246 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



The history of his public career is familiar to all the Regents, to whom I 

 need scarcely detail even its more prominent incidents ; but I may remark that 

 it is seldom the good fortune of any man to fill so many important offices, and 

 to execute so many responsible public trusts, not only with credit, honor and 

 usefulness, but with ever-increasing reputation. Mr. Rush's life was a long 

 one, and he entered into the service of his country while yet in the spring of 

 manhood. He was Comptroller of the Treasury at a time when the fiscal 

 affairs of the Government were in disorder, when the public accounts were 

 numerous and complicated, and often required difficult legal adjustment. He 

 was next Attorney-General. Soon after the peace of 1815 he was Minister to 

 England, and occupied that important post during eight years, when various 

 national questions of difficulty and delicacy required for their proper settlement 

 diplomatic skill, firmness and caution. He was Secretary of the Treasury 

 when measures of revenue were violently disputed; Minister to France when 

 the monarchy was a second time overthrown and a republic again proclaimed. 

 To these great and varied employments he brought integrity, ability, intelli- 

 gence, firmness, courtesj', and a directness of purpose which scorned all finesse, 

 and which served his country to the full extent of all that could have been 

 demanded or hoped. He was a good scholar, having graduated at Princeton 

 College, and cultivated literature, as well as the severer studies of his profes- 

 sion, with great zeal and success. 



Withal he was remarkable for the kindness of his temper, the amenity of 

 his manners, and the charms of his conversation. 



With this establishment he had the earliest connection, having, under the 

 authority of the Government, caused the institution of legal proceedings in 

 England for the recovery of the fund with which it was founded and endowed, 

 and superintended their progress to the close. 



The Act of Congress of 1846 having established the Smithsonian Institution, 

 he was appointed one of its first Regents, and was constantly continued by 

 Congress a member of their Board. His zeal for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge among men, and his sound judgment, contributed to the adoption 

 of the system of operations which, so far, has borne the happiest fruit? ; and 

 his interest in and care for its successful management furnished one of the 

 enjoyments of a tranquil old age, "attended by reverence and troops of 

 friends." 



T offer the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That the Board of Regents have learned with deep regret the 

 death of the Hon. Richard Rush, one of their members, whose long and dis- 

 tinguished career of public usefulness commanded their entire respect, and 

 whose moral and social worth won their highest esteem and regard. 



Rrsnh'cd, That a copy of this resolution he transmitted to the family of the 

 deceased. 



This account of the relation of "Richnrd Rush to the Smitlisonian 

 Institution is. in the main, based upon letters and papers already 

 published bv the Institution, larcfelv in the various historical works 

 edited by William J. Rhees, who for nearly half a centm-v was the 

 depository of the archives and history of the Institution. 



