THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 133 



meat, of the literary and scientific operations of the Institution; to give 

 to the Regents annually an account of all the transactions, of the me- 

 moirs which have been received for publication, and of the researches 

 which have been made ; and to edit, with the assistance of the Libra- 

 rian, the publications of the Institution. 



15. The duty of the Assistant Secretar}^ acting as Librarian, will be, 

 for the present, to assist in taking charge of the collections, to select and 

 purchase, under the direction of the Secretary and a committee of the 

 Board, books and catalogues, and to procure the information before 

 mentioned ; to give information on plans of libraries, and to assist the 

 Secretary in editing the publications of the Institution, and in the other 

 duties of his office. 



16. The Secretary and his assistants, during the session of Congress, 

 will be required to iUustrate new discoveries in sciences, and to exhibit 

 new objects of art ; also distinguished individuals should be invited to 

 give lectures on subjects of general interest. 



17. When the building is completed, and when, in accordance with 

 the act of Congress, the charge of the National Museum is given to the 

 Smithsonian Institution, other assistants will be required. 



Explanatio7is and illustrations of the jirogramme. 



Though the leading propositions of the programme have been fully dis- 

 cussed hj the Board, yet it will be important to ofier some remarks in 

 explanation and illustration of them in their present connexion. 



That the Institution is not a national estabhshment, in the sense in 

 which institutions dependent on the government for support are so, must 

 be evident, when it is recollected that the money was not absolutely 

 given to the United States, but intrusted to it for a special object, namely : 

 the establishment of an institution for the benefit of men, to bear the name 

 of the donor, and, consequently, to reflect upon his memory the honor of 

 all the good which may be accomplished by means of" the bequest. 

 The operations of the Smithsonian Institution ought, therefore, to be 

 mingled as little as possible with those of the government, and its funds 

 should be applied exclusively and faithfully to the increase and diffu- 

 sion of knowledge among men. 



That the bequest is intended for the benefit of men in general, and 

 that its influence ought not to be restricted to a single district, or even 

 nation, may be interred not only from the words of" the will, but also 

 from the character of Smithson himself; and I beg leave to quote, from 

 a scrap of paper in his own hand, the following sentiment bearing on 

 this point : " The man of science has no country ; the world is his 

 country — all men his countrymen." The origin of the funds, the be- 

 quest of a foreigner, should also preclude the adoption of a plan which 

 does not, in the words of Mr. Adams, " spread the benefits to be de- 

 rived from the Institution not only over the whole surface of this Union, 

 but throughout the civihzed world." " Mr. Smithson's reason for fixing 

 the seal of his Institution at Washington obviously was, that there is the 

 seat of government of the United States, and there the Congress by 



