792 memoirs of john quincy adams. 



May 31, 1844. 



I finished the draft of a report from the select committee 

 on the Smithsonian bequest, but, in the process of prepar- 

 ing it, changed my purpose from the design of reporting 

 two bills to that of including the whole subject in one. 



June 1, 1844. 



I had called a final meeting of the select committee on 

 the Smithsonian bequest, at half-past nine this morning, 

 and yesterday sent round by one of the pages a notification 

 to all the members of the committee in the House. I had 

 also personally notified George S. Houston ; but the only 

 members who attended were Brengle, French, and Yost, to 

 whom I read the report and bill that I had prepared, both 

 which they approved, and authorized me to present, after 

 obtaining the consent of one more member of the com- 

 mittee, to the House. That consent I afterwards obtained 

 from Emery D. Potter, the member from Ohio. 

 June 5, 1844. 



At the House, immediately after the reading of the jour- 

 nal, I asked leave to present a report and bill from the select 

 committee on the Smithsonian bequest; but McKay, Chair- 

 man of the Committee of AVays and Means, moved to sus- 

 pend the rules and go into Committee of the Whole on the 

 state of the Union, and refused to allow me time to present 

 my report and bill. 



June 7, 1844. 



I presented the report and bill from the select committee 

 on the Smithsonian bequest, which were referred to the 

 Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and 

 ordered to be printed. 



June 11, 1844. 



The compositor of the Globe office sent me proof sheets 

 of the Smithsonian bequest bill, reported by me from the 

 committee to the House, in which there were several errors. 

 I corrected them last evening, and took the corrected bill 

 back to the office. I requested a proof copy of the report 

 also, when printed. 



December 5, 1844. 



I had a morning visit from Robert Owen, of Lanark, a 

 man with whom I first became acquainted in London, in 

 1817 — a speculative, scheming, mischievous man. 



