THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE, 1840-1862 



On the 15th of May, 1840, there was founded in the city of 

 Washington a society called "The National Institution (later 

 changed to National Institute) for the Promotion of Science," 

 whose aims were very inadequately set forth in two articles of 

 the constitution adopted at that time, as follows : 



"Article; XIV. The resident and corresponding members 

 shall exert themselves to procure specimens of natural history, 

 &c. ; and the said specimens shall be placed in the Cabinet, under 

 the superintendence of a Board of Curators, to be appointed by 

 the Directors. All such specimens, &c., unless deposited spe- 

 cially, shall remain in the Cabinet, and in case of the dissolution 

 of the Institution, shall become the property of the United 

 States. 



"Article XV. The resident members of the Institution shall 

 be divided into such departments as may hereafter be deter- 

 mined upon. The members comprising each department shall 

 especially be charged with the subjects embraced therein, and 

 communicate to the Institution the result of their inquiries; but 

 every member shall have the privilege of making such communi- 

 cations as he may think proper on any subject connected with 

 the designs of the Institution. " 



Although nominally established for scientific pursuits, the 

 organization comprehended a department of literature and the 

 fine arts, on which subjects the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary 

 of War and Senior Director of the society, spoke as follows, 

 January 4, 1841, in a discourse on the objects and importance of 

 the Institution: 



"Literature and the fine arts go hand in hand. The flourishing 

 condition of the first is a sure prelude to the advancement of the 

 latter; and their united influence adds, in a high degree, to the en- 

 joyment of human existence. Their progress has everywhere 

 kept pace with that of the moral and social condition of mankind, 

 and their history marks, with unerring truth, the rise and fall of 



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