THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-55. ^45 



It must be conceded that the plan of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution must be of a character different from most others, 

 or it will only be a rival of existing; institutions ; and the 

 language of the testator is explicit as it regards the char- 

 acter and objects of the institute which he intended to found 

 and endow. The object was " to found at Washington an 

 establishment, under the name of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, for the INCREASE AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE AMONG 

 MEN." 



The Government of the United States, in accepting the 

 great trust conferred, pledged itself to carry out the objects 

 of the founder, to administer the funds with a distinct 

 reference to the requirements of the will, and to keep the 

 institute, which bears the name of the founder, separate in 

 all its relations from any and every other; to give it a dis- 

 tinct and substantive existence, and insure independence 

 and efficiency to its operations. 



The distinction between "the increase and the diffusion of 

 knowledge is real, and in the administration of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution is of very great importance. 



We have, all around us, libraries and museums, b^' which 

 what is known of literature and science may be diflused, so 

 far as the influence of those libraries and museums extends ; 

 but it cannot be denied that such an influence is necessarily 

 quite limited. 



But the " increase of knowledge " is more dependent 

 upon the means of the promoters than their location, and 

 the amount of valuable contribution to any science must 

 depend more upon the assurance that the contributor can be 

 requited for his time and labor, than upon any advantages 

 of position ; and it is eminently true that our country 

 abounds with men whose tastes and attainments lead them 

 into a particular branch of moral or physical science, but 

 whose ordinary pursuits do not allow them to extend their 

 investigations into specialities, so that large stores of knowl- 

 edge often lie undeveloped in the mine of science for want 

 of some men of leisure to follow the drift and secure the 

 treasure. 



The Smithsonian Institution has already enabled men of 

 that class, and encouraged those of more fortunate condi- 

 tion to make investigations and to adduce results which the 

 world of science has already confessed go to increase knowl- 

 edge among men ; and these contributions to the amount 

 of knowledge, it is admitted, must have been reserved at 

 least for a future day, had not the foresight of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution suggested and supplied means for the 



