250 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vOL. 45 



President of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Colum- 

 bia, they were conveyed to the Smithsonian Institution, where the 

 coffin, draped in the American and British flags, was deposited in 

 the center of the Main Hall of the building. 



Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, addressing Senator Frye in behalf of 

 the Regents, said : 



Mr. Senator : I have the honor to hand over to the Smithsonian 

 Institution the mortal remains of its founder, James Smithson, a 

 Fellow of the Royal Society of London, England, who died in 

 Genoa, Italy, on the 27th of June, 1829. 



For nearly seventy-five years the body of Smithson has reposed 

 in an almost forgotten grave in the picturesque little British ceme- 

 tery on the heights of San Beningo in Genoa. City improvements 

 have led to the expropriation of this cemetery and the removal of 

 the remains, and at the last meeting of the Board of Regents of 

 the Smithsonian Institution I was appointed a committee to arrange 

 for the transfer of the remains of Smithson to this country. On 

 my arrival in Genoa, every facility was afforded me for the accom- 

 plishment of my mission by the provincial and municipal authorities, 

 by His British Majesty's Consul-General, Mr. Keene ; by the Com- 

 mittee of the British Burial Fund Association, in which is vested 

 the ownership of the cemetery, as well as by our own Consul, Mr. 

 William Henry Bishop, to whom I am much indebted for his valued 

 services. 



On the 31st of December, 1903, the tomb of Smithson was 

 opened in my presence, as the representative of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, and in the presence of the American Consul and 

 six other witnesses. The remains of Smithson were reverently 

 raised from the grave and placed in a metallic casket, over which 

 the Consul of the United States cast the American flag while the 

 witnesses stood around with uncovered heads. The casket was then 

 left in the mortuary chapel of the cemetery, securely sealed and under 

 guard, until the 2d of January, when it was placed in a coffin of 

 strong wood, as demanded by Italian law, and was then transported 

 to the North German Lloyd steamship Princess Irene, accom- 

 panied by the American Consul and myself. • 



The steamer sailed from Genoa on the 7th of January, and upon 

 arrival in the United States, the remains of Smithson were received 

 with national honors by direction of the President, and of the Secre- 

 tary of the Navy and the Secretary of AVar. 



The remains were brought to Washington on board the LTnited 

 States dispatch boat Dolphin, and have been escorted to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution by United States cavalry. 



And now, Mr. Senator, my mission is ended, and I deliver into 

 your hands, as the representative of the Board of Regents of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, the remains of this great benefactor of the 

 United States. 



