REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 15 



vertence may have engrafted on its legislation, and to remove any 

 burdens which may have been injuriously imposed on the endow- 

 ment; and we doubt not from what has been done in the last few 

 years, that Congress will in due time fully vindicate the integrity of 

 its purposes, and enable the legacy of Smithson to perform all the 

 good which his most ardent desire could have anticipated. 



It has been evident from the first that it was the intention of Con- 

 gress to deal not only justly but liberally with the Institution. It 

 restored the fund with interest when temporarily lost by a loan to 

 one of the western States, and provided for its subsequent security 

 by declaring it forever a deposit in the treasury of the United Stales, 

 on which six per cent, interest, payable semi-annually, should be 

 allowed. It furnished from the public domain grounds for a spacious 

 park, as Avell as a site for a large building; and to increase, as it was 

 thought, its popularity, the new Institution was made the custodian of 

 the national museum. These acts, though prompted by a liberal 

 spirit, proceeded on the erroneous idea then prevalent, that the inten- 

 tions of Smithson could be properly carried out by an institution con- 

 sisting of objects of a material and local character. Fortunately, how- 

 ever, Congress did not restrict the expenditure of the income of the 

 fund to these, but allowed the Regents at their discretion to devote a 

 portion of it in such other manner as in their opinion might be best 

 fitted to carr}^ out the intentions of the donor. 



After much deliberation, with a view to reconcile conflicting opin- 

 ions, an arrangement was effected by which two distinct systems 

 were provisionally adopted. The first of these which was included 

 in the law of organization, contemplated the expenditure of the in- 

 come in the formation and embellishment of an extensive park, or 

 pleasure ground, in which rare and ornamental trees and shrubs of 

 different species should be cultivated ; in the erection and mainte- 

 nance of a castellated building, which, from its dimensions and im- 

 posing architectural design, should be an ornament to the city and a 

 monument to the founder; in the formation of a gallery of art in which 

 should be exhibited choice specimens of painting, sculpture and en- 

 graving; in the establishment of a library consisting of works on all 

 subjects; and, finally, in the support of a national museum containing 

 the collections of the United States Exploring Expedition, and all the 

 .specimens that might be accumulated from other sources for the illus- 

 tration of all branches of natural history, geology, ethnology, etc. 

 The objects included in this system are all in themselves highly 

 interesting and very desirable for the embellishment and intellectual 

 improvement of the capital of the United Statea, but they are not in 



