of the President of the 
 United States, of the 21st ultimo, relative to the bequest of 
 the late James Smithson, of London, made a report, accom- 
 panied by a joint resolution to authorize and enable the 
 President to assert and prosecute with effect the claim of 
 the United States to the legacy bequeathed to them by 
 James Smithson, late of London, deceased, to found at 
 Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men. The resolution was read, and 
 passed to a second reading. 
 
 Ordered, That the report be printed. 
 
 * For these papers see Correspondence. 
 
 135 
 
136 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The following is the report : 
 
 The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
 message of the President of the 17th December last, 
 transmitting to Congress a report of the Secretary of 
 State, accompanying copies of certain papers relating to 
 a bequest to the United States by Mr. James Smithson, of 
 London, for the purpose of founding, at Washington, an 
 establishment under the name of " The Smithsonian 
 Institution, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men." respectfully report : 
 
 That it appears that Mr. James Smithson, late of London, 
 deceased, by his last will and testament bequeathed the 
 whole of his property to his bankers, Messrs. Drummonds, 
 of Charing Cross, London, in trust, to be disposed of in the 
 manner therein provided and directed, and desired his said 
 executors to put his property under the management of the 
 Court of Chancery ; and then, (after bequeathing an annuity 
 of 100 sterling to John Fitall for life,) he bequeathed and 
 provided as follows : " To Henry James Hungerford, my 
 nephew, I give and bequeath, for his life, the whole of the 
 income arising from my property of every nature and kind 
 whatever, after payment of the above annuity, and after the 
 death of John Fitall that annuity likewise; the payments 
 to be made to him at the time interest or dividends become 
 due on the stocks or other property from which the income 
 arises. Should the said Henry James Hungerford have a 
 child or children, legitimate or illegitimate, I leave to such 
 child or children, his or their heirs, executors, and assigns, 
 the whole of my property of every kind, absolutely and 
 forever, to be divided between them, if more than one, in 
 the manner their father shall judge proper ; and in case of 
 his omitting to decide this, as the Lord Chancellor shall 
 judge proper. Should my said nephew, Henry James Hun- 
 gerford, marry, I empower him to make a jointure. In case 
 of the death of my said nephew without leaving a child or children, 
 or of the death of the child or children he may have had, under 
 the age of twenty -one years, or intestate, I then bequeath the 
 whole of my property (subject to the annuity of 100 to John 
 Fitall, and for the security and payment of which I mean 
 stock to remain in this country) to the United States of Amer- 
 ica, to found, at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men.' 7 
 
 It further appears, from a letter of Messrs. Clarke, Fyn- 
 more, and Fladgate, solicitors, to Mr. Vail, charge d'affaires 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 137 
 
 -of the United States at London, dated the 21st July last, 
 communicated by Mr. Vail to the Secretary of State, thai 
 pursuant to the instructions contained in Mr. Smithson's 
 will, an amicable suit was, on the death of that .testator, 
 brought in the court of chancery of England, by the lega- 
 tee, Mr. Hungerford, against the Messrs. Drummonds, the 
 executors, in which suit the assets were realized ; that these 
 wore very considerable ; that there is now standing in the 
 name of the accountant general of the court of chancery, 
 on the trusts of the will, stock amounting in value to about 
 100,000; that Mr. Hungerford, during his life, had re- 
 ceived the income arising from this property ; but that news 
 had reached'England that Mr. Hungerford had died abroad, 
 leaving no child surviving him ; so that the event has hap- 
 pened on which the executory bequest of this large property 
 was made by the testator, Mr. Smithson, to the United 
 States, to found, at Washington, under the name of " The 
 Smithsonian Institution," an establishment for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men, Messrs. Clarke, 
 Fynmore, and Fladgate also inform Mr. Yail that it has 
 now become necessary that measures should be taken for 
 the purpose of getting the decision of the court of chancery 
 as to the further disposition of the property; that it is not 
 clearly defined in Mr. Smithson's will, to whom, on behalf 
 of the United States, the property should be paid or trans- 
 ferred ; and indeed there is so much doubt that they appre- 
 hend the attorney general on behalf of the crown of 
 England must be joined in the proceedings which it may be 
 requisite the United States should institute; that they act, 
 in this matter, for Messrs. Drummonds, the bankers, who 
 are mere stake-holders, and are ready to do all in their 
 power to facilitate getting the decision of the court of 
 chancery, and carrying the testator's intentions into effect; 
 and that they will be happy to communicate with such pro- 
 fessional advisers as the Government of the United States 
 shall think fit to appoint to act for them in England. And 
 having thus stated the nature of the business, they add, 
 that they abstain from making any suggestion as to the 
 party in whose name proceedings should be adopted, con- 
 sidering that the point should be determined by counsel in 
 England, after the opinion of the proper law officers in the 
 United States shall have been taken on the subject. 
 
 In a letter of Mr. Vail to the Secretary of State, of the 
 28th July last, communicating a copy of Mr. Smithson's 
 will, and the letter of Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore, and Flad- 
 gate, to him, he says that that letter, and the inquiries he 
 
138 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 has made, leave no doubt of the will of Mr. Smithson hav- 
 ing been established, and its dispositions recognized by the 
 court of chancery of England ; that, according to the view 
 taken of the case by the solicitors, the United States, in the 
 event of their accepting the legacy, and the trust coupled 
 with it, should come forward, by their representative, and 
 make themselves parties to an amicable suit before the 
 Lord Chancellor of England, for the purpose of legally 
 establishing the fact of the demise of Mr. Hungerford, the 
 legatee for life, without children and intestate, proving their 
 claim to the benefit of the will, and obtaining a decree in 
 chancery awarding to them the proceeds of 4 the estate; 
 that Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore, and Fladgate, are willing to 
 undertake the management of the suit on the part of the 
 United States; and that, from what he has learnt of their 
 standing, they may safely be confided in. And Mr. Vail 
 suggests, upon the advice of those gentlemen, a method of 
 proceeding to assert the claim of the United States to the 
 legacy, without further delay, in case it should be thought 
 unnecessary to await the action of Congress to authorize 
 the institution of the requisite legal proceedings. 
 
 The Secretary of State submitted the letter of Mr. Vail, 
 and the papers therewith communicated, to the President, 
 who determined to lay the subject before Congress at its 
 next session ; and of this determination the Secretary of 
 State apprized Mr. Vail, in a letter of the 26th September 
 last. 
 
 The president, in his message of the 17th December, 
 transmits^to Congress, all the correspondence and informa- 
 tion relating to the subject, as the same had been reported 
 to hirn by the Secretary of State; and adds, that "the 
 Executive having no authority to take any steps for accept- 
 ing the trust, and obtaining the funds, the papers are com- 
 municated with a view to such measures as Congress may 
 deem necessary." 
 
 The committee concur in the opinion of the President, 
 that it belongs to the Legislature to devise and prescribe 
 the measures, if any, proper to be adopted on this occasion, 
 and to provide for such expenses as may be incurred in the 
 prosecution of them. 
 
 ^ Judging from the letters of Mr. Vail to the Secretary of 
 State, and of Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate to Mr. 
 Vail, as well as from the information which the committee 
 themselves have been able to gather, as to the course of 
 adjudication of the court of chancery of England in such 
 cases, the committee suppose it unquestionable, that the- 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 
 
 executory bequest contained in Mr. Smithson's will, of bis 
 whole property to the United States, in the event that has 
 occurred, for the purpose of founding, at Washington, 
 under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an estab- 
 lishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men, is, by the law of England, a valid bequest ; that the 
 United States, will be entertained in the court of chancery 
 of England, to assert their claim to- the fund, as trustees, 
 for the purpose of founding the charitable institution at 
 Washington to which it is destined by the donor; and that 
 that court will decree, that the fund shall be paid and trans- 
 ferred to the United States, or their lawfully authorized 
 agent, leaving it to the United States to apply the property 
 to the foundation of the intended charity at Washington, 
 and to provide for the due administration of the fund, so as 
 to accomplish the purpose of the donor. The committee 
 are sensible, however, that these are points which can only 
 be determined and settled by the judicial authority of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 In the opinion of the committee, the questions which it 
 behooves Congress to consider, are, whether it is competent 
 to the United States, whether it comports with their dignity, 
 whether (all circumstances considered) it is expedient and 
 proper that the United States should appear as suitors in 
 the courts of justice of England, to assert their claim to the 
 legacy in question, as trustees for the intended charitable 
 institution to be founded at Washington. 
 
 It might be a question of much doubt and difficulty, 
 whether it would be within the competency of the Govern- 
 ment of the United States to appropriate any part of the 
 general revenue collected from the nation at large, to the 
 foundation and endowment of a literary or any other chari- 
 table institution in the District of Columbia. But, in the 
 opinion of the committee, no such question is involved in 
 the consideration of the present subject. The fund given 
 to the United States by Mr. Smithson's will, is nowise, and 
 never can become, part of their revenue; they cannot claim 
 or take it for their own benefit; they can only take it as 
 trustees, to apply to the charitable purpose for which it was 
 intended by the donor. 
 
 The committee can see no reason to doubt, that the 
 United States must be regarded as the parcns patriot of the 
 District of Columbia; that, in that character, they have a 
 right, and they are in duty bound, to assert a claim to any 
 property given to them for the purpose of founding a char- 
 itable institution of any kind within the District, and to>- 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 provide for the due application and administration of such 
 a fund when they have obtained possession of it ; that the 
 rights and duties of the United States, as parens patrice of 
 the District, in such a case, are the same, whether the char- 
 itable donation be made by the subject of a foreign nation, 
 or by a citizen, or whether the claim to the bounty is to be 
 asserted before a domestic court of justice, or before a for- 
 eign tribunal, which, by the comity of nations, or the laws 
 of its own country, is bound to entertain the claim, and to 
 adjudge the property to the United States, if they are by 
 law entitled to it. If a foreign tribunal, decreeing such 
 property to the United States, should think proper to im- 
 pose any conditions incompatible with the constitutional 
 powers of this Government, or with its duties or its dignity, 
 the United States may then decline to accept the property 
 and the trust. But no difficulty of that kind is appre- 
 hended. 
 
 The committee are also of the opinion that the United 
 States, in prosecuting a claim to property given to them for 
 the purpose of founding a charitable institution within the 
 District of Columbia, and which they are entitled to claim, 
 and take, and regulate the administration of, as the j wrens 
 patrice of the District, may properly appropriate, out of 
 their general revenue, such sums as may be necessary to 
 prosecute the claim with effect since the United States 
 have no other pecuniary means to defray the expenses that 
 may be incurred in exercising their powers, or in perform- 
 ing their duties, as parens patrice of the District, but such as 
 tire afforded by their general revenue. 
 
 Upon the whole, the committee are of opinion that it is 
 within the competency of the Government of the United 
 States, that it well comports with its dignity, that, indeed, 
 it is its duty, to assert in the courts of justice of England 
 the claim of the United States, to the legacy bequeathed to 
 them by Mr. Smithson's will, for the purpose of founding, 
 at Washington, under the name of " The Smithsonian In- 
 stitution," an establishment for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men ; and that provision ought to be 
 made by Congress to enable the Executive to assert and 
 prosecute the claim with effect. 
 
 Therefore, the committee recommend the adoption of a 
 joint resolution authorizing the President to take measures 
 for recovering the said legacy. 
 
 SENATE, FRIDAY, February 5, 1836. 
 The resolution to authorize and enable the President to 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 141 
 
 assert and prosecute with effect the claim of the United 
 States to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, 
 was read the second time, and considered as in Committee 
 of the Whole ; and, 
 
 On motion by Mr. PRESTON, 
 
 Ordered, That it be laid on the table. 
 
 SENATE, SATURDAY, April 30, 1836. 
 
 On motion of Mr. PRESTON, the Senate took up the bill 
 authorizing the President of the United States to appoint 
 an agent or agents to prosecute and receive from the British 
 Court of Chancery the legacy bequeathed to the United 
 States by the late James Smithson of London, for the pur- 
 pose of establishing at Washington city an institution for 
 the increase of knowledge among men, to be called the 
 Smithsonian University. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON said, that by this will it was intended that 
 this Government should become the beneficiaries of this 
 legacy, and contended that if they had not the competence 
 to receive it by the Constitution, the act of no individual 
 could confer the power on them to do so. He claimed that 
 they had not the power to receive the money for national 
 objects, and if so, the expending it for another object was 
 a still higher power. He controverted the position that if 
 they could not receive it as the beneficiary legatee, they 
 might receive it as the fiduciary agent. If they had not the 
 power to establish an university without the power conferred 
 on them by a grant, they could not have it with the grant ; 
 or what they could not exercise directly, they could not ex- 
 ercise as trustee. He referred to a report made by Mr. 
 Adams in the House of Representatives, in which the gen- 
 ealogy of Mr. Smithson was given and traced through the 
 line of the illustrious Percys and Seymours of England. 
 He thought this donation had been partly made with a view 
 to immortalize the donor, and that it was too cheap a way 
 of conferring immortality. There was danger of their im- 
 aginations being run away with by the associations of Chevy 
 Chase ballads, &c., and he had no idea of this District being 
 used as a fulcrum to raise foreigners to immortality by get- 
 ting Congress as the parens patrice of the District of Colum- 
 bia to accept donations from them. 
 
 The committee had misconceived the facts ; the bequest 
 was to the United States of America to found an university 
 in the District of Columbia, under the title of the " Smith- 
 sonian University," and the execution of the terms of the 
 legacy was to redound to the purposes of the donation, 
 
-[42 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 which was for the benefit of all mankind. It was general 
 in its terms, and not limited to the District of Columbia; it 
 was for the benefit of the United States, and could not be 
 received by Congress. 
 
 Mr. LETGH said, he would thank the gentleman to inform 
 the Senate that the report he had referred to was made in 
 the House of Representatives, and not by a committee of 
 the Senate. The report of the Senate's committee was 
 simply a statement of matters of fact. Mr. L. explained 
 the provisions of the will, which were simply these : The 
 testator, James Smithaon, bequeathed to his nephew, James 
 Henry Hungerford, a legacy of one hundred thousand 
 pounds sterling; providing, that if Mr. Hungerford should 
 die without children, the legacy should enure to the United 
 States, for the purpose of founding, at the city of Washing- 
 ton, an institution for the increase of knowledge among 
 men, to be called the Smithsonian University; and the 
 Government had received information from the American 
 consul at London, that Mr. Hungerford had lately died 
 without ever having been married, and without leaving any 
 children. It now became necessary, Mr. L. said, for Con- 
 gress to determine whether it was competent for the United 
 States to receive this money ; and if they should receive it, 
 to take measures for carrying the intentions of the testator 
 into effect. The committee to whom this subject had been 
 referred were all of opinion, with the exception of the gen- 
 tleman from South Carolina, (Mr. Preston,) that it was 
 proper for the United States to receive this money. They 
 had not considered the question at all, whether it was in 
 the power of Congress to establish a national university ; 
 nor was it necessary they should do so. They looked upon 
 this bequest as having been made simply for the benefit of 
 one of the cities of" the District of Columbia, of which 
 Congress was the constitutional guardian, and could receive 
 and apply the money in that form. Congress was the parens 
 patriot of the District of Columbia, in the sense laid down 
 by Blackstone ; a power which necessarily belonged to 
 every government, and could therefore very properly re- 
 ceive this trust for a charitable purpose in the District of 
 Columbia. Congress had in fact exercised this power of 
 parens patriot of the District in the establishment of an 
 orphans' court, in the erection and support of a peniten- 
 tiary, and could create an establishment to take care of 
 lunatics; and indeed, if it did not possess this power, in 
 what a deplorable condition would this District be. The 
 .States of Maryland and Virginia undoubtedly possessed 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 14b 
 
 this power, and of course Congress derived it as to the 
 District from their deeds of cession. He did not look 
 upon this legacy to be for the benefit of the United States, 
 but for the benefit of one of the cities of the District, over 
 which Congress was guardian, and he had therefore no 
 difficulty in voting for the bill. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON was aware of the decision of the Supreme 
 Court cited by the Senator from Virginia, (Mr. Leigh,) that 
 ; the people of this District might be taxed without represen- 
 tation, and he had no doubt that these corporations could 
 exercise a trust but this was not a trust to the city of 
 Washington. The United States was the cestiti qui trust, 
 and not the city of Washington. The corporation of the 
 city of Washington could not enforce this claim in a court 
 of chancery in England. If an institution of the kind was 
 desired, he would prefer it to be established out of our own 
 funds, and not have Congress pander to the paltry vanity 
 of an individual. If they accepted this donation, every 
 whippersnapper vagabond that had been traducing our 
 country might think proper to have his name distinguished 
 in the same way. It was not consistent with the dignity of 
 the country to accept even the grant of a man of noble 
 birth or lineage. 
 
 Mr. CLAYTON said the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. 
 Calhoun) had considered this as a donation to the United 
 States. It was not so. The United States was merely 
 named in the will as the trustee, and was to receive no 
 benefit whatever. It was merely a charitable object to 
 establish an university in the District of Columbia. They 
 had established similar institutions within the District of 
 Columbia, by acts of Congress, and no one doubted the 
 power to permit persons from other places to be educated 
 in them. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN said if his memory served him, there was 
 opposition made to the passage of those acts. 
 
 Mr. CLAYTON said he believed there was some objection 
 made to the policy, but not to the power of making the 
 donation. It was to be located in the city of Washington, 
 and persons in the city would be more benefited by it than 
 any others. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN was of opinion that this donation was made 
 expressly to the United States. By reading the terms in 
 which the bequest was made, it was impossible to conceive 
 otherwise. The bequest was " to the United States of 
 America, for the purpose of establishing, at the city of 
 Washington, an institution for the increase of knowledge 
 
144 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 among men." Now, take out the words the " city ot 
 Washington," and the donation, was clearly to the United 
 States. The words, " the city of Washington," were only 
 used to designate the place where the university was to be 
 established, and not by any stretch of the meaning of lan- 
 guage to be considered as making the donation to the city. 
 He understood the Senators on all hands, to agree that it 
 was not in the power of Congress to establish a nation al 
 university, and they all agreed that they could establish a 
 university in the District of Columbia. Now, on this prin- 
 ciple, they could not receive the bequest, for the District of 
 Columbia was not even named in it; the city of Washing- 
 ton being only designated as the place where tin- university 
 was to be established, and the bequest being expressly made 
 to the United States. He thought, that acting under this 
 legacy, would be as much the establishment of a national 
 university, as if they appropriated money for the purpose; 
 and he would indeed much rather appropriate the money, 
 for he thought it was beneath the dignity of the United 
 States to receive presents of this kind from anyone. He 
 could never pass through the rotunda of the Capitol, with- 
 out having; his feelings outraged by seeing that statue of 
 Mr. Jefferson which had been placed there contrary to their 
 consent. 
 
 Mr. SOUTHARD said that the Senator from South Carolina 
 was mistaken in saying that every Senator agreed that it 
 was not in the power of Congress to establish a national 
 university. He, for one, believed that Congress had the 
 unquestionable right to do so. This, however, did not in- 
 volve the constitutionality of the question before them, as, 
 in his opinion, the most rigid construction of the constitu- 
 tion would not be adverse to the bill. Congress had the 
 same right to establish this university, as they had to charter 
 a college in Georgetown or Alexandria. 
 
 Mr. BUCHANAN believed that Congress had the power to 
 receive and apply this money to the purposes intended by 
 the testator, without involving the question whether they 
 had the power to establish a national university or not. 
 There was no question but that James Smithson, in his life- 
 time, had a right to establish a university at the city of 
 Washington, and call it the Smithsonian University; or a 
 national university, if he pleased ; and Congress, by receiv- 
 ing and applying this bequest, would only act as the trustee 
 of the city of Washington, for whose benefit it was made. 
 
 Mr. WALKER would not discuss the question whether this 
 was a national university, because he believed that question 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 145 
 
 was not involved. But he should vote for the bill on the 
 ground that Congress would be doing manifest injustice to 
 the citizens of the city of Washington by refusing to accept 
 the donation. It was true that it operated for the benefit 
 of all mankind, but not more so than a university estab- 
 lished at Princeton or any other place. The Senator from 
 South Carolina, (Mr. Calhoun,) had said they ought to read 
 the will as if the words " at Washington " were left out. 
 He, Mr. W., did not think so ; the} 7 ought to read it just as 
 it was in connection with the whole, and give it its true 
 construction, which was that the United States was only 
 designated as the trustee, and the people of the city of 
 Washington had a right to call upon Congress as the repre- 
 sentatives of the United States to execute the trust. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS said this man Smithson, it was said, had devised 
 one hundred thousand pounds sterling for the establishment 
 of a university in the city of Washington to diffuse knowl- 
 edge among men. It seemed to be taken for granted that 
 it was for the establishment of a university, although he 
 believed the word university was not to be found in the 
 will. He could not infer why it was so construed, as there 
 were other means of diffusing knowledge among men be- 
 sides doing it through the medium of universities, and he 
 therefore thought the discussion as to the particular design 
 of the gift premature. He did not regard it as a gift or 
 bequest to the Government. If he did, he would have all 
 the feelings evinced by the Senator from South Carolina, 
 (Mr. Preston.) The testator had not specified what special 
 purpose it was to be applied to, nor when the fund was to 
 be used, and Congress might defer using it until it became 
 large enough to be used advantageously to the purposes of 
 diffusing knowledge among mankind. If the} 7 denied the 
 right to establish a university, they denied the right to 
 establish all institutions of charity. The same question 
 involved in this, was also involved in the incorporation of 
 institutions which had been incorporated by them in this 
 District. The only question now under consideration was, 
 whether they should receive this money. He would vote 
 for it, and if they could not devise some appropriate dis- 
 position of it after it was received, he would be willing to 
 send it back by the first return packet. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN asked the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. 
 Davis) what construction he would put upon the will if the 
 words " at Washington " had been left out of it. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS replied, that he would put the same construc- 
 tion on it then as he did now. His first inquiry would be 
 10 
 
146 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 whether it was for a charitable purpose ; and if there was 
 no power to establish the institution in any of the States, 
 he would establish it in the District of Columbia, and if the 
 power to establish it there was doubted, he would establish 
 it in one of the Territories. He deemed the establishment 
 of institutions for the diffusion of knowledge a vital principle 
 of a republican government. They might as well say that 
 delivering lectures in any of the sciences was a national 
 institution, as to call this, one. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON said, the declaration of the Senator from 
 New Jersey (Mr. Southard) had satisfied him that this was 
 a national university. There was no difference between a 
 university in the District of Columbia tor the benefit of all 
 mankind and a national university. That Senator had not 
 distinguished between the power of erecting buildings and 
 the use to which they are appropriated. They had the pow- 
 er to erect buildings in loco parentis patriot for the benefit of 
 the District of Columbia; they might erect buildings for 
 the maintenance of paupers of the District, but if the peo- 
 ple of the District, in this case, were to have any benefit 
 peculiar to the place, it was in the erection of the buildings 
 alone. He asked if the buildings of the Post Office De- 
 partment were erected by Congress as the parens patriot of 
 the District of Columbia? Had they the right as parens 
 patriot of the District of Columbia, to "erect this building for 
 the benefit humani generis of this District, when it was in 
 fact a* general charity to mankind, including the confederacy, 
 and not confined to the District of Columbia? He was 
 against the power, and would be against the policy, if they 
 had the power. 
 
 After some further remarks from Messrs. LEIGH and 
 PRESTON, the question was taken on ordering the bill to be 
 engrossed for a third reading, and decided in the affirma- 
 tive yeas 31, nays 7, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Benton, Black, Buchanan, Clay, Clayton, Crittenden, 
 Cuthbert, Davis, Ewing of Ohio, Goldsboro, Grundy, Hendricks, Hubbard, 
 Kent, King of Alabama, Knight, Leigh, Linn, Mangum, Moore, Naudain, 
 Nicholas, Porter, Prentiss, Rives, Bobbins, Southard, Swift, Tallmadge, 
 Tomlinson, Walker 31. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Calhoun, Ewing of Illinois, Hill, King of Georgia, Pres- 
 ton, Eobinson, White 7. 
 
 SENATE, MONDAY, May 2, 1836. 
 
 The resolution to authorize and enable the President to 
 assert and prosecute with effect the claim of the United 
 States to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 147 
 
 Laving been reported by the committee correctly engrossed, 
 was read a third time. 
 
 Resolved, That this resolution pass, and that the title 
 thereof be as aforesaid. 
 
 Ordered, That the secretary requests the concurrence of 
 the House of Representatives therein. 
 
 SENATE, SATURDAY, June 25, 1836. 
 
 A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. 
 Franklin, their clerk: 
 
 Mr. President: The House of Representatives have 
 passed the resolution from the Senate (No. 4) "to authorize 
 and enable the President to assert and prosecute with effect 
 the claim of the United States to the legacy bequeathed to 
 them by James Smithson, late of London, deceased, to 
 found, at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men," with amendments. 
 
 The Senate proceeded to consider the amendments of the 
 House of Representatives to the resolution (No. 4) ; and 
 
 Resolved, That they concur therein. 
 
 SENATE, TUESDAY, June 28, 1836. 
 
 Mr. Niles reported from the committee that they had ex- 
 amined and found [the above bill] duly enrolled. 
 
 SENATE, SATURDAY, July 2, 1836. 
 
 A message from the President of the United States, by 
 Mr. Donelson, his secretary, that he had duly approved and 
 signed, the 1st of July, 1836, the above act. 
 
 AN ACT to authorize and enable the President to assert and prosecute with 
 effect the claim of the United States to the legacy bequeathed to them by 
 James Smithson, late of London, deceased, to found at Washington, 
 under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 -States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United 
 States be, and he is hereby, authorized to constitute and appoint an agent 
 or agents, to assert and prosecute for and in behalf of the United States, 
 and in their name or otherwise, as may be advisable, in the Court of Chan- 
 cery, or other proper tribunal of England, the right of the United States 
 to the legacy bequeathed to them by the last will and testament of James 
 Smithson, late of London, deceased, for the purpose of founding at Wash- 
 ington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men ; and to empower 
 such agent or agents so appointed to receive and grant acquittances for all 
 such sum or sums of money, or other funds, as may or shall be decreed or 
 .adjudged to the United States, for, or on account, of said legacy. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said agent or agents shall, 
 
148 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 before receiving any part of said legacy, give a bond or bonds, in the penal 
 sum of five hundred thousand dollars, to the Treasurer of the United States, 
 and his successors in office, with good and sufficient securities to the satis- 
 faction of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the faithful performance of 
 the duties of the said agency, and for the faithful remittance to the Treasu- 
 rer of the United States of all and every sum or sums of money, or other 
 funds, which he or they may receive, for payment in whole or in part of 
 the said legacy. And the Treasurer of the United States is hereby author- 
 ized and required to keep safely all sums of money or other, funds which 
 may be received by him in virtue of the said bequest, and to account there- 
 for separately from all other accounts of his office, and subject to such 
 further disposal thereof as may be hereafter provided by Congress. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That any and all sums of money, and 
 other funds, which shall be received for or on account of the said legacy, 
 shall be applied in such manner as Congress may hereafter direct, to tin- 
 purpose of founding and endowing at Washington, under the name of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men ; to which application of the said moneys and other 
 funds, the faith of the United States is hereby pledged. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, to the end that the claim to th> 
 said bequest may be prosecuted with effect, and the necessary expenses in 
 prosecuting the same be defrayed, the President of the United States b.-, 
 and he is hereby, authorized to apply to that purpose any sum not exceed- 
 ing ten thousand dollars, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise 
 appropriated. 
 
 Approved, 1st of July, 1836. 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 21, 1885. 
 
 A message, in writing, was received from the President 
 of the United States, by Mr. Donelson, his private secre- 
 tary, which was read. (See ante.) 
 
 Ordered, That the said message be referred to a select 
 committee, and Mr. John Quincy Adams, Mr. Thomas, Mr. 
 Garland of Virginia, Mr. Pearce of Rhode Island, Mr. 
 Speight, Mr. McKennan, Mr. Hannegan, Mr. Garland of 
 Louisiana, and Mr. Chapin, were appointed said committee. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 19, 1836. 
 
 Mr. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, from the committee appointed 
 on the message of the President of the United States, of 
 the 17th of December ultimo, and which was laid before 
 the House on the 21st, communicating information in refa- 
 tion to a bequest made by James Smithson, late of London, 
 in the Kingdom of Great Britain, deceased, to the United 
 States, for toe purpose of establishing a seminary of learn- 
 ing, reported, (by leave,) a bill {No. 181) to authorize the 
 President of the United States to assert and prosecute with 
 effect the right of the United States to the bequest of James 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 149 
 
 Smithson, late of London, deceased, to found, at Washing- 
 ton, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an 
 establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men, accompanied by a report in writing; which 
 bill was read the first and second time, and committed to 
 the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
 Union. 
 
 The following is the report : 
 
 The Select Committee, to which was referred the message of 
 the President of the United States, of the 17th of De- 
 cember last, with documents relating to the bequest of 
 James Smithson, of London, to the United States of 
 America, for the purpose of founding at Washington, an 
 establishment under the name of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men, respectfully report: 
 
 That, from the papers transmitted to Congress with the 
 message of the President, it appears, that James Smithson, 
 a foreigner, of noble family and of affluent fortune, did, by 
 his last will and testament, made in the year 1826, bequeath 
 under certain contingencies, which have since been real- 
 ized, and with certain exceptions, for which provision was 
 made by the same will, the whole of his property, of an 
 amount exceeding four hundred thousand dollars, to the 
 United States of America, to found at Washington, under 
 the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 To the acceptance of this bequest, and to the assumption 
 and fulfilment of the high and honorable duties involved in 
 the performance of the trust committed with it, the Con- 
 gress of the United States, in their legislative capacity, 
 are alone competent. Your committee believe, not only 
 that they are thus competent, but that it is enjoined upon 
 them, by considerations of the most imperious and indis- 
 pensable obligation. The first steps necessary to be taken 
 for carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of the tes- 
 tator, must be to obtain the possession of the funds, now 
 held by the Messrs. Drummonds, bankers in London, execu- 
 tors of Mr. Smithson's will, and subject to the superinten- 
 dence, custody and adjudication of the Lord Chancellor of 
 England. To enable the President of the United States to 
 effect this object, the committee report herewith a bill. 
 
 But your committee think they would imperfectly dis- 
 charge their duty to this House, to their country, to the 
 world of mankind, or to the donor of this most munificent 
 
150 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 bequest, were they to withhold a few brief reflections,, 
 which have occurred to them in the consideration of the 
 subject, referred to them by the House. Reflections arising 
 from the condition of the testator, from the nature of the 
 bequest and from the character of the trustee to whom this 
 great and solemn charge has been confided. 
 
 The testator, James Smithson, a subject of Great Britain, 
 declares himself, in the caption of the will, a descendent in 
 blood from the Percys and the Seymours, two of the most 
 illustrious historical names of the British islands. Xi-arly 
 two centuries since, in 1660, the ancestor of his own name. 
 Hugh Smithson, immediately after the restoration of the 
 royal family of the Stuarts, received from Charles the Sec- 
 ond, as a reward for his eminent services to that house 
 during the civil wars, the dignity of a Baronet of Kngland, 
 a dignity still held by the Dukes of Northumberland, as 
 descendcnts from the same Hugh Smithson. Tin- lather of 
 the testator, by his marriage with the Lady Elizabeth Sey- 
 mour, who was descended by a female line from the ancient 
 Percys, and by the subsequent creation of George the 
 Third, in 1766, became the first Duke of Northumberland. 
 His son and successor, the brother of the testator, was 
 known in the history of our revolutionary war by the name 
 of Lord Percy; was present, as a British officer, at the san- 
 guinary opening scene of our revolutionary war, at Lexing- 
 ton, and at the battle of Bunker's hill ; and was the hearer 
 to the British Government of the despatches from the 
 Commander-in-chief of the royal forces, announcing the 
 event of that memorable day; and the present Duke oi 
 Northumberland, the testator's nephew, was the ambassa- 
 dor extraordinary of Great Britain, sent to assist at the 
 coronation of the late King of France, Charles the Tenth, 
 a few months only before the date of this bequest from his 
 relative to the United States of America. 
 
 The suggestions which present themselves to the mind, 
 by the association of these historical recollections, with the 
 condition of the testator, derive additional interest from 
 the nature of the bequest; the devotion of a large estate to 
 an institution for the increase and diffusion of 'knowledge 
 among men. 
 
 Of all the foundations of establishments for pious or 
 charitable uses, which ever signalized the spirit of the age, 
 or the comprehensive beneficence of the founder, none can 
 be named more deserving of the approbation of mankind 
 than this. Should it be faithfully carried into effect, with 
 an earnestness and sagacity of application, and a steady 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 151 
 
 perseverance of pursuit, proportioned to the means furnished 
 by the will of the founder, and to the greatness and sim- 
 plicity of his design as by himself declared, "the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men," it is no extrava- 
 gance of anticipation to declare, that his name will be here- 
 after enrolled among the eminent benefactors of mankind. 
 
 The attainment of knowledge, is the high and exclusive 
 attribute of man, among the numberless myriads of ani- 
 mated beings inhabitants of the terrestrial globe. On him 
 alone is bestowed, by the bounty of the Creator of the uni- 
 verse, the power and the capacity of acquiring knowledge. 
 Knowledge is the attribute of his nature, which at once 
 enables him to improve his condition upon earth, and to 
 prepare him for the enjoyment of a happier existence here- 
 after. It is by this attribute that man discovers his own 
 nature as the link between earth and heaven ; as the par- 
 taker of an immortal spirit; as created for a higher and 
 more durable end, than the countless tribes of beings which 
 people the earth, the ocean, and the air, alternately instinct 
 with life, and melting into vapour, or mouldering into dust. 
 
 To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is, there- 
 fore, the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon man- 
 kind. It prolongs life itself, and enlarges the sphere of 
 existence. The earth was given to man for cultivation, to 
 the improvement of his own condition. Whoever increases 
 his knowledge, multiplies the uses to w T hich he is enabled 
 to turn the gift of his Creator to his own benefit, and par- 
 takes in some degree of that goodness which is the highest 
 attribute of Omnipotence itself. 
 
 If, then, the Smithsonian Institution, under the smile of 
 an approving Providence, and by the faithful and perma- 
 nent application of the means furnished by its founder, to 
 the purpose for which he has bestowed them, should prove 
 effective to their promotion; if they should contribute es- 
 sentially to the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, 
 to what higher or nobler object could this generous and 
 splendid donation have been devoted ? 
 
 The father of the testator, upon forming his alliance with 
 the heiress of the family of the Percys, assumed, by an act of 
 the British Parliament, that name, and under it became 
 Duke of Northumberland. But, renowned as is the name 
 of Percy in the historical tin mils of England, resounding as 
 it does froni the summit of the Cheviot, hills, to the ears of 
 our children, in the ballad of Chevy Chase, with the classi- 
 cal commentary of Addison; freshened and renovated in 
 our memory as it has recently been from the purest fountain 
 
152 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of poetical inspiration, in the loftier strain of Alnwick 
 Castle, tuned by a bard of our own native land;* doubly im- 
 mortalized as it is in the deathless dramas of Shakespear ; 
 " confident against the world in arms," as it may have been 
 in ages long past, and may still be in the virtues of its 
 present possessors by inheritance ; let the trust of James 
 Smithson to the United States of America, be faithfully ex- 
 ecuted by their Representatives in Congress ; let the result 
 accomplish his object, " the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men," and a wreath ot more unfading verdure 
 shall entwine itself in the lapse of future ages around the 
 name of Smithson, than the united hands of tradition, 
 history, and poetry, have braided around the name of Percy, 
 through the long perspective in ages past of a thousand 
 years. 
 
 It is then a high and solemn trust which the testator has 
 committed to the United States of America, and its execu- 
 tion devolves upon their Representatives in Congress, duties 
 of no ordinary importance. The location of the Institution 
 at Washington, prescribed by the testator, gives to Congress 
 the free exercise of all the powers relating to this subject 
 with which they are, by the Constitution, invested as the 
 local Legislature for the District of Columbia. In advert- 
 ing to the character of the trustee selected by the testator 
 for the fulfilment of his intentions, your committee deem 
 it no indulgence of unreasonable pride to mark it as a signal 
 manifestation of the moral effect of our political institu- 
 tions, upon the opinions, and upon the consequent action of 
 the wise and the good of other regions, and of distant, 
 climes ; even upon that nation from whom we generally 
 boast of our descent, but whom from the period of our 
 revolution we have had too often reason to consider as a 
 jealous and envious rival. How different are the sensations 
 which should swell in our bosoms with the acceptance of 
 this bequest ! James Smithson, an Englishman, in the ex- 
 ercise of his rights as a free-born Briton, desirous of dedi- 
 cating his ample fortune to the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men, constitutes for his trustees, to ac- 
 complish that object, the United States of America, and 
 fixes upon their seat of Government as the spot where the 
 Institution, of which he is the founder, shall be located. 
 
 The revolution, which resulted in the independence of 
 these United States, was commenced, conducted, and con- 
 summated under a mere union of confederated States. Sub- 
 
 *Fitz-Greene Halleck. 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONttRESS, 1835-37. 153 
 
 .-sequently to that period, a more perfect union was formed, 
 combining in one system the principle of confederate sov- 
 ereignties with that of a Government by popular represen- 
 tation, with legislative, executive, and judicial powers, all 
 limited, but co-extensive with the whole confederation. 
 
 Under this Government, a new experiment in the history 
 of mankind is now drawing to the close of halt a century, 
 during which the territory and number of States in the 
 Union have nearly doubled, while their population, wealth, 
 .and power have been multiplied more than fourfold. In 
 the process of this experiment, they have gone through the 
 vicissitudes of peace and war, amidst bitter and ardent party 
 collisions, and the unceasing changes of popular elections 
 to the legislative and executive offices, both of the general 
 confederacy and of the separate States, without a single 
 execution tor treason, or a single proscription for a political 
 offence. The whole Government, under the continual su- 
 perintendence of the whole people, has been holding a 
 steady course of prosperity, unexampled in the cotemporary 
 history of other nations, not less than in the annals of ages 
 past. During this period, our country has been freely 
 visited by observers from other lands, and often in no 
 friendly spirit by travellers from the native land of Mr. 
 Srnithson. Their reports of the prevailing manners, opin- 
 ions and social intercourse of the people of this Union, 
 have exhibited no flattering or complacent pictures.- All 
 the infirmities and vices of our civil and political condition 
 have been conned and noted, and displayed with no forbear- 
 ance of severe satirical comment to set them off; yet, after 
 all this, a British subject, of noble birth and ample fortune, 
 desiring to bequeath his whole estate to the purpose of in- 
 creasing and diffusing knowledge throughout the whole 
 community of civilized man, selects for the depositaries of 
 his trust, with confidence unqualified with reserve, the Con- 
 gress of the United States of America. 
 
 In the commission of every trust, there is an implied 
 tribute of the soul to the integrity and intelligence of the 
 trustee ; and there is also an implied call for the faithful 
 exercise of those properties to the fulfilment of the purpose 
 of the trust. The tribute and the call acquire additional 
 force and energy, when the trust is committed for perform- 
 ance after the decease of him by whom it is granted, when 
 he no longer exists to witness or to constrain the effective 
 fulfilment of his design. The magnitude of the trust, and 
 the extent of confidence bestowed in the commits] of it, do 
 but enlarge and aggravate the pressure of the obligation 
 
154 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 which it carries with it. The weight of duty imposed is 
 proportioned to the honor conferred by confidence without 
 reserve* Your committee are fully persuaded, therefore, 
 that, with a grateful sense of the honor conferred by the 
 testator, upon the political institutions of this Union, the 
 Congress of the United States, in accepting the bequest, 
 willlee!, in all its power and plenitude, the obligation of 
 responding to the confidence reposed by him, with all ^the 
 fidelity, disinterestedness, and perseverance of exertion, 
 which may carry into effective execution the noble purpose 
 of an endowment for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men. 
 
 A motion was made by Mr. CHAPIN, that five thousand 
 additional copies be printed of the message of the Presi- 
 dent, and the papers which accompanied the same, in rela- 
 tion to the bequest of James Smithson, together with the- 
 report and bill this day submitted by Mr. John Quincy 
 Adams, from the committee to which the same was referred ; 
 which motion was laid on the table one day under the rule. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WEDNESDAY, January 20, 1836. 
 
 Mr. CHAPIN moved to consider the motion, which he sub- 
 mitted yesterday, for printing 5000 copu-s of the report 
 submitted yesterday by Mr. Adams from a select committee, 
 together with the President's Message, correspondence and 
 will, relating to the bequest of James Smithson, late of 
 London, deceased. 
 
 Objection being made, 
 
 Mr. MANN, of New York, said the report was in reference 
 to a subject of considerable interest, not only to the House, 
 but to the country generally. As the report was in the 
 hands of the printer, it was proper that, if an extra num- 
 ber of copies was ordered, it should be done at this time. 
 He moved to suspend the rule, for the purpose of entertain- 
 ing the motion to print, which was agreed to ayes 107, 
 noes 46. 
 
 Mr. HOWARD desired to know from some member of the 
 Committee the purport of the report, and what disposition 
 was proposed to be made of the bequest. He was entirely 
 ignorant on the subject. 
 
 Mr. CHAPIN of New York, said he would, as a member of 
 the committee to which the subject of the Smithsonian be- 
 quest had been referred, answer the inquiry of the honora- 
 ble gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Howard.) It was not 
 proposed either by the report or bill which the honorable 
 chairman of the select committee (Mr. Adams) had sub- 
 

 TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 155 
 
 mitted, to indicate the plan or organization of the institu- 
 tion to be founded. At present, it would be entirely pre- 
 mature to do so, because the first step was to obtain the 
 funds, leaving the application of them to future legislation. 
 The bill provides that the President of the United States 
 shall appoint an agent to prosecute the claim in the Court 
 of Chancery in England, where the funds are locked up in 
 behalf of the United States, and on the receipt of them, to 
 give the proper discharge or acquittance for the same. 
 
 Sir, the bequest of James Smithson, amounting to nearly 
 half a million of dollars, is among the most liberal benefac- 
 tions upon record. Coming, too, as it does, from a citizen 
 of Great Britain, who is not known to have visited the 
 United States, or to have had any friends residing here, it 
 may be regarded as a distinguished tribute of respect paid 
 by a foreigner and stranger to the free institutions of our 
 country. It is due to the memory and character of the 
 donor, that suitable publicity should be given to this no'ble 
 and generous act of public munificence ; it is due, also, as 
 the acknowledgment of the grateful sense of Congress, in 
 behalf of the people of the United States, for whose benefit 
 the bequest \vas made ; and it is in an especial manner neces- 
 sary, in order to call the attention of men distinguished for 
 learning and talents in all parts of the Union to the subject, 
 for the purpose of obtaining an expression of their views 
 and opinions in regard to the plan and organization of the 
 institution proposed to be established. This splendid bene- 
 faction confers immortality upon the individual by whom it 
 was bestowed, and does honor to the age in which we live. 
 
 Mr. C. concluded by expressing the hope, that the motion 
 to print would be adopted by the House, without a dissent- 
 ing voice. 
 
 Mr. PARKER said the House had not entirely got out of a 
 debate which had arisen upon a bill which was intended to 
 provide for their own pay, in reference to the alleged exces- 
 sive expenditures of the contingent fund of the House, for 
 the item of printing. A great deal of complaint was made 
 on the occasion alluded to, because of the number of Presi- 
 dent's Messages ordered to be printed by the House. He 
 was so case-hardened, that he would upon a like occasion, 
 do the same thing again. He was, however, not prepared 
 to vote for the proposition before the House. The report 
 was doubtless an able one, but he could see no reason why 
 five times the number which were necessary for the infor- 
 mation of the House should be printed. It would be recol- 
 lected that a report had been made in the Senate on this 
 
156 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 subject, which had been published in all the newspapers he 
 had seen. They would not be called upon to make any dis- 
 position of these funds, because they had not yet received 
 them ; and if they ever did, it would perhaps be fifteen or 
 twenty years first Upon the whole, he did not consider it 
 at all important that an extra number of this report should 
 be published. 
 
 The motion to print 5,000 extra copies of the report wus 
 then agreed to. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 4, 1836. 
 
 A message from the Senate, by Mr. Lowrie, their secre- 
 tary, that the Senate had passed the following resolution : 
 
 No. 4. Resolution to authorize and to enable the Presi- 
 dent to assert and prosecute with effect the claim of the 
 United States to the legacy bequeathed to them by James 
 Smithson, late of London, deceased, to found, at Washing- 
 ton, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an 
 establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 10, 1886. 
 
 The resolution (No. 4) from the Senate was read the first 
 and second time, and committed to the Committee of the 
 Whole House on the state of the Union. 
 
 A motion was made by Mr. ADAMS, that the rule be 'Sus- 
 pended to enable him to make a motion that said resolution 
 be the special order of the day on Tuesday, the 17th instant, 
 from eleven o'clock a. m. to one p. m. ; which motion to 
 suspend was disagreed to by the House. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, June 25, 1836. 
 
 In Committee of the Whole, Senate resolution No. 4 was 
 considered and amended. 
 
 The amendments made in Committee of the Whole, one 
 of which amendments changes the Senate resolution into 
 the form of a bill to authorize the President of the United 
 States to assert and prosecute the right of the United States 
 to the legacy of James Smithson, late of London, were re- 
 ported to the House, and were concurred in. 
 
 The bill was ordered to be engrossed, and was then read 
 a third time and passed. 
 
TWENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1835-37. 157 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1837. 
 
 The sum of $10,000 having proved insufficient, the Sec- 
 retary of State asks an additional appropriation by Con- 
 gress : 
 
 John Forsyth to C. C. Cambreleng. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 WASHINGTON. September 14, 1837. 
 
 SIR: It will be seen by the annexed statement, that of the 
 appropriation made in the year 1836, to prosecute the claim 
 of the United States to the legacy bequeathed by James 
 Smithson, of London, there remained unexpended, on the 
 31st day of July last, but $4,000. As that sum will not, 
 probably, be sufficient to meet the necessary expenditures 
 until an appropriation could be made at the next session of 
 Congress, and placed in London, I have the honor to sub- 
 mit to the Committee of Ways and Means the necessity of 
 providing for them, by an appropriation, at this session. 
 I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTE. 
 Hon. C. C. CAMBRELENG, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, 
 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 STATEMENT OF THE SMITHSONIAN FUND. 
 
 Amount of appropriation made in 1836 $10,000 
 
 Mr. Hush's account for salary for one year, to the 31st of 
 
 July, 1837 $3,000 
 
 Mr. Hush's account fyr incidental and contingent ex- 
 penses for the same period 2,000 
 
 Amount of solicitor's bill, 200 4s., say 1,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 Amount remaining of the appropriation of 1836 $4,000 
 
 [Same to the Hon. SILAS WRIGHT, Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Finance, Senate.] 
 
 John Forsyth to C. C. Cambreleng. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 WASHINGTON, September 19, 1837. 
 
 SIR: I have the honor to enclose a letter received at this 
 Department from Mr. Richard Rush, agent of the United 
 States in London, for the prosecution of their claim to the 
 property bequeathed by the late James Smithson, together 
 with the bill of Messrs. Clark, Fynmore, and Fladgate, 
 solicitors, paid by him. 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 I also enclose a letter from Mr. Daniel Brent, consul of 
 the United States at Paris, in relation to payments made by 
 him in endeavoring to secure property supposed by him tp 
 constitute a part of that bequeathed by Mr. Smithson, with 
 a copy of Mr. Hush's answer to his application for reim- 
 bursement. I would suggest ten thousand dollars as the 
 amount necessary to be appropriated for the continuation 
 of the prosecution of the claim of the United States, and 
 that it is of urgent necessity that it be made at this session, 
 in order that funds may be transmitted to the bankers of 
 the United States in London, to meet the drafts that may 
 necessarily be made upon them for the expenses to be in- 
 curred therein. 
 
 I have to request that the papers enclosed may be shown 
 to the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Sen- 
 ate, and that they may be returned to this Department. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 
 Hon. C. C. CAMBRELENG, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, 
 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 OCTOBER, 1837. 
 
 An additional appropriation of five thousand dollars was 
 passed by Congress to defray expenses, as follows : 
 
 AN ACT making further appropriations for the year 1837 : 
 
 For defraying the expenses attending the prosecution of the claim of the 
 United States to the legacy bequeathed by the late James Smithson, of 
 London, five thousand dollars. 
 
 APPROVED, October 16, 1837. 
 
 JULY, 1838. 
 
 The following section providing for the investment of the 
 Smithsonian fund was passed : 
 
 AN ACT to provide for the support of the Military Academy of the 
 United States for the year 1838 and for other purposes. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all the money arising from the 
 bequest of the late James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of found- 
 ing at Washington, in this District, an institution to be denominated the 
 Smithsonian Institution, which may be paid into the Treasury, is hereby 
 appropriated, and shall be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, with 
 the approbation of the President of United States, in stocks of States, bear- 
 ing interest at the rate of not less than five per centum per annum, 
 which said stocks shall be held by the said Secretary in trust for the uses 
 specified in the last will and testament of said Smithson, until provision is 
 made by law for carrying the purpose of said bequest into effect ; and that 
 the annual interest accruing on the stock aforesaid, shall be in like manner 
 invested for the benefit of said institution. 
 
 APPROVED, July 7, 1838. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 159 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 10, 1838. 
 
 Message from the President of the United States. 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 6, 1838. 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States : 
 
 The act of the 1st July, 1836, to enable the Executive to 
 .assert and prosecute with effect the claim of the United 
 States to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smith- 
 son, late of London, having received its entire execution, 
 'and the amount recovered and paid into the Treasury hav- 
 ing, agreeably to an act of the last session, been invested in 
 State stocks, I deem it proper to invite the attention of 
 Congress to the obligation now devolving upon the United 
 States to fulfill the object of the bequest. In order to 
 obtain such information as might serve to facilitate its 
 attainment, the Secretary of State was directed, in July 
 last, to apply to persons versed in science, and familiar with 
 the subject of public education, for their views as to the mode 
 of disposing of the fund best calculated to meet the intentions 
 of the testator, and prove most beneficial to mankind. 
 Copies of the circular letter written in compliance with 
 these directions, and of the answers to it received at the 
 Department of State, are herewith communicated, for the 
 -consideration of Congress.* 
 
 M. VAN BUREN. 
 
 Ordered to be printed with the accompanying documents. 
 SENATE, January 10, 1839. 
 
 Mr. ROBBINS offered the following resolution (S. 7) which 
 was read : 
 
 Resolved, By the Senate, (the House of Representatives concurring,) that 
 a joint committee be appointed, consisting of seven members of the Senate, 
 and such a number of said House as they shall appoint, to consider the ex- 
 pediency of providing an institution of learning, to be established in the 
 city of Washington, for the application of the legacy bequeathed by Mr. 
 James Smithson, of London, to the United States in trust for that purpose; 
 also, to consider the expediency of a charter for such an institution ; 
 together with the powers and privileges, which, in their opinion, the said 
 charter ought to confer ; also, to consider the expediency of ways and 
 means to be provided by Congress, other than said legacy, but in addition 
 thereto, and in aid of said benevolent intention ; and to report by bill or 
 bills, or otherwise. 
 
 Mr. BOBBINS made the following remarks : 
 The motive to this noble legacy was, as the will expresses 
 it, " The increase and diffusion of knowledge among men" 
 
 * These communications appear elsewhere. 
 
160 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Noble, indeed, it was in every point of view ; noble as 
 coming from a stranger, with whom this _ country had no 
 personal relations ; speaking at once his high sense of our 
 merit, while it proclaimed his own; noble in amount, and 
 may be made effective to its beneficent purpose ; but, above 
 all, noble for its destination" the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men;" leaving it to the wisdom of Con- 
 gress to devise'and provide the institution that should be 
 most effective to this end. It ought to be an institution, 
 whose effects upon the country will make it a living monu- 
 ment to the honor of the illustrious donor in all time to 
 come. Such an institution, I conceive, may be devised ; of 
 which, however, at present there is no model either in this 
 country or in Europe; giving such a course of education 
 and discipline as would give to the faculties of the human 
 mind, an improvement and power far beyond what they 
 obtain by the ordinary systems of education, and far be- 
 yond what they afterwards attain in any of the professional 
 pursuits. Such an institution, as to its principle, suggested 
 itself to the sagacious and far-seeing mind of Bacon, as one 
 of the greatest importance. But while his other sugges- 
 tions have been followed out with such wonderful success 
 in extending the boundaries of physical science, this has 
 been overlooked and neglected. One reason is, that the 
 other suggestions were more elaborately explained by him; 
 there, too, he not only pointed out the path, but he led the 
 way in it himself. Besides, those other suggestions could 
 be carried out by individual exertion and enterprise, inde- 
 pendently of the existing establishments of learning ; or 
 they could be grafted on, and made a part of, those estab- 
 lishments. But this required an original plan of education, 
 and a new foundation for its execution ; where the young 
 mind would be trained by a course of education and disci- 
 pline that would unfold and perfect all his faculties ; where 
 genius would plume his young wings, and prepare himself 
 to take the noblest flights. The idea, however, was not 
 entirely original with Bacon ; for it would be in effect but 
 the revival of that system of education and discipline which 
 produced such wonderful improvement and power of the 
 human mind in Greece and Rome, and especially in Greece. 
 Its effects here, I am persuaded, would be many and glo- 
 rious. Of these I shall now indicate only one ; but that 
 one whose importance all must admit. In its progress and 
 ultimately it would give to our country, I have no doubt, a 
 national literature of a high and immortal character. How- 
 ever mortifying to our national pride it is to say it, it must 
 be confessed that we have not a national literature of that 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 161 
 
 character ; nor is it possible we ever should have, as it 
 appears to me, on our present systems of education. Not 
 that our literature, such as it is, is inferior to that of other 
 nations produced at the present day. No ; mediocrity is 
 the character of all literary works of the present day, go 
 where you will. It is so in England, it is so in France, the 
 two most literary nations of Europe. It is true, learned 
 men and great scholars are every where to be found, indeed, 
 they may be said to abound more than ever ; the whole 
 world, too, has become a reading world ; the growth of the 
 press is prodigious ; but it is all ephemeral and evanescent 
 all destined to the grave of oblivion. Nor is it that our 
 countrymen have not the gift of genius for literary works 
 of that high and immortal character. Probably no people 
 were ever blessed with it in a greater degree of which 
 every where we see the indications and the evidence ; but 
 what signifies genius for an art without discipline, without 
 knowledge of its principles, and skill in that art ? 
 
 " Vis consili expers, mole ruit sua ; 
 Vim temperatam, Dii quoque provebunt, 
 In majus." 
 
 Literature is now everywhere mediocre because the arts 
 of literature are nowhere cultivated, but everywhere neglect- 
 ed and apparently despised. I recollect to have seen in a 
 late and leading periodical of Great Britain, an article in 
 which the writer congratulates the age upon having thrown 
 off the shackles of composition ; and says (in a tone of tri- 
 umph) that no one now thinks of writing like Junius, (as if 
 it was an easy matter, but beneath him, to write like Juni- 
 us,) except, he adds, some junior sophister in the country, 
 corresponding with the editor of some village newspaper. 
 The whole tribe of present writers seem, by their silence, 
 to receive this description as eulogy as a tribute of praise 
 properly paid to their merit ; while in truth it is the charac- 
 teristic of a barbarous age, or of one declining to barba- 
 rism ; it is the very description applied to mark the decline 
 and last glimmering of letters in Greece and Rome. 
 
 The object of education is two-fold knowledge and 
 ability ; both are important, but ability by far the most 
 so. Knowledge is so far important as it is subsidiary 
 to the acquiring of ability ; and no further ; except as a 
 source of mental pleasure to the individual. It is ability 
 that makes itself to be felt by society ; it is ability that 
 wields the sceptre over the human heart and the human in- 
 tellect. Now it is a great mistake to suppose that knowl- 
 edge imparts ability of course. It does, indeed, impart 
 ability of a certain kind ; for by exercising the attention 
 
162 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 and the memory, it improves the capacity for acquiring ; 
 but the capacity to acquire is not ability to originate and 
 produce. No ;" ability can only be given by the appropriate 
 studies, accompanied with the appropriate exercises di- 
 rected by a certain rule, and conducted infallibly to a cer- 
 tain result. 
 
 In all the celebrated schools of Athens, this was the plan 
 of education ; and there the ingenious youth, blessed with 
 faculties of promise, never failed to attain the eminence 
 aspired to, unless his perseverance failed. Hence the 
 mighty effects of those schools ; hence that immense tide 
 of great men which they poured forth in all the depart- 
 ments of science and letters ; and especially of letters ; and 
 hence, too, the astonishing perfection of their works. A 
 celebrated writer, filled with astonishment at the splendor 
 as well as the number of the works produced by the schol- 
 ars of these schools, ascribes the event to the hand of a 
 wonder-working Providence, interposed in honor of human 
 nature, to show to what perfection the species might ascend. 
 But there was nothing of miracle in it; the means wnv 
 adequate to the end. It is no wonder at all that such 
 schools gave to Athens her Thucydides in history, her Plato 
 in ethics; her Sophocles to her drama, and her Demostho 
 nes to her forum and her popular assemblies ; and gave to 
 her besides that host of rivals to these and almost their 
 equals. It was the natural and necessary effect of such a 
 system of education ; and especially with a people who held, 
 as the Athenians did, all other human considerations as 
 cheap in comparison with the glory of letters and the arts. 
 
 It is true, this their high and brilliant career of literary 
 glory was but of short duration ; for soon as it had attained 
 its meridian blaze it was suddenly arrested ; for the tyrant 
 came and laid the proud freedom of Athens in the dust, 
 and the Athenians were a people with whom the love of 
 glory could not survive the loss of freedom. For freedom 
 was the breast at which that love was fed ; freedom was the 
 element in which it lived and had its being ; freedom gave 
 to it the fields where its most splendid triumphs were 
 achieved. The genius of Athens now drooped ; fell from 
 its lofty flights down to tame mediocrity to ephemeral 
 works born but to languish and to die ; and so remained 
 during the long rule of that ruthless despotism the Mace- 
 donian ; and until the Roman came to put it down, and to 
 merge Greece in the Roman empire. Athens now was 
 partially restored again to freedom. Her schools which 
 had been closed, or which had existed only in form, revived 
 with something of their former effect. 'They again gave 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 163 
 
 forth some works worthy of their former fame, though of 
 less transcendant merit ; and they now gave to Rome the 
 Roman eloquence and literature. 
 
 Groecia capta serum Victorem cepit et artes 
 Intulit agresti satio : 
 
 and, if we are wise to profit by their example, may yet give 
 to us an equal eloquence and literature. 
 
 I mention these things to show what encouragement 
 we have to this enterprise- what well grounded hope 
 of success. We have only to tread the path that led 
 the -Athenian to his glory, and to open that path to the 
 youth of our country. All the animating influences of 
 freedom exist here in still greater force than they existed 
 there ; for while it is not less absolute here, it is better 
 regulated better combined with order and security. 
 Neither is the gift of genius wanting here ; the gleams of 
 this precious ore are seen to break out here and there all 
 over the surface of our society ; the animus acer et sublimis is 
 daily displayed by our countrymen in all the forms of dar- 
 ing and enterprise ; the eagle, their emblem, is not more 
 daring in his flights. And if the love of fame, which was 
 the ruling passion of the Greek, is not now so strong with 
 us, it is because the want of the means, the want of plain 
 and sure directions for its pursuits, begets a despair of its 
 attainment. The Greek had these means, had these plain 
 and sure directions ; and it was the certainty of success by 
 perseverance and by their guide that kindled and sustained 
 his passion, and made it his ruling passion. This passion 
 is now burning in the young bosoms of thousands of our 
 youth ; but it "is, as I have said, vis consili expers, and strug- 
 gles in vain because it struggles blindly for the fame it 
 pants after. Let this Athenian mode of education be 
 adopted in this instance let it produce but a few examples 
 of eminent success, (as I have no doubt it speedily would,) 
 and thousands would rush to the path that had led to that 
 success ; and members now of this body are yet young 
 enough to live to see a new era arising in our land another 
 golden age of literature, no less splendid than any that had 
 gone before it not excepting even the Athenian. 
 
 I know it has been supposed that the Athenians had 
 something peculiar in their genius, which gave to them 
 their unparalleled success. But we have seen that when, 
 with the loss of freedom, they lost their love of literary 
 glory, they fell back to the ordinary level of mankind ; and 
 were not at all distinguished for literary merit from the 
 mass of nations. So it was not nature, but the means 
 adopted to assist and improve nature, that gave to them 
 
164 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 their pre-eminence ; and their success was but in exact pro- 
 portion to the perfection and use of those means. 
 
 I could wish, if all were agreed in it, that this institution 
 should make one of a number of colleges to constitute a 
 university to be established here, and to be endowed in a 
 manner worthy of this great nation and their immense 
 resources. This object, recommended by Washington in 
 one of his early communications to Congress, has not, as it 
 appears to me, received the attention it merits. For such 
 an establishment, formed and conducted as it might bo, 
 would be attended with great and glorious results to this 
 country not only by its direct operation in elevating the 
 standard of education, but by forming a central point, ji 
 local head to all the learning of the country such as the 
 most learned nations of Europe have, and from which they 
 derive the greatest advantages. But as opinions are divided 
 upon this subject not, I should hope, as to the great de- 
 sirableness of such an establishment but as to the consti- 
 tutional competency of Congress to undertake it, I will not 
 embarrass my present object by involving it with that sub- 
 ject. This, as an independent institution, may hereafter be 
 made a part of such a university, should one be established ; 
 but it is now to be looked at only as an independent institu- 
 tion. Still I should hope that the liberality of Congress 
 would so far concur with the generosity of this foreign ben- 
 efactor as to give full effect to his beneficent purpose ; and 
 would not only give the grounds convenient for the accom- 
 modation and location of the buildings, but would also 
 make an appropriation of money therefor sufficient to cover 
 the cost of their erection; leaving the whole amount of the 
 legacy as a fund, the proceeds of which to be applied to 
 the accumulation of books and apparatus and to the sup- 
 port of the instruction and government of the institution ; 
 otherwise the whole thing, I fear, will prove a failure by 
 the expense of the outfits ; at least when compared to the 
 results which it might be made to produce. For though 
 the salaries of instruction should not be over large, yet they 
 should be so liberal as to command the services of the ablest 
 instructors in every department embraced by the plan of 
 education. This is not the occasion for a detail in full of 
 the plan of education which I should wish to see adopted ; 
 I will, however, beg leave to give its outline; premising 
 that my object would be to give both learning and ability, 
 but ability as the primary object. Ability, as I have stated, 
 can only be given, as I am fully persuaded, by appropriate 
 exercises directed by a certain rule ; that is, by the princi- 
 ples of the art, whatever that art may be. So that exercises, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 165 
 
 exercises, would be the Alpha and Omega of my system. 
 The studies should be combined of science and literature 
 with its appropriate arts. As to science, they should be 
 restricted to science properly so called to pure original 
 science with some of the practical branches thereof not 
 necessary now to be indicated ; excluding professory learn- 
 ing altogether. As to literature, the studies should be 
 given to select models of a perfect literature, and to all 
 those arts by which that perfect literature has been pro- 
 duced and may be reproduced, accompanied by all those 
 exercises regularly and ardently pursued, by which power 
 and skill is given in those arts. The preliminary studies to 
 qualify for admission should also be prescribed. I would 
 have a model school for this preparation annexed to this 
 institution and made a part of the establishment. 
 
 Such an institution, conducted by great masters, as I 
 should hope the instructors to be, and without such indeed 
 nothing great in education can be accomplished whatever 
 the system may be ; but, conducted by great masters, would 
 make the illustrious stranger, the founder of the institution, 
 as I think, one of the greatest of benefactors to our country 
 and to mankind, and to be worshipped almost, here at least, 
 as the patron saint of education. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON rose and said : Unquestionably the subject 
 to which my venerable friend, the honorable Senator from 
 Rhode Island, has called the attention of the Senate, is one 
 of great importance, demanding the grave consideration of 
 Congress. As it is in the order of Providence that, as the 
 mind is enlarged, our moral nature is also exalted, there 
 can be no object more beneficent or dignified than that 
 which the acceptance of this legacy presents to us. And 
 -surely, Mr. President, the establishment of the Smithso- 
 nian Institute could not commence under more favorable 
 auspices than to have attracted the care of the honorable 
 Senator, who in every way is so eminent^ qualified to take 
 charge of whatever concerns the interest of learning or of 
 charity. No one has more experience in his own heart, or 
 more exemplified in his own character, the benign influ- 
 ences of education, than the honorable gentleman ; and no 
 one, therefore, in this bod}', was so fit to have submitted 
 the resolution before you, or to cast the foundations of an 
 institution, whose duration, we may hope, will bear a pro- 
 portion to its enlarged objects. I am sure I but speak the 
 sentiments of all the Senators, when I offer him my earnest 
 thanks for the lead he takes in this matter. Nor can I for- 
 bear also, to thank him for introducing those elegant and 
 -elevated topics which carry us for a moment into regions of 
 
1(36 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 calm and serene air, above the smoke and din of pur accus- 
 tomed and more strenuous efforts on this floor. It is pleasant 
 to repose upon the green spot he has presented to us. 
 
 I rejoice that this subject demands our attention at this 
 session. After a long term of useful and honorable public 
 service, my honorable friend is now about to terminate his 
 co-operation with us on this floor. It is his last session. It 
 is a fortunate, as it is a most just and fit termination of his 
 official productions, that he at once finishes and perfects 
 them by inscribing his name where it will be most appro- 
 priately placed upon an institution for the promotion of 
 knowledge. 
 
 SENATE, January 11, IS",!*. 
 
 Mr. Bobbins' resolution was adopted, and it was ordered 
 that Messrs. Robbins, Preston, Rives, Buchanan, l>cnton r 
 Southard and Bayard be the committee. 
 
 SENATE, January 14, 1839. 
 
 Message from the House that Senate resolution (No. 7) 
 had been concurred in. 
 
 SENATE, January 15, 1839. 
 
 Message from the House that a resolution had bron passed 
 concerning the Smithsonian bequest. 
 
 SENATE, January 16, 1839. 
 
 The resolution of the House was laid on the table. 
 SENATE, January 28, 1839. 
 
 The Seriate concurred in the resolution from the House 
 to authorize the joint committee on the bequest of James 
 Smithson to employ a clerk, and to cause such papers as 
 they may deem necessary to be printed. 
 
 SENATE, February 18, 1839. 
 
 Mr. Robbins, from the committee on the Smithsonian be- 
 quest, submitted the following resolutions ; which were read, 
 and ordered to be printed : 
 
 1. Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States, they having accep- 
 ted the. trust under the will of Mr. Smithson, of London, to execute that 
 trust bona fide, according to the true intent and meaning of the testator. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the trust being to found an institution in the city of 
 Washington, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, the 
 kind of institution which will have the effect intended and described, in the 
 most eminent degree, will be the kind of institution which ought, in good 
 faith to be adopted, as being most in accordance with the true intent and 
 meaning of the testator. 
 
 3. Resolved, That all experience having shown scientific and literary in- 
 stitutions to be by far, the most effectual means to tho end of increasing 
 and diffusing knowledge among men, the Smithsonian Institution should be 
 a scientific and literary institution, formed upon a model the best calculated 
 to make those means the most effectual to that end. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 1G7 
 
 4. Resolved, That to apply said trust fund to the erection and support of 
 an observatory, would not he to fulfil bona fide the intention of the testa- 
 tor, nor would it comport with the dignity of the United States to owe 
 such an establishment to foreign eleemosynary means. 
 
 Mr. ROBBINS, from the committee appointed on the part 
 of the Senate, on the Smithsonian bequest, reported the 
 following bills ; which were severally read, and passed to 
 the second reading : 
 
 [S. No. 292.] 
 
 A BILL providing for the disposition and management of the fund be- 
 queathed to the United States, in trust, by James Smithson, of London, 
 deceased, for the establishment of an institution for the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled. That all sum or sums of money 
 heretofore received, or which shall hereafter be received, under and in pur- 
 suance of the last will and testament of the late James Smithson, deceased, 
 of London, and all fund or funds, stock or stocks, or evidence or evidences 
 of public debt whatsoever, in which said sum or sums of money have been, 
 or shall hereafter be, invested, shall be, and are hereby, constituted and 
 declared to be a fund to be named or styled " the Smithsonian fund," and 
 shall be under the management and control of nine trustees, to be styled 
 " the board of trustees of the Smithsonian fund," subject, however, to such 
 rules, regulations, and restrictions as the Congress of the United States 
 may or shall, from time to time, make, ordain, or establish ; and said 
 trustees shall constitute a portion of such corporation as shall hereafter be 
 created by Congress for the government of an institution for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees shall hold their 
 offices for the term of one year, and until their successors be appointed, 
 and shall be appointed annually on or before the day of , 
 
 in the following manner, that is to say : three of the said trustees shall be 
 appointed by the Senate and three by the House of Representatives, in such 
 manner as the said Houses shall respectively determine, and the remaining 
 three shall be appointed by the President of the United States ; and the 
 trustees so appointed, or a majority of them, shall meet together, in the 
 city of Washington, on the day of next succeeding 
 
 their appointment, and shall elect one of their own body as President of 
 said board ; they shall have authority to appoint a clerk and printer, and 
 fix their respective compensations ; and make and establish such rules and 
 regulations for their own government as they may deem necessary or proper ; 
 hold one or more sessions for the transaction of business during the recess 
 of Congress ; and adjourn from day to day, as they may deem proper ; 
 they shall keep a journal of their proceedings, and report the same, or an 
 attested copy thereof, to both Houses of Congress on or before the 
 day of , in each and every year. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all expenditures made by the 
 said board shall be subject to the approval of the President of the United 
 States ; and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, and audited, under his direction, by the proper officers of the 
 Treasury Department ; and the said board shall report to Congress, at every 
 session thereof, the state of the Smithsonian fund, and a full statement of 
 their receipts and expenditures during the preceding year. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees be, and they are 
 hereby, specially authorized and directed to prepare such a charter of 
 incorporation, and such a plan of an institution for the increase and diffu- 
 sion of knowledge among men, as to them may appear best adapted to 
 
168 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 carry into effect the bona fide intention of the testator, the said James 
 Smithson, and to report the same for the consideration and action of Con- 
 gress at the next session thereof. 
 
 [S. No. 293.] 
 
 A BILL to provide for the disposal and management of the fund be- 
 queathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment 
 of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Vice-President of the 
 United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretaries of 
 State and of the Treasury, the Attorney General of the United States, and 
 the Mayor of the city of Washington, all during the time when they shall 
 hold their respective offices, together with three members of the Senate and 
 four members of the House of Representatives, to be annually elected by 
 their respective Houses, on the fourth Wednesday of December, shall be, 
 and hereby are, constituted a body politic and corporate, by the style and 
 title of the trustees of the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men, with perpetual succession, and the usual 
 powers, duties, and liabilities incident to corporations; 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the corporation so constituted 
 shall have power to appoint from citizens of the United States, other than 
 members of the board, a secretary and a treasurer, to hold their offices dur- 
 ing the pleasure of the board, and removable at their pleasure, and others 
 to he appointed in their places,, and to fix their compensations. And the 
 secretary and the treasurer only shall receive pecuniary compensation for 
 their services, and those of the members of the board of trustees shall be gra- 
 tuitous. And the offices of secretary and treasurer may, at the discretion of 
 the board of trustees, be held by the same person. The secretary and 
 treasurer shall be sworn to the 'faithful discharge of the dutie.s of their 
 respective offices, and the treasurer shall give bond, with the penalty of 
 fifty thousand dollars, with sureties, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, for the safe custody and faithful application of all the funds 
 of the Institution which may come to his hands or be at his disposal. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of placed in the 
 
 Treasury of the United States on the day of a> tin- 
 
 proceeds in part of the bequest of James Smithson to the United States, 
 together with all sums which may hereafter be realized, shall be passed 
 hereafter to the credit of a fund to be denominated the Smithsonian fund, 
 in the Treasury of the United States. And the faith of the United States 
 is hereby pledged for the preservation of the said fund undiminished and 
 unimpaired, to bear interest at the rate of six per centum a year, payable 
 on the first days of January and July to the treasurer of the board of 
 trustees of the Smithsonian fund, to be applied to the purposes of the fund, 
 conformably to the laws, and subject to the revision and regulation of the 
 board of trustees. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no part of the said Smithsonian 
 fund, principal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, univer- 
 sity, institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the appropriations to be made, 
 from time to time, by Congress, to the purposes of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, as declared by the testator, shall be exclusively from the accruing 
 interest, and not from the principal of the said fund : Provided, That Con- 
 gress shall retain the power of investing, at their discretion, the principal 
 of said lund in any other manner so as to secure not less than a yearly In- 
 terest of six per centum. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the sum of thirty thousand dol- 
 lars, part of the first year's interest accruing on the said Smithsonian fund, 
 be, and the same is hereby, appropriated towards the erection and estab- 
 lishment, at the city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 169 
 
 adapted to the most effective and continual observation of the phenomena 
 of the Heavens ; to be provided with the necessary, best, and most perfect 
 instruments and books, for the periodical publication of the said observa- 
 tions, and for the annual composition and publication of a nautical almanac. 
 
 SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said observatory shall be 
 erected under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the 
 approbation of the President of the United States ; and the site of the 
 same shall be selected upon land, in the city of Washington, belonging to 
 the United States ; and the land necessary for the same, and for any 
 other buildings proper to be connected with the said observatory and the 
 appurtenances thereof, is hereby granted, and shall be duly conveyed, as a 
 deed of gift, to the trustees of the Smithsonian fund, and to their succes- 
 sors forever, in aid of the purposes of the said Institution. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That all expenditures made by the 
 said board shall be subject to the approval of the President of the United 
 States, and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, and audited, under his direction, by the proper officers of the 
 Treasury Department ; and the said board shall report to Congress, at every 
 session thereof, the state of the Smithsonian fund, and a full statement of 
 their receipts and expenditures during the preceding year. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the trustees 
 of the Smithsonian fund shall be held at the city of Washington on the 
 third Monday of January next, and that, in the mean time, the custody of 
 the said fund, and the expenditures under the appropriation herein made, 
 shall be held and authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to 
 the approbation of the President of the United States. 
 
 SENATE, February 25, 1839. 
 
 The bill (S. 292) providing for the disposition and man- 
 agement of the fund bequeathed to the United States in 
 trust, by James Smithson, of London, deceased, for the 
 establishment of an institution for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men, was read the second time, and 
 considered, as in Committee of the Whole. 
 
 On motion by Mr. HUBBARD, that the bill lie on the table, 
 it was determined in the affirmative yeas, 20 ; nays, 15. 
 
 On motion by Mr. HUBBARD, the yeas and nays being 
 desired by one-fifth of the Senators present; those who 
 voted in the affirmative are 
 
 Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Benton, Brown, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, 
 Hubbard, King, Lyon, Morris, Mouton, Niles, Norvell, Roane, Robinson, 
 -Smith of Connecticut, Strange, Williams of Maine, Williams of Missis- 
 sippi, Wright. 
 
 Those who voted in the negative are 
 
 Messrs. Clay of Kentucky, Davis, Fulton, Knight, Linn, Merrick, 
 Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Robbins, Ruggles, Sevier, Smith of Indiana, 
 "Walker, Young. 
 
 So it was ordered that this bill lie on the table. 
 SENATE, February 28, 1839. 
 
 Mr. BOBBINS submitted the following motion for consid- 
 eration : 
 
 Resolved by the Senate, That the mayor and city council of the city of 
 
170 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Washington be, and hereby are, authorized to prepare and report a plan o 
 an institution, to be called the Smithsonian Institution, to be founded 01 
 the bequest of Mr. James Smithson, of London, and to report the same t 
 the Senate at the next session of Congress. 
 
 SENATE, March 1, 1839. 
 
 The Senate proceeded to consider the motion submittec 
 yesterday by Mr. Bobbins respecting a Smithsonian Institu 
 tion; and, on motion by Mr. CLAY, of Alabama, ordere( 
 that it lie on the table. 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 5, 1838. 
 On motion of Mr. CHILDS, 
 
 Resolved, That the President be requested to communicate to this Hous 
 (if the same can be done without prejudice to the public service) all th 
 documents and information in his possession relative to the prosecution o 
 the claim to the Smithsonian bequest ; also, what duty has been performed 
 and remains to be performed, by the agent employed at London, in refer 
 ence to said claim, and how the money heretofore appropriated by Congres 
 has been applied. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Jane 28, 1838. 
 
 Mr. RENCHER, on leave, submitted the following resolu 
 tion ; which was agreed to : 
 
 ^Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means inquire into the expe 
 diency of authorizing a temporary investment of the Smithsonian legacy 
 as soon as it shall be received by the President of the United States. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 2, 1838. 
 
 Mr. CAMBRELENG, from the Committee of Ways anc 
 Means, reported the following bill : 
 
 [H. R. No. 863.] 
 
 A BILL to provide for the investment of money received under the will o 
 
 th,e late James Smithson, of London. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Unitec 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That all money arising from the 
 bequest of the late James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of found- 
 ing at Washington, in this District, an institution to be denominated the 
 Smithsonian Institution, shall be paid into the Treasury, and invested bj 
 the^Secretary of the Treasury, with the approbation of the President of the 
 United States, in stock of the United States, to be created for that purpose, 
 bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable annually; 
 that the certificates for said stock shall be issued by the Secretary of the 
 Treasury to the President, who shall hold the same in trust for the uses 
 specified in the last will and testament of said Smithson, until provision is 
 made by law for carrying the purpose of said bequest into effect; and thai 
 the annual interest accruing on the stock aforesaid shall be in like manner 
 invested for the benefit of said institution. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 171 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 9, 1838. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN, of Massachusetts, submitted the following, 
 which was agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause- 
 to be laid before the House during the first week of the next session of Con- 
 gress, all such communications, papers, documents, &c., now in the posses- 
 sion of the Executive, or which can be obtained, as shall elucidate the 
 origin and object of the Smithsonian bequest, and the origin, progress, and 
 consummation of the process by which that bequest has been recovered, 
 and whatever may be connected with the subject. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 10, 1838. 
 
 Two messages were received from the President of the 
 United States, as follows : 
 
 FIRST MESSAGE. 
 
 To the House of Representatives of the United States : 
 
 I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives 
 reports from the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, with accompanying documents, in answer to 
 the resolution of the House of the 9th of July last. 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 7, 1838. 
 
 Ordered, That said message be referred to a select com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Mr. John Q. Adams, Mr. Smith, Mr. Ogle, Mr. Charles 
 Shepard of North Carolina, Mr. Holt, Mr. Thompson, Mr. 
 Hunter of Ohio, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Garland of Vir- 
 ginia, were appointed said select committee. 
 
 SECOND MESSAGE. 
 
 For second message see Senate Proceedings, December 
 10th. 
 
 Ordered, That said message be referred to the select com- 
 mittee last appointed. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 20, 1838. 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams presented a memorial of Charles 
 Lewis Fleischmann, a citizen of the United States, showing 
 the importance of, and the benefits which may arise from, 
 the establishment of a national agricultural school, as a 
 branch of the Smithsonian Institution; which memorial 
 was referred to the select committee appointed on two 
 messages from the President in relation to the Smithsonian 
 bequest. 
 
 On motion of Mr. John Quincy Adams 
 
 Ordered, That the memorial of Walter 11. Johnson, for an institution for 
 experiments in physical sciences, presented May 21, 1838, be referred to the 
 select committee appointed on two messages from the President in relation 
 to the Smithsonian bequest. 
 
17*2 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The following is the memorial of Prof. Walter R. Johnson : 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, 
 
 in Congress assembled. . 
 
 The memorial of the undersigned, a citizen of the United 
 States, respectfully represents 
 
 That, having been for many years devoted to the invest!} 
 gation and elucidation of those departments of science 
 which pertain to the practice of the useful arts; and hav- i 
 ing, as he conceives, witnessed on various occasions the 
 serious detriment which the public interest has suffered 
 from the want of a national institution to encourage and 
 facilitate the cultivation of those departments of knowledge 
 on which these arts are founded, he has at this time ven- 
 tured to present himself as a memorialist before your 
 honorable bodies, and to ask permission to set forth the 
 importance and necessity of such an institution to the coun- 
 try, and its claims to the countenance of the (-Jovcrnment 
 of the United States. 
 
 In a clear comprehension of the internal resources of the 
 country, the whole nation possesses a deep and a growing 
 interest; and in those vast portions of territory constituting 
 the public domain, the Government has a stake of immense 
 magnitude. But great as these interests are, and much as 
 they demand the services of men professionally devoted to 
 their elucidation, the United States as yet possess no insti- 
 tution appropriated to the lormation of those habits, and 
 the acquisition of that skill which might insure the success 
 of such researches. 
 
 The want of an institution for these purposes is daily 
 rendered more striking, in proportion as the enterprise of 
 our citizens is enlarged, and as a reliance on our own 
 resources becomes the more obviously necessary. But the 
 determination of the value of the natural resources of the 
 country is far from being the only motive for the establish- 
 ment of an institution for prosecuting researches in phys- 
 ical science. Those resources require to be applied and 
 improved, as well as discovered and described. 
 
 A further purpose, therefore, to be effected by such an 
 institution is the enlarging of those resources, by the intro- 
 duction of improvements in agriculture, and by naturaliz- 
 ing the productions of other climates to the soil of our 
 widely extended territory the encouraging of those arts 
 which are essential to our national prosperity and independ- 
 ence the diffusing of important information respecting the 
 commercial value of our different resources the examin- 
 ing of questions in every department of physical research, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 173 
 
 connected with the public service, and the preventing of 
 those impostures, to which both individuals and the public 
 are liable, while important physical truths remain unex- 
 plained. 
 
 Motives of higher import are not wanting : inducements 
 drawn from an exalted patriotism might be presented, in 
 favor of such measures as might place our national re- 
 sources, institutions, and arms of defence above a depend- 
 ence on the science of foreign nations. 
 
 In recognizing the important truth, that the power, free- 
 dom, and happiness of nations are essentially connected 
 with a comprehension of their own natural advantages, not 
 less than with the wisdom, firmness, and prudence of those 
 who are exalted to civil authority, we discover at once the 
 vast magnitude of the obligation imposed on the people of 
 this Union to become thoroughly acquainted with the re- 
 sources of their country. 
 
 It is said, and said truly, that every freeman should 
 understand the civil constitutions of the country which 
 secure his rights ; and is it less imperative to understand its 
 physical constitution, which secures his existence ? 
 
 Whoever loves his country would see her great, power- 
 ful loved at home, and respected abroad. And what ele- 
 ment in her greatness, her power, her loveliness, her 
 respectability, is more sure to win the affections, than the 
 rich abundance of her natural advantages, and the ability 
 of her citizens to comprehend, to develop, and enjoy them ? 
 
 It is a mark of a meek colonial dependence, to remain 
 ignorant of all but the most obvious features and produc- 
 tions of a country ; and it is an evidence of something 
 worse than colonial dependence, for a nation professing to 
 be independent, to receive from foreigners all the knowledge 
 that they ever acquire of the natural features and resources 
 of the country, and of their application to useful purposes. 
 Why need we cite the examples of antiquity ? Why go to 
 India, to Africa, to New Holland, to seek illustrations of 
 this truth ? What is the condition of the colonies still 
 remaining on this continent, in regard to a knowledge of 
 their respective territories ? With what jealousy did the 
 courts of Madrid and Lisbon spread for three centuries a 
 midnight of ignorance, with regard to the arts, over the 
 fairest portions of the globe ! 
 
 And what was the state of the useful arts, in those coun- 
 tries, at the moment when they at last greeted the uncertain 
 dawn of a questionable liberty ? What is their degree of 
 weakness and irresolution, even at this day, superinduced 
 
174 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 bv an habitual neglect of the bounties of nature, and the 
 achievements of art ? How utterly at the mercy of strangers 
 how little competent to assert the dignity of any national 
 character, are most of the Spanish American republics ! It 
 is not pretended that ignorance of their resources is the 
 only cause of this degradation ; but that the former may at 
 least be considered a fair index to mark and measure the 
 latter. 
 
 But, it may be asked, what great national interests will 
 be benefitted by an institution like that now proposed ? The 
 reply is easy. 
 
 Wherever, in prosecuting his designs, man has occasion 
 to call to his aid the energies of nature, there will researches 
 in physical science find an appropriate sphere of action. 
 And wherever any national interest involves the production 
 or use of material objects, there must the energies of nature 
 be more or less constantly put in requisition. 
 
 Among the prominent interests affected by the existence 
 and operation of an institution for physical researches, are 
 those of agriculture, of the army, the navy, the public 
 domain, engineering and topography; architecture, civil, 
 military, and naval ; the mining industry of the country 
 and its interests in the success of the inventive genius of 
 its citizens. To these must be added commerce and manu- 
 factures. 
 
 That all these subjects are regarded as public interests, is, 
 perhaps, sufficiently evinced by the fact, that in the distri- 
 bution of the subjects of legislation in Congress, each, with 
 the exception of mining, is deemed of sufficient importance 
 to merit the attention of a separate standing committee of 
 each House. Thus there is in each House a committee on 
 agriculture, on military affairs, on naval affairs, on the 
 public lands, on roads and canals, on public buildings, on 
 patents and the patent office, on commerce, and on manu- 
 factures. 
 
 The foregoing statement is made in order to show that, 
 in asking the attention of the national authorities to this 
 subject, there is no design to obtrude upon their notice 
 matters not already within the acknowledged and long con- 
 ceded sphere of constitutional action ; that there is no 
 attempt to introduce a course of legislation, on concerns 
 foreign to those great interests of the nation, for the protec- 
 tion of which the fundamental law has invested the Legis- 
 lature with ample powers. 
 
 1. In no department of industry is the need of experi- 
 mental science more evident than in that of agriculture. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 175 
 
 'The labor of research and observation in this department 
 belongs alike to the botanist, the zoologist, and the chemist. 
 The iirst should investigate the physiology and habitudes of 
 all those vegetable productions which constitute so 'large a 
 portion of the products of farming operations, together 
 with the accidents, blights, and diseases, to which they are 
 liable, the insects by which their growth or usefulness may 
 be affected, and the method of securing and reducing to a 
 ^merchantable form the crops of each vegetable, when ma- 
 tured. The introduction of exotic plants, and the treat- 
 ment which may insure their success in our climate, with 
 the method of regulating and varying the succession of 
 crops, to avoid the exhaustion of soils, would appropriately 
 fall under the same branch of the agricultural department. 
 
 The practicability and the proper methods of cultivating 
 the vine, the olive, the mulberry, the sugar beet, the Sisal 
 and Manilla hemp, the New Zealand flax, and other fibrous 
 vegetables fit to furnish textures and cordage, would also 
 appropriately fall under the botanical division of agricultu- 
 ral science. 
 
 The collections in this department would exhibit samples 
 of not only the ordinary and the rare specimens of each 
 plant, but also the diseased individuals and the vegetable 
 monsters of each class, displaying, when practicable, the 
 cause of such disease or monstrosity. Under the botanical 
 division is necessarily included, also, whatever pertains to 
 horticulture and the management of fruit in all its varie- 
 ties. 
 
 Zoology applied to agricultural purposes would make 
 known the rearing and treatment of every species of useful 
 domestic animals, whether bird or quadruped, the kinds of 
 labor to which any of them may be applied while living ; 
 the diseases, contagious or otherwise, to which they may be 
 liable ; the value and uses of their living products, as milk, 
 wool, hair, or feathers, and the importance to man of their 
 flesh, sinews, bones, horns, and pelage, when slaughtered. 
 
 The best methods of domesticating or naturalizing desira- 
 ble species of animals not now in use in this country, and 
 improving the breeds of all such as may be susceptible of 
 melioration, would likewise come under the cognizance of 
 this department. To the same would pertain an examina- 
 tion of such of the inferior races of animals which are 
 either useful, as the bee and the silk-worm, or noxious and 
 destructive, as the Hessian fly, the locust, the weevil, and the 
 canker worm, as well as of those parasitic insects which 
 often prove so annoying and destructive to the larger ani- 
 
176 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 mals, together with the methods of their extermination. 
 In short, an agricultural study of animal beings must deal, 
 with the physiology and structure of each race, in every 
 stage of its existence. How wide is this field of inquiry, 
 and how momentous to the interests of agriculture, needs 
 riot to be demonstrated. 
 
 But to the chemist is assigned, in connection with agri- 
 culture, a branch of duty not less important, and, if any- 
 thing, more difficult, than to either of the preceding. To 
 him belongs not only the duty of ascertaining the constitu- 
 ents of every soil, and the ingredients which render it 
 either barren or fertile, which adapt it to peculiar produc- 
 tions, which cause it to require more or less labor in the 
 tillage, but also that of determining the nature of the dress- 
 ing which may restore it w r hen exhausted, whether tin- same 
 should consist of animal, vegetable, or mineral substum -. 
 and in what proportions. He must also examine the con- 
 stituents, immediate and ultimate, of each vegetable, and 
 trace the relation between the character of a soil and that 
 of the vegetable substances which it is capable of produc- 
 ing. 
 
 In various parts of our country it is well known that 
 shell and other limestones, marl, gypsum, and alluvial 
 deposits of various kinds, are resorted to for furnishing 
 the dressings of worn-out or barren soils ; and yet it is 
 equally well known that not every soil is alike benefited by 
 the same dressing. Even among the marls, some produce 
 an effect absolutely injurious, on the very soils which others 
 would fertilize in a high degree. Hence the importance of 
 designating, by means of chemical analysis, the fertilizing 
 or non-fertilizing properties of every compost used in the 
 dressing of land, its adaptation to each soil, and its utility 
 as applied to each production which that soil is designed to 
 yield. 
 
 Though almost unknown in our country, and unapplied 
 to its industry, the subject of agricultural chemistry has not 
 been deemed unworthy to engage the best talents of Euro- 
 pean chemists. In proof of this, we need only recur to the 
 names of Henry and Ure, and the immortal Davy. 
 
 The three branches of agricultural science above de- 
 scribed would in their several collections present an exhibi- 
 tion of exceeding interest, and one every way worthy to 
 fix the attention of the multitudes of citizens who annually 
 visit the seat of Government, as well as of the assembled 
 representatives of the people. 
 
 Stored in appropriate receptacles would be found the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 177 
 
 botanical treasures of every portion of our territory, and 
 the useful products of every foreign clime ; so that, while 
 our conservatory of arts and trades, now rising with 
 increased splendor from the ashes of its late conflagration, 
 shall receive the monuments of inventive genius, the con- 
 templated depository of our natural riches would soon vie 
 with it in curiosities and in usefulness. 
 
 2. Of the importance to the military interests of the 
 country of an institution like that herein proposed no 
 doubt can be entertained, when we take into view the great 
 number of practical subjects which, in that service, it is 
 necessary to determine by actual experiment. Questions 
 relating to the form, construction, and efficiency of ord- 
 nance and arms of every description, the effect of projec- 
 tiles as related to their weight, bulk, and velocity, and to 
 the charges by which they are projected, or to the length, 
 weight, windage, and other circumstances of the guns em- 
 employed ; to the durability of the latter, as dependent on 
 the quality of metal used in their fabrication, or on the 
 method of casting and subsequent preparation for service, 
 are often presented for solution. 
 
 In connection with the products of a national foundry, 
 should such an establishment be authorized, the prosecu- 
 tion of experiments would be of the utmost consequence, 
 and they certainly cannot be less important when the ord- 
 nance for our army and navy is manufactured entirely by 
 contract. Much of that skill which is required in the 
 fabrication of small arms is dependent on a just application 
 of scientific principles ; and careful researches into the 
 nature of the materials, and the best methods of working 
 them, is often demanded. Nor are inquiries for this 
 department of public service confined to one or a few 
 materials. Iron, copper, and zinc, brass, and many other 
 alloys; materials for tents, clothing, and accoutrements; 
 the whole range of substances employed in pyrotechny; 
 the materials for constructing fortifications, whether on the 
 seaboard or in the interior; for gun-carriages and other 
 vehicles; for portable bridges, and for every species of 
 camp equipage, are among the objects of attention in this 
 connection. Nor must the influence of heat, moisture, and 
 other causes, in destroying the various materials employed 
 in the military service, or the means of preventing their 
 injurious effects, be omitted. 
 
 The interests of the army, then require many series of 
 experimental inquiries. And though, for the purposes of 
 educating youth to the profession of arms, it is admitted 
 
 12 
 
178 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 that we have an institution which has received many high 
 enconiums for excellence, yet it is certain that original inves- 
 tigations of physical truth are not the objects contemplated 
 or mainly pursued in that establishment. Consequently, its 
 existence in full activity and usefulness does, not diminish 
 the necessity of a national institution for the purposes now 
 proposed. 
 
 3. To the naval service of the country the subject offers 
 a great variety of important considerations. The whole 
 business of navigation, whether for commercial or for war- 
 like purposes, ought to be founded on the most accurate- 
 scientific principles; and every motive which should impel 
 the mechanic or engineer to guide his practice by the lights 
 of science is equally or more urgent on the mariner. In 
 the prosecution of his adventurous enterprise, the land- 
 must encounter every element of nature. Taking, as WI- 
 DOW do, steam navigation into the account, we find him 
 engaged at the same moment in a conflict between lire, air, 
 earth, water, light, heat, electricity, galvanism, magnetism. 
 chemical action, and the gravitating forces of the- earth, the 
 ocean, and the atmosphere. 
 
 To enable him to contend successfully against these 
 various forces, he must, in addition to the principles of the 
 art of navigation, with no mean modicum of astronomy, 
 bring to his aid an extensive range of physical sciences. 
 Not that a staunch, well-equipped vessel must necessarily re- 
 quire in him who directs her course all these qualifications : 
 the above remarks are intended to apply to nantieal science 
 and practice as a whole, embracing whatever helongs to 
 the naval profession. This requires investigations to be 
 made into the good qualities and the defects of different 
 species of timber, the i nil nonce of the season of cutting on 
 the durability of its various kinds, and the most effective 
 and economical methods of preventing decay. 
 
 Among other materials for naval use requiring attention 
 are those of cordage, in all their varieties, frorrT the rigid 
 hempen ropes of our own manufactories, to the rude coir 
 cable of the east, buoyant and elastic, floating clear of a 
 rocky bottom, where the heavier hempen line would be 
 chafed and destroyed ; and from the delicate production of 
 Manilla to the stouter staple of the Sisal hemp of Yucatan. 
 ^ Far from being distinctly known, and their several quali- 
 ties clearly discriminated, these different materials have 
 hitherto been scarcely distinguished by their proper names, 
 even among our mariners and merchants. And the names, 
 Characters, and habitudes of the plants which produce the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 179 
 
 textile fibres have, if possible, been less clearly understood 
 than the peculiar properties of the cordage itself. Thus 
 the name " sea grass " is sometimes applied to the fibres of 
 a fleshy perennial plant of the agave genus, which grows 
 on dry rocky hills far in the interior of the country. The 
 influence of heat and moisture on all the different materials 
 employed for either cordage, sails, hammocks, bags, or cloth- 
 ing, presents a wide field for useful research. The relative 
 strength and durability of tarred and white cordage has 
 already engaged attention in Europe, but further inquiries 
 spring up as new materials are introduced. 
 
 Not less important than either of the preceding topics is 
 that of the strength and other properties of iron, as appli- 
 cable to the fabrication of chain cables and smaller chains 
 for standing or running rigging, (the latter particularly for 
 steam vessels,) and of bolts and anchors for all the various 
 sea and river craft. Not only the strength and elasticity, 
 but the chemical purity also of this material, and its power 
 to resist corrosion, are objects of deep interest. 
 
 The naval and commercial marine interests are alike in- 
 volved in an inquiry into the possibility of obtaining an 
 economical substitute for copper for the sheathing of ves- 
 sels ; and whether that material itself may yet be defended 
 from the corrosion which now causes so heavy a charge on 
 the Government, as well as on the private shipowner, A 
 movable galvanic armature has been suggested for this 
 purpose, but awaits a trial of its efficacy. 
 
 Other subjects of inquiry likewise press upon the atten- 
 tion, such as the most efficient and economical forms of 
 pumps, and the best methods of working them ; the best 
 modes of heating, ventilating, and disinfecting vessels at 
 sea, and of freeing them from vermin ; of preserving every 
 species of provision on long voyages ; the practicability of 
 obtaining fresh water by any convenient apparatus for dis- 
 tillation on shipboard ; and the most effective means of 
 securing ships from electrical discharges. Time would fail 
 us to enumerate all the beneficial results of an enlightened 
 application of science to the operations of dock yards, to 
 the construction and use of dry docks, screw docks, floating 
 docks> and marine railways. 
 
 To show that the importance of science to the naval 
 Interest is not herein overrated, it may not be amiss to 
 mention, that a single division of science applicable to this 
 service of naval construction, that of the influence of form 
 on the flotation and motion of solid bodies in liquids, has 
 not been thought unworthy to occupy the attention of some 
 
ISO CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the ablest philosophers and experimenters of France, 
 Sweden, and England. The names of Bossut, of Lagher- 
 jelm, and of Beaufoy, are vouchers for the truth of this 
 assertion. The labor of the last named author, in which it 
 appears that his wife was a frequent participator, was truly 
 Herculean; and the splendid publication and gratuitous 
 distribution by their son of the thirty years' scientific 
 labors of his parents, is a method of building u monument 
 as novel and touching as it is liberal and affectionate; 
 while the monument itself is more honorable, perhaps, 
 than any which the pencils, burins and chisels 'of Britain 
 have ever produced. 
 
 4. If from the public defence, both military and naval, we. 
 pass to the public revenues, especially to that part which is 
 derived from the sale of the public domain, we readily find 
 ample reason to sustain a call for scientific investigations. 
 
 The agricultural value, the geological structure, the min- 
 eral resources, the botanical productions, the supplies of 
 water for manufacturing purposes, the true geographical 
 position, and the force and present direction of terrestrial 
 magnetism in the regions where the public lands are situ- 
 ated, are circumstances to be attentively examined in pros- 
 ecuting a survey of those lands. 
 
 The analytical chemist will decide the value, for mining 
 purposes, of those regions, which the geologist and miner- 
 alogist shall have explored; while the engineer will note 
 whatever advantages and facilities may be offered for inter- 
 nal communications. 
 
 The formation of a geological and mineralbgical collec- 
 tion, would result, of course, from the surveys and exami- 
 nations contemplated in the foregoing remarks. And none, 
 surely, can doubt the ability of our country to furnish 
 collections which may stand in competition with the richest 
 and most celebrated in Europe. Though it is true that 
 mineralogical exploration, the art of mining, and the chem- 
 ical analysis of minerals, are almost in their infancy amongst 
 us, and though it will be remembered, that even geological 
 inquiries in this country have not surpassed the time of a 
 single human life, since the father* of American geology is 
 still among the living; and though, as a natural conse- 
 quence, we yet know comparatively little respecting the 
 treasures of our mountains, and forests, and prairies^ still, 
 
 * William Maclure, Esq., author of "Geology of the United States," 
 resident in the city of Mexico ; April, 1838. [Since deceased, 1844.] 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 181 
 
 enough is already known to warrant the brightest anticipa- 
 tions for the future. 
 
 As it regards mineral fuel, the American continent 
 appears to be peculiarly distinguished. In one or another 
 of its varieties, that material is found in Nova Scotia, in 
 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
 Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
 Missouri ; on the Yellow Stone river on the eastern, and 
 and the Columbia on the western side of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains ; in the province of Durango in Mexico ; in the Island 
 of Cuba; 'on the lofty Andes of Peru; at the Cerro di 
 Pasco and Huallanca, bordering on perpetual snow ; and 
 near the level of the sea, at the city of Conception, on the 
 coast of Chili. But in the Central arid Western States of 
 this Union the greatest abundance and variety of this fuel 
 has hitherto been discovered. It is hardly more than thirty 
 years since so little was known of the coal of Pennsylvania, 
 that a wealthy and enterprising citizen, who had caused a 
 wagon load of excellent anthracite to be transported from 
 the valley of Wyoming to Philadelphia, at an expense of 
 fifty dollars a ton, and had parceled it out for trial among 
 his' friends, was soon beset by the latter with rebuke and 
 ridicule, for having, as they alleged, attempted to palm 
 upon them a heap of black stones, under pretence of their 
 being coal, while in fact they could no more ignite them 
 than if they had been so much granite. A fortunate occur- 
 rence at length dissipated their incredulity, and saved the 
 credit of theVorth}' citizen ; and the results of that interest 
 which was thus awakened on the subject have led to a 
 knowledge of the mineral resources of that State, far more 
 accurate than had ever previously existed. 
 
 A view of the map of Pennsylvania presents us with 
 nearly the form of a parallelogram, of which the eastern 
 end is replaced by the irregular line traced by the course of 
 the Delaware river. If lines were drawn parallel to the 
 western boundary of the State, running north and south, 
 one mile apart, so as to divide the whole State into strips 
 one mile wide, proceeding eastward and ending with the 
 first of those lines which should strike the Delaware river, 
 every one of those belts would, it is confidently believed, 
 contain some portion of a coal field ; and if these dividing 
 lines were crossed by others a mile apart, running east and 
 west, dividing the State throughout its whole breadth into 
 similar strips, every one of the latter, except perhaps a few 
 on the northern border, would also contain more or less 
 coal ; and we could scarcely draw, over the surface of that 
 
182 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 State, in any direction, a straight line equal in length to the 
 breadth of the State, without traversing a bed of iron ore, 
 or of limestone, or of both. It is not doubted that equally 
 interesting proofs of the prodigality of nature towards our 
 country may be found in other States and territories of the 
 Union, nor is it necessary to dwell on the importance of 
 obtaining accurate information respecting them. 
 
 In regard to our extensive lead mines, the value of such 
 information will be readily perceived by comparing the 
 present abundant supply of that article with the condition 
 of things when it was obtained only by importation, and 
 when organ tubes of that metal were taken from the 
 churches to yield a scanty supply of bullets to Washing- 
 ton's little army at Cambridge. 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell on the importance of obtaining 
 accurate information respecting the metals employe* I for 
 coin. Whatever materials the financial wisdom of the 
 nation shall at length decide to render current, as the 
 medium of exchange and the standard of value, our mines 
 of the precious metals, their nature, extent, and richness. 
 must ever remain objects of deep interest, both to individ- 
 uals and to the public. 
 
 The value to be attached to our materials for architectural 
 constructions and other ornamental purposes yet remains to 
 be fully developed. Enough, however, is known to assure 
 us that we have among our marbles for massive structures, 
 those which may vie with the Pentelican of Greece ; for 
 ornamental furniture, with the variegated species of Egypt; 
 and for beautiful statuary, with the snow-white Cararra of 
 Italy. With lithographic limestone we need no longer call 
 on Germany to supply us. Our mineral colors, hydraulic 
 cements, and fire clays, need only be better understood in 
 order to supercede entirely similar articles from abroad. 
 
 A patriotic resolution of one branch of the National 
 Legislature has recently decreed that the bust of one of our 
 most eminent revolutionary statesmen shall henceforth rest 
 on a massive fragment of that iron mountain found in the 
 rich and productive region which, by a bloodless and hon- 
 orable purchase, his sagacious counsels annexed to our 
 beloved country. Would that our thirty years of posses- 
 sion had taught us other uses of that ore than to lie in 
 unshaped masses as pedestals for our patriots. Then might 
 we boast some greater share of that real national independ- 
 ence, to the attainment of which the whole life of our Jef- 
 ferson was devoted. 
 
 5. Passing to the interests of the country, as involved in 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 183 
 
 her internal improvements, we find much to occupy the 
 attention of scientific inquirers; and, as the revenues of the 
 nation are more or less directly benefitted by those improve- 
 ments, it is perhaps but reasonable that the science to 
 design and the skill to execute those works should be sup- 
 plied by means, of a national institution. To a limited 
 extent, our practice has sanctioned this course. Surveyors 
 and engineers in the service of the Government have, in a 
 few cases, been placed at the disposal of the State authori- 
 ties. For reasons sufficiently obvious, however, no perma- 
 nent reliance can be placed on such a diversion of military 
 officers from the peculiar duties for which the Government 
 has caused them to be educated. 
 
 Incidental to the subject of internal commerce is that of 
 locomotion, whether on land or on water, embracing every 
 inquiry relative to steam navigation, the causes of explo- 
 sions, and the methods proposed for insuring safety. 
 
 Another incident to this division of the subject is the 
 introduction into our mining and metallurgic processes of 
 those improvements which may free our country from a 
 dependence on foreign skill, foreign shipping, foreign insu- 
 rance, commission, and brokerage, for every yard of rail- 
 road iron which is laid throughout the length and breadth 
 of the land. Over our very richest beds of iron ore, and 
 coal, and limestone, are laid bars of foreign iron, extending 
 far away and crossing each other in various directions, 
 while through their gratings the country looks out at an 
 importunate creditor beyond the Atlantic. No small por- 
 tion of the hundred millions which have been borrowed 
 from Europe for the purposes of internal improvment, has 
 been applied to the procuring of this article; an article 
 which it requires no very daring spirit of prophecy to assure 
 us will one day be exported in immense quantities from the 
 United States. 
 
 6. In reference to the subject of architecture and public 
 buildings, the acquisition of information by experiment 
 would often prove a most economical investment of a mod- 
 erate portion of the means devoted to such constructions. 
 Besides all the intercresting inquiries relating to the form, 
 strength, and durability of materials, the permanency of 
 foundations, and the adhesion of mortars and cements, we 
 have various questions concerning the influence of temper- 
 ature in the expansion of building materials, and of the 
 proper forces to be opposed to such expansions, as well as 
 to other disturbing causes, which might endanger the sta- 
 bility of large structures. A competent knowledge of 
 
184 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 these various subjects would enable our architects to insure 
 the permanency of their works, without involving the 
 expenditure of enormous sums, either to replace ill con- 
 structed tottering edifices, or to surmount imaginary nn^^si- 
 biliti.es. 
 
 Other subjects of inquiry, incidental to the departniem 
 of art now referred to, would also merit attention. An 
 understanding of the laws which regulate the motions and 
 reverberations of sound would not be found unprofitable to 
 those who construct halls for the sessions of legislative and 
 judicial bodies. Exemplifications of this statement are but 
 too well known at the seat of Government. 
 
 Many of the truths which experimental research might 
 develop would be equally applicable to every species of 
 architecture, whether civil, military, or naval. Many would 
 have reference chiefly to buildings on land, while others 
 would pertain exclusively to submarine constructions, .such 
 as the foundations of piers and docks, sea-walls and break- 
 waters. 
 
 7. That the country has such an interest in the inventive 
 genius of its citizens as would authorize the establishment 
 of an institution capable of testing the value, as well as of 
 proving the novelty, of any invention, seems to have been 
 fully admitted by the constitution and laws of the Tinted 
 States. 
 
 Several appropriations have, indeed, already been made 
 for special purposes of this nature, and others have been 
 recently asked, for objects highly deserving of considera- 
 tion, as connected with the welfare and safety of the public. 
 The advantages to be expected from this particular applica- 
 tion of scientific labor are not limited to any one great 
 interest. In every branch of the public service, inventions 
 and improvements may be found beneficial, and in all of 
 them may investigations be deemed necessary, before an 
 impartial decision can be anticipated. 
 
 8. The bearing of numerous investigations on the vast 
 and complicated interests of commerce, is, perhaps, too 
 obvious to require even the slightest elucidation. What- 
 ever facilitates navigation, such as improvements in steam- 
 boats or other vessels ; whatever diminishes the risks 
 attendant on its prosecution, as improvements in charts, 
 beacons, light-houses, telegraphs, and life-boats, and what- 
 ever transmits rapidly information, or funds, or persons, or 
 merchandise, is essentially interwoven with the prosperity 
 of commerce. 
 
 9. And since all the facilities and improvements in com- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH COA'GBESS, 1837-39. 185 
 
 merce, all the elements and productions and moving forces 
 of nature, all the inventions of ingenuity, all the obscure 
 movements of mining industry, all the skill of the architect, 
 all the science of the engineer, and all the productions of 
 the agriculturist, are, directly or indirectly, conducive to 
 the manufacturing and mechanical interests of the country, 
 there cannot exist a doubt of the value, to those interests, of 
 an institution for researches in practical science. 
 
 It is by no means supposed by your memorialist that alt 
 the ramifications of each of the great interests, which have 
 now been shown to have a stake in the advancement of 
 useful knowledge, would come simultaneously under inves- 
 tigation. Eesearches in each would naturally follow in the 
 order of its relative importance, and of the facilities for its 
 examination. To obtain these facilities would be a primary 
 step in the operations of the establishment. 
 
 The foundation of an institution for practical science is, 
 in itself, no novel project for the enlightened Government 
 of a cililized nation to entertain. What an intelligent 
 stranger mi#ht, perhaps, consider more remarkable in the 
 case, is the fact that so long a period has been allowed to. 
 elapse without witnessing an attempt to erect in our 
 country such an institution. If examples were required 
 we might find them in England, in her Eoj^al Institution 
 and Society of Arts ; in Scotland, in the Andersonian In- 
 stitution, at Glasgow ; in France, in her Potytechnic School 
 and School of Mines ; and in Prussia, in her " Gewerb- 
 verein " at Berlin. To these might be added some local 
 establishments in our own country. But even if no prece- 
 dent existed, it would be no valid argument Ugainst a 
 measure prompted by reason, recommended by utility, 
 sanctioned by our national position, and demanded by so 
 many important public interests. 
 
 For the accomplishment of an object so comprehensive in 
 its design, a considerable amount of means would doubtless 
 be required; and your memorialist would have hesitated to 
 offer at this time his views on a plan for augmenting the 
 public expenditures, had such been deemed a necessary 
 consequence. And though firmly persuaded that, either for 
 the public or for individuals, no fund is more safe or pro- 
 ductive than that of useful knowledge, and that in none 
 other could a more judicious investment be made, yet it is 
 believed that even the admission of these truths is not 
 required in order to obtain means applicable to the purposes 
 now contemplated. 
 
 A considerable fund has been represented as likely to be 
 
186 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 soon forthcoming, through the hands of an agent specially 
 delegated to Europe, under provision of law for that service,, 
 to obtain a legacy left to the United States, for the express 
 purpose of founding an institution for the "increased dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men." While, therefore, your 
 memorialist would solicit your honorable bodies to establish 
 by law an institution for the purposes herein contemplated, 
 he would also respectfully submit the propriety of inquiring 
 whether such purposes be not the most appropriate to 
 which the Smithsonian legacy can be devoted, whenever 
 the same shall have been "received in the United States; 
 and should this be determined in the affirmative, then to 
 apply said legacy to the carrying into execution of said law, 
 and to the promotion of the several objects herein sot forth. 
 Respectfully submitted, WALTER R. JOHNSON. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 9, 1839. 
 
 On motion of Mr. John Quincy Adams from the select 
 committee appointed on two messages of the President of 
 the United States, in relation to the Smithsonian beqiu-st, it 
 was 
 
 Ordered, That the memorial of Charles Lewis Fleischmann !> printed, 
 and that the drawings accompanying the same be lithographed. 
 
 The following is the memorial : 
 
 PATENT OFFICE, WASHINGTON, December 8, 1838. 
 
 To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives 
 
 of tin', United States of America in Congress Assembled : 
 
 The memorial of Charles Lewis Fleischmann, a citi/en 
 of the United States, respectfully represents : 
 
 That your memorialist had the honor of laying before 
 Congress, at their last session, (see Doc. of the House of 
 Representatives, 25th Congress, 2d session, No. 334,) a me- 
 morial on the subject of agriculture, in which he endeavored 
 to show the utility and importance of establishing an agri- 
 cultural school at the seat of Government: \\liile, at the 
 same time, he entertained doubts whether Congress were 
 constitutionally empowered to effect so desirable an object. 
 This object, however, can now be attained without involv- 
 ing any constitutional questions, as Congress lias conic into 
 the possession of the Smithsonian legacy, for "the diffusion 
 of knowledge among mankind ;" a bequest bestowed in terms 
 so general that it cannot fail to embrace the object of this 
 memorial, and it is left solely to the wisdom of Congress to 
 designate the particular branch of knowledge which they 
 , may please to select, for the purpose of carrying into effect 
 the intention of the testator, and thus attain the end of hia 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 187 
 
 enlightened philanthropy, and accomplish the object of his 
 munificent benefaction. 
 
 As the Government are annually adding vast tracts of 
 valuable lands to the public domain, Congress will doubt- 
 less regard the consideration of agriculture as among its 
 first duties, as well as one of the most important means of 
 promoting the welfare and prosperity of the country a 
 country blessed beyond all others by the bounty of nature 
 and the patriotism of its citizens, and surpassed in the free- 
 dom of her institutions only by the diversity and fertility of 
 her soil. 
 
 It is a self-evident proposition, that agriculture is the 
 basis of civilization as well as population. A neglect of 
 this great truth has doomed the aborigines of this country 
 again to the desert, and dwindled down their countless 
 hosts to a few feeble tribes a few solitary and starving 
 stragglers, roaming at large, like the beasts of prey they 
 once pursued in the chase. 
 
 The Romans, though a warlike nation, considere'd agri- 
 culture as one of the chief sources of their wealth and 
 welfare, and regarded its systematical pursuit as both honor- 
 able and patriotic. Cincinnatus was twice called from his 
 plough to the consulship, and once to the dictatorship ; re- 
 turning each time again to his plough. 
 
 The American Cincinnatus, who has so well earned the 
 title of " Father of his country " resembled the Roman patriot 
 not less in his principles and pursuits than his fortunes and 
 honors. Twice called to the chief magistracy of his country, 
 and once to the chieftancy of her armies, he returned again 
 and again to his plough. 
 
 The Governments of Europe in the 8th century, to save 
 the soil from deterioration, and prevent emigration, were 
 obliged to establish by law the " three-field system" viz : fal- 
 low, wheat or rye, and barley or oats ; which may still be 
 traced in France and Germany. To this law Europe owes 
 her advanced state of civilization. 
 
 As the population became more dense, a higher degree of 
 knowledge in agriculture was required, and several efforts 
 were made to accomplish it : among others, the establishing 
 of professorships in universities, to teach agriculture to 
 statesmen, lawyers, theologians, and physicians. This gave 
 rise to the perfection of agriculture as a science ; but as 
 universities are not calculated, in many respects, to educate . 
 agriculturists, agricultural schools were established, to illus- 
 trate theory by practice, which had the desired effect. 
 
 This brief historical sketch shows the gradual rise of 
 
188 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 European agriculture, which the science of chemistry and 
 physiology is now bringing to the greatest perfection. 
 
 Let us now compare the general system of agriculture of 
 this country with that of Europe, and we shall find that the 
 one adopted here is the system of deterioration and emigra- 
 tion. 
 
 That the effect of such a system will and must have a 
 very injurious influence on the prosperity of a country, is 
 obvious. Unfortunately, the cause does not arise- alone 
 from the insufficient knowledge of agriculture, but also 
 from the passion for wealth. 
 
 Wealth has always been the object of the ambition of 
 individuals as well as of nations, notwithstanding the sound 
 arguments of moralists. This passion, however, kept in 
 proper limits, gives impulse to prosperity ; but as soon as 
 it degenerates into wild speculations, it is then the greatest 
 obstacle to the liberty, independence, and prosperity of 
 mankind. 
 
 But when wealth is produced by agriculture, it banishes 
 idleness and the vices connected with it; it renders the 
 greatest portion of the population strong, healthy, and in- 
 dustrious ; it is the source of domestic happiness and con- 
 tentment, and of all the other social virtues ; it renders 
 nations powerful; it attaches its citizens to their native 
 soil, and the success of the national affairs is their highest 
 interest. 
 
 To direct the besetting passion for wealth properly, and 
 to promote the prosperity of every individual as well as of 
 the whole nation, it is necessary to teach the great mass of 
 the population (the agricultural class) how to gain the 
 greatest clear and annual profit, under all existing circum- 
 stances, from agriculture ; and what will be the most effi- 
 cient means of checking the rapidly increasing evil of 
 exhausting and abandoning the soil. 
 
 The prosperity of the whole Union has not, hitherto, it 
 seems, suffered by this system of unsteadiness; but that is 
 no proof of the welfare of the separate States ; for, in pro- 
 portion as the far west improves and prospers, the Atlantic 
 States are declining; and it shows that the welfare of a 
 State depends on the stability of its cultivators, contented 
 with their portion, and manifesting a determination to iden- 
 tify themselves with the land of their fathers, (not thirsting 
 after supposed fairylands, cultivated without labor ;) a living 
 example of which is to be found in the wealthy sons of the 
 keystone State, Pennsylvania. 
 
 It would be ridiculous to suggest the improvement of ag- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 189 
 
 riculture in this country by laws, among a free, independent, 
 arid enlightened people, who are already aware of the want 
 of instruction, and are seeking for it. The different State 
 Governments, the agricultural societies, and the agricultural 
 journals, have all signally promoted the interests of differ- 
 ent branches of agriculture ; it wants only the knowledge 
 of the means of putting the improved parts of this great and 
 useful machine together, so that every part may operate ac- 
 cording to the law of science, to produce the desired effect. 
 
 A beginning only is wanted, and the science of agricul- 
 ture will spread over the whole Union, like all useful im- 
 provements. Congress, always acting wisely for the welfare 
 of their country, will doubtless apply a portion of the Smith- 
 sonian legacy to the promotion of agriculture, by establishing 
 an agricultural institution, which would be an enduring monu- 
 ment in honor of the testator. 
 
 Your memorialist, therefore, presents a plan of such an 
 institution, with designs for the buildings, and estimates for 
 all the requisites. 
 
 Such an institution, being the first in the United States, 
 would be the rlursery of scientific agriculturists for the 
 whole Union ; their education should therefore be as perfect 
 as possible, to enable them to qualify themselves to serve as 
 directors, professors, and superintendents, for similar estab- 
 lishments. 
 
 This institution is calculated for one hundred pupils; and 
 the number should be increased by degrees, from the profit 
 of the farm. 
 
 The lectures should be free, and the price of board mod- 
 erate, as half of the number of the pupils should be practi- 
 cally employed every day on the farm. 
 
 For the convenience of medical attendance in cases of 
 sickness, together with the facility for attendance at Divine 
 worship, this institution should be located within the bound- 
 ary of the cit} 7 of Washington. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTION 
 
 The object of such an institution should be to show how 
 to gain the highest clear and permanent profit from agricul- 
 ture, under any circumstances. 
 
 That such results are not effected by the mere imitation 
 of a certain tillage in every climate, of different soils and 
 localities, is obvious; it needs, therefore, rules and laws, 
 founded on experience and science. To design such rules 
 and laws, it requires scientific and practical knowledge. 
 Therefore, the institution of an agricultural school must^be 
 
190 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 theoretical and practical. The theoretical instruction has 
 to extend not only to the principal and secondary depart- 
 ments, but also to* all the auxiliary sciences which influence 
 agriculture, directly or indirectly, viz : 
 
 PRINCIPAL DEPARTMENT. 
 
 I. Agronomy, the science which treats of the diffeivnt 
 primitive earths, and other substances of which the soil is 
 composed, viz: silex, alumen, lime, magnesia, iron, vegeta- 
 ble matter, &c. 
 
 The naming of the soils, from the mixture of the primi- 
 tive earths, and their value, as resulting from this mixture. 
 
 II. Agriculture, the science teaching the cultivation of the 
 respective soils, in such manner as to produce the most 
 perfect crops. This is divided into two parts : 
 
 1. Chemical agriculture, treating of 
 
 a Manures in general ; b Vegetable manures ; c Mineral manures. 
 
 2. Mechanical agriculture, treating of 
 
 a Agricultural implements. e Draining. 
 
 b Modes of ploughing. / Irrigation. 
 
 c The cultivation of new land. 'g Culture of mdbdows. 
 
 d Fencing. h Culture of pasture lands. 
 
 III. Vegetable productions, teaching the culture of 
 
 a Cereal grasses. rial plants, oleaginous plants, 
 
 b Leguminous field plants. hops, tobacco, medicinal 
 
 c Plants cultivated for their roots. plants, &c. 
 
 d Herbage plants. g The vine. 
 
 Grasses. h The mulberry. 
 
 J Plants used in arts and manu- i Fruit trees, 
 factures: such as flax, tincto- 
 
 IV. Animals used or reared by the agriculturist 
 
 a Horses. knowledge of the different 
 
 b Mules. kinds of wool. 
 
 c Cattle e Breeding and rearing swine. 
 
 1. Dairy. f Fowls. 
 
 2. Fattening. g Silkworms. 
 d Sheep, and particularly the h Bees. 
 
 V. Economy, or the manner of arranging and conducting 
 a farm, treating of 
 
 a Labor in general. nature and quantity of ma- 
 
 b Labor with horses and oxen. nure required for a certain 
 
 c Labor performed by men. system of rotation of crops. 
 
 d Conducting a farm. ff Change of system. 
 
 e Book-keeping. A The different systems of rotations. 
 J The arrangement of a farm ; the 
 
 SECONDARY COMPARTMENT. 
 
 1. Veterinary. 
 
 2. Technological agriculture, suoh as the making of sugar 
 
 from beets, making cider, burning lime, &c. 
 
 3. Culture of forest trees. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 191 
 
 4. Agricultural architecture, and 
 
 5. Civil engineering, as connected with agriculture. 
 
 AUXILIARY SCIENCES. 
 
 1. Chemistry. 
 
 2. Natural philosophy. 
 
 3. Mineralogy and geology. 
 
 4. Botany and physiology of plants. 
 
 5. Zoology. 
 
 6. Study of the properties of the atmosphere. 
 
 7. Mathematical sciences 
 
 a Arithmetic. 
 
 b Theoretical and practical geometry. 
 
 c Mechanics. 
 
 8. Drawing of machines, animals, plants, and landscapes. 
 
 To illustrate the sciences, there should be 
 
 1. An extensive farm, with a field for experiments, work- 
 
 shops, beet-sugar manufactory, mill, &c. 
 
 2. A botanical garden. 
 
 3. A collection of the best and most approved imple- 
 
 ments-, or models of them. 
 
 4. A library. 
 
 5. A collection of minerals, properly arranged, according 
 
 to their chemical characters, and with relation to 
 their different soils. 
 
 6. An apparatus for mathematical and physical instruc- 
 
 tion. 
 
 7. A collection of skeletons of domestic animals, for the 
 
 study of comparative anatomy and the veterinary 
 art. 
 
 8. A collection of insects. 
 
 9. A collection of seeds. 
 
 10. A laboratory, with apparatus for chemical experi- 
 ments. 
 
 THE FARM 
 
 Serves for the practical accomplishment of the theory. It 
 is of the greatest importance to give a practical illustration 
 of all the objects and manipulations treated of in the course 
 of the lectures, and according to the different periods and 
 seasons. 
 
 The husbandry of such an institution must, therefore, be 
 extensive and complicated, so as to show all branches of 
 agriculture in their full extent. The operations which are 
 not possible to be shown on a large scale should be exhib- 
 ited on the experimental field. It should contain : 
 
 640 acres of land, for cultivation^ which should be divided 
 
192 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 in two equal portions, to show two different systems of ro- 
 tations. First, a system which has for its object to gain as 
 many different products as possible, and to procure the ma- 
 nure by stallfeeding ; a system which is favorable where 
 labor and capital are plenty, land valuable, and a ready 
 market for the vegetable and animal products. 
 
 Rotation for the above-mentioned system, viz: 1, sugar- 
 beet, potatoes, turnips, c., with manure; 2, barley; 3, 
 clover; 4, wheat; 5, Indian corn, with manure; 6, wheat ; 
 7, tares and oats; 8, rye. 
 
 The second system, favorable when labor and capital are 
 scarce, land plenty, and the object a grazwr/ farm. The ro- 
 tation of crops for this system would be, vix : 1, Indian 
 corn, with manure; 2, barley; 3, clover; 4, wheat: "),gni : 
 6, grass ; 7, grass ; 8, oats. 
 
 As rotation of crops depends upon the soil, climate, and 
 many other circumstances, two rotations are given here, for 
 illustration, to enable us to estimate the probable want of 
 cattle, &c. 
 
 100 acres of meadow, to show how natural meadows can be 
 improved by draining, irrigation, manuring, &c. 
 
 80 acres pasturage, to show 7 the difference between artifi- 
 cial and natural pasture, and the manner of improving it. 
 
 A vineyard of 4 acres, for the culture of the indigenous 
 and foreign vine; the manner of making wine. 
 
 A hop-garden of 4 acres, to show the culture of the best 
 kinds, the manner of taking the crop, drying, and bagging. 
 
 For experimental fields, 40 acres, to show the culture of all 
 plants useful in agriculture; to try new kinds; and also for 
 experiments on manure, rotation of crops, and new agricul- 
 tural implements. 
 
 A vegetable garden, 6 acres, for the supply of the institution, 
 and to show the different varieties of vegetables useful in 
 husbandry, and the best culture of them. 
 
 A mulberry plantation of 6 acres, which should contain all 
 the varieties of the mulberry, to show the culture of them, 
 and would serve also to supply the cocoonery with leaves. 
 
 An orchard and nursery of 20 acres. The greatest portion 
 of this area should be destined for a nursery to show the 
 manner of raising and improving fruit trees. The fruits of 
 the orchard should supply the establishment, and show the 
 process of making cider. 
 
 500 acres of wood-land, to supply the establishment with 
 fuel, and to show the culture of forest trees, (a knowledge 
 very much wanted in the United States,) the manner of 
 burning charcoal, &c. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1887-39. 193 
 
 A botanical garden of 3 acres should contain all indigenous 
 plants, which might be probably useful, and introduced in 
 agriculture ; also, the imported plants and seeds from, for- 
 eign countries, by our navy officers, consuls, &c.; the medi- 
 cal plants for husbandry, &c. 
 
 A BEET-SUGAR MANUFACTORY. 
 
 The recent improvement in extracting sugar from the 
 beet-root has so much simplified the process, that it will 
 undoubtedly become a general business, so that every farmer 
 will produce his own sugar, or, at least, raise and dry the 
 beet for market. The object of this institution should be 
 to diffuse the knowledge of so important a discovery, and. 
 therefore, it should have a manufactory for extracting the 
 sugar from the root, raised for that purpose by the institu- 
 tion and neighborhood. 
 
 A MILL. 
 
 A large institution, of this description, should grind its 
 own flour and corn-meal ; consequently, it becomes neces- 
 sary to erect a mill, with two pairs of stones, which will 
 also serve to show the pupils the management and construc- 
 tion of mills. 
 
 WORKSHOPS. 
 
 To give the pupils a knowledge of the manner of con- 
 structing agricultural implements, as well as to enable them 
 to estimate the costs of machines, buildings, &c., and to 
 apply the acquired theoretical principles of mechanics 
 practically, there should be five workshops, viz : 
 
 Machine shop, 
 
 Wagon-maker's shop, 
 
 Blacksmith's shop, 
 
 Cooper's shop, arid 
 
 Carpenter's shop. 
 
 Each of these shops should be conducted by a skilful me- 
 chanic, who could attend to the work required by the estab- 
 lishment, as well as teach the pupils the use of tools. 
 
 The pupils should learn how to forge, to shoe a horse, to 
 make a wheel, or wagon, to stock a plough, and to build 
 out-houses. It is not intended to make them masters of 
 these trades, but to enable them, in case of necessity, to 
 construct anything belonging to a farm. 
 
 STEAM ENGINE. 
 
 The mill, the apparatus of the sugar-beet manufactory, 
 the straw-cutter, the threshing machine, the machinery of 
 the workshops, and the pump which supplies, through a 
 
 13 
 
194 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 reservoir, the whole establishment with water, should be 
 put in operation by an engine of 12-horse power. 
 
 BUILDINGS. 
 
 The buildings for such an object should be substantial, 
 plain, and economical. To this establishment would be re- 
 quired, viz: an institute or main building, (see plan, Nos. 1 
 and 2.) The annexed plan (No. 3) shows : (a) horse stable, 
 (6) ox stable, (c) calf stable, (d) hospital stable, (e) cow house, 
 (/) dairy, root and steaming house, (g) piggeries and poultry 
 house, (h) sheep shed, (i) barn and stack yard, (k) granary 
 and cart shed, (I) shed for the grist mill, straw cutter, and 
 threshing machine, (m) workshops, (74) beet-sugar maun fac- 
 tory, (o) engine with reservoir and pump, (p) bee house and 
 cocoonery. 
 
 LIVE STOCK. 
 
 Working cattle. Should the two given rotations of crops 
 be adopted for 640 acres of land under cultivation, 14 
 horses and 24 oxen would be required to perform tin- nec- 
 essary work. 
 
 For procuring the necessary manure for the two systems 
 already mentioned, and to show the breeding, rearing, and 
 fattening of live stock, extensively, there should be 
 2 stud horses, (for light and heavy breeds.) 
 16 breeding mares, exclusive of the working horses. 
 160 neat cattle. 
 1,200 sheep. 
 50 swine. 
 
 The live stock should consist of the most choice foreign 
 and native breeds. 
 
 IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 A collection of the most important and approved imple- 
 ments should be at hand, viz : swing and wheel ploughs, 
 cultivators, horse hoes, sowing machine, harrows, rollers, 
 horse rakes, reaping and mowing machine, carts and wag- 
 ons, straw cutter, threshing machine, corn sheller, root 
 chopper, harnesses, &c. 
 
 PERSONS REQUISITE TO MANAGE THIS INSTITUTION. 
 
 A Director, who should have the entire control over the 
 whole establishment. 
 
 A Treasurer and two clerks, to keep the accounts, and 
 attend to all the transactions of the institution. 
 
 For the tuition of the pupils, there should be five professors, 
 and a teacher for the lower branches, exclusive of the direc- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 195 
 
 tor, who should lecture on the higher branches of agricul- 
 ture. 
 
 The practical manipulations are illustrated by 
 
 A superintendent of the farm. 
 
 A superintendent of the stables, who also teaches riding 
 and breaking horses. 
 
 A superintendent of the sugar-beet manufactory. 
 
 A machinist. 
 
 A gardener. 
 
 A shepherd. 
 
 The domestic affairs of the institution should be attended 
 to by a steward. 
 
 The prosperity of such an institution depends entirely on 
 the director, who must have received a theoretical and 
 practical education at an agricultural school, and must have 
 enriched his knowledge by extensive practice and by travel- 
 ing. He should be acquainted with the principal living 
 languages, to inform himself and his pupils of the progress 
 of agriculture in other countries. 
 
 The professors should be well versed in their sciences, 
 and acquainted with agriculture ; as the tuition of a science, 
 with regard to the practical applications, demands not only 
 an entire knowledge of the sciences, but also of the object 
 to which it is applied. 
 
 The superintendents of the different branches should be 
 practical men, and free from the prejudice of book-farming. 
 
 Every individual connected with the establishment should 
 possess the best moral character. 
 
 Conditions of admission. 
 
 Every applicant for admission should present a certificate 
 of his moral character, and be examined, possessing an or- 
 dinary English education, and capable of comprehending a 
 popular course of lectures. Physical strength being requi- 
 site to perform the work required on the farm, they should 
 be at least of the age of 14 years. 
 
 The number of pupils should not exceed 100 at the com- 
 mencement of the institution, and should be divided into 
 three classes. 
 
 The free, or third class, not exceeding 20 in number, 
 should obligate themselves to stay two years, and perform 
 the work of the farm, where they should receive board and 
 lodging free, every evening have a lecture on the work per- 
 formed during the day, and also be exercised in reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic. Their employment should be so 
 arranged that every one may become acquainted with all 
 
196 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the different branches of the institution. Should the pupils 
 of this class desire to enter a higher class after the first 
 year, they should prove their capacity by an examination ; 
 and they will then be obliged, like the pupils of the second 
 and first classes, to pay for board. 
 
 The second class, not exceeding 60 in number, should 
 stay two years, to acquire a theoretical and practical knowl- 
 edge of agriculture, and all the branches connected with it. 
 The pupil of this class is obliged to attend to the different 
 work every other day. Should a pupil of this class desire 
 to enter the first class, he should be examined as to his 
 capacity. 
 
 The first class, intended for 20 pupils. In this class 
 should such pupils only be admitted as have been two years 
 in the second class, and desire to perfect themselves as pro- 
 fessors for similar establishments. The pupils of this class 
 should have the superintendence of other pupils. 
 
 Order of the day. 
 
 The signal for the hour of rising and retiring, as well as 
 for the different meals, and the commencement and termi- 
 nation of the work, should be given by a bell. 
 
 The hour for rising, in spring and summer, should be 
 half past 4 o'clock; in fall and winter, half past 5 o'clock. 
 
 One quarter of an hour after rising, the bell should ring 
 for breakfast ; after which, the pupils proceed to their dif- 
 ferent occupations in the stables, field, barn, garden, work- 
 shops, &c., according to directions given the evening before. 
 
 At 10 o'clock a. m., the pupils should be summoned by 
 the bell from their work, to their rooms, when they pre- 
 pare themselves for dinner, and having a recess until 1 
 o'clock p. m., at which hour the pupils return to their work, 
 during the spring, fall, and winter seasons; and at 3 o'clock 
 p. m. during the summer season, according to the order of 
 the day. 
 
 The bell should ring for supper during the spring, sum- 
 mer, and fall, at 6 o'clock; during the winter, at 5 o'clock; 
 which would give recess till 7 o'clock, when supper should 
 be ready. 
 
 After supper, at about eight o'clock, all the pupils should 
 proceed to the museum, where the report of the day-work 
 is read and illustrated; and, at the same time the order for 
 the next day's work is communicated to the pupils who 
 have remained at home. They remain till 9 o'clock, em- 
 ployed in writing their journals, and reading, &c., at which 
 hour the bell should ring for bed. 
 
 Half of the number of the pupils should each day be 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 197 
 
 exempt from out-door work, and remain at home, engaged 
 in theoretical studies. They assemble, after having taken 
 breakfast with the rest of the pupils, at the museum, where 
 they study their lessons. At 7 o'clock a. m. in fall and 
 winter, and at 6 o'clock a. m. in summer and spring, they 
 should proceed to the riding school and horse stable, where 
 they receive lectures on horsemanship, and breeding horses, 
 &c. 
 
 After this, they should return to the lecture rooms, where 
 lectures on the different sciences are given until 11 o'clock. 
 
 At half past 11 o'clock a. m. they should take dinner 
 with the rest of the pupils, and have recess until 1 o'clock, 
 when the regular lectures recommence, till 6 o'clock p. m. 
 
 Supper at 7 o'clock, as already mentioned. 
 
 On Sundays the pupils will be accompanied to church by 
 their professors. 
 
 Estimate of cost. 
 
 1,360 acres of land, fenced in, at $30 per acre $40,800 
 
 The buildings, inclusive of the furniture of the institute 60,000 
 
 Live stock 20,000 
 
 Implements, harnesses, a large balance scale, &c 5,000 
 
 Apparatus of the beet-sugar manufactorv 4,000 
 
 Gristmill 1,500 
 
 Pump, water reservoir, and hydrants. 
 
 Steam engine of 12-horse power 1,500 
 
 Tools, lathes for workshops 600 
 
 Library _ 1,500 
 
 Physical and chemical apparatus, collection of minerals, in- 
 sects, skeletons, &c 3,000 
 
 Floating capital ._ 20,000 
 
 Making $158,700 
 
 The expense for a steward, and servants required for the 
 service of the pupils and professors, should be paid from 
 the income of board. 
 
 The treasurer and clerks, the superintendents of the dif- 
 ferent branches of the farm, should be paid from the reve- 
 nue of the farm, of the manufactory, &c. ; and the surplus 
 should be applied for the accommodation of more pupils, 
 for the increase of the library, apparatus, &c. 
 
 The salary of the director should be $2,000 
 
 The salary of five professors 5,000 
 
 And that of a teacher 600 
 
 Making $7,600 
 
 exclusive of free board and lodging; which, together with 
 the salaries, w r ould require a capital of $140,000, at 6 per 
 cent 
 
^^ .... ( e 11 uin LUC kjvjuwicv.-, in 
 
 tion (No. 7) concerning the legacy bequeathed by Mr. James 
 f London, to the United States. 
 
 198 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The total sum required for this institution would amount 
 
 to $298,700. 
 
 CHARLES LEWIS FLEISCHMANN, 
 
 Graduate of the Royal Agricultural School of Barvaria, 
 
 and a citizen of the United States. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 11, 1839. 
 A message from the Senate, that it had passed a resolu- 
 on (No. 7) c< 
 Smithson, of 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 12, 1839. 
 
 The concurrent resolution from the Senate (No. 7) " con- 
 cerning the legacy bequeathed by Mr. James Smithson, of 
 London, to the United States, in trust, for an institution of 
 learning, to be established in the city of Washington;" was 
 read and concurred in by the House. 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams, Mr. Smith, Mr. Ogle, Mr. Charles Shepard, 
 Mr. Holt, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Hunter of Ohio, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. 
 Garland of Virginia, were appointed said committee. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 14, 1839. 
 On motion of Mr. KEIM, 
 
 Resolved, (the Senate concurring therein.) That the joint committee on 
 the Smithsonian bequest be instructed to inquire into the propriety of es- 
 tablishing a professorship of the German Language, as a part of the literary 
 instruction in the intended Smithsonian Institute. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 26, 1839. 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams, from the joint committee on the 
 Smithsonian bequest, reported the following resolutions, 
 viz : 
 
 1. Resolved, That the sum of dollars, being the amount deposited 
 
 in the Treasury of the United States, proceeding from the bequest of James 
 Smithson to the United States of America, for the purpose of establishing, 
 at the city of Washington, an institution to bear his name, for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men, together with what additional sum 
 or sums may hereafter accrue from the same bequest, and so much of the 
 interest as has become, or may become due on the first named principal sum, 
 
 until the day of , ought to bo constituted a permanent fund, to be 
 
 invested in a corporate body of trustees, to remain under the pledge of 
 faith of the United States, undiminished and unimpaired. 
 
 2: Resolved, That the said fund ought so to be invested that the faith of 
 the United States shall be pledged for its preservation unimpaired, and for 
 its yielding an interest, or income, at the rate of six per cent, a year, to be 
 appropriated, from time to time, by Congress, to the declared purpose of 
 the founder ; and that all appropriations so made shall be exclusively from 
 the interest or income of the fund, and not from any part of the principal 
 thereof. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the first appropriations from the interest, or income, of 
 the Smithsonian fund, ought to be for the erection and establishment, at 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 199 
 
 the city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, provided with the 
 best and most approved instruments and books for the continual observa- 
 tion, calculation, and recording of the remarkable phenomena of the 
 heavens ; for the periodical publication of the observations thus made ; and 
 of a nautical almanac for the use of the mariners of the United States and 
 of all other navigating nations. 
 
 The said resolutions were read, and laid on the table. 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams, from the Joint Committee on 
 the Smithsonian bequest, reported the following resolution ; 
 which was read and agreed to by the House, viz : 
 
 Resolved, (the Senate concurring herein,) That the Joint Committee of 
 both Houses on the bequest of Jarnes Smithson be authorized to employ a 
 clerk, and to cause to be printed such papers as they may deem necessary. 
 
 Ordered, That the clerk request the concurrence of the Senate in the 
 said resolution. 
 
 HOUSE OF BE^RESENTATIVES, January 28, 1839. 
 
 A message from the Senate, that the Senate have con- 
 curred in the resolution sent from this House to authorize 
 the Joint Committee on the Smithsonian bequest to employ 
 a clerk, and to cause to be printed such papers as the com- 
 mittee may deem necessary. 
 
 HOUSE OF KEPRESENTATIVES, February 16, 1839. 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams, from the committee on the 
 Smithsonian bequest, reported a bill (No. 1160) to provide 
 for the disposal and management of the sum bequeathed by 
 James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment 
 of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men ; which bill was read the first and second 
 time, and committed to the committee of the whole House 
 on the State of the Union. 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams, from the same committee, re- 
 ported another bill (No. 1161) to provide for the disposal 
 and management of the sum bequeathed by James Smith- 
 son to the United States, for the establishment of an insti- 
 tution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 rnen ; which bill was read the first and second time, and 
 committed to the committee of the whole House on the 
 State of the Union. 
 
 [These bills appear in the Senate proceedings of Febru- 
 ary, 1839, as Nos. 292 and 293.] 
 
200 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, February 13, 1840. 
 
 MR. CLAY, of Kentucky, presented the petition of the 
 Kentucky State Agricultural Society, praying the endow- 
 ment of an agricultural school or college out of the funds 
 of the Smithsonian legacy ; which was referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Agriculture. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 30, 1839. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS, in pursuance of notice gi\vn, asked and ob- 
 tained leave, and introduced a bill to provide tor the dispo- 
 sal and management of the fund bequeathed by James 
 Smithson, deceased, to the United States, for the establish- 
 ment of an institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowlege among men. Read twice, and referred to a select 
 committee of nine members, viz : 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams, Mr. Ogle, Mr. Shepard, Mr. Garland of Vir- 
 ginia, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Albert Smith of Maine, Mr. Barnard, Mr. Corwin, 
 and Mr. Campbell of South Carolina. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 5, 1840. 
 
 The following memorial of the corporation of the city of 
 Washington on the subject of the Smithsonian bequest, was 
 referred to the select committee upon the subject to which 
 it relates : 
 
 MAYOR'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, January 15, 1840. 
 
 SIB: In compliance with the instructions of a committee appointed by 
 the corporation of this city, to represent their interests before Congress, I 
 have the honor to request you to present the enclosed memorial to the 
 House. 
 
 The great interest you have taken in the subject to which the memorial 
 relates, hs induced the committee to make this request. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 
 
 PETER FORCE. 
 
 Hon. J. Q. ADAMS, 
 
 House of Representatives, U, S. 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled : 
 
 The memorial of the undersigned, a committee appointed by the corpora- 
 tion of Washington, respectfully represents : 
 
 That they have b^en instructed to express to your honorable bodies the 
 earnest desire of the city councils, as well as of Washington, that the be- 
 nevolent design of the late James Smithson, of England, should be carried 
 into execution as soon as practicable, by the establishment of an institution 
 in their city for the diffusion of knowledge among men. As this is a mat- 
 ter which more immediately concerns the people of Washington, where, 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 201 
 
 according to the desire and instruction of the testator, the institution is to 
 be founded, they necessarily feel a deep solicitude on the subject, and are 
 anxious that Congress would take it into serious and immediate considera- 
 tion, in order that the benefit intended to be conferred, may be enjoyed at 
 as early a period as possible. They need not suggest that, in addition to 
 the intellectual advantages of which the contemplated institution promises 
 to be productive, it will be the means, they believe, of adding greatly to 
 the reputation of the metropolis, and of giving to it a new source of attrac- 
 tion. Though this motive may appear to be selfish, it is nevertheless one 
 which all who take an interest in the welfare and prosperity of the capital 
 of their country, must necessarily feel. But your memorialists are influ- 
 enced by loftier and philanthropic motives, in wishing to see the instruc- 
 tions of Mr. Smithson carried into effect. It is impossible to calculate the 
 amount of good which an institution properly founded and judiciously 
 organized, as they have no doubt this will be, is susceptible of promoting 
 the improvement of the intellect, taste, and morals of the great com- 
 munity of this country ; for though the fountain may be here, its streams 
 will flow through all parts of the republic, and fertilize and improve its 
 remotest borders. It is not for memorialists to point out the character of 
 such an institution as should be 'established, in accordance with the design 
 of him who made the bequest, because they know it is in much abler hands j 
 and, therefore, it would be presumptuous in them to attempt it. All they 
 desire, is to see it speedily commenced, and the design fully carried out ; 
 and in this desire, they believe they are joined by all who feel an interest 
 in the diffusion of human knowledge, and the intellectual improvement of 
 their fellow-men. 
 
 Your memorialists respectfully pray, that for the benefit of their country- 
 men, and the special advantage which will result from it to Washington, 
 the subject may claim the immediate attention of Congress, and that a plan 
 will be devised and adopted during the present session, which will accord 
 with the intentions of the testator, and when carried into execution, be 
 attended with all the blessings and advantages which are expected to flow 
 from an institution already founded and wisely organized. 
 
 And so they will ever pray. 
 
 PETER FORCE. 
 
 CH. W. GOLDSBOROUGH. 
 
 GEO. WATTERSTON. 
 JOHN W. MAURY. 
 JOHN WILSON. 
 GEORGE ADAMS. 
 SAMUEL BYINGTON. 
 
 Mr. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS presented a memorial of Con- 
 stantine S. Rafinesque, of Philadelphia, professor of histor- 
 ical and natural sciences, praying that the benevolent in- 
 tentions of James Smithson may be speedily realized, by 
 the immediate establishment of an institution for the diffu- 
 sion of useful knowledge among men ; which was referred 
 to the select committee on the Smithsonian bequest. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 27, 1840. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS asked Mr. ORABB (who was entitled to the 
 floor) to give way to allow him to present a report from the 
 select committee on the Smithsonian bequest. It was a 
 subject which had excited a good deal of public interest ; and 
 lie merely wished to make the report, and have it printed, 
 
202 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 which would occupy but a few moments of the time of the 
 House. 
 
 Mr. CRABB said if it was the universal consent of the 
 House to receive the report at that time, he had no objection 
 to give way for the purpose. But objection was made. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 5, 1840. 
 
 Mr. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, from the committee to which 
 was referred the bill to provide for the disposal and man- 
 agement of the fund bequeathed by James Smithson to the 
 United States for the establishment of an institution for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, reported 
 an amendatory bill, accompanied by a, report, which weiv 
 committed to the Committee of the Whole on the state of 
 the Union. 
 
 The report is as follows : 
 
 The Select Committee, to whom was referred the bill to 
 provide for the disposal and management of tin- fund be- 
 queathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the 
 establishment of an institution for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men, report the same with sundry 
 amendments. 
 
 And inasmuch as the subject of this bill, and tin- bequest 
 itself, and the institution to the establishment of which, at 
 the city of Washington, it was devoted by the testator, in- 
 volve considerations and principles other than those which 
 usually regulate the legislation of Congress; and as the 
 purposes of the bequest have, as yet, been but imperfectly 
 made known to the people of the United States, and prob- 
 ably to a large portion of the members of the House, the 
 committee submit to the indulgence of the House a stat. - 
 ment of the material facts which have hitherto occurred in 
 the tender of this fund to the United States of America, 
 and their acceptance of it, and an exposition of the motives 
 which have prevailed with the committee to propose the 
 disposal of the fund, and the provisions for its maintenance 
 and management, as they are set forth in the several sec- 
 tions of the accompanying bill. 
 
 Mr. Adams then quotes message of President Andrew Jackson, dated 
 December 17, 1835, the correspondence of Mr. Vail and Clarke, Fynmore & 
 Fladgate, James Smithson's will, &c., and then proceeds: 
 
 This message was referred, in the Senate, to their Com- 
 mittee on the Judiciary, which, on the 5th of January, 
 1836, presented a report favorable to the acceptance of the 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 203". 
 
 bequest, and. a joint resolution to authorize and enable the 
 President of the United States to assert and prosecute, with 
 3ffect, the claim of the United States to this bequest, in the 
 3ourt of chancery, or other proper tribunal of England. 
 By this joint resolution, adopted on the 2d of May, 1836, 
 the faith of the Government of the United States was 
 pledged, that any and all sums of money which should be 
 received for or on account of the said legacy should be 
 applied to the purpose of founding and endowing at Wash- 
 ington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an 
 3Stablishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 iimong men. 
 
 In the House of Representatives the same message of the 
 President was, on the 21st of December, 1835, referred to- 
 : i select committee of nine members, which, on the 19th of 
 January. 1836, reported a bill, together with a statement of 
 Pacts and principles connected with the origin and accept- 
 ance of this bequest, which the present committee ask leave 
 to refer to the consideration of the House as a part of their 
 own report. 
 
 Mr. Adams here quotes his own report of January 19th, 1836, and pro- 
 seeds : 
 
 The bill accompanying this report was, in the House of 
 Representatives, substituted in the place of the joint resolu- 
 tion which had been received from the Senate. It author- 
 ized the President of the United States to appoint an agent 
 or agents to prosecute, in the court of chancery, in England, 
 the right of the United States to the bequest of Mr. Smith- 
 son, and to recover and pay over the amount of the same 
 into the Treasury of the United States. This bill passed 
 in the House without opposition; was concurred in, with- 
 out amendment, by the Senate ; and, on the 1st of July, 
 1836, received the approbation of the President of the 
 United States. 
 
 The third section of this act is in the following words : 
 
 " And be it further enacted, That any and all sums of money, and other 
 funds which shall be received for, or on account of, the said legacy, shall 
 be applied in such manner as Congress may hereafter direct, to the purpose 
 of founding and endowing, at Washington, under the name of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men ; to which application of the said moneys, and other funds, 
 the faith of the United States is hereby pledged." 
 
 By virtue of this act the President of the United States 
 did, shortly after its passage, appoint Richard Rush, of 
 Pennsylvania, the agent for recovering the funds in Eng- 
 land ; 'which was accordingly done by a decree of the Eng- 
 
204 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 lish court of chancery ; and on the 1st of September, 1838, 
 the sum of $508,315.46 was deposited, in gold, at the mint 
 of the United States at Philadelphia, being the proceeds 
 then recovered of the bequest; a further sum having been 
 reserved by the English court of chancery for the payment 
 of a life annuity to the mother of Henry James Hunger- 
 ford. 
 
 By the 6th section of the act of Congress of 7th .Inly, 
 1838, to provide for the support of the Military Academy 
 of the United States at West Point, for the year 1838, it 
 was enacted 
 
 " That all the money arising from the bequest of the late James Srnith- 
 son, of London, for the purpose of founding at Washington, in this District, 
 an institution to be denominated the Smithsonian Institution, which may l>e 
 paid into the Treasury, is hereby appropriated, and shall be invested, l>y 
 the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approbation of the President of the 
 United States, in stocks of States, bearing interest at not less than live j- : 
 centum per annum; which said stocks shall be held by tin- said Secretary, 
 in trust, for the uses specified in the last will and testament of said Smith- 
 son, until provision is made, by law, for carrying the purpose of said bequest 
 into effect; and that the annual interest accruing <>n the stock afoiv.-akl 
 shall be, in like manner, invested for the benefit of said Institution." 
 
 Under this authority, thus granted before the money was 
 received into the Treasury, the Secretary of the Treasury 
 did, on the 4th of September, 1838, invest four hundred 
 and ninety-nine thousand five hundred dollars, by the pur- 
 chase of five hundred bonds of the State of Arkansas for 
 one thousand dollars each, bearing six per cent, interest, 
 payable semi-annually on the 1st of January and July of 
 each year, from the said 4th of September ; and the further 
 sum of eight thousand two hundred and seventy dollars 
 and sixty-seven cents was applied to the purchase of eight 
 bonds of the State of Michigan, bearing six per cent, inter- 
 est, payable semi-annually on the first Mondays in January 
 and July from the 1st of May, 1838; the interest on all 
 these bonds being payable at the city of New York. 
 ^ By these transactions it will be perceived that the United 
 States became creditors of the States of Arkansas and of 
 Michigan to the amount of the purchase of their respective 
 bonds, and made themselves responsible to the Smithsonian 
 fund for the punctual payment of the principal and interest 
 of said bonds ; the faith of the United States having been 
 already pledged for the faithful application of the fund 
 itself to the purposes of the testator the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 At the last session of "Congress the President of the 
 United States, by a message to both Houses of the 6th of 
 December, 1838, informed them that the act of the 1st July, 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 205 
 
 1836, to enable the Executive to assert and prosecute, with 
 effect, the claim of the United States to the legacy be- 
 queathed to them by James Smithson, had received its 
 entire execution ; and that the amount recovered and paid 
 into the Treasury having, agreeably to an act of the preced- 
 ing session, been invested in State stocks, he deemed it 
 proper to invite the attention of Congress to the obligation 
 devolving upon the United States to fulfill the object of the 
 bequest. He added, that, in order to obtain such informa- 
 tion as might serve to facilitate its attainment, the Secretary 
 of State had been directed to apply to persons versed in 
 science, and familiar with the subject of public education, for 
 their views as to the mode of disposing of the fund best calcu- 
 lated to meet the intention of the testator, and prove most 
 beneficial to mankind. Copies of the circular from the 
 Secretary of State, and of the answers to it received at that 
 department, were communicated with the message for the 
 consideration of Congress ; and for the whole correspond- 
 ence, this committee "respectfully refer the House to docu- 
 ment No. 11 of the Executive Documents of the 3d Session 
 of the 25th Congress. 
 
 On the following day, (the 7th of December, 1838,) 
 another message was transmitted by the President to the 
 House of Representatives, with reports from the Secretaries 
 of State, and of the Treasury, in compliance with a resolu- 
 tion of the House, of the 9th of July preceding, requesting 
 the President to cause to be laid before the House all such 
 communications, documents, &c., in the possession of the 
 Executive, or which could be obtained, as should elucidate 
 the origin, progress, and consummation of the process by 
 which the Smithsonian bequest had been recovered, and 
 whatever might be connected with the subject. For this 
 message and accompanying documents, the committee refer 
 the House to No. 10 of the Executive Documents of the last 
 session. 
 
 On the 10th of December, 1838, these two messages, of 
 the 6th and 7th of that month, were referred to a select com- 
 mittee of the House, which proceeded, at sundry meetings, 
 to consider and discuss the principles upon which it might 
 be desirable to establish the foundation of the Smithsonian 
 Institution so as best to fulfil the benevolent purpose of the 
 testator; to return, by the most effective acknowledgment, 
 the signal honor done to our country and her institutions, 
 by the commitment of this great and most honorable trust 
 to the United States of America ; to prove them worthy of 
 that trust, by the dignity, disinterestedness, and propriety 
 
206 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of all their provisions for the disposal of the funds; and, 
 finally, to organize an establishment which, by its ultimate 
 results, would, in the impartial judgment of mankind, our 
 own contemporaries, and of future ages, at once accomplish 
 the glorious purpose of the testator the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men ; and justify to the eyes of 
 posterity the confidence reposed in these United Stales l>y 
 the testator, in selecting them for his a^vnts and trustees to 
 accomplish, when he should be no more on earth, his great 
 design for the improvement of the condition of man. 
 
 A variety of projects for disposing of the funds had bei-n 
 presented by individuals, in memorials to the House, which 
 were referred to the committee for consideration. Xo one 
 of them appeared to the committee adapted to accomplish 
 the purpose of the testator. They generally .contemplated 
 the establishment of a school, college, or university. They 
 proposed expenditures, absorbing, in the erection of build- 
 ings, the capital of the fund itself, or a very large portion 
 of it, leaving little or nothing to be invested as a perpetual 
 -annuity for future and continual appropriations, contribut- 
 ing to the improvement of future ages, as well as of the 
 present generation ; and in most of the projects there might 
 be perceived purposes of personal accommodation and emol- 
 ument to the projector, more adapted to the promotion of 
 his own interest than to the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men. 
 
 The committee, from the earliest of their meetings, had 
 agreed that, in the report to be made to the House, it should 
 be recommended that no part of the funds should be applied 
 -to the establishment or support of any school, college, uni- 
 versity, or ecclesiastical establishment. They had also 
 agreed to recommend, as a fundamental principle for the or- 
 ganization of the institution and the management of its 
 .funds, that the capital amount of the bequest should be pre- 
 served entire and unimpaired, so invested as to yield an in- 
 come of six per cent,' a year; which income only should be 
 -annually appropriated by Congress, and a considerable por- 
 tion even of those appropriations be constituted as funds, 
 from the interest of which expenditures applicable to the 
 purposes of the bequest might be provided for, and the cap- 
 ital of the bequest itself be annually rather increased than 
 diminished. 
 
 While the committee of the House were engaged in de- 
 liberating upon the means of carrying into effect these prin- 
 ciples by special enactment, to be proposed in their report, 
 on the 12th of January, 1839, the subject was taken up for 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 207 
 
 Consideration by the Senate of the United States. At the 
 motion of a distinguished member of that body, the follow- 
 ing joint resolution was adopted : 
 
 Resolved by the Senate, (the. House of Representatives concurring,} That 
 a joint committee be appointed, consisting of seven members of the Senate, 
 and such a number of said House as they shall appoint, to consider the ex- 
 pediency of providing an institution of learning, to be established in the 
 city of Washington, for the application of the legacy bequeathed by James 
 Smithson, of London, to the United States, in trust for that purpose; also, 
 to consider the expediency of a charter for such institution, together with the 
 powers and privileges w*hich, in their opinion, the said charter ought to 
 confer'; also, to consider the expediency of ways and means to be provided 
 by Congress, other than said legacy, but in addition thereto, and in aid of 
 said benevolent intention ; and to report by bill or bills in the premises. 
 
 This resolution superseded at once all that had been done 
 by the House and its committee upon the two messages of 
 the President of the 6th and 7th of December, 1838. It 
 contemplated an institution of learning at the city of Wash- 
 ington, the establishment of which should not only absorb 
 the whole fund bequeathed by Mr. Smithson, but large ap- 
 propriations of the public moneys of the nation. 
 
 In deference, however, and courtesy to the Senate, the 
 Plouse immediately concurred in their resolution ; and the 
 same members to whom, as a select committee of the House, 
 the two messages of the President had been referred, were 
 appointed the committee on the part of the House under 
 the joint resolution. 
 
 Several meetings of the joint committee were held, and 
 some discussion was entertained ; but the propositions of 
 the chairman of the committee on the part of the Senate 
 were so widely at variance with the principles upon which 
 the committee on the part of the House had previously 
 agreed, that it soon became apparent that further joint de- 
 liberation offered, no prospect of a result, in which both 
 committees would concur. The committee on the part of 
 the House was notified that the chairman of the Senate's 
 committee was authorized by them to propose any measure 
 on their part which he might deem proper, and to agree to 
 any joint report in which the committee on the part of the 
 House might concur. 
 
 On the'SGth of January, 1839, the chairman of the com- 
 mittee on the part of the House, by their direction, reported 
 to the House the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That the sum of dollars, being the amount deposited in 
 
 the Treasury of the United States, proceeding from the bequest of James 
 Smithson to the United States of America, for the purpose of establishing, 
 at the city of Washington, an institution to bear his name, for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men, together with what additional sum 
 
208 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 or sums may hereafter accrue from the same bequest, and so much of the 
 interest as has become, or may become due on the first-named principal 
 
 sum, until the day of , ought to be constituted a permanent 
 
 fund, to be invested in a corporate body of trustees, to remain, under the 
 pledge of faith of the United States, undiminished and unimpaired. 
 
 Resolved, That the said fund ought so to be invested that the faith of the 
 United States shall be pledged for its preservation, unimpaired, and for its 
 yielding an interest or income at the rate of six per cent, a year, to be ap- 
 propriated from time to time, by Congress, to the declared purpose of the 
 founder; and that all appropriations so made shall be exclusively from the 
 interest or income of the fund, and not from any part of the principal 
 thereof. 
 
 Resolved^ That the first appropriations from the interest or income of 
 the Smithsonian fund ought to be for the erection and establishment, at the 
 city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, provided with the 
 best and most approved instruments and books, for the continual observa- 
 tion, calculation, and recording of the remarkable phenomena of the 
 heavens, for the periodical publication of the observations thus made, and 
 of a nautical almanac, for the use of the mariners of the United States, and 
 of all other navigating nations. 
 
 These resolutions were ordered to be printed, and laid on 
 the table for consideration. 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1839, the following resolutions 
 were submitted by the chairman of the committee on the 
 part of the House, to the joint committee, for considera- 
 tion : 
 
 1. Resolved, That the education of the children and youth of these 
 United States has for its object, not the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men, but the endowment of individuals of both sexes with useful 
 knowledge already acquired, and suited to their respective conditions. 
 
 2. That the declared object of the bequest of James Smithson to the 
 United States of America being the foundation, at the city of Washington, 
 of an establishment ' for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men,' no appropriation of any part of the fund to the purpose of educating 
 the children or youth of these United States would fulfill the intent of the 
 testator. 
 
 3. That the education of the children of these United States is a duty 
 of solemn and indispensable obligation incumbent upon their parents and 
 guardians, not for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, but 
 to qualify them for the enjoyment of their rights, and the performance of 
 their duties throughout life. 
 
 4. That the United States of America, having, by their Congress, ac- 
 cepted as a trust a large and liberal bequest from a foreigner, for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge among men, and having pledged their 
 faith for the application of the proceeds of that bequest to the declared pur- 
 pose of the testator, would neither fulfill that purpose nor redeem their 
 pledge, by appropriating a fund, devised for the benefit of mankind, to the 
 education of their own children. 
 
 5. Resolved, therefore, That no part of the Smithsonian fund ought to 
 be applied to the education of the children or youth of the United States, 
 nor to any school, college, university, or institute of education. 
 
 After the meetings of the joint committee had ceased, 
 the chairman of the committee on the part of the Senate, 
 by virtue of the authority given him by his colleagues, pre- 
 sented to the committee on the part of the House counter- 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 209 
 
 resolutions, disapproving of the application of any part of 
 the Smithsonian funds to the establishment of an astronom- 
 ical observatory, arid urging the application of them to the 
 foundation of a university or institution of learning. 
 
 At a meeting of the committee on the part of the House, 
 on the 13th of February, 1839, the above resolutions, which 
 had been submitted to the joint committee on the 6th, were 
 unanimously adopted by the members present at the meet- 
 ing. 
 
 As it was thus ascertained that the views of the chairman 
 of the Senate's committee could neither obtain the assent 
 of the committee on the part of the House, nor be conform- 
 able to theirs, it was agreed that the chairman of the Sen- 
 ate's committee should prepare a bill which he would wish 
 to have reported, and that the committee on the part of the 
 House should also cause to be prepared a bill presenting 
 the principles upon which they had agreed, and that both 
 the bills should be reported together to both Houses of 
 Congress for consideration. The two bills were accordingly 
 reported to both Houses : to this House on the 16th of 
 February, 1839, where they were twice read, and referred 
 to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
 Union. They are numbered 1160 and 1161, among the 
 bills of the House of the last session ; but from the lateness 
 of the time when they were reported, and the pressure of 
 other indispensable or more urgent business, they were not 
 taken up for consideration in the Committee of the Whole, 
 and remained without further action of the House upon 
 either of them at the close of the session. 
 
 The bill prepared by the chairman of the joint committee 
 on the part of the Senate was taken up in that body on the 
 25th of February, and after full debate, by a vote of 20 to 
 15, laid on the table. On the 19th and 20th of February, 
 the Senator who had been the chairman of the joint com- 
 mittee introduced in the Senate a resolution to authorize 
 the mayor and city council of the city of Washington to 
 prepare a plan of an institution, to be called the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, and to report the same to the Senate at 
 the next session ; which resolution was, on the 1st of March, 
 1839, laid on the table. 
 
 The bill prepared by direction of the joint committee on 
 the part of the House, and reported to both Houses, was 
 never acted upon by the Senate. The bill referred to this 
 committee was nearly a transcript from it, and embraces 
 the principles deemed by the committee of the House, 
 which at the last session reported the bill, of primary im- 
 
 14 
 
210 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 portance for the organization of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, in the manner the most effective for accomplishing the 
 purposes of the testator. 
 
 The first of these principles is, that the capital sum of 
 the Smithsonian fund should be preserved entire and un- 
 impaired, invested in such manner as to secure a yearly 
 income of six per cent, and a perpetual annuity for yearly 
 appropriation for all future time. The reasons for this are 
 so obvious and so urgent, that it was scarcely to be antic- 
 ipated they would "meet with any deliberate opposition. 
 The object of the testator's bequest is as comprehensive as 
 the human mind, and as durable as the existence of the 
 race of man upon earth. The increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge is, in its nature, progressive to the end of time. 
 An institution which should exhaust in its first establish- 
 ment and organization the whole, or the principal part of 
 the bequest," would necessarily be confined within limits 
 exceedingly narrow, compared with the vast design of 
 increasing and diffusing knowledge. It would also, as may 
 be concluded from uniform experience, be unable for any 
 long series of years to sustain itself, but would gradually 
 sink into insignificance and apathy, or require continual 
 support from public or private munificence. The Smith- 
 sonian fund exceeds half a million of dollars : by investing 
 it safely, under the guaranty of the nation's faith, to yield 
 a yearly income of six per cent., it places at the disposal of 
 Congress a sum of more than thirty thousand dollars to be 
 applied every year to any object promotive of the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge. The means of attaining this 
 end will, from the very progressive nature of knowledge, 
 vary from time to time. Knowledge, in her progress over 
 the world of mind, pours, like the father of the floods, her 
 waters into the ocean of time, swollen by the tributary 
 accession of unnumbered streams. 
 
 This was among the principal considerations, connect- 
 ing the first of these fundamental principles with the 
 second that no part of the Smithsonian fund, principal or 
 interest, shall be applied to any school, college, university, 
 institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment. 
 
 There are in these United States ninety-five universities 
 and colleges, besides high schools, academies, and common 
 schools without number. The objects of all these institu- 
 tions is one and the same education from infancy to man- 
 hood. The subjects of instruction arc all the departments 
 of human science, from the primer and the spelling book 
 to the theory of infinites and the mechanism of the heavens. 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 211 
 
 They are variously graduated, and adapted to the capacities 
 and wants of the expanding mind, from the moment when 
 the child becomes capable of receiving instruction to the 
 full formation of adult age, and the preparation of the 
 citizen for the performance of the duties of active life, and 
 the exercise of the faculties thus acquired for the benefit of 
 the individual himself and of his fellow creatures in the 
 social relations of life. The ultimate object of them all is 
 instruction the communication of knowledge already pos- 
 sessed, and not the discovery of new truths, or the inven- 
 tion of new instruments for the enlargement of human 
 power. This was evidently the purpose of Mr. Smithson : 
 and this the committee of the House, which reported their 
 bill at the last session of Congress, unanimously believed 
 to be entirely distinct from that of the establishment of 
 any institution whatever devoted to the education of chil- 
 dren or of youth. 
 
 In this point of view, the bequest of Mr. Smithson 
 assumed, in the opinion of the committee, an interest of 
 the highest order, peculiar to itself, most happily adapted 
 to the character of our republican institutions, and destined 
 if administered in the spirit in which it was bestowed, to 
 command the grateful acclamations of future ages, and to 
 illuminate the path of man upon earth with rays of knowl- 
 edge still gathering with the revolving lapse of time. 
 
 They believed that an institute of learning for education 
 in the city of Washington was in nowise needed, there 
 being already there a college with a charter from Congress, 
 founded at great expense, provided with all the apparatus 
 for scientific instruction, furnished with learned, skilful, and 
 assiduous professors and teachers in every department of 
 university studies, and yet scarcely able to sustain its own 
 existence. In the adjoining town of Georgetown there is 
 also a college ; and there is, perhaps, no part of the United 
 States where there is less occasion for the institution of a 
 new university or college. By the express terms of the 
 bequest, the Smithsonian Institution must be located at the 
 city of Washington. A new university here could not fail 
 either to prove useless itself, or to destroy the existing 
 college, and materially to injure the neighboring college at 
 Georgetown. 
 
 If, indeed, an institution of learning were a suitable 
 object for the application of the Smithsonian fund, it w r ould 
 doubtless be practicable to engraft the existing Columbian 
 College upon it, and thereby, instead of affecting injuri- 
 ously its interests and prospects, to enlarge its sphere of 
 
212 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 usefulness, and relieve it at the same time from the embar- 
 rassment under which it labors. But while it would be 
 manifestly unjust to that college to establish in its immedi- 
 ate vicinity a rival institution more richly endowed from 
 foreign funds, it might be deemed an application not less 
 exceptionable of those funds to the relief or assistance of 
 one particular establishment in this city, narrowing down 
 the general purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge 
 among men to the special benefit and emolument of one 
 over-burdened seminary of learning. 
 
 Among the reasons for discarding all institutions of educa- 
 tion from the purview of the Smithsonian bequest, the com- 
 mittee of the House at the last seasion were not insensible 
 to the consideration that the acceptance of a bequest, 
 coupled with a trust for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men, by the United States of America, imported 
 a career of action in the execution of the trust more com- 
 prehensive in its object, more extensive in its design, and 
 therefore more appropriate for the exercise of national 
 powers, than the mere education of children. 
 
 The education of children is, in all civilized and Christian 
 communities, in the first instance a solemn and impi-rativc 
 duty of their parents. It stands in the first rank of domes- 
 tic and family duties; and so far as it connects itself with 
 social relations, arid becomes a subject of legislation, it be- 
 longs to that class of interests and concerns which, under 
 our complicated system of government, are considered as 
 exclusively confined to the authorities of the separate 
 States. Whether Congress possess, under the Constitution, 
 the power to establish a national university, is at least a 
 matter of doubt ; and although they have exclusive juris- 
 diction in all cases whatever over the District of Columbia, 
 in which the city of Washington is situated, yet an institute 
 of learning coextensive only with the District of Columbia 
 must necessarily be confined, in all its administrations, as 
 much within that District as the universities and colleges 
 within the several States are limited by their respective 
 jurisdictions. Nor did it seem to the committee altogether 
 consistent with the self-respect of a great confederated 
 nation to receive from the hands of a foreigner a liberal 
 fund for the increase and diffusion of knowledge through- 
 out the world of man, and apply it to the schooling of 
 their own children. 
 
 The peculiar expressions used by the testator himself, in 
 the indication of ^the ultimate result of his purpose, and 
 the selection of his trustee, concur in confirming this view 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 213 
 
 of the subject. Had it been his intention to found a college 
 or university for the purposes of education, it seems impos- 
 sible that he should have avoided the use of words necessa- 
 rily importing them : the words school, college, university, 
 institution of learning, would have been those most appropri- 
 ate to the specification of his design ; and it is not imagin- 
 able that, having such an intention, he should studiously 
 have avoided the use of every word most appropriate for 
 its designation. The increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among MEN, present neither the idea of knowledge already 
 acquired to be taught, nor of childhood or youth to be in- 
 structed ; but of new discovery of progress in the march 
 of the human mind of accession to the moral, intellectual, 
 and physical powers of the human race of dissemination 
 throughout the inhabited globe. 
 
 And if education had been his design, why should he have 
 selected the city of Washington for the seat of his institute, 
 and the United States of America for his trustees ? In the 
 land of his nativity there were children and youth needing 
 and destitute of the blessings of education, in multitudes 
 far exceeding those which might have been found in the 
 city of Washington, or throughout the North American 
 Union. In the land of his habitation and of his decease 
 there swarmed around him, ever present to his eyes, num- 
 berless children and minors, to whom an institute of learn- 
 ing would have been far more beneficial than it could 
 possibly be to the children of the city of Washington, or of 
 the whole United States. Mr. Smithson had no personal 
 relations with this country ; he had never visited its shores ; 
 nor from the provisions of his will, nor from anything that 
 has been ascertained of his life, does it appear that he was 
 ever intimate, or even acquainted, with any one native citi- 
 zen of this Union. Why, then, should he devote the whole 
 of an ample fortune to the education of a comparatively 
 small number of children in a hemisphere distant from 
 that in which he was born, had lived, and was to die, and 
 with which he could have no sympathy other than that of a 
 common nature, and common principles of moral and polit- 
 ical truth ? 
 
 Mr. Snrithson's bequest was not to the city of Washing- 
 ton, but to the United States of America. His reason for 
 fixing the seat of his institution at Washington obviously 
 was, that there is the seat of Government of the United 
 States; and there the Congress, by whose legislation, and 
 the Executive, through whose agency, the trust committed 
 to the honor, intelligence, and good faith of the nation, is 
 
914 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 to be fulfilled. The peculiar powers by which Congress- 
 are enabled to discharge this trust in all its magnitude, are 
 vested in them by their authority of exclusive legislation 
 over the District of Columbia; but, in the execution of the 
 TRUST, the obligation incumbent upon them by the will of 
 the testator, and by their recorded pledge of the nation's 
 faith, is so to organize, and so to superintend the conduct 
 of the institution, as to spread the benefits to be derived 
 from it not only over the whole surface of this Union, but 
 throughout the civilized world. 
 
 The Smithsonian fund appeared to the committee of the 
 House, which at the last session reported the bill, equiva- 
 lent to a considerable yearly donation to the United States, 
 to be expended in furnishing the means, and in rewarding 
 the accomplishment, of new discoveries and inventions 
 throughout the whole range of science and of art. The 
 specific means of attaining directly or indirectly this end, 
 are as various as the arts and sciences themselves, and as 
 prolific as the imagination of man. Among the many 
 establishments which were suggested to them, or which 
 occurred to their own consideration, which would be 
 strictly included within the express language of the will, 
 and the undoubted intention of the testator, that upon 
 which they rested as first deserving, and for a succession of 
 several years, the application of the annual income of the 
 fund, was an astronomical observatory of the most enlarged 
 and liberal character, with provisions for the most effective 
 continual observation of the phenomena of the heavens; 
 for the actual calculations and periodical publication of the 
 results of those observations, and for affording to the navi- 
 gators of our own and of all other maritime nations our con- 
 tribution of all the facilities which the detected secrets of 
 the starry universe can furnish to the wandering pilgrim of 
 this sublunary sphere. It was not the intention or expecta- 
 tion of the committee that the appropriations from the 
 Smithsonian fund should be confined exclusively to tlu's 
 object. Far otherwise ; the improvement of all the arts 
 and sciences was embraced in the letter and in the spirit of 
 Mr. Smithspn's Request; and that was one of the principal 
 reasons which induced the committee to recommend, as a 
 fundamental principle for the organization and conduct of 
 the institution, that perpetuity and a regular income should 
 be irrevocably secured to the fund, and yearly appropri- 
 ations made only from the accruing income. A botanical 
 garden, a cabinet of natural history, a museum of miner- 
 alogy, conchology, or geology, a general accumulating 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 215 
 
 library all institutions of which there are numerous exam- 
 ples among the civilized Christian nations, and of most of 
 which our own country is not entirely destitute all are 
 undoubtedly included within the comprehensive grasp of 
 Mr. Smithson 's design all may receive, in turn, and with 
 progressive utility and power, liberal contributions from 
 the continually growing income of the trust. Nor did the 
 committee believe that the moral or political sciences, the 
 philosophy of language, the natural history of speech, the 
 graces of polite literature, the mechanic or the liberal arts, 
 were to be excluded from the benefits prepared for poster- 
 ity by the perpetuation of this fund. Whatever personal 
 preference Mr. Smithson may, during his life, have enter- 
 tained for the cultivation of the natural sciences, no such 
 preference encumbers his bequest, or is indicated by his 
 will. It is KNOWLEDGE the source of all human wisdom, 
 and of all beneficent power knowledge, as far transcend- 
 ing the postulated lever of Archimides as the universe 
 transcends this speck of earth upon its face knowledge, 
 the attribute of Omnipotence, of which man alone in the 
 physical and material world is permitted to participate; 
 the increase and diffusion of which among MEN is the result 
 to which the ample fortune of Mr.' Smithson is devoted, 
 and for the accomplishment of which he selects the United 
 States of America as his trustees, and their National Gov- 
 ernment as his agents. Let not, then, any branch or 
 department of human knowledge be excluded from its 
 equitable share of this benefaction ; but it is believed that 
 no one science deserves or requires the immediate applica- 
 tion of the accrued and accruing income of the fund so 
 urgently as practical astronomy. 
 
 The express object of an observatory is the increase of 
 knowledge by new discovery. The physical relations between 
 the firmament of heaven, and the globe allotted by the 
 Creator of all to be the abode of man, are discoverable only 
 by the organ of the eye. Many of these relations are 
 indispensable to the existence of human life, and, perhaps, 
 of the earth itself. Who can conceive the idea of a world 
 without a sun, but must connect with it the extinction of 
 light and heat, of all animal life, of all vegetation and pro- 
 duction; leaving the lifeless clod of matter to return to 
 the primitive state of chaos, or to be consumed by elemen- 
 tal fire ? The influence of the moon of the planets, our 
 next door neighbors of the solar system of the fixed stars, 
 scattered over the blue expanse in multitudes exceeding 
 the power of human computation, and at distances of 
 
216 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 which imagination herself can form no distinct conception : 
 the influence of all these upon the globe which we inhabit, 
 :and upon the condition of man, its dying and deathless in- 
 habitant, is great and mysterious, and, in the search for 
 final causes, to a great degree inscrutable to his finite and 
 limited faculties. "The extent to which they are discover- 
 able is, and must remain unknown ; but, to the vigilance of 
 a sleepless eye, to the toil of a tireless hand, and to the 
 meditations of a thinking, combining, and analyzing mind, 
 secrets are successively revealed, not only of the deepest 
 import to the welfare of man in his earthly career, but 
 which seem to lift him from the earth to the threshold of 
 his eternal abode ; to lead him blindfold up to the council- 
 chamber of Omnipotence ; and there, stripping the bandage 
 from his eyes, bid him look undazzled at the Throne of 
 God. 
 
 In the history of the human species, (so far as it is known 
 to us,) astronomical observation was one of the first objects 
 of pursuit for the acquisition of knowledge. In the first 
 chapter of the Sacred Volume we are told that, in the pro- 
 cess of creation, " God said, let there be lights in the firma- 
 ment of the heavens, to divide the day from the night ; and 
 let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and 
 years." By the special appointment, then, of the Creator, 
 they were made the standards for the measurement of time 
 upon earth. They were made for more ; not only for sea- 
 sons, for days, and years but for SIGNS. Signs of what ? 
 It may be that the word in this passage lias reference to the 
 signs of the Egyptian zodiac, to mark the succession of 
 solar months ; or it may indicate a more latent connection 
 between the heavens and the earth, of the nature of judicial 
 astrology. These relations are not only apparent to the 
 most superficial observation of man, but many of them 
 remain inexhaustible funds of successive discovery per- 
 haps as long as the continued existence of man upon earth. 
 What an unknown world of mind, for example, is yet teem- 
 ing in the womb of time, to be revealed in tracing the 
 causes of the sympathy between the magnet and the pole- 
 that unseen, immaterial spirit, which walks with us through 
 the most entangled forests, over the most interminable 
 wilderness, and across every region of the pathless deep, 
 by day, by night, in the calm serene of a cloudless sky, and 
 in the howling of the hurricane or the typhoon ? Who can 
 witness the movements of that tremulous needle, poised 
 upon its centre, still tending to the polar star, but obedient 
 to his distant hand, armed with a metallic guide, round 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 217 
 
 -every point of the compass, at the fiat of his will, without 
 feeling a thrill of amazement approaching to superstition? 
 The discovery of the attractive power of the magnet was 
 made before the invention of the alphabet or the age of 
 hieroglyphics. No record of the event is found upon the 
 annals of human history; but seven hundred years have 
 scarcely passed away since its polarity was first known to 
 the civilized European man. It was by observation of the 
 periodical revolution of the earth in her orbit round the 
 sun, compared with her daily revolution round her axis, 
 that was disclosed the fact that her annual period was com- 
 posed of 365 of her daily revolutions, or, in other words, 
 that the year was composed of 365 days ; but the shepherds 
 of Egypt, watching their flocks by night, could not but 
 observe the movements of the Dog-star next to the sun, 
 the most brilliant of the luminaries of heaven. They wor- 
 shipped that star as a god ; and losing sight of him for 
 about forty days every year, during his conjunction with 
 the sun, they watched with intense anxiety for his reappear- 
 ance in the sky, and with that day commenced their year. 
 By this practice, it failed not soon to be found that, although 
 the reappearance of the star, for three successive years, was 
 at the end of 365 days, it would on the fourth year be de- 
 layed one day longer ; and after repeated observation of 
 this phenomenon, they added six hours to the computed 
 duration of the year, arid established the canicular period 
 of four years, consisting of 1,461 days. It was not until 
 the days of Julius Caesar that this computation of time was 
 adopted in the Roman calendar ; and fifteen centuries from 
 that time had elapsed before the yearly celebration of the 
 Christian paschal festivals, founded upon the Passover of 
 the Levitical law, revealed the fact that the annual revolu- 
 tion of the earth, in her orbit round the sun, is not precisely 
 of 365 days and one quarter, but of between 11 arid 12 
 minutes less ; and thus the duration of the year was ascer- 
 tained, as a measure of time, to an accuracy of three or 
 four seconds, more or less a mistake which would scarcely 
 -amount to one day in twenty thousand years. 
 
 It is, then, to the successive discoveries of persevering 
 astronomical observation through a period of fifty centuries 
 that we are indebted for a fixed and permanent standard 
 for the measurement of time. And by the same science 
 has man acquired, so far as he possesses it, a standard for 
 the measurement of space. A standard for the measure- 
 ment of the dimensions and distances of the fixed stars 
 from ourselves is yet to be found ; and, if ever found, will 
 
218 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 be through the means of astronomical observation. The 
 influence of all these discoveries upon the condition of man 
 is, no doubt, infinitely diversified in relative importance ; 
 but all, even the minutest, contribute to the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge. There is no richer field of science 
 opened to the exploration of man in search of knowledge 
 than astronomical observation ; nor is there, in the opinion 
 of this committee, any duty more impressively incumbent 
 upon all human governments than that of furnishing means 
 and facilities and rewards to those who devote the labors 
 of their lives to the indefatigable industry, the unceasing 
 vigilance, and the bright intelligence indispensable to suc- 
 cess in these pursuits. 
 
 The committee will add, that at no period of human his- 
 tory has the general impulse of the learned world been 
 more intensely directed to the cultivation of this science 
 than in the present age. It was an observation of Voltaire, 
 that if the whole human race could be assembled in one 
 mass, from the creation of man to his time, in the gradua- 
 tion of genius among them all, Isaac Newton would stand 
 at their head. But the discoveries of Newton were the 
 results of calculations founded upon the observations of 
 others of Copernicus, of Tycho Brahe, of Kepler, of 
 Flamsteed ; and among their producing causes, not the 
 least was the erection and establishment of the royal ob- 
 servatory of Greenwich. 
 
 The original purpose of this institution, first commenced 
 in 1676, under the patronage of Charles the Second, and 
 the most glorious incident of his life, was for the finding 
 out the so-rnuch-desired longitudes of places for the perfect- 
 ing the art of navigation ; and the inscription still existing 
 above the original door of the observatory declares that it 
 was built for the benefit of astronomy and navigation ; so 
 intimately connected together are the abstract science 
 and the practical art, that, without the help of the astrono- 
 mer, the seaman could not urge his bark in safety one inch 
 beyond the sight of the shore. 
 
 The discovery of the longitudes of places, the benefit of 
 astronomy and navigation, were thus the declared objects 
 of the erecting of the Greenwich Observatory, arid of the 
 appointment, in the person of Flamsteed, of an astronomical 
 observator ^vith a salary of one hundred pounds sterling a 
 year, leaving him to provide himself with all the instru- 
 ments and books necessary for the performance of his 
 duties. _ And what were the first fruits of this institution ? 
 1. An increased accuracy of observation, by the attachment 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 219-' 
 
 of telescopes to graduated instruments, and by the use of a 
 clock to note the time at which stars and planets passed, by 
 their apparent diurnal motion, across the middle of the 
 field of view of the telescope. 2. A catalogue of the places 
 of 3,310 stars, with a name affixed to each of them, the 
 selection and nomenclature of which have served as the 
 basis to every catalogue since that time. Nor is it an unin- 
 teresting incident in the progressive history of astronomical 
 knowledge, that when, one hundred years later, Herschel 
 discovered that the star which bears his name was a planet, 
 he found it as a fixed star upon the catalogue of Flamsteed. 
 3. Many of Flamsteed's observations of the moon, reduced 
 as well as was then practicable, were, at Newton's request, 
 communicated to him, to aid in perfecting the theory 
 deduced from the principle of universal gravitation. " The 
 time," as has been well observed by the present astronomer 
 royal, the Reverend George Biddell Airy, "the time at 
 which these observations were made, was a most critical 
 one when the most accurate observations that had been 
 made were needed for the support of the most extensive 
 philosophical theory that man had invented." 
 
 Since the death of Flamsteed, the office of astronomer 
 royal has been successively filled by Doctor Halley, who 
 has given his name to the most splendid comet of the solar 
 system, by computing its orbit and predicting its return 
 after a period of about 75 } 7 ears, already twice verified ; 
 then by Bradley, immortalized by the two discoveries of 
 the aberration of light, and the nutation of the earth's axis ; 
 by Bliss, Maskelyne, and Pond ; the present successor of 
 whom is Mr. Airy like all his predecessors, among the 
 most eminent astronomers of the age. For the space of 
 nearly two centuries this institution has existed, and has 
 been the seat of continuous observations, scarcely inter- 
 rupted by the intervals between the cessation of the labors 
 of one observator and the commencement of those of his 
 successor ; an arrangement made by the means of assist- 
 ants, which has contributed to distinguish the system of 
 observations pursued at Greenwich from that followed at 
 every other observatory. 
 
 1 From such small beginnings originated, and thus illus- 
 trious has been the career of the royal observatory of 
 Greenwich. Originally attached to the ordnance depart- 
 ment, it was in 1816 or 1817 transferred to the department 
 of the admiralty. The estimates for the annual expense of 
 the observatory are inserted under the " scientific branch " 
 
220 C'.NuRESSK'XAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the admiralty account in the Parliamentary estim;; -. 
 and are voted annuallv by Parliament. 
 
 The committee of the House take the liberty of annexing 
 to this report extracts of a communication from the present 
 astronomer royal, Mr. Airy, received in the course of the 
 last summer by their chairman, and containing mueh valua- 
 ble information concerning the royal observatory at Green- 
 wich, and relating to other astronomical observatories within 
 the British dominions, and under the patronage of the 
 British Government. 
 
 The history of the royal observatory of France would 
 present an exhibition not less interesting of the benefits 
 conferred upon mankind by the slightest notices bestowed 
 by the rulers of mankind upon the pursuit of knowle- 
 and the names of the four Cassinis would range in honor- 
 able distinction by the side of those of Flamsteed. Ilalley. 
 Bradley, and Maskelyne. 
 
 Within the last century the other governments of Europe 
 have emulated with those of France and England in erect- 
 ing and endowing astronomical observatories, the number 
 of which, in that quarter of the globe, is not less at this 
 time than 1:20, while throughout the whole range of t 
 United States there is not one. 
 
 In the British islands alone, there are observatories at 
 the universities of Cambridge and Oxford : at Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow, in Scotland; and at Dublin and Armagh, in 
 Ireland : all of which receive SOUK- patronage front the 
 Government. And, in addition to which, there has been 
 erected, under the same patronage, an observatory at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, already made illustrious by the labors 
 of Sir John Herschcl. 
 
 ^Amongthe munificent patrons of science, and particularly 
 of practical astronomy, adding a brighter lustre than that 
 of the diamond or the ruby to the imperial crown, is the 
 present Emperor of all the Kussias. There was. during the 
 reign of his predecessor, a small observatory at St. Peters- 
 burg, at which the eminent German astronomer, Schubert, 
 author of a profoundly learned and also of the best popular 
 >y>tem of astronomy extant, presided. 
 
 But no longer since than the 7th of August last, the in- 
 auguration took place of the new observatory of Pulkowa. 
 near St. Petersburg ; a spot selected by the Emperor Nicho- 
 las himself, for the establishment founded under his aus- 
 . pices, and constituting, perhaps, the most perfect and best 
 appointed institution of this nature extant in the world. In 
 N member last, an account of this event, and a Ions and 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 221 
 
 detailed description of the observatory itself, was commu- 
 nicated by Mr. Arago to tbe National Institute of France ; 
 and the reporter of this discourse of Mr. Arago, in one of 
 the periodical journals of Paris, observes that its details 
 would be read with interest, and give an idea of the exer- 
 tions made in that land of serfs for the progress of the 
 sciences. We acknowledge, adds the journalist, that the 
 reading of this article would have been very little flattering 
 to our national self-love, if the Honorable Mr. Arago had 
 not immediately informed us that, by the accomplished 
 labors of Mr. Gambay, the observatory of Paris has no 
 reason to shrink from a comparison with this new model of 
 observatories at Pulkowa. 
 
 The committee of the House cannot but consider these 
 circumstances as indicating, in an eminent degree, that 
 intense and ardent thirst for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge which, among all the nations of Christendom, 
 however politically governed, forms one of the most re- 
 markable characteristics of the age in which we live. Here 
 is the sovereign of the mightiest empire and the most abso- 
 lute government upon earth, ruling over a land of serfs, 
 gathering a radiance of glory around his throne by found- 
 ing and endowing the most costly and most complete estab- 
 lishment for astronomical observation on the face of the 
 earth. This is undertaken and accomplished under hyper- 
 borean skies in the region so proximate to the pole, that 
 it offers to the inspection of the human eye only a scanty 
 portion of the northern hemisphere, with an atmosphere so 
 chilled with cold, veiled with clouds, and obscured with 
 vapors, that it yields scarcely sixtj 7 days in the year when 
 observation of the heavenly bodies is practicable. And 
 this event is honorably noticed in the National Institute of 
 France, one of the most learned and talented assemblies of 
 men upon the globe noticed as an occurrence in the 
 annals of science noticed for honor and for emulation. 
 The journalist of a free country, applauding the exertions 
 of a land of serfs to promote the progress of science, avows 
 that he should blush for his own country, had he not. at 
 hand the evidence of her exertions not less strenuous for 
 the advancement of the same cause. 
 
 The committee of the House, in applying to their own 
 country that sensibility to the national honor which the 
 French journalist attributes to self-love, would gladly seek 
 for its gratification in the same assurance that she is not 
 lagging behind in the race of honor ; but that, in casting 
 their eyes around over the whole length and breadth of 
 
222 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 their native land, they must blush to acknowledge that not 
 a single edifice deserving the name of an astronomical 
 observatory is to be seen. 
 
 The bill reported by the committee of this House, at the 
 last session of Congress, bears testimony to their earnest 
 desire that this reproach might be removed from the people 
 of the North American Union, That bill was unaccompa- 
 nied with a report, because other views for the disposal of 
 the fund bequeathed to the United States by Mr. Smithson 
 had been entertained by the chairman of the joint commit- 
 tee on the part of the Senate, in which views his colleagues 
 of the same committee acquiesced. As a compromise of 
 irreconcilable opinions, it became necessary, therefore, to 
 agree that the two bills should be reported together to both 
 Houses; and as it was obvious that the remnant of time to 
 the close of that session would be so absorbed by other and 
 indispensable business that it would be impossible (K'liber- 
 atel} 7 to discuss either of the bills in the House-, and to 
 avoid, in deference to the committee on the part of the 
 Senate, and to their chairman, any unnecessary display of 
 argument against their bill, it was reported by the commit- 
 tee of the House, together with their own bill, without 
 commentary upon either. The object of the chairman of 
 the committee on the part of the Senate, for the disposal of 
 the Smithsonian fund, was the establishment of an institu- 
 tion of learning, or great national university, by the authority 
 of Congress, which would not only absorb the whole 
 bequest, but would require the superaddition of large and 
 frequent appropriations of public moneys for its mainten- 
 ance and support. The bill of that committee, reported to 
 the Senate, was actually taken up in that body, and, after 
 deliberate discussion of its merits, was by them rejected. 
 The immediate consequence of the interposition of that- 
 body upon a subject which had been already several weeks 
 under the consideration of a select committee of this 
 House, was to prevent the possible action of Congress for 
 the fulfillment, at that session, of the trust committed to 
 them. 
 
 Four members of the committee of the House, at the 
 last session of Congress, are also members of the present 
 committee. Retaining their opinions in favor of the bill 
 then reported by the committee on the part of the House, 
 they see no cause to regret the delay to the final action of 
 Congress upon the disposal of the bequest, occasioned by 
 the appointment and proceedings of the joint committee of 
 both Houses at the last session. To the faithful perform- 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 223 
 
 an ce by Congress of the solemn duties imposed on them by 
 the acceptance of this fund and trust to the honor and 
 pledged faith of the nation, it was wise and just to do noth- 
 ing with precipitation. The routine of the ordinary busi- 
 ness of Congress furnished neither principle nor precedent 
 for efficient legislation upon this subject: the trust was as 
 delicate as it was important to the niemor} 7 of the testator, 
 and honorable to the good name of the trustee. An error 
 in the first organization of the institution might, in its eon- 
 sequences, at once defeat the noble purpose of the founder, 
 fail in the express object of his bounty the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men; arid react, most inju- 
 riously, upon the reputation of our beloved country, by 
 demonstrating to the world of mankind, of this and after 
 ages, that the generous confidence of this friend of man in 
 her upright and intelligent ardor in the pursuit of knowl- 
 edge was misplaced. 
 
 It was in the true spirit of the bequest itself that the set- 
 tlement of the principles upon which the institution should 
 be founded should be calm and considerate, and, above all, 
 disinterested: separated from all projects of individuals, and, 
 perhaps, communities, for provisions of emolument to 
 themselves : separated from all speculative patent inven- 
 tions and discoveries in embryo, which, after wasting time 
 and money upon the false conceptions of genius, may never 
 come to the birth : separate, in fine, from all schools, col- 
 leges, universities, institutes of education, or ecclesiastical 
 establishments. 
 
 It was particularly desirable that the exclusion of all in- 
 stitutes for education from a participation in the disposal of 
 these funds should be fully considered and debated before 
 its adoption as a fundamental principle of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, because the first impression upon the public 
 mind, whether learned or illiterate, in this country, very 
 -extensively, was, upon the first publication of Mr. Smith- 
 son's will, that the express design of his bequest was to 
 bestow his large fortune to the cause of education; and 
 that a school, 'college, or university, was the only mode of 
 providing 'for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 .among men. 
 
 It is, then, to be considered as a circumstance propitious 
 to the final disposal of this fund, by the organization of an 
 institution the best adapted to accomplish the design of the 
 testator, that this first but erroneous impression of that de- 
 sign an institute of learning, a university, upon the foun- 
 dation of which the whole fund should be lavished, and yet 
 
224 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 prove inadequate to its purpose without large- appropria- 
 tions of public moneys in its aid should have been pre- 
 sented to the consideration of Congress, referred to a. 
 numerous joint committee of both Houses, there discussed,, 
 reported for the deliberation of both Houses, fully debated 
 in the House where it originated, and there decisively re- 
 jected. 
 
 This committee concur entirely in the opinion of the 
 committee of the House at the last session of Congress,, 
 that the express language of Mr. Smithson's will indicates 
 a design not only distinct, but widely different, from the 
 schooling of children. Besides the reasons assigned in the 
 resolutions of the former committee for withholding any 
 portion of these funds from any institute of education, it is- 
 apparent that the fund itself, large and liberal as it is, could 
 be applied only to an establishment extremely partial and 
 limited, not only with regard to the instruction to be given, 
 but to the persons who could be benefited by it. For a 
 national university, besides the utter inadequatencss of tin- 
 fund for such an establishment, all its benefits would neces- 
 sarily be confined to a very small number of students from 
 the city of Washington and its immediate vicinity, together 
 with a number, scarcely larger, who, at an expense which 
 none but the wealthy could afford, might resort from dis- 
 tant parts of the Union to Washington, for learning, which, 
 after all, they could acquire with equal proficiency in the 
 colleges of their own respective States. A school devoted 
 to any particular branch of science as, for example, a mil- 
 itary or naval school; a farm school, or school of mechanic 
 arts; a school of law, physic, or divinity; a school of 
 mines, of natural history, of metaphysics, literature, morals, 
 or politics however effective for teaching these several 
 branches of science, would be available only for a very 
 , small number of individuals, and very ill adapted to pro- 
 mote the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 If education^ had been the peculiar object of Mr. Smithson's 
 solicitude, it is natural to suppose that he would have been 
 desirous of diffusing the benefits of his institution among 
 all classes of the community as extensively as might be 
 possible ; that he would have devoted it to the endowment 
 of primary schools; of infant or Sunday schools; of insti- 
 tutions, in fine, where the recipients of his bounty would 
 have been at once in great numbers, and of the class of 
 society which pre-eminently needs the blessing of elemen- 
 tary instruction. It would, no doubt, have been an excel- 
 lent disposal of his ample fortune, and would indirectly 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 225 
 
 have contributed to the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men. But, had this been his design, he could 
 neither have located his institution at the city of Washing- 
 ton, nor have selected for trustees and agents to fulfill his 
 design the United States of America. 
 
 In proposing that an astronomical observatory should be 
 the first object for the application of the annual income 
 from the Smithsonian bequest, and that the appropriations 
 should be confined to that object until an establishment of 
 that character shall be completed, not inferior for efficiency 
 to any other devoted to the same science in any part of the 
 world, this committee have been not altogether uninfluenced 
 by anticipations of the impression whicb it will make upon 
 the reputation of these United States throughout the 
 learned and scientific world. As a commercial and navigat- 
 ing nation, they stand already in the first rank of Christian 
 communities. To the science of geography, so far as it can 
 be improved by adventurous enterprise in exploring the un- 
 frequented paths of every ocean, they have contributed 
 their share of private and individual exertion. The expe- 
 dition now floating upon a distant sea, in search of new 
 discoveries upon the surface of the globe, affords a signal 
 testimonial of the interest taken by this Government in the 
 increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. Nor 
 has astronomy been wholly neglected in the instructions 
 given for the conduct of the expedition. But there exists 
 no permanent establishment throughout the Union for 
 systematic continual observation of the phenomena of the 
 heavens ; for the mathematical calculations to furnish the 
 practical results of observation ; and for periodical publica- 
 tion, for the benefit of the commercial, navigating, and 
 scientific world, of the fruits of this combined observation 
 and calculation. To supply this deficiency, the bequest of 
 James Smithson fortunate!} 7 furnishes the means, without 
 needing the assistance of any contribution from the public 
 funds of the nation. Should the Government of the Union, 
 responding to an impulse of emulation in laudable pursuits 
 which may be kindled in the minds of this ambitious peo- 
 ple, by successful results in the application of the Smith- 
 sonian funds, hereafter be disposed to appropriate some 
 portion of the moneys levied upon the people themselves 
 to the advancement of astronomical or geographical knowl- 
 edge, there will be ample field for demonstrating to the 
 world that the United States of America were not only 
 worthy of the honor done them by a generous foreigner, in 
 selecting them as the administrators of his bequest for the 
 
 15 
 
226 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 improvement of the condition of man, but that the Ameri- 
 can people themselves will require a liberal application of 
 their own revenues, levied upon themselves, to the same 
 lofty-spirited purpose. The committee are of opinion that 
 it will be expedient to keep the Smithsonian bequest within 
 itself, resting upon its own resources, and reserving to the 
 memory of the founder himself whatever of credit or of 
 
 fratitude may be due to the successful accomplishment of 
 is benevolent design. Not a ray of glory can be concen- 
 trated upon him, but will be reflected back upon those 
 whom he selected as his administrators and trustees. 
 
 With these observations, the committee submit the bill 
 and proposed amendments to the consideration of the 
 House. 
 
 A BILL to provide for the disposal and management of the fund be- 
 queathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment 
 of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among im>n. 
 
 SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representative* <>f the 
 United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Vice -President of 
 the United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretaries of 
 State, of the Treasury, of War, and of the Navy, the Attorney General of 
 the United States, and the Mayor of the city of Washington, all during 
 the time when they shall hold their respective offices, together with three 
 members of the Senate and four members of the House of Representatives, 
 to be annually elected by their respective Houses on the second Wednesday 
 of December, and to continue in office until others are elected in their 
 stead, shall be, and hereby are, constituted a body politic and corporate, by 
 the style and title of the trustees of the Smithsonian Institution for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge among men, with perpetual succession, 
 and the usual powers, duties, and liabilities, incident to corporations. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the corporation so constituted 
 shall have power to appoint, from citizens of the United States other than 
 members of the board, a secretary and a treasurer, to hold their offices 
 during the pleasure of the board, and removable at their pleasure, and 
 others to be appointed in their places, and to fix their compensations. And 
 the secretary and treasurer only shall receive pecuniary compensation for 
 their services, and those of the members of the board of trustees shall be 
 gratuitous. And the offices of secretary and treasurer may, at the discre- 
 tion of the board of trustees, be held by the same person. The secretary 
 and treasurer shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of the duties of their 
 respective offices ; and the treasurer shall give bond, with the penalty of 
 fifty thousand dollars, with sureties to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, for the safe custody and faithful application of all the funds 
 of the Institution which may come to his hands or be at his disposal. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of five hundred and 
 eight thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars and forty-six cents, 
 placed in the Treasury of the United States on the first day of September, 
 eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, as the proceeds, in part, of the bequest 
 of James Smithson to the United States, together with all sums which have 
 been or may hereafter be realized, shall be passed hereafter to the credit of 
 $i fund, to be denominated the Smithsonian fund, in the Treasury of the 
 United States. And the faith of the United States is hereby pledged for 
 the preservation of the said fund undiminished and unimpaired, to bear in- 
 terest at the rate of six per cent, a year, payable on the first days of Janu- 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 227 
 
 ary and July, to the treasurer of the board of trustees of the Smithsonian 
 fund, to be applied to the purposes of the fund, conformably to the laws, 
 and subject to the revision and regulations of the board of trustees. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no part of the said Smithsonian 
 fund, principal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, univer- 
 sity, institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the appropriations to be made 
 from time to time by Congress, to the purposes of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, as declared by the testator, shall be exclusively from the accruing 
 interest, and not from the principal, of the said fund : Provided, That Con- 
 gress shall retain the power of investing, at their discretion, the principal 
 of said fund in any other manner, so as to secure not less than a yearly 
 interest of six per cent. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the sum of thirty thousand dol- 
 lars, part of the first year's interest accruing on the same Smithsonian fund, 
 be, and the same is hereby, appropriated towards the erection and establish- 
 ment, at the city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, adapted 
 to the most effective and continual observations of the phenomena of the 
 heavens ; to be provided with the necessary, best, and most perfect instru- 
 ments and books, for the periodical publication of the said observations, 
 and for the annual composition and publication of a nautical almanac. 
 
 SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said observatory shall be 
 erected under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the 
 approbation of the President of the United States. And the site for the 
 same shall be selected upon land, in the city of Washington, belonging to 
 the United States ; and the land necessary for the same, and for any other 
 buildings proper to be connected with the said observatory and the appur- 
 tenances thereof, is hereby granted, and shall be duly conveyed, as a deed 
 of gift, to the trustees of the Smithsonian fund, and to their successors for- 
 ever, in aid of the purposes of the said Institution. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That all expenditures made by the said 
 board shall be subject to the approval of the President of the United States ; 
 and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury, and audited, under his direction, by the proper officers of the Treasury 
 Department ; and the said board shall report to Congress, at every session 
 thereof, the state of the Smithsonian fund, and a full statement of their 
 receipts and expenditures during the preceding year. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the trustees 
 of the Smithsonian fund shall be held at the city of Washington on the third 
 
 of next ; and that, in the mean time, the custody of the said 
 
 fund, and the expenditures under the appropriation herein made, shall be 
 held and authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the appro- 
 bation of the President of the United States. 
 
 SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a board of visitors, 
 to be annually appointed, consisting of nine members ; two of whom to be 
 commissioned officers of the army, to be appointed by the Secretary of 
 War ; two commissioned officers of the navy, to be appointed by the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy ; the mayors for the time being of the cities of Alex- 
 andria and of Georgetown, within the District of Columbia; and one citi- 
 zen of each of the cities of Washington, and Alexandria, and Georgetown, 
 to be appointed by the President of the United States ; who shall meet on 
 the first Monday of February, at eleven o'clock, before noon, at the said 
 astronomical observatory, and visit and inspect the condition of the said 
 observatory, and of the Smithsonian Institution generally. They shall 
 choose among themselves a chairman, and shall make report to the Presi- 
 dent of the United States of the said condition of the institution ; specifi- 
 cally indicating in what respect the institution has, during the preceding 
 year, contributed to the purpose of the founder the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men. To this board the astronomical observator shall 
 make a report to the same effect, so far as regards the astronomical branch 
 
228 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the institution ; which report shall be annexed to that of the board to 
 the President of the United States, who shall communicate the said reports 
 to Congress. The services of the members of the said board shall be gra- 
 tuitous ; but the expenses incidental to their meeting and the performance 
 of their duties shall be included in the annual estimates of the War and 
 Navy Departments, alternately, and paid from the contingent expenses 
 thereof respectively. 
 
 SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 
 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing, any of the provi- 
 sions of this act, which shall be found inconvenient upon experience : Pro- 
 vided, That no contract or individual right, made or acquired under such 
 provisions, shall thereby be impaired or divested. 
 
 SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the sum of sixty thousand dol- 
 lars from the second and third years' interest of the Smithsonian bequest 
 be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, to be invested so as to yield a 
 yearly income at the rate of six per cent, a year ; from which yearly income 
 shall be paid the compensation of an astronomical observator, to be ap- 
 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate 
 of the United States, and the incidental and contingent expenses of repairs 
 upon the buildings, as they may be required. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Estimate of the expense of erecting an astronomical observatory of the first 
 class, and of supporting it by appropriations from the income of the Smith- 
 sonian fund. 
 
 In the letter of llth October, 1888, to the Secretary of State, communi- 
 cated to Congress with the message of the President of the 6th of Decem- 
 ber of that year, a conjectural estimate was given of the expense of estab- 
 lishing and maintaining a permanent astronomical observatory, and of the 
 periodical publication of the results of the observations there made, and of 
 a nautical almanac. That estimate contemplated the income of seven years 
 of the fund as indispensably necessary for completing and organizing the 
 establishment in such manner as to avoid all encroachment on the capital 
 of the Smithsonian fund ; to increase it by providing from its income per- 
 manent funds for the discharge of the most of constantly accruing expend- 
 itures incident to it ; and to relieve the fund itself forever after from any 
 further contribution to this branch of the institution. 
 
 Further reflection, and the information received of the expenses actually 
 chargeable upon the Greenwich Observatory, and defrayed by the British 
 Government, have led to the conclusion that the estimate was yet not suffi- 
 ciently li beral ; and that, for the accomplishment of the above purposes, not 
 less than ten years of the income will be required exclusively for this ob- 
 ject. But, of this large sum, an overbearing proportion will, while pro- 
 viding for all the necessary expenses of the establishment, at the same time 
 increase the capital of the fund by the value of the buildings erected, and 
 of the instruments and books purchased, and by the amount of the funds, 
 from the interest of which the observing astronomer, his assistants, and all 
 the persons to be employed in the service of the observatory, shall receive 
 their compensation. The following is a gross estimate of the sums which, 
 it is believed, will be required for the full execution of the plan presented, 
 in the bill herewith reported : 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 
 
 229 
 
 Estimate of the appropriations from the annual income of the Smithsonian 
 fund, assumed to be thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 For the purchase of land, and construction of the necessary 
 
 buildings one year $30,000 
 
 For a fund, from the yearly income of which the compensation 
 
 of the observing astronomer shall be paid, two years 60,000 
 
 The interest of this sum will be $3,600 a year, of which 
 $3,000 a year may be fixed as the salary of the astronomer, 
 and $600 for the incidental and contingent expenses of re- 
 pairs upon the buildings, as they may be required. 
 For a fund, from the yearly income of which four assistants to 
 the astronomer, and two laborers necessary for attendance on 
 him, for the care and preservation of the buildings four years 120,000 
 
 The income would be $7,200 a year, of which $6,000 a year 
 might be for the compensation of four assistants, at $1,500 
 a year each, and two laborers, each at $600 a year. 
 
 For the purchase and procurement of instruments one year 30,000 
 
 Of this, $20,000 might be applied to furnish an assortment 
 of the best instruments to be procured, and $10,000 a fund, 
 from the interest of which other instruments may be from 
 time to time procured, as occasions for the use of them may 
 arise, and for repairs of the instruments, as needed. 
 
 For the library one year 30,000 
 
 $10,000 for first supply ; $20,000 for a fund for an income 
 of $1,200 a year, for a constant supply of new works and 
 periodical publications upon science in other parts of the 
 world, or in America. 
 
 .Estimate for a fund, from the income of which $1,800 a year 
 shall be defrayed the expense of the yearly publication of the 
 observations, and of a nautical almanac one year 30,000 
 
 John Q. Adams to Christopher Hughes. 
 
 WASHINGTON, April 10, 1839. 
 
 DEAR SIR : I wish to obtain information upon the following points rela- 
 ting to the royal observatory at Greenwich : 
 
 1. By whom, and at whose expense, was the royal observatory at Green- 
 wich built ? At whose expense is it maintained ? 
 
 2. What are the buildings connected with it, and how much land is there 
 around it belonging to it ? 
 
 3. Has it at any time been rebuilt, or has its construction been in any- 
 wise altered ? 
 
 4. By whom is the astronomer royal appointed and paid ? What is the 
 amount of his compensation ? 
 
 5. What are his duties? and in what manner are they prescribed ? Is 
 there a standing instruction to regulate his observations? Is he required 
 to make reports ? and. if so, to whom ? 
 
 6. Are there any other persons attached to the observatory as assistants, 
 calculators, or servants ? If so, what are their duties and their compensa- 
 tion ? 
 
 7. What are the instruments used at the observatory ? By whom, and 
 at whose expense, are they furnished ? What was their cost, and by whom 
 were they made? A list of them, with their prices, and their maker's 
 ,name, would be very acceptable. 
 
230 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 8. Is there anv library belonging to the establishment? If so, consist- 
 ing of what books ? 
 
 9. Who is now the most eminent mathematical and astronomical instru- 
 ment maker in London ? Is there any successor to Troughton ? 
 
 If you can obtain me any information of the same, or similar particulars 
 with regard to any of the public observatories in any part of the continent 
 of Europe, I shall owe you another obligation for the communication of 
 them. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, with the highest esteem and respect, your friend and 
 servant, 
 
 JOHN Q. ADAMS. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER HUGHES, Esq. 
 
 Answers by the Astronomer Royal, the Rev. George B. Airy, to Mr. Adams' 
 questions, dated lOl/i April, 1839. 
 
 1. The royal observatory at Greenwich was built, at the expense of the 
 Government, in the reign of Charles II, (about 1670,) and the buildings 
 have always been repaired or extended at the expense of the Government. 
 The instruments used by Flamsteed, the first astronomer royal, were not 
 furnished by the Government, and were taken away by his executors. 
 Since that time, the instruments have always been furnished by the Gov- 
 ernment, except in two instances where instruments have be.-n presented. 
 The observations are now printed at the expense of the Government. 
 Thus every expense connected with the observatory is defrayed by the 
 Government. The observatory was at first connected with the ordnance 
 department of the executive, (I believe from the accidental circumstance 
 that Sir Jonas Moor, the personal friend of Flamsteed, and one of the 
 original proposers of the observatory, was then master-general of the ord- 
 nance.) In the year 1816 or 1817 it was transferred to the admiralty de- 
 partment. The estimates for the annual expense of the observatory are 
 inserted under the "scientific branch" of tho admiralty account in the 
 Parliamentary, estimates, and are voted annually by Parliament. 
 
 In the original institution of the observatory, no provision wag made for 
 the printing of the observations, or for the communication of the results to 
 the public in any way, and no obligation to that effect was imposed on the 
 astronomer royal. When Flamsteed had held the office about thirty years, 
 and had published nothing, the Royal Society applied to the Queen to ap- 
 point a board of visitors (one of them being Sir Isaac Newton, the Presi- 
 dent of the Royal Society) to superintend the observatory generally, and 
 with power to require a publication of the observations. (For a full detail 
 of the quarrel which followed, I would refer to Baily's Account of the Life 
 ^-c., of 'John Fiamsteed, which may probably be found in the libraries of 
 the scientific bodies in America.) An edition of the observations was 
 printed by them ; but another edition was afterwards printed by Flamsteed 
 himself. Halle,y, the next astronomer royal, printed nothing of observa- 
 tions. Bradley and Bliss left manuscripts ; but the right of the Govern- 
 ment to them was disputed, and thev were ultimately printed by the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford. It was not till 1767, on Maskelyne's accession, that the 
 King, (George III,) on the petition of the Royal Society, ordered that the 
 observations should be printed annually ; and since that time there has 
 been no doubt that the observations are the property of the Government, 
 and are to be printed annually. 
 
 The board of visitors above alluded to existed without alteration (as I 
 believe) till 1830 ; and it was by that board (as I imagine) that representa- 
 tions were made to the Government which led to the purchase of instru- 
 ments in Halley's time, to the regular printing of the observations in Mas- 
 kelyne's time, &c. The president and council of the Royal Society, (or 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 231 
 
 part of them,) with a number of persons invited by them, either fellows of 
 the society or strangers, met once a year at the royal observatory, inspected 
 the instruments, and discussed the general business of the observatory. 
 They had, I believe, no power, except to recommend measures to the ex- 
 ecutive. The meeting was rather numerous In 1830 the old board was 
 abolished, and a new one appointed, by name, from the Royal and Astro- 
 nomical Societies.* Vacancies are filled up by the president of that society 
 in which the vacancies occur. This board has no power to invite asses- 
 sors ; its powers, as to making representations, &c., are the same as those 
 of the old board. On the first appointment of the new board, there was 
 exhibited in it a rather vexatious spirit towards the then astronomer royal, 
 (Mr. Pond.) Since my appointment as astronomer royal, the board has 
 scarcely interfered in any thing, except in matters which I have myself 
 suggested. 
 
 The visitors receive no pay. Lately it has been ordered that their bare 
 expenses be paid. 
 
 I have given a rather comprehensive answer to No. 1, touching upon the 
 subjects of other questions, and embracing points not at all alluded to in 
 the questions, because, probably, there is no other active institution whose 
 history serves so well to suggest the points to which attention ought to be 
 given in founding a new institution of similar character, as well as the 
 amount of the charges which, in future years, may be required in all the 
 branches of the institution. 
 
 1 omitted to mention that the astronomer royal's account of disburse- 
 ments, and bills for expenses of all kinds connected with the observatory, 
 were formerly audited by tho board of visitors. This audit was found to 
 be insufficient ; and the accounts are now transmitted, in the same way as 
 those of any other department under the admiralty, to the Government 
 offices. 
 
 2. For a plan of the building first erected, I refer again to Baily's Ac- 
 count, $c., cited above. There were a small house, one large room above 
 it, covering nearly the whole house, with lofty windows on all sides, in- 
 tended, I suppose, for gazing astronomical observations, (but quite useless 
 for the purposes of modern astronomy,) a garden or lawn about 80 feet 
 square, and a small low building in one corner of it, in which Flamsteed's 
 really useful instruments were placed. The place was very small. The 
 situation, in the middle of the royal park of Greenwich, has "probably pre- 
 vented the necessity for enclosure so large as would elsewhere be required, 
 inasmuch as it was impossible that houses could be built close to the en- 
 closure. The history in Halley's time is so defective, that I am not certain 
 whether the building, which is to this time the principal observing build, 
 ing, was erected then or not, but I should think that it was ; it was cer- 
 tainly erected before 1750, when Bradley's regular observations begin. It 
 consists of a room about 20 feet square for the transit, and a similar room 
 for the quadrants, (both on the ground floor, and with no rooms above 
 them,) and a central computing room, with room for an assistant above. 
 It is not connected with the dwelling house. When this was erected, the 
 enclosure was nearly doubled. In Dr. Maskelyne's time, two small de- 
 tached rooms were covered with revolving domes, for equatorial instru- 
 ments ; their situation is particularly unfavorable. In the beginning of 
 Dr. Maskelyne's time, the dwelling house was extended. About the end 
 of Dr. Maskelyne's time, the observing building was extended, in prepa- 
 ration for a mural circle, which was not erected till after his death, and 
 some new buildings were erected for library, &c., and for assistant's apart- 
 ments ; a building was erected, to be covered with a revolving dome, (called 
 
 * With a few official persons, as the presidents of the two societies, two profes- 
 sors of the University of Oxford, and two professors of the University of Cam- 
 bridge, ex ojft.ci; the whole number of the visitors being about nineteen. This 
 fluctuates, because all ex-presidents are members of the board. 
 
232 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the south dome;) an addition was made to the enclosure. The whole en- 
 closure was now about half an acre ; it covered the whole of the small 
 steep hill on which the observatory stands, quite to the isthmus or neck 
 that connects it with the table land of the higher side of the park. About 
 1817 part of the steep dell behind the hill was enclosed as a garden for 
 the astronomer royal. In 1837, part of the table land beyond the dell was 
 enclosed, for the erection of a magnetic observatory. The dwelling house, 
 which was too small, was enlarged in 1836. Thus the present state of the 
 buildings and grounds (1839) is nearly as follows: Whole enclosure about 
 2 1 acres, of which 1 acre, or more, can never be available for buildings, on 
 account of the steepness of the ground, and is used as a garden and waste 
 ground. Whole set of buildings: 1. Dwelling house of the astronomer 
 royal, with the great room above part it; 2. Two domes, (east and \vt--t 
 domes,) detached ; 3. Detached range of buildings, including Flamsteed's 
 small room, the quadrant room, (not used now,) the transit room, the circle 
 room, the library, the chronometer room, the south dome, the computing 
 room, some assistants' apartments, (not for their dwelling, but for their 
 comfort or repose in the intervals of observation ;) 4. Magnetic observa- 
 tory, detached ; 5. Carpenter's shop, gardener's shop, and other out-hou-* >.-. 
 The extent of ground would not be sufficient, if there were not the safety 
 from being surrounded by buildings, which is given by the locality within 
 a royal park. 
 
 3. The construction of the observatory has been altered almost entirely, 
 by additions ; nearly the whole of the original work remains. The collec- 
 tion of buildings is now exceedingly irregular, and in some respects incon- 
 venient. 
 
 4. The astronomer royal is appointed by the First Lord of the Treasury ; 
 but his connection with the admiralty is so close, that the First Lord of the 
 Admiralty probably has the principal influence in his appointment. He 
 holds his office by warrant, under the sign manual of the sovereign. The 
 salary was formerly 100. Bradley and Bliss both held it with professor- 
 ships at Oxford ; but the salary has gradually been raised, and is now 800, 
 (subject to a deduction for a fund for superannuation,) and it is expected 
 that the astronomer royal shall hold no other office. 
 
 5. The duties of the astronomer royal are not very definite ; but, un- 
 doubtedly, he is to attend to the main points of astronomy, to the best of 
 his judgment, rather than to anything of a discursive nature. The appoint- 
 ment originated in the desire of discovering means of finding the longi- 
 tude at sea ; and, therefore, anything applying to longitude would speci- 
 ally require his attention. In this way the trials of chronometers first 
 became a part of his duty ; from which, 'by degrees, it arose, that the care 
 and regular supply of chronometers for the royal riav} T were imposed upon 
 him, to the great injury of the astronomical efficiency of the observatory. 
 Lately, the chronometer business has been confined to rating the chronom- 
 eters on trial for purchase, or navy chronometers brought on shore, with 
 occasional supplies of chronometers to ships by direction of the admiralty, 
 and with general superintendence of the repairs. 
 
 The duties are prescribed : first, by the Queen's warrant, which merely 
 directs the astronomer to apply himself with diligence to observing the 
 heavenly bodies, for finding out the so- much-desired longitude at sea ; (the 
 same words as in the warrant originally given to Flamsteed ;) second, by 
 the official instructions given by the admiralty board, (who have been em- 
 powered to issue instructions by the Queen in council,) which enter a little 
 more minutely into the duties, but necessarily leave the course of astro- 
 nomical observations very indefinite.* 
 
 The board of admiralty sometimes call on the astronomer royal for a 
 
 *The board of visitors are empowered by their warrant, under the royal s'gn 
 manual, to direct the astronomer royal to make such observations as they may 
 think fit : but I am not aware that they have ever exercised this power. 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 233 
 
 report, but it is rather upon such matters as the state of the buildings and 
 instruments, the conduct of the assistants, &c., than upon the nature of the 
 astronomical observations. 
 
 I have myself introduced the rule of reading a report to the board of 
 visitors at their annual meeting at the observatory, applying as well to the 
 astronomical labors as to the general occurrences at the observatory ; and 
 this report they have, each year, ordered to be printed. (Copies accompany 
 this paper.) If this custom be continued, there will, probably, be found a 
 more complete series of annals of the observatory than has hitherto ex- 
 isted. 
 
 6. Besides the astronomer royal, there are six assistants, and a laborer, 
 and a watchman ; al.o a gate porter, (some old sailor from Greenwich hos- 
 pital.) The duties of the assistants are, to observe, and compute, entirely 
 under the direction of the astronomer royal. None of these persons reside 
 within the precincts of the observatory, or even within the park. They 
 find houses for themselves, from the salaries mentioned below, (part of the 
 salary being considered as compensation for want of dwelling-house.) 
 
 The salaries are : first assistant, 350 ; second assistant, 220, (in future 
 instances this is to be 190 ;) third assistant, 190 ; fourth, fifth, and sixth 
 assistants, 130 each ; laborer, 43 ; gate porter, 15 12s.; watchman, 
 32 10s. 
 
 7. The instruments in use at this time are : a transit instrument, ten feet 
 long, constructed by Trough ton, bought by the Government ; price, I think, 
 300. 
 
 Mural circle, six feet diameter, constructed by Troughton, bought by the 
 Government ; price, I believe, 600.* 
 
 Zenith tube, or zenith sector, of small range, for the observation of Dra- 
 conis only, which passes very near to the zenith of Greenwich ; purchased 
 by the Government. I know not the price. 
 
 The eastern equatorial, or Shuckburg's equatorial, constructed by Kams- 
 den ; presented by Lord Liverpool. 
 
 The western equatorial ; a very worthless instrument. 
 
 The southern equatorial, or Sheepshank's equatorial. The object-glass 
 made by a Parisian artist, (I think by Cauchoix;) presented by the Kev. 
 E. Sheepshanks ; the mounting by Mr. T. Grubb, of Dublin, at the expense 
 of the Government ; its cost 205. 
 
 Several telescopes ; prices unknown some probably exceeding 100. 
 
 Several clocks ; the most expensive cost, I believe, 200. 
 
 I ought not to omit that there is machinery for raising a large ball, (five 
 feet in diameter,) on the top of the house, and dropping it precisely at 1 
 o'clock every day as a signal by which the chronometers on board the ships 
 in the river Thames may be rated. It was erected at the expense of the 
 Government ; I know not the cost. 
 
 Besides these, there is the magnetic apparatus, yet imperfect ; the expense 
 hitherto incurred has been 30 or 40. 
 
 8. There is a library, covering the walls of a room twenty feet square. 
 It consists principally of the transactions of societies, of mathematical and 
 astronomical works, works on the literature of astronomy, nautical astron- 
 omy, voyages, &c. In these respects it is a very good library. It has been 
 collected, partly at the expense of Government, and partly from the pres- 
 ents of private persons and official bodies. 
 
 9. The best instrument-makers in London, at the present time, are 
 William Simms, (successor of Troughton, formerly his partner,) 136 Fleet 
 street; Thomas Jones, 62 Charing Cross; George Dolland, 59 St. Paul's 
 churchyard. Dolland is principally known for his telescopes and optical 
 instruments ; he has had little experience in the construction of large grad- 
 
 * Another mural circle of the same size, constructed by Jones, has lately been 
 sent from the royal observatory to the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
234 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 uated instruments. I know no maker who can be considered as successor 
 to Troughton in originality and boldness of ideas. 
 
 The whole annual expense of the observatory to the Government, includ- 
 ing salaries, additions and repairs to buildings, additions and repairs to 
 instruments, and printing, exceeds 3,000. 
 
 Miscellaneous information relating to other observatories. 
 
 1. The observatory at Cambridge was built, partly by private subscrip- 
 tion, partly by grant from the funds of the university, in 1820, at an ex- 
 pense of about 20,000. It is maintained at the expense of tbe university. 
 
 That at Oxford, I believe, was built from the funds bequeathed for that 
 purpose by Dr. Radcliffe. 
 
 Those at Edinburgh and Glasgow were commenced by private subscrip- 
 tion, and afterwards assisted by the Government. 
 
 That at Armagh was built from funds bequeathed. 
 
 That at Dublin in like manner. 
 
 I know not how those of Oxford, Armagh, and Dublin, are maintained ; 
 but I believe that the salaries of the observers, as well as the general sup- 
 port and repairs of the buildings and instruments, are defrayed from the 
 bequests. 
 
 2. In the whole of these, (Glasgow excepted, which is not much ad- 
 vanced,) there is a dwelling-house for the astronomer, and in gome tin n- 
 are dwellings for assistants ; connected in all cases by building under the 
 same roof, or by enclosed passages, with the observatory. 
 
 The enclosure of land about the Cambridge observatory is scvi-n aero. 
 
 That at Oxford, a field, perhaps not so large. 
 
 That at Dublin, about thirty acres. 
 
 The new Russian observatory, at Pulkowa, about fifty acres. 
 
 3. I do not think that either of the observatories which I have men- 
 tioned has undergone great alteration. The Cambridge observatory, Imilt 
 in 1820, has not itself undergone any alteration ; but, on occasions of the 
 presentation of a large telescope, (20 feet long and 12 inches in aperture,) 
 a new detached building was erected for it. I may remark, that the Cam- 
 bridge observatory was built on a plan architecturally symmetrical ; which 
 arrangement I should deprecate in any new observatory, on account of the 
 difficulties which it presents to all future alterations. 
 
 4. The astronomer at Cambridge is the Plumian professor. This officer 
 is elected by the trustees of the estate bequeathed by a Dr. Plume, and is 
 paid by the rent of the estate, amounting to about 300 per annum. When 
 I was elected to that office in 1827, I represented to the senate of the Cam- 
 bridge University that this sum was not sufficient remuneration for the 
 duties of the observatory, and the senate increased the payment to 500 by 
 annual grant from the funds of the university. 
 
 The astronomers at Oxford and Dublin are appointed by the trustees of 
 certain estates, and are paid from their rents. I believe that the astrono- 
 mer at Armagh is elected and paid in the same manner. 
 
 For the appointment of the astronomer at Edinburgh, the consent of the 
 Government is necessary. I know not how he is paid. 
 
 5. I do not think that in any of these instances there is any distinct set 
 of instructions or definition of duties. At Cambridge, there is a board of 
 visitors, which meets at least three times in each year at the observatory ; 
 one of these meetings being attended also by other members of the uni- 
 versity and strangers. I introduced at Cambridge the custom of reading 
 a report to the visitors at each regular meeting. The visitors are required 
 to make a report once a year to the senate of the university. 
 
 In instituting a new observatory, it appears to me very desirable that 
 there should be appointed a body like the board of visitors at Greenwich 
 and at Cambridge, with power to require reports from the astronomer, and- 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 235 
 
 perhaps to direct him in some degree, and with the duty of reporting to 
 the governing body. 
 
 The visitors of the Cambridge observatory are all members of the senate 
 of the university. The visitors of the Greenwich observatory are persons 
 living in different parts of England. 
 
 6. At Cambridge observatory there are two assistants and a laborer. 
 At the Cape of Good Hope, the same. 
 
 At Edinburgh, Dublin, and Armagh, I believe one assistant each. 
 
 Their duties are to observe and to calculate, under the direction of the 
 astronomer. 
 
 The salaries of the Cambridge assistants are, I think, 80 each per an- 
 num, with apartments. 
 
 7. The instruments at Cambridge observatory are 
 
 A mural circle, 8 feet in diameter, made by Troughton ; price, 1,050. 
 
 A transit instrument, 10 feet long, made by Dolland ; price, I believe. 
 600. 
 
 An equatorial 5-feet telescope, made by Jones ; price, about 750 ; (many 
 complaints of this price.) 
 
 Several small instruments, telescopes, &c. 
 
 Three clocks ; one cost 100 to 120. 
 
 A 20 feet telescope, presented by the Duke of Northumberland. 
 
 At Oxford there are some quadrants, not used ; and also a circle, 4 feet 
 diameter, made by Jones ; and an old transit. 
 
 At Edinburgh : a mural circle, 4 feet in diameter, made by Simms ; and 
 a transit, made by Kepsold, of Hamburgh. 
 
 At Armagh : u mural circle, 4 feet in diameter, made by Jones ; and a 
 transit, (maker not known.) 
 
 At Dublin : an altitude and azimuth instrument ; the vertical circle, 8 
 feet in diameter, made by Kamsden ; and a transit. 
 
 I may remark, that, in the construction of instruments, expense may 
 frequently be avoided by leaving some points to the discretion of the instru- 
 ment maker. As an instance : when I superintended the equatorial mount- 
 ing of the 20- feet telescope at Cambridge, I found occasion for a 5- feet circle, 
 and I directed it to be cast in one piece of bell metal. It appears to answer 
 perfectly well. Mr. Simms is quite satisfied with it, and thinks it possible 
 that it might be made, at still less expense, of cast-iron. Since that time, 
 Mr. Simms has had, I believe, two orders for large circles ; and when I 
 have urged him to have each cast in one piece, he has expressed his wish to 
 do so ; but has informed me that his orders were to make them " like the 
 Greenwich circles," and has therefore considered himself compelled to put 
 them together in many pieces, in the same wa} 7 as the' Greenwich circles, at 
 much greater expense than would have been implied in the construction 
 mentioned above. 
 
 G. 13. AIRY. 
 
 June 8, 1839. 
 
 Since writing the answers above, I have received from Mr. Simms the 
 following list of prices : 
 
 The mural circles for Greenwich, Cracow, Brussels, Edinburgh, and 
 Lucknow, are all of the same dimensions, (six feet in diameter,) and were 
 all made by Troughton. The price in each case was 735. Mr. Simms 
 states that at this price there was no profit, (Troughton was wholly regard- 
 less of profit in constructing these instruments,) and that he would not like 
 to undertake one for less than 900. 
 
 The mural circle for Cambridge, eight feet in diameter, was made by 
 Troughton, for 1,050. 
 
 Troughton was paid for the Greenwich transit 315, which sum did not 
 include'the object-glass. Mr. Simms states that the cost now would be 450 
 guineas for the instrument complete. Its length is ten feet. 
 
 Troughton received for the Brussels equatorial 450 guineas ; but this was 
 too little ; it ought to have been 600. (I think that^the length of the tel- 
 
286 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 escope is five feet; the diameter of the declination circle, three feet; and 
 that of the hour circle, two feet, or two and a half feet.) 
 
 A very good clock for Luck now cost 80. An inferior clock 28. 
 
 G. B. AIRY. 
 
 June 11, 1839. 
 
 Mr. Adams then reproduces the messages of the President and the cor- 
 respondence between Mr. Hush, the agent of the United States, and Mr. 
 Forsyth, Secretary of State, concerning the action taken to secure the be- 
 quest, all of which appears in its proper place. 
 
 A motion was made by Mr. MONROE that 5,000 extra 
 copies of the report above,' made by Mr. Adams, and of the 
 reports of committees heretofore made, with the other 
 papers in relation to the subject, be printed for the use of 
 the members. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 19, 1840. 
 
 The following letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 transmitting statements of moneys invested in the stocks of 
 the several States, was read and laid upon the table : 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 17, 1840. 
 
 SIR : This report is submitted in obedience to a resolution of the House 
 -of Representatives of the 9th instant, directing the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury to furnish " a statement of all the public moneys of the United States 
 invested in the stocks of the several Siates, specifying the amount invested 
 in the stocks of each State ; the authority by which each investment was 
 made; the terms, and rate of interest, of each contract; the security re- 
 ceived for the payment of interest and principal of each debt ; the rate per 
 centum given in the purchase of the bonds ; and the market value of tin- 
 bonds at the times of the respective investments, and at the present time : " 
 I have the honor to state that this department is not aware that any " of 
 the public moneys of the United States," held in their own right, are u in- 
 vested in the stocks of the several States." But some of the moneys held 
 in trust by the United States have been invested in such stocks, either by 
 agreement with those possessing the legal title, such as treaty stipulations 
 with Indian tribes ; or by authority of acts of Congress, such as that of the 
 7th of July, 1838, concerning the moneys received on account of the 
 .Smithsonian bequest. 
 
 ***** # * 
 
 There are no means here for ascertaining the market value of the State 
 stocks at any particular time with accuracy. Sales of such stocks are rarelv 
 entered in the reports of stock operations at the boards of the brokers in the 
 principal cities ; and extensive and tedious correspondence would alone en- 
 ;able me to give a near approximation to their worth at the periods of thes* 
 numerous purchases. On examination of the files of a New York price 
 current, from 1836 to the present date, (being the only paper quoting the 
 price of stocks preserved in this department,) not one-fourth of the State 
 stocks held here could be found, and not a single quotation at the time the 
 bonds were purchased. But all of the stocks purchased here were obtained 
 .at the lowest price they could be had at the time, it having been an invaria- 
 ble rule, when funds were received which the department was authorized 
 to invest, to address letters to such persons in the principal cities as were 
 supposed to have stocks for sale, notifying them of the fact, and allowing 
 time to receive their offers ; after which, a contract was made for such as 
 were offered on terms found to be most advantageous for the trust, having 
 .regard, in determining that fact, to the interest the stock yielded, and the 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 
 
 237 
 
 length of time before its maturity. The price given, the par value, the 
 rate of interest, and the authority for each purchase, will appear in the 
 tables annexed. 
 
 In respect to the security for the payment of the interest and principal 
 of the stocks, none other was asked beyond the guaranty of the respective 
 States in the a'cts authorizing the issue of the stocks. 
 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Hon. K. M. T. HUNTER, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Statement of the moneys invested in State stocks held in trust by the Treasury 
 Department, showing the time of the respective investments ; amount in- 
 vested in the stocks of each State ; rate of interest on bonds in each contract ; 
 rate at which stock was purchased ; and authority by which each invest- 
 ment was made, Sfc. 
 
 Time of the re- 
 spective invest- 
 ments. 
 
 Amount invested in the 
 stocks of each State. 
 
 Rate of interest 
 on bonds in 
 each contract. 
 
 "So. 
 
 * * # 
 1838, September _ 
 November _ 
 December 
 1839, July _ 
 
 # # # * 
 $500,000 00 Arkansas bonds.. 
 8,000 00 Michigan bonds_ 
 10,000 00 Arkansas bonds. 
 13,000 00 Arkansas bonds 
 
 * * * 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 
 * * * 
 
 ioo T7 
 
 100 
 
 1840, February __ 
 
 26,000 00 Illinois bonds... 
 
 6 
 
 73 
 
 Authority by which the investments were made Act of July 7, 1838, 
 authorizing the investment of the Smithsonian bequest. 
 
 Security received for the payment of interest and principal of each debt 
 Guaranty of the State. 
 
 Market price at the time of purchase No means of ascertaining accu- 
 rately. 
 
 Market price at the present time No means of ascertaining accurately. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 16, 1840. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 23, 1840. 
 
 Mr. MONROE moved the following, which was read and 
 laid on the table one day, under the rule : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report on the Smithsonian 
 bequest be published for the use of the members of this House. 
 
 Mr. TOLAND moved that 4,000 extra copies of the report 
 of the select committee on the Smithsonian bequest be 
 printed for the use of the members. 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, February 10, 1841. 
 
 Agreeably to notice, Mr. Linn asked and obtained leave 
 
 to bring in a bill (S. 245) to appoint trustees for tbc invest- 
 
 ment of the Smithsonian fund ; which was read the first and 
 
 .second times, by unanimous consent, and referred to the 
 
 Committee on the Library. 
 
 The bill is as follows : 
 
 [S. No. 245.] 
 A BILL to appoint Trustees for the investment of the Smithsonian fund. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of tin- rutted 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretari.- ,,i' the State, 
 the Treasury, the .War, and the Navy Departments, the Attorney General, 
 and the Postmaster General, be, and 'they are hereby, constituted trustees 
 of the Smithsonian fund, with power to invest the same in salt- public funds, 
 and to change said investment when, in their judgment, it may be desir- 
 able : Provided, however, That said trustees shall, under no circumstance*, 
 diminish or expend the principal of said fund ; but that all expenses of in- 
 vestments of said fund, or for other purposes, as provided ly law, shall be. 
 paid out of the interest which has accrued, or which may accrue, from said 
 fund. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That said trustees shall have power to 
 appoint a treasurer and secretary to the board of trustees, who shall give 
 bond in the penal sum of dollars for the faithful performance \' 
 
 his duties, and shall be removable from office at the pleasure of the hoard 
 of trustees, and shall bo entitled to receive a compensation lor his services 
 not exceeding dollars per annum. The said treasurer and secre- 
 
 tary shall perform his duties under the direction of the board of trustees, 
 and shall render his accounts <]uarterly to the Treasury Department The 
 proceedings of said board shall be reported annually to Congress ; and 
 their transactions, books, and papers, shall be open to >udi investigations, 
 and the board shall answer such inquiries, in relation to their official action, 
 as Congress, or a resolution of either House, shall from time to time direct. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted. That the Smithsonian Institution shall 
 consist of one superintendent, who shall receive a compensation of 
 dollars per annum, and six prolcssors, each of whom shall receive a com- 
 pensation of dollars per annum. The foregoing named officers 
 
 to be appointed in the following manner : the National Institution for the 
 promotion of science, established in the city of "Washington, shall nominate; 
 said officers to the President, to be, if approved by him, submitted to tha 
 Senate for its advice and consent. The said superintendent and professors 
 shall hold their offices during the term of four years, and perform such 
 duties as shall be designated by the said National Institution. The said 
 institution shall also prescribe the duties of such officers, as it may lind 
 necessary to appoint, for the preservation of the buildings, grounds, and 
 other property belonging to the institution : Provided, ^however, That no 
 greater number of such officers shall be appointed, than shall be approved 
 by the President of the United States, and at no higher compensations, 
 than he shall approve: And provided, a/so, That all contingent expenses 
 necessary in the execution of the duties of said officers, shall be approved by 
 the Secretary of State, and the President of the aforesaid National Insti- 
 tution. 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 239 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the land owned by the United 
 "States, in the city, of 'Washington, situated 
 
 and known by the name of the Mall, be, and the same is 
 hereby, appropriated for the uses of the Smithsonian Institution. The 
 buildings for said institution shall be erected thereon, and in which shall 
 be preserved the philosophical instruments, apparatus and collections, 
 necessary to promote the objects of the institution. And all collections of 
 works of art and of natural history, owned by the United States, not other- 
 wise assigned, shall be deposited in said buildings ; and for the transporta- 
 tion and arrangement of the same, the sum of five thousand dollars is here- 
 by appropriated out of the Treasury of the United States, to be expended 
 under the direction of the president and directors of the National Institu- 
 tion : Provided, however, That the grounds, herein assigned to the Institu- 
 tion, shall be kept open to the public, free from all charge, but under such 
 regulations as the preservation of the property shall require : And provided', 
 also, That the plan of the buildings herein authorized, shall be prepared by 
 the National Institution, and shall be submitted to the President of the 
 United States, and upon receiving his approbation, shall be erected under 
 the superintendence of the National Institution ; the said buildings, collec- 
 tions, and grounds, shall be under the general supervision of the National 
 Institution. 
 
 SENATE, February 17, 1841. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON from the Committee on the Library, to 
 whom was referred the bill (S. 245) to appoint trustees for 
 the investment of the Smithsonian fund, reported it without 
 amendment; and, also, the following bills, as substitutes 
 therefor : 
 
 S. 258. Bill to incorporate, within the District of Colum- 
 bia, the National Institution for the promotion of science. 
 
 S. 259. Bill to invest the proceeds of the Smithsonian 
 fund, and to establish the Smithsonian Institution ; which 
 were severally read, and passed to the second reading. 
 
 The bills are as follows: 
 
 [S. No. 258.] 
 
 A BILL to incorporate, within the District of Columbia, the National 
 Institution for the Promotion of Science. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That Joel R. Poinsett, James K. 
 Paulding, John Quincy Adams, John J. Abert, Joseph G. Totten, A. O. 
 Dayton, Francis Marcoe, Levi Woodbury, William Cranch, Henry D. 
 Gilpin, William J. Stone, and others, composing the association in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia denominated the National Institution for the Promotion 
 of Science, and their successors duly elected in the manner hereinafter men- 
 tioned, be, and they are hereby, constituted and declared to be a body 
 politic and corporate, by the name and title of the National Institution for 
 the Promotion of Science, in the District of Columbia, with all rights and 
 privileges of corporate bodies, not repugnant to the constitution of the 
 United States, or the laws of the District of Columbia, and in conformity 
 with the following rules and regulations: 
 
 Article first. This society shall be named " The National Institution for 
 the Promotion of Science." 
 
 Article second. It shall hold its meetings at the city of Washington. 
 
240 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Article third. It shall be composed of resident, corresponding and hono- 
 rary members. 
 
 Article fourth. The resident members shall be persons residing in the 
 District of Columbia; corresponding members shall be persons residing out 
 of the District of Columbia, who wish to aid the institution by their con- 
 tributions or communications ; and the class of honorary members shall be 
 composed of eminent men residing out of the District of Columbia. 
 
 Article fifth. Resident members removing from the District of Colum- 
 bia, shall, on request, be transferred to the list of corresponding members, 
 and vice versa; but any corresponding member may, at his" option, be 
 recorded and considered a resident member. 
 
 Article sixth. The officers of the institution shall consist of a president, 
 vice-president, twelve directors, a treasurer, a corresponding, and a record- 
 ing secretary : Provided, That no member shall hold more than one of the 
 offices created by this article at the same time, but, that an acceptance of 
 one, shall be construed as refusal of all others. 
 
 Article seventh. The officers shall constitute a board of management of 
 the fiscal concerns of the institution ; and any five members of the board 
 shall be a quorum for the transaction of ordinary business. 
 
 Article eighth. The secretaries of the departments of State, Treasury, 
 War, and Navy, and the Attorney General, and Postmaster General of the 
 United States, for the time being, shall, with their consent, be directors of 
 the institution; but, upon the refusal of one or more of them to accede to 
 the request of the institution, such director or directors shall be chosen in 
 the same manner as herein provided for the appointment of other oflin-r.-. 
 The officers shall be elected for the term of one year, or until their success- 
 ors shall be appointed, from among the resident members of the institution. 
 This election shall take place at the annual meeting ; and each member, 
 who is duly qualified, and shall be present at such meeting, shall have a 
 vote in said election. 
 
 Article ninth. The annual meeting shall be held on the first Monday in 
 each year, or as soon thereafter as may be convenient ; the stated meetings 
 on the second Monday in each month, and special meetings whenever five 
 resident members shall concur in a request to that effect. 
 
 Article tenth. The president, vice-president, or, in their absence, one of 
 the directors, in order of seniority, as named in article eighth, shall pre- 
 side at all meetings of the institution ; or if neither of these members be 
 present, the meeting shall elect its own chairman. 
 
 Article eleventh. The election of members shall be by ballot; the candi- 
 date being nominated to the corresponding secretary, in writing, at least 
 one week before the meeting when he is so balloted for, and proposed by any 
 three directors of the society. 
 
 Article twelfth. Resident members shall, on admission, subscribe the 
 constitution of the institution, and pay to the treasurer five dollars each, 
 and^annually thereafter, on the first Monday in January, five dollars each ; 
 to aid in defraying necessary expenses, and for such other purposes as the 
 board of management may direct. 
 
 Article thirteenth. No resident member shall vote at any stated, or other 
 meeting of the institution, on any question whatever, who has not paid his 
 subscription and annual dues, or who shall not have attended a meeting of 
 the institution within one year previous to such meeting. 
 
 Article fourteenth. The resident and corresponding members shall 
 exert themselves to procure specimens of natural history, and so forth ; and 
 the said specimens shall be placed in the cabinet, under the superintendence 
 t a board of curators, to be appointed by the directors. All such speci- 
 mens, and so forth, unless deposited specially, shall remain in the cabinet ; 
 and, in case of the dissolution of the institution, shall become the property 
 of the United States. 
 
 m Article fifteenth. The resident members of the institution shall be divided 
 into such departments as may hereafter be determined upon. The members 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 241 
 
 composing each department shall especially be charged with the subjects 
 embraced therein, and communicate to the institution the result of their 
 inquiries ; but every member shall have the privilege of making such com- 
 munications, as he may think proper, on any subject connected with the 
 designs of the institution. 
 
 Article sixteenth. The various collections of the institution shall be 
 placed in the apartments which may be designated for that purpose by a 
 majority of the directors. 
 
 Article seventeenth. This constitution, with the exceptions of articles 
 six, eight, ten, fourteen, and sixteen, or so much thereof as relates to the 
 office of directors, their duties, privileges, or powers, or the purposes or 
 place of keeping of the collections of the institution, shall be subject to al- 
 terations and additions at any meeting of the institution : Provided, Notice 
 of a motion for such alteration or addition shall have been given and 
 recorded at a preceding regular meeting : And provided, further, That no 
 alterations or amendments shall ever be made in the above referred to arti- 
 cles without the consent of a majority of the directors. 
 
 Article eighteenth. A code of by-laws for the regulation of the business 
 of the board of management, and the annual and other meetings of the in- 
 stitution, and for matters relating to non-attendance, privileges, duties of 
 officers, and so forth, shall be prepared by a committee to be appointed for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Article nineteenth. All persons present at the adoption of this constitu- 
 tion shall, if desirous of becoming members of the institution, sign the 
 same as evidence of such desire, and in proof of such membership ; and all 
 members subsequently admitted shall sign the same at the first meeting of 
 the society which they may attend after such admission. 
 
 Article twentieth. The institution shall have power to appoint curators 
 and others for the preservation and arrangement of the collections. 
 
 [S. No. 259.] 
 
 A BILL to invest the proceeds of the Smithsonian fund, and to establish 
 the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Smithsonian Institution 
 shall consist of one superintendent, with a compensation of dollars 
 
 per annum, and not exceeding six professors, with compensation to each of 
 dollars per annum, with such number of curators and assistants as 
 may be found necessary : Provided, The number of, and the compensation 
 to, the curators and assistants shall be approved by the President of the 
 United States; all these officers to be elected by the board of management 
 of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, established at 
 Washington, and according to the form and manner prescribed for tho 
 electing of officers of that institution ; but the election of professors shall 
 not be made, until the buildings are prepared for them to enter upon their 
 duties. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the officers of the National Insti- 
 tution for the Promotion of Science, together with the superintendent of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, shall constitute a board of management of the 
 interest of the Smithsonian fund ; and shall have power to plan and erect 
 the necessary buildings, to lay out the grounds, to preserve and repair the 
 same, to procure the necessary books and philosophical instruments, to ar- 
 range the collections, to prescribe the duties of the professors and others 
 belonging to the said Smithsonian Institution, and to establish regulations 
 for the preservation of the property, and for a proper exhibition of the 
 same: Provided, however, That no regulation shall exact a fee from any 
 visitor : And provided, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to 
 prevent any member of the National Institution for the Promotion of 
 Science, from being an officer of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 16 
 
242 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said board of management 
 shall have power to appoint a treasurer and secretary, who shall be entitled 
 to a compensation of dollars per annum, who shall give bond, in the 
 
 penal sum of dollars, for the faithful performance of his duties, 
 
 which duties shall be prescribed by said board ; but he shall render the 
 accounts of his expenditures quarterly to the accounting officers of the 
 Treasury Department ; and the said board shall report its proceedings in 
 detail annually to Congress, or oftener, if required. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all works of art, and all books 
 relating thereto, and all collections and curiosities belonging to the United 
 States, in the possession of any of the executive departments, and not m--- 
 essarily connected with the duties thereof, shall be transferred to said insti- 
 tution, to be there preserved and arranged. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the interest which has accrued on 
 the Smithsonian fund, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, for th> 
 purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this act ; and that the 
 ground owned by the United States, and designated in the plan of tho city 
 of Washington as the mall, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for th- 
 buildings and use of the Smithsonian Institution, an<i the National Insti- 
 tution ; and the same shall be under the superintendence of the board of 
 management of the National Institution. 
 
 SENATE, September 3, 1841. 
 
 The bill from the House of Representatives, to repeal the 
 sixth section of the act entitled An act to provide tor the 
 support of the Military Academy of the United States for 
 the year 1838, and for other purposes, passed July 18, 1838, 
 and to prohibit any investment of the funds of the Unite* I 
 States in stocks of the several States, was read twice; and, 
 on the question of reference coming up. 
 
 Mr. SEVIER said this bill was one of a most extraordinary 
 character. It was to repeal existing contracts, and to violate 
 treaty stipulations with the Indians, without their consent. 
 He moved to lay the bill on the table. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON appealed to the Senator to withdraw his 
 motion ; he was disposed to entertain a similar opinion of 
 the bill, but thought it more respectful to the House to 
 refer it to a committee. He would therefore move to refer 
 it to the Committee on Finance. 
 
 Mr. SEVIER said, if it was to be referred at all, it ought 
 to be referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. 
 
 Mr. WALKER concured in this view. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY made some remarks, to the effect that the 
 bill could be only prospective in its character, and would 
 have no effect on existing contracts. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN said this bill involved questions of an im- 
 portant character, which, it was very evident, would require 
 more time for their consideration than could be devoted to 
 them at the present session. He w r ould therefore move to 
 lay the bill on the table. 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 243 
 
 The motion was negatived. 
 
 Mr. SEVIER then moved its reference to the Committee 
 on Indian Affairs. Lost. 
 
 The motion of Mr. PRESTON was then agreed to, and the 
 bill referred to the Committee on Finance. 
 
 SENATE, September 8, 1841. 
 
 Mr. EVANS, from the Committee on Finance, reported, 
 with an amendment, the bill from the House to repeal the 
 sixth section of the act for the support of the Military 
 Academy at West Point for 1838, and to prohibit the in- 
 vestment of trust funds of the United States in the stocks 
 of the several States. 
 
 The Senate proceeded to consider the same, and the bill 
 was amended, so as to strike out all after the enacting 
 clause, and insert : 
 
 " That so much of the sixth section of the act to provide for the support of 
 the Military Academy of the United States for 1838 as requires the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury to invest the annual interest accruing on the invest- 
 ment of the money arising from the bequest of the late James Smithson, of 
 London, in the stocks of the States, be, and the same is hereby, repealed ; 
 and the Secretary of the Treasury shall invest said accruing interest in any 
 stock of the United States, bearing a rate of interest not less than five per 
 cent, per annum." 
 
 Mr. SEVIER made some observations in relation to the 
 amendment not distinctly heard in the gallery. 
 
 Mr. EVANS remarked that the repeal affected that portion 
 only of the bill of 1838 which related to the investment of 
 the funds of the institution, and accruing interest in State 
 stocks; the investment to be changed to United States 
 stock. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN requested the bill and amendments would 
 be read. 
 
 The bill was then read. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN wished to know what was to be done with 
 the funds when there \vas no United States stock to be had? 
 If all authority to invest them and the accruing interest in 
 other stocks was repealed, and there should be no United 
 States stock in the market, or in existence, what was to be 
 done with the money? 
 
 Mr. EVANS replied that all that had been taken into con- 
 sideration in committee, and it was the unanimous impres- 
 sion that there would be a sufficient supply of United 
 States stock in existence for the next three years at least, 
 and that no difficulty could arise in that way. If, however, 
 any difficulty of that nature should arise, provision could 
 be made by Congress in time to meet it. 
 
244 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. LINN considered the whole thing as a direct attack 
 upon the credit of the States. Here was an act of Con- 
 gress, implying on the very face of it a discredit of State 
 stocks. Was not this calculated to depress State stocks, 
 both in the home and foreign markets ? 
 
 Mr. EVANS observed that it was the standing of the State 
 stocks in those markets which had called for the amend- 
 ment of the act of 1838. 
 
 Mr. LINN called the attention of the Senate to this fact ; 
 that the Democratic party, during the last political struggle 1 
 of the party now administering the Government to get 
 into power,' had been slandered, vilified, and abused, with 
 the most unfounded charges of designs to discredit the 
 States of this Union. The Democratic party had been de- 
 nounced from one end of the Union to the other for hav- 
 ing prostrated the whole credit system. They w^cre pro- 
 nounced traitors to their country, and a continued stream 
 of vituperation was poured out upon them from June, 18-7J. 
 to the close of the Presidential election, with a view of 
 enlisting the prejudices of every one connected with State 
 stocks against the continuation of the Democracy in power. 
 Yet, what spectacle do we now see presented to the coun- 
 try? What but that to be expected from the Whig party, 
 which had so notoriously proved to the world that their 
 professions out of power were one thing, and their per- 
 formances in power quite another and a different thing? 
 Now that they have the first opportunity, they offer tin- 
 most outrageous, treacherous, and fatal stab to the State 
 stock credit system, that ever was attempted 'by any rep- 
 resentatives of the people or the States. But he was glad 
 the gentleman had shown the true character of their pro- 
 fessions contrasted with their performances. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY considered there were other things which 
 ought to be taken in view. Besides the tatal stab thus 
 offered to the credit of State stocks, the institution itself 
 might be deprived of the advantage of investing its funds 
 in stock no les.s secure than United States stock, though 
 for temporary causes depreciated, but sometimes yielding 
 an opportunity of purchase at 60 or 65, when United State- 
 stock might be at more than 100. 
 
 Mr. CLAY said the relation between the Government and 
 the States, of the latter being debtors to the former, ought 
 always to be avoided ; for what means could be used^ to 
 coerce the States if they refused to pay ? We had stocks 
 of our own, in which this trust fund of the Government 
 could be invested. He should prefer the adoption of this 
 
TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 245 
 
 _ le, that in all cases of trust funds an account should 
 be opened with the Government of the United States, and 
 that the fund should be held in the Treasury and it pay an 
 annual interest on it, until its object was accomplished. 
 He regarded this Smithsonian fund as a sacred trust which 
 the Government would be bound to restore if it should 
 ever be lost ; and that being the case the Government 
 being responsible for them, it would be better that they 
 should remain in the Treasury, under our charge. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN was understood to concur in this opinion ; 
 and after some further remarks by Messrs. WOODBURY, 
 CALHOUN, and SEVIER, the amendment was engrossed, the 
 bill read a third time, and passed. 
 
 On motion of Mr. EVANS, its title was amended so as to 
 be in effect, " an act to repeal a part of the sixth section of 
 the act for the support of the Military Academy of the 
 United States for 1838, and for other purposes." 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, September 2, 1841. 
 
 Mr. FILLMORE, from the Committee of Ways and Means, 
 to whom resolutions of instruction had heretofore been 
 referred, reported a bill to repeal the sixth section of the 
 act entitled an act to provide for the support of the Military 
 Academy of the United States for the year 1838, and for 
 other purposes, passed July, 1838, and to prohibit any in- 
 vestment of the funds of the United States in stocks of the 
 several States ; which was read twice. 
 
 The section proposed to be repealed is as follows : 
 
 " SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all the money arising from the 
 -bequest of the lute James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of found- 
 ing at Washington, in this District, an institution to be denominated the 
 Smithsonian Institution, which may be paid into the Treasury, is hereby 
 appropriated, and shall be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, with 
 the approbation of the President of the United States, in stocks of States, 
 bearing interest at the rate of not less than five per centum per annum, 
 which said stocks shall be held by the said Secretary in trust for the uses 
 specified in the last will and testament of said Smithson, until provision is 
 made by law for carrying the purpose of said bequest into effect ; and that 
 the annual interest accruing on the stock aforesaid shall be in like manner 
 invested for the benefit of said institution." 
 
 Mr. FILLMORE asked, that as the bill contained no appro- 
 priation, and need not therefore be committed, it be put on 
 _its third reading now. 
 
 The bill was read a third time and passed. 
 
246 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, September 9, 1841. 
 On motion of Mr. ADAMS, the House took up the bill 
 providing for the repeal of so much of the sixth section of 
 the Military Academy act of 1'838, as provides for the invest- 
 ment of the Smithsonian funds in State stocks; and the 
 Senate amendments thereto were amended in several 
 respects, and the hill was returned to the Senate. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, September 10, 1841. 
 
 The House proceeded to the consideration of the message 
 from the Senate in relation to the amendments of this 
 House to the amendment of the Senate to tin- hill No. 34, 
 entitled " An act to repeal the sixth section of the act 
 entitled * An act to provide for the support of the Military 
 Academy for the year 1838, and for other purposes/ and to 
 prohibit the investment of the funds of the United States 
 in stocks of the several States," when it was 
 
 Resolved, That this House concur in the amendmenl of 
 the Senate to the first amendment of this House to the 
 amendment of the Senate to said bill, and recede from tlu-ir 
 second amendment to the amendment of the Senate to said 
 bill, and that the bill do pass accordingly. 
 
 A message was received from the Senate in relation to 
 the amendments of the House to Senate Bill No. 34. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, September 11, 1841. 
 Mr. RANDOLPH, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, 
 reported that the committee had examined the l>ill repeal- 
 ing the sixth section of the act of 1838, and had found the 
 same to be correct, whereupon it received the signature of 
 the Speaker and the approval of the President. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 9, 1841. 
 Report of 7. Ewing, Secretary of Treasury. 
 
 State Stocks held by the Treasury Department, in trust for the Smithsonian 
 
 Institution. 
 
 Of what States. Amount of Stock. Cost. 
 
 Arkansas $500,000 $499,500 00 
 
 Arkansas 10,000 10.00000 
 
 Arkansas 13,000 12,837 50 
 
 Arkansas 15,000 10,55500 
 
 Illinois 26,000 18,98000 
 
 Illinois 6,000 4,22300 
 
 Illinois 24,000 19,20000 
 
 Michigan 8,000 8,270 67 
 
 Ohio 18,000 16,98000 
 
 $620,000 $600,980 17 
 
TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43. 247 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 7, 1841. 
 Message of tke President, John Tyler. - 
 
 * * * * I suggest for your consideration the propri- 
 ety of making without further delay, some specific applica- 
 tion of the funds derived under the will of Mr. Smithson, 
 of England, for the diffusion of knowledge; and which 
 have heretofore, been vested in public stocks, until such 
 time as Congress should think proper to give them a specific 
 direction. Nor will you, I feel confident, permit any abate- 
 ment of the principal of the legacy to be made, should it 
 turn out that the stocks, in which the investments have been 
 made had undergone a depreciation. * * * * 
 
 SENATE, December 29, 1841. 
 
 On motion by Mr. Preston, ordered that the above part 
 of the President's message be referred to the Committee on 
 Library. Messrs. Preston, Tappan, Choate. 
 
 SENATE, April 11, 1842. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON, from the Committee on the Library, reported 
 a bill (S. 224,) to invest the proceeds of the Smithsonian 
 fund, and to establish the Smithsonian Institution. Read 
 and passed to a second reading. 
 
 SENATE, July 18, 1842. 
 
 The bill (S. 224) was read the second time, and consid- 
 ered as in Committee of the Whole. On motion of Mr. 
 Allen, it was ordered that it lie on the table. 
 
 [This bill is the same as S. No. 259, introduced into the Senate by Mr. 
 Preston, from the Committee on the Library, on February 17, 1841.] 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 10, 1841. 
 
 Mr. FILLMORE offered a resolution for the appointment of a 
 select committee on the Smithsonian legacy. 
 
 Adopted, and Mr. John Quincy Adams of Mass., Mr. 
 Richard W. llabersham of Georgia, Mr. Truman Smith 
 of Conn., Mr. Joseph R. Underwood of Ky., Mr. Benja- 
 mine Randall of Me., Mr. Chas. J. Ingersoll of Penna., 
 Mr. Robert M. T. Hunter of Va., Mr. Geo. S. Houston of 
 Ala., and Mr. Sam'l S. Bowne of N. Y., were appointed 
 said committee. 
 
248 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 15, 1841. 
 
 Mr. WM. COST JOHNSON, presented the memorial of sun- 
 dry citizens of Washington city, praying an early disposition 
 of the funds of the Smithsonian bequest, in conformity with 
 the wishes of the donor. 
 
 Referred to the select committee on the Smithsonian be- 
 quest. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 3, 1842. 
 
 Resolved, That so much of the message of the President 
 of the United States as relates to the Smithsonian legacy, 
 be referred to the select committee on that subject. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 29, 1842. 
 
 Mr. CHAS. J. INGERSOLL presented a memorial of Richard 
 Rush, praying additional compensation for his services in 
 recovering the Smithsonian legacy. 
 
 Referred to the committee on the bequest. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS presented a petition of B. Birdsall, of the 
 State of New York, praying that a part of the funds of the 
 Smithsonian bequest, be appropriated for the purpose of 
 awarding annual prizes for the best original essays on the 
 various subjects of the physical sciences. 
 
 Referred to the Committee on the bequest. 
 
 The following is the petition : 
 
 Your petitioner prays that a part of the funds of the 
 " Smithsonian bequest " may be appropriated for the pur- 
 pose of establishing and awarding a system of annual prizes 
 for the best original essays on the various subjects of the 
 physical sciences, useful arts, and abstract mathematics, &c., 
 &c., and for such new discoveries in art or science as shall 
 do honor to the nation; the subjects of the prizes to be given 
 or proposed by a competent committee. 
 
 Your petitioner entertains the opinion that some such 
 system as the one prayed for would exert a most powerful 
 influence in favor of science in this country, and would 
 operate as an excellent stimulant to those who are disposed 
 to honor their country, in cultivating and promoting those 
 branches of useful science which serve to work out the dis- 
 tinction between the savage and civilized state. 
 
 For this your petitioner most respectfully prays. 
 
 B. BIRDSALL. 
 
 CLINTON, February 9, 1842. 
 
TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43. 249 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 12, 1842. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS, from the committee appointed December 10, 
 "1841, made the following report, accompanied by a bill (H. 
 R. 386) which was read the first and second time, and com- 
 mitted to the committee of the whole House on the State of 
 the Union : 
 
 The select committee, to whom was referred so much of the 
 message of the President of the United States, at the 
 commencement of the present session, as relates to the 
 bequest of James Smithson to the United States for the 
 foundation and establishment, at the city of Washington, 
 of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men, respectfully submit to the House the 
 following report : 
 
 The seventh year is already considerably advanced in its 
 course since the then President of the United States, on the 
 17th of December, 1835, communicated, by message, to 
 both Houses of Congress the fact of this bequest, with a 
 copy of the will of James Smithson, in which it was con- 
 tained ; and with the remark that, the Executive having no 
 authority to take any steps for accepting the trust, and 
 obtaining the funds, the papers were communicated with a 
 view to such measures as Congress might deem necessary. 
 
 This message, with its accompanying correspondence and 
 vouchers, was referred in the Senate to their committee on 
 the judiciary, and in the House of Representatives to a 
 select committee of nine members, both of which commit- 
 tees reported in favor of the acceptance by Congress of the 
 bequest, and of assuming, for the people of the United 
 States, the solemn obligation of preserving inviolate the 
 fund bequeathed by the testator, and of applying the in- 
 come derived therefrom faithfully to the purposes prescribed 
 by him. 
 
 " Accordingly, on the 1st of July, 1836, a bill which had 
 previously been passed by both Houses of Congress received 
 the sanction of the President, authorizing him to appoint 
 an agent or agents to recover the funds bequeathed by the 
 will of the testator, and then being in charge of the court 
 of chancery of Great Britain, and to deposit the same in 
 the Treasury of the United States ; and the faith of the 
 United States was, by the same act, expressly pledged for 
 the faithful performance of the trust assumed by the accept- 
 ance of the bequest. 
 
 An agent was appointed by virtue of this act, who recov- 
 ered, by a decree of the court of chancery, a sum, which, 
 
250 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 on the first of September, 1838, was deposited in gold at 
 the mint of the United States at Philadelphia, amounting 
 to five hundred and eight thousand three hundred and 
 eighteen dollars and forty-six cents. 
 
 By the sixth section of the act of Congress for the sup- 
 port of the Military Academy of the United States and tor 
 other purposes, approved on the 7th of July, 1838, it was 
 provided that all the money arising from the bequest of the 
 late James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of found- 
 ing at Washington, in this District, an institution to he 
 denominated the Smithsonian Institution, which might Un- 
 paid into the Treasury, was appropriated, and should be in- 
 vested by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approba- 
 tion of the President of the United States, in stocks of 
 States, bearing interest at the rate of not less than five per 
 centum per annum ; which said stocks should IK- held hy 
 the said Secretary in trust for the uses specified in the last 
 will and testament of said Smithson, until provision should 
 be made by law for carrying the purpose of said beqn->t 
 into effect: and that the annual interest accruing on tho 
 stock aforesaid shall be in like manner invested for the ben- 
 efit of said institution. 
 
 Under the authority and the requisition of this act, im- 
 mediately after the deposit at the mint of the United States 
 at Philadelphia of the moneys recovered by the decree of 
 the court of chancery in England, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury invested in stocks ot the State of Arkansas live 
 hundred thousand dollars, and eight thousand dollars in 
 stocks of the State of Michigan, all at the interest of six 
 per cent.; since which time, by the same authority, $3,800 
 of the stocks of the State of Arkansas, $3,600 of the State 
 of Illinois, $18,000 of the State of Ohio, have been invested 
 in like manner, until the llth of September last, when the 
 provision of the law which authorized and required the 
 Secretary of the Treasury to invest the accruing interest on 
 the principal fund in the stock of the States was repealed, 
 and he was directed, until Congress shall appropriate said 
 accruing interest to the purposes described by the testator, 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, to 
 invest said accruing interest in any stock of the United 
 States bearing a rate of interest not less than five per cent- 
 um per annum. Under this authority the Secretary of the 
 Treasury did invest the sum of $1,291.86, at the rate of 5J 
 per cent, a year a rate of interest more parsimonious for 
 the benefit of the Treasury than liberal for the benefit of 
 this generous and bountiful fund. 
 
TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43. 251 
 
 The five hundred bonds, of $1,000 each, of the State of 
 Arkansas, issued to the Bank of the State of Arkansas, are 
 not redeemable before the 26th of October, 1860 ; and the 
 thirty-eight bonds subsequently issued to the Real Estate 
 Bank of the State of Arkansas not before the 1st of Janu- 
 ary, 1861. 
 
 The eight bonds of the State of Michigan are not redeem- 
 able before the first Monday of July, 1858. 
 
 Twenty-three thousand dollars of the bonds of the State 
 of Illinois are not redeemable before the end of 1860 ; and 
 thirty-three thousand dollars not before the 1st of January,. 
 1870. 
 
 Eighteen thousand dollars of the bonds of the State of 
 Ohio are not redeemable before the 1st of January, 1861. 
 
 The sum of one thousand two hundred and ninety-one 
 dollars and eighty-six cents, due by the United States, is 
 redeemable at their pleasure after the 31st of December, 
 1844. 
 
 In the bill herewith reported, it is proposed to settle three 
 fundamental principles for the administration and manage- 
 ment of the fund in all after time. 
 
 1st. That the principal fund shall be preserved arid main- 
 tained unimpaired, with an income secured upon it at the 
 rate of 6 per cent, a year, from which all appropriations for 
 the purposes of the founder shall be made. 
 
 2d. That the portions of the income already accrued, and 
 invested in stocks of the States of Arkansas, Michigan, II if- 
 nois, and Ohio, shall be constituted funds, from the annual 
 interest of which an astronomical obser vator, with four 
 assistants, and necessary laborers, shall be appointed and 
 maintained, without expense to this nation, and with a con- 
 siderable increase of the principal fund and of its annual 
 income a principle susceptible of extension to future appli- 
 cation, which may continually increase at the discretion of 
 Congress the means and capabilities of the institution to 
 promote and accomplish the great purposes of the founder. 
 
 The establishment of this principle will have the further 
 advantage of relieving the board of overseers from the 
 necessity of using the bonds of the States of Arkansas, 
 Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio, none of which are redeemable 
 before the year 1858. The annual interest upon them, it 
 cannot be doubted, will be hereafter, as it has been hitherto, 
 punctually paid ; and, independent of the faith of the seve- 
 ral States, respectively pledged to this punctuality, the 4th 
 section of the act of 4th September, 1841, to appropriate 
 the proceeds of the sales of the public lands and to grant 
 
252 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 preemption rights, has furnished to those States the means 
 of paying punctually, not only the annual interest, but at 
 the stipulated time the principal itself, of their bonds with- 
 out bearing upon the people of the States for the pressure 
 of a single dollar. 
 
 The third principle proposed to be made by the bill 
 fundamental, for the future management of this fund, is, 
 that no part of the sums appropriated from this fund shall 
 be applied to any institution of education or religious estab- 
 lishment, The reasons for this exclusion have been svt 
 forth at large in the document hereto annexed, and which 
 the committee present as a part of their report, They sub- 
 mit especially the argument contained in the report made 
 to this House on the 5th of March, 1840, with confidence 
 in the opinion that the appropriation of any portion of the 
 fund to such institutions or establishments, however merito- 
 rious, could not fail to divert the fund from the real purposes 
 of the testator. 
 
 Annexed hereto are copies of the bonds of the several 
 Slates, taken under the requirements of the act of Congress 
 of 7th July, 1838, and of the United States, taken by au- 
 thority of the act of llth September, 1841, with a tabular 
 statement of the present condition of the funds. 
 
 Appendix to report of Mr. ADAMS : 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 STATE OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 $1,000.] Interest six per cent. [$1,000. 
 
 CERTIFICATE OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 No. 299.] Internal improvement stock. [No. 299. 
 
 Know all men by these presents, that there is due from the State of Illinois to 
 Thomas Mather, or bearer one thousand dollars, with interest, at the rate of six 
 per cent, per annum payable half yearly, on the first Mondays of January and 
 July, at the banking house of the Bank of the United States in New York on 
 presentation and surrender of the annexed warrants The principal is reim- 
 bursable at the said banking house, at the pleasure of the State, after the first 
 day of January, 1870. 
 
 For the performance of all which the faith of the State of Illinois is irrevoca- 
 bly pledged, agreeably to " An act to establish and maintain a general system 
 of internal improvements." approved. February 27. 1837, and amendments 
 thereto approved March 2, 18' 9. and February 1 and 3, 1840. 
 
 Witness my hand, at Springfield, this 1st day of May. 1840. 
 
 RICH'D F. BARRET, 
 Fund Commissioner. 
 
 20 bonds of this description 6 numbered 261 to 266 inclusive, and the residue 
 numbered 287 to 300 inclusive. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 STATE or ARKANSAS. 
 No. 100.] A. [$1,000. 
 
 Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas. 
 
 .Under an act of the General Assembly, entitled " An act to establish the Real 
 .Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas,'' approved October 26, 1836, and an act 
 
1841-43. 253 
 
 supplementary thereto, entitled " An act to increase the rate of interest on 
 the bonds of the State issued to the Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkan- 
 sas," approved December 19, 1837. 
 
 Six per cent, stock. 
 
 Know all men by these presents that the State of Arkansas acknowledges to- 
 be indebted to the Real Estate Bank of tha State of Arkansas in the sum of one 
 thousand dollars; which sum the said State of Arkansas promises to pay. in 
 current money of the United States, to the order of the president, directors, and 
 company of said bank on the twenty-sixth day of October, one thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty-one with interest, at the rate of six per cent per annum, 
 payable half yearly, at the place named in the endorsement her<= to, on the first 
 days of January and Jnly of each year, until the payment of said principal. 
 In testimony whereof, the Governor of 1 he Slate of Arkansas has signed, and 
 the treasurer of the State has countersigned these presents, and caused 
 Ik. s.] the seal of the State to be fixed thereto, at Little Rock, this first day of 
 January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-eight. 
 
 SAM. C. ROANE, Governor. 
 Countersigned: 
 
 WM. E, WOODRUFF. Treasurer. 
 500 bonds of this description, numbered 1 to 500, inclusive. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 STATE OF ARKANSAS. 
 
 $1,000.1 N 294 r $1,000. 
 
 225.} 1 225. 
 
 Bank of the State of Arkansas. 
 
 Six per cent, stock. 
 
 Under an act of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, entitled " An 
 
 act supplemental to an act to establish the State Bank of Arkansas," approved 
 
 December 18, 1837. 
 
 Know all men, that the State of Arkansas acknowledges to be indebted to the 
 president and directors of the Bank of the State of Arkansas in the sum of one 
 thousand dollars; which sum the said State of Arkansas promises to pay, in 
 current money of the United States, to the order of the president and directors 
 of said bank, on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and 
 sixty-eight with interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum, payable half 
 yeai'ly at the place named in the endorsement hereto, on the first day of July 
 and of January, of each year, until the payment of said principal. 
 
 In testimony whereof, the Governor of the State of Arkansas has signed, and 
 the treasurer of the State has countersigned, these presents, and caused 
 
 r -, the seal of the State to be fixed thereto, at Little Roc* , this first day of 
 
 IL,. b.j j anuary t i n the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-eight, 
 
 SAM. C. ROANE, Governor. 
 
 Countersigned : 
 
 WM. E. WOODRUFF, Treasurer. 
 
 These bonds have been assigned to the Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 38 bonds of this description 13 numbered 282 to 294, inclusive; 15 numbered 
 359 to 373, inclusive ; and 10 numbered 401 to 410, inclusive. 
 
 SPECIAL CERTIFICATE. 
 
 DETROIT AND PONTIAC KAILROAD STATE STOCK, 
 STATE OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 $1,000.] Six per cent, stock. [No. 92. 
 
 Know all men by these presents, that the State of Michigan acknowledges to 
 owe to the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad Company the sum of one thousand 
 dollars, lawful money of the United States of America, which sum of money 
 the said St'te promises to pay to the said Detroit nnd Pontiac Railroad Com- 
 pany or to their order at i\\-. Manhattan Bank, in the city of New Yor*c , on the 
 first Monday of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 fifty-eight or at any time thereafter that- the State may choose, with interest 
 thereon . at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable at the said Manhattan 
 Bank half yearly, upon presentation and the delivery of the coupons severally 
 hereunto annexed, to wit: on the first Monday of January and the first Monday 
 of July, in each and every year, until the payment of the said principal sum 
 
 The faith and credit of the people of the said State are hereby solemnly 
 pledged for the payment of the interest and the redemption of the principal 
 thereof, in accordance with the provisions of the act entitled " An act to provide 
 
254 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 for the relief of the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad Company." approved March 
 
 5 '& testimony whereof, the Treasurer of the State of Michigan has signed this 
 
 , certificate, and has hereuntoafflxed the seal of his office, tins nrst day 
 
 [L. s.] of Mayt in t , he year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and i hirt y - 
 
 ight< HENRY HOWARD, 
 
 Treasurer of th". tit'ite of Michi'ian. 
 
 8 bonds of this description 1 numbered 76; the residue numbered 86 to 92, in- 
 elusive. 
 
 $1,000.] [$1,000. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 STATE OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 No. 83. 
 
 Six per cent, stock, interest half yearly. 
 
 ILLINOIS BANK AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT STOCK. 
 Know all men by these presents, that there is due from the State of Illinois to 
 the Ban* of Illinois, or bearer, one thousand dollars, lawful money of the 
 United States, with interest, at the rate of six per centum per Hiiiium. payable 
 half yearly on the first Mondays of January an-i July, at the Bank of the United 
 States in Philadelphia, or at its agency tn New York, at the option of the ho der, 
 on the presentation and surrender of the annexed warrants. Tin; principal is 
 reimbursable at either of the above places, at the pleasure of tin- Mate after the 
 yearlSW). For the performance of all which the faith of tho state of Illinois, 
 is irrevocably pledged, as also a like amount of the stock in the Bank of Illinois, 
 agreeably to ' An act supplementary to an act to increase the capitol stoc c of 
 certain banks, and to provide means to pay the interest on a loan authorized by 
 mi act entitled an 'Act to establish and maintain a general system of Internal 
 improvement,' " approved March 4, 1837. 
 
 In witness whereof the Governor, auditor, and treasurer of tin- state of Illi- 
 r -, nois have signed this certificate, and have caused the seal of the said 
 l*"S-J state to be hereunto affixed, this 31st day of July, 1837. 
 
 JOSEPH DUNCAN, Governor. 
 LEVI DAVIS, Auditor. 
 JOHN D. WHITESIDE, Trennurer. 
 
 13 bonds of this description I numbered 70,71,73,74, and the residue num- 
 bered 81 to 89, inclusive. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 STATE OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 $1,000.] Interest six per cent. [$1,000. 
 
 CERTIFICATE OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 No. 2,460.] Internal improvement stock. [No. 2,400. 
 
 Know all men by these presents, that there is due from the State of Illinois to 
 Neyins, Townsend & Co., or bearer, one thousand dollars, lawful money of the 
 United States, with interest, at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable 
 half yearly, on the first Mondays of January and July, at the bank 01 tho 
 United States in Philadelphia, or at its agency in New York, at the option oi 
 the holder, on the presentation and surrender of the annexed warrants The 
 principal is reimbursable ar, either of the above places at the pleasure of the 
 state, after the first day of January. 1870. For the p rformance of all which the 
 faith of the State ot Illinois is irrevocably pledged, agreeaoly to "An act to es- 
 tablish and maintain a general sysiem of internal improvements," approved 
 February 27, 1837. 
 
 Witness our hands, at Vandalia, this first day of January, 1838. 
 
 CHAS. OAKLEY. ) 
 M M. RAWLINGS, >- Commissioners. 
 THOMAS MATHER, ) 
 LEVI DAVIS, Auditor. 
 
 3 bonds of this description, 2,457, 2,459, 2,460. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 $1,000.] STATE OF ILLINOIS [$1,000. 
 
 Six per cent, stock, interest half yearly. 
 
 ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN. 
 
 Canal stock. No. 1,241. 
 
 Know all men by these presents, that there is due from the State of Illinois to 
 the State Bank of Illinois, or bearer, one thousand dollars, lawful money of the 
 

 TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43, 255 
 
 United States, with interest, at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable 
 
 half yearly, on the first Mondays of January and July, at the bank of the United 
 
 States in Philadelphia, or at its agency in New York, at the option of 'the holder, 
 
 on the presentation and surrender of the annexed warrants The principal is 
 
 reimbursable at either of the above places, at the pleasure of the State, after the 
 
 year 1800. For the performance of all which the faith of the State of Illinois is 
 
 irrevocably pledged, as also the property, tolls, and revenues of the Illinois and 
 
 Michigan canal agreeably to an act, entitled "An act for the construction ol 
 
 the Illinois and Michigan canal." approved ttie 9th January, 1886. 
 
 In witness whereof, the Governor, auditor, and treasurer of the State of Illi- 
 
 fT _ i nois, have signed this certificate, and have caused the seal of the said 
 
 LJj ' h '-l State to be hereunto affixed, this 1st day of July, 1839. 
 
 THO. CABLIN, Governor. 
 LEVI DAVIS, Auditor. 
 JOHN D. WHITESIDB, 7^-easurer. 
 10 bonds of this description, numbered 1,237 to 1,246, inclusive. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 $1,000.] STATE or ILLINOIS. [$1,000. 
 
 Interest six per cent. 
 
 CERTIFICATE OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 No. 2,636.] [No. 2,636. 
 
 Internal improvement stock. 
 
 Know all men by these presents, that there is due from the State of Illinois to 
 
 , or bearer, one thousand dollars, with interest, at the rate of six per 
 
 cent, per annum, payable half yearly, on the first Mondays of January and July, 
 at the banking house of the agency of the Bank of the United States in New 
 York, on presentation and surrender of the annexed warrants. The principal 
 is reimbursable at the said banking house, at the pleasure of the State, after the 
 1st day of January, 1870. 
 
 For the performance of all which the fa : ith of the State of Illinois is irrevo- 
 cably pledged, agreeably to "An act to establish and maintain a general system 
 of internal improvement," approved February 27, 1837, and an amendment, ap- 
 proved March 2, 1839. 
 
 Witness our hands, at Vandalia, this 1st day of July, 1839. 
 
 CHAS. OAKLEY, | , ftntvn ,- e .j nna ~ 9 
 JOHN TILLSON, JR. j Commissioners. 
 
 10 bonds of this description, numbered 2,629,2,632.2,634, 2,636, 2,639,2648,2,658, 
 2,660, 2,6bl, 2,664. 
 
 STATE OE OHIO CANAL STOCK. 
 
 Transfer Office, Office of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, in the city of New York, 
 
 August 7, 1841. 
 
 Be it known, that the State of Ohio owes to the Secretary of the Treasury of 
 the United States, in trust for the Smithsonian fund, or his assigns, the sum of 
 five thousand dollars, bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, 
 from tne first day of July. 1841, inclusively, payable at this office half yearly on 
 the first days of the months of January and July, being stock created in pursu- 
 ance of sundry acts of the Legislature of the State of Ohio passed March 24th, 
 1837, the principal of which stoca is reimbursable at the pleasure of the State, 
 at any time after the thirty-first day of December, in the year I860 ; which debt 
 is recorded in this office, and is transferable only by appearance in person or 
 by attorney, according to the rules and forms instituted for that purpose. 
 No. 3,179. In testimony whereof, I, J. N. Perkins, cashier of the Ohio Life In- 
 surance and Trust Company, agent, duly appointed for that purpose by 
 the Commissioners of the Canal Fund of Ohio, pursuant to authority 
 [L. s.] vested in them by the acts aforementioned, have hereunto subscribed 
 my name, and affixed the seal of said commissioners, the day and year 
 first above mentioned. 
 
 $5,000. J. N. PERKINS. 
 
 SAM. P. BULL, l^ansfer Office. 
 
 STATE OF OHIO CANAL STOCK. 
 
 'Transfer Office, Office of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, in the city of New York 
 
 August 6, 1341. 
 
 Be it known, that the State of Ohio owes to the Secretary of the Treasury of 
 the United States in trust, for the Smithsonian fund, or his assigns, the sum of 
 thirteen thousand dollars, bearing interest at the rate of six per cemum per 
 annum, from the first day of July, 1841, inclusively, payable at this office half 
 .yearly on the first day of the months of January and July, being stock created 
 
256 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 In pursuance of sundry acts of the Legislature of Ohio passed March 19, 1838. and ' 
 March 23 1840 the principal of which stock is reimbursable at the pleasure of 
 the State at any time after the thirty-first day of Decemher, in the year 1860; 
 which debt is recorded iu this office, and is transferable only by appearance in 
 person or by attorney, according to the rules and forms instituted for that pur- 
 No 3 176. In testimony whereof, I, J. N. Perkins, cashier of the Ohio Life In- 
 surance and Trust Company, agent, duly appointed for that purpose by 
 the Commissioners of the Canal Fund of Ohio, pursuant to authority 
 [L. s.l vested in them by the acts aforementioned, have hereunto subscribed 
 my name, and affixed the seal of said commissioners, the day and year 
 first above mentioned. 
 
 J. N. PERKINS, 
 
 Cavhier Ohio Life In. and Trust Co. 
 SAM. P. BUL:L, Transfer Office. 
 813,000. 
 
 UNITED STATES LOAN OF 1841. 
 
 $1,291.86. $1,291.86. 
 
 No. 66. No. 66. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 28. 1841. 
 
 Be it known that there is due from the United States of America unto the .Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury, for the time being, in trust for the Smithsonian fund, or 
 his assigns the sum of one thousand t'i'O hundred and ninety-one dollars and ei<iht</- 
 six cents, dollars bearing interest at five and a half per centum per annum, from 
 the eighteenth day of September. 1841, inclusively, payable quarter yearly. 
 being stock created in pursuance of an act of Congress passed on the 21st day of 
 luly. 1811. entitled "An act authorizing a loan not exceeding the sum of twelve 
 millions of dollars," the principal of which stock is reimbursable at the pleas- 
 ure of i he United Males, at any time after the thirty first day of December. 1841 ; 
 which debt is recorded in and transferable at the office of the Register of Treas- 
 ury, by appearance in person or by attorney, according to the rules and forms 
 nstituted for that purpose. 
 
 WALTER FORWARD. 
 
 Seci-etary of the Treasury. 
 Countersigned: 
 
 T. L. SMITH, Register. 
 
TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43. 
 
 257 
 
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 17 
 
258 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 [H. K. No. 386.] 
 
 A BILL to provide for the disposal and management of the fund be- 
 queathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment 
 of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the 
 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretaries of State, 
 Treasury, War, and Navy, the Postmaster and Attorney Generals, the 
 Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of 
 Columbia, and the Mayor of the city of Washington, shall be, and hereby 
 are, constituted a body politic and corporate, by the style and title of the 
 trustees of the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men, with perpetual succession, and the usual powers, 
 duties, and liabilities, incident to corporations. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the corporation so constituted 
 shall have power to appoint, from citizens of the United States other than 
 members of the board, a secretary and a treasurer, to hold their offices 
 during the pleasure of the board, and removable at their pleasure, and 
 others to be appointed in their places, and to fix from time to time their 
 compensations. And the secretary and treasurer only shall receive pecu- 
 niary compensation for their services, and those of the members of the 
 board of trustees shall be gratuitous. And the offices of secretary and 
 treasurer may, at the discretion of the board of trustees, be held by the 
 same person. The secretary and treasurer shall be sworn to the faithful 
 discharge of the duties of their respective offices ; and the treasurer shall 
 give bond, with the penalty of fifty thousand dollar*, with sureties to the 
 satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the safe custody and faith- 
 ful application of all the funds of the Institution which may come to his 
 hands or be at his disposal. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of five hundred and 
 eight thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars and forty-six cents, 
 placed in the Treasury of the United States on the first day of September, 
 eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, as the proceeds, in part, of the bequest 
 of James Smithson to the United States, together with all sums which have 
 been or may hereafter be realized from the said bequest, shall be passed 
 hereafter to the credit of a fund, to be denominated the Smithsonian fund, 
 in the Treasury of the United States. And the faith of the United States 
 is hereby pledged for the preservation of the said fund undiminished and 
 unimpaired, to bear interest at the rate of six per cent, a year, payable 
 half-yearly, on the first days of January and July, to the treasurer of the 
 board of trustees of the Smithsonian fund, to be applied to the purposes 
 of the fund, conformably to the laws, and subject to the revision and regu- 
 lations of the board of trustees. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no part of the said Smithsonian 
 fund, principal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, univer- 
 sity, other institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the appropriations to be made 
 from time to time by Congress, to the purposes of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, as declared by the testator, shall be exclusively from the accruing 
 interest, and not from the principal, of the said fund; but Congress shall 
 retain the power of investing, at their discretion, the principal of said fund 
 and its increase in any other manner, so as to secure not less than a yearly 
 interest of six per cent., and may appropriate, from any other unappVopri- 
 nted moneys in the Treasury, sums to an amount not exceeding six years of 
 the accruing interest on the Smithsonian fund, to be repaid from the 
 said accruing interest into the Treasury. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the sum of thirty thousand dol- 
 lars, part of the accruing interest on the same Smithsonian fund, be, and 
 
TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43. 
 
 ithe same is hereby, appropriated towards the erection and establishment, 
 at the city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, adapted to the 
 most effective and continual observations of the phenomena of the heavens ; 
 to be provided with the necessary, best, and most perfect instruments and 
 books, for the periodical publication of the said observations, and for the 
 annual composition and publication of a nautical almanac. 
 
 SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said observatory shall be 
 erected under the direction of the board of trustees, on a site in'the city of 
 Washington, to be selected by them; and, should the same be on land be- 
 longing to the United States, so much thereof as, in the opinion of the 
 trustees, shall be necessary for the purpose, shall be conveyed to them, in 
 consideration of the sum of ten thousand dollars, taken from that fund by 
 the general appropriation act of third March, eighteen hundred and thirty- 
 nine : Provided, That if no such suitable site can be found on the public 
 lands, that then a selection of a site on private property may be made, at a 
 price not exceeding one-half cent per square foot ; to be paid out of the 
 appropriation in the immediately preceding section of this act. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it farther enacted, That all expenditures made by the said 
 board of trustees shall be subject to the approval of the President of the 
 United States ; and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury, and audited, under his direction, by the proper officers 
 of the Treasury Department ; and the said board shall report to Congress, 
 at every session thereof, the state of the Smithsonian fund, and a full 
 statement of their receipts and expenditures during the preceding year 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the trustees 
 of the Smithsonian fund shall be held at the city of Washington on the third 
 
 Tuesday of next; and that, in the mean time, the custody of the said 
 
 fund, and the expenditures under the appropriations herein made, shall be 
 held and authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the appro- 
 bation of the President of the United States. 
 
 SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a board of visitors, 
 to be annually appointed, consisting of nine members ; two of whom to be 
 commissioned officers of the army, to be appointed by the Secretary of 
 War ; two commissioned officers of the navy, to be appointed by the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy ; the mayors for the time being of the cities of Alex- 
 andria and of Georgetown, within the District of Columbia; and one citi- 
 zen of each of the cities of Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, 
 to be appointed by the President of the United States ; who shall meet on 
 the first Monday of February, at eleven o'clock, before noon, at the said 
 astronomical observatory, and visit and inspect the condition of the said 
 observatory, and of the Smithsonian Institution generally. They shall 
 choose among themselves a chairman, and shall make report to the Presi- 
 dent of the United States of the said condition of the institution, specifi- 
 cally indicating in what respect the institution has, during the preceding 
 year, contributed to the purpose of the founder the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men. To this board the astronomical observator shall 
 make a report to the same effect, so far as regards the astronomical branch 
 of the institution ; which report shall be annexed to that of the board to 
 the President of the United States, who shall communicate the said reports 
 to Congress. The services of the members of the said board shall be gra- 
 tuitous. 
 
 SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 
 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing, any of the provi- 
 sions of this act, which shall be found inconvenient upon experience : Pro- 
 vided, That no contract or individual right, made or acquired under such 
 provisions, shall thereby be impaired or divested. 
 
 SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the sum of sixty thousand dol- 
 lars of the interest accrued, and now invested in bonds of the State of 
 
 Arkansas and , bearing an interest at the rate of six per cent, a year, 
 
 be, and it is hereby, constituted a fund, from the yearly interest of which 
 
260 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the compensation shall be paid of an astronomical observator, to be 
 appointed by the board of overseers, removable at their discretion, and 
 another to be appointed whenever the said office may be vacant ; his com- 
 pensation shall be at the rate of three thousand dollars a year, and six hun- 
 dred dollars a year for the incidental and contingent expenses of repairs 
 upon the buildings, as they may be required. 
 
 SEC 13 And be it further enacted, That the sum of one hundred and twen- 
 ty thousand dollars, from the interest already accrued or to accrue hereafter to 
 that amount, and yielding yearly interest at the rate of six per cent, a year, 
 be, and is hereby, constituted a fund, from the interest of which four assist- 
 ants to the astronomer, and laborers necessary for attendance on him, for 
 the care and preservation of the buildings, shall be provided and supported. 
 The compensation of the four assistants to be at the rate of fifteen hundred 
 dollars a year each ; arid the compensation of the laborers (with compensa- 
 tions not to exceed in amount for the whole of those found necessary) twelve 
 hundred dollars a year; the assistants and laborers to be appointed and 
 removable by the said board of trustees, at their discretion. 
 
 SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the sum of twenty thousand dol- 
 lars, of the interest hereafter to accrue from the said Smithsonian fund, be, 
 and is hereby, appropriated to furnish an assortment of the best and most 
 perfect instruments for astronomical observation, to be procured under the 
 direction of the astronomical observator, to be appointed conformably to 
 the twelfth section of this act. 
 
 SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That the further sum of ten thousand 
 dollars, of the interest to accrue on the said fund, be, and hereby is, con- 
 stituted a fund, from the interest of which other instruments may be from 
 time to time procured, as occasions for the use of them may arise, and for 
 repairs of instruments, as needed. 
 
 SKC. 16. And be it further enacted, That the sum of ten thousand dollars, 
 to accrue from the future interest on the said fund, be, and the same is 
 hereby, appropriated for the purchase of a library of books of science and 
 literature, for the use of the observatory, to be selected by the observator ; 
 and the further sum of twenty thousand dollars, of the said interest to 
 accrue from the said fund, is hereby constituted a fund, from the yearly in- 
 terest of which the sum of twelve hundred dollars shall be applied for the 
 constant supply of new works, transactions of learned societies, and period- 
 ical publications upon science in other parts of the world or in America. 
 
 SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That the further sum of thirty thou- 
 sand dollars, of the interest hereafter to accrue from the said principal 
 Smithsonian fund, be, and hereby is, constituted a fund, from the income 
 of which, being eighteen hundred dollars a year, shall be defrayed the 
 expense of the yearly publication of the observations made at the observa- 
 tory, and of a nautical almanac, to be called the Smithsonian almanac. 
 
 SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That, for any other moneys which 
 have accrued, or may hereafter accrue, upon the said Smithsonian fund, 
 not herein appropriated, the board of trustees are hereby authorized to 
 make such disposal as they shall deem necessary for the promotion of the 
 purpose of the testator the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men. 
 
 APRIL 12, 1842. 
 
 The Speaker presented additional documents in support 
 of the memorial of Richard Rush, which were referred to 
 the Committee of Claims. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Adams, it was then ordered that the 
 committee on the Smithsonian bequest be discharged from 
 the memorial of Richard Rush, and that it be referred to 
 the Committee of Claims. 
 
TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43. 261 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 5, 1842. 
 Bill No. 479, for the relief of Richard Rush was passed. 
 The bill is as follows : 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury 
 pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to 
 Richard Rush, the sum of three thousand eight hundred and fifteen dollars 
 and seventy-three cents, for extra services in converting the Smithsonian 
 funds received by him, as the agent of the United States, into gold coin, 
 and for his aid and supervision in transporting the same from London to 
 the mint at Philadelphia. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 27, 1842. 
 
 A petition of Henry L. Ellsworth, Elisha Whittlesey, J. 
 S. Skinner, and others, on behalf of the Agricultural Soci- 
 etv of the United States, asking for the disposal of a portion 
 of the Smithsonian fund, for the establishment of an agri- 
 cultural school and farm in the District of Columbia, was 
 laid on the table. 
 
 The following is the memorial : 
 
 The memorial of the undersigned respectfully represents : 
 That they, and those associated with them, have formed a 
 society in the District of Columbia, to be called "The Agri- 
 cultural Society of the United States," which is designed 
 in various ways to promote the improvement of American 
 husbandry. 
 
 For that purpose they have adopted a constitution, and 
 applied to Congress for an act of incorporation. The objects 
 of the society are fully explained in the constitution, a copy 
 of which has been laid before Congress. One of these is 
 the establishment of a school and farm in this District, with 
 a course of lectures for instruction and experiments to 
 advance the condition of agriculture throughout the Union, 
 and thus diffuse wider among men that knowledge so essen- 
 tial to the improvement of this most important pursuit. 
 
 They therefore, in pursuance of a resolve * adopted by said 
 society, a copy of which is hereto annexed, pray Congress 
 to set apart and apply to the above objects the residue of 
 
 * Vide 15th article of constitution, presented August 27, 1842: 
 " ART. 15. The said board (board of control) shall also be instructed to 
 make etlbrts to obtain funds for the establishment of an agricultural school 
 in the District of Columbia, and, appurtenant thereto, a course of public 
 lectures on agriculture, chemistry, botany, mineralogy, geology, and ento- 
 mology, as appropriate sciences to the great business of agriculture, and an 
 experimental farm, which, with the buildings and improvements thereon, 
 shall be set apart forever as an establishment for the increase and diffusion 
 >-q/ knowledge among men. 1 ' 
 
262 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the Smithsonian fund, or such portion of it as in the opinion 
 of Congress can be most usefully and properly expended in 
 
 that manner. 
 
 HENRY ELLSWORTH. 
 
 ELISHA WIIITTLESEY. 
 J. S. SKINNER. 
 JNO. A. SMITH. 
 ALEXANDER HUNTER. 
 WASHINGTON, December, 1841. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 5, 1843. 
 Message of -the President, John Tyler. 
 
 * * In connection with its other interests as well as 
 those of the whole country, I recommend that at your pres- 
 ent session you adopt such measures, in order to carry into 
 effect the Smithsonian bequest, as in your judgment will be 
 the best calculated to consummate the liberal intent of the 
 testator. * * 
 
 SENATE, December 15, 1843. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Choate, the above message was re- 
 ferred to the Committee on the Library. Mr. Choate, Mr. 
 Tappan, and Mr. Berrien. 
 
 SENATE, June 6, 1844. 
 
 Mr. Tappan from the Committee on the Library reported 
 the following bill, (S. 188,) which was read and passed to 
 a second reading : 
 
 A BILL to establish the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 "Whereas James Smithson, esquire, of London, in the kingdom of Great 
 Britain, by his last will and testament did give the whole of his property 
 to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the 
 name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men ; and whereas Congress have hereto- 
 fore received said property and accepted said trust ; therefore, that the same 
 may be executed in good faith, and according to the will of the liberal and 
 enlightened donor 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the property of 
 the said James Smithson as has been received in money and paid into the 
 Treasury of the United States, being the sum of five hundred and eight 
 thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars, be loaned to the United States 
 Treasury, at six per cent, per annum interest, from the third day of Decem- 
 ber, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, when the 
 same was received into the said Treasury ; and that so much of the interest 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 263 
 
 as may have accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will 
 amount to the sum of one hundred and seventy-eight thousand six hundred 
 and four dollars, he, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection 
 of suitable buildings, and the enclosing of suitable grounds, for the Smith- 
 sonian Institution established by this act ; and that six per cent, interest on 
 the said trust fund, it being the said amount of five hundred and eight 
 thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars, received into the United States 
 Treasury, third of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, 
 payable, in half yearly payments, on the first of January and July in each 
 year, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the perpetual mainte- 
 nance and support of said institution. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the business of said institution 
 shall be conducted by a board of managers, to consist of twelve, no two of 
 whom shall be citizens of the same State or Territory ; that the persons first 
 appointed on the board of managers shall meet in the city of Washington, 
 on the first Monday of September next after the passage of this act, and, 
 when met, shall divide themselves, by lot, into three sections, one of which 
 shall serve two years, one four, and the other six years ; and whenever a 
 vacancy occurs in said board, the same shall be filled by such person as may 
 be appointed by a joint resolution of Congress; that all those who may be 
 appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or removal out 
 of the United States, shall serve the residue of the term, and all those who 
 may be appointed to fill vacancies which occur by lapse of time shall serve 
 for the term of six years ; that after said board shall have met and become 
 organized by appointing one of their own body president of said board, it 
 shall be their duty to proceed to select a suitable site for such building as 
 may be, in their judgment, necessary for the institution, and suitable ground 
 not exceeding ten acres, for horticultural and agricultural experiments, which 
 ground may be taken and appropriated out of 'that part of the public ground 
 in the city of Washington called the Mall ; and the ground so selected shall 
 be set out by proper metes and bounds, and a description of the same shall 
 be made and recorded in a book to be provided for that purpose, and signed 
 by said managers, or so many of them as may be convened on said first 
 Monday of September ; and such record, or a copy thereof, certified by the 
 president of the board of managers, shall be received as evidence in all 
 courts of the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to said in- 
 stitution. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the board of managers 
 shall have selected the site for the buildings of the institution, they shall cause 
 to be erected a suitable building, of plain and durable materials and struct- 
 ure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable 
 rooms for the reception and arrangement of objects of natural history, a 
 library, a chemical laboratory, and lecture room or rooms ; and the said 
 board shall have authority, by themselves, or by a committee of three of 
 their members, to contract for the completion of such building upon such 
 plan as may be directed by the board of managers, and shall take sufficient 
 security to the Treasurer of the United States for the building and finish- 
 ing the same according to said plan, and in the time stipulated in such con- 
 tract : Provided, however, That the expense of said building shall not exceed, 
 the sum of eighty thousand dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated for 
 that purpose out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; 
 and the board of managers shall also cause the grounds selected for horti- 
 cultural and agricultural purposes to be enclosed and secured, and a suitable 
 building erected to preserve such plants as will not bear exposure to the 
 weather at all seasons ; and the sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby 
 appropriated for such building and enclosure, to be paid out of any moneys 
 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; and so soon as it may be neces- 
 sary for the accommodation of the persons employed in said institution, tho 
 said board of managers may cause to be erected on the grounds of the in- 
 stitution such dwelling houses and other buildings, of plain and substantial 
 
264 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 workmanship and materials, to be without unnecessary ornament, as may 
 be wanted : Provided however, That the whole expense of building and fur- 
 nishing as many such houses as may be required shall not exceed the residue 
 of said interest which will have accrued on the first day of July next ; and 
 for the said expenditure the said residue of said interest, amountin g to the sum 
 of seventy-eight thousand six hundred and four dollars, is hereby appropria- 
 ted, payable out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; 
 and all such contracts as may be made by said board of managers shall be de- 
 posited with the Treasurer of the United States ; and all questions which 
 may arise between the United States and any person claiming under and by 
 virtue of any such contract shall be heard and determined by said board of 
 managers, and such determination shall be final and conclusive upon all 
 parties ; and all claims on any contract made as aforesaid shall be allowed 
 and certified by the board of managers, or a committee thereof, as tin- 
 may be, and being signed by the president of the board, shall be a sufficient 
 voucher for settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as buildings shall be 
 erected for their reception, all objects of natural history belonging to the 
 United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever cus- 
 tody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be author- 
 ized by the board of managers to receive, them, and shall be arranged by 
 the professor of natural history in such order and so classed as best to facil- 
 itate the examination and study of them in the building so as aforesaid to 
 be erected for the institution ; and the managers of said institution shall 
 afterwards, as new specimens in natural history may be obtained for the 
 museum of the institution by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging 
 to the institution (which they are hereby authorized to makei <>r l>y dona- 
 tions which they may receive, cause such new specimens to be also appropri- 
 ately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, and 
 other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States, and are now placed in the Patent Office, shall 
 be removed to said institution and shall be preserved separate and apart 
 from the other property of the institution. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the managers of said institution 
 shall appoint a superintendent, whose duty it shall be to take charge of the 
 ground, buildings, and property, belonging to the institution, and carefully 
 preserve the same from injury ; and such superintendent shall !>< the secre- 
 tary of the board of managers, and shall, under their direction, make a fair 
 and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in said institu- 
 tion ; and the said superintendent shall also discharge the duties of professor 
 of agriculture and of horticulture in said institution, and in that capacity 
 may, with the approbation of the board of managers, employ, from time to 
 to time, so many gardeners and other laborers as may be necessary to culti- 
 vate the ground and keep in repair the buildings of said institution; and 
 the superintendent shall receive for his services such sum as may be 
 allowed by the board of managers, to be paid semi-annually on the first 
 day of January and July ; and the said superintendent shall be removable 
 by the board of managers whenever, in their judgment, the interest of the 
 intitution may require the superintendent to be changed. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, at the first meeting of the board 
 of managers, they shall fix on the times for regular meetings of the board, 
 and on application of any three of the managers to the superintendent of 
 the institution, it shall be his duty to appoint a time for a special meeting 
 of the board, of which he shall give notice by letter to each of the mem- 
 bers, and at any meeting of the board of managers seven shall constitute a 
 quorum to do business; that each member of the board of managers shall 
 be paid his necessary travelling and other expenses in attending meetings 
 of the board, which shall be audited, allowed, and recorded, by the super- 
 intendent of the institution. And whenever any person employed by the 
 authority of the institution shall have performed service entitling him to com- 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 265 
 
 pensation, whether the same shall be by way of salary payable semi-annually 
 or wages for labor, the superintendent shall certify to the president of the 
 board that such compensation is due, whereupon the president shall certify 
 the same to the proper officer of the Treasury Department for payment. 
 
 SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers may ap- 
 point some suitable person as professor of natural history, a professor of chem- 
 istry, and a professor of astronomy, with such other professors as the wants 
 of science may require. They shall also employ able men to lecture in the 
 institution upon the arts and sciences, and shall fix the compensation of such 
 professors and lecturers : Provided, That no professorship shall be established 
 or lecturer employed to treat or lecture on law, physic, or divinity, it being 
 the object of the institution to furnish facilities for the acquisition of such 
 branches of knowledge as are not taught in the various universities. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall make 
 all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, for the government of the in- 
 stitution and the persons employed therein ; they shall direct and prescribe 
 the experiments to be made by the professor of agriculture and horticulture, 
 to determine the utility and advantage of new modes and instruments of 
 culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, and vegetables, may be 
 cultivated to advantage in the United States ; and they shall direct the dis- 
 tribution of all such fruits, plants, ^eeds, and vegetables, as shall be found 
 useful and adapted to any of our soils and climates, so that the people in 
 every part of the Union may enjoy the benefit and advantage of the exper- 
 iments made by the institution ; they shall also make rules and regulations 
 for the admission of students in the various departments of the institution, 
 and their conduct and deportment while they remain therein : Provided, 
 That all instruction in said institution shall be gratuitous to those students 
 who conform to such rules and regulations. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That be appointed 
 
 managers of the said Smithsonian Institution, to hold their offices as is 
 hereinbefore provided. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 2, 1844. 
 
 Mr. J. Q. ADAMS moved the following resolution which 
 was read, and the rule requiring the same to lie upon the 
 table one day being dispensed with, it was considered and 
 agreed to, viz : 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to report to this 
 House the present state and condition of the funds bequeathed by James 
 Smithson to the United States, for the establishment at the city of Wash- 
 ington of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men; with a statement of what payments of interest have been received, 
 and what if any, have been refused or withheld on the State stocks in which 
 the said funds were invested ; the amount of interest so withheld or refused 
 to be paid ; and what measures have been taken by the Secretary to recover 
 the same; also by whose agency the said investments were made; with 
 copies of any correspondence of the Treasury Department with such agents 
 relating thereto. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 2, 1844. 
 
 Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition of Horatio C. Merriam, 
 of Massachusetts, that a portion of the Smithsonian bequest 
 
266 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 be applied to promote agricultural education, that science 
 being heretofore neglected in the systems of education of this 
 country ; which was referred to the Committee on Agricul- 
 ture. 
 
 HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, February 19, 1844. 
 
 The Speaker laid before the House the following com- 
 munication, viz : 
 
 A letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, in answer 
 to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 
 3d of January last, transmitting statements showing the 
 present state and condition of the funds bequeathed by 
 James Smithson to the United States ; the payments of in- 
 terest that have been received, and what have been refused 
 or withheld on the State stocks in which the said funds 
 were invested, and the amount of interest so withheld ; and 
 stating what measures had been taken to recover the in- 
 terest withheld ; also, accompanied with copies of the cor- 
 respondence in relation to the purchase of State stocks for 
 the fund : which letter and accompanying documents were, 
 on motion of Mr. John Quincy Adams, referred to a select 
 committee of nine members. 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams, Mr. Houston, Mr. Chappell, 
 Mr. French, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Brengle,* Mr. Yost, Mr. E. D. 
 Potter, and Mr. Wethered,* were appointed the said com- 
 mittee. 
 
 The following is the letter : 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 17, 1844. 
 
 SIR : In compliance with the resolution of the House of 
 Representatives of the 3d of January last, I have the honor 
 to transmit the accompanying statements A, B, C, showing 
 " the present state and condition of the funds bequeathed 
 by James Smithson to the United States, for the establish- 
 ment of an institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men ; -the payments of interest that have 
 been received, and what have been refused, or withheld, on 
 the State stocks in which the said funds were invested, and 
 the amount of interest so withheld." 
 
 I have the honor further to report, in compliance with 
 the resolution, that the only measures taken to recover the 
 interest so withheld were, by retaining in the Treasury the 
 amounts stated in statement C, under the provisions of the 
 
 *This committee, though ordered, was not actually appointed untiL 
 Messrs. Brengle and Wethered took their seats. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 26T 
 
 fourth section of the act of 4th September, 1841 ; there 
 being no other means by which the department could com- 
 pel the pa}'ment of interest then in arrear. 
 
 The resolution also requires to be reported " by whose 
 agency the said investments were made, with copies of any 
 correspondence of the Treasury Department with such 
 agents relating thereto." 
 
 In reply to this, I have the honor to state that it does not 
 appear that any agent was ever appointed to make these in- 
 vestments. The correspondence in relation to the purchase 
 of State stocks, for the fund, appears to have been princi- 
 pally with stock-brokers ; and copies are annexed, marked 
 from D No. 1, to D No. 63. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 J. C. SPENCER, 
 Secretary of the Treasury* 
 
 Hon. J. W. JONES, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
"208 
 
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 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 B. Statement exhibiting the amount and description of the State 
 by the Secretary of the Treasury, in trust, for the benefit of the 
 to the 31st December, 1843. 
 
 T)ofp of 
 
 
 Period from 
 
 
 purchase. 
 
 bonds and stocks. 
 
 est commen- 
 ces. 
 
 December 
 31, 1838. 
 
 Sept. 4, 1838 
 
 $500,000 00 Arkansas 6 per 
 cent, bonds 
 
 Sept. 5, 1838 
 
 $9 619 57 
 
 Nov. 23, 1838 
 
 8,000 00 Michigan 6 per 
 cent, bonds 
 
 May 1, 1838 
 
 320 00 
 
 Dec. 29. 1838 
 
 10,000 00 Arkansas 6 per 
 cent, bonds 
 
 Jan. 1, 1839 
 
 
 July 6, 1839 
 
 13,000 00 Arkansas 6 per 
 cent, bonds 
 
 July 1, 1839 
 
 
 Feb. .3, 1840 
 
 26,000 00 Illinois 6 per cent, 
 bonds 
 
 Jan 1, 1840 
 
 
 Sept. 21, 1840 
 
 15,000 00 Arkansas 6 per 
 cent, bonds 
 
 July 1, 1840 
 
 
 Dec. 3, 1840 
 
 6,000 00 Illinois 6 per cent, 
 bonds 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Feb. 1, 1841 
 
 24,000 00 Illinois 6 per cent, 
 bonds 
 
 Jan. 1, 1841 
 
 
 Aug. 7, 1841 
 
 13,000 00 Ohio 6 per cent, 
 canal stock __ __ 
 
 July 1, 1841 
 
 
 Aug. 10, 1841 
 
 5,000 00 Ohio 6 per cent, 
 canal stock 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Sept. 27, 1841 
 
 1,291 86 United States 6J 
 per cent, stock. . 
 
 Sept. 18, 1841 
 
 
 Aug. 27, 1842 
 
 540 00 United States 6 
 per cent. stock__ 
 
 Jan. 3, 1842 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 17 76 United States 6 
 per cent, stock.. 
 
 Jan. 25, 1842 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 540 00 United States 6 
 per cent. stock__ 
 
 July 7, 1842 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 38 04 United States 6 
 per cent, stock __ 
 
 Aug. 15, 1842 
 
 
 Dec. 29, 1842 
 
 480 00 United States 6 
 per cent, stock 
 
 Nov. 26, 1842 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 7,842 79 United States 6 
 per cent, stock _ 
 
 Dec. 13, 1842 
 
 
 JMar. 31, 1843 
 
 113 05 United States 6 
 per cent. stock__ 
 
 Jan. 3, 1843 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 540 00 United States 6 
 per cent, stock.. 
 
 Jan. 4, 1843 
 
 
 Jan. 12, 1844 
 
 4,231 35 United States 5 
 per cent, stock.. 
 
 Jan. 1, 1844 
 
 
 
 $635,634 85 
 
 
 $9,939 57 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 
 
 271 
 
 'bonds, and stocks of the United States and State of Ohio, purchased 
 Smithsonian Institution, with the interest which has accrued thereon 
 
 Period to which interest has become due. 
 
 Total amount of 
 interest accrued 
 to December 31, 
 1843. 
 
 December 
 31, 1839. 
 
 December 
 31, 1840. 
 
 December 
 31, 1841. 
 
 December 
 31, 1842. 
 
 December 
 31, 1843. 
 
 $30,000 00 
 480 00 
 600 00 
 390 00 
 
 $30,000 00 
 480 00 
 600 00 
 780 00 
 1,560 00 
 450 00 
 180 00 
 
 $30,000 00 
 480 00 
 600 00 
 780 00 
 1,560 00 
 900 00 
 360 00 
 1,440 00 
 390 00 
 150 00 
 20 28 
 
 $30,000 00 
 480 00 
 600 00 
 780 00 
 1,560 00 
 900 00 
 360 00 
 1,440 00 
 780 00 
 300 00 
 71 04 
 32 31 
 96 
 15 75 
 87 
 2 80 
 24 84 
 
 $30,000 00 
 480 00 
 600 00 
 780 00 
 1,560 00 
 900 00 
 360 00 
 1,440 00 
 780 00 
 300 00 
 71 04 
 32 40 
 1 08 
 32 40 
 2 28 
 28 80 
 495 05 
 6 75 
 32 18 
 
 $159,619 57 
 2,720 00 
 3,000 00 
 3,510 00 
 6,240 00 
 3,150 00 
 1,260 00 
 4,320 00 
 1,950 00 
 750 00 
 162 36 
 64 71 
 2 04 
 48 15 
 3 15 
 31 60 
 619 89 
 6 75 
 32 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 431,470 00 
 
 $34,050 00 
 
 $36,680 28 
 
 $37,348 57 
 
 $37,901 98 
 
 $187,390 40 
 
272 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS, 
 
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 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 277 
 
 D I. 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 14, 1838. 
 
 SIR : The public service at the west will probably require, in the course 
 of a few weeks, considerable sums of money for disbursements on account 
 of the army and Indian department. Should your bank find it convenient 
 to meet drafts for any part of the balance due from you to the United States, 
 payable at its counter, I will cheerfully direct the Treasurer to place such 
 drafts upon you for such amounts, as you shall advise me immediately will 
 be paid by your bank. They will probably be required in specie. The 
 sums paid will be carried to the credit of your bank, and stop interest from 
 the date of payment. Should your bank have at command State stocks, 
 which it wishes to dispose of in discharge of its proportion of the two last 
 installments of the bonds of the State Bank of Indiana to the United States, 
 and will describe their character, and the lowest price at which they will 
 be sold upon payment in the mode mentioned, this department, having 
 funds to invest in State stocks, will be glad to receive a proposition on the 
 subject at your earliest convenience. 
 
 These suggestions are made under the belief that some benefit may result 
 to all parties by such arrangement. 
 
 I am, &c., L. WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE BRANCH OF THE STATE BANK OF INDIANA, Madison. 
 
 A similar letter was addressed to President of the Bank of Michigan ; 
 President of the Planters' Bank of Mississippi ; President of the Branch 
 of the Bank of the State of Alabama, at Mobile ; President of -the Agri- 
 cultural Bank of Mississippi ; President of the Farmers' and Mechanics' 
 Bank of Michigan ; President of the Branch of State Bank of Indiana, at 
 Lawrenceburg ; President of the Branch of State Bank of Indiana, at New 
 .Albany. 
 
 D 2. 
 
 .Extract of a letter from the President of the Branch Bank, Madison, In- 
 diana, dated Washington, August 3, 1838, in reply to the letter from the 
 department, dated July 14, 1838. 
 
 The Branch of the State Bank of Indiana, at Madison, will furnish your 
 department with Indiana 5 per cent, internal improvement bonds, princi- 
 pal and interest payable in New York, to the full amount of the debt that 
 branch owes your department, at par. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 3. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL BANK, NATCHEZ, July 26, 1838. 
 
 SIR : Your favor of the 14th instant, addressed to the president of this 
 bank, has been received. After thanking you for the suggestions it con- 
 tains, I am to inform you that our agent in the north, Alvarez Fish, Esq,, 
 formerly our president, is instructed to open a negotiation for the purchase 
 of $600,000 of the bonds of this State, now being offered in the northern 
 market, provided ho can dispose of them to the Government in liquidation 
 of the balance due the Treasury, and to correspond with you upon the sub- 
 ject. Our directory feel somewhat sanguine of the success of these nego- 
 tiations, which will supersede the necessity of our making arrangements to 
 meet the drafts of the Treasurer here, and will be a more convenient mode 
 -of payment for us. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. P. MERRILL, Cashier. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
278 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 D 4. 
 
 * Notice. 
 
 The money bequeathed by the late James Smithson, Esq., of London, for 
 founding an institute in the city of Washington, amounting to about half a 
 million of dollars, will, it is expected, be received during the present month. 
 By an act passed July 7, 1838, the undersigned is directed to invest the 
 same " in stocks of States, bearing interest at the rate of not less than five 
 per cent, per annum." He is now prepared to receive proposals from per- 
 sons who have stocks of this description to dispose of. 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, August 6, 1838. 
 
 D 5. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 8, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We discover, by an official notice from the Treasury Depart- 
 ment of the 6th instant, that you are directed by an act of Congress, passed 
 July 7, 1838, to invest the money bequeathed by the late James Smithson, 
 of London, for founding an institute in the city of Washington, in the stocks 
 of States bearing interest at the rate of not less than five per cent, per 
 annum ; and that you are now prepared to receive proposals from persons 
 having stocks of this description to dispose of. 
 
 We take the liberty to inform you that, by virtue of the act of the Leg- 
 islature of the State of Mississippi incorporating the " Mississippi Union 
 Bank," we are charged with the disposal of five millions of the bonds of 
 the State, bearing interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum, and pay- 
 able in twelve and twenty years, and at such place or places as we may 
 designate. And we have now the honor to submit for your consideration 
 a proposition for the sale of an amount of five hundred thousand dollars 
 of those bonds payable at any place in the United States or in England 
 you may designate, and extinguishable in twelve or twenty years. 
 
 We shall await in this city your answer to this communication. 
 
 With considerations of high respect, your most obedient servants, 
 
 EDWARD C. WILKINSON. 
 J. WILKINS. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY. 
 
 D 6. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 8, 1838. 
 
 SIR : Noticing the advertisement of the 6th instant for offers of State- 
 stocks for the investment of money bequeathed by the late James Smithson, 
 we beg leave to offer sixty thousand dollars Indiana five per cent. State 
 stock, with the privilege, on receipt of the Secretary's reply, of making the 
 amount one hundred thousand dollars, at par. The stock to be delivered,, 
 at our option, on or before the 1st November next. 
 Kespectfully your obedient servants, 
 
 OGDEN, FERGUSON & Co. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington. 
 
 D 7. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, August 8, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I have observed your notice inviting proposals for the sale of State 
 stocks. 
 
 I have in my possession $76,250 of the bonds of the State of Tennessee 
 5| per cents., redeemable in 1862 and 1863. The interest payable semi- 
 
 * Published in the Globe newspaper. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 279 
 
 annually, at any point in the United States you may desire, and guaranteed 
 by the Planters' Bank of Tennessee. 
 
 They are the same which I had the honor, by letter, some time since, 
 from Nashville, to propose to sell you ; and again, recently, in person at 
 Washington. 
 
 I am desirous of obtaining par for them, if possible, as they cost that ; 
 but having determined to resume specie payments shortly, and being very 
 desirous of liquidating the debt due to the Government, renders it neces- 
 sary to dispose of them, even if we have to submit to a loss. I therefore 
 propose to sell you the above bonds at 99J. 
 
 I shall esteem it a great favor if you will inform me (directed to this 
 city) when your decision will be made known. My object in making the 
 request is. that I am desirous of returning to Tennessee as soon as possible, 
 and this is the only business that detains me. If you could, consistently, 
 take these bonds from me immediately, at a price that would be satisfactory 
 to you, it would do me a great favor, and I would bring them to you imme- 
 diately. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 M. WATSON, President of the Planters 1 Bank of Tennessee. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBTJRY. 
 
 D 8. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 8, 1838. 
 
 SIR : We will sell any part of $200,000 Michigan six per cent, stock, in- 
 terest and principal payable here, at par. The interest since the 1st of July 
 to be included. This stock has about twentv years to run, and is in bonds 
 of $1,000 each. 
 
 Your obedient servants, JOHN WARD & Co. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 9. 
 
 PETERSBURG K. K. Co. OFFICE, August 8, 1838. 
 
 SIR: I have observed in the u Globe '' of the 6th instant, your notice of 
 that date, relating to an investment " of the money bequeathed by the late 
 James Srnithson, Esq., of London, in State stocks, bearing interest at the 
 rate of not less than five per cent, per annum." 
 
 I beg leave to state that the Petersburg Kailroad Company, which I rep- 
 resent, holds one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) of stock of 
 the State of Virginia, which bears an interest of five per cent, per annum, 
 payable semi-annually,' in specie or its equivalent, and issued under the 
 authority of the act of the General Assembly of Virginia, (herein enclosed,) 
 which they are willing to sell, and for which they will take par. 
 
 As we are anxious to dispose of this stock soon, either in this country or 
 in Europe, your early decision will oblige us. 
 
 With great respect, sir, your friend and servant, 
 
 CHARLES F. OSBORNE. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 10. 
 
 BANK OF VIRGINIA, August 8, 1838. 
 
 SIR : Observing your " notice " in the Globe, inviting proposals from 
 persons who have State stocks to dispose of, I now oifer you one hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars of the stock of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 
 bearing six per cent, interest, payable at the treasury of Virginia semi- 
 annually, (1st July and January,) in specie or its equivalent. The stock 
 has twenty years to run from the 23d February last. I will take $105 for 
 
280 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 every hundred dollars of stock ; the interest accruing from the 1st of July 
 to the date of transfer to be allowed by the purchaser. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, yours, very respectfully, 
 
 JOHN BROCKENBROUGH. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY. 
 
 D 11. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 8, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR: We noticed your request for the prop'-sal of sale of State 
 stocks, bearing 5 per cent, interest. We renew our offer to sell $105,000 of 
 Louisiana State bonds, interest payable semi-annually, 1st January and 
 July at the Mechanics' Bank, New York. These bonds are in London. 
 We will sell them at $98 for $100, you to allow the interest that may accrue 
 on the day of delivery. They will be received here in 60 days. 
 
 We wish to be favored with an answer, that we may write to London by 
 the steamer Great Western. You have been furnished by us with the law, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 Very respectfully, S. & M. ALLEN. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 12. 
 
 SECOND AUDITOR'S OFFICE, RICHMOND, August 9, 1838. 
 SIR: The attention of the board of public works of Virginia having 
 been attracted to your notice respecting the investment of the money re- 
 ceived for the Smithsonian legacy, inserted in to-day's papers of this city, 
 I have been instructed to make the following proposals in tln-ir behalf: 
 
 1. They will give five per cent, stock of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 
 at par, for the whole amount of the legacy, provided it does notmuch exceed 
 half a million of dollars ; or, 
 
 2. They will give for part of said legacy, two hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars ($250,000) of six per cent, stock, at the rate of one hundred dollars 
 in stock for one hundred and five dollars in money. 
 
 The interest on the stock will be paid semi-annually at the treasury of 
 the Commonwealth. It is irredeemable for twenty years, and redeemable 
 afterwards at the pleasure of the General Assembly ; and the pledges and 
 securities for the payment of the interest, and the ultimate redemption of 
 the principal, are of the most ample character. 
 
 Should you desire more specific information, it will be promptly fur- 
 nished. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 J. BROWN, Jr., Second Auditor. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 13. 
 
 PORTSMOUTH, VA., August 9, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I have at my disposal seventy-three thousand dollars of five per 
 cent. Virginia State stock, irredeemable for twenty years from the 18th 
 June, 1838, and afterwards to be redeemed at the pleasure of the General 
 Assembly of Virginia. The interest payable at the treasury of the State, 
 on the 1st January and July in each year. I offer it (or any portion of it) 
 to you at par. An early answer is desired. 
 
 Respectfully, &c., WM. H. WILSON. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 14. 
 
 FARMERS' BANK OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND, August 9, 1838. 
 SIR : I observe by your public notice that you are prepared to receive 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 281 
 
 proposals, under the act of the 7th July, authorizing the investment of the 
 money bequeathed by James Smithson, Esq., " in stocks of the States bear- 
 ing an interest at the rate of not less than five per cent, per annum." 
 
 I have the honor to propose to your acceptance, under the act, one hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars of the stock of the Commonwealth of Vir- 
 ginia, bearing an interest of five per cent., payable semi-annually, and the 
 principal redeemable at the end of twenty years from the 18th June last. 
 This I offer at par. 
 
 Should the number of proposals, or other reasons, lead you to decline 
 taking the whole of the stock, then such portion of it as you maybe willing 
 to take is offered to yonr acceptance. 
 
 Begging to be apprized of your decision, I have the honor to be your 
 obedient servant, &c., WM. H. MACFARLAND, President. 
 
 Hon. LEVT WOODBURT, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 15. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 9, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We observe that you advertise for proposals for State stocks 
 to invest the Smithsonian fund in. We are unable to determine whether 
 the matter will be open for negotiation, or whether you will accept the best 
 offer made under seal. We hold one hundred and seventy thousand dollars 
 five per cent, stock of a northern State, which we would like to propose or 
 negotiate for ; or, if within the limits of the law directing the disposal of 
 the fund, we would pay interest for the money, and give the stock as col- 
 lateral. 
 
 If your time will permit, we shall feel obliged by an explanation on these 
 points ; and will become applicants for one hundred and seventy thousand 
 dollars of the fund, in the way we think will be most satisfactory to the 
 Government. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servants, PARKER & Co. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Washington, D. C. 
 
 D 16. 
 
 ALBANY, August 9, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I will let you have $33,000 New York State five per cent, stock, 
 redeemable in 1855, at two per cent, premium, and interest from the last 
 dividend say 1st July. The last five per cent, stock issued by this State 
 was sold at public auction, in the city of New York, about forty days since, 
 and the highest price bid was one per cent, and T 6 ^ Q -. Since which, I have 
 sold in New York fifty thousand dollars of the same stock offered to you at 
 two per cent, advance, being precisely what I offer it to you for. 
 
 Allow me to request an early answer, as I am unwilling, by locking up 
 the stock, to forego the chance of doing as well, or better, should an oppor- 
 tunity present. 
 
 I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 
 
 THOS. W. OLCOTT. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 17. 
 
 AUGUST 9, 1838. 
 
 SIR : In the Washington Globe, of date 6th instant, I notice an official 
 invitation to the holders of State stock to make an offer of sale, for the in- 
 vestment of the funds obtained under the Smithsonian bequest. I have one 
 hundred thousand dollars of Indiana internal improvement State stock, 
 payable twenty-five years from 1st July, 1838, bearing an interest of five 
 per cent., payable semi-annually in the city of New York ; which I offer 
 to the Department at 98 cents on the 100 cents of the principal. Your 
 
282 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 reply, should the offer be accepted, addressed to No. 15 Wall street, N. Y. r 
 will be promptly attended to. 
 
 Should references be required, I am personally known to the .President. 
 Your obedient servant, SIMEON B. JEWITT. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 18. 
 
 LOUISVILLE, August 13, 1838. 
 
 SIR : 1 have this moment seen, over your official signature, a notice to 
 the public, stating that you are ready to receive propositions relative to the 
 investment, in State stocks, of the fund (say half u million) bequeathed by 
 James Smithson, Esq., for the purpose of founding an institute in the city 
 of Washington ; which fund you are authorized to dispose of in this way, 
 by act of July 7, 1838. 
 
 Application is hereby made, in behalf of the Mississippi Union Bank, for 
 a loan or purchase of the whole amount of this fund when in your hands 
 for disposal. The bank offers, as security or equivalent, the bonds of the 
 State of Mississippi, bearing interest at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum ; 
 interest and principal made payable at such places as may .suit tho conve- 
 nience of the purchaser ; which bonds she holds to tin- amount of $1 "),()00,- 
 000, with ample power to negotiate and sell the same, as prescribed in tin- 
 first section of the original act incorporating said institution, by the direc- 
 tors of the bank themselves, or, as expressed in the 9th section of the sup- 
 plemental act thereto appended, by the agency of commissioner, appointed 
 for that purpose. 
 
 For the nature of the security, the general terms of the negotiation, the 
 form and condition of the bonds, &c.,"&c., you are respectfully referred to 
 the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th sections of the original act above re- 
 ferred to, a copy of which, with the supplement, is herewith transmitted 
 for your inspection. 
 
 This letter is not official from the bank, as the board of directors have 
 not been in session since the publication of your notice, and eowdquently 
 could have no action upon the subject. It will be recognized, however, n.- 
 such, by the board, at their first regular meeting, (the 10th of September 
 next,) when a copy of it will be laid before them. 
 
 For any information which may be required, should there be a prospect 
 of effecting this negotiation, please address president and directors, or Eton. 
 H. G-. Kunnels, president of the Mississippi Union Bank, at Jackson, Mis- 
 sissippi ; and, if necessary, an agent will bo immediately appointed by the 
 bank, who will see you, in person, on the subject of the negotiation, at 
 Washington. The acknowledgment of the receipt of this communication, 
 directed as above, so as to meet the board of directors of the bank by tho 
 10th of September next, will confer a favor on them, and oblige, 
 Very respectfully and truly, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN J. McRAE, 
 Member of Board of Directors of Mississippi Union Bonk. 
 
 To Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 19. 
 EASTERN BANK, BANGOU, MAINE, August 13, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : I have noticed a paragraph in the public papers of the day, 
 upon the subject of the Smithsonian bequest, where, after alluding to the 
 act of Congress directing the Secretary of the Treasury to invest the same 
 14 in stocks of STATES, bearing interest at the rate of not less than 5 per 
 cent, per annum," it is stated that you are now prepared to receive proposals 
 from persons who have stocks of this description to dispose of. 
 
 I am directed to say to you that this bank has a Maine State scrip, issued 
 agreeably to law, dated March 23, 1838, for the sum of $4,500, payable in* 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 28& 
 
 five years from date, with interest annually, at the rate of 5 per centum j. 
 which we offer for your consideration. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 W. H. MILLS, Cashier, 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 20. 
 
 EASTERN RAILROAD OFFICE, BOSTON, August 14, 1838. 
 SIR : I notice your advertisement of the 6th instant for proposals for the- 
 purchase of State stocks, and beg leave to offer you $100,000 of Massachu- 
 setts State scrip, payable twenty years from 1st September next, bearing 
 interest at the rate of 5 per cent., payable semi-annually. 
 
 We are just advised of a large sale of the scrip of this State in London, 
 at a premium of 4 per cent.; at which rate I am authorized to sell the 
 $100,000 now offered to you. 
 
 The last issue of scrip which I received for same amount of the Com- 
 monwealth, I sold all at 5 per cent. If the rate named should be at a 
 greater premium than you can purchase at, I shall be happy to receive an 
 offer, which I will communicate to the directors of this company. 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 B. T. REED, Treasurer. 
 SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. 
 
 D 21. 
 
 BANK OF KENTUCKY, LOUISVILLE, August 14, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I take the earliest opportunity of acknowledging the receipt of 
 yours of the 4th instant. 
 
 Having already made such arrangements as will reduce the debt to you 
 from this institution to $300,000, I am willing to give that amount of the 
 bonds held by you at par. Should this arrangement satisfy you, please 
 advise me as early as possible. 
 
 Your obedient servant, W. H. POPE, President. 
 
 Hon. L. WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 22. 
 
 STATE BANK OF INDIANA, August 14, 1838. 
 
 SIK: For the purpose of a prompt adjustment of the balance due to the 
 United States on account of public deposits, I take an early occasion to 
 comply with the authority given me by the directors of this institution ; 
 and therefore, propose that such balance due from this institution, on ac- 
 count of public deposits to the United States not otherwise arranged for, 
 shall be forthwith paid by this institution in the bonds of the State of In- 
 diana, bearing 5 per centum interest, and payable, both principal and 
 interest, at a bank in the city of New York the principal at the expiration 
 of 30 years, and the interest semi-annually. This proposal is intended to 
 include, also, the future installments of our deposit debt. 
 
 An early answer is requested, and it is trusted that this mode of your 
 realizing these means, and of adjusting an unsettled account, may be 
 approved. 
 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 S. MERRILL. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 23. 
 
 WASHINGTON, August 14, 1838. 
 SIR : For one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the Smithsonian- 
 
-284 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 legacy advertised for investment in State stock, I offVr one hundred and 
 fifty bonds of Virginia State scrip, of $1,000 each, bearing an interest of 
 5 per centum, payable semi-annually, and redeemable in twenty years. By 
 an act of the Virginia Legislature, passed last April, the board of public 
 works are authorized to pay the interest on this loan, in specie or its equiv- 
 alent. A decision is expected at an early day, and any information pre- 
 viously desired will be furnished promptly by, 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN BRUCE, 
 
 President Winchester and Potomac Railroad Co., Winchester, Va. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 24. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 14, 1838. 
 
 SIR : In accordance with the proposal made by you for State stocks, we 
 offer you two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of bonds of the State of 
 Illinois, payable in 1860, bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent, per 
 annum, payable semi-annually, in July and January, at the bank of the 
 United States in Philadelphia, or at their agency in New York, ut the 
 option of the holder at one hundred and four dollars for every hundred 
 dollars of stock ; the interest which shall have accrued from the 1st of July 
 last to be paid to us. 
 
 We are, very respectfully, yours, NEVINS, TOWNSEND & Co. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 25. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 15, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We have yours of the 13th before us. The stocks we hold 
 are the bonds of the State of Maine, payable in 1848, bearing an interest of 
 5 per cent per annum, payable in Boston, unmmlly. They are worth par 
 here, for the purpose of investing in banking, under the general law ; but 
 if we could have an answer at once, we will sell $170,000 at 98i per cent. 
 This is three per cent, below the market price of the bonds of the States of 
 New York and Pennsylvania, which are only preferable to Maine as a 
 remittance to Europe. 
 
 The financial condition of Maine is equal to any State in the Union ; her 
 whole indebtedness is but $554,000, and the banks are all obliged to loan 
 the State 10 per cent, of their capital, at 5 per cent, per annum. We can- 
 not hold ourselves bound for any given time to sell the bonds at this rate, 
 but will accept it, if not otherwise disposed of, on receipt of answer. We 
 know it to be a better investment than can be made in the bonds of any 
 State, especially such as are indebted to such an extent as to make the 
 prompt payment of interest and principal a matter of some doubt. 
 Respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 PARKER & Co. 
 McCLiNTOCK YOUNG, Esq., 
 
 Acting Secretary of the Treasury, Washington. 
 
 D 26. 
 
 PETERSBURG RAILROAD OFFICE, August 18, 1838. 
 
 SIR : On the 8th instant I had the honor to address you, offering you 
 $150,000 of Virginia 6 per cent, stock, at par. Since then, I learn that my 
 friend, Wm. H. Macfarland, president of the Farmers' Bank of Virginia, 
 had submitted a similar proposal to you. His proposal and mine are for the 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGKESS, 1843-45. 285 
 
 same stock. Therefore, you will serve both of us by accepting either his or 
 my proposition. 
 
 Begging your favorable consideration, 
 
 I remain, sir, with great respect, your humble servant, 
 
 CHARLES F. OSBORNE. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 27. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 18, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of 
 the 13th instant ; and, in reply, have to inform you, that, owing to its delay 
 in reaching us, a negotiation for the whole amount of the Mississippi bonds 
 had been previously set on foot. 
 
 "We are, therefore, under the necessity of asking permission to withdraw 
 our proposition. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 E. C. WILKINSON, 
 J. C. WILKINS, 
 
 By E. C. WILKINSON. 
 Mr. McC/LiNTOCK YOUNG, Acting Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 28. 
 
 NEW YORK, August 20, 1838. 
 
 SIR : The fund commissioners of Indiana will furnish Indiana 5 per 
 cent, bonds having 24 to 25 years to run, from 1st July last, interest paya- 
 ble semi-annually, in New York, at par, to the amount of from one to five 
 hundred thousand dollars ; and will receive therefor, either cash or the 
 bonds of the State Bank of Indiana. 
 
 I would inquire when I may learn whether our proposition is accepted. 
 For the fund commissioners of Indiana, 
 
 ISAAC COE, Fund Commissioner. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 29. 
 
 THE BANK OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, ST. Louis, August 23, 1838. 
 DEAR SIR: I have lately seen your advertisement for proposals for the 
 investment of the Smithsonian legacy in State bonds, &c. 
 
 I should be pleased to sell $114,000 of Missouri State bonds at 5 per 
 cent, interest, payable semi-annually in the city of New York, and the 
 principal redeemable twenty-five years after negotiation. 
 
 These bonds have been sent to London for sale, but can be withdrawn at 
 any time, if not sold. I would, therefore, propose to sell them to you at 2 
 per cent, premium, subject to the sale in London. If not sold upon the 
 arrival of the order in London for returning them to the United States, 
 the sale will take effect, and the bonds be returned without delay, and de- 
 livered to you. 
 
 I have the honor to remain your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SMITH, President. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington City. 
 
 D 30. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, August 23, 1838, 
 
 SIR: Eeferring to your offer to sell to the department $500,000 of 6 per 
 cent. Arkansas State bonds at 99^ per cent., I have to request that you. 
 
280 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 will submit for my examination the law of the State authorizing the issue 
 of the bonds, and the form of the bonds. If both be satisfactory, I am 
 willing on the arrival of the money, to take the net amount (which will 
 not be far from half a million of dollars) at the rate offered by you, as it is 
 the lowest bid. 
 
 It is expected that the money may be by this time in New York. 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 W. W. CORCORAN, Esq. 
 
 [Enclosure.] 
 
 This writing is given to show that the interest due on the bonds of the 
 State of Arkansas, at this date, bought by me of Wm. Corcoran, Esq., be- 
 longs to said Corcoran when the same is paid to me. 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 4, 1838. 
 
 D 31. 
 
 BALTIMORE, August 29, 1838. 
 
 SIR : Under your notice of the 6th inst., we now propose to furnish you 
 with the amount of stock required for vesting the Smithsonian bequest 
 say " about half a million of dollars " in Indiana State stock, at 1 per cent, 
 under the par value, or at the rate of ninety-nine for every one hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 This stock bears an interest of 5 per cent, per annum, and is payable 
 semi-annually at the Merchants' Bank in the city of New York. 
 
 If this offer be accepted, the certificates of stock, or bonds, which are 
 now in Europe, will be delivered at the earliest period say in about fifty 
 days, or sooner if practicable ; payment to be made us upon the delivery of 
 the bonds. 
 
 We have the honor to remain, with the highest respect, your obedient 
 servants. J. I. COHEN & BROTHERS. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury of the U. S. 
 
 D 32. 
 
 THE BANK or THE STATE OF MISSOURI, ST. Louis, August 31, 1838. 
 DEAR SIR: I have the honor to refer you to my letter of the 23d inst., 
 and beg leave now to modify the proposition therein for the sale to you of 
 $114,000 Missouri State 5.} per cent bonds. 
 
 Instead of 2 per cent, premium, I would agree to sell them at par, paya- 
 ble in the city of New York, subject to the restrictions and conditions con- 
 tained in my letter above referred to. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SMITH, President. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington City. 
 
 D 33. 
 
 SMYRNA, September 10, 1838. 
 
 DEAR SIR : I saw in tho Globe your advertising for stocks bearing inter- 
 est not less than 5 per cent. I have a certificate of stock on the borough of 
 Wilmington, Delaware, for one thousand dollars, bearing interest at the 
 rate of 5 per cent., which I will sell you at par. There cannot be any safer 
 investment. Please let me hear from you. 
 
 Respectfully, J NO . S. LAMBDEN. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 287 
 
 D 34. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, December 30, 1839. 
 
 SIR : In a few days I expect to have twenty thousand dollars to invest in 
 State stocks on account of the Smithsonian bequest. If you have such, 
 that you wish to dispose of, be pleased to inform me of the terms, &c. 
 
 I am, &c., L. WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 Hon. J. K. PAULDING, Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 D 35. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, December 27, 1839. 
 
 SIR : Early next month I shall have twenty thousand dollars to invest in 
 State stocks, on account of the Smithsonian bequest. Be pleased to inform 
 me, if you have such for sale, the time they have to run, the interest they 
 bear, &c., and the lowest terms you can furnish them. 
 
 I am, &c., L. WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 CHARLES J. NOURSE, Esq., Washington City, D. C. 
 
 [Copies were sent to Hon. F. Thomas, president of the Chesapeake and 
 Ohio Canal Company ; to W. W. Corcoran, Washington, D. C. ; to J. D. 
 Beers, Esq., New York city ; and to Joseph White, Esq., Baltimore, Mary- 
 land.] 
 
 D 36. 
 
 NAVY DEPARTMENT, December 31, 1839. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
 30th instant. 
 
 In reply, I have to state that I cannot ascertain whether I shall have any 
 State stocks to dispose of until to-morrow, when I will communicate with 
 you upon the subject. 
 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, J. K. PAULDING. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 37. 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, January 15, 1840. 
 
 DEAR SIR : In reply to your favor of the 27th ultimo, I have to offer you 
 six per cent, stocks of the following States, viz : Michigan, Arkansas, and 
 Illinois, at 84 J per cent.; also, five per cent, stock of the State of Indiana, 
 at 75 per cent. the interest on all the above payable in New York semi- 
 annually ; or I will sell six per cents at one quarter per cent, less than any 
 offer j'ou may have. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, W. W. CORCORAN. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 38. 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 6, 1840. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communica- 
 tion on the subject of a tender of State stocks to the department ; and to 
 offer to you the amount you mention as ready for investment in Ohio 
 sixes, redeemable in 1854, at 88f interest payable in Now York ; Illinois 
 Canal sixes, redeemable in 1870, at 75 and 72J. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, CHARLES J. NOURSE. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 ! JANUARY 18, 1840. 
 
 DEAR SIR : Since I left you, a gentleman has handed me a letter, which 
 
 
288 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 requires that the offer of Illinois sixes should be fixed at 75 the rate first 
 proposed. 
 
 I will call at 12 o'clock. 
 
 Yours, &c., CHARLES J. NOURSE. 
 
 McC. YOUNG, Esq. 
 
 D 39. 
 
 NEW YORK, January 2, 1840. 
 
 SIR: I thank you for your letter of the 27th ult. I have State stocks 
 which I will offer you for the investment you wish to make ; and i write 
 to Mr. Corcoran to hand in the offer. 
 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 J. D. BEKKS. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 40. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 24, 1840. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : Congress having adjourned without enacting auy further 
 provision respecting the Smithsonian fund, and there being in the treasury 
 about $15,000 belonging to that fund, which it is the duty of this Depart- 
 ment to invest in State stocks, should you have any to dispose of, I will 
 thank you to inform me of the description and lowest price. 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Messrs. CORCORAN & RJGGS. Present. 
 
 [Letters of the same tenor and date as above were addressed to the fol- 
 lowing persons, viz: Messrs. Prime, Ward &.King, of New York ; J. D. 
 Beers, Esq., of New York ; and C. Macalester, of Philadelphia.] 
 
 D 41. 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, July 28, 1840. 
 
 SIR : We have the pleasure to offer you Illinois State 6 per cent, bonds, 
 interest payable half-yearly, in specie, in New York, at 79 per cent. 
 Arkansas bonds we can sell lower. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servants, CORCORAN & RIGQS. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 42. 
 
 NEW YORK, July 27, 1840. 
 
 SIR : In answer to your respected letter of the 26th instant, we beg to 
 state that we will sell $15,000 value, in Kentucky bonds due in 1868 each 
 $1,000 bearing interest from date of sale, at 5 per cent., payable half- 
 yearly in this city, and the price to be 88 per cent. ; or in New York State 
 5 per cent, stock, due in 1858 interest at 5 per cent, from 16th ins. pay- 
 able quarterly in this city, and the price to be 93 per cent. 
 
 But, in order to make this offer binding on our part, we must ask the 
 favor of your reply accepting it on or before the 1st of August next. 
 We remain, sir, respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 PRIME, WARD & KING. 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 43! 
 
 WASHINGTON, August 10, 1840. 
 
 'SiR : I have the honor to tender $20,000, Illinois 6 per cent, bonds, at 87 
 per cent. ; interest from the 1st of July last. 
 
 Respectfully yours, CHARLES J. NOURSE. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTEI CONGRESS, 1843-45. 289 
 
 D 44. 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN TRUST AND BANKING COMPANY, 
 
 No. 47 WALL STREET, NEW YORK, July 28, 1840. 
 
 SIR : In answer to your letter of the 24th instant, I have to state that 
 this institution will sell to the Department a sufficient amount of the six 
 per cent. State stock of Arkansas, at the rate of 70 per cent., to enable you 
 to invest the $15,000 in the Treasury belonging to the Smithsonian fund. 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, yours, J. D. BEERS, President. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 45. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, July 28, 1840. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
 24th inst. ; in answer to which, I have to state that the only State stock I 
 have on hand are Pennsylvania 5 per cents, which I hold at 95, redeemable 
 in 1865 ; and some Kentucky 6 per cents, redeemable in about six years, 
 bearing interest at 6 per cent. principal and interest payable in Kentucky, 
 which I would sell at 87 per cent. 
 
 1 have the honor to be, very respectfully, C. MACALESTER. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 46. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 18, 1841. 
 
 SIR : Having about $20,000 to invest for the Smithsonian fund, I re- 
 quest you to inform me if you have any State stocks to dispose of; the 
 amount you have for sale, if less than that ; the rate of interest they bear, 
 and where payable ; the State by which issued, and the price you demand. 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 CHARLES MACALESTER, Esq., Philadelphia. 
 
 Similar letters sent to Messrs. Corcoran & Kiggs, Washington ; Mr. 
 Charles J. Nourse, Washington ; Mr. J. D. Beers, New York ; Mr. B. S. 
 Keed, Boston. 
 
 D 47. 
 
 NEW YORK, January 21, 1841. 
 
 SIR : I have duly received your favor informing me that you have 
 $20,000 to invest in State bonds. I therefore propose to supply you with 
 Arkansas State bonds, such as heretofore sold you, at 80 per cent. The 
 last sale here of Arkansas bonds by the Comptroller of this State, was on 
 the 2d inst., at 79 and 80. If this is the best offer, I presume you will 
 receive them of me, and I will thank you not to let any know of my offer, 
 unless it is accepted. 
 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, J. D. BEERS. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 48. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, January 22, 1841. 
 
 SIR : I have your letter of the 18th ; in answer to which I have the honor 
 to state, that I have for sale the sum you require, of the following stocks : 
 
 Pennsylvania State fives, redeemable in 187O ; price $89 for each $100, 
 payable at Philadelphia ; interest payable 1st of August. 
 
 Ohio State sixes, redeemable in 1860 ; price $97.50"for each $100, payable 
 at New York ; interest payable January 1 and July 1. 
 
 19 
 
290 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Kentucky State sixes, redeemable in 1868 ; price $05 for each $100, pay- 
 able at New York ; interest payable January 1 and July 1. 
 
 Kentucky State sixes, redeemable in 1846 ; price $85 for each $100, pay- 
 able at Frankfort, Kentucky ; interest payable April and October. 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 C. MACALESTKR. 
 
 Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 P. s._ The book for the transfer of the Pennsylvania loan being closed, 
 these loans are now sold with the interest due 1st of February off. 
 
 D 49. 
 
 EASTERN RAILROAD OFFICE, BOSTON, January 22, 1841. 
 SIR : Your favor of the 18th instant is before me. I have sold all the 
 Massachusetts State stock which I recently had, and closed it at 99 . 
 
 But a friend has of Massachusetts State stock, payable in 18 years, 
 $20,000, drawing interest at 5 per annum, payable semi-annual ly, which 
 I can furnish at 99 per cent. ; and of New York Stale stock, payable in 
 about twenty years, $20,000, drawing interest at 5 per cent, per annum, 
 payable quarterly, at 98i per cent. 
 
 New York city stock, "payable in about 25 years, drawing interest at 5 
 per cent, per annum, payable quarterly, at 96J per cent. 
 
 I am, sir, respectfully, B. T. REED. 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. 
 
 D 50. 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, January 30, 1841. 
 
 DEAR SIR : In reply to your favor of the 18th instant, we have to offer 
 you six per cent, stocks of the States of Illinois or Michigan, interest pay- 
 able half-yearly in New York, at eighty per cent., or one-half per cent, 
 below any offer you may have. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servants, CORCORAN & RIGOS. 
 
 The Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 51. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 30, 1841. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : Your offer of the Illinois bonds for the Smithsonian fund 
 is accepted at 79J. There was an offer of other stock at 80. 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Messrs. CORCORAN & RIQGS, Washington City. 
 
 D 52. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 8, 1841. 
 
 SIR : There is at this time in the Treasury a balance of $18,271.86, be- 
 longing to the Smithsonian fund, which I am required by law to invest in 
 Statf stocks. 
 
 If you have Massachusetts, Ohio, or New York State stocks to dispose of, 
 I will thank you to propose the amount of either you are willing to deliver 
 to this Department for that balance. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 THOMAS EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 C J. NOURSE, Esq. Present. 
 
 [Letters of the same tenor and date as above were addressed to the fol- 
 lowing persons, viz : Messrs. Corcoran & Riggs, of Washington ; Messrs. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 291 
 
 J. E. Thayer & Brother, of Boston ; and Messrs. Nevins. Townsend & Co., 
 of New York.] 
 
 D 53. 
 
 WASHINGTON, July 14, 1841. 
 
 SIR : I will furnish the amount wanted for the Smithsonian fund in 
 Ohio sixes at 94J; New York fives at 86J. 
 
 The rate of Massachusetts I will send you in a day or two. 
 
 Yours, respectfully, CHAS. J. NOURSE. 
 
 Hon. Tnos. EWING. 
 
 D 54. 
 
 WASHINGTON, July 18, 18.41. 
 
 I can furnish Ohio sixes for the Smithsonian investment at 94^, instead of 
 94.}, as tendered previously. 
 
 The Ohio sixes redeemable 1865. 
 
 Eespcctfully, CHAS. J. NOURSE. 
 
 Hon. T. EWING. 
 
 D 55. 
 
 NEW YORK, July 10, 1841. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We are in receipt of your favor of the 8th instant. We will 
 deliver to your order $19,969.25 New York 5 per cent, stock, redeemable 
 in 1861 or $19,233.53 Ohio six per cent, stock, redeemable in 1860 for the 
 sum of $18,271.86, if apprized of your acceptance of the offer by Thursday 
 morning 
 
 We are, with great respect, your obedient servants, 
 
 NEVINS, TOWNSEND & Co. 
 Hon. T. EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 56. 
 
 BOSTON, July 13, 1841. 
 
 SIR : Your favor of the 8th is received. We can furnish you Massa- 
 chusetts five per cent, stock at one-half per cent, advance ; or "New York 
 State stock, five per cent., at.85|- per cent. As the bonds are issued in sums 
 of one thousand dollars, we could not furnish the precise amount which 
 you mention. There is none of the Ohio stock held in our market. 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 J. E. THAYER & BROTHER. 
 Hon. THOMAS EWING, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington. 
 
 D 57. 
 
 NEW YORK, July 16, 1841. 
 
 DEAR SIR : I have felt some doubt as to making you a more favorable 
 ofter for the $18,271.86 belonging to the Smithsonian fund, than the offer 
 you already have: but have concluded to offer you $19,250 Ohio State 
 stock interest from 1st of July instant. 
 
 Should you think proper to accept this offer, and forward to me, or to 
 J . N. Perkins, cashier, a draft for the money, the stock certificate will be 
 immediately issued thereon, in such name as you may direct. 
 Very respectfully, &c., 
 
 ALFRED'KELLY, Commissioner Ohio Canal Fund. 
 Hon. THOMAS EWING, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington City. 
 
292 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 D 58. 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, July 17, 1841. 
 
 SIR : In reply to your favor of the 8th instant, we have the pleasure to 
 offer Ohio six per cent, stock, to the extent wanted, at 94 per cent. 
 
 Eespectfully, your ohedient servants, CORCORAN & Rioos. 
 
 The Hon. THOMAS EWING, 
 
 Secretary of the Treasury, Washington City. 
 
 D 59. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 13, 1841. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : I have received your letter of the 10th, with the offer of 
 New York 5J per cent, and Ohio 6 per cent, stock, on account of the 
 Smithsonian fund. Having applied to three or four others for tenders of 
 similar stocks, from whom it is hardly time to expect replies, it will not be 
 in my power to determine upon your proposition by the time limited by 
 you. Shall it be regarded as a subsisting proposition until withdrawn ; or, 
 after Thursday, shall I decide without regard to your offer ? Please inform 
 me by return mail. 
 
 I am, &c., T. EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 Messrs. KEVINS, TOWNSESD & Co., New York. 
 
 D 60. 
 
 NEW YORK, July 15, 1841. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We have your favor of the 13th instant. We will continue 
 our offer until the 22d instant ; modifying it as to the New York stock, 
 of which we will furnish the exact sum of twenty thousand dollars for that 
 of $18,271.86. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 KEVINS, TOWNSEND & Co. 
 Hon. T. EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 D 61. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 8, 1841. 
 
 GENTLEMEN: There is now in the Treasury a balance of $18,271.86 
 belonging to the Smithsonian fund, which I am required by law to invest 
 in State stocks. I will thank you to inform rate what amount of Massachu- 
 setts, New York, or Ohio State stock you are willing to deliver to this 
 department for that balance, to be paid at New York. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 THOMAS EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Messrs. PRIME, WARD & KING, New York. 
 
 D 62. 
 
 NEW YORK, July 10, 1841. 
 
 SIR : In answer to your communication of the 8th instant, we beg to 
 state that we have no stocks of the kind which you designate, to offer to 
 you as an investment of the Smithsonian fund. 
 We remain, sir, respectfully yours, 
 
 PRIME, WARD & KING. 
 Hon. T. EWING, Washington. 
 
 D 63. 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 20, 1841. 
 GENTLEMEN : Your tender of Ohio 6 per cent, stock, payable in New 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 293 
 
 York, for the Smithsonian fund, at the rate of $100 in stock for $94 in 
 cash, is accepted. 
 
 The amount to be invested, as mentioned in my letter of the 8th, may be 
 diminished about $1,000 by the non-payment of some coupons. Of this I 
 shall be able to inform you in the course of the day. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 THOMAS EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Messrs. CORCORAN & RIGGS. 
 
 HOUSE OF EEPRESENTATIVES, June 7, 1844. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS from the select committee on the subject of 
 the Smithsonian bequest, made a report thereon, accompa- 
 nied by a bill (No. 418) to provide for the disposal. and 
 management of the fund bequeathed by James Smithson to 
 the United States, for the establishment of an institution 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men : 
 which bill was read a first and second time, and committed 
 to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
 Union. 
 
 The following is the report : 
 
 The select committee, to whom was referred the letter of 
 the Secretary of the Treasury of 19th February last, relat- 
 ing to the then state and condition of the funds bequeathed 
 by James Smithson to the United States, for the establish- 
 ment of an institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men, have attended to that duty, and 
 respectfully submit to the consideration of the House a bill, 
 to give immediate effective operation to the purposes of 
 the testator in that bequest; and in explanation of the 
 necessity and object of this bill, take leave to recall to the 
 memorj- of this House the material circumstances of the 
 acceptance of this bequest, of the reception of the funds 
 bequeathed by the testator, and of the disposition of them 
 hitherto made by Congress, and its present condition. 
 
 The existence of the bequest of James Smithson to the 
 United States of America was communicated to Congress 
 by a message from the President of the United States of 
 the 17th December, 1835; and by an act of Congress, ap- 
 proved July 1, 1836, the bequest was accepted, and the 
 President was authorized and enabled to assert and prose- 
 cute, with effect, the claim of the United States to the 
 property thereby bequeathed, and then held in trust by the 
 English court of chancery. The third section of this act is 
 in the following words : 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That any and all sums of money, and 
 other funds, which shall be received for or on account of the said legacy, 
 shall be applied, in such manner as Congress may hereafter direct, to the 
 .purpose of founding and endowing at Washington, under the name of the 
 
294 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion or 
 knowledge among men : to which application of the said moneys, and oiher 
 funds, the faith vf the United States is hereby pledged." 
 
 Under an authority conferred by this act, the President 
 of the United States appointed Richard Rush the agent to 
 recover the property held in trust in the English court of 
 chancery a commission faithfully and successfully exe- 
 cuted ; and on the 1st of September, 1838, Mr. Rush depos- 
 ited in the mint of the United States, at Philadelphia, the 
 sum, in gold, of five hundred and eight thousand three 
 hundred and eighteen dollars and forty-six cents; which, 
 together with sundry articles of furniture and books, of 
 small and indefinite pecuniary value, constituted the whole 
 of the bequest of James Smithsou to the United States. 
 
 Before the time of this deposit at the mint, the sixth sec- 
 tion of the act of Congress of July 7, 1838, entitled "An 
 act to provide for the support of the Military Academy of 
 the United States, for the year eighteen hundred and thirt}'- 
 eight, and for other purposes," had disposed of the fund as 
 follows : 
 
 " SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That nil the money arising from the 
 bequest of the lute James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of found- 
 ing at Washington, in this District, an institution to be denominated the 
 Smithsonian Institution, which may be paid into the Treasury, is hereby 
 appropriated, and shall be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, with 
 the approbation of the President of the United States, in stocks of States, 
 bearing interest at the rate of not less than five per centum per annum, 
 which said stocks shall be held by the said Secretary in trust for the uses 
 specified in the last will and testament of said Smithson, until provi.-ion is 
 made by law for carrying the purpose of eaid bequest into effect; and that' 
 the annual interest accruing on the stock aforesaid shall be in like manner 
 invested for the benefit of said institution." 
 
 Under the authority of this provision, $499,500 of the 
 money received at the mint on the 1st of September, 1838, 
 were, on the 4th of the same month, invested in five hun- 
 dred bonds of the State of Arkansas, of 1,000 each, bear- 
 ing interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum, payable 
 half-yearly, on the first days of January and July of each 
 year, until the payment of the principal, on the 26th day of 
 October, 1861. 
 
 Under the same authority, subsequent investments were 
 made in bonds, of the same State of Arkansas, as follows : 
 
 Dec. 29, 1838. $10,000, in 10 bonds, payable Jan. 1, 1868... - $10,000 00 
 July 6, 1839. $13,000, in 13 bonds, payable Jan. ! 1868 13,000 00 
 
 Sept. 21, 1840. $15,000, in 15 bonds, payable Jan. 1, 1868. 15 000 00 
 Upon these bonds there had been paid, for interest, on the 31st 
 
 December 1843 93) 5 01 73 
 
 And there was then due for interest on the same 75,G87 84- 
 
 Whence it appears that from and after July, 1841, all 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 295 
 
 payments of interest on said Arkansas bonds have ceased; 
 and that the amount due is accumulating at the rate of 
 more than $32,000 a year amounting at this da}-, to more 
 than $90,000. 
 
 On the 23d of November, 1838, $8,000 were invested in bonds of 
 the State of Michigan, payable on the first Monday of July, 
 1858, bearing interest at 6 per cent., payable half-yearly at 
 
 the Manhattan Bank, in the city ot New York $8,000 
 
 On these bonds, there was due on the 31st of December, 1843, 
 
 one year's interest 480 
 
 There were invested in bonds of the State of Illinois 
 1840 Feb. 3. 13 bonds of $1,000 each, payable after the year 
 
 1860 13,000 
 
 3 bonds of $1,000 each, payable after the 1st 
 
 January, 1873 3,000 
 
 10 bonds of $1,000 each, reimbursable at the 
 pleasure of the State after the year 1860 10,000 
 
 1840, Dec. 3. 6 bonds of the State of Illinois of $1,000 each, 
 
 payable after the 1st of January, 1870 $6,000 
 
 1841, Feb. 1. 24 bonds, payable after the 1st of Janu- 
 
 ary, 1870 24,000 
 
 $30,000 
 
 On these bonds of the State of Illinois, there was due on the 31st 
 
 of December, 1843, one year's interest 3,360 
 
 There were invested in the 6 per cent, canal stocks of the 
 State of Ohio 
 1841, Aug. 7. 13 bonds of $1,000 each, payable after the 31st 
 
 December, 1860 13,000 
 
 1841, Aug. 10. 5 bonds of $1,000 each, payable after the 31st 
 
 December, 1860 5,000 
 
 Upon these bonds, on the 31st December, 1843, no inter- 
 est was due. 
 
 The first section of an act of Congress of llth Septem- 
 ber, 1841, repealed so much of the sixth section of the act 
 of 7th July, 1838, as required the Secretary of the Treasury 
 to invest the annual interest; accruing on the investment of 
 the money arising from the bequest of James Smithson in 
 the stocks of the States. And the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury was thenceforth required, until Congress shall appro- 
 priate said accruing interest to the purposes prescribed by 
 the testator, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men, to invest said accruing interest in any stock of 
 the United States bearing not less than five per centum per 
 annum. 
 
 Since that time, the 4 investments in the stocks of the 
 United States have been as follows : 
 
 1841, September 27, 5 per cent, stocks $1,291 86 
 
 1842, August 27, 6 " " 1,135 80 
 
 1842, December 29, 6 ' " 8,32279 
 
 1843, Mutch 31,6 " 65305 
 
 1844, January 12,5 " 4,23135 
 
 Total- ._J - $15,634 85 
 
296 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Which sum is the whole amount of interest received at 
 the Treasury in the space of two years and four months, 
 (from the llth September, 1841, to the 12th January, 1844,) 
 from a fund which, in that space of time, should have 
 yielded little less than $80,000. This, then, is the present 
 condition of the fund. 
 
 There are in the Treasury of the United States 620 bonds 
 of the States of Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, 
 viz: 
 
 Arkansas 538 
 
 Illinois 56 
 
 Ohio 18 
 
 Michigan 8 
 
 Total 620 
 
 for $1,000 each, bearing on their face interest at 6 per cent, 
 a year, payable half-yearly in the city of New York. The 
 principal of these bonds is payable at clinYivnt times from 
 1850 to 1873 none before the first of those periods; and 
 none after, but at the pleasure of the several contracting 
 States. 
 
 The annual interest upon these bonds is $37,200 dollars, 
 payable in semi-annual payments in the city of New York ; 
 but, with the exception of the bonds of the State of Ohio, 
 the payment of interest on all the rest is suspended ; which 
 suspension on the bonds of the State of Arkansas has 
 already continued for the space of nearly three years. 
 
 The arrears of this interest due on the 31st of December, 
 1843, were 
 
 Of the State of Arkansas 75,687 84 
 
 Michigan 480 00 
 
 Illinois 3,360 00 
 
 Forming an aggregate of 79,527 84 
 
 Which added to the amount of the bonds 620,000 00 
 
 Gives the amount in the Treasury 699,527 84 
 
 on the 31st of December, 1843; which sum, with the accru- 
 ing interest ^to the 31st of December, 1846, will exceed 
 $800,000. The stipulated period of payment of the princi- 
 pal of all these bonds is remote none being payable earlier 
 than 1850; some of them not before 1870; and all post- 
 ponable at the pleasure of the State. So that, while the 
 payments of interest remain suspended, neither principal 
 nor interest is available for application by Congress to the 
 purpose of the bequest the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men. 
 
 Yet, in the act of Congress of July 1st, 1836, accepting 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 297 
 
 tthe bequest, the faith of the United States was solemnly 
 pledged that all the sums of money and other funds re- 
 ceived for or on account of this legacy, should be applied 
 to the humane and generous purpose prescribed by the tes- 
 tator. 
 
 For the redemption of this pledge, it is indispensably 
 necessary that the fund now locked up in the Treasury, in 
 the bonds of these States, and the accruing interest on 
 them, (the payment of which is now suspended,) should be 
 made available for the disposal of Congress to execute the 
 sacred trust which, in the name of the United States, they 
 have assumed. For this purpose, the committee report a 
 bill appropriating the sum of $800,000 to be invested in 
 certificates of stock of the United States, bearing interest 
 at the rate of six per cent, a year, payable half-yearly, and 
 redeemable at the pleasure of Congress, by the substitution 
 of other funds of equal value ; which sum of $800,000 
 shall constitute permanent funds thus appropriated, as 
 follows : 
 
 1. To replace the sum of $508,318.46 deposited in the 
 mint of the United States, in gold, on the 1st of September, 
 1838, and $500,000 of which were, on the 4th of the same 
 month, invested for and on account of the United States, in 
 .bonds of the State of Arkansas. 
 
 2. $300,000 to supply the place of the interest which has 
 accrued, and will accrue until or near the 31st of Decem- 
 ber, 1846, on the bonds now in the Treasury of the United 
 States, the payment of interest on which is at present sus- 
 pended. 
 
 The committee will not entertain a doubt that the States 
 of Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan, will have made, before 
 the close of the year 1846, provision for payment of the 
 arrears of interest due upon their bonds, and for the punc- 
 tual payment of the same interest as it may hereafter 
 accrue. The appropriations from the Treasury proposed 
 by the bill herewith reported, will require no disbursement 
 of money beyond one year's interest on the whole fund, 
 and the amount now in the Treasury and available for the 
 immediate disposal of Congress. The appropriations au- 
 thorized by the bill are necessary to enable Congress to 
 proceed immediately to the execution of the trust commit- 
 ted to them by the testator, and for the fulfillment of which 
 the faith of the nation has been pledged ; but they will 
 constitute no burdens upon the Treasury itself, and no 
 ultimate expenditure, other than the proceeds of the Smith- 
 sonian fund itself. The proposal is, that of this sum of 
 
298 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 $300,000, $60,000 shall be held as a permanent fund ; from 
 the interest of which, without intrenching upon the prin- 
 cipal, a sum of $3,600 a year shall be provided for the com- 
 pensation of an astronomical observator, and for the con- 
 tingent expenses of repairs of an observatory, occasionally 
 required. That a like fund of $120,000 shall be reserved, 
 yielding a yearly interest of $7,200, for a compensation of 
 $1,500 a year for each of four assistant observers, and of 
 two laborers with the wages for each of $600 a year. That 
 a fund of $20,000 should supply a yearly interest for the 
 purchase of new publications on subjects connected with 
 science; and another fund, from the interest of which may 
 be defrayed the compensation of the secretary and treas- 
 urer of the corporation, and the charge of publication of a 
 nautical almanac, and of the observations made by the, 
 observators. There remains, then, a sum of #70,000 to be 
 expended for the erection of the observatory, and of tl it- 
 necessary buildings connected therewith, and for the pur- 
 chase of instruments and books necessary and suitable for 
 the establishment, which may be thus formed and com- 
 pleted by the close of the year 1846. 
 
 For refunding to the Treasury the whole sum thus appro- 
 priated, principal and interest, the only requisite will be the 
 sense of justice of the Governments of the States of Ark- 
 ansas, Illinois, and Michigan, of which, as the committee 
 have observed, they cannot entertain a doubt. 
 
 The committee respectfully report, with slight modifica- 
 tions adapted to the present circumstances, the same bill 
 reported by a committee of this House at the :M session of 
 the 27th Congress, on the 12th of April, 184 
 
 And, finally, the committee refer the House, for a full 
 exposition of the facts and principles upon which the bill 
 now reported is predicated, to the following previous reports 
 of committees of this House, on the subject of the Smith- 
 sonian bequest : 
 
 Report No. 181, of January 19, 1836, 24th Congress 1st 
 session, with accompanying documents. 
 
 Report No. 277, of March 5, 1840, 20th Congress 1st ses- 
 sion, with amendatory bill H. R, No. 1. 
 
 Report No. 587, of April 12, 1842, 27th Congress 2d ses- 
 sion, with bill II. R. No. 386. 
 
 All of which this committee request may be taken as 
 part of their report. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 299> 
 
 [H. R. No. 418.] 
 
 A BILL to provide for the disposal and management of the fund be- 
 queathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment 
 of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 SEC. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the 
 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretaries of State, 
 Treasury, War, and Navy, the Postmaster and Attorney Generals, the 
 Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of 
 Columbia, and the Mayor of the city of Washington, shall be, and hereby 
 are, constituted a body politic and corporate, by the style and title of " The 
 trustees of the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men," with perpetual succession, and the usual powers, 
 duties, and liabilities, incident to corporations. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it farther enacted, That the corporation so constituted 
 shall have power to appoint, from citizens of the United States other than, 
 members of the board, a secretary and a treasurer, to hold their offices 
 during the pleasure of the board, and removable at their pleasure, and 
 others to be appointed in their places, and to fix from time to time their 
 compensations. And the secretary and treasurer only shall receive pecu- 
 niary compensation for their services, and those of the members of the 
 board of trustees shall be gratuitous. And the offices of secretary and 
 treasurer may, at the discretion of the board of trustees, be held by the 
 same person. The secretary and treasurer shall be sworn to the faithful 
 discharge of the duties of their respective offices ; and the treasurer shall 
 give bond, under the penalty of fifty thousand dollars, with sureties to the 
 satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the safe custody and faith- 
 ful application of all the funds of the Institution which may come to his 
 hands or be at his disposal. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of eight hundred thou- 
 sand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, by investment of that 
 sum in certificates of stock to that amount of the United States, bearing 
 interest at the rate of six per cent, a year, from and after the passage of 
 this act, redeemable at the pleasure of Congress by the substitution of other 
 funds of equal value and yielding the same income, the said interest being 
 payable half-yearly on the first Mondays of January and July. The said 
 stocks to be applied in manner following : First, to constitute a fund of five 
 hundred thousand dollars, bearing interest as aforesaid, to supply the place 
 of the same sum received at the mint of the United States at Philadelphia, 
 in gold, on the first day of September, of the year eighteen hundred and 
 thirty-eight, and on the fourth day of the same month invested, for account 
 of the United States, in five hundred bonds of the State of Arkansas, of 
 one thousand dollars each, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent, a 
 year, payable half-yearly, and the principal of which is redeemable on the 
 second of October, eighteen hundred and sixty. Secondly, to constitute a 
 fund of three hundred thousand dollars, bearing interest as aforesaid, to 
 supply the place of an equal sum invested in one hundred and forty bonds 
 of the States of Arkansas, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio, and of interest 
 which has accrued, and may hereafter accrue, to the said amount of three 
 hundred thousand dollars, from the said sum deposited at the mint of the 
 United States at Philadelphia, on the first day of September, eighteen hun- 
 dred and thirty-eight ; the said fund to be applied to the execution of the 
 purpose of the testator, " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 mon," in manner following : 
 
 Of the said fund, there shall be applied for the erection and establishment, 
 at the city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, adapted to the 
 most effective and continual observations of the phenomena of the heavens ; 
 to be provided with the necessary, best, and most perfect instruments and. 
 
300 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 books, for the periodical publication of said observations, and for tho 
 annual composition and publication of a nautical almanac, thirty thousand 
 --dollars. 
 
 Of the said fund there shall be reserved in the stock thus invested, the 
 .sum of sixty thousand dollars, from the yearly interest of which the com- 
 pensation shall be paid of an astronomical observator, to be appointed by 
 the board of overseers, removable at their discretion, and another to be- ap- 
 pointed whenever the said office may be vacant ; and his compensation shall 
 be at the rate of three thousand dollars a year, and six hundred dollars a> 
 year shall be reserved for the incidental and contingent expenses of repairs 
 upon the buildings, as they may be required. 
 
 Also, one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, from the yearly interest 
 of which shall be paid the compensation of four assistants to the astrono- 
 mer, and of laborers necessary for attendance on him, and for the care and 
 preservation of the buildings. The compensation of the four assistants to ho 
 at the rate of fifteen hundred dollars a year each ; and the compensation -of 
 the laborers not to exceed in amount, for the whole of those found necessary, 
 twelve hundred dollars a year ; tho assistants and laborers to be appointed 
 and removable by the said board of trustees, at their discretion. 
 
 Of the said fund, there shall bo applied to furnish an assortment of tho 
 best and most perfect instruments for astronomical observation, to be pro- 
 cured under the direction of the astronomical observator, to bo appointed 
 conformably to the provisions of this act, twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 And there shall be reserved ten thousand dollars, from the interest of 
 which other instruments may be from time to time procured, us occasions 
 for the use of them may arise, and for tho repairs of instruments as needed. 
 
 And there shall bo reserved ten thousand dollars applied to tho purchase 
 of a library of books of science and literature, for the use of tho observa- 
 tory, to be selected by the observator ; and the further sum of twenty 
 thousand dollars reserved, from the interest of which to pay for a supply of 
 new works, transactions of learned societies, and periodical publications 
 upon science in other parts of the world, or in America. 
 
 Of the said fund shall be reserved thirty thousand dollars, from tho in- 
 terest of which shall be paid tho compensation of the secretary and treasu- 
 rer, and the contingent expenses of tho corporation hereby constituted, in- 
 cluding the expense of the yearly publication of tho observations made at 
 the observatory, and of a nautical almanac, to be called the Smithsonian 
 Almanac. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all tho moneys and stocks which 
 have been, or may hereafter be, received into the Treasury of the United 
 States, on account of the fund bequeathed by James Smithson, be, and the 
 same are hereby pledged to reiund to the Treasury of the United States tho 
 sums hereby appropriated. And the Secretary of the Treasury shall cause 
 to be opened an account, in which the Smithsonian fund shall bo charged 
 with the sum of eight hundred thousand dollars hereby appropriated and 
 invested in stocks of tho United States, and shall bo credited by the six 
 hundred and forty bonds of the States of Arkansas, Michigan, Illinois, arid 
 Ohio, and by all the sums received, or hereafter to be received, for interest 
 on the said 1 bonds, until the final payment of the principal thereof by the 
 said States. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to sell 
 and transfer, at their nominal par value, principal and interest, and not 
 under, any of the said bonds, with the interest due and unpaid on the same, 
 and to credit tho said fund with the proceeds thereof, till the whole sum 
 hereby appropriated, and all the interest hereafter paid thereon, shall be re- 
 mnded to the Treasury of the United States. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That no part of the said Smithsonian 
 fund, principal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, univer- 
 sity, other institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment. 
 
 SKC. 6. And be it further enacted, That tho observatory provided by the 
 .third section of this act, shall be erected under the direction of the board ol 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 301 
 
 : trustees, oh a site in the city of Washington, to be selected by them ; and, 
 should the same be on land belonging to the United States, so much thereof 
 as, in the opinion of the trustees, shall be necessary for the purpose, shall 
 be conveyed to them, in consideration of the sum of ten thousand dollars, 
 taken from that fund by the general appropriation act of third March. 
 eighteen hundred and thirty-nine : Provided, That if no such suitable site 
 can be found on the public lands, that then a selection of a site on private 
 property may be made at a price not exceeding one-half cent per square 
 foot, to be paid out of the appropriation in the third section of this act. 
 ' SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all expenditures made by the said 
 board of trustees shall be subject to the approval of the President of the 
 United States ; and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury, and audited under his direction by the proper officers 
 of the Treasury Department; and the said board shall report to Congress, 
 at every session thereof, the state of the Smithsonian fund, and a full 
 statement of their receipts and expenditures during the preceding year. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the trustees 
 of the Smithsonian fund shall be held at the city of Washington on the third 
 
 Tuesday of next; and that, in the mean time, the custody of the said 
 
 fund, and the expenditures under the appropriations herein made, shall be 
 held and authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the appro- 
 bation of the President of the United States. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a board of visitors, 
 to be annually appointed, consisting of nine members ; two of whom to be 
 commissioned officers of the army, to be appointed by the Secretary of 
 War ; two commissioned officers of the navy, to be appointed by the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy ; the mayors for the time being of the cities of Alex- 
 andria and of Georgetown, within the District of Columbia; and one citi- 
 zen of each of the cities of Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, 
 to be appointed by the President of the United States ; who shall meet on 
 the firat Monday of February, at eleven o'clock, before noon, at the said 
 astronomical observatory, and visit and inspect the condition of the said 
 observatory, and of the Smithsonian Institution generally. They shall 
 choose among themselves a chairman, and shall make report to the Presi- 
 dent of the United States of the said condition of the institution, specifi- 
 cally indicating in what respect the institution has, during the preceding 
 year, contributed to the purpose of the founder the increase and diffusion, 
 of knowledge among men. To this board the astronomical observator shall 
 make a report to the same effect, so far as regards the astronomical branch 
 of the institution, which report shall be annexed to that of the board ta 
 the President of the United States, who shall communicate the said reports 
 to Congress. The services of the members of the said board shall be gra- 
 tuitous. 
 
 SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 
 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing, any of the provi- 
 sions of this act, which shall be found inconvenient upon experience : Pro- 
 vided, That no contract or individual right, made or acquired under such 
 provisions, shall thereby be impaired or divested. 
 
 SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That, for any other moneys which 
 have accrued, or may hereafter accrue, upon the said Smithsonian fund, 
 not herein appropriated, the board of trustees are hereby authorized to 
 make such disposal as they shall deem necessary for the promotion of the 
 purpose of the testator " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men," unless the same shall be otherwise disposed of by law. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, June 14, 1844. 
 
 Mr. DEBERRY, from the Committee on Agriculture, made 
 an adverse report upon the petition of citizens of the State 
 
302 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of Massachusetts, in relation to the appropriation of the 
 Smithsonian bequest for the purposes of agricultural educa- 
 tion. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 12, 1844. 
 
 Mr. Tappan introduced a bill, (S. 18,) which was read the 
 first and second times by unanimous consent, and referred 
 to the Committee on the Library. 
 
 The bill is as follows : 
 
 A BILL to establish the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 "Whereas James Smithson, esquire, of London, in the kingdom ol 
 Britain, by his last will and testament did give the whole of his property 
 to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under tli<- 
 name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for th" inrmise and 
 dift'usion of knowledge among men; and whereas r.>ngre>s have hereto- 
 fore received said property and accepted said trust ; therefore, that the same 
 may be executed in good faith, and according to the will of the liberal and 
 enlightened donor 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Vnitrd 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the property of 
 the said James Smithson as has been received in money ami paid into the 
 Treasury of the United States, being the sum of live hundred and eight 
 thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars, be loaned -to the United States 
 Treasury, at six per cent, per annum interest, from the third day of Decem- 
 ber, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, when the 
 same was received into the said Treasury ; and that so much of the interest 
 as may have accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will 
 amount to the sum of two hundred and nine thousand one hundred and 
 three dollars, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection of 
 suitable buildings, the enclosing of suitable grounds, and for the pur- 
 chase of books and instruments for the Smithsonian Institution established 
 by this act ; and that six per cent, interest on the said trust fund, it being 
 the said amount of five hundred and eight thousand three hundred and 
 eighteen dollars, received into the United States Treasury, third of Decem- 
 ber, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, payable, in half yearly 
 payments, on the first of January and July in each year, be, and the same 
 is hereby, appropriated for the perpetual maintenance and support of said 
 institution : Provided, That the books to be purchased for said institution 
 shall consist of works on science and the arts, especially such as relate to 
 tho ordinary business of life, and to the various mechanical and other im- 
 provements and discoveries which may be made. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, Thai, the business of said institution 
 shall be conducted by a board of managers, to consist of twelve, no two of 
 whom shall he citizens of the sama State or Territory ; that the person- first 
 appointed on the board of managers shall meet in the city of Washington, 
 on the first Monday of July next after the passage of this act, and, when 
 met, shall divide themselves, by lot, into three" sections, one of which 
 shall serve two years, one four, and the other six years ; and whenever a 
 vacancy occurs in said board, the same shall bj filled by such person as may 
 be appointed by a joint resolution of Congress; that all those who may be 
 appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or removal out 
 of the United States, shall serve the residue of the 'term, and allwho those 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 303 
 
 muiy be appointed to fill vacancies which occur by lapse of time shall serve 
 for the term of six years ; that after said board shall have met and become 
 organized by appointing one of their own body president of said board, it 
 shall be their duty to proceed to select a suitable site for such building as 
 may be, in their judgment, necessary for the institution, and suitable ground 
 for horticultural and agricultural experiments, which ground may be taken 
 and appropriated out of that part of the public ground in the city of Wash- 
 ington called the Mall, lying west of Seventh street; and the ground so 
 selected shall be set out by proper metes and bounds, and a description of 
 the same shall be made and recorded in a book to be provided for that pur- 
 pose, and signed by said managers, or so many of them as may be con- 
 vened on said first Monday of July ; and such record, or a copy thereof, 
 certified by the president of the board of managers, shall be received as 
 evidence in all courts of the extent and boundaries of the lands appropri- 
 ated to said institution. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the board of managers 
 shall have selected the site for the buildings of the institution, they shall cause 
 to be erected a suitable building, of plain and durable materials and struct- 
 ure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable 
 rooms or halls for the reception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of 
 objects of natural history, a geological and mineralogical cabinet, a library, 
 a chemical laboratory, and a lecture room or rooms ; and the said board 
 shall have authority, by themselves, or by a committee of three of their 
 members, to contract for the completion of such building upon such plan 
 as may be directed by the board of managers, and shall take sufficient se- 
 curity to the Treasurer of the United States for the building and finishing 
 the same according to the said plan, and in the time stipulated in such con- 
 tract : Provided, however, That the expense of said building shall not exceed 
 the sum of eighty thousand dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated for 
 that purpose out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; 
 and the bonrd of managers shall also cause the grounds selected for horti- 
 cultural and agricultural purposes to be enclosed and secured, and a suitable 
 building erected to preserve such plants as will not bear exposure to the 
 weather at all seasons ; and the sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby 
 appropriated for such building and enclosure, to be paid out of any moneys 
 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; and so soon as it may be neces- 
 sary for the accommodation of the persons employed in said institution, the 
 said board of managers may cause to be erected on the grounds of the in- 
 stitution such dwelling houses and other buildings, of plain and substantial 
 workmanship and materials, to be without unnecessary ornament, as may 
 be wanted : Provided, however, That the whole expense of building and fur- 
 nishing- as many such houses as may be required shall not exceed the residue 
 of said interest which will have accrued on the first day of July next ; and 
 for the said expenditure the said residue of said interest, amounting to the sum 
 of seventy-eight thousand six hundred and four dollars, is hereby appropria- 
 ted, payable out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; 
 and all such contracts as may be made by said board of managers shall be de- 
 posited with the Treasurer of the United States ; and all questions which 
 may arise between the United States and any person claiming under and by 
 virtue of any such contract shall be heard and determined by said board of 
 managers, and such determination shall be final and conclusive upon all 
 parties ; and all claims on any contract made as aforesaid shall be allowed 
 and certified by the board of managers, or a committee thereof, as the case 
 may be, and being signed by the president of the board, shall be a sufficient 
 voucher for settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. 
 And the board of managers shall be authorized to employ such persons as 
 they deem necessary to superintend the erection of the building, and fitting 
 up the rooms of the institution. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as buildings shall be 
 -erected for their reception, all objects of natural history and geological and 
 
304 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 mineralogical specimens belonging to the United States, which may bo in 
 the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody the same may be, shall he 
 delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the board of managers to 
 receive them, and shall be arranged by the proper professor in such order 
 and so classed as best to facilitate the examination and study of them in the 
 building so as aforesaid to be erected for the institution ; and the managers' 
 of said institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in natural history, 
 geology, or mineralogy, may be obtained for the museum of the institution 
 by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the institution (whirh 
 they are hereby authorized to make) or by donations which they may re- 
 ceive, cause such new specimens to be also appropriately classed and ar- 
 ranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, and other property of James 
 Smithson, which have been received by the Government of the United 
 States, and are now placed in the Patent Office, shall be removed to said in- 
 stitution and shall be preserved separate and apart from the other property 
 of the institution. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the managers of said institution 
 shall appoint a superintendent, whose duty it shall be to take charge of tin- 
 ground, buildings, and property, belonging to the institution, and can-fully 
 preserve the same from injury ; and such superintendent shall be the secre- 
 tary of the board of managers, and shall, under their direction, make a fair 
 and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in said institu- 
 tion ; and the said superintendent shall also discharge the duties of professor 
 of agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy, in said institution, and in 
 that capacity may, with the approbation of the board of mana^-iv, employ, 
 from time to time, so many gardeners and other laborers as may be neces- 
 sary to cultivate the ground and keep in repair the buildings of said institu- 
 tion; and the superintendent shall receive for his services such sum as may 
 be allowed by the board of managers, to be paid semi-annually on tin; iirst 
 day of January and July ; and the said superintendent shall be removable, 
 by the board of managers whenever, in their judgment, the interest of the 
 institution require the superintendent to be changed. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it farther enacted, That, at the first meeting of the board 
 of managers, they shall fix on the times for regular meetings of the hoard, 
 and on application of any three of the managers to the superintendent of 
 the institution, it shall be his duty to appoint a time for a special meeting 
 of the board, of which he shall give notice by letter to each of the mem- 
 bers, and at any meeting of the board of managers five shall constitute a 
 quorum to do business; that each member of the board of managers shall 
 be paid his necessary travelling and other expenses in attending meetings 
 of the board, which shall be audited, allowed, and recorded, by the super- 
 intendent of the institution. And whenever any person employed by the 
 authority of the institution shall have performed service entitling him to com- 
 pensation, whether the same shall be by way of salary payable semi-annually 
 or wages for labor, or whenever money is due from said institution for any 
 purpose whatever, the superintendent shall certify to the president of the 
 board that such compensation or money is due, whereupon the president 
 shall certify the same to the proper officer of the Treasury Department for 
 payment. 
 
 SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers may ap- 
 point some suitable person as professor of natural history, a professor of chem- 
 istry, a professor of geology, and a professor of astronomy, with such other 
 professors as the wants of science may require. They shall also employ able 
 men to lecture in the institution upon the arts and sciences, and shall fix the 
 compensation of such professors and lecturers: Provided, That no professor- 
 ship shall be established or lecturer employed to treat or lecture on law, 
 physic, or divinity, it being the object of the institution to furnish facilities 
 for the acquisition of such branches of knowledge as are not taught in the 
 various universities. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall make- 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1848-45. 305 
 
 all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, for the government of the in- 
 stitution and the persons employed therein ; and, in prescribing the duties 
 of the professors and lecturers, they shall have special reference to the in- 
 troduction and illustration of subjects connected with the productive and 
 liberal arts of life, improvements in agriculture, in manufactures, in trades, 
 and in domestic economy. They shall direct experiments to be made 
 by the professor of agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy, to de- 
 termine the utility and advantage of new modes and instruments of 
 culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, and vegetables, may be 
 cultivated to advantage in the United States ; and they shall direct the dis- 
 tribution of all such fruits, plants, seeds, and vegetables, as shall be found 
 useful and adapted to any of our soils and climates, so that the people in 
 every part of the Union may enjoy the benefit and advantage of the exper- 
 iments made by the institution. They shall also direct the professor of 
 chemistry to institute a chemical analysis of soils from different sections of 
 the United States, to make experiments on the various modes of improving 
 and enriching the several kinds of soil found within the United States, and 
 at all times to include, in his course of lectures, the subject of agricultural 
 chemistry. They shall also direct the professor of natural history especi- 
 ally to refer, in his course of lectures, to the history and habits of such 
 animals as are useful, or such animals and insects as are injurious, including 
 the best means of taking care of and improving the one, and of protecting 
 grain and other products from the other. They shall also direct the pro- 
 fessor of geology to include, in his course of lectures, practical instructions 
 of a general character, to aid in the exploration and working of mines. 
 They shall also direct the professor of architecture and domestic science to 
 include, in his course of lectures, practical instructions as to the best modes 
 and materials for building, according to climate and location, throughout 
 the United States, from the simple single dwelling to the more complicated 
 and costly structures for public and other purposes ; also, to institute exper- 
 iments in regard to the best mode of lighting, heating, and ventilating 
 buildings, public and private, and to determine the value of such scientific 
 improvements as may, from time to time, be made in the same or in any 
 other important branch of domestic economy. They shall also direct the 
 professor of astronomy to include, in his lectures, a* course on navigation, 
 including the use of nautical instruments. And it shall be competent for 
 the said managers, at their discretion, to cause to be printed and published, 
 from time to time, works, in popular form, on the sciences and on the aid 
 they bring to labor, written by the professors of the institution, or by other 
 persons engaged for the purpose : Provided, That such works shall, at all 
 times, be offered for sale at the lowest rates that will repay the actual ex- 
 pense of publication: And provided, That such works shall, before publica- 
 tion, be submitted to and examined by the board of managers, or a com- 
 mittee of their number. And the said board shall also make rules and regu- 
 lations for the admission of students into the various departments of the 
 institution, and their conduct and deportment while they remain therein : 
 Provided, That all instruction in said institution shall be gratuitous to those 
 students who conform to such rules and regulations. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That be appointed 
 
 managers of the said Smithsonian Institution, to hold their ofiices as is 
 hereinbefore provided. 
 
 SENATE, December 16, 1844. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN, from the Committee on the Library, reported 
 S. bill 18, without amendment. 
 
 SENATE, December 31, 1844. 
 On motion of Mr. TAPPAN, the Senate considered, as in 
 
 20 
 
306 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Committee of the Whole, the bill S. 18, and various verbal 
 amendments offered by him, were adopted. 
 
 On motion by Mr. HUNTINGTON, the further consideration 
 was postponed to, and made the order of the day for Thurs- 
 
 Mr. CHOATE and Mr. TAPPAN ottered amendments, which 
 were ordered to be printed. 
 
 SENATE, January 6, 1845. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN presented a petition of Thomas Johnson and 
 others, citizens of Huron county, Ohio, praying the passage 
 of the bill now before the Senate to establish the Smithso- 
 nian Institution ; which was ordered to lie on the table. 
 
 Mr. FOSTER, of New York, presented a petition of (iene- 
 ralN. V. Knickerbocker and two hundred other citizens of 
 Steuben county, New York, praying the passage of the hill 
 to establish the Smithsonian Institution ; which was ordered 
 to lie on the table. 
 
 SENATE, Javnwry 8, 1845. 
 
 The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole-, the 
 consideration of the- bill (S. 18) t< <^tah!i-h the Smithsonian 
 Institution. 
 
 The bill having been read- 
 Mr. CIIOATE said he was sure that, \\hatever opinion 
 might be at last formed on this bill, its principles, or its 
 details, all would concur in expressing thanks t > the Sena- 
 tor from Ohio [Mr. TAPPAN] for introducing it. We shall 
 ditier, he proceeded, more perhaps than could be wished, or 
 than can be reconciled, about the mode of administering 
 this noble fund; but we cannot differ about our duty to 
 enter at once on some mode of administering it. A large- 
 sum of money has been given to us, to hold and to apply, 
 in trust, "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. 
 among men." We have accepted the trust. " To this ap- 
 plication (such is the language of our act of the 1st of 
 July, 1836 ) to this application of the money the faith of 
 the United States is hereby pledged." The donor is in his 
 grave. There is no chancellor to compel us to redeem our 
 pledge; and there needs none. Our own sense of duty to 
 the dead, and the living, and the unborn who shall live 
 our justice, our patriotism, our policy, common honesty, 
 common decorum, urge us, and are enough to urge us, to 
 go on, without the delay of an hour, to appropriate the 
 bounty according to the form of the gift. I thank the 
 Senator, therefore, for introducing a bill with which, to my 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 307 
 
 own knowledge, lie has taken much and, so far as I can 
 see or conceive disinterested pains, and which affords us 
 an opportunity to discharge a plain duty, perhaps too long 
 delayed. 
 
 I think, too, sir, that the Senator has, in the first section 
 of the bill, declared the true fundamental law according to 
 which this fund ought to he permanently administered. 
 He lends to the United States the whole sum of $508,318 
 actually received out of the English chancery, from the 3d 
 of December, 1838, when it was received, at an interest of 
 six per cent, per annum. He leaves the sum of $209,103, 
 which is so much of the interest as will have accrued on 
 the first da} 7 of -Inly next, to be applied at once to the con- 
 struction of buildings, the preparation of grounds, the 
 purchase of books, instruments, and the like ; and then 
 appropriates the interest, and the interest only, of the origi- 
 nal principal sum, for the perpetual maintenance of the 
 institution, leaving the principal itself unimpaired forever. 
 This, all, is exactly as it should be. 
 
 But when you examine the bill a little further, to discern 
 what it is exactly which this considerable expenditure of 
 money is to accomplish when you look to see how and 
 how much it is going " to increase and diffuse knowledge 
 among men," I arn afraid that we shall have reason to be 
 a little less satisfied. I do not now refer to the constitution 
 of the board of management, of which, let me say, under 
 some important modifications, I incline to approve ; although 
 on that I reserve myself. I speak of what the fund, how- 
 ever managed, is to be made to do. The bill assumes, as it 
 ought, to apply it u to increase and diffuse knowledge 
 among men." Well, how does it accomplish this object ? 
 
 It proposes to do so, for substance, by establishing in this 
 city a school or college for the purpose of instructing its 
 pupils in the application of certain physical sciences to 
 certain arts of life. The plan, if adopted, founds a college 
 in Washington to teach the scientific principles of certain 
 useful arts. That is the whole of it. It appoints, on per- 
 manent salaries, a professor of agriculture, horticulture, 
 and rural economy ; a professor of natural history ; a pro- 
 fessor of chemistry ; a professor of geology ; a professor of 
 astronomy; a professor of architecture and domestic sci- 
 ence; together with a fluctuating force of occasional auxil- 
 iary lecturers; and all these professors and lecturers are 
 enjoined " to have special reference, in all their illustra- 
 tions and instructions, to the productive and liberal arts of 
 life to improvements in agriculture, manufactures, trades, 
 
308 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 and domestic economy." Thus, the professor of chemistry 
 is to analyze different kinds of soils, and to learn and teach 
 how to enrich them; the professor of natural history is to 
 deal with noxious or useful animals and insects ; the pro- 
 fessor of geology is to illustrate the working of mines : the 
 professor of astronomy is to teach navigation; the profes- 
 sor of architecture and domestic science is charged with 
 the theory and practice of building, lighting, and ventilat- 
 ing all manner of edifices ; and the professor of agriculture, 
 horticulture, and domestic economy is to make experiments 
 to see what exotics will grow and what will not, all over 
 the United States. And, in pursuance of the same theory 
 of administration of the fund, it is provided that not a 
 book is to he purchased for the institution except '-works 
 on science and the arts, especially such as relate to the 
 ordinary business of life, and to the various mechanical 
 and other improvements and discoveries, which may he 
 made." 
 
 Now, I say that this creates a college or school such as 
 it is on the basis of a somewhat narrow utilitarianism 
 to be sure, erroneously so-called but a college or academ- 
 ical institution. Who is to be taught agriculture, architec- 
 ture, domestic science, rural economy, and navigation . 
 Not you, Mr. President, I suppose, not Congress, not the 
 Government, not men at all. Students, pupils, youths, are 
 to be brought hither, if you can find them : tw rules and 
 regulations" (so runs the 8th section of the bill) are to be 
 made "for the admission into the various departments oi 
 the institution, and their conduct and deportment while 
 they remain therein," and instruction is to be given them 
 by professors and lecturers. This surely is a school, a col- 
 lege, an academical institute of education, such as it is, or 
 nothing. 
 
 Well, sir, in reviewing, as I have had occasion to do, the 
 proceedings of Congress upon this subject heretofore, I 
 have received the impression that it had become quite your 
 settled judgment settled on the most decisive reasons 
 that no school, college, or academical establishment should 
 be constituted. It seems that in the session of 1838 a joint 
 committee of the two branches was charged with this 
 deliberation. The chairman of the committee from this 
 body was Mr. Bobbins, and the chairman, on the appoint- 
 ment of the House, was Mr. Adams; both of them, I may 
 pause ^tp say, persons of the most profound and elegant 
 acquisition ; both of them of that happy rare class who 
 " grow old still learning." The two committees differed on 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1848-45. 309 
 
 tliis very question whether a school or college should be 
 established. The opinion of the committee of the House 
 is expressed in the 4th section of the bill (No. 293 Senate) 
 which they desired to report, and which is in these words: 
 
 " SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no part of the said Smithsonian 
 fund, principal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, univer- 
 sity, institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment." 
 
 That of the committee of the Senate is distinctly enough 
 intimated in the beautiful speech with which Mr. Bobbins 
 introduced the subject in January, 1839. I find it in the 
 Appendix to the Congressional Globe : 
 
 " I could wish, if all were agreed in it, that this institution should make 
 one of a number of colleges, to constitute a university to be established 
 here, and to be endowed in a manner worthy of this great nation and their 
 immense resources. But, as opinions are divided upon this subject not, I 
 should hope, as to the great desirableness of such an establishment, .but as 
 to the constitutional competency of Congress to undertake it I will not 
 embarrass my present object by involving it with that subject. This, as an 
 independent institution, may hereafter be made a part of such a university, 
 should one be established ; but it is now to be looked at only as an inde- 
 pendent institution." 
 
 It was to embody and execute this conception that Mr. 
 Robbing drew the Senate bill No. 292, 
 
 Finding themselves unable to agree, it was determined 
 that each committee should report both of these bills to 
 their respective Houses. On the 25th February, 1839, the 
 bill drawn by Mr. Kobbins was taken up in this body, and 
 after an animated discussion, was laid on the table by a vote 
 of 20 to 15. This vote is regarded, I perceive, by Mr. 
 Adams, in his subsequent reports of 1840 and 1842, as ex- 
 pressing the judgment of the Senate against the establish- 
 ment of such academical institute of learning. He says : 
 
 "It is then to be considered as a circumstance propitious to the final dis- 
 posal of this fund, by the organization of an institution the best adapted 
 to accomplish the design of the testator, that this first but erroneous im- 
 pression of that design, an institute of learning, a university, upon the 
 toundation of which the whole fund should be lavished, and yet provr 
 inadequate to its purpose, without large appropriations of public moneys 
 in its aid should have been presented to the consideration of Congress, 
 referred to a numerous joint committee of both Houses, there discussed, 
 .reported for the deliberation of both Houses, fully debated in the House 
 where it originated, and then decisively rejected." 
 
 If such may be inferred to have been the judgment of 
 the Senate, it may be defended on the most decisive reasons. 
 It is hardly worth while to move the question whether it 
 would be expedient to apply the fund as far as it would go 
 to the founding of a great university deserving of the name 
 a national university in which all the brandies of a 
 thorough education should be taught; which should iill the 
 
310 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 space between the college and professional schools which 
 should guide the maturer American mind to the highest 
 places of knowledge ; for such should be the functions oi 
 such a university." It is not worth while to move this <|iies- 
 tion, because no such proposition is before us. I am afraid. 
 with Mr. Adams, that to found such a university would 
 consume the whole fund, interest and principal, almost at 
 once, and reduce you to the alternative of a signal failure, 
 or of occasional and frequent application to the (invern- 
 ment for aid which could never be granted. But the Sen- 
 ator from Ohio contemplates no such thing. He const ru< -is 
 his college on a far more moderate model: and of thi< 
 college of his I am constrained to say, that I think it in the 
 actual state of academical education wholly unnecessary, 
 and in a great degree useless. Why, sir, there are in tin- 
 country more than a hundred colleges; I have seen them 
 estimated at one hundred and seventy-three. These are dis- 
 tributed all over the United States : two are in this District. 
 They are at the doors of the people. I suspect that every 
 one of them has a professor for every department provided 
 for in this bill, except architecture and domestic science, 
 and agriculture and rural economy. Iji every one, without 
 any difficulty, that special attention here recommended, to 
 the application of science " to the ordinary business of 
 life," may be, if it is not now secured, if in the judgment 
 of those who are entrusted with their management it i- 
 thought expedient. Why, sir, I recollect that navigation 
 was taught in one at least of our common free district 
 schools of Massachusetts thirty years ago. I cannot concur 
 with the honorable framer of the bill, therefore, that his 
 school is to "furnish facilities for the acquisition of such 
 branches of knowledge as are not taught in the various 
 universities." It will do no such thing. It will injure 
 those universities, rather, if it has any effect, by withdraw- 
 ing from them some portion of the patronage for which 
 they are all struggling, and of which so few get a full meal. 
 Such a school, then, I think, is scarcely now necessary. 
 In this city it would be, to say no more, very far from gen- 
 erally useful. It would hardly appear to be an instrumen- 
 tality coming up to the sonorous promise of "increasing 
 and^ diffusing knowledge among men." Who would its 
 pupils be? Who could afford to come all the way to 
 Washington from the South, West, and North to learn 
 architecture, navigation, and domestic science ? Certainly 
 only the sons of the wealthy, who would hardly come, if 
 they could, to learn any such branch of homely knowledge. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 311 
 
 You might collect some few students in the District and 
 the borders of the adjacent States; hut for any purpose of 
 wide utility the school would he no more felt than so much 
 sunshine on the poles. Meantime here would be your pro- 
 fessors, their salaries running on, your books, and appa- 
 ratus, and edifices, a show of things a pretty energetic 
 diffusing of the fund, not much diffusion of knowledge. 
 
 I shall venture, then, to move to strike out all those parts 
 of the bill which indicate the particular mode in which the 
 bequest is to be applied to the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge. I except the provision for experiments in seeds 
 and plants, on which I will say a word hereafter. If this 
 motion prevails the whole question will recur : What shall 
 we do with the fund ? 
 
 It has seemed to me that there are two applications of it 
 which may just now meet with favor. 
 
 In the first place, to begin with the least important, I 
 adopt, with some modifiations, the suggestion in the bill 
 that lectures be delivered in this city for two or three 
 months during every session of Congress. These lectures 
 should be delivered not by professors permanently fixed 
 here, upon annual salaries, to do nothing in the recess of 
 Congress, or to do nothing that cannot be as well done at 
 one hundred and fift} 7 other places, but by gentlemen emi- 
 nent in science and literature, holding situations elsewhere, 
 and coming hither under the stimulations and with the 
 ambition of a special and conspicuous retainer. They 
 might be professors of colleges, men of letters, persons dis- 
 tinguished in the professions, or otherwise. Names will 
 occur to you all which I need not mention ; and their lec- 
 tures should be adapted to their audiences. Who would 
 their audiences be ? Members of Congress with their fam- 
 ilies, members of the Government with theirs, some inhab- 
 itants of this city, some few strangers who occasionally 
 honor us with visits of curiosity or business. They would 
 be public men, of mature years and minds; educated, dis- 
 ciplined to some degree, of liberal curiosity, and appreci- 
 ation of generous and various knowledge. Such would be 
 the audience. The lectures should be framed accordingly. 
 I do not think they should be confined to three or four 
 physical sciences in their applications to the arts of life 
 navigation, useful or hurtful insects and animals, the ventil- 
 lation of rooms, or the smoking of chimneys. This is 
 knowledge, to be sure; but it is not all knowledge, nor 
 half of it, nor the best of it. Why should not such an 
 audience hear something of the philosophy of history, of 
 
312 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 classical and of South American antiquities, of interna- 
 tional law, of the grandeur and decline of States, of t lie- 
 progress and eras of freedom, of ethics, of intellectual phi- 
 losophy, of art, taste, and literature in its most comprehen- 
 sive and noblest forms? Why should they not hear such 
 lectures as Sir James Macintosh delivered when a young 
 man to audiences among whom were Canning, and such as 
 he? Would it not be as instructive to hear a lirst-raie 
 scholar and thinker demonstrate out of a chapter of Greek 
 or Italian history how dreadful a thing it is for a cluster of 
 young and fervid democracies to dwell side by side, inde- 
 pendent and disunited, as it would to hear a chemist maintain 
 that to raise wheat you must have some certain proportion 
 of lime in the soil? But the subjects of lectures would of 
 course be adapted to time, place, and circumstances, and 
 varied with them. Whatever they should treat of, they 
 would be useful. They would recreate, and refresh, and 
 instruct you. They would relieve the monotony, and soften 
 the austerity, and correct all the influences of this kind of 
 public service. 
 
 But, Mr. President, all this is no administration of tin- 
 fund; all this ought to cost less than live thousand dollars 
 a year. We coutd not sustain more than one lecture in a 
 week, nor that for more than three months of any session. 
 Here is an accumulated interest of two hundred thousand 
 dollars; and here is an annual interest of thirty thousand, 
 of which thus far I have provided for an expenditure of 
 some five thousand only. What will you do with the rest? 
 
 It is easy to waste this money; it is easy to squander it 
 in jobs, salaries, quackeries; it is easy, even under the 
 forms of utility, to disperse and dissipate it in little rills 
 and drops, imperceptible to all human sense, carrying it off 
 by an insensible and ineffectual evaporation. But, sir, I 
 take it that we all earnestly desire I am sure the Senator 
 from Ohio does so so to dispense it as to make it tell. I 
 am sure we all desire to see it, instead of being carried oil* 
 invisibly and wastefully, embody itself in some form, some 
 exponent of civilization, permanent, palpable, conspicuous, 
 useful. And to this end it has seemed to me, upon the 
 most mature reflection, that we cannot do a safer, surer, 
 more unexceptionable thing with the income, or with a 
 portion of the income -perhaps twenty thousand dollars a 
 year for a few years than to expend it in accumulating a 
 grand and noble public library one which, for variety, 
 extent, and wealth, shall be, and be confessed to be, equal to 
 any now in the world. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 813 
 
 I say for a few years. Twenty thousand dollars a year, 
 for twenty -five years, are five hundred thousand dollars; 
 and five hundred thousand dollars discreetly expended, not 
 by a bibliomaniac, but by a man of sense and reading, thor- 
 oughly instructed in bibliography, would go far, very far, 
 towards the purchase of nearly as good a library as Europe 
 can boast. I mean a library of printed books, as distinct 
 from manuscripts. Of course such a sum would not pur- 
 chase the number of books which some old libraries are 
 reported to contain. It would not buy the 700,000 of the 
 Royal Library at Paris, the largest in the world; nor the 
 500,000 or 600,000 of that of Munich, the largest in Ger- 
 many; nor the 300,000, 400,000, or 500,000 "of those of 
 Vienna and St. Petersburg, and the Vatican at Rome, and 
 Copenhagen, and the Bodleian at Oxford. But mere num- 
 bers of volumes afford a very imperfect criterion of value. 
 Those old libraries have been so long in collecting; acci- 
 dent and donation, which could not be rejected, have con- 
 tributed so much to them, a general and indiscriminate 
 system of accumulation gathers up, necessarily, so much 
 trash ; there so many duplicates and quadruplicates, and so 
 many books and editions which become superseded, that 
 mere bulk and mere original cost must not terrify us. Pon- 
 derantar non numerantur. Accordingly the Library of the 
 University at Gottingen, consisting of perhaps two hundred 
 thousand volumes, but well chosen, selected for the most 
 part, within a century, and to a considerable extent by a 
 single great scholar, (Heync,) is perhaps to-day as valuable 
 a collection of printed books as any in the world. Towards 
 the accumulation of such a library, the expenditure of 
 two-thirds of this income for a quarter of a century would 
 make, let me say, a magnificent advance. And such a step 
 taken, we should never leave the work unfinished ; yet 
 when it should be finished, and your library should rival 
 .anything which civilization has ever had to show, there 
 would still be the whole principal of your fund unexpended, 
 yielding- its income forever, for new and varying applica- 
 tions for increasing and diffusing knowledge in the world. 
 
 [Mr. CHOATE here read a letter of Professor Torrey, of 
 Burlington, showing at what reduced prices valuable books 
 may now be purchased.] 
 
 I hesitate, from an apprehension of being accused of en- 
 tering too far into a kind of dissertation unsuited to this 
 assembly of men of business, to suggest and press one-half 
 the considerations which satisfy my mind of the propriety 
 -of this mode of expenditure. Nobody can doubt, I think, 
 
.314 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 that it comes within the terms and spirit of the trust. 
 That directs us to " increase and diffuse knowledge among: 
 men." And do not the judgments of all the wise does 
 not the experience of all enltghtened States does not the 
 whole history of civilization, concur to declare that a vari- 
 ous and ample library is one of the surest, most constant, 
 most permanent, arid" most economical instrumentalities to 
 increase and diffuse knowledge ? There it would be dura- 
 ble as liberty, durable as the Union; a vast storehouse, a 
 vast treasury, of all the facts which make up the history of 
 man and of nature, so far as that history has been written ; 
 of all the truths which the inquiries and experiences^ all 
 the races and ages have found out; of all the opinions 
 that have been promulgated; of all the emotions, imagrs. 
 sentiments, examples, of all the richest and most instructive 
 literatures: the whole past speaking to the present and tin- 
 future ; a silent, yet wise and eloquent teacher ; dead yet 
 speaking not dead! for Milton has told us that a fc - good 
 book is "not absolutely a dead thing the precious life-blood 
 rather of a master spirit; a seasoned life of man embalmed 
 and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." Is that 
 not an admirable instrumentality to increase- and diffuse 
 knowledge among men ? It would plan- within the reach- 
 of our mind, of our thinkers, and investigators, and schol- 
 ars, all, or the chief, intellectual and literary matt-rials, and 
 food and instruments, now within the reach of the culti- 
 vated foreign mind; and the effect would be to inereasu the 
 amount of individual acquisition, and multiply the number 
 of the learned. It would raise the standard of our schol- 
 arship, improve our style of investigation, and communicate 
 an impulse to our educated and to the general mind. There 
 is no library now in this country, I suppose, containing over 
 50,000 volumes. Many there are containing less. But, 
 from the nature of the case, all have the same works ; so 
 that I do not know, that of all the printed hooks in the 
 world, we have in this country more than 50,000 different 
 works. The consequence has been felt and lamented by all 
 our authors and all our scholars. It has been often said 
 that Gibbon's history could not have been written here for 
 want of books. I suppose that Hallam's Middle Ages, and 
 his Introduction to the Literature of Europe could not. 
 Irving's Columbus was written in Spain. Wheaton's North- 
 men was prepared to be written in Copenhagen. See how 
 this inadequate supply operates. An American mind kin- 
 dles with a subject; it enters on an investigation with a 
 spirit and with an ability worthy of the most splendid 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1848-45. 
 
 Achievement; goes a little way, finds that a dozen books, 
 one book, perhaps, is indispensable, which cannot be found 
 this side of Gottingen or Oxford ; it tires of the pursuit, or 
 abandons it altogether, or substitutes some shallow conjec- 
 ture for a deep and accurate research, and there an end. 
 Let me refer to a, passage or two of the complaints of stu- 
 dious men on this subject: 
 
 "An extensive library, answering to the wants of literary men who are 
 to use it, is essential to the public and effectual promotion of learning. In 
 this country the want of large libraries, is a serious discouragement of su- 
 perior attainments and accurate researches in almost every walk of study. 
 The time necessary for reading or examining a particular book is often 
 consumed in attempts to discover or obtain it ; and frequently, after every 
 effort, it cannot be procured. We are obliged to give over our inquiries on 
 subjects where we would arrive at fulness and exactness in our knowledge, 
 because destitute of the assistance which the learned, in the same track of 
 study, have furnished, or to continue them under the disadvantage of igno- 
 rance respecting what has been done by others. Thus we are liable to be 
 occupied in solving difficulties which have been already cleared, discussing 
 questions which have been already decided, and digging in mines of litera- 
 ture which former ages have exhausted. Every one who has been in the 
 way of pursuing any branch of study in our country beyond the mere ele- 
 ments, or the polite and popular literature of the time, knows how soon the 
 progress is often arrested for want of books. This is not the case merely 
 with persons of moderate means, who are unable to purchase a library of 
 their own, but it is a want felt under the most favorable circumstances. 
 
 " It is also of great importance that the library of a university should 
 not only be good, but very good, ample, munificent ; a deposit of the 
 world's knowledge. It is a grievous thing to be stopped short in the midst 
 of an inquiry for perhaps the very book that throws most light upon it ; 
 and the progress of learning must be small indeed among us, so long as the 
 student must send across the Atlantic at every turn for the necessary aids 
 .to his pursuits. It is not with us as it is in Europe, where very many libra- 
 ries exist, and where what is not contained in one may be found in another ; 
 and the learned are able to aid each other's labors by furnishing mutually, 
 as desired, extracts and references to such books as may exist at one place 
 and fail at another. To say nothing of our two best libraries being remote 
 from each other and from manv parts of the country, they are themselves, 
 of course, inadequate. In making one tolerably complete department ex- 
 pressly chosen for that, and entirely devoted to it, we might easily comprise 
 the amount of books in our largest collection. When it is added that the 
 libraries mentioned are miscellaneous, their number of books small, as the 
 sum total is scattered over all the parts of knowledge, and many introduced 
 by separate contributions without mutual reference to each other, it is obvi- 
 ous that, comparatively speaking, the best must be extremely defective." 
 North American Review, vol. 8, p. 192. 
 
 " What public library in this country contains the materials for an accu- 
 rate history of any one department of science? Take even the most lim- 
 ited, or rather one of the most recent of all, the science of political economy. 
 Here our researches are confined to one definite period. We have no dusty 
 archives to explore, no time-worn manuscripts to decipher. The origin of 
 the science is within the memory of our fathers, and we ourselves have 
 witnessed its sudden growth and rapid development. Yet how much is to 
 be done, how many authorities to be weighed, how many different treatises 
 to be analyzed and compared, before we can venture to say : Here is the 
 history ; for such was the rise, such the progress, such the changes of 
 opinions, such the received and such the rejected theories of political econ- 
 
316 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 omy ! The writers of the first French school, of the Scotch school, (and 
 if we wish for history, we must go beyond the publication of Adam Smiths 
 oreat work,) the Itafian, the new French, and the new English schools, all 
 have not merely a claim upon our attention, but are entitled to u full ant 
 accurate examination. And even then our task would be incomplete ; foi 
 literary justice would require us to trace, through the works of general 
 political writers, the hints and remarks which have contributed to the prog, 
 ress of the branch we are studying, by the discovery of truth or by tin 
 exposition of error. If such be the obligation of the student whose re- 
 searches are confined to a subject so new, what must be the necessities <.. 
 the historian who attempts to throw light upon those period-, for which ilu 
 testimony of printed authorities is to be confronted with that of manuscript: 
 and public documents, and where ignorance and prejudice have combinec 
 with the more powerful incentives of interest to perplex his path by contra 
 dictory statements and conflicting opinions ! 
 
 "Books are needed, not confined to any single branch, but embracinc 
 the whole range of science and of literature, which shall supply the mean- 
 of every species of research and inquiry, and which, placed within read 
 of all, shall leave idleness no excuse for the lightness of its labors, an-1 
 poverty no obstacles which industry may not surmount. 
 
 " Whoever reflects, though but for a moment, upon the niunen>u: 
 branches into which modern literature runs, and remembers that the liter' 
 ary glory of a nation can only be secured by a certain degree of success ir 
 each of them whoever considers the immense mass of varied materials 
 without which no historical work of importance can be composed, or tin 
 extensive learning which is required of even the most gifted genius of ai 
 age like ours, and adds to these considerations the general and undciiial>l< 
 fact that of those who would gladly devote themselves to literature, but < 
 few can ever hope to obtain by their own resources the command of tin 
 works that are essential to the successful prosecution of their studies, v.il 
 be ready to acknowledge that we have, as yet, done but a small part <> 
 what may be justly claimed from a nation which aspires to the first rani- 
 for the liberality, and politeness, and high moral tone of its civilization 
 Late, however, as we are to begin, scarce anything in this department ha: 
 been accomplished in Europe which might not be done with equal succes; 
 in America. And so numerous and manifest are our advantages in som< 
 important particulars, that a prompt will and sound judgment in the execv 
 tion of it might, in the course of a very few years, render the America! 
 student nearly independent of those vast collections which, in Europe, have 
 required centuries for their formation. The undertaking, however, ii 
 order to be successful, should be a national one. Without arguing that m 
 State is fully equal to it, or that in the bounds of any single State it woulc 
 not answer the same purpose, we may be permitted to say that the enlarge' 
 ment of the library of Congress upon those broad principles, the applica 
 tion of which to the collection of books has become a difficult and import 
 ant art, would reflect an honor upon the country equal to the permanen 
 advantages which it would secure to every member of the community." 
 NortJi American Revieiv, vol. 45, p. 137. 
 
 Yet these writers had access to the best library in thit 
 country. 
 
 Now there are very many among us, and every day \vc 
 shall have more, who would feelingly adopt this language 
 Place within their reach the helps that guide the genius anc 
 labors of Germany and England, and lot the genius am 
 labors of Germany and England look to themselves ! GUI 
 learned men would grow more learned and more able ; oui 
 studies deeper and wider; our mind itself exercised anc 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1813-45. 317' 
 
 sharpened ; the whole culture of the community raised and 
 enriched. This is, indeed, to increase and diffuse knowl- 
 edge among men. 
 
 If the terms of the trust, then, authorize this expenditure, 
 why not make it ? Not among the principal, nor yet the 
 least of reasons for doing so, is, that all the while that you. 
 are laying out your money, and when you have laid it out, 
 you have the money's worth, the value received, the property 
 purchased, on hand, to show for itself and to speak for itself. 
 Suppose the professors provided for in the bill should gather 
 a little circle of pupils, each of whom should carry off with 
 him some small quotient of navigation or horticulture, or 
 rural economy, and the fund should thus glide away and 
 evaporate in such insensible, inappreciable appropriations, 
 how little there would be to testify of it ! Whereas here, 
 all the while, are the books ; here is the value ; here is the 
 visible property ; here is the oil, and here is the light. 
 There is something to point to, if you should be asked to 
 account for it unexpectedly, and something to point to, if a 
 traveller should taunt you with the collections which he has 
 -seen abroad, and which gild and recommend the absolutisms 
 of Vienna or St. Petersburgh. 
 
 Another reason, not of the strongest to be sure, for this 
 mode of expenditure is, that it creates so few jobs and sine- 
 cures ; so little salaried laziness. There is no room for 
 abuses in it. All that you need is a plain, spacious, fire- 
 proof building ; a librarian and assistants ; an agent to buy 
 your books, and a fire to sit by. For all the rest, he who 
 wants to read goes and ministers to himself. It is an appli- 
 cation of money that almost excludes the chances of abuses 
 altogether. 
 
 But the decisive argument is, after all, that it is an applica- 
 tion the most exactly adapted to the actual literary and scien- 
 tific wants of the States and the country. I have said that 
 another college is not needed here, because there are enough 
 now ; and another might do harm as much as good. But 
 that which is wanted for every college, for the whole 
 country, for every studious person, is a well-chosen library, 
 somewhere among us, of three or four hundred thousand 
 books. Where is such a one to be collected ? How is it 
 to be done? Who is to do it? Of the hundred and "fifty 
 colleges, more or less, distributed over the country, one has 
 a library of perhaps fifty thousand volumes ; others have 
 good ones, though less ; others smaller, and smaller, down 
 to scarcely anything. With one voice they unite, teacher 
 arid pupil, with every scholar and thinker, in proclaiming 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the want of more. But where arc the} 7 to come from ? X<> 
 State is likely to lay a tax to create a college library, or a 
 city library. No death-bed gift of the rich can be expected 
 to do it. Plow, then, is this one grand want of learning to 
 be relieved ? It can be done by you, and by you only. IJy 
 a providential occurrence, it is not only placed within your 
 constitutional power, but it has become your duty: you 
 have pledged your faith ; you have engaged to the dead and 
 living that, without the charge of one dollar on the people, 
 you, you will meet the universal and urgent demand by tin- 
 precise and adequate supply. By such a library as you can 
 collect here something will be done, much will be done, io 
 help every college, every school, every studious man, every 
 writer and thinker in the country to just what is wanted 
 most, Inquirers after truth may come here and search lor 
 it. It will do no harm at all to pass a few studious weeks 
 among: these scenes. Having pushed their investigations as 
 far as they may at home, and ascertained just what, and 
 how much more, of helps they require, let them come 
 hither and iind it. Let them replenish themselves, and 
 then go back and make distribution among their pupils; 
 ay, through the thousand channels, and by the thousand 
 voices of the press, let them make- distribution among the 
 people ! Let it be so that 
 
 :i UitlxT us to their fountains other stars 
 
 , in tln-ir ^old'-n urn.-, draw light.'' 
 
 I have no objection at all F should rejoice rather to sm 
 the literary representatives of an instructed people come 
 hither, not merely for the larger legislation and jurispru- 
 dence, but for the rarer and higher knowledge. I am quite 
 willing, not only that our "Amphytftionic Council " should 
 sit here, but that it should iind itself among some such 
 scenes and influences as surrounded that old renowned 
 assembly; the fountain of purer waters than those of ( 'as- 
 talia; the temple and the oracle of our Apollo ! It will do 
 good to have your educated men come to Washington for 
 what has heretofore cost voyages to Germany. They will 
 be of all the parts of the country. They will become ac- 
 quainted with each other. They will contract friendships 
 and mutual regards. They will go away not only better 
 scholars, but better unionists. Some one has said that a 
 great library moulds all minds into one republic. It might, 
 in a sense of which he little dreamed, help to keep our.- 
 together. 
 
 I have intimated, Mr. President, a doubt whether a college 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 319 
 
 or university of any description, even the highest, should be 
 at present established here. But let it be considered by the 
 enlightened friends of that object, if such there are, that 
 even if your single purpose were to create such a university, 
 you could possibly begin in no way so judiciously as l>y col- 
 lecting a great library. Useful in the other modes which I 
 have indicated, to a university it is everything. It is as 
 needful as the soul to the body. While you are doubting, 
 then, what to do, what you will have, you can do nothing 
 so properly as to begin to be accumulating the books which 
 you will require on whatever permanent plan of application 
 you at last determine. 
 
 I do not expect to hear it said in this assembly that this 
 expenditure for a library will benefit a few only, not the 
 mass ; that it is exclusive and of the nature of monopoly. 
 It is to be remembered that this fund is a gift ; that we take 
 it just as it is given ; and that by its terms it must be dis- 
 bursed here. Any possible administration of it, therefore, 
 is exposed to the cavil that all cannot directly, and literally, 
 and equally partake of it. How many and of what classes 
 of youth from Louisiana, or Illinois, or New England, for 
 example, can attend the lectures of your professor of astron- 
 omy ? But I say it is a positive and important argument 
 for the mode of application which I urge, that it is so diffu- 
 sive. Think of the large absolute numbers of those who, 
 in the succession of years, will come and partake directly 
 of these stores of truth and knowledge ! Think of the 
 numbers without number who, through them, who by them 
 indirectly, will partake of the same stores ! Studious men 
 will come to learn to speak and write to and for the grow- 
 ing millions of a generally educated community. They 
 will learn that they may communicate. They cannot hoard 
 if they would, and they would not if they could. They 
 take in trust to distribute ; and every motive of ambition, 
 of interest, of duty, will compel them to distribute. They 
 buy in gross, to sell by retail. The lights which they kin- 
 dle here will not be set under a bushel, but will burn on a 
 thousand hills. No, sir; a rich and public library is no 
 anti-republican monopoly. Who was the old Egyptian king 
 that inscribed on his library the words the dispensary of 
 the soul ? You might quite as well inscribe on it armory, 
 and light, and fountain of liberty ! 
 
 It may possibly be inquired what account I make of the 
 library of Congress. I answer, that I think it already quite 
 good and improving ; but that its existence constitutes no 
 sort of argument against the formation of such a one as I 
 
320 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 recommend. In the theory of it, that library is collected 
 merely to furnish Congress and the Government with the 
 means of doing their official business. In its theory it must 
 be, in some sort, a professional library ; and the expenditure 
 we now make five thousand dollars in a year, or, as last 
 year, two thousand and five hundred can never carry it up 
 to the rank and enable it to fulfill the functions of a truly 
 great and .general public library of science, literature, and 
 art. The value of books which could be added under tin- 
 appropriations of the last year, cannot greatly exceed 
 twenty-two hundred dollars. Doubtless, however, in the 
 course of forming the two, it would be expedient and inevi- 
 table to procure to a great extent different books for each. 
 
 I do not think, Mr. President, that I am more inclined 
 than another to covet enviously anything which the older 
 civilization of Europe possesses which we do not, I do not 
 suppose that I desire, any more than you, or than any ut 
 you, to introduce here those vast inequalities of fortune, 
 that elaborate luxury, that fantastic and extreme refinement. 
 But I acknowledge a pang of envy and grief that there 
 should be one drop or one morsel more of the bread or 
 water of intellectual life tasted by the European than by tin- 
 American mind. Why should not the soul of this country 
 eat as good food and as much of it as the soul of Europe '.' 
 Why should a German or an Englishman sit down to a re- 
 past of five hundred thousand books, and an American 
 scholar, who loves truth as well as he, be put on something 
 less than half allowance ? Can we not trust ourselves with 
 so much of so good a thing ? Will our digestion be im- 
 paired by it ? Are we afraid that the stimulated and fervid 
 faculties of this young nation will be oppressed and over- 
 laid ? Because we have liberty which other nations have 
 not, shall we reject the knowledge which they have and 
 which we have not? Or will you not rather say, that, 
 because we are free, therefore will we add to our freedom 
 that deep learning and that diffused culture which are its 
 grace and its defense ? 
 He^concluded by moving the following amendment : 
 
 Strike out the eighth section and insert 
 
 SEC. 8. And whereas an ample and well selected public library consti- 
 tutes one of the permanent, constant, and effectual means of increasing and 
 diffusing knowledge among men ; therefore 
 
 Be it further enacted, That a sum not less than $20,000 be annually ex- 
 pended, of the interest of the fund aforesaid, in the purchase of books and 
 manuscripts for the formation of a library of the institution aforesaid, 
 which, for its extent, variety, and value, shall be worthy of the donor of 
 the said fund, and of this nation, and of the age. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 321 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN next addressed the Senate, but in so low a 
 tone of voice that only detached sentences of his remarks 
 could be heard in the gallery. He was understood to argue 
 that there was no necessity for striking out the eighth sec- 
 tion, or materially altering the bill, as it was not incompat- 
 ible with its provisions to engraft upon it a modification of 
 the proposition submitted by the Senator from Massachusetts. 
 If a library on a liberal scale, such as the Senator desired, was 
 deemed proper, it would be only necessary to add a section to 
 that effect to the bill, striking out so much of the first sec- 
 tion as relates to the same subject. But he did not concur 
 with the Senator from Massachusetts that a vast and costly 
 miscellaneous library would meet the objects contemplated 
 by the donor with this munificent fund. In addition to the 
 general terms of his expressed will, that this fund should be 
 applied to the " increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men," it was proper to inquire into the manner in which he 
 himself conceived this was best to be accomplished ; and in 
 this inquiry whatever instruction could be gleaned from his 
 own habits and pursuits should not be disregarded, in the 
 absence of other lights. Mr. Smithson was an eminent 
 practical philosopher, intimately acquainted with the prac- 
 tical sciences such as chemistry, mineralogy, geology, and 
 natural history to the minute study of which he mainly 
 devoted his life. His favorite resort was the Jardin des Plantes 
 at Paris, an institution in which he found congregated al 
 the elements furnished by art, nature, and science, for pur 
 suits congenial to his own mind. There could be little- 
 doubt that, in making this bequest to the United States, he 
 had in view the establishment of some such institution as 
 the Jardin des Plantes in the western hemisphere. On this 
 reasonable supposition the present bill was framed; and to 
 show that it conformed closely to that design he requested 
 a description of that institution, which he sent to the table., 
 would be read. 
 
 The description was accordingly read, but being imper- 
 fectly heard the substance only is here given : 
 
 Jardin Royal des Plantes on Jardin du Roi. This institu- 
 tion owes its origin to Guy de la Brosse, physician to Louis 
 XIII. Richelieu, Sequier, and Bullion, intendants of finance 
 enabled him to found a botanic garden, and to lay down the 
 plan, which his successors carried to perfection. This germ, 
 grew to maturity during the reigns of Louis XIV and XV; 
 and the other departments owed their excellence of arrange- 
 ment to the celebrated Buffon during his superintendence. 
 His studies embraced all nature, and he collected his mate- 
 21 
 
322 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 rials from every portion of the globe. Since his time, Dau- 
 berton completed the whole plan, and raised the establish- 
 ment to the highest degree of perfection. 
 
 Distinguished professors exercise their talents in gratu- 
 itous lectures on mineralogy, geology, general chemistry, 
 botany, agriculture, natural history, the anatomy of man 
 and animals, and iconography. 
 
 The building contains a copious library of works of nat- 
 ural history, fine collections of preserved animal specimens, 
 
 ductions with that of exotic plants. The productions of 
 every region of the globe are preserved in extensive hot- 
 houses. "There is a menagerie, a superb botanical garden, 
 a splendid amphitheatre for lectures, and spacious cabinet of 
 curiosities. Everything is open to the public gratuitously. 
 
 Mr. T., in continuation, expatiated at considerable length 
 upon the merits of the bill ; and in proof that its provisions 
 were calculated to meet the wishes and intentions of the 
 donor of the munificent fund now the object of considera- 
 tion. He doubted the utility of such an extensive and costly 
 library as had been suggested by the Senator from Massa- 
 chusetts; he doubted the possibility of laying out usefully 
 and advantageously $20,000 a year or even more than 
 four or five thousand dollars a year in the purchase of 
 books. It would be impossible to make such a vast collec- 
 tion of books as $500,000 would purchase, without includ- 
 ing cart loads nay ship loads of trash, not worth in reality 
 the cost of transport. There was the library of Congress. 
 to the increase of which $5,000 was annually appropriated, 
 and it was well known that this sum enabled the committee 
 to procure everything coming out in print worth procuring. 
 Yet, in this library, small in comparison to any of those 
 foreign libraries alluded to by the Senator, he protested 
 there was more than half the books that he would not take 
 n gift of for the cost of transportation to Ohio. In conclu- 
 sion he saw no necessity for striking out the eighth section 
 of the bill. If the Senate approved of a more liberal pro- 
 vision for the library, an additional section could be put 
 after the eighth section, and the necessary alteration could 
 be made in the first section. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY did not rise for any purpose of opposition, 
 but to^suggest a course that would probably result in har- 
 monizing the propositions of the Senators from Ohio and 
 Massachusetts. He thought if the bill was recommitted to 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 323 
 
 ~the Committee on the Library, it would receive more atten- 
 tion than it was possible to bestow upon it when there before, 
 in consequence of the absence of some of its members; and 
 he had no doubt the propriety of providing for the establish- 
 ment of a complete library on a liberal scale he would not 
 say to the extent of purchases amounting annually to twenty 
 thousand, fifteen thousand, or ten thousand dollars, but to 
 an extent commensurate with the wants of science and the 
 arts in this country at present, to be hereafter enlarged as 
 might be found necessary. He should be sorry to see the 
 eighth section of the bill stricken out, for he thought there 
 were important provisions in it which ought to be "retained. 
 The professors, and everything going to the principle of 
 having a college or school connected with the institution, 
 should be dispensed with, but the plan of employing emi- 
 nent lecturers should be retained. These lecturers could 
 very-well perform all the experiments required by the bill 
 of professors. If lecturers of great attainments, even from 
 Europe were deemed necessary, they could be procured and 
 paid liberally. The donor of this fund was too well in- 
 formed not to know that in this country the most ample 
 provisions in school lands had been made for elementary 
 education, and that this fund was at least equal to a stock 
 yielding a million and a half of dollars annually for pur- 
 poses of education. Ilis intention doubtless was to devote 
 his bequest to that increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men which was not to be attained at existing insti- 
 tutions of learning in this country; and it was obvious this 
 intention could be best accomplished by a harmonious blend- 
 ing of the propositions of the two Senators, properly modi- 
 fied. There was, however, one part of the plan he strongly 
 objected to as unnecessary ; it was that relating to the estab- 
 lishment of a salaried board of managers. The whole tiring 
 of balloting in Congress for this board of managers was ob- 
 jectionable, and would lead to loss of time and other incon- 
 veniences ; besides, the persons so chosen might be the mos; 
 unfit. There was no occasion whatever for that descrip- 
 tion of management. A National Institute was already in 
 existence in the capital of the government, created by Con- 
 gress, and the objects of which were peculiarly appropriate 
 to those of the trust now under consideration. The officers 
 of this institute are the ex qfficio officers of the government 
 itself, the scientific residents of the city, and the most emi- 
 nent professors of many of the learned institutions of the 
 country. These are all gentlemen of high attainments and 
 character, to whom the pursuit of knowledge and its diffu- 
 
324 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 sion are labors of love, for which they seek no pecuniary 
 reward. To that Institute this trust should be confided. 
 He hoped, therefore, that in remodeling the bill, the com- 
 mittee would allow this matter its due weight and con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN saw no necessity for recommitting the bill to 
 the Committee on the Library or any other committee. 
 The Senate could, without striking out the eighth section, 
 amend it, and incorporate such modification as might ap- 
 prove of the proposition made by the Senator from Mas>a- 
 chusetts. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE suggested the propriety of postponing tin- 
 further consideration of the bill till to-morrow, by which 
 time gentlemen might make up their minds as to the neces- 
 sity of remodelling the bill. 
 
 SENATE, January 9, 1845. 
 
 The unfinished business from yesterday was the bill pro- 
 viding for the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 the consideration of which was accordingly resumed, as in 
 committee of the whole. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN inquired what was the pending motion. 
 
 The CHAIR said it was to recommit the bill. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY said, that in compliance with the desire 
 of the Senators who took part in the discussion of yester- 
 day, he would for the present, withdraw his motion to re- 
 commit. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE also withdrew his motion of amendment, 
 pending at the time the Senator from New Hampshire 
 moved to recommit the bill. 
 
 Mr. C. then moved to strike out the proviso in the first 
 section of the bill, which runs thus : 
 
 Provided, That the books to be purchased for said institution shall con- 
 sist of works on science and the arts, especially such as relate to the ordi- 
 nary business of life, and to the various mechanical and other improvements 
 and discoveries which may be made. 
 
 His object was to avoid a premature decision on the point 
 at issue as to the plan of a general library, or a special one 
 limited to works on physical science. By striking out the 
 proviso, the Senate would not commit itself the question 
 as to the nature of the libraiy being reserved for amend- 
 ment to another section of the bill. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN considered the motion to strike out the pro- 
 viso must produce a test vote on the very point; and if that 
 
1843-45. 325 
 
 test was desired, it might as well be taken on it as on any 
 other amendment. 
 
 He argued that a library limited to the works on sciences 
 and the arts, specified in the proviso, would be the only suit- 
 able and appropriate library for the institution. There was 
 no necessity tor another general library in the city of Wash- 
 ington, where the government had already the library of 
 Congress, the libraries of the State, War, Navy and other 
 public departments, annually augmented by means of large 
 appropriations. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY, before the question of striking out the 
 proviso was taken, wished to offer an amendment which 
 might render it more acceptable. He moved the substitute 
 for the words " consist of," the words " among others, in- 
 clude ; " which would take away the imperative injunction 
 to purchase none but books on science and the arts. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN was about to suggest some such modifi- 
 cation. He thought the proviso might be modified so as to 
 read, " That in the purchase of books, it shall be a principal 
 object to obtain works," &c., following on with the words 
 of the original. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN said the Senator's object would be attained 
 by substituting for the words " consist of," the words prin- 
 cipally be." 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN said that would not exactly convey his 
 idea. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE preferred striking out the proviso altogether. 
 If he understood the object aimed at by the Senator from 
 Massachusetts, it was to make the interest of this munificent 
 bequest accomplish the injunction of the donor, by such an 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men as a com- 
 plete national library, worthy of him and this country would 
 undoubtedly insure. The library of Congress, though no 
 larger than the private collections of many private* gentle- 
 men in Europe, had been thirty years collecting, and now 
 numbered only 40,000 volumes. The library of the British 
 Museum consists of 200,000 volumes ; yet, by a recent re- 
 port, it appears that 100,000 is required to render it com- 
 plete. The libraries of the government alluded to by the 
 Senator from Ohio, are indispensable to the departments, as' 
 is that of Congress to the Capitol : they cannot with due re- 
 gard to the interests of national legislation, be transferred 
 for public use as a national library. By carrying out the 
 suggestion of the Senator from Massachusetts, a great 
 national library, worthy of the country and the donor of this 
 fund, may be established. 
 
326 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The question was taken on Mr. Woodbury's amendment, 
 and it was rejected. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN now moved his amendment, (before 
 stated.) 
 
 Mr. CHOATE thought it equally objectionable ; its tendency 
 would be to prompt the managers to the selection alone of 
 the description of works in some measure prescribed. He 
 would infinitely prefer the postponement of this question of 
 limitation till an amendment to the eighth section, which 
 he had in view, should come up. He hoped the simple 
 motion to strike out the proviso would prevail. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN withdrew his motion. 
 
 After a few remarks from Mr. Tappun in favor of retain- 
 ing the proviso, 
 
 'The question was taken on the motion of Mr. Ohoate, 
 and the proviso was stricken out. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE now moved to insert in the fifth section, 
 which enumerates the duties of the superintendent, so much 
 of the succeeding sections as the following words contain : 
 " And he (the superintendent) shall make experiments to 
 determine the utility and advantage of new modes and in- 
 struments of culture; to determine whether new fruits, 
 plants, and vegetables may be cultivated to advantage in 
 the United States ; and all such fruits, plants, seeds, and 
 vegetables as shall be found useful, and adapted to any of 
 our soils and climate, shall be distributed among the people 
 of the Union." This would meet the wishes of the Senator 
 from Ohio, so far as regarded the professor of agriculture 
 and horticulture. It was his design to move afterwards to 
 strike out the 7th section, which provides for a corps of pro- 
 fessors, and to offer a substitute. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN thought there were other professors equally 
 indispensable such as one on chemistry and one on astron- 
 omy, if a professor of astronomy were attached to the in- 
 stitution, the observatory could be confided to its care, and 
 the very valuable instruments it contains would afford facil- 
 ities for the study of that branch of science at the capital 
 not to be obtained elsewhere in the Union. Chemistry was 
 also intimately connected with the objects of the institution. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE said discussion on these points would come 
 up^on a future motion he should make. 
 
 The question was then taken and the amendment adopted. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE now moved to strike out the 7th section, and 
 to insert in lieu of it the following : 
 
 Section 7, strike out all after the enacting clause, and insert, " That the 
 board of managers shall employ competent persons to deliver lectures, or 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 327 
 
 courses of lectures, in the institution, upon literature, science, and art, and 
 the application of science and art, during the sessions of Congress ; to make 
 regulations respecting attendance thereon ; to fix the rates of compensa- 
 tion therefor; and to prescribe from time to time, the subjects of such lee- 
 tures, having regard to the character of the audience before whom they are 
 delivered, and the intent of the donor that is to say, the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 The amendment was adopted. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE next moved to strike out the 8th section, and 
 to substitute the following : 
 
 SEC. 8. And whereas an ample and well-selected public library consti- 
 tutes one of the most permanent, constant, and effectual means of* increas- 
 ing and diffusing knowledge among men ; therefore 
 
 Be it further enacted, That an annual expenditure, be made from the in- 
 terest of the fund aforesaid, under the direction of the said managers, on 
 the purchase of books and manuscripts for the formation of a library of the 
 institution aforesaid, which, for its extent, variety, and value, shall be wor- 
 thy of the donor of the said fund, and of this nation and of the age. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN moved to add to it a proviso that, in 
 the purchase of books for said institution, it should be re- 
 garded as a principal object to purchase works on science 
 and the arts, especially such as relate to the ordinary busi- 
 ness of life, and to the various mechanical and other improve- 
 ments and discoveries which may be made. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE argued that this limitation was not only un- 
 necessary, but would most certainly prove injurious. It was 
 unnecessary, because no national library, such as he con- 
 templated, and such as he hoped the Senate would authorize, 
 could be made complete without every one of the works on 
 science and the arts which the Senators for Ohio arid Ken- 
 tucky could possibly desire. The proviso would operate 
 injuriously, by raising a constitutional question of disputa- 
 tion among the managers as to the quantity of money to be 
 applied to this special description of books, and to general 
 literature. If it was stated that, out of a given sum, two- 
 thirds should be devoted to these books, and one-third to 
 other books, they could easity agree ; but indefinitely direct- 
 ing a preference, would be to limit exceedingly in effect the 
 portion to be devoted to works of general literature. 
 
 This point was debated at great length by Messrs. Critten- 
 den, Choate, and Woodbury : Mr. Choate being opposed to 
 any proviso, and Messrs. Crittenden and Woodbury in favor 
 of one sufficiently explanatory to show a preference for the 
 works indicated, without putting an undue restriction on 
 the purchase of all other books suitable to a general library. 
 
 Mr. RIVES said he should feel very great repugnance to 
 any provision in this bill which should assume to recognize 
 any important distinction between the different branches of 
 
328 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 human knowledge. The general object of this bequest of 
 which \ve are constituted the trustee is described to be the 
 " increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." Xow, 
 If we were to have a library at all to carry out this great 
 object, it really seemed to him that that library ought to be 
 coextensive with the limits of human knowledge. Some of 
 his honorable friends on both sides of the House, had dropped 
 observations in the course of this debate and he had heard 
 them with surprise which would seem to imply that moral 
 science is not knowledge, and that nothing but what are re- 
 garded as the natural sciences astronomy, mathematics, 
 and others of that class is knowledge. The great lie Id of 
 modern inquiry relating to the moral and political sciences 
 is not to be considered "at all as a branch of human knowl- 
 edge ! Was this so? And was this the country, or this tl it- 
 age, in which we were to recognize such a doctrine ? It did 
 seem to him that the most important of all tin- branches of 
 human knowledge is that which relates to the moral and 
 political relations of man. It is intimately connected with 
 the rights, and duties, and privileges of citizens, whether in 
 public or in private life. How would gentlemen designate 
 that great branch of human science, which is of very mod- 
 ern origin, and even now in its infancy political economy ? 
 Is it not a most important part of human knowledge ? And 
 are the legislators of this country, who are so deeply con- 
 cerned in the destinies and progressive civilization of the 
 human race, to regard the science of government and legis- 
 lation as no part of human knowledge? It really seemed 
 to him that, as representatives of the American people, they 
 could recognize no such distinction. We have been told 
 from high classical authority that " the proper study of man- 
 kind is man ;" but here the idea upon which the original 
 form of this bill seemed to stand was, that the proper study 
 of mankind is that of animals, exotics, and plants only not 
 including at all the great moral and civil relations of man. 
 Now, he took it upon himself to say that, if gentlemen 
 would survey the field of moral science, they would find 
 that it embraced a much larger portion of knowledge than 
 the physical sciences, however important they may be. 
 
 The honorable and venerable member from Ohio, as he 
 had been styled, [Mr. Tappari,] based his leading arguments 
 upon the necessity of making that institution a'counterpart 
 of the Jardin des Plantes, in "Paris, where there were great 
 collections of material elucidating natural history; but let 
 him tell the honorable Senator that that institution was sus- 
 tained at a very great expense, and yet it afforded but a very 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 329 
 
 limited source of improvement for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge in its liberal sense. Was there no other in- 
 stitution in Paris than the Jardin des Plantes, which could 
 be taken as a model ? He would refer the honorable Sena- 
 tor to another institution, and one which f would better fulfill 
 the design of the bequest. Look at the wide and compre- 
 hensive body of instruction delivered at the Sorbonrie, (the 
 Faculte des LeMres et Sciences,) under the auspices of the 
 University of France, the great fountain of knowledge to 
 which all enlightened strangers repair, and drink in copious 
 libations of philosophical and practical learning. He was 
 not conversant with Mr. Smithson's peculiar tastes or habits ; 
 but if he (Mr. S.) was the man of liberal and general in- 
 quiry that he believed him to have been, he would venture 
 to assert that his resort was as much to the Sorbonne as to 
 the Jardin des Plantes. And what would he hear there ? 
 Would he not hear lectures on the sciences of history, moral 
 philosophy, arid government, as well as physics, and math- 
 ematics ? The present minister of France, M. Guizot, had 
 been, if he mistook not, a lecturer on history ancient and 
 modern history, comprehending all the phases of human 
 society in this institution. Others had become known 
 there to the world as much as lecturers, as ministers of state, 
 worthy of being entrusted with the destinies of nations and 
 mankind. 
 
 He would beg leave to ask the gentlemen who had charge 
 of this great subject, in looking for a model, to look at such 
 an institution as the Faculte des Lettres et Sciences at the 
 Sorbonne, rather than at a special institution like the Jardin 
 des Plantes. He had no disposition to depreciate the value 
 of the physical sciences; but he insisted upon it, that the 
 moral and political sciences were equally important, and, 
 if any distinction was to be drawn, more important. At a 
 very early period of his life, he was struck with a graphic 
 remark make by the great commentator on English law, in 
 illustrating the fitness of associating a professorship of law 
 with the [Jniversity of Oxford and his honorable friend 
 from Kentucky [Mr. Orittenden] no doubt well recollected 
 the passage that " the sciences are of a sociable disposition, 
 and nourish best in the neighborhood of each other." He 
 would make no distinction. He must be permitted to say, 
 that he thought the Senate had already decided the question 
 in regard to the extension of this library, by striking out 
 the proviso of the first section, and the whole of the eighth 
 section, which provides for professors on the subject of nat- 
 ural sciences only. 
 
330 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 He saw no reason for any distinction between the moral 
 and physical sciences. If such a library as was contempla- 
 ted by the honorable Senator from Massachusetts was es- 
 tablished, there would be no danger of the physical sciences 
 being slighted ; but he hoped that these great moral and 
 political sciences, which so intimately concern the temporal 
 and eternal destinies of man, would' have their appropriate 
 space in this great receptacle of human knowledge.^ 
 
 He had been led to these remarks because his firm and 
 solemn conviction was, that we now have it in our power to 
 do more good to this nation in our day and generation, by 
 a judicious and wise application of this five hundred thou- 
 sand dollars, which has been put into our hands, than by the 
 application of the twent} T -tive or thirty millions we arc in 
 the habit of annually appropriating. 
 
 He was glad that it was the sense of the Senate that this 
 subject should go back to the committee, to be matured and 
 deliberately acted upon, and that there was to IK- brought 
 forward a plan of some great and noble foundation, which 
 would realize, to the fullest extent, the magnificent concep- 
 tion which suggested this donation. He was opposed to 
 any limitations, he was opposed to any distinctions between 
 the great branches of human knowledge. In the republic of 
 letters all stood upon a platform of equality: and if we 
 have a library at all, it should be co-extensive with the lim- 
 its of human knowledge, and with the design of the donor 
 " the increase and diffusion of knowledge (of all sound 
 knowledge) among men." 
 
 Mr. PHELPS suggested a modification of the amendment 
 proposed by the Senator from Kentucky. It was to shape 
 his proviso so as to say "That, in the selection of such books 
 as were necessary to form a complete library, due regard, 
 should be had to works of science," &c. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN accepted the modification. 
 
 Mr. BATES protested against any proviso which would limit 
 the selection. It was wholly unnecessary, because no great 
 national library could be complete without the very works 
 alluded to. 
 
 Mr. NILES did not think it came within the purpose of 
 the donation to establish a great national library. If the 
 donor thought that the best way of increasing and diffusing 
 knowledge among men, he would have enjoined the estab- 
 lishment of such a library. He was in favor of a prudent 
 limitation with regard to that branch of the institution, and 
 should therefore submit a motion to that effect. 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 831'. 
 
 The question was then taken on Mr. Crittenden's amend- 
 ment, as modified, and it was rejected ayes 15, noes 21. 
 
 Mr. NILES now moved to amend the amendment, by lim- 
 iting the purchase of books to $5,000 annually. 
 
 Mr. BUCHANAN inquired if $5,000 a year was to build up 
 n library worthy of the donor, this nation, and this age ? 
 
 The amendment was rejected. 
 
 The question now reverted on Mr. Choate's amendment, 
 and it was adopted. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN, before the motion to recommit was made, 
 wished to test the sense of the Senate as to his original plan, 
 of adding some of the interest to the principal so as to 
 make the fund $600,000. He therefore moved to amend 
 the first section by adding $91,682 out of the interest due, 
 to the original fund, so that the investment should be 
 $600,000. 
 
 Mr. CEIOATE objected to this as, in effect, cutting off the 
 means for establishing a national library. The buildings 
 for the institution,- the enclosures of ground, and the pur- 
 chase of objects of natural history, would possibly consume 
 so much of the residue of interest as to leave little or none 
 for founding the library, or erecting a suitable building for 
 one. It might take from $150,000 to $200,000 for all these ; 
 but till details and estimates were properly investigated, it 
 would not, in any case, be prudent to divert the manage- 
 ment of this accumulated interest. 
 
 Mr. BUCHANAN thought it was desirable, if it could be 
 done without defeating the objects intended, to increase the 
 capital by this addition of a part of the interest. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN put his motion in a definite form. 
 
 Mr. SIMMONS argued that, until some plan was agreed upon 
 as to the manner of carrying out the intention of the donor, 
 it would be highly imprudent to make a permanent invest- 
 ment of means that might be wanted in the accomplish- 
 ment of the object. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN urged that $117,000 of the interest would re- 
 main, which could be as much as the managers would lay 
 out with advantage in the first year; and for the second, 
 they would have $36,000 on the $600,000. The $6,000 
 would cover the expenses of lectures and experiments^ 
 leaving annually $30,000 for collecting a library, and the 
 other purposes required of the management. 
 
 The amendment was rejected. 
 
 Mr. MOREHEAD suggested a renewal of the amendment, 
 making the addition $41,682, instead of $91,862, so that the 
 
.332 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 -capital fund would be $550,000, bearing an interest of 
 000 a year. 
 
 After some conversational discussion on this point, it was 
 ngreed to let the proposition go, with the offered amend- 
 ments, to the committee ; and 
 
 On the motion of Mr. WOODBURY, the bill and amend- 
 ments were recommitted to the Committee on the Library. 
 
 SENATE, January 16, 1845. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN, from the Committee on the Library, reported 
 the bill (S. No. 18) with an amendment; which was ordered 
 to be printed. 
 
 SENATE, January 21, 184.~>. 
 
 On motion of Mr. TAPPAN, the previous orders were post- 
 poned, with a view of taking up the bill for the establish- 
 ment of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The bill was accordingly taken up for further considera- 
 tion as in Committee of the Whole, the question being on 
 adopting the substitute reported from the Committee on 
 the Library, to whom had been recommitted the original 
 bill for the purpose of having it remodeled. 
 
 This substitute provides, as the original bill did, for the 
 investment of the principal sum received under the bequest, 
 in the Treasury of the United States, at six per cent, inter- 
 est from the date of its reception; and for placing at the 
 disposal of the managers the accumulated and accruing 
 interest for the purpose of carrying out the design of the 
 donor the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men. The outlay of the accumulated interest is to be, as 
 directed in the first bill, upon all necessary buildings, en- 
 closures, purchases, and application of the grounds appro- 
 priated out of the property of the United States in the Mall, 
 heretofore described, for the objects of the institution ; the 
 business of the institution to be conducted by a board of 
 managers, consisting of the Vice-President of the United 
 States, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, while in 
 office, three members of the Senate, three members of the 
 House of Representatives, and seven other persons, not 
 members of Congress, two of whom shall be members of 
 the National Institute in the city of Washington, and resi- 
 dent in said city ; the other five to be inhabitants of the 
 States, no two from the same State. The three members 
 of the Senate to be appointed by the presiding officer of 
 the Senate; and the three members of the House by the 
 -Speaker of the House. In each House the respective mem- 
 
1843-45. 33S 
 
 bers, so chosen, to be a standing committee on the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, and, together, a joint committee. 
 
 These appointments to be made on every fourth Wednes- 
 day of December, to serve for one year ; vacancies to be 
 tilled as they are in the regular committees. The other 
 seven members to serve for two years, to be chosen by joint 
 resolution of Congress every alternate fourth Wednesday 
 of December; vacancies to be filled in like manner when- 
 ever they occur. The managers to meet on the first Mon- 
 day in May next, and fix the times of regular meetings of 
 the board. On any application of three members, the 
 superintendent shall call a meeting of the board by letter 
 to each member five constituting a quorum. Each mem- 
 ber of the board to be paid his necessary traveling and 
 other actual expenses in attending meetings; which shall 
 be audited and recorded by the superintendent. 
 
 Whenever money is required for the purposes of the 
 institution, the superintendent, or managers, or any three, 
 may certify to the president of the board that it is so re- 
 quired; whereupon he shall submit the requisition to a 
 committee of three managers appointed for the purpose of 
 regulating the expenditures, for examination and approval; 
 arid, upon their examination and approval, the president of 
 the board shall certify the same to the proper officer of the 
 Treasury as authority for the payment. The board to make 
 all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws for the government 
 of the institution, and the persons employed therein; and 
 shall submit to Congress, at each session, a report of the 
 operations, expenditures, and condition of the institution. 
 The bill then details the duties of the board in commenc- 
 ing operations. Among the buildings is to be one for the 
 reception of an extensive library, equal to the first-class of 
 libraries in the w^orld. When the necessary buildings are 
 erected, all objects of natural history > plants, and geolog- 
 ical and mineralogical specimens, belonging to the United 
 States, in Washington or elsewhere, to be delivered to the 
 institution, where they shall be arranged in such order and 
 so classed as best to facilitate the examination and study of 
 them; new acquisitions of the institution to be classed and 
 arranged in like manner. The personal effects of Mr. 
 Smithson to be kept apart and preserved separate from 
 other property of the institution. The managers to appoint 
 the superintendent of the institution, who is to be secretary 
 to the board, and professor of agriculture, horticulture, 
 and rural economy; and he may, with the approbation of 
 the board, employ such gardeners, agriculturists, and labor- 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 ers as may be required for the institution. He is to make 
 experiments to determine the utility and advantage of new 
 modes and instruments of culture, and whether new fruits, 
 plants, and vegetables may be cultivated to advantage in 
 the United States; and those which shall prove worthy of 
 adoption, shall be distributed among the people of the 
 Union. The superintendent to be paid siu-h salary as the 
 board may think proper; and the board may remove hid 
 and appoint another in his place, whenever the interest of 
 the institution may require it. The board is also to employ 
 competent persons to deliver lectures, or courses of lectures, 
 in the institution, upon literature, science, and art. and on 
 the application of science to art, (luring the sessions of 
 Congress, commencing next session; to make regulations 
 respecting attendance thereon; to iix the rules of compen- 
 sation therefor; and to prescribe, from time to time, the 
 subjects of lectures, having regard to the character of the 
 audience before whom they are delivered, and the intent of 
 the donor the increase and diilusion of knowledge among 
 men: Provided the entire expenditure for lectures shall 
 not exceed $5,000 a year. The managers may, at their dis- 
 cretion, cause these lectures, or such of them as they desire, 
 to be printed and sold at the cost of publication, An 
 annual expenditure of not less than 20,000 out of the 
 interest of the fund is authorized to be made in the pur- 
 chase of books and manuscripts for the library of the insti- 
 tion, which library is to comprehend in due proportion, 
 without preference or exclusion of any branch of knowl- 
 edge, works pertaining to all the departments of human 
 knowledge, as well as physical science, and the application 
 of science to the arts of life, as all other science, philoso- 
 phy, history, literature, and art ; and for its extent, variety, 
 and value, said, library shall be worthy of the donor of the 
 fund, and of this nation and the age. The managers to 
 employ a librarian and assistants, and to fix their salaries; 
 .also to prescribe the regulations under which the library 
 shall be kept, visited and used. In conclusion, the bill 
 appoints the seven managers not ex qfficio members, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Jared P. Kirtland of Ohio, Richard Henry Wilde of Lou- 
 isiana, George Tucker of Virginia, George Bancroft oi 
 Massachusetts, Henry King of Missouri, and Joseph G. Tot- 
 ten and Alexander Dallas Bache, members of the National 
 Institute, and resident in Washington, as the seven mem- 
 bers who, by the second section^ would be appointed by 
 Congress. The right of altering, amending, adding to, or 
 
' 
 
 V 
 
 TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. "N3<5SC/ 
 
 v^. 
 
 repealing the act is reserved to Congress, provided that no 
 contract or individual right made or acquired under its pro- 
 visions be divested or impaired. 
 
 On motions of Messrs. TAPPAN and CHOATE, two mis- 
 prints in the new bill were amended. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY remarked that most of the amendments 
 which he had submitted on a former day to be printed, had 
 been rendered unnecessary by the changes since made in the 
 bill by the Library Committee. But there was one defect 
 still left in the board of managers, as he viewed the subject, 
 and which it was desirable to have removed. He was fully 
 sensible that any attempt to alter a bill which has twice 
 received the deliberate consideration of a committee of this 
 body, was almost hopeless. But the subject was a novel 
 one to us all. It was, also, not a measure of ordinary legis- 
 lation, affecting the rights and property of our constituents, 
 but the discharge of an important trust in behalf of a for- 
 eign philanthropist, and where we ought to move slowly in 
 our deliberations, and rather confer, converse, and consult, 
 as a real committee of the whole, instead of debate like 
 partisans. He would, therefore, take the liberty to suggest 
 that the board of management now proposed was imperfect 
 in two respects. It did not contain persons enough resi- 
 dent at the place where their duties must be performed, 
 and was so constituted as to be likely to render the elec- 
 tions of them by the two Houses on some occasions diffi- 
 cult, and open to improper influences. 
 
 There would be no objection to the Vice-President and 
 Chief Justice as members of the board, on account of the 
 character of the present incumbents ; but neither of them 
 lived here, nor did any of the six members of Congress pro- 
 posed to be appointed nor any except two of the other 
 managers to be selected at large. ISTow as no compensation 
 was to be given as salary or a per diem it must be obvious 
 that seldom would any one attend to the business, unless 
 residing on the spot. For, though some would be here at 
 times officially, yet we all know that it was under a pres- 
 sure of other engagements likely to prevent a close atten- 
 tion to this trust. 
 
 What Mr. W. wished to propose instead of this, was the 
 officers of the National Institute most of whom lived in 
 this city, and five or six of whom consisted ex-officio of the 
 President and his cabinet, as a public check equal to that 
 of the Vice-President and Chief Justice, and superior in 
 position, as always on the spot. 
 
 This plan had the approbation of a former library com- 
 
336 ' CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 rnittee about two years ago ; and he beld in his hand a bill 
 to that effect, not acted on for want of time, and reported 
 by a distinguished South Carolinian, now in retirement, 
 [Mr. Preston.] 
 
 He hoped, on reflection, it would again be found accept- 
 able to a majority of the committee and the Senate; espe- 
 cially when aided by some additional provisions, which he 
 would suggest. 
 
 In order" to let others at large participate, if they pleased. 
 and had leisure, he proposed to unite with the officers of 
 the institute four persons from the different sections of the 
 Union ; and, to render the supervision of Congress as 
 strong and effective as is proposed by the bill, to devolve 
 that duty on the Library Committee a committee already 
 organized and talented, and peculiarly fitted, in some re- 
 spects, for matters of this character. 
 
 In order, likewise, to avoid the delay and difficulties <ii 
 elections by the two Houses, he proposed to have this same 
 committee of Congress select the four members at laru< . 
 The amendment he was about to propose was intended to 
 accomplish not only these two general changes in the mode 
 of electing, and in more convenient residence of most of 
 the board, without any loss of fitness in station and pursuit, 
 and without being any less under the immediate control of 
 Congress and its committee; but to increase that control 
 by placing all their doings, and especially the mode of 
 drawing money from the Treasury, under increased securi- 
 ties, to be prescribed from time to time by the Library 
 Committee. As the bill stood now, an account must be 
 opened with every individual dealt with or paid ; and no 
 bonds or security were required in any case. Mr. W. 
 wished to clothe the committee of Congress with authority 
 to remedy these detects, and not only make the whole board 
 of management subject to the acts of Congress and its 
 directions given from time to time ; but subject also to the 
 constant scrutiny of the standing committee of Congress in 
 both Houses. And so far from conferring salaries or dona- 
 tions on the board or on the institute, he would not give a 
 dollar to either, except to defray actual expenses incurred 
 in the discharge of the trust ; and not allow either to draw 
 a cent from the Treasury except in the manner and under 
 the security which shall be prescribed by that standing com- 
 mittee of the two Houses. 
 
 With these explanations, he submitted the amendment 
 he would now read : 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 337 
 
 To strike out those portions of the new bill providing 
 for the constitution of a board of managers, and insert : 
 
 " The National Institute, through its officers, not to exceed their present 
 number, and associate with them four other scientific gentlemen, from dif- 
 ferent portions of the Union, to be selected by the Joint Committee on the 
 Library ; and said committee to exercise, from time to time, a supervision 
 and control over this board, in behalf of Congress, and see that its directions, 
 as expressed in this act, or in any future act, be duly carried into effect; 
 and to prescribe safe rules to be adhered to in drawing from the Treasury 
 and auditing all moneys whatever expended from the Smithsonian fund ; 
 and none of the said board, nor any of said committee, shall receive any 
 compensation for their personal services on this subject from the fund afore- 
 said, but be paid only their traveling expenses." 
 
 Mr. BUCHANAN would be very glad, if it could be accom- 
 plished, (and he thought at first it might be on this amend- 
 ment,) to get a test vote of the Senate on the question 
 whether Congress or the National Institute shall have the 
 management and control of the Smithsonian Library. But 
 the amendment contained some things not necessarily in- 
 volved in that test, which might be advantageously consid- 
 ered. He could not move an amendment, or he would, so 
 as to separate these thirrgs. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE said the amendment of the Senator from 
 New Hampshire raised the precise question the Senator 
 from Pennsylvania wished to have tested. 
 
 Mr. BUCHANAN looked upon it as a compound amend- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN hoped the amendment would not prevail. 
 Although the chairman of the Library Committee some 
 sessions back, [Mr. Preston,] then a Senator from South 
 Carolina, made a report accompanied by a bill, in conformity 
 with this amendment, it was with the express understand- 
 ing of the committee that not one member of it but him- 
 self was in favor of that plan, or would sustain it. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE did not know that the amendment offered 
 by the Senator from New Hampshire would not make a very 
 good board of management; indeed he felt nothing but re- 
 spect in the highest degree for that Senator and his associates, 
 of the National Institute ; as co-laborers in the advancement 
 of science and the diffusion of knowledge among men, they 
 had already done a good deal. But he had ascertained, 
 through various conferences in the Library Committee, that 
 the Senator's proposition was not likely to meet that favor 
 or support necessary to insure the success of the bill this 
 session ; on the contrary, that it would make enemies of 
 many who would otherwise sustain the measure. Now, on 
 this subject of constituting a board of managers for the 
 22 
 
338 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 committee attached great importance to it he (Mr. C.) Lad 
 given it his most anxious attention. It was the only part of 
 the original bill to which much consideration was not given 
 in the iirst instance. Since its recommittal the committee 
 had had repeated conferences on this point, and the result 
 has heen that the plan laid down in the bill was unani- 
 mously adopted as a happy embodiment of the main princi- 
 ples of all former propositions, the difference of opinion in 
 regard to which had heretofore impeded the action of Con- 
 gress as to the disposition of the fund. He was prepared 
 now to say, that unless there was some more palpable 
 objection than had yet been made to the plan laid down in 
 the bill, the support which it would insure could not fail of 
 rendering the measure successful this session. 
 
 It miglit be necessary to say a word or two respecting the 
 course pursued by the committee in making this arrange- 
 ment. They went back to the records of all proceed ings in 
 Congress since the reception of the bequest, to ascertain the 
 number and character of the various propositions suggest i ! 
 for its disposition ; and having collected them all, the com- 
 mittee conceived they could not be mistaken in combining 
 from the whole such general principles as would unite the 
 greatest number of friends to the main object. Now he 
 felt bound to say, that in this the committee had succeeded 
 beyond his most sanguine expectations. They had not, as 
 the Senator from New Hampshire seemed to suppose, made 
 a complex, expensive,. or impracticable, plan of machinery 
 for the management of the institution ; but, on the contrary, 
 one pre-eminently likely to work well economically, effi- 
 ciently, and practically considered. 
 
 On reviewing all former propositions, the committee 
 found that there were two or three things in which a large 
 majority concurred such as, that the Vice-President and 
 Chief Justice of the United States should be, ex offieio, 
 members of the board, and that they should have associated 
 with them one or two respectable resident members of the 
 National Institute. It was found, also, that a suggestion 
 came from Mr. Robbins of Rhode Island, that three mem- 
 bers of the Senate and three of the House of Representa- 
 tives should be made members of the board. Thus the 
 committee had united whatever there was to recommend 
 this proposition to those whose differences of opinion had 
 heretofore impeded the action of Congress. They took for 
 the ex offieio members of the board the Vice-President and 
 the^ Chief Justice of the United States. There could be no 
 difficult}- as to their appointment, for they are already 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 339 
 
 elected, and always, by virtue of their office, ready to act. 
 The committee then provided that three membeYs of the 
 Senate should be named by the presiding officer in the same 
 way that he named standing committees ; and that three 
 members of the House of Representatives, in like manner, 
 should be appointed by the Speaker of the House. These 
 six members would form a joint standing committee, and 
 have charge of the institution in Congress ; for the com- 
 mittee decided that Congress should hold in its own Hands 
 the control and supervision of the institution. Thus Con- 
 gress would have the interests of the institution imme- 
 diately represented on the floor of both Houses. In addi- 
 tion to those eight ex officio members of the board, there 
 would be seven persons to be selected by Congress two of 
 them from the resident members of the National Institute, 
 the remainder from different States of the Union. Here- 
 after, these seven are to be elected by joint resolution of 
 Congress every two years. This would afford an oppor- 
 tunity of electing gentlemen distinguished as men of science 
 and learning, who, from the respect entertained for them, 
 would be able to enlist the most friends for the institution, 
 and would have the best opportunities of making the citi- 
 zens of the Union acquainted with its objects and ad- 
 vantages. 
 
 There was another consideration which he was sure 
 would, upon reflection, have some weight with the Senator 
 from New Hampshire, and, he hoped, induce him to forego 
 his amendment. It was, that, in looking at the two propo- 
 sitions, with a view of ascertaining which was most repub- 
 lican, most democratic in principle, he would find that of 
 the committee infinitely more so than his own. It was 
 certainly anti-republican and anti-democratic to surrender 
 nil control of the people's representatives in respect to a 
 trust especially committed to their custody, for the people's 
 benefit, and place it in the hands of a close body, like the 
 National Institute, wholly irresponsible to either Congress 
 or the people a body, the machinery and operations of 
 which, so far as regarded the people, were shut out from 
 their view, and to which they could of right have no access. 
 On the other hand, the proposition of the committee recog- 
 nized especially, and in a pre-eminent degree, the complete 
 control and supervision of the people's representatives, and 
 insured that publicity which could not fail of gaining public 
 confidence in the management of the institution, and uni- 
 versal approbation as to the attainment of the purpose for 
 which the bequest was made. 
 
340 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY expressed some surprise that his amend- 
 ment should be attacked by the Senator from Massachusetts 
 [Mr. CHOATE] as anti-republican or anti-democratic. Such 
 an attack Irom that quarter was, in any view, extraordinary ; 
 but much more so, when, in this very bill, in another place, 
 six of the members of his proposed board are recommended 
 by him to be appointed, not by the two Houses of Congress 
 or their committee, but three by the Speaker of one, and 
 three by the President of the other, without any appeal. 
 
 But Mr. W. feared we were sliding into that species <.i 
 political debate which, in a case like this, he deprecated. 
 This was not a struggle for victory of a party or personal 
 predilection, but to execute in the most lit and becoming 
 manner a sacred trust which had been devolved on us from 
 abroad rather than by our people. 
 
 Some gentlemen, who assail the proposed amendment 
 inadvertently seem to suppose it is a contest whether Con- 
 gress or the National Institute shall control the Smithson 
 fund; whereas no such question exists. The same control 
 is left in Congress, if the amendment is adopted, as is left 
 in it by the bill as it now stands. Indeed, the amendment 
 increases the reserved control of Congress in one partieular 
 through the constant supervision and check of the Library 
 Committee of the two Houses which it provides for. 
 
 After the amendment is adopted, Congress can, at any 
 moment, abolish or amend the whole board can give to it 
 any special instructions by resolution or act : and can, by 
 its committee, give any directions, which by this very 
 amendment are to be enforced by the board and institute, 
 rather than either of them being made independent ot 
 Congress. 
 
 It seems, also, to be apprehended by some gentlemen, 
 that the National Institute is to have a great donation of 
 property, as well as power, by this amendment; when, in 
 truth, no power is bestowed except conditionally, and which 
 is not kept constantly under the control of Congress; and 
 not a dollar of property, directly or indirectly, "is given to 
 the institute. 
 
 Indeed, no property is given to the institute or anybody 
 else. The library, buildings, &c., all remain in Congress as 
 trustee ^for the fund. The board of managers, including 
 the institute, are mere executive or ministerial agents to 
 carry out our directions, and own no more of the property 
 itself, than the captain in the navy owns of the ship-of-war 
 in his charge. It is rather a burden imposed on the board 
 and institute as they not only acquire no property, but 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 841 
 
 their services, which have so long and decidedly been given 
 to letters and science without any pay, are all, by my 
 amendment, to continue to he gratuitous. 
 
 The difficulty will be rather in getting gentlemen of suit- 
 able character to devote their time at all to this subject 
 under these circumstances, than in preventing them from 
 profiting in a pecuniary point of view. It is this appre- 
 hended difficulty which will, in part, be removed by taking 
 more managers resident here, who can attend to the busi- 
 ness in rotation or otherwise, at less inconvenience and loss 
 than those from a distance. 
 
 Again : it is said that the form of a resolution in elections 
 avoids any dispute. How so ? Suppose that the gentleman 
 named in the bill from Ohio was moved to be stricken out, 
 and that of the member of the Library Committee from 
 Ohio be substituted, [Mr. TAPPAN,] (as seemed to Mr. W. 
 proper ;) might it not give rise to debate as to their respect- 
 ive characters and fitness ? So of every other member pro- 
 posed, though all doubtless were very suitable men. 
 
 Other gentlemen seem to fear an abuse of the trust by 
 these agents under the amendment, when the very object 
 and terms of it are to increase the guards against abuse, 
 through one of our own committees, and its supervision 
 and regulations ; and when the position of the institute and 
 board under it, instead of being antagonist to Congress, or 
 independent of it, is made to be in more entire subordina- 
 tion to it. and is hemmed around by stronger safeguards 
 against any possible departure from its commands or wishes. 
 He was anxious that, while the Smithson fund came from a 
 stranger and abroad, rather than from among ourselves, and 
 hence gave no cause for national pride or boasting, but rather 
 was mortifying to our own backwardness in such an object, 
 we should at least be vigilant over its use, remedy defects as 
 to its efficiency which we may by this amendment and 
 add something to our national character by the appropriate 
 manner of managing the whole trust, though, unfortunately, 
 we have had no Tot nor part in creating it, or liberally add- 
 ing to it. 
 
 Mr. BUCHANAN observed that he had but very few words 
 to say on this subject, According to the will of the donor, 
 this fund was to be distributed for the " increase and diffu- 
 sion of knowledge among men." Considering our peculiar 
 position in the District of Columbia, he (Mr. B.) had arrived 
 at the conclusion that the best mode of distributing this 
 fund was by the purchase of a great library. Indeed, he 
 could imagine no other. If (said Mr. B.) you attempt to 
 
342 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 establish a literary institution here, with the great expense 
 attendant upon living in this District, and from other causes 
 which I need not enumerate, this fund in its benefits would 
 be confined to a very small portion of the people of this 
 country. From the very nature of our Government, and 
 the condition of the people of this country, we could never 
 expect to erect in our day a library to compare with the 
 great European libraries, except by the application of this 
 fund to that purpose. It was impossible, everybody knew, 
 for any of our citizens who proposed to write a history, or 
 any other work that required an examination into ancient 
 books and authorities, to do so without going to Europe for 
 that purpose. Now, he believed that an extensive library 
 in which all the means of human knowledge should be col- 
 lected, and in which they should be equally open to all the 
 citizens of this country, was the very best mode in which to 
 apply the money so liberally bequeathed by Mr. Smithson 
 for the " increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 He was clearly of that opinion ; but he had no idea of i unk- 
 ing a speech upon the subject. The question now before 
 the Senate resolved itself into a very simple proposition ; 
 and that was, Shall Congress retain and direct the imme- 
 diate and efficient control of this fund, and of its applica- 
 tion, or shall it be administered through the agency of the 
 National Institute? That was the question; and on the 
 decision of the question his own vote might depend. Xow, 
 he entertained all proper respect for the members of this 
 institute, and he believed it had been already instrumental 
 in diffusing knowledge among men ; but he thought Con- 
 gress was bound to keep the application of this fund distinct 
 from that, or any other literary incorporated body. What 
 was proposed by his honorable friend from New Hampshire 
 [Mr. WOODBURY] in the amendment under consideration ? 
 Why, to connect the National Institute with the Smithso- 
 nian library to form a sort of partnership between the 
 two. The National Institute is to hold its meetings in a 
 room in^the building to be erected for the use of the Smith- 
 sonian library. This was in the printed amendment, and 
 would be the inevitable consequence of intrusting the man- 
 agement of this fund to that institute. In a great national 
 institution like the Smithsonian library, calculated for the 
 benefit of the whole people of the country, he desired to 
 keep it clear, or detach it and keep it distinct from the 
 National Institute, or any other literary corporation what- 
 ever. Congress ought to take upon itself the immediate 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 343 
 
 control of this library. It would never succeed, unless this 
 course should be pursued. 
 
 For one, he was not acquainted with the rules of the 
 National Institute, and he did not know in what manner 
 the managers of that institute were elected ; but the pro- 
 posed amendment placed the direction and supervision 
 of the library in the hands of managers not elected by 
 Congress, not responsible to Congress, and over whom the 
 people of this country, by their representatives, could have 
 no control whatever. Congress was undoubtedly capable 
 of administering this fund without the aid of the National 
 Institute ; and it was their duty to do so. 
 
 Without, therefore, troubling the Senate with any further 
 observations, he should certainly go for separating the ope- 
 rations of this library from those of the National institute; 
 wishing and hoping that that institute might have all the 
 success which he believed it so well deserved ; and if it 
 should be made a rival in disseminating knowledge among 
 men with the library, well and good. The more knowledge 
 communicated, the better for the people of this country. 
 He, therefore, should vote against the amendment of the 
 honorable Senator from New Hampshire, [Mr. WOODBURY,] 
 and, although there were some provisions in the bill to 
 which he might object, he would vote for it, nevertheless, 
 should it remain substantially as it came from the Commit- 
 tee on the Library. 
 
 Mr. ALLEN said he should vote against this or any other 
 proposition whatever, contemplating a connection of any- 
 thing called an institution with the public Treasury of the 
 country, in any form or shape. This title, "National In- 
 stitute/' sounded large, and at a distance was calculated to 
 produce a great impression upon the public mind. What 
 was it? Some years ago a few gentlemen of this city got 
 together and concluded to form a literary and scientific 
 association among themselves. Well, that thing has been 
 done in every city, and in most of the villages and towns 
 of the United States, from little debating societies com- 
 posed of young men, up to literary associations composed 
 of gray-headed men. All of these associations, of which 
 there arc so many in this country, were like that in the city 
 of Washington, formed in the same way, and were mere 
 voluntary associations of man with man. But this associa- 
 tion in ^Washington city, finding a Capitol here and a 
 public Treasury here, called itself a National Institute ; 
 and, in order to legalize its claim to that pompous title, it 
 asked Congress to give it a corporate existence by a solemn 
 
344 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 law. After they got associated in the public mind the idoji 
 of its nationality, they succeeded in getting a law passed 
 giving it a legal existence and then they began to enter into 
 the organization, and to claim a part in the administration 
 -of the Government. That institute came here with the 
 very instinct of all corporations, to get its hands into the 
 public Treasury of the country, by a process of induction. 
 It proceeded with that modesty and imposing humility 
 which characterize the movements of all corporations. It 
 began by obtaining the temporary charge of objects of sci- 
 ence belonging to the Government; and being intrusted 
 with the custody of that part of the public property, which 
 resulted from the exploring expedition, there was a motion 
 made towards the public Treasury. Having proceeded so 
 far, it proceeded a few years after, to ask Congress to pay 
 it moneys out of the public Treasury ; and for what? Km- 
 its care of these very articles of public property, which, as 
 a favor of the Government, it had asked to be intrusted 
 with the care of. 
 
 The Senate, which sat here for its constituents, was nev- 
 ertheless so unjust, in his judgment, as to tempt this corpo- 
 ration to its present advances by the fatal step of making 
 for it a public office, and paying it $5,000 for the favor 
 which the institution had asked, in the privilege of taking 
 care of the articles resulting from the* exploring expedition. 
 He opposed that bill at the time it was upon its passage 
 through the Senate ; and he then said what was now seen 
 that the attraction of this corporation was towards the 
 public Treasury. 
 
 We are now intrusted with a fund of some half a million 
 of dollars. It is intrusted to the care of the Congress of 
 the United States; whether by the constitution or by Mr. 
 Smithson, it is now immaterial. The money is obtained ; 
 and the question is decided that Mr. Smithson could extend 
 the limits of the constitution by a request in his will, and 
 place at the disposal of Congress moneys for objects which 
 the constitution knows not. You got the money ; it is now 
 in the public Treasury, or ought to be ; and was as much 
 subject to the constitutional action of Congress as any other 
 moneys of the Treasury ; and for that action alone, and in 
 the name of the Smithsonian Institution, this National In- 
 stitute comes here to ask Congress to give it the exclusive 
 administration of half a million of "the public money. 
 This could be answered by the general charge that no 
 moneys ought to be drawn out of the public Treasury ex- 
 cept by the appropriation of law, and that Congress has no 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 345 
 
 right to intrust the administration of the public funds to 
 any functionary of this Government, much less to an irre- 
 sponsible agent, unknown to the constitution of the United 
 States, calling itself a National Institute. If we had a 
 right, he would be opposed to this bill, for he could say 
 that, within his reading and his observation, he had never 
 known a single instance of a fund of money, charitable or 
 otherwise, being intrusted to the care of an incorporated 
 body of men, that was not squandered, and made to fall 
 short of the object of the donor. It was the instinct of 
 these machines called corporations; and it was impossible 
 for it to be otherwise. Intrust this corporation with the 
 administration of this fund, and it would be just as much 
 throwing it away as to throw it into the -mud-banks of the 
 Potomac. All these corporations are filled with law 7 they 
 are but the incorporation of laws; and never, without an 
 exception, either in English history or ours, with regard to 
 the administration by corporations, was there an instance 
 where the corporation had not consumed the fund or squan- 
 dered it away, and caused it to fall short of the object of 
 the donor. The Girard folly in Philadelphia was an in- 
 stance of this fact. There might be found thousands of 
 instances in the reports made to the British Parliament by 
 those charged with the investigation of these subjects ; and 
 in many instances, not 'only the income, but the principal 
 was consumed in paying the administrators. It was always 
 so. This society in Washington city, which calls itself a 
 National Institution, has no more right to the direction or 
 control of this fund than the Wistar Club in Philadelphia 
 an institution established there by an able physician of that 
 name or any literary society in the East or West, of which 
 there were great numbers, as he had before stated. 
 
 It is said that this fund is to he applied in the District of 
 Columbia. That very idea gave rise to the origin of the 
 National Institute, he had no doubt. Here was a fund to 
 be expended here; and of course there must be somebody 
 to receive it, and what so handy as a corporation ? What 
 so convenient as to take into its hands a fund of money 
 which has to be expended ? What so convenient as a cor- 
 poration got up for the purpose of receiving it ? And what 
 was better calculated to lead Congress into their object 
 than to take the title of national ? National ! a word always 
 dear to the American people so dear that many an inn, 
 tavern, and eating house, throughout the country, bore the 
 title, and he believed there was an establishment some- 
 where in town here which bore upon its sign the national 
 
346 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 eating house ! Now, as to the formation of a society for the- 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge, that was well enough ; 
 but he did not want to see these things take a literary and 
 scientific name for the purpose of thrusting their hands 
 into the Treasury. He did not want to see corporations or 
 men under high sounding titles, and professing beneficial 
 objects, formed in this capital with a view to enter into the 
 control of the public funds. He saw no reason why AVO 
 should not give the control of this fund to some literary in- 
 stitution in "Philadelphia or Boston, with as much propriety 
 as to the National Institute. 
 
 The constitution did not give us charge of the mind and 
 genius of the American people. It was the privilege of a 
 despot, not of a free government, to control the mind and 
 direct the genius of the people; and he wished to see no 
 institution for that purpose established in the capital of the 
 United States, by which the American people are to think, 
 and read, and speak. Gentlemen were mistaken if they 
 imagined that, because such institutions exist in France 
 and other parts of Europe, they were doing a service to the 
 American people in undertaking to pursue the same course 
 in this country, or under our Government. Our Govern- 
 ment is the creature of the public mind, and not the creator. 
 In Europe, where monarchies, crowns, and thrones sustain 
 themselves by controlling the thoughts of the people, it is- 
 different; but our Government stands upon the thoughts of 
 the people, and is controlled by them. We have no right 
 to presume that the people are so ignorant that we ought to 
 legislate for enlightening them. We are here to receive 
 their instructions, not to impart instruction to them. It is 
 no part of our duty to do so. It is presumption in us to 
 assume the duty. 
 
 On these grounds, and others which Mr. A. enforced with 
 great ^ energy, he not only opposed the amendment, but 
 signified his intention of voting against the whole project. 
 
 Mr. WALKER said that, on this occasion, he was likely to 
 be placed in a small minority. In relation to the denunci- 
 ation which the Senate had just heard upon this floor of the 
 National Institute, and the charge that it commenced out 
 of a desire to monopolize the Smithsonian fund, he need 
 only to say that it commenced long before that fund was 
 received. It originated with a distinguished member of 
 the cabinet of Mr. Van Buren, now in honorable retire- 
 ment; and from no individual did it receive more encour- 
 agement, or stronger marks of approbation, than from ex- 
 President Van Buren himself, by numerous valuable pres- 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 847 
 
 ents, and by every other means in which he could manifest 
 his regard. He (Mr. WALKER) thought, therefore, notwith- 
 standing the difference of opinion between his friend from 
 Massachusetts [Mr CHOATE] and his friend from New 
 Hampshire, [Mr. WOODBURY,] as to which is the most dem- 
 ocratic and he really rejoiced that his friend from Massa- 
 chusetts was claiming to be democratic, for it was a good 
 symptom of the progress of democracy and, notwithstand- 
 ing all that was said by his friend from Ohio, [Mr. ALLEN,] 
 he was bound to say that the individuals who originated 
 this institution were eminently democratic. He did not see 
 that the amendment offered by the Senator from New 
 Hampshire proposed that the National Institute should have 
 one dollar of the Smithsonian fund, or of any fund what- 
 ever. He believed it provides that the whole payments to 
 be made are to be made by the Treasury ; and that all the 
 National Institute is to do, as regards this matter, in con- 
 nection with the four other individuals named, is to be 
 done under the direction of a committee of this body, and 
 subject every year to the modifications and regulations, and 
 subject to the supervision and control, of the Government 
 of the United States. He rejected the idea, as one utterly 
 erroneous, that the amendment of the Senator from New 
 Hampshire proposes that the National Institute shall take 
 any portion of this fund, or that it proposes even that it 
 shall have the administration of it. It is not to receive a 
 solitary dollar. It is not to disburse either the Smithsonian 
 fund, or any other fund whatever, under this amendment. 
 The Smithsonian fund is all to be administered by the 
 Treasury Department to be paid out by that department; 
 and all that is to be done by this amendment is, to provide 
 that there may be some supervision of these drafts before 
 they are presented to the Treasury Department. 
 
 He should really like to know, inasmuch as there was to 
 be a discussion here upon politics generally, which of the 
 two is the more democratic the Smithsonian Institution, 
 or the National Institute ? The Smithsonian Institution 
 originated from an individual in England, entirely foreign 
 the very name is foreign. How was it with the National 
 Institute? It sprang from the people. It bears a name 
 that is dear to the people ; and it has received the manifest 
 encouragement of the people of the United States. He 
 spoke now not merely of the colleges scattered all over the 
 Union that had contributed to its aid and support. He 
 spoke not merely of the scientific men who assembled at 
 this Capitol not long since, and gave it their encouragement 
 
348 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 and support; but he spoke of the people in the humblest 
 walks of life, scattered all over this Union residing in 
 every State of the Union who, from year to year, and 
 month to month, had forwarded presents. And why is it 
 that this institute is dear to the American people ? Because 
 it is national because it is American. They wish to see an 
 institution here bearing the name of the nation, which 
 shall give to the United States the same happy range in 
 science that this Government has done in political affairs. 
 
 And let him tell gentlemen that an institution that is 
 merely called Smithsonian can never concentrate in the 
 same degree the affections and confidence of the American 
 people. Still he admitted that it must be called the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, nor did he propose that it should be 
 called by any other name. But the question was, whether 
 the individuals who were named in the bill now under con- 
 sideration, as regarded the Smithsonian Institution, would 
 better carry out the object of Mr. Smithson than the 
 National Institute. It was a mere difference of opinion as 
 to how the fund could be best administered. But if there 
 was any objection to a corporation, would not the Smith- 
 sonian Institution be a corporation ? He was sure his 
 honorable friend from Massachusetts [Mr. CIIOATE] would 
 not deny that it was at least what was in law called a quasi 
 corporation; and he supposed his honorable friend from 
 Ohio [Mr. ALLEN] would admit that it would not be more 
 democratic by making it a quasi corporation. He supposed 
 it could institute suits and legal proceedings. Who are the 
 persons that would have charge of this, under the National 
 Institute ? Who are the directors ? There was the Presi- 
 dent of the United States. Was not that democratic ? Is 
 he not the only man in our Government who is elected by 
 the whole people of the whole Union ? And who, together 
 with him constitute a majority of the directors ? Why, the 
 cabinet, deriving their appointment directly and immediately 
 from the Chief Magistrate, who is himself the chosen of 
 the whole American people. Was that less democratic than 
 committing the administration of this fund to those intrusted 
 with it in the bill ?. He thought, so far as the democracy of 
 the thing was concerned, that the administration of this fund 
 by the National Institute was quite as democratic as it could 
 be by any other mode. 
 
 _ But those who have charge of this fund under the Na- 
 tional Institute will be always here. They are to contribute 
 their valuable services and time to the administration of this 
 fund, and -they are not to receive one solitary dollar for those 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 
 
 services. He believed that by committing to this institute 
 the administration of this fund, two main objects would be 
 accomplished. In the first place, it would best accomplish 
 the intention of the donor; and, in the second, he believed 
 it would also give additional permanency to, and aid the Na- 
 tional Institute. Therefore, notwithstanding the denuncia- 
 tion of his friend from Ohio, [Mr. ALLEN,] and notwith- 
 standing the honorable Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. 
 CHOATE] considered his plan much the best, and much the 
 more democratic, he [Mr. WALKER] should feel himself 
 constrained to vote, in a small minority he supposed, for 
 the amendment proposed by his honorable friend from New 
 Hampshire, [Mr. WOODBURY.] 
 
 Mr. FOSTER of New York rose not to discuss the measure, 
 but to suggest what appeared to him to be a deficiency in 
 the bill, namely, the want of some provision for the perma- 
 nency of the system of management which experience 
 should prove to be best. In the proper time he would sub- 
 mit an amendment, the object of which would be that there 
 should be only one of the seven additional members over 
 the ex officio members elected annually ; so that in the course 
 of time each would serve seven years. 
 
 Mr. HUNTINGTON opposed the amendment of the Senator 
 from New Hampshire. 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was rejected. 
 
 Mr. FOSTER of New York now submitted his amendment, 
 as follows : 
 
 "And Jared P. Kirtland of Ohio, Richard Henry Wilde of Louisiana, 
 George Tucker of Virginia, George Bancroft of Massachusetts, Henry King 
 of Missouri, and Joseph G. Totten and Alex. Dallas Bache, members of the 
 National Institute, resident in Washington city, be the other seven mem- 
 bers, who shall, by lot, fix the term of their office, so that the term of one 
 of them shall expire in one year ; of another, in two years ; of another, in 
 three years ; of another, in four years ; of another, in five years ; of an- 
 other, in six years ; and of the other, in seven years from the first day of 
 December next, after the passage of this act. And any vacancy happening 
 otherwise than by the expiration of the term, shall be filled for the remain- 
 der of the term on the fourth Wednesday of December next, after the 
 vacancy occurs." 
 
 Mr. F. urged at some length the propriety of this pro- 
 vision. 
 
 Mr. TAPPAN opposed the provision as unnecessary, as there 
 could be no doubt of the re-election of such members as 
 proved by their services to be most valuable to the institu- 
 
 Mr. CHOATE pointed out how much better it would be for 
 the interests of the institution to have short terms of elec- 
 tion, as that would stimulate managers, who would feel their 
 
350 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 .ambition excited by the honor of their trust, to exertions 
 worthy of their re-election. 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was rejected. 
 
 Mr. ALLEN moved to strike out the words " members of 
 the National Institute," by which two of the nominees in 
 the bill were designated. 
 
 The amendment was rejected. 
 
 On motion by Mr. CHOATE, the fourth Wednesday in De- 
 cember, in the bill, was changed to the third Wednesday in 
 December, lest sometimes the fourth Wednesday might lull 
 on Christmas day. 
 
 Mr. WOODBURY withdrew the printed amendments he 4 had 
 on a former day offered, the necessity for them having been 
 obviated by alterations in the bill. 
 
 The amendment of the substitute, as amended, was then 
 adopted, and the bill was reported back to the Senate. 
 
 Mr. BERRIEN, before the bill was allowed to pass the stage 
 of amendment, suggested the necessity of considering 
 whether a section would not be necessary, authorizing the 
 institution, in respect to the property it would possess by 
 the grant of the public grounds, to sue and be sued. It 
 might be a question whether the Government would be the 
 ostensible party in a suit. 
 
 Mr. CHOATE conceived the property in the ground would 
 :still vest in the Government ; but, for the purpose of having 
 time to add a small section, to avoid any possible difficulty, 
 he would have no objection to passing over the bill inform- 
 ally till to-morrow. 
 
 The amendments made in committee of the whole were 
 then concurred in, 
 
 SENATE, January 22, 1845. 
 
 The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill S. 18, 
 and having been further amended, it was ordered to be 
 engrossed and read a third time. 
 
 SENATE, January 23, 1845. 
 The bill S. 18 was read a third time and passed. 
 
 SENATE, March 3, 1845. 
 
 A joint resolution (No. 14) was signed by the President : 
 " That whenever any State shall have been, or may be, in 
 default for the payment of interest or principal on invest- 
 ments in its stocks or bonds, held by the United States in 
 trust, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury 
 
TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 351 
 
 to retain the whole, or so much thereof as may be necessary, 
 of the percentage to which such State may be entitled, of 
 the proceeds of the sales of the public lands within its 
 limits, and apply the same to the payment of said interest 
 or principal, or to the reimbursement of any sums of money 
 expended by the United States for that purpose." 
 
 This had reference to the States in which the Smithson 
 fund had been invested. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 27, 1845. 
 
 Message from the Senate that a bill (S. 18) to establish 
 the Smithsonian Institution had passed. 
 
 Mr. BURKE asked the unanimous consent of the House to 
 refer this bill to the Committee of the Whole on the state 
 of the Union, but objection was made. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 28, 1845. 
 
 On motion of Mr. BURKE, bill S. 18 was read a first and 
 second time, committed to the Committee of the Whole, 
 and ordered to be printed. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 10, 1845. 
 
 Mr. OWEN submitted an amendment to, or substitute for, 
 S. 18; which was committed to the Committee of the 
 Whole, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 On motion by Mr. OWEN, the committee took up the bill 
 to establish the Smithsonian Institution, and, after some 
 remarks from Mr. Adams, Mr. Owen, and others, Mr. 
 ADAMS moved that the bill be laid aside ; which was agreed 
 to. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 3, 1845. 
 Mr. BURKE offered the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That all debate in the Committee of the Whole House on the 
 state of the Union on Senate bill (No. 18) to establish the Smithsonian 
 Institution, shall cease in ten minutes after the same shall be again taken 
 up in committee, (if the committee shall not sooner come to a conclusion 
 upon the same;) and the committee shall then proceed to vote on such 
 amendments as may be pending, or offered to the same, and shall then 
 report it to the House with such amendments as may have been agreed to 
 l>y the committee. 
 
 The resolution was read ; when Mr. GEORGE W. JONES 
 moved that it be laid upon the table. 
 
.352 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 And the question being put, it was decided in the affirm- 
 ative yeas, 83 ; nays, 52. 
 
 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the mem- 
 bers present, those who voted in the affirmative are 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Adams, Arrington, Barringer, Belser, Benton, Bidlack, 
 James A. Black, Bowlin, Boyd, Brengle, Hrodhead, Jeremiah Brown. 
 Caldwell, Carpenter, Shepherd" Gary, Carroll, Causin, Rrubi'ii Chapman, 
 Augustus A. Chapman, Chappell, Clinch, Clinton, Cobb, Coles, Cranston, 
 Cullom, Darragh, Dawson, Dickey, Dunlap, Ficklin, Fish, Grinnell, Ham- 
 mett, Henley, Hoge, Hopkins, Houston, Hubard, Hubbell, Hudson, Hung- 
 erford, Washington Hunt, Irvin, Jenks, Cavo Johnson, Perley B. Johnson, 
 George W. Jones, Preston King, Lumnkin, Mcllvaine, Isaac E. Morse, 
 Moseley, Norris, Parmenter, Payne, Phoenix, Pratt, Purdy, Rathbun, 
 Reding, Relfc, Rhett, Hitter, Robinson, Rogers, Russell, Severance, Simons, 
 Slidelf, Thomas Smith, Sykes, Taylor, Thomasson, Thompson, Tilden, 
 Tucker, Tyler, Wethered, Benjamin White, Williams, William Wright, 
 Yost. 
 
 Those who voted in the negative are 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Abbott, Bayly, Edward J. Black, Bower, Brinkcrholl', 
 Aaron V. Brown, Burke, Catlin, Chilton, Clingman, Collamrr, Cns, 
 Dana, Daniel, Richard D. Davis, Dellet, Dillingham, Dromgoolo, Font, 
 Foster, French, Hamlin, Harper, Andrew Kennedy, D. P. King, Leonard, 
 Lucas, Maclay, McClelland, McDowell, McKay, Marsh, Edward Joy 
 Morris, Newton, Owen, Paterson, Emery D. Potter, David S. Reid, Rock- 
 well, St John, Sample, Saunders, Thomas H. Seymour, Albert Smith, 
 Robert Smith, Steenrod, Andrew Stewart, John Stewart, Stiles, Alfred P. 
 Stone, Vinton, Winthrop. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 SENATE, April 30, 1846. 
 
 Message from the House of Representatives that bill H. 
 R. 5 had been passed. The bill was read the first and second 
 times by unanimous consent, and, on motion of Mr. LEWIS, 
 it was referred to a select committee of three members ap- 
 pointed by the President of the Senate. Mr. Dix, Mr. 
 Corwin, and Mr. Lewis were appointed. 
 
 SENATE, May 21, 1846. 
 
 Mr. Dix presented a memorial of citizens of Madison 
 county, New York, praying the adoption of a plan for the 
 establishment of the Smithsonian Institution ; which was 
 referred to the select committee on the subject. 
 
 SENATE, June 1, 1846. 
 
 Mr. Dix, from the select committee, reported II. R, 5^ 
 with amendments; which were ordered to be printed. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 353 
 
 SENATE, June 24, 1846. 
 
 Mr. DICKINSON presented the proceedings and resolutions 
 of a convention of county superintendents of common 
 schools, held at Albany, New York. 
 
 Ordered to lie on the table, and be printed. 
 
 The memorial is as follows : 
 
 At a convention of county superintendents of common schools, and 
 friends of education generally, held at the city of Albany, in the State of 
 New York, on the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th days of May last, the follow- 
 ing resolutions offered by the Hon. Jabez D. Hammond, of the county of 
 Otsego, were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That while this convention are impressed with profound re- 
 spect and veneration for the memory of the late James Smithson, of Eng- 
 land, and gratitude for his munificent legacy to the United States, made 
 with a view to the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, they 
 cannot suppress their deep mortification and painful regret that the repre- 
 sentatives of the people of these United States should have suffered a fund 
 created for such noble and exalted purposes to remain so long unemployed ; 
 and they do respectfully, but most earnestly, recommend to the present 
 Congress to adopt such measures as will carry into immediate effect the 
 benevolent intentions of the philanthropic and liberal donor. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of this resolution, signed by the president and 
 secretaries, be forwarded to each of the Senators in the Senate of the United 
 States from the State of New York. 
 
 SAMUEL S. KANDALL, President. 
 
 EDWARD COOPER, 
 
 "W. PUTNAM, 
 
 Secretaries. 
 
 SENATE, August 7, 1846. 
 
 " An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," was 
 passed over in consequence of want of time for considera- 
 tion. 
 
 SENATE, August 10, 1846. 
 
 The Senate proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. 5) to 
 establish the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men, together with the 
 amendments reported thereto; and the reported amend- 
 ments having been disagreed to, the bill was reported to the 
 Senate. 
 
 Ordered that it pass to a third reading. The said bill 
 was read a third time. 
 
 On the question, " Shall this bill pass ? " It was deter- 
 mined in the affirmative yeas, 26 ; nays, 13. 
 
 On motion by Mr. ALLEN, the yeas and nays being de- 
 sired by one-fifth of the Senators present, 
 
 Those who voted in the affirmative are 
 
354 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Archer, Atchison, Barrow, Berrien, Cameron, Cille}- T 
 Thomas Clayton, John M. Clayton, Corwin, Davis, Evans, Greene, Hous- 
 ton, Huntinejton, Jarnagin, Johnson of Maryland, Johnson of Louisiana, 
 Lewis, Mangum, Miller, Morehead, Phelps, Speight, Sturgeon, Upham, 
 Webster. 
 
 Those who voted in the negative are 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Allen, Ashley, Atherton, Bagby, Benton, Calhoun, 
 Dickinson, Fairfield, McDufBe, Semple, Turney, Westcott, Yulee. 
 
 So it was resolved that this bill pass. 
 
 Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Repre- 
 sentatives accordingly. 
 
 Mr. EVANS (by unanimous consent) asked and obtained 
 leave to bring in a resolution (S. 37) appointing regents of 
 the Smithsonian Institution ; which was read the first and 
 second times, by unanimous consent, and considered as in 
 Committee of the Whole; and no amendment being made, 
 it was reported to the Senate, read a third time, and passed. 
 
 Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of 
 the House of Representatives therein. 
 
 Mr. EVANS submitted the following resolution; which 
 was considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, (the House of Representatives concurring,) That the sixteenth 
 joint rule of the two houses be suspended, so far as it relates to a resolution 
 (S. 37) appointing regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The President signed II. R. 5, an act to establish the 
 Smithsonian Institution, and S. Res. 37 appointing regents 
 to the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES, December 4, 1845. 
 
 Mr. OWEN gave notice of a bill to establish the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 19, 1845. 
 
 Mr. Owen's bill (II. R. 5) was read a first and second 
 time, and referred to a select committee of seven members, 
 viz : Mr. Owen, Mr. Jno. Q. Adams, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. 
 Marsh, Mr. Alex. D. Sims, Mr. Jeff. Davis, and Mr. Wilmot. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 9, 1846. 
 
 Mr. OWEN, from the select committee, reported a resolu- 
 tion that the bill referred to the committee be printed ; 
 agreed to. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 355 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 28, 1846. 
 
 Mr. OWEN, from the select committee to which was re- 
 ferred the bill II. R. 5, reported a substitute for said bill ; 
 and thereupon Mr. OWEN offered the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That this report be printed ; that the substitute herewith re- 
 ported be referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the 
 Union, and be printed separately in the form of a bill ; and that the same 
 be made the special order of the day for the second Tuesday in April next. 
 
 Mr. HOUSTON called for a division of the question, so as 
 to take a separate vote on the proposal to make it the 
 special order for a particular day ; which was ordered. 
 
 And the question on the first branch of the resolution 
 was taken, and decided in the affirmative. 
 
 So the bill was referred to the Committee of the Whole 
 on the state of the Union. 
 
 And the question recurring on the second branch of the 
 resolution, 
 
 Mr. OWEN said : I hope the House will suffer me to say 
 one word on the subject. The money appropriated by this 
 bill has been in our Treasury between seven and eight years ; 
 and, in all that time, not a dollar of it has been used in ac- 
 cordance with the will of the testator. We cannot suppose 
 Congress unwilling to act in such a matter. It has hereto- 
 fore failed, because, in the conflict on other important sub- 
 jects, it was delayed, and remained among the unfinished 
 business. This will again be its fate, unless we make it the 
 special order for some day. The committee put it off until 
 April. If even that be too early, let a later day be named. 
 But, at all events, let some day be fixed when we may know 
 that the subject will be taken up ; so that we at last escape 
 the just reproach of receiving money for one of the best 
 purposes on earth, and then doing nothing with it. 
 
 The question was then taken on the second branch of the 
 resolution, and decided in the affirmative two-thirds voting 
 therefor. 
 
 So the bill was made the special order of the day for the 
 second Tuesday in April next. 
 
 Mr. OWEN, from the select committee on the Smithsonian 
 bequest, made the following report : 
 
 The select committee on the Smithsonian bequest, to 
 whom was referred House bill No. 5, entitled a " bill to es- 
 tablish the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men," have had the same 
 under consideration, and have instructed me to report the 
 
356 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 same back with one amendment. The bill, as it was re- 
 ferred to them, reads as follows : 
 
 A BILL to establish the " Smithsonian Institution," for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 Whereas James Smithson, Esquire, of London, in the Kingdom of Groat 
 Britain, by his last will and testament, did give the whole of his property 
 to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men ; and whereas Congress have heretofore 
 received said property and accepted said trust : therefore, that the same 
 may be executed in good faith, and according to the will of the liberal and 
 enlightened donor 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the property of 
 the said James Smithson as has been received in money, and paid into tb- 
 Treasury of the United States, being the sum of five hundred and fifteen 
 thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars, be lent to the United State* 
 Treasury, at six per cent, per annum interest, from the first day of Septem- 
 ber, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fchirty*eight, when tin- same 
 was received into the said Treasury, and that so much of the iiitTot sis may 
 have accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will amount 
 to the sum of two hundred and forty-two thousand one hundred and twenty - 
 nine dollars, or so much thereof as shall by the board of managers of tin- 
 institution established by this act be deemed necessary, be, and the same is 
 hereby, appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings, the enclosing 
 and preparing of suitable grounds, and for other current incidental expen- 
 ses of the said institution ;" and that six per cent, interest on tin- said trust 
 fund, it being the said amount of five hundred and fifteen thousand one 
 hundred and sixty-nine dollars, received into the United States Treasury, 
 on the first of September, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, 
 payable, in half yearly payments, on the first of January and July in each 
 year, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the perpetual maintenance 
 and support of said institution; and all expenditures and appropriations to 
 be made, from time to time, to the purposes of the institution aforesaid, shall 
 be exclusively from the accruing interest, and not from the principal of the 
 said fund. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the business of the said institution 
 shall be conducted by a board of managers, to be composed of the Vice- 
 President of the United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, 
 during the time for which they shall hold their respective offices ; three 
 members of the Senate and three members of the House of Representatives, 
 together with seven other persons, other than members of Congress, two of 
 whom shall be members of the National Institute in the city of Washing- 
 ton, and resident in the said city ; and the other five thereof shall be in- 
 habitants of States, and no two of them of the same State. And the man- 
 agers to be selected as aforesaid from Congress, shall be appointed immedi- 
 ately after the passage of this act the' members of the Senate by the 
 President thereof, and the members of the House by the Speaker thereof; 
 and those so appointed shall serve until the fourth Wednesday of December, 
 the second next after the passage of this act; and then, and biennially 
 thereafter, on every alternate fourth Wednesday of December, a like number 
 shall be appointed in the same manner, to serve until the fourth Wednesday 
 of December, the second succeeding their appointment ; and they shall also 
 constitute and be denominated a joint standing committee of Congress on 
 the Smithsonian Institution ; and vacancies occasioned by death, resigna- 
 tion, or otherwise, shall be filled as vacancies in committees are filled ; and 
 the other seven managers aforesaid shall serve for the term of two years 
 from the fourth Wednesday of December next after the passage of this act ; 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 357 
 
 when, and on every alternate fourth Wednesday of December thereafter, a 
 new election thereof shall be made by a joint resolution of Congress ; and 
 vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise, may be filled in 
 like manner by joint resolution of Congress. And the said managers shall 
 meet and organize, by the choice of a president, in the city of Wash- 
 ington, on the first Monday in September next after the passage of this 
 act, and they shall then fix on the times for regular meetings of the board; 
 and on application of any three of the managers to the superintendent of 
 the said institution, it shall be his duty to appoint a special meetiug of 
 the board, of which he shall give notice by letter to each of the members; 
 and at any meeting of the board of managers, five shall constitute a quo- 
 rum to do business. And each member of the board of managers shall 
 be paid his necessary traveling and other actual expenses in attending 
 meetings of the board, which shall be audited and recorded by the superin- 
 tendent of the institution ; but his service as manager shall be gratuitous. 
 And whenever money is required for the payment of the debts or perform- 
 ance of the contracts of the institution, incurred or entered into in con- 
 formity with the provisions of this act, or for making the purchases and 
 executing the objects authorized by this act, the superintendent or the 
 managers, or any three thereof, may certify to the president of the board 
 that such sum of money is required ; whereupon, he shall submit the same 
 to a committee of three of the managers appointed for that purpose for ex- 
 amination and approval; and upon such examination and approval, he 
 shall certify the same to the proper officer of the Treasury for payment. 
 And the said board shall make all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, 
 for the government of the institution and the persons employed therein, and 
 shall submit to Congress, at each session thereof, a report of the operations, 
 expenditures, and condition of the institution. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That after the board of managers shall 
 have met, and become organized, it shall be their duty forthwith to proceed 
 to select suitable sites for such buildings as may be necessary for the institu- 
 tion, and suitable ground for horticultural and agricultural purposes and 
 experiments ; which ground may be taken and appropriated out of that part 
 of the public ground in the city of Washington called the Mall, lying west 
 of Seventh street; and the sites and grounds so selected shall be set out by 
 proper metes and bounds, and a description of the same shall be made and 
 recorded in a book to be provided for that purpose, and signed by the said 
 managers, or so many of them as may be convened at the time of their 
 said organization ; and such record, or a copy thereof, certified by the pres- 
 ident of the board of managers, shall be received in evidence in all courts 
 -nf the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to the said institu- 
 tion ; and upon the making of such record, such sites and lands shall be 
 deemed and taken to be appropriated by force of this act to the said insti- 
 tution. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the board of managers 
 shall have selected the site for the buildings of the institution , they shall cause 
 to be erected a suitable building, of plain and durable materials and struct- 
 -ure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable 
 rooms or halls for the reception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of 
 objects of natural history, including a geological and mineralogical cabinet ; 
 also a chemical laboratory, a library, and the necessary lecture rooms ; and 
 the said board shall have authority, by themselves, or by a committee of 
 three of their members, to contract for the completion of such building, 
 upon such plan as may be directed by the board of managers, and shall 
 taUo sufficient security to the Treasurer of the United States for the building 
 and finishing the same according to the said plan, and in the time stipulated 
 in such contract. And the board of managers shall also cause the grounds 
 selected for horticultural and agricultural purposes to be enclosed and se- 
 cured, and suitable buildings erected, to preserve such plants as will not 
 .bear exposure to the weather at all seasons ; and so soon as it may be neces- 
 
358 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 sary for the accommodation of the persons employed in said institution, the- 
 said board of managers may cause to be erected on the grounds of the in- 
 stitution such dwelling houses and other buildings, of plain and substantial 
 workmanship and materials, to be without unnecessary ornament, as may 
 be wanted : Provided, however, That the whole expense of the building! and 
 enclosures aforesaid shall not exceed the amount of the interest which will 
 have accrued on the principal sum and fund on the first day of July next. 
 to wit: the sum of two hundred and forty-two thousand one hundred and 
 twenty-nine dollars ; which sum is hereby appropriated, payable out of 
 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; together with such 
 sum or sums out of the annual interest accruing to the institution, as may, 
 in any year, remain unexpended, after paying the current expenses of the 
 institution : And provided, further, That the expenditure for enclosing and 
 securing grounds, and erecting buildings to prevent plants from exposure, 
 shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars. And all such con- 
 tracts as may be made by said board of managers shall be deposited with the 
 Treasurer of the United States ; and all questions which may arise between 
 the United States and any person claiming under and by virtue of any such 
 contract, shall be heard and determined by said board of manager?, and Mich 
 determination shall be final and conclusive upon all parties ; and all 
 claims on any contract made as aforesaid shall be allowed and certified by 
 the board of managers, or a committee thereof, as the case may be, and, 
 being signed by the president of the board, shall be a sufficient voucher for 
 settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. And the 
 board of managers shall be authorized to employ such persons as they deem 
 necessary to superintend the erection of the buildings and fitting up the 
 rooms of the institution. And all laws for the protection of public prop- 
 erty in the city of Washington shall apply to, and be in force for, the pro- 
 tection of the lands, buildings, and other property of said institution ; and 
 all prosecutions for trespasses upon said property, and all civil suits on be- 
 half of said institution, shall be prosecuted in the name of the United 
 States, in any court having competent jurisdiction of the same. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That, in proportion as suitable arrange- 
 ments can be made for their reception, all objects of foreign and curious 
 research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and min- 
 eralogical specimens belonging or hereafter to belong to the United States, 
 which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody the same 
 may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the 
 board of managers to receive them, and shall be arranged in such order, 
 and so classed, as best to facilitate the, examination and study of them, in 
 the buildings so as aforesaid to be erected for the institution ; and the man- 
 agers of said institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in natural his- 
 tory, geology, or mineralogy, may be obtained for the museum of the in- 
 stitution by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the institution, 
 (which they are hereby authorized to make) or by donation, which they 
 may receive, or otherwise, cause such new specimens to be also appropri- 
 ately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, and 
 other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States, and are now placed in the Patent Office, 
 shall be removed to said institution and shall be preserved separate and 
 apart from the other property of the institution. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the managers of said institution 
 shall appoint a superintendent, whose duty it shall be to take charge of the 
 ground, buildings, and property, belonging to the institution, and carefully 
 preserve the same from injury; and such superintendent shall be the sec- 
 retary of the board of managers, and shall, under their direction, make a 
 fair and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in said in- 
 stitution ; and the said superintendent shall afso discharge the duties of li- 
 brarian and of keeper of the museum, and may, with the consent of the 
 board of managers, employ an assistant ; and the said managers shall ap- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 
 
 point a professor of agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy, and tho 
 said professor may hire, from time to time, so many gardeners, practical ag- 
 riculturists, and laborers as may be necessary to cultivate the ground and 
 keep in repair the buildings of said institution; and he shall make experi- 
 ments to determine the utility and advantage of new modes and instru- 
 ments of culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, and vegetables 
 may be cultivated to advantage in the United States ; and all such fruits r 
 plants, seeds, and vegetables as shall be found useful, and adapted to any of 
 our soils and climates, shall be distributed among the people of the Union ,* 
 and the said officers shall receive for their services such sum as may be al- 
 lowed by the board of managers, to be paid semi- annually on the first day 
 of January and July ; and the said officers, and all other officers of the in- 
 stitution, shall be removable by the board of managers whenever, in their 
 judgment, the interests of the institution require any of the said officers to 
 be changed. 
 
 SEC. 7. And whereas the most effectual mode of promoting the general 
 diffusion of knowledge is by judiciously conducted common schools, to the 
 establishment of which throughout the Union much aid will be afforded by 
 improving and perfecting the common school system of the country, and by 
 elevating the standard of qualification for common school teachers : And 
 whereas knowledge may be essentially increased among men by instituting 
 scientific researches, and, generally, by spreading among the people a taste 
 for science and the arts 
 
 Be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall establish a nor- 
 mal branch of the institution, by appointing some suitable person as profes- 
 sor of common school instruction, with such other professors, chiefly of the 
 more useful sciences and arts, as may be necessary for such a thorough, sci- 
 entific, and liberal course of instruction as may be adapted to qualify young 
 persons as teachers of common schools, and to give to others a knowledge 
 of an improved common school system ; and also, when desired, to qualify 
 students as teachers or professors of the more important branches of natural 
 science. And the board of managers may authorize the professors of the 
 institution to grant to such of its students as may desire it, after suitable 
 examination, certificates of qualification as common school teachers, and also 
 as teachers or professors in various branches of science ; they may also em- 
 ploy able men to lecture upon useful subjects, and shall fix the compensa- 
 tion of such lecturers and professors : Provided, however, That there shall not 
 be established, in connection with the institution, any school of law, or med- 
 icine, or divinity, nor any professorship of ancient languages. And the said 
 managers shall make, from the interest of said fund, an appropriation, not 
 exceeding five thousand dollars annually, for the gradual formation of a 
 library, composed chiefly of the best works on the physical sciences, and 
 the application of science to the arts of life, but without excluding valua- 
 ble and standard works pertaining to other departments of human knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the said board of managers shall 
 make all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, for the government of tho 
 institution and the persons employed therein ; and, in prescribing the duties 
 of the professors and lecturers, they shall have reference to" the intro- 
 duction and illustration of subjects connected with the application of science 
 to tho productive and liberal arts of life, improvements in agriculture, in 
 manufactures, in trades, and in domestic economy; and they shall also 
 have special reference to the increase and extension of scientific knowledge 
 generally, by experiment and research. And the managers may, at their 
 discretion, cause to be printed, from time to time, any lecture or" course of 
 lectures which they may deem useful. And it shall be the duty of each 
 lecturer, while in the service of the institution, to submit a copy of any 
 lecture or lectures delivered by him, to the managers, if required and called 
 upon, for tho purpose of being printed; and such lectures, when printed, 
 
360 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 shall be at all times offered for sale at the lowest rate that will repay the 
 actual expense of publication. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the said board of managers shall 
 also make rules and regulations for the admission of students into the vari- 
 ous departments of the institution, and their conduct and deportment while 
 they remain therein : Provided, That all instruction in said institution shall 
 be gratuitous to those students who conform to such rules and regulations. 
 
 SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be competent for the 
 board of managers to cause to be printed and published periodically or 
 occasionally essays, pamphlets, magazines, or other brief works or produc- 
 tions for the dissemination of information among the people, especially 
 works in popular form on agriculture and its latest improvements, on the 
 sciences and the aid the}' bring to labor, manuals explanatory of the best 
 systems of common school instruction, and generally tracts illustrative of 
 objects of elementary science and the rudiments of history; chemistry, 
 astronomy, or any other department of useful knowledge; also, they may 
 prepare sets of illustrations, specimens, and apparatus, suited lor primary 
 schools : Provided, That the same shall at all times be offered for sale at tin- 
 lowest rate that will repay the actual expense of preparation or publication. 
 
 SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That of any other moneys which have 
 accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the said Smithsonian 
 fund, not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein pro- 
 vided, the said managers are hereby authorized to make such disposal as 
 they shall deem best suited for the promotion of tin- purposes of the testa- 
 tor, anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That and Joseph G. 
 
 Totten and Alexander Dallas Bache, members of the National Institute, 
 and resident in the city of Washington, be the seven managers who, by the 
 second section of this act, are to be appointed by Congress. 
 
 SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 
 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing any of the provi- 
 sions of this act : Provided, That no contract, or individual right, made or 
 acquired under such provisions, shall be thereby divested or impaired. 
 
 The amendment agreed to by your committee, and which 
 they recommend for adoption to the House, is to strike out 
 all after the preamble, and insert the following substitute : 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the property of 
 the said James Smithson as has been received in money and paid into the 
 Treasury of the United States, being the sum of five hundred- and fifteen 
 thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars, be lent to the United States 
 Treasury, at six per cent, per annum interest, from the first day of September, 
 in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, when the same was 
 received into the said Treasury ; and that so much of the interest as may 
 have accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will amount 
 to the sum of two hundred and forty-two thousand one hundred and twenty- 
 nine dollars, or so much thereof as shall by the board of managers of the 
 institution established by this act be deemed necessary, be, and the same is 
 hereby, appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings, the enclosing and 
 preparing of suitable grounds, and for other current incidental expenses of 
 the said institution ; and that six per cent, interest on the said trust fund, 
 it being the^said amount of five hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred 
 and sixty-nine dollars, received into the United States Treasury on the first 
 of September, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, payable, in half- 
 yearly payments, on the first of January and July in each year, be, and the 
 same is hereby, appropriated for the perpetual maintenance and support of 
 said institution ; and all expenditures and appropriations to be made, from 
 time to time, to the purposes of the institution aforesaid, shall be exclusively 
 
TWENTY-NIKTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 
 
 from the accruing interest and not from the principal of the said fund. 
 And be it further enacted, That all the moneys and stocks which have been, 
 or may hereafter be, received into the Treasury of the United States, on 
 account of the fund bequeathed by James Smithson, be and the same here- 
 by are, pledged to refund to the Treasury of the United States the sums 
 hereby' appropriated. ^ ?> ^ ^ ^ ^ ins tf tutio n 
 
 shaU be conducted by a board of managers who shall be and hereby are, 
 constituted a body politic and corporate, by the style and title of the Smith- 
 r Institution," with perpetual succession, and the usual powers, duties, 
 ^HhnHes incident to corporations. And the said board of managers 
 "hall be composed of the Vke-President of the United States the Chief 
 Justice of 52 United States, and the mayor of the city of Washington, 
 '!* the time for which they shall hold their respective offices, three 
 members of 1^ Senate, and three members of the House of Representatives 
 Either w ith six other persons, other than members of Congress two of 
 Ihom sU be Timbers of the National Institute in the city of Washing- 
 ion Tnd relidenUn the said city ; and the other four thereof shall be m- 
 MMtants of Sta es! and no two of them of the same State. And the man- 
 lrs to be Delected as aforesaid, shall be appointed immediately after the 
 Sre of thi act-the members of the Senate by the President thereof ; 
 Thf numbers of the House by the Speaker thereof; and the six other per- 
 the members ^ y ^ f Represe ntatives ; and 
 
 theme^ber o7 the House so appointed shall serve until the fourth Wed- 
 
362 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 session thereof, a report of the operations, expenditures, and condition of" 
 the institution. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That after the board of managers shall 
 have met, and become organized, it shall be their duty forthwith to proceed 
 to select suitable sites for such buildings as may te necessary for the institu- 
 tion, and suitable ground for horticultural and agricultural purposes and 
 experiments ; which ground may be taken and appropriated out of that 
 part of the public ground in the city of Washington called the Mall, lying 
 west of Seventh street ; and the sites and ground so selected shall be set out 
 by proper metes and bounds, and a description of the same shall be made 
 and recorded in a book to be provided for that purpose, and signed by the 
 said managers, or so many of them as may be convened at the time of their 
 said organization ; and such record, or a copy thereof, certified by the presi- 
 dent of the board of managers, shall be received in evidence in all courts of 
 the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to the said institution ; 
 and upon the making of such record, such sites and lands shall be deemed 
 and taken to be appropriated by force of this act to the said institution. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the board of managers* 
 shall have selected the site for the buildings of the institution, they shall 
 cause to be erected a suitable building, of plain and durable materials and 
 structure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with 
 suitable rooms, or halls, for the reception and arrangement, upon a liberal 
 scale, of objects of natural history, including a geological and mineralogi- 
 cal cabinet; also a chemical laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and the 
 necessary lecture rooms; and the said board shall have authority, by them- 
 selves, or by a committee of three of their members, to contract for the 
 completion of such building, upon such plan as may be directed by the 
 board of managers, and shall take sufficient security tor the building un<l 
 finishing the same according to the said plan, and in the titno stipulated in- 
 such contract. And the board of managers shall also cause the grounds 
 selected for horticultural and agricultural purposes to he inclosed and 
 secured, and suitable buildings erected to preserve such plants as will not 
 bear exposure to the weather at all seasons ; and so soon as it may be nec- 
 essary for the accommodation of the persons employed in said institution, 
 the said board of managers may cause to be erected, on the grounds of the 
 institution, such dwelling-houses and other buildings, of plain and substan- 
 tial workmanship and materials, to be without unnecessary ornament, as 
 may be wanted : Provided, however, That the whole expense of the build- 
 ings and inclosures aforesaid shall not exceed the amount of the interest 
 which will have accrued on the principal sum and fund on the first day of 
 July next, to wit : the sum of two hundred and forty-two thousand one 
 hundred and twenty-nine dollars; which sum is hereby appropriated, pay- 
 able out of money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; together 
 with such sum or sums out of the annual interest accruing to the institu- 
 tion, as may, in any year, remain unexpended, after paying the current 
 expenses of the institution: And provided, further, That the expenditure 
 for inclosing and securing grounds, and erecting buildings to prevent plants 
 from exposure, shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars. And 
 duplicates of all such contracts as may be made by the said board fo man- 
 agers sljall be deposited with the Treasurer of the United States ; and all 
 claims on any contract, made as aforesaid, shall be allowed and certified by 
 the board of managers, or a committee thereof, as the case may be, and, 
 being signed by the president of the board, shall be a sufficient voucher for 
 settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. And the 
 board of managers shall be authorized to employ such persons as thcv deem 
 necessary to superintend the erection of the buildings and fitting 'up the 
 rooms of the institution. And all laws for the protection of public prop- 
 erty in the city of Washington, shall apply to, and be in force for, the pro- 
 tection of the lands, buildings, and other property of said institution. And 
 all moneys recovered by, or accruing to, the institution shall be paid into*- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 365 
 
 the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the Smithsonian bequest r 
 and separately accounted for, as provided in the act approved July ], 1836, 
 accepting said bequest. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted. That, in proportion as suitable arrange- 
 ments can be made for their reception, all objects of art and of foreign and 
 curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological 
 and mineralogical specimens belonging or hereafter to belong to the United- 
 States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody 
 the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized 
 by the board of managers to receive them, and shall be arranged in such 
 order, and so classed, as best to facilitate the examination and study of 
 them, in the buildings so as aforesaid to be erected for the institution ; and 
 the managers of said institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in natu- 
 ral history, geology, or mineralogy may be obtained for the museum of the 
 institution, by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the ins titu- 
 tion (which they are hereby authorized to make,) or by donation, which 
 they may receive, or otherwise, cause such new specimens to be-also appro- 
 priately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, and 
 other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States, and are now placed in the Department of 
 State, shall be removed to said institution, and shall be preserved separate 
 and apart from the other property of the institution. 
 
 SEC 6 And be it further enacted, That the managers of said institution 
 hall appoint a superintendent, whose duty it shall be to take charge of the 
 ground, buildings, and property belonging to the institution, and carefully 
 preserve the same from injury ; and such superintendent shall be the secre- 
 tary of the board of managers, and shall, under their direction, make a fair 
 and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in said institu- 
 tion ; and the said superintendent shall also discharge the duties of librarian 
 and of keener of the museum, and may, with the consent of the board ol 
 managers, employ assistants ; and the said managers shall appoint a profes- 
 sor of agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy ; and the said professor 
 may hire, from time to time, so many gardeners, practical agriculturists, and 
 laborers as may be necessary to cultivate the ground and maintain a b< 
 cal garden : and he shall make, under the supervision of the board ot man- 
 agement, such experiments as may be of general utility throughout the 
 United States, to determine the utility and advantage of new modes and 
 instruments of culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, and vege- 
 tables may be cultivated to advantage in the United States ; and the said 
 officers shall receive for their services such sum as may be allowed by the 
 board of managers, to be paid semi-annually on the first day of January 
 and July ; and the said officers, and all other officers of the institution, shall 
 be removable by the board of managers, whenever, in their judgment, the 
 interests of the institution require any of the said officers to be changed. 
 
 SEC 7. And whereas the most effectual mode of promoting the generaK 
 diffusion of knowledge is by judiciously conducted common schools, to the 
 establishment of which throughout the Union much aid will be afforded by 
 improving and perfecting the common school system of the country, and by 
 elevating the standard of qualification for common school teachers : And 
 whereas knowledge may be essentially increased among men by instituting 
 scientific researches, and, generally, by spreading among the people a tast 
 for science and the arts 
 
 Be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall establish a nor- 
 mal branch of the institution, by appointing some suitable person as prole 
 sor of common school instruction, with such other professors, chiefly o 
 more useful sciences and arts, as may be necessary for such a thorough, 
 scientific, and liberal course of instruction as may be adapted to quality 
 young persons as teachers of common schools, and to give to others H knowl- 
 edo-e of an improved common school system ; and also, when desired, to 
 qualify students as teachers or professors of the more important branch 
 
304 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 natural science. And the board of managers may authorize the profes-.-rs 
 of the institution to grant to such of its students HS may desire it, alt'-r 
 suitable examination, certificates of qualification as common school teachers. 
 and also as teachers or professors in various branches of science ; they may 
 also employ able men to lecture upon useful subjects, and shall fix the com- 
 pensation of such lecturers and professors: Provided, however, That there 
 shall not be established, in connection with the institution, any school of 
 law, or medicine, or divinity, nor any professorship of ancient language*. 
 And the said managers shall make, from the interest of said fund, an appro- 
 priation, not exceeding an average of ten thousand dollars annually, for the 
 gradual formation of a library, composed of valuable works pertaining to 
 all departments of human knowledge. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the said board of managers shall 
 make all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, for the government of the 
 institution and the persons employed therein ; and, in prescribing the duties 
 of the professors and lecturers, they shall have reference to the introduction 
 and illustration of subjects connected with the application of science to tin- 
 productive and liberal arts of life, improvements in agriculture, in manu- 
 factures, in trades, and in domestic economy ; and they shall also have 
 special reference to the increase and extension of scientific knowledge gen- 
 erally, by experiment and research. And the managers may, at their dis- 
 cretion, cause to be printed, from time to time, any lecture or course of 
 lectures which they may deem useful. And it shall be the duty of each 
 lecturer, while in the service of the institution, to submit u copy of any 
 lecture or lectures, delivered by him, to the managers, if required and called 
 upon. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the said board of managers shall 
 also make rules and regulations for the admission of students into the vari- 
 ous departments of the institution, and their conduct and deportment, while 
 they remain therein : Provided, That all instruction in said institution >hall 
 be gratuitous to those students who conform to such rules and regulations. 
 
 SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be competent for the 
 board of managers to cause to be printed and published periodically or occa- 
 sionally essays, pamphlets, magazines, or other brief works or productions 
 for the dissemination of information among the people, especially works in 
 popular form on agriculture and its latest improvements, on the sciences and 
 the aid they bring to labor, manuals explanatory of the best systems of com- 
 mon school instruction, and generally tracts illustrative of objects of ele- 
 mentary science, and treatises on history, natural and civil, chemistry, 
 astronomy, or any other department of useful knowledge ; also, they may 
 prepare sets of illustrations, specimens, apparatus, and school books, suited 
 for primary schools. 
 
 SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, Thatof any other moneys which have 
 accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the said Smithsonian 
 fund, not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein pro- 
 vided, the said managers are hereby authorized to make such disposal as 
 they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator, 
 anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 
 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing any of the provi- 
 sions of this act : Provided, That no contract or individual right, made or 
 acquired under such provisions, shall be thereby divested or impaired. 
 
 Your committee further report, that though they do not 
 consider it in strictness a part of their duty to refer to the 
 purchases of stocks which Congress has seen fit to make 
 with the money paid into the Treasury as the Smithsonian 
 i'und, yet they have inquired into the present condition of 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 365 
 
 these investments, and make the following statement in re- 
 gard to the same, that the House, by its Committee of Ways 
 and Means or otherwise, may, if it see fit, inquire into the 
 expediency of adopting measures for the ultimate arrange 
 ment of these debts. 
 
 There was invested, as by reference to tables A, B, and 
 C, in House document No. 142, 28th Congress, 1st session, 
 will more fully appear, upwards of half a million in Arkan- 
 sas bonds; upwards of $50,000 in Illinois bonds, and a few 
 smaller sums in Ohio, Michigan, and United States stocks. 
 
 On these stocks, up to the 31st December, 1843, as ap- 
 pears also in the report above referred to, interest was paid 
 except 
 
 Balance of interest then due and unpaid, 
 
 By the State of Arkansas $75,687 84 
 
 Michigan ^ 480 00 
 
 Illinois 3,360 00 
 
 Total interest due and unpaid, 31st December, 1843 $79,527 84 
 
 By a statement received by your committee from the Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury, they learn that, since the 31st De- 
 cember, 1843, there has been carried into the Treasury, 
 on account of interest due by these States, the sum of 
 $19,106.25; and that the entire amount of interest due and 
 unpaid, at the close of last year, had increased as follows : 
 
 Balance of interest due and unpaid up to the 31st of December, 1845, viz : 
 
 By the State of Arkansas $130,841 52 
 
 Illinois 1,680 00 
 
 Michigan 180 07 
 
 Total interest on stocks purchased with the Smithsonian fund, 
 
 due and unpaid on the 31st December, 1845 $132,701 59 
 
 What measures, if any, it may be expedient to adopt in 
 regard to the back interest, or to the sale of all or any of 
 these stocks, they have not considered it their province to 
 inquire. 
 
 And your committee recommend to the House the adop- 
 tion of the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That this report be printed ; that the substitute herewith re- 
 ported by them be referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of 
 the Union, and be printed separately in the form of a bill ; and that the 
 same be made the special order of the day for the second Tuesday in April 
 next. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 ROBERT DALE OWEN, Chairman. 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 HOUSE OF EEPRESENTATIVES, April 22, 1846. 
 
 The SPEAKER announced the special order of the tiny to 
 be the bill in relation to the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. OWEN moved that the House resolve itself into Com- 
 mittee of the Whole on the state of the Union, which mo- 
 tion was agreed to. 
 
 The SPEAKER invited to the chair Mr. Seaborn Jones, who 
 excused himself on the ground that he had but a limited 
 acquaintance with the members. 
 
 Mr. Burt having then been addressed by the Speaker, ac- 
 cepted the invitation. 
 
 Whereupon the House resolved itself into Committee of 
 the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. Burt, of South 
 -Carolina, in the chair,) and proceeded to the consideration 
 of the bill entitled " A bill to establish the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men." 
 
 The bill having been read through, was taken up by Beej 
 tions; and the first section being under consideration, Mr. 
 G. W. JONES moved that the said section be stricken out. 
 
 Mr. OWEN said : We have been unfortunate, in this coun- 
 try, in the administration of legacies bequeathed by IM-IICV- 
 olent men for the improvement of our race. Of the noble 
 Girard fund, three quarters of a million of dollars are lost 
 forever, and though half a generation has passed away since 
 theeccentric Philadelphia!! died, not one child has yet reaped 
 the benefit of his munificent bequest. A temple has indeed 
 .arisen that outshines Greece and her Parthenon ; its sump- 
 tuous Corinthian pillars, each one costing a sum that would 
 have endowed a professorship, are the admiration of he- 
 holders and the boast of the Quaker city ; but years must 
 yet elapse before the first son of indigence can ascend the 
 steps of that princely portico, and sit down within those 
 marble halls to receive the education for which its simple 
 and unostentatious founder sought to provide. 
 
 Yet it is not for us of this National Legislature to arraign 
 as dilatory, the corporation of Philadelphia. It is sixteen 
 years since James Smithson died, leaving to the United 
 States the reversion of more than half a million of dollars, 
 to found, in this District, an institution " for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men." It will be ten 
 years, on the 1st of July next, since this Government sol- 
 emnly accepted the trust created by Mr. Smithson's will. 
 It will be eight years next September since the money was 
 obtained from the English Court of Chancery and paid into 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 367 
 
 1the Treasury of the United States. And yet, though dis- 
 tinguished men have moved in this matter, though projects 
 have heen brought forward and discussed in Congress, there 
 has till this day been no final action ; the first human being 
 has yet to receive the benefit of the Smithsonian bequest ; the 
 corner-stone of the first building has yet to be laid, in fulfil- 
 ment of the intentions of the philanthropic testator. 
 
 Small encouragement is there, in such tardiness as this to 
 others, as wealthy and as liberal as Smithson and Girard, 
 to follow their noble example! Small encouragement to 
 such men, to entrust to our care bequests for human im- 
 provement ! Due diligence is one of the duties of a faithful 
 trustee. Has Congress, in its conduct of this sacred trustee- 
 ship, used due diligence ? Have its members realized, in 
 the depths of their hearts, its duties and their urgent impor- 
 tance? Or has not the language of our legislative action 
 rather been but this : " The Smithsonian fund ? Ah, true ! 
 That's well thought of. One forgets these small matters. 
 We ought certainly to attend to it one of these days, if we 
 could only find time." We are as the guests in the parable, 
 bidden to the marriage feast. " I have married a wife, and 
 therefore I cannot come." " I have bought a yoke of oxen, 
 and must needs remain at home to prove them." Let us 
 see to it, that the condemnation passed upon their paltry ex- 
 cuses fall not, with double force, upon our supineness in this 
 thing. 
 
 There are those among the strict constructionists of the 
 House who will vote to return this fund to the British 
 Court of Chancery ; alleging that we have no constitutional 
 power to receive or to administer it. I suppose, judging 
 from the tenor of the amendment moved by the gentleman 
 from Tennessee, [Mr. G. W. Jones,] that he will so vote. 
 
 Mr. JONES. I certainly shall. 
 
 Mr. OWEN. Well, sir, though I share not the gentleman's 
 constitutional scruples, yet I, too, if action in this matter be 
 much longer delayed, shall join in a vote to send back the 
 money to the country whence it came. There is not com- 
 mon honesty in a man who shall receive a trust fund even 
 for an object the most indifferent, and then keep the money 
 in his hands, without applying it according to the will of 
 the legator. What, then, shall we say of a great Govern- 
 ment, that accepts, solemnly accepts, before God and man, 
 a bequest for a purpose sacred and holy, if any such purpose 
 there be upon earth, and then, indolent or indifferent, so 
 braves the just censure of the world, so disappoints the gen- 
 rous confidence reposed in it, as to neglect and postpone, 
 
368 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 year after year, every measure for the administration of that 
 bequest ? 
 
 Delay is denial. We have no more right to put off, through- 
 out long years, the appropriation of such a fund, than we 
 have to direct it to our own private purposes. Nonuse works 
 forfeiture as surely as misuse. Mr. Richard Rush, through 
 whose agency the fund was realized and remitted to this 
 country, in a paper read two years ago, before the National 
 Institute, remarks, that if this delay of action had been an- 
 ticipated by the English chancery judges, it " might have 
 forestalled the decree in our favor, in the unrestricted man- 
 ner in which it was made." He adds: "It is at least 
 known, that the English Court of Chancery is slow to part 
 with trust funds under any ordinary circumstances, without 
 full security that they will not be diverted from their object, 
 or suffered to languish in neglect. That tribunal asked no such 
 security from the United States. It would have implied 
 the possibility of laches in the high trustee." Paper read 
 April 8, 1844. 
 
 Thus we are not legally accountable. The heavier, for that 
 very reason, is our moral responsibility. The gambler, 
 beyond the pale of the law, commonly retains honor enough 
 to meet his promises. We have less than the gainhh-r'- 
 honor if, sheltered behind our sovereignty, we take advan- 
 tage of the impunity it affords, and become unfaithful to a 
 high and imperative duty. 
 
 I impute not to an American Congress I attribute not 
 to any of my fellow-members the deliberate intention to 
 neglect the objects of this trust. There is, doubtless there 
 always has been, a right feeling on this subject. The just 
 cause of complaint is, that this right feeling, like many other 
 good intentions in this world, has never ripened into action. 
 ' When you feel nobly and intend well, go and do some- 
 thing ! Do some good ; it avails nothing merely to think 
 about it." Such were the words, pronounced from yonder 
 desk, by a teacher whose impressive eloquence recently filled 
 this hall. I thought of the Smithsonian bequest when I 
 heard them. 
 
 ^ Nor is it difficult to distinguish the reason, though it fur- 
 nish no sufficient apology for this prolonged inaction. It is 
 to be ascribed, though in part to indifference, yet chiefly to the 
 difficulty of selecting between various and conflicting plans. 
 The words of the will, liberal and comprehensive, do not 
 indicate the specific mode in which the intentions of the 
 testator shall be carried into effect. Mr. Smithson left the- 
 whole of his property, failing certain relatives, and an old 
 
TWENTY-tflNTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 369 
 
 servant, (now all deceased,) " to the United States of Ameri- 
 ca; to found, at Washington, under the name of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 " An institution for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men." These are the words, and the only 
 words, that remain to us as a guide in framing a Smithsonian 
 bill ; our sole guide ; unless, indeed, we are to summon, as 
 a commentary on the text of the will, and an additional 
 indication of the probable intentions of Mr. Smithsou, such 
 particulars as have reached us touching his private character 
 and habits. These are very scanty. Mr. Rush says : 
 
 " What I have heard and may confide in, amounts to this : that he was, 
 in fact, the natural son ol' the Duke of Northumberland ; that his mother 
 was a Mrs. Macie, of an ancient family in Wiltshire, of the name of Hun- 
 gerford ; that he was educated at Oxford, where he took an honorary degree 
 in 1786 ; that he does not appear to have any fixed home, living in lodgings- 
 while in London, and occasionally staying a year or two at a time in cities 
 on the continent, as Paris, Berlin, Florence, G-enoa, at which last he died; 
 and that the ample provision made for him by the Duke of Northumber- 
 land, with retired and simple habits, enabled him to accumulate the for- 
 tune which now passes to the United States." Report 277, H. R., 2Qth. 
 Cong., 1st. Sess., p. 99. 
 
 Mr. Rush further says : 
 
 " He interested himself little in questions of government, being devoted! 
 to science, and chiefly chemistry. This had introduced him to the society 
 of Cavendish, Wollaston, and others advantageously known to the Koyal 
 Society in London, of which he was a member." Ibid. 
 
 Iii a " Memoir of the Scientific Character and Researches; 
 of James Smithson," prepared two years ago by Professor 
 Johnson, of Philadelphia, there are enumerated twenty- 
 four papers or treatises by Smithson, published in the 
 tk Transactions of the Royal Society," and other scientific 
 journals of the day, containing contributions chiefly to the 
 sciences of mineralogy, geology, and, more especially, min- 
 eral chemistry. Some of these contain acute suggestions 
 regarding geological theories, since confirmed by more mod- 
 ern observation ; others evince the minute care and accuracy 
 demanded by quantitative analysis ; while one or two, of a 
 more humble character, show that the man of science dis- 
 dained not to apply his knowledge to common things, even 
 to the details of domestic economy. In the " Annals of 
 Philosophy," (vol. xxii, p. 30,) he has a brief tract on the 
 " method of making coffee." It contains the following ex- 
 cellent observation : 
 
 " In all cases means of economy tend to augment and dilVu.-i 1 comfort and! 
 happiness. They bring within the reach of many what wasteful proceed- 
 ing confines to the few. By diminishing expenditure on one article, they 
 allow some other enjoyment which was before unattainable." 
 ' 
 
oy0 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Even in a trifle like this wo may trace the utilitarian sim- 
 plicity and practical benevolence of James Smithson. 
 
 The will determines the name of the institution, and ren- 
 ders imperative its location at Washington. It decides also, 
 that a Smithsonian Institution shall have two distinct objects : 
 one to increase the sum of human knowledge, the other to 
 aid in its diffusion : for we cannot imagine the terms to have 
 been employed as synonymous. From the character of the 
 testator's pursuits, we may fairly infer, further, that a Smith- 
 sonian bill, framed in accordance with the evident intentions 
 of Smithson himself, must include the natural sciences, and 
 especially chemistry, together with their application to the 
 useful arts of life, among the branches of knowledge to 
 be increased and diffused. And, as his own habits were 
 frugal and unostentatious, so, in all its details, should be 
 the institution that bears his name. 
 
 Suffer me now briefly to pass in review the hiMory of our 
 legislative proceedings in this matter. 
 
 The money was paid into the United States Treasury on 
 the 1st of September, lS:)s. o n the Hth of December, of 
 the same year, President Van Buren sent a message to Con- 
 gress, informing that body, that he had in July, 1838, direc- 
 ted the Secretary of State " to apply to persons versed in 
 science, and familiar with the subject of public education, 
 as to the mode of disposing of the fund best calculated to 
 meet the intentions of the testator, and prove most benefi- 
 cial to mankind." 
 
 From the wording of this message we may infer that Mr. 
 Van Buren considered the advancement of science and of 
 public education the proper object of a Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion. 
 
 He communicated to Congress the replies received. A 
 brief abstract of the more important of these may be use- 
 ful and interesting at this time. 
 
 Professor Way land proposed a university of a high grade 
 to teach Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and the Oriental languages, 
 together with a long list of other branches, including rhet- 
 oric and poetry, intellectual philosophy, the law of nations, 
 Ac. A bill substantially based upon this recommendation, 
 was introduced in 1839, into the Senate: and, on the 25th 
 of February of that year, after full debate, was laid on the 
 table by a vote of twenty to fifteen. 
 
 Dr. Cooper proposed a university, to be opened only to 
 graduates of other colleges, to teach the higher branches of 
 mathematics, including its application to astronomy, chem- 
 istry, &c.; also, the principles of botany and agriculture. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 371 
 
 IN"o Latin or Greek; no mere literature; no medicine or 
 law. The above recommendations in regard to botany and 
 agriculture, and also those excluding the learned languages 
 and professions, have been adopted in the present Smithso- 
 nian bill. 
 
 Mr. Richard Rush proposed a building, with grounds 
 attached, sufficient to reproduce seeds and plants for distri- 
 bution; a press to print lectures, &c.; courses of lectures on 
 the leading branches of physical and moral science, and on 
 government and public law ; the salaries to be ample enough 
 to command the best men, and admit of the exclusive devotion 
 of their time to the studies and investigations of their posts ; 
 the lectures, when delivered, to be the property of the In- 
 stitution for publication. Most of these recommendations 
 are adopted in the bill before yon. Mr. Rush also made the 
 excellent suggestion, that consuls and other United States 
 officers might greatly aid the Institution by collecting and 
 sending home useful information and valuable specimens 
 from abroad. 
 
 The venerable gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Adams] 
 who has labored in this good cause with more zeal and per- 
 severance than any other man, expressed, in his reply, the 
 opinion, that no part of the fund should be devoted " to the 
 endowment of any school, college, university, or ecclesias- 
 tical establishment:" and he proposed to employ seven 
 years' income of the fund in the establishment of an obser- 
 vatory, with instruments and a small library. This pro- 
 posal was afterwards, at no less than four different sessions, 
 incorporated in a bill ; but failed on these occasions, among 
 the unfinished business. I believe I am authorized in say- 
 ing for the gentleman from Massachusetts, that inasmuch 
 as these, Iris intentions, have been since otherwise carried 
 out, and as we have already, in this District, a Government 
 observator}-, at least equal in everything but the experience 
 of its observers to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, he 
 has ceased to press that proposal. 
 
 Though the plan actually proposed by the gentleman from 
 Massachusetts was restricted, for some years, to an observa- 
 tory, he yet recognized, as in accordance with the language 
 of the bequest, " the improvement of all the arts and 
 sciences." In a report made in 1840, he adds : 
 
 " A botanical garden, a cabinet of natural history, a museum of miner- 
 alogy, conchology, or geology, a general accumulating library, are un- 
 doubtedly included within the comprehensive grasp of Mr. Smithson's 
 design. "//. R. Report No. 277, 26M Cong. 1st. Session, p: 18. 
 
 These various objects are all embraced in the bill which 
 
372 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 has been reported to the House. The gentleman also rec- 
 ommended, that the original fund (it is about $515,000) be 
 preserved unimpaired, and that yearly appropriations be 
 made from the accruing interest only, (which will amount, 
 on the iirst of July next, to about $242,000;) a feature 
 which has been incorporated, I believe, in every Smithso- 
 nian bill heretofore submitted to Congress. The restrictions 
 suggested by the gentleman from Massachusetts, have been 
 so'far retained in the present bill as to exclude from the In- 
 stitution " any school of law, medicine, or divinity, or any 
 professorship of ancient languages." 
 
 At the last session, a bill was introduced into the other 
 branch by Senator Tappan. Its plan included an experi- 
 mental farm, botanical garden, and conservatories ; cabinet s 
 of natural history, a chemical laboratory, a library with an 
 annual appropriation not exceeding five thousand dollars. 
 scientific lectureships, and an establishment for printing- 
 scientific tracts and other useful treatises. All instruction 
 to be gratuitous. 
 
 This bill was subsequently so amended by the Senate, that 
 the lectures were restricted to a course or courses to In- de- 
 livered during the session of Congress, at an expense not 
 exceeding five thousand dollars annually: and the printing, 
 to a publication of these lectures; while the annual appro- 
 priation for a library was to be " not less than twenty thou- 
 sand dollars." 
 
 The experimental farm, botanical garden, and conserva- 
 tories, as well as the museum, laboratory, and scientific 
 cabinets, were nominally retained : hut how these were to 
 be supported, considering that at least two-thirds of the en- 
 tire income was annually to be spent on the library, does 
 not very clearly appear. 
 
 This library plan, as it was commonly called, passed the 
 Senate and reached our House. An amendment or sub- 
 stitute, nearly similar to the present bill, was substituted by 
 myself and printed; but, in the hurry of a short session, 
 the whole matter was left once more among the unfinished 
 business. 
 
 As this Senate bill is the only one, establishing a Smith- 
 sonian Institution, that has yet passed either 'branch of 
 Congress, its principal feature demands our deliberate and 
 respectful consideration. 
 
 The library contemplated by this bill, it was express! v 
 provided, was to be " of the largest class of libraries now 
 in the world." We shall better understand both the object 
 and the cost of this proposal, by taking as a commentary 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 373 
 
 'thereon some of the remarks with which it was introduced 
 by its author, then a distinguished member of the other 
 branch, but no longer there to acjorn its debates with the 
 gay flowers of his brilliant eloquence. 
 
 'He objected to limiting the cost of the library building to 
 one hundred thousand dollars ; seeing, as he reminded the 
 Senate, that the " largest class " of public libraries contain 
 from a quarter of a million to upwards of a half a million 
 of volumes. He said : 
 
 " Twenty thousand dollars a year for twenty-five years are five hundred 
 thousand dollars ; and five hundred thousand dollars directly expended, not 
 by a bibliomaniac, but by a man of sense and reading, thoroughly instruc- 
 ted in bibliography, would go far, very far, towards the purchase of as good a 
 library as Europe can boast." Speech of Senator Choate, January 8, 1845. 
 
 He adds, a little further on, that " such a step taken, we 
 should never leave the work unfinished;" and that when 
 finished, it would " rival anything civilization has ever had 
 to show,'' 
 
 He argues of the value and importance of such a library 
 after this wise : 
 
 " I do not know, that of all the printed books in the world, we have in 
 this country, more than fifty thousand different works. The consequence 
 has been felt and lamented by all our authors and all our scholars. It has 
 been often said that Gibbon's History could not have been written here for 
 want of books. I suppose that Hallam's Middle Ages, and his Introduc- 
 tion to the Literature of Europe, could not. Irving's Columbus was writ- 
 ten in Spain ; Wheaton's Northmen prepared to be written in Copenhagen. 
 See how this inadequate supply operates. An American mind kindles with 
 a subject ; it enters on an investigation with a spirit and ability worthy of 
 the most splendid achievement ; goes a little way, finds that a dozen books 
 one book, perhaps is indispensable, which cannot be found this side Got- 
 tingen or Oxford ; it tires of the pursuit, or abandons it altogether," &c. 
 
 And the Senator branches off, in his own brilliant style, 
 into a dissertation on the value and importance of such a 
 library : " a vast store-house," says he; " a vast treasury of 
 all the facts which make up the history of man and of na- 
 ture;" * * u a silent, yet wise and eloquent teaeher ; dead, 
 yet speaking; not dead! for Milton has told us: * a good 
 book is not absolutely a dead thing the precious life-blood 
 rather, of a master spirit ; a seasoned life of man, embalmed 
 and treasured up, on purpose to a life beyond life.' ' 
 
 If the question were between a library and no library ; 
 between books and no books ; the language thus employed, 
 fervid as it is, would be all insufficient to shadow forth the 
 towering magnitude of the subject. John Faust if indeed, 
 to the goldsmith of Mentz the world owe the art of type- 
 setting conferred on his race a greater boon than ever 
 before did living man. There is no comparison to be made 
 
374 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 between the effects of the art of printing and those of any 
 other discovery put forth by human wit. There is nothing 
 to which to liken it. It was a general gaol-delivery of tin- 
 thoughts of the world. It was a sending forth of these 
 winged messengers, hitherto bound down each in his own 
 narrow sphere, emancipated, over the earth. And that was 
 the great day, not of Intellect only, but of Freedom also. 
 Then was struck the heaviest blow against law giving lor 
 the mind. The Strombolean Cave was opened; the long- 
 pent winds of opinion set free ; and no edict-framing .Kolns 
 could crib and confine them to their prison-house again. 
 
 Yes! well might Faust incur the ehargi 1 of demonocraey ! 
 for, almost to the letter, has his wondrous craft realized, in 
 our day, the fables of eastern romance. Draw a chair be- 
 fore your library, and you have obtained the inagieal carpet 
 of the Arabian tale ; you are transported, at a wish, farther 
 than to Africa's deserts or India's groves; not to other 
 climes only, but to other times also. The speaking page 
 introduces you, not to your cotemporaries alone, but to 
 your ancestors, through centuries past. The best and tin- 
 wisest of former generations are summoned to your pres- 
 ence. In books exists the by-gone world. By books we come 
 into contact with the mankind of former ages. By books we 
 travel among ancient nations, visit tribes long since extinct. 
 and are made familiar with manners, that have yielded, 
 centuries ago, to the innovating influences of time. Con- 
 tracted, indeed, is his mental horizon, limited his sphere of 
 comparison, whose fancy has never lived among the sages 
 and heroes of the olden time, to listen to their teachings, 
 and to learn from their achievements. 
 
 As far as the farthest, then, will I go, in his estimate oi 
 the blessings which the art of printing has conferred upon 
 man. But such reasoning bears not on the proposal em- 
 braced in the Senate bill. It substantiates not at all the 
 propriety of spending half a million, or two, or three half 
 millions of dollars, to rival the bibliomaniacs of Paris and 
 of Munich. 
 
 A library of Congress we already have ; a library of forty 
 or fifty thousand volumes ; a library increasing at the rate 
 of one or two thousand volumes a year. The Smithsonian 
 bill before you permits, in addition, an expenditure not ex- 
 ceeding ten thousand dollars a year for this object. Say 
 that but half that sum is annually expended by the 
 managers ; and still, in some twelve or fifteen years, the two 
 libraries will probably number from eighty to a hundred 
 thousand volumes. Are there a hundred thousand volumes 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 375 
 
 in the world worth reading? I doubt it much. Are there 
 four thousand volumes published yearly worth buying ? I 
 do not believe there are. A small garner suffices to store 
 the wheat ; it is the chaff that is bulky and fills up the store- 
 house. Books are like wealth. An income we must have 
 to live ; a certain amount of income to live in comfort. 
 Beyond a certain income the power of wealth to purchase 
 comfort, or even wholesome luxury, ceases altogether. How 
 much more of true comfort is there in a fortune of a million 
 of dollars than in one of fifty, or say a hundred thousand ? If 
 more there be, the excess is hardly appreciable ; the burden 
 and cares of a millionaire outweigh it tenfold. And so 
 also, of these vast and bloated book-gatherings, that sleep 
 in dust and cobwebs on the library shelves of European 
 monarchies. Up to a judicious selection of thirty, fifty, a 
 hundred thousand volumes, if you will, how vast yea, how 
 priceless is the intellectual wealth ! From one to five 
 hundred thousand, what do we gain? Nothing? That 
 would not be true ; a goblet emptied into the Pacific adds 
 to the mass of its waters. But if, within these limits, we 
 set down one book out of a hundred as worth the money it 
 costs, we are assuredly making too liberal an estimate. 
 
 I pray you, sir, not to stretch these strictures beyond their 
 precise application. I am not one of those who judge slight- 
 ingly the learning of the past. We find shining forth from 
 the dark mass of ancient literature, gems of rare beauty and 
 value ; unequalled, even to-day, in purity and truth. But, 
 then, also, what clouds of idle verbiage ! What loads of 
 ostentatious technicalities ! It is but of late years that even 
 the disciple of science has deigned to simplify and translate ; 
 formerly his great object seems to have been to obscure and 
 mystify. The satirist, in sketching an individual variety, 
 has aptly described the species, when he says : 
 
 " The wise men of Egypt were as secret as dummies, 
 And even when they most condescended to teach, 
 
 They packed up their meaning, as they did their mummies, 
 In so many wrappers, 'twas out of one's reach." 
 
 But there are such noble enterprises as those of Gibbon 
 and Hallam ; valuable to all ; doubly valuable to the moralist 
 and statesman. And in regard to such it is argued that if one 
 of our own scholars, fired with generous ambition to rival the 
 historians of the Old World, enters on such a task, he may 
 find that a dozen, or perhaps a single book, necessary for ref- 
 erence, " cannot be found this side of Gottingen or Oxford.'* 
 Suppose he does, what is the remedy? A very simple one 
 suggests itself: that he should order, through an importer 
 
76 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of foreign books, the particular work which he lacks. To 
 save him the trouble and expense of so doing, the friends 
 of the mammoth library scheme propose what ? That we 
 should begin by expending half a million of dollars, which 
 would " go far towards the purchase of as good a library as 
 Europe can boast;" that " such a step taken, we should 
 never leave the work unfinished ;" and that, when finished, 
 it would "rival anything civilization has ever had to 
 show." 
 
 It is prudent, before we enter this rivalship, to count its 
 cost. Without seeking to reach the seven hundred thousand 
 volumes of the Parisan library, let us suppose we try t< ti- 
 the half million of volumes that form the boast of Munich, 
 or fill up the shelves of the Bodleian. Our librarian informs 
 me that the present Congressional library (certainly not one 
 of the most expensive) has cost upwards of three dollars n 
 volume; its binding alone has averaged over a dollar a vol- 
 ume. The same works could be purchased now, it is true, 
 much more cheaply ; but, on the other hand, the rare old 
 books and curious manuscripts necessary to complete a 
 library of the largest class would raise the average. Assum- 
 ing, then, the above rate, a rival of the Munich library 
 would cost us a million and a half of dollars : //> ItindiiKj <il>nn- 
 would amount to a sum equal to the entire Smithsonian 
 fund, as originally remitted to us from Knghind. 
 
 And thus, not only the entire legacy which we have 
 promised to expend so that it shall increase and diffuse 
 knowledge among men, is to be squandered in this idle and 
 bootless rivalry, but thousands on thousands must be added 
 to finish the work from what source to be derived, let its 
 advocates inform us. And when we have spent thrice; the 
 amount of Smithson's original bequest on the project, we 
 shall have the satisfaction of believing that we may possi- 
 bly have saved to some worthy scholar a hundred, or per- 
 chance a few hundred dollars, which otherwise he must 
 have spent to obtain from Europe half a dozen valuable 
 works of reference ! 
 
 But there are other reasons urged for this appropriation 
 of the Smithsonian fund. 
 
 " There is something to point to, if you should be asked to account for it 
 unexpectedly ; and something to point to if a traveler should taunt you 
 with the collections which he has seen abroad, and which gild and recom- 
 mend the absolutisms of Vienna or St. Petersburg." Senator C/ioate's 
 Speech, as above. 
 
 This purchasing of a reply to some silly traveler's idle 
 aunts, at a cost of a million and a half of dollars, includ- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 377 
 
 ing a fund sacredly pledged to human improvement, seems 
 to me a somewhat costly and unscrupulous mode of gratify- 
 ing national vanity. It is ineffectual, too; unless we are 
 prepared to add a few millions more, to buy up if money 
 could buy ! the means of reply to other taunts, quite as 
 just and quite as likely to be cast up to us. There is the 
 Vatican, with its 
 
 " Statues but known from shapes of the earth, 
 By being too lovely for mortal birth." 
 
 There is the Florence Gallery, with its 
 
 " Paintings, whose colors of life were caught 
 From the fairy tints in the rainbow wrought " 
 
 images of beauty, living conceptions of grandeur, refining, 
 cultivating, elevating; worth all the musty manuscripts of 
 Oxford, ten times told ! How are we to escape the imputa- 
 tion that our rude land can show no such triumphs of art 
 as these? Are we to follow Bonaparte's plan ? Are we to 
 carry war into the land of the olive and the vine ; and 
 enrich this city, as the French Emperor did his capital, with 
 the artistical spoils of the world ? Unless we adopt some 
 such plan, must not Europe's taunts remain unanswered 
 still ? 
 
 And let them so remain ! I share not the feelings of the 
 learned and eloquent Senator to whose remarks I have 
 taken liberty to reply, when he says : 
 
 " I confess to a pang of envy and grief, that there should be one drop or 
 one morsel more of the bread or water of intellectual life tasted by the 
 European than by the American mind. Why should not the soul of this 
 country eat as good food, and as much of it, as the soul of Europe." 
 
 It grieves me not, that the fantastic taste of some epicure 
 in learning may chance to find, on the book-shelves of 
 Paris, some literary morsel of choice and ancient flavor, 
 such as our own metropolis supplies not. I feel no envy, if 
 we republicans are outdone by luxurious Europe in some 
 high-seasoned delicacy of the pampered soul. Enough 
 have we to console ourselves ! objects of national ambi- 
 tion, how much higher, how infinitely nobler than these! 
 objects of national pride, before which these petty antiqua- 
 rian triumphs dwarf down into utter insignificancy ! Look 
 abroad over our far-spreading land, then glance across to 
 the monarchies of the Old World, and say if I speak not 
 truth ! 
 
 I have sojourned among the laborers of England; I have 
 visited, amid their vineyards, the peasantry of France; I 
 Lave dwelt for vears in the midst of the hardy mountain- 
 
378 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 eers of Switzerland. I have seen, and conversed, and sat 
 down in their cottages with them all. I have found off-en 
 among them simple goodness; ignorance, oppression, can- 
 not trample out that. I have witnessed patience under 
 hopeless toil, resignation beneath grievous wrongs; I have- 
 met with civility, kindness, a cheerful sm'le, and a ready 
 welcome. But the spirit of the man was not there! the 
 spirit that can lift up its brow with a noble confidence, and 
 feel that, while it is no man's master, neither is it any man's 
 slave. Between them and the favored of capricious for- 
 tune, one felt they felt there was a great gulf fixed, broad. 
 impassable. 
 
 Far other is it even in the lowliest cabin of our frontier 
 West. It is an equal you meet there; an equal in political 
 rights; one to whom honors and office, even the highest. 
 are as open as to yourself. You feel that it is an equal. 
 The tone in which hospitality is tendered to you, humble 
 though means and forms may be, reminds you of it. r n it- 
 conversation, running over the great subjects of the day, 
 branching off, perhaps, to questions of constitutional right, 
 or international law, assures you of it. 
 
 I have heard in many a backwoods cabin, lighted but by 
 the blazing log heap, arguments on government, views ot 
 national policy, judgments of men and things, thai, for 
 sound sense and practical wisdom, would not disgrace any 
 legislative body upon earth. 
 
 And shall we grudge to Europe her antiquarian lore, h r 
 cumbrous folios, her illuminated manuscripts, the chaff of 
 learned dullness that cumbers her old library shelves? .V 
 "pang of envy and grief" shall we feel? Out upon it! 
 Men have we; a people; a free people; self-respecting, 
 self-governing; that which gold cannot buy; that which 
 kings cannot make ! Grief! Envy ! Theirs let it be, who 
 look upon this young land, in her freshness, in her strength ! 
 Let them feel it who behold, from afar, our people bravely 
 battling their onward way; treading, with liberty at their 
 side, the path of progressive improvement : each step up- 
 ward and onward; onward to the great goal of public vir- 
 tue and social equality. 
 
 Equality! I spoke of our citizens as equals; equals in 
 the sense of the Declaration of Independence ; equals in 
 political privilege ; in the legal right to the pursuit of hap- 
 piness. Equals, in a restricted sense of the term, men 
 never can be. The power of intellect will command, wbile- 
 the world endures; the influence of cultivation will be felt, 
 while men continue to live upon earth ; and felt the more > 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 37$ 
 
 the longer the world improves, the better men become, 
 Unequaf then, in their influence over their fellows; une- 
 qual in the space they till in the world's thoughts ; unequal, 
 in the power with which they draw after them the hearts 
 of many thus unequal, to some extent, men must ever be, 
 But here arises a great question ; a practical question ; 
 an inquiry especially ' pertinent to the subject before us, 
 The natural inequality of man is a thousand times increased 
 by artificial influence throughout society. Is that well? 
 or if not well, can it be avoided ? Or if not avoided, can it 
 be lessened ? I feel assured that it can be much lessened. 
 I am not sanguine enough to believe that Iperhaps not 
 my children, even shall see the day, when equality ot ed- 
 ucation shall prevail, even in this republican land. But 
 hold it to be a republican obligation to do all that we prop 
 erly and constitutionally may, in order gradually to reach, 
 or at least to approach, that period. I hold it to be a dem- 
 ocratic duty to elevate, to the utmost of our ability, the 
 character of our COMMON SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 1 hold this 
 to be a far higher and holier duty than to give additional 
 depth to learned studies, or supply curious authorit 
 antiquarian research. .,. 
 
 Guided by such considerations, I incorporated in the bill 
 before you, as one of its principal features, a NORMAL 
 BRANCH: This, and the clause providing for original re- 
 searches in natural science, are the only important addition 
 that have been made in it to Senator lappan s bill 
 
 schools that is, schools to teach ^ teachers, to 
 instruct in the science of instruction are an improvement 
 of comparatively modern date. The first ever attempted 
 seems to have been in Prussia, established about the year 
 1704 by Franke, the celebrated founder of the Orphan 
 House of Halle. They have gradually increased in num- 
 ber and favor from that day to this, in all the more civilized 
 nations of Europe; and Mrs. Austin, in her preface t< 
 Cousin's Public Instruction in Prussia," remarks, that 
 the progress of primary instruction in Europe may be meas- 
 ured blithe provision made for the education of teacliers 
 
 A detailed account of the Normal Schools of Europe 
 given in the ninth chapter of Professor Baches "Repor 
 on Education in Europe," made to the Trustees ot 
 Girard College. Mr. Bache visited Europe under instruc- 
 tions from the committee of the institution ; and his excel 
 lent report, full of practical details and accurate statistics, 
 is a redeeming point in the management ot that 
 
380 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Two States only of our Union have yet established State 
 normal schools: Massachusetts and New York. Mas>a- 
 chusetts has three, educating in all about two hundred 
 pupils : and New York has one, containing about the same 
 number of students; the sole object of both being, to <>/>/- 
 cafe teachers of common schools. The experiment has been 
 signally successful. The report for 1844 of the Massachu- 
 setts Board of Education, says of one of their schools, (that 
 at Lexington) : 
 
 " Such is the reputation of this school, that applications have been n>:i<le 
 to it from seven of cur sister States for teachers." 
 
 And Mr. Horace Mann, Secretary of the Massachusetts 
 Board of Education, writes to me : 
 
 "When first opened in Massachusetts normal schools were an e.\p"ri- 
 inont in this country. Like all new idea-, they hav<- had .to encounter 
 serious obstacles ; but they hav triumphed over every Bpecf 60 of opposition, 
 have commended themselves more and more every year, i<> the ro<>d -ense 
 <f our people, and we now have the pleasure, not only of seeiui; them 
 firmly established here, but of knowinsr that their >ueee>s has ^iven hirth 
 to a similar institution >n the State of New York, ami jiromi.-es ere l-m^ to 
 do the same in other States." 
 
 The normal branch of the Smithsonian Institution is in- 
 tended not by any means to take the place of State normal 
 schools, but only in aid of them ; as an institution in the 
 same department, supplemental to these, as they may 
 gradually increase throughout the Union, but of a higher 
 grade, and prepared to carry forward young persons w ho 
 may have passed through the courses given in the former, 
 or others who desire to perfect themselves in the most use- 
 ful of all modern sciences, the humble yet world-subduing 
 science of primary education ; an institution, also, in which 
 the improvement and perfecting of that republican science 
 shall be a peculiar object; an institution, finally, where we 
 may hope to h'nd trained, competent, and enlightened teach- 
 ers for these State normal schools. 
 
 As an essential portion of this normal department, pro- 
 fessorships of the more useful arts and sciences are to be pro- 
 vided for. The character of common school education, 
 especially in the northern Atlantic States, is gradually chang- 
 ing. Twenty years ago, De Witt Clinton, in his annual 
 message, expressed the opinion that in our common schools 
 " the outlines of geography, algebra, mineralogy, agricul- 
 tural chemistry, mechanical philosophy, astronomy, &c., 
 might be communicated by able preceptors, without essen- 
 tial interference with the calls of domestic industry." This 
 opinion is daily gaining strength, and has been partially 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 381 
 
 acted upon in several of the New England States. In the 
 city of New York, also, a srnali advance towards it has been 
 already made. Recently the hoard of trustees of the pub- 
 lic schools in that city, adopted among other resolutions, the 
 following : 
 
 " Resolved, That a portion of time not exceeding one hour a week be ap- 
 priated to employments incident to elementary instruction in subjects of 
 natural science." 
 
 In accordance with these gradually enlarging views, the 
 course of study of the New York State normal schools, as 
 I learn by the printed circular which I hold in my hand, em- 
 braces natural philosophy, chemistry, human physiology, 
 historv, the elements of astronomy, &c., in addition tojhe 
 special lectures on the theory and practice of teaching. 
 These various advances, thus sanctioned by public opinion, 
 indicate that a normal department in the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, to be worthy of the age, must include scientific 
 courses by some of the ablest men of the day. 
 
 It is also, by the bill, specially made a part of the duty of 
 these men to institute scientinc researches. In these, as we 
 have seen, Smithson spent the greater part of his life. And 
 it cannot be doubted that, were he yet alive and here to-day 
 to explain his wishes, original researches in the exact sciences 
 would be declared by him a part of his plan. With the 
 knowledge of his life and favorite pursuits before us, and 
 the words of his will specifying the increase as well as the 
 diffusion of. knowledge for our guide, it seems nothing less 
 than an imperative duty to include scientinc research among 
 the objects of a Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 I said an imperative duty. Such is the nature of our 
 obligation to fulfil whatever we may fairly infer to have 
 been Smithson's intentions. This money is not ours ; if it 
 were we might take counsel from our own wishes and fan- 
 cies, in its appropriation. But it is merely intrusted to us, 
 and for a specific purpose. Mr. Adams, m his report made 
 in 1840, well says : 
 
 In the commission of every trust there is an implied tribute of the soul 
 
 . r 
 
 it is granted, when he no longer exists to witness or to con- 
 strain the effective fulfilment of his design. 
 
 And these considerations seem to me, also, conclusive 
 against the great library plan. In the first place, Smithson 
 own pursuits were scientific, not antiquarian. In the 
 
:382 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 end, had he desired merely to found a library, it is reason- 
 able to suppose he would have said so. 
 
 The bill, as reported to the House, has been framed in 
 that spirit of compromise so necessary in this world of a 
 thousand opinions. The importance of the chief objects at 
 which it aims will be conceded by all the advancement of 
 agriculture, the improvement of primary education, and the 
 prosecution of scientific research. And if even, in its prac- 
 tical effects, the plan fall short of the anticipations of its 
 friends, suffer me to ask you, what is the alternative in the 
 Senate bill of last year, the only one that has yet found 
 favor enough to succeed in cither branch ? Beyond the 
 library scheme and the professorship of agriculture, (a i'eai ure 
 equally in that bill and this,) what is proposed 1 Public 
 lectures, to be delivered in this city "during the sessions 
 of Congress." Who is to profit by these lectures? Let 
 the author of the plan answer: 
 
 " Who would their audiences bo? Members of Congress, with their 
 families; members of the Government, with theirs, some inhabitants of 
 the city, some few strangers, who occasionally honor us with visits of curi- 
 osity or business. They would be public men, of mature years and minds ; 
 educated, disciplined, to some degree; of liberal curiosity, and aiipnvhi- 
 tion of generous and various knowledge." Speech of Senator Choatc as 
 above. 
 
 Here is a plan for gratuitous lectures to be delivered to 
 members of Congress and of the Government, with their 
 families; to some citizens of Washington, and a few pass- 
 ing strangers; to men so it is expressed educated, dis- 
 ciplined; already capable of " appreciating generous and 
 various knowledge." And this, as the mode the most 
 effectual, the most comprehensive, the most just and equal, 
 to increase and diffuse knowledge among men ! We are to 
 pass by all plans that may reach and benefit the people, by 
 improving their education and elevating the character of 
 their teachers; all proposals, even, to scatter broadcast 
 among them useful tracts, popular treatises ; all projects, 
 in short, to distribute among them the bread and water of 
 intellectual life wherever these are craved ; and we arc to 
 adopt, in their stead, a course of lectures expressly restricted 
 to the sessions of Congress, expressly prepared for ourselves 
 and for a few Government officers and strangers; a course 
 of lectures to be especially adapted to an audience already 
 favored by fortune and education already, as we are com- 
 placently told, of mature minds and above all need of 
 elementary instruction ! 
 
 Sir, over the entire land must the rills from this sacred 
 fountain freely flow; not to be arrested and walled up here, 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 
 
 to minister to our pleasure or convenience. We greatly 
 mistake, if we imagine that our constituents are indifferent 
 to the privilege of drawing from these waters of knowledge ; 
 that they cannot appreciate their fertilizing influence. If 
 there be one feeling more powerful than another in the 
 hearts of the millions of this land, even through its remotest 
 forests, it is that the intellectual cultivation which circum- 
 stances may have denied them shall be secured to their 
 children. They value, sometimes even beyond their worth, 
 the literary advantages, by aid of which the few commonly 
 distance their competitors in the paths of emolument and 
 honor. Ay, and beyond this, they feel do we not all feel ? 
 that we are not in temper, in habits, in feelings, or in in- 
 telligence, what we ought to be, or what we might have 
 been ; that our nature was better than our education. They 
 feel has not the most careless among us felt it too? that 
 there are springs of virtue within us that have seldom been 
 touched ; generous aspirings that have scarcely been called 
 into action ; capabilities of improvement that have hardly 
 been awakened ; capabilities of enjoyment that have been 
 turned to fountains of bitterness. If we might now re- 
 educate ourselves even from the cradle upwards, developing 
 each mental power and moral faculty, checking the rising 
 vice and cultivating the nascent virtue ; bending the pliant 
 habit to reason, and mastering the evil passions at its birth 
 how gladly would we grasp at the offer ! how dearly value 
 the privilege ! And what selfishness would do for itself, 
 think you not that parental affection desires for its offspring? 
 Yes, vice itself desires it ! Stronger than the thirst after 
 riches ; deeper than the craving for power, springing from 
 the best and most enduring of human instincts, is the par- 
 ent's longing for the welfare of his child! Criminal he 
 may be ; ignorant he may be ; reckless even of his own 
 character, hopeless of a reputable standing for himself; but 
 his children ! if brutish excesses have not utterly quenched 
 the principle of good within him for them there is still a 
 redeeming virtue in his soul ; a striving after better things ; 
 a hope that they may escape the vices which have degraded 
 him ; that they may emerge from the ignorance in which 
 he is benighted, if not to wealth and honor, at least to fair 
 fame and honest reputation a credit to his blighted name, 
 arid a comfort to his declining years. 
 
 Such are the sentiments that spring up to meet us from 
 among the people ; shared by the bad as well as the good ; 
 universal in their prevalence. And it is to such sentiments, 
 the best earnest of progressive improvement in man, that 
 
384 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the provisions of this bill ought, so far as the amount of 
 the legacy and the terms of the will permit, to respond. 
 
 Such views are in accordance with the spirit of the age, 
 and the wants of the times. It is not a world all of flowers 
 and sunshine, this we live in. It is a world, where thou- 
 sands are starving ; where tens of thousands toil to live- 
 live, only to die! It is a world, where cruel suffering 
 exists, where shameful crimes are committed, where terrible 
 oppression is endured, where dark ignorance is found. It 
 has scenes of wrong, and outrage, and guilt, and woe. 
 They rise before us. They thrust themselves on our atten- 
 tion. Not to gild, not to embellish ; a graver, a sadder 
 duty is his, who would aid in such a world's improvement. 
 
 To effect permanent good in such a world, we must reach 
 the minds and the hearts of the masses; we must diffuse 
 knowledge among men ; we must not deal it out to scholars 
 and students alone, but even to Tom, Dick, and Harry ; 
 and then, as a wise and witty female writer of the day ex- 
 pressed it, " they will become Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Rich- 
 ard, and Mr. Henry." They may not become profound 
 scholars, erudite graduates ; nor is that necessary. Well 
 to know common things is the essential. It is not elaborate 
 learning that most improves the world, or that exerts most 
 influence in its government. Working day knowledge is 
 simple, almost in the ratio of its importance; and Milton 
 has told us, 
 
 " That not to know at large of things remote 
 From use, obscure and subtle, but to know 
 That which before us lies, in daily life, 
 Is the prime wisdom." 
 
 The ancient masters realized not these truths. With the 
 millions they had no sympathy. In private, and to the ini- 
 tiated few alone, did they deign to unroll the mystical page 
 of their philosophy ; they scorned to expose it to the gaze 
 of the profane vulgar. 
 
 Thanks to the stirring spirit of progressive improvement, 
 all this, in our age, is changed. By modern teachers the 
 PEOPLE are spoken of, spoken to, cared for, instructed. To 
 the people the characteristic literature of the day is ad- 
 dressed. What has become of the ponderous folio, in 
 which the learning of the Middle Ages used to issue, to a 
 small and exclusive circle, its solemn ^manifesto ? Now we 
 have the slender pamphlet, the popular tract, the cheap 
 periodical, cast forth even to the limits of 'civilization, pen- 
 etrating into every nook and corner of the land ; often 
 light, often worthless, but often, too, instructive, effective ; r 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 385 
 
 written for the masses, reaching the masses ; and awaking, 
 far and wide, a consciousness of deficiency, a spirit of in- 
 quiry, a desire to know more. 
 
 The people govern in America. Ere long, the people 
 will govern throughout the habitable earth. And they are 
 corning into power in an age when questions of mighty 
 import rise up for their decision. They who govern should 
 be wise. They who govern should be educated. They 
 who decide mighty questions should be enlightened. Then, 
 as we value wise government, as we would have the desti- 
 nies of our kind shaped by an enlightened tribunal, let the 
 schools of the people, and the teachers who preside in these 
 schools, and the system that prevails in these schools, be 
 our peculiar care. 
 
 We cannot reform the world, no, nor provide instruction 
 for a great nation, by any direction given to half a million 
 of dollars. But something, even in such a cause, may be 
 effected by it something, I devoutly believe, that shall be 
 felt all over our broad land. The essential is, that, if little 
 we can do, that little be well done be done faithfully, in 
 the spirit of the trust, in the spirit of the age in a spirit 
 not restrictive, not exclusive, but diffusive, universal. 
 
 Mr. JONES modified his motion as follows : 
 
 Strike out all the bill after the word "be" in the sixth 
 line of the first section, and insert 
 
 " Paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the heirs-at-law or next of 
 kin of the said James Smithson, or their authorized agents, whenever they 
 shall demand the same : Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury 
 shall, in paying over said money as herein directed, deliver to said heirs all 
 State bonds or other stocks of every kind which have been purchased with 
 said money, or any part thereof, in lieu of so much of said money as shall 
 have been so invested in State bonds or other stocks. And the balance of 
 said sum of money, if any, not so invested, shall be paid out of any money 
 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated." 
 
 Mr. G. W. JONES said it was not his purpose to make a 
 speech on this occasion ; but believing, as he did, that this 
 whole matter was wrong ; that this Government, in the 
 first instance, had no right and no power to accept of this 
 trust fund, he was in favor of returning the amount of the 
 money or of the stocks in which that money has been in- 
 vested, to the heirs-at-law or next of kin of the late Mr. 
 Smithson, whenever they shall make the demand of the 
 Government. He admitted the right of the Government 
 " to borrow money" under the constitution, but denied 
 that it had any particle of power to deal in stocks or to> 
 loan money. We had no power either to receive this 
 money in the first instance, or to invest it in State stocks 
 25 
 
386 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 and fund it, as this bill proposed to do, in perpetuity upon 
 the Government. He wanted to create no such debt upon 
 this Government, He was satisfied that his constituents 
 desired no such debt funded no such burden imposed upon 
 them. 
 
 But waiving the objection of the want of power on the 
 part of the Government, he was still opposed to the estab- 
 lishment of an institution like that proposed in the bill 
 under the direction and patronage of the Government of 
 the United States. He would be the last man on this iloor 
 to say or do anything on this floor or elsewhere to obstruct 
 the enlightenment and education of the people ; he was as 
 thoroughly satisfied of the benefits of education as any- 
 body, but he could not sanction the establishment of such 
 an institution under the direction of the Government of 
 the United States. Where might it end? What might 
 such an institution come to be in the course of events ? 
 This $513,000 was to be funded at six per cent, interest for- 
 ever. Was there a friend of this measure: was there one 
 who had reflected for a moment on the proposition, who 
 believed that when once established they would stop at tin- 
 appropriation of this six per cent, interest annually for its 
 support ? It was, in his opinion, nothing more than the 
 entering wedge to fastening upon the United States an 
 institution the expenses and appropriations for which would 
 be augmented at almost every session of Congress. 
 
 It was neither the right, the power, or the true policy of 
 the Government to attempt to rear up here in the city of 
 Washington an institution for the education of school 
 teachers, of agricultural professors, &c., to send out into the 
 country. There was too great a tendency to centralization 
 in this Government already, in his opinion. The legitimate 
 and appropriate sphere of this Government was to take 
 care of our concerns with foreign Powers, leaving our do- 
 mestic laws and regulations to be made by the State Legis- 
 latures. Every measure of this kind had the tendency to 
 make the people throughout the country look more to this 
 great central power than to the State Governments. 
 
 He had not risen for the purpose of making a speech, 
 but of submitting a few remarks in explanation of his 
 amendment. 
 
 Mr. SAWYER (Mr. J. giving way) said the gentleman's 
 proposition, if he understood it aright, was to refund this 
 money to the heirs of Smithson. Now he was well informed 
 that Mr. Smithson had no heirs whatever. And if such 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 387 
 
 the fact, he wished to ask of the gentleman how his 
 amendment could be made operative ? 
 
 Mr. JONES replied that certainly, if he never had heirs, it 
 would he difficult to find them. But he understood that, 
 though he had no children, he had a brother, who was once 
 in this country ; and his amendment proposed to refund 
 this money to the heirs or next of kin of James Smithson. 
 
 In conclusion, he remarked that, if his proposition failed, 
 and this Smithsonian Institution was to be established, he 
 should then be in favor of handing over the State stocks, 
 which were purchased by this money, to the managers of 
 the Institution, and of letting them conduct it independently 
 of the Government. And, voting for this proposition, all 
 that related to the establishment of a body politic and cor- 
 porate, he should also wish to have stricken out, for he 
 would vote for the establishment of no corporation by this 
 Government. 
 
 Mr. J. R. INGERSOLL expressed his favor for the general 
 features of the bill, but before entering upon the direct ques- 
 tion, he directed a few remarks to the amendment of Mr. 
 Jones, which he considered entirely futile, as far as any idea 
 of refunding the money to heirs was concerned, inasmuch 
 as it was ascertained beyond doubt that Mr. Smithson had 
 no heirs or next of kin. He had had one son, who died 
 during his minority; and thereupon this Government, as 
 the residuary legatee, came in possession of the property in 
 legal form from the attorneys in chancery of the executors 
 of Mr. Smithson, at London. This amendment, if carried 
 out into a law, therefore, would result in working a for- 
 feiture of the funds to the British Government. But Mr. 
 Ingersoll contended, that as we had received it by solemn 
 act of Congress, and retained it for eight long years, it was 
 now binding, on the ground of faith, honor, and duty, to 
 appropriate it in the manner designed by the testator him- 
 self; and the fact that this fund had been invested by the 
 Treasurer of the United States, under direction of Congress, 
 in Arkansas stocks, did not affect this question in any respect; 
 the Government of the United States being always responsi- 
 ble for the restoration of this fund, and the devotion of it to 
 the proper objects. The fund was sacred in the treasury of 
 the United States at this moment, and they were pledged, 
 every one of them, to redeem it. 
 
 And the true question now presented was, what were the 
 intentions of the donor? 
 
 Mr. INGERSOLL here in reference to an allusion by Mr. 
 Owen to the Girard fund went into an explanation, at some 
 
388 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 length, of the circumstances and restrictions of that legacy, 
 the manner in which it had been expended, &c., stating that 
 the reason why the school had not ere this, partially at least, 
 gone into operation, was an unfortunate proviso placed by 
 Mr. Girard in his will, that none of the orphans intended 
 to be benefited should be received and educated, until the 
 entire five buildings were fully completed according to the 
 plan prescribed by him. Upon this point Mr. I yielded to 
 Mr. Owen for explanation. 
 
 Recurring to the position that the fact that this fund 
 might have been invested by the act of the Government 
 itself in Arkansas stocks principally, and to a small extent 
 in the stocks of Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, in no manner 
 diminished its accountability for the amount of its obliga- 
 tion to appropriate in accordance with the intention of Mr. 
 Smithson. 
 
 Mr. VINTON interposed, and said, if any portion of it was 
 invested in Ohio bonds, of which he was not before aware, 
 the interest on them would be regularly paid. 
 
 Mr. YELL also (speaking for Arkansas) said we are ready 
 to settle at any time. 
 
 Mr. INGERSOLL. I have no doubt of it. 
 
 Mr. YELL, (in reply to another remark of Mr. INGERSOLL, 
 not heard by the reporter.) Whenever we can bring the 
 Treasury of the United States to a settlement, then we will 
 talk about it. 
 
 Mr. INGERSOLL (resuming) said he concurred in the gen- 
 eral views of Mr. OWEN, especially as at the conclusion of 
 the bill there was a section authorizing Congress to make 
 such changes as from time to time it might deem expedient. 
 
 There was one object which he thought the gentleman 
 had overlooked. He had properly provided against the 
 error of the Girard will, by providing that this institution 
 should go into operation on the 1st September next after 
 the passage of the law, as it could go into operation for 
 many of its purposes immediately. But instead of waiting 
 the slow process of gathering materials of instruction, he 
 intended, by an amendment at the proper place, to pro- 
 pose that the results of the exploring expedition, and the 
 articles of the National Institute, many of which were now 
 being injured for want of a proper place of deposit, and 
 both which were the property of the Government, should 
 be placed in the Smithsonian Institution, until there should 
 be substituted for them articles collected by that institution 
 itself. 
 
 lie agreed with Mr. OWEN that a great library, such as 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 389 
 
 "tvas provided for in the bill which passed the Senate two 
 years ago was not desirable; and said that the necessary 
 buildings to contain the greatest library in the world would, 
 in its own erection, exhaust the entire sum. This Capitol 
 itself would not be sufficient to contain eight hundred 
 thousand volumes, which would be the largest library in the 
 world, so properly arranged as to be accessible. A library 
 was not the object of Mr. Smithson ; but that it should 
 cover general ground, in which all objects of science (if 
 possible) should be included, and among" the rest, he agreed 
 with the bill in the propriety of appropriating a part of the 
 annual fund to the preparation of instructors, to be sent out 
 throughout the whole country. He would also appropriate 
 a part of the fund to the defraying the expenses of the 
 delivery of annual lectures by our most distinguished men, 
 at different points throughout the country for scientific in- 
 struction. 
 
 Mr. Ingersoll gave some other general views, approving 
 decidedly the object of the institution, and warmly urging 
 the bounden duty of Congress to apply it according to the 
 intentions of Mr. Smithson, and to discharge the obliga- 
 tions imposed upon it by the acceptance of this trust. 
 
 Mr. G. W. JONES modified his amendment by inserting 
 after the words " next of kin," the words " or residuary 
 legatee." 
 
 "Mr. STANTON next addressed the committee, as follows : 
 
 Mr. CHAIRMAN : It has been a matter of very general 
 complaint, that there has been great delay in performing 
 the trust imposed upon this Government by its acceptance 
 of the Smithsonian bequest, Whether this complaint be 
 well or ill founded, all will agree that the time has now 
 arrived for decisive action, and that the honor and good 
 faith of the Government require a speedy application of the 
 fund to its destined purpose. 
 
 Very nearly eight years have elapsed since the magnifi- 
 cent sum of half^a million of dollars, sanctified by the will 
 of James Smithson to the humane purpose " of increasing 
 and diffusing knowledge among men," has been received 
 into the Treasury of the United States. 
 
 But if this delay is to be regretted on some accounts, at 
 least one great advantage has accrued : the interest of the 
 fund has accumulated to such an amount that every neces- 
 sary building for the complete accommodation of a most 
 extensive institution may be immediately constructed with- 
 out any diminution of the original sum. That will remain 
 .untouched, the fruitful source of perpetual supply and sup- 
 
390 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 port for the beneficent establishment which may be created 
 by the bill. 
 
 Besides, sir, during this long period of delay, many plans 
 have been suggested and discussed, some learned reports 
 have been made in this House and in the Senate, and the 
 public attention has been so engaged upon this interest! ng 
 subject, that we are now doubtless prepared to dispose of it 
 intelligently, and in a manner which will fully meet the 
 high 'and liberal purposes of Mr. Smithson. There is no 
 longer any justification for delay. Everything is ready. 
 awaiting our action, and the wise and benevolent in all 
 quarters are anxiously expecting us to perform our solemn 
 duty in reference to this noble bequest. 
 
 But there is, at this peculiar juncture in our affairs, still 
 another consideration strongly appealing to the national 
 honor, and urging the immediate disposition of the fund, 
 according to the will of the donor. James Smithson was 
 an Englishman. Yet he passed by his own powerful and 
 splendid Government one which lias never failed or refused 
 to contribute liberally to the cause of science and selected 
 our plainer and simpler institutions as the more appropriate 
 depository of the sacred trust to which he devoti-d the 
 whole of his large fortune. Our relations with England at 
 the present moment, are thought to be very critical . I do 
 not anticipate war. I have little fear, that two enlightened 
 nations, whose interests are deeply involved in the mainten- 
 ance of peace, will, in the nineteenth century, rush into a 
 sanguinary and destructive war, even upon so grave a ques- 
 tion as that which now disturbs them. Yet, there are 
 many who look upon the present crisis with more serious 
 fears ; and all must acknowledge that war is possible that 
 very slight mismanagement, on either side, might lead to 
 that disastrous end. Now, if war should take place, it 
 would be most dishonorable to our Government, that a 
 large fund, given by a benevolent foreigner to found an in- 
 stitution of the most peaceful and beneficent character, 
 should remain in the Treasury and be used to carry on war 
 against the very nation from whom the charitable gift was 
 received. I hope, sir, we shall avoid the possibility of such 
 humiliation, by adopting the measure before us without 
 delay. Should we fail to do so, and hostilities occur, the 
 omission will never cease to be the fruitful source and occa- 
 sion of those bitter attacks upon our honesty and the moral 
 tendency of our institutions, which have long filled the 
 pages of English periodicals, and the journals of English 
 travelers. Their denunciations, then, would have a much 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 391 
 
 better foundation than they usually have. "We should be 
 somewhat at a loss to repel them. The ordinary charge of 
 faithlessness and repudiation of pecuniary liabilities would 
 be nothing in comparison ; this would be the gross violation 
 of a sacred trust, which no circumstance could palliate, no 
 emergency could justify. 
 
 I intend, Mr. Chairman, to support the bill in its present 
 form. There is, doubtless, a wide field for the selection of 
 means to accomplish the great design unfolded in the com- 
 prehensive words of Mr. Smithson's will. Any plan which 
 may be adopted for the attainment of this end, must neces- 
 sarily be the result of compromise; for it is not to be 
 expected that any two minds, acting separately, would 
 arrive at the same conclusion upon this important subject. 
 I understand this bill to have been thus framed by the com- 
 mittee which reported it. As a result of the conflicting 
 opinions of wise and experienced men, harmonized by com- 
 parison, discussion, and mutual concession, it is entitled to 
 very high respect. But I think its intrinsic merits will be 
 found to be its most imposing recommendation. 
 
 Before attempting to notice the provisions of the bill, I 
 will refer briefly to an objection, which, if valid, would be 
 paramount to all other considerations. It was with surprise 
 and regret, that I heard the objection of my colleague, 
 (Mr. Jones,) to this bill on the ground of unconstitution- 
 ality. I would have regretted opposition upon such grounds 
 from any quarter ; but much more when it comes from my 
 own State. I would have preferred that Tennessee should 
 have occupied a different position. 
 
 My honorable colleague insists that the Government 
 ought not to have accepted the trust, and that the money 
 ought now to be restored. It is true the United States 
 were not bound to accept the trust. They might have re- 
 jected Mr. Smithson's magnificent donation, and deprived 
 the American people of the rich blessings which may now 
 be conferred upon them by its wise and faithful use. But 
 better counsels prevailed; they did accept it by a law of 
 Congress ; and in so doing, they assumed a solemn obliga- 
 tion to apply the fund according to the will of the testator. 
 The faith of the Government is pledged it is doubly 
 pledged first, by receiving the money and retaining it 
 eight years, with an express agreement to apply it faith- 
 fully ; and, secondly, by the very nature of the sacred ob- 
 jects to which the trust is directed, so binding and obliga- 
 tory in their high demand upon the honor of the nation, 
 
'392 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 that it would be sacrilege and barbarism to repudiate the 
 claim. 
 
 I do not propose to enter the field of constitutional dis- 
 cussion. That is a hackneyed subject, arid I am sure tin- 
 occasion does not require that line of argument. Nothing, 
 sir, more clearly demonstrates the utter impracticability and 
 absurdity of those extreme opinions upon constitutional 
 questions, sometimes advocated here, than the opposition, 
 on such grounds, to the measure now before us. The com- 
 mon and general judgment of the people, the united and 
 almost universal concurrence of politicians of all class* <, 
 unhesitatingly discard and condemn the narrow and illib- 
 eral sentiment. An institution of the greatest importance, 
 most beneficial to the people of this country, founded not 
 with funds exacted by taxation, but built upon the liber- 
 ality of a distinguished foreigner, who has so far sanctioned 
 our political structure as to confide to it the execution of a 
 sacred trust for the benefit of the human race this institu- 
 tion, located within a territory over which Congress has 
 exclusive jurisdiction, surely cannot involve the exercise of a 
 power unauthorized by the Constitution, or in the slightest 
 degree dangerous to the integrity of our political princi- 
 ples. Mr. Smithson was not wrong in supposing this Gov- 
 ernment possessed the power to convey to. its people a 
 gratuitous benefit of the first magnitude. His benevolent 
 design will not be frustrated by this imaginary impedi- 
 ment; for I do not dream that it can interpose even a 
 momentary obstacle to the passage of the bill. 
 
 It will not be denied that this large fund, properly applied, 
 may be made the instrument of much good. The benefit 
 will be enjoyed primarily and peculiarly, if not entirely, by 
 our own people. Its indirect influence, it is to be hoped, 
 will hereafter extend abroad ; but it is chiefly here that its 
 benign effects are to be felt as long as the institution shall 
 exist. It ought, then, to be an object of great care, and of 
 peculiar interest to the Government. All necessary arrange- 
 ments should be liberally made, and with the wisest possi- 
 ble adaptation to the great end in view. 
 
 One of the preliminary provisions of the bill transfers 
 the whole fund to the Treasury, and requires the Govern- 
 ment to assume the perpetual payment of interest, at the 
 rate of six per cent, per annum. " This is certainly a very 
 slight contribution, yet inconsiderable as this responsibility 
 may be on the part of the Government, and by no means 
 to be named as a donation, or even as a favor, when it is 
 considered that the fund is a gift to the country, it is never- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 393 
 
 theless a matter of the first importance to the institution 
 itself. It secures for it a permanent support, and places its 
 revenues beyond the power of any contingency. No one, 
 I presume, except my colleague, will object to this provi- 
 sion. By adopting it, the United States will evince a dis- 
 position to fulfill the high trust they have assumed in a 
 spirit of liberality and justice somewhat worthy of the 
 great object sought to be accomplished. 
 
 But while the Government will contribute in this small 
 way to the institution, it will receive a direct compensation 
 which far more than balances the sacrifice made. The bill 
 proposes to appropriate a portion of the public grounds in 
 this city for the buildings and gardens necessary for the 
 establishment. Handsome yet useful structures will be 
 erected, and the cultivation of the grounds will render 
 them beautiful and attractive, while they may still be acces- 
 sible to the harmless examination and enjoyment of the 
 public. All this will be done out of the Smithsonian fund ; 
 and the expense which the government would otherwise 
 incur by carrying out the original plan of the city as designed 
 lay Washington, will be avoided, while all its desirable ad- 
 vantages will be obtained. The benefit will be mutual to 
 the Government and to the institution. 
 
 So also in regard to the transfer of the specimens of 
 natural history, of minerals, and other scientific and curi- 
 ous objects now in possession of the Government, and kept 
 at the Patent Office. The exhibition and preservation of 
 these things are now the source of some expenditure. 
 When they shall be transferred, as proposed in this bill, 
 this expenditure will cease, or be removed from the public 
 Treasury, to the fund of the institution. They will be 
 equally subject to public examination, while they will be 
 made to answer a more useful end, as constituting the basis 
 of instruction for able and scientific professors. 
 
 My remarks, so far, Mr. Chairman, relate only to some 
 unimportant preliminary arrangements, not affecting the 
 general scope and design of the proposed institution. These 
 must now be examined ; and I propose to do it with refer- 
 ence to the probable design of Mr. Smithson, to be inferred 
 from his own pursuits and character of mind from his 
 selection of our Government to execute his will, and from 
 the language in which he has expressed his intentions. 
 
 I do not propose to enter upon any biographical sketch 
 of Mr. Smithson, or to go into a history of his philosophi- 
 cal labors. I will merely state what has been truly said by 
 the gentleman from Indiana, (Mr. Owen,) that he was 
 
394 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 ardently devoted to science, and that his pursuits were emi- 
 nently practical and utilitarian in their character. The 
 physical sciences, in their application to the useful arts- 
 mineralogy, geology, and chemistry, in its application to 
 agriculture, constituted his chief employments. His inves- 
 tigations are referred to and quoted with respect by the 
 great German chemist, Leibig. 
 
 It is more than probable that one whose mind was con- 
 stantly occupied with these subjects, and filled with the 
 visions of rich promise which must be realized in their 
 future investigations, when munificently endowing an insti- 
 tution for increasing and diffusing knowledge among men, 
 looked particularly to those sciences which will be most 
 fruitful in great results, and to which, on that account, he 
 himself was deeply devoted. It is precisely these sciences, 
 and these applications of them, which I understand this bill 
 to be designed and calculated to promote. 
 
 Nor was it strange, sir, that with such sentiments and 
 such designs, Mr. Smithson should have selected our Gov- 
 ernment as the instrument to accomplish his objects. Al- 
 though it must be acknowledged that this Government lias 
 heretofore contributed little or nothing to the advancement 
 of science by any direct aid or encouragement and al- 
 though the points at which it even conies in contact with 
 the scientific world are extremely few, and it is felt to be a 
 great desideratum that these connections should be in- 
 creased yet Mr. Smithson had the penetration to discover 
 that the United States are the foremost people of the world 
 in the facility of adapting themselves to the progressive im- 
 provements of the age. No other people are now making 
 such rapid strides in the application of science to the groat 
 purposes of human industry. This tendency, so very 
 marked at the present day, is doubtless the result of our 
 free institutions, giving untrammelled scope and powerful, 
 motive to the energies of the individual man no longer 
 making the citizen subservient to the power and glory of 
 the Government, but using the latter as a mere instrument 
 to protect the rights and promote the welfare, improvement, 
 and happiness of the former. The olden philosophers con- 
 sidered it a prostitution of the sacred character of science 
 to direct it, in any degree, to the material interests of man. 
 In modern times the sentiment is justly reversed; and that 
 philosophy which does not contribute to the useful pursuits 
 of life, is considered of comparatively little value. In this 
 age, and in this country, the new application of philosophy 
 is exhibiting its most glorious results, and giving promise? 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 305 
 
 in the future of still more wonderful improvements. Doubt- 
 less, it was this tendency of our institutions, and the^eftec 1 
 not obscurely marked out in the amazing energy and inven- 
 tive power of our people, which induced the wise and 
 benevolent Smithson to select this Government as the agent 
 for accomplishing his will. It is not difficult to discover 
 that this condition of the people, the result of our peculiar 
 political institutions, will reflect back its influence upon the 
 government, and infuse a portion of its energetic and en- 
 lightened spirit into all its departments. We have already 
 seen some such result. Some operations of an important 
 scientific character have of late been undertaken by the 
 direct application of the national power. 
 
 First in importance among these, has been the establish- 
 ment in this city of the Observatory, connected with the- 
 hydrographical department of that nondescript fire-and- 
 water "bureau of ordnance and hydrography. . believe t 
 interesting establishment has grown up gradually from the 
 very necessity of the case, and without any direct authority 
 looking immediately to such a result. And, in the estima- 
 tion of some, it seems still to be considered a very unim- 
 portant concern; for I have seen a bill lately reported in 
 the Senate, proposing to detach the establishment from the 
 bureau of ordnance, and connect it with that ot yards 
 and docks, thus bringing the erection of ship-houses, toun- 
 dries, and work-shops, into juxtaposition and intimate re a- 
 tion with the most delicate and difficult observations ot the 
 heavenly bodies, and the most intricate calculations ot 
 astronomy. This classification is probably founded upon 
 the similiarity supposed to exist between the whee s of a 
 steam engine and the rings of Saturn, or the bands ot a 
 lathe and the belts of Jupiter. The Naval Committee of 
 the House, however, have not had the penetration to see 
 these very recondite points of connection, and they have 
 proposed to erect a separate bureau of hydrography, placing 
 the astronomical and hydrographical operations of the Gov- 
 ernment upon the most permanent, useful, and independent 
 basis. If there be any branch of the public service worthy 
 of this advantage, it is that which is now so well and ell 
 ciently conducted by Lieutenant M. F. Maury. 
 
 Heretofore, our astronomical knowledge has been chiefly 
 derived from foreign nations. We have used the English 
 nautical almanac, and our vessels have been guided upon 
 the broad ocean by observations and tables prepared by our 
 rivals and adversaries in all commercial enterprise. We 
 have contributed nothing whatever to this branch of science,. 
 
39G CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 useful as it is, and directly connected with the great inter- 
 ests of commerce and navigation. For our most important 
 charts, also, we have been dependent upon other nations. 
 Until recently, if even now, we have had no establishment 
 at which our vessels could be supplied with maps and charts 
 necessary to enable them to perform a cruise with conve- 
 nience and safety, and we certainly have not had the infor- 
 mation of a hydrographical character which would enable 
 the Navy Department to plan an attack upon any foreign 
 port, even in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 But, sir, the establishment of the Observatory, if its im- 
 portant objects be liberally seconded, will remedy these 
 defects, and wipe off from our character what I cannot but 
 consider a disgrace to the most enlightened people upon 
 earth. Its services will not be confined to the preparation 
 of maps and charts, the preservation of nautical instru- 
 ments, the regulation and correction of chronometers, with 
 other kindred practical duties : its operations will be still 
 more extensive and important. Already have thu elements 
 for an American nautical almanac been obtained by obser- 
 vation, and the liberal patriotism of the House is invoked 
 for a small appropriation to compute and print them. It is 
 now in contemplation, too, if the work has not already been 
 commenced, to enter upon a 8}'stem of most extensive 
 observation, including all the important fixed stars to be 
 observed in our latitude a more comprehensive and mag- 
 nificent, as well as useful work, than has ever yet been 
 undertaken in any part of the world. I have it from the 
 highly intelligent and scientific superintendent of the Coast 
 Survey, that the number of stars noted in the nautical alma- 
 nac is too limited for the convenient conduct of his impor- 
 tant observations. 
 
 It will be found here, as well as in other important works 
 of a similar kind, that the labors about to be entered upon 
 at the Observatory will prove to be highly important and 
 valuable. They will enable us to make some return to the 
 science of the world for that large supply which we have 
 heretofore illiberally drawn from it; and they will contrib- 
 ute to elevate our Government in the eyes of other nations. 
 
 I have said so much upon this subject, sir, because no 
 provision is made in this bill for any astronomical establish- 
 ment, and because, upon former occasions, it has been urged 
 with great ability, and from a distinguished quarter, that 
 the greater part, if not the whole of this fund, should be 
 .appropriated for this purpose. The venerable gentleman 
 from Massachusetts will understand mv allusion. It has 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 397 
 
 been with great pleasure and profit, and with complete 
 sympathy in the noble enthusiasm of the author, that I read 
 the report of that gentleman, made to this House in 1842, 
 upon the disposition of the Smithsonian bequest. He 
 seems to have been imbued with a most exalted sense of 
 the sublimity of the great objects heretofore accomplished, 
 and hereafter to be attained, by the ardent and laborious 
 pursuit of astronomy. m Sir, there is no mind not wholly 
 destitute of elevation, and wholly ignorant of the stupen- 
 dous wonders and glories of the universe as revealed to the 
 gaze of "star-eyed science," who could read that able 
 report and not be deeply affected by it. I quote the follow- 
 ing passage : 
 
 "The express object of an observatory is the increase of knowledge by 
 new discovery. The physical relations between the firmament of heaven 
 and the globe allotted by the Creator of all to be the abode of man are dis- 
 coverable only by the organ of the eye. Many of these relations are indis- 
 pensable to the existence of human life, and, perhaps, of the earth itself. 
 Who can conceive the idea of the earth without a sun but must connect 
 with it the extinction of light and heat, of all animal life, of all vegetation 
 and production, leaving the lifeless clod of matter to return to the primi- 
 tive state of chaos, or to be consumed by elemental fire. The influence of 
 the moon of the planets, our next-door neighbors of the solar system of 
 the fixed stars scattered over the blue expanse, in multitudes exceeding the 
 power of human computation, and at distances of which imagination her- 
 self can form no distinct conception : the influence of all these upon the 
 globe we inhabit, and upon the condition of man, its dying and deathless 
 inhabitant, is great and mysterious, and in the search for final causes, to a 
 great extent inscrutable to his finite and limited faculties. The extent to 
 which they are discoverable is and must remain unknown : but to the vig- 
 ilance of a sleepless eye, to the toil of a tireless hand, and to the medita- 
 tions of a thinking, combining, and analyzing mind, secrets are successively 
 revealed, not only of the deepest import to the welfare of man in his earthly 
 career, but which seem to lift him from the earth to the threshold of his 
 eternal abode; to lead him blindfold up to the council chamber of Omnip- 
 otence, and then, stripping the bandage from his eyes, bid him look undaz- 
 zled at the throne of God." 
 
 I quote this eloquent passage to show, by the testimony 
 of one who understands the subject well, the character of 
 the results to be expected from the extensive cultivation of 
 astronomical science. I think it will be admitted that though 
 the discoveries now to be expected in that field will be well 
 calculated to elevate the soul and fill it with wonder and 
 amazement, nothing of a very practical or directly ^useful 
 nature in its bearing upon the immediate pursuits of life is 
 to be expected beyond the increased accuracy and extent of 
 observations necessary for nautical and topographical pur- 
 poses. I am by no means disposed to undervalue the im- 
 portance of this sublime branch of human knowledge. Nor 
 will I undertake to say that investigation of the heavens 
 may not produce new results, intimately connected with, 
 
398 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 -and highly important to, some of the economical purposes 
 of life. What I mean to say is, that the discoveries yet to 
 be made promise only, or at least chiefly, to gratify that 
 high and laudable curiosity which seeks to know and under- 
 stand, as far as human intelligence may, the sublime and 
 wonderful works of the Creator. New double stars may be 
 discovered, revolving about each other, by the operation <>{ 
 strange and unknown laws, the investigation of which may 
 be a subject of profound interest. Their compensating 
 colors, shedding a mixed stellar influence upon an intimate 
 and curious examination, may possibly reveal to some pen- 
 etrating eye new and important truths connected with the 
 theory of light. The occultation of Jupiter's satellites 
 enable us to measure its velocity with almost absolute 
 actness. The contrasted colors of these wonderful binary 
 stars may eventually settle the question, if it be not already 
 settled, between the theory of undulations, and that of par- 
 ticles emanating in straight lines, and may. in some lucky 
 hour, to some favored son of genius unfold distinctly anil 
 forever the apparently intricate and now hidden relations 
 Of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, and gravitation. A 
 higher and more complete generalization, of the i^reat phe- 
 nomena of the universe may be accomplished, and it is 
 wholly impossible to tell how directly and immediately such 
 discoveries may bear upon the practical pursuits which con- 
 tribute to the physical well-being of man. \Vho, at the 
 present day, can calculate the influence exerted upon the 
 happiness of man, during successive generations, ly the 
 knowledge of those three strange and wonderful laws, dis- 
 covered, not without long and' laborious inyeMi-ation, by 
 the celebrated Kepler ? Who can trace their consequences 
 in the subsequent discoveries of that science, or rather, I 
 should ask, what would now be our knowledge of the plan- 
 etary system, and our ability to apply it to exact nautical 
 purposes, if those laws, and all that results from them, were 
 tt this day a blank in astronomical science? That the 
 radius-vector of a planet describes equal areas in equal 
 How simple a law, yet how pregnant of conse- 
 quences, incalculable in extent and value. 
 ^ Notwithstanding these admissions, and my deep convic- 
 tion of the great value of astronomical truth/I cannot think 
 that field of knowledge likely to be so productive of useful 
 rruit, that the Smithsonian fund ought ever to have been 
 directed entirely or chiefly to that object. But whatever 
 [lay have been the conflict of opinion in this respect, the 
 'dispute is put to rest by the establishment of the Observa- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 399 
 
 tory. It is matter of high gratification to my mind that 
 the Government has at last awakened to the importance of 
 the subject, and has found a complete justification, in the 
 hydrographical and topographical necessities of its service 
 by sea and land, for the endowment of so useful an institu- 
 tion. And I am glad, sir, to hear it announced that the 
 distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts finds his laud- 
 able enthusiasm for a noble branch of science fully met and 
 satisfied by the establishment in question. 
 
 I think, Mr. Chairman, if there be anything plain and 
 obvious in reference to the plan to be adopted for the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, it is that no university or college of an 
 ordinary kind would come within the scope of the testator's 
 intentions, or would contribute properly to the end desired. 
 We require something connected with the great practical 
 purposes of life something in accordance with the progres- 
 sive spirit of the age something looking immediately to 
 the elevation, improvement, and happiness of the great 
 mass of the people. Sir, it is not to be denied that most of 
 our best institutions of learning are not of this character. 
 They look chiefly to the PAST, searching for the obscure be- 
 ginnings of knowledge in the dead languages, and in the 
 writings of ancient sages, poets, and philosophers. It is 
 our business to look chiefly to the great FUTURE, with its 
 glorious fruits, ready to burst from a teeming soil, warmed 
 and enlightened by the great sun of science, which now dif- 
 fuses its energetic rays into every corner of human affairs, 
 wherever life, vegetable or animal, and wherever mental or 
 physical power in its ten thousand inventive forms may find 
 a foothold for existence. 
 
 In a letter of Dr. Thomas Cooper, of South Carolina, ad- 
 dressed to Mr. Forsyth, 20th July, 1838, in answer to inqui- 
 ries on the subject of the Smithsonian bequest, that distin- 
 guished gentleman says : 
 
 " I object to all belles lettres and philosophical literature, as calculated 
 only to make men pleasant talkers I object to medicine. 
 
 " I object to law. Ethics and politics are as yet unsettled branches of 
 knowledge. 
 
 " I want to see those studies cultivated which, in their known tendencies 
 and results, abridge human labor, and increase and multiply the comforts 
 of existence to the great mass of mankind." 
 
 Richard Rush, of Philadelphia, writes to the Secretary of 
 State on the same subject, on the 6th of November, 1838, 
 and proposes a plan for the institution not greatly dissimilar 
 from that proposed by this bill. I quote this short passage : 
 
 A university or college in the ordinary sense, or any institution looking 
 to primary education, or to the instruction of the young merely, does not 
 
400 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 strike me as the kind of institution contemplated by Mr. Smithson's will ; 
 declaring it in language simple yet of the widest import, to be for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge among men,' and making the United 
 States the trustee of its intentions, it seems to follow that it ought to be as 
 comprehonive as possible in its objects and means, as it must necessarily b 
 national in its government." 
 
 These letters are to be found in the report of Mr. Adams 
 to this House in 1842. The passages quoted seein to me to 
 be highly judicious, and correctly descriptive of the true 
 character of the institution required. And I think, sir, the 
 bill under consideration conforms, in its provisions, to the 
 general views expressed in these passages, and to those 
 which I entertain. All the labors of the institution will be 
 directed to the more useful sciences and arts, and its advan- 
 tages must necessarily be eminently practical and popular. 
 These are the great leading considerations, which should 
 commend this bill to the favor of the House," and of the 
 country. 
 
 I proceed to notice more particularly the general charac- 
 teristics of the plan. I pass over the organization of .the 
 institution as a corporation, not regarding that as a matter 
 of any importance. As this feature is opposed, I am very 
 willing to see it altered. I approve the elasticity and free- 
 dom of action, very wisely conferred upon an institution, 
 new and untried in 1 its application to the great objects in 
 view. Very considerable latitude of control, as to the 
 means to be used, is given to the board of managers, and 
 the ends to be aimed at are described in comprehensive 
 terms. But the most ample guarantee for the wise and 
 faithful use of this discretionary power is obtained in the 
 fact, that the board will consist of the Yice-President of 
 the United States, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 
 three Senators, three members of the House, and six others 
 to be chosen by joint resolution of the two Houses, who 
 are required to submit to Congress annual reports of the 
 operations, expenditures and condition of the institution. 
 In addition to all this, there is reserved the power to alter 
 and amend the charter, as the results of experience may 
 render necessary or expedient. All these provisions seem 
 to be wise, and make it almost impossible that any abuse 
 or misapplication of the fund can ever take place. 
 
 The sixth section of the bill provides for a " professor of 
 agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy," giving him 
 power to employ such laborers and assistants as may be 
 necessary " to cultivate the ground and maintain a botani- 
 cal garden" "to make experiments of general utility 
 throughout the United States " " to determine the utility 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 401 
 
 of new modes and instruments of culture, and to deter- 
 mine whether new fruits, plants, and vegetables may be 
 cultivated to advantage in the United States." These pro- 
 visions comprehend all which relates to the great agricul- 
 tural interest. No one, I presume, will question theprob- 
 able usefulness of these provisions to aid. and benefit by far 
 the largest number of our citizens who employ the greatest 
 amount of capital, and whose productions are the very basis 
 of our prosperity, wealth, and happiness. I regret, sir, that 
 in connection with this arrangement there is no express 
 provision for a professor of chemistry ; but as a chemical 
 laboratory is provided for, and as the professors are re- 
 quired to be of the most useful sciences and arts, I presume 
 this professorship would be considered first in importance, 
 and would by no possibility be omitted. 
 
 In some parts of the country, it is not unusual to hear 
 objections against the application of science to agriculture. 
 I have heard it questioned even here, whether experiments 
 and investigations conducted in Washington city, can be of 
 any use in other latitudes, soils, and climates, throughout 
 our extended country. I maintain, sir, that science in agri- 
 culture is practicable, and that its cultivation even here, at 
 the seat of government, may be made to contribute most 
 important benefits to all parts of the Union. For let it be 
 remembered, science is but the classification of facts ex- 
 pressed in the shape of general rules or laws. If any im- 
 portant fact be omitted in the process of induction, the 
 result will be erroneous, and calculated to mislead. But 
 continued experiment and investigation will eventually 
 point out the omitted or misplaced fact, and gradually a 
 true science will grow up, rising from the first rude at- 
 tempts, through various gradations of improvement, up to 
 its highest and most perfect form. Results predicted from 
 certain operations, without due consideration and experi- 
 ence of all attending facts and circumstances, changes of 
 soil and climate, would not be verified, except by the merest 
 accident. But it is not plain that the experiments here,, 
 disseminated throughout the country by appropriate means, 
 and illuminated by all existing knowledge as to the influ- 
 ence of varied circumstances, will, be seized upon by the 
 intelligent and skillful agriculturist in all quarters, and sub- 
 mitted to still further tests, in order to eliminate the ulti- 
 mate truth the most general law divested of all extra- 
 neous facts ? The experiments made abroad will be reflected 
 back again to the central institution, and they will enable it 
 to correct its conclusions, whenever these may have proved 
 26 
 
402 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 to be to any extent erroneous. If this professorship should 
 accomplish nothing more than to point out the mode of 
 investigation to be adopted, and to compare the results in 
 different quarters and give information of them, this of itself 
 would be an essential service to agriculture. 
 
 It will not be disputed, however, that there arc some- 
 things in agriculture of a general nature, which soience aj 
 any place can determine with absolute certainty. One 
 might theorize in reference to processes of cultivation, and 
 theresults would be very generally erroneous. It might Im- 
 plausibly argued, that to disturb and break the roots of a 
 stalk of corn by the usual mode of cultivation must injure 
 the health and produce of the plant, But experience de- 
 termines precisely the contrary ; whether it be that new and 
 more numerous small roots are put out, penetrating to e\ cry 
 part of the soil, and thereby obtaining abundant nutriment, 
 or whether it be simply that the oxygen and carbonic acid 
 gas of the air and of the soil are rendered more accessible 
 to the roots of the plant by the loosened texture of the 
 ground. Yet, when the agricultural chemist ascertains that 
 the stalk, leaf, or grain of any plant contains certain sub- 
 stances, the silicates, phosphates, or carbonates, and that 
 these are indispensable to their perfection, he is enabled to 
 predicate with absolute certainty that these substances must 
 be in the soil, or that the plant will not flourish. This is a 
 species of information of the utmost importance, and appli- 
 cable under all circumstances, and in all el i ma res. In its 
 perfect form, when science shall have expended her fruitful 
 labor upon it, it will enable the farmer to control the growth 
 of his crop, and give it any desired development, just as he 
 now controls the growth of his domestic animals, raising 
 his cattle for milk or for beef, and his sheep for wool or for 
 mutton, at his pleasure. 
 
 I would say, sir, in reference to this, what I have said of 
 another branch of science, and, indeed, what may be said 
 of all knowledge that it is impossible to foresee the great 
 results to which they will lead. I have unbounded faith in 
 the resources of science in all her departments ; and I look 
 forward with the expectation of discoveries and improve- 
 ments far more important and wonderful than anything 
 which has yet been accomplished. The magnetic telegraph 
 is a marvel ; but it does not mark the extreme boundary of 
 human ingenuity. 
 
 Another leading and important feature in this bill is, that 
 it proposes "a professor of common school instruction, 
 with other professors, chiefly of the more useful sciences 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 408 
 
 and arts,' 7 and that it contemplates the education of young 
 persons as teachers of common schools. It looks to the 
 education of the people to the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among the great mass. Of course this aid to 
 the cause of popular education can. only be of the most 
 genera^ kind. No direct application of the means of the 
 institution to that purpose could be expected. But while 
 this provision is one of high generality, it is, nevertheless, 
 one also of controlling efficiency, calculated to be highly 
 beneficial in its directory influence. If a number of the 
 best teachers, imbued with all the useful science of the age, 
 arid thoroughly qualified for imparting knowledge to the 
 young mind, by the most improved modes, can be sent 
 abroad to all parts of the country, doubtless a great point 
 will have been gained. No business is so imperfectly un- 
 derstood, and so badly conducted, in some parts of the 
 Union as that of teaching. An institution which will have 
 the effect of improving and elevating the standard of in- 
 struction generally, will be a great national blessing. 
 
 Does any one doubt that the scheme proposed in this bill 
 can be made to produce that result ? Even though teachers 
 may not be generally furnished for all sections, an immense 
 advantage will be obtained by the diffusion of correct infor- 
 mation, as to the proper mode of organizing schools, and 
 the best plans for instruction. The most important kinds 
 of knowledge are too frequently altogether neglected in our 
 primary schools. Let the members of this House look 
 back to their school-boy days, and compare the instruction 
 they received, with that which is now dispensed in the best 
 public schools. We were fortunate, sir, very fortunate, if 
 we were taught anything more than words; if physical 
 science constituted any part of our early instruction ; if our 
 attention was directed for a moment to the things around 
 us, among which, and with which, we were bound to accom- 
 plish our destiny. Important changes have now taken 
 place. And not among the least important is that of teach- 
 ing the outlines of physical science at the very earliest 
 period to make the child acquainted with the nature of 
 the ten thousand natural objects around him to give him 
 some idea of the structure of the globe he inhabits, and of 
 the system of which this planet is a part. This is knowl- 
 edge which the child can comprehend, and which the man 
 can never fail to use with advantage. It is properly the 
 first knowledge to be imparted, lying obviously at the very 
 foundation of all good education. 
 
 How much has been accomplished of late in this respect 
 
404 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 may be inferred from the following passage, which I read 
 from the last report of the Trustees of the Public School 
 Society of New York : 
 
 " A circular, sent to the teachers of the public schools about three weeks 
 since, resulted, before they closed, in not less than ten thousand elementary 
 cabinets of geology for 'nearly the same number of families, collected, 
 labeled, and assorted by the pupils ; securing, in very many instances, a. 
 hearty interest, and essential aid from their parents and other friends. 
 Public school No. 15, collected, prepared, labeled, and distributed not less 
 than four hundred such cabinets in one day," &c. 
 
 These are interesting facts. They show that the science 
 of education is advancing with the general march of im- 
 provement; and they render no longer doubtful the propri- 
 ety and importance of devoting a portion of the means of 
 this national institution, to assist in carrying forward, even 
 more rapidly, this great movement of the age. 
 
 The bill provides for the " preparation of sets of illustra- 
 tions, specimens, apparatus, and school books suited for 
 primary schools." I consider these provisions of the highest 
 importance. Next to the furnishing of proper teachers, is 
 the necessity for proper instruments of education. Indeed, 
 I do not know but this should be placed foremost in impor- 
 tance ; for, with the best illustrations, apparatus, and books, 
 the teacher could scarcely fail to perform his part with the 
 greatest advantage and the best success. The propriety of 
 having "professors of the most, useful sciences and arts" 
 connected with the " normal branch " of this institution, 
 is too obvious to require a single remark. 
 
 The bill does not propose (for indeed the proposition 
 would be absurd) to give to such school books as may be 
 prepared, any authority, other than that which the charac- 
 ter of the institution, and their own intrinsic worth, would 
 impress upon them. But it is very certain, that able and 
 experienced men, directing tkeir minds particularly to that 
 object, would be prepared to give to the world something 
 far better than we now possess something in the way of 
 elementary books, which would essentially contribute to the 
 uniformity and efficiency of general education. I think it 
 will be acknowledged, by all who know anything of the 
 subject, that such books for primary schools are at this mo- 
 ment a great desideratum. I know of no means by which 
 greater benefit could be conferred upon the people at large, 
 than by the judicious preparation and cheap supply of such 
 books. They would be equivalent to a great plan of edu- 
 cation, emanating from the highest and best authority x 
 causing the light of all modern science and modern im- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 405 
 
 provement to converge into every country school house in 
 the land. 
 
 There are other features in this bill, Mr. Chairman, upon 
 which it would be interesting to comment, if the hour allot- 
 ted by the rules of the House would permit. The lectures 
 by able men of science, the cheap and useful publications, 
 and the investigations which the managers have power to 
 direct, may be made, by judicious direction, to contribute 
 to the most useful and important ends. But these things 
 will suggest themselves to the mind of every intelligent 
 man. 
 
 I approve heartily the provision which forbids the estab- 
 lishment of any school of law, or medicine, or divinity, or 
 any professorship of ancient languages. The scope of my 
 remarks throughout has been in accordance with this view, 
 and, I hope, will fully justify the position. The number of 
 persons who could be educated by all the funds of this in- 
 stitution must, of necessity, be very limited ; and unless 
 they be instructed with a view to communicate the light 
 and diffuse the knowledge received, the benefits of the 
 establishment would not be general. 
 
 The annual appropriation of ten thousand dollars for the 
 gradual formation of a library, might have been limited to 
 a smaller amount, with a better result. But the managers 
 will doubtless act with wisdom and discretion. 
 
 By proper management, this institution may doubtless be 
 made the instrument of immense good to the whole coun- 
 try. To the Government it will be of no slight advantage. 
 It will be a great institution. It may attain a character as 
 high as that of the French Academy ; and its authority will 
 then be decisive in reference to numerous questions of a 
 scientific nature, continually presented to the committees of 
 Congress and the departments of Government, for deter- 
 mination and consequent action. Such an institution is 
 freatly needed in the Federal city. It is fortunate, not less 
 )r the public service than for the advantage of the individ- 
 ual citizen, that the opportunity is now afforded to accom- 
 plish so important an object. I cannot doubt that the 
 opportunity will be seized with alacrity, and improved with 
 something of that spirit of liberality and intelligence which 
 I think is embodied in the bill now before the committee. 
 
 Mr. SAWYER moved to amend the bill by striking out 
 u six," in the first section, and inserting in lieu thereof 
 "five." 
 
 There was a motion pending to strike out the whole bill, 
 .and therefore this motion to amend was in order. 
 
406 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The ninth section was not under consideration, but when 
 it should be, he would move to amend it in the fourth line, 
 by inserting after the word "therein," the following pro- 
 viso : 
 
 " Provided, That such students shall be selected from the different States 
 and Territories of the United States, according to the ratio of representa- 
 tion in Congress." 
 
 He thought five per cent, as high a rate of interest as 
 was proper. He was not willing that his constituents 
 should be saddled with so high a rate of interest as six per 
 cent., for the people must pay it out of their pockets. For 
 a permanent loan, five per cent, was high enough. 
 
 The other amendment which he would propose related to 
 the regulations for the admission of students into the 
 various departments of the institution. He proposed to 
 take the students from the different Stairs and Territories 
 of the United States, according to their representation in 
 Congress, so that they shall not all be taken from Virginia, 
 Maryland, and this District, as had been the case in regard 
 to all other appointments. Heretofore, nine-tenths of all 
 appointments had been made from this District and the 
 neighboring States. Other States had been blotted out 
 from the vocabulary of appointments. There was a bill 
 before the House to do this, but it was impossible to reach 
 it, obstacles being thrown in the way whenever it was. 
 attempted. While we were passing laws for creating more 
 public institutions, it was proper to make a proviso that the 
 persons benefited by it should be taken from every portion 
 of the Union, instead of one locality. With proper modi- 
 fications, he was disposed to vote for this bill. 
 
 Mr. D. P. KING had some amendments, he said, to pro- 
 pose to the bill, at a proper time. In establishing an insti- 
 tution like this, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men, there ought undoubtedly to be some arrange- 
 ment for the education of teachers. He would propose 
 that lands and buildings be provided for young men, to 
 enable them to prepare for such an education as will qualify 
 them for usefulness and to teach others. He proposed that 
 persons should be received who, by their labor, would main- 
 tain themselves. He was desirous of promoting the inter- 
 ests of the yeomanry of the country of cultivating the 
 hand as well as the head and heart ; and he hoped provi- 
 sions for these ^ objects would be made in the bill. Pie 
 should move to insert in the seventh section, after the word 
 " professors," the words " of agriculture." A very large 
 portion of the people were agriculturists, and it was the 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 407 
 
 most useful and interesting object of pursuit. He wished 
 to provide for the use of those who became students lands 
 and buildings, with a view to enable them to engage in 
 practical agriculture. 
 
 He was not disposed, at this time, to go into the subject 
 fully, but he submitted that the best mode of carrying out 
 the objects of the donor, was, to promote agricultural knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 Mr. OWEN had a few words to say in reply to the gentle- 
 man from Ohio, [Mr. SAWYER,] who had urged that the rate 
 of interest should be five instead of six per cent. He would 
 ask the committee generally, whether, in regard to a per- 
 fect gratuity a fund for public objects to which this Gov- 
 ernment had not contributed one cent we ought not to be 
 willing to pay as large an interest as we were ordinarily 
 obliged to pay on loans ? Ought we not to yield something 
 to the object of the bequest ? 
 
 It must also be considered that, by this bill, much expense 
 was saved to the Government. Should this plan be carried 
 out, it would save all the expenses attending the preserva- 
 tion of the collections of the Exploring Expedition. These 
 could not be taken care of without considerable expense. 
 It would also be recollected, that it was a part of General 
 Washington's plan in laying out this city, to extend the 
 public grounds from the Capitol to the President's House. 
 These grounds embraced more than one hundred acres, and 
 should they be embellished and improved, according to the 
 original design, the expense would be very great. All 
 these expenses were to be defrayed by the Smithsonian 
 Institution. All that was asked was the ordinary interest 
 of six per cent., which the Government had recently been 
 obliged to pay. 
 
 In regard to the ninth section of the bill, he would be 
 glad if the objections of the gentleman from Ohio should 
 prove to be good, and that there should be such an overflow 
 of applications for admission into the institution as to ren- 
 der any restrictions necessary. He apprehended that there 
 would be no necessity for such restrictions, for we did not 
 propose, as at the West Point Academy, to pay any ex- 
 penses of the students. In case of such a rush for admis- 
 sion as the gentleman anticipated, he would admit that the 
 students ought to be divided among all the States and Ter- 
 ritories. He would agree to vote for the amendment, but 
 he apprehended that the chief difficulty would be in getting 
 a sufficient number of persons to come. 
 
 Mr. D. P. KING said he had proposed such a modification 
 
408 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the plan as would enable students to pay their board by 
 laboring on the farm of the institution. 
 
 Mr. OWEN said that this point was before the committee, 
 and it was agreed that young men might be employed as 
 managers and laborers, if they were willing, while they 
 were pursuing their studies. 
 
 Mr. SAWYER remarked that it had been suggested that 
 the 9th section already provided for this object. But ho 
 must insist upon it that it did not ; and to prove it he would 
 read the section, as follows : 
 
 " That the said board of managers shall also make rules and 
 for the admission of students into the various departments of the institu- 
 tion, and their conduct and deportment while they remained therein." 
 
 The same provision applied to officers of the institution, 
 but the managers were not instructed to distribute among 
 the several States and Territories all the students applying 
 for admission. 
 
 Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS said that so far as the Govern incut 
 was concerned, the bill conferred no powers on it. All 
 objections on that score were unfounded. lie was afraid t hat 
 the benches of the institution would not be tilled to overflow- 
 ing, and that no restriction would be necessary on that 
 score. The 9th section might stand as it was for the 
 present, and when necessary Congress could amend the act 
 in order to meet any circumstances that, might arise. In 
 the mean time lie would throw open the door to all, whether 
 for a single lecture or for a whole course ; and he regarded 
 lectures as the greatest means of extending knowledge which 
 had been adopted in modern times. It was second only to 
 the invention of the art of printing. 
 
 Everything in the bill tended to the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men. 
 
 Some had urged that the trust ought not to havr IK-CH 
 accepted. It was too late to make that objection. He held 
 that we were now obliged to carry it into execution ; and 
 as to the funds themselves, they ought to be considered as 
 money still in the Treasury, unconnected with any stocks. 
 He regretted that any one had proposed to return the stocks 
 to the heirs or kin of the original owner. 
 
 Mr. G. W. JONES said he did not profess to understand 
 the whole doctrine of trusts, but if trust funds were placed 
 in the hands of the Government, was the Government, 
 bound to keep the money, instead of investing it ? Was 
 the Government bound to pay interest on it without invest- 
 ing it ? 
 
 Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS. That will depend on the character 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 409 
 
 of the fund. The fund was given in trust for a specific 
 object. 
 
 Mr. G. W. JONES. Suppose the fund had been left to the 
 gentleman from Mississippi ; was he bound to keep it and 
 pay six per cent, interest upon it ? Or, if he invested it in 
 Mississippi or other State stocks, in good faith, would he be 
 bound as trustee to make good the principal and interest of 
 the fund ? 
 
 Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS could, he said, answer that case in 
 perfect conformity with his own views and feelings on the 
 subject. He would reject the trust unless he was willing to 
 execute it ; and if he misapplied the money and delayed to 
 execute the trust for eight years, he would consider himself 
 bound in honor to make good the whole fund. 
 
 Mr. D. continued. He would admit that the Government 
 liad no authority to take charge of the subject of education, 
 and he did not consider this bill as liable to that objection. 
 The Normal school system he considered as highly benefi- 
 cial, serving to produce uniformity in the language, and to 
 lay the foundation of all sciences. The spelling book of 
 !N~oah Webster, which had been used extensively in our 
 primary schools, had clone more to produce uniformity in 
 our language in this country than anything else. If we 
 sent out good school books from this institution, it would 
 be of vast service to the country. 
 
 Mr. D. enlarged upon the benefits which would result to 
 science and the diffusion of every kind of useful knowl- 
 edge, from an institution which would gather young men 
 from the remotest parts of the country, at the common 
 point where every facility for practical instruction would be 
 afforded. The taste of the country would be refined, and 
 he did not consider this as anti-democratic. Knowledge 
 was the common cement that was to unite all the heteroge- 
 neous materials of this Union into one mass, like the very 
 pillars before us. If there was any constitutional objection 
 to the establishment of a corporation, he was willing to 
 strike out that feature in the bill, and preserve the remain- 
 der. But let us do something to carry out the objects of 
 the testator, or let us throw back the fund upon the chan- 
 cery court of England. 
 
 Mr. MARSH desired, he said, to add a few words on this 
 subject, but was unable to proceed at present, in conse- 
 quence of indisposition. He therefore moved that the com- 
 mittee rise. 
 
 Some conversation ensued, upon which Mr. MARSH with- 
 drew the motion. 
 
410 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. J. Q. ADAMS expressed a wish that some progress be* 
 made in the bill, by taking a vote on some of the amend- 
 ments. 
 
 The question was then taken on the amendment offered 
 by Mr. SAWYER, and it was decided in the negative. . 
 
 On motion of Mr. MARSH, the committee then rose and 
 reported progress. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 23, 1846. 
 
 Mr. BOYD offered a resolution providing that all debate 
 on this bill should cease in one hour and a half after it 
 should again be taken up in committee, unless sooner dis- 
 posed of, and that the committee should then proceed to 
 vote on amendments pending, or to be offered. 
 
 Mr. J. R. INGERSOLL moved to amend the resolution by 
 striking out " one hour and a half after it shall have been 
 taken up in committee," and inserting " two o'clock." 
 
 Mr. GRAHAM moved that the resolution and amendment 
 be laid on the table. 
 
 And the question having been taken, and decided in the 
 affirmative, the resolution and amendment were laid on the 
 table. 
 
 The SPEAKER announced the unfinished business to be 
 the special order of yesterday, the bill to establish the 
 Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men. 
 
 On motion of Mr. OWEN, the House resolved itself into 
 Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. 
 BURT, of South Carolina, in the chair,) and resumed the 
 consideration of the said bill. 
 
 Mr. MARSH, of Vermont, after some preliminary observa- 
 tions, said: I agree, Mr. Chairman, with those who doubt 
 whether it was entirely wise in the Congress of the United 
 States to accept the munificent bequest of Mr. Smithson. 
 Were the question now first presented, I should hesitate. 
 Not that I deny or even doubt the power of Congress to 
 administer this charity, but I should question the propriety 
 of assuming a trust, which there is too much reason to fear 
 we shall not discharge in such a manner as to give the fullest 
 effect to the purposes of the enlightened donor. The his- 
 tory of this bequest confirms these scruples. It is now 
 nearly ten years since Congress, by a solemn act, assumed 
 the trust, and pledged "the faith of the United States" to 
 its faithful execution. The money was soon after received, 
 and immediately passed out of the hands of the Govern- 
 ment, not irrevocably, it is to be hoped, but it is, at all 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 411 
 
 events, now beyond our control, and no portion of it has 
 been yet applied to the noble ends of the bequest. The 
 difficulties which have thus far prevented the application of 
 the fund to its proper uses still exist, and are of a character 
 not likely to be removed. Our Government has no depart- 
 ment which can be conveniently charged with the adminis- 
 tration of the charity, and must, therefore, begin with the 
 organization of one for that special purpose. In this incip- 
 ient step, we meet with obstacles at every corner. Questions 
 are at once raised that are not yet solved, and are certainly 
 in themselves of no easy solution. How far can, how far 
 
 ought ^ Congress to act in the direct control of the charity 
 
 how far should it make specific what the will of the testator 
 has left general ? If Congress shall direct the particular 
 uses to which the fund shall be applied, what shall those 
 uses be ? Or shall we, on the other hand, delegate the 
 trust ; and, if so, shall we impose its duties on departments 
 already too heavily burdened with official responsibilities, 
 or shall we create a corporation or other special agency for 
 the purpose ? Is there not danger that the institution will 
 be abused for party ends, and merely serve to swell the 
 already overgrown patronage of the Executive ? A previ- 
 ous suggestion of these difficulties might well have led us 
 to hesitate, before we contracted obligations of so delicate 
 a character, and I fear they are yet destined for some time 
 longer to impede the satisfactory action of Congress. 
 
 But it is now quite time that we apply ourselves in earn- 
 est to the work of redeeming our country from the reproach 
 of infidelity in the discharge of so high and solemn a trust, 
 and that at the earliest practicable period, and before the 
 subject shall become an element in our party dissensions, 
 we strive to make available to our fellow-citizens, and to all 
 men, a gift as splendid as its purposes are noble. 
 
 The delay, long and unwarrantable as it is, has not been 
 without its issues. It has afforded abundant time for the 
 collection, comparison, and concentration of opinion ; able 
 men in every walk of scholastic and professional life have 
 been consulted ; many of the wisest American statesmen 
 have brought the energies of their intellects to the exami- 
 nation of the subject; it has been largely discussed in both 
 branches of the National Legislature ; numerous studiously 
 considered plans have been suggested, providing in different 
 ways for every interest which can be supposed to be em- 
 braced within the views of the testator, and the bill now 
 before us is a compilation, an anthology, so to speak, from 
 all these, though possessing original features valuable 
 
r 
 
 412 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 features the credit of which belongs to the chairman of 
 the special committee, (Mr. Owen,) by whom the bill was 
 reported. 
 
 In a case where there is room for so great diversity of 
 opinion as in this, there can be no hope of the adoption of 
 any plan not conceived in a spirit of compromise ; and on 
 this, as on another larger question, however widely upart 
 we may be at first, we shall probably find ourselves in the 
 end obliged to settle down upon the parallel of 49. The 
 bill is reported by the special committee as a compromise, 
 and probably no one of the gentlemen concerned in its 
 preparation is quite satisfied with its provisions; no one 
 believes it to be the best plan that could be devised; hut 
 they felt the necessity of deferring to each other, as well as 
 to the probable opinion of Congress, and were nearly unan- 
 imous in thinking it more likely to harmonize discordant 
 views than any other plan suggested. It was in this belief, 
 and in consideration of the importance and the duty of 
 early action, that I, as a member of that committee, assented 
 to the report, regarding the scheme, however, not merely 
 as a necessary compromise, but as rather an experiment, 
 which admitted, and which I trusted would hereafter re- 
 ceive, great changes in its conditions, than as a complete 
 working model. 
 
 It has all along been assumed as a cardinal principle, that 
 we ought to follow implicitly the will of the liberal donor, 
 and it has been thought unfortunate that he was not more 
 specific in the appropriation of his bounty. Hut he has 
 given a proof of a generous and enlightened spirit, and at 
 the same time has paid this nation the highest possible com- 
 pliment, by using the largest and most comprehensive lan- 
 guage in his bequest ; thus in effect saying, that he {.referred 
 rather to entrust the disposal of this great fund to the 
 wisdom and intelligence of a free and enlightened people, 
 than to limit its use to purposes accordant with his own pe- 
 ^culiar tastes. Some gentlemen have thought, that inasmuch 
 as the testator has not specified the particular mode by 
 which he would have the great ends of his charity accom- 
 plished, we are bound to infer his wishes from the character 
 of his favorite pursuits, and to conform to his supposed 
 views, by confining the fund to the promotion of objects, to 
 the cultivation of which his own time and researches were 
 devoted But this would be no true conformity to the en- 
 lightened liberality which prompted so munificent a <rift. 
 It would be a disparagement to so generous a spirit to 
 .imagine, that while saying so much, he meant so little. It 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 413 
 
 would be so wide a departure from his large and wise pur- 
 poses, as fairly to defeat his noble aims. Had he been in 
 fact a person of so narrow views as this argument supposes, 
 he would have guarded against the possible misapplication 
 of his charity, by express words of direction or restriction ; 
 and it is a proof of rare generosity in an enthusiastic lover 
 of an engrossing pursuit, that in a bequest appropriating 
 his whole estate to the high purpose of increasing and diffu- 
 sing knowledge among men, he made no special provision 
 for the promotion of those sciences which were to him the 
 most attractive of studies. 
 
 After all, however, he was not a student of so limited a 
 range of inquiry as has been sometimes assumed. He was 
 a man of studious and scholastic habits, and of large and 
 liberal research, specially devoted, indeed, to the cultivation 
 of certain branches of natural knowledge, but excluding no 
 science, no philosophy, from his sympathies. Too enlight- 
 ened to be ignorant of the commune vinculum., the common 
 bond of mutual relation, which makes all knowledges recip- 
 rocally communicative and receptive each borrowing light 
 from all, and each in turn reflecting light upon all he was 
 too generous to confine his bounty to the gratification of 
 tastes entirely similar to his own. None of the objects em- 
 braced in this bill are alien from his probable views. 
 Books, indeed, he did not collect, as we propose to do, 
 because to one who had no fixed habitation a library would 
 have been but an incumbrance ; and he lived in the great 
 cities of Europe, where public and private munificence has 
 collected and devoted to general use such ample repositories 
 of the records of knowledge, that individual accumulation 
 of such stores is almost superfluous. But, though he gath- 
 ered no library, his writings show him to have been a man 
 of somewhat multifarious reading ; and it is quite a gratui- 
 tous assumption to suppose him to have been one of those 
 narrow minds, who think no path worth traveling but that 
 which they have trodden, no field worth cultivating whose 
 fruits they have never plucked. Apart, then, from the 
 liberty which the broad words of the will give us, we are 
 entitled to believe that the purposes of the testator were as 
 comprehensive as the language he has used that he aimed 
 at promoting all knowledge for the common benefit of all 
 m en and to appropriate to the American people, in a spirit 
 worthy of the object and of ourselves, the compliment he 
 has paid us, by selecting us as the dispensers of a charity 
 which knows no limits but the utmost bounds of human 
 
414 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 knowledge, and claims as its recipients the men of this and 
 of all coming ages. 
 
 The limitation of the bequest, then, is to the " increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men." Here two objects 
 arc aimed at. Increase, enlargement, extrusion, progress : 
 and diffusion, spread, communication, dissemination. These 
 the hill seeks to accomplish by various means. It proposes 
 to increase knowledge by collecting specimen- of the works 
 of nature-, from every clime, and in each of her kingdoms : 
 bv gathering objects in every branch of industrial, decora- 
 tive^ representative, and imaginative art : by accumulating 
 the records of human action, and thought, and imagination, 
 in every form of literature; by instituting experimental re- 
 searches in agriculture, in horticulture, in chemistry, and 
 in other studies founded upon observation. It proposes to 
 diffuse the knowledge thus accumulated, acquired, and ex- 
 tended, by throwing open to public use the divers'] lied col- 
 lections of the institution in every branch of human inquiry: 
 by lectures upon every subject of liberal interest : by a nor- 
 mal school, where teachers >hall become pupils, and the 
 best modes that experience has devised tor imparting the 
 rudiments of knowledge shall be communicated : by pre- 
 paring and distributing models of scientific apparatus, and 
 by the publication of lectures, -ssays. manuals, and treatises. 
 
 Of the various instrumentalities recommended by this 
 noble and imposing scheme, the simplest and most efficient, 
 both as it respects the increase and the diffusion of knowl- 
 edge, is, in my judgment, the provision for collecting for 
 public use a library, a museum, and a gallery of art : and I 
 should personally much prefer, that for a reasonable period 
 the entire income of the fund should be expended m carry- 
 ing out this branch of the plan. 
 
 But in expressing my preference for such a present appli- 
 cation of the moneys of the fund, and my belief that we 
 should thus best accomplish the purposes of the donor, I 
 desire not to be understood as speaking contemptuously of 
 research and experiment in natural knowledge and the 
 economic arts. I have too much both of interest and of 
 feeling staked upon the prosperity of these arts, and they 
 are to me subjects too intrinsically attractive, to allow me to 
 be indifferent to any measure which promises to promote 
 their advancement. I am even convinced, that their earnest 
 cultivation and extension are absolutely indispensable to our 
 national prosperity, our true independence, and almost our 
 political existence ; and I am at all times ready to maintain 
 their claim to all the legislative favor which if is within the 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 415 
 
 -power of the general Government to bestow. I would not, 
 therefore, exclude them from the plan of a great national 
 institution for the promotion of all good learning ; but I 
 desire to assign them their true place in the scale of human 
 knowledge, and I must be permitted to express my dissent I 
 from the doctrine implied by the bill, as originally framed 
 and referred to the special committee, which confines all 
 knowledge, all science, to the numerical and quantitative 
 values of material things. Researches in such branches as 
 were the favored objects of that bill, have in general little 
 of a really scientific character. Geology, mineralogy, even 
 chemistry, are but assemblages of apparent facts," empiri- 
 cally established ; and this must always be true, to a great 
 extent, of every study which rests upon observation and 
 experiment alone. True science is the classification and 
 arrangement of necessary primary truths, according to their 
 relations with each other, and in reference to the logical 
 deductions which may be made from them. Such science, 
 the only absolute knowledge, is the highest and worthiest 
 object of human inquiry, and must be drawn from deeper 
 sources than the crucible and the retort. 
 
 The bill provides for the construction of buildings, with 
 suitable apartments for a library, and for collections in the 
 various branches of natural knowledge and of art, and di- 
 rects the annual expenditure of a sum " not exceeding an 
 average of ten thousand dollars, for the gradual formation 
 of a library composed of valuable works pertaining to all 
 departments of human knowledge." As I have already 
 indicated, I consider this the most valuable feature of the 
 plan, though I think the amount unwisely restricted ; and 
 I shall confine the few observations I design to submit 
 respecting the bill chiefly to the consideration of this single 
 provision. I had originally purposed to examine the sub- 
 ject from quite a different point of view, but the eloquent 
 remarks of the chairman of the special committee, (Mr. 
 Owen,) which seem to be intended as an argument rather 
 against this provision than in favor of the bill, and as a 
 reply to the able and brilliant speech of a distinguished 
 member of another branch of Congress, upon a former 
 occasion, (Mr. Choate,) has induced me to take a somewhat 
 narrower range than I should otherwise have done. I 
 wish, sir, that Senator were here to rejoin, in his own 
 proper person, to the beautiful speech of the gentleman 
 from Indiana, who seems rather to admire the rhetoric, 
 than to be convinced by the logic, of the eloquent orator to 
 "whom I refer. In that case, sir, I think my friend from 
 
416 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Indiana, trenchant as are his own weapons, would feel, as 
 many have felt before, that the polished blade of the gen- 
 tleman, who lately did such honor to Massachusetts in the 
 Senate of the United States, is not the less keen, because, like 
 Harmodius and Aristogiton, he wraps it in sprays of myrtle. 
 
 It has been objected by some, that the appropriation is 
 too large for the purpose expressed " The gradual for- 
 of a library composed of valuable works pertaining to all 
 departments of human knowledge." But if we consider 
 how much is embraced in these comprehensive words, wo 
 shall arrive at a very different conclusion. The great libra- 
 ries of Europe range from 200,000 to 500,000, or perhaps 
 even 750,000 volumes. That of the university of Gottin- 
 gen, the most useful of all for the purposes of general 
 scholarship, contains about 300,000. How long would it 
 require to collect a library like this, with an annual ex- 
 penditure of ten thousand dollars ? The library of Congress 
 is said to have cost about S3.50 per volume; but as a whole 
 it has not been economically purchased, and though com- 
 posed chiefly of works which do not maintain a permanently 
 high price, yet as a large proportion of tin- annual purchases 
 consists of new books from the press of London, the clear- 
 est book market in the world, its cost has been much higher 
 than that of a great miscellaneous library ought to be. The 
 best public library in America, for its extent, (10,000 
 volumes,) which I am happy to say is that of the university 
 of my native State, Vermont, costs but $1.50 per volume. 
 It can hardly be expected, that Government, which always 
 pays the highest price, will be so favorably dealt with ; and 
 it is scarcely to be hoped, that it will succeed in securing, 
 the services of so faithful and so competent an agent as was, 
 employed by the University of Vermont. 
 
 I have myself been, unfortunately for my purse, a book- 
 buyer, and have had occasion to procure books, not only 
 in this country, but from all the principal book marts in 
 "Western Europe. From my own experience, and some in- 
 quiry, I am satisfied that the whole cost, of such books as a 
 national library ought to consist of, including binding and 
 all other charges, except the compensation and travelling 
 expenses of an agent, should not exceed two dollars per 
 volume. If you allow $2,000 for the compensation and ex- 
 penses of an agent, (which would not be increased upon a 
 considerably larger expenditure,) you have $8,000 remain- 
 ing, which, at the average cost I have supposed, would 
 purchase four thousand volumes a year. How long, I re- 
 peat, would it require at this rate to accumulate a library 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 417 
 
 equal in extent to that of Gottingen ? More than seventy 
 years. In some seventy years, then, in three score years 
 and ten, when you sir, and I, and all who hear my voice, 
 and all the present actors in this busy world shall be num- 
 bered with the dead, we may hope, that free, enlightened 
 America, by the too sparing use of the generous bounty 
 of a stranger, will possess a collection of the recorded work- 
 ings of the human mind, not inferior to that enjoyed by a 
 single school in the miniature kingdom of Hanover ! And 
 what provision is made for the increase of books meanwhile t 
 Look at the activity of the presses of London and Paris at 
 the vastly prolific literature of Germany at the increasing 
 production of our own country to omit the smaller but still 
 valuable contributions to the store of human knowledge in 
 the languages of other countries, and you will perceive that 
 this appropriation, so far from being extravagantly large, 
 will scarcely even suffice for keeping up with the current 
 literature of the day. Gottingen meantime will go on. 
 Her 300,000 volumes will increase in seventy years to half 
 a million, arid we shall still lag 200,000 volumes behind. 
 
 The utility of great libraries has been questioned, and it 
 has been confidently asserted, that all truly valuable knowl- 
 edge is comprised in a comparatively small number of vol- 
 umes. It is said that the vast collections of the Vatican, 
 of Paris, of Munich, and of Copenhagen are, in a great 
 measure, composed of works originally worthless, or now 
 obsolete, or superseded by new editions, or surpassed by 
 later treatises. That there is some foundation for this 
 opinion, I shall not deny ; but after every deduction is made- 
 upon these accounts, there will still remain in any of these 
 libraries a great number of works which, having originally 
 had intrinsic worth, have yet their permanent value. Be- 
 cause a newer, or better, or truer book, upon a given sub- 
 ject, now exists, it does not necessarily follow that the older 
 and inferior is to be rejected. It may contain important 
 truths or interesting views that later, and, upon the whole, 
 better authors have overlooked it may embody curious 
 anecdotes of forgotten times it may be valuable as an illus- 
 tration of the history of opinion, or as a model of composi- 
 tion ; or if of great antiquity, it may possess much interest 
 as a specimen of early typography. 
 
 Again, because any one individual, even the most learned 
 cannot, in this short life, exhaust all art, because he can 
 thoroughly master but a few hundred volumes, read, or even 
 have occasion to consult, but a few thousands, we are not 
 therefore authorized to conclude that all beyond these are 
 27 
 
418 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 superfluous. Each of the hundred authors, who have pro- 
 duced those thousands of volumes, had read also his thousands 
 The scholar is formed, not by the books alone that IK- has 
 read, but he receives, at second hand, the essence- of multi- 
 tudes of others; for every good book supposes and implies 
 the previous existence of^numerous other good hooks. 
 
 An individual even of moderate means, and who is con- 
 tent to confine his studies within somewhat narrow hounds, 
 may select and acquire for himself a library adequate to his 
 own intellectual wants and tastes, though entirely unsmte<i 
 to the purposes of one of different or larger aims, and by 
 the diligent use of this, he may attain a high degree of men- 
 tal culture; but a national library can be accommodated to 
 no narrow or arbitrary standard. It must embrace all 
 science all history all languages. It must he extensive 
 enough, and diversified enough, to furnish aliment for the 
 cravings of every appetite. We need some great establish- 
 ment, that shall not hoard its treasures with the jealous 
 niggardliness which locks up the libraries of Hritain, 1m: 
 shall emulate the generous munificence which throws open 
 to the world the boundless stores of literary wealth of Ger- 
 many and France some, exhaustless fountain, where the 
 poorest and humblest aspirant may slake his thirst for 
 knowledge, without money and without price. 
 
 Of all places in our territory, this central heart of the 
 nation is the fittest for such an establishment. It is situated 
 in the middle zone of our system easilv and cheap! v acces- 
 sible from every quarter of' the Union blessed witli a mild, 
 a salubrious, and an equable climak abundant in the nec- 
 essaries and comforts of physical life lar removed from 
 the din of commerce, and free from narrow and sectional 
 influences. 
 
 Letus here erecta temple of the muses, served and guarded 
 by no exclusive priesthood, but with its hundred gates thrown 
 open, that every votary may enter unquestioned, and you 
 will find it thronged with ardent worshippers, who. though 
 poverty may compel them to subsist, like Ileyne, on the 
 pods of pulse and the parings of roots, shall yet forget the 
 the hunger of the body in the more craving' wants of the 
 soul. 
 
 From the limited powers of our National Government, 
 and the jealous care with which their exercise is watched 
 and resisted, in cases where the interests of mere humanity 
 -not party are concerned, it can do little for the general 
 promotion of literature and science. The present is a rare 
 opportunity, the only one yet offered, and never perhaps, to 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 419 
 
 T)e repeated, for taking our proper place among the nations 
 of the earth, not merely as a political society, but as patrons 
 of knowledge and the liberal arts. The treasures of our 
 national wealth are, perhaps, not at our command for this 
 purpose ; and it is only by the discreet use of this bequest, 
 and of the funds which private liberality will assuredly con- 
 tribute to^extend the means of the institution, that we can 
 hope to kindle a luminary, whose light shall encompass the 
 earth, and repay to . Europe the illumination we have bor- 
 rowed from her. 
 
 The^ library of Gottingen, of which I have spoken, con- 
 tains six times as many volumes as the largest American 
 collections ; it has been accumulated within a comparatively 
 short period scarcely a century and, having been selected 
 upon a fixed plan by the ablest scholars in the world, it 
 contains few books originally without merit, few duplicates, 
 and few which the progress of science and literature have 
 rendered worthless. And yet, though upon the whole the 
 best existing library, it, in many departments, does not ap- 
 proach to completeness, and the scholars who resort to it 
 are often obliged to seek elsewhere sources of knowledge 
 which Gottingen does not afford. 
 
 We shall perhaps be best able to estimate our own defi- 
 ciencies and wants by comparing the contents of our Con- 
 gressional Library with the actual extent of existing litera- 
 ture. The Library of Congress contains more than 40,000 
 volumes, in general valuable and well chosen, with not 
 many duplicates, not many books that one would altogether 
 reject. It is not composed, like too many of our public 
 libraries, in any considerable decree, of books which have 
 been given, because the proprietor found them too worthless 
 to keep, but it has been almost wholly purchased and selected 
 from the best European sale catalogues, and yet there is no 
 one branch of liberal study, even among those of greatest 
 interest to ourselves, in which it is not miserably deficient. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no better general catalogue of such 
 books, in the various departments of learning, as are prized 
 by collectors, than the Table Methodique, in the last edition 
 of Brunet's Manuel du Libraire. Brunet enumerates more 
 than 30,000 works, making, in the whole, about 100,000 
 volumes, and professes to specify only the most important 
 and the rarest. The list contains, no doubt, very many 
 works of little intrinsic worth, or even adventitious interest : 
 but it is, perhaps, not too much to say, that a library of the 
 larger class ought to possess at least 25,000 of the volumes 
 it specifies. But this list is even tolerably complete in but 
 
420 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 few departments. In French history and literature, in civil 
 and international law, in the history and literature of class- 
 ical antiquity and of early typography, in theology, in 
 medicine, you will find it perhaps nearly satisfactory ; but 
 in the history and literature of all other nations, and in 
 almost every other field of inquiry but those I have men- 
 tioned, the learned scholar will miss the titles of many 
 more valuable works than he will find, while many highly 
 interesting and important chapters are almost entirely 
 blank. The Congressional Library does not probably con- 
 tain one-fourth even of the small proportion of Brunet's 
 list which I have described as of intrinsic and permanent 
 value. But are there not numerous branches of knowledge 
 well worthy a place in every great literary repository, and 
 which are yet wholly unrepresented in our alcoves? Let 
 us devote a moment to some dry statistics concerning the 
 literature of continental Europe. The Bibliotheca Ilistori-a 
 Sueo-Gothica of Warmholtz, the last volume of which ap- 
 peared in 1817, enumerates no less than 10,000 works illus- 
 trative of the history of Sweden alone; and the thirty years 
 since have added greatly to the number. The Literatur- 
 Lexicon of Nyerup, published in 1820, gives the titles of 
 probably an equal number of works belonging to the liter- 
 ature of the countries subject to the Danish crown. Hol- 
 land, too, has noble historians, naturalists, poets, and 
 dramatists, and has produced many works of unsurpassed 
 value upon the history of commerce and navigation. The 
 list of Brunet contains not one in a hundred of the standard 
 authors of these several countries ; and the Li'hrary of Con- 
 gress, as far as I remember, does not possess a volume in 
 the language of either of them. Again, consider the vast 
 extent and surpassing value of the literature of Germany. 
 Of the 3,000,000 different volumes of printed books sup- 
 posed to exist, it is computed that more than one-third arc 
 in the German language. The learning of Germany em- 
 braces every field of human inquiry, and the efforts of her 
 scholars have done more to extend the bounds of modern 
 knowledge than the united labors of the rest of the Chris- 
 tian world. Every scholar familiar with her literature let 
 me not say familiar, for life is too short for any man to 
 count its boundless treasures but every enlightened stu- 
 dent^ who has but dipped into it, will readily confess its 
 infinite superiority to any other, I might almost say to all 
 other literatures. It has been affirmed, that more than 
 one-half of our population is of recent German origin, and 
 German is the vernacular tongue of extensive districts of 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 421 
 
 American soil. Yet the Library of Congress contains not 
 one hundred, probably not fifty, volumes in that noble lan- 
 guage. You have none of the numerous writers of the 
 vast empire of Russia, or of Poland ; nothing of the curious 
 literatures of Hungary and Bohemia ; only the commonest 
 books in Italian and Spanish; not a volume in the language 
 of Portugal, rich as it is in various literature, and especially 
 in the wild yet true romance of Oriental discovery and con- 
 quest, that comes down to us through the pages of learned 
 l)e Barros and quaint old Castanheda, ringing upon the ear 
 and stirring the blood like the sound of a far-off trumpet. 
 In the boundless world, too, of Oriental learning, of which 
 our increasing commercial relations with the countries of 
 the East render it highly desirable that we should possess 
 the means of acquiring a knowledge^ you have nothing to 
 show but a few translations of the Bible, and perhaps some 
 works of devotion or elementary religious doctrine, which 
 American missionaries have presented you. 
 
 Will it not be admitted that an American library, the 
 national library of a people descended from men of every 
 clime, and blood, and language a country which throws 
 open its doors as an asylum for the oppressed of every race 
 and every tongue, should be somewhat more comprehensive 
 in its range ? *" That it should at least have some represent- 
 atives of every branch of human learning, some memorials 
 of every written tongue that is spoken within its borders ? 
 
 But, even in English literature, our library is sadly mea- 
 gre. How far are we from possessing a tolerably complete 
 series of the English printed books of the fifteenth and 
 sixteenth centuries, or even of that best age of English 
 learning, that age with which every honest American most 
 truly sympathizes, the age of Cromwell and of Milton ? 
 Would it not be well to have at our command the means of 
 enabling some diligent scholar to write what has not yet 
 been worthily written, or indeed scarce even attempted, a 
 complete history of the literature of our Anglo-Saxon 
 mother tongue or to perform that Herculean task, which, 
 in spite of the vaunted but feeble labors of Webster, re- 
 mains still to be accomplished, the preparation of a respect- 
 able English dictionary ? 
 
 If there is any department of learning, in which a library 
 selected for the use of the representatives of a democracy 
 should be complete, it is that of history. But what have 
 we of the sources of historical investigation? Historic* 
 indeed we have, but little history. True, we have Robert- 
 
422 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 son, and Hume, and Voltaire, and Gibbon, and, above all, 
 Alison, a popular writer in these days, and 
 
 " Like Sir Agrippa, for profound 
 And solid lying, much renowned ;" 
 
 but of those materials from which true history is to be 
 drawn, we have little, very little. The works belonging to 
 the proper history of the American Continent alone, every 
 one of which it would be highly de&irable to possess, num- 
 ber certainly more than 20,000 volumes, fully equal to one- 
 half the Congressional Library, and of these we have, as 
 yet, but a small proportion. 
 
 If the bounty of the generous foreigner, in spite of the 
 broad language which expresses his liberal purpose, is to be 
 confined to the narrow uses which some gentlemen propose, 
 the appropriation of 10,000 per annum is unnecessarily 
 large, at least for permanent expenditure. A moderate 
 amount would collect all that is worth buying in the experi- 
 mental sciences, and a small annual appropriation would 
 keep up with the advance of knowledge in this department. 
 But it is due to ourselves, due to our age, due to the lofty 
 views which inspired a benefaction so splendid a gift 
 clogged with no narrow conditions that \ve act in a more 
 generous, a wider, a more catholic spirit; that we remember. 
 that " knowledge " embraces other arts than those of bread : 
 that man's economical interests are not his highest. 
 
 The purpose of the testator, which we are to carry out, 
 was " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 What, then, is the most efficient means of increasing and 
 diffusing knowledge ? Increase, accumulation, must pre- 
 cede diffusion. Every rill supposes a fountain ; and know- 
 ledge cannot " flow down our streets like a river," without 
 there be first built and filled a capacious reservoir, from 
 which those streams shall issue. It is an error to suppose 
 that the accumulation of the stores of existing learning, 
 the amassing of the records of intellectual action, does not 
 tend also to increase knowledge. What is there new in the 
 material world, except by extraction or combination ? How 
 are new substances formed, or the stock of a given substance 
 increased, by the chemistry of nature or of art? By new 
 combinations or decompositions of known and pre-existing 
 elements. The products of the experimental or manufac- 
 turing laboratory are no new creations; but their elements 
 are first extracted by the decomposition of old compounds, 
 and then recombined in new forms. Thus is it also, in 
 some degree, with the immaterial products of the human 
 mind ; but there is this difference ; knowledge grows not 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 423 
 
 
 alone by extraction and combination, but, unlike the dead 
 matter with which chemistry deals, it is itself organic, 
 living, productive. There is moreover, as I have already -4 
 hinted, between all branches of knowledge and of liberal 
 art, whether speculative or experimental, such an indissol- 
 uble bond, such a relation of interdependence, that you 
 cannot advance any one without at the same time promoting 
 all others. The pioneer in every walk of science strikes 
 put sparks that not only guide his own researches, but 
 illuminate also the paths of those around him, though they 
 may be laboring in quite other directions. Examples of 
 this kind might be multiplied without end, but I will con- 
 tent myself with an illustration or two from a science which 
 deals only in abstract numbers and imaginary quantities, 
 and utterly rejects experiment and observation as tests of 
 truth or as instruments of its discovery. Who would have 
 supposed that the intervals of the diatonic scale in music 
 were capable of exact appreciation, and their relations of 
 precise ascertainment, by numerical quantities? Who 
 would have expected that pure mathematics would have 
 been appealed to to decide between the rival claims of the 
 corpuscular and the undulatory theories of light; or to 
 ascertain the proportions and relations of elementary bodies 
 not appreciable by any of the senses, in chemical combina- 
 tions ; or, as my accomplished friend from South Carolina 
 (Mr. Holmes) suggests, that the authenticity of a disputed 
 text in the Scriptures would be determined by an algebraical 
 theorem ? What do not astronomy, navigation, civil engi- 
 neering, practical mechanics, and all the experimental 
 sciences, owe to this one science, which in its investigations 
 appeals to no empiricism, calls in the aid of none of the 
 senses, none of the machinery of art or of nature. 
 
 But, independent of this particular point, the aid which 
 the physical sciences may expect to derive from mere specu- 
 lative knowledge, I should hope that at this time, and in 
 this place, one might safely venture a plea in behalf ot all 
 that higher knowledge which serves to humanize, to refine, 
 to elevate, to make men more deeply wise, better, less 
 thoughtful of material interests, and more regardful of 
 eternal truths. And let it not be said that our own brief 
 history proves that great libraries are superfluous, because 
 without them we have produced statesmen, civilians, orators, 
 and jurisprudents, no wise inferior to the ablest of their 
 European contemporaries. Without dwelling upon the 
 stimulus of popular institutions, and the stirring excite- 
 ment of our revolutionary and later history, which have 
 
424 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEED! NUS. 
 
 tended to encourage the development of this species of 
 talent, the objection is sufficiently answered by saying that, 
 in the case of most of the American statesmen of the 
 Revolution, as well as of many of later date, private wealth 
 has supplied the place of public provisions for the attain- 
 ment of knowledge. In the period of our colonial history, 
 the sons of wealthy families were often educated in the best 
 schools of Europe, and the framers of our Constitution 
 were chiefly men of high education and elegant attainments. 
 Jefferson, whose writings are canonical with the democracy, 
 had the best private library in America, and was a man of 
 multifarious, if not of profound learning. The State papers 
 of that remarkable era are, with tew exceptions, obviously 
 productions of men not merely of inspired genius or of 
 patient thought, but of laborious acquisition; and they art- 
 full, not of that cheap learning which is proved by pedantic 
 quotation, but of that sound discipline which is the un- 
 equivocal result of extensive reading and diligent research. 
 Who have been the men, in all ages that have exercised the 
 wisest and most permanent influence both on the moral 
 and physical well-being of man ? The spirit of the crusades 
 w r as roused by the preaching of a thoughtful solitary: Colum- 
 bus was a learned scholar, and Luther but a studious monk. 
 "Watt, the great improver of the steam engine, was a man of 
 curious and recondite learning. Bonaparte was carefully 
 educated at the school of Brienne, and was through life a 
 liberal patron of learning and the arts. The glorious rebel- 
 lion of 1649 was the work of men of the closet ; and Milton, 
 who to our shame is less known among us by his prose than 
 by his poetry, was its apostle. Our own independence was 
 declared and maintained by scholars, and all men know 
 that the French revolution had its germ in the writings of 
 the Encyclopaedists. All men, in fact, who have acted upon 
 opinion, who have contributed to establish principles that 
 have left their impress for ages, have spent some part of 
 their lives in scholastic retirement. It is this very point 
 the maintenance of principles discovered and defended by 
 men prepared for that service by severe discipline and labor- 
 ious study that so strikingly distinguishes the English 
 rebellion of 1649 and our own Revolution from most other 
 insurrectionary movements, and particularly from the 
 French revolution. The English and American statesmen 
 of those two periods were contending for truths, the French 
 atheists and philosophers for interests ; the former sought to 
 learn their duties, the latter concerned themselves only about 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 425 
 
 their rights; the Anglo-Saxon was inspired by principle, the 
 Gaul was instigated by passion. 
 
 The principles of American liberty, which education and 
 habit have rendered so familiar to us, that we fancy them 
 intuitive or even instinctive, are in truth no more obvious 
 than the physical theory of the universe ; and the study of 
 the philosophical and political history of the last three cen- 
 turies will convince every inquirer, that their development 
 from their germs, as involved in the fundamental do.ctrines 
 of the Keforrnation, has been the work not of unconscious 
 time only, but has required the labor of successive genera- 
 tions of philosophers and statesmen. 
 
 I look upon a great and well selected library, composed 
 of the monuments of all knowledge, in all tongues, as the 
 most effective means of releasing us from the slavish defer- 
 ence which, in spite of our loud and vaporing protestations 
 of independence, we habitually pay to English precedents 
 and authorities, in all matters of opinion. Our history and 
 our political experience are so brief, that, in the mult! 
 of new cases which are perpetually arising, we are often at a 
 loss for domestic parallels, and find it cheaper to cite an Eng- 
 lish dictum than to investigate a question upon more mde 
 pendent grounds. Not only are our parliamentary law, o 
 legislative action, our judicial proceedings, to a great extent 
 fashioned after those of the mother country, but the funda- 
 mental principles of our Government, our theory of 
 political rights of man, are often distorted, in order that 
 they may be accommodated to rules and definitions drawn 
 from English constitutional law. Even the most sacred of 
 political rights, the right of petition, I have heard b 
 attacked and defended upon this floor, by very sufficient 
 Democrats, entirely upon precedents drawn from the prac- 
 tice of the British Parliament, Our community of on 
 language, and law, exposes the younger nation to the con- 
 stant dlnger of being overshadowed by the authority of the 
 elder, if is a great evil to a young and growing people, as 
 well as to a youthful and aspiring spirit, to have its energies 
 cramped, and its originality smothered, by ^^ W* 
 conform ty to any one model, however excellent ; and i* 
 quite time for us to learn, that there are other sources of 
 instruction than the counsels and example of our ancient 
 
 ' make these remarks in no narrow feeling of jealous 
 hostilitv to England ; still less at M**^"^ 
 -aeekin^ to raise a whirlwind of popular indignation a? 
 that country, upon which they may themselves float to 
 
426 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 power, would I join in any vulgar denunciations of a people- 
 from whom we have borrowed so much. We owe to Eng- 
 land much of our political principles, many of the founda- 
 tions of our civil and religious liberties, many of the most 
 valuable features of our jurisprudence. Something, indeed, 
 we have repaid. England, in common with all Europe, has 
 profited by our experience. The grasp of feudal oppression 
 has been relaxed, the atrocious severity of the criminal law 
 has been mitigated, judicial proceedings have been simpli- 
 fied, the subject has been admitted to a larger participation 
 in the concerns of government, monopolies are becoming 
 obsolete, and the responsibilities of rulers are felt to be 
 more stringent. To the credit of many of these ameliora- 
 tions we may fairly lay claim; while in science, and its 
 application to the arts, we have sustained no disgrace-Till 
 rivalry with our transatlantic brethren. But no generous 
 man thinks his debt of gratitude canceled till it is thrice 
 repaid, and we have therefore yet much to do, before we 
 can say that America is no longer the debtor of England. 
 Let us, then, seize this one opportunity which a son oT her 
 own has offered us, and build with it a pharos, whose light 
 shall serve as well to. guide the mariner in the- distant hori- 
 zon, as to illuminate him who casts anchor at its Toot. 
 
 But what are we offered instead of the advantages which 
 we might hope to reap from such a library as I have de- 
 scribed? We are promised experiments and lectures, a 
 laboratory and an audience hall. Sir, a laboratory is a 
 charnel house, chemical decomposition begins with death, 
 and experiments are but the dry bones of science. It is 
 the thoughtful meditation alone of minds trained and dis- 
 ciplined in far other halls, that can clothe these with flesh, 
 and blood, and sinews, and breathe into them the breath of 
 life. Without a library, which alone can give such training 
 and such discipline, both to teachers and to pupils, all these 
 are but a masqued pageant, and the demonstrator is a har- 
 lequin. This is not a question of idle speculation, it is one 
 that experience has answered. There are no foci which are 
 gathering and reflecting so much light upon the arcana of 
 natural science as the schools of Paris and of Germany, 
 and all scholars are agreed that the great .libraries of those 
 seminaries, and the mental discipline acquired by the use of 
 them, are, if not the sole means, at least necessary condi- 
 tions, of their surpassing excellence. 
 
 But we are told that these experimental researches will 
 guide us to the most important of all knowledge, that, 
 namely, of common things. Sir, what are common things ? 
 
TWENTY-NINTH-CONGRESS, 1845-47. 427 
 
 Is nothing common but these material frames of ours ; 
 nothing, but the garments we wear, the habitations that 
 shelter, and the food that nourishes us ; nothing, but the 
 air we breathe, the fowls of heaven, the beasts of the field, 
 the herbs, the trees, and the rocks around us ? Is nothi no- 
 common but the glittering sands beneath our feet, and the 
 glittering stars on ^ which we gaze ? Sir, these are indeed 
 common, and well it is to understand their uses, and so far 
 as our dim vision can pierce, even their natures also. But 
 are there not things even more common, nearer to our in- 
 most selves, harder indeed, but more profitable to be under- 
 stood ; objects not limited by the three dimensions, not 
 ponderable, not cognizable by any of the senses, and yet 
 subjects of precise definition, of logical argument, of phil- 
 osophical interest, and of overwhelming importance? Sir,- 
 the soul of man is a very common thing; his relations to 
 his Maker and to his fellows, the laws^of his moral and 
 intellectual being, his past history and his probable future 
 destiny, the principles of government and the laws of polit- 
 ical economy all these are common things, the commonest 
 indeed of all things, and shall we make no provision for 
 instruction in these ? 
 
 But, sir, the knowledge of what are called the physical 
 sciences is of far less importance, even in reference to the 
 very objects which they are supposed especially to promote, 
 than is generally believed. There was an age I should 
 say ages brilliant and glorious ages of philosophers, of 
 statesmen, of patriots, of heroes, and of artists, and arti- 
 zans too ; when, as yet, the sciences of chemistry, and 
 mineralogy, and metallurgy had neither name nor being 
 when experimental research was unknown, and the raw 
 
 material of the arts was prepared for subsequent mariipula- | 
 
 tion in no laboratory but the hidden workshops of nature 
 when the profoundest philosophers were content with resolv- 
 ing all material things into the four elements, and men knew 
 nothing of that subtle analysis and those strange powers, 
 whereby the elements themselves are decomposed, the in- 
 gredients of the atmosphere solidified, and granite, porphyry 
 and adamant, resolved into imperceptible gases. And what 
 sir, have our boasted researches taught us to accomplish iu 
 the industrial arts, that the cunning workman of Egypt, and 
 Tyre, and Greece could not do three thousand years ago ? 
 Can our machinery rear loftier piles than the Pyramids, or 
 move more ponderous masses than the stones of Persepolis, 
 or the monolithic temples of Egypt? Is a European prin- 
 cess arrayed in finer webs than the daughter of a Pharaoh r 
 
428 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 or decked in colors more gorgeous than the Tyrian purple ? 
 Can the chemistry of England compound more brilliant 
 or more durable pigments than those which decorate the 
 walls of the catacombs of the Nile? Can the modern 
 artist, with all the aid of his new magnifiers, rival the 
 microscopic minuteness of some ancient mosaics; or can 
 the glass-workers of our times surpass the counterfeit gems 
 'of antiquity ? 
 
 rSir, modern chemistry, metallurgy, and machinery, have 
 multiplied, cheapened, and diffused not improved the 
 products of industrial art; and herein lies our superiority, 
 not that we can do better, but, by bringing to our aid the 
 obedient forces of nature, we can do more, than our prede- 
 cessors. In this point of view, regarding modern improve- 
 ments in these arts as the great equalizers of the conditions 
 of different ranks in society, no man ean estimate them 
 more highly than I do, and I hope soon to have an opportu- 
 nity of showing that I duly appreciate them. But L must 
 protest against that classification of the objects of human 
 knowledge, which, by giving them an undue pre-eminence, 
 elevates empiricism above true science, prefers matter t> 
 mind, and, in its zeal to advance the means, quite loses sight 
 of the end. 
 
 Sir, these arts are the right hand, not the spirit, of true 
 progressive democracy; they are the lever that shall move 
 the world, not the immaterial mind that shall guide it. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, at present I neither propose nor expect 
 any modification of this bill. I am content with it as an 
 experiment, though I should prefer the appropriation of 
 the entire income of the fund for one generation three 
 times only as long as it has now lain idle to the purpose of 
 founding such a library as the world has not yet seen. 
 If I support the bill, I shall support it, I repeat, as an 
 experiment, but in the confident hope that the plan will 
 soon be so changed as to make the Smithsonian Institution 
 a fitter representative of a charity which embraces all knowl- 
 edge as its object, and appoints the whole human race its 
 beneficiaries. 
 
 Mr. MORSE said he desired to submit a few observations 
 in relation to the disposition of this fund. 
 
 Expressing the pleasure which he had derived from the 
 argument of the learned and eloquent gentleman, [Mr. 
 MARSH,] who had just taken his seat, he [Mr. MORSE] was 
 still of opinion that if anything could be drawn from the 
 character of the testator, or from his habits and pursuits, as 
 to the direction which he desired his bequest should take, it 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 
 
 was of a much more practical nature than that contemplated 
 either by the gentleman from Vermont, [Mr. MARSH,] or by 
 the originators of the bill before the House, Mr. Smithson 
 was a practical man ; and although endowed with the high- 
 est learning, he yet condescended to devote his time to a 
 subject of the most domestic and homely character. If his 
 intention had been to establish a university, or a magnifi- 
 cent library, and thus to have his name transmitted to pos- 
 terity, it would have been easy for him to have said so, and 
 nothing would have been left to this country but to carry 
 out his enlightened and liberal intentions. But he had no 
 doubt studied the peculiar character of the American peo- 
 ple, and discovered, that whilst they entertained a proper 
 respect for the learning and genius of the German universi- 
 ties, of the sciences taught in the universities of Europe, 
 still there was something in the common sense and practical 
 knowledge of that people which comported with his notions ; 
 and he desired that this money should be devoted to some 
 plan of diffusing practical and useful knowledge amongst 
 
 them. ~ 
 
 Mr. MORSE referring to some portions of the argument < 
 Mr MARSH, inquired what there was in the learning and 
 science of Europe comparable to the discovery of the steam 
 eno-ine by an American, or of the cotton-gin, or of the 
 magnetic telegraph ? All our inventions had a tendency to 
 improve the condition of the human race, and particularly 
 of the common people; and it was no doubt under a just 
 and proper appreciation of that character, that the testator 
 left his money to be applied to such objects. Did he intend 
 to establish a university? No. Did he intend to establis 
 a magnificent library f No. He knew that the world was 
 full of musty compilations, of the productions ot learned 
 authors, to be wondered at more for their extent than tor 
 their usefulness. He (Mr. M.) was not among the number 
 of those who wished to depreciate the lea rning tr easured 
 up for ages past bv the book-makers and book-collector 
 all nations ; but he proposed to offer to the. consideration of 
 the committee a substitute, which, he thought, would re- 
 move some of the constitutional objections raised against 
 the bill, and which would, in his judgment, mee 
 
 eno, however, to interfere with the progress 
 of this bill. He concurred in the opinion which had 
 expressed, that it was a crime, a burning sin, t at this 
 nation should have held this n^^^M^^ 
 tion of a solemn trust, and in violation of the solemn o 
 

 430 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 gations imposed upon every man who, at this bar, had 
 taken the oath to support the constitution and to act for the 
 hest interests of the people. It was in violation of that 
 spirit which ever ought to actuate the American nation, to 
 be the recipient of this munificent sum, and yet to suffer 
 the people the masses, the oi polioi to be so long deprived 
 of any benefit from it. But if there was strength enough 
 in the House to pass the bill, he had no particular pride in 
 takino* another course. He should, therefore, submit his 
 
 O _ - . i . i . . 
 
 proposition at the proper time, leaving the Committee to act 
 upon it as it might think proper. 
 
 The substitute, of which Mr. M. gave notice, is in the fol- 
 lowing words : 
 
 A BILL to establish the Smithsonian Institution for the " increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 Whereas James Smithson, Esquire, of London, in the Kingdom of Great 
 Britain, by his last will and testament did give the \vhole of his property 
 to the United States of America, to found, at Washington, under the name 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the inerca-e and diffu- 
 sion of knowledge among men ; and whereas tin- creation of a university, 
 academy, or college, is liable to constitutional difficulties, sectional jeal- 
 ousies, and would absorb a large proportion of the funds in the erection of 
 buildings, and would more or less interfere with the numerous institutions 
 throughout our country; and with a view of carrying out, in the simplest 
 form, the benevolent intentions of the donor : 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representative* of the United 
 .States of America in Congress assembled, That the management of this fund 
 shall be entrusted to a board of managers, to be styled the Trustees of the 
 Smithsonian Legacy, to be composed of the President and Vice President 
 of the United States, the Chief Justice, during the time for which they 
 shall hold their respective offices, the heads of the different departments, 
 the foreign ministers, the Mayor of the city of Washington, members of the 
 Senate and House of Representatives, together with seven other persons, 
 two of whom shall be members of the National Institute, and resident in 
 the city of Washington, and the other five thereof shall be inhabitants of 
 States, and no two of them of the same State. And the managers to be 
 selected as aforesaid from Congress shall be appointed immediately after the 
 passage of this act the members of the Senate by the President thereof, 
 and the members of the House by the Speaker thereof; and those so ap- 
 pointed shall serve until the fourth Wednesday of December the second next 
 after the passage of this act; and then, and biennially thereafter, on every 
 alternate fourth Wednesday of December a like number shall be appointed in 
 the same manner to serve until the fourth Wednesday in December the second 
 succeeding their appointment ; and they shall also constitute arid be denomi- 
 nated a jomt standing committee of Congress on the Smithsonian Institution ; 
 iind vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled as 
 vacancies in committees are filled ; and the other seven managers aforesaid 
 .shall serve for the term of two years from the fourth Wednesday of December 
 next after the passage of this act; when, and on every alternate fourth 
 Wednesday of December thereafter, a new election thereof shall be made 
 by joint resolution of Congress; and vacancies occasioned by death, resig- 
 nation, or otherwise, may be filled in like manner, by joint resolution of 
 Congress. And the said managers shall meet and organize, by the choice 
 of a president, in the city of Washington, on the first Monday in September 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 
 
 -next after the passage of this act, and they shall then fix on the times for 
 reo-ular meetings of the board ; and on application of any three of the man- 
 ao?rs to the superintendent of the said institution, it shall be his duty to 
 appoint a special meeting of the board, of which he shall give notice by 
 letter to each of the members ; -and at any meeting of the board of man- 
 ao-ers five shall constitute a quorum to do business. And each member ot 
 the board of managers shall be paid his necessary traveling and other actual 
 expenses in attending meetings of the board, which shall be audited and 
 recorded by the superintendent of the institution ; but his service as mana- 
 ger shall be gratuitous. And whenever money is require.! for the payment 
 of the debts or performance of the contracts of the institution, incurred or 
 entered into in conformity with the provisions of this act, or for making 
 the purchases and executing the objects authorized by this act, the superin- 
 tendent or the managers, or any three thereof, may certify to the president 
 of the board that such sum of money is required ; whereupon, he shall sub- 
 mit the same to a committee of three of the managers, appointed for 
 purpose, for examination and approval ; and upon such exaimnatic 
 approval, he shall certify the same to the proper officer of the Treasury for 
 payment And the said board shall make all needful rules, regulations and 
 bv-laws 'for the government of the institution and the persons employed 
 therein, 'and shall submit to Congress, at each session thereof, a report 
 the operations, expenditures, and condition of the insti 
 
 And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the board of managers shall 
 be reo-ularly and legally organized, it shall be their duty to cause to be pub- 
 shed forth > spafe & on & e year,' in such of the most widely circulated 
 newspapers in the United States and in Europe, as they may deem best, the 
 Xysuitable reward, or prizes for the best written ^*~<W! 
 the most practical and useful which the majority of said board sha 11 deter- 
 mine upon And when, after a decision upon the relative merits 
 Sffercn ^essavs, they determine to which the prize shall be awarded on h 
 several subjects it shall be their duty to have as many copies of each of the 
 eslayf pr ntefa's they may deem best, to be distributed to the Governors of 
 the Sveral States ; to the several incorporated literary "^^^ 
 European institutions as they may choose i^* e *^^ to | ^^? 
 throughout the United States, by the members of Congress , thus f J 1"^ 
 in the letter and spirit, the wise and comprehensive intentions of the c 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among in 
 
 Mr OWEN desired to say a few words in reply to the gen- 
 tleman from Vermont, [Mr. MARSH,] and the gentleman 
 from Louisiana, [Mr. MORSE.] The gentleman from Loi 
 isiana had already given the most important item in rep y 
 to the gentleman from Vermont-namely that we had no 
 riffht to run counter to what might clearly seem to be the 
 intention of Mr. Smithson. This fund was not ours; ^ 
 was intrusted to us for a special purpose,; and unless we 
 could believe that he would desire, if living, the establ 
 ment of a library, the money ought not to be so appropri- 
 
 ated. 
 
 1 This bill had been framed in a spirit of com P r ? n ^ e - ftr ^ 
 original Senate bill of the last session appropriated $o 
 for this obiect The gentleman from Vermont, Mr. Oweq 
 be ie^d prosed twenty thousand The bill proposed 
 a medinmlaram not exceeding ten thousand dollars 
 hoped the House would not go further. A gentleman ho 
 
432 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 had formerly been librarian of Congress, in conversation 
 with him, had said that he thought it was impracticable tc- 
 purchase, with advantage, more than ten thousand dollars 7 
 worth of 'books. The duty must be intrusted to one agent, 
 to prevent the purchase of duplicates ; and no one agent 
 could purchase advantageously more than this amount ; so 
 that there was a practical difficulty in the way. 
 
 In relation to the course suggested by the gentleman from 
 Louisiana, [Mr. MORSE,] the same plan had occurred to 
 Doctor Cooper, of South Carolina, but had been rejected 
 by him. [Mr. Owen here read an extract in support of 
 this assertion.] 
 
 As to a cheap publication branch, he would remind the 
 committee that we already had one. In looking over the 
 periodicals of the day, it did not appear that the prize 
 essays were the best ; the voluntary essays seemed to be so. 
 We should find plenty of treatises of a most useful char- 
 acter, without paying a dollar for them. The mere gratifi- 
 cation of having them published would be inducement 
 sufficient to enable us to obtain them. 
 
 The gentleman said that there should be no laboratory ; 
 that it was not the design of Mr. Smithson. The fact that 
 Mr. Smithson spent half of his life in a laboratory seemed 
 to refute this objection. 
 
 There was little in the bill of an imperative character in 
 relation to all these various branches. Its phraseology was 
 " may." If, therefore, it was discovered that one branch 
 would be more beneficial than another, there was the power 
 to adopt it. There was nothing at all binding about it. 
 
 Mr. CHIPMAN spoke urgently in opposition to the bilL 
 His first reason for voting (as he said he intended to do) 
 was based on a fact that was irrevocable namely, that this 
 Government, great and powerful as it was prospering and 
 progressing as it was in original native intellect, fostered 
 by institutions known to no other country, and no other 
 people should have consented to be the recipient of what 
 was called here a munificent donation of half a million 
 from an Englishman to enlightened American republicans 
 in this country. How did it happen that this Government 
 accepted such a boon from a foreigner an Englishman, 
 too. He looked upon it as a stain on the history of the 
 country, as an insult to the American nation. He wished 
 this Government to wash its hands of all such eleemosynary 
 dealings. There was a native stock in this country, intel- 
 lectual and physical, that needed no foreign aid, "and he 
 trusted in God it would not condescend to receive anv. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 433 
 
 In making these remarks, he would probably be charged 
 with being opposed to education. He was opposed to it in 
 the light in which, in modern times, it was sought to be in- 
 culcated in this country an education which passed over 
 all thought, all reflection, all originality, and was based upon 
 an intellectual lumber-house of undigested and indigestible 
 matter : thrown together in the head of some aspirant after 
 immortal intellectual fame, without originality enough to 
 give character, he would not say to what he had a term, 
 but probably it might be inappropriate for him to utter it 
 here. How the donor of this money, being an Englishman, 
 came to love this country so well, God only knew ; but he 
 (Mr. Chipman) would say that in yielding to his suggestion, 
 the country had humbled and degraded itself. 
 
 He objected to the bill, because, clearly and in terms, it 
 established a corporation. He appealed to his political 
 friends, after all their opposition, after all their arguments, 
 after all their efforts to put down a United States bank on 
 the ground of its unconstitutionality, whether tickled, 
 amused, their pride touched by the great advantages of dis- 
 pelling the cloud of ignorance which overshadowed the 
 American Republic they would now belie all their princi- 
 ples and all their professions ? What distinction was there 
 between a corporation in the form of a United States bank 
 and a corporation intended to elevate humanity in close ap- 
 proximation to the throne of Heaven ? He appealed to his 
 friends here to those who held their seats by virtue of the 
 very opposition they had made to the Bank of the United 
 States whether this Government had the power to create a 
 corporation ? The rose by any other name, &c., and a cor- 
 poration by any other name, should be as offensive to the 
 Democracy. Was it necessary to label the animal, that we 
 might know to what species it belonged, as was done in the 
 case of the Dutchman's picture of a man with the horse, 
 where the name was put upon it, that the beholder might 
 know what it was ? He declared that the bill proposed the 
 establishment of one of the most withering and deadly cor- 
 porations, carrying with it all the features "of an aristocracy 
 the most offensive that could be established in any country 
 under heaven. He was opposed to an aristocracy of wealth ; 
 but he was in favor of an aristocracy of intellect not of 
 false education not of knowledge that consisted in bring- 
 ing together exploded ideas but of that knowledge which 
 was the offspring of an intellect patented directly by the 
 Almighty. 
 
 28 
 
434 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDING?. 
 
 Mr. Chipman then proceeded to state some general objec- 
 tions to the bill, diverging considerably into the field of party 
 
 } In conclusion, he declared himself in favor of some such 
 plan as had been proposed by the gentleman from Tennes- 
 see, [Mr. JONES.] 
 
 On motion of Mr. BAYLY, the committee rose, and re- 
 ported. 
 
 Mr. OWEN offered a resolution to close the debate in an 
 
 hour and a half. 
 
 The resolution, by ayes 92 noes 44, was laid on the table. 
 
 After some conversation 
 
 On motion of Mr. ADAMS, the rules were suspended, to 
 enable him to offer the following substitute amendment to 
 the bill; which, amendment having been read by itself^ 
 was referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of 
 the Union, and ordered to be printed : 
 
 Strike out the preamble, and all except the enacting 
 clause, and insert : 
 
 That the President of the United States be requested, by the us.- of suit- 
 able means of moral suasion, and no others, to obtain from tin; Governments 
 of the States of Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan, payment of the arrears 
 of interest due from the said States to the United States, and the interest 
 thereafter, and the principal as it shall become due, according to the prom- 
 ises on the face of the bonds given by the said States for moneys bequeathed 
 by James Smithson, a benevolent Englishman, to the United States of 
 America, for the special purpose of founding at the city of Washington an 
 institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, which 
 bequest was, by act of Congress, approved on the first of July, 1836, 
 accepted, with a pledge of the faith of the United States that it should be 
 applied to the purposes prescribed by the testator. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when payment (-hull have been 
 obtained from the said States of Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan, of the 
 arrears of interest due on their said bonds, Congress shall forthwith pro- 
 ceed to appropriate said sums of interest so recovered, together with the 
 interest hitherto received, or hereafter to be received, until the time of 
 making such appropriations, in such manner as they shall deem suited, to 
 redeem the pledge of the faith of the United States, to the application of 
 the funds of the bequest of the said James Smithson, to the specific purpose 
 prescribed by the testator. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That until the arrears of interest due 
 by the said States of Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan, to the United 
 States, upon their said respective bonds, shall have been received at the 
 Treasury of the United States, no appropriation shall be made by Congress 
 chargeable upon the people of the United States, for the fulfillment of the 
 purposes prescribed by the testator, James Smithson, for the disposal of his 
 bequest. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That within the first thirty days of 
 ach and every successive session of Congress, it shall be the duty of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress the then actual state of the 
 Smithsonian fund, and particularly the amount of arrears of interest due 
 upon the said bonds of the States of Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan ; 
 together with copies of all correspondence, showing the result of the means 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 435 
 
 of moral suasion used during the preceding year, to obtain payment of the 
 said arrears of interest ; and the said annual reports shall be printed for the 
 information of the people. 
 
 The further consideration of the bill was postponed until 
 Monday next. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 27, 1846. 
 
 The Speaker said the special order of the day was the 
 bill in relation to the Smithsonian Institution. 
 Mr. COBB offered the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That all debate in the Committee of the Whole House on the 
 state of^ the Union on House bill (No. 5) to establish the "Smithsonian 
 Institution " for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, shall 
 cease in two hours after the same shall be again taken up in the Committee 
 of the Whole House on the state of the Union, (if the committee shall not 
 sooner come to a conclusion upon the same;) and the committee shall then 
 proceed to vote on such amendments as may be pending or offered to the 
 same, and shall then report it to the House, with such amendments as may 
 have been agreed to by the committee. 
 
 The said resolution was read ; when the question was 
 stated, Will the House agree to the said resolution ? Mr. 
 GRAHAM moved that it be laid upon the table. 
 
 And the question being put, it was decided in the nega- 
 tive yeas, 78 ; nays, 82. 
 
 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the mem- 
 bers present, 
 
 Those who voted in the affirmative are 
 
 YEAS Messrs. John Q. Adams, Arnold, Ashmun, Barringer, Bedinger, 
 Bell, Buffington, Burt, W. W. Campbell, J. H. Campbell, Carroll, John 
 <r. Chapman, A. A. Chapman, Cocke, Cranston, Crozier, Dargan, Dar- 
 ragh, Garrett Davis, Delano, Dixon, Dockery, J. H. Ewing, E. H. Ewing, 
 Foot, Giddings, Graham, Grider, Grinnell, Hampton, Harper, Herrick, 
 Hoge, E. B. Holmes, S. D. Hubbard, Hudson, Washington Hunt, Hunter, 
 C. J. Ingersoll, Joseph Johnson, Daniel P. King, Thomas Butler King, 
 Lewis, Long, McHenry, Marsh, J. P. Martin, Barkley Martin, Miller, 
 Morris, Moseley, Parrish, Payne, Pendleton, Pettit, Pollock, John A. 
 Rockwell, Root, Runk, Seaman, Seddon, Severance, A. D. Sims, Truman 
 Smith, Albert Smith, Caleb B. Smith, Stephens, Strohm, Thibodeaux, 
 Tilden, Trumbo, Vinton, Wood, Woodruff, Woodward, Wright, Yancey, 
 .and Young. 
 
 Those who voted in the negative are 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Atkinson, Bayly, Biggs, James A. Black, Bowlin, 
 Brodhead, Brockenbrough, W. G. Brown, R. Chapman, Chipman, Clarke, 
 Cobb, Collin, Constable, Cunningham, Daniel, J. Davis, Dillingham, Dob- 
 bin, Dromgoole, Erclman, Faran, Ficklin, Fries, Garvin, Gentry, Giles, 
 Gordon, Grover, Hamlin, Haralson, Harmanson, Hopkins, Hough, G. S. 
 Houston, J. B. Hunt, Andrew Johnson, George W. Jones, Seaborn Jones, 
 Preston King, Lawrence, Leake, Leib, La Sere, Lumpkin, Maclay, Mc- 
 Clelland, McConnell, McCrate, McGaughey, Mcllvaine, McKay, Morse, 
 Moulton, Norris, Owen, Perrill, Phelps, Price, Rathbun, Relfe, Ritter, 
 Sawtelle, Sawyer, Scammon, Simpson, Thomas Smith, Robert Smith, Stan- 
 ton, St. John, Strong, Thomasson, Jacob Thompson, Thurrnan, Tibbatts, 
 Tance, Wentworth, Wick, Wilmot, Yell, and Yost. 
 
486 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The question recurred on agreeing to the said resolution- 
 Mr. COBB moved the previous question, which was sec- 
 onded; and the main question was ordered and put, viz: 
 Will the House agree to the said resolution ? and decided in 
 the negative yeas, 73 ; nays, 85. 
 
 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the mem- 
 bers present, 
 
 Those who voted in the affirmative are 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Stephen Adams, Atkinson, Bayly, Biggs, Bowlin, 
 Brockenbrough, Brodhead, William G. Brown, Augustus A. Chapman, 
 Keuhen Chapman, Chase, Clarke, Cobb, Collin, Constable, Cunningham, 
 Daniel, Dillingham, Dobbin, Dromgoole, Dunlap, Erdman, Faran, Giles, 
 Goodyear, Gordon, Grover, Hamlin, Haralson, Harmanson, Hopkins, 
 Hough, George S. Houston, James B. Hunt, Hunter, Andrew Johnson, 
 George W. Jones, Seaborn Jones, Preston King, Lawrence, La Sere, 
 Lumpkin. McClelland, McConnell, McCrate, McKay, Morris, Morse, 
 Moulton/Norris, Payne, Phelps, Price, Rathbun, Reid, Relfe, Ritter, Saw- 
 yer, Scammon, Seddon, Thomas Smith, Robert Smith, St. John, Strong, 
 Jacob Thompson, Thurman, Tibbatts, Vance, Wentworth, Wick, Wilmot, 
 Yell, and Yost. 
 
 Those who voted in the negative are 
 
 NAYS Messrs. John Quincy Adams, Arnold, Barringer, Bedinp r. 
 Bell, Milton Brown, Buffington, Burt, William W. Campbell, John H. 
 Campbell, Carroll, John G. Chapman, Cocke, Collamer, Cranston, Croxier, 
 Dargan, Darragh, Garrett Davis, Jefferson Davi-, Dorkrry, John H. 
 Ewing, Edwin H. Ewinjr, Foot, Fries, Giddings, Graham, Gridi-r, Grin- 
 nell, Hampton, Harper, Herrick, Billiard, Hoge, Elias B. Holmes, Saimu-1 
 D. Hubbard, Hudson, Washington Hunt, Charles J. Ingersoll, Joseph R. 
 Ingersoll, Joseph Johnson, Daniel P. King, Thomas B. King, Leak*', 
 Lewis, Levin, Long, Maclay, James McDowell, McCiaughcy, MoHenry, 
 Mcllvaine, Marsh, Barkley Martin, Miller, Moseley, Parrish, Pendleton, 
 Perrill, Pollock, John A. Rockwell, Root, Runk, Sawtelle, Schenck, Sea- 
 man, Severance, Alexander D. Sims, Truman Smith, Albert Smith, Caleb 
 B. Smith, Stephens, Strohm, Thibodeaux, Thomasson, Tilden, Trumbo, 
 Yinton, Wood, Woodruff, Woodward, Wright, Yancey, and Young. 
 
 So the said resolution was rejected. 
 
 1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 28, 1846. 
 
 On motion of Mr. OWEN, the House resolved itself into 
 Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. 
 BURT, of South Carolina, in the chair,) and resumed the 
 consideration of the bill to provide for the establishment of 
 the Smithsonian Institution for the 'increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge amongst men, and the amendments thereto 
 pending. 
 
 Mr. A. B. SIMS said that, before entering on the consider- 
 ation of the main question before the committee, he desired 
 to invite its attention to the consideration of the Smithso- 
 nian fund, arid to express his views upon what he considered 
 to be the true light in which that fund should .be regarded. 
 
 Under the will of the late James Smithson, the bequest 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 437 
 
 made by him was paid over to the United States. The 
 money, under the action of Congress, was loaned out to 
 certain States. JSTo matter for what purpose that fund 
 might be dedicated, the faith and the honor of the country, 
 by the action of Congress, were pledged to regard it at all 
 times as being in the Treasury of the United States ; and 
 the United States was in tact itself a creditor of the States 
 to^vhom the money was loaned; so that the Arkansas, or 
 Michigan, or Illinois bonds or securities or the securities 
 of any State to which this money had been loaned were 
 in fact debts due to the general Government ; and the fund 
 itself must be regarded as in the Treasury of the United 
 States. 
 
 ^ Mr. MCCLELLAND here rose to explain, and (Mr. SIMS 
 yielding) Mr. McClelland said that a misapprehension pre- 
 vailed in the committee as to the payment of the interest by 
 the State of Michigan on that portion of the Smithsonian fund 
 invested in the bonds of that State. He considered this 
 interest paid ; arid from the report of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, it appeared that the amount claimed to be due on 
 the 1st of January last was $181.07 ; and this had, in all 
 probability, been more than paid by the application of the 
 five per cent, fund up to this period. In June, 1845, the 
 then auditor-general of the State of Michigan endeavored 
 to obtain a statement of this account, and the five per cent, 
 fund, in order to make provision for the payment of any 
 balance that might be found due, but failed. On the 7th of 
 November last, he wrote and requested him (Mr. McClel- 
 land) to make the necessary inquiries, with the same view ; 
 and soon after his arrival, at the commencement of this session, 
 he wrote to the proper department for the required informa- 
 tion, but did not receive any reply until the 27th of Febru- 
 ary, and then he was advised that the small amount before 
 stated was due. This statement he had forwarded to the pres- 
 ent auditor-general. He (Mr. McClelland) had no doubt pro- 
 vision would be made for the prompt payment of the interest 
 hereafter to accrue if the five per cent, fund was found to 
 be insufficient. Whilst up, he would state that the authori- 
 ties of Michigan had consented to the application of the 
 five per cent, fund to the payment of this interest, and that 
 the resolution passed by the last Congress, directing this 
 application, was shown to him by the chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Ways and Means [Mr. McKAY] before it was 
 offered, and was fully approved of by him, and was sup- 
 ported by the entire delegation from Michigan in both 
 Houses. In conclusion, he would say, that he believed the 
 
438 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 State would make every effort to pay all just claims against 
 it; and in regard to this fund, would at all times pay the 
 interest fairly and honorably. 
 
 Mr. SIMS continued. He had not intended (he said) by 
 any remark he had made to inculpate any State to which 
 this fund might have been loaned. He merely wished to- 
 show what the duty and the obligation of the Government 
 were in regard to the fund itself. Whatever disposition 
 might finally be made of it whether an institution such as 
 was contemplated should be established ; whether the fund 
 should be returned to the British chancery ; or whether it 
 should be distributed among the heirs of Smithson no 
 difficulty ought to arise as to the fact of the fund itsi-lf hav- 
 ing been loaned out by the Government; and that, for all 
 honorable, practical, and proper purposes, it must be re- 
 garded in good faith as in the Treasury of the United 
 States, to be devoted to whatever purpose might be thought 
 proper. For his own part, he had no apprehension or fear 
 but what each of the States would in good time and in good 
 faith redeem their obligations, and refund every dollar that 
 had been loaned to them. 
 
 He now approached the main question. Much had been 
 said in praise of the munificent arid splendid liberality of 
 James Smithson. It had been said that, animated by a 
 spirit of benevolence to hia race, he had made 1 his will, con- 
 stituted the Government of the United States his trustee to 
 carry out his intentions, and had dedicated to the noble 
 purpose of the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men an entire estate, under the management of the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States. It was" not his (Mr. Sims) 
 disposition, nor was it his wont, nor would it become him, 
 to speak in terms of reproach of one who now slept under 
 the sod. But he must be permitted -to say, that none of 
 these feelings of pride and admiration which seemed to 
 glow in the bosoms of some gentlemen, in contemplating 
 the will of Mr. Smithson, found an echo in his (Mr. Sims) 
 heart. He saw in the will of that individual what he had 
 seen in the wills of many other men. After having griped, 
 through their lives, every shilling that came into their 
 hands, animated at last by some posthumous vanity, they 
 sought to build up a name which should live after them ; 
 and such, rather than any feeling for humanity, so much 
 lauded, was the motive that guided them. In the present 
 case he saw abundant evidence of this disposition in the ap- 
 pointment of the Government of the United States as a 
 trustee to carry out this splendid vanity. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 
 
 Mr. S. then proceeded to contend that the Government 
 was not instituted for any such purposes as the administra- 
 tion of charities. There was no grant of power in the 
 Constitution admitting such an exercise. And as there was 
 no such power, and as this fund was still under our control, 
 and as the trust had not been executed, it became Congress 
 to pause, and to retrace, so far as possible, the errors it had 
 already committed. There was but one power in the Con- 
 stitution under which this charity could be administered, 
 and that was as a local legislature for the District of Colum- 
 bia. But that would not fall within the intention and 
 design of the testator. It was not intended that this fund 
 should be applied to the exclusive purpose of the use of the 
 District of Columbia. The only true course would be to 
 reject all these plans, including the substitute which had 
 been offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts, -[Mr. 
 ADAMS.] And if this were done, he (Mr. Sims) pledged him- 
 self that, should no other member do so, he would intro- 
 duce a bill repealing all laws heretofore enacted on this 
 subject, and giving authority and direction for the restora- 
 tion of the money to the British chancery. It could then 
 be devoted to purposes in England similar to those which 
 had been contemplated in the city of Washington. The 
 only difference would be in the location of the institution. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS said, in this matter he was in favor of carry- 
 ing out the principle of the ancient proverb " Catch the 
 bear before you sell his skin." But a very small portion of 
 these funds was now in the Treasury ; and the bill proposed 
 to take from the Treasury the money of the people of the 
 United States, raised by taxation, to the amount of seven 
 or eight hundred thousand dollars, to be expended in lieu 
 of the fund of the late Mr. Smithson, which was not in our 
 power at present. The gentleman from South Carolina 
 [Mr. SIMS] said that this money was to be considered as if it 
 was in the Treasury of the United States. Mr. Adams 
 would be very glad if he could so consider it. 
 
 Mr. SIMS said, in the report which the gentleman from 
 Massachusetts made to this House a few years ago, he took 
 the identical ground that this money ought to be considered 
 in the Treasury, and that Arkansas, and the other States in 
 whose bonds this was invested, were debtors of the general 
 Government. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS replied, that if any report made by him three 
 or four years a^o stated that this money was to be consid- 
 ered in the Treasury of the United States, he would inform 
 the gentleman and the committee that he had had some 
 
440 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 experience since that time that convinced him very per- 
 fectly that it was not in the Treasury of the United States. 
 
 It was the office of the amendment which ho proposed, to 
 try to get it back into the Treasury, to enable the Congress 
 of the United States to redeem the pledge which they gave, 
 by the acceptance of this fund, to this nation, to the mem- 
 ory of the testator, and the civilized world, that it should 
 be faithfully applied according to the intentions of the 
 donor. The money was not in the Treasury, and could 
 not, without a violation of all reason, be consul' /< <i in it. 
 
 The question whether the Treasury of the United States, 
 or the people of the United States, were responsible lor 
 this money and for its application, according to the intent 
 of the testator, Mr. Adams was understood to say, was an- 
 other question. If it were necessary now, in order to redeem 
 the plighted faith of the nation, he was ready to vote an appro- 
 priation of that amount, or of ten times that amount, to be 
 raised by a tax upon the people. But he did not think the 
 contingency had arisen, and especially that it hud not arisen 
 for the application of the money to any of the purposes 
 proposed in this bill. 
 
 He had heard with great delight the learned and ingeni- 
 ous remarks of the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. MARSH] 
 a few days since ; and especially that portion which advo- 
 cated the application of that fund ultimately to the only 
 purpose of erecting a great and magnificent library, instead 
 of the paltry application of 5,000 a year out of 'the more 
 than $80,000 which this sum ought to give us. There was 
 no other object to which it could be more worthilv applied 
 to promote the object of the testator. 
 
 To the main object proposed by the bi-11 viz : the appli- 
 cation of a large portion of the fund to the education of 
 teachers of normal schools Mr. Adams expressed his de- 
 cided opposition. He would rather have the whole money 
 thrown into the Potomac than to appropriate one dollar for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Mr. Adams alluded to some facts in the history of this 
 funds, bowing his own connection with it, the circumstances 
 under which it was received, the investment, three davs 
 after it was received, of $500,000 in Arkansas bonds, and 
 the remainder in bonds of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio; 
 the payment by Ohio of her interest and the failure on the 
 Pa of rr Arkansas to P a y a cent of her interest, &c. 
 
 Mr. IHURMAN (Mr. Adams yielding) inquired for infor- 
 mation of Mr. ADAMS whether this investment in the bonds 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 441 
 
 of Arkansas was made without am* warrant or authority 
 of law ? 
 
 Mr. ADAMS. The fact is directly the reverse. Mr. Adams 
 stated the circumstances under which the legalized invest- 
 ment was made. On a bill for the support of the West 
 Point Academy, a provision was engrafted (he said) that 
 this fund should be invested in State stocks. He com- 
 mented upon the incongruity of the two subjects in terms 
 which excited the merriment of the committee. 
 
 He next reviewed the legislative history of this subject 
 during the four Congresses which have elapsed since the 
 receipt of the fund eight years since, giving a minute ac- 
 count of the various propositions made in reports to both 
 Houses of Congress, and their respective fates none of 
 them having received the sanction of both Houses. When 
 it first came before Congress, and he believed this money 
 was in the Treasury of the United States, he was of opin- 
 ion among the sciences the pursuit of which was recom- 
 mended by the testator, that of astronomy was the first to 
 which a portion of the interest should be applied. 
 
 In the administration of this fund there were two or 
 three principles that should be pursued. One was, that it 
 should never cost the people of the United States a dollar 
 that it should support itself. Another, that no part should 
 ever be applied to the ordinary purposes of education of 
 children. He felt on that subject something the feeling of 
 the gentleman from Michigan, [Mr. CHIPMAN,] that it was 
 unworthy the people of the United States to receive foreign 
 aid for the education of their children. It was their own 
 duty to do it for themselves, and not to depend on any elee- 
 mosynary bequest for it. There was no way in which the 
 States could more degrade themselves than by relying on 
 foreign aid or on the general Government for the education 
 of their children. He differed with him on other points, 
 however, and thought it highly proper that it should be re- 
 ceived to carry out the intent of the testator, for the 
 " increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 Mr. SIMS, of South Carolina, inquired of the gentleman 
 from Massachusetts the power under the Constitution by 
 which Congress was authorized to accept and administer 
 this fund ? 
 
 Mr. ADAMS. If the gentleman will point me to the power 
 in the Constitution of the United States to annex Texas, I 
 will answer his question. 
 
 Mr. SIMS. If the gentleman finds the power under the 
 same clause, it is certainly a novel clause under which to 
 
442 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 claim it that which, in express terms, permits new States 
 to be admitted into the Union. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS. I presume the gentleman considers that a 
 constructive power ; and if so, it will answer for what it m 
 worth. He (Mr. Adams) could find in the Constitution many 
 clauses besides that authorizing Congress to provide for the 
 common defence and general welfare. What means more 
 efficient to this end than the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men. 
 
 Mr. Adams further opposed the application proposed by 
 the bill under consideration to the ordinary purposes of edu- 
 cation, on the ground of inequality of the benefits it would 
 confer the State of Massachusetts, (a fact of which he was 
 proud,) the State of New York, the "Empire State," and 
 Virginia, another empire State, (to whose citizens our pres- 
 ent Minister to Brazil, before he left the country, addressed 
 a letter, calling on them to tax themselves for the education 
 of their children for which he should honor him, if 
 he had never done anything else in his life,) and other 
 States having themselves made provision for the education 
 of their children, so that they would not thank Congress 
 for making this application of this fund. The State of In- 
 diana, from which the gentleman [Mr. OWEN] came, who 
 reported this bill, had property enough to take care of her 
 own children, without wasting this fund for such a purpose. 
 
 He would say nothing further of other provisions of the 
 bill. Some of them were proper, others were not. But an 
 experience of eight or ten years, since we received this 
 money, had shown him, that whenever distinguished scien- 
 tific men were called upon for their opinions, scarcely two 
 agreed. 
 
 In addition to the application of a portion of this fund tc* 
 the science of astronomy, there was another provision which 
 he found, and which he was happy to see this bill made, 
 viz : that no portion of the fund should be appropriated 
 that it should be a perpetual fund. It was the interest 
 which was to be applied. 
 
 But in the meantime, while this delay had taken place, 
 he was delighted that an astronomical observatory not 
 perhaps so great as it should have been had been smuggled 
 into the number of the institutions of the country, under 
 the mask of a small depot for charts, &c. There was not 
 one word about it 'in the law. He would like to ask the 
 gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. SIMS,] where was the 
 power under the Constitution to make this appropriation ? 
 
 Mr. SIMS said, he did not know ; but since the doc- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 443- 
 
 trine promulgated by a distinguished President of the Uni- 
 ted States, of erecting light-houses in the skies, had grown- 
 into popular favor, he should presume that the gentleman 
 would iind no difficulty as to the question of power. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS said he was very glad to hear that it had 
 grown into popular favor. The appropriation for this astro- 
 nomical observatory, he repeated, had been clandestinely 
 smuggled into the law, under the head of a depot for charts, 
 when a short time before a provision had been inserted in a 
 bill passed, that no appropriation should be applied to an 
 astronomical observatory. He claimed no merit for the 
 erection of the astronomical observatory ; but in the course 
 of his whole life, no conferring of honor, of interest, of 
 office, had given him more delight than the belief that he 
 had contributed, in some small degree, to produce these 
 astronomical observatories, both here and elsewhere. He 
 no longer wished any portion of this fund applied to an 
 astronomical observatory. 
 
 Nor did he think it important to the people that any pro- 
 vision of this bill should be carried into effect immediately, 
 but rather that measures should be taken to induce the 
 States to pay the interest on their bonds, and then let the 
 money be appropriated to any purpose on which Congress 
 could agree more unanimously than on this bill. 
 
 He noticed among the objections made, that against, mak- 
 ing of this institution an incorporation. He urged that it 
 was indispensably necessary to form the board into an in- 
 corporation ; that unless it were done, the funds would be 
 wasted in five years ; that there would be no power in the 
 institution, not even the power of succession ; that it would 
 fall into the hands of a joint committee of Congress, who 
 would dispose of it as faction, party spirit, or caprice should 
 dictate. He scouted the idea of the unconstitutionality of 
 the establishment, by Congress, of the corporations in the 
 District of Columbia, as in contravention of the uniform 
 legislation of the country, in the corporation of colleges, 
 benevolent societies, the National Institute, &c. 
 
 In conclusion, believing that they could not agree very 
 well on this bill, and that, by the time we got this money of 
 Arkansas and the other States, they could agree better, he 
 sent up to the clerk's table, where it was again read, the 
 amendment of which he gave notice last week. 
 
 On the faith (he said) of observations of the gentleman 
 from Michigan, that Michigan had regularly paid the in- 
 terest on her bonds, he modified his amendment, by striking 
 out the word " Michigan," wherever it occurred therein. 
 
444 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 [Whilst Mr. ADAMS was speaking, the Speaker resumed 
 the chair informally, to receive a message from the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, by the hands of J. K. Walker, 
 Esq., his private secretary, informing the House that the 
 President had yesterday approved and signed the joint reso- 
 lution of notice to Great Britain, to annul and abrogate the 
 convention of 1827 respecting the Oregon territory. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS remarked : A propitious interruption of the 
 few remarks worthless, in comparison which I was ad- 
 dressing to the committee !] 
 
 When Mr. ADAMS had concluded 
 
 Mr. TIBBATTS rose to propose an amendment, which, not 
 being at the moment in order, was not presented. 
 
 Mr. A. JOHNSON expressed himself favorable to the adop- 
 tion of the substitute amendment of Mr. ADAMS ; but pro- 
 posed, if that substitute should be voted down, to amend 
 the first section as follows : 
 
 Strike out all after the word " next," in the llth line, to 
 the word " be," in the 14th line, and insert the following : 
 
 " And actually paid into the Treasury of the United States by the States 
 which have borrowed and used said fund." 
 
 Mr. Johnson was satisfied (he said) that a large majority of 
 the House was opposed to taking this sum out of the Treasu r y , 
 for the purpose of establishing such an institution as was 
 contemplated by this bill. It was true that the money had 
 been received by the Government of the United States ; but 
 if the Government had been acting in good faith, and had 
 vested these funds in bonds of the States, arid these States 
 had repudiated or refused to pay, was there a man here, who 
 at this time would be willing to take this amount out of the 
 pockets of his constituents for the erection of an institution 
 of this kind? Was this Government bound to levy a tax 
 upon the people for such a purpose ? If it had been acting 
 fairly as a trustee, if it had acted in good faith, and if this 
 fund had been lost and destroyed, and not intentionally per- 
 verted or misapplied, it was no more responsible than any 
 other trustee under such circumstances would be. 
 
 Some conversation took place between Mr. Johnson and 
 Mr. Sims of South Carolina, as to the legal liability of trus- 
 tees in certain cases. 
 
 Mr. Johnson insisted that there was neither authority for, 
 nor justice in, taking this sum of money from the pockets of 
 the people for the establishment of this institution, and he 
 contended that no substantial good could result to the mass 
 of the people, and that an annual appropriation would be 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGKESS, 1845-47. 445 
 
 necessary from the Treasury of the United States to keep 
 it in operation. 
 
 Mr. RATHBUN said he knew very little about this subject. 
 He had taken very little pains to examine the bill before 
 the committee. He had read no reports from previous 
 committees. He had heard what had been said in relation 
 to the project generally. And there were a few things con- 
 nected with facts known to everybody which would control 
 his vote. 
 
 We had received a fund of half a million of dollars and 
 upwards, and had pledged the faith of the Government to 
 execute the trust in the manner directed by the will of the 
 testator a solemn pledge in which every department of 
 the Government had united. The fund was received for a 
 particular and specified purpose a purpose noble in its ob- 
 ject, and desirable to all men who had any regard for the 
 welfare of the human family. We had received this money, 
 he repeated, to be applied to a specific purpose. Had it 
 been so applied ? We were told that we were riot in pos- 
 session of the money ; that it had been loaned out improp- 
 erly and improvidently to States that refused to pay. Were 
 we authorized to loan it to States, whether they would pay 
 or not? Was it given to us to be loaned out to any one ? 
 Was it not expressly designed by the person who gave it to 
 the Government that it should be applied to a particular 
 purpose, and none other ? And was it not received on the 
 condition that it should be so applied ? 
 
 After yielding for an inquiry to Mr. A. Johnson, Mr. Rath- 
 burn proceeded. This Government had misapplied a fund 
 given for a specific purpose ; and when it was called upon, 
 through a respectable committee, to appropriate the money 
 to the object for which it was received, it was no answer to 
 say, " We have loaned it out to the States, and they cannot pay 
 us." It would not answer for an individual to say so still 
 .less for a nation like ours. We were bound to-day, and we 
 had been bound every day, when Congress was in session, 
 for eight years past, to appropriate the money honestly, 
 without undertaking to avoid the just responsibility by an 
 excuse which was one of our own creation. Arkansas, it 
 is said would not pay, and some other States refused to pay 
 the interest. That was a matter between this Government 
 and the State of Arkansas, and was no answer to the solemn 
 pledge given to apply this money to a specific purpose. 
 
 The question arose, how should the money be appropri- 
 ated ? What was the mode best calculated to produce the 
 most beneficial results? One gentleman wanted a library; 
 
44(3 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 another, an observatory; a third, common schools ; a fourth, 
 farming schools; a fifth, some other particular object; and 
 among the number was that proposed by the bill under con- 
 sideration. For his own part, he did not feel disposed to 
 object to any plan bearing plausibility on its face. He was 
 in favor of expending the money in some way, and upon 
 some scheme, faithfully and honestly ; but, above all, he was 
 in favor of appropriating and expending the money, whether 
 the final result should be good or not, He wished to wipe 
 out the stain which rested on the character of this Govern- 
 ment of withholding the money because we were not able 
 to discover the best mode of expending it. Let us take one 
 6 tep let us do something ; and if any blunder should be 
 committed, experience would enable us to correct it. In 
 his judgment, a library was the least plausible of the 
 schemes^ proposed. The plan proposed in the bill was, in 
 his opinion, one of the best that had been suggested. 
 
 The gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. A. JOHNSON] had 
 asked whether any gentleman here would take the money 
 from the pockets of the people for this purpose. He, (Mr. 
 liathburn,) for one, answered " yes." Let us take this 
 money which the Government had taken, and, if gentlemen 
 pleased, had squandered; let us honestly appropriate it and 
 expend it as was designed. 
 
 He represented a constituency who would be among the 
 last in the world to withhold a fair and honest expenditure 
 of the public money, because the Government representing 
 the people had misapplied it. He had no fear of a con^tii- 
 uency worthy to be represented here, for doing what was 
 honest on behalf of the Government and reputable on be- 
 half of themselves. We had had the gold, as we had been 
 informed. It had been placed in the public Treasury. It 
 had not been wasted by accident. It had been applied un- 
 der the deliberate action of the Government. The ( Jovern- 
 ment held the bonds. It might at some future day receive 
 the money for them ; but he did not believe in the propriety 
 of waiting until, by " moral suasion," or any other kind of 
 persuasion, the money was to be recovered from that im- 
 provident loan. He was ready to vote for the bill in which, 
 so far as he understood it, he could discover no objection- 
 able features. It had been digested and arranged by a 
 committee as competent in point of learning, judgment, 
 and capacity, as could be found in this or any other coun- 
 try. Some confidence must be placed in their recommenda- 
 tions, otherwise no action ever could be had on the subject. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 447 
 
 If the plan had defects, time would develop them, and the 
 proper remedy could be applied. 
 
 Mr. FICKLIN opposed the bill. He thought, however, 
 that the good faith of the Government required that this 
 money should be considered as being in the Treasury, and 
 that we could not excuse ourselves by saying that the. fund 
 had been loaned out to the States, and "could not now be 
 realized. 
 
 The objections which he entertained to the bill applied 
 to all its sections ; but to the first, his objection was radical. 
 He alluded to the connection to be established between this 
 institution and the Treasury of the United States. A mil- 
 lion of dollars would be required to meet the deficiency in 
 this Smithsonian bequest. 
 
 He was willing to expend the money for a library ; or in 
 carrying out the propositions of a substitute bill which he 
 had prepared in building a house and providing a library, 
 and for scientific apparatus. He was in favor of any sys- 
 tem, or plan, by which the fund could be disconnected from 
 the Treasury of the United States. 
 
 Mr. OWEN desired to inquire whether the gentleman pro- 
 posed to appropriate the principal, or the interest only? 
 
 Mr. FICKLIN said he was willing that the gentleman and 
 others who were the peculiar friends of the bill, should take 
 their own course in that respect. He (Mr. Ficklin) was will- 
 ing to apply the whole of the principal, or a part of it, to 
 keep up whatever institution might be adopted ; or he was 
 willing that the sum of $500,000 should be loaned to some 
 natural or artificial person, and that the interest alone 
 should be applied. He was indifferent on that point. The 
 great object he had in view was, he repeated, the discon- 
 nection of the fund from the public Treasury. He was for 
 any bill in preference to this. 
 
 Mr. OWEN. Does the gentleman understand that one dol- 
 lar, except that belonging to the Smithsonian fund, is ap- 
 propriated by this bill either presently or prospectively ? 
 
 Mr. FICKLIN. The first section of the bill connects the 
 fund with the Treasury places it in the Treasury. 
 
 Mr. OWEN. Xot places it there ; it was placed there eight 
 years ago. 
 
 Mr. FICKLIN. Exactly so; but this bill recognizes it there 
 by law. Then the interest is to be paid upon the money, 
 out of the Treasury. This is sucking the life-blood from 
 the Treasury. We do not want to create a perpetual debt 
 of interest upon half a million of money, to be paid whilst 
 this Government endures. We want no such polypus no 
 
448 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 such wen fastened upon the Government. As to present or 
 prospective appropriations, I say that the machinery, the 
 paraphernalia, connected with this bill, cannot be carried 
 out on a respectable scale for less (Mr. Ficklin was under- 
 stood to say) than one million of dollars a year. It is, to be 
 sure,, provided that the money shall not come out of the 
 Treasury at present ; but do we not know that subsequent 
 Congresses can enlarge the appropriations ? Experience 
 should teach us to guard against everything of this kind. 
 
 He regarded the bill as one of the most odious and 
 abominable ever presented here. He would rather see 
 this half million returned to the British court of chancery ; 
 he would rather see ten millions sunk to the bottom of the 
 Potomac, or melted, or destroyed, than see this bill pass. 
 
 Mr. THURMAN said that he had heard it stated this morn- 
 ing that the investment of the Smithsonian fund in State 
 bonds was an act unauthorized by law. Not having time 
 to investigate the laws himself, he had privately inquired of 
 a number of members whether such was the fact, but they 
 were unable to inform him. He had thereupon made the 
 inquiry of the gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. ADAMS,] 
 whose acquaintance with the subject was so thorough. 
 The inquiry was important; for if the investment was 
 an unauthorized act, it would not do for this Government 
 to shield itself behind the misconduct of its officer, and say 
 that the money is not in the Treasury. But if, on the other 
 hand, the Government had, in good faith, invested the fund 
 so that it might produce interest until an application of it 
 should be made, pursuant to the design of the testator, 
 then the objection of the gentleman from Massachusetts, 
 that the money is not in the Treasury, is entitled to great 
 weight. For, as a general rule, it is the duty of a trustee 
 to make the trust fund produce interest ; and the Govern- 
 ment of the United States probably did right in directing 
 this fund to be invested, and ought not, as a matter of 
 course, to be held bound to reimburse it at any moment on 
 a failure to pay by those to whom it had been loaned. 
 Whether 'the investments made were judicious or otherwise, 
 Mr. Thurman did not know. He had not inquired, for it 
 was not his purpose to cast censure anywhere. 
 
 As to the merits of the bill under consideration, he 
 Would do nothing more than express an opinion, without 
 going into any argument whatever. He could not vote for 
 the bill, unless it were most materially Changed. He was 
 opposed to the erection of an immense institution at the 
 city of Washington, that would ultimately become a charge 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 449 
 
 upon the Treasury, and would necessarily be partial in its 
 operations and benefits. He was rather inclined to believe 
 that the best disposition of the fund that could be made, 
 would be to invest the interest arising from it in a library. 
 There were great objections to this plan, to be sure. They 
 had been forcibly stated by the chairman of the select com- 
 mittee, [Mr. OWEN.] But there was one great recommenda- 
 tion it possessed that strougly influenced him. .That was, 
 that though it might not effect the greatest amount of bene- 
 fit that could be produced by the fund, it was not liable to 
 the abuses to which all the other plans would probably give 
 rise. It would create no large body of oflice holders, no 
 patronage, no favoritism, no partial, sectional advantages. 
 
 Mr. OWEN wished to say a few words in reply to the gen- 
 tleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. ADAMS.] He was very 
 sorry that duty devolved upon him. He had for that gen- 
 tleman, in more senses than one, a most wholesome respect. 
 Not only did he respect his character most sincerely, his 
 acquirements, his long experience, his information, so accu- 
 rate on every subject, but in addition to all that, he had for 
 him, as opposed to him in argument, a most wholesome 
 respect. If any one who ever debated with him came oft 
 the better in the contest, it was while he (Mr. Owen) was 
 out of the House. And it was nothing but a sense of duty 
 which induced him to reply to the gentleman. 
 
 The gentleman from Massachusetts had labored more 
 zealously in this good cause than, perhaps, any other indi- 
 vidual. He read from a report of Mr. ADAMS, of March, 
 1840, in regard to the application of these moneys, in which, 
 among other things, it was declared : 
 
 " It will be perceived that the United States have made themselves credi- 
 tors to the States, and made themselves responsible for the punctual payment 
 of the interest of these bonds," &c. 
 
 That (said Mr. Owen) was the opinion of the gentleman 
 from Massachusetts, in 1840 ; it was Mr. Owen's opinion 
 to-day. He believed it is the United States that are the cred- 
 itors of the State of Arkansas, and the other States, and that 
 their faith is plighted for the due administration of this 
 fund. And this included the question of time. Delay was 
 equivalent to denial ; to say you will administer a fund fifty 
 years hence, is to say you will not administer it at all. 
 
 But not only in 1840, but a much later date, when every- 
 body knew that Arkansas had failed for three years to pay 
 her interest, did 'the gentleman from Massachusetts bring 
 in a bill in June, 1844, (from which Mr. Owen read) which 
 went further than the bill now before the committee, abso- 
 29 
 
450 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 lately declaring that $800,000 was now in the Treasury of the 
 United States, the interest of which, being about $88,000, 
 
 more than this bill applied, was to be appropriated. 
 
 He alluded to the objection of Mr. FICKLIN, that we should 
 doubtless appropriate hundreds of thousands moiv than this 
 sura, if we now began; and said, in tin- unwillingness of 
 members to appropriate even the interest, there was no very 
 ereat reason to imagine that they would be so ready to ap- 
 propriate a larger sum, not included in this amount at all. 
 over which the" institution has no right and with which n<> 
 
 connection. 
 
 He was no lawyer, and would not argue the ewe techni- 
 cally ; but he would say, if there be any means of Lowering 
 our national character over the whole civilized world (and 
 with so small a gain to the Government) more effectually 
 than this, he did not know what it was. lh- held in regard 
 to public and private morals there is no difference. 
 interest that had accrued on this sum was about $242,000, 
 (about one-half of which had been paid,) or about one-hun- 
 dredth part of the annual expenditures and receipts of the 
 Government; and, in addition to this, we had some ten or 
 twelve thousand dollars surplus in the Treasury. And still 
 we claimed that we were relieved of the obligation for this 
 money, because we had invested it in stocks, the interest 
 of which was not paid. It was like a man with an annual 
 income of $2,000, and in addition having (say) $ 1,000 de- 
 posited in bank, who had loaned to a wayward or unfortu- 
 nate son $20, (one hundredth part of his income,) which he 
 had received in trust for a friend ; and who, one-half of it 
 having been paid, when called upon for the return of that 
 trust, "should refuse it on the ground that one-half of the 
 sum had not been paid by his son, to w r hom, as trustee of 
 the fund, he had loaned it*! No one w r ould hesitate to say 
 that, as a matter of common justice and honesty, he should 
 pay this small amount, even if the son never paid it to him. 
 And what we ought to do as individuals, we ought also to 
 do as public men. 
 
 He would not follow the gentleman from Massachusetts 
 through the whole course of his remarks. He believed the 
 gentleman admitted that the Government was ultimately 
 responsible for the application of this fund according to the 
 intention of the testator. If it did happen (which was not 
 probable, for he did not doubt her) that Arkansas did not at 
 some future period pay the interest, we should be called 
 upon to pay it from the Treasury, according to the gentle- 
 . man from Massachusetts. Xow, he wanted to know what 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 451 
 
 the difference between taxing our constituents (as the 
 phrase \yas) then and now ? So far as the burden was con- 
 cerned, it was nothing; so far as reputation was concerned, 
 it was everything. The first duty of a trustee was to carry 
 into effect the object of the trust; and if this duty was 
 neglected, were we not bound to provide at least against 
 the loss of the fund ? 
 
 In reference to the advocacy by Mr. ADAMS of the appli- 
 cation of the fund to a library, and to some remarks of Mr, 
 Adams, (as the reporter understood,) that it was more in 
 accordance with his fancy, Mr. Owen urged that fancy should 
 have nothing to do with the question ; that we were bound to 
 appropriate this fund strictly according to the intentions of 
 the testator, whose intentions the appropriation of the prin- 
 cipal portion of which to a library, he argued, could not 
 meet, inasmuch as, though a library might tend to the 
 " diffusion," it would not to the " increase " " of knowl- 
 edge among men ;" and as if a library had been intended 
 by Mr. Smithson, he would undoubtedly have expressed it. 
 
 He was not specially wedded to this feature of normal 
 schools, yet he confessed he considered it the most impor- 
 tant one in the bill. And the gentleman from Massachu- 
 setts wholly misunderstood him if he supposed that his 
 (Mr. Owen's) proposition was to supersede the State normal 
 schools. It was rather a supplement to them an institution 
 which would carry them further, where the science of edu- 
 cation should be improved. And for this they had high 
 authoritj 7 . He referred to Mr. Van Buren's language on 
 the subject, from which, though not express to this point 
 he considered the inference fair that he would be in favor 
 of such a feature. 
 
 As to the disgrace of educating our children with foreign 
 aid, there was no proposition in this bill to educate children, 
 but the teachers of children. And as to the disgrace, it 
 might be said with equal propriety that it was disgraceful 
 to receive foreign aid for the founding a library. 
 
 One special portion of the duties of this normal branch 
 would be to call the attention of the States generally to 
 these normal schools, and it might, and he hoped would, in 
 this way, become the means of increasing these schools. 
 
 In conclusion, he said the practical effect of the amend- 
 ment of Mr. ADAMS would be to postpone the matter indef- 
 initely. His (Mr. Owen's) opinion coincided much more 
 nearly with the opinion heretofore expressed (from a source 
 he respected so highly) on at least four different occasions ; 
 -and he hoped that Congress would no longer delay to 
 
452 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 appropriate this fund, as in honor and justice they were 
 bound, so as to carry out as near as might be the intentions 
 of James Smithson. 
 
 Mr. E. H. EWING dissented from that part of the amend- 
 ment of Mr. ADAMS which went to make a legislative 
 promise that nothing should be done until the arrears of 
 interest were collected from the States in whose bonds the 
 funds had been invested ; and gave notice of a motion to 
 strike it out. 
 
 He was not able to say that this Government had per- 
 formed in a proper manner the duties of trustee, and with 
 proper precaution invested these funds. Clearly, if this in- 
 vestment had thus been made, and the duties of trustee 
 faithfully performed, the Government could not be held to 
 assume the debt, and carry out the intentions of the tes- 
 tator. 
 
 He could not agree with Mr. SIMS that this fund could 
 ever be replaced In the chancery of England. This Gov- 
 ernment was now a trustee in regard to this fund. By its 
 acceptance of it, it had obligated itself to make a disposal 
 of it according to the intentions of the testator, and was 
 incapable of divesting itself of it. 
 
 If it had been properly invested, as a trustee should in- 
 vest it, the Government was not bound, for the sake of 
 keeping up its name, to make an appropriation of the 
 money -of the people of the United States for tin- support of 
 this charity, or any other. The question was, whether this 
 investment had been made in good faith whether at the 
 time there was a reasonable probability that it would be re- 
 turned, or the interest on it paid regularly. 
 
 That question he was not able now to determine, and he 
 presumed this was the case with other members of the 
 House. Hence, in the absence from the Treasury of this 
 fund, he was willing to postpone action on the subject for 
 the present. 
 
 Mr. J. Q. ADAMS had, he said, a few words to say. In re- 
 gard to the purposes of this bequest, and the obligation and 
 duty of the United States to carry them into effect, he agreed 
 with the honorable chairman of the committee who reported 
 the bill. Both had the same object in view. In regard to 
 the mode of reaching the object, he did not agree with the 
 gentleman. He regretted this difference of opinion ; but 
 in all the public discussions of this question, hardly any two 
 persons had been found to agree. If he differed from the 
 honorable chairman, the honorable chairman had also dif- 
 fered from all who had preceded him in the investigation of 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 453 
 
 this subject. This bill was entirely different from any that 
 had been reported heretofore. The chairman had done him 
 the honor to refer to his (Mr. Adams') former views on this 
 subject, but did not propose to carry them out. It was im- 
 portant to the argument to consider how the fund was 
 expended. He admitted that at the time when the fund 
 was invested in Arkansas stocks, those stocks were at par, 
 as were all the State stocks. The banks afterwards sus- 
 pended, and not only the Arkansas stocks, but all the State 
 stocks depreciated. The interest on these bonds was not 
 paid, and it was the same case w T ith the bonds of other 
 States. He entertained and cherished the hope that, bv 
 means of what he called moral suasion by considera- 
 tions of justice between State and State, and man and 
 man the people of Arkansas, having this subject presented 
 to them year after year by the President of the United 
 States, would, for the sake of their own honor and interests, 
 pay the debt. He had that faith. Mr. Adams went on to 
 explain the provisions of his substitute for the bill. He pro- 
 posed that no appropriation for the purposes of this institu- 
 tion should be made a tax on the people of the United 
 States. Should this be agreed to, and become a part of the 
 act, he believed that it would be more effectual in persuad- 
 ing the people of Arkansas to pay this money, than would 
 be the thunder of the line-of-battle ships with which we 
 have been lately threatened in the British Parliament. No 
 application of force w r as proposed by him. He would speak 
 to them only as friends to friends. He would say to them, 
 we would not tax our own people to pay the sum for which 
 you are indebted which you ought to pay and which you 
 can pay almost without feeling it. 
 
 Mr. YELL said, with the leave of the honorable gentle- 
 man, he would make some explanations. The remarks of 
 the gentleman left it to be understood that the interest of 
 the Arkansas bonds had not been paid, and that the State 
 was not disposed to pay its debts. He wished to let the 
 House know the state of this matter. Half a million of 
 State bonds were (in 1838) sold, and the proceeds invested 
 in the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas. The bonds invested 
 were to be paid in twenty-five years. To secure them, was 
 pledged the bank capital of a million and a half, and real 
 estate which had been valued at three millions. In addition 
 to this, the State took the bills receivable and the assets of 
 the bank. The State at length saw its error, and the whole 
 country had opened its eyes to the evils of such a system. 
 The State acted as honestly as the nature of the case would 
 
454 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 admit. It wound up the bank, and determined to pay- 
 first, the outstanding notes, and second the special deposits. 
 All these had been paid. At the expiration of the time for 
 which the bonds were given, he had no doubt that they 
 would be paid ; and if the assets of the bank were insuffi- 
 cient, the State would pay them. 
 
 Mr. Yell also showed, from an official document, that about 
 ninety thousand dollars had been paid towards the interest 
 on these Arkansas bonds. He went on to show that the 
 State of Arkansas had been greatly misused by the general 
 Government. The distribution act passed in 1841. He, as 
 the Executive of Arkansas, recommended to the Legisla- 
 ture not to accept the share of that State. That body, 
 though one-third of them were good Whigs, unanimously 
 refused, to accept it. But the Secretary of the Treasury 
 credited the sum, not to Arkansas, but to the bank. The 
 bank received it, and there it remained. When Arkansas 
 came into the Union, five per cent, of the proceeds of lands 
 sold in her limits were given to the State. Till 1842, 
 the sum was promptly paid. After that time, the Govern- 
 ment retained the amount. He argued that they had no 
 more right to take it than they had to take the lands Bel 
 apart for the support of schools. When the Government 
 was disposed to do justice to Arkansas, the people of that 
 State would be better enabled to meet their obligations. 
 The assets of the bank were equal to the payment of all the 
 debts. 
 
 He would not, however, pledge his State to pay for the 
 default of the bank. When the bonds had become due, 
 and the bank was found unable to pay them, then the State 
 might be called upon. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS said the United States had nothing to do with 
 the bank. The State of Arkansas gave bonds for the 
 money, and they were in the Treasury now. The money 
 was paid to an agent, and the United States had nothing to 
 do with the investment of the money. 
 
 Mr. YELL said the State of Arkansas made a bank. They 
 issued bonds and invested them in the Real Estate Bank. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS. Sir, I had heard before that the State of 
 Arkansas never received any benefit from this money. But 
 it was paid to their authorized agents. It was received in 
 the name of the State, and not of the bank. As to the 
 argument that the money was invested in the bank, and the 
 bank was broken, he would leave that to such operation as 
 it might have upon this committee, and let it go for what it 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 455 
 
 was worth. He would say nothing to the disparagement of 
 the State of Arkansas, or of the Government of the United 
 States on account of this contract. But if the five hundred 
 thousand dollars in British sovereigns was sent by an agent 
 to the sovereign State of Arkansas, it was a matter of no 
 concern to the Government of the United States whether 
 the money was filched on the way. 
 
 Air. YELL here asked if the gentleman intimated that the 
 money was misapplied by any agent or agents of the State 
 of Arkansas ? 
 
 Mr. ADAMS had not said a word (he said) intimating any 
 such thing. He had stated the fact. He repeated that the 
 United States had nothing to do with the concerns of the 
 bank, which the gentleman had said was broken, and upon 
 which fact the gentleman had argued that the State was not 
 bound to pay the money. 
 
 Mr. Adams was very sorr} 7 (he said) that this question had 
 been brought on. He had made no reflection on the State 
 of Arkansas, or on the bank, or on the agent. He still 
 expressed the hope that the State of Arkansas, after an 
 appeal to her sense of justice and honor, would pay the 
 principal and interest of the debt as it became due. 
 
 As to the State of Michigan, that portion of the substi- 
 tute which applied to it he should strike out. The State 
 had made a provision for the payment of the money due by 
 her. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON wished to ask one or two questions 
 on this subject of the honorable chairman who reported the 
 bill. 
 
 Was the money appropriated by the bill actually in the 
 Treasury ? 
 
 Mr. OWEN said it would take a lawyer to answer such a 
 question. Half of the interest had been paid, and half not. 
 
 Mr. A. JOHNSON. Then I understand that more than two 
 hundred thousand dollars for the buildings, &c., are to be 
 paid, not out of the funds of the institution, but out of the 
 Treasury. He wished this to be understood by the people. 
 
 Mr. OWEN said the gentleman might so consider it ; but 
 he did not wish him to construe what he had said into an 
 admission that he [Mr. JOHNSON] was correct. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON said he would now propose a ques- 
 tion to the learned chairman of the Committee on the Judi- 
 ciary. The first section of the bill proposed to lend money 
 to the Treasury. Suppose we had loaned the fund to the 
 United States Bank, when it was in existence, and the bank 
 
45G CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 had failed, would the Government be bound to make good 
 
 the fund ? 
 
 Mr. RATHBUN had no objection to answer, as he said ; and, 
 -as a lawyer he would say, that a trustee investing money in 
 execution of a trust, and in good faith, would not be bound 
 to return it if it should be lost. But a Government pro- 
 fessino- to be the first in the world, ought not, in his opinion, 
 to avail itself of a legal and technical excuse, but should 
 proceed to see the trust faithfully executed. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON contended that the same moral 
 reasons applied in both cases. The bill itself, he proceeded 
 to show, did not hold the Government to be responsible, if 
 it acted in good faith ; for it provided that all the invest- 
 ments on account of the fund be pledged to refund the 
 money to the Treasury. This proved that the bill did not 
 appropriate money in the Treasury, and it was not bound 
 for the money. 
 
 There was something a little farcical and amusing in this 
 system of normal instruction, which was to provide the 
 country with school teachers. He would like to see a young 
 man, educated at the Smithsonian Institution, and brought 
 up in all the extravagance, folly, aristocracy, and corruption 
 of Washington, go out into the country to teach the little 
 boys and girls to read and write! Those young men, so 
 educated, would steal, or play the little pettifogger, sooner 
 than become teachers. Ninety-nine out of a hundred of 
 those who received the benefit of this institution would 
 hang about a law office get a license become a pack of 
 drones, instead of schoolmasters. Washington city was not 
 a place for such an institution. He believed that it would 
 result in an injury to the country instead of a benefit. 
 
 Mr. OWEN asked if the gentleman was aware that the will 
 of Mr. Smithson designated Washington city as the place 
 for the establishment of the institution ? 
 
 Mr. A. JOHNSON objected, he said, to the entire scheme. 
 
 Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS asked whether the gentleman would 
 send the money back to the court of chancery ? 
 
 Mr. A. JOHNSON replied that he objected to the whole 
 principle of the measure, and that he would send the money 
 back to the source from whence it came. 
 
 Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS followed, with some remarks in sup- 
 port of the measure. The Government was bound, after 
 solemnly accepting the trust, to execute it faithfully. 
 
 Mr. BELL spoke on the same side of the question. It was 
 eight years since the United States (he said) had accepted 
 this trust, which was one of a delicate and important char- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 457 
 
 acter. The question was, in what manner the trust should 
 be discharged. He held that the United States was respon- 
 sible for the fund, and ought to appropriate it for its object. 
 He hoped that Arkansas would one day pay the money, but 
 he feared it would be a distant clay. It was necessary to 
 act now. He did not wholly approve of the bill reported, 
 but he would take it rather than do nothing. 
 
 Mr. HOUGH sent to the Chair a substitute for the bill, 
 which he, gave notice he would offer; and it was read. 
 
 The committee then rose, and reported progress. 
 
 On motion of Mr. HOPKINS, (and under the operation of 
 the previous question,) a resolution was adopted, providing 
 that all debate on this bill (in committee) should cease in 
 one hour after it shall again have been taken up. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 29, 1846. 
 
 On motion of Mr. McKAY, the House resolved itself into 
 Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, (Mr. 
 BURT, of South Carolina, in the chair,) and resumed the 
 consideration of the bill to provide for the establishment of 
 a Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men. 
 
 The amendment given notice by Mr. A. JOHNSON last 
 evening, was read, at the request of several members. 
 
 Some conversation ensued between Mr. OWEN and others. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN briefly addressed the committee. He re- 
 garded this fund as one which had been received by the 
 Government to carry out the intentions of Mr. Smithson, 
 to which, by their 'acceptance, they had solemnly bound 
 themselves. 
 
 He alluded to the difficulty nay, the impossibility of 
 any select committee agreeing upon a plan which in alMts 
 details should be in accordance with the views of all. Not- 
 withstanding this, he trusted we should ^ not let this oppor- 
 tunity s;o by to make a commencement in this matter. He 
 had not the" slightest doubt of the full and unqualified power 
 of this Government to take charge of this money and give 
 it the direction required by the will of Mr. Smithson. 
 
 While there were features in the bill with which he was 
 not entirely pleased, he should vote for the bill in case it 
 was not amended. But there were some amendments to 
 the bill of the a*entleman from Indiana [Mr. OWEN] to which 
 he would fain'hope that gentleman himself would lend a 
 favorable ear. One related to the appropriation of a part 
 of it to the science of agriculture. He referred to the gen- 
 eral and deplorable want of information of the components 
 
458 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the soil, the proper mode of treating it, the proper adap- 
 tation of crops to different soils, &c., and said he wished to 
 see connected with this institution a department of agricul- 
 tural chemistry, and a professor of agriculture proper. 
 
 Mr. OWEN (Mr. Hamlin yielding) explained that thnv was 
 an express provision of the bill to appoint professors of agri- 
 culture, and there was also another by which such profes- 
 sors of more useful arts and sciences were to be appointed, 
 which would undoubtedly include a professor of chemistry, 
 part of whose duties it would be to lecture on the applica- 
 tion of chemistry to agriculture. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN was aware of this ; but it should be more 
 specifically provided for. 
 
 He noticed one or two features of the bill, and suggested 
 one or two modifications he would like to see made ; but, 
 if it could not be amended, he urged its passage without 
 further delay as a matter of good faith, common honesty, 
 and one promising important benefits to the people and tin- 
 nation. He considered the money in the Treasury, and the 
 United States responsible for the investment of the fund 
 according to the intentions of the testator. 
 
 Mr. WOOD desired to say a very few words upon the bill. 
 Much had been said about national honor during this ses- 
 sion on this floor ; but if there ever \va> a point in which 
 the national honor was concerned, it was in carrying out the 
 intentions of the testator in his bequest. For my own part, 
 I consider it an honor to my country that the subject of a 
 monarchical government should have selected this as the 
 instrument of his expansive benevolence. The bill, how- 
 ever, before us was, in his opinion, defective in some of its 
 provisions. I refer particularly to that section which con- 
 templates a normal school. When this subject was first 
 mooted, this part of the bill struck him favorably; but, 
 upon more mature reflection, he had come to the conclusion 
 that this clause was objectionable. Normal instruction 
 could only be done, and well done, in the respective States, 
 among several of which it had already been commenced ; 
 and besides, sir, I should deprecate that kind of education 
 that should flow down from this place among the people. 
 He responded with all his heart to the remarks made by the 
 honorable gentleman from Maine, [Mr. HAMLIN,] in relation 
 to agricultural instruction. He would do all he could to 
 increase and diffuse useful knowledge among the masses, 
 but this could not, and would not be attained by such edu- 
 cation as would be obtained here, or by collecting at this 
 point a splendid library. The latter might, and unquestion- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 459 
 
 ably would, benefit those already learned, but not the people. 
 With the view of attaining that object, he should offer an 
 amendment, which 'he would ask the clerk to read. [The 
 clerk here read the amendment, which will be found, as 
 offered, at a subsequent stage of the proceedings.] lie had 
 hastily glanced at a substitute offered by his colleague, [Mr. 
 HOUGH,] just laid on his table, and which he thought was 
 less objectionable than the original bill. Yet, sir, I feel, in 
 common with others, what is due to the honorable gentle- 
 man from Indiana, [Mr. OWEN,] the chairman of the com- 
 mittee, for his exertions in this matter, and know how diffi- 
 cult it is to frame a bill to meet the views of all ; but 
 difficult as it might be, it was no reason why a beginning 
 should not be made to carry out the intentions of the testa- 
 tor. 
 
 Mr. A. D. SIMS offered a substitute for the bill; which 
 was read. 
 
 Mr. GILES submitted an amendment, providing for the 
 publication and distribution of books for the instruction of 
 the blind ; which was read. lie would say nothing in favor 
 of the amendment, just read, for it would be a libel on the 
 House to suppose that any argument in favor of it would be 
 required. He took it for granted that the committee would 
 now act on this subject, and he could not believe that the 
 proposition of the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. 
 ADAMS] would receive the sanction of the committee. In 
 the face of the world we had assumed this trust. We had 
 taken the money under the will of this distinguished 
 stranger, but we had delayed, for a long time, the execution 
 of the trust. He hoped the faith of the United States 
 would not be allowed to suffer any injury in the eyes of the 
 world, by longer delay of action on the subject. There 
 were some portions of the bill of the gentleman from Indi- 
 ana which he would like to see altered. While he had no 
 constitutional scruples himself as to the incorporation of 
 the institution, yet he would be willing, in courtesy to the 
 opinion of others, to strike out that provision from the bill, 
 for all its ends could be accomplished without it. He urged 
 the committee not to delay action, because there was diffi- 
 culty in each step before them. Congress had power to 
 alter and amend the act, and it was now necessary only to 
 take the initiatory step. The form could be altered from 
 time to time, so as to carry out the intentions of the testa- 
 tor. The objections urged to a normal school were not 
 well founded. It would send abroad a number of educated 
 men ; and was not education the richest boon that could be 
 
460 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 conferred on the country next to the preservation of lib- 
 erty. Our institutions were dependent upon intelligence 
 and reason ; and no matter what profession the young men 
 educated at this school should adopt, they would add to 
 the stock of knowledge, and diffuse it among men. 
 
 Mr. WICK said, that some opinions had been expressed in 
 the course of the debate, which he could not suffer to pass 
 uncontradicted. He alluded to the opinions on the subject 
 of the doctrine of trust. It was alleged that all which the 
 Government was responsible for, was the stocks in which 
 the fund had been invested. This fund was intrusted to 
 our charge, and it was important that the honor of the 
 country should be sustained by its faithful execution. lie 
 totally dissented, as a lawyer, from the doctrines which had 
 been advanced. A trustee in ordinary cases was not bound, 
 If he was authorized to use his discretion, as to the mode of 
 investing the fund intrusted to him. But the Government 
 of the United States had no such discretion in this case. 
 There was no power given by the will of Smithson to invest 
 the money in any special manner, and the Government in- 
 vested it at its own hazard. 
 
 If, of his own accord, and without authority, a trustee 
 made an investment, he was responsible for it. Thus the 
 United States stood in relation to this matter, and to this 
 extent they were responsible, if at all. If his wishes had 
 been consulted, the burden of this trust would never have 
 been accepted by the Government. But we did accept the 
 trust, and the national faith would be tarnished should it not 
 be executed. Had he been here at the time he would have 
 voted against it. He knew that the Government had no 
 constitutional power to establish a college of itself. The 
 power was not granted in the Constitution"; but it might be 
 admitted that the Government had the power to accept a 
 trust for the purpose. He had always advocated a strict 
 construction of the Constitution, but lie believed that the 
 Government might accept the trust. We had accepted the 
 trust, and it was our duty to execute it, 
 
 Mr. A. D. SIMS made some remarks on the constitutional 
 question. 
 
 Mr. G. W. JONES asked whether, if the money should be 
 given by will for the establishment of a national bank, the 
 Government would be bound to execute the trust, or have 
 power to accept it ? 
 
 Mr. WICK replied that he would vote against the accept- 
 ance of such a trust. 
 
 Mr. WASHINGTON HUNT entirely concurred with the gen- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 461 
 
 tleman from Indiana [Mr. WICK] in his view of this subject.. 
 It appeared to him that it was a reproach to the Govern- 
 ment to delay carrying out the purposes of this trust. 
 
 The committee proceeded to vote. 
 
 The first question was on the following amendment of 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON to the first section : 
 
 " Strike out all after the word ' next' in the llth line, to the word be, 7 
 in the 14th line, and insert the following : 'And actually paid into the 
 Treasury of the United States by the States which have borrowed and used 
 said fund.'" 
 
 Mr. OWEN inquired of the mover of the amendment 
 whether, if this amendment was carried, it would apply to 
 any moneys that have been paid into the Treasury of the 
 United States as interest and have been re-invested in State 
 stocks ? 
 
 No answer being returned, 
 
 Mr. O. said he hoped the amendment would not prevail. 
 
 The question being taken, the amejidrnent was rejected 
 without a division. 
 
 The second section being under consideration, 
 
 Mr. TIBBATTS moved the amendment of which notice had 
 previously been given, to strike out the words providing 
 that the board of managers " shall be, and hereby are, con- 
 stituted a board politic and corporate, by the style and title 
 of the ' Smithsonian Institution,' with perpetual succession, 
 and the usual powers, duties, and liabilities incident to cor- 
 porations." 
 
 The question was taken by tellers, and decided in the af- 
 firmative ayes 70, noes 44. 
 
 So these words were stricken out. 
 
 Mr. OWEN moved to insert after the word " managers." 
 (in lieu of the words stricken out,) the words " and the said 
 institution shall be known by the style and title of the 
 Smithsonian Institution." 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 The fourth section being under consideration, 
 
 Mr. OWEN moved an amendment, (which he stated to be 
 necessary in consequence of the previous amendment strik- 
 ing out the clause constituting a corporation,) to insert, at 
 the 44th line, the words : 
 
 " And all questions which may arise between the United States and any 
 person claiming under and by virtue of any such contract, shall be heard 
 and determined by said board of managers." 
 
 The question being taken, the amendment was agreed to. 
 Mr. OWEN also moved to insert, at the 10th line, the 
 words : 
 
4G2 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 " And all prosecutions for trespass on said property, and all civil suits in 
 behalf of said institution, shall be prosecuted in the name of the United 
 States in any court having competent jurisdiction of the same. 
 
 Agreed to ayes 61, noes not counted. 
 
 The fifth section being under consideration, Mr. J. R. 
 INGERSOLL moved an amendment to insert at the 21st line 
 these words : 
 
 " Which collection shall be denominated the National Museum. And it, 
 shall be lawful for the National Institute to deposit its collections in said 
 museum, [in consideration whereof said institute shall have the right to 
 appoint a curator to said museum, with such compensation as the managers 
 of the Smithsonian Institution shall assign;] and the said National Insti- 
 tute shall have a right to hold its meetings in the buildings of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, in any room which shall be assigned for such purpose 
 by the managers of the Smithsonian Institution." 
 
 Mr. TIBBATTS moved an amendment to the amendment, 
 to strike out the words in brackets. 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was rejected. 
 
 The question recurring on the original amendment of 
 Mr. INGERSOLL, was decided in the affirmative ayes 67, 
 noes 50. 
 
 So the amendment was agreed to. 
 
 Mr. BROADHEAD moved ail amendment to the fifth section, 
 (which provides for suitable arrangements for the reception 
 of all objects of art, and of foreign and curious research, 
 of natural history, of plants, &c., belong! HIT to the United 
 States, "which may be in the city of Washington,") to in- 
 sert, after the word " Washington," the words, " or else- 
 where." 
 
 The amendment was rejected. 
 
 The seventh section being under consideration, Mr. HAM- 
 LIN moved to insert, after the word "arts," in the provision 
 for the appointment of professor of common school instruc- 
 tion, with such others " chiefly of the more useful scien-<- 
 and arts," the words " especially chemistry as applied to 
 agriculture." Rejected. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS moved to strike out the following : 
 
 ,.~ S ? C< 7> And whereas the most effectual mode of promoting the general 
 diffusion of knowledge is by judiciously conducted common schools, to the 
 establishment of which throughout the^Union much aid will be afforded by 
 improving and perfecting the common school system of the country, and 
 by elevating the standard of qualification for common school teachers : 
 and whereas knowledge may be essentially increased among men by insti- 
 tatmg scientific researches, and, generally* by spreading among the people 
 a taste for science and the arts 
 
 "Be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall establish a nor- 
 mal branch of the institution, by appointing some suitable person as pro- 
 lessor of common school instruction, with such other professors, chiefly of 
 tne more useful sciences and arts, as may be necessary for such a thorough, 
 3ientiflc and liberal course of instruction as may be adapted to qualify 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 
 
 young persons as teachers of common schools, and to give to others a knowl- 
 edge of an improved common school system ; and also, when desired, to 
 qualify students as teachers or professors of the more important branches 
 of natural science. And the board of managers may authorize the professors 
 of the institution to grant to such of its students as may desire it, after 
 suitable examination, certificates of qualification as common school teachers ; 
 and also as teachers or professors in the various branches of science ; they 
 may also employ able men to lecture upon useful subjects, and shall fix the 
 compensation of such lecturers and professors." 
 
 The question was taken by tellers, and decided in the 
 affirmative ayes 72, noes 42. 
 So the words were stricken out. 
 [The section, as amended, stands in the following form : 
 
 " Be it further enacted, That there shall not be established in connection 
 with the institution, any school of law, or medicine, or divinity, nor any 
 professorship of ancient languages. And the said managers shall make, 
 from the interest of said fund, an appropriation, not exceeding an average 
 of ten thousand dollars annually, for the gradual formation of a library, 
 composed of valuable works pertaining to all departments of human knowl- 
 edge."] 
 
 Section eight being under consideration, Mr. OWEN 
 moved an amendment to add at its close an amendment, 
 which after various modifications, assumed the following 
 form : 
 
 a And the said board of managers shall appoint such professors of the 
 
 I more useful sciences and arts as may be necessary tor a thorough, scientific, 
 
 , and liberal course of instruction ; they may also employ able men to lecture 
 
 upon useful subjects, and shall fix the compensation of such lecturers and 
 
 professors : Provided, That the expenditure on account of the institution 
 
 shall at no time exceed the interest of the fund." 
 
 Mr. BOYD and Mr. ADAMS respectively raised the point of 
 order against this amendment, on the ground of identity 
 with the words stricken out on motion of Mr. Adams. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN overruled the point of order ; thus decid- 
 ing the amendment in order. 
 
 The question was taken, and, after some delay for want 
 of a quorum, was decided in the negative ayes 42, noes 77. 
 
 So the motion was rejected. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS moved to strike out the ninth section, in the 
 words following, (which he said were now rendered useless 
 by the amendments previously made :) 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the said board of managers shall 
 
 also make rules and regulations for the admission of students into the various 
 
 departments of the institution, and their conduct and deportment while 
 
 they remain therein : Provided, That all instruction in said institution shall 
 
 gratuitous to those students who conform to such rules and regulations." 
 
 The question being taken, was decided in the affirmative. 
 
 So the section was stricken out. 
 
 The tenth section beino; under consideration, Mr. GILES 
 
464 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 moved an amendment, to add at the end thereof the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 " And shall cause to be published from time to time books in raised charac- 
 ters for the education of the blind, to be distributed by the said board of 
 managers, among the different State institutions for the education of the 
 blind." 
 
 The question being taken the amendment \\ ;is rejected. 
 
 Mr. WOOD moved an amendment, to insert in the 4th 
 line of 10th section the word " useful," and strike out the 
 llth, 12th, and 13th lines. 
 
 The question being taken, the amendment was rejected. 
 
 Mr. ADAMS moved to strike out the 10th section, (in order 
 to conform to previous amendments.) 
 
 The question being taken, was decided in the affirmative ; 
 ayes 68, noes 57. 
 . So the section was stricken out. 
 
 Mr. WOOD moved an amendment, to add as a new section, 
 between the 10th and llth sections, the following: 
 
 11 And be it further enacted, That the sum of $20,000 of tho interest of said 
 fund be, and is hereby, appropriated annually for the purchase or publica- 
 tion of a library for the diffusion of useful knowledge, to be selected or 
 published under the direction of the said board of managers, which shall 
 include the best elementary popular works upon the history, geography, 
 and statistics of the United States; upon botany, mineralogy, geology, 
 agriculture, agricultural chemistry, mechanics, and physiology; and which 
 said library shall be distributed among the several States and Territories 
 in the ratio of their representation, and be forwarded to the several Gov- 
 ernors of said States and Territories, to be distributed among the people 
 thereof in such a manner as their respective legislatures shall determine, 
 and shall most tend to increase and diffuse knowledge." 
 
 Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS moved an amendment, to add at 
 the close of the last section the following proviso : 
 
 "And provided further, That no appropriation shall be made for the ad- 
 vancement of this institution except from moneys which properly belong to 
 the Smithsonian fund." 
 
 Agreed to. 
 
 Mr. MCCLERNAND gave notice of a substitute which he 
 intended to offer, when in order, (which was read for infor- 
 mation.) 
 
 Mr. G. W. JONES moved a further proviso at the end of 
 the bill, as follows: 
 
 " Provided, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to connect, 
 m any manner whatever, said Smithsonian Institution with any other insti- 
 tution or society whatever." 
 
 Rejected. 
 
 The bill having now been gone through with, the ques- 
 tion recurred on the amendment of Mr. G. W. Jones, to 
 strike out all of the bill after the word " be," in the 6th line, 
 1st section, and insert : 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 465 
 
 " Paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the heirs-at-law or next of kin 
 or residuary legatee of the said James Smithson, or their authorized agents, 
 whenever they shall demand the same : Provided, That the Secretary of 
 the Treasury shall, in paying over said money as herein directed, deliver 
 to said heirs all State bonds or other stocks of every kind, which have been 
 purchased with said money or any part thereof, in lieu of so much of said 
 money as shall have been so invested in State bonds or other stocks, and the 
 balance of said sum of money, if any, not so invested, shall be paid out of 
 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated." 
 
 Mr. SIMS moved as an amendment to the amendment the 
 proposition of which he had given notice, (as a substitute 
 for the bill,) to provide for the return of the money. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN decided the amendment out of order at 
 this time. 
 
 Mr. EATHBUN moved to amend the amendment of Mr. 
 JONES, by striking out so much as relates to the restoring 
 to the heirs, &c., of Mr. Smithson, the bonds of the States, 
 (so that the money, and not the bonds, should be returned.) 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was rejected. 
 
 The question then recurring on the original amendment 
 of Mr. JONES, was taken by tellers, and decided in the neg- 
 ative ayes 8, noes 115. 
 
 So the amendment was rejected. 
 
 The question then being on rising and reporting the bill 
 as amended 
 
 Mr. ADAMS, in compliance with previous notice, offered 
 the following substitute for the bill : 
 
 Strike out the preamble, and all except the enacting 
 clause, and insert : 
 
 " That the President of the United States be requested, by the use of 
 suitable means of moral suasion, and no others, to obtain from the govern- 
 ments of the States of Arkansas and Illinois payment of the arrears of 
 interest due from the said States to the United States, and the interest there- 
 after, and the principal as it shall become due, according to the promises on 
 the face of the bonds given by the said States for moneys bequeathed by 
 James Smithson, a benevolent Englishman, to the U nited States of America, 
 for the special purpose of founding at the city of Washington an institu- 
 tion for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, which bequest 
 was, by an act of Congress, approved on the first of July, 1836, accepted, 
 with a pledge of the faith of the United States that it should be applied to 
 the purposes prescribed by the testator. 
 
 " SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when payment shall have been 
 obtained from the said States of Arkansas and Illinois of the arrears of 
 interest due on their said bonds, Congress shall forthwith proceed to appro- 
 priate said sums of interest so recovered, together with the interest hitherto 
 received, or hereafter to be received, until the time of making such appro- 
 priations, in such manner as they shall deem suited to redeem the pledge of 
 the faith of the United States, to the application of the funds of the bequest 
 of the said James Smithson, to the specific purpose prescribed by the tes- 
 tator. 
 
 " SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That until the arrears of interest due 
 by the said States of Arkansas and Illinois to the United States, upon their 
 said respective bonds, shall have been received at the Treasury of the United 
 
 30 
 
406 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 States, no appropriation shall bo made by Congress chargeable upon Un- 
 people of the United States, for the fulfillment of the purposes prescribed 
 by the testator, James Smithson, for the disposal of his bequest. 
 
 " SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That within the first thirty days of 
 each and every successive session of Congress, it shall be the duty of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress the then actual state of the 
 Smithsonian fund, and particularly the amount of arrears of interest duo 
 upon the said bonds of the States of Arkansas and Illinois, together with 
 copies of all correspondence, showing the result of the means of moral 
 suasion used during the preceding year to obtain payment of the said ar- 
 rears of interest ; and the said annual reports shall bo printed for the infor- 
 mation of the people." 
 
 Mr. HOPKINS moved an amendment to the amendment, 
 to strike out in its first section the words " of moral suasion 
 and no others." Agreed to. 
 
 The third section of the said substitute amendment being 
 under consideration. 
 
 Mr. J. DAVIS moved an amendment, to add at the end of 
 the section the following : 
 
 " Provided, however, That if the Governor of the State of Arkansas shall 
 make it appear to the satisfaction of the Attorney General of the United 
 States that he has used suitable means to obtain from the Real Estate Bank 
 of Arkansas payment of the debt due by said bank to the State of Arkansas, 
 but without success, then, and in that case, and until the arrears clue by the 
 said Keal Estate Bank shall have been received into the Treasury of the 
 State of Arkansas, the said State shall be, and is hereby, declared to be 
 absolved from the promises on the face of her bonds by which the said State 
 heretofore pledged her faith for the due payment of the principal and interest 
 of said bonds. 
 
 The question being taken, the amendment was rejected. 
 Mr. WENTWORTH moved an amendment, to add at the end 
 of the section the following : 
 
 " That the State of Illinois shall have the power hereafter, like other 
 States, to tax all lands within that State as soon as sold, providing the pro- 
 ceeds of said tax shall be applied to paying the interest due the Smithson 
 fund, so far as may be necessary, and the balance, if any, to paying the in- 
 terest upon her other bonds. 
 
 Mr. HOPKINS raised the point of order against the amend- 
 ment, on the ground of irrelevancy. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN sustained the point, and decided the 
 amendment out of order. 
 
 Mr. E. II. EWING moved an amendment to the substitute, 
 to strike out the third section. Rejected. 
 
 The fourth section, on the suggestion of Mr. HOPKINS, 
 was so modified by Mr. ADAMS, as to conform to the amend- 
 ment of the first, by striking out the words " moral suasion." 
 
 The question then being on the substitute of Mr. Adams, 
 as amended, was taken by tellers, and decided in the nega- 
 tive ayes 57, noes 74. 
 
 So the substitute of Mr. Adams was rejected. 
 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 407 
 
 The question again recurring on the original bill, as 
 amended. 
 
 Mr. HOUGH offered the amendment of which he had given 
 notice as a substitute for the entire bill, being a bill consist- 
 ing of fourteen sections. 
 
 Mr. MARSH moved several amendments, all with a view, 
 as he said, to direct the appropriation entirely to the pur- 
 poses of a library. 
 
 The first one was to section 7th, to strike out the words 
 " and such lecturers as may be employed by said board," 
 and the words " and lecturers, and all other officers of the 
 institution." 
 
 The question being taken, was decided in the affirmative 
 ayes 72, noes 39. 
 
 So the amendment was agreed to. 
 
 Mr. MARSH next moved to strike out section 8, as follows : 
 
 " SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the said Board of Kegents shall 
 employ so many and such able men to lecture upon useful subjects and at 
 such times and places as they may deem most beneficial for the " increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men ;" and shall also, during each ses- 
 sion of Congress, cause a course of such lectures to be delivered, weekly or 
 semi- weekly, publicly, in the lecture-room of said institution, and shall 
 make all suitable provisions for the accommodation of all members and 
 honorary members of said institution, and of both Houses of Congress." 
 
 Also, an amendment to the ninth section, to increase the 
 annual appropriation for the library from $20,000 to $25,- 
 000. Agreed to. 
 
 Mr. TIBBATTS moved to strike out the first section. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN decided the amendment to be out of order, 
 that portion of the substitute bill having been passed. 
 
 Mr. MARSH moved an amendment to strike out the 10th 
 and llth sections of the substitute, in the words following: 
 
 " SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the said board of regents shall 
 make all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, for the government of 
 the institution and the persons employed therein ; and, in prescribing the 
 duties of the professors and lecturers, they shall have reference to the intro- 
 duction arid illustration of subjects connected with the application of sci- 
 ence to the productive and liberal arts of life, improvements in agriculture, 
 in manufactures, in trades, and in domestic economy ; and they shall also 
 have special reference to the increase and extension of scientific knowledge 
 generally, by experiment and research. And the said regents shall cause 
 to be printed, from time to time, any lecture or course of lectures which 
 they may deem useful. And it shall be the duty of each lecturer while in 
 the service of the institution, to submit a copy of any lecture or lectures 
 delivered by him to the regents, if required. 
 
 "SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That it. shall be competent for the 
 board of managers to cause to be printed and published, periodically or oc- 
 casionally, essays, pamphlets, magazines, or other brief works or produc- 
 tions for the dissemination of information among the people, especially 
 works in popular form on agriculture and its latest improvements, or the 
 sciences and the aid they bring to labor, manuals explanatory of the best 
 
468 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 systems of common school instruction, and, generally, tracts illustrative of 
 objects of elementary science, and treatises on history, natural and civil, 
 chemistry, astronomy, or any other department of useful knowledge ; and 
 may at their discretion, offer and pay to any citizen or foreigner such sum 
 or prize as they may deem discreet for the best written production of any 
 such prize essay or work; and shall, whenever required by resolution of 
 either House of Congress, cause to be printed and delivered to such House, 
 for distribution among the people at large, as public documents of Congress 
 are distributed, so many copies of such lectures, essays, pamphlets, maga- 
 zines, tracts, or other brief works, as they may procure to be written or 
 delivered, under the provisions of this act, as shall be required by such res- 
 olution, the expenses of which to be paid out of the funds of said institu- 
 tion." 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 Mr. THURMAN moved an amendment, to strike out the 
 12th section. Rejected. 
 
 Mr. DOUGLASS moved an amendment, as an additional 
 section, (the 13th,) in the words following: 
 
 " SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the author or proprietor of any 
 book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, for which 
 a copyright shall be secured under the existing acts of Congress, or those 
 which shall hereafter be enacted, respecting copyrights, shall, within three 
 months from the publication of said book, map, chart, musical composition, 
 print, cut, engraving, deliver, or cause to be delivered, one copy of the 
 same to the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, and one copy to the 
 librarian of the Congress Library, for the use of said libraries." 
 
 The question being taken, the amendment was agreed to. 
 
 The question now being on adopting the substitute of Mr. 
 Hough, as amended, was taken by tellers, and decided in 
 the affirmative ayes 83, noes 40. 
 
 So the substitute was adopted. 
 
 The committee then rose and reported the bill and amend- 
 ments to the House. 
 
 The question being first on agreeing to the substitute 
 amendment of the committee, Mr. Boyd demanded the pre- 
 vious question, which was seconded. 
 
 The main question was ordered. 
 
 The yeas and nays were asked and ordered, and being 
 taken, resulted yeas 81, nays 76 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. John Q. Adams, Arnold, Atkinson, Barringer, Bell, J. 
 A. Black, Brockenbrough, Milton Brown, William G-. Brown, Buffington, 
 William W. Campbell, John H. Campbell, Carroll, Chipman, Clarke, 
 Cobb, Cocke, Collin, Cranston, Crozier, Cullom, Garrett Davis, Delano, 
 Dockery, Douglass, Dunlap, John H. Ewing, Edwin H. Ewing, Faran, 
 Ficklin, Foot, Giddings, Grider, Grinnell, ^Hampton, Harper, Herriok, 
 Billiard, Elias B. Holmes, Hough, Edmund W. Hubard, Samuel D. Hub- 
 bard, Hudson, Washington Hunt, Andrew Johnson, George W. Jones, 
 Daniel P. King, Thomas Butler King, Lawrence, Lewis, Levin, Ligon, 
 Maclay, McGaughey, McHenry, Mcllvaine, Marsh, Morse, Moseley, Norris, 
 Parish, Payne, Relfe, John A. Rockwell, Root, Scamtnon, Seaman, Simp- 
 son, Truman Smith, Albert Smith, Strohm, Benjamin Thompson, Thur- 
 raan, Tilden, Trumbo, Vance, Vinton, Young, and Yost 81. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 400 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Stephen Adams, Bowlin, Boyd, Brinkerhoff, Brodhead, 
 Burt, Cathcart, Keuben Chapman, Chase, Constable, Cunningham, Daniel, 
 Dargan, Jefferson Davis, Dillingham, Dobbin, Dromgoole, Giles, Good- 
 year, Gordon, Graham, Grover, Hamlin, Harmanson, Henley, Hoge, Hop- 
 kins, George S. Houston, Hungerford, James B. Hunt, Hunter, Charles J. 
 Ingersoll, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Joseph Johnson, Preston King, Leake, La 
 Sere, Lumpkin, McLean, McClernand, McCrate, James McDowell, McKay, 
 J. P. Martin, B. Martin, Morris, Moulton, Owen, Perrill, Phelps, Pollock, 
 Price, Kathbun, Keid, Hitter, Sawtelle, Severance, Alexander D. Sims, 
 Leonard H. Sims, Caleb B. Smith, Kobert Smith, Stanton, St. John, Sykes, 
 Thibodeaux, Thomasson, Jacob Thompson, Tibbatts, Wentworth, Wheaton, 
 Wick, Wilmot, Woodruff, Woodward, Yancey, and Yell 76. 
 
 So the amendment of the committee was adopted. 
 
 The bill was then ordered to be engrossed. 
 
 Mr. GORDON demanded the yeas and nays on the passage 
 of the bill ; which were ordered, and being taken, resulted 
 yeas 85, nays 76 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. John Q. Adams, Arnold, Bell, James A. Black, Brink- 
 erhoff, Milton Brown, Uuffington, William W. Campbell, John H. Camp- 
 bell, Carroll, Cathcart, Cranston, Crozier, Cunningham, Garrett Davis, 
 Jefferson Davis, Delano, Dockery, Douglass, Dunlap, Edwin H. Ewing, 
 Faran, Foot, Garvin, Giddings, Giles, Goodyear, Grider, Grinnell, Ham- 
 lin, Hampton, Harper, Herrick. Hilliard, E. B. Holmes, Hough, Samuel 
 D. Hubbard, Hudson, Hungerford, Washington Hunt, Charles J. Ingersoll, 
 Daniel P. King, Thomas B. King, Lawrence, Leib, Lewis, Levin, Maclay, 
 McCrate, McGaughey, McHenry, Mcllvaine, Marsh, Morse, Moseley. 
 'Owen, Pollock, Rath bun, Relfe, John A. Rockwell, Root, Sawtelle, Scam- 
 mon, Seaman, Severance, Truman Smith, Albert Smith, Caleb B. Smith, 
 Stanton, Strohm, Strong, Sykes, Thomasson, Benjamin Thompson, Thur- 
 man, Tilden. Trumbo, Vance, Vinton, Wentworth, Wick, Wilmot, Wood, 
 Young, and Yost 85. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Stephen Adams, Atkinson, Barringer, Bayly, Bowlin, 
 Boyd, Brockenbrough, Brodhead, William G. Brown, Burt, Reuben Chap- 
 man, Chase, Chipman, Clarke, Cobb, Cocke, Collin, Constable, Cullom, 
 Daniel, Dargan, Dillingham, Dobbin, Dromgoole, Erdman, Graham, Gro- 
 ver, Harmanson, Hoge,"Hopkins, George S. Houston, E. W. Hubard, James 
 B. Hunt, Hunter, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Joseph Johnson, Andrew Johnson, 
 George W. Jones, Preston King, Leake, La Sere, Ligon, Lumpkin, Mc- 
 Clean, McClelland, McClernand, James McDowell, McKay, John P. Mar- 
 tin, Barkley Martin, Morris, Moulton, Norris, Parrish, Payne, Perrill, 
 Phelps, Price, Reid, Ritter, Alexander D. Sims, Leonard H. Sims, Simp- 
 son, Thomas Smith, Eobert Smith, Stephens, St. John, Thibodeaux, Jacob 
 Thompson, Tibbatts, Wheaton, Woodruff, Woodward, Yancey, and Yell 
 76. 
 
 So the bill was passed in the following form, (being the 
 substitute of Mr. Hough, as amended :) 
 
 A BILL to establish the "Smithsonian Institution," for the increase and 
 
 diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 James Smithson, Esquire, of London, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, 
 having by his last will and testament given the whole of his property to the 
 United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men ; and the United States having, by an act of Con- 
 gress, received said property and accepted said trust ; therefore, for the 
 faithful execution of said trust according to the will of the liberal and en- 
 lightened donor 
 
470 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Be it enac'ed by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the President and Vicc- 
 President of the United States, the Secretary uf State, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster 
 General, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, and the Commissioner of 
 the Patent Office of the United States, and the Mayor of the city of Wash- 
 ington,, during the time for which they shall hold their respective offices, 
 and such other persons as they may elect honorary members, be, and th>y 
 are hereby, constituted an "establishment," by the name of th "Smith- 
 sonian Institution," for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men ; and by that name shall be known and have perpetual succession, 
 with the powers, limitations, and restrictions hereinafter contained, and no 
 other. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That so much of the property of the 
 said James Smithson as has been received in money, and paid into the 
 Treasury of the United States, being the sum of five hundred and fifteen 
 thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars, be lent to the United State? 
 Treasury, at six per cent, per annum interest from the first day cf Septem- 
 ber, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, when the same 
 was received into the said Treasury ; and that so much of the interest as 
 may have accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will 
 amount to the sum of two hundred and forty-two thousand one hundred 
 and twenty-nine dollars, or so much thereof as shall by the Board of Re- 
 gents of the Institution established by this act be deemed necessary, be, and 
 the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings, and 
 for other current incidental expenses of said Institution ; and that six per 
 cent, interest on the said trust fund it being the said amount of five hun- 
 dred and fifteen thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars received into 
 the United States Treasury on the first of September, one thousand eight 
 hundred and thirty-eight, payable, in half-yearly payments, on the first of 
 January and July in each year be, and the same is hereby, appropriated 
 for the perpetual maintenance and support of said Institution ; and all ex- 
 penditures and appropriations to be made from time to time, to the purposes 
 of the Institution aforesaid, shall be exclusively from the accruing interest, 
 and not from the principal of the said fund. And be it further enacted, 
 That all the moneys and stocks which have been, or may hereafter be, 
 received into the Treasury ot the United States on account of the fund 
 bequeathed by James Smithson, be, and hereby are, pledged to refund to 
 the Treasury of the United States the sums hereby appropriated. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the business of the said Institution 
 shall be conducted at the city of Washington by a Board of Regents by the 
 name of the Regents of the "Smithsonian Institution." to be composed of 
 the Vice-President of the United States, the Chief Justice of the United 
 States, and the Mayor of the city of Washington, during the time for 
 which they shall hold their respec'ive offices ; three members of the Senate 
 and three members of the House of Representatives, together with six other 
 persons, other than members of Congress, two of whom shall be members 
 of the National Institute in the city of Washington, and resident in the 
 said city ; and the other four thereof shall be inhabitants of States, and no 
 two of them of the same State. And the Regents, to be selected as afore- 
 said, shall be appointed immediately after the passage of this act the 
 members of the Senate by the President thereof, the members of the House 
 by the Speaker thereof, and the six other persons by joint resolution of the 
 Senate and House of Representatives ; and the members of the House so 
 appointed shall serve until the fourth Wednesday in December, the second 
 next after the passage of this act; and then, and biennially thereafter, on 
 every alternate fourth Wednesday of December, a like number shall be 
 appointed in the same manner, to serve until the fourth Wednesday in 
 December, the second succeeding their appointment And the Senators PO 
 appointed shall serve during the term for which they shall hold, without 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 471 
 
 re-election, their office as Senators. And vacancies, occasioned by death, 
 resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled as vacancies in committees are 
 filled 5 and the other six members aforesaid shall serve, two lor two years, 
 two for four years, and two for six years ; the terms of service, in the first 
 place, to be determined by lot ; but after the first term, then their regular 
 term of service shall be six years ; and new elections thereof shall be made 
 by joint resolution of Congress; and vacancies occasioned by death, resig- 
 nation, or otherwise, may be filled in like manner, by joint resolution of 
 Congress. And the said Regents shall meet in the city of Washington on 
 the first Monday of September next after the passage of this act, and or- 
 ganize by the election of one of tbeir number as Chancellor, who shall be 
 the presiding officer of said Board of Eegents, by the name of the Chan- 
 cellor of the " Smithsonian Institution," and a suitable person as Secretary 
 of said Institution, who shall also be the Secretary of said Board of Regents ; 
 said Board shall also elect three of their own body as an Executive Com- 
 mittee, and said Regents shall then fix on the time for the regular meeting 
 of said Board ; and on application of any three of the Regents to the Sec- 
 retary of the said Institution, it shall be his duty to appoint a special meet- 
 ing of the Board of Regents, of which he shall give notice by letter to each 
 of the members ; and at any meeting of said Board, five shall constitute a 
 quorum to do business. And each member of said Board shall be paid his 
 necessary travelling and other actual expenses in attending meetings of the 
 Board, which shall be audited by the Executive Committee, and recorded 
 by the Secretary of said Board ; but his services as Regent shall be gratui- 
 tous. And whenever money is required for the payment of the debts or 
 performance of the contracts of the Institution, incurred or entered into in 
 conformity with the provisions of this act, or for making the purchases and 
 executing the objects authorized by this act, the Board of Regents or the 
 Executive Committee thereof, may certify to the Chancellor and Secretary 
 of the Board that such sum of money is required ; whereupon, they shall 
 examine the same, and, if they shall approve thereof, shall certify the same 
 to the proper officer of the Treasury for payment. And the said Board 
 shall submit to Congress, at each session thereof, a report of the operations, 
 expenditures, and condition of the Institution. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That after the Board of Regents shall 
 have met, and become organized, it shall be their duty forthwith to proceed 
 to select a suitable site for such building as may be necessary for the Institu- 
 tion ; which ground may be taken and appropriated out of that part of the 
 public ground in the city of Washington, lying between the Patent Office 
 and Seventh street : Provided, The President of the United States, the Sec- 
 retary of State, the Secretary 'of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the 
 Secretary of the Navy, and the Commissioner of the Patent Office, shall 
 consent to the same ; but if the persons last named shall not consent, then 
 such location may be made upon any other of the public grounds within the 
 city of Washington, belonging to the United States, which said Regents 
 may select, by and with the consent of the persons herein named ; and the 
 said ground so selected shall be set out by proper metes and bounds, and a de- 
 scription of the same shall be made and recorded in a book to be provided 
 for that purpose, and signed by the said Regents, or so many of them as 
 may be convened at the time of their said organization ; and such record, 
 or a copy thereof, certified by the Chancellor and Secretary of the Board of 
 Regents, shall be received in evidence in all courts of the extent and boun- 
 daries of the lands appropriated to the said Institution ; and upon the mak- 
 ing of such record, such site and lands shall be deemed and taken to be 
 appropriated, by force of this act, to the said Institution. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the Board of Regents 
 shall have selected the said site, they shall cause to be erected a suitable 
 building, of plain and durable materials and structure, without unnecessary 
 ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable rooms, or halls, for the 
 reception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of objects of natural his- 
 
472 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 tory, including a geological and mineralogical cabinet; also a chemical 
 laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and the necessary lecture rooms ; and 
 the said Board shall have authority, by themselves or by a committee of 
 three of their members, to contract for the completion of such building, 
 upon such plan as may be directed by the Board of Regents, and shall take 
 sufficient security for the building and finishing the same according to the 
 said plan, and in the time stipulated in such contract ; and may so locate 
 said building, if they shall deem it proper, as in appearance to form a wing 
 to the Patent Office building, and may so connect the same with the present 
 hall of said Patent Office building, containing the National Cabinet of 
 Curiosities, as to constitute the said hall, in whole or in part, the deposit 
 for the cabinet of said Institution, if they deem it expedient to do so ; pro- 
 vided said building shall be located upon said Patent Office lot in the man- 
 ner aforesaid : Provided, however, That the whole expense of building and 
 
 enclosures aforesaid shall not exceed the amount of ; which sum is 
 
 hereby appropriated, payable out of money in the Treasury not otherwise 
 appropriated ; together with such sum or sums out of the annual interest 
 accruing to the Institution, as may, in any year remain unexpended, after 
 paying the current expenses of the Institution. And duplicates of all such 
 contracts as may be made by the said Board of Regents shall be deposited 
 with the Treasurer of the United States ; and all claims on any contract 
 made as aforesaid shall be allowed and certified by the Board of Regents, or 
 the Executive Committee thereof, as the case may be, and, being signed by 
 the Chancellor and Secretary of the Board, shall be H sufficient voucher for 
 settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. And the 
 Board of Regents shall be authorized to employ such persons as they may 
 deem necessary to superintend the erection of the buildings and fitting up 
 the rooms of the Institution. And all laws for the protection of public 
 property in the city of Washington, shall apply to, and be in force for, the 
 protection of the lands, buildings, and other property of said Institution. 
 And all moneys recovered by, or accruing to, the institution shall be paid 
 into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Smithsonian 
 bequest, and separately accounted for, as provided in the act approved .Inly 
 first, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, accepting said bequest. 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in proportion as suitable arrange- 
 ments can be made for their reception, all objects of art and of foreign 
 and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geolog- 
 ical and mineralogical specimens belonging, or hereafter to belong, to the 
 United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever 
 custody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be 
 authorized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall be arranged 
 in such order, and so classed, as best to facilitate the examination and study 
 of them, in the building so as aforesaid to be erected for the Institution ; 
 and the Regents of said Institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in 
 natural history, geology, or mineralogy, may be obtained for the museum 
 of the Institution by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the 
 Institution, (which they are hereby authorized to make,) or by donation, 
 which they may receive, or otherwise, cause such new specimens to be also 
 appropriately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, 
 and other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the 
 Government of the United States, and are now placed in the Department of 
 State, shall be removed to said Institution, and shall be preserved separate 
 and apart from the other property of the Institution. 
 
 SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Board of 
 Regents shall take charge of the building and property of said Institution, 
 and shall, under their direction, make a fair and accurate record of all their 
 proceedings, to be preserved in said Institution ; and the said Secretary shall 
 also discharge the duties of librarian and of keeper of the museum, and 
 may, with the consent of the Board of Regents, employ assistants; and the 
 said officers shall receive for their services such sum as may be allowed by 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 473 
 
 the Board of Kegents, to be paid semi-annually on the first day of January 
 and July, and the said officers shall be removable by the Board of Regents, 
 whenever, in their judgment, the interests of the Institution require any 
 of the said officers to be changed. 
 
 SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the members and honorary mem- 
 bers of said Institution may hold such stated and special meetings, for the 
 supervision of the affairs of said Institution, and the advice and instruction 
 of said Board of Regents, to be called in the manner provided for in the 
 by-laws of said Institution, at which the President, and in his absence, the 
 Vice-Pre?ident of the United States, shall preside. And the said Regents 
 shall make, from the interest of baid fund, an appropriation, not exceeding 
 an average of twenty-five thousand dollars annually, for the gradual for- 
 mation of a library, composed of valuable works pertaining to all depart- 
 ments of human knowledge. 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That of any other moneys which have 
 accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest ^upon the said Smithsonian 
 fund, not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein pro- 
 vided, the said managers are hereby authorized to make such disposal as 
 they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the purposes of the testa- 
 tor, anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the author or proprietor of any 
 book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, for which 
 a copyright shall be secured under the existing acts of Congress, or those 
 which shall hereafter be enacted respecting copyrights, shall, within three 
 months from the publication of said book, map, chart, musical composition, 
 print, cut, or engraving, deliver, or cause to be delivered, one copy of the 
 same to the Librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, and one copy to the 
 Librarian of Congress Library, for the use of the said libraries. 
 
 SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 
 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing any of the provi- 
 sions of this act : Provided, That no contract, or individual right, made or 
 acquired under such provisions, shall be thereby divested or impaired. 
 
 Mr. OWEN moved to reconsider the vote on the passage 
 of the bill, and moved the previous question. 
 
 The previous question was seconded, and the main ques- 
 tion was ordered, and, being taken, was decided in the 
 negative. 
 
 So the House refused to reconsider the vote, and the bill 
 is finally passed. 
 
 HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES, July 24, 1846. 
 
 Mr. W. W. CAMPBELL, from the Joint Committee on the 
 Library, to which was referred the memorial of Mr. Catlin 
 for the purchase of his gallery of Indian collections of 
 paintings, made a report^ thereon, and recommended an 
 amendment to the bill of the House " To establish the 
 Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men," providing for the purchase of said 
 gallery of Indian collections of paintings ; which report 
 was laid upon the table. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 10, 1846. 
 A message was received from the President of the United 
 
 
474 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 States, informing the House that he had approved and 
 signed the bill to provide for the establishment of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. 
 
 The SPEAKER said, that by one provision of the bill, it 
 was made the duty of the chair to appoint three regents. 
 
 And the SPEAKER announced that he had accordingly ap- 
 pointed the following gentlemen : 
 
 Mr. Robert Dale Owen, of Indiana : Mr. Win. J. Hough, 
 of New York ; Mr. Henry W. Hilliard, of Alabama. 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, January 16, 1847. 
 
 Mr. BREESE rose and stated that there was a vacancy in 
 the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution occa- 
 sioned by the death of Senator JVnnvbacker, and that it 
 was important that the same be filled, inasmuch as there 
 was to be a meeting of the Board of Regents on the I'nth 
 of this month, at which important business would be 
 brought forward. 
 
 Mr. Breese referred to the law in relation to the modi- <>l 
 making appointments to fill vacancies occurring in tin- said 
 board, which directs that such vacancies shall be filled in 
 the same manner as vacancies occurring in standing com- 
 mittees of the Senate. These were filled cither by election 
 on the part of the Senate or by the appointment of the 
 presiding officer. He moved that the Vice-President be 
 authorized to appoint a person to fill the vacancy. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN remarked that he was entirely satisfied 
 with the appointments which had been made/ although 
 they were made after the adjournment of Congress, and 
 consequently he had no participation in making them. But 
 as a vacancy now occurred during a ses>ion of Congress, 
 he thought it would be proper that the Senate should exer- 
 cise its right to select a person to fill that vacancy, lie 
 was the more desirous that this should be done, inasmuch 
 as he had in his mind a gentleman who had lately distin- 
 guished himself in writing upon this subject, and who, he 
 believed, would be the proper person to be selected. 
 
 Mr. EVANS reminded the Senator from Kentucky that 
 the person to be appointed must be a member of the Sen- 
 ate. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN. Oh! that being the case, Mr. President, 
 I offer no further objection to the motion. The person I 
 wished to see appointed is Dr. Bird. 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 475' 
 
 Mr. WESTCOTT said, when the Smithsonian bill was before 
 Congress at the last session he was opposed to it, and he 
 believed he voted against it throughout when present in 
 the Senate, while it was under consideration. He had 
 many objections to the bill. An insuperable one was, that 
 he objected to those provisions by which Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives were to be appointed " regents,'" an office crea- 
 ted by the law passed by themselves. He had no idea that 
 it was constitutional, or in anywise proper, for members of 
 Congress to make offices for themselves of this character. 
 The office of regent was a civil q$zce and the Constitution 
 prohibited members of Congress from being appointed to 
 any office created " during the terra for which they were 
 elected." It was an office of trust and honor, and, in some 
 respects, of emolument. With this belief, he should not 
 vote upon this motion, to which he had no other objection. 
 If he voted against it, his vote would be subject to miscon- 
 struction. He knew a majority of the Senate differed with 
 him on the constitutional question he had averted to, but 
 on such a question he must obey the dictates of his own 
 conscience. 
 
 The motion of Mr. Breese was then agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, January 18, 1847. 
 
 The Vice-President announced that he had appointed 
 Mr. Lewis Cass to be a Regent of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, in the place of Mr. Pennybacker, deceased. 
 
 SENATE, February 15, 1847. 
 
 Mr. EVANS, in pursuance of notice, obtained leave to 
 bring in a bill to authorize the Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution to purchase from the corporation of Washington 
 the City Hall, and for other purposes. 
 
 The bill had its second reading, and was referred to the 
 Committee for the District of Columbia. The bill is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 AN ACT to authorize the Kegents of the Smithsonian Institution to pur- 
 chase, for the use of said Institution, of the corporation of the city of 
 Washington, the City Hal!, arid for other purposes. 
 
 Be it enacted, $c., That the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution be, 
 and they are hereby, authorized to purchase of the corporation of the city 
 of Washington all the right, title, and interest of the said corporation in 
 and to the City Hall of the said city ; subject, however, to the conditions 
 and provisions hereinafter specified: Provided, That the corporation shall, 
 on or before the tenth day of March next, enter into bond, with sufficient 
 sureties, to be approved by the Attorney General of the United States, that, 
 they will erect on the Market Space, between 7th and 9th streets west, and 
 between Pennsylvania avenue and B street north, a suitable and commo- 
 
476 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 dious building, in which there shall be included such apartments as may be 
 necessary for the accommodation of the circuit court of the United States 
 for the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, for the use of 
 the grand and petit jurors of the said county, for the offices of the clerk of 
 the said court and the marshal of said District, and for the preservation and 
 security of the books, papers, and records of the said court ; and that they 
 will complete the said building, or so much of the same as may contain the 
 apartments and accommodations aforesaid, and shall prepare the same for 
 the said courts and offices, on or before the tenth day of March, 1848 And 
 upon such purchase being completed, the said corporation shall release and 
 forever quit claim unto the said Smithsonian Institution all the right and 
 title of the said corporation unto the said City Hall, and unto the possession 
 and occupation of the lot or square on which the same now stands. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the said bond and re- 
 lease shall be executed by the said corporation, and sufficient evidence 
 thereof be laid before the President of the United States, the President be, 
 and he is hereby, authorized to grant unto the said corporation the right to 
 occupy and improve, for public purposes, all or any portion of that lot or 
 square of ground in the city of Washington, including the Market Space, 
 lying between Seventh and Ninth streets west, and bounded on the north 
 by the south line of Pennsylvania avenue, and on the south by the north 
 line of 13 street north. And then, and in that case, there shall also be paid 
 to the corporation, towards the erection of the building, as provided in the 
 first section of this act, the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, which sum 
 is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap- 
 propriated ; and the said sum of thirty-five thousand dollars is hereby de- 
 clared to be in full of the apartments and accommodations specified in the 
 first section of this act ; and the said apartments and accommodations shall 
 forever remain subject to the occupation of the courts and their offices 
 aforesaid. 
 
 SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That in case of the execution, by the 
 said corporation, of the bond and release aforesaid, the Kegents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution be, and they are hereby authorized, by resolution 
 of the Board of Regents, to retroccde to the 'United States that certain 
 building site in the city of Washington, and in the public reservation com- 
 monly called the Mall, which, according to the provisions of the act organ- 
 izing said Institution, approved August 10, 1846','has become the property 
 of the said Institution ; and, upon proper evidence being adduced, to the 
 satisfaction of the President of the United States, of said retrocession, the 
 President shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to convey to the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, by metes and bounds, so much of that public reservation 
 in the city of Washington, commonly called the Judiciary Square, as lies 
 south of the extension of the south line of E street north, being the same 
 lot or square on which the City Hall now stands ; and the said conveyance 
 by the President shall be received in evidence in all courts of the extent 
 and boundaries of the lot or square of land which, by virtue of this act, 
 may become the property of the said Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of Public 
 Buildings in the city of Washington be, and he is hereby, authorized and 
 required to provide temporary accommodations in some suitable building 
 for the circuit court of the United States for the county of Washington, 
 and for its offices and records, until the tenth day of March, 1848. And 
 for the purpose of procuring said accommodations, the sum of one thousand 
 dollars, or so much of the same as may be required for that object, be, and 
 the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not 
 otherwise appropriated. 
 
 SENATE, February 22, 1847. 
 On motion by Mr. BREESE, the Vice-President was au- 
 
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 477" 
 
 thorized to fill the vacancy in the Board of Kegents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, caused by the resignation of Mr, 
 George Evans. 
 
 Mr. James A. Pearce, of Maryland, was appointed. 
 
 SENATE, February 27, 1847. 
 
 Mr. J. M. CLAYTON moved an amendment to the Civil 
 and Diplomatic Appropriation bill appropriating a sum r 
 ($5,000,) to paid annually, for the purchase of Catlin's gal- 
 lery of Indian portraits, &c. 
 
 Mr. Clayton stated that this was probably the last oppor- 
 tunity which would be offered for obtaining this gallery of 
 paintings, perpetuating the lineaments of these aborigines. 
 He would not now go into the merits of these paintings. 
 They had been seen by all the Senators. At the last session 
 memorials had been presented from the principal artists 
 praying that they might be purchased by the Government; 
 and this was the last opportunity. They were about six 
 hundred in number, and were now at the Louvre, in Paris, 
 where they met with unqualified approbation. It was pro- 
 vided by his amendment that they were not to be purchased 
 unless the Smithsonian Institution would find a place for 
 them in their gallery, which he understood would probably 
 be done. They might, perhaps, be purchased for about 
 $50,000, of which it was proposed to pay $5,000 annually. 
 
 .Mr. BREESE said he was not aware of any arrangement 
 which had been suggested in the Institute for these paint- 
 ings; and six hundred of them would fill the entire gallery 
 intended for fine arts. These pictures are not, of them- 
 selves, of such excellence as would probably be selected for 
 the gallery of the arts. 
 
 Mr. WESTCOTT was opposed to purchasing the portraits of" 
 savages. What great moral lesson are they intended to in- 
 culcate ? lie would rather see the portraits of the numer- 
 ous citizens who have been murdered by these Indians. He 
 would not vote a cent for a portrait of an Indian. 
 
 Mr. J. M. CLAYTON added, that this collection had cost 
 Mr. Catlin not less than $10,000. Propositions had been 
 made for their purchase in Europe, in order to perpetuate 
 the memory of these Indians ; but we arc more bound to 
 preserve them than foreigners were. As to the Institute 
 this appropriation was to depend on their decision. If they 
 could not provide a place for them the paintings would not 
 be purchased. 
 
 The motion was then decided in the negative. 
 
478 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 SENATE, March 2, 1847. 
 
 Mr. BREESE presented a report of the Board of Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, made agreeably to law, 
 showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of the 
 institution, which was ordered to be printed. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 30, 1847. 
 On motion by Mr. BREESE, it was 
 
 Ordered, That a member be appointed by the Vice-President to till tin- 
 vacancy in the Board of Regents, occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. 
 Lewis Cass. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi, was appointed. 
 SENATE, March 4, 1848. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi, on leave, introduced a joint 
 resolution appointing certain Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution ; which was read a first and second time, and 
 referred to the Committee on the Library. 
 
 SENATE, June 1, 1848. 
 On motion of Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi, 
 
 Resolved, That one thousand additional copies of the report of the R< - 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution be printed for the use of tin.- Si-iuiii-. 
 
 SENATE, July 7, 1848. 
 On motion of Mr. PEARCE, 
 
 Resolved, That one hundred and fifty copies of the report of the Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, printed for the use of the Senate, bo fur- 
 nished to the Secretary of the institution for the use of said institution. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 8, 1847. 
 
 Mr. WHITE gave notice that on to-morrow, or sonic sub- 
 sequent day, he would move to amend the rules of the 
 House, so as to provide for the appointment of a Committee 
 on the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 13, 1847. 
 
 Mr. WHITE, in compliance with the notice he gave yester- 
 day, introduced the following resolution : 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 479 
 
 Resolved, That the rules of this House be amended by adding one to the 
 committees, to consist of nine members, which shall be entitled a Commit- 
 tee on the Smithsonian Institution. It shall be the duty of the said com- 
 mittee to supervise the proceedings of the Board of Regents, examine ac- 
 counts and the condition of the funds of the institution, suggest such altera- 
 tions or amendments of the law under which the institution was established 
 as may be deemed necessary, and report to the House from time to time, as 
 the interest of the institution may require. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD said he supposed that the resolution would, 
 as a matter of course, lie over. 
 
 The SPEAKER said that the resolution was now before the 
 House. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD deemed this resolution entirely unnecessary. 
 The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution were selected, 
 three from the Senate and three from this House. What 
 possible necessity, then, could there be to justify the ap- 
 pointment of a committee to inspect the affairs of that in- 
 stitution ? Besides, other departments of this Government 
 were required to act in concert with them, and therefore 
 there could be no reason to justify the bringing of the affairs 
 of that institution into this arena of debate, that its progress 
 might be embarrassed, its harmony of action impaired, and 
 the objects which it had undertaken be defeated. He asked 
 the gentleman what good he proposed to accomplish by it ? 
 He would impute no sinister motive to a gentleman of his en- 
 larged and enlightened views, but still it must be borne in 
 mind that the bill itself encountered great difficulties in its 
 progress through the House during the last session. Much 
 hostility was manifested to it, and therefore he again asked, 
 what good could be anticipated from the appointment of 
 such a committee ? 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD believed they ought not to change the pres- 
 ent relations of Congress to that institution. A committee 
 appointed by this House would not share in the daily delib- 
 erations of the Board of Regents, and, without participat- 
 ing in them, it would be difficult to comprehend all its 
 designs. The Board of Regents had endeavored in good 
 faith to carry out the law passed by Congress ; and, having 
 done so, he said, lot them go on ; and if their affairs should 
 hereafter call for the appointment of a select committee, 
 appoint one when required, but do not now provide the 
 means unnecessarily of constantly bringing on this floor, 
 where they were so much oppressed with debate, the affairs 
 of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. WHITE disclaimed all hostility to that institution, and 
 declared his ardent desire to co-operate with the Regents. 
 The bequest was a noble one, and it should be carried out 
 
480 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 in the same spirit. The committee which he proposed to 
 create, on which he did not desire to be placed, would 
 merely supervise the appropriations and review its affairs, 
 and his could not, therefore, he considered a hostile motion. 
 It was a new institution, under the care and guardianship 
 of Congress, and such a committee might be necessary to 
 report what was useful and requisite to carry out the design 
 of the testator, which was to increase the diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men. 
 
 Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL suggested, to save time, that the reso- 
 lution should be referred Yo the Select Committee on Rules, 
 who could take it into consideration and report thereon to 
 the House. 
 
 Mr. WHITE had no objection to that course. He modified 
 his resolution accordingly, and it was referred to the select 
 committee designated. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 19, 1847. 
 
 The House having under consideration the Rules of the 
 House, the seventh ^proposed rule was read as follows: 
 
 " 7. In addition to the other standing committees of the House, there 
 shall be one called the Smithsonian Committee, whose duty it shall be to 
 superintend the affairs of the Smithsonian institution." 
 
 Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL expressed a desire to postpone the 
 consideration of this rule to a future day. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD said he desired to occupy about ten min- 
 utes of the time of the House on this subject at this time. 
 He thought this was the precise occasion on which a few 
 words should be said. 
 
 Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL had no objection ; but as the other 
 rules had been disposed of, he wished to defer this for the 
 present. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD undertook to move the postponement to a 
 day certain, and then proceeded as follows: 
 
 Mr. Speaker: It so happens, that I am the only member 
 of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution now 
 entitled to a seat on this floor. It is important to secure 
 the good will of the country in behalf of an enterprise so 
 elevated one might say so sublime. 
 
 There exists some misconception in regard to the Insti- 
 tution, and idle rumors are afloat which may affect it inju- 
 riously. Scientific establishments are not to go out and 
 court popularity, but they must not be indifferent to public 
 sentiment. Before entering upon the stormy and engross- 
 ing debates in which we shall presently be engaged, I 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 481 
 
 desire by a simple statement of facts, to give the House a 
 view of the history, condition, and plans of an institution 
 which so strongly appeals to us for protection. 
 
 Mr. Smithson's bequest was a noble one. He gave his 
 whole property to found at the city of Washington " an es- 
 tablishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men." America was selected as a field for so wide 
 and beneficent a design, ^oung, vigorous, rapidly increas- 
 ing in numbers, this country afforded the best ground upon 
 which to rest an establishment which was designed to en- 
 lighten mankind. 
 
 Entering into the spirit of this bequest, Congress passed 
 an act making the most liberal provision for carrying it in- 
 to practical effect. The whole sum, with its accumulated 
 interest, was turned over to the establishment created by 
 the act, composed of the President and Vice President of 
 the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of 'the 
 Navy, the Postmaster General, the Attorney General, the 
 Chief Justice, and the Commissioner of the Patent Office 
 of the United States, and the Mayor of the city of Wash- 
 ington, during the time for which they shall hold their res- 
 pective offices, and such other persons as they may elect 
 honorary members. The sum amounted to five hundred 
 and fifteen thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars, 
 and a further sum of two hundred and forty-two thou- 
 sand one hundred and twenty-nine dollars, being the 
 accumulated interest upon that sum since it came into 
 possession of the Government. The principal sum was 
 forever to remain untouched, the interest was appropriated 
 to the erection of the building and incidental expenses. 
 The building to be erected was to meet the provisions of 
 the act, which required it to contain suitable rooms or halls 
 for the reception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of 
 objects of natural history, including a geological and min- 
 eralogical cabinet ; also a chemical laboratory, a library, a 
 gallery of art, and the necessary lecture rooms. Another 
 section provides that, in proportion as suitable arrangements 
 can be made for their reception, all objects of art, and of for- 
 eign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, 
 plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens, belong- 
 ing or hereafter to belong to the United States, which may 
 be in the city of Washington, shall be delivered to the care 
 of the institution, and so classed and arranged as best to 
 facilitate the examination and study of them in the building 
 to be erected. This at once empties the great hall of the 
 31 
 
482 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Patent Office, three hundred and fifty feet long, of its con- 
 tents. It must be at once seen that the Sinithsonian build- 
 ing ought, if it is to accommodate these great and various 
 objects, to be of ample dimensions. This building, too, 
 was to be erected without dela}\ The site was to be selec- 
 ted "forthwith" " and so soon " as that was done, the Board 
 was to proceed with the erection of the building;. 
 
 The Board of Regents faithfully studied the wiM of Mr. 
 Smithson, and the law creating the establishment. 
 
 Two things were to be accomplished. First, to increase 
 knowledge by original research; and then, second to dift'"*<- 
 it by suitable anct efficient agencies; or in the language of 
 the venerable and distinguished gentleman from Massa- 
 chusetts, (Mr. Adams,) " to spread knowledge throughout 
 the world." 
 
 The task devolved by Congress on the Regents was no 
 light one. They were called on to organize and set on foot 
 this establishment, so l>c'iicti<-(>nt in its conception, so com- 
 prehensive in its design. The act of Congress prescribed 
 certain parts of the plan, and left the other parts to be de- 
 vised by the Board of Regents. That part of the plan which 
 was embraced in the act of Congress had almost exclusive 
 reference to the diffusion of knowledge. The means which 
 provide for the increase have been supplu-d by tin- Regents. 
 
 We have been charged with being wildly extravagant 
 laying out large sums in purchase of old books. A story 
 has been circulated that we paid $2,500 for an old and rare 
 copy of the Bible. Now, sir, no man loves the Bible more 
 than I do, but I could not have consented to an expenditure 
 of that sort. I dare say no one member of the Board ever 
 dreamed of such an expenditure. 
 
 Again, some have charged us with being too utilitarian, 
 confining our operations to an improvement of the physical 
 condition of mankind. We have certainly endeavored, in 
 our plan of organization, to provide for the entire wants of 
 mankind, and to meet the spirit of the age. We have 
 brought into our service a gentleman who stands in the 
 front rank of the science of the country I mean Professor 
 Henry, formerly of Princeton. His name is well known in 
 Europe, and is associated with that of Faraday, and Arago, 
 and Queteiet. I have before me the plan of organization 
 adopted for the operations of the institution, to which I de- 
 desire to call the attention of the House, but which, (as Mark 
 Antony said on a much, more important occasion, about 
 the will of Csesar,) pardon me, I do not intend to read. I 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 483 
 
 vrish every gentleman in the House would read it, for it 
 would receive on all sides a warm and generous support. 
 
 I desire to submit a few remarks in regard to our build- 
 ing. We were authorized by Congress to expend $240,000 
 in its erection ; but, in view of the wide field of knowledge 
 to be cultivated, the Regents resolved to save a part of this 
 sum and add it to the principal. Keeping in view the great 
 interests to be provided for, it was resolved to erect a build- 
 ing of proportions sufficiently ample to meet the require- 
 ments of the act of Congress, and of a style which should 
 not oiFerid the eye. This has been effected, a contract has 
 been entered into, and a plan of expenditure agreed upon, 
 which, while the building is gradually constructed, will 
 carry out the plan to full completion, and at the end of five 
 years from the time of its commencement. So far from 
 having expended the sum appropriated by Congress for the 
 purpose, we shall have, after erecting the structure, provid- 
 ing for its warming and ventilation, and the inclosure of the 
 grounds, $140,000 to return to the principal sum. In the 
 meanwhile we are carrying on the operations of the insti- 
 tution, stimulating original researches, publishing contribu- 
 tions to science, and gradually increasing our library. At 
 the same time we pay our debts as we go on. This is, of 
 course, accomplished by using the interest on the $240,000 
 for the building and the annually accruing interest on the 
 principal fund for meeting the regular expenses of the in- 
 stitution. 
 
 The transactions of the present year arc highly interest- 
 ing, and will soon be published in a volume which will com- 
 pare well with similar publications in Europe. 
 
 With the building, so far as it has gone, all paid for and 
 every debt discharged, we shall have at the end of the year 
 $10,000 more than we received from Congress. 
 
 Is there any necessity for a standing committee of this 
 House ? How is the Board of Regents composed ? The 
 act of Congress declares that if shall be constituted of the 
 Vice-President of the United States, the Chief Justice of 
 the United States, the Mayor of the city of Washington, 
 three members of the Senate, three members of the House 
 of Representatives, together with six other persons not 
 members of Congress." Each House of Congress, it will 
 be perceived, has three members of the Board of Regents ; 
 and it is required by law that the board shall submit to 
 Congress at each session a report of the operations, expen- 
 ditures, and condition of the institution. 
 
 At the last session, I presented a full report according to 
 
484 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 law, which I now have before me ; it was printed and circu- 
 lated. Another report is about to be presented, embracing- 
 the report of the building committee, a paper containing 
 some three hundred pages, full of useful information, which 
 I should be happy to see printed. Is it then necessary to 
 appoint a committee ? Is it proper ? Is it becoming ? A 
 committee of this House appointed " to superintend the 
 affairs of the Smithsonian Institution!" This committee 
 will'bring under its supervision the Vice-President of the 
 United States, the Chief Justice, three Senators, three Rep- 
 resentatives, and six citizens at large, selected because of 
 their character and attainments. May I most respectfully 
 ask, who will superintend the affairs of that committee of 
 five? Where is the necessity for thus complicating the 
 machinery of an institution which ought to be left to enjoy 
 the repose which science loves ? 
 
 I hope, sir, that this institution, so important to this coun- 
 try and to mankind, will not be launched on the ever-heav- 
 ing sea of politics. If that should happen, we should soon 
 lose sight of land ; storms and shipwreck would await us, 
 and the hopes which crowned our noble enterprise in its 
 commencement would perish with us. 
 
 I thank the House for the attention with which they have 
 heard these remarks ; it evinces the interest which they feel 
 in an institution which claims their protection. 
 
 Mr. Hilliard concluded by moving to lay the proposed 
 rule on the table. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON said he thought he understood the 
 agreement between the gentleman from- Alabama and the 
 gentleman from Pennsylvania to be, that this subject should 
 be postponed to a day certain. 
 
 Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL. My suggestion was, that the con- 
 sideration of the subject be postponed to any given day 
 which the gentleman from Alabama might name. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD. I have no choice at all, sir. 
 
 Mr. INGERSOLL indicating his wish that the gentleman 
 from Alabama should name the day. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD said he would move, if agreeable to the- 
 House, that it be postponed to this day twelve months. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON addressed the chair, and inquired 
 if that motion was not debatable ? 
 
 The SPEAKER replied in the affirmative. 
 
 Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL suggested to Mr. Hilliard that his 
 understanding was that it should be postponed to some day 
 not distant, when the House could reach and dispose of it. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD said he would withdraw the motion, as he- 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 485 
 
 preferred the gentleman from Pennsylvania should make 
 Iris own motion. 
 
 The SPEAKER said the gentleman from Pennsylvania had 
 not the floor to make the motion. The gentleman from 
 Tennessee [Mr. A. Johnson] had taken the floor. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD then remarked that he had heen reminded 
 that his pledge was to move a postponement to a day within 
 a reasonable period, and said he would modify his motion 
 so as to name the 3d day of January next. 
 
 The SPEAKER said the motion could not be altered with- 
 out the consent of the gentleman from Tennessee, who had 
 the floor. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD appealed to the gentleman from Tennessee 
 to permit the modification to be made. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON had no objection, provided it did not deprive 
 him of the floor. 
 
 The motion was accordingly modified by Mr. Hilliard so 
 as to postpone to the 3d day of January. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON then proceeded in his remarks. 
 He said the gentleman who had just closed his remarks had 
 seen no propriety or necessity for the appointment of this 
 committee. He seemed to think it would be humiliating 
 and detracting somewhat from the dignity of these individ- 
 uals who were called u Regents," he believed, in the act 
 establishing the Smithsonian Institution to have their pro- 
 ceedings come under the supervision of a committee of this 
 House. Now, his (Mr. Johnson's) conceptions about dignity 
 and position in this country were perhaps different from 
 those of the gentleman from Alabama. According to his 
 .notions of government, this body occupied the highest and 
 most elevated position. In this Democratic Government it 
 was held that the people are sovereign, the source of all 
 power; this body stands next to the people, next to the sov- 
 ereignty, and instead of detracting from their dignity, he 
 thought it was assigning them their true position. He knew 
 there were some who were really fascinated by that word 
 " Regent," and the fondness of such things was increasing 
 in our country. 
 
 He thought the gentleman from Alabama had demonstra- 
 ted clearly to this House, in his opposition to the creation of 
 this committee, the necessity of its creation. If all was 
 done well, everything regularly transacted, if the money 
 was judiciously expended, in the name of common reason 
 would it injure or affect their proceedings to be supervised 
 lay a committee appointed by this body ? Why, the very 
 disposition to shrink from the supervision of a committee 
 
486 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 appointed by the popular branch of the Government ought 
 to carry conviction to the mind of this House of the neces- 
 sity of its creation. 
 
 He was no prophet, but when the bill was before the 
 House for the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 he had predicted what had already become a matter of fact 
 that this institution would be an incubus upon the Treas- 
 ury, that it would be a perpetual source of expenditure. 
 The clause in Mr. Smithson's will "for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men " read well, it was true. 
 And the gentleman from Alabama undertook also to prove 
 how great financiers the Board of Regents were, and said, 
 after all the improvements are done, they would have over 
 $100,000 left. And how was this done ? Why, they had 
 taken $242,000, supposed to be the interest which had accu- 
 mulated on this fund, and put that upon interest having 
 bought Treasury notes, he supposed, on which they were 
 drawing interest; and by this means they had saved an im- 
 mense sum. Did not every member, know, who had paid 
 attention to the discussion of this subject when the bill 
 passed placing $500,000 at the discretion of the Board of 
 Regents, that not a dollar of it was there ? They first placed 
 a certain amount in the Treasury that did not exist there, 
 and then calculated interest on this fictitious amount, and 
 then interest on the interest; which is the way in which 
 they are to carry on their extensive works. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD. Is the gentleman charging that upon the 
 Board or this House ? 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON. Charging what ? 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD. Why, that a fictitious amount was placed 
 in the Treasury. 
 
 Mr, JOHNSON. I w r as going on to prove the position that 
 this institution would be an incubus upon the Treasury. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD. But does the gentleman charge the put- 
 ting this fictitious sum in the Treasury, &c., on the Board 
 or on Congress. I wish him to answer on that point. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON. On Congress. The bill of last session 
 placed $500,000 in the Treasury which was not there in 
 reality. It is true the Government received it ; but they 
 acted as a faithful trustee, and loaned it out, and not a cent 
 has ever been returned. In this state of the case, Mr. John- 
 son denied that the Government was justly bound to refund 
 the money, and that very few of their constituencies would 
 sanction it. It would have been much better if she had 
 never consented to act as trustee of it; for, notwithstand- 
 ing their flourishing with " Regents," &c., and talking of 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 487 
 
 such a sum as in the Treasury, it was not there, and the ex- 
 penses of this institution came out of the Treasury, which 
 was already heavily taxed and burdened with debt to carry 
 on the war. He insisted, now that they had commenced 
 operations, that reports of their proceedings should be reg- 
 ularly laid before a committee of this House, who would 
 thus have supervision over them, and be a check upon them. 
 Such a restraint was needed in all Government establish- 
 ments, and there was no reason in this case why this insti- 
 tution should be excepted. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 22, 1847. 
 
 In pursuance of the act establishing the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution 
 
 The SPEAKER reappointed Mr. H. W. Hilliard,of Alabama, 
 a Eegent of the said institution ; and appointed Mr. Geo. P. 
 Marsh, of Vermont, and Mr. Robert McClelland, of Michi- 
 gan, to the Board of Regents on the part of the House, in 
 the place of Mr. Hough and Mr. Owen, whose terms have 
 expired. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 5, 1848. 
 
 The SPEAKER laid before the House a report from the 
 Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, showing the opera- 
 tions, expenditures, and condition of that institution for the 
 past } 7 ear. 
 
 Mr. HOUSTON, of Delaware, moved to lay the report on 
 the table, and that it be printed. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee, called for a division of the 
 question, so as to take the question separately on each 
 branch of the motion. 
 
 The question was divided accordingly, and the report was 
 ordered to be laid on the table. The question then recur- 
 ring on the motion to print 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee, opposed the printing at pres- 
 ent. The House saw, in the proposition to print this cum- 
 brous document, a beginning of what had been anticipated 
 by some who were opposed'to this institution. Here was 
 a long report, accompanied by many documents, and this 
 House was called upon to print them ; and he expected they 
 would have a proposition soon to print an extra number. 
 It was true the law establishing this institution provides 
 that the Regents should make a report to the House ; but 
 before this report was printed, before an order to print was 
 made, the Committee on the Smithsonian Institution ought 
 to be established, and ought to report to the House the pro- 
 
488 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 priety of having this report and the accompanying docu- 
 ments printed. 
 
 Perhaps it might be considered by some, as he from the 
 beginning had opposed this institution, that he had some 
 personal dislike to those connected with it, or that he was 
 operated upon from some other unworthy consideration, 
 that produced his opposition to it. He availed himself of 
 this occasion to disavow anything of this kind. He wanted 
 this committee established ; he wanted everything connected 
 with this institution referred to this committee. Let that 
 committee report the result of their investigation to this 
 House. 
 
 But while he w r as upon the floor, there were some other 
 things to which he would advert, for it was very difficult 
 for him to get the floor here on any given subject. He had 
 had the honor of making a few remarks the other day upon 
 the resolution providing for the establishment of a commit- 
 tee upon the Smithsonian Institution ; but before he had 
 concluded his remarks the House adjourned, and the resolu- 
 tion had laid over from that day. The whole thing was left 
 in the fog, and no one could tell when it would be reached 
 again. 
 
 He had no personal hostility to this institution. He ap- 
 preciated and approved the design of the donor. He thought 
 the motives and intentions of Mr. Smithson were good ; but 
 this thing had received an improper direction, and was al- 
 ready beginning, as he had remarked, to result in a large 
 annual expenditure to this Government, and Congress were 
 called upon to appropriate sum after sum for printing and 
 for other expenses in getting up this institution, which was 
 to result in no good to the Government or the country. 
 What good could result from this institution, with its pecu- 
 liar organization ? Why, it would have been much better, 
 and would no doubt have fulfilled the good intentions and 
 motives of the man's heart, had he bequeathed this sum to 
 the United States to be expended in erecting school houses 
 of some description in this District, and in the districts 
 throughout the country, in which the common children of 
 the country could be educated. It would have been ditl'us- 
 ing knowledge among men more profitably, more in accord- 
 ance with the design of the donor. But what good has this 
 institution done, as now organized ? 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 17, 1848. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee, moved the following resolu- 
 tions : 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 489 
 
 Resolved, That in addition to the standing committees of this House, there 
 .shall be one called the Smithsonian Committee, whose duty it shall be to 
 superintend the affairs of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Resolved, That the report made by the Regents and accompanying docu- 
 ments be referred to the Committee on the Smithsonian Institution, whose 
 duty it shall be to examine the same in connection with the original journal 
 and other documents from which they have been made, and report to this 
 Bouse whether, in their opinion it is necessary to print all or any portion 
 of them, or not ; and that said committee be, and is hereby, authorized and 
 required to take into consideration the propriety and expediency of suspend- 
 ing all further operations of the Smithsonian Institution until the Treasury 
 of the United States be relieved from the heavy and pressing burden crea- 
 ted by the existing war between the anarchy of Mexico and the American 
 Union. And, further, that said committee be authorized and required to 
 procure the aid of three architects, distinguished in their profession, asso- 
 ciated with two responsible and highly reputed scientific practical builders, 
 who shall take into consideration the site, the design, and material of which 
 the present building is composed, and report the result of such examination 
 to this House. And, further, that said committee take into consideration 
 the propriety of so changing and remodelling the present design of the 
 Smithsonian Institution as to convert it into a " university," in the ex- 
 tended sense of the term, including the manual labor feature, as to embrace, 
 agriculture, horticulture, and all the various branches of mechanism, or 
 as many of them as may be deemed practicable and useful to the country. 
 
 The SPEAKER ruled the resolution out of order. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON moved to suspend the rules that the resolu- 
 tion might be received. 
 
 The question was put on suspending the rules, and the 
 motion was disagreed to. 
 
 Notices of motions for leave to introduce bills being in 
 order, the following notice was given : 
 
 By Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee : Of a bill to change the 
 title of an act, approved on the 10th day of August, 1846, 
 entitled "An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution for 
 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," to 
 that of the " Washington University for the benefit of the 
 indigent children of the District of Columbia," in memory 
 of and out of respect to George Washington, the Father 
 of his Country. 
 
 HOUSE OF KEPRESENTATIYES, March 13, 1848. 
 
 Mr. EMBREE offered the following preamble and resolu- 
 tion which was read, and the resolution agreed to : 
 
 Whereas, James Smithson, Esq., by his last will and testament, having 
 given the whole of his property, now amounting to more than $700,000, to 
 the United States, to found an" establishment for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men, and Congress, to carry out the liberal designs of 
 the donor, having passed an act entitled " An act to establish the Smithso- 
 nian Institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," 
 approved August 10, 1846 ; and whereas officers have been appointed under 
 said act, and are proceeding to erect a building, which, with the improve- 
 ments attached, according to their estimate, is to cost about $250,000 ; and 
 *aid officers are about to establish in said building, with the funds of the 
 
490 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 institution, a library, to contain 100,000 volumes, a museum on a large scale, 
 a chemical laboratory, lecture rooms for the purpose of delivering lectures, 
 and a gallery of art ; and whereas all of said objects are local in their 
 nature, and confined to the city of Washington and its vicinity, when the 
 design of the liberal donor was not only the increase of knowledge but the 
 diffusion of it amongst men, for the general good ; and whereas said act 
 provides " that there is reserved to Congress the right of altering or amend- 
 ing, adding to, or repealing any of the provisions of this act:'' Therefore 
 be it 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee of the Library inquire into the expediency 
 of so changing and modifying said act as to establish a department in said 
 institution for the purpose of collecting and arranging information on agri- 
 culture, common school education, political economy, and the useful arts 
 and sciences ; which information, together with the useful lectures that may 
 be delivered in said institution, shall be published and circulated gratuit- 
 ously among the people, so as to carry out the design of the testator in dif- 
 fusing useful knowledge amongst men, and that said committee report by 
 bill or otherwise. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 8, 1848. 
 
 Mr. PRESTON, from the Committee on the Library, to 
 which was referred the resolution of the House, of March 
 13, 1848, relative to the Smithsonian Institution, reported 
 the following resolutions, which were read and agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, That it is inexpedient to change and modify the act establish- 
 ing the Smithsonian Institution in the manner proposed in said resolution. 
 
 Resolved, That the committee be discharged from the further considera- 
 tion of said resolution, and that it be laid upon the table. 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 11, 1848. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi, on leave, introduced the follow- 
 ing joint resolution, which was read a first time : 
 
 Resolved, #c., That the vacancies in the Board of Kegents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, of the class "other than members of Congress," be 
 filled by the reappointment of the late incumbents, viz : Eufus Choate, of 
 Massachusetts, and Gideon Hawley, of New York. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS explained the necessity for the immediate pas- 
 sage of the resolution, as a meeting of the Regents would 
 take place on Wednesday, and it was important that the 
 board should be fully organized. 
 
 The joint resolution was then read a second time, passed 
 through Committee of the Whole, and was read a third 
 time and passed. 
 
 SENATE, February 22, 1849. 
 
 Mr. MASON presented the annual report of the Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution ; and moved that one thous- 
 and copies be printed for the use of the Senate ; which wa& 
 agreed to. 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 491 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF KEPKESENTAT1VES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 11, 1848. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW JOHNSON, of Tennessee, moved to amend the 
 resolution of Mr. Truman Smith, so as to provide for the 
 appointment of a standing committee, to be called the Com- 
 mittee on the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. GOGGIN rose, and was understood to express his desire 
 to offer an amendment providing that no member should 
 have the right to call the previous question on any proposi- 
 tion presented to the House until the same should have been 
 distinctly stated by the Chair or the Clerk. 
 
 Mr. Goggin desired, if in order, to offer this as an amend- 
 ment to the amendment of the gentleman from Tennessee, 
 [Mr. Johnson.] 
 
 The SPEAKER was understood to. say that the proposition 
 of the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Goggin] would be in. 
 order after the amendment of the gentleman from Tennes- 
 see [Mr. Johnson] had been disposed of. The question now 
 was, on ordering the appointment of an additional commit- 
 tee on the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The question was accordingly put by the Chair, but be- 
 fore the decision had been announced 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON hoped, he said, that the House would adopt 
 his amendment. The subject involved the expenditure of 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he could see no sub- 
 stantial reason why opposition should be made to the ap- 
 pointment of such a committee. The Regents were pre- 
 pared, as he understood, to make a report. This Congress 
 had the supervision of the fund, and had the appointment 
 of some of its Regents; and he could not see why this body r 
 or incorporation, or institution, upon which so much money- 
 had been expended, should not be reported upon, as to its 
 proceedings and condition, to this House. Congress had 
 received the fund, and had become responsible for it. They 
 were the trustees. Were they to act before a committee ot 
 the House had reported upon the manner in which the 
 funds had been disposed of, and upon other matters of that 
 kind ? He was utterly astonished that his amendment 
 should find any opponent on this floor. Did gentlemen 
 wish to exclude all light upon the subject to prevent the 
 country receiving such information as it was in their power 
 to give to keep from public view the facts connected witli 
 the expenditure of the money ? It was strange that any 
 gentleman should be found willing to say that he did not 
 want a committee which might ascertain all the facts and 
 
492 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 report them to the country. Various complaints had been 
 made as to the expenditure of the money, the structure of 
 the building, and the material of which it was composed. 
 Were gentleman willing to exclude all those facts which it 
 was requisite should be known in order to arrive at correct, 
 conclusions, and intelligently to direct the future operations 
 of the Institution ? If all was going on well, if the build- 
 ing was properly constructed, and the money had been 
 properly expended, let the country understand it. He 
 trusted that the House would adopt his proposition, and 
 that a committee would be appointed. 
 
 Mr. MCCLELLAND, of Mich., said that he was not opposed 
 to the appointment of the committee contemplated by the 
 amendment of the gentleman from Tennessee, [Mr. John- 
 son.] At the same time, if he had no other reasons than those 
 which had been assigned by the gentleman from Tennessee, 
 he (Mr. McClelland) should be radically opposed to such :m 
 appointment. Reports had been sent in by the Board of 
 Regents that were very full and ample in regard to all the 
 facts that the people throughout the country could desire to 
 know concerning this institution. One very full report of 
 all facts touching the institution had been laid before the 
 House at the last session of Congress. The House had 
 refused to print it. That report, his friend from Tennessee 
 (Mr. Johnson) would find, had set forth, in a simple and 
 lucid manner, everything connected with the institution 
 since its organization everything that had been done 
 under the law passed by Congress down to that time. He, 
 (Mr. McClelland,) for one, as a member of the Board of 
 Regents, would say, that it was not afraid of any investiga- 
 tion by a committee of this House or otherwise. He would 
 go as far as any reasonable man in favor of economy and 
 retrenchment ; and he would say that the Board of Regents, 
 so far as his knowledge extended, had acted upon both 
 these principles in every step they had taken. He was 
 astonished, on entering upon his official duties, to find that 
 almost every report which had been put in circulation in 
 regard to the institution was entirely false and groundless. 
 He hoped that every gentleman here, who was a friend to 
 the institution, would permit a committee to be appointed, 
 and that it might be composed of members who were radi- 
 cally opposed to the institution, so that no barrier should be 
 interposed to the most rigorous and searching scrutiny. 
 And (continued Mr. McClelland) if that committee shall give 
 to the country such a report as I know they will give, (for 
 none other can they make,) the effect will be to raise the 
 
1847-40. 493 
 
 institution to a higher point in public estimation than any 
 which it has ever yet attained. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD rose, as a member of the Board of "Regents 
 in this House, to make no opposition to the amendment of 
 the gentleman from Tennessee, if it should be the deliber- 
 ate opinion of the House that such a committee should be 
 appointed. But he wished the House to mark the spirit in 
 which the motion was made. When the report was brought 
 forward by him (Mr. Hilliard) from the Board of Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, at the last session of Con- 
 gress, and a motion was made to print it, the gentleman 
 from Tennessee was the very one who interposed his objec- 
 tion to the printing. They had been reproached with not 
 being willing to exhibit their doings to the country. It had 
 been said that there had been improper expenditures of 
 money, an indiscreet distribution of funds authorized by 
 them. Here was an ample report setting forth all the facts, 
 making everything plain; and when he had moved the 
 printing of the report, for the information of the country, 
 to his amazement that very gentleman objected to the 
 printing, on the simple ground of expense. But now the 
 gentleman came forward with a proposition to form a stand- 
 ing committee whose business it should be to supervise the 
 action of the three members of this House and the three 
 members of the Senate who were already charged with 
 directing the affairs of this institution. He should offer no 
 objections to the proposition ; he left it to the taste and 
 judgment of the House. For one, he gave way, and yielded 
 any objections which he had hitherto offered to the propo- 
 sition. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee, said the gentleman from Al- 
 abama seemed to have stepped off upon the wrong track 
 when he said that the simple objection which he (Mr. John- 
 son) had had to the printing at the last session of Congress 
 was that; it would involve an expenditure of money. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD (in his seat) said he had so understood it. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON continued. The gentleman from Alabama 
 had wholly misconceived his opposition to the printing of 
 this report at the last session of Congress. It would be re- 
 membered by the gentleman from Alabama, and by the 
 whole House, that he (Mr. Johnson) was striving the whole 
 session, that he had made effort after effort to procure the 
 appointment of a committee before this report should be 
 printed, that they might ascertain whether this was the 
 report which should be printed or not. This was the objec- 
 tion he had to the printing of the report. He wanted it 
 
494 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 referred to a committee, with instructions to inquire into 
 the expediency of printing this report, and also of printing 
 a work which they desired to have printed upon architect- 
 ure a kind of mongrel report prepared by some of the 
 regents. He wanted a committee appointed to inquire into 
 all the facts ahout the institution, and to report them to this 
 House; as well as to inquire into the expediency of print- 
 ing this long, voluminous report of the regents. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD said he helicved he had understood the 
 gentleman's remarks correctly, so far as his objections went 
 to the expenses of the printing. The gentleman now chose 
 to assume other grounds; that he desired to examine 
 whether it was such a report as the House ought to receive. 
 Now it would have been far better for the guntlemim to 
 have allowed it to be printed, and then this House would 
 have been better enabled, at this session, to ascertain the 
 fact whether it was such a report as they would receive. 
 
 But there was no concealing the fact, that the spirit in 
 which the gentleman made his motion did not grow out of 
 any desire to have the affairs of this institution better con- 
 ducted, or to make its action more efficient, or to relieve it 
 of a single burden; but, on the contrary, from the uncom- 
 promising hostility which the gentleman from Tennessee 
 and a few others he was happy to say they were but few- 
 felt against this institution. The gentlemen would he for 
 destroying its organization, for razing its structure to the 
 very foundations, and for returning to the British Govern- 
 ment, or to the trustees of the donor, the munificent sum 
 which had been received from that quarter. He .asked the 
 gentleman if it was not so, and if he was not opposed to 
 any use, whatever, being made of the fund for the estab- 
 lishment of an institution in this country called the Smith- 
 sonian Institution? 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON said, as the question had been asked him, 
 he would very cheerfully answer it. The gentleman wanted 
 to know if his hostility was not fixed to this institution. 
 
 Mr. SMITH, of Connecticut, rose to a question of order. 
 He wished to know of the Speaker whether it was in order 
 to discuss the general merits of the Smithsonian Institution 
 upon, a mere proposition to appoint a committee ? 
 
 The SPEAKER replied that the House had adopted no rules 
 of proceeding, and that the parliamentary law allowed a 
 very wide range of debate. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON proceeded in his explanation. He was sat- 
 isfied that the gentleman from Alabama with no unkind 
 spirit asked if he (Mr. Johnson) was not fixed in his hostil- 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 495 
 
 ity to the very organization of this institution. He could 
 inform the gentleman from Alabama that he misconceived 
 his relation to the Smithsonian Institution. He had no 
 fixed hostility to it. The hostility (if it could be so called) 
 the opposition which he had to this institution rested 
 upon other and different grounds from a mere hostility to 
 the design of such an institution One of the principal rea- 
 sons why he wanted this committee appointed was not out 
 of opposition to the Smithsonian Institution; but taking 
 into consideration the peculiar crisis of the country at that 
 time, and the continuation of that crisis at this time, and 
 the burdens which this institution was imposing upon the 
 Government, he wished to see its affairs thoroughly inves- 
 tigated and brought before the public. That this fund had 
 been received from the United States ; that the United States 
 had discharged its duty as trustee with fidelity ; that this 
 fund had been sunk and lost these were all true ; and ac- 
 cording to his construction of the Constitution and of the 
 duties of a trustee, he considered that the Government was 
 exonerated from any further responsibility in connection 
 with this fund. It was well known that the original fund 
 had been lost, and it was known, too, that the law estab- 
 lishing the Smithsonian Institution, took the money out of 
 the Treasury of the Government out of the people's 
 pocket? When the Smithsonian Institution was founded, 
 every dollar of the money received from Mr. Smith son was 
 gone not a dollar of it was available. He had opposed an 
 institution of this kind being established with funds taken 
 out of the Treasury ; not that he was opposed to an institu- 
 tion established upon the Smithsonian fund not that he 
 disapproved of the object of the donor; but he was opposed 
 in time of war, when we were incurring a very heavy pub- 
 lic debt, to going into the Treasury, and establishing an 
 institution of this description, at an expense to the people 
 of some five or six hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 Another reason was, that he believed, under the law 
 itself, the money had been improperly withdrawn from the 
 Treasury of the United States. The House had been in- 
 formed, by the able and eloquent gentleman from Ala- 
 bama, that the regents had withdrawn money from the 
 Treasury to the amount of $242,000, and by an extraordi- 
 nary process of financiering, were doubling and cornpound- 
 ing'it. They had been informed, also, that none of the 
 principal had been expended. How had this been done ? 
 Why, when the law was passed, every gentleman here at all 
 familiar with the subject knew that this fund was gone 
 
496 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 that not one dollar of it was left; he had the documents 
 before him to show that this was the fact. But the law 
 placed that in the Treasury which was not there ; it was a 
 legal fiction. It said that a certain amount had been placed 
 in the Treasury in 1886, and had remained there and been 
 drawing interest from 1836, and that the interest on that 
 sum (which was not in the Treasury) was $242,000 ; and 
 this amount was appropriated to the erection of this institu- 
 tion, called the Smithsonian Institution. He had believed 
 it wrong ; he still believed it so. But under this law, how 
 this amount of money had been drawn out of the Treasury 
 he had never been able to ascertain. He was in hope, now 
 that a running discussion had arisen on the subject, that 
 they would be informed how this large amount of money 
 had been drawn out of the Treasury. He could find no 
 authority for it in the act establishing the institution no 
 authority for drawing out of the Treasury this large amount 
 of money, and placing it in the hands of their secretary, or 
 at interest, or making any other disposition of it. 
 
 The reason why he had opposed the printing of this re- 
 port at the last session, and proposed the appointment of a 
 committee, was, that there were rumors about the city in 
 relation to the contract for erecting the buildings; it "had 
 been charged that there had been bribery going ^on ; cards 
 had been published that there was maladministration in all 
 these matters; that there was corruption in the very incipi- 
 ency of this institution. They had been told that- the 
 building was bad, that the materials furnished were perish- 
 able, while he understood it was the design of the donor to 
 have it made fire-proof a substantial, enduring building. 
 He wanted all these facts ascertained. Let the committee 
 take the whole matter under their charge and report the 
 facts, and let the House and the country determine whether 
 it was all right or not. 
 
 He referred, as another objection, to the question of the 
 incompatibility, under the Constitution, of the same indi- 
 viduals holding at the same time the office of members of 
 Congress, drawing per diem and mileage as such, and the 
 office of Regents of this institution, drawing also mileage 
 and expenses from it expenses which, when they came to 
 look into these reports, they saw were extraordinary. 
 
 The gentleman had gravely charged that he had mani- 
 fested hostility to the institution. ' Suppose he had ; sup- 
 pose he was determined to oppose it in every mood and 
 tense ; why, if the institution was right if the object of 
 the individual who gave the money was being carried out 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 497 
 
 iu the name of common sense, would not a committee, by 
 their investigation, convince the House and the country 
 that his objections were not not well founded, if such was 
 the fact ? Would not such investigation put the institution 
 and the regents on a better, a more enduring foundation ? 
 Then let them have a committee. If the institution was 
 right if the Regents were carrying out the design of James 
 Smithson, let it be ascertained by the committee, and be 
 published to the House and the country. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD resumed. The gentleman now said he had 
 no hostility to the institution. And how did he prove it? 
 Why, he said they had put a fictitious sum into the Treas- 
 ury, and therefore he would repeal the law, and replace the 
 money in the Treasury. It was well known that this Gov- 
 ernment had received the fund from the trustees of James 
 Smithson as a sacred trust. The Government had thought 
 proper to loan the money to the State of Arkansas, he be- 
 lieved ; the money had been squandered ; and now the 
 gentleman from Tennessee was opposed to the use of a sin- 
 gle dollar by the Smithsonian Institution, until the State of 
 Arkansas was made to refund the money ! Was he not 
 opposed to the institution ? and was not the very object of 
 his motion to uproot the whole establishment, on the ground 
 that the Government had loaned the money to the State of 
 Arkansas, and that it had never been returned ? By every 
 moral, by every equitable consideration, the Government 
 having loaned and lost the money, was bound to make good 
 the trust. Therefore, when the" Government had thought 
 proper to make the establishment, it had authorized the 
 Regents in proper form to draw the money bequeathed by 
 James Smithson. It was in this way that the money had 
 been taken. And because they had thought proper to 
 make a judicious use of it from time to time, they were ar- 
 raigned 'by the gentleman as having squandered the funds. 
 Let him agree to have the report published, and he would 
 find that it gave a full account of what they had done. 
 
 But the gentleman had said it was a crisis. It had been 
 a long crisis. Thank Heaven the crisis to which the gen- 
 tleman referred had passed away. The gentleman's allusion 
 to the war reminded him of the apology always offered by 
 the steward in the Bride of Larnmermoor, who always 
 accounted for the absence of articles of luxury about the 
 castle of his master, on the ground that there had been a 
 great fire there ; and now the gentleman would put down 
 every appropriation, whether for new objects, or to maintain 
 a great existing establishment, by the cry, " the war, the 
 32 
 
498 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 war." He thanked heaven the war was at an end. He 
 thanked heaven peace had come in our time; and he 
 trusted that if there had been much treasure squandered in 
 war, this establishment, so sublime in its design, so magnif- 
 
 juperintendence of the establishment to the Board of lie- 
 gents, of whom three were members of the House, and 
 three members of the Senate, and who in some sense con- 
 stituted a committee of Congress, and leave to them to 
 report upon the state of its affairs from time to time. If 
 their fidelity and discretion could not be confided in, then 
 we had fallen on evil times. But he would not oppose the 
 motion ; he would leave it to the judgment of the House to 
 dispose of. 
 
 Mr. TRUMAN SMITH, of Conn., thought this proposition 
 altogether premature. He had ottered u resolution in the 
 ordinary form a resolution which really ought to have been 
 offered early last week for the adoption of the ordinary 
 rules and orders of the House, and had eonneeted with this 
 a proposition, as at the last session of Congress, to raise a 
 committee to revise and report upon the rules, from time to 
 time. If this resolution, as offered, should pass, then they 
 would have a committee upon the rules and orders of the 
 House, and the gentleman from Tennessee could then offer 
 his proposition, and refer it to that committee, who would 
 take such action upon it as they might deem proper. He 
 was now very apprehensive that there was to be no end to 
 this discussion, and no end to their efforts to amend the 
 rules, if they were to favor propositions of this character at 
 all ; and he desired to ask of the chair whether it was com- 
 petent for him to move the previous question ? 
 
 The SPEAKER replied that the previous question might be 
 moved ; but the question on the amendment, having been 
 first moved, must be first put. 
 
 Mr. SMITH inquired, in case the previous question was 
 sustained, if it did not cut off the amendment ? 
 
 The SPEAKER said the previous question could not be put 
 until after the question was taken on the amendment ; and 
 -he read from the Manual on this point. 
 
 Mr. SMITH. If the previous question is moved, does it 
 stop debate on this proposition ? 
 
 The SPEAKER replied in the negative ; but said he would 
 regard the previous question as moved, so that, when this 
 amendment was disposed of, no other could be moved, and 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 409 
 
 then no debate could arise except upon the previous ques- 
 tion the previous question being debatable under the Par- 
 liamentary law. 
 
 Mr. WHITE inquired in case this resolution was adopted, 
 if it did not place all the bills and resolutions, &c., on the 
 calendar as the}' were at the close of the last session if it 
 did not leave the House precisely in the position in which 
 they were at the close of the last session ? 
 
 The SPEAKER replied in the affirmative. 
 
 Mr. WHITE said, then, that a proposition of this character 
 had been referred to the Committee on Rules, and remained 
 unacted on. He wished to know whether it would not be 
 competent to reach it in the ordinary way ? and whether 
 there was, therefore, any necessity for 'the adoption of the 
 amendment of the gentleman from Tennessee ? 
 
 Mr. GEO. P. MARSH said he did not rise for the purpose of 
 impugning or defending the cDnduct of the Board of Regents, 
 or even for the purpose of entering into the discussion of 
 the merits of this motion ; but simply that it might not be 
 inferred from his silence that any member of the Board in 
 this House was opposed to the adoption of the resolution. 
 On the contrary, he was now, and had been from the time 
 it was offered at the last session, decidedly in favor of its 
 adoption. He was satisfied, from what he had seen of the 
 management of this institution, that a committee such as 
 was proposed by the gentleman from Tennessee would serve 
 as a most wholesome and necessary check upon the proceed- 
 ings of this institution. He believed that the Board of 
 Regents would be, and ought to have been long since, made 
 acquainted with its direct responsibility to the power which 
 had created it. 
 
 Mr. R. B. RHETT, of 8. C., said, for the reasons which the 
 gentleman from Vermont had assigned, he trusted a commit- 
 tee would not be appointed. He wanted no such direct respon- 
 sibility as the gentleman had spoken of. He was opposed to 
 any connection of the Government with this institution ; and 
 he would suggest to the gentleman from Tennessee that his 
 establishment of a standing committee was the very method 
 of all others which was to give permanency to this institu- 
 tion, and attach it forever to the Government. The only 
 way to get rid of it was to let all the money be paid over to 
 these gentlemen the Regents, and the Government cut 
 themselves loose from it entirely. He was opposed to any 
 committee, standing or otherwise, which set up a congiv>- 
 sional supervision over the Regents of this institution, or 
 over the institution itself. He hoped, therefore, unless the 
 
500 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 House was determined to carry on this connection, to per- 
 petuate it, and be responsible for the acts of this institution, 
 that this committee would not be appointed. On the con- 
 trary, if the Regents thought proper, let the whole money 
 be paid over to them, and the Government be cut off en- 
 tirely from all responsibility or connection with it. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas, said he would take the liberty 
 of making a remark here, for the purpose of setting himself 
 and the State which he had the honor to represent in some 
 degree right, in reference to this Smithsonian fund. The 
 gentleman from Alabama had said that the State of Arkan- 
 sas had squandered all this fund. Now, whether it was any 
 enjoyment to the gentleman to assail his [Mr. Johnson's] 
 State- 
 Mr. MILLIARD explained, disclaiming the slightest inten- 
 tion to assail the gentleman's State, and saying that he had 
 merely spoken of the money as being lost or squandered by 
 the General Government. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Ark., said the gentleman ought to have 
 been aware of the fact that he might wound the feelings of 
 some persons on the floor, in his rather loose and general style 
 of speaking. He had heard those who did not like some of 
 the Yankees, damn them all as a class. He never thought 
 they did exactly right to damn every Yankee [laughter] be- 
 cause they disliked some few whom they had met. T lie re 
 were some very clever gentlemen amongst them; he wished 
 there were as good elsewhere. 
 
 Now, he wished to say a few words in regard to this State 
 and this fund. The gentleman had said the whole of this 
 Smithsonian legacy had been squandered by the State of 
 Arkansas. Squandered how ? Did the gentleman know 
 anything about the disposal of this money by the State of 
 Arkansas ? If he did, he knew that it had been lost by the 
 adoption, by that State, of his loved system the banking 
 system. 
 
 He wished to state, in order that his State might stand 
 free from any unjust charge here, that there was not, within 
 the limits of that State, and never had been, a respectable 
 party, known as a party, who would repudiate the first dol- 
 lar of the debt she owed. If there were such persons, he 
 could only pledge himself, as an humble individual, that ae 
 would always fight them. Small as she was, insignificant as 
 she was, there was no man within her limits who could live 
 a political life for one day and espouse such a doctrine. 
 What was her condition ? She was poor ; her population, 
 was small; the taxes upon her people would be increased 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 501 
 
 beyond human endurance, if they were put on to pay this 
 debt at once. She was growing; she had natural resources, 
 great and extensive ; give them time to be developed, and 
 she would pay this debt, and every other debt she owed. 
 He believed it, before God. 
 
 But in the account between the United States and the 
 State of Arkansas, the debt was not altogether on the side 
 of the latter. It had used to be a matter of jest with his 
 predecessor a proud and honorable man, whose post he 
 could never fill that whenever the United States would 
 settle, then, Arkansas would settle too. ' There was, never- 
 theless, a great deal of truth in this. The whole per cent- 
 age on the sales of the public lands, which belonged to that 
 State, had been reserved by the Government for what? 
 To apply towards the payment of this Smithsonian fund. 
 What the amount was, he did not know. He hoped there 
 would be enough to pay the interest; he would like it if 
 there was enough to pay the principal too ; there might not 
 be enough for either. But that that State would come up 
 to the mark, and fully pay all her debts, both principal and 
 interest, whenever she was able to do so, he assured the gen- 
 tleman from Alabama, and the country. He hoped the 
 gentleman would not further attack the State in general ; 
 he would rather he would attack him. He did hope they 
 would hear no more of this general denunciation as far, at 
 least, as the State of Arkansas was concerned. [A laugh.] 
 He did not care if the gentleman attacked Alabama, [re- 
 newed laughter,] or any other State, with the consent of 
 those who were to defend her; but let him not jump upon 
 his State, because she was small ! Why, gentlemen of mag- 
 nanimity ought to be ashamed of themselves for such a 
 course. 
 
 He was against this amendment, because this business was 
 already placed in the hands of honorable men, the Regents 
 of the Institution, who were fully competent to discharge 
 the duty assigned to them ; and furthermore, because they 
 were amply severe upon the State of Arkansas, [a laugh,] 
 from the experience he had had with them, without other 
 men being added to them. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD rose simply for the purpose of disclaiming 
 any intention, in the remarks he had made, to assail the 
 State of Arkansas. 
 
 Mr. MclLVAiNE rose, and. was understood to intimate raft 
 desire to move an amendment. But it was not now in 
 order. 
 
 The question was thereupon taken on the amendment ot 
 
502 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee, and was decided in the nega- 
 tive. 
 
 So the amendment was rejected. 
 
 The demand for the previous question was then seconded 
 and the main question was ordered to he put; and, under 
 its operation, the resolution of Mr. Smith was adopted. 
 
 The joint resolution of the Senate for the appointment of 
 Regents in the Smithsonian Institution was taken up, read 
 three times, passed, and returned to the Senate. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 12, 1848. 
 
 The SPEAKER announced the call for petitions to he in 
 order, and the call having reached the State of Louisiana 
 
 Mr. MORSE observed that he did not rise to present a peti- 
 tion from the State of Louisiana, but to a privileged ques- 
 tion ; and he asked the attention of the House tor a few 
 moments. It was to the reconsideration of the vote on that 
 part of the resolution for the adoption of the rules of the 
 House which rejected the application for a commission on 
 the Smithsonian Institution. He thought, without entering 
 into any argument on this subject, that the House would 
 see the propriety of appointing a committee, in order to 
 meet the views expressed by the gentleman from Vermont, 
 [Mr. Marsh,] as well as by the gentleman from South Caro- 
 lina, [Mr. Rhett.] And he had no doubt that those of their 
 friends on this side of the House who desired to terminate 
 all connection between the Government and this institution, 
 would see as well the propriety of submitting this matter to 
 a committee, who would be authorized, without further in- 
 struction, to examine and see whether it would not be bet- 
 ter, and whether it would not be carrying out the trust 
 which the Government had solemnly accepted from the late 
 James Smithson, to hand over all the moneys which had 
 been received by the United States to an incorporated body, 
 who should have the sole charge of the funds arising from 
 this legacy. Such of the gentlemen on the other side of 
 the House as thought the affairs of the institution would be- 
 better managed under the surveillance of a committee, 
 must be of the opinion that it would be well to bring to the 
 knowledge of the House the true, exact state of that insti- 
 tution. It was true a very elaborate, a very able report had 
 been made by the Regents ; but it was an ex parte report, so- 
 far as the interests of this country and the House were con- 
 cerned. Let a committee be appointed, of capable men r 
 who should take the matter into consideration, and see- 
 whether the ends of the donor would be best carried out by 
 
THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-49. 503 
 
 keeping it under the control of this Government, or whether 
 they would not faithfully discharge their trust, after having 
 passed a law for the erection of suitable buildings, by dis^ 
 embarrassing the Government and the House from all con- 
 nection with the institution. He held it to be a responsible 
 duty which this House had taken upon itself; and whatever 
 might have been the opinion of gentlemen on this side of 
 the House as to the propriety of accepting the legacy, it 
 was now too late to interpose any objections on that score. 
 The two Houses of Congress were under solemn obligation 
 faithfully to discharge the duty which, as the trustees of the 
 people of the United States and of James Smithson, they 
 had undertaken ; and that duty could only be discharged 
 by referring the matter to a committee, impartial in its 
 character, capable of examining, who should report the 
 facts to this House, as to the future conduct of this institu- 
 tion. 
 
 He was not disposed to commit himself now to either course, 
 whether he should be in favor of continuing the connection 
 of this institution with the Government or not; or whether 
 he could see his way clear to disembarrass the Government 
 from any further connection with it. He merely threw out 
 the suggestion, that if a committee of gentlemen on this 
 floor should show them, should indicate clearly that this 
 could be done, then he apprehended there was no gentleman 
 who would not be willing to leave it in the hands of the 
 gentlemen who should have charge of this institution. The 
 bill which established this Smithsonian Institution had 
 passed hastily, without having undergone the surveillance 
 of any committee. It was true, a distinguished gentleman 
 had made an elaborate report from a committee appointed 
 on this subject, accompanied by a bill ; but the House 
 would recollect that that report was rejected, and a sub- 
 stitute offered by a gentleman from New York, [Mr. 
 Plough,] which embodied some amendments offered by 
 himself, [Mr. Morse,] and by other gentlemen, was passed, 
 and became the act under which the institution \yas at pres- 
 ent organized. That act was imperfect in itself. His ob- 
 jection to it was, that so far as this House at least was 
 concerned, it was very little discussed, very little debated. 
 He held that Congress could not be true to its trust, unless 
 once in a year or two (if they were to continue the manage- 
 ment of the institution) they authorized and delegated u part 
 of their body to examine and report all the tacts of the 
 case. He did not desire to take a position either with his 
 friend from Vermont or his friend from South Carolina; 
 
.504 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 but he did desire that this House and the country at large 
 should be possessed of all the facts in relation to the dis- 
 bursement and management of the large amount of money 
 left by this gentleman, and committed to them as trustees; 
 and the committee might suggest some plan better calcu- 
 lated to carry out the views of the distinguished donor, 
 than this hasty, imperfect act which they had passed. 
 
 With these views, he moved a reconsideration of the vote 
 by which the amendment of the gentleman from Tennessee 
 [Mr. Johnson] was rejected. 
 
 The SPEAKER said it would be necessary first to move to 
 reconsider the adoption of the resolution, and announced 
 the question accordingly. 
 
 Mr. POLLOCK moved to lay the motion to reconsider on 
 the table ; which was agreed to yeas, 107, nays, 76 ; as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Abbott, Adams, Ashmun, Atkinson, Barringer, Bayley, 
 Beale, Belcher, Blackmar, Blanchard, Botts, Boydon, Wm. G. Brown, 
 Butler, Canby, Chapman, Clingman, Cocke, Collamer, Conger, Cranston, 
 Crowell, Dickey, Donnell, Garnett Duncan, Dunn, Eckert, Alexander 
 Evans, Nathan Evans, Faran, Farrelly, Fisher, Flournoy, Fulton, Gentry, 
 Giddings, Goggin, Gott, Green, Greeley, Gregory, Grinnell, Hale, Willard 
 P. Hall, Nathan K. Hall, James G. Hampton, Moses Hampton, Henry, 
 Isaac E. Holmes, Hubbard, Hunt, Charles J. Ingersoll, Jenkins, James H. 
 Johnson, George W. Jones, John W. Jones, Daniel P. King, William T. 
 Lawrence, Leffler, Ligon, Lincoln, Lumpkin, Mcllvaine, McKay, Mr- 
 Lane, Marvin, Morehead, Mullin, Murphy, Nelson, Nes, Nicoll, Outlaw, 
 Peck, Pollock, Preston, Putnam, Rhett, Julius Rockwell, John A. Rock- 
 well, Rumsey, St. John, Shepperd, Sherrill, Silvester, Slingerland, Caleb 
 B. Smith, Truman Smith, Stanton, Stephens, Strohm, Strong, Tallmadge, 
 Taylor, Thibodeaux, Thomas*, James Thompson, R. W. Thompson, Robert 
 A. Thompson, Tompkins, Van Dyke, Wallace, Warren, White, Wick, and 
 Wilson 107. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Bedinger, Bingham, Bocock, Bowdon, Brady, Brod- 
 head, Charles Brown, Albert G. Brown, Buckner, Cathcart, Clapp, Frank- 
 lin Clark, Howell Cobb, Williamson R. W. Cobb, Crozier, Cummins, 
 Daniel, Darling, Dickinson, Dixon, Duer, Edwards, Embree, Featherston, 
 Ficklin, Freed ley, French, Fries, Gaines, Hammons, Haralson, Harris, 
 Hill, Elias B. Holmes, Inge, Irvin, Iverson, Kaufman, Kellogg, Kennon, 
 Lahm, La Sere, Sidney Lawrence, Levin, Lord, Lynde, Maclay, J->b 
 Mann, Marsh, Miller, Morris, Morse, Palfrey, Peaslee, Phelps, Richard- 
 son, Richey, Robinson, Rockhill, Root, Sawyer, Smart, Robert Smith, 
 Starkweather, Charles E. Stuart, Jacob Thompson, John B. Thompson, 
 William Thompson, Thurston, Tuck, Venable, Vinton, Wentworth, Wiley, 
 Williams, and Woodward 76. 
 
 So the motion to reconsider was laid on the table. 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 19, 1849. 
 
 Mr. HILLIARD, by unanimous consent, presented a report 
 of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of that 
 Institution to the present time ; which report was laid on 
 the table, and ordered to be printed. 
 
THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1849-51. 505' 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, April 15, 1850. 
 
 The bill for the completion of the Patent Office being 
 under consideration, Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi, said: 
 
 Mr. President : What the wants of the Patent Office are 
 now is one thing, and what those wants will be in a few years 
 is another, and an entirely different thing. Not only from 
 the report of the last Commissioner of Patents, but from 
 inspection, if any one choose to make it, and see the condi- 
 tion of things in that department, I think it may be denied 
 that there is room enough in the present building for the 
 wants of the department. If I understand the report of 
 the present Commissioner of Patents or the Secretary of 
 the Interior, the argument against the want of further 
 room by the Patent Department, is based upon the supposi- 
 tion that all which now belongs to the National Institute, 
 all connected with the exploring expedition which now fills 
 the museum of the Patent Office, is to be transferred to 
 the Smithsonian Institution. That seems to be the basis of. 
 the conclusion. Now, sir, I wish to state to the Senate that 
 Congress has no power to impose upon that institution the 
 duty of taking charge of this collection of the exploring 
 expedition \ve may infer from their act nor did they ever 
 intend to do so. They gave to that institution the right to 
 take all such curiosities "brought home by the exploring ex- 
 pedition as might be desired for that institution, and I will 
 inform the Senate that it is not the intention of the present 
 Board of Regents of the Smithsonian' Institution to take 
 charge of the museum of the Patent Office, and the room 
 appropriated to these curiosities will be required hereafter 
 as now. 
 
 SENATE, July 29, 1850. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tcmpore laid before the Senate a letter 
 of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, transmitting 
 the annual report of the Board of Regents. 
 
 On motion by Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, 
 
 Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Printing, with instruc- 
 tions to inquire into the expediency of printing five thousand additional 
 copies without the Appendix. 
 
 SENATE, July 30, 1850. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN, from the Committee on Printing, reported 
 in favor of printing the Report of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, with 5,000 additional copies without the Appendix, 500 
 
506 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of which are for the use of the Smithsonian Institution ; 
 which report was agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, December 10, 1850. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE gave notice of his intention to ask leave to 
 introduce a joint resolution providing for the appointment 
 of Kegents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 SENATE, December 11, 1850. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE, in pursuance of notice, asked and obtained 
 leave to introduce a joint resolution for the appointment of 
 Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That the vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution of the class " other than members of Congress " be filled 
 by the reappointment of the late incumbents, viz : Richard Rush, of Penn- 
 sylvania, and Joseph G. Totten, of the city of Washington. 
 
 On the motion of Mr. PEARCE, the joint resolution was 
 read a second time, and considered as in Committee of the 
 Whole. Having been reported to the Senate, it was ordered 
 to be engrossed for a third reading, and was subsequently 
 read a third time and passed. 
 
 SENATE, January 9, 1851. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi, submitted the following reso- 
 lution : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on Printing be instructed to inquire into 
 the propriety of printing three thousand extra copies of the Appendix to 
 the report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, one thousand of 
 which to be for the benefit of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. Mr. President, when I made 
 the motion to print extra copies of the report of the Re- 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution, I was not acquainted 
 with the value of the Appendix. It contains valuable sta- 
 tistical and other information respecting the libraries of the 
 United States, and it is believed that it would be valuable 
 and desirable to the country at large. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, January 23, 1851. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. I have a memorial from the Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, which I ask to be referred to the 
 Finance Committee. It was so referred. 
 
 The memorial is as follows : 
 
 To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives, in Congress 
 
 assembled : 
 
 GENTLEMEN : The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution have directed me to transmit to your honorable 
 
THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1849-51. 507 
 
 body, the resolutions appended to this letter, and to solicit 
 the passing or a law, in accordance therewith. 
 
 It is known to your honorable body, that the original sum 
 received into the United States Treasury from the Smith- 
 sonian bequest, was a little more than $515,000, and that at 
 the time of the passage of the act incorporating the insti- 
 tution, $242,000 had accrued in interest, which sum or so 
 much of it as might be deemed necessary, the Regents were 
 authorized to appropriate to a building, It is also known 
 to your honorable body, that the act of incorporation di- 
 rected that provision should be made for the establishment 
 of a library and museum, together with the erection of a 
 building on a liberal scale to contain them. 
 
 While the Regents in their plan of organization obeyed 
 these instructions, they also by virtue of the power invested 
 in them, and in conformity with the terms of the bequest, 
 adopted additional plans for the more immediate promotion 
 of the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, by 
 means of researches, publications, lectures, &c. 
 
 In order, however, to carry out the several parts of this 
 more extended plan, it was found absolutely necessary that 
 the annual income of the institution should be increased. 
 To accomplish this, it was resolved, instead of expending 
 at once the $242,000 on a building, carefully to husband 
 the same and to erect the building in the course of several 
 years, in part out of the proceeds of the sum before meu- 
 tioned, and in part out of such portions of the income of 
 the original fund as could be spared from the ordinary 
 operations of the institution. This scheme has been effect- 
 ually carried out, and the Regents now ask to be allowed to 
 place in the Treasury of the United States along side of 
 the original bequest, and upon the same terms, never to be 
 expended, the sum of $150,000 of accrued interest, and to 
 be allowed to add to this from time to time, such other 
 sums as may come into their possession by donation or 
 otherwise, until it, with the sums thus added shall amount 
 to $200,000, making in all a principal fund of a little more 
 than $715,000. 
 
 After this deposit of $150,000, the Regents will still have 
 sufficient money on hand to finish the whole exterior ot 
 the building, and such portions of the interior in addil 
 to those now completed, as may be wanted for several years 
 to come, they then propose gradually to finish the remain- 
 der in such portions as may be wanted out ot the an 
 accruing interest. 
 
 The sole object of the request is the permanent mvesl 
 
508 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 merit and perpetual security of the accumulated fund, and 
 when your honorahle body is assured that the organization 
 and operation of the institution have received the approba- 
 tion of the wise and good, not only in this country, but in 
 every part of the world where literature and science are 
 cultivated, the undersigned trusts that the request will he 
 granted. 
 
 And your petitioner will ever pray, &c. 
 
 (Signed) JOSEPH HENRY, 
 
 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Resolution of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, adopted at 
 their meeting of June 1, 1850, and appended to the foregoing petition. 
 
 Resolved, That it is expedient to enlarge the permanent fund of the in- 
 stitution, by the investment of such sums not exceeding $200,000 as may 
 have been, or shall be received for accrued interest or otherwise, in addi- 
 tion to the principal sum of the Smithsoniaft bequest, augmenting the prin- 
 cipal sum to that amount, and that application be made to Congress to 
 receive such sums not exceeding $'200,000 its may have bt:-n or shall be re- 
 ceived for accrued interest or otherwise into the United States Treasury 
 upon the same terms on which the original bequest has been received. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to communicate u copy of this 
 resolution to Congress, and to request that provision be made by law in ac- 
 cordance therewith. 
 
 SENATE, January 28, 1851. 
 
 Mr. WALKER, of Wisconsin, submitted the following 
 resolution ; which lies over one day under the rule : 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution be 
 directed to inform the Senate why the Cth section of the act entitled " An 
 act to establish the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men," has not been complied with by making suitable 
 arrangements for the reception of the "objects of art," &c., named in said 
 section. 
 
 SENATE, January 30, 1851. 
 
 Mr. EWING, from the Committee on Finance, to which 
 was referred the memorial of the Regents of the Smithso- 
 nian Institution, reported a bill supplementary to an act 
 passed 10th August, 1846, entitled " An act to establish the 
 Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men ;" which was read and passed to a 
 second reading. 
 
 The bill is as follows : 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the' money now 
 in the hands of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, being an accu- 
 mulation of interest on the principal fund that accrued prior to' July first, 
 eighteen hundred and forty-seven, and heretofore set apart for the erection 
 of the suitable buildings for the use of said institution, as may not be found 
 necessary for the completion of the edifice now in course of erection, and 
 all such further sums as may be received hereafter from the estate of James 
 
THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1849-51. 50D' 
 
 Smithson, shall be received into the Treasury of the United States on iho 
 same terms as were provided for the original principal fund by the second 
 section of the act entitled " An act to establish th Smithsonian Institution, 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," approved August 
 tenth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, and that the interest thereon at the 
 rate of six per centum per annum, shall in like manner be payable half- 
 yearly, on the first of January and July in each year, from and after the 
 date at which it shall be received into the Treasury of the United States, 
 for the perpetual maintenance and support of said institution : Provided, 
 That the sums thus to be received, shall not exceed the amount of two 
 hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 The Senate proceeded to consider the following resolu- 
 tion, submitted by Mr. Walker on the 28th instant. 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution be 
 directed to inform the Senate why the 6th section of the act entitled "An 
 act to establish the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men," has not been complied with by making suitable 
 arrangements for the reception of the " objects of art," &c., named in said 
 section. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I hope that the resolution will 
 not be favorably entertained by the Senate. The Smithso- 
 nian Institution is not a department of the Government, 
 and I hope Congress will never undertake to take charge of 
 it. This is a call upon the Board of Regents to explain to 
 us something in connection with the execution of their 
 duty. If it were a proper and a well-founded call, I should 
 still think it improper for Congress to interfere with the 
 administration of a fund which it has confided to a Board 
 of Regents not entirely formed of members of Congress, 
 and not responsible to it. An examination of the charter 
 would have shown the Senator who introduced the resolu- 
 tion that there was no obligation on the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution to receive the museum, which I suppose is the matter 
 referred to, but that, on the other hand, it was considered 
 a rant which the Government was willing to make in a 
 friendly spirit, of objects of art and curiosity, whenever 
 institution should appoint some person to receive them. 
 It is obligatory to deliver, but not to receive. In some 
 other countries there is a courtesy between the king and 
 his ministers, that a minister shall never refuse a present. 
 In Siain whenever the king wishes to crush a minister 
 he sends him the present of an elephant. The minister run- 
 not refuse the present, because it comes from the tang, b 
 the expense of keeping the present Brushes the mm 
 
510 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of its donor a foreigner who gave a fund for a special ob- 
 ject enumerated in his will. 
 
 If it were in the power of this Government to charge the 
 Smithsonian Institution with the keeping of this museum. 
 I should deem it more than improper in the Government 
 to transfer an extensive collection which it holds, and fasten 
 the charge of maintaining it upon the fund given by a for- 
 eigner for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men, and the establishment of an institution for that pur- 
 pose, to be located at the city of Washington, in the United 
 States. But it is clearly not within the power of Congress 
 to charge that fund with the keeping up of any establish- 
 ment which the Government may choose cither to create-, 
 or which it may now have in its possession, and which would 
 pervert the trust from its proper use. 
 
 If the Senator had examined the charter he would have 
 found still further that in the kindness which prevailed, and 
 the anticipation of a good understanding between that in- 
 stitution and Congress, terms so general were employed, 
 that a power was given to the institution to strip the ro- 
 tundo of the paintings which now adorn it, to take the 
 models from the Patent Office, not merely the museum 
 which is collected as the result of exploring expeditions, 
 but, everything which that institution, if they claim the 
 strict letter of the law, might choose to abstract from the 
 various departments of the Government. But, without 
 going into this question, I wish to call the attention of the 
 Senate to the fact that here is an institution founded by the 
 bequest of a foreigner, of which bequest the United States, 
 properly or improperly, I will not now stop to consider, 
 have taken charge as trustee, and to administer which fund 
 they have organized a Board of Regents. Its active opera- 
 tions have already been incumbered by the Congress of the 
 United States requiring them to erect an expensive build- 
 ing, with apartments for a museum and gallciy of art, 
 Now it is proposed to incumber them still further, by charg- 
 ing them with keeping a large museum of the United 
 States, with which that institution has no proper connec- 
 tion. It is no part of the general plan of that institution 
 to collect a large museum. "The object is, according to the 
 will of the founder, to increase and diffuse knowledge 
 among men. They, therefore, only wish to collect those 
 things which are not to be found in the other museums of 
 the country. They only wish to explore fields which have 
 not been trodden before. 
 
 The object of the Senator from Wisconsin the effect of 
 
THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1849-51. 511 
 
 liis construction if sustained is to cripple that fund in the 
 very object for which it was given, and encumber it with 
 the keeping of a great collection of art which now belongs 
 to the United States. I do hope that the Senate will reject 
 the resolution. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. Mr. President, after what has been said by 
 the Senator from Mississippi it would be unnecessary to say 
 anything more. But I wish to state two considerations, 
 which I trust will be sufficient to induce the Senate not to 
 adopt the resolution. In the first place, the resolution as- 
 sumes that the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution have neglected their duty. I think it can very easily 
 be shown that they have not "neglected this or any other 
 duty imposed upon them. In the next place, all the infor- 
 mation which the Senate can possibly derive from any com- 
 munication the Board of Regents might make in answer to 
 such a call is already in the possession of the Senate. The 
 last annual report of the Board of Regents has been laid 
 before the Senate and printed. That report explains fully 
 their system of operations from the time of their organiza- 
 tion. It sets forth the scheme of finance which they 
 adopted, and in pursuance of that scheme of finance, the 
 enlargement of the principal fund, which was rather small, 
 for the great objects of the institution. They propose to 
 extend the erection of the building over a series of years 
 instead of completing it at once by the whole sum which 
 the act of Congress authorized them to apply for that pur- 
 pose. They have erected the building slowly, so as to ap- 
 ply the accruing interest to the enlargement of the fund 
 and the increase of the general endowment of the institu- 
 tion. The plan of the building under which it is now being 
 erected is precisely that which was adopted in the first in- 
 stance by the Board of Regents, and which, if it be com- 
 pleted, will, if Congress choose to compel the institution to 
 .accept of this donation, enable them to accommodate this 
 museum. The central building will accommodate the li- 
 brary which it is proposed the institution shall have, and 
 also the museum of art. The upper story of the central 
 building is designed for the museum of art, where the col- 
 lections now in the Patent Office can be placed if Congress 
 insist upon it. They have, therefore, neglected no duty ; 
 they have done their duty properly, judiciously, economi- 
 cally, faithfully. I suppose no one will charge them with a 
 dereliction of duty, because they have endeavored to in- 
 crease the principal fund, with the view of having the insti- 
 
512 CONGEESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 tuition better enabled to carry out the great and noble pur- 
 poses of its founder. 
 
 We have, therefore, all the information which we can: 
 desire, and I see no necessity for the resolution of the Sena- 
 tor. I would mention that in the last annual report there 
 is a distinct expression of the will of the Board of Regents 
 that they should not be compelled to accept of this dona- 
 tion, and their belief that, under the law as it now is, they 
 cannot be compelled to accept it, and that it would be a 
 present which would be very expensive to them and take 
 from their funds that which might be used for much more 
 useful purposes. 
 
 Mr. FOOTE. I rise simply for the purpose of moving to 
 lay the resolution on the table. I am sure my friend from 
 Wisconsin will feel satisfied, after the explanation which 
 has been given, that no good can result to the country by 
 further pressing this resolution. With the view of avoid- 
 ing any further debate, unless the Senator from Wisconsin 
 wishes to be heard on his resolution, and inasmuch as the 
 time has arrived for the consideration of the special order, 
 I shall move to lay this resolution on the table. If my friend 
 from Wisconsin will promise to make a very short speech, 
 and then make the motion, however, I will withdraw it ; 
 but otherwise I cannot. 
 
 Mr. WALKER. I wish to say a few words, but do not wish 
 to promise to make any such motion. 
 
 Mr. FOOTE. Then I must insist upon the motion. 
 
 Mr. WALKER. I ask, is this fair ? 
 
 Mr. FOOTE. It is perfectly courteous. I may be allowed 
 to say that I wish to proceed with the discussion of another 
 important question, and that is the reason I make the mo- 
 tion, but which I will withdraw provided the Senator will 
 renew it. 
 
 Mr. WALKER. I will make the motion, but not vote for it. 
 
 Mr. FOOTE. Then I withdraw my motion. 
 
 Mr. WALKER. I should not perhaps have said anything 
 on this resolution had it not been for an observation which 
 fell from the Senator from Mississippi, [Mr. Davis.] He 
 attributed to me in emphatic terms an object, which was to 
 cripple the fund, as he said, by imposing upon it the bur- 
 den of this museum. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I did not intend to charge 
 the Senator from Wisconsin with any improper motive. "l 
 merely stated what the effect of the proposition would be. 
 But I did not believe that the Senator from Wisconsin un- 
 invited would have directed his attention to this subject. I 
 
THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1849-51. 513 
 
 take it for granted that some one suggested the resolution 
 to him. 
 
 Mr. WALKER. In that the Senator is altogether mistaken. 
 I have heard the subject spoken of in a great many quarters, 
 but my own mind suggested to me the course I have taken 
 here and elsewhere. I think I can appeal to the Senate that 
 I generally introduce my own thoughts, and a great many 
 of them, in opposition to what seems to be the mind of the 
 Senate. I shall always act on the suggestions of my own 
 mind when right and justice requires me to do so. 
 
 Both the Senator from Mississippi, and the Senator from 
 Maryland are altogether mistaken in what I intended by the 
 resolution. I have partly accomplished what I intended. I 
 wished information from the Senator from Mississippi and 
 the Senator from Maryland, whom I well .knew were more 
 familiar with the subject than I was, and ought to be so, for 
 they are, I believe, both regents of the institution. My ob- 
 ject was, to call out information on the subject. On looking 
 to the sixth section of the act, approved August 10th, 1816, 
 which was the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution, 
 I was really at some loss to determine what it meant, and I 
 am anxious to get views of the Board of Regents upon that 
 point. That section is. this: 
 
 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in proportion as suitable arrange- 
 ments can be made for their reception, all objects of art and of foreign 
 and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geolog- 
 ical and mineralogical specimens belonging, or hereafter to belong, to the 
 United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever 
 custody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be 
 authorized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall be arranged 
 in such order, and so classed, as best to facilitate the examination and study 
 of them, in the building so as aforesaid to be erected for the Institution ; 
 and the Regents of said Institution shall afterwards, as new specimens i 
 natural history, geology, or mineralogy, may be obtained for the museum 
 of the Institution by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the 
 Institution, (which they are hereby authorized to make,) or by dona 
 which they may receive, or otherwise, cause sutfh new specimens to be also 
 appropriately classed and arranged. And the minerals, oooks, manuscripts, 
 and other property of James Smithson, which have been received by to 
 Government of the United States, and are now placed in the Departme 
 State, shall be removed to said Institution, and shall be preserved separate 
 and apart from the other property of the Institution. 
 
 I was in doubt as to the meaning of this section and it 
 seems to me that almost everybody would be in doubt as to 
 the meaning of Congress in its passage. A portion of i 
 looks as though this was a gratuity, and another portioi 
 looks as though it imposed an obligation on the institu- 
 tion to provide for and receive those articles which an 
 mentioned. 
 
514 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Then, looking at the interests of the Patent Office, I come 
 to this conclusion, that if it was proper and right that the 
 Smithsonian Institution should take charge of these things 
 and relieve the Patent Office, they should certainly do it. 
 If any one will go to the Patent Office, and observe the man- 
 mer in which models are kept, he will be .satisfied that the 
 exhibition room of that office ought to be clear, and the 
 models to be exhibited there. At present the exhibition 
 room of the Patent Office is occupied by this cabinet of 
 curiosities. Models are crowded into places never in- 
 tended for them, and look more like a series of brush 
 heaps than anything else. A person can scarcely get 
 one that is not broken ; one can be scarcely got out of the 
 cases where they are deposited. This is an improper mode 
 of keeping the models of the inventors of the country. 
 Something should be done to remedy this evil. I think 
 the patent fund should be appropriated to the use of the 
 Patent Office, and not to the relief of the other depart- 
 ments of the Government, I hope that the enlargement 
 of the Patent Office building, which has IK-OH paid for 
 by the patent fund, will not be used for the convenience and 
 accommodation of other .Departments. What says the Sec- 
 retary of the Interior? In his last annual report, after 
 enumerating various bureaus of his Department which need 
 additional accommodations, he says : 
 
 " I therefore recommend that the two wings of the Patent Office be fin- 
 ished, and that they be appropriated to the accommodation of the Depart- 
 ment of the Interior, and the different offices thereto attached. They will 
 thus be brought under one roof, the communication between the head of 
 the department and the different bureaus will be greatly facilitated, and 
 the records of the government 'safely lodged in a fire-proof building. 
 
 I had hoped when I saw $216,468 taken from the patent 
 fund for a beautiful palace, that the models of the inventions 
 and the inventors and mechanics of the country would re- 
 ceive some benefit from it ; but I see it is utterly hopeless, 
 seeing this recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, 
 arid the wreck that is taking place in the Patent Office of 
 the models and inventions of the country. 
 
 The Senator from Mississippi and the Senator from Mary- 
 land have given me some information on the subject of the 
 resolution. Arid now I would say to those gentlemen, both 
 as Senators and Regents of the Institution, that I entertain 
 not the least unkind feelings toward the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution. On the contrary, I would be willing to do anything 
 reasonable that is within my power to facilitate its great ob- 
 ject, and the benefits which the country expects to derive 
 
THIRTY-FIRET CONGRESS, 1849-51. 515 
 
 from it ; but, at the same time I am unwilling to bestow bene- 
 fits on that institution at the sacrifice of the old and greater 
 interests of the patentees and the Patent Office. & With 
 these feelings I think there was no impropriety in offering 
 the resolution. 
 
 If the Smithsonian Institution is not to take charge of 
 these curiosities, it seems to me that something should be 
 done to relieve the Patent Office from its present ernbarras- 
 ing condition in relation to the exhibition of its models. I 
 think the patent fund, the fund contributed by the mechan- 
 ics and inventors of the country, ought to be used solely 
 for the benefit of the Patent Office, and not for any other 
 department of the Government unconnected with that fund 
 or its interests. 
 
 According to my promise, I now move to lay the resolu- 
 tion on the table, although I shall vote against the motion, 
 and hope it will not prevail. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. Will the Senator withdraw 
 the motion ? 
 
 Mr. WALKER. Certainly. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I shall consume but very lit- 
 tle time. Having made as much explanation as I thought 
 was due to the occasion in relation to the supposition by the 
 Senator from Wisconsin of a personal or offensive applica- 
 tion of what I said, I have nothing more to say on that 
 point. 
 
 Tlie object of the Senator, as directed to the benefit of the 
 inventors of the country by providing a proper room for 
 the exhibition of the models of their inventions, is one in 
 which I very cordially sympathise. The Committee on 
 Public Buildings have already that subject somewhat under 
 consideration. I know quite well that the models in the 
 Patent Office are in such a confused condition as not to com- 
 ply with the terms of the law. The great gallery intended 
 for the exhibition of models is now occupied by the museum 
 which has been referred to. The present building, how- 
 ever, was built by money drawn from the United States 
 Treasury, and may be occupied for that purpose. The wing 
 which is being added and built out of the patent fund, 
 is clearly a building which should be for the use of the Pat- 
 ent Office, and I hope it will not be transferred to any other 
 use. I sympathise with the object of the Senator in giving 
 proper accommodations to the models in the Patent Office, 
 and reserving for the use of that office the building which 
 is being erected out of the patent fund. So far we go to- 
 gether. 
 
516 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 I take it for granted, from the object of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, and from the plan on which its operations have 
 been commenced and will be conducted, that it will never 
 want such a museum as that in the Patent Office ; still less 
 will it want the garden of plants which has been collected 
 by the exploring expedition. I suppose it would cost the 
 institution not less than $10,000 a year to support such 
 an establishment; and if it were transferred, Congress, 
 I think, would be bound to endow the institution with 
 $10,000 a year additional. I think it is quite appropriate to 
 keep these natural curiosities in the Patent Office. They 
 may aid inventive genius. Vegetable growth and animal 
 action are elements upon which mechanical invention rests. 
 There would therefore seem to be something appropriate in 
 lodging them in the Patent Office. If they are not to be 
 kept there, let the Government provide a room elsewhere, 
 get rid of them, destroy them, or give them to somcbod}' 
 that will take them. But let not the Government coerce a 
 fund, of which it was the chosen trustee, which was granted 
 by a foreigner for a special purpose, with the charge of 
 keeping this collection. 
 
 Mr. BADGER. I move to lay the resolution on the table. 
 
 The motion was agreed to, and the resolution was ordered 
 to lie on the table. 
 
 SENATE, March 1, 1851. 
 
 The President of the Senate laid before the body, a letter 
 from the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, commu- 
 nicating the annual report of the Board of Regents of said 
 Institution ; which was read and ordered to lie on the table. 
 
 On motion by Mr. PEARCE that it be printed, and that 
 2,000 extra copies thereof be printed, the motion was re- 
 ferred to the Committee on Printing. 
 
 SENATE, March 5, 1851. 
 
 On motion of Mr. PEARCE the President of the Senate 
 was authorized to till the vacancy in the Board of Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution occasioned by the expiration 
 on the 3d day of March, 1851, of the term of the Hoiu 
 Jefferson Davis. 
 
 SENATE, March 6, 1851. 
 
 On motion of Mr. PEARCE, the President of the Senate 
 was authorized to fill the vacancy in the Board of Regents 
 occasioned by the expiration of the term of service of the- 
 Jion. James M. Mason. 
 
THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1849-51. 517 
 
 The President re-appointed the Hon. Jefferson Davis and 
 the Hon. James M. Mason, as Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution. 
 
 SENATE, March 7, 1851. 
 
 On motion by Mr. BORLAND, the report of the Board of 
 Hegents of the Smithsonian Institution was ordered to be 
 printed. 
 
 Mr. BORLAND. I now move that three thousand extra 
 copies of that report be printed. 
 
 Mr. BRADBURY. I hope we will let the matter of printing 
 documents lie over until we meet for the transaction of or- 
 dinary legislative business ; and not undertake enterprises 
 of this kind at this time. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I cannot see how the printing 
 of a report made to Congress can properly be termed an 
 enterprise. 
 
 Mr. RHETT. Who is to print it ? 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. The public printer. 
 
 Mr. RHETT. He says he cannot do it. 
 
 Mr. BORLAND. That is the old contractor. This goes to 
 the new contractor. 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi.' I was surprised to hear the 
 few remarks which were made on this question. Surely 
 Senators forget that the United States have accepted the 
 bequest made by a foreigner to found an institution at 
 Washington, and that Congress have organized a Board of 
 Regents, and given them the charge of the fund so left to 
 the United States for the benefit of mankind ; and this is 
 the report of the board so constituted by Congress. If 
 there be anything more than another which we should cir- 
 culate freely throughout the United States, it is the knowl- 
 edge of the manner in which we discharge this holy trust 
 which we have taken upon ourselves. The report of the 
 Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution is made to 
 Congress by authority as high as the report of any commit- 
 tee of Congress. If it be said that you ought not to print 
 extra copies of this, to that I would reply that a report 
 made by a committee of Congress is for the action of Con- 
 gress, and it would be questionable whether the Senate 
 should print extra copies of a report of one of its commit- 
 tees ; but it is clear that if you have authority to print for 
 circulation and distribution at all, it belongs to such a 
 document as this, relating to a trust-fund bequeathed to the 
 United States, taken charge of by the United States, and 
 which we are now administering 'through a Board of Re- 
 
518 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 gents. As to the value of the information, I will express 
 no opinion. 
 
 Mr. RHETT. I would ask my friend from Mississippi why 
 the Smithsonian Institution itself does not print its own 
 proceedings ? 
 
 Mr. DAVIS, of Mississippi. I said, I think, that this was 
 a report to Congress. The Smithsonian Institution does 
 print its contributions to knowledge, and does attend to 
 their diffusion among men. This, however, is not a contri- 
 bution to human knowledge, but is a report to Congress of 
 the manner in which the Board of Regents executed the 
 trust confided to them. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. I beg leave simply to add, that the law or- 
 ganizing the Smithsonian Institution compels the Board of 
 Regents to make this annual report to Congress. 
 
 Mr. MASON. I move to amend the motion so as to provide 
 that one thousand copies shall be printed for the institution. 
 
 Mr. NORRIS. Is this the report of a committee - '.' 
 
 Mr. BORLAND. It is the report of the Board of Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution; the question of printing it 
 was referred to the Committee on Printing; the committee 
 were in favor of the proposition, but could not make u 
 report. It has been ordered to be printed ; and the propo- 
 sition now is to print three thousand extra copies. 
 
 Mr. NORRIS. Does it come from the Committee on Print- 
 ing? 
 
 Mr. BORLAND. It does. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 7, 1850. 
 
 The Speaker appointed Mr. Henry W. Ililliard of Ala- 
 bama, Mr. W. F. Colcock of South Carolina, and Mr. G. 
 N. Fitch of Indiana, on the part of the House, as the Re- 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 23, 1850. 
 
 _ Mr. HILLIARD requested the gentleman from Pennsylva- 
 nia (Mr. Thompson) to waive his motion for the regular 
 order of business, so as to enable him (Mr. Ililliard) to pre- 
 sent the annual report of the Board of Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution. His object was simply to present 
 the report, that it might be laid upon the table and printed.. 
 
THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1849-51. 519 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON, of Pennsylvania, insisted on the regular 
 order of business. 
 
 The SPEAKER stated to the gentleman from Alabama, (Mr. 
 Billiard,) that the report could only be introduced by unan- 
 imous consent. The regular order of business was insisted 
 upon, and objections were made in several quarters. 
 
 The report, therefore, was not presented. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 25, 1850. 
 
 The SPEAKER laid before the House a communication 
 from the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, trans- 
 mitting the annual report of the Board of Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution ; which letter and report were laid 
 upon the table, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 18, 1850. 
 
 Mr. FITCH said there was upon the Speaker's table a joint 
 resolution from the Senate providing for the appointment 
 of Regents for the Smithsonian Institution whose term of 
 service had expired. He hoped the House would take up 
 and consider the resolution, as it would occupy but a few 
 minutes. It was absolutely necessary that it should be 
 passed, for the reason that the Board of Regents was not 
 full and no business could be transacted by the Board until 
 the vacancies should have been filled. He hoped the reso- 
 lution would be taken up. 
 
 There being no objection, the joint resolution was taken 
 up, read three several times, and passed. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 24, 1851. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON, of Mississippi, moved the following amend- 
 ment to the clause appropriating money for the purchase of 
 books for the Library of Congress, viz : 
 
 To enable the Smithsonian Institution to publish a new edition of Wilkes' 
 Narrative and the accompanying series of papers, the plates and engravings 
 of which have been made at the expense of the United States, be, and they 
 are hereby, ordered to be delivered over to the said Institution, to be used 
 for that purpose. 
 
 He said that, as these plates w r ere valuable and the Con- 
 gress of the United States did not propose to use them, he 
 should be glad that some use might be made of them. It 
 appeared to him that the Smithsonian Institution was as 
 proper a party to whom to intrust these plates for publica- 
 tion as any. Congress had already provided for the distribu- 
 tion of books published by that Institution. He (Mr. T.) 
 did riot wish that they should be published and distributed 
 
.520 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 among members; but, as it was really a valuable work, 
 and a new edition was called for, he thought it was proper 
 that the publication should be intrusted to the Smithsonian 
 Institution. 
 
 Mr. WENTWORTH (interposing) said that he thought that 
 it was quite proper that copies of the work should be dis- 
 tributed among members of Congress. lie would, there- 
 fore, ask the gentleman from Mississippi to modify his amend- 
 ment so as to furnish each member of Congress with a copy 
 of Wilkes' Exploring Expedition. He had been a member 
 of that body eight years, and, although he had received 
 copies of other works, he had never received a copy of this, 
 nor had he ever heard of other members receiving copies. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON stated that only about one hundred copies 
 had been published. 
 
 Mr. WENTWORTH said that he was entirely opposed to the 
 amendment, unless modified as he had indicated. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON wished to explain that the original resolu- 
 tion provided for the publication of only one hundred copies. 
 There was a great demand for the work, and it was desirable 
 to have copies that might be furnished to different foreign 
 nations. There were only, he believed, twenty copies left 
 in the Library. 
 
 Mr. WENTWORTH inquired if it had ever been distributed 
 to members of Congress. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON said that copies never had been distributed 
 among members. 
 
 Mr. WENTWORTH requested the gentleman from Missis- 
 sippi to modify his amendment as he had desired. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON said that books published by the Smith- 
 sonian Institution were distributed among the various libra- 
 ries, and he was willing that such a distribution should take 
 place. 
 
 Mr. WENTWORTH again inquired if the gentleman from 
 Mississippi would modify his amendment. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON said that he was opposed to giving copies 
 to members of Congress. 
 
 Mr. WENTWORTH then moved to amend Mr. Thompson's 
 amendment by adding that a copy of the work should be 
 furnished to each Senator, Representative, and Delegate to 
 the present Congress. 
 
 Mr. STEVENS said that he was opposed to the amendment 
 to the amendment. He understood that the original amend- 
 ment merely contemplated giving the plates to the Smith- 
 sonian Institution for that Institution to publish them. Con- 
 gress had a perfect right to do this; but he could not under- 
 
THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS, 1851-53. 521 
 
 stand by what right they could call upon the Institution to 
 furnish a copy to each member of Congress from its own 
 resources. If Congress intended granting an appropriation 
 to defray the expense of the publication and distribution, 
 as the gentleman from Illinois proposed, he would have no 
 objection to it; but unless such an appropriation were made, 
 he should feel himself compelled to vote against the gentle- 
 man's amendment. 
 
 The question was then taken on Mr. Wentworth's amend- 
 ment, and it was not agreed to. 
 
 The question was then taken on Mr. Thompson's amend- 
 ment, and it was adopted. 
 
 On the same day it was ordered that two copies of ^ the 
 Annals of Congress be given to the Smithsonian Institution; 
 also, one copy of the works of Alexander Hamilton and one 
 copy of the works of John Adams. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 SENATE, April 20, 1852. 
 
 The Senate having under consideration the Deficiency 
 bill, and the following amendment from the Committee on 
 Finance being in order : 
 
 For planting and finishing the roads and walks through that portion 
 of the public Mall surrounding the Smithsonian Institution, |7,tW 
 
 Mr HUNTER said : This item is estimated for by the Sec- 
 retary of the Interior. It is proposed to appropriate this 
 amount in this bill, instead of appropriating it for the next 
 fiscal year, as this is the planting season. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, May 27, 1852. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE, from the Committee on Finance reported a 
 bill supplementary to an act approved August en- 
 
 titled " An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution 
 &c., which was read and passed to a second reading, 
 bill is as follows : 
 
522 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 same terms as were provided for the original principal fund by the second' 
 section of the act entitled " An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution, 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," approved August 
 tenth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, and that the interest thereon at the 
 rate of six per centum per annum, shall in like manner be payable half- 
 yearly, on the first of January and July in each year, from and after the 
 date at which it shall be received into the Treasury of the United States, 
 for the perpetual maintenance and support of said institution : Provided, 
 That the sums thus to be received, shall not exceed the amount of two 
 hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 SENATE, August 20, 1852. 
 
 The Vice President laid before the Senate a letter from 
 the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, communica- 
 ting the annual report of the Board of Eegents of that in- 
 stitution ; which was ordered to lie on the table, and be 
 printed. 
 
 A motion of Mr. Pearce that 5,000 additional copies be 
 printed, was referred to the Committee on Printing. 
 
 SENATE, August 21, 1852. 
 
 An amendment to the Civil and Diplomatic appropriation 
 bill for the year ending June 30, 1853, was proposed by the 
 Finance Committee, as follows : 
 
 " For finishing the grading, manuring, planting, finishing the roads and 
 walks, graveling and laying gutters along the margin of the same, and 
 repairing the fence of the Smithsonian square, $13,200." 
 
 SENATE, August 24, 1852. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE submitted the following resolution ; which 
 was agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, That the vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, be 
 filled by the President of the Senate. 
 
 Mr. Robert M. Charlton was appointed. 
 SENATE, August 26, 1852. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN, from the Committee on Printing, reported 
 in favor of printing 5,000 additional copies of the annual 
 report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and 
 that 2,000 copies thereof be for the use of the institution ; 
 which was agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, August 26, 1852. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER moved to amend the amendment offered 
 August 21st, ^by striking out " $13,200," and inserting 
 " $16,760." The amendment to the amendment was agreed 
 to, and the amendment as amended was agreed to. 
 
THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS, 1851-53. 
 
 August 30. In conference committee the Senate receded 
 from the above. 
 
 SENATE, August 31, 1852. 
 On motion by Mr. DODGE, of Iowa, it was 
 
 Ordered, That instead of the distribution of Owen's Report heretofore 
 ordered, there be furnished to the General Land Office 100 copies, to the 
 Smithsonian Institution 100 copies, and to Dr. Owen 200 copies. 
 
 SENATE, December 21, 1852. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. There are two vacancies in the Board of 
 Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, which it is very 
 'desirable and necessary should soon be filled. I therefore 
 ask leave to introduce a joint resolution. The resolution 
 Iwas read a first and second time, and considered by the 
 (Senate as in Committee of the Whole; reported without 
 (amendment; read a third time and passed. 
 
 The resolution is as follows : 
 
 Resolved, *c., That the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, of the class ''other than members of Qffffi*. 
 filled by the appointment of Alexander Dallas Bache, of the city of Wash- 
 ington, and John McPherson Berrien, of the State of Georgia. 
 
 The resolution was approved January 13, 1853, as Public 
 Resolution No. 6. 
 
 SENATE, March 1, 1853. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate the 
 seventh annual report of the Board of Regents of the 
 sonian Institution. ,1+v^^i 
 
 Mr HUNTER, from the Finance Committee offered the fol- 
 lowing amendment to the Civil and Diplomatic appropria- 
 tion bill, which was agreed to : 
 
 ZZSSS&fSS^ 
 
 and Twelfth streets west, $5,276.52. 
 
 SENATE, March 3, 1853. 
 
 The report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution was ordered to be printed. 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 2, 1852. 
 
524 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of South Carolina, Graham N. Fitch, of Indiana, and James 
 Meacham, of Vermont. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 11, 1852. 
 
 Mr. HENN, of Iowa, offered the following amendment to 
 the bill to reduce and modify the rates of postage in the 
 United States, &c. : 
 
 The presidents of universities, colleges, academies, and of all scientific 
 institutions, and also the Smithsonian Institution, may send by mail, free 
 of postage, the printed copies of any regular paper, pamphlet, or book pub- 
 lished under the authority of any such institution ; and also the proof sheets 
 of such copies while the same are being published : Provided, Such printed 
 copies shall be distributed gratis. 
 
 On the 12th of July the question was taken on the amend- 
 ment, and it was rejected. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 11, 1853. 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. I ask the unanimous consent of the House 
 to take up joint resolution of the Senate No. 64, for the ap- 
 pointment of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. It- 
 will take but a moment, and it is very necessary that it 
 should be passed. 
 
 The joint resolution was read three times, and passed. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 3, 1853. 
 
 The House refused to agree to the amendment of the 
 Senate to the Civil and Diplomatic bill, appropriating 
 $5,276.52, for reservation No. 2. 
 
 The amendment having been sent to a committee of con- 
 ference, the House receded from its disagreement, and the 
 amendment was agreed to. 
 
 PKOCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, February 21, 1854. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE offered the following resolution; which was 
 considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, That the vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, occasioned by the expiration of the term of the Hon. 11. M. 
 Charlton, be filled by the President of the Senate. 
 
 The PRESIDENT appointed Hon. Stephen A. Douglas to 
 fill the vacancy. 
 
 SENATE, July 22, 1854. 
 
 The Senate having under consideration the Civil and 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 525 
 
 ; Diplomatic Bill, the following amendments reported by the 
 committee were read 
 
 For the preservation of the collections of the exploring expedition. 
 For compensation of keepers, watchmen, and laborers, $2,980. 
 For contingent expenses, $100. 
 
 Mr. PRATT. If I understand that amendment, the expen- 
 diture proposed by it is an annual one for the preservation 
 of the collections of the exploring expedition. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. The Senator from Maryland, over the way, 
 [Mr. Pearce,] can explain this matter. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. These collections have been, from the time 
 they were received in this country down to the present 
 period, under the charge of the Library Committee, who 
 are very anxious to get rid of that responsibility. But there 
 are other reasons why they should be transferred to the 
 Commissioner of Patents. They are in the Patent Office 
 building, they are under his eye. He is the proper officer- 
 to take care of them. He takes care of other things which 
 are connected with them. 
 
 The sum appropriated, I will remark, is rather more 
 perhaps than has been heretofore expended by the Library 
 Committee for that purpose ; for the reason that it will be 
 necessary to erect additional buildings, and necessary to have 
 an additional watchman, as there is now nothing to prevent 
 burglars from getting into so much of the building as is 
 now going on. I believe that all the allowances are eco- 
 nomical ; and I am very sure they are below those made in 
 other departments of the Government. If we do not ap- 
 propriate this money here, we shall have to appropriate the 
 same sum of money to be expended under the care of the 
 Library Committee.' That is the only difference. That 
 committee is not the proper body to take charge of the 
 matter. They are not an executive body properly. 
 
 Mr. PRATT. I called attention to the matter, because it 
 struck me as being rather singular that there should be an 
 annual appropriation of about $3,000, for the purpose of 
 preserving the curiosities collected by the exploring ex- 
 pedition. I do not know whether they are wo r th to the 
 Government this annual expense. I only desired the ex- 
 planation, as it struck my mind as curious. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. As long as we keep them, we must take 
 care of them, and we cannot take care of them with less 
 expenditure. These are very interesting objects. There 
 are one hundred and twenty thousand people who visit that 
 building annually, and it seems to- -me that this is a very 
 
-52G CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 small expenditure to afford so much gratification to our 
 people. 
 
 SENATE, July 25, 1854. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate a letter of 
 the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, transmitting 
 the annual report of the Board of Regents, which, on mo- 
 tion of Mr. Pearee, was ordered to be printed ; and a motion 
 by Mr. Rusk to print 10,000 additional copies was referred 
 to the Committee on Printing. 
 
 SENATE, July 28, 1854. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Printing, to whom 
 was referred a motion to print additional copies of the 
 eighth annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, reported the following resolution ; which 
 was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed, for the use of the Senate, ten thousand 
 -extra copies of the eighth annual report of the Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, five hundred of such copies to be given to the Secretary of 
 the Smithsonian Institution for its use. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 14, 1853. 
 
 The SPEAKER appointed Messrs. James Meacham, of Ver- 
 mont, Wm. H. English, of Indiana, and David Stuart, of 
 Michigan, Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 3, 1854. 
 Mr. CHANDLER ottered the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That a select committee, consisting of nine members, be ap- 
 pointed, and instructed to inquire into the expediency of withdrawing from 
 the Treasury of the United States the Smithsonian fund, and investing the 
 ame in sound stocks, or in such other way as may be to the interest of said 
 fund. 
 
 Mr. CHANDLER. This money is lying in the Treasury of 
 the United States, and the Government has to pay for the 
 use of it, when it is buying up its own stock at a large pre- 
 mium. It is, therefore, desirable to place the fund in some 
 other situation. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I desire to make one inquiry 
 of the gentleman, and it is, whether there is any certainty 
 that a method can be devised by which he can so invest this 
 money in stocks, or in any other way, that, provided it 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 527 
 
 should be lost, the Government will not have to refund it ? 
 We made one investment of a portion of this fund, and had 
 to pay the amount of the investment. 
 
 Mr. CHANDLER. Invest it in eastern stocks, and not in 
 western. 
 
 Mr. BAYLY, of Virginia, called for the reading of the reso- 
 lution, and no objection being made, it was accordingly 
 .again read. 
 
 The question was then taken on the adoption of the reso- 
 lution; and there were, on a division ayes 84; noes not 
 ^counted. 
 
 So the resolution was adopted. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 24, 1854. 
 
 Mr. UPHAM, from the Committee on the Post Office and 
 Post Roads, reported the following bill; which was read a 
 first and second time by its title : 
 
 ' : A bill granting the franking privilege to the Superintendent of the 
 Coast Survey, and the assistant in charge of the office of said Coast 
 Survey." 
 
 Mr. MACE. I move that the bill be so amended as to pro- 
 vide for the grant of the franking privilege to the Secretary 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, in addition to the officers 
 already named. 
 
 Mr. OLDS. The proposition contemplates the giving of 
 the franking privilege to the Coast Survey. The Commit- 
 tee on the Post Office and Post Roads have permitted it to 
 be reported to the House, from the fact that we had seen 
 no good reason why the head of that bureau for it is, in 
 fact, a bureau should not have the franking privilege as 
 well as the heads of the other bureaus. At the same time, 
 however, that I give my assent to the report of this resolu- 
 tion, I wish to say that my own opinion, and I believe that 
 such will be the opinion of the committee, is against the 
 franking privilege altogether; and perhaps before the session 
 is closed we shall propose a bill abolishing it. 
 
 Mr. MACE. I think, sir, that I would myself be in favor 
 of the abolition of the franking privilege ; but if it is to 
 exist and appertain to sundry officers of the Government, 
 and to members of Congress, I see no case more meritorious 
 than that of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 to which that privilege could be extended. That is an insti- 
 tution for the diffusion of general knowledge throughout the 
 whole country. By various acts of Congress we vote to it 
 numerous public documents, which cannot be distributed 
 
528 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 unless some member of Congress will volunteer to go there 
 and frank them. Such is the practice, and I have myself, 
 at the instance of Professor Henry, spent days there in 
 franking public documents for that institution. 
 
 The design has been to forward to our constituents 
 throughout the land documents for their information. The 
 Secretary of that institution ought to have the privilege of 
 franking them, arid not be, as now, subjected to the incon- 
 venience of calling upon the members of Congress to do 
 that job. 
 
 A MEMBER. Who is the Secretary? 
 
 Mr. MACE. I am told that Professor Henry is the Secre- 
 tary. I do not propose to elaborate this question at all. It 
 is a simple one. If we are to extend this privilege at all, 
 we cannot extend it to a more meritorious case than the one 
 I have suggested. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I move to refer the bill and 
 amendment to the Committee of the Whole on the state of 
 the Union, and that they be printed. And I will say that 
 whatever may be the propriety of the bill as reported from 
 the committee, I can see no justice and no propriety in the 
 amendment proposed by the gentleman from Indiana, [Mr. 
 Mace.] 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution is not part nor parcel of this 
 Government. It is a separate and distinct institution, quar- 
 tered, it is true, on the Treasury at the rate of thousands of 
 dollars per annum; and it should be kept, I think, as dis- 
 tinct as possible. There is no reason for giving this institu- 
 tion the peculiar privilege of franking its documents over 
 the country in preference to other institutions of learning 
 in any part of the United States. And if you commence 
 with this, where are you to stop? This is to be the entering 
 wedge here at the seat of Government. This is first to be 
 made the favorite institution for establishing the precedent 
 to confer the franking privilege on all the institutions, per- 
 haps, of the country. And I will say to the gentleman from 
 Indiana, [Mr. Mace,] that according to my understanding 
 and construction of the Post Office laws, the member of 
 Congress who franks a document weighing over two 
 ounces, published by the Smithsonian Institution, violates 
 the privilege conferred upon him under the laws of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 Mr. MACE. Will the gentleman from Tennessee allow 
 me to explain ? 
 
 Mr. JONES yielded the floor. 
 
 Mr. MACE. I will state to the gentleman that the docu- 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 529 
 
 ments franked by me for the Smithsonian Institution were 
 printed by order of Congress; and I had the same right to 
 frank them as I had the other public documents printed by 
 order of Congress. 
 
 Mr. JONES. If they were ordered by Congress, or by 
 either House of Congress, then they were public docu- 
 ments, and came within the law. And the gentleman from 
 Indiana, [Mr. Mace,] and every other member had a right 
 to frank them. But the documents printed by order of the 
 Smithsonian Institution are not included among these priv- 
 ileged matters which members of Congress are authorized 
 to frank; and, in my opinion, they should not be included. 
 I now, Mr. Speaker, move the previous question. 
 
 Mr. WARREN. I move to lay the bill and amendment 
 upon the table. 
 
 Mr. MACE. The gentleman from Massachusetts who re- 
 ported the bill has urgently appealed to me to withdraw the 
 amendment which I have proposed. I do now withdraw it. 
 
 There was no objection, and it was withdrawn. 
 
 HOUSE OP KEPRESENTATIVES, March 10, 1854. 
 
 Mr. CHANDLER. I ask leave to introduce a memorial from 
 the Smithsonian Institution, with a view of having it refer- 
 red to the special committee appointed early in January. 
 It is a memorial asking Congress to authorize the Treasury 
 Department to receive $150,000, saved from the accrued 
 interest, on the same terms as those on which the original 
 bequest was received. 
 
 The memorial is as follows : 
 
 To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, in Congress as- 
 sembled: 
 
 GENTLEMEN : The Board of "Regents of the Smithsonian Institution have 
 directed me to transmit to your honorable body the resolution appended to 
 this communication, and to solicit the passage of a law in accordance there- 
 with. 
 
 It is known to your honorable body that the original sum received into 
 'the United States Treasury from the Smithsonian bequest was a little more 
 than $515,000, and that at the time of the passage of the act incorporating 
 the institution $242,000 had accrued in interest, which sum, or so much of 
 it as might be deemed necessary, the Kegents were authorized to appropriate 
 to a building. 
 
 In consideration, however, of the great demands upon the institution for 
 " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," the Regents, instead 
 of immediately expending this sum on the building, have carefully husbanded 
 it, and have extended the time of the erection of the building over several 
 years, and have defrayed the expense in part out of the proceeds of this sum, 
 and in part out of such portions of the income of the original fund as could 
 be spared from the operations of the institution. The building will be com- 
 pleted in a few months in fire-proof materials, and in a very substantial man- 
 ner, and besides the money required to pay the contractor there is now on 
 hand $150,000 of accrued interest. 
 34 
 
580 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 This sum the Regents ask to be allowed to place in the Treasury of the 
 United States with the original bequest, and to add to it, from time to time, 
 such other sums as may come into their possession by donation or otherwise 
 until the sum thus added shall amount to $ . 
 
 The sole object of this bequest is the permanent investment and perpetual 
 security of the accumulated fund, and when your honorable body is assured 
 that the operations of the institution have received the approbation of the 
 wise and good in every part of the world where literature and science are 
 cultivated, the undersigned trusts that the request will be granted. 
 
 And your petitioner will ever pray, &c. 
 
 JOSEPH HENRY, 
 Secretary of Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 20, 1854. 
 
 Joint Resolution No. 13 approved. One copy of the works 
 of Thomas Jefferson to be given to the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 25, 1854. 
 
 The House having under consideration as in Committee 
 of the Whole the Navy Appropriation Bill- 
 Mr. HAVEN said: 1 'offer the following amendment, not 
 by direction of the committee, for I take it that the com- 
 mittee is against me : 
 
 To enable the Secretary of the Navy to pay the salary of Professor James 
 P. Espy, for the current fiscal year, ending 30th June, 1855, $2,000 ; pay- 
 ment to be made in the same manner and under like control as former ap- 
 propriations for meteorological observations. 
 
 Mr. PHELPS. I rise to a question of order on the amend- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. HAVEN. Let me state just why I think the amend- 
 ment is in order. Similar appropriations are to be found 
 in the Navy appropriation bills for the last three or four years. 
 You will find it referred to in the report of the Secretary of 
 the Navy, President's message and accompanying documents, 
 page 302. On page 393 the committee will find a letter from 
 Professor Espy, from which I will read a short extract After 
 detailing the duties which he has performed in reference to 
 collecting and collating meteorological observations that 
 have been made at the military posts in the country, he uses 
 the following language in his letter to the Secretary of the 
 Navy: 
 
 I have already finished collating the years 1849, 1850, and 1851, with the 
 exception of the third quarter of 1849 and the third quarter of 1851. These 
 quarters I shall finish by the end of the present year, and if you so direct, 
 the report for these three years can be handed in to Congress. But I respect- 
 fully suggest that a report on this subject would be greatly increased in 
 value by even a small increase of time contained in it ; and I should be 
 pleased 'if you would allow the report to be withheld from Congress till 
 its second session, at which time the year 1852 would be embodied in it. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 531 
 
 This man has been regularly and continuously employed; 
 .sind you will find, in the cases referred to, that the Secretary 
 of the Navy has made the recommendations of which I have 
 spoken. You will find, by referring to page 112, that this 
 appropriation of $2,000 a year was not only made for that 
 year, but for the year previous. In the act of the last ses- 
 sion at page 221, you will find that the same appropriation 
 was made, and in the precise way in which it has been made 
 in every particular case. I now offer this amendment, be- 
 cause my friend from Georgia, [Mr. Stephens,] who is my 
 colleague upon the Committee of Ways and Means, told me 
 that he had always attended to it, and he intrusted it to my 
 hands now. I wish to perform that trust faithfully, as it is 
 an appropriation which I think ought to be made. It is 
 certainly one which has been adopted as an amendment to 
 this bill for the last half dozen years. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. Tbe Chair would inquire whether the 
 office was established by law? 
 
 Mr. HAVEN. Certainly; and this man is in the employ- 
 ment of the Government. He is now engaged in making 
 a report. 
 
 Mr. PHELPS. I differ with the gentleman as to the fact 
 whether the office was established by law. I admit that in 
 two or three naval appropriation bills an amendment was 
 passed making provision for the prosecution of meteoro- 
 logical surveys, but those appropriations were only made 
 from year to year. There is no such officer provided for 
 by law. His term of office expired the 1st of July, and 
 there is no law providing for the continuation or further 
 prosecution of these meteorological surveys. It is for these 
 reasons that I raise the question of order. 
 
 Mr. HAVEN. I will not say whether I am right or wrong 
 in reference to this matter; but I do say that for a series of 
 years appropriations have been made from year to year for 
 this purpose, contained precisely in the same words as my 
 amendment. This man is in the public employment 
 
 Mr. SMITH, of Virginia. Will the gentleman say whether 
 the office of Mr. Espy, who used to be called the Storm 
 King, is an office created by law? 
 
 Mr. HAVEN. The question which my friend from Virginia 
 puts me has reference to the designation of the man^that 
 fills the office Storm King, as he says rather than to the 
 employment in which he is engaged. I cannot say whether 
 there is such an officer as the head of a bureau of meteoro- 
 logical surveys, but I do understand that the law has made 
 provision for this office. I have pointed to the place where 
 
532 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 provision is made for the office, and for paying the man who 
 has been employed under the law to lill it. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. If the Chair understands the facts of the 
 case, this was a special service for which the appropriation 
 was* made; and the service and office expire with the ex- 
 haustion of the appropriation. The amendment would not, 
 therefore, be in order under the rule established. 
 
 Mr. HAVEN. Allow me to say one thing further. When 
 the Secretary of the Navy called the attention of the House 
 to this matter 
 
 [Loud cries of "Order!" "Order!"] 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. Does the gentleman appeal from the de- 
 cision of the Chair? 
 
 Mr. HAVEN. I do; and I desire simply to say that ever 
 since I have been in this House 
 
 Mr. PHELPS. I rise to a question of order. There is an 
 appeal pending, and no debate is in order. 
 
 Mr. STANTON. I desire to make a suggestion. This is in 
 continuation of works which have already been commenced. 
 These observations have been carried on for a series of years. 
 
 [Cries of " Question ! " " Question ! "] 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. The question is, "Shall the decision of 
 the Chair stand as the judgment of the committee?" 
 
 The question was taken, and the decision of the Chair was 
 not sustained ; there being, on a count, only thirty-one in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment sub- 
 mitted by the gentleman from New York, [Mr. Haven.] 
 
 Mr. STUART, of Michigan. I move to amend the amend- 
 ment of the gentleman from New York, [Mr. Haven,] by 
 increasing the appropriation one dollar. 
 
 I have moved the amendment merely for the purpose of 
 enabling me to ask one or two questions, to which I ask the 
 attention of the gentleman from New York. There is now 
 an officer employed by the Smithsonian Institution whose 
 duty it is to receive and to make all these meteorological 
 calculations, and to report upon them. Reports are sent from 
 all the different military stations in the country to him. He 
 is employed at present in getting out a work upon this sub- 
 ject at the expense of the Smithsonian Institution. What I 
 want to know is, whether these are the same services upon 
 which Professor Espy is employed? 
 
 Mr. HEAVEN. I can only answer the gentleman by refer- 
 ence to the documents. I know nothing of the computa- 
 tions of the Smithsonian Institution; but I doubt not the 
 gentleman is correct in what he states. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 533 
 
 Here is Professor Espy's letter: 
 
 IRVING HOTEL, WASHINGTON, September 8, 1853. 
 
 SIR : In answer to your letter of the 6th instant, requesting me to "furnish 
 you a report of my labors, and their results, connected with the meteoro- 
 logical observations conducted by me, under the direction of the Navy De- 
 partment, during the past year," I have to report progress as follows: 
 
 During the year, as in several former years, I have had access to all the 
 meteorological journals kept at the various military posts by order of the 
 Surgeon General, and to all the journals procured by the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, which are very numerous,and embrace a very wide extent of 
 territory, which, united to the journals of my own correspondents, furnish 
 the means, such as the world never possessed before, of generalizing the 
 phenomena of storms, and educing laws which apply to their origin, the 
 direction and velocity of their motion, in the United States; the direction 
 and violence of the wind in different parts of the storm at the same time; 
 the state of the barometer in the storm and around its borders; the causes 
 which produce these phenomena; and the means of predicting, in all great 
 storms of dangerous violence, their approach in time to prepare for them. 
 How much of all this I have already done, and how much remains to be 
 done, and with what prospect of success, you will judge by examining my 
 .previous reports to the Department. 
 
 The plan which I adopted in these reports, in collating the meteorological 
 journals, was to exhibit to the eye, on skeleton maps of the United States, 
 the various phenomena of the winds and rains and barometric fluctuations 
 by appropriate symbols, so that, by a glance, it might be seen where a storm 
 was raging, how far it extended, in what direction, and with what violence 
 the wind blew in its borders, and beyond ; how the barometer stood within 
 and beyond its borders; and how far, and in what direction, the center of 
 the storm had moved by the next day at the same hour. This plan I have 
 -not seen proper to change in the report now in progress for the Department. 
 
 I have already finished collating the years 1849, 1850. and 1851, with the 
 exception of the third quarter of 1849 and the third quarter of 1851. These 
 quarters I shall finish by the end of the present year ; and, if you so direct, the 
 report for these three years can be handed in to Congress. But I respectfully 
 suggest that a report on this subject would be greatly increased in value by 
 even a small increase of time contained in it ; and I should be pleased if you 
 would allow the report to be withheld from Congress till its second session, 
 ;at which time the year 1851 would be embodied'in it. 
 
 Whatever you direct me to do on this, shall be done to the best of my 
 ..ability. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JAMES P. ESPY. 
 Hon. J. (?. DOBBIN. 
 
 These calculations are of very great service to science. 
 They are the handmaid to the great business in which Lieu- 
 tenant Maury is engaged. It seems that Professor Espy has 
 iiccess to the journals kept at the various military stations 
 in the country, to all the journals received by the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, and besides that, has a very large cor- 
 respondence of his own from which he deduces his facts, 
 and reports to the Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 Mr. STUART, by unanimous consent, withdrew his amend- 
 ment to the amendment. 
 
 Mr. Haven's amendment was then agreed to. 
 
534 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 31, 1854. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. The Committee of Ways and 
 Means recommend a non-concurrence in the forty-second 
 amendment of the Senate, [July 22.] 
 
 The amendment was non-concurred in. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 1, 1854. 
 
 The SPEAKER laid before the House a communication from 
 the Secretary of the Smithso'nian Institution, transmitting 
 the annual report of the Board of Regents. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The annual report does not accompany 
 the letter of the Secretary. The Chair understands that 
 there is but one copy. It is very voluminous, and is now in 
 the other end of the Capitol. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. I move that the communication and report 
 be laid on the table, and ordered to be printed; and I move 
 that 20,000 extra copies be printed, and that that motion be 
 referred to the Committee on Printing. So ordered. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. The Committee of Ways and 
 Means recommend a non-concurrence in the one hundred 
 and sixty-fifth amendment. 
 
 One hundred and sixty-fifth amendment : 
 
 SEC. __. And be it further enacted, That the collections of the exploring 
 expedition, now in the Patent Office, be placed under the care and manage- 
 ment of the Commissioner of Patents, who is hereby authorized to employ 
 one principal keeper of said collections at an annual salary of $900, one 
 assistant keeper at an annual salary of $750, one night watchman at aa 
 annual salary of $600, and two laborers at annual salary each of $365. 
 
 The amendment was non-concurred in. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 2, 1854. 
 
 Mr. STANTON, of Kentucky. I rise to a privileged ques- 
 tion. I have a report from the Committee on Printing, 
 which I desire to make. I believe that committee have the 
 right to report at any time. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The gentleman is in order. 
 
 Mr. STANTON. I am instructed by the Committee on Print- 
 ing to otter the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 10,000 extra copies of the annual report 
 of the Board of Kegents of the Smithsonian Institution, including the 
 minority report upon the distribution of the fund 7,000 copies for distribu- 
 tion by the members of this House and 3,000 for the use of the Institution. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I move to lay that resolution 
 upon the table. 
 
 The motion was not agreed to. 
 The resolution was then adopted. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 535 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 3, 1854. 
 
 The Senate having reinserted the section that the House 
 non-concurred in on the 1st of August, Mr. HOUSTON said: 
 
 Upon examination of that amendment, Mr. Pearce, of the 
 Senate committee, who is a member of the Joint Committee 
 on the Library, assured us that these officers are now kept 
 up and paid to have charge of this collection. The object of 
 the amendment is only to relieve the Joint Committee on the 
 Library from their responsibility concerning the matter. 
 There is, I believe, an increase of one messenger, besides 
 which it will cost no more money than under the present 
 arrangement. The committee, therefore, report in favor of 
 the House receding from its disagreement. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 SENATE, December 7, 1854. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE, according to previous notice, asked and ob- 
 tained leave to introduce a joint resolution providing for the 
 appointment of two Regents for the Smithsonian Institution ; 
 which was read twice by unanimous consent, and considered 
 as in Committee of the Whole. 
 
 It proposes to fill the vacancies in the Board of Regents, 
 of the class other than members of Congress, by the reap- 
 pointrnent of the late incumbents, Rufus Choate, of Massa- 
 chusetts, and Gideon Hawley, of New York. 
 
 The joint resolution was reported to the Senate without 
 amendment, ordered to a third reading, read a third time, 
 and passed. 
 
 SENATE, January 17, 1855. 
 
 The PRESIDENT. I lay before the Senate a communication 
 from Hon. Rufus Choate, one of the Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. It will be read. 
 
 The Secretary read it, as follows : 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives : 
 
 I take leave to communicate to the two Houses of Congress my resigna- 
 tion of the office of Kegent of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 It is due to the body which has been pleased to honor me with their trust 
 for some years, and has recently conferred it for a new term, to say that this 
 step is taken, not from any loss of interest in the welfare of that important 
 establishment, but in part from the inconvenience experienced in attending 
 the meetings, and in part, also, and more immediately, from my inability 
 to concur or acquiesce in an interpretation of the act of Congress constitu- 
 ting the actual institution, and the Board of Regents, which has been 
 
536 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 adopted, and is now about to be practically carried into administration by 
 a majority of the board. That act, it has seemed to me, peremptorily 
 ^'directs a manner " and prescribes a plan according to which it intends 
 that the institution shall accomplish the will >f the donor. 
 
 By the earlier law accepting the gift, Congress engaged to direct such a 
 manner and to devise such a plan, and pledged the laith of the United 
 States, that the funds should be applied according to such plan and such 
 manner. In fulfillment of that pledge, and in the performance of its in- 
 alienable and incommunicable duty as trustee of the charity, that body, 
 after many years of deliberation from which it never sought to relieve 
 itself by devolving the work upon the discretion of others matured its 
 plan, and established the actual institution to carry it out. Of tiiis phm, 
 the general features are sketched with great clearness and great complete- 
 ness in the law. Without resorting for aid in its interpretation to its par- 
 liamentary history, the journals and debates, the substantial moaning scorns 
 to be palpable and unequivocal in its terms. By such aid it is rendered 
 quite certain. A Board of Regents is created to administer it. Some dis- 
 cretionary powers, of course, are given to the board in regard of details, 
 and in regard of possible surpluses of income which may remain at any 
 given time, while the plan of Congress is being zealously and judiciously 
 carried into effect; but these discretionary powers are given, I think, in 
 trust for the plan of Congress, and as auxiliary to, cooperate with, and execu- 
 tory of, it. They were given for the sake of the plan, simply to enable the 
 regents the more effectually and truly to administer that veVy one not to 
 enable them to devise and administer another of their own, unauthorized 
 in the terms of the law, incompatible with its announced objects and its full 
 development, not alluded to in it anywhere, and which, as the journals and 
 the debates inform us, when presented to the House under specific proposi- 
 tions, was rejected. 
 
 Of this act an interpretation has now been adopted, by which, it has 
 seemed to me, these discretionary means of carrying the will of Congress 
 into effect are transformed into means of practically disappointing that will, 
 and of building up an institution substantially unlike that which it in- 
 tended, which supersedes and displaces it, and in effect repeals the law. 
 Differences of opinion had existed in the board from its first meeting, in 
 regard of the administration of the act; but they were composed by a reso- 
 lution of compromise, according to which a full half of the annual income 
 was to be eventually applied in permanence to what I deem the essential 
 parts of the plan of Congress. That resolution of compromise is now for- 
 mally rescinded, and henceforward the discretion of the regents, and not 
 the act of Congress, is to be the rule of appropriation, and that discretion 
 has already declared itself for another plan than what I deem the plan of 
 Congress. It may be added that, under the same interpretation, the office 
 and powers of secretary are fundamentally changed from those of the sec- 
 retary of the law, as I read it, and arc greatly enlarged. 
 
 In this interpretation, I cannot acquiesce; and with entire respect for 
 the majority of the board, and with much kindness and regard to all its 
 members, I am pure that my duty requires a respectful tender of resigna- 
 tion. I make it accordingly, and am your obedient servant, 
 
 RUFUS CHOATE. 
 
 WASHINGTON, (D. C.,) January 13, 1855. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. Mr. President, I desire to make a sugges- 
 tion in regard to the disposition which shall be made of this 
 paper. Before I do so, however, I ask the indulgence of the 
 Senate while I submit a very few remarks. 
 
 The paper, sir, is one of unusual character. It purports 
 to be a resignation by a gentleman holding a public trust 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 537 
 
 under the appointment of Congress, and assigns reasons for 
 the resignation. The first is the inability of the party re- 
 signing to perform the duties of his trust; that is to say, to 
 .attend the meetings of the institution, without which attend- 
 ance he cannot perform the duties of his trust; quite a suffi- 
 cient reason, and one which, perhaps, has been of equal 
 weight for the last seven years as now. The second reason 
 is, his inability to concur with the majority of the Board of 
 Regents in the interpretation which they have given to the 
 statute establishing the institution. If the letter of resig- 
 nation had terminated there, I should not have had a word 
 to say; but it goes much further. It is, in effect, nothing 
 more than we have seen in the public prints for the last 
 year, though, of course, in very different language, and in- 
 stigated by purposes very different from those which I hope 
 and believe actuate the retiring regent. 
 
 It sets forth, sir, that Congress has established a plan for 
 the conduct of this institution, has prescribed a manner in 
 which the regents shall manage its affairs; that the act 
 sketches with clearness and completeness the principal fea- 
 tures of this plan; that they are quite apparent without 
 reference to the parliamentary history of the act; that, with 
 that, they are unmistakably clear. Then he charges that 
 the majority of the Board of Regents, who have, the mis- 
 fortune to differ from the retiring regent, have subverted 
 that plan established by Congress, have departed from the 
 manner in which Congress prescribed that the affairs of the 
 institution should be conducted, and diverted the application 
 of the funds from the objects prescribed in the law, have 
 appropriated them to objects not mentioned in the law, in- 
 compatible with the prescribed objects, and not warranted, 
 either by the letter or spirit of any of its provisions ; that 
 thus the Board of Regents have substituted their will for 
 the will of the National Legislature, and have, in e'ffect, 
 repealed the act of Congress. 
 
 Sir, these are very grave charges. I happen to be one of 
 those who have been thus contumacious, who have thus en- 
 deavored to subvert the will of the National Legislature, 
 and to repeal the act of Congress, for the faithful execution 
 of which I had pledged everything which a man of honor 
 could pledge, by the acceptance of the trust. Sir, I cannot 
 but feel sensibly the reproach conveyed in this letter, and I 
 feel it not only sensibly, but with something of indignation. 
 I have one consolation, however. I do not stand alone in 
 the interpretation which I have given to this act. I am con- 
 soled for differing from the brilliant parliamentary and 
 
538 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 forensic orator who is the author of this letter, by reflecting 
 that I am sustained in ray opinion by men of such weight 
 of character as cannot well be exceeded in this country. 
 Let me mention a few of them. In the first place, I will 
 mention him who holds the first rank as a jurist in the 
 United States; first, unquestionably, in position, and, as I 
 believe, not surpassed either in the variety and extent of his 
 legal learning, the vigor and acuteness of his logical facul- 
 ties, or the purity of his professional and private life, by any 
 man in this country, or elsewhere I mean Chief Justice 
 Taney, with whom I consider it to be exceedingly fortunate 
 that I concur in opinion on this question. 
 
 Next, sir, I may be allowed to mention a gentleman from 
 Georgia, a member of General Jackson's Cabinet, his first 
 Attorney General, for many years a distinguished ornament 
 of this body, and now, in spite of years somewhat advancing, 
 retaining all the vigor of those physical and intellectual fac- 
 ulties which made Mr. Wirt characterize him, thirty years 
 ago, as a man of splendid ability, and who tit this time main- 
 tains, as he has done for thirty years, a proud position in 
 the front ranks of his noble profession I mean Mr. Berrien, 
 of Georgia. 
 
 Then, sir, I may mention a gentleman who was also once 
 an Attorney General of the United States, Secretary of the 
 Treasury, and Minister to England and to France, himself 
 more intimately connected with this institution than any 
 other person whom I know, having been the agent ap- 
 pointed by the Government of the United States to proceed 
 to London and prosecute the suit in chancery, upon which 
 the determination of this fund depended ; a gentleman of 
 ample ability, of high cultivation, and mature experience 
 I mean Mr. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 I shall not, in his presence, bestow any eulogium upon 
 my friend, the honorable Senator from Virginia, [Mr. Ma- 
 son,] who is one of those who have concurred with me. But 
 even in his presence I may say this much : that for many 
 years more perhaps than he would be glad to acknowl- 
 edge he has been engaged in a large and successful prac- 
 tice, and in the higher walks of his profession ; and that 
 this furnishes some small reason to infer that he is quite 
 competent to construe an act of Congress. 
 
 Or the other members of the Board of Regents who con- 
 cur with me, I need not make mention further than to say 
 that, though not legal men, they are all men of great emi- 
 nence in this country, and their eminence has been recog- 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 58i> 
 
 nized in the high public positions which they have occupied 
 and still occupy and adorn. 
 
 As I have said before, sir, this is some small consolation 
 to me for venturing to differ from Mr. Choate, who so un- 
 qualifiedly condemns all those who oppose him. There is 
 something rather peremptory, I think, in the manner in 
 which he announces his opinion in regard to the construc- 
 tion and violation of this law. I do not find it qualified by 
 the expression of the possibility of any misconstruction on 
 his part, by the admission that intelligent and honorable 
 men might well differ in regard to that construction. Far 
 be it from me, sir, to impute to those who differ from me 
 any want of intelligence and sincerity. The Senator who 
 sits beside me [Mr. Douglas] is one who differed from me 
 in the board; but nothing has ever occurred because of 
 that difference to diminish the respect which I entertain 
 for himself, his talents, and abilities. 
 
 Well, now, let us see, for a moment, what are those re- 
 quirements of the law, which, in the opinion of Mr. Choate,. 
 the regents have neglected or violated. The act organizing 
 the Smithsonian Institution has prescribed certain definite 
 objects, due attention to which the regents undoubtedly are 
 bound, in good faith, to pay. It has required us to erect a 
 building, such as was described in the act a building upon 
 a large and liberal scale sufficient for the reception and 
 arrangement, upon that scale, of collections of natural his- 
 tory, Including a geological and mineralogical cabinet, a. 
 museum, library, chemical laboratory, a gallery of art, and 
 lecture rooms. These are all the objects specified in 
 the act. 
 
 There is another clause in the law which authorizes the 
 Board of Regents to apply such funds of the institution as 
 are not specifically appropriated by the act, or required for 
 the purposes mentioned in it, to such other purposes as they 
 may deem best suited to carry out the purposes indicated in 
 the will of Mr. Smithson, the founder of the institution. 
 That is the clause to which, I presume, Mr. Cboate refers, 
 when he says there are some discretionary powers which he 
 seems to think very insignificant, and which are given to the 
 regents, in his opinion, only to enable them to carry out the 
 details of the plan prescribed by the act of Congress, or, as 
 merely subsidiary to the general authority which Congress 
 had bestowed upon the regents in regard to the library, 
 museum, and gallery of art. 
 
 But, sir, while Congress has thus prescribed, generally, 
 the features which they chose to give to this institution, 1 
 
540 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 apprehend it will be found, on an examination of the instru- 
 ment, that the discretionary powers conferred upon the re- 
 gents are far larger than those ascribed by the retiring 
 regent. The Board of Regents have recognized fully and 
 constantly the obligation upon them of every requisition 
 contained in that law, and I think they have faithfully ful- 
 filled those requisitions. They have erected the building 
 required bylaw; they have designed and completed it upon 
 a large and liberal scale. They have made provision for the 
 collection and arrangement of objects of natural history. 
 They have made appropriations for a library, and have made 
 a beginning with a gallery of art. The}' have established a 
 chemical laboratory, which is one of the objects enjoined iu 
 the act; and they have provided lecture rooms, specified in 
 the law. They have not appropriated a very large portion 
 of the funds of the institution for the library, though, in this 
 respect, the amount applied has been far greater than is 
 generally supposed; and that is, after all, the real gist of the 
 con trovers} 7 . 
 
 It is singular, that, in the act of Congress there is a limi- 
 tation upon the appropriations for a library, and no limit to 
 the appropriations which may be made for any other of the 
 designated objects. The limitation in the library expendi- 
 ture was rather inappropriately added to one of the sections 
 of the bill, to which it was not germane. It forbids the 
 application of more than 25,000 per annum to that pur- 
 pose; but the act does not, anywhere, require the regents 
 to expend annually that amount. It establishes no mini- 
 mum below which they shall not fall in their appropria- 
 tions; but it simply establishes a maximum, beyond which 
 they shall not go. That has been done by Congress, in re- 
 gard to the library, but in regard to no other object of 
 expenditure. Well, sir, the regents, in their discretion, 
 have not thought it necessary or expedient to expend the 
 whole amount of the sum to which they were limited by 
 that provision of the act, and hence, I think, all the difficul- 
 ties in regard to this matter. They could not understand 
 the words " not exceeding $25,000," to mean not less than 
 25,000, or to mean nearly 25,000, or to signify anything 
 else than that such was the utmost limit of expenditure 
 authorized by the act for this purpose. The words neces- 
 sarily imply that the regents might expend less than that 
 sum, and the question, how much less, was one purely for 
 their discretion. 
 
 The regents supposed that, when the act of Congress made 
 it their imperative duty to provide a suitable building, with 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 541 
 
 proper and necessary lecture rooms, Congress did not mean 
 those lecture rooms to be empty and voiceless. They sup- 
 posed that the lecture rooms could only be used by employ- 
 ing lecturers, and causing lectures to be delivered. They 
 thought that a necessary and irresistible inference. They 
 did not suppose that this was any strained construction 
 any forced implication ; but that it followed as necessarily 
 as light follows the rising of the sun. As the provision for 
 lecture rooms was mandatory, there was not even a discre- 
 tion as to lectures. They were a matter of course, and the 
 regents would have been justly censurable if they had failed 
 to adopt this necessary means of giving utility to the lecture 
 rooms. 
 
 Congress further made it the imperative duty of the re- 
 gents to establish a chemical laboratory. For what purpose ? 
 Why, I presume for physical researches. If not for that, 
 then for no purpose. It was idle and nugatory in Congress 
 to require the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to 
 establish a chemical laboratory, if the} 7 were to make no re- 
 searches. For the purpose of illustration of lectures, a little 
 apparatus would have been all-sufficient. The regents have 
 felt themselves bound to encourage researches, and have 
 considered that they were authorized not only to direct re- 
 searches in physical science, but to publish them ; for this 
 institution, we must remember, is "for the increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men;" and if we are bound to 
 have a chemical laboratory, and if we are as necessarily 
 bound to cause researches to be made, I would ask, of what 
 use are the researches? How shall we increase and diffuse 
 knowledge of them among men if we seal them up, and do 
 not publish them to the world? As the collections of nat- 
 ural history would be nothing more than a show, if we were 
 satisfied with merely placing and arranging them in a mu- 
 seum, we think that they should be described. They can 
 best be made available for the increase and diffusion of' 
 knowledge by causing them to be described by scientific 
 men in memoirs, such as are published by the institution. 
 We have thought, then, that publication was as necessary 
 a result, from the express powers of the grant, as any other 
 duty which the regents had to perform. 
 
 We did not think that the sole limit of our power. We 
 did suppose that, under the large discretion given in the 
 ninth section of the act, it was the regents who were to con- 
 sider how much of the funds of the institution were prop- 
 erly to be applied to the objects specified by the act. Since 
 Congress itself has not told us how to apportion the funds 
 
542 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the institution among those objects, it followed, there- 
 fore, that the regents must have a discretion in that regard, 
 and if they have a discretion, where is the limit? Nowhere, 
 except that we may not expend more than $25,000 on the 
 library in any one year. Then we supposed the general 
 provisions of that ninth section, which gave us the right to 
 apply the funds, not wanted for the other objects, in siu-h 
 manner as we might think most conducive to the purposes 
 of Smithson's will, was ample enough to justify us in insti- 
 tuting 1 researches, and making publication of the results. 
 Here is the section in question : 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That of any other moneys which have 
 accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the said Smithsonian 
 fund, not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein pro- 
 vided, the said managers are hereby authorized to make such disposal MS 
 they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator, 
 anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 It does not confine the discretion of the regents to the 
 details necessary in carrying out the specified objects, but 
 extends it to other obj.ects, being such as they shall deem 
 best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator; 
 that is, the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 So that it is not, as Mr. Choate supposes, merely a trust for 
 the designated objects, but for such other purposes as corre- 
 spond with the intention of the will, anything else contained 
 in the act to the contrary notwithstanding. Under the au- 
 thority of this section, wr have thought proper to stimulate 
 researches not prosecuted within the walls of the building, 
 nor confined to specimens of natural history deposited in its 
 collections. They are described in the plan of organization, 
 iind include historical, ethnological, and statistical inqui- 
 ries, meteorological observations for solving the problem of 
 American storms, and experimental problems in electricity, 
 light, &c., &c. To this may be added the publication of re- 
 ports on the new discoveries of science, of a character highly 
 useful and practical. 
 
 It has been supposed, sir, that the true interpretation of 
 this act could be found by going outside of the la.w. Mr. 
 Choate has intimated, in his letter, that if we look at its 
 parliamentary history we shall see what is its true interpre- 
 tation. I understand to what he refers. The original bill 
 was introduced into the House of Representatives; a substi- 
 tute was offered for the bill reported by the committee; that 
 substitute was amended by striking out some of its provis- 
 ions and inserting one or two others, which do not affect 
 this question. The intimation is, that, if we look to the 
 proceedings of the House of Representatives, (not of the 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 543 
 
 Senate, because in the Senate there was no discussion of the 
 bill, and the amendments offered and rejected do not furnish 
 evidence of the construction given to it by that body,) we 
 shall find that such amendments were made as are^inconsis- 
 tent with the construction which the regents now give to the 
 act. Principally they were two. There was a specific pro- 
 vision requiring professors and lecturers to be employed. 
 That was stricken out. Very true; but then there was left 
 in the bill the provision for lecture rooms, which I think I 
 have shown, imperatively required that there should be lec- 
 tures, and, of course, authorized the employment of persons 
 to lecture. 
 
 Then there was a provision in regard to researches and 
 publications; that was stricken out, too; but, I think, I have 
 shown that the duty of the regents was to institute researches 
 and make publications under the law as it stands. And 
 when we look at the circumstances attending the striking 
 out of those provisions, we find this to be^ the fact. The 
 provision in regard to researches and publications author- 
 ized Congress to call upon the regents at any time to cause 
 those publications to be printed and supplied to members of 
 Congress, to be distributed as public documents. Now, it 
 may'very well have been that those who voted to strike out 
 this provision were induced to do so by the single item of it 
 which I have just mentioned, or they may have thought 
 these provisions superfluous, being well supplied by the large 
 discretionary powers given in the ninth section which I have 
 quoted. It is, however, neither according to legal rules nor 
 right reason to look to the speeches and proceedings of the 
 legislature for the construction of a statute which is itself 
 the embodiment of the legislative will, and furnishes 
 copious sources of construction by the examination and 
 comparison of its various provisions and the admitted pur- 
 pose of its enactment. Certain it is that the striking out 
 of those specific provisions cannot invalidate the general 
 grants of power, and the necessary implications from those 
 .grants, which I have mentioned. 
 
 JS'ow, we have a library of fifteen thousand volumes, for 
 the most part composed of the most valuable works pertain- 
 ing to all branches of human knowledge, besides ten thou- 
 sand parts of volumes and pamphlets. Their literary and 
 scientific value is to weighed, not counted. The money 
 value of our library is estimated by the officers of the insti- 
 tution at 40,000. We have a museum, the money value of 
 which is estimated at $30,000. We have apparatus valued 
 at $10,000. 
 
544 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 This is what the regents have done in direct pursuance of 
 the objects prescribed by Congress ; and the other things 
 which they have done the publications they have made 
 they suppose not to be incompatible with the expressed ob- 
 jects of an institution "for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men/' not to be violative of the letter or 
 spirit of the law, but to be wholly consistent and in harmony 
 with it, and auxiliary to the objects which are provided for 
 in the law. The publications not only diffuse knowledge 
 among men, but they bring back to us, in liberal abundance,, 
 the transactions and publications of learned societies in other 
 countries, and thus furnish us with valuable works pertain- 
 ing to all branches of knowledge; many of which are not to 
 be purchased with money, and enable us to carry out one 
 requirement of the law the GRADUAL formation of a library. 
 
 In regard to the resolutions of compromise, to which Mr. 
 Choate has referred, the repeal of which is the great ground 
 of complaint, here allow me to say for I will not consent 
 to detain the Senate much longer those resolutions were 
 passed at the organization of the institution. They proposed 
 an equal, or nearly equal, division of the funds of the institution 
 between the objects specified in the law, and the auxiliary 
 objects which we are justified by the letter and the spirit of 
 the law, as I think I have shown, in pursuing. Well, sir, it 
 occurred to the regents recently for some time past it has 
 been a matter of consultation among them that it would 
 be well to repeal those resolutions of compromise; that there 
 was no propriety in the Board of Regents, at the commence- 
 ment of the organization of the institution, tying their own 
 hands, and those of their successors, so as to compel a par- 
 ticular scale of appropriation throughout all time. It has 
 been supposed to be right to leave them unfettered, so that 
 they may annually make appropriations such as are, in their 
 judgment, according to the intrinsic importance of the ob- 
 jects appropriated for, and in fulfillment in good faith of the 
 purposes of the law, for that we have never lost sight of. 
 Now let me read to the Senate one of the resolutions adopted 
 by the board, which are the cause of Mr. Choate's resigna- 
 tion. One repeals the compromise resolutions which I have 
 mentioned. The other is in these words : 
 
 Resolved, That hereafter the annual appropriations shall be apportioned 
 specifically among the different objects and operations of the institution, in 
 such manner as may, in the judgment of the regents, be necessary and 
 proper for each, according to its intrinsic importance, and a compliance in 
 good faith with the law. 
 
 That is the resolution which is considered as subverting 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 545 
 
 the plan established by Congress, as repealing, in effect, the 
 act of Congress, and setting up the will of the regents in 
 place of the will of the National Legislature ! 
 
 Something is said in the letter about the greatly aug- 
 mented powers of the secretary of the institution. I know 
 of no augmentation of the power of the secretary. A ques- 
 tion has arisen as to his right to discharge one of his assist- 
 ants. The board had determined that he has a right to 
 discharge any of his assistants without a reference to the 
 board. They, however, have a controlling authority over 
 the whole subject; and if the secretary should abuse his 
 power in that respect, they would remove him, as they can 
 at any time remove all or any of his assistants, or the sec- 
 retary himself. I may add, sir, that the secretary of the in- 
 stitution is a gentleman, as well as widely known to the 
 world of science; a profound philosophic scholar, and a 
 man of pure and stainless life. 
 
 Mr. President, considering the form in which this matter 
 has been brought before us as a solemn appeal from a re- 
 tiring member of the Board of Regents to the Senate, and 
 to the public it has seemed to me that it would be proper 
 that the Senate should investigate the subject. It has oc- 
 curred to me that it would be proper to appoint a special 
 committee for that purpose. I make the suggestion, but I 
 do not submit any motion. If I were to submit such a mo- 
 tion, according to parliamentary usage, I should be put on 
 the committee as chairman a position which I could by no 
 means think of accepting. It would, I think, be neither 
 delicate, nor in any respect proper, that a member of the 
 Board of Eegents should sit in judgment on his own cause, 
 and over his fellows from whom he has differed. I throw 
 out the suggestion, however, with the hope that some Sen- 
 ator will submit the proper resolution. 
 
 MR. MASON. Mr. President, I regret that the learned and 
 distinguished gentleman who has declined further service in 
 this public trust, should have accompanied his resignation 
 by a communication of the character which has been com- 
 mented on by the honorable Senator from Maryland. I 
 regret it because it is impossible that such a communication 
 should be allowed to pass in silence when addressed to the 
 Senate, where are found some of those who have been asso- 
 ciated in that trust with the writer of the letter. I regret it, 
 because it is unpleasant and ungrateful to speak of the opin- 
 ions or conduct of those who are absent; but I feel at liberty 
 to do so on the present occasion, because the gentleman 
 35 
 
54G CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 who has written this letter has chosen to challenge opinion 
 here. 
 
 Now, sir, what has heen done? A regent of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, who has been connected with it, I be- 
 lieve, from the foundation of the institution, occasionally as 
 a member of this body, chosen a regent by the vote of the 
 Senate, and occasionally as a citizen at large, clothed with 
 the high honor (for it is a very high honor) of an adminis- 
 trator of this trust, has declined further service; and lias 
 assigned, as one of the reasons, and as this paper alleges 
 the dominant reason for declining it, that he does not agree 
 with his associates in their mode of administration. I do 
 not feel at liberty to say that such a course of conduct would 
 not be expected of one so honored, because the gentleman 
 who wrote the letter is absent; but I should say that, ac- 
 cording to my ideas of what is due to the trust, if he be- 
 lieved there was mnl-administration, it was the very last 
 occasion when he should have resigned; he should have 
 remained there in order that the inquiry which he has pro- 
 voked might be conducted in his presence, and, to some 
 extent, under his guidance. 
 
 But, sir, he has resigned the trust, and, in doing so, he 
 has shot a Parthian arrow at those who were associated 
 with him. What is the character of his letter? None can 
 read without being struck with its tone, which was so justly 
 animadverted upon by my co-regent, the honorable Senator 
 who has just addressed you. I have been accustomed, Mr. 
 President, to find, in that profession to which I belong, and 
 of which I am a very humble member, that, whether at the 
 bar or on the bench, the surest, the soundest, and the ablest 
 intellect, gives its judgment with diffidence, courtesy, and 
 respect for the opinions of others. I have generally found, 
 too, in my experience of the world, that the soundest judg- 
 ment is the judgment which is accompanied by such diffi- 
 dence. Now, what is the tone of this communication? The 
 confident tone of Sir Oracle of one whose judgment can- 
 not be impugned, and should not be questioned. "/ can- 
 not be wrong," says the writer of this paper, in substance, 
 "let others vindicate their judgment if they can." That is 
 what he says, and he has assigned, as the startling reason 
 for resigning this trust, that he differed from his associates 
 in the construction of an act of Congress; there is no im- 
 propriety even hinted in the conduct of his associate regents; 
 but he rests it exclusively on the ground that they have 
 misinterpreted the law which created the trust, and there 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 547 
 
 is no appeal from the decision of the learned gentleman 
 Avho pronounces the judgment. That is infallible. 
 
 Sir, I have known instances others, more experienced 
 than I am, have known of more where the judgment is 
 found darkened in the flashes of a brilliant mind; a mere 
 rhetorician should never aspire to the judgment seat. I 
 would appeal to the experience of the world to say, whether 
 there is not an infirmity attendant upon such minds, which 
 never admit that they may be wrong. The calm, sedate, 
 deliberate, slow, and cautious mind," brings you to a cor- 
 rect conclusion ; and when attained, submits it with defer- 
 ence arid respect to those who are to pass upon it. Confi- 
 dence, that confidence which precludes doubt, does not be- 
 long to those who are capable- of pronouncing judgment. 
 
 Mr. President, I shall not go over the ground so lucidly 
 occupied by the very able gentleman who preceded me, 
 with whom I have been associated in this trust. It is a 
 pure, a high, and honorable trust, one conceived by a noble 
 mind the late James Smithson. He pursued science as the 
 great mistress of his affections; he pursued it to his grave; 
 and he left behind him this legacy. To whom? He had 
 the world to choose from. He was an Englishman. He 
 had never been upon this continent. He possessed a large 
 fortune. The high benevolence of his nature determined 
 him, when he left the world, to devote that fortune, in the 
 hands of others, to the pursuit of science, when the world 
 closed upon him. As I have said, he had the world to 
 choose from, and he signalized this country and its institu- 
 tions by his choice. He left his fortune to the UNITED 
 STATES, in trust for the establishment of an institution at 
 Washington, "for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge." Where? In Washington? In the United States? 
 Upon this continent, broad as it is? No; "AMONGST MEN" 
 is the language of the trust. 
 
 If I arn capable of reading the signs of the times, there 
 are those, of whom we have plenty, Heaven knows, around 
 us everywhere, who look upon a public fund, no matter to 
 what object it has been devoted, or how small the trust, as 
 a thing to be scrambled for, and appropriated by the first 
 needy or lucky adventurer. For the last twelve months the 
 newspapers have been full of intimations, coming, generally, 
 from the northern and eastern sections of the country, throw- 
 ing suspicion and doubt upon the management of this trust, 
 intimating that it has been perverted from its original pur- 
 pose ; in substance, that it was in improper hands, and 
 should be taken from them; invoking, in some insidious 
 
548 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 manner, the action of Congress upon the subject; and alt 
 for what? To get hold of the fund. What use was to be 
 made of it after it was thus obtained, those best know who 
 join in the pursuit. Let me be understood. I ascribe no 
 such motive to the very learned and distinguished writer of 
 the letter before us. I have the honor only of a very formal 
 acquaintance with him; but I know his history and his char- 
 acter, and that assures me he can never lend himself to any 
 unworthy purpose ; but yet I have strong reason to believe 
 that, if the objects which he seems to have in view, could 
 be obtained, this pure and simple trust, which has been ac- 
 cepted by the American people, would be debased into a 
 mere pecuniary job. 
 
 Sir, the letter of Mr. Choate, unfortunately, brings back 
 into the Halls of Congress the great controversy which at- 
 tended this fund when it was iirst brought into the country. 
 There was a great struggle for it among the men of science, 
 in the mechanic arts, and in other of the useful and honor- 
 able pursuits of life. The parliamentary history to which 
 the writer has referred in the letter shows it. There were 
 those who believed that this fund should be devoted exclu- 
 sively to a library, to a great collection of books books in 
 every department of science, of art, and belles lettres. The 
 writer of this letter shows that he was one of those who de- 
 sired so to devote it; to a library a library, to the exclu- 
 sion of everything else a collection of books. I am free to 
 believe, and declare, that I entertain no doubt this learned 
 and. distinguished gentleman believed that the best mode of 
 increasing knowledge, as well as diffusing it amongst men, 
 was to establish a library. But suppose it were done. 
 There is an annual revenue derived from the Smithsonian 
 fund of some $30,000 or $40,000. So much is to be devoted, 
 in perpetua, I suppose, to the purchase of books, which are 
 to be stored here on shelves, in the city of Washington ; 
 and who is to read them? Why, sir, the members of Con- 
 
 fress have little time to read the books which accumulate 
 ere in the public library. The citizens of Washington 
 form a very small portion of the people of these United 
 States; and thus this great trust, which was intended for 
 MANKIND,, would be limited to the walls of Washington. 
 
 There is another great objection to it, Books are derived 
 from booksellers. Booksellers are connected with book- 
 makers, and bookmakers and booksellers, with that hungry 
 legion, who all live, and of whom some grow rich, on the 
 spoils of genius and industry. Then there are the paper- 
 makers, and the book printers, and publishers, and the 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 
 
 stereotypists, all, all, would be hovering around this fund, 
 to say nothing of factorage, commission, foreign travel to 
 pick up rare works, and the ten thousand jobs that follow 
 in such a train, where money is to be spent by law in large, 
 annual, stated sums to buy books; and at last what would 
 you have done? Why, you would have taken this great, 
 noble beneficent donation to mankind, and converted it into 
 a fruitful job for every race of needy and artful adventurers. 
 
 Sir, if a library is to be established at Washington for 
 public use, vote the money from the Treasury. Smithson 
 did not intrust this fund to you for such a purpose, or he 
 would have said so in his will ; and he has not said it. 
 
 I have said that it is unfortunate that this matter should 
 again be brought before the Senate. The battle was foughf 
 here for years. That parliamentary history to which the 
 writer of the letter has had reference shows it. He claims 
 that, under the true interpretation of the act of Congress, 
 the library scheme prevailed. A majority of those who 
 have been associated with him in the Board of Regents 
 have decided otherwise. They understand the law to mean 
 that discretion is vested in the Board of Regents to build up 
 -a library in this great institution, in such manner, and at 
 such time, as the}^ shall find most conducive to the great 
 objects of the trust. That is all. Sir, this battle should 
 not be fought over again. I trust we shall not present to 
 the European world, whence this fund is derived, the spec- 
 tacle that, at this early day, when the streams of light and 
 knowledge which, I hope, are to flow from this institution, 
 have hardly yet made their appearance, that we are scram- 
 bling indecently over the cradle of the trust. 
 
 I Tiave said, Mr. President, that this is a pure trust. 
 There is, fortunately, no emolument of any kind attendant 
 upon its administration. I have been, for some years, hon- 
 ored by the Senate of the United States as one of the man- 
 agers of that trust. I conceive it to be a very high honor. 
 It is because of the duty which I owe to the trust thus com- 
 mitted to me that I detain the Senate for a few moments. 
 
 I perceive that the subject has been taken up in the other 
 House, at the instance of one of the regents, [Mr. Meacham,] 
 an honorable member there, who, as the journals have been 
 published, it is now fair to say, voted with the writer of 
 this letter. On his motion, a committee has been raised, 
 which is, perhaps, proper enough; but I must say, with 
 very great respect for that body, that the committee has 
 been vested with very extraordinary power for such an 
 Inquiry the power " to send for persons and papers." 
 
550 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 This would seem to convey an imputation that the body of 
 gentlemen who are charged with the administration may 
 require a police officer or a messenger from this Capitol to 
 get from them papers or other evidence. I regret it, sir; 
 but straws show how the wind blows, and this strange and 
 exigent demand of power for the committee has its own 
 meaning, which time may disclose. 
 
 I am indisposed, sir, to commit myself, as to any present 
 disposition of this paper, and I submit, therefore, to the 
 Honorable Senator from Maryland that, for the present, it 
 would be better to allow it to lie on the table until it can 
 be considered by the Senate what disposition should be 
 made of it. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. I beg leave to say, in regard to the sug- 
 gestion of the honorable Senator from Virginia, that I 
 remain of opinion that this paper should be referred to a 
 select committee of this body. I do not think that the 
 fact that it is the subject of investigation by a committee 
 of the House of Representatives, should operate to pre- 
 vent us from committing it to a committee of our own 
 body. I have no doubt that House took such action as 
 seemed to them to be proper ; but I submit, with due re- 
 spect to the House of Representatives, that, no matter what 
 may be the action of that House, it is for the Senate to act 
 independently. However, I make no motion for reference- 
 to a select committee, because I am a member of the Board 
 of Regents, and I do not wish to sit in judgment on my 
 own cause, or over my fellow regents. 
 
 Mr. DOUGLAS. I regret, Mr. President, that there should 
 have been a necessity, in the estimation of any gentleman, 
 to bring the affairs and management of the Smithsonian 
 Institution before Congress for its action. As has been 
 stated by the honorable Senator from Maryland, in terms 
 kind and respectful, I am one of those who had the misfor- 
 tune to differ from a majority on the decision of the various 
 questions referred to in this paper. I do not read the letter 
 of Mr. Choate in the same sense with my colleagues who 
 represent J:he Senate in that institution, [Messrs. Pearce and 
 Mason,] in regard to its spirit. I am unable to perceive 
 that there is anything disrespectful or unkind, either in the 
 terms of the letter, or in the mode in which he has expressed 
 his ideas. I have listened to that gentleman, in the discus- 
 sion before the Board of Regents, with admiration for his 
 ability and his eloquence, and with equal admiration for 
 that high courtesy which characterized everything that he 
 said and did. Although there is a firmness and a direct- 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 551 
 
 ness in which he has expressed his opinions in the letter of 
 resignation, I am unable to perceive that there is either an 
 arrogance or anything else which ought to be considered 
 disrespectful. After expressing his opinions, and stating 
 the construction of a majority of the board he says : 
 
 * In this interpretation I cannot acquiesce ; and with entire respect for 
 the majority of the board, and with much kindness and regard to all its 
 members, I am sure that my duty requires a respectful tender of my resig- 
 nation." 
 
 In other places, in expressing his opinion, he says, " the 
 law, it seems to me, is so and so." I think there is a re- 
 spect and kindness running through the whole letter which 
 should characterize one gentleman of high attainments and 
 bearing towards another who is his equal, accompanied, 
 however, with the firm conviction, on his part, that the law 
 has not been interpreted in that sense in which it should 
 have been according to its terms. 
 
 I confess, sir, that I concur fully in that firm conviction 
 of his, and I do not hesitate to express it boldly and plainly; 
 and yet I am incapable of entering an unkind feeling, or 
 giving expression to an unkind inuendo, or of entertaining 
 for a moment a doubt but that each and every regent has 
 acted conscientiously according to his sense of duty. It is 
 a case where there is a diversity of opinion ; where each 
 gentleman intrusted with the exercise of discretion, where 
 discretion was necessary, and interpretation where interpre- 
 tation was necessary, has performed his duty conscientiously 
 as he read it in the law. Still, I must say that my inter- 
 pretation of that law is different from that of the honorable 
 Senator from Virginia, and the honorable Senator from 
 Maryland, and of a majority of the regents. It is also true 
 that the gentleman whose great name and many public ser- 
 vices, and private and public virtues, have been so well 
 portrayed by the Senator from Maryland, concurred with 
 the majority, and to that extent the weight of authority is 
 cast in the scale against the side which I embraced. I do 
 not wish to detract one iota from the high eulogium which 
 the Senator has pronounced on those gentlemen. With all 
 respect for them, and for their opinions, I must take the law 
 itself as my rule of guidance while performing a trust im- 
 posed on me. 
 
 It may be that my mind is somewhat biased by the pro- 
 ceedings, discussion, and action in the House of Represent- 
 atives when this institution was established. I, at that time, 
 participated, to some extent, although in a small degree, in 
 the proceedings which took place in regard to the creation 
 
552 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the institution. I at no time allowed my feelings to be- 
 come enlisted, much less excited, on the subject. But when 
 .all the various plans were presented there for the organiza- 
 tion of the institution, and especially the library plan, as a 
 principal feature, not an exclusive one, in antagonism to a 
 plan that the library should be a subordinate feature, or that 
 there should be no library at all, it is my firm conviction 
 that Congress, by its action, did sanction the policy of a 
 library as a principal, but not an exclusive, feature in the 
 institution. In other words, the plan proposed by Mr. 
 Marsh, of Vermont, in opposition to that of Mr. Hough, }' 
 New York, did prevail, and the main features of Mr. Marsh's 
 plan tended to the establishment of a library. The library 
 plan, as it was called, having prevailed, there was a limita- 
 tion on the amount of funds to be devoted to that plan, in- 
 serted in the law, which was, that out of the $30,000 of in- 
 come of the institution, not exceeding $25,000 should be 
 appropriated to the library. 
 
 I do not hold that the regents are compelled to appropriate 
 to a library the sum of $25,000 each year, but I do hold 
 that the law in its terms, when carefully examined, contem- 
 plates the library as a prominent object in the institution, and 
 that at least a majority of the funds should be expended in 
 the building up of the library. That is my interpretation. I 
 am aware that when the institution was first organized, these 
 same diversities of opinion arose, and a compromise was 
 effected, by which it was agreed that the funds should be 
 equally divided. When I came into the institution, a feu- 
 months ago, as one of its regents, I was willing to abide by 
 that compromise. I could not have agreed to it originally, 
 because I think the fair interpretation of the law contem- 
 plated that the larger portion of the fund should be applied 
 to the establishment of a library ; but, as they made an 
 equal division, I was willing to acquiesce in it, in order to 
 avoid the appeal which is now made to Congress and to the 
 country, and thus perhaps endanger, to some extent, the 
 reputation of the institution. 
 
 I expressed these opinions to my brother regents freely ; 
 but, I trust, with proper respect. I differed from their 
 opinion. Such was, such is, my conviction. I did not 
 deem it my duty to resign because I was overruled. I 
 was willing to acquiesce in the decision, because I had not 
 the power, according to the law, to override it ; and because 
 every other regent had the same right which I had to ex- 
 press and entertain his opinion. Yet, sir, when the ques- 
 tion arises, no matter how often it may arise, whether that 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 553 
 
 interpretation of the law, which has been given by the 
 board, be a correct one, until I change my opinion, or until 
 Congress shall modify the law, I must adhere to my original 
 convictions. 
 
 I regret, sir, that there should be the slightest feeling dis- 
 played in this discussion. Really, a charitable fund for such 
 high and noble purposes, ought to be administered in a spirit 
 of Idndness and charity. 1 cannot accede, therefore, to any 
 intimation that those who act with me, or those who do not 
 concur in the interpretation which has been given to the 
 law, are actuated by any but the highest and purest mo- 
 tives. 
 
 Mr. MASON. Does the Senator understand that anything 
 fell from me to question the motives of the gentlemen who 
 differed from us in that matter ? 
 
 Mr. DOUGLAS. I do understand that the Senator from 
 Virginia supposed it to be prompted by improper motives 
 to get possession of the fund, on the part of some persons. 
 
 Mr. MASON. I thought I was understood. I said that, 
 unless I misconstrued the signs of the times, this great and 
 eager anxiety out of doors, manifested by popular and in- 
 flammatory addresses through the public press, showed that 
 there was an earnest design outside to get hold of the fund. 
 I never expressed, for I certainly never entertained, a doubt- 
 that honorable gentlemen who differed with me in our 
 judgment as to the construction of the statute, were actu- 
 ated by as stern a sense of duty as I was. I have always so 
 expressed it. 
 
 Mr. DOUGLAS. Mr. President. Then I understand the 
 Senator as not impugning the action or motives of any of 
 the regents with whom he has been associated ; but I must 
 Bay that I have not seen anything to leave an impression on 
 my mind that whatever action was prompted out of doors, 
 meant to get possession of this fund, or to squander it, or 
 to apply it to any improper purposes. On the contrary, I 
 believe it arises from that same feeling which has been 
 evinced in the differences of opinion which have existed 
 from the time the institution was first proposed to be organ- 
 ized up to this day, as to what was the true application of 
 the fund. Those who supposed tliat their opinions had re- 
 ceived the sanction of Congress in the organic law of the 
 institution, now think that that object has been defeated by 
 A wrong construction given to that organic law. It is a firm 
 conviction, as I believe, on their part, that the law lias not 
 been carried out according to its terms. It certainly has 
 not been according to their understanding of its terms. I 
 
554 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 believe that there is no portion of our community, certainly 
 there are no persons entitled to notice, who would wish to 
 pervert this fund to any other object than that to which it 
 was dedicated by Smithson's will. I believe the persons to 
 whom the Senator referred are stimulated by the purest 
 motives to carry out that object, under the conviction that 
 the mode in which the trust is now bein^ administered is 
 neither in accordance with the will nor of the law. It is a 
 difference of opinion a difference of opinion sincerely en- 
 tertained and one which we should, therefore, meet with 
 the spirit of firmness, of candor, and of kindness. 
 
 I regret that the discussion has arisen, rendering it neces- 
 sary to go into an argument to show which is right, and 
 which wrong, in the construction of the act. In tact, sir, 
 I believe I will not allow myself to be drawn into an argu- 
 ment on that question. If this matter is to be referred to 
 a committee, certainly any discussion of that question would 
 be more appropriate after a report of the committee. I 
 shall, therefore, content inv>rll' with saving that my iirm 
 conviction is, that the only difference which has arisen in 
 the management of the institution is a difference on two 
 points; first, as to what direction thi> fund ought to take ; 
 secondly, the belief that a direction has been given to it, 
 which is not authorized by the law creating the institution. 
 I am under the impression that some regents have voted in 
 the minority on this question, not because they believe the 
 original plan adopted by Congress was the best, but because 
 they felt themselves compelled, under the law as it stood, to 
 vote as they did. 
 
 Mr. BADGER. Mr. President, I do not exactly agree in 
 the suggestion thrown out by my friend from Maryland, 
 that it is necessary that the letter which is before the 
 Senate, should become the subject of investigation by a 
 committee of this body ; but I shall, notwithstanding, read- 
 ily yield my own notions upon that subject to the wish he 
 has expressed. Allow me, however, to present very briefly 
 the views which have struck me on this occasion. 
 
 The very eminent and distinguished gentleman who has 
 sent in this letter of resignation, has assigned two reasons 
 why he retires from assisting in the management of this 
 trust fund. One is, that he cannot give the time necessary 
 to attend the meetings of the Board of Regents. As has 
 been said by my friend from Maryland, this'is a full, ample, 
 and perfect^ reason, not only why he is excusable for retiring, 
 but why it is his bounden duty to retire ; for, while he holds 
 a place there the public has a right to expect him to give 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 55 
 
 the necessary time to discharge its duties. So soon as he 
 ascertains that he cannot, consistently with his other engage- 
 ments, give that time, he is bound to retire and to give way 
 to some other gentleman who may have both the inclination 
 and the power to render the service which the country ex- 
 pects from a member of that board. 
 
 I wish, very sincerely, Mr. President, that the letter of 
 resignation had there closed, because I, for one, am unable 
 to give any appropriate character to the residue of the let- 
 ter. It must be viewed in one of three aspects ; either as 
 an appeal to Congress from the judicial decision which has 
 been pronounced by the Board of Regents upon the inter- 
 pretation of that act ; or as an appeal to Congress against 
 the malversation of a certain class of public officers, to the 
 extent that their misconduct may be exposed and that some 
 steps may be taken, either for their punishment or removal; 
 or else as an intimation that the distinguished gentleman 
 who writes this letter thinks that there should be some 
 amendment of the law by the intervention of the legislative 
 power of the two Houses of Congress. 
 
 In regard to the first view, I cannot myself understand 
 how this body, or the other House of Congress, is to exercise 
 a judicial supervision upon the question of the interpretation 
 of this law. It is our business to make laws ; it is the busi- 
 ness of other officers and classes of persons to expound and 
 execute those laws. In a strict judicial sense, we cannot 
 exercise any jurisdiction or supervision over the judgment 
 which may be so pronounced; and, therefore, considering 
 the letter in^that respect, it seems to me totally inappropriate 
 to any functions which either this or the other House of Con- 
 gress can legitimately exercise. 
 
 If it be considered as a letter intended to communicate ta 
 the two Houses of Congress malversation in the conduct of 
 these public officers, however proper that application may 
 be to the other House, it is plainly out of place here. The 
 other House, from what we learn of their published proceed- 
 ings, seems to have taken the subject up in that idea that 
 this is an imputation by the writer of the letter that a gross 
 abuse has been practised by the majority of the Board of 
 Regents in the administration of this fund ; and they have 
 accordingly raised a committee, referred the letter to the 
 committee, and vested them with the power of sending for 
 persons and papers a power appropriate to the investiga- 
 tion, if the object be what I have just said, but utterly in- 
 appropriate and absurd supposing it to be a mere question 
 of legislative inquiry with a view to found legislative action. 
 
556 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 thereupon. If it is a question of the interpretation of a law, 
 do you want to send for persons and papers to enable you 
 to interpret a law ? What papers will you send for to enable 
 the committee of the House of Representatives to ascertain 
 what is the meaning of this law? Do you want the statute? 
 Surely the committee can get that without having power to 
 send lor papers. Do you want the proceedings which took 
 place at the time when this law was enacted, the parlia- 
 mentary history of it? Surely that can be obtained without 
 a power in the committee to send for papers or for persons. 
 But if you suppose the investigation is pursued for the pur- 
 pose of ferreting out a delinquency, an abuse, a malversa- 
 tion, then that part of the resolution becomes nil appropriate, 
 and the object is to drag up witnesses and compel them to 
 testify to the conduct of the perpetrators in this stupendous 
 fraud, not only on the law of the country, but on the noble 
 charity which they are appointed to administer. If that be 
 the aspect in which this subject is taken up, we have nothing 
 to do with it; we should not commit ourselves in advance 
 upon it; for, suppose the proceedings of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives should result in preferring articles of impeach- 
 ment, for example, against the Chief Justice, it would be 
 very indelicate and improper for us in advance to form and 
 deliver a solemn opinion upon the question whether there 
 was just cause for the impeachment. 
 
 Then there is only one other respect in which this residue 
 of the paper can be supposed, as it seems to me, to be in- 
 tended to have any influence upon Congress; and that is, 
 that the honorable and distinguished gentleman who writes 
 this letter, knowing that we have no judicial power over the 
 interpretation of the law, and therefore cannot, by any judg- 
 ment of ours, ascertain that what has been heretofore done 
 in its interpretation has been done wrongfully, in a judicial 
 sense, and knowing that it is not a proper subject for an in- 
 vestigation, with a view to a criminal prosecution by im- 
 peachment, sends it to the two Houses of Congress as a 
 recommendation that they shall institute an inquiry, with a 
 view to an amendment of the law. In this latter view, it 
 strikes me as exceedingly inappropriate for any gentleman, 
 not a member of these bodies, or one of them, and not corning 
 here in the character of a petitioner asserting a claim against 
 the Government, to undertake to advise us of the propriety 
 of further legislation. 
 
 I say, therefore, Mr. President, that I regret very much 
 that this truly distinguished gentleman, of whom the Ameri- 
 can people have reason to be proud as one of their sons, 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 557 
 
 gifted as lie is, and distinguished as he has been in his past 
 course, did not content himself with resigning his position 
 for the very ample and sufficient reason which he first gives, 
 that he is unable to discharge the duties required of him. 
 
 regret it also, because, if I collected the scope of that letter 
 accurately from its reading for I had not seen it before it 
 seems in any view to present this state of the case the writer 
 meets with his brother regents; a certain question arises, 
 what shall be done in the management of the institution ? 
 That inquiry involves a question as to the just interpretation 
 'of the law; the best and the legal means of carrying out 
 the great purpose of the donor. That matter is the subject 
 of discussion and debate among them. The majority of the 
 regents decide against him, and immediately he retires from 
 the institution, and interposes an appeal to Congress against 
 the majority of the body, of which he is a member. 
 
 Again, sir, it seems to imply this: Distinguished and ele- 
 vated as that gentleman is, and high and important as are 
 the services which he has rendered to his country, and which 
 he is now able to render in this or any other station to which 
 the voice of his countrymen or the public authorities may 
 call him, I think the whole tone of that part of the letter 
 slightly exaggerates the importance to the public of the event 
 which it communicates, namely, his retiring from the Board 
 of Regents. 
 
 Besides, considering also for I think my friend from 
 Illinois did not succeed exactly in vindicating that part of 
 the letter the suggestion which my friend from Maryland 
 made, that there ^is a tone of confidence, of unmistakable 
 and unmistaken certainty, with which the distinguished 
 writer announces his opinions upon the interpretation of 
 this law, which I think my friend from Illinois will pardon 
 me for saying at least borders a little, very little, upon the 
 confines of arrogance, for I beg my friend to consider against 
 what an array of judgments the opinion of that distinguished 
 writer is given. 
 
 Mr. DOUGLAS. Consider the names on the other side. 
 
 Mr. BADGER. The names on the other side have not been 
 yet given; but I am very certain that my friend before me, 
 [Mr. Douglas,] whose name is one of them and it is a name 
 of weight and authority in this country, and elsewhere, where 
 it is known is one of the last persons who would announce 
 his opinion, without the expression of some deferential con- 
 ception that, after all, perhaps he might be mistaken. ^ Now, 
 I must say, I think it is due to truth and the occasion, to 
 say an d I believe the whole Senate will agree with me 
 
558 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 that, whether the distinguished writer be correct or not in 
 his opinions, that part of the letter is in very bad taste. 
 
 Believing, Mr. President, that there is nothing for us to 
 do but accept the resignation of this gentleman, and to ac- 
 cept it with regret because of his eminent talents and high 
 position arid undoubted patriotism, and therefore his capacity 
 and willingness to be useful. I should think that the subject 
 might be allowed to drop; but, nevertheless, I yield to the 
 suggestion of my friend from Maryland. He has intimated 
 that he desires that this should be the subject of investiga- 
 tion, and I am willing to move that it shall go to a com- 
 mittee ; but I am not prepared to say that it is proper, on 
 this occasion, to select a special committee. This is a ques- 
 tion of judicial interpretation of legislation to be founded 
 upon a judicial interpretation if the committee in the Senate 
 shall be of opinion that the regents have mistaken the true 
 construction of this law. We have a committee, a stand- 
 ing committee of this body, composed of eminent lawyers, 
 abundantly able to re-examine this subject, so far as it nrc<N 
 re-examination, and so far as this House has any jurisdiction 
 over it. I am not, therefore, for passing over that committee 
 upon a judicial question to raise any select committee. It 
 is a question of law the interpretation of u statute. If we 
 are not satisfied with the judgment given in the Board of 
 Regents; if such a board of men, aided in their opinions 
 by the illustrious Taney, do not convey to us a conviction 
 that a statute has been rightly interpreted, let it go to that 
 committee of this body. It is a proper organ to examine, 
 and investigate, and report upon strictly legal inquiries. I 
 therefore move the reference of this paper to the Committee 
 on the Judiciary. 
 
 Mr. SEWARD. Mr. President,! should not speak at all on 
 this question, if it were not that I think the Senate has a 
 duty to discharge to itself and to its dignity. I need not 
 say that I entertain as profound a respect and admiration 
 for the distinguished gentleman who sent this communica- 
 tion here as any other person in the House, or in the country. 
 I take the occasion thus early to say that I have formed iio 
 opinion upon the merits of the question which has been 
 raised by that communication. I deem it my duty, as tar 
 as possible, to hold my mind free and open for the purpose 
 of forming an opinion hereafter. 
 
 Sir, I cannot consent, for one member of this body, to 
 send this communication to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
 or to a select committee, because, although I believe it to 
 have been intended with the best motives, and to have been 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 559 
 
 entirely unexceptionable in the view of the writer, yet I 
 think it is derogatory from the dignity of the Senate. What 
 is it, sir? It is a resignation of an officer. Every citizen 
 of the United States has a right to hold an office if he can get 
 it, and certainly every citizen of the United States holding 
 an office has a right to resign it; and it is not necessary for 
 him, in order to be relieved from the burden of the office, 
 to assign any reason or excuse whatever. Whatever may 
 be said by way of apology or excuse, or reason, or justifica- 
 tion, does not alter the character of the act itself. It is an 
 absolute resignation. It is complete. It is final. The Senate 
 has nothing to do but to file it. It is done. The Senate 
 cannot compel the individual to retain his office. They 
 cannot ask him to take it back again, however high he may 
 be. They can reappoint him, but they must receive his 
 resignation as a complete act. 
 
 According to my humble judgment, what this retiring 
 regent ought to have done, was to send a letter to the Presi- 
 dent of the Senate, saying, in so many words : " Sir, I resign 
 the office of Regent of the Smithsonian Institution." It is 
 true that a regent, like every other public officer, has a right 
 to inform the public and to inform Congress, if he pleases 
 to do so, of the grounds why he declines a further continu- 
 ance in the discharge of a public trust; but that should be, 
 not by a letter explaining his reasons for his resignation, 
 but it should be done through the public press, or otherwise, 
 so as not to make the table of the Senate bear the burden 
 of all personal, and political, and other explanations of per- 
 sons retiring from public office. 
 
 It is manifest that the honorable and distinguished gentle- 
 man has not considered the legal nature and the official 
 character of the act he was per tor mi ug. I say, then, tlrs 
 resignation was complete and absolute when the words "I 
 resign this office" were written, but that is not the whole of 
 the communication. We are, besides, favored with an ex- 
 planation of the reasons why he resigns. This is either for 
 the information of the public, (and if so, it ought not to 
 have been made to the Senate of the United States,) or else 
 it is for the purpose of instructing the Senate in regard to the 
 question which is discussed in the paper. If that honorable 
 and distinguished gentleman wished to instruct the Senate 
 upon the merits of^the question out of which his resignation 
 has arisen, he had the right to come before this bod} 7 in a 
 respectful manner, by petition, by memorial, or by official 
 communication, as a regent of the institution; but he dis- 
 claims the privilege and the right of addressing us as a 
 
5(JO CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, because, in the very 
 act of representing his views to the Senate, he resigns that 
 office, and shows that he leaves the Senate and the country 
 to take care of the question as they best may. 
 
 I think, then, that what is due to this occasion is to lay 
 this letter on the table. Then, I agree with the honorable 
 Senator from Maryland, and the honorable Senator from 
 Virginia, and others, that there is, in the occasion itself, in 
 the subject-matter which has come to the knowledge of the 
 Senate, that which may very properly require an inquiry. 
 I think that inquiry ought to be made by the Senate, out of 
 regard to the public interests, the public welfare, and the 
 honor and dignity of the country, and not upon a commu- 
 nication which is of so unusual and extraordinary a character 
 as this. 
 
 Mr. BUTLER. Mr. President, I do not know that I concur 
 entirely in the conclusion of the honorable Senator from 
 New York, but I must say that I agree, in the main, with 
 the purport of his remarks. I hope that my friend from 
 North Carolina will, therefore, withdraw his motion to refer 
 this paper to the Committee on the Judiciary. What is the 
 paper ? Is it the resignation of an office ? If so, there it 
 should terminate. Is it an accusation against those with 
 whom this gentleman has been associated? If so, as my 
 friend from North Carolina has remarked, I cannot approve 
 its taste. Is it for the purpose of bringing this subject into 
 debate in the Senate ? If so, I think its purpose mischiev- 
 ous. Is it for the purpose of making an issue in relation to 
 this fund, which is calculated to involve, perhaps, as has 
 been intimated, different views in different parts of the 
 country? If so, it is a purpose which is criminal. 
 
 In every point of view, whether I regard the taste of the 
 paper as an accusation of those with whom this gentleman 
 has been associated, or whether I regard it as designed to 
 bring this subject into popular discussion, I cannot approve 
 its tone. I am bound to say that much ; but if it be for the 
 purpose of bringing the subject before the Senate, it cannot 
 be so effectually done as it would be by making the report 
 of a committee the vehicle of his views. I hope, therefore, 
 my friend from North Carolina will withdraw his motion to 
 refer this paper to the Committee on the Judiciary. 
 
 Mr. BADGER. I am satisfied, sir, after the remarks made 
 by the honorable Senator from New York, that my first in- 
 clination on this subject was correct, and that is, that we 
 have nothing to do but accept the resignation. I yielded, 
 however, because my friend from Maryland, who occupies 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 561 
 
 a peculiar and delicate relation to this subject, intimated his 
 desire for a committee to investigate it. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. Will my friend from North Carolina allow 
 me to interpose? 
 
 Mr. BADGER. Certainly. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. I am anxious that the question should be 
 referred to a committee. I am quite content that the paper 
 should be received and laid upon the table; but I do desire, 
 as the Senator from New York has said, that the subject- 
 matters which are referred to in the letter, should be sub- 
 mitted to a committee of this body for consideration. I 
 hope, therefore, that the proposition of the Senator from 
 New York will be adopted, and the paper laid on the table; 
 and that some gentleman will move a resolution directing a 
 committee (and I now prefer that it should be the Commit- 
 tee on the Judiciary) to inquire what, if any, action is proper 
 to be taken by the Senate in regard to the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution. That committee was organized at the beginning 
 of the session, without reference to this question. I am 
 willing and desire that the matter should take the regular 
 course, and be referred to that committee, whose appropri- 
 ate duty it is to construe the acts of Congress, which are 
 drawn into question. 
 
 Mr. BADGER. I now withdraw my motion for reference, 
 and move that the paper lie on the table. 
 
 Mr. WELLER. I am exceedingly anxious to terminate the 
 debate, and proceed to the consideration of some practical 
 business. This question, however, ought to be decided. 
 Here are three regents of the Smithsonian Institution, who 
 have brought to the consideration of the Senate the impor- 
 tant fact that they differ as to the construction given to a 
 law of Congress, or as to the proper mode of using the fund 
 which they have been appointed to administer. Now, I 
 think it very important that Congress should determine that 
 question, because we have been notified, By the debate to- 
 day, that that difference of opinion does exist; and after this 
 paper shall have been disposed of, if no other Senator makes 
 the motion, I shall submit one to instruct the Committee on 
 the Judiciary to consider and report on this subject. 
 
 The PRESIDENT. The question is on the motion of the 
 Senator from North Carolina, that the paper lie on the- 
 table. 
 
 The motion was agreed to. 
 
 Mr. CLAYTON subsequently said : Mr. President, as the 
 Senator from California [Mr. Weller] did not follow up his 
 proposition, I desire to offer the following resolution : 
 
502 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary inquire whether any, 
 and if any, what, action of the Senate is necessary and proper in regard to 
 the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 I believe that this resolution is in accordance with the 
 general sentiment of the body. I do not purpose to debate 
 it; but I will say now, that I hold it to be the duty of the 
 Senate of the United States to sustain the regents of this 
 institution, whenever the Senate thinks they are right. 
 When an imputation is cast on those gentlemen, it ought 
 not to be left to be a matter of conjecture or doubt in the 
 country, whether the Senate thinks they ought to be sus- 
 tained or not. For my own part, I do thoroughly concur 
 in the opinion which has been given by a majority of the 
 regency. I have been of their opinion since tin- institution 
 was first established. 
 
 I had the honor, as a mcmberof a committee of this body, 
 some eighteen years ago, to report the bill, which was after- 
 wards enacted into a law, accepting the l>e<|iiest of Smith- 
 son; and I well remember that, upon that occasion, there 
 was a diversity of sentiment in this body in regard to the 
 propriety of accepting the bequest, for it was said confi- 
 dently, by some gentlemen, that it would turn out that this 
 Government was incapable of administering the fund as the 
 testator intended. I was then of a different opinion, and I 
 am now. I have observed, with some interest, the progress 
 of this institution, and the course adopted by the regents, 
 from the origin of the institution, and their course has, on 
 all occasions, so far as I have been able to understand it, met 
 with my unqualified approbation. 
 
 The question which divided the regency was one which 
 arose in the very origin of the institution. There were 
 many gentlemen who thought the funds should be devoted 
 to the purpose of a library. I never thought so. I under- 
 take to say that was not the sentiment of the Senate which 
 accepted the bequest. An institution whose object is to in- 
 crease and diffuse knowledge among men, to be confined, or 
 the greater part of its action to be confined, to the mere 
 purchase of books books to be placed here in this District, 
 where they could be visited by gentlemen of wealth from 
 abroad, to be sure, and where they could be searched and 
 examined by persons who are on the spot! That, however, 
 would be one of the most futile, and, in my humble judg- 
 ment, most ineffectual methods which could be devised, to 
 diffuse knowledge among men. The plan adopted by the 
 regency is one calculated to diffuse it among men in all parts 
 of the civilized world. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 503 
 
 But, sir, I will not take up the time of the Senate in dis- 
 cussing this question. The Committee on the Judiciary are 
 fully capable of examining and deciding on judicial ques- 
 tions. I think they ought to make an inquiry, in order 
 that, if the regents are right in the interpretation they have 
 given to the law, they should be sustained by the judgment 
 of the committee, and by the judgment of the Senate. I 
 move the adoption of the resolution which I have sub- 
 mitted. 
 
 The resolution was considered, by unanimous consent, 
 and agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, February 6, 1855. 
 
 Mr. ANDREW P. BUTLER, of South Carolina, from the 
 Committee on the Judiciary,* to whom was referred the res- 
 olution of the Senate, directing said committee to inquire 
 whether any, and if any, what, action of the Senate is nec- 
 essary and proper in regard to the Smithsonian Institution, 
 made the following report, which was ordered to be printed : 
 
 It seems to be the object of the resolution to require the 
 committee to say whether, in its opinion, the Regents of 
 the Smithsonian Institution have given a fair and proper 
 construction, within the range of discretion allowed to 
 them, to the acts of Congress putting into operation the 
 trust which Mr. Smithson had devolved on the Federal 
 Government. As the trust has not been committed to a 
 Jegal corporation subject to judicial jurisdiction and con- 
 trol, it must be regarded as the creature of congressional 
 legislation. It is a naked and honorable trust, without any 
 profitable interest in the Government that has undertaken 
 to carry out the objects of the benevolent testator. The 
 obligations of good faith require that the bequest should 
 be maintained in the spirit in which it was made. The acts 
 of Congress on this subject were intended to effect this 
 end, and the question presented is this : Have the Regents 
 clone their duty according to the requirements of the acts 
 of Congress on the subject? 
 
 In order to determine whether any, and if any, what, 
 action of the Senate is necessary and proper in regard to 
 the Smithsonian Institution, it is necessary to examine 
 what provisions Congress have already made on the sub- 
 ject, and whether they have been faithfully carried into 
 execution. 
 
 The money with which this institution has been founded 
 
 * Measrs. Butler, Toucey, Bayard, Geyer, Pettit, and Toombs. 
 
64 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 was bequeathed to the United States by James Smithson, of 
 London, to found at Washington, under the name of the 
 " Smithsonian Institution," an establishment " for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge among meir." It is not 
 bequeathed to the United States to be used for their own 
 benefit and advantage only, but in trust to apply to "the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge" among mankind 
 generally, so that other men and other nations might share 
 in its advantage as well as ourselves. 
 
 Congress accepted the trust, and by the act of August 
 10th, 1846, established an institution to carry into effect the 
 intention of the testator. The language of the will left a 
 very wide discretion in the manner of executing the trust, 
 and different opinions might very naturally be entertained 
 on the subject. And it is very evident by the law above 
 referred to that Congress did not deem it advisable to pre- 
 scribe any definite and fixed plan, and deemed it more 
 proper to confide that duty to a Board of Regents, carefully 
 selected, indicating only in general terms the objects to 
 which their attention was to be directed in executing the 
 testator's intention. 
 
 Thus, by the fifth section, the regents were -required to 
 cause a building to be erected of sufficient size, and with 
 suitable rooms or halls, for the reception and arrangement, 
 upon a liberal scale, of objects of natural history, including 
 a geological and mineralogical cabinet; also a chemical 
 laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and the necessary 
 lecture rooms. It is evident that Congress intended by 
 these provisions that the funds of the institution should be 
 applied to increase knowledge in all the branches of science 
 mentioned in this section in objects of natural history, in 
 geology, in mineralogy, in chemistry, in the arts and that 
 lectures were to be delivered upon such topics as the 
 regents might deem useful in the execution of the trust. 
 And publications by the institution were undoubtedly nec- 
 essary to diffuse generally the knowledge that might be 
 obtained; for any'increase of knowledge that might thus 
 be acquired was not to be locked up in the institution or 
 preserved only for the use of the citizens of Washington, 
 or persons who might visit the institution. It was by the 
 express terms of the trust, which the United States was 
 pledged to execute, to be diffused among men. This could 
 be done in^no other way than by publications at the expense 
 of the institution. Nor has Congress prescribed the sums 
 which shall be appropriated to these different objects. It is 
 left to the discretion and judgment of the regents. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 565 
 
 The fifth section also requires a library to be formed, and 
 the eighth section provides that the regents shall make 
 from the interest an appropriation, not exceeding an aver- 
 age of twenty-five thousand dollars annually, for the 
 gradual formation of a library composed of valuable works 
 pertaining to all departments of human knowledge. 
 
 But this section cannot, by any fair construction of its 
 language, be deemed to imply that any appropriation to 
 that amount, or nearly so, was intended to be required. It 
 is not a direction to the regents to apply that sum, but a 
 prohibition to apply more ; and it leaves it to the regents 
 to decide what amount within the sum limited can be 
 .advantageously applied to the library, having a due regard 
 to the other objects enumerated in the law. 
 
 Indeed, the eighth section would seem to be intended to 
 prevent the absorption of the funds of the Institution in the 
 purchase of books. And there would seem to be sound 
 reason for giving it that construction; for such an applica- 
 tion of the funds could hardly be regarded as a faithful 
 execution of the trust ; for the collection of an immense 
 library at Washington would certainly not tend "to increase 
 or diffuse knowledge" in any other country, not even 
 among the countrymen of the testator ; very few even of 
 the citizens of the United States would receive any benefit 
 from it. And if the money was to be so appropriated, it 
 would have been far better to buy the books and place them 
 at once in the Congress Library. They would be more ac- 
 ceptable to the public there, and it would have saved the 
 expense of a costly building and the salaries of the officers ; 
 yet nobody would have listened to such a proposition, or 
 consented that the United States should take to itself and 
 for its own use the money which they accepted as a trust 
 for " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 This is the construction which the regents have given to 
 the acts of Congress, and, in the opinion of the committee, 
 it is the true one; and, acting under it, they have erected a 
 commodious building, given their attention to all the 
 branches of science mentioned in the law, to the full extent 
 of the means afforded by the fund of the institution, and 
 have been forming a library of choice and valuable books, 
 amounting already to more than fifteen thousand volumes. 
 The books are, for the most part, precisely of the character 
 calculated to carry out the intentions of the donor of the 
 fund and of the act of Congress. They are chiefly com- 
 posed of works published by or under the auspices of the 
 numerous institutions of Europe which are engaged in sci- 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 entific pursuits, giving an account of their respective- 
 researches and of new discoveries whenever they are made. 
 These works are sent to the " Smithsonian Institution," in 
 return for the publications of this institution, which are 
 transmitted to the learned societies and establishments 
 abroad. The library thus formed, and the means by which 
 it is accomplished, are peculiarly calculated to attain the 
 objects for which the munificent legacy was given in trust 
 to the United States. The publication of the results of sci- 
 entific researches made by the institution is calculated to 
 stimulate American genius, and at the same time enable it 
 to bring before the public the fruits of its labors. And the 
 transmission of these publications to the learned societies in 
 Europe, and receiving in return the fruits of similar re- 
 searches made by them, gives to each the benefit of the 
 "increase of knowlege" which either may obtain, and at 
 the same time diffuses it throughout the civilized world. 
 The library thus formed will contain books suitable to the 
 present state of scientific knowledge, and will keep pace 
 with its advance; and it is certainly far superior to u vast 
 collection of expensive works, most of which may be found 
 in any public library, and many of which lire mere objects 
 of curiosity or amusement, and seldom, if ever, opened by 
 any one engaged in the pursuits of science. 
 
 These operations appear to have been carried out by the 
 regents, under the immediate superintendence of Professor 
 Henry, with zeal, energ} 7 , and discretion, and with the 
 strictest regard to economy in the expenditure of the funds. 
 Nor does there seem to be any other mode which Congress 
 could prescribe or the regents adopt which would better- 
 fulfill the high trust which the United States have under- 
 taken to perform. ISTo fixed and immutable plan prescribed 
 by law or adopted by the regents would attain the objects 
 of the trust. It was evidently the intention of the donor 
 that it should be carried into execution by an institution or 
 establishment, as it is termed in his will. Congress has 
 created one, and given it ample powers, but directing its 
 attention particularly to the objects enumerated in the law; 
 and it is the duty of that institution to avail itself of the 
 lights of experience, and to change its plan of operations 
 when they are convinced that a different one will better 
 accomplish the objects of the trust. The regents have 
 done so, and wisely, for the reasons above stated. The 
 committee see nothing, therefore, in their conduct which 
 calls for any new legislation or any change in the power* 
 now exercised by the regents. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 567 
 
 For many of the views and statements in the foregoing 
 report, the committee are indebted to the full and luminous 
 reports of the Board of Regents. From the views enter- 
 tained by the committee, after an impartial examination of 
 the proceedings referred to, the committee have adopted 
 the language of the resolution, " that no action of the Sen- 
 ate is necessary and proper in regard to the Smithsonian 
 Institution ;" and this is the unanimous opinion of the committee. 
 
 SENATE, March 1, 1855. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a letter 
 of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, communi- 
 cating the ninth annual report of the Board of Regents of 
 that Institution; which was ordered to lie on the table and 
 be printed. 
 
 A motion by Mr. BRODHEAD to print ten thousand addi- 
 tional copies of the report, was referred to the Committee 
 on Printing. 
 
 SENATE, March 2, 1855. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Printing, reported 
 the following: 
 
 Ordered, That ten thousand additional copies of the ninth annual report 
 of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution be printed. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. I move to amend that order by adding 
 "twenty-five hundred of which shall be for the use of the 
 Secretary of the said Institution." 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON. I am willing to accept that. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to; and the order, as amend- 
 ed, was adopted. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 5, 1854. 
 Mr. CHANDLER offered the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the special committee to whom, at the last session of Con- 
 gress, was referred the subject of the investment of the funds of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, be continued with its powers and duties. 
 
 The SPEAKER. With the permission of the House, the 
 Chair would remark that all the select committees appointed 
 at the last session expired, as a matter of course, with the 
 last session. If not objected to, a general order will be en- 
 tered to continue those committees which did not report in 
 full at the last session. 
 
 Mr. ROWE. I object. 
 
.568 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The question will then be upon the reso- 
 lution offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania. 
 
 The question was taken; and the resolution was agreed to. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 11, 1854. 
 
 A message was received from the Senate announcing that 
 that body had passed a joint resolution (No. 28) for the ap- 
 pointment of two regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 22, 1854. 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. I wish to state that there is a bill upon 
 the Speaker's table providing for the reappointment of re- 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution. I will state that it is 
 necessary to transact some business which cannot be done 
 without the reappointment of these regents. I ask that the 
 bill may be taken up and passed. It will take but a minute, 
 and I hope there will be no objection. 
 
 Mr. COBB. I object. 
 
 After the intervention of some other business 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. I now ask the House to take up the bill 
 for the reappointment of the regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, and pass it. It will occupy but a moment. 
 
 Mr. FLORENCE. Oh, no; there is no quorum here. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 26, 1854. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. I ask the unanimous consent of the House 
 to take from the Speakers table a Senate joint resolution 
 proposing to appoint Rufus Choate of Massachusetts, and 
 Oideon Hawley of New York, regents for the Smithsonian 
 Institution; and if the House will allow me, I propose to 
 ask that the resolution may be put upon its passage. 
 
 I will state, as a reason why the resolution should be put 
 upon its passage at an early day, that there is to be a regular 
 meeting of the regents of that institution the next week, and 
 it is desirable that there should be a full board upon that 
 occasion. These gentlemen have been regents heretofore, 
 and I presume there will be no objection to their reappoint- 
 ment. I ask that the resolution may be taken up, and put 
 upon its passage. 
 
 The resolution was read, as follows : 
 
 Resolved, #c., That the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution of the class otherwise than members of Co-:gre?s, be 
 filled by the reappointment of the late incumbents, viz: Rufus Choate of 
 Massachusetts, and Gideon Hawley of New York. 
 
 Mr. HAVEN. I presume there is no objection to the pas- 
 sage of the resolution. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 569 
 
 The resolution was then ordered to a third reading ; and 
 -was accordingly read the third time, and passed. 
 
 HOUSE OF EEPRESENTATIVES, January 17, 1855. 
 
 The SPEAKER laid before the House a communication 
 received from Hon. Rufus Choate, resigning his office as 
 regent of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The letter was read. (See Senate Proceedings, January 
 17, 1855.) 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. I ask the unanimous consent of the House 
 to introduce a resolution of inquiry, founded upon that let- 
 ter ; and upon the resolution I demand the previous ques- 
 tion. 
 
 The resolution was reported, as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the letter of Hon. Kufus Choate, resigning his place as 
 regent of the Smithsonian Institution, be referred to a select committee of 
 five, and printed; and that said committee be directed to inquire, and re- 
 port to the House, whether the Smithsonian Institution has been managed, 
 and its funds expended, in accordance with the law establishing the 
 institution ; and whether any additional legislation be necessary to carry 
 out the designs of its founders ; and that said committee have power to send 
 for persons and papers. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. If I have a right to object to the reception 
 of the resolution just proposed by the gentleman from Ver- 
 mont, [Mr. Meacham,] I do so ; and I move that the com- 
 munication submitted by Mr. Choate be laid on the table, 
 and ordered to be printed. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The resolution of the gentleman from 
 Vermont, to refer to a select committee the letter which 
 has just been read, is in order, in the opinion of the Chair. 
 Upon the adoption of the resolution, the gentleman from 
 Vermont demands the previous question. It is in order to 
 make a motion to lay the matter on the table. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. Then I make that motion. 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. Will that motion carry the resolution 
 with it ? 
 
 The SPEAKER. It will. 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. Am I not still entitled to the floor ? 
 
 The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Vermont cannot re- 
 tain the floor after moving the previous question. It is in 
 order for the gentleman from Indiana to make the motion 
 he does, as it is a privileged question. 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. The resolution I offer is simply one of 
 inquiry, made in respectful terms, and it appears to me that 
 there can be no objection to it. If the motion of the gen- 
 tleman from Indiana is pressed,! shall demand the yeas add 
 nays. 
 
570 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. BAYLY, of Virginia. I ask my friend from Indium 
 to withdraw the motion to lay upon the table. The resolu 
 tion ought to go to the Judiciary Committee, and the clause 
 providing for sending for persons and papers ought to be 
 stricken out. 
 
 The yeas and nays were ordered. 
 
 Mr. CHANDLER. I would ask whether the motion to laj 
 upon the table includes the motion to print ? 
 
 The SPEAKER. It does include that motion. 
 
 Mr. CLINGMAN. The motion to lay upon the table and 
 print w r ould be a debatable motion. 
 
 The SPEAKER. It would scarcely be debatable pending 
 the demand for the previous question. 
 
 Mr. CLINGMAN. The demand for the previous question 
 has not been seconded. 
 
 The SPEAKER. It could not be until theiv was a u-si 
 vote. 
 
 Mr. CLINGMAN. If the gentleman from Indiana couple* 
 the motion to lay upon the table with the motion to print 
 I should think it would l>e debatable. 
 
 The SPEAKER. It cannot be a debatable motion, for tin 
 reason that the previous question is di-mandi'd upon th( 
 adoption of the resolution. The demand for the previous 
 question must be first disposed of before discussion can Ix. 
 had. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I would remark that no per 
 son has called for a division of the question to lay upon tht 
 table and print. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. If I have the right to do so, I propose tc 
 modify my motion so as to lay the communication anc 
 resolution upon the table, and withdraw the motion tc 
 print. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The gentleman has a right to modify hi? 
 motion and withdraw the motion to print. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. I then so modify my motion. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The yeas and nays have not been orderec" 
 upon the modification proposition. 
 
 Mr. BAYLY, of Virginia. The proposition being modi- 
 fied, how does the previous question apply ? 
 
 The SPEAKER. The demand for the previous question 
 will come up, should the House refuse to lay the resolution 
 upon the table ; and it cuts off debate until the House de- 
 termine whether or not it will sustain the demand. 
 
 Mr. MEACIIAM. I ask for the yeas and nays upon the 
 modified motion. 
 
 The yeas and nays were ordered. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 571 
 
 The question was then taken, and there were yeas 81 r 
 nays 84 ; as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Aiken, James C. Allen, Willis Allen, Thomas H. Bayly, 
 Bark.dale, Bell, Boyce, Breckinridge, Bridges, Caruthers, Caskie, Chand- 
 ler, Chastain, Chrisman, Cobb, Colquitt, Craige, John G. Davis, Dawson, 
 Disney, Drum, Dunbar, Eddy, Edgerton, Edmundson, John M. Elliott, 
 English, Everhart, Faulkner, Franklin, Goode, Green, Greenwood, Hamil- 
 ton, Sampson W. Harris, Hendricks, Hillyer, Houston, George W. Jones, 
 J. Glancy Jones, Roland Jones, Keitt, Kerr, Kurtz, Lamb, Latham, 
 Macdonald, Matteson, Maxwell, Millson, Morgan, Nichols, Orr, Packer, 
 Pennington, Bishop Perkins, John Perkins, Phelps, Pringle, Reese, Thomas 
 Ritchey, Robbins, Rogers, Ruffin, Shannon, Shaw, Shower, Skelton, George 
 W. Smyth, Sellers, Frederick P. Stanton, Andrew Stuart, John J. Taylor, 
 John L. Taylor, Nathaniel G. Taylor, Teller, Trout, Yansant, Walbridge, 
 Walkar, and Warren 81. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Appleton, David J. Bailey, Ball, Bennett, Benson, 
 Bliss, Campbell, Carpenter, Chamberlain, Chase, Clark, Clingman, Cook, 
 Corwin, Cox, Crocker, Cullom, Cutting, Thomas Davis, Dickinson, Ellison, 
 Farley, Fenton, Flagler, Fuller, Goodrich, Goodwin, Grey, Grow, Aaron 
 Harlan, Wiley P. Harris, Harrison, Haven, Hibbard, Hiester, Hill, 
 Hughes, Hunt, Johnson, Kittredge, Knox, Letcher, Lilly, Lindley, Linds- 
 ley, McDougall, Mace, Macy, Maurice, Mayall, Meacham, Middleswarth, 
 Murray, Norton, Andrew Oliver, Mordecai Oliver, Parker, Peck, Pratt, 
 Puryear, Ready, Rowe, Russell, Sabin, Sapp, Seward, Simmons, Samuel A. 
 Smith, William R. Smith, Richard H. Stanton, Hester L. Stevens, Strat- 
 ton, Thurston, Upham, Wade, Ellihu B. Washburne, Israel Washburn, 
 Wells, Tappan Wentworth, Westbrook, Wheeler, Yates, and Zollicoffer 
 84. 
 
 So the House refused to lay the resolution upon the table. 
 
 Pending the call. 
 
 Mr. KERR said : Is it in order to make an inquiry of the 
 Chair at this time ? 
 
 The SPEAKER, Only by the unanimous consent of the 
 House. 
 
 Mr. KERR. There seems to be some misapprehension in 
 regard to this matter. I suppose by laying the resolution 
 upon the table that we do not accept the resignation of Mr. 
 Choate. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The Chair understands the resignation to 
 have been already received. The House received the letter, 
 and it was read. 
 
 Mr. KERR. There seems to be some diversity of opinion 
 in relation to the matter. My only desire is, that it shall 
 be understood. 
 
 The question then recurred upon the demand for the pre- 
 vious question. 
 
 Mr. FRANKLIN. I would like to inquire of the Chair, if 
 it is in order to move to refer this matter to the select com- 
 mittee already in existence upon the subject of the Smith- 
 sonian fund ? 
 
 The SPEAKER. The demand for the previous question 
 
.57'^ CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 cuts off any motion, until the House determine whether 
 they will second the demand. 
 
 Mr. FRANKLIN. I give notice that I shall make the mo- 
 tion to refer these papers to the select committee already 
 existing upon the subject of the Smithsonian fund, which 
 has this matter in charge, and is expecting to make a report 
 upon it in a few days. 
 
 Mr. WASHBURN, of Maine, demanded tellers on the sec- 
 ond to the demand for the previous question ; which were 
 ordered ; and Messrs. Grey and Walker were appointed. 
 
 The House was then divided ; and the tellers reported 
 ayes 74, noes 72. 
 
 So there was a second ; and the main question was then 
 ordered to be put. 
 
 The question now being on the adoption of the reso- 
 lution, 
 
 Mr. PRINGLE demanded the yeas and nays ; which were 
 ordered. 
 
 The question was then put ; and it was decided in the 
 affimative yeas 93, nays 91 ; as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Abercrombie, Appleton, David J. Bailey, Ball, Banks, 
 Bennett, Benson, Bristow, Bugg, Campbell) Carpenter, Chamberlain, 
 Chase, Clark, Cook, Corwin, Crocker, Cullom, Curtis, Cutting, Thomua 
 .Davis, Dawson, DeWitt, Dickinson. Eastman, Edgerton, Edmands, Ellison, 
 Etheridge, Farley, Fenton, Flagler, Fuller, Goodrich, Goodwin, Grow, 
 Aaron Harlan, Wiley P. Harris, Haven, Henn, Hiostor, Hill, Hugh*-.*, 
 Hunt, Johnson, Kittredge. Knox, Latham, Letcher, Lilly, Lindley, Linds- 
 ley, McDougall, Mace, Macy, Matteson, Maurice, Mayall, Mracharn, Mid- 
 -dleswarth, Murray, Norton, Andrew Oliver, Parker, Peck, John Perkins, 
 Pratt, Preston, Puryear, Ready, David Ritchie, Rowe, Russell, Sabin, Sapp, 
 Simmons, Singleton, William R. Smith, Richard H. Stanton, He<tor L. 
 'Stevens, Stratton, Thurston, Upham, Wade, Walsh, Ellihu H. Washburne, 
 Israel Washburn, Wells, Tappan Wentworth, Westbrook, Wheeler, Yates, 
 and Zollicoffer 93. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Aiken, James C. Allen, Willis Allen, Belcher, Bocock, 
 Boyce, Breckinridge, Bridges, Caruthers, Caskie, Chandler, Chastain, 
 -Chrisman, Clingman, Cobb, Colquitt, Cox, Craige, John G. Davis, Dunbar, 
 Eddy, Edmundson, English, Everhart, Faulkner, Florence, Franklin, 
 XJoode, Greenwood, Grey, Hamilton, Harrison, Hendricks, Hillyer, Hous- 
 ton, Ingersoll, George W. Jones, J. Glancy Jones, Roland Jones, Keitt, 
 Kerr, Kurtz, Lamb, Macdonald, McMulVm, McQueen, Maxwell^ Smith 
 Miller, Millson, Morgan, Nichols, Olds, Mordecai Oliver, Orr, Packer, 
 Pennington, Bishop, Perkins, Phelps, Powell, Pringle, Reese, Richardson, 
 Thomas Ritchey, Robbins, Rogers, Ruffin, Snsje, Seward, Shannon, Shaw, 
 -Shower, Skelton, Samuel A. Smith, George W. Smyth, Sollers, Fredorick 
 P. Stanton, Straub, Andrew Stuart, John J. Taylor, John L. Taylor, 
 Nathaniel G. Taylor, Teller, Trout, Vansant, and Walker 91. 
 
 So the resolution was adopted. 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. I move to reconsider the vote by which 
 the resolution was adopted, and to lay the motion to re- 
 consider upon the table. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 57o 
 
 Mr. FLORENCE. I call for the yeas and nays upon the 
 motion to lay upon the table. 
 
 The yeas and nays were ordered. 
 
 The question was then put ; and it was decided in the 
 Affirmative yeas 94, nays 82 ; as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Abercrombie, James C. Allen, Appleton, David J. Bai- 
 ey, Ball, Banks, Barksdale, Barry, Bennett, Benson, Bristow, Bugg, 
 Campbell, Carpenter, Chamberlain, Chase, Clark, Cook, Corwin, Crocker r 
 Thomas Davis, Dawson, DeWitt, Dickinson, Eastman, Edgerton, Edmands, 
 Allison, Etheridge, Farley, Fenton, Flagler, Fuller, Goodrich, Goodwin,, 
 jrrow, Aaron Harlan, Sampson "VV. Harris, Wiley P. Harris, Hastings, 
 Javen, Henn, Hiester, Hill, Hughes, Hunt, Johnson, Kittredge, Knox r 
 Latham, Letcher, Lilly, Lindsley, McDougall, Mace, Macy, Matteson, 
 Maurice, Mayall, Meacham, Middleswarth, Murray, Noble, Norton, Au- 
 Irew Oliver, Mordecai Oliver, Parker, Peck, Bishop Perkins, John Per- 
 dns, Pratt, Puryear, Keady, David Ritchie, Rowe, Sabin, Sapp, Seward,. 
 Simmons, Singleton, William R. Smith, Richard H. Stanton, Hestor L. 
 Stevens, Stratton, Thurston, Upham, Wade, Ellihu B. Washburne, Israel. 
 .Vashburn, Wells, Tappan Wentworth, Westbrook, Wheeler, and Yate& 
 94. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Willis Allen, Thomas H. Bayly, Belcher, Bell, Bocock, 
 Boyce, Breckinridge, Bridges, Caskie, Chandler, Chastain, Chrisman, Cobb r 
 Colquitt, Craige, John G. Davis, Drum, Dunbar, Eddy, Edmundson, John 
 M. Elliott, English, Everhart, Faulkner, Florence, Franklin, Goode, 
 Greenwood, Grey, Hamilton, Harrison, Hendricks, Hillyer, Ingersoll, 
 George W. Jones, J. Glancy Jones, Roland Jones, Keitt, Kerr, Kurtz r 
 Lamb, Lewis, Macdonald, McMullin, McQueen, Maxwell, Smith Miller, 
 Millson, Morgan, Nichols, Olds, Orr, Packer, Pennington, Phelps, Pringle, 
 Reese, Thomas Ritchey, Robbins, Rogers, Ruffin, Sage, Shannon, Shaw, 
 Shower, Skelton, Samuel A. Smith, William Smith, George W. Smyth,. 
 Frederick P. Stanton, Straub, Andrew Stuart, John J. Taylor, John L. 
 Taylor, Nathaniel G. Taylor, Teller, Trout, Vansant, Walker, Walsh, 
 Warren, and Witte 82. 
 
 So the motion to reconsider was laid upon the table. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 18, 1855. 
 
 The SPEAKER announced the following as the members of 
 the select committee, raised for the purpose of investigating 
 the management of the Smithsonian Institution : 
 
 Mr. Upham of Massachusetts, Mr. Witte of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Taylor of Tennessee, Mr. Wells of Wisconsin, and Mr. 
 Puryear of North Carolina. 
 
 The SPEAKER, The Chair would state that the gentleman 
 from Vermont, [Mr. Meacham,] at whose instance the com- 
 mittee was raised, was not placed on it at his own request. 
 He is one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and 
 thought that, under the circumstances, he ought not to serve 
 on the committee. Had he not requested to be excused from 
 service, he would have been put, according to custom, at the 
 head of the committee. 
 

 ,574 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 20, 1855. 
 
 Mr. UPHAM. I wish, by the unanimous consent of the 
 House, to ask for the appointment of a clerk to the Com- 
 mittee on the Smithsonian Institution. We have been at 
 work nearly one month, most laboriously, and have been 
 compelled to employ a clerk, and sometimes more than one. 
 I have not had an opportunity to bring my motion for the 
 appointment of a clerk before the House, because every 
 morning gentlemen insisted on the regular order of busi- 
 ness; and T now ask the House to allow that committee to 
 employ a clerk. 
 
 [General cries of "Oh yes let them have a clerk!"] 
 
 Mr. HUGIIES. If the House give unanimous consent to 
 the gentleman's proposition, I will withdraw the motion to 
 adjourn. 
 
 Mr. PERKINS of New York, and others. I object. 
 
 Mr. UPHAM. Then I move that the rules be suspended, 
 to enable me to submit my proposition. 
 
 The SPEAKER pro tempore. That cannot be done, as there 
 is a motion to suspend the rules pending. 
 
 Mr. HUGHES. I now renew my motion to adjourn. 
 
 The question was taken; and the motion was agreed to. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 27, 1855. 
 
 The House being in the Committee of the Whole on the 
 state of the Union, Mr. WM. II. KV.LISII, of Indiana, said: 
 
 I propose occupying the attention of the committee, 
 for a short time in submitting some practical remarks 
 in reference to the present condition and management 
 of the Smithsonian Institution. It is not a subject, sir, 
 the introduction of which into Congress has received any 
 favor from me. I regretted to see it brought here; and 
 when the gentleman from Vermont, [Mr. Meacham,] upon a 
 late occasion, introduced a resolution to raise a special com- 
 mittee of inquiry, I felt it my duty to oppose its adoption. 
 I knew that such an examination would be attended with 
 expense, and a consumption of time which at that late 
 period of the session, could not well be spared from other 
 and more important public business that it would tend to 
 irritate the feelings of gentlemen heretofore or now con- 
 nected with the institution, and, in a word, might do evil, 
 but could not result in practical good. My knowledge of 
 the subject satisfied me that nothing had occurred to demand 
 the raising of a special committee, clothed with power to 
 send for persons and papers, thus giving to the disappointed 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 575 
 
 and dissatisfied an opportunity of assailing the institution 
 or its officers at the public expense. 
 
 Sir, I felt conscious then, as I do now, that the manage- 
 ment has been such in all material respects as ought to elicit 
 commendation. This I may say with the greater propriety 
 arid freedom, for the reason that the causes which led to this 
 investigation originated and were fully developed before my 
 connection with the institution as a regent; a position, I 
 may add, supposed to be of some honor, but certainly one 
 of considerable labor, much responsibility, and no pecuniary 
 benefit whatever. 
 
 That the management of an institution having so large 
 an endowment, and a design so comprehensive, should occa- 
 sion difference of opinion and difficulty is not surprising in 
 the least. It would be more surprising were it otherwise. 
 Whilst all concur in desiring the accomplishment of the 
 great object Smithson had in view "The increase and dif- 
 fusion of knowledg'e among men" the wisest and best may 
 well differ as to the proper means to be used to attain that 
 end. 
 
 Although not entirely approving all that has been done, I 
 must say, in view of the vastness of the subject, and that 
 Congress was ten years in adopting even the outlines of a 
 plan, that the present condition of the institution is not 
 only encouraging, but a subject of congratulation rather 
 than of censure, to those charged with the management of 
 its affairs. Sir, I ask where there has been any material 
 departure from the act of Congress or the will of Smithson? 
 Have the funds been squandered or improperly applied? Is 
 the institution in debt or its income exhausted? Have the 
 officers neglected their duty? Is there corruption or im- 
 proper conduct in any quarter? Sir, it is an easy matter to 
 criticise, to find fault, to indulge in loose statements and 
 undefined insinuations, but I have yet to hear alleged any 
 just and definite cause of complaint. Look at the financial 
 department, where corruption would most likely exist, if it 
 existed at all, and you will find the gratifying fact that it 
 has been so judiciously managed that after paying all the 
 current expenses the funds and property are this day actually 
 worth double the amount of the original bequest. Where, sir, in 
 this age of extravagant expenditure of public money and 
 deficiency bills, will .you find a parallel to this? 
 
 The regents are authorized to expend all the accruing in- 
 terest, but, so far from doing this, they have, by husbanding 
 the resources and by constant watchfulness over the disburse- 
 ments, actually saved the sum of $130,000, which they have 
 
576 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 now on hand to apply as a permanent addition to the principal. 
 What, then, is the result? A magnificent building, of ample 
 dimensions, has been erected at a cost of $300,000. Books, 
 apparatus, and other articles have been provided for the 
 library, museum, laboratory, and gallery of art, worth 
 $85,000. Lecturers have been employed, original researches 
 made, many valuable scientific works published and dis- 
 tributed, the current expenses entirely paid, and yet the 
 principal is increased 130,000. And of the interest ex- 
 pended I have yet to hear where one dollar was devoted to 
 an improper purpose. Does this look as if the institution 
 was badly managed ? 
 
 If I am asked, Mr. Chairman, what the institution has 
 done to carry out the object for which it was designed, I 
 reply that it has not had time to do much.- It is in its 
 infancy. The building is but just completed, and it is not 
 to be expected that a great establishment which is to exist 
 as long as this Government itself, is to be built up in u day. 
 The foundation is being laid deep and wide, and the noble 
 work will gradually but surely advance. 
 
 But, sir, I think it can be shown that something has 
 already been accomplished; that a good beginning, at least, 
 has been made, especially in view of the limiu <1 annual in- 
 come, which from the original fund, is less than .S-'J 1,000. 
 Why, a single report of the Patent Office costs three times 
 as much as the entire income of the Smithsonian fund for a 
 year. 
 
 Sir, the official report to be made at the present session 
 of Congress will show that " liberal provision has been made 
 for a library, museum, and gallery of art, in the construction 
 of a building which has cost 300,000. A library has been 
 commenced, and means devised for its extension, which at 
 present is valued at 40,000. 
 
 " A museum, the most complete to be found in the United 
 States, in the natural history of the North American conti- 
 nent, has been collected, which is valued at not less than 
 30,000. 
 
 U A cabinet of apparatus, consisting of instruments of 
 illustration and research, which is worth more than 15,000, 
 has been obtained. 
 
 ^ "A beginning has been made of a gallery of art, consist- 
 sisting of a choice collection of a series of specimens of en- 
 gravings of the old masters." 
 
 A correspondence has been opened and friendly relations 
 established with most of the leading colleges and literary 
 institutions, not only in this country, but throughout the 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 577 
 
 world, thus securing scientific co-operation, and often ah ex- 
 change of valuable researches and publications. Such rela- 
 tions exist with no less than three hundred and forty-two 
 foreign institutions, scattered over Sweden, Norway, Iceland, 
 Denmark, Russia, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, 
 France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, Ireland, South 
 America, Mexico, and even Greece, Turkey, Africa, Asia, 
 and Van Dieman's Land. Lectures upon popular and scien- 
 tific subjects have been regularly delivered at the institution 
 during the sessions of Congress, and have been open to " all 
 men," free of charge. Original researches have been stimu- 
 lated, and many valuable memoirs upon scientific subjects 
 published and distributed to all the principal libraries and 
 learned societies in the world. To show conclusively what 
 has already been done in this direction, I will give a list of 
 some of the publications, premising, in the language of the 
 secretary of the board, that "the institution up to this time 
 has scarcely published a single paper the production of which 
 has not been stimulated and assisted, or whose character has 
 not been improved by the agency of the institution ; and, as 
 a whole, they are such as could not have been given to the 
 world without the aid of the Smithsonian bequest." They 
 are the products of American genius, and have reflected the 
 highest honor on American science: 
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
 
 Quarto Volumes. 
 Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. ^ 1848. Vol. I, 4, pp. 346, with 
 
 48 plates and 207 woodcuts. 
 Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 1851. Vol. II, 4, pp. 464, and 
 
 24 plates. 
 Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 1852. Vol. Ill, 4, pp. 564, and 
 
 35 plates. 
 
 Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 1852. Vol. IV, 4, pp. 426. 
 Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 1853. Vol. V, 4, pp. 538, and 
 
 45 plates. 
 
 Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 1854. Vol. VI, 4, pp. 476, and 
 53 plates. 
 
 Mathematics and Physics. 
 
 The Law of Deposit of the Flood Tide : its dynamical action and office 
 By Charles Henry Davis, Lieutenant United States Navy. 
 
 Observations on Terrestrial Magnetism : By John Locke, M. D., M. A. 
 P. S. 
 
 Researches on Electrical Kheometry : By A. Secchi. 
 
 Astroriomy. 
 
 Six Memoirs upon the Occulations Visible in the United States during 
 the years from 1848 to 1853, inclusive. Computed under the direction of 
 the Smithsonian Institution : By John Downes. 1848. 4, pp. 12. 
 Researches Relative to the Planet Neptune : By Sears C. Walker, Esq. 
 Ephemeris of Neptune for the Opposition of 1848: By Sears C. Walker, 
 Esq. 
 
 37 
 
578 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Ephemeris of the Planet Neptune from the Date of the Lalande Observa- 
 tions of May 8 and 10, 1795, and for the Oppositions of 1846, 1847, 1848, and 
 1849: By Sear's C. Walker, Esq. 
 
 Three Memoirs upon the Ephemeris of the Planet Neptune for the years 
 1850, 1851, and 1852. 
 
 On the History of the Discovery of the Planet Neptune : By B. A. Gould, 
 Jr. 1850. 
 
 Meteorology. 
 
 On the Winds of the Northern Hemisphere: By Professor J. H. Coffin. 
 November, 1853. 4, pp. 200, and 13 plates. 
 
 Directions for Meteorological Observations, intended for the First Class 
 of Observers : By Arnold Guyot. 
 
 A Collection of Meterological Tables, with other tables useful in Practical 
 Meteorology : Prepared by order of the Smithsonian Institution by Arnold 
 Guyot. 
 
 Chemistry and Technology. 
 
 Memoir on the Explosiveness of Nitre, with a view to elucidate its agency 
 in the tremendous explosion of July, 1845, in New York : By Robert Hare, 
 M. D. 
 
 On Recent Improvements in the Chemical Arts : By Professor James C. 
 Booth and Campbell Morfit. 
 
 Geography, Ethnology, and Philology. 
 
 Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley ; comprising the results of 
 extensive original surveys and explorations: By E. G. Squier, A. M., and 
 E. H. Davis, M. D.; pp. 346, 48 plates, and 207 woodcuts. 
 
 Aboriginal Monuments of the State of New York ; comprising the results 
 of original surveys and explorations; with an illustrative appendix: By E. 
 G. Squier, A. M. 1850; pp 188, 14 plates, and 72 woodcuts. 
 
 Description of Ancient Works in Ohio: By Charles \Vlnttlcs'y. 1851. 
 
 Catalogue of Portraits of North American Indians, with sketches of 
 scenery, etc. 
 
 Contributions to the Physical Geography of the United States. Part I. 
 On the Physical Geography of the Mississippi Valley, with suggestions for 
 the improvement of the navigation of the Ohio and other rivers : By Charles 
 Ellet, Jr., Civil Engineer. 
 
 On the Vocal Sounds of Laura Bridgeman, the Blind Deaf Mute at Bos- 
 ton ; compared with the Elements of Phonetic Language: By Dr. Francis 
 Lieber. 
 
 A Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakota Language : Collected by the 
 members of the Dakota Mission; edited by Rev. S. it. Riggs, A. M., Mis- 
 sionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
 
 Vocabulary of the Jargon of Trade Language of Oregon : By Dr. B. 
 Rush Mitchell, U. S. N.; with additions by Professor W. W. Turner. 
 
 Microscopical Science. 
 
 Microscopical Examination of Soundings made by the United States Coast 
 Survi-y off the Atlantic coast of the United States : By Professor J. W. 
 Bailey. 
 
 Microscopical Observations made in South Carolina, Georgia, and 
 Florida: By Professor J. W. Bailey. 
 
 Notes on New Species and Localities of Microscopical Organisms : By 
 Professor J. W. Bailey. 
 
 A Flora and Fauna within Living Animals: By Joseph Leidy, M. D. 
 April, 1853. 
 
 Zoology and Physiology. 
 
 The Classification of Insects from Embryological Data: By Professor 
 Louis Agassiz. 1850. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 579 
 
 Catalogue of the Described Coleoptera of the United States: By Fred- 
 erick Ernst Melsheimer, M. D. Kevised by S. S. Haldeman and J. L. Le 
 Conte. 
 
 Synopsis of the Marine Invertebrata of Grand Manan, or the Region 
 about the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick : By W. Stimpson. 
 
 Contributions to the Natural History of the Fresh Water Fishes of North 
 .America : By Qharles Girard. 
 
 Anatomy of the Nervous System of Rana pipiens, L.: By Jeffries Wyman, 
 .M. D. 
 
 Catalogue of North American Reptiles, in the museum of the Smithsonian 
 Institution. Part I. Serpents : By S. F. Baird and C. Girard. 
 
 Botany. 
 
 Plantae Wrightianse Texano-Neo Mexicans : By Asa Gray, M. D. Part 
 I pp. 146, and 10 plates. 
 
 Plantse Wrightianse Texano-Neo Mexican*. Part II. An account of a 
 collection of plants, made by Charles Wright, in Western Texas, New 
 Mexico, and Sonora, in the years 1851 and 1852 : By Asa Gray, M. D. 
 pp. 120, and 4 plates. 
 
 Nereis Boreali Americana, or Contributions to a History of the Marine 
 Algse of North America. Part I. Melanospermeae : By William Henry 
 Harvey, M. D., M. R. I. A.; pp. 152 and 12 colored plates. 
 
 Nereis Boreali-Americana, or Contributions to a History of the Marine 
 Algse of North America. Part II. Rhodospermse : By William H. 
 .Harvey, M. D., M. R. I. A.; pp. 262, and 24 plates, colored. 
 
 Plantae Fremontianse ; or descriptions of plants collected by Colonel J. 
 C. Fremont in California : By John Torrey, F. L. S. 1853 ; pp. 24, and 10 
 plates. 
 
 Observations on the Bails Maritima of Linnaeus : By John Torrey, 
 F. L. S. 
 
 On the Darlingtonia Calif ornica ; a new pitcher plant from Northern 
 California : By Jo^n Torrey, F. L. S. 
 
 Palce.oniology . 
 
 A Memoir on Mosasaurus, and the three allied new genera, Holcodus, 
 -Conosaurus, and Amphorosteus: By Robert W. Gibbes, M. D. 
 
 Memoir upon the Extinct Species of Fossil Ox : By Joseph Leidy, M. D. 
 
 The Ancient Fauna of Nebraska; or, a description of remains of extinct 
 Mammalia and Chelonia from the Mauvaises Torres of Nebraska : By 
 .Joseph Leidy, M. D.; pp. 124, and 25 plates. 
 
 Bibliography. 
 
 Bibliography of American Natural History, for the year 1851 : By 
 Charles Girard. 
 
 Notices of Public Libraries in the United States : By Professor C. C. 
 Jewett. 
 
 Directions for Collecting, Preserving, and Transporting Specimens of 
 Natural History. Prepared for the use of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 Two editions. 
 
 These works are distributed gratuitously to most of the 
 incorporated colleges and libraries in the United States, and 
 to the leading literary institutions of other countries. They 
 are not copyrighted, and are sold by the trade at a low rate. 
 
 It may be contended that researches and publications of 
 a character so purely scientific are not calculated directly to 
 diffuse knowledge among the great mass of mankind. 
 
 This is, no doubt, to a certain extent, true, and I shall be 
 
580 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 glad to see the operations of the institution made as plain 
 and practical as the nature of the subjects will admit : but 
 it should not be forgotten that the grand object of the insti- 
 tution is to add to the sum total of the knowledge now exist- 
 ing in the world, and to diffuse it " among men," rather than 
 to scatter that more widely which is already accessible, in a, 
 greater or less degree, to all. 
 
 " Scientific researches," says a committee of the Board of 
 Regents, "are often supposed by the uninformed to be of 
 little or no real importance; and, indeed, are frequently 
 ridiculed as barren of all practical utility; but nothing is 
 more mistaken than this. The most valuable and productive 
 of the arts of life, the most important and wonder-working 
 inventions of modern times, owe their being and value to 
 scientific investigations. By these have been discovered 
 physical truths and laws, the 'intelligent application ot which 
 to practical inventions has given immense benefits to the 
 world. The germs of these valuable improvements and in- 
 ventions have been found and developed by scientific research, 
 the original forms of which have often seemed to the many 
 to be as idle and useless as they were curious. A proposi- 
 tion relating to the pendulum, which for many years re- 
 mained only a curious theoretical relation, ultimately fur- 
 nished a unit for the standard measures of states and nations. 
 The discovery that a magnetic needle could be moved by a 
 galvanic current seemed for a long time more curious than 
 useful, and yet it contained the germ of all that was after- 
 wards developed in the telegraph. It has been well remarked 
 that numerous applications and inventions always result from 
 the discovery of a scientific principle; so that there are many 
 Fultons for every Franklin." 
 
 Besides this, it must be recollected that Smithson restricted 
 his bequest to no particular branch of knowledge. He con- 
 sidered all intimately connected with the improvement and 
 happiness of the human family, and as an answer to what- 
 ever may be said against the character of the publications 
 of the institution, it may be stated that they relate to pre- 
 cisely the same subjects as those which occupied the life of 
 Smithson himself. 
 
 Now, sir, I will proceed to state what I conceive to be the 
 true origin of all the difficulties that have existed in the in- 
 stitution. They have grown out of the question whether 
 the income should be used to build up a library, as the para- 
 mount object, or whether they should be applied not only 
 for a library, but for such other purposes "to increase and 
 diffuse knowledge" as would, in the judgment of the regents,. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 581 
 
 accord with the will of Smithson and the law of Con- 
 gress organizing the institution. 
 
 This is the starting point of the whole controversy. It 
 is not pretended by any one that the funds have not been 
 expended in an honest effort to increase and diffuse knowl- 
 edge, but that they have not been chiefly devoted to a library 
 .as the proper instrument to effect the desired end. 
 
 Now, as this Government is only the trustee to carry out 
 .the will of the gentleman whose money supports the insti- 
 tution, it becomes important to examine into the nature of 
 that instrument, for the law declares its true intent to be to 
 carry out "the will of the liberal and enlightened donor." 
 Sir, what is that will ? I ask gentlemen to read it, and answer 
 whether there is anything indicating that a library was re- 
 garded as the paramount object, which, like the rod of Aaron, 
 was to swallow up everything else ? The bequest, in the 
 language of the testator, is " to found at Washington an estab- 
 lishment under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge AMONG MEN." I submit that 
 to devote the money of Smithson to the building up of a 
 library as a paramount object would neither carry out the 
 letter nor the spirit of his will. The benefit to be derived 
 from such an expenditure would necessarily be local in its 
 character, and, instead of being useful to "men" in the com- 
 prehensive sense used by Smithson, would enure to the benefit 
 of citizens of Washington, and the privileged and fortunate 
 few who might from time to time visit the capital. Such 
 .an expenditure, in my judgment, neither accords with the 
 evident intent of the will or the character and sentiments 
 of the man who made it. He did not bequeath his fortune 
 to found a library alone, or to increase and diffuse knowledge 
 among the citizens of the United States, much less among 
 the residents and visitors of Washington, but " among 
 men " m en of all classes and everywhere, and to increase 
 and diffuse every species of human knowledge. 
 
 James 'Smithson, Mr. Chairman, was a foreigner the 
 natural son of the Duke of Northumberland and of Eliza- 
 beth, the niece of the Duke of Somerset but he was not 
 possessed of that intolerant spirit that species of religious 
 fanaticism and sectional prejudice which, I regret to see, is 
 entertained by many of our own nation. A truly wise and 
 enlightened people should not arrogate to themselves a supe- 
 riority in all things over every other part of the world, and 
 Avrap themselves in a rigid exclusiveness like the Japanese, 
 but should rather pursue that policy which would gather 
 irom other nations their best and most valuable citizens. 
 
582 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 arts, and inventions. A Chinese map of the world consist? 
 of China; other countries, if indicated at all, occupying no- 
 larger space than that usually allotted to the smaller class 
 of islands. The wild Indians and the roving Tartars con- 
 sider the customs of their respective tribes or clans the per- 
 fection of human life, and regard with savage suspicion all 
 who do not judge of perfection by their standard; and, in 
 fact, every savage, and most all half-civilized people, think 
 that within the boundaries of their own country are to be 
 found all virtue, intelligence, heroism, and happiness. They 
 are ever jealous of strangers, (foreigners,) deny them all po- 
 litical rights, and sometimes persecute them to the death. 
 
 8ir, I have some place read an account of a visit paid by 
 the officers of a French vessel to an African chief in the 
 wilds of his native country. His sable majesty, plentifully 
 besmeared with grease, seated on a log for a throne, and 
 wonderfully impressed with the vast superiority of every- 
 thing and everybody within his own dominions, eagerly in- 
 quired of the officers whether he was much talked about in France. 
 I have met some men in this country even the sons or 
 foreigners equally puffed up in self-importance with the 
 idea that America is the world, and they the chief instru- 
 ments in " governing America." No man can have a more 
 exalted opinion of this Republic than I, for it is my native 
 land, but I shall not, therefore, be blinded to the merit of 
 those whose destiny it happened to be to come into the world 
 elsewhere, and especially those who, from choice, have se- 
 lected this as their permanent home; neither shall I forget 
 how much our own career of greatness and glory has been 
 facilitated by emigration. Most sincerely do I trust that 
 narrow bigotry, sectional prejudice, and barbarian exclusive- 
 ness will never control the destinies of the United States! 
 
 Mr. Chairman, James Smithson was elevated far above- 
 all selfish, narrow-contracted, sectional views. He is be- 
 lieved never to have set his foot on our soil, and yet he 
 passes the splendid monarchies of the Old World, and in- 
 trusts, with confidence unqualified, to the honor of repub- 
 lican America, the dispensation of his bequest for the good 
 of all men. Of noble descent himself, and of ample fortune, 
 his sympathies were not alone with those of his own class, 
 or his own country, but with " MEN," without limit or restric- 
 tion. ^ He declares in exalted language, which deserves to 
 be written in letters of gold, that "the man of science is of 
 no country ; the world is his countrv, and all men his country- 
 men." ^ Though he could boast thaUhe best blood of England 
 flowed in his veins, yet he said that availed him not, for his 
 
THIRTr-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 583 
 
 name would live in the memory of men when the titles of 
 the Northumberlands and Percies were extinct or forgotten. 
 
 Sir, the language used in the bequest corresponds with 
 what might naturally be expected from one possessing the 
 enlarged views of Smithson. 
 
 The great ideas of the will are those of increase and uni- 
 versal benefit. The benefit is not for one nation, but for 
 "men' 7 who make up all nations. It is for mankind for 
 humanity. The truths of science admit of universal appli- 
 cation. A truth that tends to enlarge and to elevate the 
 mind ; a discovery that furnishes a new power, or makes a 
 new application of an old one, to administer in a greater 
 degree to the wants of men ; a fact that opens to the analytic 
 mind a new source of evidence to determine what before 
 was doubtful, are blessings for a world. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, it is contended by some that the act of 
 Congress organizing the institution contemplated a library 
 as the leading and paramount object of the plan. Sir, I do 
 not so understand the law. I am unable to find anything in 
 it which conflicts with the will of Smithson. The object 
 of the law is declared to be to carry out his wishes as' ex- 
 pressed in the will. It provides a general outline for the 
 execution of the trust, but necessarily leaves much to the 
 judgment of the regents, who are intrusted with the general 
 management of the institution. It mentions a library, mu- 
 seum, &c., as objects to be regarded, but does not require 
 that all the income shall be applied to the objects specially 
 mentioned, or a particular amount to any one of them; and 
 the ninth section expressly authorizes the regents to make 
 such disposition of the income, not required to carry out the 
 provisions specified elsewhere in the act, "as they shall deem 
 best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator,'* 
 which purpose is declared in the title of the act to be " to 
 establish the Smithsonian Institution, (not Library,) for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 The law does not specify the sum that shall be expended 
 upon the museum, or any of the objects mentioned. No- 
 amount is required to be annually applied to a library, but 
 there is a limitation that it shall not exceed a certain sum. 
 It may be less, much less, but in no event more. Pains seem 
 to have been taken to secure, for all time, the services of 
 gentlemen of talent and standing upon the Board of Regents, 
 and they are wisely and necessarily intrusted with some dis- 
 cretion in the expenditure of the income and the general 
 management of the affairs of the institution. Take, as an 
 example, the item of books. They are an article of trade, 
 
584 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 and their prices fluctuate in the market as other articles of 
 merchandise ; one year it might be expedient to make large 
 purchases, and another less. Who is to determine? Surely 
 the Board of Regents would best know what to buy, when, 
 and in what quantities, and the law very properly confers 
 upon them such discretion. It does not require the rapid 
 accumulation of a library ; but, on the contrary, expressly 
 provides, in the eighth section, "for the gradual formation 
 of a library, composed of valuable works;" and that, sir, is 
 exactly what I understand to be the wish and design of a 
 majority of the present Board. Why, sir, the institution 
 has alre.-idy, by purchase and through the medium of ex- 
 changes, collected fourteen thousand volumes and eleven 
 thousand parts of volumes, estimated to be worth 40,000; 
 and if any regent or officer contemplates the abandonment 
 of the gradual formation of a library of valuable works, as 
 prescribed in the act of Congress, I am ignorant of the fact, 
 and believe no such disposition is entertained. 
 
 While lam opposed to making the library tin- principal 
 and controlling feature of the institution, I regard it as one 
 of the important instruments to be used in accomplishing 
 the desired end, and hold that it ought neither to be aban- 
 doned nor neglected. This was my opinion in the begin- 
 ning. It is my decided opinion now. 
 
 But, sir, I do not understand that even the distinguished 
 secretary of the institution, Professor Henry, who is gener- 
 ally supposed to be hostile to what is commonly called the 
 library plan especially favored by Mr. Choate and Pro- 
 fessor Jewett to differ essentially, or even materially, from 
 my position upon this subject. 
 
 Professor Henry, in a late communication, solemnly as- 
 sures the board that, so long as. the present law of Congress 
 remains unchanged, and until other means can be afforded 
 for their support, he has no idea of proposing to dispense 
 with a library, museum, or gallery of art, He expressly 
 says, "A library such as the "institution may collect by its 
 exchanges, and judicious purchases, and a museum of -spe- 
 cial objects of research, though not absolutely necessary to 
 carry on the active operations, would form one harmonious 
 system, and could be properly supported by the present in- 
 come." 
 
 I repeat, Mr. Chairman, that there is no disposition to 
 destroy the plan of a library such as the law contemplates, 
 but there is a disposition to prevent a library from overtop- 
 ping and destroying other measures of equal or greater im- 
 portance to the success of the institution and this is the 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 585 
 
 f whole issue. Sir, I am sure it is the sincere wish of those 
 charged with the management of this institution, to con- 
 duct its affairs in such manner as will further the interests 
 of science, and be productive of the greatest amount of good. 
 It is their chief desire to carry out, in good faith, the design 
 of the noble and generous Smithson, and the act of Congress 
 made in furtherance of his will. Where that law is clear, it 
 is implicitly followed; where doubts exist, that mode of ac- 
 tion is adopted best calculated, in the judgment of the 
 regents, "to carry out the design of the liberal and enlight- 
 ened donor;" which design, in the clearest language, is de- 
 clared to be, "the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 iimong men." Is it at all likely that such a high trust 
 would be abused by a Board of Regents presided over by 
 the Chief Justice of the United States, and composed of 
 such men as Mr. Rush, Mr. Berrien, Mr. Hawley, Mr. 
 Pearce, Mr. Douglas, Mr. Mason, Professor Bache, General 
 Totten, and others of much less name but of equally good 
 intentions ? 
 
 It may be that the operations of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion have not attracted the public eye, or made a favorable 
 impression upon the minds of the popular masses; but I 
 have confidence in their judgment, and believe the reverse 
 to be true. Be that as it may, it is certain that wherever 
 science and literature are cultivated, the institution is be- 
 coming favorably known, and it is receiving the warmest 
 commendations of gentlemen of the highest standing and 
 most exalted scholastic attainments. 
 
 I might adduce much evidence to sustain this assertion, 
 but believe the following will be considered ample and con- 
 clusive. The first extract I shall read is from a memorial 
 recently presented to this House from the American Philo- 
 sophical- Society. " It appears to them," say the memorial- 
 ists, "that the institution has been, since its establishment, 
 ever honestly and wisely administered, and the funds ex- 
 pended to the best advantage in the fulfillment of the pur- 
 poses of the trust. Your memorialists believe that, by di- 
 verting the funds of the said institution to the formation of 
 a public library, its power of diffusing knowledge among 
 men will be materially diminished, and that of increasing 
 knowledge entirely destroyed. Our country abounds in 
 men with intellects adequate to the discovery of new 
 truths, and with tastes and educations which fit them for 
 the development and beneficial application of all discov- 
 eries; but is, on the other hand, deficient in the means of 
 encouraging such men to devote their time and energies to 
 
586 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 such pursuits, and of publishing their results to the world,, 
 and on this account much useful knowledge, for which we 
 ought to have the credit, is published in foreign countries, 
 and inures to the honor and advantage of other nations. 
 Your memorialists, therefore, sincerely believing that many 
 disinterested men throughout our country, who are, by ed- 
 ucation and position, qualified to form an opinion as to 
 what is most useful for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men, concur in the opinions herein expressed. 
 respectfully ask your honorable body to leave to the Smith- 
 sonian Institution its present efficient constitution and ad- 
 ministration, and to refuse any legislation tending to im- 
 pair its usefulness, by converting it into a library, or other- 
 wise." 
 
 The following interesting letter from Mr. Felton, the dis- 
 tinguished professor of languages at Harvard University, 
 will show the estimation in which the institution is held in 
 Europe : 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, June 30, 1854. 
 
 MY DEAR PROFESSOR: I have but recently returned from Europe, and 
 I now desire to acknowledge the service you did me by your circular letter 
 of introduction to the libraries of the European establishments which are 
 in correspondence with the Smithsonian Institution. NVht-n-vcr I pre- 
 sented it I was received with great kindness and attention, and had the 
 opportunity of seeing whatever was curious, interesting, and valuable in 
 the libraries and collections. 
 
 It gave me pleasure to notice the high estimation in which the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, under its present management, is held everywhere in 
 Europe. The volumes published under its auspices have done the highest 
 honor to American science, and are considered most valuable contribu- 
 tions to the stock of knowledge among men. They are shown to visitors as 
 among the most creditable publications of the age, and as highly interest- 
 ing illustrations of the progress of science and arts in the United States ; 
 and the eagerness to possess them is very great among the savans of the 
 Old World. They were shown to me wherever I went, and the commend- 
 ations bestowed on the civilization of America, as evinced by the excel- 
 lence of these works, both in matter and form, was deeply .gratifying to 
 me. The last time I had an opportunity of seeing them was in the Uni- 
 versity Library, at Athens. The librarian pointed them out to me, and 
 expressed the greatest anxiety to complete the set, one or two volumes of 
 which were wanting. I have a memorandum somewhere which I will for- 
 ward to you. 
 
 I promised a gentleman, with whom I became acquainted on my voyage 
 from England, that I would write to inquire whether it is possible to pur- 
 chase an entire set. He was desirous of adding them to his library. Will 
 you oblige me by answering this question at your convenience. 
 
 C. C. FELTON. 
 
 Professor Agassiz w r ell known to the literary and scien- 
 tific world has recently written a letter upon this subject, 
 in which he says : 
 
 " Every scientific man in the country has been watching, with intense 
 interest, the proceedings of the Smithsonian Institution L-ver since its foun- 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 587" 
 
 dation, satisfied, as all must be, that upon its prosperity, the progress of 
 science in America depends in a very great measure. 
 
 u The controversies which have lately been carried on respecting the 
 management of the institution have increased the solicitude of its friends 
 with regard to its future prospects in a degree which can hardly be real- 
 ized by those who are not immediately connected with the great cause of 
 science." * * * * 
 
 " The votaries of science may diifer in their views about the best means 
 of advancing science, according to the progress they have themselves made 
 in its prosecution ; but there is one standard of appreciation which cannot 
 fail to 'guide rightly those who would form a candid opinion about it. I 
 mean the life of those who have most extensively contributed in enlarging 
 the boundaries of knowledge. There are two individuals who may, with- 
 out qualification, be considered as the most prominent scientific men of the 
 nineteenth century, Cuvier and Humboldt. By what means have they 
 given such a powerful impulse to science? How have they succeeded, not 
 only in increasing the amount of knowledge of their age, but also in found- 
 ing new branches of science? It is by their own publications and by aid- 
 ing in the publications of others; by making large collections of specimens 
 and other scientific apparatus, and not by the accumulation of large libra- 
 ries. Humboldt never owned a 'book, not even a copy of his own works, 
 as I know from his own lips. ' He was too poor,' he once said to me ' to 
 secure a copy of them,' and all the works he receives constantly from his 
 scientific friends and admirers are distributed by him to needy students. 
 Again, there is hardly a scientific man living on the continent of Europe 
 who is not indebted to him for some recommendation in the proper quarters 
 for assistance in the publication of their works. I mention, more particu- 
 ularly, these details about Humboldt, because he is happily still among the 
 living, and his testimony may be asked in a matter of such deep import- 
 ance to the real progress of science. But the same is equally true of the 
 part Cuvier took, in his day, in promoting science. All his efforts were 
 constantly turned towards increasing the collections of the Jardin des 
 Piantes and supporting the publication of original researches, giving him- 
 self the example of the most untiring activity in publishing his own. In 
 this connection I ought not to omit mentioning a circumstance to which 
 the United States owe the legacy of Smithson, which I happen accidentally 
 to know, and which is much to the point in reference to the controversy 
 concerning the management of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithson 
 had already made his will, and had left his fortune to the Royal Society of 
 London, when certain scientific papers were offered to that learned body 
 for publication. Notwithstanding his efforts to have them published in 
 their Transactions, they were refused, upon which he changed his will r 
 and made his bequest to the United States. It would be easy to collect in 
 London more minute information upon this occurrence, and should it ap- 
 pear desirable, I think I can put the committee in the way of learning all 
 the circumstances. Nothing seems to indicate more plainly what were the 
 testator's views respecting the best means of promoting science than this 
 fact. 
 
 " I will not denv the great importance of libraries ; and no one has felt 
 more keenly the Want of an extensive scientific library than I have since I 
 have been in the United States ; but, after all, libraries are only tools of a 
 secondary value to those who are really endowed by nature with the power 
 of making original researches, and thus increasing knowledge among men. 
 And though the absence or deficiencies of libraries is nowhere so deeply 
 felt as in America, the application of the funds of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion to the formation of a library beyond the requirements of the dally prog- 
 ress of science, would only be, in my humble opinion, a perversion of the 
 real object of the trust, inasmuch as it would tend to secure facilities only 
 to the comparatively small number of American students who may have 
 the time and the means to visit Washington whenever they need to consult 
 
588 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 a library. Such an application of the funds would, indeed, lessen the abil- 
 ity of the institution to accomplish its great object, which is declared by 
 its founder to be, to increase and diffuse knowledge among men, to the full 
 extent to which they may be spent unduly to increase the library. More- 
 over, American students hav a just claim upon their own country for such 
 local' facilities as the accumulation of books affords. 
 
 " If I am allowed to state, in conclusion, my personal impression re- 
 specting the management of the institution thus far, I would only express 
 my concurrence with the plan of active operations adopted by the regents, 
 which has led to the publication of a series of volumes equal, in scientific 
 value, to any productions of the same kind issued by learned societies any- 
 where. The distribution of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 
 has already carried the name of the institution to all parts of the civilized 
 world, and conveyed with them such evidence of the intellectual activity 
 of America as challenges everywhere admiration; a result which could 
 hardly be obtained by applying a large part of the resources of the institu- 
 tion to other purposes." 
 
 Mr. Chairman, with the following letter from Professor 
 Benjamin Pierce, I shall yield the floor, satisfied to submit 
 the question whether the Smithsonian Institution is being 
 properly managed, to the judgment of Congress and the 
 scientific world : 
 
 "Of all men, none can be more sensible of the value of the great store- 
 houses of the wisdom of past ages than they who are obliged to resort to 
 them in the development of their own researches. The knowledge which 
 has already been given to the world, and which is accumulated in the 
 library, stimulates and invigorates the mind for original thought, and sup- 
 plies important materials for investigation. It is to the author what the 
 collection of models in the Patent Office is to the inventor ; but, neverthe- 
 less, the increase of knowledge depends chiefly upon the native vigor of in- 
 tellect, and its diffusion is performed by the press. To the strong mind 
 the collections of the Vatican are a golden opportunity, richer than the 
 ; mineral harvest of California; but not richer than the hills and streams 
 which abound within every man's siirht; not richer than the stone beneath 
 our feet on which is written the history of the world ; than the leaf of the 
 forest, on which is inscribed the thought of its Creator ; or than the cloud 
 'in the lightnings of which the laws and the glory of God are as distinctly 
 revealed" to the^faithful of the present generation"^ they were upon Mount 
 Sinai. 
 
 "The valuable contributions to knowledge which have already been 
 made by the Smithsonian Institution are a living proof that vast libraries 
 are not necessary to the development of new thoughts. If you will com- 
 pare these memoirs with the scientific productions of the same period in 
 Europe, you may find them, perchance, inferior in erudition, but not in 
 profoundness and originality of thought. Do you believe that Smkhson, 
 who was himself engaged in chemical investigations, could have intended a 
 library by his words 'an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men?' If you will examine his nine memoirs to the Royal 
 Society, of which he was an active member, and his eighteen other contri- 
 butions to science, you will not find one of them which required a library 
 for its production. Each was the natural growth of a deeply thinking 
 mind. Smithson was emphatically a maker and not a collector of books; 
 and in the scientific circle to which he belonged, the ordinary use of lan- 
 guage would have totally precluded the interpretation which some men of 
 quite a different cast of mind have presumed to impose upon his words. 
 Expand his largeness of expression to its utmost extent, include in it all 
 that a generous mind like his own would desire it to embrace; but let it 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 589 
 
 not be cramped and twisted out of shape, and so forced from its original 
 design that it shall wholly fail to accomplish the object of the munificent 
 testator. 
 
 " Most earnestly, then, in the name of science, and especially of Amer- 
 can science, do I protest against such a gross perversion of this important 
 trust. I assure you, sir, that the great body of scientific men throughout 
 the country warmly approve Professor Henry n plan of conducting the 
 Smithsonian Institution, and regard it as a faithful exponent of the almost 
 undivided opinion of scientific and learned men as to the proper execution 
 of Smithson's will and of the law of Congress." 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 3, 1855. 
 
 Mr. UPHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the unanimous 
 consent of the House for leave, in this connection, to submit 
 a report and accompanying papers from the select commit- 
 tee raised to investigate the management and condition of 
 the Smithsonian Institution.* 
 
 There was no objection, and the report was received. 
 Mr. UPHAM. A minority report will be submitted; and 
 I move that both reports be laid upon the table, and ordered 
 to be printed. The motion was agreed to. 
 
 The following is the report made by Mr. Chas. W. Up- 
 ham, of Massachusetts : 
 
 The Select Committee of the House of Representatives, to 
 whom were referred the letter of the Hon. Rufus Choate, 
 resigning his place as a regent of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, with instructions to inquire and report to the 
 House \vhether the Smithsonian Institution has been 
 managed and its funds expended in accordance with the 
 law establishing the institution, and whether any addi- 
 tional legislation be necessary to carry out the designs of 
 the founder; the memorial of Lorin Blodget for a rem- 
 edy against the Smithsonian Institution for labor and 
 researches in physical science, made for the benefit of said 
 institution; and" the petition of John Grable and sundry 
 others, citizens of St. Josephs, Missouri, praying for the 
 publication of a monthly periodical, exhibiting ^the prog- 
 ress of knowledge and of society, and to be distributed 
 by said institution among the people, beg leave to submit 
 the following report : 
 
 The short time allowed for investigating the matters re- 
 ferred to the committee, and the pressure of other duties 
 during the few crowded last weeks of the session, render 
 anything like a full and thoroughly satisfactory report im- 
 possible. The transactions, to which their attention has 
 been called, are so complicated in their nature and extensive 
 
 *Mr. Upham only signed this report. Mr. Witte and Mr. Taylor submitted another, 
 report, and Messrs. "Puryear and Wells declined to sign either. 
 
.590 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 in their details, that it was soon found entirely out of the 
 ^question to attempt to examine them with sufficient fullness 
 and minuteness to be qualified or justified in pronouncing 
 -or even forming a decisive judgment on the merits of the 
 questions involved. The evidence taken and submitted will 
 guide the members of the House to so much of a conclusion 
 on the several points and issues as the committee have been 
 able to reach. 
 
 So far as the case of Mr. Lorin Blodget is concerned, the 
 committee would observe that he does not claim to have 
 made any explicit contract, in writing or in conversation, 
 with the secretary of the Board of Regents; that the com- 
 pensation he received appears to have been all that was ever 
 expressly or distinctly agreed upon : and that as it respects 
 the value of his labors above the compensation he received, 
 or the degree to which he acquired any separate, private, 
 scientific or literary property in any papers or documents 
 prepared by him while in the institution, they have been 
 wholly unable to derive any definite ideas from his state- 
 ments. In reference to his assertion that certain equitable 
 or legal rights are withheld from him, the committee can 
 only say that, although the hearing afforded him occupied 
 a large portion of their time, he failed to make his own view 
 of the point clearly intelligible, and that it is utterly impos- 
 sible for them at this period of the session to enter into sucii 
 an examination of the vast amount of documents, resulting 
 more or less from his labors, as would be necessary in order 
 to begin to form an opinion. An impartial arbitration by 
 scientific persons would, if the committee may be allowed 
 to offer a suggestion to the Board of Regents, probably be 
 the best way to determine whether there is any foundation 
 for the complaints he makes, or for the claim of rights which 
 he imagines himself to possess. The committee feel it due. 
 to candor to say that they have not been able to appreciate 
 any clear ground for his claims, but due also to justice to 
 eay that he is unfortunate in not having a facility in render- 
 ing easily intelligible the ideas which he very earnestly, an 1 
 no doubt very honestly, entertains on the subject. Indeed, 
 a personal, laborious and patient examination, by direct in- 
 spection, of ^the records, tables, maps and other papers or 
 documents, in which he avers that he has rights that as e 
 withheld, and claims for compensation beyond what he ac- 
 knowledges to have received, will be found absolutely indis- 
 pensable to enable any one to understand precisely what he 
 means, or to determine whether there is any foundation for 
 his claims, either of authorship orfor compensation. The 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 591 
 
 Committee would have been willing to encounter the task; 
 but the want of time absolutely forbids the attempt, and, 
 -after all, it would, perhaps, have been useful scarcely for 
 .any other purpose than to satisfy their own minds. They 
 could not advise, in any event, the action of Congress upon 
 the subject, as the whole transaction, according to Mr. 
 Blodget's own account, was, from first to last, placed and 
 kept by him in the discretion and decision of the Board of 
 Regents. 
 
 In discharging the main part of their duty, relating to 
 the management of the institution, \vhether it has been in 
 .accordance with the law, and to the question, whether any 
 further legislation is necessary, the committee will, in the 
 first place, present such a history of the whole matter, as 
 will, in conjunction with the evidence presented in the ap- 
 pendix to this report, enable every member of the House to 
 form a judgment on the subject. 
 
 [The committee 'then reproduce the will of James Smith- 
 son and the act to authorize the President of the United 
 States to accept the bequest, and pledging the faith of the 
 United States to use the funds as directed in the will of the 
 testator, and then proceeds:] 
 
 It will be perceived that in the foregoing act the Govern- 
 ment of the United States pledged itself that " any and all 
 sums of money and other funds which shall be received for or 
 on account of the said legacy shall be applied in such manner 
 AS CONGRESS may hereafter direct," &c. It is presumed that 
 it is our duty to consider, not whether the funds have been 
 .applied to such objects, and in such way as Congress ought 
 to have directed, the opinion of any individuals, but to such 
 objects and in such a way as Congress, in fulfilment of the 
 foregoing pledge, has directed. The next step, therefore, is 
 to ascertain what was the determination of Congress on the 
 subject. 
 
 Great caution and deliberation were exercised in determ- 
 ining the matter. The country felt that it was a solemn and 
 momentous trust. The gratitude, pride, honor, and wisdom 
 of the nation were involved; not only the then present gen- 
 eration, but future ages were interested. The field to be 
 surveyed was the whole country, and the whole world be- 
 yond the limits of the country. It was obvious that the 
 nature of our institutions presented some peculiar difficul- 
 ties in the way of executing the trust. If the testator had 
 understood, as indeed but few foreigners ever have done, 
 those difficulties, he might, perhaps, have made some ar- 
 
592 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 rangement to avoid them. It is clearly not within the- 
 sphere allotted to this Federal Government to enter the 
 fields of science and literature. In point of fact, the actioa 
 of Congress in accepting the bequest, and agreeing to carry 
 it into execution, was justified at the time on the ground of 
 its peculiar and complete jurisdiction over the District of 
 Columbia. More than ten years were consumed in discus- 
 sions, debates, and conflicting views and schemes, in and out 
 of Congress. 
 
 A few of the prominent facts illustrating this stage of the 
 case will be cited. On the 19th of July, 1838, the Secretary 
 of State, by direction of the President, of the United States, 
 addressed letters to a number of the distinguished men of 
 the country thought to be best qualified to advise on the 
 subject. Answers were received from John Quincy Adams; 
 Francis Wayland, D.D., president of Brown University; Di\ 
 Thomas Cooper, of Columbia, South Carolina; lion. Rich- 
 ard Rush; and President Chapin. The diversity of views 
 which must ever be expected in reference to such a subject, 
 was revealed, in all its extent, at the very outset. Mr. 
 Adams recommended an observatory ; President Wayland 
 a higher university; Dr. Cooper a university, and, to escape 
 constitutional objections, to transfer the fund to the corpor- 
 ation of Georgetown; Mr. Rush recommended a more com- 
 plicated system, for the collection from all countries, through 
 ministers, consuls, and naval and military officers, of seeds 
 and plants, objects of natural history and antiquities; a 
 standing board of the chief officers of the Government; the 
 institution to have a printing press; the board to determine 
 w T hat should be printed ; the democratic principle, as de- 
 veloped in our institutions, to be particularly discussed; lec- 
 turers to be appointed by the President and Senate, with 
 salaries large enough to command the highest talent; a cer- 
 tain number of young men from each State to attend the 
 lectures, their expenses being paid by the institution, &c. 
 President Chapin was in favor of professorships being estab- 
 lished on a liberal scale; a library, apparatus, and an astro- 
 nomical observatory. 
 
 On the 14th of December, 1838, a memorial was presented 
 to Congress recommending an agricultural institution, with 
 a large farm, beet-sugar manufactory, mill, workshops, &c. 
 As propositions multiplied, the difficulties in the way be- 
 came, at each step, and in view of every scheme, more and 
 more apparent. 
 
 In January, 1839, Congress began to grapple with the 
 subject. The university plan was defeated in the Senate 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 593 
 
 on the 25th of February, 1839. Congress provided for an 
 observatory out of its own funds, and that matter was dis- 
 posed of and taken out of the question. An institution like 
 the Garden of Plants at Paris was strongly urged in the 
 Senate, but the proposition did not prevail. In 1845, Mr. 
 Choate proposed in the Senate the library plan, and it 
 passed that body on the 23d of January. In the House, 
 several members offered different propositions. One pro- 
 posing a normal school was rejected yeas 72, nays 42 ; one 
 proposing lectures and professors was rejected 77 to 42. 
 The plan of lectures, as a leading feature, was rejected by 
 similar strong votes on several occasions. 
 
 [Various bills were reported, substitutes offered in both 
 houses, and sundry amendments made, until in August, 
 1846, a bill as passed by the House was passed by the Sen- 
 ate without amendment, and became THE LAW on which the 
 institution has existed to the present date. The committee 
 then quote the act approved August 10, 1846, and proceed :] 
 
 The foregoing act of Congress is " the law establishing 
 the Smithsonian Institution." It is the directory which the 
 regents are bound to follow in administering its affairs and 
 applying its funds. An idea seems to have crept into the 
 discussions that are prevalent on this subject, that the will 
 requires one thing and the law another.- There can be no 
 ground for this distinction, as a few words will show. 
 
 The will declares a certain object, najnely, " for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge among men." In accept- 
 ing the bequest, the Government of the United States 
 pledged its faith that the funds shouldbe " applied as Congress 
 may hereafter direct, to the purposes of founding and en- 
 dowing at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men." 
 
 The act establishing the institution also inserts into its 
 title, and into its body, the words of the will, so that what- 
 ever the will requires the act ordains, and there can be no 
 conflict between them. No one can question the obligation 
 of those who administer the institution, under the act, to 
 assume that its requirements are in accordance with the 
 will, and to carry them out, in good faith and good earnest. 
 So far as the act leaves the officers, who exist by its author- 
 ity, to their discretion, that discretion is to be guided by 
 their sense of the import and design of the language of the 
 will. All in the will that relates to the subject is incorpor- 
 ated into the act. We have occasion, therefore, to look 
 
594 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 only at the act, in ascertaining the duty of those who ad- 
 minister the affairs of the institution, and there can be no 
 ground for a controversy in reference to the meaning of the 
 will, as against the act, or vice versa. 
 
 The will and the two acts of Congress that have been 
 spread out on the foregoing pages in full, interpret them- 
 selves to the common sense and adequate apprehension of 
 every reader. It is only necessary to regard the words as 
 used in their ordinary sense, to avoid a mental interpolation 
 of language not in the text, and to allow its natural mean- 
 *ing to flow out from all the language used in the instrument. 
 In this spirit of fair and unstrained interpretation, we pro- 
 pose to consider for a moment the language of the act 
 establishing the Smithsonian Institution, of which different 
 and conflicting interpretations are advocated. 
 
 The word " INCREASE" is held by some of the zealous com. 
 batants in the Smithsonian controversy to be identical with 
 " DISCOVERY." The idea seems to be that knowledge 
 can only be increased by the discovery of new truth. This is 
 an arbitrary and untenable position. A mind experiences 
 an increase of knowledge if it knows more than it did be- 
 fore, although all the ideas it has received may be in the 
 commonest text books. There has been an increase of 
 knowledge in the school, in the congregation, in the lecture 
 room, if ideas not before known to them have been received 
 into the minds of the hearers ; even, indeed, it matters not 
 if those ideas have been recorded for thousands of years in 
 languages, classical or sacred, that have been dead long 
 ago. Knowledge has been increased, if one mind has re- 
 ceived more, whether it be new or old truth. The language 
 of Smithson is perfectly simple, and in its natural sense 
 covers the whole ground it includes, but does not require, 
 new truth. Truth discovered a thousand years ago is as good 
 us truth discovered yesterday. Knowledge embraces it all 
 alike, and Smithson's object was to carry knowledge where 
 it was not before, and to increase it where it was ; to spread 
 it over a wider area, and to a greater depth. 
 
 In like manner a particular meaning has been crowded 
 upon the word " KNOWLEDGE" not its ordinary meaning in 
 common usage; but a narrow, technical, and special mean- 
 ing. This has been done by confounding it with " SCIENCE." 
 It is true that, in their primitive origin, or roots, in the 
 languages from which they are derived, these words may be 
 identical in their meaning, but not so as actually used in 
 common conversation and familiar and general literature. 
 " Knowledge " is all-comprehensive embracing science, art, 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 595 
 
 literature, politics, business, the whole world of nature and 
 culture, the entire realm of facts and reality, all ages and 
 all that the} 7 have contained. " Science " .is almost univer- 
 sally employed to denote those branches of knowledge 
 which are systematized iiito a distinct organization or ar- 
 rangement, based upon definite principles, and reduced to 
 particular rules. In the progress of knowledge new sciences 
 are added to the list, and in the establishment of new classi- 
 fications the boundary lines are altered. There is a vast 
 amount of knowledge not included in any science. Fur- 
 ther, the word science is sometimes used to embrace only a 
 part of what, in a broader sense, is included in the sciences. 
 It is getting to become quite generally used to denote what 
 are called the physical sciences, excluding political, moral, 
 and intellectual science excluding history, the arts, and all 
 general literature. Surely, it cannot be maintained that 
 " knowledge " was used by Smithsori as merely identical 
 with "science" in this last mentioned and most limited 
 sense. 
 
 The words "among men" were used merely to corrobor- 
 ate the idea expressed by the word " diffusion." They do 
 not necessarily imply that the institution should confine it- 
 self to world-wide operations. The word is not, as some 
 seem to suppose, " mankind," but "men;" and he diffuses 
 knowledge u among men" as truly, and in as full a sense, 
 when he enlightens the minds of his neighbors, as of per- 
 sons at the farthest pole. He best fulfils the idea of Smith- 
 son who increases human intelligence, whenever and 
 wherever he has an opportunity, in every circle of influence, 
 however near or however remote. 
 
 The seventh section of the act establishing the institution 
 has given occasion to a difference of interpretation that has 
 been brought to the notice of the committee. The section 
 relates to the duties and powers of the secretary, and goes 
 on to say that " the said secretary shall also discharge the 
 duties of librarian and keeper of the museum, and may, 
 with the consent of the Board of Regents, employ assist- 
 ants ; and the said officers shall receive for their services 
 such sums as may be allowed by the Board of Regents, to 
 be paid semi-annually, on the first days of January and 
 July ; and the said officers shall be removable by the Board 
 of Regents whenever, in their judgment, the interests of 
 the institution require any of the said officers to be 
 changed." 
 
 The committee cannot but think it strange that, in the 
 face of this express language, it has been made a question 
 
596 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 where the power of removal is lodged. " Said officers- 
 shall be removable by the Board of Regents." Can any- 
 thing be plainer ? In defence of the idea that the secretary 
 can remove his assistants, a practice is cited in certain de- 
 partments of the Government where the power of removal 
 is exercised by intermediate officials. But there is no anal- 
 ogy, inasmuch as the Constitution of the United States is 
 silent in reference to the removal of such officers. But the 
 constitution of the Smithsonian Institution is not silent, but 
 expressly defines in whom the power to remove the assist- 
 ants of the secretary resides namely, in the Board of Re- 
 gents. They have no more right to delegate, or pass over 
 to another that power, than they have to transfer any of 
 their other functions. 
 
 The concluding sentence of the eighth section of the act 
 is as follows : 
 
 " And the said regents shall make, from the interest of said fund, an ap- 
 propriation not exceeding an average of twenty-five thousand dollars annu- 
 ally, for the gradual formation of a library, composed of valuable work* 
 pertaining to all departments of human knowledge." 
 
 The expression, "not exceeding," is inconstant use in 
 the legislation of Congress, and in all legislation every- 
 where, in which appropriations are made, and it will not be 
 disputed that, in all instances, the expectation and general 
 understanding of the legislature is, that about the amount 
 thus specified will be expended the word " average " ean 
 only be considered as indicating the expectation of the 
 legislature that the sum expended in some years might ex- 
 ceed twenty -five thousand dollars the word was used in 
 order to give the managers authority, in case a sum less 
 than $25,000 were expended one year, to expend just so 
 much more the next, and rice versa. No doubt, we think, 
 can be entertained that the framers and enactors of the law 
 expected that about $200,000 would be expended " for the 
 gradual formation of a library, composed of valuable works 
 pertaining to all departments of human knowledge," in 
 eight years. If the law does not contemplate that the an- 
 nual expenditure for the formation of a library shall be- 
 something like $25,000, any other figures might as well 
 have been used. If the administrators of the law are at 
 liberty to spend as little as they please for a library, in the 
 face of the sum thus indicated in the law, they would have 
 been equally at liberty whatever sum might have been 
 named, whether $30,000 or $40,000. In other words, if 
 the clause of the act under consideration can be construed 
 as justifying an annual average expenditure for the gradual 
 
1853-55. 597 
 
 formation of a library of less than $2,000, any intermediate 
 um between that and the entire income of the fund would 
 have been of equal authority and significance, as indicating 
 the intention of the legislature, whichever of the said inter- 
 mediate sums might have been inserted in the act. That is 
 to say those who maintain that the language and design 
 of the act are carried out by expending less than $2,000 
 annually for books, assume and assert that it would not 
 have altered the sense of the act had $2,000 or $10,000 or 
 $40,000 been the sum actually named in it, instead of 
 .$25,000! 
 
 The ninth section of the act is as follows : 
 
 " And be it further enacted, That of any other moneys which have ac- 
 crued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the said Smithsonian fund, 
 not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein provided, 
 the said managers are hereby authorized to make such disposal as they shall 
 deem best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator, anything 
 herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding." 
 
 The discretion allowed to the managers in the latter part 
 of this section must be considered as limited, in some sense 
 by the word " other," applied to u moneys," and more defi- 
 nitely and more absolutely by the clauses, " not herein ap- 
 propriated," and " not required for the purposes herein pro- 
 vided." 
 
 The meaning of the ninth section seems to us to be simply 
 this that if, after all has been done required by the forego- 
 ing provisions of the act, that is, for the maintenance and 
 preservation of a geological and mine-ralogical cabinet, a 
 laboratory, library, gallery of art, lecture room, lectures, 
 the purchase of books on the scale indicated in the eighth 
 section, and the discharge of all current obligations, an 
 unexpended balance of the annual income remains, the 
 managers may do with it just what they please; may ex- 
 pend it upon books if they like, even although the expendi- 
 tures for that object may have already reached the assigned 
 limit, or upon any objects not named or alluded to in the 
 .act, if, in their judgment, " suited for the promotion of the 
 purpose of the testator." 
 
 The committee are wholly unwilling to enter at all into 
 the discussion of the private grievances, or personal contro- 
 versies, or official misunderstandings which were brought 
 before them in the course of the investigation. They regard 
 the evidence that was educed on these matters as important 
 only because it illustrates the difficulties encountered in 
 administering an institution of this sort upon the plan that 
 has been attempted. They are particularly desirous to have 
 it understood that they attach no blame to any person, in 
 
598 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 any quarter; the evils are the result of the system. At the 
 same time they do not cast blame or censure of any sort 
 upon those who suggested, and have labored to carry out, 
 that system. The design was, in itself, commendable ana 
 elevated. It has, unquestionably, been pursued with zeal, 
 sincerity, integrity, and high motives and aims, but it is, 
 we think, necessarily surrounded with very great difficul- 
 ties. 
 
 There is nothing in our constitutional system that au- 
 thorizes this Government to enter the sphere of literature 
 and science. Education is left to the States. This Govern- 
 ment cannot, without violating the principles on which it 
 rests, become, directly or indirectly, through its official 
 agents or in the expenditure of funds, a censor of any de- 
 partment of the press, an arbiter of science, or a publisher 
 of works of mere literature or philosophy any more than of 
 morals or theology. 
 
 2s"o amount of money that could possibly be raised would 
 enable this Government to perform these functions, with a 
 just, equal, and liberal hand, for the benetit of all depart- 
 ments of knowledge. Of course, it has no right to make 
 discriminations; not only natural history and physical 
 science, but every branch of learning and inquiry lias a 
 right to demand patronage, if it is extended to any. What- 
 ever project in this line may be attempted will be found 
 surrounded with insuperable embarrassments. If, for in- 
 stance, the funds of- the Smithsonian Institution should be 
 appropriated in the manner proposed in the petition from 
 citizens of Missouri, referred to this committee, for the 
 preparation and distribution of a monthly report of the 
 general progress of knowledge, who shall write those re- 
 ports? To what school of philosophy, or medicine, or pol- 
 itics shall he belong? Shall he confine himself, as the 
 Smithsonian Institution has, for the most part, very wisely 
 done, to particular provinces of natural science, to reptiles, 
 defunct species of animals, mathematical and astronomical 
 computations and researches, to aboriginal antiquities and 
 the glossaries of vanishing tribes of Indians, or shall he 
 rise above dead and brute nature, and treat the subject of 
 MAN, of civil society, of government, of politics, and reli- 
 gion ? If he confines himself to the former, not one in ten 
 thousand of the people will be interested or satisfied; if he 
 attempts the latter, he is on forbidden ground, and cannot 
 escape being torn to pieces by parties, sects, and sections. 
 
 Moving in the most cautious manner, acting within the* 
 
T HIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 599 
 
 most limited sphere, grudges are multiplied, jealousies en- 
 gendered, resentments kindled, and complaints encountered 
 in all directions. Authors whose pieces are rejected will be 
 likely, in the course of time, to outnumber those who are ad- 
 mitted to the favored circle ; one man has the gratification of 
 seeing his works printed, at the public charge, in a splendid 
 style, and circulated, without trouble or expense on his part, 
 to all the learned societies and persons of Christendom, and. 
 of feeling that a world-wide reputation is secured to him ; 
 but others, whose treatises have been condemned by a se- 
 cret tribunal, and returned with the stigma of rejection, 
 are brooding in sullen, or breaking out in vehement resent- 
 ment and indignation. 
 
 Men of genius are sensitive scientific authors and discov- 
 erers particularly so. To attain to great excellence in any 
 department, it must be studied and prosecuted with exclu- 
 sive arid all-absorbing zeal. There is a divinity in truth, 
 and whoever attains any portion of it is prone to worship it 
 with a concentrated devotion, and to cherish it as more pre- 
 cious than all things else. However minute the objects, or 
 narrow the provinces, or apparently useless the results of 
 the researches of the man of science, he is wholly wrapt up 
 in them, and feels, to his very heart's core, that nothing 
 transcends them in importance. This makes him sensitive 
 to reputation, tenacious of rights, and morbidly alive to any 
 encroachment upon his labors or attainments. No office is 
 more thankless than to attempt to arbitrate the differences 
 of men of science no offence more keenly resented than 
 to discredit their claims or slight their productions. It is a 
 curious circumstance, and most instructive in this connec- 
 tion, strikingly illustrating the fact we are presenting, that 
 James Smithsom, who was a fellow of the Royal Society, had 
 made a will, leaving his whole fortune to that institution, 
 which had honored many of his productions by publishing 
 them in its Transactions. At length, certain papers offered 
 to them for publication were refused. Under the sting of 
 resentment and wounded pride, he changed his will, and left 
 his fortune to the United States of America. In this way a 
 harvest of dissatisfaction and animosities is constantly ma- 
 turing. Patronage in politics is the fatal bane of parties. 
 In literature and'science it works disastrously, in all direc- 
 tions upon him who dispenses, upon those who receive, 
 and upon all from whom it is withheld. 
 
 The organization of the Smithsonian Institution is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
600 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The " Establishment," by the name of the "Smithsonian Institution." 
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE, President of the United States. 
 
 , Vice President of the United States. 
 
 WILLIAM L. MARCY, Secretary of State. 
 
 JAMES GUTHRIE, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS, Secretary of War. 
 
 JAMES C. DOBBIN, Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 JAMES CAMPBELL, Postmaster General. 
 
 CALEB CUSHING, Attorney General. 
 
 ROGER B. TANEY, Chief Justice of the United States. 
 
 CHARLES MASON, Commissioner of Patents. 
 
 JOHN T. TOWERS, Mayor of the city of Washington. 
 
 HONORARY MEMBERS. 
 
 EGBERT HARE, WASHINGTON IRVING, BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, PARKER 
 CLEAVELAND. 
 
 BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 -, Vice President of the United States. 
 
 ROGER B. TANEY, Chief Justice of the United States. 
 JOHN T. TOWERS, Mayor of the city of Washington. 
 JAMES A. PEA.RCE, member of the Senate of the United States. 
 JAMES M. MASON, member of the Senate of the United States. 
 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, member of the Senate of the United States. 
 WILLIAM H. ENGLISH, member of the House of Representatives. 
 DAVID STUART, member of the House of Representatives. 
 JAMES MEACHAM, member of the House of Representatives. 
 
 , citizen of Massachusetts. 
 
 GIDEON HAWLEY, citizen of New York. 
 
 J. MACPHERSON BERRIEN, citizen of Georgia. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, citizen of Pennsylvania. 
 
 ALEXANDER D. BACHE, member of the National Institute, Washington. 
 
 JOSEPH G. TOTTEN, member of the National Institute, Washington. 
 
 The active government of the Institution is in the hands 
 of the following officers and committees : 
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE, ex-ojficio Presiding Officer of the Institution. 
 ROGER B. TANEY, Chancellor of the Institution. 
 JOSEPH HENRY, Secretary of the Institution. 
 
 , Assistant Secretary, in charge of Library. 
 
 SPENCER F. BAIRD, Assistant Secretary, in charge of the Museum. 
 
 ALEXANDER D. BACHE, ^ 
 
 JAMES A. PEARCE, L Executive Committee. 
 
 JOSEPH G. TOTTEN, J 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, "| 
 
 WM. H. ENGLISH, I Buildin g Committee. 
 
 JOSEPH HENRY, J 
 
 W. W. SEATON, Treasurer. 
 
 The committee feel it their duty to submit a few remarks 
 in relation to this organization. 
 
 It appears by the evidence that so much of it as is called 
 the ^Establishment" has never performed any part what- 
 ever in the administration of the Institution. It is obvious 
 that those regents who reside at a great distance from Wash- 
 ington can have but little to do with its management. Those 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 
 
 of them who are members of the Senate or House of Kepre- 
 sentatives, unless their residence, during the recess of Con- 
 gress, is in the vicinity of Washington, cannot be expected, 
 for the most part, to have that influence over its operations 
 which those who reside permanently at the seat of govern- 
 ment, or in its immediate vicinity, will more naturally exer- 
 cise. The Executive Committee is the body in which the 
 government substantially exists. 
 
 3 It may well be questioned whether it is expedient to sur- 
 round such an institution with an array of high official dig- 
 nitaries. Their great offices and characters are committed 
 to all the proceedings of the institution, while it is impossi- 
 ble for them to give much time and attention to their exam- 
 ination. When the venerable Chief Justice of the United 
 States, after hearing both parties and a thorough scrutiny 
 ot the merits of all questions involved, and in the exercise of 
 the high function to which his life is consecrated and set 
 apart, pronounces a solemn judgment from the bench, we 
 bow to his learning and wisdom ; but it may, perhaps, be 
 doubted whether it is expedient to attempt to make him re- 
 sponsible for all the doings of an institution entirely out ot 
 the sphere of his duties and pursuits, and with whose officers 
 he cannot have much communication. As it has been as- 
 certained that the institution is not a corporation, and its 
 anomalous character in that respect may give rise to per- 
 plexine and unforeseen difficulties that will reach the legal 
 tribunals, it may well be questioned whether that august 
 judicial personage ought to be mixed up at all with H 
 
 ness details. . , c 
 
 If the institution could be organized in a simpler form, 
 and its secretary made the head of a bureau in the Depart- 
 ment of the Interior, and subject, like other heads of bureaus, 
 to the Secretary of the Interior, he might pursue substantially 
 the same course as at present, if that should continue to be 
 thought advisable, with a clearly ascertained line of duty 
 and responsibility, and a full adjustment of all his relations, 
 above to the head of the department, around to his asso- 
 ciates, and to all subordinates of every grade, 
 ever, we desire to have considered as a mere suggestion, 
 made in passing. If all other plans are found detective, 
 Tnd beset P with to inconveniences, this may, at some future 
 flflv be tried in the last resort. 
 
 Whatever arrangements may be made for the admimrfru- 
 tionof the institution, it is of extreme importance that the 
 relations among the several officers attached to it be defined 
 and settled by law, or, at any rate, by by-laws. In eveiy 
 
602 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 organization to which several officers are attached such a 
 provision is highly desirable, but pre-eminently so where the 
 said officers are gentlemen of scientific and literary attain- 
 ment and reputation. The spirit of self-respect and a sen- 
 sitiveness to personal rights prevail nowhere with greater 
 keenness and intensity than in the republic of letters. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution stands on a different footing 
 from any in this country, and, in some particulars, especially 
 in regard to the peculiar character of our Government, in 
 any other country. In some leading features it, perhaps. 
 bears a closer resemblance to the British Museum than to 
 any other. The recent history of that institution may, per- 
 haps, be found instructive to us. 
 
 The British Museum was founded about a hundivd ycais 
 ago, upon the conditional bequest by an individual of prop- 
 erty less in amount than the bequest of Smithson. It lias 
 since received some two millions of pounds sterling of thr 
 public funds. 
 
 Within the last twenty years then- have been two >rlrrt 
 committees of the House of Commons and one royal com- 
 mission appointed to inquire into the condition, manage- 
 ment, and affairs of this institution. 
 
 Its government is vested in a board of trustees, in num- 
 ber forty-eight, one of whom (II. R. II. the Duke of Cam- 
 bridge) is directly named by the crown, twenty-three are 
 regents ex officio, nine are named by the representatives or 
 executors of parties who have been donors to the institution, 
 and fifteen are elected. 
 
 The following is a list of the trustees : 
 
 EX OFFICIO. 
 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the 
 House of Commons, principal trustees ; the President of the Council ; the 
 First Lord of the Treasury ; the Lord Privy Seal ; the First Lord of the 
 Admiralty; the Lord Steward ; the Lord Chamberlain; the Colonial Sec- 
 retary of State; the Foreign Secretary of State ; the Home Secretary of 
 State ; the Bishop of London ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer ; the Lord 
 Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench ; the Lord Chief Justice of the Common 
 Pleas ; the Master of the Rolls : the Attorney General ; the Solicitor Gen- 
 eral; the President of the Royal Society ; the President of the College of 
 Physicians ; the President of the Society of Antiquaries ; the President of 
 the Royal Academy. 
 
 FAMILY TRUSTEES. 
 
 The Earl of Cadogan, Lord Stanley, Sloane family ; George Booth Tyn- 
 dale, Esq., Rev. Francis Annesley, Cotton family; Lord H. W. Bontinck, 
 the Earl of Cawdor, Harlein family; Charles Townlcy, Esq., Townlcv 
 family; the Earl of Elgin, Elgin family; John Knight, Esq., Knight 
 family. 
 
 ELECTED TRUSTEES. 
 
 The Earl of Aberdeen ; the Earl of Derby ; the Duke of Rutland ; the 
 Marquis of Lansdowne ; Sir Robert Peel, bart. ; the Duke of Hamilton; 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 
 
 Sir Kobert H. Inglis, bart. ; Henry Hallam, Esq. ; William R. Hamilton, 
 Esq. ; the Duke of Sutherland ; the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay ; Wiliian* 
 Buokland, D. D., Dean of Westminster; the Right Hon. Sir David Dun- 
 das ; the Right Hon. H. Goulburn ; the Marquis of Northampton. 
 
 Complaints against the management of the institution 
 became so prevalent that, notwithstanding the mighty array 
 of elevated functionaries and illustrious literary and scien- 
 tific persons behind which it was entrenched, it became 
 necessary for the House of Commons to turn its attention 
 to it. 
 
 On the 27th of March, 1835, it was ordered in the House 
 of Commons, "that a select committee be appointed to in- 
 quire into the condition, management, and affairs of the 
 British Museum," with power to send for persons and papers. 
 The committee consisted of thirty-three, including many or 
 the leading men of the House. 
 
 The committee held nineteen meetings, and on the 6th of 
 August, 1835, reported a mass of testimony making a folio 
 volume of 623 pages. 
 
 On the llth of February, 1836, the subject was again taken 
 up, and became the occasion of a debate. Among other 
 complaints made by members, it was affirmed that the state- 
 ment made by Sir Humphry Davy was correct, "that the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the 
 Speaker of the House of Commons were considered as the 
 real acting governors of the institution." A new committee 
 of fifteen was appointed, composed of distinguished persons, 
 and authorized to send for persons, papers, and records. It 
 held twenty-eight meetings, and reported to the House of 
 Commons on the 14th day of July, 1836. Certain improve- 
 ments were made in the condition of the institution, as the 
 result of these parliamentary proceedings. 
 
 The public mind seems to have become again excited on 
 the subject, by complaints arising from the community and 
 from officers of the institution ; and in 1847 a royal commis- 
 sion was formed, consisting of four noblemen and eight com- 
 moners, all eminent persons. They prosecuted their re- 
 searches with $reat diligence, and the result of their labors, 
 in 1850, was a folio volume of more than 1,000 pages. 1 he 
 whole number of questions and answers is 10,933. The 
 chairman of the commission was the Earl of Ellesmere. He 
 presented an elaborate, full, and independent report. One 
 or two extracts may be read with advantage Dy those who- 
 have the management of literary and scientific institutions: 
 
 "Such a board of trustees, to anyone who considers the individuals who- 
 compose it, with reference to their rank, intelligence, and ability, woul 
 give assurance rather than promise of the most unexceptionable, and, in 
 
.04 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 wisest administration in every department. High attainments in literature 
 and in science, great knowledge and experience of the world and its affairs, 
 and practiced habits of business, distinguish many of them in an eminent 
 degree ; and it would be unjust either to deny the interest which all of them 
 feel in the prosperity of the institution or refrain from acknowledging tho 
 devoted services which some of them have rendered in its administration. 
 But, on the other hand, absorbing public cares, professional avocations, and 
 the pursuits of private life, must, in many instances, prevent those indi- 
 viduals whose assistance might have been best relied on from giving any- 
 thing like continued attention to the affairs of the institution." 
 
 While the report alludes, in the above language, to the 
 inability of such official persons, in general, to attend with 
 sufficient particularity to any extra business incidental to 
 affairs out of the sphere of their more appropriate duties. 
 it makes an exception in favor of the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, who, in the words of the report, "gave to its affairs 
 .more time and attention than we could have supposed it 
 possible for a person the most active to have spared from 
 his momentous and sacred duties." 
 
 The commissioners dwell at length upon the tact that the 
 trustees were not in the habit of communicating directly 
 with any other officers of the institution but the secretary, 
 as in the following passage: 
 
 " The secretary attends all the meetings, and the officers of the establish- 
 ment, generally, are perfectly aware of the extent of his influence and con- 
 trol over the business, while he has no direct responsibility for the conduct 
 or actual state of any department. 
 
 " There may be many cases, certainly, in which it is not expedient only, 
 but necessary, that the board should deliberate in the absence even of the 
 principal librarian, or of the heads of departments; but there must be ex- 
 ceptional cases, and considering the persons who are heads of departments, 
 and the knowledge and ability by which they are and ought to be distin- 
 guished, it seems impossible to suppose that the trustees would not derive the 
 greatest assistance from immediate, full and unreserved communication 
 with them on questions arising in the administration of their respective 
 departments. We find, however, there is scarcely one of the highest officers 
 of the institution who has not complained of systematic exclusion from the 
 board when the affairs of his department are under consideration, as equally 
 disparaging to himself and injurious to the interests of the department 
 giving no opportunity of explaining their reports or meeting the objec- 
 tions and criticisms to which they may have been subject; and their own 
 absence, joined to that of the principal librarian, leaves them under the 
 painful but natural impression, where their suggestions are disallowed, that 
 the interests with which they are charged have not been fully represented. 
 We cannot but ascribe to this cause the unfortunate and unseemly jealousies 
 which the evidence shows to have long existed among the principal officers 
 of the museum ; their distrust in the security of the means by which they 
 communicate with the board, their misgivings as to the fullness and fairness 
 <>f the consideration which their suggestions receive, and their feelings of 
 injustice done to their own department, arising, it may be, from an over 
 zeal for its interests or over estimate of its importance. 
 
 Finally, they use this language in reference to what they 
 judge to be the too overshadowing power allowed to the 
 secretary by the trustees : 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. G05 
 
 " From his control of the business, constant intercourse with the trustees,, 
 and attendance at all their meetings, he has arisen to be the most important 
 officer in the establishment, though without that responsibility which at- 
 tached to the principal librarian and the heads of departments. The in- 
 fluence possessed by this oflScer in the affairs of the museum has followed 
 the usual course where the secretary is permanent, and where the adminis- 
 trative board is fluctuating, and must depend mainly upon the secretary for 
 the information required in the dispatch of ordinary business." (Report 
 of Commission.) 
 
 The case of the British Museum confirms the conviction; 
 that whatever power is lodged in the secretary and we do 
 not advise to encroach upon or to diminish his authority it 
 is all-important to have it defined and guided, and guarded 
 by express regulation. Gentlemen of education and refined 
 sensibilities will be willing to conform to rules in the shape 
 of law, but will always reluct against and resent the exercise 
 of absolute and unrestrained power. Every American heart 
 instinctively resists arbitrary authority; no reasonable mind 
 objects to conformity to established regulations, and obedi- 
 ence to defined, permanent, and uniform rules. Beyond 
 those rules the rights of a subordinate officer are as perfect 
 as those of any other man. Within them he feels that it is 
 no degradation to obey. It is not at all improbable that 
 many of the difficulties that have been encountered in the 
 British Museum and in the Smithsonian Institution have 
 arisen not so much from lodging too much power in the 
 secretary as from the absence of by-laws fully defining the 
 powers, duties, and relations of all the officers employed in 
 them The committee is particularly desirous to have it 
 understood that they feel justified in expressing a very de- 
 cided opinion that the difficulties that have arisen, and which 
 the evidence sufficiently discloses, in the bosom of the mst 
 tution, and the dissatisfaction that may exist in some por- 
 tions of the community, may safely be attributed to the 
 causes just mentioned, and not in the least to any want of 
 fidelity or zeal on the part of its managers 
 
 As it respects the general policy advocated by the friends 
 of a library to make it the prominent feature of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, the committee are of opinion that 
 funds of the institution are sufficient to accomplish that < 
 iect at a more rapid rate of gradual accumulation than here- 
 tofore, without essentially impairing the usefulness and 
 efficacy of the policy pursued at present by the managers 
 Active operations, original researches, and the publicati, 
 of scientific treatises, if the whole income were consumed 
 in them, would have to be confined far within the limit, 
 what would be desirable, A limitation must be suffered at 
 some point within the income ; and the satisfaction < 
 
'606 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 country is of greater importance than a few thousand dol- 
 lars, more or less, expended in either direction. 
 
 But a few words are needed to do justice to the value of 
 .a great universal library at the metropolis of the Union. 
 Every person who undertakes to prepare and publish a book 
 on any subject will be found to bear testimony to the need 
 of such a library. The great historians and classical writer.- 
 of the country have to send abroad, often to go abroad in 
 person, in order to obtain materials for their works. All 
 literary men are eager to inspect catalogues and explore 
 alcoves in the prosecution of their favorite departments, 
 and there is no direction in which they are more tempted 
 to drain their generally quite moderate resources than in 
 the purchase of books. Such a library as would be accum- 
 ulated by an appropriation of $20,000 annually for twenty 
 years, judiciously expended, would be frequented by schol- 
 ars and authors in much larger numbers than persons not 
 acquainted with their wants will be likely to suppose. In 
 half a century it would give to America a library imequaled 
 in value, and probably in size, in the world. 
 
 There is a special reason why such a library should be 
 provided at this seat of the Federal Government. The an- 
 nals of all other countries, running buck into the past, are 
 soon shrouded in fable or lost in total darkness ; but ours. 
 during their whole duration, are within the range of un- 
 clouded history. The great social, moral, and political ex- 
 periment here going on, to test the last hope of humanity, 
 is capable of being described in clear and certain record-. 
 The history of each State and Territory can be written on 
 the solid basis of ascertained facts. In each State and Ter- 
 ritory there are, and, from the first, have been, many per- 
 sons who are preparing, and have published, works illus- 
 trative of the entire progress of those respective communi- 
 ties. In local histories, commemorative addresses, and the 
 vast variety of productions of this sort, our literature is rich 
 and ample beyond that of any other people. There is no way 
 in which the patriotism and virtue of a people can be so 
 effectually fostered and strengthened as by cherishing in 
 their breasts an interest in their ancestry, in the incidenis 
 that have marked the fortunes of their States, their towns, 
 and the scenes of their residence the transmitted reminis- 
 cences of their homes and firesides. It would be a great 
 and a good thing, could there be collected in a national 
 library, in distinct alcoves, all valuable publications illustrat- 
 ing the history of the several States of this Union. Differ- 
 ent processes of legislation, and various social and political 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 607 
 
 influences, have operated upon them severally, and the 
 records of the results ought to be here for the inspection 
 and instruction of the representatives of the people them- 
 selves, and of the whole world. 
 
 But, if every other description of books is avoided or 
 crowded out, there is one which surely ought not to be. 
 If the resources of the institution are to be exclusively or 
 mainly devoted to science rather than to general literature 
 and knowledge, it ought, at any rate, to have within its 
 walls a perfect and universal library of science and art 
 not merely modern science and recent researches, but all 
 the publications, of all ages and all countries, that illustrate 
 the progress of science, as such. If we cannot have a uni- 
 versal library, give us, at -least, a scientific library such as 
 no other nation can boast. 
 
 One advantage of a liberal expenditure for a library, not 
 to be thought lightly of in a government resting entirely on 
 popular opinion, is that it results in something that shows 
 for itself; the people can see in it what has become of the 
 money. It would forever grow before their eyes, and, in 
 all coming generations, from its unapproached and ever ex- 
 panding; magnitude, would be an object of perpetually in- 
 creasing national pride. Under the present policy the funds 
 disappear, as they are expended, however salutary their 
 application may have been, and the only monuments are a 
 few volumes, admirable no doubt in their form and sub- 
 stance, highly appreciated by scientific societies at home and 
 abroad, but never seen by the people. 
 
 The short time allowed them, the necessary consequent 
 inadequateness of their investigations and deliberations, 
 and the impossibility of any legislative action by this Con- 
 gress, restrain the committee from reporting any bill to the 
 House ; but, in view of all circumstances, as a measure of 
 peace as a mutual concession, which in such a matter is the 
 only way of settling a difficulty, they would express their 
 conviction that the compromise adopted at an early day by 
 the Board of Regents ought to be restored, and that all de- 
 sirable ends may be ultimately secured by dividing the in- 
 come equally between the library and museum on one part, 
 and active operations on the other. 
 
 The only other suggestion the committee have to make 
 is the expediency, in order to avoid all embarrassment in 
 future to have each division of the institution placed under 
 its proper and distinctive head. Let the secretary have 
 -e of the active operations, preside over the scientific 
 
608 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 researches, and direct the publications. Let the librarian- 
 have charge of the library and museum. If the two depart- 
 ments are thus separated^ and placed under the control of 
 well-devised and clearly defined regulations, never interfer- 
 ing with each other, but working freely and harmoniously 
 in their respective spheres, each principal responsible only 
 for his own province, and subject alike to a common head, 
 whether the Secretary of the Interior or a Board of Regents, 
 the institution would, we think, be found to work most 
 auspiciously, and produce the best and greatest results. 
 
 Mr. WM. H. WITTE, of Penn., from the Select Commit tee, 
 made the following report : 
 
 The Select Committee, to whom was referred the letter of 
 the Hon. Rufus Choate, resigning the office of regent of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, also the resolution thereon 
 to inquire whether the Smithsonian Institution bus been 
 managed and its funds expended in accordance with t lie- 
 law establishing it, and whether any additional legisla- 
 tion be necessary to carry out the design of its founders, 
 report 
 
 [Mr. NATH. G. TAYLOR, of Tenn., coiieurring: and Mr. 
 RICHARD C. PURYEAR, of North Carolina, and Mr. DAN- 
 IEL WELLS, of Wisconsin, although not dissenting from 
 all the views, preferred not to sign either this report or 
 the report made by Mr. Upharn alone.] 
 
 That they have made a patient examination of the insti- 
 tution, and have concluded that there is no just cause of 
 complaint against the regents or the secretary, in regard to 
 the construction of the act of Congress establishing the in- 
 stitution, and the plan of organization adopted by tbe 
 regents, or the manner in which its affairs have been ad- 
 ministered. The subjects included in the resolution may- 
 be appropriately arranged under the following heads : 
 
 1. The proper construction of the act of Congress estab- 
 lishing the institution. 
 
 2. The plan of organizing and administering the affairs of 
 the institution adopted by the regents in pursuance of the 
 law. 
 
 3. The question whether any new legislation is necessary. 
 
 4. The administration of this plan by the regents and 
 secretary. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 609 
 
 Of these the committee will treat in the order in which 
 they are stated : 
 
 1. The proper construction of the act of Congress. 
 
 The question whether the bequest of Mr. Smithson should 
 be applied chiefly to the formation of a great national libra- 
 ry, or to researches for the increase of knowledge, and the pub- 
 lication and circulation of their results, for its diffusion among 
 men, divided the opinion of the members of the Board of 
 Regents at their first meeting. These differences of opin- 
 ion were compromised at the organization of the institution 
 by a resolution, which the regents have lately repealed. 
 
 That resolution provided, prospectively, and, on a contin- 
 gency which may be said to have just occurred, (the com- 
 pletion of the Smithsonian building) for an equal division 
 of the fund committed to the care of the Board of Regents 
 between the two objects above stated : a national library, 
 museum and gallery of art on the one hand, and researches, 
 publications and lectures on the other. 
 
 This compromise resolution has been repealed by the 
 Board of Regents during their present session, and instead 
 of it they have adopted the following : 
 
 "Resolved, That hereafter the annual appropriations shall be apportioned 
 specifically among the different objects and operations of the institution in 
 such manner as may, in the judgment of the regents, be necessary and 
 proper for each, according to its intrinsic importance, and a compliance in 
 good faith with the law." 
 
 The adoption of this resolution was followed by the resig- 
 nation of Mr. Choate, one of the regents, and in his letter 
 of resignation, addressed to the Speaker of the House, he 
 assumes that the act of Congress presented a rule of appro- 
 priation which is set aside by the resolution. Whether the 
 Board of Regents or Mr. Choate are right in this respect 
 must be determined by a reference to the act of Congress. 
 
 When it had created the institution, given it a corporate 
 name, invested it with certain powers, subjected it to specific 
 restrictions, provided for the erection of a suitable building, 
 and directed an annual appropriation not exceeding $25,000 
 for the gradual formation of a library, it proceeded to de- 
 clare that of any other moneys accrued, or to accrue as interest 
 on the fund, not otherwise appropriated nor required for the 
 purposes therein provided, the managers were thereby "au- 
 thorized to make such disposal as they shall deem best suited 
 for the promotion of the purposes of the testator, anything 
 therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding." 
 
 Beyond any reasonable controversy, here is a discretion- 
 ary and controlling power given to the Board of Regents 
 39 
 
CIO CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. ' 
 
 over the whole income of the fund, except only such portion 
 of it as had been appropriated, or should be required for 
 purposes provided by the act. To determine the extent of 
 this discretionary power, it becomes necessary then to ascer- 
 tain what appropriation had been made, and what purposes 
 were provided by the act. 
 
 It directs the selection of a lot and the erection of a suit- 
 able building, but does not limit the amount of expenditure, 
 nor make any appropriation for it. It provides "that in 
 proportion as suitable arrangement can be made for their 
 reception," the several objects specified in the 6th section 
 shall be delivered to the order of the Board of Regents, and 
 requires the arrangements and classification of tlu'in. 
 
 It directs the regents to appropriate "from the interest <>t 
 said fund a sum not exceeding an average of $25,000 annually 
 for the gradual formation of a library," and then places the 
 whole residue of the increase of the fund at their disposal. 
 Can this be doubted ? For the various purposes provided 
 by the act no appropriations are made. The library forms 
 the only exception, and the sole limit of the discretionary 
 power of the regents over appropriations for a library i> 
 that they shall not exceed an annual average of 25,000. 
 Within that limit their discretion is full and entire. Sup- 
 pose any appropriation made in any IT'IYCM year for the 
 gradual formation of a library, can any one doubt that the 
 regents have the power to make such an appropriation or so 
 to limit it? And is there any reason why they might not 
 limit the appropriation to a still smaller sum ? They might, 
 indeed, be liable to the charge of evading the law, if those 
 appropriations were for mere nominal sums, so that in the 
 course of a series of years no sensible progress could be 
 made in the gradual formation of a library. But this is an 
 extreme case, from which no argument can be drawn against 
 their discretion to limit the appropriation fora library, while 
 intending in good faith to provide for its gradual formation. 
 
 Then suppose them to apply an amount sufficient to meet 
 all the expenses necessarily resulting from the provisions of 
 the act, still there would remain a considerable sum not ap- 
 plied to any purpose. If the Board of Regents believe that 
 its application to scientific researches and their publication 
 be " best suited for the promotion of the purposes of the 
 testator," can it be doubted that they would have the right 
 so to apply it ? 
 
 The ninth section of the act gives this power in full. 
 When they have met the current expenses of the institu- 
 tion, from time to time made the necessary appropriations 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 611 
 
 for the buildings in process of erection, and, exercising their 
 discretion within the limit prescribed to them, have made 
 an annual appropriation for a library, what remains is 
 placed at their u disposal," to promote the purposes of the 
 testator by the use of such means as " they (the Board of 
 Regents) shall deem best suited" to accomplish this object. 
 In construing the act of Congress the committee confine 
 themselves to the act itself to the plain import of the terms 
 in which it is expressed, and to. the necessary results of the 
 provisions which it contains. They do not resort to what 
 is called its parliamentary history. The reported speeches 
 of members upon the bill while pending in Congress, and 
 even votes upon amendments made or rejected, do not 
 answer this purpose. The first only disclose the individual 
 opinions of the speakers the second frequently do not ex- 
 hibit the object of those who voted for or against the par- 
 ticular amendment. A speech made by one member is 
 often at variance with the views of those who unite with 
 him in voting for a particular provision. They frequently 
 sustain it on other and different grounds. So too the ma- 
 jority or intermediate vote is frequently composed of the 
 friends and opponents of the bill ; the latter advocating a 
 particular amendment with the hope and in the belief that 
 it will prove an incumbrance to the measure in the view of 
 some of its advocates, and thus contribute to its defeat; or 
 they may think that a particular proviso proposed to be 
 stricken out is unnecessary as being comprehended in some 
 other part of the act, 
 
 A careful scrutiny of the proceedings of the House of 
 of Representatives, while this law was pending before 
 them, would show how unsafe a guide the resort to the 
 parliamentary history of a bill would be in the ascer- 
 tainment of its true construction. This may reconcile us to 
 an adherence to those rules which the wisdom of ages has 
 devised for the interpretation of statutes. We are endeav- 
 oring to ascertain the powers and duties of the Board of 
 Regents, and to do this we seek to discover the true inter- 
 pretation of the act of Congress and the will of Mr. Smith- 
 son, which, taken together, confer their powers and pre- 
 scribe their duties. These two sources of power and duty 
 are spoken of as necessarily connected ; for, although the 
 Smithsonian Institution was created by act of Congress, and 
 will cease to exist whenever Congress shall think proper to 
 repeal that act, yet both Congress and the institution, so 
 long as it continues to exist, are bound to carry the inten- 
 tion of the testator into effect. 
 
G12 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The trust has been accepted by Congress in behalf of the- 
 United States, and the faith of the United States has been 
 pledged for its faithful execution " according to the will of 
 the enlightened and liberal donor." While, therefore, 
 Congress, acting as agents of the United States, have the 
 power to divert the fund to purposes other than those which 
 may be according to " the will of the liberal and enlightened 
 donor," their right to do so can never be affirmed ; and 
 though the Board of Regents cannot and do not claim a 
 right to place themselves in an antagonistical position to the 
 Congress of the United States, whose sub-agents they are, 
 yet in construing the act of Congress, if it will admit of two 
 constructions, one of which seems to be most conformable 
 to the purposes of the will of Smithson, the regents would 
 not hesitate to accept such construction in preference to the 
 other which does not conform to the will of the testator. 
 This is merely the application of a principle universally 
 recognized in the interpretation of statutes. 
 
 In the present case two constructions are given to the act 
 of Congress. If the Board of Regents consider one of them 
 to be more consonant to the purposes of Mr. Smithson's 
 will, which was the source of the authority of Congress to 
 legislate on the subject for any purpose, it ought to be 
 adopted, since the act was passed evidently t<>r the pur- 
 pose of carrying into execution "the will of the donor," 
 and especially when this interpretation affects two provi- 
 sions of the act, which otherwise would be without object 
 or operation. 
 
 The committee will now proceed to inquire whether the 
 scientific researches, and the publication of their results, 
 are, in the language of the acts of Congress, " best suited to 
 promote the purpose of the testator." The question is 
 between such researches, made and published at Washing- 
 ton, or examined under the authority of the institution, and 
 circulated throughout the civilized world, and a grout na- 
 tional library, to be established in this city. Mr. Smithson 
 was a scholar, a man of science, an author of scientific me- 
 moirs, a contributor to the Transactions of the Royal Society 
 of London, familiar with the language in which his will is 
 written, and perfectly competent to decide upon the apti- 
 tude of words to convey the ideas they were intended to 
 express. 
 
 It might well be expected that the language of such a 
 man would be characterized by simplicity, by the absence 
 of circumlocution and periphrasis, which 'is well described 
 as the use of many words to express the meaning of one. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 613 
 
 If he had intended to furnish to the people of the United 
 States, and especially to the citizens of Washington, a great 
 library, comprehending all that was then known in eveiy 
 department of human knowledge and culture, he would 
 have said so in terms not to be misunderstood. The com- 
 mittee cannot doubt that if lie had merely designed to pro- 
 vide for the purchase of books, to become, through the 
 .agency of the United States, the founder of a library, he 
 would' have used the simple language appropriate to such 
 an intention. He would have said: "I bequeath the whole 
 of my property, subject, &c., to the United States of Amer- 
 ica, to found, at Washington, a library, under the name of 
 the Smithsonian Library." 
 
 It is difficult to believe that any man having such an ob- 
 ject in view would have abandoned the plain, simple, intel- 
 ligible language, in which no difference of construction 
 could, by any possibility, have arisen, and have substituted 
 for it the sentence which is found in his will, namely : " To 
 found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men." 
 
 Again, Mr. Smithsou was, as the committee have before 
 said, a man of science, the author of scientific memoirs, a 
 member of the Royal Society, and a contributor to its Trans- 
 actions. What is more natural than that such a man should, 
 when about to pass away from the scene of action, dedicate 
 his property to the continued prosecution of those researches 
 to which his life had been principally devoted. The words 
 of the bequest are strongly corroborative of this view. It 
 is for the " increase of knowledge," not merely for the ac- 
 quirement of that which now exists. A library would sub- 
 serve the latter purpose, but could only indirectly aid in the 
 accomplishment of the former by enabling those who had 
 mastered its contents to do what the board is now doing, 
 namely to prosecute researches for the increase of knowl- 
 edge. But the terms of the bequest require not merely that 
 it should be applied to the increase of knowledge, but also 
 to its diffusion, and to its diffusion AMONG MEN. 
 
 The benevolent purposes of Mr. Smithson were not lim- 
 ited to the citizens of Washington, nor yet to the people of 
 the United States. They had a far wider scope. A man 
 of science belongs exclusively to no particular country. 
 He is in one sense a cosmopolite, at home in all places 
 where the votaries of science dwell, and under every clime 
 .they are the objects of his benevolence. They are men 
 
614 . CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 among whom be desires the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 And he has provided for this in his will. How could a 
 vast library established here accomplish this object? At 
 most it would be accessible to the people of Washington, 
 to casual visitors, and to those who came here for the pur- 
 pose of consulting its volumes. How infinitely short would 
 this fall of the purpose of the testator, which was first the 
 wirease and then the diffusion of knowledge among men of 
 whatever country or whatever clime. 
 
 If a national library be a national want, who should sup- 
 ply it? Cannot Congress, which represents a population of 
 twenty-five millions, with resources almost incalculable, 
 and with a treasury not exhausted or impoverished, but 
 overflowing with revenue? Can it not spare out of this 
 abundance whatever may be necessary? Is it not now 
 supplying that want in the great library of Congress, to 
 which: in the last three .years they have appropriated more 
 than ninety thousand dollars ? It is accessible now to every 
 scholar who may be at Washington, and will in a lew years 
 be so increased under the policy of it- present administra- 
 tion as to supply many of the wants of the student and the * 
 scientific investigator. Shall a nation >udi as ours depend 
 for this national want upon the bounty of a stranger? The 
 generous impulse of the American heart will quickly 
 prompt the answer no. 
 
 The resolutions of .compromise, as they were called, to 
 which the committee have before alluded, were repealed by 
 the Board of Regents before the period when by their terms 
 they were to go into operation. What has been already 
 said will show that the committee think that they were 
 properly repealed. Their effect was to tie up the hands of 
 the Board of Regents, to deny to the successors of those 
 who passed them the exercise of that discretion with which 
 the law invested the board, and thus to defeat the act of 
 Congress by taking away that discretion in regard to the 
 disposal of the fund which the law made it not only the right 
 but the duty of the regents to exercise. Nor can there be 
 any breach of faith in this repeal. The faith which the re- 
 gents owe is to the law and to the purpose of the will of 
 Smithson, and any arrangement of their own -which should 
 restrain them from promoting this purpose by the means 
 which they deem best suited to it, would itself, in the 
 opinion of the committee, approach more nearly to a breach 
 of faith. 
 
 The regents, by pledging their faith to one another, can- 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 615 
 
 not escape from the obligation to apply the funds at their 
 control to the objects which they deem best suited to pro- 
 mote the purpose of the testator. The act of Congress, 
 according to the plain import of its terms, authorizes the 
 Board of Regents to employ all moneys arising from the 
 income of the endowment not therein appropriated nor re- 
 quired for the purpose therein provided, in such manner as 
 they shall deem best suited for the " purpose of the testator,'' 
 namely, " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men," and this authority is rendered incontestible, in the 
 judgment of the committee, by the concluding clause of the 
 section which empowers the Board of Regents to exercise 
 their discretion in the disposal of the surplus income, "ANY- 
 THING HEREIN (the act of Congress) CONTAINED TO THE CON- 
 TRARY NOTWITHSTANDING." 
 
 This grant of the power imposes the obligation to exer- 
 cise the discretion which it confers. Judicial tribunals 
 would never reverse the construction of a statute, the 
 terms of which were so plain and unmistakeable, by what 
 is at all times dangerous, a resort to speeches made by 
 a few of the lawgivers who framed it, or the votes of 
 members actuated by motives beyond the scrutiny of the 
 expounder. Looking, therefore, to the act of Congress it- 
 self, which, as was said by a Senator in a recent discussion , 
 is best construed by " the examination and comparison of its 
 various provisions and the admitted purpose of its enact- 
 ment," the committee found no difficulty in coming to these 
 conclusions on this point. They find in the law directions 
 to the Board of Regents to erect, on a liberal scale, a build- 
 ing in which can be arranged collections of natural history, 
 a geological and mineral ogical cabinet, a museum, a library, 
 chemical laboratory, gallery of art, a lecture room ; and, of 
 course, to use these various means of increasing knowledge in, 
 the manner and for the purpose to which they are adapted, 
 and for which they are required. In effect the law says : 
 "All other portions of the income dispose of as you may 
 think best calculated to promote the purpose of the testator.' 5 
 A larger discretion can hardly be conceived. It is absolutely 
 unlimited in relation to every one of its objects except a 
 library, and to this the appropriations which the regents 
 are authorized to make are limited to a maximum amount 
 which they are not at liberty to exceed. It would seem to 
 be most singular, if this had been the primary and cherished 
 object of Congress that it should be the only one subjected 
 to such a limitation. 
 
 It might be thought, if this had been their primary pur- 
 
616 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 pose, that the restrictions would have been imposed upon 
 the appropriations for other objects, leaving that for the 
 library unfettered. If we turn from the act of Congress to 
 the will of Smithson to determine the manner in which the 
 trust should be executed, if we look to his antecedents and 
 find that he was himself a searcher into the mysteries of 
 nature which science is laboring to develope not so much 
 employed in studying the pages of those who have written 
 as striving to read the unwritten pages of nature's book if 
 we consider the plain and obvious import of the simple 
 language in which his wishes are expressed, and contem- 
 plate the benefits to result from one or the other scheme of 
 appropriation which have been in controversy; if we con- 
 sider these things, we cannot doubt that it is botli the right 
 and the duty of the regents, resulting from the will of Smith- 
 son and enjoined yq the act of Congress, to appropriate such 
 portion of his funds as they can advantageously employ in 
 scientific researches and the publication and circulation of 
 the results "among men," wherever men exist capable of 
 appreciating them, while, at the same time, they apply another 
 portion of the fund, according to a sound and honest discre- 
 tion, to the particular purposes specified in the act. 
 
 Thus they will not depart from any plan devised by Con- 
 gress and prescribed in the act, as Mr. Choate seems to have 
 erroneously supposed, but will fill up and develope that very 
 plan, of which only some of the outlines were sketched in 
 the law. 
 
 It would be impracticable, within the limits proper to this 
 report, to go into the examination of the minute outline of 
 organization of the institution submitted to the Board of 
 Eegents by the secretary, and approved by them. It will 
 be found printed in detail in the appendix to the eighth 
 annual report of the Smithsonian Institution, published by 
 Congress in 1854. 
 
 A brief notice of the plan and of its results is all that we 
 can here present. 
 
 The object of the plan is, first: To increase knowledge 
 by stimulating original research by the rapid and full pub- 
 lication of results; by aid in procuring the materials and 
 appliances for investigation; and, if necessary, by direct 
 rewards. 
 
 Experience has shown that no other means are so effective 
 in stimulating research as the rapid publication of results; 
 not in a stinted form of abstract, and without illustrations, 
 (too often the necessary condition of the publication of scien- 
 tific labors,) but in full, with illustrations drawn, engraved, 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 617 
 
 and printed in the best style of art. How many investiga- 
 tions are stopped for the want of instruments, of specimens, 
 and general appliances for research? How many are laid 
 aside, because, first of all, men must live? What more 
 noble or useful object for the Smithsonian Institution than 
 to remove these difficulties from the path of genius ? What 
 more consonant to the intention of the founder : An expe- 
 dition is setting out, and instruments are required to investi- 
 gate the magnetism of the earth, the temperature of the 
 ocean, the climate, soil, and productions of places explored, 
 their latitudes and longitudes, heights, &c. These instru- 
 ments are lent or furnished by the Smithsonian Institution, 
 and the results obtained with them become public property. 
 Means are furnished to explorers to make collections of 
 minerals and ores; of plants and animals; of fishes, reptiles, 
 and insects; and to provide for their transportation from 
 the field. These collections are submitted to the most suc- 
 cessful cultivators of the branches of science to which they 
 belong; to men who have made these objects their especial 
 study, and their investigations are made public. The speci- 
 mens are returned to the Smithsonian collections to be taken 
 care of, and, perhaps, to be re-examined at some more ad- 
 vanced period. By these and similar modes research is stimu- 
 lated. The provision of meteorological instruments, and of 
 instructions for their use; the collections of the observations 
 made, and their comparisons, have already furnished most 
 important information in regard to the climate and storms of 
 the United States, and the full publication of the results will 
 enable men of science, of this and other countries, to draw 
 from these materials most valuable inferences and laws. 
 
 2. To diffuse knowledge, by the publication of the contribu- 
 tions, from researches and explorations, of reports on treatises 
 on different subjects or branches of science and its applica- 
 tion, of reports showing the history and progress of these 
 subjects or branches, is the second object of the " active 
 operations." These publications diffuse among men the 
 knowledge obtained by the agency of the institution, or from 
 without. The subjects which have been already embraced 
 in the Smithsonian Contributions, and in the different volumes 
 of reports, &c., have been numerous and well distributed 
 among the various branches of knowledge, the abstract and 
 the practical. The publications are widely scattered among 
 the institutions of this and of other countries, given to them 
 or exchanged for their proceedings, transactions, or other 
 publications, and accessible at moderate rates to individuals. 
 Of the impression made abroad by the Smithsonian Contri- 
 
618 .CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDIN . 
 
 b.utions to Knowledge the learned Professor of Greek of 
 Harvard University [C. C. Felton] thus speaks : 
 
 " CAMBRIDGE, MASS., June 30, 1854. 
 
 " I have but recently returned from Europe, and I now desire to ac- 
 knowledge the service you did me by your circular letter of introduction 
 to the librarians of the European establishments, which are in correspond- 
 ence with the Smithsonian Institution. Wherever I presented it I was 
 received with great kindness and attention, and had the opportunity of 
 seeing whatever was curious, interesting, and valuable, in the libraries and 
 collections. 
 
 " It gave me pleasure to notice the high estimation in which the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, under its present management, is held everywhere in 
 Europe. The volumes published under its auspices have done the highest 
 honor to American science, and are considered most valuable contribution- 
 to the stock of knowledge among men. They are shown to visitor- :i- 
 among the most creditable publications of the age, and as highly interest- 
 ing illustrations of the progress of science and the arts in the Unitrd 
 States ; and the eagerness to possess them is very great among the savans 
 of the Old World. They were shown to me wherever I \\vnt, and the 
 commendations bestowed on the civilization of America, as evinced by the 
 excellence of these works, both in matter and form, was deeply gratifying 
 to me. The last time I had an opportunity of seeing them was in the uni- 
 versity library at Athens; the librarian pointed them out to mo, .and ex- 
 pressed the greatest anxiety to complete the set, one or two volumes or 
 which were wantrng." 
 
 .The publications tlms approved bring to the Smithsonian 
 Institution a return of works published by the learned soci- 
 eties of the world and by governments such us could not he 
 procured in any other way, supplying the library with rich 
 productions of both literature and science. The gradual 
 formation of a valuable library would result from this 
 system of international exchanges even without direct pur- 
 chase. 
 
 The programme of organization of the institution and 
 its execution have met with the unqualified support of a 
 very large majority of the scientific and literary men of 
 our country, expressed individually or in the associations of 
 which they are members. This is general throughout the 
 Union, and from no quarter have more decidedly favorable 
 opinions been expressed than from that to which the regent 
 at whose instance this investigation has been made (Mr. 
 Choate) belongs. The committee must necessarily be brief in 
 its selections from the numerous letters and other commu- 
 nications before it. In speaking of the general considera- 
 tions proposed by Professor Henry as guides in adopting a 
 plan of organization, a committee "of the American Acad- 
 emy of Arts and Sciences of Boston, say, that " they com- 
 mand the entire assent of the committee,'' and proceed to 
 discuss favorably the various provisions for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge furnished by the programme. This 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 619* 
 
 committee consisted of such scholars as Everett, Sparks.. 
 and Longfellow, and such .men of science as Peirce and 
 
 Since the appointment of this committee Professor Peirce,. 
 of Harvard University, has renewed his testimony to the 
 wisdom of the plan of organization, and has spoken further 
 in relation to the efficiency of its execution. In a letter 
 addressed to the chairman of this committee, he says : 
 
 " Of all men, none can be more sensible of the value of the great store- 
 houses of the wisdom of past ages than they who are obliged to resort to 
 them in the development of their own researches. The knowledge which 
 has already been given to the world, and which is accumulated in the li brary, 
 stimulates and invigorates the mind for original thoughts and supp h< 
 portant materials for investigation ; it is to the author what the collection 
 of models in the Patent Office is to the inventor ; but, nevertheless, the in- 
 crease of knowledge depends chiefly upon the native vigor of intellect ai 
 Us diffusion is performed by the press. To the strong mind the collec ions 
 of the Vatican are a golden opportunity, richer than the mineral harvest 
 of California; but not richer than the hills and streams which abound 
 withfn every man's sight ; not richer than the stone beneath our feet on 
 which is written the history of the world ; than the leaf of the forest on 
 which is inscribed the thought of its Creator; or than the cloud in the 
 Hghtning8 of whlcb the law? and the glory of God are as distinctly re- 
 yfaled to the faithful of the present generation as they were upon Mount 
 
 The valuable contributions to knowledge which have already been made 
 
 i 
 
 Snalitv of thought. Do you believe that Smithson, who was him- 
 Sf en|uge a d Vn chemicJl investigations, could have intended a library by 
 his words an institution for the increase and diffus on ^nowledge 
 nmonir men ?" If you will examine his nine memoirs to the Koyal feociety, 
 
 of Smithson's will and the law of Congress. 
 
620 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 committee, the strongest expression of his favorable opinion 
 of the working of the institution. The committee has space 
 here only for an extract from the letter referred to : 
 
 " Smitbson had already made his will and left his fortune to the Royal 
 Society of London, when certain scientific papers were offered to that 
 learned body for publication. Notwithstanding his efforts to have them 
 published in their Transactions, they were refused ; upon which he changed 
 his will and made his bequest to the United States. It would be easy to 
 collect in London more minute information upon this occurrence, and 
 should it appear desirable, I think I could put the committee in the way of 
 learning all the circumstances. Nothing seems to me to indicate more 
 plainly what were the testator's views respecting the best means of promot- 
 ing science than this fact. I will not deny the great importance of libra- 
 ries, and no one has felt more keenly the want of an extensive scientific 
 library than I have since I have been in the United States; but after nil, 
 libraries are only tools of a secondary value to those who are really en- 
 dowed by nature with the power of making original researches, and thus 
 increasing knowledge among men. And though the absence or deficiency 
 of libraries is nowhere so deeply felt as in America, the application of the 
 funds of the Smithsonian Institution to the formation of a library, beyond 
 the requirements of the daily progress of science, would only be, in my 
 humble opinion, a perversion of the real object of the trust, inasmuch as it 
 would tend to secure facilities only to the comparatively small number of 
 American students who may have the time and means to visit Washington 
 when they wish to consult a library. Such an application of the funds 
 would indeed lessen the ability of the Smithsonian Institution to accom- 
 plish its great object, which is declared by its founder to be the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men, to the lull extent to which they 
 may be spent to increase unduly the library. 
 
 u Moreover, American students have a just claim upon their own country 
 for such local facilities as the accumulation of books affords. 
 
 u It' I am allowed, in conclusion, to state my personal impression respect- 
 ing the management of the institution thus far, I would only express my 
 concurrence with the plan of active operations adopted by the regents, 
 which has led to the publication of a series of volumes, equal in scientific 
 value to any productions of the same kind issued by learned societies any- 
 where. 
 
 u The distribution of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, has 
 already carried the name of the institution to all parts of the civilized 
 world, and conveyed with them such evidence of the intellectual activity 
 of America as challenges everywhere admiration ; a result which could 
 hardly be obtained by applying the resources of the institution to other 
 , purposes." 
 
 3. Additional legislation. 
 
 From what has been already said, it may well be inferred 
 that the committee have been unable to see anything either 
 in the provisions of the law, or the administration of the 
 institution which requires reform by additional legislation. 
 Indeed, they could not imagine on what ground additional 
 legislation could be demanded, if they had not been in- 
 formed by the lion. Mr. Meacham, who presented the reso- 
 lution under which the committee was appointed. That 
 gentleman was invited to attend the meetings of the com- 
 mittee, was authorized to present charges and specifications 
 aipon any branch of the subject referred to them, as also to 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 621". 
 
 direct summons for witnesses, and to conduct the examina- 
 tion whenever he desired to do so. He pointed out only 
 two particulars as requiring additional legislation. 
 
 The first was, " that additional legislation was needed to 
 secure impartiality towards authors who apply for the pub- 
 lication of their researches." No instance of partiality or 
 injustice in this respect has been brought to the notice of 
 the committee by proof or by allegation. The idea seems 
 to have been advanced for the first time by one of the as- 
 sistants of the secretary, (Mr. Jewett,) in a communication 
 addressed to a special committee of the regents in the year 
 1854. 
 
 The argument there made by Mr. Jewett has been abbre- 
 viated by Mr. Meacham, and may be stated as objecting that 
 the power of accepting or rejecting a memoir presented for 
 publication is virtually in the hands of one man. 
 
 The practice of the Eoyal Society of London is stated as 
 being far preferable. On this point the committee would 
 remark that the same plan cannot be adopted by the insti- 
 tution because, as the committee has been informed, it has 
 no fellows from whom an examining council of twenty-one 
 members may be selected. And if the plan could be 
 adopted the committee do not think it as good as the one 
 which the regents have chosen. In the present state of 
 knowledge the several branches can scarcely be represented 
 by twenty-one individuals, and it may occur in case of a 
 particular paper that not a single member of the council is 
 fully competent to decide upon its merits. The institution 
 is not thus restricted ; it has at its command the learning 
 of the whole country, and is not even confined in its choice 
 of examiners to men of science at home, but can select 
 them from distinguished individuals abroad. 
 
 The rules adopted by the regents are in this respect few 
 and simple, and in the opinion of the committee sufficient* 
 They have provided in their programme of organization as 
 follows : 
 
 1st. No memoir, on subjects of physical science, to be 
 accepted for publication which does not furnish a positive 
 addition to human knowledge, resting on original research; 
 and all unverified speculations to be rejected. 
 
 2d. Each memoir presented to the institution to be sub- 
 mitted for examination to a commission of persons of repu- 
 tation for learning in the branch to which the memoir per- 
 tains; and to be accepted for publication only in case the 
 report of this commission is favorable. 
 
 3d. The commission to be chosen by the officers of the- 
 
<(322 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 institution, and the name of the author, as far as practicable 
 concealed, unless a favorable decision be made. 
 
 It will be perceived that there is nothing like a " star 
 chamber of science" in this part of the plan of the institu- 
 tion. The opinion of the commission is formed upon the 
 merits of the work or paper, and cannot be affected by par- 
 tiality for or prejudice against the author whose name 'is un- 
 known to them. 
 
 If any author should feel himself aggrieved by the ap- 
 pointment of an incompetent or prejudiced commission, he 
 will have no difficulty in presenting a complaint to the 
 Board of Regents, by whom another commission may be 
 -named. In fact, no well-founded complaint on this sco 
 has yet been made so far as has been shown to this commit- 
 tee, and the danger complained of seems to them only 
 speculative and fanciful. The Board of Iiegcnts have full 
 power to remedy whatever may be wrong in the practical 
 working of this part of the plan, and it will be time enough 
 to ask the interference of Congress when the evils which 
 are now only conjectural shall be realized. 
 
 2d. Mr. Meacham suggests, "that the institution should 
 be placed in such a position that legal redress may be 
 gained by those who are improperly deprived of their 
 rights." 
 
 It is true that the institution is not a corporation capable 
 of suing or being sued. But no practical evils have a* yet 
 resulted from the refusal of Congress to make the cstab- 
 ment an incorporation. It is a peculiar establishment. Its 
 operations are simple and few. Its contracts are such us 
 <jan seldom form the subject of controversy. If the institu- 
 tion should find necessity for legal redress, there is nothing 
 to prevent the President, who is a member of the establish- 
 ment, from directing a suit in the name of the United 
 States. If it denies legal rights to any officer or other per- 
 son, the same remedy exists as in any other case of claim 
 against the United States. No instance of a denial of legal 
 right has been shown to the committee. An attempt to do 
 so was indeed made on the part of an employee of the insti- 
 tution, who claimed to be entitled to larger compensation 
 than had been paid to him. But the attempt was a signal 
 failure. His own receipts contradicted his claims, and "sat- 
 isfied the committee that he had been paid all he could 
 legally demand; and the assertion of extraordinary merit in 
 his labors, alleged as an equitable ground of claim, failed 
 when a resort was had to testimony other than his own. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 623 
 
 The committee therefore conclude that there is no neces- 
 sity for additional legislation. 
 
 4. Maladministration. 
 
 The tirst of Mr. Meacham's complaints under this head is 
 "that the regents have made the secretary the organ of 
 communication between them and the other officers of the 
 institution, cutting off other officers from direct official in- 
 tercourse with the board, neglecting or refusing to procure 
 or make by-laws defining the position and power of persons 
 employed in the institution, and expressing the opinion that 
 all the assistants are removable at the pleasure of the sec- 
 retary." 
 
 This complaint seems to be founded on an entire misapr 
 prehension of the act of Congress creating the institution, 
 and the proper relations of the secretary and his subordir 
 nates. ^ By the act of Congress the secretary is the sole 
 administrative officer of the institution. The other officers 
 are not only his subordinates, but are nothing more than 
 .his assistants, who are employed to assist him in his duties 
 because it is physically impossible for him to perform all 
 of these duties himself. The law charges the secretary 
 alone with the duties enumerated, and therefore devolves 
 upon him the sole responsibility, unless when it is shared 
 with the executive committee of the regents, whose func- 
 tions are not precisely defined in the law, but who act as a 
 board of control or council to the secretary. We adopt on 
 this subject the reasoning of the special committee of the 
 Board of Eegents, in their report of the 20th of May last, as 
 follows : 
 
 u The law is declaratory and positive in charging the secretary with the 
 .enumerated duties, and therefore invests him, and him alone, with the cor- 
 responding powers. But as it must have been manifest that no secretary 
 could be able of himself to perform personally everything required for the 
 discharge of his enumerated duties, provision is made for aid to him in the 
 clause which says that he ' may, with the consent of the board, employ as- 
 sistants,' &c. 
 
 " The positions of the persons so employed are determined by the word 
 which designates them in the clause authorizing their employment. They 
 are called 'assistants.' To whom? Not to the regents, but to the secre- 
 tary. Their position is necessarily subordinate ; and, as their duties are 
 those of assistants to their principal, they can no more be independent of 
 him than they can be superior to him. This construction is so manifestly 
 proper that it would seem to require no argument to justify it. But if 
 anything further were wanted, it may be found in the fact that the secre- 
 tary is to employ them in and about that very business with which he is 
 charged, and for which he alone is responsible. The character of this part 
 of the section is permissive. He is not required to emploj* any one, but is 
 permitted to employ persons to assist him, provided he satisfy the board 
 that their services are necessary as aids to him. 
 
 " In another part of the same section provision is made for the payment 
 and, if need be, the removal of the secretary and his assistants, and in thii 
 
624 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 connection they are spoken of as officers, but by no ingenuity of construc- 
 tion can that word, in this connection, be held to assign them special duties, 
 or confer any separate authority. 
 
 " Thus careful has Congress been to provide an efficient system of opera- 
 tions, which can only come from harmony of purpose and unity of action. 
 
 "This view of the intention of Congress, so clearly expressed in the law, 
 would be directly contradicted by the plan which has been suggested, of 
 organizing the institution definitely into several departments, placing at 
 the head of these departments different assistants, establishing their rela- 
 tive positions, prescribing distinct duties for them, assigning certain shares 
 of the income to be disbursed by them, and stating their authority, priv- 
 ileges, and remedies for infringement of their official rights, or of the inter- 
 ests intrusted to their care. All this would tend, not to secure a loyal and 
 harmonious co-operation, to a common end, of the assistants with the 
 secretary, but to encourage rivalry, to invite collision, to engender hostility, 
 to destroy subordination, to distract the operations of the institution, to 
 impair its efficiency, and to destroy its usefulness." 
 
 This view of the question has been made very clear to the 
 committee in the course of the examination which they have 
 made, and by the testimony taken tor the purpose of sup- 
 porting Mr. Meacham's charges. All the difficulties in the 
 institution which have resulted in the dismissal by the sec- 
 retary of one of his assistants and of a person temporarily 
 employed upon the meteorological computations* seem to 
 have arisen from the desire of independent positions, en- 
 gendering rivalry and hostility, producing collisions and 
 insubordination utterly incompatible with the proper au- 
 thority of the secretary and the harmonious action so neces- 
 sary to the welfare of the institution. The tacts developed 
 in regard to those difficulties entirely satisfy your committee 
 that it is not desirable to have such by-laws as Mr. Meachani 
 thinks the regents should have made or procured. 
 
 If any just cause of complaint by the assistants against the 
 secretary should arise, they can at all times resort for redress 
 to the regents, by memorial or other proper form of appli- 
 cation, and the patience with which such an application, 
 although entirely without cause, has been heard by the 
 executive committee, to which it was referred, and con- 
 sidered by the regents, is quite sufficient to show how need- 
 less for the purpose any by-laws are. 
 
 It may be proper to say that the only section of the law 
 in which by-laws are mentioned is the 8th, which seems to 
 confer the power of enacting them upon the members of 
 the establishment, who are the President and Vice Presi- 
 dent of the United States, the members of the Cabinet, ex- 
 cept the Secretary of the Interior, (whose Department was 
 not created at the date of the act,) the Chief Justice of the 
 United States, the Commissioner of Patents, and the mayor 
 of Washington, with " such other persons as they may elect 
 honorary members . ' ' 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 625 
 
 The regents have expressed the opinion that the secre- 
 tary has power to remove the assistants. This opinion is 
 expressed in the following resolution, adopted in July last: 
 
 Be it resolved, That while power is reserved in the said (7th) section to 
 the Board of Regents to remove both the secretary and his assistants, in the 
 opinion of the board power, nevertheless, remains with the secretary to re- 
 move his said assistants. 
 
 In this opinion the Chief Justice of the United States and 
 Mr. Berrien, who were absent when the resolution was passed, 
 afterwards expressed their full concurrence. 
 
 The committee cannot doubt that it was a sound opinion. 
 The law, as before stated, makes the secretary the sole ad- 
 ministrative officer of the institution. He, and he alone, is 
 keeper of the museum and librarian. The law puts all the 
 property of the Institution into his charge, and authorizes him 
 alone to appoint assistants to aid him in the discharge of the 
 duties devolved upon him. Had the act made no further 
 provision on this head, there could not be a doubt that the 
 power of removal would be in him; because it is an estab- 
 lished principle, that when the power to appoint is conferred, 
 the power of removal is incident to it, unless restrained by 
 some other provision. There is another clause in the same 
 section (7th) which applies as well to the secretar}' as to his 
 assistants, which provides that "the said officers shall be re- 
 movable by the Board of Regents, whenever, in their judg- 
 ment, the interests of the institution require any of the said 
 officers to be changed." 
 
 Under this clause, the question arises, whether it restrains 
 the incidental power of the secretary to remove, or whether, 
 in addition to that incidental power, it gives as regards the 
 assistants, the authority of the board to make such removal. 
 Your committee think the latter the sound construction. 
 It does not restrain the power of the Secretary by express 
 words or by necessary implication. It is true that the 
 clause gives to the board superior power, inasmuch as they 
 may remove an assistant without the concurrence of the 
 secretary, and even against his wish; but this power may 
 well exist without conflict with the incidental authority of 
 the secretary. The same reasons which cause the secretary 
 to be invested with authority to appoint, justify and require 
 his power to remove. The Hon. George M. Dallas, late 
 Vice-President of the United States, and Chancellor of the 
 institution adopts this view, and, in an opinion upon this 
 subject, says : 
 
 It is clear that the act of Congress does not confer upon the Board of 
 Eegents the power to appoint the assistants of the secretary, and for reasons 
 
 40 
 
626 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 too palpable to require mention. But if the secretary has not himself under 
 his own mere motion a right to remove, it would be 'impossible to imagine 
 reasons why the power of original appointment was not given to the board. 
 In other words, the reasons which excluded the board from appointing are 
 identically the reasons which preserve to the secretary the power of remov- 
 ing. It mny, perhaps, render it more perspicuous to add that these reasons 
 are the official responsibilities and practical personal intercourse of the sec- 
 retary with his assistants. 
 
 Besides, it is very evident that the interests of the insti- 
 tution might often be in peril if the power of removal \\i in- 
 denied to the secretary. 
 
 The Board of Regents are not in session during a great 
 part of the year. Many of them reside at great distances 
 from "Washington, and could not he assembled without 
 much inconvenience to themselves and heavy expanse to the 
 institution. During this period it might be of the utim>t 
 importance to remove an unfaithful assistant. He might 
 cease to do that for which alone he was appointed, TO assist 
 the secretary in the affairs of the institution. lie might re- 
 fuse to deliver up to the secretary the property of the insti- 
 tution which the law puts in his charge, lie might threaten 
 and intend to destroy it, might treat the secretary with per- 
 sonal indignity, and insult and defame the regents, and 
 spread insubordination throughout the institution. For 
 such conduct there would be no prompt and adequate 
 remedy unless the secretary possessed the power of removal. 
 One case of this kind has already occurred. A person in 
 the employment of .the institution has refused to deliver up 
 certain papers, the property of the institution, and threat- 
 ened to destroy them. He has also written a letter, which 
 was published over his own signature in a New York paper, 
 vilifying the secretary and several of the regents, by name, 
 in the most abusive language. For this and other causes 
 during the last recess of Congress he was removed by the 
 secretary, and, as the committee cannot doubt, most justly 
 removed. This very individual was the principal witness 
 against the secretary on the examination before your com- 
 mittee. 
 
 We think that the resolution of the regents, above quoted, 
 while maintaining the superior authority of the board, 
 properly asserted the power of the secretary. 
 
 Your committee regret very much to say that the secre- 
 tary was also justified in the removal of Mr. Jewett. His 
 removal was not arbitrary, unjust, and oppressive. Mr. 
 Jewett is a man of talent and scholastic attainments, but it 
 is evident, from his own testimony, that he considered him- 
 self as holding an antagonistic position to the secretary, as 
 " having charge of the library, and being considered by the 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 627 
 
 public as the representative of that interest in the institu- 
 tion." He construed the law in one way ; the secretary 
 construed it differently. He thought and said that it would 
 be treachery in him to co-operate with the secretary accord- 
 ing to the latter's construction of the law. He told the sec- 
 retary, in Effect, that if he attempted to annul the compro- 
 mise in the way he proposed, he would shake the institution 
 to its centre. It is evident that he was impatient of the re- 
 straints of a subordinate position, and entertained feelings 
 towards the secretary which made their harmonious co-op- 
 eration impossible. In a paper which he submitted to the 
 special committee of the regents he assailed the motives 
 and honor of the secretary and criticised harshly and un- 
 necessarily the reports of that officer. 
 
 So the special committee of seven regents, with one ex- 
 ception, reported to the board, declaring that this paper dis- 
 closed feelings of excessive hostility and insubordination. 
 After this, it w r as manifest that the common civilities of life 
 could not be exchanged between them, and the interests of 
 the institution required their separation. The Board of 
 Regents accordingly passed a resolution, in January last, 
 approving of Mr. Jewett's removal. 
 
 Mr. Meacham also charged the secretary with claiming 
 and exercising the right to open and read letters directed to 
 his subordinates. The evidence satisfied the committee that 
 the secretary had neither claimed nor exercised any improper 
 authority in this respect. He expressly disclaimed any de- 
 sire or authority to inspect the private letters of his subordi- 
 nates. Their correspondence, in regard to the business of 
 the institution, he properly claimed to be entitled to examine 
 and control. In the absence of the subordinates he did con- 
 sider himself at liberty to open letters addressed to them 
 which were evidently of an official character; but it does 
 not appear that he actually exercised this authority, the 
 claim of which seems to have been misunderstood by one 
 of his assistants, and grossly perverted by another person, 
 under the influence of hostile and unjustly suspicious feelings. 
 
 The charge of denying scientific right and refusing to take 
 full measures for adjusting the claim of Mr. Blodget was 
 entirety refuted, both by documentary evidence and the testi- 
 mony of a disinterested party. 
 
 These latter charges of maladministration seemed to your 
 committee not to come precisely within the scope of the 
 instructions of the resolution under which the committee 
 was appointed. The Board of Regents might properly have 
 investigated them, and undoubtedly would have done so if 
 
628 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 asked by the parties concerned. But as testimony was taken 
 in relation to them, the committee feel bound to say that 
 they have not been sustained, and that they consider the 
 secretary as entirely relieved from the charge of maladmin- 
 istration in every particular. They believe that the regents 
 and the secretary have managed the affairs of the institution 
 wisely, faithfully, and judiciously ; that there is no necessity 
 for further legislation on the subject; that if the institution 
 be allowed to continue the plan which has been adopted, 
 and so far pursued with unquestionable success, it will satisfy 
 all the requirements of the law, and the purposes of Smith- 
 son's will, by "increasing and diffusing knowledge among 
 men." 
 
 Mr. UPHAM. I would now ask the unanimous consent of 
 the House for leave to introduce and have passed a resolu- 
 tion authorizing the payment of the clerk of that select com- 
 mitte for the time during which he has been employed. 
 
 There was no objection, and the resolution was reported, 
 as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the select committee of the House on the Smithsonian 
 Institution be allowed to make compensation, at the usual rate, to a clerk 
 for the period of his services. 
 
 The question was taken, and the resolution was passed. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. Mr. Speaker, what disposition was made 
 of the annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution? Was there an order to print? 
 
 The SPEAKER. The report was laid upon the table, and 
 ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. Has there been a motion made to print 
 the usual number of extra copies? 
 
 The SPEAKER. There has not; but that motion is now in 
 order, and will go to the Committee on Printing. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. I submit that motion. 
 
 The proposition for the printing of extra copies of the 
 report was referred to the Committee on Printing. 
 
 Mr. RUSSELL. I am instructed by the Committee on Print- 
 ing to offer the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 6,000 extra copies of the annual report 
 of the Smithsonian Institution 4,000 for the use of members, and 2,000 
 for the Institution. 
 
 The resolution was adopted. 
 
 The House having gone into the Committee of the Whole 
 on the state of the Union 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 629 
 
 Mr. JAMES MEACHAM, of Vermont, said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : It was not my intention to offer any re- 
 marks during this session with reference to the Smithsonian 
 Institution. After mature deliberation and consultation 
 with judicious friends of learning, I came to the conclusion 
 that the affairs of that establishment required investigation. 
 I proposed the matter to this House. They sustained the 
 proposition, and appointed a special committee of inquiry. 
 To them I hoped the matter would be left till their report 
 should be presented. I believed, sir, that in the hands of a 
 select committee of this House, the interests of literature 
 and science connected with the Smithsonian Institution 
 would be safe. 
 
 But the unexpected course of the gentleman from Indi- 
 ana, [Mr. English,] in stepping forward to eulogize the 
 institution before it had been attacked here, seems to re- 
 quire me briefly to explain and defend my position. For 
 such explanation and defence, I may, in the main, rely on 
 the able and important report presented by the select com- 
 mittee, which, for that purpose, I propose, in substance, to 
 insert in my speech, confining my own remarks to some 
 topics not alluded to by the committee. 
 
 The gentleman from Indiana, and some others, seem dis- 
 posed to view this investigation as indicating deliberate 
 hostility ; as intended to give " to the disappointed and dis- 
 satisfied an opportunity of assailing the institution at the 
 public expense;" as manifesting disrespect to the distin- 
 guished and honored gentlemen concerned in conducting 
 its affairs, particularly by clothing this committee with 
 power to send for persons and papers. Sir, I do not yield 
 to the honorable gentlemen in my sincere attachment to the 
 cause of knowledge, whether in the form of literature or of 
 science. But the very devotion which I feel, leads me to 
 wish to keep its fountains clean. I would not willingly lend 
 myself to the aid of wanton and wicked assaults, nor is it to 
 be supposed that this committee would be less scrupulous; 
 but I believe that " the disappointed and dissatisfied" may 
 sometimes deserve, or need, protection and redrew. I would 
 not be wanting in respect for men in exalted positions ; but 
 I know that under the authority of the purest and most ele- 
 vated, abuses may arise, and require investigation, though 
 not the imputation of individual blame. I am not the first 
 member of the Board of Regents who has believed that the 
 institution had departed from the course marked out for it 
 by Congress. One who had a large share in shaping its 
 -charter, Within the first three years of its history declared 
 
630 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 in his place in this House, that he " believed the Board ot 
 Begents would be, and ought to have been long since made 
 acquainted with its direct" responsibility to the power that 
 had created it." And lately, a very distinguished member 
 of the board resigned his seat in consequence of his convic- 
 tion that the administration of the institution was not in 
 accordance with the law. 
 
 In this country, there is perhaps, no precedent for an in- 
 vestigation in all respects like this ; simply because, before 
 the existence of the Smithsonian Institution, there had not 
 been, under the direction of our Government, any establish- 
 ment for the promotion of knowledge in gem-nil. But we 
 are riot at a loss for precedents. The British Museum 
 served as a model with many of those actively engaged in 
 framing the charter of the Smithsonian Institution. It is 
 under Government control. During the last twenty years 
 its affairs have twice been made the subject of investigations 
 by select committees of the House of Commons, and once by 
 a special royal commission. The committees and the com- 
 mission were each clothed with power to send for persons and 
 papers. That institution was under the management of the 
 highest dignitaries and the first noblemen of the realm. 
 
 In the debate in the House of Commons on the appoint- 
 ment of one of these committees, Mr. Warburton quoted the 
 complaints of Sir Humphrey Davy, that "there must be a 
 general change in everything belonging to the Institution 
 before a proper system of radical improvement could be 
 affected;" and Mr. Hume declared " that it was imperative 
 on the gentlemen connected with that institution to defend 
 themselves, and unless they make a good defence, it would 
 be impossible for Parliament to allow them to continue in 
 their present condition." 
 
 Mr. Chairman, it is not my intention to follow the gen- 
 tleman from Indiana through his remarks; I shall confine 
 itself to a few of the most important points. The gentle- 
 man maintains that the provisions of the act of Congress 
 have been observed. This is the main issue between the 
 two parties to this Smithsonian controversy, and is ably dis- 
 cussed in the report of the select committee. 
 
 The view which the committee have taken of the mean- 
 ing of the law was that of the first regents, fresh from their 
 labors in framing the charter, and unbiased by influences 
 subsequently brought to bear upon them. 
 
 On the second day of their first session, a committee was 
 appointed upon the clause requiring the appropriation for a 
 library, and instructed " to prepare a report upon the subject 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 631 
 
 of the formation of such a library, indicating its general 
 character," &e. 
 
 In their report which was long and elaborate, the com- 
 mittee say : 
 
 " They see in the language of the act, which the regents are created to 
 administer, and in the history of the passage of that act, a clear intimation 
 that such a library was regarded by Congress as prominent among the more 
 important means of increasing and diffusing knowledge among men. This 
 intimation they think, should control in a great degree, the acts of the re- 
 gents. They will not, however, withhold the expression, that the apparent 
 policy of Congress in this particular is marked by profound wisdom, that 
 it rests on a right construction of the terms and an enlarged appreciation 
 of the spirit of the bequest." 
 
 They recommended the appropriation of $20,000 of the 
 income " for the present," to the library, independent of 
 salaries, and this recommendation was adopted. I pause to re- 
 mark, that if this resolution had been carried out, we should 
 even now, have much the largest library in this country. It 
 would be something to have, to see, to use, to grow. And 
 I ask you to place beside this the half dozen quarto, and 
 the half dozen octavo volumes published by the institution, 
 and tell me which you would prefer? Which would tend 
 most for the increase and diffusion of knowledge? 
 
 Instead of this library what have we ? Why, sir, a mea- 
 ger collection of some fourteen thousand volumes, besides 
 pamphlets, &c., made up of copyright books, imperfect 
 sets of periodicals and publications of societies, and univer- 
 sity theses with doubtless a good proportion of important 
 and valuable works. But the whole how insignificant in 
 comparison with the great and noble design ! We have heard 
 it stated that the library is worth $40,000. This is a pre- 
 posterously exaggerated estimate. I do not believe that an 
 intelligent bookseller could be found who would value it 
 at a third of the sum ! If the value of the museum and 
 apparatus be equally exaggerated, we must abate largely 
 from the vaunted possessions of the institution. And then, 
 sir, this library is cramped into inconvenient and uncom- 
 fortable quarters, and shut up from the public, at a time, too, 
 when there is an unusual concourse of people at the Insti- 
 tution. 
 
 As to the origin of the present difficulties, 1 particularly 
 demur to the statement of the gentleman from Indiana. 
 He represents the question to have been whether the funds 
 should be used to build up a library as a paramount object, 
 or whether they should be applied, not only for a library, 
 but for such other purposes as the regents might think 
 would best accord with the will of Smithson and the act of 
 
32 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Congress. Not so, sir. The present difficulty originated in 
 a proposition to annul the " COMPROMISE" which divided the 
 income equally between the library and the museum on one 
 part, and publications, researches, and lectures on the other ; 
 for the purpose of giving more to the latter department, making 
 that a paramount and controlling interest. 
 
 Let me briefly explain this compromise. 
 
 The first sense of the regents respecting the library, was 
 BOOH contested under a new reading of the law, one which 
 made the section authorizing the regents to dispose of the 
 possible surplus or residuum, the chief clause of the act, 
 overriding all the rest and overruling all other details. 
 Under this construction, new purposes were to be intro- 
 duced; purposes dissimilar to those provided; purposes 
 which had been proposed to, and discussed and rejected by 
 Congress namely, the publication of books, and the insti- 
 tuting of scientific researches. 
 
 The early days of the institution seemed likely to be em- 
 bittered by controversy resulting from this new movement ; 
 but, in a magnanimous spirit of conciliation, the friends of 
 the library agreed to a " compromise" dividing the inconu .-, 
 after the building should be completed, equally between the 
 library and museum on one side, and publications, researches 
 and lectures on the other. 
 
 The friends of the library reconciled their course with 
 the law thus : If $^0,000 a year be expended for books dur- 
 ing the four or five years while the building is in progress, 
 we shall gather a considerable library, and then we may be 
 justified in believing that, for the future, the share that will 
 come to the library under the compromise, may be consid- 
 ered as meeting the requirements of the law; the friends 
 of the scientific scheme will be propitiated, and perpetual 
 harmony secured. 
 
 I think, sir, that they strained their discretion ; but they 
 acted in the spirit of conciliation, worthy of a fairer requi- 
 tal than it has met. 
 
 Let this matter be distinctly understood. The friends of 
 the library did not begin this controversy. They held to 
 the compromise, and asked only that it should be faithfully 
 administered. They demanded no more for the library than 
 it was entitled to under the compromise. They did not ask 
 that it should be made the paramount interest (although 
 some of us believe that such is its legal position.) We 
 were content to abide by the compact;" we so voted. It 
 'tt-as the proposition, coming from the advocates of the pub- 
 lication system, to annul the compromise, and reduce the 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 633 
 
 library to the condition of a mere appendage of the new 
 purposes, that led to discussion, and finally, through much 
 irritation, to our present position. 
 
 We are not in anywise responsible for these difficulties. 
 We plant ourselves on the law. For the sake of peace, we 
 Lave been willing to adhere to the compromise. We have 
 had reason to raise the controversy on other grounds, for 
 although the resolution of the board giving $20,000 of the 
 income to the library was not repealed, the money was 
 withheld. As an offset, the compromise was to be observed 
 before the finishing of the building. We think it was not 
 fairly administered. We did not, however, take issue on 
 that point, but only on the formal proposition to rescind. 
 
 We may not inaptly retort insinuations of illiberality. 
 We hold to the law, and the law requires a universal 
 library, one " composed of valuable works in all depart- 
 ments of knowledge;" one for the man of science, the 
 artist, the mechanic, the historian, the scholar, the seeker 
 of knowledge of whatever name ; one open to men of all 
 States and all nations. But we are called upon to yield up 
 everything to men of science. The scientific men are down 
 upon us, as if their craft were in danger. They come in 
 societies, and as individuals. Smithson, though a chemist, 
 and member of the Royal Societ}', appears to have been a 
 man of general culture, and to have had sympathy for 
 *' knowledge" without any restrictive epithets. By consult- 
 ing solely the wishes of one particular class of the devotees 
 of knowledge, who cherish only what is called science, we 
 should limit his intentions, 
 
 "And give up to party what was meant for mankind." 
 
 I have not sought letters of recommendation for the 
 library plan, nor have others for me. I doubt not I could 
 have obtained thousands. To show them on either side 
 seems to me idle parade. We doubt not that librarians in 
 Athens and Paris are glad to get handsome books from 
 America, and are ready to praise them before our traveling 
 countrymen. 'Tis polite to do so. We doubt not that sci- 
 entific men like to have means of publishing their works, 
 too heavy for booksellers. We need not here doubt that it 
 may sometimes be useful to publish, gratuitously, books 
 that people do not care enough about to buy. But the 
 question here is, can the Smithsonian Institution lawfully 
 devote itself to such a purpose exclusively or principally ! 
 
 The gentleman from Indiana puts prominently forward 
 the fact that the funds of the institution have not been 
 
634 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 squandered. This seems irrelevant, for it had not been so 
 charged. But he thinks it a high meed of praise that its 
 capital has been augmented. If the object of the institution 
 were the increase of its wealth, this would indeed be just; 
 cause for satisfaction. But, sir, this establishment was cre- 
 ated, not to hoard money, not to speculate upon it, not to 
 increase its income, but to expend money " for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge." We want knowledge more 
 than gold. We have no commission to accumulate for 
 future benefit, but to spend for continual profit. We should 
 remember, 
 
 u There is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; and there IB that withhold- 
 eth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 1 ' 
 
 It is asked, if Smithson intended a library, would he not 
 -have said so? I reply by asking, if he had meant a learned 
 society, would he not have said so? lie knew all about 
 learned societies, and seerns to have become dissatisfied 
 with them. I cannot suppose that he meant to indicate 
 anything in particular and exclusicely ; but I suppose he in- 
 tended to give his money to whatever the United States, in 
 the discretion of its Government, might deem ( best suited 
 to promote his general purpose. 
 
 For one, sir, I suppose that Smithson regarded the foun- 
 dation of a " Smithsonian Institution," from his property 
 as only a possibility. Look at the facts. He left the income 
 of his property, for life, to a nephew, and the property 
 " absolutely and forever," to the descendants of the nephew, 
 if he had any, " legitimate or illegitimate." The nephew 
 was a young man leading a roving life in France and Italy. 
 What was the chance that the contingency would ever 
 arrive when the United States could claim the legacy that 
 of failure of descendants of the nephew ? A sentence has 
 been quoted from one of his papers to the purport that his 
 name would live in the memories of men when the titles of 
 the Percy's and Northumberland's were extinct or forgot- 
 ten, and it seems to be inferred that he was then think- 
 ing of this institution. But it is altogether more likely he 
 was thinking of the articles which he had published in the 
 Philosophical Transactions. Every scientific man deems 
 the acceptance of his articles there a sure passport to im- 
 mortality; and this view is rendered more probable by 
 what is asserted, that he took such offense at the rejection 
 of one of his papers by the Royal Society as to change his 
 will. But I do not, after all, see the applicability of "this; 
 for the name of Smithson would be as much attached to the 
 Smithsonian Institution, and live with it as long and as- 
 

 THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 
 
 honorably, if that institution becomes what 
 tended, as if it becomes anything else. Is not the" Brit' 
 Museum or the Bodleian Library as well known as any 
 other institution in the world ? 
 
 To the phrase "active operations" I will devote a passing 
 word. 
 
 The publication of books and the assumption of researches 
 have been called "active operations," as if everything else 
 were in comparison but standstill. I should have liked to 
 see activity in finishing the building, and in filling it with 
 the stores of knowledge. Active operations of this kind 
 would have tended " to stimulate and invigorate the mind 
 for original thought, and supply important materials for in- 
 vestigation," to use the language of one of the gentlemen 
 who has been quoted to show that anything but an exclu- 
 sive devotion of this fund to science is a " gross perversion" 
 of the trust. It has been repeated to me that another of 
 these gentlemen was in the habit a few years ago of saying, 
 "you can do nothing for science in this country till you 
 have books large libraries" and this he said in special 
 reference to the Smithsonian Library. But then, sir, the 
 Smithsonian question had not become one of physical sci- 
 ence versus everything else. 
 
 One gentleman refers to the great Humboldt as not the 
 possessor of a private library. But he had constant access 
 to the Royal Library of Berlin, one of the best in the 
 world. Now, what we want is to furnish scientific and lit- 
 erary men in this country with such public facilities for 
 research, that they will not, on the one hand, be obliged to 
 expend their limited means in buying for themselves, nor, 
 on the other, abandon their researches for the want of books. 
 For us, this case of Humboldt is remarkably apropos. 
 
 In order to show how intensely active these " active ope- 
 rations" are, the gentleman from Indiana has quoted a long 
 list of works published by the institution. But, sir, you will, 
 probably, be surprised to learn, that with the exception of 
 a few octavo pamphlets, making in all only about one thou- 
 sand pages, the first six titles include the whole that follow. The 
 rest are merely the table of contents of the first six. Six 
 quarto volumes, making less than three thousand pages and 
 about enough in octavo to make a volume of one thousand 
 pages exhibit the sum and substance of the " active opera- 
 tions" of the Smithsonian Institution for eight years say 
 five hundred pages, great and small, a year. 
 
 I have heard "it argued that the " active operations" are 
 justifiable, on the ground that Congress ordained a labora- 
 
636 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 tory, that a laboratory implies researches, and researches 
 must be published. But, sir, I have looked through the 
 Smithsonian publications, and made inquiries with the view 
 of ascertaining w*hat results they contain, procured at the 
 Smithsonian laboratory. I could find none. I asked where 
 are the Smithsonian researches? Where are the " new 
 truths " which have been developed at the Smithsonian ? 
 The books published were contributed to knowledge by the 
 authors who wrote them, for the most part without pay. 
 The Smithsonian merely published them. The Smithsonian 
 laboratory is next to nothing, and nothing but experiments 
 and illustrations for lectures have come from it, as yet, so far 
 as I can find. 
 
 Now these operations are held up as the exponent of 
 American activity in discovering new truths. I do not find 
 any very efficacious acticity ; and as to the proportion of 
 absolutely new truths due directly to the Smithsonian among 
 these publications, I fear they would, notwithstanding- all 
 the talk about them, 
 
 "Should some cold critic dare to melt them down, 
 Roll in his crucible a shapeless mass, 
 A grain of gold leaf to a pound of brass." 
 
 I do not, sir, by any means object to these publications, 
 on the ground that they do not contain new truths. I go for 
 truth, old or ne\v ; but 1 object to the holding them up before 
 the world as the measure of American active operations 
 in the discovery of truth, and as conveying the idea that 
 the Smithsonian Institution is the great active truth-discover- 
 ing engine of American science. The idea that it has been 
 eo, or would become so, although it has done more than all 
 else to encourage the present course of the institution, is, 
 in my opinion, fallacious. It cannot, I think, be too strongly 
 represented that discoveries are not made by direct active 
 operations of societies anywhere, but by the active operations 
 of individual minds, which minds may be in various ways 
 brought up to the effort. The hope of reward may, indeed, 
 serve sometimes as a stimulus; but I believe that the his- 
 tory of science shows that such rewards are generally 
 valuable as rewards rather than as incentives. The hope 
 of having results published, with the stamp of high approval, 
 may operate as an incentive to effort. But incentives, es- 
 pecially in this country, are less needed than means and 
 aids; and a library is one of the most effectual, and es- 
 pecially in this country the most needed, as a means and 
 .aid to exertion in the advancement of knowledge. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, on this last day of the session, I have not 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 637~ 
 
 the time to produce the multitude of considerations which 
 crowd upon me on this subject, but I am happy to be able 
 to present those most important in the lucid argument and 
 appropriate language of the select committee. 
 
 (Mr. MEACHAM then gives copious extracts from the report 
 of Mr. Upham, the whole of which will be found in pre- 
 ceding pages.) 
 
 MR. Jos. R. CHANDLER, of Penna., from the Select Com- 
 mittee to inquire into the expediency of withdrawing from 
 the treasury of the United States the Smithsonian fund, 
 arid investing it in sound stocks, made the following report : 
 That immediately after the appointment of a committee 
 the chairman addressed a letter to the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, inquiring into the history and present state of the 
 Smithsonian fund. To that letter the following answer was 
 received : 
 
 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 6, 1854. 
 
 SIR : I duly received your letter of the 4th of January last, enclosing a 
 copy of the following resolution, adopted by the House of Kepresentatives 
 on the 3d of that month : "Resolved, That a select committee, consisting of 
 nine members, be appointed and instructed to inquire into the expediency 
 of withdrawing from the treasury of the United States the Smithsonian 
 fund, and investing the same in sound stocks, or in such other way as may 
 be to the interest of said fund," and requesting a statement of the amount 
 of the Smithsonian fund in possession of the department, or under its 
 control, and the amount of interest accruing thereon, with any other infor- 
 mation that may assist the committee in the discharge of the duty enjoined 
 by said resolution. In compliance with your request, I have the honor to 
 transmit herewith the accompanying statements, marked A, B, C, and D. 
 
 The sum received in London from the bequest of Mr. Smithson by the- 
 agent of the United States appointed in pursuance of the act of July 1, 
 1836, was $515,169. But the sum actually received into the treasury was 
 $508,318.46, the difference between the two sums having been absorbed by 
 certain expenses in collecting and transferring the money to the United. 
 States. 
 
 By the sixth section of the act of July 7, 1838, it was provided that the 
 money so received should be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 with the approbation of the President of the United States, in stocks of 
 States, bearing not less than five per cent, interest, and that the said stocks 
 should be held by the said Secretary in trust for the uses specified in the last 
 will and testament of James Smithson, until provisions should be made by 
 law for carrying the purposes of the said bequest into effect, and the annual 
 interest accruing on the stock aforesaid should, in like manner, be invested 
 for the benefit of the said institution. 
 
 By the act of September 11, 1841, so much of the before mentioned act 
 as authorized investments in stocks of the States was repealed, and the Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury was required thereafter to invest in stocks of the 
 United States. 
 
 But between the dates of these two acts the sum of $508,318.46, together 
 with the interest accruing on the first purchase, was invested in stock of the 
 State of Arkansas, upon which the State, in the sequel, failed to pay 
 interest, and upon which, from the time of such failure, nothing has been- 
 realized, except certain sums which have accrued to the State from the sale- 
 of public lands under what is commonly called the five per cent. fund. 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 In this condition of the fund, the act of August 10, 1840. wa< passed, 
 entitled " An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 The act recognized as a debt due from the United States the sum so received 
 and invested. It fixed the said sum at $515,169, the sum received by the 
 ao-ent in London, thus assuming the expensed incurred, and leaving the 
 original bequest unimpaired for the use of the institution. It provided 1<.r 
 the payment of interest on the said sum from the time of receipt, at six JUT 
 cent., payable on the 1st January and 1st July of each year, appropriating 
 the interest which had so far accrued, amounting to $242,129, for the erec- 
 tion of suitable buildings, and the interest thereafter to accrue for the main- 
 tenance and support of the institution. But the act at tin- >amr time pro- 
 vided "that all the stocks which may have been or may In n-af'tn- In- 
 received into the treasury of the United States on account of the fund 
 bequeathed by James Smithson be, and the same are hereby, plcd-v.l to 
 refund to the 'treasury of the United States the sums hereby appropriated." 
 
 With this brief explanation of tin- hi>t<>ry of tin fund, including the 
 legislation thereon, the committee, it is hoped, will find tin Mai.iii.-ni~ re- 
 ferred to sufficiently intelligible. 
 
 A is a statement showing on the one hand, 1st, the amount originally re- 
 ceived into the Treasury ; 2d, the amounts received for inter. -t : and, 8dj 
 the amount of United States stock redeemed, this amount ($5,523.21) bring 
 part of the sum of $106,184.85, mentioned in same statement ; and, on tin; 
 other hand, 1st, the investments made for the benefit of tin- institution; 
 2d, an expense incurred in the management of the fund ; and, 3d, the bal- 
 ance remaining on hand. 
 
 Statement B shows the amount of stock imw In-ld. and the different de- 
 scriptions of which it is composed. It shows also the present market value 
 of said stocks, with the exception of the Arkansas, which is, perhaps, not 
 worth more than forty cents on the dollar. 
 
 C is a statement showing on the one hand tin- interest which has accrued 
 on these stocks, and on tin- other hand, M, (he interest which has been re- 
 ceived, and, 2d, the interest which is due and uncollccted. 
 
 D is a statement of the interest which has accrued on the sum of $515,109 
 under the act of August 10, 1846, all of which has been paid up to the 31st 
 December, 1853, 1st, for the erection of the building, and, 2d, for the sup- 
 port of the institution, in pursuance of the terms of said act. 
 
 From these statements it appcar< that the fund which is pledged to reim- 
 burse to the Treasury the amount appropriated by the act of August 10, 
 1846, may be stated as follows : 
 
 1. Stocks on hand of the par value of $720,661 64 
 
 2. Balance of cash in the Treasury 18,646 83 
 
 3. Balance of interest uncollected 369,316 32 
 
 $1,108,624 79 
 
 It is estimated that, by authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to re- 
 deem the stocks of the United States^held in trust for the institution at the 
 rates of premium offered for said stocks, and to sell the stocks of the States 
 of Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, at their market price, the sum of $199,844 
 may be realized and applied towards the reimbursement of the said appro- 
 priations, and I respectfully recommend that authority may be given to 
 pursue this course. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 JAMES GUTHRIE, 
 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Hon. Jos. R. CHANDLER, 
 
 Chairman Select Committee on Smithsonian Fund. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55, 
 
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642 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Shortly after the receipt of the above statements by the 
 chairman of the committee, there was presented to the 
 House of Representatives the memorial of March 10, 1854, 
 from the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The statement made to the select committee by tin- Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury shows that the Government, by an 
 act of Congress, set apart as the capital of the Smithsonian 
 fund, the sum of $515,169; regarding those States that 
 have failed to make payment of prineipal or interest of the 
 sums loaned to them from the fund received from Kngland 
 as debtors to the Treasury of the United States, leaving the 
 fund unencumbered with accounts against the borrowers, 
 and equal to the amount left by the testator. 
 
 What disposition should be made of the evidences of 
 debts which the Government of the United States holds 
 against the borrowers of the original fund, did not form a 
 part of the inquiries which the committee was authorized 
 to make. But as those funds evidently belong to the (Jov- 
 ernment of the United States, the committee will feel itself 
 justified in suggesting such a disposal thereof as will release 
 the books of the Treasury Department of the continued and 
 increasing accounts. And at the close of the report a reso- 
 lution will be added recommending the sale of all such 
 assets, and that the net proceeds be carried to the general 
 fund. 
 
 The memorial of the Smithsonian Institution, asking for 
 permission to invest a portion of the fund saved in the con- 
 struction of the building, for which purpose it had been 
 appropriated, suggested to the joint committee inquiries as 
 to the probable demands which would be made upon the 
 income of the institution ; and that led to a further inquiry 
 as to the legitimate objects for expenditure. These inqui- 
 ries could only be answered by a recurrence to the will of 
 the distinguished testator ; and if that should be less ex- 
 plicit in any particular than would be desirable, then a 
 recurrence could be had to the well-established facts of his 
 life, and the special objects which he pursued in his devo- 
 tion to science ; and the end which he proposed in his pur- 
 suits while alive, and the special directions of his estate 
 after the death of the person to whom was bequeathed a 
 life use of his property. 
 
 Committees of Congress have several times presented 
 statements of the objects of Mr. Smithson's bequest to the 
 Government of the United States in trust, and Jheir opinion 
 of the mode in which these objects should be attained, and 
 proceedings have been had, founded on the acts of Congress, 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 643 
 
 that have been consequent upon these reports. And the in- 
 stitution has been established, and been made most benefi- 
 cially operative by a " direction," which has been careful to 
 administer its affairs in the spirit of congressional enact- 
 ments. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution, however, is unique in its 
 character, and it is brought into action at 'a time when sci- 
 ence is advancing beyond all precedent, and when the 
 learned and the scientific of the old world are demanding 
 from the United States not merely a sympathy in their 
 labors, but a contribution to the amount of knowledge and 
 science with which the world has already been enriched. 
 
 With the constant demands upon the institution, and the 
 constant efforts to respond to these demands, it is not 
 strange that it should be found occasionally necessary to 
 inquire whether its administration is maintained with a 
 constant eye to that progression which the advancement of 
 science renders necessary; and whether every plan which 
 was hesitatingly but carefully adopted in the establishment 
 of the institution is productive of the exact result which 
 was contemplated on its formation, and whether any of its 
 minor divisions impinge upon the more important branches, 
 and thus diminish the means of usefulness on the whole, 
 and delay the attainment of these objects, which are prop- 
 erly the end of the great establishment. 
 
 To judge correctly of such matters it is not only neces- 
 sary to know what has been done by the institution, but 
 what was the plan of those by whom it was inaugurated ; 
 and especially it is important to compare the proceedings 
 of the institution with the will of its testator, and to ascer- 
 tain whether what he proposed has been in any degree 
 attained, and whether all has been done that the means 
 supplied would allow, and whether the plans for future 
 action are in direct conformity with a fair construction of 
 the will, and whether any of the income is being devoted 
 to objects not directly contemplated by the testator, and 
 which may be as well attained by existing institutions that 
 have neither the means nor the mission for that which may 
 be regarded as the specialty of the Smithsonian bequest. 
 
 And the inquiry is, in the opinion of the committee emi- 
 nently worthy those who are acting for the nation which, 
 having accepted the solemn and important trust conferred 
 by Mr. Smithson, is bound to give to its administration all 
 that attention which is due to the liberal views and lofty 
 objects of the testator, and which is no less becoming the 
 peculiar character and natural distinction of the trustee. 
 
644 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Regard for the memory of the dead who conferred upon-, 
 our citizens the benefit of the fund, and upon our nation, 
 the honor of its administration, no less than a mere self- 
 respect will ever lead this nation, through its representa- 
 tives, to guard with peculiar vigilance the sacred trust in- 
 volved in the bequest of Mr. Smithson, and carefully and 
 diligently to watch the progress of the institution in the 
 fulfilment of the noble wishes of the founder, and the just 
 expectation of mankind in its regard. 
 
 With this view, evidently, the" Government supplied the 
 deficiency in the funds resulting from loans authorized by 
 act of Congress ; and pursuing the same object, it is believed 
 that Congress will suggest that the Treasury of the United 
 States be the depository of the fund, and that the institu- 
 tion shall derive an unfluctuating income from the interest 
 which the Government of the United States shall pay for 
 the use of that deposit. 
 
 James Smithson was the son of the Duke of Northumber- 
 land, by Elizabeth, niece of the Duke of Somerset. The 
 disadvantages of the circumstances of his birth seem to- 
 have been less than the benefits of the wealth of his parents, 
 and he surmounted the former by the assistance whidi the 
 lattter gave to the energy of his character and the ennobling 
 objects of his pursuits, and having achieved distinction by 
 science, an attainment fortunately not dependent upon 
 hereditary honors, his wish was evidently to open up 
 avenues to knowledge and facilitate its attainment for the 
 multitude. It is better to suppose that the exalted opinions 
 of mental cultivation and scientific attainment which Smith- 
 son manifested in his life and writings, and the efforts and 
 contribution which he made towards ensuring to learning a 
 superiority to any distinction founded on hereditary title, 
 resulted rather from the ennobling influence of great scienti- 
 fic attainments upon his own character than from the mis- 
 fortunes of his birth, which forbade his enjoyment of the 
 titular honors that distinguished his father. 
 
 Or, if made to feel the incompatibility of his condition 
 with the kind of distinction which was enjoyed by his more 
 fortunate relatives, he may be pardoned the ambition which 
 led him to adopt a course to give imperishable distinction 
 to his name, " when the titles of Percy and Northumberland 
 are extinct." And the Smithsonian Institution, in the city 
 of Washington, is the means by which that distinction is to 
 be achieved and perpetuated. Such an end, with such ample 
 means demanded appropriate administrations and suitable 
 measures. 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 645 
 
 It must be conceded that the plan of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution must be of a character different from most others, 
 or it will only be a rival of existing institutions; and the 
 language of the testator is explicit as it regards the char- 
 acter and objects of the institute which he intended to found 
 and endow. The object was " to found at Washington an 
 establishment, under the name of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, for the INCREASE AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE AMONG 
 JMEN." 
 
 The Government of the United States, in accepting the 
 great trust conferred, pledged itself to carry out the objects 
 of the founder, to administer the funds with a distinct 
 reference to the requirements of the will, and to keep the 
 institute, which bears the name of the founder, separate in 
 all its relations from any and every other; to give it a dis- 
 tinct and substantive existence, and insure independence 
 and efficiency to its operations. 
 
 The distinction between the increase and the diffusion of 
 knowledge is real, and in the administration of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution is of very great importance. 
 
 We have, all around us, libraries and museums, by which 
 what is known of literature and science may be diffused, so 
 far as the influence of those libraries and museums extends ; 
 but it cannot be denied that such an influence is necessarily 
 quite limited. 
 
 But the " increase of knowledge " is more dependent 
 upon the means of the promoters than their location, and 
 the amount of valuable contribution to any science must 
 depend more upon the assurance that the contributor can be 
 requited for his time and labor, than upon any advantages 
 of position ; and it is eminently true that our country 
 abounds with men whose tastes and attainments lead them 
 into a particular branch of moral or physical science, but 
 whose ordinary pursuits do not allow them to extend their 
 investigations into specialities, so that large stores of knowl- 
 edge often lie undeveloped in the mine of science for want 
 of some men of leisure to follow the drift and secure the 
 treasure. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution has already enabled men of 
 that class, and encouraged those of more fortunate condi- 
 tion to make investigations and to adduce results which the 
 world of science has already confessed go to increase knowl- 
 edge among men ; and these contributions to the amount 
 of 'knowledge, it is admitted, must have been reserved at 
 least for a future day, had not the foresight of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution suggested and supplied means for the 
 
646 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 " increase," and its appropriate and timely liberality fur- 
 nished the funds and means for the dissemination. 
 
 It has already been remarked, that the unique character 
 of Mr. Smithson's bequest rendered it difficult of adminis- 
 tration upon any plan that should not be sanctioned by some 
 experience, and hence, if there should be suggested a slight 
 departure from the requirements of the letter of the law of 
 1846, by which the institution was organized for action, it 
 must not be understood as censuring the views of those 
 who labored in the plan and secured the efficient and 
 desirable action of Congress. At that time gentlemen of 
 the highest distinction in literature and science differed in 
 their views of the best means of carrying out the wishes of 
 the founder. Each had a favorite theory as it ivgards tin' 
 efficiency of certain means or modes, and that difference 
 arose greatly from previous habits and associations, or from 
 the influence which the greater mind had upon the less. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the creation of an immense 
 library was a favorite, and the dominant idea of many who, 
 at that time, leaned entirely upon foreign writers for infor- 
 mation, and resorted to books rather than to experiments 
 and observations for exact information on any science. 
 Such a course seems natural, where it had been universal, 
 and the opinions are likely to be operative just in propor- 
 tion to the dependence of minds upon books; and hence a 
 vast collection of volumes in any city of the fourth, or fifth 
 class in point of size, and, as yet of no particular '-lass in 
 point of science and literature, seemed to promise a fulfill- 
 ment of the wishes of Smithson. 
 
 Yet these volumes were not to " increase the amount of 
 knowledge among men;" they only recorded the existing 
 amount, were merely the storehouses of what had been 
 gathered and kept in the city of Washington, as yet only 
 the political centre of the nation, and it is difficult to see 
 how they would serve greatly to "diffuse that knowledge 
 among men." 
 
 Another part of the plan is the establishment of a mu- 
 seum, and, in the opinion of the committee, this, if kept 
 within just bounds, is a valuable part of the general plan. 
 The danger is that a museum, instead of being what its 
 name implies, will become a receptacle for all the freaks of 
 nature which a morbid curiosity may discover, and the 
 resort of those who would rather be amused with a litsus 
 nattim of any kind than with a well arranged and instruc- 
 tive display of products in their scientific order. 
 
 A museum for the Smithsonian Institution should be of a 
 
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. 647 
 
 kind to assist the student and the master in natural studies, 
 and enable them to pursue their inquiries to the full extent 
 of attained results, that they may increase the amount of 
 that kind of knowledge, may add to what is already known ; 
 and when they shall have completed that commission, and 
 their reports shall have satisfied the institution that some- 
 thing is contributed to the previous amount of knowledge 
 in their particular branches, then the institution shall cause 
 those contributions to be printed in an appropriate manner, 
 and copies to be distributed to the various libraries of the 
 country and the scientific associations throughout the world; 
 thus DIFFUSING knowledge among men. 
 
 One result of this transmission of the publications of the 
 institution is eminently worthy of regard, in considering 
 the means of administering the will of the testator. These 
 books thus sent out are regarded as " exchanges," and thus 
 they insure to the institution returns from every corres- 
 ponding society in the world that publishes its proceedings; 
 and a single publication of a thousand copies of any me- 
 moir by the Smithsonian Institution is likely to insure to 
 the shelves of its library numerous copies of different sci- 
 entific works from sister associations abroad, so that the 
 very expenditure in that branch of the institution- is the 
 means of supplying the books for a library instead of its 
 becoming the occasion of diminishing the means of supply- 
 ing that "branch. And it should be added that the works 
 received in exchange are those which go to supply to the 
 institution a portion of the very kind of information most 
 suited to its character and objects, and insuring to its offi- 
 cers and frequenters detailed reports upon branches of sci- 
 ence that might otherwise have remained undeveloped. 
 
 The city of Washington may rejoice in the multiplication 
 of general libraries, and the young may frequent the Smith- 
 sonian Institution for duplicates of amusing volumes which 
 they have seen in the Congressional Library ; and the latest 
 novel or the last essay may find its place on its shelves, to 
 the augmentation of its catalogue, and the diminution of 
 
 its funds ; but it will scarcely be claimed, in behalf of such 
 a collection, that it is a selection suited to the views of Smith- 
 son, or in accordance with his will. 
 
 The committee, unable at present to pursue further their 
 inquiries into a subject of so much importance to the hopes 
 of the scientific, beg leave to present the following resolu- 
 tions : 
 
 Resolved, That having accepted the trust conferred by th.> last will and 
 testament of James Smithson, and having experienced tecoattotettoe Iron, 
 
648 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 * former investment of a part of the funds of that trust, the United States 
 will best promote the object of the testator, and secure the prosperous and 
 profitable action of the Smithsonian Institution, by retaining the funds of 
 that institution in the Public Treasury, and allowing the same interest now 
 paid for the use of those funds. 
 
 Resolved, That it is expedient to enlarge the permanent fund of the insti- 
 tution by the investment of such sums, not exceeding $125,000, as may have 
 been or shall be received for accrued interest or otherwise, in addition to 
 the principal sum of the Smithsonian bequest, and that the said additional 
 sum of $125,000 be received into the Treasury of the United States upon 
 the same terms as those upon which the original fund is now held. 
 
 THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, January 28, 1856. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL presented a memorial from a committee 
 appointed at the Illinois State Educational Convention, 
 praying for a grant of land to each State in the Union, for 
 the purpose of endowing industrial universities, to cooperate 
 with each other, and with the Smithsonian Institution, at 
 Washington, for the education of the industrial classes and 
 their teachers, accompanied by resolutions adopted by the 
 Legislature of the State of Illinois, favoring the project; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Public Lands. 
 
 SENATE, February 12, 1856. 
 
 Mr. MASON gave notice of his intention to ask leave to 
 introduce a joint resolution, providing that the vacancies in 
 the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution of the 
 class other than members of Congress, occasioned by the 
 resignation of Rufus Choatc and the death of lion. Jno. 
 McPherson Berrien, be filled by the appointment of George 
 E. Badger of North Carolina, and C. C. Felton of Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 SENATE, February 13, 1856. 
 
 Mr. MASON offered the above resolution; which was read 
 the first time, and ordered to a second reading. 
 
 Mr. MASON. Mr. President, the Board of Regents have 
 been unable to obtain a quorum, in consequence of the delay 
 in organizing the House ; and in order to fill the existing 
 vacancies, it is desirable that the resolution should be acted 
 on at once. It is one to which, I presume, there is no ob- 
 jection; I, therefore, ask for its consideration now. 
 
 There being no objection, the joint resolution was read 
 the second time, and considered as in Committee of the 
 Whole. 
 
 Mr. MASON. Mr. Badger is known to every Senator 
 present; and of Mr. Felton, I would only say that he is 
 
THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1855-57. 649 
 
 professor of Greek at the Harvard University; that he is a 
 gentleman of eminent literary as well as other attainments, 
 and possesses, perhaps, a better knowledge of literary insti- 
 tutions, at home and abroad, than most others. 
 The joint resolution was passed. 
 
 SENATE, June 19, 1856. 
 
 On motion of Mr. DOUGLAS, Mr. J. A. Pearce was reap- 
 pointed regent by the President of the Senate. 
 
 July 25, 1856. Report of the institution for 1855 pre- 
 sented, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE moved that 10,000 extra copies be printed. 
 
 July 29, 1856 
 
 Ordered, That 10,000 additional copies of the tenth annual report of the 
 Kegents of the Smithsonian Institution be printed 2,500 of the same to be 
 for the use of the institution. 
 
 January 21, 1857. The following resolution was adopted: 
 
 Resolved, $c., That the vacancies in the Board of Kegents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, of the class " other than members of Congress," be filled 
 by the reappointment of the late incumbents, viz : Richard Kush, of Phila- 
 phia, and Joseph G. Totten, of Washington. 
 
 February 28, 1857. Annual Report for 1856 presented, 
 and ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. FITCH moved that 10,000 copies be printed. 
 
 March 3, 1857. On motion of Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas, 
 it was 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed, for the use of the Senate, 10,000 extra 
 copies of the annual report of the Board of Kegents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, 2,500 of the same to be for the use of the Institution ; and that 
 the Secretary be authorized to add to the portion of his report now before 
 the Senate such matter as may be necessary to complete the same: Provided, 
 That such additions shall not exceed in the aggregate 423 pages, the num- 
 ber of pages contained in the 10th annual report. And provided, further, 
 That the entire amount of copy necessary to complete the said report be 
 placed in the hands of the public printer by or before the 10th day of April 
 next ; but no portion of said copy shall be placed in the hands of the public 
 printer until the whole shall have been completed and delivered into the 
 hands of the Superintendent of the Public Printing. 
 
 March 6, 1857. The President of the Senate appointed 
 Mr. James M. Mason as Regent. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 21, 1856. 
 
 On motion of Mr. STEPHENS, the joint resolution from the 
 Senate of February 13 for the appointment of regents was 
 passed. 
 
 February 26, 1856. The SPEAKER made the following ap- 
 pointments as regents: Hiram Warner of Georgia, James 
 JVIeticham of Vermont, Wni. H. English of Indiana. 
 

 650 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. MEACHAM. In the nomination of Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution made by the Speaker this morning, 
 I find that my name stands in the list. I feel grateful to 
 you, Mr. Speaker, for the honor thus conferred upon me; 
 but I beg of you to erase my name, and appoint some other 
 member of this House. I have two or three reasons for 
 making this request. In the first place, I have enjoyed the 
 honor and borne the burden of that position for a period of 
 four years, and I think it better that the duty should circu- 
 late among different members of the body, and that it should 
 not remain stationary. I have another reason for asking to 
 be excused. You, sir, have already placed me in a position 
 on a committee of this House which demands all my atten- 
 tion. I will not conceal that I ha\v another reason, which 
 I shall take another time to explain. It is, that I cannot 
 approve the present course of that institution, if it have any 
 course, and is not merely standing still and marking time 
 the mere mockery of motion. It is not producing that im- 
 pression upon the country and people which it ought to 
 make. I cannot consent, and will not consent, to follow an 
 institution whose leader is smitten with chronic monomania 
 on a single subject an institution whose line of march, as I 
 believe, runs athwart the line of law by which it holds its 
 existence. I, therefore, beg of you to accept my thanks and 
 resignation. 
 
 There being no objection, Mr. Meacham's resignation was 
 accepted. 
 
 The SPEAKER appointed Hon. Benjamin Stanton,of Ohio, 
 as Regent. 
 
 May 23, 1856. Report of Smithsonian Institution, for 
 1855, presented. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH moved that 10,000 extra copies be printed. 
 
 August 9, 1856. The following resolution was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 10,000 copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution 
 for the year 1855 be printed 7,500 for the use of members of the House, 
 and 2,500 for the institution. 
 
 February 18, 1857. Report for 1856 presented, and or- 
 dered to be printed. 
 
 March 3, 1857. The following resolution was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed of the report of the Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution for 1856, 10,000 copies 7,500 for the use of members of 
 the House, and 2,500 for the use of the institution. 
 
 December 14, 1857. The SPEAKER appointed as Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution Wm. H. English of Indiana, 
 Benjamin Stanton of Ohio, and Lucius J. Gartrell of Georgia*. 
 
THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1857-59. 651 
 
 THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, May 27, 1858. 
 
 Annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1857 
 presented, and Mr. PEARCE moved the printing of 10,000 
 extra copies, 2,500 of which to be for the use of the 'insti- 
 tution. 
 
 June 3, 1858. Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas, from the Com- 
 mittee on Printing, reported the following : 
 
 Resolved, That 10,000 additional copies of the report of the Board of Re- 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1857, be printed 5,000 
 for the use of the Senate and 5,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion : Provided, That the aggregate number of pages contained in said 
 report shall not exceed 440, without wood-cuts or plates, except those fur- 
 nished by the Institution. And provided, further. That the entire amount 
 of copy necessary to complete said report be placed in the hands of the 
 Superintendent of the Public Printing before the commencement of print- 
 ing any portion of said report. 
 
 Mr. IVERSON. I object to the resolution, unless the 5,000 
 copies for the use of the Senate be stricken out. I have no 
 objection to the other 5.000 being printed for the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas. I do not care whether it be 
 published or not. I submit to the will of the Senate. 
 
 The VICE PRESIDENT. Objection being made, the resolu- 
 tion will lie over. 
 
 June 12, 1858. The above resolution of June 3, was 
 adopted. 
 
 January 7, 1859. Resolution adopted to fill vacancies in 
 Board of Regents : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution other " than members of Congress " be filled by the 
 ippointment of Alexander D. Bache, a member of the National Institute 
 ind resident in the city of Washington, and George E. Badger, of the 
 State of North Carolina. 
 
 February 23, 1859. The annual report of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, for 1858, was presented. 
 
 Mr. MASON moved to print 10,000 extra copies, 5,000 for 
 ;he Senate and 5,000 for the institution. 
 
 February 24, 1859. Mr. FITCH reported the following 
 esolution, which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed, in addition to the usual number of the 
 'eport of the Board of Regents for the Smithsonian Institution, for the 
 'ear 1858, 5,000 copies for the use of the Smithsonian Institution : Pro- 
 nded, That the aggregate number of pages contained in said report shall 
 lot exceed 450 pages, without wood-cuts or plates, except those furnished 
 >y the institution. 
 

 .52 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 29, 1858. 
 
 The annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1857 
 was laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. I move that 10,000 extra copies of the 
 report be printed. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I hope no extra copies of it 
 will be printed. 
 
 The motion was referred to the Committee on Printing. 
 
 Jane 12, 1858. Mr. NICHOLS, from the Committee on 
 Printing, submitted the following : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed of the report of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion seven thousand copies for the use of members of the House of Repre- 
 sentative*, and two thousand for the use of the Institution. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. How much will that cost? 
 
 Mr. NICHOLS. The cost will be $3,500, according to an 
 estimate made by myself. It is a large reduction on the 
 number heretofore ordered. I call for the previous question. 
 
 Mr. BURNETT. I move to lay the resolution upon the table. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I demand the yens and nays. 
 
 Mr. KEITT. I rise to a question of privily-. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The Chair cannot entertain the motion 
 pending the call for the previous question. 
 
 The House divided on ordering the yeas and nays, and 
 there were ayes 25, noes 109. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The yeas and nays are not ordered. 
 
 Mr. BURNETT. I want tellers on the yeas and nays. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The Chair thinks the call comes too late. 
 The Chair stated the vote, and paused some time before he 
 announced the result. 
 
 Mr. BURNETT. The Speaker stooped over a moment, and 
 as soon as he rose to an erect position, I rose and called for 
 tellers upon the yeas and nays, and the result was announced. 
 
 The SPEAKER. Did not the gentleman hear the announce- 
 ment before he addressed the Chair? 
 
 Mr. BURNETT. Yes, sir. I heard the announcement, 109 
 and 25. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The application comes too late. 
 
 The question was then taken upon the motion to lay the 
 resolution upon the table; and it was not agreed to ayes 
 80, noes 97. 
 
 Mr. BURNETT demanded the yeas and nays upon the adop- 
 tion of the resolution. 
 
 The yeas and nays were ordered. 
 
 The question was taken ; and it was decided in the affirma- 
 tiveyeas 84, nays 50 as follows : 
 
THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1857-59. 653- 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Adrian, Ahl, Andrews, Arnold, Billinghurst, Bingham, 
 Bliss, Brayton, Buffinton, Burlingame, Burns, Burroughs, Chase, Cava- 
 naugh, Chaifee, Chapman. Eara Clark, Clawson, Clark B. Cochrane, 
 Cpckerill, Colfax, Comins, Corning, Covode, Cragin, Curtis, Davis of Mas- 
 sachusetts, Davis of Iowa, Dawes, Dean, Diminick, Dodd, Durfee, Edie, 
 Fenton, Foster, Gillis, Gilman, Grilmer, Grooch, Goodwin, Groesbeck, Grow r 
 Hatch, Horton, Owen Jones, Keitt, Knapp, John C. Kunkel, Landy, Love- 
 joy, Humphrey Marshall, Maynard, Moore, Morgan, Morrill, Edward Joy 
 Morris, Freeman H. Morse, Mott, Nichols, Olin, Parker, John S. Phelps, 
 William W. Phelps, Phillips, Pottle, Purviance, Keagan, Ricaud, Ritchie r 
 Robbing, Roberts, Judson W. Sherman, Sickles, Singleton, Samuel A. 
 Smith, Stanton, Tappan, Underwood, Walbridge, Walton, Elihu B. Wash- 
 burne, Israel Washburn, and Wood 84. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Atkins, Barksdale, Bennett, Blair, Bonham, Branch, 
 Burnett, Caskie, Clemens, Cobb, John Cochrane, James Craig, Curry, 
 Davis of Indiana, Davis of Mississippi, Dowdell, Eustis, Faulkner, Garnett, 
 Gregg, Hopkins, Houston, Huyler, Jackson, Jenkins, George W. Jones r 
 Jacob M. Kunkel, Leiter, Letcher, Maclay, McKibbin, Miles, Niblack, 
 Peyton, Potter, Powell, Royce, Ruffin, Russell, Sandidge, Savage, Scales, 
 Henry M. Shaw, William Smith, Spinner, Stevenson, Miles Taylor, Toinp- 
 kins, Trippe, Winslow, and John V. Wright 50. 
 
 So the resolution was agreed to. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 16, 1858. 
 
 Report of the Committee on the District of Columbia on 
 the memorial of the National Institution for the Promotion 
 of Science, praying for an appropriation for preserving the 
 collection of objects of natural history entrusted to their 
 charge ; shows that, in fact, the collections are now in the 
 Smithsonian Institution they were formerly in the Patent 
 Office, under the charge of the Government and, therefore, 
 the committee ask to be discharged from the further con- 
 sideration of the memorial. 
 
 The report of the committee was concurred in. 
 
 January 10, 1859. Resolution of the Senate of January 
 7, adopted, to elect A. D. Bache and G. E. Badger, regents. 
 
 March 2, 1859. Mr. SMITH, of Tennessee, from Commit- 
 tee on Printing, submitted the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 5,000 extra copies of the report of the 
 operations of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1858 ; 3,000 for the 
 use of members of the House, and 2,000 for the use of said institution. 
 
 Mr. SMITH, of Tennessee, demanded the previous question. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee, demanded a division. 
 
 The House divided ; and there were ayes 88. 
 
 The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman insist on his divi- 
 sion ? 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. Yes, sir; unless it is pro- 
 posed to pay for this printing out of the Smithsonian fund. 
 
 The division was made ; and there were noes, 45. So 
 the resolution was adopted. 
 
54 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. SMITH, of Tennessee, moved to reconsider the vote 
 by which the resolution was adopted; and also moved that 
 the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. Agreed to. 
 
 THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, January 26, 1860. 
 
 The PRESIDENT of the Senate reappointed Mr. Stephen A. 
 Douglas as regent. 
 
 June 11, 1860. Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 for 1859, presented, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 On motion, by Mr. PEARCE, it was 
 
 Resolved, That 10,000 additional copies of the report of the Regents of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1859, be printed ; 5,000 for the 
 use of the Senate, and 5,000 for the use of the institution : Provided, That 
 the aggregate number of pages contained in said report shall not exceed 
 450 pages, without wood-cuts or plates, except those furnished by the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 January 12, 1861. Mr. DOUGLAS offered a resolution that 
 the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution be filled by the appointment of Messrs. George 
 M. Dallas, William B. Astor, and Cornelius C. Felton. 
 
 February 21, 1861. House bill making appropriations 
 for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the year 
 ending 30th June, 1862, was taken up for consideration. 
 
 The next amendment was to strike out from lines two 
 hundred and twenty-three to two hundred and twenty-six 
 inclusive, in the following words : 
 
 For the preservation of the collections of the exploring and surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, and the construction of suitable cases to 
 receive said collections, $6,000. 
 
 And to insert, in lieu thereof: 
 
 For the distribution of the collections of the exploring and surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, and the construction of additional cases to 
 receive such part of said collections as may be retained by the Government, 
 $6,000. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER put the question; and declared 
 the noes appeared to have it. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. Senators certainly do not understand 
 the amendment they are voting against. 
 
 Mr. HALE. I confess I do not. Let us have it explained. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I will give an explanation. This sum 
 is necessary to be appropriated for the distribution of the 
 collections of the exploring expeditions. They brought back 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 655 
 
 with them a great deal of matter which has been arranged 
 for distribution among the several States. 
 
 Mr. BRAGG. I hope the Senator will speak louder ; he 
 cannot be heard. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I say there were a great many dupli- 
 cates of the collections which are proposed to be distributed 
 among the several States, and this sum is necessary in order 
 to have them arranged and distributed. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. How many such appropriations have been 
 made for distribution heretofore ? 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. This is the first appropriation of the 
 sort : 
 
 For the distribution of the collections of the exploring and surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, and the construction of additional cases to 
 receive such part of said collections as may be retained by the Government, 
 $6,000. 
 
 There are two things provided for in this amendment. 
 Both are necessary. The sum is a very reasonable one. 
 The Committee on Finance examined this matter, and came 
 to the conclusion that it was proper to make this appropria- 
 tion. The only alteration we have made is to put it in a, 
 better shape than it was before. The chairman of the com- 
 mittee thought the lines proposed to be stricken out were 
 indefinite. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES, I understand this is the first appropriation 
 ever made for distribution ? ' 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEX. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. Mr. President, these collections are made 
 by all the expeditions sent out by the Government. A great 
 many of them are sent overland to the Northwest. All of 
 them bring home collections of natural history. They are 
 all sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where they are ar- 
 ranged and classified. We have no means for keeping these 
 specimens there; and it is very desirable that the duplicates 
 should be given to the colleges and scientific institutions 
 throughout the country. This appropriation is not a large 
 one. These specimens have been collecting for a number of 
 years ; and the object now is to distribute them to places 
 where they would be valuable that is all. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. Under what law, to what institutions, and 
 in what manner, are they distributed? 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. There is no law that I am aware of for the 
 distribution ; but it has been proposed by the Secretary of 
 the Interior that these objects should be thus distributed. 
 They will be distributed by the Smithsonian Institution, in 
 whose care they are placed. 
 

 
 656 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. According to the discretion of the superin- 
 tendent of that institution ? 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. Yes, sir; with the approbation of the Inte- 
 rior Department, of course, which is required for all things 
 of this sort. 
 
 Me. HALE. Then, I think, Congress should not appro- 
 priate the money. I think they ought to be distributed by 
 law, as books and manuscripts are, and should not be given 
 to the discretion of this Department. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. Why not add the words : " in the dis- 
 cretion of the Secretary of the Interior?" 
 
 Mr. HALE. There does not seem to be any necessity for 
 the provision at all. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. Polk in the chair.) If no 
 amendment be offered, the question will be on the amend- 
 ment reported from the Committee on Finance. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I suppose the amendment may be 
 amended. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. Certainly; but, as the Chair 
 stated, no amendment being offered to it, the question is 
 on the amendment as reported by the committee. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. It seems to me that before we adopt this 
 amendment, its friends ought to put some limitation on it 
 by which hereafter the Smithsonian Institution is not to re- 
 ceive these things ; for I am afraid it will be the beginning 
 of a system of annual distribution like those Patent Office 
 seeds, and may lead us into a large annual expenditure, un- 
 less there is some limitation. I would be willing to distrib- 
 ute them once, if you would put a stop to it there ; and 
 there ought to be something done to prevent the receipt of 
 these things hereafter. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. The Smithsonian Institution has not the 
 slightest interest in this thing whatsoever; but the Govern- 
 ment has for years having no other place to put them sent 
 all these collections to the Smithsonian' Institution, which 
 building, large as it is, is very much lumbered up by them. 
 If you keep them there, they will be compelled to turn other 
 collections away. There is no room to receive any more. 
 They are enormous in bulk and very numerous. It is desi- 
 rable to get rid of them ; and we cannot make a better dis- 
 position of them than to send them to colleges and scientific 
 institutions which have already collections of this sort, 
 though imperfect. It is a very remarkable collection of 
 objects of natural history. There is no desire on the part 
 of the institution to obtain the distribution of this collec- 
 tion. It is a gratuitous thing on their part altogether. This 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 657 
 
 is not for their advantage at all, except so far as it will re- 
 lieve the building of the incumbrance of such an immense 
 collection ; and yet it can never be done except by author- 
 ity of law. This is the first occasion on which it has been 
 asked. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. I have no idea that this is to the advantage 
 of the Smithsonian Institution. I believe the object of the 
 amendment is a good one; but why not allow them to give 
 these things to those that may apply ? Why appropriate 
 money for the purpose of distributing them ? Why not 
 allow them to give them to those who may apply, according 
 to their judgment? That would throw the expense upon 
 those who received them. But if we once begin with this 
 appropriation I am afraid we shall go on distributing these 
 collections just as we do the seeds at the Patent Office. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. A large part of this appropriation is intended 
 for the construction of cases to receive such portions of the 
 collections as may be retained by the Government. The 
 expense of their distribution will be very small indeed. We 
 do not mean to pay the expenses of their distribution. They 
 will be paid by the institutions to whom they go. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. Of course this is only an amendment to 
 the preceding one. Was the other amendment struck out? 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. Yes, sir; I think so. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I will inquire whether the amendment 
 proposed in the two hundred and twentieth line, to strike 
 out the words "and distribution," after the word "preser- 
 vation" has been acted on. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair is informed by the 
 Secretary that that amendment has not been acted on, and. 
 will now put the question on the amendment to strike out, 
 inline two hundred and twenty, after the word "preserva- 
 tion," the words "and distribution," so that the clause will 
 read : 
 
 For preservation of the collections of the exploring and surveying expe- 
 ditions of the Government, $4,000. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. I apprehend there is not a college or mus- 
 eum in the land but would be willing and anxious to have 
 the opportunity to come here to the Smithsonian Institution, 
 and take its proportion of these fossils or specimens 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator from Iowa 
 allow the Chair to state that the amendment which has just 
 been read precedes the one under consideration, and the 
 Senate should pass on that first; and then the subject of 
 remark to which the Senator from Iowa is directing his 
 attention would be appropriate. 
 42 
 
658 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. The proposition is to strike out one, and 
 insert ; so that now is the time to speak upon it. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. Not at all. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. No, sir; this precedes the other. 
 The question is on the adoption of the* amendment last read. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. Is that an amendment on which we can 
 come at this question? 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. No, sir ; it is the amendment 
 that precedes it. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. It is the amendment in line two hundred 
 and twenty, I understand. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Secretary will report the 
 amendment. 
 
 The Secretary again read it. On page 10, line two hun- 
 dred and twenty, to strike out the words, u and distribu- 
 tion;" so that the clause will read: 
 
 Exploring Expedition. For preservation of the collections of the explor- 
 ing and surveying expeditions of the Government, $4,000. 
 
 MR. PEARCE. These words were improperly put in. That 
 appropriation is the .one which we make annually. These 
 collections were all in the Patent Office, and as the Depart- 
 ment of the Interior wanted the Patent Office for other pur- 
 poses, provision was made by law for transferring these 
 collections to the Smithsonian Institution, the Government 
 paying the expense. The annual expense is about four 
 thousand dollars. By a mistake the word "distribution" 
 was put in the bill as it came from the House of Representa- 
 tives. This money is wanted for the preservation of the 
 collections, and not for their distribution ; and therefore we 
 move to strike out the words " and distribution." 
 
 The motion to strike out was agreed to. 
 
 The Secretary read the next amendment of the Committee 
 on Finance ; which was to strike out line two hundred twen- 
 ty-three to line two hundred and twenty-six, inclusive, in 
 the following words : 
 
 " For the preservation of the collections of the exploring and surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, and the construction of suitable cases to 
 receive said collections, $6,000." 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. Mr. President 
 
 M r. FESSENDEN. Striking out these words will accomplish 
 the Senator's purpose. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. I do not know that. The bill, as it came 
 from the House of Representatives, furnished an appropria- 
 tion for the preservation of these things. That I am willing 
 shall be done ; but I am unwilling that a distribution shall 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 659 
 
 \>e made by which these articles are to be distributed over 
 the country without Congress specifying the manner in 
 which they, shall be distributed. I want to know how they 
 are to be distributed. I am content that they should be 
 distributed; and I think, if there is an excess of them 
 here, they should be distributed in some way, either by al- 
 lowing persons and institutions in different .portions of the 
 country to come here and obtain them; or else, if you see 
 fit to do so, allowing the superintendent of the institution to 
 distribute them; but he should not be permitted to distrib- 
 ute them on any principle of favoritism ; as, I fear, may be 
 the case, unless you provide in the law specifically in what 
 manner they shall be distributed. For instance, we might 
 say that one institution in each State, or two institutions in 
 each State, should be furnished with these specimens, or 
 that they should be distributed to certain specified institu- 
 tions; but I am unwilling to leave the matter entirely to 
 the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, or the Super- 
 intendent of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. My friend from Iowa is a little too fast. 
 If he will look at this amendment, he will find that it is 
 merely to strike out the words in lines two hundred and 
 twenty-three, two hundred and twenty-four, two hundred 
 and twenty-five, and two hundred and twenty-six, for which 
 other words are to be substituted. If these words be stricken 
 out, and the others be not substituted, he accomplishes his 
 object. The question he is debating is really the substitu- 
 tion, which is simply to put in this clause in a more definite 
 form. There can be no objection to striking out these 
 words. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. The Senator from Iowa will accomplish 
 his present purpose if we should refuse to strike out, and 
 leave the clause as it stands. The difference between the 
 two is, that the amendment proposes to distribute as well as 
 to preserve these collections, and the words proposed to be 
 stricken out merely provide for the preservation. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. The provision above, which has been 
 already adopted, makes all the appropriation necessary to 
 preserve the collections. Then we come to the clause which 
 provides for the distribution, and that it is proposed to strike 
 out and to insert a redraft of the provision in another form. 
 The first paragraph applies to the preservation. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. Then the plan would be to vote for striking 
 out, and to vote against inserting what it is proposed to insert. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. There is no objection to appropriating 
 the $4,000 for the preservation. That is done. That is 
 
660 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 necessary. Then comes for the preservation again. That 
 is a mistake ; and therefore the clause was redrafted by the- 
 committee, so as to provide for the distribution. We do 
 not want to provide once more for preserving the collections- 
 that are to be kept there, and therefore these words ought 
 to be stricken out. 
 
 Mr. HUNTER. I say strike out these words; and then, if 
 you oppose the distribution, vote against the amendment? 
 which proposes to insert the other words. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. That is precisely what I am proposing- 
 to the Senator from Iowa; to let these words be stricken 
 out, and then bring up the question in that way. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. I should like to say to the Senator from Iowa 
 that there are collections enough to supply every college- 
 and every scientific institution interested in such matters in 
 the country, and our intention is to supply the whole of 
 them; there cannot be any favoritism ; but we must make 
 some small appropriation for it, although we do not propose- 
 to pay the transportation. It would not do, for example, to- 
 let the president of a college come here and select just what 
 he would pick and carry away. That would produce the- 
 very effect which the Senator is so desirous of avoiding. 
 One institution would get too much, perhaps. Somebody 
 must be employed not only to arrange these objects of natural- 
 history and classify them, but also to put aside into separate- 
 parcels the portions which are to be distributed to the different 
 institutions. For that we are to pay. The Senator can guard 
 against the Government paying the expenses of transporta-^ 
 tion if he pleases, by making an amendment to it in this form r 
 " provided that no part of the said money shall be expended in 
 transportation." As to favoritism, I say it is not possible,, 
 because there is an abundance of these collections to answer 
 the calls of every institution in the country. 
 
 Mr. BRAGG. I think the difficulty may be obviated by an 
 amendment which I have prepared ; though I suppose my 
 amendment will not be in order at this time, as I understand 
 there is an amendment pending to the amendment. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now is on striking 
 out. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. On striking out what nobody objects to 
 striking out. 
 
 Mr. BRAGG. This, I think, will accord with the idea of 
 the Senator from Maryland, to follow the amendment offered 
 by the committee : 
 
 " Such distribution to be only to institutions willing to receive the same,, 
 and at their own expense." 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 661 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on striking out. 
 
 Mr. HALE. Is it in order to move to strike out more 
 ^vords with those which the committee propose to strike out? 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. Perhaps it would he in order 
 ..as an amendment to the amendment ; but the Chair would 
 -suggest to the Senator that it would be better to take the 
 -question on striking out the words which the committee 
 propose to strike out. 
 
 Mr. HALE. I agree to that. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on striking out 
 "the words which have been read. 
 
 The motion to strike out was agreed to. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now is on the 
 r.amendment of the Committee on Finance, to insert the fol- 
 lowing words : 
 
 For the distribution of the collections of the exploring and surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, and the construction of additional cases to 
 receive such part of said collections as may be retained by the Government, 
 $6,000. 
 
 The Senator from North Carolina moves to amend the 
 .amendment by adding to it : 
 
 Such distribution to be only to institutions willing to receive the same, 
 -and at their own expense. 
 
 The question is on the amendment to the amendment. 
 Mr. HALE. I am opposed to the whole of this, from be- 
 
 fi lining to end. I have been in Congress I do not know 
 ow many years; but about as long as the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution has been in existence. I^have devoted some time 
 -every year, more or less, to finding out what on earth that 
 Smithsonian Institution was for; I have had friends who 
 have visited Washington, who have told me that they were 
 going to examine it to find out; and I have asked them re- 
 peatedly, if any of them had found it out, to tell me. The New 
 York Tribune I do not often quote from that paper; for 
 : it is never very complimentary to me, any more than it is 
 to the Smithsonian Institution said that it was a sort of 
 lying-in-hospital for literary valetudinarians. [Laughter.] 
 
 :But, sir, it has a fund I believe of $500,000 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. Six hundred thousand dollars. 
 Mr. HALE. Six hundred thousand dollars, making an 
 income, then, of $36,000 a year "for the increase and diffu- 
 sion of knowledge among men," I believe. So far as I am 
 concerned in the lot of humanity, they have never distributed 
 knowledge enough to me to let me know what the thing is 
 for, or what it does. In addition to the $36,000 which it 
 lias of its annual income from its funds, you propose now to 
 
662 CONGRESSIONAL' PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 appropriate $10,000 more for preserving the collections of 
 the exploring and surveying expeditions of the Government, 
 and for the distribution of the collections of the exploring 
 expeditions, and the construction of additional cases to re- 
 ceive such collections as may be retained by the Govern- 
 ment. We are to appropriate $10,000 to this institution, to 
 keep and distribute these collections, in addition to their 
 annual income of $36,000. I arn opposed to the whole of 
 it. I think it is wrong. 1 think the institution itself is 
 wrong, and based upon one of the grossest misconceptions 
 of plain English that any institution ever was. 
 
 Old Mr. ISmithson if the Senate do not want to hear me,. 
 I will stop ; I know it is not a very good time to speak, 
 ["Go oil"] old Mr. Smithson, I suppose, was a man of 
 scientific attainments no doubt of that a friend of science ; 
 a lover of science. He had seen the colleges and the uni- 
 versities of England hitched on to the Church and (ho Stat<-. 
 The yoking together of these three he thought was not favor- 
 able to the" advancement of science in the world. Then, sir, 
 he had in his brain the sublime conception of founding a 
 democratic university; one that should be free from the 
 corruptions of the Church and State, as they existed in Eng- 
 land. Looking abroad over the face of the earth, t< see a 
 place where this great and benevolent idea might bo carried 
 out, he selected the United States as a place where demo- 
 cratic institutions prevailed, and he gave this liberal fund 
 that he might found an institution under the benign influ- 
 ence of democratic institutions, that should be devoted to 
 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, instead 
 of having it harnessed to Church and State. Well, sir, our 
 Government undertook the trust; and a grosser abuse of a 
 trust never was perpetrated \on the earth. Some of the 
 wisest men we had at that day thought there was too vague 
 a meaning in that phraseology which said that it was to be for 
 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. They 
 forgot that men were made of boys; and they thought that 
 if they devoted it, as poor old Smithson intended it should 
 be, for the education of boys, under the influence of such 
 an institution as he designed, it would not answer his pur- 
 pose, because he intended it for the. increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge " among men ; " and so, they have got up the 
 thing they have. I will not characterize "it, for 1 confess I 
 do not know what it is. I saw an advertisement in the Na- 
 tional Intelligencer that there was to be an exhibition there 
 at twenty-five cents a ticket, or perhaps fifty cents. That 
 is for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."' 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 663 
 
 In addition to perverting Mr. Srnithson's benevolent and sa- 
 gacious purposes, defeating one of the greatest ideas that 
 ever entered into the head of a benevolent scholar instead 
 of making such an institution as he wanted, you have 
 founded the great humbug of the land ; and you propose 
 now, in addition to the $36,000, to pay them $10,000 out of 
 the public Treasury. I propose to strike it all out. Now, 
 I am prepared to be castigated by the Senator from Mary- 
 land [Mr. Pearce] just as much as he pleases. 
 
 Mr. TEN EYCK. Kather than have this discussion con- 
 tinued on the merits of the Smithsonian Institution, I move 
 that the Senate do now adjourn. [" On no ! "] 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. We shall have it to-morrow instead of 
 to-day. 
 
 Mr. RICE. The understanding was, that we should sit 
 here until five o'clock, and then take a recess until seven 
 o'clock. 
 
 Mr. FOSTER. I would suggest that the motion cannot be 
 entertained. Under the order of the Senate last night, the 
 Senate to-day was to take a recess from five o'clock to seven, 
 and an adjournment now would override the order of the 
 Senate yesterday, and would be an adjournment until to- 
 morrow. Therefore, such a motion, I think, cannot be en- 
 tertained. 
 
 Mr. TEN EYCK. I withdraw the motion. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. Mr. President 
 
 Mr. BIGLER. There is no difficulty in taking a recess 
 now. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland is 
 entitled to the floor. 
 
 Mr. PEARCE. I shall not consume much of the time of the 
 Senate by replying to the attack which the Senator from 
 New Hampshire has made on the Smithsonian Institution. 
 Some years ago the plan of that institution was the subject 
 of deliberate investigation by a committee of the Senate. 
 It was discussed here in this body. It was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Ju- 
 dicary approved the plan of the institution for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men. The Senator 
 from New Hampshire has not given us any great reason to 
 respect his authority on this subject, because he started out 
 with a confession that he knew nothing about it; and, con- 
 fessing so much, I take it that the Senate will take him at 
 his word and estimate the value of his remarks at just what 
 he himself admits them to be worth. It is enough, sir, that 
 
. CONGRESSIONAL PROCEKI>IX;>. 
 
 the men who composed the first Board of Regents, of which 
 I was not one, were among the best men in the country, 
 and that they established this institution upon the plan by 
 which it is now known, and which has received the delib- 
 erate assent of the Committee of the Judiciary of the Sen- 
 ate, and of the Senate itself. How the Senator gets at his 
 theory of Smithson's intentions I do not know. If he lias 
 ever read Smithson's will he will not find one word of all 
 that he has said in it; and we, who do know something 
 about the history of Smithson, know the peculiar reasons 
 which induced him to give this legacy to the United States. 
 
 But, sir, the .Senator has remarked about an exhibition 
 given at the institution a few days since. I wish to explain 
 that. It might be supposed by members of the Senate that 
 this twenty-five cents a head was a fee to the institution. 
 No such thing. The Smithsonian Institution has H remark- 
 ably fine lecture-room, and it is very often applied for by 
 individuals who wish to lecture there. In no case is it given 
 to an individual who charges. The only case in which any 
 one is allowed to charge is where the object is charitable or 
 religious. Church congregations have sometimes applied 
 for it when a lecture was to be delivered, and they have 
 been allowed in that case to use the hall, and they them- 
 selves charge twenty-five cents for each hearer of the lec- 
 ture making a fund for the building of their church, or for 
 the charitable object which is to be subserved, whatever it 
 may be. These are the only cases where a charge is 
 made. The lectures of the Smithsonian Institution are al- 
 was free ; and I believe they are a little more valuable than 
 most lectures in the country for which people pay very will- 
 ingly. 
 
 Now, so far as the Government giving 10,000 a year to 
 this institution is concerned, it is an entire mistake. The 
 Smithsonian Institution accommodated and obliged the 
 Government by admitting within their walls these collec- 
 tions, for which the Government had no proper place, the 
 Government only paying the expense of their preservation; 
 that is all. The Smithsonian Institution does not derive any 
 value to its funds from these appropriations by the Govern- 
 ment. So in regard to the distribution of these enormous 
 collections, the institution is not benefitted a fraction. All 
 we want is a little appropriation to defray the expense 
 which the institution must incur in classifying and separat- 
 ing these specimens of natural history for distribution. I 
 do not object to the amendment of the Senator from North 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 665 
 
 Carolina; and I purposely refrain from much that I might 
 say, that I may not consume the time of the Senate. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. I am one of those who were here at the 
 time of the reception by this Government of the Smithsonian 
 legacy, and one of those who voted to receive that donation 
 from a philanthropic man in England, who died and left us 
 his money. I recollect very well that the arguments of 
 those who were opposed to receiving it were, that it would 
 be a constant tax on us ; that the giving to us of those 
 -$500,000 would result in the expenditure of millions ; and 
 all the friends of the institution, amongst them myself, said, 
 "No; we will take this $500.000, and get the best we can 
 out of it." From that time to now I have always opposed 
 any appropriation for it. If the institution cannot sustain 
 itself, let it fall. I believe it is doing good. I do not want 
 to make it one of those things that shall constantly eat into 
 the vitals of this Government. This is a Government here 
 by itself, controlling itself, and controlling many other 
 things around it. My feelings to it are nothing but kind; 
 but I think it ought to sustain itself, and I shall vote against 
 every appropriation for it. I rise, however, only to say a 
 word in regard to a remark made by the Senator from 
 Maryland, who is almost always right. He spoke of the 
 ignorance of the Senator from New Hampshire on this sub- 
 iect, I simply want to say to the Senator from Maryland, 
 that the best book we have ever had says that, whenever 
 we have learned our own ignorance, we are nearest wisdom. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I wish to correct an error into which 
 my friend from Pennsylvania has fallen; and I think my 
 friend from New Hampshire, also, is troubled with the same 
 difficulty. This is not anything paid to the Smithsonian 
 Institution. It is not in aid of their fund. It has nothing 
 to do with anything connected with that institution in any 
 shape or form. They do not call upon us for anything con- 
 nected properly with" the institution, to render them any aid 
 in anv shape. The simple matter is this: we have a large 
 -collection of this material, coming from several exploring 
 .expeditions. It was all placed at the Patent Office or under 
 ,the charge of the Secretary of the Interior There was 
 -nobody to take care of it; there was nobody to arrange 
 it, nobody to do anything with regard to it; it was turning 
 out to be utterly useless, of no good to the Government; 
 und we imposed the burden on the Smithsonian Institution. 
 We decreed that it should be sent there and should be exam- 
 ined there. 
 
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. MASON. Against their will. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. And against their will. They did not 
 ask it. It was a burden we Imposed upon them ; and having 
 sent it there, we have made an appropriation, heretofore, 
 merely of enough to preserve what was necessary to be pre- 
 served, and to pay the salary of a person who was to take 
 charge of it, fix the room and take care of it $4,000, I 
 think, each year; and it was found, on a careful examina- 
 tion (I was on the committee when it was first made) to be 
 a reasonable provision. 
 
 Now, sir, there is a very large number of these duplicates, 
 and it is proposed that those also shall be arranged by these 
 persons ; and after they are arranged, and it is found dis- 
 tinctly what is best to keep, the rest shall be distributed 
 amongst the institutions of the country. It is not for the 
 benefit of the Smithsonian Institution, but for the benefit of 
 the institutions of the country. We called on them to do 
 the work; and gentlemen get up here and argue that we 
 should compel them to do the work and not pay them for 
 the labor, and compel them also to pay their own expenses. 
 It is simply providing a mode by which we may carry out 
 our own objects and our own purposes through their 
 agency. The labor that they have given to this work, and 
 the services they render, are altogether gratuitous; and cer- 
 tainly they ought not to be abused for doing what we asked 
 them to do with reference to matters which we have placed 
 under their control, without their requesting us to do it. 
 That is the simple fact about this matter. It has nothing to 
 do with the institution. 
 
 Now, sir, as to the Smithsonian Institution itself, what it 
 has done for science, and what it is doing for science. I have 
 no doubt that it is doing much; how much, I do not know. 
 I confess the same ignorance that has been confessed by my 
 friend from New Hampshire, with the addition that I feel 
 ashamed I do not know more about it. I ought to know 
 more about it. I have only to leave my other avocations, 
 which prevent me from knowing what I want to know. It 
 is my own fault. 
 
 Mr. DOUGLAS. I desire to add but a word to what has 
 been so well said by the Senator from Maine. This burden 
 was imposed upon the Smithsonian Institution, not only with- 
 out their request but against their wish. These objects were 
 collected by the exploring expeditions, and deposited in the 
 Patent Office. They were kept there and preserved as ob- 
 jects of great curiosity and great interest, until they occu- 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 667 
 
 pied so large a space that the Government could not afford 
 the room. They needed the room, and had no place to put 
 them in. The Smithsonian Institution happened to have- 
 vacant space; but these collections were not connected with 
 the objects of that institution. The institution was willing 
 to give them the room free of rent. They were willing to 
 take charge of the collection, if the annual expenses of the 
 burden thus imposed was borne by the Government. It was- 
 accepted as a great favor by the Government. I do think r 
 if they are worthy of our encouragement, we ought to pay 
 the actual expenses, no more, of taking charge of these ob- 
 jects of curiosity. Probably there is no object of greater 
 curiosity to the visitor and the stranger who comes to YVash- 
 ino-ton, than this museum thus collected; and inasmuch a* 
 they would be an attraction to the institution, they were 
 wil'lino- to accept them; but the objects themselves belonged 
 to theGovernment. The Smithsonian Institution is giving 
 the Government a place in which to keep them. I think, 
 therefore, that we are bound by every consideration ot pub- 
 lic policy and duty to make this appropriation. I will not 
 occupy time, for I believe it will be voted almost unam- 
 
 r. I must say a word in reply to what ha* 
 been said by the Senator from Maine and the Senator froni 
 Illinois I do not believe that they have studied this sub- 
 iectsowell as they usually study questions^ It occurs 
 my mind that all this labor which we have imposed upon 
 the Smithsonian Institution they have invited 
 ber when this exploring expedition came in, it was said 
 specimens were brought home that would ^valueless to 
 the country, unless we put them in the Patent Othce. After 
 a while omebody came, and asked that they should be 
 tiven to the Smithsonian Institution because, it was said, 
 ft would be an attraction to that bui ding, take people there 
 make it a credit to the country ; and we voted tor it. Alter 
 Awhile they asked us to give them a certain number of 
 books which scientific persons had written, and we had 
 i for the printing of. The rule used to be that all those 
 & were S P e t to Congress, and distributed by members 
 of Confess; but gentlemen here said we ought not to dis- 
 tribute them we should give them to the Department of 
 thelnteK Then we gave them to the Patent Omce ; ami 
 L to he Sniithsonian Institution; and now these gentle- 
 menlskttoiay them for distributing those very thing. 
 which they invited us to give them. 
 

 .68 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 M. PEARCE. I will ask the Senator to specify what scien- 
 tific books the institution has ever asked us to give them ? 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. When I think the gentleman has a right 
 to ask a question, I will answer it. I will say to the gentle- 
 man now that I want this institution to sustain itself. There 
 is no reason why we should appropriate money from year t<> 
 year to keep up that, a bit more than that you should build. 
 <up a scientific institution in the village where I live. What 
 , right has that institution to come here, and what right have 
 we to expend money to keep up an institution for the benefit 
 
 only of those who live by it? The Government has no interest 
 in it. The gentlemen who get their salaries, and who live on 
 the money which old Smithson gave us, have an interest in 
 it; but we have none. I shall vote against it, if nobody 
 else does. 
 
 Mr. DOUGLAS. I think it is unfair for my friend from 
 Maryland to be putting questions to my friend from Penn- 
 sylvania, for he is evidently joking in what lie says. lie is 
 not serious when he talks about the request of the institu- 
 tion made to Congress for this appropriation and that appro- 
 priation. It is contrary to the known history of the institu- 
 tion, and to the known history of the country. It is a very 
 good joke on the part of the Senator from Pennsylvania; 
 but I really think the Senate are not going to vote down 
 this amendment on the strength of that joke. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. I will merely say, if the gentlemen of that 
 institution do not want to have the charge of these things. 
 let them give them up. What do we care about stuffed 
 nakes, alligators, and all such things. "[Laughter/] 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the amend- 
 ment offered by the Senator from North Carolina to the 
 .amendment of the committee. 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now recurs on the 
 amendment as amended. 
 
 Mr. KING. What is the amendment as amended ? 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Secretary will read it. 
 
 The Secretary read it, as follows : 
 
 For the distribution of the collections of the exploring and survey expe- 
 
 ditions of the Government, and the construction of additional cases to re- 
 ceive such part of said collections as may be retained by the Government, 
 $6,000 ; such distribution to be made to institutions willing to receive the 
 same at their own expense. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. That refers merely to the transpor- 
 tation. 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. What is the appropriation of $6,000 for? 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. For putting them in order and arrang- 
 ing them. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. I move to strike out the appropriation. 
 I have no doubt if these things are of any use, scientific 
 people will be glad to get them, and lam willing to let them-v 
 have them, if they will take them. f 
 
 Mr. BICE. The question strikes me in two different as- 
 pects, a personal and an official one. If we have a right to 
 make an appropriation for distributing stuffed snakes, and 
 the various other things that may be collected and brought 
 here, why have we not a right to make an appropriation for 
 distributing the models in the Patent Office ; or distributing 
 hoes, plows, and other implements ? This has all grown 
 out of an infraction, in my opinion, of the Constitution, by- 
 distributing seeds. We must stop somewhere. If you can. 
 do this under the Constitution, what can you not do ? 
 know that the Smithsonian Institution has done great good 
 for the country. I am applied to daily, for books published 
 by it, and I know that they are valuable ; but it is not, un- 
 der the Constitution, a Government institution. Let us 
 stop somewhere, and I think we might as well stop here as 
 anywhere. 
 
 Mr HALE. I think so too. I should like the country to 
 know' how much we have spent for printing pictures of bugs, 
 reptiles, &c., that these exploring expeditions have brought, 
 here We published eleven or twelve volumes of the ex- 
 ploring expedition, illustrated with pictures of bugs, snakes, 
 and reptiles. It has cost us millions of dollars to print those 
 pictures, and now we are going to spend $10,000 to distrib- 
 ute them after spending millions to print pictures of them. 
 The thing is all wrong, sir. 
 
 Mr MASON. Mr. President, I have been for many years - 
 one of the regents of this institution, under the appoint- 
 ment of the Senate, in connection with my friend from 
 Maryland. We know that it is a public trust; one we 
 think of a sacred character. We know as a fact, and it 
 appears in the records of that institution, that these speci- 
 mens of natural history, sent from the Patent Office to the 
 Smithsonian Institution, were sent there ^f *e .remou- 
 strances, repeated from year to year ot that ^titutioii 
 and if either the Senator from Pennsylvania or he Senator 
 from New Hampshire, or any gentleman who thinks with 
 them would introduce an amendment to this bill directing 
 

 <570 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the institution to throw what they had received from the 
 Government out of doors just put it out of doors, and let 
 it rot I will vote for it. It belongs to the Government, 
 It does not belong to the institution. It has no business 
 there within the terms of the trust ; none whatever. It was 
 forced upon them against their will ; as they believe, in vio- 
 lation of the trust left to us by Smithson ; and if those 
 gentleman will devise any mode to take away all these 
 specimens of natural history sent there by the Government, 
 I will vote for it cheerfully. I do not know that I would not 
 consider it incumbent upon me, for the purpose of getting 
 rid of them, if the Government will not bear the exprnsr 
 of throwing them out of doors, to vote it out of the funds 
 of the institution. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. I will take the Senator from Virginia at 
 his word, as tar as I am concerned, and say let them throw 
 them out of doors. They are good for nothing there, and 
 they are good for nothing out of doors. Suppose these 
 gentlemen were to come here now asking us to appropriate 
 six or ten thousand dollars to distribute through this country 
 specimens of the finest arts the world has ever produced, 
 which they could purchase for that sum of money in Europe, 
 would not everybody vote against it ? There is not a man 
 here who would not vote against a proposition to bring the 
 finest statuary and the tinest paintings 
 
 Mr. MASON. Will the Senator allow me to interrupt him 
 a moment ? 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. Certainly. 
 Mr. MASON. The Senator says he will do it. 
 Mr. CAMERON. As far as I am concerned. 
 Mr. MASON. The law now directs that these objects shall 
 be sent to the Smithsonian Institution. Let the Senator, 
 on his responsibility, propose to repeal that law, and I 
 will vote for it. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. I will do that most cheerfully. 
 Mr. MASON. Well, do it now. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. 
 I will bring in a bill to-rnorrow, if Senators think it proper; 
 but we are discussing this question now. Here is an appro- 
 priation of $6,000 for a most worthless purpose; and what 
 right have we to appropriate it? When we are all talking 
 about the distresses of the country; when we do not know 
 how much country we shall have in a few days; when the 
 Treasury is empty not a dollar to pay even members o1 
 Congress, to pay laborers out of doors we are to appropri- 
 
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1859-61. 671 
 
 ate six or ten thousand dollars to preserve a parcel of what 
 you call scientific specimens. A Senator over the way said 
 they were toads and snakes, and I have no doubt they are 
 that sort of thing. [Laughter.] They are no use to anybody 
 now ; they have served their day. 
 
 I am tired of all this thing called science here. It was 
 only the other day we made another appropriation in regard 
 to the expedition which Captain Wilkes took out to the Pa- 
 cific ocean. We have paid $1,000 a volume for the book 
 which he published. Who has ever seen that book outside 
 of this Senate; and how many copies are there of it in this 
 country ? We have spent millions in that sort of thing for 
 the last few years, and it is time it should be stopped. Now, 
 the only way and I say it in all sincerity in which I think 
 this Smithsonian Institution can be useful to the country, is 
 by living within its means ; that it shall not ask any aid of 
 the Government at all ; that it shall not rely on patronage, 
 but on the good it does, and the benefit it confers, to sustain 
 it The country at large, and the people of this country will 
 take care of it, if it is worthy to be taken care of; but it they 
 come to the Legislature every year asking for an appropria- 
 tion, it must sink. As a friend of that institution, and as a 
 friend of the very distinguished and able and pure man who 
 is at the head of it, I do not want it to be connected with tl 
 Government at all. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair understands the ben- 
 .ator from Pennsylvania to move to strike out the appropria- 
 tion contained in the amendment. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. Yes, sir. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question, then, will be on 
 the amendment to the amendment, to strike out the appr< 
 
 PI MJ.CAMERON and Mr. HALE. Let us have the yeas and 
 BINGHAM. Why cannot we take a vote direct on the 
 
 I. have no objection to that. I withdraw 
 
 . I hope we shall have the yeas and nays on 
 tho amendment of the committee. 
 
 The PfcramiHG OFFICER. Does the Senator from Penn- 
 
 . 
 sylvania withdraw his amendment? 
 
 x es, on ... , 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question then wil be on 
 the amendment of the committee as amended on motion of 
 the Senator from North Carolina. 
 
672 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. I desire to have the yeas and nays taken 
 on that question. 
 
 The yeas and nays were ordered. 
 
 Mr. HALE. I simply want to call the attention of the 
 Senate to the fact that we have stricken out of the amend- 
 ment, on motion of the Senator from North Carolina, all the 
 expenses incurred for distribution; and now you propose to 
 give $6,000 to make bug cases alone, without any transpor- 
 tation. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I will suggest that it is now within four 
 minutes of the time when we agreed to take a recess. 
 
 Mr. CAMERON. Let us take a vote. 
 
 The question being taken by yeas and nays on the amend- 
 ment of the Committee on Finance, as amended, resulted 
 yeas 29, nays 6 ; as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Bigler, Bragg, Chandler, Clark, Dixon, 
 Douglas, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Harlan, Hemphill, Johnson of 
 Arkansas, Johnson of Tennessee, Lane, Latham, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, 
 Polk, Powell, Sebastian, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Wade,, 
 and Wilson 29. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Cameron, Grimes, Hale, King, Rice, and Wilson 6. 
 
 So the amendment, as amended, was agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, February 22, 1861. 
 The following resolution was passed : 
 
 Resolved, <j-c., That the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution of the class "other than members of Congress," be filled 
 by the appointment of William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, in place of 
 Richard Rush, deceased ; William B. Astor, of New York, in place of 
 Gideon Hawley, whose term has expired ; and that Cornelius C. Felton, of 
 Massachusetts, whose term has expired, be reappointed. 
 
 March 7, 1861. The President of the Senate reappointed 
 Mr. James A. Pearce as Regent. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 21, 1860. 
 
 The Speaker reappointed as regents Mr. W. H. English 
 of Indiana, Mr. Benjamin Stanton of Ohio, and Mr. Lucius 
 J. Gartrell of Georgia. 
 
 June 11, 1860. Annual report of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, for 1859, presented. 
 
 Mr. STANTON moved that 5,000 extra copies of the report 
 be printed. 
 
 June 12, 1860. The following resolution was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 5,000 extra copies of the Report of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1860; 3,000 for the use of the mem- 
 bers of the House, and 2,000 for the use of the said institution. 
 
THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1861-63. 673 
 
 February 27, 1861. Report of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, for 1860, presented, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 February 28, 1861. The following resolution was passed: 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 5,000 extra copies of the Report of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1860; 3,000 for the use of the mem- 
 bers of the House, and 2,000 for the use of the said institution. 
 
 March 2, 1861. The Senate resolution, of February 22, 
 was passed. 
 
 THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, December 4, 1861. 
 
 The CHAIR, announced the appointment of W. P. Fessen- 
 den of Maine, and Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, as regents. 
 
 March 3, 1862. Mr. DIXON asked, and by unanimous 
 consent obtained, leave to introduce a joint resolution (S. 
 No. 56) for the appointment of a regent of tbe Smithsonian 
 Institution ; which was read twice by its title. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. Let the resolution be read at length. 
 
 The Secretary read it, as follows : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That the vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution of the. .class other than members of Congress, caused by 
 the decease of Cornelius C. Felton, be filled by the appointment of Henry 
 Barnard, of Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. Mr. Barnard is so well known to the Senate, 
 and to the whole country, for his devotion to the cause of 
 public education, that I am in hopes the resolution may be 
 passed, even without a reference. He has devoted his life 
 to the very object specified in the will of Mr. Smithson, 
 " the diffusion of knowledge among mankind; " and, there- 
 fore, I am in hopes the Senate will consent to its immediate 
 passage. If not, I shall not urge it, but move its reference. 
 
 The YICE PRESIDENT. The Senator from Connecticut 
 asks the unanimous consent of the Senate to consider this 
 resolution at the present time. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I must object to that. Although the 
 confession argues myself unknown, I must say that I never 
 heard of Mr. Barnard before. 
 
 The VICE PRESIDENT. Objection being made to the con- 
 sideration of the resolution, it will be referred to the Com- 
 mittee on the Library. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. Mr. President 
 
 The VICE PRESIDENT. It is not subject to discussion. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. I should myself, on objection being offered, 
 43 
 
674 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 have made a motion to refer it to the Committee on the 
 Library. 
 
 The VICE PRESIDENT. It is referred. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. I feel that I ought to say one word, if the 
 Senate will allow me, though not strictly in order, in reply 
 to the remark of the Senator from Maine, that he had never 
 heard of Mr. Barnard. It is unfortunate undoubtedly, and 
 may seem to be a reflection on Mr. Barnard. lie is known 
 everywhere throughout the whole country and in Kurope 
 for his exertions in the cause of popular education. 1 would 
 not have said a word but for that remark, which might im- 
 ply some disrespect on the part of the Senator to Mr. 
 Barnard, which I hope, however, was not the cast-. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. I meant none in tin- world. I meant 
 simply to say that it so happened, unfortunately for myself, 
 that I never heard of Mr. Barnard, and I would rather the 
 matter should be referred. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. I supposed it to be so, yet felt that I ought 
 to say so much in justice to a gentleman so widely and 
 favorably known. 
 
 March 28, 1862. Mr. COLLAMER, from the Committee on 
 the Library, reported unanimously in favor of the passage 
 of the House resolution, for the appointment of T. I). 
 Woolsey, regent ; adopted. 
 
 April 1, 1862. Mr. DIXON. Yesterday, I think, during 
 my absence from my seat, or when my attention was not 
 directed to it, the Senator from Vermont [Mr. Collamer] 
 called up a joint resolution appointing President "Woolsey, 
 of Yale College, a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 I had previously offered a resolution for the appointment of 
 Mr. Barnard, of Connecticut. Mr. Barnard has requested 
 me to withdraw his name. I ought to have done it, and 
 should have done it yesterday in justice to him, if I had- 
 been present when that joint resolution was passed. I ask 
 the consent of the Senate to allow, the reading of a letter 
 from Mr. Barnard, in which he requests that his name may 
 be withdrawn, and Mr. Woolsey be appointed. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. No objection being made, 
 the letter will be read at the request of the Senator from 
 Connecticut. 
 
 The Secretary read it, as follows : 
 
 WASHINGTON, March 27, 1862. 
 
 MY DEAR *IR : I thank you for the kind manner in which you was 
 pleased to present my name to the Senate in nomination for the post of Re- 
 gent of the Smithsonian Institution. I see by the papers that the name 
 of President Woolsey, of Yale College, has been presented to the House 
 
THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1861-63. 675 
 
 for the same vacancy. As an " older and better soldier" in the cause of 
 good learning, Dr. Woolsey should receive that appointment by the vote of 
 every friend of my nomination ; and I beg, therefore, you will, in your 
 -own time and way, withdraw my name, and give your vote and influence 
 heartily for his appointment. 
 
 Very truly yours, HENRY BARNARD. 
 
 Hon. JAMES DIXON. 
 
 Mr. COLLAMER. I merely wish to say that the gentleman 
 is mistaken in one idea. I know he was present when this 
 resolution was called up. He was sitting in his seat. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. I presume I was ; but my attention was not 
 called to it. 
 
 Mr. COLLAMER. The Senator might not have heard it ; 
 but he was present. 
 
 Mr. DIXON. . I was not aware of its being called up. 
 
 April 21, 1862. Joint resolution from House of April 17, 
 adopted. 
 
 June 9, 1862. The following resolution was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, for 1861, be printed ; 2,000 for the use of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, and 3,000 for the use of the Senate : Provided, That the aggregate 
 number of pages contained in said report shall not exceed 450, without 
 wood-cuts or plates, except those furnished by the institution. 
 
 January 16, 1863. Mr. TRUMBULL moved that the Vice 
 President appoint a member to fill the vacancy in the Board 
 of Eegents, occasioned by the death of Hon. J. A. Pearce. 
 Adopted. 
 
 The VICE PRESIDENT appointed Mr. Garret Davis of Ken- 
 tucky, to fill the vacancy. 
 
 January 29, 1863. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts, offered 
 a resolution, expelling Geo. E. Badger from the Board 
 of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and appointing 
 Louis Agassiz in his place. 
 
 February 2, 1863. The VICE PRESIDENT laid before the 
 Senate a letter from Prof. Henry, Secretary of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, transmitting the following resolution, 
 adopted by the Board of Regents ; which was, on motion 
 of Mr. SUMNER, referred to the Committee on the Library : 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to inform the Congress of the 
 United States that George E. Badger, one of the Regents of this institution, 
 has not attended the recent meetings of the board, and they are advised that 
 he is now in rebellion against the Government of the United States, and sub- 
 mit whether the name of said Badger should longer remain on the list of 
 the Eegents of the said institution. 
 
 February 6 ? 1863. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I move 
 to take up the resolution I submitted some days ago, remov- 
 ing Mr. Badger from the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution and appointing Professor Agassiz in his 
 
676 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 place. I propose to refer it to the Committee on the Li- 
 brary, who have the subject under consideration in another 
 form. 
 
 The motion was agreed to ; and the joint resolution ex- 
 expelling George E. Badger from the Board of Regents of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, and appointing Louis Agassi/, 
 in his place, was read the second time, and considered as in 
 Committee of the Whole. 
 
 Several SENATORS. Why not pass it now? 
 
 Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I should like to have it 
 put on its passage now. I understand that the chairman of 
 the Committee on the Library has no objection to the reso- 
 lution being considered now, without being referred to the 
 committee. 
 
 The joint resolution was reported to the Senate. 
 
 Mr. McDouGALL. I move that the joint resolution be 
 postponed until to-morrow. 
 
 Mr. RICHARDSON. I suggest to my friend from California 
 and also to the Senator from Massachusetts, that we had better 
 confine ourselves now to the expulsion of Mr. Badger and 
 leave the appointment to be made as the law requires. 1 
 do not know what the law is on the subject. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL. The appointment is made by joint reso- 
 lution. This is the usual form. 
 
 Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I will simply say that 
 Mr. Badger is now in the place, and I introduced this reso- 
 lution to expel him and to appoint Professor Agassiz, cer- 
 tainly one of the foremost men of the age in any country. 
 There is now no person upon the Board of Regents from 
 my State; they are scattered elsewhere all about the coun- 
 try. Certainly we could not select in the whole nation any 
 man better fitted for such a position than Professor Agassiz. 
 I hope the resolution will be passed. 
 
 Mr. McDouGALL. I do not take any exception to Pro- 
 fessor Agassiz, who, I think, would be a most competent 
 man to fill this place, but I think the business should be 
 disposed of with more care. 
 
 Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. This subject was brought 
 before us a few days since by the gentlemen connected with 
 the Smithsonian Institution, and facts are presented showing 
 that Mr. Badger is now in the service of the so-called con- 
 federate government. 
 
 Mr. McDouGALL. I think Professor Agassiz the most ac- 
 ceptable man that could be named. I do not object to it,, 
 except as to the way in which it is done. 
 
THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1861-63. 677 
 
 Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. This is the proper way 
 to do it. 
 
 Mr. McDouGALL. If that is so, I withdraw my objection. 
 
 The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed for a 
 :third reading; was read the third time, and passed. 
 
 SENATE, February 23, 1863. 
 
 Annual report of the institution for 1862 presented. 
 Mr. FESSENDEN moved to print extra copies. 
 
 February 28, 1863. The following resolution was passed : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, for 1862, be printed ; 2,000 for the use of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, and 3,000 for the use of the Senate : Provided, That the aggre- 
 gate number of pages contained in said report shall not exceed 450, with- 
 out wood-cuts or plates, except those furnished by the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion ; and that the Superintendent of the Public Printing be authorized, 
 if consistent with the public service, to allow the Smithsonian Institution 
 to stereotype the report at its own expense, or to otherwise print at its own 
 expense, such additional copies as may be desired from the type set in the 
 Government printing establishment. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 19, 1861. 
 
 The SPEAKER appointed as regents, Messrs. Schuyler Col- 
 fax of Indiana, Edward McPherson of Pennsylvania, and 
 Samuel S. Cox of Ohio. 
 
 January 8, 1862. Mr. HOLMAN. I move to amend by 
 striking out the following clause : 
 
 " For preservation of the collections of the exploring and surveying ex- 
 peditions of the Government, $4,000!" 
 
 I understand this to be an appropriation for the Smith- 
 sonian Institution nothing more and nothing less. It is 
 an appropriation of $4,000 for the purpose of assisting in 
 keeping up the museum connected with that establishment. 
 I find m the last report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian 
 Institution a clause which I will ask to have read in order 
 to indicate how this money is applied. 
 
 The extract was read by the Clerk. It states that the 
 annual appropriation of $4,000 made by Congress for keep- 
 ing the collections of the exploring and surveying expedi- 
 tions of the United States has been expended, under the 
 direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in assisting to 
 pay the extra expenses of assistants and the cost of arrang- 
 ing and preserving the specimens. This has served to di- 
 mmish the cost to^the Smithsonian fund for the maintenance 
 and exhibition of the museum, but is by no means sufficient 
 to defray all the expenses of that object. 
 

 78 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. I submit the amendment to stride out the 
 clause ; and I desire to say, in addition to the explanation 
 contained in the extract just read, that according to the 
 last report made by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution there seems to be on hand, of the appropriations for 
 the last few years, the sum of $55,148.09. This amount of 
 money is under the control of that institution $30,910.14 
 being annually paid out of the Treasury of the United 
 States for its maintenance. It is very true that this is interest 
 on money which the Government assumed to pay money 
 which seems to have been loaned out many years ago, und 
 lost. Still it is a direct charge on the Treasury. 
 
 ISTow it seems to me that one of the most desirable fea- 
 tures in connection with the Smithsonian Institution, and 
 that which gives to it any degree of popularity, is the mu- 
 seum for the preservation of which this appropriation is 
 designed to be made ; and it seems to me that, with so 
 large a fund as that institution now lias in its hands, and 
 inasmuch as its object is the diffusion of knowledge among 
 mankind, and as the museum is as effectual in accomplish- 
 ing that purpose as any other, this $4,000 can very well be 
 paid for such an object out of the annual appropriation. I 
 therefore make the motion that this entire section be stricken 
 out. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I dislike to oppose the mo- 
 tion of the gentlemen from Indiana, because I believe he is 
 sincerely desirous of saving money to the Government. But 
 in relation to this particular item I think he labors under a 
 slight mistake. Now it is true that all our naval officer* 
 are instructed, or at least are in the habit of contributing 
 every year to a very great extent specimens of natural 
 history which are deposited in the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion. This institution also receives a large collection of 
 specimens in natural history from the various surveying 
 and exploring expeditions. So large has been the receipts 
 by this institution of these specimens that they have sup- 
 plied many of the scientific associations in the country. 
 This appropriation therefore is not for the benefit of the 
 Smithsonian Institution particularly, but to enable them to 
 take care of and distribute these contributions that are now 
 deposited there, and which they would be very glad to be 
 relieved from the care of. It is but a small item, and, so 
 far as I know, the only one we make for the benefit of sci- 
 ence. I hope it will not be stricken out. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. I ask the gentleman whether a very large 
 amount of the interest annually paid upon the Smithsonian. 
 
THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1861-63. 679 
 
 fund is not absorbed in salaries ? I understand that $6,500 
 is paid annually in the shape of salaries to the secretary and 
 his assistants. It is true that the amount does not come out 
 of the Government directly, but it comes out of the money 
 to sustain that institution, of which some thirty thousand 
 dollars is appropriated by the Government annually. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I answer the gentleman that 
 the expenditure of the Smithsonian Institution fund is un- 
 der the control and direction of the regents of that institu- 
 tion, and I suppose they are responsible for the manner in 
 which those funds are expended. So far as I know, their 
 management does not fully meet my approbation, and if we 
 have the power, I should certainly be willing to ask for a 
 reform in the management of that institution. But this is 
 an entirely separate and distinct matter. 
 
 Mr. COLFAX. I move to reduce the appropriation $1,000. 
 I make this motion merely for the purpose of saying that I 
 hope the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. Cox,] who is one of 
 the regents of the Smithsonian Institution, will take care 
 of rny colleague [Mr. Holman] in this matter, and that he 
 will defend the institution from the attacks upon it from that 
 side of the House. [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. I wish to ask my colleague whether, in 
 the expenditures of the $30,000 annually appropriated to 
 supply the funds of this institution, there is any feature 
 more entirely popular in its character or better calculated 
 to carry out the purposes for which the original grant was 
 made than the preservation and enlargement of the museum 
 of the institution ? 
 
 Mr. COLFAX. I say to my colleague that I concur with 
 him in the remarks he has made ; but as lam not yet sworn 
 in as one of the regents, I must refer him for more partic- 
 ular information to the gentleman from Ohio. [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. Cox. One word, sir. My friend from Indiana, [Mr. 
 Holman,] who has been placed under my charge by the 
 gentleman of Indiana over the way, [Mr. Colfax,] has made 
 an attack upon this appropriation, and based his attack 
 upon the expenditure of the Smithsonian fund. He finds 
 fault with the action of the regents. In other words, he 
 finds fault because they have taken the interest upon the 
 fund left by that philanthropic Englishman, Srnithson, and 
 appropriated some six thousand dollars of it for the salaries 
 of officers. I submit, sir, that the gentleman has no right, 
 and that the House has no right, to inquire into the expen- 
 diture of that fund. 
 
680 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. Is not the interest upon that fund appro- 
 priated by Congress ? 
 
 Mr. Cox. The expenditure of the interest upon the 
 Smithsonian fund is under the direction of the regents and 
 nobody else. Congress has nothing to do with it. All that 
 Congress gives is simply the small amount of $4,000 to aid 
 Smithson in his effort to diffuse useful knowledge among 
 xnen and women also. [Laughter.] I hope the motion 
 made by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Colfax] will, 
 however, prevail. I hope this amount may be cut down to 
 the extent of $1,000 to satisfy my economical friend on my 
 right, [Mr. Holman,] I hope a small reduction will be made 
 upon all these items to satisfy my friend from Indiana, and 
 I think we might spare $1,000 from this amount for that 
 purpose. 
 
 Mr. STEVENS. I wish to ask the gentleman from Ohio 
 whether this is not the sum which has always been appro- 
 priated for this purpose, and whether that sum has not al- 
 ways been found necessary for the purpose of collecting and 
 distributing these collections ? 
 
 Mr. Cox. I suppose the chairman of the Committee of 
 Ways and Means is perfectly familiar with these matters. 
 I cannot answer, not having yet been sworn in as regent. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. STEVENS. I rose to ask the question, supposing that 
 I had no right to answer it myself, when one of the regents 
 was present. [Laughter.] If the gentleman from "Ohio 
 will give me leave to answer, I will state that this sum has 
 always been appropriated, and the officers of the institution 
 report that it is necessary for these purposes. 
 
 Mr. COLFAX. I withdraw my amendment. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. I renew the amendment. Before the ques- 
 tion is taken on it, I desire to state that the sum of $30,000 
 is always appropriated in payment of the interest on this 
 Smithson fund, although the Government itself has never 
 received any benefit from the fund, and it is only equitably 
 liable -for the interest upon it. Out of that sum, as I have 
 stated, $6,500 is paid in the shape of salaries, and if my 
 memory serves me correctly, over $2,000 is placed under 
 the head of contingent expenses, although all proper ex- 
 penses seem to be covered by the various other items. 
 
 Inasmuch, however, as the preservation of this museum 
 comes as much within the original intention of the donor 
 as any other purpose to which it is applied, and is the only 
 really popular feature of the institution, it seems to me that 
 it can properly be provided for out of the regular fund. 
 
THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1861-63. 681 
 
 Mr. Cox. For the information of the gentleman, I would 
 ike to correct him in his statement about the Government 
 not being liable to pay this $30,000 interest money. The 
 Government received $500,000 from the Smithson estate, 
 and was unfortunate in the investment of the money. It 
 nvested it, I believe, in Arkansas bonds, which proved 
 worthless. It received the money, and was accountable for 
 it in all honor. And to carry out the purposes for which 
 the fund was intended, they are bound to pay the interest 
 upon the sum at six per cent., which is yearly due from the 
 United States Treasury. 
 
 Mr HOLMAN. I asserted that the payment of this $30,OC 
 was munificence, and not justice, on the part of the Gov- 
 ernment I ask the gentleman whether the Government 
 acted in the acceptance of this trust, in any other capacity 
 than as trustee ; and whether, as such, the money was not 
 invested in good faith ? 
 
 Mr. Cox. I say they did accept the trust, and got the 
 
 . And did not they act in good faith in the 
 investment of it, although it was lost ? 
 
 Mr. Cox. I think they acted with very bad judgment. 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 Mnrrh 1? 1862 Mr. McPflERSON introduced a resolution 
 foS^Sment of Theo. D. Woolsey, of Connecticut, 
 as regent, in place of C. C. Felton, deceased ; referred to 
 Committee on the Library. 
 
 Mnrch 27 1862 Mr. MC?HERSON asked unanimous con- 
 
 
 
 subtly withdrew his objection, 
 
 olution ; 'and it was adopted. 
 
 March 14, 1862. The following appropriation was mad 
 
 For 
 
 to bcexpe roriation shall 
 
 mtsonan , . appropraon sa 
 
 on the Library of Congres, and L it * P^ b/^fied, if neces- 
 
 remain unexpended lor t he* > pu ipo,e^ ti works of said explor- 
 
 '"'" ...... "'" 
 
 ' April 17, 1862.-Mr. McPiiERSON, from the Committee 
 
682 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the Library, reported a joint resolution (No. 67) to supply the 
 Smithsonian Institution with a copy of each of the volumes 
 of the Wilkes' Exploring Expedition. Adopted. 
 
 June 4, 1862. Annual report of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, for 1861, presented. 
 
 Mr. Cox moved that 5,000 extra copies be printed. 
 
 June 5, 1862. Mr. CLARK, from the Committee on Print- 
 ing, reported the following, which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 5,000 extra copies of the report of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1801 ; the wood-cuts to be furnished 
 at the expense of the Smithsonian In-lit ut ii>n ; 3,000 copies for the use <>t 
 members of the House, and 2,000 for the use of the Institution. 
 
 February 19, 1863. The next bill taken from the Speak- 
 er's table was a joint resolution expelling George E. Badger 
 from the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 and appointing Louis Agassiz in his place; which was read 
 a first and second time. 
 
 Mr. WASHBURNE. I move to refer that bill to the Com- 
 mittee on the Library. 
 
 Mr. THOMAS, of Massachusetts. I desire to ask the gen- 
 tleman who reported this resolution what information he 
 has in regard to the course and conduct of Mr. Badger which 
 requires this resolution of expulsion ? 
 
 Mr. Cox. This matter was initiated at a meeting of the 
 Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, at its last 
 meeting. The statement was there made that Mr. Badger 
 was a member of the North Carolina Legislature ; that he 
 had made a speech denouncing this Government and favor- 
 ing the confederate government, and there was no one there 
 who was authorized to deny that that reported speech was 
 not authentic. I should be glad to relieve a gentleman of 
 the high standing of Mr. Badger of any such imputation. 
 He does not attend the meetings of the Regents of the In- 
 stitution, and we need somebody there to h'll his place. I 
 should be happy to hear any statement in exculpation of 
 that gentleman. 
 
 Mr. THOMAS, of Massachusetts. All I desire to say is, a 
 letter attributed to him was afterwards stated to have been 
 a forgery. I refer to a letter said to have been written to 
 Governor Stanly. 
 
 Mr. McPHERSON. There appears no doubt of the fact that 
 Mr. Badger is at present a member of the Legislature of 
 North Carolina, and of course he has assumed a position 
 inconsistent with holding an appointment under the United 
 States Government. 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 
 
 Mr. CRITTENDEN. I wish to say that Mr. Badger is a very 
 old friend of mine. I have understood that on the 4th of 
 January last he was prostrated by a stroke of apoplexy. I 
 heard he was in extremis, and I do not know whether he is- 
 dead or alive. 
 
 Mr. Cox. I call the previous question upon the passage 
 of the resolution. 
 
 The previous question was seconded, and the main ques- 
 tion ordered to be put; and under the operation thereof the 
 resolution was ordered to be read a third time, and it waa 
 accordingly read the third time, and passed. 
 
 Mr. Cox^ moved to reconsider the vote by which the reso- 
 lution was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to re- 
 consider on the table. 
 
 The latter motion was agreed to. 
 
 February 27, 1863. Annual report of the institution for 
 1862 presented. 
 
 Mr. McPHERSON moved to print extra copies. 
 
 March 3, 1863. Mr. CLARK, from the Committee on Print- 
 ing, reported the following resolution, which was agreed to: 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 extra copies of the report of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution for 1862 be printed 3,000 for the Smithsonian Institution and 2,00< 
 for the use of the members of the present House. 
 
 THIKTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, June 13, 1864. 
 
 Annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1863 
 laid before the Senate. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL moved that extra copies ot the report b 
 
 printed. 
 
 June 18, 1864. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the following : 
 
 Resolved That 5,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution for 1863 be printed-2,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution ^d 3 000 for tlS use of the Senate: Provided, That the aggregate 
 number of pages contained in said report shall not exceed 450 without wood- 
 rnts or elates except those furnished by the institution; and that the Su- 
 per ntendfnt if Public Printing be authorized, if consistent with the public 
 Lrvc to allow the Smithsonian Institution to stereotype the report at its 
 own expense oTto otherwise print at its own expense such additional copies 
 arma^bec^ired^Yomthe type set in the Government printing establish- 
 ment. 
 
 December 21. 1864. Mr. TRUMBULL asked, and by unani- 
 mous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill to repeal 
 the provision of law requiring certain Regents of the Smith- 
 
684 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 sonian Institution to be members of the National Institute; 
 which was read twice by its title. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL. I scarcely know to what committee it 
 would be desirable to refer this bill, and unless somebody 
 wishes it referred, I shall ask the Senate to act upon it at 
 once. If the Senate will indulge me for one moment in 
 making an explanation of it, I chink there will be no objec- 
 tion to it. 
 
 The act establishing the Smithsonian Institution providi <1 
 that two of the regents should be residents of the city ot 
 Washington and members of the National Institute in the 
 city of Washington. The National Institute was an incor- 
 porated association, and its charter has expired. It did not 
 meet with much success ; it has been dissolved ; and there 
 are now no members of the National Institute. There is a 
 vacancy in the Board of Regents, occasioned by the death 
 of General Totten, which needs to be tilled, but it cannot 
 be filled by the appointment of a resident of Washington 
 and a iiieinher of this institute, as there are no longer any 
 members of this institute. The objectof this hill is to re- 
 peal that provision of the law which requires that two re- 
 gents should be members of the National Institute. I hope 
 the Senate will let the bill pass at once, as it is desirable to 
 fill that vacancy. 
 
 There being no objection, the Senate, as in Committee of 
 the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill. 
 
 Mr. COLLAMER. I do not know that I understand the 
 entleman aright. Is it proposed to repeal that part of the 
 aw which requires them to he inhabitants of Washington? 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL. No, sir; not at all. I ask the Secretary 
 to read the bill again, so that the Senator from Vermont 
 may see that it does not repeal that part of the law requir- 
 ing them to be residents of Washington. 
 
 The Secretary read the bill, as follows : 
 
 Be it enacted, <fe., That so much of the " act to establish the Smithsonian. 
 Institute for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men" as re- 
 quires that two of the regents of said institution shall be members of the 
 National Institute, in the city of Washington, be, and the same is hereby, 
 repealed. 
 
 The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, 
 ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third 
 time, and passed. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 23, 1863. 
 
 The SPEAKER announced that this being the day fixed for 
 the appointment of three Regents for the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, he had appointed Messrs. S. S. Cox of Ohio, Henry 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 685 
 
 Winter Davis of Maryland, and J. W. Patterson of New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 June 13, 1864. Annual report of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution laid before the House of Representatives, and Mr. 
 Cox moved that extra copies be printed. 
 
 June 28, 1864. Mr. CLARK, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the following, which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 extra copies of the report of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, for 1863, be printed ; 3,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 and 2,000 for the use of the members of the House. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 6, 1865. 
 
 Mr. Cox. I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
 Speaker's table Senate bill to repeal the provision of law 
 requiring certain Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to 
 be members of the National Institute. 
 
 There being no objection, the bill was taken up, and was 
 read a first and second time. 
 
 Mr Cox. I may state that the object of this bill is to 
 repeai that provision of law which requires that two of 
 the resents of the Smithsonian Institution shall be members 
 of the National Institute an institution which is now 
 
 5 The bill was ordered to a third reading, read the third 
 time, and passed. , ,.,, 
 
 Mr Cox moved to reconsider the vote by which the bi 
 was passed ; and also moved that the motion to reconsi. 
 be laid on the table. 
 
 The latter motion was agreed to. 
 
 SENATE, January 11, 1865. 
 Mr. TRUMBULL introduced the following joint resolution r 
 
 the place of Joseph G. Totten, deceased. 
 
 January 17, 1865. Senate resolution above passed. 
 February 2, 1865. The Senate passed the following i 
 lutiou : 
 
 deposits therein were, on Tuesday, the ^J^y rf J*^,^ 
 

 686 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 nection therewith as may be of public interest, and to report by bill or 
 otherwise. 
 
 February 21, 1865. Mr. FOOT, from the Committee on 
 Public Buildings and Grounds, submitted the following re- 
 port : 
 
 The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Public 
 Buildings and Grounds, to which was referred the resolution passed Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1865, respectfully report: 
 That they visited the building, inquired into the origin of the fire, the 
 
 character and extent of the loss sustained, and requested the regents, through 
 
 the secretary, to furnish a written report on the subject of investigation. 
 
 In accordance with this request the following report was presented : 
 
 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OK K !:;!: NTS OF THE 
 SMITHSONIAN INMIinioN K HI. A 1 I V K 'I 1 II K FIRE. 
 
 The special committee appointed l.y the board a* it.- meeting. ,, n .January 
 28, 1865, to inquire into the origin of the lire at the Smithsonian Institution, 
 to ascertain the extent and character of the !..-< BUttained, and to make 
 suggestions as to what measures should be adopted for the repair and im- 
 provement of the building, respectfully report that they have peri'm-med 
 the duty assigned them, so far as tin- time and their means of information 
 would permit. 
 
 I. THE ORIGIN OF Till! II UK. 
 
 The testimony has been taken of all persons connected with the establish- 
 ment that had any knowledge of the occurrence, and a written account of 
 the whole is herewith submitted ; also a report from Colonel B. S. Alex- 
 ander, United States army, who superintended the tire proofing of the main 
 building, of his examinationof the flues connected with the accident. 
 
 It is evident, from the concurrent testimony thus obtained, that the firo 
 commenced in the southwest part of the roof of the main building, in tin: 
 woodwork immediately under the slate covering, and that it was kindled 
 by the heated air or sparks from a stove which had been temporarily plaeed 
 in the room immediately below. The pipe >f this stove had been inserted. 
 by mistake, into a brick furrin^paee n-emblini; a Hue, which opened un- 
 der the rafters instead of into the chimney flue, within a few i&ches of the latter. 
 By whom the hole into which the pipe \\a< inserted was originally made is 
 not known, but it is remembered that a >to\-e-pipc was put into it a> fa- 
 back as 1854, at the time of the exhibition held by the Mechanics' Institute 
 in the building. No fire, however, had been in this room for ten year- pre- 
 vious to Monday, 15th January, when the machinist and carpenter of the 
 institution were engaged, with .-everal other of the employes, in reari-an^iiiL; 
 the pictures of the gallery, the wat her at the time being unusually cold. 
 These persons, for temporary convenience, set up the stove above mentioned, 
 intending to remove it as soon as their task was finished. A coal fire, kin- 
 dled with wood, had been burning in this stove for eight days previous to 
 the conflagration, yet it appears from the testimony that no evidence of com- 
 bustion was observed by a person who passed through the loft six hours 
 before the breaking out of the flames. It is probable, however, that tin: 
 wood had been undergoing a process of charring for several days. 
 
 On account of the very expensive style of architecture selected for the 
 building, and the limited means at the command of the board, the plan had 
 been at first adopted of finishing the interior of the whole edifice with wood 
 and plaster. A large portion, however, of the interior wookwork of the 
 main building, after the roof and exterior had been finished, gavo way and 
 fell; whereupon the regents ordered the removal of the woodwork and its 
 place supplied with incombustible materials. Thus the main building was 
 rendered fire-proof, with the exception of the supports of the roof, which. 
 being covered with slate, was assumed to be safe. The only danger of the 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 687 
 
 occurrence of fire was supposed to exist in the two wings and the towers, 
 and to guard against this contingency especial precautions were constantly 
 observed, viz.: 1. No smoking was allowed in any part of the building at 
 any time. 2. No lights were allowed to be carried from one part of the 
 building to another except in lanterns. 3. Three coils of large hose were 
 deposited, ready for use, one in the upper story, and the other two on the 
 first floor of the building ; and there were water-pipes in the basement with 
 faucets. 4. Barrels and buckets, kept constantly filled with water, were 
 placed at different points of the building. 5. The rule was observed of 
 cleaning the flues every autumn before the commencement of fires. 6. A 
 watchman was employed each night, who made every hour the rounds of 
 all the rooms in the building, giving special attention to those in which fire 
 had been kindled during the day, including the apartments occupied by the 
 family of the secretary. 
 
 These precautions, however, as it has proved, were of no avail the fire 
 having occurred at a point where no danger was apprehended, and to which 
 access could with difficulty be obtained. 
 
 II. THE CHARACTER AND EXTENT OF THE LOSS SUSTAINED. 
 
 The loss to the institution was as follows : 
 
 1. The contents of the secretary's office, consisting of the official, scien- 
 tific, and miscellaneous correspondence, embracing 35,000 pages of copied 
 letters which had been sent, at least 30,000 of which were the composition 
 of the secretary, and 50,000 pages of letters received by the institution. 
 Here, moreover, were lost the receipts for publications and specimens ; re- 
 ports on various subjects which have been referred to the institution ; the 
 records of experiments instituted by the secretary for the government ; four 
 manuscripts of original investigations, which had been adopted by the in- 
 stitution for publication ; a part of the manuscript material of the report 
 of the secretary for 1864 ; a large number of papers and scientific notes of 
 the secretary ; a series of diaries and memorandum books, and a duplicate 
 set of account books, prepared during the last twelve years, with great 
 labor, by Mr. Khees, the chief clerk ; also, about one hundred volumes of 
 valuable works kept at hand for constant reference. 
 
 2. In the apparatus room, the large collection of scientific instruments, 
 including the donation of the late Dr. Hare. 
 
 3 A part of the contents of the regents' room, including the personal 
 effects of Smithson, with the exception of his portrait and library. _ 
 
 4 The contents of the rooms in the towers, including the meteorological 
 instruments, the workshop, containing a lathe and a large number of valu- 
 able tools, nearly all the stock on hand of the duplicate copies of the annua 
 reports, and many other public documents and books intended for distribu- 
 tion to libraries, as well as a quantity of stationery, hardware &c. 
 
 5 The wood-cuts of the illustrations contained in the Smithsonian publi- 
 
 cations 
 
 The loss to other parties was as follows : 
 1 The contents of what was called the Picture Gallery, viz.: a. About 
 two hundred portraits, nearly all of life size, painted and principally owned 
 
 feM^]$^ 
 
 which were on deposit in the institution, b. A number of halt-size Ii 
 
 inted by Mr. King for the Government, e. A copy, m Carrera 
 e^tiqufstetueiiiownEB the -Dying Gladiator," by John 
 
 u^^ ^ 
 
 The cbthing, 3 and private effects of several of the persons con- 
 
 ^^ 
 
 libraries were stored in an upper room in the south tower. 
 

 688 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Independent of injury to the building, the loss to the institution, as far 
 as it may be estimated and can be restored by money, may be stated at about 
 $20,000;" and to individuals, $20,000, viz.: To Mr. J. M. Stanley, $20,000- 
 Mr. J. C. McGuire, $1,000 ; Prof. Joseph Henry, $1,500 ; Mr. W. J. Khee.,, 
 $1,200; Mr. W. DeBeust, $1,300; and all others, $1,000. 
 
 Although the loss which the institution and individuals have sustained is 
 much to be regretted, yet it is a source of consolation that by far the greater 
 part of the valuable contents of the building have escaped without injury. 
 The valuable library of the institution, the most extensive, in regard to th>, 
 transactions of learned societies ami M-ientitic books, in this country; the, 
 museum, including the collection of the exploring expedition and those of 
 the institution ; the large stock of many thousand duplicate specimens for 
 distribution to all parts of the world ; the records of the museum ; a large 
 portion of the correspondence relative to natural history; nearly all tin- 
 records of meteorological observations which have been accumulated dur- 
 ing the last fifteen years ; the sets of Smithsonian publications (except the 
 annual reports) which have been revived to supply new Institutions, and 
 the stereotype plates of all tin- \v<>rks which have been published during 
 the last four or five years, have been saved. All the original vouchers of 
 payments made by the institution, the ledger in which they were posted, 
 and the day-book from 18o8, were also preserved, having been deposited in 
 a safe in the regent.-' room. The contents of the connecting range between 
 the library and the museum art- uninjured ; this includes a series of plaster 
 casts and portraits ..(' diMin^ui-hed men, arnon^ tin- latter a lit'e->i/.e por- 
 trait of Guizot, by llcaly ; an original full-length ligurc ft' Washington, 
 by the elder Peale, and also a valuaMe .-eries < f rare engravings illlustrativo 
 of the history of art, purchased from the Ilmi. (',< ,.]-. P. .Mar-h. 
 
 All the important acts of the n-^i-nt- from the beginning, and an account 
 of the operations of the institution, having been |iiilli>hcd from year to 
 year in the several reports to Congress, a continued record of the history of 
 the establishment from the beginning i>. therefore. Mill in existence. A* 
 these reports have been widely distributed, they are generally accessible to 
 the public. 
 
 The burning of the roof of tho building can -caicely in itself be considered 
 a calamity, since it probably would have occurred at some future time when 
 a much larger accumulation of valuable articles might have been destroyed ; 
 and since it will now be replaced by one of fire-proof materials. The fire- 
 proofing, as far as it was carried, was well done, and it is to this circum- 
 stance that the preservation of tho most valuable objects of the establish- 
 ment is due. 
 
 III. SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHAT SHOULD BE DONE. 
 
 There can be no hesitation in adopting the conclusion that steps should bo 
 immediately taken not only to repair the injury, but to improve the condi- 
 tion of the building. 
 
 1. The main edifice should be provided with a metallic roof. 
 
 2. For the wooden conical terminations of the towers should be substitu- 
 ted metallic coverings. 
 
 3. All valuable articles belonging to the institution or deposited in it, 
 including the library, should be placed in the main building, which should 
 be cut off from the wings by iron doors. 
 
 4. Provision should be made for a thorough heating of the whole building 
 by steam or hot water. 
 
 5. Suggestions should be requested from competent architects and en- 
 gineers as to work to be done, and those which are adopted should be em- 
 bodied in working plans and drawings. 
 
 6. A building committee of the board should be appointed to have charge 
 of the work. 
 
 No very exact estimate can as yet be made as to the cost of the repairs, 
 <c., for it has not been possible, without erecting a scaffolding, to deter- 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 689 
 
 mine whether it will be necessary to take down the high northern tower. 
 Colonel Alexander of the engineer corps, however, has informed the com- 
 mittee that he thinks $100,000 will be required to make the necessary re- 
 pairs and improvements. 
 
 The committee cannot conclude without adding that, in their opinion, 
 the occurrence of the fire ought not to be allowed to interfere with the ad 
 tive operations of the institution, on which essentially depends the reputa- 
 tion it has established throughout the world, and its efficiency as an instru- 
 ment for " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." To the 
 support and extension of these operations, therefore, the annual interest 
 from the original fund should, as far as possible, continue as heretofore to 
 be conscientiously applied. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 RICHARD WALLACE, 
 JOSEPH HENKY, 
 
 Special Committee. 
 WASHINGTON, February, 1865. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of the committee, Professor Henry was requested 
 to state his connection with the institution, to give an account of its objects 
 and operations, the origin of the building, and such other facts as might 
 be of public interest. In conformity with this request he made the follow- 
 ing statement : (See Rep. Com., No. 129, 38th Congress, 2d session.) 
 
 Mr. FOOT offered a resolution to print 1,000 extra copies 
 of the report ; 500 of which to be for the use of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. 
 
 February 22, 1865. The resolution of Mr. Foot was 
 adopted. 
 
 March 1, 1865. Annual report, for the year 1864, pre- 
 sented, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 March 3, 1865. The next amendment was to insert the 
 following as a new section : 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed 
 to pay the interest on the debt due the Smithsonian Institution in coin, as 
 the interest on other permanent debts due by the United States prior to the 
 present rebellion have been and are paid. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. I have a word to say on that subject. I 
 am opposed to the adoption of that amendment. In the 
 first place, I do not know any reason why there should be 
 a distinction made between a debt that is due to the Smith- 
 sonian Institution and a debt due to anybody else by the 
 United States Government. I understand that by some 
 construction or other the Treasury Department have decided 
 that this is a kind of trust debt ; and that from this time 
 henceforth they intend to pay the interest upon what they 
 call the trust fund in gold. The purpose of this amend- 
 ment is to make this retrospective, and to pay some forty 
 thousand dollars in currency, being the difference between 
 the amount which has hitherto been received by the Smith- 
 sonian Institution and that which they claim they ought to 
 have received and would have received if this money had 
 44 
 
690 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 been paid to them in coin. The Smithsonian Institution is 
 a very wealthy corporation, and is able to reimburse itself, 
 and to rebuild and refit the buildings which have been recently 
 destroyed. It will be remembered that when Mr. Smithson 
 made this bequest, or shortly after he made it, the Government 
 created a corporation. That corporation, or their trustee, saw 
 fit to invest their money in Arkansas bonds. Those bonds 
 mostly turned out to be valueless. The Government, how- 
 ever, assumed it, and we now pay, and have for many years 
 paid, the Smithsonian Institution upward of 80,000 a' year 
 upon this amount of $515,000, I think that it is, which is 
 the amount of the permanent fund of the Smithsonian 
 Institution. 
 
 Mr. SUMNER. Allow me to ask the Senator whether the 
 Government did not make that investment in Arkansas 
 bonds? I think it was not an act of the corporation, but of 
 the Government. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. It is perfectly immaterial, so fur as this ques- 
 tion is concerned, whether the Government made it, or 
 whether the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution made it 
 directly themselves ; for if the Government made it, the Gov- 
 ernment made that investment at the instaner and the request 
 of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. SUMNER. No ; it was before the organ i/at ion ; before 
 there were regents. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. Mr. President, the amount of the fund be- 
 longing to the Smithsonian Institution is $515,000. They 
 expended in the building, on the public reservation, $325,000. 
 It is claimed by them that to put the roof on the building, 
 and put it in about the condition it was in before the fire, 
 there will be required from thirty-six to forty thousand dol- 
 lars ; but to improve it as they want to improve it, to make 
 it entirely fire-proof, to change its construction very materi- 
 ally, they say they have the opinion of an army engineer, 
 Colonel Alexander, but who is no architect, no expert, and 
 whose judgment, therefore, is worthless in a matter of this 
 kind, that it will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 
 $100,000. This institution, beside the $515,000 upon which 
 we are paying them the interest, have accumulated from 
 that interest $75,000 in Indiana State bonds, which are 
 good ; $53,500 in Virginia bonds, which are not of much 
 value; $12,000 in Tennessee bonds ; $500 in Georgia bonds ; 
 and $100 in Washington city bonds. Then they have in cash 
 $20,000, and they have in gold $26,200, which is worth 
 $52,000 to-day in currency. So it will be observed that 
 they have in available funds, saying nothing about the Vir- 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 691 
 
 ginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Washington bonds, $95,000, 
 beside $26,200 in gold.' 
 
 I have heard it said that we ought to pay the Smithsonian 
 Institution this money in gold, because we pay some of the 
 Indians by treaty stipulation in gold. I think the Senators 
 who are members of the Committee on Indian Affairs will 
 bear testimony to the Senate that we have paid gold to no 
 Indians except where there was an express agreement in 
 the treaty that payment should be made in coin. We have 
 had, and have, an abundance of treaties with the Indians; 
 we hold their money in trust ; but in no instance, I under- 
 take to say, has the money been paid to these Indians in 
 gold except when there was an express stipulation in the 
 treaty that it should be paid in gold. I know of no reason 
 why there should be an exception made in favor of this rich 
 corporation, the Smithsonian Institution why they should 
 be treated any better than our Indian tribes are treated. 
 
 Mr. COLLAMER. Are they not paid in gold? 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. I undertake to say that there are not and 
 have not been any Indians paid in gold except where there 
 was an express stipulation in the treaty that they should be 
 paid in coin. I asked the gentlemen on the Committee on 
 Indian Affairs, when the Indian appropriation bill was un- 
 der consideration the other day, if that was not so, and they 
 said it was so. The Senator from Kansas [Mr. Lane] bowed 
 his head and said it was so. There are treaties made with 
 the Indians, I admit, by which we have agreed to pay them 
 in coin ; and then there are other treaties in which we have not 
 that stipulation ; but where that stipulation is not embodied 
 in the treaty we do not pay them in coin. There is lying 
 on your table at this moment a communication from the 
 Secretary of the Interior, asking that we shall do for these 
 Indians precisely what the Smithsonian Institution asks we 
 shall do for them that we shall pay them in coin in the 
 future. But this Senate, so far as I know, has refused to do 
 that ; so far as I am informed, the Committee on Indian 
 Affairs have utterly refused to do it. I do not see the chair- 
 man of the Committee on Indian Affairs present, nor my 
 colleague ; but there are gentlemen here, I think, who know 
 what the facts are in regard to the payment of these In- 
 dians. Now, I ask, if it be true, and I think it will be de- 
 monstrated in a few minutes that it is true, that this is the 
 method in which we treat the Indians whose funds we hold 
 in trust, is there any very substantial reason why we should 
 deviate from this rule in favor of this corporation, the 
 Smithsonian Institution ? 
 
92 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN. The Committee on Finance have no doubt 
 at all about this proposition so far as it is now reported. 
 It is true that a proposition was submitted to the committee 
 that the back payments already made should be made equal 
 to gold. That we rejected on the ground that the money 
 having been received by the corporation, without any objec- 
 tion, they certainly cannot now present a legal claim against 
 the United States to make good any loss which may have 
 accrued from their taking a depreciated currency. But 
 upon the main question, that they are entitled to the interest 
 of this trust fund in gold, we had no doubt. All the per- 
 manent debt of the United States is now payable in coin. 
 That has been the established policy of the Government 
 since the foundation of the Government, and I think it never 
 has been departed from. Let me put this case : suppose 
 this corporation, instead of allowing this money to remain 
 simply as a trust fund in the Treasury of the United States, 
 had taken bonds of the United States registered in the or- 
 dinary way, which they had a right to do, and left them in 
 the Treasury Department; they would have drawn their 
 interest in gold precisely as the holder of any other bonds 
 would have done. I am informed that this now stands as 
 a registered debt. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. How long has that been so ? 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN. Always, I presume. It stands as a trust 
 debt. There is no difference between them. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. Where is the distinction between this case 
 and that of the Indians? 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN. I will mention that in a few moments. 
 
 There is, therefore, no distinction between this case and 
 any other portion of the permanent debt of the United 
 States. This corporation, whether rich or poor, whether it 
 is a charitable one, or one making money on its own ac- 
 count, would have the right to demand of the Government 
 the same interest that is paid to any other bondholder of 
 the United States. The fact that this money stands to the 
 credit of this corporation as a trust fund in the Treasury 
 Department only strengthens that obligation, because it is 
 a general rule of equity, as well as a rule of law, that a 
 trust fund must be treated more favorably than any other, 
 fund. Therefore the United States, having assumed the 
 burden of a trustee, would be held in a court of equity to a 
 more rigorous rule than it would be even where it stands 
 upon its legal rights. If the United States is bound to pay 
 to any other class of bondholders interest in gold, it cer- 
 tainly should do so to this corporation, whether it be rich 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 693 
 
 or poor, whether it be a charitable one or one making money 
 on its own account. It seems to me, therefore, the propo- 
 sition is plain. 
 
 But the Senator says that we have refused to do this with 
 the Indians. The difference between our treaties with the 
 Indians and an obligation of this kind is, that an Indian 
 treaty requires us to pay annuities from time to time ; every 
 year we pay so much. It seems to me there is a distinction 
 between the two. Wherever we stipulate to pay these an- 
 nuities in coin, we pay them in coin. There is a difference 
 between the payment of an annuity and the payment of in- 
 te'rest on the public debt ; and that difference has always 
 been recognized since the foundation of the Government. 
 But even if we did injustice to the Indians, we make it good 
 by the payment of large bounties ; we more than make it 
 good by our annual appropriations for the expenses of the 
 Indian department. Since the recent condition of affairs, 
 since we have been involved in war, we have appropriated 
 very large sums, this year amounting to more than a million 
 dollars, for the benefit of the Indians not included in Indian 
 treaties. We have indeed made good to them the appro- 
 priations in gold, or nearly so. If therefore, there is any 
 injustice done to the Indians, it certainly is not a peculiar 
 hardship. 
 
 In this case the proposition was so plain that the commit- 
 tee had no hesitation about awarding the payment in gold 
 from this time forward. I am told that this question has 
 never been acted upon in the Treasury Department, but 
 that if these parties had demanded their interest in gold, 
 precisely as other creditors have done, and as they had a 
 right to do, they would have been paid in coin at any time 
 since the beginning of this war. There has been no dis- 
 tinction in the Treasury Department between this debt and 
 any other funded debt of the United States the interest of 
 which is payable in coin. 
 
 Mr. HALE. If I do not entirely misunderstand the nature 
 of this case, it seems to me there is no force in the sugges- 
 tions which have been made in regard to any obligations of 
 the Government, for this reason: this Mr. Smithson gave 
 this fund, some five hundred thousand dollars or more, to 
 the United States ; they are the beneficiaries of this dona- 
 tion ; it was the property of the United States, and the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, whether it was a wise or an unwise crea- 
 tion of Congress, was simply a machinery instituted by the 
 United States for the purpose of carrying on and carrying 
 out the bequest of Mr. Smithson. To speak of this institu- 
 
(594 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 tion as an institution apart from the Government of the 
 United States, to my humble comprehension is perfectly 
 absurd. It is the United States that own this institution. 
 It was for the benefit of the United States that the fund \\ as 
 given to them; and Congress, because it was not convenient 
 to take it and manage it, as they did the other interests of 
 the Government, created these agents, created this institution, 
 as a mere matter of convenience by which the Government 
 might manage the fund that was intrusted to them for the 
 purposes specified in Mr. Smithson's will. They have no 
 claim, no interest, in this matter. The only question was, 
 how shall the Government, if they accept the trust, carry it 
 on ? They concluded to carry it on by this machinery. It 
 is not an institution adverse to the United States Govern- 
 ment It is not an institution that has the least claim under 
 heaven upon the Government. They are the mere creutmvs 
 of the Government, to enable them, according to the pur- 
 port of the will, to execute the trust that has been confided 
 to them. How can they come here and occupy the position 
 of creditors? They are no creditors. They have no interest 
 under heaven, not the slightest; they are the mere agents 
 appointed by law to execute this trust for the United States 
 in the use of a fund which belongs to the United States. 
 That is the whole of it. That being the case, this being the 
 property of the United States, managed for their benefit 
 through this instrumentality, it is contended that the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States shall increase by a hundred- 
 fold the appropriations for the institution. I do not see the 
 slightest claim in the world. 
 
 Let me state another fact. The honorable Senator from 
 Iowa did not state this thing exactly as it was. The fact 
 was that about 1840, or not far from that time I do not 
 know the exact time that this fund was given to the United 
 States was a pretty hard time for the Democratic party; 
 they had had bad luck, and the Secretary of the Treasury 
 took the whole of this fund, every dollar of it, and gave it 
 to Arkansas, no doubt for highly patriotic purposes, [laugh- 
 ter,] and it was all sunk; and there was an end of the 
 bubble, or ought to have been. But Congress were so much 
 tickled with the idea of this bequest that they assumed the 
 debt. They did not make much by investing it in Arkansas 
 politics; everything went by default, and then Congress 
 stepped in and paid out of the Treasury that which they 
 had wasted. 
 
 I will not repeat what I have heretofore said in regard to 
 this institution ; I will not say but that it is possibly a wise 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 695 
 
 one, and a wise appropriation of public money, because it 
 is rather impertinent to the question that is now before the 
 Senate. It has been characterized, I think by Greeley and 
 I do not often quote him as a sort of lying-in hospital for 
 literary valetudinarians, [laughter,] and that is about the 
 amount of it. I remember once that some friends were 
 here and had been visiting about the places of interest in 
 the city of Washington, and had got pretty much through 
 with them, when I asked them, " What are you going to do 
 to-day ?" They said they were going to look at the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, and find out what it was. I told them I 
 was exceedingly glad they were going to start on such a 
 mission, and I asked them, if they did find out, to tell me 
 when they got back. They did not call on me when they 
 got back. [Laughter.] 
 
 Now, sir, I know of no reason under heaven why, when 
 we are paying in currency the men who are shedding their 
 blood in defense of the country, the men who are periling 
 everything for the salvation of the country, we should come 
 in and pay this pet child we have created in this manner in 
 gold. I think it would shock the moral sense of the nation 
 to-day, if they knew that we propose to pay in gold the in- 
 terest on this debt, which is no debt at all, when we pay 
 those who fight our battles, and shed their blood in our 
 defense, in currency. I hope the amendment will not be 
 adopted. 
 
 Mr. HENDRICKS. The Committee on Public Buildings 
 and Grounds investigated this subject to some extent, and 
 became entirely satisfied, with the exception of the Senator 
 from Iowa, I believe, that this interest ought to be- paid in 
 gold. I am very glad to hear the statement of the Senator 
 from Iowa. I arn glad he is able to prove that this institu- 
 tion is in good condition. I arn gratified that he has shown 
 it has full funds, with an accumulation of $75,000 in Indiana 
 bonds a sure and reliable fund and something against the 
 State of Virginia. I shall be gratified each session while I 
 have the honor of serving along with him to hear him make 
 as good a statement of the Smithsonian Institution as he 
 has to-night. 
 
 He says it is a rich institution. I am glad of that. I was 
 once a member of the Indiana Legislature, and every now 
 and then I heard some Kepresentative or Senator talking 
 about the bloated corporations of the State ; and we all had 
 it in our heads that the wealth of the corporations, in some 
 way or other, was made off our constituents, and therefore, 
 to some extent, we were justified in making war upon them, 
 
t>96 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 for they were men that made their gains oft* the people. 
 But this is not the case with the corporation that the Senator 
 now styles a wealthy corporation. No money to till the 
 coffers of that institution came from the good people of Iowa. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. Not until we pay them in gold $62,000 in 
 place of $3 1,000, while we pay to Iowa soldiers, as the Senator 
 from New Hampshire well said, only six dollars and a halj 
 in gold. Then it will come off my constituents. 
 
 Mr. HENDRICKS. As I was going on to say, all the rich 
 funds of that institution came not from the people of Iowa 
 or of Indiana. It was a munificent grant from a foreigner, 
 Mr. Smithson, for the purpose of establishing in this country 
 an institution for the acquisition and diffusion of useful 
 knowledge among men. That $500,000 was ivreived, not 
 in paper, hut in gold, coming from a kind friend of this 
 country across the water. If, therefore, the institution is 
 rich, it is well for us; if it were poor, it would be a disgrace 
 to us to-day. 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. I think the; Senator is mistaken in the 
 language used in the will; and I think that in that respect 
 the managers of it have been true to the direction of the 
 testator. It was not " useful knowledge among men," but 
 " knowledge among men." [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. HENDRICKS. Well, sir, whether knowledge is useful 
 or not I will not undertake to discuss now. The purpose 
 of the bequest was to establish in this country an institution 
 for the diffusion of knowledge, or useful knowledge, among 
 men. I think the language used was u useful knowledge." 
 Whether the knowledge that is diffused among men from 
 that institution be useful or not I do not care now to discuss. 
 If I were to judge from the number of applications I have 
 for the reports of that institution, [ should say it is useful 
 knowledge. 
 
 Then, sir, if the institution is rich, it has cost his con- 
 stituents and mine nothing; but if it were poor to-day, and 
 we refused to make up the entire fund, it would cost his 
 constituents and mine something it would cost their honor. 
 
 Now, sir, upon the leading question I do not agree with 
 the Senator from New Hampshire. This institution does 
 not belong to us; it is not the property of the United States. 
 The United States, in respect to that institution, and the 
 funds that endowed it, is but the trustee. We are not the 
 beneficiaries, in its language. The people of the world tire 
 the beneficiaries; all who can be instructed by the diffusion 
 of useful knowledge are the beneficiaries. 
 
 The Senator from New Hampshire spoke also of a loss 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 697 
 
 -because of a purchase of bonds of the State of Arkansas. 
 If we purchased bonds that were not a sure investment, in 
 law, or rather in equity, we are bound to make it good. If 
 the United States, as a trustee, makes a bad investment, she 
 must make that investment good. If the Senator held funds 
 for me, or if, as a guardian, he held funds for some of his 
 minor constituents, and made a bad investment, would he 
 not be compelled to make it up ? If he made a bad invest- 
 ment he would be compelled to make it good, unless he 
 used due care and acted under the direction of the court. 
 I admit, if entire diligence is used, perhaps he would not 
 be responsible in a court of equity. But I understand the 
 facts to be that the institution has lost nothing from the 
 Arkansas bonds. That has been made up; they have been 
 paid, arid there has been no loss resulting from that invest- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. HALE. The Senator is mistaken. 
 
 Mr. HENDRICKS. I was so told the other day. I am not 
 fully informed, except as the committee were informed by 
 Professor Henry, who has this business in charge. That is 
 the way I understand it. The interest has been paid. 
 
 Mr. HALE. The bonds have not been paid. 
 
 Mr. HENDRICKS. Whether the bonds have been paid or 
 not is not important. We got gold, and were to use it, as 
 a trustee, to establish an institution that would be an orna- 
 ment to the country as well as useful to the world. Now, 
 sir, what is the obligation of the United States in respect to 
 that, a gold investment, endowing an institution, not for the 
 benefit of the United States, but for the benefit of mankind 
 generally? I understand the decision of the Treasury De- 
 partment has been that all trust funds are to be paid in gold, 
 and that all the debts against the Government prior to the 
 commencement of the war are to be paid in gold. 
 
 Both the Senators have asked why we pay gold to this 
 institution when we pay greenbacks to the soldiers. Why 
 do the Senators agree, by their numerous votes here, to 
 pay gold to the men who buy the bonds of the United States? 
 Why do they make their investment worth twelve per cent., 
 when other men use their money for their own benefit but 
 to the extent of six per cent. ? Why do they pay gold to 
 the creditors that they create now, not by $500,000 at a time, 
 but by $600,000,000 at a time, in gold? Let them answer 
 that. It is a question between them and the soldiers. They 
 pay the creditors of the Government in gold and the soldiers 
 in greenbacks. Both Senators unquestionably were governed 
 Ly proper considerations. I think it is a plain obligation 
 
698 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 on the part of the Government to pay this interest in gold. 
 It is according to the practice of the Government, and I 
 should think it a shame to the Government to do otherwise. 
 Mr. TRUMBULL. I am a little surprised at the course of 
 the Senator from Iowa and the Senator from New Hamp- 
 shire. The Senator from New Hampshire says this is not 
 a trust at all ; this property was given to the United States. 
 It was given to the United States by James Smithson; but 
 it was given for a particular purpose, and it is as much a 
 trust as when any testator bequeaths property to a particular 
 
 Eerson for a particular purpose. The Congress of the United 
 tates in 1846 passed an act by which they recognized this 
 as a trust; and I would like to inquire of the Senator from 
 New Hampshire if he means to repudiate the action of this 
 Government, if he means to repudiate the solemn obligation 
 which this Government has taken upon itself? It is a direct 
 act of repudiation on the part of the Government to deny 
 that this is a trust, and that it is held as a trust for particular 
 purposes. The act of 1846, which I have before me, declares : 
 
 u That James Smithson, Esq., of London, in the kingdom of Great Britain, 
 having by his last will and testament given the whole of his property to the 
 United States of America to found at Washington, uml-r tin- name of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase ami diil'u-ion of 
 knowledge among men, and the United States having, by an act <>f ( Congress, 
 received said property and accepted said trust : Therefore, for the full execu- 
 tion of said trust according to the will of the liberal and enlightened donor, 
 Be it enacted," &c. 
 
 Here is a solemn act of Congress acknowledging the re- 
 ceipt of this property as a trust fund. It was given for the 
 purpose of founding " at Washington, under the name of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge among men;" and the 
 Senator from Iowa says " not useful knowledge." Why, 
 sir, I thought that the term "knowledge" implied that it 
 was a useful thing. I supposed that knowledge was valuable : 
 that it was what we all sought to acquire. This propert} r 
 was accepted in trust for this identical purpose ; and to re- 
 pudiate it now, and say it is no trust, it is the money of the 
 Government, and you have a right to squander it and use 
 it, is as direct a breach of faith as it would be on the part 
 of this Congress to pass a law that it would pay no debt 
 whatever that it had created. It would be the worst species 
 of repudiation worse than borrowing money and refusing 
 to pay it under ordinary circumstances. The Government 
 has accepted it; it has committed itself to it; and this insti- 
 tution had as perfect a right to call for the payment of the 
 

 THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 699" 
 
 interest as it fell due, in coin, as had any other creditor of 
 the Government. 
 
 The Senator from Iowa wants to know why a distinction 
 is to be made between the debt due the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution and a debt due any other person. No distinction is 
 to be made. It is the very thing we do not want to do. The 
 Government of the United States, in 1861, when this rebellion 
 broke out, owed some ninety million dollars: and does not 
 the Senator from Iowa know that we paid the interest to 
 every one of the holders of that indebtedness in gold? 
 
 Mr. GRIMES. I know we did not do it to the Indians. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL. You have done it to the Indians in many 
 instances; but because you have wronged the Indian, who 
 cannot assert his rights ; because you have violated your 
 treaties with him, and by act of Congress are changing 
 treaties every day, and driving him from the lands that you 
 set apart to him and said you would never disturb him in 
 the possession of; because you impose upon the Indian, do 
 you propose now to violate all your contracts? You are 
 bound to pay the Indian in gold, if you have agreed so to 
 pay him. Sir, this argument by which you talk about not 
 paying the poor soldier in coin smacks a little of a speech 
 upon the stump. The Senator from Iowa votes here to pay 
 the foreign bondholder in coin. 
 
 In my opinion this amendment does not go far enough. 
 The reason, probably, for the introduction of the amend- 
 ment at this time is in consequence of a calamity, the de- 
 struction of a part of the Smithsonian building within a few 
 days by fire, involving a very large expenditure to repair 
 the building: but instead of calling upon Congress for an 
 appropriation for thafc purpose, it was thought on the part 
 of the managers of the institution they would be enabled 
 to get along if they received the interest due the institution 
 in coin. They were entitled to receive it, and they would 
 have received it in coin had they insisted upon it heretofore. 
 The only reason that it has not been insisted upon, as I 
 understand, is that in this great emergency of the country, 
 as the institution was able to get along, the matter was not 
 pressed upon the Secretary of the Treasury, who never de- . 
 nied the obligation of the Government to pay in coin as 
 much upon this debt as any other debt which the Govern- 
 ment owed. I am informed by the Senator from Maine 
 [Mr. Farwell] that they received the currency of the coun- 
 try without making a special demand for the coin under the 
 particular condition of things in the country at the time. 
 The institution will be able, as I understand, to repair the 
 
700 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 building, provided they receive what they are entitled to 
 receive; and hence this proposition to pay the interest in 
 -coin. I shall move an amendment to the proposition to 
 make up the difference between the currency which the 
 institution has received and the coin to which they were 
 entitled, in order that they may have the means to repair 
 the building. I think the Government is bound to pay it 
 by every obligation, and particularly by the obligation which 
 it took upon itself when it accepted this fund. 
 
 But the Senator from Iowa brings in here the fact that 
 this fund was invested in Arkansas bonds: Was that the 
 fault of Smithson who made the bequest ? Whose fault was 
 it if an improvident use was made of the funds of the insti- 
 tution ? But that question is not now to be settled. The 
 Government of the United States has assumed the control 
 of this money, has incorporated this institution, has agreed 
 to pay the interest forever at six per cent, upon the money 
 that was placed in its Treasury; and, unless it means to re- 
 pudiate this obligation, it is bound to pay it, and it is bound 
 to pay it in the same currency that it pays to other creditors 
 similarly situated. That is all that the institution asks. 
 They probably would not have pressed at this time for the 
 payment in coin but for the misfortune of the fire which 
 has recently occurred. I move to amend the section which 
 is pending by adding to it the following: 
 
 And in case the interest heretofore paid to said institution has been j>:tid 
 in a different currency, or of less value, than that paid by the Government 
 on other permanent debts or trust funds, that the Secretary be directed to 
 make up the difference to said Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. COLLAMER. Mr. President, I do not wish to confine 
 my remarks to the amendment now under consideration. 
 I can see no good reason for the amendment of the Senator 
 from Illinois. So far as this institution have received their 
 interest in any money that was satisfactory to them when 
 they received it, I consider it paid. In relation to what has 
 not been paid them, it undoubtedly should be paid them, as 
 I think, in coin, as is the case with all the trust funds in the 
 hands of the Government. 
 
 But, sir, I rose more particularly to make one remark. 1 
 feel a good deal gratified at the speeches that have been 
 made on this subject this evening, and from this considera- 
 tion : Congress, by the votes of many of the gentlemen who 
 have spoken on this subject to-night, passed a law nearly 
 four years ago to enable individuals to pay off their old notes in 
 depreciated paper at half price, and we called it a legal tender. 
 These gentlemen voted for that measure, by which people 
 

 THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 701. 
 
 were enabled to cheat their creditors, and by which the Gov- 
 ernment never got anything, and never will. But what par- 
 ticularly gratifies me is this : that while they were willing 
 to make a law, and it is a standing law now, to enable indi- 
 viduals to cheat their creditors by paying them off in money 
 at half price, they are ashamed to do it on their own account, 
 and will not do any such thing ; and I hope they never will. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President, I think there is a higher obli- 
 gation to keep this bequest at its original amount than any 
 legal obligation. Srnithson was a natural son of the Duke 
 of Northumberland. He made a declaration in connection 
 with this bequest that he would render his name more famous 
 than that of the illustrious house to which he was allied. He 
 executed a will, in which he bestowed the whole of his estate 
 upon the United States, in trust, to establish, as the honorable 
 Senator from Illinois has just read, an institution to be located 
 in the city of Washington for the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men. That was the highest testimony 
 that that individual could have rendered to the Government 
 of the United States, or to the United States themselves. 
 Although allied to an illustrious house, he gave all that he 
 had of worldly property to our country and to our Govern- 
 ment, for the purpose of founding an institution for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge. From the circumstances 
 under which the bequest was made, and the manner in which 
 its execution was assumed by our Government, in my judg- 
 ment, it creates a higher than a legal obligation that the 
 amount and value of this noble bequest shall not deteriorate 
 or be reduced in amount in the hands of those that he charged 
 with the execution of the trust. 
 
 The honorable Senator from Illinois says, correctly no 
 doubt, that the reason why this application is now made at 
 this time is because of the misfortune that befell the Smith- 
 sonian Institution a few weeks since. That was in some 
 degree the fault of the United States Government. It had 
 property deposited for custody arid exhibition in the Interior 
 Department, which was directed by the officers of the Govern- 
 ment to be transferred to the Smithsonian Institution for 
 the same custody and for similar exhibition. This property 
 wus not properly attached to, or appended to, the Smithso- 
 nian Institution. The managers of that institution received 
 the custody and the possession of this property reluctantly, 
 and only because its custody had been imposed upon them 
 by the officials of the United States Government. The 
 proper arrangement of that property in one of its halls. 
 
702 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 rendered necessary the making of some repairs in the hull 
 that caused the making of a fire in that hall, which resulted 
 in the conflagration of the building. 
 
 It seems to me, Mr. President, in view of the nature of 
 the bequest, of the nobleness of the motives of the testator 
 who bequeathed it, of the high scientific purposes for which 
 it was given to the United States ; in view of the great trust 
 and confidence that was reposed by the testator in the Gov- 
 ernment, and in the United States, and in our country; and 
 in view of the fact that this fire that resulted in the burning 
 of the Smithsonian building arose from the imposition <>f 
 a duty that did not appertain to that institution at all, the 
 United States Government ought to hold itself bound by 
 every obligation to keep the bequest at its original value; 
 and that is all that is proposed. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. Foot in the chair.) The 
 question is on the amendment of the Senator from Illinois 
 to the amendment of the committee. 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was rejected. 
 
 The amendment of the committee was adopted; there 
 being, on a division ayes twenty-one, noes not counted. 
 
 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendments reported by 
 the Committee on Finance are all disposed of. 
 
 Mr. HALE. I find we have got another Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution on a smaller scale in this bill that I want to get rid 
 of. I move to strike out the following clause : 
 
 For publishing the annual report of the National Academy of Sciences, 
 made to Congress, under the act approved March 3, 18G3, $0,000. 
 
 If there is no objection to striking it out, I have nothing 
 to say. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 March 7, 1865. Mr. FOOT offered the following resolu- 
 tion : 
 
 Resolved, That the President of the Senate appoint a Regent of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, on the part of the Senate, in the vacancy now existing 
 in the Board of Regents. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore appointed Mr. Fessenden. 
 
 March 8, 1865. Mr. ANTHONY. I offer a resolution in 
 connection with the report of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 It is^ the usual annual resolution on the subject, and has 
 received the assent of the Committee on Printing, and need 
 not, therefore, be referred to that committee : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, for 1864, be printed ; 3,000 for the use of the Senate, and 2,000 
 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution : Provided, That the aggregate 
 number of pages in said report shall not exceed 4-30, without wood-cuts or 
 
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1863-65. 703 
 
 plates, except those furnished by the institution, and that the report be 
 stereotyped. 
 
 Agreed to. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 2, 1865. 
 
 The concurrent resolution from the Senate of February 
 2, was passed. 
 
 February 11, 1865. On motion of Mr. FRANK, the joint 
 resolution from the Senate appointing General Richard 
 Delafield a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, was taken 
 up and passed. 
 
 March 2, 1865. Mr. RICE, of Maine. I offer the follow- 
 ing as as additional amendment to the bill : 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed 
 to pay the interest on the public debt due the Smithsonian Institution in the 
 same funds as the interest on other permanent debts due by the United 
 States prior to the present rebellion have been and are paid ; and in case the 
 interest heretofore paid to said institution has been paid in a different cur- 
 rency and of less value than that paid by the Government on other perma- 
 nent debts or trust funds, that the Secretary be directed to make up the 
 difference to said Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. STEVENS. Why not put in the word "gold" at 
 once ? 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. 1 rise to a question of order. This is not 
 an appropriation in accordance with law, but it is an attempt 
 to appropriate a specific sum of money in gold instead of the 
 ordinary currency of the country. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. The Chair sustains the point of order, 
 and rules the amendment out of order. 
 
 Mr. Cox. I appeal from the decision of the Chair, and I 
 desire to be heard a moment in explanation. This is not an 
 appropriation. It is only a direction to the Secretary of the 
 Treasury to pay the interest on this special fund in gold, as 
 it always has been paid, and as it ought to be paid now. 
 
 Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I rise to a question of order. 
 Has not the debate been closed on this bill ? 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. It has, and the Chair adheres to its 
 decision. 
 
 Mr. Cox. I wish the Chair could have had the facts of the 
 case before him before he decided it. I respectfully appeal 
 from the decision of the Chair. 
 
 The question was, Shall the decision of the Chair stand 
 as the judgment of the committee? 
 
 The question was taken, and the decision of the Chair was 
 sustained. 
 
 Mr. SPALDING. I move to insert the following as an ad- 
 ditional section : 
 
704 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 SEC. . And be it further enacted, That there be appropriated for the 
 purpose of making repairs upon the building of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, lately injured by fire, the sum of $50,000. 
 
 Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I raise the point of order 
 that this amendment proposes to change the existing law, 
 and is therefore out of order. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN. The Chair sustains the point of order. 
 
 THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, March 22, 1866. 
 
 Mr. HOWE. The Joint Committee on the Library have 
 instructed me to report a bill to provide for the transfer of 
 the custody of the library of the Smithsonian Institution to 
 the library of Congress. 
 
 Mr. SUMNER. I am very much interested in that question. 
 I have paid some little attention to the subject in advance, 
 and I should really like to see the bill in print. I do not 
 wish to make any objection, but I think it had better lie 
 over. 
 
 Mr. HOWE. Certainly, that is a very reasonable request. 
 I cannot ask to have it considered. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will lie over under the 
 rule. 
 
 March 27, 1866. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be 
 no further morning business, the Chair will call up the un- 
 finished business of yesterday. 
 
 Mr. HOWE. Is that now regularly before the Senate. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It is not regularly before the 
 Senate until one o'clock, but if there be no other business 
 the Chair will call it up. 
 
 Mr. HOWE. Then I move that the Senate proceed to the 
 consideration of Senate bill No. 216. 
 
 The motion was agreed to; and the bill (S. No. 216) to 
 provide for the transfer of the custody of the library of the 
 Smithsonian Institution to the library of Congress, was read 
 a second time and considered as in Committee of the Whole. 
 It provides that the library collected by the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, under the provisions of an act approved August 
 10, 1846, shall be removed from the building of that insti- 
 tution, with the consent of the regents, to the new fire-proof 
 extension of the library of Congress, upon completion of a 
 sufficient portion for its accommodation, and while there 
 deposited, it is to be subject to the same regulations as the 
 library of Congress, except as provided in this bill. 
 
THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1865-67. 705 
 
 When the library shall have been so removed and depos- 
 ited, the Smithsonian Institution is to have the use of it in 
 like manner as it is now used, and the public is to have ac- 
 cess thereto for purposes of consultation on every ordinary 
 week-day, except during one month of each year, when it 
 may be closed for renovation. All the books, maps and 
 charts of the Smithsonian library are to be properly cared 
 for and preserved in like manner as are those of the Con- 
 gressional library, from which the Smithsonian library is 
 not to be removed, except on reimbursement by the Smith- 
 sonian Institution to the Treasury of the United States of 
 expenses incurred in binding and in taking care of it, or 
 upon such terms and conditions as shall be mutually agreed 
 upon by Congress and the regents. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution, through its Secretary, is to 
 have the use of the library of Congress, subject to the same 
 regulations as Senators and Representatives. The Libra- 
 rian of Congress is to be authorized to employ two additional 
 assistants, who are to receive a yearly compensation of $800 
 and $1,000, respectively, commencing July 1, 1866; and the 
 sum of $500, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is 
 appropriated to defray the expenses of the removal provided 
 for in the bill. 
 
 Mr. HOWE. I move to amend the bill in section two, line 
 six, by inserting the words "in the recess of Congress" after 
 the word "year," so that it will read: 
 
 That when such library shall have been so removed and deposited, the 
 Smithsonian Institution shall have the use thereof in like manner as it is now 
 used, and the public shall have access thereto for purposes of consultation on 
 every ordinary week-day, except during one month of each year in the re- 
 cess of Congress, when it may be closed for renovation. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 Mr. HENDRICKS. I wish to ask the Senator from Wis- 
 consin whether this bill contemplates the permanent transfer 
 of these books to the Congressional library? These books 
 belong to the Smithsonian trust fund, which I think ought 
 not to be diverted. 
 
 Mr. HOWE. The Senator will see, if he looks over the 
 bill, that it does not transfer the title of the books. It is 
 the custody of the books that is transferred to the Congres- 
 sional library for safe-keeping, as well as .for the better 
 accommodation of the public. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL. I will state to the Senator from Indiana 
 
 that this is a mutual arrangement entered into between the 
 
 Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and the Committee 
 
 on the Library, satisfactory to both parties. It is thought to 
 
 45 
 
706 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 be safer to have them deposited there. There is danger of 
 them at present, as the building in which they are is not 
 fire-proof. 
 
 The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the 
 amendment concurred in. The bill was ordered to be en- 
 grossed for a third reading; was read the third time, and 
 passed. 
 
 May 7, 1866, Annual report, for 1865, presented. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL moved the printing of 5,000 extra copies. 
 
 May 9, 1866. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the following resolution, which was 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report of the Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1865, be printrd ; L'.ooo for tin- u-i- >!' 
 the Smithsonian Institution, and 3,000 for the use of tin- Smut.- : /V./-/V,v/. 
 That the aggregate number of pages contained in said report shall in>t exceed 
 450 pages, without wood-cuts or plates, except th<<- fiiniUln-d by tin- insti- 
 tution. 
 
 February 1, 1867. Mr. FESSENDEN. There is a little 
 bill on the table (House, January 31, 1867,) which has 
 come in from the House that I should like very much 
 to take up and have passed if no Senator has any objection 
 to it, because it is rather necessary that it should be passed 
 at once, if at all. It relates to the funds of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, and the regents of that institution arc now in 
 session in this city and would like probably to take some 
 action under the bill. It is very short, and if there be no 
 objection I should like to have it taken up and acted upon. 
 I have examined it, and do not see any objection to it. 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN. I should like to inquire where the fund 
 has been heretofore. Has it been in the Treasury ? 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN. No, sir ; it has been in the hands of the 
 Secretary. Under the bequest of Smithson there was a sum 
 that was to come to the institution upon the death of a cer- 
 tain person, and that person died just about the time I 
 happened to be in the Treasury, and' therefore I know the 
 facts. This bill simply provides that this money shall be 
 paid into the Treasury, and disposed of precisely in accord- 
 ance with the original act with regard to the disposal of 
 Smithson's bequest. 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN. I have no objection to it at all. 
 
 The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, 
 ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 
 
 February 26, 1867. Senate resolution to provide for the 
 exchange of certain documents with foreign countries, was 
 read a third time, and passed ; as follows : 
 
THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1865-67. 707 
 
 Resolved, $c., That fifty copies of all documents hereafter printed by 
 order of either House of Congress, and fifty copies additional of all docu- 
 ments printed in excess of the usual number, together with fifty copies of 
 each publication issued by any department or bureau of the Government, 
 be placed at the disposal of the Joint Committee on the Library, who shall 
 exchange the same, through the agency of the Smithsonian Institution, for 
 such works published in foreign countries, and especially by foreign gov- 
 ernments, as may be deemed by said committee an equivalent ; said works 
 to be deposited in the library of Congress. 
 
 February 26, 1867. Annual report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, for 1866, was presented. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL moved that 5,000 extra copies be printed. 
 
 March 1, 1867. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, offered the following resolution ; which was 
 agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, for the year 1866, be printed ; 2,000 for the use of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, and 3,000 for the use of the Senate; and that said report 
 be stereotyped : Provided, That the aggregate number of pages contained 
 in said report shall not exceed 450, without wood-cuts or plates, except 
 those furnished bv the institution. 
 
 4? 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 9, 1866. 
 
 Air. PATTERSON introduced a bill for the transfer of the 
 Smithsonian library, which was referred to the Joint Com- 
 mittee on the Library. 
 
 April 2, 1866. On motion of Mr. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, 
 by unanimous consent, Senate bill to provide for the trans- 
 fer of the custody of the library of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution to the library of Congress, was taken from the 
 Speaker's table, and read a first and second time. 
 
 Mr. HAYES. The Committee on the Library recommend 
 the passage of the bill. 
 
 The bill was ordered to a third reading ; and it was ac- 
 cordingly read the third time, and passed. 
 
 Mr. HAYES moved to reconsider the vote by which it was 
 passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid 
 upon the table. 
 
 The latter motion was agreed to. 
 
 The bill is as follows : 
 
 Be it enacted, $c., That the library collected by the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion under the provisions of an act approved August tenth, eighteen hun- 
 dred and forty-six, shall be removed from the building of said institution, 
 with the consent of the regents thereof, to the new fire-proof extension of 
 the library of Congress, upon completion of a sufficient portion thereof for 
 its accommodation, and shall, while there deposited, be subject to the same 
 regulations as the library of Congress, except as hereinafter provided. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when such library shall have been 
 so removed and deposited, the Smithsonian Institution shall have the use 
 thereof in like manner as it is now used, and the public shall have access thereto 
 for purposes of consultation on every ordinary week day except during one 
 
708 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 month of each year, in the recess of Congress, when it may be closed for- 
 renovation All the hooks, maps, and charts of the Smithsonian library 
 shall be properly cared for and preserved in like manner as are those of the 
 Congressional library, from which the Smithsonian library shall not be 
 removed except on reimbursement by the Smithsonian Institution to the 
 Treasury of the United States of expenses incurred in binding and in tak- 
 ing care of the same, or upon such terms and conditions as shall be mutually 
 agreed upon by Congress and the regents of said institution. 
 
 SEC 3 And be it further enacted, That the Smithsonian Institution, 
 through its secretary, shall have the use of the library of Congress, subject 
 to the same regulations as Senators and Representatives. 
 
 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted. That the librarian of Congress shall be 
 authorized to employ two additional assistants, who shall receive a yearly 
 compensation of eight hundred dollars, and one thousand dollars, respec- 
 tively, commencing July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, to be paid 
 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the sum of five hundred dollars,, 
 or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be appropriated, out of any 
 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to defray the expenses 
 of the removal herein provided for. 
 
 May 7, 1866. Annual report, for 1865, presented. 
 Mr. GARFIELD moved that 5,000 extra copies be printed. 
 June 8, 1866. Mr. LAFLIN, from the Committee on Print- 
 ing, submitted the following resolution ; which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 extra copies of the last report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution be printed ; 2,000 for the use of the institution, and 3,000 for 
 the use of the members of this House. 
 
 February 1, 1867. The following'rnemorial was presented 
 to Congress : 
 
 To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, $c. : The Board 
 of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution have directed the undersigned 
 to transmit to your honorable body the resolution herewith appended, and 
 to solicit the passage of an act in accordance therewith. 
 
 It is known to your honorable body that the original sum received into 
 the United States Treasury from the bequest of James Smithson, of Eng- 
 land, was $515,169, which was considered a trust fund, the interest alone to 
 be applied to carrying out the purpose of the testator, viz: " The increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 This, however, was not the whole of the Smithsonian bequest, the sum 
 of 5,015 sterling having been left by Hon. R. Rush, the agent of the 
 United States, as the principal of an annuity to the mother of the nephew 
 of Smithson. 
 
 The annuitant having died, the sum of $26,210.63 has been received from 
 this source, and is now in charge of the Secretary of the Treasury of the 
 United States ; and no provision having been made in the act of August 
 10, 1846, establishing the institution, for the disposition of this remainder 
 of the legacy, your memorialists, in behalf of the Board of Regents, now 
 ask that it be added to the original bequest on the same terms ; and that 
 the increase which has arisen from interest or otherwise on the sum before 
 mentioned, also in the hands of the Treasury Department of the United 
 States, be transferred to the Board of Regents for assisting to defray the 
 expense of the reconstruction of the building, and for other objects of the 
 institution. 
 
 And your memorialists would further ask that the Board of Regents be 
 allowed to place in the Treasury of the United States, on the same terms 
 as the original bequest, such sums of money as may accrue from savings of 
 
THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1865-67. 709 
 
 .income and from other sources, provided the whole amount thus received 
 Into the Treasury shall not exceed one million dollars. 
 
 The sole object of this request is the permanent investment and perpetual 
 security of the entire Smithsonian bequest and such other sums as may be 
 accumulated from savings of accrued interest, legacies, &c. 
 And your memorialists will ever pray, &c. 
 
 S. P. CHASE, 
 
 Chancellor. 
 JOSEPH HENKY, 
 Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Resolved, $c., That an application be made to Congress for an act author- 
 izing the Treasurer of the United States to receive into the Treasury, on 
 the same terms as the original bequest, the residuary legacy of James 
 Smithson, now in United States bonds in the hands of said Treasurer, 
 namely, $26,210.63, together with such other sums as the Kegents may 
 from time to time see fit to deposit, not exceeding, with the original bequest, 
 the sum of $1,000,000 ; and that the income which has accrued or may ac- 
 crue from said residuary legacy be applied in the same manner as the 
 interest on the original bequest. 
 
 Mr. PATTERSON introduced the following bill ; which was 
 passed : 
 
 Be it enacted, $c., That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is 
 hereby, authorized and directed to receive into the Treasury, on the same 
 terms as the original bequest, the residuary legacy of James Smithson, now 
 in United States bonds, in the hands of said Secretary, namely : twenty-six 
 thousand two hundred and ten dollars and sixty-three cents, together with 
 such other sums as the regents may from time to time see fit to deposit, not 
 exceeding, with the original bequest, the sum of one million dollars. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the increase which has accrued, 
 -or which may hereafter accrue, from said residuary legacy, shall be applied 
 T>y the Board of Eegents of the Smithsonian Institution in the same manner 
 as the interest on the original bequest, in accordance with the provisions of 
 the act of August tenth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, establishing said 
 institution. 
 
 February 23, 1867. The clerk read as follows : 
 
 For the preservation of the collections of the exploring and surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, $4,000. 
 
 Mr. PATTERSON. I move to amend the paragra] 
 by omitting the word "four" and inserting in lieu thereof 
 "ten," so as to increase the appropriation to $10,000. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 February 27, 1867. Annual report for 1866, presented. 
 Mr. GARFIELD moved that 5,000 extra copies be printed. 
 
 February 28, 1867. Mr. LAFLIN, from the Committee 
 on Printing, offered the following resolution, which was 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the last report of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution be printed ; 2,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 .tion, and 3,000 for the use of the members of this House ; and that the same 
 /be stereotyped. 
 
710 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 March 2, 1867. The House rejected the joint resolution 
 of the Senate, providing for the exchange of public docu- 
 ments. Subsequently, on motion of Mr. Laflin, the House 
 reconsidered its action, and passed the resolution. 
 
 March 7, 1867. The Speaker appointed Mr. Luke P. 
 Poland, of Vermont, a llegent of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the election of Mr. 
 J. W. Patterson to the United States Senate. 
 
 FORTIETH CONGRESS. 
 SENATE, January 6, 1868. 
 Mr. TRUMBULL offered the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved $c., That the vacancies in the Board >!' Rodents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution of the class " other than niemlirr- nf Cmi^rex " In- filloj 
 
 by the appointment of Theodore D. Woolscy of Connecticut, William B. 
 Astor of New York, John Maclean of New Jersey, and Peter Parker ..f 
 the city of Washington. 
 
 January 7, 1868. The above resolution was adopted. 
 
 May 2, 1868. The PRESIDENT pro tcmporc laid before the 
 Senate a communication from the Board of Uegents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, which was referred to the Commit- 
 tee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed. (See 
 House, May 1, 1868.) 
 
 May 29, 1868. Annual report, for 1867, was presented. 
 Mr. TRUMBULL moved to print 5,000 extra copies. 
 
 May 30, 1868. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the following resolution, which was 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report <>t' the Smithsonian 
 Institution, for the year 1867, be printed; 3,000 for the u<r <>f the S.-nate, and 
 2,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution, and that the said report 
 be stereotyped : Provided, That the aggregate number <>f pages of -aid report 
 shall not exceed 450, without illustrations, except those furnished by the 
 Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 June 16, 1868. Mr. HARLAN presented a report of the 
 Executive Committee of the Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, on the influences of the Washington city canal 
 on the health of the population of the city ; which was re- 
 ferred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, and 
 ordered to be printed. 
 
 (See Smithsonian Report, for 1868, page 111, and Senate Mis. Doc. No. 
 95, 40th Congress, 2d Sess.) 
 
FORTIETH CONGRESS, 1867-69. 711 
 
 January 22, 1869. Mr. WILSON offered the following 
 resol ution ; which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, #c., That Louis Agassiz, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, be, and 
 he is hereby, reappointed a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution to fill 
 the vacancy occasioned by the expiration of his present term. 
 
 February 13, 1869. Annual report for 1868, presented, 
 and ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. FESSENDEN offered a resolution to have additional 
 copies printed. 
 
 March 1, 1869. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the following resolution ; which was 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 for the year 1868, be printed ; 8,000 for the use of the Senate, and 2,000 for 
 the use of the institution ; and that said report be stereotyped : Provided, 
 That the aggregate number of pages of said report shall not exceed 450, 
 without illustrations, except those furnished by the institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 7, 1868. 
 
 The SPEAKER announced the appointment, as Regents of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, of Mr. Jas. A. Garfield of Ohio, 
 Mr. L. P. Poland of Vermont, and Mr. J. V. L. Pruyn, of 
 ]S T ew York. 
 
 On motion of Mr. GARFIELD the Senate resolution of 
 January 7th, to appoint Messrs. Woolsey, Astor, McLean 
 and Parker, as regents, was adopted. 
 
 February 27, 1868. The civil appropriation bill being 
 under consideration, the clerk read : 
 
 Smithsonian Institution: "For the preservation of the collections of the 
 exploring and surveying expeditions of the Government, $1,000." 
 
 Mr. POLAND. I move to amend the paragraph just read 
 by striking out "$1,000" and inserting " $6,000." I appre- 
 hend that the Committee on Appropriations had not, proba- 
 bly, looked into the history of this annual appropriation to 
 the Smithsonian Institution for taking care of these collec- 
 tions of the Government when they concluded to report this 
 sum. These collections were kept in the Patent Office build- 
 ing up to 1857, and were then much smaller than they are 
 now. An annual appropriation of $4,000 for the purpose 
 of taking care of these collections was made from 1842 to 
 1857. In 1857 the room occupied for that purpose in the 
 Patent Office building was needed for other purposes, for 
 models, &c., and these collections were then removed to the 
 Smithsonian building, where they have since been kept. 
 An annual appropriation of 4,000 for their preservation 
 was made from 1857 to last year, when the sum was in- 
 
712 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 creased to 10,000. These collections have been very largely 
 increased ; they have been doubled ; in fact, they have been 
 quadrupled, since they were removed to the Smithsonian 
 building, and the expense of taking care of them has been 
 very largely increased in consequence of the general increase 
 of the prices of labor, fuel, and everything that goes to make 
 up that expense. Even if the amount of labor had not been 
 increased in consequence of the increase of the collections, 
 the appropriation, which from 1842 to 1866 was $4,000, 
 ought to be increased to at least $6,000. 
 
 The fund of the Smithsonian Institution, whatever it may 
 be, is a fixed sum, and in consequence of the great increase 
 in the prices of everything, it is not now worth more than 
 half as much to the institution as it was formerly. A very 
 large portion of the income from the fund for the institution 
 for the last two years has had to be expended in refitting 
 and repairing the building, rendered necessary by the de- 
 structive and ruinous fire that occurred there in 1865. It 
 seems to me there can be no question but what the appro- 
 priation for this purpose should be at least $6,000. 
 
 Mr. UPSON. Who has the disbursing of this money, and 
 what account is ever rendered to anyone of the manner in 
 which it was expended ? 
 
 Mr. POLAND. It is disbursed under the care of Professor 
 Henry, one of the most prudent men in the country, and 
 it is all reviewed by the Board of Regents. 
 
 Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. The^Committee on Appro- 
 priations thought that $1,000 a year was about as much as 
 the people of this country desire to pay to preserve the col- 
 lections of the exploring and surveying expeditions of the 
 Government. The amount appropriated heretofore has been 
 much larger, as the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Poland] 
 has said. I had a conversation this morning with Professor 
 Henry, who stated to me how this appropriation was to be 
 used. From what he told me, I am willing to admit that 
 there should be appropriated a much larger sum than the 
 committee have reported in this bill, though not so much 
 as $6,000, as the gentleman from Vermont has proposed. 
 The Professor himself expressed himself satisfied with 
 $4,000, the usual annual appropriation for this purpose. 
 
 Mr. POLAND. It may be true that Professor Henry did 
 not desire to have the friends of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion to get into a controversy with the gentleman from Illi- 
 nois, [Mr. Washburne,] for he knew too well how much 
 was involved in that; and, " to buy his peace," as lawyers 
 say, he agreed to take $4,000 instead of asking for $6,000. 
 
FORTIETH CONGRESS, 1867-69. 713 
 
 He tells ine, and I have no doubt tells the gentleman, that 
 $6,000 is needed, and that he ought to have it. 
 
 Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I understood that he would 
 be entirely satisfied with $4,000. And I will say that, instead 
 of losing anything by any controversy with me, he would 
 certainly obtain an additional amount here by getting into 
 any such controversy. Will the gentleman from Vermont 
 [Mr. Poland] consent to modify the amendment by making 
 the amount $4,000 ? 
 Mr. POLAND. No, sir. 
 
 Mr. PRUYN. Mr. Chairman, I move pro forma to amend 
 the amendment by making the amount $7,500. I am pre- 
 pared to corroborate in all substantial particulars the state- 
 ment made by the gentleman from Vermont, [Mr. Poland.] 
 It is quite impossible that these collections can be taken care 
 of for a less sum than five or six thousand dollars. They 
 occupy the large hall of the Smithsonian Institution, the 
 best part of the whole building. The rent of such a room 
 anywhere else in this city would cost as much as the appro- 
 priation asked for. If the gentleman from Illinois will agree 
 to an appropriation of $5,000, I will modify my amendment 
 so as to name that sum. 
 
 Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. No, sir; $4,000 is the usual 
 appropriation, and I see no reason why, in the present con- 
 dition of our finances, we should increase it. 
 
 Mr. PRUYN. I withdraw my amendment ; but I hope the 
 committee will agree to vote at least $6,000 for this purpose. 
 Mr. SELYE. Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose the amend- 
 ment. I would like to know of what this institution consists. 
 1 would like the gentleman from New York [Mr. Pruyn] or 
 the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Poland] to tell us how 
 -many of his constituents ever saw this institution, or ever 
 will see it, or ever want to see it ? It is enough to make any 
 man or woman sick to visit that institution. No one can 
 expect to get any benefit from it, I am opposed, sir, to 
 taxing my constituents $7,000 a year to keep up any such 
 institution. 
 
 Mr. POLAND. In accordance with what seems to be the 
 -wish of gentlemen around me, I modify my amendment so 
 .as to make the amount $5,000. 
 
 On the amendment of Mr. Poland, as modified, there 
 \vere ayes 50, noes 53. 
 
 Mr. POLAND called for tellers. 
 
 Tellers were ordered; and Messrs. Spalding and Selye 
 were appointed. 
 
714 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The committee divided ; and the tellers reported ayes 
 40, noes 55. 
 
 So the amendment was not agreed to. 
 
 Mr. TWICHELL. I move to amend by striking out "one" 
 and inserting "four; " so as to make the paragraph read : 
 
 For the preservation of tin- collections of the exploring aud surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, $4,000. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 May 1, 1868. The SPEAKER laid before the House the 
 following communication from the Board of Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution; which, on motion of Mr. (larlield, 
 was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and 
 ordered to be printed : 
 
 To the honorable the Senate &nd Houst ' A'- /"><> ii'i /*, ,\v. . In behalf 
 of the Board of Regents of tin- Smithsonian Institution, tin- undersigned 
 beg leave respectfully to submit to your honorable body tin- following 
 statement, and to solicit such action in regard to it as may be deemed just 
 and proper : 
 
 The act of Congress organixing tin- institution ordered the erection of a 
 building which should accommodate, on a liberal scale, besides a library 
 and a gallery of art, a museum, consisting of all the specimen- of natural 
 history, geology, and art, which then belonged to the Government, op which 
 might thereafter come into its possession by exchange op otherwise. Al- 
 though the majority of the Rcgent> did not consider the maintenance of 
 these objects to be in accordance with the intention of Smith>on. as infepped 
 from a strict interpretation of the terms of his will, yet in obedience to 
 the commands of Congress they proceeded to erect a building of the neces- 
 sary dimensions, and to take charge of the Government collections. 
 
 The erection and maintenance of so large and expensive an edifice, in- 
 volving an outlay of $450,000, and the charge of the Government museum, 
 have proved a grievous burden on the institution, increasing from year to 
 year, which, had not its effects been counteracted by a judicious manage- 
 ment of the funds, would have paralyxed the legitimate operations of the 
 establishment, and frustrated the evident intention of Smith>on. 
 
 It is true that Congress, at the time the specimens were transferred to tho 
 institution, granted an appropriation of $4,000 for their care and preserva- 
 tion, that being the equivalent of the estimated <-o-t t .f the maintenance of 
 these collections in the Patent Office, where they had previously been ex- 
 hibited. But this sum, from the rise in prices and the expansion of the 
 museum by the specimens obtained from about fifty exploring expeditions 
 ordered by Congress, scarcely more than defrays, at the present time, one- 
 third of the annual expense. In this estimate no account is taken of the 
 rent of the part of the building devoted to the museum of the Government, 
 which, at a moderate estimate, would be $20,000 per annum. 
 
 Besides the large expenditure which has already been made on the build- 
 ing, at least $50,000 more will be required to finish the large hall in the 
 second story, necessary for the full display of the specimens of the Govern- 
 ment. But the Regents do not think it Judicious further to embarrass the 
 active operations for several years to conic, by devoting a large part of the 
 income to this object, and have, therefore, concluded to allow this room to 
 remain unfinished until other means are provided for completing it. 
 
 It is not by its castellated building nor the exhibition of the museum of 
 the Government that the institution has achieved its present reputation, nor 
 by the collection and display of material objects of any kind that it has 
 vindicated the intelligence and good faith of the Government in the admin- 
 
FORTIETH CONGRESS, 1867-69. 715 
 
 every part of the civilized world, has made contributions to almost every 
 branch of science, and brought more than ever before into immediate and 
 friendly relations the Old and the New Worlds. 
 
 A central museum for a complete representation of the products or 
 America, with such foreign specimens as may be required for comparison 
 and generalization, is of great importance, particularly as a means of devel- 
 oping and illustrating our industrial resources, as well as of facilitating the 
 studv of the relations of our geology, mineralogy, flora and fauna, to those 
 of the Old World. But the benefit of such an establishment is principally 
 confined to this country, and does not partake of the cosmopolitan charac- 
 ter of an institution such as Smithson intended to found, and therefore 
 ought not to be supported from his bequest. 
 
 The Board of Regents are confident that upon a full consideration of the 
 case, your honorable body will grant an adequate support for the collections 
 of the Government, and also an appropriation for finishing the repairs of 
 the building, and eventually, when the financial condition of the country 
 will permit, for the independent maintenance of a national museum. 
 
 It may not be improper, in addition to what has been said, to recall the 
 fact that the Smithsonian Institution has transferred, without cost,_to the 
 library of Congress, one of the most valuable and complete collections of 
 the transactions of scientific and learned societies and serial publications in 
 existence, consisting of at least 50,000 works, which, with the annual con- 
 tinuations of the same series, must render Washington a centre of scientific 
 knowledge, and the library itself worthy of the nation ; and that it has 
 also presented to the Government its valuable collection of specimens of 
 art illustrating the history of engraving from the earliest periods. It is 
 prepared to render a similar service to a national museum, by the exchanges 
 from foreign museums to which it has been a liberal contributor, and which 
 may be obtained as soon as means are provided for their transportation 
 and accommodation. 
 
 It may also be mentioned that the institution has rendered important 
 service to the Government through the scientific investigations it has made 
 in connection with the operations of the different departments, and it is not 
 too much to say that, through the labors of its officers, it has been the 
 means of saving millions of dollars to the national Treasury. 
 
 In conclusion, your memorialists beg leave to represent, on behalf of the 
 Board of Regents, that the usual annual appropriation of $4,000 is wholly in- 
 adequate to the cost of preparing, preserving, and exhibiting the specimens,, 
 the actual expenditure for that purpose in 1867 having been over $12,000;. 
 and they take the liberty of respectfully urging on your honorable body 
 the expediency of increasing it to $10,000, and that a further sum of $25,000 
 be appropriated at this session of Congress towards the completion of the 
 hall required for the Government collections. 
 
 And vour memorialists will ever pray, &c. 
 
 S. P. CHAo.L, 
 Chancellor Smithsonian Institution, 
 
 JOSEPH HENRY, 
 Secretary Smithsonian Institution, 
 
 May 29, 1868. Annual report, for 1867, presented. 
 Mr. GARFIELD moved to print 5,000 extra copies. 
 Jane 5, 1868. Mr. LAFLIN, from Committee on Printing,, 
 reported 'the following resolution, which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 5,000 extra copies of the report of the 
 Smithsonian Institution ; 3,000 for the use of the House, and 2,000 for the 
 
716 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 'institution; the same to be stereotyped, at the expense heretofore pro- 
 vided for. 
 
 July 25, 1868. The following resolution was passed : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That the Congressional Printer, whenever he shall he so 
 directed by the Joint Committee on the Library, be, and he hereby is, di- 
 rected to print fifty copies, in addition to the regular number, of all docu- 
 ments hereafter printed by order of either House of Congress, or by order 
 of any department or bureau of the Government, and whenever he shall 
 be so directed by the Joint Committee on the Library, one hundred 
 copies additional of all documents ordered to be printed in excess of tho 
 usual number ; said fifty or one hundred copies to be delivered to the Libra- 
 rian of Congress, to be exchanged, under direction of the Joint Committee 
 on the Library, as provided by joint resolution approved March 2, 1867. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That fifty copies of each publication 
 printed under direction of any department or 'bureau of the Government, 
 whether at the Congressional Printing Office or elsewhere, shall be placed 
 at the disposal of the Joint Committee on the Library, to carry out tho 
 provisions of said resolution. 
 
 February 13, 1869. Annual report of Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, for 1868, presented, and ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. PRUYN offered a resolution to have 5,000 extra copies 
 printed. 
 
 Mr. INGERSOLL moved to increase the number of extra 
 copies to 10,000, on account of the value of the document. 
 
 February 27, 1869. Mr. LAFLIN, from the Committee 
 on Printing, reported the following resolution, which was 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed 5,000 extra copies of the report of the 
 Smithsonian Institution ; 3,000 for the use of the House, and 2,000 for the 
 use of the institution ; the sume to be stereotyped, at the expense heretofore 
 provided for. 
 
 March 1, 1869. The House having under consideration 
 the miscellaneous appropriation bill, the clerk read the fol- 
 lowing amendment : 
 
 For the preservation of the collections of the exploring and surveying 
 expeditions of the Government, $4,000. 
 
 Mr. GARFIELD. I move to amend this paragraph by 
 striking out " &4.000 " and inserting "$10,000." And I 
 wish briefly to call the attention of the Committee of the 
 Whole to the facts upon which I base my motion. 
 
 In 1846, when the Smithsonian Institution was founded, 
 the Government of the United States, by a law of Congress, 
 transferred to that institution all the articles now belonging 
 to the museum which the Government then owned. At 
 that time it was costing $4,000 a year to take care of and 
 preserve those articles. Since then a great number of ex- 
 ploring expeditions have been sent out by the Government, 
 .and large additions have been made to the museum ; and 
 
FORTIETH CONGRESS, 1867-69. 717 
 
 the actual cost of taking care of and keeping the articles 
 which the Government now owns amounts to more than 
 $10,000 a year. Having imposed this duty upon the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, it is wrong for the Government to ask 
 that institution to pay $6,000 out of its own fund donated by 
 a foreigner to the cause of science in this country for the 
 care, preservation, and custody of Government property r 
 to say nothing of the use of the building for that purpose. 
 
 Mr. MAYNARD. What are the items of the expenditure 
 for that purpose ? It certainly is not all for personal super- 
 vision. 
 
 Mr. GARFIELD. Only so far as the Board of Regents 
 have to employ persons to take care of and watch that 
 these things are properly guarded. I have here a memorial 
 of the Board of Regents, of which I am a member. It is 
 signed by the Chancellor of the Institution, Chief Justice 
 Chase, and by the Secretary of the Institution, Professor 
 Henry. Accompanying that is a detailed statement of the 
 expenses of the National Museum for the year 1868. I ask 
 the attention of members to these papers. 
 
 [See proceedings of May 1, 1868.] 
 
 The following is a statement of the expense of the Na- 
 tional Museum, for the year 1868 : 
 
 Glass for cases $154 33 
 
 Carbolic acid, insect powder, and arsenic 72 85 
 
 Glass bottles and jars 96 68 
 
 Trays 180 01 
 
 Wrapping paper 63 90 
 
 Benzine, paint, oil, varnish, putty, brushes 201 87 
 
 Saucers for nests and eggs 22 30 
 
 Stationery, index-books, and blanks . 123 57 
 
 Labels for specimens 208 04 
 
 Locks, keys, handles, funnels, measures, tools, cans, &c. 185 05 
 
 Paper and poison for plants 347 20 
 
 Numbers and labels for minerals 94 41 
 
 Examination, cleaning, assorting, and labeling shells 1,168 95 
 
 Books for proper labeling specimens 430 47 
 
 Tow for stuffing large animals (bears) 24 90 
 
 Artificial eyes for birds, &c . 35 95 
 
 Packing boxes 50 40 
 
 Alcohol 400 00 
 
 Mounting birds, beaver, &c, 195 50 
 
 Freight on collections 1,200 00 
 
 "Walnut cases for specimens 1,100 00 
 
 Heating room for collections 500 00 
 
 Assistants, one at $2,500, one at $600, one at $500, and one at 
 
 $300 3,900 00 
 
 Laborers, and watchmen, one at $840, one at $660, one at $600, 
 
 one at $312, und one at $312 2,724 00 
 
 $13,480 38 
 
718 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Iii addition to the foregoing, $125,000 have been expended 
 since the fire in 1865 on that part of the building required 
 for the accommodation of the museum, the interest on 
 which, at six per cent., would be $7,500 annuallv. 
 
 The bequest to found this institution was from a foreigner 
 who never visited the United States. He bequeathed" his 
 fortune with unreserved confidence to our Government for 
 the advancement of science, to \vhich he had devoted his 
 own life. The sac-redness of the trust is enhanced from the 
 fact that it was accepted after the death of him by whom it 
 was confided. The only indications of his intentions whieh 
 we possess are expressed in the terms of his will. It there- 
 fore became of the first importance that the import of these 
 terms should be critically analyzed and the logical infer- 
 ence from them faithfully observed. The whole is con- 
 tained in these few and explicit words : 
 
 " To found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, an establishment for tho increase and diffusion of knowlrdgi- among 
 men. " 
 
 These terms have a strictly scientific import, and are sus- 
 ceptible of a series of definite propositions. 
 
 First. The bequest is for the benefit of mankind ; not to 
 be confined to one country, to one race, but to all men of 
 all complexions. 
 
 Second. The objects of the institution are primarily to in- 
 crease, and secondly, to diffuse knowledge among men, and 
 
 , t . ? 
 
 these objects should not be confounded with each other. 
 
 The will makes no restriction of anv kind of knowledge, 
 hence, every branch of science capable of advancements 
 entitled to a share of attention. 
 
 Though the terms of the will are explicit and convey 
 precise scientific ideas to those who are acquainted with 
 their technical significance, yet to the public generally they 
 might seem to admit of a greater latitude of construction 
 than has been put upon them. It is, therefore, not sur- 
 prising that at the commencement, improper conceptions of 
 the nature of the bequest should have been entertained or 
 that Congress in the act of organization should direct the 
 
 osecution of objects incompatible with the strict inter- 
 
 etation of it or to impose burdens upon the institution 
 tending materially to affect its usefulness; 
 
 The principal of such burdens was the direction to pro- 
 vide a building on an ample scale to make provision for the 
 accommodation of the collections of Government, consist- 
 ing ot all the specimens of nature and art then in the city i 
 
 9 
 
FORTIETH CONGRESS, 1867-69. 719 
 
 of Washington or that might hereafter become the property 
 of the Government by exchange or otherwise. 
 
 Though the majority of the Board of Regents did not 
 consider the expenditure of a large amount of the income 
 on this subject in accordance with the will of Smithson, 
 they could 'not refuse to obey the injunction of Congress, 
 and proceeded to erect an extended building an dj;o take charge 
 of the museum of the Government. The cost of this building, 
 which at first was $325,000, has been increased by the repa- 
 ration of damages caused by the fire to $450,000, the whole 
 of which has been defrayed from the annual income. Not- 
 withstanding this burden the institution has achieved a 
 reputation as wide as the civilized world, has advanced 
 almost every branch of knowledge, and presented books 
 and specimens to hundreds of institutions and societies in 
 this country and abroad. 
 
 It is not a mere statical establishment, as many may 
 suppose, supporting a corps of individuals whose only duty 
 is the exhibition of the articles of the show museum ^ but 
 a living, active organization that has by its publications, 
 researches, explorations, distribution of specimens and 
 exchanges, vindicated the intelligence and good faith of the 
 Government in administering a fund intended for the good 
 of the whole community of civilized men. It has 'at ^ the 
 same time collected a library, principally of the transactions 
 and proceedings of learned societies, the most perfect one 
 of the kind in the world, consisting of fifty thousand works; 
 also a collection of engravings illustrative of the progress 
 and early history of the arts, both of which it has trans- 
 ferred to the Library of Congress. It is not alone the pres- 
 ent value of the books which it has placed in the possession 
 of the Government, but also that of the perpetual continu- 
 ation of the several series contained therein. 
 
 The institution has continued to render important service 
 to the Government from its first organization until the 
 present time by examining and reporting on scientific ques- 
 tions pertaining to the operations of the different depart- 
 ments, and in this way, particularly during the _ war, it is 
 not too much to say that it has saved the United States 
 many millions of dollars. 
 
 Let me say one word more before leaving this subject. 
 As I have shown, the real purpose of the donation of 
 Smithson which the Board of Regents have tried to pro- 
 mote as well as they could was to extend and circulate 
 means of scientific information ; and the management of 
 
720 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the institution bas always resisted the tendency to keep up- 
 and increase this museum at the expense of this fund. 
 
 Recently the institution has given over to the Library of 
 Congress a collection of fifty thousand volumes, constituting 
 probably the most perfect scientific library in the world. 
 But we are still charged as an institution with the cost of 
 this rapidly-increasing museum. Now, the Regents would 
 be glad if Congress would take this museum oil their hands 
 and provide otherwise for the care of it. It is a charge im- 
 posed upon the institution by law, a charge which it never 
 sought and is not desirous to retain. At the time when this 
 museum was first placed in the custody of the institution it 
 cost but $4,000 a year to keep it in the Patent Office. Now 
 the care of that museum costs three times that amount. I 
 hope therefore that the committee will vote $10,000 instead 
 of $4,000 for this purpose. 
 
 Mr. SPALDING. Mr. Chairman, I am very sorry to find 
 the Smithsonian Institution among the leeches that are all 
 the while crying to the Treasury of the United States, 
 "Give, give!" The Smithsonian is a wealthy institution. 
 The Government of the United States is continually paying- 
 it gold interest on the large fund belonging to the institu- 
 tion ; but the institution is not willing to bear this little 
 additional expense, as it is called, from its own means, but 
 wishes to obtain the money from the public Treasury. The 
 men who pay the taxes must contribute the additional sum 
 to this wealthy institution. 
 
 Sir, we have loaned to that institution the National Mu- 
 seum. We have paid the institution for a series of years 
 $4,000 annually in cash for taking care of that museum. 
 The institution has been content with that sum heretofore ; 
 but now it comes in and asks an appropriation of $10,000 
 for this purpose. Sir, we had better take away the museum 
 from the care of that institution. I had almost said we 
 had better throw it into the Potomac than be constantly 
 paying these increased demands from the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution. That is the light in which the committee have 
 viewed the subject; and in that light they protest against 
 this increase. 
 
 The amendment was not agreed to. 
 
 March 2, 1869. Joint resolution reappointing Louis 
 Agassiz a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, passed. 
 
FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1869-71. 721 
 
 FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, January 18, 1870. 
 
 On motion of Mr. TRUMBULL, that the vacancy in the 
 Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, caused by 
 the death of Hon. W. P. Fessenden, be filled ; the Vice- 
 President appointed Mr. Hannibal Hamlin a regent. 
 
 March 30, 1870. Annual report for 1869 presented, and 
 ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. TRUMBULL offered a resolution to have additional 
 copies printed. 
 
 July 13, 1870. Mr. ANTHONY reported, from the Com- 
 mittee on Printing, the resolution of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives to print 10,000 additional copies of the Smithso- 
 nian report, which was concurred in. 
 
 January 26, 1871. Letter of resignation, as Regent of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, from General Richard Delafield, 
 read, as follows, and laid on the table : 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 25, 1871. 
 
 SIR : The period of six years, for which I was appointed a Regent of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, under a joint resolution of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives, expires in February. 
 
 I believe the welfare and the best interest of the institution may be sub- 
 served by tendering my resignation of this trust and responsibility at the 
 present date, that the Board of Regents and Congress may have the neces- 
 sary time to appoint my successor and enable him to attend the annual 
 meeting of the Board of Regents, now about to take place. 
 
 I have requested Hon. J. A. Garfield to present my resignation as a Re- 
 gent to the board at its first meeting, and should the occasion require, re- 
 quest you will state the fact to the Senate of my having tendered my resig- 
 nation for the reasons herein stated. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD DKLAFIELD, 
 Brigadier General U. S. A., (retired.) 
 Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Vice-President of the U. S., 
 
 Member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 January 27, 1871. Mr. HAMLIN offered the following 
 resolution ; which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, c., That General William T. Sherman be, and he is hereby, 
 appointed a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, in the place of General Richard Delafield, resigned. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 2, 1870. 
 THE SPEAKER announced the appointment of the following 
 Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : Mr. Luke P. Poland, 
 Mr. James A. Garfield, Mr. Samuel S. Cox. 
 
 April 20, 1870. The resolution by the Senate to print 
 13,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution was objected to. 
 46 
 
722 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 June 7, 1870. Mr. ASPER offered a resolution that 2,000 
 copies of the reports of the Smithsonian Institution for 
 1866, '67, '68 be printed from the stereotype plates. 
 
 The following letter from Professor Henry, was read: 
 
 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 28, 1870. 
 
 MY DEAR SIB: I have the honor, with your permission, to address you 
 in relation to extra copies of the reports of this institution, for which tho 
 demand has of late years become so great that the number ordered by the 
 House for its members has not been sufficient to supply more than half their 
 constituents who desire them. During the last thn-.j yar.-. and especially 
 during the year just passed, so numerous have been the demands upon u- 
 for copies of reports that our stock is entirely exhausted. The report ^-iv-> 
 not only an account of the operations of the institution, but also, in an ap- 
 pendix, a series of translations which exhibit the progress of science in 
 foreign countries. A copy is sent to each of the foreign corr-p(>mlents of 
 the establishment; to colleges, public libraries, and learned societies publishing 
 transactions; to meteorological observers of tin- in-titiitimi ; to contrilmtnrs 
 of the material to the library or museum, and to person-, rMu r :iLT' i( l in tcarh- 
 ing or in special scientific research, so far as the number of e<>pi<- I'm-iiMn-il 
 to the institution will allow. 
 
 In view of these facts, I would respectfully suggest that there be struck 
 off from the stereotype plates of the reports for 1866, 18G7, and 1868, now 
 in the hands of the Public Printer, 2,000 copies of each volume 1,000 t>r 
 .the use of the House and the other 1.000 for distribution by the institution. 
 . I have the honor to be, very truly, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOSEPH HENRY, 
 
 Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 
 Hon. J. F. ASPER, 
 
 U. S. House of Representatives. 
 
 Referred to Committee on Printing. 
 July 12, 1870. Mr. LAFLIN reported the following reso- 
 lution from the Committee on Printing, which was adopted: 
 
 Resolved, $c., That 10,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithso- 
 nian Institution for the year 1869 be printed, 3,000 of which shall be for 
 the use of the Senate, 4,000 for the use of the House, and 3,000 for the use 
 of the Smithsonian Institution: Provided, That the aggregate number of 
 pages of said report shall not exceed 450, and there shall be no illustrations 
 except those furnished by the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 December 12, 1870. Mr. INGERSOLL offered the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That there be printed, from stereotyped plates now in posses- 
 sion of the Public Printer, 2,000 copies each of the reports of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, for the years 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868; 1,000 of these to 
 be tor the use of the members of the House, and 1,000 for distribution bv 
 the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 January 30, 1871. On motion of Mr. POLAND, the House 
 took up and passed the joint resolution appointing General 
 William T. Sherman a Kegent of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, in the place of General Richard Delafield, resigned. 
 
 February 24, 1871. The Clerk read as follows : 
 
 " For continuing the completion of the survey of the Colorado of the 
 
FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS, 1871-73. 723 
 
 "West and its tributaries, by Professor Powell, under the direction of the 
 Secretary of the Interior, $12,000." 
 
 Mr. DAWES. I move to strike out the words " Secretary 
 of the Interior," and insert u the Smithsonian Institution." 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, March 13, 1871. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN. I ask unanimous consent of the Senate to 
 introduce a bill, and I desire to have it considered at this 
 time. I think it will not take two minutes. 
 
 By unanimous consent, leave was granted to introduce 
 a bill to amend an act to establish the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men, approved August 10, 1846 ; and it was read twice, 
 and considered as in Committee of the Whole. 
 
 The bill proposes to amend the act of August 10, 1846, 
 by striking out in the first section the words " mayor of the 
 city of Washington," and inserting " governor of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia," and by making the same change in the 
 third section of the act. 
 
 The following is the bill : 
 
 Be it enacted, ^-c., That "An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution 
 for the increase and diffusion' of knowledge among men," approved August 
 ten, eighteen hundred and forty-six, be, and the same is hereby, amended 
 in section one of said act by striking out the words " the mayor of the city 
 of Washington," and inserting in place thereof the words "the governor 
 of the District of Columbia," and that said act be further amended in sec- 
 tion three by striking out the words "the mayor of the city of Washing- 
 ton," and inserting in place thereof the words "the governor of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia." 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN. Let me say to the Senate, in one word, 
 what this bill means. The original act creating the institu- 
 tion made the mayor of the city of Washington one of its 
 regents. We have abolished that office, and this bill simply 
 puts the governor of the Territory in his place. 
 
 The bill passed. 
 
 April 19, 1871. The concurrent resolution from the House 
 of Representatives, of April 18, for the printing of 12,500 
 copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 
 1870, was agreed to. 
 
 April 26, 1872. Annual report for 1871 laid before the 
 Senate. 
 
724 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN moved to have 12,500 extra copies of the 
 report printed. 
 
 May 2, 1872. Mr. ANTHONY, reported the following reso- 
 lution ; which was agreed to. 
 
 Resolved, By the Senate, (the House of Representatives concurring,) that 
 12 500 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 
 the year 1871, be printed ; 2,500 for the use of the Senate, 5,000 for the use 
 of the House, and 5,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution: Pro- 
 vided, That the aggregate number of pages of said report shall not exceed 
 450; and that there shall be no illustrations, except those furnished by the 
 Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 May 24, 1872. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported non-concurrence to the amendment of 
 the House of Representatives to increase the number of 
 extra copies of the report, for 1871, to 20,000. Agreed to. 
 
 May 29, 1872. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported back the following resolution of the House 
 of Representatives, which was agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That 2,000 copies of each of the reports of the Smithsonian 
 Institution of which the stereotype plates are now in the Congressional Print- 
 ing Office be printed for distribution by the Smithsonian Institution to libra- 
 ries, colleges, and public establishments. 
 
 December 10, 1872. The VICE-PRESIDENT appointed Mr. 
 J. W. Stevenson of Kentucky, a regent of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, in the place of Mr. Garrett Davis, deceased. 
 
 February 21, 1873. Annual report of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, for 1872, presented. 
 
 February 28, 1873. Mr. STEVENSON. I anrauthorized by 
 the Committee on Appropriations to offer a small amend- 
 ment on page 27, line six hundred and fifty-eight, to strike 
 out " fifteen," and insert " twenty." The clause now reads : 
 
 For preservation of the collections of the surveying and exploring expe- 
 ditions of the Government, $15,000. 
 
 This increase is asked for in order to enable the institu- 
 tion to arrange and exhibit the geological collections lately 
 transferred from the Land Office, and to make out duplicate 
 specimens in sets for distributing to colleges and institutions 
 throughout the United States. Professor Baird, in a letter 
 before me, says that he made this estimate of $15,000, which 
 is the usual estimate, before the transfer was made from the 
 Land Office of all these specimens, and the additional ap- 
 propriation is required to prepare for the large increase of 
 these specimens, and also to prepare duplicates for distribu- 
 tion. The amendment simply proposes an appropriation of 
 $20,000, instead of $15,000. I hope the Senate will agree 
 to it. 
 
FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS, 1871-73. 725 
 
 Mr. COLE. I think $20,000 is probably more than the 
 whole thing is worth. 
 
 Mr. STEVENSON. I am astonished at the chairman. 
 
 Mr. COLE. I think it is hardly worth while to expend 
 such a large sum for such things, and $15,000 it seems to me 
 is ample for whatever care is requisite for the specimens 
 that were received by the Smithsonian Institution from the 
 Land Office. 
 
 Mr. STEVENSON. I had hoped that the chairman of the 
 .committee would be satisfied with the recommendation and 
 estimate of Professor Baird. He gives a very good reason 
 why he wants an increase of the appropriation, and when 
 a man like Professor Baird tells us why he wants this, in 
 order to enable the institution to exhibit the geological 
 collection which they have received, and to make out dupli- 
 cate specimens of them, I do not see how we can well refuse 
 uch a request. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 March 1, 1873. Mr. ANTHONY reported from the Com- 
 -mittee on Printing the following resolution, which was 
 agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That 12,500 additional copies of the report of the Smithso- 
 nian Institution for the year 1872 be printed, 2,500 copies of which shall be 
 for the use of the Senate, 5,000 for the use of the House, and 5,000 for the 
 use of the institution: Provided, That the aggregate number of pages of 
 said report shall not exceed 450, and that there shall be no illustrations except 
 . those furnished by the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 14, 1871. 
 
 Senate bill, of March 13, 1871, was taken up, on motion 
 of Mr. Poland, and passed. 
 
 April 10, 1871. Mr. POLAND submitted a concurrent 
 resolution for printing reports of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution. 
 
 April 18, 1871. Mr. ELLIS H. EGBERTS, from the Com- 
 :mittee on Printing, reported the following resolution ; which 
 was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, By the House of Kepresentatives, (the Senate concurring,) that 
 12,500 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 
 the year 1870, be printed ; 2,500 for the use of the Senate, 5,000 for the use 
 
 - of the House, and 5,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution : Pro- 
 vided, That the aggregate number of pages of said report shall not exceed 
 450 ; and that there shall be no illustrations, except those furnished by the 
 
 .Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 April 3, 1872. Mr. POLAND introduced concurrent reso- 
 lution for printing 2,000 extra copies of each of the reports 
 of the Smithsonian Institution for such volumes as the 
 stereotype plates are in the Congressional Printing Office. 
 
726 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 April 26, 1872. Annual report for 1871 laid before the 
 House. 
 
 Mr. POLAND offered a resolution to print 20,000 extra 
 copies of the report. 
 
 May 10, 1872. Mr. PRICE, from the Committee on Print- 
 iug, reported back the concurrent resolution of the Senate 
 to print 12,500 additional copies of the report of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, for 1871. 
 
 Mr. GARFIELD. I hope there will be an increase of the 
 number of these reports to be printed. I move that the 
 several numbers be doubled. 
 
 Mr. RANDALL. I think 5,000 copies will be enough for 
 the institution. 
 
 Mr. GARFIELD. Well, I will move to double the number 
 for each House of Congress, but not for the Smithsonian 
 Institution. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to, and the resolution 
 adopted. 
 
 May 23, 1872. Mr. PENDLETON, from the Committee on 
 Printing, offered the following concurrent resolution ; which 
 was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, ,jr., That 2,000 copies of each of the reports of the Smithsonian 
 Institution of which the stereotype plates are now in the Congressional 
 Printing Office be printed for distribution by the Smithsonian Institution 
 to libraries, colleges, and public establishments. 
 
 June 3, 1872. Mr. PRICE reported back from the com- 
 mittee the Senate resolution for printing 12,000 extra copies 
 of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 1871. The 
 House amended the resolution by making the number 20,000, 
 but the Senate refused to concur in that amendment. The 
 Committee on Printing recommended that the House recede 
 from its amendment. 
 
 Mr. POLAND. I hope the House will not recede. 
 
 The SPEAKER. If there is to be a debate, the Chair can- 
 not entertain the proposition. The House is acting under 
 an order made under suspension of the rules to consider 
 business on the Speaker's table. 
 
 Mr. BEATTY. I think the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. 
 Poland] had better agree to the proposition to recede. 
 
 Mr. POLAND. No, sir; I have very good reasons for be- 
 lieving that the Senate will concur in our amendment if we 
 insist upon it. 
 
 June 8, 1872. By act of Congress it was provided that 
 all publications sent or received" by the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, marked on each package " Smithsonian Exchange,"" 
 should pass free in the mail. 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 72T 
 
 December 20, 1872. Mr. POLAND offered a resolution to 
 have 20,000 extra copies of the report for 1871 printed. 
 
 January 31, 1873. Senate resolution that 20,000 copies 
 of the report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1871 be 
 printed ; agreed to. 
 
 February 21, 1873. Mr. POLAND offered a resolution to 
 have 20,000 extra copies printed of the report of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution for 1872. 
 
 March 3, 1873. Mr. PRICE, from the Committee on Print- 
 ing, reported concurrence in the resolution of the Senate 
 to print 12,500 extra copies of the report of the Smithso- 
 nian Institution for 1872; which was agreed to. 
 
 FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, January 5, 1874. 
 
 Mr. STEVENSON introduced a resolution providing that the 
 vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution of the class other than members of Congress be 
 tilled by the appointment of Asa Gray, J. D. Dana, A. T. 
 Stewart, and that John Maclean and Peter Parker be reap- 
 pointed. 
 
 Mr. STEVENSON. The appointments have been agreed 
 upon by the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion and they are to supply all vacancies in that board. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the 
 present consideration of the joint resolution ? 
 
 Mr. SUMNER. I ask if that is the report of a committee, 
 or a simple resolution ? 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It is a joint resolution intro- 
 duced by the Senator from Kentucky. 
 
 Mr. SUMNER. I suggest that it should be considered by 
 a committee. I honor all the gentlemen named in the res- 
 olution ; still 1 think it has been customary to consider such 
 resolutions in committee. 
 
 Mr. STEVENSON. I have no objection to its reference to 
 a committee. 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN. I think the resolution ought to be re- 
 ferred to the Committee on the Library, which has general 
 charge of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator make that 
 motion ? 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN. Yes, sir. 
 
 The motion was agreed to. 
 
728 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Jpnuary 12, 1874. Mr. HOWE, from the Committee on 
 the Library, to whom was referred the above resolution, 
 asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and 
 that it be indefinitely postponed ; which was agreed to. 
 
 The same committee, to whom was referred the joint res- 
 olution from the House filling existing vacancies in the Board 
 of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, have had the same 
 under consideration, and have instructed me to report it back 
 without amendment, and with the recommendation that it 
 pass ; which was ordered to lie over. 
 
 January 13, 1874. Mr. STEVENSON moved to take up the 
 joint resolution from the House providing for the appoint- 
 ment and reappointment of Regents of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, which yesterday was ordered to lie over; and it 
 was read a third time and passed. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tewpore appointed Mr. A. A. Sargent, 
 of California, a regent of the institution. 
 
 February 13, 1874. Annual report for 1873 laid before 
 the Senate. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN offered the following: 
 
 Resolved, (the House of Representatives concurring,} That twelve thousand 
 five hundred additional ropies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 for the year 1873, be printed ; twenty-five hundred of which shall be for 
 the use of the Senate, live ill >u~un<l for the use of the House, and five 
 thousand for the use of the institution : Provided, That the aggregate 
 number of passes of said report shall not exceed four hundred and fifty, and 
 that there shall be no illustrations except those furnished by the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. 
 
 February 20, 1874. Mr. ANTHONY. The Committee on 
 Printing, to whom was referred a resolution to print extra 
 copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, have 
 directed me to report it back with amendments, and to ask 
 for its present consideration. 
 
 The Committee on Printing proposed to amend the reso- 
 lution, so as to make it read : 
 
 Resolved, (the House of Representatives concurring,} That seven thousand 
 five hundred additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 for the year 1873, be printed ; five hundred of which shall be for the use 
 of the Senate, one thousand for the use of the House, and six thousand for 
 the use of the institution. 
 
 Mr. ANTHONY. The customary publication of this docu- 
 ment has been twelve thousand copies ; five thousand for 
 the use of the Smithsonian Institution, twenty-five hundred 
 for the use of the Senate, and five thousand for the use of 
 the House of Representatives. We now have reported to 
 increase the number to the institution from five thousand 
 to six thousand, to reduce the number for the Senate from 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 729 
 
 ^twenty-five hundred to five hundred, and to reduce the num- 
 ber for the House from five thousand to one thousand. If the 
 number for Congress is reduced so much, the institution will re- 
 quire a little more so the Regents think. This, I believe, is 
 the first resolution that the Committee on Printing have re- 
 ported at this session for printing any additional documents. 
 The number is exceedingly small, and it is the intention of 
 those who are best acquainted with the institution, especially 
 of those who have been charged on the part of Congress with 
 participation in its management, that there should be some 
 extra copies, and in deference to them we have made the 
 recommendation. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I should like to inquire of the 
 Senator from Rhode Island whether he is aware of the fact 
 that Congress, in the early part of the session, passed a 
 resolution suspending the publication of documents, and 
 whether this is in harmony with the expression of Congress? 
 
 Mr. ANTHONY. That has not passed the House. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. It passed the Senate. 
 
 Mr. ANTHONY. If the Senator asks my judgment, I think 
 this is not in conformity with that. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I should think that until the 
 Senate reconsider that proposition we ought to adhere to 
 it. Yesterday some proposition came from the Committee 
 on Printing of a similar kind. 
 
 Mr. ANTHONY. What one ? 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Recommending the publication 
 -of some document. 
 
 Mr. ANTHONY. That was for the use of the proper De- 
 partment, not for the use of Congress. It was only five 
 hundred copies of a medical report that was thought to be 
 valuable for scientific purposes, and they are to be distrib- 
 uted entirely by the Department. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I think we ought not to go 
 into retail in printing when in wholesale we have resolved 
 not to print ; and I do think it is wise to adhere to the reso- 
 lution that we passed, at least until some full understanding 
 .as to the publication and distribution of documents is had. 
 
 Mr. ANTHONY. I do not think we are bound by a propo- 
 sition that has only passed one House of Congress ; but I 
 am not a lawyer, and I will leave that to the Senator from 
 Maine. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I think we should have a little 
 respect for our own action, whether the House chooses to 
 concur or not. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN. I wish to state a fact. I may say in behalf 
 
730 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 of the Smithsonian Institution that I think this is entirely 
 distinct from the documents which we publish sent to us 
 from the departments, or which emanate from our commit- 
 tees. This is purely a scientific work. It is the annual 
 report of the Smithsonian Institution, made in pursuance 
 of law to this bod}\ To myself it may seem of very much 
 less value than to many others ; but I think no man < an 
 ever examine a single report of that institution without 
 being impressed with its great value. These reports aiv 
 for the general reader perhaps of little use, being somewhat 
 technical and scientific ; but yet they are of immense value 
 to the world, and they are transmitted all o\vr the world, 
 and we receive back in exchange the scientific reports of 
 different societies and different governments. I think this 
 stands entirely distinct from the documents ordinarily 
 printed by Congress ; and I do not think the law or reso- 
 lution to which my colleague refers ought to apply to this 
 report, if it does technically : and if it docs, this has got to 
 pass the ordeal of the House, and it must b- by a concur- 
 rent vote, which will express their opinion that' this stands 
 distinct from other matters, as well as our own. I hope the 
 resolution will be concurred in. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Only one word. Early in this 
 session we determined to arrest the publication of public 
 documents, and I think properly. I am not going to say 
 whether it is true or not, for on that I have my own opin- 
 ions, and they may not be in harmony with the public sense 
 on that subject but one thing is clear, that from one con- 
 sideration or another, within the last few years, a very gen- 
 eral impression or sentiment or conviction has come to 
 obtain in the public mind that the publication of documents 
 by the Congress of the United StuU-s had become a very 
 great abuse. It took a variety of forms. It was an abuse 
 under the franking privilege, which overloaded the mails. 
 It was an expense in many w T a}-s, and it was a corruption in 
 itself. That is a deep seated and thorough conviction in 
 the public mind, right or wrong, and I think the Senate of 
 the United States was wise when at the beginning of this 
 session it said it would pause in the publication and distribu- 
 tion of documents, for the present at least, until some wise 
 determination could be come at. 
 
 Now, it may be that the views of my colleague render 
 this an exceptional case ; and it is a proper thing, possibly, 
 to publish the reports of the Smithsonian Institution, being 
 of a scientific character, so far as relates to itself; but this 
 resolution provides for their publication for distribution,. 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 731 
 
 and certainly it ought not to apply to that. We do not 
 want these reports for distribution. We have no means of 
 distributing them. At any rate, to that extent I submit to 
 my colleague that this is certainly within the inhibition of 
 the resolution of the Senate. If there is no special objec- 
 tion, therefore, I should like to have this resolution lie over 
 until to-morrow. 
 
 Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I wish to say a word on this sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I withdraw the motion, to allow 
 the Senator to do so. 
 
 Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I have only a word to say. I shall 
 vote for the resolution to print this report; and I will vote 
 for any resolution to print the proceedings of Congress. I 
 think this idea of isolating the Congress of the United States 
 from the people is a very foolish one. As to economy, I 
 think it is an illustration of that wise saying that " there is 
 that withhold eth more than is meet, but it tendeth to pov- 
 erty." The people of my State write to me every day for 
 copies of the Agricultural Report, which contains most 
 valuable information to the farmers of the country, and 
 they cannot be obtained. The books are ready to be printed,, 
 but their printing is stopped ; and we are keeping the pro^ 
 ceedings of Congress here as a close corporation from the 
 people. I introduced a bill providing that these public 
 documents should be circulated ; the postage in no event to 
 be more than twenty-five cents a volume, and not requiring- 
 prepayment, and authorizing the documents to be sold if 
 they were not called for within ten days. That bill has not 
 been reported from the Committee on Post Offices and Post 
 Roads. 
 
 Mr. RAMSEY. I will say to the Senator that the commit- 
 tee have it under consideration. 
 
 Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I hope Congress will adopt some 
 measure by which that which transpires here may be circu- 
 lated and disseminated among the people. At a large ex- 
 pense we print every day a record of the proceedings of 
 Congress. What good does it do ? The people do not 
 get it. No provision is made for its circulation. 
 
 Now, as to the idea that the people are opposed to this, I 
 was very much struck by a remark which was made I da 
 not know but that it was in one of the articles which were 
 read here } T esterday that a million of people might petition 
 Congress, but we must remember there are thirty-nine mil- 
 lions that are not heard from. I believe the people want in- 
 formation as to what transpires here, and it is their right to 
 
732 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 have it, and it is our duty to give them the opportunity to 
 know what we do. 
 
 Mr. ANTHONY. I believe when this report was presented 
 the usual number was ordered to be printed. If not, I will 
 make that motion. That number ought to printed at any 
 rate. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It was ordered. The Chair 
 understands objection to be made to the further considera- 
 tion of the resolution. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Yes, sir. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will lie over. 
 
 February 27, 1874. Mr. HAMLIN. I move to take up the 
 resolution for the printing of the Smithsonian report. I 
 think it will detain the Senate but a moment. It was up 
 the other morning. 
 
 The motion was agreed to. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN. My colleague interposed some objection 
 to the resolution because there were five hundred copies 
 provided for in it for the Senate, and a thousand for the 
 House. I have conferred with my colleague, and I have 
 also conferred with the Senator who reported tin- resolution, 
 and with their concurrence I move now to strike out the 
 whole number appropriated to both the Senate and House. 
 That will be my first motion. I shall follow that with 
 another motion to increase the number to the Smithsonian 
 Institution by fifteen hundred, which is just the number 
 stricken out. That takes away entirely llu- objection to 
 printing any copies for our own distribution. I transfer 
 that number to the institution for this reason : I take it 
 every Senator, like myself, has supplied the principal libra- 
 ries of the State for years with this work. They will want 
 it, and they will cease to call upon us, but they will call 
 upon the institution for it, and that number which was pro- 
 posed for the Senate and for the House will be transferred 
 there, and there they will find them. 
 
 I want to say also, in this connection, that by an exchange 
 of this very work with foreign societies and foreign govern- 
 ments, we add to our congressional library works of value, 
 amounting to between two and three thousand volumes 
 annually. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will be read 
 as proposed to be amended. 
 
 The CHIEF CLERK. If amended as proposed by the Sen- 
 ator from Maine, the resolution will read : 
 
 Resolved, (the House of Representatives concurring,) That seven thousand 
 Hve hundred additional- copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 733" 
 
 for the year 1873, be printed for the use of the institution : Provided, That 
 the aggregate number of pages of said report shall not exceed four hundred- 
 and fifty, and that there shall be no illustrations except those furnished by 
 the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 The resolution, as amended, was agreed to. 
 December 10, 1874. Mr. HAMLIN offered the following^ 
 joint resolution, which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That the existing vacancy in the Board of Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, of the class other than members of Congress, shall, 
 be filled by the appointment of George Bancroft, of the city of Washing- 
 ton, in place of William T. Sherman, resigned. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN. I will say only that there is an existing 
 vacancy, as stated in that resolution, occasioned by the 
 resignation of General Sherman, who has moved from this 
 city. The law requires that that regent shall be from the 
 city. Mr. Bancroft, the eminent historian, has come here 
 to reside. All three of the Board of Regents on the part 
 of this body think it is eminently fitting that he should be 
 designated by Congress to fill that existing vacancy. 
 
 December 14, 1874. On motion of Mr. SARGENT, the House 
 resolution of May 15, 1874, ordering 10,500 extras of the 
 report of the institution for 1873, was taken up and adopted. 
 
 February 27, 1875. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee 
 on Printing, reported back the following resolution, which* 
 was concurred in : 
 
 Resolved, (by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring,} That 
 10,500 copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 
 1874, be printed ; 2,000 of which shall be for the use of the House of Bep- 
 resentatlves, 1,000 for the use of the Senate, and 7,500 for the use of the 
 institution : Provided, That the aggregate number of pages of said report 
 shall not exceed 450, and that there shall be no illustrations, except those 
 furnished by the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 March 2, 1875. The VICE PRESIDENT laid before the 
 Senate a bill extending the privilege of the library of Con- 
 gress to the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution; which 
 was read, and passed. 
 
 The following is the bill : 
 
 Be it enacted, $c., That the Joint Committee of both Houses of Congress 
 on the Library, be authorized to extend the use of the books in the library 
 of Congress to the Kegents of the Smithsonian Institution, resident in 
 Washington, on the same conditions and restrictions as members of Con- 
 gress are allowed to use the library. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, December 18, 1873. 
 The Speaker appointed Mr. E. R. Hoar, of Massachusetts, 
 Mr. S. S. Cox, of New York, and Mr. G. W. Hazelton, o 
 Wisconsin, Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
734 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDING. 
 
 December 19, 1873. Mr. KELLOGG. I ask unanimous con- 
 sent to submit the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, $c., That Professor James D. puna be, and h.-r.-l.y is, appointed 
 as one of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution of the rla>s 
 other than members of Congress, in place of Theodore D. Woolly, of Con- 
 necticut, who declines to be reappointed. 
 
 Mr. KELLOGG. I trust there will be no objection to the 
 adoption of the resolution. 
 
 Mr. GAR FIELD. I suggest that it be referred to the Board 
 of Regents. 
 
 Mr. KELLOGG. If there be any objection, I will not press 
 the resolution. 
 
 Mr. GARFIELD. I do not suppose thnv is any objection, 
 but I only suggest that it is the usual course. 
 
 Mr. KELLOGG. If the usual course is as stated by the gen- 
 tleman from Ohio I do not object. 
 
 Mr. GARFIELD. There is another vacancy to be filled, 
 occasioned by the death of Professor Agassiz. 
 
 Mr. KELLOGG. I do not suppose there would be the least 
 objection, Professor Dana being so well known; but if that 
 is the usual course, I do not object. 
 
 Mr. BUTLER. I suggest that the resolution be referred 
 to the Committee on Education and Labor. 
 
 Mr. KELLOGG. I move that it be referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Education and Labor. 
 
 January 5, 1874. Mr. GARFIELD introduced a joint reso- 
 lution providing that the vacancies in the Board of Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution of the class other than mem- 
 bers of Congress be tilled by the appointment of Asa Gray, 
 J. D. Dana, A. T. Stewart, and the reappointment of John 
 Maclean and Peter Parker ; which was referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Education and Labor. 
 
 January 6, 1874. Mr. MAYNARD offered a joint resolution 
 in relation to the appointment of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, which was referred to the Committee on Edu- 
 cation and Labor. 
 
 January 7, 1874. Mr. SHERWOOD introduced joint resolu- 
 tion for the appointment of Professor Leo Lesquereux, of 
 Columbus, Ohio, one of the Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution ; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- 
 cation and Labor. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. The Committee on Education and Labor 
 have had under consideration sundry resolutions in regard 
 to filling vacancies in the Board of 'Regents of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. Some other gentlemen had asked for 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 735 
 
 an opportunity to suggest names ; but there seemed to be 
 reasons for prompt action upon the subject, and the com- 
 mittee, therefore, instructed me to report at once a joint 
 resolution naming certain gentlemen to till these vacancies. 
 
 The resolution now reported by the committee is identical 
 with that which was introduced by the gentleman from Ohio, 
 {Mr. Gartield,] one of the regents of the institution, with 
 the exception that in a single name we propose a change, 
 which, it is thought, would perhaps, on the whole, more 
 fairly distribute the appointments and meet better certain 
 interests which were deemed by the committee to be of 
 great importance. The highest esteem and respect were 
 felt by the committee for all the gentlemen whose names 
 have been suggested : but, on the whole, the arrangement 
 proposed in the resolution which I now report seemed to 
 the committee to be the best they could make. 
 
 The joint resolution provides that the existing vacancies in 
 the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, of the 
 class other than members of Congress, shall be filled by the 
 appointment of Asa Gray, of Massachusetts, in place of 
 Louis Agassiz, deceased ; J. D. Dana, of Connecticut, in 
 place of Theodore D. Woolsey; Henry Coppee, in place of 
 W. B. Astor; and John Maclean and Peter Parker, whose 
 terms have expired, are to be reappointed. 
 
 Mr. MAYNARD. Will the gentleman allow me to occupy 
 one moment? I introduced yesterday and had referred to 
 this committee a resolution in accordance with an idea I 
 entertained, but had had no occasion to express specially, 
 that the Smithsonian Institution, founded and endowed by 
 the munificence of a British subject " to increase and diffuse 
 knowledge among men," should be made, so far as possible, 
 national in its character. Now, in looking at the list of 
 regents, I find that while they are all most excellent and 
 eminent men, (and I hope the day is far distant when any 
 section of our country will not have eminent and distin- 
 guished men enough to more than furnish the list of regents,) 
 the appointments are at present limited geographically. 
 
 I suggest to the chairman of the Committee on Education 
 and Labor whether, as a matter of wise policy, it \vould not 
 be well to emphasize the national character of the institu- 
 tion by extending geographically the citizenship of the gen- 
 tlemen constituting the Board of Regents. With this view 
 I have proposed, in the joint resolution introduced by rne yes- 
 terday, that one member of the board shall be a distinguished 
 and eminent citizen of my own State. I refer to Rev. Dr. 
 Thomas W. Humes, president of the University of East 
 
736 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Tennessee, a citizen by birth and continued residence in that 
 State, and a gentleman of great attainments and high per- 
 sonal character; not that he is more distinguished, more 
 worthy, or in any respect superior to the gentlemen who 
 have been named. I make no such claim. But this gen- 
 tleman, if appointed, will be the representative of a large 
 region of our country, the great Southwest, (embracing 
 also a portion of the South and of the West,) whose scientific 
 possibilities are very great whose scientific resources, if I 
 may use that expression, have been hitherto very largely 
 unconsidered and undeveloped. It has seemed to me wise 
 to include in the Board of Regents a representative from 
 that very large portion of our common country. 
 
 I do not wish it to be understood that I would not accept 
 as readily any other distinguished name that might be sug- 
 gested that would represent the same general region of 
 country; but I certainly think it would give greater effect 
 and importance to the labors of that institution to have its 
 regency distributed more generally throughout the country. 
 I am reminded by gentlemen sitting near me that there is 
 no one on that board from either the South or the West. 
 
 I bring this subject generally before the House ; I move 
 to substitute the name of Thomas W. Humes, a citizen of 
 Tennessee, for that of Henry Coppee, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. G. F. HOAR. Mr. Speaker, it may possibly interest 
 the House if I occupy a few minutes in stating the purpose 
 of the Smithsonian Institution; for in view of that purpose- 
 I am sure the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. MaynardJ 
 himself will commend the wisdom of the recommendations 
 we make. The Smithsonian Institution has for its Board 
 of Regents three persons appointed from the members of 
 this House, three persons appointed from the Senate, the 
 President of 'the United States, the Chief Justice of the 
 United States, and certain other officers of the Government 
 are regents ex officio. These officers give the regency of the- 
 institution its national character. The whole nation of course- 
 has its voice in their selection. There are six other regents 
 who are specially appointed by joint resolution of Congress, 
 and it is to fill vacancies in this number that this resolution 
 is designed. 
 
 The purpose of the Smithsonian Institution is the " ad- 
 vancement of knowledge among men ; " and after very full 
 and thorough debate at the time of its origin, the authorities 
 of that day determined that it was best to devote the fund 
 at their disposal, not to the mere dissemination of knowledge 
 as is done by the publication and distribution of books, nor 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 737 
 
 to mere educational purposes as would be done by the endow- 
 ment and support ot institutions for instruction, but that the 
 fund should be applied to promoting and publishing the 
 results of such original investigations as may tend to advance 
 and increase the pure scientific knowledge of mankind. To 
 this end a fund of about $700,000, part of which is invested 
 in buildings, leaving an income-bearing fund of about 
 $500,000, is within the control of the institution. 
 
 The income of that fund is appropriated in this way : 
 Suppose, for instance, an eminent mathematician says that 
 he desires to have made a computation in connection with 
 certain investigations to determine the cause of the pertur- 
 bation of a planet, such as those of Leverrier which led to 
 the discovery of the planet Neptune. If those investiga- 
 tions require a large amount of mathematical computation 
 which may almost be termed mechanical, this would involve 
 a good deal of expense to him. Suppose the Smithsonian 
 Institution decides that the result of such investigation will 
 advance scientific knowledge, it will advance a sum of money 
 to pay for such computations, if it does not pay anything to 
 the scientific man himself as compensation, or for support. 
 So if a scientific man wishes to make a certain inquiry into 
 the laws of optics or of electricity, and if the Smithsonian 
 Institution is satisfied of the capacity of the person and of 
 the usefulness of the results likely to be obtained, it appro- 
 priates such sum of money as may be necessary to obtain 
 the requisite apparatus, and lets him have the use of it; and 
 then, if the result of that investigation is found to be of 
 value to science, it appropriates the money for its publication. 
 
 Now everybody knows the familiar instance when Morse 
 invented his alphabet for recording telegraphy. The knowl- 
 edge of the laws of magnetism, which made that magnificent 
 Invention serviceable to mankind, which has rendered the 
 name of American science illustrious, came from the pre- 
 vious researches and investigations of Professor Henry, who 
 brought from the vast treasure-house of science that knowl- 
 edge of the laws of nature which the invention of Morse 
 made useful for the practical benefit of mankind. ISTow, in 
 order to determine what papers are proper to be published," 
 or what kind of investigations, among the large number 
 that are offered to the Smithsonian Institution, will be use- 
 ful for the advancement of science, you should have among 
 the members of that board persons who are authority in 
 particular departments of science. They are not selected 
 as a public honor to the persons themselves ; they are not 
 selected for the purpose of recognizing the claims of or of 
 47 
 
738 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 stimulating interest in the institution in different portions 
 of the country ; but men are selected whom Professor Henry 
 and his associates in that institution deem competent to 
 decide in regard to the particular scientific investigations 
 which it may be desired to make. For instance, my dis- 
 tinguished friend from Tennessee [Mr. May nurd"] proposed 
 the name of Professor Snell, of Amherst College, in place 
 of the late Professor Agassiz. Professor Snell, of Amherst 
 College, is one of the most eminent scholars of my State ; 
 a pure, earnest, modest devotee of learning, who has made 
 a thousand contributions to science, from which he has re- 
 ceived no benefit. But Professor SnelPs life has been de- 
 voted to the investigation of optics, magnetism, and certain 
 branches of natural science, which are also the special pur- 
 suits of Professor Henry, the secretary and director of tin- 
 institution; and it is not important, therefore, to add at this 
 moment to the force of the Smithsonian Institution another 
 gentleman who will be an authority on matters of opti -, 
 magnetism, galvanism, &c. But one thing on which Pro- 
 fessor Agassiz, just deceased, was the great authority in this 
 country and the world, was natural history, including the 
 growth of animals, the origin of species, the growth of 
 plants, of trees, &c., and this is a matter in regard to which 
 the science of the world is especially busying itself at the 
 present time, and of a knowledge of which the practical 
 need of this country is the greatest- 
 
 The prairie lands of the Northwest, which lie between 
 the dense settlements of the Atlantic and the Pacific, are 
 in need of the scientific information as my friend [Mr. 
 Kelley] who does me the honor to listen to me, knows very 
 well which may cover those lauds with forests, with shade- 
 trees, with vegetation. Professor Gray is, perhaps, the 
 freatest authority in the world on that special mutter. Now, 
 ow idle, how unwise, it would be for the members of this 
 House to say that, because Colorado or Wyoming are to be 
 represented on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, they may appoint some man from those Terri- 
 tories rather than appoint Professor Gray, the greatest au- 
 thority on this question. He happened to reside at Cam- 
 bridge in his youth and in the time of his early studies. 
 The libraries and scientific apparatus which \vere necessary 
 for the prosecution of his studies in that department of 
 science were there. So in the case of Professor Dana. I 
 suppose any California gentleman on this floor will agree 
 that no man has been so great a benefactor to the develop- 
 ment of the mineral resources of the State of California as 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 739 
 
 Professors Dana and Whitney. (Professor Whitney, indeed, 
 has resided in California of late years.) Professor Dana is 
 a great authority on matters of mines and minerals, and his 
 life has been where a library and apparatus, making the 
 prosecution of his labors pleasant and profitable, existed. 
 
 Now the name of Alexander T. Stewart, a distinguished 
 financier, has been recommended in the place of another 
 man of wealth and a business man in the State of New 
 York, (Mr. Astor,) and the committee would have been de- 
 lighted to adopt that recommendation ; but we were in- 
 formed by a gentleman on the committee, from the State of 
 New York, that the state of Mr. Stewart's health is such 
 that it would not be certain he would be able to give his 
 personal attention to the business of the Board of Regents. 
 Therefore, because it was not a matter of personal honor, 
 but because it was a matter of supplying the wants of this 
 institution, we recommend in his stead the name of an emi- 
 nent man of science in the State of Pennsylvania, formerly 
 the head of a university in that State, who adds to the repu- 
 tation and capacity of a scientific man great financial ability, 
 as exhibited in the management of his institution. 
 
 Mr. WOOD. Will the gentleman from Massachusetts, be- 
 fore he sits down, please tell me whether Mr. Astor retires 
 at his own request ? 
 
 Mr. G. F. HOAR. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. WOOD. I am sorry for it, for he is one of the best 
 belles-lettres scholars in the country. I will say, further, that 
 I cannot see what practical service these gentlemen render 
 when they come here once a year for a day or two. 
 
 Mr. G-. F. HOAR. I am glad the gentleman has made that 
 suggestion. Suppose the gentleman from New York goes 
 to Professor Henry with a paper composed by himself or 
 some friend, or asking an investigation involving the use of 
 apparatus or other expenditure from the funds of the insti- 
 tution ; Professor Henry refers that paper or that request 
 for an examination to one of these scientific gentlemen ; he 
 sends it to him at his home, and he spends perhaps days or 
 weeks in determining whether the paper is one proper to 
 be published at the expense of the Smithsonian Institute, 
 or whether the investigation is one fit to be pursued. This 
 meeting once or twice a year in Washington is but a trifle 
 to the labor which these five or six scientific gentlemen per- 
 form in the course of the year. There is residing in my own 
 city a gentleman, the librarian of the Antiquarian Society 
 there, who prepared by the labor of years a very interesting 
 and important paper upon the origin of races in this country- 
 
740 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the aboriginal settlers of the country. That paper was pub- 
 lished at the expense of the Smithsonian Institute; and 
 now letters come from all parts of Europe testifying to the 
 appreciation of the scientific world of that paper published 
 by the Smithsonian Institute. Now, the man who is to 
 pronounce upon the character of a publication, or upon the 
 propriety of an examination, should be the best authority 
 upon that special question in the countr} 7 . 
 
 Mr. MAYNARD. I desire, in the first place, to make a 
 verbal correction. My friend from Massachusetts has fallen 
 into a common error in speaking of this establishment as 
 the " Smithsonian Institute." James Smithson,who founded 
 it, called it the " Smithsonian Institution." 
 
 Mr. G. F. HOAR. I am much obliged to the gentleman 
 for that correction ; and now will the gentleman be kind 
 enough to state to the House, with regard to the gentleman 
 whose name he proposes, what special branch of science he 
 has devoted himself to? I am not myself as familiar with 
 his labors as perhaps I ought to be. 
 
 Mr. MAYNARD. I listened to the gentleman from Massa- 
 chusetts with great pleasure and instruction, as I always do. 
 "We can best ascertain the character of the regency of the 
 Smithsonian Institution by giving the names and residences 
 of those who recently constituted it. They are, Louis Agassiz, 
 a citizen of Massachusetts; Theodore D. Woolsey, a citizen 
 of Connecticut; William B. Astor, a citizen of New York; 
 Peter Parker and William T. Sherman, citizens of Wash- 
 ington ; and John Maclean, a citizen of New Jersey. All 
 of these gentlemen, it will be seen, come within the category 
 of the gentleman from Massachusetts; but the time has not 
 yet come, and I trust it never may come, when the scientific 
 talent of the country will be confined within a limited area. 
 
 The gentlemen proposed arc all distinguished, and I did 
 not predicate my motion upon any unfitness, suggested or 
 implied, or intended to be understood, in reference to the 
 superior fitness of any one of them. I suggested what 
 seemed to me to be a better and wiser administration of this 
 great public trust a trust committed to us in the presence 
 of the civilized world, and for the wise administration of 
 which we stand conspicuously responsible. My suggestion is 
 that we should select the regency from different portions of 
 the land, so as to represent the vast geography of the whole 
 country. The gentleman from Massachusetts asks me what 
 have been the distinguishing studies and the character of 
 the intellectual labors of the eminent gentleman whose name 
 I have ventured to mention a divine of eminence in the 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 741 
 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, and at the head of the leading 
 university of my State, if not of the great Southwest. He 
 is eminent for his high literary and scientific attainments, 
 and has been a scholar all his life; and his head, like mine 
 and that of my friend, begins to bleach from the effect of 
 years. Many gentlemen on this floor are acquainted with 
 him personally or by character, and there will be no contro- 
 versy, I am sure, about his fitness for this duty. But I have 
 .placed the discussion upon higher ground. The question 
 is, whether it is not a wiser, better, more politic arrange- 
 ment, other things equal, to distribute these offices a little 
 more, rather than to concentrate the whole regency within 
 a few States upon the Atlantic coast. With these remarks 
 I leave the question. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. Mr. Speaker, I desire to say a word in 
 Tegard to what has been said of the action of the committee 
 on this subject. It is a matter of great delicacy to discuss 
 this question here in the House to any great extent, and to 
 discuss the multitude of names that would at once be offered 
 here if the question of the claims of the several States were 
 to be fully examined on this floor; for their claims are all 
 very excellent and very valid. I am not without some sym- 
 pathy with the local feeling expressed by the gentleman from 
 Tennessee, [Mr. Maynard.] As a member of the committee 
 I represent Ohio. Now, Ohio is a State also ; there is some 
 land in Ohio ; it is quite a piece of territory, and I could 
 not help thinking of a large number of accomplished gen- 
 tlemen and dear friends of mine in that State, some of whom 
 I would be very glad to have named for these places, and 
 men whom I know would have filled them with credit to 
 themselves and with high usefulness to the objects of the 
 institution. But I saw at once that this was just one of those 
 questions in which we must give up local preferences. In 
 discussing a question of science, of all others, I imagine on 
 the whole a man will be most useful who can be most capa- 
 ble, and who can yield most readily to local preference be- 
 longing to his own district. I recognized the necessity for 
 that; and, although I had no doubt I had even in my own 
 congressional district, where there are four colleges of a very 
 high order, the very best men in the world to fill these vacan- 
 cies, I thought it quite right to make the great sacrifice of 
 yielding up this question of the local claims of my congres- 
 sional district. 
 
 What is there of locality about these great names in 
 science ? Who cares anything about where their domicile 
 is ? How inferior any question of that sort is in comparison 
 
742 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 with the high commission upon which God has sent thorn 
 into this world arid the grand work they are accomplishing! 
 Will anybody who hears me tell me that Professor Dana, of 
 New Haven, is not a man in whom my own locality will be 
 interested? He belongs to my locality; he belongs to my 
 vicinage; he is my neighbor; he is one of the nearest und 
 best of my neighbors; he is by intellect among the men in 
 whom mv neighborhood has the deepest interest; he belongs 
 to my neighborhood ; and so do Professor Gray and Professor 
 Agassiz. They have, by the services they have rendered and 
 are rendering to science, secured the interest not only of 
 New England, Now York, but the interest of the whole 
 world. And there is no better principle, Mr. Speaker, upon 
 which to select these men than to search diligently for tho 
 best and put them in these places. "We, therefore, thought 
 it best upon the whole to make this report and secure its 
 adoption by the House if we could. 
 
 Mr. Cox. I ask the gentleman from Ohio to yield to me 
 for a moment. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. I was going to demand the previous ques- 
 tion on this matter, butl will yield to the gentleman from 
 New York. I recognize his right to be heard. 
 
 Mr. Cox. I would not intrude my voice on the House 
 on this question but for the fact that for some dozen of years 
 I have been more or less associated with this Smithsonian 
 regency; and I would say to the House we have never had 
 any special need for men of financial ability, at least since 
 I have been a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. Our 
 affairs have been conducted with economy. There has been 
 no surplus which has not been used in a proper way, and 
 there has been no deficiency. I supposed the Board of 
 Regents had sent in the name of Mr. Stewart in place of 
 Mr. Astor after some consultation with him, but I learn this 
 committee has withdrawn the name of Mr. Stewart on the 
 simple suggestion that his health is not good. 
 
 I propose to amend the amendment offered by the gentle- 
 man from Tennessee so as to replace the name of Mr. Alex- 
 ander T. Stewart, of New York ; and I do it for this reason : 
 There is no special need or requirement for the presence of 
 these regents at Washington except once or twice a year. 
 There is no special need for any culture in any particular 
 line of science, on the part of some of the regents at least, 
 for we are supplied with men of that quality in the presi- 
 dents and professors of colleges who are now there. But I 
 will say, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Mr. Stowart, who is 
 perhaps entirely ignorant of these proceedings, that he adds 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 743 
 
 to his great wealth, his wonderful mercantile ability, and 
 his skill in finance, rare education and great refinement of 
 culture. He would give strength, solidity, firmness, to this 
 institution. I think the original idea should be carried out, 
 and his name replaced. Then we would avoid all these dis- 
 cussions as to particular localities which have been raised 
 by the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Maynard] in the 
 suggestion of a man from that State. I therefore move to 
 amend the amendment of the gentleman from Tennessee by 
 inserting the name of Alexander T. Stewart. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. I now yield five minutes to the gentleman 
 from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Storm,] a member of the com- 
 mittee, after which I propose to call the previous question. 
 
 Mr. STORM. I hope that the resolution, as modified by 
 the Committee on Education and Labor, will be adopted. 
 That committee carefully considered the resolution referred 
 to, and came to the conclusion which they have reported. 
 The name of Mr. Stewart was before that committee, to- 
 gether with several other names. After full discussion and 
 interchange of views by the members of the committee they 
 came to this conclusion, and I trust the action of the com- 
 mittee will be approved by this House at this time. 
 
 If we follow the course indicated by the gentleman from 
 Tennessee [Mr. Maynard] and the gentleman from New 
 York [Mr. Cox] I have no doubt that every gentleman upon 
 this floor has some particular friend whom he would desire 
 to honor by suggesting his name for this position. The com- 
 mittee have looked solely to the qualifications, scientific and 
 literary, of the persons whose names have been suggested. 
 If the gentleman can give one reason or state one single 
 particular wherein Mr. Stewart is superior to Professor 
 Coppee, I will yield to him. Mr. Stewart is a merchant, of 
 large business, engrossed and absorbed in mercantile pur- 
 suits. I dare say he would be entirely unable to pay any 
 attention at all to any question that might be referred to 
 him should he be appointed to this place. 
 
 Professor Coppee. as a scientific and literary man, is abreast 
 with the age upon all questions of science, and is largely 
 interested in metallurgy, civil engineering, and mining, 
 questions which are now pressing themselves upon the atten- 
 tion of our colleges and schools, and the study of which is 
 replacing the old study of the dead languages. He has given 
 great attention to these matters, and is to-day in Pennsyl- 
 vania one of the leading scientific minds upon all these great 
 questions, in which the people have such a deep interest. 
 I think that it is due to that class of our people that they 
 
744 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 should be represented upon the Board of Regents by such 
 a man as Professor Coppee. He is in every way qualified 
 for the place, and I think to strike him from the list pro- 
 posed would be an ungracious act, and one which the House 
 would not desire to perform, and to replace him by a man 
 who has nothing but his wealth to recommend him. 
 
 Professor Coppee has a thorough military training, has 
 been honorably connected with some of our most honored 
 colleges, and is now the president of the Packer University. 
 He has published one of the best text-books we have on logic 
 and rhetoric; he is the historian of General Grant, and his 
 criticisms on the military movements of the army in the late 
 war are the best we have. He is a scholar of high attain- 
 ments and of great financial ability, and his appointment 
 would be a deserved compliment to his great talent. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. I now call the previous question. 
 
 The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman call the previous ques- 
 tion on the bill and amendments ? 
 
 Mr. MONROE. At the earnest requests of gentlemen I give 
 my personal consent that a vote should be had upon the 
 amendments. 
 
 Mr. RANDALL. Did the committee instruct you to do that? 
 
 Mr. MONROE. No; the committee gave me no instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 Mr. RANDALL. Then you cannot permit it. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. I merely said that I was willing to have 
 votes taken on these amendments. 
 
 Mr. G. F. HOAR. Allow me to make a suggestion. Should 
 the House vote down the previous question, and permit 
 amendments to be in order, and the name of any gentleman 
 should be proposed and rejected, it would put him in a very 
 uncomfortable position. But if the House should sustain 
 the previous question it will determine that the House will 
 adopt the recommendations of the committee as a whole. 
 I hope, therefore, that the chairman [Mr. Monroe] will insist 
 upon the previous question upon the bill without amend- 
 ments. 
 
 Mr. MAYNARD. After having debated the matter for half 
 an hour, I think that it is an unkind suggestion. 
 
 Mr. RANDALL. I think there is but one safe course for us 
 to pursue in all such matters. We cannot in this House 
 canvass the personal merits or qualifications of individuals. 
 I dare say that Mr. Stewart is a very proper man for the 
 place. But the committee have fully examined the whole 
 question, and have made their report. I think the only safe 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 745 
 
 course for us to pursue is to adopt the report of the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 In regard to Professor Coppee, allow me to say that he is 
 a gentleman I have known for years. He is a professor in 
 the university in which I was partly educated, and is with- 
 out a superior in science or literature in this country. He 
 would be a very worthy successor to Mr. Agassiz. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. I must now call the previous question. 
 
 The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman include amendments ? 
 
 Mr. MONROE. I have given my consent personally. Am 
 I the proper person to decide that question ? 
 
 The SPEAKER. The only person. 
 
 Mr. MONROE. Then I will call for the previous question 
 upon the bill and amendments of the gentleman from Ten- 
 nessee [Mr. Maynard] and the gentleman from New York, 
 [Mr. Cox.] 
 
 The previous question was seconded, and the main ques- 
 tion ordered. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. May- 
 nard] moves to insert instead of the name of Henry Coppee, 
 of Pennsylvania, the name of Thomas W. Humes, of Ten- 
 nessee. The gentleman from New York [Mr. Cox] moves, 
 as an amendment to the amendment, to insert instead of 
 the name of Mr. Humes the name of Alexander T. Stewart, 
 of New York. The first question is upon the amendment 
 to the amendment. 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was not agreed to. 
 
 The question recurring on the amendment of Mr. May- 
 nard, it was not agreed to. 
 
 The joint resolution was then ordered to be engrossed 
 for a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 
 
 Mr. MONROE moved to reconsider the vote by which the 
 joint resolution was passed; and also moved that the motion 
 to reconsider be laid on the table. 
 
 The latter motion was agreed to. 
 
 May 15, 1874. Mr. DONNAN, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported back, with the recommendation that it be 
 concurred in, the following concurrent resolution from the 
 Senate : 
 
 Resolved, (the House of Representatives concurring,) That seventy-five 
 hundred additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 
 the year 1873, be printed for the use of the institution : Provided, That the 
 aggregate number of pages of said report shall not exceed four hundred 
 and fifty, and that there be no illustrations except those furnished by the 
 Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. HOLM AN. Does that resolution propose to give all 
 the copies to the Smithsonian Institution ? 
 
746 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Mr. DONNAN. I desire to say to the House that this reso- 
 lution proposes five thousand less than the usual number 
 of copies ; but we make no provision for furnishing any 
 copies to members of Congress. The whole number is for 
 the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. It seems to me that there ought to he 
 some copies for members of Congress. I think it would be 
 fair not to increase the number, but to divide it up so that 
 a portion shall be distributed by Senators and members of 
 the House. 
 
 Mr. DONNAN. This is a Senate resolution and it was be- 
 lieved inasmuch as members of Congress have no means 
 of distributing the documents that they could obtain such 
 copies as they desired for their own use from the institu- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. I think it would be better to have a small 
 number provided for members of Congress. Most of us arc 
 perfectly willing to send them to our constituents. I think 
 one-third of the number should be furnished for the use of 
 members of Congress. What is the number which the 
 resolution proposes to have printed ? 
 
 Mr. DONNAN. Seventy-five hundred for distribution by 
 the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. Seventy-five hundred all together ? 
 
 Mr. DONNAN. Yes ; and the usual number was twelve 
 thousand. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. Then I would move to amend the resolu- 
 tion so that three thousand copies shall be furnished to the 
 Senate and House ; two thousand for the House, and one 
 thousand for the Senate, and that the remaining forty-five 
 hundred shall be for the institution. 
 
 Mr. DONNAN. I have no objection to the House voting 
 on that amendment. 
 
 Mr. E. R. HOAR. I did not understand whether the mo- 
 tion of the gentleman from Indiana was to add to the 
 number. 
 
 Mr. HOLMAN. No ; but to divide the number proposed 
 so as to give a portion to the Senate and to the House. 
 
 Mr. E. R. HOAR. I desire to say that this number is only 
 what the Smithsonian Institution desires for distribution 
 according to its systems among the libraries and colleges of 
 the country, and for its exchanges. I do not think it would 
 be proper or wise for the House to take away a part of the 
 ordinary number furnished to this institution, for the pur- 
 pose of distributing this document to favored constituents 
 of members of the House. If members desire copies for 
 
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1873-75. 747 
 
 distribution, I think they should add to and not diminish 
 the regular supply to the institution. I move to amend the 
 amendment so that the number proposed for the House and 
 Senate shall be in addition to the number proposed by the 
 resolution. 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was agreed to ; and 
 the amendment, as amended, was agreed to. 
 
 The resolution, as amended, was concurred in. 
 
 Mr. DONNAN moved to reconsider the vote by which the 
 resolution was concurred in ; and also moved that the mo- 
 tion to reconsider be laid on the table. 
 
 The latter motion was agreed to. 
 
 December 11, 1874. On motion by Mr. HOOPER, the joint 
 resolution appointing George Bancroft a Regent of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, in place of William T. Sherman, 
 resigned, was taken up, and passed. 
 
 January 26, 1875. Annual report, for the year 1874, laid 
 before the House of Representatives, and ordered to be 
 printed. 
 
 February 8, 1875. Mr. HOAR moved to have additional 
 copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution printed. 
 
 February 24, 1875. Mr. DONNAN, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the following resolution ; which was 
 read, and agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, (by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring,} That 
 10,500 copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 
 1874, be printed ; 2,000 copies of which shall be for the use of the House of 
 Representatives, 1,000 for the use of the Senate, and 7,500 for the use of the 
 institution : Provided, That the aggregate number of pages of said report 
 shall not exceed 450, and that there shall be no illustrations, except those 
 furnished by the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 March 2, 1875. Mr. HOAR introduced a bill extending 
 the privileges of the library of Congress to the Regents of 
 the Smithsonian Institution ; which was passed. 
 
748 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. 
 
 SENATE, April 13, 1876. 
 
 Annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1875, 
 laid before the Senate. 
 
 Mr. HAMLIN moved that extra copies be printed. 
 
 April 20, 1876. Mr. ANTHONY, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the following resolution, which was 
 agreed to : 
 
 Resolved, (by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring,) That 
 
 4.t<\J\J\J ULMJlUo It/1 tile tloO \JL iinj j^AVSUov; LVk I I Ww v.v.MUij.3 
 
 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution: Provided, That the aggregate 
 number of pages shall not exceed 450, and that there shall bo no illustra- 
 tions, except those furnished by the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 January 26, 1877. The PRESIDENT pro tempore presented 
 a resolution of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, adopted at a meeting held .January 24, 1877, 
 asking an appropriation by Congress for the erection of H 
 suitable building, in connection with tin- present edilicc, for 
 the accommodation of additional collections; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. 
 
 February 6, 1877. Mr. STEVENSON. I desire to present a 
 memorial from the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 which I desire to have read. It will be found to refer to a 
 subject in which the entire country must, I am sure, feel a 
 very deep interest. 
 
 It is known to the Senate that the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion was represented at the late Centennial Exhibition at 
 Philadelphia. At the close of that exposition a number ot 
 the foreign powers there represented, and who contributed 
 to that grand national display, at its close generously do- 
 nated to the Smithsonian Institution most of their articles 
 and products there exhibited. A list of the articles donated 
 and the name of the donors accompany this memorial. 
 Among these gifts will be found an exquisite pair of vases 
 valued at some $17,000. 
 
 The motive which prompted these donations to the Smith- 
 sonian Institution was unquestionably one of amity and 
 respect entertained by the foreign powers donating them 
 for the Government of the United States. But unquestion- 
 ably these donors expected that this Government would, 
 through ^the agency of the Smithsonian Institution, keep 
 these articles thus donated on public exhibition, and in this 
 
FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1875-77. 749 
 
 way the respective products of each country would become 
 known to the people of our entire country. 
 
 The articles donated are valuable, rare, varied, and occupy 
 much space. They are all, I believe, now stored in Phila- 
 delphia, for the reason that the Smithsonian Institution has 
 no building in which they can be either exhibited or safely 
 preserved. They must remain, therefore, in boxes, subject 
 to injury and to decay, unless Congress shall take some 
 immediate action toward the erection of a building in all 
 respects suitable for their exhibition and preservation. The 
 capacity of such a building is estimated by competent arch- 
 itects to be four times as large as the Smithsonian building. 
 A plan of such a structure has been already drawn by Gen- 
 eral Meigs. Its estimated cost will not exceed $200,000. 
 
 The regents of the institution by this memorial ask Con- 
 gress to make at once the necessary appropriation. If it be 
 promptly done, a beautiful and capacious building can be 
 put up and finished by the assembling of Congress in De- 
 cember next. Of course, this memorial should go first to 
 the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. The 
 prompt erection of the proposed building is a public neces- 
 sity, which, I hope, will commend itself to the judgment of 
 that committee and I trust they will at the earliest moment 
 make a report. I submit that the honor and good faith of 
 our country seems to demand and require prompt and lib- 
 eral action by Congress. That is all I have now to suggest. 
 
 Mr. CONKLING. What is the worth of these articles ? 
 
 Mr. STEVENSON. It is stated in the memorial that the es- 
 timated value is a million dollars. I ask that the memorial' 
 be now read. 
 
 The Secretary read as follows : 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 
 United States of America in Congress assembled: 
 
 The undersigned, Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, beg leave re- 
 spectfully to lay before you a question which has suddenly arisen, and which 
 can be solved only by your authority. 
 
 In the year 1846, on the organization of the Smithsonian Institution 
 " for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," Congress, to the 
 great relief of the Patent Office and other public buildings, devolved upon 
 the regents of that institution the custody of "all objects of art and of for- 
 eign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants,, and 
 geological and mineralogical specimens belonging or hereafter to belong to 
 the United States, Which may be in the city of Washington." 
 
 In accordance with this enactment the institution has received and care- 
 fully preserved all the specimens which have been brought together from more 
 than fifty public exploring expeditions, and has added specimens collected 
 by itself or obtained from foreign museums by exchange, till its present 
 edifice in the beginning of 1870 had become full to overflowing. 
 
 By an act bearing date July 31, 1870, additional duties were laid upon 
 the Smithsonian Institution as custodian, and $4,500 were appropriated! 
 
750 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 ll for repairing and fitting up the so-called armory building, on the Mail 
 between Sixth and Seventh streets, and to enable the Smithsonian Institution 
 to store therein and to take care of specimens of the extrusive series of tin- 
 ores of the precious metals, marbles, building stones, c>;tl>. and numerous 
 objects of natural history now on exhibition in Philadelphia, including 
 other objects of practical and economical value presented by various foreign 
 governments to the national museum." 
 
 As a fruit of this act of the General Government, the Smithsonian In-ti- 
 tution finds itself the custodian of enormous collections that had been di 
 played at the Centennial Kxhibition, and on closing of that exhibition had 
 been presented to the t'nited States. These donations are made by individ- 
 uals among our own citizens, by foreign exhibitors, and by .-e\.-ral of th 
 States of the Union ; and there is scarcely a power in the civilized world in 
 any region of the globe which has not taken part in the contributions, and 
 some of them with the large-t generosity. Men of science most competent 
 to pass judgment pronounce them to be of immense value, ami are ,.f opin- 
 ion that, including the gift from States of the Union and the exhibits of tin- 
 United States, they could not have been brought together by purcha-c for 
 less than a million of dollars. 
 
 That the magnitude and value of the donations from foreign governments 
 may be manifest, we annex to this memorial a list of the more important of 
 them as prepared by Professor S. F. Baird, who represented the Smithso- 
 nian Institution at Philadelphia. 
 
 Their adequate exhibition requires an additional building which shall af- 
 ford at least four times the space furnished by the present edifice of tin 
 institution. 
 
 The Government of the United States is now in possession of the mate- 
 rials of a museum exhibiting the natural products of our own country 
 ciated with those of foreign nations which would rival in magnitude. 'value, 
 and interest the most celebrated museums of the Old World. 
 
 The immediate practical question is : Shall these precious material- be for 
 the most part packed away in boxes, liable to injury and decay, or shall they 
 be exhibited? 
 
 It was the act of Congress which ordered the acceptance in tru-t of th.--,- 
 noble gifts to the United States. The receiving of them implies that they 
 will be taken care of in a manner corresponding to the just expectations of 
 those who gave them; and one of the prevailing motives of the donor- Wftt 
 that the productions of their several lands might continue to bo exhibited. 
 The intrinsic value of the donations is moreover enhanced by the circum- 
 stances under which they were made. They came to u- in tin- one hun- 
 dredth year of our life as a nation, in token of the d. -ire of the government- 
 of the world to manifest their interest in our de-tiny. This consideration 
 becomes the more pleasing when we bring to mind that these gifts have 
 been received, not exclusively from the great nations of Europe from which 
 we are sprung, or from the empire and republics on our own continent be- 
 yond the line, but. that they come to us from the oldest abode of civilization 
 on the Nile, from the time-honored empires and kingdoms of the reniote-t 
 Eastern Asia, and from the principal States which are rising into intellect- 
 ual and industrial and political gn-atne-s ; n the farthest isles and continent; 
 from States which are younger than ourselves and bring their contributions 
 AS a congratulatory offering to their elder brother. 
 
 We have deemed it our duty to lay these facts and reflections before both 
 Houses of Congress and to represent to them that, if they, in their wisdom, 
 think that this unequaled accumulation of natural specimens and works 
 interesting to science, the evidence of the good will to us that exists among 
 men, should be placed where it can be seen and studied by the people of our 
 own land and by travelers from abroad, it will be necessary to make an ap- 
 propriation for the immediate erection of a spacious building. Careful 
 inquiries have been instituted to ascertain the smallest sum which would be 
 adequate to that purpose ; and the plan of a convenient structure has been 
 
FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1875-77. 751 
 
 Tnade by General Meigs, the Quartermaster General United States Army. 
 "We beg leave further to represent that to accomplish the purpose there 
 would be need of an appropriation of $250,000. This amount is required 
 not as a first instalment, to be followed by others, but as sufficient entirely 
 to complete the edifice. 
 
 Should this appropriation be made at an early day the building could be 
 .ready for the reception of articles before the next session of Congress. 
 
 M. R. WAITE, 
 T. W. PERKY, 
 H. HAMLIN, 
 J. W. STEVENSON, 
 A. A. SARGENT, 
 HIESTER CLYMER, 
 BENJ. H. HILL, 
 GEO. W. McCRARY, 
 PETER PARKER, 
 ASA GRAY, 
 GEO. BANCROFT, 
 Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 WASHINGTON, February 5, 1877. 
 
 Air. MORRILL. I desire to say to the Senate that the 
 Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds have already 
 had the subject before them and would have made a report 
 before this time, but we understood that the same subject 
 was before a committee of the House, where it was being 
 favorably considered. As I have stated in years past, it has 
 seemed to be a necessity that we should provide for a 
 National Museum. It has been the opinion of the Com- 
 mittee on Public Buildings and Grounds on the part of the 
 Senate, I believe unanimously, for some years, that we 
 ought to take all of the squares next east of the public 
 grounds, throughout the length and breadth on the north 
 and south range of one square, taking one square in depth 
 and the whole length, for the purpose of a National Museum 
 and Congressional Library; and evidently this matter 
 should be provided for at once. The National Armory I 
 understand is already filled from basement to top. 
 
 Mr. SARGENT. With boxes without any opportunity for 
 display. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL. With boxes without any opportunity of 
 displaying their contents : and there are at this time, as I 
 .am informed, at least fifty car-loads of articles that have 
 been given to us by foreign governments. Thirty-two or 
 thirty-three out of the forty nationalities abroad have given 
 us their entire exhibits at the Centennial Exhibition. Their 
 money value is scarcely computable, but if it were to be 
 computed it exceeds our own, as large as our exhibits were 
 there and as creditable to the country. Our own, I believe, 
 in money value have been computed at $400,000. These 
 foreign exhibits are computed, at least in money value, at 
 
752 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 the sum of $600,000, but in historical and scientific interest 
 they perhaps surpass anything that has been assembled ii 
 any national museum on the globe. 
 
 I shall, therefore, hope to receive favorable consideratioi 
 of the report of the Committee on Public Buildings am 
 Grounds at an early day if in the meantime we do not 
 ceive a bill from the House on the subject. 
 
 Mr. STEVENSON. I now move, Mr. President, that this 
 memorial be referred to the Committee on Public Buildings- 
 and Grounds. Allow me to add a single word. I hope 
 that speedy action will be had by both the Senate and the 
 committee. I hope this building wMl be put on the Smith- 
 sonian grounds. There is ample room on that square with 
 out the cost of additional ground. Professor Henry assures- 
 me that with the erection of the contemplated building oa 
 the plan of General Meigs, with the articles now on exhibi- 
 tion in the Smithsonian Institution, with those just donated,, 
 we shall have the nucleus of a National Museum which ia 
 a few years will equal any in the world. 
 
 Mr. SARGENT. Accompanying this memorial is a list of 
 the various articles contributed by different powers, by dif- 
 ferent exhibitors, and by States of the Union, and I think 
 that if Senators will take the pains to examine that list 
 they will find that articles, rare in their character, of great 
 interest in a scientific point of view and of intrinsic value, 
 have been given to the Government of the United States. 
 To properly display these objects will be to furnish educa- 
 tion of the most valuable character to all of our people (and 
 there are millions of them who come here) who visit this 
 capital. 
 
 I wish to add my earnest desire that the committee will 
 promptly report a measure that will enable us to open this 
 great educational institution to the people of the United 
 States, to utilize this vast and valuable collection which 
 has been given to us, to show that we receive them from 
 these powers in good faith, and are disposed to show that 
 we properly appreciate the riches which they have placed 
 within our hands. 
 
 I move that the list with the memorial be printed, and 
 that they both go to the Committee on Public Buildings 
 and Grounds. 
 
 The motion was agreed to. 
 
 February 14, 1877. Mr. MORRILL, from the Committee 
 on Public Buildings and Grounds, reported a bill (S. No. 
 1252) for the erection of a fire-proof building for the Na- 
 tional Museum ; which was read by its title. 
 
FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1875-77. 753 
 
 Mr. MORRILL. Let the bill be read at length. It will 
 take but a moment. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be read the 
 second time at length. 
 
 The chief clerk read the bill, as follows : 
 
 Be it enacted, ^c., That for a fire-proof building for the use of the Na- 
 tional Museum, three hundred feet square, to be erected under the direction 
 and supervision of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, in accord- 
 ance with the plan of Major General M. C. Meigs, now on file with the 
 Joint Committee of Public Buildings and Grounds, on the southwest corner 
 of the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, the sum of $250,000 is 
 hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 
 priated. Said building to be placed west of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 leaving a road-way between it and the latter of not less than thirty feet, 
 with its north front on a line parallel with the north face of the buildings 
 of the Agricultural Department and of the Smithsonian Institution, and 
 all expenditures for the purposes herein mentioned, not including anything 
 for architectural plans, shall be audited by the proper officers of the 'Treas- 
 ury Department. 
 
 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be placed on 
 the calendar. 
 
 February 22, 1877. Mr. MORRILL. I ask the Senate to 
 take up a bill that will not take more than three or four 
 minutes in relation to the National Museum. It is rather 
 important that this bill should be acted upon that it may go 
 to the House. The bill is one which has been reported by 
 the action of the joint committee of the two Houses, that 
 is to say, of the committee of the Senate, and the sub-com- 
 mittee of the House, and meets their unanimous approval. 
 I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the 
 bill (S. No. 1252) for the erection of a fire-proof building 
 for the National Museum. 
 
 The motion was agreed to ; and the Senate as in Com- 
 mittee on the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL. I shall not occupy any time in au ex- 
 planation of this bill, for I presume every Senator recog- 
 nizes the prime necessity there is for it. The bill is so care- 
 fully guarded that there will be no danger of any further 
 demand upon the Treasury, and I think it will meet the 
 approbation of all who examine it. 
 
 The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, 
 ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third 
 time, and passed. 
 
 March 1, 1877. On motion of Mr. Anthony, the House 
 resolution of February 28, to print 10,500 copies of the re- 
 port of the Institution for 1876, was concurred in. 
 
 March 2, 1877. The Senate having under consideration 
 the Sundry Civil appropriation bill, the next amendment was 
 48 
 
754 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 in line 486, under the head of " Smithsonian Institution " 
 to increase the appropriation " for preservation and care of 
 the collections of the National Museum " from $13,000 to 
 $25,000. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 The next amendment was after line 487 to insert : 
 
 For expenses of making up into sets for distribution to colleges and 
 academies the duplicate ores, minerals, and objects of natural history now 
 belonging to the United States or in the collections of the international ex- 
 position presented to it by foreign governments, $5,000. 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 The next amendment was after line 492 to insert : 
 
 For a fire-proof building for the use of the National Mu.-fum. three hun- 
 dred feet square, to be erected under the direction :uul lupenrkion of the 
 Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, in accordance with th<> plan of 
 Major General M. C. Meigs, now on file with the Joint Committee of Pub- 
 lic Buildings and Grounds, on the southwest corner of the grounds of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, the sum of $250,000 is hereby appropriated out .f 
 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; said building to be 
 placed west of the Smithsonian Institution, leaving u roadway between it 
 and the latter of not less than thirty feet, witli its north front on a line par- 
 allel with the north face of the buildings of the Agricultural Department 
 and of the Smithsonian Institution ; and all expenditures for the purposes 
 herein mentioned, not including anything for architectural plans, shall be 
 audited by the proper officers of the Treasury Department. 
 
 Mr. SARGENT. On line 500, after the word " dollars," I 
 move to strike out the words " is hereby appropriated out 
 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise- appropriated." 
 
 The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. 
 
 The amendment, as amended, was agreed to. 
 
 HOUSE OF KEPRESENTATIVES, December 14, 1875. 
 
 The SPEAKER appointed Mr. Iliester Clymer, of Penn., 
 Mr. Benjamin II. Hill, of Georgia, Mr. George W. Mc- 
 Crary, of Iowa, Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 April 27, 1876. On motion of Mr. VANCE, the concur- 
 rent resolution of the Senate, for printing extra copies of 
 the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1875, 
 was taken from the Speaker's table, and referred. 
 
 May 24, 1876. Mr. BALLOU, from the Committee on 
 Printing, reported the Senate resolution of April 20, which 
 was agreed to. 
 
 February 2, 1877. The SPEAKER laid before the House 
 a preamble and resolution from the Board of Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, relative to additional room for the 
 collections of the institution ; which was referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Appropriations. 
 
FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1875-77. 755 
 
 February 7, 1877. Mr. CLYMER. I ask unanimous con- 
 sent to present for reference to the Committee on Public 
 Buildings and Grounds a memorial of the Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, and beg permission briefly to ex- 
 plain its import. 
 
 It sets forth that many foreign nations, states, and indi- 
 viduals, by whom articles were sent to the centennial exhi- 
 bition at Philadelphia, have made noble and valuable gifts 
 to the Government of the United States of objects of art, 
 of fire-arms, of mineral and agricultural products, and of 
 artistic and mechanic skill. It may not be disputed that 
 the acceptance of them by the Government imposes an ob- 
 ligation that they shall be preserved and exhibited for the 
 gratification and instruction of the people. Their preserva- 
 tion and exhibition must be confided to the National Mu- 
 seum, of which by law the Eegents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution have the custody. They have presented for our 
 consideration the necessity for erecting a suitable building 
 for the purposes I have indicated, giving an estimate of its 
 probable cost. I do not ask that the memorial be printed 
 in the Record, as one of like import was presented to the 
 Senate, which will be found in its proceedings of yesterday. 
 1 therefore ask its reference to the Committee on Public 
 Buildings and Grounds, and that the accompanying list, 
 setting forth the names of the donors and the character of 
 them, be printed in the Record for the information of the 
 House and the country. 
 
 Mr. CASEY YOUNG. I will say to the gentleman from 
 Pennsylvania that there is already a bill pending before the 
 Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, on which a 
 favorable report has been prepared, and we only wait a 
 meeting of the committee to order it to be reported. 
 
 Mr. CLYMER. I am delighted to have that information. 
 But it can do the committee no harm to have the memorial 
 referred to it. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Pennsylvania asks 
 unanimous consent to present a memorial of the Regents 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, and to have the same referred 
 to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, not to 
 be brought back on a motion to reconsider. Is there ob- 
 jection ? 
 
 Mr. CLYMER. I also ask that the list attached to the 
 memorial be printed in the Record. 
 
 Mr. TOWNSEND, of Pennsylvania. I ask that the memo- 
 rial itself be printed in the Record. 
 
 Mr. CLYMER. With the accompanying list. 
 
756 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 There was no objection ; and the memorial was referred! 
 to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and 
 ordered, with the accompanying list, to be printed in the 
 Record. 
 
 February 16, 1877. Annual report of the institution for 
 1876, presented. Mr. McCrary offered a resolution to print 
 10,500 extra copies. 
 
 February 28, 1877. Mr. SINGLETON, from the Committee 
 on Printing, reported the following resolution ; which was 
 passed : 
 
 Resolved, That 10,500 copies of the Report of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, for the year 1876, be printed. 1,000 copies of which shall be for the 
 use of the Senate, 3,000 copies of which shall be for the use of the House of 
 Representatives, and 6,500 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution : Pro- 
 vided, That the aggregate number of pages shall not exceed 500, and that 
 there be no illustrations except those furnished by the Smithsonian Jn.-titu- 
 tion. 
 
 March 3, 1877. Mr. CLYMER. 1 ask unanimous consent 
 that the bill (S. No. 1252) for the erection of a fire-proof 
 building for a National Museum be taken from the Speak- 
 er's table and passed. 
 
 The clerk read the bill, as follows: 
 
 Be it enacted, <J-c., That for a fire-proof building for the use of the Na- 
 tional Museum, three hundred feet square, to bo erected under the direction 
 and supervision of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, in accord- 
 ance with the plan of Major General M. C. Meigs, now on tile with the- 
 Joint Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, on the southwest oor- 
 ner of the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, the sum of $250,000 is 
 hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 
 priated; said building to be placed west of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 leaving a road-way between it and the latter of not less than thirty fcet r 
 with its north front on a line parallel with the north face of the buildings 
 of the Agricultural Department and of the Smithsonian Institution; and 
 all expenditures for the purposes herein mentioned, not including anything 
 for architectural plans, shall be audited by the proper officers of the 
 Treasury Department. 
 
 Mr. THROCKMORTON. I object. 
 
 Mr. CLYMER. I move that the rules be suspended and 
 the bill passed, and I ask unanimous consent to make a 
 brief statement in regard to it. 
 
 Mr. MILLS. I object. 
 
 The question was taken on the motion to suspend the 
 rules and pass the bill ; and on a division there were ayes 
 71, noes 41 ; not two-thirds voting in the affirmative. 
 
 Mr. CLYMER. I call for tellers. 
 
 Tellers were ordered ; and Mr. Clyrner and Mr. Throck- 
 morton were appointed. 
 
 The House divided ; and the tellers reported ayes 106, 
 noes 42. 
 
FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, 1857-77. 757 
 
 Mr. VANCE, of Ohio. I call for the yeas and nays. 
 The yeas and nays were ordered. 
 
 The question was taken ; and there were yeas 99, nays 
 "72, not voting 119; as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Abbott, Adams, John H. Bagley, Jr., Ballou, Banks, 
 Belford, Bell, Blair, Bliss, Bradley, William R. Brown, Horatio C. Burch- 
 ard, Cannon, Caswell, Caulfield, John B. Clark, Jr., of Missouri, Clymer, 
 Conger, Crapo, Crounse, Cutler, Danford, Davy, Denison, Eames, Evans, 
 Flye, Foster, Freeman, Frye, Garfield, Hale, Hancock, Haralson, Harden- 
 ""bergh, Benjamin W. Harris, Hathorn, Haymond, Hendee, Henderson, 
 .Abram S. Hewitt, Hill, Hoge, Hopkins, Hubbell, Hurlburt, Hyman, Joyce, 
 Kasson, Kelly, Kimball, Lamar, Lynch, Mackey, Magoon, MacDougall, 
 McCrary, Miller, Money, Monroe, Morgan, Nash, O'Brien, O'Neill, Page, 
 "William A. Phillips, Platt, Pratt, Purman, Rainey, John Reilly, James B. 
 Heilly, William M. Robbins, Robinson, Rusk, Sampson, Seelye, Sinnick- 
 son, Smalls, A. Herr Smith, Stone, Stowell, Strait, Tarbox, Terry, Martin 
 I. Townsend, Washington Townsend, Waddell, John W. Wallace, Watter- 
 son, Gr. Wiley Wells, White, Whitehouse, Andrew Williams, Alpheus S. 
 Williams, Charles G. Williams, James Williams, William B. Williams, 
 James Wilson, Alan Wood, Jr., Woodburn, Woodward, Yeates, and 
 Young 99. 
 
 NAYS. Messrs. Ainsworth, Beebe, Bland, Blount, Boone, Buckner, 
 John H. Caldwell, William P. Caldwell, Campbell, John B. Clarke, of 
 Kentucky, Cochrane, Collins, Culberson, Davis, Durham, Ellis, Felton, 
 Finley, Forney, Fort, Franklin, Glover, Goode, Goodin, Gunter, Andrew 
 .H. Hamilton, John T. Harris, Harrison, Hartzell, Hatcher, Hays, Hooker, 
 House, Humphreys, Jenks, Thomas L. Jones, Knott, Franklin Landers, 
 George M. Land'ers, Lawrence, Le Moyne, Levy, Lynde, Meade, Mills, 
 Morrison, Mutchler, Neal, New, Payne, John F. Philips, Poppleton, Rea, 
 Reagan, Rice, Riddle, Miles Ross, Scales, Singleton, Siemens, Southard, 
 -Sparks, Springer, Stenger, Stevenson, Thomas, Throckmorton, Tucker, 
 Turney, John L. Vance, Robert B. Yance, Charles C. B. Walker, Walling, 
 Warner, Whitthorne, Wike, Jere N. Wiliams, and Benjamin Wilson 72. 
 
 NOT VOTING Messrs. Anderson, Ashe, Atkins, Bagby, George A. 
 Bagley, John H. Baker, William II. Baker, Banning, Bass, Blackburn, 
 Bradford, Bright, John Young Brown, Samuel D. Burchard, Burleigh, 
 Buttz, Cabell, Carr, Cason, Cate, Chapin, Chittenden, Cook, Cowan, Cox, 
 Darrall, De Bolt, Dibrell, Dobbins, Douglas, Dunnell, Durand, Eden, Eg- 
 bert, Faulkner, Field, Fuller, Gause, Gibson, Robert Hamilton, Henry R. 
 Harris, Hartridge, Henkle, Goldsmith W. Hewitt, Hoar, Holman, Hoskins, 
 Hunter, Hunton, Kurd, Frank Jones, Kehr, King, Lane, Lapham, Leaven- 
 worth, Lewis, Lord, Luttrell, Maish, McDill, McFarland, McMahon, Met- 
 alfe, Milliken, Norton, Odell, Oliver, Packer, Phelps, Pierce, Piper, 
 Plaisted, Potter, Powell, John Robbins, Roberts, Sobieski Ross, Savage, 
 Sayler, Schleicher, Schumaker, Sheakley, William E. Smith, Stanton, 
 Stephens, Swann, Teese, Thompson, Thornburgh, Tufts, Van Vorhes, Wait, 
 W^aldron, Gilbert C. Walker, Alexander S. Wallace, Walsh, Ward, War- 
 ren, Erastus Wells, Wheeler, Whiting, Wigginton, Willard, Willis, Wil- 
 fihire, and Fernando Wood 119. 
 
 So (two-thirds not voting in favor thereof) the rules were 
 aiot suspended. 
 
DIGEST OF THE ACT OF CONGRESS ESTABLISH- 
 ING THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
 
 Approved August 10, 1846. 
 By PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY. 
 
 I. THE ESTABLISHMENT ou SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PROPER. 
 
 1. The following persons shall constitute an establishment : 
 
 2. Known by the name of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 3. For the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, viz : 
 
 4. The President of the U. S. Secretary <>f tin- Navy, 
 Vice President. Postmaster General, 
 Secretary of State, Chief Justice, 
 Secretary of the Treasury, Commissioner of Patents, 
 
 Mayor of Washington. 
 6. And such other persons as may be elected by them honorary members. 
 
 II. MEETINGS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 1. The members and honorary members of said Institution may hld 
 
 stated and special meetings. 
 
 2. At these meetings the President, and in his absence, the Vice Presi- 
 
 dent of the United States, shall preside. Sec. Sth. 
 
 3. The Secretary of the Board of Regents is also Secretary of the Insti- 
 
 tution. Sec. 3d. 
 
 4. Meetings to be called in manner provided for in by-laws of said In^ti- 
 
 tution. Sec. Sth. 
 
 III. OBJECTS OF THE MEETINGS OF THE INSTITUTION 
 
 1. Supervision of the affairs of the Institution. 
 
 2. Advice and instruction of Board of Regents. 
 
 3. Election of honorary members. 
 
 4. Enactment of by-laws for government of said Institution. Sec. Sth. 
 
 IV. FUNDS OF THE INSTITUTION. 
 
 1. The property of James Smithson received into the Treasury on the 1st 
 
 September, 1838, is declared a loan to the United States at six per 
 cent, per annum from the above date. Sees. Id and r>/7/. 
 
 2. The interest which accrued up to the 1st of July, 1840, or so much 
 
 thereof as the Regents may deem necessary, together with the sur- 
 plus interest of any year, is appropriated to the civet i<>n of u build- 
 ing, and to other current incidental expenses. Sri-*. '2<l and-if/i. 
 
 3. The interest on original fund perpetually applied to maintenance of 
 
 the Institution. Sec. 2d. 
 
 4. Principal not to be touched. Accruing and accrued interest to be ex- 
 
 pended for objects of Institution. Sees. 2d and 9M. 
 
 5. Interest payable half-yearly, on 1st January and 1st July, in each 
 
 year. Sec. 2d. 
 
 6. Amount of Smithson 's property received into the Treas- 
 
 ury on September 1st, 1838, $515,169 00 
 
 7. Interest on the same to July 1st, 1840, . . . 242,129 00 
 
 8. Half-yearly interest. Sec. 2d 15,455 07 
 
 758 
 
DIGEST OF THE ACT OF CONGRESS. 
 
 V. BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 
 1. Business of the Institution to be conducted by Board, to be called Re- 
 
 gents of the Smithsonian Institution, and to be composed of: 
 
 2. The Vice President of U. S., Chief Justice, and Mayor of Washington 
 
 in virtue of their office. 
 
 3. Three members of Senate appointed by President of Senate : 
 
 4. Three members of the House of Representatives appointed by the 
 
 Speaker biennially, on 4th Wednesday of December : 
 
 5. Six members, other than members of Congress appointed by joint reso- 
 
 lution. 
 
 6. Two of the above to be resident in Washington, and members of the 
 
 National Institute. 
 
 7. The other four from the States, and no two from the same State. 
 
 Sec. 3d. 
 
 VI. REGENTS' TERM OF OFFICE. 
 
 1. The Vice President, Chief Justice, and Mayor of Washington during 
 
 their continuance in office. 
 
 2. Members of House of Representatives until 4th Wednesday of Decem- 
 
 ber, 184*7, and to 'be selected biennially thereafter on said day. 
 
 3. Senators during the time they shall hold, without re-election, their 
 
 office. 
 
 4. Other six members two for two years, two for four years, two for six 
 
 years, to be determined by lot after first term, those selected shall 
 be for six years, and by joint resolution. Sec. 3d. 
 
 VII. VACANCIES IN BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 
 1. Vacancies among Senators and Members filled by motion in either 
 
 House, as in the case of vacancies in committees of either House. 
 
 2. The vacancy in the other six by joint resolution. Sec. 3d. 
 
 VIII. MEETINGS OF BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 
 1. First meeting at Washington, 1st Monday in September, 1846. 
 
 2. Subsequent meetings to be regulated by Regents. 
 
 3. On application of Ihree Regents it shall be the duty of the Secretary 
 
 to call special meetings ; notices of the same to be given by letter. 
 
 4. Five members shall form a quorum. Sec. 3d. 
 
 IX. COMPENSATION TO BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 
 1. Each member shall be paid his necessary travelling and other actual 
 
 expenses in attending meetings of the Board. 
 
 2. His services as Regent shall be gratuitous. 
 
 3. Expenses to be audited by Executive Committee. 
 
 4. And recorded by Secretary. Sec. 3d. 
 
 X. DUTY OF REGENTS. 
 
 1. They shall conduct the business of the Institution. Sec. 3d. 
 
 2. May be subject to the supervision, advice, and instruction of the es- 
 
 tablishment. Sec. 8th. 
 
 3. Shall hold their meetings in the City of Washington. 
 
 4. Shall elect one of their number as Chancellor, who shall be presiding 
 
 officer of Board, and known by the name of Chancellor of the 
 Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 5. Shall also elect a suitable person as Secretary of said Institution, who 
 
 shall also be Secretary of the Board. Sec. 3d. 
 
 6. Shall elect three of their own body as Executive Committee. Sec. 3d. 
 
 7. Shall approve of the officers appointed by Secretary. 
 
 8. Shall fix salary of officers. 
 
760 DIGEST OF THE ACT OF CONGRESS 
 
 9. Shall select site for building, and sign records of the same. 
 40. Shall cause to be erected a suitable building. 
 
 11. Authorized, by themselves, or by a committee of their members, to 
 
 contract for such building. 
 
 12. Shall deposit duplicates of such contracts with Treasurer of United 
 
 States. 
 
 13. Authorized to employ superintendent of erection of building. 
 
 14. The Regents, or Executive Committee, shall certify to Chancellor and 
 
 Secretary, sums of money required for operations. 
 
 15. Shall make an appropriation for a Library, not to exceed $25,000 an- 
 
 nually. 
 
 16. They shall submit report to Congress. 
 
 XI. DUTY, &c., OF CHANCELLOR. 
 
 1. Shall be the presiding offic9r of the Board. 
 
 '2. By the name of Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 3. He shall, with the Secretary, examine and certify all requisitions for 
 
 money, of Executive Committee, for payment at the Treasury. 
 Sec. 3rf. 
 
 4. He shall certify all copies of metes and bounds of site. Sec. 4th. 
 
 XII. DUTY, &c., OF SECRETARY. 
 
 1. He is Secretary of the Institution, also of the Board of Regents. 
 
 2. On application of any three of the Regents, it shall be his duty to ap- 
 
 point a special meeting of the Board of Regents, by giving written 
 notice to each. 
 
 3. He shall, with the Chancellor, examine all requisitions for money pre- 
 
 sented to him by tin- Kxocutivo Committee, and if he approve 
 thereof, shall certify tin- >ame to the Treasurer of the U. S. for pay- 
 ment. Sec. 3d. 
 
 4. These requisitions may be for: ( 1 ) payment of debts ; (2) performance 
 
 of contracts ; (8) or making purchases; (4) and executing the objects 
 authorized by thi- art: (5J l'r all claims on contracts made by 
 Building Committee. Sees. 3d and 5//t. 
 
 5. He will record the si-lection of .site, and make copies thereof when re- 
 
 quired. Sec. 4M. 
 
 C. He will file duplicates of contracts for building, &c., with the U. S. 
 Treasurer. Sec. 5M. 
 
 7. He shall take charge of the- building and property of said Institution. 
 
 8. He shall, under direction of IJoanl .t' Regents, make a lair and accu- 
 
 rate record of all their pr<>.-.-,-li n->. 
 
 9. He shall discharge the duty of Librarian. 
 
 10. Also, of keeper of the museum. 
 
 11. He may, by consent of the Regents, employ <is*ixtants. Sec. 1th. 
 
 XIII. DUTY OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 1. To execute acts of Board generally. 
 
 2. To examine and certify appropriations necessary to operations of In- 
 
 stitution. Sees. ?>d and ///. 
 
 XIV. PAY OF OFFICERS, AND TENURE OF OFFICE. 
 
 1. Said officers shall receive for their services such sums as may be al- 
 
 lowed by the Board of Regents. 
 
 2. To be paid scmi-anmuilly on the 1st of January and 1st of July. 
 
 3. Removable by the Board of Regents. Sec. 1th. " 
 
 XV. DISBURSEMENTS. 
 1. All moneys required for payment of debts, or performance of con- 
 
ESTABLISHING THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 761 
 
 tracts, shall be certified by the Board of Regents, or Executive 
 Committee thereof, to the Chancellor and Secretary. 
 
 2. They shall examine the same. 
 
 5. And, if they shall approve thereof, shall certify the same to the proper 
 officer of the U. S. Treasury for payment. Sec. 3d. 
 
 XVI. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
 
 'The Board of Regents shall annually report to Congress an account of 
 the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution. Sec. 
 3d. 
 
 XVII. SELECTION or SITE FOR INSTITUTION. 
 
 1. After Board of Regents shall have met, and become organized, it shall 
 
 be their duty forthwith to proceed to select a suitable site, &c. 
 
 2. May be taken out of the ground between Patent Office and 7th street: 
 
 Provided, President, the several Secretaries, and Commissioner of 
 the Patent Office, shall consent to the same. 
 
 3. If not, then such location may be made on other of the public grounds 
 
 in the City of Washington, belonging to U. S., which said Regents 
 may select, by and with the consent of the persons above named. 
 Sees. 4th and 5th. 
 
 XVIII. EVIDENCE or SELECTION. 
 
 1. Grounds so selected shall be set out by metes and bounds. 
 
 2. Description recorded in a book provided for the purpose. 
 
 3. Signed by said Regents, or so many of them as may be convened at 
 
 the time of organization. 
 
 4. Certified copy thereof to be evidence of boundaries, &c. ; and said 
 
 lands are appropriated by said act. Sec. &th. 
 
 XIX. BUILDINGS TO BE ERECTED. 
 
 1. After selection of site, Board of Regents shall cause to be erected a 
 
 suitable building. 
 
 2. .Of plain and durable materials, and structure. 
 
 3. Without unnecessary ornament. 
 
 4. Of sufficient size. 
 
 5. With suitable rooms, or halls, for the reception and arrangement, 
 
 upon a liberal scale: (1) Of objects of Natural History. (2.) A 
 geological and mineralogical cabinet. (3.) A chemical laboratory. 
 (4.) A library. (5.) A gallery of art. (6.) And the necessary lec- 
 ture rooms. Sec. 5th. 
 
 6. May be made to form wing of Patent Office. 
 
 XX. CONTRACTS AND CLAIMS FOR BUILDING. 
 
 1. Said Board shall have authority, by themselves, or by a committee of 
 
 three of their members, to contract for the completion of such build- 
 ing upon plan adopted by Regents. 
 
 2. Shall take sufficient security for building and finishing same, accord- 
 
 ing to plan, and in the time stipulated. 
 
 3. Duplicates of contracts to be filed with Treasurer of United States. 
 
 4. All claims under contracts shall be certified by Board of Regents, or 
 
 the Executive Committee, and signed by Chancellor and Secretary, 
 and paid at the Treasury of United States. Sec. 5th. 
 
 XXI. COST or BUILDING. 
 
 1. The sum was left blank in the act. Sec. 5th. 
 
 '2. The interest which had accrued previous to 1st September, 1846, 
 minus the current expenses, and the surplus interest of any subse- 
 quent year, may be appropriated to this purpose. Sees. 2d and 5th. 
 
762 DIGEST OF THE ACT OF CONGRESS. 
 
 XXII. SUPERINTENDENCE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 1. Board of Regents shall employ such persons as they may deem neces- 
 
 sary to superintend the erection of the buildings. 
 
 2. And fitting up the rooms of the Institution. Sec. bth. 
 
 XXIII. PROTECTION OF PROPERTY BY LAW. 
 
 All laws for the protection of public property in "Washington, shall apply 
 to, and be in force for, the protection of the lands, buildings, and 
 other property of said Institution. Sec. bth. 
 
 XXIV. PROPERTY OF JAMES SMITHSON How KEPT. 
 
 1. The minerals, books, manuscripts, and other property of Smithson, 
 
 shall be removed to said Institution. 
 
 2. And kept separate and apart from the other property of the Institu- 
 
 tion. Sec. 6th. 
 
 XXV. COLLECTIONS, OBJECTS OF ART, SPECIMENS, &c. How CLASSED, 
 
 PRESERVED. 
 
 1. In proportion as suitable arrangements can be made for their recep- 
 
 tion, all objects of art, and of foreign and curious research, and of 
 natural history, plants, geological and mineralogical specimens, be- 
 longing to, or hereafter to belong to, United States, which may be 
 in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody the same may be, 
 shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the Board 
 of Regents to receive them. 
 
 2. They shall be arranged in such order, and so classed, as best to facili- 
 
 tate examination and study thereof, in the building aforesaid. 
 
 3. Regents may make exchanges of duplicate -j.-< -linens. 
 
 4. And cause new specimens received also to be classed and arranged. 
 
 Sec. 6th. 
 
 XXVI. PROVISION FOR OBJECTS NOT MENTIONED IN THE ACT. 
 
 Managers of the Institution are authorized to make such disposal for the 
 promotion of the purposes of the testator, of all interest which has 
 accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, not otherwise appropriated for 
 carrying out the object of this act, as they may deem best. Sec. 9. 
 
 XXVII. COPY RIGHTS TO BE DEPOSITED. 
 
 1. One copy of all books, maps, charts, musical compositions, prints, or 
 
 engravings, shall be delivered to the Librarian of said Institution 
 within three months from publication. 
 
 2. Another copy to Library of Congress. Sec. 10/A. 
 
 XXVIII. ALTERATIONS OR REPEAL OF THIS ACT. 
 
 1. Congress retains the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repeal- 
 
 ing, any provisions of this act. 
 
 2. Provided no contract or individual right made or acquired under such- 
 
 provisions shall be thereby divested or impaired. Sec. llth. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM THE MEMOIRS OF JOHN 
 QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 EDITED BY CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.* 
 
 JANUARY 9, 1836. 
 
 At ten o'clock, or as soon after as I could get out of my 
 louse and reach the Capitol, I met the Committee on the- 
 Resident's message relating to the Smithsonian bequest. 
 Mie members present were Garland, of Virginia, McKen- 
 lan of Pennsylvania, Pearce, of Rhode Island, Thomas, of 
 Maryland, and Chapin, of New York. The absent mem- 
 >ers were Garland, of Louisiana, Hannegan, of Indiana, 
 nd Speight, of North Carolina, who is still confined by 
 llness. The members now present had got over their 
 cruples with regard to the acceptance of the bequest, and 
 lirected me to prepare a report and a bill to that effect. A 
 :ommittee of the Senate, the chairman of which was Ben- 
 amin Watkins Leigh, of Virginia, have already reported 
 o that effect, and presented a joint resolution authorizing 
 he President to obtain the funds, and making an appro- 
 bation of five thousand dollars to defray the expenses 
 ?hich may thereby be occasioned. Mr. Leigh's report con- 
 ains a short and satisfactory argument for the competency 
 >f Congress to accept the bequest, and showing it to be 
 heir duty. But, as money cannot constitutionally be ap- 
 )ropriated by resolutions, my direction from the committee 
 s to prepare a bill, and to make the appropriation ten thou- 
 iand instead of five thousand dollars. 
 
 JANUARY 10, 1836. 
 
 I called successively upon Mr. Bankhead, Charge d'Af- 
 aires from Great Britain, and upon Colonel Aspinwall, 
 vho is at Fuller's, to inquire if either of them could give 
 ne any further information respecting Mr. James Smith- 
 ion ; but they could not. I was desirous of obtaining it 
 or the purpose of introducing into the report of the com- 
 nittee upon his bequest some complimentary notice of the 
 
 * Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott <fe Co., 1876. 
 
 763 
 
764 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 donor. But so little are the feelings of others in unison 
 with mine on this occasion, and so strange is this donation 
 of half a million of dollars for the noblest of purposes, that 
 no one thinks of attributing it to a benevolent motive. 
 Vail intimates in his letter that the man was supposed to 
 be insane. Bankhead thinks he must have had republican 
 propensities ; which is probable. Colonel Aspinwall con- 
 jectures that Mr. Smithson was an antenuptial son of the 
 first Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, and thus an 
 elder brother of the late Duke, but how he came to have a 
 nephew named Hungerford, son of a brother named Dick- 
 inson, and why he made this contingent bequest to the 
 United States of America, no one can tell. The report, if 
 it hazards any reflection upon the subject, must be very 
 guarded. Mr. Bankhead thought it was a tine windfall for 
 the city of "Washington, and hoped if a professor of divinity 
 should be wanted we should remember his friend Ilawlcy. 
 Mrs. Bankhead was in admiration of the splendid edifice 
 that might be erected with the money. 
 
 Colonel Aspinwall said it would be easy to obtain the in- 
 formation which I desired in England, but that he had made 
 no inquiries at the time when lie had procured and for- 
 warded to the Department of State a copy of the will, be- 
 cause the bequest was then contingent, and it was very 
 uncertain whether it would ever take effect. The will was 
 made in 1826 the year before which, the testator's nephew, 
 the present Duke of Northumberland, had been upon a 
 magnificent Embassy Extraordinary at the coronation of 
 Charles the Tenth of France. There seems to have been a 
 determination in the mind of the testator that his estate 
 should in no event go to the Duke of Northumberland or 
 to any of his family. But certainly in the bequest itself 
 there is a high and honorable sentiment of philanthropy, 
 and a glorious testimonial of confidence in the institutions 
 of this Union. A stranger to this country, knowing it only 
 by its history, bearing in his person the blood of the Percys 
 and the Seymours, brother to a nobleman of the highest 
 rank in British heraldry, who fought against the revolution 
 of our independence at Bunker's Hill that he should be 
 the man to found, at the city of Washington, for the United 
 States of America, an establishment for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men, is an event in which I 
 see the finger of Providence, compassing great results by 
 incomprehensible means. May the Congress of the Union 
 be deeply impressed with the solemn duties devolving upon 
 them by this trust, and carry it into effect in the fullness of 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 765- 
 
 its spirit, and to the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men ! 
 
 JANUARY 12, 1836. 
 
 1 made this morning a draft of a bill to enable the Presi- 
 dent of the United States to obtain and cause to be remitted 
 to the United States the funds bequeathed to them by James 
 Smithson for the establishment at Washington of an insti- 
 tution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men. The committee of the Senate have reported for the 
 ^ame purpose a joint resolution containing an appropriation. 
 I took it as the basis of my draft, but added a section pro- 
 viding that the agent to be appointed should give bonds to 
 the Treasurer of the United States for the faithful perfor- 
 mance of his trust and the remittance of all the moneys 
 and other funds that he may receive in fulfillment of the 
 bequest. This labor occupied my time, so that I had none 
 left to journalize. 
 
 JANUARY 15, 1836. 
 
 I carried round my report on the message relating to the 
 Smithsonian bequest to all the members of the committee 
 excepting Speight, who is yet confined by illness ; it was 
 unanimously approved, though Hannegan said he was op- 
 posed to accepting the bequest, and Garland, of Louisiana, 
 thought the Charge d'Affaires or Consul at London should 
 be authorized to procure and remit the funds, instead of a 
 special agent. The other members of the committee ap- 
 proved the bill as well as the report. 
 
 JANUARY 16, 1836. 
 
 I brought back my report on the Smithson bequest mes- 
 sage, to revise and correct the manuscript, feeling no small 
 degree of anxiety concerning it. The occasion is very ex- 
 traordinary, as an incident in the course of legislation. 
 The reference of the message to a select committee waa 
 made not without some murmurings from members of the 
 Committee on the District of Columbia. The report of 
 the committee of the Senate has been very favorably re- 
 ceived, and pronounced a very able one, but it does not 
 touch upon any one of the views which occupy nearly the 
 whole of mine. The condition of the testator, the nature 
 of the trust, the character of the trustees, and the practical 
 effect of our political institutions upon the moral feeling of 
 Europe, illustrated by this incident, are not even glanced at 
 in the Senatorial report, written by Benjamin Watkins 
 Leigh. Mine embraces them all. The unanimous accept- 
 
766 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 ance of my report by all the members of the committee 
 who attended the committee meetings gives me some en- 
 couragement ; but, slandered as I now am by hireling 
 snakes of all parties, and in almost every newspaper, I am 
 sure to be reviled for everything that I do or say, and can 
 foresee nothing but censure. Whether this bequest will 
 ever come to anything is much doubted by almost every 
 one. A spurious bastard claimant of the estate is antici- 
 pated, and seems to be threatened, from Mr. Daniel Brent'? 
 communications about the family of La Batut. The dela\> 
 and iniquities of the English court of chancery are foreseen 
 and foretold; and questions are made in the public journals 
 whether the whole affair is not an imposture. All this may 
 be ; but through all this 1 look at the whole romance as 
 officially presented to us, and, presuming all to be true, 
 prepared my report accordingly. A heavy responsibility ; 
 but so be it. 
 
 APRIL 19, 1836. 
 
 When the reports from select committees were called, I 
 presented the report and bill from the Committee on the 
 Smithson bequest message, and moved that the bill and re- 
 port should be printed, and the bill twice read by its title, 
 and referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state 
 of the Union ; which was done. Mr. Chapin mm -ed that 
 five thousand extra copies of the report should be printed 
 for the use of the House. This resolution, by the rules of 
 the House, was to lie over one day. Chapin asked for its 
 consideration by unanimous consent now. Objection was 
 made. Chapin asked the suspension of the rules, but the 
 vote was not quite of two-thirds to sustain him. 
 
 OCTOBER 14, 18:;7. 
 
 Mr. Cambreleng moved to lay the bill aside and take 
 up the Appropriation bill ; which was done. Wise moved 
 to strike out an item of ten thousand dollars for the ex- 
 penses of Richard Rush's agency in obtaining payment of 
 the Smithsonian bequest. Cambreleng and Joseph R. In- 
 gersoll, who was of his Committee of Ways and Means at 
 the last session of Congress, had attempted to palm upon 
 me the responsibility of proposing this appropriation, which 
 I had flatly refused. Cambreleng was now obliged to pro- 
 pose it himself. Wise's motion did not succeed, but he 
 afterwards moved in the FTouse to reduce the appropriation 
 to five thousand dollars, and succeeded. Cambreleng, as 
 usual, had nothing to say in defense of the appropriation 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 767 
 
 but that Wise and I had voted for the bill establishing the 
 igency. 
 
 JUNE 22, 1838. 
 
 Dr. Chapin, President of the Columbian College in the 
 District of Columbia, with Dr. Sherwood, one of the pro- 
 ^essors of that institution, called on me this morning to 
 jpeak about the Smithsonian bequest. Mr. Rush has recov- 
 ered the money half a million of dollars and is expected 
 tfith it here in the course of the next month. Dr. Chapin 
 ^presented that if this money should be applied to the 
 bundation of a college or university, it must necessarily 
 iffect the total destruction of his college. 
 
 I told him that after the passage of the act of Congress 
 br procuring the money, I had not permitted myself to think 
 ipon the subject till the money should be in the Treasury; 
 ;hat I hoped, however, no disposal of the fund would be 
 nade which would in any manner injure the Columbian 
 College; that I did not think the Smithsonian Institution 
 should be a college, or a university, or a school of educa- 
 ion for children, but altogether of a different character; 
 hat, as the money would come into the hands of the exec- 
 itive, I hoped the President would in his next annual 
 nessage propose some plan for the adoption of Congress for 
 he disposal of the fund; and I advised Dr. Chapin to see 
 he President and converse with him on the subject which 
 le said he would, 
 
 JUNE 24, 1838. 
 
 Attended at St. John's Church. I spoke to President 
 Buren, and asked half an hour's conversation with him 
 it six o'clock this evening ; to which he acceded. I went 
 o the President's, and, putting into his hand the letter which 
 " have received in duplicate from R. Rush of 15th May, re- 
 quested him to read it. I then had a conversation of nearly 
 wo hours with him upon the Smithsonian bequest, referring 
 o my report, and entreating him to have a plan prepared 
 o recommend to Congress for the foundation of the Insti- 
 ution at the commencement of the next session of Congress. 
 ! suggested to him the establishment of an astronomical 
 >bservatory, with a salary for an astronomer and assistant, 
 br nightly observations and periodical publication ; then 
 innual courses of lectures upon the natural, moral, and 
 )olitical sciences; and, above all, no jobbing no sinecures 
 no monkish stalls for lazy idlers. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren received" all this with complacency and 
 ipparent concurrence of opinion ; said he would look into 
 
768 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 my report; wished me at leisure to name any persons who 
 I thought might be usefully consulted ; appeared very favor- 
 ably disposed to the establishment of an observatory, and 
 willing to do right. 
 
 I urged upon him the deep responsibility of the nation to-' 
 the world and to all posterity worthily to fulfil the great 
 object of the testator. I only lament my inability to com- ; 
 municate half the solicitude with which my heart is on this 
 subject full, and the sluggishness with which I shall fail 
 properly to pursue it. If I can but remember to write upon 
 it to L. Cass, and T. Aspinvvall, and to converse upon it. 
 with Edward Everett and the Winthrops. 
 
 NOVEMBER 29, 1838. 
 
 I paid a morning visit to President Martin Van Buren,, 
 whom I found alone in his cabinet, the east chamber of the 
 presidential house. Half an hour's conversation with him 
 chiefly on the disposal of the Smithsonian bequest. I re- 
 ferred to my conversation with him before my departure^ 
 hence last summer, to the letter I received afterwards fronv 
 the Secretary of State, Forsyth, and to my two letters to 
 him in answer to it. He had not seen my letters, but had 
 on his table copies of them, and of a report from Mr. Rush, 
 and of a letter from President Way land, of Brown Univer- 
 sity of Providence ; all which, he said, had been sent to him 
 this morning from the Department of State, and none of 
 which he had yet read. With regard to the disposal of tho 
 fund he would leave it entirely to Congress to make provi- 
 sion for it. 
 
 I recurred to some of the remarks in my letters to Mr. 
 Forsyth recommending the establishment of an astronomi- 
 cal observatory, lie said he had found this idea of an 
 observatory favorably received by all to whom he had men- 
 tioned it. He spoke in high commendation of Mr. Hush 
 for his ability in obtaining the money from the court of 
 chancery, and said that he had recommended his appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 Evening visit from Mr. Woodbury, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury. He invited me to dine with him next Saturday, 
 with the President and some of the foreign Ministers. I ac- 
 cepted the invitation. But the dining of the President with 
 the heads of Departments and foreign Ministers is a novelty 
 introduced by Mr. Van Buren, and of which I believe there 
 is no example by any of his predecessors. 
 
 Mr. Woodbury spoke about the disposal of the funds of 
 the Smithsonian bequest, and gratified me much by the 
 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 769 
 
 statement that the whole fund is now invested at an interest 
 of six per cent, a year ; that the principal sum received is 
 about five hundred and eight thousand dollars, and that it will 
 yield upwards of thirty thousand dollars a year. He said, 
 further, that a question had occurred whether the expenses 
 occasioned hy the recovery of the money were to be de- 
 ducted from the fund itself or to be paid by the public ; and 
 the Attorney General had just given an opinion that no de- 
 duction from the fund should be made. 
 
 I told Mr. Woodbury that I was delighted to hear this ; 
 and I urged most earnestly upon him, as I had done this 
 morning upon the President, the duty of this Government, 
 to the honor of the nation and to the testator, to keep this 
 fund entire and unimpaired, and to devote its annual pro- 
 ceeds to the generous and glorious object to which it was 
 devoted by him to no purpose of common education, to 
 no school, college, university, or seminary of learning, but 
 to the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 Mr. Woodbury appeared to concur in these views, and I 
 have a faint hope that the fund may be so managed as to 
 produce some useful result. 
 
 DECEMBER 8, 1838. 
 
 Mr. Poinsett spoke to me of the exploring expedition, 
 which, he rejoiced to say, was departed upon its enterprise, 
 and he hoped we should ere long have a good account of it. 
 He spoke also of the Smithsonian bequest, and declared him- 
 self warmly in favor of appropriations for an observatory 
 upon the largest and most liberal foundation from it. But 
 he gave several intimations from which I could draw no 
 good augury. 1. He s*aid the President had not made up 
 his mind in favor of an observatory ; whence I infer that he 
 will ostensibly neither favor or oppose it, but that he will 
 underhandedly defeat it, taking care to incur no personal 
 responsibility for its failure. 2. He insisted that a salary of 
 eighteen hundred dollars a year would not be near enough 
 for the astronomer ; whence I infer that jobbing for favorites 
 is to be the destiny of the Smithsonian fund. And, 3. He 
 said that among the scientific men whom the President had 
 consulted for the disposal of the fund was the English atheist 
 South Carolina professor, Thomas Cooper, a man whose very 
 breath is pestilential to every good purpose. 
 
 DECEMBER 10, 1838. 
 
 In the House, two messages were received from the Pres- 
 ident, with a large mass of documents, relating to the 
 49 
 
770 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUIKCY ADAMS. . 
 
 Smithsonian bequest; which were, at my motion, all ordered 
 to be printed, and referred to a select committee of nine 
 members. 
 
 JANUARY 4, 1839. 
 
 Met at half-past ten this morning, at the chamber of the 
 Committee of Manufactures, the select committee on the 
 Smithsonian bequest. Present, Adams, F. 0. J. Smith, of 
 Maine, Charles Ogle, of Pennsylvania, Charles Shepard, of 
 North Carolina, John P. Kennedy, of Maryland, and .lames 
 Garland of Virginia; absent, Orrin Holt, of Connecticut, 
 Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina, and William II. 
 Hunter, of Ohio. I had yesterday personally notified all 
 the members to attend this meeting, except Hunter, who 
 was not in the House. Holt told me that he was engaged 
 on the great land committee; and Thompson promised t< 
 come, but forgot it. The references to the committee were 
 the two messages of the President with documents 10 and 
 11 of the present session ; a memorial from Charles Lewis 
 Fleischmann, a Bavarian, but now a citizen of the United 
 States, and attached to the Patent Office, who purposes the 
 establishment of an agricultural institution and farm school, 
 at the cost of about three hundred thousand dollars: a me- 
 morial of Walter R. Johnson, praying for the establishment 
 of an institution for prosecuting experiments in certain physi- 
 cal sciences; and a petition from Samuel Martin, of Camp- 
 bell's Station, Tennessee, who, with much other matter prays 
 that the Smithsonian fund may be applied to the instruc- 
 tion of females. I submitted also to the committee a printed 
 paper, signed " Franklin," proposing the establishment of 
 professorships and various courses .of lectures. I read the 
 two messages of the President and the circular of 18th July, 
 1838, from John Forsyth, Secretary of State, asking for 
 opinions concerning the disposal of the fund, and stated the 
 substance of my two letters in answer to Mr. Forsyth. I 
 read also the act of 1st July, 1836, accepting the bequest 
 and pledging the faith of the United States to its application 
 conformably to the direction of the testator. 
 
 There was some desultory conversation, and Mr. Garland 
 moved an adjournment till next Tuesday at ten o'clock, for 
 a fuller meeting of the committee : which was agreed to. 
 
 JANUARY 5, 1839. 
 
 I rode to the Capitol shortly before the meeting of the 
 House, to make arrangements for keeping minutes of the 
 proceedings of the Smithsonian Bequest Committee a work 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 771 
 
 with which I proceed with a heavy heart, from a presentiment 
 that this noble and most munificent donation will be fil- 
 tered to nothing, and wasted upon hungry and worthless 
 political jackals. 
 
 Just after dinner I had a long visit from Dr. Chapin, the 
 President of the Columbian College, who came to ascertain 
 if the college could obtain any assistance from the Smithso- 
 nian fund. His wish seemed to be that the Government 
 .should take the college under its own charge, as an appen- 
 dage to the Smithsonian Institution. I said that, without 
 knowing what were the views of others, mine were that no 
 part of the Smithsonian fund-should be applied to any school, 
 college, university, or seminary of education ; but that, equal 
 are should be taken to avoid doing any injury whatever to 
 .any such institution. Pie said the condition of the college 
 at present was such that unless it could receive assistance 
 from some quarter it must go down and its concerns 
 must be closed. They had been several years struggling to 
 raise a subscription from the Baptists throughout the United^ 
 States to pay the debt of the college ; but in accomplishing 
 this they had failed. There had been a project for trans- 
 ferring the whole concern to Richmond, Virginia, where 
 there was already a flourishing Baptist school; but the 
 principal difficulty in the way of that was that it might for- 
 feit the subscriptions which they had obtained to pay the 
 debts here. 
 
 I said that if the Faculty thought there was any prospect 
 of their obtaining anything from the Smithsonian fund, they 
 might apply to the President of the United States, or to any 
 other member of the committee; and if there should be 
 any disposition in Congress to aid the college from the fund, 
 I would immediately withdraw from the committee and 
 leave the whole arrangement to be made by others. As I 
 deprecated above all things the application of the funds to 
 purposes for the benefit of individuals, I had determined at 
 least to be disinterested myself, and would in no shape or 
 form receive one dollar of the fund to myself. And as the 
 principal debt of the Columbian College was to me, I could 
 be instrumental to no arrangement which would result in 
 the payment of the college debt from the Smithsonian 
 fund. 
 
 He said he had conversed with Professor Ruggles on the 
 subject. They were aware that there was some delicacy irr 
 my position with regard to the college debt ; but they had 
 ample means for the payment of their debt, as preliminary 
 to the receiving any assistance from the Government. 
 
772 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 I said that, at all events, it was a subject in which I coub 
 have no agency, though if they should obtain encouragement 
 to their wishes from the President, or in Congress, I would 
 cheerfully withdraw from the committee. 
 
 The Doctor asked if I should be willing to receive any 
 further communication from him upon the subject. 
 
 I said, certainly, with pleasure, and with the best disposi- 
 tion to do anything useful to the college in my power. I gave 
 him printed copies of the two messages of the President to- 
 the Congress on this subject at the present session. 
 
 JANUARY 8, 1839. 
 
 At ten I met the Smithsonian Bequest Committee. 
 Present, Adams, Smith, Charles Shepard, Thompson, Ogle, 
 Holt, and Kennedy; absent, Garland, of Virginia, and 
 Hunter of Ohio. There was more desultory conversation, 
 and some question made as to a boasting passage or two in 
 one of Mr. Rush's letters, that he had avoided giving too 
 much publicity to the notice for illegitimate children of 
 James Hungerford, the first devisee of the whole property. 
 Rush had been bitterly assailed in the Gazette of the United 
 States for this, and Thompson expressed some suspicion of 
 unfairness in the transaction, which would vitiate the whole 
 procedure, and so taint it that he would not consent under 
 it to take a dollar of the money. But the decree of the 
 Master of the Rolls was read ; and the report of the Master 
 to whom it had been referred, explicitly and positively de- 
 clared that Hungerford died without issue, legitimate or 
 illegitimate ; aiicT Mr. Thompson waived all objection to 
 further proceeding. 
 
 The Chairman of the committee was instructed to move in 
 the House that the memorial of Charles Lewis Fleischmann, 
 presented at this session and referred to this committee, 
 should be printed, and the drawings accompanying it litho- 
 graphed for the use of the House ; and also to prepare a 
 bill vesting the whole Smithsonian fund in the Treasury of 
 the United States, pledging their faith to be responsible for 
 it, and for the payment of the yearly interest upon it at 
 six per cent. Adjourned to next Tuesday. 
 
 JANUARY 15, 1839. 
 
 Meeting of the Smithsonian Committee. Presetit, Adams, 
 Thompson, Kennedy, Hunter. No quorum. Thompson 
 made objections to Mr. Rush's proceedings to recover the 
 fund. The joint resolution constituting a joint committee- 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 773 
 
 supersedes the authority of the separate committee of the 
 House. 
 
 JANUARY 26, 1839. 
 
 Meeting of joint Smithsonian Committee, Present, Sena- 
 tors, Bobbins, Preston, Benton, Southard; of the House, 
 Adams, Garland, Thompson, Hunter of Ohio, Charles Shep- 
 ard. Bobbins presents his project. I offer three resolutions. 
 Thompson makes a question upon the acceptance of the 
 money, on the ground of fraud upon the English court of 
 chancery in obtaining the money. Committee agreed to 
 meet on Wednesdays and Saturdays at ten o'clock ; to move 
 the house to print Mr. Bobbins' papers and my resolutions, 
 -arid a joint resolution authorizing the committee to employ 
 a clerk to print necessary papers. H. B, U. S. Call for 
 reports from committees. I move the printing of the papers 
 from the joint committee, and also the joint resolution au- 
 thorizing the committee to employ a clerk and to print the 
 .necessary papers ; adopted without opposition. 
 
 FEBRUARY 6, 1839. 
 
 Meeting of the joint Smithson Committee. I offered five 
 resolutions against the appropriation of any part of the 
 fund to any institute of education. Very little discussed. 
 Mr. Bobbins is to report a bill constituting a board of trus- 
 tees, on commission to report a plan for the application of 
 the fund to the next Congress. 
 
 MARCH 25, 1839. 
 
 Called on the Secretary of the Treasury at his office in 
 the new Treasury building. I spoke to Mr. Woodbury of 
 the Smithsonian fund ; told him what had been done with 
 .relation to it in Congress, and what had not been done ; 
 how the two messages of the President on the subject had 
 been referred to a select committee of nine, of which I had 
 been the chairman; how Asher Bobbins, a Senator from 
 Bhode Island, being laid politically on the shelf by his con- 
 stituents, had taken a fancy to this fund for the comfort and 
 support of his old age, and projected a university, of which 
 he was to be the Bector Magnificus. So he made an elegant 
 literary speech in the Senate, and moved for a joint com- 
 mittee, seven from the Senate. The House concurred, and 
 the Speaker appointed the same committee of nine that he 
 had appointed before to join the committee of the Senate. 
 There were several meetings of the joint committee ; scarcely 
 ever a quorum of the Senate's committee, but they gave 
 -carte blanche to their chairman. He prepared his bill for 
 
774 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 nine trustees three chosen by each House, and three by 
 the President to sit during the recess, and prepare a plan,, 
 to be submitted to Congress at the next session, for a cor- 
 poration, of which the same trustees were to form a part. 
 I had offered resolutions against all this, which the com- 
 mittee of the House adopted, and I prepared a bill conform- 
 ably to my own plan. By way of compromise it was agreed 
 that both committees should report both bills ; which was 
 done. I never called either of them up in the House, for I 
 knew it would be in vain. Bobbins attempted to get up his 
 bill in the Senate but could not carry it through. I left copies- 
 of both bills, of my resolutions, and of Bobbins' proposi- 
 tions, with. Mr. Woodbury, requesting him to consider them, 
 and inviting his views concerning them telling him that [ 
 should, if able to take my seat at the next session of Con- 
 gress, resume the subject, in which I felt an interest more 
 intense than in anything else before that body. I told him 
 that before leaving this place I intended to see and speak 
 again with the President concerning it. 
 
 Mr. Woodbury promised to give his attention to the sub- 
 ject and to speak of it also to the President. But he told 
 me that in the general appropriation bill ten thousand dollars 
 had been taken from this fund to pay for the expenses and 
 charges of procuring the money. Cambreleng swindled 
 this into the bill without my knowledge, and it crept through 
 both Houses unobserved. I shamed him out of it last year, 
 and I believe he did it now to spite me. The Attorney 
 General had given an opinion against it. I am deeply mor- 
 tified .not to have detected this dirty trick. 
 
 APRIL 8, 1839. 
 
 I had some conversation with Mr. Grundy, and afterwards 
 with Mr. Poinsett, on the Smithsonian fund bills. 
 
 OCTOBER 26, 1839. 
 
 I have chosen the Smithsonian bequest as my subject for 
 a lecture to the Quincy Lyceum, which I last Wednesday 
 promised Mr. John A. Green, now its President, to deliver, 
 " Deo adjuvante," on Wednesday, the 20th of next month. 
 This subject weighs deeply upon my mind. The private in- 
 terests and sordid passions into which that fund has already 
 fallen fill me with anxiety and apprehensions that it will be 
 squandered upon cormorants or wasted in electioneering 
 bribery. The apparent total indifference of Mr. Van Buren 
 to the disposal of the money, with his general professions oi: 
 disposition to aid me; the assentation of all the heads of 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 775 
 
 Departments, without a particle of assistance from any one of 
 them, excepting the Attorney General, Grundy, whose favor- 
 able opinion Cambreleng, at the last session, contrived to 
 nullify; the opposition, open and disguised, of Calhoun, 
 Preston, and Waddy Thompson, even to the establishment 
 of the Institution in any form ; the utter prostration of all 
 public spirit in the Senate, proved by the encouragement 
 which they gave to the mean and selfish project of Asher 
 Bobbins to make a university, for him to be placed at the 
 head of it; the investment of the whole fund, more than 
 half a million of dollars, in Arkansas and Michigan State 
 stocks ; and the dirty trick of filching the ten thousand dol- 
 lars from the fund last winter to pay for the charges of pro- 
 curing it are all so utterly discouraging that I despair of 
 effecting anything for the honor of the country, or even to 
 accomplish the purpose of the bequest the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men. It is hard to toil 
 through life for a great purpose with a conviction that it will 
 be in vain ; but possibly, seed now sown my bring forth some 
 good fruit hereafter. In my report of January, 1836, 1 laid 
 down all the general principles upon which the fund should 
 have been accepted and administered. I was then wholly 
 successful ; my bill passed without opposition, and under its 
 provisions the money was procured and deposited in the 
 Treasury in gold. If I cannot prevent the disgrace of the 
 country by the failure of the testator's intention, by making 
 it the subject of a lecture, I can leave a record for future 
 time of what I have done, and what I would have done, to 
 accomplish the great design, if executed well. And let not 
 the supplication to the Author of all good be wanting. 
 
 OCTOBER 29, 1839. 
 
 Fine autumnal day. My address on the Smithsonian be- 
 quest, in preparation for the Quincy Lyceum, as usual grows 
 upon me as I proceed, and I fear I shall not be able to in- 
 clude the subject, as I propose to discuss it, in one lecture. 
 My main object must be to prepare for action upon it at the 
 approaching session of Congress, and to gather facts and 
 arguments for a last effort to save the fund from misappli- 
 cation, dilapidation and waste. 
 
 DECEMBER 27, 1839. 
 
 The House had been ten minutes in session when I reached 
 the hall. I gave notice that I would, next Monday, ask 
 leave to introduce a bill for the disposal of the Smithso- 
 nian bequest fund. I went to the Speaker's chair, and told 
 
776 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 him that my bill was in substance that which had been unani- 
 mously reported by the committee of the House at the last 
 session, and that I should move its reference to a select com- 
 mittee now. He asked me to name to him members whom 
 I should wish to have on the committee. The House got 
 into a snarl about the numbers of the President's message 
 to be printed, and finally, upon a motion of reconsideration 
 by Waddy Thompson, between three and four, adjourned. 
 
 DECEMBER 30, 1839. 
 
 I introduced my bill concerning the Smithsonian bequest, 
 which was read twice, and referred to a select committee of 
 nine. The Speaker told me he meant to put Dixon II. 
 Lewis upon the committee. 
 
 JANUARY 13, 1840. 
 
 Mr. Hassler paid me a visit. He is yet employed, under 
 the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the 
 survey of the coast, and upon the construction of weights 
 and measures for use in the different States. But I found 
 him much disposed to take hold of the Smithsonian bequest ; 
 to which I gave no encouragement. His plan was for the 
 establishment of an astronomical school before the erection 
 of an observatory. At the head of this astronomical school 
 he would naturally find his place, and would contrive to ab- 
 sorb the whole fund in the management of it. I promised 
 again to visit his establishment here, and asked him for in- 
 formation of the prices of the astronomical instruments 
 which he purchased for the United States Government at 
 London in 1815, and concerning some of the principal 
 astronomers, and astronomical establishments, and makers 
 of astronomical instruments, in Europe at this time. 
 
 JANUARY 15, 1840. 
 
 At half-past ten this morning the Committee on the Smith- 
 sonian Bequest bill met in the chamber of the Committee 
 of Manufactures. Present, Adams, Ogle, Shepard, Garland, 
 of Virginia, Albert Smith, Barnard, and Corwin ; absent, 
 Lewis, of Alabama, who, by accident, was not notified, and 
 Campbell, of South Carolina, who came in after the meet- 
 ing adjourned, having been engaged in the Committee of 
 Elections. The bill was read. I proposed that the chair- 
 man should be authorized to prepare a report to be submit- 
 ted to the committee, containing a review of what had 
 been hitherto done by Congress on the subject, and a brief 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 777 
 
 exposition of the reasons for the several provisions proposed 
 by the bill. I proposed also that when it should become 
 necessary I should ask the permission of the House to employ 
 a clerk, and to employ George Sweeney ; and that when the 
 report was ready I shall call another meeting of the com- 
 mittee ; all of which was agreed to unai voce. 
 
 FEBRUARY 8, 1840. 
 
 I inquired of the Secretary of the Treasury what was the 
 present condition of the Smithsonian fund. He said the 
 interest upon the Arkansas and Michigan bonds had been 
 regularly paid, and reinvested in Michigan bonds, which 
 .had been purchased at seventjvfive per cent. He said the 
 Secretaries of War and of the Navy had been much annoyed 
 to obtain payment of the interest, to enable them to pay the 
 Indian annuities and navy pensions. 
 
 FEBRUARY 20, 1840. 
 
 I finished this morning the draft of a report on the Smith- 
 sonian Bequest bill, to be submitted to the committee, and 
 left it with Mr. D. D. Barnard, at his lodgings. I have re- 
 quested him to read it, and to suggest any alterations, addi- 
 tions, or omissions which may occur to him as advisable, 
 before I presented it to the committee. 
 
 FEBRUARY 26, 1840. 
 
 The Smithsonian Bequest Bill Committee met at the 
 chamber of the Committee of Manufactures, at ten o'clock. 
 Present, Adams, Shepard, Garland, Barnard, Corwin, and 
 Lewis; absent, Ogle, Smith of Maine, arid Campbell of 
 South Carolina, who is sick, confined to his chamber, and 
 was not notified. I presented my report, of which I briefly 
 stated the contents. The committee authorized me to pre- 
 sent it to the House, and move it be printed. The addi- 
 tional sections and the estimates were read, and authority 
 was given me to report them with the bill ; also the mes- 
 sages of 6th and 7th December, 1838, and any other docu- 
 ment, at my discretion. 
 
 Dixon H. Lewis proposed to report a counter-project for 
 the establishment of an agricultural school on Fleisehmanrrs 
 plan. It was agreed that he should present to the House 
 his counter-project at his leisure, and that it should also be 
 printed. Lewis declared his aversion to the acceptance of 
 the bequest, which he said only gave trouble to Congress, 
 by diverting their attention and consuming their time upon 
 subjects not suitable for their legislation. He asked again 
 
778 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 that a motion might be made to have Fleischmaun's memo- 
 rial at the last session of Congress reprinted ; which was- 
 agreed to. 
 
 FEBRUARY 27, 1840. 
 
 In the House, Crabb, of Alabama, had the floor on the 
 New Jersey election debate. I asked him to allow me to 
 present a report and documents from the Smithsonian Be- 
 quest Committee. He said that with the general consent 
 of the House, if no objection were made, he would readily 
 yield me the floor for that purpose. Turney of Tennessee, 
 objected, and I could not report my bill. 
 
 MARCH 5, 1840. 
 
 I presented from the Committee of the Smithsonian Be- 
 quest bill, an amended bill, with the report which I had 
 prepared, and sundry documents, including the messages of 
 December, 1835, and of 6th and 7th December, 1838, and 
 my report of January, 1836; also an estimate of the cxprnsr 
 of erecting and establishing an astronomical observatory. 
 I stated also that a member of the committee, Dixon II. 
 Lewis, would prepare a minority report, which the com- 
 mittee proposed should also be printed, together with the 
 memorial of Charles Lewis Fleischmann, presented at the 
 last session of Congress and then printed. James Monroe 
 proposed that five thousand extra copies of my report should 
 be printed ; but the Speaker said it was not now in order, 
 and No was heard from several voices. I am convinced 
 that nothing good can be done upon this subject by this 
 Congress. 
 
 APRIL 8, 1840. 
 
 At the National Intelligencer office, and, neither of the 
 editors being there, I left a copy of my report on the Smith- 
 sonian Bequest bill to be published in the paper. 
 
 APRIL 14, 1840. 
 
 Morning visit from Mr. Stone the engraver, and Mr. Jager, 
 a German, native of Vienna, now professor of botany and 
 zoology at the college of Princeton. We had an easy con- 
 versation of upwards of an hour, in which the Professor 
 expressed the opinion that too much time was devoted at 
 our colleges and universities to the study of Greek and 
 Latin. He spoke rather slightingly of Prince Galitzin, and 
 of the late Emperor Alexander^ as infected with bigotry 
 from excessive reverence for the Bible, which he said was 
 the disposition of all the Galitzins he had ever known. I 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 779' 
 
 could not but surmise that Mr. Jager was a free-thinker of 
 the German school, and had a negative quantity of reverence 
 for the Bible, equal at least to the superfluity of it in the- 
 Galitzins ; that this had rendered the residence of St. Peters- 
 burg inconvenient to him, and brought him to this country. 
 This may be mere conjuncture ; but I have invariably found 
 that a light estimate of the study of Greek and Latin and 
 an irreverent estimate of the Bible are inseparable compan- 
 ions. I see the same current of opinions in Professor Dung- 
 lison's two articles in the Southern Messenger, upon the 
 Smithsonian bequest. Of Dunglison, imported from Scot- 
 land by Jefferson, for his university of Virginia, this might 
 be expected ; but how this Professor Jager should have got 
 squeezed into the super-orthodox college at Princeton gives- 
 me pause. 
 
 MAY 10, 1840. 
 
 I observed to Mr. Gales that he had not yet published my 
 report on the Smithsonian bequest. He said the difficulty 
 was that it would occupy from twelve to fourteen columns of 
 the paper ; but it should be published as soon as possible. 
 
 MAY 19, 1840. 
 
 I rode to the Capitol, and stopped on my way at the office 
 of the National Intelligencer. Mr. Gales said he should 
 begin the publication of the Smithsonian report to-morrow. 
 
 MAY 23, 1840. 
 
 I called at the Intelligencer office, and asked of Mr. Gales- 
 half a dozen copies of this day's paper, containing my 
 speech on the 8th instant, and of the country paper of last 
 Tuesday, containing my last report on the Smithsonian be- 
 quest. Gales said he had already received comments on the 
 latter. I asked him from whom. He said he could not 
 tell me till I had seen them. 
 
 APRIL 14, 1841. 
 
 Mr. Poinsett called upon me, and now fully disclosed his 
 project, which is to place the investment and disposal of the 
 Smithsonian funds under the management of the American 
 [National] Institution for the Promotion of Literature and 
 Science. He concurs entirely in my views of confining the ap- 
 propriations to the annual interest, leaving the principal un- 
 impaired, and of making the first appropriations for the estab- 
 lishment of an astronomical observatory. But he did not ap- 
 prove of leaving the selection of the spot to the Secretary of 
 
780 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 the Treasury, and thought the hill opposite Analostan Island 
 objectionable on account of its exposure to fogs, from its 
 proximity to the river. He spoke of two or three other 
 places between Meridian Hill and the President's House, 
 with some remarks on each spot worthy of consideration. 
 He said he had at present no other occupation on hand, and 
 would be willing to devote two years entirely to organizing 
 this establishment and getting it into full operation. I know 
 not that it could be accomplished more effectively, and think 
 I must acquiepce in this arrangement and endeavor to carry 
 it through. The chief obstacle, however, will now be to 
 extricate the funds from the fangs of the State of Arkansas 
 Mr. Poinsett thought that they paid the interest upon the 
 bonds punctually; but the law requires that the interest 
 should, when paid, be immediately reinvested in State stocks ; 
 and I struggled in vain at the last session of Congress to 
 obtain a repeal of that law. Mr. Poinsett said he was now 
 going in a very few days to South Carolina, but should soon 
 return here. 
 
 APRIL 17, 1841. 
 
 I should have mentioned that yesterday morning I visited 
 Mr. Poinsett and took leave of him previous to his depar- 
 ture for Charleston, South Carolina. I inquired when he 
 proposed to return here, and understood him to say not till 
 next winter ; but then he comes for two years, to preside 
 over the National Institution for the Promotion of Science; 
 and, as he expressed a wish that the Smithsonian fund might 
 be connected .with that Institution and placed under its man- 
 agement, I requested him to take the bill reported to the 
 House with my report of 5th March, 1840, and prepare any 
 amendment to it which would carry out his views, and send 
 it to me before the approaching session of Congress; which 
 he said would do. 
 
 APRIL 18, 1841. 
 
 I borrowed from the occupations of the week the morn- 
 ing hours, to finish a letter to Thomas Ewing, Secretary of 
 the Treasury, concerning the Smithsonian Fund, its invest- 
 ment, and its application. It involves the condition of the 
 Navy Pension Fund, the State debts, the public lands, In- 
 dian treaties and trusts, and the whole system of administra- 
 tion of ^the finances, revenues, receipts, and expenditures of 
 the Cation. I present it only so far as concerns the Smith- 
 sonian Fund and projected Institution. 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 781 
 
 APRIL 19, 1840. 
 
 I took my letter and pamphlets relating to the Smithso- 
 nian Fund to the Secretary of the Treasury, and left them 
 with him, with an earnest request that he would lay the 
 subject before the President. 
 
 JUNE 4, 1841. 
 
 I paid a visit to the Acting President, John Tyler, and 
 had a conversation with him upon the condition and pros- 
 pects of the Smithsonian Fund. The Secretary of the 
 Treasury, Ewing, has not communicated to him my letter 
 of the 19th April last, nor the report, nor any of the docu- 
 ments which I sent him with it. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 10, 1841. 
 
 The committee took up the amendments of the Senate 
 to the Smithsonian fund bill, with which the House, at my 
 motion, agreed ; and so the bill has gone through both 
 Houses. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 16, 1841. 
 
 I called twice this day at the Department of State. The 
 first time the Secretary, Webster, was not at the office ; so 
 I passed over to the Treasury Department, and saw Mr. 
 Walter Forward, the new Secretary. I spoke to him upon 
 two subjects. 1.- The Smithsonian fund, of the history of 
 which he is ignorant, and, from the civil, courteous, and 
 wholly indifferent manner in which he received my com- 
 munications, I presume he will care just as little as did his 
 predecessors, Ewing and Woodbury. I told him what I 
 had done, and what I propose to do ; and he promised to 
 send me a statement of the present condition of the fund, 
 and the amount of the stocks of the several States which 
 have been purchased under the authority of the sixth sec- 
 tion of the West Point Academy appropriation of 1838. 
 And, 2, I spoke on the resolution of the House, adopted at 
 my motion on the 23d of July last, calling on the Secretary 
 of the Treasury for a report upon the debts of the several 
 States. 
 
 Mr. Forward appeared not to have heard or not to have 
 thought of that resolution ; but he said he would attend to 
 it, and that he would write to the Secretaries of the several 
 States, to collect the information. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 18, 1841. 
 
 rMy next call was at the Treasury Department, where I. 
 
782 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 requested of the Secretary, Forward, a more particular 
 statement of the State stocks in which the Smithsonian 
 funds, principal and interest, have been invested. 
 
 I spoke to Mr. Tyler about the Smithsonian fund and the 
 debts of the States. There are now six hundred and 
 twenty thousand dollars invested in State stocks bearing an 
 interest of six per cent, a year, payable half-yearly. I told 
 him I had at length succeeded in two measures at the recent 
 session of Congress one by introducing into the bill for 
 distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands. 
 the fourth section, whereby the portion coming at any time 
 to any State shall be first applied to the payment of anv 
 debt, principal or interest, from the State to the United 
 States; and the other by the repeal of the sixth section ol 
 the West Point appropriation act of 7th July, 1838, which 
 requires the investment of the accruing interest in State 
 stocks, and substituting the investment of them in stock* 
 of the United States though this has been attended, mucl 
 -against my will, with authority to the Secretary of tin 
 Treasury to reduce the interest from six per cent, a year 
 which the State bonds now bear, to not less than five. The 
 Secretary of the Treasury has obtained one million, or i 
 million arrd a half, of the twelve-million loan authorized ai 
 the recent session of Congress, at five and a half per cent, 
 but he wants already two millions more, and has no pros 
 pect of obtaining them at a rate lower than six per cent., i 
 ^it that; and I said if there should be an investment of tht 
 next semi-annual interest I hoped it would not be taken ai 
 & lower rate of interest than six per cent. But I was ex 
 tremely anxious that the United States should not assume 
 but resume, the whole responsibility of that fund, and lool 
 themselves to the States for their punctuality of payment. 
 
 Mr. Tyler, in general terms, approved of these observa 
 tions, and assured me that he would co-operate cordialh 
 with me for the faithful application of these funds to th( 
 purposes of the testator. He said he had my letter to th< 
 late Secretary Ewing, and had read it. 
 
 I spoke also of the call of the House on the Secretary 
 of the Treasury for a report on the State debts, and gav( 
 him some of my views upon that deeply interesting public 
 concern. 
 
 He certainly did not concur with them ; neither did h( 
 controvert them. When I suggested to him the certainty 
 that the European Governments will ultimately hold th( 
 United States responsible for these State debts, he lookec 
 grave, but made no remark. 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 783 
 
 JANUARY 10, 1842. 
 
 I notified the members of the Committee on the Smith- 
 sonian bequest to meet Wednesday morning. 
 
 JANUARY 12, 1842. 
 
 I was obliged to go to attend at eleven the first meeting 
 of the select Committee on the Smithsonian bequest, in the 
 chamber of the Committee of Foreign Relations. Present, 
 Adams, Habersham, Truman Smith, Underwood, Benjamin 
 Randall, and Charles J. Ingersoll ; absent, Hunter, Houston, 
 and Bowne, the last of whom I had not been able personally 
 to notify, he having been yesterday and the day before de- 
 tained from the House by indisposition. I read the com- 
 mission of the members, the reference to the Committee of 
 the part of the President's message relating to the Smith- 
 sonian fund, and that part of the message itself. After 
 much desultory conversation, the committee agreed to meet 
 next Wednesday morning at ten o'clock. 
 
 JANUARY 14, 1842. 
 
 I called this morning at the Department of the Treasury, 
 ind requested of the Secretary a statement of the present 
 :ondition of the Smithsonian fund, and copies of the State 
 3onds in which it has been invested, for the information of 
 Jie committee to which the subject has been referred by 
 the House. I inquired also when the report upon the 
 debts of the States, called for by resolution of the House, 
 might be expected. 
 
 He said he had written to the Governors of the several 
 States, and had received answers from some and not from 
 others. The answers from the heaviest States were re- 
 ceived ; and he directed the Chief Clerk, McClintock Young, 
 to write again to the States whence there are as yet no 
 Answers. 
 
 JANUARY 19, 1842. 
 
 Meeting of the select Committee on the Smithsonian be- 
 quest, in the chamber of the Committee of Foreign Rela- 
 tions. Present, Adams, Habersham, Underwood, Randall, 
 C. J. Ingersoll, Houston, and Bowne; absent, Truman 
 Smith, and Hunter. I had found in the chamber of the 
 committee of manufactures the book containing the minutes 
 of the proceedings of the former committees on this subject, 
 the last entry upon which was of 15th January, 1840. My 
 report of that committee, with an amended bill to incorpo- 
 rate the trustees of the fund, was made on the 5th of 
 
784 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 March, 1840, since which nothing has hcen done by Con- 
 gress concerning it. The bill No. 1 of the House bills- 
 remained on the calendar through the whole remainder ot 
 the Twenty-Sixth Congress's first and second sessions, and 
 was never reached in the ordinary business of the House. 
 There was no committee appointed at the second session, 
 none at the late special session, first of the Twenty-Seventh 
 Congress, and in the mean time the funds invested in bonds 
 of the State of Arkansas have depreciated at least fifty per 
 cent. I now stated to the committee that I had called upon 
 the Secretary of the Treasury for a statement of the present 
 condition of the fund, which he had promised but had not 
 yet furnished me. I recapitulated again the proceedings of 
 the former committees, and gave copies of my last report 
 to those members of the committee who desired them. 
 
 Ilabersham presented a letter from James F. Espy, pro- 
 posing that a portion of the fund should be appropriated 
 for simultaneous meteorological observations all over the 
 Union, with him for central national meteorologist, stationed 
 at Washington with a comfortable salary. 
 
 JANUARY 26, ls-U. 
 
 Attended this morning the Committee on the Smithsonian 
 bequest. Present, Adams, Underwood, Houston, Randall, 
 and Truman Smith. The documents requested iVom the 
 Secretary of the Treasury had not been received. The 
 committee sat about half an hour, and then adjourned ; 
 after which Mr. Habershain came in. Absent, Charles J. 
 Ingersoll, Hunter, and Bowne. I am convinced that noth- 
 ing will be done of any use by this committee. 
 
 FEBRUARY 2, 1842. 
 
 Meeting of the Committee on the Smithsonian bequest, 
 Present, Adams, Smith, Ilabersham, Randall, Underwood; 
 absent, C. J. Ingersoll. Hunter, Houston, and Bowne. A 
 letter from Franklin Knight to R. "W. Ilabersham was read, 
 with a project for applying the Smithsonian fund to the 
 establishment and support of a farm school D. H. Lewis's 
 plan. 
 
 FEBRUARY 9, 1842. 
 
 I attended the meeting of the Committee on the Smith- 
 sonian bequest. Present, Adams, Underwood, Habersham, 
 Smith; absent, C. J. Ingersoll, Randall, Houston, Bowne, 
 and Hunter. No quorum, and nothing could be done. My 
 time, night and day, has been, and yet is, so absorbed for 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 785 
 
 my own defence that I can attend to nothing else. Mr. 
 Smith said that he should not be here at the next weekly 
 meeting, being obliged to go home to Connecticut on busi- 
 ness. 
 
 FEBRUARY 16, 1842. 
 
 Committee on the Smithsonian bequest. Adams, Haber- 
 sham, Underwood, Randall no quorum. No report yet 
 from the Secretary of the Treasury on the present condition 
 of the funds. 
 
 FEBRUARY 23, 1842. 
 
 Committee on the Smithsonian bequest. Present, Adams, 
 Underwood, Habersham no quorum. 
 
 MARCH 2, 1842. 
 
 Committee on the Smithsonian bequest. Present, Adams, 
 Underwood, Randall no quorum. 
 
 MARCH 9, 1842. 
 
 Weekly meeting of the Committee on the Smithsonian 
 bequest. Present, Adams and Truman Smith. Haber- 
 sham was in an adjoining committee room. No quorum. 
 
 MARCH 19, 1842. 
 
 The meeting of the Committee on the Smithsonian be- 
 quest was fixed for ten this morning, but it was eleven when 
 I reached the chamber of the committee, and found there 
 Underwood, Habersham, Truman Smith, Benjamin Randall, 
 and Charles J. Ingersoll ; absent, Bowne, Houston, and 
 Hunter. Of my tardiness I failed not to be reminded. We 
 took up the old bill and debated it from the third to the 
 sixth section inclusive. Every provision of every section 
 was contested, and the only sound principle settled was 
 that the principal sum of the bequest should be preserved 
 unimpaired as a perpetual fund, from which no appropria- 
 tion shall be made. 
 
 Habersham, of Georgia, opposed the parts of the bill 
 providing for the establishment of an astronomical obser- 
 vatory. His argument was the clanger and difliculty of 
 carrying it through Congress ; and he said that only yester- 
 day one of the members from the South urged, in conver- 
 sation with him, that Congress had no constitutional power 
 to accept the bequest, and that the money ought to be sent 
 back to England. 
 
 I saw the finger of John C. Calhoun and of nullification, 
 and said that the objection against the power of Congress 
 50 
 
786 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 to accept the bequest would not be removed by striking out 
 the observatory; that Mr. Calhoun and his coadjutors had 
 urged it from the beginning, and it had been time after 
 time settled against them ; that any application of the fund 
 to the purposes of the testator would be resisted by them, 
 and if anything was to be done it must be carried against 
 their stubborn opposition. Adjourned to Monday morning 
 at ten. 
 
 MARCH 21, 1842. 
 
 Meeting of the Committee on the Smithsonian bequest, 
 at ten a. m. I was punctual to the minute, but waited 
 more than half an hour for a quorum. Present, Adams, 
 Underwood, Truman Smith, Habersham, R. Randall, and 
 C. J. Ingersoll ; absent, Bowne, Houston, and Hunter. \\V 
 discussed the remainder of the old bill, from the sixth sec- 
 tion through. Every one had amendments to propose, and 
 the bill was thoroughly riddled. Many amendments were 
 adopted, and I was directed to prepare an amended bill for 
 the consideration of the committee at the adjournment, 
 Wednesday morning. 
 
 MARCH 23, 1842. 
 
 I reached the committee room at ten o'clock. Present, 
 Adams, Randall, Habersham, T. Smith, Underwood, and, 
 just as the committee were adjourning, Ingersoll. The 
 remainder of the old bill was throughly debated, and addi- 
 tional amendments were proposed. I was finally directed 
 to prepare a bill and then call a meeting of the committee. 
 
 APRIL 2, 1842. 
 
 I made the experiment of doing something else while the 
 routine of private legislation was dragging through. I ac- 
 cordingly continued the draft of a bill for the Smithsonian 
 bequest Committee, with a hope to finish it on Monday, and 
 I ascertained that I might, with suitable industry, perform 
 the work of two hours' writing in my seat, upon business 
 other than that before the House, every day upon which I 
 take no part in the debate, and yet give all necessary atten- 
 tion to the current business. 
 
 APRIL 4, 1842. 
 
 I finished my draft of the bill for the Smithsonian bequest 
 Committee, and added five new sections for their considera- 
 tion. 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 787 
 
 APRIL 5, 1842. 
 
 In the House, I notified all the members of the Committee 
 on the Smithsonian bequest, excepting Mr. Bowne, who is 
 absent, to attend a meeting to-morrow morning ; and I gave 
 to Mr. Underwood to read the five additional sections, 
 which complete my plan for the establishment of the insti- 
 tution and the provision of a fund for the erection and per- 
 petual support of an astronomical observatory upon a scale 
 equal to that of any one upon earth. He doubted the 
 expediency of including them in the present bill, for fear 
 of alarming the House, but cordially approved of my whole 
 plan. 
 
 APRIL 6, 1842. 
 
 Committee on the Smithsonian bequest. Present, Adams, 
 Underwood, Truman Smith, Benjamin Randall, and C. J. 
 Ingersoll ; absent, Habersham, Houston, Bowne, and Hun- 
 ter. I was authorized to present to the House the draft of 
 the bill which I had prepared, together with the five addi- 
 tional sections, with one other, to dispose of the surplus 
 income from the principal fund, beyond the thirty thousand 
 dollars a year for ten years from the 1st of September, 
 1838, appropriated by the bill, and with the bill a report. 
 
 APRIL 12, 1842. 
 
 When the select committees were called, I asked leave 
 to report from the Committee on the Smithsonian bequest 
 a bill ; but the bill itself was at my house. C. J. Ingersoll 
 had presented to the House and referred to the committee 
 a claim of Richard Rush for extra services in recovering 
 the money, and the Speaker said he had additional docu- 
 ments to present relating to that claim. I moved that the 
 committee should be discharged from the further considera- 
 tion of the claim, and that it be referred to the Committee of 
 Claims ; which, with faint opposition from C. J. Ingersoll, 
 was carried. 
 
 JUNE 11, 1842. 
 
 The meeting last evening at Mr. Markoe's was for the 
 purpose of conferring upon the project of connecting the 
 organization of the National Institute for the Promotion ot 
 Science, with that of the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. 
 Poinsett is president of the former, and presided at the 
 meeting. Mr. Preston has introduced into the Senate a 
 bill for combining together these two institutions, and now 
 stated to the meeting his views on the subject, embracing 
 
788 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 an appropriation of twenty thousand dollars, and the occu- 
 pation by law of a large portion of the Patent Office build- 
 ing for the preservation and arrangement of the objects of 
 curiosity collected by the exploring expedition under Lieu- 
 tenant Wilkes, now daily expected home; and he called on 
 me to say how far my purposes may be concurrent with these- 
 suggestions. 
 
 I said I had the warmest disposition to favor them, and 
 thought there was but one difficulty in the way, which 
 might perhaps be surmounted. I had believed that the 
 whole burden and the whole honor of the Smithsonian* 
 Institution should be exclusively confined to itself, and not 
 entangled or commingled with any national establishment! 
 requiring appropriations of public money. I exposed the 
 principles upon which all my movements relating to the 
 Smithsonian bequest have been founded, as well as the bills- 
 which at four successive Congresses I have reported first 
 for obtaining the money, and then for disposing of I he 
 fund. 
 
 At the motion of Mr. Walker, of Mississippi, the presi- 
 dent, Poinsett, was authorized to appoint a committee of five 
 members of the Institute, to confer with Mr. Preston and 
 me upon the means of connecting the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion with the National Institute. 
 
 JUNE 20, 1842. 
 
 In the House, immediately after the reading of the jour- 
 nal, I offered a resolution calling upon the Secretary of the 
 Treasury to report to the House as soon as may be practi- 
 cable, after the 1st of July now impending, the amount 
 paid or credited to the several States of the Union from the 
 proceeds of the sales of the public lands ; the amount re- 
 tained in payment of interest or principal of debts due 
 from the States to the United States; and the amount due 
 from the indebted States to the United States. My resolu- 
 tion was received and adopted without opposition and with- 
 out remark. 
 
 MARCH 10, 1843. 
 
 In the unceasing mill-clapper talk of Mr. Hassler last 
 evening, he asked me to introduce him to the new Secretary 
 of the Treasury, John C. Spencer which I agreed to do, 
 and appointed this day at one o'clock to go with him to the 
 Department for that purpose. He came, and we went ac- 
 cordingly. I introduced him, and almost immediately left 
 them together; but not without perceiving the seeds of a 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 789 
 
 Conflict already germinating between two proud spirits, 
 -which bodes no good to the progress of the Coast Survey. 
 The recent act places Hassler under the control of a board 
 of officers, and the whole operation under the superintend- 
 ence of the Secretary of the Treasury. Hassler, already 
 restive under the } T oke fitting to his neck, said that the 
 work, being scientific, must be conducted on scientific prin- 
 ciples. The Potentate answered in a subdued tone of voice, 
 but with the trenchant stubbornness of authority, "the laws 
 must be obeyed." The pride of science clashed with the 
 pride of place, and I left them together. 
 
 I had observed the same temper in Spencer yesterday 
 in talking with him about the present condition and pros- 
 pects of the Smithsonian fund. I supplicated him to take 
 -an interest in the restoration, preservation, and application 
 of the fund to the purposes of the testator. He promised 
 to make a full report to Congress on the subject, to recom- 
 mend the issue of six per cent, stock of the United States 
 to the full amount of the dilapidated funds and the invest- 
 ment of it in trustees the Chief Justice of the United 
 States, and other officers of the Government. But he 
 thought the disposal of the funds should be left entirely to 
 the trustees; and he pronounced the prejudice against my 
 plan of an astronomical observatory insurmountable, be- 
 cause I had once called observatories light-houses in the 
 skies. My words were light-houses of the skies. But Mr. 
 Spencer sees no difference between the two phrases. Mr. 
 Spencer turned up his eyes at the swindling speculation of 
 the Senator from Arkansas, and shrugged up his shoulders 
 at the prospect of ever recovering the money from that 
 State. 
 
 JANUARY 20, 1844. 
 
 Thomasson's amendment to Wise's resolution, and all the 
 other amendments, were rejected, and the original resolu- 
 tion to refer the notice of the Smithsonian bequest to a 
 select committee was amended by Burke's motion to refer 
 it to the Joint Committee on the Library. The committee 
 .reported, and the House adjourned. 
 
 FEBRUARY 19, 1844. 
 
 The report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the 
 present condition of the Smithsonian fund was sent in, of 
 which Mr. Young apprised me by a private note. I moved 
 its reference to a select committee of nine, and that, with 
 the documents, it should be printed. Burke moved its 
 reference to the Joint Committee on the Library. To this 
 
790 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 I objected, and assigned my reasons; whereupon Burke, 
 unexpectedly to me, withdrew his motion, and mine was- 
 carried. 
 
 MAY 15, 1844. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy ; Houston, George S. ; Chappell r 
 Absalom H. ; French, Richard ; Lucas, William ; BrengK-, 
 Francis; Potter, Emery D. ; Yost, Jacob S. ; Wetheivd, 
 John. The names in the margin are those, including my 
 own, of the select committee to whom, on the 19th of Feb- 
 ruary last, was referred the report of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury on the resolution of the House of the 3d of Janu- 
 ary, concerning the present condition of the Smithsonian 
 fund. I met them at ten this morning, in the chamber of 
 the Committee of Manufactures; all present except Houston 
 and Chappell, who were duly notified. We had barely time 
 to read the will of Smithson, the act of Congress accepting 
 the bequest, and the report of the Secretary of the Treasury 
 referred to the committee, and adjourned, to meet to-morrow 
 at ten c? clock. 
 
 MAY 16, 1844. 
 
 I met again the committee on the Smithsonian bequest, 
 the same members present as yesterday, The report of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury evades all explanation of the 
 manner how the fund was almost entirely invested in bonds 
 of the State of Arkansas, upon which no interest has been 
 paid, except in other bonds of the same State, and upon 
 which for more than two years no interest has been paid at 
 all. How to make the fund now available for any appro- 
 priation by Congress to the purposes of the testator was 
 the question first discussed, and upon which the committee 
 came to no result. Then I read the bill reported by the 
 select committee on the 1.2th of April, 1842, and, after some 
 'conversation, the committee adjourned to next Monday, ten 
 o'clock, for the chairman, consulting with Judge French, 
 to prepare some specific measure to be discussed for report 
 to the House. 
 
 MAY 20, 1844. 
 
 I had prepared a draft of a bill making an appropriation 
 of seven hundred thousand dollars from the Treasury to 
 assume the annual interest on the Smithson fund, invested 
 now in stocks of several States and upon interest, the pay- 
 ment ^ of which is suspended; which draft I proposed to 
 submit to the consideration of the committee on the Smith- 
 sonian bequest at their meeting this morning. But only 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 791 
 
 one member of the committee, Jacob S. Yost, attended. I 
 read my draft of a bill to him, and we agreed to meet again 
 next Wednesday morning at half-past nine. 
 
 MAY 22, 1844. 
 
 1 The meeting of the select committee on the Smithsonian 
 bequest was appointed for half-past nine o'clock this morn- 
 ing, but, with myself, only three other members of the com- 
 mittee were in attendance Brengle, Potter, and Yost ; not 
 a quorum. I read to them my draft of a bill for appropri- 
 ating seven hundred thousand dollars from the Treasury 
 for carrying into immediate effect the purposes of the tes- 
 tator which they all approved ; and they were also willing 
 to report again the bill which was reported in 1842. We 
 adjourned to meet again next Saturday. 
 
 MAY 23, 1844. 
 
 I began the draft of a report to accompany the bill which 
 I propose to report from the select committee on the Smith- 
 sonian bequest, but made little progress in it. 
 
 MAY 25, 1844. 
 
 The meeting of the select committee on the Smithsonian 
 bequest was fixed for this morning at half-past nine, but the 
 only members who attended, except myself, were Brengle 
 and French. I read my draft of a preliminary bill to ap- 
 propriate a sum sufficient to make the fund immediately 
 available for application to the purposes of the testator, to 
 Mr. French, who without hesitation approved it. I have, 
 therefore, the consent of a majority of the committee to 
 report it; but I was not ready with my report. It was 
 agreed, therefore, that when my report is ready I shall call 
 a meeting of the committee, for their final action upon the 
 reference. 
 
 MAY 30, 1844. 
 
 In preparing the report to the House of the select com- 
 mittee on the Srnithson bequest, I found it advisable to 
 ascertain at the Treasury Department whether any further 
 payment of interest upon any of the State bonds has been 
 made into the Treasury since the letter of the Secretary, 
 John C. Spencer, of 19th February last, referred to the 
 committee. I called at the Department, and Mr. Young, 
 the chief clerk and acting secretary, informed me that no 
 additional payment has been made. 
 
792 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 MAY 31, 1844. 
 
 I finished the draft of a report from the select committee 
 on the Smithsonian bequest, but, in the process of prepar- 
 ing it, changed my purpose from the design of reporting 
 two bills to that of including the whole subject in one. 
 
 JUNE 1, 1844. 
 
 I had called a final meeting of the select committee on 
 the Smithsonian bequest, at half-past nine this morning, 
 and yesterday sent round by one of the pages a notification 
 to all the members of the committee in the House. I had 
 also personally notified George S. Houston; but the only 
 members who*attended were Brengle, French, and Yost, i> 
 whom I read the report and bill that I had prepared, both 
 which they approved, and authorized me to present, after 
 obtaining the consent of one more member of the com- 
 mittee, to the House.. That consent I afterwards obtaiiu-d 
 from Emery D. Potter, the member from Ohio. 
 JUNE 5, 1844. 
 
 At the House, immediately after the reading of the jour- 
 nal, I asked leave to present a report and bill from the select 
 committee on the Smithsonian bequest; but McKay, Chair- 
 man of the Committee of Ways and Means, moved to sus- 
 pend the rules and go into Committee of the Whole on the 
 &tate of the Union, and refused to allow me time to present 
 my report and bill. 
 
 JUNE 7, 1844. 
 
 I presented the report and bill from the select committee 
 on the Smithsonian bequest, which were referred to the 
 Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and 
 ordered to be printed. 
 
 JUNE 11, 1844. 
 
 The compositor of the Globe office sent me proof sheets 
 of the Smithsonian bequest bill, reported by me from the 
 committee to the House, in which there were several errors. 
 I corrected them last evening, and took the corrected bill 
 back to the office. I requested a proof copy of the report 
 also, when printed. 
 
 DECEMBER 5, 1844. 
 
 I had a morning visit from Robert Owen, of Lanark, a 
 man with whom I first became acquainted in London, in, 
 1817 a speculative, scheming, mischievous man. 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 793 
 
 DECEMBER 6, 1844. 
 
 Mr. Robert Owen came again this morning, and mesmer- 
 ized me for the space of an hour and a half with his luna- 
 cies about a new organization of society under the auspices 
 of the two most powerful nations on the face of the globe 
 Grreat Britain on the Eastern and the United States on the 
 Western Hemisphere. The materials, he says, are abund- 
 ant, and the arrangements are all of simple and easy execu- 
 tion. He has prepared a plan in which all the details are 
 set forth with the minutest accuracy. It is now in the 
 hands of Mr. Packenham, but he will ask him to return it, 
 and will communicate it to me for my examination. It is a 
 plan for universal education, for which the Smithsonian 
 fund may provide the means without interfering at all with 
 my views. After the establishment of the system, there 
 will be no war, and no such thing as poverty. Universal 
 competency will be the lot of all mankind, and want will be 
 unknown. 
 
 All this I had heard twenty-five years ago, and the hum- 
 bug is too stale. 
 
 JANUARY 15, 1845. 
 
 Mr. Woodbury's discourse last evening was of about two 
 hours' duration, delivered with great rapidity, replete with 
 various and minute details of modern and especially Amer- 
 ican improvements in the arts and sciences, physical, moral, 
 political, and intellectual, tinged throughout with the worm- 
 wood of Democracy, like ocean brine boiled down to freshen 
 it, with a mawkish tang of the salt remaining in the taste. 
 It was a defence of our national character against the re- 
 proach of neglecting the progress of science. He drew 
 from the nature of our Democratic Government the infer- 
 ence that scientific improvement must be the result of indi- 
 vidual exertion and private enterprise, and enumerated a 
 great multitude of American inventions, from Fulton's 
 iSteamers and Whitney's cotton-gin to the Western Railroad, 
 the Fairrnount Water Works at Philadelphia, and the 
 Croton Aqueduct at New York. _ 
 
 Then he touched lightly upon the promotion of science 
 which the Government has actually patronized the survey 
 of the coast, the astronomical observatory, and the explor- 
 ing expedition. He made out, on the whole, a very good 
 case, and closed with a liberal exhortation to Congress to 
 foster science within the constitutional limitations, and to 
 interweave together the capabilities of the National Institute 
 and the Smithsonian fund. Immediately after he closed, 
 
794 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 W. W. Seaton took the chair of the meeting, a vote of 
 thanks was passed for the discourse, with the request of a 
 copy for publication, and the meeting was dissolved. 
 
 JANUARY 28, 1845. 
 
 The House had been some time in session when I took 
 my seat. A bill from the Senate to establish the Smith- 
 sonian Institution had been received, read, and referred to 
 the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. 
 
 FEBRUARY 10, 1845. 
 
 Robert Dale Owen had introduced a substitute for the 
 bill from the Senate to dispose of the Smithsonian bequest. 
 Without reading, it was ordered to be printed, and referred 
 to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. 
 
 MARCH 3, 1845. 
 
 Owen and Burke made desperate attempts to force down 
 a swindling Smithsonian bill, which I barely succeeded in 
 defeating. 
 
 APRIL 4, 1845. 
 
 I find it impossible to carry out the resolution formed 
 during the session of Congress, to devote the recess to sub- 
 jects of public interest which I was then compelled to over- 
 look. I have, indeed, disposed of two of them for the 
 present; but the rescinding of the gag-rule, the Jackson 
 fable of the Erving Treaty with Spain, the Smithsonian be- 
 quest, the controversy between Massachusetts and South 
 Carolina, the new States of Texas, Iowa, and Florida, the 
 Territories of Nebraska and Oregon, and the errors of the 
 sixth census all subjects which I did intend thoroughly to 
 sift before the next session of Congress, they are slipping 
 through my hands. 
 
 APRIL 11, 1845. 
 
 Mr. George Bancroft, now Secretary of the Navy, called 
 on me this morning, and again in the evening, and I had 
 two long conversations with him, on subjects connected 
 with the Navy Department, the Observatory, the magnetic 
 apparatus and observations, the Smithsonian bequest, and 
 the National Institute, and finally upon Mr. Lewis' catop- 
 trical light-house lamps and the Patent Office. He asked 
 for advice with regard to the Observatory, and the magnetic 
 observations, which are suspended. 
 
 My advice was : 1. To build a dwelling-house adjoining 
 the Observatory. 2. To order immediately the resumption 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 795 
 
 of the magnetic observations. Much, too much, loose and 
 desultory conversation besides, to be very much restricted 
 hereafter. Mr. Bancroft professes great zeal to make some- 
 thing of his Department. I heartily wish he may. He in- 
 tends to be a hard-working man. Practice should follow 
 and realize theory. Drop the anchor, Hope ! 
 
 APRIL 30, 1845. 
 
 Between one and two, afternoon, Mr. McClintock Young, 
 chief clerk of the Treasury Department, sent me word that 
 the Secretary was in his office, and would see me. I went 
 immediately, and found the anteroom and the entry before 
 his door crowded with persons waiting for admission four 
 out of five, if not all, place-hunters. The doorkeeper 
 opened the door for me, and Mr. Walker received me with 
 civility. I had about half an hour's conversation with him 
 concerning the Smithsonian bequest, and gave him my rea- 
 sons for arresting in the House of Representatives, on the 
 last night of the session, the bill which had passed the 
 Senate. I mentioned to him my objection to the organiza- 
 tion of the board of managers, qualified as a committee of 
 Congress, but a majority of whom, though elected as mem- 
 bers, three from the Senate by their President and three 
 from the House by their Speaker, would be no longer mem- 
 bers when called to act as members of the Institution. I 
 told him of the absurd amendment proposed in the House 
 to the bill from the Senate, by Robert Dale Owen, of Indi- 
 ana, and the desperate plunges made by him, and by Burke,, 
 of New Hampshire, to force the bill upon the House in its- 
 last agonies, and the selfish purpose transparent through 
 their motions Burke's, made close upon the midnight 
 hour, to take it out of committee in ten minutes. 
 
 Mr. Walker, after referring to his agency heretofore as a 
 member of the National Institute, which was unsuccessful, 
 said that his preference for the employment of the fund was, 
 first, for an astronomical observatory on my plan ; and, sec- 
 ondly, for a large library, chiefly of such books as are not 
 to be found in other public libraries. He would cheerfully 
 co-operate, as far as he might be able, to carry such a pur- 
 pose into effect. He agreed with me that a corporation, 
 and not a committee of ex-members of Congress, was the 
 proper organization for the management of the fund, and 
 that measures should be taken for redeeming the principal 
 and interest from the State of Arkansas. I left him with a* 
 lingering hope that something may be done for the disposal 
 of the bequest at the next session of Congress. 
 
796 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 DECEMBER 30, 1845. 
 
 A report was received from the Secretary of the Treasury 
 in answer to a resolution inquiring why certain sums of 
 money due to the State of Arkansas had been withheld 
 from payment ; and the answer is that it had been by virtue 
 of a joint resolution of the 3d March last, providing that 
 whenever any State shall have been, or may be, in default 
 of the payment of interest or principal on investments in 
 its stock, or bonds held by the United States in trust, it 
 shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to retain 
 the whole, or so much thereof as may be necessary, of the 
 percentage to which such State may be entitled of the pro- 
 ceeds of the sales of the public lands within its limits, and 
 apply the same to the payment of said interest or principal, 
 or to the reimbursement of any sums of money expended 
 by the United States for that purpose. This provision was 
 first introduced into an act of Congress by me in 1842, and 
 is the only check which I believe practicable to an enor- 
 mous system of swindling and plunder by some of the 
 Democratic States upon the Treasury of the Union. 
 
 JANUARY 23, 1846. 
 
 I attended at the Capitol a meeting of the committee on 
 the Smithsonian bequest. There were present, Owen, 
 Adams, Jenkins, Marsh, Sims, Davis, and Wilmot all the 
 members. The discussion was renewed upon the question 
 whether the directors of the Institution should be consti- 
 tuted in express terms a corporation; for which purpose 
 the chairman, Owen, moved a reconsideration of the de- 
 cision made at the last meeting. It was again debated, and 
 again decided to make it a corporation the vote now being 
 four to three, Owen, chairman, changing his vote to the 
 negative, and Sims, of South Carolina, still voting for the 
 corporation, with the avowed intention of voting against 
 the whole bill, and declaring his purpose to have the whole 
 money sent back to the English court of chancery. 
 
 I told him that I thought that proposition came rather 
 late, after the formal acceptance of the bequest, arid the 
 appropriation of the money to other purposes, with a formal 
 pledge of the faith of the United States that it should be 
 applied to the objects designated by the donor. 
 
 It was, however, the original proposition of John C. Cal- 
 houn, and will be persisted in by the South Carolina school 
 of politics and morals to the last, without any idea of re- 
 turning the money, but with the purpose of defeating any 
 useful application of it, 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 797 
 
 I proposed a provision that all the proceeds of the be- 
 quest be placed in the possession of the Treasurer of the 
 United States, with a direction that separate accounts of it 
 should be kept from those of all the other accounts at the 
 Treasury. This had been done in the act of 1836, which 
 the committee considered as no longer obligatory, since the 
 investment of the fund, almost entirely, in stocks of the 
 United States. The provision itself in the act of 1836 was 
 questioned, until I produced it; and the provision was now, 
 at my motion, re-inserted in the present bill. The com- 
 mittee adjourned to next Friday. 
 
 JANUARY 30, 1846. 
 
 At ten o'clock this morning I attended a meeting of the 
 select committee on the Smithsonian bequest. Present, six 
 members Owen, Adams, Jenkins, Sims, Davis, Wilmot; 
 absent, Marsh, of Vermont, who afterwards told me that it 
 was because he had forgotten the time of the meeting. 
 Some progress very little was made in the discussion of 
 Mr. Owen's bill. In the sixth section provision is made for 
 a superintendent to take charge of the ground, buildings, 
 and property belonging to the Institution, and also for the 
 appointment of a professor of agriculture, horticulture, and 
 rural economy, and for a distribution among the people of 
 the Union of fruits, plants, seeds, and vegetables, to be col- 
 lected by this superintendent with the professor ; and gar- 
 deners, practical agriculturists, and laborers, to be hired 
 from time to time by him as may be necessary. 
 
 I moved to strike out this section, which I consider as a 
 cumbersome, expensive, and useless burden upon the Insti- 
 tution. It was connected also with a further project, de- 
 clared in the seventh section, for the appointment of a nor- 
 mal branch of the Institution, with an indefinite number of 
 professors of common school and other scientific instruc- 
 tion all which I propose to expunge from the bill. The 
 discussion was desultory, and, before taking the question 
 upon it, some amendments of detail to the sixth section 
 were proposed, and debated until the meeting of the House, 
 when the committeee adjourned to next Friday. 
 
 FEBRUARY 13, 1846. 
 
 I attended the meeting of the select committee upon the 
 Smithsonian bequest; all the members present Owen, 
 Adams, Jenkins, Sims, Davis, Marsh, Wilmot. Mr. Owen's 
 bill was further discussed. The question was taken upon 
 my motion to strike out the provision for the appointment 
 
798 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 of professors of agriculture and horticulture, and for the 
 -establishment of teachers for normal schools, both of which, 
 however, were carried by a vote of five to two. There was 
 in the bill an appropriation of five thousand dollars a year 
 for the formation of a library. I moved to strike out in j 
 this section the word " five " and insert " twenty ; " believ- 
 ing this better adapted to promote and increase the diffusion 
 of knowledge among men than the waste of the funds to ' 
 pay the expenses of schools for children a duty which I 
 believe incumbent upon the American people themselves, 
 who will be disgraced by recurring to a foreigner for charges 
 which they ought to support themselves. 
 
 My motion was, however, rejected, and the commit 
 were prepared to report the bill as the majority of them 
 have shaped it. A question was, however, reserved for the 
 next meeting on Friday next. 
 
 FEBRUARY 20, 1846. 
 
 I attended this morning a meeting of the select committee 
 on the Smithsonian bequest. Present, Owen, chairman, 
 Adams, Sims, and Jenkins. There was some furtlu-r dis- 
 cussion upon the amendments proposed to the bill, but with- 
 out coming to a conclusion. The committee adjourned u#ai n 
 to meet next Friday, with a view then to direct the chair- 
 man to report the bill as amended. I said I should not 
 object to this, but should not hold myself bound to support 
 it in the House. Mr. Sims said that his objection to it as 
 unconstitutional remained in full force in his mind. 
 
 FEBRUARY 27, 1846. 
 
 At ten o'clock this morning I attended a meeting of the 
 select committee on the Smithsonian bequest. Present, 
 Owen, chairman, Adams, Sims, Jenkins, Marsh, and Jeffer- 
 son Davis; absent, Wilmot. The chairman, conformably 
 to the order adopted at the last meeting, had prepared a 
 report to be submitted with the bill to the House. It con- 
 tained a statement of the embezzlement of the fund by in- 
 vesting it in the stocks of the States of Arkansas, Illinois, 
 and Michigan. I had moved to have this statement made 
 and provided for in the bill ; but, excepting Mr. Marsh, no 
 other member of the committee would consent to it. They 
 were unwilling to uncover the nakedness of the States! 
 They consented, however, with reluctance, to have it made 
 in the report, which Mr. Owen had rather awkwardly done, 
 with an expression of the opinion of the committee that 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 799 
 
 there would be no ultimate loss to the United States of the 
 funds thus invested. 
 
 I moved to strike out of the report this expression of 
 confidence, which I could not honestly avow. It was accord- 
 ingly struck out, leaving a bare statement of the facts to be 
 made. 
 
 The chairman was directed, in presenting the report and 
 bill, to move that they should be printed and made the 
 special order of the day for the second Tuesday in April. 
 The committees of the House upon this subject have here- 
 tofore been unanimous in the reports all which have been 
 made by me. But the House has never been prevailed upon 
 to take them into consideration. In this committee no two 
 members, excepting Mr. Marsh and myself, have agreed in 
 opinion with regard to the future management of the fund. 
 I doubt if there will be more harmony in the House, for 
 never was there a benevolent and charitable purpose more 
 unfortunately endowed than that of James Smithson, en- 
 trusted to the good faith and intelligence of the North 
 American Congress. 
 
 APRIL 22, 1846. 
 
 At the House, the bill to establish the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men was taken up in Committee of the Whole on the state 
 of the Union Armistead Burt, of South Carolina, in the 
 chair. It was read through for information, and then taken 
 up by sections for amendment. 
 
 George "W. Jones, of Tennessee, moved to strike out the 
 first section ; that is, to reject the bill. 
 
 Robert Dale Owen delivered an hour speech in support of 
 the bill, dwelling chiefly upon the parts of it appropriating 
 funds for the education and training of teachers for normal 
 schools throughout the Union in my opinion the worst 
 feature of the bill. 
 
 Jones' objection was chiefly to the organization of the 
 trustees of the fund as a corporation, which he contended 
 was not within the constitutional power of Congress to 
 create. After Owen's speech, Jones withdrew his motion 
 to strike out the first section, and moved to amend by a sec- 
 tion authorizing the whole bequest to be returned to the 
 lieirs at law, or next of kin, or residuary legatees of Smith- 
 son, or their authorized agents, whenever they shall demand 
 the same. That is to say, to deliver to them the State 
 bonds of the State of Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan, 
 upon which neither interest nor principal is, or is soon likely 
 
800 MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 to be, paid. This is Mr. Jones' favorite mode of dispos- 
 ing of a fund accepted by the Congress of the United States 
 with the pledge of their faith that it should be appropriated 
 to the purposes prescribed by the donor. This motion was 
 discussed by the mover, by Joseph R. Ingersoll, by F. P. 
 Stanton of Tennessee, by William Sawyer of Ohio, and by 
 Jefferson Davis of Mississippi ; after which the committee 
 rose without coming to a conclusion. 
 
 APRIL 23, 1846. 
 
 At the House, Linn Boyd moved a resolution to close 
 debate in Committee of the Whole on the state of the 
 Union on the Smithsonian bequest bill in half an hour after 
 taking it up in committee. Joseph R. Ingersoll pleaded for 
 an hour and a half. James Graham, of North Carolina, 
 moved to lay the resolution on the table; which was done! 
 and the House went into committee again, Armistcad Burl 
 in the chair, and resumed the consideration of the bill. 
 
 Charles J. Ingersoll informed the House that tin- mana- 
 gers of the conference upon the notice of disagreement had 
 unanimously agreed upon a report, but that it could not be 
 .communicated to this House until it should have been acted 
 upon in the Senate. 
 
 George P. Marsh, of Vermont, made an hour speech upon 
 the Smithsonian bequest bill one of the best speeches ever 
 delivered in the House, but not much in support of the bill. 
 His desire is to apply a very large portion of the annual in- 
 terest upon the fund to the establishment of a public library. 
 
 Isaac E. Morse, of Louisiana, followed, to whom Owen 
 replied, and was followed by John S. Chipman, of Michi- 
 gan, against the bill. The committeee rose, and Owen 
 moved a resolution to close the debate in Committee of the 
 Whole. Joseph R. Ingersoll moved to amend by inserting 
 three hours; but the resolution itself was laid on the table, 
 ninety-three to forty-four. Owen asked if a resolution al- 
 lowing an hour and a half would be acceptable. 
 
 I requested him not to renew the question in any form, as 
 I wished to offer a substitute for the whole bill. Objection 
 was made to this. I moved a suspension of the rules 
 which was carried. I proposed my substitute which I had 
 prepared this morning ; it was referred to the Committee of 
 the Whole on the state of the Union, and ordered to be 
 printed. The consideration of the bill was then postponed 
 to next Monday. 
 
MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 801 
 
 APRIL 28, 1846. 
 
 Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, Ar- 
 mistead Burt in the chair, on the Smithsonian bequest bill. 
 Sims, of South Carolina, opposed the bill in every shape 
 and form it could assume. He held Congress had no power 
 by the Constitution to accept such a trust, and was for re- 
 turning the money to the chancery of England. 
 
 I made a desultory speech in support of the substitute 
 proposed by me for the bill. They were both debated till 
 the committee rose without coming to a conclusion, and 
 other amendments were proposed. George W. Hopkins, of 
 Virginia, moved a resolution to close the debate in Commit- 
 tee of the Whole in one hour after it should be next taken 
 up which was carried, by means of the previous question, 
 and the House adjourned. 
 
 
ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES TREASURY 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 SMITHSON FUND. 
 
 FROM THE BOOKS OF THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 803 
 
804 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. 
 
 THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, on account of the bonds of said 
 sonian Institution, under the 6th section of an act of Congress, 
 in trust, for the uses specified in the last will and testament of 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 103,877 : QM. Par value. 
 
 For amount of said bonds, No. 1 to 500, of 
 
 $1,000 each, dated January 1, 1838, payable 
 
 26th October, 1861, purchased per Warrant 
 
 No. 9512, 4th September, 1838, at 99 T ^ per 
 
 cent., bearing 6 per cent, interest from Sep- 
 
 / tember, 5, 1838, at a cost of $499,500 00 $500,000 00 
 
 For amount of said bonds, No. 401 to 410, of 
 
 $1,000 each, dated January 1, 1838, payable 
 
 1st of January, 1868, purchased per Warrant 
 
 No. 10352, 29th December, 1838, at par, bear- 
 ing 6 per cent, interest from 1st of January, 
 
 1839, at a cost of _ 10,00000 10,00000 
 
 For amount of said bonds, No. 282 to 294, of 
 
 $1,000 each, dated January 1, 1838, payable 
 
 1st January, 1868, purchased per Warrant 
 
 No. 1949, 6th July, 1839, at 98 J per cent., 
 
 bearing 6 per cent, interest from 1st July, 
 
 1839, at a cost of 12,83750 13,00000 
 
 For amount of said bonds, No. 359 to 373, of 
 
 $1,000 each, dated January 1, 1838, payable 
 
 1st of January, 1868, purchased per Warrant 
 
 No. 5859, 21st September, 1840, at 69J per 
 
 cent., bearing 6 per cent, interest from 1st 
 
 July, 1840, at a cost of 10,555 00 15,000 00 
 
 Cost $532,892 50 
 
 Principal $538,000 00 
 
 For amount of interest, on said bonds, to 31st 
 December, 1849, viz: 
 
 On $500,000, from 6th of September, 1838, to 
 31st December, 1849 339,619 57 
 
 On $10,000, from 1st of January, 1839, to 31st 
 December, 1849 6,600 00 
 
 On $13,000, from 1st of July, 1839, to 31st De- 
 cember, 1849 8,190 00 
 
 On $15,000, from 1st of July, 1840, to 31st De- 
 cember, 1849 8,550 00 
 
 302,959 5T 
 $900,959 57 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 
 
 805 
 
 CR. 
 
 .State, purchased as an investment of moneys belonging to the Smith- 
 approved July 7, 1838, in account with the Secretary of the Treasury , 
 James Smithson. 
 
 J3y amount received for interest accruing on 
 
 said bonds, covered by the following warrants 
 
 in favor of the Treasurer, viz : 
 Tart of Warrant No. 3212, dated 29th Decem- 
 ber, 1838 deposit : $9,619 57 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 3597, dated 1st July, 
 
 1839 deposit 15,300 00 
 
 Tart of Warrant No. 276, dated 3d February, 
 
 1840 deposit 15,690 00 
 
 Tart of Warrant No. 502, dated 30th July, 
 
 1840 deposit 15,690 00 
 
 Tart of Warrant No. 789, dated 1st February, 
 
 1841 deposit 16,140 00 
 
 Warrant No. 943, dated 30th June, 1841 
 
 deposit 5,000 00 
 
 Tart of Warrant No. 1058, dated 7th August, 
 
 1841 deposit 10,00000 
 
 "Warrant No. 1085, dated 18th September, 1841, 
 
 deposit 1,140 00 
 
 'Warrant No. 1599, dated 13th December, 1842, 
 
 distributive share of proceeds of sales of pub- 
 lic lands 4,482 79 
 
 Warrant No. 1782, dated 20th April, 1843 
 
 distributive share of proceeds of sales of pub- 
 lic lands 529 37 
 
 "Warrant No. 2558, dated 2d May, 18455 per 
 
 cent, on net proceeds of sales of public lands 
 
 in the State 7,617 56 
 
 "Warrant No. 2681, dated 23d August, 1845 
 
 5 per cent, on net proceeds of sales of public 
 
 lands in the State 1,788 76 
 
 "Warrant No. 3505, dated 5th April, 18475 
 
 per cent, on net proceeds of sales of public 
 
 lands in the State 870 62 
 
 'Warrant No. 3699, dated 7th July, 18475 per 
 
 cent, on net proceeds of sales of public lands 
 
 in the State 2,609 28 
 
 $106,477 95 
 35y balance due from the State of Arkansas, viz : 
 
 .For principal of said bonds $538,000 00 
 
 Interest to 31st December, 1849 256,481 62 
 
 794,481 62 
 
 $900,959 67 
 
806 
 DR. 
 
 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITII 
 Arkansas Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Report, 'No. 113,529 : 
 To balance due from said State, per Report No. 
 103,877 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 Principal of said bonds, from January 1, 
 850, to December 31, 1853, at 6 per cent, per 
 cent, per annum 
 
 $794,481 CiT 
 129,120 00 
 
 $923,601 02 
 
 No. 116,528: 
 To balance due from said State, per Report No. 
 
 113,529 $899,036 32 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 principal of said bonds, from 1st of January 
 
 to 31st of December, 1854, at 6 per cent, per 
 
 annum ___ _ 32,280 00 
 
 $931,916 32 
 
 No. 127,145: 
 To balance due from said State, per Report No. 
 
 116,528 $918,456 03 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 principal of said bonds, from 1st of January, 
 
 1855, to December 31st, 1856, 2 years, at 6 
 
 per cent per annum 64,560 00 
 
 $983,016 03 
 
 No. 138,174: 
 To balance due from said State, per Report No. 
 
 127,145 $974,702 88 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 principal of said bonds, from January 1, 1857, 
 
 to December 31, 1859, 3 years, at 6 per cent. 
 
 per annum 96,840 00 
 
 - $1,071,542 88 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 
 
 807 
 
 Arkansas Account Continued. CR. 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on 
 
 said bonds, covered by the following warrants 
 
 in favor of the Treasurer, as per statement of 
 
 the Eegister of the Treasury, viz : 
 
 No. 5013, dated May 28, 1849 $8,396 73 
 
 No. 61, dated June 3, 1850 3,009 71 
 
 No. 14, dated July 19, 1851 3,617 06 
 
 No. 9, dated November 10, 1852 8,941 80 
 
 $23,965 30 
 
 By balance due from the State of Arkansas, 
 
 viz : 
 
 For principal of bonds $538,000 00 
 
 For interest 361,636 32 
 
 899,636 32 
 
 $923,601 62 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on 
 
 said bonds, covered by the following warrants 
 
 in favor of the Treasurer, as per certificate 
 
 of the Register : 
 
 No. 3, dated April 6, 1854 $3,271 60 
 
 No. 27, dated October 31, 1854 10,188 69 
 
 $13,460 29 
 
 By balance due from the State of Arkansas, 
 
 viz : 
 
 For principal of bonds $538,000 00 
 
 For interest 380,456 03 
 
 918,456 03 
 
 $931,916 32 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on 
 
 said bonds, covered by Warrant No. 102 in 
 
 favor of the Treasurer, dated June 28, 1856 $8,313 15 
 
 By balance due from the State of Arkansas, 
 
 viz * 
 
 For principal of bonds $538,000 00 
 
 For interest 436,702 88 
 
 974,702 88 
 
 $983,016 03 
 
 By "Warrant No. 20 in favor of the Treasurer, 
 
 'dated January 7, 1858 $18,700 79 
 
 By balance due from the State of Arkansas, 
 
 viz: 
 
 For principal of said bonds $538,000 00 
 
 For interest 514,842 09 
 
 1,052,842 09 
 
 $1,071,542 88 
 
808 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. Arkansas Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 146,387 : 
 To balance due from said State, per Report No. 
 
 138,174 $1,052,842 00 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 principal of said bonds, from January, 1860, 
 
 to January 1, 1863, 3 years, at 6 per cent, per 
 
 annum 96,840 00 
 
 $1,149,682 00 
 
 No. 148,045: 
 To balance due from said State, per Report No. 
 
 146,387- - - $1,149,682 09 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 principal of said bonds, from January 1 to 
 
 June 30, 1863, at 6 per cent, per annum 16,140 00 
 
 $1,165,822 01) 
 
 No. 172,750 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 
 
 148,045 $1,146,187 34 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 principal of said bonds, from July 1, 1863, to 
 
 December 31, 1869 _ 209,820 00 
 
 $1,356,007 34 
 
 No. 199,302 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 
 
 172,750 . $1,290,0(35 53 
 
 To interest on $538,000, being the amount of 
 
 principal of said bonds, from January 1, 
 
 1870, to December 31, 1875 1 193,080 00 
 
 $1,483,745 53 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 809 
 
 Arkansas Account Continued. CR. 
 
 By balance due from the State of Arkansas, 
 
 viz : 
 
 Fbr principal of bonds ---------------------- $538,000 00 
 
 interest ~ 11,68SM)9 
 
 $1,149,682 09 
 
 $1,149,682 09 
 
 By Warrant No. 116 in favor of the Treasurer, 
 
 dated August 18, 1863 ..__ $ 19 > 634 75 
 
 By balance due from the State of Arkansas, 
 
 principal of bonds - $538,000 00 
 
 Tor interest.. 08,187^4 ? ^ 
 
 $1,165,822 09 
 
 By Warrant No. 137 in favor of the Treasurer, 
 
 dated 30th September, 1860 .-- 65 > 94 
 
 By balance due from the said State of Arkan- 
 
 l^cU of bonds___- $538,000 00 
 
 Tor interest- 7o2,0653 
 
 $1,356,007 34 
 
 By balance due from the said State of Arkan- 
 sas, viz : 
 Tor principal of bonds $538,000 00 
 
 "F/vr intorPflf y4u,74O OO 
 
 $1,483,745 53 
 
 $1,483,745 53 
 
810 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. 
 
 THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, on account of the stock of said 
 sonian Institution, under the Qth section of an act of Congress, 
 in trust, for the uses specified in the last will and testament of 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 103,878: Cost. Par value. 
 
 For amount of 8 "special certificates" of the stock 
 
 of said State, No. 76 and No. 86 to 92 inclusive, 
 
 dated 1st May, 1838, for $1,000 each, payable on the 
 
 first Monday in July, 1858, or at any time thereafter 
 
 that the State may choose, purchased per Warrant 
 
 No. 10,146, November 23, 1838, at par, bearing 6 
 
 per cent, interest from 1st May, 1838 cost $8,000 00 $8,000 00 
 
 For interest from 1st May to 23d November, 1838 
 
 cost _ 270 67 
 
 For amount of interest accruing on said certificates 
 
 from 1st May, 1838, to 31st December, 1849... 5,600 00 
 
 $13,600 00 
 
 No. 113,547 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 103,- 
 
 878 $ 8) 000 00 
 
 To interest on said bonds from 1st January, 1850, to 
 
 December 31, 1853, at 6 per cent 1,920 00 
 
 $9,920 00 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 811 
 
 CR. 
 
 State purchased as an investment of moneys belonging to the Smith- 
 approved July 7, 1838, in account with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 James Smithson. 
 
 By amount received for interest on said certificates, 
 
 covered by the following warrants in favor of the 
 
 Treasurer, viz : 
 Part of Warrant No. 3212, dated 29th December, ^ 
 
 Warrant N^^SgBrda'tensVYulVriSSg-deposit 240 00 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 276, dated 3d February, 11 ^ ^ 
 
 Part P rf Warrant o~.~ 5027 ~d~aYe~d~~l 3th j'iily, 1840- ^ ^ 
 
 Part P of S VarranrNo7Y8V,"dated 1st February, 1841 ^ ^ 
 
 art P of S1 WarranrNorio"58Vdated 7th August, 1841 ^ ^ 
 
 "Warcant No." 1593"da"ted" 26th" November, ^-dis- 
 tributive share of proceeds of sales of public lands 
 
 Warrant No. 1780, dated 20th April, 1843-distribu- 
 
 tive share of proceeds of sales of public lands *w 
 
 Warrant No. 2679, dated 23d August, 1845-5 per 
 
 cent, of net proceeds of sales of lands in said State 1,^U 
 
 Warrant No. 2876, dated 10th February, 1846-5 per 
 
 cent, of net proceeds of sales of land m said State 
 
 Warrant No. 3503, dated 5th April, 18475 per cent. 
 
 of net proceeds of sales of land in said State 
 
 Warrant No. 3697, dated 7th July, 1847-5 per cent. 
 
 of net proceeds of sales of land in said State 
 
 Warrant No. 4849, dated 20th September, 18480 per 
 
 cent of net proceeds of sales of land m said State 
 
 Warrant No. 5009, dated 23d May, 1849-5 per cent. 
 
 of net proceeds of sales of land in said State 
 
 Warrant No. 69, dated 19th June, 1850-5 per cent. 
 
 of net proceeds of sales of land in said State ^ 
 
 AWmt of interest received _----- $ 5 > 600 
 
 By balance due from the State of Michigan, for the 
 principal of said certificates -"\J2__ 
 
 $13,600 00 
 
 By amount received for interest on said stocks, covered 
 by the following warrants in favor of the Treasurer, 
 
 No.' 11, dated July 16, 1851 $720 00 
 
 No. 21, dated May 4, 1852 240 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Michigan : 
 
 For the principal of said stock *^<5n nn 
 
 For interest to 31st December, 1853 - W 
 
 $9,920 00 
 
TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. Michigan Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 127,148 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 113,- 
 
 547 $8,960 OC 
 
 To interest on said bonds from 1st January, 1854, to 
 
 December 31, 1856, at 6 per cent 1,440 OC 
 
 $10,400 OC 
 
 No. 133,350 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 127,- 
 
 148 $8,240 00 
 
 To interest on said bonds from 1st January, 1857, to 
 
 July 1, 1858, at 6 per cent 720 00 
 
 $8,960 00 
 Account closed. 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 813 
 
 Michigan Account Continued. GR. 
 
 By amount received for interest on said stocks, covered 
 
 by the following warrants in favor of the Treasurer, 
 
 viz : 
 
 No. 2, dated April 6, 1854 $959 51 
 
 No. 80, dated July 19, 1855 720 49 
 
 No. 30, dated October 15, 1856 480 00 
 
 $2,160 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Michigan : 
 
 For the principal of said stock $8,000 00 
 
 For interest 240 00 
 
 8,240 00 
 
 $10,400 00 
 
 By amount received for principal and interest of said 
 
 stocks, covered by the following warrants in favor 
 
 of the Treasurer : 
 
 No. 177, dated August 21, 1857 $480 00 
 
 No. 151, dated November 26, 1858 480 00 
 
 No. 149, dated November 24, 1858 8,000 00 
 
 $8,960 00 
 
 $8,960 00 
 Account closed. 
 
$14 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. 
 
 THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, on account of the bonds of said 
 sonian Institution, under the 6f/i section of an act of Congress 
 in trust, for the uses specified in the last will and testament of 
 
 Auditor^ Report, No. 103,879 : Cost. Par value. 
 
 For amount of said bonds, viz : Nos. 70, 71, 73, 74, 
 
 and No. 81 to 89 inclusive, dated 31st July, 1837, 
 
 payable at the pleasure of the State after the year 
 
 1860 ; Nos. 2457, 2459, and 2460, dated 1st January, 
 
 1838, payable at the pleasure of the State after the 
 1st January, 1870 ; Nos. 2629, 2632, 2634, 2636, 2639, 
 2646, 2658, 2660, 2661, and 2664, dated 1st July, 
 
 1839, payable at the pleasure of the State after 1st 
 January, 1870 in all, 26 bonds of $1,000 each, 
 bearing 6 per cent, interest from 1st January, 1840, 
 purchased per Warrant No. 3795, February 3, 1840, 
 
 at 73 per cent, cost $18,980 00 $26,000 00 
 
 For amount of 6 bonds, of $1,000 each, No. 261 to 266 
 inclusive, dated 1st May, 1840, payable at the pleas- 
 ure of the State after 1st January, 1870, bearing 6 
 per cent, interest from 1st July, 1840, purchased per 
 Warrant No. 6573, December 3, 1840, at 69J per 
 cent. cost, with interest from 1st July to 7th Au- 
 gust, 1840, paid, $4,185 + 38 J - 4,223 00 6,000 00 
 
 For amount of said bonds, viz : No. 1237 to 1246 in- 
 clusive, dated 1st July, 1839, payable at the pleasure 
 of the State after the year 1860, and No. 287 to 300 
 inclusive, dated 1st May, 1840, payable at the pleas- 
 ure of the State after the 1st January, 1870 in all, 
 24 bonds of $1,000 each, bearing 6 per cent, interest 
 from 1st January, 1841, purchased per Warrant 
 No. 7144, February 1, 1841, at 79 per cent. cost, 
 with interest from 1st January to 1st February, 
 1841, paid, $19,080 + 120 . 19,200 00 24,000 00 
 
 Cost, of which $158 is interest paid. $42,403 00 
 
 Amount of principal $56,000 00 
 
 For interest accruing on said bonds to 31st December, 
 
 1849: 
 On $26,000, from 1st January, 1840, to 31st December, 
 
 1849 15,600 00 
 
 On $6,000, from 1st July, 1840, to 31st December, 
 
 1849 3,420 00 
 
 On $24,000, from 1st January, 1841, to 31st December, 
 
 1849 . 12,960 00 
 
 31,980 00 
 
 $87,980 00 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 
 
 815 
 
 CR. 
 
 State, purchased as an investment of moneys belonging to the Smith- 
 approved July 7, 1838, in account with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 James Smithson. 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said 
 
 'bonds, covered by the following warrants in favor 
 
 of the Treasurer, viz : 
 Part of Warrant No. 502, dated 13tli July, 1840 
 
 deposit $780 00 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 789, dated 1st February, 1841 
 
 deposit i 960 00 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 1058, dated 7th August, 1841 
 
 deposit 1,680 00 
 
 Warrant No. 1001, dated 13th December, 1842 dis- 
 tributive share of proceeds of sales of public lands 3,360 00 
 
 Warrant No. 1779, dated 20th April, 1843 distribu- 
 tive share of proceeds of sales of public lands 1,680 00 
 
 Warrant No. 2680, dated 23d August, 18453 per 
 
 cent, of net proceeds of lands within the State 8,400 00 
 
 Warrant No. 3231, dated lit January, 18473 per 
 
 cent, of net proceeds of lands sold within the State 5,040 00 
 
 Warrant No. 3695, dated 6th July, 18473 per cent. 
 
 of net proceeds of lands sold within the State 1,680 00 
 
 Warrant No. 4518, dated llth May, 18483 per cent. 
 
 of net proceeds of lands sold within the State 1,680 00 
 
 Warrant No. 4957, dated 14th March, 18493 per 
 
 cent, of net proceeds of lands sold within the State 3,360 00 
 
 Warrant No. 47, dated 23d May, 18503 per cent, of 
 
 net proceeds of lands sold within the State 3,360 0' 
 
 $31,980 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Illinois : 
 For principal of said bonds 56,00! 
 
 $87,980 00 
 
816 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 Illinois Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 113,530 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Keport No. 103,- 
 
 879 _._ __________________________________________________ $56,000 (K) 
 
 To interest from 1st January, 1850, to 31st December, 
 
 1853, at per cent ---------- ....... - 18,4-10 00 
 
 $69,440 00 
 
 No. 127,150: 
 To amount due from said State, per Keport No. 113,- 
 
 530 $62,720 00 
 
 To interest on $56,000, the principal of said bonds, 
 
 from 1st January, 1854, to December 31, 1856, at 6 
 
 per cent 10,080 00 
 
 $72,800 00 
 
 No. 136,777 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 127,- 
 
 150 $57,680 00 
 
 To interest on $56,000, the principal of said bonds, 
 
 from 1st January, 1857, to December 31st, 1859, at 
 
 6 per cent 10,080 00 
 
 $67,760 00 
 
 No. 144,302 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 136.- 
 
 777 $62,720 00 
 
 To interest on $56,000, the principal of said bonds, 
 
 from 1st January, 1860, to December 31, 1861, at 6 
 
 per cent 6,720 00 
 
 $69,440 00 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 817 
 
 Illinois Account Continued. CR. 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said 
 
 bonds, covered by the following warrants in favor 
 
 of the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 No. 26, dated May 7, 1851 $3,360 00 
 
 No. 30, dated May 19, 1852 3,360 00 
 
 $6,720 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Illinois : 
 
 For principal of bonds $56,000 00 
 
 For interest 6,720 00 
 
 62,720 00 
 
 $69,440 00 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said 
 
 'bonds, covered by the following warrants in favor 
 
 of the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 No. 142, dated March 15, 1854 $6,720 00 
 
 No. 31, dated July 19, 1855 5,040 00 
 
 No. 90, dated August 6, 1856 3,360 00 
 
 $15,120 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Illinois : 
 
 For principal of bonds $56,000 00 
 
 For interest 1,680 00 
 
 57,680 00 
 
 $72,800 00 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said 
 
 bonds, covered by the following warrant in favor of 
 
 the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 No. 51, dated January 29, 1858 $5,040 00 $5,040 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Illinois : 
 
 For principal of bonds 56,000 00 
 
 For interest 6,720 00 
 
 62,720 00 
 
 $67,760 00 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said 
 bonds, covered by warrants in favor of the Treas- 
 urer, viz : 
 
 No. 151, dated March 20, 1860 1,887 12 
 
 No. 6, dated April 3, 1860 1,472 88 
 
 No. 138, dated May 29, 1860 3,360 00 
 
 Part of No. 14, dated July 24, 1860 1,680 00 
 
 Part of No. 106, dated February 20, 1861 1,680 00 
 
 Part of No. 67, dated November 6, 1861 1,680 00 
 
 $11,760 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Illinois : 
 
 For principal of bonds $56,000 00 
 
 For interest 1,680 00 
 
 57,680 00 
 
 $69,440 00 
 
818 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. Illinois Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 140,398 : 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 144,- 
 
 302 $57,680 00 
 
 To interest on $56,000, the principal of said bonds, 
 
 from January 1 to December 31, 1862, at 6 per cent 3,360 00 
 
 $61,040 00 
 
 No. 199,745 : 
 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 146,- 
 398 $57,680 00 
 
 To interest on $56,000 from January 1, 1863, to De- 
 cember 31, 1867, at 6 per cent. 5 years 16,800 00 
 
 To interest on $10,000, January 1 to February 15, 
 
 1868 $75 00 
 
 To interest on $13,000, January 1 to February 22, 
 
 1868 112 67 
 
 To interest on $33,000, January 1 to March 9, 1868 379 50 
 
 5G7 17 
 
 $75,047 17 
 Account closed. 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 819 
 
 Illinois Account Continued. CR. 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said 
 bonds, covered by warrants in favor of the Treas- 
 urer : 
 
 Part of No. 18, dated January 14, 1862 $1,680 00 
 
 Part of No. 27, dated February 11, 1863 1,680 00 
 
 $3,360 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Illinois : 
 
 For principal of bonds $56,000 00 
 
 For interest 1,680 00 
 
 67,680 00 
 
 $61,040 00 
 
 By warrants in favor of the Treasurer : 
 
 Part No. 181, dated September 9, 1862 $1,680 00 
 
 Part No. 80, dated August 8, 1863 1,680 00 
 
 Part No. 74, dated February 13. 1864 1,680 00 
 
 Part No. 182, dated September 20, 1864 ,680 00 
 
 Part No. 13, dated January 7, 1865 ,680 00 
 
 Part No. 82, dated July 27, 1865 ,080 00 
 
 Part No. 174, dated February 8, 1866 ,680 00 
 
 No. 270, dated February 18, 1867 3,360 00 
 
 No. 763, dated September 30, 1867 - 1,680 00 
 
 No. 627, dated March 24, 1868 1,680 00 
 
 $18,480 00 
 
 No. 628, dated March 24, 1868 principal, $56,000 + 
 interest, $567.17 56,567 17 
 
 $75,047 17 
 Account closed. 
 
820 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. 
 
 THE STATE OF OHIO, on account of the bonds of said State r 
 Institution, under the 6th section of an act of Congress, approved 
 for the uses specified in the last will and testament of James 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 103,881 : Cost. Par value. 
 
 For amount of one certificate of stock of said State, 
 No. 3176, for $13,000, dated August 6, 1841, pay- 
 able at the pleasure of the State after 31st December, 
 1860, bearing interest at 6 per cent, from 1st July, 
 1841, purchased per Warrant No. 9084, 7th August, 
 
 1841, at 94 per cent. cost _ $12,220 00 
 
 Interest, 1st to 20th July, 1841, paid. 43 33 
 
 $12,263 33 $13,000 00 
 
 For amount of one certificate of stock of said State, 
 No. 3179, for $5,000, dated 7th August, 1841, pay- 
 able at the pleasure of the State after 31st December, 
 1860, bearing interest at 6 per cent, from 1st July, 
 1841, purchased per Warrant No. 9107, 10th Au- 
 gust, 1841, at 94 per cent. cost $4,700 00 
 
 Interest from 1st to 20th July, 1841, paid 16 67 
 
 4,716 67 5,000 00 
 
 Cost, of which $60 is interest paid $16,980 00 
 
 Amount of principal $18,000 00 
 
 For interest on said principal, $18,000, from 1st July, 1841, to 
 
 81st December, 1849, at 6 per cent 9,180 00 
 
 $27,180 00 
 
 No. 113,628 : 
 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 103,881 $18,000 00 
 
 To interest on $18,000, the principal of said bonds, from 1st 
 January, 1850, to December 31, 1853, at 6 per cent 4,320 00 
 
 $22,320 00- 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 821 
 
 CR. 
 
 purchased as an investment of moneys belonging to the Smithsonian 
 July 7, 1838, in account with the Secretary of the Treasury, in trust, 
 Smithson, 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said bonds, covered 
 by the following warrants in favor of the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 1272, dated 31st March, 1842 deposit $540 00 
 
 No. 1441, dated 9th July, 1842 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 1666, dated 6th January, 1843 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 1886, dated 6th July, 1843 deposit 540 00 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 2049, dated 4th January, 1844 deposit, __ 540 00 
 
 No. 2255, dated 3d July, 1844 deposit 540 00 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 2446, dated 4th January, 1845 deposit __ 540 00 
 
 No. 2697, dated 30th September, 1845 deposit 540 00 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 2880, dated 19th February, 1846 deposit. 540 00 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 3075, dated 31st July, 1846 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 3442, dated 31st March, 1847 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 3849, dated 30th September, 1847 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 4273, dated 31st March, 1848 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 4857, dated 30th September, 1848 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 11, dated 15th January, 1850 deposit 540 00 
 
 No. 16, dated 3d August, 1850 deposit 1,080 00 
 
 $9,180 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Ohio : 
 
 ;For principal of said bonds 18,000 00 
 
 $27,180 00 
 
 "By amount received for interest accruing on said bonds, covered 
 *by the following warrants in favor of the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 No. 12, dated July 29, 1850 '. $540 00 
 
 No. 1, dated January 9, 1851 540 00 
 
 No. 5, dated July 8, 1851 540 00 
 
 No. 2, dated January 9, 1852 540 00 
 
 No. 3, dated July 7, 1852 540 00 
 
 No. 3, dated January 6, 1853 540 00 
 
 No. 34, dated July 30, 1853 540 00 
 
 No. 22, dated January 17, 1854 540 00 
 
 $4,320 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Ohio, 1st January, 
 
 1854, viz : 
 For principal of said bonds 18,000 00 
 
 $22,320 00 
 
822 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. Ohio Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Keport, No. 127,149 : 
 
 To amount due from said State, per Keport No. 113,528- $18,000 Ofr 
 
 To interest on $18,000, the principal of said bonds, from 1st 
 January, 1854, to December 31st, 1856, at 6 per cent 3,240 00 
 
 $21,240 00 
 
 No. 144,104: 
 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 127,149___ $18,000 00 
 
 To interest on $18,000, the principal of said bonds, from 1st 
 January, 1857, to July 1, 1862, at 6 per cent 5,940 00 
 
 $23,940 00 
 
 No. 146,395: 
 To amount due from said State, per Report No. 144,104 $18,640 00- 
 
 $18,540 00 
 Account closed. 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 823 
 
 Ohio Account Continued. CR. 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said bonds, covered 
 by the following warrants in favor of the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 No. 22, dated January 17, 1854 $540 00 
 
 No. 3, dated July 8, 1854 640 00 
 
 No. 3, dated January 4, 1855 640 00 
 
 No. 28, dated July 19, 1855 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 10, dated January 8, 1856 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 14, dated July 8, 1856 540 00 
 
 $3,240 00 
 
 By balance due from the State of Ohio, 1st January, 1857 : 
 For principal of said bonds 1 18,000 00 
 
 $21,240 00 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said bonds, covered 
 by the following warrants in favor of "the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 No. 21, dated January 7, 1857 $540 00 
 
 No. 41, dated July 18, 1857 540 00 
 
 No. 24, dated January 9, 1858 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 95, dated August 2, 1858 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 15, dated January 7, 1859_ 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 33, dated August 3, 1859 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 10, dated January 5, 1860 __ 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 14, dated July 24, 1860 540 00 
 
 Part of No. 67, dated November 6, 1861 1,080 00 
 
 - $5,400 00 
 By balance due from the State of Ohio : 
 
 Por principal of said bonds $18,000 00 
 
 For interest 640 00 
 
 18,540 00 
 
 $23,940 00 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said bonds, and 
 covered by the following warrants in favor of the Treasurer, 
 viz : 
 
 Part of No. 18, dated January, 1862 $540 00 
 
 Part of No. 181, dated September 9, 1862 540 00 
 
 Prom which deduct amount of "Warrant No. 22, im- 
 prc;x rly placed to the credit of said State in account 
 per Report No. 127,149, the sar^e having been pre- 
 viously credited per Report 113,528, $540 $540 00 
 
 Warrant No. 182 in favor of the Treasurer, dated September 9, 
 
 1862, for the principal of said bonds 18,000 00 
 
 $18,540 00 
 Account closed. 
 
$24 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES, on account of stocks of the United States, 
 Institution, under the 1st section of an act of Congress, approved 
 in trust, for the uses specified in the last will and testament of James 
 
 Auditor's Report, No. 103,880 : Cost. Par value. 
 
 To amount of certificate No. 66, dated , of 
 the loan of 1841, bearing 5} per cent, interest 
 from 18th September, 1841, purchased per War- 
 rant No. 9491, dated 27th September, 1841, at u 
 cost of $1,291 86 $1,291 86 
 
 To amount of the following certificates of the loan 
 of 1842, redeemable after the 31st December, 
 1862, bearing 6 per cent, interest : 
 
 No. 63, dated August 25, 1842 $540 00 
 
 No. 64, dated August 25, 1842 17 76 
 
 No. 65, dated August 25, 1842 540 00 
 
 No. 66, dated August 25, 1842 38 04 
 
 1,135 80 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 2508, dated 27th Au- 
 gust, 1842, at a cost of $1,135 80 
 
 No. 283, dated December 19, 1842 $480 00 
 
 No. 284, dated December 19, 1842 7,842 79 
 
 $8,322 79 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 3682, dated 29th De- 
 cember, 1842, at a cost of 8,322 79 
 
 No. 443, dated February 2, 1843 $113 05 
 
 No. 444, dated February 2, 1843 540 00 
 
 $053 05 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 45?,!, dated 31st 
 
 March, 1843, at a cost of 653 05 
 
 No. 122, dated January 6, 1845, for $500, purchased 
 per Warrant No. 488, dated 9th January, 1*45, 
 at a cost of 572 50 
 
 No. 193, dated January 13, 1845 $100 00 
 
 No. 1121, dated January 13, 1845 1,000 00 
 
 No. 1122, dated January 13, 1845 1,000 00 
 
 $2,100 00 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 564, dated 14th Janu- 
 ary, 1845, at a cost of 2,404 50 
 
 $13,088 64 $12,711 64 
 
 Carried over $1.201 80 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 
 CR. 
 
 825 
 
 purchased as an investment of moneys belonging to the Smithsonian 
 llth September, 1841, in account with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 JSmithson. 
 
826 TKEASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. United States Account Continued. 
 
 O>ft. Par value. 
 
 Brought forward - $1,291 86 $1,291 86- 
 
 13,088 64 12,711 64^ 
 
 No. 16, dated August 16, 1845 $3,000 00 
 
 No. 786, dated August 16, 1845 5,000 00 
 
 No. 1236, dated August 22, 1845 1,000 00 
 
 No. 255, dated August 22, 1845 100 00 
 
 No. 256, dated August 22, 1845 100 00 
 
 No. 17, dated August 22, 1845 3,000 00 
 
 No. 787, dated August 22, 1845 5,000 00 
 
 $17,200 00 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 2694, dated 23d Au- 
 gust, 1845, at a cost of 19,608 00 17,200 (X> 
 
 No. 1384, dated February 17, 184G $1,000 00 
 
 No. 171, dated February 17, 1846 600 00 
 
 No. 304, dated February 17, 1846 100 00 
 
 No. 305, dated February 17, 1846 100 00 
 
 No. 306, dated February 17, 1846 100 00 
 
 No. 307, dated February 17, 1846 100 00 
 
 $1,900 00 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 4355, dated 19th Feb- 
 ruary, 1846, at a cost of_ 2,066 25 1,900 00" 
 
 No. 1514, dated July 31, 1846 $1,000 00 
 
 No. 373, dated August 1, 1846 100 00 
 
 No. 374, dated August 1, 1846 100 00 
 
 No. 375, dated August 1, 1846 100 00 
 
 No. 376, dated August 1 , 1846 100 00 
 
 No. 764, dated August 1, 1846 150 00 
 
 $1,550 00 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 5839, dated 31st July, 
 
 1846, at a cost of 1 } 652 69 1,550 00* 
 
 Cost $36,415 58 
 
 Principal of loan of 1842 $33,361 64 
 
 Carried over $37,707 44 $34,653 50> 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 
 
 United States Account Continued. 
 
 827 
 CE. 
 
828 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 United States Account Continued. 
 
 Cost Par value. 
 
 Brought forward ____________________ - $37,707 44 $34,65350 
 
 The following certificates of the loan of 1843, bear- 
 
 ing 5 per cent, interest, redeemable after 30th 
 
 June, 1853 : 
 No. 1, dated January 1, 1844 ---------- $131 35 
 
 No. 64, dated January 1, 1844 _________ 100 00 
 
 No. 292, dated January 1, 1844 ________ 3,000 00 
 
 No. 561, dated January 1, 1844 ---- .___ 1,000 00 
 
 $4,231 35 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 7198, dated 12th Jan- 
 
 uary, 1844, at a cost of ________________________ 4,231 35 4,231 35 
 
 No. 2, dated January 15, 1847, of the loan of 1846, 
 
 bearing 6 per cent, interest, redeemable 12tb No- 
 
 vember, 1856 ______________________ $6,200 00 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 7662, dated 14th Jan- 
 
 uary, 1847, at a cost of ______________________ 6,200 00 6,200 00 
 
 The following certificates of the loan of 1848, bear- 
 
 ing 6 per cent, interest, redeemable after 1st July, 
 
 1868: 
 No. 54, dated November 1, 1849 ________ $50 00 
 
 No. 131, dated November 1, 1849 ______ 100 00 
 
 No. 367, dated November 1, 1849 ______ 10,000 00 
 
 No. 368, dated November 1, 1849 ______ 10,000 00 
 
 No. 1662, dated November 1, 1849 _____ 1,000 00 
 
 $21,150 00 
 
 Purchased per Warrant No. 1088, dated 1st No- 
 vember, 1849, at a cost of 24,16388 21,15000 
 
 Cost and principal of stocks of 1841, 1842, 1843, 
 
 1846, and 1848 $72,302 67 $66,234 85 
 
 Amount of interest accruing on said stocks up to 
 31st December, 1849 
 
 On certificates of loan of 1841 $233 40 
 
 1842 10,529 33 
 
 1843 1,267 33 
 
 1846 1,131 28 
 
 1848 634 50 
 
 13,795 84 
 
 $80,030 69 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 829 
 
 United States Account Continued. CR. 
 
 By part of Warrant No. 2446, dated 4th January, 1845, in 
 favor of the Treasurer, for amount of principal of certifi- 
 cate No. 66 of loan of 1841, redeemed____ $1,291 86 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said stocks to 31st 
 December, 1849, covered by the following warrants in favor 
 of the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 1272, dated 31st March, 1842 $17 76 
 
 No. 1505, dated 25th August, 1842 38 04 
 
 No. 1665, dated 3d January, 1843 113 05 
 
 No. 1889, dated 20th July, 1843 363 11 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 2049, dated 4th January, 1844 338 87 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 2446, dated 4th January, 1845 331 79 
 
 No. 2447, dated 4th January, 1845 24 84 
 
 No. 2448, dated 7th January, 1845 303 35 
 
 No. 2682, dated 23d August, 1845 592 91 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 2880, dated 19th February, 1846 1,003 13 
 
 Part of Warrant No. 3075, dated 31st July, 1846 1,060 13 
 
 No. 3223, dated 13th January, 1847 1,121 91 
 
 No. 4013, dated 10th February, 1848 2,585 26 
 
 No. 4839, dated 14th July, 1848 1,292 63 
 
 No. 17, dated 30th October, 1849 . 1,292 63 
 
 No. 4, dated 5th January, 1850 1,927 13 
 
 No. 24, dated 8th August, 1850 1,292 63 
 
 No. 46, dated 6th September, 1850 121 51 
 
 13,820 68 
 
 By balance due from the United States, viz : 
 
 Principal of stock of 1842 $33,361 64 
 
 Principal of stock of 1843 4,231 35 
 
 Principal of stock of 1846 6,200 00 
 
 Principal of stock of 1848 21,150 00 
 
 $64,942 99 
 
 Deduct amount of interest on $7,842.79, loan of 
 1842, from 13th to 31st December, 1842, twice 
 
 paid and covered by warrant 24 84 
 
 64,918 15 
 
 $80,030 69 
 
830 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. United States Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Eeport, No. 113,527 : 
 To amount due from the United States, per Keport 
 No. 103,880, viz : 
 
 Principal of stock of 1842 $33,361 64 
 
 1843 4,231 35 
 
 1846 6,200 00 
 
 1848 21,150 00 
 
 $64,942 99 
 
 Deduct amount of interest on $7,842.79, loan of 
 1842, twice paid by the United States and covered 
 
 by warrant 24 84 
 
 $64,918 15 
 
 To interest on $60,711.64, the principal of the stocks of loans 
 of 1842, 1846, and 1848 from 1st January, 1850, to 31st De- 
 cember, 1853, at6 percent 14,570 79 
 
 To interest on $4,231.35, the principal of the stock of the loan 
 of 1843, from 1st January, 1850, to 30th June, 1853, at 5 per 
 cent 740 47 
 
 To amount of 6 per cent. United States stock of the loan of 
 1848, purchased per Warrant No. 1766, dated January 28, 
 1850, at a cost of $2,491.50 2,200 00 
 
 To interest on $2,200 from 1st January, 1850, to 31st Decem- 
 ber, 1853, at 6 per cent 528 00 
 
 To amount of same stock, purchased per Warrant No. 2728, 
 dated June 6, 1850, at a cost of $3,341.62 2,850 00 
 
 To interest on $2,850 from 1st July, 1850, to 31st December, 
 
 1853, at 6 per cent 598 50 
 
 To amount of same stock, purchased per Warrant No. 2736, 
 dated June 10, 1850, at a cost of $2,989.88 2,550 00 
 
 To interest on $2,550 from 1st July, 1850, to 31st December, 
 
 1853, at 6 per cent 535 50 
 
 To amount of same stock, purchased per Warrant No. 3105, 
 
 dated August 19, 1850, at a cost of $5,393.13 4,650 00 
 
 To interest on $4,650 from 1st July, 1850, to 31st December, 
 
 1853, at 6 per cent 976 50 
 
 To amount of 6 per cent, stock of the loan of 1846, purchased 
 per Warrant No. 5854, dated November 19, 1851, and 6236, 
 dated January 9, 1852, at a cost of $13,887.50 13,000 00 
 
 To interest on $13,000 from 1st July, 1851, to 31st December, 
 
 1853, at 6 per cent 1,950 00 
 
 To amount of 6 per cent, stock of the loan of 1842, purchased 
 per Warrant No. 9019, dated 29th March, 1853, at a cost of 
 $16,923.38 14,700 00 
 
 To interest on $14,700 from 1st January to 31st December, 
 
 1853, at 6 per cent 882 00 
 
 $125,649 91 
 
THE. SMITHSON FUND. 
 
 831 
 
 United States Account -Continued. 
 
 CE, 
 
 By amount of Warrant No. 35, dated July 30, 1853, in favor 
 of the Treasurer, for amount of principal of the following 
 certificates of United States stocks redeemed of the loan of 
 1843, viz : 
 
 No. 1, dated January 1, 1844 $131 35 
 
 No. 64, dated January 1, 1844 100 00 
 
 No. 292, dated January 1, 1844 3,000 00 
 
 No. 561. dated January 1, 1844 1,000 00 
 
 $4,231 35 
 
 By interest from 1st January to 1st July, 1858 : 105 78 
 
 To amount of interest accruing on said stocks to 31st Decem- 
 ber, 1853, covered by the following warrants in favor of the 
 Treasurer, as per statement of the Eegister of the Treasury 
 herewith, viz: 
 
 No. 2, dated July 5, 1850 $1,993 13 
 
 No. 2, dated January 9, 1851 2,269 79 
 
 No. 3, dated July 8,1851.,. 2,294 63 
 
 No. 1, dated January 9, 1852 2,684 63 
 
 No. 2, dated July 7, 1852 2,684 63 
 
 No. 2, dated January 6, 1853 2,684 63 
 
 No. 33, dated July 80, 1853 3,019 85 
 
 No. 21, dated January 17, 1854 3,019 85 
 
 20,661 14 
 
 By balance due from the United States on the 1st of January, 
 1854, viz : 
 
 Principal of stock of 1842 $48,061 64 
 
 Principal of stock of 1846 19,200 00 
 
 Principal of stock of 1848 33,400 '00 
 
 100,661 64 
 
 $125,649 91 
 
832 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. United States Account Continued. 
 
 Auditor's Keport, No. 127,153 : 
 
 To amount due from the United States, per Report 
 No. 113,527, viz : 
 
 Principal of stock of 1842 $48,061 64 
 
 Principal of stock of 1846 19,200 00 
 
 Principal of stock of 1848 33,400 00 
 
 $100,661 64 
 
 To interest on $100,661.64 from 1st January, 1854, 
 to July 1, 1856 15,099 25 
 
 To interest on $81,461.64 from 1st July to Decem- 
 ber 31, 1856 2,443 85 
 
 To interest on $19,200 from 1st July to November 
 
 12,1856 422 01 
 
 17,905 71 
 
 $118,627 35 
 
 No. 144,121 : 
 
 To amount due from the United States, per Report No. 127,153 $81,461 64 
 To interest on $81,461.64 from January 1, 1857, to December 
 31, 1861, at 6 per cent 24,438 49 
 
 $105,900 13 
 
 No. 146,403 : 
 
 To amount due from the United States, per Report No. 144,121 $83,905 48 
 To interest on $81,461.64, the principal of said bonds, from 
 January 1 to December 31, 1862, at 6 per cent 4,887 70 
 
 $88,793 18 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 833 
 
 United States Account Continued. CR. 
 
 By amount of Warrant No. 83 in favor of the Treasurer, 
 dated November 13, 1856, for amount of principal of the 
 stock of 1856 and interest thereon from July 1 to November 
 12, inclusive, 1856, viz: 
 
 Principal $19,200 00 
 
 Interest 422 61 
 
 $19,622 61 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said stocks to 31st 
 December, 1856, covered by the following warrants in favor 
 of the Treasurer : 
 
 No. 2, dated July 8, 1854 $3,019 85 
 
 No. 2, dated January 4, 1855 3,019 85 
 
 No. 29, dated July 19, 1855 3,019 85 
 
 Part of No. 10, dated January 8, 1856 3,019 85 
 
 No. 14, dated July 8, 1856 3,019 85 
 
 No. 20, dated January 7, 1807 2,443 85 
 
 17,543 10 
 Balance due from the United States, viz : 
 
 Principal of stock of 1842 $48,061 64 
 
 Principal of stock of 1848 33,400 00 
 
 81,461 64 
 
 $118,627 35 
 
 By amount of the following warrants in favor of the Treasurer 
 for interest accruing on said stocks, viz : 
 
 No. 40, dated July 18, 1857 $2,443 85 
 
 No. 25, dated January 9, 1858 2,443 85 
 
 No. 95, dated August 2, 1858 2,443 85 
 
 No. 15, dated January 7, 1859 2,443 85 
 
 No. 32, dated August 3, 1859 2,443 85 
 
 No. 10, dated January 5, 1860 2,443 85 
 
 No. 14, dated July 24, 1860 2,443 85 
 
 No. 106, dated February 20, 1861 2,443 85 
 
 No. 67, dated November 6, 1861 2,443 85 
 
 $21,994 65 
 By balance due from the United States : 
 
 Principal of stock of 1842 $48,061 64 
 
 Principal of stock of 1848 33,400 00 
 
 Interest on said stocks 2,443 84 
 
 83,905 48 
 
 $105,900 13 
 
 By amount received for interest accruing on said stocks and 
 covered by warrants in favor of the Treasurer, viz : 
 
 Part of No. 18, dated January 14, 1862 $2,443 85 
 
 Part of No. 181, dated September 9, 1862 2,443 85 
 
 Part of No. 27, dated February 11, 1863 1,002 00 
 
 $5,889 70 
 
 Bv balance due from the United States : 
 
 Principal of stock of 1842 $48,061 64 
 
 Principal of stock of 1848 33,400 00 
 
 Interest on said stocks 1,441 84 
 
 82,903 48 
 
 $88,793 18 
 53 
 
834 TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH 
 
 DR. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES, under the act to establish the "Smith- 
 men, approved August 10, 1846, in 
 
 Auditor's Keport, No. 103,882 : 
 
 To amount of money belonging to said Institution, received 
 into the Treasury on the 1st of September, 1838, and treated 
 by 12th section of said act as lent to the United States Treas- 
 ury at 6 per cent, interest, from said 1st September, 1838, 
 payable in half-yearly payments on the 1st January and 1st 
 July in each year $515,169 00 
 
 To interest on said sum from 1st September, 1838, to 31st De- 
 cember, 1849 11 years 350,314 42 
 
 $865,483 42 
 
THE SMITHSON FUND. 835 
 
 CR. 
 
 ^onian Institution" for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 account with the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 By amount of the following warrants drawn on the Treasurer 
 of the United States, in favor of the officers of said Institu- 
 tion, on account of interest accrued on principal of said 
 fund, for the erection of suitable buildings, and for the cur- 
 rent and incidental expenses of said Institution, viz : 
 In favor of W. W. Seaton, Chairman of the Ex- 
 ecutive Committee and Disbursing Officer of 
 the Board of Eegents 
 
 No. 62o2, dated September 16, 1846 $2,000 00 
 
 No. 7220, dated December 21, 1846 2,000 00 
 
 No. 8017, dated February 25, 1847 3,584 07 
 
 No. 139, dated July 5, 1847 15,455 07 
 
 No. 2034, dated January 15, 1848 15,455 00 
 
 No. 4313, dated July 7, 1848 15,455 00 
 
 No. 6823, dated January 5, 1849 15,455 14 
 
 No. 112, dated July 5, 1849 15,455 07 
 
 No. 1496, dated January 4, 1850 15,455 07 
 
 $100,314 42 
 
 In favor of George M. Dallas, Chancellor and 
 Disbursing Agent 
 
 No. 7938, dated February 7, 1857 250,000 00 
 
 - $350,314 42 
 
 Balance due the Smithsonian Institution : 
 Principal of said fund _. .__ 515,169 00 
 
 $865,483 42 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSOST'S 
 BEQUEST. 
 
 .Letter addressed by Hon. John Forsyth, Secretary of State, by direction of 
 President Van Buren to Messrs. Thomas Cooper, South Carolina ; Rich, 
 ard Rush, Philadelphia ; Professor Francis Wayland, Providence, Rhode 
 Island; Albert Oallatin, New York; Rev. Stephen Olin, Boydton, Vir- 
 ginia; Philip Lindsley, Nashville, Tennessee; Professor Davis, Char- 
 lottesville, Virginia. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 
 \YASHINGTON, July 19, 1838. 
 
 SIR : By the will of James Smithson, late of London, 
 deceased, property to a considerable amount was bequeathed 
 to the United States, for the purpose, as expressed in the 
 language of the will, of " founding at Washington, under 
 the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment 
 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 The United States having, under the authority of an act 
 of Congress, approved the 1st of July, 1836, accepted the 
 legacy, pledged their faith for the performance of the trust, 
 in such manner as Congress may hereafter direct, and re- 
 covered the proceeds of the bequest, to the amount of about 
 one hundred thousand pounds sterling, the President is 
 anxious, in presenting the subject to Congress for their con- 
 sideration and action upon it, to aid his judgment by con- 
 sulting the views of persons versed in science and in mat- 
 ters relating to public education, as to the mode of apply- 
 ing the proceeds of the bequest, which shall be likely at 
 once to meet the wishes of the testator, and prove most 
 advantageous to mankind. 
 
 The President will be pleased to have, if agreeable to you 
 to give it, the result of your reflections on the subject, com- 
 municated through this Department, at as early a day as 
 -convenient. 
 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTE. 
 
 837 
 
838 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Letter from Thomas Cooper. 
 
 COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, July 20, 1838. 
 
 SIR : With respect to the Smithson legacy, two courses 
 only suggest themselves to my mind ; one, annual premiums 
 for the best treatises on given subjects, which we have not 
 literary and scientific men enough to supply or to enter into 
 anything like competition with the Briclgewater Treatises, 
 and, therefore, we should only be disgraced by it; and, 
 therefore, I cannot recommend this mode of application. 
 Add to which, it would be very apt to degenerate into a 
 political and party institution, in various ways. The other 
 is an institution of the character of an university. I arn 
 well aware the power of erecting an university was twice 
 refused to Congress, in the convention of 1787. But the 
 objection may be gotten over by transferring the donation 
 to the corporation of Georgetown, under such limitations as 
 may be expedient and constitutional, and let an university 
 be instituted by that corporation. This would be a suffi- 
 cient approximation to Mr. Smithson's required locality, 
 and would obviate the constitutional objection. 
 
 Such an university ought not to be opened, except to 
 graduates of other colleges. The studies might be the 
 higher algebraical calculus ; the application of mathematics 
 to practical mechanical knowledge of every description, and 
 to astronomy, to chemistry, electricity, and galvanism ; the 
 principles of botany and agriculture. No Latin or Greek ; 
 no mere literature. Things, not words. 
 
 Strict attendance ; strict and public examinations. I ob- 
 ject to all belles-lettres, and philosophical literature, as calcu- 
 lated only to make men pleasant talkers. I object to 
 medicine, which cannot be well taught in a locality of less 
 than 100,000 inhabitants. 
 
 I object to law; for all that can be orally delivered can 
 be more profitably and deliberately learnt by perusal. 
 Ethics and politics are as yet unsettled branches of knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 Whether physiology and political economy ought to be 
 rejected, requires more consideration than I can at this 
 moment bestow. I want to see those studies cultivated, 
 which, in their known tendencies and results, abridge 
 human labor, and increase and multiply the comforts of 
 existence to the great mass of mankind. Public education 
 should be useful, not ornamental. 
 
 The course should not be less than three years, of ten 
 months each. The instruction afforded gratis; examinations 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 839 
 
 for admission rigid. Such, in few words, are my notions 
 on this subject, which I respectfully submit, sir, to your 
 better judgment. 
 
 Accept, I pray you, the assurances of my sincere and high 
 consideration. 
 
 THOMAS COOPER, M. D. 
 
 Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Secretary of State. 
 
 Letter from Francis Wayland. 
 
 PROVIDENCE, October 2, 1838. 
 
 SIR : In reply to your communication dated July last, 
 requesting my views respecting the Smithsonian Institute, I 
 beg leave to state as follows : 
 
 1. It is, I suppose to be taken for granted, that this Insti- 
 tution is intended for the benefit not of any particular 
 section of the United States, but for the benefit of the whole 
 country ; and, also, that no expense, which may be neces- 
 sary in order to accomplish its object, will be spared. 
 
 2. I think it also evident, that there is no need, in this 
 country, of what may be properly termed collegiate education; 
 that is, of that education which may be given between the 
 ages of fourteen or sixteen, and eighteen or twenty. All 
 the old States, and many of the new ones, have as many 
 institutions of this kind as their circumstances require. 
 And, besides, since persons of the ages specified are too 
 young to be, for a long period, absent from home, it is 
 probably better that a large number of such institutions 
 should be established within convenient distances of each 
 other. The age of the pupils in these institutions would 
 also render it desirable that very large numbers be not asso- 
 ciated together. 
 
 3. It is probable that professional schools that is, schools 
 for divinity, law, and medicine will be established in every 
 section of our country. Divinity must be left to the difter- 
 ent Christian sects ; law will probably be taught in the 
 State, or, at least, the district, in which it is to be practiced. 
 The same will, I think, be true of medicine. 
 
 4. If the above views be correct, it will, I think, follow, 
 that the proper place to be occupied, by such an institution 
 would be the space between the close of a collegiate educa- 
 tion and a professional school. Its object would be to carry 
 forward a classical and philosophical education beyond the 
 point at which a college now leaves it, and to give instruc- 
 
-840 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 tion in the broad and philosophical principles of a profes- 
 sional education. 
 
 The demand for such instruction now exists very exten- 
 sively. A very considerable portion of our best scholars 
 now graduate as early as their nineteenth, twentieth, or 
 twenty-first year. If they are sufficiently wealthy they pre- 
 fer to wait a year before studying their profession. Some 
 travel, some read, some remain as resident graduates, and 
 many more teach school for a year or two, for the purpose 
 of reviewing their studies. These would gladly resort to 
 an institution in which their time might be profitably em- 
 ployed. The rapidly increasing wealth of our country will 
 very greatly increase the number of such students. 
 
 The advantages which would result from such an institu- 
 tion are various. It would raise up and send abroad in the 
 several professions a new grade of scholars, and thus greatly 
 add to the intellectual power of the nation. But, specially, 
 it would furnish teachers, professors, and officers, of every 
 grade, for all our other institutions. As the standard of 
 education was thus raised in the colleges, students would 
 enter the national university better prepared. This would 
 require greater effort on the part of its professors, and thus 
 both would reciprocally stimulate each other. 
 
 The branches which should be tarfght there, I suppose, 
 should be the same as in our colleges, only far more gener- 
 ously taught that is, taught to men, and not to boys and 
 the philosophical principles of law and medicine. This 
 would embrace lectures on Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and the 
 Oriental languages ; all the modern languages of any use to 
 the scholar, with their literature; mathematics, carried as 
 far as any one would desire to pursue them ; astronomy, 
 engineering, civil and military ; the art of war, beginning 
 where it is left at West Point; chemistry; geology; min- 
 ing; rhetoric and poetry; political economy; intellectual 
 philosophy ; ' physiology, vegetable and animal ; anatomy, 
 human and comparative ; history ; the laws of nations ; and 
 the general principles of law, the Constitution of the United 
 States, &c. 
 
 5. Supposing such an institution to be established, some- 
 thing may be added respecting the mode of its constitution 
 and organization. 
 
 I suppose, then, that an institution of this kind is a sort 
 of copartnership between the instructors and the public. 
 The public furnish means of education, as building, libra- 
 ries, apparatus, and a portion of the salary. The professors 
 do the labor, and provide for the remaining part of their 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 841 
 
 income by their own exertions. Hence there arises natu- 
 rally a division of the powers and duties of the parties. To 
 the corporation, or governors, or trustees, or by what name 
 they may be called, would belong the management of the 
 fiscal concerns of the institution, and the control of that 
 portion of its affairs which depended specially upon its re- 
 lation with the public donation. The government of the 
 institution, the conferring of degrees, the appointment of 
 professors, would be performed jointly by the officers of 
 instruction and the corporation. 
 
 In the English universities, the government of the insti- 
 tution is vested in a general meeting of the former gradu- 
 ates. This forms a literary public, which exercises ultimate 
 jurisdiction in most matters which require deliberation. 
 How far such an institution might be cohstructed upon this 
 principle, may be fairly a question. 
 
 6. If the above-mentioned views should be adopted, it 
 will be perceived that no funds will be required for dormi- 
 tories. The young menwill provide for themselves board 
 and lodging wherever they please, and the professors will 
 be responsible for nothing more than their education. It is 
 supposed that they are old enough to govern themselves. 
 
 Hence the funds may be devoted to the following pur- 
 poses : 
 
 1st. A part would be appropriated to the creation of a 
 library, cabinets, and for the furnishing of all the apparatus 
 necessary to the instructors. 
 
 2d. A part to the erection of buildings for the above pur- 
 poses, together with buildings for professors' houses. 
 
 3d. A fund would be established for the endowment of 
 professorships, giving to each so much as may form a por- 
 tion, say one-third or one-half, of his living, and the rest to 
 be provided for by the sale of the tickets to his courses. 
 
 7. If the institution is governed by a board ; this board 
 should be appointed by the President and Senate, or by the 
 President alone, and they should hold their office for no 
 longer a period than six years, one-third of them retiring, 
 unless reappointed, every two years. 
 
 8. Graduates of the university should be allowed to teach 
 classes and receive payment for tickets, upon any of the 
 subjects on which instruction is given in the regular course. 
 This will prove a strong stimulant to the regular professors, 
 and will train men up for teachers. 
 
 Degrees should never be conferred as a matter of course, 
 but only after a strict and public examination. They should 
 
842 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSOITS BEQUEST. 
 
 never be conferred either in course, or causa honoris, unless 
 by the recommendation of the faculty. 
 
 I have thus very briefly, but as far as my avocations would 
 allow, thrown together a few hints upon the subject to which 
 you have directed my attention. That I should go into de- 
 tail, I presume, was not expected. Whatever may be the 
 plan adopted, I presume it will not be carried into effect 
 until an extensive observation of the best universities in 
 Europe has furnished the Government with all the knowl- 
 edge which the present condition of the science of education 
 can afford. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 F. WAYLAND. 
 
 Hon. J. FORSYTE; Secretary of State. 
 
 Letter from John Qaincy Adams. 
 
 QUINCY, October 8, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I duly received your letter, dated in July last, ex- 
 pressing the desire of the President of the United States to 
 consult the views of persons versed in science and in matters 
 relating to public education, as to the modes of applying 
 the proceeds of the Smithsonian bequest, to meet the wishes 
 of the testator, and which may prove most advantageous to 
 mankind, with a view to present to Congress the subject, 
 for their consideration and action upon it. 
 
 Having been the chairman of the committee of the House 
 of Representatives, and reporter of the bill which became 
 the act of July 1, 1836, relating to this bequest, in which 
 act the faith of the United States is pledged for the appli- 
 cation of the funds, placed by the founder of this Institu- 
 tion at their disposal, to the promotion of the great object 
 of his munificence, the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men, I have waited with anxious expectation the 
 consummation of the first requisite for the accomplishment 
 of the purpose, the recovery of the fund itself, aware that, 
 until that should be effected, all speculation upon the most 
 suitable appropriation of the proceeds would be premature. 
 It is with the warmest satisfaction that I have learned the 
 successful attainment of this preliminary end. 
 
 When, at the last session of Congress, provision was 
 made, by the sixth section of an act making appropriations 
 for the West Point Academy, for the temporary investment 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITIISON'S BEQUEST. 843 
 
 of the Smithsonian bequest, I regretted, first, that this pro- 
 vision was made not in a separate bill, but as an appendage 
 to one with which it had no proper connection ; secondly,, 
 that the investment should be directed in stocks of States 
 and, thirdly, that it should give to the Secretary of the 
 Treasury a discretionary power to invest the fund, at a 
 yearly interest of five per cent., at the very time when the 
 (Government itself of the United States was issuing Treas- 
 ury notes at the rate of six per cent. Whatever may have 
 been the occasion or the design of these arrangements, it 
 was impossible to evade the remarks, that here was a de- 
 duction of one per cent, a year from the free gift of a noble- 
 minded foreigner, for the most exalted of purposes, to be- 
 stow it, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 upon some favorite State. This did not appear to me to be 
 an appropriation of the fund to the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men, nor did it lead me to augur 
 very well of the sequel. 
 
 This, however, was but a temporary investment of the 
 fund, which, I was willing to hope, would under no con- . 
 sideration be made permanent. In the report of the com- 
 mittee to the House of Representatives, accompanying the 
 bill which authorized the President to take the necessary 
 measures for recovering the fund, I had set forth, in very 
 explicit language, my sense of the duties which devolved 
 upon the Government of the United States by their accept- 
 ance, in behalf of the nation, of this bequest; and, with 
 the same views, I introduced into the bill a pledge of the 
 faith of the United States, that the fund should be applied 
 to the generous purpose of the testator. 
 
 Before leaving Washington last July, I took the liberty- 
 of calling upon the President, and of expressing to him my 
 earnest hope that, in the interval before the next session of 
 Congress, he would be prepared with some plan for the 
 permanent safe keeping and security, unimpaired, of the 
 fund itself, by an investment which would yield a certain 
 income as large as the ordinary interest of the country, and 
 for appropriating that income to the object of the testator 
 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 I was kindly received by the President, who assured me 
 of his readiness to take into consideration any suggestions 
 which I might be disposed to make on the subject, or those 
 of any other person whom I might recommend. 
 
 Thus encouraged, I gave him freely the views which I 
 entertained with regard to fixing the permanency of the 
 fund, unimpaired, and to suitable objects of application for 
 
844 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SM1THSON ? S BEQUEST. 
 
 its annual income. The opinions which I gave were general, 
 and of course not matured. Further reflection since that 
 time has but slightly modified them, and I have not since 
 had the opportunity of consulting with any person in my 
 own judgment qualified to give counsel, at once judicious 
 and perfectly disinterested, for the disposal of the fund. 
 
 The provision made at the last session of Corigress was 
 made merely for an investment for a few months, that the 
 fund should, after the arrival of the money in this country, 
 not remain unoccupied, even until the next session of Con- 
 gress. The object now first deserving attention will be to 
 secure the permanency of the fund entire; for which pur- 
 pose, I must indulge the hope that it will not be intrusted to 
 any bank, nor loaned upon any pledge of State stocks. 
 
 I should greatly prefer that it should be disposed of as 
 was the fund of one hundred thousand dollars which had 
 been held by the President of the United States, in trust for 
 an annuity of six thousand dollars, payable to the Seneca 
 Indians. By the act of February 19, 1831, the whole fund 
 was placed to the credit of the Department of War, and 
 the duty of making the annual payment to the Seneca tribe 
 was assigned to the Secretary. In the present case, the 
 whole fund might pass to the credit of the Treasury of the 
 United States, and the annual payment be directed to be 
 made by the Secretary of the Treasury. The fund of course 
 to be redeemable at the discretion of Congress, and other- 
 wise invested for the objects of the Institution. 
 
 This would give an annual appropriation of 30,000 dol- 
 lars, and, to keep the fund permanently unimpaired, the 
 annual appropriation should be confined to that sum. 
 
 I think that no part of the money should be applied to 
 the endowment of any school, college, university, or eccle- 
 siastical establishment ; to no institution for the education 
 of youth, for that is a sacred obligation, binding upon the 
 people of this Union themselves, at their own expense and 
 charge, and for which it would be unworthy of them to 
 accept an eleemosynary donation from any foreigner whom- 
 soever. Nor do I believe it to have been strictly within 
 the intention of the testator. For the immediate object of 
 the education of youth is not the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men, but the instruction of children in 
 that which is already known. Its result is doubtless to dif- 
 fuse, and may be to increase, knowledge among men ; and 
 so is apprenticeship to trades, and so is the tillage of the 
 ground ; and so was to the ancient shepherds of Egypt and 
 Ohaldea the nightly keeping of their flocks, for it enabled 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 845- 
 
 them, by the habitual observation of the stars, to trace their 
 courses to some of the sublimest discoveries of astronomy. 
 Nor could the application of the fund to any ecclesiasti- 
 cal or religious establishment be a proper fulfilment of the 
 testator's intention. The people of the United States have 
 also religious duties to perform, for the charge and discharge 
 of which they should not consent to be tributary, even in 
 gratitude, to the bounty of any foreigner. The preaching 
 of the gospel, like the education of youth, promotes the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge ; but the worship of God, 
 and the fulfilment of moral duties to man, the special ob- 
 ject of religious institutions, do not so much import the in- 
 crease of knowledge as the right use of what is known. 
 
 I suggested to the President that annual courses of lec- 
 tures on the principal sciences, physical and mathematical, 
 moral, political, and literary, to be delivered not by perma- 
 nent professors, but by persons annually appointed, with a 
 liberal compensation for each course, were among the 
 means well adapted to the end of increasing and diffusing 
 knowledge among men. 
 
 But the great object of my solicitude would be to guard 
 against the cancer of almost all charitable foundations 
 jobbing for parasites, and sops for hungry incapacity. For 
 the economical management of the fund, and the periodical 
 application of it to appropriate expenditures, it should be 
 invested in a board of trustees, to consist partly of members 
 of both Houses of Congress, with the Secretaries of the De- 
 partments, the Attorney General, the Mayor of the city of 
 Washington, and one or more inhabitants of the District of 
 Columbia, to be incorporated as trustees of the Smithsonian 
 fund, with a secretary and treasurer in one person, and to 
 be the only salaried person of the board ; to be appointed 
 for four years, and to be capable of reappointrnent, but re- 
 moval for adequate cause by a majority of the board. Into 
 details it is unnecessary to enter. 
 
 The first object of appropriation, however, in my judg- 
 ment, should be the erection of an astronomical observatory, 
 for all the purposes of the Greenwich Observatory, in Eng- 
 land, and the Bureau des Longitudes, in France. This alone 
 would absorb the annual income of the fund for seven years 
 and will form the subject of another letter. 
 
 I am, with great respect, sir, your very obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 JOHN FORSYTII, Esq., 
 
 Secretary of State of the United States. 
 
$46 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Letter from John Quincy Adams. 
 
 QUINCY, October 11, 1838. 
 
 SIR : I have reserved for a separate letter what I pro- 
 posed to say in recommending the erection and establish- 
 ment of an astronomical observatory at Washington, as one 
 and the first application of the annual income from the 
 Smithsonian bequest, because of all that I have to say I 
 deem it by far the most important, and because having for 
 many years believed that the national character of our coun- 
 try demanded of us the establishment of such an institution, 
 as a debt of honor to the cause of science and to the world 
 of civilized man. I have hailed with cheering hope this 
 opportunity of removing the greatest obstacle which has 
 hitherto disappointed the earnest wishes that I have enter- 
 tained of witnessing, before my own departure for another 
 world, now near at hand, the disappearance of a stain upon 
 our good name, in the neglect to provide the means of in- 
 creasing and diffusing knowledge among men, by a sys- 
 tematic and continued scientific series of observations on 
 the phenomena of the numberless worlds suspended over our 
 heads the sublimest of the physical sciences, and that in 
 which the field of future discovery is as unbounded as the 
 universe itself. I allude to the continued and necessary 
 expense of such an establishment. 
 
 In my former letter I proposed that to preserve entire 
 and unimpaired the Smithsonian fund, as the principal of a 
 perpetual annuity, the annual appropriations from its pro- 
 ceeds should be strictly confined to its annual income. 
 That, assuming the amount of the fund to be five hundred 
 thousand dollars, it should be so invested as to secure a per- 
 manent yearly income of thirty thousand ; and that it should 
 he committed to an incorporated board of trustees, with a 
 secretary and treasurer, the only person of the board to re- 
 ceive a pecuniary compensation from the fund. 
 
 On the 18th of March, 1826, Mr. C. F. Mercer, chairman 
 of a select committee of the House of Representatives of 
 the United States, reported to that House a bill for the erec- 
 tion of a national observatory at the city of Washington, 
 together with sundry documents containing estimates of the 
 cost of erecting the buildings necessary for such an estab- 
 lishment, for the instruments and books which it would re- 
 quire, and for the compensation of a principal astronomer, 
 two assistants, and two attendants. These estimates of ex- 
 pense were, however, prepared upon the principal of pro- 
 viding the establishment at the smallest possible expense 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 847 
 
 to which end it was proposed that it should be attached to 
 the Engineer's office, in the Department of War, and that 
 the mathematical and astronomical instruments already 
 belonging to that Department should be transferred to the 
 use of the observatory. All this must of course be other- 
 wise arranged, if the President and Congress should approve 
 the proposal of establishing the observatory on the Smith- 
 sonian foundation. But that document contains much val- 
 uable information, which may be made available whenever 
 an observatory shall be erected. It is No. 124, House docu- 
 uments of the first session of the 19th Congress. 
 
 In the estimate of expenses at that time, by the Chief 
 Engineer, he assigned for the necessary buildings only 
 14,500 dollars. But as it is desirable that the principal 
 building, the observatory itself, should be, for the pur- 
 poses of observation, unsurpassed by any other edifice con- 
 structed for the same purposes, I would devote one year's 
 interest from the fund to the construction of the buildings; 
 .a second and third, to constitute a fund from the income of 
 which the salaries of the astronomer, his assistants and at- 
 tendants, should be paid ; a fourth and fifth, for the neces- 
 sary instruments and books ; a sixth and seventh, for a fund 
 from the income of which the expense should be defrayed of 
 publishing the ephemeris of observations, and a yearly nauti- 
 cal almanac. These appropriations may be so distributed 
 as to apply a part of the appropriation of each year to each 
 of those necessary expenditures ; but for an establishment 
 so complete as may do honor in all time alike to the testa- 
 tor and his trustees, the United States of America, I cannot 
 reduce my estimate of the necessary expenses below two 
 hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 My principles for this disposal of the funds are these : 
 
 1st. That the most complete establishment of an astrono- 
 mical observatory in the world should be founded by the 
 United States of America; the whole expense of which, 
 both its first cost, and its perpetual maintenance, should be 
 amply provided for, without costing one dollar either to the 
 people or to the principal sum of the Smithsonian bequest. 
 
 2d. That by providing from the income alone of the fund, 
 a supplementary fund, from the interest of which all the 
 salaries shall be paid, and all the annual expenses of publica- 
 tion shall be defrayed, the fund itself would, instead of being 
 impaired accumulate with the lapse of years. I do most 
 fervently wish that this principle might be made the fun- 
 demental law, now and hereafter, so far as may be practi- 
 cable, of all the appropriations of the Smithsonian bequest. 
 
848 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 3d. That, by the establishment of an observatory upon 
 the largest and the most liberal scale, and providing for the 
 publication of a yearly nautical almanac, knowledge will be 
 diffused among men, the reputation of our country will rise 
 to honor and reverence among the civilized nations of the 
 earth, and our navigators and mariners on every ocean be 
 no longer dependent on English or French observers or 
 calculators, for the tables indispensable to conduct their 
 path upon the deep. 
 
 In the document to which I have above referred, there is 
 a letter from Mr. de Wallenstein, then attached to the Rus- 
 sian legation in this country; a report from Major Kearney, 
 of the topographical engineers ; and extracts from a me- 
 moir of Mr. Francis Baily, respecting a new method of 
 determining the longitude ; all of which contain precious 
 information, both of facts and of encouragement to the 
 application of a strenuous and persevering effort, on the part 
 of the Government of the United States, to contribute their 
 effective aid, by this establishment, to the progress of phys- 
 ical and mathematical science. When the opportunity for 
 this is afforded by the munificence of a foreigner, without 
 needing the taxation of a dollar upon the people, I cannot 
 forego the hope that this opportunity will not be lost, be- 
 lieving that, of all the physical sciences, there is none for 
 the cultivation of which brighter rewards of future discov- 
 ery are reserved for the ingenuity and industry of man, 
 than practical astronomy. 
 
 There is appended to the same Congressional document 
 a memorial to Congress from William Allen, president of 
 Bowdoin College, and sundry other distinguished citizens 
 of the State of Maine, praying for the establishment, at the 
 charge of the nation, of an astronomical observatory in the 
 town of Brunswick, in that State ; and a memorial of Mr. 
 Hassler, recommending two observatories one in Maine 
 and one in Louisiana." The memorial from Maine urges 
 with great force and elegance some of the general consider- 
 ations pointing to the usefulness and importance of an 
 astronomical observatory in the western hemisphere. But 
 it is doubtful, at least, whether any application of the 
 Smithsonian bequest can, in fulfillment of the testator's 
 will, be located otherwise than in the city of Washington ; 
 and if hereafter Congress should ever be disposed to appro- 
 priate any portion of the national funds to these elevated 
 purposes, observatories may be erected in Maine, or Louis- 
 iana, or both, which may be auxiliary to the labors of the 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 849 
 
 Smithsonian Institution at Washington, without in any 
 manner interfering with its pursuits. 
 
 If the President should approve and give the weight of 
 his recommendations to those suggestions, I have no doubt 
 they will receive the sanction of Congress at their next 
 session. As I propose the appropriation for seven success- 
 ive years of all the income from the fund to this special 
 object, there will be ample time for considering the best 
 manner of appropriating the same income afterwards to 
 permanent establishments for increasing and diffusing knowl- 
 edge among men. Nothing could be more easy than to 
 dispose of a fund ten times as large, without encroaching 
 upon the proper sphere of any school, college, university, or 
 academy. Not so easy will it be to secure, as from a rattle- 
 snake's fang, the fund and its income, forever, from being 
 wasted and dilapidated in bounties to feed the hunger or 
 fatten the leaden idleness of mountebank projectors, and 
 shallow and worthless pretenders to science. 
 
 Since I began this letter, I have conferred with Mr. Ban- 
 croft, the collector of the customs at Boston, concerning its 
 object, who has promised to communicate his views of the 
 subject to the President. I may, perhaps, after consultation 
 with others, again address you in relation to it before my 
 departure for Washington. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 JOHN FORSYTE, Esq., 
 
 Secretary of State of the United States, Washington. 
 
 Letter from JRichard Rush. 
 
 SYDENHAM, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, November 6, 1838. 
 SIR : .Referring to your letter of July, the receipt of which 
 I had the honor to acknowledge, and desiring now to meet 
 the wishes it conveys, however sincerely distrustful I am of 
 myself in attempting the task, I proceed to remark : That 
 a university or college, in the ordinary sense, or any insti- 
 tution looking to primary education, or to the instruction 
 of the young merely, does not strike me as the kind of in- 
 stitution contemplated by Mr. Srnithson's will ; declaring it, 
 in language simple, yet of the widest import, to be " for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," and 
 making the United States the trustee of his intentions, it 
 seems to follow that it ought to be as comprehensive as 
 
 54 
 
850 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 possible in its objects and means, as it must necessarily be 
 national in its government. In turning my thoughts to the 
 subject, it is, therefore, only upon a basis the most compre- 
 hensive, under all views, that I can think of any general 
 plan for its organization. Hence it appears to me : 
 
 1. That even officers of the United States, abroad and at 
 home, might be made subservient to some of the main ob- 
 jects of the institution as their consuls, naval and military 
 officers ; and, I would add, their foreign ministers. 
 
 Consuls, by their residence in foreign ports, have oppor- 
 tunities of becoming acquainted with the natural history 
 and productions of the places where they reside, and learn- 
 ing other things useful to be known. This class of officers 
 had instructions, at a former period of the Government, to 
 send home seeds, plants, and other productions, beneficial 
 to agriculture, manufactures, or any of the useful arts. But 
 their efforts were frustrated or impeded for wunt of a fund 
 to defray incidental expenses, which, however small, con- 
 stitutional scruples existed against providing. The Smith- 
 sonian fund might supply the means of renewing such 
 instructions, giving to them more scope as well as efficacy. 
 
 Our naval officers, those especially in separate commands 
 on foreign stations, must have opportunities of gaining 
 knowledge in other spheres than those to be filled by their 
 usual reports to the Navy Department : and the same may 
 be said of officers of the army, in regard to the War De- 
 partment. Many of the latter, by their stations at garrisons, 
 or employment otherwise in remote and unexplored parts 
 of our country, have the means, as past instances testify, of 
 collecting facts bearing upon its geology, its natural history 
 in all branches, its antiquities, and the character of its abo- 
 riginal races ; the communication of which might advanta- 
 geously fall in with the purposes of this institution, and be 
 ultimately promulgated through its instrumentality. 
 
 I propose to include, also, ministers plenipotentiary among 
 the functionaries who might serve the institution, and, 
 through it, the general public, on this occasion. By their 
 power of commanding the best intercourse in the several 
 communities to which they are sent, they may open to 
 themselves avenues to knowledge of all kinds ; the trans- 
 mission of which to the institution, under executive instruc- 
 tions to that effect, might often prove of high value. It 
 would not be expected from them but at convenient inter- 
 vals, and never when interfering with their primary duties. 
 When an appropriate channel was opened for receiving 
 communications of this nature, they would become, it may 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 851 
 
 be presumed, an agreeable appendage to the primary duties 
 of our ministers, affording a resource for their leisure, with 
 opportunities of a more enlarged usefulness to their country, 
 and fame to themselves. Permanent missions were once 
 objected to by Mr. Jefferson, as not within the true theory 
 of our foreign intercourse, which seems to countenance the 
 more a proposal for connecting with them the honorable 
 appendage suggested, since neither official dignity nor use- 
 fulness can ever be impaired, though both may be height- 
 ened, by co-association with knowledge in other fields. 
 
 2. A building to be erected at Washington, with accom- 
 modations for the business of the institution. Ground to 
 be attached to it, sufficient for reproducing seeds and plants, 
 with a view to diffusing through the country such as might 
 be found to deserve it. The officers of the institution to be 
 a director, a secretary, a librarian, and a treasurer. Persons 
 to be under them to take care of the building and grounds. 
 The officers to be appointed by the President and Senate. 
 The director to make an annual report to Congress on the 
 state of the institution, andoftener if necessary. Its affairs 
 to be subject to the visitation of the President, aided by a 
 standing board, to consist of the chief officers of the Gov- 
 ernment, say, taking the example of a law already in the 
 statute book in relation to the finances, the Vice-President, 
 the Chief Justice, the Secretaries of State and the Treasury, 
 and the Attorney General. The institution to have its press, 
 as the University of Oxford, or otherwise authority to em- 
 ploy one for printing communications sent to it, and the 
 lectures to be presently mentioned. Nothing to be printed 
 but under the sanction of the director and standing board 
 of visitors. To this and other ends, for the good govern- 
 ment of the institution, the standing board to have the 
 right to call in the assistance of three or more scientific or 
 literary persons unconnected with it. The profits arising 
 from all publications to go in aid of the funds of the insti- 
 tution. Communications from learned societies, or from 
 individuals eminent in science or letters, in whatever part 
 of the world, to be received by the director, and taken 
 charge of by the secretary. The director to be authorized 
 to correspond with any such societies or persons. A coun- 
 cil to assemble once a month, to consist of the officers of 
 the institution and the lecturers attached to it, before which 
 all communications to be laid. Order to be then taken upon 
 them. Such as go upon the archives, with a view to the 
 question of publication, to be brought under the considera- 
 tion of the standing board of visitors at the proper time, 
 
852 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON S BEQUEST. 
 
 when that question will be decided. The director to preside 
 at these councils, at the meetings of the standing board of 
 visitors, and at all other meetings required by the business 
 of the institution ; and the secretary to keep the minutes. 
 The standing board of visitors to hold stated meetings twice 
 a year, and assemble on other occasions when they deem it 
 necessary. At the commencement of the institution, the 
 duties of librarian and treasurer to be united in the same 
 person. 
 
 3. Lectureships to be established, comprehending as many 
 of the leading branches of physical and moral science as 
 the funds of the institution may be able to bear. Apparatus 
 to be provided for the branches requiring it. One of the 
 lectureships to be dedicated to government and public law. 
 When conflicting opinions on government are raging in the 
 world, to have the democratic principle, as modified by our 
 systems of representation, and the conjoint workings of the 
 federative and national principle, illustrated in elementary 
 disquisitions, apart from temporary topics and passions, is a 
 desideratum which the Smithsonian Institution might sup- 
 ply. Such productions seem due to mankind, as to our- 
 selves, imperfectly described as our institutions have been, 
 through adverse feelings in the writers ; it having generally 
 fared with us as the cause of Roman liberty fared in the hands 
 of royal historians. Rarely can foreigners, however enlight- 
 ened, be equal to the task of justly analyzing the complicated 
 movements, unintelligible to hasty observers, yet full of 
 harmony, that maintain the order, prosperity, and freedom, 
 of this great confederated republic, under guards combin- 
 ing the efficacy of popular sovereignty with its safety. 
 Authentic explanations of them, all issuing from this insti- 
 tution, at an age when steam is quickening all intercourse 
 throughout the world, would give new motives for listening 
 to^the doctrines and results of the democratic principle in 
 this hemisphere. So expounded, it would go before the 
 world without disparagement, and be fairly judged by its 
 results. Under public law, the tenets of America, now 
 locked up in diplomacy, or otherwise hidden or overlooked 
 in Europe, might^come into useful publicity ; her proposals 
 to Europe to abolish privateering, and prohibit, public ships 
 from capturing merchant vessels upon the ocean, thus for- 
 ever stripping war of more than half its evils upon that 
 element a stride in civilization to transcend, whenever it 
 may be made, the West India abolition act ; her resistance, 
 single-handed, against the enforcement of British municipal 
 law upon the ocean, as seen in the individual miseries and 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 853 
 
 national violations involved in the feudal claim of impress- 
 ment, and her desire, shown in other ways, for freeing the 
 international code from barbarous relics, whereby this in- 
 stitution, working in its orbit of calm discussion, might 
 become the ally of America towards gaining for these great 
 public benefactions, and others, the growth of our institu- 
 tions, in our days, (so maligned for retaining the domestic 
 servitude bequeathed to them by our progenitors,) favor 
 and acceptance among nations. The steady abhorrence ex- 
 pressed by this Government against employing savages in 
 warfare between civilized and Christian States, and its 
 abortive negotiations to prevent it, would further illustrate 
 the harmonizing policy of America. Such are samples of 
 the maxims that might claim elucidation from an institution 
 reared under the sanction of this republic, and thence, by 
 the principle of its existence, desirous of doing justice to 
 them, examined in juxtaposition with those taught in the 
 ancient and cloistered seminaries of the old world, and 
 upheld by its Governments. 
 
 The other lectureships, and the foregoing, might be made 
 to yield, each in its proper field, contributions to " the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." I am 
 aware that voluntary lectureships have not always been 
 found to succeed. But in the foundation of these, consider- 
 ing the time and all concomitant circumstances, there seems 
 reasonable ground for anticipating success. The plan 
 would imply that the lecturers be also appointed by the 
 President and Senate. It would imply that their salaries 
 be ample enough to command the best men, and admit of 
 the exclusive devotion of their time to the studies and in- 
 vestigations of their posts. They might even be laid under 
 the restriction of not engaging in other pursuits, as our 
 laws interdict the revenue officers from trading. Genius 
 being of all countries, and the intentions of the founder 
 peculiarly expanded, the range of our own and other coun- 
 tries would be open for selecting the incumbents. The 
 desire of fame, increased by the hope of their lectures being 
 published, might be expected to stimulate them to exertion ; 
 and if incentives so high were wanting, the tenure of their 
 appointments, where the Executive and public eye would 
 be upon them, would act as a guard against slackness in 
 their duties. If knowledge is power, power, directing 
 knowledge, may make it efficacious. The place where the 
 lectures were delivered would impart to them interest and 
 dignity. If delivered when Congress was in session, and 
 not recurring too often, some of the members might be ex- 
 
854 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 pected occasionally to attend; as it change from the turmoil 
 of politics, and possibly a good influence on legislation 
 itself, might grow out of these new intellectual elements 
 gathering about its precincts. To the public functionaries 
 of all sorts, to distinguished foreigners, and to visitors at 
 Washington, as well as its resident inhabitants, the Smith- 
 sonian lectures might prove attractive. It will have been 
 their lot, if established, to spring up when stupendous 
 agents in nature, arid new contrivances in art, are changing 
 the state of the world, in peace and for war ; when this 
 country is taking a conspicuous share in these magnificent 
 innovations, which some of the lectures would doubtless 
 treat of, and when the successful results of its popular in- 
 stitutions hitherto are among the causes at work in modify- 
 ing the political and social condition of other nations. Can 
 it be that, delivered under such circumstances, they would 
 be devoid of interest? Centering in the capital of the 
 Union, to which the eyes of the States are apt to turn with 
 a curiosity both natural and ambitious, may not these lec- 
 tures do their part also, if recommended by ability, towards 
 raising up among us new homage to mental accomplish- 
 ments and renown, those memorials of a nation's glory, 
 when others perish ? 
 
 Each lecturer, at the conclusion of his course, to deposit 
 with the director a copy of his lectures. These to be pub- 
 lished, or not, as determined by the board of visitors. 
 Hence, if the audience in the lecture-rooms proved, after 
 all, to be inconsiderable, the publication of the lectures, 
 when of merit to authorize it, would be fulfilling the 
 intentions of the founder, and the prospect of publication 
 be sufficient to keep up the spirit of the lecturer. We 
 have heard of the Bridge water Treatises, in England, 
 emanating from the provisions of a munificent will. Per- 
 haps it might not be too sanguine to anticipate, in good 
 time, from the Smithsonian lectures, disquisitions doing 
 honor to their authors, and, let it be hoped, to their coun- 
 try, whilst diffusing knowledge among men every where. 
 We have seen, also, the publications that issue from those 
 recently formed associations that hold their annual meetings 
 in Europe, and seem to have made science a fashion there, 
 enrolling statesmen, and nobles, and kings, among its vota- 
 ries. May not the Smithsonian Institution mark an occa- 
 sion for our country to start in this rivalry of mind? The- 
 race among nations is going on, of wealth, of power, and 
 of science; the two first extending as the last extends. An 
 immense achievement, which the present year has finally 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 855 
 
 witnessed, the crossing of the Atlantic by steam, is a revo- 
 lution in human affairs. Distance, once an element in our 
 safety, as in all our relations with the old world, and the 
 basis on which rested essential maxims in our policy, has 
 disappeared. Europe has suddenly become neighbor to us, 
 for good and for evil, involving consequences that baffle all 
 foresight. Our statesmen must wake up to the mighty 
 change. There is no time to lose. They will have to ask 
 themselves what are the parts of our policy to be accom- 
 modated to the change. Our men of science, feeling new 
 excitements from this approximation of the hemispheres, 
 will naturally be on the alert, growing more emulous in 
 their several fields. The continent that Columbus found 
 was a desert, or overspread with barbarous people and in- 
 stitutions. The continent that steam has found teems with 
 civilization, fresh, advancing, and unavoidably innovating 
 upon the old world. The statesmen, the warriors, the 
 active and enterprising men, the whole people of the two 
 worlds, now almost confront each other. It is at such a 
 point in the destinies of America that the Smithsonian 
 Institution comes into being. By their physical resources 
 and power, the United States are well known. Their re- 
 sources of intellectual and moral strength have been more 
 in the back ground ; but may not an auspicious develop- 
 ment of them be aided by an institution like this, rising up 
 in their capital simultaneously with this new condition of 
 things, guarded, as it will be, by the annual watchfulness, 
 fostered 1 by the annual care, and improved, from time to 
 time, by the superintending wisdom of Congress ? 
 
 The usefulness of the institution would doubtless be in- 
 creased, if young men could be regularly educated at it. 
 But here imperious obstacles seem to interpose. If I only, 
 in conclusion, touch this part of the plan, without dilating 
 upon it, it is from a fear that the fund would not bear their 
 maintenance, in connection with what has seemed to me 
 other indispensable objects. Perhaps a limited number who 
 had passed the age of 18, taken equally from the different 
 States, say two from each, under the federative principle, 
 might come to the institution, be formed into a class, and 
 attend its lectures for a couple or three courses ; their 
 expenses to be paid under such restrictions as the Govern- 
 ment might prescribe, and the young men to undergo 
 public examinations at the end of the term, prize medals 
 being awarded by the board of visitors or a committee of 
 Congress, to keep the tone of ambition high. But would 
 the fund bear even this ? Again, I fear not. 
 
85G PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITIISOX'S BEQUEST. 
 
 In the foregoing suggestions as to the nature of the insti- 
 tution, sent to you in compliance with the President's call, 
 J have confined myself to a very general outline and a few 
 reflections. The subject has many aspects, and I have dealt 
 only with some of them, and those partially. It is intrin- 
 sically one on which much diversity of opinion may be 
 expected to prevail, and that hardly any discussion could 
 exhaust. However honored by the President's call, and 
 desirous of responding to it adequately, I have felt incom- 
 petent to the task of going into the arrangements in detail 
 necessary to the complete organization of an institution, 
 designed by its philanthropic founder to be so universal in 
 its scope, so far-reaching in its benefits. It ought to have 
 all the simplicity compatible with its ends ; but these are 
 momentous, since they may run, by their effects into dis- 
 tant ages. It is like a new power coming into the republic 
 its means the human mind; its ends still the triumphs of 
 the mind; its fields of glory beneficent and saving a 
 power to give new force to the moral elements of our insti- 
 tutions, helping to illustrate, strengthen, and adorn them. 
 Such, in my humble conception, it is, or may be made. 
 Even as to the brief outline I venture upon, for the plan of 
 such an institution, I must repeat how greatly I distrust 
 myself, sketched as it has been, without consultation with 
 others, giving their thoughts to the same subject, who might 
 have corrected, modified, and improved, my own. If any 
 of these can be turned to the least profit in abler hands, or 
 serve to start better ones in better minds, I shall be amply 
 rewarded. 
 
 I beg to add that this communication would have been 
 sooner sent to you, but for interruptions incident to the first 
 month or two after returning to my home after a two years' 
 absence. 
 
 With great respect, I have the honor to be your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 To JOHN FORSYTH, 
 
 Secretary of Slate of the United States. 
 
 Letter from, S. Chapin. 
 
 COLLEGE HILL, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 26, 1838. 
 SIR : In an interview I had with you sometime since, you 
 desired me to express my views respecting the anticipated 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 857 
 
 Smithsonian Institution. I will therefore attempt to do so, 
 though conscious of my inability to do justice to a subject 
 so important in its character and relations. If it be wisely 
 organized, and supplied with a corps of distinguished pro- 
 fessors in the various departments of learning, it will affect 
 not only the highest interests of our country, but its influ- 
 ence will be felt in foreign lands. Let it go up in a char- 
 acter worthy of its liberal founder, let it be sustained with 
 the zeal and liberality becoming the object and our own 
 reputation, and it will add to our national points of union : 
 in these we are not very rich, and, therefore, should be glad 
 to multiply them, to bind together more firmly the elements 
 of the American confederation. The object of the contem- 
 plated institution is "the cultivation and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among mankind." This object, I believe, is distinctly 
 expressed in the will of Mr. Smithson. In making his will, 
 he probably had his eye upon those modern institutes and 
 universities of Europe, which are designed, not to teach the 
 first elements of science and letters, but to receive gradu- 
 ates, and men looking forward to professional eminence, 
 for the purpose of advancing them to the highest grades of 
 learning, and thus to give them power to enlarge the boun- 
 daries of knowledge, by fresh discoveries and investigations. 
 We may conclude, then, that he intended his bequest should 
 be applied to the erection of an institution for liberal and 
 professional purposes, and for the promotion of original 
 investigations to carry scholars through a range of studies 
 much above those of the ordinary collegiate course. I am 
 happy to know that this is the opinion of John Quincy 
 Adams, a gentleman whose judgment in the present case is 
 entitled to all respect. 
 
 Admitting that this is to be its object, it is natural to 
 inquire, in the next place, how it should be organized, so as 
 most fully to promote this design. In organizing it, respect 
 should be had to the spirit of the present age, to the genius 
 of our Government, and to our peculiar wants as a nation. 
 It is of vital moment that it should receive such a shaping 
 as will best correspond with all the particulars. Many of 
 the institutions of learning in Europe, in rigidly adhering 
 to systems of government and instruction settled for ages, 
 altogether different from our own, do not send forth men 
 fitted to meet the exigencies of modern society. Though 
 richly endowed, and supplied with teachers of great powers 
 and attainments, they serve for little else than to show the 
 strength of the current that is setting by them. We, at 
 this day, and especially in this country, need men who are 
 
858 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 acquainted with something better than the learning of the 
 ancient schools, men who have studied profoundly the rela- 
 tion of scientific principles to practical purposes, and who 
 can teach their fellow-men how to apply them in advancing 
 the public welfare. 
 
 The general superintendence of the institution may be 
 committed to a board of commissioners, appointed by Gov- 
 ernment, to hold their offices during good behavior, and 
 with power to perpetuate their existence. In this way, the 
 institution would not only be free from the evils of frequent 
 changes and political agitations, but would secure to itself, 
 111 the highest degree, the benefits of personal obligation. 
 These commissioners would feel a deep sense of their respon- 
 sibility, and that their powers and permanency in place were 
 given to them that they might have the best opportunity to 
 make the institution what it ought to be a distinguished 
 honor to their country, and a blessing to the world. 
 
 Let this board of commissioners procure the best men 
 that can be found to fill the several professorships that may 
 be instituted ; and, in order to secure the services of men 
 of the first powers and attainments, to lecture and conduct 
 investigations in their appropriate departments, let their 
 several means to facilitate their studies be ample, and their 
 stated salaries liberal ; and then its public course of lectur- 
 ing will be most fully attended, numbers being allured both 
 by the fame of the professors and the lightness of the fees. 
 It was in consequence of high salaries that the University 
 of Gottingen, in the 18th century, rose to the first eminence 
 in Germany. 
 
 As the funds are not now, nor are they likely to be for 
 some time to come, sufficient to support professorships in 
 the whole circle of science, it will be necessary to make a 
 selection. The temptation will be to undertake too much. 
 A few chairs, well filled and well sustained, would effect 
 more than a number far greater than there are adequate 
 means to support. In deciding upon the branches of 
 knowledge to be taught, I would select those that would 
 make the institution as much American as a regard for gen- 
 eral science will allow. In addition to the ordinary profes- 
 sorships of law, of medicine, of the exact sciences, and 
 physics, of classical literature, and of modern languages, 
 &c., I would have one of the English literature, one of 
 American history, one of American constitutional law and 
 jurisprudence, one of American institutions, one of civil 
 engineering and architecture, one of the practical applica- 
 tion of the exact sciences to the mechanic arts. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 859 k 
 
 You will perceive that I have said nothing about profes- 
 sorships in the department of metaphysics. I would rather 
 leave the whole business of ethical and moral philosophy to- 
 be taught elsewhere, than to introduce it as a distinct course 
 in a national institution of learning. 
 
 Some of the above professorships are of a local and novel 
 character; but this, I trust, will not be urged as an objection 
 against them. The achievement of our independence formed 
 an epoch in the political world. Let, then, the institution 
 of this, our first national university, form an epoch in the 
 republic of science. Much might be said in recommending 
 the branches appropriate to our country. They are such as 
 ought to be adopted, out of a regard to our reputation and 
 to "our present wants and future prospects. What have we 
 done, as yet, to enrich and improve our own tongue ? Be- 
 sides, when we consider that the English language imbodies, 
 perhaps, richer treasures of science and literature than any 
 other, and when we consider that it is spoken by two of the 
 most commercial, enterprising, and powerful nations upon 
 the earth nations which are doing more than any other two 
 that can be named, in forming colonies, and in diffusing 
 knowledge arid the light of Christianity how powerful is 
 the motive to cultivate and carry it to the highest state of 
 refinement and power. 
 
 With regard to buildings, it may be remarked that it 
 would be wisest to erect no more than are necessary for the 
 library, the apparatus, a cabinet of minerals, collection of 
 models, specimens, curiosities, &c., for the accommodation 
 of the professors when lecturing or engaged in their inves- 
 tigations. The scholars, instead of eating in common, 
 might be accommodated in private boarding houses. If 
 this course be pursued, the interest which has accrued and 
 which will accrue on the bequest, before the institution can 
 be organized, w T ill probably be sufficient to erect all the 
 necessary buildings, and leave a handsome sum to be ex- 
 pended upon a library, apparatus, &c., so that the whole of 
 the original donation may be invested for a permanent 
 fund. 
 
 It will be of vital moment that the professors and stu- 
 dents should be rich in the external means of knowledge 
 an extensive and well-chosen library, instruments, appara- 
 tus, models, specimens, &c. Especially would I recommend 
 that there should be an astronomical observatory connected 
 with the institution. The expense of this would not be 
 very great, and the Government are already in possession 
 of many of the requisite instruments. By such means, a> 
 
:860 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITIISON's BEQUEST. 
 
 meridian may be established, not only for our own country 
 but for the western continent. To this all our national sur 
 veys, our charts, &c., may be referred. Astronomica 
 observations might be made, for which our position am 
 climate offer peculiar advantages. There is now no observ 
 atory worth naming in this part of the world. Let, then 
 the American Government now build one, and it will 1101 
 only be an honor to the nation, but it will be a powerfu 
 reason for giving permanency to the present seat of Gov 
 ernment. 
 
 It may not be thought best to employ any artificial meant 
 for stimulants to rivalship, and to seek for literary honors 
 Congress will always have the right of visitation, and the} 
 can, if they please, direct the committee whom they ma} 
 appoint to attend the stated examinations of the varioue 
 classes, to award medals, or some other mark of distinction 
 to those scholars who shall give the best proof of profi- 
 ciency, or the ablest essays on appointed subjects. But il 
 should be remembered that the community at large consti- 
 tute, in fact, the most efficient board of overseers, and thai 
 that institution will be the most honored and frequented, 
 which sends forth the best prepared and the most faithful 
 agents to meet the wants of their country. 
 
 I have the honor, sir, to be yours, with sentiments oi 
 great respect and esteem, 
 
 S. CHAPIN. 
 
 To MARTIN VAN BUREN, 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 Letter from Horatio Hubbdl. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, September 20, 1838. 
 To the President of the United States : 
 
 DEAR SIR : I had the honor sometime past to address you 
 a letter upon the subject of a volunteer navy, which subject 
 I shall, at some future day, resume, and show how it can be 
 effected by means of a steam navy, (if no other way,) which 
 will supercede among civilized nations, every other, in the 
 course of the next thirty years. I now, however, address 
 you upon a subject of more importance than a navy I mean 
 upon the subject of education as that subject arises out of 
 a consideration of the Smithsonian legacy, as it is called. 
 As to that legacy, the first thing that I beg of you, sir, is to 
 guard it sacredly from those cormorants who stand ready 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 861 
 
 upon all occasions to convert everything into a subject of 
 peculation. The Girard College, in this city, is an instance 
 of this avaricious rapacity. It has already cost, in construct- 
 ing the builings, I am most credibly informed, 2,000,000 
 dollars, and will make the fortune of all concerned. I hope it 
 will be a warning. It is melancholy to behold such a violation 
 of the wishes and views of the devisor. It seems to be the 
 mania in this speculating country, that when a college or 
 university is to be founded, the first step to be taken is to 
 lay out the funds in expensive edifices, and that when this is 
 effected, the institution is established. If we, however, 
 consider a university as a seat of learning, and not as a public 
 hotel, we see that something else is requisite besides the 
 erection of palaces and temples. It is under this point of 
 view that I submit with great diffidence the following sug- 
 gestions to your better judgment. The idea that I connect 
 with the notion of an university is, as before suggested, a 
 seat of learning. In order to make it one, such a library 
 should at once be collected as will exceed any now in the 
 United States, will compete with those of Europe, (France 
 and Germany,) and will, in consequence, induce the devotees 
 of science and learning to flock to it from every part of the' 
 country your university will then flourish. The students 
 of that university will progress with rapidity, because their 
 means of acquisition are expanded. You will not only have 
 boys studying there, but men, for it can be made a condi- 
 tion of access to these books that they pay a fee, and become 
 enrolled as members of the institution. The professors of 
 your university will become eminent men and leading teach- 
 ers, because they will have treasures at hand, from which 
 assiduity and diligence can collect indefinitely. Some will 
 tell you you must bring learned professors together to form 
 your institution. Let me say, sir, this is the very way to 
 make them so, by giving them the means and by spurring 
 their emulation as the Germans do, as I shall state directly. 
 No one, except he who has had occasion to pursue a partic- 
 ular branch of study, can feel the utter dearth of books that 
 exists in this country having myself had occasion lately to 
 pursue, some mathematical researches, I had to import two 
 hundred dollars worth of books. In forming and model- 
 ing our institutions I consider, sir, Germany and France as 
 the leading nations of the civilized world on the subject of 
 education.^ The vastncss and richness of their libraries, the 
 number and unwearied industry of their scientific and 
 learned men, the glorious emulation that exists amongst 
 them, and the singular felicity of their methods of instruc- 
 
862 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 tion, have raised them to this splendid elevation. Having 
 been in Germany, and being in constant habits of familiarity 
 with learned Germans, I can speak more particularly of 
 that great country which forms a mighty ganglion in human 
 science. The universities of Germany are generally situa- 
 ted in the smaller towns some in mere villages, or what 
 would be villages without them such, for instance, are 
 Halle and Gottingen. There are no buildings to distin- 
 guish them, except one or two halls for lectures and libra- 
 ries ; the students boarding about amongst the inhabitants. 
 There is no parade of splendid buildings ; the ornaments of 
 these universities are their books, their collections, their 
 apparatus, and the intellect of their eminent and illustrious 
 professors ; how could they be otherwise, with libraries of 
 80,000, 100,000, 2 and 300,000 volumes. The professors are 
 classed into the ordinary, (ordentliche,) and the extra or 
 extraordinary, (ausserordentliche ;) the first are paid by the 
 government, salaries of about $1,500, our mone} T , and they 
 have the right of receiving gratuitous fees from the stu- 
 dents. The extra professors receive no salaries, but depend 
 entirely on gratuitous fees from the students, their diligence 
 and talent frequently carry them ahead of the ordinaries. 
 When a vacancy happens among the ordinary professorships, 
 the extra are next in the line of promotion ; from this 
 arrangement you will perceive there are in a German uni- 
 versity several professors on the same subject those that 
 know the most have the largest attendance, and take the 
 most fees, and consequently the emulation is always stimu- 
 lated, and leads to the most strenuous exertions. There are 
 sometimes upwards of eighty professors in a university ; 
 besides the professors, there are the private dozen answering 
 to our tutors, but with more learning, who depend on fees, 
 and stand next to the extras in the line of promotion. In 
 modeling our university, I should think this plan would be 
 advisable to be adopted. At present, I am not aware that 
 anything can be added on this point ; the library is a thing 
 that cannot, perhaps, be carried to its utmost perfection at 
 once, it must be formed carefully and judiciously but of 
 the five hundred thousand dollars, of which this legacy con- 
 sists Government should not hesitate to lay out at once 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the purchase of 
 books ; this would form a nucleus, to which gradual addi- 
 tions could be made every year. The one hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars could be laid out the most judiciously at 
 the great Leipzig fairs, where almost all the intellectual 
 productions of Europe and America are brought together. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON^S BEQUEST. - 863 
 
 The individuals who control the Girard fund have employed 
 .an individual, at the enormous salary of $4,000 a year, to 
 travel in Europe, to ascertain the best methods of instruc- 
 tion. I will undertake to say, without vanity, that I will 
 .sit here in my office, and from my knowledge of the Ger- 
 man and French languages, I will, in nine months, collect 
 more information on the subject of education, than that in- 
 dividual can or will, and, in addition thereto, I will, without 
 charging Government a cent, except my needful expenses, 
 attend at the fairs of Leipzig, and purchase in Germany and 
 France, a library for the new university, encyclopedic in its 
 character, and for half the price that it could be done in 
 England. The legacy, if I am correctly informed, amounts 
 to $500,000, if thereof $50,000 is devoted to the purchase 
 of apparatus, (the best can be procured in Munich, in Ger- 
 many,) and $150,000 for the library, you will have $300,000 
 to endow ten professorships, at $1,500 salary, arising from 
 the interest, at five per cent, per annum of the $300,000. 
 Congress must supply appropriations to erect a hall for lec- 
 tures and for the library and apparatus, and to endow any 
 other professorship necessary. There should be one profes- 
 sorship of pure mathematics, one of applied mathematics, 
 one of astronomy, one of the other branches of physics, or 
 what we commonly call natural philosophy ; one of natural 
 history, for it is a disgraceful fact that in none of our col- 
 leges do they teach Cuvier, Buffon, Oken, or our own Wil- 
 son and Audubon. One professorship arising out of the 
 last, to wit : for the science of rearing and taking care of 
 all domestic animals and agricultural products. One would 
 suppose that these two last professorships would be of some 
 use in a country whose riches arise from their sheep, their horses, 
 and if not now, in a very short time, from their silk worms. 
 Education begins now to be a synonymous term with the 
 progressive advancement of our race, and of these things 
 men have begun to study the philosophy one of chem- 
 istry, theoretical, one of chemistry, applied to manufacture, 
 one of chemistry applied to agriculture. Let me say, that 
 on this subject professorships cannot be too much multi- 
 plied it is the great lever of the world one of oriental 
 languages,* one of modern languages,f one of Latin and 
 
 *N. B. I would add that our relations begin to multiply with the East 
 in embassies, and our missionaries want the Oriental professorship. 
 
 f Almost every civilized country deems it necessary that their diplomatic 
 agents should be able to converse with the people to whom they are sent : 
 does ours ? Then the professorship of modern European languages would 
 be of use. 
 
864 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Greek, one of philology, criticism, logic, and metaphysics. 
 As an university should embrace the whole round of human 
 science, Congress should come to the aid of the legacy ; you 
 should have a faculty of medicine and law. The faculty of 
 mdicine should embrace, besides surgery, anatomy, botany, 
 practice of medicine, one of physiology and pathology ; the 
 homeopathic materia medica and practice of medicines, besides 
 the old allopathic system, for which, I assure you, sir, as an 
 individual, I have the most sovereign contempt. The old 
 system of therapeutics, I suppose, must be taught for fash- 
 ion's sake, but its hour has tolled. These, sir, are a few of 
 the ideas that have occurred to me relative to the formation 
 of an university. 
 
 I am desirous of seeing my country advance, and we 
 never shall advance unless we found our institutions upon 
 other models than those which such wretched seminaries as 
 
 college and others of the like kind present through our 
 
 country. Let us have an institution where men can be in- 
 structed, and not a grammar school, where even the rudi- 
 ments of learning are badly imbibed. 
 
 I have the honor to remain, dear sir, your friend and fel- 
 low citizen, HORATIO HUBBELL. 
 
 To Hon. MARTIN VAN BUREN, 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 From The Southern Literary Messenger, Richmond,Va., 1838, 
 Vol. 7, p. 828. 
 
 The time is rapidly approaching when the Congress of 
 the United States will be compelled, by considerations too 
 strong to be resisted, to give effect to the munificent bequest 
 of Mr. Smithson, by the establishment of an institute at 
 the seat of the National Government, for the " diffusion of 
 knowledge among men." In view of this important move- 
 ment, and feeling a deep interest in the .successful accom- 
 plishment of a scheme which promises so much benefit to 
 succeeding generations, we have taken the liberty to address 
 various inquiries to an accomplished friend, in relation to 
 Mr. Smithson himself, as well as the proposed institution at 
 Washington. The answer to the first part of our inquiries, 
 relating to the character and philosophical opinions of the 
 testator, we have now the pleasure of spreading before our 
 readers, and we hope, in the January number of the Mes- 
 senger, to furnish our correspondent's views, in detail, of 
 the best system of instruction which can be devised in ful- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON ? S BEQUEST. 865 
 
 fillment of the testator's intentions, and which shall, at the 
 same time, be best adapted to the wants and genius of the 
 American people. Our obliging correspondent, by his con- 
 nection with learned institutions in this country, and famil- 
 iar acquaintance with those in Europe, could have no supe- 
 rior in the accomplishment of the task which we have used 
 the freedom to solicit at his hands. Ed. Lit. Mes. 
 
 LETTER. 
 
 Mr. TH. W. WHITE. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : I received your letter duly, and reply, 
 with much pleasure, at the earliest opportunity. 
 
 The character of the late Mr. Smithson, is certainly very 
 much misunderstood among us. That a man of a philo- 
 sophic turn of mind, of few wants, and a retired habit of 
 life, should in process of time acquire a competent fortune, 
 is not at all strange. As to the way in which he thought 
 n't to dispose of his property, the very act itself bears the 
 mark of a most noble generosity, and is a public token of 
 the opinions of a learned foreigner on our institutions and 
 Government. 
 
 The first duty of an executor, is to perform faithfully the 
 wishes of the testator as far as he can understand them. 
 His acceptance of the trust is his own act. But once having 
 undertaken that task, he is bound by the laws of all socie- 
 ties to proceed to its completion. 
 
 The United States can do nothing in this matter, except 
 what is dictated by the loftiest principles of honor. There 
 is that sensitiveness among us, originating in a feeling of 
 national pride, which shrinks from anything having even 
 the remotest appearance of a misappropriation for self-ag- 
 grandizement. We are an exceedingly wealthy people 
 we need not foreign eleemosynary aid to equip exploring 
 expeditions or erect an astronomical observatory. 
 
 Our general Government has undertaken an important 
 duty. It has received from the hands of an European phi- 
 losopher a certain sum of money, binding itself to apply it, 
 in conformity to his wishes, for the diffusion of useful 
 knowledge. A spectacle so singular has not perhaps been 
 exhibited before. We have undertaken to perform a great 
 duty for our fellow men and for posterity. The eyes of the 
 learned in all parts of the world are upon us it is a point 
 on which national integrity and national honor are con- 
 cerned a point on which party feeling must not bear. We 
 all know that some doubts have been raised as to the pro- 
 priety, or even the power of Government, to do what it has. 
 
 55 
 
366 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITUSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 But what is done, is irrevocable it must not be written in 
 American history, that when this Republic was called upon 
 to aid in the cause of the diffusion of knowledge and virtue 
 among mankind, it made the attempt, and failed from in- 
 competency. 
 
 With the late Mr. Smithson I was never acquainted. He 
 spent much of his time on the continent, and, it is said, was 
 a man of reserved habits. You know already that he cul- 
 tivated with much assiduity chemical pursuits; but very 
 few are aware, that he wrote, to some extent, on these topics. 
 An idea of his feelings and turn of mind may be gathered 
 from these papers. 
 
 His passion for chemistry appears to have commenced 
 early in life, and continued to its close. He seems to have 
 been on terms of familiar acquaintance with Dr. Black, and 
 some of the leading members of the old Scottish school. 
 There is extant a letter from the former gentleman to him, 
 dated 1790 ; its conclusion runs 
 
 " We have no chemical news I am employed in examining the Iceland 
 waters, but have often been interrupted I never heard before of the 
 quartz-like crystals of barytes aerata, nor of the sand and new earth from 
 New Holland. Indistinct reports of new metals have reached us, but no 
 particulars. Some further account of these things from you, will therefore 
 be very agreeable. Dr. Hutton joins me in compliments to you, and wish- 
 ing you all good things, 
 
 " 1 am, dear sir, your faithful, humble servant, 
 
 " JOSEPH BLACK." 
 
 The Dr. Hutton here mentioned, was the same philoso- 
 pher who made so distinguished a figure in Geology, as the 
 antagonist of the celebrated German, Werner. 
 
 At the commencement of the present century, there used 
 to be published in London a monthly scientific journal, 
 known under the name of Nicholson's magazine ; it after- 
 wards gave way to the Annals of Philosophy, commenced 
 about 1813 by Dr. Thomas Thomson. To the pages of 
 both these works, Mr. Smithson was a contributor. I re- 
 member formerly to have seen, in a number of Nicholson 
 for 1803, an account of the analysis of a mineral performed 
 by him ; the signature to it is James Smithson, Esq., P. II. 
 S. Whether this is a misprint for F. R. S., or not, I have 
 not now the means of knowing. It struck me, at the time, 
 that it must have been an error, for I have never heard that 
 he had been President of the Royal Society. He was, how- 
 ever, a fellow of it, and very often had communications 
 read before it. Some of your readers who have access to 
 the transactions of the Royal Society, might easily deter- 
 mine this interesting point. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 867 
 
 You have asked me, to tell you any particulars in refer- 
 ence to his philosophical or other opinions. That he was a 
 man of much acumen in these matters, a paper read before 
 the Society in 1813 may serve to show. It is stated, that 
 when he was in Italy in 1794, a substance that had been 
 ejected from Vesuvius was given to him for examination, 
 and he ascertained, after some trials, that it consisted 
 chiefly of sulphate of potash : on re-examining it with 
 more accuracy, he determined it to be a very complex saline 
 compound. By way of introduction to his paper, he gives 
 a view of his ideas about the origin of the earth. In his 
 opinion, it was either a sun or a comet, and was brought 
 into the state in which it now is, by undergoing combustion 
 on its surface. The volcanoes are relics of this original 
 combustion, and the materials were the metallic bases of 
 which the primitive strata are composed. As a proof that 
 these primitive strata have been formed by combustion, he 
 mentions that " garnets, hornblende, and other crystals 
 found in them, contain no water; and that little or no 
 water is to be found in the primitive strata themselves." 
 This paper is in the Transactions for 1813. 
 
 So you see, he had come, by chemical reasoning, to a 
 conclusion similar to that which Fourier was contempora- 
 neously publishing in France, as the result of mathematical 
 investigation, that the earth is nothing more than an en- 
 trusted star. 
 
 Sometime after this, he commenced an investigation into 
 the nature of the colors of vegetables and insects; he no- 
 ticed that the red color of flowers, is occasionally produced 
 by the union of carbonic acid with a blue substance. 
 
 In a letter written at Rome, in 1819, and which was pub- 
 lished in the Annals of Philosophy the same year, respect- 
 ing a remarkable mineral of lead, he makes allusion to one 
 of the ablest of his contemporary chemists : u The first 
 discovery of the composition of this singular substance 
 belongs, however, to my illustrious and unfortunate friend, 
 and indeed distant relative, the late Smithson Tennant." 
 This gentleman was professor of Chemistry in the Univer- 
 sity of Cambridge he was the son of a Yorkshire clergy- 
 man was early in life deprived of his father ; his mother 
 was killed by being thrown from her horse, whilst riding 
 beside him. He himself, by a similar accident, had his 
 collar-bone broken, many years after; and by a third re- 
 markable coincidence, lost his life. But the story is singu- 
 lar I will tell it you. 
 
 Mr. Tennant and Baron Bulow, a German officer, after the 
 
868 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITIISON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 peace of 1814, had been traveling on the continent, and ar~ 
 rived at Calais, with a view of crossing the channel to Dover ; 
 they were, however, detained several days by the inclem- 
 ency of the weather. They attempted to get to Boulogne, 
 to try the chance of a passage from there, but the vessel in 
 which they embarked was forced to put back. To pass 
 time, they agreed to take horses, look around the country 
 and view a fort near Bonaparte's pillar. At the entrance 
 of this fort was a deep fosse, which was approached over a 
 fixed bridge, and then over a drawbridge, that turned upon 
 a pivot; the end nearest them was commonly fastened by a 
 bolt, but it happened that this had been stolen a fortnight 
 before, and had not been replaced. They did not discover 
 this. As the bridge was too narrow for both to ride abreast, 
 the Baron went first, but perceiving that the bridge was 
 sinking, he attempted to gallop over, and called to his friend 
 to go back. It was too late; both were precipitated into* 
 the fosse, and though his companion was hardly hurt, Pro- 
 fessor Tennant was taken up from under his horse, and 
 died a few hours after. 
 
 The following is a list of the different papers published 
 by Mr. Smithson, which are in my library. Beside these, 
 there are many others in English and foreign journals that 
 I have not seen : 
 
 1. A few remarks relative to the coloring matter of some 
 vegetables and insects. 
 
 2. Analysis of a saline substance, ejected from Mount 
 Vesuvius. 
 
 3. On a substance from the elm tree, called ulmin. 
 
 4. On native hydrous aluminate of lead, or plomb- 
 gomme. 
 
 5. On a native compound of sulphuret of lead and arse- 
 nic. 
 
 6. On a fibrous metallic copper. 
 
 7. On a native combination of sulphate of barium and 
 fluoride of calcium. 
 
 8. On some capillary metallic tin. 
 
 9. On the detection of very minute quantities of arsenic 
 and mercury. 
 
 10. Some improvements in common lamps. 
 
 11. On the crystalline form of ice. 
 
 12. On the means of discriminating between the sulphates- 
 of barium and strontium. 
 
 13. On the discovery of acids in mineral substances. 
 
 14. A discovery of chloride of potassum in the earth. 
 
 15. On an improved method of making coffee. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 869 
 
 16. A method of fixing particles on the sappare. 
 
 17. On some compounds of fluorine. 
 
 18. An examination of some Egyptian colors. 
 
 19. Some observations on Mr. Penn's theory, concerning 
 the formation of the Kirkdale cave. 
 
 20. Remarks on a balance. 
 
 The paper on Egyptian colors, contains some curious 
 facts in reference to the pigments used by that ancient peo- 
 ple for staining glass and painting generally. 
 
 His observations on Penn's theory, would be read with 
 some interest they show the author's physico-theological 
 opinions on some contested points. The following are ex- 
 tracts : 
 
 " No observer of the earth can doubt that it has undergone very consid- 
 erable changes. Its strata are everywhere broken and disordered, and in 
 many of them are enclosed the remains of innumerable beings which once 
 had life, and these beings appear to have been strangers to the climates, in 
 which their remains now exist. 
 
 " In a book, held by a large portion of mankind to have been written 
 from divine inspiration, an universal deluge is recorded. It was natural 
 for the believers in this deluge, to refer to its action all or many of the 
 phenomena in question, and the more so as they seemed to find in them 
 a corroboration of the event. 
 
 "Accordingly, this is what was done as soon as any desire to account for 
 these appearances on the earth became felt. The success, however, was not 
 such as to obtain the general assent of the learned, and the attempt fell 
 into neglect and oblivion. 
 
 "Able hands have lately undertaken the revival of this system. Mr. 
 Penn has endeavored to reconcile it with the facts of the Kirkdale cave, 
 which appeared to be strongly inimical to it. 
 
 "Acquainted with Mr. Penn's opinions only from the 'Analysis of the 
 Supplement to the Comparative Estimate,' in the Journal of the Koyal 
 Institution, * * I have hesitated long about communicating the present 
 observations, which presented themselves during the perusal of the above- 
 mentioned slender abstract. 
 
 " I have yielded to a sense of the importance of the subject in more than 
 one respect, and of the uncertainty when I shall acquire ampler informa- 
 tion at more voluminous sources to a conviction that it is in his knowledge, 
 that man has found his greatness and his happiness, the high superiority 
 which he holds over the other animals which inhabit the earth with him, and 
 consequently that no ignorance is probably without loss to him, no error with- 
 out evil and that it is therefore preferable to urge unwarranted doubts, 
 which can only occasion additional light to become elicited, than to risk by 
 silence to let a question settle to rest, while any unsupported assumptions 
 are involved in it." 
 
 I have taken the liberty of italicizing here, to call to your 
 attention how deeply impressed was the mind of this man 
 with the importance of the diffusion of USEFUL PRACTICAL 
 KNOWLEDGE. A few years after, he leaves his whole fortune 
 to carry out the sentiment he here expresses. 
 
 [Here follow extracts, for which see " Writings of James Smithson."] 
 
 * 
 
 I trust I have been able to cast some light on the charac- 
 
870 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 ter of this philanthropist and philosopher. If you think 
 proper to publish any part of these facts in your excellent 
 journal, they are entirely at your service. Erroneous im- 
 pressions of the character of a good man ought to be cleared 
 away. 
 
 As to your second request, that I would indicate some- 
 thing of the nature of the proposed institution, if I can find 
 time I will give you a few thoughts. A determination on 
 this point is not difficult ; we ought to be guided by the 
 known wishes of the testator; by the wants of education 
 generally ; and, lastly, by a consideration of what modifica- 
 tions are needed to make it harmonize with principles and 
 institutions existing among us. 
 
 ******* 
 And believe me, yours truly, A 
 
 Prom The Southern Literary Messenger, Richmond, Va., 1840 r 
 Vol. VI, p. 25. 
 
 We publish below our correspondent's second letter upon 
 this important subject. We sincerely commend it to the 
 attention and consideration of our readers. Every friend 
 to the cause of education every lover of the welfare and 
 progress of his county must be deeply interested as to the 
 result which shall dispose of this bequest. We occupy a 
 wide domain of country. It has been bought with blood, 
 and is sacred to freedom it is filling up with an energetic 
 and industrious population, and it must be the theatre of" 
 mighty action. It is so already. The springs of enterprise 
 are in wide-spread operation among us. Towns spring up 
 as by magic in the wilderness, factories line almost every 
 stream, and mills are toiling on every cataract. The bugle 
 of the boatman startles the distant recesses of the west, and 
 ponderous wains, laden with precious stores, glide past us 
 by the hundred. Tne rail car thunders from peopled mart 
 to peopled mart, through ancient solitudes and the abodes 
 of the panther, and the roar of the steam-barge is heard 
 from the waters of the great Mississippi to the far banks of 
 the Penobscot. Our white sails are sheeting over the foam- 
 ing billows of every known sea, and fire-winged ships are 
 speeding to and fro, between us and the Old World, con- 
 tinually. Our streets are blockaded with jars and boxes and 
 bales, and our wharves are enforested by' the masts of every 
 nation of the civilized globe. From morn to night, cease- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 871 
 
 lessly, from loom and forge and mill and warehouse, from 
 street and stream, there is one great roar and clangor and 
 tumult of business. 
 
 But, we ask, is this all that shall be said of us ? Shall the 
 monuments which we build up in this vast arena, and with 
 all our elements of* power, be nothing but magnificent 
 fabrics evidences only of our wealth and our physical 
 strength ? Shall we cleave archways through the solid 
 granite, and link distant regions with bands of iron, and 
 rear splendid dwellings, and build forges and wharves and 
 bridges and mills shall we do all this, and yet add nothing 
 to the treasury of mind? Shall we make no discoveries in 
 science shall we open no new, broad fields of knowledge ? 
 We trust that we shall not so forget the nobler ends of 
 man that we shall not be so false to the great IDEA of the 
 age. We trust that we shall pile up monuments more 
 durable than fabrics of marble. We entirely agree with 
 our correspondent, in the opinion that in disposing of this 
 bequest, the design of the testator should be ascertained 
 and strictly carried out. We agree with him also thus far, 
 that if much that is taught under the present system of 
 education is not useless, much is not taught, or is but 
 slightly heeded, that is eminently essential to true knowl- 
 edge and to progress. He thinks us "too literary" to coin- 
 cide with his views. We are not so much so as to disagree 
 with him in his idea of the objects of the institution pro- 
 posed below. Literature and science, in our view, go hand 
 in hand, and both have their mission to perform in develop- 
 ing all the faculties of "THE MIND." Let the disposition of 
 this legacy in the way proposed by Delta, be one step which 
 our legislators shall take towards accomplishing something, 
 in this highly favored portion of the globe, for the mental 
 welfare not only of the country but of the age of the race. 
 We beg pardon of our readers if we have detained them 
 too long from the article of our correspondent. Once more 
 we request them to peruse it attentively and reflectingly. 
 Independent of the cause which it advocates with so much 
 power, they will find it a choice specimen of strong and 
 manly composition. Let them be prepared to act, and to 
 act rightly, upon the question of the Smithsonian Bequest. 
 Ed. So. Lit. Mess. 
 
872 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 MR. TH. W. WHITE. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : I received yours of the 6th inst. duly, and 
 though much pressed with business, hasten to comply with 
 your request. 
 
 It would have given me pleasure to have seen this subject 
 treated of by others, whose opinions on the course of educa- 
 tion agree better with those current than mine. Such as 
 they are, I do not shrink from avowing them. You will 
 receive them, as the deliberate conviction of a man who has 
 seen life not alone in the closet but also in the world; who 
 has passed through seasons of adversity as well as times of 
 prosperity, conditions which are incident to us all; who, 
 having been brought up in the very system he here con- 
 demns, has had the opportunity of observing its results, not 
 only in the activity of cities, where they say refinement pre- 
 vails, but also in the solitudes of the forest ; a man who is 
 unskilful in the harmony of words, and speaks only of plain 
 facts; whose lot has cast him where information on these 
 matters might have been obtained ; who has but few sym- 
 pathies for the cause of public education as it now exists, 
 and has learned to regard it as based upon an erroneous 
 view of the character and wants of mankind producing a 
 forced state of society and as an eminent obstacle to the 
 progress of THE HUMAN INTELLECT. 
 
 It is not necessary to trace the history of the system of 
 education adopted on this continent, and in many parts of 
 Europe, to its remote origin. The dark ages we are accus- 
 tomed to regard, as a kind of relapse of the whole human 
 family from a state of enlightenment into one of deep ob- 
 scurity; but there is such a thing as the MIND OF THE WORLD, 
 which is not liable to these vicissitudes, and undergoes no 
 change except that of development. No part of Europe, 
 even in the Augustan age, was possessed of any store of 
 knowledge which was likely to be durable for poetry and 
 letters generally, are not the property of the whole human 
 race, but simply that of individual nations, and hence are 
 liable to be affected by the rise and fall of empires. Those 
 faint and uncertain indications of light which we trace in 
 the history of Greece, were but the radiations of a brighter 
 day which was shining in the East; for the sun of knowl- 
 edge never rose on Europe until the beginning of the thir- 
 teenth century the pale crescent of the Saracens was his 
 harbinger. Europe could never lapse from a state to which 
 she had never attained. I know that you will not partici- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 873 
 
 pate with me in these views. You will tell me that the 
 Latins and the Greeks were the men; but, sir, posterity will 
 surely learn to estimate the value of races of men, only by 
 their contribution to the common stock of human wisdom 
 and human greatness: the ^Eneid is the property of Italy 
 the printing press the property of the Universe. 
 
 When Peter the Hermit preached the Crusades, he little 
 dreamed what would be the result of his ministrations. 
 The savage tribes that went from the shores of Western 
 Europe, brought back with them from Damascus and As- 
 calon a leaven which speedily leavened the whole lump. 
 A spirit of inquiry was generated the study of what was 
 designated by the monks of those days, the ancient languages 
 a misnomer which has descended even to us was com- 
 menced with avidity; and knights and noblemen, who but 
 a few years before could neither read nor write, pored over 
 the Iliad with raptures, and becajne subtle casuists in the 
 philosophy of Aristotle. The monastic institution, then 
 prevalent all over Europe, gave a tint to learning for be- 
 cause the monks found it necessary to read the works of 
 the fathers in their original tongues, they asserted that this 
 transcended all other knowledge; and so loudly and so well 
 did they pursue their asseverations, that even in the nine- 
 teenth century we find men who will scarcely believe that 
 there have existed conquerors more successful than Csesar 
 empires richer and more extensive than that of Rome 
 people as civilized and as enlightened as the Grecians. 
 
 The genius of Lord Verulam had already taught men the 
 true method of becoming powerful and wise, when JS"ewton 
 was born. This man, gifted for a few years by Providence 
 with a most gigantic intellect which, when it had accom- 
 plished the designed object, was withdrawn from him has 
 exercised an influence of no common kind on the destinies of 
 his race. The inductive method of philosophy was crowned 
 with a series of the most brilliant results; but even here, 
 where we might least expect it, we find a proneness of the 
 human mind to wander into error. A tribe of bastard 
 sciences has arisen the sciences of the wind the illegiti- 
 mate offspring of the union of the philosophy of Bacon, in 
 itb first years of wantonness and youth, with the shrivelled 
 metaphysics of the old schools. An Alexandrian philosopher 
 is said to have told the king of Egypt, that there was no royal 
 road to science; but we, in these latter days of refinement, 
 have found one a method which gives to superficial learn- 
 ing the appearance of wisdom, and to crude ideas and child- 
 ish speculations the aspect of a perfect science like the 
 
874 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 mirrors of a kaleidoscope, which transpose pieces of straw,, 
 and fragments of broken glass, into forms of beauty and 
 symmetrical shapes. 
 
 And thus it comes to pass, that the course of events has 
 entailed on us a system of education of a most heterogeneous 
 character. I do not now speak of professional education,, 
 but limit these remarks strictly to what is done in our Col- 
 leges and Universities; for in common with most of the 
 schools of Europe, we there give instruction in only four 
 departments. 1st. Ancient Languages. 2d. Intellectual 
 Science. 3d. Mathematics; and 4th. Physics which last 
 are inseparably allied. I need hardly say, that I exscind, 
 for obvious reasons, all incidental courses of instruction 
 which are instituted from secondary or interested motives. 
 A professorship of Poetry is ludicrous; no man expects a 
 professor of belles-lettres to write with elegance his mother 
 tongue; and every one know r s that the only effective pro- 
 fessor of history is a good library. 
 
 Should Congress, in its wisdom, ever see fit to found in 
 the City of Washington a National University a rival to 
 the old universities of Europe it would give me pleasure 
 to hear that all these subjects, even such as I have com- 
 mented on, w r ere taught there; but the funds given for the 
 establishment of the Smithsonian Institute will not bear 
 such an expansion. Those subjects alone must be taught 
 which come within the intention of the donor, and others 
 introduced only as specific means are provided for them. 
 Let us then try to ascertain what is meant by the " diffusion 
 of knowledge among men." 
 
 An Arabian merchant, who lived at Surat, and exchanged 
 the gold dust and ivory which he brought from Africa for 
 the silk shawls and gums of India, had amassed a consider- 
 able fortune by his traffic. He had an only son, whom he- 
 desired to bring up to his own business. When the boy 
 came to be six years of age, his father called a meeting of 
 his kinsfolk and friends, to consult with them as to the 
 course of his son's education. Among the rest there came 
 a certain Mufti, who spoke, with an oracular voice, as fol- 
 lows: "My friend, thou sayest it is thy intention to make 
 thy son a trader now hear my advice. It is well known 
 that the profession of a merchant requires great quickness 
 of counsel, great promptitude of action, and an unflinching 
 integrity. Our fathers, for some centuries past, have fixed 
 on a preparatory course of instruction, well calculated to 
 produce these results. We their children are living wit- 
 nesses of the correctness of their judgment. It is well 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 875 
 
 known to you all, my friends, that about three thousand 
 years ago there existed in those regions where the Nile 
 empties its waters into the great sea a race of men skilled 
 in all human wisdom and the divination of counsels from 
 whom, as it is reported, we have received whatever it is 
 desirable for us to know. Procure, therefore, for this boy, 
 1 a man well skilled in the learning of that ancient people, 
 who shall teach him to decypher their languge, indoctrinate 
 him into their customs, and initiate him into their religion. 
 Now, although the gods of this people were guilty of certain 
 excesses, it shall come to pass that the study of this very 
 thing shall lead the boy to virtue, as also the reading of 
 their curious hieroglyphs shall give him a correct knowledge 
 of the dialect of Mecca. I would also have him taught the 
 writings of the ancient Sabeans a people residing in a re- 
 mote period in Persia and by no means omit to translate 
 'ten thousand words of the poetry of Chinese, which will 
 give him a taste for beauty of composition, and doubtless 
 enable him to write a fair commercial hand. When he has 
 completed about twelve years in these pursuits, I would let 
 him journey to view the pyramids, or contemplate the cave 
 of Elephanta objects which will expand his mind to a con- 
 ception of the sublime and beautiful. This done, thy son 
 shall then have his mind so sharpened as to receive with 
 avidity the secrets of the trading life, and shall prove a suc- 
 cessful merchant. Ye have my w r ords." 
 
 There also was present the partner of the boy's father, a 
 man of uncommanding appearance and unready delivery, 
 but who feeling much interest for the son of his friend, rose 
 and spake: "Ye have heard what the learned Mufti hath 
 said. I am a man slow of comprehension that cannot 
 understand what the learning of the Egyptians or the Chinese 
 hath to do with us one that would suppose it better to learn 
 Arabic by studying Arabic, than to learn Arabic by study- 
 ing hieroglyphics. In my youth I traversed many nations, 
 and have seen men of many colors and many climates. I 
 have found that there is a fitness in all things that dalliance 
 with harlots is not an incentive to virtue, nor the company 
 of fools productive of a wise man. Certain events can only 
 be brought about by the operation of certain causes. Hadst 
 thou intended thy son to be a soldier, then thou shouldst 
 teach him the arts of horsemanship and to wield the spear. 
 Hadst thou intended him for a Mufti, then the course now 
 advised might have been the best. But, because thou wilt 
 have him a merchant, instruct him in the letters and arts of 
 Arabia; let him learn the courses of the stars that he may 
 
876 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 hereafter recognize his way across the desert. Put into his 
 hands the Koran, which shall guide him to virtue. Let him 
 be taught the history and modes of life of the people among 
 whom he is to procure his gold dust and ivory the language 
 of the men among whom he has to traffic. He will never 
 sell his commodities to dead Egyptians, or to Chinese poets, 
 or to extinct Sabeans. It is better that his mind should be 
 enlarged by commerce with the men of his day than warped 
 by a half-taught pedagogue. It is better he should speak 
 the language of men with whom he is to come in contact 
 than spend many years in acquiring what can never be used, 
 save among the tombs of the mummies. 
 
 u And as to any refinement of mind that springs from the 
 use of these antiquated studies though amongst us Ara- 
 bians such is said to be the case yet in a long life I have 
 never seen it. But on the other hand, I have uniformly 
 observed that those men who had spent all their days in 
 these pursuits, and therefore had become possessed of all 
 the advantages proposed, if any such exist, were uniformly 
 men of indifferent taste and not calculated to bear the shocks 
 of active life." 
 
 But among the company were many who followed only 
 prescriptive opinion; and Hassan, the merchant, was in- 
 duced that evening to hire a tutor for his son, who on the 
 morrow began the study of Egyptian literature. 
 
 Thus, sir, the course of education among us has origin- 
 ated in a cramped view of mankind. There is too much 
 proneness among us to regard ourselves and the things just 
 around us as UNIVERSAL NATURE. It is a hard thing to cure 
 a man of vanity. You write to me, that the barometer in 
 your study rose yesterday in consequence of an easterly 
 wind; but it is far more probable that your barometer was 
 affected by atmospheric changes that had occurred in the 
 remote regions of Central Africa, or even upon the steppes 
 of Tartary, than by the wind which whistled round your 
 dwelling. As in the physical, so also in the moral w T orld, 
 we perpetually run into error for want of taking a general 
 view of things. Our whole course of study tends to this 
 result instead of considering the world as an unity, we ex- 
 pand ourselves into the representatives of the world. We 
 look upon ourselves as the favorites of Heaven; and emu- 
 lating the example of the natives of Athens, regard all the 
 rest of mankind as barbarians. We forget that there are 
 millions besides us, partakers of the pleasures of human 
 happiness and the pangs of human agony that in the eye 
 of Providence we are all on a common level, and one com- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON ? S BEQUEST. 877 
 
 mon lot awaits us all that there is a due proportion of hap- 
 piness and misery poured into the cup of each individual, 
 whether it be the camel-driver on the plains of Bagdad or 
 the QUEEN of the BRITISH EMPIRE; not recollecting the lesson 
 taught us by one of old, that there is no difference between 
 the Jew and the Greek; but there is ONE who sees us all, 
 and whose kind hand supports us all who maketh his sun 
 to shine on the good and the evil who sendeth his rain on 
 the just, and on the unjust. 
 
 It is feelings like these, arising from confined views, that 
 have influenced our system of public education. In the 
 course of life it has happened to me to see the result. How 
 many of our educated young men, who have passed the 
 routine of college, and received college honors how many 
 have you known, who had learned so much as the name of 
 TEMUJIN a man, who hardly half a dozen centuries ago, 
 propagated at the point of the sword one of the leading 
 doctrines of the French Revolution who ruled over an 
 empire of greater extent, and of vaster riches, than the 
 Roman in its palmiest days who put to death one-fortieth 
 part of the whole human family before whose greatness, 
 as human greatness is measured, the fame of Pompey and 
 Csesar fades away? How many have you known who could 
 repeat the history of Timur, whose empire was bounded 
 on one side by the seas of China, and on the other extended 
 into the heart of Europe? They have been told that there 
 was no battle like Pharsalia no monarch like Augustus 
 no city like Rome. They have never known that whilst the 
 contemptible kings of Europe could not even write their 
 names, there were monarchs in Asia, ruling over millions 
 of men, skilled in the most difficult parts of human knowl- 
 edge, and accomplishing conquests as much by their science 
 as their arms; that whilst Europe was plunged in the most 
 benighted ignorance, HULACK, the ro}'al grandson of Tamer- 
 lane, thought it more honorable to be accounted the first 
 astronomer of his age than the emperor of all Asia. 
 
 From the Romans a race distinguished from the Etrus- 
 cans, the former inhabitants of Italy, by their neglect of 
 the fine arts by their conquests of violence by one single 
 glimmering of 'literature, and by an inordinate ignorance 
 we turn to the inhabitants of Greece with far more pleasure. 
 There we sec a race characterized by that same love of free- 
 dom which we admire so much in our own aboriginal 
 natives that cool courage, which having counted the cost, 
 is prepared to barter life for liberty; but a race more effem- 
 inate than the red men, for those were capable of enslave- 
 
878 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON S BEQUEST. 
 
 ment, but these acknowledge no conquest except that of 
 extermination. 
 
 From nations more advanced than themselves the Greeks 
 freely confessed that they drew many of their stores of learn- 
 ing. Even without the advantage of that confession, we 
 should hardly rank them on a level with many Oriental 
 people. Their distinguishing characteristic was a correct- 
 ness of taste. In scientific acquirements they were greatly 
 beneath the Hindoos. It is true they possessed the Elements 
 of Euclid, and gave birth to the Conies of Apollonius; but 
 the Binomial theorem, and many of its far-reaching conse- 
 quences, were known to the BraJnnins. The glory and it 
 is not a small one of having chiselled the most beautiful 
 statues, is theirs; but the mountains of Persia were rivals 
 of Parnassus, for the great Epic of FIRDAUSI is said not to 
 shrink from a comparison with the ILIAD of HOMER. In the 
 softer and gayer eifusions of the muse, even later degenerate 
 Persia may give rivals to ANACREON; her own HAFIZ shall 
 vindicate her 
 
 11 Boy 1 bid the ruby liquid flow, 
 Nor let they pensive heart be sad, 
 Whate'er the frowning zealots say, 
 Tell them their Eden cannot show 
 A stream so clear as Rocnabad, 
 A bower so sweet as Mosselay." 
 
 If you ask me what people have contributed more to the 
 advancement of the intellect of the world than the Greeks, 
 I w T ould point you at once to the Saracens. Who was it that 
 dispelled the gloom of the dark ages? the Saracens. Who 
 was it that introduced into many parts of the world the 
 learning of Greece itself? the Saracens. Who taught us 
 Algebra, that amazing engine of intellectuality? the Sara- 
 cens. Who was it that on the sandy plains of Arabia de- 
 termined the magnitude of this earth ? the Saracens. Who 
 was it that brought experimental chemistry from the East? 
 the Saracens. Who was it that gave us the very first ele- 
 ments of our commonest knowledge? who taught us the 
 first princples of arithmetic? the Saracens. The invention 
 of the cypher will hereafter be regarded as one of the most 
 capital results that the wit and genius of man has ever pro- 
 duced. To ascribe to that little emblem so many curious 
 properties to combine them in so many harmonious ways, 
 and from means apparently so slender to convert arithmetic 
 from one of the most obscure and most unintelligible to the 
 most perfect of all the sciences required a mind skilled in 
 original research, and stored with untold hoards of knowl- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 879 
 
 -edge. The old numerals in use among the Greeks and 
 Romans rendered it a matter of no small difficulty to per- 
 form the simplest operations of numbers. Our merchants 
 seldom think that they owe all the facilities with which they 
 arrange their intricate accounts, and thereby accomplish all 
 their manifold commercial speculations, to the genius 'of 
 these Mohammedans. I can never give either to Italy or 
 Greece that meed of unqualified praise which is so lavishly 
 bestowed by some, when I know that to other races must 
 be ascribed the invention of the cypher and the beautiful 
 game of chess. Far be it from me to detract anything from 
 the nations of Southern Europe which is so honestly theirs. I 
 would freely give them, as they might deserve it, the honors 
 that are due to power, to letters, or to science. I have gazed 
 with transport on the marbles of the Parthenon, and could 
 look with the deepest emotion on the dying gladiator, but 
 I search in vain through the gorgeous range of Roman his- 
 tory for a single proof of that beautiful talent that is dis- 
 played in that obscure but most perfect instrument, the 
 potter's lathe, an invention of ancient Etruria. There are 
 rights of mankind as well as rights of nations; and just as 
 one man may not lawfully usurp the property of his neigh- 
 bor, no nation has a right to embezzle the honors due to 
 others. The human family is not so degraded as it is fash- 
 ionable to think. We do not owe all that makes us wise, 
 -or good, or powerful, to the shores of the Mediterranean. 
 Our whole system of education is an insult to the dignity 
 of mankind. 
 
 The nineteenth century cannot pass away, in this land of free 
 opinions, without witnessing a great change in these respects. 
 Men who have been accustomed to show perhaps, even in a 
 blarneable excess, an utter disregard for the venerable ap- 
 pearance of antiquity, will not be slow to investigate what 
 we all feel to be the safeguard of this great Republic the 
 education of its youth. Men, who will have a plain reason 
 rendered to them for everything, will not be dull to per- 
 ceive nor slow to apply a remedy. The tokens of this are 
 already among us. There are institutions now existing that 
 will show the way in this matter, that will quietly awaken 
 public opinion, and shake off the nightmare that rides upon it. 
 
 Do not misunderstand me. I contend not for the banish- 
 ment of these studies from our systems of instruction. The 
 forced state of society in which we live has made them a 
 part of perfect education. We are often compelled to tolerate 
 what we may be most eager to remove. But, sir, the mind 
 of man was never in that state of expansion in which it now 
 
880 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 exists. The philosophy of Verulam has created a new race 
 of mortals a race utterly different, both in physical power 
 and in intellectual refinement, from all other animals on the 
 face of the earth. Each year, as it passes, is rapidly increas- 
 ing the difference. One after another, we are subjecting the 
 imponderable and unseen agents of Nature to our use Heat, 
 Electricity, Light. Men that are thus arming themselves 
 with the force of these elements are not like the former in- 
 habitants of the globe. "We ask not the Egyptian for his 
 fleetest dromedary ; our locomotives run over a whole degree 
 of the earth's surface in a single hour. We need not the 
 elephant of India to drag our ships ashore; our steam engines 
 give us possession of power that is literally unbounded. We 
 want not the Tartar with his swift Arab, for our electric 
 telegraph can transmit our words from one pole to the other 
 in the twenty-fifth part of a second. At our command the 
 beams of the sun become artists, and paint on the plates of 
 Daguerre scenes which the pencil of Apelles could never 
 have approached landscapes inimitably beyond those that 
 adorn the canvass of Claude Lorraine. To send us to school 
 to antiquity is to degrade us indeed. The prattle of children 
 is no instruction to him that is bursting into manhood. 
 
 Who can predict what the course of a few years shall ac- 
 complish? The man who is grasping in his hand the agents 
 with which it pleases the Almighty to govern this world 
 who has made for himself an eye that reaches into the deep 
 abysses of space, and sees the circling of star around star, in 
 regions which the eye of an angel alone could pierce whose 
 splendid intellect compares together the weights of those 
 indivisible atoms those last particles of which the Creator 
 has formed all material things, or places the sun in a bal- 
 ance the man who, instead of indulging in chimerical 
 speculations about the structure of his own mind, of which 
 he is in utter ignorance, is adding to himself new senses 
 which are unlike those that nature has given him, and ex- 
 panding his organs to the production of results which his 
 unassisted powers could never have approached this is not 
 the man who existed five centuries ago. , There is found in 
 the bowels of the earth, as geologists say, abundant evidence 
 of a continuous development of the tribes of organized life 
 that those which first made their appearance were of tbe 
 lower and meaner kind that one after another has come 
 into existence, each more elaborate and each more intel- 
 lectual than its predecessors. The history of our own family 
 teaches us the same thing, for there is not more difference 
 between those animal races than there is between the civil- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 881 
 
 ized man of this age and the men of Europe five hundred 
 years ago. 
 
 It is for these reasons that I object to the course of educa- 
 tion as it exists among us. If it were not for the danger of 
 being misunderstood I would go more at large into this 
 matter. It is not a desire to limit instruction, but to enlarge 
 it to give it a bent more suitable to the wants of the age. 
 I am not seeking to depreciate the value of any species of 
 learning, but to point out what is most congenial to the 
 present position of mankind. I am not seeking to disparage 
 the rights of any nation to cast slight on any forms of 
 study but to find out ways for the more rapid and energetic 
 development of HUMAN THOUGHT, and to assert THE MAJESTY 
 
 OF HUMAN INTELLECT. 
 
 If you read over the papers of the late Mr. Smithson of 
 which you have published a list you will see there these 
 same feelings in strong relief. His fancy did not riot in 
 scenes of mere imagination, but took hold of things of prac- 
 tical utility. It was the spirit of the school of Bacon that 
 was in him, that taught him to investigate with equal zeal, 
 experimentally, the original formation of the earth, or the best 
 method of burning an oil-lamp, or the mode of retaining 
 the aroma in coft'ee. Through the course of a long life he 
 gave these pursuits the preference; for, as he says, "he was 
 convinced that it is in Ids knowledge that man has found his 
 greatness and his happiness the high superiority he holds 
 over the other animals which inhabit the earth with him, 
 and consequently that no ignorance is without loss to him 
 no error without evil." 
 
 An institution of the first class will, in process of time, 
 without doubt, exist in the United States. The wealth of 
 the country could without difficulty procure extensive libra- 
 ries and museums, mineralogical cabinets, chemical labora- 
 tories, botanical gardens, astronomical observatories, zo- 
 ological menageries. These, and many more such things, 
 are essential requisites in a school of that stamp. But where 
 the means we possess are limited and it is doubtful whether 
 or not Congress is prepared to make munificent grants it 
 is better so to shape the action on Mr. Srnithson's bequest 
 that his institute may be the germ, which, as time goes on, 
 may develop itself and expand at last into a National Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 I have been connected with two different institutions, such 
 
 as are here referred to, in different capacities, and have 
 
 marked the course of events with them. Their funds at 
 
 the outset have been lavished in erecting magnificent struc- 
 
 56 
 
882 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITI1SON S BEQUEST. 
 
 tares; embarrassment has followed, and because they had 
 reckoned more upon striking the public eye with the splendor 
 of their exterior than with the excellence of their fruit, they 
 have ceased to be encouraged. Corinthian pillars and Gothic 
 halls are the bane of literary institutions, which so surely 
 as they are introduced take away from the working material. 
 There are men who will read this that Avill feelingly respond 
 to it. The public is right universities ought to learn that 
 they are held in estimation only for the quality of the in- 
 struction the} 7 can impart. The men who wen- raised in 
 the French Polytechnic school would have given a standing 
 to any place, even though it had been built of brick. The 
 effective part of a seminary of science is not its walls and 
 decorations; yet both in Europe and in America such in- 
 stitutions are to be seen, which remind one of a lioe-of-battle 
 ship, with its decks carpeted and no guns aboard. 
 
 That Mr. Smithson intended, when he gave this money 
 in charge to the United States, to found an institution for 
 the advancement and diffusion of science, there rammr In- a 
 doubt. His whole life is a commentary on his intentions. 
 He had witnessed, during his repeated visits to the continent, 
 the successive plans adopted by the French Republic for the 
 rapid and perfect education of their youth their Central, 
 their Normal, their Polytechnic schools for Fourcrov, the 
 chemist, who was continually in the society that Mr. Smith- 
 son frequented, was the main mover, if not the originator, 
 of these different plans, and was a member at the time of 
 the National Convention and the Council of Ancients. No 
 one who contemplates the great results at last obtained from 
 these repeated trials, and the impetus given to all depart- 
 ments of knowledge, even the most difficult and sublime, will 
 deny that the schemes adopted were far superior to anything 
 that had preceded them. 
 
 This brings me now to the main point of my letter. Partly 
 because the funds allotted to this purpose are limited partly 
 because great and successful universities cannot spring up 
 in a day, but must be of slower growth partly because it is 
 uncertain whether Congress will give munificently, or even 
 give anything to the cause partly because it is most suitable 
 to the genius and character of institutions now existing in 
 the different States partly because the successful results 
 which can be produced from it will appeal at once to the 
 understanding of the whole people, and inevitably lead to the 
 establishment either by the national councils or by patriotic 
 individuals of a great National University, but chiefly be- 
 cause I believe it to have been the intention of the testator 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 883 
 
 I would indicate, as the most appropriate disposal of these 
 funds, the establishment of a Central School of NATURAL 
 SCIENCE in the city of Washington. Let us now examine 
 this proposition in detail. 
 
 The principal of these funds whatever may be the action 
 in the case must be kept untouched; the interest alone is 
 available. 
 
 Each of the different States possesses learned institutions, 
 under the form of colleges, seminaries, or universities, their 
 object being to give instruction to a certain extent in what 
 is regarded as essential to good scholarship. Accordingly, 
 the plan adopted for under-graduate study is arranged under 
 four heads ancient languages, intellectual science, mathe- 
 matics, and the physical sciences. As the course of instruc- 
 tion is commonly arranged prospectively for four years, the 
 pupil spends upon the first of these departments a portion 
 of three or four years; upon the second, one to two years; 
 upon the third, two or three years; and upon the last, one 
 or two years the plan being somewhat different in different 
 places, and ordinarily requiring him to be prosecuting- three 
 out of the four different departments at once. It is probable 
 that with the present views taken in society of the nature 
 of public instruction an institution which should depart to 
 any extent from this programme would not meet with good 
 success. As it must depend almost entirely, especially at 
 the outset, on support of a local character, it cannot dare 
 to control public opinion, but can only work itself into 
 existence by conformity with established customs. 
 
 The organization of a national establishment of this char- 
 acter would, however, be attended with obstacles almost 
 insuperable. Called into existence at once, not as the rival 
 but as the head of all learned seminaries, and backed as it 
 ought to be with the countenance and support of the Govern- 
 ment, it would have to sustain itself against the direct hos- 
 tility of all the State institutions. They would soon begin 
 to learn that it flourished at their expense; and, for such 
 are the feelings of human nature, they would quickly regard 
 it as a chartered monopoly of a vexatious and oppressive 
 kind. 
 
 These considerations, therefore, will show us that in mould- 
 ing the character of Mr. Smithson's Institute we must keep 
 clear of everything which might be regarded as trespassing 
 on the bounds and rights of State Universities. That it may 
 
 fo into operation with the good will of all, it must be free 
 :om the suspicion of interfering with any. It must be so 
 arranged as not to draw from them their pupils, nor to divert 
 
884 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSjON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 from them the channels of their accustomed support. As 
 its origin and objects are different from theirs, so there must 
 be impressed upon it a character perfectly distinct. Instead 
 of coming forward as a competitor with them in the sale of 
 literary wares, it were better for it to bring into the market 
 articles which they do not supply. 
 
 Of the four departments of study already indicated as 
 entering into the plan of existing education, the ancient 
 languages and intellectual sciences are generally pursued to 
 a considerable extent. Requiring no great outlay for the 
 purchase of libraries or means of illustration, and there 
 being an abundant supply of accomplished teachers fur- 
 nished from the ranks of professional life or brought up 
 with these objects in view, a very effective course of instruc- 
 tion can be given, and accordingly we find that our classical 
 scholars bear an advantageous comparison with those that 
 graduate in European schools. 
 
 But in the more exact sciences it is not so. The whcle 
 routine of instruction in natural and physical science is 
 attended at the beginning with such heavy costs and such 
 a constant drain of expenditure for repairs and consump- 
 tion that all institutions among us find it necessary to restrict 
 themselves here. Their means will not enable them to sus- 
 tain complete courses of instruction, and they are necessa- 
 rily driven to pass over these subjects in a superficial way, 
 and allot to them only a brief space of time. 
 
 There is also another reason which renders their instruc- 
 tion on these points inefficient a difficulty inherent in their 
 very constitution. The successful study of the higher de- 
 partments of physical science, whether natural philosophy 
 or chemistry, requires a previous knowledge of the higher 
 geometry. Mathematics have now become the porch of 
 physical knowledge. Young men, at the commencement of 
 college life, have commonly but an indifferent acquaintance 
 with mathematics. It is as much as they can do, even in 
 the course of four complete years, to gain a general insight 
 into the principles of the Calculus. The leading institutions 
 among us do not profess to carry them beyond this. It is 
 only then that they are ready to take hold of these subjects 
 in a proper way, but it is also then that their term of educa- 
 tion has expired, and instruction fails them. 
 
 Here therefore is the point on which the Smithsonian 
 Institute can act with efficiency in aid of our established 
 seminaries, without interfering with them in anywise. In 
 this character it will fulfill to the letter the wishes of its 
 founder an institute for men, not boys. It will be operating 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON ? S BEQUEST. 885 
 
 In a work which he unquestionably thought of the deepest 
 importance to the human race, and instead of acting in rival- 
 ship it will be acting in unison and harmony with our estab- 
 lished colleges. 
 
 I would, therefore, found it as a school of physical science, 
 giving an elaborate course of mathematical instruction. 
 Commencing at the point where our higher universities close, 
 1 would give it a perfect apparatus, good cabinets, and 
 gradually a respectable library. Proceeding in the work 
 of expanding it slowly, it should as encouragement was 
 given or opportunity served, be furnished with a botanical 
 garden, an observatory, a zoological institute, or analogous 
 means for prosecuting in a proper way the great sciences of 
 .astronomy and general physiology. 
 
 Now mark, sir, the result of this. "We are the residents 
 of a great continent, which is bursting into life. Upon us, 
 and our immediate descendants, has devolved the duty 
 of developing on a scale hitherto unknown in this world 
 the resources of the giant empire, which is going to stretch 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. The men are now 
 born who will hear the loud snort of the locomotive in the 
 deserts beyond the Rocky Mountains. No system of educa- 
 tion that has ever yet been tried will meet our wants. We 
 want means for the rapid development of all our powers 
 means for the rapid development of all our resources. The 
 soil beneath us teems with wealth; our population is increas- 
 ing beyond all example; we are men of enterprise and energy, 
 living in a period of the earth's history unlike any that has 
 preceded, when the force of intellect is fast supplanting all 
 other powers, and under a government the constitution of 
 which has no example. To a nation like us ignorance is 
 death; the loss of virtue, annihilation. We are trying to 
 unite interests of the most diverse and jarring, and to bind 
 in one bond of union the hot and fiery disposition of the 
 man living within the tropic with the cold calculating in- 
 habitant of the Green Mountains. But men of all climates 
 are not men of one mind; their character is moulded by the 
 things passing around them ; it takes a stamp from the scenes 
 of early life, an impress from nature. The Italians, under 
 all their changes of government, are continually the same 
 people. Overcome, trodden down, trampled under foot, 
 there is an elastic resiliency that forever bears them up 
 again. It matters not what public calamities betide them, 
 or what national woes are stored up for them in the womb 
 of time, another Volta will reveal the mysteries of nature, 
 another Canova will breathe the breath of life into the mar- 
 
886 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 bles of Carrara, another Catalini will enchant all Europe 
 with her song. The same causes which determine those 
 things there are in tenfold action here. We have no surety 
 of continuance, except from the increasing intelligence of 
 our people. 
 
 If no other gain accrued to us from an establishment of 
 this kind than the development of the mineral resources of 
 the continent, we should be amply repaid. Nature has 
 scattered with a lavish hand her warehouses of metals 
 among us; she has given us inexhaustible riches, but there 
 does not exist in all the United States a single school of 
 mines. France, England, Sweden, Germany, have well- 
 organized institutions of this class in some instances sup- 
 ported directly by the government, in others under the charge 
 of those interested in mines. In this consists the secret that 
 they are continually improving their processes of metallurgiC 
 operations, and are able to extract profitable returns from 
 ores inferior to those which we daily pass by with negkvt. 
 But there are higher ends than this. No man, until lie 
 is acquainted with physical science as it now exists, can have 
 any idea of the great things for which Providence has pre- 
 pared him. He cannot think with what amazing power the 
 mind, aided by the vast enginery of geometry, passes from 
 cause to effect, or from effects to causes how it links to- 
 gether phenomena which might appear to him to have no 
 resemblance, and disentangles from the varying operations 
 of Nature the immutable laws which govern her how, 
 as it becomes evolved in these pursuits, it learns to take 
 those far-spreading views in which the unlettered can never 
 participate how, looking backward on departed times, it 
 describes events which happened when there was no history 
 to record, no human eye to see; or looking forward with 
 the steady gaze of a prophet, unfolds what is to happen in 
 the coming eternity how, reflecting as it were the image 
 of its Maker, and sharing in His omnipresence, it walks 
 through the fabric of the Universe, and examines the quali- 
 ties, the magnitudes, the relations of one star after another; 
 or, returning to the frail tabernacle that it tenants, reveals 
 its structure and functions, its general connection with the 
 system of organization how it is rapidly penetrating the 
 mysteries of the world of life, exhibiting the great plan of 
 unity of design and the laws of progressive development, 
 and thereby ascertaining its own place and position in the 
 Universe, its continued dependence on an unceasing Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 It is impossible that any one should become acquainted 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 887 
 
 with the philosophy of the nineteenth century and not be- 
 come a virtuous man. 
 
 Physical knowledge is not the property of any part of 
 mankind, but the property of all. The pursuit of it is what 
 all are interested in the profits of it all share; and herein 
 consists the vast superiority which it possesses over mere 
 literature. The one is general and for the whole world, the 
 other is sectional or local ; the one dispenses its benefits alike 
 on the civilized and the savage, the other only on the man of 
 education. The course of events and the casualties of time 
 may bring about the destruction of English letters, and poets 
 that we have thought immortal may be forgotten, and works 
 of art or of taste be buried under the lapse of ages, but English 
 science can never die; the steamship will still continue to 
 cross the Atlantic, the locomotive will still pass over the 
 railway. One-half of the human family is in utter ignorance 
 of what is thought learned and beautiful and wise by the 
 other half. There are millions in Asia who have never 
 heard of Paradise Lost millions in Africa who know 
 nothing of the Cartoons of Raphael; and on the other hand, 
 among these people there have existed accomplished orators 
 and valiant warriors of whom we have never heard works 
 of art that we have never seen. But the savage as well as 
 the civilized, the Oriental as well as the Western man, casts 
 away his bow and arrows on the discovery of gunpowder; 
 the Chinese junk as well as the American man-of-war is 
 steered by the magnetic needle. 
 
 To diffuse benefits of this order, which can be participated 
 in by all the families of the earth to devise means of in- 
 creasing the power, the wisdom, the virtue of man is the 
 great object of the Smithsonian bequest. It is a solemn and 
 responsible duty which has fallen upon Congress a duty 
 which, as the Government has commenced, so it must complete. 
 
 There are, however, among us men known both to you 
 and me whose views are unfavorable in relation to the estab- 
 lishment of an University at Washington, The bearings 
 of their political creed, they say, lead them to question the 
 constitutionality of Congress intermeddling at all with public 
 education. Without joining issue with them on the law of 
 the contested point, I would rather reason as to the facts of 
 the case. The Government has received, or rather by process 
 of law spontaneously taken possession of a certain amount of 
 money, under conditions which every plain-dealing person 
 among us understands. If by casting obstacles in the way 
 we defer from time to time the completion and discharge 
 of that duty, how can we bring men who live in other coun- 
 
,888 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 tries, and who do not know the nice shades of distinction 
 that we draw between the powers of Congress and the rights 
 of the States, to understand how it is that we have volun- 
 tarily incapacitated ourselves for performing the greatest of 
 all benefits for which governments are instituted the diffu- 
 sion of a public blessing? This money is not given for our 
 use alone, but for the general good of all men. We should 
 therefore recollect that others have rights in it as well as 
 ourselves. We can neither return it without betraying our 
 trust to them, nor can we, with a clear conscience, defer to 
 appropriate it to the use for which it was unquestionably 
 designed. We stand merely in the light of trustees, or 
 rather executors of a will. We may not, therefore, pro- 
 crastinate unduly. 
 
 Such being the case, let us act as upright men in private 
 life would do. Taking the will of the giver in its plain and 
 literal sense, let us erect a Smithsonian Institute for the 
 purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge among men, 
 shaping our course by the known ideas of the testator, estab- 
 lishing such an institution as we have reason to believe he 
 would have established, but moulding it, as we ought to do, 
 to the wants and circumstances of the country in which he 
 saw fit to locate it. We are not called upon to raise up a 
 rival or an antagonist to our own colleges. 
 
 And as the funds are small, compared with the object in 
 view, let us first guarantee the permanent safety of the prin- 
 cipal. If Congress saw good, it would surely bring honor 
 to the country if a piece of land and suitable buildings were 
 given; but if not, proceed to procure them as rapidly as the 
 annual income will allow, keeping steadily in mind that we 
 are not erecting structures to ornament Washington, but 
 buildings in which science has to be taught. Let the stranger 
 who visits us see an edifice plain and in keeping with repub- 
 lican simplicity without, but well equipped within. 
 
 A school organized as has been indicated in this letter 
 would probably consume the revenue of five years before it 
 could be brought into full operation. Its leading features 
 once settled, there would be abundant time to arrange the 
 details of the plan to make inquiry into and profit by the 
 experience of foreign institutions of an analogous class. A 
 liberal charter should be given it, raising it on a level in 
 point of privileges with any existing university, and vesting 
 its government in a very few but very responsible hands. 
 You will find it one of the most prominent faults in the 
 organization of most of our schools that they are governed 
 by unwieldy boards of trustees. A council of five men, 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 889 
 
 chosen with discretion, would be far better adapted for work- 
 ing purposes than one of thirty indiscriminately selected. 
 
 Probably your views would incline you to an institution 
 of a more literary cast than that which I have indicated. I 
 cannot, however, see any broad distinction that you could 
 draw that should separate it, characteristically, from an 
 University. Even if there were no danger of its collision 
 under that form with the older Universities, I doubt very 
 much the possibility of carrying it into effect. Mr. Smith- 
 son's fund is not enough. We cannot tell whether Congress 
 is munificently disposed, or whether the way would be clear 
 in other respects. A successful University must be of slower 
 growth. It would be impossible to officer at once one in 
 Washington of which all others should tacitly acknowledge 
 the supremacy. The thing itself is not desirable; and yet, 
 under any other condition, it would be a discreditable abor- 
 tion. 
 
 For the same reason that I am not disposed to believe 
 that by the " Smithsonian Institute " its founder meant " The 
 National Astronomical Observatory of the United States," 
 .so I do not believe he meant "A National University," 
 planned on the model of yours of Virginia, Yale College, or 
 any other. What he meant by the term knowledge the history 
 of his whole life will inform us. We are bound to conform 
 to his wishes, so far as we can understand them. One thing 
 is certain, that no plan can ever be got through Congress 
 that is not based upon this principle. There is a pride 
 among us that will not stoop to be indebted for these things 
 to the generosity of strangers. 
 
 Indeed, it is not literature that we need. On all sides we 
 are surrounded with able and learned men whose lives are 
 devoted to its pursuits. They will all tell you that it is not 
 on the machinery of colleges, but on the printing press, that 
 they depend for the diffusion of the information they hold. 
 In this respect, your ow r n Messenger, if it receives the sup- 
 port which I trust it does, may be a more valuable adjunct 
 than half a million of dollars spent in erecting a College in 
 Washington. But in science it is otherwise; the living 
 teacher alone can communicate information, and you must 
 .arm him with cabinets and apparatus. 
 
 Whilst, therefore, there is on the one hand no prospect of 
 establishing successfully a Literary Institute, not a suffi- 
 ciency of funds for sustaining one of a mixed character, 
 many doubts as to whether the testator had reference to one 
 of either kind, the danger of causing the whole attempt to 
 miscarry by incorporating Mr. Smithson's Institute with a 
 
890 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON 5 S BEQUEST. 
 
 National University, on the establishment of which Con- 
 gress would not act except after long consultation and ascer- 
 taining the feelings of the country, and hence continually 
 procrastinating the benefits that were to arise from it; on 
 the other hand, we see the way clear for the establishment 
 of a school where Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Geology, 
 Mineralogy, Philosophy, and all other sciences could be 
 effectually taught a school which, so far from clashing with 
 others, would aid them, and instead of meeting with their 
 animosity, would receive their cheerful countenance which, 
 although it might be helped by the gift of funds from the 
 nation, could nevertheless go into operation without them 
 which, under a wise management, could be speedily brought 
 to yield results of the utmost practical importance, and fulfill 
 to the very letter the wishes of the testator. 
 
 The statesman who looks around on this wide-spread coun- 
 try and sees what it possesses, and what are its wants, may 
 recognize in such a disposal of this gift a timely present to 
 his fellow-countrymen a benefit the advantages of which 
 are not confined to them alone, but free and open to men of 
 
 every nation. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Yours, truly, A- 
 
 From The Southern Literary Messenger, Richmond, Va., 1841, 
 Vol. VII, Page 277. 
 
 The disposition of the munificent donation of the late 
 Mr. Smithson for founding a National Institution in the 
 city of Washington has been under discussion in the papers 
 of the day for some time past. Several articles of no ordi- 
 nary merit have appeared in your useful Magazine, mid 
 without designing to disparage the views of others, I would 
 beg leave, through the same medium, to present a few obser- 
 vations on this most important subject. 
 
 While all the writers agree in the propriety of Congress 
 acting upon this subject, there is great diversity as to the 
 character of the Institution which it is called upon to estab- 
 lish. One proposes the establishment of a grand astronom- 
 ical observatory ; another advocates a museum of natural 
 history, with a system of public and gratuitous lectures on the 
 most popular and practical branches of liberal knowledge; 
 while a third argues, that, inasmuch as Mr. Smithson himself 
 was a friend to the natural sciences and an intimate acquaint- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'g BEQUEST. 891 
 
 ance of the chemist Fourcroy, his design could have been 
 none other than founding a central school of natural science. 
 From a forced construction to the expression, u diffusion of 
 knowledge among rnen," the conclusion is drawn that the 
 donor had reference to no other knowledge than that which 
 flows from the study of the physical sciences. 
 
 Whatever may have been the individual preferences of 
 Mr. Smithson, it is very clear, they are in no manner ex- 
 pressed in his bequest. More general terms could not have 
 been used than those which convey his intention " diffu- 
 sion of knowledge among men." Thus intimating his de- 
 sign, he leaves the disposition of the fund to the wisdom 
 and judgment of Congress. Had he designed founding an 
 institution similar to the scientific schools of France, what 
 objection could there have been to his expressing himself to 
 this effect ? The absence of express directions may there- 
 fore be regarded as conclusive on this point, and that Con- 
 gress alone was to adopt that plan, which the circumstances 
 and necessities of the country might demand. 
 
 I do not object to due deference being shown to the sub- 
 jects which claimed the time and talents of Mr. Smithson. 
 A proper respect to his memory might seem to require a 
 more decided cast to the Institution in favor of the nat- 
 ural sciences, than under other circumstances would be 
 necessary or expedient. But as all the institutions of the 
 country have given evidence of the high estimation in which 
 they hold these useful branches of knowledge, there is no 
 danger that the wishes of the donor will be departed from 
 in this respect. Whatever form will be given to the Smith- 
 sonian Institute, the natural sciences will occupy a promi- 
 nent position among the branches of public instruction. 
 
 The question being settled as to the power of Congress 
 over this fund, it becomes us to consider, in the next place, 
 the manner in which it shall be disposed of. And here I 
 would again join issue with your correspondent, who advo- 
 cates the establishment of a central school of natural science. 
 I think an institution already exists, which supersedes the 
 necessity, at this time, of the entire fund being appropriated 
 for this exclusive purpose. The United States Military 
 Academy at West Point is such an institution as your corres- 
 pondent proposes to establish. It is emphatically a school 
 of the natural sciences. Mathematics, Astronomy, Chem- 
 istry, Geology, Mineralogy, Optics, &c., claim the entire 
 attention of its students, and as far as its course extends, it 
 is justly regarded as the first institution in this country. 
 
892 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Indeed, it may proudly compare with similar establishments 
 in France or Germany. 
 
 It enjo} 7 8 a large share of the favor of the government 
 and people, is most liberally endowed, has extensive philo- 
 sophical and chemical apparatus, and is in every way quali- 
 fied to aid in the great work of " diffusing knowledge 
 among men." It numbers now nearly one Ihousand grad- 
 uates, many of whom occupy distinguished positions in the 
 scientific and literary institutions of the country, and all of 
 whom are returning to the government a full equivalent 
 for the benefits received. It would hardly seem necessary 
 at the present time to establish an institution in Washington 
 in which the same branches are taught as at West Point; 
 and until the necessities of the country are provided for in 
 other respects, such a course might be deemed unwise and 
 unjust. 
 
 Nor can I agree to the plan which proposes a system of 
 public and gratuitous instruction by lectures on the most 
 popular and practical subjects of human knowledge. I do 
 not believe that any permanent good would result from such 
 a system. A confused and imperfect idea of the various 
 facts of science would thus be communicated, without any 
 basis upon which to build a practical course of instruction. 
 The auditory continually varying ; few, comparatively speak- 
 ing, would have the benefit of a full course of lectures upon 
 any one subject, while the lectures themselves would of 
 necessity be of a more popular character than would be 
 consistent with a full and thorough course of instruction. 
 
 An institution that would correspond to the views of the 
 munificent donor, and meet the wants of the whole country 
 should not be devoted exclusively to any particular branch 
 or branches of knowledge. Give it a direction either for 
 science or literature, and you thus cut off a large class of 
 persons from a participation in its benefits. Although all 
 are interested in the results and achievements of science, 
 there are other subjects of great importance which it should 
 also encourage and promote. The labors of the chemist 
 and geologist contribute greatly to the supply of the neces- 
 sities of mankind, but there are other professions equally 
 important and essential to their comfort and happiness. 
 We should not cramp the influence of such an institution, 
 supported as it would be by the power and patronage of the 
 government; it should embrace every subject within the 
 compass of human acquisition, and aim at the general " dif- 
 fusion of knowledge among men." It should therefore be 
 ^ NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. It should be supplied with the 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 893 
 
 ablest professors which this or any other country could pro- 
 duce. It should have an extensive library, complete philo- 
 sophical and chemical apparatus, and laboratories for practi- 
 cal instruction. Avoiding rivalry with the State institutions 
 of the country, its design should be to complete what they 
 have begun. It should be an institute for men, not boys, 
 and should be designed to supply the defects which cannot 
 be reached bv the limited means of the States. 
 
 Such an institution would regulate and elevate the stand- 
 ard of learning throughout the country, and, above all, it 
 would be the means of supplying our colleges and acade- 
 mies with thoroughly educated and well qualified professors 
 and teachers. It is in this last respect that the deficiency of 
 education in this country mainly consists. So limited is 
 the course of instruction in most of our colleges, that their 
 graduates on entering upon the duties of professors are 
 oftentimes very little better qualified than the pupils of the 
 higher classes themselves. Who can expect an able profes- 
 sor of chemistry, when the amount of instruction consists 
 in two or three lectures a week for one short year ? No lab- 
 oratory no practical instruction and a bare acquaintance 
 with the more common experiments introduced in a course 
 of lectures. Who can make an efficient professor of math- 
 ematics, when the course is in many instances limited to 
 mere mechanical operations? How is it in languages? 
 How far do the beauties and defects of the classics claim 
 the attention of the student, so as to fit him to criticise the 
 various authors read by his class? Is it not the fact that 
 our professors are oftentimes elected and enter upon their 
 duties, not from a sense of present fitness, but from the hope 
 that by proper diligence they may make themselves useful 
 instructors? And even with the best natural abilities, how 
 often are their energies and efficiency contracted, by the 
 want of proper books for study and reference ? Few of the 
 libraries in our State institutions contain more than five 
 thousand volumes, and rnuivy of them do not number as many 
 hundred. Most of these books are of a character little suited 
 to meet the wants of the inquirer, and he is thus left to rely 
 upon his own resources for whatever attainment he may 
 make in the study of his profession. The writer has felt 
 the inconvenience of which he complains, an inconveni- 
 ence sufficient to dampen the ardor and contract the useful- 
 ness of any one. lie has been engaged in the duty of pub- 
 lic instruction for many years, and he has rarely been able 
 to command one volume in twenty, which in the common 
 
894 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMIT1ISOJTS BEQUEST. 
 
 course of his studies it should be his duty to consult and 
 examine. 
 
 How admirably would such an institution as I propose, 
 meet the wants of the country in these respects ? 
 
 But it is argued that the donation of Mr. Smithson is in- 
 sufficient for so extensive a plan. Grant it. But do we 
 depend alone upon this ? May we not look for and claim 
 the aid of the general government ? With the exception 
 of the academy at West Point, what has Congress done to 
 advance the cause of education ? Is it not time that some- 
 thing should be done, and especially at this time, when the 
 astounding developments are ringing in our ears, which the 
 results of the late census make known ? It would seem as 
 if the donation of Mr. Smithson had been providentially 
 made, to direct the deliberations of Congress to this too 
 long neglected subject. Five hundred thousand dollars will 
 make a good commencement, and, if Congress will follow 
 out the plan, a noble institution would be the result. 
 
 Does any one doubt the power of Congress over the sub- 
 ject? Does not the cause of education come legitimately 
 within the meaning of that clause of the Constitution which 
 gives to Congress the power of passing laws providing for 
 the general welfare ? What could more conduce to the pub- 
 lic good, or in a greater degree promote the general welfare 
 than a prudent and well regulated system of public instruc- 
 tion ? 
 
 In one of the first messages of the Father of his Country 
 to Congress, he thus adverts to this important subject, 
 showing that he viewed the cause of education as one which 
 it was the duty of Congress to foster and promote. " I have 
 heretofore proposed to the consideration of Congress, the 
 expediency of establishing a National University, and also a 
 Military Academy. The desirableness of both these insti- 
 tutions, has so constantly increased with every new view I 
 have taken of the subject, that I cannot omit the opportu- 
 nity of once for all recalling your attention to them. The 
 Assembly whom I address, is too much enlightened not to 
 be fully sensible how much a flourishing state of the arts 
 and sciences contributes to national prosperity and reputa- 
 tion. True it is, that our country contains many seminaries 
 of learning, highly respectable and useful, but the funds 
 upon which they rest are too narrow to command the ablest 
 professors in the different branches of liberal knowledge. 
 Amongst the motives to such an institution, the assimilation 
 of the principles, opinions and manners of our countrymen, 
 by the common education of a portion of our youth from 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 895 
 
 very quarter well deserves our attention. The more ho- 
 mogeneous our citizens can be made in these particulars, 
 the greater will be our prospect of permanent union ; and 
 a primary object of such a National Institution should be 
 the education of our youth in the science of government. 
 In a Republic, what species of knowledge can be equally 
 important, and what duty more pressing on its Legislature than 
 to patronize a plan for communicating it to those who are 
 to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country." 
 Again? in his farewell address, he says: " Promote, then, 
 as an object of primary importance, institutions for the gen- 
 eral diffusion of knowledge." It would be needless to 
 multiply instances in which the most distinguished men of 
 our country have expressed themselves equally favorable to 
 this cause ; and I have only brought the sentiments of WASH- 
 INGTON to the public notice, because they must have weight 
 with all who properly estimate the character of this great 
 and good man. 
 
 But I have allowed myself to transgress the limits I had 
 at first designed for this communication. I hope it may be 
 the means of directing the attention of others to a subject 
 which is of great importance to the welfare and happi- 
 ness of the country. S. 
 
 Letter from Mr. Duponceau, President of the American Philo- 
 sophical Society. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, November, 1840. 
 
 To FRANCIS MARKOE, Jr., 
 
 Corresponding Secretary of the National Institution. 
 MY DEAR SIR : I have read with great attention and 
 pleasure the constitution and by-laws of the National Insti- 
 tution, which you have had the goodness to communicate 
 to me. I assure you that I feel the liveliest interest in the 
 success of this noble institution. I am happy to see it 
 established in the city of Washington, the capital of our 
 Union, and many reasons induce me to feel this satisfaction. 
 The District of Columbia is deprived of the most impor- 
 tant rights enjoyed by the States. Its inhabitants are in 
 fact disfranchised, and do not enjoy the right of self-gov- 
 ernment; a compensation is due to them for this great 
 sacrifice, and there cannot be a nobler one than the laurel 
 crown of science, which I think our National Government is 
 bound to give to them, for their and its own glory. When our 
 

 896 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Government shows a sincere disposition to promote science 
 and general knowledge, without which no free nation can 
 long exist, it will produce many excellent effects ; it will 
 promote confidence in the National Administration ; and, 
 above all, it will soften the rage of party spirit, which 
 threatens to involve us in the fate of the Roman Republic. 
 
 The details of your organization are of little consequence, 
 as they may be altered by the institution at pleasure. Yet 
 there are some principles by which I think they ought to 
 be regulated, and which I shall take the liberty to explain 
 to } T ou. Every institution of this kind ought, in my opinion, 
 to be constituted with a view to its efficiency and its perpe- 
 tuity. These should not be lost sight of in any, even the 
 most trifling, of its regulations. Efficiency is the first, 
 because from its continued action perpetuity will arise 
 and follow as a natural consequence. Experience will 
 show you whether your constitution is or is not deficient in 
 regard to this most important principle. The choice that 
 you have made of your directors is a most excellent one, 
 and I have nt> doubt will be attended with the happiest 
 consequences. You have chosen two men high in office, 
 whose means of assistance are considerable, and whose 
 patronage will be important to you. I do not speak of 
 their personal qualifications ; they are well known to the 
 world. One of them is already highly distinguished as a 
 patron of science ; of this I can speak of my own knowl- 
 edge, as the American Philosophical Society, amongst 
 others, is greatly indebted to him, and has placed him in 
 the list of its benefactors. You have therefore done wisely 
 in obtaining from the heads of the Government, that they 
 should appear as the head of your institution. It is to be 
 regretted that the Chief Magistrate of this great nation 
 does not occupy that position in regard to this institution 
 which the world will naturally expect from him, and which 
 might enable him to be so eminently beneficial to his 
 country. 
 
 I, however, cannot but highly approve of your choice of 
 directors; but you must be sensible that men who, like 
 them, have on their shoulders, in a great measure, the des- 
 tinies of their country, cannot give much attention to the 
 official duties which you have imposed upon them. It is 
 from a higher sphere that they must govern your institution. 
 I would, therefore, recommend that you should select two 
 or three vice directors, to save them the labor which a reg- 
 ular^ attendance on your meetings would require of them. 
 Their attendance should be free and voluntary, and I have 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 897 
 
 no doubt that, left to themselves, they would make every 
 exertion, particularly in the inception of your labors, to 
 direct and promote them. They will have to keep up a 
 correspondence with other learned societies at home and 
 abroad ; and I would suggest that, by way of a beginning, 
 they should write to those of America, soliciting their cor- 
 respondence. 
 
 Amongst the officers of your society, those of whom most 
 activity is expected, are your secretaries. You will, there- 
 fore, of course, choose none to those offices but the most 
 active, zealous, and capable of your members. But all 
 must put their shoulders to the wheel, particularly in the 
 beginning, and until the institution is well established and 
 consolidated. 
 
 That will be the work of time. Your institution embraces 
 the whole circle of human science ; therefore there are in- 
 numerable sources from which you may expect aid. But 
 that aid is at first difficult to be obtained. I wish, there- 
 fore, you would think of some method to obtain it. The 
 American Philosophical Society has found great benefit 
 from the publication of a periodical bulletin of its proceed- 
 ings, which is disseminated through all the learned world. 
 Before that, the} 7 found much difficulty in obtaining communi- 
 cations from the learned, to be inserted in their transactions. 
 The reason was, that it was not known how soon those 
 communications might appear before the world. Fame, 
 next to the consciousness of doing good, is the best reward of 
 men of science, and they love to see their names and their 
 productions made known to the public ; but now, although 
 sometime elapses before their articles are published at large, 
 yet, as they are noticed, and a short analysis given of them 
 in the Bulletin, this satisfies them so well that the society 
 are never at a loss for materials for publication. Your 
 society might not probably publish those bulletins immedi- 
 diately, on account of the expense ; but some sketches of 
 your proceedings might appear, from time to time, in one 
 of 3'our papers, so as to keep your institution always before 
 the world, which appears to be necessary for its continued 
 existence. 
 
 As I have spoken of expense, I must now touch upon a 
 subject which appears to me of the highest importance, and 
 of which it might, perhaps, be thought presumptuous in me 
 to speak. I doubt much whether you can ultimately suc- 
 ceed without the aid of the Government. Were there 
 nothing but your current expenses in the printing of your 
 Bulletin, and ultimately of Transactions, which I hope you 
 67 
 
898 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 have in view, money will be indispensably wanted. I have, 
 in the beginning of this letter, explained that I think the 
 Government is interested in assisting you, and I believe 
 that they have the means fully in their power. I have 
 always been of opinion that it was such an institution as 
 yours, at the seat of Government, that Mr. Smithson had 
 in view when he made his munificent legacy to the United 
 States. He could not mean, in my opinion, that his money 
 should be applied to the promotion of any specific brand) 
 of knowledge, much less to the foundation of a school or 
 an academy. His views were more extensive. He wished 
 to promote science in all its branches and departments, and 
 therefore, he wished his institution to be fixed at the seat of 
 Government; from whence, as from a center, the rays of 
 science might be diffused throughout the whole country. 
 And, therefore, Congress cannot find a bettvr opportunity 
 to execute the will of that beneficent testator than by laying 
 hold of your institution, and making it its own. 
 
 Here let me be understood. I do not mean that Congress 
 should immediately put into your hands the large legacy of 
 Mr. Smithson, to erect with it grand buildings, make a great 
 parade, and fail in the end, as so many others have done. 
 That cannot be expected to be done until your society has 
 become firmly established on a solid basis, and has acquired 
 that high reputation which I hope it will always have in 
 view in the learned world ; but, in the mean time, Congress 
 might, out of the interest, aid your exertions in proportion 
 to your progress, and, at least, in the beginning, enable you 
 to make those publications without which you cannot well 
 expect to proceed. Thus your institution would grow under 
 their fostering hand, and, in process of time, that great de- 
 sign of Mr. Smithson would be completely fulfilled. I say, 
 in process of time, for time will certainly be required, be- 
 fore you can rise to the rank in science which you may 
 justly keep in view. In my opinion, you should not attempt 
 too much at once, but proceed gradually and systematically, 
 being satisfied with every year showing to the world some 
 progress, but not imagine that your institution, as I hope 
 it will one day be, will come out at once, fully armed, like 
 Minerva, from the head of Jupiter. Trust, therefore, to 
 time, but let it be aided by your zeal, your activity, and, 
 above all, by your energy. Energy is the soul of all great 
 undertakings, but it must be continued, and never suffered 
 to flag. 
 
 Here you have, in as brief a space as I could condense 
 them, my opinions, my wishes, and my hopes. Let me, 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 99 
 
 therefore, conclude with the wish of father Paul, which, 
 
 alas! was not fulfilled as to his Republic, but I hope will 
 
 apply with more truth to your institution, " ESTO PERPETUA !" 
 
 I am, with great regard and esteem, 
 
 PETER S. DUPONCEAU. 
 
 .Extracts from discourse of Hon. J. R. Poinsett, January 1, 1841. 
 
 There can be no doubt that a National Institution, such 
 as we contemplate, having at its command an Observatory, 
 a Museum containing collections of all the productions of 
 nature, a Botanic and Zoological Garden, and the necessary 
 apparatus for illustrating every branch of physical science, 
 would attract together men of learning and students from 
 every part of our country, would open new avenues of in- 
 telligence throughout the whole of its vast extent, and would 
 contribute largely to disseminate among the people the 
 truths of nature and the light of science. 
 
 A fortunate concurrence of circumstances offers a favor- 
 able occasion to carry all these important objects into imme- 
 diate effect. A liberal and enlightened Englishman, fore- 
 seeing the benefits which would result to science throughout 
 the world, by its successful cultivation in the vast and ex- 
 tensive field offered by these States and Territories, with 
 enlarged views and praiseworthy philanthropy, has be- 
 queathed a fund to be employed for tiie sacred purposes of 
 increasing and diffusing knowledge among men. This 
 bequest will enable the Government to afford all necessary 
 protection to the promotion of science and the useful arts, 
 without the exercise of any doubtful power, by the applica- 
 tion of the annual interest of this fund to the establishment 
 of an Observatory, the erection of suitable buildings to 
 contain the collections, and for lecture rooms, the purchase 
 of books and instruments, and the salaries of professors and 
 curators. Specimens of natural history are rapidly accumu- 
 lating. The exploring expedition has already sent home a 
 large collection, which remains packed away in boxes in a 
 room belonging to the Philadelphia Museum, generously 
 loaned by the company for- that purpose ; and we may 
 anticipate, from the ability and well known zeal of the 
 naturalists who accompanied it by order of the Government, 
 that the squadron itself, shortly expected, will return richly 
 freighted with objects of natural history. I cannot believe 
 that after all the labor, pains, and expense incurred in pro- 
 curing them, these specimens are not to be brought to 
 
900 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Washington to be arranged and exhibited here. A geolog- 
 ical survey of the Territory of Iowa was made a few months 
 since, by order of the Government, and numerous valuable 
 specimens collected by Mr. Owen. Mr. Nicolet has brought 
 with him interesting collections made in the country he 
 visited, and Doctor King, of Missouri, lately sent to the lead 
 region on business connected with the Ordnance Office, 
 while there collected specimens of minerals which are like- 
 wise destined for Washington. The Ordnance officers who 
 have lately returned from Europe, have brought with them 
 numerous specimens of the iron ores used in the foundries 
 there, and measures have been taken to procure, as objects 
 of comparison, those of the United States. 
 
 Several individuals have transmitted donations to the In- 
 stitution, while others have deposited their collections with 
 us, from a desire to have them preserved, and at the same 
 time to benefit science. We have reason to believe that 
 this will be extensively done as soon as the institution is 
 firmly established. There are many of our countrymen 
 who, like Sir Hans Sloane, the founder of the British Mu- 
 seum, look forward with regret to the sale and dispersion 
 of their collections, made at great cost and pains, and desir- 
 ing to have them preserved entire, would deposit them with 
 an institution which will be as stable as the Government 
 that protects it. For these purposes, and especially if it be 
 intrusted, as we hope it will be, with the specimens of natural 
 history collected by the exploring squadron, it will be neces- 
 sary that measures should be early adopted to have erected 
 on a suitable site, on the public ground, a plain fire proof 
 building, to contain them, where the increasing and valuable 
 collections may be displayed, and be examined by the scien- 
 tific inquirer, and where he may resort for evidence to sup- 
 port his theories or to correct his views. We hope that 
 this further contribution to science will not be withheld. 
 The expeditions themselves have received the favorable no- 
 tice of every civilized nation, and were fitted out in obedience 
 to the will of the people, who would not desire to see 
 the fruits of so much toil and danger perish for the want of 
 this trifling additional expense. We cherish the hope that 
 they will form the foundation of a National Museum, and 
 contribute to spread the light of science over our land." 
 
A PLEA FOR A NATIONAL MUSEUM AND BOTANIC 
 
 GARDEN, 
 
 To be founded on the Smithsonian Institution, at the City of Washington^ 
 
 BY WILLIAM DARLINGTON, M. D. 
 Read before the Chester County Cabinet of Natural Science, December 3, 1841. 
 
 The writer of this brief address is glad to have been reminded, since its 
 deliver}*, that the very proposition which it advocates was substantially 
 made, and forcibly urged, in the able discourse of the Hon. J. R. POIN- 
 SETT, late Secretary of War, before the National Institution, at Washing- 
 ton, at their first anniversary meeting. The fact had entirely escaped his 
 memory; though he has now no doubt that the suggestion (which he has 
 been revolving in his mind without recollecting its origin) was in truth de- 
 rived from that source. Had the circumstance occurred to the writer in 
 season, he would have endeavored to fortify his own feeble "Plea," by 
 availing himself of some of the more comprehensive views and powerful 
 arguments of the honorable Secretary. As it is, he merely desires, in 
 parliamentary phrase, to be regarded as seconding the motion so appro- 
 priately made by that distinguished promoter of Science and the liberal 
 Arts. 
 
 It is known, probably, to every individual of this audi- 
 ence, that a munificent bequest was made, a few years since, 
 to the United States, by Mr. JAMES SMITHSON. of London, 
 for the purpose of founding, " at Washington, under the 
 name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." This dona- 
 tion, amounting to about half a million of dollars, has been 
 duly received, and is now in the possession of the United 
 States, awaiting the action of the Government to carry into 
 effect the magnanimous design of the testator; and as every 
 citizen of this Republic is interested in the appropriate use, 
 and faithful management, of the bequest, I propose to in- 
 vite your attention, for a few moments, to some remarks 
 and suggestions, which have occurred to me, in relation to 
 the contemplated establishment. The " increase and diffu- 
 sion of knowledge," I may observe, was the single and 
 laudable motive which gave origin to our own humble 
 institution and is the object which alone prompts its 
 efforts to be an useful auxiliary to inquiring minds. Such 
 is ,also, the purpose of various other kindred associations 
 in our land. But such an object should not be left to the 
 scanty means of local societies and public-spirited individ- 
 uals. It claims the fostering care of a Nation. And I trust 
 it will not be deemed impertinent, or foreign to this occa- 
 sion, to present a few considerations on the most eligible 
 
 901 
 

 902 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 mode of establishing the Smithsonian Institution, and of so 
 conducting it as to make it what the generous founder in- 
 tended a national benefaction. 
 
 Various suggestions have been thrown out as to the kind 
 of institution which would be most appropriate for accom- 
 plishing the object of the donor. But the public mind does 
 not seem to be settled upon any definite proposition. Some 
 have recommended a National Seminary, in which the usual 
 branches of school learning should be taught gratis, or at a 
 cheap rate; others have proposed the erection of an Observa- 
 tory, for celestial operations, by means of which we might 
 contribute our just quota of astronomical information to the 
 great community of civilized nations, &c. None of these, 
 however, appears to me fully to embrace the object contem- 
 plated. Our country already abounds in universities, col- 
 leges, and other high seminaries many more, indeed, than 
 are adequately supported in which the various branches of 
 Science and Literature are ably taught; and the establish- 
 ment of an additional one, at Washington, would only be to 
 build up a new rival, and thereby to augment the existing 
 redundancy. It would probably weaken other similar insti- 
 tutions, and therefore tend but little, in fact, to the "increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men." Besides, it would 
 necessarily be limited and partial in its operations, and con- 
 sequently become a source of dissatisfaction among those 
 who were excluded. We see this objection exemplified, 
 every day, in the envious and narrow-minded assaults upon 
 that noble institution, the United States Military Academy. 
 
 The establishment of a national observatory would indeed 
 be a commendable and useful measure. It is one of those 
 institutions which every nation, with an extensive maritime 
 commerce, ought to possess for its own sake, and which is 
 due, as a contribution to Science, from every Government 
 that aspires to an equal rank with the rest of the civilized 
 world. But, as the immediate and palpable benefits of an 
 observatory inure mainly to the commercial and military 
 marine, it seems to come especially within the province, and 
 to be the duty, of Congress, to provide such an establishment 
 at the proper cost of the country. It appears to me to come 
 distinctly under the same constitutional provision, for the 
 protection and regulation of commerce, which authorizes 
 the construction of buoys, breakwaters and light-houses; 
 and this opinion has been sanctioned by one of the most 
 learned and eminent of our statesmen, who, in urging the 
 erection of an astronomical observatory, applies to those 
 institutions the figurative but appropriate appellation of 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 903 
 
 "light-houses of the skies." This being the case, all the du- 
 ties prescribed by the Constitution, and coming clearly 
 within the province of Congress, should be left to that body 
 to perform, in its own good time, with the means derived 
 from the public revenues; while the appropriation of a be- 
 quest, like that now under consideration, should be made to 
 some worthy national object, for which the rigid construers 
 of the organic law may dispute the competency of the legis- 
 lature to provide. It is well known that we have a class of 
 statesmen, so called, whose minds are of so subtle and dis- 
 putatious a cast, that no public measure, however valuable 
 and desirable, can receive their support, unless it be ex- 
 pressly provided for in the Constitution, and even then they 
 are always ready and prone to raise objections to any details 
 of a liberal tendency. They have been so thoroughly dis- 
 ciplined in the school of "strict construction," and are so 
 "profoundly skilled in analytic," that, like Sir Hudibras, 
 they can 
 
 "distinguish and divide 
 
 u A hair 'twixt south and southwest side " 
 
 and no direct proposition can be started, for the generous 
 purpose of improving our moral and intellectual character, 
 as a people, which does not encounter the most inveterate 
 cavilling. Hence it is, that I am for embracing the golden 
 opportunity which now presents itself divested of all these 
 metaphysical difficulties to establish at the seat of the 
 General Government an institution for the " increase arid 
 diffusion " of a kind of knowledge which is of undoubted 
 advantage, and should be freely communicated, to all men. 
 I mean a liberal and comprehensive knowledge of the mate- 
 rial world a just conception of the productions of nature, 
 and a general acquaintance with the useful works of art. 
 It will scarcely be denied, that an adequate knowledge of 
 this description would benefit every man that lives. It 
 would enable every one no matter what may be his par- 
 ticular vocation better to understand and appreciate his 
 position in this complicated scene of action, better to com- 
 prehend the means at his disposal for the promotion of his 
 welfare ; and, moreover, to avail himself, on the easiest 
 possible terms, of the skill and experience which have been 
 slowly and painfully acquired by others. 
 
 In pursuance of this object 1 would appropriate, in per- 
 petuity, the income of the Smithsonian bequest to the estab- 
 lishment and maintenance of an institution at the city of 
 Washington, the duty and business of which should be to 
 procure from every region of the globe, as opportunity 
 

 ^04 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 offered, perfect specimens of every production of Nature, 
 and intelligible models of all the useful implements or ap- 
 paratus contrived by tbe ingenuity of Art, which specimens 
 and models should be arranged and preserved expressly for 
 the public instruction. I believe that such an establishment, 
 properly conducted, and of ready access to all who desire 
 to profit by it, would contribute more towards "the increase- 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men" than an other in- 
 stitution which could be devised; and the means being thus 
 provided by the free gift of a generous stranger, I do not 
 perceive how any constitutional phantom could be conjured 
 up to thwart the design by the most transcendental " Ab- 
 stractionist" that ever emanated from the "Ancient Do- 
 minion." 
 
 Being relieved from such obstacles which, though origi- 
 nating in the imagination, are by no means imaginary, as all 
 will admit who have had any experience in national legisla- 
 tion our proposed institution would be enabled to com- 
 mence its career under the happiest auspices. Being the 
 common property of all, presenting nothing but attractions 
 and involving no sinister interests, it would conciliate tin- 
 affections and speedily become the petted favorite of the 
 whole people. Unlike some of our ill-favored and mis- 
 chievous political pets, it would stir up no unseemly jealousies 
 and strifes, but would present a charming neutral ground, 
 where all generous spirits could meet in harmony and good 
 humor, and find a temporary refuge from the eternal bicker- 
 ings of Party. 
 
 What a gratifying spectacle to see an institution such as 
 may now be established, devoted to the pure purposes of in- 
 tellectual improvement, uniting all hearts in its support, and 
 impartially diffusing its benign influences throughout the 
 length and breadth of this mighty Republic ! And why 
 should we not have such an establishment? Nearly every 
 crowned head in the civilized world has taken care to found 
 such noble institutions, and to render them the delight of 
 his subjects and the ornaments of his realm. Like the floral 
 beauties which cluster upon the walls of some antiquated 
 castles, they serve at once to disguise and decorate the un- 
 couth structures which sustain them. Why, then, should 
 not the classic pillars of Our Republican fabric be wreathed 
 with the chaplets of Science and festooned with the gar- 
 lands of Taste? Are the vassals of every despotism entitled 
 to the gratifications to be derived from the means of knowl- 
 edge and the congregated beauties of Nature, and are the 
 free citizens of a Republic alone to be excluded from such 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 905 
 
 rational enjoyments? Must we all, and forever, in this 
 glorious field for human improvement, be tied down by 
 " strict construction " to the groveling, sordid cares of mere 
 pecuniary concerns, or, at most, be indulged with a periodical 
 scramble for the " spoils " of partisan victory ? 
 
 In my humble opinion, those who are worthy of the name 
 of freemen intellectual freemen should have some other, 
 some loftier object, (by intervals, at least,) than the everlasting 
 consideration of the merits and capabilities of the "almighty 
 dollar; " and while I fully assent to the maxim that unceas- 
 ing vigilance over the conduct of rulers and political leaders 
 is "the condition on which we hold our liberties, I neverthe- 
 less believe we may occasionally venture to relax the tension 
 of party strife, and allow our minds a brief indulgence in 
 the more amiable recreations of Literature and Science. 
 
 But I hold it as an unquestionable truth that a National 
 Institution, such as has been suggested, would possess the 
 twofold merit of promoting intellectual advancement and 
 ministering to the improvement of our physical condition. 
 Its location has been judiciously fixed by the testator at the 
 seat of the General Government the attractive center of 
 all our national concerns, and enjoying a happy medium in 
 reference to climate and geographical position. Let there, 
 then, be established at the city of Washington an ample 
 Botanic Garden, adapted to the cultivation of all the interest- 
 ing and valuable species of vegetable creation, so that we 
 may become practically acquainted with all the plants which 
 are useful to man, and ascertain how many, and which of 
 them, are worthy and susceptible of being introduced into 
 the culture of the various districts of our Union. The im- 
 portance of this to agriculture the great and deservedly 
 prominent interest of our country must be obvious on the 
 bare suggestion. It would, moreover, insure success, and 
 give an abiding interest to the noble project now in agita- 
 tion of forming a National Society for the promotion of agri- 
 culture. It would afford the ready means for judicious ex- 
 periments in vegetable culture, and aid in sifting all useful 
 facts from the chaffy mass of idle theory, prejudice, and 
 delusion. In short, it may be made the instrument for col- 
 lecting the scattered rays of agricultural knowledge, as it 
 were, to a focus, and thence directing them with a concen- 
 trated light and a genial warmth to every department of 
 that interesting practical science. 
 
 Within the boundaries of this national garden should be 
 an appropriate receptacle, or museum, for the preservation 
 and systematic arrangement of all specimens in Natural 
 
906 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON S BEQUEST. 
 
 History, illustrating as well the geological structure of our 
 planet as the character of the materials which form its crust, 
 and of the organized beings which inhabit its surface. 
 
 It should be made the duty as I am sure it would be the 
 pleasure and the pride of every officer in the naval and 
 military service, to embrace all opportunities for adding to 
 the riches of this national treasury of knowledge. Tin- 
 revenues from these sources would soon exceed any estimate 
 which could now be made, while the cost of collection would 
 be altogether nominal ; and although, as politicians, we may 
 quarrel and contend about ^Jiscalities" and "sub-trea* ////, .v." 
 I am confident that, as lovers of nature and true 1 national 
 glory, we should cordially unite in making every officer and 
 public agent a sab-treasurer for the generous purposes of this 
 institution. The collections already made and forwarded 
 to Washington by the glorious expedition now exploring 
 the southern hemisphere will form an appropriate nucleus 
 or foundation for the establishment, and the expected addi- 
 tions from the same source will no doubt greatly enhance 
 its value. With these rich materials the fruits of an enter- 
 prise which will reflect honor upon our Government to tin- 
 latest generation we may safely commence the institution 
 bequeathed to us " for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men." 
 
 To the means thus briefly indicated for promoting n 
 knowledge of those natural productions which have been 
 placed at our disposal by a beneficent Creator I would have 
 annexed, as already mentioned, a department for the collec- 
 tion and exhibition of all the useful implements and ma- 
 chinery which have been contrived by art for aiding the 
 operations and improving the condition of the human race; 
 and this desirable appendage, as every one knows, is, to a 
 great extent, already prepared to our hands in the ad rni ru- 
 ble establishment for the preservation of models, which are 
 required to be deposited on the issue of letters- f>atent for new 
 inventions. This department might be conveniently and 
 most appropriately made a branch of the proposed institu- 
 tion. 
 
 With these combined advantages, and the requisite addi- 
 tions being supplied as opportunity ottered, we should soon 
 possess the means of acquiring a competent knowledge of 
 all that exists in nature or has been produced by art, and 
 that I should call a genuine '-establishment for the increase 
 and Diffusion of knowledge among men." While our local 
 seminaries would be appropriately engaged in imparting" 
 languages, rules, and other instruments of mental culture, 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON S BEQUEST. 9Q7 
 
 laboring at the various subdivisions and branches of knowl- 
 edge here, at the common center of the Republic, we should 
 have the entire tree, in perennial verdure, accessible to all 
 who might desire to participate in the pleasures and benefits 
 afforded by its flowers and its fruits. Every terrestial object 
 interesting to man would here be submitted to the examina- 
 tion of his senses, and rendered intelligible to his under- 
 standing; and every citizen whose taste or talents fitted him 
 for the acquisition, instead of wandering at the peril of life 
 and limb in the pursuit, would here find the elements of 
 knowledge, drawn from every region of the globe, and 
 adapted to his use, in the very bosom of his native land. 
 And this, let me add, is in my opinion the true method for 
 diffusing knowledge among men. Present the inducements, 
 furnish the means, point out the way, and then leave the 
 student to gain the prize by the efforts of his own talents 
 and industry. 
 
 The ordinary practice of attempting to force indiscrimi- 
 nately upon the minds of pupils a determinate portion of 
 school learning is something like the process of drenching 
 a juvenile patient with the unpalatable prescriptions of the 
 doctor. It may be beneficial, and sometimes indispensable, 
 but the medicine is apt to be rejected, and is almost inva- 
 riably recollected with loathing. Yet, when the sufferer has 
 acquired a proper sense of his condition, and comprehends 
 the necessity of the case, he seeks a rernedy with eagerness, 
 and applies it without the slightest regard to any unpleasant 
 contingencies. Instead, then^ of merely adding to the num- 
 ber of seminaries for the indiscriminate infliction upon the 
 young of certain prescribed doses of learning, I would estab- 
 lish our Smithsonian Institution as a great national warehouse 
 of knowledge, where everyone might find something suited 
 to his wants, and to which he could freely resort whenever 
 he became conscious of his necessities. 
 
 I would, however, provide one or more suitable persons, 
 in the character of curators, who should be competent to 
 expound the principles of arrangement, to elucidate what- 
 ever might be obscure, and, generally, to facilitate the re- 
 searches of all who might require assistance. More ex- 
 tensive or direct means of instruction, if found expedient, 
 could at any time be provided. 
 
 For the general direction and management of the estab- 
 lishment there is, happily, also on the spot an organized 
 body of the most respectable character, well fitted, and no- 
 doubt cheerfully prepared, to discharge the duty. A "Na- 
 tional Institute for the Promotion of Science" has been recently 
 
908 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 established at Washington, which seems to be expressly 
 adapted to such a trust. The members and officers are of 
 the most distinguished residents of that city, and, by the 
 constitution, the 'Secretaries of the War and Navy Depart- 
 ments are, ex officiis, directors of the institution. There is, 
 then, an ample provision for keeping the whole concern duly 
 under the inspection and control of the Government; and 
 being in its nature entirely unconnected with mere party con- 
 siderations, it would doubtless become, as it ought, an object 
 of generous rivalry with successive administrations, oach 
 striving in turn to excel its predecessors in promoting the 
 prosperity and extending the benefits of the establishment. 
 
 I cannot permit myself to believe there would be any 
 danger of its ever degenerating into an object of mere par- 
 tisan cupidity, or being converted into a political lair by 
 any of that ravenous tribe who instinctively lie in wait for 
 the offal of Government patronage. Such a desecration 
 would shock the national sense of decorum, and would be 
 scarcely less repugnant to the habits of the strange incumbent 
 himself. Who ever heard of a professional office-hunter 
 a regular mouser for party favors taking an interest in 
 the beauties of Creation, or co-operating in the promotion 
 of Science? The idea is preposterous. His nature would 
 revolt at such a position. The very atmosphere of the plaee 
 would be unsuited to his respiration, and every influence 
 within its boundaries would combine to expel him from the 
 consecrated ground. Or, if by some miraculous develop- 
 ment, a taste for liberal pursuits should chance to be awak- 
 ened in such an incumbent, we should see a metamorphosis 
 as salutary as it would be rare, and thus the institution 
 would still be safe. 
 
 In every event, I believe it would prove a most valuable 
 auxiliary in diffusing useful knowledge expanding the 
 minds, humanizing the dispositions, and refining the tastes 
 of our people and consequently elevating the national 
 character to that high standard of civilization which be- 
 comes a great and enlightened Republic. 
 
 I have thus, hastily and briefly, adverted to a few of the 
 considerations which induce me to believe that a NATIONAL 
 MUSEUM AND BOTANIC GARDEN, built up and sustained by 
 the Smithsonian Bequest, and dedicated to the instruction of 
 the American people, would not only be a legitimate object 
 for the appropriation of that fund, but would practically do 
 more towards the "increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men" than any other institution which has yet been 
 suggested. The benefits resulting from it would be more 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 909 1 
 
 numerous, more palpable, more accessible and therefore 
 more generally enjoyed by the nation at large than those 
 of any other single establishment. If this be true, should 
 we not unite, as with one voice, in urging the accomplish- 
 ment of so noble a design? And may we not indulge the 
 hope that our public servants who profess such eagerness 
 to gratify the wishes of their constituents would promptly 
 respond to so reasonable a request ? To doubt their compli- 
 ance with such a manifestation of the sovereign will would 
 be treason against the very theory of our Government. I 
 shall be guilty of no such political heresy. I shall antici- 
 pate no such contumacious neglect of representative duty; 
 but will look forward with confidence to the day, when the 
 citizens of this Republic shall possess all the means, and 
 enjoy all the advantages, of intellectual culture which have 
 been hitherto monopolized by the subjects of European 
 monarchies. 
 
 Let us, then, never falter in our efforts, nor halt for an 
 instant in our career of improvement, until our temples of 
 Science shall vie with the noblest of those beyond the 
 Atlantic. And while the Frenchman justly glories in the 
 Jardin des Plantes while the Briton boasts, with reason, of 
 the Royal Garden at Kew and even the Russian, in his 
 frozen clime, is warmed into admiration by the Imperial 
 Conservatory of the Czars let American freemen, in their 
 turn, be enabled to point, with patriotic pride, to a National 
 Institution, of no less beauty and value, at the Metropolis of 
 their own favored land. 
 
910 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE DUTIES OF GOVERNMENT, 
 
 In reference chiefly to Public Instruction, with the Outlines of a Plan for 
 the Application of the Smithsonian Fund to that Object, 
 
 BY RKV. WILLIAM BARLOW. 
 
 Delivered, in substance, before the American Institute, in the Lyceum of 
 Natural History, in New York City, February 10, 1847.* 
 
 GENTLEMEN OP THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE: 
 
 The main object of the discourse which I am now to de- 
 liver is to lay before you the outlines of a PLAN of a Smith- 
 sonian Institution "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men" in conformity to the WILL of the late JAMES 
 SMITHSON, of England, by whom a fund for that purpose 
 has been bequeathed to these United States. 
 
 Preliminary, however, to the main design, I beg leave to 
 submit a few thoughts on the great ends of government, 
 and its duties in regard to public instruction. The theme 
 deserves our fixed attention; for, where the sovereignty is 
 vested in the people, and the legislator is the mere exponent 
 of the popular will, constitutional liberty and social well- 
 being must depend mainly on the intelligence and virtue of 
 the constituency. * 
 
 The terms of the will must determine the character of 
 the institution; and, brief as they are, they seem to be suffi- 
 ciently explicit to show what were the wishes. and intentions 
 of Mr. Smithson. 
 
 First. It is evident, I think, that he contemplated the 
 founding of an INSTITUTION sui generis different from any 
 existing university, college, library, museum, or gallery of 
 art. Had he intended any one of these he would have said 
 so, without any circumlocution. 
 
 Secondly. By "MEN" he undoubtedly meant all mm, but 
 especially all citizens of the United States the masses of 
 men, the comparatively neglected millions, as distinguished from 
 the privikged classes. Having in view the benefit of the people, 
 he selected this country as his heir, naturally supposing that 
 a popular government would discharge the trust in good 
 faith for the advantage of its constituency. 
 
 Thirdly. By " THE INCREASE AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE " 
 I suppose he meant, not so much the increase of the sum 
 
 New York. Printed by B. R. Barton. 1847. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 9H 
 
 of human knowledge by new discoveries in science, as the 
 wider diffusion of that which is already in possession of the 
 race the increase of knowledge among the millions by diffusion, 
 the increase of the millions who know. He did not design to 
 put men upon the search of undiscovered truths, to augment 
 the scientific stores of some future Newton, Porson, or La 
 Place, but to call into existence a system of expedients to 
 spread knowledge and equalize its advantages. 
 
 Fourthly. By the "KNOWLEDGE" to be diffused he must 
 have intended, not the simple elements taught in primary 
 schools; not the recondite lore of the higher seminaries, 
 for which the millions have no leisure; not the dogmata of 
 theology, which it is the business of the Church to teach, but 
 secular knowledge, adapted to the continued education of manhood, 
 suited to the wants of the millions and not otherwise adequately 
 provided f 01 knowledge touching their BUSINESS, their INTERESTS, 
 their SOCIAL DUTIES and POLITICAL RIGHTS. 
 
 On all these points gentlemen have fallen into error. The 
 word institution seems to call up in their minds all the insti- 
 tutions of civilization where knowledge is to be acquired, 
 and the new desideratum they propose to form by combining 
 them together. Instead of planning an institution for the 
 benefit of the millions, they devise one for the benefit of the 
 graduates of colleges, members of Congress, and gentlemen 
 of leisure. Instead of diffusing knowledge, they concen- 
 trate it at Washington. 
 
 The main object of Mr. Srnithson must have been the 
 diffusion of truth. An institution for the discovery of new 
 truths, and one for the diffusion of old ones, must of necessity 
 differ widely in their plan and details. He said nothing of 
 two distinct institutions, but of one only. If he intended 
 the first, he must have been insane. An institution incor- 
 porated at Washington to make scientific discoveries, or to 
 pick up diamonds on the Rocky Mountains, would be an 
 absurdity. Men do not find planets or diamonds because 
 they are incorporated for that purpose. But an institution 
 for "the diffusion of knowledge among men" has a definite 
 and practicable object, fraught with certain and substantial 
 benefits to mankind, and the conception of such a scheme 
 evinces both the wisdom and philanthropy of the testator. 
 
 But allowing that the increase of the sum of human 
 knowledge was intended by him, I think he would not have 
 advised the appointment of half a dozen men to take their 
 daily rounds through a library of 500,000 volumes, a garden 
 of 500,000 plants, and a cabinet of 500,000 curiosities, as 
 the means of attaining that object. The most direct way 
 
912 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 to increase the aggregate of human knowledge would be to 
 diffuse what we have among the masses. This would be 
 the "open sesa'tne!" the talismanic word which would un- 
 lock the hidden chambers of science. Instead of putting 
 ten men into snug sinecures, the true method would be to 
 put ten millions of men upon the search of truth, when it 
 might happen that the immortal discoverers would come 
 forth from some obscure cabin on the Aroostook, or some 
 remote cottage of the prairie. Discoveries must be left to 
 timei to chance, to the researches of the solitary student, 
 to men whom God shall inspire with the spirit of excellent 
 wisdom. But the seed of scientific discovery is diffused knowledge. 
 This should be sown broadcast among the masses. This was 
 the object of Mr. Smithson " To increase and diffuse knowl- 
 edge among men." 
 
 Of the various plans which have been suggested, that of 
 the Hon. Richard Rush, addressed to President Van Buren, 
 is the most remarkable. He advisc'd tin- appointment, by 
 the President arid heads of Departments, &c., of as many 
 lecturers as the funds would bear, whose duty it should be 
 to "illustrate the democratic principle in elementary dis- 
 quisitions," &c., which were then to be submitted to the 
 President, and if approved by him, published. He preg- 
 nantly remarks: "If knowledge is power, power directing 
 knowledge may make it efficacious;" and he sagely augurs 
 that "the desire of fame, increased by the hope of their 
 lectures being published, might be expected to stimulate 
 them to exertion; and if incentives so high were wanting, 
 the tenure of their appointments, where the Executive and the 
 public eye would be upon them, would act as a guard against 
 any slackness in their duties." This scheme embraced other 
 and better features, but this was its most prominent one. 
 The adoption of this bad plan would have made the bequest 
 a corruption fund, arid its lecturers a corps of Executive 
 sycophants and political hacks. I mention it merely to show 
 what projects politicians are capable of conceiving, and to 
 what base purposes this sacred bequest may be perverted if 
 it be not vigilantly guarded. 
 
 Doctors Cooper, Chapin, and Wayland concur in recom- 
 mending a kind of university. Dr. Cooper would open it 
 only to the graduates of colleges. Dr. Chapin would have 
 a few chairs filled with "professors of the -first powers and 
 attainments;" of which few chairs he specifies only ten. 
 Dr. Wayland would have its course of studies commence 
 where the studies of our colleges and West Point school 
 end. To this plan, in all its unimportant varieties, we object 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 913 
 
 that the professorships in such an institution in the city of 
 Washington would be sinecures, and its halls solitudes. 
 Life, in America, is thought to be too short to admit of a 
 university course between the collegiate and professional 
 studies. It would be the most thoroughly exclusive and aristo- 
 cratic institution of learning in the world. None but the opulent 
 and the learned would enjoy its advantages; whereas this 
 legacy was not intended for the exclusive benefit of an aris- 
 tocracy of wealth and learning, but of the comparatively 
 uneducated masses " To increase and diffuse knowledge 
 among men." 
 
 The Hon. John Q. Adams repudiated the plan of endow- 
 ing a school of any sort, because the American people are 
 sacredly bound, he says, to provide for education at their 
 own expense, and ought not to be indebted for such a pro- 
 vision to the eleemosynary donation of a foreigner; and yet 
 Mr. Adams advised the erection of an astronomical observa- 
 tory, the appointment of an astronomer, assistants, and at- 
 tendants, and the publication of a nautical almanac. This 
 application of the fund is clearly open to his own objection, 
 that the Government should furnish such an institution at 
 its own charge. It is open to the still more fatal objection, 
 that it would be a violation of the national faith. Mr. Smith- 
 son could not have contemplated any such use of his money. 
 He was thinking of men, not of the planets; and designed to 
 diffuse among them something more than nautical almanacs. 
 All knowledge, it is true, benefits man; and he that counts 
 the stars, and he that counts the spawn of the cod, adds some- 
 thing to the common stock; but neither the one nor the 
 other was the thing intended by Mr. Smithson. Fortunately, 
 this plan has been superseded by the erection of an astro- 
 nomical observatory at the public expense a bill for that 
 purpose having been smuggled through Congress under the 
 pretense of erecting a building to keep maps in. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Tappan proposed a botanical garden, like 
 the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris; agricultural experiments 
 on a farm to be provided for that purpose; conservatories, 
 chemical laboratory, cabinets of natural history; lectures, 
 somewhat on the plan of Mr. Rush, for the benefit of mem- 
 bers of Congress with their families; members of the Gov- 
 ernment with their's; inhabitants of the city, and strangers 
 visiting it. A library was to be created, at the expense of 
 $5,000 per annum; and, finally, an establishment for print- 
 ing scientific treatises, tracts, &c. This scheme would have 
 produced a college without students; professors to teach 
 members of Congress gratis; a flower garden to supply 
 58 
 
914 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 bouquets for the ladies, and "elegant tenements" for the 
 hangers-on of the party in power. All very good things in 
 their way, but not the things intended by Mr. Smithson. 
 The redeeming feature of this plan was the establishment 
 for printing. "l apprehend, however, that it would have 
 proved merely a large leak to let oft' surplus funds. How 
 the treatises were to be disposed of I am not informed 
 probably as gratuities to members of Congress and their 
 friends. Such a splendid group of establishments would 
 have exhausted the entire funds of the institution at the 
 outset. They would have served to garnish "the city of 
 magnificent distances" so long as they were supported from 
 the national treasury, but would have reflected but little 
 light upon the minds of the millions beyond its suburbs. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Choate proposed to amend the scheme of 
 Mr. Tappan, by appropriating to the library $20,000 per 
 annum, for twenty-five years. He retained all the <>t lid- 
 features of the plan, excepting that lie restricted the lectures 
 to the winter, and the publications to the lectures delivered. 
 The nation might welfbe proud of such a library. With a 
 little economy in the distribution of the spoils, twice the 
 amount, possibly, might be saved from the treasury. The 
 Government would do well to found such a library; if for 
 no other purpose, to aid the researches of our Presc-otts, 
 Irvings, and Sparks. But this should be done with its own 
 money not with this trust fund. To imprison knowledge 
 in 500,000 volumes of gilded calf, and lock it up behind 
 doors of glass and mahogany, would be a urand affair a 
 splendid thing for members of Congress to look upon. But 
 if it were created by the Smithsonian fund, it would be a 
 magnificent violation of the national faith! . Mr. Smithson 
 gave his money in trust, to increase and diffuse knowledge 
 among men not to stow it away on shelves of deal, inac- 
 cessible to all but the keeper and the moth ; at any rate, 
 wholly and forever inaccessible to the millions. So far from 
 carrying out the design of Mr. Smithson, it reverses it; and 
 instead of diffusing knowledge, concentrates it at Washing- 
 ton, where there is already one of the largest libraries in the 
 Union. 
 
 The bill of the Hon. Mr. Owen provided for lectureships 
 on agriculture and chemistry; for the extensive use of the 
 press, in the diffusion of knowledge; and for a normal 
 school, for the education of teachers. The peculiar feature 
 of this bill, the normal school, would, I apprehend, differ 
 from the institution recommended by Doctors Chapin and 
 Wayland, as being inferior; and from a hundred academies 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 915 
 
 already established, as being more inaccessible. Such insti- 
 tutions should be founded where living is cheap. Wash- 
 ington would be the most unfavorable locality in the Union. 
 The few who could afford the expense of a school there, 
 would be apt to prefer some college, where proficiency 
 might obtain at least the reward of a diploma. Mr. Owen's 
 plan for employing the press, was probably the nearest ap- 
 proach to the great desideratum which had been made. 
 But here everything would depend upon the mode of dis- 
 tribution. His plan, as a whole, appears to me to have 
 embraced too many objects for the fund to bear, and ma- 
 chinery too much complicated to run well. In both these 
 respects, however, it was much to be preferred to the plans 
 which had preceded it. It bore the marks of intelligent 
 thought, practical wisdom, and honest patriotism; but it 
 was fated to be superseded by a piece of patchwork, which, 
 in the session of 1845-46, became the law of the land. 
 
 The act to establish the " Smithsonian Institution" com- 
 bines some of the worst features of the preceding plans, 
 while it wants their redeeming qualities. It provides most 
 amply for wasting the entire income of the fund upon an 
 assemblage of distinct establishments under that name. It 
 creates a vast and complicated piece of machinery, which 
 would require the income of millions to keep in repair, and 
 which would seem to have no ultimate object external to 
 itself. 
 
 The first section constitutes the President and Vice- 
 president of the United States, the Secretary of State, the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy, the Postmaster-General, the Attorney- 
 General, the Chief Justice, the Commissioner of the Patent 
 Office, and the Mayor of the city of Washington, during 
 their continuance in their respective offices, "and such other 
 persons as they may elect honorary members" " an establishment 
 by the name of the Smithsonian Institution," "to have per- 
 petual succession," &c. 
 
 No limit is here set to the number of honorary members. 
 The Cabinet may appoint them ad libitum. There may be 
 ten or ten hundred. With two exceptions, the whole body 
 may be changed with every change of the Administration. 
 No duties are assigned to it but those specified in the 8th 
 section, namely, "to hold stated and special meetings for 
 the supervision of the affairs of the said Institution, and the 
 advice and instruction of the said Board of Regents." As, 
 however, the said Board of Regents is, by section third, 
 authorized "to conduct the business of the Institution," it 
 
916 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 was obviously unnecessary to assign any other than nominal 
 duties to the nominal institution. 
 
 The creation of this nominal institution, though utterly 
 useless as regards the transaction of business, is a matter of 
 grave import touching the funds. If, as seems to have been 
 the intention, and as justice itself requires, "the members 
 and honorary members of the Smithsonian Institution" are 
 to be entitled, as well as the Board of Regents, to draw upon 
 the funds for "their necessary travelling, and other actual 
 expenses," when attending at "its stated and special meet- 
 ings," revenues may be required for the "actual expenses" 
 of an exceeding great army of men, "desiring the crumba 
 which fall from the table."* 
 
 The third section confides the business of the Institution 
 to a " Board of Regents," consisting of the Vice- President of 
 the United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, and 
 the Mayor of the city of Washington, during the time for 
 which they shall hold their respective offices; three members 
 of the Senate, to be appointed by the President thereof: three 
 members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by 
 the Speaker thereof; and six other persons, to bo appointed 
 by joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives, fifteen in all. Vacancies to be filled by Congress in 
 the Usual manner. 
 
 This Board of Regents constitutes, in fact, a dn^n-titc 
 Smithsonian Institution, differing from the first as being the 
 real, while the other is only the nominal Institution. The 
 organization of this board, like the other, is wholly of a 
 party character, and liable to constant change. The prin- 
 ciple of rotation in office, carried into the institute, will de- 
 prive its officers of the benefit of experience. Its offices will 
 be so many places added to Government patronage, and its 
 income will be so much money added to the spoils of the 
 victors. 
 
 It will be their duty to hold " regular and special meet- 
 ings;" to appoint and remove subordinate officers; to super- 
 intend the building; to audit accounts and disburse moneys; 
 to furnish the cabinets, laboratory, library, and gallery of 
 art; to make exchanges of specimens; and report their 
 operations to Congress. In a word, to manage the complex 
 machinery of the several institutions to be created under the 
 name of the " Smithsonian Institution." Their offices will 
 be no sinecures, but " their services as Regents are to be- 
 gratuitous." As, however, most of these fifteen gentlemen 
 may be called from distant States to attend to their duties, 
 " the travelling and other actual expenses" may absorb no 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 917 
 
 trifling proportion in the final division of the assets of the 
 Institution. 
 
 Section five provides for the erection of a building, "with 
 rooms or halls for the reception and arrangement, upon a 
 liberal scale," of the following distinct institutions : 1. A 
 "Museum " of " objects of natural history, including a geo- 
 logical and mineralogical cabinet." 2. A " Gallery of Art ," 
 to be furnished, probably, with statuary, paintings, engrav- 
 ings, and other costly things in that line. 3. A Library, to 
 which the board may appropriate " not exceeding $25,000 
 per annum." 4. A " Chemical Laboratory" with the furni- 
 ture necessary for chemical experiments. And finally, "the 
 .necessary lecture rooms," requiring lecturers, of course, and 
 constituting, perhaps, the university recommended by Doc- 
 tors Chapin and Wayland, or perchance the corps of politi- 
 cal lecturers proposed by Mr. Rush. 
 
 It appropriates for the building the interest which has 
 already accrued on the fund, namely, $241,129, " together 
 with such sum or sums, out of the annual interest accruing 
 to the Institution, as may, in any year, remain unexpended, 
 after paying the current expenses of the Institution." This 
 is to be much observed. After paying the current expenses, 
 the surplus income may be expended upon the buildings I It would 
 seem that something should be reserved to " diffuse knowl- 
 edge among men," and that such surplus might be so ap- 
 propriated. However, as there are at least four distinct 
 institutions to be provided for out of the paltry income of 
 $30,910, the surplus will not be worth contending about. 
 
 Of the subordinate officers, one only is specified "the 
 secretary of the Board of Regents" who is authorized, 
 with the consent of the board, to appoint assistants. Their 
 number is not specified. Each of the four institutions will 
 require at least one officer of its own. To purchase, judi- 
 ciously, $25,000 worth of books, would require one or two 
 .competent agents. Virtuosi would be wanted to make col- 
 lections for the museum and gallery of art. To these must 
 be added a retinue of servants, and interminable expenses 
 incident to foreign and domestic agencies, and inseparable 
 from so magnificent an assemblage of establishments. 
 
 The financial aspect of this law presents some remarkable 
 features. The original fund is invested in the treasury, and 
 yields an income of $30,910. Of this income $25,000, may 
 be annually expended in books. A museum and gallery of 
 art, " on a liberal scale " on a scale worthy of a great na- 
 tion, and similar to other national institutions of the kind 
 .abroad would require at least as much more ; for, if the 
 
918 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 thing cannot be done on this liberal scale, it should not be- 
 attempted at all. " The travelling and other actual ex- 
 penses " of the superior officers of the institution, will ad- 
 mit of no certain estimate. If there were a will, theiv 
 would be a way, to make this item absorb half the income. 
 It can hardly stop short of some thousands. There must 
 be four subordinate officers at least, who would be entitled 
 to receive from two to three thousand dollars : say $10,000. 
 Add to these the expenses attending foreign and domestic- 
 agencies, correspondence, transportation, wages of a numer- 
 ous troupe of servants, light and fuel for the whole suite of 
 establishments, occupyingan edifice costing at least $300,000 ; 
 and occasional printing of reports, lectures, &c. Last of all, 
 the 9th section provides, " that of any other moneys which 
 have accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the 
 said Smithsonian fund, not herein appropriated, or not m////'/v/ 
 for the purposes herein provided, the said managers are heivhy 
 authorized to make such disposal as they shall deem 1>< <t 
 suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator." 
 
 Here is a scheme of appropriation which would exhaust 
 the income if it were three hundred thousand instead of 
 thirty, without approaching the object of the bequest. Of- 
 ficers and employees are to be first paid. If there should 
 be a surplus, a gallery of art, museum and library may be 
 created. The residue, if there should be any, may be ap- 
 plied to eke out the building fund. And finally, if by some 
 financial miracle, any thing should remain of that which has 
 been thrice consumed, that miraculous residuum may be 
 applied " for the promotion of the purpose of the testator/' 
 
 It would seem to be well understood that "the mon -vs 
 herein appropriated," and " the purposes herein provided," 
 do not promote the purpose of the testator as most cer- 
 tainly they do not. The law does not forget that the testa- 
 tor had a " purpose," and that the faith of the Government 
 is pledged to carry it into effect, but with these facts looking 
 it in the face, it appropriates the income, to projects which 
 do not conduce to the accomplishment of the purpose ; but 
 serve only to gratify a national vanity. But what appro- 
 priation does it make to carry into effect the object of the 
 generous Srnithson ? Not the first dollar ! But with intense 
 irony it tells us, in effect, that the said managers are author- 
 ized to apply to this object, the remainder, when ALL has been 
 wasted ! 
 
 No one can suppose that the enormous abuses of a sacred 
 trust, to which this law opens a wide door, were contem- 
 plated by the honorable body by whom it was enacted 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 919 
 
 Congress wished, perhaps, to gratify the several projectors 
 by incorporating their respective contrivances into one an- 
 omalous institution. But after all the deliberations of years, 
 its final action was characterized by haste almost fatuity. 
 Some creature of a clique, it would seem was prepared to 
 come forward, at the last moment, with this odious scheme, 
 and the plan of Mr. Owen was suddenly superseded. It is 
 instinct with the partisan spirit of the scheme first reviewed. 
 It looks, to my eye, like the same, but rendered more com- 
 plex by monstrous appendages, and wearing a mask of hy- 
 pocrisy over its visage of brass. It is a violation of the 
 national faith, and a fraud upon the American people. It 
 robs us of our money, and appropriates it liberally to pro- 
 jects conceived in folly; but to the great purpose of the 
 testator " the diffusion of knowledge among men "it grants 
 nothing, absolutely nothing. I call upon the American 
 people to place their brand upon the odious law ; and to 
 reclaim their money before " such contracts or individual 
 rights " shall be " made or acquired under it," as shall 
 alienate it altogether from the sacred purpose for which it 
 was given. 
 
 I shall now proceed to suggest a method of appropriating 
 the proceeds of the Smithsonian fund, which would, I con- 
 ceive, accomplish the purpose of that philanthropist. 
 
 Of the Fund. Let the Government charge itself with the 
 purchase and maintenance of the library, museum, and 
 gallery of art, &c., if these projects must of necessity be 
 persisted in, and thus relieve the Smithsonian fund of a 
 burden foreign to its design. Let the original fund of 
 $515,169, with so much of the interest which has already 
 accrued thereon as would make up the amount of $700,000, 
 remain in the Treasury of the United States, as a perma- 
 nent fund, drawing interest at six per cent, per annum. This 
 would yield for the purposes of the institution, $42,000. Let 
 the balance of the interest now on hand, say $57,298, be 
 expended in the erection of a suitable building for the uses 
 of the institution, on grounds authorized to be taken for that 
 purpose by the present act ; but not so as to form a wing of 
 the Patent Office. This amount would erect a building 
 sufficient, but not showy. If the Government wishes for 
 something in the way of architectural display, let it provide 
 the means, but not enlarge to such dimensions as to waste 
 the scanty income in repairs and attendance. 
 
 II. Of the Regents. Let the regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution consist of the judges of the Supreme Court, 
 
920 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 who compose the bench at Washington, with an equal num- 
 ber selected by themselves from among the sages of the 
 land, who have become illustrious for their wisdom and 
 virtue, and who have retired from the strife of politics. 
 Let all vacancies by death or resignation, among the asso- 
 ciates of the judges, be filled by the election of the whole 
 board ; the vacancies on the bench of judges being filled as 
 by law provided. Let the board so constituted have per- 
 petual succession, and possess all the necessary corporate 
 powers, as the Smithsonian Institution. Such men as these 
 judges, with such other men as Albert Gallatin, James Kent, 
 James Tallmadge, would be inaccessible to the corrupt influ- 
 ence of party. In the management of the trust confided to 
 them, they would give to the country the benefit of their 
 wisdom ; they would possess its confidence, and redeem its 
 plighted faith. They should be invested with large dis- 
 cretionary powers, and should report to Congress at each 
 session the doings and condition of the Institution. 
 
 III. The Editorial Eureau.Let the Board of Regents 
 appoint the subordinate officers of the institution ; namely, 
 two editors and two assistants ; one of whom shall be the 
 corresponding, and another the recording secretary of the 
 institution. These officers shouU 1 be selected from among 
 the ablest men whose services can be commanded. Their 
 compensation should be liberal. They should not be re- 
 movable except for cause, and by the vote of a majority of 
 the appointing power. The permanency of their appoint- 
 ments would be an inducement to bring all their faculties 
 to. their work, and to aim at the highest perfection in the 
 duties assigned them. 
 
 IV. Volume of Practical Science. Let it be the duty of this 
 Editorial Bureau to collect, from all sources, all that is 
 known touching the subjects of agriculture, manufactures, 
 commerce, architecture, engineering, the tine arts in short, 
 in all branches of productive industry ; to extract from the 
 mass that which is best calculated to subserve the industrial 
 interests of the country, and digest and arrange the same 
 into a form adapted to popular use. Let the large annual 
 volume, of 800 or more pages, octavo, be compiled, contain- 
 ing more or less upon all these subjects, so as to give to 
 each volume the attraction of a rich variety. Let it be 
 stereotyped in the best manner, with double sets of plates. 
 Let the work be enriched and embellished with maps, plans, 
 plates, engravings, illustrative of the matter contained in 
 the volume, particularly natural history, mechanics, archi- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 921 
 
 tecture, and the fine arts. Thus making it at once an in- 
 valuable compendium of practical science, and a book of 
 beauty ; adapted to the wants of the cottage, and worthy for 
 its elegance of the saloon of the palace. Besides the stand- 
 ard topics mentioned, other matters of science and general 
 interest, improving to the tastes and elevating to the char- 
 acter, might be admitted to enliven its pages. I would 
 wish to have, in process of time, the kingdoms of nature 
 and art explored, to find the forms of truth and beauty to 
 enrich that book. If, by reason of constant discussion, or 
 the want of fresh matter, the standard topics should lose 
 any portion of their interest, new life might be infused into 
 the series by adopting works on collateral subjects. In de- 
 fault of native works adapted to this use, foreign works, 
 like the Bridgewater Treatises, might be admitted. Such 
 :an emergency, however, is not to be anticipated. 
 
 Y. Political Collectanea. Let the second annual volume be 
 compiled and stereotyped, in size and style uniform with 
 the first, and constituting a political collectanea. It should 
 contain a digest of the proceedings of the legislative, execu- 
 tive, and judicial branches of the General Government; im- 
 portant State papers; abstracts of Congressional reports; 
 treaties; diplomatic correspondence; statistics; notices of 
 internal improvements; notices of State legislation, with 
 their most valuable documents; statistics of foreign coun- 
 tries; memoranda of their legislation, and current political 
 histor}\ It should be, in short, a current political history 
 of the world, but especially of our own country a pano- 
 ramic view of nations as they exist at the passing moment. 
 It should contain the cream of that knowledge which the 
 freeman needs to qualify him to serve his country, whether 
 at the polls or in official station. It should be history taken 
 from life, by a sort of literary daguerreotype a book of facts, 
 compiled in the spirit of truth and impartiality, untainted 
 by party prejudices, beyond the reach of party influences. 
 I would wish it to become, in the process of years, a more 
 valuable book of reference for the statesman than exists in 
 any country more full and elaborate than Mies' Register, 
 and expurged from its dross more general in its scope and 
 less encumbered with useless matter than Hansard's Parlia- 
 mentary Reports more available for the present and future 
 student of legislative history than Rymer's Foadera. It 
 should have the good qualities of all these, without their 
 detects, and other good qualities which none of them have. 
 
 YI. Preliminary Series of Volumes. And here I beg leave 
 
922 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON S BEQUEST. 
 
 to suggest that, if such a current documentary history should 
 be commenced, the design should be perfected by the com- 
 pilation of an introductory series of volumes, containing all the 
 most important documents relating to the history of the 
 country from its first settlement, and especially from the 
 middle of the eighteenth century. They should be uniform 
 in style with the series above proposed, and embrace a great 
 deal of matter for the gratification of the antiquarian, as 
 well as for the instruction of the legislator and historian. 
 The Smithsonian fund should spare nothing for this retro- 
 spective purpose; but the desideratum would be cheerfully 
 supplied by the General Government. England has set the 
 beautiful example in her Foedera. It could be compiled, 
 stereotyped, and published in the same manner as the serials 
 of the Smithsonian Institution, as suggested belo\v. 
 
 VII. Method of Publishing. Let the use of the plates of 
 the two serials be granted, for a term of years, without 
 charge, to such responsible publishers as would engage to 
 supply all purchasers with the works, executed in a given 
 style, at the lowest price, and deliver the >ame for sale in sneh 
 of the great cities of the Union as shall he designated in 
 the contract. As the compiling, stereotyping, and engraving 
 would he done at the charge of the Smithsonian fund, the 
 purchaser would pay only for the paper ', press-work^ bindimj, 
 and the small percentage which should of right constitute 
 the profits of the publisher. If the two annual volumes were, 
 in matter and style such as I conceive they should he, and 
 such as I have attempted to describe, they should he worth, 
 at the ordinary rates, four and five dollars respectively, or 
 at least eight dollars for the two. Without going into 
 minutely accurate calculations, it would be safe to say that 
 they would not cost the purchaser more than three dollars. 
 The balance of five dollars in the intrinsie.value of the hooks 
 would be in effect a donation from James Smithson. They 
 would not, indeed, be worth that as merchandise, since all 
 could obtain them at the same price; hut they would be 
 worth infinitely more than that, as sources of practical, use- 
 ful, and indispensable knowledge, and which are not likely 
 to be provided for in any other way. 
 
 Resulting Benefits of the Plan. Permit me now to enlarge 
 on the benefits which would result from this safe, simple, 
 and effective scheme, if it were carried out in its spirit and 
 to the letter. 
 
 It will supply a Desideratum. It would call the two serials 
 into existence, and widely distribute them. A work of prac- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 928 
 
 tical science, compiled with ability, executed with elegance, 
 keeping up with the progress of discovery, adapted to popular 
 use, neither too desultory to instruct nor too voluminous to 
 be read, is still a great desideratum for the laboring classes. 
 A current political history, divested of party prejudice and 
 misrepresentation, is no less necessary for the voter and 
 statesman. Individual enterprise is little likely to supply 
 these wants, on terms suited to the straitened means of the 
 millions. But if they were furnished as here proposed, 
 their intrinsic value would make them desirable to the 
 wealthy, and their cheapness would bring them within the 
 reach of the poor. I am of opinion that one hundred 
 thousand copies would be sold annually ; and as the popu- 
 lation increased, even that amount might be doubled ; I 
 am tempted to say quadrupled. 
 
 Gain to the Laborer. To the laboring classes, the vol- 
 ume of practical science would be valuable as a source of 
 pecuniary gain. It would bring to their aid the lights of 
 science, and the results of experience. It would point out 
 new and felicitous methods of operation in the shop and 
 the field. It would lighten the labor of the human muscle, 
 while it gave healthful occupation to the intellect. It would 
 show them what others have done, and provoke them to 
 noble emulation. It would suggest expedients to meet 
 emergencies ; and remedies for a thousand evils. It would 
 wake indolence from its sleep, and turn industry into new 
 channels. It would, in short, increase and diffuse practical 
 knowledge, and thus help the toiling man in numberless 
 ways ; and it would be his own fault if he did not reap from 
 each annual dollar the harvest of " thirty, sixty, or an hun- 
 dred fold." 
 
 Mental Improvement. These volumes would serve a higher 
 purpose than to increase wealth, and improve the mind as 
 well as the condition. On two great branches of knowl- 
 edge, they would contain all that the masses have the leisure 
 to learn. The late act of Congress proposes to increase and 
 diffuse knowledge among men by establishing a museum, 
 laboratory, library, and gallery of art, in the city of Wash- 
 ington. The present plan proposes to put the museum, labora- 
 tory, library, and gallery of art, into one of these serials, and 
 send them broadcast through the country, and lay them upon the 
 tables of a million of families. More useful by the cottage 
 fireside than a lecturer from the university, they would 
 discourse daily to its inmates of things useful and pleasing, 
 without taxing their hospitality. They would be pored 
 
:924 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 over by the bright eyes of childhood, and the dim vision of 
 age. They would furnish delightful occupation for the 
 hours of leisure; turn aside the temptation which wounds 
 the idle ; give expansion to ideas narrowed by ignorance ; 
 cultivate a taste for solid reading, and make many a winter 
 evening more charming than a morning of spring. 
 
 Development of Talent and Genius. Their effect upon the 
 future destinies of many young persons would be most 
 salutary. Many are born with high capabilities whom ne- 
 glect and ignorance doom to obscurity, perchance to ruin. 
 These volumes would find their way into the hands of 
 thousands of these neglected ones, kindle in them the latent 
 fires of genius, and call into action the faculties of a future 
 race of Franklins, Fultons, Whitneys, and Wests. Napo- 
 leon owed his success mainly to his rare discernment of 
 qualities, and his tact in putting every faculty of the millions 
 to its appropriate use. Nations too, become great by apply- 
 ing the talisman of education to individual character ; 
 throwing down the barriers of inferior caste ; and stirring 
 in the bosoms of the young the instinct which will guide 
 them to the paths for which nature has fitted them. One 
 of these volumes, well read, would impart more real knowl- 
 edge and mental vigor, than all the novels in the language. 
 Many a peasant boy will begin by spelling out in solitude 
 the pages of these volumes, and will distance the college 
 dunce in the end. 
 
 Increase of General Intelligence and Wealth. The benefits 
 which would accrue to the country, would admit of no 
 human estimate. To increase the intelligence of a people 
 is to promote social virtue and happiness. To enlighten 
 private industry, is to augment public wealth. To call out 
 the latent talents of all ranks, is to develop the true sources 
 of a nation's glory. Such effects would, to some extent, 
 follow from the adoption of this plan. Education among 
 the masses, for the most part, ceases with the years of child- 
 hood ; but these perpetual serials would furnish the means 
 of a continued adult education ; the only means which can be 
 made to reach the millions the only education their labors 
 will admit. While educating the man, they would mend 
 his fortune, and put bread upon his board. They would 
 lead to the exploration of new mines of wealth enriching 
 the country by enriching the citizen. They would add mil- 
 lions to the common wealth by improvements in agricul- 
 ture, millions by the introduction of new staples, millions 
 by extending and perfecting our manufactures, and that 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 925- 
 
 which is better than millions, by cultivating the national 
 taste and conducing to the advancement of the fine arts. 
 
 Preservation of our Free Institutions. Another benefit 
 would touch the vital interests of the country the very 
 existence of its free institutions. If practical science would 
 enrich it, sound political knowledge would tend to the pre- 
 servation of its liberties. That political volume, destined 
 to be read by the masses, like the book of judgment to the 
 evil-doer, would have terrors for the faithless ruler. Let it 
 pay its annual visit to the work-shop and farm-house, and 
 in the process of a few years it would confer upon the hon- 
 est labor no slight pretensions to statesmanship. It would 
 put an end to the reign of party despotism. It would crip- 
 ple the power of a mendacious press to mislead and deceive 
 the people. It would render the demagogue as impotent as 
 he is base. It would bring honest patriots to a substantial 
 agreement; and the great and the good would again sit in 
 the seats of power. We might, by God's help, even retrace 
 our steps from the fathomless gulf of foreign dictation, mob 
 violence, Jacobinic misrule, and the ultimate despotism, 
 upon which we are now advancing. 
 
 On the whole, we may affirm, I think, that the publication 
 of these two serials would accomplish the object of Mr. 
 Smithson. Instead of packing away five hundred thousand 
 volumes in Washington city, in twenty-five years, it would 
 put ten times that number of volumes into the hands of the people 
 themselves. They would be "read, marked, learned, and 
 inwardly digested." They would immediately and bene- 
 ficially affect the character and interests of the citizen, and 
 the safety of the country. They would be beautiful monu- 
 ments to the memory of the philanthropist, whose honored 
 name should stand upon every title-page, seen and read of 
 all men. This spring of benefits to mankind would not dry 
 up while the Government remained true to its trust, but flow 
 on, widening from age to age; and many a great and pros- 
 perous family in future times would be able most truly to 
 atiirm that God and James Smithson had made them so. 
 
 Answer to Objections. There are few things so good that 
 men may not find objections to them; and the best projects 
 fure as ill in this respect as the worst. Objections will be 
 started to the present plan. Let us imagine what they may 
 be, and ascertain their solidity. 
 
 Since the funds are provided without drawing upon the 
 Treasury, the objection will not probably be pressed any 
 farther that legislation in the premises is unconstitutional.. 
 
926 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 If it were otherwise this pretence would prevail. AVe should 
 ask in vain for $30,000 out of $30,000,000 of our own treas- 
 ury. Paltry politicians would cant about economy. Dem- 
 agogues would demand credit for the vigilance with wh'u-li 
 they guarded the Treasury from all but peculators. Patri- 
 otic statesmen would stand ready to defend the Constitution 
 with their heart's best blood from the horrible violation ot 
 doing good. Fortunately all this is estopped. The Gov- 
 ernment has accepted the trust ; and it is too late to urge 
 that it is unconstitutional to fulfill its engagements. 
 
 Fund Not Insufficient. It may be thought that the income 
 would be insufficient. By no means, if we may have the 
 whole. $700,000, yielding an income of $42,000, would 
 allow, in round numbers: for the Editorial Bureau, $10,000; 
 for stereotyping and engraving, $25,000; and for contingen- 
 cies expenses of Regents, books, correspondence, light and 
 fire, etc., $7,000. This is enough for the present, "A por- 
 tion of this formidable amount would go to American 
 scholars, a portion to American artists, and a portion to 
 American mechanics all would go to reward talent and 
 learning, labor and skill; and sad to say. nothing to tin- 
 political parasite. This evil must be patiently enduivd. 
 When useful things are to be done, useful nun must U- cm- 
 ployed as to the rest, they must content themselves with 
 the millions of the Treasury. Forty thousand dollars pi r 
 annum is a mere bagatelle in the mass of party >]>oils; but 
 it is a very great deal to be expended in good faith for the 
 benefit of the people. Let it be appropriated in the way 
 here indicated, and it will do us more good more, a great 
 deal, than we now derive from all the national revenues. 
 This fund is most sacredly ours. Let not our rulers covet 
 it let them extort no black-mail nor fritter away the 
 funds upon useless projects and hungry politicians. Let 
 the funds be charged simply with the erection of a small 
 plain building requiring no heavy expenditures for repairs 
 and attendance, with the salaries of the officers constituting 
 the editorial bureau, the production of the plates, and the 
 necessary contingencies let this course be honestly pur- 
 sued, and I repeat the averment, the Smithsonian Institution 
 wilt do the country more good than all the. millions of the 
 Treasury. 
 
 Government to do Nothing but to Organize It, and then Let It 
 Alone. It may be thought that this would make the Gov- 
 ernment a kind of publishing house. It is that now, and 
 expends much money in publications which never reach the 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON ? S BEQUEST. 927 
 
 people. In this case the Government would have nothing 
 to do but to organize our Board of Regents, and pay our 
 money when it falls due. For all practical purposes we 
 wish the Smithsonian Institution to be as far beyond its 
 reach as the remotest star. Here is a fund consecrated to 
 the diffusion of knowledge a purpose which can be accom- 
 plished only by the agency of the press. The Government 
 has accepted the trust, and we wish them to discharge it by 
 organizing a competent and trust-worthy corporation to 
 employ that agent in our service. More we wish it not to 
 do less it cannot do in good faith. Let not our rulers think 
 scorn of so humble an expedient as the sending forth of two 
 annual volumes, to teach us how to take care of ourselves 
 and of our country how to labor with advantage, and how 
 to vote with discretion. It shall cost their honors little 
 trouble and no expense; but the two volumes shall do the 
 nation more good than the two houses of Congress. Our 
 rulers themselves shall have their portion of benefit; these 
 volumes shall show them the right, and make them afraid 
 to do wrong. And when they come down from their high 
 places, they shall share in common with us the blessings 
 they will have bestowed upon their country. 
 
 In this way Sales may be Indefinitely Extended. Will it be 
 thought better that the publications of the Institute should 
 be sent out as gratuities? It would cost millions to do any 
 thing to the purpose in this way. The books would become 
 the perquisites of officials, and would be distributed by fa- 
 voritism. But in the method here proposed, the publica- 
 tion might be extended to the utmost limit of the demand, 
 without additional charge to the institution, and without 
 complicating the machinery. The fund would merely edit, 
 stereotype, and engrave ; here its responsibility would end. 
 The publisher would print and sell for his minimum profit, 
 and manage his own machinery with the astuteness of in- 
 terest. All who were willing to pay one-third of their value 
 could have the books. I have supposed the sets to be worth 
 $8 to sell for $3 and the number of sets annually sold to 
 be 100,000. To this operation the fund would contribute 
 $42,000 ; the purchasers $300,000. The excess of actual 
 value over the cost, amounting to $500,000, would be in 
 effect an annual donation from the generous foreigner to 
 the American people. The annual increase of bibliothecal 
 wealth in the country would be $800,000. Here would be 
 a creative power constantly employed in putting knowledge 
 into men's heads and skill into their fingers, fertilizing 
 
928 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON J S BEQUEST. 
 
 their farms, enlarging their work-shops, putting money 
 into their purse, educating their children, multiplying their 
 domestic comforts, and thus increasing the national wealth 
 by countless millions. 
 
 This Plan of Publication applicable to other State Documents. 
 Here I beg leave to suggest that this plan of publication 
 might be adopted, to some extent, by the National and State 
 governments, at a great saving to their respective treasu- 
 ries, and with vast advantage to the people. The u Natural 
 History of New York," a work which reflects honor upon 
 the country, might have been published in this way at one- 
 half the expense to the State, at no more expense to the 
 purchaser, and twenty copies for one might have gone into 
 the hands of the people. Congressional" and State laws of 
 general interest should be simply stereotyped at the expense 
 of the treasuries; they could then be published at a small 
 advance on the material and labor, and come within the 
 reach of all who desired them. 
 
 The Present Plan Not too Late. Finally it may be objected 
 that this plan comes too late ; as the General Government 
 has settled its mode of action, and appropriated the fund. 
 But the plan adopted is not beyond the reach of amend- 
 ment. If Congress be not too wise to err, it should not be 
 too dignified to mend. It has doubtless been their honest 
 and earnest purpose to discharge their trust in good faith. 
 If the present plan be worthy of adoption, it is competent 
 for that honorable body to adopt it, restore the Smithsonian 
 fund to the people, and charge the treasury with the expense 
 of their own folly, if that folly must of necessity be per- 
 sisted in. This sacred fund belongs to the people, and their 
 wishes as well as their interest should be consulted in the 
 disposal of it. We have a right to say to our rulers, hands 
 off! in the name of justice ! Waste, if you will, the reve- 
 nues ! Spend fifty millions to war upon fifty Indians ! In- 
 vade Mexico ! Put your sub-treasuries into your pockets, 
 or cast them into the sea! Do what else you will ; but do 
 not waste this trust fund in prodigal expenditures for a 
 sumptuous building, a library, museum, and gallery of art, 
 which not one in ten thousand of us shall ever behold. Do 
 not fritter it away upon troops ot gentlemen whose services 
 we do not want, and ten thousand objects of expense which 
 amount to nothing in the end. This fund is ours its ob- 
 ject is sacred let it be so applied that its benefits may reach 
 us. 
 
 Gentlemen of the American Institute, public instruction 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 929 
 
 is one of the most important duties of a wise and paternal 
 government. To teach religion is the business of the church. 
 The lower and the higher branches of science may be safely 
 confided to the schools. But to enlighten our industry, to 
 instruct us how to establish and defend our liberties, to 
 continue the education of manhood, in all ranks of the 
 community, is the business of Government. The press is 
 the instrument ordained of God for these purposes. Di- 
 rected by private interest it caters for a morbid intellectual 
 appetite floods the land with putrid waters and buries 
 useful knowledge under infinite accumulations of rubbish. 
 We wish to put a press under the control of men in whom 
 there is the spirit of excellent wisdom, that they may teach 
 us. We are told that it would be unlawful to take money 
 from our national treasury for this purpose. Lawful or un- 
 lawful, it cannot be had there. But by the favor of God, 
 and James Smithson, a little fund has been provided for 
 the diffusion of knowledge among men, which, by accumu- 
 lation, now amounts to $757,298. It is about to" be alien- 
 ated from its holy purpose, or applied in a way which, 
 keeping the promise to the ear, breaks it to the hope. 
 
 I propose that the people shall reclaim their money, and 
 demand that it should be expended in the support of a 
 bureau of national instruction, which shall speak to us in 
 two annual volumes of industrial and political science. The 
 plan is simple, feasible, efficient. It opens no flood-gates 
 of expenditure, and leaves little room for contingencies. 
 It puts the machinery of the Smithsonian Institution under 
 the control of the incorruptible sages of our country. It 
 offers reward to useful talent, but furnishes no sinecures for 
 idleness. It would effect the object of Mr. Srnithson, re- 
 deem the faith of the nation, and accomplish the wish, of 
 philanthropy, " by the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men" These two volumes would do more for human hap- 
 piness than " all the abundance cast into the Treasury." 
 Like the mustard in the parable, they are small seeds, but 
 let them take root, and they would send out " boughs to the 
 sea, and branches to the rivers," " their leaves would be 
 fair, and their fruit much." 
 
 Gentlemen, is it your pleasure that this should be done? 
 Let, then, the plan which I have suggested go to the coun- 
 try with your imprimatur. Truth is mighty who knoweth 
 but that it may prevail ? 
 
REPORT OF THE ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE OF THE 
 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION; 
 
 With the Resolutions accompanying the same, and adopted by the 
 Board of Regents. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS APPOINTING A COMMITTEE ON ORGANIZATION AND RE- 
 GARDING THE PRINTING AND DISPOSAL OF THEIR REPORT. 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted by the Board of Regents : 
 On the 8th of September, 1840, it was 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed by the Chancellor from 
 the members of the Board, to digest a plan to carry out the provisions of 
 the act to establish the Sinitli-onian Institution, and that they report the 
 same to the next meeting of the Board. 
 
 Whereupon, the Chancellor appointed Mr. Owen, Mr. Hilliard, and Mr. 
 Buehe, said committee. 
 
 And on the 9th of September, 1846, it was further 
 
 Resolved, That Mr. Choate and Mr. Penny backer be added to the com- 
 mittee appointed yesterday to digest a plan to carry out the provisions of the 
 act establishing the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 On the 1st of December, 184G, the Chairman of the Committee on Organ- 
 i /.at ion reported; and, on the 21st of December, the report, on motion of 
 the chairman, was recommitted to the committee. On the 25th of January, 
 1847, the report as here presented, was made, and certain resolutions there- 
 with submitted ; and the whole series of resolutions recommended by th 
 Committee, and herein appended to the report, were finally adopted by 
 the Board. They comprise the outline of an entire plan of organization, to 
 carry out the provisions of the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 And it was further 
 
 Resolved, That, of this report, in such form as it may be ultimately adopted, 
 five thousand copies be printed, under the direction of the Secretary ; and 
 that he be required to transmit a copy of the same to each of the principal 
 scientific and literary societies, both in this and in other countries ; nnd also 
 to such individuals of scientific or literary reputation as he may judge likely 
 to find interest in the proceedings of the institution. 
 
 Resolved, That ten copies of the report accompanying these resolutions be 
 furnished each member of the Senate and House of Representatives, and 
 that each member be respectfully requested to transmit these to newspapers 
 and to individuals, in his district or elsewhere, who may be likely to take 
 interest in the proceedings of the institution. 
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS ON PLAN OF 
 ORGANIZATION. 
 
 " For the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men " were the words of Smithson's will words used by a 
 
 930 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 931 
 
 man accustomed to the strict nomenclature of exact science. 
 They inform us, that a plan of organization, to carry into 
 effect the intention of the testator, must embrace two ob- 
 jects; one, the calling forth of new knowledge by original 
 research ; and the other, the dissemination of knowledge 
 already in existence. 
 
 Smithson's words, liberal and comprehensive, exclude no 
 branch of human knowledge ; nor is there any restrictive 
 clause in the charter under which we act. That charter in- 
 dicates a few items, chiefly relating to one of the above ob- 
 jects, and leaves the rest of the plan, under the general 
 provision of the bequest, to the discretion of the Board. 
 
 First. It sets forth, as one of the objects of the institution, 
 a library that shall contain valuable works in all depart- 
 ments of human knowledge. 
 
 Second. It requires that there be provided in the buildings 
 of the institution a hall or halls suitable for a museum cap- 
 able of containing, on a liberal scale, collections of natural 
 history, including geology and mineralogy, and objects of 
 foreign and curious research; the large collection now in 
 the Patent Office being transferred to the institution. 
 
 Third. It requires that there be included in said building 
 a chemical laboratory. 
 
 Fourth. The building is to contain, also, " the necessary 
 lecture rooms." And, 
 
 Fifth. A gallery of art. 
 
 These items, with the exception perhaps of the laboratory, 
 relate to the diffusion of knowledge only. They render 
 necessary an annual appropriation to collect and support a 
 library ; another to maintain a museum ; and indicate an 
 intention, that a portion of the annual interest should be 
 applied to the advancement of physical science and the arts, 
 in part by lectures. 
 
 But, after enumerating these items, the framers of the 
 charter added a clause of plenary powers, authorizing the 
 Board, as to all funds not required for the above special pur- 
 poses, to make of them " such disposal as they shall deem 
 best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator." 
 
 In obedience to the requirements of the charter, which 
 leaves little discretion in regard to the extent of accomoda- 
 tions to be provided, your committee recommend, that there 
 be included in the building a museum of liberal size, fitted 
 up to receive the collections destined for the institution ; 
 and that library room sufficient for a hundred thousand vol- 
 umes be provided. They further recommend, that the lec- 
 ture rooms required by the act shall not exceed two in 
 
932 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 number, of which one of small size should adjoin the la b- 
 oratory, and another might be large enough to receive an 
 audience of a thousand persons.* 
 
 As important as the cabinets of natural history, by the 
 charter required to be included in the museum, your com- 
 mittee regard its ethnological portion, including all collec- 
 tions that may supply items in the physical history of our 
 species, and illustrate the manners, customs, religions, and 
 progressive advance of the various nations of the world : as 
 for example, collections of skulls, skeletons, portraits, dresses, 
 implements, weapons, idols, antiquities, of the various races 
 of man. 
 
 In the accumulation of these collections, the institution 
 has at command great facilities. The collections of the ex- 
 ploring expedition, which already belong to its museum, 
 furnish an ample commencement, especially as regards 
 Polynesia. Through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
 and the various agencies under his control, the North 
 American race can be reached ; and, at small expense, the 
 collection of Indian curiosities already begun at the Patent 
 Office may be rapidly extended. So, through our army and 
 navy officers, and our consuls in foreign nations, European 
 and South American collections (the latter so recently en- 
 riched by modern discovery) might be gradually brought 
 together. 
 
 In this connection your committee recommend the pas- 
 sage of resolutions, asking the co-operation of certain public 
 functionaries, and of the public generally, in furtherance of 
 the above objects. 
 
 Your committee are further of the opinion that, in the 
 museum, if the funds of the institution permit, might ju- 
 diciously be included various series of models illustrating 
 the progress of some of the most useful inventions; such, 
 for example, as the steam engine, from its earliest and rudest 
 form to its present improved state ; but this they propose 
 only so far as it may not encroach on ground already cov- 
 ered by the numerous models in the Patent Office. 
 
 Specimens of staple materials, of their gradual manu- 
 
 * The plan of building adopted by the Board, out of thirteen different de- 
 signs submitted to them by various architects, is that of Mr. James Ren- 
 wick, Jr., of New York. It comprises a museum 200 feet by 50 ; a library 
 80 feet by 50 ; a gallery of art 125 feet long ; two lecture rooms, of which 
 one is capable of containing an audience of 800 to 1000 persons ; and the 
 other is connected with the laboratory, together with several smaller rooms. 
 The style selected is the later Norman, or rather Lombard, as it prevailed 
 in the twelfth century chiefly in Germany, Normandy, and in Southern 
 Europe, immediately preceding the introduction of the Gothic. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 933 
 
 facture, and of the finished products of manufactures and 
 the arts, may also, your committee think, be usefully intro- 
 duced. This would supply opportunity to examine samples 
 of the best manufactured articles our country affords, and 
 to judge her gradual progress in arts and manufactures. 
 
 As chemistry was the favorite study of Smithson's life, 
 of which a considerable portion was spent in his own labor- 
 atory, and as it is, without doubt, one of the most compre- 
 hensive and important of the natural sciences, your com- 
 mittee recommend that this department be fitted up in as 
 complete a manner as modern science can suggest. And 
 for the purpose of encouraging in the young men of our 
 country original research in the same branch of science in 
 which Smithson himself successfully labored, and inasmuch 
 as many are now compelled, in order to complete their 
 studies as practical chemists, to resort to Paris or Germany, 
 your committee further recommend that there be included 
 in the building a working laboratory, somewhat, perhaps, 
 .after the model of that instituted by one of the ablest of 
 German chemists, the celebrated Liebig; to be opened 
 under proper regulations and supervision, without charge, 
 to those who may desire to institute experiments and pros- 
 ecute researches for themselves in that science. 
 
 The gallery of art, your committee think, should include 
 both paintings and sculpture, as well as engravings and 
 architectural designs; and it is desirable to have, in con- 
 nection with it, one or more studios, in which young artists 
 might copy without interruption, being admitted under 
 such regulations as the board may prescribe. Your com- 
 mittee also think, that as the collection of paintings and 
 sculpture will probably accumulate slowly, the room des- 
 tined for a gallery of art might properly and usefully mean- 
 while be occupied, during the sessions of Congress, as an 
 exhibition room for the works of artists generally ; and the 
 extent and general usefulness of such an exhibition might 
 probably be increased, if an arrangement could be effected 
 with the Academy of Design, the Arts-Union, the Artists' 
 Fund Society, and other associations of similar character, 
 so as to concentrate at the metropolis, for a certain portion 
 of each winter, the best results of talent in the fine arts. 
 
 The charter provides that the Secretary of the institution 
 may, with the consent of the board, employ assistants ; and 
 the items above enumerated touching a library, museum, 
 and laboratory, seem to demand, at the proper time, the 
 appointment of not less than three such assistants : one as li- 
 brarian, one as curator of the museum, and one as chemist. 
 
934 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 After a careful review of the means of the institution, and 
 the annual demands upon it necessitated by the objects 
 specially required in the charter, your committee are not 
 prepared, with the present endowment only at command, 
 to recommend a greater extension than these named of per- 
 manent offices requiring scientific or literary qualifications. 
 And they think that the appointments of curator and 
 chemist may be postponed until the time, or nearly the 
 time, when the building is likely to be completed. 
 
 In these various recommendations, your committee have 
 been guided chiefly by the words and specific recommend- 
 ations of the charter. They are of opinion, however, that 
 the task assigned them would be ill performed if they 
 stopped short here, and neglected to avail themselves of the 
 authority, liberally, and wisely your committee think, con- 
 ferred lipon the Board, after providing for the above special 
 objects to such extent as they may consider necessary and 
 proper, to dispose of the remaining funds, annually accru- 
 ing, in such manner as " they shall deem best suited for the 
 promotion of the purpose of the testator." 
 
 " Increase and diffusion of knowledge," your committee 
 beg leave to repeat, was that purpose. 
 
 How can knowledge be increased ? 
 
 By original research throughout its various fields ; yield- 
 ing, when successfully prosecuted, positive additions to the 
 sum of what had theretofore been known. 
 
 For this, there is no provision in the items specifically 
 enumerated in the bill and above provided for,"except, it 
 may be, in the chemical department, where the chemist, or 
 others engaging in experiment and investigation, may fur- 
 nish actual contributions to the science of chemistry. 
 
 But how may original researches generally be encouraged 
 and called forth ? 
 
 First, by premiums,your committee think, annually offered 
 for original papers on such subjects as may be selected ; it 
 being a strict condition, that each paper accepted and ob- 
 taining a premium, shall contain a specific addition to the 
 sum of human knowledge, resting upon original investiga- 
 tions, and not mere unverified hypotheses. The accepted 
 paper may be published in the successive numbers of trans- 
 actions, which may be entitled " Smithsonian Contributions 
 to Knowledge." and which your committee recommend to 
 be issued periodical!} 7 or occasionally, as materials present 
 themselves. The names of the competitors for premiums 
 should, in all cases, remain unknown until the award is 
 made. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 935 
 
 A liberal price might also be paid for otber papers that 
 may be considered worthy of a place in the Transactions. 
 
 Again, as an additional means of promoting increase of 
 knowledge, special appropriations may occasionally be made 
 to institute definite lines of research under the direction of 
 competent persons; after the manner, perhaps, of the 
 British Association. Such appropriations, however, your 
 committee think, should be made with great care ; for im- 
 portant objects only, and where there is fair promise of 
 speedy result ; and it might be advisable, as an additional 
 guarantee, that in deciding the kind of research and the 
 amount of money to be appropriated, the board avail 
 itself of the suggestions of a council of scientific men. 
 
 In the prosecution of researches undertaken at the in- 
 stance of the Institution, and requiring the aid of valuable 
 apparatus, the use of that belonging to the institution, 
 might under proper regulations, be granted. 
 
 This stimulating and cherishing of research in unexplored 
 fields seems to your committee the more necessary and 
 proper in a country like ours, where but few have at com- 
 mand that easy leisure, common in older countries, and 
 there permitting the prosecution of researches through years, 
 or a lifetime, without expectation or necessity of pecuniary 
 return. 
 
 Your committee are aware that the researches here recom- 
 mended, no matter how intrinsically important, demanded 
 as they are, too, by the wording of the bequest which en- 
 dowed our institution, will be likely, in their inception and 
 first publication, to interest a comparatively small circle 
 only. The Transactions of the Institution can be expected 
 to obtain but a limited circulation. Not that the discoveries 
 there to be presented are of little intrinsic importance, and 
 bear no practical fruit; the reverse is true. Some may be 
 immediately productive; others will include investigations, 
 unproductive in themselves for the time, yet the necessary 
 preliminaries to the actual discovery of modes and forms 
 that become in every day life, productive and profitable; 
 for invention is but the practical application of scientific 
 results. But the severe investigations in physics which ulti- 
 mately resulted in the steam engine and the magnetic tele- 
 graph, inventions that are now revolutionizing the world, 
 attracted, in their original form the attention only of the 
 strictly scientific. To reach the people generally, other and 
 further means must be employed. And this brings your 
 committee to speak of the testator's second object 
 
 The diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
936 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 In connection with this branch of Mr. Smithson's pur- 
 pose, your committee are reminded of the wide-spread and 
 beneficent influence, reaching to the remotest hamlet and 
 the humblest hearth, exerted, not in England alone, but in 
 other and distant countries, by the British " Society for the 
 Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," its Scientific Tracts, and 
 its Penny Magazine. 
 
 This example indicates the most effectual mode of reach- 
 ing the popular mind of the world. Influenced by the 
 results of such experience, your committee recommend the 
 issuing, to such extent as the funds of the institution per- 
 mit, of publications, in brief and popular form, on subjects 
 of general interest. They advise, also, that courses of free 
 lectures be delivered during the session of Congivss, in the 
 lecture rooms of the institution, by its officers, or by able 
 men in the different branches of knowledge, who should 
 be invited for the purpose, and paid out of the funds of the 
 institution. It should also, your committee think, be made 
 the duty of the Secretary and his assistants to exhibit, in 
 these lecture rooms, at stated periods, experimental illustra- 
 tions of new discoveries in science, and interesting and 
 important inventions in the arts. 
 
 And, if now or hereafter the funds of the institution per- 
 mit, they think it desirable that such lectures should not be 
 restricted to Washington, but should be given by lecturers 
 selected by the institution, throughout the United States. 
 
 The difficulty, in this latter recommendation, is the great 
 expense that must be incurred to procure the delivery of 
 such lectures by men of suitable ability, throughout every 
 section of the Union, without preference or omission. 
 
 Though neither the bequest nor the charter restrict the 
 subjects that may be treated in publication and lecture, yet, 
 as the funds of the institution are limited, and some selec- 
 tion from the vast range of human subjects of inquiry must 
 be made, your committee recommend, that, in the first 
 place, the efforts of the institution be chiefly directed to the 
 diffusion of knowledge in tin- physical sciences, in the use- 
 ful arts, and in the theory and practice of public education. 
 They suggest, that the lectures and popular publications of 
 the institution may usefully treat, of agriculture and its 
 latest improvements ; of the productive arts of life ; of the 
 sciences, and the aid they bring to labor; of common- 
 school instruction, including the proper construction of 
 school rooms, the most improved apparatus for teaching, 
 and the most judicious management, moral and intellectual, 
 of children in common schools. They might also, if suit- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 937 
 
 /able talent can be enlisted, treat of history, natural and 
 civil, including the physical history of the various races of 
 men, and the gradual advance of each to its present state 
 of civilization ; of political economy in its practical connec- 
 tion with the every day business of life ; and, generally, 
 touch upon any department of useful knowledge not strictly 
 professional. 
 
 By such means, we may reasonably expect gradually to 
 stir up a love of science among those in whose minds, for 
 lack of an awakening word, it now lies dormant; and by 
 directing the attention of the people generally to the rich 
 sources of knowledge that everywhere exist around them 
 and beneath their feet, by degrees to substitute, for the 
 deleterious excitements sought in haunts of dissipation, the 
 healthful and humanizing interest to be found in scientific 
 research. The inestimable importance of common-school 
 education, and the practical means of increasing and im- 
 proving it, might thus also be pressed home upon those 
 whose children have often no other means of instruction or 
 improvement. 
 
 As an additional means of diffusing knowledge, your 
 committee suggest the publication of a series of reports, to 
 be published annually or ofterier, containing a concise record 
 of progress in the different branches of knowledge, com- 
 piled from the journals of all languages and the transactions 
 of scientific and learned societies throughout the world. 
 The matter of these reports may be furnished by collabora- 
 tors eminent in their respective branches ; and these should 
 be supplied with all the works necessary to a proper execu- 
 tion of their task, and paid in proportion to their respective 
 labors. Copies of these Smithsonian reports may be fur- 
 nished to the principal libraries and scientific societies of 
 the country free of expense, and sold to individuals at a 
 small price. 
 
 Your committee beg leave here to remark, that with the 
 limited annual income of the institution, charged as it is 
 with extensive collections, to maintain which will prove a 
 considerable yearly drain on its funds, they do not imagine 
 or propose that all the recommendations here set down 
 should be carried out, at least simultaneously. These are 
 put forward as objects which your committee consider 
 desirable and strictly within the purpose of the bequest. 
 Such as may seem to the board the most important may be 
 first attempted. Other portions of the plan may follow in 
 their turn. And experience will gradually sift out whatever 
 is most judicious and effective. 
 
938 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Your committee are of opinion, that it does not come- 
 properly within the scope of our institution to impart pro- 
 fessional education; and therefore they recommend no 
 school of any of the learned professions, nor any professor- 
 ships of ancient languages, or others of similar character. 
 It is not, however, their purpose to exclude lectures of a 
 general character on subjects connected with any of these 
 professions, but only to shut out those courses of lectures 
 which treat of them in professional detail. The studies 
 referred to are already provided for in numerous institutions 
 throughout the United States; and it has been the endeavor 
 of your committee, not only in this instance, but throughout 
 the entire plan here submitted, to occupy, so far as may be, 
 ground hitherto untenanted, and ratlin- to step in where -it 
 comes not within the province of other institutions, learned 
 or literary, to extend their efforts, than to compete with 
 them in fields of labor peculiarly their own. 
 
 The party politics of the day, on which men differ so- 
 widely and so warmly, should not, your committee think,. 
 enter among the subjects treated of in any lecture or pub- 
 lication put forth under the sanction of the institution. 
 And they would deeply regret to see party tests and party 
 wranglings obtrude themselves on the neutral ground of 
 science and education ; jeoparding, as such intrusion surely 
 would, the tranquillity of the institution, disturbing the even 
 tenor of its action, perhaps assaulting its welfare, certainly 
 contracting the sphere of its usefulness. 
 
 Your committee think it important that the institution, 
 at the time it is first opened, should have already in its 
 library a collection of such valuable works of reference, as,, 
 in the prosecution of its plan, may be required. In order 
 to attain that object, your committee recommend, that, for 
 the present, twenty thousand dollars be set aside for the 
 purchase of books and fitting up of the library. 
 
 An additional reason which has induced your committee 
 to recommend, out of the accrued interest, so large an 
 appropriation at the outset, is, that large annual appropria- 
 tions from the accruing interest, after the institution is. 
 under way, are thereby rendered the less necessary. 
 
 In proposing that, in the building about to be erected,, 
 there should be provided library room sufficient to receive 
 a hundred thousand volumes, your committee yielded rather 
 to what seemed a fair concession to the spirit of the eighth 
 section of our charter, than to their own deliberate convic- 
 tion that a library of more than half that size could, with 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 the present means of our institution, advantageously be 
 purchased. 
 
 But, without a vast accumulation of hooks in this metrop- 
 olis, your committee conceive, that the Librarian of the 
 Smithsonian Institution may, under a proper system, become 
 a centre of literary and bibliographical reference for our 
 entire country. Your committee recommend, that the 
 librarian be instructed to procure catalogues, written or 
 >rinted, of all important public libraries in the United 
 states, and also, in proportion as they can be obtained, 
 printed catalogues of the principal libraries in Europe, and 
 the more important works on bibliography. With these 
 beside him, he ma} 7 be consulted by the scholar, the student, 
 the author, the historian, from every section of the Union, 
 arid will be prepared to inform them whether any works 
 they may desire to examine are to be found in the United 
 States, and, if so, in what library ; or, if in Europe only, 
 in what country of Europe they must be sought. 
 
 Informed by these catalogues, it will be easy, and your 
 committee think desirable, for those who may be charged 
 with the selection of books, to make the Smithsonian 
 Library chiefly a supplemental one ; to purchase, for the 
 most part, valuable works, which are not to be found else- 
 where in the Union ; thus carrying out the principle to 
 which your committee has already alluded as influencing 
 all their recommendations, that it is expedient, as far as 
 may be, to occupy untenanted ground. 
 
 Exceptions to this rule must here, of course, be made ; as 
 in the case of standard works of reference required for the 
 immediate purposes of the institution, and also of the very 
 numerous works, many of current science, which, by a 
 proper system of exchanges, we may procure without pur- 
 chase. In this latter connection, the Transactions and 
 Reports of the institution will obtain for us valuable re- 
 turns. 
 
 In following out this mode of collecting a library for the 
 institution, whenever a particular class of works of impor- 
 tance is found to be specially deficient in the libraries of 
 our country, the vacancy may be filled. The Librarian 
 might also procure, by entering into correspondence with 
 the librarians of other countries, any special extracts or 
 items of information required by students. 
 
 Your committee consider it inexpedient to commence the 
 regular purchase of books, until about a year before the 
 time when the building is prepared to receive them. Mean- 
 while, lists and catalogues should be procured. 
 
940 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 For the procurement of chemical and philosophical appa- 
 ratus, models, &c., your committee recommend, for the 
 present, an appropriation of four thousand dollars. If the 
 funds permit, four thousand dollars more, your committee 
 think, might profitably be appropriated for this object 
 before the opening of the institution. 
 
 Before concluding their report, your committee desire to 
 add a few words touching the duty and qualifications of one 
 of the officers of the institution. 
 
 Inasmuch as the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, being a regent, can receive no salary for his services, 
 it results, almost necessarily, that the Secretary should 
 become its chief executive officer. The charter seems to 
 have intended that he should occupy a \vry responsible po- 
 sition ; granting, as it does, to the Secretary, in conjunction 
 with. the Chancellor, the power to determine tin 1 lu-ccssity, 
 and the amount, of appropriations made for the purposes of 
 the institution. 
 
 The office of Secretary must, in the opinion of your com- 
 mittee, be regarded, not as one to be filled by any man 
 capable to act as recording clerk, or to receive, with polite- 
 ness, the visitors of the institution, or to reply, with me- 
 chanical propriety, to its correspondents ; but as an office 
 on the due administration of which the executive efficiency 
 of our institution at home and its reputation abroad, mainly 
 depend; an office, then, demanding, in its incumbent, 
 weight of character and a high grade of talent. 
 
 To secure such stamp of talent as your committee con- 
 sider essential in a Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 it may be necessary to attach to the office a considerable 
 salary. The best talent, in any country, ever commands a 
 high remuneration ; and though money cannot always com- 
 mand talent, it is, as a general rule, one of the elements 
 necessary to obtain it. Inadequate character and qualifica- 
 tions are not worth purchasing, at any rate, no matter how 
 low. The money spent to procure them is utterly cast 
 away. 
 
 Your committee think it would be an advantage if a 
 competent Secretary could be found, combining also the 
 qualifications of a professor of the highest standing in some 
 branch of science. If to these be added efficiency as an 
 executive officer and a knowledge of the world, we may 
 hope to see filling this distinguished post a man, who, when 
 brought into communication with distinguished men and 
 societies in this and other countries, shall be capable, aa 
 representative of the Smithsonian Institution, to reflect 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSOU'S BEQUEST. 941 
 
 honor on the office, not requiring to borrow distinction 
 
 fr Your committee will not withhold their opinion, that 
 upon the choice of this single officer more probably ; than 
 on any one other act of the board, will depend the future 
 ood name and success and usefulness of the Smithsonian 
 
 A ririilar view, your committee believe, has been taken 
 of this matter by the principal scientific societies through i- 
 out the world. Newton disdained not to answer at much 
 length, the friendly and able criticisms on some ot his the- 
 ories addressed to him by Oldenburg, first Secretary of the 
 London Royal Society; and the name of Arago, Secretary 
 of the Academy of Sciences, of Paris, is known and hon- 
 ored wherever science extends her sway. 
 
 All which is respectfully WWlg^ ^ QwEN) 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 The following resolutions, appended to the report of the 
 committee and" recommended for adoption, were, after de- 
 bate, passed by the board : 
 
 and important inventions in the arts. 
 
 Besides the above resolutions, originally reported by the 
 Committee on Organization, the following additional resolu- 
 Sns submitted by a member of the Committee on Orgam- 
 7ation as a compromise between two great conflicting 
 opinTo'ns^were adopted by the committee, and passed by 
 the board : 
 
942 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSOX'S BEQUKST. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the intention of the act of Congress establishing th-i 
 institution, and in accordance with the design of Mr. Sraithson, as expressed 
 in his will, that one of the principal modes of executing the act and th" 
 trust, is the accumulation of collections of specimens and objects of natural 
 history and of elegant art, and the gradual formation of a library of valua- 
 ble works pertaining to all departments of human knowledge, to the end 
 that a copious storehouse of materials of science, literature, and art, may 
 be provided, which shall excite and diffuse the love of learning among men, 
 and shall assist the original investigations and efforts of those who may de- 
 vote themselves to the pursuit of any branch of knowledge. 
 
 Resolved, That, for the purpose of carrying into effect the two principal 
 modes of executing the act and trust pointed out in the resolutions herewith 
 submitted, the permanent appropriations out of the accruing interest shall, 
 so soon as the buildings are completed, be annually as follows, that is to say : 
 
 First. For the formation of a library composed of valuable works per- 
 taining to all departments of useful knowledge, and for the procuring, 
 arranging, and preserving of the various collections of the institution, as 
 well of natural history and objects of foreign and curious research and of 
 elegant art, as others, including salaries and all other general expenses con- 
 nected with the same, excepting those of the first ounpl.-t.' arrangement of 
 all such collections and objects as now belong to the United States, in the 
 museum of the institution, when completed, together with one-halt' of the 
 salary of the Secretary, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. 
 
 Secondly. For the preparation and publication of transactions, reports, 
 and all other publications of the institution, including appropriations for 
 original researches, and premiums for original papers; for the delivery of 
 all lectures and payment of all lecturers ; and for all general expenses con- 
 nected with said lectures and publications, together with one-hull' of the >al- 
 ary of the Secretary, the remainder of the annually accruing interest :* it 
 being understood that all general und incidental expense^ not specially con- 
 nected with either of the above two great divisions of the plan of tin- insti- 
 tution, shall be equally divided between them. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the opinion and intention of the board, that in the ap- 
 propriation for the objects of the institution of any surplu.- of accrued 
 interest which may remain after the completion of the buildings of the in- 
 stitution, an equal division shall be made between the two great branches; 
 that is to say, one-half shall be appropriated to the library und museum 
 fund, and the other half to the fund for original research, publications, and 
 lectures ; and that, in regard to all other funds hereafter to accrue to the 
 institution, the same division be made. 
 
 In accordance with the above plan of organization, and 
 tending to carry out its details, the following resolutions, 
 submitted by the committee, were adopted by the board : 
 
 Resolved, That, for the present, out of the interest accruing to the institu- 
 tion, the sum of twenty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appro- 
 priated, for the purchase of books and the gradual fitting up of a library, 
 and all other incidental expenses relating to the library except the salaries 
 of the librarian or librarians ; the said appropriation to commence from the 
 first of January, eighteen hundred and forty-eight. 
 
 Resolved, That the portion of the building to be for the present set apart 
 for a library be of sufficient capacity to contain not less than one hundred 
 thousand volumes ; and that it is desirable that the plan should be such as 
 to render an extension practicable, if hereafter desired. 
 
 Resolved, That, for the present, the sum of four thousand dollars, out of 
 the interest accruing to the institution, be appropriated, for the purchase of 
 
 *The annual amount appropriated by this clause is fifteen thousand nine hundred and 
 ten dollars. 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 943 
 
 philosophical and ahemical apparatus, models, &c. ; the said appropriation to 
 commence on the first day of January next. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, and of 
 the Navy of the United States, be respectfully invited to furnish to con- 
 suls and other public officers, in this and foreign countries, under their res- 
 pective departments, such suggestions as they may deem proper, in regard 
 to the procurement, as opportunity offers, of additions to the museum of the 
 institution, especially to its ethnological department ; that three hundred 
 copies of this report, when printed, be placed at the disposal of each of the 
 above-named Secretaries, as an explanation to these public functionaries of 
 the views of the institution in regard to a museum ; and that five hundred 
 dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of the accruing interest, 
 to pay transportation, or other expenses connected with the transmission 
 from foreign parts to Washington, of any collections thus made. And to 
 such contributions, when placed in the museum, the name of the officer 
 obtaining and forwarding the same shall, in all cases, be appended. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of War be respectfully invited to furnish to 
 the Commissioner of Indian Affairs such suggestions as he may deem proper 
 regarding the procurement, from the Indian country, of collections for the 
 museum of the Smithsonian Institution, illustrating the natural history of 
 the country, and, more especially, the physical history, manners, and 
 customs of \he various tribes of aborigines on the North American Conti- 
 nent ; that one hundred copies of this report, when printed, be placed at 
 his disposal, as a means of informing the various Indian Agents of the 
 special character of the collections desired ; and that the sums of five 
 hundred dollars be, and the same is hereby, annually appropriated, out of 
 the accruing interest of the Smithsonian Institution, for the procurement 
 and transportation of such Indian collections ; and, when placed in the 
 museum, there shall be appended to each the name of the agent through 
 whom the same may be procured. 
 
 Resolved, That the public generally be invited to furnish contributions to 
 the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, and that all such contributions, 
 when considered worthy of a place, shall be labelled with the name and 
 residence of the donor. 
 
 And, previous to the election of a Secretary, the following 
 resolution, submitted by the committee, was adopted by the 
 board : 
 
 Resolved, That it is essential for the advancement of the proper interests 
 of the trust, that the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution be a man 
 possessing weight of character and a high grade of talent ; and that it is 
 further desirable that he possess eminent scientific and general acquire- 
 ments : that he be a man capable of advancing science and promoting letters 
 by original research and effort, well qualified to act as a respected channel 
 of communication between the institution and scientific and literary indi- 
 viduals and societies in this and foreign countries ; and, in a word, a man 
 worthy to represent, before the world of science and of letters, the institution 
 :>ver which this board presides. 
 
PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION OF THE SMITHSO- 
 NIAN INSTITUTION. 
 
 [Presented to the Board of Regents, December 8, 1847.] 
 
 BY PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 General considerations which should serve as a guide in adopting a plan of 
 
 organization. 
 
 1. WILL OF SMITHSON. The property is bequeathed to the United States 
 of America, "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men." 
 
 2. The bequest is for the benefit of mankind. The government of tho 
 United States is merely a trustee to carry out the design of the testator. 
 
 3. The institution is not a national establishment, as is frequently sup- 
 posed, but the establishment of an individual, and is to bear and perpetuate 
 his name. 
 
 4. The objects of the institution are 1st, to increase, and 2d, to diffuse 
 knowledge among men. 
 
 6. These two objects should not be confounded with one another. The 
 first is to increase the existing stock of knowledge by the addition of now 
 truths ; and the second to disseminate knowledge, thus increased, among 
 men. 
 
 6. The will makes no restriction in favor of any particular kind of 
 knowledge ; hence all branches are entitled to a share of attention. 
 
 7. Knowledge can be increased by different methods of facilitating and 
 promoting the discovery of new truths, and can be most efficiently diffused 
 among men by means of the press. 
 
 8. To effect the greatest amount of good, the organization should be such 
 as to enable the institution to produce results in the way of increasing and 
 diffusing knowledge, which cannot be produced by the existing institutions 
 in our country. 
 
 9. The organization should also be such as can be adopted provisionally, 
 can be easily reduced to practice, receive modifications, or be abandoned, in 
 whole or in part, without a sacrifice of the funds. 
 
 10. In order to make up for the loss of time occasioned by the delay of 
 eight years in establishing the institution, a considerable portion of the in- 
 terest which has accrued should be added to the principal. 
 
 11. In proportion to the wide fields of knowledge to be cultivated, the 
 funds are small. Economy should therefore be consulted in the construc- 
 tion of the building; and not only should the first cost of the edifice be 
 considered, but also the continual expense of keeping it in repair, and of the 
 support of the establishment necessarily connected with it. There should 
 also be but few individuals permanently supported by the institution. 
 
 12. The plan and dimensions of the building should be determined by the 
 plan of organization, and not the converse. 
 
 13. It should be recollected that mankind in general are to be benefited 
 by the bequest, and that, therefore, all unnecessary expenditure on local 
 objects would be a perversion of the trust. 
 
 14. Besides the foregoing considerations, deduced immediately from the 
 will of Smithson, regard must be had to certain requirements of the act of 
 
 944 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 945 
 
 Congress establishing the institution. These are a library, a museum, and a 
 gallery of art, with a building on a liberal scale to contain them. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Plan of organization of the institution, in accordance with the foregoing 
 deductions from the will of Smithson. 
 
 To INCREASE KNOWEDGE. It is proposed 
 
 1. To stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering 
 suitable rewards for memoirs containing new truths ; and, 
 
 2. To appropriate annually a portion of the income for particular re- 
 searches, under the direction of suitable persons. 
 
 To DIFFUSE KNOWLEDGE. It is proposed 
 
 1. To publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of the different 
 branches of knowledge ; and, 
 
 2. To publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general in- 
 terest. 
 
 DETAILS OF THE PLAN TO INCREASE KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 I. By stimulating researches. 
 
 1. Eewards, consisting of money, medals, &c., offered for original me- 
 moirs on all branches of knowledge. 
 
 2. The memoirs thus obtained to be published in a series of volumes, in 
 a quarto form, and entitled " Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge." 
 
 3. No memoir, on subjects of physical science, to be accepted for publica- 
 tion, which does not furnish a positive addition to human knowledge resting 
 on original research ; and all unverified speculations to be rejected. 
 
 4. Each memoir presented to the institution to be submitted for examina- 
 tion to a commission of persons of reputation for learning in the branch to 
 which the memoir pertains, and to be accepted for publication only in case 
 the report of this commission is favorable. 
 
 5. The commission to be chosen by the officers of the institution, and the 
 name of the author, as far as practicable, concealed, unless a favorable deci- 
 sion be made. 
 
 6. The volumes of the memoirs to be exchanged for the Transactions of 
 literary and scientific societies, and copies to be given to all the colleges and 
 principal libraries in this country. One part of the remaining copies may 
 be offered for sale ; and the other carefully preserved, to form complete sets 
 of the volumes, to supply the demand from new institutions. 
 
 7. An abstract, or popular account, of the contents of these memoirs to 
 be given to the public through the annual report of the Regents to Congress. 
 
 II. By appropriating a portion of the income, annually, to special objects 
 of research, under the direction of suitable' persons. 
 
 1. The objects, and the amount appropriated, to be recommended by 
 counsellors of the institution. 
 
 2. Appropriations in different years to different objects; so that in course 
 of time, each branch of knowledge may receive a share. 
 
 3. The results obtained from these appropriations to be published, with the 
 memoirs before mentioned, in the volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions 
 to Knowledge. 
 
 4. Examples of objects for which appropriations may be made. 
 
 (1.) System of extended meteorological observations, for solving the 
 problem of American storms. 
 
 (2.) Explorations in descriptive natural history, and geological, mag- 
 nctical and topographical surveys, to collect materials for the formation of 
 a Physical Atlas of the United States. 
 
 (3.) Solution of experimental problems, such as a new determination of 
 
946 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 the weight of the earth, of the velocity of electricity :nul of light ; chemical 
 analyses of soils and plants; collection and publication of article- of science, 
 accumulated in the offices of government. 
 
 (4.) Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, 
 and political subjects. 
 
 (").) Historical researches, and accurate survey- ,,f places celebrated in 
 American history. 
 
 (6.) Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to tin- different 
 races 'of men in North America; also explorations and accurate surveys of 
 the mounds and other remain- .f the ancient people of our country. 
 
 DETAILS OF THE PLAN FOR DIFFUSING KNOWLKD- . K. 
 
 I. By the publication <>f a series of reports, <tir!n</ <m <i<-,;,>t,,f ,,/' //// new 
 
 discoveries in science, and of the changes in<i<lr /'/ <,),< nir /<, >/,</,- in all 
 brtit:ln* ';/' l;n<nrlril<jr ,,<,f xfrirf'i/ jH'ut'cxx- 
 
 1. These reports will ditl'u-e a kind of knowledge grin-rally i 
 l>ut which, at present, is inaccettible to the. public. Some of tin- 
 may be published annually, others at longer intervals, as the income of the 
 institution, or the change- in tin- branches of knowledge, may indicate. 
 
 '2. The reports are to br prrpan-d by collaborators, miim-nt in tin- dif- 
 i'rrnit brancho< of knowledge. 
 
 :!. Kach collaltorator t<> be l'nrni-hr<l \vitb tin- journals and publication^, 
 doiin-stic and foreign, nccosary to tin- compihition of bis report; to be 
 paid a certain sum for hi- labor-, and to be named on tin- title-page of tin- 
 report. 
 
 !. The reports to be published in separate parts, so that persons intere-te< I 
 in a particular branch can procure the parts relating to it, without pur- 
 cba.-ing the whole. 
 
 ">. The-c reports may be presented to Congress, for partial distribution: 
 the remaining copies to be given to literary and scientific institutions, and 
 sold to individuals for a moderate price. 
 
 The following are some of the subjects wh'n-1, /////// In- rml>r<n:ed in the 
 
 reports. 
 
 I. PHYSICAL CLASS. 
 
 1. Physics, including astronomy, natural philosophy, chemistry, and 
 meteorology. 
 
 2. Natural history, including botany, zoology, geology, &c. 
 
 3. Agriculture. 
 
 4. Application of science to arts. 
 
 II. MORAL AND POLITICAL CLASS. 
 
 5. Ethnology, including particular history, comparative philology, an- 
 tiquities, &c. 
 
 6. Statistics and political economy. 
 
 7. Mental and moral philosophy. 
 
 8. A survey of the political events of the world ; penal reform, &c. 
 
 III. LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 9. Modern literature. 
 
 10. The fine arts, and their application to the useful arts. 
 
 II. Bibliography. 
 
 12. Obituary notices of distinguished individuals. 
 
 II. By the Publication of separate treatises on subjects of general interest. 
 
 1. These treatises may occasionally consist of valuable memoirs, trans- 
 lated from foreign languages, or of articles prepared under the direction of 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 947 
 
 the institution, or procured by offering premiums for the best exposition of 
 a given subject. 
 
 2. The treatises should in all cases be submitted to a commission of com- 
 petent judges previous to their publication. 
 
 3. As examples of these treatises, expositions may be obtained of the 
 present state of the several branches of knowledge mentioned in the table 
 of reports. Also of the following subjects, suggested by the Committee on 
 Organization, viz : the statistics of labor, the productive arts of life, public 
 instruction, &c. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Plan of organization, in accordance with the terms of the resolutions of the 
 Board of Regents , providing for the two modes of increasing and diffusing 
 knowledge. 
 
 1. The act of Congress establishing the institution contemplated the for- 
 mation of a library and a museum ; and the Board of Eegents, including 
 these objects in the plan of organization, resolved to divide the income into 
 two equal parts. 
 
 2. One part to be appropriated to increase and diffuse knowledge by 
 means of publications and researches, agreeably to the scheme before given. 
 The other part to be appropriated to the formation of a library and a collec- 
 tion of objects of nature and of art. 
 
 3. These two plans are not incompatible with one another. 
 
 4. To carry out the plan before described, a library will be required, con- 
 sisting, 1st, of a complete collection of the transactions and proceedings of 
 all the learned societies in the world ; 2d, of the more important current 
 periodical publications, and other works necessary in preparing the periodi- 
 cal reports. 
 
 5. The institution should make special collections, particularly of objects 
 to verify its own publications. 
 
 6. Also a collection of instruments of research in all branches of experi- 
 mental science. 
 
 7. With reference to the collection of books, other than those mentioned 
 above, catalogues of all the different libraries in the United States should be 
 procured, in order that the valuable books first purchased may be such as 
 are not to be found in the United States. 
 
 8. Also catalogues of memoirs, and of books in foreign libraries, and 
 other materials, should be collected for rendering the institution a centre of 
 bibliographical knowledge, whence the student may be directed to any work 
 which he may require. 
 
 9. It is believed that the collections in natural history will increase by 
 donation as rapidly as the income of the institution can make provision for 
 their reception, and therefore it will seldom be necessary to purchase any 
 articles of this kind. 
 
 10. Attempts should be made to procure for the gallery of art casts of the 
 most celebrated articles of ancient and modern sculpture. 
 
 11. The arts may be encouraged by providing a room, free of expense, 
 for the exhibition of the objects of the Art-Union and other similar societies. 
 
 12. A small appropriation should annually be made for models of anti- 
 quities, such as those of the remains of ancient temples, &c. 
 
 13. For the present, or until the building is fully completed, besides the 
 Secretary, no permanent assistant will be required, except one, to act us 
 librarian. 
 
 14. The duty of the Secretary will be the general superintendence, with 
 the advice of the Chancellor and other members of the establishment, of the 
 literary and scientific operations of the institution ; to give to the Regents 
 annually an account of all of the transactions ; of the memoirs which have 
 been received for publication; of the researches which have been made; 
 und to edit, with the assistance of the librarian, the publications of the 
 institution. 
 
948 
 
 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 15. The duty of the Assistant Secretary, acting as librarian, will be, for 
 the present, to assist in taking charge- of the collections, to select and pur- 
 chase, under the direction of the Secretary and a committee of the board, 
 books and catalogues, and to procure the information before mentioned ; to 
 give information on plans of libraries, and to assist the Secretary in editing 
 the publications of the institution and in the other duties of his office. 
 
 16. The Secretary and his assistants, during the session of Congress, will 
 be required to illustrate new discoveries in science, and to exhibit new 
 objects of art; also distinguished individuals should be invited to give lec- 
 tures on subjects of general interest. 
 
 17. When the building is completed, and when, in accordance with the 
 act of Congress, the charge of the National Museum is given to the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, other assistants will be required. 
 
 Explanation and illustration of the programme. 
 
 In accordance with my instructions, I consulted with men 
 of eminence, in the different branches of literature and 
 science, relative to the details of the plan of organization, 
 and arranged the various suggestions offered, in the form of 
 the accompanying programme. This, after having been 
 submitted to a number of persons in whose knowledge and 
 judgment I have confidence, is now presented to the board, 
 with the concurrence of the Committee on Organization, 
 for consideration and provisional adoption. I regret that 
 my engagements have been such as to render it impossible 
 for me to call upon many persons whose counsel would have 
 been valuable, but I hope hereafter to avail myself of their 
 advice in behalf of the institution. I also regret that. I 
 could not give the names of those whose suggestions have 
 been adopted in the programme ; the impossibility of ren- 
 dering justice to all, has prevented my attempting this. 
 Many of the suggestions have been offered by different per- 
 sons, independently of each other ; and, indeed, the general 
 plan of the increase and diffusion of knowledge as adopted 
 by the board, is such as would naturally arise in the mind 
 of any person conversant with the history of physical 
 science, and with the means usually employed for its exten- 
 sion and diffusion. 
 
 The introduction to the programme contains a series of 
 propositions, suggested by a critical examination of the 
 will of Smithson, to serve as a guide in judging of the fit- 
 ness of any proposed plan for carrying out the design of 
 the testator. The first section of the programme gives the 
 details of the plan proposed for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge by means of publication and original re- 
 searches. The second section furnishes the details, so far 
 as they can be made out at the present time, of the forma- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON ? 8 BEQUEST. 749 
 
 tion of a library, and a collection of objects of nature and 
 art. These two plans combined, embrace the general prop- 
 ositions adopted by the Board of Regents at their last meet- 
 ing, as the basis of future operations. It is intended in the 
 proposed plan to harmonize the two modes of increasing 
 and diffusing knowledge, and to give to the institution the 
 widest influence compatible with its limited income. That 
 all the propositions will meet with general approval cannot 
 be expected ; and that this organization is the best that 
 could be devised is neither asserted nor believed. To pro- 
 duce a priori a plan of organization which shall be found 
 to succeed perfectly in practice, and require no amendment, 
 would be difficult under the most favorable circumstances, 
 and becomes almost impossible where conflicting opinions 
 are to be harmonized, and the definite requirements of the 
 act establishing the institution are to be observed. It is 
 not intended that the details of the organization, as given 
 in the programme, should be permanently adopted without 
 careful trial ; they are rather presented as suggestions to be 
 adopted provisionally, and to be carried into operation 
 gradually and cautiously, with such changes, from time to 
 time, as experience may dictate. 
 
 Though the leading propositions of the programme have 
 been fully discussed by the board, yet it will be important 
 to offer some remarks in explanation and illustration of 
 them in their present connection. 
 
 That the institution is not a national establishment, in 
 the sense in which institutions dependent on the Govern- 
 ment for support are so, must be evident when it is recol- 
 lected that the money was not absolutely given to the 
 United States, but intrusted to it for a special object, 
 namely: the establishment of an institution for the benefit 
 of men, to bear the name of the donor, and, consequently, 
 to reflect upon his memory the honor of all the good which 
 may be accomplished by means of the bequest. The oper- 
 ations of the Smithsonian Institution ought, therefore, to be 
 mingled as little as possible with those of the Government, 
 and its funds should be applied exclusively and faithfully to 
 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 
 
 That the bequest is intended for the benefit of men in 
 general, and that its influence ought not to be restricted to 
 a single district, or even nation, may be inferred not only 
 from the words of the will, but also from the character of 
 Smithson himself; and I beg leave to quote, from a scrap 
 of paper in his own hand, the following sentiment bearing 
 on this point : " The man of science has no country ; the 
 
950 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSOITS BEQUEST. 
 
 world is his country all men, his countrymen." The 
 origin of the funds, the bequest of a foreigner, should also 
 preclude the adoption of apian which does not, in the words 
 of Mr. Adams, " spread the benefits to be derived from the 
 institution not only over the whole surface of this Union, 
 but throughout the civilized world." " Mr. Smithson's rea- 
 son for fixing the seat of this institution at Washington 
 obviously was, that there is the seat of government of the 
 United States, and there the Congress by whose legislation, 
 and the Executive through whose agency, the trust commit- 
 ted to the honor, intelligence, and good faith of the nation, 
 is to be fulfilled." The centre of operations being perma- 
 nently fixed at Washington, the character of this city for 
 literature and science will be the more highly exalted in pro- 
 portion as the influence of the institution is more widely 
 diffused. 
 
 That the terms increase and diffusion of knowledge are 
 logically distinct, and should be literally interpreted with 
 reference to the will, must be evident when we reflect that 
 they are used in a definite sense, and not as mere synonyms, 
 by all who are engaged in the pursuits to which Smithson 
 devoted his life. In England there are two classes of insti- 
 tutions, founded on the two ideas conveyed by these terms. 
 The Royal Society, the Astronomical, the Geological, the 
 Statistical, the Antiquarian Societies, all have for their object 
 the increase of knowledge ; while the London Institution, 
 the Mechanics' Institution, the Surrey Institution, the Soci- 
 ety for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge, the Society 
 for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, are all intended to 
 diffuse and disseminate knowledge among men. In our 
 own country, also, the same distinction is observed in the 
 use of the terms by men of science. Our colleges, acade- 
 mies, and common schools, are recognized as institutions 
 partially intended for the diffusion of knowledge, while the 
 express object of some of our scientific societies is the pro- 
 motion of the discovery of new truths. 
 
 The will makes no restriction in favor of any particular 
 kind of knowledge; though propositions have been fre- 
 quently made for devoting the funds exclusively to the pro- 
 motion of certain branches of science having more imme- 
 diate application to the practical arts of life, and the adoption 
 of these propositions has been urged on the ground of the 
 conformity of such objects to the pursuits of Smithson ; but 
 an examination of his writings will show that he excluded 
 from his own studies no branch of general knowledge, and 
 that he was fully impressed with the important philoso* 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 951 
 
 phical fact that all subjects of human thought relate to one 
 great system of truth. To restrict, therefore, the operations 
 of the institution to a single science or art, would do injustice 
 to the character of the donor, as well as to the cause of gen- 
 eral knowledge. If preference is to be given to any branches 
 of research, it should be to the higher and apparently more 
 abstract; to the discovery of new principles rather than of 
 isolated facts. And this is true even in a practical point of 
 view. Agriculture would have forever remained an empir- 
 ical art, had it not been for the light shed upon it by the 
 atomic theory of chemistry; and incomparably more is to 
 be expected as to its future advancement from the perfec- 
 tion of the microscope than from improvements in the 
 ordinary instruments of husbandry. 
 
 The plan of increasing and diffusing knowledge, pre- 
 sented in the first section of the programme, will be found 
 in strict accordance with the several propositions deduced 
 from the will of Smithson, and given in the introduction. 
 It embraces, as a leading feature, the design of interesting 
 the greatest number of individuals in the operations of the 
 institution, and of spreading its influence as widely as pos- 
 sible. It forms an active organization, exciting all to make 
 original researches who are gifted with the necessary power, 
 and diffusing a kind of knowledge, now only accessible to 
 the few, among all those who are willing to receive it. In 
 this country, though many excel in the application of 
 science to the practical arts of life, few devote themselves 
 to the continued labor and patient thought necessary to the 
 discovery and development of new truths. The principal 
 cause of this want of attention to original research, is the 
 want, not of proper means, but of proper encouragement. 
 The publication of original memoirs and periodical reports, 
 as contemplated by the programme, will act as a powerful 
 stimulus on the latent talent of our country, by placing in 
 bold relief the real laborers in the field of original research, 
 while it will afford the best materials for the use of those 
 engaged in the diffusion of knowledge. 
 
 The advantages which will accrue from the plan of pub- 
 lishing the volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions to 
 Knowledge, are various. In the first place, it will serve to 
 render the name of the founder favorably known wher- 
 ever literature and science are cultivated, and to keep it 
 in continual remembrance with each succeeding volume, 
 as long as knowledge is valued. A single new truth, 
 first given to the world through these volumes, will for- 
 ever stamp their character as a work of reference. The 
 
952 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 
 
 Contributions will thus form the most befitting monument 
 to perpetuate the name of one whose life was devoted to 
 tho increase of knowledge, and whose ruling passion, strong 
 in death, prompted the noble bequest intended to facilitate 
 the labors of others in the same pursuit. 
 
 Again, the publication of a series of volumes of original 
 memoirs will afford to the institution the most ready menus 
 of entering into friendly relations and correspondence with 
 all the learned societies in the world, and of enriching its 
 library with their current transactions and proceedings. But 
 perhaps the most important effect of the plan will be that 
 of giving to the world many valuable memoirs, which, on 
 account^of the expense of the illustrations, could not be 
 otherwise published. Every one who adds new and im- 
 portant truths to the existing stock of knowledge must be, 
 of necessity, to a certain degree, in advance of his age. 
 Hence the number of readers and purchasers of a work is 
 generally in the inverse ratio of its intrinsic value; and 
 consequently, authors of the highest rank of merit are fre- 
 quently deterred from giving their productions to the world 
 on account of the pecuniary loss to which the publication 
 would subject them. When our lamented countryman, 
 Bowditch, contemplated publishing his Commentary on La 
 Place, he assembled his family and informed them that the 
 execution, of this design would sacrifice one-third of his 
 fortune, and that it was proper his heirs should be con- 
 sulted on a subject which so nearly concerned them. The 
 answer was worthy the children of such a father: "We 
 value," said they, "your reputation more than your money." 
 Fortunately, in this instance, the means of making such a 
 sacrifice existed; otherwise one of the proudest monuments 
 of American science could not have been given to the 
 world. In the majority of cases, however, those who are 
 most capable of extending human knowledge are least able 
 to incur the expense of the publication. Wilson, the Amer- 
 ican ornithologist, states, in a letter to Michaux, that he has 
 sacrificed everything to publish his work: "I have issued." 
 he says, "six volumes, and am engaged on the seventh, but 
 as yet I have not received a single cent of the proceeds." 
 In an address on the subject of natural history, by one of 
 our most active cultivators of this branch of knowledge, we 
 find the following remarks, which are directly in point: 
 "Few are acquainted with the fact that from the small 
 number of scientific works sold, and the great expense of 
 plates, our naturalists not only are not paid for their labors, 
 but suffer pecuniary loss from their publications. Several 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 953 
 
 works on different branches of zoology now in the course 
 of publication, will leave their authors losers by an aggre- 
 gate of $15,000. I do not include in this estimate works 
 already finished one, for instance, the best contribution to 
 the natural history of man extant, the publication of which 
 will occasion its accomplished author a loss of several thou- 
 sand dollars. A naturalist is extremely fortunate if he can 
 dispose of two hundred copies of an illustrated work, and 
 the number of copies printed rarely exceeds two hundred 
 and fifty." It may be said that these authors have their 
 reward in the reputation which they thus purchase ; but 
 reputation should be the result of the talents and labor ex- 
 pended in the production of a work, and should not in the 
 least depend upon the fact that the author is able to make a 
 pecuniary sacrifice in giving the account of his discoveries 
 to the public. 
 
 Besides the advantage to the author of having his memoir 
 published in the Smithsonian Contributions free of expense, 
 his labors will be given to the world with the stamp of 
 approval of a commission of learned men, and his merits 
 will be generally made known through the reports of the 
 institution. Though the premiums offered may be small, 
 yet they will have considerable effect in producing original 
 articles. Fifty or a hundred dollars awarded to the author 
 of an original paper, will, in many instances, suffice to 
 supply the books, or to pay for the materials, or the manual 
 labor required in prosecuting the research. 
 
 There is one proposition of the programme which has 
 given rise to much discussion, and which, therefore, requires 
 particular explanation. I allude to that which excludes 
 from the contributions all papers consisting merely of un- 
 verified speculations on subjects of physical science. The 
 object of this proposition is to obviate the endless difficul- 
 culties which would occur in rejecting papers of an un- 
 philosophical character; and though it may in some cases 
 exclude an interesting communication, yet the strict observ- 
 ance of it will be found of so rr.uch practical importance 
 that it cannot be dispensed with. It has been supposed, 
 from the adoption of this proposition, that we are disposed 
 to undervalue abstract speculations; on the contrary, we 
 know that all the advances in true science namely, a 
 knowledge of the laws of phenomena are made by pro- 
 visionally adopting well-conditioned hypotheses, the product 
 of the imagination, and subsequently verifying them by an 
 appeal to experiment and observation. Every new hypo- 
 thesis of scientific value must not only furnish an exact 
 
954 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS <>1 SMITHSoN's BEQUEST. 
 
 explanation of known facts, but must also enable us to 
 predict, in kind and quantity, the phenomena which will 
 be exhibited under any given combination of circumstances. 
 Thus, in the case of the undulatory hypothesis of light, it 
 was inferred, as a logical consequence, that if the supposi- 
 tion were true that light consisted of waves of an ethereal 
 medium, then two rays of light, like two waves of water 
 under certain conditions, should annihilate each other, and 
 darkness be produced. The experiment was tried, and the 
 anticipated result was obtained. It is this exact agreement 
 of the deduction with the actual result of experience that 
 constitutes the verification of an hypothesis, and which 
 alone entitles it to the name of a theory, and to a place in 
 the transactions of a scientific institution. It must be recol- 
 lected that it is much easier to speculate than to investigate, 
 and that very few of all the hypotheses imagined arc capable 
 of standing the test of scientific verification. 
 
 For the practical working of the plan for obtain ing the 
 character of a memoir, and the precaution taken before it 
 is accepted for publication, I would refer to the correspond- 
 ence, given in a subsequent part <-t this report, relative to 
 the memoir now in process of publication 1>\ the institution. 
 As it is not our intention to interfere with the proceedings 
 of other institutions, but to co-operate with them, so far as 
 our respective operations are compatible, communications 
 may be referred to learned societies tor inspection, as in the 
 case of the above-mentioned memoir, and abstracts of them 
 given to the world through the bulletins of these societies, 
 while the details of the memoirs and their expensive illus- 
 trations are published in the volumes of the Smithsonian 
 Contributions. The officers of several learned societies in 
 this country have expressed a willingness to co-operate in 
 this way. 
 
 Since original research is the most direct way of increas- 
 ing knowledge, it can scarcely be doubted that a part of the 
 income of the bequest should be appropriated to this pur- 
 pose, provided suitable persons can be found, and their 
 labors be directed to proper objects. The number, how- 
 ever, of those who are capable of discovering scientific prin- 
 ciple is comparatively small; like the poet, they are " born, 
 not made," and, like him, must be left to choose their own 
 subject, and wait the fitting time of inspiration. In case a 
 person of this class has fallen on a vein of discovery, and is 
 pursuing it with success, the better plan will be to grant 
 him a small sum of money to carry on his investigations, 
 provided they are considered worthy of assistance by com- 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 955- 
 
 iudges. This will have the double effect of encour- 
 hinfin the pursuit, and of facilitating his progress 
 The institution, however, need not depend upon cases of 
 this kind, even if they were more numerous than they are, 
 for the application of its funds in the line of original re- 
 search. There are large fields of observation and .experi- 
 ment, the cultivation of which, though it may afford no 
 prospect of the discovery of a principle, can hardly fail to 
 produce results of importance both in a practical and a 
 theoretic point of view. As an illustration of this remark, 
 I may mention the case of the investigations made a few 
 years ago by committees of the Franklin Institute of Phila- 
 delphia The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States 
 placed at the disposal of this society a sum of money tor 
 the purpose of making experiments with reference to the 
 cause of the explosion" of steam boilers. A committee of 
 the society was chosen for this purpose, which adopted the 
 ingenious plan of writing to all persons in the United 
 States engaged in the application of steam and Particularly 
 to those who had observed the explosion of a steam-boiler. 
 In this way opinions and suggestions in great variety as to 
 the cause of explosions were obtained The most plausible 
 of these were submitted to the test of experiment .: the , re- 
 sults obtained were highly important, and are to be found 
 favorably mentioned in every systematic work on the sub- 
 ject of steam which has appeared m any language within 
 the last few years New and important facts were estab- 
 ifshed and Chat was almost of as much consequence, 
 ertrswlS'had usurped the P^- of truth were dethroned 
 
 In the programme examples are given of a fewsubjec 
 orfgnal research to which the attention of the institution 
 may be turned. I will mention one in this place, which, in 
 collection with the contents of our first memoir, may de- 
 seve immediate attention. I allude to a small appropria- 
 tion made annually for researches with reference to the 
 remains of the ancient inhabitants of our country 
 a highly interesting field, and what is done in regard o 
 should be done quickly. Every year the progress of civiliza-. 
 Si is obliterating tl/e ancient mounds, cities ; and viUages 
 are risino- on the spots they have so long occupied undii 
 Curbed! and the distinctive marks of these remains are every 
 year becoming less and less legible. 
 
 In carrying out the spirit of the plan adopted, namely, 
 tha" of affecting men in general by the operations of the 
 institution, it is evident that the principal means of diffusing 
 must be the press. Though lectures should be 
 

 "956 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 given in the city in which Smithson has seen fit to direct 
 the establishment of his institution, yet, as a plan of general 
 diffusion of knowledge, the system of lectures would be en- 
 tirely inadequate; every village in our extended country 
 would have a right to demand a share of the benefit, and 
 the income of the institution would be insufficient to sup- 
 ply a thousandth part of the demand. It is also evident 
 that the knowledge diffused should, if possible, not only 
 embrace all branches of general interest, so that each reader 
 might find a subject suited to his taste, but also that it 
 should differ in kind and quality from that which can be 
 readily obtained through the cheap publications of the day 
 These requisites will be fully complied with in the publica- 
 tions of the series of reports proposed in the prooramme. 
 A series of periodicals of this kind, posting up all the dis- 
 coveries in science from time to time, and giving u well 
 digested account of all the important changes in the differ- 
 ent branches of knowledge, is a desideratum in the English 
 language. The idea is borrowed from a partial plan of this 
 kind in operation in Sweden and Germany: and for an ex- 
 ample of what the work should be, I would refer to the 
 annual report to the Swedish Academy of its perpetual 
 secretary, Berzelius, on physical science. The reports can 
 be so prepared as to be highly interesting to the general 
 reader, and at the same time of great importance to the 
 exclusive cultivator of a particular branch of knowledge 
 .bull references should be given, in foot-notes, to the pa^e 
 number, or volume of the work from which the information 
 was obtained; and where a more detailed account can be 
 found. It is scarcely necessary to remark that the prepa- 
 ration of these reports should be intrusted only to persons 
 profoundly acquainted with the subjects to which they re- 
 namely, to those who are devoted to particular 
 branches, while they possess a knowledge of general prin- 
 ciples. Sufficient explanations should' be introduced to 
 render the report intelligible to the general reader, without 
 destroying its scientific character. Occasionally reports 
 may be obtained from abroad as, for example, accounts of 
 3 progress of certain branches of knowledge in foreign 
 countries, and these may be translated, if Necessary, and 
 incorporated into other reports, by some competent person 
 in this country. 
 
 Besides the reports on the progress of knowledge, the 
 
 rogramme proposes to publish occasionally brief treatises 
 
 on particular subjects. There are always subjects of o. en . 
 
 <3ral interest of which brief expositions would be of much 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 957 
 
 value. The preparation of these, however, should be^ in- 
 trusted to none but persons of character and reputation,, 
 and should be subjected to a revision by competent and 
 responsible judges before they are given to the public. 
 They may be presented in the form of reports on the exist- 
 in^ state of knowledge relative to a given subject, and may 
 sometimes consist of memoirs and expositions of particular 
 branches of literature and science, translated from foreign 
 languages. The reports and treatises of the institution, sold 
 at a price barely sufficient to pay the expenses of printing, 
 will find their way into every school in our country, and 
 will be used not as first lessons for the pupil, but as sources 
 of reliable information for the teacher. 
 
 The second section of the programme gives, so far as they 
 have been made oat, the details of the part of the plan of 
 organization directed by the act of Congress establishing 
 the institution. The two plans, namely, that of publication 
 and original research, and that of collections ot objects o 
 nature and art, are not incompatible, and maybe carried on 
 harmoniously with each other. The only effect which they 
 will have on one another is that of limiting the operation ot 
 each, on account of the funds given to the other. Still, with a 
 iudicious application and an economical expenditure ot the 
 income, and particularly by rigidly observing the plan ot 
 finance suggested by Dr. Bache, in the construction of the 
 building, much good may be effected in each of the tw<> 
 branches of the institution. To carry on the operations ot 
 the first a working library will be required, consisting ot the 
 past volumes of the transactions and proceedings ot all tne 
 learned societies in every language. These are the original 
 sources from which the most important principles ol tne 
 positive knowledge of our day have been drawn. We shall 
 also require a collection of the most important current litera- 
 ture and science fortheuse of the collaborators of the reports; 
 most of these, however, will be procured in exchange tor 
 the publications of the institution, and therefore will draw 
 but little from the library fund. For other suggestions re a- 
 tive to the details of the library, I would refer you to the 
 annexed communication from Professor Jewett, assistant 
 secretary, acting as librarian. (See Appendix No 1.) 
 
 The collections of the institution, as far as possible, should 
 consist of such articles as are not elsewhere to be found in 
 this country, so that the visitors at Washington may see new 
 objects, and the spirit of the plan be kept up, of interesting 
 the greatest possible number of individuals. A perfect col- 
 lection of all objects of nature and of art, if such could be 
 
$58 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 
 
 obtained and deposited in one place, would form a muse in i 
 of the highest interest; but the portion of the income of 
 the bequest which can be devoted to the increase and main- 
 tenance of the museum will be too small to warrant anv 
 attempt toward an indiscriminate collection. It is hoped 
 that in due time other means may be found of establishing 
 and supporting a general collection of objects of nature and 
 art at the seat of the General Government, with funds not 
 derived from the Smithsonian bequest. For the present it 
 should be the object of the institution to confine the appli- 
 cation of the funds, first, to such collections as will tend 
 to facilitate the study of the memoirs which may be pub- 
 lished in the Contributions, and to establish thei'r correct- 
 ness; secondly, to the purchase of such objects as are not 
 generally known in this country, in the way of art and the 
 illustration of antiquities, such as models of buildings, &c.; 
 and, thirdly, to the formation of a collection of instruments 
 of physical research which will be required both in the 
 illustration of new physical truths and in the scientific in- 
 vestigations undertaken by the institution. 
 
 Much popular interest may !>< awakened in favor of the 
 institution at Washington by throwing the rooms of tin- 
 building open on stated evenings dtmngfl the session of 
 Congress for literary and scientific assemblies, after the 
 manner of the weekly meetings of tin- lioval Institution in 
 London. At these meetings, without the formality of a 
 regular lecture, new truths in science niav he illustrated 
 and new objects of art exhibited. Besides these, courses of 
 lectures may be given on particular subjects by the officers 
 of the institution, or by distinguished individuals invited for 
 the purpose. 
 
 APPENDIX No. 1. 
 
 ..rr JCWDIX no. 1. 
 
 Extract from a communication of Professor Jewett, Assistant Secretary of 
 the Institution, acting as librarian. 
 
 *32S*: A*. 1 do n t expect to have the pleasure of seeing you 
 before the meeting of the regents, I will, with your indulgence, refer 
 some of the principal matters which will require attention in commene- 
 
 7 L iv ! v?; 6y W0uld no doubt a11 occur to y u in their ord er, but 
 nave thought you might find it convenient to have this part of the busi- 
 
 "V n . 8 T e egI>ee P r lP ared to y ur h ands. A great deal of preparatory 
 Selves g ne Ugh With ' bef re an ^ books can be P laced on th<e 
 
 ^tn l!!l Pla " P r Pf d for the Horary, it seems to me that the first 
 g to be done is to make arrangements for obtaining catalogues, printed 
 
 n iib Cri? ' f *?" pHncipal Hbraries of the Uni ' ed Stat ' s 5 * exam ~ 
 t 1 " 68 ' as u far as can b done personally, in order to know their 
 character, the statistics of their increase &c.j and to form such 
 
PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 959 
 
 Alliances with the librarians as will be indispensable in making the library 
 of the institution, in conformity with the suggestion of Dr. Bache, a sup- 
 plemental one, and a centre of bibliographical reference. Some libraries 
 possess printed catalogues complete nearly down to the present time ; others 
 are several years behindhand. It will be necessary to procure manuscript 
 catalogues in continuation of those which have been printed, and to make 
 arrangements for receiving, from month to month, or from year to year, 
 lists of all future accessions. These supplementary catalogues should all be 
 prepared on a uniform plan. The titles should be written on cards of the 
 same size, so that they may be placed together in one alphabetical arrange- 
 ment, in order to facilitate research. A mark placed on the back of each 
 card will designate the library from which it came. Now, in every library 
 with which we are in correspondence some one must be employed to do 
 this. It would be merely clerk's labor, where the catalogues are properly 
 kept, and no doubt the librarian or assistant might, in every case, be in- 
 duced to undertake it for a small compensation. 
 
 2. The next thing to be done will be to make arrangements for procuring 
 the books to which we are entitled by the 10th section of the charter of the 
 institution. Unless something be done, this provision, in course of time, 
 will bring in comparatively few books in a year. I have no doubt that 
 publishers generally would readily send their books, if the subject were 
 properly presented to them, and arrangements made by which they could 
 transmit them to Washington without subjecting the institution or them- 
 selves to expenses al together. disproportioned to the value of the books. 
 It has occurred to me that perhaps the several district clerks might be in- 
 duced to attend to the business ; it is perhaps legally their duty to do so, 
 but I suppose it would be unsafe to rely upon their performing faithfully 
 such an unexpected duty, unless they received for it some additional com- 
 pensation. Besides this, a circular might be printed and sent to publishers, 
 setting forth the advantages which would result directly to the cause of 
 letters, and indirectly to themselves, from compliance with this require- 
 ment. By these means I think we should obtain nearly all the publications 
 of importance issued from the American press. 
 
 3. The selection of books for the first purchase must be made. This will, 
 I suppose, comprise three classes of works: 1. Those which may be imme- 
 diately needed in the scientific department ; 2. Bibliographical works and 
 descriptions, histories and catalogues of similar institutions ; and 3. The 
 general collection, consisting of the memoirs, transactions, and journals of 
 the learned societies of Europe and America. These three classes of books 
 will form a library quite unique, and one of great utility. The catalogue, 
 if it be made with fullness and accuracy, will be a valuable publication. I 
 think, further, that a somewhat extended list of books should be made out 
 for future purchases. These lists should be intrusted to honest and faithful 
 men in some of the principal book marts of Europe, with orders to buy the 
 books whenever they can find them, at say one-half the ordinary prices. In 
 this way we should obtain at very low prices great numbers of the books 
 which we shall want. Of course, the same list should not be left with different 
 men. The work should be done with care, and by consultation with the 
 best scholars in the country. It will be difficult to find the necessary biblio- 
 graphical helps. The best collection of them in the country is in the library 
 of the Brown University, but this is very imperfect. 
 
 4. The first purchases are to be made, and the arrangement for future 
 purchases. These, of course, should not be commenced until the lists are 
 as far completed as they can judiciously be in this country. 
 
 5. Another subject contemplated in the programme of organization, and 
 which should receive immediate attention, is the procuring of copies of some 
 of the most celebrated works of art. It will probably be best to confine the 
 purchases at first principally to plaster casts of some of the finest specimens 
 of ancient and modern statuary. These can be procured very cheap, and 
 convey, of course, a perfect representation of the original. I have no doubt 
 
960 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSOtt'S BEQUEST. 
 
 what for a public institution, and one under national auspices, we could 
 whenever we desire it, obtain permission to take casts directly from the 
 statues. 
 
 The expense of doing so would of course be somewhat greater than that 
 of purchasing such copies as might be found in the market, but a small 
 difference in expense is not to be thought of in such a case. It would further 
 bo desirable to commence the purchase of the models of antiquities, such as 
 models in cork of some of the houses, temples, theaters, baths, &c., &c., iu 
 Pompeii and Herculaneum. These can be procured at comparatively small 
 prices. Models of every interesting part of Pompeii which has been exca- 
 vated, presenting in miniature a perfect view of nearly the whole on the 
 scale of 1 foot to 150, might be procured for about $2,000. It might also 
 be well to procure a tow Etruscan vases ; also a few antique coins and ir.cdals, 
 sufficient to convey some illustration of numismatics, as a subsidiary branch 
 of history. The regents should of couse decide what proportion of the ap- 
 propriation for collections chould each year be expended for these purposes. 
 I will merely remark that $1,000, or even $500 at the outset, prudently 
 expended, would procure a very interesting collection. 
 
 1 have thus stated quite in detail the work which must be done before 
 the library can bo ready for use, or rather before any part of it can be placed 
 upon the shelves. Before it can be ready for use much more is to bo dono 
 in arranging and cataloguing. To lay properly the foundation of a large 
 library is a slow work, and much time must necessarily bo consumed in 
 producing but small visible results. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, very truly, your friend and servant, 
 
 C. C. JEWETT. 
 
 Professor JOSEPH HENRY, 
 
 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
UNIVKK8ITY O 
 
 CALIFOKNIA 
 
 LETTERS RELATIVE TO THE " PROGRAMME OF OR- 
 GANIZATION" OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
 PROPOSED BY PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY. 
 
 From. T. Romeyn Beck. 
 
 ALBANY, N. Y., November 29, 1847. 
 
 I have perused the copy of the " Proposed Organization " 
 which you have been good enough to send me. 
 
 I notice an omission, which may be either intentional or 
 not. It is the exclusion of medicine and surgery from the 
 physical class. It appears to me that there are subjects 
 belonging to them, which are legitimate subjects of phil- 
 osophical research and therefore should be included. I in- 
 stance, the materia medica, i. e. the discovery of new remedies 
 or the improved application of old ones ; improvements 
 in surgery; discoveries in physiology ; and lastly, the appli- 
 cations of one or more to medical jurisprudence. 
 
 True, you are careful in your specifications, to leave room 
 for this addition, but you must be aware that the medical 
 profession embraces in this country a considerable portion 
 of the talent and learning that might be roused into activity 
 by the adoption of your plan, and I submit whether the in- 
 sertion of these subjects is not due to them. 
 
 There is another branch intimately connected with the 
 above, which deserves every encouragement. It is the pro- 
 motion of the health of communities, or hygiene as the French 
 call it. No subject is less understood none calls for 
 public encouragement and attention more strongly than 
 this dreadfully neglected matter. 
 
 You will see that I refer in all this to the division of 
 reports. The " British Association " in directing attention 
 to arid popularizing (if I may use the word) this plan of dif- 
 fusing knowledge has done more good than most of the 
 learned societies in the world. 
 
 I prefer, with your permission, to give you my ideas in 
 this way, instead of noting them on the programme. 
 
 I will in conclusion only hint at a danger, which unless 
 early and constantly guarded against, may render your 
 scheme unpopular, and hence in a measure impair its useful- 
 ness. It is, the possibility of the selection of particular 
 61 961 
 
9i>2 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 persons or of associations of persons in different places, 
 who may appear to assume the control in any particular 
 department of science in other words, the formation of 
 predominant cliques. These are the curse of most of our 
 most distinguished societies at home and abroad and in 
 this country the danger is greater, from the fewness of 
 men well grounded in science, and the disparity that exists 
 between those claiming to he adepts. 
 
 These views I give you, if I know my own lu'art, with a 
 sincere desire that the Smithsonian Institution may attain 
 the highest usefulness under your administration, and that 
 it may go on, " prospering and to prosper." 
 
 I forgot to add, what indeed I expressed to you verbally, 
 that your plan as a whole has my unqualified approbation. 
 
 From Ktiij'UHui N/'//;///,///. 
 
 VALE COLLI 
 NEW HAYKX, December 4, 1847. 
 
 Your letter of November 26, with the programme of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, was duly received, and L have en- 
 deavored to bestow upon it a degree of consideration pro- 
 portionate to its importance. 
 
 Regarding the will of Mr. Smithson as the rule and the 
 only rule which ought to govern, I have no hesitation in 
 saying that the views propounded in the programme are 
 sound and correct, and ought, therefore, to be sustained. 
 
 It is obvious that Mr. Smithson intended that his fund 
 should operate intellectually, and n> further physically than 
 is necessary for the mental effects. Books, instruments, 
 and museums of objects of nature and art are necessary to 
 that end, and are, therefore, within the views and purpose 
 of the donor ; but splendid buildings, of costly materials 
 and construction, if erected at the expense of the Smith- 
 sonian fund would prove a perversion of the design and an 
 abuse of the trust. 
 
 The neglect in which the bequest was allowed for eight 
 years to lie, creates a claim, both of honor and equity, 
 which ought to result in the enlargement of the fund by 
 the appropriation of the accumulated interest to become a 
 part of the productive capital. It would be a meritorious 
 application of a portion of the National revenue if the 
 buildings requisite for the accommodation of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution were to be furnished by the Government 
 in aid of the great design for the " increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men." 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 963 
 
 If, however, that course is impracticable, we may well in- 
 quire whether an appropriation of the income of a single 
 year say fifty thousand dollars might not afford sufficient 
 funds for the requisite building constructed in a style of 
 chaste and elegant simplicity without expensive ornament, 
 and adapted mainly to utility. 
 
 If this course were pursued, the fund would be preserved 
 inviolate, and it would seem to be a wise forecast to limit 
 the annual expenditures, so that an accumulating fund 
 might be formed, which, in a few years, with compound 
 interest resulting from frequent investments of savings 
 might augment the capital to a million of dollars. 
 
 If it is within the views of the Government to bestow 
 the National Museum upon the Smithsonian Institution, the 
 very bequest would seem to draw after it an obligation to 
 furnish the requisite accommodations without taxing the 
 Smithsonian funds ; otherwise the gift might be detrimental 
 instead of beneficial ; and if the Government should retain 
 the proprietorship of the National Museum, but at the same 
 time impose upon the Smithsonian Institution the burden 
 of providing a building for its accommodation not to say 
 for its increase this would obviously be an invasion of the 
 rights of the Institution which could not be justified. 
 
 Will not every purpose promotive of the object of Mr. 
 Smithson be accomplished by allowing the National Museum 
 to remain in buildings furnished by the Government, and 
 augmented from time to time as the exigency of the collec- 
 tions may require. 
 
 It will then be equally accessible to all cultivators of any 
 field of knowledge demanding such illustrations, and the 
 Smithsonian Institution will be left at liberty to pursue its 
 own objects in its own way. 
 
 As regards the objects of research indicated in the Pro- 
 gramme I would suggest that in addition to the law of 
 storms not confined, however, to American storms ob- 
 servations should be made on our v-arious climates in 
 relation to temperature, moisture, and electricity, and their 
 effect upon agriculture and health. 
 
 Under the head of surveys it is desirable also to include 
 our most important mineral resources in coal and metals, 
 and in permanent materials for architecture and for civil 
 and military engineering. 
 
 No mention is mado of natural history in cxtenso, and 
 zoology and botany are not named. 
 
 The outline of subjects might perhaps be made more 
 concise and still more comprehensive, and it is desirable 
 
964 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 not to enact unnecessary limitations which might prove em- 
 barrassing. 
 
 As Mr. Smithson's object was all men not merely 
 Americans or Englishmen it is desirable that every lati- 
 tude should be allowed for co-operation with all cultivators 
 of knowledge. 
 
 I have had no opportunity to consult the Connecticut 
 Academy, but will lay the subject before them towards the 
 close of the month. I have the coinciding opinions of Mr- 
 Dana and my son with the above. 
 
 From the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
 
 BOSTON, December 8, 1847. 
 
 DEAR SIR: I am directed by the Academy to communi- 
 cate to you the accompanying report, made on the subject 
 of your programme, laid before the Academy, with your 
 note of the 30th September, and to express tin- irivat inter- 
 est which the Society feels in the important subject to which 
 it relates. 
 
 ASA GRAY, 
 Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 The committee to whom was referred the " Programme for the Organisa- 
 tion of the Smithsonian Institution," submitted to the Academy by the 
 Secretary, Professor Henry, with his letter of the 30th September, made 
 the following report : 
 
 Professor Henry is understood to be desirous of ascertaining the opinions 
 of the scientific bodies of the country, on the subject of the proposed organ- 
 ization of the Smithsonian Institution ; and the free expression of their 
 views is wished by him. 
 
 The interesting nature and high importance of this foundation, and the 
 novel and peculiar circumstances attending its establishment, make it highly 
 expedient, in the opinion of the committee, that every step taken in its 
 organization should be deliberately considered. They think it no more 
 than just to express their satisfaction, that the control of the infant estab- 
 lishment has been placed in the hands of a Board of Kegents of the highest 
 intelligence, respectability, and weight of character ; and in the wise selec- 
 tion made of the officers, on whom the active executive duties of the insti- 
 tution will devolve, the committee perceive a satisfactory pledge, as far a.<* 
 they are concerned. 
 
 Professor Henry's Programme commences with " general considerations, 
 which should serve as a guide in adopting the plan of organization." Ho 
 points out the nature of the bequest, as made to the United States for the 
 purpose of founding at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men. The bequest is, accordingly, for the benefit of mankind. The. 
 Government of the United States is but a trustee to carry out this noble 
 design. Even the people of the United States are interested only so far as 
 they constitute one of the great families of the human race. 
 
 The objects of the Institution are twofold ; 1st, the increase, and 2d, the 
 diffusion, of knowledge, objects which, although frequently in a vague 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 965 
 
 -way confounded with each'other (inasmuch as it often happens that know- 
 ledge is diffused by the same act which increases it) are nevertheless logi- 
 cally distinct, and require to be separately regarded. No particular kind 
 of knowledge is specified by the founder as entitled to the preference ; all 
 branches are entitled to a share of attention ; and the order and degree in 
 which they are cultivated must be decided by a wise regard to means and 
 circumstances. Knowledge may be increased by various modes of encour- 
 aging and facilitating the discovery of new truths ; it is diffused chiefly, 
 though not exclusively, through the instrumentality of the press. The 
 organization should be such as to produce results not within the province 
 of the existing institutions of the country. It was, for instance, evidently 
 not the design of the liberal founder to establish a collegiate institution, or 
 a place of education ; nor would it be wise to appropriate his bequest for 
 such an object, already sufficiently attained by the ordinary resources of 
 public and private liberality. Considering the novelty of the undertaking, 
 it would be manifestly unwise to stake too much on the success of the first 
 efforts. The organization should be such as to admit of changes and modi- 
 fications under the light of experience. As several years have elapsed since 
 the fund came into the possession of the United States, it seems no more 
 than equitable that a considerable portion of the accruing interest should 
 be added to the principal, to make up for the loss of time. The committee 
 consider this suggestion as perfectly reasonable, and trust it will receive 
 the favorable consideration of Congress. Liberal as is the original bequest, 
 the sum is but small compared with the great objects to be accomplished. 
 This 'consideration suggests the absolute necessity of economy in any outlay 
 on buildings and fixtures ; in reference to which a prudent regard must be 
 had, not merely to the first cost, but to the future expense of repairs, and 
 the support of the establishment. Great care must be taken not to multiply 
 the number of persons to be permanently supported by the Institution. A 
 clear and settled idea of its organization and mode of operation must pre- 
 cede the adoption of a plan of building, lest, after the completion of a costly 
 edifice, it should be found nearly or quite useless ; or worse even than use- 
 less, by forcing a character upon the Institution which would not otherwise 
 have been given it. All view to mere local arrangement or advantage 
 should be discarded at the outset, in the management of a trust created for 
 the benefit of mankind. 
 
 Such, very slightly expanded in a few of the propositions, are the general 
 considerations proposed by Professor Henry as guides in adopting a plan of 
 organization. They command the entire assent of the committee ; and 
 none of them more so than those which refer to the necessity of strict econ- 
 omy in the expenditure o'f the fund on a building, and exclusion of undue 
 regard to local ornament. It would not be difficult to point to a memorable 
 instance, in a sister city of the Union, in which the most munificent bequest 
 ever made for the purpose of education has been rendered comparatively 
 unavailing, by the total disregard of these wise principles. It is an addi- 
 tional reason for observing them, that the attempt to erect a highly impos- 
 ing building for local ornament will not only crush in the bud all hope of 
 fulfilling the ulterior objects of the bequest, but will be almost sure to fail 
 of a satisfactory result as far as the edifice itself is concerned. 
 
 The Secretary's plan of organization in reference to the increase of knowl- 
 edge is so accurately digested and so thoroughly condensed, that the com- 
 mittee think it would be best to quote his own words : 
 
 " To INCREASE KNOWLEDGE, it is proposed, 
 
 " 1. To stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering 
 suitable rewards for memoirs containing new truths ; and, 
 
 "2. To appropriate annually a portion of the income for particular re- 
 searches under the direction of suitable persons." 
 
 These methods of increasing knowledge are farther unfolded in the follow- 
 ing " Detail of the Plan " for that purpose. 
 
 " 1. By stimulating researches. 
 
966 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 "1. Rewards consisting of money, medals, &c., offered for original 
 memoirs on all branches of knowledge. 
 
 " 2. The memoirs thus obtained to be published in a series of volumes in 
 a quarto form, and entitled Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 
 
 " 3. No memoir, on subjects of physical science, to be accepted for pub- 
 lication which does not furnish a positive addition to human knowledge 
 and all unverified speculations to be rejected. 
 
 " 4. Each memoir presented to the Institution to be submitted for exami- 
 nation to a commission of persons of reputation for learning in the branch 
 to which the memoir pertains, and to be accepted for publication only in 
 case the report of this commission is favorable. 
 
 " 5. The commission to be chosen by the officers of the Institution, and 
 the name of the author, as far as practicable, concealed until a favorable 
 decision shall have been made. 
 
 " 6. The volumes of the memoirs to be exchanged for the transactions of 
 all literary and scientific societies, and copies to be given to all the colleges 
 and principal libraries in this country. One part of the remaining copies 
 may be offered for sale ; and the other carefully preserved, to form complete 
 sets of the work, to supply the demand from new institutions. 
 
 " 7. An abstract or popular account of the contents of these memoirs 
 should be given to the public through the annual report of the Regents to 
 Congress. 
 
 " II. By appropriating a portion of the income annually to special objects 
 of research, under the direction of suitable persons. 
 
 u 1. The objects and the amount appropriated to be recommended by 
 Counsellors of the Institution. 
 
 " 2. Appropriation in different years to different objects ; so that in course 
 of time each branch of knowledge may receive a share. 
 
 " 3. The results obtained from these appropriations to be published with 
 the memoirs before mentioned in the volumes of the Smithsonian Contribu- 
 tions to Knowledge. 
 
 " 4. Examples of objects for which appropriations may be made : 
 
 " (1.) System of extended Meteorological Observations for solving the 
 problem of American Storms. 
 
 " (2.) Geological, Magnetical, and Topographical surveys to collect 
 materials for the formation of a Physical Atlas of the United 'States. 
 
 " (3.) Solution of experimental problems; such as weighing the earth ; 
 new determination of the velocity of electricity and of light ; chemical 
 analysis of soils and plants ; collection and publication of articles of science, 
 accumulated in the offices of Government. 
 
 " (4.) Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, 
 and political subjects. 
 
 < " (5.) Historical researches and accurate surveys of places celebrated in 
 history. 
 
 " (6.) Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to the present 
 races of men in North Americn ; also explorations and accurate surveys of 
 the mounds and other remains of the ancient people of our country." 
 
 The committee have made this long extract from Professor Henry's Pro- 
 gramme, in order to give to the Academy an adequate idea of the proposed 
 ?lan, as far as it refers to the first branch, or the Increase of Knowledge. 
 t has, in some of its features, been already adopted. It is already an- 
 nounced that one voluminous memoir, copiously illustrated by engravings, 
 is already on its passage through the press, under the auspices of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. The committee refer to an elaborate memoir by Messrs. 
 Squier and Davis, on the aboriginal mounds discovered in large numbers 
 in various parts of the United States, and especially in the region north- 
 west of the Ohio. This memoir was accepted on the favorable report of 
 the Ethnological Society of New York, to which it has been referred by 
 the Secretary of the Institution, and in whose Transactions an abridgment 
 of it has appeared. It is also understood that a memoir on one of the 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 967 
 
 most interesting subjects which engages the attention of geometers and 
 mathematicians at the present moment, viz : the planet Neptune, has been 
 invited by the Secretary from one of our members. 
 
 While the committee would deprecate all attempts unduly to stimulate 
 the increase of knowledge, as sure to prove abortive, and to result at best 
 in the publication of crude investigations, they believe it quite possible to 
 remove some of the obstructions to its progress. Narrow circumstances 
 are too apt to be the lot of genius when devoted to scientific pursuits ; and 
 the necessity of providing for personal and domestic wants too often absorbs 
 the time and faculties of those who might, if relieved from cares of this 
 kind, have adorned their age and benefitted mankind. To such men a 
 moderate pecuniary advantage, derived from a successful investigation, 
 might be of vast importance. The efficacy of market upon production is 
 not limited to the creations of physical labor. It is seen in the history of 
 science and literature of every age and country. Invention in the mechan- 
 ical arts, and skill in practical science, are well paid in this country, and 
 how great is the harvest I The extraordinary effect even of an honorary 
 inducement is seen in the case of the medal offered by the king of Denmark 
 for the discovery of telescopic comets. On these principles it may be 
 hoped, that, by offering a moderate pecuniary compensation for researches 
 of real merit, valuable contributions to knowledge will be produced ; while 
 their publication will tend directly to the diffusion of knowledge. An en- 
 couragement somewhat similar, toward the promotion of the increase of 
 knowledge, would be afforded by another part of the proposed operations, 
 that of providing the requisite apparatus and implements, and especially 
 books, to be placed in the hands of those engaged in particular lines of in- 
 vestigation. In this way it is not unlikely that a considerable amount of 
 talent may be rendered effective, which at present is condemned to inactiv- 
 ity from local position unfavorable to scientific research. 
 
 It is not the purpose of the committee to engage in minute criticism of 
 the details of the Programme ; but it may not be out of place to suggest a 
 doubt of the practicability or expediency of carrying into rigid execution 
 " the rejection of all unverified speculations," as proposed in the third par- 
 agraph of the first section above cited. While it is obviously advisable to 
 discountenance all theoretical speculations not directly built upon observa- 
 tion, it might be too much to exact, in all cases, that these speculations 
 should have been actually verified. No small portion of modern geology 
 is an ingenious structure of speculative generalizations. The undulatory 
 theory of light can hardly claim any other character. The nebular theory, 
 though proposed and illustrated by the highest astronomical talent of the 
 past and present generations, is rapidly sinking from the domain of accred- 
 ited speculations. It maybe doubted even whether M. Leverrier's brilliant 
 memoirs on the perturbations of Uranus would not, as published before the 
 discovery of Neptune, have fallen within this principle of rejection rigo- 
 rously applied. 
 
 Upon the whole, the committee think very favorably of all parts of the 
 plan for increasing knowledge, and feel no doubt that it would afford im- 
 portant encouragement to scientific pursuits. To suppose that it will create 
 an era in science, or throw into the shade the ordinary educational and in- 
 tellectual influences at work in the country, would be extravagant. It is 
 enough, and all that can be expected, if it be a rational plan for appropriat- 
 ing moderate means toward the attainment of a desirable end. 
 
 To fulfill the other objects of the trust, viz.: to " diffuse knowledge," 
 the Secretary proposes to publish " a series of reports, giving an account of 
 the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year 
 in all branches of knowledge not strictly professional." These reports are 
 to be prepared by collaborators most eminent in their several departments, 
 who are to receive a compensation for their labors ; the collaborator to be 
 furnished with all the journals and other publications necessary to the 
 preparation of his report. 
 

 9G8 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 The following enumeration of the proposed subjects of these reports will 
 give the Academy a full conception of this part of the plan. 
 
 "I. PHYSICAL CLASS. 
 
 " 1. Physics, including Astronomy, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and 
 Meteorology. 
 
 " 2. Natural History, including Botany, Zoology, and Geology. 
 
 " 3. Agriculture. 
 
 " 4. Application of Science to Arts. 
 
 " II. MORAL AND POLITICAL CLASS. 
 
 " 5. Ethnology, including Particular History, Comparative Philology, 
 Antiquities, &c. 
 
 6. Statistics and Political Economy. 
 
 " 7. Mental and Moral Philosophy. 
 
 " 8. A Survey of the Political Events of the World ; Penal Reform, &c. 
 
 " III. LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 " 9. Modern Literature. 
 
 "10. The Fine Arts, and their application to the useful arts. 
 
 "11. Bibliography. 
 
 " 12. Obituary notices of distinguished individuals." 
 
 Another branch of the plan for the diffusion of knowledge contemplates 
 the offer of premiums for the best essays on given subj> 
 
 The publications of the Institution, of whatever form, an- proposed to be 
 presented to all the colleges and to the principal libraries and scientific in- 
 stitutions throughout the country, and to be exchanged for the transactions 
 of all scientific and literary societies throughout the world, thus laying the 
 foundation of a valuable library. An adequate number are to be preserved 
 to supply the future demand of new institutions, and the remainder are to 
 be placed on sale at a price so low as to render them generally accessible. 
 
 For carrying out the plan thus sketched for increasing and diffusing 
 knowledge, the Regents propose to appropriate one-half of the income of 
 their fund. The remainder is to be expended in the formation and main- 
 tenance of a library, a collection of instruments of research in all branches 
 of experimental science, and a museum. This partition of the income of 
 the fund is stated to be " a compromise between the two modes of increas- 
 ing and diffusing knowledge." 
 
 A library is one of the objects contemplated in the act of Congress, estab- 
 lishing the Board for the management of the trust. It is requisite for 
 carrying out the plan above proposed. At the same time it will be observed, 
 that the distribution by exchange of the publications, which that scheme 
 of operations will call into existence, will rapidly provide the Institution, 
 without farther expense, with the class of works, often of a costly charac- 
 ter, which are most directly important as the means of advancing and dif- 
 fusing positive knowledge. It is accordingly in these that the Secretary 
 proposes to lay the foundations of the library ; forming, 1st, a complete 
 collection of the Transactions and Proceedings of all the learned societies 
 in the world; and, 2d, a similar collection of all the current periodical 
 publications, and other works necessary in preparing the contemplated 
 periodical reports. In the next place, it is proposed to procure by prefer- 
 ence those books which are not found in the other public libraries of the 
 United States, regarding the want of them as of more urgency to be sup- 
 plied than that of a symmetrical and proportionate collection of books in 
 all the departments of science. Such a library as the plan proposes may be 
 fairly regarded as an important instrument for the increase and diffusion oi 
 knowledge. 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 969 
 
 The collection of scientific apparatus and instruments of research is no 
 less needful in the furtherance of the above-mentioned plan, which, as it 
 proposes to aid individuals in the prosecution of important researches, may 
 often do so most effectually by the loan of the instruments required for a 
 particular investigation. They will also be needed, especially at Washing- 
 ton, for carrying out, under the most advantageous circumstances, the 
 various experimental investigations in physics already pursued by the Sec- 
 retary, with such credit to himself, and such honor to the scientific character 
 of the country. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution is also to be intrusted with the conservation 
 of a national museum ; Congress having, by a clause in the act of incorpo- 
 ration, devolved upon it the charge of the immense collections belonging to 
 the public, of which those brought home by Captain Wilkes from the Ex- 
 ploring Expedition form the greater portion, but which are daily increasing 
 from many sources. These collections, when a proper and convenient place 
 shall have been prepared for their reception and preservation, are likely to 
 accumulate with still greater rapidity in time to come. 
 
 While there is an obvious propriety and convenience in thus intrusting 
 the care of the public collections to the officers of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion, it will not, the committee trust, be forgotten by Congress, that the 
 income of the Smithsonian bequest moderate at best, and consecrated to 
 an object distinct as it is elevated ought not to be burdened with the cost 
 of constructing an edifice for the reception and exhibition of the public 
 collections, and their preservation and care. These objects would alone 
 absorb a considerable portion of the fund. If drawn upon to carry them 
 into effect, its efficiency for any other purpose will be seriously diminished, 
 if not altogether destroyed. 
 
 The plan also contemplates a museum of the fine arts, as well as a scien- 
 tific apparatus ; it proposes to procure " casts of the most celebrated articles 
 of ancient and modern sculpture," and " models of antiquities." While it 
 is undoubtedly true, that a gallery of this description would find an appro- 
 priate place in an establishment devoted to the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge in its broadest sense, the committee cannot but hope that the 
 immediate execution of this part of the plan will not be attempted ; but 
 that it will be deferred till other objects of more decided utility have been 
 provided for, and until a surplus of unappropriated funds shall have accrued. 
 
 The Academy will perceive that the most novel and important feature of 
 this plan is that which proposes to insure the publication of memoirs and 
 treatises on important subjects of investigation, and to offer pecuniary en- 
 couragement to men of talent and attainment to engage in scientific research. 
 It is believed that no institution in the country effects either of these objects 
 to any great extent. The nearest approach to it is the practice of the 
 Academy, and other philosophical societies, of publishing the memoirs 
 adopted "by them. These, however, can rarely be works of great compass. 
 No systematic plan of compensation for the preparation of works of scien- 
 tific research is known by the committee to have been attempted in this or 
 any other country. It can scarcely be doubted that an important impulse 
 would be given by the Institution, in this way, to the cultivation of scien- 
 tific pursuits ; while the extensive and widely"ramified system of distribu- 
 tion and exchange, by which the publications are to be distributed through- 
 out the United States and the world, would secure them a circulation which 
 works of science could scarcely attain in any other way. 
 
 It is an obvious characteristic of this mode of applying the funds of the 
 Institution, that its influence would operate most widely throughout the 
 country ; that locality would be of comparatively little importance as far 
 as this influence is concerned ; and that the Union would become, so to say, 
 in this respect, a great school of mutual instruction. 
 
 The committee would remark, in conclusion, that, in a plan of operations 
 of this kind, very much depends upon the activity and intelligence with 
 which it is administered. The character of the Board of Regents is a 
 

 970 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 sufficient warrant for the prudence and good judgment which will watch 
 over the general interests of the foundation; while the reputation of the 
 Secretary and his assistant, the Librarian, is so well established in their re- 
 spective departments, as to render any tribute from the committee entirely 
 superfluous. 
 All which is respectfully submitted by the committee. 
 
 EDWARD EVERETT, (Chairman.) 
 
 JARED SPARKS. 
 
 BENJAMIN PEIRCE. 
 
 HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. 
 
 ASA GRAY. 
 December 4th, 1847. 
 
 NOTE. Professor Agassiz was named of the committee, but, owing to 
 his absence at the South, was unable to take part in the preparation of this 
 report. 
 
 From the New Jersey Historical Society. 
 
 NEWARK, N. J., November 24, 1848. 
 
 This Society having already considered the programme 
 of the Smithsonian Institution and adopted tin- n port of a 
 special committee, approving of its provisions (which re- 
 port has been transmitted to the Regents,) I have now only 
 to state, that in no instance, so far as I can learn, has an ex- 
 amination of the document failed to secure for it the same 
 measure of commendation. 
 
 W. A. WIIITEHEAD, 
 
 Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 The following is the report referred to : 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred the Programme of organization of 
 the Smithsonian Institution report, that having in common with the <th. r 
 members of the Historical Society listent-d with gratification and conviction 
 to the exposition by Dr. Henry, of the nature and objects of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, and of the means whereby those objects might most 
 surely be attained, they turned their attention to a consideration of the 
 Programme referred to them. 
 
 And they unhesitatingly report, as the result of their considerations, their 
 unanimous opinion, that in the general considerations set forth in the Pro- 
 gramme, as guides in adopting the proper plan of organization, the designs 
 of the liberal founder of the Institution are justly appreciated, and the 
 means of accomplishing those designs are set forth with great discrimina- 
 tion. 
 
 The fund is a trust fund for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men ; the Institution created by this fund is not a national estab- 
 lishment, much less an establishment for promoting local improvements of 
 any sort. Its aim is to "increase knowledge" by the discovery of new 
 truths, and to " diffuse " this increased knowledge by suitable publications. 
 Its field is not Washington, nor even the United States, but all mankind. 
 
 Hence it would seem obviously to result, that all the funds so far as now 
 can be done under the act of Congress incorporating the Institution, should 
 be sacredly appropriated in such manner as to fulfill the views above indi- 
 cated. 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 971 
 
 Entertaining these views the Committee would look upon any large ex- 
 penditure for the construction or ornament of buildings at Washington as 
 Tiisplaced, as contravening the comprehensive and liberal designs of the 
 bunder, and as calculated to the extent to which such expenditures might 
 3e carried, to delay the period when the munificence of the endowment 
 might become operative, in stimulating the inventive genius of men, and 
 n aiding the efforts of enterprising individuals in diffusing the results of 
 ,heir discoveries and researches. 
 
 The details of the plans to increase and to diffuse knowledge, as set forth 
 .n the Programme, seem to your Committee wise and well considered, and 
 is eminently fitted to render the bequests of the liberal Englishman pro- 
 luctive of its legitimate and highest results, in which not Americans only,, 
 jut all men are so deeply interested. 
 
 Your Committee therefore propose these resolutions for the adoption of 
 the Society : 
 
 Resolved, That the Programme of organization of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution as explained by Dr. Henry, seems to this Society to lay down the 
 most efficient and fitting means for rendering available in its highest degree 
 he munificent endowment of the Institution and of carrying out the views 
 of its founder. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings duly authenticated by the 
 officers of this Society, be transmitted to the Board of Eegents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 CHARLES KING. 
 RICHARD S. FIELD. 
 WM. B. KINNEY. 
 
 L. KlRKPATRICK. 
 
 NICHOLAS MURRAY. 
 
 The report having been accepted, the resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted. 
 
 ' From Nath'l F. Moore. 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE, 
 NEW YORK, November 24, 1848. 
 
 As regards your well considered programme I should 
 hardly have presumed to offer even an approval of it, but 
 for your request. I can give it heartily however, and fully ; 
 though (complying again with your request) I venture to 
 suggest that perhaps the limitation under the 7th head of 
 section 2d is too narrow, while on the other hand, the great 
 value of the fine arts and the just appreciation of them by 
 cultivated minds, may create a risk of the institution's going 
 too far in the direction opened under the 10th, llth, and 
 12th heads of the same section. 
 
 I read some time ago what seemed to be a studied vindi- 
 cation of the step taken by the Institution in publishing 
 the work of Messrs. Squier and Davis, but the volume now 
 issued from the press carries with it its justification, and 
 will, I think, be everywhere regarded as a curious and val- 
 uable contribution to knowledge of a kind that was much 
 needed. 
 
D72 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 From Mark Hopkins. 
 
 WILLIAMS COLLEGE, 
 WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS., November 24, 1848. 
 
 I have received a copy, forwarded by you, of the pro- 
 gramme of the Smithsonian Institution. It meets my 
 hearty approbation, and is probably as perfect as any thing 
 of the kind can be without experience, and I have no sug- 
 gestion to make. 
 
 lu such an enterprise much must depend on the officers, 
 and I am gratified to know that thus far the selection has 
 been such as to deserve and receive universal confidence. 
 If any co-operation of mine should be needed, it may be 
 relied, on. 
 
 From Enoch Pond. 
 
 BANGOR THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 
 
 BANGOR, ME., Novonlx / :M, 1848. 
 
 I received this morning your favor of the 17th with the 
 accompanying papers. I have perused your programme 
 with much interest. It seems to have been drawn up with 
 care, and with a due regard to the will of Mr. Srnithson. 
 I think of no additions or improvements. It meets my cor- 
 dial approbation. 
 
 From Charles J. Wl'j >/>!<'. 
 
 SALEM ATHENEUM, 
 SALK.M. MASS., November 27, 1848. 
 
 The programme of organi/ation of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitute meets our approbation: one |iiestion is naturally 
 suggested after its perusal, viz : can all the objects proposed 
 be accomplished in the true spirit of the original design? 
 If in the affirmative then the institution will be a noble 
 aliair -just what is wanted at this time to meet the wants 
 of the age. It has our hearty co-operation, and we should 
 be pleased to contribute our mite towards aiding the insti- 
 tution to carry forward successfully all their plans. 
 
 From H. J. Ripley. 
 
 NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION, 
 
 NEWTON, MASS., November 27, 1848. 
 
 I have been directed by the faculty of this institution to 
 acknowledge the receipt of your communication with ac- 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 973 
 
 companying documents, sent to the late president of this 
 institution. As he is not now connected with the institu- 
 tion, the papers were laid before the existing faculty. 
 
 The programme has our entire approbation. We are 
 not prepared to make any suggestions relative to the subject. 
 We trust we shall be always ready to give you our co-oper- 
 ation in cases where it may be required. 
 
 From Simeon North. 
 
 HAMILTON COLLEGE, 
 CLINTON, K Y., November 30, 1848. 
 
 The accompanying programme I have examined with care r 
 and am happy to say that I regard it as comprehensive and 
 judicious, and that the plan which it marks out is one emi- 
 nently fitted to subserve the interest of learning both in 
 " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 From James P. Wilson. 
 
 DELAWARE COLLEGE, 
 NEWARK, DEL., November 30, 1848. 
 
 I received the circular sent from the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tute, and make this communication simply in conformity 
 with the specific request contained in it. I do not for a 
 moment imagine that my crude views can be of any value 
 at all iu the matter. 
 
 There is no doubt, that from the data in the bequest, va- 
 rious solutions would be suggested by thoughtful minds 
 and innumerable plans projected and yet on carefully read- 
 ing and reflecting on the programme, I cannot even pro- 
 pose a criticism by w T ay of amendment. As a great en- 
 lightened agency for diffusing knowledge which implies in 
 this case increasing it, so far as practicable, I cannot see how 
 a scheme can be devised, more comprehensive, and at the 
 same time more effective in carrying out the design of the 
 testator. These I think must be the impressions of any 
 candid mind. 
 
 From C. P. Krauth. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE, 
 GETTYSBURG, PA., November 30, 1848. 
 I have received your circular and the accompanying pro- 
 gramme, &c., and agreeably to your request express in this 
 way my approbation of the same. Not prepared at present 
 to make any suggestions relative to the subject. I will 
 cheerfully co-operate in any way that I can hereafter. 
 
974 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 From William Sparrow. 
 
 " THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY," 
 FAIRFAX Co., VA., December 1, 1848. 
 In regard to the " Programme of Organization " I shall 
 not presume to offer any suggestions ; I only venture to 
 express the hope that under the head of the " moral and 
 political " class of subjects, the particular branches of moral 
 and mental philosophy will receive a due share of cultiva- 
 tion, and I say this, only because of the extreme difficulty 
 which manifestly accompanies your labors in that depart- 
 ment above all others, and not because of indifference 
 towards any form of knowledge which concerns mankind. 
 
 From M. F. Mam-y. 
 
 NATIONAL OBSERVATORY, 
 WASHINGTON, December 2, 1848. 
 
 The law establishing the Smithsonian Institution is in 
 my judgment not entirely free from objection. But taking 
 the law as it is, it appears to me that the programme of the 
 Institution is not only admirable, but the best that under 
 the circumstances of the case could have been devised. 
 
 The programme appears to me to embrace all subjects, 
 and to include the results of all researches, which tend to 
 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. I see 
 no room for improvement and therefore have no suggestions 
 to make with regard to it. 
 
 It w T ill afford me pleasure at all times, and on all occa- 
 sions, to co-operate with the Smithsonian Institution in the 
 pursuit of those departments of knowledge appropriate to 
 the Observatory ; and I hope therefore you will do me the 
 favor to call freely on the Observatory in all matters when- 
 ever its co-operation may subserve the great interests of 
 science and therefore of the world. 
 
 From Aug. W. Smith. 
 
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, 
 MIDDLETOWN, CT., December 2, 1848. 
 
 I had previously received a copy of the " Programme of 
 Organization of the Smithsonian Institution," and exam- 
 ined it with some care. I have again carefully re-perused 
 and considered the details as therein presented with your 
 " explanations and illustrations." 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 975 
 
 In common with many others, I presume, I had indulged 
 some apprehensions on the subject of the mode in which the 
 intentions and purposes of the testator could and would be 
 carried out by the trustee. These apprehensions were not 
 diminished, on reading the reports of the widely different 
 views and plans which seemed not merely to divide but to 
 distract Congress while the subject was under discussion. 
 They were, however, greatly removed by a sight of the 
 programme. 
 
 Those portions of the plan which se'em to result directly 
 from the will of the testator, by the action of yourself and 
 Board of Regents, have a character conformable to the de- 
 signs of the testator, and much more of symmetry, than the 
 novel character which the Institution was to bear, warran- 
 ted the hope of realizing so early in its history. I re-read 
 the whole with the special purpose of raising objections and 
 finding occasion to make suggestions, but I freely confess I 
 do not see wherein the portion referred to, could be im- 
 proved, especially as the details are conditioned on their 
 practical and successful character when tested by experience. 
 Neither am I prepared to condemn the appropriation of the 
 means of the Institution by the positive enactments of Con- 
 gress to the formation of a library especially the kind. of 
 library contemplated. But with regard to cabinets, &c., I 
 do not so clearly see in what it will ultimate. More is, 
 however, to be feared from a disposition to modify and 
 change, under the pretence of improving the plan, by the 
 numerous sages who, as members of Congress, will become 
 its guardians-in-law. 
 
 My hopes of its success arid utility are strong while under 
 its present direction, if untrammelled by new restrictions 
 and left free to act. On the whole, the country and the 
 friends of science may well congratulate themselves upon 
 the prospects of the Institution, and especially (allow me to 
 say it in all sincerity) upon the choice of the individual se- 
 lected to direct and superintend its interests, with regard to 
 whom public sentiment is unanimous so far as I have heard 
 an expression of opinion. 
 
 From James Curley. 
 
 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE, 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, December 5, 1848. 
 "VVe shall give our opinion as soon as possible of the ad- 
 mirable plan you have formed for the organization of the 
 institution. 
 
976 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 From Edward Hitchcock. 
 
 
 AMHERST COLLEGE, 
 AMHERST, MASS., December 7, 1848. 
 
 I have looked over the programme of the Institution 
 with much interest, and consider it most admirably adop- 
 ted to accomplish the objects aimed at by Mr. Smithson. 
 So complete is it in its applications that with my limited 
 knowledge I have no additional suggestions to make. I 
 anticipate very interesting results to the cause of science- in 
 this country from the carrying out of this plan. 
 
 From Hector Humphreys. 
 
 ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, 
 
 ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, December 11, 1848. 
 I have read the programme, and say at once, that I highly 
 approve all its provisions. It fills up providentially a de- 
 sideratum long felt in the United States, owing to tne little 
 encouragement which our government feels authorized un- 
 der the Constitution to extend to science and art. This, 
 has reached but little beyond the poor protection that the 
 patent laws give to new inventions. Your plan will incite 
 many industrious and ingenious men to undertake works of 
 original research, because you offer them a certain reward, 
 in case they should succeed. The subsequent diffusion will 
 need no stimulus. 
 
 From the President and Faculty of Georgetown College. 
 
 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE, 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, December 16, 1848. 
 
 We have received the first volume of the " Smithsonian 
 Contributions to Knowledge," and now return many thanks 
 to you and to those whose wisdom and experience have 
 formed the "Plan of Organization" which has brought to 
 light the interesting subject contained in the splendid work 
 now presented to the public. 
 
 In acknowledging your kindness for this valuable present 
 we cannot avoid expressing our admiration of the Plan of 
 Organization itself, which is contained in your able Report 
 of December, 1847 ; convinced as we feel that scarcely any- 
 thing superior to it could be conceived to carry out, wisely, 
 and generously the intentions of Mr. Smithson. This being 
 our candid opinion it would be useless to analyse the report 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 977 
 
 in order to show the excellence of each part in its further- 
 ance of the grand object of the Smithsonian Institution, as 
 an impartial mind by attentively perusing your report wil 
 easily perceive how fully it embraces the benevolent designs 
 of the founder. 
 
 From E. Robinson. 
 
 UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 
 
 NEW YORK, December 18, 1848. 
 
 Your letter announcing the first volume of the Contribu- 
 tions, was put into my hands on Saturday; though \ 
 volume was received some days earlier. I beg leave to re- 
 turn thanks, in behalf of the Directors and Faculty of the 
 Seminary for the volume in question, which contains a rich 
 harvest of information, that always seemed to me a very 
 appropriate beginning for such an Institution. 
 
 In regard to the Programme forwarded, I have already 
 stated to Professor Henry, and perhaps to yourself, my i 
 vorable views. 
 
 From Henry Brewerton. 
 
 U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY, 
 WEST POINT, K Y., December 18, 1848. 
 After carefully looking over the Programme I find noth- 
 ing to suggest, by way of improvement, in the details of 
 the plan adopted for carrying out the bequest of Mr. Smit. 
 son. 
 
 From Francis Wayland. 
 
 BROWN UNIVERSITY, 
 PROVIDENCE, K. I., December 19, 1848. 
 I have been for some time acquainted with the Pro- 
 gramme of the Smithsonian Institution, and have deliber* 
 ftely reflected upon the plans which it unfolds for carrying 
 fnto effect the benevolent designs of the testator ; and it 
 gives me great pleasure to assure you that I cordially ap- 
 prove of them In the first place, I can conceive of no 
 other method by which Mr. Smithson's object, to increase 
 and diffuse knowledge among men, could be so literally and 
 completely realized. In the next place, the.work which it 
 aims to accomplish is of inestimable importance, and it can 
 be accomplished by no other institution now existing m 
 our country. You will thus be enabled to render most 
 
 C2 
 
978 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 
 efficient aid to every other literary and scientific institution, 
 without interfering with the labors of any, and you will at 
 the same time disseminate original knowledge in every 
 country on the globe. A new impulse will thus be given 
 to investigation in every department of science; and 
 learned men will know that through you they will be able 
 to make their discoveries available to their brethren through- 
 out the civilized world. Time and experience may very 
 possibly suggest modifications of your original plan, and 
 for these modifications it will be always prepared. I, how- 
 ever, know of none which I would wish to propose. 
 
 I think you have been fortunate in commencing the series 
 with the volume on " The Ancient Monuments in the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley." It is an addition to human knowledge and 
 peculiarly adapted to the present condition of ethnological 
 inquiry. It can not fail to be well received both in this 
 country and in Europe. 
 
 \\'u<nl 
 
 u<n*. 
 
 CULL I-;.;K. 
 
 BRU.NSWK K, Mi-:.. Av, ,// 23, 1848. 
 
 I am happy to take this occasion to expre<s the great 
 satisfaction with which the gentlemen of onr college faculty 
 have examined the. comprehensive plan presented in the 
 Programme of Organization of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 and their disposition to co-operate by every means in their 
 power in promoting the object of the Institution. 
 
 From W. Peronneau Pinky. 
 
 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON, 
 CHARLESTON, S. C., December 25, 1848. 
 I hardly need say that the "Programme of Organization," 
 &c., a copy of which accompanies your letter, is, in my 
 opinion, most admirably adapted to effectuate the objects 
 of the Institution. I have no suggestion to make which 
 could render the scheme adopted more perfect. 
 
 From E. D. MacMaster* 
 
 MIAMI UNIVERSITY, 
 OXFORD, OHIO., December 28, 1848. 
 
 The Programme of the Institution, which you did us the 
 honor to send, appears to us to be conceived in a liberal 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 979 
 
 spirit, and formed with a comprehensiveness of scope well 
 befitting the design of this great Institution ; and we look 
 with much confidence for valuable results from it under its 
 present direction in accomplishing that design. 
 
 I take the liberty of suggesting what I suppose is in- 
 cluded, though not specifically mentioned, under your first 
 title of subjects, the subject of Ethico- Political Science; 
 especially the origin, constitution, objects, and ends of the 
 State, and its relations to other institutions, as the church, 
 the family, the various societies, purely voluntary, existing 
 among men, &c., &c., as one worthy of being commended 
 to the notice of some able and well-qualified men among 
 your collaborators. We claim that our political system 
 pre-eminently rests upon an ethical foundation, and is 
 essentially grounded upon the natural rights of man ; and 
 that our country occupies, in this respect, a peculiar position 
 in relation to the other nations in their great progress to- 
 Avard the new political order to which they are making 
 their way. It would seem to be peculiarly fitting that an 
 Institution, founded by a foreigner and committed to the 
 Government of this nation as a trustee, for the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men, should promote expo- 
 sition and (elucidation of the tJieory of the State, in its own 
 nature and its relations a subject not yet well understood 
 by the nations, perhaps even by ourselves. And though I 
 am aware of the causes which make it more difficult for 
 such an Institution as yours to undertake the discussion of 
 moral and political subjects than those of physical science, 
 or of literature and art, yet I would hope, on the one hand, 
 that writers on such a subject would go deep enough toward 
 the foundation of things to get beyond the troubled waters 
 at least of party-politics ; and that, on the other hand, there 
 would be, on the part of their readers, such a manly spirit 
 of confidence in the power of truth as not to be afraid of 
 such admixture of error, real or supposed, as might be un- 
 avoidable. But I submit the matter to your consideration, 
 merely making the suggestion. 
 
 From Charles Martin. 
 
 HAMPDEN SIDNEY COLLEGE, VA., December 27, 1848. 
 Some two or three months ago, while temporarily officiat- 
 ing as president of our college, I received one number of 
 the " Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge The 
 Ephemeris of Neptune for the Opposition of 1848." Con- 
 stant occupation, and the pressure of care at that time pre- 
 
980 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 vented a prompt acknowledgment of the favor conferred on 
 the college. 
 
 But I seize the first comparative leisure afforded me to 
 express my thanks, on behalf of the college, for this contri- 
 bution ; and may I not embrace the occasion to say that I 
 feel deeply interested in all the movements of this noble, 
 most remarkable, and somewhat singular Institution over 
 which you preside. 
 
 This Institution is one of the most striking educational 
 features of the age, and peculiarly characteristic of our 
 country and her bold, liberal, practical spirit, and in it, as 
 such, I take pride, and rejoice. Though we are indebted 
 to a foreigner for its liberal foundation, yet great glory 
 must accrue to our Government, which seems to be the 
 only one on earth capable of accomplishing tin- generous 
 and philanthropic purposes of the doimr. 
 
 I in common with all my fellow citizens who are inter- 
 ested in the increase of knowledge, shall hail with joy every 
 addition you make to science, every encouragement you 
 afford to the inquiring, and every impulse you give to 
 the American mind. The Christian and patriot must hope 
 for, and rejoice in, the success of this n<>l>le Institution. 
 
 From A. S. Packard. 
 
 BOWDOIN COLLEGE, 
 BRUNSWICK, Mi:., December 28, 1848. 
 
 As regards the volume whieh has been issued by the 
 Smithsonian Institution, I may be allowed to state my per- 
 sonal gratification in this " contribution " to our knowledge 
 of a past and forgotten race. Some years since I was much 
 interested in the subject and pursued my inquiries with 
 such aids as were then accessible. I have been much struck 
 therefore with the clearness, definiteness and reliability of 
 the investigation which this volume contains; and I cannot 
 but think, that this first " contribution " of the Smithsonian 
 Institution will be received as an earnest of the great good 
 it may accomplish for our country. 
 
 From John Chamberlain. 
 
 OAKLAND COLLEGE, Miss., December 30, 1848. 
 As to the programme which has been adopted by the Re- 
 gents, it receives my entire approbation because of its 
 worthy Secretary, and his associates by whom it was pro- 
 jected who are deserving unqualified confidence for their 
 ability to devise and manage for the best interests of such 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 981 
 
 ^,n Institution. And in respect to co-operating in cases 
 where it may be required, and where we have the ability to 
 do so, will be most cheerfully given. 
 
 From A. C. Kendrick. 
 
 MADISON UNIVERSITY, 
 HAMILTON, K Y., January, 1849. 
 
 Owing to the peculiar circumstances of our Institution 
 being without a president, and an exciting question pend- 
 ing as to its location, and also some questions pertaining to 
 its organization being yet unsettled, you will not, I trust, 
 regard it as disrespectful that your valuable communication 
 has remained so long unacknowledged. 
 
 Permit me in the first place, as the librarian of the Insti- 
 tution, to tender to you our sincere thanks for the very 
 valuable donation which we have received from your Insti- 
 tution, and the deep interest which we feel in its objects and 
 prosperity. As you request the president's opinion, if he 
 approves the plan of the Institution and suggestions, I sup- 
 pose that in the absence of a president, you will scarcely 
 expect an answer to these questions. Permit me to say, 
 however, that having examined the Programme of Organi- 
 zation, I am deeply interested in it, and highly gratified 
 with, and feel confident that it cannot but prove a most 
 powerful auxiliary to the cause of sound learning and 
 refined taste in this country. I shall submit the paper to my 
 colleagues, and any suggestions which they may make I 
 shall forward to you. The only suggestion that has 
 occurred to me is the inquiry whether ancient literature, con- 
 sidering the intimate connection which it sustains with 
 modern, being in no slight degree its source and parent, and 
 also considering this liability to be pushed aside by the 
 enlarging boundaries and exciting nature of scientific studies 
 and of modern literature, might not justly have a place 
 among the specific objects to which the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tute shall devote its inquiries. Is not the total omission of 
 this subject a defect in the plan of a national institution so 
 comprehensive as that of the Smithsonian Institution? 
 Considering also the connection of the ancient literature 
 with the fine arts, do we not find an additional reason for 
 including this branch of study. Deeply penetrated as I am 
 with the conviction that the ancient languages and litera- 
 ture must ever hold an indissoluble connection with the 
 highest liberal culture, I can scarcely reconcile myself to the 
 the entire omission of this class of studies in the plan of In- 
 
982 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 stitution. Still I am aware that it is measurably embraced 
 under the head of comparative philology, which can scarcely 
 be pursued a step without calling into requisition the 
 ancient, classical, and oriental members of the Indo-Euro- 
 pean family ? 
 
 You will pardon, gentlemen, this suggestion, which is 
 not made in any spirit of fault-finding or dictation. I have 
 entire confidence in the competency of the gentlemen to 
 whom the management of the Institution is entrusted, and 
 doubt not they will give such scope to its plans and etl'e. -ts 
 as will conduce most largely to its usefulness. 
 
 From i Philip Lindsley. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE, 
 NASH vi i. LI-:, TLNN., . ////>>/'//// 5, 1840. 
 I have carefully examined the "Programme," and I cor- 
 dially approve it. Of course, I have no suggestions to otter. 
 I rejoice that the Institution is fairly at work under tin- 
 most favorable auspices, and with every prospect of fully 
 meeting the highest anticipations of its friends and <>f tin- 
 public generally. 
 
 From Benjamin S. Ew( I.I. 
 
 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE, 
 
 BUCKLAND, PRINCE WILLIAM Co., VA., January 8, 184!*. 
 It would give me great pleasure, had I tin- opportunity or 
 the power, to co-operate with you in founding the Smith- 
 sonian Institution on a permanent basis, and in extending 
 its sphere of usefulness in the manner requested in your 
 circular, dated November 17th, 1848. I have read the 
 "Programme of the Institution," and it appears to me to 
 be so full and so complete, in -every respect, that there is no 
 room for suggestions of alterations or additions. I will ask 
 if nothing is to be said in the " reports, giving an account 
 of the new discoveries in science " on the progress of math- 
 ematical science, and if the close connection between this 
 science and some of those mentioned does not demand that 
 something be said of it ? Is there any science in which so 
 little has been effected by Americans as in this ? 
 
 From Andrew Wylie. 
 
 INDIANA UNIVERSITY, 
 BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, January 9, 1849. 
 As you have requested, I venture to make the suggestion 
 whether an annual review of the current, or rather of the 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 983 
 
 emergent literature of the United States, to be published 
 somehow under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, 
 might not do good, requesting all authors to send the off- 
 spring of their brain to the Institute for inspection, dissec- 
 tion, rejection, selection, as the case might require. Most, 
 we may suppose, would be inspected and rejected at sight; 
 still a good thing worth preservation might be picked out 
 now and then which otherwise the public would know 
 nothing about. 
 
 From A. P. Stewart. 
 
 CUMBERLAND UNIVERSITY, 
 LEBANON, TENN., January 9, 1849. 
 
 I am requested by the faculty of this institution, to say, 
 in reply to your communication to the % president of 17 Nov. 
 last, that the Programme of the Smithsonian Institution, a 
 copy of which was enclosed with the communication re- 
 ferred to, is highly approved by them. From the examina- 
 tion they have been able to give to the subject, they are of 
 the opinion that the plan adopted, is, perhaps, the best that 
 could have been devised for promoting the objects of the 
 testator. They feel greatly interested in the success of an 
 Institution, whose objects are the increase and diffusion of 
 knowledge among men, and will cordially co-operate in 
 furthering these ends, so far as the} 7 may be able or as may 
 be required ; but are not aware of any important sugges- 
 tion they could make, that has not already occurred to the 
 managers of the enterprise, in whose wisdom and ability 
 they have full confidence. 
 
 From C. W. Parsons. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 PROVIDENCE, January 17, 1849. 
 
 The donation from the Regents of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, with the accompanying circular, programme, &c., 
 presented to the Rhode Island Historical Society, were duly 
 received, and a committee was appointed with instructions 
 to report a suitable reply. At the regular meeting, Janu- 
 ary 16th, this committee made a report, through its chair- 
 man, Prof. Gammell of Brown University. The following 
 resolutions, recommended in this report, were, after full con- 
 sideration and discussion, unanimously adopted by the 
 Societv. 
 
984 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 " 1. Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be presented 
 to the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, for the copy 
 of the first volume of the Smithsonian Contributions to 
 Knowledge, lately received from them a work which we 
 deem of the highest value and importance in the depart- 
 ment of knowledge to which it relates. 
 
 " 2. Resolved. That in the opinion of this Society, the 
 programme of the Institution submitted in connection witli 
 the above-named volume, embraces a comprehensive and 
 impartial survey of the entire field of human knowledge; 
 that, though it contains the fnllest provision for promoting 
 the various departments of natural science, yet it ly no 
 means neglects the cultivation of general liU'ratuiv, art. <>r 
 history, and that the plan which it unfolds of collecting a 
 library, of encouraging investigation and research, and pub- 
 lishing their results, is in the good judgment >!' this Society, 
 worthy of the approbation of tin- public, and of the co-op- 
 eration of literary and scientific bodies and individuals 
 throughout the country, and is in all respects suited to fur- 
 ther the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men/' 
 the high ends had in view by the munificent founder of the 
 Institution. 
 
 " 3. Resolved, That this society respectfully com nun ds to 
 the consideration of the Regents, as worthy- of a prominent 
 place among the subjects of their countenance and patron- 
 age, the science, statistics, and the various public interests 
 and results connected with popular education, as it is found 
 in the different countries of the civil i/ed world. 
 
 " 4. Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to furnish 
 the information concerning the collections of this society, 
 which is asked for in the Circular of the Regents of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, and also to transmit to the Secre- 
 tary of that Institution a copy of the foregoing resolutions." 
 
 The circular and inquiries are in the hands of the appro- 
 priate officers, and the information requested will be early 
 forwarded. 
 
 From David Elliott. 
 
 WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 
 ALLEGHENY CITY, PENN., January 30, 1849. 
 The Programme submitted embraces a range of subjects 
 of great utility, and, as far it goes, meets my approbation. 
 The discussion of these various subjects, by competent per- 
 sons, and the diffusion of knowledge respecting them, can- 
 not fail to elevate the literary character of the country, and 
 add to its general intelligence. 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 985 
 
 As you have invited suggestions, I would respectfully 
 ubmit whether natural theology and the evidences of 
 Christianity might not be included in the second class of 
 mbjects to be embraced in the reports. These are not so 
 >trictly professional as to forbid their admission to a share 
 n the labors of an Institution established " for the increase 
 tnd diffusion of knowledge among men." Lord Brougham, 
 who has written a treatise on the former, has denned " the 
 3lace and the claims of natural theology among the various 
 >ranches of human knowledge " (Dedication to his Dis- 
 course on Natural Theology.) And Addison, Soams, 
 Jenyns, and Erskine, without any professional sympathies, 
 lave considered the evidences of Christianity a legitimate 
 iubject of historical and philosophical inquiry. Might not 
 these subjects, then, be added to your list without impinging 
 upon the liberal and catholic character of your Institution ? 
 
 From the American Antiquarian Society. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS., January 31, 1849. 
 
 The Publishing Committee of the American Antiquarian 
 .Society, to whom was referred the "Programme for the 
 Organization of the Smithsonian Institution," beg leave to 
 report as follows : 
 
 The joint letter of the Secretary and Assistant Secretary 
 'of the Institution, which accompanied the copy of the Pro- 
 gramme forwarded to this Society, contains the following 
 : request : 
 
 " Should the Programme meet with your approbation, 
 ! we beg leave to request that you will favor us with a written 
 expression of your approval ; that you will furnish us with 
 any suggestions relative to the subject which may be deemed 
 of importance, and give us your co-operation in cases where 
 it may be required." 
 
 Although the plan of organization proposed for consider- 
 ation has "now been so long before the public, sustained and 
 sanctioned by able men and learned associations most com- 
 petent to judge of its merits, as to render further testimony 
 of little importance, the Antiquarian Socisty are happy to 
 avail themselves of the opportunity to express their interest 
 in the purposes of the Smithsonian Institution, their confi- 
 dence in the gentlemen to whom the management of its 
 concerns has been intrusted, and their cordial desire to co- 
 operate in whatsoever manner the objects of their own 
 establishment may render practicable. 
 
986 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 The system suggested by Professor Henry, and his aesiit- 
 ant, is so concisely yet clearly stated by themselves, that it 
 is difficult to present its 'general principles, and the modes 
 of operation which it contemplates, in an abridged form. 
 If, however, the leading principles are just, it may be sale 
 to conclude that a judicious application of them in practice 
 will result from the present wisdom, or ultimate experience, 
 of those \vho are charged with their administration. 
 
 The proposed organization is deduced from certain gene- 
 ral considerations which are expressed in the form of an 
 introduction to the details of the plan. The most prominent 
 of these are " 1st. That the property is bequeathed to tin- 
 United States, to found at Washington, under the name of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the in- 
 crease and diffusion of knowledge among men. 2d. The 
 bequest is for the benefit of mankind : the Government of 
 the United States being merely a trustee to carry out the 
 design of the testator. 3d. The Institution is not a national 
 establishment, as is frequently supposed, but the establish- 
 ment of an individual, and is to bear and perpetuate his 
 name. 4th. The objects of the Institution are 1st, to in- 
 crease, 2d, to diffuse knowledge among men. 5th. Tin > 
 two objects must not be confounded with one another, lith. 
 The will makes no restriction in favor of any particular 
 kind of knowledge ; hence all branches arc entitled to u 
 share of attention." 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing, and other deductions 
 from the will of Smithson, it is proposed to increase knowl- 
 edge in two ways, viz.: " To stimulate men of talent to 
 make original researches by ofteriiiir suitable' rewards for 
 memoirs containing new truths: and, secondly, to appro- 
 priate annually a portion of the income for particular re- 
 searches, under the direction of suitable persons," tin- 
 results of these researches to be published in a series of 
 volumes, entitled Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 
 As a security against the adoption of unverified speculations 
 or imperfectly conducted researches, it is suggested, that 
 every memoir should be submitted for examination to a 
 commission of persons of reputation for learning in the 
 branch to which the memoir pertains, and to be accepted 
 only in case the report is favorable. Moreover, a positive 
 addition to human Knowledge, resting on original research, 
 is to be demanded ; and the appropriations in different 
 years are to be to different subjects, so that each branch of 
 knowledge may receive a share. 
 
 It will be seen that, in this division, the increase and the 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 987 
 
 liffusion of knowledge are both combined, as of necessity 
 .hey must be, But for the simple diffusion of knowledge 
 ilready in existence, another arrangement is contemplated, 
 viz.: 1st, " The publication of a series of reports, giving an 
 iccount of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes 
 made from year to year in all branches of knowledge not 
 strictly professional." 2d. " The publication of separate 
 treatises on subjects of general interest." It is proposed 
 that the reports shall embrace not only physical, but moral 
 and political subjects, and also literature and the fine arts ; 
 similar precautions with those before stated being adopted 
 to insure the substantial value of whatever shall be published. 
 This scheme of operation it is supposed may be carried 
 into execution, in accordance with the act of Congress which 
 requires the formation of a library and museum, by divid- 
 ino- the income into two equal parts one part to be appro- 
 priated to the increase and diffusion of knowledge, by means 
 of publications and researches, as already stated ; the other 
 to be appropriated to the formation of a library, and a col- 
 lection of objects of nature and art, 
 
 It is understood that the interest which has accumulated 
 on the bequest of Mr. Smithson, since it came into the 
 possession of our Government, furnishes a fund sufficient 
 for the erection of such edifices as are immediately required 
 and when we reflect that the collections of the Exploring 
 Expedition, those of the Commissioner of Indian Attairs, 
 and those of the Patent Office, and the deposits that are 
 constantly flowing into the Government from all part 
 the world, through the agency of our army .and navy omcers, 
 and consuls, may, according to the act of Congress, estab- 
 lishino- the Smithsonian Institution, be entrusted to its care, 
 it will be perceived that little outlay need be devoted to 
 the museum and cabinet beyond the expenses of arrange- 
 ment and supervision. 
 
 For the foundation of a library, the Programme contem- 
 plates, first, a collection of such works as are required tor 
 conducting; its active operations, viz., the transactions and 
 proceedings of all the learned societies in the world, the 
 current periodical publications necessary in preparing peri- 
 odical reports, and such catalogues of books, and other 
 materials, as will render the Institution a centre of biblio- 
 graphical knowledge, whence the student may be directed 
 to any work he shall require ; and, in addition to these, the 
 valuable books first purchased to be such as are not now t 
 be found in the United States. 
 
 In the above summary, it is believed, are embraced the 
 
988 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 leading and controlling principles of organization and oper, 
 xition embodied in the Programme, omitting details thai 
 simply elucidate their practical execution. 
 
 There are, however, two practical suggestions that ar 
 Worthy of being particularized. One is, that the Institu : 
 tion should aim to produce results which cannot be produced 
 by the existing institutions of the country. The other, that, 
 as in proportion to the wide field of knowledge to be eulti^ 
 rated, the funds are small, economy should be consulted in 
 the construction of the buildings ; and not only the first cost 
 of the buildings be considered, but the expense of keeping 
 them in repair, and of the support of the establishmeijj 
 necessarily connected with them. Moreover, that there 
 .should be but few individuals supported by the Institution. 
 
 Two officers only are named as demanded by the ]> 
 wants of the Institution. The Secretary, who is general 
 superintendent of the literary and scientific operations, and 
 editor of its publications, and the Assistant Secretary, who 
 is acting librarian, and joint editor of the publications of 
 the Institution. These officers are also expected, occasion^ 
 ally, to illustrate new discoveries in science, and exhibit new 
 objects of art, by lectures during the session of Congr 
 
 It is certainly gratifying to fee] assured that the splendid 
 bequest of Smithson is not to be exhausted in costlv build- 
 ings, like the irreat public le-tey of a late A inerieanVit ixen. 
 It is well, also, that the trust is not to be in a measure per- 
 verted to local purposes, by confining its resources to tho 
 establishment of a national library. The plan of rendering 
 it the seat and .centre of vital energy and activiiv to the 
 science and literature of a youthful republic, an i-vcr pul- 
 sating heart, distributing life and strength throughout tho 
 body politic of letters, prompting, sustaining, and iruiding- 
 every department of intellectual exertion here, and thus 
 effecting an influence upon mankind at larirc, is not oidv 
 more accordant with the intentions ,,f the -philanthropic 
 testator, but is in itself a nobler enterprise. As an expo- 
 nent of universal science for our whole eountrv; as the 
 headquarters of bibliographical information ; and' as a reg- 
 ister of the progress of knowledge, where the latest achieve- 
 ments of the human mind may be found in mercantile 
 phrase " posted up" for convenient reference, and tho 
 farthest footsteps of the last traveller in the paths of learn- 
 ing duly noted for the benefit of subsequent adventurers, 
 the Smithsonian Institution may equally fulfill the design 
 of its founder. 
 
 It is true that its operations will sometimes be carried into 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 elds for whose culture particular institutions have been 
 stablished; yet no ungenerous rivalry need spring from 
 iris cause. Its earliest enterprise happens to have bee 
 ipon ground first occupied by our own association ; and 
 ic beautiful manner in which the pioneer labors of t 
 ociety have been illustrated, verified, and extended, by the 
 laborate and expensive publication of recent investigations, 
 in nowhere afford more sincere gratification, 
 mithsonian Institution is destined to occupy a posit 
 lat no other does fill or can fill ; its labors are for the coin- 
 ion benefit of our country and mankind; and institutions 
 f a more limited character should (each in its sphere) 
 isposed to render heartily such co-operation as is appro- 
 riate to the purposes of their respective foundations. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 For the committee : 
 
 At a meeting of the council of the American Antiqua- 
 ian Society, January 31, 1849, the foregoing report having 
 een read and accpted, it was 
 
 Voted, That a copy be transmitted to the Secretary ot 
 he Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Attest SAM L -^ HAVEN ' 
 
 Recording Secretary pro tempore. 
 
 From Henry Smith. 
 
 MARIETTA COLLEGE, 
 MARIETTA, OHIO, February 1, 1849. 
 
 Highly approving the principles and plan set forth in the 
 < Programme of Organization of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 ion," it will give both myself and my colleagues great 
 .leasure to co-operate wit h the conductors of the Institution 
 n any way in our power, in accomplishing the benevolent 
 and important designs which it has in view. 
 
 From B. Manly. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, 
 TUSCALOOSA, ALA., February 5, 1849. 
 
 The Programme of the Smithsonian Institution we have 
 examined, and find nothing to suggest, save this, that the 
 longitude of places, where occultations and lunar culmina- 
 tions are regularly observed, may be determined in<lepeiid- 
 eu y of solSr and lunar tables, it is desirable that these 
 observations be statedly published. We have thought that 
 
990 LETTERS ON Pilot : 1! A.M. M K <>F <>R<; AM/ATION. 
 
 the Smithsonian Institution might undertake to do thin, ii 
 a monthly or quarterly bulletin. 
 
 We will cheerfully co-operate in the astronomical depart 
 ment (now under the eharge of Prof. L. C. Garland) bj 
 observing as many occultations as circumstances permit. 
 
 As respects a meteorological journal, or a series of obscr 
 vations in that department, our officers are collecting anc 
 repairing the few imperfect instruments we have, and an 
 willing to do all they can. But they apprehend that, with 
 out more perfect means at their command, they will not be 
 able to do enough to serve the purposes of scientific indue 
 tion. 
 
 From ,/o>v/>A Esidbrook. 
 
 EAST TI-.N\I:SSKK UNIVERSITY, 
 Kxnxvii.u-;. TKNN., February 9, 1849. ; 
 
 At a special meeting of tin- Faculty of Kn-t Tenness<-< 
 University, held 9th Fehruary. l^l!>. the President pre 
 sented the "Programme of < >rg;mi/.ation of the Smithso 
 nian Institution, accompanied by a eireularof the Secre'ar; 
 and Assistant Secretary, asking \\\> views in relation thereto 
 and requesting his eo-operation in cases where it m;iy 1>< 
 required. 
 
 The President expressed his desire that the Faculty wouh 
 consider tliis part of the circular as addrosed to them col 
 lectively, rather than to himself individually : whereupon i 
 was 
 
 Resolved, That the Faculty take a lively interest in tin 
 operations of the Smithsonian Institution: that they have 
 carefully examined the Programme put forth by the Secre 
 tary, and, in general, highly approve the views thereii 
 contained, and that they will cordially co-operate with tin 
 officers of the Institution in their high endeavors u l'or th< 
 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 
 
 It was observed by the professor of natural sciences tha 
 he had commenced a careful series of meteorological obser 
 vations expressly for the Institution ; and other members o 
 the Faculty expressed their willingness to prepare memoiri 
 on subjects connected with their respective pursuits. 
 
 From F. A. MMcnberg, Jr. 
 
 FRANKLIN COLLEGE, 
 LANCASTER, PENN., February 10, 1840. 
 Permit me to state, in reply to your interrogatory, that ir 
 general, 1 approve of the plan of organization, &c., as con- 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 991 
 
 ained in the pamphlet you sent me, and think it excellent 
 ind judicious. Of course difference of mental or bodily 
 constitution, natural or acquired preferences, will cause men 
 
 differ as to the minute details of any plan prepared by 
 others, and perhaps to find fault with, as they think, the too 
 >-reat prominence given to particular branches. This might 
 je the case with myself, but I do not regard it of sufficient 
 mportance to communicate ; for if such be the fact, it wil 
 correct itself in time. The practical working of the Insti- 
 gation will show better than all theories the best improve- 
 ments of the plan of organization. As a commencement, 
 n my humble opinion, the plan is a very excellent one ; and 
 under the superintendence of its distinguished and able 
 officers, I have no doubt it will be very successful in pro- 
 noting the noble object of Smithson, "the increase and 
 diffusion of knowledge among men." Though, however, in 
 
 he language of Smithson, "the man of science has no 
 country," I think a good degree of preference ought to be 
 shown to American and English authors. 
 
 From Horace Webster. 
 
 FREE ACADEMY, K Y., February 17, 1849. 
 The Programme accompanying your communication was 
 duly received. It contains, so far as I am able to judge, 
 all that is essential and important to a most wise and judi- 
 cious organization of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 From David L. Swain. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, 
 
 CHAPEL HILL, February 17, 1849. 
 
 I have examined carefully the Programme of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. It appears to me to be exceedingly 
 comprehensive, and, in general, to be well arranged. Were 
 
 1 impressed even less favorably with the leading features 
 of the scheme, I should hesitate about proposing immediate 
 alterations. Time, the greatest, though most gradual of 
 innovators, may disclose defects and suggest improvements, 
 and I can but think it will be commendable prudence to 
 permit the Institute to abide this test, under its present 
 organization. 
 
 It will affdrd me high gratification to have it in my power 
 to co-operate in any measure which may promise in any de- 
 gree a fulfilment of the great design of the founder. 
 
992 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 From Josiah L. Pickard. 
 
 PLATTEVILLE ACADEMY, 
 PLATTEVILLE, Wis., March 13, 1849. 
 The Programme, contained in the report, meets 01 
 hearty approval ; and I am authorized by the board oftri 
 tees of this institution, by a resolution passed at their last 
 meeting, (a copy of which you will please find below,) to : 
 assure you of all assistance in our power to render, for the 
 furtherance of the noble objects contemplated by the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. 
 
 From S. A. Bronson. 
 
 K'l-NYON COLLT-ci:. 
 
 GAMBIER, Ouio, March 15, 184! . 
 
 With your Programme I inn highly gratified, and shall 
 be happy to further your objects in any way that I am abl<-. 
 In pursuance with this, I would now suggest tin- propriety. 
 if it falls in with your plan, and you are prepared to ask it, 
 to call upon H. L. Thrall, M. I)., professor of chemistry in 
 this institution, to furnish a report upon the present state <>f 
 the knowledge of electricity, and its relation to light, heat, 
 gravitation, &c., &c.; in short, of the axial forees of matter, 
 I think he would make a report that would not only lend 
 to diffuse knowledge, but to increase it upon this interesting 
 topic. 
 
 From John Williams. 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE, 
 HARTFORD, CONN., March 20, 1849. 
 
 It must be quite superfluous for me to even express ap- 
 probation of a plan so wisely matured and digested as that 
 contained in the Programme ; and it would be more than 
 superfluous to suggest any improvements. If I might, how- 
 ever, venture in a word, I would express the hope that a 
 good deal of attention will be devoted to the publishing 
 of works bearing on our history. There are many such 
 works which will see the light in no other way. 
 
 From D. N. Sheldon. 
 
 WATERVILLE COLLEGE, 
 WATERVILLE, ME., March .24, 1849. 
 
 I have taken some time to consider the subject, and now 
 say in^ a single sentence, and in a general way only, (for 
 there is no time to go into details,) that the plan of organi- 
 
LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 993 
 
 zation set forth in the Programme appears to me to be com- 
 prehensive and satisfactory. 
 
 From B. H. Eagsdak. 
 
 JACKSON COLLEGE, 
 COLUMBIA, TENN., April 25, 1849. 
 
 The Programme has come to hand, but not having exam- 
 ined it thoroughly we can express no decided opionion for 
 or against it. 
 
 Be assured that we will gladly co-operate with you in your 
 enterprise, so far as we can under the circumstances. 
 
 From W. F. Hopkins. 
 
 MASONIC UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, 
 
 CLARKSVILLE, Mai/ 11, 1849. 
 
 So noble a beginning speaks highly of the liberal spirit 
 in which the objects of the Institution are to be carried out. 
 
 Permit me to express my unqualified admiration of the 
 plan of operation developed in your Programme. It seems 
 to rne to combine, most wisely and happily, the utmost 
 practicable liberality, with the 'most faithful regard to the 
 expressed will of the founder. I need not say that if, in 
 my limited sphere, I can contribute, even in the humblest 
 degree, to the grand and beneficent objects of the Smithso- 
 nian Institution, I shall feel both proud and happy in doing 
 so. 
 
 From B. P. Johnson. 
 
 STATE AGRICULTURAL ROOMS, 
 
 ALBANY, N. Y., May 14, 1849. 
 
 I am highly pleased with the Programme of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, and it will give me great pleasure to 
 furnish you, on the part of our Society, every co-operation 
 in our power, to enable you successfully to carry out the 
 very laudable objects of the Institution. 
 
 From J. S. Bacon. 
 
 COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 28, 1849. 
 
 I will only say, in general terms, that I like the " Plan " 
 presented in most respects, much. It covers a very wide 
 field, and is well calculated to direct the attention of intelli- 
 63 
 
994 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 
 
 gent men to a vast number of interesting and important 
 objects to which their researches and observations ought to- 
 be extended. It exhibits too, in a very striking light, the 
 great deficiency which exists among us in the means and 
 resources for conducting extensive inquiries, or for pursuing 
 thorough investigations upon many nay, indeed, upon 
 almost any important subject. With this view, my own 
 feelings would have led me and I dare say I am not alone 
 in this to desire that a greater share of the appropriation 
 should have been made at first for the purchase of books 
 and for the more rapid accumulation of such a library as is 
 ultimately contemplated, and a greater share also to provid- 
 ing apparatus and instruments all the means and facilities 
 requisite for pursuing original scientific investigations on a 
 more extended scale here, in Washington. I should prob- 
 ably have given to the will of the donor a somewhat stronger 
 interpretation in that direction, especially as he chose to 
 give to his Institution " a local habitation and a name," 
 here, in the metropolis of the nation. Still, this might 
 have been deemed less liberal and less catholic in spirit, and 
 it is, perhaps, better as it is. I certainty have the greatest 
 confidence in the wisdom and discretion of the able and 
 judicious men who have adopted the present arrangement, 
 and should not for a moment think of placing my own 
 judgment in competition with theirs. 
 
 The objects embraced in the present plan are all of them 
 important, all valuable, and I should feel the greatest pleas- 
 ure in being able to contribute, in the smallest degree, to 
 the attainment of any of them. Great credit is certainly 
 due to those who have conceived, and thus far matured 
 the plan for the liberality and comprehensiveness of their 
 views. And it cannot be doubted that all the true friends of 
 learning all who can appreciate the value of real knowl- 
 edge and the importance of its " diffusion among men " 
 will hail with pleasure the adoption of such a plan, with 
 such means for carrying it into execution, and will be ready, 
 by their countenance and co-operation, to aid in carrying 
 out its noble objects to their fullest and happiest results. 
 
 Permit me, gentlemen, to congratulate you upon the very 
 favorable auspices under which your labors have been com- 
 menced, in connection with the Smithsonian Institution, 
 and to express the hope that, in your future efforts, with 
 the ample means placed within your reach, " for the increase 
 and diffusion of knowledge among men," you may not only 
 be cheered by abundant evidences of success, but by the 
 approbation of a liberal and enlightened public. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aboriginal mounds, notice of, Squier and Davis, 
 
 memoir on, 966. 
 
 Abstract researches to be preferred, Henry, 951. 
 Accountant General of Court of Chancery, 9, 11. 
 Account of Richard Rush with Thos. Aspinwall, 
 
 103-105. 
 
 R. Rush with United States, 40, 54, 107, 113. 
 President of the United States vs. Drum- 
 
 rnond, Smithson's bequest, 79. 
 annuitv of .Mary Ann de la Batut, 80. 
 U. S. Treasury with Smithson Fund, 803. 
 charges on Smithson packages shipped per 
 
 " Mediator," 105 
 Accounts See State stocks. 
 Act of Congress, authorizing President to pros- 
 ecute claim of U. S. to bequest of Smith- 
 son, 147. 
 
 making appropriation of $5,000 for prosecu- 
 tion of bequest, 158. 
 that Smithson bequest shall be invested in 
 
 State stocks, 158. 
 for relief of Richard Rush, 261. 
 to retain proceeds of sales of lands from 
 
 St tes in Default of interest, 351. 
 organization of S. I., passage by House of 
 
 Representatives, 473 ; by Senate, 353. 
 history of passage of, Barlow, 919 ; Morse, 
 
 503 ; Upham, 392. 
 
 construction of, Badger, 555; Barlow, 915; 
 Douglas, 550 ; English, 583 ; Choate, 536 ; 
 Pearce, 537 ; Upham, 591, Witte, 608. 
 report of Judiciary Committee on, 5G3; re- 
 ports of Investigation Committee, 589, 608. 
 digest of, by Prof. Henry, 758. 
 how to be amended or repealed, 762. 
 amendment of, relative to National Insti- 
 tute, 684, 685. 
 
 amendment of, relative to Governor of Dis- 
 trict to be Regent, 723, 725. 
 relative to increase of trust fund, 132. 
 authorizing Regents of Institution to use 
 
 library of Congress, 733, 741. 
 Act of Parliament in 1834 relative to estates, 34. 
 Active operations of S. I., account of, Witte, 016. 
 
 Henry, 951. 
 approved by American Antiquarian Society, 
 
 988 ; Agassiz, 588, 619 ; Pearce, 542. 
 disparagement of, Meacham, 635. 
 incumbered by Congress, J. Davis, 510. 
 Adams, C. F., correspondence with, 126. 
 
 power of attorney forwarded to, 125. 
 Adams, John, works of. given to S. I., 521. 
 Adams, John Quincy, bill, 199, 226, 258, 299, 434, 
 
 465. 
 
 committee, 148, 171, 200, 247, 266, 354. 
 extracts from Diary of, 763. * 
 letter of, to Christopher Hughes, 229. 
 prpposed application of bequest, 371, 397, 
 
 842, 846. See Committee, 
 plan of, discussed, Barlow, 913. 
 resolutions offered by, 186, 198, 199, 260, 265, 
 
 4.34, 462, 463, 464. 
 
 remarks by, 410, 439, 440, 443, 452, 454. 
 sketch of Smithson by, ino. 
 Address. See Barlow ; Darlington; Poinsett. 
 Advertisements to obtain information as to 
 
 heirs of Smithson,. 24, 25, 26. 
 Agassiz, Louis, on management of S. I., 586. 
 proposed as Regent, 675. 
 elected Regent, 677, 682, 711. 720. 
 views of, in regard to libraries, 587, 620. 
 
 Agent to be appointed to prosecute claim to 
 bequest, 147. 
 
 Agricultural experiments, Barlow, 913. 
 
 Agricultural school and farm, memorial in fa- 
 vor of, Fleischman, 171, 186. 
 memorial in favor of, from Kentucky State 
 Agricultural Society, 200 ; from Agricultu- 
 ral Society of United States, 261; from H. 
 C. Merriam, 265 ; from citizens of Massa- 
 chusetts, 301. 
 
 Agricultural University proposed, A. Johnson, 
 489. 
 
 Agriculture to be promoted by S. I., Cooper, 
 838; Darlington, 905; Embree,490; Hamlin, 
 458 ; Henry, 946 ; Hubbell, 863 ; Stanton, 401. 
 
 Airy, Rev. Geo. B., account of Greenwich Ob- 
 servatory, 230, 
 
 Alexander, Col. B. S., estimates $100,000 for re- 
 pair of building, 689. 
 testimony relative to the fire, 686. 
 
 Allen, William, remarks by, 343. 
 resolution offered by, 350. 
 
 Allen, W., President of Bowdoin College, me- 
 morial from, 848. 
 
 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, ap- 
 proval of plan of Prof. Henry, 618. 
 on programme of organization, 964. 
 
 American Antiquarian Society on programme 
 of organization, 985. 
 
 American history, Chapin, 858. 
 
 American Institute, address before, on Smith- 
 son's bequest, Barlow, 910. 
 
 American institutions, Chapin, 858; Rush, 852. 
 
 American law, Chapin, 858. 
 
 American Philosophical Society, memorial in 
 
 favor of management of S. 1., 585. 
 views of Mr. Duponceau, president of, 895. 
 
 American studies preferred, Chapin, 858. 
 
 Amherst College, Mass., on programme of or- 
 ganization, 976. 
 
 Analysis of soils and plants, Henry, 946 : Tap- 
 pan, 305. 
 
 Anatomy, Wayland, 840. 
 
 Ancient inhabitants, researches as to, Henry, 
 955. 
 
 Ancient literature and languages, Kendrick, 
 
 Anderson, Mr., petition of De la Batut sent 
 through, 37. 
 
 Animals and insects, history and habits of use- 
 ful and injurious, Tappan. 302. 
 
 Animals, rearing and care of, Hubbell, 863. 
 
 Annals of Congress given to the S. I., 521. 
 
 Annals of Philosophy, Smithson's papers in, 
 866. 
 
 Annuity allowed from Smithson's bequest, 9, 80. 
 
 Anthony, H. B., remarks by, 728, 729. 
 resolutions by, 683, 702, 706, 707, 710, 711, 721, 
 724, 72.-., 728, TftJ, 748, 753. 
 
 Antiquarian Society designed for increase of 
 knowledge, Henry, 950. 
 
 Antiquities, American Antiquarian Society, 988: 
 
 Henry, 946. 
 
 Apparatus, Bacon, 994 ; Chapin, 859 ; Delta, 885 ; 
 English, 576; Gray, 967, 969; Hubbell, 862; 
 Rush, 8.32; Southern Literary Messenger, 
 893; Wayland, 841. 
 report organization committee, 940. 
 resolution of Regents, 943. 
 Appendix, value ot, to Smithsonian Report, J. 
 
 Davis, 506. 
 
 Application of science to mechanic arts, Cha- 
 pin, 858. 
 
 995 
 
996 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Applications of Smithson's bequest, proposed, 
 
 837. 
 
 Appropriation by Congress of &j,000 to prose- 
 cute bequest, 158. 
 
 for plates, Ac., of exploring expedition, 681. 
 
 for repairs on S. I. building on account of 
 fire, 800.000 proposed, 704. 
 
 for Powell's survev placed under direction 
 of S. I.. 723. . 
 
 for building for collections asked by Re- 
 gent 
 
 of $250,000 for fire-proof building for National 
 Museum, 7 
 
 for distribution of duplicates, 
 
 for preservation of collect ; ; de- 
 
 bate on, f.:.4, 1.77, 70-.', 711, 7Hi, 7-J4, \ 
 
 for Smithsonian grounds, 521, 
 
 Appropriations by Con_ b.-n.'lit of 
 
 S. 1., Pear- 
 Appropriations for -pecia! r< :enry, 
 
 !>i:, : report of organization commit: 
 for different objects in different years, Prof. 
 
 Henry, !ii.V 
 
 by Regents for objects of organ i, 
 Arabian merchant, story of education of son 
 
 of, 874. 
 A rago, secretary of the Academy of Sc; 
 
 Paris, 041. 
 Arboretum, < >wen, 
 
 and conservatory of plant-, Tappan, 2< 
 c.f agriculture, bortioultun . 
 
 pan, lit',-.', :;";;. 
 
 Architects, resolution to . 
 Architecture, ( 'liapin, s.Vs; Siliimaii. 
 Arkansas, action of House relative toarrears-of 
 
 interest l.y, !.>.. 
 
 defence of State, \i. W. Johnson, MO, 
 explanation of failure to pay interest, Yell, 
 
 453. 
 Arkansas stocks, investment in, i 
 
 . S04. 
 
 Art, copies of works of, Jewett, 
 museum of, (ir:i\ 
 new objects of, Henry, 948. 
 resolution of inquire why Institution had 
 
 not complied with law 
 Art gallery, account of, English, 678. 
 Art of war, Wayland, 840. 
 Arts of life, special reference to, Tappan, 
 Art Union exhibitions, Henry, !:. 
 Asper, Joel F., resolution by, 7-_. 
 Aspinwall, Thos., account of, for shipment of 
 
 gold, 103; sales of stock-, A.-., lot, io:,. 
 aid rendered by, to Mr. IJu-h in selling 
 
 stocks, 71, 116. 
 
 Assemblies, literary and scientific, Hen 
 Assistant Secretary, duty of, HMH 
 Assistants, required, Henry, !U7, ;i*. 
 power of Secretary to discharge Pearce ~l.~> : 
 
 Witte, 623. 
 Astor, W. B.J proposed as Regent, O.".l ; el.-.-tiou 
 
 as Regent, 672. 710,711. 
 Astronomers royal of England, L'l'.i. 
 Astronomical bulletin, Manly, 900. 
 Astronomical discoveries, 216. 
 Astronomical instruments, cost of. 
 Astronomical observatory, Adams, r.i!>, 214, 259, 
 ' 293v 298, 443, 845, 840 ; Chapi 1 1 . 
 estimate for, 228. 
 
 proposed, In- Brunswick, Maine, 848. 
 Astronomical Society for increase of Knowl- 
 edge, 7?enry, <i:.o. 
 Astronomical work done by United States, 395, 
 
 396. 
 
 Astronomy, promotion of, by S. I., Adams, 846; 
 Henry, 940 ; Hubbell, 863 ; Tappan, 202, 303 ; 
 Wayland. 840. 
 
 Atchispn, D. R., Regents appointed by, .VJ4. 
 Athenian plan of education, 102. 
 Athens, University of, Smithsonian publications 
 
 esteemed in, 586, 618. 
 Atomic theory of chemistry, Henry, ;i.-.i. 
 Attorney General of England, suit by, 3. 
 no objection by, to settlement of suit, 57. 
 
 Attorneys' bill of costs in Smithson t-u 
 
 Auboin, Mr., -. 
 
 Auditor's account of Smithson fund exp. 
 
 Authors, advantages to. afforded by Smith- 
 
 sonian Institution, Henry, 
 experience of, in publishing works, Henrjr, 
 
 preference should be shown toAmeri 
 English, Muhlenberg, '.no. 
 
 Bache, A. D., of Washington, proposed a* man- 
 
 ager of S. I., 334, 349. 
 proposed as Regent in Owen's bill, 360. 
 elected Re;-- 
 
 appointed l.y K events on committee on or- 
 
 pu i : 
 
 appoint "ii Bmithson's resi^F 
 
 uary 
 
 plan of finunee by, Hen; 
 
 suggestion a* to 1; :. -.i.Vi. 
 
 Bacon, J. 8., on programme of organization, ''93 
 Badger, <;. K. rem 
 
 ?, O7."i, f'S2. 
 I'.aillv . 
 
 P.aird, l'i T_'l, ~-'<. 
 
 Ballon, I . 7.M. 
 
 UaiK-rofr, Ue,,., ,.f M d a- manager 
 
 ', 717. 
 
 :ennial, 7-".l. 
 
 on programme 
 
 d in, 111. 
 Bunk of England, funds transferred to Mr. 
 
 Kilsh 
 
 Hanker- 'rummonds, 1. 
 
 I'.anks, N. P., Sp--aker, a|.point< l.'e^'-nt-, .I'J, 
 
 I'.arlow, II. -v. Win., on pul.lie instruction and 
 
 Smith 
 
 Illlient, llM. 
 
 I'.arnard, Henry, proposed as Ki-^e;it, '.7.;. 
 
 ;i-oiii, wuhdrawing name us Regent, 
 
 Barnard, 1. IX, House committee, -<xi. 
 
 . remark-* 
 
 Bayard, Jan. A., report of < ommittee on Judici- 
 ary on management of Institution, 563. 
 
 remarks 1. 
 
 liuyly, Thos. H., remarks by, .">7<>. 
 Beaufort library destroyed by lire at S. I., 687. 
 Beck, T. 1J. ,on the programme of organization, 
 
 ML 
 
 Bell, John, remarks liv. 
 nelle^-lettres objected to, r j\ < ooj.cr, 838. 
 
 l>ei|ue>t, proposed applications of, 837. 
 
 thrown into Potomac than applied tc 
 normal instruction, Adams, 4 Hi. 
 nature of, motives of, &c., .1. Davis, 701, 702. 
 object of, English, 
 should l>e refurned to hejrs-at-law of Smith- 
 
 son, Jones, 4<..>: Sim.-, l:i'.t, 4<i.".. 
 an insult to the American nation, Chipman 
 
 432. 
 
 See Will, Smithson. 
 
 Berrien, Jno. McP., Senate committee, 2112, r,50 
 elected as lle.irent, .'pj:;. 
 interpretation of act of organization, ">.':s. 
 Berzelius, report on plrogress of science, Henry 
 
 956. 
 
 BiMe, story of purchase of, for S-V-"" false, 482 
 Bibliographical centre, report of organizatioi 
 
 committee, !i:>'.i : Henry, !i]7. 
 Bibliography, American Antiquarian Society 
 
 988; Henry, !an: Jewett 
 Bill of costs of attorney^ in England, 77, 80. 
 Bill to repeal provision in law relative to Re 
 
INDEX. 
 
 997 
 
 gents being members of National Institute, 
 084, 085. 
 
 Biography, Henry, 946. 
 
 Bird, Dr. F. M., recommended as Regent, 474. 
 
 Birdsall, B., memorial, 248. 
 
 Black, Dr. Jos., familiar acquaintance of Smith- 
 son, 866. 
 letter from, to Smithson, SCO. 
 
 Blaine, J. G., Speaker, appointed Eegents, 721, 
 725, 733. 
 
 Blind, education of, action of House on, 4G4, 
 publication of books for, recommended, 
 Giles, 459. 
 
 Blodget, Lorin, claim of, 589, 627. 
 
 Board of visitors, Rush, 852. 
 
 Bonds of United States bearing 7 3-10 per cent, 
 interest purchased, 127 ; sold, 133. 
 
 Books belonging to Smithson, 108. 
 
 Books, opinion of, Choate, 313 ; Owen, 375. 
 $150,000 should be laid out on, Hubbell, 862. 
 selection of, for library, Jewett,959. 
 
 Borland, S., resolution by, 517. 
 remarks by, 518. 
 
 Botanic garden, plea for, Darlington, 901, 905 ; 
 Owen, 362; Poinsett, 881, 885, 899. 
 
 Botany, Cooper, 838; Henry, 946; Hubbell, 864; 
 Silliman, 963. 
 
 Bowditch's commentary on La Place, Henry, 
 952. 
 
 Bowdoin College on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 978, 980. 
 
 Bowne, S. S., of N. Y., committee of House, 247. 
 
 Boyd, Linn, resolution by, 410. 
 Speaker, appoints Regents, 523, 526; ap- 
 pointed committee, 573. 
 
 Bragg, Thos., 660. 
 
 Breckinridge, Jno. C., Regents appointed by, 
 654, 672. 
 
 Breese, Sidney, remarks by, 474, 477, 478. 
 appointed Regent, 354. 
 resolution by, 478. 
 
 Brengle, Francis, appointed on committee of 
 House of Representatives, 260. 
 
 Brent, Daniel, account presented to, by attor- 
 ney of De la Batut, 13, 17. 
 account of expenses of attorneys in France,27. 
 bill to be paid, directed by President of the 
 United States, 45, 47. 
 
 Brewerton, Henry, on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 977. 
 
 Bridge water Treatises, Barlow, 921; Cooper, 838; 
 Rush, 854. 
 
 Bright, Jesse D., Regents appointed by, 649. 
 
 British Association reports, Beckj 961. 
 
 British institutions supplied with Smithsonian 
 publications, 120. 
 
 British minister, relative to Smithson's residu- 
 ary legacy, 126. 
 
 British Museum, account of organization of, 
 
 Upham, 002. 
 compared with S. I., Upham, 602 ; Meacham, 
 
 Broadhead, Richard, resolution by, 462, 507. 
 Bronson, S. A., on programme of organization, 
 
 992. 
 Brougham, Lord, on natural theology, Elliott, 
 
 985. 
 
 Brown University, best bibliographical collec- 
 tion, Jewctt, 959. 
 
 on programme of organization, 977. 
 Brown, Wm., bill of, to R..Rush, 104. 
 Brunei's Manuel du Librarie, Marsh, 419. 
 Buchanan, Jas., remarks by, 144, :j;;i, ;;:i7, :>L1. 
 
 committee of Senate, 166. 
 Building for Institution, American Antiquarian 
 Society, 988 ; Barlow, 917 ; Chapiu, 859 ; 
 "Delta," 888; English, 575; Gray, 965; Henry, 
 944.945; Billiard, 483; New Jersey Histor- 
 ical Society, 971; Owen, 356; Pearce, f.ll; 
 Rush, 851; Silliman, 902; Tappan, 203; 
 
 Wayland, 841. 
 
 digest of act relative to, 761. 
 report of organization committee, 931. 
 plan adopted by Regents, 932. 
 
 Building for library, Tappan, 334. 
 
 Building for National Museum, 748, 752, 753, 756, 
 
 757. 
 Building of S. L, investigation proposed by A, 
 
 Johnson, 489. 
 
 investigation relative to necessary, A. John- 
 son, 496. 
 
 report of origin of fire and losses, 686. 
 suggestions for improvement of, after the 
 
 fire, 688. 
 
 Buildings, costly, the bane of literary institu- 
 tions, 882. 
 
 funds wasted in, Hubbell, 861. ' 
 instructions in construction of, Tappan, 302. 
 Bureau des Longitudes, France, Adams, 845. 
 Burke, Edmund, resolution by, 351. 
 Burnett, Henry C., resolution by, 652. 
 Butler, A. P., remarks by, 560, 563. 
 resolutioa by, 563. 
 report of Committee on Judiciary on man- 
 
 agement of Institution, 563. 
 By-laws should be adopted, Upham, 601. 
 
 O. 
 
 Cabinets of specimens, Chapin, 859 ; Delta, 881, 
 
 885; New York Schools, 404 ; Way land, 841. 
 Calhoun, Jno. C., remarks by. 143, 242, 243. 
 Calhoun, Wm. B., resolution by, 171. 
 Cambreleng, C. C., letter to, from Jno. Forsyth. 
 
 157, 158 
 
 Cameron, Simon, remarks by, 665, 666, 670, 672. 
 Campbell, John, appointed on House commit- 
 tee, 200. 
 
 Campbell, W. W., resolutions by, 473. 
 Canal in Washington, report on, 710. 
 Canterbury, court of,Smithsou's will proved in, 
 
 10. 
 
 Carpenter, M. H., Regents appointed by, 728. 
 Case stated by Mr. Rush, 10. 
 Cass, Lewis, appointed Regent, 475. 
 
 resignation of, as Regent, 478. 
 Castaignet, M., claim for services as attorney of 
 
 De la Batut, 19. 
 
 expenses as attorney, 25, 27, 226. 
 fees charged by, as counsel for De la Batut, 
 
 1:1, 17, 18. 
 claim of. allowqd by President of the United 
 
 States, 45. 
 Casts of celebrated articles of sculpture, Henry, 
 
 947. 
 
 Casts of works of art, Jewett, 959. 
 Catalogues of libraries, Henry, 947; Jewett, 958. 
 Catliii, Geo., memorial to purchase Indian col- 
 
 Ieeti9ns, 473, 477. 
 Centennial collections, new building asked for, 
 
 748, 754, 755. 
 
 Certificates of indebtedness of States, 252. 
 Certificates of qualification to students as 
 
 teachers and professors, Owen, 358. 
 Chamberlain, John, on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 980. 
 
 Champliu, Capi., of "Mediator," 102. 
 Chancellor, digest of act relative to, 760. 
 duty of, Henry, 947. 
 recommendation of, relative to residuary 
 
 legacy, 130. 
 Chancery court, referred case of President vs. 
 
 Drummond to master in chancery, 20. 
 decree by, in favor of United States, 58, 62. 
 necessity for reform in, on account of arrears 
 
 in business, ,",',). 
 Chancery court suit, by Drummond, in favor of 
 
 Hungcrford, 9, 10. 
 first hearing, February 1, 1837, 19. 
 Chancery suit "may begin with a man's life 
 
 and its termination be his epitaph," 60. 
 Chancery suits, calculation as to duration, 49. 
 Chandler, Jos. R., remarks by, 526, 570, 037. 
 
 resolutions by, 520, 529, 567, 037, 047. 
 Changes made from year to year in knowledge, 
 
 Henry, 940. 
 
 Chapin, Graham II., committee of House, 148. 
 resolution by, 154. 
 
398 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chapin, Stephen, proposed application of be- 
 quest, 856. 
 
 Chappell, Abs. H., committee of House, 266. 
 Charges against 8. 1. by R. Choate, 636. 
 Charles the Proud, 1. 
 
 Charleston, College of, on programme of organ- 
 ization, 978. 
 
 Charlton, Robert M., appointed Regent, 522. 
 Chase, Salmon P., memorial to Congress relSr 
 
 tive to residuary legacy, i:n. 
 memorial of. 708, 714. 
 
 Chemical analysis of soils from different sec- 
 tions of the United States, Tappan, 302. 
 Chemical laboratory, Tappan, _';:;. 
 Chemistry, Henry, 946 ; Hubbell,863, Wayland, 
 
 840. 
 applied to agriculture, action of House "ii, 
 
 462. 
 
 Childs, Timothy, resolution by, 17<> : 
 Chipman, Jno., remarks by, i 
 Choate, Rufus, Senate committee, 247, 262, 306. 
 remarks by. 327, 331, 337, :; M. 
 resolutions by, 2i;_-, :;j>, :jjr., :$50. 
 plan of, discussed, Barlow, nil. 
 appointed by Regents on organization, 930. 
 election as Regent, 490, 5:35, 668. 
 resignation of, as Regent, 635, 669. 
 report of committee on resignation, House 
 
 of Representath' 
 
 City Hall in Washington, bill to authorize pur- 
 chase of, 475. 
 
 Civil engineering, Chapin, 858. 
 Claimants to Smiths >MS e-tate appeared, 74. 
 Clark, Ambrose W., resolutions l.y, .>.', ;*, 085. 
 Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate, letters, 3. 
 bill of costs in suit, MI. 
 oath to l>ill of ro-t-, Ml. 
 Clarke, Tho>., & < ..., Holicitors for Messrs. 
 
 Drummond, award to, oa, GO. 
 Classics, Chapin. - 
 Clay, Henry, remarks 1-y, -_'l t. 
 Clayton, Jno. M., remadu i-y, M.;, 77, ML 
 
 resolutions l>y, -477, .'..d. 
 Climate, study of, Silliiuau. '."'''>. 
 Clingman, T.'L., remark- nry, -7". 
 Clinton, DeWitt, on rlu,-ati<.n. 
 Cliques, the curse of societies, l-<-k, '."'_'. 
 Clymer, H.. appointed Regent, 
 remarks by, 755. 
 bill, 756. ' 
 resolutions l>y, 7 
 
 Memorial relative to Centennial, 7">l. 
 Coates, Mrs., mother of Henry J. Hungerford, 
 
 the nephew of Smithson, 18. 
 Cobb/Howell, resolution by, *J >. 
 
 speaker, appointed l!cir--nts 518. 
 Coin, payment of S. I. interest in, debat. 
 
 703. 
 
 . Colcock, W. R, appointed Regent, 518, vj:;. 
 Cole, Cornelius, remarks by, 7J'>. 
 Colfax, Schuyler, appointed Regent, f.77. 
 remarks by, '>7'.i. 
 speaker, appointed Regents, C84, 7 1<>, 71 i, 721, 
 
 724. 
 Collaborators to prepare reports on science, 
 
 Henry, -.i-lr,. 
 
 Collaborators to be furnished with journal-, to 
 be paid, and names to be on title page of 
 reports, Henry, 940. 
 Collamer, Jacob, remarks by,r,7\ 684, 'I, 700. 
 
 resolution by, 074. 
 
 Collections of "natural history, digest of act rel- 
 ative to, 702 ; Henry, 947. 
 action of House on, 462. 
 not to be an expense to Institution, J. Davis, 
 
 510. 
 
 not to be supported from Smithsonian be- 
 quest, Henry, 958. 
 not -to be a burden on Smithsonian fund, 
 
 American Academy, 909. 
 memorial for building for, 740, 754, 755. 
 transferred from Land Office, 724. 
 necessity of increased appropriations for, 714. 
 resolution of Regents, 943. 
 
 Collections of natural history Continued^ 
 preservation of, discussion on appropriation, 
 
 .t, '.77, 7011, 711, 71'., 
 
 :_;. 
 Sec Exploring Expedition. 
 
 AM Interior, s,-ei.'tary. 
 
 Collection of aiti<-i.'< of science in offices of 
 Government, Henry. 
 
 Collections to verify pobltoatkrns, Henry, i'i7. 
 
 Collection of transactions and proceedings of 
 all the learned societies in the world, 
 Henrv. 
 
 College, application of fund f..r, Adam-, S44; 
 American Academy, 905; Barlow, nil, 
 Choate, :ins ; Ku- 
 
 Collegiate education, Waylaud, 839. 
 
 Columbia College, N. Y., on programme of or- 
 ganization. !'71. 
 
 Columbian College, Washington, 1>. < '., n pro- 
 gramme of organization, 993. 
 
 Comets, medal for discovery of, 967. 
 
 Commit 1 . 
 
 Agriculture, House of Representative-. 
 Appropriations, Hu.-e oi ,-ives, 
 
 711, 71'-, 721. 
 
 li-tri.-t ..f ( olombia, 863. 710. 
 
 ]-Mlle;tllMll .Uld I 
 
 Kiliaiii-.-. - .''.58. 
 
 Investigation of Institution iiroj" 
 
 appointed ),y House of 1: 
 
 Jndi.-iary. S.'iia'. 
 
 Libra 
 
 Library, n..u-e ..t Representatives, i, ;, \'>, 
 
 704,707,727,728, 
 Post <>ttic-. . 
 1'iiNie Huildinu-. 
 rrintini: ' the .-. 1., 
 
 ', 71o, 711, 715, 
 
 71-;, ! ,724, 7_.\ 72.;, 727, 72s, 71.-,, 
 
 717, \ 
 
 . H>, 171,198, 
 DO, 2i >2, 217, JJ'.i, 21 
 
 i .M.-aii-, H"U-.' .-f K. ] : 
 
 c.-mmitt.-.- on -initli-'ii l.e<|u--t. Set L'iary of 
 
 :n-. 
 
 Committe. i B. I., report of, on or- 
 
 ganication, 
 
 Committee, standinir. i>n S. I., pr"|>"-i-d, A. .lolm- 
 son, 4.v, I'.d : unn.-ee--.uy, 1;. McClelland, 
 
 < imiiitt m th.-> Institution pp,p,,-,-d l>y Mr. 
 
 Whit- 
 
 argument airain-t, Hilliard, \^ '. 
 
 di-en--;-. I7'L 
 
 Committee ..f < ..IILM-I--- \vi.ii Id atta-li In-titution 
 
 l'ore\er tn the ( ',, iVerill lie lit, I! In -t t, -I 1 .1'.l. 
 
 would >er\e a- a \\ lii-lesume and nee.---:iry 
 
 ehei-k on the 1 ii -t it i it ion, < i. 1'. Marsh, 499. 
 advocated, Mora . 
 
 Commission mi nieinoir-, Eenry, 945, 947. 
 Commissions appointed on scientific paper', 
 
 6ZL,6SS. 
 
 Compromise, account of, Witto, .;o'.i, 014. 
 proiM.sition to annul, caused difficulti'-s, 
 Meaonam, *''>-. 
 
 bill nM-es.-ary, Uwen, 431. 
 resolutions adopt e,i i,\- Ke^ent-. :itl/)l2. 
 resolution of lle.irent-, Heu;\ . ''17. 
 Compromise necessary to harmonize views as 
 
 toS. I., iu. 
 
 Compromise resolutions discussed, 535. 
 Congressional proceedings, 1 :>.">. 
 Congress, action of, on Smithson bequest. Se 
 
 Diary of Adams. 
 
 act of, relative to increase of trust fund, 1*2. 
 special act of, necessary to control Bmithson'f 
 
 residuary legacy, 129. 
 
 authorized appointment of agent to assert 
 right to bequest, 11. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 999 
 
 Congress Continued. 
 
 memorial to, relative to residuary legacy, 131. 
 -no power to impose museum on S. L, J. Davis, 
 
 during session of, lectures to be given, Henry, 
 
 948. 
 
 Conkling, R., remarks by, 749. 
 Constitutional objections to receiving bequest, 
 
 139, 141, 143, 343, 439, 441, 444, 457, 475. 
 Construction of act, report of committee on, 
 
 Witte, G08. 
 
 by Senate Judiciary Committee, 563. 
 'Controversy, history of, respecting proper use 
 
 of the fund, Mason, 548. 
 
 1 Co-operation of foreign ministers, consuls, and 
 agents, Rush, 850. 
 
 Cooper, Dr. Thos., object of S. I., 370, 399, 838. 
 
 plan discussed, Barlow, 912. 
 
 Coppee, Henry, Proposed as Regent, 735. 
 
 account of character and services, Storm, 743. 
 without a superior in science or literature 
 in the United States, Randall, 745. 
 
 Copyrights, action of House on, 468. 
 
 Digest of act relative to, 762 ; Jewett, 959. 
 Corcoran & Riggs, offers of State stocks ac- 
 cepted by Secretary of Treasury, 290, 293. 
 Cork models of antiquities, Jewett, 9GO. 
 ' Corporation, Institution not a, Witte, 622. 
 Correspondence relative to the bequest of 
 Smithson, 3; English, 576; Rush, 851. See 
 Letters. 
 
 Correspondence on programme, 961. 
 Corwin, Thos., House committee, 200; Senate 
 
 committee, 352. 
 Costs of suit, 27, 80. 
 Council of science, Rush, 851. 
 Counsel, selection of, Rush, 8, 14. 
 
 commendation of, Rush, 75. 
 Court of Chancery, suit necessary ,3 ; see Chan- 
 cery. 
 
 Cox, S. S., appointed Regent, 677, 685, 721, 733. 
 remarks by, G79, 680, 681, 682, 685, 703, 742. 
 resolutions by, 682, 685. 
 Criticism, Hubbell, 864. 
 Crittenden, J. J., remarks by, 325, 327, 474, 683. 
 
 resolutions by, 326, 327. 
 Crown, opposition abandoned on part of, in 
 
 chancery, 20. 
 Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn., on 
 
 programme of organization, 983. 
 Curley, James, on programme of organization, 
 975. 
 
 ID. 
 
 Dallas, Geo. M., appoints Regents, 475, 477, 478. 
 
 proposed as Regent, 654. 
 Daua, J. D., proposed as Regent, 727, 733,734, 735. 
 
 geological services of, Hoar, 738. 
 
 on programme of organization, 964. 
 Darlington, Win., application of bequest, 901. 
 
 plea for a National Museum, 901. 
 Davis, Garret, appointed Regent, 67.1. 
 Davis, Henry W., appointed Regent, 685. 
 
 committee on Smithson's residuary legacy, 
 
 126, 130. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, appointed Regent, 478, 517. 
 
 resignation of, as Regent, 522. 
 
 committee of House of Representatives, 354. 
 
 remarks by, 408, 456, 505, 506, 508, 515, 517, 701. 
 
 resolutions' by, 404, 466, 478, 490, 505, 506. 
 Davis, John, remarks by, 145. 
 Davis, John W., Speaker, appointed committees, 
 354. 
 
 appointed Regents, 474. 
 Dawes, H. W., resolution by, 723. 
 Dayton, Wm. L., election as Regent, 672. 
 Deberry, Edm., report from Committee on Agri- 
 culture, 301. 
 DeBeust, Wm., loss by fire at Institution, $1,300, 
 
 688. 
 
 .Decree in Court of Chancery, President of the 
 United States vs. Drummond, 62. 
 
 Decree in favor of United States for bequest of 
 
 Smithson, 58. 
 Degrees, Wayland, 841. 
 De la Batut, Baron Eunice, 18, 63. 
 De la Batut, Henri, identical with Henry James 
 Hungerford, 41. 
 
 death of, in 1835, 41, 57. 
 
 De la Batut, Mary Ann, mother of nephew of 
 Smithson. 10. 
 
 not married to Col. Dickinson, 10. 
 
 was Mrs. Coates, 18. 
 
 resides in Port Louis, France, 24. 
 
 about 60 years old in 1838. 52, 
 
 claim under will of Col. Dickinson, 36. 
 
 decree of court in fav9r of claim, 63. 
 
 claim on estate of Smithson, 18, 19, 20. 
 
 claim referred to master in chancery, 20. 
 
 notified by advertisement to make out claim, 
 
 claim recommended for consideration by Mr. 
 Drummond, the executor of Smithson. 32. 
 
 threats to file a bill against Drummond for 
 an account as executor of Smithson, 36. 
 
 has no claim under will of Smithson, 33. 
 
 claim would be 240 a year during life, 33. 
 
 moral claim to income of fund since Smith- 
 son's death, 33. 
 
 favorable report on claim from master in 
 chancery, 46. 
 
 allowed 150 9s. annually during her life, and 
 arrears from September 22, 1834. to March 
 22, 1838, 55, 56, 57. 
 
 counsel of, acquiesced in settlement, 57. 
 
 trust fund ordered by court, 66. 
 
 statement of trust fund, 80. 
 
 death of, September 10, 1858, 123. 
 De la Batut, Theodore, appeared in answer to 
 advertisement to assert claim, 29. 
 
 a troublesome person, with unreasonable ex- 
 pectations, 30. 
 
 account of interviews with, 30. 
 
 moral claims on United States for education 
 of his children, 30. 
 
 decree of court in favor of claim of, 64. 
 
 would not make depositions desired, 3 
 
 proposes to send memorial to President of the 
 United States, 32. 
 
 style of conduct not in his favor, 32. 
 
 attempts at coercion by withholding evi- 
 dence. 33. 
 
 claims discountenanced by Mr. Rush, 34. 
 
 unreasonable, exacting, and bent upon 
 thwarting the rights of the United States, 
 35. 
 
 petition to President of the United States, 37. 
 
 petition returned to him by Mr. Rush, 37. 
 
 assured that if he aided the Government he 
 would have favor, 38. 
 
 refused to give evidence unless pledge was 
 given to support all his claim, 38. 
 
 no objections by Mr. Rush to claim under 
 will of Col. Dickinson, 38. 
 
 obstructions by, to early decision by court, 38. 
 
 opinion of counsel as to probability of delay 
 in settlement of claim of United States, 49. 
 
 decision of Mr. Rush to allow claim, 50, 52. 
 Delafield, R., elected Regent, 685, 703. 
 
 Resignation as Regent, 721. 
 Delagrange, Mr., attorney in France, consulted 
 in relation to De la Batut, 13, 17, 19, 27. 
 
 claim of, allowed by President of the United 
 
 States, 45. 
 
 Delaware College on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 973. 
 "Delta" A, proposed applications of bequest, 
 
 865, 872. 
 
 Deposit with George Peabody, 127, 12S. 
 Deposit with Riggs & Co., 128. 
 Deposit with United States Treasurer, 128, 129, 
 
 133. 
 
 Detroit and Pontiac Railroad State stock, 253. 
 Development of organized life, 880. 
 Diary of John Q. Adams, extracts from, 76:3. 
 Dickinson, Henry James, bequest to, 1. 
 
1000 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dickinson, Henry Louis, brother of Smithson, I. 
 Will of, 18. 
 
 Diffusion of knowledge, how to promote, Henry, 
 
 945. 
 plans for, Witte, G17. 
 
 Digest of act of Congress establishing S. I., 758. 
 
 Disbursements, digest of act relative to, TOO. 
 
 Discoverers of scientific principles "born, not 
 made," Henry, 954. 
 
 Discoveries in science to be exhibited to Con- 
 gress, Henry, 948. 
 
 Discovery of new truths, great object of Smith- 
 son, 215. 
 
 Distribution of collections, debate on appropri- 
 ation for, 654, 656. 
 
 Distribution of duplicates, appropriation for, 
 7~>1 
 
 Distribution of fruits' plants, seeds, and vege- 
 tables to every part of the Union, Tappan, 
 263, 302 ; Owen, 
 
 District of Columbia, the United States as parent 
 palricc, 130, llo. 141. 
 
 Divinity, study of, in S. I., objected to, Wayland, 
 839. 
 
 Dix, John A., committee of Senate, 352. 
 
 Dixon. James, remarks by, C73, 674. 
 resolution by, 117:5. 
 
 Documentary history, Barlow, 92 
 
 Documents, fifty copies of, for exchanges or- 
 dered, 707. 710. 
 exchange of, with foreign nations. 
 
 Dodge, Augustus C., resolution! of, 623. 
 
 Donnan, Wm. G.. resolutions by, 745, 7-tr,, 717. 
 
 Douglas. S. A., resolutions by, 468, 64 1 .'. 
 remarks by,55<>, 
 appointed Regent, 524, 
 
 Drummond, Chas., no opposition by, to claim of 
 
 United States, 57. 
 award to, 63. 
 
 aa executor of Smith-on, recommends con- 
 sideration of Do hi Batut's claim, 32. 
 
 Drummonds, Messrs., bankers, executors of 
 
 Smithsou, 1, .",. 
 no reposition from, to suit, 20. 
 
 Dukeol Northumberland, i. 
 
 Duke of Somerset, 1. 
 
 Duplicate specimens to be exchanged, Tappan, 
 302. 
 
 Duponceau, Peter S., application of the bequest, 
 895. 
 
 Duties of Government in reference to instruc- 
 tion, Barlow, 910. 
 
 Dwelling houses for officers and professors, 
 Tappan, 2G3, 302 ; Owen, 355. 
 
 IE. 
 
 Earth, experiments to determine weight of, 
 
 Henry, 94C. 
 
 East Tennessee University, Knoxville, on pro- 
 gramme of organization, 990. 
 Ecclesiastical establishment, Adams, 844, 845. 
 Editorial bureau, Barlow, 91<>, njn. 
 Education, Adams, -jns, _'[_', 441, 844; American 
 
 Academy, 965 ; Barlow, 910 ; Chapin, 857 ; 
 
 Cooper, 838; Darlington, 902; Dup<>iu'ra<i. 
 
 898; Embree, 490; Henry, 947; Memorial of 
 
 Illinois Educational Convention, 648; Rhode. 
 
 Island Historical Society, 934; Robl. 
 
 Rush, 855 ; Stantqn, 403 ; Wayland, 839. 
 report of organization committee, 936. 
 Germany and France models in, 861. 
 history of ? 872. 
 Elliott, David, on programme of organization, 
 
 984. 
 
 Ellsworth, Henry, memorial of, 262. 
 Embree, Elisha, resolution by, 489. 
 Empiricism in science, Marsh, 426, 428. 
 Engineering, Silliman, 963; Wayland, 840. 
 English Government abandoned all claim to 
 
 Smilhson bequest, 20. 
 English literature, Chapin, 858. 
 English, W. H., resolutions by, 534, 5G8, 628, 650, 
 
 652. 
 
 English. W. U.Conti,i 
 remarks by, 568, 5G;>, :,~\. 
 appointed Regent, 526, 649, 650, 672. 
 Ephcmeris of astronomical observations. 
 
 Adams, 847. 
 
 Ephemeris of Neptune, Martin, 979. 
 Equity maxim, Rush. :'..">. 
 Escheats, law of, no claim made by British Gov- 
 
 ernment under, -.'I. 
 Espy, J. P., appropriation for, 
 letter from, on meteorology, 633. 
 meteorological reductions, 530. 
 Establishment, The, ot' the Smithsonian Insti- 
 
 tution, digest of act relative to, 758. 
 Estabrook, Jos., on programme of organization, 
 
 990. 
 Estimate of cost of astronomical observatory,. 
 
 288. 
 
 Estimation of S. I. in Europe 586, 618. 
 Ethico-Political science, McMastcr, 979. 
 Ethnological collection-. 
 Ethnological researches. Henry, 940. 
 Ethiv fork, 966. 
 
 Evans. Geo. S., remarks by, _M:J. 
 resolution I 
 bill oil 
 
 resignation of, as Regent, 477. 
 Everett, Edw., on programme of organization, 
 
 970. 
 
 Evidences of Christianity, Elli<>- 
 Ewcll, Benj. S., on programme of organization, 
 
 Ewing, E. II., remarks by. 
 
 Ewing, Thos., proposals for State stocks, 290, 
 
 ,-93. 
 bill, 508. 
 resolution 1 
 Exchange of documents with foreign nations, 
 
 10,716. 
 Exchange of duplicato-specimens, Tappan, 263 ; 
 
 Owen, 358. 
 Exchange, S. I., packages marked to pass free 
 
 in th. -mail 
 
 Exchanges, account of, Chandler, 647 ; Amer. 
 Acad. tiil'.i; Ib-nr. . 
 
 Exchanges or publications, n 
 Executive Committee, digest of act rel 
 7GO. 
 
 Exhibitions at tin- Institution, 6 
 
 Expediency of I'mt^l States becoming suitor 
 
 in England, 
 
 Expenses of National Museum in 1868, 717. 
 Expenses of recovery of Smithson bequ< -t, 
 
 Mr. Rush's account, 1 1:;. 
 Experimental researchee not the most import- 
 
 ant, Mar-!., 42;. 
 Experiments as to lighting, heating, and venti- 
 
 lating buildings, Tap pan, :v u. 
 Experiments in agriculture and horticulture, 
 
 Tappan, I 
 Experiments on new fruits, plants, and vegeta- 
 
 bles, Tappan, :502. 
 Experiments on new modes of culture, nc\r 
 
 fruits, plants, and vegetables, Owen, 358. 
 Explanation of programme of organization, 
 
 Henry, 948. 
 Explorations in natural history, geological, 
 
 rrtagnetical, and topographical surveys, 
 
 Henry, 945. 
 Exploring expedition, duplicates to be distrib- 
 
 uted,' ;:,!. 
 in charge of Library Committee of Congress 
 
 to 1854, 625. 
 
 value of collections, debate on, 654, 667. 
 collections, appropriation for, 525. 
 appropriation for plates, &c., of, 681. 
 collections of, to be transferred to Patent Of- 
 
 fice, 5-J5, 5:)i,r.:55. 
 
 American Academy, 969 ; Poinsett, 899. 
 plates and engravings to be transferred to* 
 
 S. I., 519 ; set of, given to S.I., 682. 
 Exploring expeditions, account of, 740. 
 Explosions of steam boilers, investigation ii* 
 
 regard to, Henry, 955. 
 
 relative to. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 1001 
 
 Extracts from diary of John Quincy Adams, 
 
 7G3. 
 Extra fund, memorial to Congress respecting, 
 
 529. 
 
 to be added to bequest, 648. 
 to be placed in Treasury of the United States, 
 507. 
 
 IF. 
 
 Faculte des Lettres et Sciences a model for S. 
 
 I., Rives, 329. 
 
 "Felton, C. C., proposed as Regent, 654. 
 election as Regent, 648, 672. 
 letter on management of S. I., 586, 618. 
 Perry, T. W., memorial relative to Centennial, 
 
 751. 
 Fessenden, W. P., remarks by, 655, 658, 665, 673, 
 
 674, 306. 
 
 appointed Regent, 673, 702. 
 resolutions by, 677, 706, 711. 
 Ficklin, O. B., 447. 
 Fictitious sum in the Treasury, A. Johnson, 486, 
 
 496. 
 
 Field, Richard S., on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 971/' 
 
 Fillmore, Millard, bill offered by, 245. 
 resolution by, 247. 
 regents appointed by, 516. 
 Finance, plan of A. D. Bache, Henry, 957. 
 scheme of Institution, Pearce, 511. 
 committee on, Secretary of State to, 157. 
 Senate Committee of, Bill, 522. 
 Fine arts and application to useful arts, Henry, 
 
 946. 
 
 Finley, W. Perroneau, on programme of organ- 
 ization, 978. 
 
 Fire at S. I., January 24, 1865, committee ap- 
 pointed to investigate origin of, 685, 703. 
 Fitall, John, death of and annuity to, 1, 27, 41, 
 
 57, 63. 
 Fitall, Mrs. Elizabeth, award to, by Court of 
 
 Chancery, 65. 
 Fitch, G. N., appointed Regent, 518, 524. 
 
 resolution by, 651. 
 Fladgate, Clarke & Finch, letters from, to the 
 
 S. I., 123, 124. 
 
 power of attorney from President of the 
 United States to collect residuary legacy, 
 November, 1863, 125. 
 amount of Smithson's residuary bequest from, 
 
 128. 
 
 Flamsteed's observations, 218. 
 Fleischman, Charles L., memorial of, 171, 186. 
 Florence, T. B., resolution by, 573. 
 Foedera, Rhymers, 921, 922. 
 Foot, Henry S., remarks by, 512. 
 Foot, Solomon, remarks by, G86. 
 
 resolutions by, 686, 689, 702. 
 Foreign ministers and consuls, aid from, Rush, 
 
 850. 
 
 Forsyth, John, letters from, 5, 157. 
 letter from, asking plans for application of 
 
 bequest, 837. 
 Foster, Eph. H., remarks by, 349. 
 
 resolution by, 349. 
 
 Fourcroy, influence of, on Smithson, 882. 
 Fourier investigation on origin of the earth, 867. 
 Frank, Aug., resolution by, 703. 
 Franking privilege to Secretary of S. I. pro- 
 posed, Mace, 527. 
 Franking privilege given to S. I. on exchanges, 
 
 7'2(i. 
 Franklin College, Lancaster, Pa., on programme 
 
 oi organization, 990. 
 Franklin Institute, investigations of explosions 
 
 bv steam boilers, Henry, 955. 
 Franklin, Jno. R., 571, 572. 
 
 Free Ai-ademy, N. Y., on programme of organi- 
 zation, 991. 
 
 Freight on Smithson bequest, 118. 
 Frelinghuysen, Fred. T., remarks by, 731. 
 French, Richard, appointed on committee of 
 House of Representatives, 266. 
 
 French Academy, S. I. to attain character ot 
 
 405. 
 
 French schools of science, 882. 
 Fund, account with Treasurer of the United 
 
 States, 803. 
 
 stocks in which investment was made, 257. 
 investment of, in State stocks ordered, 158. 
 never can be part of revenue of United States, 
 
 what constituted the Smithson, 120, 121. 
 
 nature of, Trumbull, 698. 
 
 of Institution, digest of act relative to, 758. 
 
 account of, Grimes, 690. See Diary of Adams. 
 
 disposition of, Barlow, 919. 
 
 proposed change of investment, Chandler, 
 
 526. 
 act of Congress relative to increase of trust, 
 
 132. 
 Smithson, act to authorize increase of, to one 
 
 million dollars, 709. 
 increase of, act for, 521. 
 increase of, bill for, 132, 508. 
 resolution of committee to increase, 648. 
 memorial of Regents to increase, 529, 708. 
 increase of, by Regents, 507. 
 increase of, in Treasury of the United States 
 
 to $550,000, 133. 
 
 good condition of, English, 575. 
 of Institution not to support large museum, 
 
 J. Davis, 510. 
 
 report on investment, Chandler, 637. 
 statement of, January 12, 1844, 268, 270. 
 extra, to be added to original, 706. 
 Fynmore, Thos. Geo., award to, by Court of 
 
 Chancery, 65, 66. 
 
 C3-. 
 
 Gallery of Art, Barlow, 911, 917; Henry, 945; 
 
 Owen, 362. 
 report of organization committee, 931. 
 
 Gammell, W., on programme of organization, 
 983. 
 
 Gardeners and laborers, Tappan, 263, 302. 
 
 Garfield, J. A., appointed Regent, 711, 721. 
 committee to memorialize Congress as to re- 
 siduary legacy, 130. 
 
 resolutions by, 708, 709, 711, 714, 715, 716, 734. 
 remarks by, 716, 717, 734. 
 
 Garland, James, of Virginia, House committee, 
 148, 171, 200. 
 
 Garland, L. C., astronomical department of, 
 Manly ,990. 
 
 Garland, Rice, of Louisiana, committee of 
 House, 148. 
 
 Gartrell, L. J., appointed Regent, 650, 672. 
 
 Geological and miueralogical cabinet, Owen, 
 355; Tappan, 302. 
 
 Geological society for increase of knowledge, 
 Henry, 950. 
 
 Geological surveys, Henry, 945. 
 
 Geology, Gray, 967 ; Henry, 946 ; Wayland, 840. 
 
 Georgetown College, D. C., on programme of 
 organization, 975, 976. 
 
 German language proposed as part of instruc- 
 tion, 198. 
 
 Germany, literature of, Marsh, 420. 
 
 Geyer, Henry S., remarks by, 563. 
 report of Committee en Judiciary on man- 
 agement of Institution, 563. 
 
 Giles, Wm. F., resolutions by, 459, 463. 
 
 Girard College fund, American Antiquarian 
 Society, 988 ; American Academy, 965 ; Hub- 
 bell, 861, 863; Ingersoll,388; Owen, 366. 
 
 Goggin, Wm. L., resolution by, 491. 
 
 Gold, interest to be paid in, debated, 689, 703. 
 Smithson's stocks converted into, and brought 
 
 to United States, 73. 
 sale of $26,210.63, for $54,165.38, 128. 
 
 Government department, the S. I. not a, 509. 
 
 Government, duties of, in reference to instruc- 
 tion, 910. 
 
 operations of Institution not to be mingled 
 with those of, Henry, 949. 
 
1002 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 'Government Continued. 
 
 should furnish buildings for Institution, Sil- 
 
 liman, 962. 
 of the Institution, Adams, 845; American 
 
 Academy, 969; Chapin, 858; Rush, 851. 
 mode of, Wayland, 840. 
 collections to be delivered to s>. I., Tappan, 
 
 Governor of District, act to make Regent of, 
 
 Grable,' John, report on plan of periodical, 589. 
 
 Graham, Wm. A., resolutions by. 1 1 
 
 Gray, Asa, memorial relative to Centennial, 751. 
 
 proposed as Regent, 727, 734, 7:15. 
 
 elected Regent, 745. 
 
 greatest authority in the world in botany, 
 Hoar, 738. 
 
 On programme of organization, 904. 
 Grecian literature and history. 
 Greenwich Observatory, account of, 2 is, 230. 
 Grimes, Jas. W., remarks by, 655, 658, 689, 690, 
 692. G96, 699. 
 
 grounds, improvement of, .'-21, >--, 
 for testing and propagating seeds, plants, &-., 
 
 Rush, 851. 
 
 Grow, G. A., Speaker, appointed Regent*, 
 Guthrie, J., letter of Secretary of Treasury, 637. 
 
 Habersham, R. W., of Georgia, committee of 
 
 House, 217. 
 Hale, John P., resolutions by, 6C1, 702. 
 
 remarks by, CGI, 609, r,72, .,!.!, 8OT, : 
 Halleck, lite Greene, reference to poem ; 
 Hamilton, Alexander, works of, given to the S. 
 
 1 ;.2i. 
 Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y n on programme 
 
 of organization. ;i7.;. 
 Hamlin, Hannibal, bill introduced > 
 resolutions by, 4f.j, 506, T-i, 7-'.:, 721, 728, 732, 
 
 733, 748. 
 
 remarks by, 457, 72:;, 721;, 7-*.!, 7:52, 7*5. 
 appointed regent, 721. 
 memorial relative to Centennial, 7.M. 
 Regents appointed by, 07:!, 7>2. 
 Hammond, Jabez D., resolutions by, relative to 
 
 the bequest,:'.".:;. 
 Hampden Sidney College, Va., on programme 
 
 of organization, 
 Hannegan, Edward A., special committee of 
 
 House, 148. 
 
 Hansard's Parliamentary Reports, 922. 
 Harlan, James, resolution by, 710. 
 Hassler, Mi 1 ., recommending observations in 
 
 .Maine and Louisiana, 848. 
 Haven, Samuel F., on programme of organ i/.a- 
 
 tioii, 989. 
 Haven, Sol. G., resolution by, 530. 
 
 remarks, by, 530. 
 
 Hawley, Gideon, elected Regent, 4!n, 636, 
 Hayes. Kutherford B., bill offered by, TUT. 
 
 resolution by, 7>7. 
 
 Ila/.leton, <!. W., appointed Regent, 7:;:;. 
 Health, public. Beck, 961. 
 Heirs-at-law ot Smithson ought to be paid the 
 
 bequest, G. W. Jones, 385, 405. 
 Hendncks, T. A., remarks by, 095, G9G, G97, 705. 
 Henn, B., bill by, 521. 
 
 resolution by^ 524. 
 Henry, Prof., stands in front rank of science, 
 
 Hilliard, 482. 
 associated with Faraday, Arago, and Quete- 
 
 let, Hilliard, 482. 
 very distinguished, able, and pure, Cameron, 
 
 671. 
 
 has zeal, energy, discretion, and economy, 
 
 report of Senate Judiciary Committee, 5GO. 
 
 one of the most prudent men in the country, 
 
 Poland, 712. 
 committee on Smithson's residuary legacy, 
 
 126. 
 
 digest of act of organization by, 758. 
 exposition of plan of, 970. 
 
 Henry, Prof. Continued. 
 
 letter from, relative to G. E. Badger, 07.'.. 
 
 loss by fire at S. I., $1,500, 688, 
 
 memorial of, 131, MS, 53<>, 7<>s, 71 \. 
 
 plan of, approved by scientific men, 1'- irc< , 
 K 
 
 programme of organization of S. I., :u I. 
 
 report on fire, 689. 
 Hill, B. H., appointed Regent, 7 :. t. 
 
 memorial relative to Centennial, 751. 
 Hilliard. H. W., resolution by, 1M. 
 
 remarks by, 479, 480, 4:)3, 4'.7. 
 
 app. .inted Regent, 474, 487, 518. 
 
 appointed by Regents on committee u or- 
 ganization, 930. 
 
 Historical researches, Henry, 94G. 
 History, Henry, 946; Williams, 992; Barlow's 
 
 plan, 921. 
 !' DM!) 
 
 passage of act, Witte, Gil. 
 Hitchcock, Edw., on programme of organiza- 
 tion, :.7>, 
 Hoar, E. R.. appointed Regent, 
 
 remarks by. 
 
 resolution by, 747. 
 Hoar, G. F., remarks l,y, 7.;>'., 74 1. 
 Uolman, W. S., resolutions by, 077, 7 !'. 
 
 remarki by, 1.77, c.7s, <;>i, 711:1, 7i>>. 
 Holt, Orrin, committee of House, 171. 
 Homeopathic practice, Hubbeii, M.I. 
 Hooper, Samuel, resolution bv, 7 17. 
 Hopkins, Geo. W., resolutions by, 157, 4G6. 
 Hoi>kins, Mark, on programme of organization, 
 
 Hopkins, W. F., on programme of organization, 
 
 993. 
 
 Horses, improvement of, Hubbell, 803. 
 Horticultural and agricultural experiments, 
 
 Owen, :;..; Tapi 
 Hough, \\ in. J., remark- by, r.7, 4'.7. 
 
 resolution by, 4 ;:. 
 appoint- -.1 Ke.ir.-nt, 471. 
 
 Houston, G. S., of Alabama, committee of House, 
 847. 
 
 resolutions bv, 
 
 ,7nl. 
 
 resolution- by, 7"1, 72s. 
 remarks by, 70 1, 7".~-. 
 Hubbell, Horatio, proposed application of be- 
 
 queat 
 
 Hughes, Chr.j letter from J. Q., Adams, 2_">. 
 Hulack, the tir.-t astronomer of his age, 877. 
 Hiiiubol.U's library, .-iccount of, by Agassiz,587; 
 M'-a'-!iaii.. 
 
 Humes, 'j'h,,-. \v., ])roposedas Re-'ent, 7:1:.. 
 Hum phreys, Hector, on programme of organi- 
 
 /at ion", U7ii. 
 Hunirerionl, Henry James, mother of. Madame 
 
 le 1:1 l'..llMt, 10. 
 
 was natural son of Henry Louis Dickinson, 
 brother Of Smith-. n by Mrs. Coate.-, Is. 
 
 bequest to, 1. 
 
 suit by, :;. 
 
 known as Baron Eunice de la Batut, 18, G3. 
 
 passed under name of Dickinson, l.s. 
 
 made an allowance to Mrs. De la Batut, i*. 
 
 lived up to his income, leit nothing to pay 
 debts and funeral expenses, 31. 
 
 died at Pi>a, June .">, ].s;5, :;, 'J, 11, 3G, 41, 57, 59, 
 B& 
 
 had no heirs, never married, 0, 11, 57. 
 
 advertisement for information relative to, 25. 
 
 chancery suit against estate of Smithson, 9. 
 
 fees charged in relation to effects of, 13. 
 Hungcrfords of Audley, 1. 
 Hunt, Wash., remarks by, 400. 
 Hunter, Alex., memorial of, 2G2. 
 Hunter, R. M. T., remarks by, 521, 525. 656, 658. 
 
 bill, 521. 
 
 resolutions by, 521, 522, 523. 
 
 Speaker, appointed committees, 200. 
 
 committee of House, 247. 
 Hunter, Wm. II., of Ohio, committee of House, 
 
 171. 
 Huntington, Jabez W., remarks by, 349. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 1003 
 
 Button, Dr., compliments to Smithson, 800. 
 Hygiene, Beck, 901. 
 
 I. 
 
 Iceland waters, examination of, 8GG. 
 
 Illinois bank and internal improvement stock, 
 254. 
 
 Illinois, certificate of stock of, 252, 254, 255. 
 Treasury account with, 814. 
 .account of investment, Adams, 294. 
 and Michigan canal stock, 254. 
 
 Illinois stocks held in trust by S. I., 240, 208, 209, 
 270, 639, 040. 
 
 Illustrations, specimens, and apparatus for pri- 
 mary schools, Owen, 359. 
 
 Improvements in domestic economy, Tappan, 
 302. 
 
 Income of Institution divided by Regents into 
 two equal parts, 947. 
 
 Increase of knowledge, how to promote, Henry, 
 945. 
 
 Increasing knowledge, plans for, Witte, GIG. 
 
 Increase and diffusion of knowledge, Upham, 
 594. 
 
 Indian Affairs, Commissioner, co-operation of, 
 asked by Institution, 943. 
 
 Indian collections and paintings of Catlin, 473, 
 477. 
 
 Indiana University on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 98-2. 
 
 Indians, trust funds, interest paid in gold, G91. 
 
 Industrial art of ancients compared with mod- 
 ern, Marsh, 428. 
 
 Ingersoll, C. J., committee of House, 247. 
 resolutions by, 4LO, 402. 
 remarks by, 480. 
 
 Ingersoll, E. C., resolutions by, 716, 722. 
 
 Ingersoll, Jos. B., resolutions by, 410, 402. 
 remarks by, 387. 
 
 Institute and Institution, remarks as to name, 
 Maynard, 740. 
 
 Institution no claim upon the Government, 
 Hale, G94. 
 
 Institution not a department of Government, 
 J. Davis, 509. 
 
 Institution not to support Government museum, 
 J. Davis, 510. 
 
 Institution for physical research and applica- 
 tion of science to the useful arts, W. 11. 
 Johnson, 172. 
 
 Institution wrong and based upon misconcep- 
 tion, Hale, 002. 
 
 Instruction, duties of Government in reference 
 
 to, 910. 
 in German language, Keim, 198. 
 
 Instruments of research, Henry, 940, 947. 
 
 Instruments, Silliman, 902. 
 
 instructions in navigation and use of nauti- 
 cal, Tappan, ;'>( 
 of Smithson, 109. 
 
 Insubordination of assistant?, 020. 
 
 Insurance on Smithson money, 117. 
 
 Intellectual science, Delta, 853. 
 
 Interest account of State stocks, 272, 276, 305. 
 
 Interest on debt to S. I. to be paid in coin, de- 
 bate on, 089, 703. 
 
 Interest on bequest. United States responsible 
 for, 440, 444, 449. 
 
 Interest received and disbursed on account of 
 S. I., 041. 
 
 Interpretation of act, Badger, 555 ; English, 583; 
 Pearce, 530, 537,545; Mason, 545; Douglas, 
 550; Senate Committee on Judiciary, 5C>:'.. 
 
 Interior, Secretary, on collections of Exploring 
 
 Expedition, 505. 
 
 on enlargement of Patent Office, 514. 
 distribution of specimens proposed by, 655. 
 transfer or specimens, 658. 
 collections piacea m charge <A, GG5. 
 appropriations for collections expended 
 under direction of, G77. 
 
 Invention, history of, Marsh, 424, 427, 429. 
 
 Investigation of affairs of S. I., Badger, 5.30. 
 
 Investigation of Institution, committee ap- 
 pointed for, Meacham, 569, 573. 
 necessary, Meacham, 629. 
 report of committee, 589, 608. 
 Investigation of S. I. desired, A. Johnson, 491 ; 
 
 unnecessary, R. McClelland, 492. 
 Investment in State stocks, 158, 204, 236, 237, 
 
 294, 365, 843. 
 prohibited, 245, 246. 
 
 Investment, proposed change of, Chandler, 526. 
 Investment of extra fund in Treasury of the 
 
 United States, 507. 
 memorial relative to, 708, 709. 
 Investment of funds of 8. 1., 637, 639. 
 Invoice of boxes shipped to United States by R. 
 
 Rush, 106. 
 
 Italians, elastic resiliency of, 885. 
 Italy, documents from, relative to Huneerford's 
 death, 32, 30. 
 
 CT. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, message of, 135. 
 
 Jackson College on programme of organization, 
 
 993. 
 Jacob, Edw., selected as counsel by Mr. Rush, 
 
 opinion as counsel on case of United States, 
 
 Jardin des Plantes a model for S. I., Tappan, 
 
 321. 
 
 Jefferson, Thos., works of, given to S. I., 530. 
 Jenkins, Timothy' committee of House, 354. 
 Jewett, C. C., on library, 958. 
 additional legislation needed, 621. 
 removal of, justified, Witte, Gi'fi. 
 Johns, Bishop, loss of library of, at fire, 087. 
 Johnson, Andrew, resolutions by, 444, 457, 461, 
 
 487, 488, 489, 491, 649. 
 remarks by, 444, 455, 456, 484, 485, 487, 488, 491, 
 
 493, 494. 
 Johnson, B. P., on programme of organization, 
 
 993. 
 Johnson, R. W., resolutions by, 526, 507, 651. 
 
 remarks by, 500. 
 
 Johnson, Thos., memorial of, 306. 
 Johnson, Walter R., memorial of, and plan for 
 
 S. I., 171, 172, 309. 
 Jones, Geo. W., resolutions by, 366, 385" 389, 404. 
 
 405, 534, 052, 053. 
 
 remarks by, 307, 385, 408, 460, 526, 528, 570. 
 Jones, John W., Speaker, appointed committees, 
 
 200. 
 
 Judicial interpretation of act, Badger, 558. 
 Judiciary Committee report on whether claim 
 
 should be made for the bequest, 139. 
 Judiciary Committee of Senate, report on man- 
 agement of Institution, 503. 
 Juilly, Henry Honori, bequest to, 1. 
 
 IEC. 
 
 Kearny, Major, report of, 848. 
 Keim, Geo. May, resolution by, 198. 
 Kellogg, Stephen W., resolution by, 734. 
 Kendrick, A. C., on programme of organization, 
 
 981. 
 
 Kennedy, John P., committee of House, 171. 
 Kenyon College. Gambier, Ohio, on programme 
 
 of organization, 992. 
 Kerr, John, remarks by, 571. 
 Kerr, M. C., Speaker, appointed Regents, 75 1. 
 King, Chas., loss of pictures of, by fire, 687. 
 
 on programme of organization, 971. 
 King, D. P., remarks by, 400, 407. 
 King, Henry, proposed as manager of S. I., 334, 
 
 349. 
 
 collections by, 900. 
 
 King, W. R., Regents appointed by, 522. 
 Kinney, W. B., on programme of organization, 
 
 971. 
 Kirkpatrick, L., on programme of organization 
 
 971. 
 
1004 
 
 LM'KX. 
 
 Kirtland, Jared P., proposed as manager of S. 
 
 T ST14 *^49 
 
 Knickerbocker, N. V., memorial of, 306. 
 Knowledge, Jno. Q. Adams on, 151. 
 distinction real, between increase and diffu- 
 
 sion, Chandler, 
 what Smithstfn meant by, Barlow, 9; Delta 
 
 how to be increased and- diffused, Marsh, 414, 
 
 422; Upham, .V.i4. 
 increase and diffusion logically distinct, 
 
 Henry, 950. 
 distinction between increase and diffusion, 
 
 not to be* confined to material things, Marsh, 
 
 S. I. should be a warehouse of, Darlington, 907. 
 attempts, unduly, to stimulate ; 
 
 will be abortive, American Academ; 
 the cement to pre.-.-rve the l'ni>n, Jefferson 
 
 Davis, !('.. 
 Knowledge and science not synonymous, Up- 
 
 ham, 594. 
 
 Krauth, C. P., on programme of organization, 
 973. 
 
 Laboratory, " Delta," 8S1 
 
 low, 913, 917; U\ven, 356; Taiwan, 
 303. 
 
 report of organization committee, 931. 
 isachari: 
 Laflin, A. 11., resolutions by, :', 715, 
 
 710, 7 .!-'. 
 Land Office, geological spec;: terred 
 
 from, 7-1. 
 Lands, pn>< bheld from 
 
 certain States, :;:,!. 
 Langdale, Lord, ma-t.-r of ti,o roll-, fh-r 
 
 ing of suit, President of tli.- rnited States 
 va. Druiuinond, !'.. 
 Language?, cli:q.in, N>*; Ilubhell, sr,:j ; 883; 
 
 Wayland, 
 Law.Chapi Subbell,864; 
 
 Owen, 868 
 
 relative to annuities, :;i, ::i. 
 on which the Institution is founded, Upham, 
 
 693. 
 
 Laws of nations, WaylfUQ ' 
 Lecture room 
 
 report of organization conn: 
 Lectures, Adams, sir,; Barlow. 912, -ii 
 Chapin, 857, Choate, 311; Coop. 
 Henry, 947, 918, 950, 958 ; Owen, :r>s, .T59, 382; 
 Pearce, 5-1 1 
 
 302, 334; Upham, 59:j; Southern Literary 
 Messenger, 892. 
 authorized by Regents, 941, 
 debates on, 326, i 
 only second to art of printiiiir a< a means of 
 
 extending knowledge, . : . 
 report of organization committee, 
 Legislation, what is required, Witt- 
 Leigh, Benj. W., report of Committee on Judi- 
 
 ciary on bequest, 135. 
 resolutions by, 140, 142. 
 Lesquereux, Leo., proposed as Regent, 7U4. 
 Letters- 
 relative to Prof. Henry's programme of or- 
 
 ganization, 9G1. 
 right and practice of opening by the Secre- 
 
 tary, 627. 
 J. Q. Adams to C. Hughes, relative to observa- 
 
 tories, 229. 
 
 Prof. Agassiz on management of S. I,, 586. 
 Astronomer Royal, G. B. Airy, on astronomi- 
 
 cal observatories, 2ijO. 
 Daniel Brent to R. Rush, 27. 
 Rufus Choate, 535, 569. 
 Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate to R. Rush, 30, 
 
 32, 36, 41, 49, G9, 75, 77, 101. 
 Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate to A. Vail, 3. 
 Gen. Delafield, resignation as Regent, 721. 
 
 Letters Continued. 
 C. C. Felton on management of Institut 
 
 Secretary of the Treasury, J. Gnthrie, 
 Smithsonian fun< 
 
 John Forsyth, relative to applications "t b 
 quest 
 
 John For.-yth to CL C. Cambreleng and - 
 
 Wriirht, Committee >M Way- and M.' 
 
 and Committee <>\\ Finau.-e, \'>~. 
 John Forsytu to R. Rush, 0, 1.'., 4:., 17, 1 1". 
 John Forsyth t> A. Vail, :. 
 John Forsyth to Levi Woodbury, 
 
 of the Treasury, 119. 
 Felix Grundy, Attorney General, to I.rvi 
 
 Woodburyi'lJl. 
 Prof. Henry on printing ba-k : 
 
 a*anton, Fifth Auditor, to J.hn Foi>vth, 
 
 i !'.! nt, 28. 
 K. llu-h to ( larke, Fvnm.,ro. A Fladgat- . 
 
 1!. lln<\\ to John Forsyth, s, i: 1 ., 14, 17, 18, 19, 
 J. C. 
 
 lithsonfun. 
 
 rtinent ..f E 
 
 to > , l-'it'tb Auditor, I l;i. 
 
 \. \ ail to J.ilin Forsyth, 4. 
 
 f 'l'i> asm 
 -, i _!'. 
 
 Secretary .-I' Tr. MOry, I.. \Vo.,dbury, 
 
 mentof Lnrestmenta In - 
 
 committ' 
 Librarian, duty of, Henry, 947. 
 
 Librarian and a--i-tants to I..- appointed by 
 
 Libraries, utility of, Mar-h, 417. 
 account of foreign, i;. < 'linnt--, :;i::. 
 phins . Henry, 'M*. 
 
 Library i-,,tnniittee of ( mr-T-'-s in cha 
 
 lit ion, :,_'.-,. 
 
 Libra: \ 3. 1.. Adam--, -1 in; Aira-.-i/, "*>7 ; 
 
 an Antiqu 
 
 'IT; lliK-hanan, :;J1; 
 
 8 ; H< nry, !i|.-,, :H7: !-:.7; Hub. 
 ' ireh, III: M 
 
 . 
 
 \v. Smith, 9' 
 pan, . ; Thiinnan, 41'': ' 
 
 : Wuyland, sll; Witte, I;KI, ill I, 
 
 ae< dof, in rnite-i States, 313. 
 ;, :;n. 
 
 action of House on. f 
 report of organization oommittee, 931,938. 
 
 resolution of Kesri-nt* 5 , '!-. 
 
 from r.eanfort, s. < '., d'-|.ositel in Institution 
 d'-troyed by tiro, 687. 
 
 Bishop Johns'", destroyed by fire, 687. 
 
 plans for, ('. <'. .Ie\\-ett, 
 Library of Congress, Witte, 614. 
 
 i;e-_'.'Mts to have use of, 7:;:;, 747. 
 
 transfer of S. I. to, 701, 7(7. 
 Library of Gottingen, Marsh, 419. 
 Licht, hypotheses respecting, Henry, n:>i. 
 
 theory of, a speculation, American Academy. 
 
 967. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, power of attorney from, 128. 
 Lindsley, Philip, on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 982. 
 Linn, Lewis F., bill, 238. 
 
 remarks by, 244. 
 Literature, Henry, 940. 
 Local objects a perversion of the trust, Henry, 
 
 944. 
 Logic, Hubbell, 864. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 1005 
 
 .London Institution for diffusion of knowledge, 
 
 Henry, 050. 
 Longfellow, Henry W., on programme of organ- 
 
 ization, 97U. 
 
 Longitudes, Manly, 989. 
 Losses by the fire at th'e Institution, 687. 
 Lucas, Wm., appointed on committee of House 
 
 of Representatives, 2GG. 
 Lunar tables, Manly, 989. 
 Lying-in hospital, Hale, CGI. 
 
 McClelland, R., remarks by, 437, 492. 
 
 appointed Regent, 487. 
 McClernand, John A., resolution by, 464. 
 McCrary, Geo. W., resolution by, 756. 
 memorial relative to Centennial, 751. 
 appointed Regent, 754. 
 McDougall, Jas. A., 676. 
 McGuire, J. C., loss by fire $1,000, 687. 
 Mcllvaiue, Abr. R., remarks by, 501. 
 McKay, Jas. J., resolution by, '-57. 
 McKeunan, Thos. M. T., special committee of 
 
 House, 148, 
 
 McPlierson, Ed\v., resolutions by, 681, 682, 683. ' 
 remarks by, 682. 
 appointed Regent, 677. 
 Mace, Daniel, remarks by, 527. 
 
 resolution by, 527. 
 Macie, James "Lewis, name of Smithson until 
 
 he left Oxford University, 61. 
 Maclean, John, proposed as Regent, 727, 734, 735. 
 
 elected Regent, 710, 711. 
 MacMaster, E. D., on programme of organiza- 
 
 tion, 978: 
 Madison University on programme of organi- 
 
 zation, 981. 
 
 Magnetical surveys, Henry, 945. 
 Maine memorial for an observatory, 848. 
 Maladministration, charge of, refuted, Witte, 
 
 623. 
 
 Management of thetfund, Adams, 845. 
 Management of Institution, investigation of, 
 
 by House of Representatives, 569. 
 approved by American Philosophical Society, 
 
 585. 
 report of House of Representatives commit- 
 
 tee, Upham, 589 ; Witte, 608. 
 remarks on, English, 574. 
 pursued with zeal, integrity, &c., Upham, 598. 
 Managers to appoint professors, &c., Owen, 358. 
 Managers of 8. 1., Tappan, 263. 
 Manly, B., on programme of organization, 989.' 
 Mann, Horace, on normal schools, 380. 
 Manual labor university proposed, A. Johnson, 
 
 489. 
 
 Manuscripts of Smithson, 109. 
 Marietta College on programme of organiza- 
 
 tion, 989. 
 Marsh, G. P., committee of House of Repre- 
 
 sentatives, 354, 409, 410, 499. 
 resolution by, 467. 
 appointed Regent, 487. 
 Martin, Chas., on programme of organization, 
 
 979. 
 Masonic University of Tennessee on pro- 
 
 gramme of organization, 993. 
 Mason, J. M., remarks by, 545, 648, 669, 670. 
 resolutions by, 518, 648, 651. 
 appointed Regent, 517, 649. 
 interpretation of act of organization, 538. 
 Master in chancery, William Nassau, Sr., case 
 
 of Smithson bequest referred to, 25. 
 report of, confirmed, March 27, 1838, 55. 
 Matcria medica, Beck, 961. 
 Mathematics, Cooper, 838; "Delta," 883, 884; 
 
 Ewcll, 982; Hubbell, 863. 
 
 Maule, Geo., award to, by Court of Chancery, 66. 
 Maury, M. F., on programme of organization, 
 
 974. 
 
 services of, 395. 
 
 Maynard, H., remarks by, 717, 735, 740. 
 resolution by, 734. 
 
 Mayor of Washington as Regent, repeal of act, 
 
 723, 725. 
 
 Meacham, J., resolutions by, 524, 568, 569, 572. 
 remarks by, 569, 570, 629, 650. 
 declined to serve on committee of investiga- 
 tion, 573. 
 
 appointed Regent, 524, 526, 649. 
 resignation of, as Regent, 650. 
 Mechanics, Institution, for diffusion of knowl- 
 edge, Henry, 950. 
 Medal by King of Denmark for discovery of 
 
 comets, 967. 
 Medals for original mernpirs, H^enry, 945. 
 
 to students, Chapin, 859. 
 Mediator, packet, Smithson's bequest brought 
 
 to United States in, 102. 
 Medical jurisprudence, Beck, 961. 
 Medicine, Beck, 901 ; Chapin, 858 ; Cooper, 838 ; 
 
 Hubbell, 864; Wayland 841. 
 Meigs, Gen. M. C., plan of building for Govern- 
 ment collections, 749, 753. 
 Memoir of Smithson by W. R. Johnson, 369. 
 Memoirs, rules for accepting, Henry, 945. 
 Memorials- 
 Agricultural Society of the United States, 261. 
 American Philosophical Society, 585. 
 B. Birdsall, 248. 
 
 citizens of Huron county, Ohio, 306. 
 citizens of Madison county, N. Y., 352. 
 citizens of Steuben county, N. Y., 306. 
 citizens of Washington, 248. 
 convention of county superintendents of 
 
 common schools, N. Y., 353. 
 corporation of city of Washington, 200. 
 Chas. L. Fleischman, 171, 186. 
 Illinois Educational Convention, 648. 
 Walter R. Johnson, 171. 
 Kentucky State Agricultural Society, 200. 
 H. C. Merriam, 265. 
 Cons. S. Rafinesque, 201. 
 Regents relative to increasing trust fund, 506, 
 
 529, 708. 
 Regents to Congress relative to residuary 
 
 legacy, 131. 
 Regents asking appropriation for museum, 
 
 714. 
 Regents for building for collections, 748, 754, 
 
 755. 
 
 Richard Rush, 248, 260. 
 Mercer, C. F., bill for observatory, 846. 
 Message of President Jackson, 135. 
 Tyler, 247, 2Q2. 
 Van Buren, 159, 171. 
 
 Metaphysics, Chapin, 859; Hubbell, 864. 
 Meteorological observations, Estabrook, 990; 
 
 Henry, 945, 946 ; Manly, 990. 
 Meteorological work of L. Blodget, 590 ; Espv, 
 
 530;Sfl.,532. 
 
 Miami University on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 978. 
 Michigan stock, account of, 120, 237, 246, 268, 
 
 270, 294, 639, 640. 
 
 Michigan, certificate of stock of, 253. 
 interest, explanation of, McClelland, 437. 
 Treasury account with, 810. 
 Microscope, perfection of, Henry, 951. 
 Military Academy at West Point, character of 
 
 instruction in, 891. 
 ant for support of, 158, 842. 
 bill to repeal part of act relative to, 242, 243, 
 
 245, 246. 
 
 on programme of organization, 977. 
 Mineral resources, Silliman, 963; W.R.Johnson, 
 
 174. 
 
 Minerals of Smithson, 109. 
 Mines, practical instruction in exploration and 
 
 working of, Tappan, 302. 
 Mining, Wayland, 840. 
 Mint of the United States, Smithson's money 
 
 delivered to, in sovereigns, 110, 111. 
 Models, Chapin, 859. 
 
 resolution of Regents, 943. 
 Models of Antiquities, Gray, 969; Henry, 947 ; 
 Jewett, 960. 
 
1006 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Monroe, Jas., resolution by, 734. 
 
 remarks by, 734, 741. 
 Moore, Nath'l F., on programme of organiza- 
 
 tion, 971. 
 
 Moral science, Rush, 852. 
 Moral statistics, Henry, 946. 
 Moral suasion to induce States to pay interest, 
 
 Adams, 434, 453, 465. 
 action of House on, 466. 
 Morehead, James T., remarks by, 331. 
 Morrill, Lot M., remarks by, 729, 730. 
 Morrill, Justin S., resolution by, 752, 753. 
 bill, 752. 
 
 remarks by, 078, 751, 753. 
 Morse. Isaac H., bill, 430. 
 resolution by, 504. 
 remarks by, 428. 502. 
 Mounds, exploration of, Henry, 94T,, 
 Muhlenberg, F. A., Jr., on programme of organi- 
 
 zation, 990. 
 
 Munroe, James, resolution by, 
 Murrav, Nicholas, on programme of organiza- 
 
 zafron, 971. 
 Museum, Barlow, 911, 917; Chandler, 
 
 Chapin, 8:.!) ; Darlington, 901 ; English, :.:., ; 
 
 Henry, MI:., !i:,s ; U. P. Marsh, 414, 4ir, ; 
 
 Owen, 355; Poinsett, 8:i!>: Silliman, 962; 
 
 Tappan, 262, 302, 303 ; " Delta," 881. 
 
 memorial relative to increase of, 714, 740, TV-. 
 
 necessity for new building for, Morrill, 7.M; 
 
 Sargent, 752; Stevenson, 748, 752. 
 resolution of Regents, 942. 
 expenses of, for 1868 in detail, 717. 
 necessity of increased appropriations for, Po- 
 
 land, 7 11. 
 
 the really popular feature, Holman, 680. 
 gift of an elephant to the Government, J. 
 
 ~, 509. 
 not to be supported from Smithson fuiitl, J. 
 
 Davis. 610. 
 national, should remain in buildings fur- 
 
 nished by Government, Silliman, 
 should be taken off the hands of Institution, 
 
 Garfield,Taa 
 no obligation on Institution to receiv. 
 
 ernment, J. Davi- 
 no part of plan to collect a large, J. 1 
 
 510. 
 
 report of organization committee, 9:',l. 
 Government, connection of, with Institution, 
 
 664-672. 
 
 Patent Office, not to be taken fcy 8. 1., 505. 
 calculated to carry out purposes of original 
 grant, Holman, 07 - 
 
 National, ridicule of improper use of title, 
 Allen, 846. 
 
 National Academy of Sciences, resolution to 
 
 publish report of, 7"_'. 
 National agricultural school and farm, Fleisch- 
 
 man, 171. 
 
 National establishment, S. I. not a, B 
 National Institute, bill to incorporate 
 Darlington, 901, 908; Duponceau, 8! <. 
 Poinsett, 899; Preston, 239; Linn, 238; 
 Walker, 340, 346; Woodbury, 322, 335. 
 debates on, 323, 335, 337, 340, 346, 350. 
 two Regents to be members of, repealed, 684, 
 
 685. 
 
 charter of, expired, 684, 685. 
 collections of, in Patent Office, 505. 
 collections of, now in S. I., B 
 to nominate officers of the S. I., 238. 
 National Museum and Botanic Garden, Darling- 
 
 ton, 901. 
 
 National Museum, Gray, 969; Henry, 948. 
 collection to be entitled, Ingersoll, };_'. 
 foundation of, Poinsett, 900. 
 See Museum. 
 National University, Chapin, 859 ; Clayton, 143; 
 
 Leigh, 142 ; Preston, 141. 
 See University. 
 
 Natural history, Darlington, 905; Henry, 945, 
 
 : EubbeU.863: Tappan, 263. 
 Natural philosophy, Henry, '.{<'. 
 Nautical Almanac," Adams, M7. 
 Navy, improvement of, Hubbell, 860. 
 Secretary of, co-operation asked by Institu- 
 tion. 
 Department, meteorological work of Prof. 
 
 Espy. 
 
 Nephew of Smithson. See Hungerford. 
 Neptune, Leverrier's speculations, Gray, 967. 
 New Jersey Historical Society, on programme 
 
 of organisation. 97ft 
 Newspapers in which advertisements were 
 
 made for heirs >f Smithson, -Jl. 
 New York Airrii-ultural Society on programme 
 
 of organ i/.at ion. 
 
 New York, natural tUstor? of! 9S& 
 Newton Theological Institution, Mass., on pro- 
 gramme of organisation, '>!-. 
 Nichols, M. H., resolution by, i;.v_'. 
 Nicholson's Ma^a/ii 
 Nicolet, collections by, 900. 
 
 hn M., remarks i 
 Normal instruction advocated, Owen, 379; Stan- 
 
 . 402. 
 
 ridieul.-d by A. Johnson, 4.V.. 
 aetjon of BOOM 
 Normal school, Harlow. :n I : <t\ven, 
 
 action of Congress^ | "],hain. 
 North, Simeon, on programme of organisation, 
 
 North American Review, cxtnvt from, on li- 
 
 hrari' 
 
 Northumberland, Hugh, first Duke of, 1. 
 Northumberland, Duke 
 
 O- 
 
 Oakland College, Miss., on programme of organ- 
 
 Isatioi 
 Obituary notices of distinguished Individuals, 
 
 Observatories, ace,, nut of, -J 1 . 
 
 Obsor -!': l'-:irlo\v, 
 
 913: Darlington, 902; Delta, 
 
 : Stanton, 395, 396; I'ph 
 Washington, on programme of organisation, 
 074 
 
 Officers of Army, Navy, Ac., to aid Institution, 
 
 Kiisli, 8.V). 
 Officers of the Institution, Upham, flOl; Ameri- 
 
 \',ti.|iiarian S 
 
 digest of act relative to, 71,0. 
 Ogle, Chas., committee of House, 171, 200. 
 Ohio, certii: k of, 2.V.. 
 
 stocks held in trust by S. I., 246, 269, 270, 039, 
 
 640. 
 
 stocks, Treasury account with, 820. 
 Oldberg, first secretary of Koyai s.eiety of Lon- 
 don, 941. 
 
 Olds, Edson l?.. remarks by, .".7. 
 Operation^ of Institution, nature and value of^ 
 
 Garnel.l, 7 is. 
 account of, <;. ]'.. lion: . 
 Opinion of Attorney General Felix Grimily on 
 
 Smithson fiiml, 'li'I. 
 Opinion of counsel, Th. Pemberton and Kd. 
 
 Jacob, i-j. 
 
 Opposition to any plan for S. I.. Allen, 343. 
 Ordnance officers, collections by, 900. 
 Ortranixation of Institution, account of, 000. 
 Organization, programme of, proposed by Prof. 
 
 Jos. Henry, nil. 
 
 report of committee of Regents, 930. 
 Original memoirs, Henry, :ti:>. 
 Original research, Chapin, 857 ; Henry, 945, 951. 
 report of organization committee, 931. 
 resolution of Regents, 941, OU. 
 Orr, J. L., Speaker, appointed Regents, 050. 
 Owen, D. D., collections by, wx>. 
 geological report of, given to S. I., .">2.,. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 100T 
 
 Owen, Robert Dale, committee of House, 354. 
 bills offered by, 351, 350. 
 resolutions by, 410, 434, 430, 4G1, 403, 473. 
 remarks by, 355, 300, 407, 431, 449, 455, 458. 
 appointed Regent, 474. 
 appointed on committee on organization by 
 
 Regents, 930. 
 report of, to Regents, on plan of organization, 
 
 930. 
 
 plan discussed, Barlow, 914. 
 Oxford University, Smithson graduated under 
 
 name of James Lewis Maeie, 01. 
 publications of, Rush, 851. 
 
 Packard, A. S., on programme of organization, 
 
 980. 
 
 Painting belonging to Smithson, 78. 
 Parens patrias of the District of Columbia, the 
 
 United States, 139, 140. 
 Parker, James H., remarks by, 155. 
 Parker, Peter, proposed as Regent, 727, 734, 735. 
 elected Regent, 710, 711. 
 memorial relative to Centennial, 751. 
 Parsons, C. W., on programme of organization, 
 
 983. 
 Patent Office, condition of models in, Walker, 
 
 514. 
 
 collections, Walker, 514. 
 Government collections not to be removed 
 
 from, 505. 
 
 necessity for accommodations for, 515. 
 Pathology, Hubbell, 804. 
 Patterson, Jas. W., bills offered by, 707, 708. 
 resolutions by, 707, 709. 
 appointed Regent, 085. 
 committee to memorialize Congress as to re- 
 
 siduary legacy, 130. 
 presented memorial to Congress, 132. 
 resolution relative to Smithson residuary 
 
 legacy, 127. 
 Peabody, Geo., & Co., deposit of Smithson's re- 
 
 siduary legacy with, 125, 127. 
 Peabody, Geo., did not claim commission, but 
 allowed four per cent, interest on Smithson 
 money, 127, 128. 
 
 Pearce, James A., bill offered by, 521. 
 remarks by, 325, 511, 518, 525, 530, 550, 501, 050, 
 
 G58, 059, 003. 
 resolutions by, 500, 510, 521, 522, 524, 520, 535, 
 
 507, 049, 051, 054. 
 appointed Regent, 477, 049, 072. 
 special committee of House, 148. 
 Peirce, Benj., on programme of organization, 
 970. 
 on researches and publications of S. I., 588, 
 
 019. 
 Pemberton, Thos., opinion as counsel on case 
 
 of United States, 12. 
 selected as counsel by Mr. Rush, 15. 
 opened case for United States in Chancery, 20. 
 argument in Court of Chancery, 50. 
 statement of arrears in Chancery, 39. 
 Penal reform, Henry, 940. 
 Pendleton, James M., resolution by, 720. 
 Pennington, \Vm., Speaker, appointed Regents, 
 
 050. 
 Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, on pro- 
 
 gramme of organization, 973. 
 Pennybacker, Isaac S., appointed by Regents 
 
 on organization committee, 930. 
 death of, 474. 
 Penny Magazine, 930. 
 Percy, Lord, 150. 
 Periodical exhibiting progress of knowledge 
 
 proposed. Grable, 589. 
 Periodicals, Henry, 947. 
 Personal effects of Smithson, 78, 108. 
 opinion of Attorney General relative to, 122. 
 condition of, when received by Mr. Rush, 117, 
 
 118. 
 
 schedule of, made at time of his death, 101. 
 transferred to Henry J. Hungerford, 101. 
 
 Pettit, John, remarks by, 503. 
 report of Committee on Judiciary, on man- 
 
 agement of Institution, 503. 
 Phelps, John Smith, remarks by, 530, 531. 
 Phelps, Samuel S., remarks by, 330. 
 Philadelphia Museum, Poinsett, 899. 
 Philology, Henry, 940; Hubbell, 804; Kendrick, 
 
 982. 
 Philosophy, mental and moral, Henry, 940 ;. 
 
 Sparrow, 974 ; Wayland, 840. 
 Physical Atlas of the United States, Henry,. 
 
 945. 
 Physical knowledge, great value of, " Delta," 
 
 887. 
 Physical researches, provided by act, Pearce,. 
 
 541. 
 
 Physical science, Rush, 852 ; " Delta," 883. 
 aided by speculation, Marsh, 423. 
 of less importance than generally believed, 
 
 Marsh, 427. 
 Physical sciences, to be restricted to, report of 
 
 organization committee, 935. 
 memorial for institution for experiments in, 
 
 171, 172. 
 
 Physical statistics, Henry, 940. 
 Physics, Chapin, 858 ; Henry, 940 ; Hubbell, 803. 
 Physiology, Beck, 901 ; Hubbell, 804; Wayland, 
 
 840. 
 Pickard, Josiah L., on programme of organiza- 
 
 tion, 992. 
 Picture gallery, contents of, destroyed by fire, 
 
 087. 
 
 Plans for disposing of fund, 159, 837. 
 Plans for organization of S. I. See Diary of 
 
 Adams. 
 
 report of committee, Witte, 608. 
 experience showed that no two men agreed on, 
 
 Adams, 442. 
 
 history of discussion of, Upham, 592. 
 Planting and finishing roads and walks through 
 
 Smithsonian grounds, 521. 
 Plaster casts of works of art, Jewett, 959. 
 Plates and engravings of Wilkes' narrative 
 
 transferred to S. I., 519. 
 Platteville Academy, Wis., on programme of 
 
 organization, 992. 
 Plea for a national museum and botanic garden, 
 
 Darlington, 901. 
 
 Pleasonton, S., statement of account, 54. 
 Poinsett, Joel R., on National Institution and 
 
 Smithson bequest, 899. 
 Poland, Luke P., remarks by, 711, 712, 713. 
 resolutions by, 711, 722, 725, 720, 727. 
 appointed Regent, 710, 711, 721. 
 Political collectanea, Barlow, 921. 
 Political economy, Cooper, 838; Henry, 946; 
 
 MacMaster, 979 ; Wayland, 840. 
 Political events of the world, Henry, 946. 
 Political institutions, effect of, Adams, 152. 
 Political statistics, Henry, 940. 
 Pollock, James, resolution by, 504. 
 Polk, James K., Speaker, appointed commit- 
 
 tees, 148, 171, 198. 
 Pompeii, models of, Jewett, 960. 
 Pond, Enoch, on programme of organization, 
 
 972. 
 Postage, free, proposed on publications of S. I., 
 
 Henn, 524. 
 
 proposed for S. I., Mace, 527. 
 exchange packages to be free of, 720. 
 Potter, E. D., appointed committee House of 
 
 Representatives, 266. 
 Powell, J. W., appropriation for, placed under 
 
 direction of S. I., 723. 
 Power of attorney to Fladgate, Clarke & Finch 
 
 to collect residuary legacy of Smithson, 125. 
 desired by Mr. Rush to act for President. 44. 
 granted to Mr. Rush to receive Smithson 
 
 legacy, 47. 
 tt, Th 
 
 Pratt, Thos. G., remarks by, 524, 525. 
 Premiums for original papers, report of organi- 
 
 zation committee, 934. 
 
 for the best treatises on given subjects, 
 Cooper, 838. 
 
1008 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Premiums, Henry, 947, 952. 
 
 resolution of Regents. 941, 942. 
 Preservation of collections, appropriation for, 
 
 625, 654. 
 appropriation, discussion on, 677, 709, 711, 716, 
 
 724,754. 
 President of United States, power of attorney 
 
 to Fladgate, Clarke & Finch, 125. 
 suit to be in name of, 1(3. 
 See Messages. 
 
 Van Buren's request for applications of be- 
 quest, 837. 
 
 Press, the importance of, in diffusing knowl- 
 edge. Henry, 955. 
 of University of Oxford for publication of 
 
 communications and lectures, Rush, > d. 
 Preston, Wm. C., committee of Senate, !<>, _T. 
 bills offered by, 239, 247. 
 resolutions by, 242, 490. 
 remarks by, 141, 143, 1 ;, lfi.1, 242. 
 Price, Hiram, resolution by, 726, 727. 
 Prince, B., resolution by, 672. 
 Printing essays, Owen, 359. 
 Printing essays and lectures, Rush, 851. 
 Prize medals to students, Rush. 
 Prizes for essays on physical aciences, Birdsall, 
 
 248. 
 
 practical subjects, Morse, 431. 
 Professional schools, Wavland, 839. 
 Professor of astronomy, Tappan, 263, 302. 
 . chemistry, Tappan, 2<>3, 302. 
 geology, Tappan. 302. 
 natural history. Tappan, 263, 302. 
 Professors, 893 ; Chapin, 857, 858. 
 action of House on, 463. 
 as wants of science require. Tappan, 263, 302. 
 lectures on law, physic, or divinity excluded, 
 
 Tappan, 263. 
 
 law, medicine, exact sciences, physics, 
 ics, modern languages, English Literature. 
 Ameriean history, American constitutional 
 law, American institutions, civil enpini !- 
 inp, architecture, practical application of 
 science to mechanic art-, <'hapin,857. 
 . pure mathematics, applied mathematics, 
 astronomy, natural philosophy, natural his- 
 tory, science of rearing and taking care of 
 domestic animals and agricultural products, 
 oriental languages, modern languages, phi- 
 lology, criticism, logic, metaphysics, medi- 
 iii", law, homoeopathic materiamedica and 
 practice, Hubbell, 863. 
 
 on application of science to productive and 
 liberal arts of life, improvements in agri- 
 culture, manufactures, trades, and domestic 
 . economy, Owen, 359. 
 See Tappan. 
 
 Professorships, report of organization commit- 
 tee, ;i38; Wayland, MI. 
 Programme of organization of S. I., by Prof. 
 
 Jos. Henry. 944. 
 Programme to be adopted provisionally, Henry, 
 
 949. 
 
 letters relative to, 961. 
 Proposed applications of Smithson's bequest, 
 
 837. 
 Protection of property, digest of act relative to, 
 
 762. 
 Provision for objects not mentioned in act of 
 
 organization, 762. 
 
 Pruyn. J. V. L., appointed Regent, 711. 
 resolution by, 716. 
 remarks by, 713. 
 
 Publications: annual compendium of practi- 
 cal science, Barlow, 910. 
 reports on progress of knowledge, Henry. 9 1.">. 
 reports of progress in knowledge throughout 
 the world, report of organization commit- 
 tee, 934, 937. 
 treatises on subjects of general interest, I 
 
 Henry, 945. 
 
 works in popular form on the sciences, Tap- 
 pan, 305. 
 
 Publications Continued. 
 Smithsonian contributions to knowledge, 
 
 report of organization committee, 931. 
 books for the Mind, (Jiles, 459. 
 prize essays, M.T.--. t.:i. 
 a new edition of \VilUe>' Narrative .~iif>. 
 Barlow, 913; Gray, !(,;: Hem 
 historical documents, Barlow, n-ji. 
 
 apolitie:ii collectanea, Barlow, 9SL 
 
 scientific jnqx-rs from societies and individ- 
 uals, Rush, 851. 
 reports on new discoveries in science, Henry, 
 
 scientific works, Henry, 952. 
 transactions, Duponceau, S'J7. 
 Barlow's schemes :. 
 volume of pi irlow, 920. 
 
 works in popular form on the sciences and on 
 
 the aid they bring to l;il.or, Tapp-r . 
 in brief and popular form on subjects of gen- 
 
 int-Te>t, report of organization com- 
 
 authorized \>y IN^-nN, nil, 912. 
 
 i of House < 
 diMieulties in, rplnun. 
 
 those of other establishments, 
 Henn 
 of Institution, account of, English, .".77; 
 
 i ham, 635. 
 teachers, not for pupils of schools, Heniy, 
 
 to l>e sent free by mail, proposed, B. Henn, 
 
 nation of, in Europe, 586, CIS. 
 nil. > l..r, '.Jl. 
 
 lution of Refconts, 912. 
 - of, Barlow, 
 
 on agriculture, education, Ac., proposed, Km- 
 l-ri' . 
 
 pointed on committee of in- 
 vestigation 
 remarks by. 
 
 declined to .sign report of committee on in- 
 vestigation, 5S9. 
 
 Q, 
 
 Qualifications of Secretary of S. L, report of or- 
 ganization committe. . 
 
 IR,. 
 Ragsdale, B. II., on programme of organization, 
 
 Ramsey, Alex. S., remarks by, 7:51. 
 
 Randal'l, B-nj., eoinmittec ot House, 247. 
 
 Randall, S. J., remarks by, 7 1 1. 
 
 Randall, S. .S., resolutions relative to bequest, 
 
 Kathhitn, Goo., remarks by, 445, 456. 
 tion i'.v, n;r ) . 
 
 of Arkansas, 252. 
 Record of scientific discovery proposed, Barlow, 
 
 rax 
 
 Regents, appointment of, 474, 475, 17S 177, 17>, 
 
 487, 49(1, r-o-_', r,.M-,, 5ir., :,is, -,i;i, :,-_', 
 
 526, :. 
 elected, 85 ;, ."lit, :,-;, .-,_ i, :,:v>, 568, 
 
 648,7:; 
 
 discussion 'of candidates 7:;i. 
 digest of act relative to, 7.")!*. 
 to oe members of National Institute repealed, 
 
 684, 685. 
 authorized to use Library of Congress, 733, 
 
 717. 
 Governor of Territory to bo one of the, 723, 
 
 726. 
 
 authorized to purchase City Hall, 475. 
 how they should be selected, Cox, 742 ; Hoar, 
 
 736; Maynard, 740 : Monroe, 741; Storm, 743. 
 organization of, Barlow, '.il>;, 919. 
 remarks on title of, A. Johnson, 485. 
 no right to draw expenses and mileage as 
 
INDEX. 
 
 1009 
 
 such and as members of Congress, A. John- 
 son, 496. 
 programme of organization by Prof. Henry 
 
 presented to, 944. 
 have managed affairs wisely, faithfully, and 
 
 judiciously, Witte, 628. 
 ought to be sustained, Clayton, 562. 
 memorial of, for new building, 749, 754. 
 memorial from, to Congress on extra fund, 
 
 .V Mi, 529. 
 resolution relative to G. E. Badger, 478, 67"), 
 
 676. 
 resolutions adopted on plan of organization, 
 
 941, 942. 
 
 resolutions of compromise, 941, 942. 
 resolutions relative to residuary legacy, 125, 
 
 132, 
 
 resolutions on plan of organization, 930. 
 Rencher, Abr., resolution by, 170. 
 Renwick, James, Jr., plan of building adopted 
 
 by Regents, 932. 
 
 Report of Prof. Henry, extracts from, for 1861, 
 
 12:;; 1S112, 125; 1863,125: 1864,126; 1865,127. 
 
 committee of Senate and House relative to 
 
 the tire at the Institution, 686. 
 Committee on fire, extras printed, 689. 
 Committee of Regents relative to fire at S. I., 
 
 686. 
 Secretary of S. I. on residuary bequest, 12:!, 
 
 125, 126, 127. 
 
 Institution, printing ordered by Congress, 
 478, 487, 490, 504, 505, 506, 516, 517, 518, 511), 
 522, 523, 526, 534, 567, 568, 628, 649, 650, 651, 
 652, (553, 654, 672, 673, 675, 677, 682, 683, 685, 
 689, 702, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 715, 716, 
 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 732, 733, 
 745, 747, 748, 753, 754, 756. 
 Executive Committee of the S. I. on residu- 
 ary legacy, 128. 
 on the canal, 710. 
 organization committee of Board of Regents, 
 
 930. 
 
 Secretary of State, 135, 157, 159. 
 Report to Congress to contain popular account 
 
 of memoirs, Henry, 945, 
 digest of act relative to, 761. 
 Reports on new discoveries in science, Henry, 
 
 946. 
 
 progress of knowledge, Henry, 945, 956. 
 progress of knowledge authorized by Regents, 
 
 941, 942. 
 
 knowledge, how distributed, Henry, 946. 
 Reports of S. I., why Congress should print, 
 
 Hamlin, 729, 732: 
 whv they should be freely circulated, 
 
 J. Davis, 517. 
 
 objections to printing, A. Johnson, 487, 493. 
 2,000 ordered from stereotype plates, 724, 726. 
 Researches, Agassiz, 587,620; American Acad- 
 emy, 967; English, 577, 580; Henry, 945; 
 Meacham, 636 ; Pearce, 541 ; B. Peirce, 588, 
 619; Silliman,963; Witte, 617, 
 Residuary bequest of Smithson, 123, 124, 125, 
 
 126, 127, 128. 129, 130, 131, 132, 706. 
 Resignation of Rufus Choate as Regent, 535. 
 remarks on, by Badger, 554; Butler, 560; 
 Clayton, 561; Douglas, 550; Mason, 545; 
 Seward, 558 ; Weller, 561. 
 debate in House on, 569. 
 Resolution to retain proceeds of public lands, 
 
 &c., 350. 
 Resloution of Regents to enlarge permanent 
 
 fund, 508. 
 Resolutions by convention of superintendents 
 
 of schools in New York, 353. 
 relative to residuary legacy, 125, 132. f 
 Resolutions on plan of organization adopted by 
 
 Regents, 941. 
 Review of current or emergent literature, Wy- 
 
 lie, 983. 
 Rewards for memoirs containing new truths, 
 
 Henry, 945. 
 Rewards, Humphreys, 976. 
 
 64 
 
 1,'hiTs, Win. J., loss by tin- .-it Institution $1,200, 
 
 688. 
 
 Rhetoric, Wayland, 840. 
 Rhett, H. B., remark* i.y, 4W, 5i,s. 
 Rhode Island Historical .Society <>u programme 
 
 of organization, 983. 
 Rice, Henry M., remarks by, 669. 
 Rice, John H., bill offered by, 70:5. 
 
 resolution by, 7<3. 
 
 Richardson. Win. A., remarks by, 676. 
 fths 
 
 & Co., account of Sinfthson residuary 
 legacy, 128. 
 deposit to credit of, 133. 
 Ripley, H. J., on programme of organization, 
 
 972. 
 Rives, W. C., committee of Senate, 166. 
 
 remarks by, :i27. 
 
 Bobbins, A., bills offered by, 166, 167, 168. 
 committee of Senate, 166. 
 remarks by, 159. 
 resolutions by, 159, 166, 169. 
 Roberts, Ellis H., resolution by, 725. 
 Robinson, E., on programme of organization, 
 
 977. 
 
 Roman literature and history, 877. 
 Rothschild, M., to pay R. Rush's expenses in 
 
 London, 7. 
 Royal Institution, London weekly meetings of, 
 
 Henry, 958. 
 
 plan of, for publication, 621. 
 Ro3 T al Society for increase of knowledge, 
 
 Henry, 950. 
 Royal Society of London, Smithson's original 
 
 bequest to, 587, 599. 
 
 Smithson's misunderstanding with, 587,599. 
 Rules o{ Institution relative to scientific publi- 
 
 cations, 621. 
 
 Rush, Richard, appointed agent to prosecute 
 claim of United States to Smithson's be- 
 quest, 6. 
 
 bond for $500,000, to be given by, 6. 
 compensation to be $3,000 per annum, 6. 
 contingent expenses to be $2,000, 6. 
 letters of, 6. 
 arrival in New York August 28, 1838, with 
 
 Smithson bequest, 109. 
 account of Smithson by, 369. 
 elected Regent, f><>6, 64'. . 
 account of expenses, :!!. 
 annuity to Madame De la Batut, 123. 
 in account current with Thomas Aspinwall, 
 
 103. 
 
 in account with the Smithson fund, 104, 107. 
 claim for additional compensation, 260. 
 act for relief of, 261. 
 proposed application of bequest, 849. 
 interpretation of act of organization, 538. 
 object of S. I., 371, 399. 
 plan of, discussed by Barlow, 912. 
 Rusk, Thos. J., resolution by, 526. 
 Russell, Samuel S., resolution by, 628. 
 
 S. 
 
 Salaries, Barlow, 917, 918; Chapin, 858. 
 
 Salem Atheneum on programme of organiza- 
 
 tion, 972. 
 
 Sales of Smithson's stocks by Mr. Rush, 70, 73. 
 Sales of stock of Smithson bequest, 115. 
 Saracens, influence of, 872. 
 
 literature and history, 878. 
 Sargent, A. A., appointed Regent, 728. 
 resolutions by, 733, 752, 754". 
 remarks by, 751, 752. 
 memorial relative, to Centennial, 751. 
 Sawyer, Wm., remarks by, ::sc,, 408. 
 Schedule of personal effects of Smithson, 108. 
 Scholars exercise the widest and most perma- 
 
 nent influence on man, Marsh, 424. 
 School houses, Smithson's money should have 
 
 been applied to, A. Johnson, 488. 
 School plan, Adams, 844; Darlington, 902; Du- 
 ponceau, 898; report of organization com- 
 mittee, 938. 
 
1010 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 School of mines, 886. 
 School of natural science, 883. 
 School of sciences, 89L 
 Science, object of, Marsh, 415. 
 not confined to physical research, Marsh, 427. 
 not limited to material objects, Marsh, 415. 
 and literature to be promoted, 165. 
 applied to arts, Henry, 946. 
 Sciences, Chapin, 858. 
 Scientific and literary institution, Robbi 
 
 167. 
 
 Scientific discovery, Barlow, 912. 
 Scientific investigations of the Institution. 
 
 737. . 
 Scientific men demand everything, Meacham, 
 
 633. 
 
 Scientific publications not remunerative to au- 
 thors, Henry, :r> 
 Scientific school not necessary, South. Lit.. 
 
 Mess., 891. 
 
 Sculpture, casts of, Henry, 947. 
 Secretary, digest of act relative to, 760. 
 duty of, Henry, 947. 
 management wise, faithful, judicious, Witte, 
 
 *> 8. 
 
 powers of, Pearce, 545 ; Uphan 
 power to remove assistants, Berrien, 1 
 
 Taney, Witt 
 
 recommendations relative to residuary leg- 
 acy, u '. 
 report of, on residuary bequest of Smithson, 
 
 123, l-j:., i _<;, i-_-7. 
 reputation or,Amer. A-'a-l.-m 
 qualifications ..f, report of organization com- 
 mittee, 940, yt3; resolution of Regents, 
 943. 
 
 Seeds, plants, and productions, Rush, 850. 
 Seeds. See Tappan Jk Owen. 
 Selye, Lewis, remarks by, 713. 
 Sevier, Ambrose H., remarks bv, JU. 
 Seward, W. H., remarks by, 558. 
 Seymour, Lady Elizabeth, 150. 
 Shadwell, Mr., selected by Mr. Rush to assist 
 
 counsel, 15. 
 
 Sheep, improvement of, Hubbell, 863. 
 Sheldon, D. N., on programme of organization, 
 
 Bhepard, C.. House committee. 171, 200. 
 Sherman, Gen. W. T., elected Regent, 721. 
 Sherman. John, remarks by, 692, 706. 
 
 resolution by, 7_'7. 
 
 Sherwood, Isaac R., resolution by, 7:1. 
 Shipping expenses of gold t -fates, 
 
 103,101, KM,. 
 
 Silkworms, raising, Hubbell, 863. 
 Silliman, Benjamin, on programme of organiza- 
 tion, 962. 
 Silliman, Benjamin, Jr., on programme of 
 
 organization, 964, 
 Simmons, James F., remarks \>\. 
 Sims, Alex. D., committee of House of Repre- 
 sentatives, 354. 
 
 bill offered by, 459. 
 
 remarks by, 436, 438, 440, 460. 
 
 resolution by, 465. 
 Singleton, O. R., resolution by, 756. 
 Site of buildings, digest of act relative to, 761. 
 Skinner, J. 8., memorial of, -;_'. 
 Smith, Albert, of Maine, House committee, 200. 
 smith, Aug. w., on programme of organization, 
 
 Smith, F. O. J., committee of House, 171. 
 bmitn, Henry, on programme of organization 
 
 989. 
 
 Smith, John A., memorial of, 20- > 
 Smith, Samuel A., resolution by, 658, 
 Smith, Truman, committee of House 247 
 
 remarks by, 494, 498. 
 Smith, Wm., remarks by, 531. 
 Smithson, Hugh, 150. ' 
 
 n, James, account of, 9, 10, 12, 36, 61, 62, 
 
 bequest of, 9, 58, 61, 68, 69, 394. 
 
 Smithson, James Continual. 
 character of. 1:1, ;_', :;..i, \\ , ;s, 547, 
 
 61V it. 8 
 character of institution, founded l.v, i 
 
 - 
 
 otat> of,:.. 11..-.-. Ti.Ti. If, irj. 
 -tat.> of Col. lirkin-.n. r.-nMvi-.l i 
 int.-nded to leave fortune to i;..vai .- 
 
 ' 
 
 library not r.-mir.-d by, :,*>. r,i;i. 
 notice of Bmithaon Tennant, 
 opinions of, 4&s >[:>. 
 
 publication of pai<- is of, rHu-rd i,\- Koval So- 
 ciety, :.S7, !_' i. 
 
 personal property oi, 71, 7s, l"l, ins, 117, us, 
 ' 
 
 , KL 
 
 sentiments exp: 
 will 
 
 writ in- 
 Smithsonian Contrilnitions to Knowledge, 
 Henry, !r.: Martin, '.'7'.': Parka: 
 Rhode Island Historical >,, 
 lotion oi i;..ir.-nt-. -.11. 
 
 Smithsonian Institution -h..ul-i !>< l..-v..nd 
 reach of i iov.-rnm.-nt, Mario'. 1 . . 
 
 Snell, 1'i-of. i 
 
 ~ 
 
 Society for th- <lirJ'u-ion ..f religious knowl- 
 edge, n-'ii 
 
 Society for diffusion of useful knowl.-di;. 
 Hen: 
 
 Solar tables, Man!- 
 
 1 P. Ku-li. s-. 
 
 Solution of experimental prol.km-, II. MI: 
 
 South marki i-y, MI. 
 
 Southern Ln. r . Messenger, prop.. -.-d appli- 
 cation of bequea 
 
 Sparks, .lan-d, .HI pi-om-ainm.- of oru'ani/.ation, 
 
 970. 
 Sparrow, Win., on programme .,1 ' .,, ^aui/.ation, 
 
 Spauldimr, I!. ;., r.-mai 
 
 .. llum.-r, 
 
 White, Jones, i>a\i-, winthr.e 
 
 Banks, (),-,-, I'cnninL'toii, <;r.,\v, Colfax, 
 Elaine, Kerr. 
 
 Specimens, distribution of secd<, plants, A.-., 
 
 Tappan, _';_', :;n:i. 
 to !) i arranir.-d. ' 
 
 Speculation-, h,,w to i. Iraer. Acad- 
 
 emy, 
 
 Speculation- to ! i-.-i--.-ted, Henry. !(.',, ii.vj. 
 
 Speight, Je^e,pecial committee of House, IK 
 
 Spencer, John C., report of Secretary Tr-'asury, 
 
 Spinner, Hon. F. E., deposit with, l_'.v 
 Squier & Davis <m monuments of the Mis-js- 
 sippi Valley, : Moore, 971; Waylaud, 
 
 St. John's Toll, !;,., Annapolis, Md. f on pro- 
 irramme of organi/ation, :i7f.. 
 
 '.. .1. M., loss of pictures o by fire. 120,000. 
 
 Stanton, Benfamin. appointed Kegent, t;r,n, c,7j. 
 
 res,,liitj,,n by, '.7'J. 
 Stanton, ]'. p., n-mnrks l.\ 
 Stanton, Kiehanl H., reeolatioQ bv, .v;j. 
 Statement of Smith-on fund, W.).' 
 Statement of stocks of Smithson f. m <l, usa. 
 State. Secretary of, letters. :, - 
 
 to Committ n Ways and Means, l.vr. 
 
 to Committee on Finance. 1.77, i:,s. 
 
 co-operation asked i\- Institution, !i|.i. 
 States in d. .fault for interesl n..t to have pro- 
 ceeds of sales of land- 
 Statisues, Henry, ( .i4t;, !M7 : Marlow, !r_'l. 
 State Rocks, acts for inv.-stm.-nt in. i:,s. 
 
 act to prohibit inv.-stment iii, L'|:., -Jin. 
 
 account ..t. Adam-, 250, 
 
 offers of, request. -d i>v s,.,- : -.-tarv of Treasury 
 Woodbury, 277. 278. 
 of bonds, 262. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 1011 
 
 State stocks offered for Smithson fund- 
 Arkansas, 285, 287, 288, 289. 
 Delaware, 286. 
 Illinois, 284, 287, 288, 290. 
 Indiana, 277, 278, 281, 283, 285, 286, 287. 
 Kentucky, 283, 288, 289, 290. 
 Louisiana, 280. 
 Maine, 282, 284. 
 Massachusetts, 283, 290, 291. 
 Michigan, 279, 287, 290. 
 Mississippi, 277, 278, 282, 285, 
 Missouri, 285, 286. 
 New York, 281, 290, 291, 292. 
 Ohio, 287, 289, 291, 292. 
 Pennsylvania, 289. 
 Tennessee, 278. 
 Virginia, 279, 280, 284, 285. 
 Steam, Atlantic crossed by, in 1838, Rush, 854. 
 Steam boilers, explosion of, investigation, 
 
 Henry, 955. 
 
 Steam navy, Hubbell, 860. 
 Stephens, Alex. H., resolution by, 649. 
 Stereotype plates of reports to be reprinted, 722, 
 
 724, 726. 
 
 Stevens, Thaddeus, remarks by, 520, 680, 703. 
 Stevenson, Mr., United States minister to Eng- 
 
 land, 10, 14, 58. 
 petition from Mr. De la Batut sent through, 
 
 37. 
 Stevenson, J. W., memorial relative to Centen- 
 
 nial, 751. 
 
 resolutions by, 724, 727, 728, 748. 
 remarks by, 724, 748, 752. 
 appointed Regent, 724. 
 Stewart, A. P., on programme of organization, 
 
 983. 
 
 Stewart, A. T., proposed as Regent, 727. 734, 739. 
 Stock, sales of Smithson's, by Mr. Rush, 70, 73. 
 Stocks in which Smithson fund was invested, 
 
 252, 257. 
 
 Stocks. See State stocks. 
 Stocks of United States held in trust for Smith- 
 
 son fund, 824. 
 
 Storm, John B., remarks by, 743. 
 Storm King, appropriations for Prof. Espy, the 
 
 so-called, 530. 
 
 Storms, law of, Silliman, 963. 
 Storms to be investigated, Henry, 945. 
 Stuart, D., remarks by, 532. 
 
 appointed Regent, 526. 
 Students, two from each State to attend lectures, 
 
 have expenses paid, &c., Rush, 855. 
 to be selected from States, Sawyer, 406. 
 to be admitted free, Tappan, 262, 263,302, 303 ; 
 
 Owen, 359. 
 
 admission of, action of House on, 463. 
 to pay board by labor on farm of S. L, King, 
 
 406, 408. 
 
 Suits of nations by their executive heads, 23. 
 Stunner, Chas., resolution by, 675, 704, 727. 
 
 remarks by, 690, 704. 
 
 Superintendent of Institution, to be also pro- 
 fessor of agriculture and horticulture, 
 Tappan, 263. 
 to be professor of agriculture, horticulture, 
 
 and rural economy, Tappan, 302. 
 "o be librarian and keeper of. the museum, 
 
 Owen, 358. 
 Surgery, Beck, 961. 
 Surrey Institution, for diffusion of knowledge, 
 
 Henry, 950. 
 
 Surveys, Silliman, 963. 
 Surveys of places celebrated in American his- 
 
 tory, Henry, 946. 
 Swain, David L., on programme of organization, 
 
 991. 
 
 Swedish Academy, report of Berzelius to, 
 Henry, 956. 
 
 Taney, Chief Justice, interpretation of act of 
 organization, 538. 
 
 Tappan, Benj., bills offered by, 262, 302, 332. 
 Senate committee, 247, 262. 
 remarks by, 245, 3^4, 326, :m, 337, 349. 
 object of S. I., 372. 
 
 Tappan's plan discussed, Barlow, 913. 
 Taylor, N. G., appointed on Committee of In- 
 vestigation, 573. 
 
 report of Committee of Investigation, 608. 
 Telegraph, discovery and invention of, Hoar, 
 
 737. 
 
 Temples, models of, Henry, 947. 
 Temujin, history of, 877. 
 Tennant, Smithson, notice of, 867. 
 Ten Eyck, John C., resolution by, 663. 
 Theology, Elliott, 985. 
 
 Theological Seminary, Fairfax, Virginia, on pro- 
 gramme of organization, 974. 
 Thomas, Benj. S., remarks by, 682. 
 Thomas, Francis, committee of House, 148. 
 Thomson's Annals of Philosophy, 866. 
 Thompson, Jacob, resolution by, 519. 
 Thompson, Waddy, committee of House, 171. 
 Thrall, Dr. H. L., report on axial forces of mat- 
 ter, 992. 
 Thurman, A. G., remarks by, 440, 448. 
 
 resolution by, 468. 
 
 Tibbats, John W., resolutions by, 461, 462, 467. 
 Time, computation of, 216. 
 Title to suit in name of the President of United 
 
 States of America, 21. 
 Toland, Geo. W., resolution by, 237. 
 Toombs, Robert, remarks by, 563. 
 report of Committee on Judiciary on man- 
 agement of Institution, 563. 
 Topographical surveys, Henry, 945. 
 Totten, Joseph G., proposed as manager of S. L, 
 
 334, 349. 
 
 proposed as Regent, 360. 
 elected Regent, 506, 649. 
 
 Toucey, Isaac, report of Committee on Judi- 
 ciary on management of Institution, 563. 
 remarks by, 563. 
 
 Transactions of American Philosophical So- 
 ciety, 897. 
 Transfer of library of Smithsonian to Congress, 
 
 704, 707. 
 
 Transfer of specimens from Land Office, 724. 
 Translations, Henry, 946, 956. 
 Treasury, Secretary of, to invest bequest in 
 
 State stocks, 158. 
 
 claims that Smithson's residuary legacy is 
 not under the control of the Regents, 129. 
 co-operation asked by Institution, 943. 
 investigation of explosions of steam boilers, 
 
 Henry, 955. 
 report from, on Smithson fund, 236, 24G, 252, 
 
 266, 268, 637. 
 to retain proceeds of sales of lands from 
 
 States in default for interest, 351. 
 to receive deposits by Regents, 709. 
 proposals for State stocks, 277, 278, 286, 287, 
 
 288, 290, 292. 
 
 Treasury of United States, account with Smith- 
 son fund, 803. 
 
 Regents ask Congress to place $150,000 in, 507. 
 to receive residuary legacy of Smithson, 709. 
 Treatises on particular subjects, Henry, 957. 
 Trinity College, Hartford, Ct., on programme of 
 
 organization, 992. 
 
 Trumbull, Lyman, bill offered ly, i;s3. 
 resolutions by, r>7.\ 683, 685, 706, 707, 710, 721. 
 remarks by, 684, r,$, 699, 705. 
 appointed Regent, 673. 
 memorial passed Senate, 132. 
 Trust, nature of the, Adams, 843; Chandler. 648, 
 645; English, 581, Garlk-ld,718: G. F. Hoar, 
 736; report of Committee on Judiciary, ."it 1 .: 1 ,. 
 Trustee, duties of United States as, 865; J. 
 Davis, 701: Hendricks, C,9l5; Henry, nU; 
 Hilliard, 497 : Hunt, 461 ; A. Johnson, 495. 
 Trustees, duty of, Adams, 153: Rathbun, 456; 
 
 Thurman,' 448; Trumbull, 698; Wick, 460. 
 of Public School Society of New York, report 
 of, 404. 
 
1012 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tucker, Geo., proposed as manager of S. I.. 334, 
 
 349. 
 Twichell, G., resolution by, 714. 
 
 TJ. 
 
 "Underwood, Jos. R., committee of House, '_'17. 
 Union Theological Seminary on programm of 
 
 organization, 977. 
 
 United States of America, bequest to. 2. 
 United States, first suit or, in an English com -t, 
 
 23. 
 stocks and bonds, account of, 127, l_-. i 
 
 256,269, 270, 639, HJ I. 
 
 right of, to prosecute claim for beqn. --. 
 United States .Military Academy, W.--t Point. 
 
 See Military Academy. 
 Universities of Germany, account of, Hubbell, 
 
 862. 
 
 University of Alabama on programme of organ- 
 ization, 989. 
 
 of Gottingen, Chapin, 858. 
 of Nashville, Tenn., on programme of organ- 
 ization, 982. 
 of North Carolina on programme of organ i /.a - 
 
 tion,991. 
 
 plan for 8. 1., Adams, 844: John Q. Adams, -.'in : 
 Barlow, 911, !HJ; rhapin, .v.7 : < h 
 Cooper,838; "Delta," 871, .vs:s: Darlington, 
 90S; Hale.668: IIIII.JM-II,M;I : A..J..IIH-..I,. lj; 
 
 Morse, 430: Pre-t ui, !_': Kn-h, sf.i; 
 
 Bobbins, i.vi, x;i : Southern Liter.-, 
 
 semrer, v.i-_': Stand >n,:;'.i!i : Tampan, :/>_' : !'p- 
 ham, ")'.!_' : Wayland, >:;:i. 
 Upham, rhas. W., bill offered by, .v_'T. 
 resolutions l.y, .v_>7, .">7|. 
 appointed on Committee of h:\e-tii:ati"n, :.:::. 
 report of Committee i.f hive-- 
 remarks by, :,s-.i. 
 
 Upson, Charles, remark- by, 71i'. 
 Useful arts, efforts of S. I.' t be re-tri.-t--d t.., 
 report of organ ization committee, !i:jr.. 
 
 Vail, A., letters, 4. 
 
 Van Buren, M., message of President, l.Y). 
 application of bequest, 837. 
 on object of s. I., :;TO. 
 
 Vance, Robert B., resolution l.> 
 
 Velocity of electricity and light) invc-tiiration 
 of, Uenry, '.Hi;. 
 
 Vesuvius, account of, by Smith.-. MI. - 
 
 Victoria, Queen of England, Smitbaon'a i.-,,n,.>t 
 granted by euiirt in first year of r.-iirn, i;-j. 
 
 Vice-President of the I'nited state-, x,, Dal- 
 las, Fillmore, King, Atchison, Ilritrlit, 
 Breckinridge, Hamlin, Colfax, <'an>enter. 
 
 Vinton, S. F., remarks by, 388. 
 
 "W. 
 
 Waite, M. R., memorial relative to Centennial, 
 
 Walker, Isaac P., resolution by, 508. 
 Walker, R. J., remarks by, 144, -J4-J, :;4(i, :,12, 513. 
 Wallach, Richard, resolution by, relative t,, re- 
 siduary legacy, 130. 
 
 report on fire, 689. 
 Wallenstein, M. 
 
 , ~ wv . 
 
 Warner, Hiram, appointed Regent, r,4'.i. 
 Warren, Edw. A., resolution by, 529. 
 War, Secretary of, co-operation aske.i l,\- Insti- 
 tution, 943. 
 
 Washburn, Jr., Israel, resolution by, ~>~;-> 
 Washburne, E. B., resolution by, >;s-' ?i. 
 remarks by, 703, 704, 712. 
 
 Washington "ii a National Tnivt-r.-ity, 894. 
 Washington, Smlthson's i.eqiii->t for benefit of 
 I:HI. M-. 
 
 antural advantages ot, .Mur<li, Jl>. 
 
 wbySmitheon tixe.i Institution at, Hen 
 Waterville-Oollege on proirnumne i.r organiza- 
 
 ti.n, II'.IL'. 
 Wayland, Fraiiei-, ,,i,j t .,-t ..t 9, I 
 
 on application of lir.jii, 
 
 "ii programme \ r.i;ani/.ati')n, !<T7. 
 
 plan of, <li-eu--e,|, I'.arlow, '.ill'. 
 \\'ay-ani Ueans Committee, Secretary of - 
 
 letter to, i:,7. 
 \\'elp-f-r, ll..ra--.', .n i.nurrainine of organizn- 
 
 Webster. N'-ah, -pelliim 1 ..... k, int 
 Weller, .I-,), n l;.. n-inark- l-\, .Mil. 
 
 Well-. Daniel, appointed on <'"i 
 
 1 ..... k, intliienee , 
 il. 
 
 '"inniitt.-e .,f in- 
 
 t" sign report of Commitf ..11 
 Inve-tiirati. 
 Wentw..rtli. .l,,hn, re-"Iuti.n I. 
 
 reinarU-l.\ 
 
 W.--leyan rni\-,.r-ity, Middletown, Conn., "ii 
 programme of orirani/ation, 1.7 I. 
 .It, .lam.- [>., remark- l.y, IT. . 
 \v.-t,-rn Theological Seminary, Alle-iianyi ii.v, 
 I'enn., on j.rou'rammc of organisation. MSI'. 
 W. Si Point Military Acadei litary 
 
 Academy. 
 
 on |in>L'rainm.- ..f ..rL;ani/:iti..ii. '.77. 
 
 Wetbered, .i"!m, appointed on e..int;iittei- "f 
 Hon-e .t Elepresentativen, . 
 
 Whipple, ( In-. .!.. <>n pi"'_'iaiiime of .riraiii/a- 
 
 tion. 
 
 White, Miiirh. resoiationi by. i>. n 
 White, John, Speaker, appointed committee-, 
 
 White/T. W.. letter t. ..on bequest, 
 Whitney,.!, i ftl services of, Hoar, 739. 
 
 Whittle-.-y. r'.li-ha, mcmoria' of, -_'i;-_'. 
 
 . \'\ .. remark- l.\ 
 Wilde. Henry, proposed a- mana-.'er of S. I., 
 
 
 Wilke-' c\pl..riim exjiedition. S KxpI"H:m 
 
 lition. 
 Wilke-' .\arrati\e, plat--- and em:ra\ inir- 
 
 delivre.l 
 
 Will of .lame- Smith-.. 11. I. >l I 
 William N.. in < 'ham-en, f. 
 
 Who'll ca-e ! Slllitll-oll l.e.jl|e<t Wa- !- 
 
 ferred, 26. 
 
 William and Mary College, Va., mi pro^rami i : 
 of organization^ 
 
 William- < ulle^c, Ma ., on ]>r.>t:ramme of or- 
 
 tranixatioii, :i7-_'. 
 Williams, John, on 
 
 Wilinot. David, committee of II. m-. ,:;:,!. 
 Wil-oii. II ory, resolations by, 675, 711. 
 
 remark- !;. 
 Wil-oii, Jam-'- P.. on prom-amnie of or 
 
 tion. 
 Wilson 1 - -acritiee- f j.roduce hi- work, Henry, 
 
 962. 
 Winthrop, R C., appointed iretrcnt-, 1-7. 
 
 nilini: bV 
 
 Witte, W. II., remarks by, (Uis. 
 appointe.ion Commits ..... f [nrestigation, 573. 
 
 r.-port of ( 'i.mmitte.- of liiVe-tiL:ati"ii ( ',o,s. 
 Wood, Brad. 15., r.-mark- ' 
 
 resolution by, MI. 
 Wood. F., remarks b\ . 7 ; . 
 W.H,,ibury, Levi, remarks by, -ji-j, -JH, :;_.'., :j:^i, 
 
 340. 
 request for offer- of Stat'- -t n-k-, -J77, -_'7>, -_'-t,,- 
 
 ftr. 
 
 Woods, Leonard, on programme of orirani/.a- 
 
 tion, 978. 
 
 w..oi-ey, T. D.. proposed M Regent, 674, G81. 
 elected a- i;eLcent,i;.-i. 710, 71 1. 
 
 W..rks on sciences, Ac., t. be i.nbli-lH-d and 
 sold at cost, Tappan, :Jo-j. 
 
INt)EX. 
 
 1013 
 
 Works published by the Institution, account of, 
 
 English, 577. 
 Wray, Mr., represented Attorney General of 
 
 England in Chancery, 20. 
 Wylie, Andrew, on programme of organization, 
 
 982. 
 
 Yale College on programme of organization, 
 
 962. 
 Yeas and nays, House, 352, 434, 435, 436, 4G1, 462, 
 
 463, 464, 405, 466, 467, 468, 469, 504, 671, 572, 
 
 573, 652, 653, 713, 714, 767. 
 
 Yeas and nays Cantinued. 
 
 Senate, 146, 169, 353, 354, 672. 
 Yell, Arch., remarks by, 388, 483. 
 Yost, Jacob S., appointed on committee of 
 
 House, 266. 
 Young, Casey, remarks by, 755. 
 
 z. 
 
 Zoological garden, Poinsett, 899. 
 Zoological institute, 885. 
 Zoological menageries, 881. 
 Zoology, Henry, 946 ; Silliman, 963. 
 
168593 
 
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