2 [ Rep. No. 181. ] 



the testator, must be to obtain the possession of the funds, now held by the 

 Messrs. Dmnimonds, bankers in London, executors of Mr. Smithson's -will, 

 and subject to the superintendence, custody and adjudication of the Lord 

 Chancellor of England. To enable the President of the United States to 

 effect this object, the committee report herewith a bill. 



But your committee think they would imperfectly discharge their duty 

 to this House, to their country, to the world of mankind, or to the donor of 

 tliis most munificent bequest, were they to witbhold a few brief reflections, 

 which have occurred to rhem in the consideration of the subject referred to 

 them by the House. Reflections arising from the condition of the testator, 

 from the nature of the bequest and from the character of the trustee to 

 whom this great and solenm charge has been confided. 



The testator, James Smithson, a subject of Great Britain, declares him- 

 self, in the caption to the will, a descendent in blood from the Percys and 

 the Seymours, two of the most illustrious Jiistorkal names of the British 

 islands. Nearly two centuries since, in 1(360, the ancestor of his own name, 

 Hugh Smithson, immediately after the restoration of the royal family of the 

 Stuarts, received from Charles the Second, as a reward for his eminent 

 services to that house during the civil wars, the dignity of a Baronet of 

 England, a dignity still held by the Dukes of Northumberland, as descend- 

 ents from the same Hugh Smithson. The father of the testator, by his 

 marriage with the Lady Elizabeth Seymour, who was descended by a 

 female line from the ancient Percys, and by the subsequent creation of 

 George the Third, in 1766, became the first Duke of Northumberland. 

 His son and successor, the brother of the testator, was known in the his- 

 tory of our revolutionary war by the name of Lord Percy ; was present, as 

 a British officer, at the sanguinary opening scene of our revolutionary war, 

 at Lexington, and at the battle of Bunker's hill ; and was the bearer to the 

 British Government of the despatches from the commander-in-chief of the 

 royal forces, announcing the event of that memorable day ; and the present 

 Duke of Northumberland, the testator's nephew, was the ambassador ex- 

 traordinary of Great Britain, sent to assist at the coronation of the late 

 King of France, Charles the Tenth, a few months only before the date of 

 this bequest from his relative to the United States of America. 



The suggestions which present themselves to the mind, by the associa- 

 tion of these historical recollections, with the condition of the testator, 

 derive additional interest from the nature of the bequest; the devotion of' 

 a large estate to an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 



among men. 



Of all the foundations of establishments for pious or charitable uses, 

 which ever signalized the spirit of the age, or the comprehensive benefi- 

 cence of tlie founder, none can be named more deserving of the approba- 

 tion of mankind than this. Should it be faithfully carried into effect, 

 with an earnestness and sagacity of application, and a steady perseverance- 

 of pursuit, proportioned to the means furnished by the will of the founder, 

 and to the greatness and simplicity of his design as by hiiuself declared, 

 " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," it is no extrava- 

 gance &f anticipation to declare, that his name will be hereafter enrolled' 

 among the eminent tenefactors of mankind. 



The attainment of knowledge, is the high and exclusive attribute of 1 

 man, among the nuniberless myriads of animated beings inhabitants of the 

 tciTestriaJ. globe. On him alone is bestowed, by the bounty of th© Creator 

 of the universe, the power and tlio capacity of a<xj^iring knowledge^ 



