28 THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



piration or dissolution of its charter, shall belong to and de- 

 volve upon the United States; and the President of the United 

 States for the time being shall appoint a person or persons to 

 take possession of and keep and preserve the same, unless and 

 until Congress shall otherwise dispose of the same." 



To those who are acquainted with the history of the Govern- 

 ment at this period, it will be recalled that there was a strong 

 underlying motive in the organization of the Institute — the con- 

 trol of the Smithson bequest, which had been brought to this 

 country in 1838, and was then engaging the attention of Con- 

 gress. In fact, the society was founded with the express view 

 of making itself the agent for executing the objects contemplated 

 under that bequest, and the best efforts of its influential members 

 were exerted, though ineffectually, toward accomplishing this 

 purpose. In the beginning it was very prosperous, although 

 wholly dependent for funds upon the dues of its resident mem- 

 bers, but as soon as it became known that the society would 

 not be recognized by Congress in the organization of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, interest slackened and its activities 

 diminished. 



In April, 1841, the society was granted the use of extensive 

 quarters in the Patent Office building, mainly one large hall, 

 for its collection and those of the Government confided to its 

 care, which formed a considerable museum for that time. 

 These collections were practically unlimited in scope, except 

 that they did not encroach upon the province of the Patent 

 Office. Natural history and ethnology predominated. There 

 were many objects or relics of historical interest, and coins and 

 curiosities. Art was represented by a large number of exam- 

 ples, and although only a few of these were of sufficient merit 

 to entitle them to a place in a museum of the fine arts, yet it 

 must be acknowledged that the germ of a national gallery had 

 actually been assembled by the society as early as 1845, since 

 the greater part of the collection had been obtained by that 

 time. 



The collection of art as of other subjects was divisible into 

 two parts according to ownership. One part was the property 

 of the society during its existence, mainly the gift of friends 

 together with a few loans; the other belonged to the Govern- 



