iat es) 7,
HN
TCS Gait $34 an Lets Beet,
2 Es ie i > a ri ENS +
8
3 i
a HG ag
: nae if i earth
behee sys aie Eat Att (
INVA AIBNCU AMM NNR Mas ai ay
Oe ettesioy iva oe
Ai We 1th "i " My re 4 i BS aes
is ti iH | ts
POET OCS Wee eee ee Re ee ese et mye @
th a
Bi
ieee. Ss
if i
e by
ty
ee
| pas
.
i BHT i] » 5, i
iy ‘J AY iis
\
cy
f Rain
wt
ese
ce, SS te Se
wo
Disa ON SI, i ho aN
ae ; Tae. fam 4 c Ss KC Cate SEG a
ae ae SKK : eee LECCE ec: <a Fain a a eke eee <= Be ae ae? 3 : : Shee EC | Be ee Ui a <ere CC EK, CaS hs 1 KS EX ° = eR m < © < = ee EEE — - “ Ex < ae (em iio Pane ae we, = - = Far a = Se ie pat et <n, << a
—_e ree <x
= s a : a.
wie - <e
ae
1 Ro ee
: <<< aS re ER em
< ee ca <
vex
i
PAS ee Sean aS
Sane x Ht
a
tase
none SS
x SSeS
SSS Se a A Va te AAUP 4 ; ie RB ‘ es - ie NEAL CSF cre ae Pat a ale ‘S ‘sya! ‘ Ife Ne Y . . a Al al iat AY a ORY 1 Ey Mky } WA ATA NAAIAIA AI WAY lal= F | a : Pia Ael OS Se bh VG ‘i } ' a ; , ‘6 a y 4 a ry ’ ,) ie Y “fe '" \) 5 4) | ' } . ae A Axl: LV AW : y "i
Nt. ee ALE OY a \
Se ANS
~
Ses =X
Noes Seek
Siccoatness Se
QM ew
ee C <r <<a,
<< SSeS EC Ee. a < ane a a < ee SE aa, Wi < Re COR Ce ACC Qt On a ae < ec Ce, itn
c
(ae
ot
=) >
cae Ce ae ea eee ME
~S
=:
a S,
—re > 8
<e
oN
ACG a ai i i = 3 See OK x tx. . aa Cee cK : at ——
<i CC ee ns Se ae <aee &
ee.”
i eit Wh Mit HN} 4\ |
i)
: if ih.
ny Hit
—=> > i Se al bg
i
|
ul
1 i)
| ! Hit! wi
S ak
»
i inet re a ws s
a
INTR OD UCGLEONE
The Smithsonian Institution has attained a world-wide reputation, and ils influence and importance are constantly extending. Its publications are found uot only in the public libraries of our own land, but also in those of every other civilized country. Its correspondents include some of the most distinguished cultivators of science of the present day, and it is referred to as a center of infor- mation by those who are interested in the pursuit of knowledge.
Many persons, however, who visit Washington, are but imperfectly acquainted with the history of Smithson, the great object he had in view, the plans adopted to carry out his intentions, and the results already obtained. It is for the pur- pose of furnishing more definite information on these points thar this work has been compiled, from the annual reports of the Secretary, Professor UENRy, to the
Board uf Regents, and other authentic sources.
2
Lhe Founder.
JAMES SMITHSON, the founder of the Institution which bears his name and wil! perpetuate his mem- ory, was a native of London, Eng- land. In his will he states that he was the son of Hugh, first Duke of Northumberland, and Eliza- beth, heiress of the Hungerfords, of Audley, and niece of Charles the Proud, Duke of Somerset. He was educated at Oxford, where he took an honorary degree in 1786. He went under the name of James Lewis Macie untila few years after he had left the university, when he took that of Smithson, the family name of the Northumberlands. He does not appear to have had any fixed home in England, but travelled much on the continent, occasionally staying a year or two in Paris, Berlin, Florence, etc. He died at Genoa, in 1828, at an advanced age. He is said by Sir Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal Society, to have rivalled the most expert chemists in minute analysis ; and, as an instance of his skill, it is mentioned that, happening to observe a tear gliding down a lady’s cheek, he endeavored to catch it on a crystal vessel; that half of the drop escaped, but having preserved the other half, he submitted it to close analysis, and discovered in it several salts, He contributed a number of valuable papers to the Royal Society, and also to the Annals of Philosophy, on chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. His scientific reputation was founded on these branches, though from his writings he appears to have studied and reflected upon almost every department of knowledge. He was of a sensitive, retiring disposi- tion; was never married—appeared ambitious of making a name for himself,
e :
“il AN) AN \ M€ : 5 Q
4 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
either by his own researches or by founding an institution for the promotion of science. He declared, in writing, that though the best blood of England flowed in his veins, this availed him not, for his name would live in the memory of man when the titles of the Northumberlands and Percies were extinct or forgotten. He wus cosmopolitan in his views, and affirmed that the man of scicnce is of no country—the world is his country, and all men his countrymen. He proposed at one time to leave his money to the Royal Society of London, for the promotion of science, but on account of a misunderstanding with the council of the Society he changed his mind, and left it to his nephew, and in case of the death of this relative, to the United States, to found the Institution which now bears his name.
She Bequest.
The original amount received from the bequest was $515,169 ; but from a res- iduary legacy, savings of interest, &c., the fund has been increased to $650,000 now in the Treasury of the United States and yielding six per cent. interest. The Government of the United States accepted the bequest, or in other words, accepted the office of trustee, and the Hon. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, was charged with the duty of prosecuting the claim. He remained in attendance on the English courts until the money was awarded to him. He brought it over in sovereigns, deposited it in the Mint of the United States, where it was recoined into American eagles, thus becoming a part of the currency of the country.
At the time of the passing of the act establishing the Institution, in 1846, tne sum of $242,000 had accrued in interest, and this the Regents were authorized to expend on a building. But, instead of appropriating this sum immediately to this purpose, they put it at interest, and deferred the completion of the building for several years, until over $100,000 should be accumulated, the income of which might defray the expenses of keeping the building, and the greater portion of the income of the original bequest be devoted to the objects for which it was designed. This policy has been rigidly adhered to, and notwithstanding an expenditure of $450,000 on the building, the collection of a large library and museum, and the publication of many volumes of original researches, the bequest of Smithson is not only undiminished, but has increased more than a hundred thousand dollars.
She Plan of Organization.
The bequest, in the language of the testator, was “to found at Washington an establishment, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” According to this, the Government of the United States is merely a trustee. The bequest is for the benefit of mankind, and any plan which does not recognize this provision of the will would be illiberal and unjust. The Institution must bear and perpetuate the name of its founder, and hence its operations are kept distinct from those of the General Government, and
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. %
all the good which results from the expenditure of the funds is accredited to the name of Smithson.
It will be observed that the object of the bequest is twofold—first, to ncrease, and, second, to diffuse, knowledge among men. These two objects are entirely separate and distinct, and to view the case understandingly the one must not be confounded with the other. The first is to enlarge the existing stock of knowledge by the addition of new truths, and the second, to disseminate knowledge thus enlarged among men. This distinction is readily acknowledged by men of science, and in Europe different classes of scientific and other societies are founded upon it. The will makes no restriction in favor of any particular kind of knowledge, and hence all branches are entitled to a share of attention. Smithson was well aware that knowledge should not be viewed as existing in isolated parts, but as a whole, each portion of which throws light on all the others, and that the ten- dency of all is to improve the human mind, and to give it new sources of power and enjoyment. A prevalent idea, however, in relation to the will is, that the money was intended exclusively for the diffusion of useful or immediately practi- cal knowledge among the inhabitants of this country, but it contains nothing from which such an inference can be drawn. All knowledge is useful, and the higher the more important. From the enunciation of a single scientific truth may flow a hundred inventions, and the more abstract the truth the more im- portant the deductions. To effect the greatest good, the organization of the In- stitution should be such as to produce results which could not be attained by other meaus, and inasmuch as the bequest is for men in general, all merely local expenditures are inconsistent with the will. ‘Phese were the views expressed by the Secretary, Professor Henry, and constantly advocated by him. They were not en- tertained, however, by many, and consequently difficulties have been encountered in carrying them out. A numberof literary men thought that a great /ébrary should be founded at Washington, and all the money expended on it; others considered a museum the proper object; and another class thought the income should be de- voted to the delivery of lectures throughout the country ; while still another was of opinion that popular tracts should be published and distributed amongst the million. But all these views were advanced without a proper examination of the will, or a due consideration of the smallness of the income. The act of Congress directed the formation of a library, a museum, a gallery of art, lectures, and a building on a liberal scale to accommodate these objects. One clause, however, gave the Regents the power, after the foregoing objects were provided for, to expend the remainder of the income in any way they might think fit for carrying out the design of the testator. The plan they have adopted is to stimulate al} persons in this country capable of advancing knowledge by original research to labor in this line; to induce them to send their results to the Institution for examination and publication; and to assist all persons engaged in original investigations, as far as its means will allow; also to institute, at the ex pense and under the direction of the Institution, particular researches.
6 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
She Goberpment.
An act of Congress, dated August 10, 1846, provides ‘that the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster General, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, and the Commissioner of the Patent Office of the United States, and the Mayor of the City of Washington, during the time for which they shall hold their respective offices, and such other persons as they may elect as honorary members, be and they are hereby constituted an ‘establishment,’ by the name of the ‘Smithsonian Institution,” for the in- crease and diffusion of knowledge among men.”
The law also provides for a ‘“‘ Board of Regents,” to be composed of the Vice- President of the United States and the Mayor of the City of Washington, during the time for which they shall hold their respective offices, three members of the Senate and three members of the House of Representatives, together with six other persons, other than members of Congress, two of whom shall be members of the National Institute, in the City of Washington, and resident in the said city ; and the other four shall be inhabitants of othér States, and no two of them from the same State.
The Establishment exercises general supervision over the affairs of the Institu-
tion. The Board of Regents conducts the business of the Institution, and makes annual reports to Congress. is
The Secretary of the Institution is elected by the Board. His duty is to take charge of the building and property, discharge the duty of librarian, keeper of the museum, etc., and has power, by consent of the Regents, to employ assist- ants.
All laws for the protection of public property in Washington apply to the lands, buildings, and other property of the Institution.
METEORITE FROM COAHUILA, MEXICO.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. uf
She Stryctyre.
The Smithsonian building stands on a part of a tract of public land denom. inated ‘the Mall,” and the grounds extend from Seventh to Twelfth streets, east and west, and from the canal to B street, north and south, comprising about fifty-two acres. ‘The center of the building is directly opposite Tenth street, and the site is about twenty feet above the average level of Pennsylvania avenue.
The style of architecture is that of the last half of the twelfth century, the latest variety of the rounded style, asit is found immediately anterior to its merging into the early Gothic, and is known as the Norman, the Lombard, or Romanesque. The semi-circular arch, stilted, is employed throughout—in doors, windows, and other openings.
It is the first edifice in the style of the twelfth century, and of a character not ecclesiastical, ever erected in this country.
The main building bas in the center of its north front two towers, of which the higher reaches an elevation of about 150 feet. On the south front is a massive tower 37 feet square and 91 feet high, On the northeast corner stands a double companile tower, 17 feet square and 117 feet high; at the southwest corner an oc- tagonal tower, in which is a spiral staircase. There are nine towers in all.
The entire Ikkngth of the building, from east to west, is 447 feet. Its greatest breadth is 160 feet. The east wing is 82 by 52 feet, and 423 feet high to the top of its battlement; the west wing, including its pro- jecting apsis, is 84 feet by 40, and 38 feet high, and each of the connect- ing ranges, including its cloister, is 60 feet by 49 The main building is 205 feet by 57, and, to the top of the corbel course, NORTH CENTRAL TOWERS, 58 feet high.
8 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
The building is erected in a very substantial manner, The founaation walls under the main central towers are 12 feet thick at bottom, gradually diminishing to five feet six inches at the surface of the ground, and are sunk eight feet deep. The thickness of the walls of the main building above the water table is two feet and-a-half in the first story, and two feet in the second, exclusive of buttresses, corbel courses, &e. The walls of the wings are two feet thick ; of the central towers three fect and a half thick in the first story, diminishing to two feet in the highest story. ‘The roofs are slated. The face of the building is finished in ashlar, laid in courses from 10 to 15 inches in height, and having an average bed of nine inches.
The material employed is a lilac gray variety of freestone, found in the new red sandstone formation where it crosses the Potomac, near the mouth of Seneca Creek, one of its tributaries, and about twenty-three miles above Washington. When first quarried it is comparatively soft, working freely before the chisel and hammer; but by exposure it gradually indurates, and ultimately acquires tough- ness and consistency, that not only enables it to resist the changes of the atmos- phere, but even the most severe mechanical wear and tear.
The corner-stone of the building was laid with Masonic ceremonies, on the first of May, 1847, in the presence of President Polk, his Cabinet, and an immense concourse of citizens and strangers. The Grand Master of Masons, who performed the ceremony, wore the apron presented by the Grand Lodge of France to Wash- ington, through La Fayette, and used the gavel employed by Washington when he laid the first corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States. An oration was delivered by the Hon. George Mifflin Dallas, the first Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, and now United States Minister to Great Britain. In the course of his remarks Mr. Dallas said: ‘¢ When, at no distant day, I trust, it shall be seen that within the walls of this building the truths of nature are forced by persever. ing researches from their hidden recesses, mingled with the stock already hoarded by genius and industry, and thence profusely scattered, by gratuitous lectures or publications, for the benefit of all—when it shall be seen that here universal science finds food, implements, and a tribune—art her spring to invention, her studio, and her models; and both shall have throngs of disciples from the ranks of our people, emulous for enlightenment, or eager to assist—then the condition of our legacy will have been performed, and the wide philanthropy of Smithson have achieved its aim.”
The design, by James Renwick, Jr., of New York, consists of a main center building, two stories high, and two wings, connected by intervening ranges; each of these latter having, on the north or principal front, a cloister, with open stone screen. ’
The first story of the main building consists of one large room, 200 feet by 50, and 25 feet high, the ceiling of which is supported by two rows of columns ex- tending the whole length; at the middle of the space corresponding to the prin- cipal entrances are two wing walls, by which, with the addition of screens, the whole space may be divided into two large rooms, with a hall extending across.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 9
The Library.
Although the act of Congress directed that provision should be made for the accommodation of a library, on a liberal scale, it was soon seen, after the organi- zation of the Institution, that it would be impossible, from the income which could be devoted to it, to establish a first-class general library. Even had this been practicable, it would still have seemed superfluous to do so in the very v.cinity of the miscellaneous library of Congress, which is every year increasing in extent under the liberal appropriations which are annually made for the purchase of books. It was therefore deemed preferable, and more consonant with the purposes of the Institution, to form a special library, which might constitute, as it were, a supple- ment to the library of Congress, and consist, for the most part, of complete sets of the proceedings and transactions of all the learned societies in the world, and of ather serials essential for reference by students specially engaged in original scientific research. The efforts of the Institution to carry out this plan, which has since been sanctioned by Congress, have been eminently successful. Princi- pally through exchanges, and occasionally by purchase, a more complete collection of the works above mentioned has been procured than is to be found in any library of the United States, or is easily met with even in Europe. The Institution has been assisted in making this collection by the liberality of many of the older libraries of the eastern continent, which, on application, have furnished from their duplicates volumes and even whole sets to complete series of works long since out of print, and which, in some cases, could not have been obtained through any other means. ‘The Library is also quite rich in monographic or special trea- tises in the physical and natural sciences, lacking as yet, it is true, some of the more expensive volumes, but still affording the means of prosecuting almost any scientific investigation.
One specialty of the Library consists of the large number of maps and charts, obtained by exchange from geographical and hydrographical establishments, &c. This collection is as complete as any in the country.
No effort is spared to render the Library of the Institution conducive to the advance of science. Several editions of the catalogue of serial works have been published.
In 1867 the care of the library was transferred to the library of Congress, subject to be recalled at any time on certain conditions. The books are now catalogued and bound at the expense of the Government, while the officers and collaborators of the Institution have the same use of them as formerly, with greatly increased facilities from access to the larger collection of books in the National Library. The Institution still sends its publications, in exchange, to other establishments at home and abroad, and desires to increase its library by transactions of societies, and serial and scientific works.
10 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Ais X
AN;
THE LIBRARY.
In the large hall at the south entrance to the building are a number of articles of special interest. The most prominent of these is the ancient SARCOPHAGUS, which was brought to this country on the frigate Con- stitution, by Commodore Elliott, from Beirut, in Syria, in 1839. This Sar- cophagus was believed to be the repository of the remains of a Roman Wmperor, and was intended for those of President ANDREW JACKSON. The General, however, refused to accept the gift, saying “I cannot consent that my mortal body ska!l be laid in a repository prepared for an Emperor or a King—my republican feelings and principles forbid it—the simplicity of our system of Government forbids it.”
A plank from the redwood tree, and a piece of bari from the famous giant tree of California, will attract attention, as well as an immense mass of copper from Lake Superior.
Among the most interesting objects in this part of the collection are several IDOLS from Central America, presented by Hon. H. G Squier, late United States Minis-
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. te
fi
\.
i == f - 4 Oe HH = i a SS = \ Z| i i — = ) \ Ve NN | |, . a esi) WE) 25 NY HET MW SS K= ) ill Ahh / Hi idl Nt MN —yy\\) = : WA
Es IAS | Ml fl Zs A a
atti HIN
5 S
ip) = ml
ee P| —————— = — or ae
LES = 1p S it! ni
ter to Nicaragua. The largest statue, carved in black basalt, was obtained from the Island of Momotombita, in Lake Managua, where there was a temple or sacred place. The figure with the sphinx-like head-dress is also from the same locality. One or two of the other statues, by the Indians of the Pueblo of Subtiava, near Leon, having been buried a great number of years, and the locality carefully con- cealed, they are somewhat mutilated. A small group of these monuments exists in the depths of the forest midway between Leon and the Pacific, which is still secretly visited by the Indians for the performance of dances and other rites pertaining to their primitive religion. The small figure resembling some animal couchant was, until very recently, preserved on a remarkable rock on the side ot the volcano of Omatepec, and regarded with high veneration by the Indians. It was only after many years of search that the priests were able to find and remove it. The granite vase, distinguished by the ornaments called grecques by Hum- boldt, (and which characterize the ruins at Mitla, in Mexico,) was dug up near the city of Nicaragua. The spot had been a cemetery of the ancient inhabitants.
12 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Anotner relic of the same material, and with a like style of ornament, accompanies the vase, and was found in the same neighborhood. It seems to have been de- signed as a pedestal for a small statue. There are also several vases, in which the bones and ashes of the dead were packed after the decomposition of the flesh or after burning.
The largest and most elaborate monuments in Nicaragua exist in the littlo Island of Pensacola, near the base of the extinct voleano of Momobacho. They weigh a number of tons each, and are distinguished as being wrought from blocks of sandstone—a material which is not found on the island. Two of the statues of the Smithsonian collection are from the Island of Zapatero, in Lake Nicaragua, where once existed one of the most imposing aboriginal temples of the country. Here, among the ruins of the feocadli, or high-places of the former inhabitants, were found entire statues, besides the fragments of many others, several broken
sacrificial stones, etc. She juseun.
The Smithsonian Institution is now in possession of the best collection of the larger North American and European mammalia, both skins and skeletons, to be found in the United States. In birds it is only second to the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences—the latter being without doubt the most extensive and perfect now extant. Of fish the Smithsonian has a greater number than is to be found in any cabinet, except that of Professor Agassiz.
THE MUSEUM.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. ts
LABORATORY OF NATURAL HISTORY
It should be understood that the Smithsonian Institution does not enter upon grounds already occupied, and therefore it is not an object to collect specimens promiscuously, or those usually found in other museums. Still the collection of this Institution is now attractive to the general visitor and curiosity secker; and the student of natural history will here find much that will be sought in vain else- where. Duplicate specimens are often exchanged for those in other collections, and all the objects are open for the study and examination of those engaged in this line of research. Applications for such facilities are numerous, and have al- ways been granted. The preparation of most of the important papers on natural history published within a few years in this country has been aided in this way by the Institution.
The act of Congress establishing the Institution provides as follows :—
Sec. 6. That, in proportion as suitable arrangements can be made for their reception, all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging, or hereafter to belong, to the United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the Board of Regents to receive tuem, and shall be arranged in such order, and so classed, as best facilitate the exam- ination and study of them, in the building so as aforesaid to be erected for the Institution ; and the Regents of said Institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in natural history, geology, or minerology, may be obtained for the museum of the Institution, by exchange of duplicate specimens belonging to the Institution, (which they are hereby authorized to make,) or by any donation, which they may receive, or aeneE Wier, cause such new specimens to be also appropriately classed and arranged.
14 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Under these provisions, the Institution has received and taken charge of such government collections in mineralogy, geology, and natural history as have been made since its organization. The amount of these bas been very great, as all the United States Geological, Boundary and Railroad Surveys, with the various topc graphical, military, and naval explorations, have been, to a greater or less extent, ordered to inake such collections as would illustrate the physical and natural his- tory features of the regions traversed.
Of the collections made by the government expeditions, those of fiftv are now deposited with the Smithsonian Institution, embracing more than five- sixths of the whole amount of materials collected. The principal expeditions thus furnishing collections are the United States Geological Surveys of Doctors Owen, Jackson, and Evans, and of Messrs. Foster and Whitney ; the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey ; the Pacific Railroad Survey ; the Exploration of the Yellow Stone, by Lieutenant Warren; the Survey of Lieutenant Bryan; the United States Naval Astronomical Expedition; the North Pacific Behring Straits Expedition ; the Japan Kxpedition, and the Paraguay Expedition.
The Institution has also received, from other sources, collections of greater or less extent, from various portions of North America, tending to complete the government series.
The collections thus made, taken asa whole, constitute the largest and best series of the minerals, fossils, rocks, animals, and plants of the entire continent of North America, in the world. Many tons of geological and mincralogical specimens, illustrating the surveys throughout the West, are embraced therein. There is also a very large collection of minerals of the mining regions of Northern Mexico, and of New Mexico, made by a practical Mexican geologist, during a period of twenty-five years, and furnishing indications of many rich mining localities within our own borders, yet unknown to the American people.
It includes, also, with scarcely an exception, all the vertebrate animals of North America, among them many specimens each of the Grizzly, Cinniman, and Black Bears ; the Panther, Jaguar, Ocelot, and several species of Lynx or Wildcat ; the Elk, the Mexican, Virginian, White-tailed, Black-tailed, and Mule Deer ; the Antelope, Rocky Mountain Goat and Sheep; several species of Wolves and Foxes, the Badger, Beaver, Porcupine, Prairie Dog, Gopher, and also about seven hundred species of American Birds, four hundred of Reptiles, and eight hundred of Fishes, embracing Salmon, Trout, Pike, Pickerel, White Fish, Muskalonge, Bass, Redfish, Xe.
The greater part of the Mammalia have been arranged in walnut drawers, made proof against dust and insects. The birds have been similarly treated, while the reptiles and fish have been classified, as, to some extent, have also been the shells, minerals, fossils, and plants.
The collections are increasing so rapidly that it will soon be impossible, from the small part of the Smithson income which can be devoted to this purpose, to properly sustain a large museum, and a National Museum should be esta- blished by the Government on a scale commensurate with the resources, productions, and character of the country.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 15
The fund of a foreigner intended for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge among men” should not be absorbed in local objects and in doing that which the Government should in honor and good faith do itself.
The Institution, if relieved of the charge of the show museum, would devote its energies in the way of advancing natural history by instituting original explorations in all parts of the world, making collections and distributing duplicates to all other museums.
Nj cteorites.
In the Museum hall may be seen a meteorite, from Northern Mexico, which weighs 250 pounds,
It was brought to this country by Lieutenant Couch, of the United States Army, he having obtained it at Saltillo. It was said to have come from the Sancha estate, some fifty or sixty miles from Santa Rosa, in the north of Coahuila, various accounts were given of the precise locality, but none seemed very satisfac: tory. When first seen by Lieutenant Couch, it was used as an anvil, and had been originally intended for the Society of Geography and Statistics in the city of Mexico. It is said, that where this mass was found there are many others of enormous size; but such stories, however, are to be received with many allow- ances. Mr. Weidner, of the mines of Freiberg, states, that near the southwestern edge of the Balson de Mapimi, on the route to the mines of Parral, there is a meteorite near the road of not less than a ton weight. Lieutenant Couch also states, that the intelligent, but almost unknown, Dr. Berlandier, writes in his journal of the Commission of Limits, that at the hacienda of Venagas, there was (1827) a piece of iron that would make a cylinder one yard in length, with a diameter of ten inches. It was said to have been brought from the mountains near the hacienda. It presented no crystalline structure, and was quite ductile.
Another Meteorite to be seen here is still more curious and interesting, from its remarkable size and appearance, It is in the shape of a ring much heavier on one side. Its greatest exterior diameter is 49 inches; the least 38 inches ; width of central opening 23 inches; width of thickest part of the ring 174 inches. It weighs 1400 lbs. Its composition is principally of iron. It was discovered in Sonora by Jesuit missionaries, brought to Tucson in Arizona, and was sent, through the influence of Dr. Irwin, U. 8. A., by Mr. Augustine
Ainsa, to Hermosillo. In May, 1863, Mr. Jesus Ainsa brought it to San Francisco, and shipped it to the Smithsonian Institution.
16 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Mhat has beep done.
The following is a sketch of the labors of the Institution, and illustrates the capability of the plan of operations for producing important results in the way of increasing and diffusing knowledge among men:—
Publications.—Three classes are issued.
1. A quarto series, entitled “SmirHsoNrIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE,” issued in volumes, each containing one or more separate articles. This includes memoirs, embracing the records of extended original investigations and researches, resulting in what are believed to be new truths, and constituting positive additions to the sum of human knowledge.
2. An octavo series, entitled ‘‘SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS,” consisting of reports on the present state of our knowledge of particular branches of science; instructions for collecting and digesting facts and materials for research; lists and synopses of species of the organic and inorganic world; museum cata- logues; reports of explorations; aids to bibliographical investigations, etc., gene- rally prepared at the express request of the Institution, and at its expense.
3. Another octavo series, consisting of the Annual Reports of the Institution to Congress, called ‘‘SmirHsonran Reports.” These include the official reports of the Secretary to the Board of Regents of the operations and condition of the Institution; the reports of Committees of the Board; abstracts of lectures delivered before the Institution; extracts from correspondence; original or translated articles relating to the history and progress of science, ete.
The following rules have been observed in the distribution of the first and second series:
1. They are presented to all learned societies of the first class which publish transactions, and give copies of these, in exchange to the Institution.
2. To all foreign libraries of the first class, provided they give in exchange their catalogues and other publications, or an equivalent, from their duplicate volumes.
3. To all the colleges in actual operation in this country, provided they furnish, in return, meteorological observations, catalogues of their libraries and of their students, and all other publications issued by them relative to their organization and history.
4. To all States and Territories, provided they give, in return, copies of all docu- ments published under their authority.
5. To all incorporated public libraries in this country, not included in any of the foregoing classes, now containing 10,000 volumes; and to smaller libraries, where a whole State or large district would be otherwise unsupplied.
Institutions devoted exclusively to the promotion of particular branches of knowledge, receive such articles published by the Institution as relate to their objects. Portions of the series are also given to institutions of lesser grade not entitled, under the above rules, to the full series, and also to the meteorological correspondents of the Institution. =
The Reports are of a more popular character, and are presented
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. i led
. To all the meteorological observers and other collaborators of the Institution. . To donors to its Library or Museum. . To colleges and other educational establishments.
4. To public libraries and literary and scientific societies.
5. To teachers or individuals who ure engaged in special studies, and who make direct application for them.
Besides the works which have been published entirely at the expense of the In- stitution, aid has been furnished by subscription for copies to be distributed to foreign libraries of a number of works which fall within the class adopted by the programme. The principal works of this kind for which subscriptions have been made are as follows: Agassiz’s Contributions to Natural History, Gould’s Astro- nomical Journal, Shea’s American Linguistics, Runkle’s Mathematical Monthly, Deane’s Fossil Footprints, Tuomey & Holmes’ Fossils of South Carolina, Peirce’s Analytic Mechanics.
oo
Metcorology —The investigation of all questions relative to meteorology has been an object to which the Institution has devoted special attention, and one of its first efforts was to organize a voluntary system of observation, which should extend as widely as possible over the whole of the North American continent. It induced a skilful artisan, under its direction, to commence the manufacture of care- fully compared and accurately graduated instruments, now generally known as the Smithsonian standards. It prepared and furnished a series of instructions for the use of the instruments and the observations of meteorological phenomena; also three series of blank forms as registers.
It next organized a body of intelligent observers, and in a comparatively short time brought the system into practical operation; cach year the number of observers increased, and where one ceased his connection with the enterprise, several came forward to supply his place. By an arrangement with the Surgeon General of the army, the observations made at the United States military posts in different parts of the country, and also the system which had previously been established by the State of New York, were remodelled so as to harmonize with that of the Institu- tion. Gentlemen interested in science residing in the British provinces, and at nearly all the posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company, also in Mexico, Central Ame- rica, the West Indies, and some places in South America, &c., joined in this enter- prise. All these contribute their services without compensation. Their only re- ward is the satisfaction of co-operating with each other and the Institution in the effort to supply data and materials for investigation. Any returns, indced, which the Institution has in its power to make are gladly rendered in a hearty acknow- ledgment of assistance, and in copies of all the Smithsonian publications likely to be of interest.
The publications of the Institution contain many memoirs which have tended to advance the science of meteorology. Among these may be mentioned the me- teorological and physical tables prepared at the expense of the Institution by Pro- fessor Guyot, and filling a large octavo volume of the Miscellaneous Collections,
18 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
No work extant answers the same purpose with the one referred to, which has hence become a general standard of reference, the constant demand for it as well in Europe as America having required the printing of several successive editions.
The results of the reductions for five years previous to 1860 have been published in two volumes of nearly 2,000 quarto pages, containing a mass of materials of great value in determining the average temperature, fall of rain, barometrical pressure, moisture, direction of the wind, and time of various periodical pheno- mena relative to plants, animals, &c.
In addition to these large and important volumes, other works have been pub- lished by the Institution which have had a marked influence on the progress of meteorology. Among these may be mentioned the works of Professor Coffin, on the winds of the Northern Hemisphere; of Mr. Chappelsmith, on a tornado in Illinois; of Professor Loomis, on a great storm which pervaded both America and Europe; the reduced observations for twenty-eight years of Professor Caswell, at Providence, Rhode Island; of Dr. Smith, for twenty years in Arkansas; of Dr. Kane and Captain McClintock, in the Arctic Seas; on the heat and light of the sun at different points, by Mr. Meech; on the secular period of the aurora, by Professor Olmsted; the occurrence of auroras in the Arctic regions, by Mr. P. Force, &e.
Besides these, a series of meteorological essays embodying many of the results’ obtained from the investigations at the Institution has been prepared by the Secre- tary, and been published in the Agricultural Reports of the Patent Office.
Astronomy.—The Institution has advanced the science of astronomy both by its publications and the assistance rendered to observers. To facilitate astronomical observations it prepared and published for six years an annual list of occultations of the principal stars by the moon, and printed and distributed a series of tables for determining the perturbations of the planetary motions, the object of which determination is to facilitate the calculation of the places of the heavenly bodies. These tables have accomplished the desired end, saving to the practical astronomer an immense amount of tedious and monotonous labor.
The name of the Institution has been favorably connected with the history of the interesting discovery of the planet Neptune. From a few of the first obser- vations which had been made on this planet, Mr. Sears C. Walker calculated its approximate orbit, and by this means tracing its path through its whole revolution of 166 years, he was enabled to carry it backward until it fell among a cluster of stars, accurately mapped by Lalande, towards the close of the last century. After minute inspection he was led to conclude that one of the stars which had been observed by Lalande in 1795, was the planet Neptune. He was thus supplied with the amount of its motion for upwards of fifty years, from which he deduced a much more perfect orbit, and was enabled to construct an ephemeris giving the place of the planet for several years in succession. These investigations, so inter- esting to astronomy and honorable to this country, were prosecuted and published at the expense of the Smithsonian Institution.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 19
To render more generally accessible to practical astronomers in this country the theory of the motion of the heavenly bodies by the celebrated Gauss, the Institu- tion shared the expense of publishing a translation of this treatise from the Latin, — by Admiral Davis. It furnishes a complete system of formulas for computing the movements of a body in any of the curves belonging to the class of conic sections, and a general method of determining the orbit of a planet or a comet from three observations, as seen from the earth. r
For a number of years aid was afforded to the publication of Gould’s American Astronomical Journal, which rendered good service to the science by making promptly known to foreign observers the results of the labors of their contempo- raries in America. It has also reduced and published at its own expense the as- tronomical observarsions made by Dr. Kane in the Arctic regions, and has also “published those made in the same regions by Dr. Hayes.
Congress having authorized, in 1849, an astronomical expedition under Lieuten- ant Gilliss to the Southern Hemisphere, for the purpose of determining the paral- lax of the planets, and consequently their distance from the sun, by observations on Venus and Mars, accidentally failed to make the appropriation for instruments. This omission was supplied by the Institution, which was subsequently indemnified for the expense by the Chilian government.
In the observation of all the large solar eclipses which have happened since the date of its organization, the Institution has actively and efficiently co-operated by publishing projections of the phases and times of their occurrence in different parts of America.
Under its auspices, and partly at its expense, an expedition was inaugurated to observe the great eclipse of 1858 in Peru, from which data of value for the im- provement of solar and lunar tables were determined, besides facts of interest in regard to the physical constitution of the sun.
Assistance was also rendered to the expeditions under the direction of the Coast Survey, to observe the eclipse of July 18, 1860, one of which was sent to Labrador, under the charge of Professor S. Alexander, of New Jersey, and the other to Washington Territory, under that of Lieutenant Gilliss.
To these may be added an account of an instrument invented by Rev. T. Hill, President of Harvard College, for the projection of eclipses.
Physics and Chemistry.—The Institution has fostered these sciences in many different ways; among others, by importing models of the most approved articles of apparatus, and making them known to scientific men through lectures and otherwise.
It has instituted an extensive series of experiments on building materials, par- ticularly in reference to those employed by the government in the construction of the Capitol and other public edifices; also a like series on acoustics, as applied to public halls, and the principles deduced from these practically applied in the con- struction of a model lecture room. It has made a very extended series of experi- ments on different substances employed for light-house illumination, from which
20 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
has resulted the substitution of lard oil for sperm oil and the conseques annual saving of a large amount of money to the government.
In compliance with requests made by different departments of the government, and of Congress, particularly since the war, it has conducted various series of in- vestigations, principally in relation to questions involving mechanical, chemical, and physical principles, and has made reports on subjects of this kind amounting, in the aggregate, to several hundred.
To facilitate researches, a laboratory has been established and kept constantly in working condition, the privilege of using it having been given to various com- petent persons for experimenting in different branches of physical science.
The most important publications under this head are the researches relative to electric currents, by Professor Secchi; on the explosibility of nitre, by Dr. Hare; on the ammonia-cobalt bases, by Drs. Gibbs and Genth; and on astronomical photography, by Dr. Henry Draper.
A valuable report on recent improvements in the chemical arts, by Booth & Morfit, was published in 1852, and there have been given in the Annual Reports of the Institution a series of translations and articles presenting a view of the progress of physics and chemistry from year to year, since 1855, among which we may particularly notice the translation of Muller on recent contributions to electricity, and the reprint of Powell on radiant heat.
Terrestrial Magnetism.—The subject of terrestrial magnetism has been prose- cuted simultaneously with that of meteorology, and an observatory was erected in the Smithsonian grounds, fitted up with the most approved instruments, and con- ducted under the joint auspices of the Institution and of the Coast Survey. After remaining in operation for several years, the instruments were transferred to Key West, as a remote station where observations were still more desirable. Instru- ments were also furnished an expedition to Mexico, and used with much success by Mr. Sonntag, whose results were published in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Apparatus was also furnished to Dr. Kane, Dr. Hayes, and other explorers, by means of which valuable results were obtained.
Of the more important publications of the Institution, which have tended to advance this science, may be mentioned the articles, by Dr. Locke, on the dip and intensity; the elaborate discussion, by Professor Bache, of the magnetic observa- tions made at Girard College from 1841 to 1845; the report on magnetical obser- vations in the Arctic Seas, by Dr. Kane, reduced at the expense of the Institution, by Mr. C. Schott; and those made in Pennsylvania and adjacent States, by Pro- fessor Bache, and in Mexico, by Mr. Sonntag.
Explorations.—In the deficiency of means for more extended operations, the efforts of the Institution in the line of explorations and collection are confined, as strictly as possible, to America. Arctic America, all the unknown portions of the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the West Indies have been laid under contribution for facts and materials by which to advance science.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. a1
~_
An eminently useful influence has been exerted by the Institution through the aid it has afforded in the organization of the different government explorations by land and by sea. Whether by official representations to the heads of departments, or personal influence with officers and employés, it has secured the engagement of individuals competent to collect facts and specimens; it has instructed persons thus engaged, and others, in the details of observation; it has superintended the pre- paration, and, in some cases, borne the expense of the necessary outfits; has fur- nished fresh supplies from time to time to the collectors while in the field; received the collections made, and preserved them for future study, or at once consigned them to the hands of competent persons, both at home and abroad, for investiga- tion; directing the execution of the necessary drawings and engravings for the reports, and finally superintending the printing and even the distribution of any available copies of the completed works to institutions of science. Prior to the establishment of the Institution but little had been done by our government in the way of scientific explorations, with the exception of that under Captain Wilkes. But since then nearly every United States expedition, whether a survey for a Pacific railroad route, a boundary line between the United States and regions north or south of it, or within its borders, a wagon-road across the Rocky Mountains, or an ordinary topographical exploration, has been influewced and aided more or less, as above stated.
Besides these, similar explorations have been carried on without any reference to the government, and either entirely or in a great measure at the expense of the {nstitution, and always at its suggestion, or under its direction. Prominent among these may be mentioned the three years’ researches in the Arctic regions, by Mr. Kennicott, with the co-operation of gentlemen of the Hudson’s Bay Company ; of Mr. Drexler, in the region of Hudson’s Bay, and also in the Rocky Mountains; of Mr. Coues, in Labrador; of Lieutenant Feilner, in Nebraska and Northern California; of Mr. John Xantus, at Fort Tejon, Cape St. Lucas, and in Western Mexico; of Lieutenant Trowbridge, on the coast of California; of Drs. Cooper and Suckley, in Western America generally; of Drs. Coues and Beers, in Kansas, New Mexico, and Arizona; of Dr. Irwin, in Arizona; of Dr. Hitz, about Laramie Peak; of Lieutenant Couch, in Texas and Mexico; of G. Wurdeman, Lieutenant Wright, Captain Woodbury, and others, in Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico; of Dr. Sartorius, Professor Sumichrast, Dr. Berendt, in Mexico; Dr. Von Frantz, J. Carniol, in Costa Rica; of Mr. March, in Jamaica; of Mr. Wright, Dr. Gundlach, Professor Poey, in Cuba; Judge Carter, in Bolivia, besides many others.
In addition to the collections which have been received from explorations organ- ized under the direction of the Institution, large numbers of duplicate specimens have been presented by the meteorological observers and other Smithsonian col- laborators, the whole forming a body of material for the illustration and study of the American continent unequalled by any collection previously made. The results of the explorations, however, as might be inferred, have not been confined to’ spe- cimens alone, but have furnished information relative to the topography, geology,
physical geography, ethnology, and the living fauna of the country and regions visited.
22 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
The results have been published by government, the Institution, or other parties. The extent and importance of these publications may be seen in the volumes of the reports of the Pacific Railroad and Mexican boundary surveys; of the United States astronomical expedition to Chili, under the late lamented Captain Gilliss; of Captain Stansbury’s exploration of Utah; of Lieutenant Michler’s of the Isthmus of Darien, &c. &c.; in the volumes of the Smithsonian publications, and in the transactions of nearly all the scientific institutions in the United States.
In order to facilitate the operations of collectors, a series of directions and cir- culars have been prepared and widely distributed, for collecting, preserving, and transporting specimens of natural history, and also special instructions as to the collecting of nests, eggs, shells, insects, Xc.
Description and Distribution of Collections and Specimens.—The object of making these collections, in conformity with the policy of the Institution, was not merely to supply a large museum in Washington with permanent specimens or duplicates for exchange, but to furnish the naturalists of the world with the mate- rials for advancing the science of the natural history of North America, and of facilitating the study of its various branches by supplying museums, both in the United States and in Europe, with sets of type specimens.
In pursuance of this object, full sets of the specimens collected have been sub- mitted to a large number of naturalists, both in this country and abroad, for cri- tical study and description, and it is not too much to say that scarcely a mono- graphic investigation has been conducted for many years past in any branch of American zoology which has not derived part or the whole of its material from the Smithsonian collections. Duplicates of the specimens, when described, have been made up into series for distribution, always accurately labelled, and are usually types of some published investigation. The average of such distribution has, for the last ten years, been at least ten thousand specimens annually, and the whole number distributed over a quarter of a million. In this way all the older museums in this country and Canada have been largely increased, and the foundation for several new establishments of a similar kind has been furnished. To all colleges and academies making special application, labelled specimens have also been presented.
This distribution of specimens is very different from the ordinary exchanges conducted between institutions or individuals, which usually involve the return of an equivalent. The question with the Smithsonian Institution is, not what can be had in return, but where a particular specimen or scries of specimens can be placed so as best to advance the cause of science, by being most accessible to the largest number of students engaged in original investigations.
Palxontoloyy, Geology, Physical Geography, &c.—Appropriations have been made for investigations of the surface formation of the Connecticut valley, by Professor E. Hitchcock, and for the collection of materials for the illustration of the geology and palontology of particular regions. Appropriation has also been made to Professor Guyot for a barometrical survey of the different parts of the
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 23
Alleghany Mountains, and to other persons for collecting observations on heights, as determined in different parts of the country by the various canal and railway surveys.
The publications on these subjects, besides the papers of Professor Hitchcock on surface geology, are as follows: A Memoir on Mosasaurus, by Dr. R. W. Gibbs. On the Extinct Species of the Fossil Ox and Sloth of North America, and on the Ancient Fauna of Nebraska, by Dr. Leidy. On the Physical Geography of the Mississippi Valley, by Charles Ellet. On the Law of Deposit of Flood Tide, by Admiral Davis. On the Fluctuations of the Level of the great American Lakes, by C. Whittlesey. On the Paleontology of the Upper Missouri, and Check List of Miocene Cretaceous and Jurassic Invertebrata, by F. B. Meek. A Memoir, by Dr. Leidy, on the Extinct Reptiles of the Cretaceous period.
The Institution has published a check list of minerals, with their symbols, pre- pared by Mr. Egleston, with special reference to facilitating the labelling of the Smithsonian minerals and the exchange of specimens, and it may be mentioned that the Institution has made an extensive distribution of specimens of building stone employed by the government.
Botany.—This branch of general natural history has been advanced by the In- stitution, not only by means of the publication of the papers of original memoirs, but also by explorations and collections made at the expense of the Smithsonian Fund. The most important work which has been published is a large quarto vo- lume, illustrated by expensive colored plates, of the sea plants of the entire Ame- rican coast. The work was written for the Institution by Dr. Harvey, of the University of Dublin, and has been the means of rendering this family of the vegetable kingdom more generally known. The Institution has also published several papers on the plants of New Mexico and California, by Dr. Gray, of Cam- bridge, and Dr. Torrey, of New York. ,
Duplicates of the specimens described have been presented to institutions at home and abroad. Considerable labor has also been expended in the preparation of an original report on the forest trees of America, by Dr. Gray.
General Zoology.—A large part of the collections made by the Institution belong to the general class of zoology, intended to advance the study of animal life upon the continent of America.
The ornithology of America has always been a specialty of the Smithsonian Institution, more efforts having been made to perfect its collection in this depart- ment ‘han any other. The Institution has published the first part of a work by Dr. '. M. Brewer, suitably illustrated, on the distribution and habits of North American birds during the breeding season, with descriptions and figures of their eggs, the materials being derived entirely from the collections of the Institution, and mostly made at its special request. This is the first separate work on North American zoology ever prepared. A catalogue of North American birds, prepared by Professor S. F. Baird, has been extensively used at home and abroad in label- ling collections.
24 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
a Professor Baird has prepared a revision, or posting up, of our knowledge of
North American ornithology to the present date, with the addition of the species of Central and South America and the West Indies. The materials being derived almost entirely from the specimens collected by the Institution, have been increased since the publication of the extensive work on the same subject, by Professor Baird, in the Pacific Railroad report, from 12,000 to 35,000.
The collections which have been made by the Institution for the illustration of mammalia have been very extensive, amounting to 10,000 specimens, and have not only included many duplicates of every species previously known, but a very large number entirely new to science. A catalogue of North American mammals, chiefly those collected by the Institution, prepared by Professor Baird, has been published and distributed to those interested in the study; also a monograph of North American bats, prepared by Dr. H. Allen. Materials are now in course of accumulation to complete the account of the classes of mammals of North Ame- rica, which have not been included in the publications of the Institution and Pacific Railroad Reports.
As with all American vertebrata, the collections of reptiles and fishes have been very extensive, and numerous monographs or articles have been published relative to them in the Pacific Railroad Reports, and the proceedings of different natural history societies, the Institution having published a synopsis of the serpents of North America, and a monograph of the cottoids.
The Institution has materially aided the study of the entomology of this country, not only by the collections in that branch, but by preparing and publishing a series of works for the purpose of exhibiting the state of knowledge on the subject, and facilitating its further advancement. It has published and distributed the follow- ing under this head :—
Instructions for collecting and preserving insects, and catalogues, synopses, or monographs of the Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Neuroptera, prepared by the most competent authorities in Hurope and America.
It has also in course of preparation, works relative to the Hymenoptera, Ho- moptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, &c.
Conchology.—A large collection of specimens of shells was received from the United States exploring expedition, which has been much increased by subsequent additions. All the shells of the west coast of the United States, and those gene- rally collected by the exploring expedition, were put into the hands of Mr. P. P. Carpenter, of Hngland, the new ones described for publication, and the duplicates of the whole arranged for distribution to museums, colleges, and other establishe ments. The publications on this subject are, Lists of North American Shells, Circulars Relative to Collecting, an Elementary Introduction to the Study of Conchology, and an extensive work, in two octavo volumes, on the Bibliography of North American Conchology, by W. G. Binney, and a Monograph of the Cor biculidze, by Temple Prime. Besides these, a number of articles are in the press or in course of preparation.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 25
.
Microscopy.—Encouragement has been given to this branch of science, by im- porting, as samples, simple forms of working microscopes, and also by stimulating our native artists to greater exertion in the construction of this instrument, by ordering the best that could be produced. Samples of microscopic organisms have been collected and distributed to observers, and examinations and reports have been made on a large number of this class of objects sent to the Institution. The pub- lications in regard to this subject are a number of papers by Professor Bailey, of West Point, and a very interesting Memoir, by Dr. Leidy, of Philadelphia, on a Fauna and Flora within Living Animals.
Physiology.—No experiments on this subject have beon made under the imme- diate direction of the Institution, although it has furnished the materials for inves- tigation by other parties. The publications in regard to it are Chemical and Physical Researches concerning North American Vertebrata, by Dr. J. Jones; Researches upon the Venom of the Rattlesnake, with an investigation of the Ana- tomy and Physiology of the Organs Concerned, by Dr. S. W. Mitchell; on the Breathing Organs of Turtles, by Drs. Mitchell and Morehouse; on the Anatomy of the Nervous System of Rana Pipiens, by Dr. J. Wyman; and on the Medulla Oblongata, by Dr. John Dean.
Ethnology and Philology. —One of the earliest efforts on the part of the Insti- tution, was directed to the advancement of the science of American Ethnology. Its first publication, as well as introductory volume to the series of Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, being the work of Squier and Davis, on the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, remains the standard treatise on this sub- ject. This was followed by a similar work on the Antiquities of New York, by Mr. Squier; and those of Wisconsin, by Mr. Lapham; of Ohio and of Lake Superior, by Mr. Whittlesey; a Memoir on some Antiquities of Mexico, by Brantz Mayer; and a general introduction to the whole subject of American Archology, by Mr. Haven, besides many articles of less extent in one or another of the Smith- sonian series. Several pamphlets of instructions for making observations and collections in this science have also been issued.
In the department of Philology, also, the Institution has evinced its zeal and activity by the publication, among others, of the elaborate work on the Dakota Language, by Mr. Riggs; that on the Yoruba Language, by Mr. Bowen; and that on the Chinook Jargon, by Mr. Turner and Mr. Gibbs. To Mr. Shea, of New York, who is engaged in the preparation of a library of American languages, annual appropriations from the funds of the Institution have been made in further- ance of the publication of linguistic memoirs furnished by its correspondents.
Systematic efforts have been directed by the Institution to the collection of as perfect a series as possible of the specimens of American antiquities, and of those illustrative of the habits of the modern native tribes. Already an extensive col- lection has been accumulated, and the preparation and distribution of a series of colored casts of the more interesting specimens of aboriginal art have been com- menced.
26 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Correspondence.—The Institution has constantly received a large number of communications, asking information on a variety of subjects, particularly in regard to the solution of scientific questions, the names and characters of objects of natural history, and the analysis of soils, minerals, and other materials which pertain to the industrial resources of the country. Answers have in all cases been given to these inquiries, either directly by the officers of the Institution, or by reports from the Smithsonian collaborators. A considerable portion of the correspondence burned in the office of the secretary was of this character. The loss in this case is to be regretted, not only on account of the valuable information the letters and answers contained, but also on account of the illustration they afforded of the in- fluence of the Institution, and the condition of the public mind at a given time.’ Every subject connected with science which strongly attracts popular attention, never fails to call forth a large number of inquiries and suggestions.
International Exchanges.—To facilitate the direct correspondence between the learned institutions and scientific men of the two worlds, and the free exchange of their publications, has, from the first, been a special object of attainment with the Smithsonian Institution. Year by year its plans for this purpose have been modified and improved, until the system has become as nearly complete and satis- factory as the funds and force at its disposal will allow. At the present day it is the great medium of scientific interecommunication between the New World and the Old; its benefits and services being recognized alike by individuals, institutions, and governments. Its parcels pass all the custom-houses without question or in- terference, while American and foreign lines of transportation, with rare excep- tions, vie with each other in the extent of the privileges accorded to it. To so great an extent has its sphere of activity been enlarged, that it is no exaggeration to say that a very large proportion of all international exchanges of the kind re- ferred to are now made through its instrumentality. At the present time the In- stitution is prepared to receive, at periods made known through its circulars, any books or pamphlets of scientific, literary, or benevolent character which any in- stitutions or individuals in America may wish to present to a correspondent else- where, subject only to the condition of being delivered in Washington free of cost, and of being accompanied by a separate list of the parcels sent. Where any party may have special works to distribute, the Institution is always prepared to furnish a list of suitable recipients. In many cases where works of value have been pub- lished by the United States gr State governments, likely to be of importance to students abroad, application has been made by the Institution for copies, in most cases with success. The articles and volumes, when received, are assorted and combined into packages, and these, after being properly addressed and inclosed in boxes, are despatched to the agents of the Institution in London, Leipsic, Paris, and Amsterdam. The boxes are there unpacked, and the contents distributed through the proper channels; the returns for these transmissions are received by the same agents, and boxed and forwarded to Washington, frora which point the parcels for other parties are sent to their proper destination. All the expense of
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. PAT
packing, boxing, agencies, freights, &c., being borne by the Institution, with the exception of the local conveyance of single parcels by express, or otherwise, within the United States.
ihe Fire.
On the 24th of January, 1865, a fire occurred at the Institution, which caused the destruction of the upper part of the main building, and the towers. The loss to the Institution was as follows: 1. The official, scientific, and miscellaneous cor- respondence, record books, and manuscripts in the Secretary’s office. 2. The large collection of apparatus. 3. The personal effects of Smithson. 4. A large stock of tools and instruments. 5. All the duplicate copies of Smithsonian Reports on hand for distribution. 6. The wood-cuts of illustrations used in the Smithsonian publications.
Besides these, Mr. Stanley lost his gallery of Indian portraits, which had been deposited in the Institution for a number of years ; and a large quantity of private property was destroyed belonging to persons connected with the Institution.
The fire, however, caused no interruption in the business of the Institution; the library, museum, and laboratory were uninjured; all its operations were carried on as usual, and plans were immediately adopted for the reconstruction with fire- proof materials of the parts of the building which had been damaged or destroyed.
The Grounds.
The grounds around the building were laid out by the distinguished horticul- turist and landscape gardener, Downing, but he died while engaged in the prose- cution of his plans.
We are indebted to the editor of the “Rural New. Yorker,” for the following remarks relative to this subject, and for the representation of the marble monu- ment erected to his memory :—
‘When the sad tidings of the death of Andrew Jackson Downing were announced, many hearts were stricken, and many countenances saddened. Every lover of rural life and rural taste felt that a friend, a brother, and a leader had fallen. The homes of hundreds, from the foundation stone to the gable point, spoke of the departed— even the trees and flowers of the garden told a tale of sadness. The furniture in our parlors, the books in our libraries, spoke too plainly to our wounded hearts of the loved and lost. Scarcely a city or villagc in our country but presented some monument of his skill and taste, something tv remind the people how great and irreparable was their loss—cottages whose simple yet elegant adornings taught how truly taste may be independent of wealth; windows tempting the eye from loveliness within, to the glorious prospect without; stately trees that seemed to guard like sentinels the sacred precincts of home, and village churches whose walls
ie }
AU
NY
—
MALE Lk SS
SANHWIER AADC T.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 29
and spires spoke of religion to the heart. It was at once proposed, in all parts of the country, by Horticultural and other Societies, that some suitable monu- ment should be erected to the memory of Mr. Downing, and in 1852, the American Pomological Society ap- pointed a committee to superintend this work. The design adopted by the com- mittee was furnished by Calvert Vaux, of Newburgh, N. Y., the late partner of Mr. Downing, and the work executed by Robert Launitz, an eminent sculptor ca of New York. The monument was RRR AMT erected in the grounds of the Smithson- ATT aL ian Institution, at Washington, and it is Saat ili worthy of remark, that Mr. Downing was engaged in laying out and beautify- ing these groundsat the time of his death. The committee made their final report at the Pomological meeting in Sep- tember, 1856. The funds were supplied by friends of Mr. Downing. ‘2 Philadel- phia, Newburgh, Boston, Washington, Louisville, Buffalo, and Rochester.
The principal design of the monument consists in a large vase resting on a ped- estal, the whole executed of the finest Italian marble. The pattern of the vase || is taken from an antique of the chastest 2a : school. The vase is four feet in height, DOWNING MONUMENT. and measures three feet in diameter on its upper rim. The body is ornamented with rich arabesque; acanthus leaves surround the lower part. The handles rest on heads of satyrs, (the tutelar gods of groves and woods.) The pedestal, resting on a carved base, and being surmounted with a carved cornice, has on each side deep panels, relieved by varved mouldings. Hach of the panels contains an inscription ; that upon the Northern Front reads as follows :
th
: ee Sas vuaveracer vee ree TAPE TET FETT TH rvreeervarh area Se Haiti (i
H iit HT
THIS VASE Was erected by his Friends IN MEMORY OF ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING, + Who died July 28, 1852, aged 37 years.
He was born, and lived, And died upon the Hudson River.
30 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
fis life was devoted to the improvement of the national taste in rural art, an office for which his genius and the natural beauty amidst which he lived had fully endowed him. His success was as great as his genius, and for the death of few public men, was public grief ever more sincere. When these grounds were proposed, he was at once called to design them ; but before they were completed be perished in the wreck of the steamer Henry Clay. His mind was singularly just, penetrating, and original. His manners were calm, reserved, and courteous. His personal memory belongs to the friends who loved him; his fame to the country which honored and laments him.
Inscription upon the Southern Front :
‘*The taste of an individual, as well as that of a nation, will be in direct proportion to the profound sensibility with which he perceives the beautiful in natural scenery.”
‘‘ Open wide, therefore, the doors of your libraries and picture galleries, all ye true republicans! Build halls where knowledge shall be freely diffused among men, and not shut up within the narrow walls of narrower institutions. Plant spacious parks in your cities, and unclose their gates as wide as the gates of morning to the whole people.” [ Downing’s Rural Essays.
Upon tke Eastern Front is inscribed :
‘Weep no more, For Lycidus your sorrow is not dead, a Sunk though he be beneath the wat’ry floor, So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, And yet anon repairs his drooping head, And tricks his beams, and with new spangled ore Fiames in the forehead of the morning sky; So Lycidus sunk low, but mounted high Through the dear might of Him that walked the waves.”
Upon the Western Front is this Inscription:
I climb the hill from end to end,
Of all the landscape underneath
I find no place that does not breathe Some gracious memory of my friend
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. oL
’ Tis held that sorrow makes us wise, Yet how much wisdom sleeps with thee, Which not alone had guided me,
But served the seasons that may rise ;
And doubtless unto thee is given A life that bears immortal fruit, In such great offices as suit
The full grown energies of Heaven.
And love will last as pure and whole As when he loved me here in time, And at the spiritual prime
Re-waken with the dawning soul.
On the Base of the Pedestal is the following :
THIS MEMORIAL Was erected under a resolution passed at Philadelphia, in Sept., 1852, by the AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, of which Mr. Downing was one of the original founders. MARSHALL P. WILDER, President
The whole monument with its granite plinth is nine feet four inches in heigus und cost $1.400
THE GATEWAY.
| Ns : uy, Lh $9 trou! 4 0h ae bs Maa a i Aba? : aie
hal | ee Z pond * Pas er ,! i ae AU MOE hs aii ie . 7 F
pow PEL HH sae
“pd raeire wis ei ss aa he ee F Wis ale tes } by ake me ee ova Hektor ie
‘gaa ‘
‘ Eu & a
es Pe VA bE ce ood i ee Paptt wy m4 aie) £4; th a oye adilied hex
4 % 7 ee eee
ne (hikadt*
plone: Dy le Pure)
ix . t 1) vee ae oT vig I pap
2 ihe Lt var feet aT at i ty el uf
ve Ret Oe re i ad KL ae va ele sal ; ‘iy cag natant a alee tothe tee
C2" RG MERE cele a8 eee a ee LAUT AQ a eag or aiarraenee ; : bdh ia'4ita ase Oo a sabi: Mai aa vr:
Prvatiecscietl rey ol Ne ra {20 a ot Sen y y
a Ay sol as lin tae ic vane Py kad ut ie ee es ap or i et - ay aa
PY LE
i- s mer Str tL nn ae
a ¢
AOIN AsGrD
TO ESTABLISH
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
AN ACT to establish the ‘‘ Smithsonian Institution.” for the increase and dif- fusion of knowledge among men.
James Smithson, Esquire, of London, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, having by his last will and testament given the whole of his property to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men; and the United States having, by an act of Congress, received said property and accepted said trust; there- fore, for the faithful execution of said trust 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 the President and Vice President of the United States, the Sec- retary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster Gen- eral, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, and the Com- missioner of the Patent Oflice of the United States, and the Mayor of the city of Washington, during the time for which they shall hold their respective offices, and such other persons as they may elect honorary members, be, and they are hereby, constituted and “ establishment,” by the name of the “ Smithsonian Institution,” for the increase and dif- fusion of knowledge among men; and by that name shall be known and have perpetual succession, with the powers, limitations, and restrictions hereinafter contained, and no other.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That so much of the prop- erty of the said James Smithson as has been received in
2
money, and paid into the Treasury of the United States, be- ing the sum of five hundred and fifteen thousand one hun- dred 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 thou- sand one hundred and twenty-nine dollars, or so much thereof as shall by the Board of Regents of the Institution established by this act be deemed necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings, and for other current incidental expenses of said Institution; and that six per cent. interest on the said trust fund—it being the said amount of five hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars received into United States Treasury on the first of September, one thou- sand 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 maintainance and support of said Institution; and all ex- penditures and appropriations to be made from time to time, to the purposes of the Institution aforesaid, shall be execlu- sively from the accruing interest, and not from the princi- pal 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 hereby are, pledged to refund to the Treasury of the United States the sums hereby appropriated.
Suc. 3. And be it further enacted, That the business of the said Institution shall be conducted at the city of Washing- ton by a Board of Regents by the name of the Regents of the “Smithsonian Institution,’ to be composed of the Vice President of the United States, the Chief Justice
3
of the United States, and the mayor of the city of Wash- ington, 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 six other persons, other than members of Congress, two of whom shall be members of the National Institute in the city of Washington, and resident in the said city; and the other four thereof shail be inhabitants of States, and no two of them of the same State. And the Regents, to be selected as aforesaid, shall be appointed immediately after the pas- sage of this act—the members of the Senate by the Presi- dent thereof, the members of the House by the Speaker thereof, and the six other persons by joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives ; and the members of the House so appointed shall serve until the fourth Wed- nesday in December, the second next after the passage of this act; and then, and biennially thereafter, on every alter- nate fourth Wednesday of December, a like number shall be appointed in the same manner, to serve until the fourth Wednesday in December, the second succeeding their ap- pointment. And the Senators so appointed shall serve during the term for which they shall hold, without re-elec- tion, their office as Senators. And vacancies, occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled as vacan- cies in committees are filled; and the other six members aforesaid shall serve, two for two years, two for four years, and two for six years; the terms of service, in the first place, to be determined by lot; but after the first term, then their regular term of service shall be six years; and new elections thereof shall be made by joint resolution of Congress; and vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise, may be filled in like manner, by joint resolution of Con- gress. And the said Regents shall meet in the city of Washington on the first Monday of September next after the passage of this act, and organize by the election of one of their number as Chancellor, who shall be the presiding
4
officer of said Board of Regents, by the name of the Chancel- lor of the ‘‘ Smithsonian Institution,” and a suitable person as Secretary of said Institution, who shall also be the Secre- tary of said Board of Regents; said Board shall also elect three of their own body as an Executive Committee, and said Regents shall then fix on the time for the regular meet- ing, of said Board; and on application of any three of the Regents to the Secretary of the said Institution, it shail be his duty to appoint a special meeting of the Board of Regents, of which he shall give notice by letter to each of the mem- bers; and at any meeting of said Board, five shall consti- tute a quorum to do business. And each member of said Board shall be paid his necessary travelling and other actual expenses in attending meetings of the Board, which shall be audited by the Executive Committee, and recorded by the Secretary of said Board; but his services as Regent shall be gratuitous. And whenever money is required for the payment of the debts or performance of the contracts of the Institution, incurred or entered into in conformity with the provisions of this act, or for making the purchases and executing the objects authorized by this act, the Board of Regents, or the Executive Committee thereof, may certify to the Chancellor and Secretary of the Board that such sum of money is required; whereupon, they shall examine the same, and, if they shall approve thereof, shall certify the same to the proper officer of the Treasury for payment. And the said Board shall submit to Congress, at each ses- sion thereof, a report of the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution.
Suc. 4. And be it further enacted, That after the Board of Regents shall have met, and become organized, it shall be their duty forthwith to proceed to select a suitable site for such building as may be necessary for the Institution ; which ground may be taken and appropriated out of that part of the public ground in the city of Washington, lying between the Patent Office and Seventh street; Provided, The Presi-
5
dent of the United States, the Secretary of State, the See- retary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Commissioner of the Patent Office, shall consent to the same; but if the persons last named shall not consent, then such location may be made upon any other of the public grounds within the city of Washington, belonging to the United States,which said Regents may select, by and with the consent of the persons herein named; and the said ground so selected shall be set out by proper metes and bounds, and a description of the same shall be made and recorded in a book to be provided for that purpose, and signed by the said Regents, or so many of them as may be convened at the time of their said organization; and such record, or a copy thereof, certified by the Chancellor and Secretary of the Board of Regents, shall be received in évidence in all courts of the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to the said Institution; and upon the making of such record, such site and lands shall be deemed and taken to be appropriated, by force of this act, to the said Institution.
Sxc. 5. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the Board of Regents shall have selected the said site, they shall cause to be erected a suitable building, of plain and durable ma- terials and structure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable rooms, or halls, for the re- ception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of objects of natural history, including a geological and mineralogical. cabinet; also a chemical laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and the necessary lecture rooms; and the said Board shall have authority, by themselves or by a committee of three of their members, to contract for the completion of such building, upon such plan as may be directed by the Board of Regents, and shall take sufficient security for the building and finishing the same according to the said plan, and in the time stipulated in such contract; and may so locate said building, if they shall deem it proper, as in appearance
6
to form a wing to the Patent Office building, and may so connect the.same with the present hall of said Patent Office building, containing the National Cabinet of Curiosities, as to constitute the said hall, in whole or in part, the deposite for the cabinet of said Institution, if they deem it expedient to do so; provided said building shall be located upon said Patent Office lot in the manner aforesaid: Provided, however, That the whole expense of building and enclosures afore- said shall not exceed the amount of ; which sum is hereby appropriated, payable out of money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; together with such sum or sums out of the annual interest accruing to the Institution, as may, in any year, remain unexpended, after paying the current expenses of the Institution. And duplicates of all such contracts as may be made by the said Board of Re- gents shall be deposited with the Treasurer of the United States; and all claims on any contract made as aforesaid shall be allowed and certified by the Board of Regents, or. the Executive Committee thereof, as the case may be, and, being signed by the Chancellor and Secretary of the Board, shall be a sufficient voucher for settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. And the Board of Re- gents shall be authorized to employ such persons as they may deem necessary to superintend the erection of the buildings and fitting up the rooms of the Institution. And all laws for the protection of public property in the city of Washington shall apply to, and be in force for, the protec- tion of the lands, buildings, and other property of said In- stitution. And all moneys recovered by, or accruing to, the Institution, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Smithsonian bequest, and sepa- rately accounted for, as provided in the act approved July first, eighteen hundred and _ thirty-six, accepting said be- quest.
Suc. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in proportion as suitable arrangements can be made for their reception,
7
all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging, or hereafter to belong, to the United States, which may be in the city of Wash- ington, in whosesoever custody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall be arranged in such order, and so classed, as best facilitate the examination and study of them, in the building so as aforesaid to be erected for the Institution; and the Regents of said Insti- tution 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 be- longing to the Institution, (which they are hereby authorized to make,) or by donation, which they may receive, or other- wise, cause such new specimens to be also appropriately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manu- scripts, and other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Government of the United States, and are now placed in the Department of State, shall be removed to said Institution, and shall be preserved separate and apart from other property of the Institution.
Src. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Board of Regents shall take charge of the building and property of said Institution, and shall, under their direction, make a fair and avcurate record of ali their proceedings, to be preserved in said Institution; and the said Secretary shall also discharge the duties of librarian and keeper of the museum, and may, with the consent of the Board of Re- gents, employ assistants; and the said officers shall receive for their services such sums as may be allowed by the Board of Regents, to be paid semi-annually on the first day of January and July; and the said officers shall be removable by the Board of Regents, whenever, in their judgment, the interests of the Institution require any of the said officers to be changed.
8
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the members and honorary members of said Institution may hold such stated and special meetings, for the supervision of the affairs of said Institution and the advice and instruction of said Board of Regents, to be called in the manner provided for in the by-laws of said Institution, at which the President, and, in his absence, the Vice-President of the United States shall preside. And the said Regents shall make, from the in- terest of said fund, an appropriation, not exceeding an average of twenty-five thousand dollars annually, for the gradual formation of a library composed of valuable works pertaining to all departments of human knowledge.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That of any other moneys which have accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the said Smithsonian fund, not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein provided, the said managers are hereby authorized to make such disposal as they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the pur- pose of the testator, anything herein contained to the con- trary notwithstanding.
Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the author or pro- prietor of any book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, for which a copyright shall be secured under the existing acts of Congress, or those which shall hereafter be enacted respecting copyrights, shall, within three months from the publication of said book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, deliver, or cause to be delivered, one copy of the same to the Libra- rian of the Smithsonian Institution, and one copy to the Librarian of Congress Library, for the use of the said libra- ries.
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 provisions of this act: Provided, That no contract, or individual right, made or acquired under such provisions, shall be thereby divested or impaired.
Approved August 10, 1846.
24th Concress, [ Rep. No. 181. ] Ho. or Reps.
lst Sessioz.
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. [ To accompany bill H. R. No. 187.]
' January 19, 1836.
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
In tae House or REPRESENTATIVES, December 21, 1835.
The message of the President of the United States, in relation to the bequest of James Smithson, of London, for founding at Washington an “institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men ;” was referred to a select committee ; and
Mr. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, Mr. Thomas, of Maryland, Mr. Garland, of Virginia, Mr. Pearce, of Rhode Island, Mr. Speight, of North Carolina, Mr. McKennon, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Hannegan, of Indiana, Mr. Garland, of Louisiana, and Mr. Chapin, of New York, were appointed the said committee.
Mr. Apams, from the Select Committee on the message of the President ‘relating to the bequest of James Smithson, made the following
REPORT:
The Select Committee, to which was referred the message of the Presi- dent of the United States, of the \7th of December 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 Institution, for the ancrease 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 re- alized, 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 in- crease 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 Congress 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 considera- tions of the most imperious and indispensable obligation. The first steps necessary to be taken for carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of Blair & Rives, printers.
2 | [ Rep. No. 181. ]
the testator, must be to obtain the possession of the funds, now held by the: Messrs. Drummonds, bankers in London, executors of Mr. Smithson’s will, and subject to the superintendence, 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 discharge their duty to this House, to their country, to the world of mankind, or to the donor of this most munificent 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 him- self, in the caption to the will, a descendent in blood from the Percys and the Seymours, two of the most illustrious historical names of the British islands. Nearly 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 Second, as a reward for his eminent services to that house during the civil wars, the dignity of a Baronet of England, a dignity still held by the Dukes of Northumberland, as descend- ents from the same Hugh Smithson. 'The father of the testator, by his marriage with the Lady Elizabeth Seymour, 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 his- tory of our revolutionary war by the name of Lord Percy ; was present, as a British officer, at the sanguinary opening scene of our revolutionary war, at Lexington, and at the battle of Bunker's hill; and was the bearer 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 of Northumberland, the testator’s nephew, was the ambassador ex- traordinary 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 associa- tion 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 benefi- cence of the founder, none can be named more deserving of the approba- tion of mankind than this. Should it be faithfully carried into effect, with an earnestness and sagacity of application, and a steady perseverance: of pursuit, proportioned to the means furnished by the will of the founder, and to the greatness and simplicity 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 hereafter enrolled among the eminent Lenefactors of mankind.
The attainment of knowledge, is the high and exclusive attribute of man, among the numberless myriads of animated beings inhabitants of the. terrestrial globe. On him alone is bestowed, by the bounty of the Creator of the universe, the power and the capacity of acqairing knowledge.
{| Rep. No. 181. ] 3
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 hereafter. It is by this attribute that man discovers his own nature as the link between earth and heaven ; as the partaker of an immortal spirit ; as created for higher and more durable ends, 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, therefore, the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself, and enlarges the sphere of existence. "The earth was given to man for cultiva- tion, to the improvement of his own condition. Whoever increases his knowledge, multiplies the uses to. which he is enabled to turn the gift of his Creator to his own benefit, and partakes in some degree of that good- ness 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 permanent application of the means furnished by its founder, to the purpose fer which he has bestowed them, should prove effective to their promotion ; if they should contribute essen- tially 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 annals of England, resounding as it does from the summit of the Cheviot hills, to the ears of our children, in the ballad of Chevy Chase, with the classical commentary of Addison ; freshened and renovated in our memory as it has recently been from the purest fountain of poetical inspiration, in the loftier strain of Alnwick Castle, tuned by a bard of our own native land ;* doubly immortalized 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 executed by their Representatives in Congress; let the result accomplish his object, “the in- crease and diffusion of knowledge among men,” and a wreath of more un- fading 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 execution devolves upon their Represen- tatives in Congress, duties of no ordinary importance. he 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 adverting to the character of the trustee selected by the testator for the fulfilment of his intentions, your committee deem it no in- dulgence of unreasonable pride to mark it as a signal manifestation of the moral effect of our political institutions, upon the opinions, and upon the consequent action of the wise and the good of other regions, and of distan¢
* Fitzgreen Ha!'eck.
4 [ Rep. No. 181. ]
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 exercise of his rights as: a free-born Briton, desirous of dedicating 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 consummated under a mere union of confederated States. | Subsequently to that period, a more perfect union was formed, combining in one system the principle of confederate sove- reignties with that of a Government by popular representation, with legis- lative, 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 half a century, during which the territory and number of States in the Union have nearly doubled, while their popu- lation, wealth, and power have been multiplied more than fourfold. In the process of this experiment, they have gone through the vicisitudes 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 execu- tion for treason, or a single proscription for a political offence. The whole Government, under the continual superintendence of the whole people, has been holding a steady course of prosperity, unexampled in the cotemporary history of other nations, not Jess 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. Smithson. Their reports of the prevailing manners, opinions 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 forbearance of severe satirical comment to set them off; yet, aiter all this, a British subject, of noble birth and ample fortune, desiring to bequeath his whole estate to the purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge through- out the whole community of civilized man, selects for the depositaries of his trust, with confidence unqualified with reserve, the Congress 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 performance 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 committal of it, do but enlarge and aggravate the pressure of the obligation which it carries with it. The weight of duty imposed is proportioned to the honor con- ferred by confidence without reserve. Your committee are fully persuaded, therefore, that, with a grateful sense of the honor conferred by the testator,.
.
[ Rep. No. 181..] 5
upon the political institutions of this Union, the Congress of the United States, in accepting the bequest, will feel, in all its power and plentitude, 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 knowledge among men.
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST.
Message from the President of the United States, in relation to the be- quest to the United States, by James Smithson, of London, for found- ¥
ing at Washington an establishment, to be styled “ The Smithson In- stitution, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”
WasuHineton, December 17, 1835. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
I transmit ta Congress a report from the Secretary of State, accompany- ing copies of certain pavers relating to a bequest to the United States, by Mr. James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of founding, at Washing- ton, an establishment, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, “ for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The Executive having no authority to take any steps for accepting the trust, and obtaining the funds, the papers are communicated with a view to such measures as
Congress may deem necessary. ANDREW JACKSON.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 16, 1835.
The Secretary of State has the honor to submit to the President the copy of a recent correspondence in regard to a bequest made to the United States, for the purpose of founding, at Washington, an institution “ for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men ;” and, at the same time, respect- fully to suggest the propriety of laying these papers before Congress, with a view to the adoption of such measures, on their part, as the nature of the subject may seem to require.
JOHN FORSYTH. To the Presrpen'r of the United States.
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 pur- pose, as stated in the will, of founding, at Washington, an institution “ for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” * * * The letter of Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore & F'ladgate, the solicitors, by whom I was apprised of the existence of the will, together with the inquiries I have made, leave no doubt of its having been established, and its dispositions recognised by the court of chancery, the first lecatee under it having, for several years,
6 Rep. Now ist. ]
and to the time of his death, received the income 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 accepting the bequest and the trust coupled with it, to come forward, by their representative, and make them- selves parties to an amicable suit before the Lord Chancellor, for the pur- 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 chancery, awarding them the proceeds of the estate. Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore & F'ladgate are willing to undertake the manage- ment of the suit 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 con stituted, 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 solicitors 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 con- nected 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. Joun Forsytu, Esquire, Secretary of State of the United States, Washington.
Sir: We send you, enclosed, the copy of a will of Mr. Smithson, on the subject of which we yesterday did ourselves the pleasure of waiting upon you, and we avail ourselves 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. Drummonds, 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 amounting in value to about £100,000. During Mr. Hun- gerford’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 disposi- tion of the property. On reference to the will, it will appear that it is not very clearly detined to whom, on behalf of the United States, the property should be paid or transferred; indeed, there is so much doubt, that we ap- prehend 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.
f Rep. No. ISP. ] 7
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 advi- sers as your Government may think fit to appoint to act for them in this coun- try. 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 ab- stain from making any suggestion as to the party in whose name pro- ceedings should be adopted, considering 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, Craven street, Strand, 2\st July, 1835. A. Vait, Esquire, 49 York Terrace.
I, James Smithson, son of Hugh, first Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth, heiress of the Hungerfords of Audley, and niece of Charles the Proud, Duke of Somerset, 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 attachment 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, [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 Honoré Juilly, formerly my servant, but now keeping the Hunger- ford Hotel, in the Rue Caumartin at Paris, and for which sums of money I have undated bills or bonds signed by him. Now, [ 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. Auboin, at Bourg la Reine, near Paris, I give and be? queath for his life the whole of the income arising from my property 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 ihe stocks or other property from which the income arises.
Should the said Henry James Hungerford have a child or children, legiti. mate 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
8 tavep. No. 181. ]
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 said nephew, Henry James Hungerford marry, I empower him to make a jointure. ,
In case of the death of my said ngphew without leaving a child or chil- dren, or of the death of the child or children he may have had under the age of 21 years or intestate, [ then bequeath the whole of my property, subject to the annuity of £100 to John Fitall, and for the security and pay- ment 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 Smith- sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of know- ledge 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, inthe 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 his father, or what I have laid up for him from the savings upon his income.
JAMES SMITHSON, [t. s.]
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 toa large amount left to the United States by Mr. James Smithson, for the purpose of founding at Washington an institution “ for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men ;” and to inform you that your letter, and the papers which accompanied it, have been submitted to the President, who has determined to lay the subject before Congress at its next session. ‘The result of its deliberations, when obtained, shall be communicated to you, with the neces- sary instructions.
Of the course intended to be pursued in relation to this matter, as above explained, you will take occasion to acquaint the solicitors who apprized you of the existence of Mr. Smithson’s will.
I am, sir, your obedient servant, JOHN FORSYTH. Aaron Vai, Esquire, Charge @ Affaires of the United States, London.
Ix vnHe House or Representatives, Januery 19, 1836.
On motion of Mr. Chapin, of New York, it was Ordered, "That five thousand extra copies of the report submitted by the honorable chairman of the select committee, together with the message of the President of the United States, correspondence, and will relating to the »equest of James Smithson, of London, at Washington, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, be printed for the use of the House.
24th ConereEss, [ Doc. No..51. J Ho. or Reps. 2d WSession. Executive.
BEQUEST OF JAMES SMITHSON.
MESSAGE ~ PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
The information in relation to the bequest of James Smithson, late of London, required by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d instant.
DecEemBeER 30, 1836. Read, and laid upon the table.
To the House of Representatives of the United States :
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 23d instant, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred, containing all the information upon the
subject which he is now able to communicate. ANDREW JACKSON. Wasuinaton, December 28, 1836.
DrpartTMENt or Sarre, Washington, December 28, 1836. The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the House of Representatives, dated the 23d instant, requesting the President, i he shall deem it consistent with the public interests, to communicate to that House all information he may have obtained in relation to the bequest of James Smithson, late of London, deceased, to found an institution at Washington for the diffusion of knowledge among men, since the appoint- ment of an agent under the act of Congress of the last session,” has the honor to report to the President, in answer to the above recited resolution, the accompanying copy of a letter from the agent of the United States now in London. | : Réspectfully submitted. JOHN FORSYTH. _ Yo the PresipENT oF THE UNrtrepD SratTes. Blair & Rives, printers.
es)
Ff Doe. Mo..54. ]
PortLanp Horer, Great PoRTLAND STREET, London, September 14, 18 36.
GrenTLemen: Referring to your correspondence with the chargé d’af- faires of the United States, in July, 1835, on the Smithsonian bequest to the United States, | beg leave to inform you that I have arrived here with full
ower from the President, founded on an act of Congress, to assert the right of the United States to that bequest, and receive the money. Ishould’,2 happy to have an interviewwith you on this subject; io which end I ask the favor of you to call upon me on F* niday 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. .
- {yemain your most obedient servant, RICHARD RUSH. To Messrs. Charkr, Fynmore & FLADGATE, Solicitors, Craven street, Strand.
Lonvon, September 24, 1836.
Sir: 1 had the honor to inform you, on the 31st ‘of August, of my arrival at Liverpool, aes embarked in the first ship that sailed from New York after my letter of the Ist of August, informing you that I was ready.
I reached this city the early part of the present ‘month, and, as soon as circumstances w ould permit, entered upon the duty which the President’s power of attorney devolves upon me.
‘owards asserting and presecuting with effect before the legal tribunals of Engiand the claim of the United States to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson of London, to found,at Washington, an institution “for the in- crease and diffusion of know ledge among men, > the first consideration which seemed to present itself was, the selection of fit legal characters here, through whose aid pe instrumentality the incipient steps could alone be judiciously maerked out adopted. Ina country where the profession of the law is known to bes so arn Givided as in this, Pregarded it important that not only the counsel whose services it may ult imately. become necessary to engage, but the solicitors to be approached in the first instance, should have a standing suited to the nature of the case, and dignity of the constituent 1 represent. The letter addressed you in July, 1835, by the late chargé @’ affaires of the United States at this court, left little doubt, indeed, that Messrs. C arke, Fynmore, and Fladgate were proper solicitors; yet, as the President’s
ower to me, and your imstructions, appeared iG fae the whole subjess: Vis he
anew in my hands, some pe nqwry into their standing seemed necessary on my part. This [ set on foot, and am glad to say ihat it ended to my satisfaction ; the more, as ‘their connexion with the case in its origin nati ally pointed to their sclection, other grounds continuing to justify, it.
Accordingly, on the 14th instant I addressed a note to these solicitors in- forming them that [had arrived in this country with full power from the Presi- _ dent, founded upon an act cf Congress, to assert the right of the United States to the Smithsonian bequest, and receite the money; and requesting that they would call upon meon the 16th. A copy of my note is enclosed. This is a season of the year when professional and official business of every kind
F. Doc..No. 51, | 3
is much at a pause in London, and those who conduct it dispersed. It was not until the 20th that I was enabled to command an interview with these gentlemen, when two of them, Mr. Ciarke and Mr. Fladgate, waited upon me, the latter having previously called, after ae my note, to mention the absence of his associates from town. With these two, Thad 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 dafiaires, Mr. Vail ; in some points enter them and giving new particulars. They said that James Smithson, the testator, died in June, 1829; that his will was proved in the prerogative 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 testator’s s nephew, to whom was bequeathed the whole of his property for life, subject to a small annuity to another person, 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 ascertained aud realized to the value of about one hundred thousand pounds sterling; that Mr. Hungerford, who resided out of England, re- ceived 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, and, as far-as 1s yet known, without illegitimate child or children ; th: at 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 lecatee on Mr. Hungerford’s death without child or children, legitimate or illegitimate, the facts seem to have happened under whieh fice 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 party, will have to be instituted in the court of chancery, i In order to make mali 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 communication. They added, that the mother of Henry James Hu ngerford, who is still living, and ed toa Mrenchman of the name of De la Batiut, has put ina 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.
Lasked at what time from the present the earliest sitting of the court of chancery would be held. hey replied in November. It will be my object to get the fund for the United Stat es without a oo in chanee TV of any kind, if this be practicable ; and towards an end so desirable, iny further reflections and 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 indispensable. ‘
1 have nothing further of any importance to communicate at this june- ture. [delivered to the minister ae he 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 Tam char ved, shou! id they
4 [ Doc. No. 51 J
be needed ; and I cannot close this letter without adding that I have al-
ready received co-operation from him that has been useful, and which gives
earnest of the zealous interposition of his further aid, should it be required.
I have the honor to remain, with great respect, Your obedient servant, RICHARD RUSH.
To the Hon. Jonn ForsyTu, |
Secretary of State.
25th Coneress, Doc. No. 10. Ho. or Reps. 3d Session. Executive.
SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST.
MESSAGE
FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
TRANSMITTING
Reports from the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury upon the subject of the Smithsonian Bequest, in reply lo a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th of July last.
—_<}—___. Decemeer 10, 1838.
Read, and referred to a Select Committee.
—>—___
To the House of Representatives of the United States :
I herewith transmit to tne 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.
M. VAN BUREN.
Wasutneton, December 7, 1838.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 6, 1838.
The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th July last, requesting the President to cause te be laid before the House, during the first week of the present session of Congress, “all such communications, papers, documents, &¢. now in the possession of the Executive, or which can be obtained, as ‘shall elucidate the origin and objects 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,’ has the honor to lay before the President copies of all the papers relating to it now on the files of this Department, and not before communicated. ‘
Respectfully submitted.
JOHN FORSYTH. To the Prestpent of the United States.
2 Doc. Neo. 10.
No. 20. Lonpon, January 30, 1838.
Sir: I had yesterday the honor to receive your letter of the 27th of December, enclosing the President’s renewal of my power to prosecute the Smithsonian claim, and receive the money for the United States when- ever the same may be oe It remains uncertain, as intimated in my communication of the 27th of October, whether the exhibition of the new power will be eventually domautaed but even if 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
instructions at first, which led to delay. They are now in expectation ..f
receiving it daily. I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obedient servant, RICHARD RUSH. The Hon. Joun Forsyrs, Secretary of State.
Lonpon, Febrtary 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 repe! the claim of Madame de la Batt. From as much, however, as it disclosed, they pronounced a strong opinion that ifa fee 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 sufficient 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 : ? (J enclose a copy of my note.)
J 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 hundred and fifty pounds.
2, That they think it might be executed and returmed within three om
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
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
— >
Doe. No. 10. 3
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 evi- dence by a commission to France or otherwise for defeating the claim, and accordingly wrote to them, on the 9th instant, to proceed with all ex- pedition 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 objec- tions to that mode of getting at more evidence, the solicitors themselves forestalling me by an admission that they could not be certain 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 original injustice and extravagance, as a refer- ence 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 reccived and heretofore communicated, be likely to ex- ceed 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 annuity allowed. The claim- ant, 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 twelvemonth, 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 twe!vemonth by going into the measures in ques- tion, can scarcely, I think, be deemed a strained inference, from all that the solicitors say in their letter, not to dwell upon contingencies coming within its scope that might make the time longer. Should 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 possible, 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 prudence would sanction; to go farther seems not reconcilable with the latter, under the certain and con- tingent 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 sug- gestions were to get a decree in favor of the United States for the general
4 Doc. No. 19.
fund, leaving such fractional portion of it swb 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 importance, encompassed, as all law-suits more or less are, (to say nothing, of the pe- euliar 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 im- practicable, 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 determina- tion 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, anx~ iously desiring, on all public and personal accounts, (if I may speak in the latter sense,) to see it terminated.
In the continued hope that the decision, when it comes, may be favor- able, | have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obedient servant,
RICHARD RUSH.
The Hon. Joun Forsyru, : Secretary of State.
| With Mr. Rush’s No. 21. | Fepsrvary 3, 1838.
GenTLEMEN: | understood, when with you on Wednesday, that the evidence obtained from France would not, in your opinion, be found suffi- cient to prevent the master’s report embracing an allowance in Madame de la Batut’s 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 chan- cery 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 answers to the following inquiries, as far as in your power to give them to me: ' j
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 defeat 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 fur- ther delays might such a turn in the case be likely, under all the cireum- stances, to lead to? :
As I have so repeatedly made known to you my desire for the speediest decision of the case that may be practicable consistently with justice to the United States, 1 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, & FLapGATe.
Doc. No. 10. 5
{ With Mr. Rush’s No. 21. ]
43 CRAVEN-STREET, STRAND, February 8, 1838.
Duar Str: 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 direction of the court, without unnecessary delay, it is a matter of no great difficulty to calculate their probable dura- tion; 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 interest it is to throw impediments in the way of a decision, any calculation as to either delay or expense must be a matter of little better than guess. So many unforeseen points may arise, and the practice of the courts affords such facilities 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 im- pede 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 Batut’s claim, and that such evi- dence might be procuredeither by sending over a commission to Paris for the examination of witnesses, or by bringing interrogatories into the master’s office for the personal examination of Madame de la Batut and her hus- band. 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 interrogatories 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 de la Batut’s resistance, the suit might be wound up before the rising of the court for the long vacation ;
i but, after the observations 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. Ex- ceptions may be taken to his report, and argued before the court; and even an aypeal may be brouglit 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, FYNMORE, & FLADGATE.
Ricuarp Rusu, Esq.
6 Doc. No. 10.
[With Mr. Rush’s No. 21.]’ Fesruary 9, 1838.
GenTLEMEN: Your communication of yesterday’s date was received, and is satisfactory by its fuliess 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, how 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 for a speedy decision of the case, or my instructions that you will urge it on with all the expedition in your power.
In the hope that the decision will be in all things favorable, as well as speedy, I remain your faithful and obedient servant,
RICHARD RUSH.
To Messrs. CLarKE, Fynmore, and FLrapG@arte.
No. 22. Lonpon, 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 an- nounce. 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 la Batut is one hun- dred 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 holidays : these will last until the 17th or 20th of April. The case will be set down for an- other hearing before the court at as early a day as 1can command after it reassembles. 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 Madame 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 pro- ceedings 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 obedient servant,
RICHARD RUSH.
Hon. Joun Forsyru,
Secretary of State.
Doc. No. 10. 7
No. 23. , Lonpon, 4pril 24, 1838.
Sir: The court reassembled last week, since which I have been doing all that is practicable, by personal calls upon the solicitors and otherwise, to urge on the case ; and sha!] continue this course.
Judging by all they say to me, and my own knowledge of the pres- ent situation of the case, I have a confident and, I trust, well-founded be- lief that May will not elapse without its being brought to a hearing.
Referring to my No. 22, I now beg leave to state that the 22d of Sep- tember, 1834, is the date from which the annuity allowed by the master’s report to Madame 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. Jonn Forsyru,
Secretary of State.
No. 24.
Lonpon, 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. recapitulating 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 Febru- ary, 1837, had duly taken place, and that all the requisite evidence had been obtained in England and frem Italy and France, as to the facts on the happening of which the United States were 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, named in the pleadings, was dead; that he died at Pisa, in the summer of 1835; that he was not married at the time 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 Hungerford, the master, on the evideuce 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 22d of last March.
The establishment of all the foregoing facts will be found to meet the
8 Dee. No. 10.
essential inquiries to which the master’s attention was directed by the court’s first decree, as reported in my No. 9. Mr. Smithson’s will hav- ing provided, among other 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 every thing 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 No. 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 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 established, 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 the fund to me,, as representing the United States, the master 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 believing that my next commu- nication will inform you of a decree having passed declaring the United States entitled to the fund. WAVE:
Should the forms of chancery require any authentication of my power io 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 any way before the suit is closed, I shall not scruple io call upon him, knowing how zealously he would afford it.
I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obedient servant,
RICHARD RUSH.
The Hon. Joun Forsyru, Secretary of State.
No. 25. Lonpon, 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 be- quest 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 aised as to my full authority to receive the money on behalf of the United iates, without calling for any further authentication of my powers. The suit is therefore ended without fear of more delays; nothing buta
Doc. No. 10. 3
few forms remaining to put me in actual possession of the fund. These I have the hope may be completed 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 thou- sand pounds; and this, according to my present information, exclusive of about five thousand pounds to be reserved by the court to meet the an- nual charge in favor of Madame la Batut during her life ; the sum produ- cing it to revert to the United States when she dies.
As soon as the decree is formally made up, the accountant 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 am to do with it, my pres- ent intention is to sell the whole, at the best time and for the best prices tobe 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 President’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 sun of money, fhe whole mentioned above, was to go out of the kingdom, unless an heir could be found to a wandering young English- man, who had died in Italy at eight or nine and twenty,* and whose mother, never lawfully married, still lives in France. Here was basis eaough for the artful and dishonest to fabricate stories of heirship, on alle- gations of this young Englishman having been married. That fact as- sumed, the main stumbling-block to their devices would have disappear- ed. Fabrications to this effect might have been made to wear the sem- blance 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, how- ever craftily set on foot, might have been defeated in the 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 wasalways my first duty, to have it decided as soon as possible, and to 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 want- ing, that events bearing unfavorably upon the public affairs of this coun- try, 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 sup- pression arrived. The case is now beyond the reach of accident, whether
* Believed to be the age of Henry James Hungerford, though not found in the master’s report.
10 Doc. No. i0.
from political causes, or others inherent in its nature; and that its fina, decision thus early has been brought about by the course adopted in Feb- ruary, 1am no longer permitted to doubt. arly 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 de- lays of chancery are considered, (and they could hardly have become a - proverb without some foundation,) it may not, perhaps, be thought wholly out of place. Although neither the counsel nor solicitors gave their pre- vious advice to the course, it being a point of conduct for my decision rather than of law 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, enhan- cing the motives for rescuing it, at the earliest fit moment, from all the unavoidable 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 don eraiaglete 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 testa- tor’s will be successfully 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 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 founda- tions 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 founding, in the capital of the American Union, an institution (to describe it in his own simple and comprehensive language) 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 fam- ily in Wiltshire 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 Smithson, 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, Flor- ence, Genoa, at which last he died; and that the ample provision made for him by the Duke of Northumberland, 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 ft his enlafged and philanthropic views, The reply has been, that his
Doc. No. 10. li
Opinions, as far as known or inferred, were thought to favor monarchical 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 contribu- tions; and that he also became acquainted, through his visits to the con- tinent, 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 obedient servant,
RICHARD RUSH.
The Hon. Joun Forsyru,
Secretary of State.
No. 26.
Lonpon, June 5, 1838.
Sin: With all my exertions to have the forms necessary for putting me in possession of the Smithsonian fund completed in May, it will be seen, from the enclosed copy of a letter to me from the solicitors, in reply to one I wrote them on the last of May, (a copy of which is also enclosed,) that it is only to-day that all the forms have been finally and fully completed.
After getting this information, I went immediately to the proper depart- ment of the accountant general of the court of chancery at the Bank of England, and find that there has been transferred to me the following stock, viz: !
1. Sixty-four thousand five hundred and thirty-five pounds eighteen shillings and nine pence in the consolidated three per cent. annuities, com- monly called consols by abbreviation.
2. Twelve thousand pounds in reduced three per cent. annuities.
3. Sixteen thousand one hundred pounds in bank stock.
The books at the bank show the above stock to have been regularly transferred to me under the authority of the court of chancery, by the accountant general, as the proper officer of the court, in virtue of the deeree reported in my last; and I have accepted the same on the books, on behalf of the United States, by signing my name to a form of accept- ance drawn out under each transfer.
The above stock constitutes, with the exception of five thousand and fifteen pounds, the whole property left by Mr. Smithson to the United States, and now recovered for them, with the further exception of some -small sum in cash, to which the solicitors refer as still to come from the accountant general, but of which I have as yet no statement.
The sum of five thousand and fifteen pounds in consols, it has been decreed by the court is to be reserved and set apart to answer the annuity payable to Madame la Batut; the principal to revert to the United States on the death of the annuitant.
12 Doc. No. 10.
I have taken care to instruct the solicitors to see that there is due prootr at all times of the annuitant being in full life as the half-yearly payments are made to her.
Although the aggregate of the stock transferred as above is under one hundred thousand pounds in its nominal amount, there is no doubt what- ever but that the sale of it will yield more than that sum.
The transfer by the accountant general was made to me only to-day ; and this is so far fortunate as that it could not otherwise have been effect- ed as to the principal part of the stock (viz: the three per cent. annuities) until the 17th of July, the books closing after to-day for the transfer of this species of stock wntilthe date I mention.
The important operation of selling the stock now remains to be con- ducted, and shail claim my careful attention. I design to go into the city to-morrow, with a view to adopting the earliest measures for this purpose ; iaking advice, in aid of my own judgment, for so managing the sales as best to promote the interests of the United States.
I continue to think that the best mode of bringing home the money will be in gold, in English sovereigns. Exchange is low, and so will in- surance be at this season; and on all accounts it seems to me the prefer- able mode in which to realize the fund, and deliver it over to the Treasurer of the United States on my arrival, in final discharge of the trust confided to me.
I shall hope to make some report of my steps by the next packet; and in the mean time have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obe- dient servant,
RICHARD RUSH.
The Hon. Joun Forsyru,
Secretary of State.
[With Mr. Rush’s No. 26.]
May 31, 1838.
GrentLemen: I need scarcely again make known to you what I have so frequently urged. in person since the decision on the 9th instant, viz : my anxiety to have the necessary document from the proper office of the court, by which the Smithsonian fund adjudged to the United States may be placed at my disposal. But, whatever the past obstacles which you may not have been able to prevent, I must ask the favor of your renewe and best exertions for causing me to be put in possession of it at the earli-, est possible day ; the more so, as we are now at the end of the month, and my being invested with the requisite authority is an indispensable pre- liminary to arrangements for selling the stock advantageously in June, prior to my embarkation with the fund for the United States. Your past attention to the case is a pledge to me that you will do all in your power to fulfil my wishes; in which assurance I remain,
Your obedient servant, RICHARD RUSH.
To Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore, & FLADGATE.
Doc. No. 10. | 13 [With Mr. Rush’s No. 26. ]
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 wind- ing up the suit, and putting you into possession of the Smithsonian fund, have not been less urgent and unremitting than have been your applica- tions to ourselves upon the subject. The circumstance of the shutting of the offices of the court of chancery for the holidays, at a period when they are ordinarily open, and some other petty difficulties not within our control, have, however, 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 every thing is complete, and that the accountant general of the court of chancery has transferred into your name the several sums following :
. £64,535 18 9 consols,
12,000 0 O reduced annuities, 16,100 0 0 bank stock.
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 few days, you will be able to receive of the accountant general.
We are, very faithfully, your obedient servants,
CLARKE, FYNMORE, & FLADGATE. Ricuarp Rusu, Esq.
No. 27. Lonpvon, June 13, 1838. _ Sir: Iam 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 18s. 9d. was sold on the 6th instant for cash, at 942. 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 immediately, that I might the sooner close the whole operation 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, whbuld probably have depressed the market for 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 ex- change. The course which prudence dictated was, to sell it out in small parcels, under careful instructions to the broker on each day of 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,
14 Poe: No. 10.
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 remained of this stock, viz : £60,060, to be sold om time for 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 953.
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 2043, the latter at 2042; 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 impor tant operations of selling the stock, I am receiving ther most beneficial aid from the constant advice and active daily co-operation in all ways of our consul, Colonel Aspinwall, whose long residence in Lon- don and ample opportunities 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 exception ‘of momentary intervals, would not have brought as much since the 6th instant as I obtained.
From the sales made, it is now IT 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 !a Batut.
From the successful manner in which they are proceeding, it seems clear also, at the present time, that the fund, independent of the j accumula- tions 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 Hungerford.
Left to myself to make the most of the fund after recovering 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. Roths- child 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, f 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, aud by the chamber of commerce at New York on effecting sales of stock ; whilst Colonel Aspinwall charges me no such commission, and I much desired to save the amount of it to the fund, if, with his efficient aid, 1 could conduct the sales confidently and advantazeously myself. But, secondly, if the former, as the bankers of the United States, would have performed the task without charge, I should not have been the less disinclined to place it in their hands, having had no instructions to do so, and, pene without these, I could only exer- cise my best discretion, They are, s Ti in common with others here sup-
>
Doc. No. 10. 15
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-fiuctuating things. With more than a hun- dred 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 sub- sequent 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 follow 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 satis- factorily 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. Jonn Forsyrs,
Secretary of State. |
No. 28.
7
Lonpon, 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