LANGLEy] removal of remains of JAMES SMITHSON 249 



without your personal sympathy — it would have been difficult indeed 

 for me to have accomplished the object of my mission here. 



On behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, I beg to thank you too 

 — Mr. Noel Lees — for your courtesy and attention ; and trust that 

 you will convey to His British Majesty's Consul General, and to the 

 Committee of the British Church Burial Ground Fund, my thanks, 

 and the thanks of the Institution I represent, for their ready assist- 

 ance in furthering my mission. 



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 instrumentality of the 

 Smithsonian Institution — the Establishment created by the Govern- 

 ment to perpetuate his name. 



Remarks by Noel Lees, Esq. 



Doctor Graham Bell : I beg to thank you heartily for the words 

 you have said with regard to the 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 long been due to them, 

 and 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 custody in this pic- 

 turesque little church-yard, the remains of a man whose foresight 

 and kindness have enabled so many in the New World to benefit. 



On the conclusion of these remarks the remains were placed on 

 board the steamer Princess Irene of the North German Lloyd line, 

 which brought them to New York, where they arrived on the night 

 of January 19, in the continued charge of Doctor Bell, the vessel 

 reaching her dock at Hoboken early on the morning of the 20th. 

 By direction of the President of the United States, the U. S. steamer 

 Dolphin had been detached to meet the Princess Irene in the lower 

 bay and to accompany her up the harbor, while a tug belonging to 

 the Navy Yard attended at the dock to receive the remains and 

 transport them to the Dolphin. They were received by Mr. Bell and 

 the Secretary of the Institution, ]Mr. Bell accompanying the remains 

 to the Dolphin and taking passage on her himself for Washington, 

 where she arrived at the Navy Yard on Saturday the 23d. 



On Monday the 25th the remains were transported by the Naval 

 authorities, with suitable ceremonies, to the Navy Yard gate, where 

 they were taken i^ charge by a cavalry escort furnished by the 

 War Department, and, accompanied by Assistant Secretary of 

 State Loomis, representing the President, by the British Ambassa- 

 dor, the Regents and the Secretary of the Institution, and the 



