The Genesis of the United States Nalioial Mtiseiivi. 189 



liberal curiosity or gratifying his love of science. Such of the articles as at any 

 time belonged to the Government, remain its absolute and exclusive pro])erty. They 

 are simply intrusted to the Institute for safe-keeping and public exhibition, and 

 may be withdrawn whenever it shall suit the wishes of the owners to dispose of 

 them in any other manner. The donations by individuals and public bodies to the 

 Institute are substantially in the same predicament. So long as this corporate asso- 

 ciation exists, it has the charge, custody, and control of it, as trustee for the Gov- 

 ernment ; but upon the dissolution of the Institute, the entire mass becomes equally, 

 as the other branch of the collection, the absolute and exclusive property of the 

 nation. In the meantime, the members wish for no private interest in the collec- 

 tion, and if the present charter be not susceptible of the construction, that the whole 

 beneficial interest of all the articles is now, as well as at its close, in the Govern- 

 ment, they are anxious to have an amendment made to accompany the appropria- 

 tion asked for, which shall, at once, regulate the property in that way. For the 

 Institute has depended on the Government heretofore, and must continue to rely on 

 it, not oidy for many of the most valuable articles in its possession, but for a place 

 to deposit them and a place for their meetings, as well as for some of the means to 

 defray the incidental expenses of opening, putting up, and preserving their collec- 

 tions. In short, all the property belongs to the Government. The guardians of it, 

 under the charter, are chiefly the officers of the Government. The custody of such 

 property was heretofore at the public expense. And that such sums should still be 

 expended by Congress as would pay for the freight and other expenditures connected 

 with it, would be the exercise of no other power than such as has been exercised by 

 the Government every year since its organization. 



The individuals who compose the Institute, have, by their pecuniary contributions 

 and specific donations, largely aided in augmenting the value of this property, in 

 arranging it so as to render it available, and in defraying the expenses necessarily 

 attending the execution of the important and responsible trusts confided to them. 

 They have thus created, enlarged, and rendered practically useful, the property of 

 the Government and of the nation. Their means of usefulness, their capacity to 

 extend the benefits of the museum, are limited only by their capacity to meet their 

 daily expenses. 



Not only are the Government and the nation the absolute owners of much of the 

 property of the Institute, and the beneficiary owners of the residue, but they are also 

 the exclusive recipients of the advantage to result from the entire enterprise. At 

 this period of the world, and in this enlightened age, it is not necessary to present 

 an argument to establish a truth which all history inculcates, that the highest glory 

 of a nation, the purest and most durable happiness of a commonwealth, rest most 

 upon a moral and intellectual advancement. 



If, in the legitimate execution of those powers which by the Constitution are vested 

 in your honorable bodies, collateral results should follow, by which science and lit- 

 erature shall be fostered and encouraged among your constituents, and diffused more 

 widely through our Union, such consequences will not, we presume, furnish grounds 

 of objection to the rightful exercise of power in the breast of any individual. It is 

 believed that few are disposed to controvert the lawfulness, while a still smaller 

 number will deny the expediency, of the appropriations heretofore made by Congress 

 to the literary and benevolent associations of this district and city. None can doubt 

 the lawfulness of those provisions which have been, from time to time, made for the 

 protection of the property of the nation, and its adequate security and care by the 

 erection of suitable buildings for its accommodation, and furnishing proper compen- 

 sation to the officers or agents of the Government charged with its preservation and 

 improvement. 



All the Institute asks of Congress, then, is an appropriation of a sum sufficient to 

 discharge the arrears of expense heretofore incurred, and due by the Institute. An 



