PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 919 



Congress wished, perhaps, to gratify the several projectors 

 by incorporating their respective contrivances into one an- 

 omalous institution. But after all the deliberations of years, 

 its hnal action was characterized by haste — almost fatuity. 

 Some creature of a clique, it would seem was prepared to 

 come forward, at the last moment, with this odious scheme, 

 and the plan of Mr. Owen was suddenly superseded. It is 

 instinct with the partisan spirit of the scheme first reviewed. 

 It looks, to my eye, like the same, but rendered more com- 

 plex by monstrous appendages, and wearing a mask of hy- 

 pocrisy over its visage of brass. It is a violation of the 

 national faith, and a fraud upon the American people. It 

 robs us of our money, and appropriates it liberally to pro- 

 jects conceived in folly; but to the great purpose of the 

 testator — " the diffusion of knowledge among men " — it grants 

 nothing, absolutely nothing. I call upon the American 

 people to place their brand upon the odious law ; and to 

 reclaim their money before " such contracts or individual 

 rights " shall be " made or acquired under it," as shall 

 alienate it altogether from the sacred purpose for which it 

 was given. 



I shall now proceed to suggest a method of appropriating 

 the proceeds of the Smithsonian fund, which would, I con- 

 ceive, accomplish the purpose of that philanthropist. 



Of the Fund. — Let the Government charge itself with the 

 purchase and maintenance of the library, museum, and 

 gallery of art, &c., if these projects must of necessity be 

 persisted in, and thus relieve the Smithsonian fund of a 

 burden foreign to its design. Let the original fund of 

 $515,169, with so much of the interest which has already 

 accrued thereon as would make up the amount of $700,000, 

 remain in the Treasury of the United States, as a perma- 

 nent fund, drawing interest at six per cent, per annum. This 

 would yield for the purposes of the institution, $42,000. Let 

 the balance of the interest now on hand, say $57,298, be 

 expended in the erection of a suitable building for the uses 

 of the institution, on grounds authorized to be taken for that 

 purpose by the present act ; but not so as to form a wing of 

 the Patent Office. This amount would erect a building 

 sufficient, but not showy. If the Government wishes for 

 something in the way of architectural display, let it provide 

 the means, but not enlarge to such dimensions as to waste 

 the scanty income in repairs and attendance. 



II. Of the Regents. — Let the regents of the Smithsonian 

 Institution consist of the judges of the Supreme Court, 



