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the institution.' In pouring the oil upon the stone, he said: ' May har- 

 mony, peace, and brotherly love prevail among all connected with the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and may they witness the placing of the cap- 

 stone of the complete edifice under circumstances as propitious as those 

 which attend the present ceremonies.' 



'' The Grand Master then informed the assembled multitude that he held 

 in his hand the identical gavel used by the immortal VVashmgton in con- 

 ducting the masonic ceremonies upon laying the corner-stone of the Capi- 

 tol of these United States — this happy and glorious Union, which had now 

 so greatly extended, and was still extending, so that no man could f<)resee 

 its magnitude or its power. He also stated that he had the honor then to 

 wear an apron worn upon the same occasion by the Father of his Country, 

 which was presented to Washington by the Grand Lodge of France, 

 through that great and good patriot and mason. General Lafayette. This 

 apron, he said, had been in possession of Mount Nebo Lodge, of Shep- 

 herdstown, Virginia, for many years, and that that lodge had kindly dele- 

 gated a brother, S. McEIroy, esq., to bear the apron to this city, and to 

 present it to the Grand Lodge, with a request that it be worn by the 

 Grand Master on this occasion, which he had done at the meeting of this 

 morning. 



" 'J'he Grand Master then gave three raps upon the stone with the 

 gavel of Washington, the masonic brethren present gave the grand ma- 

 sonic honors, and the masonic ceremonies were concluded. 



" Mr. Dallas, Sne Chancellor of the Board of Regents, then rose and de- 

 livered the following 



" ADDRESS. 



'■'■ Friends and fellow-citizens : It has been deemed proper, that, at a 

 ceremony so interesting as the present to the Smithsonian Institution, its 

 chief officer should make to you a few general remarks explanatory of its 

 origin, its purposes, its plans, and its prospects. Let me, therefore, ask 

 your attention while I undertake that duty. 



"The Congress of the United States, by an act passed on the lOih of 

 August last, organized ' an establiskment,'' through the instrumentality of 

 which to apply faithfully to its directed objects a legacy of five hundred 

 thousand dollars, received by our government under the will of a philo- 

 sophic and benevolent Englishman. This ' astabliskment'' is composed 

 of our highest public fuctionaries for the time being: the President, the 

 Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the Heads of the six Executive 

 Departments, with the Commissioner of the Patent Office and the Mayor 

 of Washington; and, as the active council of management, a board is 

 created of fifteen, known in the act by the scholastic name of ' Regents,' 

 one fifth of them chosen by the Senate, another fifth by the House of 

 Representatives, and of the remainder, two-fifths, by the joint action of 

 both legislative chambers, it is to accommodate this imposing agency, 

 to give it permanent and suitable means with which to effectuate iis im- 

 portant and various purposes, and to shelter as well as exhibit its col- 

 lections and property, that Congress enjoined to be erected, 'of plain 

 and durable material and structure, without unnecessary ornament,' the 

 edifice whose corner-stone you have seen deposited. 



"James Smithson, a Londoner born, and claiming to be the son of a 



