160 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS, 



bequest, were they to withhold a few brief reflections, 

 which have occurred to them in the consideration of the 

 subject referred to them b}' 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 solemn charge has been confided. 



The testator, James Smithson, a subject of Great Britain, 

 declares himself, in the caption of the will, a descendent in 

 blood from the Percys and the Seymours, two of the most 

 illustrious historical names of the British islands. Nearly 

 two centuries since, in 1660, the ancestor of his own name, 

 Hugh Smithson, immediately after the restoration of the 

 royal family of the Stuarts, received from Charles the Sec- 

 ond, 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 

 descendents from the same Hugh Smithson. The father of 

 the testator, by his marriage with the Lady Elizabeth Sey- 

 mour, 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 history of our revolutionary war by the name 

 of Lord Percy ; was present, as a British officer, at the san- 

 guinary opening scene of our revolutionary war, at Lexing- 

 ton, and at tlie 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 ambassa- 

 dor extraordinary 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 wliich present themselves to the mind, 

 by the association 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 beneficence of the founder, none can 

 be named more deserving of the approbation of mankind 

 than this. Should it be faithfully carried into effect, with 

 an earnestness and sagacity of application, and a steady 



