60 THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



posit with the Smithsonian Institution, proposing to sell them 

 to the Institution for the sum of twelve thousand dollars. 



"The committee appointed to consider and report upon the 

 subject respectfully represent that, while they are fully sensi- 

 ble of the great historical and ethnological value of this collec- 

 tion of portraits, and of their characteristic excellence, they are 

 yet of opinion that it would be inexpedient to withdraw the 

 sum mentioned from the funds necessary to carry on the scheme 

 of active operations, which has been so ably inaugurated and, 

 thus far, so successfully executed. The income of the Smith- 

 sonian fund should not be scattered among different and dis- 

 connected objects, and the sum necessary for the purchase of 

 the gallery can not be spared, without crippling for a time at 

 least the regular operations of the Institution. 



"It appears to your committee that to purchase this collec- 

 tion, and to place it in some secure situation easy of access to 

 visitors at the capital, would be an act worthy of the enUghtened 

 liberality of Congress. The cost would be insignificant, and 

 the value of the collection would increase in all future time. 

 No place is so suitable for its permanent deposit as the city of 

 Washington, and no guardianship so appropriate as that of the 

 Government of the United States. 



"Your committee recommend to the Board that the subject 

 of the purchase of Mr. Stanley's Indian gallery be brought re- 

 spectfully to the attention of Congress, as a measure eminently 

 deserving a favorable consideration in its bearings upon the 

 history of the aboriginal tribes of America, and as a monument 

 of deep and lasting interest to the people of the United States." 



1854 



Professor John Wilson, of the British Commission, appointed 

 to attend the Exhibition at the New York Crystal Palace, pre- 

 sented to the Institution, in behalf of the London Society of 

 Arts, a collection of models, drawings and instruments, to facili- 

 tate instruction in the art of design. In order to render these 

 immediately useful, they were lent to the School of Design, 

 which had been established in Washington by the Metropolitan 

 Mechanics' Institute, under the charge of Professor Whitaker. 



