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li;is been adopted, in order that the public may not only be informed of 

 what the Institution is accomplishing, but also reminded of what ought 

 reasonably to be expected from its operations. Moreover, there is a ten- 

 dency in the management of public institutions to lose sight of the object 

 for which they were established, and hence it becomes important fre- 

 quently to advert to the principles by which they ought to be governed. 

 I beg leave, therefore, as introductory to this report, briefly to recapitulate 

 some of the ])ropositions of the programme of organization, and to state 

 some of the facts connected with its adoption. 



Smithson left his property, in case of the death of his nephew, to whoni 

 it was first bequeathed, " to foimd at Washington under the name of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge among men." These are the only words of the testator to 

 serve as a guide to ^he adoption of a plan for the execution of his benevo- 

 lent design. They are found, however, when attentively considered to 

 admit of legitimate deductions sufficiently definite and comprehensive. 



1. The bequest is made to the United States, in trust for the good of 

 laanJdnd. 



2. The objecls of the Institution are two-fold; first, to increase, se^ 

 eond, to diffuse knowledge; objects which, though often confounded with 

 each other, are logically distinct and ought to be separately regarded. 

 The first is the enlargement of the existing stock of knowledge by the 

 discovery of new truths, and the second is the dissemination of these and 

 other truths among men. 



o. No particular kind of knowledge is designated, hence a liberal inter- 

 pretation of the bequest will exclude no part of the great domain of science 

 and literature from the degree of attention its importance may demand. 



4. Since mankind are to be benefitted by the bequest, any unnecessary 

 expenditure on merely local objects, w'ould not be in accordance with the 

 ju'oper administration of the trust. 



o. Though the funds are generally considered large, and much is ex- 

 pected of them, they are really small in proportion to the demands made 

 upon them. The annual income of the bequest, is less than half the cost 

 of the publication of a single yearly report of the Patent office. 



G. In order therefore, that the limited income may effect the greatest 

 amount of good, it should be expended in doing that which cannot be done 

 ;is well by other means. 



These views which have commanded the assent of all unprejudiced and 

 reflecting persons, who have studied the subject, have been the guiding 

 })rinciples in all cases in which I have had any power of direction, and I 

 am happy to say they are fully adopted by the present directors and offi- 

 cers of the Institution. 



To carry out the design of the testator, various plans were proposed, 

 but most of these were founded on an imperfect apprehension of the terms 

 of the Will. The great majority of them contemplated merely the diffli- 

 .sion of popular information, and neglected the first and the most promi- 

 nent requisition of the bequest, namely : the "increase of knowledge." 

 The only plan in strict conformity with the terms of the Will, and which 

 (^specially commended itself to men of science, a class to which Smithson 

 himself belonged, was that of an active living organization, intended prin- 

 cipally to promote the discovery and diffusion of new truths by instituting 

 original researches, under the direction of suital)le jxirsons, in History, 



