REPORT OF THE SECRP:TARY. 9 



The United States of America will provide, in Washington, D. C, a suitable and 

 permanent resting place for the remains of her great benefactor, James Smithson, 

 through the instrumentaUty oi the Smithsonian Institution, the estal)lishment 

 created l)y the Government to "perpetuate his name. 



HK.MAKKS BY NOEL LEES, ESQ. 



Dk. Graham Bell: T beg to thank you heartily for the words you have said with 

 regard to tiie aid you have received from the burial board and myself. Although 

 we regret to lose the remains of James Smithson, we at the same time feel that in the 

 country to which he left his money, with such charitable intent, his remains will 

 receive the honor and glory which have so lung been due to them, antl we must 

 understand that our loss is America's gain. To us it will always remain a pleasant 

 memory that, from the date of his burial to the present day, we have had in our cus- 

 tody in this ])ictures(jue little churchyard, the remains of a man whose foresight and 

 kindness have enal)led so many in the New World to benefit. 



On the conclusion of these remarks the remains were phiced on 

 hoard the steamer Princess Irene^ of the North German Lloyd Com- 

 pany, which brouoht them to America in the personal charge of Dr. 

 Bell, the ves.sel reaching New York on the morning of fJaniiary 20. 

 By direction of the President of the United States, the l^^. S. S. DoJ- 

 pliln met the Princess Irene in the lower bay and escorted her up the 

 harbor. 



In the presence of Dr. Bell and the Secretary of the Institution, the 

 remains were transferred to a naval tug and conveyed to the Dolphin^ 

 and in the continued charge of Dr. Bell were brought to Washington, 

 arriving at the Navy-Yard on Saturday, January 23. 



On Monda}' the 25th the remains were transported by the naval 

 authorities, with suitable ceremonies, to the navN'-yard gate, where 

 thev were taken in chai'ge by a cavalry escort furnished by the War 

 Department, and, accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State Loomis, 

 representing the President, ))v the British ambassador, the Regents 

 and the Secretary of the Institution, and the president of the Board of 

 Commissionei's of the District of Columbia, they were conveyed to 

 the Smithsonian Institution, where the cothn. draped in the American 

 and. British flags, was deposited in the centei' of the main hall of the 

 building. 



Dr. Bell, addressing Senator Frye in l)ehalf of the Regents, said: 



Mr. Senator: I have the honor to hand over to the Smithsonian Institution the 

 mortal remains of its founder, James Smitlison, a Fellow of the Koyal Society of 

 London, England, who died in Genoa, Italy, on the 27th of June, 1829. 



For nearly seventy-tive years the body of Smith.son has reposed in an almost for- 

 gotten grave in the pi('turesque little British cemetery on the heights of San Beningo, 

 in Genoa. City improvements have led to the expropriation of this cemetery and 

 removal of the remains, and at the last meeting of the board of regents of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution I was appointed a committee to arrange for tiie transfer of the 

 remains of Smithson to this country. On my arrival in Genoa every facility was 

 afforded me for the accomplishment of my mission by the provincial and municipal 

 authorities, by His British Majesty's consul-general, Mr. Keene; by the committee 

 of the British Burial Fund Association, in which is vested the ownership of the 



