NO. 182I RICHARD RUSH — ADLER 237 



and prosecute the claim to the legacy bequeathed by James Smithson, 

 which had been previously brought to the attention of the Govern- 

 ment. John Forsyth, then Secretary of State, writes to Mr. Rush 

 under date of July 11, 1836, notifying him of his appointment by 

 the President, remitting him power of attorney for the United States, 

 and informing him that he would be required to give bond in the 

 sum of $500,000 for the proper performance of his duties. He was 

 allowed $3,000 per annum for his personal services and $2,000 for 

 all contingencies other than legal expenses, and was given a letter 

 of credit on the banker of the United States at London, M. de 

 Rothschild, for $10,000, the amount appropriated by Congress for 

 the purpose. The modest allowance for salary and expenses, as 

 contrasted with what was for that day an enormous bond, is signifi- 

 cant of the customs of the times. 



The Secretary of State wrote in the following terms to the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury : 



Levi Woodbury, Esq., 



Secretary of the Treasury. 



Department of State, 

 Washington, July nth, 1836. 

 Sir: I have the honor to inform j'ou that Richard Rush, Esq., of Pennsyl- 

 vania, has been appointed by the President, in virtue of an act of Congress, 

 passed at their recent session, the agent of the United States to assert and 

 prosecute their claim to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, 

 late of London, deceased ; and likewise to state that Mr. Rush has been ap- 

 prised that it is necessary for him to execute, and deposit with you, the bond 

 or bonds required by the second section of the said act. 

 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



John Forsyth. 



A copy of the bond has recently come into the possession of the 

 Institution and is as follows. 



Know all men by these presents that we, Richard Rush, Benjamin C. 

 Howard and John Mason, Jr., are held and firmly bound unto the Treasurer 

 of the United States and his successors in office, in the full and just sum of 

 Five hundred thousand dollars, current money of the United States, for the 

 payment of which sum, we bind ourselves, our, and each of our heirs, execu- 

 tors, and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. 



Sealed with our seals and dated this twelfth day of July in the year Eighteen 

 hundred and thirty-six. 



Whereas the President of the United States has appointed the said Richard 

 Rush, the Agent of the United States, required to be appointed under the pro- 

 visions of the Act of Congress, entitled "An Act to authorize and enable the 

 President to assert and prosecute with effect, the claim of the United States 

 to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, late of London, deceased, 

 to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an 

 establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men" Ap- 

 t»roved ist of July, 1836. 



