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. 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 pq P323M S &, CO r-l t~ CO CO *O O 1C O CO CO O CO O O O G 2 53 O ^aS-S-g ^g's^-g 1|| 8 -l|l^ |f sl George y as id A PH'^^ o;g a) . OJ^^^pG ^(ij ^ * ** slfj^ ^S 5 g "3 3 C S G 3 EH t account h aid Th us George osts ____ Fitall omas Cl chard R homas citors' c s. Eliz'h ore paid T paid Ric paid T ore, solic paid Mrs. <_, Q, CU ^ 2 "2 S^^^a S rj 5 Ml 15,1 ^ " ^ _0 ^ O s ^ 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 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 o o 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- 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, anill 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> seg a c 5 P II II 8888 8 8 00* O (X) Q) ej "el CC GO CO Q3 03 Q) 3.- 5., 6 a OM o.g 5 |g q CO CQ o^ o 02 ' 1 1 tji M M G 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 oo rH i? CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 8 58888 C-T-H^- PH Ci O O CO ^ M< QO 00 CO <5 TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 269 8 8 i i is -o 8,8 i CO 03 11 "55 c 00 .ftp &. a> (-J ' 01 CO r-T CO" 00 00 i I t i *"" 2~ bfl bJD 00 00 il rH C 8 S 8 8 8 oT icT o* 10" -5 7 s 03 *! si ll- o fi^. C' I ; 3 i3 X> '3 i *S CO tuOl^gr^oS "S o fc, OQD o 3 uaJu^uC ** 3 03 3 O TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 273 00 CO T I II T co" g 00 00 s ~ CO CO ^ s ft 18 274 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 2-- ' i 2*1 c i || cc g as 8 s i O 1 1 8 T cc 8 8 8 8 i \ 8 c c , - 1 s a Vugust 29, 1842, due the s nterest due December 31, 1! TJ 09 e2 ^ ^ ^T O ^* -~ fcn J3 i r^ 3 oj '^ .-S .2 -ti H gfejrf Ztt aT cc T* QJ CO "2 ^'c o 'c -~ ^ ^ c c 7^ -C > o cc c a; "" fc- rj S c ^ "*^ o ^0 ^ ' ^ *^ s *CO ^"* 1 S 3 ^ ^ .- L^ O *t^ ^ c s^o 3 -tJ " *~ -M PH I 'O I r3 I I O) CO CP I o "*"^ ^t* /^ -^-. 1 rg 1.2 s^'l^'S^-a^i 2 -S .! to H i 1 f o ** *- O t>i ras f*^_ 3 's ^ G fc ' .S^ 1 c S ^S ES^S g S > -TrtOCUOOfioOCJo "S O 3 SSoOoOcp^cpOcpO ^^J^ w o I -O Q^ 1 C * II ^ ^5 * EH ,..-s'|^s|-sis_ ^ -*^ Q K* .^. PM Ir -t P^ ., . PH .^- ^^ < < ^^ c3 Q ^ ^"^ ""^ ^"^ '^ ^^ -^^ ^^ ^" ^^ I S| || a| s'l i 'I a'l a| |^|1 B || s| s| a| O OHEHEHEHEH HOEHEHEHEHEH C<1 i^J CO 'CO Tti 00 00 00 00 CO (M CN CO CO rfi Tfl Tjl Tf( Tfl Tf oo oo oo -r oo ~ G ~ C 3 sS 3 oJ 1-3 1-5 1-3 -j 276 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 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 unhall 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 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 the ro<>d -ense 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 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