PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON's BEQUEST. 865 



fillment of the testator's intentioDS; and which shall, at the 

 same time, be best adapted to the wants and genius of the 

 American people. Our obliging correspondent, by his con- 

 nection with learned institutions in this country, and famil- 

 iar acquaintance with those in Europe, could have no supe- 

 rior in the accomplishment of the task which we have used 

 the freedom to solicit at his hands. — Ed. Lit. 3Ies. 



LETTER. 



Mr. Th. W. White. 



My Dear Sir : I received your letter duly, and reply, 

 with much pleasure, at the earliest opportunity. 



The character of the late Mr. Smithson, is certainly very 

 much misunderstood among us. That a man of a philo- 

 sophic turn of mind, of few wants, and a retired habit of 

 life, should in process of time acquire a competent fortune, 

 is not at all strange. As to the way in which he thought 

 fit to dispose of his property, the very act itself bears the 

 mark of a most noble generosity, and is a public token of 

 the opinions of a learned foreigner on our institutions and 

 Government. 



The first duty of an executor, is to perform faithfully the 

 wishes of the testator — as far as he can understand them. 

 His acceptance of the trust is his own act. But once having 

 undertaken that task, he is bound by the laws of all socie- 

 ties to proceed to its completion. 



The United States can do nothing in this matter, except 

 what is dictated by the loftiest principles of honor. There 

 is that sensitiveness among us, originating in a feeling of 

 national pride, which shrinks from anything having even 

 the remotest appearance of a misappropriation for self-ag- 

 grandizement. We are an exceedingly wealthy people — 

 we need not foreign eleemosynary aid to equip exploring 

 expeditions or erect an astronomical observatory. 



Our general Government has undertaken an important 

 duty. It has received from the hands of an European phi- 

 losopher a certain sum of money, binding itself to apply it, 

 in conformity to his wishes, for the diffusion of useful 

 knowledge. A spectacle so singular has not perhaps been 

 exhibited before. We have undertaken to perform a great 

 duty for our fellow men and for posterity. The eyes of the 

 learned in all parts of the world are upon us — it is a point 

 on which national integrity and national honor are con- 

 cerned — a point on which party feeling must not bear. We 

 all know that some doubts have been raised as to the pro- 

 priety, or even the power of Government, to do what it has. 



