144 Memorial of George Broivn Goode. 



The choice of Professor Henry was by no means the unanimous act of 

 the Regents, and since in respect to personal quahfications he undoubtedly 

 fulfilled the requirements of the resolution passed by the Board previous 

 to the election of a Secretary, it is clear that some of the Regents did not 

 look with favor upon his plan of organization. 



Of the 12 votes cast at the election December 3, 1846, 7 were in favor 

 of Professor Henry, and 5 for persons who had been officers of the old 

 National Institute, and closely associated with its policy. 



A bare majority — for the change of one vote would have made a tie — 

 then placed itself on the side of the Henry policy. In its report the 

 committee on organization speaks plainly of "two great conflicting opin- 

 ions" in the Board, for the harmonizing of which the "compromise" so 

 often referred to during the struggle of the following six years. 



One party was in favor of devoting the larger part of the income to 

 the library and museum. 



The other party favored rather the publication of scientific memoirs, 

 grants for the promotion of original researches, and the maintenance of 

 a lecture vSy.stem.' 



The ' ' compromise ' ' consisted in the division of the annual income into 

 two nearly equal parts, to be applied to the two classes of expenditures, 

 $15,000 to library and museum and the remainder ($15,910) to publica- 

 tion, research, and lectures." 



On one subject, however, the Regents seem to have been unanimous, 

 and to have given their opinion in the following resolution: 



Resolved, That it is the intention of the act of Congress and in accordance with 

 the design of Mr. Smithson, as expressed in his will, that one of the principal modes 

 of executing the act and the trust is the accumulation of collections of specimens and 

 objects of natural history 3 and of elegant art, and the gradual formation of a library 

 of valuable works pertaining to all departments of human knowledge, to the end that 

 a copious storehouse of materials of science, literature, and art, may be provided, 

 which shall excite and diffuse the love of learning among men, and shall assist the 

 original investigations and efforts of those who may devote themselves to the pursuit 

 of any branch of knowledge.* 



The great building which, by the terms of this charter, the Smith- 

 sonian Regents were requested to erect and pay for was to be ' ' of suffi- 

 cient size and with suitable rooms or halls for the reception and arrange- 

 ment upon a liberal scale of objects of natural history, including a 



'To the library and museum party belonged, without doubt. Senator Choate, Mr. 

 Owen, and probably Mr. Rush and General Totten, who were both devoted to the 

 interests of the National Institute. Mr. Bache was, I suppose, the leader of the 

 opposition. 



^Report of Committee on Organization, p. 21. [Documents, p. 942.] 



3 In this resolution for the first time the term "natural history " is given its proper 

 scope, as including not only zoology and botany, 1nit geology, mineralogy, and eth- 

 nology, although in the report of the committee a distinction seems to have been 

 made, probably for the purpose of better definition. 



■» Report of Committee 011 Organization, p. 20. [Documents, p. 942.] 



